#This person has amazing art and you guys should commission them

[the-furthest-city-light]

Hey hi hello I'd like to tell you about the wonderful gift my friend @swordsmans made for me.

I literally spent Thursday night just. Looking through it and turning it over in my hands. It's SO pretty and has SUCH A VISION in the making of it. Gyro's work is amazing. Just. Look.

The cover? The gold foil lettering? God. It looks so good on my bookshelf. And the DETAIL. They painted the edges of the pages guys, it looks SO COOL.

(excuse the low-quality photos, I have learned i am terrible at staging books, but just LOOK AT THESE PAGES.)

Okay and now for me waxing poetic about this.

When gyro first mentioned that they were going to start commissions for binding people's fics I was excited for them and also planned to commission them to bind one of my own fics. I knew I wanted to get a bound copy of their fic The Sea Makes Bones of Bodies as well, because if you haven't seen the typesets for that and the copies they've made you really should (here's my personal favorite of their copies). So I reached out and imagine my surprise when I discovered Gyro was already planning to do so.

Genuinely one of my favorite experiences in fandom is seeing people make art for their favorite fics and be inspired by other fanworks so when I tell you that I was BEYOND HONORED about this and SO PUMPED, like. I don't have words. I'm so grateful to have received such a lovely gift (it's on my bookshelf next to my copy of Rilke. Rilke.) and I keep running around with a huge smile on my face because I still can't believe anyone liked my silly Zolu fic enough to be inspired to actually bind it and now I have it in my hands.

I don't actually know anything about bookbinding except for what I've gleaned from Gyro but I did wonder how it would like. Feel in my hand compared to traditionally published books. I'm super careful with it because I love it so much but this thing is not going to fall apart at the drop of a hat. Also the book just feels nice in my hands. Weird thing to notice maybe but Gyro also picked a lovely font? I read the fic (IN BOOK FORM AHHHHHHH) and it was just as readable as it is on AO3 (though obviously this is way better/more special askdfjajjakkkiss).

If you are interested in fanbinding and the actual process Gyro used to make this, they made a post here. If you would like to request a fanbinding project their form is here. Gyro's Kofi is here as well. And if you'd like to follow gyro's fanbinding archive that would be here.

Okay! I think that's all I wanted to say. Gyro it was so lovely to have a front-row seat to the creation process and see how you made the book. Genuinely one of the best gifts I've ever received, thank you so much!!!

#bad blade bindery #fanbinding #zolu #book binding #spill your wine #gyro AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #I love it so much <3

[sweatandwoe]

Blog Recommendations

Hello all, I decided to post a fic (coming out later tonight) to celebrate 2k followers, but also I wanted to recommend some blogs, cause 1. This other creators are amazing and 2. I wanna see milestone work

These aren't in any particular order and I'll put a brief blurb beside each one just to explain what they're about

@ink-and-dagger Ya know her, ya love her. Seriously if you're not following Inky or reading Drink with me, fool of a took. I'm gonna be following Inky into the end so if you're here for the long-haul be prepared

@a-gal-with-taste Gal has so many works, that it's hard to pick a favorite. But right now we're getting Flawed, and you should def check that out

@chickenparm You enjoy bastard blorbos? A variety of content awaits you here, with John Seed, Spike Spiegel, and Silco. I'm gonna be following Chicken for life, and with her writing skills, she'll get you to fall for new blorbos everyday

@vasiktomis also has John Seed content, but also has Marcus and Silco from Arcane (Vida is an excellent OC as well I wanna marry her AND have her punch me in the face). An artist and an author, they're amazing and also some grade A shitposts

@simpfiles Simp's headcanons are fucking high tier. Like same grade as fics I've read, have me staring at the screen and making (good) noises. Also incredibly funny with good takes A+ you should follow

@designfailure56 Design I love you, and you need to change your name to Design Success. With amazing designs for not only Silco x Reader fics, but Solas from DA art along with amazing DnD Designs, you should follow Design for some good art

@pomegranatebat They're a wonderful, tough funny lil guy. Bringing joy and shitposts to life, they also have amazing painting and animation skills. You should follow (and commission) them

@zkyfall amazing art, amazing fics. Funny and super nice. I have notifications on for when they post because I know it's gonna be amazing

@x-amount-verbs Helping Hand is becoming one of those fics where I know I'm gonna re-read it years down the line. A+ writing, super funny and kind. (You should also follow their main @onewhoturns)

@aromansoul love love love you Sharky, giving us amazing boxer Silco and that amazing Silco and Jinx comic. Gonna be following Sharky forever (and you should be too)

@insult-2-injury one of the funniest people here, I will continue to love her even if she wears a jiaper with some jorts overtop. An incredible fic writer too, and please check out the masterlist you will not be disappointed

@lemmielem WORKS WAY TOO HARD GIVING US AMAZING STUFF. Lemmie you need a day off, and a nice drink and to be read all the Silco fics, while we follow you around and fan you (because we're your fans)

@iseutz SUSU IS ANOTHER ARTIST AUTHOR COMBO. Writing beautiful fic, drawing amazing art. I adore you, would marry 10/10 person

@of-the-argonath I MISS YOU SHER. COME BACK. Writing incredible fics, such as a Dragon Arcane fic, and Love thy Neighbour, I am swooning and in love. Go read it

@kikorenart following for life. Kiko's art is beautiful, and your art with Silco is so inspiring, I got some stickers of it. Also creator of some of the most cursed art I've seen, love you <3

@lemonmancer another artist who needs to be fanned and adored. Drawing not juts Arcane, but Resident Evil too with the magento husband. Fanastic art, and also wrote some amazing x Reader fics

@six-feet-sleep fun fact, I didn't realize until like I went for a re-read Six wrote a fic I commented on and replied to me, long before I actually met her. An incredible author, one of the funniest authors I've ever seen, along with being an amazing artist

@mazikomo Not only one of the best fic headcanons or writers, with new fic In too Deep, but also one of the greatest bakers the world has ever seen. Really likes beans too, if you like em

@astudyincontrasts have you read penance yet? Cause me and Inky review the chapters each time one comes out. Personal lil bookclub, they also have amazing Viktor x Reader and some boxer!Silco fics!

@dad-dumpster The Daddiest with the largest dumpy. Art is A tier, I'm never gonna get over with how you draw Silco's hair, and now stuff with the DBD guys. I have so many emotions about it (all positive ones) go follow em

@arcanescribbles though their name is Arcanescribbles, I'm gonna be following even when the Arcane stuff stops. their artwork is beautiful and I know it's gonna be in art gallery one day

@thesaltybuns CREATING SO MUCH ART FOR US! o7 thank you for your service, and letting us view all of your art. It's amazing and I'm lucky to know you Buns! <3 <3 (you can also see @thespicybuns for some other artwork hehehehehehe)

This is getting pretty long so I'm gonna list some other accounts if you like Silco stuff here below, you should follow them for the good good content (also they all seem very nice!)

@purpurniymstitel @ashc-drawing-art-corner @cuckconnosieur @deny-the-issue @steponmesilco @vinciwolf @silcobussy @tsukioreo @heydeerie @fic-heaven @witchypandamonium @sunofzaun @itstracker @ironandglass @lilli-chae @shahs1221 @agoutighost @dust-of-starsandlittle-hopes @silcoitus @perfectlywingedcrusade @flower-of-zaun @whooooshhhhhh

#I'm sure I missed some people #and I'm sorry if I missed you! #I'm very dumb but please go follow all these geniuses #its a me sweaty #there's also probably a lot of cross-following already but I wanted to still shout out cause I'm a lameo and want each of these blogs #to have more love

[crazrae]

Could iI ask you something?

Do you only want to talk about ROTTMNT from now on or do you still enjoy to talk about Varian and the seven kingdoms?

If so, I'd have a few questions.

When you did your first picture of Varian being tall, you said you actually didn't have that as a headcanon, but you still drew it.

Then you got asked to draw Varian as buff. Do you actually like to imagine Varian as strong? Or did you just do it because somebody friendly asked you to do that?

Did you actually enjoy drawing Varian like that, or did it make you feel uncomfortable or did you feel obliged somehow? What did you feel like when you made these drawings?

I think Varian being tall and strong is amazing but also extremely rare and new.

Like, on his journey he could pull Prometheus out of a ditch with one arm if he had to. If they are in trouble, Varian could pick up Nuru, Yong and Hugo like they weight nothing and run away with them tucked under his arms like cats. Or should Prometheus get sick, Varian would pull their cart until he build a machine or their ass got better.

It just sounds so interesting and riveting to me. What do you think?

And like, if or when Varian grows up to be tall, how would the others react? Like, he would be even taller than his dad, or Frederick, Edmund or the Stabbingtons. Everyone in Corona got used to Varian being a short pipsqueak, but now everyone has to look up at the eight-foot alchemist dork. And that's so cute. Like, really amazing and cut.

But then people used to it and when they go to the Eternal Library and as Varian to help them reach a book, he simply picks them up like a living tower-krane.

Have you ever thought about taking commissions for money? I would pay if you drew more of your amazing tall Varian.

Sorry if I bothered, annoyed or scared you. But I had to say that.

PS: Sorry you had to deal with this bitchy anon. I guess that's Cheerio from Ao3 if you have ever heard about him. He's a terrible racist, sexist piece of scum.

Anyway, I love your art, you are awesome. Thank you for being the way you are.

Alright! Long ask requires long reply! First of all thank you for sending a message, I love getting these!!

I am more into ROTTMNT but I am happy to still talk about 7k if anyone wants to!

I don't personally hc varian as strong but I do enjoy the fanart and I did enjoy drawing him strong! I didn't feel obliged, I wanted to draw it because the anon was very polite and I do need practice drawing big men, as they are pretty.

Tall Varian was fun but I did have more fun with buff him haha, I like both.

I do like to think that along his journey he just picks up Prometheus like its nothing and the others are like "?!?" that cracks me up

I would like him to be either as tall as or taller than Lance I think that would be a good size for him. And Eugene HATES it and because he hates it Cassandra loves it. Hahaha (I don't ship cas and variant just like that it would bother Eugene)

I do like the thought that Varian just picks people up like nothing and it bothers some or bothers Hugo when girls or anyone is like "oooo strong" y'know? haha

I do take commissions! My prices are loose since I don't get them often but I am always open for commissions! for more details you can pm me!

You didn't bother me or anything like that! I love interacting!

and yeah, that guy is a douche nozzle but I'm not too bothered by it, I think its funny and in my brother's words

"They took the time" which made me cackle

Thank you so much!!! I'm so happy you like my art!! I post more on Instagram if you're interested! and thank you!! for being you!! You're very sweet! <3!!!

#anon reply #anon ask #answered ask #varian and the 7 kingdoms #vat7k #varian vat7k #varian tangled

[vagabond-sky]

hi, we're jim and bel, two disabled trans guys who have been homeless & living out of our car since August of 2023, after being evicted due to transphobia. currently we're staying with a friend to get out of the snow and fix up our camp setup, but the situation is temporary and we'll be going back to the woods for the 2024 camp season.

we're chronicling & sharing bits of our life for a few reasons, primarily for education. the staggering numbers of homeless have peaked with record highs by all counts since the pandemic began, and more than HALF of USAmericans are just one missed paycheck away from being homeless themselves. it's no coincidence that, as covid and other pathogens disable more and more people with post-viral syndromes, the number of chronically unhoused individuals is higher than ever before.

despite this, the lack of information and compassion the average housed person displays towards the homeless is astounding. there is so much misinformation and outright lies that are accepted as common knowledge; so many pervasive, hurtful assumptions people hold about what causes homelessness, how we should be treated, and how to "fix" our problems. the scorn you are meant to hold for the unhoused is belied even by the everyday language we use. you are meant to abhor and pity the homeless. in a capitalist world, it is meant to be the worst, least respectable thing you can be. if you don't scorn and fear us, where's the motivation to stay unlike us? if you aren't terrified of losing everything, what else would keep you going back to shitty, abusive jobs? if we weren't forced to keep accepting sub-par wages and exploitative practices, where would all those record, extra, massive profits be coming from?

in truth, yes, becoming homeless is extremely traumatic. I've been chronically unhoused for over a decade now, and i still have nightmares and stress dreams about having to pack up my things and leave my current spot on short notice. being homeless is not something that anyone should ever be subjected to against their will. and yet, it is ALSO not the worst thing you can be. this is a sentiment I've been pleasantly surprised to find is shared by many homeless people.

the homeless are many and varied, and for such a diverse, massive category of people, its amazing how much we end up having in common, how similar our stories sound in the end. i see a lot of articles talking about statistics on homelessness, posts that express empathy for the homeless, but rarely do i see posts from and about homeless people themselves. not only do we want to share our own experiences, we want to share the experiences of other homeless people we meet, too.

our secondary reason for sharing is no less important: being seen is survival for us. neither of us can work conventionally due to a complex web of chronic illness and neurodivergency. i've had some success selling my art online in the past, so we're hoping to continue to do that, perhaps open up ko-fi subscriptions, and-- ideally-- sell art at fests and art fairs in the summer months, as well. while we're figuring that out, 100% of our survival expenses have come from donations-- usually from friends, frequently from kind strangers-- and very occasionally from an actual art sale or commission. figuring out which art supplies i can keep with me on the road has been a big challenge.

being housed again is a pipe dream for us; unless one of our friends' situations changes and they invite us to stay with them for good, our most consistent, safest place to stay is the Manistee National Forest in West Michigan, the place where we met, and where we already spent 2 months living last camp season. for us, safety and security entails having a car that can get us where we need to go-- to and from camp for resources, to and from friends, to and from doctor appointments and pharmacy runs.

so, that's what we're documenting here. I'd like to try to keep it as much our own original posts as possible, with only occasional reblogs that are highly on-topic. we'll both be sharing lots of personal essays and accounts looking at all kinds of topics through a queer, homeless, and transmasculine lens; and probably sharing art and photography, and, of course, our playlists and favorite songs for the road.

if any of that sounds interesting to you, follows do us a lot of good! we both have multiple facets of our identities that society would rather keep invisible; our disabilities, autism, trauma, queerness, and our homelessness. in a world that works it's hardest to keep you invisible and silent, being seen and heard is both healing, and an act of resistance.

you can likewise follow us on Ko-Fi, Cohost, TikTok, or, unfortunately, Instagram for the time being-- that's where I had my art business, so we have a good handful of invested people there.

to reiterate, we have to maintain the care of 2 very complex cases of rare disorders with NO income, so tips and donations are always appreciated and always go a long way, no matter the amount, and even if we aren't passing around a new donation post. rest assured, we do NOT have the money for everything we need just because our last goal was met, I usually ask for the bare minimum because smaller amounts are easier to raise.

anyway this is getting long and I didn't mean for the intro post to be this big but that's us in a nutshell, thanks for your time ✌️

[bizarropurugly]

Remaking the post since there’ve been some updates since I first posted

I am in need of financial assistance. Any amount or reblog will help. I have an $8,000 medical debt and lost my job in August.

On top of that, up until yesterday (oct 19th) I had foster kittens, which are a huge financial responsibility to take on.

edit: I got them back. I was worried sick about them. She charged me 120 dollars to have them back. She threw away some of their stuff too...

I didn’t really have the money but I had to get them out of there. I’m switching up my strategy on getting them adopted but until then I am back to paying for them. They both had some health problems coming back too...

My p*ypal is damegreywulf at gmail

Or, if you’d like to get something out of it in exchange, I do have a Redbubble.

Getting something important from my general wishlist and my cat supplies wishlist would also be appreciated.

Additionally, a good friend of mine who has amazing art is doing commissions and selling designs/adopts on my behalf.

If nothing else, check her out and give her a follow because she’s a cool kid whose art is just awesome.

Read more with details under the commission price sheet

The debt is from two stays at a psych ward around 10 years ago. I’m not sure it was an active debt but I fell for the pressure and made a payment, a payment I couldn’t really afford as I had just the day before lost my job. So I may have made a massive mistake that will fuck me over for the rest of my life, because at no point IN my life have I had 8,000 dollars, and the balance keeps accruing thanks to fucking interest. And they charged me TAXES when I sent the payment!

My unemployment is less than 200 a week and idfk where people are getting that it’s so high it competes with / is better than employment because no the fuck it’s not. And all these people saying “get a job, EVERYONE is hiring!” don’t get the difference between SAYING you’re hiring, and actually hiring a person. Because so far, I’ve been rejected every time.

Of course, that doesn’t account for how long I was struggling because they took OVER A MONTH to sort my unemployment out, because Illinois is a fucking mess right now, between scam artists and COVID restrictions for government employees only. You have to call to get in line, and they call you back anywhere from a few days later to nearly 2 weeks. There was a woman I saw who STILL hadn’t gotten an answer after 4 months!

Through the struggle, I was approved, then denied, then approved, then denied, with the final issue being that I had a indefinite ban on receiving unemployment from when I applied back in 2016. For one, why does such a thing fucking exist? And two, according to their own rules it should have AUTOMATICALLY fallen off once I had a steady job. So yeah, Illinois is fucking people over big time and doing jack shit all about it except going like “hey guys, another job fair, for Chicago area mostly!”

The kittens were damned expensive, would probably have been less if Gimli wasn’t so sick when I caught him and Pippin and Merry weren’t so young. Gimli and Pippin have been placed in a shelter, Merry’s already been adopted out, they’re all good and healthy boys. But they were as expensive as you might think a human baby. Between the checkups, vaccinations, cleaning supplies, food, etc...

Well to give you an idea, each vet checkup is 40 bucks, and typically tilted towards 200 if anything more was needed. Flea meds, 30-40 per month. Food 30-40 each time. Cleaning supplies 20-30 depending on what I needed. That’s not including the baby food, toys, blankets, warmers, and etc.

I’ve been struggling to afford gas, thanks to the fact I still have doc appointments pretty much every week, not including the gas for interviews when I actually score them. My car’s headlights also stopped working entirely so now I can’t stay out long lest I have to drive home in complete darkness and risk being ticketed. My parents are still disinterested in doing anything to fix my car because they think it’s not worth it, and when I do convince them I don’t get anywhere because nobody tells me who’s who to call about it, and I certainly can’t pay for it anyway.

Just, in general, I’m struggling and not managing well.

So... anything is appreciated.

#signal boost

[franeridart]

Anon said: i love love love LOVE how you just draw gojo leaning onto getou, hiding his face in getou's neck or back or chest <////3 im just so heartbroken over those two

So glad to hear you like him clingy as much as I do!! TT^TT as far as I’m concerned he wasn’t clingy enough in canon, so I’m fixing it as much as I can with every new doodle haha

Anon said: whenever im sad i just come to your account and look through your art :")) it brings me so much comfort :')) also i gotta mention that the teacher getou art you've made has healed my broken heart bc of jjk and now that is the only canon i accept thank you very much gege akutami has nothing on me

GAH GETO-SENSEI MY ONE AND ONLY I’m happy he makes you as soft as he does me, he’s such a comfort to me ;;;; and thank you for liking my stuff!!!! Means the world to me to hear it ;A; <3

Anon said: I miss your krbk sm 😔 No pressure intended!!!!!! I still love and support u and ur art!!!

Man I miss them too!!!!! @ hori when are you bringing my loves back from the war I’m here waiting good sir!!!

