#and she can also clearly see that the identities are only causing them trouble so tell me

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 11 thoughts (pre-interludes):

Taylor's dad sees his daughter for the first time since she ran away. Since the fucking Endbringer attack! And literally says the line "“I need to go handle this" about a fucking work thing. No Danny. You do not NEED TO HANDLE THIS. God damn. It is fucking hard to be a co-parent for Taylor when I'm the only one doing any parenting!

Speaking of parenting - Taylor, you really should get some therapy. That was a pretty detailed level of fucked up nightmare you had. I love you and just want you to take care of yourself.

Skitter just like "all right, for day 1 I'm going to gain complete fucking control over my territory and establish myself as an unkillable bug goddess". And then she worries if she is doing enough!

Seriously though, letting that guy stab her and counting on her costume to block the knife? Fucking baller move. Also stupidly risky. So pretty much on point for my wonderful but stress inducing bug daughter.

And then she just sits in her chair drinking tea while she destroys two groups of Merchants? Doesn't just beat them, but absolutely terrorizes them. Lights one of them on fire with their own matches! WITH BUGS! I love her so much.

She also gained two minions as a side bonus to controlling her territory. And ensured their loyalty and dedication to her.

For real. Sierra would take a bullet. She'd die for Taylor. But Charlotte? Charlotte would kill for Taylor.

The speech Taylor gave Charlotte when giving her the options "leave town" or "work for me" was so well done! Came across as incredibly fair so Charlotte couldn't complain, but also just tied her in a little bundle all nice and neat. Set her up to want to work for you. Very nicely done. Taylor clearly has been learning from Lisa.

We're just pretty much giving up on that whole secret identity thing huh? It just started cascading out of control quite quickly. I don't expect Taylor and Skitter to be different people for much longer.

Lisa and Taylor went to a party together! A shitty villain party that was dangerous and almost killed them. But villain prom is villain prom. GAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

Just a number of good Chatterbug (Smugbug) moments here.

Lisa has a MURDER WALL! AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I love her so fucking much and I will just sit in there with her working on the murder wall for hours. (She isn't trying to solve a murder so I know it isn't technically a murder wall, but it's a murder wall cause that's the best name.)

Fucking Bryce. Sure went through a lot of trouble for that asshole.

Skidmark just doing a thunderdome up in here. Some people use their powers for cool things and others build a fence.

Also really not seeming to do great for loyalty. Like ya you get a cape or two out of it but it left everyone in your gang not trusting anyone else.

I love everyone in Faultline's crew. Newter was my favorite but Shamrock may have beaten him out. I always loved Domino and Shamrock gives the same vibe.

Newter got a few good Nightcrawler like moments here too which was fun (grabbing things with his tail, talking to people from weird perches).

God DAMN Labyrinth is powerful. Like I knew she was but getting to see it. Holy shit. That was so fucking cool. Literal goddess of reality right here.

I'm really excited to learn more about Cauldron and the superhero in a can stuff. Very Weapon X with the memory wiping and such. (I'm just really on an X-men comparison thought process right now I guess)

Taylor "I'm not a skilled combatant" Hebert over here as she dual wields knives and successfully fights off multiple people, most bigger than her, while specifically using non-lethal attacks on them. Taylor that isn't what "not skilled" means!

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CHILD, STOP GETTING HIT IN THE HEAD! I WORRY!

Seeing the trigger event thing was really cool. I don't think the fact that any cape near a trigger event appears to almost pass out has been mentioned before. Obviously in universe know one would know anything beyond them appearing to stumble, but still. And we got to see more of the higher dimension beings. We in Flatland now.

Oh god there is so much more I think I'm missing huge amounts. AHHH!!!

Oh, this is important. While describing Mush Taylor says "He bore a resemblance to a particular pink skinned, scrawny goblin of a creature from those fantasy movies." That open endedness of that context made me decide she must be talking about The Goblin King in Labyrinth. David Bowie. But to keep things simple, since it might seem like she is talking about Gollum, I decided that on Earth Bet David Bowie played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies. This is canon as far as I am concerned.

That does also mean Mush looks at least a little bit like David Bowie.

#Worm #Worm Web Serial #Parahumans #Cairavende reads Worm #Chatterbug #Smugbug #Taylor Hebert #MURDERWALL!!! #Lisa Wilbourn #My daughter is so terrifying and she absolutely does not realize how much #The feelings Taylor had when she realized how terrifyingly powerful Labyrinth was is the same feeling everyone else has around Taylor #She literally is one step away from turning any moment into a horror movie. I love her so much.

[been-around-seen-things]

CW: discussion of suicide

I’ve been mulling over a number of thoughts after eps 1-3 about Ed’s storyline, and I want to get them down before the new episodes come out, so here goes.

I’ve seen so many folks hard hit by Ed’s suicidality, needing to mind their mental health before rewatching, and—yeah. Folks who know me as a fic writer and who have read A Bug to Remember can glean some idea of where this topic has touched me. My own lowest time was literally two decades ago, so for me it’s not so much about that.

I just keep thinking about the okayness Ed performs in ep 2, which obviously isn’t entirely convincing, but nevertheless covers up that he’s already made his decision.

Which makes me think about someone I mentored and who died by suicide in 2019. Her name was Katie. I’m going to speak her name here because talking about her and thinking about her keeps her present for me.

Katie was deeply complicated, but, well, so is Ed, obviously. Ep 2 reminded me so vividly of her performance of okayness. She was professionally successful, organized, seemed to have it all together. I know others who also loved her have had the very natural “I should have known” reaction, but I don’t necessarily feel that way. For people like me whom she saw as mentors, she very deliberately hid the cracks, the pain, the suffering. Looking back on it now, I can see how our closeness was more about how much she made me feel comfortable sharing myself, while she remained pretty thoroughly walled off.

All of this makes me think about all the lies, the terrible lies our brains tell us. I talked in sort of a jumbled way on Twitter about the stories Ed tells and tries to tell about himself. The stories we tell and believe about ourselves are so fundamental to our very existence, and Ed has so much trouble believing any positive story about himself.

We first see him trapped in the narrative of Blackbeard, in which he is a “ghost.” He imagines himself as Stede Bonnet, but that’s a violent story with an intended murderous end. Jeff the Accountant is a story that’s fun at first, but the fallout just ends up hitting him where he’s most sensitive, his deepest feelings of unworthiness.

The most believable story for him is the Kraken. Clearly he wants something else, but it feels like literally the only option.

He tries to imagine himself as Jeff the Innkeeper, but he can’t keep from being a dick to himself long enough to even fully imagine how that story could play out.

His only positive stories, of course, are with Stede: first, playfully imagining himself as a chef, someone who can do anything. That one ends happily, albeit only temporarily—the brief dream of being co-captains. And then the possibility of running off to China together—but that’s an option that means Ed leaving his whole identity behind. It’s a running away, not an integration of the stories he carries. And then losing the possibility of that story—well, we know what happens.

And so. Here we are. Ed is alive, and he needs a new story that doesn’t cause himself and everyone else around him so much suffering. Ngl I had a real hard time on my first watch with how much pain there was all around. But that’s because, as always, this show is emotionally truthful even as the events are sometimes preposterous. I’m excited to see what other story possibilities are there for Ed. What he can find himself able to believe.

#back to my brain being 99% pirates at all times #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #edward teach #blackbeard

[wickedastrology]

North Node Aries ♈︎ South Node Libra ♎︎ Musicians

(left to right) Mariah Carey, Frank Ocean, Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar, Kesha, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Florence Welch, Solange Knowles

The karma that an Aries NN, Libra SN faces consists of past lives where the native not only lived through other people, but based their identity on how other people felt about them. Continuous people pleasers, causing a resentment to others who don’t reciprocate the good energy back to them. There is also a huge need to try to speak for everyone, be diplomatic and concise, but throughout this life, the universe pushes them to learn and get to know themself. Aries NN asks: Who cares what other people think, do you even really know yourself? It brings a necessary drive for these individuals to be creative, find their power, and ultimately find out who they really are.

One thing that I see throughout these musicians, is their music usually reflects dependency within romantic relationships or their relationship with the world.

Mariah Carey has a 0 degree Aries North Node. Majority of her music focuses on romantic relationships, and specifically love that doesn’t come easy. 0 degree represents this is Mariah’s first life where she is able to be independent in any way.

“You have given me the courage to be all I can. And I truly feel your heart will lead you back to me. When you’re ready to land.” The Butterfly.

Frank Ocean has a 1 degree Aries North Node in the 5th house, South Node in the 11th House. His music is incredibly nostalgic, and will teleport listeners to times when life was prettier and more fun, which are 5th house themes. In past lives, Ocean was incredibly involved in his community, but this life he is learning to just enjoy life and creating things that speak his trouble with being so emotionally connected to past lovers.

“I care for you still and I will, forever. That was my part of the deal, honest.” White Ferrari.

Wiz Khalifa has a 2 degree Aries NN in 3rd house, SN in the 9th House. Khalifa’s top hits are collaborations, which is extremely shown through the 3rd house. The 3rd house represents groups, childhood friendships, siblings, and blind trust. His music is fun, and expresses his loyalty to his friends. In past lives, Khalifa spent most of his time pondering on karma, which is why in this life he values trust within his friendships so much.

“When brotherhood come first, then the line will never be crossed.” See You Again.

Kendrick Lamar has a 8 degree NN in the 6th house, SN in the 12th house. Lamar’s music reflects the constant grind he is on to make his own way in the world, independent from others. In past lives, Lamar was heavily controlled, maybe even through legal means, and in this life he feels the need to constantly work so he isn’t stagnant enough for anyone to take advantage of him. It’s hard for him to trust the universe, and instead he feels the need to go above and beyond to make sure he is taking care of himself.

“In another life I would be perfect world, I don’t trust people enough beyond their surface world, I don’t love people enough to put my faith in man, I put my faith in these lyrics hoping I make a band.” PRIDE.

Kesha has 11 degree NN. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find her houses, but if we compare her to Carey, we see that she has a higher degree, which means she is further along the aries NN lessons. For example, after she made her accusations public against Dr. Luke, her music became a lot more independent and genuine to her. Marriah also has genuine music, but her music has a fixation on romantic relationships. Kesha is clearly learning how to stop putting others before herself, which is key to aries NN, Libra SN natives.

“I can thank you for how strong I have become, cause you brought the flames and you put me through hell. I had to learn how to fight for myself.” Praying.

Bruce Springsteen has a 16 degree NN in 11th house, SN in the 5th house. This is opposite of Ocean’s. Springsteen’s music has heavy patriotic themes, which is very 11th house, but his lyrics more so call out the delusion of the American dream, which highlights the individualism of Aries. In past lives, Springsteen focused on pleasing passing flings, and in this life he finds speaking on how majority of people really feel is his destiny. He likes expressing the grim, rebellious reality (aries) of the collective he was born in, America (11th house).

“At night, we ride through mansions of glory, in suicide machines.” Born to Run.

Celine Dion has a 18 degree NN in the 10th house, SN in 4th house. One of Celine’s greatest hits is from the movie titanic, which is very 10th house of her. The 10th house rules over reputation and fame, and in this case, it expresses that she is known by something that has more reputation than her, a box office hit. In past lives, she was always striving for her family’s acceptance, so in this life she finds acceptance through making a good career for herself. I don’t know much about her personally, but based on this placement it seems like she might avoid talking about the family she grew up in.

“I’m your lady and you are my man, whenever you reach for me I’m gonna do all that I can.” The Power of Love.

Florence Welch has a 22 degree NN. Majority of Florence + The Machine’s music focuses on all encompassing love, which Libra SN’s know very well. Florence has a realist take on what she experiences, but positive and negative. Throughout their discography, you notice that Florence learns more of independence, and finding love without having to contort to someone else’s standards.

“Leave all your love and longing behind, you can’t carry it with you if you want to survive.” Dog Days are Over.

Solange has a 28 degree NN. Her music celebrates her individuality (Aries), her culture, and grief (Libra). This is another artist where I wish I knew what house it sits in, but overall Solange captures the way she feels perfectly within her music. She can go from heavy themes to songs that are more fun, which is the perfect balance of Aries NN, Libra SN!

“Now I don’t want to bite the hand that’ll show me the other side, but I didn’t want to build the land that has fed you your whole life.” Don’t You Wait.

#Aries north node #Libra south node #astrology #Aries #Libra #north node #south node #musicians #mariah carey #Frank ocean #wiz khalifa #kendrick lamar #Kesha #bruce springsteen #celine dion #florence and the machine #solange

[nottoofondofgaypeople]

hi hello figured i should send mcd asks to your mcd blog

anyway what’s something in canon that your changing? can be important or not im just curious about your rewrite

Thank you so much for the ask! I literally don't get anything done with this rewrite if people don't ask me about it.

Editors note: I think I missed posting on Tumblr because this post got away from me in the span of five minutes of writing...

I've been having a lot of thoughts about changing canon recently, some that I'm not super solid on. I know I want to change Aaron's death, but I'm not sure how. And I know for a fact I want to change Tu'la pretty drastically, but it's hard to do so with the current cast because so few of them would ever be really connected to it. Those are ideas I'm work shopping right now.

The one thing in canon I know I want to change is Garroth's betrayal. Because Lilian is an illusionist. So like... She could have knocked out Laurance and stole the amulet while disguised as Garroth. And then used the mask she had already used on him to mind control him away from the battlefield and to Zane while she did this.

This means that Laurance thinks Garroth betrayed them just in time for the mind control to properly set in and Garroth can actually betray them. And Lilian plotted all of this out. That's another thing, I'm fleshing out Lilian A LOT because even if she's a barely present character, I find her incredibly fascinating. She's 100% a girl boss and absolutely Zane's favorite that isn't Janus.

I like the idea of Lilian and Zane working together on more things than any other member of the Jury though. She's his most trusted confidant. Because I did something evil. I always thought that Lily, Aaron's dead wife, and Lilian looked similar and had similar names. Suspiciously similar.

Let's be honest, Zane is a petty malicious bastard, he absolutely would have a member of his jury willing to give up their identity to him take on the appearance of one of his victims. Just to taunt another. Man what was I on about with Gene as Arthis, Zane is clearly Arthis Menathil, but his Sylvannas is a man?? Unless Lilian is Sylvannas?? Or wait would it be Kiki?! I should stop going down this path, thinking about WoW only causes trouble.

Hey random aside, Lilian is totally trans, and she's used magic to transition fully. Zane helped her with all of this when she first joined the Jury and confessed to being born in the wrong body. That's all!

Anyways what I was trying to say is that Zane basically asked Lilian to take on the appearance of Lily when she pledged her loyalty to him. She had a different name. It's never clear if she remembers who she was or not, because her life seemingly started when she joined the Jury. Even if Janus is stronger and therefore better at enacting Zane's violence for him, Lilian is the most loyal member of the Jury. Zane knows that he can always rely on her.

And y'know what?? I'm gonna say it. Maybe they were a little in love. There. I said it. Fuck it, I'm gonna make Zane break from canon by expressing a genuine moment of vulnerability when he sees Lilian die because he cared about her. That sort of loyalty may be a tool he uses, but he also just cares about Lilian. How can he not when she's so devoted to him and so genuinely kind? She actually loves Zane, sort of, in a bad way, and he actually loves her, sort of, in a bad way.

Did I just imply that the inner most rankings of the Jury of Nine are actually just Zane's Polycule?? Y'know I can't even be surprised a post that was supposed to be about Garroth somehow turned into a new villain polycule, but I'm still a little amazed I managed to do that...

TLDR: Garroth gets mind controlled, Laurance gets played like a fiddle, and Lilian is a slaytastic girl boss that will surely be missed.

#minecraft diaries #mcd rewrite #minecraft diaries rewrite #aphblr #aphverse #text post #garroth ro'meave #mcd garroth #laurance zvahl #mcd laurance #mcd aphmau #zane ro'meave #mcd zane #mcd Lilian #mcd Lily #canon divergence #answering asks

[dirtyvulture]

😎 If the Hudson family had a crest before WWI I believe Esther changed it to a Wolverine and maybe the letter X on it and WWII Nurse Hudson maybe added in the three claw stash marks on it . If the family didn’t have a crest before WWI then both Esther and WWII nurse Hudson made it into one. The crest is on the “ how to take care of your Wolverine” book. And I believe that the Hudsons are very much like “ oh this can’t be the same person who severed in all these wars . They were just family members who looked identical to each other , just look at us . We have a whole line of family members who severed along side those identical people. Oh no there were no cryptids ! Those were tales to astonish , ones to inspire comfort and warmth to the allies and local civilian communities while striking fear in the axis ( * mumbles underneath their breath* “ dramatic ass Wolvie”🙄) . Oh the “ how to take care of your Wolverine” book ? That was just a joke , a bit that was started with great( probably a few more greats but none the less) mother Esther Hudson” with other people outside of the family because has much as it is a Hudson family secret or just a thing that they go along with , the bigger secret and thing is and always will be to protect R . So to anyone outside the family it is always. Deny , deny , deny.

In addition to my thoughts on Nat stumbling upon the YouTube channel and history class . I think that it would hit R like a ton of bricks, because one thing this is probably the first thing that could show R a bit of her past and history that she has forgotten. And it would also bring up a lot of feelings ( some light as she thinks about the Hudsons and others heavier as there is no way that the horrors of those days didn’t get to R then and now) . R would bolt to a isolated place away from people as R wouldn’t want to be a burden ( she sees her feelings and needs as burdens on others) or have people see her as emotional ( she thinks it will make other people believe her to be unreliable and someone who can’t take care of others) . Jean caught wind of R’s state cause of mind reading and Nat caught wind of it because of Trained spy and both ran after R . Jean got there first and had actually coaxed R into breaking down and letting all the emotions out like R needs to.

R and Jean on their knees on floor with R clinging onto Jean for dear life sobbing her heart out while Jean holds her rubbing soothing circles on R’s back and running her fingers through R’s hair . R calms and begs Jean not to tell anyone about this and Jean just kissed her head and agrees. R is exhausted and is gently lead to Jean’s room and softly tucked in and immediately falling asleep.

All while a trained Russian spy watch on sadden. It was only because she just wanted to help the woman who had done so much for her. Nat was just a little to late to do so and she isn’t fully equipped for emotions ( her own or others ) so she is happy that R had someone to help and comfort her in the way R needed. Take care of her in a way that Nat just can’t because of her upbringing… in the way R deserves. And that dirty feeling Nat has is just because she watched a vulnerable moment of R’s and that was something R clearly wished for no one to see . It’s not because Nat is Jealous of the pretty redhead that held, comforted and took care of R in a way Nat could any hope to and ultimately knows she can’t. Nat isn’t jealous that Jean clearly knows R well and that R trusts and cares deeply for Jean . Jean also cares deeply ( even with having a boyfriend) about R as well. Because a Russian cold hearted spy doesn’t get jealous.

This is the last few bits of this post . This can happen before the scene of Nat totally not being jealous of Jean Grey and R is just kinda giving a rundown of the school to Nat . R tells Nat that she isn’t the first person to be in trouble and in need of protection from “scary” goons with guns and a government body after them or in need of a place to call home . That is what the school is for in the first ( vulture explains the whole mutant thing) place. R mumbles that she wish she had something like this as a kid. R tells Nat that she actually helped rogue after she was in trouble and found her way into a bar and stowed away in R’s truck . Nat casually asks abit about the people there ( not fishing at all ) and R does a quick glide stating that don’t make direct contact with Rogue, don’t be alarmed if you see blue guys walking around, storm is more than a nickname, Scott wearing sunglasses at night isn’t just him be a douche . Both the professor and Jean can read minds , Jean can also move things around with her mind . Nat states a passing interest in what was that back there with Jean and Scott( it is barely even an eyebrow rise here personally) to which R reply’s that it is complicated . That Jean and R …… had some fun but Jean chose and is happy with her boyfriend Scott. R was quick to add that this doesn’t affect  professionalism and impacts any of the kids ( R thinks that Nat believes that this little drama might affect the kids and how teaching could go poorly because of it) . R is a big girl and she would never stand in the way of someone’s happiness or let anything as petty as drama affect those kids. They are too important and too precious for that .

Esther and the Hudson’s 100 percent coaxed R to break and letting out her emotions. They took care of her emotionally and afterwards when she was exhausted emotionally, mentally and physically. Tucking Her in and making her sleep just like Jean did.

( Ps I hope I made it obvious that in those little bits of Nat not being jealous , she was . Her passing interest and barely even a eyebrow rise , It was very much with great interest. Nat casually asking and not fishing at all . It wasn’t casual and it was very much fishing for information. It is Nat lying to her self and playing everything cool as the train spy she is but is freaking out on the inside . R also just really sucks at reading people and their intentions sometimes, sometimes what she thinks she is picking up on is something entirely else . As shown up above. )

I'm gonna need someone with artist talent to design the "How to take care of your Wolverine" book and crest 😂

I think some members of the Hudson family know that Wolvie is the one and the same, but they don't really talk about it in order to protect her true nature. I'm not sure how common or accepted mutants are (they probably weren't very back in the old days), so the Hudsons would do everything they can to protect her.

We will definitely get a scene in the next part with R finally telling Nat some of her backstory. :)

I was so excited to introduce Jean because of her powers and dynamic with the OG Wolvie. Obviously I will be taking some creative liberties in this AU, but Nat's jealousy is not unfounded. She knows something went down between R and Jean a while back, but I'm sure she's wondering how she can keep R's attention on herself. 😉

Poor R 🥺 Scott would be pissed if he found Wolvie sleeping in his/Jean's bed though lmao.

#😎 anon #vulture answers #darkest knight au

[re-x]

So.. on that closing of 3x01

Her phone buzzes. It’s an Instagram DM from an anonymous account, it says, “You better watch out Devi, Paxton Hall Yoshida is not who you think he is.” 

Oh. Finally, a mystery. Or, is it? For this kind of interpersonal conflict to be worth the audience’s concern, the person behind this action has to be a character that is well-known to them. But who is it? Well, I don’t know for sure. I do know, however, that it may not take us that long to find out. I believe we’d be able to figure out who it was by watching the first episode of the new season. Of course, itt’s going to depend so much on the acting, and at the end of the day the performance is precisely what’s going to either foreshadow the identity of this individual or rule them out entirely.  

On the one hand, could it be someone completely unimportant, like, say, Zoe or Shira or one of those brainless characters? Yes it could. But then, why bother and who cares?

But on the other hand, wouldn’t it be more likely for the culprit to be someone far more important and closer to the center, like, I don’t know, Ben Gross? For better or worse (I think worse, but hey nobody’s asking me), the “love triangle” (again, I must acknowledge the sheer absurdity in our viewing a bunch of teenagers this way, but that’s on Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher) will remain central to the show throughout its entire run (Fisher, 2021). So, what better way to continue this multi-season arc than to organically have Ben be an important factor (if not necessarily the cause) in whatever relationship shenanigans Devi will encounter this season?

Also, it’s FAQ time!

Q: “Ben loves Devi. He would never?” 

A: He’s 16 and hurting. He’s clearly not doing well. You’d be surprised. Children have done far worse under far less stressful life circumstances. Not defending it. I’d be happy to call this character out if he genuinely did something that was out of line. But as always, context is key. 

Q: But Jaren said Ben would never! So he tricked us?

A: First of all, it’s Mr. Jaren Lewison. Secondly, read again what he said: 

“Ben is also really emotionally intelligent. I think that you can see that he really does understand deep, complex emotions and situations that kind of drive those emotions. So I think if he sees Devi’s really happy, and while it may pain him, I think Ben would respect that. I don’t think that he’s going to come flying in if he sees Devi’s happy. I feel like that’s what his number one priority is, maybe even possibly over his own happiness. I don’t think that he’d go flying in there trying to disrupt everything if she’s genuinely happy, so I think that it will be a tough situation to navigate for Ben” 

We don’t yet know to what extent this anonymous message will disrupt everything re: the Daxton bliss, or whatever it is. In any case, ask yourself whether  Devi is really happy? Isn’t that the prerequisite from the above statement? If somehow Ben’s decided that she isn’t, all bets are off (within reason).

Q: I knew it. I knew this idiot Ben Gross was nothing but trouble!

A: Ok let’s simmer down a bit here. If you’ve never liked this character and have closed your mind to him, then nothing he’d ever do would ever be good enough. So why are you here? Find something else you like. 

Q: OMG he loooooveees her so much he wants only the best for her and wants to make sure she won’t be hurt!

A: Once again, let me remind you that he’s 16 and hurting. He’s clearly not doing well. Acting out (and this is a kind of acting out, if it did turn out to be Ben’s doing, which I believe it is) is only a symptom of something deeper. Do you honestly not think that everything that happened to this kid last season would not leave any lasting impact? Perhaps this is a clear manifestation of it. 

Concluding statement: 

I am about 90% certain this is Ben’s doing. I think it would give Mr. Jaren Lewison some really meaty stuff to work with (plus, they might even decide to spend sometime exploring things from his own point of view!) , and I’m kind of excited to see what the season has in store. 

