#Rouge actually caring about them all was sweet to see...course she plays it off but it shows she cares deeply

[fastfists]

I will say it once and I will say it again, I love issue #87-90 of Sonic Universe for the sheer fact that we get so much FOOD. Like, we get some Knuckles and Amy goodness...we get Knuckles and Shadow moments of bonding...we get to see Knuckles and Amy interact and play off Team Dark so well, especially Knuckles...the fact he seems to be so chill with Omega...Rouge being concerned about Knuckles's solitude and 'freedom' as well as her and Amy interacting... There's a reason I have it be canon here UwU

#I'm Just Warming Up {OOC} #Mun Menu {Post} #I think all the characters were good in that issue/issues #We got to see Shadow and Knuckles relate to one another and bond (plus their fight prior was fun) #Got to see Amy and Knuckles support and care for one another #I mean she literally gives him a peep talk when he's feeling down #Rouge actually caring about them all was sweet to see...course she plays it off but it shows she cares deeply #I love it so much #And as much as Knuckles likes his solitude; it shows he is also friendly #So long as you ain't threatening his island or the ME #He's not a mean guy and he can pretty much vibe with others real well #Which is why I joke he is pretty much everyone's type XD

[aliensunflower-fics]

‘Akumatized Marinette’ A funny prompt!

So ive seen a few different fics and posts where Lila convinces the class that Marinette is in fact Mayura and/or is working in some way for Hawkmoth, using such evidence as ‘Marinette’s never been akumatized’ and citing how sometimes Marinette’s attempts to be helpful or friendly or yes her mistakes have resulted in an akuma going after her classmates. Also other evidence like how many akumas the class has had total. But what if Lila could not convince class that Marinette was working with Hawkmoth, desperate to connect Marinette to the supervillain in hopes of plummeting her reputation Lila claims that Marinette is in fact AKUMATIZED hence her villainous actions towards Lila!

Now just follow me here:

What if the class don't believe Lila THAT MUCH. Sure Lila has them convinced that she’s a diplomats daughter and that shes got a million illnesses and physical problems and yes she even has everyone believing that she’s famous and that her and Adrien are a secret item [how scandalous!]. But no one in the class will for a SECOND believe that Marinette is working with Hawkmoth. Lila has tried broaching the subject several times, shes tried leaving ‘hints’ and pointing things out that seem ‘incriminating’ but each and every time she does the class scoff and each of them begin listing a 100 reasons why Marinette is definitely NOT a fan of Hawkmoth and would never work with him.

Frustrated but determined to connect the super villain to Marinette and alienate the girl further Lila seethes and plots. Getting more frustrated each failed attempt and trying to chew off her own sausage hair when people talk about how Marinette would definitely kick Hawkmoth’s ass. Then one day Marinette walks in with a totally new look, she’s cut her hair into a messy pixie cut and is going for a pink punk look. The look gets everyone's attention and the day is spent with everyone complimenting the baker girl [she even gets asked out by a few of the guys in the other classes] frustrated that everyone is paying attention to Marinette instead of herself Lila cant help but make up some big lie about how Marinette assaulted her and stole her money.

The class is justifiably shocked! They have been especially protective of Marinette and her reputation ever since she was expelled and nearly akumatized so more then a few of them start yelling at Lila even Alya who normally sides with Lila due to her belief that her designer friend is jealous is furious at Lila for making an accusation like that! Desperate to recover from the poorly timed and worded lie she’s made Lila thinks fast and comes up with a scheme just crazy enough to work! She claims that obviously it wasn’t ACTUALLY Marinette, no it was the horrible akuma MARIONETTE! The class blinks taken aback but they can’t help but ask what Lila is talking about.

The italian smirks feeling sinister pleasure course through her. She begins weaving her sob story tale! About how Marinette had snuck into one of Adrien and Lila’s photoshoots! Where the poor baker girl saw them *gasp* KISSING! Poor Marinette heartbroken and distraught was akumatized into the horrible monster Marionette! Who stalked Lila home and attacked her! She goes on to claim that the Marinette who was in class today was NOT in fact their good friend rocking a new style and haircut but was instead a vicious akuma after all why do you think Lila was keeping so far away from Marinette all day? She’s TRAUMATIZED after her ordeal and now Marionette the akuma is attending class as if she were Marinette! How terrible could Hawkmoth be to be using their heartbroken friend like this!

The class doesn’t want to believe it, but it makes such perfect sense Marinette WOULD be heartbroken by seeing Adrien the ‘love of her life’ kissing Lila her main rival! And just yesterday Marinette looked completely normal with her cute little pigtails and her signature outfit! She never told any of them she was even GOING to get a haircut! And surely if Marinette was going to make such a big change in her appearance she would have told her bestie Alya right?

But now what is the class to do? Poor Marinette is akumatized and they have no idea what to do or what her object could possibly be! Max, always the logical one concludes that they should simply contact Ladybug and have her help poor Marinette! Lila quickly jumps in claiming she already tried contacting Ladybug OBVIOUSLY since the pair are besties! But that Marionette tricked Ladybug into believing she wasn’t akumatized at all! “No!” Lila laments, “were going to need to take care of this ourselves!”

The class is resolute determined to help poor Marinette without the help of Ladybug who has fallen for Hawkmoth’s most clever trick yet. But Lila is quick to warn them that they MUST be careful after all Marionette is a VERY powerful akuma, they cant know for sure the true extent of her terrible powers or when or WHO she might attack next! Lila fears that it will be poor Adrien or perhaps herself again! Insert fake sobs here. The class vow to protect Lila and Adrien from Marionette, and Alya who believes she’s best equipped for this situation since she IS Rena Rouge takes charge of the situation, they decide that no one is allowed to be alone with Marionette and NONE of them are to let the akuma know that they are on to her! They need to play the long game and figure out what her akumatized object is so that they can snatch it and free Marinette from Hawkmoth’s dastardly clutches!

Lila rejoices believing that she’s finally achieved victory, the class now think that Marinette is a dangerous monster and will isolate her, not to mention Lila now believes she can make up any lie she wants about Marinette and that the class will unquestioningly believe her! She goes home with a pep in her step eagerly plotting for all the lies and perks she can get from this newest lie and decides to eat a whole tub of ice cream to celebrate her cleverness, unaware that she’s just signed the ticket for her defeat.

You see the class LOVE Marinette, she’s their friend, and ‘learning’ that she’s been turned into some sort of monstrous extremely clever akuma is both a suprise and none at all. Later on as they all chat in the newly made text group Max points out how it was obvious that Marinette would become the most dangerous and clever akuma shes the smartest person in class besides himself and extremely creative and resourceful. Rose laments about how hurt Marinette must be and how they simply MUST save her as soon as possible. Alix curses Hawkmoth out and claims that the sick freak was probably TARGETING Marinette for awhile now because of how awesome she is. Nino and Kim cry about how their childhood bff needs them now more then ever! And Alya tells them to get ready because they cant abandon Marinette now that she needs them most!

The next day Lila comes to class ready to spin another tale about how the vicious akuma Marionette destroyed her room last night! And while the class do listen and tell Lila that it sucks that happened they seem noticeably... Distracted. When Marinette walks into the room the class practically explodes, Rose and Juleka INSIST that Marinette sit behind them so they can talk! Everyone has some sweet compliment to give to the baker reminding her about how wonderful she is! Lila’s jaw drops open as her classmates practically rush to hug and touch and talk to what they believe is a horrible monstrous Akuma! And it doesnt end their.

Lila asks Alya to hang out at the mall? She cant her and Nino are going to be on ‘Marionette’ surveillance tracking the akuma to see what shes up to and if she might show her akumatized object! Lila decides to try woo Mylene and Ivan into letting her handle their charities ‘finances’? Mylene starts crying about how the charity was Marinette’s idea before she got akumatized and now she might not even remember how amazing it was when shes eventually de-akumatized Lila cant stand hearing them talk about her enemy and gives up her pursuit of the funds. Lila decides to hang out with Kitty Section? They invited Marionette to every show hoping Luka would notice that she’s an akuma and use his amazing intuition to help free poor poor Marinette!

Instead of ostracizing the girl Marinette is now invited to every big event, and is constantly being showered with compliments and love as if the class believes that just loving Marinette enough will be the thing that ‘de-akumatizes’ her. “At least they wont let her anywhere near myself or Adrien.” Lila thinks bitterly as she gets her 5th warning that day that Lila might want to sit out the class going to the movies together with MARIONETTE.

During this time the class has been pulling off various ‘heists’ slowly going through each and every one of Marinette’s belongings to check if its the akumatized object. And I do mean every single belonging. Her sketchbook was ruled out within the first few days same with her signature earrings it was Kim who checked those and it involved a complicated plan involving taking Marinette swimming and having Kim fake a drowning in order to get close enough to ‘Marionette’ to check the studs. Luckily for Tikki, Ondine who was also at the pool decided to save Kim instead and the poor jock got quite flustered when the swimmer performed CPR on him.

Nino and the rest of the boys are the ones tasked with breaking into Marinette’s room while the girl is away on a sleepover with the girls. In order to ‘test’ each object in her room for the source of the akuma. They got a bit too loud and had to make a last minute escape when they heard Tom and Sabine going into fight mode. Poor Nino wasn’t fast enough and was forced to lie through his teeth that he’d been trying to surprise Marinette with a hangout like when they were little kids. [poor kid ended up drinking hot cocoa with Tom and Sabine as they showed off embarrassing baby pictures of Nino and Marinette together]

After about a month or so of shenanigans including a very embarrassing incident involving the entire class accidentally spying on Marinette’s first big date with Luka/Kagami/Felix/Damian [just pick one they are all great ships] and them getting caught red handed thanks to Alix and Kim roughhousing and making a scene at the nice restaurant. And another incident that Alya refers to only as the ‘duck incident’ [Nino can no longer be around birds or feathers] the class is no closer to learning where Marionette’s akumatized object is. And Lila Rossi who thought she’d be bathing in her victory is on the verge of screaming if one more person ignores her!

How does it end? Well maybe the class stage an intervention hoping they can free Marinette with the power of love only for Marinette to fall off of something laughing when she learns what Lila’s big lie was. Maybe Lila finally snaps and screams when she hears the class lament about POOR Marinette for the billionth time. Maybe the class try breaking absolutely everything Marinette owns, Maybe Juleka points out that its kind of weird that Marionette the akuma doesn’t really do... anything? And can change clothes? Can akuma’s do that? No right??? Aren’t their clothes like melded to their body??? Maybe the class finally get Adrien thinking he can ‘fix’ Marinette only for him to very confusedly tell them hes not dating Lila and has never kissed her and what Marinette akumatized??? Maybe The class recruit Luka and Kagami, Marinette’s other friends only for them to have a great laugh at the class before pointing out the literal mountain of things wrong with everything they just said.

Just fun shenanigans and ‘akumatized’ Marinette.

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#lila salt #my fic #lukanette #kagaminette #felinette #ml salt prompt #alya sugar #class sugar #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #daminette #miraculous salt #lila rossi #lila salt prompt #ml prompt

[yanderenightmare]

ik this is like maybe... taboo on a yandere blog, but say the Bakugo's still yandere and the darling is afraid, but just not enough to feel positively disgusted... could we like (points finger guns at each other and taps, rub the tip of my foot into the ground, scratches the back of my neck, shy smile) could we get a soft kiss? Bakugo and a soft kiss, still Bakugo but soft, idk you do it best!

yandere ! BNHA fluff

goodiebag WARNINGS: FLUFF, obsession

BAKUGO KATSUKI - KACHAN

There she was. Looking like victory, looking like that sweet deserved prize you can taste on your tongue right before barreling over the finish-line, eager thrill and heart-blown triumph and such soft bliss once you stand on the other side, out of breath and forgetting everything else in the world. 

He’d been so good, so fucking perfect these last weeks, the best, just like he’d promised, just like he’d vowed, and now he would finally get that taste, that ambrosial taste, allowed to bask in it, to roll it around his tongue, run it through his teeth, finally feel it between his hands, rake and dig his fingers into it. 

He had been sweet and soft and kind. Well-behaved; refraining from getting into fights with whomever dared look at him in a manor he deemed wrong and calling randoms on the street alike his best mates unsavory names. Even boyfriendly; asking her about her day, opening up and telling her about his day, what he was feeling, scared beyond his wits throughout it all, free-falling and so very uncomfortably vulnerable, yet always met with a soft warm landing when she’d place a hand on his cheek, kiss his forehead, smile at him, answering him with equally squishy details he had no idea he even liked hearing until hanging off of each and every syllable, feeling that monstrous urge to rip his heart from his chest and stomp on it, make it bleed instead of flutter with that stupid ticklish tingling she’d cripple him with.

But he’d kept his ground, manned the posts, kept the beast at bay, roaring and clawing inside the cage of his chest, allowing the girl to softly tame the rabid hound with cotten-soft hands petting his head. 

His foot was only barely subdued from shaking in vigor as she swung her leg over his thighs, positioning herself on his lap when the credits to what movie they’d been watching started rolling, soft music playing sweetly in the background, black screen throwing the room into an intimate dark, one that calls for certain things you do in the night, and hopefully dark enough to hide what positively red rouge tinted his cheeks as he felt her press down on where something was sleeping beneath the layers of his clothes.

He was beyond ready, beyond starving, hands so very frigid yet still with a practiced touch remained steady and deceptively calm as he placed them on her hips, grabbing onto the ample soft skin found at her waist, suppressing the urge to squeeze and settling for messaging in slow careful meandering strokes with his thumb. 

He felt like attacking, like pouncing and trapping, like ripping clothes off, but knew that wasn't the way to win this particular fight.

His hand stirred again, ascending, perhaps too wantonly, but she didn't seem to mind as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, fingers with labored finger-pads tracing her jaw, thumb swiping over her lips, cupping her chin, thumb and index-finger pressing into the plump squishy flesh of her cheeks, making her pout. He couldn't hold back the impulse that sent his tongue to swipe over his lip, but found quickly a way to save himself from the lacking display of control. “Are you ready?” He asked, as though actually giving her a choice, voice as calm as he could muster it, trying to withhold the strained timber of hormones that fought so badly to be released.

“I’m ready.” She managed to say weakly, her head bowed to look at him, eyes big and beautiful and glorious as he drank in her gaze. 

He closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, pulling her in with a gracious touch when leaning in to kill the space between their lips. Smoothly brushing his stiff lips against her pillowy-soft ones, slightly parting to receive another meeting, and again and again with more and more pressure, quite like the increasing drumming of their pulse. 

He pulled away to search her eyes, realizing he’d maybe been squeezing her neck to harshly when wrapping his hand away from holding her chin, before pushing his lips back onto hers, kissing her more earnestly and desperately than before. The arm kept around her waist moved, also in favor of rising to head-level, gently cupping her cheek as he deepened the kiss. Letting out a ragged gasp as he pried her mouth open, she leant back on his lap, away from his boyish needy hunger and his tongue slipping inside her mouth and tangling with hers. She was still as a statue then, her face held between his hands, unsure of what to do now that the boy had claimed full control, unsure of what she wanted to do. Then, against her own will, did a tiny meager whimper escape her mouth, making him pull away with a soft rugged chuckle, gently stroking her cheek with his knuckles. “Shh, Pumpkin, I won’t bite.” He promised, cooing softly at her, his nose touching hers. Red eyes glinting, pooling with black, predatory heat within them causing a surprisingly pleasant shiver to slide up her spine, though not withholding the squeal of panic as he maneuvered with the speed and tactful precision of a true hero-course student, spinning them around and dropping her carefully on her back, now looming above her, with tenfold more control of what he had earlier.

His index finger stroked her chin before raising it for her to look up at him... or maybe for him to look down at her. For him to enjoy seeing her flushed red in all her bashful glory. It was a different feeling than seeing her smile and laugh, different from looking at her in hope she’d look back at him, no longer chasing but having his prey caught, ready to sink his teeth in, different, but nevertheless... still good. His other hand stroked a wisp of hair behind her ear as the locks had gone wild in the tumble of his actions, groping her face to lean in closer.

He pressed his lips against hers again, and though surprised and with a heart beating like a hummingbird, she slid her own hand around his waist, the other tangled in the hair at the back of his neck, legs climbing up on his back, hooking over his hips and pulling him closer.

She felt his lips curl up into a smirk. His hand splayed on her stomach, having crawled up her shirt to rub circles into the soft skin of her belly, as he gently buried his other hand in her soft silken hair, pulling her head closer to his. 

As he drew his mouth from hers he started kissing a trail of pecks down her jaw, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, drooling with such suppressed lust he groaned into the dip between her shoulder and neck, unsure if he could hold back once he started feeling the blood rush and pump and fuel down to his length, unsure if she was ready to take all that he wanted to give her, unsure if she was willing to give all he was going to take.

#yandere bakugou #yandere bakugo katsuki #yandere katsuki #yandere katsuki bakugou #yandere bakugo #yandere bakugou katsuki #bakugou katsuki #katsuki #mha katsuki #katsuki bakugō #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo #bakugou x y/n #bakugou #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou imagine #bnha bakugou #bakugou katuski x reader #bakugou x reader

[mcheang]

Lila looks through Marinette bag and steals Tikki thinking she's a doll. She wants to pass Tikki off as a gift from Ladybug to the class. Tikki gets back at Lila. Bonus: Adrien, and Chloe both recognize Tikki and both figure out that Marinette is Ladybug. Chloe redemption.

What a lovely surprise

No bonus

Lila was planning to steal Marinette’s phone. Instead she found a Ladybug doll and lots of sweets. Wow...baker girl needs to lay off the candy.

Well, if she can’t have Marinette’s phone, she might as well steal her doll. Who even keeps dolls at their age?

It would be so easy to humiliate Marinette for her baby toy. But that wasn’t Lila’s style. She liked a challenge.

Cue Tikki overhearing Lila’s plan to pass her off as a gift from Ladybug.

As if.

While Lila was bragging about the present Ladybug gave her and how she adores it, Tikki escapes after making sure there was something left behind that could substitute her weight and size.

As Lila opened her bag to her eager listeners, out crawled out a swarm of ladybugs.

Now, the miraculous cure is seen as a red wind, you don’t really feel the sensation of crawling legs, nor can you closely see the swarm of ladybugs.

But this...a mass of red bugs...is just gross.

Everyone screamed, even Lila. She squealed and jumped, flinging her bag far from her. “Get it off me! Get it off me!”

Kim: Wth!!!

Alya: what kind of present was that?

Adrien: Ladybug would never give that as a present. Besides, I think Lila is just as surprised as the rest of us.

Lila: of course I’m surprised! That was not the present. It was a toy Ladybug! Not a swarm of ladybugs.

Turning to glare at Marinette. “Did you do this?”

Alya: why would Marinette do this?

Lila: I saw her admiring my toy and we all know Marinette has a habit of stealing phones. Check her purse.

Tikki quickly phased out of the purse.

Everyone just saw candy.

Kim: can I have the chocolate bar?

Rose: Lila, you need to apologize to Marinette!

Lila gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry.”

Alya: but who stole Lila’s toy and replaced it with...ladybugs?

Alix:...maybe the surprise was like a lucky charm. Able to burst into ladybugs?

Max: a little warning would have been nice

Alya: I don’t think so. Ladybug would never do this to her best friend. Someone must have stolen the real gift and replaced it with this...loveliness....

Horrible word for a group of ladybugs that creep the hell out of you. Thank god they were flying off already.

Mylène: but how could someone transfer that much ladybugs? No way.

Adrien: maybe Ladybug sent them as a warning.

He had advised Marinette to leave Lila alone and she had agreed. Adrien didn’t believe for a second Marinette would prank Lila. But for Lila to go after her, maybe she had stolen from Marinette and was trying to frame her now for something gone wrong.

Careful with his wording, Adrien sweetly said, “after all, on our first day, Lila told me she had important things to tell me about Ladybug. But then who showed up but Lady Luck herself, scolding Lila for just announcing ‘their best friend relationship’ to the world. We all know how Ladybug likes her privacy. I don’t think your best friend is happy with you, Lila.”

Adrien’s words worked. Ladybug did value her privacy...but for her to send such a créepy warning to her best friend just didn’t add up. Unless...

Nino: are you even best friends with Ladybug?

Ivan: you don’t have any proof. Ladybug herself never said so. You are as much Ladybug’s self-proclaimed best friend as Chloé is!

Chloé filed her nails, not bothering to raise her head. “Except everyone knows Ladybug trusts me with a miraculous. But can Lila say she is Rena Rouge when we know she is Volpina?”

Lila scrambled to regain control. “Of course I’m Rena! Volpina was my akumatized form.”

Alya: except weren’t you supposed to be in Achu during Heroes’ Day?

Lila: Pegasus brought me back.

Max: Pegasus didn’t even show up for battle. Logic would agree Ladybug would have wanted as much heroes as possible against Scarlet Moth’s army.

Juleka: not to mention, Chloé wasn’t exactly Ladybug’s first choice for a bee heroine. Accidents happen. But we all know Ladybug would want a hero who could keep a secret. And no offense Lila, but you suck at them.

Rose: not that we don’t enjoy celebrity gossip.

Alix: if they were ever true.

Lila saw she was being cornered and immediately burst into fake tears and ran away.

Kim: so to be clear, we’re not going to believe Lila anymore, right?

Alix: yup.

Max: affirmative

Marinette: finally

Lila came back with Ms Bustier, who scolded the class for bullying Lila. The class protested that Lila was a liar

Bustier: oh so you didn’t corner her until she burst out crying?

Alya: she accused Marinette of stealing some toy but Marinette was innocent! She’s been lying to us about everything!

Bustier: now, Lila, you can’t just accuse people without evidence.

Lila: she’s jealous of me!

Bustier: that’s not evidence.

Lila continued to sob.

Bustier sighed, “Perhaps I should call your mother and ask her to take you home.”

The tears miraculously vanished. “No. I don’t want to be a bother. I am a grown girl. I can handle my own problems.”

Bustier: good. Now class, turn to chapter 7....

Ivan: hey if Lila was lying about everything, doesn’t that mean she was playing truant?

Bustier: interrupting is rude, Ivan. Besides, I have her mother’s signed note and emails

Max: how do you know those are not forged and fake?

Nathaniel: did you even call Mrs Rossi to confirm?

Bustier: is that really necessary?

Sabrina: if you didn’t do that, you would be breaking protocol and would be held partially responsible for not doing your job

Bustier: this is ridiculous. Class is in session now, not court.

Chloé: I wonder if the school board would be interested in making an inspection of the akuma class.

Everyone turned to stare at Chloé.

Marinette: you do remember that you cause most akumas right?

Chloé shrugged. “If I’m the bad seed, then Ms Bustier is the one who watered the evil tree.”

Adrien: i thought you liked Ms Bustier

Chloé: that was before she ignored Lila sexually harassing you!

Nino: what?

Adrien: i wouldn’t say harass...

Chloé: you also wouldn’t say your father was an overprotective control freak who neglects you emotionally

Cue silence as Adrien sputters and the class agrees with Chloé.

Chloé: since you would accuse me and Dupain-Cheng for being biased.... illustrator, when Lila touches Adrien, is Adrien standing tall or leaning away.

Nathaniel: he was leaning away. Lila does seem to have no concept of personal boundaries

Marinette: why didn’t you stop her then?

Nathaniel shrugged. “I told Lila off in private. And it was just one time. I never saw her doing it again because Adrien doesn’t always stand close to her.”

Sabrina: I have the photos to prove Adrien minds Lila invading his space.

Chloé: so Miss Liar is guilty of deception, truancy, and sexual harassment. And is our favorite teacher honestly going to wait for an inspector to yell at her for not doing her job?

Under the pressuring stares, Bustier broke. “Fine. Lila, go to the principal’s office.”

Chloé: who says she’ll obey?

Bustier: Marinette, go with Lila.

Marinette: but she always twists my words!

Alya: why can’t Chloé go? The principal always listens to her

Chloé: I’m busy.

Marinette: what happened to doing this for Adrien?

Chloé: ugh. Fine. You people are ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous and hopeless without me.

Lila promptly got expelled. Her mother was called. The usual punishments happen. Even as Lila pointed out the principal was biased, the evidence of Chloe’s accusations were undeniable.

Later, Marinette asked what all that was about.

Tikki: oh she stole me so I had decided to teach her a lesson. Don’t mess with ladybugs.

At Agreste Mansion,

Adrien: so if you felt like it, you could summon a clowder of cats?

Plagg: yup. Much more preferable than actual plagues. Of course the target would be scratched and bitten by many wild cats, but this is already much more merciful than my previous punishments for offenders.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #Lila gets exposed #Lila is exposed

[alyasgf]

its nice to have a friend

mlb fic masterlist

ao3

Summary- Marinette giggled. “Why would Alya do this? It’s just that this is the kind of thing I used to do when.... oh.” Marinette went silent as the revelation hit her. “The kind of thing I used to do when I had a crush on Adrien.”

—————

Alya not so platonically loves Marinette with all of her heart, and the oblivious girl is only just realizing this

Word Count- 3920

Notes- happy pride month enjoy my massive gay brainrot. i wrote the entirety of this with Bo Burnham’s Inside playing in the background and i regret nothing. also tumblr mobile is my hell :)

Begin

Ever since Alya found out about Marinette’s identity she managed to go from completely forgetting she knew to bombarding her with questions constantly.

