#she's bound to go through a little bit of redesigning

[blimbo-buddy]

Alright so I just. never told tumblr about my DM dream orc / ogre but now I got lots of material to work with here. Gonna explain their backstory and why they look like that another day just know that:

Their name is Quixote (goes by he/she/they/any pronouns)

For some fucking reason almost every character they interacted with in the dream, the scene had a subtle romantic undertones to it (why was he pulling bad bitches)

[cabbage-shack]

Ranpoe Wedding Idea

So I had this concept for Ranpoe’s wedding. 

I feel like they would go off on a normal case and one day they come back with matching rings. No one really notices except for Yosano. When the three of them are alone, she asks about the new jewelry and they tell her that they’re engaged. Poe would be generally happy/shy/giddy about it while Ranpo would be like “It was bound to happen, it’s no big deal” but also he’s really happy and proud. 

Yosano asks about what kind of wedding they were planning on. And they realize, they really never thought about the actual wedding bit. Without hesitation, Yosano brings out a big’ol book that has “Celebrations” on it. On the off chance anyone in the agency were to get married or have a life changing event in need of celebration, she and Kunikida set up a variety of potential plans for the occasion. From weddings to funerals, this book has it all.

Ranpo is A-ok with this as he doesn’t really want to go through the hassle of sitting down to plan a wedding. Poe is initially a bit overwhelmed by the concept, but is flattered by the thought being put into it. Still, he’s a bit hesitant saying that it could be alot and for Yauno to not worry about it too much. She insists it’s fine and the plans begin. 

Kunikida is in charge of the various bookings as well as the event schedule, Atsushi and Tanizaki are in charge of the guest list, Kenji and Kyouka are in charge of flower arrangements and decorations, Dasai and Yosano are in charge of food, and Ranpo and Poe can make any alterations as they see fit. 

Each agent had a little adventure with their tasks (Atsushi and Tanizaki getting into trouble trying to see if any of the guild members could come, Dasai not only thinking of poisoning the food but messing with Kunikida’s scheduling, as always, Kenji and Kyouka trying not to pick flowers that symbolize bad luck, lost love, death, or any bad omens in flower language, etc.), but ultimately had a lot of fun in the process.

Poe, a bit overwhelmed by it all, asked if he could be in charge of the outfits, specifically the ones he and Ranpoe would wear. Yosano had no objections and a little life seemed to return to Poe.

As everyone is running around trying to get this wedding together, coming up and asking Ranpo and Poe for inputs for themes, cakes, music, etc., It's becoming more and more noticeable to Ranpo that Poe is becoming uncomfortable, overwhelmed, and withdrawn. But Poe insists he’s alright and that he’s glad everyone’s having fun. 

Their wedding is to take place in the evening, a sunset wedding. The day of, Poe still seems off but is happy to give Ranpo his outfit. It’s so last minute because Poe kept making something, redoing it, redesigning something, adjusting something else, just wanting it to be perfect for his fiancé. He even made a little tie for Karl.

They get dressed in separate rooms, but they do meet one more time before they meet everyone who is waiting for them in another room.  When they see each other they are caught off guard by how beautiful the other looks. 

As Poe gazes at Ranpo, his nerves finally catch up to him. Ranpo asks if he’s ok and Poe finally relents and explains how all of this seemed a bit much and happened so quick and how he’s happy that everyone was supportive and kind and put in so much effort for their wedding, but he feels guilty for not wanting to go through with it, not that he doesn’t want to get married, it’s just..

At this point he has to prop himself up on the nearest desk to keep his legs from giving out.

Ranpo sighs, crosses his hands behind his head, and smiles. He walks past Poe saying “Did you know, all it takes to be married is to sign a few papers? Who even likes going to stuffy weddings.”

Poe looks at Ranpo. 

After a brief pause Ranpo continues, “I say we skip to the good part and find where they hid the cake.”

“But they did so much planning..”

“And they had fun planning. But it is our wedding…” Ranpo picks up Karl from nearby and puts him on Poe’s head with a soft smile. “And I say that makes us in charge!”

Poe slowly relaxes and begins to smile remembering how happy everyone was doing their tasks. 

With a deep breath, Poe agrees,“O-Ok.”

Yosano’s not even angry they didn’t show up to their own wedding, but it did tick off Kunikida. The rest of the agency was a bit concerned and went searching for the grooms. They later found the two eating the cake, slightly covered in it as they had smashed each other's face in the cake already.

--------------ALLL OF THIS TO SAY-----------------

I drew some Ranpoe based on this fic idea I have no energy to fully write.

[jewelpit]

[WIP] The Jester and the Prince

Here's a silly little one-shot I threw together in a few hours and ran for my wife and a friend last weekend. I might clean it up a bit and put it on my blog (once I finish the site redesign that goes with my migration to my new URL), but I figured I might as well toss it up here in case anyone wants to noodle on it.

The stats given are for Ikaros, my fantasy game, but they should be pretty easy to translate to other games.

Background

400 years ago

Leonoro, the prince of the Desert Kingdom was betrothed to Princess Jenevelle of the Kingdom of the Gate (which guards The Pit, an open entrance into Hell). The prince, however, had fallen in love with his jester, Athyed, and wrote a letter to Jenevelle telling her that he wanted to call off the betrothal (he was going to tell his parents after he got Jenevelle's blessing).

Jenevelle and her parents were, uh, not cool about it though. Unbeknownst to Jenevelle, her parents used their knowledge of devil magic to place a curse on the castle and surrounding castle town, killing everyone inside and trapping them in a demiplane, and fragmenting the Desert Kingdom into a handful of warring states.

Adventurers start trying to plunder the castle during the one day a year it's visible, but none ever return.

370 years ago

Princess Jenevelle, now in her forties, has spent her life studying curses and cursebreaking after finding out that her parents are the ones who destroyed their allied kingdom. When they die, Jenevelle abdicates the throne to her younger sister, and heads out to the capitol of the Desert Kingdom to infiltrate the castle and free the people there, including Prince Leonoro and Athyed (both of whom she has long since forgiven).

She enters the castle.

365 years ago

After five days in the castle (castle time), Jenevelle manages to pull out the curse demon into physical form, but it's too strong for her. It grievously injures her using its demon claws (a wound that doesn't heal until the curse is lifted), then vanishes back into the curse. Desperately injured and running out of food and water with no way to leave, Jenevelle is forced to survive by drinking from the magic Spring of Souls that the castle is built on top of, which nourishes her body and keeps her alive for the next year of castle time until the players arrive, at the cost of slowly sapping her of her memories. By the time the players arrive, she'll no longer know who she is, why she's in the castle, or what gave her the demon wound.

Today

The players arrive.

Clues

The prince is magically kept inside the throne room, where he will attack anyone who enters while doing a mummy mumble of "aaiiiiiooooeeeeeee" ("I'm sorry")

The jester is magically kept outside of the throne room, where he will wander the halls, attacking any livings while also doing the mummy mumble of "I'm sorry"

The prince's room has a desk with a prominently displayed note saying "My heart, my love, I cannot wait until we are married. Yours, J." The "J" stands for "Jester" 😉

The corpses of the king and queen will be sitting in their chairs in their bedroom, and any player who fills a basin with water from the Spring of Souls will be able to see and converse with their ghosts in the reflection of the water. Their ghosts are bound to always be within twenty feet of their bodies, so they don't really know much about what's actually going on (although they know that "that intruder woman" has been here for about a year, and that she's the only intruder who has managed to stay alive for more than a week)

They'll also comment, when asked, that Prince Leonoro "spends too much time hanging out with that damn jester, and not enough time studying his duties!"

The castle library has every book on healing, curses, and necromancy pulled out and leafed through, along with scattered notes that become increasingly incoherent. The notes are obviously written in a different hand than the letter in the prince's bedroom (for one thing, Jenevelle is left-handed)

End conditions

Social: If the players find out the prince and jester were lovers and convince the parents to give their blessing (the parent ghosts don't know it's been 400 years, they think it's only been one and that they can still salvage the marriage deal), the curse demon will be summoned.

Mental: If the players can decode Jenevelle's notes in the library, they can bring forth the curse demon.

Physical: If the players lure the jester to the Spring of Souls and immerse him in its waters, the curse demon will come forth in a rage ("you cannot take his memories! He's supposed to suffer!").

In all cases, killing the curse demon after it's summoned will break the curse. The prince and jester can act freely while the curse demon is out, but if it's not defeated the terms of the curse are re-asserted.

The curse demon knows Jenevelle, and will refer to her by name when summoned. This won't restore her memories, unfortunately. Memory loss from water of the Spring of Souls is permanent. Her demon wound will heal when the demon is killed, though.

The castle

The castle gates are barred shut, and the only way in is by climbing up to the rooftop gardens, then either going through its gate or going through the broken hole in the ceiling that drops down into the temple room on the southeastern side of the castle. Once the players enter the castle, they're magically prevented from leaving.

The castle is also managed using an Underclock, where the first 3 the players roll will reveal Jenevelle, and every roll less than 0 will bring the jester. For searching rooms, roll a d4 underdie if the test passed, or a d8 underdie if the test failed. Either way, the players find what they were searching for.

First floor

Temple

The temple on the first floor is one of two main entrances into the castle, through a hole in the ceiling in the rooftop garden\ (the rooftop garden into the upper hallway is the other entrance).

A previous adventuring party piled up all the pews to form a hasty barricade between them and the throne room, with 3 corpses still behind them, showing signs of blunt force trauma over their entire bodies. The corpses are loaded with treasure, but if the players try to steal any of it the bodies will animate into zombies that attack on site and follow the players until destroyed, attempting to get their treasure back.

Exits

North to the library

Northwest to the throne room (TN 10 Athletics to clear)

Southwest to foyer

Up to rooftop garden

Foyer

The main entrance to the castle, or at least it would be, if the front gate wasn't magically barred shut. Dusty, with a good view of the throne room.

Exits

West to the mingling room

North to the throne room

East to the temple

Mingling room

The main room where guests would hang out while staying at the castle, and the largest room where the royals would meet for official business. The chairs in here are covered in a layer of dust, and the nose is immediately greeted by a bit of a funk from some rotting food.

This room has been fairly obviously ransacked by previous adventuring teams, with a large bloodstain in the middle of the room that looks several months old with bloody footprints coming from the dining hall.

Exits

North to the dining hall

East to the foyer

Dining hall

The main dining hall where people ate. The curse struck after dinner, so this room actually smells less funky than the mingling room to the south (where people were eating post-dinner snacks). Some silverware is still set out, as well as silver candleholders, all of which are conspicuously un-fucked-with. The west and east walls are covered with tapestries, suits of armor, statuary, and various other assorted trappings of wealth. Bloody footprints lead from the southern end of the room into the mingling room to the south.

The walls are flanked by suits of armor, two of which are possessed by the ghosts of knights of the castle. The suits of armor will only animate if people try to fight the jester or steal the silverware and candleholders, at which point they will tirelessly follow them through the entire castle to get it back.

Behind one of the cupboards is a secret hallway that leads directly to the library, bypassing the kitchen and back hallway. It's unlit and the jester does know about it.

Exits

North to the kitchen

Secret: northeast to the library

East to the throne room

South to the mingling room

Kitchen

The kitchen! It smells absolutely atrocious in here from all of the rotting food (after all, only 400 days have passed inside the castle). There's a servant's entrance to the west, but like the main entrance it's currently held fast by the magic of the curse.

A large clay stove is to the northeast, with a half dozen broken down chairs in front of it that had obviously been used for burning. This room initially looks like a good place to rest, but making a fire will cause the spirits of the chefs in here to start becoming agitated and moaning, increasing the size of the underclock die by one step as long as the fire is lit.

Exits

East to the back hallway

South to the dining hall

Back hallway

This back hallway joins the kitchen, servant quarters, stairs, and library together. Blood spatters and halting bloody footsteps come out of the western servant quarters and into the hallway, before stopping about halfway through and being replaced by a long trail of blood smears from a body being dragged.

Lighting in this hallway is exceedingly poor, with only one window that leads directly to the outside on the far east end. There's some light if the servant quarters and kitchen doors are open, but it's still not great.

A disgusting, rotting smell is coming from the western servant quarters exit.

Exits

West to kitchen

North to servant quarters (western)

North to servant quarters (center)

North to stairs (eastern)

Servants' quarters

Where the servants stayed! Of all the rooms that have been ransacked by previous adventuring parties, these ones (the west and east quarters) have been ransacked the most. Clothes are strewn about, trunks are torn open, the whole nine yards.

A dead adventurer in the western room is sitting on the floor underneath the message "NO ESCAPE" written in blood. The body looks to be several days old, and absolutely reeks to the point that it can be smelled from adjacent rooms. Approaching the body takes a TN 11 Willpower or TN 12 Might check to get through the stench. Searching the body reveals a notebook with handwritten notes about past adventures, with only the last used page pertaining to this castle and having a single note: "the jester and the prince don't seem to be able to be in the same room together." A TN 10 Lore check will reveal that this body has been dead about as long as those of the zombies in the temple (and in fact, they're all from the same adventuring party! The note-taker died first, then the temple barricaders died a few hours later).

Exits

South to back hallway

East/west to each other

Stairs

Everyone knows what stairs are.

Exits

South to back hallway

Up to upper stairs

Down to lower stairs

Library

The castle library where Jenevelle did her research before succumbing to the memory loss. The smell of paper is overwhelming here, and there are both tables and armchairs. Every book on healing, curses, and necromancy has been pulled off the shelves and left on the tables, chairs, and floors. There are also notes everywhere, written in a neat and confident hand on multiple different kinds of paper (including some on pages that have been torn out from other, less relevant books), which start off coherent but rapidly lose any sense of structure.

Collating the notes together is a TN 12 Lore check (+2 advantage if the character making the check is a sorcerer), which will reveal the ritual to draw out the curse into physical form. Material components for the ritual include water from the Spring of Souls and a personal item from someone who cast the curse, or one of their relatives (in this instance, anything of Jenevelle's).

One of the shelves on the western wall hides a secret tunnel to the dining hall

Exits

North to the back hallway

South to the temple

Secret: west to the dining hall

Throne room

The room where the prince's mummified corpse is cursed to stay, the only room the jester cannot enter, and the room where the curse will have to be drawn out (meaning that performing the ritual will also involve holding off the prince!). Soft yellow lighting streams in from the skylights, and there's a stillness in this room that goes even beyond the rest of the castle. The ground in front of the throne dais is littered with the corpses of a dozen adventurers, although something in the magic in this room is stopping them from decaying.

When not active, the prince sits on his throne, two-handed sword in hand. When any living creatures enter the throne room, the prince will animate and begin to attack, swinging his two-handed sword in powerful, well-trained strokes while trying to say "I'm sorry!" through his mummified mouth.

The floor in the center of the room is heavily burnt, along with any chairs near or on the burn mark.

Exits

West to the dining hall

East to the temple (barricaded)

South to the foyer

Second floor

Stairs down

Everyone still knows what stairs are.

Exits

South to the upper hallway

Upper hallway

The upper counterpart to the back hallway. Unlike the back hallway, this one is much better lit, with windows on the west end, east end, and much of the southern end where the rooftop garden is. An absolutely nasty smell comes from the dovecot.

Exits

North (central) to the king and queen's room

North (eastern) to stairs down

South (eastern) to dovecot

South (central) to rooftop garden

South (western) to the prince's room

King and queen's room

The king and queen's room, with their mummified corpses still sitting in their chairs! Their mummies aren't animate, but their souls are in this room, and can be spoken to using water from the spring of souls. The room is fancy, although everything of value has been taken from it.

Exits

South to the upper hallway

Prince's room

This is the prince's room! His desk has a note on it with "My heart, my love, I cannot wait until we are married. Yours, J." written on it in a thin, looping, spidery hand. Below that is written "I'm so, so sorry. I wish this could have gone differently" in a neat, confident hand (Jenevell's handwriting). Below that is written "GET A ROOM YOU FUCKING LOSERS" in a rough hand (random dead adventurer's handwriting).

A TN 12 Noticing check will reveal the prince's diary, with entries talking about his betrothal to the Princess Jenevelle, his love for Athyed, and how he would be writing Princess Jenevelle to float breaking off their marriage to free him up to marry Athyed instead. The twelve days of entries after the one talking about the letter to Princess Jenevelle are just talking about normal day-to-day activities and how nervous he is about how the princess will take it.

Exits

North to the upper hallway.

Dovecot

This dovecot is where the messenger pigeons the castle bred were kept. The smell in here is atrocious, with a 50% mix of bird shit and 50% rotting flesh. This room has pretty bad vibes, and anyone attempting to search it will be attacked by a flock of zombie pigeons.

Rough.

Exits

North to upper hallway

West to rooftop garden

Rooftop garden

This formerly gorgeous rooftop garden was the jewel of the castle, visible from the entire grounds. Between the curse and the lack of irrigation (and the kingdom only making it to the real world one day a year, and in the middle of dry season too!), all of the plants here, including the cacti, are dead. The air is dry enough that they aren't rotting too much, but it definitely smells pretty ripe up here when the wind dies down.

The center of the rooftop garden is an A-frame glass skylight, which looks directly down onto the throne room. All of the glass panels are fixed in place, but several of them have been broken by prior adventuring groups that wanted to try dropping fire on the prince (it didn't work).

Exits

North to upper hallway

East to dovecot

Lower floor

Stairs up

Guess what. Everyone still knows what stairs are. There's a secret door in here behind some movable stones that goes to the spring of souls. TN 13 to find the door (and it'll be pretty obvious there is one, since there'd be no reason to have the stairs otherwise!).