#Never Have I Ever #Jaren Lewison #Ben Gross #ben ben the bon bon #3x01

[miabrown007]

tell us your evil tikki headcanon 🙏

ohboy. okay, so one self-indulgent evil!Tikki headcanon coming right up

This spirals from my machiavellian!LuckyCharm take (also featured here and here), which is technically toying with the idea of what if the Lucky Charm worked in a “the end justifies the means” way. Meaning, that in desperate situations the object it gives would lead to morally grey or straight-up evil solutions to save the day. (For example, threatening the akumatized person’s loved ones to make them surrender.)

Since in the end the outcome -- defeating the akuma and preserving the jewels -- is what counts, isn’t it? And even if the Lucky Charm paves out a solution that doesn’t exactly sound right, it must know what it’s doing... After all, it’s always needed to save the day. There is no other solution. And since the “Miraculous Ladybug!” restores everything to its original state in the end, it isn’t just a big deal. Right?

(Wrong.)

This all originates from the blind respect for authority, for the role of the Guardian and the institution of the Order, we see in season 3. How protecting the Box is a greater good and thus all that counts in the end. (It’s not Marinette’s fault, really, she’s 14, she is not the one who should know better.)

So, Tikki comes into the picture because she’s the one “in control of the Lucky Charm’s object”, since it’s her magic that powers it. And if she agrees with all of the above (again, she supports the Order and Master Fu’s actions), then her moral attitude can screw the range of items the Lucky Charm can provide. Of what it considers acceptable.

Easy, anything.

In conclusion, the Order (and as their extension, Tikki) isn’t evil in a cartoonish sense. (Much like Hawkmoth,) they just have an original interpretation of the lines that can be crossed to reach their goal.

(Leaving Marinette and Adrien in a literal crossfire.)

#last resort #miraculous ladybug #evil!Tikki #master Fu salt #headcanon #okay so this is basically and AU but at this point who cares #ladyofthenoodle #but just imagine how fun it is when Marinette realizes what is going on and refuses to use the Lucky Charm #that leaves her without her trusted and well-practiced method to save the day most likely leading to a defeat again Hawkmoth #and leaving her in learned helplessness because the one solution she has build her carrier on has failed her and if the solut #that's the real fun ladies and gents coming back from there #aka I should really write that second installment to WUS because it's pretty much just left off not finished but I don't feel committed eno #also you can't tell me that Tikki NOT telling Marinette that she reject Adrien daily isn't evil #and she also knows that Adrien is in love with someone else (well it's also Marinette but he can't know that so he'd just reject her all th #and doesn't even consider telling her that there is something not exactly right with this situation but she can't tell why #but oh wait that's Master Fu's rule that they can't know each others identities because Su Han didn't seem impressed by it AT ALL #but shouldn't Tikki know that the past Ladybugs and Chat Noir didn't keep secrets? #shouldn't she see that the NY heroes are just fine with their identity being public knowledge? #she's a billion years eternal being for crying out loud she SHOULD know better #and she can also clearly see that the identities are only causing them trouble so tell me #tell me what's her excuse because I can't see a good one #in conclusion Tikki is b a d n e w s. thanks for coming to my TED talk! #oop #Tikki salt #I guess that's a thing now #(I am not actually this vehement about this but let's just say if I have to write a kwami I much prefer Plagg)

[flightfoot]

So I’ve thought a LOT about what might’ve been going through Marinette’s head in Ephemeral, with the plan she made, as well as other times throughout the series when she just... didn’t seem to grasp how other people might feel based on different circumstances.

Like with Weredad, when it didn’t seem to occur to her that overreacting to Chat’s rejection would likely make him feel bad (and ended up making her dad feel worse). 

Animaestro, with taking part in Chloe’s plan to get Kagami covered in food so she’d leave the theater - it didn’t seem to occur to her how Kagami would feel about that. 

Ikari Gozen, she pretended to want to be Kagami’s friend in order to sabotage her chances of hanging out with Adrien. Notably, in this case, she DID realize her error, after she rooted through Kagami’s phone and found out that she hadn’t texted with Adrien, and actually, sincerely wanted to be friends with Marinette - a realization that cause Marinette to do a 180 and try to actually be a friend to Kagami, for real.

Crocoduel, it didn’t seem to occur to her how hard it’d be on Juleka to try to tell Luka to stay away from her birthday party - that is, until she could actually SEE Juleka feeling down, at which point it clicked for her. She apologized for asking such a thing in the first place and comforted her instead.

In Hack-san, although Marinette has all those tips she sent to Alya about being the Ladybug user, and even on interacting with Chat Noir, it never seemed to occur to her that Chat would mistake her for a sentimonster or akuma, or that he’d be upset that she’d sent a replacement without letting him know in advance (not that she had much choice in the matter, but here I’m just pointing out that she didn’t seem to think of it).

Glaciator 2, it doesn’t occur to her that Chat might be upset or feeling bad after she (for decent reason) called him out earlier in the episode, that he might be negatively affected past that specific moment.

And of course, Ephemeral, it doesn’t seem to occur to Ladybug how the plan to circumvent Chat’s ability to choose what happens with his secret identity, to even know anything DID happen, would be a bad thing to do.

Yet, Marinette does clearly care for people, and for her partner especially. She comforts Chat when she sees that he’s upset, she helps out people she notices struggling (still remember Gigantitan, with how she ditched her plan in order to help August’s mother) and stands up to anyone who’s hurting her friends. Lack of compassion ain’t an issue, she cares about other people a lot.

So here’s what I think is going on: Marinette can model other people’s general behaviors and immediate responses in her head, but she has a LOT of trouble modeling their emotional responses to a situation, with figuring out how they’d feel about some sort of hypothetical situation. And if Marinette’s trying to figure out a solution to some problem she’s having? The chances that she’ll remember to take that person’s emotional response into consideration is even lower, since she’s just focused on solving whatever problem she’s been presented with. If she can actually SEE them have the emotional response she can connect the dots, but figuring it out in advance, or when the person is hiding their feelings? Is a lot more difficult.

I think this might also factor into all her elaborate fantasies she has about Adrien, as well as her catastrophizing in general. She has trouble modelling what other people’s emotional responses to different situations will be accurately, so when it’s important to her that someone has a particular response, she runs herself ragged trying to control her environment to the point that she can MAKE them have the response she wants.

And if it’s a circumstance where the person involved would only get hurt if they found out about something she did? Since someone isn’t getting hurt in front of her, and often wouldn’t have the CHANCE to actually feel hurt about it, it just... doesn’t occur to her as being a problem. Hence why she hasn’t really thought about Chat being hurt about being left out and lied to about a lot of stuff in season 4, unless it’s brought up to her directly, like when Alya drew her attention to it in Hack-san. Or with season 2, when Chat was more overtly upset with being left out of the loop in Syren.

Makes me wonder whether there’s more legs to the “Marinette is autistic” theory than I previously thought. I was skeptical before, but season 4 has really called attention to the social skills she has trouble with.

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #marinette dupain cheng #ml analysis

[jungkxook]

—the love bug. (m)

⟶ pairing: jungkook x reader

⟶ genre: spiderman!jungkook + fluff / smut

⟶ words: 20,649 (sorry)

⟶ rating: 18+

⟶ summary: every night, jungkook puts on the red mask and flings himself confidently into perilous danger; but that same heart of steel that fuels his will and spirit seems to fail him whenever it comes to you 

⟶ warnings: coarse language, mild violence, jungkook is really shy and cute and dumb bc he’s so smitten, also jungkook’s butt in spandex is nice, needy/clingy sex, oral sex (fem!receiving), face riding, fingering, riding, missionary, unprotected sex

⟶ disclaimer: this is a repost of a fic i had on my old blog! 

You see Jungkook every night without fail.

When the sun has set below the distant horizon and plunges the world into a formidable darkness, driving most ordinary civilians to seek shelter in their homes, he stumbles into the café tucked cozily on the corner of a busy street in Lower Manhattan. The concrete city is still very much alive in a harmonious mix of sirens and the hum of cars but is subdued, muffling under the night sky and is most susceptible at this time to misconduct. Usually, at this point of night, the café you work at is nearly empty, save for a few stragglers that huddle tiredly at certain round tables. Most times, these are students from the university you attend just around the bend, whose weary eyes peer over the laptop in front of them as they meticulously work on an essay due the next morning, only fueled by the cup of coffee next to them.

Though you’ve seen Jungkook plenty of times around the campus of your school, he never once enters the café for the sole purpose of late night studying or writing. Instead, as you come to find over the course of many strange nights, Jungkook stumbles in through the doors sometime after 9 p.m., always with one strap of his backpack thrown over his shoulder. He always looks dishevelled, exhausted, as if he has spent the evening running all over the city of New York; and then he plops himself down into a seat by the window, burying his head in his folded arms that lean on the top of the table. Most times he orders a coffee and though he downs it the fastest you’ve ever seen, he is still somehow able to fall asleep at the table. Sometimes, he hardly ever touches the coffee and lets it grow cold as it rests next to him but he always, without a doubt, falls asleep next to it.

You never wake him. Usually, when you work the late night shifts, you are alone for a handful of hours until your next coworker arrives for their shift. You don’t mind the company anyway, even if he sleeps for most of the night. It’s comforting to at least see he’s resting, though you find yourself snickering to yourself as you watch the snoring boy when it’s just you and him alone in the café. Though you have grown up with Jungkook as your next door neighbour as a child, have attended the same schools and been in most classes together from elementary all the way to your freshman year of college now, and have watched one another mature and change, you have never really exactly gotten to know Jungkook as well as you’d like. Typically, your conversations are short and friendly, ranging from you taking his order at the café and spotting him around campus and asking if he knew the answer to a question for the homework assigned to the class you share with him.

This night isn’t any different.

You’ve become eager, always anticipating when Jungkook will walk through the doors of the café and make himself at home as he routinely does. However, just before 9 p.m. on a Thursday night, when the small bell above the door rings to signal a new arrival, you are immediately disappointed to find that it is not Jungkook. Instead, it is a crude muscular man not much older than you with tattoos that litter his arms and a star inked into the left side of his neck. The sight of him causes you to groan inwardly, forces you to straighten your back a little more, hold your chin a little higher. Most nights the café may be occupied by university students, but other nights you are forced to deal with tasteless strangers that try to intimidate you but instead give you an agonising headache.

You have seen this man before, have remembered the star tattoo and the scar just above his right eyebrow. He has come into the café before and has been the source of trouble more often than not. As the man approaches the counter in an imperious stride this time, you notice the smirk that tugs at his lips and feel the foreboding shudder that runs down your spine.

“Evenin’,” You greet. “Can I get you anything?”

The man’s eyes flicker to the menu above the counter, as if he is pondering what to order. He looks back down at you and then leans against the counter, closing the distance between him and you causing you to take a step back.

“How are you doing tonight, sweetheart?” he asks. “Been awhile, huh? Did you miss me?”

Forcing a fixed smile on your face, you reply shortly with, “I’ve been well. Can I get you anything?”

Apparently, the way you repeat your question in a firm manner doesn’t act as well of a hint as you had hoped for the man. He’s smirking wickedly, clearly enjoying the strain he puts you through.

“I know what you can get me, sweetheart,” he drawls. “When do you get off? Maybe we can meet round back and I can show you what a real man is like.”

“No thanks.”

“Playing hard to get, hm?” he muses. “I wonder what else that pretty little mouth of yours can do.”

Though you are appalled, you swallow your nerves and narrow your eyes into a glare. It can tell you to kindly fuck off, you grimace to yourself. Instead, you turn your back to him, pretending to occupy yourself with cleaning the counter as you mumble blankly, “Not interested.”

The man chuckles. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s just a little fun━”

“She said she’s not interested.”

The familiar voice that interrupts the man causes your heart to leap blithely in your chest and makes you realize you have been so caught up with the man by the counter that you hardly noticed the way the bell rings a second time as the newcomer enters the shop. Standing just behind the man is Jungkook, whose carob hair sticks out in messy tufts and weary eyes are laced with an underlying menace. The man looks from you to Jungkook and must assume the confrontation isn’t worth a fight. The smug smile remains on his face even as he shrugs, muttering something along the lines of, “Whatever, man. I was just trying to have some fun.”

Whether or not Jungkook has scared him away, the man relents and retreats to the door of the café, disappearing outside once more. As soon as the door shuts behind him, you come to realize that you are now alone in the café with Jungkook with nothing but the sound of the flat screen t.v that hangs in a corner behind the counter, faintly playing on the news channel.

“You okay?” he asks, catching your attention. “He didn’t do anything, did he?”

“Oh, no. No, I’m fine,” You say. “Thanks for that, by the way. Though I could’ve handled it myself.”

Jungkook chuckles. “I don’t doubt that but it’s nice to get a little help sometimes.”

You smile up at the boy who towers above you and, despite the fatigue that droops his eyes, his pink lips still unfurl into a wide, radiant grin that brightens his face.

“How long are you here for tonight?” he asks.

“Till close. Then I have to head home and put together a powerpoint for psych,” You yawn as if to emphasize your boredom. “What can I get you? The usual?”

Jungkook looks at you as if you are his saving grace. The smile stretches further across his cheeks as he nods. “Please?”

“Will do. Sit tight, I’ll be right over.”

You spin around from behind the counter, almost immediately jumping to work as you rummage through the shelves. When you’re finished making his order that consists solely of a medium black coffee with two sugars and turn back around to face him, you find him seated at a table off to the side, not far from the counter. His backpack lays discarded on the ground by his feet and his elbow rests on top of the surface of the table, his chin nestled in the palm of his hand; his eyes are fixated on the television screen hanging just ahead and, for once upon entering the café past dusk, he doesn’t lack a sense of emotion. Instead, his brows knit in concern as he is engrossed by whatever is happening on the news.

As you approach his table with his coffee in your hand, you crane your neck to look up at the screen and what has seemingly caught his interest. On one side of the screen is a female news reporter in a pink blouse and gray blazer; on the second half of the screen, you see a familiar flash of striking red and blue that swings from building to building from an, albeit, shaky recording from a passerby’s phone.

“And in other news,” The woman who speaks has a strong, smooth voice as she stares ahead at the camera with a rather sour look, “the masked mystery man, otherwise known as Spider-Man, was spotted earlier this morning when he put a stop to a robbery in an apartment in Queens just before noon. Though most would argue that Spider-Man is New York’s very own masked hero, the New York City Police Department are still searching for the identity of whom they call a vigilante, saying he is causing mayhem in━”

“Some guy, huh?” You muse pensively, sliding the coffee onto the counter next to Jungkook. “This spider guy or whatever.”

The boy in front of you glances down meekly at the coffee and back up at you. His eyes flicker to the screen hanging in the corner once more. “You mean Spider-Man?”

Nodding, you say, “Yeah. He comes out of nowhere two years ago and now he’s everywhere. What do you think of him helping with all this dangerous crime stuff?”

“Ah, well, that’s his thing,” Jungkook says, shrugging. “If he couldn’t handle it, he wouldn’t be helping solve a lot of the city’s crimes. I think he’s pretty cool, y’know, for a masked guy. I definitely don’t think he’s a vigilante or━ or a criminal.”

“You talk about him as if you know him,” You giggle.

Jungkook’s eyes widen for a split second and then he’s furiously shaking his head. “Know him? No, no, of course not! I’m just a… Just a big fan ━ and an even bigger fan of Iron Man.”

He picks up the coffee next to him and lifts it to his mouth for a quick sip, nearly burning his tongue but swallowing his curses.

“I like him,” You confess at long last. “He’s interesting. I think he’s just what we need at a time like this.”

Just then, the bell above the door rings once more and a small group of friends wander into the shop, each carrying backpacks and heavy textbooks. They sit at a table off in the corner and you sigh as you look back down at Jungkook.

“That’s my cue,” You say. “Gotta go, but have a good night, okay? And, Jungkook? You really should get some more sleep.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to respond but you are already turning away and so he sits back in his seat, defeated once more. He watches as you stride happily to the group of friends sitting at a table to take their order, your hair bouncing slightly under the fluorescent lights. He folds his arms over the top of his table and buries his head in them, though he sneaks one last glance up at you. Despite his eyes itching with sleep, he pries them open just a second longer to watch you smile as you speak with the students and it is the last thing he sees before he slips off into a light and contented sleep.

As you step out into the cool, early Autumn night and shut the door of the café behind you to lock it, the single thought most prominent in your mind is sleep.

You’re exhausted, but the homework still waiting to be completed in your home is the only thing that pushes you to stay awake. You hurry to fish the store keys out of your coat pocket and, with a euphonious chime, use them to lock the front door, ignoring the way the cold breeze nips at your cheeks. You grasp the collar of your coat tighter around your body and then hike the strap of your own bag further up your shoulder as you turn to walk away.

Jungkook had fallen asleep as per usual after your short conversation with him and then vanished an hour some time before you closed, waving a final farewell to you. The rest of your night had been rather slow, with only two more customers entering the café until each person left to venture back out into the cold and leave you alone. To finally be freed from the confinements of the café has you breathing in the crisp air in a deep breath. Exhaling placidly, you cross the street and begin making your way toward your one bedroom apartment which is only a fifteen minute walk away from both the café and your school.

You aren’t quite sure how long you have been walking for when you begin to notice the sound of footsteps behind you. In fact, if you had been listening more intently since the second you left the café, you would be able to recall the fact that these same heavy footsteps had been following along behind you since then. You don’t necessarily see the problem at hand just yet, thinking it to be just another innocent passerby who is coincidentally walking the same way as you. After all, New York City has a tremendously huge population.

You take a left, turning the corner of the street to continue along the path to your home. The only light that illuminates the way are the silvery wisps from the moon that hangs high in the night sky and the flickering street lamps that you pass occasionally. You take another left and strain your ears and hear the sound of footsteps again. Maybe you were overreacting, maybe it was just a random passerby, but most cities weren’t foreign to that of strange stalkers. Holding your breath, you slowly glance over your shoulder at the figure who has been following you and spot a man just a few paces away, the hood of his sweater drawn over his head.

You immediately turn back around, eyes wide as panic begins to settle in. You take another left, then a right, cross the street and retrace your steps back towards the café and each time you hear the heavy footsteps; each time they quicken in pace as does yours. You hadn’t even realized how briskly you were walking until you glance over your shoulder for a second time and see the man once more. Suddenly, you turn a sharp corner and race ahead before coming across an empty and darkened alleyway. You slip into its shadows, your heart hammering wildly against your chest and in your ears, and continue to walk until the brick wall at the very end of the alleyway comes into view. A dead end.

You turn back around and begin walking forward before freezing suddenly. If you go back out there, that man could still be lurking; if you stay in the alleyway, you could hide until you think it’s safe. Your eyes flicker around for something to cower behind and just before you notice the dumpster off to the side, you see a shadow in the corner of your eye. Turning around, you come face-to-face with the hooded man who is all but blocking your path to freedom. Except now, you’re able to stare into his face past the silhouette that his hood draws on his features. Now, you can see the star tattoo on his neck, the scar above his right eyebrow and an image of the man from the café only hours ago flashes across your eyes.

“You,” You gasp. “What do you want from me?”

Behind his hood, you can see him smirk slyly. “I just want to chat to you, babe. What are you doing all by yourself out here?”

Your eyes narrow into a scrutinizing glare. You step forward to walk around him but he grabs onto you, his arm snaking around your waist as he drawls, “Not so fast. I’ve been meaning to get you alone like this.”

Just as you open your mouth to shout out for help, the noise of sudden scuffling in the alley causes the man to stop. It comes with the rustling of the wind and could have easily been mistaken for the sound of a trash can falling over or paper tumbling loosely but it is also unmistakable the sound of footsteps. The man must notice something before you do as he squints further into the alleyway, muttering a small, “What the hell━”

“Come on, dude, that’s seriously no way to treat a girl!”

The foreign voice that drifts into the alleyway seems to startle not only yourself, but the man in front of you. His grip loosens on you slightly as he cranes his neck to look amongst the shadows.

“Well, anyone, for that matter.”

The stranger’s voice is youthful, most likely belonging to a boy around your age. It is oddly calm and nonchalant despite the situation that is unfolding before him, and then he clicks his tongue disapprovingly. As your eyes flicker open, you follow the source of the sound towards the blocked end of the alleyway still veiled by the darkness. Had this person always been there or had they really materialized out of thin air?

“Who’s there?” The man in front of you grunts. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

“And why don’t you pick on somebody your own size?” The voice retaliates. He pauses as if he is waiting for an answer and then he is speaking up again. “Let me guess. You’re gonna tell me to screw off or something right? God, you guys are always so predictable and yet you never make it any easier for me.”

The man scowls, his hand drops from your throat as he turns to the looming darkness and hisses gruffly, “Mind your own business, punk━”

Before he can carry on, something flings out of the darkness and lands on the man’s face in a blink of an eye. He immediately lets go of you, grunting in confusion and flailing his arms about. As you drop to the ground, you subsequently bang your head hard against the brick wall and groan in pain, though you’re able to catch a glimpse of what the man is trying so desperately to claw off his face before your vision goes blurry. It is something thin and wispy, made of silver glistening strands that resembles, oddly enough, a spider’s web. As the man fumbles into the darkness, arms swinging clenched fists wildly about.

“Over here!” The boy taunts. “Missed me again! You know, you’re not very good at this.”

You struggle to climb to your feet, clutching your head in agony as you squint into the darkness. From where you are, you can only see the man fumbling around uselessly, the other figure still concealed by the darkness. As you attempt to get a better look, you hear the boy grunt in pain and catch sight of the man just after he had swung his fist into this person’s face, while his other hand had successfully been able to finally rip the mesh off his face.

“Okay, ow, that hurt,” The boy admits.

But before he or the man can continue on, you’re springing forward, mustering all your strength and courage into one impromptu movement. You grab your bag that had been discarded on the ground, heavy with a few school textbooks you had brought with you; you clutch it tightly, race up behind the man, and swing it hard at his head. His actions come to a sudden halt, he staggers forward, and immediately collapses to the ground, unconscious. Then finally, plunged into the darkness of the alleyway, you slowly look up to face the eye of your helper and are met, instead, with a flash of red and blue.

Standing before you, adorned head to toe in a tight suit is none other than the mysterious masked vigilante. He’s much taller in person than you expected, and much more muscular too, though with his face hidden beyond a mask, you can’t say much else about him. Instead, you gasp as you stare up at him in astonishment.

“Hey, nice hit!” he says, an apparent grin in his voice. “That was pretty awesome━”

“It’s you!” You exclaim.

“Me?” He seems confused at first but then he’s straightening up. “Oh, right, right. It’s me! Just, uh, your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Rescuing damsels in distress is kinda my thing.”

Your amusement for the mysterious hero is quick to fade, however, in wake of the throbbing pain on your head. It makes you aware of the fact that your knees have since grown weak, your mind spinning. When you take a step forward, you are suddenly faint and stumble over your feet, tripping to the ground. Before you can hit the pavement, the boy swoops forward and into view, catching you swiftly in his arms and holding you up.

“Hey, hey, stay with me,” he says. “Oh man, we gotta get you home. Can you tell me where you live?”

You can feel your lips moving in response, most likely informing him foolishly of the apartment complex you live in. Though this boy has been noted on performing acts of bravery and fighting against crime, he’s still a stranger ━ and, even more warily so, a complete enigma. There was no reason to trust him, despite him helping you only minutes ago, but in that moment you are weak and exhausted. In the very next second, you find yourself slipping off into a deep and tranquil slumber.

When you awaken the next morning, you are first greeted to the bright light of the sun that licks at your cheeks and warms your face. You note the soft plush of the mattress under you, the soft breeze that ruffles your hair, and when you pry your eyes open, you find yourself laying on the bed in your room; your window opened. Just when you begin to think the night before was all just some elaborate dream, you feel the slight tinge of pain in the back of your head and, despite it all ━ despite the pain and despite the memory strange man who had followed you ━ you smile softly at the thought of the boy in red and blue.

The next time you see Jungkook is on that Thursday.

Truthfully, you’ve been eager to find him around campus if only to tell him about your encounter with New York’s masked hero. You hadn’t told many people, safe for your closest friends, though you’re keen to see Jungkook’s reaction as you’ve learned he’s a fan of this spider guy. Wednesday is the only day you have a class with him and so as soon as the boring lecture for your anthropology class is finished, you spot him striding casually out the door and catch up to him just as he’s walking down the smooth pavement of the campus sidewalk.

Word, however, seems to spread fast amongst the friends in your year and whereas you only told one of your friends on that previous Friday about your encounter in the alleyway, Jungkook has already heard the story through misconstrued words at least a dozen times, through whisperings of people that aren’t even your friends. It’s a novelty, apparently, to witness something like this strange masked man. But, naturally, Jungkook is rather surprised when he hears your familiar dulcet voice calling his name.

“Jungkook!”