Once, she had climbed the stairs to Marinette’s room to see Ladybug coming in from the skylight and immediately screamed out in shock. Marinette had to tell her parents it was a rouge spider and wouldn’t stop teasing Alya about it for weeks.

Another time, Alya spent the entire night that she was over asking Marinette even the most minuscule of questions.

“Who gave you the miraculous?”

“Does Tikki have organs?”

“Do you have to de-transform to pee?”

“Is your suit water resistant?”

“Do you get cold fighting akumas at night?”

Eventually they came up with a system. Alya could ask 5 Ladybug related questions a week. To make sure they were well used, Alya would write down every question she had and chose her 5 favorites every Friday.

It was times like these when Marinette was woefully reminded that Alya was in fact a reporter, and her inquisitive nature just came with it.

Her notebook was disguised as her reporter’s journal and if anyone found it they could assume it was just her random train of thought.

Marinette was never allowed to look in it, so as Alya wrote in it during class she attempted to sneak a peek. She tried to stealthily look at it through the corner of her eye, but Alya noticed almost immediately and laughed before she closed the notebook and nudged her to pay attention to class.

Not a second later, there a was a loud bang outside the school. Marinette tensed as Miss Bustier began to usher students out of the room and to the basement of the school for safety.

“Ayla you have to come up with an excuse for me.” She pleaded with big round eyes.

“Why?” Alya asked as Marinette facepalmed with a disappointed sigh. “Right right! Of course!”

Lately Alya seemed to be as absent minded and jittery as Marinette herself. Whenever the bluenette attempted to bring it up, Alya would redden and dismiss it entirely.

“Miss Bustier! I need Marinette to help me in the bathrooms.” Miss Bustier looked at them questioningly. “Lady problems!” Alya called as she dragged Marinette away before the teacher could respond.

Once they reached the bathrooms Alya didn’t let go of Marinette’s hand.

“Can I ask you a Ladybug related question?” Alya asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.

Marinette nodded and looked into her eyes, confused. Alya looked worried, her breath coming out in short bursts and eyebrows knit tightly.

“When you get hurt, as Ladybug, does the suit cushion the blow? Does the miraculous cure heal you?”

Alya’s hand shook lightly in hers as she said this. Marinette put her other hand on top of Alya’s effectively sandwiching her hand between her own.

“It’s okay, I’m used to it. The suit helps a bit, but there are some risks I just have to take. Besides, it not like I’m all alone out there. I have Chat Noir. I have a team if I need one.” Marinette grabbed Alya’s chin so that the girl would meet her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Alya blushed and moved her chin from Marinette’s hand, as well as let go of her other.

“Okay.” She said, her voice returning. “Okay girl. Now go, you have a city to save.”

Alya pushed Marinette toward the door. Marinette wished more than anything she could stay and comfort her best friend, but Alya was right. So instead, she called out her transformation phrase and ran out the door.

As she left, Alya couldn’t help but sigh. Marinette always looked so graceful as she transformed.

After Marinette was gone, she waited a minute before running out behind her and whipping out her phone.

“Hi bugheads! An akuma was spotted somewhere outside of Collège Françoise Dupont and I’m here to give you the inside scoop.” And there she went, hoping to locate the akuma and her best friend as quickly as she could.

———————————

After the akuma, Marinette de-transformed and fed Tikki.

“I think that was sweet of Alya to care so much.” Tikki giggled as she took a big bite of her cookie.

“Yeah she’s been acting stranger than usual lately. Do you think it’s because she knows I’m Ladybug? She’s been nervous and timid and just the complete opposite of herself. Maybe she’s intimidated by me now?”

Tikki let out another giggle. “Oh I’m sure it’s not that. You know Alya. She’s not intimidated by anyone. I think it’s something else.”

“Like what?” Marinette questioned, feeling that Tikki knew exactly what it was and was holding back.

Tikki just silently munched on her cookie as Marinette glared at her.

Marinette heard the gravel crunch behind her and she ushered Tikki into her bag before darting around.

The sudden movement startled Alya who was directly behind her. Now that Marinette had turned around they were practically nose to nose. Marinette could smell Alya’s watermelon scented lip balm and Alya eyed Marinette’s lips before blushing and backing up.

“Hey girl, we should probably get back to class and apologize to Miss Bustier for disappearing.” She said quickly before grabbing Marinette’s wrist.

Marinette pulled her wrist away and crossed her arms stubbornly.

“No, first we need to talk about how close you were to that akuma.” Marinette huffed. “I was worried about you getting hurt and I couldn’t do a thing about it while fighting.”

Alya turned around with a cocky smirk on her face. Looking Marinette up and down, she couldn’t get over how adorable she looked when she was mad.

“Aww was the miraculous Ladybug worried about one measly civilian?” She teased as she walked back to Marinette’s side and threw an arm over her shoulder, attempting not to shudder at the warmth at their contact points. “I was fine. It was just Mr. Ramier again, and I’m not exactly scared of pigeons. Besides, it’s nothing your cure couldn’t fix.”

Marinette attempted to hold her resolve, but Alya could feel her soften under her touch.

“Still, I hate when you cross paths with the akumas, it’s like you’re asking for their attention.” Marinette let Alya lead her back to school, arms still crossed as Alya was draped over her shoulders.

“Makes great content though! Just wait until you see the action shots I got of you and Chat Noir. No way Nadia Chamakh could beat that!”

Marinette smiled as Alya gushed about the article she was going to write later that day. As Marinette put her arm around the small of Alya’s back she admired her. She could get so passionate about her blog, and that passion was why Marinette loved her so much.

———————————

“Are you sure you don’t want to hang out with Nino today? You’ve been with me almost every day for the last two weeks. It’s not that I mind, I love the company. I just don’t want to be stealing you.”

Marinette and Alya were out for juice after school. Marinette was nervously playing with her straw. She noticed how distant her friend was from Nino and figured this might just be the best way to bring it up.

“Actually Nino and I aren’t together anymore.” Alya replied casually as Marinette choked on her drink.

“I’m sorry, what?” She asked, after Alya patted her back a few times and she composed herself.

“We broke up a few weeks ago. It was mutual, neither of us did anything. We’re still friends.” Alya replied, taking a sip from her drink.

Marinette was confused. Alya and Nino were great together. Even after Marinette decided to give up on Luka and Adrien, they made her believe love could still be beautiful.

“Okay but why? I just don’t get it you guys were amazing together. Why didn’t you tell me?” Marinette couldn’t believe how nonchalant Alya was being about this.

“We broke up because, well, I have a crush on someone else.” Alya blushed. “Part of the reason I didn’t tell you is because there’s another thing I’ve been working up the nerve to tell you.”

Now it was Alya’s turn to nervously fiddle. She brought her hands beneath the table and picked at her fingers as she but her cheek.

“What do you need to tell me?” Marinette asked softly, in an attempt to ease Alya’s nerves. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

“Marinette I-“ Alya’s voice broke off as she lost her nerve. “Marinette I’m bisexual.”

Marinette’s heart warmed at the confession. She still felt like Alya was holding something back, but the fact that she trusted her enough to come out made her giddy.

“Oh Alya!” Marinette stood up and crossed to the other side of the table to throw her arms around her. Since Alya was sitting, Marinette placed herself in the girl’s lap so she could throughly smother her.

“That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you!”

Alya let out a deep breath she didn’t realize she had been holding in.

“You aren’t weirded out?” Alya asked, even though she knew Marinette to be the most accepting girl in the world, it was still terrifying.

“Of course not.” Marinette said as she climbed off Alya’s lap and returned to her seat. “It’s not like I’m entirely straight either.”

Now it was Alya’s turn to choke on her drink.

“Really?” Alya exclaimed with wide eyes. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t really feel the need to come out. I’m not sure what I am, but I’ve definitely had my share of girl crushes.” She said it like it was no big deal and Alya couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well god, if I knew that I would’ve just told you sooner.” Alya sighed.

Suddenly Marinette got a look in her eye that made Alya uneasy. It was a familiar look of determined curiosity with a smile that made her stomach flutter with butterflies.

“Sooo,” Marinette began. “You mentioned a crush?”

Alya immediately regretted her words.

“Now that I’ve given up entirely on my love life it gives me plenty of time to delve into yours. Schemes, plots, you name it, I can do it.” Marinette moved her now empty drink to the side and out her elbows in the table so she could lean closer.

Alya blushed, Marinette was so close she could count the freckles along her nose. She wished she could kiss every one as she did, but she immediately pushed that thought away as she tried to focus on the situation at hand.

“I... uh... it’s... well...” Alya tried and failed to get it out. It was just too much. She could smell Marinette’s perfume (strawberries and a hint of chocolate), see Marinette’s soft pale skin so close to her, and her mouth felt as though it were filled with cotton.

“Hey it’s okay.” Marinette returned back to her normal position in her seat and reached for Alya’s hand on the table. “You don’t have to tell me right now. When you’re ready I know you will.”

Alya swore Marinette was trying to kill her. Her hand was so soft and warm against her own and she wished more than anything she could just tell her. Instead she gave a small gratuitous smile to the beauty across from her.

“Now, I know it’s Friday, so what do you say to spending the night at your place and you can ask all of you questions?” Marinette proposed once she noticed Alya had finished the last of her juice.

“Sounds great.”

————————-

“Have you ever used your powers for personal gain?” Alya read from her notebook.

They were cross legged on her bed after dinner and Marinette had just gotten out of the shower.

“Is that seriously what you’re gonna use your last question on? Kind of a boring one don’t you think?” Marinette raised an eyebrow questioningly.

She looked adorably cozy, with her oversized pink hoodie and pink sweatpants to match. Alya shook her head slightly to clear her mind.

“Answer the question!” Alya pouted.

“Okay okay!” Marinette said begrudgingly.

And so Marinette told her about Adrien’s party. The Bubbler had played music for Adrien and Chloe to slow dance to and the lucky charm helped her change the song.

Alya loved hearing Marinette’s point of view of Ladybug related things. Stories about akumas or patrols were always so interesting as she told them. She was just so smart and quick thinking, while still being the same clumsy and kind hearted girl that Alya adored.

“Alright well that’s about it.” Alya said as she closed her notebook. “I’m gonna go take a shower and then maybe we can watch a movie?” She suggested as she climbed off the bed.

“As long as it isn’t anything scary!” Marinette called to the girl descending the stairs.

Once Alya was gone Tikki came out from whenever she was silently eating.

“Hey Marinette why is your name covered in hearts all over this book?”

Marinette turned to see Tikki looking through Alya’s notebook.

“Don’t touch that!” She said as she snatched the book away. “Some things are private!” She hugged the book close to her chest and gave the kwamii a pointed look.

Still, her curiosity got the best of her and she pulled the book away from her chest to look at the page. Sure enough, it was filled with random questions as well as doodles of Marinette’s name all over with little hearts.

Marinette giggled. “Why would Alya do this?” She asked Tikki, who was looking over her shoulder beside her.

Tikki couldn’t help but sigh at how oblivious her holder was. “I don’t know Marinette, but you should probably put that back before Alya gets out of the shower.”

“Alright I won’t look anymore. It’s just that this is the kind of thing I used to do when.... oh.” Marinette went silent as the revelation hit her. “The kind of thing I used to do when I had a crush on Adrien.”

“Sorry, did you see where I left my hair tie?” Marinette yelped and immediately threw the notebook away from her as Alya entered the room.

“Yeah it’s in the lamp by the dresser! I mean by the lamp on the dresser!” She squeaked out.

“Okayyy....” Alya said confused by her friend’s behavior. “You good?”

“Yep! Never better! Just me... hanging out with Tikki... like I do sometimes.” Marinette rubbed the back of her neck and looked around the room, avoiding her friends eyes as she turned bright red.

Alya just shrugged before leaving the room.

Marinette let out a sigh before grabbing a pillow and burying her head into it to scream.

———————————

The rest of the night was... odd to say the least.

Marinette couldn’t understand why she couldn’t look Alya in the eye anymore. What had changed? She could do it easily hours ago. (She knew exactly why. Alya liked her... and she... well she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt.)

In the end, Marinette was glad they had decided to watch a movie. While Alya was deeply invested in the movie Marinette put on (“What do you mean you’ve never seen Ponyo!?) Marinette couldn’t help but focus on how Alya’s body pressed against her, every point of contact setting her nerves on fire.

They were laying comfortably on Alya’s bed, and under the glow of the television they settled into their usual positions. Alya would lay down and the smaller girl would lay in her arms on her chest.

Before, Marinette would think nothing of it and quickly fall asleep, but now all she could think about was her racing heart and how calm Alya’s sounded throughout the entire movie. Over time she calmed down, laughing at Alya’s comments and supplying a few of her own.

“Marinette.” Alya whispered, in case she was asleep. The movie credits were playing in the background and Marinette had just began to drift off.

“Mhm?” Marinette replied, coming back from her nearly asleep state. She removed her arm from around Alya’s waist to rub the sleep from her eyes.

“Did I wake you?” Alya was still whispering which brought a warmth to her chest that Marinette couldn’t understand.

“No.” She lied. “What’s up?”

“I’m bored, can we do something?”

“Alyaaa” Marinette whined, snuggling deeper into her side, “it’s so late.”

Alay laughed and rubbed Marinette’s head. “It’s barely 10, you just sleep too much.”

Marinette grumbled before begrudgingly pulling herself up from the warm embrace. “Well fine, what do you want to do?” She crossed her arms over her chest while Alya detangled herself from the covers.

“Do my makeup?” She asked, walking over to turn off the television.

Marinette blushed at the thought of such close contact. It’s not like they hadn’t done this before, but Marinette wasn’t a fool, she knew what the fluttering in her chest meant all too well.

“O-okay.” She got up quickly, hoping she could hide her reddening face.

As Alya climbed up onto her bed, Marinette went to grab the makeup bag.

Alya hadn’t mentioned anything about her odd behavior so far, and as much as Marinette would’ve liked to attribute that to her amazing acting skills, she knew it was just because Alya wouldn’t want to do anything to make her feel uncomfortable or embarrassed.

And so they sat across from each other for about 20 minutes, joking and laughing while Marinette played around with her makeup.

“Marinette I swear, if I look in the mirror and don’t like what I see I’m going to kill you.” Alya said as Marinette reached for the black eye pencil.

“Oh be quiet you always look cute, besides I saw someone do this in a video I wanna see how it looks. Now stop talking, I can’t do your lips if you keep moving them.”

“I’m sorry, you’re putting that on my lips?” Alya asked with a shocked laugh.

Marinette joined in on laughing before shushing her yet again.

As she lined her lips, she couldn’t help but admire them. Round, full, and so magnetic. She then made the mistake of looking up into Alya’s eyes.

They were bright with laughter, but the minute they made eye contact they softened. Marinette swore she felt the energy in the air around then. She cursed to herself in her head before giving in.

Since they were so close, she didn’t have to lean far to meet Alya’s lips. At first, Alya let out a soft breath, almost like a gasp, before slotting her lips between Marinette’s.

Marinette could taste the hint of toothpaste and something unique to Alya. Her lips were softer than they looked and it felt so so good to give into the thoughts that had been going through her head for the last few hours.

Marinette’s hands went up to cup Alya’s face and Alya brought her’s up to cover them.

After a minute Alya pulled away slightly, hands still holding Marinette’s in place.

For a second they just sat there, Marinette caught her breath while admiring how pretty Alya looked with her freshly kissed lips. She looked up at Alya’s eyes to see them dancing along her face. Eventually their eyes met again.

Alya was the first to break the silence.

“That was... wow. I mean, wow, but what was that?” Alya slowly removed her hands and sat them in her lap, face going from blissful to what Marinette could only describe as confusingly lovesick.

“I read your notebook earlier.” Marinette blurted out. “I didn’t mean to I swear! It’s just that Tikki saw something and showed it to me and- well” Marinette took a moment to steal herself. “Alya am I the crush you didn’t want to talk about?”

Alya wouldn’t meet her eyes and Marinette could see a blush. Her heart swelled.

“I knew it.” Marinette tilted her head to catch Alya’s eyes. “It makes so much sense! The way you’ve been acting lately. I- I think I like you too”

Alya’s eyes widened in shock, still she said nothing.

“I didn’t realize that I did, but we’ve always been so close I never really thought about how good it felt to be around you. How all I wanted to do was be close to you, as close as I could get, always.”

There was a beat of silence. She cupped Alya’s face again, this time to turn her head to face her.

“Say something?” Marinette asked, nerves setting in after baring her feelings so openly.

“I didn’t want to say anything because you’ve been dealing with so much. With Adrien, with Luka,” Alya looked down as Marinette’s hand returned to her side. “With being Ladybug. I’ve been in love with you for a while, I didn’t want to admit it to you, admit it to myself, I didn’t want to scare you away.”

“Alya-“

“I need to finish. If I don’t do it now I don’t know if I’ll get the nerve to do it again.” The girl laughed nervously. “I’ve never felt this way so strongly before. Usually I don’t have any trouble telling anyone anything.

So imagine how confused I was when every time I tried to tell you I could barely breathe. It hurt so bad, so I pushed it down, I helped you with your boy problems and for a while I could ignore it.

I convinced myself the feelings were gone. I started dating Nino, and for a while everything was okay. But then you broke down, after you told me everything, we got closer, and it just felt like all my walls broke down. I love you Marinette.

I love how insanely clumsy you are. I love that cute little face you get when you’re annoyed, or how you will go out of your way to help anyone, even Chloe. I love your eyes, I love your smile, I love you.”

Marinette just sat there in shock as Alya poured her heart out. How had she felt this way all along, and how had Marinette not noticed sooner?

“I understand if you don’t feel the same way, or if we can’t be together because of everything you’re dealing with, but I just had to let it out.”

The minute Alya finished talking, Marinette pulled her into her arms and held her as tight as she could.

“The reason I can’t be with anyone else is because I can’t be honest with them. Alya, I can tell you anything and I wish you knew sooner that you can do the same. Even if I didn’t feel the same way, I promise it wouldn’t have hurt our friendship.

But I do feel the same way. I can’t imagine being as close to anyone as I am with you. I can’t believe it took me this long to realize, but I love you too. I really do.”

She felt Alya’s arms tighten around her, and they sat like that for a while, listening to each other breathe, enjoying the feeling of the other in their arms, no longer holding back any feelings.

Marinette pulled away to look at Alya, and she laughed.

“You’re right, that eyeliner in your lips doesn’t look as good as I thought it would.”

Alya let out an offended laugh. “Last time I checked, you said I always look cute.” She teased.

“I never said you didn’t still look cute.”

This time, Alya was the one to lean in for the kiss.

———————

End Notes- sorry i havent been writing that much, ive been hating everything i write so i have like 5 unfinished fics in my drafts😅

#miraculous marinette #miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #mlb marinette #mlb alya #alya x marinette #marinette x alya #alyanette #alya cesaire #ml alya #bisexual marinette #gays ladies and gentlemen #mlb fic #miraculous season 4 #miraculous fic #miraculous fanworks

[supercasey]

So I've been playing The Hades Game like fucking mad for the last few weeks, and although I'm not very far in it (at least, I don’t think I am; I’ve only beat Hades once!), I'm absolutely in love with it! Anyways, a certain idea has been kicking around in my head for awhile now, so I thought I'd share it with y'all; feel free to tell me what you think of it! (Warning: spoilers for when you beat Hades the first time!)

Anyways, I've already seen a really cool AU post for if Demeter raised Zagreus on the surface by herself (which you can find HERE; please check it out, the outfit for Zag alone is an amazing concept, and I love the artwork!!!) but I keep thinking about an AU where, after Zagreus dies at birth, Persephone runs away and takes his wrapped up body with her.

On the surface, she reconnects/reunites with her mother Demeter, and with her aid, the two of them manage to resurrect the newborn baby, though now he has more white in his hair than anything else. After that, Persephone sends Hades a letter to tell him that Zagreus is alive and well (because she actually has some fucking class), before proceeding to raise Zagreus on the surface with her mother, far away from the entrance to hell. The Olympians also help her out a bit, but mostly they just help by hiding Zagreus when it’s necessary.

(The rest is under a cut ‘cus this got a bit long, sorry!)

Years pass in relative peace, until Zagreus is about as old as he is in-game (I think he’s around 20-25ish???) and is living well, working with his mom and grandma to take care of their gardens and live peacefully away from mankind; he especially loves tending to the animals and guiding lost mortals to safety. However, one day while foraging for fruit in the deepest corners of his mother’s signature garden, Zagreus happens across a strange man in long robes, who introduces himself as Thanatos.

The two men get along swimmingly from minute one, and after agreeing to meet with each other again soon, they leave and tell their families/friends all about the experience, having no clue who they are to each other. After all, Thanatos was told growing up that his lord’s first wife died giving birth to their first and only child, who was a stillborn, and Zagreus thinks his father died of disease (his mom didn’t have to heart to tell him anything bad about his dad). Needless to say, they’re gonna be in for quite the shock soon.

Cue Hades losing his shit and calling on Thanatos, Megaera, and Achilles to go find his progeny and bring him home; he gives them special permission to leave the Underworld without any resistance, trusting Than to lead the way back to Zagreus. Achilles is less than thrilled to be performing such a morally grey task for his master, but Meg and Than are eager to prove themselves, so he begrudgingly agrees to help, even if it hurts his conscience to do so.

Persephone and Demeter also freak the hell out on their end, scared shitless by the fact that Death incarnate has just met their son/grandson, and they’re worried that he plans on coming back again soon. Demeter suggests sending Zagreus to live with the Olympians until this all blows over, but Persephone disagrees, wanting her son to stay nearby in case he grows ill (it’s implied that she’s a bit overprotective of him, mostly because she’s afraid of him dying again; this also means she refuses to let him know that he’s in any danger, believing it would only make things worse for him in the long-run). Frustrated but understanding her daughter’s pain all too well, Demeter at least convinces her to call on the Olympians for aid, which Persephone agrees to do.

The gods promise to help of course, but... well, they're low-key lying; they wanna see how this plays out first.

After several days of traveling through hell (literally), the “let’s kidnap Zagreus” gang makes it to the surface, and they immediately head to Persephone’s garden. All this time, Zagreus has no idea that he’s being targeted, so he goes about his chores as usual, only to run into Than again, and hey, he brought some more friends for him to meet! Zagreus is friendly with all of them, being raised to be very polite by his guardians, and while he’s busy chatting with Than and Achilles, he doesn’t notice Meg sneaking behind him. Just as Zagreus is rattling on about how the animals have been faring this summer, Meg stabs Zagreus in the back with a blade coated in Hades’s blood, cursing him to belong to the Underworld again.

With Zagreus now unconscious from a sedative that was mixed with the blood, the trio hurry off with him back to the Underworld, but not without Persephone seeing what they’ve done to her son. Horrified, she begins to sob, and winter arrives in the mortal world without so much as a fall season in-between this and the summertime.

When Zagreus comes to, he finds himself in a bedroom similar to the one he has in the game, but it’s much cleaner and has less objects of personal value to him. Hades is standing at the foot of his bed when he wakes up, and very calmly, Hades tells Zagreus that he’s his father, and that from now on, Zagreus will be living in the Underworld with him and his people, where he so obviously belongs. It’s a shame his mother can’t be here, of course, but they just need to wait awhile, that’s all; surely she’ll come to her senses and return home soon, now that her husband and son are here.

Zagreus jumps out of bed and faces his father as soon as he’s done monologuing, ready to tell him off for what he’s done, but to his shock, Hades hugs him as soon as he’s on his feet, and admits that he’s waited for this day for a long, long time. He asks his son to please just accept that this is his home now, and despite still being a bit surprised (and subtly hugging Hades back because Longing), Zagreus tells him straight up that he can’t, that he has to get home, especially with winter coming in a few months!

Dejected but not overly surprised, Hades simply nods in acceptance, but he still warns Zagreus that it’s no use trying to fight it; he’s stuck here, now and forever, so he may as well get comfortable and try getting along with him, because no one’s going anywhere anytime soon. Zagreus is horrified, but he nods nonetheless, unsure of what to say or do just yet.

Later that night, as Zagreus is struggling to sleep in this new, unfamiliar place, Achilles comes to him and apologizes about what’s happened, and although he can’t magically fix everything for him, he tells Zagreus that it actually is supposedly possible to escape; it’s just that no one’s ever done it before. Driven by his desire for freedom and the thought of reuniting with his mother, Zagreus tells Achilles that he’s going to find a way out, no matter the cost. Achilles congratulates him on his tenacity, but warns him that it won’t be easy. Still, he’s willing to help Zagreus as much as he can.

From then on, I imagine the game playing out very differently from the original, with a rather frazzled and scared Zagreus trying to get home to his mom and grandma, but with none of his training from Achilles in this AU, he has to rely on something his mother taught him; his connection with earth and all it’s inhabitants. Or, in his case, his connection with the spirits of animals (a cross of his dad and mom’s powers). That’s right, I’m making The Hades Game into a fucking Pokemon-ripoff, but still with some rouge-like elements mixed in (mostly with Zagreus not keeping his animals after runs).

