#i spent a lot of time debating which cats matched their personalities best

[headfullofgalaxies]

WonderlandsxShowtime as cats!

Tsukasa - Siamese (cream point): LOUD. Siamese have things to say and if that doesn't fit Tsukasa then I don't know what does. They're also extremely sociable, the extrovert of cat breeds.

Emu - Singapura: Smallest cat breed. They're forever kittens, very playful and curious. A perfect cat for Emu's energy.

Rui - Maine Coon (brown tabby): BIG. Gentle giants that might seem scary to those who don't know them. Fits Rui's reputation pretty well. Also just the thought of having Rui as the biggest cat and Emu as the smallest was too fun to pass up.

Nene - Domestic Longhair (tortoiseshell & white): Basically a mutt cat, so they can have any mix of personalities. Reasonable to assume they could match Nene's introverted personality. Torties, specifically, are known for their attitude, which fits Nene's sharp tongue and wit.

#wonderlands x showtime #project sekai #tsukasa tenma #rui kamishiro #emu otori #nene kusanagi #cat #fanart #star*scribbles #i spent a lot of time debating which cats matched their personalities best #i feel dumb that i didn't think siamese immediately for tsukasa #i might do the other groups #almost definitely will do vbs at least

[mostlycompetentwriter]

FAM

F/M Pairing: Fem!Reader x Lee Minho (SKZ)

Word Count: 2.4K

Genre: Hybrid AU; Strangers to Lovers AU

Warnings: None!!

Summary: You weren’t entirely sure about adopting a hybrid, but your friends insisted that you have someone to keep you company in the giant apartment where you lived alone. But you never imagined how much you were missing out on, until you also fell in love...

A/N: I’m trying my hand at writing hybrid AUs, so please forgive me if it isn’t up to expectation! Tagging @skzwriternet​ as usual!!

The adoption center was located in a giant brick building at the center of the downtown district where traffic was always heavy, and swarms of people migrated together to walk down the crowded sidewalks as a means of occupying their time on the weekends.

But you were hardly the type to enjoy such things, and you and your friends often spent time in each other’s apartments as opposed to dealing with the claustrophobia of the 5:00 rush hour. But on this afternoon in particular, you carefully navigated the intersections and bustling extensions to find a parking spot in the freshly paved lot of the adoption center. Because you were finally going to meet the cat hybrid that you had recently adopted after a lot of pressure from your friends and several hours scrolling through the online website.

Eventually, after an interesting internal-debate, your eyes were drawn to a hybrid cat with calico-colored ears, and the bright green of his eyes had captured your heart in an instant. From there, you didn’t need any more intervention to call the shelter and arrange a time to meet them at the center to pick-up your new friend. Even though you didn’t know much about taking care of a hybrid, you had spent the past week reading anything that you could get your hands on.

You were feeling both confident and excited when you offered your name to the receptionist upon your arrival, and she offered to bring Minho out to you. “He’s been here for so long,” she explained. “His last owners brought him in before they moved.”

“They gave him up?” you asked, appalled at the idea.

However, the receptionist merely shrugged, and you had a feeling that this sort of thing happened all the time. “Well, let me get everything arranged for you,” the receptionist said, and you lingered around the lobby while you waited, flexing your fingers because you had already signed so much paperwork.

But it was all worth it when you saw him for the first time, looking at you with the same green eyes that had first captivated your attention. “Y/N,” the receptionist said. “This is Minho.”

You shuffled in place, pasting on your best smile as you studied the hybrid. “Nice to meet you, Minho,” you said. “I hope we can get along well.”

“Yeah,” Minho replied, and you were a little caught off-guard by his nonchalant attitude, but the receptionist was positively beaming and you finished signing all the required forms before you brought Minho outside to your parked SUV.

“I hope you’re comfortable,” you said to make conversation on the drive home. So far, even with your introverted tendencies taken into consideration, you were having a hard time maintaining a conversation with him. “I redesigned the guest room for you.”

“That’s fine,” Minho said, and you took a deep breath because you weren’t expecting him to be so dismissive. But maybe he wasn’t the type who talked very much after just meting someone for the first time, and you could understand the value of your silence. Still, you only wished that it didn’t feel so awkward, returning to your apartment only to watch Minho barricade himself inside his room for the rest of the night.

From thenceforth, life with Minho...was the opposite of what you expected.

Instead of living together cohesively, and enjoying the company of someone else in the apartment, you found yourself seriously questioning whether or not you had made the right decision in adopting him. For starters, he never left his room, and you only ever saw him on rare occasions when he needed to use the bathroom, or to grab his dinner from the table. Which leads you directly to your next point: other than rushed greetings in passing, Minho never spoke to you.

And that was certainly not something that you were okay with, especially considering the fact that it felt like you were living with a total stranger. But when you brought it up to your friends and colleagues, they assured you that he just needed more time to adjust: “Maybe buy him something that Cat Hybrids really enjoy?”

So, you did, and the price of the rare treats was a major blow to your checking account, but you were desperate to get a reaction from him. And you were incredibly disappointed when he ignored the treats on the table, choosing instead to pretend like they didn’t even exist. However, that’s where you drew the line, deciding to confront Minho about your scarce interactions.

But when you stepped into his bedroom unannounced, you realized that he was absent, which meant that he was probably showering. In the meantime, while you waited for him to return, you cautiously studied the little knick-knacks and photos displayed all around the room on the shelves you had installed. Apparently, Minho was quite sentimental, and you paused on a picture of Minho smiling next to another cat hybrid who was similar in age and appearance...

“Please don’t touch that,” a guttural voice interrupted your thoughts, and you nearly had a heart attack as you returned the decorative picture frame and turned around to face Minho.

“I’m sorry,” you said, swallowing hard because you felt guilty about messing with his things. “I was waiting for you to get back.”

Minho nodded, choosing to walk around you to peruse the collection of papers stacked on top of his desk. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah...” you started, trailing off when you glanced back at the picture. “Who is that with you?”

Minho sighed at your question, and he pursed his lips like he was considering whether or not he wanted to respond. “He’s my little brother,” Minho eventually relented, and he returned to his files while you studied him with an enlightened understanding of the mercurial hybrid.

“You were separated,” you said, more as a statement rather than an actual question, but Minho still nodded. “What’s his name?”

“Jisung, and I’ve been looking for him,” he said. “But none of the registries match.”

Suddenly, a lightbulb turned on inside your head, and you connected the dots as you realized that the files on Minho’s desk were all documents recording the names of the Hybrids registered with the government - as mandated several years ago.

“I’ll help you find him,” you said, and you could tell that Minho was affected, shoulders rising even as he remained facing away from you. 

“Why would you do that?”

“Because nobody deserves what you’ve gone through,” you said. “I adopted you because I wanted a companion, but there’s more than enough room for another Hybrid.”

He was silent for a moment, and neither of you even took a chance on interrupting the tension until Minho spun around with evidence of fresh tears in his green eyes. “Thank you,” he said, but you didn’t need any gratitude for doing something that you knew was right.

“Let me help you,” you continued. “I’ll do whatever it takes, and you don’t have to avoid me anymore. I think it would be nice if we lived together as a family.”

Minho nodded, and he swiped the sleeve of his shirt beneath his eyes. “I’m sorry for ignoring you....I thought you might send me back to the shelter.”

“I wouldn’t,” you said. “I chose to take on this responsibility, and I’m not the type to just give-up if something proves to be more difficult than I thought.”

“But I made it hard...”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” you interrupted him, chancing a few steps closer to place your hand on his shoulder - a soothing gesture. “Let’s find your little brother, okay?”

“Okay,” Minho agreed, and, for the first time since you met, he even managed some semblance of a smile.

Over the course of following two weeks, you and Minho continued to grow even closer as you relentlessly searched for his little brother - constantly reassuring him to never lose hope.

You could tell that he was growing disenchanted with your repeated failures, and you always did your best to improve his moods. You studied him closely, discovering little things that he liked - K-dramas with cheesy endings, chocolate-flavored sweet things, and the feeling of warm towels straight out of the dryer that you always left on his bed after cleaning them.

Each night, you made Minho’s favorite dishes, and the two of you sat together in the living room and ate dinner while watching TV - making jokes about the characters or plot on-screen. It turned out that Minho was very personable, but you had to be very patient to understand his intricate layers. You had to be compassionate and empathetic, and you slowly earned his trust and watched him open up to you. Especially when you would sit together as the kitchen table and search databases online while calling as many adoptions centers as you could find in search of his brother.

“Are you tried?” he asked one night as the two of you finished the last of your calls for the evening.

“Not really,” you replied, but you weren’t expecting him to reach out to skim his fingers over the skin beneath your eyes.

“You have dark circles,” Minho explained, but you found yourself whole-heatedly captivated by a pair of electric green eyes, drawing you closer until the soft brush of his lips across your own snatched you into a hypnosis of pleasure.

The feeling was warm - like something that had been missing, but then rediscovered to make all the pieces match around the edges, and there was nothing left but a comfortable glow sitting on your shoulders as you resisted the urge to hasten the exchange and deepen the tender presses of your lips together.

Unfortunately, the sound of your phone ringing broke the two of you apart, and you sat back with a start as you listened the delicate thud of your heart beating loudly inside your ears. “Hello?” you spoke into the receiver, and you were embarrassed by your breathless tone. 

“Hi, is this Miss Y/L/N?”

“Yes, this is she,” you said, avoiding Minho’s gaze as you tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

“Perfect! My name is Elise, and I work the adoption center in upper Manhattan. Apparently, you called us earlier about a hybrid registered as Jisung? We just wanted to let you know that some files got mixed up, but we have him here for you safe and sound!”

“Really?” you replied, excitement coursing through your veins as you relayed the news to Minho whose eyes lit up like he was seeing the entire world unfold right in front of him. “Please keep him safe for the night. I’ll be in tomorrow to formally adopt him.”

It turned out that Jisung was the complete opposite of Minho: loud and outgoing, he walked inside your apartment while chattering away about the wallpaper color and other trivial details that made you laugh at his eagerness.

You were amused by his observations, watching as Minho gave him a tour of the apartment while keeping an arm around his shoulders. It was both a protective gesture and an affectionate one, and you were glad to see Minho and Jisung reunited after such a complicated spell of time apart. They deserved nothing more to be together - you could tell that they loved each other, and their easygoing chemistry revealed a complex history that exposed the depth of a brotherly relationship.

But you and Minho had discovered that the two brothers had been separated somewhere between their last transition between owners. It seemed that the couple who had adopted them didn’t care to ensure that the brothers stayed together, and they mishandled the entire process. The situation itself angered you to no end because you couldn’t imagine how cruel a person must be to disregard someone else’s thoughts and feelings simply because they weren’t entirely human.

“So, what do you think?” you asked Jisung when he finally started to unpack his minimal belongings in the guestroom that he would be sharing with Minho. “It might be a little small...”

“Are you kidding?” Jisung interrupted. “I love it!”

“Really?” you wondered, glancing at Minho when his hand found yours, weaving your fingers together with a squeeze.

“Better than the shelter,” Jisung said. “Seriously? I’m so incredibly grateful that you went out of your way to find me.”

“Of course,” you said. “I’m glad to have you here with us.”

“That has a nice ring to it,” Jisung said, and he sat down on the edge of his bed with a sigh. 

“You should rest,” Minho suggested. “It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah,” Jisung agreed, and he shot you another grateful smile. “Thank you again, Y/N! For everything.”

You nodded with a contented sigh, allowing Minho to drag you out of the bedroom to allow Jisung some time to himself. Meanwhile, you and Minho enjoyed one another’s company on the couch in the living room, playing a drama in the background while you sat in his lap, sharing heavy kisses and oxygen while scratching your fingernails behind his ears where you had discovered that he was sensitive. 

“This is okay, right?” Minho asked at one point, pulling back to look at you with wide eyes. “I mean, we haven’t really talked about this...thing.”

“Thing?” you repeated with a laugh. “You mean our relationship?”

“Is that what it is?” Minho questioned. “Like...a boyfriend type of thing.”

“If you want,” you agreed, and you were more than amused by his choice of words. “I like you a lot.”

“I like you too,” Minho agreed with a furious shake of his head, followed by his nose sniffing across your collarbone. “You smell good.”

“Thanks?”

“I -uh - it’s a hybrid thing,” Minho said, and you practically snorting from your uncontrollable laughter.

“Hey, you don’t have to be embarrassed around me,” you reassured him, pressing a soft kiss to his nose. “I’m glad to have you and Jisung here with me, and I think we’ll make a pretty good team together.”

“That sounds nice,” Minho said. “Does that mean we can keep kissing?”

“Isn’t that what boyfriends do?” you grinned, and Minho returned your smile before kissing you senseless with his hands wrapped around your waist - fitting perfectly against your curves like they had always belonged there. 

It was everything beyond your expectation, and you knew that your life was about to become very interesting...

#stayverse #skzwriternet #minho fanfic #minho fluff #skz minho #skz minho fanfic #skz minho fluff #lee minho fanfic #skz minho scenarios #lee minho scenarios #lee minho imagines #lee minho drabble #minho drabbles #skz minho drabbles #skz minho imagines #mostlycompetent

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

I Taste Honey but I Haven’t Seen the Hive - Chapter Four

Ao3,   Masterpost,   C.1  C.2  C.3

Relationships: eventual queer-platonic intruality, mentioned platonic relationships

tumblr edits out my italics when i copy/paste, and its midnight on a school night, so. italics arent in the tumblr version of this chapter cuz im not manually replacing them rn :P

Warnings: Taxidermy, swearing, fights (verbally, not physically), mentions of death, sexual innuedo (thanks remus), sympathetic everyone but there is Conflict. 

Word Count: 2,645

Patton had learned, in his many years of emotion-filled life, that every person interacted with others uniquely. An obvious thing to learn, maybe, but in his younger years he felt like it really wasn’t made clear enough.

When it finally hit Patton that other people didn’t feel things in just the same way he did, it came with slow disbelief. Shocked was he to learn that not only were people so vastly different inside, but that he might’ve been one of the most different of all- even with the other sides. After all, each of them had seemed to understand all their differences like it was second nature, while Patton tried to come to terms with the information.

And come to terms with it he had, throughout Thomas’ late teens to early twenties. It was just Patton’s nature to try and learn about his friends, and that didn’t change when the task got harder. If anything, he’d become furiously determined to know how to care for all his family better than anyone, even if it more than once sent him spiralling in thought.  

Logan, for example, was at his best when he was around other people; calmly talking, debating, doing work in the same space, anything that amounted to time spent together. So, even when Patton didn’t know what he was going on about, he did his best to at least be someone Logan could talk at. Which must’ve have worked somehow, because Patton couldn’t even count the times anymore he’d realized it had been hours after starting a conversation with his best friend, the both of them grinning and talking and enjoying each other’s company. Color Logan understood!

Roman, an even easier case to crack, didn’t really care what kind of attention he got- as long as it was positive. Which Patton was of course happy to provide! Though Roman became easily suspicious of any signs of friendship, Patton liked to think he’d weaseled his way into being a close companion, if the amount of times Roman dragged him off on adventures was any indication. Roman, too, was a check! 

Virgil had been harder to figure out; not enough support and he got nervous, too much and he’d get overwhelmed. Fine balances did not come easily to Patton, so there had been more than a little trial and error. He’d eventually landed on treating him not unlike a wild cat: to just exist in the same space and let Virgil do whatever he wanted in his own time (a method that had found resounding success!). Virgil, much as he wanted to seem mysterious, was also marked off the list of understanding. 

Janus was deceptively easy to work out. He just needed someone to challenge him, all in good sport, to be friendly and frustrating at the same time. Call it environmental enrichment, but with people! Patton was more than happy to be one of those people, pushing and pulling in equal parts banter and genuine conversation. Janus, surprisingly, was clear as well. 

Patton wondered if it was weird to think about it so much. He thought about all of them, and he wondered if they took time to decode him, too. Or maybe they just knew already- they saw the heart on his sleeve (or chest, as it were) and had him all figured out right then.

He liked to believe they did spend time thinking about it, though. It was nice to think he wasn’t the only one that cared enough to take the time, and he knew that they cared about him already! Even if they didn’t say it as much as he did, even if they showed it all differently, and even if sometimes it felt like they didn’t understand him… 

They still cared. The hoodie around his shoulders said so. The card framed on his wall said so. The stray dog dander on his clothes said so. So long as he had that, who needed the luxury of understanding?

Patton shook his head, no, he wasn’t worrying about all them right now. Right now, there was someone else to worry about.

Remus. Remus, who always chatted on and on, but sometimes went dead quiet for no reason at all; whose expression never seemed to match his words, who laughed when he was happy and when he was angry, who yelled when he was bored and when he was overwhelmed. Remus, who threw himself around a corner for a cheap jumpscare every five minutes, limbs broken and wrapped in ragged, punk-style clothes. Who would also drape himself all the way across Patton gently and calmly, wearing something baggy and impossibly soft (but still neon as ever), talking and talking and acting like it was all perfectly normal. Remus, who Patton wasn’t even sure was officially his friend yet.

Patton wanted him to be. But there was still… something in the way. Some kind of frustrating, tense, unknowable barrier that left him on edge around the trait. If Remus could just tell him something, anything, or give him any hints at all about what Patton was supposed to make of him, then it wouldn’t be so downright impossible. But he was inscrutable, an open book written in a language Patton didn’t know.

Whenever Remus walked into the room, it was almost like nothing had even changed since his acceptance. 

Speaking of-

Patton barely had time to dodge out of the way as Remus leapt onto the couch, landing in a sprawl and taking up as much space as possible. He looked out of breath, so he’d probably booked it down the hallway and stairs, too. Just as probable was him having no reason for doing so at all. 

“Hello,” Patton said.

Remus, from his laid down position, arched his neck up until he was peering upside-down at Morality. He had a reserved look in his eyes, but it was obvious he was fighting not to grin. 

“Guess what I did.”

Patton paused. There were… a lot of ways that could go. Most of them weird.

“Um-”

Remus made a disturbingly accurate buzzer noise, exclaiming, “Took too long!”. He flipped over onto his stomach and propped himself up on his palms, his legs draped over the arm of the couch, and rocked back and forth excitedly. “I made you something!” 

The worry slipped out of Patton’s mind, replaced by curiosity. He hummed, smiling, and asked:

“Like a gift?” 

Remus beamed.

“Something like that!”

As Patton laughed by response, he ran his thumb compulsively over his bead bracelet (that he hadn’t taken off even once since getting, of course). 

“That’s so sweet!” he chirped, “You didn’t have to do that.”

The Duke puffed out a breath, ruffling the white section of his hair. He rolled his eyes and shifted around, pushing up until he sat upright. 

“Yeah, I know. Haven’t we done this dance before, Morey?”

“Okay, okay, I know,” Patton shrugged, his expression turning sheepish, “What is it, then?”

Remus’ grin widened in that almost impossibly way of his, and something about the glint of his teeth was distinctly threatening. It probably wasn’t intentional, but Patton could never really tell, when his claws tapped impatiently against his leg and something mischievous wormed into his expression.

“Well, you have to close your eyes, first!” Remus clapped his hands together, and there that glint seemed to get brighter.

“Oh, uh-”

“It’s not gonna be my dick, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Patton yelped, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. 

“Well I wasn’t worried before you said that!”

Remus shrieked with laughter. Patton didn’t move his hands from his cheeks, a flush of discomfort starting at his ears and pricking his skin. 

“You’re hilarious, but no- not this time, at least,” -Remus winked- “But just close your eyes, okay?”

Patton took a couple deep breaths, glancing up to give Remus his best approximation of a stern glare. He then let his hands drop to his lap, palms up, and squeezed his eyes shut. 

There was a soft whoosh, and something small was dropped into Patton’s waiting hands. He ran the pad of his thumb over its surface, tracing something like fur. Soft, short fur, but when he pressed it was far too stiff to be a plush animal. 

“Remus,” Patton felt along the object with both hands, jolting when he felt something scaly at the end, “What-”

“You can look now!”

Patton did as told, staring down at his lap. 

There laid a rat. 

A dead one, to be precise. A dead, taxidermized rat, posed up on its hind legs like some goofy little cartoon character. It’s eyes were impersonal glass orbs, but its skin was perfectly, horribly real.

Patton looked up, his eyes wide with disgust, to see unfiltered excitement shining on Remus’ face. 

“I made it myself!” His pride echoed in the words, that grin stretching his lips looking all the more unnatural.

It was then that Patton’s body caught up with his brain, and he realized what exactly he was holding. He dropped it- all but threw it, actually- kicked it and scrambled back and anything to just get away. 

The gift fell to the floor with a dull thump, toppling under the coffee table and out of sight. Patton pressed his hand against his mouth, the other one tightly fisted in his lap. He felt sick- sick enough that his brain was leagues away from rationality. Because he’d really touched- held- that corpse, that thing that used to be a cute little critter, what was now a homemade trinket of horror.

He turned his attention back to Remus, and a million thoughts and feelings rushed him. Betrayal, horror, fear- and weirdest of all was surprise.

Remus’ smile twitched, and he tipped his head from side to side.

“You dropped it,” he pointed out, “I thought you liked rats?”

The noise Patton made was something between a gasp and a cry. 

“I like alive ones!” He exclaimed, pushing himself back until there was a good cushion’s distance between himself and Remus. 

Remus’ smile dipped lower. 

“Well, this way you don’t have to take care of it! It’s all of the cute with none of the trouble!”

“You think this is cute?!” 

He couldn’t believe this was happening, after everything- he hadn’t gotten through to Remus even a little? It was all still a game for him to terrorize Patton? To shove dead things into his lap and laugh about it?

But Remus wasn’t laughing, strangely. In fact, he was very still. 

“You don’t like it?”

In hindsight, Patton would look back on what he said with remorse so strong it gave him headaches. He had scores of memories like that, of course, but this one’s sting would never fade, not even long after they’d moved on from it. But in that moment of fear, of revile, he could not think about anything else but the feeling of being tricked by his almost-friend laying heavy in his stomach. 

“Like it? Is this- are you joking? Remus, you made me touch a dead animal! I thought we were starting to be friends, but- oh my God, what is wrong with you?!”

Patton was sure he stopped breathing right after he said that, his voice choking out. In the silence that followed, you could’ve heard a pin drop. 

Remus stood up, and everything about the way he moved showed a woundedness that didn’t suit him. He looked at Patton with an awful intensity, his ruby-red eyes practically glowing. There was nothing vulnerable about him when he was hurt, nothing at all like how Patton would respond to something like an argument. There was only anger and tension.

He didn’t smile, but his voice stayed pitchy. Gleeful. 

“Everything,” Remus hissed, “I thought you’d catch on before now, but.”

Remus spun on his heel, and the floor beneath him bubbled with oil and acid and plague as he sank into the ground and out of the living room. The carpet shriveled, sick-green, in his wake.

That was when the understanding hit him. A lot like a train. 

“Oh, no,” whispered Patton, “Oh, no.”

Patton struggled to his feet, as if on autopilot. Was he going to go after Remus? No, no, that definitely wouldn’t go over well. He was probably halfway into the Imagination by then, anyway, ready to take his anger out on his creations and not do any talking at all. 

Patton tore his eyes away from the spot where Remus had sunk out, stumbling over to the coffee table instead. He crouched, reached his hand under it, and let his fingers touch the fur of his discarded present. He grabbed it, looked down at it. The wave of nausea when he saw the little rat was now less disgust, and much more regret. 

He cradled the preserved creature in his hands with all the gentleness he could. There was a slip of thick, yellowish paper attached to it, that in all the upset had gone completely unnoticed. It was folded in half, tied with twine to the rat’s neck. 

Patton looked into the rat’s shiny, empty eyes for far too long, watching his reflection be distorted by the spheres. He took a shuddering breath, then, and thumbed the edge of the paper, felt its grain, and flipped it open. 

“This is Jenner. You can have him, because even if you’re a priss, if you can handle me you can handle having cool shit like this. Plus, you’re weirdly nice to me, so I guess I don’t mind being nicely weird to you.

-R (the funnier one <3)”

Patton read the note once. Twice. Three, four, maybe six times the words ran over each other in his head.

The paper slipped from his fingers. He held his rat in both hands and stared down its coffee-brown snout. Patton couldn’t help bringing the figurine to his chest and hugging it tightly, like it was the thing he’d hurt so badly, serving as surrogate. Its sharp fingers and tail poked through his shirt like needles, but he ignored it, holding the irrational hope that the inanimate object could forgive him somehow. 

Jenner was creepy, that was probably intentional; his proportions and pose were so uncanny it couldn’t have been an accident. And it was so, so very Remus of a thing that Patton couldn’t stand to hate it. His shift in view was so sudden, and in some sad way he realized that the conflict had been the final piece he’d needed. What let that understanding crash into Patton’s mind, painting the picture of somebody layered.

The picture of Remus, who he was, had finally clicked into place- and at the exact worst time for it to do so.

Patton had fucked up. Massively. 

He didn’t react how he thought he would when he realized it. He didn’t grow weary and exhausted, desperate to apologize and then collapse into unthinking sleep for days. Gone was the emptiness of making promises that he hoped he could hold true on, just wanting to have gotten it right the first time. No, Patton felt something burning under his skin, something itching him to take action because he’d learned from a mistake. He knew exactly what he’d done, and he was ready to do better right damn now. 

Patton breathed in deep and exhaled sharp, because first… 

He sunk out to his room, Jenner tucked into the crook of his elbow. He rose up at his bedside and shoved a handful of knickknacks off the nightstand. With enough space cleared, Patton set his rat down on the table and stood it up on his alarm clock, facing the bed. And then, as just a final touch, he smoothed back the fur of its head and gave it a peck on the forehead.

Now, he had some planning to do. 

Chapter Five

Taglist: @shrimp-crockpot @glitter-skeleton-uwu @donnieluvsthings @intruxiety @thefivecalls @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @gayformlessblob

#sanders sides #ts #intruality #my writing #fanfiction #fanfic #platonic intruality #qpr intruality #patton #remus #ts fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction

[swinners1990]

Not So Berry Part 2?

Finished @lilsimsie’s ‘Not So Berry Challenge’ and looking for something else to keep you occupied? Well i was bored today and decided to write up my own 10 gen challenge for Sims lovers! I tried to go for aspirations I’ve personally not used, also the traits don't particularly match the generation colour but i find it fun having a colour to work with! Please let me know what you think of this and if you try it!

Basic Rules:

1. Each heir must represent the colour given for that generation (i.e hair, make-up, clothes and home items)  2. The colour of your sims spouses don't matter, nor dose the gender unless stated.  3. Cheats can be used, but not excessively.. (you can use freerealestate for your first home or mccc cheats for number of babies) 4. You may live in any world unless it is stated in the rules.  5. Keep lifespan on normal. 6. Every generation must complete both aspiration and career unless stated otherwise. 7. If you do not have all the packs and cannot do some aspirations or caeers etc. then adjust that generation to what you do have! & have fun! 

Generation One; Charcoal (start as teen with parents)

You’re a angry teen who’s parents don't understand why you wear thick black makeup and can always been seen in a band tee-shirt or anything with chains. Growing up with two strict military parents (you may cheat both parents high up in the military career) you are always rebelling, sneaking out after curfew to meet with friends or to drink at the local bar. Your parents are always nagging at you, so you have enough and leave for the big city, they think you wont make it on your own, but you’re stubborn enough to grind and grind to prove them wrong.

Traits; Mean, Kleptomaniac, Erratic  Aspiration; City Native Career; Baby Sitter (teen) & Odd Jobs only when a young adult/adult/elder (you may keep the Baby Sitter part time job after aging from a teen)

Rules;

1. Master City Native Aspiration. 2. Live in tiny apartment. 3. Never marry & only have one child 4. Master Guitar & Handiness skills plus two other skills of choice. 5. Have neutral relationship with child. 6. Leave home the day you age into a young adult. (or while a teen, but I'm unsure if teens can move out alone?)

Generation Two; Rainbow (all multicoloured clothes/hair/item's etc.)

After growing up in a dark colourless home, you want to be surrounded in as much colour as possible, you wanted it to look as if a rainbow crash landed in your home! You didn’t have a good or bad relationship with either of your parents, and being an only child was lonely, all you’ve ever dreamed of was a big happy family!

Traits; Good, Family Oriented, Childish Aspiration; Big happy Family Career; Professor

Rules;

1. Master Big Happy Family aspiration and Professor career. 2. Max the Research & Debate, Parenting, Bowling & Cooking skills. 3. Have at least 4 children. 4. Marry an adult sim while you're still a young adult. 5. Have a family bowling day out once a week on a day of your choice. 6. All children must share a room.

Generation Three; Hazel

Your home was always crowded, sharing a room with all your siblings you could never hear your own thoughts, so you spend most of your time outside playing, reading, playing the violin or cloud gazing, dreaming of a quite life by the sea.

Traits; Bookworm, Loves Outdoors, Child Of The Ocean Aspiration; Beach Life Career; Diver (teen) / Marine Biologist 

Rules;

1. Master Beach Life aspiration & Both Careers. 2. Max Fitness and Violin skills. 3. Must live in Sulani. 4. Have a mermaid best friend. 5. Have a close relationship to all children. 

Generation Four; Pearl

As a toddler you loved life on the beach, but once a child you went to school and discovered the Drama Club! You fell in love with acting and spent all your time in front of the mirror practising lines! You had stars in your eyes and nothing would stop you from being famous!

Traits; Self-Obsessed, Materialistic, Ambitious Aspiration; World Famous Actress Career; Actress

Rules;

1. Master World Famous Actress aspiration and Actress career. 2. Max the Acting, Charisma and Wellness Skills. 3. Join Drama Club after your first day at Grade School. 4. Have a butler and a maid. 5. Marry another famous sim. 6. Live in Del Sol Valley. 7. Become a 5 Star celebrity.

Generation Five; Mauve

While having celebrity parents was fun at times, they was always busy and you spent a lot of your time with the staff. After a while you started enjoying the company of animals rather than other sims. You decide that you want to run your own Veterinary business, but don't want it just handed to you like any other rich kid. So you BORROW the money from your parents for a small starter Vet Clinic & pay them back as soon as you start making money. (you can ask for large loans if your charisma is high enough, if not then use money cheats then cheat the money away to “pay it back”)

Traits; Cat Lover, Dog Lover, Cheerful Aspiration; Animal Lover Career; Vet Owner

Rules;

1. Master the Animal Lover aspiration. 2. Adopt stray animals only. 3. Lot traits to be both Cat & Dog Hangout 4. Max the Veterinarian, Pet Training and Knitting Skills. 5. Donate all knitwork to charity. 6. Marry an employee. 7. Vet Clinic must get to at least 4 Stars.