He whirls around to face you and smiles as he sees your figure walking towards him, adorned in leggings and a baggy school shirt to match the evening’s warm weather. You’re smiling at him, almost as radiantly as the sun that it almost quite literally blinds him as he doesn’t seem to notice the other girl walking just in front of him. He bumps into her before he can step out of the way and hastily apologizes before turning back to you only to see you giggling.

“What can I do for you on this fine evening?” he asks as you approach.

“I’ve been meaning to find you since Friday,” You say. “You’ll never believe what happened on Thursday.”

“I’ve been hearing it all week since then.”

“You have? Who told you?”

This causes Jungkook to chuckle lightly. He hikes the usual one strap of his backpack further up his shoulder as the two of you begin to walk again, “Y/N, everyone’s been talking about it. I guess no one can keep their mouth shut anymore. So tell me: what was this Spider-Man guy like?”

A small smile stretches across your face at the name, your teeth instinctively biting down on your lower lip in an attempt to hide in. Was it just Jungkook or did he see the slightest of pink pinch at your cheeks? When you look back up at him, your eyes are shimmering.

“Honestly?” You reply sheepishly. “I think I’m crushing on him pretty hard.”

Jungkook nearly chokes. When he speaks next, his voice is slightly higher than usual, so he clamps his mouth shut, clears his throat, and tries again. “You don’t say? He must be a real charmer then. Do you, uh, even know him well enough to crush on him?”

“It’s strange,” You remark. “You’re right ━ I don’t even know him and yet I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since then. I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all, huh?”

“What even happened?” Jungkook asks.

“Remember that guy you scared away Thursday night? I got into some trouble with him━ but don’t worry!” You throw in the last few words when you see Jungkook’s brows scrunch in concern. “Spider-Man came before anything could happen. He saved me. I owe him my life at this point.”

Jungkook notes the dreamlike tone in your voice and when he glances down at you, you’re smiling blissfully down at your scuffed Converse shoes. It’s mesmerizing to see you so content and jubilant, beaming like the sun once more that hangs in the clear cerulean blue sky. He inhales a deep breath of fresh air, smells the wafting nodes of freshly ground coffee somewhere in the distance, and exhales slowly.

Nervously rubbing the back of his neck, he looks over at you once more and asks, “Hey, um, so for that anthro project we have to do ━ I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to be partners for it?”

Your eyes light up at the proposition and you nod enthusiastically. “Sure thing. I’d love that, actually. Maybe we can meet up this Sunday to plan everything out and see who’s doing what?”

“Hey, Y/N!”

Just then, you hear the familiar sound of your friend calling your name. You glance ahead where your eyes land on a group of girls sitting on a nearby bench and you wave at them. They gesture you over and you skip ahead a few paces, turning to look at Jungkook. He smiles as he nods.

“Sorry,” You apologize sheepishly. “But Sunday at the café at noon?”

“Sounds like a date.” Jungkook reddens suddenly at the way he words his thoughts and stammers to correct himself. “Not a date! Work date. Uh━”

“It’s a date,” You giggle. “See you!”

Then you’re rushing off to join your friends, leaving Jungkook alone once more. He sighs in your wake, shakes his head at himself, and grudgingly walks away.

That night you can hardly sleep.

You blame it on the stress that comes with being a student, constantly under the strain of a multitude of assignments and upcoming tests. When the clock strikes half past one in the morning just as you are finishing typing up the last sentence of a seven page essay on your laptop (seated at your desk, where you have been for the past few hours), you decide you need a break before you go absolutely insane. Shrugging on a simple cardigan, you tiptoe out of your room, down the corridor to the elevator, ignoring the way your joints that have stiffened in place stretch in a satisfying pop. You’re stumbling out and onto the roof of your apartment building in no less than five minutes, emerging out into the open night.

It isn’t terribly cold and, after inhaling a deep breath of the refreshing air, you sigh in relief and you walk to the concrete barrier at the very edge of the roof and lean against it. Gazing out at the vibrant and lively concrete and glass buildings and skyscrapers alike that build the city of New York, with each window illuminated by a warm glow of light, seems to give you a sense of peace. You can hear the hum of cars, a distant sound of sirens, the occasional honk, and the thump of bass from somewhere in the distance to your left, all amassing into the rhythmic pulse of the city; across from you, in the building complex on the other side of the street, you can see silhouetted figures of perhaps caffeinated students or late night lovers. The sky is empty, blank and dull as it stretches on over the entirety of the city, but you can see the moon, brightly shining in all its glory, bold and proud amongst the artificial light.

A slight breeze disrupts the stillness of the roof, rustles your hair, followed by the looming feeling of not being alone. You hear the sound of footsteps landing softly on the ground and turn around slowly, casting your gaze across the seemingly empty rooftop. But you see it ━ or rather, him ━ in the shadows near the door a bit further off. It’s strange how calm you are in the moment but the presence doesn’t exactly feel intimidating to you ━ especially when you notice the flash of red and blue.

“You again?” You ask humorously.

“Sorry if I scared you.” The voice that carries with the wind towards you is familiar, youthful. “Definitely not my intention.”

“I’m not scared,” You say. “If I can recall amongst your many gritty crime fighting, you saved a cat stuck in a tree a while back.”

The boy chuckles. “Ah, well, just all a part of the job.”

“What are you doing here?” You take a step toward him and hear him retreat further into the darkness.

“Well, you’re probably going to call me weird and insane,” he says, “but I just wanted to check on you. You were pretty out of it when I dropped you off at your place.”

“You’re not stalking me now, are you?”

“No way!” he says. “I was just, y’know, in the neighbourhood. I was actually about to call it a night when I passed your apartment and then I saw you up here. Must be fate, huh?”

“Fate sure is weird,” You muse pensively, pursing your lips. You pause, squinting your eyes into the darkness. “Thanks, by the way. For helping me that night and bringing me back. Is there anyway I can repay you?”

“Repay me? Oh, no, no!” he says. “That’s not what this is all about, I promise. What I do is for the city and for the people. I can sleep better at night knowing thugs like that guy are being taken care of properly.”

“That’s a pretty commendable thing to do,” You say. “You gotta be pretty brave to put yourself in danger each night.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

There’s a smirk in his voice that stretches his words into a confident and smug drawl. You, in turn, smile bashfully. You look down at your shoes and then back up at the shadows.

“Can you step out of the dark?” You ask. “I want to see you.”

“Ah, but then that’ll ruin the mystique,” he points out. “And where’s the fun in that?”

You shake your head at him, pearly white teeth gnawing down on your lower lip to hide the smile that tugs at your mouth. You pull your cardigan tighter around your torso, ignoring the distant sound of a wailing siren.

“Maybe I’ll see you again,” he says. “I have to go but it was a pleasure meeting you━ uh, what was your name again?”

“I never told you,” You say. “And if I do, it’ll ruin the mystique, won’t it? Where’s the fun in that?”

He laughs into the night, a sound so genuine and amiable. “Fair enough. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, despite the terrible circumstances. Try to stay out of trouble, okay? And get some sleep!”

You can hear him moving, as if preparing to leave. You step forward, mouth opening to stop him, but then he is gone, the sound of feet leaping into the air the last thing you hear from him. By the time you rush to the other side of the roof and look around frantically for any sight of him, you spot the mysterious vigilante as a tiny speck soaring from building to building. You smile as you watch him disappear amongst the horizon, bleeding into the glow of lights until he is gone, becoming one with the city altogether.

The days pass in a very typical blur.

Sunday comes and goes much too fast where both you and Jungkook work diligently for a few hours at the café before the rest of the week goes by. You hardly see Jungkook except for at night, as always past 9 p.m., when he stumbles wearily into the café and plops down in his usual seat. And, with the days passing as usual, there are still the consistent reports of sightings of this mysterious Spider-Man. Though you seem to go about your routinely oblivious days, you are all Jungkook is able to think about. You are all he usually thinks about these days, anyway, and all he is thinking about that very Wednesday when he’s supposed to be hanging out with Taehyung.

It isn’t uncommon to see Jungkook with Taehyung around campus. They have, after all, been best friends since the moment they met in their small daycare they attended together. Taehyung is more than accustomed with Jungkook’s habits and knows the boy in and out, including every secret and every crush he’s ever had (which, for the most part, has been you). That Thursday afternoon they are both sitting at the park just across from campus where most students from the school spend their time. Jungkook’s perched on the edge of the large concrete water fountain in the middle of the bustling meadow, with Taehyung reclining on his back, basking in the sun with a bag of chips on his stomach. They both spot you walking by with a friend and wave at Jungkook which causes Taehyung to roll his eyes.

“Dude,” he sighs, exasperated. “Just ask her out already. She already said she’s crushing on you.”

Jungkook looks down at his friend and shakes his head. “No, she said she’s crushing on Spider-Man. Not me.”

Taehyung, who was in the middle of shoving a handful of chips in his mouth, stops suddenly. He pushes himself up, nearly dropping the bag of chips, eyes wide as he stares at Jungkook in utter disbelief.

“Are you kidding me, dude?” He asks incredulously. “You’re the same person, you idiot.”

“But she doesn’t know that,” Jungkook explains calmly. “As far as she knows, Spider-Man is this cool dude and I’m just… I’m just me. Jungkook. Boring and not charming.”

“So then tell her the truth,” Taehyung says. “Y’know, use yourself as your own wingman.”

As he shoves another handful of chips into his mouth, Jungkook shakes his head once more. He’s already thought of this idea plenty of times before but it’s not as easy as it seems. The responsibility that comes with putting on that mask each night is followed by even greater risks for the people he’s around. Telling you the truth could only end in one way, anyway.

“I can’t do that,” Jungkook says. “What if I tell her and she’s let down?”

Taehyung would shake his head disapprovingly at his friend this time and mumble something along the lines of, “You think too much.”

And while that may be true in Jungkook’s case, Taehyung just wouldn’t understand. There is a reason Taehyung is the only person who knows about Jungkook’s secret and he is already endangering the life of his friend. To tell anyone else would only result in a much more terrible outcome for not only the people around him, but Jungkook himself. Still, though, as Jungkook settles back on the edge of the fountain and looks in the direction of the path you had vanished along, there is an inkling of a voice in the back of his mind that nags him, urges him, to tell you.

Jungkook sighs. He finds it ironic that anytime he puts on the red mask and flings himself into perilous danger, he is always confident, never once wavering, and yet when he is just himself, just another mundane passerby, that same heart of steel that fuels his will and spirit suddenly pales in comparison.

If only he could be so brave without that mask.

On Friday evening well into the night when what little stars you can see in the polluted sky begins to blend with the glowing light from building windows as far as the eye can see you find yourself at an overcrowded and clamorous party. You had been more than content with spending the start of your weekend not working but, upon entering the party, you find yourself not nearly enjoying the time as well as you had hoped you would. You’ve long since lost sight of your friends and the guy standing in the corner of the living room who had been eyeing you for most of the night had most certainly not helped with your mood ━ and, if anything, turned you off from drinking.

Albeit still slightly buzzed from the few drinks you had earlier been bestowed in the quintessential red solo cup that defines every high school and college party you’ve been to, you stumble out onto the balcony of one of the rooms for a breath of fresh air and are startled to find you aren’t alone when you spot the figure of a young man leaning against the railing.

“Oh, shit, sorry. Didn’t know anyone was out here━”

As the figure turns around, you are relieved and thrilled to see it’s Jungkook. You stop yourself, clamping your mouth shut, and smile up at him with a dainty hand on your hip. A look of recognition dawns on his face at the sight of you, his own lips tugging into a friendly grin.

“That’s okay,” he says. “Feel free to join me on the balcony of escaped party attendees ━ because I assume that’s what you’re doing? Escaping?”

You push yourself forward to the railing, standing beside him as he turns back around to face the city. “I just needed a break from it all. You? I gotta say I’m pleasantly surprised to see you here.”

He flashes you a sheepish smile, resting his arms atop the railing and leaning forward. “Exactly. Parties aren’t really my scene. My friend, Taehyung, dragged me out here but this balcony seems to be my favourite place.”

“Well, if it means anything,” You tell him, “I’m glad you came.”

When you look at Jungkook, you find him already gazing at you, his lower lip tucked between his teeth. His carob eyes crinkle with the smile on his face and he finds himself still staring at you even long after you have turned away to stare up at the sky. It’s a surprisingly warm night, though you silently thank yourself for throwing on the denim jacket you’re wearing earlier in the day whenever a cool breeze breaks through the city.

“It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?” You say after a while. “That we can’t see the stars from the city. That’s why I like camping. Star-gazing and watching the sunrise are two of my favourite things. It kind of keeps me humble in a way.”

“That’s an interesting way of thinking about that,” Jungkook says. “Sometimes I get so carried away by being in the city; it’s kind of nice just to slow things down once in a while.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way,” You crane your neck to cast a steady gaze across the towering buildings in the near distance. “The city can be pretty beautiful, too, though.”

“You think so?”

“Of course,” Your eyes twinkle playfully at a sudden thought that seems to warm your face. “And some of the people help make it beautiful. Like that spider guy. What he’s doing for the city is incredible.”

“Ah, right. Spider-Man.” The words leave Jungkook in a small exhale. “You must really like him, huh?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“I can name a few. Like the police.”

“They’re just scared of him because he’s doing their job better than they ever could.”

Jungkook chuckles lightly. He shakes his head as he looks down at his clasped hands and the calluses on his fingers from past tribulations. It’s silent again, in which time the thump of bass from the party ensuing behind you two fills the air, followed by a burst of vigorous chanting and cheering from within.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Jungkook asks suddenly, his voice timid.

“Go ahead.”

Jungkook pauses, thinking. He seems to struggle with forming his thoughts into words as he remains silent for a second too long. “Okay, let’s say I know this person really important to me, and let’s say I have this thing ━ this equally as important thing ━ that I really want to tell them. The thing is, I can’t just do that because if I do, I’m afraid that this person will be let down. What do you think I should do?”

You’re quiet as you ponder his words, looking pensively down at the city below.

“Well,” You hum slowly, “what’s the point in hiding behind a fake front the whole time? It’s kind of like hiding behind a mask your whole life, right? And I think life is too short for that because, before you know it, it’ll be too late. What if you don’t tell this person and you end up regretting it for the rest of your life? I don’t know. Sometimes I think that you just meet the right person in life who’s worth that risk.”

Jungkook turns to look at you and suddenly your eyes meet in a steady, thoughtful gaze. His own stare softens at whatever sort of thoughts flood his mind and you wonder if his eyes have always been that shimmering. His tousled dark brown locks flitter slightly in the breeze, his pink lips parted ever so slightly. You open your mouth to speak, uttering his name in a euphonious whisper.

“Jungkook, I━”

But your voice is cut off abruptly by the influx sound of wailing sirens down below that convey some sort of grim situation unfolding somewhere in the formidable darkness of the night. Both you and Jungkook press yourselves over the railing, squinting down at the crowded streets below just in time to see a flash of blinking red lights and a mass of both police cars, ambulances, and firetrucks. From somewhere in the background from within the party, you can hear a voice exclaiming, “Dude, there’s a fire around the corner from here! The whole street is blocked off.”

“No way. What the hell happened?” Another voice asks.

You exchange a wary glance with Jungkook before slipping back into the party. A small group has formed around the t.v. in the living room, on which is playing the local news and showcasing a burning apartment building, the vicious orange flames of which billow out of opened windows and all but consume the top floor as clouds of gray and black smoke invade the night sky. There’s a reporter talking fast into the camera, describing in detail what had happened to the building on a nearby street, but your eyes can only stay fixated on the monstrous flames. You don’t realize Taehyung has somehow found both you and his friend and is standing behind the other boy, watching the news unfold before him. Unbeknownst to you, his stare flickers nervously to Jungkook and then━

“Shit,” Jungkook curses suddenly. “I gotta go.”

You turn to look at him curiously. “Go where? It’s midnight on a Friday.”

“I completely forgot I had to pick my aunt up from the subway,” he says. “She works the late night shifts and I can’t let her walk alone in the dark like this. I’ll see you both later! Let me know what happens with the fire.”

Taehyung, who seems more than accustomed to Jungkook’s abrupt pardon of his presence, nods. “Will do.”

The boy is already a few feet away from you, rushing toward the front door of the room, but you stop him before he can slip out of your reach entirely.

“Wait, Jungkook!” You call out. He spins around to look at you almost immediately, a look of panic on his face. “Don’t forget we have to meet up at the library on Sunday to work on the project.”

“Got it,” he says, raising his two forefingers to his forehead in a mock salute. He turns back around and begins bounding towards the door, giving you two one last wave. “See you later!”

The door slams shut behind him and the party, despite the group crowded around the t.v., carries on in a cacophonous sound of drunken yelling and dumb music, completely and utterly oblivious. You let out a sigh as you turn back to the t.v., noting Taehyung’s presence still beside you. He takes a satisfying sip of whatever beverage is occupying the red cup in his hand and nods.

“That’s Jungkook for you,” he says. His voice is a tired sigh, dispirited almost, as he thinks of the boy that has been his friend since freshman year of highschool. Just before he turns away, you hear him muttering, “Always putting others before him.”

You don’t see Jungkook that Sunday.

Whether or not he had entirely blown you off or had simply forgotten, you wait and wait in complete silence in the school library for nearly three hours as every call and every text you send to his phone goes otherwise unnoticed or ignored. It is entirely unlike Jungkook to completely vanish and though you want to be mad, you are more disappointed than anything else. You spend your time at a table by yourself, books and papers sprawled out before you, as you try to work diligently on the last piece of writing you need for the assignment to be complete whilst trying to not let your eyes wander to the time on the clock hanging on the wall opposite you but to no avail.

In a corner above the front desk, you see a t.v. propped on the wall that plays the silent image of the news as they recall the events from that Friday at the burning building. Fortunately, that spider guy had arrived before any casualties could happen and you watch, for the third time since Friday, as the recording footage shows the red and blue hero swinging defiantly into the wall of fire and pulling various residents from the fire. A duo of girls sitting next to you croons dreamily over the masked man, especially as they witness him emerging from the fire with a small and unscathed Corgi dog in his hands that, you admit, is rather admirable.

On Wednesday night, you find yourself stuck in the sparkling confinements of the café bound to the six hour shift you were in the midst of completing. It’s surprisingly busy for a day in the middle of the week, though you assume that’s only because each customer is in a rush to seek refuge from the surprisingly cold evening. You hadn’t even been thinking about Jungkook when he makes himself known in the café some time after 9 p.m. You hear the bell ring above the door, feel a short gust of shocking wind, before it shuts behind him. When you look up instinctively to greet the newcomer and lay your eyes on the boy, your words fall short.

You watch as he stumbles forward, his feet practically dragging behind him in worn up Converse shoes. He looks exhausted ━ even more so than usual ━ and judging by his dishevelled hair and crumpled clothes and the way he seems to walk in a daze as if he is in another world, you assume he hasn’t slept in a while. He still hauls his backpack with one strap slung over his shoulder that he drops lazily to the ground beside a table before he plops himself down into the seat with a groan in one swift motion. What’s most strange are the blossoming bruises on his neck and the fresh cut on the highest point of his left cheekbone.

You hate that you’re so weak for that boy; that even though he completely ignored you, you still pity him. Wondering what sorts of trouble he’s been finding himself in lately, you pour him a cup of steaming black coffee and walk towards his table. He hardly even notices you as his head is buried in his folded arms atop the table, though he peeks up past his bangs when you slide the coffee beside him.

“I’d hate to see the other guy,” You hum.

His eyes brighten at the sight of you and he pushes himself up, raking a hand through his unkempt hair in a poor attempt to fix it. “Y/N━”

“Where were you, Jungkook?” You ask sternly, suddenly. “On Sunday? I waited for you for over three hours. I called you and texted you and you completely ignored me. You could have at least gotten back to me. I had to finish the rest of the assignment by myself.”

His brow creases with concern, his stare softening apologetically. He leans forward, suddenly helpless.

“I’m sorry,” he stammers. “I━I didn’t mean to━ Something came up.”

“Whatever, Jungkook,” You sigh. “It’s fine. I can’t stay and chat but I’ll have you know I already handed the assignment in online. You’re welcome. Oh, and the coffee’s on the house. You look like crap.”

You spin on your heel and march away to help another customer before Jungkook can even try to talk to you. He watches as you slip from his grasp, a frown scrunching up your face that is forced to soften as you approach another table. He collapses against his chair and groans inwardly, rubbing his hand over his aching and swollen face. He knows you’re mad at him but he can’t quite tell if you’ll stay like that for long. He doesn’t blame you anyway, but he couldn’t just tell you where he had gone or what had happened. Could he?

It’s much to his dismay that you don’t talk to him the next day, or on Tuesday, or on Wednesday, or on Thursday. He tries to find you around campus but he is always too late and, instead, finds you slipping away from him each time. He pops into the café a few nights and though you work both nights, it’s still much too busy to actually talk to you and so he, doing what he does best, falls asleep at the table as he silently broods. Whether or not it’s your anger purposely driving you further from him or simply life intervening, Jungkook wants nothing more than to apologize ━ if he can even get close enough to you to do so.

Finding yourself on the rooftop of your apartment building isn’t uncommon. Most of your free time is spent up there, either watching the night sky or gazing at the busy city under a cerulean blue sky and golden sun. That Friday night is no different. With no homework and no social gathering to devote yourself to, you sneak off to the roof and position yourself in just a spot where you can see the towering buildings of each borough in each direction you cast your gaze. You would have been content falling asleep up there, with nothing but the sound of the distant hum of cars to lull you and the view of the moon and window lights that act as the metropolis’s stars.

You all but lose track of time, unaware of whether or not you have been there for minutes or hours but you don’t entirely mind. You would be lying, too, if you denied that there was some sort of inkling of hope in you that hoped maybe you would see him again. That is why when you hear the soft plop of feet dropping to the ground moments later, you are not at all startled by the sudden presence, though you are astounded by his arrival, as if on cue. You don’t even need him to speak to know who it is and when you feel the smile ghost along your lips, there is a moment of pause where you question your own sanity for being so happy to see this masked and mysterious man. But he isn’t at all a mystery at this point when you feel as if you’ve acquainted yourself with him well enough.

“You shouldn’t be out here all alone,” The voice that drifts through the shadows of the roof is familiar, gentle. “It’s dark. Who knows who could come up here?”

“Yeah,” You snort. “Wouldn’t want any strangers sneaking up on me ━ or masked vigilantes who seem to be following me.”

You turn to look at him but are greeted with nothing except emptiness. He lingers somewhere in the darkness and you squint your eyes, desperately trying to spot him. He laughs, the sound so silvery and smooth like honey.

“Someone’s following you?” he replies tauntingly. “Do I have to deal with them again?”

“Why are you always hiding in the dark?”

The sudden question seems to cause him to hesitate. It’s silent before you hear his voice wander over to you.

“To add to the mystique?” he says.

“Now that’s suspicious. Maybe I should call the police on you.”

“They would never be able to catch me.”

“Someone’s cocky,” You take a step toward the darkness, in the direction of the sound of his voice. “Did the fame get to you already?”

You hear him take a step back from you and it, subsequently, causes you to linger. You wait before stubbornly pushing yourself forward once more.

“What fame? People want to lock me up.”

“And most people are in love with you. I overheard a few girls gushing over you saving that dog from that burning building the other day,” You giggle. “Does it mean anything to you?”

“Ah, well,” You can hear the grin in his voice, can see the silhouette of his figure not too far from you, “I gotta admit the attention is pretty nice. But no one knows who I am without this mask so it doesn’t really matter.”

“How does that make you feel?”

One step forward, another backward. You pause; at this rate, you’ll have chased him all the way to the other side of the roof.

“I don’t mind. It keeps me humble,” he replies. “But it also stops me a lot of the time, y’know? With this mask on, I feel invincible; with it off, I feel useless. But someone pretty important to me once told me that life is too short to constantly hide behind a mask.”

A wide, genuine smile stretches across your face. You take another step forward and this time he stands still. From where you are, you can see the tall and lean figure, adorned in the signature tight red and blue suit.

“That’s pretty smart of them to say.”

“She is pretty admirable. Much braver than I could ever be without this mask.”

He turns around from you before you can reach him. You watch as he casually strides forward a few paces to the barrier behind him, which he props his hands against to lean on. He seems to be lost in thought, perhaps struggling with some sort of inner turmoil. You tiptoe in suit, cautious as you approach him. You can see the muscles that strain from beneath his suit, the heave and fall of his chest.

“Can I know your name?” Your voice is a gentle whisper that carries to him with the wind. “Your real name?”

When he turns around to face you once more, you’re standing only a few feet away from him. You take another step forward, closing the short distance between the two of you and are made aware of how much taller he really is. The way he towers over you is almost comforting, familiar, that no emotionless red mask could cause you to stray. He’s so much more different up close in that suit. He hesitates before he forces himself to speak.

“I think,” he pauses. He swallows thickly, attempting to subdue the quickening race of his heart as he clamps his fingers into his sweaty palms. “I think you already know my name.”