Spring of souls

Sitting under the castle, the spring of souls bubbles up all of the soul energy that seeps into the ground for miles around. The water here gently glows with its own light, and possesses magic properties that provide healing while taking memories.

Drinking from the waters counts as an immediate major rest (including food), but the every drink from the water results in the permanent loss of one memory.

Ending the game

When the curse is lifted, the entire castle shakes and an impossibly loud thunderclap sounds from the throne room. The curse demon will appear, freeing the prince and jester's memories. If the players are there when the curse demon appears, then they can team up with the prince and fight it. If the players aren't there (for example, if they got the parents' blessing or took the jester to the spring), the curse demon will defeat the prince in their absence, taking some damage in the process.

Defeating the curse demon in physical combat will end the curse.

Stats

Zombie adventurer

As skeleton.

Animated armor

As gargoyle.

The jester

Major NPC

Trait: mummified jester forced to kill. Skills: Fighting +3, Athletics +2, Might +2 Talents: Combat Momentum, NPC Talent: Tough Exterior (x2), NPC Talent: Monstrous Resilience Resilience: 20 Armor: 4 (mummified body) Weapons: jinglebell staff (1d3+1 / 2d3+1)

The prince

Major NPC

Trait: mummified prince forced to kill. Skills: Fighting +3, Athletics +2, Might +2 Talents: Mighty Blow, NPC Talent: Tough Exterior (x2), NPC Talent: Monstrous Resilience Resilience: 20 Armor: 4 (mummified body) Weapons: greatsword (1d3+2 / 2d3+3, AR 1)

Jenevelle

Major NPC

Trait: amnesiac cursebreaker living with a demon wound for the last year. Skills: Lore +3, Stealth +2, Noticing +1 Talents: Helping Hands Resilience: 12 Armor: 2 Weapons: throwing axe (1d2 / 1d3+1)

Curse demon

Monster

Trait: Demonic manifestation of a curse. Skills: Willpower +5, Might +4, Fighting or Shooting +4, Lore +3, Sorcery +3, Shooting or Fighting +3, Athletics +2, Noticing +2, Stealth +2 Talents: NPC Talent: Tough Exterior (x2), Flurry Resilience: 31 Armor: 4 (divine aura) Weapons: claws (1d3+2 / 2d3+2), flame breath (1d3+1 / 2d3+1, attacks using sorcery, hits all targets in room, recharges on 6, deals 1 damage on miss)

Zombie pigeon swarm

Whole swarm acts as a pair of funeral bats.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Fully Completely 1

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series), attempted violence, mutual irritation.

This is dark!Loki x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Series Synopsis: There’s a new face in Birch and he’s come to haunt your door.

Sister series to Smalltown Bringdown, When the Weight Comes Down, and Little Bones

Note: I did not plan to get the first part done so soon. I will probably be setting time aside as I write this to also work on some original stuff. When it comes to that, I’d love if y’all might let me know what you think would be a better medium to release it? Kindle, Patreon, etc. I’m really not sure but if it was Patreon it would like be two series running at once with a chapter of each a month + Q&A and maybe some bonus materials? I am a noob at this shit and it wouldn’t be for a while yet.

Anyways, I’m rambling...

Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Chapter 1: She simply slammed the door

💀💀💀

The garage smelled like oil and snow. The cold air seeped under the closed metal door as you sat on the low stool and affixed the new headlight to the propped up Harley. It was only the start of an impractical rebuild; your brother wanted everything metal replaced with chrome. You thought it was obnoxious but the parts were paid for and you could never complain for money.

You were funded exclusively by the town’s club, your garage not far from The Asp where the members hung out and revved the engines you found yourself looking at more often than you liked. You were good at what you did though and privileged for it. You had the protection of the club without having to devote yourself truly to its bounds.

You checked the wiring and rolled away from the bike to change the station as the radio crackled. The snow kept setting the speaker to static and the noise was driving you mad. You flipped the switch to play the cassette stuck in the drawer, the old stereo beaten up and filthy. Springsteen’s gristled tones filled the shop and you wheeled back to your brother’s ride.

With the storm would no doubt come more work. Your fingerless gloves itched more than they kept you warm. Your fingertips were numb as you touched the frigid metal and the sweat of your palms made the fabric uncomfortable. You were used to it, rather tolerant as your task kept you distracted.

You were interrupted as you bent to look under the tank and get a good look at the exhaust and the rest of the beast’s entrails. You had the new pieces still wrapped and didn’t intend to do it all at once. Jerome could wait for his tacky redesign.

A loud banging came at the metal door and you glanced over in irritation. Anyone in Birch knew to come in the painted door to the left and not hit the large one. You huffed and stood with a groan, your hips sore from the low stool. 

You fixed the front of your fleece-lined denim jacket and pulled the tail of your plaid shirt from inside your jean pocket. You’d been hunched over so long you were all wrinkled. You went past the large door and into the small entryway off the left of the garage and opened it with a tinkle of the rusty old bell above.

You stuck your head out into the gales as the snow continued to fall and squinted at the man in his thin jacket. He stood beside the long luxury car as another man with wild orange hair remained in the driver’s seat and blew into his hands. They were out of place in the small town and you could tell by the way the man scowled at the door that he knew it.

“Hey,” you called to them, “there’s a place down the street. I don’t do walk-ins.”

“Oh, hello, Miss…” he let his voice trail off as he neared and you stared at him rather than provide your name. His accent, his attire, the curl of his lip, it was clear what he thought of you and the bodunk town, “actually I was referred by an acquaintance. One, James Barnes.”

“Bucky?” you furrowed your brow.

“Mm, yes, that one,” he said, “my car will need detailing. We had some difficulties on the motorway.”

“Right,” you tried not to scowl, “well, if he sent you, I guess I can help.”

You left him and the door clattered behind you. He followed a few steps after as you went to the switch and pushed it to raise the wide door of the garage. You waved in the driver of the car and he carefully pulled in beside your brother’s bike. 

He got out and you were surprised by his size, he was taller even then his companion and wider; neither could be described as short. You lowered the door as the thinner man walked along the shelves and the long table along the other side of the garage. The bigger man stood by the car and tucked his hands in his pockets.

“Not much better in here than out there,” the dark-haired man turned back to you, “you have heat in here?”

“You need a better coat,” you said as you rounded the back of the car, “and some boots.”

You glanced pointedly at his leather shoes and bent to reach under the table. You pulled out the space heater and plugged it in as you set on the wood. You cranked it up and smiled at him tritely.

“So, what’s the damage?” you asked as you looked to the other man.

“Headlight, maybe,” he said in a peculiar accent, “some scratches. We had a bit off a run-in.”

You neared and bent to examine the front of the car. You sighed as you tilted your head and clicked your tongue. It was easy enough to beat out the dents and buff out the scratches with a quick refinish. The headlight would need to be replaced and you knew they didn’t carry anything for that model in town. No one there was pretentious enough to drive it.

“If you want the headlight done before you leave town, it’ll take some time to get the replacement,” you warned.

“Oh, and how do you know I’m leaving?” he taunted coyly.

“Well, I know you’re definitely not sticking around,” you scoffed.

“Why wouldn’t I? A quaint place like this, I’m sure there is so much to explore,” he said dryly.

You had no delusions of what Birch was but it wasn’t the part of outsiders to deride the dead end. You stood straight and put your hands on your hips.

“You can go back to your castle, my lord, but you will have to wait out the storm,” you sneered. “Two days for the scratches. If you want to take it back after that and wait for the headlight to arrive, that’s fine with me.”

“Two days for the scratches? Surely you could do it before the morning,” the black-haired man insisted.

“I could but I have other work to do,” you replied, “so you can be patient and take your turn in line after all the hicks who live here.”

You went back to the table and grabbed your phone from where you tossed it earlier. You unlocked it and searched the model of his car and scrolled through the parts list. 

“You’re Bucky’s guest so I’ll send the bill to him?” you asked, “though you do look to be able to afford it yourself.”

“You can invoice him directly,” he assured, “so you’re one of them?”

“One of them?” you repeated as you focused on checking out. The damn internet kept cutting in and out.

“My brother, those men in this town, I never knew a woman--”

“I’m not a biker. My brother is in the club,” you assured him, “so that big blond dope, he’s your brother?”

“Regrettably, yes,” he slithered, “Loki Odinson,” he introduced himself as he rubbed together his hands, the leather gloves doing little to protect his fingers, “my driver is Korg, and you’ve yet to tell me with whom I am trusting my property.”

“Again, there is a shop down the street. Prices aren’t bad,” you finished up your purchase and tucked your phone in your jacket pocket.

He met your eyes as you turned to him and he looked down his nose. You kept on and brushed past him as you went back around the car and sat by your brother’s bike.

“Sorry about the boss,” the other man, Korg, intoned, “he can be a bit--”

“Don’t apologise for me,” Loki snipped, “I needn’t atone to her.”

You rolled your eyes and wheeled around the side of the bike, “if that’s everything, you two can head back out. I’ll let you know when the car’s ready.”

“We might wait for the snow to calm,” Loki suggested.

“I close in an hour, you’re not staying here all night,” you sniffed.

“Trust me, I have no special desire to spend more time with you than necessary,” he retorted, “I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman so volatile as you, dear, and I’ve only just met you. I never expected you people to have very many manners but perhaps what I did presume was too much.”

You bared your teeth but kept at your work. You would worry about kicking him out when you finished the wiring.

“To be fair, had you not spoken first, I might’ve assumed you were a man,” he added.

You paused and glanced down at the open tool box. You weren’t unused to the comments, you weren’t girly in any way but it wasn’t like you were trying to be a man. You wore what was comfortable and in your work, practicality prevailed over aesthetic. Yet, your years of ridicule as a kid made you less tolerant of the comments and those had stopped long ago because you made sure they did.

“Oh, darling, have I upset you?”

“Don’t call me that,” you said as you reached into the toolbox.

“Well, you’ve not given your name and I’d hate call you what I truly think of you--”

The wrench flew from your hand as you stood and spun to him. It barely missed his head and bounced off the wall and plunked onto the table beside the heater. His eyes rounded and the other man looked at him. There was a thick silence as you glared at him.

“If you weren’t a friend of Bucky’s, I wouldn’t’ve missed,” you hissed, “now I will kindly, before I reach for a bigger wrench, ask you to leave.”

He pushed his shoulders back and tilted his head as his lips thinned dangerously. He swallowed and beckoned the other man with two fingers. His cheek twitched as if he would grin and he nodded subtly.

“Well, darling, how amusing you are. These brutes must adore you,” he snarled, “the exterior does indeed say it all.”

You bent and reached for another tool blindly. He blinked and quickly dodged as you flung the next wrench and he followed his henchman to the entryway. Your temper was a match for many men. It kept you safe.

“Barnes did not say his mechanic was a madwoman,” Loki called back as the bell rang.

“What, are you going to tattle on me?” You stormed towards the doorway, “you precious little princess?”

“Princess?” he met you in the doorway as Korg behind him held the door open and the snow blustered in, “I know Barnes will do me no other favours, but do you think he’ll do you any?”

“Get out,” you spat and shoved him, “I don’t need men to take care of me and I have no problem in proving that.”

He bit the inside of his lip in a crooked smirk and winked before he turned away and strutted out into the snow, shielding his face from the wild winds. Korg trailed behind him and the door sprang back into the frame. You crossed your arms and glared at the peeling paint. 

You were tempted to tow his car out and let it weather the storm but you were smarter than that. If he was doing business with Bucky, you would be a fool to get in the way of it. 

💀

The snow dwindled to a lazy dusting, the ground thick and treacherous. That day, you started early and around noon, you headed across the street to the diner for your usual lunch of a club sandwich and black coffee. You didn’t have to order as all the waitresses knew what to expect. You weren’t unfriendly but your association made many standoffish.

You tapped on the lip of your mug with your thumb, fingers hooked through the handle. The sleepy town felt dead in the winter. You were used to the dullness of Birch but tolerance was hardly happiness. It was home, where you’d grown up and you had no certain desire to get out, but you wouldn’t mind a little more than what was expected.

You yawned and gulped down the last of your coffee. It was bitter and left a few grounds on your tongue. You leaned back and grabbed the monthly newsletter from between the salt and pepper shakers. You read through the fun facts which weren’t very fun or even new. They were copy and pasted out Guinness and Reader’s Digest.

You looked up as you sensed someone approach your table but it wasn’t the waitress. The man from the day before slid coolly onto the seat across from you at the booth and smirked over the table. You raised the newsletter again and folded it backwards to read about the weekly knitting circle down at the rec center that was also the library.

“Good afternoon to you too,” Loki said, “it must be fortune I ran into you, I was hoping to inquire after my car--”

“I told you, two days,” you said tersely as you continued onto your horoscope …‘a new force will bring change’... You hated this tripe. You swore, every month they just switched the blurbs under each sign and hit print.

“So be it,” he cleared his throat and you lowered the paper as he shrugged out of his jacket.

“What are you doing? I eat my lunch alone,” you said.

“Well, to be frank, I was pointed here on the promise of some famous cabbage soup,” he explained as he folded his jacket over the seat next to him, “you looked like you needed company.”

“I don’t,” you assured him.

Kimmie came over and set down your sandwich. She greeted Loki and you saw the way she eyed his tailored suit. He stuck out in the town of flannels and denim.

“Hello, sir, can I get you something to drink?” she asked.

“Tea, English breakfast,” he ordered smoothly.

“Oh, sorry, we only have um, um, sorry, peppermint, earl grey, ginger lemon, and green,” she listed off as she tried to remember them all.

“Earl grey,” he sighed, “and a menu.”

“No, no menu,” you insisted, “and you can take his tea to another table.”

“And when we’re through, I’ll take the cheque,” he ignored you and snickered under his breath.

“Kimmie, can I get a to go box?” you asked as you shimmied off the seat and snatched up your coat, “I have to get back to work.” You took out your wallet and counted out the usual amount plus a tip, “thanks.”

“Of course,” she smiled awkwardly and glanced between you and Loki.

She scooped your sandwich back up and scurried away with it. You felt him watching you as you walked away and went to stand by the till as you watched Nora flit into the kitchen. She packed up your food and returned with the box. You took it and headed for the door, ignoring the arrogant out-of-towner on your way.

“Wait,” Kimmie called out your name and you turned back as she held up your keys, “you dropped these.”

You met her halfway and took them from her with a mutter. Again, he was watching you… or still watching you. She spun and promised she’d have his tea shortly.

“Hmm,” he hummed and you head to the door again, “interesting, I never would have put the name to the face.”

You pushed out into the snow and gritted your teeth. You thought of getting the work on his car out of the way quickly so he would leave you alone but your spite made you want to put it off entirely. Whatever. He’d be gone soon enough.

[lemoncandybats33]

A part two from this post: 

https://lemoncandybats33.tumblr.com/post/675599464865628160/head-up-a-lot-of-headcannon-au-stuff-happy-2022#notes

More head cannon stuff coming up.

Not going to lie the 2016 ppg is hot garbage but I weirdly have a soft spot for a few characters (not Jared) and while I have redesigned Bliss a few times, I never really liked them. However after seeing a few other redesigns I got re-inspired (especially Proxy of the art of Tumblr, proxie-of-the-art.tumblr.com/p…). Wanting to focus more on her storm abilities.

Backstories: Bliss and Dr. Nehru: Sapna Nehru was living on a peaceful but remote island of Cellar Isle, studying the wildlife when a wave of monster's began attacking her home. After a nasty incident nearly killed her, a fellow scientist by the name of Hiram  DeVille helped her create a set of powerpuff girls of their own. Except something went and only one girl came out. Instantly Sapna loved the little girl and named her Bliss (For all the joy she gave her) However as Bliss got older she became more unstable, even after Dr.  DeVille found a short term solution they decided to travel to Townsville to ask the professor for help.

There they meet the girls, the girls bound with Bliss with things going good until her power's get out of hand and hurts Bubbles and the Professor by accident. Drama ensues with the girls blowing up at Bliss and Dr.  DeVille offer's to help her with his more experimental treatments that she and her mother had turned down. Desperate she agreed and a few weeks later come back, attacking townsville. The girls are able subdue her and realize she was under mind control. Turns Out Hirum was HIM and the suppressants were making her worse. Though HIM got away, the Professor had found a way to stabilize Bliss. Though Bliss left eye was left blind from some of the more deadly experiments from HIM. On the up side Sapna had met Professors brother Eugene and the started dating. Soon the two got married and moved back to the Island. This time making sure to visit more often.  

Princess life went through a few loops as well. After getting married to his fourth wife, Princess suddenly had an actual authority figure in her life. Someone even her father listened to over her (his other wives kinda just babied/ ignored her), she no longer could do whatever she wanted. This didn't Fly and Princess tried everything to break them up, until they started to bond. Victoria (Princesses stepmom) remembered her birthday (outside of a card clearly signed by the staff and not her parent's), helped with her homework, and was there for her. Princess was still Princess though and still wanted to take down the Powerpuff's, when Victoria gave her an idea. Why be a Powerpuff when you could be something better? Thus Princess created a plan to steal the girls limelight as Townsville's newest hero the golden queen (her super suit is still being worked on), even 'defeating' the Rowdy Ruff boys (by bribing them with money and she was dating Brick at the time). This caused the girls to go from enemies, to rivals, and friendly (Bubbles says their friends, Princess is in denial).

The Powerpunks girls were once ruler's of Villetown, ruling it with an Iron fist when Jojo Mojo and the Rightround boys caused them to go on the run. Needing to recuperate their strength and  come up with a plan they found their dad's old machine that would send them to their counterparts world, except now their stuck. Truthfully the only one who cares about going back is Berserk, the other two are enjoying causing chaos in a new town.