Generation Six; Emerald

Growing up surrounded by cats and dogs meant you was never alone, which in turn was an issue as that's all you wanted at times! As a teen you would love nothing more than to take a cooler to the local lake and spend hours alone, fishing! And if you wasn't doing that you would be out back crafting away!

Traits; Loner, Neat, Maker Aspiration; Angling Ace Career; Fisherman (teen) / Freelance Crafter

Rules;

1. Master Angling Ace aspiration and Fishing career. 2. Max the Fishing, Fabrication and Piano skills. 3. Have twins only. (don’t matter how many sets, but all children must be twins-Good luck!) 4. Fabricate most of own furniture. 5. Be engaged but never marry.

Generation Seven; Tangerine 

Being a twin was amazing and you loved your sibling, they’re your best friend! But sometimes you never got all the attention, it was shared.. EVERYTHING was shared! When teens, your twin becomes more into sports. While you are always glued to a phone or computer screen. Constantly taking selfies and updating your social media.. Finally getting the attention you've always craved! 

Traits; Hates Children, Self-Assured, Jealous  Aspiration; Fabulously Wealthy Career; Internet Personality

Rules;

1. Master Fabulously Wealthy aspiration and Internet Personality career. 2. Marry a rich sim. 3. Constantly upload videos, blogs & drone recordings. 4. Max the Media Production, Singing and DJ Mixing skills. 5. Hire a nanny daily to take care of any children you have.

Generation Eight; Cotton Candy

Your parent lived online for as long as you could remember, you had a good relationship with both your parents but you was always closer to you father. You found beauty in the greenhouse, and was never more relaxed than while you was tending to the garden and bonding with the bees. Your aim is to make your neighbourhood greener than your grandparents hair! You have one BFF as a child, but once teens the friendship turns romantic! 

Traits; Greenfiend, Recycle disciple, Vegetarian Aspiration; Freelance Botanist Career; Botanist

Rules;

1. Master Freelance Botanist aspiration and Botanist career. 2. Max the Gardening, Flower Arranging and Herbalism Skills. 3. Have a well maintained garden. 4. Don’t Woohoo until after married. 5. Have an outdoors/Beach wedding to childhood best friend. 6. Live in Evergreen Harbour  7. Make your neighbourhood green.

Generation Nine; Powder Blue

You had a happy free childhood and loved your parents dearly, but growing up you longed for adventure! You would jog everyday dreaming of climbing Mt. Komorebi! After taking a vacation there as a teen you fell in love with the scenery and culture, after that you concentrated on your training to do the big climb! 

Traits; Active, Proper, Outgoing Aspiration; Mt. Komorebi Sightseer  Career; Extreme Sports Enthusiast

Rules;

1. Master the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer aspiration and Extreme Sports Enthusiast Career. 2. Max the Rock Climbing, Snowboarding OR Skiing and Fitness skills. 3. Successfully climb Mt. Komorebi. 4. Have a ‘No shoes Allowed’ household. 5. Only ever do a ‘Respectful Introduction’ 6. Go jogging every morning.

Generation Ten; Sunflower Yellow

Your parents love for adventure rubbed off on you, they always taught you to follow your dreams, so you do and you set your sights on Archaeology! It was exciting and a different kind of adventure to your parents mounting climbing!  You'll be the next Indiana Jones, but how will you fund your full time adventures? Why not write about your amazing adventures too? Surly people will read about that!

Traits; Adventurous, Genius, Romantic Aspiration; Archaeology Scholar Career; NO JOB. (Odd jobs are allowed on occasion)

Rules;

1. Master Archaeology Scholar aspiration. 2. Write & publish books about your adventures. 3. Max the Archaeology, Writing, handiness and Selvadoradian Culture skills. 4. Only ever vacation in Selvadora 5. Marry a Selvadorian native.

I hope you enjoy this challenge as much as the original Not So Berry Challenge! It was so fun to come up with! 

#thesims #thesims4 #notsoberrychallenge #notsoberry #gameplay #simschallenge #notsoberryparttwo #fun #keepingbusy

[saeyoungs-sunflower]

Matchup for @nad-zeta! (Milestone Celebration)

Zeta, my sweet sweet Zeta, here’s your matchup! You have been such an angel, both in your patience and your general loveliness.💛 I’m sorry it took a little longer than expected, but I hope it was worth the wait! It’s pretty long (~3000 words lolllll) so it’s all under the cut. Sorry, I got carried away! :’) xx

So, without further ado, based on the information you gave me I matched you with...

Saeyoung!

take care of my bby pls

I feel like I need to say that I kept going back and forth between him and Zen. Zen was a VERY close second, so I kinda half match you up with him too. That being said, there were some things you mentioned that made me lean more towards Saeyoung, which will be explained below :))

~

Reasoning & General Headcanons!

“🥰 i am a aries, infp, ravenclaw female 🦊”

An Aries you say...?

Need I say more? Absolute chaotic duo. The energy is buzzing, and the people you hang out are always amused by your shenanigans.

As an INFP, you are caring, loyal, and sensitive, which are traits that I believe Saeyoung would benefit from in a partner. He also hides his true emotions well, so someone with your personality type would be able to pick up on the signs that he is feeling low, even if he tries to hide it. Your loyalty and devotion also helps him feel secure, which considering everything he’s been through, is something I feel he would struggle with, particularly in the early stages of a relationship.

On the flip side, Saeyoung is also incredibly loyal. And whilst he does joke around and tease, he knows how sensitive topics and comments can affect someone, so he is never careless, especially since (as an INFP) you often take things to heart. As a team, you work well together because you view the world slightly differently. You’re an idealist, whereas he’s a realist; you focus on the big picture, whereas he has an incredible attention to detail. This is really helpful in difficult conversations, big decisions, plans for the future etc, because whilst your opinions may differ, you offer the other a different side of the story. You get the best of both worlds!

I don’t know my Harry Potter houses very well, but from my memory and a quick Google search, Ravenclaws value knowledge and are wise, intelligent and witty. Sounds familiar? ;) i mean wise is debatable lol. Your conversations are sooo interesting and natural, because you’re both very intelligent in many ways.

“i am pretty shy and difficult to get to know (apparently it took me 2 months to start opening up to my friends, ooops), i tend to bottle up my emotions, my friends would likely describe me as incredibly stubborn, gentle, kind, over dramatic, goofy and fun loving. I am pretty aloof and blunt, like i will 9/10 times tell you to your face how if feel about you if you ask 🙈once u are part of my inner circle i am playful, teasing, i am an extremely sarcastic person that makes snarky remarks under my breath and my kind of humor is a bit of dark and self deprecating.”

Okay, this was one of the key things that made me match you with Saeyoung. A huge reason why I love Saeyoung so much is that there is a high level of comfort in a relationship with him. By that I mean that he is so open and fun that there is literally zero judgment. Judgment is such a foreign concept to him in this kind of situation. He makes you so comfortable that it’s so easy to be yourself around him, and it doesn’t take long for him to get to know you.

GIRL HE’S THE SAME. The king of bottling up his emotions. This means that y’all know when something is up, you can see the signs. You are understanding of each other, so discussions happen and actions are put into place before things become too much.

Saeyoung sometimes just needs to be told when he’s being a lil prick. You are kind and gentle when he needs it, but also can be blunt with him when it gets silly. I mean, if MC was like you towards the end of his route, we would have got through the whole “i’M tOo dAnGeRoUs gEt aWaY” thing SO much more quickly.

Once you’re comfy with him, you become an absolutely unstoppable force. When he teases you, you tease him back. When he’s being playful, you’re his partner in crime. Y’all are so goofy. Your life is full of laughs and joy with Saeyoung.

Sarcastic comments, dark humour and self-deprecating jokes? Yep that’s also very Saeyoung. Sometimes you two have to reel it in a bit when you’re hanging out with others because YOU’RE OUT OF CONTROL TOGETHER.

“I love my friends and family and will fight anyone who threatens them, although when it comes to me, you can do or say anything to me and i wont do anything (I honestly can't stand up for myself).”

IT’S LIKE HE’S LOOKING IN A MIRROR. Seriously though, he knows the importance of self worth because he knows, firsthand, the damage that can be done when you don’t value yourself and your wellbeing. He makes it his mission to help you see how worthy you are of respect and give you confidence to stand up for yourself. Even if you won’t do it for yourself, he’ll stand up for you. He cares too much about his loved ones to let them be treated wrongly.

He feels how much you love him and your other friends/family which makes him feel so secure, and he also has a phenomenal amount of love in his heart to give and he ain’t afraid to do so.

“I swear like a sailor although I am trying to get that under control, however the road rage is real.”

Finds your road rage and swearing SO amusing. Constantly teasing you about it and winding you up, but it’s all in good fun.

Absolutely has a swear jar for you. No doubt about it.

“You’ve corrupted my good, Catholic ears.” “Saeyoung shut the fuck up.”

“I love nature and animals (i love my lil bunnies and dogs), i love working out/going to the gym #gym is life”

I mean, we know he adores cats, and I imagine he loves other animals too.

I also imagine he loves camping, and I don’t even know why. He just gives me camping vibes. Weekends away spent in nature, sleeping in a tent and sitting round a fire in the evenings are pretty common for you.

I know this is ~controversial~ topic in the fandom, but I am of the opinion that Saeyoung also works out.

Do I think he’s completely ripped? No, probably not. But he’s strong, lean at the very least. Even Jaehee admits it! He makes working out so much fun and it’s always a bit of a laugh.

“i enjoy cooking (i am now officially a chef), wine tasting (fancy way of saying getting very tipsy of different wines most nights), spending time with friends (especially if there is tea to be spilt) although i do need lots of alone time to recharge my social battery”

The first time he tasted your food, he almost cried. Poor boi lived off eating crisps and soda for God knows how long.

“Wait, you’re not meant to constantly feel like you're gonna throw up? Food is meant to have...flavour???”

Help him

Saeyoung is pretty social, but also needs time to recharge like you, though he can go a bit longer than you and doesn’t easily get drained by social interactions. This may seem like a problem when you spend time with friends, but it’s actually such a blessing. If you’re feeling exhausted when socialising, he knows and will “take the wheel” if you will. There’s nothing worse than trying to keep a conversation going or seeming upbeat when you literally don’t have the energy, so Saeyoung is there to help you out. He’s also super good at politely and subtly taking you out of those situations if you are super drained and need to recharge.

He’s also such a gossip so if you got tea to spill he’s ready to hear it, and you know he ALWAYS has tea to spill. Sneaky man

“i like conspiracies, reading, writing (Fanfics and im busy with my Masters in nutrition >“<), rom coms, and  sleeping. As much as i love spending time outdoor i also enjoy lazing around the house being a lazy potato.”

Discussions about conspiracies over dinner lol. He is in possession of some...top secret information, so those conversations are very interesting and eye opening ;)

He LOVES to read your writing. It literally doesn’t matter what it’s about, he finds it truly fascinating. It’s a little glimpse into who you are, and it’s something you created!!! By yourself!!!! HE LOVES THAT. Always impressed with what you write, every time. He’s so proud.

ROM COMS WHILST CUDDLING ON THE COUCH

He’s a cryer, he loves rom coms.

He works super hard, so he’s always down to have a lazy day with you!!

“I definitely zone out and daydream all the freaken time and tend to blush easily which i hate 🙈 i definitely dont like crowds and loud sounds (ie you will never find me in a club). I am a picky eater despite my degree in cooking (i basically only eat candy, carbs and protein)”

He. loves. Making. You. blush. I’m sorry, but it’s one of his favourite things. He thinks it’s so adorable, so prepare for all the teasing, lewd jokes and general flirtiness that’ll get your cheeks burning ;)

He’s not keen on crowds either, so that’s not a problem!! I imagine he occasionally goes on night’s out with the bois (and by bois I mean usually just Zen and Yoosung LOL) but he’s not often out until super late, and he’s super respectful of you. Would never ask you to do something or go somewhere that makes you uncomfortable.

“i love cuddles although i look like someone that wouldn’t. Ive been told i come across as calm and confident, while in truth on the inside i am really scared and insecure.   I am incredibly awkward when it comes to boys and have been told my sarcastic comments are x100 when i talk to them (oops).”

CUDDLE MONSTER. I actually think he’s the biggest cuddler in the RFA. Controversial I know, but damn Saeyoung loves a cuddle. He’s a spontaneous cuddler. Like it doesn’t matter what the situation is, if you need a cuddle or he just fancies one, he’ll find a way.

He sees right through your calmness and confidence, because he’s exactly the same. This puts him in the perfect position to reassure you and lift you up. He’s a great hype man!

He finds your awkwardness adorable, and your sarcastic comments just make him love you even more! He has a good sense of humour and doesn’t take things too seriously if they don’t need to be, so he’s constantly laughing with you and easing your mind in the very early stages of your relationship.

“I am very go with the flow, and i never burn my bridges 🙈 i am very forgive and forget🦊, like no matter how badly you hurt me.”

Based on what happens on his route, it’s very handy that you are a forgiving person hahah

But again, if Saeyoung thinks you are being treated wrongly and being hurt, he will stand up for you.

His dedication to protecting the ones he loves is STRONG. I mean, look at his relationship with Saeran and the way he is constantly looking out for you in ALL routes.

Of course, he won’t say or do anything to that person if that makes you uncomfortable. Instead, he will constantly reassure you of your self-worth and remind you that you deserve better, but will also support the decisions you make.

If you want to forgive and forget, he will respect that, even if he thinks differently.

“What am i looking for in a potential partner?.... well i definitely think i need someone that could bring me out my shell initially, also someone who isn't too sensitive cause like i said i can be super sarcastic and my jokes kinda match that (like in my family we show out affection for each other via playful insults and savage comments)😂😂”

As I stated above, I think Saeyoung is the best person to help bring you out of your shell. There’s no judgment and no shame with this man.

I find that someone being unapologetically themself is SO contagious, and Saeyoung is exactly that - unapologetically himself.

We’ve all seen his humour, he doesn’t seem to be particularly sensitive either so you’re all good there hahaha. Obviously everyone does have their limits, so whilst their are topics/jokes that would probably make him uncomfortable (e.g. stuff relating to Saeran), overall, he’s chill and ALWAYS ready to joke around with you.

The roast battle is so real with you two LOL

“i kinda want someone stable, hard working, decisive, ambitious and who can push me out of my confort zone and vice versa.🦋”

He goofs around, but there’s no denying that this man works HARD.

Once he leaves the agency and starts his new life with you, I can imagine him being super ambitious and also aiming for stability.

His life before had been so restrictive yet so uncertain. He had to do what he was told, but never knew what was just around the corner.

This makes me think that he would crave the stability and certainty that he never had (a ‘normal’ life, if you will), but also he’d want to try so many things that he hadn’t before. He strikes me as a ‘go big or go home’ kinda guy, so I think it’s safe to say that he would be ambitious in many ways.

The only thing I don’t think he ticks the box on is decisiveness, at least not at the beginning. I think he usually knows what he wants, but rarely acts on that.

“It’s up to you”, “whatever you want” and “I don’t mind” are very common phrases for him lol. I think he would learn to be more decisive once he gets comfortable. I also think he has his moments of assertiveness though, when he’s in the right mood.

“Also someone who is family oriented and loving (someone that can cuddle me when im having a bad day)☺ and someone who can make me laugh, cause i love joking around so i kinda think i need someone who could match that🌻”

SAEYOUNG. IS. SUCH. A. FAMILY. MAN.

Again, look at what he’s done for Saeran and how deeply he cares for and loves him. A ‘normal’ family was something that was absent in his life, so when he has his own family (whether that be a found family or one he made) he would cherish that so strongly, maybe more than most.

SAEYOUNG. IS. A. CUDDLE. MONSTER.

He could be working at his desk and suddenly think “you know what? It’s snuggle time” and then he would search the house for you to give you The Snuggle™

Again, he’s also VERY observant and his attention to detail is impeccable, so he can instantly tell if you’re having a bad day and will act accordingly - aka SNUGGLE TIME

I mean, need I say more? If you want someone who makes you laugh, Saeyoung is the guy. There is never a dull day when he’s around, and the house is always filled with laughter!

So yeah....that’s my reasoning :’)) now onto your very own drabble!! This is all yours, so if there’s anything you’d like me to change or add, PLEASE let me know!! I’m more than happy to edit anything to make it more personalised for you, just shoot me a message and I’ll be on it, same goes for anything I’ve said above!!🥰

~

Drabble!

“Saeyoung! Can you come here a second?”

You called out to him from the kitchen, stirring from a pot whilst its contents quietly bubbled away. You could hear the music blaring from his headphones all the way from the other room, with the occasional hum or drum on his desk. Evidently, he hadn’t heard you.

“SAEYOUNG CHOI GET YOUR FINE ASS IN HERE.”

The music ceased, followed by rapid pattering as he darted into the room, nearly skidding round the doorway. 

“I heard ‘fine ass’ and here I am,” he smirked, sauntering over to you and snaking his strong, secure arms around your middle. He swayed you from side to side, planting a wet kiss on your cheek, much to your dismay. Saeyoung merely chuckled, resting his chin on your shoulder, “What do you need, witch lady?”

“Why ‘witch lady’?”

“Well, whatever you’re cooking is giving me witchy vibes. It looks like a potion in a cauldron. Look at you with your double double toil and trouble-OW! Don’t pinch me!”

“Sorry, it’s a witch thing,” you winked, spinning around in his grip so you were face-to-face. “You sure you’re not the witch? You do have the nose for it.”

“I’ve also got the dress and hat in the attic, shall I go put it on?”

“Try this for me first.” You held the wooden spoon out to him as he took a sip, chuckling at the way his brows furrowed in thought.

He smacked his lips a few times, hummed then finally looked back to you, “It’s good.”

“That’s it? That’s all you got?”

“You do realise that my taste buds have essentially been burned off by chips and soda, right? I have no idea if something’s bad or not.”

“You’re right. I should call Jumin.”

“You can’t,” he informed, his smirk growing ever wider as he moved towards the snack cupboard, “Mr Han has a date tonight.”

The spoon clattered against the counter, your mouth agape, “You’re shitting me.”

“That’s another coin in the swear jar.” Saeyoung chucked a packet of candy in your direction, though it only hit you in the face before falling unceremoniously onto the kitchen floor, “I think we need to get your reflexes checked, babe.”

“Tell me everything.”

He took a seat on a breakfast stool and chortled as you leaned over the counter, eyes showing your eagerness to hear the gossip. And he was more than happy to provide, “He appears to be really into her. Like, really into her. She seems to just get him, you know? I could hear his smile down the phone when he told me about her earlier.”

“Earlier? Why are you only just telling me this now?!”

“Do you wanna hear the rest of it or not?”

Huffing, you perched on the seat next to him, stealing a piece of his candy despite his look of horror, “Okay, well where did he meet such a woman?”

“You’re never gonna believe it.”

“Try me.”

Saeyoung was enjoying himself far too much. He couldn’t wait another moment to witness your reaction, “She’s Zen’s co-star.”

“NO.”

“YES.”

The tea had been spilt, and things were about to get very interesting within the RFA.

Your eyes were glued to his as he continued to disclose the details. At some point you had wrapped your arm around his, his other hand encompassing yours. He abruptly stopped halfway through describing the first encounter, causing you to quirk an eyebrow impatiently, “What?”

“Do you smell burning?”

“...Fuck.”

“And another one for the swear jar.”

~

@nad-zeta​ there we go my love, I hope you enjoyed your matchup!! I am so grateful for your support, it never fails to make me smile when I see you pop up in my notifs. You are beautiful, kind, bright person and you deserve the world. Thank you again for all you’ve done and all you do💛💛 Take care of yourself, my friend! xxx

(Note for other readers: I usually don’t do matchups, this was for a special occasion! I doubt I’ll open up requests for them later on, but never say never!)

#sunny's 500 milestone #matchup #nad-zeta #saeyoung choi #mystic messenger

[need-a-new-hobby]

The Angel Maker

note: mentions of violence and sexual assault. please don’t read if triggering.

Hotch was late in that he hadn’t shown up yet. It was strange, but they figured Rossi would take the lead in any new investigations. Piper finally had some time to get through the mountain of paperwork since they got back last night before she’d get called to the conference room. She almost yelled at Spencer who was about to place a hot cup of tea on her papers and almost made him spill his own cup of coffee. She gave him a brief apology and muttered a quick thanks as she resumed the work. Derek simply raised an eyebrow before pulling Spencer aside and asking him what was wrong. “Hotch hasn’t come in yet.” Spencer nodded. Unfortunately, he was under the assumption that Derek was a mind reader which, as cool as that would have been, would be untrue.

“So?”

“She figured he was getting his MRI today which has a 55% chance of him being rejected for active duty.”

“Only 55%?”

“Has Hotch ever failed to convince anyone of anything?” Catching a look from Derek, he quickly amended, “Professionally.”

“No.”

“So, she figures if he gets rejected, a) he’ll be a pain on everyone and ask for pending paperwork or b) she’ll be able to cheer him up with done paperwork.” Derek nodded and was about to return to his desk before he came up with an amazing idea. 

“Wait, pretty boy, why don’t you offer to do some for her?”

“Because I value my head.” He laughed at Derek’s puzzled face. “Ask, you’ll see.” Spencer chuckled as he returned to his seat.

“Hey, angel face.”

“No.”

“C’mon, you don’t like any of my nicknames.”

“Because they’re all flirty and ridiculous.”

“That’s the point, snowflake.”

“Don’t make me give you a tracheotomy, Derek.”

“You’re breaking my heart, angel.”

“I’m gonna break something,” she murmured before slamming her pen down and meeting Derek’s eyes. “What do you want?”

“Can I help?”

“Why?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing, I just want to help.”

“Last time you just wanted to help, you destroyed a pillow fort I spent 4 hours making.”

“Fiine. Let Spencer help you.” Piper’s eyes widened.

“Oh nooo. No. Nope. Nuh uh.”

“Wha- Why?”

“Because his handwriting’s like a dyslexic hobgoblin’s.” She winced at her own insult as she leaned back and whispered, “Sorry.”

“It’s true,” Spencer acknowledged.

“Now, go away into the land of hot women and gyms. Or Miami, up to you.” JJ flaunted past.

“We have a case.”

Delilah Grennan was bludgeoned and raped during the night at her home in lower Canaan, Ohio, a small town 40 miles outside of Cincinnati. Small puncture wounds on her stomach were inflicted post-mortem and her body was staged face-up with arms across her chest. 

“Any other victims?” Piper asked JJ as Emily walked in behind Spencer, flipping his fringe as she walked past, smiling.

“Kind of. The victimology and signature match a serial killer from the same town 10 years ago--”

“The Angel Maker.” Rossi spoke solemnly. “He was put to death by lethal injection a year ago yesterday.”

“A copycat?” Piper raised her eyebrow. “I hate copycats,” she whispered. Piper wrinkled her nose as she flipped through the file. “It says here they found semen at the crime scene. Perhaps locals will get a DNA match when they run it through VICAP?”

“They did. Got a match too. That’s why we’re being called in. It matches Cortland Bryce Ryan’s DNA, popularly known as the Angel Maker.”

On the jet, Piper methodically studied the victim’s bodies as Spencer read out the previous file. “The Angel Maker's victims were beaten with the assailant's bare hands. Delilah Grennan was bludgeoned with a heavy instrument, maybe a hammer.”

“Ok, so this unsub's a weaker guy, but at least someone who perceives himself that way,” Derek figured, turning to Emily seated next to him. 

“So he brought along the hammer to make certain his victim wouldn't fight back?”

“They have parachutes on-board, right?” Piper looked up at Rossi as he stood behind Emily.

“They should. It's standard on all federal air transport,” Spencer answered.

“Maybe we can give one to the elephant in the room, get him out of here?” Piper snorted. 

“That would be the elephant with the dead man’s DNA,” Derek scoffed. 

“Well, obviously somebody planted the semen on the victim,” Hotch spoke softly, perched on the desk beside the 4 agents. 

“In the victim,” Piper corrected, more than a little horrified.

“That's one theory,” Spencer remarked. 

“There's another?” 

“Think about who shares the exact DNA makeup of another person.” 

“Reid, you're not seriously floating around the idea of an evil twin, are you?” Derek scoffed.

“No, I'm not. I'm floating the idea of an eviler twin. Traditionally, the concept is a good twin and an evil twin. But in this case, it's evil twin, eviler twin.” Silence followed as Emily stared at him and Piper tried very, very, very hard not to laugh. Spencer turned back to the file in his hand and Hotch failed to imperceptibly soothe his temple as Rossi noticed it. 

“Hotch, you have been cleared for duty right?” He was silent. That was not a good sign. Not good at all.

^-^

The team separated into pairs, Morgan and Bishop headed to the prison where Cortland Ryan was imprisoned, going through fan mail. “This one kid sent Ryan his demo tape and sheet music he wrote in his own blood,” Piper remarked. 

Reid and Hotch went to the crime scene. “He’s most likely a fan who exhaustively studied the first killings and used them to form his own murder fantasies. He knows this case as well as us; better, maybe, if he had actual contact with Ryan while he was incarcerated.” Reid proposed to Hotch.

Prentiss and Rossi visited the medical examiner. “The groupings in the prior victims was always different in number and arrangement. But I also found traces of paper in the wounds. Like notebook paper,” The M.E. shifted his glasses haphazardly as he spoke.

Congregated in their workroom, they shared their findings as Piper kept flicking through the puncture wounds, something missing. Her head kept bumping against a wall, like a fish hitting the edge of a fishbowl, not knowing any better. She grabbed a notepad, quickly pinpointing each puncture mark, hoping to give her a fresh perspective. As she stared at the dots on the paper, Spencer was handed a letter from another officer, the letter claiming to be written by Ryan himself. Piper looked up. “Please tell me this case isn’t turning into Ghostbusters,” Emily scoffed.

“I call dibs on Bill Murray,” Derek smirked.

“Kill me before I see that day,” Piper smiled, swiping a Cheeto from JJ’s hand.

“That movie is surprisingly scientifically accurate,” Reid murmured, examining the handwriting.

“Well, what’s the verdict Doc?”

“They share some compelling characteristics. I'd obviously like to look at it under magnification with a better light.”

“Best guess, Reid?” Hotch prodded.

“Say it's authentic.”

“The guy’s been dead over a year, how is that possible?”

“Well, like I said, I’d prefer closer examination, but it seems--”

“Could have been written beforehand or a really compelling forgery. May I?” Piper stretched out her hand and Spencer passed it.

I give you a legacy, a breath of life from the angel maker himself. Those who prayed to forget me will one day see my face and shrink in fear.

“It talks about legacy, maybe the angel maker isn’t just about Ryan anymore. Maybe it’s a title, handed down to the rightful descendent,” she proposed, but quickly abandoned the letter as a young woman burst into the room.

“Tell me it’s not true. Tell me that’s not really--” she burst into tears. Piper watched her break down in the detective’s arms, her heart bursting with every racked sob.

“The letter's not from him, not the way people might be saying.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It... It means we think he has someone on the outside, a friend.” 

“What if you're wrong?What if--” 

“There's no such thing as ghosts, Sela.” 

“I'm not talking about a ghost. You know the rumours... I’m not the only one, look,” Sela pointed to the windows. Emily tossed Piper a bottle of water from the table and she rushed forward to give it to the woman. The detective looked at the crowd gathering outside the station, paralysed.

That evening, they gathered around the graveyard. Piper was only there because Emily dragged her along, ‘for curiosity’s sake’. She didn’t really see the need, not with Rossi and Hotch there too. “Will someone explain why we only do these things at dark? Has no-one seen horror movies?” Piper bugged Rossi.

“We have to do it at night. That’s when they feed.” Rossi turned to her, his hands imitating a mummy. Piper’s eyes widened and she took two big steps away from the grave.

“I hope he eats you first, Rossi.” Emily laughed. The detective joined them, Hotch alongside him. The machine started, emitting a grinding sound. It was some amalgamation of cymbals crashing, cats hurling fur-balls and nails scratching on chalkboards and if it was killing Piper’s eardrums, it was playing jazz for Hotch. Piper pulled Hotch away, as far as she could from the noise. “Are you okay?” she yelled over the noise, but her voice was noiseless. The sound finally stopped and she saw the detective peer into the casket and walk away, shrunken and empty. As the others walked away, Piper looked in. The casket was empty, the body missing.

The next morning, they asked for the doctor who had overseen the execution of the original Angel Maker, if only to close that avenue of thought. He assured the two agents that Ryan had died, even if it took an hour to do it. Piper and Rossi dismissed the doctor and updated Hotch. “What do you think about execution?” Piper posed, still gazing at the door through which the doctor had left. 

“Don’t get that question a lot.” Piper hesitated, weighing her next words.

“I mean, do they deserve it? I know, theoretically, you...you could debate the issue back and forth about morality and retribution but in the end, if it was you in the room with that...knowing you could rid the world of him... could you?” Piper looked at Rossi who took a deep breath.

“He raped and killed 6 women in 10 months. I would.” Piper exhaled heavily, watching him leave, confused when he doubled back. “It’s okay if you wouldn’t, or couldn’t. Compassion is the basis of morality.” Piper snorted mirthlessly.

“Schopenhauer.” She jumped off the table she was perched on, handing him a quote of her own. “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” When he stared blankly at her, she whispered. “Voltaire.” She smiled at him as she walked away. He shrugged, following, oblivious to the cloud of puzzlement engulfing her.

Spencer paced in front of Piper as Emily and Derek visited a distributor of Ryan’s memorabilia. Piper got up, walked over to him and, placing two hands on his shoulder, said, “You’re making me dizzy. Stop.” She sat him down. “Let’s walk through the crime together. I’d have robbed the grave before committing the murder, then murdered Grennan.”

“What about the note?”

“Correspondence? Maybe he sent letters back to the unsub. They did have a year.”

“Why wait a year though? Why not kill right after the execution?”

“Grief? But that would only make the urge to continue his legacy stronger. We’re missing something.” As though her voice had reached some higher deity, Spencer’s cell buzzed.

“Yeah, Derek, you’re on speaker. I’m with Piper.”

“‘Course you are. Listen, the distributor turned out to be Sid Rutledge.”

“The prison guard?”

“That’s the one, sweet cheeks. Um.. slight problem though.” Piper grimaced, though whether it was at the nickname or the problem was unclear. Both, Spencer noted, definitely both.

“Morgan, what did you do?”

“He was shot, one to the head, one to the groin.”

“Derek!” Piper yelled. “Tell me you didn’t--”

“I didn’t shoot him. Jeez woman! Have some faith, honeybun.”

“Than--” Spencer started except Piper cut the line. “You really hate those nicknames huh?”

“Look, when it’s between Garcia and Derek, I’m fine with it. That’s their...thang as Derek would put it.”