This seems to pique your interest. Quirking a brow and cocking your head to the side, you stare up at the masked face that gazes back down at you. You aren’t entirely sure what compels you to do so, as it could be a complete disaster and not at all what you are expecting, but you slowly, so very slowly, reach up with your hands to grasp gingerly at his face. The red fabric beneath your fingertips is soft and as your digits brush lightly over his covered cheekbones, he hardly moves. For some reason, you can feel your heart hammering against your feeble chest, can hear it in your ears in tandem with the sound of passing traffic down below. His heart is beating just as fast, though he thinks it nearly stops when he feels your fingers begin to gently pull at the neck of his mask, sliding it upward.

The first poke of tanned skin has your heart quickening, your breath hitching in your throat. You tug the mask the rest of the way off and, finally, step back to look at the mysterious masked hero known as Spider-Man.

Jungkook.

It’s Jungkook.

The familiar boy stands before you, his hair a disheveled mess from the mask, his doe eyes even wider now in timid fear as he looks down at you. Everything is him, from his luscious pink lips, to the freckle on his neck, the piercings in his ears, that tiny scar he’s had since he was a child on his cheek. The city lights and moon illuminate him from behind and he seems nervous as he anticipates a reaction but you are much too busy admiring him. Your fingers trace delicately over the fresh scar on his face that he had brandished at the café only a few nights ago. A breath of satisfaction slips past your parted lips and then you’re laughing silently to yourself.

The boy looks dumbfounded at first, and then he quirks a brow. “What’s so funny?”

“I knew it,” You shake your head at nothing in particular, or perhaps the way you continue to giggle.

Jungkook suddenly looks shocked, though he instantly seems to relax. He studies the smile that stretches across your cheeks in awe, brightening your face in all its glory. “How did you know?”

“Well, you’re not exactly that smooth, Jungkook,” You grin. “The late nights coming into the café, always scratched up and always tired as if you’ve ran all over the city; always getting jumpy when you hear police sirens ━ like the night at the party. Not to mention that one time at the café when the news was on and they were talking about a robbery at the bank and hostages being held and you ran right out of there only for Spider-Man to show up on the scene minutes later. It’s all very suspicious, don’t you think?”

He can’t help the laugh that escapes him, a joyous sound of content. He leans against the palm of your hand that is cradling the side of his face with the scar.

“Right,” he sighs. “All very suspicious.”

His stare locks with yours in a steady gaze and neither of you can turn away. His eyes sparkle like the stars in the sky, lingering with it a sense of hope and content. He is mesmerizing, with the city he devotes his time to saving in the horizon beyond him. It’s near impossible to look away, but why would you want to? It happens much like a blink of an eye, a frail beat of your heart; it comes with the passing of a car whizzing by on the streets down below and is as much startling as the sudden breeze that sends chills down your spine.

He begins to lean forward ━ or maybe that was you? Your eyes flutter shut, your anticipation held with a deep breath, until finally your lips meet with his though you hardly have time to relish in it. Almost as soon as your lips touch, he’s pulling away quickly. He doesn’t move too far and his mouth lingers just over yours. His eyes remain fixated on the curl of your lips for a moment too long before he rips them away to meet your hazy gaze.

“Wait,” he hums. “You━ You said you were crushing on Spider-Man. Does that mean you knew this whole time and━ and like me?”

The question is so like Jungkook; so innocent and silly and genuine that it causes a sweet giggle to bubble at your lips. He’s always been so oblivious to these kinds of things and so maybe that’s what pushes you to kiss him next. Your lips lock for a second time and, though it is just as fleeting, you note with joy the softness of his mouth as it folds over yours. You part from him with a breathless gasp, your nose brushing lightly against his as a smile stretches across your face.

“What do you think, bugboy?” Your voice is barely above a whisper, a playful taunt that makes Jungkook smile wide.

He kisses you this time, slow and passionate as if attempting to pour every single one of his emotions and thoughts for you into the single intimate action. His hands grasp at either side of your face, carefully pulling you closer to him to deepen the kiss and you, instinctively, melt against his broad chest. Your fingers trail up the lean muscle of his arms to twine in the hair at the nape of his neck, tugging with yearning. His hands fall to your waist, enveloping you in his body, and when he parts from you, he rests his forehead against yours.

“Can I show you something?”

You nod. His eyes light up and then he’s jumping up onto the cement barrier behind him, turning around to look at you. You gasp from the sudden movement, your stomach churning unpleasantly at the sight of him quite literally standing on the edge of a building only to remind yourself he’s Spider-Man. He’s done plenty more reckless things than this. He holds his hand out, a reassuring smile on his face.

“Do you trust me?” he asks.

There’s no hesitation as you answer him with another firm nod. “Of course. Always.”

“Then take my hand,” he says. “I’ll never do anything to harm you, you know that.”

You do know that. Jungkook wouldn’t hurt a fly; he’s too good and precious for the world you live in and he says yes far too often to people who most likely don’t deserve it, but he knows when to stand up for not only himself but others as well. You are just one of the few he cares for wholeheartedly and you know that.

You reach out carefully and place your hand in his surprisingly cold and large ones. His fingers wrap around yours as he helps you up onto the barrier, holding you closely toward him.

You take a deep breath, shut your eyes, and put every ounce of your trust into this single, courageous boy ━ and you let yourself fall with him.

You’re roused awake by the sound of light tapping against your bedroom window.

It startles you at first, causing you to jolt upright into a sitting position as you look around frantically at your empty and dark room; the only light comes from the city life and the moon outside, shedding a warm glow onto the floor before it. For a moment, you think you had just dreamt the noise but then you hear it again, low and near. You crane your neck to look and first see a shadow but, as the figure shifts into view, you’re able to see the familiar young man in red and blue. Your heart leaps in your chest and suddenly you’re scrambling off your feet, throwing yourself at the window to throw it open.

The night Jungkook had admitted to being Spider-Man and jumped up onto the edge of the roof, holding his hand out to you in a silent question of trust, he leaves you with a night that you swear you will cherish forever. Wary of where he will go but entirely consenting of his spontaneity, he surprises you by carrying you throughout the city, swinging from building to building in an extraordinary feat that feels as if you’re flying; and, as if that hadn’t been a big enough thrilling shock, he brings you to the very top of the Empire State Building, just under the antenna. No one is there and no one can see you and, with Jungkook under the brightening sky with the view of New York stretching out into the horizon before you, you feel as if you have the whole world in the very palm of your hand.

You sit with Jungkook that night, talking, not talking, listening intently to him as he recounts the tale of how he had turned into the masked hero with his peculiar powers, and watching the sunrise from beyond the very tops of buildings and skyscrapers. There are no words to describe the breathtaking view from one of the highest points in the city, watching as the golden sun peaks over the horizon and sets the city ablaze in saturated warm hues of orange, pink, and purple, mingling together in one impressionistic masterpiece that could put even the greatest of painters to shame. The light reflects against the glass panes of windows in a mirage similar to flickering flames that never scathe the city, but instead seem to enhance the beauty it holds.

You never want the night to end but eventually it does and, when he returns you to your bedroom window with one parting kiss, it and Jungkook’s lips are all you can dream about.

A week has passed since then, in which time you’ve done nothing but find yourself growing closer with Jungkook. He’s all you’ve been able to think about these days. So, to hear him and see him at your window is enough to make butterflies form in the very pit of your stomach. You see him sitting on the fire escape just outside your window, leaning against the building looking even more exhausted than usual. Another fresh cut lines his cheek in a stripe of red though he doesn’t seem to mind much for it as he dozes off slightly. You push open the window, startling him awake, and poke your head outside. A weary smile tugs at his lips at the sight of you.

“Well, this is romantic,” You stifle the giggle that bubbles at your mouth. “Thank you for not throwing rocks at my window, Romeo. To what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you at two in the morning?”

“Sorry, did I wake you?” he asks sheepishly. “I just wanted to see you.”

His response earns a shy smile stretching across your face. “No, you didn’t wake me,” You say with a shake of your head (though the way you comb your fingers through your mused hair tells him otherwise). “What happened to your face, Jungkook?”

He reaches up to his face, as if momentarily forgetting the cut, winces, and then drops his hand from his face. He grins wolfishly, attempting to shrug it off. “Oh, this little thing? It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. I just got caught up in a little fight but I’m fine. I swear. You really should see the other guy.”

The smug tone in his voice as he rambles on makes you stare at him in amusement. You sigh as you take a step back, saying, “Come inside. I’ll clean that for you.”

“Well, if you insist.”

He smirks as he pulls himself through the window and into your room. His eyes wander around the four walls, noting the decor that lines it, the shelves with all your personal trinkets and belongings, the clothes littered on the floor, and the empty take-out box of Chinese food that rests atop your desk. There’s a soft aroma of something sweet that smells like you ━ possibly a perfume or a soap or shampoo? ━ and it makes Jungkook’s head spin pleasantly. He asks about your day and then sits on the bed and, as you tell him about your boring classes as you rummage around your bathroom for something to clean his wound with, he smiles.

He finds your room comforting ━ or maybe he just finds your presence comforting. Either way, over time you find that this would only be a common occurrence throughout the next month. He startles you the first few times he shows up but then you begin to stay awake a little longer, waiting eagerly by the window as you wait for him to arrive. Most times he’s bruised or has small and fresh cuts, of which you either hand him an ice packet or clean the cut; sometimes he isn’t even hurt and instead claims simply that he just wanted to see you before you went to sleep. But each time he listens to you and your day, asking about yourself rather than him and no matter how hard you try to pry information out of him about what had possibly happened to him throughout his night, he swiftly brushes it off. You don’t mind either way ━ you just want to see him as much as you can, anyway.

There is one night, however, where things seem to go entirely different.

You’re curled up in bed reading a book when you hear the light tapping on your window. You’ve come to leave the window pried open slightly as you wait for him, but even so he still takes the time to knock to signal his arrival. You instantly climb to your feet, wandering over to the window and tossing it open with a flourish. As Jungkook climbs in through the small space, you note the tight suit he’s wearing is slashed at the top of his arm and both the skin underneath it and on his face is bruised and cut; other than that, and judging by the cheeky smile on his face, he seems to be ok.

You shake your head at him, smiling gingerly as you muse, “Who’s the damsel in distress now, bugboy?”

Jungkook smirks, prodding your sides with his fingers and causing you to squirm as you walk past him. “There’s no shame in needing a little help every once and awhile, right? I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Sit down,” You tell him, winking up at him. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Minutes later you return to sit by his side on the bed, cleaning his cuts as per usual and, while he has a frozen packet of peas pressed to his bruised and sore shoulder, you are busying yourself by sewing the cut in his suit with blue thread you had found in your room. In the midst of your work, perhaps you press too generously down on his recent wound, as he winces slightly and shifts on top of your bed. You crane your neck to look up at him, studying him curiously. He seems to notice your stare and quirks a brow as he looks down at you.

“What’s up?”

Your fingers stop their work on his suit and, remembering where the cut had broken his skin just slightly underneath the tear, brush lightly over the tender flesh covered in gauze. “Does it hurt?”

Jungkook shakes his head, sitting up a little straighter. “Hurt? No, no, of course not. It just, uh━ It isn’t the most pleasant. But this isn’t the worst I’ve been after a night in the suit so I can handle it.”

Your eyes study his battered face in some sort of admiration, albeit mixed with timid nervousness. What sort of things had he encountered, had he been through, that he won’t tell you?

“Are you ever afraid?” You ask gently.

“No way,” he shakes his head, but not before you spot the confident grin he flashes you. “It’s honestly nothing I can’t handle by now. It’s not so bad, either. It’s kinda weird. I mean, ever since getting bitten, I’ve found the healing process is a whole lot faster.”

Maybe he notices the lingering uneasiness in your eyes, the way you seem to doubt him. He reaches out with his fingers to gingerly brush against the side of your face in a swift flourish as he tilts your head a little higher. He smiles something warm that makes your heart melt as you lean your face against the palm of his calloused hand. To avoid the prying stare he gives you, you smile lightly and shake your head, attempting to change the subject.

“Dunno, bugboy. Are there any perks to this job?”

Jungkook snorts as you finish sewing his suit. As you discard the needle and leftover thread, he says, “There are. Like, for instance, knowing the city is a little safer. Then there’s the fact that Spider-Man seems to have a lot of admirers…”

“I thought you said it doesn’t matter anyway because no one knows who you are.”

“Well, there is you,” he says. “And I gotta say you’re a pretty good perk.”

A blush tinges your cheeks as you sit across from him. Your eyes flicker down the suit that adorns him and you try to bite back the lighthearted snicker that bubbles at your chest. “I was gonna say a perk is this tight suit. At least, for me it is. Your ass has never looked more fantastic.”

Jungkook suddenly bursts out into laughter, throwing his head back. When he looks back at you, his hand finds the side of your face once more and pulls you towards him. With your lips hovering just over his, he mumbles something, anything, just for the sake of responding despite already being lost in you.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Then you’re kissing him.

You’ve come to find that Jungkook’s lips are entirely irresistible and the more you kiss him, the more you wonder why you hadn’t confessed to him earlier. He’s gentle as he lets his lips fold over yours, mouth dancing with mouth in a passionate yearning. But there’s a certain type of underlying insatiable hunger that seems to wash over both you and him and fast. Your fingers rake up the side of his face and tangle in his messy locks and soon he’s pulling you onto the bed, onto him. You instinctively straddle his lap, craning your neck so as to deepen the kiss, never once breaking apart for air. But something seems to happen, something that startles Jungkook so deeply. Perhaps it’s the way you grasp his hair a little tighter, the way he heard you gasp when he bites down gently on the side of your jaw, the way your hips fit over his; or perhaps it’s the way you tug off your shirt in an attempt to get closer to him, displaying to him the plain white bra you’re wearing that all culminate into something more. He knows where this is going, you know where this is going ━ and though Jungkook would want nothing more than to carry on, he’s reminded of a terrifying and prominent thought that has always haunted him the moment he made that mask.

You feel the way he tenses beneath you and, in the next quick second, he’s pulling apart from you and you, so dazed and lost, gasping for air, stare down at him dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong, Jungkook?” You ask. “Did I hurt you? Is your arm okay?”

“I’m fine,” he says weakly.

You grin as you press another kiss to his throat, mumbling into his neck, “Good, then let’s━”

“No.”

“What?”

You sit back on his lap suddenly, staring at him with a flushed face. Your hair is mussed messily, a red bruise blossoms on your jawline that Jungkook had graced you with, and one strap of your bra hangs daintily over your shoulder and Jungkook can’t help but notice how utterly sexy you look. He groans inwardly, tearing his gaze to look up at you. He swallows thickly, wincing at the bright and innocent twinkle in your eyes.

“We━” he pauses and then says, “We can’t do this.”

You quirk a brow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he says slowly, carefully, “we can’t do this. I’m━ I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was thinking but I should have stopped this sooner.”

“Stop what?” Your voice is weak, small. You know what he’s referring to but you don’t want to believe it just yet.

Fuck, I can’t do this, Jungkook curses to himself. If he had just stayed away from you from the beginning, this wouldn’t even be happening. He wouldn’t be about to hurt you or himself.

“Us,” he whispers. “There can’t be an us, Y/N.”

Your brows knit together in confusion but your eyes are wide with fear. “What are you talking about? How can there not be an us? I thought━ I thought you wanted this.”

When he hesitates to respond, you’re quick to slide off of his lap, standing to your feet. Suddenly you’re panicking, embarrassed. He sees the way your lips are pulled tightly in a thin line, the way you rake your hands through your hair, mumbling, “Oh my god,” as you search for a shirt. Jungkook springs to his feet, grasping onto your waist but you easily slither out of his reach, clutching your shirt to your chest. To you, you think you have just made a fool of yourself, nearly striping naked for a boy who apparently doesn’t want you. Jungkook knows this is what you’re thinking and it pains him so.

“No, no, I do,” he says. “I do want this! I just can’t do it.”

“And why not?” You snap hotly. “You’re not making any sense. Either you do or you don’t want us to be a thing.”

“It’s not that simple━”

“It sure seems like it is.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Any explanation would be better than none,” You say firmly, “and simultaneously making me look like an idiot for looking so eager.”

Jungkook sighs heavily. He takes a step back from you, running both hands frustratedly through his hair, letting the muscles in his biceps flex as he does so. When he looks back at you, he’s solemn.

“There can’t be an us because I’m just gonna put you in danger this way,” he says. “People are out there looking for me! Not just the police, but hardcore criminals, gangs, thugs, murderers. If they find me, or if they find out that you’re close to me or know me, they’ll hurt you too. I can’t have that, Y/N.”

“But I can handle it,” You insist.

“I can’t,” Jungkook’s voice is stern, set in place. “I can’t have that on my conscience, knowing that if you get hurt, it’s because of me. That’s all I ever worry about, from the second that I put this mask on. No one knows about me being Spider-Man and I kept it that way for a reason. Don’t you think I could have flaunted that I was this supposed super cool new hero? I didn’t do that because of you; because of the people that I’m close to.”

“I don’t care,” Your voice is feeble, cracking. “I don’t care if I get hurt. If you can handle it, then so can I! I just want to be with you, Jungkook. I━ I love you━”

Jungkook hears the words you blurt out quickly but he doesn’t seem to necessarily register them at once. A stiff silence settles in the room between the two of you, an undeniable form of the point of no return, except you don’t regret the words you say. You mean them wholeheartedly because you have always admired and loved Jungkook, from the little boy next door to this young hero before you. You stare at him shyly, albeit unwavering. A panic washes over him, drains his face of any colour, and suddenly it feels as if he can’t breathe, his chest concaving in on his shrill heart. As the words begin to register in his mind, he can only sorrowfully gaze at you; but the lack of silence has your confidence paling and soon you’re looking away, shaking your head. A pained expression paints your features and though it hurts Jungkook more than any other wound that has been inflicted upon him in fights on the street prior to this, he knows he has to do this.

You already know his answer before he even speaks it. When he does say the final words that leave you in such an excruciating and unbearable pain, he has already fled, grabbing his mask and escaping out of the window, escaping from you, and into the heart of the city. When he’s gone and you’re alone in the thick silence do his words finally return to you and are the cause of the broken heart you are forced to nurse through muddled tears over the aimless days to come:

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

You don’t see Jungkook the next day or the day after that.

In fact, you don’t see him for three entire weeks. He stops showing up at the café late at night, stops attending the classes he has with you (or maybe he just blends well into the other somber looking faces), stops visiting your window in the early morning hours. Autumn bleeds numbly into the beginning shock of cold that is winter and, though there is no snow yet, you still feel the wrath of the frigid season. And, with the sudden loss of Jungkook, comes the abrupt and unwarranted disappearance of Spider-Man. Maybe it is your fault, maybe it is Jungkook’s fault. Either way, the masked enigma vanishes without a trace after your argument with Jungkook and the city’s crime, now freed from the vigilant watchful eyes of New York’s hero, spikes.

It feels almost as if the city has swallowed him whole or as if he has dropped off the face of the earth and the only thing to remember him by is the sudden havoc that ensues the city. The only thing you have to even know if Jungkook is still alive are the occasional updates from Taehyung who comes to befriend you if only to mention Jungkook every once and awhile just for the sake of easing your worried mind. You’re not so much mad as you are upset, but you care entirely more for his own wellbeing and to not hear from him causes you agony.

There is only one brisk moment in which you encounter Jungkook and it comes simply from a happenstance. You are not at all expecting to see him and nor is he expecting to see you. Rather, you are seated on a wooden bench in the park just beside your school on a day graced with a strange warmth for winter. Wrapped in a scarf and knit hat, you are flipping through the pages of a book for one of your classes when a figure stands before you, momentarily blocking the sun’s light from your view. As you glance up at the shadow cast over you, you are genuinely surprised to find Jungkook standing there. He looks, perhaps, even more so dishevelled than usual, his hair and attire all one negligent mess as if he couldn’t even find the strength to care for himself. Dark circles line his sunken eyes which stare down at you sorrowfully.

“Y/N… Can I talk to you?”

Your heart skips a beat. For a moment, you can’t turn away from him. For a moment, you fear that you will cave into him but then you are reminded of your broken heart. It’s what causes you to act in such haste, shaking your head up at him as you shut your book and shove it into your bag. You stand to your feet and brush past him and he, so caught up in your rejection of him and the own twinge of pain he feels in his heart, lingers by the bench. Then, he is walking after you, his footsteps swiftly catching him up to you.

“Y/N. Y/N, wait! Please, just let me━”

Jungkook breaks out into a sudden jog and only stops when he is standing in front of you. With your path blocked, you, too, come to a halt if only for the benefit of the doubt. He desperately tries to meet your eyes but you look past him, arms folded over your chest.

“Let me talk to you,” he begs. “Away from here. Just you and me. I can explain everything. I━”

“You had your chance, Jungkook,” You quip dryly. “You didn’t have to run away from me.”

“I wasn’t━ I didn’t mean to━” he tries, but is interrupted once more by your strained voice.

“You left me.” Now you are staring at him and Jungkook wishes that you hadn’t even bothered to give him the chance. Once full of shimmering admiration, your eyes are only glossed over with a pained disappointment. “I told you I loved you and you left me. You made me look so stupid and I━ No. No, I’m not doing this right now.”

You push yourself forward, walking carefully around him. He watches as you storm away, shaking your head to yourself. With one last despairing attempt, he calls out to you once more.

“I’m sorry,” he gasps. “I let you down. I know. I’m a failure.”

You stop. Your back is turned to him before you force yourself to look over at him and he foolishly thinks that maybe you’ll give him a chance to properly explain himself. Instead━

“You’re not a failure, Jungkook,” You tell him firmly. “I just━ I need to be alone right now. But don’t leave them. Don’t let them down. The city needs you.”

Jungkook flinches. He wants to call out to you again and pull you back to him, explain everything that is on his mind, but he can’t. Instead, he is forced to watch you walk away from him until you disappear amongst the crowd and even then he doesn’t move. He knows you’re disappointed with him.

He knows the whole city is disappointed with him ━ but the only person he wants to impress is you and he fears he’s ruined his only chance to.

You hardly seem to sleep at night anymore, instead too caught up in the thoughts that plague your dreams. Instead of going to the roof as you usually do when you can’t sleep, you find yourself lying helplessly in your bed, staring up at the empty night sky through your window. One night, as you’re dozing off on your bed, your eyes blinking wearily as they try to focus on the shimmering moon, you begin to hear a noise. It’s similar to a light tapping, though it drowns out in the sound of a siren from somewhere down below. At first you believe you have just dreamt it but then you hear a loud thud, slightly muffled from somewhere outside your window. It jolts you awake, has you pushing yourself up into a sitting position, and glancing around your room for any sign of something that may have fallen in there before noticing a flash of movement from the corner of your eye.

Red and blue.

Interest piques your drowsy mind at the thought of it being Jungkook but why would he be returning to you now? You would have been entirely set on begrudgingly flopping back down onto your bed and turning your back to him had you not felt that dreadful feeling that something was terribly wrong. You can’t hear his voice and when you turn to get a better look, you find him standing on the fire escape just outside your window, slumped dangerously against the wall with his back to you. It is that dreaded feeling that pushes you out of your bed, drags you to your window which you lightly throw open, only to be met with a sight that leaves you in horrific shock.

Jungkook is adorned in his usual tight red and blue suit, though his mask is off and gives you a clear view of his weary face, now muted in colour, that your eyes land on first. His eyes are shut, his head rests against the brick wall of the building, and his skin is marked with dirt and grime, bruises and dried blood. As your eyes trail lower, following the curve of his arms to his hands that cradle his side, you finally spot the large wound from beneath his fingertips on the left of his abdomen, shimmering a bright crimson red. Immediately your heart sinks to your stomach as you gasp loudly.

“Oh my god! Jungkook!”

Shimmying your way through the window to get closer to the boy hardly has him stirring. Your hands come out to grasp at his face, forcing him from his slouched position.

“Jungkook, can you hear me? What the hell happened?”

His eyes flicker open momentarily at the touch of your warm fingers and he musters a small smirk, the corners of his lips lifting up just slightly.

“It’s just a scratch,” he mumbles hoarsely. “You should definitely see the other guy now.”

“You’re an idiot,” You grumble, your eyebrows knitting into a frown. “Why are you here? You should have gone to the hospital! I’m taking you right now━”

“No, no,” he protests stubbornly. He shifts his weight and immediately flinches from the pain. “No, you can’t. I’ll be okay. I just━ I need some time to rest.”

A deep sigh exhales past your parted lips at the mention of what had happened the night he fled so suddenly. Instead, you brush off the memory and give him a small shake of your head. “Here, stop talking. Let me help you get inside and I’ll see what I can do for you. This is gonna hurt a bit but can you move?”

Jungkook nods. As you wrap your arm carefully around his waist to shift him over to the window, he sucks in a deep breath and pushes himself forward. You try to help as he stiffly climbs in through the small window, grunting in pain as he does so, and then stumbling into your room and bumping into your desk next to the window, knocking a few trinkets down. As he leans dangerously against your now skewed desk, you hurry through the window and help him to his feet, pulling him over to your bed.