Anon said: v v curious on your thoughts on what’s currently going on in bnha manga :)))

HMMM what are my thoughts on it? Well, let’s split it in two: Deku’s side and Todoroki’s side, because that’s how it’s split in my brain atm, and allow me to start from the second because it’s easier to get through for me

I’m in love with everything Hori is doing with Todoroki and everyone involved with him - that’s to say his whole whole family and Hawks and Jeanist too, all of it, I’m so into it it’s no joke at all. Always been in love with how he handles Enji’s character and his interactions with his family and the latest developments didn’t disappoint me at all, wasn’t very much into Dabi right after the “reveal” but the more I think about it and about the story from his pov the more behind it I am, forever and always head over heels for Shouto’s way of dealing with a situation that’s as complex as one would expect from a protagonist of their very own story you could really make a manga out of the Todoroki’s family plot from Shouto’s pov alone, it’s incredible I can’t state how in love with it all I am enough. And Hawks, don’t make me start on him I’ll straight up never stop, absolutely and most definitely my favorite pro-hero I would trust him with my money and my kids 100/10 just assume I’m constantly crying over him. Also Jeanist is just hilarious so bless him and his presence in an otherwise too heavy story

Deku’s side........ well, the main problems I have with it are that one, I don’t really understant the need to keep ofa a secret from the class for the biggest part of the story when the reveal wasn’t forced upon Deku, didn’t have a huge impact on him or his relationship with the others (his leaving wasn’t directly caused by him coming clean after all, he wouldn’t have had to leave earlier had he not kept it a secret and he would have still left at this point had the class already known all along) and didn’t, like. Matter. All that much. Two, this manga is called my hero academia and I’m genuinely starting to wonder why. What was the point of all the arcs set inside the school anyway? Most of the characters growth (Deku’s especially) and the progression of the main plot happened in the arcs outside of the school anyway, and at this point it’s clear we’re not going back to the school after this or even seeing anyone graduate. What of Shinsou? What was the point of his plot when we’re not even gonna see him being active part of the class in a school environment? I’m just confused about it all, I guess. Three, which is really my biggest problem with it all, is the way Deku’s set on saving Shigaraki. It’s not like I don’t like a story in which all the villains are saved and the good guys win and love prevails and all that, call it corny but they’re exactly my type of stories, but I’m not sure I can get behind it when Twice died like that, and Midnight did as well, and Aizawa lost a leg, and Nighteye died, and Hawks might have lost his wings, and Shirakumo ended up Kurogiri and it’s still unclear whether he can be saved, like... why does Shigaraki get to be saved when so many people suffered like that? And it’s not only about them suffering by his hands, it’s about Hori and how he was ruthless with so many characters but lets the story show arbitrary kindness to Shigaraki alone, it’s all... well. Unfair. The way I see it. At this point I at the very least expect kindness for Touya as well, here.

That said if I pick the chapters one by one by themselves I do enjoy them very much. I just don’t gotta think about the big picture lmao AH but it’s all a personal opinion, of course! I know people who enjoy the way the story is going and I can see where they’re coming from, this is all arbitrary tastes and preferences on my part, I’m aware of it!

Anon said: Hi hi! I finally got into jjk AND finally caught up on the manga and i appreciate your doods soooo much more now!! They’re so great!! But imcurious, is there one specific moment in the story where you Gojo and Geto became IT for you? Just genuinely curious!!

THANK YOU happy to hear you liked jjk!!!! And that’s!!! a great question, I’m not sure I have an answer actually? I binged the manga in a day and a half, you see, and when I binge stuff that fast I rarely stop to overthink things - I did ship them as I read too since, well. They’re in love lmao but I shipped them in the same way I shipped itafushi or yuutoge after I read the prequel, you know? Just a general aknowledging of how good they were together. The main point with satosugu specifically was probably that satoru has been my favorite character since the beginning of the story and suguru got there as well as soon as I read their backstory, so once I was caught up they’re the ones I ended up spending the most time thinking about, both by themselves and together, and that ended up making me a bit obsessed..... just a bit lol

If I had to give one specific moment that got me by the heart and squeezed the hardest it’d be... probably Satoru’s “my soul knows otherwise”. And the way his voice alone could bring Suguru back, even for just a single moment. The thing about satosugu for me!!! one of the many things about them, but the main thing for me, is that they love each other. Be it platonic or however you wanna see it, they love each other. Despite everything and after it all, even if Satoru had to kill Suguru, even if Suguru killed so many and betrayed Satoru and they went their separate ways in the harshest of ways, they love each other. It’s insane, isn’t it? That they’d love each other so much they could pass over everything and anything. I’ve seen the “best friends become enemies” trope so often in shounen manga, but this is the first time I see it treated like this - with love so strong that they never blamed each other or turned that love in hate. The way satosugu do it is all-encompassing! It goes beyond the world and their differences and death itself! So if I had to pick it’d be that one, because that scene happens after it’s all over, and it all went to shit and way beyond too already, and still their souls resonate with each other and answer to each other and that sends me insane, just thinking about it. Like, god, they really still love each other. Satoru’s mourned for Suguru for a year, Suguru’s been dead for a year, they’d been separated ten whole years before then, and still! And still!!! It’s so tender I don’t know how to deal with it

Anon said: “What’s a god to a nonbeliever?”—That tag is going to haunt me for a while. The entire tag section for your latest Gojo and Geto drawing is meta-worthy.

THANK YOU it’d been eating at my brain I had to write it down somewhere why are those two like that

Anon said: Do you take commissions? No pressure! ✨❤️

Not right now!

Anon said: How do you feel about sukuna ? like/dislike or thoughts on him

AMAZING QUESTION I love him. I have absolutely zero clue as of why so don’t ask me to elaborate, I’m literally that marge pic with the potato when it’s about Sukuna, I have no meta thoughts about him nor deep reasonings behind it - by all accounts, I should dislike him! But he shows up and I’m like nghhh king, so that’s where we stand. It’s Sukuna, you know. I just think he’s neat.

Anon said: sighs time to get into another fandom bc i simp too hard for ur art 😔

HAH thank you for the trust I hope you’ll like ror if you do get into it!!! hahaha

#fran answers #oh two of these are Long #..... #long post #in case the readmore doesn't work for whatever reason

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#Yugioh #Yu-Gi-Oh #yami yugi #S5 #Ep20 #It's actually Ep 20 now I was wrong last time #Yugi muto #Grandpa Muto #Alexander the Great #Joey Wheeler #Tristan Taylor #Tea Gardner #TeaxYugi #never thought I would ever use that tag #in this show where they are canonically dating but sometimes it happens #Puzzles and Dragons #Because yes I had to talk about it. This collab is great

[raventons]

The list of names

*scary music playing* Ok, guys, in the light of American Middle Eastern policy, that has once again brought me to tears, I decided to do something a bit happier (this is me trying to influence my followers to read the news and fight for the right thing and all that jazz). I’ve got a lot of asks recently, mostly from people new to the world of CC, about which creators are the best, so I’ve made this little list of the creators I download and use the most. This is not in any way a complete collection, I might have forgotten someone (and there’s also plenty of creators I haven’t discovered yet). Also, these are all build creators, mainly creating alpha CC. Please feel free to add to this list. Also also, the description I’ve used for the artists are totally my own making, so if you are a creator and feel like I am describing your work in an unfair way, go ahead and punch me in the face.  If I was a new simmer, I would check out these creators:  Retired: MXIMS - Makes modern, real life furniture with the best quality. Has many downloads left on their website.  MINCSIMS - Similar to MXIMS (with some amazing collabs), also with a beautiful talent for doors and windows. Not many objects left in orbit, but google is your friend.  DAER0N - Done everything from noodles to palms, but the recent Daer0n I would describe as gold, dark and modern, with 3D modeling skills out of this world. Retired, and much of the old stuff is gone, but some can be found at bloomingrosy.  DOX - Similar to Daer0n with a slightly stricter, more wooden approach. The most underrated one of the retired giants. Has some downloads left on their website. ANBS - Super clean aesthetic. Modern, real life furniture. Many downloads left on their website. SLYD - Mostly known as a CAS creator, but has the amazing shoes and bags available as decor. All downloads left on the website.  HVIKIS - Wallpapers and wall art. All downloads left on the website. VIIKIITA - Recolors to die for. Not many objects left in orbit, but google is your friend. Active (I think. I hope. I don’t know):  ARSBOTANICA - Previously simshamlet. Does really lovely, vintage aesthetic perfume bottles and amazing flowers. SLOX - A personal favorite. Modern, I’d say. And realistic. But often with objects you didn’t even know you needed, that ends up being the main inspiration for the whole build. Like some folded shirts, or a stack of books. 13PUMPKIN -  A long with Artvitalex this is the best wood creator in the community. The sets are kind of like “small-lovely-family-home”-style, but can be used in big, modern builds with equally outstanding results.  WONDYMOON - My by far most used creator. The most organized one too, I’d say. All sets match eachother, and are easy to find (and are all named by elements, this guy is a rock star). PYSZNYDESIGN - The Kilburn set is to die for.  MEINKATZ - Literally replicas of real life furniture, with their history and all. Honestly the coolest thing ever. Also, a really nice person.  PRALINESIMS - The best floor and wall creator, hands down. I don’t know if this is really the person I should tag tho, so I’ll tag @cross-design​ and hope for the best because I honestly still don’t know who is who. I love them both tho. THE TSR GIANTS: SEVERINKA, KARDOFE, UNG999, SIMMAN123, PILAR, ARTVITALEX, ANGELA, DOT, BUFFSUMM, SHINO and NYNAEVE - Yes, a lot of the creators I mention here are active on TSR and a lot of my TSR giants are active elsewhere, but I still, maybe arbitrary, like to put these under the TSR flag because they represent that wonderful vibe of big sets, certain room types and signature colors. PEACEMAKER - a true legend. Some of the CC is borderline MM, but that is what makes them so perfect. They go with both themes. MIO - This is the first creator I downloaded from and they will always have a special place in my heart. Brilliant conversions, flower sets, seating, everything.  NOVVVAS - A way too humble person that claims she is not the best in the game, when she truly is out of this world. RIGHTHEARTED - who I have been referring to as neiden my whole life because I am an idiot.  TINGELINGLATER - Does a lot of things but blessed all of us with windows and since then I am in love.  ANYE - Pinkbox Anye, to be correct. Lovely person. Lovely sets. Unique eyes. Adore this one.  FOREVERDESIGNS - Will literally transform your bedroom. And kitchen. And life.  BLACKMOJITOS - Build sets and sexy, stunning posters (and a basket every now and then). Also up for commissions, I just noticed. Go throw money at her. She is amazing.  KAI-HANA - Has a totally unique style, where everything is alpha, but still has a beautiful, clayish touch to it. Underrated.  AROUNDTHESIMS - A bit on the MM side, so if you’re looking for that MM/alpha mix, this is for you. Extremely productive. Does everything and more.  CHERRY-SIMS - A part from the CC, this is also the best picture editor I’ve ever seen. I am a huge fan!  CONCEPTDESIGN - Did someone say trees? YUMIA - Soft flowers, old school touch, vintage AGGRESSIVEKITTEN - Literally killed half the community with the recent brutalism set, which without a doubt will be voted best CC of 2020. Also, where else would you go for both beautiful, vintage objects AND a tarot card reading? Weirdly obsessed with seals. Makes amazing lots. I love you.  DSCO - I gave up trying to spell this creators full name after the sixth attempt. I would describe the CC as cute. But not in the condescending (that I could spell) way. More in a bad-ass-I-need-all-of-these-objects-kind-of-way! KKB - My ignorant and uneducated ass wants to call it Korean, and I am sorry if this isn’t the right way to describe anything. Soft, pastel but at the same time very cool, with rattan and wood.  DR GREENIE - Former Green Girl. Mostly MM, but has made some of my most used decor objects.  HELEN - Extremely productive. Does everything.  NIKADEMA - Has made my favorite sink!  PQSIMS - Makes sets. Usually light wood.  LUNATICAVILLAGE (2SIS) - Another underrated favorite. Everyone should go here and show as much love as possible! LAVI3ENROSE - A creator that entered my world quite recently. Art deco. Bronze. Gold. And the best wrapped Christmas presents of 2019.  DDAENG SIMS - Another giant that recently changed their name (used to be dreamteamsims).  FELIXANDRE - The best historical creator (as in making epic shit that would create the most wonderful castle). Sometimes a bit on the MM side with the furniture, and that contrast makes it, in my eyes, even better.  SIMCREDIBLE - Sets. Color matching. Often light and modern. I use their decor stones in every single one of my .  SOLORIYA - MM creator. But even for us alpha bitches there are wonderful stuff (I think this is the case for most MM artists, I just don’t know so many of them).  XELENN - Also does literally everything. One can scroll this blog for hours.  OWL-PLUMBOB - Amazing build objects.  SANOYSIMS - A long with MXIMS, I’d say this is one of the most “realistic” artists.  WINNER9 - To me, this creator is all about the amazing wall art. But of course they make other stunning objects too. Marble tables, anyone? SJAMBOKSIM - My most used concrete walls (and I use concrete A LOT).  AIFIRSA - Totally different style from everyone else. Absolutely love this aesthetic.  VIVIAN STUDIO - This sounds weird, but their onions are the best object in my game. Don’t judge.  HEURRS - A quite new creator who blew my mind with some recent candles and earned my first reblog since 456 BC. Love you.  I am forgetting so, so many. Please, I sometimes can’t even remember my own name, so don’t feel hurt if I missed you. PLEASE comment your favorite creators below! Where would you advice new simmers to start looking for good CC?  Love you guys!!!

#sims 4 #sims 4 cc #the sims #the sims 4 #creators #sims 4 creator #sims 4 creators #sims 4 cc finds #the sims 4 cc finds #sims cc #sims cc finds #sims4 #thesims4 #thesims

[jennydevic]

Saint Seiya: How It Should Have Ended for Aiolos Week

Day 4 Prompt:

Written and Edited by Jenny D

Chibi Art Commissions by Yamielsun

Betareading and Tweaks by Thrudgelmir2333

The God of the Underworld has resurrected the dead and sent them to Sanctuary in order to attack the one person who stands in the way of conquering the world! 

One of them, however, still managed to get lost along the way. Despite being teleported.

Specter Aiolos: Greetings, I am Aiolos, the ex-Saint of Sagittarius and now a loyal servant of Hades! I have come back to Sanctuary to take the head of Athena!

Superman: Athena? Sorry, you got the wrong place. This is the Super Hero Cafe, in Crete. Not sure where the location of Sanctuary is but you could go to Themiscyra and ask Wonder Woman.

Specter Aiolos: Crete? I’m nowhere near Sanctuary?

Batman: Nope.

Superman: Sorry!

Specter Aiolos: Darn it! I knew I made a wrong turn when all the women weren’t wearing any masks!

Superman: WHOA WHOA WHOA! Hold on a minute! Didn’t you say earlier you were going to take someone’s head? Why would you do that?

Batman: I know man, that’s like totally rude. 

Specter Aiolos: Forgive me. I wasn’t really going to take it. The truth is, my friends and I were planning on tricking Hades into thinking we were going to betray our Goddess when really we wanted to warn her of the attack. I think either I was sent to the wrong place or the creator forgot I was dead until the Wailing Wall scene.

Superman: Wait, you’re dead?

Specter Aiolos: Unfortunately yes. I was killed at a young age. 

Superman: Sorry to hear that. Dying in your twenties is terr-

Specter Aiolos: I’m fourteen!

Superman: WOAH! Are you serious? You’re huge!

Batman: Fourteen eh? Any chance you can fit in a Robin suit?

Superman: Seriously, Bruce?

Specter Aiolos: It doesn’t matter! I only have twelve hours of existence before I fade into dust. If only I can go back and change the past so I could be more useful... 

Superman: Oh, you need to go back to the past? Here, I can help you with that!

*Superman reverses time...

...to The Night of the Great Betrayal!

Aiolos: Gotta run...gotta hurry… if only I had some long-distance attack that I can strike him from afar without endangering the baby...oh wait!

Saga: Oh poor, poor, Aiolos! You soft-hearted fool! Now that you have seen my face. I shall declare you a trait-

Ending 1) *Turns around and fires back.

Shura: Oh my gosh! What happened to Saga and why is he in the Pope’s robes?

Aiolos: I’m afraid he was trying to impersonate Shion. Even I was fooled at first!

Shura: That brilliant bastard! He knew we would never figure it out since Saga never wears that much clothing! 

*Shura is chasing after Aiolos ran away and hears something from a distance.

Shura: Ah, there they are! Wait, is that Aiolia?

Aiolia’s actual dialogue: Brother… What happened?

Aiolos actual dialogue: I will complete the mission given to me.

Aiolia: What’s your mission, brother?  Are you going to find a random Japanese bazillionaire tourist, get him to adopt that baby, take your Cloth, raise her to be a spoiled brat, train a bunch of inexperienced kids to become Gold Saint class fighters, have them fight in a huge tournament where nobody wins, make the tourist leave holographic messages behind to explain your plan to the Saints and then write a long ass self-help message thirteen years prior for them with a chisel?

Aiolos: Are you insane? I just want you to hold her for a second so I could put my Cloth on.

Ending 2) 

Aiolos: Much better! Time for me to kick ass and sell toys!

Shura: Oh shit!

Ending 3)

Aiolos: SHADOW ARROW!!!

Saga: Wait! What! I can’t move! I’m paralyzed! 

Aiolos: SHADOW ARROW!

Saga: STOP THAT! You can’t do that, that’s cheating! You’re supposed to run away!

Aiolos: No way! I was going to use this move on Aphrodite, Deathmask, and Shura, but why wait until you declare me a traitor when I can do it now? SHADOW ARROW!

Saga: Damn it, Kurumada, Saint Seiya Origins was supposed to remove all the plot holes in this story, not add more to them!

Aiolos: ATOMIC THUNDERBOLT!

Aiolos: And that’s how I paralyzed and knocked Saga out, and became Pope. Since all twelve of us are alive, we curb-stomped Poseidon and Hades, sold three times the number of toys, and doubled the amount of yaoi on fan sites since we don’t have the Bronze Saints or the Silvers clogging up our screen time. Oh, and the Netflix series didn’t suck.

Superman: That’s amazing! 

Batman: Amazing? It sounds like common sense that a guy who trains all his life to fight actually does so instead of running away in his first battle.

Superman: Says the guy who hides in shadows and jumps people from behind. 

Batman: Grrrrrr

Superman: So what happened to Saga? Why did he turn evil and attempt to kill a baby?

Aiolos: Well we think he was possessed, but he’s fine now. Not even an evil God can combat the effects of a morning cup of cocoa, binging cuddly cat videos all day, and a daily regimen of 2000 mg of Prozac. Isn’t that right, honey?

Saga: That’s right, babe!

The End

#saint seiya #aiolos #sagittarius aiolos #sagittarius aioros #gemini saga #saga #knights of the zodiac #hishe #superman #batman #capricorn shura #shura #gold saints #soul of gold #how it should have ended #los caballeros del zodiaco #kotz

[haissitall]

can i talk about technoblade design situation at length because i have this very weird hill to die on? thanks. im going to be blunt so feel free to hate me afterwards

so technoblade himself said something along the lines that he prefers the fanart of his persona as a pig rather than a human version. now i’ve drawn him as a pig from my day one in the fandom, and i have been saying that i prefer this type of design over any other. let me rant about why before i move on to talk about this situation in particular.

so my issue with the majority of people drawing him as this conventionally attractive anime boy when his skin is a full-on anthropomorphic pig is that it reveals lack of imagination and desire to push boundaries and take risks. it goes both for the technical side of it (people crying out “oh no, will i have to learn how to draw a new thing?!” after technoblade’s remark is so funny to me like. yea... sometimes you have to learn how to draw new things..) and uh, conceptual side, which is more important. you see, it is a sign of inability to imagine characters as anything other than conventionally attractive. like, yes, it doesn’t fit the original design of the skin, it doesn’t fit the personality and the vibe and it makes him look a generic boy #1036... but we get to make him pretty and that’s all that matters. i mean, sure, you can say that i am being very mean and drawing is hard and yadda-yadda, and that the pig design just doesn’t fit the style of the artists, but let me prove that this is a deeper issue. consider fanfiction. in fanfiction you can have the character look anything you want! but when was the last time you’ve read a fic where he’s a pig? i’m sure there are a few of them out there, but they are clearly in a minority, just like the fanart. and maybe even more so! i’ve skimmed through fics where the sci-fi or fantasy setting would totally, one hundred percent justify him having a pig head without having to come up with any explanations for that, but it still was the same old... pink hair. thin. a handsome face. maybe weird ears and fangs, but that makes him more of an elf-vampire than a pig. now... why is that? i’m sure with some fics explanations can be found in the plot as to why in this Particular Fic he is human, but with such overabundance of human techno... we all know why. let me repeat. the inability to imagine characters as anything other than conventionally attractive. even when he is supposedly a half-pig monster with his ears and tusks he is still thin. because, you know, pigs are known for being thin, graceful animals.

with all that said i kinda cringe at how the fandom reacts to things like this. how people on twitter are like (half-jokingly, obviously) but still saying that they have to draw him differently now because he mentioned that he prefers another design... guys. if you like your anime boy techno, stick with it, own it. why do you care so much what he prefers? his content is an inspiration for us, sure, but it’s our art. he’s not our boss. just like me, a random person, rambling about how your design sucks won’t stop you from drawing it, so shouldn’t technoblade’s vague preference. i understand that a lot of the reactions are overblown for comedic purposes, but it's in the same vain as this whole culture of the fandom craving validation from creators and religiously catching every word they say about fandom activities.