Any way here are the bio's: --- Sapna Nehru/Utonium (40): The mother of Bliss and aunt to the powerpuff girls. A she and quiet scientist who's main expertise is in arachnids, whom she's had a soft spot for since she was a child. Tended to baby her daughter a lot and is a bit of a worry wart, fretting over the little things. Loves cooking and is quite good at it.

Bliss Nehru/Utonium (25): The daughter of Sapna and the unofficial powerpuff girl. Unlike the girls Bliss came out as a ten years old instead of five like the girls which caused her to be a bit more mature. Soft spoken, gentle and friendly, Bliss is the loved hero of Cellar Isle and while she tries to stay out of the limelight, she knows it comes with the territory. With the girls missing Bliss has traveled to Townsville to help look for them. Bliss has already graduated college and is trying to make a living as a writer while working as an assistant to her step dad (they have a good relationship)

Princess Morebucks(20): Though not as bad as in her youth, Princess still hold's a very bratty attitude which causes her to but heads with a lot of people, including her old friends. Recently Princess has been thinking more about her future, hiring her own marketing and tech team (which includes Mandark) to shadowing her father to in order to take over the family business. The most drastic choice she's made is to break up with Brick after he took advantage of her one to many times (she still holds some feelings for him though). At the moment she's teamed up with Bliss to keep the city safe and find the PPG (and RRB).

----- Berserk Plutonium (20): Over the years Berserk's need for control and power grew. Becoming crueler, colder and more controlling, Berserk's has learned to how to read and manipulate those around her. Making up for her lack of strength (staying in a lab effects even a super being) with her intelligence. Berserk wants the world to either be her's or burn, nothing in-between.  Like Blossom, Berserk has a thirst for knowledge, but unlike her counterpart lacks the moral's to not cross certain lines. Still causes conflict between her sister's for shits and giggles.

Brat Plutonium (20): The party loving, sassy, perky, and troublemaking villainess who tends to follow her sister because she has nothing better to do. Not the smartest girl in the world, Brat tends to tease her sister for "all that nerdy shit" she likes (which usually gets her a smack upside her head.  Very flirty, Brat goes threw partners like other go threw tissue's, usually after whipping out their bank account, as Brat has very expensive tastes and will take what she want's, when she wants. Does have a thing for the more stuck up boys with blonde hair, those types tend to last for at least a few months.

Brute Plutonium (20): Usually seen with a smile on her face, Brute is still the most violent, rebellious, and brutal of her sister's. She's relatively easy-going but also petty and cruel, often taking satisfaction and amusement at the expense of others, and can also be immature and lazy. Going full force for what ever she wants including romance, unlike her sister's, takes her relationships pretty seriously. If not a bit to aggressive, which is something Princess is dealing with first hand, after Brute fell for her during battle after Princess used her smart to defeat her, which was "hot" in Brute opinion.

[ask-spider-man-61610]

So I think you’ve talked about your Doc Ock a bit on here... but have you ever encountered any other Ocks in other dimensions? How do they match up to yours?

Yes, I have. Doctor Octopus might not be exactly a universal constant, but it's certainly a common enough title that I've crossed paths with a fair number of them. I'm going to give a short little rundown of each of them, and why they should go to hell. This is gonna be a salty list. If you didn't want that, you should've come to someone else.

The Otto Octavius of Earth-1512 was the first alternate Ock I ever encountered. Unlike most of the Ocks on this list, I don't know or care what his deal is--I just spent an hour in my first ever alternate universe before I saw a man in armored green and yellow throwing cars around with mechanical tentacles. He was also working with the Green Goblin and holding civilians hostage at the time, which in my opinion is reason enough to put him in the ICU like I did. I've never been back to this universe and never will, but presumably he's just doing the same shit every month or so.

The Otto Octavius of Earth-8363, colloquially called God Ock because I guess we can't fucking help but stroke his ego, was the Ock I met during my first outing with what'd eventually be the Cluster. He's a weird edge case. First we fought a robotic duplicate of him, then his actual self after he'd done the dumbest thing I've ever seen an Ock do and integrated an extradimensional energy source into his fucking body in a bid for omnipotence. I suspect he was already basically dead when Gwen ripped the Shard out, but he had a backup personality on a secret hard drive and so we've met his AI self. He agrees it wasn't his smartest move. Still, fuck this guy. He apparently stabbed my alternate self in the back so he deserves what he got.

Oliver Octavius, of Earth-42711a, isn't a doctor. I refuse to call him Doctor Octopus, but he's calling himself that because he claims to be the son of Otto Octavius. Knowing Otto, I'm more than a little skeptical of that claim, but that doesn't change the fact that in a bid to be just like Daddy he dropped out of college to become a supervillain. When Melly noted that this plan was less than stellar he interpreted that as a personal betrayal and has sworn revenge on her. He's temperamental, idolizing of a man he's never met, and has an ego more fragile than sugar glass--and he's not even good at villainy. I walked into his lair, kicked his ass, and walked out again in less than five minutes. Oliver's pathetic. And he knows it, because he's scrambling to compensate with a desperation that anyone with half a brain can see is going to kill him very, very soon.

The Otto Octavius of Earth-22701 needs to fucking leave Morgan alone. The Peter Parker of that universe died like a century ago, and that Otto's engineered a way to stop aging so he doesn't even need to fight superheroes anymore. But no, he reads about a kid in New Orleans with my powers and decides that that's obviously his dead enemy having, I dunno, reincarnated or something. Instead of being the result of the spider-related experiments that he funded. I don't have a lot of respect for this Otto's intelligence. I've only met him in-person once, when I was going on the warpath and beating up everyone who's ever tried to kill Morgan, but for some reason having an actual Peter Parker knock two of his teeth out wasn't enough to deter him from his theory about Morgan being me. I'll try again as soon as I get a chance.

Odyssia Octavius, the Ock of Earth-777, is probably the least scientist and most mad of all the mad scientists here. Also the one who leans the hardest into the Octopus aesthetic, because alone among the Ocks she's a marine biologist. Now, unlike certain counterparts of mine I could mention, I actually don't give a fuck about her decision to serve an eldritch sea monster for power. Nor am I opposed to her overall goal--obviously we gotta save the environment, and obviously we're gonna have to fuck up some industries to make that happen. That's fine. My problems with her are more related to her habit of painfully twisting people she's got a grudge on into horrific monsters and then siccing said monsters on the populace. Even if that wasn't fucking abominable and evil beyond all recompense, it doesn't exactly convey the green message she's trying to go for. Maybe the Writhing One is modifying her logic to suit its own ends, using her as a puppet to get what it wants. Maybe she just fucking sucks. I've only ever spoken to her through the Internet, but if we ever meet face to face I'll be sure to ask which one it is right after I kick her ass and rip off big handfuls of that magic tattoo.

October Otto, the Doctor Octopus of Earth-2, is the only person in this list who I'm not inclined to attack on sight. It took me a little while to get to that point--when the me of Earth-2, Pax, introduced us I was pretty suspicious. But out of all the Ocks I've ever met, this is the only one who's not...nefarious. They're a little eccentric, more than a little shy, but overall a very well-meaning and selfless biologist. I'm glad I met them, even if their tentacles make me a little nauseous to think about. They and I still communicate occasionally, and after what happened to Pax I've been checking in with them to ask about their progress on a cure. This is one of the few people with whom I've ever felt the need to share my files on the Oz virus. I hope it does them good.

With the exception of October, all of these people are fucking awful. But none of them are as dangerous or as detestable as the Otto Octavius of Earth-61610.

The Otto I know is an unrivalled genius. His entire existence is devoted to biorobotics, and over the years he's integrated man and machine on a level that makes the Iron Man armor look like a remote-controlled action figure. He's modified his tentacles to counter my super speed, he's designed and redesigned a zillion different personal helpers, he's made himself the center of a technological superpower controlled solely by his mind. And unlike a lot of Ocks, he's not being manipulated by his tentacles. Nor was he driven insane by the accident that fused them to his body. No, this is a perfectly sane, rational prosthesis engineer who got so frustrated with the bounds of the law that he decided he had the right to start snapping necks.

He's a futurist, is the thing. A man with a grand vision of the technological utopia he could turn the world into, who thinks without a shadow of doubt that he knows what's best for the world and everyone in it, and who's decided that if you try to stop him from realizing that vision that the best thing to do is Remove you from the equation. Worse, he's written off massive swaths of the human race off as expendable--as little people whose lives are a perfectly acceptable sacrifice to bring about his future, who maybe even should be thanking him for the chance to finally mean something.

Every Octobot contains at least a few pieces of human brain. He kidnaps people, lobotomizes them, and integrates parts of their central nervous system into his systems to make his robots more adaptable and independent than purely mechanical systems could be. He's seeded mass-produced medicine with nanotech that hijacked the nervous system of the people who took it and turned them into unconscious parts of a worldwide neural network. On more than one occasion, he's tried to turn entire cities into his own personal laboratories, and everyone inside into lab rats.

Otto Octavius is a monster. No other Ock I've ever met even comes close.

[flightfoot]

Which side of the love square do you think make the most healthy and functional romantic relationship?

Hm... that one’s tough. I’m guessing this is pre-reveal, because post-reveal it doesn’t matter that much.

LadyNoir: I’d argue that as superheroes Marinette and Adrien have the deepest relationship, with how often they hang out and how much they trust and rely on each other. However there’d be some issues with them not being able to go into their personal lives much and really discuss a lot of the things that are bothering them. It’s especially notable for Chat Noir, since most of his biggest issues and stressors are from his civilian life, as opposed to Marinette whose biggest issues and stressors are typically from her superhero life - plus she’s got a strong and extensive support network as a civilian. 

Also there’s currently a bit of a power imbalance, what with Ladybug being the Guardian and being privy to a lot more knowledge and maybe even authority than Chat Noir has.

Marichat: This one’s nice because they both feel comfortable talking with each other about their issues right off the bat, as seen in Glaciator. The secret identity issues are a bit awkward, with Marinette knowing that she’s talking to her partner and Adrien knowing that he’s talking to his classmate and his dear friend, but it’s not unmanageable. It’s a little odd from Marinette’s end though since she’s known that Chat Noir is head over heels for Ladybug since Glaciator, so her falling in love with Chat Noir as Marinette and dating him as Marinette can result in a kind of weird split in their relationship. I don’t think it has the power imbalance potential of LadyNoir though, mostly in that neither Chat Noir nor Marinette have any sort of authority over each other.

It’s an ideal side for discussing relationship shenanigans at least, as we saw in Glaciator, since Marinette can talk about her crush without worrying about compromising her secret identity or hurting Chat Noir, and Chat Noir can talk about his crush without compromising his secret identity, and talking with someone outside of the situation (so he thinks anyway)

Ladrien: Ah, the most underappreciated side of the Love Square. There’s somewhat of an issue with Ladybug having trouble talking to Adrien, but it’s less trouble than she has as Marinette. Sadly we only ever seem to see this configuration briefly in moments of crisis, which can make it difficult to assess. 

Like Marichat, it has the advantage of neither of them having any hint of authority over the other - well, actually, that’s really only an issue with LadyNoir (and it’s more of a potential issues besides, since Ladybug being the Guardian is so new. Hopefully they’ll try to keep their relationship as equal as feasible in the show).

Anyway, I think Ladrien’s ideal for them being able to really sit down and discuss their most deeply rooted non-romantic issues, since Ladybug can talk about the pressure she’s under as Ladybug to someone who she thinks is uninvolved with superheroing, while Adrien can tell one of the people he loves and trusts most in the world, someone who he knows really well and is comfortable showing sides of his personality to that he doesn’t get to display much. 

Ladybug’s generally more confident and better able to hold herself together around Adrien when she’s in the suit, so I’d say she’d fare better as well. Marinette really needs to feel like she has some control over any situation she’s in, and I think being suited up helps her feel that way.

Adrienette:

So this one we’ve actually seen. It seemed to go swimmingly, from what little we were privy to. To be fair, I think all sides of the Love Square work well.

I’d say that there might be communication issues, but from what we’ve seen once Marinette feels secure in her relationship with Adrien, she can open up and talk him perfectly well. She just needs to be confident that he does love her deeply, that he won’t leave her, that her anxieties and worst fears would never come true.

They aren’t secretly concealing that they already know each other in this configuration, which is a bonus.

There’s a lot of potential for them to open up to each other about their every day lives, and I’d say there’s a lot of ability for them to hang out, but considering how Gabriel constricts Adrien, that’s not really the case. 

There are few secrets between them in this setting, since while both of them are still concealing their secret identities from each other - they have to conceal identities in every side of the Love Square after all - in this case they don’t have much reason to believe those secret identities are all that relevant.

It can be a really nice, loving relationship, but they’re both missing a huge side of their lives with Adrienette, partially because of that same lack of entanglement of secret identities. It’s not even something they really get to talk about, being a superhero, since it’s just not relevant.

Which leads me to what I believe is REALLY the most healthy and functional romantic relationship within the Love Square:

SNEKMOUSE: I mean, come on! Aspik KNOWS who Multimouse is but he can’t actually say it, but also “Aspik” is a disposable secret identity so it’s not a big deal if he says something revealing (half-intentionally most likely), and same with Multimouse! Both are on a pretty even footing, there’s not really any sort of power discrepancy, and both can feel comfortable opening up to each other, confident in their so-called anonymity. Multimouse is able to talk with Aspik without worrying too much about his impression of her and while having some of the confidence being suited up seems to give her, and Aspik can pull in some of his usual attitude as Chat Noir while still acting a lot like how he usually does as a civilian - we saw that more even blend in Desperada. 

Plus Marinette gets to relax and have fun as Multimouse in a way that she often doesn’t as Ladybug.

Both have reason to be able to talk about what they go through as superheroes or to talk in general terms about what Ladybug and Chat Noir go through, as well as probe about their relationships as civilians, what with wanting to know more about what the other thinks of them and secretly knowing each other’s civilian identities.

Just... the dynamic in Snekmouse is amazing and I LOVE IT.

(Aspik needs to redesign his suit though. That cowl needs to go. His hair was meant to be wild and free, not bound up underneath a suit. Nino may have said that Adrien’s a chick just breaking free of his shell, but that doesn’t mean Adrien needs to dress up as an egg!)

[plaguelily-art]

Whoo-ooh, finally finished this. This was supposed to be a simple "illustrate some reference notes, work on character design" project, but it got kinda out of hand. In any case, this is the general gist of the royal family line in my sky pirates au (au? it's more just a separate project than an au I guess, but au works as a good shorthand since the world of sky pirates isn't directly connected to any specific preexisting LoZ world). There's some notes from the semi-WIP arts I uploaded here and here, for those interested. I can't share anything that would spoil the plot, but some fun general trivia: the "Era of Fracture" refers to when Hyrule was literally fractured and giant hunks of land were sent into the sky as floating islands, which act as the setting for the story (I swear I came up with this idea almost ten years ago after playing Skyward Sword, when I thought "wouldn't it be cool if there was a Hyrule like Skyward Sword and Wind Waker with floating sky islands that were fleshed out beyond a few hunks of barely inhabited rocks"--BotW2 probably won't have cool skyships though, and Skyward Sword already made the floating islands a things, so it's fine, the settings only somewhat plot-important anyhow). Zelda I lived through the events that led to this fracturing, and, despite being dead for a very, very long time, she's actually got a bit of plot-relevance because of those events. As noted in one of my other arts, the royal family is matrilineal, with people marrying into the family and taking the surname Hyrule to reflect this (for example Daltan, the current king, came from the family Rohanus and married into the royal family). Likewise, anyone who isn't technically eligible to inherit the throne usually marries "out" of the family, i.e. Gaepora and Rauru. Surnames also get changed to reflect occupations on occasion, which is why both Rauru and Osfala are "Lightsage"" (because they serve in the role of Sage of Light), despite Osfala being born to Kaebora who married out when she eloped with the court poet, Sahasra. Actually, writing it all out like this makes my mental map of how inheritance and lines are traced in the royal family seem way more complicated than it actually is. In any case, the inheritance rules aren't even really that important for the story, and will be explained in much, much simpler terms for the like, one part of the story where they do get brought up. A lot of these are still early designs, so they're bound to change a bit as I experiment and settle into drawing the characters more often. But it was still a nice little exercise to work on some designs and color palettes to give myself a more solid idea of where I want to go visually.

——————————————————————————

2021, Spring-Summer Digital (Adobe Photoshop) Redesigns belongs to me. Daltan, Kaebora, Sahasra belong to me (names and the unnamed "court poet" in Breath of the Wild, which were used as inspiration for the characters, belong to Nintendo). Zelda, Rauru, Gaepora, Tetra's Unnamed Mother from Wind Waker, Tetra, Seres, and Osfala are characters from the Legend of Zelda series, and belong to Nintendo. The Hylians and Sheikah come from the Legend of Zelda series, and belong to Nintendo. Artwork belongs to me.

This image (published by the artist to deviantart.com/plaguelily, plaguelily-art.tumblr.com) may not be reproduced, copied, edited, republished, or reuploaded in any way. Thank you.

[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

Queer Eye for the Cap Guy ~ Part 7

A/N: Hi my lovelies! This story is back too!!! I’m really excited So just as an FYI there will be one more main part of this story. and then I have 2-3 “off screen scenes “ that will come out after the story is completed. I hope you enjoy! 

Summary:  Steve gets to see his new place and the Fab Five get to see the new Steve 

Rating: T 

Warnings; Language, Manly tears, feels, 

Word Count: 3042 

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

The Fab Five Reveal (Retired, Refreshed, and Ready to Live)

“Are you ready to see the new space?” Karamo asked as they pulled up to the building.