Despite the way he had left you so suddenly days ago, there is no air of stiffness in the room. The only thing that surrounds the two of you is a melancholic silence as you rummage around your room for the medkit you knew you had stowed away eons ago. For the most part, Jungkook patches himself up, downing a couple of painkillers, cleaning his wound in his abdomen and stitching it closed with a steady hand that has evidently done this before. You sit across from him in your desk chair, watching him intently as he sits on your bed, having shrugged off the top part of his suit and leaving his torso exposed. Other than the blood and dirt that cakes his golden skin, you take note of the toned muscles that make his abs and the way they flex in tandem with every time he winces as he tugs at his wound.

When he’s done, the silence is still unmoving. Jungkook wants to speak but his throat is dry and any time he dares open his mouth to say something, anything, he immediately recoils. It’s only when you’re helping him into your bathroom so he can take a shower does he finally gather the courage he needed all this time without his mask on. Before you can turn to walk away on him, he catches your attention by calling your name. When he speaks next, his voice is faint, terrified.

“I’m sorry.”

He gulps when you turn to look up at him and suddenly he’s made aware of the fact that the two of you are cramped so closely together in your small bathroom. It makes the shame he feels more prominent as he looks you in the eyes.

“You were the first person I could think of when this happened,” he says. “I━ I know I have no right to be here after what I did to you but I just needed someone. I needed you.”

Your heart flutters at his words though you hide this feeble act by turning away from him. “It’s whatever, Jungkook,” He hears you mumble faintly, your back to him. “Anything I can do to help.”

He wants to say something more but he hesitates again. He watches as you take a deep breath, the heave of your shoulders under a heavy weight, before you ultimately walk out of the door and shut it behind you, leaving it slightly ajar. You linger in your bedroom, standing in front of your window as you gaze out, absentmindedly gnawing on your lower lip as you fold your arms tighter around your torso. You hear the shower switch on, let the calming sound of falling water wash over you, and shut your eyes momentarily. You can still see the light from the bathroom pouring out into the darkness of your room from the angled door, and can see the steam start to cloud the mirror.

There’s something so indistinctly intimate about having him in your shower in the next room over after days of avoiding one another. You have every right to be enraged and upset with him and yet you aren’t. You can’t bring yourself to ever hate the boy in the room over. You understand why he left so abruptly and it makes sense but now, in that moment in time, with nothing but a wall dividing you two, there is a certain type of craving you can’t subdue. A craving and a yearning to be closer to him; to tell him how you feel before, if even, he decides to flee in the morning after.

You blame it on your stubbornness that pushes you forward. Really, it seems to happen in such a haze, a rush of adrenaline. One moment, you’re standing by the window; in the next moment, you’re by the bathroom door, your fingers clutching the handle. As you push it open, you can only see a misty silhouette of Jungkook’s figure from beyond the steamed glass doors of the shower. Your heart is hammering against your chest as you walk to the shower, slowly kicking off your shorts as you go.

Jungkook must hear you as you make your way into the bathroom because as soon as you carefully slide open the glass door, he’s already staring at you with a lack of surprise, noting the baggy t-shirt you wear and the way his heart flips when he imagines you in a similar shirt of his. You only meet his curious eyes, noting the water that trickles down his toned and glistening body and flattens his usual unkempt hair into his lashes. He shakes his hair out of his eyes and suddenly he looks remorseful. It’s almost as if he can read your mind and anticipates every second you take to just step inside, his eyes beckoning you to come. It’s not like he cares; in fact, he wants you next to him. God, he just wants you so bad.

Steady hands find the hem of your baggy white t-shirt that you lift up and over your head, exposing the smooth expanse of your bare stomach and the perk of your bare breasts. You shimmy out of your baby pink underwear and, suddenly, you’re standing completely vulnerable before him and yet this is all he wants and all you want. You step inside the shower, closing the distance between you and him even more until you’re right in front of him, letting the warm water pour down onto you. It’s become stifling hot in that little space and there’s only a split moment where you fear you’ve made a mistake before you feel Jungkook’s hand come up to gently hold the side of your face. His thumb caresses your cheekbone, his eyes gazing into yours, and then he’s kissing you.

It’s a soft kiss, one where he takes his time to thoroughly enjoy it, first kissing your upper lip, then your lower lip in some sort of sensual manner that leaves chills running down your spine. He leaves a trail of warm and wet kisses from your jawline to your neck, nuzzling his nose against your throat as your breath catches. His hands fall to grasp at your hips, yanking you toward him and you so easily comply, melting completely into his broad chest and immediately feeling a sense of warmth as if you’ve always belonged there, wrapped up in his strong arms.

“You’re blushing,” he remarks gently, making you realize he’s pulled apart from you to study your face. His fingers brush away the hair that falls into your eyes and he smiles. “You’re blushing now after you walked in on me naked? God, you’re so cute.”

You whine something in protest, burying your face in his neck and he laughs. His fingers tickle at your sides, causing you to squirm in his grip, and when you look at him again, his stare is tender and fond.

“Come here,” he mumbles.

You let him pull you into another kiss that has your head spinning. His tongue grazes your lower lip, teeth slightly nibbling down on the flesh in a way that jolts your heart. As your hands snake up his chest to wind with the hair at the nape of his neck, your own mouth parts open, letting his tongue twine with yours in a heated kiss. He can feel everything against his own body, from the perk of your breasts to the slope of your hips. His hands slide down to rest upon your lower back and the way he pulls you flush against him, letting you brush against his firm cock, makes your head spin again. It’s what wills you to start grinding your hips against his in a slow pattern that has his breath hitching in his throat, his fingers digging tighter into your skin.

“You’re driving me insane,” his voice is husky as he speaks, smooth as it filters through your ears.

You can’t help but smirk against his mouth. “Likewise.”

“How about we get out of here?” he asks. “The bed seems a hell of a lot more comfortable.”

You nod eagerly, mumbling a small, “Please,” against his luscious lips, too reluctant to pull away. He seems to have trouble, too, as he remains in his spot, even long after he reaches down to turn the water off, his lips still locked with yours. Granted, it gives you time to dry off before he’s hoisting you up with ease, instinctively letting your legs wrap around him. A thought abruptly pops into your head and causes you to gasp, your lips parting from his with a significant pop.

“Jungkook!” You scold. “Be careful! Did you forget about the gaping wound in your side or?”

“I’m fine,” he assures, already swiftly carrying you out of the bathroom and into your room.

“I don’t care what your magical radioactive spider bite does for you,” You retort. “I don’t want to somehow hurt you.”

He laughs in response, a sound that reverberates against his chest and your own torso. He’s already standing by the bed when he carefully lowers you down onto it. He crawls over you, instantly towering over your body as he leans down to chase your lips. In one quick movement, you hook your leg around his waist and, using your hands, shift him over until he’s on his back and you’re cradling his hips. He seems surprised at first, his stare flickering from the navel of your stomach to the soft buds of your breasts. Past the valley of your chest, his eyes fall once more upon yours and he smiles breathlessly, his hair sticking up in tufts.

“Really?”

Your eyes fall to the stitched wound on his side covered in gauze and your fingers brush against it delicately, following the natural curve of his abs. “I’m serious, bugboy. You may be this notorious, unstoppable force out there, but to me you’ll always be Jungkook.”

He pouts. “That doesn’t sound as cool as being Spider-Man.”

“Spider-Man is cool.”

“See? Even you think so. This is why I never told you ━ everyone thinks Spider-Man is cooler than Jungkook.”

A roll of your eyes has him smirking, though the smile is quick to falter when you begin to grind your hips against his, feeling his firm member poke at your thigh. His jaw drops open slightly at the sudden contact, his brows knitting together in slick concentration as his eyes fall to your glistening soft core.

“You didn’t let me finish,” You breathe steadily. “Spider-Man is cool, but Jungkook is cooler. You’ve always been strong and dauntless to me. You’ve always been a hero to me.”

“God,” he moans, “you’re making it really hard to focus on how cute you’re being when I can already feel how wet you are.”

The giggle that slips past your lips only further proves his point. His head rolls back against the pillows beneath him as you continue to slowly grind against him.

“Do you want me to stop?” You taunt.

“No, no,” he gasps. “Holy shit, no. We can save the mushy talk for afterwards, right? Please?”

You nod briskly, gulping for air as you feel the burning sensation between your thighs. Your fingers dance down the front of your stomach to the bundle of nerves that you rub at carefully. Jungkook watches intensely as you pleasure yourself before him, feels his own cock hardening at the sight of your fingers gracefully rubbing patterns into your clit, coating your digits with your leaking cum. He writhes beneath you, desperately aware of his own need for you, but god help him if he doesn’t finish watching or helping you get off. He swallows thickly, loosening his dry throat.

“Well, if you’re gonna make me sit here then,” he says, “can you at least let me help?”

“I’m listening.”

“Good,” he grins. “Then come sit on my face.”

He says it so confidently that it has you stuttering in your pace. Your eyes flicker down to his mischievously twinkling eyes and the way he bites on his lower lip. You hardly hesitate at his command, pushing yourself off of his crotch and shuffling yourself forward, tossing one knee over his head so that he’s seated nicely between your thighs. His hands remain on your hips to keep you steady as you wiggle around until you’re comfortable. He plants a kiss on the inside of your thigh, murmuring, “I’ll take good care of you, baby. Sit back and relax.”

You do as you're told, letting him pull you carefully down to his face and feeling as he leaves a trail of kisses along the inside of your thigh. When his mouth is hovering just over your core, you can feel his warm breath fanning against you and hum in delight, waiting eagerly for his every move. He nudges you closer and closer until you feel that one fell sweep of his tongue against your core, warm and slick as it grazes your folds, immediately sending a shock of white hot pleasure surging through your body. A shocked moan emits from your parted lips in a sound similar to, “Ooh,” that has Jungkook smirking against you.

Suddenly, all you can focus on is him and the way his tongue works so expertly against you, kitten licking at your core until you’re dripping wet in a lewd combination of saliva and your own succulence. You nearly lose your balance the moment he makes contact with you and, with each passing second of immense pleasure, it makes it more difficult to hold on. Your thighs shamelessly squeeze shut (though Jungkook grips lightly onto one of your thighs to shift you apart) and when you feel yourself wobble, breathless and dizzy from the feeling of hot fire burning at your core, your hands fly out to grasp at Jungkook’s carob locks, silky to the touch as they slide out from the seams of your fingers. Admittedly, having Jungkook’s face buried beneath your thighs is a ridiculously hot sight that only spurs your blatant spiral into a panting mess.

“Jungkook━ F━Fuck━ Oh my god━”

The moan that leaves you is throaty, guttural and Jungkook swears he’s never heard anything sexier. Watching you writhe helplessly above him is all that he needs. As his tongue licks firmly at your clit, he can’t help but reach down to his own hard dick. His fingers wrap delicately around his shaft and he pumps himself slowly, groaning into your womanhood at the thought of your delicious and hot walls wrapped around him. He shuts his eyes as he works in a smooth rhythm against both him and yourself, imagining what it would be like to just have you anyway he wants, imagining your own reactions similar to the ones you’re making now.

“Ah, shit━” You gasp suddenly. “Fuck, Jungkook, you feel so good━”

God, there you go again. His palm squeezes harder against his member at your breathy moans and he swears you’re driving him absolutely mad. To him, this feels so surreal. He’s dreamed of this; he’s dreamed and wanted nothing more innocent than to just fucking hold your hand and yet here you are in such a compromising position with him and he feels like the luckiest guy in the world. The best part about it all is that you make him feel this much bliss, this dizzy, when he’s simply just around you. Fuck, he’s so in love with you.

Your fingers clutch a little tighter at his roots and his eyes snap open. He stares up at your frazzled mess and, with his free hand, presses his fingers against your core in areas that his tongue has yet not reached. He coats his digits in your glistening arousal and coaxed with such ease he’s able to push them past your folds, earning another beautiful moan from you. He curls his finger inside you, stretching your core, flicks his tongue a little harder at your clit, squeezes his own hand tighter around his cock as he desperately jacks himself off to this, to you. He pumps his finger in and out of you in tandem with his own hand around his length, hearing your sweet whimpers and choked moans.

He must curl his finger just right inside of you or maybe it’s the way your sensitive clit begins to throb with each lick he takes or maybe it’s when he joins his tongue with his finger in a dangerous duo but then you jut your hips forward ever so slightly and jerk them back. He’s eating you out with such vigour, such hard passion that you can feel his chin and his nose brush against your core and each contact has you gasping. He pulls apart just enough when he feels you jerk your hips backward again and you’re so caught up in the pure ecstasy that has overcome you that you hardly realize until you hear him speaking, muttering faintly against your folds, “C’mon, baby. Ride my face. Cum for me.”

His only response is a weak sputtering as you try to gasp for air. You don’t need to be told twice at this point as you feel as if you’re chasing after your high. You unabashedly begin rocking your hips against his mouth and fingers. He tilts his head just right so that his nose burrows into your clit, his tongue and digit slipping further within your walls that clench around the thought of having something of girth like Jungkook’s length inside you. Jungkook’s own hand slacks at his pace around his member, his fingers reaching up to dig into your waist and thighs to hold you in place as you continuously rock against him. You’re so close, you can feel the familiar tension start to form in the very pit of your stomach.

“F━Fuck!” You cry. “Jung━kook━ I’m━”

Your voice breaks off into frail croaks, your hands flying out to grab onto the sturdy frame of your bed in front of you as you feel your high approach. Jungkook pulls you harder against his face, letting you grind against him as he burrows into you, completely ravaging you with his mouth until you feel your release take hold of you. It shakes you to the bone, causes you to writhe in pleasure above him as you come to a halt, emitting a loud moan of his name as your hot release leaks onto his chin, coating his mouth in your shimmering cum.

“Fuck, fuck━ Jungkook!” Your nails dig into the bed frame, your teeth sinking into your lower lip and muffling your dulcet moans.

He laps at your core, licking away every last drop of your succulence until your hips twitch away from the sensitivity you feel. When he finally pulls apart from you, he stares up at you from between your thighs with an amused smirk, his hair messily mused from your doing. You muster a faint smile in return as you pant heavily, attempting to calm your shrill heart and he beckons you over. You blissfully clamber back down his torso, once more straddling his hips as you curl up into his chest, tilting your head to press a soft kiss to his lips. You feel him smile against your own mouth and it’s something so gentle, so ardent, that it warms your heart.

“That was so fucking hot,” he mumbles between kisses. “Round two?”

Giggling, you part from him momentarily only to reconnect your lips to his jawline, nibbling on the soft skin there. “How about I let you have a turn?”

He quirks a brow in curiosity though he already knows your intentions as your hand flutters down his stomach. He can’t help the moan that slips past his lips as he feels your soft hands grasp firmly at his hardened cock. He feels as if he could practically melt in your hands or explode at any moment and you hadn’t even done anything. His hips instinctively buck into your fist but he shakes his head. He sits up suddenly, startling you in your spot though his hands come out to grasp at your face and hold you in place as he kisses you feverishly.

“How about,” he breathes, nipping at your lower lip, “you let me make love to you right here, right now.”

For a moment, you become carried away with the taste of his lips mingled with your wet arousal that fades away fast. You return the kiss with such zeal, too reluctant to part from him just yet, that when you muster the nerve to lean away, you’re panting heavily.

“Not so fast, bugboy,” You taunt. “I still want you to rest.”

You give him a little nudge backward and he obediently follows your wordless command, plopping back against the pillows of your bed as he looks up at you, his hands resting on your upper thighs.

“I don’t know if you can consider sex as resting,” he points out playfully, a wry grin plastered on his face.

He watches as you smile, the rapid heave and fall of your chest, as you wiggle around until you’re comfortable again on his lap and have lifted your hips off of him. Your hand wraps around his shaft once more and you pump him once, twice, in slow motions as you spread the leaking cum from his throbbing head along his shaft. His jaw drops open at the feeling, eyebrows knitting together, and his fingers dig a little too harshly into your skin accidentally but you don’t at all mind ━ not when you’re able to see such a beautiful reaction from him as he comes undone before you.

Seconds pass of bated breath as you lower yourself slowly, carefully, to his cock. You run the tip of his length along your folds and up to your clit, rubbing small patterns against it that has both of you whimpering lowly. You coat him in your leaking arousal and then lower yourself onto him, finally connecting the two of your bodies as one.

“Oh, fuck,” he grunts.

Jungkook seriously feels as if he’s about to explode ━ literally. You’ve only just sat on him and he’s afraid he won’t be able to hold himself together long enough before he feels his sweet release. You’re just so warm and wet, so deliciously wet, that he slides easily into your walls that hug him just right. His mind is spinning, and even more so when he feels you stop halfway and lift your hips again. You drop them to the same level and then back again, repeating this process until you drop your hips fully, flush with his.

“Oooh, Jungkook, hmm,” Your fingers dig into his abdomen at the feeling of being so damn full. You can practically feel him throbbing and your own walls clench and release around him as you adjust to his size.

“Move━” he chokes out. “Move, please━ holy shit━”

And you do. You grind against him, rolling your hips around his firm cock as the fire continues to burn between your legs. You raise your hips languidly and drop them back down again and again until you’ve adopted some fluid rhythm, being so easily coaxed by your own cum.

“Like this?” You gasp.

He nods absentmindedly, swallowing thickly. “Fuck yes, just like that, baby.” His head rolls back against the pillows, the vein in his neck straining, “You feel so━ so fucking good.”

“Tell me,” You breathe.

Jungkook finds it hard to concentrate when his eyes fall on you. He watches as your breasts move in tandem as you ride him, the glistening arousal on your folds that coat his length that he watches disappear into you each time. He greedily reaches out as he’s lost in his own thoughts, his hand cupping your plush breast in a firm hold, his thumb brushing against your perked nipple. Your back arches in response, leaning closer to his warm hand, as he focuses on the tightness that is your core.

“Warm,” he moans. “So, so fucking wet ━ oh my god, you’re dripping, baby. Shit, you feel so perfect around my cock.”

You cry out his name, quickening your pace as you chase your high. Your strides are relentless, desperately searching for a sweet release and Jungkook feels the same. He’s held it in this long ━ he isn’t so sure he can hold himself together for much longer. He can’t take it anymore. Just as he feels you slowing down from exhaustion, he sits up once more, his strong arms wrapping around your torso and pulling you tight against his chest. Your own arms slide around his neck and you lean forward to crash your lips against his as you roll your hips steadily against his now. The new angle has him hitting a spot in you that shakes you to the core, has stars forming in your eyes.

You bite down hard on his lower lip accidentally as you try to conceal the loud moan that bubbles at your lips. Jungkook only smirks in response, especially when you shamelessly let those strangled moans out. As you sink lower onto him, Jungkook thrusts his hips upward to meet yours halfway, earning a sharp gasp from you. He tightens his hold on you and continues to thrust up into you again and again, so hard and so fast that it makes you writhe with pleasure above him. You can feel him stretching you wide each time, can feel your sticky arousal begin to trickle down his cock and your thighs.

So much for making sure he doesn’t hurt himself again ━ his thrusts are pure animalistic, hasty and needy, though all either of you care about in that moment is feeling that sweet release. You collapse entirely against Jungkook’s arms, letting him take hold of you as his hips smack against your ass. When you finally feel your second high of the night approach, your reaction feels near explosive. He thrusts again and again and you choke out somewhere between the sound of skin against skin and heavy breathing, “J━Jungkook━ Fuck! I’m close━”

He growls in response, eager to push you to yours as he chases for his. Another thrust and, holy shit, there. He hits a spot in you once, twice, and over and over again that just feels so incredibly good that you can’t help but unravel in his arms. It takes you by surprise, washing over you an immense cloud of bliss as white-hot pleasure blinds you, starting from your core and spiralling out to every edge of your body until your toes are curling. You cry out his name in a beautiful harmonious sound as your cum leaks profusely from you and coats him just right.

Fuck this ━ he doesn’t care anymore that you want him to rest. He needs to feel his own release now. So he grabs you securely and then he’s twisting you around, shoving you onto your back as he pushes his hips into you. You’re writhing beneath him, your back arching until your warm and sweaty chest is pressed against his. Your fucked out expression that stares back up at him but with such tired and loving eyes only spurs him on further (that, and the way you’re clenching so nicely around him). It’s completely messy but he’s so close. Another hard slap of his hips and then he’s finally coming undone. He pulls out of you fast, his hand coming down to grab at his cock as he pumps himself, thickly coated with your juices.

He cums moments later with a deep, rough moan, releasing onto your stomach in ivory beads that paint you his. His hand slacks around his softening length and then he, so spent and slightly sore from his wound (only slightly, he swears), collapses against you. The room suddenly falls silent, safe for the heavy panting and the shrill beating of your hearts that you both try to tame. His face is buried in the crook of your neck and your arms wrap around him to lazily twine his hair with your fingers. It’s nice to just lay there like that, enveloped in each other's arms, basking in the heavenly glow of euphoria. He kisses your neck then, soft and simple, and litters kisses down your throat to your collarbones and then back up again to your lips.

When he parts from you, his eyes remain locked on your mouth until he forces himself to look away and up at you. You’re smiling at him and it’s the type of genuine, albeit exhausted, smile that always warms his insides and makes him feel at ease. Tracing the curve of your lips with his index finger, he hums thoughtfully to himself.

“I lied about before,” he says sheepishly. When you quirk a brow at him, he continues. “I lied about before when you asked me if I’m ever afraid when I go out at night. I’m always afraid. Part of why I wear that mask is so the people I’m up against don’t see me wimping out. But, god, when I’m with you, I feel invincible.”

He watches as a light blush pinches at your cheeks, your fingers reaching up to softly graze his cheek.

“I’m so in love with you,” he whispers. “I love you. I always have and I swear you make me stronger. I don’t know what it is. I think I just want to fight harder for you. I know I was a dick for leaving that night but I know we can make this work. I just need you to believe in me, too.”

Your eyes, littered with stardust, stare into his as if he is the entire world. “I’m strong, too, Jungkook. I don’t always need protection.”

“I know that,” he chuckles.

“Good. Then get back down here and kiss me again, bugboy.”

Jungkook laughs. He doesn’t hesitate to lean down to press his lips lovingly to yours. He melts against your chest and he is content if every night is like this, in each other’s arms. As he deepens the kiss, he hears you whisper against his lips, “I love you, too, bugboy,” and it is all he needs to feel as if he has the world in his very palm.

Jungkook has always been afraid. He is afraid of not living to see the next day, afraid of losing you or his family or friends but every shred of fear fades away when he’s with you. As the city continues to breathe from beyond the brick walls of your apartment and as the sun begins to rise from the very heart of the metropolis along the horizon, Jungkook is certain that he and you together are invincible.

⟶ All rights reserved to © jungkxook. I do not allow reposting, translating, or any sort of modifying and reuploading of my work.

⟶ Feedback is always appreciated!

#btsbookclub #btsguild #bangtanhq #jungkook #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook x y/n #bts #bts smut #bts fluff #bts angst #bts scenarios #jungkook scenarios #jungkook imagines #jeongguk smut #jeon jeongguk smut #jeon jungkook smut #bangtan smut #bangtan #bts fanfic #bts oneshots

[bigfatbreak]

Okay I don't want to come across as salty but I really want to understand Chloé's role in your AU. I absolutely love the Feralnette AU, if I see you've posted anything I go to your page to make sure I didn't miss anything.

But in your AU, Marinette is the guardian, so some version of Miracle Queen occured. I saw the last ask where you pointed out she's still a kid and definitely a victim, but I'm just not sure how she can be redeemed after nearly causing a train wreck and siding with Hawkmoth.

I suppose trying to unmask him is a start, and you probably can't give details without giving your own spoilers, but I have trouble understanding Chloé redemptions.

Anxiety wanted me to ask as anon but I don't wanna seem like I'm not being genuine. Also your art is awesome your brain is big I love the blasphemous.

thanks for the question! I understand your thoughts here, so I'll try to lay mine out as concisely as possible.

the interesting thing is that for a redemption to start, the person in question simply needs to have the desire to change. Regardless of if anyone forgives them, the important part is that they take the next step forward in trying.

Chloe's part in this AU is that she's trying to get better. Yeah, Miracle Queen happened. It was terrible. and yet clearly, Hawkmoth was manipulating her emotions and her personality to suit his favor. There's no denying Chloe's done terrible things in being selfish, but (at least in my AU here) the point is that she's realized that Hawkmoth is a dangerous man, not her friend, and it scares her to realize he almost convinced her of that. They they were allies.

What kind of a grown man with possessive superpowers attempts to 'befriend' a child by transforming them into a tool?

Most people in this AU won't forgive Chloe for the part she played. And that's fine, really. Chloe doesn't need their forgiveness to continue living - but to instead try to be the person she wanted to be, not be the person that made her feel good, feel like she was in control and powerful. Because that wasn't real. It was just an illusion, and she convinced herself that she could get what she wanted if she just, kept being awful.