(now that we are talking about this can i go off on a tangent about how easy the artist community is to take advantage of? he says “hey guys draw me some cool fanart thanks :)” and people draw these amazing pictures which must’ve taken hours of labour so he can feature them on his stream. now did he like... pay anything for them? does he pay anything to the people whose pictures he uses for thumbnails? the person whose picture he now uses as a stand by screen? or is this “paying in exposure” thing? he granted them his validation and attention, so they should be happy with giving him free content (which they’ve spent hours on making) for his videos off which he profits? now, i don’t really know. maybe he does pay them, and i am wrong and a fool. but if he doesn’t... thumbnails are so important for a youtube video to do good and if he gets to grab them for free because he has an army of dedicated and talented fans to exploit... hmmmmm)

so anyway. i understand how it seems like he is the target audience for fanart if you are posting it on twitter and stuff. and there’s nothing wrong with being excited for his interactions and drawing for his thumbnails and all that, i mean, i’ve tried doing it myself, and might try again. i'm saying that the tendency of the fandom to take everything the creator says as if it’s taken from a scripture with which they have to align their creativity seems awkward to me. like i said, he’s not your boss. unless he is commissioning you to draw a thing (which he probably isn’t).

#technoblade #i know none of this matters but let me have this

[btsslowburnfic]

BTS Reacts: You Surprise them with Flowers

Fluffy Friday. Enjoy <3

Jin:  Jin walks through the door to your home. “Jagiya! I’m home,” he shouts as he takes off his shoes. He hears nothing in return and then realizes your shoes and purse are missing so you must still be at work. He frowns; he had gotten off early to celebrate your anniversary and he thought you also might have. He notices a light floral fragrance filling the air and  walks through the foyer into the main living room. He instantly sees two vases of roses sitting on the coffee table. “I didn’t order flowers,” he thinks to himself and he walks over to inspect them. He sees a pink envelope laying next to them “Jinnie <3” He blushes as he opens the envelope. “Happy 2nd Anniversary Jinnie baby!! These flowers are almost as good looking as you. ALMOST. I Love You!!!! See you tonight! PS I bet they match the color of your ears right now. Right?” “Aish…” Jin said, feeling his ears and neck turn red. He takes a selfie and sends it to you, “You were right. <3 See you tonight.” 

Suga/Yoongi: The guys were backstage getting their hair and makeup done. Yoongi was over it. He was tired from the press tour and the concerts and he missed you so much. He scrolled through his phone looking at pictures of you and of the two of you together. A sad sigh escaped his lips. “Excuse me!” a voice pipe through the room, “I have a flower delivery.” Namjoon walked over to meet the delivery person. “Oh how nice, someone sent us flowers.” He takes the bouquet and looks at the card. “Actually,” he walks over and hands them to Yoongi who hasn’t even looked up from his phone, off in his own world. “Someone sent this guy flowers,” he thrusts them into Yoongi’s lap. “What the hell?” he asks confused with a pout on his face. But then he sees the card with his name on it and opens it up, “I miss you so much babe! I can’t wait to see you again next month, until then xoxoxo” He looks at the bouquet of flowers, forget-me-nots and for a brief moment, his smile appears. 

JHope/Hobi: “Just relax, we’re almost there!” you reassure your boyfriend as you continue to drive the car away from Seoul and into the countryside. He of course has no idea because he is blindfolded. You feel a little like a creep but you know it will be worth it. “How can I relax? I’m so excited!” he says, his infectious smile spreading across his face. “Just ten more minutes!” you grab his hand and squeeze it. “You know, I could get used to this blindfold thing,” he says, teasing you as he intertwines your fingers. He can’t see you blush, but you are sure he knows the effect he’s having on you. You arrive at your destination, the car slowing to a stop. “Can I take this off now?” he asks, his hands moving up to the blindfold. “No!” you yell. “I need you to keep it on for like 2 more minutes, I promise!” you walk out and open his door for him and gently lead him to the surprise. “Ok. Now you can take it off!” you say. He removes the blindfold and finds himself surrounded by a field of Sunflowers. His hands fly up to his mouth. “What is this? This is amazing!” “It’s a sunflower field. Well...technically a sunflower maze. Since you give everyone so much sunshine I thought this would be perfect for me to give to you.” “I love it!” he pulls you close and kisses you. “Wait, did you say it’s a maze?” 

Rm/Namjoon: Namjoon was taking a break at the studio, scrolling through instagram when he saw a picture that caught his eye. It was a photo that looked just like his commissioned bonsai painting hanging up in his home but with another painting next to it. “Hmmm I wonder if the artist painted another one?” he wondered. But as he looked closer at the picture, he came to realize that it was his wall and that was his painting. What the hell? He texts you, “Did someone  from the art studio come by and take a picture of the bonsai painting? It’s on instagram and it definitely looks like it’s at our house but there’s another painting next to it????” You look at your phone and look up at the wall. Shit. You had commissioned a painting to accompany it by the same artist as a surprise and he had posted it before you were able to show Namjoon. Uggghhhh. It wasn’t the artists fault, he didn’t know that Joon hadn’t been home yet this week. “That’s weird. What does the other painting look like?” you evasively respond. “Flowers. Lots of flowers. It does compliment the other painting well though. Maybe we should ask him about it?” You breathe out a sigh of relief as you text back, “You should recognize them, they’re clematis <3 And it IS our living room. It was supposed to be an early birthday surprise soooo SURPRISE!!! XD XD” “haha really? Well, I love it and can’t wait to see it in person this weekend (and you!)”   

V/Taehyung: Taehyung was on tour during his birthday again this year. You were sad you weren’t able to fly in and surprise him, but you were looking forward to him getting his present which you had coordinated with Jimin and the agency to make sure it arrived in the correct city on the correct day. You had not anticipated he would open it on VLive. You were watching as you wanted to feel like you were celebrating with them. The boys brought out a birthday cake for him and they all sang. They looked tired and happy, the usual when they were on tour. “Thank you everyone. Thank you ARMY, thank you to my parents, thank you [y/n]. Thank you all for supporting me another year.” He waved and made cute faces for the camera and then some awkward ones as well because of who he was. “Actually,” Jimin says, “We have a gift here from [y/n] for you.” Suddenly you are very embarrassed and wish you weren’t watching. Let’s let hundreds of thousands of strangers see what you got your super hot famous boyfriend. Oh God. But his smile was the sweetest, shyest thing ever as he took the package from Jimin so you continued watching even though you wanted to die. “Really? All the way from Korea?” He asks. He takes his phone out and texts you “Are you watching?” you cringe as you respond “Yes <3” He opens the box and you are glad it’s at least nothing sexual or super weird. Out pop hundreds of origami flowers. Carefully folded in various shades of purple, red, and pink. “OOOOoo” the other guys remark as the flowers fall through the hotel conference room. “Beautiful. Did she fold all of these?” Jin asks. Tae smiles as he texts you that same question. You respond. Tae reads your response out loud. “Yes. There are 365 flowers in the box. I folded one each day since your last birthday. The red ones have messages on them as well.” collective awws and “how sweet” fill the room and the Vlive comments fill up with hearts. “Thank you [y/n] I love them and I love you.” 

Jungkook:  JK was currently snuggled up on your couch, drifting in and out of sleep. Jin and Jimin had just left him at your apartment after they had taken him to have his wisdom teeth removed. He had been out of his damn mind at first but now he was just a cute drooly baby. You returned from the store with more pain medicine, ice cream, gauze, and flowers. You had never taken care of someone before really, but this stuff always made you feel better. You head over to the adorable lump on the couch and snuggle up next to him. “Hey,I’m back. You need to take more medicine, it’s been 4 hours” you gently nudge him. “Mmmm k…”  he manages to get out with all the gauze still packed in his mouth. You walk back over to the kitchen and return with a glass of water and your supplies, handing him the pills and water while you arrange the ice cream and flowers on the table. You also go and grab a blanket and stuffed Cooky for maximum comfort. When you come back out to the couch he is crying, “You go me fwower?” “oh my gosh why are you crying? Does it hurt?” you rush over to him. “I wuv fwower. I wuv you” You laugh as you realize he’s still high from the medicine. “ I love you too and I’m glad you like them babe. Now let’s eat some ice cream and rest,” you push his hair back gently and kiss him on the forehead. 

Jimin: You were so excited to go to the festival today! Jimin had bought coordinating hanbok for the two of you to wear and you were going to surprise him by making flower crowns for everyone. Well. In theory you were. But in actuality you were surrounded by petals and greenery that were not going together at all. You felt your tears welling up in frustration. Damn it, you softly whispered as the flowers once again came undone. You hear a knock on the door and go to answer it. It’s Jimin. He’s early and there are zero flower crowns. “Are you ok?” he asks, seeing the sadness in your face. “Do we need to skip the festival?” “No,” you shake your head sadly and open your apartment door all the way, showing the flower explosions. To his credit, he tries not to laugh. He really does. But that just makes you start to laugh as well. Soon the two of you are giggling as you try to show him how bad you are at making them. “See? I’m worse than Jin.” you say, “his was ugly but it stayed together.” you laugh-cry at the sad pile of leaves in your hand. “Oh jagiya, it’s ok. Here, let me help you.” he takes the flowers into his hands and manages to weave them into a beautiful crown. “You’re so talented.” you say and shyly smile as he places the crown on your head. He gently kisses you, “you look beautiful.”

#bts fanfic #bts fanfction #bts reactions #bts fluff #bts fic #bts fics #bts scenarios #bts x reader

[fucker-anon]

Bloody Painter Headcanons

am i gonna write about helen even tho no one cares? fUCK YEA @creepy-bi-day hope you enjoy. Im still not a writer sorry :/. also my personal hcs, its okay to disagree. Also dark themes again. 

Bloody Painter

Backstory:

was born on Oct 1st, 1980, fully name Helen Otis

mother is white, father is Japanese

is an only child. Helen’s parents had a very difficult time in getting pregnant like yeeeaaars (10 ish) and they also really wanted a girl. Like in their head, they would be getting a girl. and when they did get pregnant the ultra scan did show a girl. so they were in shock when a boy popped out. 

they no likely. Since helen’s mom was a teacher, they decided to raise the boy as a girl and simply homeschool them until they had to go to college, once there they could simply transition into a girl. This is how they thought trans people were so they thought they’ll do the same to get a girl (This was obliviously wrong)

so they tried to do that but mother couldn’t get the needed forms and paperwork to homeschool Helen so they had to go to school. so their parents decided the best thing to do was to make them as manly as possible in 6 months. so everything pink and girl (lots of which were comfort items like plushies, and art things) were thrown out in front of poor 6 year old Helen who didn’t understand what was happening. Helen couldn’t do art, couldn’t wear certain clothes, couldn’t say certain things. punishments weren’t physical but there was a lot of yelling.

around the 3 month before school started, their parents decided that maybe Helen should meet their grandparents (parents kept giving excuses why they couldn’t visit). everything was going swell until the grandparents on the father’s side asked why name their BOY a GIRL name. before the parents could say anything, helen said “cause im a girl?” ... yaaaa queerphobic grandparents and little helen didn’t get along. plus helen was white passing so asian grandparents blamed their mom.

parents cut contact with the grandparents, and yelled at helen a lot. (poor bby) this mental abuse continued over 3 months and caused helen to stop talking and start repressing a lot of his feeling which his parents encouraged cause “”bOYs donT hAve fEeLinGs””

in school, the parents told the teacher that there was a mix up when filling out his name and that they should call him Otis. Of course one teacher messed up and called him Helen, and then they got a lot of comments form their peers, but they learned not to say that they were a girl at this point. 

helen was lightly bullied for his name, and when they tried to tell a teacher they were told to “man up :))” 

and so more repressing feelings

it wasn’t until middle school where someone (a kid who they later learned was named tom), stole and planted a watch of another girl into helen’s bag. This meant helen’s bullying got a lot worse. Before it was a comment here or there, now it was physical and a lot often. this is also when he began to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression.

he slowly became friends with Tom, who was also bullied a lot. But one day Tom took Helen to the roof where Tom confessed into planting the watch. Helen was very upset, and the two started to argue when Tom slipped off the edge, Helen tried to hold on to Tom, but Tom let go of his hand. Tom dead.

there was an investigation done, and Helen wasn’t in trouble as some students and teachers said how they saw him hold onto Tom. The school was given a speech about how bullying was bad, and tried to get things back to normal. Helen’s bully did die down, tho lots of ppl tried to spread rumors about how he pushed Tom. 

his parents were more upset over how this would look and not about Helen’s mental health. Helen never told them about the bulling. 

When high school started, the bullies acted as if nothing happened. and on Halloween, Helen snapped and killed 5 of the main bullies. He was caught and sent to a mental hospital. 

so you think that finally, Helen can get the help they need right :)). ahhah no....

so the hospital did diagnose Helen with depression and a mild case of anxiety, but basically put them on pills. the actually therapist had a very hard time getting Helen to open up. this is because the on their first session helen started with his gender identity, and the therapist told him “look you are biologically a boy, so you must be a boy :))” and when they said that sometimes he felt more comfortable when they were more fem, they was told that was wrong. 

so helen shut up like a clam cause they did not feel safe with this guy

at least they learned how to somewhat manage their depression and anxiety :)

once helen turned 18 he was released, and Helen decided to be an artist and not kill. but he saw another one of his bullies and said fuck it.

slender saw and was like “i like this child. imma adopt them”

and Helen joined the mansion

Personality:

look Helen was mocked and betrayed by basically every person in their life, they don’t trust ppl

they are nice, but they don’t new people

if you’re nice they’ll be nice, if you’re mean they’ll be mean, simple

cold hearted, look if you are neutral to them and get run over by car they wont do anything. the world was shit to them, they’re shit back.

quiet. like Helen could be inches away and you still won’t hear them

buttttt if you get close (good luck) you see a passionate, kinda nerdy, very kinda touch starved, sarcastic person who just lived a shitty life. 

Fun Facts:

k mans has a 6 inch dick, 7 when hard, but is thick, and stretches you out-

*cough* moving on-

bi sexual. Helen has a very hard time acknowledging romantic feelings but is down to date the girls, gays and theys. again good luck getting there but it may happen.

gender fluid Helen has come a long way and their gender identity has ranged from girl, boy, both, none and yes. They’ve settled on gender-neutral pronouns but doesn’t hate being called she/her or he/him usually. On a bad day, they can’t say the same. 

Called them painter. The only ppl who can called them by their birth names are ppl who are close to them. On fem days, they like Helen. On masc days, they like Otis. Sometimes they don’t care, sometimes they just wanna be called painter. If you’re not sure and you actually care just ask, he’ll say what day it is. usually they dress accordingly, but still if you’re not sure ask, they’ll prefer it.

Speaking of clothes, the fit??? is on point???? like imagine dark academia with more blues, blacks and tans. Helen looks like the protagonist of a boarding school au.

they will wear skirt and dresses and corsets, and do they’re (slightly basic) hair and makeup.

some creeps (jeff) tried to make fun of helen for this. And when you look at Helen you dont think that they’re much of a fight. Helen’s lean and kinda thin (kid doesn’t eat a lot), but Helen did karate for year cause their dad wanted their “perfectly normal son” to do something manly and kinda close to their culture. Helen learned how to fight with a very good guard and how to be very fast but not so much strong. Wasn’t until he got out of the mental hospital did he learn about pressure points, specially those that dont need a lot pressure :) you see where this is going. 

Basically Helen is that one movie character who touches a spot on someone's neck and they pass out. (this is the best i can describe it, they dont do this exactly but similar things) 

also very talented at art and arty things. like annoyingly good. he’ll try wood craving and make amazing things after only learning about it an hour ago. Current draws online and does online commissions to pay for his coffee

actually likes hunting, not with gun but with like bows an arrows. they dont hunt often cause they like animals

has to finish whatever they’re working on. please force this baby into bed

has a coffee addiction

likes classical music and lofi. 

dont talk about the whole painting with blood thing, they were 14, it was cringey, they know

hair is like chin length ish, its black with waves, so if they wanna be masc they can tie it up and when its fem, they can let it down and straighten it 

forgets to eat, feed them

k this is long. As you can see I can also write a whole essay about Helen. I will write about Helen’s and Johnny friendship, along with the other creeps later. but im tired. 

#creepypasta #helen otis #bloody painter

[casualbatteryoperator]

lucid dreams | part one

Obi-Wan Kenobi X Reader [Soulmate AU]

synopsis: Dreaming has become a meeting place for two people destined for each other. They say you see everything related to your soulmate in your dreams, including your soulmate. Surely meeting someone you’re destined to be with wouldn’t be difficult, right? Wrong. For you, it’s impossible. Sometimes you think your dreams are mere compensations for not having a soulmate.

warnings for this chapter: mild swearing

word count: 1,153

He has a unique and, admittedly, odd name: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Charming with his auburn hair, neatly pushed to one side, eyes resembling a clear blue sky on a summer day, his accent thick and melodious, and a well groomed beard—not too long, but not short enough to be a stubble—he looked attractive under the dimly lit void of dreamland. He captivated you with every bit of his presence ever since the first time you talked. 

You wish to learn more about this man. Usually, you’d work day and night for some commissions which meant, no sleep; sometimes, it’s him who doesn’t show up. It was conflict on schedule and you knew little of him. Coruscant was one thing, he said he lived there. Did you believe him? No. You looked it up right away when you woke; no place or planet like that ever existed. And you swore to talk to him about it, but the time never came. 

You hoped for tonight to be different. You covered up you paints, cleaned your brushes, and left your studio downstairs to go up to your room. Vincent was already sleeping in the new bed you bought for him. Crawling in yours, with your tired eyes and aching back from your awful desk set up, you sank in the soft mattress and drifted off to sleep. 