“Yes, I can’t wait to see what Bobby did with the place.”

“Well, we’re here.”

Karamo honked before hopping out of the truck and leading Steve to the side door.

“Boys, we’re here,” Karamo called as he cracked open the door.

“Come on in!”

Steve stopped dead in his tracks as he crossed the threshold.

“Oh my god. Holy – wow.”

He was vaguely aware of the fab five gushing over his new look, but he honestly tuned out as his eyes darted around the room, first, tactically and then in awe.

The first floor was now sectioned off into two areas, separated by a clear fiberglass wall. The side closest to the front of the building was set up as a garage. His bike had already been parked inside and there was a very professional tool chest on wheels set next to a plush couch. He spied a tag from Tony on the tool chest and smiled.

“Holy shit.”

“You said that you loved working on your bike, and I wanted to leave you enough space if you wanted to work on something larger like a car, but I also wanted to do something really fun,” Bobby explained as they walked past the divider.

The other half of the floor had a ton of workout equipment and even a basketball hoop.

“This is great. I had no idea what to do with this space. Just wow. I’ll never get Bucky and Sam out of here,” he chuckled.

“Well that I can’t help you with. Let’s go see some more.”  

Bobby led the way up the stairs to the partial second floor. The room had floor to ceiling bookshelves on one wall and a large mahogany desk, with a leather chair.

“So I decided to make this room your office because it gives you a space where you can work, but when you’re done the papers can stay here and it won’t bleed into the rest of your life.”

Steve nodded absently as he admired the art on the wall. Two large charcoal sketches – one of Brooklyn from his youth and one of Brooklyn when he came out of the ice - flanked the paned window.

“This is awesome. And I like that it’s separate. I’m not the best at balance.”

“I totally get that. It’s really hard, but this will help.”

“Agreed.”

“Now, let’s go see the rest of your space.”

They took the elevator up to the third floor and this time Steve’s knees fully buckled.

“Are you sure this is the same building?” he asked sounding breathless.

“I’m sure.”

“You’re amazing. This is amazing. Thank you so much. I’m not sure how but, you figured out exactly what I wanted.”

“That’s what I’m here for. I wanted this whole floor to be open concept. That way people can be watching TV or cooking or eating and still all be together.”

“Perfect,” Steve mumbled, unable to say much more than the simple words of praise.  

Bobby gently guided him to the right towards the kitchen.

“So, here we’ve got tons of prep space, and you can eat at the counter if it’s just you or it’s something casual. But I also wanted you to have a full dining table and I figured between all of the combinations of Avengers dinner parties could get pretty large so this expands to fit twenty.”

“I guess I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year.”

“You certainly could.”

Moving further into the room, Steve ran his fingers along the smooth mahogany of the billiards table.

“I know we didn’t talk about it, but Bucky and Sam mentioned that you’re a fan of pool so we got you this.”

“It’s beautiful. And I love pool.”

His attention was drawn to the artwork on the wall.

“I love that you got Bucky’s photos properly framed.”

“As we were packing up your old place, I noticed that you didn’t have a ton of things that were you, but you lots of things from your friends and I really wanted to honor that.”

“It’s wonderful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Bobby replied warmly.

After a moment, Steve turned his focus to the living room.

“I love this sectional. It’s exactly what I envisioned.”

“Good, and we also have –“

“The wingback chair,” Steve breathed. “This is just like the one my ma had.” He sniffed and swiped at his eyes. “How did you know exactly what to get?”

“Well you gave a pretty good description, but I also asked Bucky to weigh in on the final decision.”

“It’s perfect.”

“Have a seat.”

Steve sank down into the soft leather, wriggling slightly to get comfortable; his fingers knotted in the heavy knit afghan that adorned it. Even that felt familiar.

“It’s just like I remembered it.”

He savored the moment, shutting his eyes and letting himself feel like a little kid again. If he shed a tear or two Bobby didn’t comment. When his eyes snapped open the focused on the wall opposite him which was littered in pictures.

“Are those…”

He was on his feet in moments, striding over to inspect them. All of the pictures were black and white. About three quarters of them were modern pictures taken at parties and hangouts. Bucky, Sam, Nat, and Y/n were featured heavily. But a few photos were of the Howlies and Peggy which was lovely but not completely surprising. What Steve was flabbergasted by were the photos of him and Bucky as children and of him with his mother.

“How could you possibly have found these?” His voice shook and he was crying hard enough that he could not see Bobby let alone the pictures clearly anymore.

“When you went in the ice, the government appropriated all of your belongings. Most of it got sent to the archives of the Smithsonian. Y/n and I worked with a really lovely historian there and got them released.”

“Y/n?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. She wanted to do this and actually she’d already started the ball rolling, I just helped integrate into the place. She flew to D.C. a couple days ago to get the photographs.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Steve sniffled, and reaching out to hug Bobby, who despite being smaller was clearly supporting the super soldier. “I haven’t seen a photo of my mom since I went in the ice. I thought they were all lost. This is everything.”

Bobby held tight as Steve’s body shuddered as he cried before finally gathering his composure and taking a deep but shaky breath.  

“Sorry,” he mumbled, but Bobby was already shaking his head.  

“Don’t ever apologize for crying. It’s completely natural. Now are you ready to see more?”

“I’m not sure my heart can take much more, but let’s do it,” he agreed blowing out a long breath.

The master bedroom took up half of the top floor and was decorated in blues and grays. It was perfectly calm and Steve was already looking forward to spending some time just relaxing.

“Any guesses on what’s through that door?” Bobby teased.

“Not a clue,” Steve admitted.

His normal battlefield evaluation skills were lacking today.

“Go and see.”

“NO WAY!” he practically shouted as he opened the door stepped into his new art studio.

He understood now why you exited the elevator into the bedroom. The studio had windows on three sides, guaranteeing him not only the best light but the best views.

“I was planning to set an easel up in the garage.”

“Well, I think this is a lot better.”

“Oh tons.”

“And if you want to enjoy this view from your bed, you can. The walls are partition walls and you can push them off to the side whenever you want.”

“That’s brilliant. I honestly, I know I keep saying the same things over and over again, but I’m completely speechless. I had no idea what to do with any of these spaces, let alone the whole building top to bottom. If I had it my way, I probably would have been living out of boxes with wooden crate furniture. But this is… home. I haven’t felt at home maybe ever. And to walk into this space and have it feel like me here and now is just so unbelievable. Thank you,” Steve gushed, hugging him again, although without sagging into him this time.

“I’m so glad that you feel this way and that I was able to do this for you. Everyone deserves to feel that their space is theirs. And that it suits them. You deserve a place where you want to come back to and that you want to share with others.”

“And I do.”

“Good. Now, I have one last surprise for you.”

“How can there possibly be more,” Steve laughed in an exhale.

“Well, like you said, I redesigned the whole building from the bottom up. And there’s more level above us.”

“You didn’t.”

Bobby merely pointed and gestured for Steve to lead the way. The super soldier took the steps in three bounds and burst onto the roof.

“Oh my god.”

The roof had been transformed. The lone folding chair was gone, replaced with black wicker patio set with a loveseat, chairs, and a coffee table. There was also greenery along the whole perimeter, and lanterns.

“I know you love it up here. So I wanted to make sure it was –“

“A sanctuary,” he completed.

“Exactly.”

Steve was reluctant to leave his little slice of heaven, but Jonathan brooked no room for arguing.

“So, welcome to your beautiful master bathroom which we have set for all of your grooming needs.”

“Great. Because I’d have no idea what to buy.”

“I gotchu, henny,” he opened the drawer next to the sink to reveal several styling tools. “So we’ve got your razor with guards for keeping your beard nice and neat as well as a hair dryer. You probably won’t use that day to day but if you want to you can. I showed you how to work with that.”

“Yes, the twist and pull technique.”

“Exactly. And we’ve got a beard oil just to keep it soft. So two drops after your shower.”

“Got it.”

And I got you a great pomade. So, take a little in your hands and you’re going to work it in. Once you can feel it grab onto your hair, you can take a little bit of a lighter touch and once your hair is basically where you want leave it.”

Steve fiddled with his hair for a few moments before he was satisfied.

“Perfect,” Jonathan announced. “You are such a dreamboat.”

The super soldier’s cheeks turned pink.

“Seriously. You are so radiant from the inside out. So gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

“And I have one last thing to remind you about. Sunscreen. I don’t care if you’re a super soldier. Sunscreen. Every day. That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir,” Steve chuckled.

“Good.”

“Can I steal him?” Tan asked as he popped into the bathroom?

“Absolutely. He’s all yours.”

“Come on, handsome. Let’s get you into some outfits.”

“Let’s do it.”

Tan led him over to the large closet.

“So we’ve organized your closet in a way that makes sense for you, which means casual to formal. So we’ve got your pants, jeans, khakis, dress pants. And then your shirts, t-shirts, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, jackets. And suits.”

“Makes sense. I’ll just have to move some stuff to make room for my sweatpants,” Steve commented with a grin.

“I know that you’re a super soldier but if you go around wearing sweatpants after all this I will throw down with you.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Tan glared slightly before reaching past him for a garment bag.

“Now, tomorrow is a formal event, so I got you a tux.”

“Wow. This is awesome. And definitely the nicest thing I’ve ever owned,” he admitted when Tan opened the bag. “I love the color.”

“I thought you would. It’s gonna look killer.”

The fab five were sitting on the couch talking when the elevators opened. They’d been strictly instructed not to peek.

“Are you ready for the first look, boys.”

“Yes!”

“Well see for yourself.”

Steve stood with his hand in the pocket of a dark blue suit which fit him perfectly. He looked like a movie star.

“OH MY GOSH. YOU LOOK AMAZING,” Karamo bellowed.

Jonathan let out a high pitched squeal.  

“Tan, that suit is the perfect fit.”

As he walked closer, they couldn’t help but notice the confidence in his stride.

“How do you feel?” Antoni asked.

“I feel great. I think this is the first time I’ve worn a suit and not felt like a monkey in a tie.”

“You look fantastic.”

“I love the color.”

“So we also got him a gray and a black suit so he has them for important events. Press conferences, meetings.”

“Announcing a campaign for presidency,” Jonathan suggested.

“I’d vote for you,” Karamo agreed.

“I don’t see that in the cards,” Steve laughed.

“You never know.”

When the elevator opened the second time, Steve didn’t hesitate before striding over to the couch in dark jeans, a white Henley, and a bluish gray cardigan.

“Yassssssss.”

“I love this entire look.”

“Do you love it?”

One look at the broad grin on his face gave the answer.

“Oh completely. It’s so comfortable, but I feel really good about how I look as well.”

“I wasn’t expecting the cardigan,” Bobby commented.

“Tan had to make sure I looked my age,” Steve joked.

“I told you I’d get you a cardigan that makes sense for you.”

“And you did. It’s nice, I don’t feel restricted at all.”

“Good. And if you do want a going out look, just slide off the cardigan and slip on this jacket.”

“Yas. Sign me up.”

“You look so cool.”

“I kept your classic brown leather jacket. This is just a more modern option.”

“I love a collarless leather jacket.”

“And the black is so sleek. You look great.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, are you ready to cook?” Antoni asked clapping his hands together.

“Yes.”

He followed the food and wine expert towards the kitchen after slipping off the leather jacket.

“So Bobby and I designed the space with a lot of function and a little bit of fun. So we got you a pasta maker, I already have the lasagna attachment on. And this slab of the counter is for chocolate work so you can temper it and make those chocolate curls or anything else that you want. Today we’re going to use it to chop up some chocolate to make, any guesses?”

He looked at the bowl of ice on the counter and the chocolate and shrugged.

“Not a clue.”

“Chocolate mousse.”

Steve blanched.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I’d hate to ruin my nice new kitchen.”

“You’re not going to ruin anything. This recipe only has two ingredients and requires no appliances.”

“Alright. I’m trusting you.”

“Good choice. So what you need is chocolate, and you want really high quality chocolate because that’s the only ingredient you’re going to taste. Because the other ingredient is water?”

“Really?” He quirked an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“Yep. So what we’re going to do is chop up our chocolate – which Martin was kind enough to provide for us - into nice quarter sized chunks and add it to hot water and whisk until it’s melted. Once it is, we move it into the ice and whisk until it sets.”

After showing him how to whisk properly, Antoni had him take over.

“One of the other reasons I like this recipe is because if you over whip it, all you do is warm it up again and whisk again. Whereas with a cream based recipe, there’s no coming back. Alright, that looks just about perfect.”

Antoni spooned some mousse into ramekins and handed one to Steve.

“Bon appetite.”

Steve groaned when he tasted it.

“Oh my god.”

“It’s good right?”

“So good.”

“And it’s super easy to make.”

“This is dangerous,” he chuckled after another large bite. “Y/n’s gonna have me making this every other day.”

Antoni simply grinned in response.

“Come sit with us,” Karamo called from where he was sitting.

“Yes, come snuggle yourself right in here.”

Steve settled in the center of the sectional between Karamo and Jonathan.

“So, when we started the week, you told me that you wanted to find a future. Do you feel like you’ve done that?”

He was already nodding.

“Yeah, I do. Since I came out of the ice, I’ve been stuck between two worlds. I was either living in the past or trying to just throw myself into the future. I never felt like I could move on because I was mourning that part of my life. But now, you’ve helped me see that I have a lot to live for now. Not just the fight. And you’ve also given me connections to the past I thought were long gone, so now I feel like I can still love it and remember it without living it. I’m really excited to discover more about what I love.”

“I’m so excited for you to get to know you, because we have all fallen in love with you.”

“You are such a kind, genuine, good man, and you are beautiful inside and out,” Jonathan reached out holding his hand.

“I hope you see the man the rest of us see.”  

“I’m starting to. And I just want to say thank you. At the beginning of the week I never expected to be able to be so open with strangers and really explore who I am. Thank you for coming here to help me.”

“You are so welcome. Now unfortunately, it is time for us to go.”

“I’m going to miss you all,” Steve admitted.

“We’ll miss you too. Enjoy everything. You deserve it.”

“Come on. Group hug.”

They crowded in around him before giving him each individual hugs and leaving Steve in his new home to get ready for his dinner party. He smiled to himself as he looked around.