The first step is that she wants to unmask Hawkmoth not for Paris, not for Ladybug, and certainly not to be the good guy. But for herself. Simply because he was grooming her to be someone she realized she didn't want to be. It's scary, to realize someone older than you with much more power and experience is attempting to coerce you into something, and nearly convinced you that its what you wanted. At that point, you don't feel like a victim - you feel like you were asking for it. That you deserved it, that you definitely wanted to do that thing - when coercion is no basis for consent.

Chloe knows she's done awful things and that her classmates and in fact most people in her daily life won't forgive her - but she won't be able to get better until Hawkmoth is out of the picture. For that, she needs his identity - and she knows Marinette is still Marinette, even if she's acting absolutely batshit.

Marinette would forgive her if she asked for forgiveness.

But Chloe is not going to ask. She's going to show, not tell, by getting Hawkmoth's head on a plate and making sure she never has to be afraid that her own emotions are going to be used against her ever again, and that no one else has to go through what it feels like.

The point of chloe's 'redemption' here is for herself. She's still selfish. She'll do things that are, honestly, pretty bitchy - but in the end, there's tons of students, highschoolers, etc that act that way. The reason she suddenly became enemy number one was because she was convinced she could only get what she wanted by being worse.

(This is something I wanted in the AU simply because most 'redemption arcs' in media these days have an all or nothing look to them, that people aren't shades of grey, that if they do something then they have to live in guilt and misery for the rest of their days as repentance. That's simply, in Chloe's words, utterly ridiculous.)

The most important step of a redemption arc is the first, and then the second, and then the one after that.

I'm not going to have Chloe throw herself onto the sword for forgiveness, because that would accomplish nothing, and she would never do that anyway. The best thing Chloe can do right now is support the people she thinks can help the world, like Marinette, and to try and get to the bottom of things. You have to admit, Chloe is terrible - but she was never a public terrorist, just super fuckin' annoying.

That's Hawkmoth. Literally, Hawkmoth is the source of every elevated problem in this series. Things go from annoying to life threatening critical because everyone is a tool for him to use.

Chloe won't say sorry because no one would accept it as being genuine. She certainly isn't going to have a big moment where she suddenly saves the day, because that just feeds her ego instead of makes her humble about the role of being a superhero.

But. Chloe can certainly invest in a future she wants to live in,

and the future she wants to live in has no Hawkmoth.

tdlr: Chloe's redemption arc isn't about redeeming herself for everyone else, and convincing them she's good. Because she's not. And she doesn't plan to be. Her redemption arc is about supporting those she knows ARE good and staying out of their way.

She has no desire to be a nuisance or a tool anymore.

#ooc #replies

[dendrite-blues]

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki. 

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself. 

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back. 

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others. 

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him. 

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief. 

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves? 

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again. 

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities? 

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief. 

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!) 

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention. 

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

#loki spoilers #loki #mcu #mobius #meta #discussion #discourse #scene study #long post #sif #time loop #tva #character study

[ritacrow-blog]

-daminette

-introverted mari

-the usual class, adrien, lila, Alya! Salt

-Chloe redemption. She appoloises but leaves for New York a few months later due to bullying from the class.

- To distract herself from all the negatives in her life she immersed herself in work.

-has trust issues with strangers. Supportive Friends (Luka, Chloe and Kagami) and Parents.

-designs and sells her designs under MDC

-Solves cold cases while hunting down hawk-moth as "Nettie". (and because of this, hacking becomes a secret talent of hers) and reports her findings to the chief of police. Sabrina's dad (I forgot his name). Using Ladybug as the messenger. Ladybug explains to the Chief that she found someone to help track down hawk-moth, but doesn't want to be known. And that she is only giving acting as Nettie's messanger for cases that she just so happens to "accidentally" come across while searching for hawk-moth. So he sees Nettie as a "Robin Hood" just without the stealing part.

-She hangs out with Kagami but also learns how to use a Katana from her as an excuse to give to her mother. Like: learning how to teach people and is using Marinette as her Guinea pig student. Which Marinette then starts to enjoy. Especially when she needs to vent and just cut something down. And she eventually gets really good at it.

-the bullying gets worse

-by this time she's already gathering evidence against Gabriel and Natalie. Also finds out that Chat noir is Adrien. (she isn't very surprised). And makes a promise to herself that she will take them down before the school year ends.

-She goes to the Chief as ladybug to report what Nettie found. So they plot.

-stealing the miraculous from Adrien first before finding Kagami to be her Black cat for the final battle. And Luka as Python (different costume for identity reasons). They sneak into the Manor going straight to the lair where she found Adrien's Mom via CCTV. Heals her (let's pretend that LB has healing abilities. Ya?) and explains everything that is going on while Panther and Python search the area for the miraculous just in case. LB talks ladybug into getting Gabriel to surrender and she agrees. But Gabriel and Natalie storm in already transformed to fight. Not noticing Emily at first. When he finally does he stops. While Angry at them she convinces Gabriel and Natalie to stand down and surrender the miraculous to ladybug and face proper judgment.

-Ladybug, Panther and Python escort Gabriel and Natalie to the police waiting outside and Emily to get herself checked by the medics. Adrien is still asleep and unaware in his room. He will definitely be having quite the shock in the morning. His miraculous is gone. His mom is alive. Emily knows about him being Chat noir through LB. Is now under Emily's strict supervision.

-The last few months of school are loud after the news. Court hearing scheduled a week after the last day of school. Gabriel reveals Lila's role. Lila tries to get out of it but is proven guilty with evidence provided by Nettie. Bye-bye Liela~

- the class find out about what lila did and try to find Marinette to apologise.

-Marinette forgives but doesn't accept them as friends anymore.

Alya: "so now that we're friends again. Think you could get me that interview with Ladybug about the Hawk-moth case?"

Mari: "No"

Alya: "Thank you so mu-... What?... Why? We're best friends! True bestfriend help each other out!"

Mari: "exactly. Best friends help each other out. But where were you when I was bullied by lila. Heck the whole class. How about the harassment with Adrien. When I was clearly over him. We're not best friends alya. Not even close to being a friend"

Alya: "when did you get over adrien??? I thaught you were dating Luka to make adrien jealous."

Mari: (-_-) "I'm not. I haven't had a crush in adrien for 3 years now. I got rid of everything related to him. And I set Luka up with Kagami. They've been dating for over a year now"

Alya: "what the hell"

-not wanting to have anything to do with the class anymore. She applies for her last year in Gotham Academy (let's just say that she likes their curriculum: includes fashion design, coding and programming, and a kendo club. Kagami successfully converted her into a katana welding badass)

-Mari gets permission from her parents to move in to her Nona's apartment in Gotham.

- She leaves without telling anyone from the class. Only her family, Kagami, Chloe and Luca know.

-She arrives in Gotham and encounters Scarecrow on her fist day there. Gets caught in the fear gas.

-She sees her old classmates. Hawk-moth. Mayura. Chat Noir and Chat blanc. The Akumas. Purple butterflies.

-fights while under the fear toxin. Attacks every "akuma" (goons) coming her way. Unknowingly fighting the batfam thinking that they're "akumas". Until Nightwing holds her down and Robin injects the antidote.

Mari: *muttering* fuck you hawk-moth and your disgusting purple butterflies. *faints*

Red Robin: What the fuck...

Red Hood: I call dibs on Pixi pop becoming my sister.

Batman:.......

Nightwing: *looks at Robin* please tell me you heard that too...

Robin:.......

-Mari wakes up in the ambulance. Feels fine so she just hops off and goes straight for her bags.

Nightwing: where are you going? You still need to get checked.

Mari: I'm fine. I've dealt with worse. I'm just gonna go and get my bags. I don't trust the security here.

Nightwing: hey! Wait!

Mari keeps walking to her bags. Picks up her katana and straps it to her back and grabs her luggage.

Nightwing: Hey! You still need to get checked anyways... And questioned...

Mari: *stares*..... Fine. But please Hury I want to get to my place before it gets dark.

Batman: how did you fight the fear toxin?

Mari: it's called fear toxin... No wonder I saw what I saw... *looks at batman* I'm used to having to deal with my fears. I've had to fight them head on in Paris constantly.

Red Robin: Isn't Paris a peaceful city?

Mari: *scoff* peaceful my ass. It hasn't been peaceful at all the past 3 years. I've seen enough deaths and magical shit to last me a lifetime.

Batfam:......

Mari: *sigh* sorry for my language. I'm just cranky from not having had any sleep in the past... 1,2,3,4,5... 6...oh shit... Anyways... Look I just landed I haven't had sleep the past few days. Got caught in the attack. Somehow fought them of. Lost consciousness... Not even sure why I even woke up considered my lack of sleep...and now being questioned... And... That pretty much it really.

Batfam:.....

Mari: what still not satisfied?

Robin: you mentioned having encountered enough magic and deaths to last you a lifetime.

Mari:..... I did?

Batfam:......

Red Robin: yes you did

Red Hood: *mutters* why do I suddenly feel like I'm looking at a female replacement....

Mari: Oh... Damn... I'm not even sure if the blackouts been lifted yet.

Batman: blackout?

Mari: the media blackout...it should be lifted soon. Not sure when....

*Phone notification rings*

Mari: speak of the devil... Here.

*she shows batman her phone*

He goes through the news and 2 videos of akuma attacks.

Mari: can I have my phone back and go now? It's getting dark.

Robin: how are you getting there.

Mari: a cab.

Batman gives her phone back

Mari: am I done here?

Batman nods

When mari is leaving...

Batman: Hood, Robin keep an eye on her and makes sure she gets to her destination safe. We're going back to the cave to look more into this.

When mari gets out of the cab. She feels like she's being watched and followed. Discretely looks around trying to spot who's following her. (ladybug sense is tingling~) She shifts her katana to her hip just in case. While going to her apartment. And instantly locks the door and checks the windows. Wonders if they followed her... Then she spots Robin on the neighboring building.

Mari: ah... Its just them... Welp I'm off to bed.

--------------------------

Robin POV

Robin: She knows she's being followed.

Redhood: I'm not blind demon spawn.

They watch her enter her apartment while on guard.

Redhood: one of us should probably pass by her window. Just to let her know we're not goons. Pixi looks wound up...

Robin: ill do it.

He swings by her window. They guessed right. She was keeping watch.

Robin: something isn't right...

Redhood: no shit sherlock.

Robin over the comm: she's in. We're heading back to the cave.

----------------------------------

Batcave

-Siren, Gigantitan, Hero's day, mourning star (saw this in a fanfiction somewhere. Its a sad one)

Redhood: Holy shit...

Batman: How did we miss this?

Red Robin: found a call on the JL emergency call log.

Batman: play it.

Video call from Ryuuko on Hero's day. Showing the chaos, requesting for help, getting controlled, dropping the phone and walking away.

Batman: who answered this call?

Red Robin:.... Green Lantern

Robin: wait... Scroll up... Its the girl from the airport.

They play the mourning star akuma video.

Mourning star: a widow that had a miscarriage. Mourning the death of her husband and unborn child. The akuma kidnapping children and killing them infront of their mothers. So that they know the pain of losing a child. (I know it's depressing... I found this in a fanfiction. Forgot the title. And it was way more depressing than what I just wrote...) (ill skip this bit)

Marinette getting children to safety. Away from the akuma. Calming them down and getting them to hide in an abandoned building. Distracts the akuma by pissing it of and luring her away from the nearby preschool. (she's badass both in and out of the suit) then suddenly transforms into a mouse themed hero while on the run. Divides herself into smaller selves. And splits up each going down different alleyways. (she never becomes multimouse again after this: she got compromised again. Let's just say that she staged this bit to get halkmoth off her trail... In case he suspected her of being LB). Then not long after Chat noir shows up looking for LB. When LB finally shows up... He starts flirting and causing even more trouble. Akuma gets caught. Butterfly gets purified. Magical ladybugs fixing everything and LB punching Chat in the face. The end.

Redhood: he had that coming.

Robin: She was a hero? Are there others?

Redhood: why? Got a crush~?

Robin: *blush* no.

Red Robin: found one. Evillustrator. CCTV footage...

CCTV: Evillustrator breaking into the top floor of a bakery. Then leaving. Chat Noir showing up. Marinette answering the door. Chat Noir flirting. Marinette sarcastic acting. More chat noir flirting. He leaves. Fast forward. She leaves the bakery all dressed up (Robin's thaughts: she looks cute... WHAT THE FUCK BRAIN!!!! NO!) (I changed it a bit hehehe)

They shift to different CCTVs until she gets to her destination. Meeting up with the akuma (Redhood: what the hell... She went on a date with an akuma?) (Red Robin: wait look... Chat Noir) (Robin: *clenching his teeth and fists*) chat noir sneaking on the boat. And laying low. Mari snatching something and throwing it at chat. Chat messed-up. Mari gets trapped with chat in a glass box with the boat sinking. Chat trying to find a way to get out of the box. Mari just standing there until she gets fed up. Grabs the baton and extends it upward while grabbing chat noir's tail/belt and flinging him towards the pier. Gives back his baton. Chat flirts again. Kisses her hand then salutes. Mari turns away of cam. (Nightwing: did that count as a date?) (Redhood: yes) (Red Robin: no) (Robin's thaughts: strong, beautiful, smart, tricky ... Just what else do you have under your belt... Shit I called her beautiful...) (Batman: follow chat noir)

Shifting again to other CCTVs. Stopping on one viewing a hotel. Chat and Ladybug already on the scene. Doesn't take long after that for the battle to end.

Batman: we need to keep looking more into this...but right now. I'm going to the tower. And deal with Green Lantern.

-----------------

-after this Robin makes sure to make Marinette's apartment to be part of his patrol route.

-Mari notices but doesn't try to call him over.

-he observes her and finds more things about her. (a designer, a gamer, a Baker and if her katana and fighting skills is anything to go by... Judo?)

-Mari knows that she's being observed so she makes sure the kwamis are hidden.

One night she decides to embroider on her balcony.

-curious... Robin comes closer to take a peek at what she was making... A dragon embroidery.

Mari: are you going to stay there or are you going to come down here and tell me what you need?

Robin:.... This place is part of my patrol route....

Mari: I noticed but I don't believe that that's all your here for.

Robin:...... you're one of the heroes...

Mari:........ *she looks at him* ex-hero... Retired hero??.... Who cares. I've been compromised.

Robin: I know... But it looked on purpose.

Mari:....... What do you want? Did you need something?

Robin:....... I don't trust you..... Your confusing...

Mari: I'd be worried if you did. Trusting people you just meet... Not a smart move.

Robin:.........

Mari:........ Anything else?

Robin: No. I'll be on my way.

Mari: wait hold on a second... Here (she gives him the extra macaroons she made) I'm a stress Baker. I made too much.

Robin:....... I thaught that we agreed that we didn't trust each other....

Mari: I don't. Not completely. But I also know your not a bad person. Protective sure. But that's to be expected considering your cutrent occupation...... Just take it.... You've been observing me the past few days. You should know by now that I'm not a horrible person...here I'll even take one. (she takes one and pops it in her mouth) see? Safe.

Robin: fine I'll take them to the idiots........thanks.......(then he leaves)

Mari: hmm... Now back to work...

---------------------

Keeps going on like this for the next few months.

Until its time for the new school year to start....

(I'm sleepy right now. I'll continue this tomorrow. I'll edit this same post. I won't be making it separate)

#daminette #Introvert marinette #maribat #mlb x dc

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Rocketear

The Rocketeer is a 1991 Disney movie set in 1930's America where a test pilot gets a jetpack and uses it to fight Nazis and— Wait, what? “Rocketear”? Oh, damn it!

Let's get into the eleventh (chronologically the seventeenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Rocketear.

We start off with Carapace and Cat Noir struggling to hold back some T-Rexes brought back to life by a scientist Jurassic Park style. Seriously, they reference the movie in the same scene.

Why wasn't this the plot of the episode again?

After managing to tame the dinosaurs with a whistle of all things, Ladybug notices something's wrong with Nino after he gives the Turtle Miraculous back to her. Apparently, he's wondering why Rena Rouge (who he knows is Alya) wasn't recruited with him today. Ladybug tells him that he was the only help she needed today. In reality, it's because Alya has adjusted to her new role of supporting Ladybug behind the scenes in her new form, Rena Furtive.

And I'm not a fan of the new form. I get the camo, but it doesn't really help her blend in when her suit is bright blue. I think it's based off the arctic fox, but that animal is able to camouflage itself because it's fur matches the snowy environment. I'm sure a bright blue jumpsuit won't stand out when she tries to blend in at all. Also, the fact that Alya can just change her hero form gives even less excuses as to why Ladybug's new form is only when she uses her Lucky Charm.

Alya is struggling to keep this a secret from Nino because they don't have a lot of secrets in their relationship. Marinette says she can kind of get it because she had to keep her identity a secret from her friend and has to keep keeping her identity a secret from everyone else. Basically, she's telling Alya to suck it up because this is what being a superhero is.

So the next time she sees Nino, Alya tells him she's no longer Rena Rouge, but not about Rena Furtive, which troubles her. The very next scene shows Alya showing Marinette pictures she took of her new costume and asking her which version looks better.

You could always try reviewing Akuma fights. I heard there's one blog that does it when they're not criticizing the famous director Thomas Astruc on social media.

Yeah, in case you can't tell, Alya was only able to rent her brain for a few episodes because she really doesn't seem as understanding about being a superhero as she was in earlier episodes. In episodes like “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler”, we saw Alya use more strategy and show discretion as Rena Rouge, seemingly taking her job more seriously, but then this episode just had to go and piss it all away. I also love how the first time the animators made Alya's skin the same when she's transformed is in a single frame for a joke.

Alya thankfully deletes the picture, but Nino overhears her talking about struggling to find more content for the Ladyblog, and decides to go to the movies with her to help take her mind off things. Nino, in turn, proceeds to give the same reaction to the in-universe Ladybug movie that Astruc gives to the PV.

Apparently, that movie's already getting a sequel and it has a teaser. So was the sequel animated at the same time as the original like Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III?

Nino gets pissed the next movie in the Ladybug Cinematic Universe will feature Rena Rouge and not Carapace... even though Rena Rouge debuted first. The teaser then shows Rena Rouge falling for Cat Noir (yet another creative liberty taken by the writers or something Astruc's self-insert threw in himself), and takes it like it's the real thing. Dude, the first movie said Ladybug was afraid of cats, and the director yelled at the person it was based on for judging it. He clearly has a hard time distinguishing fiction from reality.

Alya leaves Nino early so she can go on patrol, but Nino sees Cat Noir heading out as well. He then watches a video on the Ladyblog where Alya praises Cat Noir which is totally not Astruc projecting or anything.

I don't know what your definition of a prince is, Alya, and I honestly don't want to know.

So Nino takes this as evidence that Alya is in love with Cat Noir and decides to tell Adrien, who naturally laughs him off. And just before you think we have an episode where Adrien plays the straight man, Adrien decides to visit Alya because he's afraid he accidentally charmed Alya.

Yes, because Cat Noir is so charming, girls are just fighting over him, aren't they?

We then cut to a black and white film noir monologue by Nino (dressed like a detective with a fake mustache), who decides to spy on Alya. When Cat Noir asks Alya if she is attracted to him, she naturally laughs him off, though Cat Noir is thankfully a good sport about it, even giving her a hug to apologize. Unfortunately, Nino took this the wrong way.

The next day at school, Nino takes Adrien into his “office�� (it's really an excuse to reuse the boiler room setpiece), and shows him the picture of the hug. Adrien says that Alya would never fall for Cat Noir because she's always dedicated to finding out the truth and telling her boyfriend everything. What's Nino's retort?

Okay, several problems with this bit. First of all, why would Nino even tell Adrien any of this? What would it accomplish? Why not say all this to Alya while confronting her about her alleged unfaithfulness? Second, Ladybug didn't give Nino and Alya their Miraculous at the same time until it was an absolute emergency. She outright said in “Hero's Day” that she didn't have time to recruit Nino and Alya separately.

Ladybug: I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. I know I'm revealing your secret identities but I don't have time to find a good excuse to give them to you separately. Rena Rouge and Carapace, I need you both!

Nino and Alya kept their identities secret from each other until then, with Alya even keeping the fact she knew who Carapace was a secret as well. Nino didn't find out because “they don't hide anything from each other” (which I plan to talk about later).

Other than that, I actually liked Adrien in this scene. It was really investing to see him try to justify the whole secret identities rule while Nino blatantly said there was an exception. This is the kind of stuff I wanted to see when it came to Adrien doubting Ladybug, not him destroying things in his anger.

While Nino rants about how Cat Noir “stole” Alya from him, Shadowmoth sends an Akuma his way, turning him into Rocketear.

And the design he has is just boring. It's just a blue jumpsuit with some black spots that look like teardrops, a teardrop-shaped head and a visor. I think the reason this season's been relying more on past Akumas and using more Sentimonsters is because DQ is terrible at character designs. I mean, compare this suit with Aigraon from Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (his Power Rangers counterpart is Wrench from Dino Charge).

The design does so much more with the teardrop motif, giving him a perpetually miserable face with tear lines going all over his body. Add that to a more diverse color scheme, and you have a much more visually stunning design. And this was created in real life, not rendered on a computer. I'm not sure if this is a budget thing or a laziness thing, but if it's the former, you really need to do better, animators.

The powers are meh, giving Nino the ability to fling explosive tears at enemies. It's a clever idea, and it makes sense he gets a power that parallels Cat Noir's, but I think maybe it would have been more interesting if he couldn't control the tears at all. Like, imagine if he was constantly crying like Blue Diamond, and with every tear he shed, Rocketeer could send it at whoever he felt was causing him misery, mainly Cat Noir, all while serving as a metaphor for people who blame others for their own personal issues. Better yet, make him look like the detective outfit Nino wore for the second act. It would have made him more unpredictable instead of making his tears generic projectile weapons.

Marinette and Alya see the fight and transform into Ladybug and Rena Furtive respectively, the former summoning her Lucky Charm, a projector. Is it just me, or has this been happening with Ladybug a lot recently?

Back to Rocketear, we get a good moment where Cat Noir intentionally lets the Akuma hit him so he can get a chance to resolve things diplomatically. See, this is a moment where Cat Noir's self-sacrificing nature feels heroic and not selfish like when he does it without Ladybug's permission to spite her. Unfortunately, it doesn't really go anywhere as Ladybug shows up and plays the recording Nino took (Alya found his phone earlier), while Rena Furtive uses her Mirage to give the audio to what actually happened that night.

Rena transforms back into Alya and embraces Rocketear, who apologizes to her for his behavior. And then he just... rejects Shadowmoth's power while looking like it wasn't that much effort.

At least when Chloe and Alya did it, we saw them struggling for a little longer. I guess maybe it's because Nino is motivated by his love for Alya, but I think it should have been fleshed out more. So Ladybug purifies the Akuma, gives Nino a Magical Charm, and Cat Noir is still unsure about his feelings for Ladybug at the moment, though they still pound it.

Back in his room, Adrien ponders why Alya and Nino get to know their identities while he and Ladybug can't, but Plagg points out it's because she's the Guardian. It's brief, but I do like seeing Adrien start to doubt Ladybug's judgment, and it looks like it'll foreshadow future episodes. This is a problem I've had since “Hero's Day”, and I'm glad the writers are finally acknowledging this double standard. I just hope they don't end up blaming Marinette for whatever happens later on.

Marinette, of course, apologizes for what happened between Alya and Nino, and I have to say... yeah, no. It's obviously Nino's fault here.

Nino really pushed personal boundaries in this episode, much like Marinette's friends in “Gang of Secrets”. Yes, honesty is a valuable trait, but sometimes, people have secrets they want to keep to themselves. Nino's idea of “not hiding anything from each other” is somewhat controlling, like he's demanding Alya tell him everything whether she wants to or not. The fact that he immediately assumed Alya was cheating on him without giving her freedom to make her own choices doesn't make him look good. Let's be honest, a more realistic outcome would be Alya choosing to break things off with Nino or at least lecture him about how she can do what she wants and keep the secrets she wants. But instead...

And that's how the episode ends.

Okay, Marinette just said she trusted Alya to make the right decision, but I highly doubt she meant this. Marinette strictly said Alya had to keep Rena Furtive a secret, and now she's telling Nino this despite the risk? The whole reason Marinette and Luka broke up was because Marinette had to keep her secrets from Luka, but now it's okay for Alya to be completely honest? How is this not a double standard?

This episode was just dull, and there’s not even much I can really say about it.. There were a handful of standout moments, and the stuff with Adrien was somewhat compelling, but Nino's behavior was just insufferable and dragged the episode down. The Akuma fight was weak, only lasting about four minutes at most, and while the Lucky Charm was more creative this time, the plot was just frustrating. It's really one of the weaker episodes this season.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the better Rocketeer.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #thomas astruc #thomas astruc salt #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #alya cesaire #rena rouge #rena furtive #nino lahiffe #carapace #rocketear #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #hawk moth #shadowmoth #shadow moth #plagg #bob roth

[spunky-89]

All Power (Kol Mikaelson x Female Reader)

A/N: Woo a new fic! Cause updating or finishing old WIPs is apparently not as cool. Also, this fic is a bit of a crossover from Teen Wolf, not anything like major, just some references and such.