Having royally fucked up in not stepping in sooner to protect Zagreus, the gods end up helping him out by sending down animals associated with them for the young god to tame for a run (I’ll come up with them later). They usually offer a selection to choose from, and from there Zagreus can build up a team and use it to try and escape the Underworld.

To replace weapons, I like to think he’d have “signature” animals that can help him out for any of his runs, specifically ones from Achilles, Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter (once he reaches the surface at least once), and eventually even Hades gives him one if they bond together enough ((yes, it’s Cerberus... kinda; it’s a puppy version of him, otherwise he’d be OP as fuck)). Zagreus’s signature animals can all be given names, and they keep certain skills that they pick up through enough experience battling in the Underworld for Zagreus.

As for story-line stuff, Zagreus ends up in a very fish out of water situation as he tries to get to know everyone in Hades’s house (he’s still our kindhearted Zag, after all, and he knows most of them aren’t to blame, not even really Than!) while also focusing on his goal to get home to his mom. Hades ends up being a lot nicer to him in this AU, perhaps overly so, as he’s trying to make his son like him more in order to make up for lost time (and fill the hole in his heart that Zag’s initial death as an infant and Persephone leaving with him created). It’s part of the reason he’s even letting Zagreus try to escape; he wants him to learn that it won’t work on his own terms (and maybe also scare the kid so bad that he comes running to him for comfort afterwards).

Also, I should really note that Zagreus is 100% a sweet country farm boy in this AU, and he has no idea what the fuck is going on with pretty much anything in the Underworld, much to everyone’s astonishment. For example:

Meg: Gods, it must be weird getting used to everything down here, huh? Sick of stepping in bat shit yet? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, and Dusa’s pretty good about cleaning it up to begin with. Zagreus: I mean, I guess? It’s not that different from chicken shit tbh. Meg: What the fuck is a chicken???

After that... yeah, I dunno. I’ll try playing Hades some more, see if I think up anything else that could be interesting, but for now, I hope at least someone ends up liking this dumb AU (if not, I’ll still like it... might even try my hand at drawing for it a bit tbh). Again, please check out the person who’s post/art I linked earlier in the post, ‘cus their art is really awesome and inspired me to include Demeter more in this AU!

#supercasey ramblings #hades game #zagreus #zagreus hades #thanatos #hades #persephone #demeter #megaera #achilles #hades farmboy au #i dunno what else to fucking call it #thanzag #if ya squint

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

Shelbys at Somme: Chapter 14

Thomas X Reader

Word Count: 1413

Summary: Grace finally gets some answers that she’s been desperate for.

by @adventuresintooblivion

For the rest of the evening Y/N sat at the piano and played until well after the Garrison closed. It wasn’t until Grace fumbled with a keg that she even realized the time. She slowly stood and made her way toward the bar.

“Need help with that?”

Grace huffed, narrowly missing her toes as the keg fell to the ground once again. “No. Not from you at least. If Henry or Arthur were here, I might accept.”

Y/N sighed, “Look, today is a good day so I’m actually not useless for once.”

“Quite frankly, I don’t care.”

“What the fuck, Grace? I can at least hold the door open.” Y/N stepped around the struggling woman to do just that.

Grace practically growled, “If you’re gonna be like that then fine, grab the other end.”

Y/N quickly propped the door open with her shoe before running over the help. They struggled with the weight, neither really used to lifting something quite that large or heavy. They managed to get it just past the threshold of the door before disaster struck. Grace stumbled, knocking the door back far enough that it gained momentum. With that extra momentum it sent Y/N’s shoe flying and the door closed behind then. A resounding click echoed through the small back room.

Dread slowly settled in Y/N’s stomach, “Please tell me you have the keys on you.”

Grace’s face had paled by several shades, “They’re on the bar.”

They heaved the keg into place where it would be tapped later before Grace rushed toward the door. Sure enough it was locked. Grace bent down and rammed the door with her shoulder. It shuddered, but not enough for there to be a possibility of it breaking.

Y/N grimaced, “I’d help, but I don’t think my back would hold up.”

“Right.” Grace’s voice was clipped as she tried again.

“You know we can wait for someone to show up. Thomas will at least get here before too much longer.”

Grace cast an almost pained look back at her, “Oh yes, I bet he’ll definitely miss getting his cock wet.”

Y/N shook her head, “How many times do I have to tell you? The last time Thomas and I fucked was four years ago for Christ’s sake.”

Grace’s lips pressed into a thin line. She stared at the door, willing it to open, but it just stood proudly. Taunting her. The sound of metal scraping against wood caught her attention. Y/N stood, brandishing a crowbar.

“Think this’ll work?”

Grace shook her head, “The hinges are on the other side of the door.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

With a loud thud Y/N leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the cold ground. She wrapped her coat around her. A threadbare thing that hung loosely off her frame. If Grace looked closely she would see that it had originally been a men’s coat that had been altered. But right now Grace was looking everywhere but at Y/N.

As time passed Grace also sunk to the floor. She knelt before the door her silent prayers ignore. And as more time passed, the harder it was to ignore the anger that clawed at her chest. The inspector’s words repeated time and again. Matthew is dead, because of her.

As time passed the room grew colder.Without the oven running there was nothing to ward off the chill and the hard floors did nothing to conserve what little heat was in the room. Shivers ran all along Grace’s body by the time Y/N spoke.

“You know if we sat together we’d be warmer. Maybe even just this side of comfortable.”

Grace shot her a glare, one that would’ve made Aunt Pol proud. “I’m not snuggling up to you just because it’s a little chilly.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, “Grace, a little chilly is when a rouge breeze gets past your coat. This is bloody cold and winter is only a couple days away from properly starting. Now you can scoot over here or I can go over there, but I’m pretty sure there’s a draft coming from under that door that’ll make us both miserable.”

A faint breeze tickled Grace’s knees as if to drive Y/N’s point home. Reluctantly, she lifted herself from the floor. Her joints protested loudly as she made her way to finally curly up beside the woman she hated. A few minutes later a small layer of heat built up between them.

“So.” Grace asked. “What brings a soldier like you back after three years?”

Y/N raised her eyebrow, “I think you know that answer to that.”

“Indulge me.”

“Well.” Y/N sighed. “I came back because of a couple reasons I guess. Sorta fell in love, which that’s no surprise to anyone with eyes. The idea that my entire company thought I’d gotten blown up didn’t sit well with me and...I guess I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”

Grace chuckled, “Sounds awfully sweet for a killer.”

Y/N turned to face Grace, “Killer? For what I did in the war?”

She froze. Her anger had gotten the best of her, making her slip in the stupidest of ways. So when Y/N gave her an out she could only nod dumbly.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t like killing people, Grace. That shit gives me nightmares for crying out loud.”

Grace opened and closed her mouth a few times before blurting out, “Doesn’t it get easier? The more you do it, I mean?”

The horror on Y/N’s face melted away to reveal something much more somber beneath, “Yes, and no.” 

She waited in confusion, not trusting herself to continue speaking. Y/N took that as an indication that she needed to elaborate.

“The first time you kill, I think that’s the one that takes the biggest piece of you with it. That’s the one you always remember and the one that replays the most. Next time it’s still shocking, but it’s not as bad. Eventually that continues, each death taking a smaller piece. You say you’re doing it for a cause, or to protect someone. That’s when it’s the easiest. When they all blur together and you’re so sure that you’re right that you feel unstoppable. “

“But then...I joined the war and despite all the horrible things I’d seen, I started hearing about the families back home. They’d all tell stories about the siblings that got left behind or the children that would be born while they were gone. Then you start to hear those stories when you’re pointing a rifle at the enemy. Suddenly he’s not the enemy anymore, just a person who got dragged into this. Like we all did. But you can’t hesitate because if you do, all those people who are depending on you die. Then they tell you that the killing can stop now but it’s too late. Every death still takes a piece but you’re pretty sure you’ve got no pieces left. That’s when it becomes impossible again.”

Grace can’t stop the words now, “Have you killed someone recently?”

Y/N doesn’t answer right away, “It was when I got kidnapped. I… It was an accident. You get too good at making sure the other guy never gets up and then the one time you try to miss. I was aiming for his jaw, I got him in the head.”

“Do you regret it?” Grace’s words were barely a whisper.

“Of course I do.” Y/N pressed her eyes into the palm of her hand. “He was just another copper. Just another pair of feet that was gonna kick me until I couldn’t breathe. They said his death was the cause, but they would’ve done it anyway. Still, I wish I hadn’t.”

While it was far from gone the anger inside Grace now felt hollow. It’s claws weren’t as sharp as they had been a moment before. Nor did it break through the mask she’d carefully crafted over months. She could finally breathe again. 

Y/N’s voice broke as she continued, “You know, I don’t think he saw it coming. Which is honestly the best we could hope for, right?

Grace rested her hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to do but in the end she pulled Y/N closer until she was leaning against her chest.

#thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby imagine #tommy x reader #tommy imagine #reader insert #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder

[adimelymanner]

Sweetest, Biggest Fan

This will literally waste your time so...you’ve been warned.

Just based off of this picrew (mine is last) because it gave me crazy Bakugou fan vibes. I’m not going to wait because it will end up like the other things and never see the light of day so apologies if there’s editing mishaps. I know it’s Feb but new year new me!

Words: 1.2K

Warnings: This plays with the Yandere theme so keep that in mind. No smut, no “kinks” of mine, just a random post that I already warned you about ,but see you are refusing to listen and need to learn for yourself...

Honestly it’s just me being a menace writing about a menace...Also this didn’t paste how I wanted so... enjoy 😉

Begin Scene 👏🏾

Anyone else would have simply turned off the television. Or maybe pause and squeal with joy that the real life Dynamight was going to be in the same neighborhood at such close vicinity. Hell they might even call up their friends to start planning a meet up at the location. But fuck that - you weren't just anyone. What would be nothing to anyone else sent anger pulsing through your veins, but who could blame you? You were his biggest fan. When you saw the interview with that wretched bakeshop owner a few blocks away on the news stating that Bakugou Katsuki “Lord Undercut” Explosion Murder (and greatest hero in your mind) would be gracing them with his presence you were almost happy. Almost. But that damn woman with her damn rosy cheeked smile seemed soooo thrilled that her rank little shop had been damaged by him during a villain pursuit. So thrilled because the incident caused the agency to force Bakugou to make an appearance once they reopened to get business back up and running. You remember her lips stretching ear to ear sharing that she would make him the best dessert he had ever tasted. 

You scoffed. She was so annoyingly enthusiastic, but he didn't even like sweets! Pathetic. Of course you weren’t surprised, not everyone knew him like you did. The poor girl was just stupid is all but it still pissed you off. You weren’t jealous you just knew he didn't want to subject himself to wasting his time because you knew him. She wasn't even his type! How could she be? She wasn't you. You wanted to wipe that little smile off of her face and knew just the way to do it. It was an efficient way to kill two birds with one stone honestly. Save him from wasting time and save her from the embarrassment. Heh maybe she would be calling you a hero afterwards, but there wouldn’t be a chance for her to get the words out. Unfortunately she wouldn’t have a chance to see him take his first bite.

You even got a little cute beforehand juuuust in case you happened to run into him. You were always prepared to see him. A turtle neck here, a pair of ass blessing leggings there and voila! Oh..and your spiked brass knuckles - a cute accessory and essential for handling your business at the bakery. 

It was late - surely no one would hear you. The neighborhood wasn’t that great, so the chances that someone would notice the sound of glass breaking when you took your metal bat to it was little to none. You didn’t mean to make such a rude entrance, it’s that bitch’s fault for locking the door! Honestly you didn’t have time to feel bad. You stepped into the shop, music still playing probably because she was either too excited to remember or she was still oddly in the shop. You didn’t care. You hopped over the counter, not even caring about the cupcake display you knocked over, it was probably stale anyway. If she was really a fan she would have made a fresh display for him, but no she didn’t and that’s why you couldn’t allow him to waste time on scrubs like her. Honestly the things you do for that man.

You made your way to the kitchen where you couldn't decide if it was heaven or hell. All of those (albeit delicious) delicacies on any other day would have called your name, but today you only thought about how people would be lining up in a matter of hours to have the chance to see him - YOUR idol dammit. The thought made you grab the nearest tart and  throw it against the wall. Ooh - that was therapeutic. You ripped the plastic off of the tray of cupcakes grasping one in each hand as you closed them within your fist feeling the cream filled dessert squish between your fingers. “Red velvet” you questioned as you sniffed the air - not bad. You slammed down palms first onto the table flattening two more as a jelly bursted out onto the table meeting their doom. Taking hold of a few cookies you crushed them together and twisted, making them crumble in your hand. The cakes at the other end? They tasted the ground as you swiped your arm shoving each one off the surface. The last thing it saw was the bottom of your boot as your shoe came down, filling the grooves of your sole with fudge icing and cake. After a quick game of hopscotch you took a break from stomping all over her precious time and continued your search.

There was a door in the back that was slightly cracked. That has to be it! You printed the floor with your icing covered footsteps, closer and closer until you reached the room and slowly pushed the door open further. 

Jackpot. 

You just knew the precious little thing wouldn’t leave the bakery. Back in the corner, sweating alllll that time before you figured out the hiding spot. Little shit probably knew what was coming. You were staring directly into the very thing that would cause your precious Dynamight so much trouble tomorrow.You were quick in getting close landing a nice swift kick from the side; you couldn’t wait to knock that bitch off the pedestal the media had delicately given up. You didn’t want to stop kicking but you wanted to get more personal. You looked down and took it all in, broken, leaking red on the floor admiring your work before you got on your knees and put those brass knuckles to use. It was almost too easy the way the spikes punctured through causing the dark rouge color to splatter all over your face. It was cold once it hit your face and dripped down your cheek. “Take that” as you landed another spiked smash. 

You were breathing heavily reviewing your work. Shattered and painting the walls it looked so pretty, so...tasty. You knew you had to leave soon but couldn’t help yourself as you took two fingers and swiped them across the red liquid bringing it to your tongue letting your taste buds relish in the moment. “Mmmmm”, tangy yet sweet, a delicious mixture of flavors coming from the cherry filling even after being battered into almost nothing. You almost felt bad for what you did - it wasn’t too sweet, he actually might’ve liked it. Still, you got up and made your way back to the front of the store reviewing your work as you strutted towards the window. People would surely be showing up early to see him, so you had to run home to make sure you were ready. He’s going to be so relieved! Maybe he’ll take you on a private trip to show his gratitude. You had saved him. You felt the crunch of the glass and looked back one more time. What would she think? Poor girl just had her bakery repaired... “Oh well”, you thought, “sorry it didn’t work out it’s just...I’m his biggest fan ya know? No hard feelings.” A toothy grin consumed your face as you hopped outside and waltzed your way home licking the cherry goodness off your lips wishing it was caramel instead.

#bnha fanfiction #bakugou x reader #yandere reader insert #kinda #bakugou katsuki #He's not there he is just mentioned #no actual food was harmed making this #I'm just a troll your honor

[whitecrowapothecary]

Like A Dream

Jaskier has had dreams for as long as he could remember- of monsters and magic and all the things that go bump in the night. He dreams of golden eyes and silver swords and honeyed ballads. 

AKA the modern immortal/reincarnation AU no one asked for but I’m writing

Read it on AO3 here!

There’s music around him. Coming from him, his throat warm and honeyed with the lyrics he sings. Not him- the bard, the unknown man who captures his mind at night when he closes his eyes. He- they- are playing for an audience. Jaskier is used to this, the wayward looks, captured attention, but it’s… new. There’s an instrument in his hand he’s never learned to play and lyrics on his lips he’s never written, clothes resplendent of another time, another world, and he drinks it in with abandon. Full, flowing skirts, jackets made of the richest silk brocade in all colors, though all are muted compared to the bright, rich amethyst ensemble he seems to have donned for the performance.

He’s deep into his set, if he should call it that, singing about a fishmongers daughter just to get a laugh out of the crowd when his eyes catch on a small, insignificant detail. Jaskier sings and sways among the royalty around him, but all he can see is gold with flecks of amber, curious cat eyes watching him from the shadows. He takes a step closer, then two, then three until he’s propelling through the crowd, and just as a jaw covered in a neat snow white beard is unearthed from the shadows, a blare sounds, and the image shatters.

He gasps awake, clutching at his chest and trying to quell the shaking of his hands. Sweat sticks his hair to the back of his neck and his forehead in small curls which Jaskier rakes a hand through. On the nightstand, next to the bed, his phone vibrates, clanking softly against the wood until Jaskier scoops it up and hits answer. There are only a handful of people who will actually ring through.

“What, Pris?”

“Ah, woke you up huh? Touchy touchy. You haven’t forgotten about our brunch date, have you?” The voice on the other end is perky, far too awake for Jaskier’s liking right now.

“No, no of course not. You aren’t here yet, are you?” He slips from bed, grimacing and rummaging through his closet for something to wear, phone pinched between his ear and his shoulder.

“Almost, a block away.”

“Shit, okay, let yourself in?” The woman on the other end hums, amused, and Jaskier hangs up. Leave it to him to fail to set an alarm for something like this. He drags his sorry carcass into the bathroom, intent on getting a shower. He feels cold and sticky for all the wrong reasons, and when he looks at himself in the mirror the blue in his eyes is offset by the purple bags underneath. It’s… not an attractive look for himself. The hot water pounds against his back when he hops under the spray and he groans, letting it wash over him. Praying it’ll wash away the dream that seems to cling to him, digging at his bones and refusing to leave.

He’d had the dreams for as long as he could remember- at first they were nothing more than terrors, dreams of hideous, foul smelling creatures with sharp claws. Claws that regularly tore into the soft flesh of his belly, or the tender meat of his thigh, leaving him to wake up screaming and thrashing in bed. His parents, bless them, had tried everything to help, from heavy medication to therapy to a stint in a mental facility, but nothing took the monsters away. Medication only trapped him within his dreams, unable to wake up until he was well and thoroughly taken apart, and therapists only insisted the monsters were representations of some trauma he’d sustained as a child. The stay at the mental facility, well, that was more a break for his parents than thirteen year old Jaskier.

He’d learned to hide them, since then, to hold people at arms length and keep them from seeing what he truly was. The monsters rarely followed him into real life, but on the occasion he saw mention of a kikimore on the news, or a striga cropped up in Germany somewhere, well, it was all too easy to flip the channel and pretend. Now though… it was becoming harder and harder to leave his dreams behind when the sun came up. The dreams had shifted when he was almost eighteen, from monsters hunting and maiming him to something else- instruments and performances and gaudy, awful clothing he had no name for. Days spent walking and walking and walking, sweating under the sun but grinning like it didn’t bother whoever was in his dreams. It was harder still, to pretend that the performer in his dreams didn’t have his hands, his wonderful, skillful fingers, or the voice he’d spent years fine tuning.

He’s knocked from his reverie by the sound of his front door opening and clicking shut and the smell of food drifting in. His stomach growls loudly, protesting it’s current situation, and Jaskier hurries to finish his shower and get dressed. He’s got a towel in hand, scrubbing at his hair when he pads out barefoot and spots the blonde currently tinkering with his tv remote. Her blue eyes are bright, friendly, and she motions to the spread of food currently piled on his coffee table.

“Got you coffee.”

“Thank Melitele.” He makes a beeline for it, not caring the way it burns his tongue as he gulps it down. That draws a laugh from his companion, and he throws himself onto the couch, settling his legs across her lap and tossing his towel onto the chair nearby. He’ll get it later. “You’re a godsend, you know that Priscilla?”

A small smile plays on the woman’s lips, colored by rouge lipstick, and she raises a brow. “I do, but it’s nice to hear. Did you not sleep at all last night, Jaskier?”

“Ah, I’m afraid my muse kept me up, as usual.” He grins at her, reaching out to snag a strawberry from her plate before bending to get at the french toast on the coffee table. It smells absolutely divine, and maybe some food will make him feel more like himself and less like a shell of someone else.

“You really need to learn how to prioritize sleep.” Priscilla says, shaking her head fondly and digging into her eggs. He hums, half paying attention to the news on the screen. It’s nothing new, stocks going up and down, the latest in sports, and something about him, actually. Talking about his newest single that’s put him up in the top ten- Her Sweet Kiss. Jaskier clicks away before they can play the music, drawing a laugh from Priscilla. “You know, you never told me where the song came from.”

“Didn’t I? A whirlwind affair in Europe, during my last tour. She was… incredible, shall I say? Truly someone never forgotten.” He’s bullshitting and Priscilla knows it. The song had come to him, as most do now, in his dreams. Ringing through his ears in a voice so close to his he can feel his throat burning when he wakes up. She doesn’t press though- she knows better than to push Jaskier too far. The glassy, far away look he got when thinking about whatever it was that inspired his songs was sad, old, and lingered on Jaskier’s face the rest of the day. Jaskier focuses on eating now, barely tasting bite after bite and only stopping when his stomach is full. Priscilla does much the same, but she chatters through the melancholy.

Jaskier stops himself on a random show, listening to Priscilla but staring at the screen. It’s something nonsense, talking about old instruments, but his hand stops mid bite, the french toast falling back onto his plate with a wet smack. He stares, wide eyed, at the wide, oval bowl of the instrument and the short, sturdy neck. The strings, there are more than a guitar but not nearly enough- no, his had more. Six pairs, one singular. His?

“-ier? Jaskier, what is it?”

“What is that?” His voice sounds strange, words twisted faintly by an accent he’s never had before, and he sets his plate down as Priscilla looks between him and the tv.

“An instrument? You put on the show.”

“But what kind?” At this Priscilla frowns. She doesn’t seem to know either, and she shrugs reluctantly.

“We could ask Essi, I’m sure she knows more. Why, do you recognize it?”

“No.” He says softly, switching the tv off. He ignores Priscilla’s worried look and goes instead to put on socks and shoes, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on. It’s big, engulfs his frame, but there’s something about it he couldn’t get out of his head when he’d seen it in a thrift shop off of 28th. It’s also entirely too hot outside to need it, but he feels naked without it, and the hood will give him a better chance at remaining hidden. Not that that happens much anymore. Priscilla has the food cleaned up when he steps out of his room, and she swings her keys around her finger, lingering near the door.

“Where are we going today, my famous friend?” Jaskier rolls his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Anywhere but here. I think I’ll go mad if I hide in bed anymore.”

“That’s the spirit! There’s this new music store on Madison we could check out, and then that little bistro for a late lunch-” Her words fade from his ears as they merge into the crowd outside of his apartment building. He slips on sunglasses, nondescript ones he’d gotten from a random gas station, and prays that today he looks like anyone else. With Priscilla at his side, arm looped through his, no one pays much attention to the couple wandering down the street, chattering away. Jaskier feels a rush of gratitude for his friend, for the unwavering presence she is in his life. He’s not sure how he would have managed his budding fame without her, or handled being recognized everywhere once his face and name and music became more common knowledge.

“You’re the one who wrote the songs.” A rough voice reminds him, teasing.

“Yes, well, I didn’t expect them to break into my HOUSE for an autograph!”

“Get better doors. And a guard.” He drowns in those eyes, an endless pool of gold, and he reaches up to brush a stray lock of hair away, a smile stretching his lips wide.

“Why would I need anyone other than you?”

Jaskier stumbles over a crack in the sidewalk, pitching forward, and it’s only Priscilla next to him that keeps him standing. He rights himself, cheeks pink, and laughs despite his heart pounding in his chest.

“Ah, rather clumsy today. I probably should have had more coffee.”

“Or more sleep.” She counters, Jaskier laughing again and nodding in agreement. More sleep is definitely what he needs. A nice, dreamless sleep. Maybe if he gets that, he’ll be able to function like a human being again, instead of walking through the world with half a mind stuck firmly in fiction. The music shop is a quaint, cute little building tucked in a strip of other quaint buildings, and Jaskier ducks into the dim light of the shop. There are rows and rows of cds, vinyls, movies and more, and his eyes track along them all, taking in the sights and colors. There are plenty of instruments on the wall, guitars, basses, a couple of keyboards and a few sets of bongos even. There seems to be little rhyme or reason besides the alphabetical arrangement of the displays, and Jaskier spends his time wandering while Priscilla goes straight for the vinyls.

He’s near the back of the shop, by the counter when he spots an instrument on display behind the glass display. The sight is enough to make him freeze, and he stares at the smooth wood, the graceful curve of the instrument, finding that his fingers have begun to twitch. This can’t be a coincidence.

“Do you play?” A voice breaks through to him, and he has to blink a few times before he can focus on the man standing before him. His dark hair curls rather attractively, falling around his face and framing rather striking hazel eyes. Jaskier’s countenance sours immediately, and he squints suspiciously. It takes the man a moment, but he grins wide when he recognizes Jaskier. “Dandelion! A pleasure to have you here.”

“Valdo. This is your shop?”

“It is indeed, opened it up after my last album.” He’s proud, almost annoyingly so, but Jaskier begrudgingly has to admit the shop is rather nice. His eyes wander back to the instrument behind Valdo, and Valdo raises his brows. “You never said if you played. Would you like to hold it?”

“You’d let me?”

“I’ve seen how you care for your guitar. I’d warn you it’s expensive, but I know you’re good for any damages.” Jaskier snorts as the other man goes to grab the instrument, and his fingers drum against his thighs. “Do you even know what this is?”