“Home,” he whispered.

~~~~~~~ 

A/N: Reference pic for Steve’s casual look here (top left) I hope that you enjoyed this part. I really loved writing it, and I won’t lie I cried a couple times. Thanks so much for reading! 

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[angelofthequeers]

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Of course I damn well redesigned Rena Rouge’s suit. If I’m known for anything, I hope it’ll be for female suit salt.

Chapter 18 | Chapter 20 | AO3 link

“Master?” Ladybug’s saying as Chat Noir enters the room for their weekly meeting. Master Fu hums and nods for her to continue. “Why don’t we ever…no, don’t worry, it’s silly.”

“There’s no such thing as a silly question, Ladybug,” Master Fu says.

“I was just wondering…” Ladybug trails her fingers over the Fox necklace in the open Miracle Box between them, then the Bee comb. “Why don’t we hand out more Miraculouses?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Chat Noir says. Ladybug smiles at him when he crosses over to sit down next to her. “We’re not the only ones learning how our Miraculouses work. And there’ve been a few times where we could’ve done with a bit of help, especially when I’m the one hit by the akumas.”

“If the Lucky Charm indicates that you need the help of an ally, I’m willing to allow you to choose one,” Master Fu says. “But I already took an enormous risk by putting two Miraculouses into circulation, especially the two that Hawkmoth is after. More Miraculouses in the world gives Hawkmoth more chances.”

“Well, Chat and I haven’t lost ours,” Ladybug says. “And we’ve had some close calls because we had to figure things out as we went. If we do eventually need an ally, wouldn’t it be a good thing to have one who’s already got experience?”

“Ladybug’s right,” Chat Noir says. “If we throw someone into battle with us for the first time, it’d make it easier for Hawkmoth to get their Miraculous.”

“We don’t even have to let them keep the Miraculous like we do,” Ladybug says when it looks like Master Fu is wavering. “We could give it to them when we need them and then take it back after each battle. Or each time we train them.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Ladybug and I are an unstoppable team,” Chat Noir says with a grin at Ladybug, who smiles and nudges him in return. “But we’ve got timers and we seem to have less experience than Hawkmoth. It couldn’t hurt to train up a few people in case we need help every now or then. Or in case Hawkmoth does something big.”

“Hmm…” Master Fu strokes his grey beard. “Both of you raise excellent points. I’m just wary after the last time I made a mistake…”

“You’ve mentioned that mistake before, but what was it?” Ladybug says. Master Fu looks her and Chat Noir straight in the eye, and Chat Noir swallows at the ancient heaviness behind Master Fu’s eyes.

“The destruction of the Guardians’ temple and the loss of every Miraculous except the ones I have here,” he says. Ladybug and Chat Noir blink.

“Oh…” Ladybug says softly.

“Master,” Wayzz says. “If I may?”

“Of course you may,” Master Fu says. “You know you’re always welcome to speak, Wayzz.”

“I think that Ladybug and Chat Noir are correct,” Wayzz says. “There will come a time when they need help, and it would be best to have prepared themselves for that eventuality. You know that they wouldn’t hand out a Miraculous to anyone they didn’t trust with their lives. And…you can’t keep allowing one mistake to haunt you to this degree, Master. It was over a century ago, and you’ve seen and learned so much since then.”

“We’ve proven that it wasn’t a mistake to trust us with these Miraculouses,” Ladybug says.

“Now, let us prove that you can trust us with others as well,” Chat Noir adds.

For a long while, Master Fu simply stares down at the Miraculous Box, his face completely unreadable to Chat Noir. It feels like an eternity before Master Fu looks back up at them and smiles.

“You’re right,” he says. “You’ve proven that you can both be trusted with the two most important Miraculouses, and it would be foolish to throw a new hero into a battle with a stronger Hawkmoth. Pick a Miraculous and an ally you can trust, and I will allow you to introduce them tonight, should they accept. They may also keep their Miraculous, as the holder’s bond with their kwami is vital for ensuring they are as attuned to their powers as possible, but the responsibility to retrieve the Miraculous if the need arises rests entirely on the two of you. If this ally works out, I will eventually entrust the other two within this tier to you.”

“I think we should pick the Fox and give it to Alya Césaire,” Ladybug says immediately.

“That…was quick,” Chat Noir says. “Any reason why?”

“Oh!” Ladybug’s cheeks pinken. “I’m sorry, Chat. I should’ve asked you.”

“No, no, I don’t mind. You’re the one with the killer instincts, milady. I’m just curious.”

“Well…” Ladybug chews her lip. “Alya’s the Ladyblogger, right? She’s already familiar with our job. And she loves us, so I know she’d never betray us. Also…maybe she’ll have a new appreciation for our secret identities if she’s got one of her own?”

“Makes sense,” Chat Noir says. “But why the Fox? Alya’s a pretty forceful person…from what I’ve seen.”

“Trixx is a crafty kwami,” Ladybug says. “I think he would be a good influence on Alya and help balance out that forcefulness. And the Fox corresponds to wood, right? That push to grow and hang back to get the facts first could be just what Alya needs, especially after why she was akumatised into Lady Wifi.”

“Huh. I never thought about that,” Chat Noir says. “Well, milady, I’m totally on board.”

“Excellent.” Master Fu removes the Fox necklace from its slot and carefully places it in a tiny box, just like the one that Chat Noir’s ring had come in. “Good luck, both of you.”

“Well, even if it flops, it’s better than being at home after the day I’ve had,” Chat Noir says.

“Poor kitty,” Ladybug coos and reaches out to scratch Chat Noir’s head behind his fake ears, making a loud purr rumble in his chest.

“Have you been talking to Marinette?” he complains. “Because it’s so not fair that you know my weak spots too.”

Ladybug giggles and scratches particularly hard and Chat Noir nearly lets out a mrow in response. Jesus Christ. If he ever actually does that in front of his lady, someone please end him.

“She seems happier when I see her now,” Ladybug says. “I take it that’s your doing?”

“Well, of course,” Chat Noir brags. “My charms are irresistible. I’m quite the cat-ch.”

“God help me,” Ladybug mutters. Although he’s sure that she’s just teasing him, Chat Noir can’t help but wonder…

“Is that…okay with you?” he says slowly. “Being close friends with a civilian? I still remember how you were when Lila said you were besties…”

“Of course it’s okay with me,” Ladybug says. “Lila was trying to use me to boost her own status and act like we were openly friends. You seem to genuinely like this Marinette girl and I know you wouldn’t do anything to endanger her and she wouldn’t spread the word just to make herself look good. And from what I’ve heard about your life, you could do with a good friend.”

“Aww, no one will ever replace you, milady,” Chat Noir teases, flopping across her lap. She rolls her eyes but thankfully continues to pet him, while Master Fu watches with a twinkle in his eyes. “But honestly…I’m happy you approve, Ladybug. Marinette’s really special.”

There’s something odd in Ladybug’s smile but, for the life of him, Chat Noir can’t possibly figure out what it could be. “I’m glad, kitty. She definitely sounds special.” With a sigh, she pushes his head off her lap and climbs to her feet in one graceful motion, then pulls him up. “Come on, Chat. We’ve got a baby superhero to meet. Thank you, Master!”

“But petting!” Chat Noir whines, though he still follows her out of the parlour.

“Behave yourself and I’ll give you all the petting you want later,” Ladybug says as they leap through Paris towards Alya’s house.

“Hmph. I’ll just go to Marinette for pets.”

“You do that, kitty.”

When they land on Alya’s balcony, she’s thoroughly engrossed in whatever she’s doing on her computer; probably some Ladyblog stuff. But Alya’s always had a sixth sense for superheroes, and as soon as their feet graze the balcony, her head whips up and her eyes start to glimmer at the sight that greets her.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” she cries when she bursts out onto her balcony. “What’s wrong? Is there an akuma? Do you need my help?”

“Not now, but we’ll need you in the future,” Chat Noir says cryptically. Ladybug rolls her eyes.

“Ignore him,” she says. “Mind if we kidnap you for an hour or two? This could change your life.”

“Um, yes!” Alya dances from foot to foot. “You can kidnap me anytime! And getting to help you guys? What’s going on?”

“How about we snatch this fair maiden first?” Chat Noir says, and Alya gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look and pointedly holds her arms out to Ladybug, who smirks and scoops her up. Then they’re off, bounding through Paris towards the Eiffel Tower, and Alya lets out a shriek of laughter and whoops as the wind whips through her hair and blows her curls all over the place. Once they’ve finally landed on the tip, safe from the view of Paris, Ladybug sets Alya down and laughs when Alya tries in vain to tame her windswept hair.

“So,” Alya says when she’s finally given up on fixing her wild curls. “What’s up, you guys? Do you need me to do something on the Ladyblog?”

“If this works out, you can’t breathe a word of it anywhere near the Ladyblog,” Ladybug says. “You can’t tell anyone. Not the Ladyblog, not even your friends or family.”

Alya’s eyes widen. “Whoa. That’s heavy. What is it?”

“Stop scaring her, bugaboo,” Chat Noir grins. “Like she’s gonna say no.”

“I’m just making sure she understands the responsibility that this entails!” Ladybug says.

“Okay, not that I’m not up for some Ladynoir banter,” Alya says, “but it might help if you guys actually tell me what’s going on.”

Ladybug sticks her tongue out at Chat Noir, then swipes the top of her yo-yo to open it up so that she can reach into the pool of bright light and extract the little Miraculous box. “Alya Césaire,” she says, holding the box out to a wide-eyed Alya, while Chat Noir silently sulks at the fact that his baton can’t do that, even though his suit has pockets when Ladybug’s doesn’t. “Here is the Miraculous of the Fox, which grants the power of illusion. Should you choose to accept, you will use it for the greater good whenever we need your help, then return it to us when the mission is complete.”

Chat Noir shoots her an odd look. Hadn’t Master Fu said that Alya could keep the Fox? Oh well, Ladybug’s always got a plan for everything, so he just has to assume that this is another plan of hers. And if she’s come up with it on the spot, he can’t very well ask her without tipping off Alya.

“No way,” Alya breathes. “For real? Me, a superhero?”

“Of course,” Chat Noir says. “Ladybug and I both thought you’d be a natural fit.”

“But your identity must remain a secret,” Ladybug says. “If we hear that you’ve told anyone then we won’t be able to give the Miraculous back to you. Unless the circumstances were unavoidable, of course. Accidents happen.”

“Of course not!” Alya says, once again bouncing from foot to foot. “I mean – of course! I won’t tell a soul!”

“Then welcome to the team, Ladyblogger,” Chat Noir grins as Ladybug indicates that Alya can take the little box. “Tonight’s just an orientation, but we’re gonna try and give you a few training nights so you’re not shoved into the thick of things like we were.”

“I will actually have both your babies for this,” Alya blurts out.

“I think that’s scientifically impossible with two uteruses, but sure,” Ladybug says with an amused little grin. Alya rolls her eyes, then snaps open the box and gasps and shields her eyes from the bright orange light that pours out of it.

“What is that thing?” Alya gasps. When the light fades to reveal a little orange fox kwami with mischievous violet eyes, her own eyes practically bulge out of her head.

“I’m not a thing!” Trixx says. “My name is Trixx and I’m your kwami!”

“Mind. Blown.” Alya feverishly examines Trixx from all angles. “You’re what gives Ladybug and Chat Noir their superpowers, right?”

“Not bad,” Trixx remarks to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“She’s an expert,” Ladybug says.

“That’s one word for it,” Chat Noir says. Alya shoots him a very dirty look.

“So, what do you say?” Ladybug says. “You ready to become a superhero?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Alya shoots back.

“Then you just need to say one thing,” Trixx says. “Trixx, let’s pounce!”

“Trixx, let’s pounce!” Alya is enveloped in the same orange light that had introduced Trixx, and when it fades to reveal her fox outfit, she squeals and twists and turns to look at every little bit of it. She’s wearing a baggy, cropped orange jacket with a white chest, open over a tight, white-torsoed orange suit with a high black collar, along with white-palmed black gloves that look like they rise underneath her jacket sleeves. Her orange suit stops at her knees, meeting her orange-mottled black boots with orange fox paw prints on the white soles. Her black collar tapers into a sharp point where the fox tail of her active Miraculous rests, and there’s a wide strip of material wrapped around her waist that falls behind her in a black-outlined orange and white fox tail. Topping off her outfit are fake black-tipped orange fox ears with white insides, a mask that’s orange on the top half and white on the bottom half, a long flute strung across her back, and white-tipped hair that’s pulled back into a bushy ponytail. The more Chat Noir stares, the more he realises that it’s not just a ponytail; each thick bunch of curls forms a fox tail, with nine in total, giving her ponytail the illusion of extra volume.

“You know, milady,” Chat Noir says, “you’d better ask your kwami about a suit change, ‘cause Alya looks pretty damn cool.”

“And just what is wrong with my suit?” Ladybug huffs, crossing her arms. Chat Noir raises his hands.

“Nothing, nothing! You know I’ve got a thing for spots.” He winks. “I just don’t know you’d go for such a…plain suit if you were given the chance of a lifetime to be a superhero.”

“My suit is practical, thank you very much!” Ladybug says.

“So’s mine. But I’ve got a bell.”

“Yeah, because you’re a whipped kitten!”

“Ooh, burn,” Alya cackles, her head swivelling from Ladybug to Chat Noir to follow the argument.

“Her suit’s practical but still cool!” Chat Noir points at Alya.

“Hey, whoa, keep me outta your lover’s spat.”

“I’ll so take that Miraculous back off you and give it to Chloé Bourgeois if you call it a lover’s spat again,” Ladybug mutters.

“Hey! Low blow!” Alya clasps her heart dramatically.

“Shouldn’t we be introducing Alya to the nightlife?” Chat Noir says with his usual smirk. Ladybug pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Just…pick a superhero name and jump off the Tower already,” she sighs. Alya squeals and jumps again.

“A name! I get to pick a superhero name!”

“Yep, so make it count, ‘cause you’ll be stuck with it, foxy,” Chat Noir says.

“Call me foxy again and I’ll claw your eyes out,” Alya says. “Hmm. My name’s…Rena Rouge! Yeah! Rena Rouge!”

“Not bad,” Ladybug says. “Okay, now jump off the Tower.”

“…You were serious about that?” Rena Rouge says. Ladybug smiles sweetly.

“Of course. You want to be a superhero, right? Go!”

“I’ll accompany you, foxy,” Chat Noir winks, then jumps off the Eiffel Tower before Rena Rouge can follow through with her threat of gouging his eyes out. But at least it gives her sufficient motivation to forget the fact that she’s jumping hundreds of metres down to the ground, since she growls and hurls herself after him seconds later, catching herself with the metal beams and sliding down the Tower directly when necessary to slow herself with the friction, then launching herself back off.

It’s so not fair. Why can’t Rena Rouge hurtle through Paris or get whacked off a pole-tightrope on her first day like he and Ladybug had? Damn foxes being a damn natural at this.

“Oh my god,” Rena Rouge gasps when her feet hit the concrete ground seconds after Chat Noir lands, with Ladybug bringing up the rear. “I just jumped down the Eiffel Tower!”

“And you doubted my instincts, kitty,” Ladybug says with a smirk.

“Please, milady, you insult me if you think I ever doubt you,” Chat Noir says.

“This is so cool! I can’t wait till my first battle!” Rena Rouge then grimaces. “I mean, not that I want someone to get akumatised – ugh, you guys know what I mean!”

“Yes, yes, you’re just an overexcited douche rather than an insensitive douche,” Chat Noir says. Rena Rouge sticks her tongue out at him.

“I hate to cut this short, but we didn’t exactly tell Alya’s parents that we were kidnapping her,” Ladybug says. “This’ll have to be a brief orientation. But next time will totally be longer.”

“I will commit every second of this to permanent memory,” Rena Rouge whispers with starry eyes.

“One last thing before we end our little soirée,” Chat Noir says. “Try using your power.”

“My power? Oh, right! Like Ladybug has Lucky Charm and you have Cataclysm!”

“Yep,” Ladybug says. “Yours is Mirage. As many illusions as you want for five minutes, no matter how big or small. It should be easy enough to make and hold the illusions –”

“– but it’ll take pawractice to make it look purrfect,” Chat Noir says. Both Ladybug and Rena Rouge glare at him.

“Feel like being my new partner?” Ladybug says.

“Damn right I do,” Rena Rouge says.

“Hmph,” Chat Noir says. “As if you could live without my ameowzing puns. But it does seem a bit unfair that Rena’s gotta work on perfecting her illusions when the others get straightforward powers – make a shelter, stinging others…”

“And that’s why it takes a clever mind and a fast learner,” Ladybug says. “And we know Alya’s both.”

“Sorry, Chat Noir, but you’re just gonna have to shove off and let me make out with Ladybug,” Rena Rouge says. “She called me clever and a fast learner!”

“Don’t go getting a big head or anything,” Chat Noir says sourly.

“Besides, imagine the chaos of having unlimited illusions everywhere without a timer once you’re more experienced,” Ladybug says. “You wouldn’t know what’s real or what’s not. The Fox is suited to hanging back and annoying the enemy, remember?”

“Hanging back? That doesn’t sound like me at all,” Rena Rouge says.

“Which is why we picked you for the Fox,” Ladybug says. “It’s not always about what power you’re best suited to, but what that power can teach you. I get the feeling that you’ll benefit from learning how to be a true Fox, especially since you wanna be a professional journalist someday. Hang back, gather information, confuse your opponent, then get out of there. Even if you prefer to be in the thick of things, it’s all about learning how to use your wits under stress. He did say that aggressive foxes were a thing, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, if I remember correctly,” Chat Noir says.

“Actually…that does sound pretty cool,” Rena Rouge admits. “Especially the part where I can create literally any illusion I want. Okay, I’m in. How do I use my power?”

“Just picture the illusion you want to create, play your flute, then say, “Mirage”,” Chat Noir says. “First illusion will start your timer, then you’ve got five minutes to either use that one illusion or make more.”

“But the more you have, the harder it is to focus on them,” Ladybug says. “Which is where experience comes in.”

“Right, right. I think I’ve got it.” Rena Rouge’s brow furrows, then she unslings her flute and raises it to her lips to play a short tune. “Mirage!” She flings the orange orb at the end of her flute and when it hits the ground in front of her, a small group of people appear in a flash of orange light.

Wait. Why is Chat Noir looking at himself? Well, not technically himself, but his civilian self. Adrien. And Marinette, and Nino, and a few other people who he assumes are Rena Rouge’s parents and sisters. Except that they’re slightly fuzzy around the edges and very obviously not real.

“Guess what, guys!” Rena Rouge crows. “I’m a superhero! I’m Rena Rouge! Me, Alya!”

“Oh my gosh, really?” Illusion Marinette bounces on the spot. “That’s so, so cool, Alya!”

“We all know how much you love superheroes, especially Ladybug!” illusion Adrien says.

“I’m so proud of you, babe!” illusion Nino says.

“Our daughter, a hero!” illusion Mrs Césaire says, and illusion Mr Césaire beams and hugs her.

“Super Alya! Super Alya!” the illusion twins chant.

“Not bad, sis,” illusion big sister says. Rena Rouge’s necklace beeps and loses a tail segment, so she sighs and reaches out to touch illusion Nino, and the group of people disappear in another flash of light and the faint sound of flute music.

“Rena?” Ladybug says softly when Rena Rouge says nothing for a few moments. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Rena Rouge turns to face them, and Chat Noir’s stomach lurches at the sight of her glossy eyes. “I just…had to tell them somehow. At least I’ll have that memory with me.”

“You know we’d love nothing more than for you to be able to tell your friends and family, right?” Ladybug says. “But all it would take is one brainwashing or mind-reading akuma…”

“Not even Ladybug and I know who each other are,” Chat Noir says. He slips an arm around Rena Rouge, and she smiles and leans into his embrace. “Considering how many hits I take for her, that’s probably a good thing.”