The void was filling up, but you pay no attention to it. He was there and, as per usual, keeping safe distance from you. “Obi-Wan.” You greeted him, walking closer to the man. “Hello, y/n.” He smiled. “We haven’t talked in a while.” You said sheepishly. “You’ve been busy.” “I’m sure you have as well.” You notice the floating window again, Coruscant. “Tell me more about where you come from.”  “I’m from Stewjon. I do not remember much about my home, I was taken away at a very young age.” He explained. “No, I meant Coruscant. I think you’re lying to me.” You accused, “Why would I lie about any of that?” “Because it doesn’t exist! I’m sure the same goes for ‘Stewjon.’” You emphasized on the name. “Your planet does not exist. You’re telling me you live a non-existent planet, Obi-Wan. No human can live in another planet.” “I assure you, many of us are in different planets.” He said, crossing his arms. “Your archives must be incomplete.” You roll your eyes at him. “How am I supposed to get to know you, if you won’t even tell me where you’re truly from?” You raised a brow at the man. “I’m not lying to you about Coruscant or Stewjon, yet you refuse to believe me.” He said. “I suggest we talk about what we’re seeing.” So, he’s a negotiator. You thought, proceeding to ask him what he sees. “I see you’re well acquainted with art.” He said, walking around the void, admiring things you cannot see. “It’s my job. You like to read?” You asked, remembering the floating books. “I do,” Obi-Wan smiled. “I see you do too. And... you live in an awfully crowded city.” He scrunched his nose. “That’s New York.” You sighed. “I read on my free time or when I need to spark up an inspiration for an art piece.” “You must be very talented.” He replied. “Thank you. Do you like Sci-Fi?”  “What’s that?” He turned his attention, from whatever it is he was looking at, to you. “Well, I keep seeing laser swords and spaceships.” You picked one up, examining the object that held no weight. “You probably can’t see it, but I’m holding one right now. It’s fascinating.” An amazed laugh escaped your lips. Obi-Wan couldn’t see what you were holding, but he could see the blue light illuminating your face. “It’s called a lightsaber.” He said nonchalantly. “You should be careful, it’s a dangerous weapon to yield, not to mention it’s weight.”

“It’s light as a feather.” You said. “You can’t feel anything physical here in Dreamland.” Obi-Wan’s lips formed into an ‘o.’ “Yeah, it’s cool right? My parents told me about it. Their dreams were always my favorite bedtime story.”

You and Obi-Wan wandered around the void, naming all the things you see and providing each other with information. He asked you if you liked animals when he saw Vincent’s collar. You asked him if he made robots or owned any, because you saw a golden human-like robot and a robot with blue details. “That’s C-3PO and R2.” He said. “Do you own them?” You asked him. “No, a good friend of mine does.”  “I really think you like Sci-Fi.” You chuckled. “And I still have no idea what you’re talking about, darling.” You blushed at the pet name, quickly dusting it off with a question, “Are you, perhaps, an astronaut?” This caught his attention, turning his head to you, a confused look in his face, “Definitely not. I’m completely human.”  “Very funny, Kenobi. I meant to ask about your career.” But before Obi-Wan could say anything, a vortex pulls you in.

Darkness. That only meant that your time was over. A few hours came and when the rays of sunshine hit your eyes, you reached for your journal without hesitation. You list down everything that happened in your dream. “He doesn’t like Sci-Fi.” You chuckled lowly, shaking your head. Looking at the gray cat bed in the corner of your room, you notice Vincent still asleep. Good. You smiled. At least you could finish something this morning without any distractions. Or so you thought.  Your mind was filled with images of him. You thought of his perfectly swooped hair, dreamy eyes, and charming personality. Your cheek heats up upon realization. Before you knew it, your hand scribbled a picture of him on the paper in front of you. A rough sketch of your soulmate. You wondered if it was worth showing your friend. You put the sketch aside and worked on rough ideas for a commission. But your mind couldn’t let go of this man.  You managed to finish a few pieces by noon, just the right time for lunch. Walking to the small kitchen, you opened your magnet-filed fridge and grabbed your leftovers from last night, you also grabbed a can of cat food from the cupboard under the sink. You hear the bell on your cat’s collar ringing. You smile as you see Vincent descend from the stairs upon hearing you pull on the can’s tab. “Here you go, buddy.” You dump the cat food in his blue food bowl and pet his head. You heat up the leftovers in the microwave. Heading to your desk in the studio, you look for the sketch of Obi-Wan and snapped a picture of it, smiling while sending it to your friend. 

Your phone chimed from a notification: Is that him? Another chime: He’s muy bueno ;) I’d tap that You replied with: “Please stop being weird”  Tell. Me. Everything!

here’s the new update for lucid dreams! i hope you guys liked it. -mori <33

tag list:  @itsyellow​​ @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching​ @fandom-blackhole​ @marvelunistudent @fandoms-pizza-wifi-ym13 @ina-lotta @stargazingcarol

#obi wan kenobi #obi wan x reader #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan fluff #star wars #star wars imagine #obi wan imagine

[ethelphantom]

Always Been The Missing Piece

This is, uh, a sequel to the Maribat Secret Santa thing I wrote for @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry because Ailelie over at Ao3 gave me a good idea in the comments for an identity reveal fic because obviously they don't know the other isn't a civilian. So. Uh. I am planning at least one more sequel after this because I was given a perfect idea for BartAdrien identity reveal on the Maribat discord server and I need to write that too. Just, don't expect it to turn as long as either of these. And seriously, you really should read this only after Like You Could Be Family, because I seriously doubt this will make much sense without, but it's not like I will be able to actually stop you so....

(Also how the hell did I get to 13k? This has got to be the longest one-shot I've ever written please help me I have a problem)

Ao3 || First part | Third part

This is Maribat -- Don’t like; don’t read.

___________

“I don’t think disowning him is even necessary to make him my brother, and it seems there’s a chance we might become family regardless of whether this Bruce adopts me or not.”

Tim stared at the words written permanently on his wrist, rubbing the skin as though to see if they would smudge and leave. They did not. He had never truly thought of even getting a soulmate when he was young.

(Well, obviously he’d thought about it, rather often too. It was just that he always thought he wasn’t going to get one — either because his parents didn’t have one and he would surely be just like them, and then later, once he became Robin and later Red Robin, he thought that even if it wasn’t going to be because of his parents, then he wouldn’t get a soulmate because he wasn’t going to make it alive to 18.)

But, as all things that had anything to do with Fate always did, it didn’t go as he thought. After all, Fate was never quite so simple.

As it turned out, he made it to 18 and got a soulmark.

There was someone in the world Fate thought was the perfect match for him.

Then he for the longest time believed he would meet them while he was in the vigilante business because if his soulmate was a civilian, what would he even do? There was always a high chance of death because of what he did on a nightly basis, and it was certain he would have to disappear on multiple nights and occasions just to be Red Robin — no way he was going to give that up. That meant, that if he had a civilian romantic soulmate, they might accuse him of cheating, and then his life could be ruined because he was the damn CEO of Waye Enterprises and thus in the public eye all of the time. The words written on his wristed also sounded both like they could be romantic or platonic soulmates, since usually soulmates considered one another family of some sorts automatically — it didn’t necessarily mean his soulmate was speaking about one of his brothers becoming their brother-in-law. They all knew there was a chance Bruce would adopt his soulmate one day (no matter what they said about that being unnecessary.)

Then he actually met his soulmate.

He met Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

A sweet young woman almost his age, perhaps around a year younger than him (turns out he was right when she told him of herself later before he managed to go and search her up), with black hair the shade of midnight sky, her eyes blue as Morning Glories. She was kind, thoughtful, great at baking (she could so some pastries better than Alfred could, and that said a lot about her skills), and she shared Tim’s love of coffee (Dick had been horrified when he found her pouring energy drinks into extra strong black coffee after the first night she spent at the manor).

She was also MDC, Tim’s all-time favourite designer, and it was suddenly much easier to commission her when she could just show him the designs in person and talk about them — why she wanted this thing here and that thing somewhere else. Tim was also much more eager to pay her a whole lot more than what she ever asked for, even if that was partly because Marinette was trying her hardest to lower her prices for him.

Yeah no, that didn’t work with him at all — she was fantastic at what she did and he’d be damned if he let her do the work underpaid.

She never pushed his boundaries too far, only enough to have him open up a little, but because she never made him feel uncomfortable or like she was trying to use him, it was fine; He was horrible at opening up himself and wouldn’t have done it without her. It was clear she knew what was alright and what was not — most of the time anyway. And even when she did push his boundaries too far, it was because she tried to show her appreciation to him or got too excited, and when he or someone else pointed it out to her (because she was bad at noticing it herself), she immediately stopped doing the thing and apologised over and over because she never meant to violate his boundaries.

And then she made sure to never overstep it again unless he gave her the explicit permission to do so.

That told him more about her than many other things did or even could.

She was also intelligent, sassy and sarcastic when she wanted to be, had a strong sense of justice and he knew for a fact she knew how to fight and well. She’d mentioned having done martial arts for quite some time and because she made a complaint about having nearly no opponents on her level, Jason asked her if she wanted to try and spar with him. She agreed and won two out of three matches, and though there was a chance he was just holding back (unlikely, considering how much Jason had talked about it on patrol that night), Damian had challenged her after that and they came to a tie. Twice. Damian then won the last round, probably when he finally stopped underestimating her and holding back. There was no way she wasn’t good.

Marinette always tried to help people in need if she could and wouldn’t take no for an answer when she decided that a person beaten to a bloody pulp was in no condition to walk home, especially not alone. If she had to pay for the taxi to get them home, well, she did, never expecting anyone to pay back.

She was absolutely perfect, if you asked Tim.

The problem was, she was a civilian regardless of how well she fought or how intelligent she was. He could never risk her safety by being in a close relationship with her in case someone found out his identity and decided to use her against him. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened in vigilante business. It had given him enough of a heart attack to be with her while in civvies and get caught by the Riddler because of course he had to be there and there was nothing Tim could do to help her himself — the small and young CEO was not supposed to be able to punch a guy’s teeth in.

And then she’d gone and insulted his fashion taste. Tim agreed, definitely, that green and purple three-piece suit was atrocious, but it was a horrible idea if you were a civilian because the Riddler was extremely sensitive about his fashion choices and a villain and he had hardly any rules as to what he did and to whom, unlike some of the Rogues. Marinette didn’t even have any protective gear against him.

So yeah.

An almost-heart attack.

Turns out, she solved all of his riddles rather quickly, some of them with Tim once the Riddler noticed him, and in the end they all got out safely and unharmed.

At least half of the credit of that definitely went to Marinette.

The best course of action would either be to tell her, or cut ties with her, make her hate him or anything that got her out of the danger zone that came with being in a close relationship with him.

The second option was definitely not what he wanted.

And that was what led him to here, sitting at the table in the apartment he used (especially) when he needed an escape from his dear but way too invasive family with Kon and Bart.

“It’s just, I don’t know what to do! I like her, I really do, but I can hardly pursue a relationship with a civilian. I might endanger her life! We’ve seen that happen with enough many of us. Someone figures out our identity, kidnaps a loved one and puts them at risk. Or sees us too close to a civilian while in the suit and decides they’ll put the loved one at risk anyway. I can’t risk my soulmate’s life for something like that, she doesn’t deserve it,” Tim exclaimed, groaning as his head hit the table. Thank heavens Bart had pulled the plate from under him just in time before his forehead would have ended up in his food.

(Though it was likely he was going to lose half of his food to Bart as well, it was likely he was going to eat Tim’s food while Tim wasn’t there to protect it. Asshole friends and all that.)

Sure, Kon and Bart would have probably had fun watching him ruin his looks (and hair, especially his hair) because of the tomato sauce and spaghetti he somehow had not managed to burn, but maybe they were pitying him enough for his soulmate problems to not just let it  happen for this one time. That, and he’d gotten injured in their latest fight and he would not honestly be surprised if they blamed themselves for it at least a little — that was what Tim kept doing if any of his teammates got injured when he was there and even theoretically could have helped.

“Tell her?” Bart suggested, shrugging as he filled his mouth with the spaghetti. From Tim’s plate. Oh well. Telling him to stop would probably not really help and it’s not like Tim couldn’t just steal Kon’s food later. Bart continued speaking as soon as his mouth was empty. “I don’t see why not. If she’s as amazing as you make her out to be, I can’t see a reason why you shouldn’t tell her. I’m gonna tell Adrien, by the way.”

“Do you have any idea when you’re going to do it?”

“Nope, but not yet ‘cause I don’t think it’s fair or appropriate since Paris just declared their heroes dead ‘cause they haven’t made any appearances — but that’s not to say they don’t know where the bodies are, perhaps they’re just protecting them? — in quite the while, but I will soon enough. Wouldn’t be fair to him to keep it a secret, right?” he chuckled and chewed on his (Tim’s) food.

Oh yeah. Paris’ heroes, the ones that were apparently dead. The heroes they had thought didn’t actually exist and were just a make-believe story to entertain people until Paris held a public memorial for them because they were nowhere to be found and told the people they just hadn’t found their corpses, but maybe that was just to protect their identities. The reminder they hadn’t helped them with their villain felt like a punch in the gut to Tim now, even if he hadn’t been the one to make the decision to not help.

He shook the thoughts away. This was not the time for blaming himself or anyone else for it, he could very well do that later.

“Kon?”

“I agree with Bart. If you think she’s good for you, I think it’s better if you just told her. It’s not like you would want to just cut ties with her to protect her and hurt the both of you at the process. It would definitely be like you, but I know you don’t want to do that to the one person meant for you.”

Tim sighed and stole his plate back. It was significantly emptier than it had been two minutes ago. Damn Bart. As a last-ditch effort, he stole Kon’s plate and scooped some of his food to his own plate, ignoring the rather offended look on Kon’s face. His fault, he hadn’t protected Tim’s food from Bart. Besides, Tim needed to eat something proper, after all. It might have been a little too long since the last time he ate more than an energy bar… so probably around three days since.

No wonder he was the smallest of them.

Munching on his food, he sunk back into his thoughts while Bart and Kon chatted animatedly, the few words he picked up indicating the conversation was about soulmates and Adrien in particular.

It had been a few weeks since he and Bart met their soulmates, but both of them were definitely interested in them — likely romantically, but only time would tell for sure. Marinette was amazing and sweet and Adrien must have been the only one as much of a sunshine child as Bart was, though according to Marinette, he could be a little shit when he felt like it. Then Bart and Kon had overheard Marinette discussing Adrien’s father with someone and turns out, Bart was ready to run to Paris and kick the man’s ass himself, regardless of whether he was in prison for being a supervillain and terrorising the city for years or not. Not that Tim would have stopped him. After all, Stephanie too had decided to ruin his father’s plans when it turned out he’d become a villain.

...That was something Adrien could probably bond over with Stephanie at some point. Maybe they’d found the “my dad’s a supervillain and I had nothing to do with it” club.

(“The list of bad dads just grows and grows,” Tim swore he’d heard Bart say afterwards with a suspicious grin on his face. Tim wouldn’t disagree with him though, he could name quite the number of them himself as well, one of them being his very own father.)

Then Marinette had heard Bart declare war on Gabriel Agreste and immediately told him she was joining — according to her, he didn’t have a choice in the matter because she really wanted to kick his ass again.

(Again? When had she managed to do it in the first place?)

So yeah. Having a civilian soulmate was difficult.

Then again… What if he made her a vigilante? She did possess all of the necessary qualities and even more to become a good vigilante that he could think of. Perhaps he should ask her if she’d like to do that. After all, she was now family, both Bruce and Dick had declared so (rather clearly and Dick loudly), accompanied by Alfred’s nods, Jason’s approving humming (and the way he started treating her better than he did most of the family), Cass’ silent approval visible in her smile as she looked at Marinette, and a little reluctant Damian as well.

It wouldn’t matter she didn’t have any superpowers like some people did — none of the family did, and they were all great at what they did, even if Gotham was nearly impossible to save at this point anymore. She was already good at martial arts, knew how to take care of herself (if it didn’t mean her inability to eat when she was supposed to or her reluctance to go to sleep (nightmares, perhaps?), but she knew how to defend herself and others.) She would make a good vigilante, especially with some special and personalised training. Now he only needed it approved by the rest of the family because she could and would put two and two together and realise all of them were involved with the vigilante business if he came clean to her as one.

Actually, that sounded like a good idea.

Then his phone chimed on the coffee table in the living room and he all but ran there, injuries be damned.

“Hey, careful there, you wouldn’t want us to tell Alfred you need new stitches,” Kon called after him before turning to Bart. “How much do you want to bet that was Marinette messaging him right there?”

“Nope, not betting anything when we both know full well it was Mari. There’s no one else he’d practically dive out of the table for and leave his food unguarded with us. Speaking of...”

“Bart! Do not even think about eating my food while I’m gone! It better be still there untouched when I come back, or so help me god I will kick your ass back to the next millennium!”

Bart just snickered.

God, why was he even friends with Bart?

Oh yeah, because he didn’t know how to live on without him (or Kon) anymore anyway.

⬷۵⤐

Marinette paced around her room in the Manor, panic clearly showing on her face. Adrien sat on the bed placed near the wall, leaning to it, seemingly unconcerned. He was mostly waiting for Marinette to calm down enough to stay still and just listen for a second in between her freak outs.

Thank kwamii for the fact they had gotten Wayzz to secure the room and create a shell in which they could talk without needing to worry whether someone heard them or not. No one would. They were safe.

...They also wouldn’t disturb anyone with it since it was way past midnight already.

“But this ruins everything!” Marinette exclaimed, finally standing in one place long enough for Adrien to decide paying attention to her would be worth it. Or, could be worth it.

Adrien rested his chin on his palm, tilting his head. “Now, Buginette, I love you and all,  but this is getting ridiculous, utterly ridiculous (“Don’t you dare sound like Chloé right now, Adrien!”) Are you sure you need to panic about all this? As far as I see it, you could just, I don’t know, tell him. Gabriel isn’t a threat anymore, and even if he was, we aren’t in Paris,” he said, and plopped down on the bed, propping one leg on his knee. Plagg seated himself on Adrien’s head, ready to take a nap, while Tikki had nestled on Marinette’s shoulder. It was amazing how she was so used to Marinette freaking out that she could just stay calm on even a pacing Marinette.

“I know I could tell him because Gabriel is behind bars, and I should tell Tim because otherwise it won’t be fair to him and I like him, probably romantically soon, and I can’t let myself pursue a romantic relationship with anyone that doesn’t know because it’s too much to keep a secret, but I have no idea how to! What if I scare him off because right now it looks like the both of us are staying here in Gotham — or at least the States — and knowing the two of us, we won’t be able to just quit hero work either! Speaking of which, we have to design ourselves new suits because Paris just declared us dead like a week ago. Not Marinette and Adrien, obviously, but Chat Noir and Ladybug. Understandable, we just disappeared after the fight with Papillon and there’s no way anyone would believe him if he said he didn’t hurt us so why would they believe he didn’t also kill us and—”

“Nette, please, try to breathe and calm down. It’s not that serious of a situation,” Adrien tried but Marinette had resumed pacing around and it was clear as day she was freaking out. It was also clear she wasn’t listening to a word he said anymore, and barely even paid attention to the fact she wasn’t, in fact, alone in the room in general. He sighed and stood up, grabbing his best friend by the shoulders. Plagg shrieked before he shut his mouth because of his holder’s sudden movement.

Now that had her stop and concentrate her attention on him again.

“I know it’s difficult for you to reveal your identity to anyone, including me even long after I realised my behaviour was a big no-no and apologised to you, and that’s fine. It just means you’re being responsible. But. This is your soulmate we’re talking about. There are so many reasons why you should tell him and you know that if you don’t, whatever relationship you might end up in with Tim might go horribly wrong if all the while you’re keeping a secret such as this from him.” Adrien took a deep breath and looked Marinette directly in the eyes. “I am well aware you like him like, a lot, so there’s no way you’d want to risk losing him in either way — by putting him in danger or by having him tell he can’t take you disappearing on him all the time anymore.”

Damnit. Adrien was right. Marinette hated it when Adrien was right. Mostly, because usually when Adrien was right and even she had to admit it because it was so obvious, it meant that the kwamii also agreed with him. And well. When Tikki, the literal miniature goddess of creation, said something should be done, her word was final. She had no way out of this, now did she?

“Nope!” said Tikki from next to her ear.

Oh. She’d said that out loud. For crying out loud.

But yeah, she truly did like Tim, a lot. He was smart, could banter with her rather easily without ever making her uncomfortable by doing so, was never put off by sarcasm (which was, unfortunately, quite rare nowadays and that meant she found it rather refreshing), and he was kind. Also, he had a huge sweet-tooth and mostly a good taste which meant she could freely bake a lot and Tim would likely enjoy any and all of it. She could use him to test new recipes, too.