Word Count: 1.8 k

Warnings: None that I can think of

The air was tense in the courtyard as Kol stood protectively in front of his lover, facing off against his pain-in-the-ass hybrid brother. Elijah stood between the two trying to keep them from tearing each other apart. Freya was off to the side holding herself, feeling guilty for starting this disagreement.

“You come anywhere near her Nik and I swear it will be the last thing you do.” Kol threatened.

“I don’t like liars, especially not in the house where my daughter sleeps,” Klaus growled.

“You really think I wouldn’t make sure that my girlfriend had no ill intent towards my niece? Do you think that low of me brother?”

“Enough, both of you,” Elijah spoke, turning slightly to look at his youngest brother and his lover. “Now, would you care to share what this ruckus is all about?”

“I don’t know, ask Nik.” Kol spat, rage in his eyes.

“You stand there and make me the bad guy when it is your pet human that is lying and has been her whole time with us.” Klaus proclaimed.

“And how do you know this Niklaus?” Elijah inquired.

“Because I sensed it,” Freya spoke up, moving closer to the brewing storm.

“Sensed what Freya?” Kol snapped, becoming more and more fed up with the current situation.

“Something… off,” She tried, struggling to find the words.

“You need to do better than that sister, or else this is a waste of time because you have no grounds to accuse my girlfriend of anything.”

“Enough.” The woman came out from her position behind Kol and came to stand next to him. “Please just stop, all of you.” She requested.

“Darling?” Kol gave her a questioning look and she gave a heavy sigh.

“She isn’t wrong, I’m not human,” She started, avoiding eye contact and staring at the ground. “Well, not entirely human I should say.” She then looked to Klaus, “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t sense it. I mean typically wolves have a sense for this sort of thing.” She remarked.

“Get to the point, my patients is waning fast,” Klaus warned. As he did so, Kol took a threatening step forward, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm.

“Okay, calm down. The short version is I’m a werewolf.” The woman stated plainly.

“You can’t be, you’ve never turned on a full moon,” Kol stated, looking to his girlfriend in confusion.

“That’s because I’m a different breed and I’ve learned to control it.” She then gave a bashful smile at him and said, “I also happen to have an amazing anchor that keeps me grounded.”

“That’s it,” Klaus growled and sped at the supposed werewolf and pinned her to the wall, his eyes glowing golden. “Who are you?”

She saw Kol move to intervene but she shot him a look to let her handle this. She smirked as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, opening them to reveal her eyes were glowing a vibrant purple, wolfish features taking over her face slightly. And before Klaus could make a comment or move, she dug her claws deep into his side and rake them upwards, causing him to release her in shock. She used that moment to roundhouse kick him away from her.

“Who am I? Well, I’m someone you really don’t want to piss off.” She huffed, fixing her clothes.

Kol was looking at her wide-eyed, never having seen her like that before. He watched in fascination as her face shifted back to the one he loved so much, though the claws on her hands didn’t disappear.

While Kol was focused on her, she was focused on Klaus. She knew she just poked the sleeping bear, or well in this case wolf. She acted casual, but she was ready for a full-fledged brawl. She heard him let out a chuckle, and her heart went icy cold. She knew that kind of chuckle. It was the kind that told her she’d just pissed him off and he was amused by her attempt to hurt him.

“That was a neat trick, love,” He said as he stood back up to his regular height. “But you’ll have to do a lot better than that if you want to hurt me.” He growled as his eyes flared and he started to rush towards the woman. Before he could even get close Kol threw him to the other side of the courtyard.

“I told you Nik, not a hair.” He seethed, standing protectively in front of his girlfriend, who was now minorly terrified and clutched onto the back of his jacket.

“Maybe I should just go,” She murmured to Kol.

“Nonsense, you are still welcome here,” Elijah promised.

Klaus had gotten up and was getting ready to argue when Elijah cut him off.

“Why don’t we give the lady the benefit of the doubt. As it stands, if she had wanted to harm any of us she’s had ample opportunities to do so and has not. We shall hear her out before we jump to any more conclusions.” He stated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Everyone was slow to move, but eventually, all were gathered in the seating area.

“What do you want to know?” The woman asked, practically perched in Kol’s lap.

“First off, how is there another breed of werewolf?” Elijah asked.

“Well, there’s actually a few. I’m from the French line of werewolves, whereas your brother is of the North American breed. As far as I know, the only other breed is English wolves. But there are many different shifters out there from many cultures. Kitsune, for example, come from Japan.” She explained as best as she could.

“How is it we’ve never heard of any other wolves or shifters before?” Freya asked.

“That I am unsure of, but I’ve met loads of different shifters and other creatures. Where I come from, it’s practically a beacon for supernaturals.”

“And you can control your shifts?” Kol piped up.

“Well for the most part. The way French wolves and shifters work is that you can shift at any time, not just on the full moon. But the full moon makes us more susceptible to turning. But for older wolves, it becomes easier to control your shifts. Whereas baby wolves tend to be much more at risk of turning uncontrollably.”

She then spent the next hour or so explaining the differences between the different wolf breeds and other supernatural creatures, although she never really explained what she was. It was actually Kol that brought up the question.

“Me? Well, I’m kinda a special case. I’m a werewolf, but well, an extremely rare one. It’s why I didn’t tell you who or what I was.” She explained, clearly nervous to reveal who she was. But with one squeeze of the hand from Kol, she sighed and started speaking, “I am the twin sister of Scott McCall, the True Alpha. I am his opposite in most cases which makes us an elite team that is nearly unbeatable. So I am what is called a Compliment Alpha. Part alpha, part beta, all power. It’s why my eyes are purple. It combines the red of an alpha’s eyes and the blue of a beta’s.” She explained, once again flashing her eyes.

“Does that satisfy you Nik? Or does she have to go through her life story before you trust her?” Kol asked, seemingly done with his girlfriend being interrogated.

“I swear to you I am no threat to your family. I didn’t even know of your existence until Kol revealed who and what he was. Vampires are kinda new territory for me. This is not some evil plot to harm you or any Mikaelson. You all have become my new pack, and you don’t hurt your own pack.” She swore.

“I shall allow you to stay, but be warned little wolf, I see even the slightest hint of your inevitable betrayal and I will end you and your brother.” Klaus threatened, but instead of being scared she just gave him a smile.

“I would expect nothing less.” She teased as she stood from the couch. “But just so you know, my old pack and I are hard to kill. Trust me, many have tried, yet here I am.”

Kol stood as well and took her hand as they left for her apartment on the other end of town. He pulled her close by her shoulder and kissed her head as they walked out of the compound.

-----------

When they finally made it back to her apartment, he could see her noticeably relax.

“I have to say, darling, I’ve never seen you kick ass before but I would love to see it again,” Kol murmured as he wrapped his arms around her waist and laid kisses on her neck. She giggled and tried to push him away.

“Stooop,” She whined as she tried to wiggle out of his grip.

Kol, unfortunately, refused to let her go and held her tighter as he relished in her laughter. Moments like this were his favorite because there was just joy in the air. All troubles forgotten and burdens lifted to make room for the contentment he felt when he was with her.

The two settled down on the couch and just sat cuddled up in silence for a while. Kol was the first to break it after about half an hour.

“Would you have ever told me?” He asked, looking down at his lover who suddenly seemed very interested in the couch.

She sighed and sat up. She hated this. She knew he would eventually ask this. And she dreaded it because she didn’t have a good answer. But she knew she had to give him something.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” She started, “My identity and my secret is the reason why I ran here in the first place. The danger became too great for my brother and me to stay together. We had to separate, at least for a little while. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” She paused as she recalled the day she had to say goodbye to her mother and brother. The physical pain she felt when she got on the plane without him. “I was scared.” she admitted, “I trust you, and I wanted to tell you so many times, but…”

“But what darling? Cm’on darling, I just want to know.”

“If my identity was found out, I would have had to leave again. Which would mean leaving you. And I couldn’t- I can’t lose you too. It would break me. Shatter me to a point that I would become volatile and dangerous to those who came across me. Because my heart’s been broken a few too many times for me to be able to come back from that.” She said quietly, not realizing that tears had begun to stream down her face.

Kol pulled her back into his arms and just held her.

“I swear to you my love, no one will keep me from you. Not even my brother.” He vowed.

#kol mikaelson x reader #kol mikaelson oneshot #kol mikaelson x you #kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson #the originals #teen wolf #klaus mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #kinda au #werewolf

[animeyanderelover]

R!Ciel and O!Ciel fighting for childhood female darling (Do you think they could share?)

Here again, please keep in mind that I’m not completely finished with the manga yet.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, manipulation, paranoia, threatening, blackmailing, bribing, controlling behavior, sabotage, kidnapping

R!Ciel and O!Ciel fighting over their childhood friend

☕️🍵I don't think they would be able to share, at least not with both of the twins agreeing willingly or even reluctantly. Ciel thinks that he has the right to be the heir of the Phantomhive manor since he fulfilled all the duties of one the last four years whilst his brother wasn't there. He was clearly enraged due to the inauspicious return of his older brother and declared war to him by dismantling one of the blood factories which "Ciel" needs to function. He is exceedingly competitive and doesn't stop fighting until a victor is declared. It's the same with fighting over the same darling

☕🍵"Ciel" on the other hand desires a rivalry between his brother and was somewhat excited when finding out about the blood factory. On the other hand he seems to have an obsession over his little brother and it probably intensified after after he became a Bizarre Doll. Such creatures run on their past dreams and "Ciel's" past dream used to be with his little brother and the darling. So his obsession became stronger too, for both the darling and Ciel. He still wants to be with his brother, but after he nearly died and was saved from Undertaker, he became so much more willing to cause his little brother great troubles. I can see him planning to win against his brother, for the position of the heir of the Phantomhive and the darling, and afterwards get his hands on his brother as well and controlling and keeping them both for himself. Despite all he does still care for his brother, in a twisted sense, but it's there! He would still not be above taunting his brother if he should win.

☕🍵Even when all of you were younger, "Ciel" was already very possessive of the both of you. He was most likely more lenient with letting his brother spent time with you since Ciel suffered from asthma and for that couldn't leave the house for a longer time until it slowly got better and he was able to leave the house more often too. "Ciel" wanted to protect you even back then, together with his brother you were very important to him. I do not doubt that he might have liked you even back then, just like his younger brother did. Back then Ciel had a bit more of an advantage, most likely because he wasn't engaged to Lizzy. So the small boy sometimes talked that he wanted to marry you later on since you were together with his older brother one of the very few people who he was able to play and spent time with. He shared maybe the dream of opening a toy store in England together with you.

☕🍵"Ciel" was jealous because of this all, because his little brother and the girl he liked didn't have to be forced into the things he had to do. His partne had already been chosen, his life was already decided. He cared for his brother and knew that Ciel liked you, but he got jealous nevertheless and it might have led him to pleading his father if he could eventually not be the fiancé of Elizabeth, but with you. He had this dream of marrying you, just like his brother had. His parents most likely knew about his and Ciel's love of you and it worried them a bit. But separating you from the twins was a bad idea. "Ciel" would express his frustration an his anger and Ciel would be saddened and in a bad mood with his older brother reassuring him that you'll come back to them.

☕🍵But "Ciel" was from a very early age on just so much more charming than his younger brother was. He was more open, more playful, more fun to be with and could do much more with you than his brother could. It made Ciel worry a lot, knowing that due to his sickness he couldn't do all the things his brother could do. Due to that he always clinged somewhat onto you whenever you were with him. He was insecure, knowing that his brother was more of a fitting partner you might later on desire than him and due to that like him better later on that him.

☕🍵After "Ciel" died, his brother took his identity and the name of the Earl of Phantomhive. He had become a more cold and cruel individual. He had lost his brother and went through a terrifying experience which made him much more possessive over his childhood friend. He most likely managed to break off the engagement, using Sebastian as a way to set up rumors which led to the Midford's and him ending the engagement. He would be very smart about it just like his brother would be, though he would be more colder about it. I think since you knew them since childhood, you might realize that this isn't the real Ciel, but his little brother. And Ciel himself wouldn't want to keep this a secret for too long either. He had to go as a child through the fear of the darling potentially ending up liking "Ciel" more than him and whilst he didn't plan on his brother to die, he takes this advantage to make the darling his.

☕🍵He most likely kidnapped his darling so she wouldn't tell anyone about his real identity and locked her just up in his house with Sebastian and the servants making sure she doesn't escape. The servanta have unswaying loyalty towards their master so they wouldn't really believe you whenever you tell them that this isn't the real Ciel. You're somewhat stuck with Ciel having the upper hand.

☕🍵So the sudden appearance of "Ciel" ruined his plans and if it wouldn't have been for Lau and Ran Mao helping him escape, he would have ended up in a lot more troubles. "Ciel" would be for now the one who has a hold on his darling since she would be really thankful for his appearance since Ciel kept her isolated all for himself and it is also good to finally have the truth spilled out. Whilst "Ciel" isn't necessarily angry with his younger brother taking his identity, he is mad that Ciel treated you the way he did, abusing you directly mentally and being harsh with you. This isn't "Ciel's" style. I don't say he's any better, he is actually the more terrible one. But he is just so much more sly and charming about his way of manipulation and after years of being kept from the world, and since Ciel isn't the best in showing affection and his feelings too openly, the darling is just starved for more human feelings which "Ciel" uses to his advantage.

☕🍵He brings his darling into staying isolated anyways, whatever love he held beforehand for her became twisted and enhanced due to his transformation into a Bizarre Doll, though he doesn't tell his darling from this so she doesn't feel freaked out or scared. But he does uses his sudden physical dysfunction and weakness to guilt-trip her into staying with him. He was for years away and went through too much so it would be no wonder in her mind that he himself is love starved as well. He would be so much smarter about the engagement and use Elizabeth's confused feelings to break off the engagement again, but this time officially since the previous break up wasn't real due to his brother playing his role.

☕🍵He would quickly progress into courting his darling and making her his fiancée. He would just end up confessing his love after just spending time with her and given the circumstances, she might not have the heart to reject him and there is probably also the thought in her mind that this is "Ciel", the charming and caring boy. Nothing like his brother. That's what he is counting on, but in reality he is so much more fearful and terrible than his brother, instead of threatening and blackmailing, he relies more on gaslighting and effective guilt-tripping. He makes you paranoid of the world without you even knowing and you have to attend to him anyways more due to his weakened body.

☕🍵Currently Ciel is in a worse position, mostly because he doesn't have you. He is of now seen as a criminal, but at the very least is not alone. He has all his servants, Ran Mao, Lau and Sebastian by his side. He knows that his brother wants a fight, over power just as much as you and Ciel doesn't back exactly off from this. He's frustrated with the current situation and wants to turn the tables around. He knows "Ciel" can only function as long as he has plenty of fresh blood since his body needs it to function. So he plans on starting with cutting off all the places where he gets that blood from to beat him once and for all.

#yandere black butler #yandere kuroshitsuji #yandere ciel #yandere ciel phantomhive #yandere real ciel

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Ice, Yarn, and Clocks

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 3

Chapter three let’s go! :D It’s really early in this AU’s story but I’m always really excited to write more. In this part, Jackie wraps up the events of last story, then goes on patrol and finds another supervillain out causing trouble. But something’s off...Oh, and also a semi-familiar face shows up at the scene, and Jackie later returns to check on him. Simple little story, but certain things are gonna be important later ;) Have fun ^-^

================

Jackie woke up to a bring bring! sound coming from his dresser. Instinctively, he rolled over and hit the snooze button on his alarm clock, only to realize that it wasn’t the right sound for his alarm. What was...? He bolted upright when he remembered where he heard it before. The Red Line! He lunged to the side and scooped up the phone, taking the call. “Hello?”

“Windstorm, is that you?” Leapfrog asked, a worried tone in her voice. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Oh thank god.” Leapfrog sighed. “I tried calling you all day yesterday, you didn’t pick up. I saw what happened at the speech on the news. They said you were injured. Is everything okay?”

“Oh yeah. Um...sorry.” Jackie rubbed his eyes. “I was supposed to call you, wasn’t I? I guess I forgot. In the chaos, y’know. Then I didn’t even go into my room until late at night, so I must’ve missed it ringing.” He and Chase had spent the rest of the day playing video games as a way to relax after Jackie’s injury and the subsequent visit to the hospital. It had been nice, but if it was going to get him in trouble with the LoH... “Again, really sorry.”

“It’s fine, Windstorm, we were just concerned.” Leapfrog paused. Jackie imagined she was sitting at a desk, maybe leaning back in the chair. “What about your reported injury? Do you need medical attention?”

“No, I took care of it,” Jackie assured her. Already, the burn was feeling much better this morning.

“How?”

“I went to the hospital. Uh, Greengate General. Said I was one of the people watching the speech who got injured. Did you know there’s a whole department for dealing with super-related injures?”

“The SDER department? Yes, most hospitals have one. I’m surprised you didn’t know that. But for the future, if you ever feel you can’t get medical attention without giving away your identity, go to St. Ellen’s Hospital, on Stanlee Street. The League has a deal with the staff there, they won’t unmask you.”

“Really? Thanks.” Jackie nodded, filing away the information. Though he did wonder if it was alright to keep seeing Schneep. He was nice enough, and clearly knew his stuff. Well, even if he went somewhere else for super injuries, they might run into each other again anyway. Schneep was Chase’s doctor, after all.

“Who was the villain who showed up at the speech, again?” Leapfrog asked. “Fire Cat, or something?”

“Spitfire Cat,” Jackie corrected.

“Right. Hang on.” There was a brief silence, interrupted by a surprisingly loud clacking sound. Apparently Leapfrog was at a computer. One that had a mechanical keyboard. “Hmm.”

“What is it?” Jackie asked. “Are you looking him up in your villain database? What do you have on him?”

“Yes, I am, but...we don’t have much,” Leapfrog admitted. “That happens sometimes. Not all villains have known identities. But this is shockingly blank. No arrest records...we don’t even have anything on his powers except for them being Type E.” ‘Type E’ referred to superpowers that were energy based. Jackie himself was Type D—supers that could control substances. Air, in his case. Though he was often mistaken for Type A—supers whose powers enhanced their body—because he mainly used his powers to fly.

“You mean his solid-heat energy?” Jackie asked.

“His what?”

“That’s what he calls it. He can make various shapes out of it, but he prefers to stick with beams and sometimes walls. Also, like, swords. It comes from his hands. Which—” Jackie’s voice started to rise, “—makes his name even more ridiculous. I don’t get the combination of fire and cats in the first place, I mean, they’re not really related, right? I’d understand if it was a lizard or something because dragons, but why a cat? And on top of that, he doesn’t even make fire! It’s energy! I mean, what the hell?!”

“...ah. You’ve...fought him before?” Leapfrog said. “That’s not in our records.”

“Really? That’s kinda surprising, it’s been on the news.” Jackie paused, thinking about it. “Wait, actually, that makes sense. He doesn’t like being caught on video, so there’s not many traces of him. I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t showed up yesterday, he would have immediately left to avoid all those press cameras. But anyway, yeah, he started, uh, villain-ing a bit after I started hero-ing.”

More keyboard clacking. “I see, I see,” Leapfrog muttered. “We can comb news records for information on him to fill out his database entry. What sort of crimes has he committed?”

“Uhhh...not really normal stuff. Like, a lot of villains rob places or destroy shit, Spitfire Cat doesn’t do that.” Jackie bit his nails for a moment, recalling his previous encounters with the villain. “He doesn’t like heroes. And he really hates the League. Goes after, like, politicians who support them and stuff. The first time we fought he was trying to break into the city records, wanted to destroy the paper copies of the city’s Super Laws. I mean, if I had a nickel for every time I heard him monolog about how much heroes and the League suck, I’d be able to buy a penthouse.”

“So he’s an anarchist,” Leapfrog said.

“Basically, yeah.”

A pause. “Windstorm, would you mind talking to Terabyte about Spitfire Cat? You remember him, right?”

“Yeah, he’s the Database Specialist you gave me the number for.” Jackie nods, despite knowing Leapfrog can’t see him. “Why? Do you need my help?”

“Well, it sounds like you know the most about him. Even if we don’t know his identity yet, your insight could help us understand him more.”

“Of course, sure!” Jackie said eagerly. “I’d be happy to help! Uh, should I do that now, or...?”

“No, not now. Sometime today would be appreciated, but not now.”

“Oh good.” Because it was seven in the morning on a Sunday, and Jackie had been really looking forward to going back to sleep after this call. “Yeah, I’ll talk to him later.”

“Great. I’ll let him know to expect you. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know. Or, if you need any help with that injury, go to St. Ellen’s.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“Talk to you later.” And with that, Leapfrog hung up.

Jackie put the Red Line back on his dresser, lying back down. He’d been nervous for a second there. But as it turned out, the League wanted his help! That was great! Though as excited as he was, he was still tired after the busy day yesterday. Soon, he fell asleep once more.

================

The next couple weeks passed uneventfully. Or as uneventful as a superhero’s life ever got. Jackie didn’t go out on patrol as often, wanting to give his wound some time to heal. He listened to his police radio more frequently, though, just in case there was ever an emergency that the cops needed help with. Luckily, there wasn’t much. There was one robbery, but that was the biggest thing.

But Jackie couldn’t give up on patrol altogether. Not all crimes showed up on the police radio, after all. Some went unnoticed until after they were completed. And besides, Jackie...just wanted to fly. Flying was one of his favorite pastimes. Seeing the city from so high up, dodging between the skyscrapers, feeling the wind on his face, swooping up and down...there was no greater feeling in the world. Sometimes he wished he could fly around without needing to be in costume, but he knew that would be dangerous. The last thing he needed was to be shot out of the sky by a villain who wanted to see him without his mask on.

Chase noticed when he was gone, of course, but the cover story of having odd work hours was still believable. Half the time, he actually was going to work. Which was so, so boring. Some days he wished that a villain would smash through the window of the office so Jackie could have something more exciting than solitaire to occupy his mind. But until he could become an official Hero, he needed a day job for the money. He wasn’t about to leave Chase hanging when it came to the rent.

Two weeks after the speech at the SepTech building and his encounter with Spitfire Cat, Jackie was satisfied that his injury had mostly healed. It was still a little tender, especially in the middle, but it wasn’t causing him any major trouble. So that night, he decided to do a night patrol; something he hadn’t done in that two-week healing period.

Jackie knocked on the door to Chase’s room. “Hey, Chase?”

“Yeah?” Chase called. “No wait, hang on, I wanna face-to-face this. Frosty, door.” There was a rattling noise, and the door opened. Frosty, having just pushed the door handle with his front paws, poked his head out and looked up at Jackie.

“Hey, boy,” Jackie cooed. “Chase, can I pet him?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Chase was sitting at his computer, at a desk in the corner. Probably editing something for his YouTube channel, judging by the programs open on the monitor. He pushed his desk chair back and spun to look at Jackie. “What’s up?”

Jackie pet Frosty for a few seconds before answering. “Oh, I just wanted to let you know I was going out.”

“Out? It’s like, eight o’clock. The call center isn’t open this late, is it?”

“No, I just wanted to go for a walk,” Jackie lied. “It’s nice at night, y’know? Got a vibe to it. Anyway, I can also go pick up groceries or something if you need anything. I’m pretty sure the shop’s open this late.”

“Hm. Probably.” Chase shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t think I need anything. Right now, at least. You can check my grocery list if you want, though. See if there’s something on there.”

“Got it.” Jackie gave Frosty one last pat before standing up straight. “Y’know, you didn’t need to open the door for this. I could’ve just asked you through it.”

“Nah, bro. Like I said, face-to-face communication. It’s important.” Chase grinned. “Also wanted to show off how smart Frosty was. Close the door when you leave, though.”

“Right. I’ll see you later, then.”

“See you.”

Jackie closed the door, heading out. He could have just left without letting Chase know. Gone right through his bedroom window. But he wanted to let him know. It didn’t feel fair, not after Chase had been so nice and brought him to the doctor. He at least deserved to know when Jackie was leaving, even if he couldn’t know why.

================ 

Flying through the city at night was a whole different experience. High up, the only light came from the yellow-lit windows in the buildings, and Jackie felt somewhat hidden. He did a few loops and spins in midair, grinning wildly. It was like a roller coaster where he could choose what was going to happen next. But back to business. Patrol.

He dropped through the air, stopping about five or six stories above the street. Close enough to see the cars and people, far enough that they were still vague shapes. There hadn’t been a lot of action on the police radio, so he figured he’d fly around a bit before stopping to give it another listen. He wove between the buildings, following the path of the streets below and scanning for any signs of trouble, going in a vaguely spiral-shaped pattern from the heart of the city outward.