“Not a clue.” Jaskier’s hands are reaching for it as soon as Valdo holds it out, and he tucks the strap around his body. The neck settles into his hands, fingers resting on the strings, and a line of tension holding his body razor tight snaps.

“It’s a-” The soft sound of Jaskier plucking out a melody stops Valdo short, and Jaskier closes his eyes to ward off the dizziness.

A fire crackles merrily in front of him as he plays, tinkering away at a tune with his notebook close by. He isn’t sure about the harmony of the piece, the way the notes blend together. There’s something missing, and he can’t figure out what it is. He stops with a heavy sigh, scrubbing at his face and wracking his brain.

“You’re missing the lowest note in the harmony.”

“Pardon?” He looks up, sees the sensual curve of a small smirk on a very ruggedly handsome face, and those eyes, always those eyes staring back. The man comes over, reeking of pine and metal and home, and reaches to softly pluck at one of the strings. The note rings out and Jaskier latches on.

“Try.” The man whispers, and Jaskier does, drawing the note into his harmony and grinning at the fully bodied life it brings.

Jaskier’s head is spinning when he finally opens his eyes again, Valdo staring at him with unabashed surprise. Priscilla is at his side, hand on his elbow to hold him steady, and he glances down at the familiar way in which his hands hold the lute. Because that’s what it is- his favorite instrument, the thing that made him coin and granted him fame and found him a-

Jaskier’s heart cracks in his chest, and his breath punches out of him in one big whoosh. He lifts the lute over his head, pressing it back into Valdo’s hands before turning to bolt out the front door of the shop. He doesn’t know where he’s going, merely that he has to get away, to find somewhere safe. He feels a thousand eyes on him, whispers following his frantic fleeing, and he ducks into an alleyway, hiding behind a trash can and pressing his back to the brick wall. There’s a stitch in his side from his frantic running and his hands won’t stop shaking as he rakes his fingers through his hair. The song rings through him, as fresh as the day it was written, and the lyrics come to him unbidden.

He’s crazy. He’s well and truly crazy, because there’s no way what he’s seeing can be real, but it’s so vividly him, buried so deep in his heart that there’s no way it could be fake either. His breath comes from him faster and faster, and tears blur his vision as he folds his knees up to his chest and rocks. Priscilla finds him that way, huddled in a ball amongst the trash, sobbing and muttering to himself, and she uses the large hood of his jacket to hide his face as she gets him home. Jaskier has calmed enough to get himself up the stairs when they manage to stumble their way back, and his chest aches from the pounding of his heart.

The tremor in his hands hasn’t abated yet, but the mug that’s pressed into his hands doesn’t shake, so he just enjoys the warmth that it brings him. Priscilla seems at a loss for words, but Jaskier knows what she wants to ask. “Just say it, Pris.”

“What happened? You haven’t been yourself all morning- first with the tv, and then the lute in the shop? Jaskier, I’ve never seen you like this.”

“I have dreams.” He says, voice so soft it’s almost lost in the sound of his heartbeat. “And lately, I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.”

Priscilla reaches out, touching his shoulder lightly, and her face is soft, sad. “They’re just dreams. What you do here, the music you make, that’s what’s real.”

Jaskier nods, but his heart is plummeting in his chest and he doesn’t know why. Priscilla’s words should be a comfort, someone rooted in his reality telling him that his dreams are just that- dreams. The result of an overactive imagination. That’s all they are, all they’ve ever been. Jaskier tries not to let the thought suck him down somewhere he doesn’t want to go, but it’s near impossible to fight the tide rising in him. “They’re just dreams.”

He takes a sip of his lukewarm drink to find that it’s tea- the stuff he usually drinks as a last resort before bed time. It’s never worked before, but Jaskier downs the rest of it and hopes that this time, it will. Priscilla waits until he’s finished to take the cup, and when she comes back she’s holding a very large, very lute shaped object in her hands. Jaskier frowns, confused, but takes it from her anyway, tracing fingers over the lacquered wood. It’s smooth and warm under his touch, and he finds himself picking at the strings just to hear the sound. “Valdo said that it was yours.”

“I didn’t pay him.”

“He knew you’d say that. He said, and I quote ‘I’ve only been holding it for him.’ Whatever that might mean.” Jaskier schools his features into careful indifference, trying not to let his discomfort show. What in the hell does he mean by that? He’s going to have to go back to the shop and talk to him to find out, but he’s not inclined to leave his apartment for the foreseeable future. Priscilla, sensing the mood has gone down, ruffles Jaskier’s hair and gives his shoulders a squeeze. “Take some time, Dandy, get some sleep, then come back.”

Jaskier makes a soft noise in his throat at the silly nickname, but it’s sweet and Jaskier has never told her to stop. He watches her duck out of the apartment with one last look his way, and once the door clicks shut, locking behind her, he grips the lute tighter. He hasn’t ever played formally- has never been trained, and while a guitar is similar, there’s more strings than ever and he expects to fumble.

He doesn’t.

His fingers know what to do even without his brain, and he hums along to the melody from before. Here, in the safety of his apartment, he plays and plays until the song is firmly committed to memory and he’s written down the lyrics to go along with it. A song about the monster of the wood, a cruel, hungry creature with the head of a deer, stalking him in the night.

“You need to listen to me-”

“I’m your barker, for better or worse. How can I bark if I never see anything?”

“You stay alive for a day longer.” His hands shake with anger, chest burning with it, and the man in front of him, golden eyes fierce and animal, glares back just as hotly. They’re nose to nose practically, and his head pounds in time with his heartbeat as his hands come up, shoving the man away and watching in shock as he goes.

“Go then. I’ll be here, tending your fire and watching your horse, as that is all I am good for.” He turns then, but a hand grabs at his arm, turning him around on his heel. He pulls against it, fights to be released, but Geralt’s hand bunches in his shirt above his heart and holds him. “Geralt-”

“For better or worse, Jaskier.” His eyes meet gold, molten and scalding, and he’s speechless at the sincere intensity in Geralt’s gaze. “I would rather it be better.”

“You don’t get to decide that-” Geralt cuts him off with a kiss, lips hard against his own. It’s awkward, a bit painful, but Jaskier tilts his head, pulls back a bit and Geralt responds in kind. He kisses, Jaskier decides, like a man who has been kissed not nearly enough, and he commits himself to fixing that immediately. Geralt’s grip loosens in Jaskier’s shirt, but Jaskier’s hand comes up to bury in snow white locks, keeping him close as his heart rockets into his throat.

The strings of the lute dig painfully into his fingers when he comes to, and he shakes himself, releasing his tight hold and groaning when blood rushes back into the pads of his fingers. He tucks the lute back away in its case, not wanting to look at the flowers painted onto the wood along its wide belly. He tells himself not to touch the lute, to leave it alone so that all this will go away, but the longer he sits on his couch, leg bouncing and tv on some awful movie the more his fingers itch to play.

Instead, he forces himself to get up, to pull out his vacuum and mop and cleaning supplies. He spends the afternoon scrubbing down every inch of the apartment, puts away his laundry, and even tidies up his desk, which is a rather artful disarray of papers. Some, like Priscilla, call it a mess, but Jaskier knows where each piece of paper goes, and he prefers it stays that way. Cleaning can only distract him for so long, and once the smell of lemon cleaner becomes too much he caves, grabbing the lute and ducking out onto his balcony.

The sun is beginning to descend on the city, and he allows it to warm his bones and loosen his muscles as he plays. Each song that comes from him is new and old and entirely his, each rich, resounding note a piece of him. The instrument is no more a stranger to him than his guitar, or his flute, or any of the other instruments he’s picked up and enjoyed along the way. Its weight, the feeling of the double strings pressing under his fingers is home to him, and he plays long after the sun is set. There’s a reckoning, a righteousness within this instrument that calls to the deepest parts of Jaskier’s soul, and he finds himself crying with no real reason as to why.

He cries silently, holding the lute close to him and staring out over the city. Cars rush past his building, far below, and somewhere nearby a dog barks. But it’s all background noise- it’s nothing compared to the harsh intake of his breath or the way that it shudders out of him. When he can’t stand it anymore he retreats back inside, leaving his lute on his dresser before stripping down and crawling into bed. There, buried under blankets and utterly, terribly alone, Jaskier closes his eyes and dreams.

“You’re alive.” A low, rough voice breathes behind him. He turns, but he already knows what will be waiting for him, and he can feel his face lighting up in a grin.

“Geralt! Of course I’m alive, how could the world bear to part with me just yet?” His heart jackrabbits in his chest at the sight of the man before him, clad as always, in dark armor and a stormy, conflicted expression. Well, the expression is new. The armor, not so much. He finds himself smiling for no real reason as to why, but Geralt’s face is open and honest and terrified, and he can’t keep from reaching out to gently touch his cheek.

“There were rumors- about a bard, having been murdered by a beast.”

“As if I could be harmed by a beast with you protecting me.”

“But I wasn’t.” Jaskier takes a step forward, cupping his witcher’s cheek and smiling when Geralt leans into the touch.

The dream dissolves as Jaskier shifts, drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness. The latter wins out, and his body drifts away while his mind slips again.

Blue eyes stare at him through the mirror. It isn’t a great mirror, small and cracked and woven with imperfections, but he won’t need it for long. He only needs to make sure his hair is presentable, his golden doublet unmarred by any stains, and that his smile, when shown just so, is as charming and delightful as always.

“You’re fussing.” Geralt says, and Jaskier knows, his heart knows that voice and the hand that slides over his hip better than anything. He finds himself leaning back against a strong chest, laughing and tipping his head back.

“Some of us care for our appearance before a performance.” An amused hum, and then lips on his neck, gentle and sweet, kissing a trail up toward Jaskier’s waiting lips. He sinks into the kiss, turning as Geralt’s arms come up and around him, careful not to crease Jaskier’s clothes.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Most of the night. You’re free to come, love. I’m sure they’d love to pester the White Wolf himself.”

“Mmm, pester is right.” The warmth in his chest is softer now, with no edges of anger, and he knows what this is. It’s love. Pure and unfettered by doubt.

That same warmth burns in his chest when he jerks up in bed, leaping from under the covers to run into his bathroom. The mirror he has now is perfect- gleaming with the fresh cleaning he’d done just today and showing his reflection without any defects. The same blue eyes stare back, sweeping over the same lips, the same cheekbones and nicely shaped jawbone. The same messy, tousled brown hair as the bard in the dream. As him . Whoever he was- is- is long gone- left behind in another life completely. That isn’t him anymore, it can’t be, but when he thinks, and thinks hard, they’re there. All the memories, the times in between his dreams. The first time he’d seen Geralt, sitting in the back of a tavern refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, to draw any unwanted attention to him. The feeling of his hair, so devoid of color, twisting around his fingers as he washed blood and viscera from them. His friends- Priscilla, in her blue and red ensemble with the poofy shorts, Essi, a near twin to Priscilla, only shorter and plumper. Valdo, his rival, the troubadour who writes songs without any meaning but somehow comes out on top.

Valdo.

Jaskier scrambles for his phone, dropping it twice before finally swiping open the screen. He has his number, more to make sure he never answers than anything, but now, now he needs it more than anything else. He hits dial without letting himself think, holding his phone to his ear and shifting nervously from foot to foot. The line rings and rings, and just as he thinks it'll go to voicemail he hears a soft click.

"Dandelion? It's nearly three in the morning, what could you-"

"I'm not crazy."

"Debatable." Valdo's voice is amused, but when Jaskier doesn't respond he quickly grows serious.

"You said you were keeping the lute for me." His words are rolling in his mouth, voice mangled by an accent that he can't seem to keep away or bring back. He hears a sharp intake of breath, and then a long, shuddering sigh.

"I was, Julian. For far, far too long. Meet me at the diner on Broadmoor." The line goes dead and Jaskier is left to get ready, a long, long dead name ringing in his ears.

                                                             -*-

There are three diners on Broadmoor. Jaskier curses his luck, but only one seems to have the lights on and so Jaskier heads that way first. He pulls on the door and is hit in the face by the smell of stale coffee and hash browns. He glances around, searching, and spots Valdo in a booth back in the corner. His face is drawn, hair a mess, but he has a cup of coffee waiting For Jaskier when he slides into the cheap plastic booth. Valdo slides the mug toward him and he clasps it in his hands, sniffing lightly. He debates putting sugar or cream in it, but he needs the caffeine too badly right now to care much about the bitter taste. Valdo watches his internal debate with a raised brow, leaning back in the booth and sighing.

“You remember.” Jaskier accuses, wincing at the way his tone sounds. Valdo takes it in stride, tilting his head in a small nod and sipping at his coffee.

“I always have. I didn’t know if you would this time around.”

“This time?” Valdo nods again, and Jaskier is quickly becoming frustrated by the non answers. “Valdo, what the fuck is going on?”

“Reincarnation. You’ve heard of it before, yes?” Jaskier nods, and Valdo continues on. “There are some of us who keep coming back. Not always with memories, not always whole. I seem to have no problem keeping them, but others like Priscilla, or Essi, or-”

“Are they really reincarnations?” Jaskier frowns- how much is it reincarnation if you’re just the same body without knowing if your consciousness is the same?

“I said that, didn’t I?” His glare is enough to set a house on fire, but Valdo doesn’t fold under the pressure, instead waving for menus to be brought over. “For decades I was unsure why. Why us? Nothing seemed to connect us together, just random strangers being brought through life. Until I found out you came along as well.”

“You’re saying that I’m the link?”

“You know us all, have some kind of connection. You are the one constant in each of our lives.”

“But the others, they don’t remember?”

“They never have.” Valdo orders something for the two of them, waving away Jaskier’s protest, and plows forward in his conversation. “You don’t always either. I’ve held that lute for the past two reincarnations, neither of which you retained memories for. But you remember now, or are beginning to.”

“Yes.” Jaskier’s voice is a whisper, and admitting it, saying that it’s real takes a weight off his shoulders he didn’t know he was carrying.

“Tell me how?” It’s phrased as a request, and Jaskier nods, staring at his coffee to try and ward off his tears.

“I was seventeen when my dreams started feeling real- performances or days on the road, nights spent stitching wounds or bandaging cuts. Lately they’ve-”

“Been bleeding into your waking hours. Like when you played in the shop.” Valdo’s interrupting makes irritation flare in the back of his mind, but he tamps it down. He’s only trying to help, and is filling in more details than Jaskier would have gotten on his own. Their food comes then, and Jaskier watches as some kind of breakfast scramble is placed in front of him. It’s heavy with hashbrowns, eggs, bacon and cheese. It looks awful. Jaskier digs in hungrily, groaning at the heavenly taste- shitty overnight diners always have the best food. They eat their food in relative silence, too hungry and tired to care much to continue with something else in front of them.

This all seems fake, too good to be real. Valdo’s instant reassurance of what he’s feeling, what he’s dreaming, it has to be some kind of con, some way to get dirt on him. He expects the other man to laugh any minute, to call him crazy and tell him he needs serious help. He’s waiting for a punchline that isn’t coming, and it makes him anstier and anstier by the second. It explains so much- the old, old memories he has of a time before electricity, or running water, of nobles and peasants and monsters. Of witchers and sorceresses and bards. There are newer memories too- of him in a diner much like this, sitting across from a man with white hair and shining golden eyes. Of dancing in a club to his own music, standing alongside all the others in a rally, holding a sign protesting the inequality that ruins his life while cameras show his face. Through it all, his companion is there- a silent, steady presence.

“There’s- a man. Who I am desperately in love with, no matter who I am.”

“Your witcher. White hair, cat eyes?” He doesn’t need to nod for Valdo to know the answer, and he grins. “His name is Geralt of Rivia, though Rivia is long gone now.”

“Is he…”

“Alive? Of course. They, unlike us, do not die.”

“They?” He doesn’t even get a chance to let Valdo talk, his vision going blurry and ears ringing.

“C’mere asshole!” Jaskier laughs, darting away from the witcher intent on catching him. It isn’t Geralt- his hair is dark and cropped short, voice smoother, less gravelly. He’s also much, much more expressive.

“Catch me if you can!” His lungs hurt from running and laughing so much, and he squeaks as hands grab the back of his doublet and yank him to a stop. Jaskier squirms as arms wrap around him, and he pouts, letting himself go deadweight. “You aren’t supposed to use your witchery powers, you know.”

“Oops.” He’s let go then, and Jaskier shoves the other man lightly, grinning.

“Ass. Maybe I’ll go find Eskel, at least he follows the rules of the game.”

“Rules are for peasants.”

“Then you should fit right in, Lambert.” He dodges a swat to the back of the head, laughing and disappearing further into the keep.

Valdo is staring at him expectantly when he blinks, the stone walls and cold breeze fading away from his mind. His food is lukewarm in front of him, and he takes a big bite just to avoid having to say anything yet. Valdo is too smug for his own good though, and he sits forward, grinning.

“Jogged your memory, eh?”

“Shut up.” His insufferable grin only grows bigger, and Jaskier wants to smack it off his face or strangle him. Either would work, honestly. “Is there some way to contact him, or any of them?”

“Not unless you’re a government official, or happen to know someone who had a pest problem. But, there is something that might work.”

“What?”

“Your songs. I'm sure you've already written new ones with the lute- release them in an album. If they’re listening, which is near impossible not to with your reputation, they’ll find you .”

“What if they don’t?”

“Then I suppose you’ll have to bed a government agent.” Jaskier scoffs, wrinkling his nose, but Valdo wags his eyebrows and he can’t help the laugh that bubbles up from his chest. He falls into silence then, staring down at the rest of his food, and his voice is soft when he finally finds the courage to speak.

“Thank you. For keeping it safe.” When he glances up, Valdo’s eyes are bright, shining with relief.

                                                             -*-

Jaskier does what he does best- he writes a few songs, then writes a few more, until he’s bursting with music and lyrics and ideas. He gets himself into his studio and doesn’t leave until he’s recorded an entire album, with his lute being the main focus. It brings with it a new, exciting kind of charm that his producers eat right up, a kind of mystical energy that isn’t present in any of Jaskier’s other songs.

It’s also a release- he lets go of the monsters that haunted him, bringing them roaring into his music instead and letting them run wild. His dreams are still plagued by memories, but the more he plays, the more he tries to remember, the easier it gets. Turns out when you stop fighting against a piece of yourself, letting it in is much, much easier. The music videos are his favorite part of the whole process- he crafts one specific to each song, embedding as much of a message as he can in the hopes that one of the witcher’s will see. Will see him and know him, and extend a hand.

He tries to look up the witchers, to see if there’s any kind of way to find them online, but Lambert is too common a name and he has no clue what last name he would use, if any. Eskel’s name yields less results, but still too many for him to narrow down, and he’s left back at square one for them. Geralt’s name? Now that pulls up results.

‘ The witcher, most formally known as Geralt of Rivia, is one of the world’s only practicing monster slayers, and a bit of a recluse. He was last spotted hunting some kind of sea serpent along the mediterranean, and then boarded a plane bound for America.’

‘Geralt of Rivia, White Wolf, was allegedly seen decapitating a local woman at a train station in France. When questioned by police, they were informed that the woman was a bruxa who had been preying on locals. Mr. Rivia was released without further incident.’

That article makes Jaskier laugh, and he prints it out to tack above his desk on his cork board. Leave it to Geralt to scare everyone around him while doing his job. Any article related to Geralt gets its spot on the board, actually and he’s fairly certain he looks like a stalker, but they’re his only glimpse into what Geralt has been up to. It makes the pain easier to handle, knowing he’s just been too busy to seek Jaskier out, and certainly not ignoring the neon signs that are his music. Half of them are Geralt’s exploits, after all, and if he doesn’t recognize them then Jaskier has failed to faithfully recreate them.

But the songs work- somewhat. In a small town somewhere in the midwest, a witcher hears Jaskier’s music, and begins to hunt for his white haired brother.

Jaskier, in the meantime goes about his life, bouncing from interview to interview, one of which he’s in now. The chair is somewhat uncomfortable and the lights are a little too bright, but the woman interviewing him is new, nervous, and he does his best to put her at ease.

“You’re doing great, love. What were you saying?”

The woman blushes, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before asking again. “Your newest album, it pulls away from the bouncier, lighter tone of your second album. Why?”

“Good question. Writing fun music is wonderful, lovely, but I, and I’m sure you’ll be surprised, have my own fears. Monsters that haunt my dreams, who begged to be put into song.”

“So the songs are based on dreams?”

“Now you’re catching on.” Jaskier winks, drawing another giggle from her, and he leans back in his chair, tilting his head. “No one can tell me they don’t dream of dark and twisted things sometimes. Of wanting a knight in shining armor to come save them.”

“That’s an incredible way to put it. Are any of the monsters in your songs real?”

“Oh yes. The leshy, or leshen is a forest spirit that is said to roam the deepest parts of a forest. There are also ghouls, terrible hunchback creatures who stalk battlefields, and basilisks, large winged creatures with iridescent scales and scalding breath.”

He sees his interviewer shudder, and his gaze goes soft, a wistful smile tugging at his lips. “Where did you hear about these monsters?”

“From a friend, years ago.”

"Do you still talk to them?"

Jaskier's eyes find the camera, and it's a terrible cliche to spike the lens, but he does it anyway. "We lost contact a while back. I'm hoping that… through my music, I can find him again."

"Well, I'm sure your fanbase can help!"

"That they can." Jaskier grins, glancing back at the interviewer, and he hears someone yell cut behind them. He stands, shaking her hand and giving her a quick hug. He murmurs a few words of encouragement, and when he ducks into the room they've designated for him he tells his producer to send her something. Flowers or a gift or anything. She handled him like a champ. It's thankfully his last interview of the day, and he grabs his lute, which he brought just in case before ducking out the door. He makes his escape from the building out onto the street with relative ease, slinging his lute across his back to navigate the crowds easier. The amount of times he’s had to refuse security before they learned was more than he could count. He's stopped a few times by fans, asking to take pictures, and he glances at them on his phone once his Twitter dings.

@dandelion stopped and took a picture! Best day ever!

The rest of the post is filled with heart eye emojis and hashtags, but Jaskier stares at the photo. The awful stripes and swirls on his button up are reminiscent of a bowling alley floor, but his jeans are cute and his boots top the whole outfit off. He thought it'd looked cute when he put it on, and is pleased to see that others agree. He looks better in general- the bags under his eyes are all but gone and there's a confidence in the set of his shoulders he hadn't noticed before. Like knowing who he is has completed a puzzle he didn't know he'd lost a piece to.

He tucks his phone back into his pocket as he skips down the steps to the subway, whistling merrily the whole time. The public transportation in the city had to be his favorite thing in the world, aside from jelly donuts and Geralt's eyes. It makes going from place to place a snap, and he doesn't have to constantly tell people he can't drive when they ask where his car is. The train is running a minute behind, as usual, but Jaskier books it down the rest of the stairs and through the turnstile, jogging up just as the doors slide open. People file on quickly, taking their seats, and Jaskier moves to step on when he spots snow white hair.

That in itself isn't unusual- plenty of old people ride the subway, but it's a man who looks no older than his mid thirties. He's dressed in all black, jeans and a heavy sweater, and strapped to his back are twin swords, their pommels shining dully in the fluorescent lights of the train. A duffle bag hangs from one shoulder, nondescript, but a pale, scarred hand hovers over it protectively. Jaskier is aware he's staring, holding up the train, but his feet are rooted firmly in place as his head begins to pound. The man- Geralt- irritated by the lack of movement turns to see what's going on, golden cat eyes cold and hard. The sight sends vertigo crashing through Jaskier so wildly that he feels his knees give out, and his vision blurs as he collapses onto the ground.

                                                      -*-

"No, no. He's fine. Don't hold the train for us." A voice, rough and low and heavenly drifts through his consciousness and he groans, burying his face in a warm, nicely toned chest. Strong arms wrap around him, holding him, and he sinks into the embrace without really thinking. When he moves the arms tighten around him, holding him closer, and he finally rouses.

He cracks an eye open to see an officer in front of them, debating with Geralt about getting him medical care, and he groans, sitting up and plastering his best smile on his face.

"Sorry love, my sugar dropped again. Was I out long?" The officer stops when he speaks, and Jaskier tilts his head curiously. "Tell me you didn't call them, you know I don't want the attention."

He looks up at Geralt, false frown on his face, and Geralt shakes his head. "Another passenger. I told them you were fine."

"That I am! I'm very sorry for the confusion, I just got off of a rather long interview and was a bit hungrier than I expected." The officer looks between them, brows furrowed, but tucks his notepad away and nods reluctantly.

"If you're sure you'll be alright."

"Feeling loads better already! Sorry again Officer!" Jaskier watches until the officer leaves the platform, and then shoves his way out of Geralt's arms. Geralt lets him go without a fight, sitting on the bench and watching as Jaskier paces the length of the platform, ranting. He's speaking in a language he knows but doesn't know, but it's better than letting everyone else hear him.

" I dreamt about you for years! Years, and the first thing I do is pass out when I see your goddamn face. Son of a bitch." Jaskier glares accusingly at him, but the corners of Geralt's mouth tug up in a smirk and Jaskier can feel his heart going a mile a minute. " I could have broken my lute, or-or been cut in half by the doors all because you were on the subway you big old insufferable-"

" You dreamt about me." Geralt's voice is soft, fond, and Jaskier loves and hates the way his voice curls around elder speech. " Jask, I didn't know you'd come back."