“Never say that word again.”

“Never going to. It tasted weird. I just don’t like...overly affectionate things. Not at work and not with Derek.”

“So just explain it.”

“I can’t,” she murmured, trying to ignore his stare. “I..uh... I’ve never been called...it’s not...it’s like if... if Emily flirted with you every time you saw her. It feels weird and it’s so much weirder to...to talk it out.” Spencer nodded.

“Just a caveat; I’m not very good at advice, but I have found that if I ever need to drill something into Derek, call Garcia.” Piper smirked until her eyes fell upon the notepad, her hastily scribbled dots etched onto the paper. 

“What did the M.E. say he found on the bodies?”

“Traces of paper, like a--”

“Notepad,” she mumbled, ripping the sheet out hastily. “Pencil,” she commanded. “I need something...squishy...aha.” She grabbed the dark cushion and laid the paper on it. She gripped the pencil, as though it were a knife and slammed it into each dot. She discarded the paper, and they stared at the cushion. They looked up at Rossi who had just entered the room, seeing Piper stabbing a cushion and Spencer watching intently. 

“I have not had enough coffee to deal with this,” he muttered, hands up, walking away until Spencer pulled him back in and explained. “One thing I don’t get with the most recent murder. Unsub shoots the guard once execution style, then again in the groin. Why so different?”

“He’s male, the crime itself is personal but not as excessive as...” Piper trailed off. “We found Ryan’s semen, not someone else’s. What if it was because the unsub couldn’t...” She searched for the right word. “Excrete semen?”

“Impotent?”

“No. Female. We’re dealing with a female unsub. Look at the crime. It’s clean, swift, two bullets and the job’s done. A male wouldn’t do that. Leaving behind Ryan’s semen...”

“Stop doing that and spit it out!” Rossi exclaimed.

“Well, it could be a forensic countermeasure, but what if she’s finishing the job?” They stared blankly at her and she sighed. Hastily, and somewhat haphazardly, Piper laid out the puncture wounds. “To us, there’s no system, but to Ryan, there is. What if she knew about it? There has to be a pattern.” Rossi still just blinked at her. “Jesus, okay. What do we know about Ryan? What were his last words?”

“I will be born again. Today you make me a legend,” Spencer recited from memory.

“Exactly. His entire self-concept is based around being a legend, laying down a legacy. But if our unsub believes his legacy is incomplete...”

“She’ll do anything to finish it,” Rossi finished. “So, does that mean Greenan is the last victim?”

“She could be. Or our unsub’s waiting for the right moment to target the next one.”

“You said there has to be a pattern to the puncture wounds, do you--” Piper gazed at the paper she’d ripped out, thinking and pacing. 

She stopped, abruptly, turning to the window. “Oh, I’m so thick.” Her forehead un-crinkled as she rapidly drew the blinds, motioning for Spencer and Rossi to help. Soon, it was mostly dark. She grabbed the torch Emily had left next to her backpack and told Reid to hold the paper straight and steady above the table. Carefully, she climbed up onto the table as Hotch, Derek and Emily entered. Before Hotch could utter a word, Rossi shushed him and Piper flicked on the torch. 

“That look familiar?” Spencer made eye contact with Piper who was grinning with her new-found revelation.

“You’re a genius.”

“We’re not done yet. We don’t know what family this is from. You draw up half, I’ll do the others.” The rest of the team watched as the two chaotic doctors printed the dots out on the board and connecting them.

“Hold up, she’s been carving dot to dot puzzles this whole time?”

“We literally couldn’t connect the dots,” Piper smirked at Spencer, then she doubled over laughing at the stupid pun she’d just made as well as the sheer time it had taken her to realise it. “And they’re not dot-to-dots,”

“They’re constellations,” Emily realised. “Uh... may I?” She gazed at each one intently before scribbling the names under. “They’re all part of the Heavenly Waters family. Except...”

“What?”

“Two are missing. Carina and Columba.”

“How...never mind. I know better than to ask. You three are officially scary,” Rossi mocked. Emily mock-curtseyed.

“I think we’re ready for the profile.”

“We are?” Piper asked, glancing at Spencer. They gathered in the bullpen, surrounded by other law enforcement officers.

“There have been some strange happenings in this case,” Hotch started, “but I urge you not to abandon reason in the search of the truth. This is not the work of a ghost, and it's not the work of a killer come back from the dead. This is the work of somebody who lives right here in lower Canaan, and this person is a woman.” 

“Her last victim, Sid Rutledge - he was the angel maker's mule,” Derek explained. “He smuggled items out of Hawkesville Prison, including the semen that was planted at the first crime scene. She killed Rutledge because he knew she was the copycat, and also because he was blackmailing her.” 

“We now know that Rutledge was transferred to Hawkesville from a female prison, in the wake of allegations that he was using his position to leverage sexual favours from inmates,” Emily continued. “And we think he did the same thing to our unsub; in exchange for his silence, he wanted sex.” 

“Because she shot him in the junk, right?” An officer asked from the back.

“That, and the fact that he took a PDE-5 inhibitor shortly before his murder,” Spencer answered. 

“A what?” Confusion radiated through the crowd.

“Viagra,” Morgan supplied, resulting in a small hum. 

“We're looking for a white woman in her mid-30s and she's highly intelligent. And she's not just a fan, she's a groupie,” Rossi advised. 

“Now, she's not what you would normally expect. More often than not, they're attractive, they're well-educated, They're successful; some are even married,” Derek elaborated.

“Generally, they fall into types. Some are reformers. They're on a mission to save or rescue these murderers. Often, this type of groupie has been raised in a repressive, religious environment and specifically have been exposed to the ideals of sexual repression and subjugation of women,” Spencer explained. 

“Our unsub is a different type, one who suffers from hybristophilia. It's a sexual attraction to men who commit violent crimes,” Piper added. “They give her a power that she lacks, which stems from low self-esteem and a need for a father figure.” 

“Well, the victims were raped,” an officer raised from the front. “How do you explain that?” 

“She's using an instrument to simulate the sexual assault...” Emily answered. “This is something that she keeps in her rape kit, along with the weapon that she's using to bludgeon her victims.” 

“This is a list of women who visited and wrote the angel maker while he was in prison,” JJ said as he motioned for Derek and Emily to hand the packages out. “We've started to track these leads, but the list is extensive, so we're gonna need your help.”

As darkness blanketed the town outside, Piper stared at the constellations inside and Spencer went through the evidence. “I don’t even know where to begin on narrowing these down.” Piper shrugged.

“You need help?”

“Please.” Piper grabbed three pieces, placing them in front of the other doctor.

“How do you organise uh... hard data? If I handed you a list of random numbers, how would you organise it?”

“Collate and identify the frequency of each variable.”

“I’m really hoping that means grouping, Doc, ‘cause I was gonna suggest grouping.” Spencer laughed. “Good. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We are going to organise these by frequency. The less frequent times a person contacts...” She caught his glassy eyes. She’d lost him too. And with all honesty, she’d lost herself. “An outlier that’s on the...” She searched for the scientific word and clicked her fingers, trying to speed up her brain. Why had she dropped statistics? “Tails!” She nearly shouted excitedly and Spencer laughed again.

“Are you talking about long tails?”

“Assuming that’s the thing where frequency decreases, then yes. Long tails go in here, fat tails go in the middle and...uh... screw it. The most repetitive one goes there.” Rossi was about to interrupt to ask if they wanted coffee, but thought better of it when Piper started smacking Spencer for making fun of her. He walked over to Hotch who was on the phone with Emily who had gone to chase a few leads with Morgan.

“Where’d you find Piper?”

“I didn’t. Gideon did. At a high school. Teaching history. Why?”

“She’s different. How old is she again?”

“27...You coming to a point?”

“Isn’t Gideon the one who discovered Reid? The guy’s like a water diviner.” Hotch scoffed.

“She makes connections we don’t, we can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“None of us are exactly ordinary, Rossi. She is. I used to be an attorney, I look at these cases the same way. Morgan was in Chicago PD, worked in bomb squad too, expert on obsessional crimes. He’s seen the worst of people. Reid sees patterns from seemingly useless data. Prentiss is the daughter of a diplomat. She knows people, their behaviour, but Piper isn’t the same. She understands people, empathises. Sometimes I wonder how better she’d be with the same training as the rest of us.”

“It’s funny. Our first conversation was when she got shot. She tried to explain how the team is an asset. Said almost the same thing as you. Except...” He trailed off, glancing back at the young woman going through files. “When she described herself, didn’t mention her PhDs or her experience, she just said she looks pretty in a hospital gown, she’s a sucker for cookies and takes a bullet for someone.”

“Guess she thought all you needed to know was that she’s loyal.” They heard a yell and turned to see Spencer holding a piece of paper and Piper twirling him and laughing. 

“Do not pull those eyes at me, Aaron. I do not have the strength nor the patience. It’s your turn.” Hotch smiled and walked over.

Clearing his throat, Spencer explained his discovery. “There’s been an ongoing conversation between Ryan and this woman called ‘his dove’. Look.”

Weather is good here. 

Out in the garden all day. 

Birds land on the fence. 

The moon is full now.

“You’d have to try to write that bad,” Hotch murmured. “Even I...” He trailed off, a blush creeping up his neck as he thought of Haley. “It's a code.”

“This steganographic method would allow him to write letters that don't appear enciphered. The real message would be hiding in plain sight.” 

“What do you need to crack it?” 

“The ability to clone myself and a year's supply of Adderall,” Reid joked.

“I’ll uh... put on the coffee,” Piper offered, slightly scared of Spencer.

Piper collapsed on the couch as Spencer pored over the poem. “You should go back to the hotel, get some sleep.” She was silent, staring at the ceiling. “Pipes, how long has it been?”

“A week. I think. I get snatches.”

“Pipe-”

“There’ll be time after you crack that pattern, Doc. Besides, my body has to shut down at some point right?” she joked softly. A few hours pass and finally, her eyes flutter shut. Spencer stretches in his chair, glancing back at his best friend, smiling at how peacefully she slept. He didn’t know the anguish she was living behind closed eyes. Soon enough, he was fast asleep too, his face squished on paper. Rossi walked back in to see Piper sprawled on the floor and Spencer using a serial killer’s love letters as a pillow. He slammed his fresh cup of coffee on the table and Piper was up, gun pointed straight at him.

“Don’t shoot!” Piper closed her eyes, dropping her arms.

“Jeez, Rossi, don’t scare me like that.” She rubbed at her eyes, feeling dried tears again. 

“What do we do about him?” He gestured to the snoring Spencer. Piper silently walked up to Rossi, opening the lid to his coffee and gently placing it near the sleeping agent’s nose. Spencer rose, eyes still closed, hand reaching for the coffee, except she handed it over to Rossi.

“Hmm?”

“Be happy I didn’t make you smell my shoe,” Piper grumbled. After 3 and a half cups of coffee, the last half being snatched by Piper, Spencer stood in front of the team, explaining his findings.  

“They weren't just close. They were in love.” 

“How'd you crack it?” Hotch asked.

“I profiled the author. Cortland Ryan was on death row with several high-ranking members of the Aryan Brotherhood.” 

“He got the code from the Aryans?” 

“Either that or he read a lot of 16th-century literature. The Aryans liked to use a cipher based on a 400-year-old code written by Sir Francis Bacon.” 

“So it's a binary code.” 

“Yeah. Bacon used a 21-letter alphabet. This one's 24. Each letter is assigned a bit string of 5 binary digits. This combination yields 32 possible encodings. Normally you'd use a computer to run all these combinations, But it was quicker just to do it longhand until I found the right one.” Emily slowly raised a finger to touch his cheek.

“He’s so lifelike.” JJ laughed as Spencer moved on.

“Now we don't have a complete record of their correspondence, but I was able to make a chronology. The woman he calls ‘dove’ established contact shortly after the trial.”

“We think she was a member of the jury during the trial,” Piper added, yawning. Spencer frowned, but agreed.

“What do you think she meant by that last line: I will bring a part of you back?” Emily

“The murders? She brought him back to life,” Derek suggested.

“What if she was talking about his child?” JJ asked.

“Of course. The rebirth, the legacy...” Piper trailed off. “It all fits. JJ, you genius.” JJ smiled at Piper. “Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold,” she quoted to herself quietly. 

“Ralph Waldo Emerson,” Spencer muttered back to her and she smiled softly. 

“Well, if she actually had his kid, we might be able to track her through birth records,” Morgan pointed out.

“Wait, Spencer, what about that one about the future taking root?” Piper asked. “That sounds like a conception.”

“Yeah, gimme a sec.” He rummaged through his piles. “Here,” he said, holding up the letter. “Dated January 7, 2007. So we just fast forward 9 months.” Spencer shrugged, smiling. Derek got Garcia on the line.

“Actually, it’s 10 months.” JJ caught Piper’s eyebrow. “Yeah, it was news to me too.” Piper slapped a hand to her forehead.

“That’s why she waited a year. She was pregnant during the execution. She couldn’t have killed anyone.”

“Garcia found 9 names, she’s sending them over for us to cross off.”

Spencer and Derek started crossing off names with the lead detective and Piper yawned as she organised the room. “So, you uh... almost shot me this morning,” Rossi said.

“Yeah, and I might shoot you for real if you keep prodding, Rossi.” Piper barked as she dropped a pile of files in his hands. “Back off.” Rossi stood silently, unsure of what to do with the files in his hands.

They finally found her. Chloe Kelcher. She was on the jury during his trial where she fell in love with Cortland Ryan. She’d impregnated herself with Ryan’s semen, but lost her child in the hospital due to microvesicular steatosis. She then resorted to the only way she could think of to keep Ryan alive: continuing what he started. The team stormed her house, finding it empty, save for the rotting corpse of Cortland Ryan and an appointment book, the most recent name being Faye Landreaux. 

Piper, Derek, Hotch and Rossi stood in front of Faye Landreaux’s house. The red Volkswagen outside was still warm and the windows were all closed. Derek sneaked around to find an open window around back as Hotch ordered the police cars to move to the front of the house, sirens blaring. Piper knew that Hotch knew he would go through unbearable pain but she also knew nothing she said would change his actions or decisions. But maybe Rossi could. “Hotch, I don't think you can get through to her.” 

“No, but maybe she can,” he offered Piper the megaphone. She grasped it firmly. “What do you need?”

“I need the juiciest, most romantic thing Ryan wrote to a woman. Reid knows what to bring.” In a matter of minutes, he was there, beside her, hand inches apart as she held the prose Ryan had written. “I’m ready.” Hotch ordered the officers to hit the lights and Piper started. 

“Ms Chloe Kechler, this is the FBI. We know you're in there, and we know what you're trying to do. I get it. You fell in love with someone you couldn’t have, Chloe. But you should know what kind of man he was. I know you thought you were special, but the truth is, he wrote to many other women the same things he wrote to you. I've seen the letters. Dozens read the same lines: without the flesh, there is only the soul. You don't need to touch me to feel the love I have for you. Does that sound familiar?” 

Piper took a deep breath. “Cortland wasn't who you thought he was. He--he was a narcissist, Chloe. He wasn't capable of loving anyone but himself. He thrived on attention, he didn’t care who it was from. 

Carla Kettinger. Ever since your visit, I am crazed with thoughts of you... Already you have entered my dreams. Each time you appear to me...I am embraced by a feeling of trust and belief, as if I've known you all my life.

Susan Carmichael. It's clear to me now that you are my fate. We are destined to be together. And when I am gone, that will not change. I will live on in you. In death, our union will be eternal. 

Doesn’t that sound familiar to you? Doesn’t that anger you, Chloe? Doesn’t it make you question? Why are you so loyal to a man that simply doesn’t care?” Piper emphasised each syllable, trying to cast doubt on her emotions. She breathed in relief as Derek returned with Faye. “I’m begging you, Chloe. Don’t ruin the life you could still have for the life you’ll never have.” Piper’s hand slipped into Spencer’s. “Aren’t you tired of fighting, Chloe? We can turn this around.” She pleaded through the megaphone. “Let us help you, Chloe. Let me help you.” They waited and Piper held her breath as the front door creaked open. Spencer stood in front of Piper instantly as she kept pleading with the woman. “Don’t do this, Chloe. There’s so much left for you.” But it was too late. Chloe raised her gun and they fired. The sounds of gunshots made both Piper and Hotch step back. Hotch clutched his eardrums and Piper froze, trembling. 

She couldn’t breathe. Panic filled her bloodstream as she staggered away from the shootings, collapsing at the end of the barricade, her chest constricting on itself. Her heart was pounding, wanting to run away, but her legs wouldn’t work. Wanting to cry out but barely making a whisper. The guns had stopped firing a long while ago but the sound of gunshots ricocheted in her ears. Her shoulder was throbbing and she collapsed onto the ground, staring at the sky above. breathe...1...2...3...hold...2...3...4...exhale...1...2...3... She got up on her bad elbow, crying out until she felt his arms lifting her up. He wrapped her in a hug and her chest was relieved of a large boulder. “I tried,” she whispered.

“I know.” They stood there for a few minutes as the rest of the team sidestepped them. “I know.”

“I don’t wan... leave. I can’t...need...escape..” she murmured. Finally, her breathing was deeper, less shallow and she exhaled into his chest, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She pushed herself off. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have...I’m sorry. I...I...I’m gonna um... gonna go...” Piper backtracked away from him, confused and embarrassed. She waved awkwardly and got onto her bike. 

At the precinct, she pulled off her helmet when her cell buzzed. Drew. “Hey. Sorry, I’ve been busy.”

“Really, with what?”

“A murderer. Sorry for not calling. By the way, I have a message for you. I’m done.”

“Done?”

“Yeah. I’m done. Screw you, Andrew. That ultimatum you gave me. Toxic. You really expect me to abandon my job at the FBI for a menial job not even worth two cents in Florida? I’m done being the only one fighting for us. I’m done looking for water in a barren well. Bye, Detective Lisbon. Don’t call me.” Piper sniffed, then cut the call. She’d expected sadness or grief, but she just felt tired. She walked into the precinct, feeling weariness in her feet. She found Rossi cleaning up in the conference room. She approached him, heart in hand. “Rossi--”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve gone through my share of sleepless nights.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Hey, you need a ride to the hotel?” Piper tried to give him her best smile, which wasn’t much, and nodded gratefully.

The next morning, they started packing up. Spencer shot glances at Piper, pretending to have caught his gaze outside when she looked back. They loaded the SUVs and Emily asked if they had any directions to the airstrip.

“Town’s only got one road, we’ll find it,” Derek said, juggling the keys.

“Didn’t you know, Emily, Derek doesn’t like directions? He like to vibe it.” Piper chuckled quietly at Spencer.

“Okay, smartass, why don’t you drive?”

“Jesus, JJ, you wanna swap cars?” Piper yelled.

“With Spencer at the wheel? No way. Pregnant remember?” 

“Oh, you suck,” Piper laughed as she got in the car, smiling at Spencer from her seat next to him.

#criminal minds #criminal minds x oc #criminal minds angst #bau x oc #bau #spencer reid #spencer reid x oc #doctor spencer reid #dr spencer reid #dr piper bishop #dr reid #agent hotchner

[nad-zeta]

Matchup Duo 💎

HOWDY, not sure if matchups for ikeseng are open but here i go anyway?¿ ´･ᴗ･`

-I’m a Leo, and a combination of ENFP/ENTP (if that helps with characterization), but I’m becoming more ambivert as the days go by. But I still act like a crackhead (making up new words, making random sound effects out of boredom and roasting people playfully, having airhead moments, for examples) and a lot of people irl do get put off at how “obnoxious” I can get, but I do know when to “flip the switch” and become serious/quiet.

-I have really low standards for humor idk I laugh at my own jokes it’s honestly astounding, but cursed memes/images are somethin else💀 Dark jokes are always open in my ally👀

-Ironically, I canNOT stand horror, I will legit be so paranoid or freaked out and start overthinking and just cry and DIE—

I’m very open, almost TOO open, but ask me literally anything and I’ll usually tell everyone my honest opinions/thoughts, but I know how to deliver words tactfully and articulately. Debating, (public) speaking, writing, and understanding concepts are my strong suits; likewise I suck ass at math (I have no idea how I ended up in Calc BC ap, I just— 😭)

-Speaking of writing, I write poems whenever I feel like it, I have a whole collection HAH. My love of expressing comes from my tendency to play the devil’s advocate in interpreting and arguing for almost all perspectives in topics. So you can probably guess how I don’t get offended really easily and welcome both playful and serious banter (despite the crackhead persona, I’m very observant of people and their values expressed and how they tick, so I know when to back off especially when they get uncomfortable with my aggressive debating/personality). Need advice? I can use what I’ve gathered from different people and help anyone in their particular situations.

-And speaking of expression, I love fashion and makeup! I love being able to express myself through use of presentation and have fun while doing it! hehe (k-fashion, asian beauty 👀) HECK YEAH I’M DOWN FOR SHOPPING—

-I like to dance yeehaw, and I was on a competitive dance team (well that was before when the corona hit the milly rock a little TOO hard and put all the dancers out of commission😔🤝😭) I’ve also been in my own highschool’s dance club for 4 years!!

-I’m a console gamer :0 Big fan of winding down with video games, but books are the best if games aren’t an option.

-Music is a huge part of my life; I played the flute and the viola for years before and been surrounded by music through dancing as well; while I’ve been in a choir before, my vocals aren’t stellar oof, but at least I’m not tone-deaf.

-Can’t cook to save a life ooooof, that’s where my airheadness REALLY kicks in. I literally burn myself making instant :>

-I’m not phased by sexual innuendos/conversations/kinks because I see them objectively as unique characteristics of every person, but I’ll crack up at a sex joke or a cringe flirt line with friends. And like I’ve said, I’ll share them myself without objection if ANYONE asks. But the moment someone actually TRIES to make a move on me (like what!!¡¿), I’ll first play it casual but then bolt for the door because it’s hard for me to actually imagine that ANY guy would see me in a romantic light LOL but i’d get used to the advances quick and if it’s someone i liked back, i’d tease them the same or raise up the antics ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Hi, there, dear! <3 Can I just say u sound like a super cool person! Anyway here is your matchup dear, I hope you enjoy it! And thanks for waiting soooooooooo long! ^_^

So I match you with………… Masamune

Selfie Match up

The first time this boi meets you he is ecstatic, finally someone fun to liven up this boring place.

You scream fun and outgoing

Masamune is already imagining all the fun adventures the two of you can go on and he hasn’t even talked to you yet!

He is absolutely captivated by those big dark brown eyes. 

Those big bright intelligent eyes are all telling of the playful mischief the two of you could get up to together.

He absolutely loses himself in your deep warm, captivating eyes, they remind him of home, they are deep and rich like the soil of his home town, soft and comforting, while busting with endless life and energy

HE is absolutely dazzled by the way your soft strands of earthy hair moved so freely in the wind. It low key reminds him of his own wild free personality

If he ever had to imagine his perfect woman you would be it.

You have the same vibe as playful kitten having endless hours of fun, and boy oh boy all Masa wants to do is join in.

He wishes nothing more than to boop your cute nose

His brain goes haywire, all he wants to do is kiss those soft lips of yours

Masamune continues to eye you from the corner of the council room. Gosh if love at first sight did exist than this would describe his exact feelings towards you.

Match up part

You were named as the new princess of the Oda forces and was forced to sit through the rest of the boring war council. It had been 30 minutes in, and you were already losing your mind from boredom, that is when the one-eyed dragon passed you note from across the table. You giggled a little at the joke and wrote back on of your own. The two of you passed notes back and forth, every joke or remark you read made you want to break out in laughter. As the council progressed, the two of you got rowdier and rowdier and the both of you were now making strange noises. You were making all sorts of weird sound effects, and Masamune was howling in laughter. TBH they were so funny even Nobunaga couldn’t help but laugh. Everyone was having a good time except Hideyoshi “Okay that’s the third time the two of you have disturbed the council”. Hideyoshi started lecturing you and Masamune about not disturbing the council any further when Nobunaga announced that the council was over. The two of you couldn’t help but laugh in victory. The two of you continued your conversation in which you were playfully roasting each other. Masamune was right; you really were going to be a lot of fun.

Masa love chatting and spending time with you and honestly, he loved the fact that you understood and laughed at all his jokes. What he loves the most is times just before your about to deliver the punch line to a joke, but you burst out laughing for 20 minutes before you can even get it out. And once you finally coke out the punchline between laughs, you continue to giggle at your hilarious sense of humour for another solid 30 minutes. Masamune can’t help but laugh at you laughing at yourself. When the two of you goofballs are around its always a fun time, but beware of some occasional dark humour i.e. the two of you got scolded one day for joking about some dark topics in front of the kids *cough* Mitsunari *cough*

The first night you arrived, and Masamune barged into your room, and Masamune being Masamune, ignored any boundaries of personal space and started to page through one of your books that were laying on your writing desk. It was your fashion portfolio that caught his eye. He loves all the different looks and the way the colours and patterns seemed to complement each other. You had explained to him that you were heavily into fashion and makeup and considered it as part of your self-expression. Masamune smiled his big cat-like smile at you asking if you wanted to meet up with him tomorrow. You honestly didn’t have anything better to do, so you agreed.

You and Masamune spent hours in the market looking at different fabrics, clothes and makeup products. Everything was so different in the past. After spending the whole day shopping your grab both of Masamune’s hands in your, you beam up at his with the brightest smile stating that you had a fun idea. Masa is pretty much keen for anything, so he goes along with your strange idea. The two of you make your way back to his manor. And that is when the two of you hold a fashion show, to show off your new clothes and accessories the two of you bought. It was a lighthearted fun game, filled with banter and giggles. It had actually become somewhat of a tradition now for the two of you to do this little fashion shows in his room after a long day of shopping. You would always bust out laughing at the strange poses Masamune would do. 

Another fun activity the two of you have adopted is poetry slams. Both of you would spend the week writing your best poems and then present them to each other. Just like the fashion shows, these evenings are also always filled to the brim with laugher and banter. The two of you had gotten to know each other fairly well like this, as sometimes the theme of the poems would be dark and depressing, and after the two of you would discuss the emotions behind it. U guys would in those cases always be there for each other lending a friendly ear to listen to the others problems.

Needless to say at this point, Masamune was head over heels for you and somewhere in between the fun poetry slams and fashion shows, his flirty jokes stopped being jokes. He was serious about you. One night he actually kissed you, you were honestly so shook, you ran, you legit sprinted away. Little did you know the tiger was on your heel running after you. He caught you and tacked you to the ground. The 30 second run actually gave you time to sort your feelings, as you too had realized that you had also fallen for the one-eyed dragon. He stared into your eyes questioningly, and that’s when you snaked your hands behind his neck and pulled him down to return the kiss.

The two of you made such a sweet couple. After work, Masamune would always be on the hunt for his kitten to spend time with you. He was super shocked when he heard singing coming from the kitchen. He snuck up to the kitchen and peeked inside. He had to chuckle when he saw you singing your heart out and dancing like nobody was watching. He never knew you could sing and dance like that, he watched you for a while utterly awestruck by you. He was pulled out of his reverie when he smelt something burning and saw a cloud of smoke coming from the oven. You panicked at seeing the smoke and swiftly opened the oven. You didn’t even think when you took the baked, well-burnt goods out the oven without mitts or a cloth. You had legit burnt your hands to a crisp. 

Masamune rushed to your side to evaluate the damage. He got a bag and filled it with ice, putting it on your burnt hands. He then proceeded to rub some medicine on the burns and wrap your hands “Best leave the cooking to me from now on Kitten”. He then took over from where you left off, making you the best meal you had ever tasted. You sat on the kitchen counter to keep him company. The burnt buns and your burnt hands were long forgotten, as the two of you were laughing and chatting away. 

Now, whenever Masamune cooked, you would sit in the kitchen with him and keep him company. The two of you would laugh and dance together in the kitchen. It was always so much fun spending time with him, you especially love it when he sings in his most false off-key voice it is honestly hilarious. You couldn’t help but think he complimented you perfectly. He could cook when you couldn’t even make toast successfully, and you could sing beautifully, while he sounded like some cat in pain.

Another thing Masa absolutely loves, is to sit and listen to you play the flute or viola. The soothing music and the amount of love and emotion you pack into the songs as you play, washes away all the stress and tiredness from his day. He could sit four hours and hours just enchanted by the sound of your music. Even more so if you sing along to the song, you are playing. He loves hearing your beautiful voice. This boy will legit drag you to sit in his lap and nuzzle and kiss you until you agree to play or sing him a song.

Masamune is always by your side supporting you and showering you with love. Whenever you get sad or insecure, Masamune is always there to lighten the mood. Like one time, some maids pissed you off. “ why is my kitten so angry today” Masamune literally came up to you and pinched your cheeks, he then squished your face “Common lemi see that beautiful smile.” When you still had a grumpy expression, he pulled you up and started spontaneously dancing. You couldn’t help but smile at the goofball and join in. Soon your big wide fast movements slowed down, and Masamune pulled you into his arms by your waist. He then dropped his head down and rested it in the crook of your neck. You honestly love quite moments like this just slow dancing in your lover’s arms. He would ask you about your day and would tighten his hold on you, enveloping you in a warm embrace, while you talk out all your frustrations of the day. After he would nibble on your ear whispering how much he loves and adores you.