She also liked his appearance — a lot. His looks were definitely nothing to scoff at. His hair was black and silky, and his eyes were so enchantingly blue (as were many of his brothers’ and Conner’s, if she was being honest, but his were her favourites) and she couldn't help but just drown in them. He genuinely liked her designs (he says he loves them, her mind not so helpfully reminded her, because that made it even better and even harder to let go of him if the need be), he wasn’t pretending to do so because they were soulmates. Tim also had such great ideas for new clothing sometimes — he had been a massive help with the design for her latest dress that she was planning on making for the up-coming Wayne Gala where he (and the rest of the family) had invited her.

Yeah, and Tim knew how to paint nails a little too well. Marinette was certainly going to use that little fact to her advantage and have him do her nails at some point.

Marinette also truly enjoyed spending time with his family and him. All of them respected her at least on some level (gave her the basic respect Jagged had taught everyone was supposed to give her automatically unless she actually did something to warrant them to lose said respect) and didn't try to have her bake or design clothes for them or have her do their chores they were supposed to do because they wanted a little more time to themselves — especially not for free. Never for free. And, even if they did ask her to do something for them (usually it was Jay or Dick doing so), they never failed to remind her she could say no and that depending on what they asked her to do they’d compensate it to her as soon as possible in whatever form she wanted — whether that be money or new fabric or favours or them helping her the next time she baked something.

They didn’t take her for granted, and that was freeing.

She was genuinely happy to spend time with them. Their presence, especially Tim’s, was comforting to her, with him it was safe for her to just be herself.

Yeah, she was too far gone for one Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne and definitely did not want to lose him. She could only hope she was someone Tim could be himself with as well.

Honestly, her biggest problem with all and any of this was that Tim was a civilian and in case someone found out he was close to her, it would be no good for him to know. If the threat was magical, there was no way he could fight it off even if he was anything like his brothers when it came to fighting (she just didn’t know, but she did suspect he was). She herself could get out of problematic situations rather easily, but there was no telling just how bad situation could get until Tim would no longer have any way to get away. She figured he had to have at least some kind of basic training because so many in his family seemed to know martial arts, he lived in Gotham and was a CEO, but she had no idea to what extent he could protect himself.

And indeed, because the miraculous considered her an adult now and she no longer had a time limit after she used her special ability (whatever it was depending on the miraculous), it meant there was no way she would even consider stopping. Of course, she still tried not to push too far after she did use that ability as to not exhaust the kwami she was using too much and she’d made it her point to wear multiple miraculouses at once at all times so even if she had to detransform to let one kwami rest, she wouldn’t need to stop fighting right away or wait until they recharged.

In a city like Gotham where she could be needed, this all meant she could not stop being a hero. (Though, she knew that Batman wasn’t known for being too fond of magic users, or metas, whatever it was they called them, so she would need to have him somehow accept her presence or prepare to fight him and perhaps also all of his team that seemed to actually be his family — especially Robin seemed to still be a little child, younger than her when she received her miraculous.) Not since they had seemed to decide they were going nowhere from there, most of all not Paris.  

They were never going to return, they really didn’t want to do so, what with the entire city being full of traumatic memories to them. Maybe they’d visit Kagami and Luka and her parents, maybe his aunt and cousin, but otherwise, no. Besides, their soulmates were both here, they had hardly any people they had good relationships with in Paris anymore because they’d both eventually stood up to their class, Gabriel was in prison — which, in turn, meant that the majority of Paris blamed Papillon’s actions on Adrien at least on some level. It didn’t matter to them that he had said that no, he had nothing to do with his father’s actions, and that his father actually abused him and he was glad to be finally free from him.

It wasn’t like they didn’t have a list of excuses to stay.

(Marinette wasn’t going to admit it any time soon, but she had an actual list of the excuses to stay written down in case someone asked her and her brain wouldn’t agree on cooperating at that time. It was also partly in case she ended up mentioning there were many, many, many reasons for them to stay and someone asked for a list; This way she could literally provide them with one. It was both on multiple papers and notebooks and on her phone — after all, back-up copies were very useful.)

Yet another reason as to why she should tell Tim — even though her Miraculous Cure healed and restored almost anything, it had mostly stopped working on her as it drew its energy from both her and Tikki, and now she was full of scars. Sure, it mostly healed the biggest injuries so she was rarely limping or bleeding long, and they never became devastating, but well. It still wasn’t any good that she had to keep covering some of the scars behind layers of makeup or hide them under clothing. Thank kwami Adrien had yet to report the same was happening to him.

There was no way Tim wouldn’t discover the scars’ existence at some point, regardless of whether their soulbond was romantic or platonic (although she certainly hoped it was romantic), so it would be far better to just come clean about it before he eventually found out about them on his own anyway.

So yeah.

She also had a long list of very good reasons to tell Tim.

The problem here was, she had no idea how.

She could hardly just walk up to him and blurt out she was Ladybug when it had just been announced that Ladybug (and Chat Noir at that, but it was up to Adrien to decide whether he wanted to tell his identity to anyone aside from Bart — he likely wanted to tell him) were dead, she would have to come up with a better plan to that. A lot better plan.

But perhaps… perhaps if she presented him with a miraculous and asked him to fight alongside her and Adrien… Maybe Bart could be there as well if Adrien considered it a good idea?

“Hey, Adrien, what do you think? Would Tim be a good miraculous user? And how about Bart?” she asked. Fiddling with the mouse necklace she was wearing, Marinette turned to look at Adrien who had, at some point, left from her side. Mullo was sleeping somewhere inside her hood.  “They both seem like people that would like to help others if they could — I mean, Tim already tries as a CEO and I simply don’t know Bart that well yet — but I don’t know. I want to hear your opinion on this as well because even if I am now the guardian and could technically just do whatever the hell I wanted, you’re still my partner in crime… fighting, and since some of my previous choices weren’t too good…”

Yeah, she did mean Alya and Nino. Also others, but those she’d trusted the most, so…

“Are you seriously asking me if I’d like to have both our soulmates by our side if— no, when we are fighting possibly magic-based crime in Gotham or elsewhere in the States?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. She nodded slowly. Adrien arched an eyebrow as he looked at her like she had made the stupidest question he had ever heard in his life before. “Duh, obviously, of course I want them there. Bart would be good. He’s so fast already — no, seriously, I swear, he’s quicker at doing things than Plagg is at eating camembert —, he’s a quick thinker and okay, he’s a little impulsive, but most of the time his ideas haven’t been that horrible, so a miraculous could probably enhance all of it in a good way.”

“And Tim’s got a good sense of justice and he’s one of the smartest people I’ve met. He’d be great at any strategic positions and— you know, I think he could work either the snake or the dragon miraculous really well.”

Adrien nodded enthusiastically. “Now you’re talking my language. Mayhaps the fox miraculous would be good for Bart, he’d get to be creative and I’m sure if he got up to any mischief, Trixx would only be more than happy to help. Or maybe the horse— actually, no, forget about that, I don’t think that’s a good idea because he might get the idea to send us all to anywhere in the world because it seemed like a good idea to him for all of two seconds and that’s the one thing that would make everything really problematic.” Adrien sunk into his thought for a moment, tapping his nose with his finger absent-mindedly as he tried to think of something else. Then his eyes brightened as he came up with an idea.

“Oh, the turtle! He’s quick so it wouldn’t take him long to protect those in need of it, and maybe in some moments when he’s too impulsive, Wayzz could be there as a voice of reason and common sense in his head. I don’t actually mind his impulsiveness at all but sometimes all of us could use a Wayzz to help us slow down a little.”

Wayzz himself looked torn between agreeing, and strongly disagreeing and escaping before Adrien could convince Marinette to give him to Bart.

“I’m seriously considering this now. I have no idea how to give them one, though. It isn’t as simple as it would have been in Papillon’s Paris — we don’t have a Miraculous threat here and no one knows us. I mean, they’ve probably heard of the deceased Ladybug and Chat Noir, but not the ones we’re going to become. We can hardly just swing up to them and be like “hey have you ever wanted to be a hero? Well, here’s a miraculous that will transform you into a magical superhero with the help of jewellery and a god like in some anime—” God damn it Adrien, now I consider transforming into LB the same kind of thing as your anime’s girls with objects to make them magically transform.”

“They’re magical girls, actually. And well, I have to say, we kind of are magical girls, you know. Magical transformation, magic, magic provided superpowers, magical healing, double lives, way too obvious costumes for anyone to not figure out our identity yet none of them do it anyway… Oh, and we have specific words to transform us along with magical accessories or jewellery and we have a literal transformation choreography! Clearly magical girls!”

“Magical girls, then, whatever. Never compare us to them again.”

Adrien just snickered.

“Ugh, shut up, will you?”

“Of course. But yeah, you’re right, we can’t just appear behind their windows and give them a miraculous. That would be just stupid and irresponsible, now wouldn’t it?”

“Why do you sound so sarcastic?”

“That might be because I kind of am.”

“Go away.”

She had no idea how she could still stand Adrien. Why was he her best friend again?

Oh yeah.

Because he was the one who had stood right there by her side through thick and thin.

That’s why.

⬷۵⤐

“So. Let me get this straight—”

“In this family?”

“Shut up, Jaybird. So, what you’re saying is, you want to reveal us all to your girlfriend because you don’t want to keep secrets this big from her?”

Tim sighed and ran a hand down his face, exasperated. Hadn’t he just explained this? “No, Dick, first of all, she’s not my girlfriend — at least yet. What I’m asking is if it’s okay to everyone I tell her I’m Red Robin and get her to start training so she can become a vigilante as well. She’d be good at it. I don’t want to keep my identity from her in case we do start dating because then what if she thinks I’m cheating on her or up to some other not-good stuff when I keep sneaking out in the middle of the night and can’t even tell her what for.”

“And why do you want her to be a vigilante? You know it’s dangerous.”

“Then why is any of us doing it? It would anyway be her choice. Besides, if she was fighting beside me, she wouldn’t even need to worry about me that much because she could technically probably see me and not have to stay at home, you know? I know I can see there’s something in her that reminds me a lot of most of us, the need to fight for justice and for those in need of help because no one else does either. I can see the crave to fight in her.”

Dick sighed and tilted his head, his expression hard as steel. “You really thought this through, didn’t you?”

“Obviously. And as to why I’m asking you is because she’s actually smart and would definitely put two and two together when I tell her I’m Red Robin; The likeliness of Robin, Red Robin, Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood — yes, Jason, you too, have you seen the giant red bat on your chest you insist on wearing even though you claim to detest us half the time because we all can see it —, Black Bat, the Signal and the rest of us being close with each other, if not family, is quite high. Basically, she would most likely connect you all to the vigilantes running around.”

Bruce crossed his arms over his chest and shot him the Batdad-Look™, and if he hadn’t been so determined to get them to agree, it would have probably made him a… little too nervous to keep on talking. Alas, it wasn’t going to make him stop because he really, really wanted Marinette to fight beside him and if it meant he needed to bear with Bruce’s Batdad-Looks™, then so be it. He was not about to go down without first putting up a fight.

Tim couldn’t even explain how grateful he was for the fact Bruce stayed quiet despite the expression on his face. It helped his situation a little.

Instead, it did not help that he could feel Cass’ eyes on his back. She was sitting on the ground a small distance away from them, probably reading all of them like they were open books. He decided to ignore it for now — there was really nothing else he could do.

“And you know she’s a good fighter — you saw her spar with Jason! You saw how she fought against Damian who actually, officially challenged her, like she were equal. He doesn’t do that too often. We all also know neither of them wasn’t holding back too much on second matched anymore, if at all in the in the third one. She only lost once they stopped holding back and even then she put up a good fight — the matches weren’t over in minutes. Like, we’ve all gotten training from at least the Bat himself, likely from many others too. She has not. That makes it an impressive feat. With training, she could probably be one of the best of us!”

Steph lifted her hands above her head as to surrender and to draw attention to herself. “Alright, I’m cool with it. Timmy’s passionate about his cause and also I like Mari. It could be fun to have her in the team.”

Thank goodness, at least someone was on his side.

Dick’s phone chimes and he looks at the message, groaning when he reads it. “Babs told me to tell you all that she also says yes, that she trusts Marinette with all of this if others are fine with it as well,” he says slowly, before he puts his phone away. It’s strange seeing him not cheerful, but Tim can’t afford to care about it too much now .

Another voice spoke up softly. “I think… Marinette makes a good fighter,” Cass said from her spot, resting her body weight on her arms with the flats of her palms on the ground. She seemed thoughtful. Her words carried a meaning all of them understood, even if she didn’t say it out loud — she liked her too and wanted her in, but that she too would like Marinette to get some training first before letting her out.

Just in case.

They knew she wanted to lose people just as much as the rest of them — which meant, she didn't want to lose any more people she cared about.

Then, a sigh. “Yeah, gotta agree. Could be nice to have her on our side, she’s fun. And Timber’s right, she does seem like she’s achin’ to go fight a bitch. It’d be better if we made sure she’s got the necessary skills and stuff, and I’d rather not have to fight her because one of us considers her an enemy or because she thinks that of us. Girl’s got some mad skills. Also, B, if you think about it for a second longer, I’m sure you’d realise that if there’s a chance she is going out anyway, I’m sure you’d prefer she followed your rules, too, right?”

Tim… wasn’t sure when the last time he’d been grateful for Jason’s input had last occurred, but he was certainly ready to let Jason do whatever the hell he wanted with criminals during their next patrol together, that’s how grateful he was. Yes, even if it meant Jason shooting them in the fucking kneecaps.

“Yes, but she’s still—”

“She’s what, Grayson? She put up a respectable fight even thought she’s still clearly inferior to me, but I do not doubt she could do the same in the field. Her skills most certainly require improvement and bettering, and she needs to fine her techniques if she wants to hold her own out there without getting killed, but I’m certain she’s more than capable of getting to Todd’s level with guidance.”

Okay, wow. Damian was defending Marinette. He definitely needed to tell this to her — he was sure she’s appreciate hearing the little demon of the family respected her enough to speak up against Dick and his father, the only ones of them he’d ever openly admitted held his respect, even if he didn’t necessarily word it as “I respect you” or “you have my respect.” It seemed Marinette got the honor of being the third one, and she had been family for all of some weeks. She’d even gotten him to use the word “respectable” when talking about her.

She got him admitting to all of them, all of them, that he thought she was good and worth his respect. Now that was something.

So, Tim also appreciated him speaking up. This tiny (alright so he may not have been that tiny anymore and there’s a chance Damian was now taller than Tim, but who cared, he would always be tiny to Tim) teenager was still the only biological child of Bruce and also one of the hardest of them to impress, so if he said something of this sort about anyone (the last time it was something about Jon but Tim hadn’t cared enough to remember what it actually was about anymore), everyone would at least listen to him before simply jumping to decisions.

So yeah. If there ever was a time Tim wanted nothing more than to take his little brother out and let him find a few new animals to keep as pets, even if they weren’t good as pets, it was now. It certainly was now.

“I’m siding with Tim here — don’t give me that look, Dick, the ones already sided with him are scarier and more dangerous than you and Bruce together, so even if I didn’t agree, his side would be the wiser choice—”, Duke starts, shrugging, though there was a clear smile on his face. “But like, Marinette’s nice, like actually nice, and if she’s going to become family anyway, I don’t see why we couldn’t have her in this as well. Tim has a good point — several good points, actually, so the logic is also on his side.”

Yeah, Tim certainly couldn’t hide his smile any longer. Only Dick and Bruce were yet to say yes. Maybe he could actually do this.

Of course, he was not going to go through with any of this if all of them didn’t agree. He could risk his own identity to his soulmate, but there was no way he was going to force anyone else to do so for anyone, least of all for someone that wasn’t literally linked to them by their very soul. He would never compromise all of them for one person.

“Okay, fine. It seems everyone else is saying yes, so I guess I’m outvoted here. I just want every one of you to stay safe, you know? I don’t want this to end up being the reason any of you gets hurt.”

Yes, Tim knew that. Regardless of how annoying Dick managed to get a lot of the time, or how frustratingly stubborn he always was, or how his attitude was irritatingly similar to Bruce’s even when their personalities weren’t even remotely similar most of the time (that one was probably causation of Bruce taking care of Dick for like a decade), there was never any doubt his love or concern for any of them wasn’t genuine. That much was more than obvious.

He managed to give Dick a small smile, hoping it would convey he was grateful he finally said yes.

Now there was only one left to convince.

The most difficult of them (if you didn’t count Damian in, anyway) to convert.

Bruce was stubborn as hell when he wanted to, but seeing as he was stubborn even if he wasn’t trying to be, this could either be easy or the most difficult thing Tim had ever done. It had taken him a while to convince Bruce to make him Robin, but back then all he was trying was to have him take himself in and train him; Back then Tim wasn’t planning on telling his identity to someone who didn’t know yet, someone who could figure out the rest of them as well, and then have her trained to become one of them. Tim knew it, it was a lot to ask, but he wanted to do it anyway. It was important to him, alright?

Tim turned to look at Bruce. “Well? How is it?” He placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head, waiting for an answer. Any answer, really.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Tim. What if something happens to her? Or what if something happens to you? Or any of your siblings?”

“But what if something happens to her because I didn’t tell her? And besides, something could happen to any of us at any given time, given what we all do on nightly basis. We could have also just not done it, but we are doing it anyway and like hell is any of us going to just quit. Out world is full of what-ifs, we cannot help them, and I’ll be damned if I let them make me lose the one person actually made for me, the one person that I was tailored to.”

“With all due respect, Master Bruce, I must say, you have told your identity — even if only subtly hinted at it with a very specific set of words so that it’s enough for them to make the connection — so many times that I think you can hardly be against this. None of them were even your soulmate. Need I remind you of who everyone knew or found out without ever even becoming one of us? At least Master Tim is planning on bringing her in on all of this and planning to have her properly trained,” Alfred said, appearing in the doorway behind Bruce.

So sure, Cass and Damian knew exactly how to seemingly just appear and reappear without anyone noticing as though they could teleport, sure, Commissioner Gordon always complained about Batman doing it, and sure, the rest of them knew how to blend in with the shadows (they just didn’t always do it), but Alfred also seemed to possess this skill — better than most of them, anyway. Tim had absolutely no idea how, but he wasn’t about to complain.

Besides, it was Alfred, so it wasn’t surprising. Honestly, was there anything the man couldn’t do?

But the thing is, Alfred was also right. He had let Rachel Dawes find out. He let commissioner Gordon find out. Mr. Fox knew because Bruce had asked for help and equipment he then used as Batman while he was being Bruce Wayne — now that right there had never even seen subtle hinting. A whole lot of other people knew as well, though many had found out on their own — such as Tim, while some found out because of other, not so lovely circumstances, like Selina.

So, all in all, Bruce was the worst of them to say anything about it. True, he was mostly protective of them, always thinking up the worst-case scenarios about everything, something Tim himself did as well because that was the easiest way to make sure they were prepared for absolutely anything and everything, but Tim trusted Marinette. He wanted to trust her, just like Bruce had trusted some people. And in any case, he’d rather trust than live his life in suspicion of most people, like some people he knew did. Like Bruce.

Bruce opened his mouth to say something, but as nothing came out, he just closed it again. A defeated sigh slipped past his lips and he let go of the tensity in his shoulders, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I can see when I’ve lost. I want to meet her soon after you tell her, maybe right away after it, though, regardless of whether she makes the connection or not. I would prefer if all of you were here then,” he said, motioning at all of them before he placed his hand on Tim’s shoulder. “And that you—” he cast a pointed look at Tim, “—tell us when you are going to do it. I trust that you understand what you’re doing. I do not want to find out Ms. Dupain-Cheng is a danger to any of you, but especially you.”

“Of course. I take full responsibility of her and her training—”

“No you won’t. I’ll do that, although I do expect you to be there for her and to be a major help. I’m still your father and I don’t care if you’re already 19, because I’m not letting my children be that much of adults just yet.”