" Didn't- didn't KNOW? I am, and I am going to brag here, insanely famous, Geralt. Like on the news famous. How in the WORLD did you not know?"

" I don't watch the news."

"Of course you don't- of course I would get the one witcher in the whole wide world who doesn't watch the news ." He's cut back into English at some point, and he stops, fists clenched as Geralt stands up with his palms out. It's something he's seen Geralt do with Roach a thousand times when she's being antsy, and it drives him up the wall. "I am not a horse , Geralt, I am your fucking barker."

"You're acting more like my horse right now." Geralt is close enough now Jaskier can smell the soft cologne he's wearing, and his knees go weak again with the fact that he's actually here.

"You jackass -" Jaskier launches forward, throwing his arms around Geralt's neck and pulling him down to kiss him senseless. Geralt takes it in stride, scooping Jaskier off his feet and spinning with the momentum. He's careful of Jaskier's lute, but his hands are strong and firm as Jaskier is thoroughly crushed to his chest, held so tight that neither of them seem to be breathing. Jaskier doesn't care- his feet are off the ground completely, a fistful of white hair in his hands again and Geralt's lips on his. He has a beard, neat and taken care of, and Jaskier's other hand slips down to cup the side of Geralt's neck, thumb brushing through the coarse fibers.

Geralt is the first to pull away, Jaskier tipping forward blindly to kiss him again, huffing when Geralt smiles and bumps their noses together.

"Train is coming. As much as I've missed this, I'd rather not miss the next one."

"Tell me you aren't leaving me." Jaskier presses their foreheads together, eyes closed to keep any potential tears at bay. “Please.”

“I have to check into my hotel.”

“Geralt of Rivia, if you think for one minute you aren’t coming home to sleep in my bed you’re a fool. Fuck your hotel room.”

“It has a jacuzzi.” Geralt laughs when Jaskier pulls back to glare, and Geralt holds onto Jaskier’s  hand, guiding them through the throng of people and onto the train. Geralt motions towards a seat, but Jaskier stays plastered resolutely to his side and just rests his head against Geralt's shoulder. He sways with the movement of the train, but Geralt’s arm is around his hip, holding him steady as the train goes around a curve and slows a bit. He feels more at peace with Geralt next to him than he has in years, and he’s drifted off to sleep when Geralt moves just a bit, dipping down to whisper in his ear. Elder speech brushes against him, trailing down his spine, and his eyelids flutter as he leans in to hear him better.

“What stop do we get off at, Jaskier?”

And oh, if hearing his name from Geralt’s lips isn’t sublime. “Two more.”

“ You were asleep.” Jaskier chuckles softly, turning his head and kissing him lightly.

“ I’ve lived here for years. I know how long I have.”   His elder isn’t nearly as pretty or fluid as Geralt’s but he seems to enjoy it all the same, pupils widening at the sound, the sight of Jaskier’s lips moving. He feels like prey being hunted and he loves it. True to his words, two stops later Jaskier is the one to lead them off the train and up the many, many stairs to the street above. His hand never leaves Geralt’s, afraid that if he lets go the man will disappear into the crowd and leave him alone again. His apartment building isn’t far from the station, and he has to pass through three different checkpoints before he’s even flagged into the building. All of the security guards eye Geralt with barely hidden suspicion, but Jaskier is either oblivious or doesn’t care. The hot, possessive kiss that Jaskier pulls Geralt into while waiting for the elevator is answer enough.

Jaskier’s head is spinning again by the time they make it to his door, and he sags against it, panting lightly and trying to get his key in the lock. Geralt’s hand comes up, guiding the key in as he stands just close enough for Jaskier to be intimately aware of every inch of him. Jaskier gasps, shakes against the door and finally manages to shove it open. He hurries into the room, past the kitchen and into the living room. His lute is slung onto the cushions gently just as his knees give out again, and he catches himself on the arm of the couch, Geralt at his side a moment later.

He can’t feel his legs- he really, really can’t feel his legs, and he isn’t sure that it should seem like such a good thing. Geralt is a hard, hot presence between his thighs, and he arches up into Geralt’s touch, whimpering his name. He wants, he wants so desperately and he feels like he could fall apart at any moment, his breaths coming faster and faster as Geralt grins down, at him teeth sharp and glistening and begging to be buried in flesh. He reaches up, brings him down and kisses him, lapping into his mouth just to taste and let a fang scrape against his tongue.

His chest is heaving when he blinks from his memory, and oh, oh he’s embarrassingly, frustratingly hard. How in the hell does he explain something like this? His knees smart from where they’ve hit the floor and he pitches himself forward, out of Geralt’s surprised hands, his palms slapping against the wood of his floor as he pants. It’s better than letting Geralt see him, worked up over nothing. But he doesn’t get the chance to even think of a lie- he hears Geralt’s sharp intake of breath, the soft huff of a stunned laugh. Geralt is on his knees next to him before he can move, lips on his neck and teeth digging just so into the pale, unmarked flesh. Jaskier keens without meaning to, the noise spilling from his lips, and his cheeks flush when Geralt makes a triumphant noise, pulling back and using a hand on the small of Jaskier’s back make him sit back.

“If you say anything smart, Geralt, I will throw you off my balcony.”

“You don’t have to hide from me.” Is all he says instead, and he takes Jaskier’s hands, guiding him to sit on the couch while he takes care of Jaskier’s lute. Jaskier watches, knees pressed to his chest to hide his slowly dwindling erection as Geralt hunts around his apartment, breathing deep and seeming pleased at what he finds. He lingers briefly by the bedroom door, but seems to think better about exploring there just yet. Instead he reaches up, undoing the clasp across his chest and letting his swords slide from his back. He places them on the coffee table and pulls his sweater up and over his head. Jaskier watches it all, eyes wide, and he jumps as the sweater is tossed at him. He catches it with only a minor fumble, pressing it to his face and breathing deep.

He can almost feel the growl that rumbles through Geralt at the sight, and he grins, toothy and bright, sniffing again. It’s easy to lose his train of thought at the sight of Geralt- Modern clothes suit him well, from the cut of his jeans to the way his t-shirt shows off the rather lovely shoulder to hip ratio he has. Practically perfect. What really arouses him, and this shouldn’t ever be admitted out loud, is the amount of weapons Geralt has on him. There are two pistols tucked into sheathes under his arms against his sides, at least two knives tucked into each boot, not to mention the swords he’s already discarded.

“How do you draw the pistols with your sweater on?”

“I don’t.” Geralt’s voice is amused, and he reaches to unbuckle the leather harness, silver rings glittering along his fingers. There are no fingers that are bare of rings, whether they’re smooth, simple bands or ones studded in small spikes. It’s… ridiculously attractive and Jaskier fears for his heart at this rate. The holsters slip off of his shoulders and they too are left on the table with his swords, though he doesn’t go for the daggers in his boots at all. “You’re staring.”

“I’m allowed to.” He breathes out, reaching a hand out as Geralt pads over. His fingers splay against Geralt’s chest as the older man leans down, kissing him slowly, the warm metal of his rings sliding across Jaskier's cheek. Jaskier shivers at the sensation, making a soft noise as he stretches up further to try and get closer. Geralt pulls back too soon, always too soon, and Jaskier groans with disappointment.

“Tell me what happened when we came in.”

“Do we really have to talk about that now?” Geralt leans back, eyes searching his face, and Jaskier sighs dramatically, tugging Geralt to sit next to him on the couch so he can lean against his chest. "I wasn't born with my memories. I had- it feels stupid to repeat this all- I had night terrors as a child."

"Of monsters." Jaskier nods, pressing Geralt's sweater to his face and speaking through the fabric.

"Particularly of me being eaten by them. When I got older, graduated high school, they shifted focus. They showed me, or the bard I thought was haunting my dreams, following you, performing at a banquet, being chased by a farmer's husband. Within the past few months they got worse. They slipped into my daydreams, took them over, until I could hardly go outside without seeing something that would set them off."

"Is that what happened on the platform?" Jaskier shakes his head, sighing.

"I don't know what that was- a reaction to seeing you again, after only seeing you in dreams maybe? All I remember is getting hit by the worst vertigo I've ever felt, and then I was waking up in your arms. This last time- I'm not sure. I really don't want to keep collapsing though, my knees won't be able to take it."

His joke is weak but Geralt chuckles anyway, pressing his nose into Jaskier's hair. "I'll get you kneepads."

"My hero." He feels a rumble go through Geralt's chest and that brings a smile to his face. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Tell me about you, what you've been doing. I, for one, have been struggling with my memories and made it as a musician. But you, last of the witchers, are impossible to find info on."

"How do you know I'm the last?"

"Internet speculation. Don't worm your way out of this." Geralt sighs heavily, shaking his head and muttering to himself before Jaskier turns and plops himself into Geralt's lap so Geralt has to look at him.

"Eskel and Lambert retired a few years ago. Contracts are few and far between."

"What do you do then when you aren't fighting monsters?"

"I… Translate." Jaskier doesn't think he's heard right, and he tilts his head.

"Pardon? Was my very sexy boyfriend about to tell me something even sexier?" Geralt raises a brow at the word boyfriend, but Jaskier can see that he's pleased by the automatic assumption that they're together. Like they were never apart at all.

"I interpret. Mostly for doctors offices or business meetings. I'm occasionally called to the field when researchers need help."

"What languages?" Geralt doesn't say anything, cheeks flushing a faint pink instead. Jaskier grins then, pleased as all get out, and he leans forward, bumping their noses together and watching the way Geralt's pupils open wider at the contact. "What languages, Geralt?"

"There- aren't many I don't know."

"Someone's been busy."

"I had time. And language barriers make hunting harder." Jaskier laughs at the defensive tone to Geralt's voice, leaning their foreheads together and laughing until Geralt kisses him to shut him up. And even then he giggles against Geralt's lips, wiggling when Geralt tickles at his ribs.

"No wonder your elder is good." Geralt huffs out a laugh, shaking his head and leaning back so he can look at Jaskier, gaze sweeping over Jaskier's face slowly.

"My brothers and I are the only ones fluent."

"In the world?"

"There are small elven communities hidden around, but other than that, yes."

"Where are your brothers?"

"Somewhere in the midwest." Geralt says it with a shrug, as if it isn't a big deal. "They move frequently."

"Too used to being on the Path." Jaskier muses, though it's truer than he might realize. “What about you, where do you settle?”

“I don’t.” Jaskier tilts his head, thinking about that. He isn’t sure why Geralt would ever settle down, since he’s the last witcher active apparently. It would make sense for him not to have any place to call home, but the thought bothers him. A lot more than it should.

“You have a home here, if you want it.” He whispers, heart in his throat, and Geralt’s whole demeanor softens. His eyes look more amber in the setting sun coming through his balcony, and Jaskier leans forward, lips brushing Geralt’s at the same time his phone rings. He groans, intent to ignore it, but Geralt’s fingers dip into Jaskier’s back pocket to pull it out. He hits answer, holding the phone up to Jaskier’s ear as he glares.

“Jaskier, who the fuck are you kissing?”

“Hello Priscilla, nice to see you again, I’ve been just dandy since we last saw each other.” Jaskier takes the phone from Geralt, pressing it to his ear on his own.

“Jaskier, Twitter is in an uproar, there are pictures everywhere.”

“Naughty pictures?” Jaskier puts the phone on speaker while he moves over to Twitter, scrolling through the thousands of tags he’s gotten in the past two hours alone. They’re all the same picture, which Jaskier saves immediately, some better quality than others. There’s him in his bowling alley button up, held aloft in Geralt’s arms, kissing him senseless. It’s a rather artistic photo, the contrast between his bright colors and lute and Geralt’s stiff black clothing and threatening swords. “Ah.”

“That’s all you have to say? You haven’t seriously dated anyone since high school and that's what you say?” Priscilla is pissed, rightfully so, and Jaskier winces.

“Look it’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, I just-”

“I asked him not to.” Jaskier can hear the sharp intake of breath over the phone from Priscilla when Geralt talks, and she’s much more pleasant this time when she speaks. Traitor.

“Oh. And you are?”

“Geralt.”

“And where are you from, Geralt? How long have you been dating my best friend?” He sees Geralt’s lips quirk in a smile, and he rolls his eyes, letting Geralt do the talking. At least that way he isn’t getting yelled at.

“Rivia. We’ve been seeing each other for a few years now, I would say.” Jaskier snorts at the lie, except well- it isn’t really a lie. They’ve been together for years and years over entire lifetimes.

“Rivia?” A distant quality overtakes her voice, and Jaskier winces, clapping a hand over his ear as Priscilla squeals. “Jaskier, please tell me you aren’t dating Geralt of Rivia.”

“Uh.” Geralt’s lips twitch upward as he raises a brow at Jaskier’s hesitation, but Priscilla is laughing, wheezing out little breaths, and Jaskier waits for her to calm down before he answers. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, no it’s just unbelievable.”

“Hey!” There’s offense in Jaskier’s tone, and Geralt’s hand rests on his hip, squeezing lightly. Jaskier shudders at the touch, scowling, but his witcher is the picture of innocence. “I guess the cats out of the bag, eh love?”

“Mhm.” Gods Jaskier has missed those little sounds, the answers but not answers.

“You have to say something on Twitter before your fans break the site. And introduce us properly.”  

“Right, right. Dinner okay?”

“Only if I get to pick the place.”

“Deal. I’ll call you later, okay?” Priscilla gives an affirmative and hangs up, Jaskier tilting his head at Geralt with his brows raised. “So, Geralt of Rivia, ready to be official with a popstar?”

“Not really. But with you? I’ll manage.” Jaskier rolls his eyes, moving to tuck himself against Geralt’s side. Geralt’s arm snakes around him, hugging him a bit closer as Jaskier raises his phone.

“Say cheese!” He grins wide, waiting until Geralt isn’t glaring to snap the photo. It’s a good one, Geralt’s eyes liquid and warm, the corners of his mouth tilted up in the smallest of smiles. It’s definitely going to be his wallpaper. Jaskier posts it onto Twitter with a simple caption.

My knight in shining armor.

#geraskier #geralt x jaskier #jaskier x geralt #modern au #reincarnation au #immortal geralt of rivia #flaskbacks #popstar Jaskier

[solalunar-eclipse]

Team Dark: A Holiday Special

Chapter One: Omega

Two | Three

Word count: about 5800 words

WARNING: this chapter contains entomophagy (eating insects)

Author's Note: I'm finally back! Sorry to make you all wait so long, but I really wanted to get this project out by December, so...here it is. I hope you all enjoy! (Also, apologies in advance for any bad formatting: Tumblr is being very uncooperative right now.)

...

It was, officially, a ‘lazy day’.

Team Dark was spending time at home, resting after the holiday frenzy of yesterday. Rouge had suddenly realized that they hadn’t decorated yet and that they all still needed to come up with present ideas for Team Sonic, so she and Shadow had spent the entire time in a sort of constant state of panic. Omega tried his best to help them, intermixed with a lot of gloating about his perfect memory and how he’d remembered to get a gift already.

He’d gotten punched halfway across the room for that one.

Now, a certain striped hedgehog was relaxing in his room, reading a book quietly. Until (of course) the peaceful silence was shattered by a loud blaring noise that sent him racing out the door and halfway down the stairs to their common area. Rouge was standing in the middle of the room, and shouted out to him, “Shadow! Come down here, I’m calling a group meeting!” Shadow winced and massaged one of his ears, his quills relaxing from their startled position as he walked over and sat down on the couch. He glowered at Rouge, who stood in front of him with the ‘team meeting airhorn’ still in hand. Despite his stare, she was still poised to blast again if Omega didn’t show up soon. Thankfully for Shadow’s hearing, Omega appeared quickly, albeit with much complaining about being dragged away from his targeting system calibrations. “Alright, Rouge, what’s all this about?” the hedgehog sighed, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. She smiled cautiously at the two of them. “Before I say anything, I want you guys to know that this offer is optional. If it’s too much for you, you don’t have to say yes.” Omega spun one of his hands around, making a slight whirring noise. “Please continue.” Rouge sat down on one end of the aforementioned couch, sinking into the cushions with a sigh. “Okay. Let’s see. I haven’t...ever talked to you guys about my family before, have I?” “I do not recall you initiating any such conversation.” Omega answered, at the same time as Shadow replied, “No….?” “Well. Considering everything...I kind of figured it’s about time I told you all my story.” She smiled again, but it was a little bittersweet. Shadow inched closer, caution sparking in his eyes. “Where to start...I mean, I have a mom, two sisters, a stepsister, a stepbrother, and a stepmom. And a dad too, I guess?” “You guess?” Omega asked skeptically, before being shot a fierce ‘no questions‘ look by Shadow. “It’s alright, hon.” Rouge said, putting a hand on the hedgehog’s shoulder. “I guess I should really start at the beginning.” “My dad was a cat and my mom is a bat- obviously, hah. My two officially related sisters are twins, three years younger than me. Right before they were born, though...my dad left. He took all the cash with him when he did. And, well. Left Mom with a barely-paid-for apartment and without a job. “We, uh. Heard later that he ran off with some lady from his job. Mom...didn’t take it too well.” Shadow’s eyes widened and Omega smacked a fist into one hand. “Rouge. Is your father, hypothetically, good at withstanding high-powered attacks from a hypothetical extremely destructive robot?” She snickered. “No, he’s not. But please don’t actually fight him, alright?” His hands crackling with chaos energy, Shadow hissed, “Rouge...I think I like his plan.” He bared his fangs as he spoke, looking furious. Rouge smiled gratefully at the both of them. “Thanks, guys, but he’s really not even worth your time. Let me keep going, okay?” Omega sat back, irritated at the lack of pulverizing Rouge’s father going on, and Shadow, reluctantly, allowed his chaos energy to dissipate. “Yeah, so he left, and that was a whole thing. Mom worked hard for us, but it just...wasn’t enough to make ends meet. I started my career of...relieving people of their fancy objects-” here she winked- “at the age of eleven to help out. Dropped out of school after eighth grade to start full-time thievery once I turned fourteen, and, yeah. I had to leave home, otherwise Mom and the twins would’ve been in real trouble. “I got busted after two whole years by the one and only Guardian Units of Nations- not a bad streak, if I do say so myself. Then, I started working for G.U.N. to pay my dues to society, and...you all know the rest after that. I still kept sending checks back to the family, though.” Shadow and Omega were both looking at her with unreadable expressions at this point. “I’ve stopped doing that now, actually, since Mom’s been with her girlfriend for like a year now. She’s dating this super sweet cardinal who gives her basically everything my dad never did- her name’s Camellia and she has two little kids from her last marriage. She’s been so good for Mom, honestly.

“I know it’s usually supposed to be this whole thing where the stepdaughter hates the stepmom, but that’s not for me. When I got the news, I was just like ‘Oh, so that’s why I’m pan’ - yeah, really- and now I’m cool with it. Plus, I’ve got two new little sibs, so it’s all fine.

“So...yeah. That’s my family.”

Shadow sat there in deep thought for a minute. “Your family sounds nice...I’m just sorry you had to go through all of that.” he said, when he finally spoke up.

“Yeah, they’re great- and it’s okay. I mean, if it wasn’t for all that, I never would’ve found you guys!” she said, looking much brighter now. “Now that you know about them, you wanna see some pictures?”

“Certainly.” Omega said, curious to see these people that Rouge cared for so deeply.

“Okay, so...these are my twin sisters, Midori and Neela.” she said, showing a social media post of two identical coffee-colored cats posing for a selfie. Even their fur markings were exactly the same, as well as the shade of their golden eyes. Despite the fact that they were felines, something about them looked an awful lot like Rouge. The shape of their faces, perhaps?

“And here’s Camellia and Mom.” A picture came up of a beaming, moderately curvy white bat and an equally overjoyed cardinal with their arms around each other in front of a beautiful sunset.

“This is Jade, my stepsister, she’s ten-” Rouge showed an image of a young goldfinch playing soccer, kicking the ball fiercely. “-and that’s Spark, my stepbrother.” A small cardinal with a grin as broad as his mother’s was swinging on a swing at a playground, his eyes bright with the excitement of childhood.

Shadow smiled, looking as though he were a mixture of genuine happiness and a little ever-present pain. “They all look wonderful, Rouge. I’m...honored...that you felt like you could show us this.”

“That wasn’t so bad, honestly- I’ve been wanting to figure out how to do that for a while.” the bat said. “This is going to be the hard part.”

Two pairs of eyes watched her expectantly.

She exhaled. “Every year...my family has this big, three-day Wintersweek party. And when I say big, I mean seven out of my mom’s nine siblings and their spouses and kids. Like, more than twenty guests big.”

Omega interrupted her there. “If your mother has nine siblings, why did none of them bother to help her when she needed them?”

Rouge looked at the floor, a little sad. “Four of them were in debt themselves, two live in crazy places around the world and didn’t really know, and...the other three tried to help. Mom refused to take more than she could pay back. They still helped do other stuff like watch us while Mom was working, though.”

“Understood. You may continue.” Omega replied, shifting into a slightly less confrontational pose.

“So. I always go to this party, except for those two years when I was on the run. This is going to be my third year back. And…

“I really, really, reallyreally want to introduce my family to my two best friends. You know, the ones who live with me and always have my back and mean the world to me.” she said, looking straight at Shadow and Omega. The former blushed a faint green at the praise, while the latter scoffed.

“Of course you wish to do so. Our excellence is unparalleled.”

Rouge smiled hopefully at them. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you guys, but...will you come to the party this year?”

Omega processed this for a minute. “How amenable is your family towards weapons of incredible destructive power being present in their home?”

“Well, see, about that….” Rouge muttered. “...you might have to empty your weapons cartridges before we go.”

“I am unsure if this is an acceptable outcome. I will respect your wishes to an extent, but I refuse to be without weaponry at my disposal.”

The bat thought for a moment. “...you can bring the flamethrower, but only if you put a PIN lock on it.”

“...”

“...”

Rouge stared him down. “There’s going to be kids there. Kids.”

“Accepted.” Omega said finally. His tone switched to a more triumphant note as he added, “I shall come and impress all of your relatives with my power.”

Shadow had reservations, too. “Won’t it be weird, having people who aren’t really your family there?”

“Shadow…” she said gently. “...you two are as close to me as my ‘real family’, and I want you to be there.”

Omega noted that Shadow was behaving in a manner that suggested he was ‘flustered’. He folded his arms tightly, lowered his head, and his mouth was pressed tightly into a line- an attempt to hide a smile. “...but won’t I take up too much space? An extra bed is more difficult to manage than an outlet.”

Rouge sighed sharply, becoming frustrated with his hesitance. “Mom has air mattresses up to her ears specifically for this, and she lives in Camellia’s house now, which has like ten bedrooms anyway. And you’re totally not going to be ‘a bother’ or anything, so don’t even say that. Mom basically screamed when she found out I was bringing people, and I mean that in a good way. She didn’t stop asking me questions for half an hour.”

“I…” Shadow said tentatively, close to giving in.

“If they’re ever too much for you, though, just feel free to hide in one of the back rooms. There’s plenty of places where you won’t be disturbed.”

The hedgehog sighed, but he didn’t look upset. “I suppose I can try, for you.”

“Yes!” Rouge shouted, kicking her legs before getting up and bouncing up and down. “Heck yeah! This is gonna be great!”

…

Over the next week, they discussed the party numerous times, and Rouge spent a lot of time sitting in the middle of mountains of wrapping paper, packaging presents for her family. Omega and Shadow had tried to help her, but she’d insisted that they not worry about it. “It’s my family,” she had said, waving them away. “You being there is already more than enough. I’d never ask anything else of you.”

Shadow had still made cupcakes, though. Omega helped with the icing.

On the first day of the event, they set off early, making the several hours’ drive from Central City up to Rouge’s family’s house (north of Empire City) so that they’d arrive just before lunch. Thinking of Shadow, Rouge didn’t want him in particular to get caught up in the early (and supposedly quite intense) greetings that her family usually participated in. Omega resolved to turn his force output down just a little- he didn’t want to accidentally break someone’s hand instead of merely shaking it in introduction.

Of course, this all meant they had to endure a four-hour car ride together, involving lots of fights over what music was playing, several different long-distance driving games, and multiple threats to toss one another out the window while moving at 80 mph or more.

So, generally uneventful for them.

...

When they arrived at the family’s house, the E-series robot decreased his optic zoom to 85% just to take the entire place in. It was truly an enormous building, built from what appeared to be stone but on closer inspection was...actually stone. Unexpected, yet impressive.

Omega was mildly uncertain about the heating capabilities of such a house, but at least it was structurally sound. He would have to decide on its defensibility later.

“Wow.” Shadow muttered, his eyes wide. “I know you said it had ten bedrooms, but...wow.”

“I said I wasn’t messing around with you!” Rouge laughed brightly. “This place is crazy big.”

As soon as they opened the door and the bat stepped inside, the team was greeted by a loud shout of “Rouge!” from various delighted family members.

Her immediate family rushed over first, giving her lots of hugs (while her parents relieved Omega of the numerous presents she’d had him carry). Her stepbrother jumped up and down, asking, “Did you bring a present for me? Do I get one? Do I?”