“You’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days,” Ladybug mutters as she joins the embrace, sandwiching Rena Rouge between herself and Chat Noir. They stand there in silence, squished together, ignoring Rena Rouge’s Miraculous when it beeps again.

“You know,” Rena Rouge eventually says. “I never would’ve put this on the Ladyblog, even without you guys asking me. I don’t care about the world knowing who I am. I just want my close friends and my family to be proud of me…”

Alya considers Adrien to be one of her close friends? Chat Noir can’t help but squeeze Rena Rouge tighter after that, not that she’ll know why.

“I think they already know just how miraculous you are, even without superpowers,” Ladybug says.

“God, I’m such a fucking sap,” Rena Rouge mutters, squirming until Ladybug and Chat Noir release her. “Alright, alright, break it up. I should get back before my family comes to check on me and thinks an akuma stole me or something. How do I detransform?’

“I think it’s “let’s rest”,” Chat Noir says.

“Let’s rest.” Rena Rouge’s costume vanishes in a whirl of orange sparkles, leaving Alya standing in her place with Trixx floating above her head. Alya looks up at Trixx, bites her lip, then ever so slowly reaches up to unfasten the necklace, as though she’s prolonging the inevitable.

“Thank you, Alya,” Ladybug says as she accepts the Fox Miraculous from Alya and returns it to its box. “For proving that we could trust you.”

“It was super tempting to keep it, not gonna lie,” Alya says. “But you wouldn’t give it back if I did, right? And I’d be an idiot to make an enemy of Ladybug and Chat Noir. I figure if I get to be a hero sometimes, at least it’s better than never.”

Ladybug smiles widely. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” she says and holds the box back out to Alya, whose eyes bulge. “I wanted to make sure that we could trust you enough to relinquish your powers when asked. Good job passing our test, Alya.”

“You mean your test,” Chat Noir says. “I had no idea what you were doing. But hey, bugaboo always has a plan.”

“Stop calling me bugaboo,” Ladybug says, though her lips twitch.

“Are you…serious?” Alya breathes. “This isn’t another test to see if I’m gonna be greedy and snatch it or something?”

“No,” Ladybug says. “You’ve earned it, Alya. We offered to take it back each time, but Mas – the person who gave us our Miraculouses said that the bond between holder and kwami is vital. You do know, though, that Chat Noir and I are entirely responsible for you.”

“So, you’d better not seriously mess up, yeah?” Chat Noir says. “But no pressure or anything.”

“Yeah, no pressure,” Alya says sarcastically, taking the Fox Miraculous back out and clasping it around her neck again, then tucking it under her shirt. Trixx reappears in a flash of orange light and gives Alya a rather shark-like grin. Or should that be a fox-like grin? “I can’t wait till the next akuma fight!”

“Actually, we don’t want you out there just yet,” Ladybug says. She holds up a hand before Alya can protest. “Hawkmoth doesn’t know for sure that there are other Miraculouses in Paris. The minute we reveal you, we lose that element of surprise.”

“We gotta be sure that you’re not gonna get downed in two seconds before we let you out there,” Chat Noir says. “You saw how bugaboo got flattened on our first day.”

“Excuse me?” Ladybug huffs. “Mr ‘Oops-I-didn’t-listen-to-my-kwami-and-used-Cataclysm-like-an-idiot’ wants to imply that he was the better one of us?”

“I’m with Ladybug. At least she used her Lucky Charm right.” Alya sticks her tongue out at Chat Noir while dancing from foot to foot, while Trixx watches with an amused gleam in his eyes and Chat Noir pouts at her. “And that makes sense, about making sure I’m prepared. Even if I’m literally about to wet myself both out of excitement and to see if this is just a dream.”

“Please don’t,” Chat Noir says. “Or Ladybug will have to Lucky Charm a –”

“You’d better not finish that sentence, Chat Noir, or I won’t pet you for a month,” Ladybug says. Alya coughs rather suspiciously behind her hand at that. “Thanks for understanding, Alya. I know it must be super tempting to rush out there and get in the action.”

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head,” Alya says. “I’m totally cool to be your secret weapon. And it will be secret ‘cause this isn’t going anywhere near the Ladyblog. At least, not until my first battle. Just promise me that I get to break this scoop, right? And I get to Peter Parker this shit and throw people off our trails?”

“Of course,” Ladybug and Chat Noir say together, and Alya beams.

“Damn right. Now, take me back home before you guys are reported for kidnapping and end up on the run to prove your innocence.”

“A shame, really, that we can’t keep you,” Chat Noir deadpans as Ladybug scoops Alya up. Alya smiles sweetly at him.

“Damn right, furball.”

[royalreef]

(( ENJOY A MASSIVE POST ABOUT MERFOLK TAXONOMY, because biology has long been my BIGGEST special interest ( yes I’m including paleontology under this, I know it’s more considered an earth science and part of geology, shush ).

Merfolk as a whole are a part of an ancient group of animals that diverged from basal amniotes around the same time amniotes themselves came about, 312 mya (million years ago). I say about, because I haven’t fully decided where exactly to put them in this case, whether they’re fully counted as amniotes or no, and I still need to do a large amount of research into this.

I classify this split as happening there, as opposed to somewhere else, because merfolk are obviously tetrapods, and have some adaptations for full land living that amniotes have, though the merfolk themselves are fully adapted for a watery niche. Their eggs certainly were carried internally for a long time, so there’s probably some convergent evolution to how mammalian live birth happened, hence all the more reason to put them under amniotes, but they’re definitely not synapsids and thus definitely not mammals.

These early ancestors also retained their gills and ability to breathe water. They do have lungs too, and conceptually they filled a very fluid niche, where they had to be able to rapidly switch from aquatic life to terrestrial life, with most being oppurtunists who used this wide variability to be able to get a wider variety of food and resources that other animals couldn’t.

I will say these early ancestors mostly resembled newts/salamanders or small lizards, and somewhere along the line they independently evolved scales, both for providing armor and for retaining water when they were on land, along with all the other reasons to evolve scales. 

( Ideally, I’d say they never evolved hair, but considering that I can’t fully redesign Miranda for this blog for fear of inability to use my icons and basically making her fully an OC, she has to keep the hair on her head. Her eyebrows are a maybe, since I joke aplenty about them just being markings or her drawing them on. Landfolk get weird when they see her without any eyebrows, so she has to appear to have them! )

They also generally retained the same amount of digits as other tetrapods, so that’s how Miranda has five fingers still, though merfolk lost one of the toes on their feet, bringing that total down to four.

And yes, all of this does mean that merfolk have plenty of ancestors in deep time that probably fossilized and could be found by even human scientists, but they’re probably thought of in this world as an offshoot of tetrapods that has no extant relatives, with what fossils remain being sparse or incomplete, or even caught in nomen dubium hell. Certainly they weren’t featured in this world’s Jurassic Park, that’s for sure, and if they are represented it’d be in something like ARK.

This also does mean that there are plenty of ancestors that fell into more unique or odd niches, with stranger body plans or something much more different from the rest. 312 mya is a long time, after all! Lots of time for there to be more experimental species, though they didn’t pan out in the long run.

So, with merfolk themselves, I generally have the idea of them as coming from a branch of that tree that hung around the ocean’s edge, sticking closer to the shoreline than the mer alive today, though they were oddly social for a tiny, lizard-like species, probably already communicating through small squeaks and chirps. Lizardy kinda sounds. They spend a good amount of their time on rocky shores and cliffs, so they’re good at climbing over and up them. Likely already had something akin to their fins on the sides of their face, used for communication and display, along with pushing additional water over their gills, or maybe even the fins being used in addition to the gills to extract extra oxygen from the water is basal to merfolk, but only the abyssals really retained most of that feature.

As token as it sounds, I think the K/T extinction event was probably what pushed them to evolve into the branch that became merfolk. The death of much larger marine creatures opened up the ability to go more fully ocean-bound, and to take over a role akin to marine reptiles in the past and the marine mammals that were also evolving at that time, but with the addition of having gills to not have to surface for oxygen.

Their evolution from that point probably was a bit like primates - lots of trying out different shapes and styles, more of that basal form than true merfolk, except their roles being out competeted or otherwise led to extinction, until you get the “true” merfolk - which would occur with a focus on social behavior and language, along with tool use, as was the bonus to being a tetrapod that went back into the ocean but never lost their hands.

This is where we get to the merfolk family tree. I’d say probably the first mer was mid-size, generally had all of the traits of the merfolk you see today, very general, but very adaptive.

The abyssal (royal) merfolk were probably the first to branch off. Their tails resemble mosasaurs’ and early icthyosaurs’ a lot, having a much larger lower lobe of their tail where the bone is, and the upper lobe, being all fleshy, isn’t too pronounced. They went down into the deep sea, branching off early from the rest of the merfolk, and thus were generally super isolated from the rest, which you can see today in how the Merkingdom itself generally is conducted.

There are plenty of other species of merfolk, however, and the abyssals (and Miranda) are not representative of the entire group. There’s a lot of different takes on the same body plan, with different niches and different adaptations and different types of behavior associated with each. They’re all super vocal and adapted to be able to hear well, so that’s also basal to the group, but that also means when they all started forming their own societies and cultures and general settlements, it’s even weirder than how humans do it.

Effectively, merfolk are a lot like the homonid family tree, and for that reason they also generally take after the concept of the “braided stream” more than just the tree of life. It’s also why I can feel more confident saying they’re seperate species and not subspecies, despite being able to reproduce and make viable offspring - and anyway species as a whole are fake and weird. There’s a lot of hybridization going on, with some populations getting some genes from others that benefit them and get genetic and physical variation. In more nomadic merfolk, there’s a lot of their genes spread around in other species and a lot of genetic variation in them, because they roam and run into different species - meanwhile, the abyssals are much more genetically restricted, since the abyss is a generally isolated place that isn’t easy to access unless you’re made for it.

I’m pretty bad at clarifying when I’m talking about abyssal mer vs all merfolk, since there’s a huge amount of difference between the two. Abyssals are probably the merfolk with the most bioluminenscence - while some species probably do have a little or even a lot, it’s not as much of a need as with the abyssals. The abyssals also might have gone through deep-sea gigantism? They’re pretty big by merfolk standards. And yes, that is taking into account how tiny Miranda herself is - since she’s kind of an exception to the rule, being that she didn’t really grow right and her bones didn’t get the chance to form correctly, leaving her as a rather unhealthy-looking runt of an abyssal. I’m generally thinking mer grow throughout their entire lives, as something that’s also basal to the group, they just slow down after a point - so if you got proper care for Miranda’s health issues she might be able to fix some of that problems, and mer medicine is waaaaay more sophisticated and generally ahead than current human medicine, so if it was treated she might be able to come up to a respectable height and avoid some of the isssues of that kind of deformity that’ll occur later in life.

I do believe as a whole, merfolk are rather large. Some are more sleek than others, but especially with abyssal mer, they put on fat and muscle really easily. They’re a lot like large crocodiles in that respect. Again, Miranda is an exception to this rule, as she’s really not healthy - but overall, merfolk are DENSE. Abyssals tend to have tough armor, dense bones, put on muscle and fat easily, and generally should be MUCH heavier than a human of the same size. Not to mention their tails, as unless a mer is in the really late stages of starvation, they keep most of the muscle on their tails. It’s how they swim and get around, so losing that muscle is basically a death sentence to merfolk.

There’s also variation in diet, dentition, and what they can digest. I will say all merfolk generally can handle meat - some of them are more adapted towards eating coral or plant matter or filter-feeding, but generally they can all digest and handle it and won’t turn it down if they do get it. The abyssals do tend towards being carnivores and most of their diet should be meat, but they can handle other biological material as well. They’re equal parts predator and scavenger - their jaw strength is a lot like a hyena’s or a T. rex’s (at least, in the theory of them being scavengers and not predators). It’s VERY useful in getting into any hard material the ocean can throw at them, cracking not only bone but shell and scale and cartilage and shell too, and to extract as much nutrition from any food they find. I can say their jaw strength is probably the strongest among the merfolk for that reason. 

This also means, while abyssal mer have their triangular, serrated teeth like a great white shark’s - that tooth shape is more unique to them and their specific niche than to merfolk as a whole, who have a LOT more variation. I imagine at least one has teeth that come together a bit like a parrotfish’s beak, and one has teeth more similar to a crabeater seal’s, useful for seiving through water. 

Abyssal mer are also the ones that really retained the ability to extract extra oxygen from the water through their facial fins. That’s why Miranda’s fins are so fluffy and large - they’re basically pseudo-gills, and that’s why they’re so sensitive. Other mer do also have some of that ability, but it’s to a lesser degree than abyssal merfolk, and most are probably less sensitive because of that. That being said, the shape of the fins is kept, as is the “fluff” closer to the cheek. That fluff actually has a purpose beyond oxygen extraction - they’re little outgrowths of flesh and skin that act a lot like an owl’s facial feathers. They’re effectively radar dishes, helping pick up on sounds in the water and assists their hearing and communication. The fins are also universally used for communication and display - they move with a merfolk’s emotions for a reason! They’re really good silent communication when hunting.

I also think mer do universally have the pads on their hands and feet. Honestly, they aren’t really anaogous to a cat’s or dog’s paws. They’re far closer to what you’d find on an Osprey’s foot, and provide a lot of the same uses - namely being used as a grip in holding onto slippery prey, but also in movement, when mer cling to sheer rocks or climb over coral or what have you. Normally they’re very rough and thick - but because Miranda is a royal, she files hers down, and so they’re much softer and thinner. They’re all pretty squishy though.

I’d add more but I think that’s MOSTLY it. Can you tell I have a special interest? 

[allgirlsareprincesses]

Why Jasmine is the greatest Disney Princess

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while and I wanted to do more research before I did, but then the new Aladdin (2019) came out and HERE WE ARE. So this is me winging it with what I hope is still a pretty convincing case for Jasmine being the greatest Disney Princess so far.

What makes a great Disney Princess? Well, you could argue they all have something to offer: Snow White rocked some impressive sarcasm for a 14-year-old, Cinderella was pretty bold for her time, Sleeping Beauty was a dreamer with epic hair, Ariel is spunky and brave, Belle is bookish and kind, Pocahontas is regal and self-sacrificing, Rapunzel is sweet and empathetic, Tiana is passionate and hard-working, Merida is independent, and Anna is loving and faithful. There are others I didn’t include, of course, but the point is that there’s something to admire about every princess, and they all represent the modern woman in their own way. But did they need to be princesses in order to be these amazing characters? With the possible exceptions of Pocahontas and maybe Merida, I’d argue no. These stories would hardly be different, for the character at least, if she was any non-royal woman. And yes, I know Cinderella and Belle only became princesses by marriage, but even then, their stories could have been the same with any powerful man. It didn’t have to be a prince.

Of course, historical princesses and fantasy princesses are not the same thing, and we’re definitely talking about the latter here. Except for a few incredible and very unique ladies, most historical princesses were property whose carefully-preserved virginity was sold for a treaty, land, or a lot of money. They often lived and died miserable, their spectacular portraits notwithstanding. Fantasy princesses are, on the other hand, unabashed wish fulfillment for centuries of women who had little to hope for. These are the beautiful, powerful women we wish we could be, how we might see ourselves if our circumstances were different and nothing prevented us from realizing our potential. Fantasy princesses live the lives we want, and Disney princesses live the most flawless, perfect, clean version of that life. So by that metric, the greatest Disney princess might be the one who lives the most fully realized life that most girls can aspire to.

Jasmine in the original 1992 film

So, let’s talk about what we know of Jasmine (animated by the brilliant Mark Henn) from her introduction in the animated film. The first we see of her, she’s just rejected a suitor, so right out of the gate, we know she’s got no time for egomaniacs. A great trait, but not necessarily unique just yet. Belle also had zero tolerance for pompous douchebags. Next, we get some exposition setting up her conflict (and Aladdin’s) in that she’s legally bound to marry a prince, and she has a deadline. Naturally, she wants to marry for love, which is again sweet but not really original: Aurora wanted to marry for love, too, despite her betrothal. Then, Jasmine mentions that she’s never done a thing on her own, never had any real friends, and never even been outside the palace walls. This seems to be a hint that she might be spoiled and naive, if still sympathetic and appealing.

Finally, we get the line about “Maybe I don’t want to be a princess any more!” Ah, now that’s new. What does this mean? Is she declaring her ultimate goal, to reject her title and birthright, and become something new? Or is this setting up a lesson she’s going to learn about embracing her role? We don’t know, but suddenly we’re paying attention, trying to figure out if this is a spoiled brat or a girl on the verge of becoming a fully-realized woman. The next time we see her, Jasmine follows through on this thought, escaping over the palace wall to take her future into her own hands. We know now that, foolish or not, this is a woman with agency, who’s going to move the plot forward through her own actions rather than sit around and be an object for the hero.

In the market, we see Jasmine’s wonder at the world she’s never seen, but more importantly, we learn that she’s not just a self-absorbed teenager: she has a kind heart. She notices a hungry child and gives them food. True, she doesn’t understand that she needs to pay because she’s never had to do that, which is a consequence of her tremendous privilege. But, for someone who apparently had never before had direct contact with her people, simply recognizing hunger and instinctively seeking to correct it is encouraging. Importantly, this is also the first time we see her actions mirror Aladdin’s: we saw him offer food to a child only a few scenes before. The audience is starting to recognize that this girl is our hero’s equal (if not more).

Now, we come to the inevitable Damsel in Distress moment, and this is where Jasmine really shines. Caught off-guard by the abrupt cruelty of the outside world, she’s not quite able to talk her way out of having her hand chopped off for stealing, but thankfully Aladdin steps in to help. Jasmine, rather than being rattled and afraid, is intrigued and doesn’t miss a beat when her savior whispers “Just play along!” She follows his cues and immediately gives an Oscar-worthy performance as his insane sister, getting so into the ruse that she gives a glassy-eyed greeting to a camel as if it’s her doctor. To my knowledge, this kind of quick thinking is totally unique among the Disney princesses, certainly at the time. Even better, as we’ll see, Jasmine uses her smarts and acting ability several more times in the film, so this scene isn’t just a contrived meet-cute.