Masa is like your fun knight in shining armour whether it is comforting you and helping you get to sleep after hearing some crazy scary ghost stories or spending hours upon hours bantering with you while you playfully insult each other, He is always there for you, loving you from the moment the sun rises till the moment it sets. He has truly met his match with you and never has in his life been happier, or laughed so much. The two of you can always be found snuggled together with Masa’s lil tiger cub in the futon after a long day of laughs, fun and adventures

Perhaps it truly was love at first sight after all 

Other potential matches…………….Mitsuhide 

 Hope you enjoyed it, love! and I hope you are staying safe and well🍭 @smol-vy

#ikesen masamune #masamune date #ikemen sengoku masamune #masamune matchup #ikesen matchup #match ups #ikesen selfie matchup #selfie matchup #selfie match-up #submission

[edenkept]

❛                      NOW    I    KNOW    IT’S    NOT    YOU    ,    but    me    that    i'll    love    a    little    more    .

wish    i    could    use    emojis    to    express    how    i    feel    ,    but    jus    know    that    for    the    entire    day    that    ONE    PART    in    roman    holiday    has    been    playing    in    my    head    on    repeat    &    i    ?    couldn’t    turn    it    off    .    anyway    ,    my    intros    r    usually    super    long    SO    i    tried    to    keep    it    -    how    u    say    -    condensed    this    time    .    but    i’m    so    excited    &    i    am    so    hyped    to    write    w    all    of    u    !  @opalsmedia

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𝑭𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑺

full  name  :  baek  ye  -  seul

nickname(s)  /  alias(es)  :  eden  park  (  english  name  )

age  /  dob  :  twenty  one  /  march  3  ‘99

hometown  :  seoul  ,  south  korea

current  location  :  guildford  ,  england

ethnicity  :  korean

nationality  :  english  -  south  korean

gender  :  cis  female

pronouns  :  she  /  her

orientation  :  pansexual  ,  grayromantic

religion  :  agnostic  ,  raised  catholic

face  claim  :  jung  chaeyeon

language(s)  spoken  :  korean  ,  mandarin  ,  cantonese  ,  english  ,  some  french

speech  :  english  is  her  first  language  -  seven  years  spent  in  london  before  being  whisked  away  to  another  world  ,  she’s  still  got  a  hold  on  a  formal  accent  -  though  ,  doesn’t  sound  completely  english  or  american  ,  some  ambiguous  mixture  of  someone  who’s  practiced  the  language  with  someone  who  isn’t  a  complete  expert  .  all  being  said  ,  she’s  enchanting  enough  to  fool  even  the  wisest  into  listening  -  schemes  flinging  from  parted  lips  that  garner  attention  ,  though  often  what  follows  is  informal  &  laced  with  sour  intentions  .

hair  :  naturally  dark  ,  so  dark  its  comparable  to  a  moonless  sky  ,  though  ,  in  the  summer  &  constant  sunlight  it’s  known  to  lighten  (  just  -  barely  )  .  kept  just  past  her  shoulder  blades  ,  her  hair  is  naturally  straight  (  barely  wavy  )  &  not  often  styled  .  healthy  &  thick  ,  requires  little  uptake  at  current  length  ,  so  it’s  common  to  see  it  all  down  -  at  most  ,  will  be  swept  up  into  a  messy  up  -  do  to  be  kept  out  of  her  face  when  doing  something  important  .  entirely  effortless  ,  her  hair  is  often  the  least  of  her  worries  .

eyes  :  quite  the  defining  feature  ,  her  eyes  are  sharp  &  cat  like  .  the  same  color  of  the  earth  after  an  unforgiving  rain  storm  ,  it’s  easy  to  see  past  a  confident  exo  -  skeleton  to  see  the  unresolved  pain  in  her  eyes  .  holders  of  wisdom  &  excitement  ,  there’s  a  lot  of  sadness  that  reside  in  her  hues  -  a  lone  survivor  in  an  unheard  war  ,  she  doesn’t  let  enough  people  close  enough  to  ever  let  them  see  it  .  instead  ,  it’s  more  often  found  to  catch  her  sending  a  glimpse  from  over  the  edge  of  a  book  -  sly  &  clever  .

height  :  five  feet  ,  five  inches

build  :  athletic  ,  with  toned  limbs  &  a  toned  torso  .

tattoos  :  none  .

piercings  :  only  earlobes  .

scars  :  easily  hidden  ,  a  small  two  centimetre  scar  on  the  inside  of  her  right  wrist  ,  just  below  the  fleshy  part  of  her  palm  .  when  asked  ,  the  consistent  story  is  an  accident  when  moving  in  with  her  adopted  parents  -  a  child  throwing  a  tantrum  &  getting  themselves  hurt  .  nobody  knows  the  real  story  ,  she  doesn’t  seem  keen  on  sharing  .

clothing  style  :  academia  aesthetic  ,  she  surrounds  herself  with  like  minded  women  who’ve  the  same  ideals  &  personalities  .  distinguishable  by  their  clothing  ,  carefully  smoothed  high  waisted  a  -  line  skirts  ,  high  turtlenecks  &  long  coats  over  black  tights  .  looks  sophisticated  enough  to  have  a  butler  (  which  ,  she  does  )  but  intellectual  enough  to  debate  her  professor  (  which  ,  she  often  does  )  .

usual  expression  :  like  she  knows  too  much  ,  as  if  she’s  seen  too  much  &  she’ll  use  it  to  her  advantage  .  with  the  constant  curve  of  her  lips  &  the  glint  that’s  always  present  in  her  eyes  ,  she  always  looks  as  if  she’s  about  to  cause  as  much  trouble  .  devil’s  advocate  ,  it  wouldn’t  be  too  far  off  for  her  to  be  minutes  away  from  stirring  the  pot  .

distinguishing  characteristics  :  her  fleeting  laugh  -  it  catches  your  ear  as  she  passes  you  in  the  corridor  ,  always  red  nails  ;  deep  in  color  ,  it  matches  the  shade  of  blood  ,  a  walk  that  demands  attention  -  it  exudes  an  aura  of  importance  ,  cat  like  eyes  that  always  look  like  they’ve  caught  you  doing  something  you  aren’t  supposed  to  be  doing  .

𝑹𝑼𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺

exterior   :  ethereal  ,  she  holds  herself  to  an  impossibly  high  standard  that  everyone  can  see  .  is  it  intentional  ?  the  looks  sent  over  her  shoulders  ,  how  she  parts  the  halls  to  reach  a  friend  -  no  .  a  normal  girl  from  a  normal  world  ,  she’s  sat  in  the  front  of  the  lecture  hall  making  eye  contact  with  the  instructors  ;  the  kind  of  classmate  who  learns  everyone’s  (  everyone’s  )  name  &  collects  numbers  in  a  well  worn  notebook  to  send  out  guides  &  make  friends  .  even  if  you  don’t  know  eden  ,  you  know  of  eden  -  the  life  of  the  party  who  always  arrives  with  glowing  skin  &  a  passionate  argument  to  have  in  the  kitchen  .  elite  ,  the  rumors  of  a  heaven  fallen  girl  wrap  around  her  with  the  moonlight  (  her  journal  left  in  the  library  ,  she’s  god  chosen  )  -  passionate  ,  with  the  fires  of   both  heaven  &  hell  wrapped  in  her  .  almost  normal  (  not  quite  )  ,  the  kind  of  girl  to  greet  everyone  by  name  while  running  through  almost  empty  corridors  -  she  tugs  a  lifetime  of  sorrow  behind  her  ,  hides  it  behind  ambition  &  blind  loyalty  .

interior   :  war  torn  ,  a  victim  of  poison  dipped  claws  &  a  dip  into  the  river  styx  .  her  mind  doesn’t  match  her  body  ,  stuck  in  between  the  pages  of  a  grand  journey  where  she  views  the  world  as  a  story  .  a  punishment  for  early  childhood  ,  penance  has  been  found  in  intricate  metaphors  that  don’t  match  the  sharp  callousness  that  falls  from  her  lips  .  lost  in  a  universe  where  she’s  half  god  ,  half  devil  &  her  enemies  are  heaven  -  bound  ,  she  pushes  it  all  down  to  pass  as  normal  .  a  normal  girl  ,  with  normal  goals  &  normal  roles  .  poetry  in  her  dreams  ,  written  down  on  hidden  yellow  pages  that  aren’t  meant  to  be  seen  by  the  ordinary  .  found  hidden  away  in  locked  boxes  are  journeys  &  important  figures  that  only  her  mind  understands  ;  a  gaping  scar  in  her  life  that  she’ll  never  rid  herself  of  .

𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑳𝑬

this  is  NOT  gna  be  pretty  i  spent  too  many  brain  cells  on  my  app  .

TRIGGER  WARNINGS  :  abuse  

there’s  an  email  from  doctor  seong  ;  it  reads  of  baek  ye  seul  &  important  things  to  note  before  a  first  session  with  her  .  irreversibly  traumatized  from  early  childhood  captivity  &  abuse  ,  she’s  learned  to  cope  by  transforming  her  life  into  an  intricately  weaved  story  .  each  significant  figure  in  her  life  has  a  title  ,  an  assigned  metaphor  &  character  -  though  ,  outwardly  ,  she’ll  show  no  signs  of  trauma  .  in  fact  ,  the  opposite  -  she  shows  tremendous  progress  in  her  personal  life  ,  easygoing  with  peers  ,  approachable  &  passionate  -  keep  an  eye  on  her  movements  ,  if  anything  internal  ever  goes  external  ,  it’s  a  dangerous  sign  .

a  file  left  open  on  an  agent  prothero’s  office  -  MI6  stamped  &  redacted  but  he  knows  the  story  by  heart  .  poor  eden  ,  left  in  the  hands  of  a  capable  agent  that  chose  a  target  over  her  own  country  .  the  product  of  a  traitor  &  a  criminal  ,  whereabouts  were  unknown  for  the  first  six  years  of  her  life  ;  but  through  extensive  therapy  &  decoding  childish  messages  ,  he’s  learned  enough  to  swear  to  always  keep  an  eye  on  her  .  held  captive  on  a  london  penthouse  ,  had  her  life  threatened  &  well  being  always  held  just  out  of  reach  while  her  mother  &  father  stayed  hidden  .  not  much  else  is  known  ,  no  specifics  ,  just  one  instance  -  she  drowned  ,  almost  ,  she  says  .  held  under  ,  he  can  still  remember  her  asking  what  the  most  peaceful  way  to  die  is  .  he  sends  her  to  partners  in  south  korea  ,  people  who  want  a  daughter  &  promise  to  raise  her  the  best  they  can  .

pour  over  comments  left  on  old  social  media  pages  ,  she’s  a  hit  in  her  new  life  .  sheds  her  english  name  as  quickly  as  she  received  it  &  thrives  overseas  while  growing  into  a  formidable  woman  .  she’s  intelligent  (  reminds  someone  of  a  mother  who  had  it  all  once  )  ,  sharp  &  witty  .  filled  with  enough  passion  to  light  a  palace  ablaze  ,  she  strives  for  greatness  &  settles  for  absolutely  nothing  .  always  equipped  with  a  plan  &  a  way  ,  she  gets  everything  she  wants  (  &  she  always  earns  it  ,  there  isn’t  a  single  unearned  trophy  on  her  shelf  )  .  either  loved  or  despised  ,  she  shines  as  bright  as  stars  that  are  millions  of  light  years away  from  earth  .

in  her  planner  ,  an  acceptance  letter  carefully  pressed  &  laminated  .  someone  told  her  she’d  never  get  in  ,  but  she  sits  on  campus  &  smiles  -  she’s  capable  of  doing  anything  she  wants  .  next  to  the  letter  is  an  unblemished  business  card  .  agent  prothero  ,  who  found  her  ,  gave  her  the  means  to  burn  everything  down  -  he  hands  her  a  promise  &  information  that  always  swims  around  her  head  .  her  parents  aren’t  dead  ,  kept  hidden  by  everyone  in  her  life  ,  they’re  still  kicking  &  on  the  run  .  a  goal  formulated  as  he  reminds  her  to  finish  her  schooling  -  there’s  the  same  glint  in  his  eye  that  she  often  sees  in  the  mirror  -  a  promise  made  to  finish  &  return  .  some  people  deserve  a  downfall  ,  her  mother’s  will  be  her  .

𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑻𝑬𝑫

throuple  /  trio    :    hee  hee  ,  as  explained  in  my  app  ,  jus  three  prodigies  who  get  along  so  well  that  they’re  jus  the  best  of  friends  .  kindred  spirits  ,  always  found  together  ,  wearing  complimenting  colors  while  they  try  not  to  laugh  to  hard  in  the  library  over  something  rly  stupid  .  they  hold  hands  while  walking  through  hidden  corridors  &  keep  their  heads  down  to  the  wind  ,  but  it’s  always  the  three  of  them  .

unrequited  rivalry    :   i.e.  an  opal  who  sees  her  as  a  “rival”  (  or  jus  pushes  her  )  &  eden’s  like  haha  peepeepoopoo  in  response  cos  she  doesn’t  think  anyone’s  worthy  enough  to  be  her  rival  .  if  anything  ,  she  thinks  it’s  more  endearing  than  annoying  &  it  gives  her  something  /  someone  to  look  forward  to  when  the  time  comes  down  to  it  .

the  angle  to  her  deivl    :    anyone  who’s  a  lil  kinder  ,  a  lil  softer  &  not  as  annoying  around  the  edges  .  eden  consistently  plays  devil’s  advocate  &  will  stir  the  pot  it  if  brings  drama  &  a  little  bit  of  chaos  into  her  life  ,  this  muse  is  someone  who’s  always  the  ‘  eden  no  ’  to  her  ‘  eden  yes  ’

in  relation  to  her  circlet    :    fully  explained  in  my  app  ,  but  eden  unabashedly  views  her  coven  as  family  -  even  if  she  does  lean  into  the  role  of  annoying  cousin  .  she’s  no  leader  ,  more  of  an  antagonistic  side  kick  who  always  plays  devil’s  advocate  &  causes  trouble  .  that  being  said  ,  when  things  get  dirty  &  things  need  solving  ,  that’s  her  main  job  (  she  ?  thinks  )

in  relation  to  the  opals    :    opals  ,  shmopals  .  a  characteristic  flaw  is  her  disregard  to  authority  figures  (  always  seen  arguing  with  professors  ,  will  fight  the  p*lice  when  called  to  a  party  ,  has  tackled  various  figures  around  campus  )  ,  including  the  opals  .  respect  should  be  earned  &  besides  being  her  seniors  ,  she’s  seen  no  other  reason  to  respect  them  .  so  ,  she’s  outwardly  disrespectful  &  idk  what  to  say  .

#opalsintro #THIS IS OOSOOO FLGNFJEAFH HAHHEH #WEAK SAUCE !

[viinylspins]

◊ ♫ ◊— look what the cat dragged in! that’s ROONEY RUIZ and SHE is an around 25-year-old NEWCOMER to the store, but she’s been in the neighborhood for 6 YEARS. I think they are a LAW STUDENT and I overheard her listening to WIN by NASTY CHERRY, and, I dunno man, it seemed pretty fitting. Like, call me shallow but I look at them and think of CAMILA QUEIROZ and CLICKS OF RED-BOTTOM HEELS, DEBATING FOR SPORT, and GLOWING WITH SELF-SATISFACTION. (ooc info: garnet, she/her, est, 22)

hello, hello, garnet is BACK! with one intro post to go now. believe it or not, this is longer than Zoe’s. I really couldn’t stop writing, so if you just skim and go to the misc and wanted connections sections...I’ll understand. name: rooney constaça ruiz birthday: april 20th (aries-taurus cusp) distinguishing features: beauty mark on her cheek, highlighted hair sexuality: pansexual positive traits: decisive, loyal, straightforward negative traits: intolerant, critical, materialistic jung type: INTJ enneagram: 8w9 temperament: choleric

trigger warning(s): deportation

Rooney was born shouldering high expectations, placed both by her parents and by herself. This can only partially be blamed on her accomplished Manhattan family. Herman and Pippa Ruiz exemplified achieving the “American Dream.” After a childhood of growing up in the Spanish Harlem a few houses down from each other, they officially started dating after finding each other at Columbia University. Pippa dreamed of becoming a doctor, while Herman majored in business to prepare for a career on Wall Street. Fast forward ten years after the conferral of their Ivy League degrees, and the two were happily married and thriving in their respective chosen career fields.

If her parents could make something of themselves, their children could, too. So, Rooney, along with her sister Reed and brother Rory, were instilled with the need to become something groundbreaking in life. Unlike her siblings, though, Rooney knew exactly what she wanted to do from a young age: make a lot of money so that she wouldn’t have to compromise on the lifestyle that she had growing up. By age eleven, her career goals solidified and had taken shape. She knew that she was going to become a lawyer.

Nothing if not ambitious and dedicated, Rooney began reading about prominent court cases and state laws for fun. 

When she told her parents about this, they were thrilled. Reed more or less followed the path paved for her, but Rory was a wayward child. As a result, the parents worried about not only how Rooney would end up, but if they were as good parents as they thought they were ( which slight electric chair ). If you asked Rooney, she would have asked that they spent more time with her instead of having so many nannies in rotation, but otherwise, objectively, they were perfectly adequate at this and only slightly out of their depth.

Her opinion of her parents changed drastically when she was about fifteen. Learning about genetics in biology class piqued her curiosity about why she appeared physically different from her parents and her siblings. She first suspected that she just received all of the recessive genes, but once she presented this to her parents, they told her the truth: Rooney was adopted when she was just an infant. She was the only one adopted out of the three Ruiz children.

The news hit Rooney hard. She was furious and from that day forward, Rooney vowed that she would never forgive them. Although she does remain in contact with her family since moving out, she has firm boundaries with her parents. They don’t push it, for the most part, but I digress.

In the years leading up to her graduation from high school, Rooney became obsessed with finding her birth parents. Her father supposedly disappeared, but public records of her mother were last updated in 2000. This kept Rooney filled with hopeful butterflies, which she was very unlike her. The girl was filled with questions: who was she, exactly? Was she like the mothers she saw on TV? Did she have another family? How many siblings did she have, that she never knew about? Her parents helped out in her search to the best of their ability, but it seemed that they were searching for a woman who didn’t want to be found.

If this were a movie, Rooney would have met her birth mother at her high school graduation. But this isn’t a movie, so Rooney did not.

However, a little before she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University, on track to enter Columbia Law for Corporate Law immediately after, Rooney received a Facebook message from a Brazilian woman living in New Jersey. Despite the impulse to block and report the profile for spam, Rooney couldn’t resist opening the notification. Good thing she did; the woman claimed to be the birth mother.

Over the next year, Rooney sporadically messaged the woman over Facebook. The more they spoke, the more Rooney searched for cracks, but everything matched the information she’d collected prior. Slowly, brick by brick, her walls diminished and she accepted that, maybe, this was the person she was so desperate to find.

Eventually, the woman asked Rooney to meet her for coffee, and Rooney accepted the invitation, albeit with strict guidelines on how this was going to go. They’d meet in public, during the day time, and Rooney had no qualms walking out at any time if she felt that the woman had any sort of malicious intent.

Her “birth mother” was smaller than Rooney expected, and in person, she could see their physical resemblance. Rooney wanted to believe that this woman was her mother, more than she wanted to believe anything in her life.

[TW: Deportation] That is, until the woman needed her help. She tearfully explained that she needed an immigration lawyer, because, without one, she might be deported back to Brazil by the end of the week. Any hope that this woman would be her birth mother, Rooney very deliberately crushed. She didn’t want to potentially meet her birth child, no, she only wanted someone who would be willing to help her.

Once the older woman finished, looking at Rooney hopefully, Rooney had taken out a business card, scribbled the contact information to one immigration lawyer she networked with, and got out of her seat after handing it to her. The woman called out after her, but Rooney didn’t look back. [/END TW]

As someone not only adopted, but who studied law as long as she has, Rooney knew that the system wasn’t going to change. The best thing that she could do was make the best out of her present circumstances, even if the best thing was never reaching out to that woman again.

tl;dr: she’s a hard-ass law student who is very decisive and knows what she wants, and who also learned she was adopted when she was fifteen. and met her birth mom when she was 21, but walked away and she’s definitely not coping with that!

MISCELLANEOUS:

Rooney and her siblings were purposely given gender neutral names in order to increase their job prospects in the future. Constaça is her birth name, which her parents kept as her middle name.

She’s 5′10″ without heels. She loves being so tall.

Her favorite fragrance is Mon Paris Eau de Parfum by Yves Saint Laurent. Of natural fragrances, her favorite scent is vanilla.

Her confidence in herself is unshakeable to its core, so she is able to adapt to her current company without doubting or losing herself. She is sociable to acquaintances, but she only has a few friends who she considers being on par with her standards.

She is VERY competitive. One of the reasons that she wanted to be a corporate lawyer is because she wanted to be more successful than her siblings. Now she has to be even more successful than her parents. We love being motivated by spite.

I didn’t mention it here, but Rooney did a lot of equestrian sports (rich people am I right?) when she was younger. It dwindled around the time she entered high school but she stayed active through being on the swim team at her high school and playing water polo for fun at Columbia. 

Rooney is a family person, and one of her strengths is her loyalty. She knows this about herself but thinks she’s been dealt a very shitty hand. If you can’t tell, growing up as privileged as she has feeds into her high expectations of herself and others.

She isn’t very romantic, never has been, and as of right now, she’s not really looking for a romantic relationship.

WANTED CONNECTIONS!

OTHER LAW STUDENTS! She hasn’t graduated from law school just yet – she’s in her final year. As aforementioned she is very sociable and she’d appreciate having people who understand what it’s like to be under the demands of going to an Ivy League law school.

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS! Rooney hasn’t left New York state, so there’s a lot of potential for her to have long-term connections with people.

COLLEAGUES HER INTERNSHIP! Currently, Rooney is being mentored by Maddie Breckenridge, so she’d know a few people connected to Maddie! She’s also all about networking and, if she does say so herself, she’s a good person to know if you need to be bailed out of something. She can argue herself, and other people, out of any situation.

COLLEAGUES THROUGH SPORTS! Can’t believe I’m writing someone more or less jock adjacent, but Rooney is very active. And she knows herself well enough to know she performs better when she’s trying to outdo someone, so she’d definitely be on the lookout for a workout buddy or two.

BRUNCH SQUAD! This one sees the more light-hearted Rooney. Is it because of the mimosas? Maybe so!

AN EX! Rooney is pansexual, so gender is irrelevant. I imagine that Rooney has had only a few relationships because she’s very committed in both her relationships and she’s kind of married to her schooling. She has one ex position filled by Alexa Cox, but she can have one more. As a treat.

ANYTHING! Like this and I’ll hit you up! Or feel free to come at me with anything and we can make it work!

#( intro: rooney ) #ABSOLUTELY INSANE HOW LONG THIS IS #fr.intro

[lets-talk-appella]

i’m nobody’s but yours

Chapter 25/25 - Beca and Chloe’s Epilogue

Summary: Beca is straight as an arrow. 100%, totally, completely straight. Except for one problem that 100%, totally, completely changes everything: Chloe Beale.

Title borrowed from Calum Scott’s “If Our Love Is Wrong.”

Word Count: 1.5k

Rating: M (for dark themes, homophobia, masturbation, and eventual smut in later chapters)

AO3, FFN, and below the cut.

I decided to post both chapters 24 and 25 today, rather than waiting until Monday to post 25 because it’s so short. Also, a Monday seems like a weird day to end a fic. Idk.

So, this is it! Thank you so, so much for reading and joining Beca and Chloe on this journey. The support I had on this fic was PHENOMENAL. I know it wasn't always a happy fic, but it wasn't always sad, either. I hope Beca and Chloe's experiences and struggles have been relatable and that this fic resonated with you in some way.

Finally, big, massive, enormous THANK YOU to @acabellas, because really, without her this fic wouldn't exist. I mean it. You're the best.

Eighteen Months Later

Beca’s favorite thing in the world is coming home to Chloe.

The apartment they share with Amy is small – much, much too small for the three of them. Amy refuses to either help pay for a two-bedroom apartment or give up the double bed, meaning Beca and Chloe have to share the pull-out couch. They use a clothes rack as a bathroom door. Their neighbors upstairs stomp around and have noisy sex. A lot. The whole place smells kinda musty. The pipes rattle and gurgle noisily at all hours, only one of the windows opens fully, it takes forever to get hot water, the stairs are steep and death-defying, and Beca’s 94% sure there are mice.

She wouldn’t change a single thing.

(Well. Except maybe the mice.)

This is the home she shares with Chloe and Amy, and she loves it.

Beca turns her key in the lock, home slightly later than usual because of her stop at the store. The stress of her day rolls off her shoulders as soon as she swings the door open, the smells and sights of their apartment blanketing her. Amy’s gone for the night, out on a date with Bumper, and Beca’s looking forward to the rare alone time with Chloe.

She steps from the hallway directly into their kitchen, drinking in the sight of Chloe standing at the stove, her back to the door. Her hair, still slightly damp and a shade darker than usual from her typical post-internship shower, cascades down her back in waves. She pokes at something sizzling in a pan on the stove, leaning over the counter edge in thought.

The corners of Beca’s mouth lift; it smells like Chloe might have burnt whatever she’s cooking again, but she doesn’t mind. She knows Chloe is trying her hardest, and that she loves cooking for them, so Beca’s not about to complain.

Closing the door behind herself with a click, Beca drops her bag on the floor and sidles up behind Chloe to wrap her arms around her waist and press a kiss to the side of her neck. Chloe hums with joy and looks up from the slightly charred green beans in the pan, turning her face to meet Beca’s lips in a soft kiss.

They share details of their day – Chloe’s arms freshly adorned with cat scratches and Beca’s ears freshly filled with vocal riffs from the latest rising artist – while Beca sets the table. She fills Chloe’s glass with the wine she bought and pours herself an equal amount. When Chloe asks why she’s late, Beca shrugs and blames it on drama queen recording artists.

The buzzer on the stove goes off, and Chloe whisks the pan of green beans and the accompanying ravioli and sauce over to the tiny table in the center of the room. Beca takes her usual chair, which, given the size of the table, allows her to rest her hand on Chloe’s thigh.

Beca can tell Chloe spent more time on dinner than usual; the ravioli is only slightly undercooked, and the sauce is seasoned well. The green beans are charred in places, but Beca likes to think it gives them a nice smoky flavor. As she raises her forkful of them to her lips, ignoring the slight crunch of her first bite, Chloe smiles at her so happily that it makes Beca’s heart ache, full of affection for the wonderful person in front of her.

As they eat, Beca’s stomach flutters with nerves, but she keeps eating the dinner Chloe had made them; she knows – or at least, she’s pretty sure – everything will be okay. They talk about their weekend plans, movies they might want to see, and new restaurants they want to try. Chloe talks about a new kitten brought into her clinic today. As she does, though her eyes gleam with happiness, Beca notices that she pushes around the food on her plate more than she eats it, and the thigh that Beca isn’t touching keeps bouncing up and down.

When they’ve both eaten their fill, they rise from the table in tandem, taking their dishes to the sink and putting away the leftovers. Chloe debates just throwing out the burnt green beans, a crease between her eyebrows, but Beca assures her that they were delicious and passes her a container to put the remaining ones in. It’s a white lie, but it’s worth it when the lines between Chloe’s brows turn into a soft smile around her lips.

It’s not until Chloe shoots Beca a wink and pulls out a double-chocolate cake from its hiding spot in a cupboard that Beca even realizes there’s dessert. Beca smiles so widely that she knows Amy would make fun of her for it if she were home, but Beca doesn’t care. It’s her favorite cake and Chloe knows it. Chloe bites her lip anxiously as Beca takes a bite of the first slice. The cake is a tad dry and there isn’t quite enough frosting; Beca loves every bite because Chloe made it for her, and she tells her so.

Beaming, Chloe digs into her own slice of cake. Beca watches carefully as she continues eating, waiting for the right time. Her own hands have started to shake, so she grips her fork more tightly and hopes that Chloe doesn’t notice.

Finally, when the last bite of cake has been cleared from Chloe’s plate, Beca shifts in her chair. She reaches into the front pocket of her jeans, fingers trembling, feeling the cool metal band she’d picked up from the jewelry store before coming home.

As she extracts it from her pocket, the stone catches on the fabric of her jeans; she fumbles, and it slips from her fingers, bouncing off the tiled floor of the kitchen with a tiny ping. Face burning, she dives under the table, bumping its edge as she drops, causing their dishes to rattle. She scans the floor frantically until she sees it, the glimmer of the small diamond set into a titanium band catching the evening light.

Beca picks up the ring, cursing herself inwardly, and pops up from the floor to settle back into her chair, an apology on her lips.

Chloe stares at her, eyes wide with surprise and lips parted, hand outstretched. Beca glances down automatically, where, held between Chloe’s fingers is an almost identical titanium band with a diamond set into it.

Beca stares at the engagement ring in stunned disbelief, then looks back to Chloe’s face. Chloe’s eyes are focused on the ring Beca holds in her own hand.

A shaky laugh escapes Beca’s lips, regaining Chloe’s attention. The huge smile that breaks over Chloe’s face – in addition to her watering eyes – pull Beca closer to her like a magnet.

“Did we…” she breathes.

Chloe nods. “We did.”

Beca grins back unabashedly, love and happiness inflating her chest like a balloon. “Chloe? Will you marry me, please?” she whispers, hearing the slight tremor in her voice.

“Yes,” Chloe replies instantly. “Will you marry me?” she asks, nudging the ring she holds forward.

“Yeah,” Beca huffs, her throat tight. “Might as well make it official.”

“Aca-awesome.”

Her fingers still trembling – though now from excitement – Beca reaches forward and lifts Chloe’s left hand, sliding the ring onto Chloe’s finger. Chloe does the same for her a moment later, her touch combined with the metal band sending tingles down Beca’s arm and into her spine.

Beca takes a moment to admire their matching rings, their hands side-by-side. They look good. The ring, though new on her hand, feels familiar, as though it’s always belonged there.

Beca looks up into her favorite pair of blue eyes and says, “There. I’m nobody’s but yours.”

#bechloe #bechloe fic #my writing #beca mitchell #chloe beale #pitch perfect fanfic #i'm nobody's but yours #chapter twenty-five #THE FINAL CHAPTER WOOOO #weird that it's done #hope you enjoy #INBY epilogue

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I sent Tumblr user rainhadaenerys why she might like the show Dark Angel, and I thought I might as well also post it here since I never shut up about it (for anyone curious)

So, I think there's a chance you might like the show "Dark Angel" (at least the first season. The second season had some good ideas but bad execution. But while most people prefer the first season, the second season fans are more vocal online. Probably because Jensen Ackles is in it). 

The first season came out in 2000 and takes place in 2019-2020 (the second season is 2020-2021 and came out a year later, after 9/1 in real life, which is why season two toned down some of S1's themes). The show is about this created/genetically engineered girl, Max, who was designed to be the perfect soldier and who--alongside those like her in her unit, who she sees as “siblings”--was tortured by her military creators (such as her main traitor and surrogate awful father, Lydecker), until she and eleven others of them escaped when she was nine. From there on out, she's on the run, staying under the radar so she doesn't have to go back to where she was created and had been kept (Manticore). 

In the year 2009 (the year Max escaped, when she was nine) terrorists set off this electromagnetic pulse, that basically wiped out all of America's technology and turned it into a third world country over night (so this is part of how Max is able to keep her head down in this world). But because of all of this, there was anarchy and bad people overtook the good ones and stole their positions, returning things to the law of the jungle (there's a lot in this show about corrupt political figures, police brutality), etc. 

At first journalists tried to report on all of this, but then they were silenced. But one--Logan Cale--went underground as "Eyes Only", an anonymous cyber journalist who hacks into people's broadcasts and tells them the truths being kept from them, and is seen as a terrorist by those he'd try to expose. 

At the start of the show (2019), Max works in Seattle as a bike messenger (also in the city where Logan is), which is the worst job you can get and the only one the underprivileged can (many of these being people of color) and steals things from the rich to give to a private investigator trying to help her find her siblings. 