Rouge smiled at him, picking the little cardinal up and giving him a hug. “Of course you do. There’s one right over there!” she said, pointing towards the giant pile of presents.

Rouge’s mother came rushing back over at that, greeting her daughter with a tight embrace. “Oh!” she exclaimed, noticing Omega and Shadow standing by the door. “Are these your friends, Rouge? Come on, introduce us!”

The younger bat grinned. “Alright, so this is my partner-in-crime and our resident edgy goth, Shadow,” she said, gesturing towards the hedgehog. He responded with a glower at Rouge for the latter remark and a polite “Nice to meet you.” to the family.

“And this is my personal palanquin (just kidding, just kidding) and awesome destroyer of enemies, Omega.”

“Greetings, Rouge’s relatives.” Omega said, turning his volume down to a level that Rouge had termed ‘inside voice’. First impressions and all that.

After making their way through many, many more greetings- which Omega recorded to play back for name storage later- the team were finally seated at one of the large couches in the living room. Rouge, being Rouge, began to chat cheerfully with a couple of her family members, describing her latest escapades with the other two team members as well as her general social life.

Shadow and Omega didn’t speak much at first, but the latter in particular soon began to interrupt her stories to point out multiple inaccuracies (mostly Rouge underplaying how utterly awesome he was). He found that he quite enjoyed talking about their various adventures, in fact.

However, the three quickly discovered that some of Rouge’s relatives had...misunderstood her stories.

One of the many aunts- whose name Omega had not yet stored- spoke up. “Rouge, I know you said you were bringing friends, but you don’t have to be shy with us, sweetie. Shadow here seems like a very thoughtful boyfriend.”

Chaos ensued. Rouge choked on her water and Omega had to pound her on the back to help her breathe again. Meanwhile, Shadow seemed to have reflexively assumed a defensive, curled-up position, yet Omega could still make out a faint glow of green from within the black and red ball.

“No!” the bat shouted, once she’d regained her breath. “No, no, we’re only friends, really!”

Her aunt seemed unconvinced, as did several other guests.

Shadow slowly uncurled, prepared to back Rouge up- though he seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to speak in his shock. His mouth moved silently, and he seemed to be having trouble stringing together a coherent sentence.

“I am not romantically involved with Rouge in any way.” he began slowly. “I assure you, she means the world to me, but in a platonic manner. I am grateful to have a friend like her, but that is all we are to each other.”

Several other relatives decided to weigh in on this.

“He seems like a very polite friend!”

“Rouge, even if you’re not together, you had better hang on to this one.”

“He certainly likes you, and that’s what’s important.”

“It’s alright if you aren’t dating, honey!” Rouge’s mom added. “Healthy platonic relationships are very important.”

The younger bat shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand. “Guys, please.” she groaned, before looking over at Shadow.

The hybrid appeared to be surreptitiously trying to get in touch with his hedgehog heritage and burrow underneath the cushions by this point. Rouge grinned at him and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him back out into the open. “Come on, don’t make him embarrassed! It’s only day one, guys!” 

Shadow cringed at that. Omega, meanwhile, was most definitely not recording any of this and storing it safely in his blackmail folder. Not at all.

…

A little later on, after everyone had eaten lunch, Omega (being the strongest on the team, despite Shadow’s protests otherwise) hauled their suitcases upstairs with little trouble. Rouge had been too busy talking to come with him, and Shadow looked as though he’d buried himself in a pile of cushions and probably wouldn’t be moved without extreme force, so he’d gone up alone.

Looking around the small room, he...found it quite tolerable, honestly. Sunlight streamed in through two medium-sized windows, and there were several empty floating shelves on the walls for their things, as well as a linen closet. There were only two beds in the room, since Omega just required a…

Ah, there it was. A charging port.

The robot was actually more pleased than he expected with the amount of mock evergreen, poinsettias, and other such ornaments in the room, though. He wasn’t much one for artistic expression himself (preferring to express his thoughts via some choice language and a few well-aimed rockets), but his friends were more...appreciative of such things and would likely enjoy the decoration.

Bored with examining the room already, he put down the suitcases and began to explore the house, trying to figure out what the floor plan looked like. He walked through all of the different rooms, enjoying himself while examining all of the possible defensive vantage points and the most optimal attack areas. 

Sure, fighting was his job, but who said he couldn’t enjoy contingency planning? Mapping out attacks on his place of residence and figuring out how to best repel invaders was one of his favorite pastimes (right up there with visiting the mall with his friends).

However, once he had planned out about five different strategies, he realized that an hour had gone by and that it was probably a good idea to go check up on said friends.

After he carefully made his way back downstairs- trying to walk in a way that didn’t shake the house was difficult- he saw Rouge still chatting with some of her cousins and looking very happy. Shadow was barely even visible, curled up in a dark corner and alternating between reading and listening to the conversation. Everyone honestly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

However, there was one jarring thing about this warm, familial scene that Omega noticed. 

The little children.

They were everywhere. Climbing their parents like a jungle gym, interrupting conversations left and right, running around underfoot, and generally causing mayhem in their wake. While Omega highly appreciated their impressive ability to cause confusion and chaos, he suspected that most of the other people here did not. Multiple guests looked ready to break something, and the robot was fully aware that Rouge’s family did not share his opinions on wanton destruction.

So, he decided to do something about this.

“SMALL CHILDREN,” he shouted, gaining the attention of the entire household. “I CHALLENGE YOU TO A SNOWBALL FIGHT.” That was an acceptable (and fun) form of violence, if he remembered correctly. Rouge certainly looked interested.

The children began to bounce around in various states of excitement, their energy somehow increasing exponentially at this prospect. “Whose team will you be on, mister?” Rouge’s stepbrother asked bravely. 

“MY OWN. NONE OF YOU CAN DEFEAT ME.” Omega declared.

“Yeah, right!” an older child shouted. “Come on, guys, let’s go!”

The entire group rushed outside and began to build a snow fort for the upcoming attack. Most of the children were clearly struggling to organize, as half seemed to comprehend the need for a well-structured creation and half were just piling up snow like maniacs.

Meanwhile, Omega began to carefully form large building blocks out of the snow, building a formidable fortress (snow could be imposing, alright??). Once he was satisfied with his semicircle construction, he noticed that he still had a few minutes to wait before the children finished theirs. He spent this time making snowballs, as well as a few other...adjustments. When the children shouted out “Ready!”, he was more than prepared.

Since they were, again, Rouge’s relatives, he was very, very generous and gave them the first chance to fire. The children launched snowball after snowball, but he ducked behind his fort and only one found its mark. Once they were all out of ammunition and scrambling for more, he felt a smug sense of satisfaction.

It was time.

He loaded his arms full of snowballs…

And proceeded to launch them out of his machine gun ports at the children.

The kids scattered in all directions, shrieking with a mixture of fear and excitement. Omega, during their attack, had thought to make even more projectiles, turning what was supposed to be organized warfare into a one-sided rampage of destruction.

By now, Rouge had appeared on the deck and was currently howling with laughter, tears streaming down her face as she watched Omega launch his onslaught of snow. Shadow was standing at the doorway along with several others, a giant wicked grin spread across his face.

The E-series robot truly wished he could make that second expression right now. He turned to Rouge, watching her cackle…

...and immediately proceeded to fire a massive amount of snow at her as well. Her laughter transformed into a gasp of mock betrayal as she scooped up some of the offending substance, packing it into a weapon of her own. “Oh. It. Is. On.”, she hissed, shaking the snow off her wings.

Taking to the skies, she began a counterattack, distracting Omega with varied sizes of snowballs and forcing him to try and fire directly upwards. The children, realizing that they had a powerful ally in Rouge, began to make new projectiles themselves and threw them at him from all sides, until Omega finally found that he was struggling to handle the attack.

As he began to turn the tide again, he realized suddenly that this was entirely due to Rouge’s absence…

...and of course that was when a shadow fell over him.

Followed by a giant pile of snow.

He flailed in the icy trap as he struggled to regain his bearings. Once he had managed to clamber halfway out of the snow, he saw Rouge hovering above him. Her wings struggled to hold her in the air as she laughed again, and he noticed sulkily that she was holding a sheet.

“Cheater.” he muttered, indignant at having been trapped in such an unflattering manner.

“Cheating?! From the guy who launched snowballs like missiles? Really?” she shouted down to him good-naturedly, shaking her head. “Talk about hypocritical, Omega.”

The E-series robot still insisted on having the last laugh, though- he had to get out somehow, so he powered on all of his fans at full blast to clear away the snow. And if everyone was standing too close to avoid the resulting icy shower, well then that was their problem.

After that, though, everyone had to go inside and dry themselves off. Organics couldn’t handle being wet and cold very well, and Omega didn’t like the idea of his circuitry being shorted out. He felt a great sense of satisfaction at having established his status as the cool one on the very first day, though.

He spent a little more time with the young ones after that, playing several rounds of a popular card game called One with them and stacking up all of the plus-fours. The robot showed no mercy even in games.

Several children, evidently impressed by his prowess (or perhaps just in awe of the fact that he was a giant robot) begged him for promises that he would play more tomorrow, to which he quickly agreed. Not long after, to everyone’s disappointment, the kids’ parents came and practically dragged them to the dinner table, having shouted their names four or five times by this point.

As he walked into the dining room, Omega surveyed the area, focusing for a moment on the glow that the many candles gave off on the table. Fire was always a nice touch.

Looking further, he noticed that the wooden table alone was a formidable piece of furniture, filling the largest room in the house and forcing some chairs to squeeze up against the wall just to make space. And that wasn’t even mentioning the feast laid out on top of it. Omega ignored that for now in favor of sitting down on one side of Rouge after he saw her at the table. Looking over to her other side, he noticed Shadow surveying the food spread out on the table with what most would consider a completely blank look.

Omega, however, had experience with analyzing Shadow’s facial expressions, and noted the slight tension in his face as well as the fact that he was fidgeting with his silverware. Both he and Rouge had a good idea as to why, too- Shadow didn’t need any of this.

The hybrid had been created with incredible physical resilience, able to withstand the most arduous of conditions. This included a significant lack of food. He actually ate only about three times a week, and even then he only consumed small meals. While it was about time for him to eat today, the fact that there would be even more food over the next couple of days seemed to have produced a conundrum for him.

If he ate now, he wouldn’t need to later, which could be quite awkward, particularly when everybody else would. Omega thought through the options and decided that there were three main paths he could take: eat now and not later, not eat now but do so later, or possibly attempt to eat a little on all three days.

Rouge seemed to have realized this as well. Leaning over to Shadow, she whispered, “Whatever you want to do is fine, hon. It’s okay if you eat a lot over these few days- everyone else here will too. If you don’t want to, though, that’s cool- just make sure you have something at some point, alright?”

The robot watched as Shadow relaxed slightly at her understanding words. The change was almost imperceptible, but he now sat back in his chair instead of forward, and he’d stopped adjusting his place setting.

Once everyone was seated and they’d given a quick toast, the family began to dig in. Shadow sat back and waited for everyone else to take some food first- a wise choice. Rouge, on the other hand, entered the rather impressive food frenzy with a voracity that her team members knew all too well- she often complained that one of her few vices (aside from gems and other sparkly objects) was food.

Omega took this time to survey what he could see of the dishes, interested in finding out for himself what a proper Wintersweek meal looked like. He saw two dishes that appeared to be some sort of poultry, as well as bowls of finger food that looked like they were filled with crickets and beetles. Various platters of cooked vegetables in every color of the rainbow covered the table, some with sliced fruit available as well. Loaves of bread in multiple shapes and sizes were scattered throughout the presentation, accented by artfully placed centerpieces.

Quite honestly, it looked impressive.

Rouge had a little bit of everything on her plate, and was currently digging into a buttery baked potato like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Omega silently put his napkin next to her plate, the (sarcastic) message clear: You need this more than I do.

Shadow, meanwhile, had taken a little fruit, one piece of meat, and two slices of bread, but seemed very hesitant to eat much more than that. He looked to be quite invested in a conversation that several of the adults were having about their own teenage experiences, often leaning in slightly when a funny story came up.

Omega mostly kept an eye on his friends, while also half listening to the children talk about the latest video game that had become popular. It seemed to contain lots of fighting combined with some impressive storytelling, and the robot made a note of the game title for his own use later.

However, as he checked on Rouge again, making sure she hadn’t choked on her food, he noticed that she had left her plate to the side in favor of talking to her family about...wait.

Omega knew this story.

This was a story where he was walking through the halls of an abandoned underground hideout for a highly sophisticated ring of criminals (an assignment for their entire team). In which said diabolical criminals had installed multiple traps designed to keep people out. And these traps. Included magnets. That specifically messed up artificial intelligence.

Omega’s memory had been severely impaired by the event, but Shadow and Rouge told him later that they had discovered him stumbling around the main hub of the base, rambling out loud about things as ridiculous as current weather patterns and- he shuddered internally- kittens. He was eternally grateful for this memory loss, though, as the two had apparently, instead of taking this seriously, dissolved into helpless laughter on the spot.

Of course, they had taken him to Tails to get fixed up. But not until after Rouge had filmed another five minutes or so of him acting absolutely loopy while their laughter, punctuated with the occasional gasp for breath, filled the background.

And she was just getting to the part where they found him now-!

The E-series robot shot out of his chair and clamped a hand over Rouge’s mouth, turning his volume low and hissing “Don’t you dare.” in her ear.

Unfortunately, this only added to everyone else’s interest, as Rouge began to cackle loudly at Omega’s evident embarrassment and her memory of the event. “Tell us! Tell us!” Camellia (Rouge’s stepmother) cried out, clapping her hands and looking for all the world like a child who had just been handed a chocolate bar. 

“Help me, Shadow!” Rouge shouted through the steel grip on her face, slurring her words with laughter. The hybrid, happy to take a break from the crowded room and equally happy to shame Omega, pried the robot off of Rouge and somehow managed to drag him out of the room as everyone now leaned in to hear her finish the story.

“So we were really worried, right? Since we hadn’t heard anything? And then we-”

Shadow shut the door on her voice and smirked at Omega, but there was a tinge of real happiness in his expression. “It’s alright, Omega. She doesn’t actually want you to feel bad, you know.”

“That’s what you say.” he scoffed. “Rouge isn’t in there telling them about the time you didn’t eat for a month on a mission and then binge-”

“Alright, alright!” Shadow groaned. “I get it, but let’s let her have fun, alright? This is her family, after all.”

“Fine.” Omega grumbled. “But I will get you back for this.”

“Sure you will.” Shadow raised an eyebrow at him.

This led to a fierce staring match/arm-wrestling battle and subsequent argument over who won, immediately followed by Omega pulling out his phone and the two watching a recently popular obstacle course show. Of course, they both agreed that they could do far better than any of the contestants.

Eventually, though, as the evening wore on, the two joined back up with Rouge to head to their room. Shadow took a hot shower while Rouge changed into her favorite pajamas- they were soft and white with little pink hearts all over (her favorite colors). 

She yawned loudly just as the hybrid walked in, already wrapped in a blanket and pulling on some plain black nightwear. He didn’t really need it, but his fifty-year stint in what was essentially a superpowered freezer had left him with a distinct dislike for the cold.

Omega had already plugged into the outlet and begun to charge, but yet…”Why don’t I get a blanket?”

“What the heck d’ you want one for?” Rouge muttered, already exhausted. 

“Well, you both have them.” he muttered sulkily, glowering at them from his corner of the room.

The bat opened up the closet in the room, looking up at the top shelf. “Shadow, c’mere. I can’t reach this thing by myself.” 

He walked over quickly, not appearing to be tired at all. Omega, as always, knew better, and saw the fatigue from the long day that he tried to hide behind his “Ultimate Lifeform” title.

Rouge jumped onto his shoulders in a practiced movement, snatching a pale purple fluffy blanket from the shelf and flinging it half-heartedly at Omega. “There’s your blanket.” she declared, before jumping straight from Shadow to her bed.

She settled into her usual sleeping position, with her feet hooked over the headboard and her face and pillow about halfway down the bed. It wasn’t a typical behavior for most, but she was a bat, after all. “‘Night, guys.” she murmured, already half asleep.

Shadow carefully lifted his blankets and slid under them, trying to keep them as neat as possible. The hedgehog shifted into a half-curled position, displaying his quills to the world and protecting his vulnerable legs and chest. “Sleep well, Rouge. Goodnight, Omega.” he said softly, still trying to stay awake.

“Good night.” the robot replied.

Omega kept an eye on his teammates, the room lit only by a patch of moonlight from the window. He listened to Rouge’s slight snoring, and watched as Shadow’s eyes slowly closed and his breathing evened out.

The robot was always cautious about shifting into his own form of ‘sleep’, but reminded himself that this was not enemy territory. This was Rouge’s family’s house, and they were all safe.

Still, he watched his friends sleep peacefully for a while longer. Then, he selected low power mode from his menu of choices and allowed his eyes to go dark.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark #team dark: a holiday special #thought i'd give rouge a big family to make up for shadow & omega having none #she still had a rough childhood though... #:( #90% of omega's 'contingency planning' was definitely fantasizing about awesome battle scenes #shadow is moderately sad as always #hope you enjoyed!! #sol's fanfiction

[365days365movies]

May 9, 2021: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (Recap: Part Two)

So, this is an adaptation of Pinocchio, right?

I mean...yeah, it definitely is. It’s a story about an artificial boy, brought to life and given to a parent to raise, learning lessons about humanity all along the way. Hell, they use the Collodi story as an element of the plot, so there’s no way it isn’t an adaptation of the original story. Here, I’ll break it down.

First, he’s given life by Hobby, who represents both his creator and the one who gives the artificial boy life. In other words, he’s a portmanteau of two characters: the Blue Fairy and Geppetto. The latter created him, while the former gives him life. Really, I’d argue that he’s more of the Blue Fairy.

So, who’s Geppetto? Obviously, Monica. She’s the (semi) loving parent that ACTUALLY makes David her son...literally. Remember the Winter Soldier awakening sequence? Monica is a flawed parent who obviously doesn’t quite know how to care for the little artificial boy, similar to how Geppetto is normally portrayed. And, like him, she never gets to teach her new son about the world before releasing him into it.

Of course, Geppetto didn’t physically abandon Pinocchio in the woods, but whatever. At least this Pinocchio’s been left with his Jiminy Cricket. Unlike the traditional version, though, this one is fuzzy.

Teddy, the stuffed bear supertoy, is clearly meant to be Jiminy Cricket, the conscience meant to guide David along his way, and along his journey. He subtly guides David, giving him advice that he sometimes ignores. And, given that David probably wasn’t built with a conscience, it makes sense to give him an internal one. Speaking of, let’s talk about David, because this simile might actually be more important than one would think in understanding this film.

David, of course, is creepy as FUCK. He’s trying hard to be a real boy that his mother can accept, but he’s so goddamn creepy. And initially, I thought that this might just be bad acting or direction. But then, I walked away for a little bit, and I realized something: what if that’s on purpose? Because here’s the thing: David isn’t real. And neither is Pinocchio, but with Pinocchio, you KNOW that.

Pinocchio is, after all, a puppet. And that point is obvious visually, both in the basically flawless Disney film, and in the original book. But David is, after all, played by an ACTUAL real boy, and therefore appears real to the audience. So, how to make him appear artificial? By emphasizing the fact that David’s behavior and actions are not natural. They are programmed and artificial. And so, when the journey begins, David hasn’t yet learned to be a real boy. And therefore, he isn’t yet real. And now, of course, he’s on the journey not only to become a real boy, but also to earn that chance. Just like Pinocchio.

But we’re only one-third through this film, and a LOT more happens in the story of Pinocchio. I’m not suggesting that this movie perfectly follows the book or Disney film by any means, but it’s definitely following some of its structure. And if Pinocchio is known for anything, it’s known for its most iconic villains and adversaries. I’m talking these guys:

And I’m...looking forward to seeing how these guys are adapted? Wait, wait, wait, hold on...I railed HARD against Act One (which you can read right here), whose writing and plot I still think were poorly thought out. But, after this mental recontextualization...am I actually enjoying this movie?

Shit, maybe. Thinking about it in these terms actually helps. OK, Kubrick, Spielberg...hit me with your best shot.

Recap (2/3)

With Act Two, enter Gigolo Joe (Jude Law). Yes. Really.

Gigolo Joe is a “lover Mecha”, a model built specifically for sexual gratification. Joe’s an interesting case, as he’s obviously built to be quite seductive, in a physical and a sensual manner. He’s been hired by a woman trying to get away from her abusive husband, and proceeds to woo her with sweet nothings, easing her discomfort with the idea of sleeping with a Mecha. And I’m gonna be honest: Joe is a CHARMING motherfucker, smooth and slick as a robot ought to be, with the ability to change his appearance and voice to please his customers.

And as I’m watching him, trying to figure out if he’s the Fox or the Cat, or both combined, he’s suddenly framed for murder by the jealous husband of one of his clients! Shit! Understanding exactly how fucked he is, he takes the necessary precautions and removes his identification chip. I’m not entirely sure who he is, but I’m interested in revisiting that plot, that’s for sure.

David, meanwhile, is wandering around in the woods, where he comes up with the idea to find the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, who will surely turn him into a real boy. But while wandering through the woods, what does he find but another group of robots like himself, scavenging from parts that’ve been dumped in the woods. And the CGI here is absolutely fantastic looking, as the robots outfit themselves with technology.

Also stumbling upon this display is Joe, on the run. But as they all appear in the same place, the moon suddenly rises. And it’s gorgeous.

This is not the Moon, but a gorgeous hot-air balloon from something called the Flesh Fair. With men on the ground on specialized motorcycles called “Hounds”, and with an eye-in-the-sky belonging to commander Lord Johnson-Johnson (Brendan Gleeson). He and his men hunt down Mecha to take them to the Flesh Fair, where robots are destroyed for the sport of human observers.

They chase down and capture all of the robots assembled, including David, Joe, and THIS spectacular special effect.

Yeah, holy shit, that’s amazing.

Anyway, it’s here that David loses his conscience, as Teddy falls out, only to be brought to the Flesh Fair and taken as a lost toy, placed in the lost-and-found. And, now that we’re here, it’s time we acknowledge what this appears to be: Stromboli’s Circus.

Given the fact that the “puppet show” is clearly replaced by the abuse and destruction of robots (including one weirdly resembling and voiced by Chris fucking Rock of all people), and that it has a ringmaster in the form of Johnson-Johnson, this is definitely meant to be a replacement for Stromboli’s puppet show. Albeit, one colored by anti-Mecha racism, but whatever.

A little girl wanders up to the cage where David’s kept, and confuses him for a human child. She goes to her father, who’s astonished by the existence of a robot child, and he goes to Johnson-Johnson, who gives not a single shit, and brings him up to be destroyed with the rest in the flesh fair. Dude REALLY doesn’t like robots. David, understandably scared, has his Damage Avoidance System kick in, and he grabs onto Gigolo Joe for safety, dragging him along to their deaths.

As he’s about to be melted by concentrated acid in front of a crowd (all of whom are affected by seeing a child be melted, robot or not), David cries out in fear. This leads to the audience STRAIGHT-UP REBELLING, as they refuse to believe that David is anything but human. He immediately takes off, alongside Gigolo Joe and Teddy.

We head back to Cybertronics, where it’s revealed that David is actually a facsimile for Hobby’s departed son. Which is...weird. Real talk, this is extraordinarily odd, and Hobby clearly has some massive issues he needs to figure out. In the forest, Hobby and Joe get to know each other. He recommends getting to Rouge City to find the Blue Fairy, whose location they will ask for from a “Dr. Know”, as there is nothing he doesn’t.

Also, Jude Law’s giving a fuckin’ soliloquy about robot prostitution right now, and I’m not gonna lie to you; I can dig it. It’s a Queen Mab speech about gettin’ down on that robodick, and it’s actually quite entertaining. And with that, we not only head to Rouge City, but we also discover who Joe is meant to represent. If Rogue City is Pleasure Island (and it OBVIOUSLY is), Gigolo Joe is meant to be both the Fox (AKA Honest John, AKA J. Worthington Foulfellow), AND Lampwick. Neat! Anyway, Rouge City...

...is not even a little subtle, goddamn. It’s literally a sex-island. And yet, once there, David is introduced to Dr. Know (Robin Williams), a kiosk where you pay for information, which makes me appreciate Wikipedia so goddamn much. To the good Doctor, they ask for the location of the Blue Fairy. And by accurately using keywords (a skill under-appreciated in Google Searches), they get an eerie reading of Hobby’s book, beginning with a Yeats poem.

With this information, they discover that Hobby (and the secret to David becoming a real boy) is at the end of the world, in a place called “Man-hattan”. David is filled with new determination, but Gigolo isn’t quite sure if this is real. David fights back, saying that his mother loves him and that the Blue Fairy must become real. But Joe insists that she likely did not love him, and simply liked how she made him feel. And while David refuses this idea outright...he’s almost certainly correct.

They go outside, and Joe is about to be taken away by the police, presumably for that murdered woman. However, the helicopter they came in is taken by David, who plans to use it to get to Manhattan. Joe escapes and joins him, and the two head to Manhattan.

End Act Two. See you in Act Three!