On the rooftops, we learn more about Jasmine: she’s genuinely grateful, she can graciously take a compliment (her blush when Aladdin tells her she “stands out” is adorable), and she is, in her own words “a fast learner,” at least when it comes to imitating Aladdin’s street sense. Finally, they arrive at his hovel and she’s entranced by his apparent freedom. Upon hearing how impressive he finds the palace, however, we see her sink back into her own problems, focusing on what she doesn’t have rather than her extraordinary wealth and luxury. From the audience’s perspective, this is definitely a flaw, but one that makes sense given her life experience up to that point. Once she and Aladdin connect over their mutual feeling of being “trapped,” Jasmine completely succumbs to his clumsy charms, and they nearly share a kiss UNTIL….

They are surprised by palace guards and the iconic “Do you trust me?” exchange takes place (this will set the tone for their entire relationship throughout all of the animated content that came after, but more on that later). Aladdin is captured and without a second thought, Jasmine reveals herself and in a commanding, regal tone, ORDERS the guards to release him. For a girl who declared only a few scenes ago that she didn’t “want to be a princess any more,” she changed her tune FAST when it suited her. In fact, from this point onward, she embraces her power and wields her position like a weapon, never again seeming to question her role as Princess of Agrabah. When the guards try to question her, she tells them her actions are “not your concern” and when they tell her she’ll have to take her complaint to Jafar, she gives the most menacing glare of any Disney heroine, ever (fight me), with a sinister “Believe me, I will.”

A quick note before we continue our recap of Jasmine’s epic badassery: during production of the animated Aladdin, the crew had a bit of a crisis with Jasmine being so amazing that she completely overshadowed the hero. Studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg (a horrible human who nonetheless brought a few nuggets of wisdom to the Disney Animation Renaissance of the 90s) is on tape saying he understands why Aladdin would like Jasmine, because she’s fantastic, but that he doesn’t understand why Jasmine would like him. At the time, Aladdin was written and drawn younger, scrawnier, more boy than man and more befitting his “street rat” title. There was a song about his mother, which also contributed to the impression of him as a child, and it quickly became clear that the hero was not really worthy of the heroine, as written. Aladdin was completely redesigned by supervising animator Glen Keane to have a more adult, heroic physique (despite the fact that much of his animation had already been completed), the mother character was removed, and Aladdin’s personality was patterned after popular film stars like Tom Cruise. To further “age up” the cast for this new, more adult take on the story, Jasmine voice actor Linda Larkin was trained to record all her lines in a lower register than her natural voice, making Jasmine sound more like a woman than a girl.

So, back to the palace (which, remember, she’d left because she didn’t “want to be a princess any more”) and Jasmine marching right up to Jafar to get in his face about the boy he took from the market. Still with that same commanding tone she used with the guards, the princess wastes no time on pleasantries and invades Jafar’s personal space, demanding answers and admitting no resistance. When he accuses Aladdin of kidnapping her, Jasmine doesn’t hesitate to tell Jafar she ran away, clearly more concerned about the boy’s freedom than any consequences she might suffer for her actions. But when she hears that Aladdin was executed, Jasmine mourns…. Not only for the kind young man who helped her, but for the damage that her selfishness caused. Though she blames Jafar when speaking to her father, Jasmine reveals to Rajah that she feels Aladdin’s death was “all [her] fault.” It’s not supposed to be her story, but we’re clearly seeing the princess learn a powerful lesson about the consequences of her actions. This is why we see Jasmine continue to mourn for multiple scenes, really right up until she realizes that Prince Ali is Aladdin: the guilt she feels is devastating. She’s reaching a new level of moral maturity even as the object of her affections is constructing an elaborate lie to win her back.

When Jafar is chastised by the Sultan for executing a criminal without consulting him first, he makes a silky and obviously insincere apology to Jasmine, who utters possibly her best line of the film: “At least some good will come of my being forced to marry. When I am Queen, I will have the power to get rid of YOU!” And then she marches off. DAMN, GIRL. And the best part is that Jafar takes her seriously. He knows that was no empty threat, and he discusses with Iago whether Jasmine will have him banished or simply beheaded. Tell me, when has a truly menacing Disney villain ever been that TERRIFIED of the heroine? That’s power, people, the kind that most women can only dream about. Jasmine has it and she’s going to USE IT. Jasmine, First of Her Name, Queen of Agrabah….

Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, Jasmine scaring the sh*t out of Jafar like the badass b*tch she is. So anyway, Jafar realizes the only path open to him is to marry Jasmine (and then kill her, of course), so we see that plot being hatched just as Prince Ali comes to town. Unsurprisingly, Jasmine is even less impressed by the princely pomp and circumstance than usual, if that’s possible, and she literally ignores the parade when she realizes what it is. Then she overhears Ali bragging to Jafar and the Sultan that he will “win your daughter” and she snaps with undisguised fury: “How dare you! All of you! Standing around deciding my future? I am not a prize to be won!” And again with the storming off (there’s a lot of that, I mean she’s nearly 18, after all). But seriously, this woman is my feminist icon. She literally just took down a potential suitor, her own father THE KING, and the second most powerful man in the kingdom with one line.

Finally, Ali shows up at her balcony and Jasmine is blunt: “I do NOT want to see you. Just leave me alone.” Of course, when Ali takes off his turban, she recognizes him immediately. She doubts for a moment when he lies to her, and then he starts attempting to impress her. This is the second time we see Jasmine turn to her considerable acting skills, and the first time she uses her considerable powers of seduction to fool a man: she stalks toward Ali like a she-wolf, telling him everything he wants to hear. She takes his compliment about her beauty (and remember, we’ve already seen her blushingly accept that same compliment before) and turns it into a weapon against him, drawing him in only to put him in his place as a “swaggering peacock.”

Naturally, Jasmine is intrigued by the magic carpet and the opportunity to taste freedom again, but it’s Aladdin’s ultimate tell of “Do you trust me?” that finally draws her into his arms and out into the night sky. Love, for this princess, is an expression of her desire for freedom: it’s what she chooses to do with that freedom, more than an end in itself. And both the music and lyrics of “A Whole New World” speak to that freedom as much as or more than romantic love. For two people who feel “trapped,” this song is the ultimate anthem. And as they soar, Aladdin tosses an apple to Jasmine with his signature move, and she’s again certain that it’s him. Rather than confront him directly about his lie, she again uses her smarts and performing ability to entrap Ali into admitting he’s Aladdin. She really lets loose on him once he realizes he’s caught, asking if he thinks she’s stupid. Then, Jasmine demands the truth…. And of course she doesn’t get it. Though this naivete could be viewed as a flaw, we know that their early relationship was built on trust, so it makes sense for Jasmine to bestow this on her suitor without reservation. We’ve seen so much of her harsher side ever since Aladdin was dragged away a prisoner, so this glimpse of her soft heart is refreshing and reminds us of why she is so extraordinary.

Back at the palace, Jasmine is in full teen-girl-in-love mode, having her first kiss and then dreamily humming as she brushes her hair (this is the only time we see her hair unbound in the film, signifying her achievement of freedom through her love for Aladdin). Upon discovering Jafar’s plot to marry her, Jasmine of course refuses forcefully, declaring without hesitation her love for Prince Ali. During the ensuing confrontation, Jasmine is a bit more the object for Aladdin than his equal, unlike in the rest of the film, but this doesn’t last. We next see her excitedly preparing to introduce her betrothed to the kingdom, even as he tries to confess the truth to her. While this analysis focuses on Jasmine, it’s notable Aladdin respects her enough to attempt to admit his lies and reveal his true identity, however belated. This shows how worthy she is, that in spite of the risk of losing her, Aladdin wants to be honest and be her equal partner. This is another theme we’ll come back to later.

When Jafar steals the lamp and makes himself Sultan, he demands that Jasmine and her father bow to him. Once again, she defiantly refuses, even as her own father begins to bend in submission. When Aladdin’s identity is then revealed, Jasmine is understandably startled, but there’s no indication she’s deeply hurt or angry, especially as she’s confronted with a much greater immediate threat in Jafar, and that Aladdin is obviously attempting to protect her. Alone with Jafar and reduced to a slave girl in chains, Jasmine still tries to fight back in any way she can. She pleads with Jafar to show mercy to her father, then throws a goblet of wine in his face when he suggests she marry him. Understandably, she’s terrified when Jafar uses a wish to attempt to force her to fall in love with him. Again, since giving her love is Jasmine’s ultimate expression of her desire for freedom, to be forced to love against her will is the greatest possible threat to that freedom. It’s not just that it’s a heinous thing for any woman or person, but that it’s the worst for Jasmine, specifically, because of what we know of her character.

A quick note here about the similarity of Jasmine’s situation to another princess who has recently joined the Disney family: Princess Leia. Like Jasmine, she is captured and chained by a villain (Jabba the Hutt) and dressed in a “sexy slave” outfit meant to demean her as a sexual object. Also like Jasmine, Leia keeps fighting back, and eventually finds an opportunity to turn the tables on her lascivious captor and use the conditions of her captivity (literally, her chains) to destroy him. In both cases, there tends to be undue audience attention to how sexy the character looks (hello, Male Gaze), rather than how she uses her strengths to defeat the villain.

So then, Jasmine spots Aladdin creeping up the steal the lamp, and this is where she cements her place as the greatest Disney princess, IMO. Just as she has several times before, she uses her wits and her Oscar-worthy acting skills, and makes Jafar believe that his wish has been granted. In a startlingly mature turn for a G-rated film, Jasmine uses her sexual appeal as a weapon against the villain, to enable her lover to defeat him. All undulating hips and shoulders, a sultry purr, and excessive flattery, she slinks toward Jafar, distracting him as Aladdin draws closer to the lamp. When it seems Jafar might suddenly notice his enemy, Jasmine takes the drastic and self-sacrificial step of pulling him in for a passionate kiss. What’s notable about this moment is that Aladdin, in a classically male possessive moment, becomes just as distracted as Jafar, and misses the opportunity Jasmine gave him. It’s another example of how, though Aladdin has many wonderful qualities, the princess really is still out of his league. The filmmakers made her so brilliant that it’s tough for the “diamond in the rough” main character to measure up.

Her ruse having ultimately failed, Jasmine still tries to fight back physically against Jafar, but of course she can’t. But Aladdin can, so he yells to her to get the lamp and she nearly does, until Jafar traps her in a massive hourglass. At this point, she’s back into Damsel in Distress mode since it is after all Aladdin’s story (I guess), but thankfully our hero uses his own cunning to trap Jafar in time to free Jasmine. To his credit, the first thing Aladdin does when he faces his lady after the battle is apologize for lying. Her response is perfect: “I know why you did.” She doesn’t say it’s okay, she just expresses empathy for him, because she doesn’t doubt his feelings for her. His judgement, maybe, but not his love. And then, she doesn’t hesitate to express her love for him, directly. And finally, when Aladdin tells her he must do the right thing and “stop pretending to be something [he’s] not,” she says “I understand.” She accepts that him making the right decision means they can’t be together. It hurts for sure, but she has the moral fortitude to cope with it. Seriously, Aladdin doesn’t deserve this goddess.

So Aladdin makes the right choice and frees the Genie, and then the Sultan changes the law so Jasmine can marry him. Her father’s justification for this decision is that Aladdin “proved his worth,” rather than that his daughter has the right to choose ANY suitor she likes, which is kind of unfortunate. If anyone has proved their worth at this point in the story, it’s Jasmine, who has defended herself, her family, her city, and her lover throughout the film. Fortunately, this is something the creators of the 2019 film recognized and corrected…. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As far as we knew at the end of the original film, Aladdin and Jasmine had married, and I believe that even if you considered ONLY this movie canon, the point that Jasmine is the greatest Disney princess stands on solid ground. But as we know, that was NOT the last we saw of these characters, and all the content since then has only reinforced how uniquely awesome Jasmine is.

Jasmine in the animated sequel content

After the smash success of Aladdin in the theaters, and the Little Mermaid TV show, Disney read the tea leaves and decided to create the first of its direct-to-video sequels. These cheaply-made, poorly-written debacles (often derisively referred to as “cheapquels”) would be a staple of studio income for some time, and were an intense topic of debate as well. That’s a tale for another day, but the point is that the first of these was The Return of Jafar, in 1994.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this film simply because it’s horrible and I have zero desire to watch it again, but I remember Jasmine being a lot more damsel-in-distress and less badass than she was in the original film, right down to her voice being higher than the carefully-crafted and mature vocals she had in the theatrical release. The film was mostly designed to set up the TV show, by removing the obvious remaining threat of Jafar, rehabilitating Iago for additional comic relief, and bringing back the Genie. It did all of these poorly, but the show afterward was better for having these issues resolved before it began. And the series, whatever its faults, had lots and lots of great Jasmine moments.

For example, in only the second episode of the entire series, Bad Mood Rising, Aladdin and Jasmine are sent on a diplomatic mission to a neighboring kingdom, to establish trade. Interestingly, there’s no indication that it’s Aladdin’s mission, merely that the two of them are “the delegation from Agrabah” and the episode starts with Jasmine giving Aladdin crap for his lack of diplomatic experience. They find the kingdom devastated by famine, and discover this is because the king, a young child, is enchanted such that his moods determine the weather. The kid’s boredom and tantrums are causing his people to suffer, so our heroes attempt to entertain him. Only Jasmine succeeds by telling him a story, in a delightfully direct reference to Scheherazade from the original 1001 Arabian Nights. The boy king is so fascinated by Jasmine’s storytelling, he commands her to stay with him forever.

At first, Aladdin and Jasmine try to escape, but when confronted with the suffering of the people, Jasmine agrees to stay with the king. Aladdin of course protests, and Jasmine utters my absolute favorite line ever: “I was raised a princess, Aladdin. And a princess knows: the needs of the people outweigh her own.” Like WHAAAAAT? I was about nine when I saw this and I swear it blew my tiny mind. I loved princesses, but the idea of them having a responsibility to their subjects had never once crossed my mind. Hearing Jasmine declare herself a servant and protector of the people completely changed my perspective on mythical (and to some extent, actual) royalty, and influenced my opinions of fictional princesses forever.

Jasmine freely chooses to go with the young king, even refusing to accompany Aladdin when he comes back for her again, but we see her mourning the life she lost. Even in a cheap and immature kids’ show, it’s clear that she’s made a real sacrifice to save the people. Thankfully, our heroes are able to teach the boy king that being kind feels good, and he releases the princess back to her city. I noticed when rewatching this episode that Aladdin’s first instinct is always fighting and physical aggression, whereas Jasmine turns to diplomacy. This is both a trend throughout the series, and also a setup for Aladdin’s eventual maturation. The show nearly always casts Aladdin’s aggressive stance as mistaken, which is an interesting commentary given the time.

In a much later episode, called “The Ethereal,” Jasmine has a dream foretelling the destruction of Agrabah. She is, of course, extremely disturbed, especially when events from her dream start occurring in sequence. Eventually a sort of Angel of Death called The Ethereal arrives to pass judgement on the city. We are made to understand that this is a very serious threat, as this same being has already destroyed Atlantis, Pompeii, and Babylon. While Aladdin attempts to make a magical spear that will destroy The Ethereal, Jasmine and her father take her on a tour of Agrabah’s wonders, to convince her to spare the city. They show her the fine library, the marketplace, and works of art, but The Ethereal is unimpressed. She begins to rain fire down on Agrabah in a fairly Biblical vision of the apocalypse, complete with smoking rubble and screaming citizens.

Aladdin attempts to use his spear to nullify the Ethereal’s powers, but his efforts fail. Our heroes come to accept that the city will be destroyed, so they turn their attention to saving as many of Agrabah’s people as they can. Jasmine sees a child about to be crushed by falling debris, so she uses the same pole-vaulting move Aladdin taught her at the beginning of the theatrical film (nice continuity, Disney TV writers!) to leap over the rubble and push the boy out of the way. She is then crushed by the falling tower. Just in case you weren’t SURE that they just killed off the princess in a Disney property, they have Aladdin finding her body in the rubble and saying in a devastated whisper, “She…. she’s gone.”

Holy sh*t, Disney, did you just DO that??? What? Keep in mind that this is at least two years before Hercules was released in theaters, in which Meg was also crushed by a falling column when she pushed Herc out of the way. So not only did Jasmine sacrifice herself first, as far as audiences were concerned, but she did so for her people, not just her lover. This is not to say that Meg’s act was selfish, of course, but it’s notable that Jasmine’s sacrifice was for someone she wasn’t particularly close to, yet she acted without hesitation all the same.

As the people of Agrabah visibly mourn their princess, The Ethereal floats down with a smile and says “I have seen what I needed to see. Your princess’s sacrifice makes it clear: she understood.” She restores Agrabah, then resurrects Jasmine, who tells Aladdin “It’s the people. The people make Agrabah great.” The Ethereal then warns them not to forget this lesson, and leaves.

Though these are the two episodes that most stand out in my mind, they clearly demonstrate that Jasmine thinks of herself not as Aladdin’s girlfriend, but as a public servant, a political figure with responsibilities to her people and a genuinely empathetic heart for them. It makes very clear that when the Sultan’s reign ends, Jasmine will absolutely be the ruler of Agrabah. While this is never stated explicitly to my memory, it’s obvious that Jasmine would be the wisdom and power behind the throne, as there is no clear arc built around preparing Aladdin for any kind of leadership. Despite the Sultan’s proclamation in the original film that Aladdin will be Sultan, it seems he’s really more of Jasmine’s consort, which appears to suit both of them just fine.