“Hey!”

Bruce just smiled (a tense smile, one that was half-forced on his face) and left all of them (except Cass whom Tim couldn’t see anywhere anymore) behind, gaping.

“Did he just—”

“Oh my god he totally did!”

“Please tell me someone recorded B calling himself a father and calling us his children.”

Tim had a vague suspicion that Cass had indeed recorded it, was going to send it to all of them, and then, depending on the reactions to it, would send a voice message of her laughing to their group chat.

Well, that definitely went better than he thought.

⬷۵⤐

“You know, I’m glad I have you as my soulmate,” Marinette began around a week later as they were sitting in the living room of the Wayne Manor. She snuggled closer to him and Tim wrapped an arm around her, comfortable and relaxed for the first time in a few days. “I’ve known you for not that long, but I already know I don’t want to lose you.”

She reached for his hand and took it in her own. Tim squeezed her hand back.

“Me neither.” Tim saw this as an opening — after all, most, if not all, of his reasons to tell Marinette who he was and all his plans about how exactly he should do it were born from the idea that he didn’t want to lose her. And so, he stood up, still holding her hand, and pressed a light kiss on it. “I need to show you something important. Will you follow me?”

A soft laughed escaped from Marinette as she replied, smiling, “Always, to the ends of the world.”

Marinette let herself be pulled up to her feet and led through the endless dark hallways of the manor. He quickly shot a message (“I’m prepared to do it, I’m taking her down now. Be there in five”) to the group chat before putting his phone away. When it vibrates in his pocket, he first looked at Marinette as though to make sure it was fine with her if he checked and possibly answered — after all, he knew it wasn’t too urgent or they would have called, and as far as Marinette was aware, this was supposed to be their time together to get to know each other better and all, not time for either of them to spend talking to other people via phone —, the corners of his lips turning upwards at her when she nodded with a smile on her face.

It seemed smiles liked to creep up on his face a lot more now that Marinette was around.

The message was from Jason, and Tim rolled his eyes fondly at it.

I thought you were supposed to tell her instead of fighting her, babybird.

shut up jason

You know pwefectly well what taking her down means int his case

Oh yes, I most definitely do.

It’s just so much fun reminding you of the existence of double meanings you either use to insult people or forget about completely.

But yeah, we’ll be ready.

“One of your brothers?”

“Yep. Jason is being a cumberworld.”

“And him being a cumberworld definitely makes you grin and roll your eyes as though he merely made a stupid joke and you, unfortunately, thought it rather amusing. Got it.”

“Wait. You actually know what it means?”

“Duh, obviously. After listening to you and your family for a while, it seemed like a good idea to do some research on different English insults so they wouldn’t fly by me all the time.”

Tim snorted. Of course. Only Marinette would. Only her. Everyone else outside of their family seemed to give up on trying to understand after a little while, but noooo, this girl decided she was going to spend extra time doing some research just to be able to understand — that, and also most likely to be able to laugh at them. She definitely fit in just fine.

It didn’t take them too long after that to get to the main study in the manor that Tim had earlier told her was Bruce’s and told her not to go in. Maybe that was why Marinette now looked quite nervous and anxious as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, motioning for her to go in.

“Are you sure we can go in here? Mr Wayne— I mean, Bruce, isn’t going to get mad at us? And you aren’t about to kill me, right?” she laughed, trying to mask her nervousness with humour, but walked in anyway. She relaxed a little and the tensity in her shoulders slipped away the slightest bit as Tim shook his head as no.

He walked to the grandfather clock in the room and let go of Marinette’s hand in order to be able to turn the hands of the clock. The clock hit 10:48 (Tim had always thought there was no one more grim than the Batman but then he actually met Bruce Wayne and found out you needed to turn the clock to show the time Bruce’s parents had been murdered, and was just like that forced to change his view on the matter) and the panel unlocked, opening the door hidden from view behind the clock.

Marinette’s jaw dropped open. This was most certainly not what she had been expecting, that much was sure.

“Well then, my fair lady, shall we enter?” he asked, grinning at Marinette’s flabbergasted expression even as she walked closer and tried to figure out where the entrance would take them.

She could keep trying; he was not about to tell her just yet.

The elevator took them down and soon enough, they were in the cave. He stepped out of the doors and waited for Marinette to follow him.

“...Where are we?” she asked, her voice a little strained.

“Uh.”

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, where in the world exactly did you take me?”

It seemed actually telling her turned out a little more difficult than he thought. Well, no use crying now — he couldn’t just brush off all of this like he hadn’t just taken his soulmate down to the Batcave either.

“Alright. So, this might come as a shock and for the love of all that’s still holy and sacred in this world please do not freak out. I just decided I needed to tell you this before we consider pursuing any relationship on a deeper and closer level than what we have now, regardless of in what sense it would be.

Marinette nodded slowly, encouraging him to go on even as she seemed suspicious (and anxious) about what was going on. Perhaps that was a good thing since they were in Gotham, in the city where you never knew who the person in front of you was or what they did in their free time (or at night).

Tim took a deep breath before dropping the bomb on her. “I am Red Robin, one of the vigilantes of Gotham.”

At his declaration, her jaw dropped. Again. “You— I— What?”

“I’m Red Robin,” he repeated and pulled out the domino mask he had taken with him and slipped into his pocket, putting it on his face. Thank heavens for Marinette and her need to give him big pockets whenever he commissioned her (and there was any reason to put pockets to said commissioned clothing) because of that one offhand comment complaining about too small pockets some of his clothes had. He scratched his chin awkwardly before realising what he was doing and pulled his hand down, pressing his nails to his skin to keep himself from bringing it up again. “I was also thinking, you’d make a good vigilante if that’s what you wanted to do. Obviously, I would need to train you first to make sure you’d be ready for Gotham’s streets, but I thought it could help you not to worry about me if you saw me in action and actually had the chance to help me if necessary?”

That… wasn’t supposed to come out as a question. Why did it come out as one?

But Marinette’s silence was worrying him. It would be understandable not to get an answer now, but he knew her well enough by now to know that she would be mindlessly rambling at this point if it were merely shock she was experiencing.

“You… You aren’t a villain or planning on becoming one, right? Because even if you were my soulmate, that would mean I’d have to take you down.” Almost certain he could feel Dick’s pointed (and amused, definitely amused) look on his back, he added, “I’m not about to go down the Batman-Catwoman route with this.”

That startled Marinette out of her shock and as she stared him dead in the eye, she blurted out, “Spots on!”

Tim could have almost sworn he heard an exasperated and quiet “Marinette, why couldn't you just tell him like we agreed?” as bright pink light enveloped her and soon revealed that in her place there stood a young woman in a red suit with black spots.

And a spotted mask.

Which made it a ladybug suit.

Or the Ladybug suit.

On his soulmate that came from Paris.

Paris’ Ladybug…

“Oh my god. You’re Ladybug. My soulmate is Ladybug. This is a thing now, apparently. Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Actually, no, I’ve seen enough people that were resurrected, it wouldn’t even be that surprising. How were you—”

Ladybug’s shoulders lifted to her ears and she smiled sheepishly. “Hi? I’m not a villain as you can see?”

It was Tim’s turn to simply stare at Marinette. He— he was not expecting this turn of events. He sighed and waved his hand a little in a “come here” gesture, knowing they were there and that they’d seen her transform anyway. That would mean there was no secret identity problem anymore as her identity wasn’t really a secret anymore, per se. Besides, since she was a hero already, they could very well just introduce themselves to her already.

He had to admit, this was absolutely wonderful as it meant she fit in perfectly — it was as though she had always been the missing piece of the puzzle that was his life and family.

Of course, though he was expecting fate to be a jerk and give him a civilian soulmate, Fate instead decided to cut him some slack and just give him someone that could actually keep up with him and the family he wasn’t going to get rid of anyway, no matter what he tried or wanted (not that he wanted to get rid of them most of the time).

But well. A soulmate was supposed to suit you perfectly, so maybe it wasn’t that surprising.

Ladybug didn’t seem to notice his family approaching them as she kept on rambling and tried to explain herself. “I’m also not dead and never was. Chat Noir isn’t dead either though he has died multiple times during akuma attacks and was resurrected by my Miraculous Cure. Paris just happens to have a tendency to get overdramatic and jump to conclusions, and Chaton and I decided we didn’t want the Ladyblogger on our backs any longer. Neither of us is too fond of her, especially not after the phenomenon that is Lila Rossi,” she said, sighing as she cocked her hip. Ladybug shook her head and turned her eyes to the side. It seemed the name meant a lot, just not in any good way. “Wait. If you’re Red Robin, then—”

“Hiii!”

Aaandd it seemed that Dick had taken that as his cue to make his presence known. How lovely.

Ladybug turned to Dick and then back to Tim, arching an eyebrow. “Since you’re Red Robin, I’m going to go ahead and suppose this is your family. Am I right?”

“Yeah, unfortunately.”

“They’re not going to try and fight me or drive me out of your city for having powers, right?”

Batgirl cuffed him upside the head as she skipped to them, walked past Tim and then looked Ladybug up and down before nodding approvingly. “Definitely approve, though that suit… Am I seriously supposed to believe you’re our sweet, wonderful, talented fashion designer? Also no, even if B-Man or Dickiebird over there tried, Timmers, Damian and I would fight for you. You’re staying because I like you. We all like you.”

Ladybug flushed lightly at the compliments and the otherwise sweet words, but to her credit, her voice didn’t even waver when she replied (unlike usually), “I just haven’t had the energy and time to change it yet. It’s magic, can’t change it that easily.”

“Oh, okay. Well, try and see if you can recognise all of us!”

Ladybug bit her lip and looked at each and every one of them separately, her calculating eyes feeling like they could see right through all of them. She walked between them and around them, a sly grin appearing on her face.

“Well, Bats here is probably Mr Wayne. He’s the oldest of all and I strongly doubt any of you could be doing what you are if he didn’t know — unless, of course, it was Alfred, and I don’t doubt Alfred’s skills at all, but I’m pretty sure that back when Robin wasn’t there yet, someone needed to look after Batman and I honestly think only Alfred could have that much power on him. So. Mr Wayne.”

Batman took off his cowl, indeed revealing Bruce himself.

As she moved on to Nightwing, she winked and laughed with an “I did do my homework on the flight here. Seriously, did you think I wouldn’t?” Then she turned to look Nightwing in the eye (or, would have looked him in the eye if not for his domino. “I’m going to say Dick. I’ve been watching you all while I’ve been here — in both forms, it seems —, and I doubt any of you could pull some of the moves, or the attitude, Nightwing does, except for Dick. Don’t give me that look, you did jump from the balcony at some point last week, landing safely on the ground after showing off and doing like a million spins and somersaults.”

Tim laughed. “Dick, I told you, someone else besides me was going to recognise you for your somersaults one day.”

“You too?”

“Oh yeah, I worked out Dick’s, Bruce’s and then Jason’s original identities because of Dick’s quadruple-somersault when I was a kid. Nightwing’s identity wasn’t difficult either since, well, it was obviously the previous Robin.”

“Of course you would.”

Then she turned to Oracle in her wheelchair. “Anyway. I know you’re Barbara, and I’m so glad to see you here too, but I’m nor sure about you alias,” she said, her voice clearly apologetic for the fact.

“It’s alright,” Barbara comforted her and gave her a smile, “I wasn’t expecting you to know it. I’m Oracle, it’s nice to meet you. I’ll probably get you on the comms at some point as well because managing things is what I do now. The woman in the chair, if you will,” she continued, making Marinette chuckle. Tim loved the sound.

“Then the big bad Red Helmet over there is Jason — no, seriously, Jay, why in the world are you the Red Hood if you aren’t even wearing one?” she asked, her face twisting as she looked at him. God, Tim loved this girl, she would happily stab any of their fashion sense with a smile on her face, and honestly, the helmet was horrible. Her words earned her snickers from all around the room. She was obviously pleased with herself as Jason took off his mask and gaped at her, offended.

She didn’t even pay him attention too much, continuing on with her list. “The scowling Robin over there is definitely Damian, only he could pull off those expression with a hint of Bat in them, and the current Batgirl is obviously Stephanie. Duke is the Signal — that was your name, right? Oh, and Cass, you’re Black Bat, aren’t you?” At Cass’ nod and her revealing her face, Marinette let out a sigh of relief. “You’re one of the only ones here with an acceptable suit.”

Ladybug transformed back into Marinette, a small creature appearing from her… earrings? before hiding inside her jacket. Tim decided to ignore it, maybe it was nothing. Marinette turned around, spinning on her heel to face Bruce. “Like, I know you need protection because there’s no magic to do so, but you could have protection with suits that looked less ridiculous and atrocious than this,” she said, motioning at their clothing. “That actually goes to most of you. I especially hope there’s a really good reason and a story behind Robin’s colours, because otherwise I will not possibly be able to understand why anyone would go around as a vigilante in colours this bright.”

“There is a reason behind the color choices,” Dick said disturbingly quietly from where he was standing. “They were my family’s colors.”

Marinette winced lightly — she too knew what had happened to them on that fateful night. “Alright. That’s a good reason, even if they’re still horrible colour choices. That would make you the first Robin, right?” Dick nodded. “It’s understandable for you to want to use your family’s colours.” Her solemn tone indicated she accepted Dick’s reason for it completely, telling them all she felt bad for saying they were horrible but knew she wouldn’t back off — and they wouldn’t blame her for that either —, and they all knew she was going to leave arguing and pressing for explanations away completely. Her limitless capability of empathy was admirable.

Then she turned back to Tim. “Is that offer about training still on the table? I’d love to take it if so. I could probably win any of you as Ladybug because magic and a goddess in my pocket, also known as Tikki— Oh, actually! Tikki, come on out, come say hi to Tim!”

A small red, ladybug-like creature flew from under her jacket to Tim, smiling brightly. He immediately recognised it as the fairy he’s seen earlier. “Hi! I’m Tikki, the goddess — or as we like to call ourselves, the kwami — of creation. It’s lovely to finally meet my holder’s soulmate!”

“It’s, uh, nice to meet you as well, I guess? I take it you’re the one that helps Marinette transform,” Tim said, a little confused by the flying, speaking creature.

“Yup, I’m an ancient being, older than anything and everything else, so while she’s not the only one I’ve helped — the history is full of Ladybugs —, she’s my current holder. Remember that if you hurt her, while Adrien can do a lot of destruction and damage —” there seemed to be a double meaning behind those words but he just couldn’t figure out what it was. “—I will be the one you actually want to look out for!”

Tikki’s words were single handedly the single most terrifying thing Tim had ever heard, and it did not help at all that she was smiling all through it, her voice gentle and kind, her entire demeanour bright even when she was threatening him. He didn’t even want to know what a goddess of creation could do as retaliation.

“If I hurt her, I’d let you do whatever you wanted,” Tim finally heard himself say. Those words were surprisingly true and ran deep, he realised. It… should honestly have been alarming. It was not.

“Good, you understood quickly. This one’s good, let’s keep him.” Tikki patted his head — and such a weird image it must have been, a creature maybe the size of his hand patting his head —, bringing Tim comfort for some reason. He had absolutely no idea how she managed it, being terrifying and so sweet and safe at the same time. He could totally see where Marinette got it from. “Also, some of you have definitely been in close — too close — touch with the Lazarus Pit, this place reeks of it. Marinette, tell me, why haven’t we already taken Plagg with us to the Lazarus Pit and gotten rid of it for good?”

Marinette shrugged, unaware of what was happening in the background behind her — Jason gaping, Bruce in shock, Damian just staring at them like he had seen a ghost, which was a rather disturbing picture because sometimes it seemed the boy could get fazed by nothing. The rest looked just confused. Maybe he should just leave them be and try to focus on Marinette and Tikki right now. “Jeez, Tikki, I have no idea. Maybe, maybe it’s because this has got to be the first time I hear about them and honestly, it should be more disturbing than it is that I, for some reason I don’t want to know, actually know what you’re talking about. Is that a guardian thing?”

Tikki nodded before speaking. “Well, we have to do it at some point. Let’s take the cat with us as well, I’m sure he’d prefer not to be left alone if we’re taking Plagg with us anyway. For now, though, I’m sure we can talk about it later.”

Tim shook his head, trying to concentrate. “Yeah, the offer is still on the table. I’d be happy to train you. You’d also get training from the Bat himself if you wanted — he actually insisted on it before this,” he laughed. “But yeah, I’ll be there anyway. Fun soulmate bonding and all that, right? Fighting, training and sparring until we can no longer stand on our own two feet, that’s all anyone could ever want,” he mused, odd warmth filling his chest as Marinette chuckled at his comment.

“Yes, you get it. Finally someone gets it — looking at you, Chat. Having said that, I do have to tell you it’s a little awkward and a huge coincidence you happened to ask me if I wanted to become a vigilante, as I was kind of going to ask you the same.”

“Huh?”

“You just beat me to revealing your identity and asking. I was wondering if you’d like to try using a miraculous, you know? It’s so much fun unless you’re trying to save an entire city that’s flooding and your partner is not doing what he’s supposed to and you have maybe five minutes left after you use your special ability but other than that, it’s great. I know you sometimes get even magical threats here, and I’m sure you’d rather be able to deal with them yourself instead of having to get the magic users not from here involved every single time since it’s your city. Also, since I’m not going to quit being Ladybug, and I will be out there doing my thing, I’d like to have my soulmate in the team sometimes as well, by my side. Obviously, you can refuse, but like, I could see you being a good snake. Sass would like you.”

Tikki nodded, clearly agreeing with Marinette. He knew better than to ask if they realised what sass meant, or to tell them that he was already familiar with sass, since it was probable this Sass was one of the Kwamies. Kwamiis. Kwamii? He had no idea.

Then she turned around to face the others whose attention — all of it — went immediately to her when she focused hers at them. “It could also be fun to see how any of you work with a miraculous once I get to know you better and know which kwamii would fit to each of you — I do have quite many of them travelling with me, after all,” she said, and the smile playing on her lips was easy to hear from her words. Come the next words (and the jab at most of them), Tim also knew for sure there was a mischievous glint dancing in her eyes. “That, and the kwamii come up with alright costumes most of the time even if you have no idea how to design a good one yourself. The suits are much safer than yours, too, because again, magic . And god-given powers, quite literally.”

The little fairy — kwami, wasn’t it? ... she. Something. — settled herself on Marinette’s head while Marinette took out a small box from her purse, opening it. A bright light with a yellowish or orange hue appeared in front of her as another one of the kwamii took form. Marinette put on a necklace that looked like a fox’s tail, which honestly looked logical as it resembled the kwami as well — if they had something to do with each other, that is.

“Heya Marinette! What is it today? Ooohhh, there are more people to mess with today! The cat isn’t here, I see… Wait, is this the soulmate thing you and Chat discussed? Is one of them your soulmate? Do I actually get to meet him before any of the others do?” The fox looking kwami seemed excited and it was a little bothersome to realise how much the kwami reminded him of Bart. They would probably get along, if they ever got the chance to meet. Probably not.

“Well, Tikki met him already, but yes, you’ll get to gloat about this to Plagg, Wayzz, Mullo, Longg and the others. Except for Duusu, that’s forbidden. She’s not in a good enough mental state for that yet. But anyway, Trixx, Tim is my soulmate, the one that’s probably standing right behind me right now unless he actually somehow managed to stay still even in the presence of something new he doesn’t understand just yet,” she said and pulled out two cookies, handing one to each kwamii present. Tim flushed as he realised she knew exactly where he was and why he was there.

Marinette didn’t pay any attention to any of them anymore, only the kwami in front of her.