Eventually she tries to steal something from Logan (not knowing he's Eyes Only, but she finds this out here). And there's an immediate attraction, because they get into this conversation while Logan's holding her at gun point--trying to keep her there until the guards come--because they realize they have something in common (like admiration for the goddess Bast, which is the statue Max was trying to steal), and Logan is actually happy Max is just a thief because he thought she was an assassin. 

This one drug company is acting like they're selling the drug to people--that will save their lives--but is really just selling them candy, and selling the real thing for a higher price overseas. And a woman who knows this is going to testify about it, and Logan is keeping her and her daughter at his apartment until they can get to a safehouse. 

Max eventually bolts, and Logan sees her use her powers in doing so. He tracks her down, partly to see if she's going to be a danger to him, but also because the audience can begin to see that he wants to enlist her help. The two of them debate about morality, about how Logan wants to make a change and give people choices again. But Max is skeptical that he wants to get it back to the "good old days", where people still died of diseases they didn't need to and spent obscenes amounts of money redecorating their homes to match their cat. She leaves again when he questions how she jumped out of, like, an eleven story window unscathed. 

They meet up one more time, and Logan kind of seduces/tricks Max into letting her see the barcode on her neck (that all those from Manticore have, as its encrypted into their DNA. He’d gotten an anonymous tip about Manticore years ago and put two-and-two together that Max was one one of the escapees), and Max is hurt by this (as she had really liked him and feels hella betrayed here. I think Logan for sure liked her, but he's just way too focused on his mission above all else at first, and that's one of the flaws he has to work on). 

He bargains with Max that if she helps him get the woman and her daughter into witness protection, he'll help her find her siblings. Max understandably disagrees, since so far she's gotten by by keeping to herself and wants to keep it that way. 

Logan tries to do the mission by himself but it fails. He's shot and ends up in a coma for a time, and is paraplegic in the end. And the little girl is kidnapped, but the mom makes it back to Logan's apartment. Max sees all of this broadcast on TV and feels guilty, and actually goes to see the unconscious Logan at the hospital (and tells him how she's not sorry and sees it all as his fault, even though she doesn't), and saves him from another assassination attempt. She runs into the little girl’s mother (the little girl’s named Sophie) and promises to save Sophie, and does so rather impressively. 

She even gets Manticore, that had been on her tail the whole episode, to fight for her--by getting the address for the girl's location on a line that she knew was tapped and that Manticore was listening in on. And there's a chilling moment at the end where Max, wearing a mask, walks by Lydecker while carrying Sophie and he realizes at the last moment that it was her. Edit: They also bring all those who were duping people--and selling them candy, so that they ended up dying because of it:(--to justice.

A few months later, Max visits Logan at his apartment and he's back in the fight for the less fortunate. Max ends up asking if he thinks he can really make a difference, to which he says he thinks he can with her help, and Max agrees to his deal and this is where the show really starts. 

And it's just... so good. I like the political commentary, that I could see you really getting into (and I'm sad they tone it down in S2, after 9/11), but my favorite bits is the stuff with Max, Lydecker, her siblings, and all things Manticore that I barely even touched on here. 

Most of the transgenics (those created humans) are PoC, too (including Max) to show how they're oppressed. 

And Max is just SUCH a good character (who's even a chosen one in S2), with such great development, who has to be one of the best characters of all-time (especially for female heroes). 

And in S1, there's so much showing of how men can be awful, and Max is like the hero to women from them (beating up many of them and even killing a few. It reminds me a bit of Daenerys. And is why I say claims against Dany--saying that when she did things like Max, it was hints of her madness--is bullshit. They'd probably do the same to Max if her show had come out today, but it didn't and instead she got to be the awesome hero she deserved to be). 

She also eventually stops stealing altogether--even though I was okay with her not being a goody-goody hero--unless it's from the bad and for the poor. 

She also becomes a leader... 

There's also so much fun swapped gender role stuff with her and Logan (with her being the superhero and him the sidekick, her being the brawns and him the brains--though Max has equal brains, too, if not even more than Logan--and her doing comic book type things, like super speeding away and Logan getting irritated by it: usually it’s a guy hero who does this, and a normal girl annoyed with it... and Logan can even cook exceptionally, and is always cooking for Max, and she can’t even boil water, etc.). 

And speaking of which, Max and Logan are my favorite ship of all time. They're so interesting... and fun (but there's loads of angst there, too), and are SO good for each other. Logan helps Max become more selfless (which really, she always was and wanted to be) and she helps him to chill. And they're both liberal lefties. 

The first season of this show is my favorite show of all-time.

Edit: The character, Original Cindy, is also one of the first lesbians on TV (maybe even the first, and before Willow in Buffy). And the show tried to have a positive story/episode with a trans character (with, once again, this stuff was huge for the time... There were some definite misses there, but they at least tried). And disabled representation on this show! And the disabled person eventually winning the heart of the superhero girl!

#dark angel #James cameron's dark angel #dark angel season one #season one #dark angel pilot #pilot #there's also a gay character in an episode of s2 and a bi one. but I think she's sadly offscreen #and sadly the gay character only exists in a dream episode of s2 but shh

[thevoilinauttheory]

30 Day Character Challenge, Days 4 through 19.

This is a long post, and so the entire thing will go under the cuts!

Day Four— Family: Does your OC have a family? If not, who do they consider to be family to them, even if they’re not really family? (26/27) Valere Voilinaut has a lot of family - starting with his brother, Maximiloix. Making him the grand-uncle of Lothaire and Honorie. He also has seven other siblings besides him. He is the third oldest child. Besides his siblings, he also has a wife, Yue. Whom he loves with all of his being, next to his son and his daughter. As for family that aren’t blood related, he has gotten along well with Solaire and his husband, as well as Sabeloux and his wife. 

Day Five— Friends: Does your OC have any friends? Do they belong to a friend group? What do they do with their friends? (18/27) Solaire does not have many friends - for good reason too. He’s not the most friendly person in the world, quick to judge and even quicker to assume things. Being Caromont’s ex-fiance makes it hard for him to see him as a friend when he feels cheated on, but is slowly moving past those feelings with the help of his husband (whom is his best friend). He is, however, fairly good friends with Raymond and his husband, as well as Valere and his wife. Though other than that, he has a hard time making long lasting friends without ruining the friendship himself. He doesn’t do much - as he makes a living as an adventurer, painter, and carpenter - he doesn’t have much time to put aside for any of the friends he does have, aside his husband, whom he does everything with. If he does go out with friends, it is usually joining together for a dinner.

Day Six— Guilty Pleasure: What does your OC like to do that they never tell anyone that they do? Does anyone ever find out? (7/27) Orpheux would probably find a way to kill himself if anyone found that he not only enjoys embroidery, but flower arrangements and tea-making as well. Not because his ‘masculinity’ would be at stake, but rather his visage of destruction among most people. He isn’t known for calm behaviors, and finds enjoyment in causing as much damage as humanly possible - from war crimes to property damage, to purposely attempting to break treaties. These rather domestic activities would definitely ruin his image. He would never tell a soul - and no one has caught him yet, not even his brother.

Day Seven— Casual Outfit: Give examples of what your OC wears on a normal day, with nothing special planned. (2/27) Berenger usually wears nice clothing even when the situation doesn’t call for it - the best dressed at any occasion. Though on a casual, common, and usual day, he may be found in a restaurant uniform with an apron - even though he owns his own storefront, he prefers to cook the food himself. Outside of work, he is usually found in a nice vest and slacks.

Day Eight— Formal Outfit: Give an example of something formal your OC has worn/would wear. How often do they wear this outfit? Do they have any others? (25/27) Maximiloix wears his casual outfit at the same time as his formal outfit - which is to say, he doesn’t change at all. Well, he does, just to wash his clothes, but he wears the same thing regardless. A long white robe, tight pants, and heels. His sense of style is very… *very* flamboyant, and even if he were to wear something else, it would be less modest and more colorful than his robes.

Day Nine— Spirituality: Does your OC have a religion? What do they believe happens to people when they die? What superstitions do they have? (17/27) Genevier isn’t a religious woman, though her patron deity is Halone, growing up in a religious city. However, despite that, she is a very, VERY, superstitious person - black cats? Avoids them at all costs. The numbers 4, 9, 13, 17 - she avoids them at all costs? Down to 4 arrows? She breaks one so her luck and aim aren’t affected in her hunting. You will never see her pass a match to another after using it; she will avoid priests that walk openly on the streets; nor will she ever accept a clock as a gift. She’s careful around mirrors, keeps umbrellas outside, and never uses a ladder. Her salt shakers have weights at the bottom so they don’t fall over.

Day Ten— Broken Temper: Your OC with their anger out of control. How did this happen? Does this happen a lot? (11/27) Quinn doesn’t get angry easily, not in the slightest. He’s very calm and collected with himself, though when he does get angry, it’s like the hells themselves erupted. He doesn’t have the physical strength to beat anyone down, but he does trash rooms and break apart his inventions just to keep himself from hurting anyone. However, the chances of him getting that angry are far slimmer than winning the lottery. Though, the quickest way to piss him off is to yell or shout around him - he’s very skittish about loud noises.

Day Eleven— Get the Sad Out: Your OC is in despair. What would cause them to be like this? How do they express their sadness? Do they cry? Does this happen a lot? (20/27) M’nhea being in despair is like a fire but cold. He never seems to have it in his heart. Or at least, at face value. For someone of very little brain, he is very good at hiding his emotions - the loss of his friends and family, and his homeland, hit very deep with him. He will never show his sadness in front of anyone save for a couple of people, most of it is spent in an inn room sobbing. He screams and cries and begs to gods for everything to be given back, knowing full well that’s not how it works. After a good solid half a bell of crying, he will either clean himself up and return to what he does best, or promptly pass out until the next morning.

Day Twelve— Argument: Your OC gets into an argument with somebody. Is it somebody they know well? Does this happen a lot? Do they get angry or do they remain calm? (25/27) People tend to avoid arguments with Maximiloix - not because he’s vicious or on top of people screaming, but because he’s very calm and collected. His ‘arguments’ are… arguably more like debates. He shows hard facts and rarely lets his emotions on the subject get the better of him. However. Any attempts at an argument with his own husband immediately gets shut down. Why? Caromont is always right, and he will never be told otherwise - whatever they’re arguing about isn’t worth their relationship. (It’s usually small things though, mostly about Max’s health. ‘You need to eat’, ‘go to bed’, ‘brush your hair’, ‘drink water’ - while Max usually wants to argue, he knows he shouldn’t.)

Day Thirteen— Fist Fight: Your OC is challenged to a fist fight! Who would do this? How would your OC react? If accepted the challenge, who would win? If they declined, how would they get away? (12/27) The fact that the randomizer chose Danny for this question is pure coincidence, I swear. Danny gets into *a lot* of fist fights. He’s the epitome of the “pick your battles, wait that’s too many put some back” post around here. If he was challenged to a fight, it would be from Wood Wailers and it wouldn’t be much of a challenge, he’s mostly attacked on sight - hands are his weapon of choice despite using magic. Another that would ‘challenge’ him would be his now worst enemy and rival, @shangomango​ ‘s Tobias Finch. Except. I highly doubt it would be with their fists, though that would be an interesting fight if they both cast aside magic. (To answer the last question, Danny would never decline nor run from a challenge to fight - which may end up being his downfall.)

Day Fourteen— Injured: Your OC got injured somehow. How did they get injured? How do they handle it? Does anyone help them recover? (5/27) An interesting prospect, considering that Eulan is a pocketwatch. He probably got injured by being stepped on for the thousandth time. And unfortunately, he’s usually stuck like that until his usual caretaker, Theolaud, can backtrack and find him. Theolaud has become skilled in repairing watches because of this.

Day Fifteen— Anticipation: What makes your OC impatient? What can’t they wait for? Why? (23/27) Camilla can’t wait for her training to be over, she can’t wait to get out into the world and help it herself instead of watching her parents do the work she wants to. She is very impatient, not only in terms of waiting for her life to begin but with other things as well. She definitely can’t wait until dinner is ready either, she is a very hungry child.

-- Day Sixteen— FREE SPACE: Congrats! You’ve made it more than half-way! Draw/write about your OC doing anything. For my free space, I’m going to just… I guess list how all of my characters are related, since some of them have pre-established relationships. Knowing one might accidentally introduce you to another. Amosis: Only one relation - Eulan Arcambault, though it’s unknown how they’re related or what they have to do with each other. Though it wouldn’t be unlikely that he knows of Maximiloix or Lothaire with their studies into Allagan history. Berenger Allard: Younger brother of Caromont, older brother of Raymond. Is familiar with Solaire, but does not know him well. Caromont Allard: Older brother to both Berenger and Raymond; married to Maximiloix. Step-grandfather to Lothaire and Honorie; brother in law to Valere, and good friends with Jadeinne and Mayve. Darian, Zacharie, Alvisaix, Gwenael, and Quinn were all his students currently or at one point. Familiar with Theolaud, does not know him well; same with Eulan. Solaire is his ex-fiance, they’re still working on their friendship. Raymond Allard: Younger brother of both Berenger and Caromont. Good friends and co-study with Theolaud, pupil of Eulan. Good friends with Solaire, Valere, and Quinn. Eulan Arcambault: Professor over Raymond and Theolaud’s training. Familiar with Caromont’s work, but doesn’t know him personally. Has some form of relationship with Amosis, but it’s unsure what it is exactly. Sabeloux Boucher: Younger (more mature) brother of Orpheux; Lothaire’s ex-fiance. Really, really does not like Camilla. Somehow friends with Valere, despite being terrified of his brother, Maximiloix. Familiar with Jadeinne, only as a business partner. Orpheux Boucher: No relation to anyone besides Sabeloux, being his older brother. Gwenael Corbeau: Jadeinne and Mayve’s cousin, Danny’s second cousin; student of Maximiloix and Caromont. Childhood friend of Quinn, Honorie, and Lothaire, one of Lothaire’s exes but still remained good friends. Jadeinne Corbeau: Mayve and Gwenael’s cousin, Danny’s birth mother. Good friends with Maximiloix and Caromont; business partners with Sabeloux.  Honorie Fauvier: Maximiloix and Caromont’s granddaughter and cousin to Lothaire. Camilla is her second cousin, whom she absolutely adores. Student of her grandfathers for a short time. Childhood friends of Quinn and Gwenael. Quinn Grangier: Student of Maximiloix and Caromont’s; childhood friend of Lothaire, Honorie, and Gwenael. Good friends with Raymond, Solaire, and Valere.  Danny Harold: Son of Jadeinne, godson of Maximiloix. Student under Maximiloix; second cousins to both Mayve and Gwenael. Doesn’t know of his birth family. Good friends with Lothaire. Umeko Malaguld: No relation to anyone besides Olsso, her fighting partner and close friend. Mayve McRae: Cousin to Jadeinne and Gwenael, second cousin to Danny. Likes scaring Maximiloix. Good friends with Caromont. Has met Lothaire, but doesn’t know much about him. Olsso Oronir: No relation to anyone else besides Umeko, his fighting partner and close friend. Zacharie Proulx: Childhood friend of Darian, grew up with her much like a brother. Student of Maximiloix and Caromont. Decent friends with Alvisaix and Camilla, though they are a little young to be too close to him. Knows of Lothaire, hasn’t met him. Genevier Rafale: No relation to anyone else. Solaire Rose: Ex-fiance of Caromont; good friends with Raymond, Quinn, and Valere. Knows of Berenger, but attempts to avoid him. Loathes Maximiloix. Darian Rosseau: Childhood friends with Zacharie, grew up with him much like a sister. Good friends of Camilla and Alvisaix. Student of Caromont and Maximiloix. Has met Lothaire all of once. M’nhea Tia: No relation to any one else - though in my own head-world and plot that’ll never be , he’d likely be familiar with Raramlah and Maximiloix.  Alvisaix Vairemont: Student of Maximiloix and Caromont. Best friends with Camilla, good friends with Darian and Zacharie. Has met Lothaire on several occasions, but prefers Maximiloix’s teaching style. Theolaud Vauquelin: Good friend and co-study of Raymond, pupil of Eulan. Doesn’t really like Solaire much, mostly because he reminds him of himself. Unfamiliar with anyone else. Camilla Voilinaut: Best friends with Alvisaix, good friends with Darian and Zacharie; Lothaire’s adopted daughter, and Maximiloix and Caromont’s granddaughter. Student of both of her grandfathers. Honorie is the best aunt/second cousin. Lothaire Voilinaut: Grandson of Maximiloix and Caromont, cousin of Honorie, father to Camilla. Good friends with Danny, Gwenael, Solaire, Raymond, and Quinn. Slightly scared of Valere. Ex-fiance of Sabeloux. Doesn’t like him at all.  Maximiloix Voilinaut: Grandfather to Lothaire and Honorie, great grandfather to Camilla, older brother to Valere, married to Caromont. Teacher of: Quinn, Gwenael, Danny, Alvisaix, Darian, and Zachaire - not including his own children. Good ‘friends’ with Raymond and Jadeinne. Tentative about Solaire and Berenger. Loathes Sabeloux. Terrified of Mayve.  Valere Voilinaut: Younger brother to Maximiloix. Friends with Caromont, Quinn, Solaire, and Raymond. Does not like Theolaud much. Raramlah Ramlah: No relation to anyone else. --

Day Seventeen— Pet Peeves: Your OC’s biggest pet peeve. Are they vocal about it? Or do they keep their annoyance to themselves? (7/27) Orpheux will let people know if they are annoying him as they are annoying him - if he feels he can’t do anything to utterly ruin their lives, he will tell them how annoying they are, then walk away. If he can get away with murder, he will. Unfortunately, he is a very simple man when it comes to it.

Day Eighteen— Caught in the Rain: Your OC gets caught out walking in the rain without an umbrella. How would they react in this situation? Would anyone want to offer your OC an umbrella? Would they accept? (26/27) Valere doesn’t…. care. He likes the rain quite a bit, though prefers snow more. He’d politely decline an umbrella if offered to him, assuming he didn’t scare potential people off with the dead expression and weird tattoos on his face. If he got caught in the rain, he’d just keep on walking, without regard for what he is wearing or holding.

Day Nineteen— Relaxation: What does your OC do to relax after a long day? Do they get to do this often? (27/27) Raramlah relaxes by going bar hopping. Drinking is their strong suit, alongside fighting. Drinking is a very common thing for them, and if they aren’t found in the colosseum in one of their matches, they are drinking at the Quicksand. Sometimes they’ll make their way out to Western Thanalan just to watch people come and go from Vesper Bay.

#30 day challenge #about: Valere Voilinaut #about: Solaire Rose #about: Orpheux Boucher #about: Berenger Allard #about: Maximiloix Voilinaut #about: Genevier Rafale #about: Quinn Grangier #about: M'nhea Tia #about: Danny Harold #about: Eulan Arcambault #about: Raramlah Ramlah #long post

[dejnar]

Secret Santa Marinette Style™

I am so sorry @buttercupandwestley that I failed to upload this even near the holidays. It’s too late and it does not match the mood anymore but I hope you still like it! Oh my god I hope so bad that you like it.  Like I said earlier it escalated. It got completely out of control. You will see what I mean.

If you don’t like to read long texts on Tumblr I uploaded this on fanfiction.net too.

Christmas is over but... Happy New Year! 🎉 I wish you good luck and that everything you wish for comes true ❤️ You are a cutie and it was a joy to regularly visit your blog 😊

That’s my contribution to the @miraculousladybug-ss  , thank you guys for setting this up!

Last day of October

“Do you remember how I told you about my mom being that happy about my sibling’s grades that she got way too high-spirited and granted them a wish and that, and I quote, ‘they could wish for whatever they want no matter what it is’?” “Yeah, I remember. Part of the reason your mom was that overwhelmed was the fact that your grades were pretty bad because of all the time you spent on the Ladyblog, wasn’t it?” Marinette grinned whimsically at her counterpart. “That’s not the point Marinette!” Alya pouted and folded her arms. Yet she couldn’t keep her acting up too long since she longed to break the news. “Anyway, listen to me instead of teasing me!” She lightly hit Marinette’s shoulder as she giggled. “Excuse me, I didn’t mean to offend you. What did you want to tell me?” Feeling quite noble Alya continued. “Well, since this fateful day my parents and I lived in a constant fear of what could possibly come up to us. What can I say, they finally decided what they wish for.” That was kind of a turn of events for Marinette because she witnessed the two girls had debates going on for hours about it. “Wow, I thought those little monsters would never come to an understanding. So what do they want?” Curiously she looked at Alya who kept silent clearly punishing her for her previous chaffing. “Come on, tell me already! What is it? The table tennis table? Or, my personal favorite, the trampoline?” Marinette begged to know and willing to finally proclaim Alya gave her a resigned look. “Neither. Somehow they came up with another, completely new and different idea.” She sighed. “They want a cat.” Adrien’s head literally popped out of nowhere. “So it’s true!” Surprised Marinette blinked at her crush who suddenly stood beside her. “Your family is bringing an unbelievably cute kitten to your house at that very moment!” Shorttaken Alya looked at him in confusion. “Not exactly. My siblings are too young and my parents and I too busy to care for a little kitten with a lot of needs. They’re adopting a cat that’s already grown a little.” “Still adorable” Adrien’s eyes began to glisten with joy. After getting over his cuteness, which took her nearly twenty seconds, Marinette pointed at him. “How does he know?” Alya shrugged. “Nino I guess.” In indignant disbelief Marinette looked at her. “Wait, you told Nino before you told me?” Alya rolled her eyes at her best friend when she answered. “Sure, duh. You were gone throughout all of lunch, remember?” Beginning to blush Marinette sheepishly lowered her head and remembered the akuma attack she fought down with Chat Noir earlier “Uhm… You’re right. Sorry?” With a smirk Alya waved it off. “Don’t sweat it girl. Hey, you guys wanna hang out next week to get to know our newest family member? I think she needs some time to acclimatize before she meets so many people but it should be fine in a few days if you’re cautious.” Loving the idea Marinette began to smile brightly. “You betcha! Adrien, do you wa-” as she turned to face him she had to laugh at the view she gained. Obviously overjoyed Adrien was nodding aggressively, face slightly red. “Who could say no to a kitten?” Nino asked as he joined the scene and patted his best friend’s back. “Calm down man or you may pass out because of anticipation.” “Kitty!” was all Adrien managed to blurt out through his compressed lips causing his friends to bubble over with laughter. The bell rang and they headed to class, the other three still amused while Adrien blushed embarrassed. After school Nino and Alya had to leave right away for whatever reason they didn’t want to reveal so Marinette ended up waiting for his drive home next to Adrien. Frozen she rapidly thought about any topic to talk about to distract herself from just staring at him. But Adrien forestalled her smiling dreamingly at a point in the distance that wasn’t really there. “I bet Alya rushed home to see her cat.” “You’re really that excited over a random cat of a classmate?” Marinette asked him astonished and he looked down timidly. “Yeah… Well, as you know I was homeschooled and never had many friends besides Chloé. I wanted a pet since forever and cats have always been my favorite. But obviously my father didn’t approve. It’s kind of a childhood dream coming true even if it’s for someone else. You know what I mean?” He laughed nervously but Marinette’s genuine smile banished all of his bashfulness. “Yes, I think I understand. I have to say that I really admire it that you’re happy for Ella and Etta instead of getting jealous and being cruel.” He couldn’t help but blush over such an unexpected compliment especially because it was about his character for once. “Thanks, Marinette. You know” he beamed at her “I’m super glad we’re friends.” Now it was Marinette who blushed. Before she could respond a shining car drove around the corner and Adrien waved his goodbye at her. “See you tomorrow!” She looked down the road still after the car was long gone.

First week of November

“Ok guys, I need to talk to you after school. All of you.” Surprised at Marinette’s serious greeting instead of her usual warm hugs her friends looked at her. “Something’s up girl?” Alya asked worried but Marinette shook her head. “After school!” she repeated and headed to class without any other word. “Damn, did we do something?” Nino looked at Marinette’s back in concern. “She was alright just yesterday” Adrien replied thoughtful. “What did you say to her when we were gone?” punching his arm Alya threw an angry glare at him. “Ouch! Nothing! …I guess.” His assailant just bristled with anger in response and followed Marinette to class. “Dude I hope you didn’t screw up too bad” Nino said while putting one hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t even do anything!” Adrien cried in despair but Nino just gave him a pitying look. “Maybe that’s the problem.” And with that Adrien stood in the halls alone, no idea what he possibly could have done to cause such a situation.

Turned out they were just messing with him. After the bell rang to free the students into a beautiful autumn afternoon Adrien stepped out of the school building and spotted Marinette who looked perfectly happy. Relieved he headed towards her and the other two who also seemed pretty glad it wasn’t a severe situation. Buzzing with anticipation Marinette jigged in front of her three closest friends. “It is November guys!” she finally squealed with glee and a thrilled beam on her lips. “It certainly is” Alya agreed smiling fondly. Every time Marinette got so excited over something Alya loved her even more than usually. Her overwhelming joy also infected the two boys standing next to them although they had no idea what caused Marinette to reach that level of enthusiasm. “Man you must have some great plans to get that hooked about a month like any other” Nino whistled impressed. “It’s not a month like any other!” Marinette disagreed indignantly as if he just insulted her. “It’s the month before December!” she stated stamping her foot. “Riiiight…” he tilted his head and mystifyingly narrowed his eyes. Adrien laughed. “Could you please bring back the overjoyed Mari? I have to say I liked her way more than huffy Mari to be honest.” Carefully he reached out his hand to open the fist Marinette clenched without noticing it. “Sure” was everything she was able to mumble into her scarf glad that she could hide her blush behind it too. Nino and Alya exchanged a knowing look. “Back to business!” she continued in a cheerful tone again since she managed to regain her voice shortly after Adrien let go of her hand. “What I wanted to say is that it’s Secret Santa time!” Adrien’s eyes promptly began to glisten, causing Marinette’s heart to jump. He also liked one of her favorite things in the world! Nino’s face brightened up immediately too and Alya clapped her hands in delight. “That’s a great idea Marinette! But… I’ve never done such a thing. How exactly does it work?” ashamed Adrien looked down to the ground where he drew circles with the tip of his toes. “Well, normal groups of people draw a partner by lot in December and buy them a present for Christmas.” Alya explained to Adrien showing him that he had no reason to be embarrassed. “But I guess Secret Santa in Marinette Style™ is quiet different?” she added questioningly looking at her best friend. “You’re absolutely right!” she grinned back. “We all get our so called giftee assigned at the beginning of November - means today, right here and now - so that we have enough time since Secret Santa Marinette Style™ is a little more complex and has some strict rules!” “I am kind of afraid” Nino confessed playfully frightened but Marinette just laughed it off. “Don’t be! Actually it’s pretty simple. You’re supposed to make four gifts instead of just one, secretly delivering them one by one every week of December. The fourth one is ought to be opened on Christmas Eve, obviously. And most importantly, every gift has to be self-made!” Adrien’s eyes widened “How am I supposed to do that?” Marinette’s smile grew even bigger though nobody would have guessed that something like this would be possible. “We have some cute Christmas angels who are willing to assist us!” She waved at someone behind Adrien’s back and as he turned around he saw Rose waving back while Juleka took her hand and dragged her towards the group. “Hey guys!” Rose chirped happily not letting go of Juleka’s hand even though they already reached their destiny. “We’ll help you deliver your presents!” “Yeah. Just hand us the gifts every week and we’ll make sure they’ll end up with the right human” Juleka explained with a smile on her face. While Nino and Alya were performing some sort of cute jig together, Adrien looked at the two girls in front of him in concern. “And you’re ok with that? I mean, like, helping us but not participating yourself?” “Sure! I had to experience a lot of Secret Santa rounds already. I’m kinda glad I don’t have to do it again this year” Juleka sighed and he would have sworn he saw her shiver a little at the words ‘Secret Santa’. “That’s true!” Rose nodded in agreement still smiling brighter than the sun. “Juleka is everything I need anyway.” The world suddenly seemed to freeze. Alya and Nino immediately stopped in their tracks, Adrien and Marinette stood thunderstruck and everyone’s glances flew between Rose and Juleka and their still touching hands. “Oops. Dropped it” Rose laughed nervously while Juleka hid her face behind her black gloved hands. Before the silence could grow uncomfortable Alya pointed her finger at Marinette with a triumphal smile on her face and declared “Told ya!” Marinette giggled with joy. “This day is getting better and better!” Raising her hands to Juleka’s shoulders Rose sheepishly smiled at her classmates “I guess we’ll leave now or Juleka will melt on the spot. Please keep it to yourselves!” “Of course we’ll still be your errand girls though” Juleka mumbled as Rose pushed her towards the school building. “Nice!” Nino simply stated watching them leave and then turned back to Marinette as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. “Is that everything we need to know?” Before she answered to her friend she made sure through eye contact that Alya felt the same urge to freak out about what they just witnessed later. “Nope, you don’t even know the best part yet!” She went silent for a moment to raise the tension. Looking into her friend’s eyes told her that it worked. “In the end you have to guess who your Secret Santa is and deluge them with all the love you have!” she bounced like an excited toddler causing her pigtails to bounce. Alya chuckled as she put an arm around her shoulders. “Typical Marinette. Being the love spreading cutie she has always been.” “Sh! The drawing begins at this very moment!” Marinette hurried to say to hide her flattered embarrassment. The attempt failed. “As you wish” Alya tousled her hair before letting go with an affectionate smile on her face. Marinette smiled back with still a slight blush on her cheeks. “Nino, gimme your hat!” Marinette reached out towards him. “Of course Your Highness.” Nino handed her his red cap while making a bow, she curtsied with a giggle and took it. Reflexively she inspected it from every possible angle. “By the way, you should definitely exchange this with a beanie to avoid catching a cold” Marinette warned Nino but he just shrugged. “Nah. I have my headphones keeping my ears warm, I’m fine. Thanks for worrying though.” “I hope that’s true” suspiciously she glanced at him but decided to leave it there. Rather than starting a discussion about her friend’s valuable health she threw the four sheets with their names on them she prepared earlier into his hat. “Ladies first” Marinette said as she held it up to Nino. “Very funny” he rolled his eyes while reaching out his hand but at his comment Marinette pulled the hat back down. “Tz, if you don’t want to go first I won’t make you do it!” Instead she handed it to Alya who grinned and grabbed the first slip of paper. “Whoops, gained myself” she said apologetically and put the paper back into the hat. “Try again!” Marinette encouraged her nearly smacking the hat into her face. Amused Alya took a step back, chose a new one and rolled her eyes at it the moment she read it. “Seriously? Again?” The other three laughed as Alya tried again. A sigh of relieve escaped her lips as she gladly smiled at the name. “Got one!” victoriously she waved with her piece of paper. “Great! In that case I’m giving Nino the opportunity to draw next!” Turning back to him again she smirked at an impatient Nino. “You’re too kind!” Sincerely delighted he took his turn and scanned the name then nodded perfectly satisfied “Nice.” Slowly Marinette turned to the remaining participant trying very hard not to blush too intensely. “Ok. Adrien it‘s finally your…” Before she could finish her sentence Adrien gently pushed the hat towards her. “You go first, Mari. It was your idea and you put so much effort into it, you should at least have a choice.” His kind smile made her legs shaky and useless. She shyly smiled back at him as she chose one of the last two names. Nino. Wondering if she should be relieved or disappointed over the fact that it wasn’t showing Adrien’s name was quickly replaced by tons of present ideas for the upcoming musician. “Okay then! It’s my turn!” Curious Adrien grabbed at the last name. For a brief moment Marinette was afraid that he still could have ended up with his own name and they all had to try again but as he unfolded the small white paper he began to smile widely. “Sweet! This is going to be so great.” Sheepishly Nino coughed and looked at them with an apologetic expression. “Sorry guys but I have to leave now since I have to discuss our new physics project with Kim. Wish me luck he doesn’t turn it into a dare. See ya!” He waved at them as he ran away and Alya caught him clenching his fist and cutting a caper. Her buzzing phone interrupted her smiling shake of the head. “Mom? Hey, what’s up?” She quickly turned to Marinette and Adrien “Sorry guys, I’ll be right back!” With that she took a few steps away from them. Meanwhile Adrien worked up all his courage and hesitantly approached Marinette. This could be his only chance if he didn’t want to confess his weakness to all of them. “Uhm, Marinette?” he tapped her on the shoulder so she would face him. “Yes Adrien?” she turned around and looked up to him. The unprepared sight of his dreamingly green eyes made her heart skip some beats. “You know… When I asked how I was supposed ‘to do that’” he drew quotation marks into the air in front of her face “I didn’t mean the secret delivery thing but the rule that everything has to be self-made. I guess… I’m pretty bad at those things.” Nervously he turned his look away and scratched the back of his head. Marinette’s eyes widened. You stupid little goopy mess!, she thought to herself wanting to slap herself. Making Adrien feel incapable and uncomfortable was the last thing she intended. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Sometimes I kind of forget that not all people do the same stuff as I do” she laughed awkwardly and lapsed into babbling. “Guess I kind of threw you in at the deep end, huh? But don’t worry. Until you don’t tell me who it is I will help you and teach you a thing or two about handicrafts if you want me to and I’m convinced you’re better at it than you think! And I’m certain we will find another conclusion for you I mean it should be fun for all of us after all, right? Right, of course. Uhm, what I want to say is your Secret Santa, whoever it might be, can, and will!, be glad about the fact that they-” Adrien laughed a pure laugh that calmed Marinette down a little and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty, no need to get nervous about this. I’d like to take your offer to help me if I need it which, let’s be honest about this, won’t take too long I guess. Thank you Mari, I actually feel a lot better now!” She returned his warm smile although she had no idea how her absurd chattiness would help anyone. Eventually Adrien looked down at his watch. “Unfortunately I have to leave now too but it looks like Alya finished talking to her mother. See you tomorrow! Bye Alya!” “Bye Adrien” Alya waved at him as she passed him on her way back to Marinette. “You were that excited over this whole Secret Santa thing that it even distracted you from acting weird and awkward in front of Adrien. It must truly be a Christmas miracle!” she gasped excessively. “You are a horrible person, Alya Césaire” Marinette laughed but at the same time linked arms with her best friend. “But seriously” Alya smiled and nudged Marinette’s shoulder with her own “I’m proud of you.”