#a.i. artificial intelligence #ai artificial intelligence #steven spielberg #stanley kubrick #haley joel osment #jude law #frances o'connor #brendan gleeson #william hurt #science fiction may #sci-fi may #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #usermichi

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #461

“this city looks so pretty, do you wanna burn it with me?”

Have you ever wanted a Nikon camera? Or do you have one already? My camera before the one I have now was a Nikon D3200. I use a Canon now. Who was the last person (if anyone) you said Happy Birthday to? A friend. Do you have Photoshop? If so, how often a day do you use it? I have it, but I barely use it nowadays. I use it to edit photos for character profiles or profile pictures, add a watermark for my actual photography, and I used to make Mark-oriented gifs like crazy. They mostly did really well, so... I might wanna get back into that and get That Sweet Validation. Do you watch any shows that you know your parents wouldn’t approve of? No. Have any of your exes gotten married or had kids since your breakup? None, I think. Do either of your parents have a mental illness? My mom has depression. Can you tolerate children for a long period of time? NO. Have you ever lived with someone you felt thoroughly uncomfortable around? No. Are you into dubstep? Yeah, I tend to enjoy it. Zelda or The Sims games? Can I pick neither? lol I don't feel very much at all for The Sims, and Zelda games have always looked... boring to me? Like I've watched most of the Game Grumps' playthroughs of all the games, and they make it hilarious of course, but the games themselves? Nah. Are you terrible at assigning bands their proper genre? YES YES YES YES YES YES. Even in my preferred category, that being metal, FUCK if I know the sub-genre. Have you ever made out in a closet? No, that shit sounds claustrophobic as hell. Have you ever been to a laser tag place? Yeah, on a triple-date once! It was SO fun. How do you wanna celebrate your next birthday? Have a couple friends over, pig out at The Cheesecake Factory. o3o Do you tease your parents about them being old? No, especially not Mom. She's self-conscious about getting older. Are you in love with someone? "In love" is a bit too far, buddy. But I love someone. Have you ever ridden a unicycle? No. Have you ever wanted a pet bunny? I was VERY serious about getting a lop-eared bunny for quite a while, but we just couldn't afford to adopt one (even off Craigslist) and get a cage for it, toys, etc. Are the bottom of your feet clean? I HATE seeing the bottom of my feet. Not because they're dirty, but because it's Callus City. I ain't even fuckin jokin'. Do you like really salty food? Yeah. :x When’s the last time you bled a lot? Well, I just recently finished my cycle after not menstruating for three or four MONTHS, so you can figure that one out. Have you ever watched a needle go into your own skin? Yeah. I like to know exactly when it's coming. Have you ever seen someone get a piercing/tattoo? Yes to both. When you’re done eating finger foods, do you usually lick your fingers? Usually kasdjlf;kalsdjf shut up ok I like food. What’s the most racist thing you have ever said? As a little kid, when my really good friend (a neighborhood kid, even) asked if he thought we'd be a good couple, I told him no because "blacks and whites don't date" or something like that. It was an idea I'd never been exposed to before; the idea was so foreign to little kid me. I had no idea I was being racist. It ended in a small fight and we didn't talk for a few days 'til he came to my house telling Mom that he had to "be a man" and fix this and if that ain't the cUTEST SHIT RIGHT THERE. We were friends again after that. He's still on my Facebook, and he actually semi-recently got married! :') Do you know someone that is mute, deaf or blind? No. Have you ever spent more than two weeks in a wheelchair? No. Does weed smell good? Or no? Ugh, no. Where do you see your closest friend in ten years? Successful and happy she kept pushing. Mama to so many reptiles that are blessed with the best lives possible in human care. Got at least one amazing book out there. If she's reading this, you've fucking got this. <3 Would you like to have twins? Mother of fucking god, no. Even if I WANTED kids, do fucking not give me twins. Who was the last person you got into an argument with? My mom. Want to have kids before you’re 30? Once again, I don't want kids, but IF I did, that'd be preferable before the risk of birth defects and other issues climb with age. Does anybody have a tattoo with your name on it? My older sister has my initial. Do you think somebody’s in love with you? No. Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in ten years? Yes, I genuinely do. Who were the last people to hang out at your house? Miss Tobey, our friend and landlord. Does anyone like you? Welp... I hope he still does. Guess we'll figure that out soon. What person on your Facebook do you talk to the most? VIA Facebook? Probably my friend Lyndsey. She likes to comment on stuff I share. Do you want to fall in love? I do, but I'm also utterly horrified to and risk being hurt again. Are you interested in more than one person at the moment? No. Once I realized I was so deeply into Girt, all other romantic feelings kinda just... poofed. How was your last break up? Civil and done with both of our best interests in mind. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to say? Probably the first time I admitted I needed to go to the hospital for suicidal thoughts. I was so, so scared of what it was going to be like. What is the hardest thing you NEEDED to hear? That if Jason wasn't happy with me, he had every right to move on. She was right. Do you treat yourself well? No... but I'm trying to change that. What was the last song you sang out loud to? This "Set Fire to the Rain" cover. Do you take good pictures? I think I do? Have you ever done any internship? No. What’s a topic you’ve drastically changed your opinion on? Holy shit, so much, especially when it comes to morality and political stances. I am now a massive supporter and member of the LGBTQ+ community, I'm pro-trans rights, pro-choice... I've done like a dozen 180s in a lot of topics. Do you know anyone who has a PhD? I mean, some doctors, but no one in my truly personal life. Do you know anyone who works as a lawyer? Yes: my cousin. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? LAKSDJFKLA;JWD NEVER AND I PRAY TO THE HOLY LORD THAT I NEVER DO. Does the thought of having wrinkles when you’re older upset you? Not massively? Like literally everyone gets them and is natural and inevitable. Do you know anyone who’s struggling with addiction? I know one alcoholic, and one that's probably borderline. I also have two friends who are extremely addicted to weed. Look me in the eyes and say it's not an addictive substance and I wouldn't believe you one bit. Is there a video or computer game that you can get lost in for hours? Eh, sometimes World of Warcraft. Some days I'm really into it, and others I barely touch it. What’s your favorite Disney Channel movie? I have no clue. I don't even remember movies that were made *for* Disney exclusively. Do you ever have to do yard work? No. We have a friend from the dance studio mow the lawn. Do you have any live versions of songs in your music software? My iPod has a whole live album of Ozzy. Did you or do you listen to Britney Spears songs? Both did and do. Britney is a boss bitch. Does your favorite band have a male or female lead singer? Male. Have you seen the movie Moulin Rouge? No, but I've seen some of that P!nk music video of the song and it brings out the Gay in me. Do you have a key to anything besides your house? No. Could you ever complete a 500-piece puzzle? I've done that before. I miss doing puzzles... Have you ever been to any sort of convention? I went to a reptile expo with Sara!! I REALLY want to go to another when my legs are stronger and can handle standing and walking so much. Is your mom or dad the older parent? Mom. Have you ever tried to walk on a moving vehicle and fallen over? No????? What is your favourite kind of bread? Is there any of that in your house? Pumpernickel. No. Are/were you in the school band, and if so, what instrument did you play? I played the flute all through middle school and I wanna say half of HS. Have you ever ordered an unusual drink at a bar? Never even been to one. Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport? I think once for some reason I don't recall? What is your favourite seasonal candy? (only available at certain times) Gingerbread men, probs. Or chocolate bunnies!!! :') How do you feel right now? My stomach is KILLING me. I'm super excited though that Girt is coming over tomorrow. Have you ever had surgery that kept you in the hospital for over a day? No. What would you like your generation to change? How we treat nature. Is there anyone that you truly could not live without? No. I learned that is a very unhealthy mentality to have. Do you like carrots more if they’re raw, or cooked? I just hate carrots. What restaurant did you last go out to dinner at with friends? With friends? I couldn't even guess. Does your refrigerator have an ice maker or do you use ice cube trays? It has an ice maker. Do you have a favorite sibling, if any? No; I love them all. Do you have a favorite brand of clothing? I STAN CLOAK. How’s the love life? Something new might start tomorrow. I think it will. Do you watch the news? No; that shit is depressing. Who do you admire most? Mark. Do you have a favorite album? Black Rain by Ozzy Osbourne takes the cake and always will.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''city'' by hollywood undead

[charlthotte]

Breaking Through the Iron Wall - Aone Takanobu x Reader

Chapter 7

While sitting at the table eating breakfast, my father practically sprinted down the stairs to greet me with a cheery smile plastered upon his face like usual. He quickly engaged me in conversation, "Soooo... About that Aone guy... You seem pretty close to have only known each other for a few days. Might there be something between you?"

I had half the mind to face plant into my plate of food, "No, Dad.” I replied unenthusiastically, rubbing my browbone.

"Then why were you walking home together?" He cupped his hands in his face playfully, taking part in the typical annoying parent trope.

"You know how I'm the manager of the boys' volleyball club?"

"Yes..." He cooed in a sing-song voice.

"Well, Aone's just a member of it." I stated, bored of his prying behaviour.

"Just? Alright then..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I raised my eyebrow, genuinely puzzled.

"I just know my child..." He declared, completely dodging the question. I scrunched my face in confusion, but not bothering to probe him any further.

It wasn't long until my train set off, so I waved my father goodbye - my mother nowhere to be seen - as always. The sun lightly shone through the clouds, a beautiful contrast to the day before. And of course, when I entered the train carriage - Aone was situated in the very same seat as the two previous days; and once again I sat next to him. Unfortunately, I never harboured any doubts that he wouldn't be by himself, the fact of that was a little disheartening - but, I guessed that people here were always pretty quick to judge a person. "So Aone, are you feeling any better than yesterday?" And as always, he met my question with a swift nod. But what followed that was perhaps the most unexpected thing I had heard in quite a while. A sneeze. But not just any sneeze, it was so high pitched and just delicate - it was a shock to hear it coming out of his mouth. I almost reacted with an 'awe' but stopped myself before. It probably would have been a little embarrassing for him if I did. "Ah, so you caught a cold? I'm sorry, you didn't have to stay with me yesterday." He closed his eyes then shook his head, as if to say 'it's all fine'.

I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I fumbled around in my bag for my book. The black-eyed susan was the subject of my present page. Although its core meaning was justice, it could be given in two very different scenarios. The first was if long awaited justice had finally been awarded to you - the flower was congratulatory. However, it could also be given as a condolence, for example if the justice system had wronged you or you or one of your loved ones were in need of the sweet glory of justice. The base meaning was still justice, but how the little branches of its subliminal meaning could bend was just fascinating. But no matter what, giving that flower to someone always signified injustice being present in the first place.

As always, I made sure to turn the pages slowly so Aone could read alongside me - side by side in silence. However, the train ride felt to have flown by in a matter of minutes and we were soon on our way to school, relishing the cool air lapping at our faces, not a single word was spoke between us at that time but it still felt like we hadn't stopped talking ever since I stepped onto the train. Maybe to an outside perspective, we would have seemed to be ignoring each other. It was anything but that, it could be described as something similar to telepathy - but without the communication.

-

Everything before lunch break rolled by pretty smoothly, it was fair to say there wasn't even a single little mishap. When I sat at a bench by myself, I felt a familiar overwhelming presence making their way towards me. "Hey, (Y/N)!" Hiroko squealed, as much a ball of energy as always.

"Hey Hiroko, you okay?" I asked, at a much lower energy output to her.

"I'm doing amazing! How are you doing?" She bounded around the ground, not caring about the eyes she brought our way.

"I'm fine I guess. By the way - where's Rea?"

"Rea! She got pulled away to talk to the teacher at the end of the lesson! She's so cool and pretty isn't she?!" Hiroko chortled, her eyes filled to the brim with child-like excitement.

"Sure she is." Normally I would be slightly agitated by a person exuding her level of energy, but something about her was just somehow... enthralling. Maybe it was her free spirited-ness, or something else entirely...

"(Y/N)! How's the volleyball club going? Did you decide to join? If so, what's everyone like?" Hiroko bombarded me with questions, I was unsure of which to answer first.

"Yeah, I joined and its good, I guess."

"Wait! That's so amazing! You're so cool! What are the players like?" It amazed me how she was even at high school, yet alone her second year.

"Oh, they play really well - I can really see where they got the iron wall nickname from. It's actually quite fun watching them play."

"No, silly! I meant the people, what are they like out of the court?!" She laughed at my mistake, but in an innocent manner, not a condescending one.

"The captain seems like a good guy. Their number six is... I don't think he's even human, and not in a good way. Aone doesn't speak much but I guess I know him the most - if that makes sense. And I don't really know the rest of the team very well yet."

"Huh?" She titled her head to the side, "How do you know him the most if he doesn't speak?"

"I guess communication is more than just conversation." I don't know why that came out of me, it wasn't a thought I had been pondering on at all - I guess it was just my thoughts from somewhere coming into the outside world.

"That sounds a bit weird." She snickered, uttering a childish giggle.

As I tried to eat my lunch - undisturbed - Hiroko still carried on bombarding me with questions about random facts about how cool Rea was. Their friendship was sort of peculiar to me - Hiroko was a firecracker, never afraid of people's thoughts nor was she afraid to express herself fully. On the other hand, Rea was much more reserved - from what I could tell. She didn't ever seem like she had any passion for anything either. It seemed as if Rea was just dragging her feet behind Hiroko whilst following her, however - from what I could sense, it was Hiroko who was the puppy walking behind Rea - looking up to her as if she was a big sister figure.

The rest of the day went by as smoothly as it could. After all, I had social studies - the feared class where I sat next to the grimace. However, he didn't try to provoke me once - which was very strange - instead, he sat his arms folded and expression blank, a rare but pleasant sight to see. I couldn't complain, even if his silence was a extremely strange occurrence.

But after school had ended, he sneakily snaked his arm around my shoulders, "So your highness... I heard you went to Aone's house last night - do you mind explaining?"

"For god's sake, Futakuchi. My Dad and I just dropped him off at his house." I tried to push his arms away from me, but he only clung onto me tighter, "Could you kindly let go of me?"

His arm returned to his side, only for him to bow with his arm flourished to the side once again, "Of course your highness, but I do have one other question..."

"What would that be?" I spoke through gritted teeth, trying not to smack him in his smug little face.

"May I inquire as to why you too were together in the first place?"

"I don't have to tell you anything, Futakuchi." Once again, I tried to up my pace to escape his leering sneer, but it just kept clambering onto my steps.

"My, my, my - your highness... That sounds highly suspicious." He snickered into my ear, my body began slightly shivering with rage.

Suddenly, a huge shadow loomed over the both of us - and of course it was the snowy mountain himself, Aone. As if on cue, Futakuchi began to scuttle away with his tail between his legs, it was simply a heart-warming sight. I mouthed a quick 'thank you' to Aone as I too, shuffled away - in order to get the bibs to hand out. Last night, someone must have left them to dry on the viewing deck. And they were right there. Climbing up the ladder was no problem, nor was climbing back down - though I must admit, with the bibs, it was slightly more difficult than before. I then proceeded to hand them out to their respective players. However, as I was handing the last bib to the libero, a rouge volleyball just started flying through the air as if it had been spiked.

But spiked directly at my face...

#aone #aone takanobu #aone x gn!reader #aone x reader #aone takanobu x reader #haikyuu!! #haikyuu #haikyuu x gender neutral reader #haikyuu x reader

[mcheang]

Chloe actually uses her brain

Miraculer alternate ending

“Weren’t you with Ladybug yesterday?” Lila looked confused.

“Of course Ladybug was with me yesterday! Because Sabrina got akumatized! So either you’re lying or your magic dance summons an akuma.”

Lila sweatdropped. Chloe chooses to use her brain now?

Lila put a hand on her heart and feigned shock. “I’m not lying! But maybe the magic dance was only meant for me after all. Ladybug only showed it to me.”

Chloe cocked her hip. “Ah yes. Your utterly ridiculous dance. Tell you what. If your dance really works, why don’t you show it to us all now and summon Ladybug.”

Lila flushed. “You know exactly why i perform that dance in private, Chloe!”

Chloe gave a fake yawn. “What’s the point of boasting about your connection with Ladybug when you don’t have any proof? At least people have seen Ladybug visit my roof when I use my Bee signal. But you? Ladybug has never visited you in public. And I highly doubt she thinks such a charitable person as yourself is worthy of a miraculous. You’re no Rena Rouge. You’re just a wannabe fox heroine.”

Lila’s face grew redder. “How dare you? After I tried to help you?”

Chloe raised her eyebrow. “I know you’re from Greece (if Chloe can confuse Asian cultures, why not Greek and Roman?), but your French can’t be that bad. You didn’t help me. You sabotaged me. And rest assured, I intend to return the favour. Sabrina told me your Mother works for the Italian embassy, doesn’t she? I think I’ll ask Dad to invite them all for a nice dinner and she can tell the whole tale about how Ladybug saved you.”

Lila panicked. Her Mother cannot get involved, everything will be ruined if she does. Quickly composing her face, Lila shrugged it off. “If you please. But she’ll just confirm whatever I’ve been saying.”

Chloe smirked. “We’ll see.”

And she walked off, unwilling to let the liar get the last word. Sabrina followed, not giving Lila another glance.

Lila stewed. She had to change Chloe’s mind. But how?

Sabrina!

Later in the morning, once Chloe had gone to the bathroom during a class break, Lila approached Sabrina. “Hey, Sabrina.”

Sabrina jumped, looking nervous to see Lila close by. Chloe would not like to see her BFF talking to the girl who humiliated her.

Lila saw this and was just as eager to make this quick before Chloe returned. Feigning a carefree attitude, Lila asked what Sabrina was doing that afternoon.

Sabrina frowned. “I’ll be helping Chloe prepare the dinner arrangements. After that, I’ll help Chloe prepare for the dinner.”

Lila gasped. “You mean you don’t even get to attend?”

Sabrina shook her head.

Lila put on an apologetic face. “I’m so sorry, Sabrina. I didn’t mean to ruin your afternoon with my advice. I wish there was something I could do.”

Sabrina gave Lila a look. “Well, you could actually perform the dance in public, say during lunch time? If Ladybug shows up just for you and Chloe sees it, she’ll have to admit you’re telling the truth.”

Lila just smiled at Sabrina, promising nothing.

For the rest of the morning, Lila was frantically trying to attract an akuma. Her own alarm and panic was not enough.

Lila told Rose a lie that Prince Ali has a fiancée and she was one of the first to know. Rose was disappointed but not surprised. She knew she hardly had a chance with Prince Ali romantically. They hardly saw each other. Juleka was happy to cheer Rose up.

Lila asked Mylene how her tree planting event had gone. Lila sympathizes that Ivan lied to Mylene rather than trusted her with the truth. Did he think Mylene wouldn’t understand? Mylene admits she had been upset with her Boyfriend but they had already hashed it out.

Lila can’t put her frame/accuse-Marinette plan into action yet. There isn’t a test at the moment.

Lila tries to rub it in Max’s face that he got beaten by Marinette. But Alix jumps into their conversation and admits it’s nice to have another female winner in an event stereotyped for males. Max doesn’t dare argue in the face of that statement.

And Lunch has arrived. Coincidentally, an akuma appeared on the other side of the city. Sabrina gave Lila another look, silently promising that one way or another Chloe will avenge herself.

(Now, in case you’re wondering, Lila wanted the akuma for herself, to become Volpina and cast an illusion of Ladybug again. But too late)

Lila tries to get her Mother to stay at home by feigning to be grievously ill enough to be sent to the hospital.

The Doctors will immediately point out Lila has no broken bones, but Lila forces herself to vomit in class and claims this was a regular occurrence ever since she decided to go on a diet. She had even suffered hair loss.

“Is that the excuse for your hair-don’t?” mocked Chloe.

Lila’s Mother does make an appearance at the hospital but the Doctors are baffled because Lila looks perfectly healthy.

Lila’s excuse: makeup

In any case, the blood work needs some time to be finished. The doctor’s advice was to just let Lila try to eat dinner and sleep early. (I’m just basing off what I read in Kitchen Princess volume 2)

Sadly, Lila’s Mother won’t stay even if her Daughter is suspected to have an eating disorder. She asked their neighbour to look after Lila while she attends a mandatory dinner.

Lila wants to scream. If her plan had failed, she would have tried something else to sabotage the dinner (set off the fire alarm) but she can’t leave under the neighbour’s watchful eye.

So while Chloe asked Mrs Rossi her opinion of Ladybug, Lila did have one bit of good news.

The doctor had suggested feeding Lila what she liked to eat. Knowing she will be grounded very soon, Lila indulges herself on lasagne and rich chocolate cake.

She goes to sleep and pretends to continue so when her Mother slams the door open.

After dismissing the neighbour and thanking her, Mrs Rossi checks on Lila to see if she was indeed asleep before deciding their confrontation could wait till morning.

That dinner was the most humiliating event Mrs Rossi could remember. Not only was she the only one to believe Ladybug was incompetent; but the Parisians had been insulted that she had badmouthed their heroine. Their offended faces turned to incredulity when they heard her faulty evidence from her own Daughter. Then that Chloe girl told her that her own Daughter was said to have been saved by Ladybug and that they were BFFs. After that there came the theory that Lila was playing truant since the school hadn’t shut down, as Chloe could very well attest to.

The next morning, Lila tries to delay the inevitable by feigning exhaustion. Her Mother strangely lets it go as she announces she is off to work.

Lila tries to suppress the hope that maybe something went wrong with Chloe’s plan, like she couldn’t attend because she had another appointment.

The reason behind Mrs Rossi’s departure is because she wants all the facts before she confronts her daughter. She had called an emergency meeting with the principal and Ms Bustier. Imagine her shock and sadness to learn her daughter changed her parental contact information and her excuse for truancy. Mrs Rossi clears up the matter for the faculty and all agree Lila will be in massive trouble. Detention sounds like a lenient punishment for forging signatures and email fraud. But Lila’s truancy means she will have to stay back a year. She won’t graduate with the class.

Meanwhile, at class, Chloe boasts about Lila’s true nature with video evidence. Let’s just say the class are upset to learn that their friend had called Ladybug useless. Alya is shocked and Lila’s phone is exploding with texts demanding explanations and pleading for it not to be true.

Lila reads it all but doesn’t answer. Her whole world is crumbling before her eyes. Why hasn’t an akuma come for her then?

The akuma wasn’t attracted by Lila’s dull acceptance and rage, her emotions weren’t as strong when she knew this was coming.

No, the akuma was attracted towards sweet, innocent Rose, most sensitive of the girls. Because Lila’s betrayal really stung her.

Alya apologized to Marinette for not believing her. It makes the whole class realize Lila had been taking advantage of them, and makes them recall their discussions with her yesterday. Had Lila been intentionally trying to upset them?

Going further back, they analyse everything Lila had told them. Promises she had not yet fulfilled. Her implication that Ladybug doesn’t care about the earth. Yeah, the class idolizes Ladybug and while they didn’t really believe Ladybug was apathetic about the earth’s issues, they had dismissed it back then. Now, they are furious, especially since a lot of them have become heroes.

In all the chaos, Rose becomes akumatizes into Princess Fragrance. She will hold Lila on trial, and then decide her punishment. Luckily, Adrien and Marinette led the charge out of the class once they saw Rose transform.

Rose is stopped before she reaches Lila but her akumatization and reason for it make the news.

Before the day is over, when Mrs Rossi returns to work, she is told she has been called back to Italy because she had been sacked/demoted for her incompetence, ignorance and for humiliating the Italian embassy.

As Mrs Rossi packs her things (one of them a tiny plant), her despair, shame and rage against her Daughter summons a second akuma. She turns into Mother Nature.

If Lila was the bad seed, Mrs Rossi was the one who watered the tree. Mother Nature’s powers allow her to prove she can raise beautiful things.

She is defeated.

Mrs Rossi accepts her punishment and prepares to move back to Italy.

Lila is still staying in Paris. Her Father had been in another city but is also still a diplomat stationed in France. He will take over his wife’s station. Mrs Rossi can’t look after Lila and find a new job at the same time.

In addition to her school punishments, Lila will be getting a nanny, no allowance, grounded. Mrs Rossi knows Lila will face worse punishments once she returns to school tomorrow since the doctor confirmed Lila was fine. (Medical fees paid over nothing irked Mrs Rossi further)

At school, Lila is left to sit alone. Nathaniel decided to sit next to Ivan since he needs some closure.

Thanks to Marinette insisting the class not get worked up over Lila, the class ignores her but Lila notices she is glared at on her way to her desk.

Marinette and Alya throw a party for Chloe, under the excuse that it is to celebrate her time as Queen Bee now that she is retired. Alya had wanted to honor Marinette too but Marinette declines because she doesn’t need to be the center of attention.

Chloe was annoyed by the reminder that she can no longer be a hero but basks in everyone’s thanks for exposing that liar.

Adrien can’t argue because he has just learnt how much Lila had intentionally tried to hurt their class, and Chloe needs to be cheered up after Miraculer. Like after Oniichan, Adrien avoids Lila when she tries to hurt the people he loves. (Seriously the boy needs to stand up for the love of his life. Lila has badmouthed Ladybug in front of Adrien several times, and he has not defended her. Even after Oniichan, he still greets Lila cordially in Miraculer! Argh! 😠 also...why leave Ladybug alone with Lila when she was clearly fine?!)