“Besides, you complained about not having gotten to patrol in a long while last night and as it seems they don’t hate the idea of a miraculous user here, yet anyway — not that it would stop me, honestly, you guys need to get out and be used sometimes and as the guardian, it’s kind of my responsibility —, they might even let me patrol with them and thus give you a chance to go around. Chaton and Plagg won’t be there, though, and I’m not going to tell him about them, so keep your mouth shut. I know you love knowing things others don’t, but you don’t get to tell them because then you won’t be able to keep the knowledge of more heroes to yourself, and I’d honestly rather have Chat and Plagg only know I’ve told my soulmate now so he’s free to tell his. Also, they—”, she pointed at his family, “—Get to keep their secrets, so there’s that too.”

It felt a little too familiar to hear Marinette call someone Chaton, and it irritated Tim to no ends to know that he knew the one Marinette had called Chaton earlier by name, but yet could still only connect it to Chat Noir and Chat Noir only.

Trixx flew around Tim’s head a few times until deciding on landing on top of it. The kwami started to eat the cookie, still there on top of his head, damnit, leaving cookie crumbles in his hair. “Hello there, Marinette’s soulmate! You seem rather interesting. Are you going to be trying to use one of us? It’s going to be so much fun seeing what kind of a hero you could become with our help!”

But, just as Tim was about to answer, an alarm went off in the cave. They all knew it was a villain attack, and soon all of them got notifications of said attack to their phones, computers, tablets, clocks, anything they had promised to carry around everywhere for this specific thing. Tim groaned and ran a hand down his face.

Not now, we don’t have time for this.

Even so, Tim ran off to put on his suit. There was a big chance Marinette would be coming along since she was, apparently, already used to villains (even if quite different from theirs), and he wanted to be there to see it.

At least Trixx let him leave without following.

⬷۵⤐

Marinette watched in wonder as everyone got a move on the second the alarm went off. It was so different from Paris. She hoped the civilians had more basic common sense than Parisians did, too, and would try to escape the danger zone instead of trying to get into it.

Barbara went to get a small piece of technology before wheeling to her. She took Marinette’s hand and pressed it on her palm. “Here. This is a comm. I want you to wear it when you’re out in the field at all times so you’ll be able to contact everyone, me included, at any time you need. They can also contact you if they’re in need of help or something. That, and I’ll be able to locate you at any point I want or need to, so yes, you have to use it,” she told her, but Marinette gave it back. Under Barbara’s rather scary and very unimpressed glare, she decided to give in. After all, she was — even bound to a wheelchair — one of the scariest of them. She was also one of Marinette’s favourites in the family and would probably admit this to any of them at any given time, so she reasoned that played a part in her decision as well.

“Fine, I’ll take it, but I need to transform first or it will disappear, though I’m pretty sure I could actually connect my own, safer communicator to yours,” she said before stepping back. “You might want to close your eyes, the light can be blinding. Tikki, spots on!”

Once the bright light went away, she got ready to unify Trixx and Tikki together. It would take her a lot of energy, but the stealth abilities Trixx came with were useful, as were the illusions, especially in a city such as Gotham, and Tikki, well, Marinette knew how to work with her the best, and the Miraculous Cure Tikki provided was the best thing ever since it could repair anything and everything if she was involved in it with the miraculous (and better yet, no one would need to pay for said repairs.) “Tikki, Trixx, unify!”

“Alright, I’m done now. I can take the comm now if you so insist,” she said, opening her palm and waiting for Barbara to hand it to her again. “You can call me Lady Vixen for now until I come up with a better name, Oracle.”

Oracle smiled at her and dropped the comm on Lady Vixen’s palm. She put it on, adjusting it until it no longer felt uncomfortable in her ear. Red Robin had just finished suiting up by then as well, and with a grin on his face, he stepped to her side. He brushed over her wrist with his fingers and she did the same to him, because even with their suits covering up the skin of their wrists, it made them more comfortable, more at ease, more focused. Happier. They turned to look at the rest of the family, waiting for the go-ahead since she still needed one from at least Batman.

After Batman nodded to her and smiled (which honestly was not a smile and looked more like a grimace, like seriously, Mr Wayne needed some help with how to smile), Nightwing gave her a bright smile (like, an actual smile, unlike Batman’s) and said, “Welcome to the team!”

She didn't reply, she knew she didn’t need to, and decided that swinging off with her soulmate was going to be enough.

Yeah, she was happy to be a part of the team, a part of the family.

Especially if her soulmate was going to be there for her and stay at her side through all of it.

____

@the-navistar-carol @kris-pines04 @thethirdwheelfriend @daminett4life

#Timari #timinette #tim x marinette #maribat #tim drake #marinette dupain cheng #Bartadrien #ml x dc #dc #ML #miraculous ladybug #soulmates #fanfic #fanfiction #ethel's writing

[writingwhimsey]

The Tiger and the Oda Princess Ch. 13

Chapter 13

The next day, we all gathered for the official signing of the treaty between the Takeda forces and the Oda forces. Afterwards, there was a small opening ceremony for the festival. Shingen stood in the midst of everyone, a small platform where musicians would be performing from later. It was in the very heart of the castle town.

I was standing off to the side with the warlords from Azuchi, Sasuke, Kenshin, Yukimura, and Asuna. Though naturally my eyes were on my husband. I couldn't help but to think how handsome he looked and what a kind and caring leader he was.

"It is truly wonderful to be back home." He began. "To have this festival celebrating spring and the new beginnings it brings. A chance for us to let go of the wrongs of the past and move on to a brighter and peaceful future for everyone. Let us celebrate this new beginning."

There were cheers from all of the town and I couldn't help but to smile. Spring was indeed bringing new beginnings in so many ways. Summer would be bringing another in just a couple of months when our little one arrived.

Soon Shingen was stepping off the platform and musicians and dancers were entering and began to play. Some people stayed to listen to the music and enjoy the dancers while others went off to begin checking out all of the stalls.

It was then Shingen was at my side, his arm wrapping around my waist. I smiled up at him as he kissed my brow. "That was a good speech." I said.

"Yes, a very good one." Nobunaga agreed from my other side.

"I'm glad it didn't come out as forced as it felt." Shingen replied.

Nobunaga chuckled. "We can always rip up the treaty."

I sighed. "You guys can battle each other in a game of Go later. That's all I'm allowing."

"Yes, she will give all of you the silent treatment." Sasuke spoke up.

"We were only joking." Shingen assured me.

"Yes, unification will be easier if we remain in this alliance." Nobunaga agreed.

"Alright, I want to hear no more terrible jokes tonight or posturing from any of you." I declared, giving all of them a look. "Let's all just enjoy this lovely festival."

"Where would you like to go first, my love?" Shingen asked me.

It was then that the scent from the food stalls wafted over to me and my stomach let out a growl. "Food stalls." I answered.

Shingen smiled at me. "Perfect. There should be many sweets."

"You shouldn't eat too many sweets though, Ava. That's bad for your health and the baby's." Hideyoshi said, sounding very much like the mother hen he was.

"And Lord Shingen, I thought you were cutting back on your sweets to support Ava cutting back?" Asuna asked, looking at us.

"Dammit, now we have two of them." I muttered.

"So, you're saying we can't even indulge just this one day?" Shingen asked looking at Asuna.

"Yeah, it is a special occasion." I added.

"Oh, no you don't. I'm just going to have to be watching you even more closely." Asuna said.

We were all then making our way over to the food stalls. A savory scent was the first thing to attract my attention. It led me to a stall that had some roasted meat on skewers. We hit a few other food stalls before all going to have a seat on some long benches covered with cloth and an umbrella over them.

After enjoying the delicious food, we all set off to look at all of the vendors of the festival. It was amazing how many people were there. There were the usual shop keepers and merchants who made Kai their home, but there were others from out of town (who had been vetted very well before being allowed after my kidnapping). We also had travelers from out of town who had come to the festival.

As we walked, Shingen kept his arm around my waist, holding me close to his side. I loved it. Though part of me felt slightly awkward with everyone with us. As we walked around, we noticed some stalls with some little games set up.

"Care for a challenge, tiger of Kai?" Nobunaga asked, looking at Shingen.

"I won't back down from one." Shingen replied.

The pair looked at the games and then settled on one where they had to throw balls at a stack of bottles and knock them over. I was happy to see this game as I had been working with several of the shop keepers to come up with some different games, and this was one of them. Though there were a few I didn't come up with.

"Some competition, huh? That sounds like fun." Masamune said, his eye looking over the different games. It settled on a knife throwing game. "Hey God of war, how about we see how well you and your ninja do against me in that knife throwing game over there?"

"A battle of knife throwing?" Kenshin asked, his eyes gleaming. "Alright, Sasuke and I shall destroy you."

Somehow Mitsuhide, Hideyoshi, Yukimura, and Asuna were going to another game where they tossed bags of dried rice into wicker baskets. This was another game I had come up with with one of the shop keepers and had even made the bags. I went with Shingen and Nobunaga to their game to watch them play.

Shingen stole a quick kiss from my lips. I smiled up at him. "A kiss for good luck?" I teased.

"Of course." He answered, smiling at me.

"You will need it." Nobunaga said, eyes glinting with almost childlike excitement.

"It's not that I need the luck...however I am happy for any excuse to kiss my goddess."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, just play the game you two." I said, stepping back to watch them.

I couldn't help but to glance around at everyone and noticed that they all seemed to be having a good time. It warmed my heart to see them all getting along and the smile that came to my face was huge.

It was then that I noticed Yoshimoto was not participating in any of the games. "Not much for games, Yoshimoto?" I asked him.

He gave me a soft smile. "I prefer to watch the others." He replied.

"Another form of art for you?" I asked.

"Something like that." Yoshimoto answered.

We stood there chatting for a bit longer enjoying watching everyone. It wasn't long however, before we were being roped into playing some of the games as well. I found myself laughing, enjoying the games. After we finished with the games we all headed to explore more of the festival.

"You're not getting tired are you, my love?" Shingen asked me.

I smiled up at him. "I'm always tired now...but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Always tired, that sounds bad. Are you overworking yourself? Shingen how can you let her overwork herself?" Came Hideyoshi's voice.

I sighed. "I'm growing another person inside my body. It kind of makes me tired all the time."

"It is a pretty normal feeling for expectant mothers." Asuna agreed.

"If you're tired we can go home." Shingen told me, ignoring Hideyoshi.

"And miss this festival? No way." I replied. "Besides I know for a fact there's some new fabrics here...and more delicious festival food."

Shingen smiled at me. "Whatever you desire, we will do."

"Yup, you lead the way, lass!" Masamune chimed in.

"Yes, and make sure to pick out the most excellent fabrics." Nobunaga said. "I plan on commissioning a piece from you."

I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. "Really? I would be more than happy to!"

"Good." Nobunaga replied.

"And Lord Nobunaga isn't the only one. I am in need of a new hakama." Masamune said.

"I could even use a new piece as well." Mitsuhide said. "You have proven yourself quite skilled with the needle."

"Hold on we cant overwhelm Ava now." Hideyoshi spoke up. "She is about to have a baby."

"I plan to continue making clothes even after the baby arrives." I said. "But I won't take on more work than I can handle."

We all walked around together. We stopped at many different stalls, all finding something to enjoy and purchase. We stopped and took a few breaks so that I could sit and rest. After the sun had set, Masamune got a wicked grin. "Alright, time for the big surprise I brought in from Oshu." He declared.

"Should I be scared?" I asked, knowing Masamune's tendency to walk on the wild side. The man kept a real tiger for a pet. Something I had learned early on.

"Don't worry I wouldn't allow him to bring anything too dangerous into Kai." Shingen told me, giving my waist a gentle yet reassuring squeeze. "I am sure you'll enjoy this surprise."

We were all gathering in the center of the castle town once again. Shingen gestured to the sky. "Look up, my love."

It was a few moments later, that I heard the distinct whistling sound and then an explosion of bright colored light lit up the sky. More fireworks began to go off shortly afterwards. I couldn't help but to smile as I watched the fireworks going off. Everyone in the town watched in awe as well. I could hear children in the crowd squealing in delight. I looked around and I saw a few children holding onto their mothers and fathers, scared of the loud booms.

I then looked up at Shingen and he was looking fondly over the crowd. His eyes were watching the children as well. "I hope that this becomes a tradition in the festival. I can't wait to show our baby and his or her future siblings these fireworks." I said, patting my belly.

Shingen smiled at me, placing his hand over mine. "I was just thinking the same thing." We were then sharing a kiss, not caring about the crowd around us.

"Ugh, I would have thought with you guys here they would show a little more restraint." Yukimura grumbled.

"They've been a lot less handsy than usual." Asuna replied. "Besides, some people find fireworks romantic."

"What's romantic about an explosion?" Yukimura replied.

Asuna huffed. "I don't know why I bother with you."

"Fireworks are very romantic." Masamune spoke up, he was then wrapping an arm around Asuna's shoulders. "What the boy doesn't see, I certainly do. You know a rooftop has a much better view of the fireworks. Perhaps you could come with me?"

"You know, you shouldn't just go grabbing people like that. I don't care how good your food is." Yukimura said.

"You know I don't need you to tell anyone off for me, right?" Asuna replied, looking at Yukimura grumpily.

This fighting had managed to pull Shingen and I from our own little world. I was having a hard time not laughing. That really sounded like jealousy coming from Yukimura. I looked up at Shingen and saw him watching them with a fond yet amused smile.

"Oh, so you don't mind?" Masamune asked, a grin on his face.

"Oh, I mind." Asuna replied. She was then reaching up and grabbing Masamune's arm and twisting it behind his back. "Don't touch me again. Or you'll find this arm useless for a long time." She was then shoving him away.

Masamune's grin was even wider. "Oh, yeah I knew you'd be fun."

"You know she just told you to shove off right?" Yukimura replied.

"I like the chase." Masamune replied with a shrug. "I like a feisty woman."

"Ugh, you're all such men!" Asuna said. "Ava, how you put up with them all and don't have a constant headache, I will never understand."

"It eventually becomes just a dull ache." I replied with a giggle.

After the fireworks ended, we all headed back to the castle. Though we had taken many breaks, my feet and legs were aching. After changing for bed, I sat on the futon, stretching my legs out in front of me and looking down. They did appear to be slightly swollen.

Shingen was coming to sit down by my feet, picking them up lightly and setting them in his lap. "What..." I asked, but then stopped when he picked up a jar that held some kind of salve.

He smiled at me. "I am just taking care of my dear princess." He answered, opening the jar and slicking his fingers through the white cream. He was then gently massaging my feet and legs, rubbing the salve in.

"Hmmm...that feels....heavenly." I said. "You...don't have to do this you know...not that I'm complaining."

Shingen chuckled. "Ava, you have been working very hard...not to mention you are carrying our child. The least I can do is take care of you and do my best to make you comfortable."

"Shingen..." I said on the verge of tears at how sweet he was being.

Once he had finished with my feet and my legs, Shingen was moving behind me. He was then massaging my neck and lower back. "How does that feel?"

"Mmm...amazing." I answered him. "You're spoiling me so much tonight."

"I told you, I just want to take care of my goddess." He explained, though I could hear the heat in his voice.

"Well...your goddess truly appreciates it...is there anything else you have in mind?" I asked.

It was then that I felt Shingen's smile on my beck and his arms wrap around me. "I know what I have in mind...is there something you would like? Another offering I could place upon your alter?" He was then trailing kisses up the side of my neck.

I hummed in pleasure. "I think...you know."

Shingen was pulling me close, showering kisses over my neck, my cheeks, my forehead, before finally placing a passionate kiss on my lips. That kiss was only the opening act of the night...a very pleasurable night.

See what happens next below!

https://writingwhimsey.tumblr.com/post/659358945798914048/the-tiger-and-the-oda-princess-ch-14

#ikesen shingen #ikesen #fanfic #chapter 13

[scarpool-gmk]

6 Part 2

Title: Godly Marine: Killed Author: Scarpool Fandom(s): NCIS, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Pairing(s): Gen Rating: PG/K+ Summary: Chapter 6 Part 2 (8/13) — Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, Marine Corps Mechanic and Son of Athena, was murdered. Annabeth Chase is determined to find out who did it and why. She, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Clarisse La Rue, infiltrate NCIS where they team up with NCIS Agents Leroy Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, and Ziva David. Complete Genre: Fanfiction, Mystery, Drama, Humour, General, Action Warnings:  N/A

-Κλαρίς-

Clarisse had to hold in laughing as she saw Annabeth's eyes bulge in fascination as Gibbs used the iris scanner. With a hiss and a clunk!, the doors unlocked. He heaved the door open. "Welcome to MTAC, agents."

"Wow," Annabeth whispered as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Sweet secret base you guys got going on," Clarisse praised.

"Thanks!" McGee beamed like he was the one getting complimented. "It's decked out with some great technology sensors. It's completely separate in terms of technology, components, and connection from the rest of the building. Best monitors, state-of-the-art firewall, and the-"

"You guys do any movie nights in here?" Clarisse cut in.

"I-well no. I mean, uh, maybe? I wouldn't know anything about that," McGee spluttered.

Clarisse smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."

"McGee," Gibbs said, saving his agent, "Connect us up with the Staff Sergeant's C.O."

McGee hurried to do as he was told, working with a row of tech. Clarisse wouldn't want to get too close to any of those. Could probably get the entire monster population of the East Coast fixated on their position with those many wires. Annie, Prissy, and Goat boy wouldn't appreciate it. Would make one heck of a battle story, though.

Gibbs, Annabeth, and Clarisse stood in front of the huge screen.

"Morning, agents," the commander said when he flashed on the screen.

"Nice to meet you, Commander," Annabeth said.

"I would rather have not, Special Agent Lima, Gibbs. I take it you still haven't found out who took out my mechanic."

"No, Commander," Gibbs said, "And it seems your mechanic was into a case of his own."

"What do you mean?"

"We believe he was following leads that might uncover cartel movement in D.C.," Annabeth explained.

"Can you tell us anything about anything the Staff Sergeant was involved in?" Gibbs asked, "Any ops that he was assigned?"

"No, sir. This is the first I'm hearing of this. He was designated to go on tour; we were called in to head into NAMRU-6."

"Peru?" Gibbs questioned.

"It was going to be smooth sailing," the commander affirmed. "A secret mission…He was one hell of a mechanic, and even then…"

"Commander?" Annabeth pushed.

"He was too smart for his own good. He wasn't going to be a simple Staff Sergeant for long. In fact, I'm surprised he held out for this long. His excellent, strategic mind and fighting skill, especially in close combat, had placed him in the fast lane for promotion. He may have wanted to be a simple mechanic, and I know he declined several offers, but as good as he was, he gained the attention of those who could force him into positions."

Clarisse frowned. Sounds like Michael had been way too noticeable. She didn't even think that the Navy and Marine corps would inspect mechanics that thorough. How did they test his strategy making?

"Sounds like he was a special case," Clarisse said, "Did he get any flak from his crewmates because of it?"

"Not really, ma'am. He wasn't exactly a social person to begin with."

"He never got into any disputes with anyone?" Clarisse asked.

"Only one, but I've learned to keep them apart."

"Reason?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh, they just didn't see eye-to-eye."

Clarisse almost snorted. Translation: he had no clue. What kind of Officer in Charge was this guy?

"Who's the soldier?" Annabeth asked.

"First Lieutenant Adrian Rodriguez."

"He antagonize a lot of people?" Gibbs asked.

"No, sir. He's actually very well-liked. It was very strange that he turned confrontational with Kahale. Same with Sergeant Kahale."

"And you have no idea as to why this was." Gibbs didn't phrase it like a question. At least they were all on the same page.

The C.O. on the big screen shrugged. "Those are two of the sea's finest. Rodriguez is soon to become Major. They don't have so much as an excuse to hang around each other anyway."

This time, Clarisse didn't bother hiding a sound of disbelief.

"Where is he?" Gibbs asked at the same time as Annabeth said, "Tell us about him."

Clarisse stepped back so the two could glare at each other better.

"He's a skilled Marksman," Commander Oblivious replied, "knows a lot about on-the-spot- field medic stuff…sings pretty good, too." Clarisse shared a glance with Annabeth. That sounded familiar. Annabeth would probably say that it was a textbook definition. Nerd.