 For the next few days Marinette was caught in a relentless battle against her own self. Of course she could just change the rules entirely so Adrien wouldn’t have to struggle too much with the crafting and allow him to buy everything instead. But then it wouldn’t be Secret Santa Marinette Style™ anymore and if her parents drummed one lesson into their daughter it was that “amazing girls like you should never and under no circumstances change for a boy who simply couldn’t handle their brilliance”. Thus changing the rules wasn’t an option. Another voice in her head tried to seduce her to take advantage of the situation and spend as much time with Adrien as possible under the pretext to show him a thing or two about handicraft work. Marinette had to admit that she liked that idea a little too much but knowing herself she would just lose control over herself and screw both of her purposes – resisting the impulse to encroach on Adrien’s projects (in that case it wouldn’t be Secret Santa Marinette Style™ in Adrien Style anymore) and, even more importantly, acting like a decent human being around him. So what should I do?! Marinette groaned and tore her hair. “Seriously Marinette, you have to stop to treat yourself like a sinner for wanting to spend time with Adrien” Alya shook her head at Marinette’s inner conflict. She may not have said anything for a little while but Alya knew exactly what was going on behind those bangs. “So I’m not a terrible person for considering exploiting Adrien’s lack of knowledge?” Marinette, by now a picture of misery lying on her desk, mumbled into the crook of her arm. “Get a grip on your unnecessary feeling of guilt, girl! May I remind you that Adrien Agreste himself suggested that you should teach him that stuff? In fact I would go as far as to say that he asked for your help and it would be very cold-hearted of you to refuse his request.” Slowly Marinette straightened up and Alya smirked proudly at herself. “If you put it that way I have to help Adrien…” Pondering Marinette stared at a poster on her wall, straight into a pair of enchanting green eyes. “Exactly.” While patting her best friend on the shoulder Alya decided to get a pastry from the bakery below as a reward for another good deed she just performed.

 Second week of November

“Ok guys, new rule!” Marinette opened the Emergency Secret Santa Meeting with her friends at lunch with a determined smack on the table. Adrien looked at her in absolute horror while Nino next to him squealed and stared up to her, frightened. “Even more rules?” Laughing Marinette quickly calmed them down. “Don’t worry it actually makes it kind of easier: Everyone gets a joker! That means I allow you to buy one of the presents instead of crafting it.” She winked at Adrien who gave her a thankful glance. “Obviously I’m not going to make use of said rule” she continued and playfully threw her hair over her shoulder. “That’s a point of honor.” “Guess I’m not as honorably as you, I’ll definitely buy something. Thanks Mari! That makes it easier for me to deliver the best presents out of this group.” Confident as always Alya put an arm around Marinette’s shoulders and looked at the boys with a challenging smirk on her lips. “What about you guys? What do your egos say?” A resoluted expression appeared on Nino’s face as he answered completely serious: “I will do this on my own! I know I can make it!” He ended in an epic pose with a clenched fist. Impressed Adrien clapped him on the shoulder while the girls suppressed their giggles. With a resigned smile Adrien looked at Marinette. “I guess I’ll desperately need that joker. Thanks for changing the rules for us I know how much you liked your original idea.” As always when Adrien directly addressed her Marinette flushed and started to stutter a little. “Oh, uhm… no worries! It will be fun. I-I mean, it will be a lot of fun anyways!” Gladly Adrien smiled at her and her knees weakened. “I’m happy to hear that! I’ll do my very best for you guys.” Before Marinette could respond something to that cute statement Alya cut in. “Hate to interrupt but I have to go. And I’ll take Nino with me, just because I can.” Surprised by the unexpected grip around his arm and the enormous force behind it Nino defenselessly followed Alya out of the room. Sheepishly Adrien smiled at Marinette and scratched the back of his head. “So… do you still agree with helping me out here? Otherwise I have to pay you to grant me three more jokers.” Nervously he laughed since it was only partly meant as a joke. But Marinette’s genuine smile calmed him down immediately. “Sure I will, I always keep my word” she responded with a kind smile and gained an even softer smile from her counterpart. “I never expected anything different.” “Besides” she nudged his shoulder with her own, “I can’t allow you to mistreat Secret Santa Marinette Style™ like this.” His laugh warmed her whole body, giving her the confirmation that it was worth the effort to act like a sane person around him. “With that being settled would you meet up with me tomorrow to brainstorm a little? I really don’t want to screw this so… I guess it’s best to get down to it as soon as possible.” Marinette could only smile entranced by how sweet he was. “Sure! I’ll think about something easy to show you.” As a reward she gained a happy smile. “Thank you so much Mari! I have to go get my books before class but we’ll see each other tomorrow at my place at the latest!” Not even waiting for her response he waved at her as he left the room, leaving behind a startled Marinette. She would visit Adrien’s house. The house that also happened to be the home of Gabriel Agreste. If it wouldn’t have been for Max who asked her why she was just standing in the middle of the room staring at the door she would have been late for class once again.

 On the same day Marinette headed to her favorite store to get some materials she needed for the presents she came up with and to get something for Adrien to practice with. It was a beautiful clear autumn day and on her way she appreciated the colorful trees and enjoyable breezes. Just as she was about to reach the store she closed her eyes to inhale one of those breezes and immediately bumped into someone. “Oh god, excuse me, I wasn’t…” The words died on her lips as she looked into a pair of amused, green eyes. “Princesses don’t need to apologize” Chat Noir said before giving her a kiss on the hand. “Not even if they’re clumsy.” Perplexed by the unexpected encounter with her partner Marinette looked up to him in silence for a few seconds before she finally managed to say something. “Chat Noir, what are you doing here? Is there a needle-swinging akuma or anything?” she jested, too surprised to realize that Chat began to nervously fidget. “Uhm, a friend of mine recommended the shop to me since I needed something to… do heroic things. But what are you doing here? I thought princesses have servants to handle those things for them. Don’t tell me…” he gasped. “You’re not a real princess?!” Marinette rolled her eyes but giggled. Maybe she would have been suspicious of his behavior if she wouldn’t have been that confused herself so she only ascribed it to his usual weirdness. “I’m fine on my own, thank you. Also, if your friend recommended this shop they must have a pretty good taste! I like that one very much too.” “I’m sure the sense of taste of such a charming princess is the furry best” he winked. “I would love to let you tell me how great I am while ignoring your horrible puns further but I actually have to hurry, my parents are waiting for me to help with the bakery. Good luck with those mysterious heroic things you have to do” Marinette excused herself with a playful smile. “I will definitely overcat every difficulty to secure you a save kingdom!” he assured her with a flirtatious grin. “Told you your puns are horrible” Laughing she walked past him into the store. When she was gone Chat Noir sighed loudly and leaned against a lantern next to him. Why didn’t he think of the possibility he could meet Marinette when he decided to go to the store she mentioned to him earlier? Maybe he was overreacting but it could have been a hint to her when she saw him there as Chat Noir at the same day. Not that he had much of a choice. He knew very well that his father would not let him go to buy fabrics, of all things. He would tell him that he could get him anything, only the best of the best of course. And also he would hire someone to create the gifts for Adrien. Since there was nothing he could do about it he hoped Marinette wouldn’t think about the reason why he was there and headed home.

 The next evening Marinette heard a muffled sound from above her and got a little worried. Quietly she opened her window and slowly peered out on her balcony but what she found there soothed her instantly. “Chat Noir! What are you doing here?” For a moment she was afraid that he somehow figured her out but looking at the nervous, guilty looking boy in front of her she knew he had to be there for another reason. “I came to apologize” he answered hesitantly. “I was quite a flirt yesterday and I wanted to make it up to you. You deserve a proper conversation at least.” A soft smile appeared on Marinette’s lips due to his unexpected kindness. He was a good one after all. “But you don’t even know me. How do you know that I deserve your effort?” she walked up to him with a curious expression. “Let’s say I’m pretty good with assessing someone’s character” he answered smiling and his tensed body began to relax. “So, what brought you to the store?” he asked as if he didn’t know too well. But her shining eyes and the devotion in her voice was totally worth to hear the whole explanation of Secret Santa Marinette Style™ again while hardly getting a chance to speak on his side. “…and that’s how it works! I am so excited I can barely wait for December to begin!” Chat couldn’t help but laugh warm-heartedly. Of course he knew how passionate she was about her project before but he once again witnessed her charming cuteness and once again it completely enchanted him. “You really are the incarnated Christmas spirit, aren’t you? I have to admit that your words kind of move me and I would love to hear more but unfortunately I have to leave. Keep it real, Princess.” Slightly he bowed and giggling Marinette followed suit. “It was very nice having you here, minou.” Surprised by the warm feeling Marinette’s words caused inside of him he jumped over her balustrade. “The pleasure is all mine. See you soon, Marinette.” While she watched him leave over the nearby roofs Marinette realized something. Usually, as Ladybug, she didn’t get that emotional around Chat Noir but today, as Marinette, all her thoughts bubbled out of her without interruption. And it felt right and save with him. No matter what happened, no matter how bad things would be, she could always count on her partner, her friend, and that meant the world to her. With a knowing smile Tikki watched the two of them saying goodbye.

 Third week of November

“This gift from god is the most precious creature I have ever seen in my entire minor existence.” “You say that every time you see a ca-““SHE IS!” Adrien was holding Totoro, apparently Ella and Etta were huge Ghibli fans and didn’t care for the sex of their cat, right in front of his face so their noses touched. Nino imagined seeing the same eyes-squinted grinning expression on both his best friend’s and the cat’s face. Every now and then Adrien let out a squeal of joy while snuggling with the British shorthair silver tabby. Marinette was sure she would never see anything that pure and innocent in her whole life ever again. “Can you even imagine the drama if Totoro would have disliked Adrien?” Alya was watching the boys with crossed arms. A shiver went down her spine as Marinette considered that scenario. “Don’t even think about something as terrible as that! I guess it would have completely wrecked his will to live.” She sighed, relieved that they hadn’t had to try to prevent Adrien from drowning in his own desperate tears. “Quite possibly” Alya laughed, nudged Marinette’s shoulder with her own and began to smirk. “You should join the cuddling. Maybe Adrien will end up nuzzling your nose somehow.” In no time Marinette’s face turned flame red, too baffled to stop Alya from pushing her towards the carpet the boys kneeled on. Well, Nino kneeled. Adrien had ended up lying on the ground, Totoro climbing over his chest like it was a part of Mount Everest instead of the body of a model. An affectionate smile replaced the blush of embarrassment on her face and she gathered the courage to sit down next to Nino. “I didn’t even get the chance to pet her” he grumbled jealously. The moment the three of them had entered Alya’s home Totoro had run up to Adrien straightaway, rubbing her head against his legs and meowing in delight. Clearly there was something to Adrien that somehow connected them but Marinette had no idea what it could be. They captivated each other on the spot. Marinette understood Nino’s grudge too well. But Adrien didn’t even realize how grumpy his friends were. “Don’t you think cats are the greatest?” Happily he smiled up to the cat on his chest. “I like turtles” Nino answered deadpanned. “Foxes are definitely the best!” Alya jumped in as she joined her friends serving cookies. Marinette held her hand in front of her mouth and giggled joyfully. She was thankful to whoever blessed her with those quirky, wonderful friends. “What is your favorite animal, Mari?” Adrien asked, averting his eyes from Totoro for the first time this afternoon and smiled at her for a little moment before turning back to the cat. Still counts, Marinette thought proudly before answering. “I like all kinds of animals it’s hard to chose just one…” “She loves every single creature on this earth, our lovely Marinette” Alya chuckled and put an arm around her best friend. “When it comes to favorite earth-creatures those present have a good chance” she responded laughing. At the end of the day Marinette had another entry on her mental list of terrific gatherings with her best friends.

 After an exhausting day full of lectures about being late to class and nearly falling asleep during dinner Marinette allowed herself to take a break on her balcony. As she admired the sight in front of her she spotted a fast shadow approaching. “You again” she said surprised when Chat Noir landed in front of her and bowed. “The path of faith brought me here once again, Princess. Your speech from last week inspired me and I want to learn from the furry best how to Christmas” he explained with an eager smile. “How to… what?” Uncomprehending Marinette tried to understand what Chat was talking about. “Since a flawless hero like me has to live a life in isolation I never experienced Christmas like you described it to me. Would you mind to…” Suddenly he became timid and Marinette was taken aback due to the fact that she never saw him like that before. “…show me to enjoy Christmas the way you do?” The coy and begging smile on his face could just as well belong to a five-year-old. It was impossible to say no to that. Everyone was talking about puppy eyes but no one ever gave warning of kitten eyes! “I’d be honored to pass on my legacy. Even though it’s not that hard, you simply devote yourself to something you like that delectate others too. In my case it’s crafting gifts for my friends and family and I’ll help you find that something for you too but, for my sake, no puns” Marinette imposed her one and only condition. “I thought this was meant to be a time of fun and joy!” Chat protested, causing a cheerful laugh of his newfound master. “Yes, you’re right but since both of us are meant to have fun…” “You think my pawns are hilarious, don’t even try to deny it.” “…let’s try to find something different that both of us will enjoy. Is there anything else you like?” Without a second thought Chat revealed the thing he was already thinking about all day: “I love Totoro.” Panicking over the realization of what he just said he already made up an excuse about how he met Alya’s siblings and their cat but Marinette’s eyes began to shine and she excitedly jumped up and down in front of him. “Really? You do? That’s great! If you want to we can watch it right now!” Chat Noir blinked at her, uncomprehending. Until now he had thought the girls came up with the name for their cat on their own and he had no idea what she was talking about but since it seemed to be a suitable opportunity to keep his identity a secret he tried to play along as best as he could. “Yeah sure, it’s great!” Marinette squealed and looked at him curiously. “What’s your favorite part?” “Uhm… uh… I don’t know… That’s a tough question. Maybe… everything?” Laughing she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her window. “We’ll watch it right now so you can decide what you like best about it!” After 86 minutes of laughter and tears of joy Chat not only got the origin of his favorite cat’s name but also craved for more Ghibli films. Since Marinette was perfectly fine with that they ended up in a Ghibli marathon all night.

 Last week of November

“Father, my friend Marinette is with me to work on a project together!” Adrien called up the stairs into an empty hallway. To Marinette’s surprise Gabriel Agreste appeared just seconds later and her heart stopped for a second at the sight of her greatest idol who even addressed her directly. “Hello Miss…” “Dupain-Cheng” she blurted out tensed. “Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng. I don’t understand what is withholding my son from studying with my assistant Natalie as usual but I guess as long as it is for school I can accept it.” Adrien didn’t feel the need to correct his father who once nodded his head at them and then disappeared into the hallway as fast as he came. Normally Marinette would have been worried about putting Adrien in trouble but she barely realized what his father had said because she was too overwhelmed by the impressive mansion and its noble furniture. Even though they had planned to meet at his place before Adrien had to postpone their meeting due to extra fencing lessons and all the built-up excitement flooded Marinette at once. “You’re coming?” with an amused smile Adrien startled her out of her thoughts and she saw that he was already halfway up the stairs. “Oh, uhm, sure…” she mumbled embarrassed and hurried up the stairs behind him. Once they settled on Adrien’s comfortable couch he gave her an eager look. “I am ready to learn!” he stated, triggering tension and happiness in Marinette at the same time. “Well… I never taught anyone so don’t expect too much, ok? I don’t want to disappoint you” she responded carefully but Adrien’s expression stayed as cheerful. “I’m certain you won’t. Let’s try this out together! What do you think is a simple thing even I can handle?” Relieved Marinette smiled at him and relaxed, starting to bloom while talking about her passion. “It shouldn’t be a problem for you to modify already existing objects to your heart’s content and it may not sound like it but it’s fun! You can live out your creativity very easily. To begin with something appropriate…” gleefully babbling Marinette scrabbled through her bag until she finally found what she was looking for and proudly handed Adrien a simple white picture frame and a… gun? Adrien’s eyes widen in shock and as soon as she understood where his fright was coming from she uncontrollably started to laugh. “That’s… That’s just a hot glue gun! You never saw one? When it comes to handicrafts it is your very best friend!” Embarrassed Adrien looked to the ground. “In that case I’m going to call it Nino” he tried to distract her from his slip-up, gladly realizing that it worked perfectly. Greatly bushing thanks to his sweet words as always Marinette hurried to continue. “In that case take Nino and some decorations I brought you’d like to stick to the frame. Of course you can paint it previously too but it would be a waste of time to wait for the color to dry so we’ll directly start with the glue.” Gently he interrupted her. “I think that spending time with friends is never a waste of time but I get what you mean. Go on, that’s very promising and encouraging!” That cuteness again. If he would go on like that he would end up accidentally killing her. Marinette had to clear her throat before continuing her explanation. “I have to offer… beads of all kind, glitter, colorful buttons, feathers, small bells and… a lot of other things in fact.” They laughed together and Marinette felt that she grew more and more comfortable and relaxed around him. All in all she slowly but surely grew a little more confident around him. At the end of the afternoon Adrien knew the basics of crafting and Marinette made her way home extremely happy and proud of herself, promoted by a set date for another crafting session.

 “I’m curious Chat.” Prying Marinette advanced towards him. Once again she found herself next to the hero of Paris who grew a habit of visiting her regularly. “Someone’s being a nosy princess” he teased, provoking Marinette to playful huffy crossing her arms. “I only got one question minou. Don’t act like such a jerk!” His smirk softened and turned into a genuine smile “You know you can ask me anything, Mari.” Ignoring the light blush on her cheeks she smiled back. “What… Uhm, what would you like to be if you weren’t a superhero?” Chat looked at her in surprise. He didn’t know what he had expected but it certainly wasn’t a question like that. “Hmmm…” He scratched his chin and narrowed his eyes. “No idea?” laughing Marinette nudged his shoulder with her own and Chat began to laugh too “In fact I’m 100% sure what I want to be but it’s kind of embarrassing.” “What is it?” Marinette asked encouraging, excited for his answer. “A pokemon trainer.” “A… pokemon trainer?” “Yes. Absolutely. No other option.” Marinette blinked in disbelief and Chat got worried that he unsettled her with his nerdy confession. After a few seconds she finally began to beam. “It suits you, minou.” “It does?” he was visibly delighted and relieved. “Yeah, I mean it. Out there looking for adventures and caring for your friends, I can even see it in front of my inner eye.” “You don’t think it’s weird and… awkward?” he asked to reassure and Marinette gave him her ‘Are you serious?’-look. “Chat, I just outed myself as the biggest Ghibli fan there is so, no, that’s not awkward at all. Never be ashamed of the things you love. They make you who you are and I like who you are.” Pondering silence fell upon them. A warm feeling filled Chat’s chest. Rarely someone took his dreams serious, especially his childish ones. But Marinette seemed to understand him and he added it to the reasons why he cherished her. “So” Marinette crossed her legs, leaned even closer to him and looked at him as curious as ever “Which one is your favorite pokemon?” He didn’t even need a second to think about his answer. “Easy. It’s Eevee.” A complacent grin appeared on her lips since she had expected that answer. “Ah, I guess your favorite eeveelution is Umbreon then?” “Purrfectly right my Princess. You seem to understand me incredibly well, I truly appreciate that. But you still have to tell me what’s yours.” Marinette’s face turned bright red. “Mi- mine?” “Of course” Chat laughed. “You obviously know pokemon pretty well. You can’t hide your inner nerd from that super Cat with super vision! Tell me, you have to give me the chance to make a guess too.” Sighing she squared her shoulders and looked straight into his attentive green eyes. “Skitty.” An amused twitch played around the corners of his mouth. “Seriously, that pink little fur ball? You got to be skitten me.” “Shut up you moron” Marinette had to laugh that hard she nearly fell off her chair. “Besides, I guessed right.” “Yeah, sure you did.” “I did!” They spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing a lot without realizing that he started to call her ‘my princess’. But Tikki did.

 First week of December

On the first day of December four nicely wrapped little presents were sitting on the desks of Adrien, Nino, Alya and Marinette. The whole class caught a Christmassy spirit as they saw them while walking into class. Marinette hurried to her desk smiling but stopped as she heard a high-pitched squeal from behind her. She turned around to look at Alya wonderingly but Alya herself stared to another direction. As she followed her gaze Marinette realized who the real origin of the sound was. Nino stood in front of his present, hands pressed to his mouth and almost crying. “But… You didn’t even open it yet.” Adrien put his present back down to the table that he had already grabbed excitedly too so that he could try to calm his best friend down. “It’s so beautiful” he whispered but opened the soft package impatiently. Inside was a self knitted orange and blue striped bobble hat with some sort of flaps on the left and right. Confused he inspected the holes and his eyes widened as soon as he realized they were meant for his headphones. “The one who did this must be a genius” he exhaled impressed. Alya raised an eyebrow at him since he didn’t instantly realize who his Secret Santa was but decided to concentrate on her own gift instead of scolding him for being an idiot. Without further ado she ripped the paper apart and opened the box inside it. Brightly smiling she inspected a piece of paper with a photo and some personal information of her on it. “Wow, this is great, my own journalist pass! I’m officially important now!” she proudly concluded and pinned the badge to her blouse. “I’ll wear that every day so if Ladybug crosses my way she may think I’m worth giving a personal interview to! It’s the perfect plan!” Marinette giggled and Adrien felt a little proud of his idea while opening his own poorly wrapped present. Confused he looked at a chaotic basket with a little awry patchwork blanket inside of it. “What is this…?” he wondered and Nino next to him tried to act as innocent as possible. “Maybeee… it will make sense once you have all presents?” Adrien’s face brightened up without thinking about the fact that Nino more or less revealed himself as his Secret Santa. “It sure will! That makes the whole thing even more thrilling!” Proudly Nino beamed and Marinette had to suppress a laugh while opening her own small present. Inside she found a short ribbon with two pendants on it: a small green paw and a little ladybug. Excitedly she attached it to her phone and held it up to the others. “Look what I got! It’s great!” Nino gave her a thumbs-up and Adrien opened his mouth to congratulate her but was stopped by Madame Bustier’s voice filling the room: “Good morning, children! Let’s start today’s class!” During the whole lesson all of them inspected their gift further and waited for the break to come to brag and discuss about them. And they did. Marinette walked in on Alya and Nino who headed to the cafeteria before her and they seemed to have a serious conversation. She wanted to leave already but then she heard Nino saying her name. “…but also, Marinette!” “Hey, did you call for me?” she joined them but froze as soon as she saw the pale, wide-eyed Nino. “Woah, hold on, what’s going on here?” Alya waved it off and smirked. “Nino’s having a crisis.” “I mean, like” he continued without even realizing Marinette had arrived “she suggested I need a warmer hat but she was talking about a beanie not a bobble hat. So someone else could have used that as an inspiration for my gift. BUT there’s a high chance that it indeed is her! Alya help me I’m going insane.” He was sweating. “Stop torturing yourself, Nino! This is meant to be fun! You still have three weeks to figure your Secret Santa out and you will even get more clues. Relax, you’re not supposed to know it by now.” “But Alya said…” “Alya does not know everything even though she likes to act like it” Marinette interrupted him for his own sake and he already relaxed while Alya next to him stuck her tongue out at her who blew her a kiss. At that moment Adrien came up to them with a huge smile on his face. “Hey guys, are you as excited as I am? I can’t wait for next week!” For the rest of the break they happily chatted with each other, Alya kept chaffing Nino causing Marinette to laugh adorably and Adrien realized something. Throughout the whole Secret Santa event and its preparations he grew closer to Marinette with every day and she finally came over her shyness around him. Of course he had already cherished her but now he experienced how truly pleasant her presence and friendship was. And even though he got to spend more time with her it still wasn’t enough. Luckily for him there was Chat Noir. At the same day Marinette heavy heartedly came to a conclusion too. The more time she spent with Adrien she discovered that she truly admired his presence, as a friend. She had a crush on him for over two years now and he hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in her so what could possibly happen to change his platonic feelings towards her? Maybe she should work on that ‘just friends’-thing to be able to spend more, less awkward, time with him.

 To her own surprise and joy Alya’s plan of catching Ladybug’s attention worked out. Since the rules of Secret Santa Marinette Style ™ forbade it to give a present to any other than your giftee Marinette made a plan to rejoice her by admiring her newest achievement. “That badge is pretty cool!” Ladybug gave Alya an accretive look who proudly smiled at her heroine. She puffed up her chest and presented a badge that read ‘VIB – Very Important Blogger’. It looked objectively real. “Isn’t it? A friend of mine made it for me but I don’t know who it was yet. Secret Santa, you know?” She leaned in and whispered as if the following were top secret information. “I guess it’s my best friend though. It seems she made another present too but I just can’t imagine that the boys in the group are… creative enough to be capable of something like that to say the least.” Chat tried very hard to keep a straight face. Aside from needing to keep his identity a secret he didn’t know if he should be insulted about what Alya just said or if he should be proud about the fact that she thought Marinette’s gifted hands created the thing that was actually made by him. Thinking of Marinette… He wanted to visit her again this evening.

 Still musing about her feelings towards Adrien and her resolution to let go of them Marinette stood on her balcony and admired the scenery in front of her. Somewhere along the line her thoughts wandered off to the wonderful moments she had spent there during the last few weeks and how suddenly the person who accompanied her ever since sneaked a way into her life. Making excuses about not knowing “How to Christmas” he joined her on a regular basis as she was working on Christmas presents for her loved ones. Yet again Tikki tried to talk to her about her feelings towards Chat Noir but Marinette wasn’t ready to face the inconvenient truth about the conflict she was in as Ladybug. Maybe it would have been different if she had to work on gifts for Adrien. Maybe it was led by her decision to come over him. Or maybe Adrien hadn’t had the slightest part to play in this. No matter what it was, Marinette fell for Chat. “Princess! I’m here to wish you a happy Christmas Month!” Chat greeted her, startling her out of her thoughts. Nevertheless a bright beam appeared on her face because she was more than happy to see him. Amazed that his words had such a positive impact on her Chat couldn’t help but smile happily as well since her beam was quite infectious. “The same to you, minou! Good to see you” hearing her own affectionate tone she advised herself to pull herself together. Relieved that Chat seemed to not analyze her words she relaxed. “You missed my clawver puns, didn’t you? I knew it, you long for my catchy jokes and my tailent to make you laugh” he blathered and instantly wanted to slap himself. Snap out of it Agreste, it’s just Marinette! No need to be nervous. But the scolding didn’t help at all, his heart beat rapidly against his chest and under his gloves his hands were sweating despite the chill weather. To his surprise Marinette laughed instead of shaking her head annoyed yet amused like he expected her to. “You are terrible, you know that? I would rather call your puns pawful to be honest. Maybe I should look for a new furend to spend my evenings with” teasingly she smirked at him while his eyes widened in disbelief. “Did you just… Did you made…? For me?” An excited smile and a suppressed squeal found their way to Chat’s lips. Even though she intended to do something nice for him she didn’t expect him to get that happy about only two horrible puns. Not that she wanted to complain. His reaction was adorable. “Consider it an early Christmas present” she laughed while motioning at him to enter her room. “It’s the best gift you could have pawsibly made me, Purriii-” She pushed him into her room. “Enough is enough” she said before following him. But secretly she thought to herself that she could get used to that silly, loveable kitty curling up on her bed. And he didn’t want to leave it anytime soon either.