Lila can’t even summon an akuma when her round-the-clock Nanny stays outside the classroom door and is there to walk her home for lunch. It’s a shame, because she really could have used an akuma after seeing the party. But her nanny was instructed to keep akumas away since Lila had been akumatized at least twice.

With the class ignoring her, Lila has no chance to make new ‘friends’ or get her old ones back. Not when she has to return home immediately for lunch or when school ends. Even during group projects, Lila has to communicate from home.

The class makes their hatred of Lila known in gym.

Oh, and now that Lila had been publicly announced a liar, Gabriel has no use for her. He doesn’t reach out to her anymore and Lila knows she has been fired.

Lila’s stay in Paris is assuredly miserable. And to think she had done all this because she wanted Adrien all to herself and tried to humiliate the competition.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #lila salt #miraculer fic #ml salt fic #miraculer alternate ending #lila karma #lila bashing #lila is exposed #lila gets exposed

[miraculouslycool]

Signs of Ladybug’s crush on Chat Noir - Part 2

Season 1 | Season 3 | Final

Your Resident Ladynoir Trash presents:

Exhibit B: Season 2

Well, here’s Season 2! This post is super long, so buckle up, you’re in for a ride!

Reminder that Volpina and the Collector took place on the same day. So, when Ladybug informs Chat Noir about her suspicions about Gabriel Agreste, we as viewers know the turmoil Chat must be going through to have his father get accused of the worst crime possible : Being Hawkmoth. We see how serious and focused Ladybug can get with an Akuma on a normal day. But this mission was extra serious, because it involved finding out who their greatest enemy was.

When he immediately grows dejected and disturbed, Ladybug abandons her thoughts about the mission and immediately grows concerned about his feelings. Especially considering how serious it was. 

Look. He’s the one who pulled away, and not from being flustered like in Animan. And Ladybug’s face is still in shock, considering that we, the viewers and she herself are seeing Chat Noir like this for the first time. And again, he’s the one who says they have to get to the bottom of this. Even though she’s the one who figured it out, she doesn’t dismiss Chat’s feelings and obvious discomfort. 

Once again,here. Even in the midst of a battle, she always, always puts him first.

  Ahem. For someone who is not supposed to be interested at all, Ladybug is quite the flirt.

“Don’t encourage him, Nadia or the cat won’t stop purring all night.”

“Don’t listen to her! Bugaboo is just a spot jealous.” “Hey, I thought we agreed on no more Bugaboo calling, pussycat!” “But it’s so cute!” (Side note: Everyone is tuning in to watch two 14 year olds in spandex flirt with each other. Paris is a MOOD.) 

“WHAT? When did that happen??” This is the face of a girl who got caught with her hand too far in the cookie jar. “I WAS SAVING YOU, NOT KISSING YOU!” And we all know my thoughts about that in Part 1. 

“A superhero never lies!” Now we all know Marinette hates liars. And yeah. She lies again within the span of 12 seconds.

“Alright, Prime Queen. You win. You’re right. Chat Noir and I are together. It’s like you said. We are in love.” That is the face of a boy who has no idea what he’s doing. 

Plus, look at their hands. His is a limp noodle and hers is hanging on to it like life support. 

“Fighting evil, with his lady!” Calling yourself someone’s lady is…pretty intimate. MHHHHHMMMM

I put this picture here just because I love Chat’s expression, lmao.

Once Ladybug’s ruse worked out, she saw Chat looking around worriedly for Marinette, that she personally reassured that she was safe. It’s a small thing, but it’s sweet to see that she cares about the little things, just like him.

“Lead him to the river where there is nothing to destroy! Good job,Chat Noir!”

“He’s going to his play pen all on his own! Good job, Chat!” Love that she compliments and respects his role in their partnership.

“Hey, kitty, looks like you’re not that much of a natural with kids!" 

"Ha-ha, for your information, I have never babysat anything less than 10 tons." 

"Uh, we wanna calm the baby down, not burst his eardrums?" 

"What? I have a great voice, you know! I might as well meow you a serenade one of these days!” I LOVE THEIR BANTER! And her reaction to the last one is vastly different from how she would have reacted before. In season 1 she would have groaned or rolled her eyes. This was the first time she laughed at his jokes.

No reason. I just love this picture. And they look like parents in this one. *Cries* Okay, maybe there is another reason too.

Ladybug and Chat’s relationship extends to more than just being able to fight well and fight together. They’re so in tune and so in sync with each other. How many times has Ladybug has to just call out his name and he just understood what to do? Namely, Dark Owl. The whole episode. 

Facepalming together.

Mirroring each other’s actions.

Speaking together at the same time.

Casual best friend energy. 

One word - trust. 

THEM. JUST THEM.

When Chat offers the idea of them having lunch together, she’s not utterly repulsed by it, even though she says she couldn’t come. She just says she didn’t have time to schedule it. Meaning that even though she doesn’t want to call it a date, Ladybug doesn’t turn down the idea of hanging out with Chat Noir at all. 

Look at this adorable bean giving her sad kitten the sweetest smile ever! 

She put aside her own heartbreak to listen to him talk about his own. 

“You’re in love with Ladybug? For real?” And when she realises that he is serious about his love for her, she’s guilty about it. She isn’t disgusted in any way, she’s just wondering if all the times she flirted back, she unknowingly led him on. And she definitely doesn’t like being the reason he is so sad, even if she isn’t technically to blame for it.

Yep. Haha, she definitely doesn’t like being held by him at alllll, nope watcha talkin about? 

“Maybe I was wrong about him.” She says with the softest smile on her face. When Chat was angry with Ladybug, it felt off, for some reason, when I first watched Glaciator, and now I know why. We’ve seen Adrien angry at Chloe, at his father, at villains, at Hawkmoth, but we’ve never seen him angry with Ladybug. 

And though the circumstances were less than ideal, I welcomed this change. It added on an extra layer of depth to his character.

I’ve said this time and again, Marinette genuinely cares about Chat Noir. I don’t know where the idea of her hating Chat Noir and only loving Adrien came from, but it is simply not true.

She’s wracking herself with guilt, not realising that she unknowingly hurt him, (and before anyone says he had no right to feel hurt, how would YOU feel if you were stood up by your father and the love of your life in the same day?)and even though she didn’t have to apologise, she kept on doing it, each time more earnest and apologetic than before.

Also, can I just say that Prime Queen is not the only time Ladybug has used the “We’re in love” ruse? 

Lol, she’s so excited to pretend to be in love with him.

Either Marinette is a good actress or she really is projecting her real feelings into her bad acting skills. He only offered her his hand, but she took his arm instead. This isn’t something that Ladybug would usually do, right? 

It’s like she was meant to be there, holding on to his arm and kissing his cheek- excuse me while I go and cry about how much I love these kids.

Daww, look at her. She doesn’t even deny Andre like she did with Nadja.

This entire scene was just so beautiful for two things, one, the animation, two, Ladybug’s honesty. She didn’t want to lie to him and play with his feelings, even though she never meant to. If there’s anyone Ladybug wants to be completely honest with, it is Chat Noir. 

She would rather tell him the truth than half ass their relationships with secrets. And what’s more important is that she doesn’t feel the need to be forceful, because she knows he will understand, even though he will inevitably be hurt. 

I mean, she’s supposed to be REJECTING him here. Why does it look like she’s the one who is in heartbreak? 

Ladybug has never looked at him like this at all. I bet that she would even let him actually kiss her if that was his intention. 

But of course, it wasn’t. He kisses her on the cheek, gives her the rose and leaves her blushing. That’s a canon blush. Not an airbrush edit. Speaking of canon, did anyone know that she started calling him kitty more frequently only after Glaciator? 

When she introduced Rena Rouge to him, she’s definitely pleased that Chat and her get along so well. 

OR DOES SHE? 

She gives him this sweet look before leaving with Rena and I almost never noticed it. 

See her expression here. It may look like she’s afraid that Chat Noir won’t get here, but in reality, it’s not. 

“Oh he will, I trust him.” (I too, stare up at the sky dreamily while telling my crush and love of my life how my superhero partner has never let me down) In the first picture, she was afraid of her plan not working, because she needed Chat, but she was NEVER afraid that he wouldn’t come. 

Even here. She is worried, but even then she doesn’t lose hope. 

Ladybug’s reaction to Alya getting kissed. 

Ladybug’s even worse reaction to Nino staying behind. Even then, she keeps on going UNPROMPTED by anyone else, well, until Chat Noir gets affected too. 

She’s holding his cheek here. And looking at him with the saddest, terrified look on her face. He literally had to force her to go. That wasn’t the case with Nino and Alya. In fact, the one constant in this entire series is Ladybug’s trust that Chat Noir will always be there, even when it seems like he won’t.

  Is it just me or are these two more intimate after what happened in Glaciator?That moment of honesty with her feelings, something which could have driven her apart from him only brought them closer together.

“Not pawsibbly, kitty cat!” See, she’s punning now! 

I just love the Frightningale endcard so I'mma just leave this here. 

Syren is probably one of the most controversial episodes when it comes to this fandom, and we’ve talked about Adrien’s feelings so much, I think it’s time we talked about Marinette’s perspective.

When Chat gets rightfully annoyed about not being let it on things, Ladybug isn’t snappy with him. She’s actually considering talking to Master Fu to go talk to Chat Noir finally.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t exactly easy for me either, trust me.” She doesn’t revel in Fu’s favouritism of her. She wants him to treat Chat as an equal, and even in the end, it was only through her prompting that Fu actually meets him. 

And what’s even better is that Chat doesn’t actually blame her for anything; he only had a view of only half of what was going on, and once he knows what’s going on, he understands that it wasn’t her secret to tell, and he thanks her. Not FORGIVE her. He THANKS her. That’s proof that Chat Noir does acknowledge that it wasn’t Ladybug’s fault. And regardless of whether we as a fandom acknowledge that or not, Ladybug does. And that’s more important. 

He’s the one to let go of her hand here, fellas. All she had to do was look at him, and he did what she wanted. You want character development? Here’s your character development. 

Aww, she’s smiling!

And again!

Man, she just loves being close to him whenever she has to act unnaturally to fool the villain, huh?

“You’re not replacing me with a turtle, are you?” I think with his silly pout and everything, Chat was half joking but he half meant it too. Ladybug dismissed it at the moment, and he did too. I mean, SHE was the one who brought it up again towards the end. She didn’t have to, considering he forgot about it.

“You know you’re irreplaceable.” She’s beginning to take initiative to assure him that she does need his powers as a superhero AND him as a person.

Even when Chat was cursed to be a coward and Ladybug became a worse klutz than Marinette, they still took care of each other. He is the one pulling her out of the river. 

And she is nothing but patient with him when he’s deathly scared of everything. Her expressions around him are downright adorable. 

She’s so soft for him uwu

Which leads up to a nice parallel in Sandboy. 

This scene was so fucking perfectly animated. 

Homegirl is starstruck. 

Homegirl is shocked at the cat’s nightmare.

Homegirl basically lets the loyal cat carry her around everywhere because she lost her powers and she doesn’t mind one bit. 

The last part of Sandboy is when she genuinely wonders if Chat Noir sees her as the same Ladybug from his nightmare. After all, no one is scared of anything without a reason. And obviously, Chat Noir having such an opinion of her doesn’t sit well with her. He reassures her that he doesn’t see her that way, this happens:  

This is honestly one of my favourite expressions of hers. And it’s a nice role reversal too. For once, Ladybug is the one doubting Chat Noir’s opinion of herself, and she gets a pleasant surprise out of it.

MARINETTE WATCHES CHAT NOIR MEMES. IT IS CANON.

Notice how sad Ladybug is to have to reject him again. Not because she wants to return his feelings and can’t. Because she has to hurt him by doing so. Her body is turned towards Adrien, but her eyes are turned towards Chat. 

I know Chat got a lot of flack for how he acted. The salt stans’ reach is more extreme than bungee jumping, and while I don’t agree with how he acted, he quickly got over it and saved Ladybug from Frozer.His friendly wink was him saying ‘I’m sorry, we’re good now.“

And Ladybug knows he’s back to normal too. And yet again, that’s what matters.

 I’m going with Part 2: Mayura first, because I wanna save something from Part 1: Heroes’ Day for last. 

Ladybug is usually the level headed one among the two of them, and even she nearly loses hope.

"You still think we can win?" 

"It’s like you said, we can’t lose hope. People are counting on us.”

“But our team crumbled!" 

"Then let’s go back to what’s always worked, A duo! You and me against the world, m'lady!" 

The reason for Ladybug and Chat’s success against Hawkmoth isn’t their superpowers, or even their prowess at using them. It is their teamwork, their trust, their friendship, and the love they have for each other, even if they don’t realise it yet. When one of them is down, the other will always be there to lift them up and reassure them. Their relationship with each other is the heart of their success as superheroes, not because of their miraculouses, but as the people wielding them. 

Which brings me to my final point in this entire post for Season 2. Rena Rouge and Carapace’s protective coupley-banter was cute, Queen Bee making sure that Adrien won’t have any future siblings and Chat Noir joking about getting to chooses who fights against Hawkmoth using rock paper scissors was hilarious. 

And then there’s Ladybug. Her mind is focused only on the battle, already a world away making plans on who to attack and who to avoid. This is such a huge defining moment for her, as this proves that she is a true and natural born leader. 

And look who is the first to be at her side. Even if Chat jokes around a lot and has fun while fighting, he has a good head on his shoulders, and when he needs to be serious, he will always be there by Ladybug’s side. So this, was Season 2! Season 3 coming soon!

#miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #signs #ml season 2 #meta

[sixx02]

Unfair

Sorry in advanced, not great at fights.

_____________________________________

Jaune found that he quite liked the blue sky above he had, of course, had the time to become intimately familiar with it.  Once again, he found himself in a small crater, his back against the ground.  There was one thing he had learned quite early in life, life wasn’t fair.  He got that, he understood that at a fundamental level.  He wasn’t the best fighter in his family, hell he wasn’t even the best fighter amongst his little trio, he was definitely the sturdiest, but that belonged to Nora.  Honestly?  He was perfectly okay with that, however, what he wasn’t okay was just how infuriatingly good his eldest sister was.  

They all started at the same damn time, by all means, she should have been the worst fighter in the family.  She hadn’t started till she was 16, she was 21 now, so she had a late start.  But NO, no she had to take to combat so infuriatingly well that she was already better than their dang parents.  That was honestly upsetting, normally Jaune didn’t have these thoughts, but when he was currently in a 3 v 1, himself, his brother, and Nora against their unarmed sister, and were still losing?  Well that couldn’t help but stur some rather negative emotions.

Before he could even get up though, he heard a loud thud to his left, taking a peak he found himself joined by his brother Lie.  In the distance another loud crash, the crackling of lightning, and the thudding of thunder resounded around them.  Nora was going all out, she really wanted to win this time, he couldn’t blame her.  

Turning to his brother he couldn’t help but voice his opinion, “Hey Lie.”

“Yes Jaune?”  Was the muffled reply he received, from the currently face down Lie Ren Arc.

“Why are the women in our life so terrifying?”  He couldn’t help but let out a small whimper at that.

“It was bound to happen… we are heavily outnumbered 3 to 9.”  Lie was slowly trying to get up, Jaune himself however; hadn’t bothered yet, he felt like playing dead for a little longer.

“Ya but like… Rouge is terrifying, and Nora isn’t that far behind.”  This time instead of a thud, a rather loud boom and crack trembled towards them, both brothers were shifted back slightly by this one.  

Lie, was about to answer, but their little conversation was soon interrupted by Nora.  “LIE REN ARC, JAUNE ARC!  You both better be unconscious, or I swear to the brother’s I’m going to make sure you are!”  This caused the both of them to shiver a little bit, that wasn’t something they needed.  “You both best be getting up, your queen demands her assistants!”  

A sigh escaped both of their lips, “Well then Lie, you heard the Queen.  Looks like the Rook and Bishop are required in the end.”  The only response he got was a grunt of approval, and soon both of them found themselves standing, staring at the carnage that was rott by their elder sister and Nora.

It’d been 4 years since Jaune had unlocked his semblance, and as things turned out, it wasn’t super unique.  As time went on, all of his sisters had unlocked some form of Aura control, he could boost aura of himself and others, which had semblance boosting properties too, was really neat, a nice all around stat boost.  Saph didn’t fight, she hadn’t cared for it, and had recently moved to Argus, to live with her new girlfriend, she said it was for studying abroad but he knew better.  Terra was a sweet girl honestly, he supposed they’d be getting another sister soon.  

His other sisters had varying degrees, Verte could harden her aura allowing her to hit incredibly hard and making her far more dense than she should be. Bleue could enhance her brain functions with Aura, she was able to see things slower, and he swore she had eyes in the back of her head.  The twins were fast, like really fast, and if they were together they were even faster; their aura was concentrated on their legs it seemed.  Little Viollete had a fun one, she was able to actually spread out her aura, it hampered anything she wanted to, if something was falling she could slow it down because she could feel it, she was able to cover the entire house.  Needless to say they were all rather scary, but no Rouge was the most terrifying of allf.

She could do all of the above, even his own trick, it was a little upsetting honestly.  The smallest relief was that she was unable to compete in a one on one aspect of their abilities.  If his boost was a 4 times boost, hers was only a 50 percent, whereas Viollete could cover the house, Rouge could only cover a small area around her body.  Where as Bleue could essentially see everything, Rouge was only able to view what was in front of her.  Where Verte could make her entire body super dense, Rogue was only able to harden two places at once.  Where the twins were a blur, Rouge was just really fast, you could still follow her but it was hard. 

She wasn’t the best in any one thing, but what was scary was how good at fighting she was, she didn't’ need to be the best in any single aspect, because her combat insight was so dang terrifying that she was able to flawlessly combine all of their abilities.  Didn’t help that she was the third best at Aura control, after Lie and himself.  

His thoughts, however, where soon ended when he felt his skin begin to prickle, and his entire body tensed.  He was using Bleue’s vision, she had positioned herself so that she could watch all three of them.  The only members of their family that could feel when they were being watched, were Lie, himself, Rouge, and his parents.  On one hand, it wasn’t as oppressive as when Bleue did it, on the other it was much like being stalked by a tiger.  

Jaune readied his shield as Nora took position next to them.  “WELL Good to see you both up sunshines!  Thanks for making me deal with her by myself, by the way.”  The sarcasm and venom that dripped from her voice caused both the boys to flinch.

“Right, right sorry, we were just getting our bearings is all.”  Jaune’s nervous reply seemed to have saited Nora’s blood thirst, only slightly.

“Right… well how are we doing this fearless leader?”  Nora had taken to calling Jaune Fearless leader, he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.  He was anything but fearless, and he still had issues with being seen as the leader of the three.

“Right, right.  We need to act quick, she’s probably trying to regenerate some of her aura, she had to have dispensed a lot of it during the fight.”  He paused and stared at her, god he hated the way she looked at them, like they were prey ready to be slaughtered.  He placed his hands on Lie and Nora, his aura shined and soon they both found themselves topped off, “Lie, I’m going to need you to block her vision, do you have any fire dust still?”  

Lie began to rummage through his pack, nodding in confirmation, “Ya I have a bit, should be able to do a few more shots till I have to rely purely on Aura.”  He placed the canister on his bow, he’d been gifted a starter hunter bow which used aura to fire arrows.  While he honestly had the least amount of aura in the family he was the best at controlling it and able to make due with what he had.  He’d also taken to using dust to enhance and circumvent using much at all. 

“Good, Nora, I’m going first.  I’ll try to keep her distracted but, honestly that’s not going to last long.  I’m hoping she’s too lost in her creepy battle lust, that she’ll take a crack at my shield.  If I can blast her away, I’ll need you to attack her from behind.  You should be fast enough now to get behind her.”  

Nora nodded in response, grabbing her simplistic metal hammer, she had actually only asked for a standard hammer with nothing special when she turned 13.  She was honestly excited about making her own weapon when they got to Sanctum.

Jaune readied himself, breathing in the increased grip on Crocea Mors.  He had inherited his family weapons.  Well, the sword was the family weapon, the shield not so much.  So when he asked if they could alter it, his parents had no issue with the request.  The shield was bigger, heavier even.  It still shifted to a smaller form and acted as a sheath, but now it contained a dust container, which when activated, released one of 5 dusts.  It was a great counter weapon, and it suited his tanky style quite well.  He was hoping he’d be able to blow Rouge away, though his train of thought was soon cut off.

“Now now, children shouldn’t keep their elders waiting!”  Well, it looked like Rouge’s patience had worn thin.  She began to make her way towards them at frightening speeds.  

“Right stick with the plan!”  Jaune moved first, making sure to get in Rouge’s line of sight.  He was hoping to the brother’s that she would go for him.  Thankfully she did, this was also unfortunate.  She was upon him almost instantly, he patiently waited for her to strike, but before she could she found herself moving back as blazing red arrows landed between the two of them.  Soon a violent eruption of flame caused Rouge to back off, this was Jaune’s time.  Pushing himself through the fire he made his way towards her.

Finding himself inside of her sphere of aura he felt his body slow, the only way to fight it was to flare his own.  Release his aura a bit he found it easier to move, and soon he found her fist coming towards him.  Thankfully she wasn’t in a good position, her feet weren’t touching the ground, which meant that she couldn’t put her weight behind the blow and that was perfectly fine.  He found himself gripping the clutch on his shield, and waited, but the blow never came.  Instead he found that his movement had sped up, but his sisters had halted.  

She was bloody using it on herself!  That was just stupid, soon he found himself having moved past her.  Her body still in the air, he tried to correct himself but then found the domination of her aura upon him again.  ‘Crap baskets.’  He had let his aura down slightly to try to keep from moving too quickly, but she had waited for that.  Soon he found his world upside down. Her hands had twisted their way into his armor and she had gotten a good grip.  Her feet were now on the ground, “Oh crap.”  Instantly he found himself thrown, she had put her all into it too, which meant there was no dodging for poor Lie, who had been the target.  

The brothers soon found themselves a tangled mess, as the tree which had broken their trajectory found itself dented.  

The only thing the two could do now was share their pain, “Ow.”  

Nora, had tried her best to adhere to the plan, she had snuck around Rouge, and had prepared to attack once she was blown away.  But, nooooo, she had to have that supid broken semblance of hers.  Well, nothing worth doing ever required her to wait.  Sparks began to crack the sky around her, the ground burned at her feet, and with a burst of speed she was off.  The veins which marred her skin glue an iridescent blue, and her eyes sparked to life.  

She reached Rouge, and hit her with all she had.  Thankfully Rouge had been distracted long enough that her guard had been down, and the blow had been enough to cause her to buckle to her knees. 

Rouge only had the time to raise her arms, as the overhead smash crushed the floor beneath her, her knees buckling, and the stress on her knees caused her entire body to shake.  “Damn Nora!  Taking you head on is just suicide.”  Her tone was chipper, despite the obvious strain, she wasn’t kidding, Nora was crazy strong.  She hoped that Nora never tried anything like this on anyone her own age, hell she realized she was an outlier and hoped she never did this to a human.  

“But… that’s not the plan.”  

Nora had been putting her all into the push, that she was slightly off kilter, and Rouge had noticed this, she also had tilted her arms slightly, which allowed for the rest of the blow to fall off and caused Nora to stumble forward.  Soon Nora found herself on the floor, but before she could recover, her left arm was suddenly yanked forward, and her face hit the dirt.  She felt Rouge’s legs grip around her arm and stretch onto her back.  Then the pressure happened, her arm felt like it was being pulled out of it’s socket and ripped backwards.  She felt the increased weight on her back as Rouge concentrated her aura onto her legs and applied pressure.  “Oh damn it!”  Was all Nora could scream out, as pain started to flood her senses.  

“Alright, are you going to surrender, or do I have to knock you out again!  Your choice Nora!” 

There would have been a time where Nora took that challenge, but that challenge wasn’t worth having to snap her arm back into place, especially with Sanctum class starting up in a week!  

“Alright alright I surrender!  Lemme go please?”  As soon as she said those words, Rouge let go, and the pressure released.

“What about you boys?  Wanna go some more?”

The answer was immediate, “NO!”  Both Jaune and Lie had finally managed to get back up. 

Jaune felt his entire body shaking, “Like I said, terrifying…”  

Lie only nodded in response.

Clap, clap, clap.  

The sound of clapping had caught everyone’s attention, though Nora still chose to lie on the ground for a little longer.  

“Now that’s what I like to see!  My favorite Nephews and Nieces from my favorite Sister, all showing what they're made of!”

Jaune smiled brightly at the appearance of his favorite uncle, but then he stopped and cocked an eyebrow.  “Wait, Mom’s your only sister!”  

The dapper man in front of them, tipped his bowler hat and smiled, “My point still stands Jaune Jaune.  Now aren’t you going to give your Uncle Roman a hug?”  His arms outstretched as Lie, Jaune, and Rouge all ran over.

Nora was still on the ground, though she soon found a hand helping to lift her up.  A small girl, no larger than her, had begun to assist her, “Thank you Neo.”  Was Nora’s curt reply, with only a nod as a response from the young woman in front of her.

#Jaune Arc #Lie Ren #Nora Valkyrie #Team JNPR #Team JNR #Lil JNPR #RWBY