"But he has not left the ship," the commander continued, "he's been on board the entire time."

"Then call him over," Gibbs said, "Maybe we can help solve what his problem with Michael Kahale was."

"You can't think-"

"The more we know about our victim, the better we can predict his movements and motives," Annabeth consoled.

The commander ceded the point and nodded at some staff who promptly left the room, presumably to find the First Lieutenant. He turned his attention back to the NCIS agents.

Gibbs continued on questioning him. "Did Staff Sergeant Kahale ever mention an Annabeth Chase?"

The man on the screen frowned. "The name rings a bell; give me a sec." He shuffled some papers around. "Oh! Yes, as one of the emergency contacts. Right there under his father. Annabeth Chase, relation as his sister."

Annabeth showed nothing. Instead, asking, "What is the contact information?"

"A phone number with a New York area code."

"Read aloud the number, please."

The commander read out the numbers as Annabeth instructed. Clarisse immediately recognized it as the mainline to the Big House.

"It's a different number than the one he called," Annabeth said.

"McGee," Gibbs called, giving silent instructions.

"Already on it," McGee said, "Number is to a farm, Delphi Strawberry Service. Located in Long Island."

Clarisse mentally cursed and tried not to self-consciously fidget at the glare Gibbs gave Annabeth.

"But he never spoke about his family. Or friends. Or life. Again, not the most social guy."

There was movement in the back, as the staff member came back with a soldier, who promptly stood at attention.

"First Lieutenant Rodriguez, meet NCIS Agents Gibbs, Lima, and…"

"La Rue," Clarisse supplied.

"First Lieutenant," Gibbs greeted.

"Sir!"

"At rest, First Lieutenant," Annabeth said.

Gibbs started the questions as Rodrigues shifted his stance. "What's your relationship with Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale?"

The soldier frowned, confused. "He was a mechanic assigned to this vessel, sir."

"We're told that you were uncharacteristically disruptive around him."

"Yes, but I haven't been in confrontation with him, as per C.O. orders. If he's said-"

"First Lieutenant Rodriguez," The C.O. cut him off, "Sergeant Kahale was shot two nights ago."

"Shot?" Rodriguez said in shock, "But… we're home…"

"We know that you've been on board the entire time," Annabeth said, "We just need to know more about who Michael Kahale was."

"I-I understand, Ma'am."

"What made you dislike the Kahale, First Lieutenant?" Clarisse asked him.

"It's not that I disliked him, ma'am. Kahale was actually a good guy. Introverted, sure. But he was a good soldier, amazing smart, and easy to talk with. But I…" He faltered. "I don't know. For some reason, the friendly conversations always turned into some sort of fight? Like a challenge I couldn't lose to? I guess?"

"Don't sound sure of yourself," Annabeth noted.

"I can't explain it. Every time, it just led to a fight over any stupid, little thing. I honestly don't know why. I don't expect any of you to understand."

Clarisse heard Gibbs sigh tiredly and mumble, "Oh, I understand perfectly."

"Can you give us some examples of what you fought over?" Annabeth asked.

"They were stupid, ma'am. Like over the name of a future vessel. He thought it should be named USS Zeus. I said it to be USS Jupiter. We also fought over his position. Kahale was a good Marine but could've been even better. But he kept at being a non-commission mechanic because he had an issue with the control of our Superior Officers. I know he even declined a promotion to Warrant Officer. He disliked how strict military life was and preferred the more laxed nature of the machinists. He believed that individuality and improvisation held more value in the field than the collective skill of the group and rigid structure. He did not trust others with making decisions for him and disliked giving orders himself. But I know several of my brothers who have similar opinions, and I've never fought them over it."

Annabeth nodded, humming softly and deep in that brain of hers.

"Did he ever mention some sort of mission?" Gibbs asked.

Rodriguez blinked. "No. Nothing ever like that."

"Mexican Cartels? Arms dealing?" Gibbs fished.

"What? No!"

'Freaking Hades,' Clarisse thought, 'I hope this information isn't supposed to be kept low profile.'

"What about mythologies?"

The First Lieutenant stiffened. He was definitely a demigod. Clarisse would have to see if Chiron knew an Adrian Rodriguez.

"What do you mean?" Rodriguez tried playing off.

"Gods, Roman myths, Greek heroes, monsters, that sort of stuff."

"No."

"Then that's all we need from you, for now, First Lieutenant," Gibbs said, taking a glance at Annabeth.

"Catch who did this to my mechanic, Agents," the Commanding Officer said before the connection cut off.

Gibbs didn't waste any time.

"What am I missing here?"

Annabeth lifted an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Some random mechanic gets murdered hours away from his assigned vessel because he was uncovering an entire operation that was way out of his league. His dying words were to some girl whom he listed as an emergency contact with a Long Island number. Suddenly, I've got NCIS agents from a Long Island branch I've never heard of. This case has brought too many outside factors, and I have the feeling my team is out of the loop on specific information that can make this case more manageable."

"We know as much as you do," Clarisse retorted, "And missing information comes with the job. This is a mystery. We investigate and find the answers, complications and all."

Gibbs considered her for a moment before relenting and leading them back out of the heavily secured room. "Fine. I'm going to head to the bar. McGee, get DiNozzo to call the Strawberry Farm. I also want the personal files of First Lieutenant Rodriguez and his C.O. Ziva! Gear up." He looked around at the rest of the agents expectedly.

"Er, trying to squeeze out info of Cartel movement in the area," DiNozzo said, "Not much luck."

"Talked to Abby," Ziva picked up next, "Her professors were able to translate some more of the notes. This Doughnut place is apparently definitely arms dealing with the Reynosa Cartel. Sinaloa involvement is suspected. Middle East connection is pure speculation. Michael also noted that he believed he was found out because he smelled."

DiNozzo made to comment but was silenced by a look from Gibbs.

"I'm still IDing all of Mr. Tarsibo's victims," Grover said.

"And customers," Gibbs added.

"…And customers…"

"No mention of Monster Donut on the web," Percy reported, Annabeth's laptop in hand, "Making sure that if anyone finds it, we'll be the first ones to know."

Gibbs nodded and then headed towards the elevator with Ziva in tow. Clarisse admired the way his silent command to get back to work hung in the air. Except for one problem.

Clarisse was back in the bullpen. She hated it.

-Ζήβα-

Ziva was debriefed about the meeting with the commander on the way to the Drowsy Owl.

"If the Staff Sergeant was being seen by superior officers and the Commanding Officer didn't know anything," Ziva said, "Perhaps our Staff Sergeant was granted a mission."

But why give such an advanced and dangerous mission to a mere mechanic?

"Michael Kahale had been in service for five years," Ziva said, answering her own question. "They had given him training- maybe advanced secret in-training. Kept him officially as a mechanic, using it as a cover."

"But why send him on a case that without providing him resources?" Gibbs asked.

Hm. True. Michael Kahale had lacked money, cover, and backup. The time limit was horrendously short; what he uncovered in such a short amount of time was astonishing. If he hadn't ended up dead, she would have thought that it was a controlled mission.

"You said that First Lieutenant Adrian Rodriguez responded to the mention of mythological connection. Is it possible that whatever mission the Staff Sergeant was on, was not external but internal? An internal audit? But if Rodriguez was his target, he would have responded to the reference of cartel involvement."

"What if the Cartel wasn't initially apart of this operation?" Ziva thought back to her previous line of thought. "What if Rodriguez was involved? As Michael's partner. The First Lieutenant is thought of highly as well."

"Don't get caught up on theories," Gibbs warned.

"Maybe I should just follow my gut," Ziva teased.

"It's always worked for me," Gibbs said.

"What does it say now?" Ziva asked. She looked at him when he did not answer.

"It tells me that the Long Island Agents know something that they aren't sharing."

Ziva frowned but said nothing.

They came up to the store. "See if anyone has seen Tarsibo," Gibbs said.

"Not many people to ask," Ziva grumbled.

Reshaun Sachs was beginning to blindly invite them to choose a place to sit until he looked up from pouring a pint of bitter. "Let me guess," he said, "Navy cops."

Ziva and Gibbs flashed their Identification.

"This about the young Marine or something else?"

"Same one," Gibbs said.

"Didn't realize you had such big teams."

"Neither did I."

Ziva sent Gibbs a look and decided to change the topic, unfolding the blown-up photo of Tarsibo.

"Do you recognize this man?"

"Sorry. No."

"He seems to be a customer of yours," Ziva pushed, "He may have been here during the past week."

The bartender frowned, "If he passed those doors, I would remember. Especially from this week." Ziva nodded. She didn't find him to be lying. There were other ways waste from this place could have gotten to the car rental.

"Do you mind if I talk to your customers?" Ziva asked

Sachs shrugged. "You can, but all of these guys are regulars that just come for their lunch break."

Ziva assumed as much. She left Gibbs to converse with the man.

Sachs was surprised that they had found traces of his business as far away as East Maryland. Like Gibbs, Ziva was getting her own list of negative answers.

She walked around the bar, trying to envision it on a full night with businessmen, college students, and Mrs. Kahale with her entourage. It was an open area, which meant open conversations that could be the center of attention or hidden by those that took that position. The only place that was really hidden was the way to the restrooms, which had its own hidden hallway that led to a back exit. That was where Ziva excused herself to answer her buzzing phone.

"What is it, Tony?"

"Get into any bar fights, yet?" Tony used as a greeting.

"It is still a bit early, but it has happened before."

"Well, don't go too hard on them. People who go this early are there to drown something."

Ziva thought of the three businessmen in the bar hunching over their drinks. He was too right. "As I'm sure you know, Tony."

"I'm not that old," he said.

"You are what? Forty?"

"No!"

"Mmm, but I'm close. How many years am I off?"

"…Two. I'm still young, just have a few years of experience."

Ziva hummed. She didn't tell him that she had more years until she hit thirty.

"Well, I'm sure you didn't call me just for this."

"No, I'm here to update you so you can update Gibbs."

"Why not call him instead?"

"Figured he'd be doing some unofficial interrogation. And I would never break that rule."

"Well, what do you have."

Tony sighed, "Pretty much nothing. Got in connection with the Director of the Strawberry Service, a Mr. Dee. Took forever to get a final answer. 'I have a faint recollection of an Annie Bell.'" Tony droned in imitation, "'Yes, the girl is quite a trouble seeker, although she is one of the brighter ones I have had to deal with. Says a lot about them. However, she left. I don't expect her to be back for a while.' That was fifteen minutes into the conversation. He ends with an 'I grow tired of your pitiable blather.' And just hangs up."

Ziva snickers. "Doesn't sound like a reliable witness."

Ziva could imagine Tony shrugging in the squadroom, "It's what I got."

"Alright. Thanks." Ziva hung up the phone and accidentally stumbled when she bumped into something. Or rather someone "Oh, sorry I-" Ziva stopped as she got a look at who she almost toppled. It was a young man who had just come out of the lavatory. He was of an average built, a bit on the shorter side with a head full of blonde hair. He was in some sort of customer service uniform, a nametag still latched on. But Ziva only gave it an unconscious look over. No, she was more captivated by his eyes. They were a sickly green, and the iris seemed alive, swirling like snakes in a pit. And were those scales on his cheekbones?

"Agent?"

She blinked, and all those features were gone. Snake filled eyes replaced with light hazel ones. No scales either.

"I'm sorry," She told the man who had snapped her out of her stupor. Just what was that? "For bumping into you," she specified.

He smiled at her, "No problem."

She watched him leave her, heading for the back exit. How did he know she was an Agent? Was her badge showing? No… Who was he? She searched her brain for the answers. Wait. She had seen his nametag before getting distracted by his face. (She shivered at the recollection. Was it something she ate?) Then it hit her; the nametag had a cheesy 'Hi, I'm Tommy' in Comic Sans Font. It also had a logo of a one-eyed monster munching on a doughnut.

"Monster Donuts," Ziva breathed out in realization. The back door slammed shut. "Hey!" Ziva shouted, "Wait!" She ran toward the door. Before she exited, she remembered that the store was arms dealing, and anyone connected to it should be handled as armed and dangerous. Pulling out her firearm and quickly collecting herself, she slammed her way out and was met with… no one?

Ziva surveyed the area, circling in a three-sixty. There was no one there. How could he have gone that fast? He was only out of her sight for a few seconds.

Gibbs was not going to be happy with her.

After making sure to uncover any possible hiding places, she went back inside empty-handed.

Gibbs frowned at her as she entered. Ziva trusted him to connect the dots and directed her words at Sachs.

"You didn't say you had someone in your restroom."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Gibbs change his stance, a mixture of weariness and drive to get the truth. However, the bartender seemed utterly confused. "There was? Oh, I had completely forgotten…"

Ziva shared a small look with Gibbs. Sachs seemed muddled all of a sudden. Strange and convincing. Ziva hadn't thought this man to be a good actor.

Ziva described him, more for Gibbs's benefit than Sachs's. "Yes, about this tall, blonde, green eyes, wearing a Monster Donut uniform."

Sachs's face lit up in realization. "Yes! He was one of the guys that the woman hangs out with, the one that the other agents knew, a Mrs. Kahale." His eyebrows scrunched together. "I can't believe I forgot about him coming in…"

Ziva shared another look with Gibbs. Either this man was telling the truth, or he was the best actor Ziva had encountered. Gibbs, although not outwardly changing his calm demeanor, seemed as dubious as she was.

"If he or anyone else from Monster Donuts come in," she said, "Please call us."

"They are connected with this Marko Tarsibo guy? What have they done?"

"A number of things," Ziva said.

The man gave an inquiring stare. Ziva expected that how dangerous they were could affect his business if he let continued to let them be customers at all.

"They are connected to arms dealing, Ziva said. "Also, have a connection to the death of multiple murders, including children."

"They've killed kids?" The statement seemed to call Sachs back from his confounded state. "You said that this guy was a part of this and that he was a car dealer, right?"

The agents nodded.

"The kids, were they middle-school-age? Older girl with Asian features?"

Ziva scrambled for her phone, bringing out the profiles of the most recent child victims. She shoved the phone in the man's face. "Are these them?"

"Yeah, I know them. They had come in, ordered some soda, burgers, and fries. They looked pretty street-savvy, I kept my eye on them to make sure no one slipped them anything or took an order for them. I got something about how they were headed for the Carolinas, I guess they needed a ride. That woman, Mrs. Kahale, spoke with them for a bit. I didn't hear what was said, but if they needed a ride and she knew this dealer, she could've gave them to him."

The NCIS agents didn't give him time to finish as they rushed out the door.

-Περσεύς-

Percy would never get an office job. He thought being a Federal Agent would have been so exciting. Sitting on a desk doing the same thing over and over again was killing him. He kept getting distracted by the happenings outside. (Hey, those windows were huge. Not his fault the outside world was more entertaining.) He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty every time Grover would snap him out of his daydreaming. He was supposed to be helping make official profiles of each victim, so that a) the families could be notified, b) Dr. 'Ducky' could analyze and create a deeper understanding of General Botsaris and his victims, and c) so that Annabeth could report back to Chiron, and they could contact the families of the demigods.

Percy did have to admit that Tony's conversation with Mr. D was quite funny. Although, he was only able to hear one side of the conversation.

'No, not Annie Bell. Annabeth.'

'No, I am not here for strawberries.'

'Yes, wine sounds wonderful, but-'

'So, did she work there or not? What do you mean, who? Annabeth Chase!'

And it just continued. Percy had cracked up as the agent repeatedly smacked his head on his hand while talking to the exasperating god. If only he knew how it felt to deal with Mr. D on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.

Unfortunately, that was what felt like an hour ago. McGee had sent a file to Tony a while later and was on his way to escape to 'help Abby run prints.'

"I'll be using the system," McGee told Grover and Percy, "Hopefully, it won't slow down too much."

"It shouldn't be a problem." Annabeth walked in, looking a bit disgruntled after her talk with Chiron. "Although we are using the same system, it's coding and routes have changed, meaning it can still use the data and have access to an ever-updating network while not really using the same path and program you'll be using."

Percy would have totally zoned out from that explanation if it wasn't for Grover nudging him to make another profile.

McGee made a face. "You can do that?"

"Not really. It's the computer."

"What are the specs?" McGee leaned in to check Daedalus' laptop's design. "What's the brand? I don't recognize it."

"It's experimental."

"Huh, well I'm going to-"

"Not so fast, probie," Tony called.

Percy looked up. Tony had better not been calling for him. He eased up when it was apparent he was talking to McGee.

"Rodriguez also uses disposable, pre-paid phones," Tony said, "But he makes regular family calls. If we searched his family's phone records, we would find a record of regular calls coming in but from different numbers? Wouldn't that be the case if Michael did the same?"

"But we already checked the Kahale's phone records, Tony," McGee said.

"No. We only checked Patricia Kahale's, and she said she didn't even know Michael even joined the Marines. Daddy, however, had a better relationship."

"And when Percy and I spoke with him," Annabeth said, "He gave me the impression that he knew about Michael joining."

"McGee, pop up the man's phone calls," Tony said.

McGee shared his screen on the plasma. Window screens flashed on and off as McGee used keyboard shortcuts lightning quick, even using long sequences of code that Percy didn't know could be memorized.

"Okay, filtering for numbers that are no longer in service."

"Wow, that's a long list," Percy said. They weren't going to have to go through some sort of procedure on each one, were they?

"He is a lawyer," Grover said, "He must get tons of scam and calls from one-time numbers."

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth said.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter," Percy asked. Was Annabeth okay? How bad was the call with Chiron?

"I mean, I've found what we're looking for." She pointed to a six-minute call starting 12:52 A.M. yesterday morning. That was right before the approximate time of death.

"It's not the same number the Staff Sergeant used," Tony said.

"A spare phone," Clarisse said, "He uses one phone call on a pre-paid, dumps it, and then uses the second to make another call."

A demigod technique. Annabeth and Chiron told him of it when he went outside of camp. The only time it was safe to keep a phone after making a call on it was in or right by camp. Otherwise, it was a traveling beacon for monsters.

"The father made the call," Tony said, "McGee, can you find the location where the burner picked up?"

McGee clicked a couple of times. "Washington, D.C."

"Alright," Tony said. "I'll call Gibbs, and we'll pick him up."

"Sweet, let's go," Percy said.

"Wait, Percy," Grover said with big eyes, effectively killing Percy's hope. "I still need your help with this."

"It's fine. We got this," Tony said, him and McGee rushing toward the elevator.

Percy watched them as they disappeared with a ding. Great, the three people that were the least qualified for desk jobs were the ones left at the desks. At least they had Grover to stop them from accidentally blowing up the place and being labeled as domestic terrorists, yet the way the satyr was inhaling those paper clips didn't bode well.

The phone at Tony's desk started to ring. The four of them stared at it for a second. "Should we get Tony back?" Percy asked.

"Ugh," Clarisse rolled her eyes. What? What did he say? Gods, she was just so annoying. 'And rude,' he added as he watched her get up and answer the cop's phone, but he already knew that.

"Yeah," Clarisse greeted. She was silent for the ten seconds as the caller spoke. Percy wasn't even surprised as the daughter of Ares slammed the phone back down without another word.

"They found Botsaris's car," Clarisse said.

'That at least deserved a 'Thank You,' was Percy's immediate thought.

Annabeth jumped up. "Let's go."

Finally! "Did you get the address?" Percy asked, excited to get out.

"Duh."

Grover looked around as all of them got ready to head out. "Um, should we tell-"

"No!" Clarisse and Annabeth both said, or growled in one case.

Grover held his hands up in surrender. "Okay."

Percy made sure everything he needed was on him and swept the desk clear of a small pile of broken pen clips. When had those gotten there?

"Let's kick some butt!" Clarisse grinned. Percy couldn't agree more.

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#scarpool #fanfic #fanfiction #Godly Marine: Killed #NCIS #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJO #Crossover #gen fic #PG/K+ #Writing #Complete