 Second week of December

“Fancy!” Alya stated as she immediately put on the orange mask she found inside the sparkling box she just opened. Marinette inspected it impressed too. She recognized the mask from her favorite store she recommended to Adrien and was quite proud of how he customized it. The painting wasn’t perfectly symmetrical but it still looked pretty good. Deciding that she sufficiently examined her student’s work she finally opened her own present. Silently she stared at the photo inside her hands. Everyone knew that she loved Alya with all of her heart but this present freaked her out. Shocked she looked at a photo of herself standing in front of the Eiffel Tower right next to Chat Noir and… herself. She blinked. Alya had photoshopped the two heroes of Paris into a photo of Marinette she took a few weeks ago. Gawking at the picture she was afraid that she was unable to pretend that she liked it even a bit. She just looked at her face and her face and it gave her goose bumps over her whole body. Apparently she couldn’t believe that Alya spent so much time editing the photo and still didn’t recognize her. Or did she?! Warily she looked at her best friend. “I can’t remember that ever happened” she nervously said to her friend. “I know that you met Chat Noir but did you ever meet Ladybug?” Alya asked without really paying attention while looking at her mask through her selfie camera. “Maybe one day you will really stand next to our heroine” she winked and Marinette wasn’t sure if she should be offended that her best friend still hadn’t get it even though she must have spent hours with Marinette’s face next to Marinette’s face but she was too glad to even care. It was nothing to make believe her relieved happiness was thanks to the present. She wrapped her arms around Alya’s neck. “Thank you so much!” “Who said it’s from me?” Alya shrugged but smirked at her. In front of them Nino barely could hold back the tears as he looked at the poster with a logo Marinette had designed just for him. Behind a graphic of Nino’s headphones a red vinyl shimmered due to the color she had used. The picture was surrounded by a quote of him she had always liked very much: ‘All I need is friends, family and music!’ Next to him Adrien inspected some ugly grey felt shaped like mice. At the sight Alya wrinkled her nose and Marinette began to feel bad for him but Adrien seemed to be perfectly happy with it. “I have no idea what’s going on but I still love it” he said cheerfully and everyone was impressed by his unconditional trust and love he had for his friends.

 Later that day Marinette once again found Chat Noir on her balcony and invited him in on condition of no puns for at least that evening. Grudgingly he agreed but both of knew that he wouldn’t stick to his word but it didn’t matter because they also knew that Marinette didn’t mean it. In consequence of him spending a lot of time inside of her room over the past few weeks Chat straightaway recognized the new frame on Marinette’s desk. In school he hadn’t had the chance to look at it so he inspected the picture interested and ended up genuinely confused. “I can’t remember that this ever happened?” he said, scratching the back of his head. He wouldn’t forget about saving Marinette and taking a picture afterwards, would he? Guilt built up inside of him but it vanished as soon as Marinette began to laugh. “That’s just what I was thinking! But a friend of mine made it, it’s photoshopped.” Chat smirked and took his chance to show off a little. “I guess I could arrange something to actually take a picture like that.” Marinette laughed it off nervously because no matter how incredible his powers were he definitely couldn’t arrange that. “Nah, I already spend more than enough time with you and I met Ladybug a few times so I think I can live with that one.” “You’re lying.” Afraid Marinette looked up to him. Did he figure it out at least? But he just wiggled his eyebrows. “One could never spend enough time with me.” “Please shut up” Marinette laughed relieved and loaded the cheesiest Christmas movie she could find into her computer: Love Actually. Today Chat would learn about the sentimental feeling of Christmas.

 “I am ready for something more difficult!” Adrien announced as soon as he was standing inside of Marinette’s room, his posters long gone. Unsure she motioned him to sit down on her second chair. “Are you sure? It’s only two more weeks until Christmas.” With a motivated grin on his face Adrien nodded and settled down next to her. “I learned from the very best and I’m certain I can try something more complicated! But not too hard please” he backtracked and Marinette giggled quietly. Then she had a sudden inspiration. “I have the perfect idea!” she said, hurried to her cupboard and rummaged through it for a while. Suddenly she threw a pair of fluffy socks at him that he managed to catch before it hit his face. “Socks?” he asked wondering as Marinette came back to her desk with her sewing box. “Yes, socks! It’s quite easy to sew a plushie with a sock. Let me show you…” Delighted Adrien watched her as she transformed the sock into the head of a black cat. Firstly she drew the shape of a cat on the sock and then sewed the outline. After that she cut it out, turned the inside out and stuffed it with some fiberfill until it looked squashy and cute. He had to admit that it indeed seemed to be easy but Adrien had the presumption that it would be harder for him as it was for her. Throughout the whole process he kept asking her questions and he intently watched every step as she showed him how to backstitch. “It may not work perfectly the first time you try to do it but a pair is made out of two socks for a reason” she winked and giggled cheerfully and if anyone would see Adrien’s affectionate smile they would instantly know what kind of feelings he developed for her. Tikki nearly had a breakdown. Unfortunately he had to leave for Chinese lessons but maybe it wouldn’t take long for a certain superhero to visit Marinette. On his way home Adrien bought 6 pairs of socks.

 Third week of December

Deep in thought Adrien inspected the present he found inside the little box that lied on his desk that day. “What’s that? A bracelet? A keychain?” He narrowed his eyes and intensely tried to solve the mystery. “Maybe you’ll get it once you get your last present?” Nino next to him said, unsuccessfully trying to not sound too suspicious again. “I guess…” Adrien answered barely paying attention to him. There was another person barely paying attention to the whole scene: Marinette. She looked at the nicely decorated sketchbook inside her hands. It was red, had green paws and black dots all over it and some glittering highlights. A pink Logo said ‘Marinette’s greatest ideas’. Tearing up she quietly stared at it for straight 5 minutes while Alya watched her happily smiling. Since it was clear that her best friend loved her present Alya decided it was time to wrap up her own gift. She squealed as she held some kind of lasso in her hands. “I’m a true superhero now too!” Excited she shook Marinette before she posed epically in front of the class. In the meantime Nino had another breakdown. “But I need to wear my glasses! All your work goes to waste!” he cried out in agony, dramatically holding the spectacle case he got up to the sky. Before anyone could try to calm him down he made up his mind. “You know what? Whoever you are, your effort will be appreciated!” He took off his gasses and put them inside the case. “I will not be able to see anything today but that’s totally worth it!” He stood up again and tried to sit back down on his seat but the whole class watched him nearly falling over the backrest. Hurryingly Adrien stood up to guard his best friend to his seat. “Thanks man” Nino said and blinked, looking slightly past him. “You should really put your glasses back o-“ “No! My Secret Santa will be appreciated!” Marinette giggled. Of course she was a little worried about him but Nino was too dorky and adorable to be serious about that and she was sure Adrien would take good care of him.

 “You’re a Marinette-Elf! A Marielf!” Chat Noir said excitedly, inspecting her hat, skirt and shoes while circling her. “I’ll definitely hold on to that nickname” he decided, ignoring her disapproving snort. She had known it would be a mistake to show herself to him like that but she was really proud of her design and for some reason she wanted to present it to him. “Where did you buy it?” Chat asked after his 5th round around her. “Excuse me?” she revolted with her hands on her hips. “Where did you get the costume? I would love to dress up with you” he admitted sheepishly but she was too offended to realize how sweet he was. “Chat, I made it myself” she clarified deadpanned. Wide-eyed he circled her another 5 times and inspected it even more precisely. “Oh my god Princess, I am so sorry! Marinette, that’s impressive! It looks professional and it is really well sewn. Of course I knew you’re good but why didn’t you tell me that you are a genius?” Actually Marinette wanted to tease him and ask him why he had thought so poorly of her but his admiration embarrassed her and she proudly flushed as he stepped extremely close to her to look at the pattern she stitched on her collar. Her breath caught with his face just a few inches away from her own and he slowly looked up as he realized how near her face was, how closer her lips were. For a few seconds they got caught up in each other’s eyes and while Chat noticed that the clear blue of Marinette’s had a calming influence on him she decided that the vivid green she lost herself in was from now on her uncontested favorite color. Eventually Chat shrunk back from her as if he just burned his hands on her body. In fact it exactly felt like that. Heat crept through his whole body from where he touched Marinette despite his gloves and he began to laugh nervously. “Well, Princess… ha… uhm, what do you want to t-teach me today?” he stammered, feeling like an awkward idiot who saw a beautiful girl for the first time in his entire life. “Wearing ridiculous costumes” she exhaled still paralyzed staring at him. The situation and the emotions that unexpectedly flooded him were too much for him so he followed his cat instincts and did the only thing he was able to manage at this moment: running away. “In that case I already passed my lesson for today, didn’t I? That comes in handy because I forgot I… I need to be somewhere. See you soon!” And with that, he was gone. For way too long Marinette kept staring at the spot where Chat stood before, only one frightening thought screaming at her: She had a helpless crush on Chat Noir.

 Marinette couldn’t stand it any longer, she needed to talk to someone about her confusing feelings. Too late she realized that Alya may not have been the best choice. “He’s just a flirt.” “He is not!” “You are the one dating him after all” Alya smirked at Marinette who rolled her eyes. “I am not.” Alya shrugged “But you want to. And in that case you totally have a crush on said flirt.” “I told you he is not a flirt! He tries his best to be a gentleca- man. A gentleman.” Oh no. There was no way Alya would ever let go of what she just said. Unsurprisingly her best friend’s eyes widened, her mouth fell open and her ‘I don’t really care’-attitude was gone within a single second. “Were you just about to say gentlecat? Are you freaking kidding me, Marinette?” Bright red Marinette avoided eye contact and fumbled at her purse with Tikki inside of it. Come to think of it she should have rather talked to her in the first place. “I didn’t… I wasn’t… Seriously that was not what I was going to say!” Finally Alya managed to regain her composure and shot Marinette a knowing grin. “Whatever you say girl. Oh, for your interest, you didn’t even deny that you have a thing for Chat Noir at all.” With a resigned sigh Marinette slid down her chair. “I don’t have the power to do that. Please give me a break.” Laughing Alya patted her best friend’s head to at least comfort her a little. Neither of them noticed Adrien sitting in his chair as straight as a post. He had heard everything. For the last few days two strong feelings accompanied him on every step he took: the urge to confess his affection towards Marinette and the painful dread of being rejected by her. Nevertheless at that very moment he made the decision to tell Marinette how deeply he felt for her. Persuading himself that as Chat Noir he could deal with it if she dismissed him and that he could try harder as Adrien gave him all the courage he needed.

 Last week of December

This week no one found a present on their desk, the friends had agreed to get to the finally on Christmas Day. A little disappointed the rest of the class compelled them to report every present to them since they witnessed the whole thing from the beginning and wanted to know how it ended too. Except for Chloé of course. On the last day of school Rose handed every single classmate a little personalized Christmas card while Mylène served various cookies and Kim refused the bet that he wouldn’t miss a single one of them. Marinette loved the team spirit of her class and knew for sure that she would miss them dearly throughout vacation but she was too excited to feel sad. Alya, Nino and Marinette planned to meet on Christmas Day to deliver the last gifts and even though Adrien wasn’t sure if his father would let him go he assured his friends that he would somehow find a way. That statement worried his friends more than it eased them but they couldn’t change his mind so they decided to just enjoy the holidays.

 “Come out already!” Marinette hid out of sight of her window. So far she was not ready to face Chat Noir after what happened the week before, she needed more time to figure her feelings out. “Tikki, what should I do? He knows I’m home but I… I can’t talk to him!” With an understanding smile her Kwami snuggled up to her. “I get that it’s hard Marinette but you don’t want to be as shy around Chat as you were around Adrien, do you? Is it worth to-“ “Princess! Please, I have to tell… show you something!” “Gosh, he’s stubborn. What did you want to say?” slightly annoyed Marinette faced Tikki again. “It’s just that I’m concerned that you’ll be unhappy about-“ “I know that you can hear me Marielf. It’s urgent, come on!” Questioningly Tikki looked at her. “You don’t want to go see him? Not at all?” Conflicted Marinette began to waffle. “It’s not like I’m completely aga-“ “I am freezing, you know?” Eventually an upset moan escaped Marinette’s lips and she tucked a blanket around her shoulders as she rushed furiously towards her balcony. “Chat, I swear to god I’m gonna…” She popped her head out of the window but froze in her tracks as she saw Chat’s face right in front of hers. Suspiciously she looked up and there it was, fatefully hanging above them: a mistletoe. “Woops” Chat whispered. “Guess we have to do it since it’s a very strict Christmas rule and I just learned that you have to stick to those.” He already leaned in but Marinette grabbed the green branch and threw it away. “I’m not going to kiss you because of such a stupid thing!” Seeing his deeply pained expression made her say the next sentence earlier than she had planned to. “I’m going to kiss you because I want to” she corrected under her breath, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him towards her. Both of them felt the smile on the others lips as they finally met gently. It was a cute, soft kiss but it was all they could ever wish for.

 Christmas Day

Adrien spent the next day with his head up in the clouds. All day long he felt the memory of her kiss on his lips, thought about the enchanting blue of her eyes and heard her laugh in his ears. Never before had he experienced such a fuzzy, tickling feeling and he knew that this had to be love. But his high spirit got dumped just a few hours after his first kiss. “Adrien.” His father looked down at him and Adrien was afraid of what he had to say. It was a rare occasion that his father spoke to him personally instead of delivering news through Nathalie except for when they were dining together. If he was completely honest to himself Adrien already knew what his father had to say but he fought back the disappointment and instead kept his hope alive until his father continued. “I have to excuse myself this evening. A… situation appeared and I have a lot of work to do. I’m aware it is the second year we have to miss your mother and I genuinely regret this unfortunate situation.” Adrien gulped. Don’t cry. “But we’ll still have dinner together. Just… a little earlier. I’ll spend Christmas with my son nevertheless”, his father added quickly as he saw his son trying to hide how deeply hurt he was. Even Gabriel Agreste couldn’t let his son feel so bad on Christmas so he reluctantly made a decision and sighed. “You may even spend the evening with your friends. Just be back home in time.” After that showing of emotions he left immediately and Adrien was too overwhelmed to stop him. He knew exactly where he wanted to spend his Christmas Eve. Or rather: With whom.

 Dinner with his father was unexpectedly amusing and light-hearted. Obviously his father tried his very best to make it up to his son that he would not be able to spend Christmas Eve with him by trying to even joke around a little. Of course he wasn’t funny at all but Adrien appreciated the effort he made. Maybe the unexpected meeting his father had to participate in was the best thing that could have happened, Adrien couldn’t remember of when he had so much fun with his father before so it didn’t matter if it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Noon. In addition he was super excited to meet his friends and especially Marinette later. He had never spent a holiday with friends before and the anticipation flooded through his body with every heartbeat.

 Christmas at the Dupain-Chengs was the purest thing Adrien ever experienced. The love they had for each other was sensible in every word they spoke and every gesture they made. There was not a single moment anyone seemed stressed, annoyed left alone angry. Even when Tom forgot to get the dough for his Bûche de Noël out of the oven in time due to a video game he and Adrien lost against Marinette he laughed about it full-heartedly. Now Adrien knew where all the warm feelings Marinette had to spread were coming from. This little flat near Notre Dame was filled with more affection on only one evening than the mansion Adrien called home had been since his mother disappeared. He truly felt like he was part of the family. Knowing that the comfy homey feeling he felt in every inch of his body wouldn’t last he enjoyed it to the fullest. After all it was impossible anyway to not be extremely happy spending the whole time right next to Marinette. “You haven’t opened your present yet, Adrien!” Sabine complained and handed him a nicely wrapped round package. “My what now?” Adrien asked bewildered and Sabine giggled nearly as cute as her daughter did. “You’re our guest and we like having you here! Of course we prepared a little something for you.” Adrien couldn’t believe it. The evening got even better. “But… I asked if I could spend the night here just three hours ago. How could you find me a present in that time?” Heavy-weighted Tom placed his hands on Adrien’s shoulders. “It’s nothing big but we want you to feel truly welcome here. Open it already!” Marinette’s encouraging smile sealed the deal. Excited Adrien ribbed the paper apart and held a little jar in his hands. Inside of it were cookies and if that wasn’t enough he realized they were shaped like cats as soon as he wanted to try one. “Oh my, thank you so much! That’s incredible nice of you but I don’t think I can eat them. They’re adorable.” Tom proudly put an arm around his wife as she gladly smiled about the fact that Adrien liked his present while Marinette threw her arms around him. His heart stopped. “In that case I’m going to make you more cookies in any shape you want!” she laughed and Adrien wanted to tell her so badly how cute she was but he couldn’t. He wanted to tell her that he was the one she kissed just yesterday and that he wanted to do exactly that right now. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he was Chat Noir and that he was the one who loved her. But not a single sound made it over his lips. Fortunately the bell rang at that very moment. “Alya and Nino are finally here!” Marinette cheerfully sprinted towards the door, leaving Adrien alone with his complicated thoughts. A few moments later Nino startled him out of his thoughts. “Dude, you’re coming?” Quickly Adrien followed his friend to Marinette’s room where she and Alya were already chatting cheerfully. It seemed like they were talking about Totoro but Adrien was too distracted to even realize that. “Okay I can’t take it anymore you need to open your present right now! You know I’m your Secret Santa anyway.” Eventually Alya handed Marinette an oversized present. Gasping she took it hesitantly. “Oh my god Alya, what’s that?” “You know the thing is you have to open it” laughing Alya pushed it towards her and slowly Marinette unwrapped the gift. It was a huge framed screenshot that threw the bold headline ‘THE GREAT MARINETTE BLOG!’ to its reader’s faces. Some of Marinette’s designs were spread over the page and Alya wrote down a list of things ‘Everyone has to love about Marinette Dupain-Cheng’. In the middle was another headline above a photo of them: ‘Does she have the best friend in the world or what?’ “She does!” Marinette squealed and threw herself into Alya’s arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This will definitely get a special place on my wall. I love it! I love everything! I love you!” “You’re next!” Regardless of the cuddling going on Nino passed a package to Adrien. Realizing that it wasn’t official yet that Adrien was his giftee Nino got afraid he screw the whole gift exchange and made up a pity excuse. “I… uhm, I found it over there… It had your name on it… so I guess… it’s from your Secret Santa?” The gift did not even have a name tag on it but Adrien was too excited to notice and quickly opened the present. “What is that even supposed to be?” Alya crocked an eyebrow at the… thing in his hands. “It’s a cat!” he answered without missing a beat. “… a cat?” “Yeah, sure! It is obviously a cat.” “Obviously!” Nino emphasized Adrien’s statement. He was holding a stuffed black sock, two corks glued to each side, two buttons poorly sewn to what Alya considered the front as it seemed slightly thicker than the rest of the ‘body’ and some loosen strains of wool were tucked to it at the other end. It did not have ears though. Obviously Nino could have used Marinette’s help too. “Moreover it is a gorgeous little kitty” Adrien added. And he meant it. “Adrien, please tell me you didn’t draw your own name and kept quiet to not cause us any trouble and please tell me you were not making these crappy gifts for yourself.” “Crappy?!” An offended yell escaped Nino’s lips. “They’re made with love! … Wait, I just revealed myself. Now he knows that his Secret Santa is neither Marinette nor you. It’s obvious now, I screwed up everything!” “It’s already been obvious, babe.” “No!” “Yes. It’s been as obvious as your Secret Santa since the very moment you opened your first present.” “No, it wasn’t!” “Nino, I can’t even knit. And I guess neither can Adrien.” “Maybe I was in the misconception of believing that both of you loved me enough to learn it for my sake.” “Nino, you can’t be serious. Since it’s obvious that I am Marinette’s Secret Santa yours could only be Mari herself or Adrien and you cannot convince me that anyone would assume that Adrien is capable of creating the gifts you got! No offense” she added with a short glance to Adrien. “None taken” he laughed. “People are full of surprises, Alya! I believe that everyone has an unexpected hidden talent inside of them. Also I got that excited that I couldn’t think straight” he added quietly. “Yeah, that’s obvious” Alya answered after a victorious laugh. “I get it now!” Adrien suddenly interrupted her. “A basket, cat toys and a collar! You made sure that I would be able to secure a comfy home for my new kitty friend and that it has everything it needs! You’re at least as precious as this little boy right here” Proud and happy Adrien beamed at his best friend. “Aw, man!” Nino clenched one hand to his chest and started to tear up while Adrien put an arm around his shoulders. “These guys…” Alya shook her head while Marinette giggled next to her. Before Nino could start to cry Marinette decided to step in. “Do you want your gift now too?” “YES!” he said a little too loud without hesitation so she handed it to him. Within seconds Nino opened it and revealed a fictile trophy that looked like a Grammy Award. “Best musician in any universe and all dimensions - ever” Nino read out loud and looked at Marinette, tearing up again. “Dude. How can you expect me to act all stoic while all of you are being cute as hell?!” He threw his hands up in despair before putting his glasses down to dab his eyes with the tissue Alya offered him. Coughing slightly Adrien took out the last Secret Santa present of the year. “So it really is you” Alya whistled impressed as she reached out to take it and started to unwrap it. Adrien flushed a little, scratched the back of his neck embarrassed and avoided her eyes but smiled brightly due to her surprised gasp. “I did everything on my own! But I had great help when it comes to instructions” he smiled at Marinette who would have been proud of him if the plush Alya was currently holding wouldn’t have been a Kwami. It was possible that he miserably failed the proportions of an actual fox or he did very well at Kwami proportions. “It’s a side kick!” Adrien explained unsure why Marinette looked so shocked. “Isn’t it time to go back to your families?” Marinette heard herself saying while her thoughts circled around one question. “Unfortunately yes. It got kinda late so I have to leave… But we’ll see each other tomorrow, right?” Alya asked with a hopeful smile. “Of course! Say Merry Christmas to your family for me, would you?” While the girls hugged each other Nino faced Adrien who was still worried about Marinette’s reaction. “Man, I’m still kinda sad that you’re spending this big day with her family instead of mine but I get it that it’s too crowded at my place with the whole family for you. Save some Christmassy happiness for me, would you?” “Of course” Adrien laughed and for a moment he thought that he was only overreacting but as soon as Nino and Alya were out of the door Marinette expression got serious and she dragged him back to her room. “How did you come up with the sidekick?” she asked as innocently as possible. Surprised he looked at her. “What do you mean? You showed me how to easily sew plush toys with socks and that’s exactly what I did” he explained, wondering what she wanted to hear. “Yeah but… why did you chose these proportions? It looked… quirky.” “Oh… well I guess that’s all I was capable of” he tried to laugh it off. When he decided to sew Alya a Kwami he was sure no one would get suspicious since they had no idea what Kwamis were much less what they looked like. “Yeah, makes sense” Marinette answered without a trace of amusement in her voice. Nervously Adrien tried to withstand her observing look but he failed and his eyes darted to his bag where he assumed Plagg being asleep as usual. “Ha!” Marinette blurted out and sprinted to the bag to rip it open. Helplessly Adrien reached out his hand in an attempt to stop her but he could only watch her, now paralyzed. Even though she already expected it she stared at the black cat-like Kwami inside bewildered. It yawned. “Hey kiddo, why did youuuuuuuuuu…” It’s already huge eyes widened even more as it saw Marinette. “Too late now to act like a doll, isn’t it?” With a resigned sigh he flew up to be on eye-level with her. “Hello Marinette. My name is…” “Plagg. I know. Tikki mentioned you before.” Plagg’s jaw dropped open while Adrien finally overcame his state of shock and hurried towards them and grabbed Plagg, laughing nervously. “Hahaha, Marinette that’s kind of embarrassing, you found my… You know that’s just a toy that… Wait. Who’s Tikki?” ‘And how does she know about Kwamis, Plagg in particular?’ he added mentally. The situation freaked him out, he had no idea what was happening. Already opening her mouth Marinette intended to explain but she was stopped by a red flash that dashed towards Plagg from a hidden corner of her room. It happened too fast for Plagg to elude so he got caught up in a tight hug from Tikki, her voice even higher pitched than usual. For the first time since he met him Adrien heard something like a giggle from Plagg as he snuggled up to his red companion. Adrien didn’t know which fact bewildered him more: Marinette holding a Kwami or Plagg being delighted at shown affection towards him. And then it hit him. “Wait… wait. Waitwaitwait. That would mean that you… you are…” “Yes, Chat.” “You are… You are… I mean it would mean that you are…” “Chaton!” “But… You are- wait! You are…” “Tikki, I hate to interrupt your reunion but spots on for the sake of that adorable dork.” Dumbfounded Adrien stared at Marinette. Ladybug. Who was Marinette. She waited for him to react in any way but he just stood there, frozen. For more than 40 seconds and Marinette got nervous. “Minou? Could you say something?” “Howcanyoubesocalmrightnow?” he squealed. “I guess I kind of hoped it was you…?” she admitted quietly and sheepishly looked down. Finally Adrien moved and walked up to her. She looked up to him. “I couldn’t have wished for this in my wildest dreams” Adrien whispered under his breath, took her face in his hands and kissed her. “Oh my… I’m so happy right now.” Smiling Marinette nuzzled his nose with her own and Adrien happily leaned in to touch foreheads. Neither of them realized how long they were standing there but suddenly Marinette drew back. “Oh wait, I got a present for you!” Excitedly Marinette rummaged through her drawer while Adrien watched her delighted. “You were not allowed to prepare a gift for me. It’s an official rule of Secret Santa Marinette Style ™, remember?” “I didn’t know it was you, remember?” she responded, slightly annoyed. “Oh yeah. I guess you didn’t break a rule. But I did!” he beamed brightly at her and proudly handed her a small package wrapped in pink at the same time Marinette gave him a small box in light green. “You dishonored my baby!” she yelled and threw her present at him. As he caught the soft piece he walked over to her and put his arms around her. “I wanted to make you something special. And Chat Noir did not participate so… It’s absolutely fine.” “I guess” she answered trying to hide her smile but Adrien cupped her face and kissed her again. “Now open it!” he said excitedly and she began to laugh. Since she really wanted to know what it was she ripped the paper apart. “Oh my god! This is… open yours.” “We are meant for each other. That’s the purrfect purresent, Purrincess” Adrien whispered into her ear and Marinette had to fight the urge to slap and to kiss him at the same time. “You’re not even in costume right now” she complained and he grinned roguishly grinned at her. “You have to deal with the Chat Noir inside of me all the time now.” She leaned towards him and smirked. “I guess I can only just live with that.” And with that she decided to give in to the urge to kiss her silly cat. “But… you know Umbrion’s details aren’t green but ye-“ “It’s shiny, ok?” she interrupted him. “And I mean… Do you really think Skitty looks like this?” she held up the sock plush he made for her. He smirked. “But you still love it.” She beamed at him. “I do indeed.”

“Merry Christmas, my Lady.” “Merry Christmas, my love.”

You did it! It’s over! I am still sorry and I still hope you like it! You’re great!

(also thanks to @midnight1217 and @reyawoodelf because without them this wouldn’t have come to an end and I would have been completely lost)

#miraculous fanfiction #mlss2017 #mlss 2017 gift #too long #i still suck at tagging

[anime-matchmaker-blog]

Under the Kotetsu

Since the school was closed for the break, the clubroom was inaccessible. The team unanimously voted to have their Christmas party and gift exchange at Kuroo’s house because it was the only way they could have Kenma attend. Not to mention, he had the largest kotetsu that could fit them all and more.

Steaming cups of tea were in front of each of them, their plates and chopsticks piled in the sink. The various gift bags and boxes were placed on the table, all of them varying in size and color. Kuroo took his phone out to open his playlist. “We’ll go around while the song’s playing and when it ends, that’s the gift you get. Got it?”

“Kuroo-san!” Lev waved his hand. “Play some Christmas music!”

“I don’t have any on my phone. Besides, there aren’t any good songs anyway.”

Yaku rolled his eyes. “You’ve got no spirit. If you want Jingle Bells, I have it.”

“And here I wanted to show off my new Spyair album,” Kuroo grumbled. “Fine, put it on, Yaku.”

The libero turned the volume to the max as Jingle Bells echoed around them. The exchange began, their gifts moving around the table. “Anyone has any plans for the break?” Kai asked. “I’ll be in Akita visiting family until the end of the year.”

“That’s pretty far,” Inuoka commented. “Akita has a lot of snow around this time too. Do you ski or anything, Kai-san?”

“Not really. I always focused on volleyball than any other sport. What about you, Inuoka?”

“I’m just staying in the city this year. We usually travel, but I don’t want to get injured before the Spring High.” He passed his gift to Shibayama. “Didn’t you say you were going somewhere, Yuuki?”

Shibayama shook his head. “The trip got canceled because of my dad’s work. It’s okay, there’s a lot of work I need to finish here. Lev, aren’t you going to Russia? That’s what you told us.”

He nodded. “Yep! It’ll be my first time!”

“Keep the circle going, Lev,” Yamamoto called out. The tall middle blocker quickly passed on his gift, resuming the steady flow. “Akane’s cooking this year. Should I be scared?”

“She’s pretty good, isn’t she?” Yaku asked. “She made us chocolate one year. Those were pretty good chocolates too.”

“Yeah, but she’s also, you know…kind of out there? Well, not really, but you know what I mean!” Yamamoto turned to Kenma. “You’ll let me crash your dinner if anything happens, right, Kenma?”

“The table is already full this year.” He often had joint dinners with Kuroo’s family since they were close friends.

“It’s just one extra person! Please, Kenma!”

“Taketora-san, you can join my family for Christmas,” Lev offered. “We always have leftovers, so you can share some with your family too!”

“Aren’t you in Russia by then?” Yaku pointed out. “That’s too much for one meal.”

The song began to wind down and then fade into the background. “Okay, stop,” Kuroo called out. Inuoka took back the present he gave to Shibayama, Fukunaga debating on which one of his he passed on. He handed Yamamoto the blue-striped bag. “Let’s start with the first-years. Inuoka?”

Inuoka shook his bag before opening it up. Wrapped within the tissue paper was a wallet. “Oh, is this a wallet? I needed one!”

“Oh, that’s from me.” Kuroo grinned. “Glad you needed it.”

“Thank you, Kuroo-san!”

“No problem. Shibayama?”

The bag he had was small and beneath the tissue paper was a light novel. He flipped it over to read the title aloud. “’I was staring at my phone waiting for my girlfriend to call me, but she didn’t, so the radiation turned me into a vending machine’…?”

“That’s from me!” Yamamoto raised his hand. “It was really good, so I thought I’d let one of you guys have the first volume.”

“The sequel is better,” Kenma mumbled. Shibayama placed the light novel back in its place, bowing his head in gratitude to his senpai.