After about thirty minutes of this, Jackie ended up in a relatively quiet area of the city, with only a few pedestrians and a couple cars. He was starting to think there wasn’t going to be any trouble tonight. But no sooner had he thought this, than—

He heard the sound of a car screeching. Several people screamed. Jackie stopped in midair, turning towards the commotion. It was down a street to his left. An out of control vehicle, perhaps? He turned and sped off.

The buildings in this area were only three stories high. Jackie stopped on the roof of one, looking over the ledge. Ah, this was a shopping district. Not the shopping district, with all the high-end brands, but the sort of area with a lot of small restaurants, local shops, and corner stores. He’d been here a couple times before, but he wasn’t too familiar with it. Not that he’d have to be familiar with the area to notice what was wrong. Namely, the person in the white outfit standing in the middle of the street surrounded by frost and ice.

Jackie recognized her. Glacier. Minor supervillain with the ability to control ice and snow. They’d fought a few times before, and he’d even gotten her arrested twice, but she always broke out of police custody. Well, not tonight. He jumped off the edge of the building and took flight.

Glacier had coated the street and sidewalk in a layer of ice. A few pedestrians had slipped on it and were trying to get to their feet. A minivan was stopped in the middle of the road, turned sideways after having skidded across the icy surface—no doubt the cause of the screeching earlier. Jackie stopped, hovering about a foot off the ground. Glacier had her back to him. She was busy pulling balls of ice from thin air and throwing them through shop windows. “That must be really satisfying to do, but as it turns out, that’s property damage,” he said.

Tensing, Glacier spun around. Her costume was white with some silver plates that served as a basic sort of armor. The mask on her face was a simple outline around her eyes, more for style than hiding her identity. “You!”

“Why does everyone always say that to me?” Jackie sighed. “Yes! It’s me! Let’s process this and move on!”

Not responding to his quip, Glacier formed another ice ball and threw it at Jackie.

“Whoa!” The wind picked up, diverting the ice ball’s course just enough to miss Jackie. “Not engaging today, huh? That’s funny, you usually enjoy our witty banter. Just business, then?” Jackie glanced around. There were still a few pedestrians around, but luckily, most were on their feet again and leaving as fast as possible. The minivan had started up again, tires spinning for a moment before finding purchase and driving away.

Glacier threw another ice ball at him. The wind blew it off course again and Jackie flew forward, aiming to knock her down. She ran to the side, dodging easily, and several spikes of ice shot up from the ground where she’d just been. Jackie didn’t stop in time and ran right into them. “Oof!” Some of the smaller ones broke, but the largest one stopped him dead. He dropped to the ground with the wind knocked out of him. Part of him recognized that was probably comical to watch, but he didn’t feel like laughing.

“Get out of here, Windstorm,” Glacier snarled. Chunks of ice began forming in the air around her, swirling around her head and shoulders like planets orbiting the sun.

Jackie got to his feet, slipping a bit on the ice at first before he reached out to the wind and got it to help stabilize him. “Not a chance. You know me by now, right? I mean, I’ve stopped you like, five times.”

No sooner had he regained his balance than those chunks of ice broke off from their orbit and began pelting him. He managed to divert some of them through the air currents, but there were too many. Jackie yelped as the miniature hailstorm battered his body. He ducked his head and covered it with his arms. Of course, the ice chunks just kept hitting him, stinging on impact. So he hid behind one of the ice spikes from before.

This wasn’t going to buy him much time. Glacier could just walk around the spike. Jackie’s mind raced to come up with a plan.

“Get out of here!” Glacier repeated. Her footsteps approached as she ran forward and around the column of ice.

Jackie shoved the spike hard, breaking it. The top half fell to the ground. Once he had a clear view of Glacier, he jumped, flying forward to tackle her to the ground. She must have been caught by surprise, because she didn’t defend herself. They fell and slid across the iced-up street for a good few feet until they hit the curb of the sidewalk.

The moment they stopped, Glacier punched him in the face. His head snapped backwards, and she took advantage of the short distraction by pushing him away and standing up. The ice didn’t cause her to slip at all as she broke into a sprint and ran down the street.

“Oww.” Jackie touched his cheekbone where she hit him. Luckily, she seemed to have gotten new gloves; the old ones had silver plates on the fingers that were basically brass knuckles. Still, any punch hurt a lot. He hoped it wouldn’t bruise. And then he realized he was letting her get away. “Hey!”

Glacier didn’t even turn back to look at him. Jackie started to get up, slipped on the ice, then gave up on standing up the conventional way. A gust of wind lifted him into the air and he flew after her, quickly gaining ground. Come on, he was almost there! Getting close!

She turned a street corner. Jackie almost flew right by, only managing to make the turn at the last moment. Even so, the turn was wide, and far out of control. He rolled in midair—he couldn’t see where he was going—

Then he crashed into someone.

Jackie cried out as he and the other person went tumbling. The street and sidewalk in this area were still iced up, so they went sliding for a bit. “Ah, I’m sorry!” Jackie said, using the wind to get to his feet. “That was a big turn, I should have—oh!”

He hadn’t just ran into some random stranger. He knew this man. What was his name? Right, JJ. Dr. Schneep’s cousin, he’d been there when Jackie and Chase had showed up looking for help. Jackie recognized the mustache and bright blue eyes. Currently, JJ was rubbing the side of his head, surrounded by brown paper bags with a grocery store logo on the sides.

“Are you okay?” Jackie reached down to help him up. That proved difficult with the ice, and after a couple failed attempts JJ waved him off. “Oh, okay. Again, very sorry, I wasn’t looking, I was thinking about—wait a minute.”

Jackie’s head snapped to the side. He expected to find that Glacier had run off, managing to slip away and evade capture. But instead, she...had stopped. And was just standing in the middle of the sidewalk with her back to him. “Give me one moment,” he said to JJ. Then he flew towards Glacier.

He was almost on her when she finally reacted, spinning around and aiming another punch right at his face. Luckily he managed to evade this one, grabbing her wrist as her hand whizzed past and twisting her arm. Glacier yelped in surprise and immediately started to kick at his feet...except his feet weren’t on the ground so she didn’t end up doing anything. “C’mon, Nancy,” he muttered.

Glacier didn’t respond. She tried ramming her head back to hit Jackie’s, but the most that managed to do was temporarily blind him as strands of her dyed-blonde hair flew into his face. As Jackie shook them out of his eyes, he couldn’t help but think this was...weird. Glacier not responding to his comments was really out of character. She was one of the villains who engaged the most in the hero-villain banter. Normally, he expected her to say something like “If you weren’t some special superhero the news would be all over you for manhandling a small, beautiful woman like me! Unless you’re actually a girl behind that mask, personally I still can’t tell.” Or at least to comment on his use of her real name and not her super identity. This nothingness was...just weird.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Glacier managed to pull one of her arms free of his grip, and she went in for a third punch. Jackie barely caught this one in time, grabbing her fist...and it was then he noticed something weird. He thought it was a loose thread of her costume at first, but it was too thick. No, as he looked closer, it seemed there was a piece of...white yarn? Around her wrist. About three inches of it dangled in the air. Impulsively, he reached out and pulled it.

There was a surprising amount of resistance, but nonetheless, the yarn came free. And the moment it did, Glacier stopped struggling. Confused, Jackie backed up and looked at her other wrist. There was another bit of yarn there. It wasn’t tied on, but when he pulled this one, he still felt that resistance. Like it didn’t want to unwrap from Glacier’s wrist. But it came away eventually.

“Oh my god!” Glacier shook off his grip, walking a few feet away. She was breathing heavily all of a sudden, though she worked to conceal it as she turned back around to face him, placing her hands on her hips. “Did you have to be so rough? You know a delicate woman like me is fragile!”

Jackie couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah. Mm-hmm.”

“And Nancy? Nancy?! Does the mask mean nothing to you? Do I need to make it bigger and fancier? I am Glacier in this costume, not Nancy Nguyen!”

“Whatever you say.” Honestly, Jackie was distracted by the yarn he was now holding. Well, yarn wasn’t the right word. It was much more tightly woven. Possibly specially made. “Hey, what are these?” he asked, holding up the two strands of string.

Glacier took a step back, looking distinctly unnerved. “I...I don’t know. But, um, Windstorm? Don’t touch them for too long. You know all that?” She gestured back towards the street they’d come from. “That...wasn’t me.”

Jackie blinked. “What do you mean it wasn’t you?”

“I mean, I wasn’t...doing any of that. It was just...my body. On its own.” Glacier paused, her expression shifting to anxious. “Don’t touch them for too long. I’m going to go now.”

Normally, Jackie would have stopped her when she turned and walked away. But he was more concerned with these strange strings. And also something else. He quickly tucked them into his belt and spun around. JJ was still there. He’d finally managed to stand up using a nearby lamp post, and was looking down at his grocery bags with a distressed expression.

“Here, I’ll help.” Jackie flew back over—well, more like hovered, really—and bent over to pick up the bags. “Grocery shopping at nine o’clock, huh? God, I hope you didn’t have any eggs or anything. I’d offer to pay if they broke, but I don’t have cash on me. Maybe later?”

JJ smiled faintly. He still looked a bit upset, but Jackie got the impression it wasn’t directly related to the groceries. More likely, it was because he’d been within a few feet of a super villain.

“Can I help you home or something?” Jackie asked.

JJ considered this. He pointed around the street corner...down the street that was still iced over.

“Oh, you need to go that way?” Jackie grimaced. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to walk that. Slippery. Actually...here.” Jackie shifted the grocery bags to one hand and held out his other arm. “Hold onto me and I can help you balance.”

After a moment of hesitation, JJ accepted the offer, grabbing onto Jackie’s upper arm for stability.

Luckily, the walk wasn’t nearly as long as Jackie was expecting. JJ stopped in front of one of the shops on the street, gesturing at the front door. “You live here?” Jackie looked it over. It was a nice little shop. Apart from how one of its main windows had been broken by a thrown ice ball. “Sorry about that,” he said, indicating the broken window in question. “Unfortunately, I can’t pay for that. Do you have super insurance?”

JJ smiled and let out a few huffs of breath—silent laughter. He nodded, and held out his hand. “Right,” Jackie said, handing him the grocery bags. “I don’t think anything’s broken in there, thankfully. But let me...I was going to say ‘let me know if you need anything,’ but you know. Secret identity. You can’t contact me.”

JJ laughed again. He opened the shop’s front door and started to go inside, but stopped in the doorway to turn and wave at Jackie.

“Good night,” Jackie said, waving back.

Nodding, JJ closed the door.

Letting out a tense breath, Jackie glanced around at the street. Nobody else was in sight. Apparently all other pedestrians had managed to get away. Great. The smashed windows sucked, but they were a million times better than injured bystanders. And all the ice wasn’t a problem, it would melt when the sun came up. So...there was nothing else for him to do.

Before he took off, though, Jackie reached down and pulled the strings out from his belt. They looked...different now. Somehow wispier. Insubstantial. As he stared at them in his hand, he was surprised to see them slowly fade away. Becoming even more wispy, then turning into something more like holograms than actual strings. Then they vanished.

“What the fuck?” he whispered. Okay. Disappearing strings. Strings that had been wrapped around Glacier’s wrists. And she’d said that this destruction ‘wasn’t her.’ She warned him not to touch them for too long. What did that mean? Were these strings...related to that?

Confused, Jackie turned and jumped away, launching into the sky. This whole encounter didn’t sit right with him. It felt like something much bigger than just some destroyed shop windows was going on. But he couldn’t even guess what it was.

================ 

Unfortunately, Jackie had work in the morning, so he couldn’t patrol all night. So he went home, made a late night snack, chilled and watched some YouTube videos for a while, and then went to bed.

The next day was uneventful. His eight hour shift passed without incident. Well, a customer did tell him to fuck off when he called their phone. Part of him couldn’t blame them; after all, they’d probably been receiving calls for weeks. But also, why even pick up the phone? Just to yell? News flash: he couldn’t do anything about the company calling them. He just dialed the number. It was no use venting frustrations to him. Sometimes Jackie wondered how people like this would react to his hero identity. Maybe they’d tell Windstorm to fuck off, too.

His shift ended at three, and Jackie hurried out of the building so he could catch the 3:15 train on time. Normally, he wouldn’t have needed to move so fast. The train that went to his and Chase’s apartment usually arrived at 3:25. But today, he wasn’t taking that line. He was going to grab the southbound train to the edge of the city. He wanted to check on how things were doing at that little shop street from last night. It seemed like the least he could do.

The closest station to that street—Zeit Way, according to his phone GPS—was still some distance away from it, so Jackie ended up walking an extra fifteen minutes or so before the area started to look familiar. It was a quiet walk. Not too many people out and about, though there were more cars on the street than last night. And that didn’t change when he turned onto the right block.

Despite the puddles from melted ice and broken windows, this place was kind of nice. Jackie hadn’t really been able to appreciate it while fighting Glacier in the dark, but Zeit Way was a quaint little street with cute shops. Jackie wandered down the street for a bit. “Ah, they got an ice cream parlor here? Hell yeah,” he said to himself.

He also wanted to check on something in particular. Someone, actually. He’d dropped JJ off last night, and he was fine then, but just in case, Jackie wanted to stop by. Though he couldn’t deny he was mostly curious. He had run into JJ twice now, and he seemed like a nice guy. Maybe they could get to know each other some more.

The shop was right in the middle of the street. Not too far from the center of Glacier’s attack. That sucked. But at least looking at the broken window last night had given Jackie a good general idea of what the storefront looked like, so he recognized it easily now. There were two large front windows, one of which was now covered in a tarp, and a pair of double-doors in between them. The doors were wood, and had some swirly details carved around the edges of them. The undamaged window had a display in it, which showed off two wooden stools, a wooden dollhouse with dolls, two table clocks, and a bunch of wooden paperweights carved to look like animals. Jackie backed up to look at the sign hanging over the entrance. “Jackson Legacy Crafts,” it read, with a subtitle listing “Woodcarving | Toys | Furniture | Clockwork” as some of its goods.

“Huh.” Jackie hummed. That was neat. Now he was curious what this place was like. Without further ado, he pulled open one of the front doors and stepped inside.

A pleasant bell chimed as he stepped over the threshold. The inside of the shop was crowded, but not in a messy way. More in a cozy way. It almost reminded Jackie of being in his grandmother’s house as a child. She’d always had a lot of knickknacks around. Jackson Legacy Crafts was like that. There wasn’t a surface left bare, the tables and chairs and even the floor were full of woodcarved trinkets. The left and right walls had clocks of various sizes and shapes hung on them, ticking in unison.

Jackie walked farther inside, stopping by one of the tables. There were some more animal paperweights here, these ones in the form of various-sized rabbits. In addition, there was a rack of bracelets made of interlocking wooden parts, two more table clocks, and one of those wooden hands that artists used to get references for poses. Jackie picked that one up and started messing with it. After only a few seconds, he moved the fingers so the hand was flipping the bird. He laughed a bit. “Ah, I’m a twelve year old boy,” he muttered.

A sharp whistle pierced the air.

“Holy—!” Jackie immediately dropped the model hand and spun towards the sound.

JJ was standing right there, staring at Jackie. He glanced down at the model hand, then back up to Jackie. He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I-I uhhh—” Jackie reached down and curled the model's fingers into a fist. His face grew hot. “Sorry, I...I wasn’t going to leave it like that.”

A short huff of breath: more silent laughter as a small smile crossed JJ’s face. He walked over to the table, picked up the model hand, and put its finger back where Jackie left it.

Jackie couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Okay, if you’re sure about it.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, you’re...JJ, right? Oh, wait—” He raised his hands and started to sign clumsily. You J-J? I remember you from hospital—

JJ raised a hand, stopping him. It’s fine, he signed, much more elegantly. I can hear you perfectly, I just can’t speak.

“Oh.” Jackie dropped his hands, embarrassed. “Sorry.” Since that hospital encounter, he’d been brushing up on his sign language, just in case he met someone who spoke it. He was pretty good with making the signs, but had some more difficulty with reading them. Luckily, JJ seemed to have picked up on that, and was finger-spelling a lot of more uncommon words to fill in the gaps in his speech. 

No, it’s fine. I appreciate the thought. JJ smiled. Yes, from the hospital a couple weeks ago. You were there with your roommate. What’s your name again? I’ve forgotten.

“I’m Jackie. Yeah, Chase is my roommate, and apparently you’re cousins with his doctor?”

Apparently.

At that moment, some of the clocks on the wall started to chime. Dings and dongs of various kinds rang through the small shop. Jackie jumped, surprised, and glanced at the clocks on the walls to see them all reading 3:45. “Jeez, that’s loud,” he muttered.

Oh it’s worse on the hour. Pretty much all of them make sound, then. JJ shrugged. Did you want to get one? If so, you might want one that doesn’t signal every quarter hour.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Jackie said. “I was just in the area and I thought I’d see what this place is like. Do you work here?”

This is my shop.

“Your...? Oh!” Jackie nodded. “Of course. Your last name must be Jackson, then? Like…‘Jackson Legacy Crafts.’ I thought you and—uh, and Dr. Schneep would have the same last name.”

JJ shook his head. That’s my mother’s maiden name. Strange, she was always very glad to drop it. He chuckled silently.

Jackie grinned a bit. “Well. You mind if I look around?”

Not at all. JJ gestured to the store at large. Let me know if you find something you like. He headed towards the back of the store, where he sat down behind a dark wood counter and pulled out his phone. It looked like he was playing a game on it, judging by the tapping and swiping.

Jackie wandered through the store for a few minutes. Honestly, the sheer number of items was a bit overwhelming. But in all the good ways. Most of them were made of wood, of course. A lot of them were wooden figurines or dolls, ranging from blank, jointed models to ones in tiny clothes with carved and painted faces. As Jackie looked closely, it appeared as though the tables and chairs themselves were for sale, too, each marked with a price tag. He was hesitant to pick things up at first, but given JJ’s reaction to him messing with the model hand, he eventually figured it was fine.

He got distracted by rolling a metal ball through a wooden maze for a while before he remembered why he wanted to come here in the first place. “Hey,” he called to Jameson. “What happened with your window?”

JJ glanced at the tarp-covered window, his expression drawn. Sighing, he put down his phone and said, There was a fight here last night. Some super with ice powers threw ice through my window.

“Whoa, really?!” Jackie said, pretending to be surprised. “Are you okay?”

Yes, I’m fine, thank you, JJ signed, features softening a bit at Jackie’s concern. I wasn’t really involved. She was smashing up a bunch of the shops. I was actually out at the time, only showed up at the end.

“Oh good.” Jackie let out a breath of relief. “What about all your stuff for sell? Did anything get broken?”

A couple of the clocks in the other display. But that’s alright, the damage wasn’t life-changingly bad.

Jackie nodded, and started to relax. Everything seemed fine here. JJ wasn’t hurt, and the broken window sounded like the worst of it. “Hey, I think I’m gonna get this maze thing,” he said. “Is that alright?”

Yes, of course. JJ stood up. Come on up here and I’ll ring you up.

Jackie walked over to the counter and set the maze down. JJ started messing with the cash register while he took out his wallet. “Do you take card?” he asked. JJ nodded. “Great.” Jackie pulled out his debit card and waited, bouncing on his feet as Jameson inputted the price into the register.

His eyes started to wander. There were a few framed pictures hanging on this back wall. Of people, mostly. There was one of a pair of brown-haired boys with bright blue eyes. Probably Jameson and Schneep. An older photo of a bride and groom together, where the bride had those same blue eyes. And—“Wait, holy shit, is that what I think it is?!”

JJ looked up to see Jackie pointing at something. He followed the gesture to one of the larger photos on the wall. Ah. Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is.

“Dude. How did you get a framed picture of Timekeeper?!” Jackie leaned forward onto the counter. “Holy fuck, is that his handwriting?!”

The photo in question was indeed a picture of the hero known as Timekeeper. Full body, fairly close up, showing off the full black-and-blue costume that Jackie had always thought was reminiscent of fancy Victorian-era clothes (though the black hat with the blue feather looked a bit more Three Musketeers.) A black cloth mask hid all of the hero’s face except for the hint of blue eyes under the brim of the hat. There was writing in the corner, fancy and loopy in permanent marker.

Yes, we met some time ago, Jameson explained, not looking directly at Jackie. It’s a long story, but during it I mentioned business was slow and the next day Timekeeper showed up here and gave me that photo. Said it might help get customer’s attention.

“Well it’s fucking working,” Jackie said bluntly. Though Timekeeper had been a resident hero of Daindover for a few years, he’d always been rather mysterious. A silent protector from the shadows, who just happened to have one of the coolest powers in existence. How many supers out there could slow down and speed up time at their will? Jackie only knew of one. “Man. Wish I could’ve met him. Wonder where he is now.” 

Timekeeper had disappeared from the public eye about two years ago. Some said he was still looking after the city, even more mysterious than usual. Some said the League of Heroes had recruited him and he now went on world-saving missions in far-off locations. Others said he died, but frankly, Jackie thought they were full of shit. If some villain had managed to take out Timekeeper, they would have bragged about that. Though there could be no denying that Timekeeper’s disappearance had left a hero-shaped void in Daindover. A few months later, Jackie had been inspired to fill in that void himself. And thus, Windstorm was born.

It would be so cool to meet Timekeeper. Or to work with him! Jackie’s stomach was doing excited flips just thinking about it. Maybe if the League rumor turned out to be true, Jackie could talk to him once he himself became a Hero.

Well...who knows? Contrary to Jackie’s enthusiasm, Jameson looked very much like he wanted to talk about somethingelse. Was he...embarrassed? Jackie understood that somewhat. Anyway, your total is 35. Put your card into the reader now.

“Right.” Jackie inserted his card into the card reader, put in his security code, then pulled his card out after a few seconds. A receipt curled out from the top of the register, which JJ tore off. “So...how’d you get to owning a business, anyway?”

It was my family’s, JJ explained. He handed Jackie the receipt.

“Do you make all these things?” Jackie picked up his new maze toy and tilted it, trying to get the metal ball into the goal.

Some of them. Some of them are from local artists—those ones have their logos and contact information on the price tags. A few were made by other family members. JJ paused. His face fell a bit. It’s just me now, though.

“...oh. I’m...sorry.” Jackie fell silent for a moment. It would probably be rude to ask what happened. After all, the answer could be assumed. But there was one person...“What about Dr. Schneep?”

Henrik is busy. He’s not very artsy, anyway. JJ shrugged. I suppose I could ask his parents for help, but they’re assholes and we don’t talk to them. He made a face, clearly opposed to even thinking about that possibility. I actually didn’t even know Henrik lived here until about a month ago. We hadn’t talked much before that.

“Well...you can always talk to him now,” Jackie said slowly.

JJ smiled. I know. We’ve been meeting up and texting and such.

“Um...” Jackie hesitated. “You know, if you, o-or you and Dr. Schneep together, if you ever wanted to...hang out with a bigger group...I-I’m pretty available. A-and Chase can come too, if he wants.” God, that was awkward. He wanted to die. Why’d he do that? It was a weird transition, and JJ was going to say no, because of course he would.

But instead, JJ smiled wider. Available? Like, for a date?

Jackie choked. “I—!”

JJ laughed so hard he wheezed. I’m kidding, Jackie. You’re not my type. Nice, but not my type. You look a bit like me and it’s weird.

“Y-yeah. Okay.” Jackie let out a breath. “I was thinking the same thing, actually. Hey, maybe we’re cousins.”

Doubtful, but a nice thought, JJ said. Anyway, do you want my phone number? Platonically?

“Yeah, sure. I’ll give you mine, too. Platonically.”

They exchanged contact information. It didn’t take too long. “Great,” Jackie said. “So...I guess I’ll text you? Or...you can text me?”

JJ nodded. Don’t forget your maze.

“Oh, right.” Jackie had started to leave and almost left his new purchase behind. “Do you have bags?”

Nodding again, JJ took out a paper bag and slid the maze inside. He held it out. I’ll see you later, then.

Jackie took the bag. “See you. Bye.”

He stepped outside, the door chiming again as he left. The moment he was out of JJ’s view, he let out a long breath of relief. He...wasn’t good with making friends. Not casually. Usually he only really knew people from work or roommate situations. He was lucky that Chase was such a ‘friend-able’ guy. Because it was hard for him to make that first move.

But it worked out this time. And Jackie was so happy about that fact that he didn’t think about anything else until back at the train station. New potential friend! That would make two!

Though once the train arrived and Jackie got on board, he realized something was nagging at him. Something about that area, about Zeit Way...Was it his fight with Glacier? Was that it? He had just let her walk away, after all. She might cause chaos.

Wait, no. Glacier wasn’t the type to create wanton destruction. Which...which made her actions last night all the stranger. Jackie sat up straight as he remembered: those strings! The ones that had just disappeared. He still didn’t know what they were.

He had to figure out what they were. Maybe he could contact the League and see if they could help. Because as of right now, he had no leads.

Jackie settled back against his seat in the train. He’d have to see what happens. But he just couldn’t shake that feeling. These strings were important. They had to be.

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