Lev was next. “It’s kind of heavy…” he took out a mug wrapped in tissue paper. When he tore it off, his eyes widened. “Oh! This is great!” the mug had was red and black with white paw prints along the bottom as well as a silhouette of a cat.

“That’s mine. I couldn’t think of anything else, so I had the mug custom made.” Yaku scratched the back of his head. “Don’t break it, you hear?”

“I won’t! Thank you, Yaku-san!”

Fukunaga opened his present afterwards. It was a calendar showcasing Japan’s most scenic areas and a planner accompanied it. He bowed his head at Kai in gratitude, the third-year waving his hand nonchalantly. “Please put it to good use,” he said. “Calendars aren’t very popular anymore.”

“Go on, Kenma,” Kuroo said, nudging the pudding-haired setter. He let out a small sigh, carefully opening his present. He took out a bundle wrapped in dog-patterned wrapping paper.

“That’s from me!” Inuoka piped up. “I think you’ll like it a lot, Kenma-san!”

He peeled the wrapping paper off to reveal a manga volume – the fifth volume of Boku no Hero Academia. Kenma looked up at him. “Thank you,” he said slowly. “Why the fifth volume? Why not the first?”

“Todoroki looks super cool on it! You told me he was your favorite too, right? Good thing you got it!”

Yamamoto didn’t hesitate to tear into his present. The package contained a pair of gloves, toque, and scarf, all of them matching their school colors. Shibayama looked embarrassed as he said sheepishly, “I didn’t know what size to make them, so I hope they aren’t too small for you, Taketora-san.”

“You made these yourself, Shibayama?” Yamamoto asked incredulously. The small first-year nodded and if it weren’t for the kotetsu, Yamamoto would’ve jumped up to tackle him. “Thanks! I’ll take good care of them!”

Kuroo glanced at Yaku. “You’re next.” Yaku rolled his eyes and opened his. He took out a figure of a cat, rotating it around to examine it.

“Is this a maneki neko?” he asked. “It looks like one, but at the same time, it reminds me of something else…” his eyes lit up a moment later. “It’s Sensei!”

“Sensei?” Kuroo repeated. “What kind of sensei are you thinking of?”

“Nyanko-sensei! From Natsume Yuujinchou!” Yaku started to grin, his enthusiasm lighting the entire room. “Thank you, Fukunaga! You have the best presents.”

“You should really stop watching so much anime,” Kuroo muttered. “Isn’t it a shoujo? Then again, you did cry at the end of Shigatsu wa kimi no Uso-“

“Shut up!”

Kai held his gift up. “It’s my turn now.” The bag he had was fairly light and when he peered into it, it was empty. He took the tissue paper out to remove two iTunes cards. “I know who this is from. Thank you, Kenma. I’ll put these to good use.”

Finally, it was the captain’s turn. There was one person left so he shot him a look before beginning to open it. He opened the bag, removed the tissue paper, and took out the object. “It’s a volleyball.”

“I couldn’t think of anything else!” Lev held his hands out defensively. “I hope you like it anyway!”

“At least it’s Mikasa.” He sighed. “Thanks, Lev. I’ll need it for the future, I’m sure.” He put the volleyball back in the bag and pushed it out of the way. “Put all the garbage together and we can toss it later.”

“I’m too comfy to move,” Yaku complained. “I’m glad we don’t have a kotetsu…although it’d be nice.”

“It’s quite warm,” Kai agreed. “Didn’t we have dessert too? Where is it?”

Kuroo closed his eyes. “In the fridge. Lev, go get it.”

“Sure!” Lev jumped to his feet and headed for the kitchen. Inuoka jumped up after him, Shibayama following to help out.

Christmas wasn’t a big holiday to any of them, but Kuroo liked using it as an excuse to spend time with the team. Sure, he already spent way too much time with them as it was, but it didn’t matter. This wasn’t going to last and he wanted as many memories as possible.

“Don’t make a mess, got it?” he called out as they distributed slices of cake. “Stay warm on your way home too and have a good Christmas.”

“It’s merry, Kuroo,” Kai said. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Is that it?”

“Close enough.”

#Haikyuu!! #Kuroo Tetsurou #Kai Nobuyuki #Yaku Morisuke #Yamamoto Taketora #Kozume Kenma #Fukunaga Shouhei #Inuoka Sou #Shibayama Yuuki #haiba lev #drabble #Sara's stuff

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

no i never get used to silence

Fandom: Supergirl Rating: T (To be safe. There’s like. One ‘bad word.’) Summary: Kara does not do well with change. A/N: raise your hand if you’re a little disheartened at the lack of genfic coming out of a certain sister focused fandom week  

…

Kara loves the first day of school.

Has always loved the first day of school—or, whatever the Kryptonian equivalent would be. (Kara supposes the closest thing would have been the season following the Trials, when students were advanced to the next tier of lessons, and Guild Assessments were updated.)

It’s a little different on Earth (…okay maybe a lot different) but Kara loves it all the same.

Alex?

Not so much.

Not at first, anyway. Not at six thirty in the morning.

Kara knows this because she…maaaaybe gets a little excited, and maaaaaybe sets the alarm a little bit earlier than strictly necessary, and maaaaaybe has a hard time keeping quiet as she gets ready, and maaaaaaybe wakes Alex up accidentally-on-purpose.

And Alex grumbles into her pillow and blindly shoves Kara’s grinning face out of her personal space and tells her that it is way too early for this and human teenagers do not get this excited over high school, Kara. But Kara can hear the amusement, buried beneath the mild annoyance.

Today, though.

Today, her alarm goes off early, and she doesn’t want to get up.

Beep, beep, beep. She lets the alarm chirp for several long minutes, hunching further into her blankets.

Beep, beep, beep.

She reluctantly rolls over, reaching out to silence the clock. Her fingers brush the snooze button, and her gaze drifts towards the empty bed across the room.

The sight makes her throat burn. She quickly turns back to face the wall, twisting the fabric of her comforter in her fists.

She’s fine, she’s just…

Not great with change.

Eliza’s already up, making breakfast in the kitchen by the time Kara’s showered and dressed for school. She takes a seat at the table, working on a slouch that would make Alex very proud.

“Morning, sweetie,” Eliza says with a smile, walking over to drop a kiss on Kara’s temple. Kara hums a greeting, and wonders if she’s too depressed to make pancakes.

After some deliberation, the answer is, no, no she is not.

She gets up and starts poking through the cupboards, looking for the necessary ingredients. Eliza watches her, and then turns her attention to the digital clock on the microwave.

“Better put on a little super speed,” she teases Kara. “Someone’s running a bit late today.”

Kara forces a smile, but keeps her pace at a decidedly ‘normal human being’ level.

This does not go unnoticed by Eliza, who, after a few seconds, crosses the distance between them and wraps Kara in a tight, one-armed hug, rubbing her shoulder, soothing and slow.

“Kind of quiet around here, with just the two of us, huh?” she says, because if she says anything else, Kara will deny, deny, deny, and put on that unaffected smile, and pretend like everything’s fine.

Kara shrugs. “Kind of,” she says in a small voice.

“It’ll take some getting used to.”

“…Yeah.”

“So it’s okay, to be a little sad.”

Kara’s onto her by now, so she rolls her eyes, and insists that she’s fine, really. Eliza doesn’t press the matter. Instead, she opens the fridge, and pulls out a brown paper bag with Kara’s name scribbled on the side in black Sharpie.

“So you won’t be needing this lunch I made special for you? Because I made it specifically for ‘cheering up’ purposes, but if you’re fine—”

Kara tilts her glasses down and checks the contents of the bag, and then beams as she wraps Eliza in a (two-armed but tempered) hug.

“Thank you,” she says it a few times, interspersed with admissions of okay I do kind of miss Alex so I will definitely be needing those potstickers, yes, and Eliza just nods sagely.

“Mmm, thought so.”

Kara’s outlook brightens considerably as she gets back to measuring the Bisquick, her earlier sadness fading. She smiles to herself.

Maybe…she’s not so bad at change after all.

No, she’s definitely bad at change.

She realizes this right around fourth period. The entire morning has been spent going through the (admittedly tedious) motions of the first day—introductions, expectations, more introductions.

Which, normally, Kara doesn’t mind. Except that each class has gone more or less the same:

“Kara Danvers?” a teacher will say.

“Here,” Kara will answer.

“Danvers…do you have a sister?”

“Yeah, Alex.”

“I had Alex in (insert grade level and class here)! She graduated last year, right? How’s she doing?”

And of course, Kara would very proudly tell them that out of all of the Big Deal colleges that wanted her sister, Alex picked The Biggest Deal and is doing great, thanks.

And that was fine—Kara had no problem, telling her teachers how awesome her sister was.

But it did get her thinking about Alex, and how she was hundreds of miles away, as opposed to three classrooms over, and how she wouldn’t be waiting for Kara at lunch time, wouldn’t be at home after school…

Her throat burns again.

Her new math teacher has them playing 'two truths and a lie.’ Kara’s not paying attention—she’s staring out through the murky glass of the classroom windows, idly entertaining the thought of testing the limits of her super hearing, her telescopic vision.

If she listened hard enough, could she pick up Alex’s heartbeat, all those long miles away?

It’s dumb; she probably can’t.

(This does not stop her from trying.)

Not exactly her best idea—it’s a lot of stimuli to take in and filter past. It requires all of her concentration, her focus, her control.

She’s pretty sure she gets as far as the neighboring middle school, when suddenly—

“—ARA.”

Mr. Pang doesn’t shout it, but he might as well have, because it’s loud and close in Kara’s ear. She startles, jerking back in her chair, crushing the laminate particle board of her desk in the process.

Her teacher blinks in surprise, stepping back, staring at the destruction as Kara’s classmates laugh and guffaw in disbelief.

Kara stares back, terrified, because Rao, Alex hasn’t even been gone two weeks, and I’ve already blown my cover, and people are gonna find out I’m an alien, and, and—!

“…That’s…” her teacher starts to say, and then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, muttering about how it’s going to be a long year, dear God. “Great, just great, we’re short desks as it is.”

She isn’t detained and/or shuffled off to some Black Ops site for experimentation and dissection. Instead, she’s told that her parents might have to pay to replace the desk, but that probably won’t be the case. “These desks are literally falling apart,” Mr. Pang says, as he directs her to the spare, rolling desk chair at the TA desk up front. “But hey, don’t worry about it folks, we got nice new turf for the football field, isn’t that great?”

The rest of the class laughs at the sarcastic comment, and attention is shifted away from Kara, and back to…whatever it is they were covering while Kara spaced out. Kara does her best to stay on task after that, not wanting a repeat slip up. One ruined desk is a fluke. Two…is cause for questioning.

The day goes on, but that annoying burn lingers in the back of her throat. Because she’s embarrassed and missing Alex and just really wants to go home.

Three o'clock can’t come fast enough.

Kara walks home, after school. Eliza told her she could drive the Jetta, if she wanted, but Kara’s not a big fan of driving.

Besides, the late August sun feels nice, and there’s a bit of a breeze, coming off the ocean. It makes her feel a little less…awful. She briefly considers testing her super hearing again, but instead decides to train her ears on the dull roar of the waves, losing herself in the crash and hiss of the spray.

She kicks at some loose gravel, and accidentally sends a larger rock whizzing down the street and out of sight. Distantly, a cat yowls, and something large and metallic falls over. She sighs in frustration.

She misses Alex.

She misses Alex, and she’s bad at change, and she imagines coming home to a big, quiet house with just her and Eliza every day (and maybe not even Eliza, depending on how late she’s working) and the thought of being alone is enough to exacerbate that troublesome burn in the back of her throat; now, it’s a full-blown ache.

Eliza’s still at work by the time she gets home. She drops her backpack by the front door (which is Very Much Frowned Upon) and she kicks her shoes off, not caring where they land. She drags herself upstairs and falls into bed, face down, where she plans on staying for the rest of the school year.

She doesn’t know how many hours pass before she hears the car pull into the driveway, Eliza’s Notting Hill soundtrack skipping on track seven, like it always does. Eliza huffs a little as she gets out of the car (a relatively new development; Alex insisted it was arthritis, which led to an entirely too-long debate about the nuances of joint swelling.)

Kara manages a weak smile; Alex’s and Eliza’s numerous arguments over medical science always reminded her of when her dad and Uncle Jor would get into it at family dinners, bickering over anything and everything, from inefficient rocket propulsion to the outcome of the most recent Garata match.

Shockingly, this trip down memory lane does not make her feel any better. She curls onto her side and hugs her extra pillow close, so wrapped up in feeling miserable that she doesn’t notice Eliza’s presence until the mattress dips beside her, and Eliza’s hand is on her shoulder, once again rubbing soothing, slow circles.

“You should give Alex a call,” she suggests gently.

“Already tried,” Kara grumbles miserably, flopping an arm backwards, pointing towards her cell phone on the nightstand. “Voicemail.”

Eliza laughs lightly. “Maybe…try again a little later. You know how she is…she’s probably still busy settling in, adjusting to her classes, a new routine…”

“The new routine’s dumb,” Kara tells her, sniffling. She rubs at her eyes with the back of her hand, knocking her glasses to one side.

Eliza’s voice is soft and sympathetic. “It’ll get better, sweetie.” Kara grunts. “Well, alright, it’ll get easier. I promise.”

Eliza rubs her shoulder for a little bit, and eventually, Kara tells her about the desk incident at school. Eliza doesn’t get mad—she never gets mad…not at Kara, at least—but she does let out an exasperated sigh.

“No one suspected anything,” Kara makes sure to emphasize. Eliza nods.

“Having seen my fair share of classrooms…stranger things have happened.”

Kara’s curiosity is piqued. “Really?” she asks, wondering what on Earth could be weirder than her.

Thus, the evening is spent listening to Eliza recount various insane tales of her time in lecture halls and labs. Normally, she saves these sorts of stories for Alex—which Kara doesn’t mind. It’s…kind of their thing, and Kara tries not to intrude.

But she likes hearing about the annoying TAs and the centrifuge from Hell and the early, earnest efforts of Eliza and Jeremiah’s research that, more often than not, involved a lot of jury-rigging and therefore, a lot of duct tape. Clark sometimes makes an appearance, and Eliza makes sure to include all of the embarrassing details.

Kara’s feeling a lot better, when she tries calling Alex a second time, later that night.

She gets the voicemail again.

Kara’s good mood is gone. Seconds later, though, she gets a text. Sorry! Saw that you called just busy w/ class stuff. I’ll call you tomorrow! Try not to set anything on fire in the meantime lol

The prospect of having to wait almost a whole day to talk to Alex doesn’t exactly fill her with much enthusiasm, but it’s still better than nothing. She texts back a smiley face, along with a haha no fire yet did destroy school property tho in the hopes of prolonging the conversation, but Alex just sends back a XD, probably assuming that Kara’s joking, and that’s that.

So…she doesn’t feel as awful, but she doesn’t necessarily feel great, either.

She finds herself wandering downstairs late at night, long after Eliza’s gone to bed, unable to sleep in a room that feels a little more 'half empty’ than 'half full.’

Eliza finds her the next morning, sprawled out gracelessly on the couch, the Hello, Dolly! DVD menu music looping endlessly.

“Alright, up, up,” Eliza says, nudging her awake. Kara lets out an uncharacteristic growl. “None of that. We have places to be, come on.”

Kara pushes herself up, and blinks at the wall clock.

“…I’m late for school,” she says, a little bit shocked.

“You’re sick, so you’re not going,” Eliza tells her.

Kara opens her mouth to state the obvious: I don’t get sick, but Eliza holds up a hand. “All part of maintaining appearances. Also, I need help with something. Two birds, one stone.”

“What do you need help with?” Kara asks, still (pleasantly?) surprised that she gets to skip school. She’s…never done that before. (Sure, she and Alex talked about skipping school, but. Those plans never got much farther than the 'hypothetical’ stage.)

“Carrying some boxes,” Eliza says offhandedly, heading for the kitchen. “But mostly, keeping me company. I have a long drive, and all of my CDs skip. Conversation would be a vast improvement.”

Kara sits up straighter. “How…how long of a drive?”

“Mmm, six hours, give or take? Depending on traffic.” Slowly, Kara feels a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.  “So the sooner we get ourselves going, the bet—” Kara’s dressed and ready before she can finish the sentence, “—ter.”

“How many boxes? Should we pack anything else? Alex is gonna hate us.” Kara can barely stand still, she’s so excited.

“Mmm,” Eliza inclines her head towards the care package that she was going to mail, but. An in-person delivery might be better. “Not if we bring pie.”

Alex is horrified for maybe, like, five seconds.

“Oh my God, Mom, seriously? It’s barely been a week,” she says, groaning. But Kara barrels into her, hugging her tight, apologizing profusely. “Wait, why are you sorry? Did you break my CD player again?”

“I just…missed you a lot? It wasn’t Eliza’s idea. Well, I mean, it was her idea, but only because I was being a wimp…”

She also makes sure to mention the pie which, just as Eliza predicted, smooths everything over considerably.

“Not chocolate pecan,” Alex feigns surprise. Kara looks moderately offended.

“Of course not,” she says. “It’s for you, it should be your favorite.”

“Mmm. Mom made you a separate pie, didn’t she.”

“…Maybe.”

Alex rummages through the rest of the contents of the care package, recoiling slightly as she stumbles across Kara’s homemade card.

“Ugh. So much glitter,” she says, handling it gingerly. “This stuff never goes away.”

“That…is true.” Kara glances at her fingertips, some of which still bear the sparkly mark of glitter glue.

But Alex tacks it up on her bulletin board regardless, and thanks Kara for the thoughtful gifts. And for not eating any of the pie on the drive up.

(“It was a struggle,” Kara admits, and Eliza nods. “It was.”)

Once that’s done, the trio makes something of a show of hauling the remaining boxes upstairs—Alex had apparently forgotten a few remaining items for her dorm room, so the impromptu reunion can be passed off as something a little less damaging to Alex’s reputation.

They spend the rest of the afternoon simply catching up. At one point, Eliza excuses herself, mentioning a colleague she’d like to say hi to before they go.

So Alex decides to show Kara around—later, when she’s inevitably teased about her family showing up not even two weeks into classes, she can tell them that Kara’s interested in attending, possibly. The campus tour will help sell the story.

Really, though, she’s happy to see them—classes have been crazy enough to keep her from feeling too homesick, but once in a while, she’ll catch herself planning to tell Kara or her mom something at dinner, only to remember that’s…not exactly how it works, now.

And that realization is always a little…it’s a bit of a downer, sure. But, she reminds herself, looking over at her sister—she’s the older one. She has to be…something. Brave, strong? Set a good example, maybe? For Kara.

“I’m glad you came up to visit,” she says, throwing an arm around Kara’s shoulders. “But. Are you gonna come up here every time you get lonely? Because I do have classes to attend, you know.”

“You should try skipping,” Kara says with a smirk. “It’s pretty fun.”

“I’m gone one week and you’re playing hookie, destroying school property…what next? Grand theft auto?”

Kara wrinkles her nose.

“What would I do with a car?”

“Uh, drive it?”

“Mmm, pass.”

“Weirdo.” Alex laughs. “I know several people who would kill for a car. Public transit here sucks.”

“Good thing you don’t have to go far, I guess?” Kara says. Alex shrugs.

“I’d like to explore a bit,” she tells her. “But. I guess I’m with you. Not really in love with the idea of making car payments.” She shoves her hands in her pockets. “…Maybe a motorcycle.”

Kara stares.

“Eliza would kill you.”

“I’m joking,” Alex says. Kara doesn’t believe her, and her suspicion must show on her face, because Alex continues. “Really, I am. Mostly, anyway. …Whatever. It’s not gonna happen anyway, I’ve now joined the ranks of poor, pitiful, destitute college students.”

“I’ve read they mostly survive on Ramen,” Kara says with a completely straight face. Alex snorts.

“Yeah, Ramen and Red Bull. That’s what you should’ve put in the care package.”

Kara shakes her head.

“Pie is way better,” she declares passionately.

Alex laughs. “No argument there.”

They stay through dinner, but not for much longer after that. It’s not ideal, having to drive back the same day, but unfortunately necessary, as Eliza has to be back in Midvale for a meeting tomorrow morning.

“Thanks for bringing the lamp and stuff,” Alex gestures back towards the dorms. “Saved me a trip back home.”

“You should still come. Back home. Sometime,” Kara blurts. “Eventually, I mean.”

“Well, duh.”

“Like, before Thanksgiving Break,” Kara amends, stepping forward and hugging Alex goodbye. She drops her head onto her sister’s shoulder—they’re about the same height now, so it’s not so much a drop as a lean, but either way it works.

“I will,” Alex promises. “But…I do…have to be here. And go to classes. And be on my own a bit,” she reminds her sister gently. “That’s…kinda why I picked this school. I wanted a change, you know?”

Kara thinks change is highly overrated. And, though she knows going away to college is A Thing Young People Do, the idea of being sent off, far from home, far from the people you love, with the weighty burden of adult responsibility?

She’s already done that once. Wasn’t great.

But she’s not Alex, and Alex isn’t her; she knows that her sister was indeed ready for a change by the time her Senior year rolled around. Ready for someplace besides Midvale. And she knows that Alex is going to do amazing things here.

So she’s going to be…brave? Strong? Not be such a wimp, maybe? For Alex.

“Yeah,” she says, nodding. “Yeah. I get it.”

“You’ll be fine, alright?” Alex grins. “Just. Don’t be late for Mr. Nelson’s class. And Ms. Harris isn’t tolerable until she’s had coffee so like, keep a low profile until you’re certain she has caffeine on board.”

“Okay,” Kara says, making a mental list. She’s feeling better, about the days ahead. Alex says she can do this.

And so, she can.

“I’ll be better about calling, though,” Alex adds, hugging her back. “And, seriously. Quit breaking shit.”

“Alex,” Eliza says, and Kara hides her giggles.

“'Kay,” she says. “I’ll quit breaking…stuff.”

“Thank goodness one of my children is polite,” Eliza gives Alex a pointed look as she hugs her. Kara steps back, and does her best not to listen in as Eliza murmurs something to Alex. (Though, she hears something that sounds a lot like 'proud’ and, judging by the way Alex’s  mouth involuntarily pulls into a bashful grin, Kara’s certain that whatever it was? Was good.)

“Stay out of trouble,” Eliza calls from the car as they pull out. “No visible tattoos or tongue piercings, alright?”

Alex waves. “How about a motorcycle?”

“Alex Danvers, no,” Eliza says firmly. “Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you too, Mom, Kara. Bye!”

“Bye!”

They wave and holler until the campus parking lot fades from view.

They’re not even on the freeway yet, when Kara’s phone goes off. She looks down. A text from Alex that simply reads,

Love you, sis.

P.S. Alex YES.

NOTES:

- I have kept Alex’s college deliberately vague, because I’ve honestly forgotten what the show has established re: her education, but. One can probably guess whereabouts I put her, based on the travel time. - Upon further reflection, I’m 96% certain the care package bit is the result of a/inspired by a discussion w/ @thatsjustsupergirl so. Credit where credit is due. - Clint Barton is great at boats; Kara Danvers is not great at cars.

#stranger writes #supergirl fic #kara danvers #alex danvers #eliza danvers #long post #ish #edit: sorry read more is acting weird? #tried to fix it #*shrugs*

[violetsystems]

#personal

Like most vacations since last year, I don’t really do much of anything exciting.  The entire last year I took a week off every two months.  Part of it I stayed home cleaning and decluttering my stuff.  I’ve been living in the same place for about a decade now.  Every year there’s something new to conquer.  Lately it’s mostly been about enjoying my time alone here.  I literally cannot leave the house without someone trying to hijack my time.  I wish I could explain it better but it just comes with the territory.  Some people become famous.  Other people become this sort of fixture or anchor.  In some ways I’ve thought of it as developing an infrastructure or ecosystem around me.  How I spend money.  Where I spend money.  What personal information I share.  What I keep to myself.  There’s a lot of life I have to declutter outside of my apartment on a daily basis.  A friend from China messaged me yesterday to vent about being quarantined.  The banks were closed until Monday.  There’s a lot of people trying to get a read off of me for any number of current events.  Politics lately I have tuned out from completely.  Mostly for my own peace of mind.  Sometimes for my own safety.  Too many people have gotten the wrong idea about things I’ve done particularly when it comes to the arts.  I find nobody ever really asks you if you are cool with any of it.  You just end up in public in a vulnerable space and someone is there to manipulate it.  It doesn’t help I walk everywhere.  You can see me coming from a mile away literally.  Which means that sometimes I don’t really like leaving my house at all in Chicago.  Especially after so many years of people pulling these sort of art pranks on me to get me to ‘engage.’  I spent years trying to engage society.  I spent money on thirteen or fourteen plane tickets to South Korea, Japan and China.  I volunteered for a Korean American Chamber of Commerce three years in a row after work.  Years later Im a fragment of my deeds warped by whatever dark matter forces are at work in Capitalist America.  When people who barely know me insinuate I don’t do enough for the cause I respond mostly with a yawn.  I am literally too tired to focus or argue on explaining why I disengaged from everything and everyone.  I didn’t shut myself out completely.  It’s a tenuous balance of being hyper alone behind closed doors and hyper visible when I walk out to check my mail.  Being famous to me was always described like this though it seemed it had a payoff.  I’ve seen literally nothing other than my salary which last time I checked is about actual work and not fame.  So many people leech off my name but have never reached out to see if I was ok.  And I’ve largely been ok by forgetting about all of it and walking the hell away from the discourse.  Like constantly attending a lecture about your own life without any q and a.  What am I supposed to do?  Sit in the audience and blow snot bubbles while you get every single fact and intention wrong about what I’ve done my whole life.  I’d rather sit at home and play Hearthstone while I intercept my pet’s food deliveries for the month.  GPS is magic.  So is waiting outside for your packages.

I’ve had to come up with elegant solutions to real world problems.  Social engineering when applied to your own life can fix a lot of unfixable shit with other people.  Society is rubber banded together with money most of the time in America.  People try to guilt you into community all the time.  But the rate of return varies wildly on the quality of people you surround yourself with.  There are people out here I can only rely on to a certain point.  And then there’s me who isn’t ever interested in giving up the control I worked very hard to achieve in my life.  I wake up in my surroundings every day.  I pay the bills.  I feed the cats.  I sit at the kitchen table and drink amazing coffee while I play online games at my kitchen table.  When I go to New York it’s much of the same except in public.  There’s a reason why I don’t do that much in Chicago anymore.  It gets abused.  The return on me leaving my house and being vulnerable has been zero.  I still sit here in complete obscurity while people debate my social value behind my back.  A few of my friends on here know the entirety of the charade.  And it probably starts to sound to all of us like a dystopian horror novel unraveling.   I shaved my head again.  Some people might think that’s drastic.  The truth is my hair now matches my passport.  It’s a weird sort of collision of nostalgia for me.  People keep referencing multiple decades of how they know me.  Different versions of how I’m important to society.  All of them nothing to do with me currently.  I feel like nobody really knows who I am except me.  And in some ways I’ve matured enough to be ok with all of that.  Including the part where I tell people to silently fuck off and do my own thing.  The simple truth is I’m not intimidated by anything anymore.  I’m bored with all the talk.  I’m bored with all the simulation and theory.  I’ve lived my life and I’m sick of having to question it to enjoy it.  Some people make hard choices.  For years everything sucked.  And now I sit in my fish bowl every morning counting my blessings and planning my spending.  I read the news and it makes less and less sense to me.  Subtle things mean more to me.  Like how I used to want to compost and never could find a worm.  Somehow magically I found one wiggling through my window garden.  Now I have a whole worm army.  I fed an outdoor cat for years and now it sleeps quietly at my side at night.  I feel more isolated by humanity than nature.  Which is a really fucked up thing to realize when the planet is overrun by human greed.  People look for signs in other places.  Soothsayers tell you whatever you want to hear in whatever way suits them.  Nature speaks in different ways.  I don’t particularly identify as a druid.  Christians call me a witch when I randomly crash their protests outside of planned parenthood.  I’m more of a warlock at the end of the day.  Locking myself out of all this bullshit once and for all.  One mandatory social quarantine at a time.

It’s not that I fear society and what it can do to me.  I’m way past that.  The matrix said it best.  Humanity is it’s own virus wreaking havoc on ecosystems because it can’t control itself.  Everybody needs more.  Nobody knows what they want.  Nobody has to courage to stand their ground and wait in protest. I sometimes wonder whether I’m going to rot away here alone.  I visit New York too much for that to be a reality.  And so the less I question myself the better. There’s no shortage of people fishing for information out of me.  I’ve written it all here for years with little or no hesitation and people still don’t get it.  They don’t want to get it.  They don’t want to let me be me.  They want to attach year after year to me to weigh me down.  Every year they weren’t there shows even worse these days.  I’m not the one being difficult.  I literally deal with irresponsible bullshit every day in every corner of my life.  At a certain point, I treat everything like I treat alcohol.  I walked away from it completely.  I didn’t seek help.  I helped myself.  Sometimes the minimalism of isolation is getting yourself back to zero.  Restoring balance to the force within.  I am moderately comfortable in my own skin.  Sometimes I’m not.  I spend a lot of time in my kitchen doing pilates and yoga in an app.  I used to over exercise.  Like I was fighting against all the chaos in my life.  Things have kind of settled down to a more efficient clip.  Yesterday I spent most of the day waiting for packages at home.  I got a lot of laundry done.  I relaxed and enjoyed my coffee.  I got ready for New York without having to struggle with my messenger bag and the bus.  Everybody is the first to point at me when it comes to supporting these brands.  How I as the consumer become the target to teach a lesson.  I lost my car over a decade ago.  I paid the entire thing off.  I had to leave it with my ex-girlfriend to get her out of my life completely.  It was nowhere near fair.  I still get robocalls about my car’s extended warranty.  And yet here I am using the bus and the train.  Gas prices don’t register to me.  My driver’s license is expired.  My head is also shaved in that one.  Somethings have changed.  Other things have not.  Nobody gives me the respect I deserve.  Nobody knows what I’ve been through and never acted like they cared enough to find out.  So here I am done with most of it.  Burnt out on everyone’s best intentions and empty words.  It’s just me out here really at the end of the day.  The confusing and sad thing is that this is for the best right now.  That as much as things are crumbling around me I’m still always standing my ground.  Sipping good coffee in my kitchen or in Brooklyn looking out at the street knowingly.  It doesn’t really matter what I do these days.  I just have to keep being me.  Only I know how to do that.  You can either enjoy and respect that.  Or you can know how it feels to be forgotten about.  Because I’ve got way too much trouble on my mind to bring any more baggage into my next life.  The one where I’m happy and loved by someone who deserves my attention.   That’s the one I’m currently living.  <3 Tim