This leads me to my last point about the TV series, and one that segues well into the “threequel” that ended the animated content: Aladdin and Jasmine’s relationship is treated in a surprisingly mature fashion. What I mean is, though the writing on the show is often cheesy and a little cringeworthy, this is also a kids’ show that uniquely features a committed, long-term adult relationship. They often reference their plans to marry, and frequently say “I love you” to one another. Though there are ups and downs in their relationship, they remain committed and mostly very honest with one another, consistently demonstrating that their bond still rests on that trust that was so heavily emphasized in the 1992 film.

One episode in particular demonstrates this deep commitment, called Eye of the Beholder. In it, recurring villainess Mirage transforms Jasmine into a snake, to test Aladdin’s love. Aladdin determinedly sets out to find a way to break the spell and change Jasmine back. When they are unable to find an antidote, a devastated Jasmine tells Aladdin to leave her, believing that she will be a snake forever. Instead of leaving, Aladdin eats an enchanted fruit that also turns HIM into a snake, declaring to her “If we can’t be together as humans, then we’ll be together as snakes.” A furious Mirage screams “No, this was supposed to tear you apart, not bring you closer together!” And of course the episode ends with them being transformed back into their human forms.

While this is definitely more of an Aladdin moment than a Jasmine one, it’s important that her lover is shown being committed to her, because it demonstrates that he is truly worthy of her. Remember that in the original film, it was a major problem during production that Jasmine overshadowed Aladdin, so seeing him grow and become an equal partner is tremendously important to keep the audience invested in their relationship. I appreciate that instead of forced breakup plotlines, the writers of the series chose to show Aladdin and Jasmine growing even closer over the course of the show’s run, making them excellent romantic role models for kids.

Eventually, Disney chose to bring Aladdin and Jasmine’s story to a close, creating Aladdin and the King of Thieves in 1996. Blessedly, this film again featured Robin Williams as the Genie, and some much better animation than what we saw in Return of Jafar or the TV series. The story started with an obnoxiously-Westernized wedding, which was then interrupted by the appearance of the legendary 40 Thieves. We see here the return of Badass Jasmine, who punches out one of the thieves as payback for “ruining [her] wedding.”

Consulting an Oracle, Aladdin learns that his father, whom he had presumed dead, is still alive. There next follows another of my favorite Jasmine moments. She sings a beautiful song to Aladdin, about why she loves him and how special he is to her. The key line is “People like you don’t just come out of thin air.” Aladdin also has a verse trying to describe his painful childhood, including the wrenching line “Your father’s a man who taught you who you are; mine was never there.” I love the acknowledgement there that the Sultan, despite his faults, has been a good father to Jasmine, and that in particular, he shaped her and made her understand her place in the world. At the same time, Aladdin spoke to a generation of lonely kids with Daddy Issues, and there was Princess Jasmine, listening sympathetically and offering support.

The song ends with Jasmine encouraging Aladdin to go find his father: “Our wedding can wait. I think it’s worth a small delay. And won’t it be great to have your father see our wedding day.” No bridezilla here! Jasmine is happy to support her partner and put his needs first. When Aladdin learns that his father is “trapped within the world of the 40 Thieves,” Jasmine tells him “Take as long as you need.” Wow. He really, really doesn’t deserve her.

Aladdin goes off, finds out his dad, Cassim, really did abandon him and his mother, and confronts him about it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, but I remember being fascinated by how Aladdin didn’t let his father off the hook, but told him that his family had needed him. In an attempt to rehabilitate him, Aladdin brings Cassim back to the palace, where of course temptation gets the better of him and he gets caught stealing (again). Out of a sense of grudging loyalty to his family, Aladdin frees his father, but at the border of the kingdom, refuses to continue on with him. Cassim points out that Aladdin is a criminal now for helping him escape, and tries to convince him to leave Agrabah together. It’s at this point that Aladdin finally becomes a real man, defiantly shouting at his father, “I won’t walk out on Jasmine!” and turning his back on Cassim. DAMN RIGHT BOI, YOU TELL HIM. And as his father rides away, Aladdin returns to Agrabah to face the consequences of his actions.

Of course, they forgive him immediately and Jasmine even helps Aladdin rescue his dad later, but how great is it to finally see our hero show that he really is worthy of the princess’s heart? After this whole story has been told, this is where we end up: with Aladdin reaffirming his commitment to Jasmine, because homegirl is a damn QUEEN, thankyouverymuch. So Aladdin and Jasmine win the day and are finally married, and while we don’t hear anything of their lives together afterward, it seems like they probably had a wonderful life together, and that Jasmine was a wise and fair ruler with a supportive consort who always put her first. Or at least that’s the headcanon I’ve developed over the years.

Jasmine in the 2019 Live-Action Film

So this brings us to the latest of Disney’s live-action remakes…. BUT FIRST! Some context: I’m pretty lukewarm on this film. It’s fine, but IMHO it doesn’t hold a candle to the original animated version. That said, this rant isn’t about critiquing the film as a whole, so I’m going to set all of my nitpicks aside and focus just on the treatment of Jasmine, and whether she is STILL the greatest Disney princess in her newest incarnation.

Short answer: Yep, she is. While I can’t be certain that the writers for this movie had watched any of the TV series, I was struck by their choice of arc for Jasmine: whereas in the original film, her goal was simply freedom (expressed by loving whomever she wanted), her goal here is to literally rule Agrabah. That’s incredibly bold and of course anachronistic, but remember that we’re talking about a fantasy princess here, not an historical one. As in the show, Jasmine demonstrates an understanding of statecraft when she urges her father to maintain peace with the kingdom’s allies. Since she is interfering with his plans for a coup, Jafar insists she remain silent and enchants the Sultan into agreeing. This leads to an “I want” song for Jasmine, which she did not have in the original, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

While this Jasmine is missing some of the endearing traits of her animated predecessor, like the quick thinking and the acting skills, her ambitions to leadership create a similar problem to that of the original film. Remember that the 1992 filmmakers never quite solved the problem of their Jasmine overshadowing the hero, and now, with a new arc of her own that really has nothing to do with Aladdin, this Jasmine doesn’t really NEED him. Unfortunately, this leads to their two stories happening in parallel, rather than as part of a clear singular plot. Worse, it means that the climax of the film downplays Jasmine’s role in favor of Aladdin, robbing her of that wonderful moment from the animated film in which she tricked Jafar to help her lover. In the end, Jasmine’s achievement is her father formally declaring her his successor, and marrying Aladdin is more of an incidental bonus.

Issues with story structure aside, this Jasmine is much more academic than the street-smart girl from the animated content. She’s clearly well-studied in geography and diplomacy, which is why she has no patience for doltish princes like the one she rejects at the beginning of the film. She even has the self-awareness to recognize how being cooped up in the palace makes her an unfit leader, which is why she’s in the market the day she meets Aladdin. Whereas 1992 Jasmine left for selfish reasons - she wanted to be free of the royal pressures she faced - 2019 Jasmine left the palace specifically to learn how to serve her people. This is a level of maturity that the animated princess does not reach until fairly late in the TV series. While I miss the feisty, sharp-witted girl from my childhood, I have to admit that I love the compassionate, driven, calculating woman depicted in this new film, as well.

Which brings me back to the new song, “Speechless.” First and foremost, it’s fantastically performed by Naomi Scott, who has easily the strongest set of pipes in the cast. The musical style is out of place with the other songs, and the scene itself is a weird music video dropped into the middle of an otherwise tense moment nearing the film’s climax, BUT! It’s such a great girl-power ballad that it really doesn’t matter. Honestly, the lyrics don’t really even reflect Jasmine’s inner struggle THAT precisely, but this is because the song isn’t really about her, it’s about the audience, specifically the young girls in the audience. Disney understands that girls will project onto Jasmine as they do all the princesses, so they’ve given us the new “Let It Go” to belt out when we need to get psyched up about anything. I mean, I could easily hear this being played at a Women’s March or similar event. It might not make a lot of sense in the film, but Jasmine is definitely the perfect character to deliver this manifesto to the young women of 2019.

Point being, the only must-have on my list for the 2019 remake was that it not ruin my beloved Princess of Agrabah, and blessedly, they didn’t. And I think she still holds a solid first place among the princesses of the Disney lexicon, as the only one to seriously treat her role as a head of state. Pocahontas, Merida, and Moana all had moments of service to their people as well, but none with quite the boldness, cunning, and selflessness that Jasmine achieved in all of her many incarnations. I assume that Disney is seeing dollar signs and will put out another live-action sequel at some point, and it will probably be terrible, but honestly I don’t mind seeing more Jasmine as long as she continues to be the example of a powerful princess.

So thanks for reading my first unnecessarily-long Tumblr rant, and if you made it all the way to the end, please comment or reblog and let me know what you think!

[stardustghoul]

can u tell me some more about your characters? I see their names a lot but I don’t know much about them :O

Anon, I got so excited about this I went into a coughing fitANYWAY-I’ll just go through the list of my faves =DNone of them are heterosexual Their names link to pictures of them all!Julian is my Ghost-universe Ghoul OC. He’s trans, he plays guitar, he ran away from a very abusive home to join the Satanic church in hopes of a better life. I ship him with Copia because I’m shameless. I’m currently writing down his backstory, but the gist is that he got turned into a Ghoul through a ritual that bound his blood and transformed him. Fun stuff.

Eloi is my Good Omens-universe demon. Nonbinary, like all demons and angels in this universe. Usually presents male and uses ‘He/Him’ but will use ‘She/Her’ or ‘They/Them’ depending on how he’s choosing to present himself. He fell because of his rebellion against god, then rebelled against Satan. He’s a real ‘for the humans’ type. Likes science and motorcycles – two things he thinks humans did a good job on. Close to Zira and Crowley b/c all of my OCs are made specifically to interact with my favorite characters lmfao. OT3 yoNyx is my morally-gray Marvel-universe character. He’s trans. I decided to make him while watching Jessica Jones with a friend and I got attached to the absolute shitbag that is Kilgrave. He’s got telekinetic powers that are acute enough to be able to manipulate the most minute things, such as stopping someone’s heart or giving himself an adrenaline boost, as well as being able to move shit ‘n whatnot. I don’t know much about his backstory yet, as he is the newest of my OCs

Ares is my JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure boy. Also trans. Currently in the process of getting a little bit of a facial redesign. He was a drifter, going from place to place all over the world. Played music for money. His Stand’s name is Rhapsody, and his powers are akin to a banshee/siren. Banshee in the sense that he’s got a shriek that can stun people for as long as the shriek lasts, and siren in sense that he can sing, lulling people into a brief period of mind control – making them give up information. He’s shipped with Jotaro and later becomes a music producer. YeehawJackyll is my Overwatch boy. His city was destroyed and his family killed. Bisexual and cis. Had a fiance, but she was also, very sadly, killed when his parents and little brother were. He keeps pictures of them with him at all times. His powers are radiation based. A gun that lobs projectiles that do splash over-time radiation damage and stuff. He’s a mechanic in his spare time. Plays guitar.  Shipped with Junkrat because again, my OCs are made to be with my faves

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘Second & Sebring’

Ruby Rose packed up her briefcase with the tests she would spend half the night grading. Hopefully, this rowdy batch of future Huntsmen and Huntresses knew which Grimm was which and they would all pass with flying colors. If nothing else, that would make the grading move faster and leave Ruby with more Weiss time.

Ruby loved her job as a professor at the new Beacon Academy. Rebuilding the school didn't take all that much time once the people of Vale had set their minds to it. Grimm weren't as much of a problem as they once were, what with Salem eradicated, but the occasional spike in the monsters population still needed to be controlled. That's where Ruby came in, teaching the bright young minds and training the bodies of the next generation of demon slayers.

"Professor Rose..." She heard a voice call her name. She looked up from her desk to see a handsome young boy that had bright orange hair with a black streak in it. He looked at her through bright pink eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Valkyrie?" She responded. Being a professional was still an adventure for Ruby. She'd much rather scoop the kid up and hug him, as she'd known him since he was born. She tried not to be on a first name basis with any of her students if she didn't need to be, but Heimdall Valkyrie was the son of two of her friends.

"Would you mind going easy on Lotus's test? She's been restless lately with redesigning her weapon and it's all she can do to stay awake some days..." The shy boy asked her. He was forever looking out for his kid sister.

"I'm certain Lotus did just fine, Heimdall. You guys are Ren and Nora's kids, after all. Ren won't let you guys fail at anything you try." Heimdall grinned at his teacher's response and thanked her.

"That's something else I've been meaning to ask you..." He sighed, pointing to the small figures on Ruby's desk. "These two... They were Mom and Dad's partners when they went to school here, right?" Ruby's face fell at the question. Heimdall or Lotus was bound to ask it sooner or later.

"Yes, they were. The boy was Jaune Arc, a fantastic fighter and friend. He didn't come from much, and he kind of cheated to get into Beacon, but he fought harder than anyone else did. The girl was Pyrrha Nikos. She was a world-renowned fighter before she ever even came to Beacon. She was shy in spite of her fame, but she was a wonderful friend and a beautiful soul. And everyone at Beacon had a crush on her." Ruby chuckled at the thought of that. She fondly remembered her eyes turning to stars at the very sight of Pyrrha.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Yeesh, kid. Always with the difficult questions.

"Well, kid, they both ran headlong into battles they knew they couldn't win. At the Fall of Beacon, Pyrrha went after the woman who led the attack, and she was pretty much a god when Pyrrha got to her. You know the Maidens story, correct?" The orange haired boy nodded, mentioning that it was one of his favorite fairytales. "Well, the Maidens do exist. Or they did. No one knows if they're still around, seeing as the great evil has been defeated. Anyway, Cinder had just become the Fall Maiden, but Pyrrha went after her anyway."

Ruby held back a tear. "I watched her die, Heimdall. I was rushing to help her, but I was too late. A similar thing happened with Jaune. He made a mad dash for Salem in our last battle, but he never even got close. She summoned a horde of Grimm that devoured him." She rubbed her eyes to stop the tears. "The last words I heard him say were, 'At least I can see Pyrrha now'... and then he was gone."

"Wow, Professor! I can't believe you've been on so many great adventures! I'm sorry those horrible things happened to your friends, though." Heimdall sympathized. Ruby grinned at her student and honorary nephew,

"It's a hazard in our line of work, kid. More of my friends died, and even more of them lived through endless horrors, but we defeated Salem and lived to tell the world about it. What more could we ask for?"

"Wow, my parents were with you and your team?"

"Yep, them and Jaune, and some others, too. We made a fantastic team, really. Especially my girls," She grinned and pointed to the photograph on her desk. "We were called Team RWBY, and we were not what you'd call the best team at Beacon by any means. But we found a family in each other, all by ourselves. It was little and broken, but it was good. Is good, I mean." She picked up the photo.

"This one here is my sister Yang. We had the same dad, and the same mom raised us. Yang had a different... I think 'vessel' is a good word for Raven." Heimdall laughed at Ruby's remark. "Yang lost her arm in the Fall, but she and Blake destroyed the creature responsible. She's the one with the dark hair and cat ears. They were married shortly after that, and now they've got family of their own."

"So the girl with the white hair... isn't that Weiss Schnee? She's famous for reforming the Schnee Dust Company after her father ran it into the ground." Heimdall mentioned. He was always very studious. You could tell he was Ren's child.

"Yeah. He was a miserable man. Holding my scythe up to his neck is still one of my crowning achievements." She laughed as Heimdall's eyes widened.

"Were you the one that killed him?!"

"Well, he shouldn't have slapped my wife in the face and tried to attack her!" Ruby huffed defiantly. "But no, I didn't kill him. Weiss and I had our fill of beating him, and then we threw him into the mines and let the faunus have their way with him, Lion King style!" She grinned at the idea. "And then I married the girl of my dreams! But only after my team and I defeated Salem."

"You're so incredible, Professor Rose! I'd love to meet your team sometime!"

"Well, I'm sure you'll meet us all someday. Anyway, I'm going home now. See you next class, Nephew. And I promise I'll go easy on your sister... but only because you asked nicely." She grinned at the boy as she shooed him out of her lecture hall and locked the door behind the two of them.

"Rough day, Flower Pot?" Weiss asked Ruby when she arrived at home. Ruby showered Weiss with hugs and kisses.

"GROSS!" The small girl with white hair tipped with red yelled at them, making fake gagging noises. Ruby smiled and scooped up her favorite tiny human.

"Shut your cute face, Pyrrha Schnee Rose!" Ruby told her, hugging and ruffling her oldest daughter's hair.

"HOW DARE YOU!" The kid protested, trying and failing to escape her muscled mother's embrace.

"To answer your question, wife dearest, I had a wonderful day. And then Ren's son came and asked me about Pyrrha and Jaune." Ruby released her daughter, who ran off into another room. Another kid, smaller with bright crimson hair, appeared from the restroom.

"Hey, Ma!" The girl told Ruby as she reached into the fridge. Weiss shoved her away and closed the door.

"You JUST had a snack, Penelope! Dinner will be done soon!" Her mother protested. Penn grimaced and crossed her arms but accepted her cruel fate. She hugged Weiss and Ruby.

"Your mama's cooking is amazing, Penn! I certainly can't wait to eat it!" Ruby bragged on her wife. Penn smiled as she ran off to her room. "So, Mama... when are we gonna have a boy?"

"One of these days! Please don't make me name him after Jaune," Weiss joked. Ruby grinned.

"Niko Arcana Rose... That sound good?"

"It's an idea. A bit better than Penelope Summer." Weiss jabbed. Ruby huffed.

"Hey, I carried 'em so I named 'em! You just did the fun parts!" She fired back. Weiss rolled her eyes and tended to the meal she was cooking, sipping coffee from a wine glass for some reason. Oh yeah, all the coffee mugs held plants and/or science projects for the kids.

Ruby sat down in her lazy chair, leaning the head back and relaxing. 'Have I made you proud, Mom? I'm sorry I haven't been to visit lately. School's been pretty wild. I'll make my way there soon enough though. I love you.' She silently prayed. Pyrrha ran by with something shiny in her left hand. "Pyrrha, honey, what is that?"

"A knife," the little human answered. Ruby sped over and snatched it away.

"NO! Just because you're named after Pyrrha Nikos doesn't mean you can get all stabby! You're still too young for weapons, honeybun!"

"If I can help it, you'll always be too young for weapons..." Weiss injected from the kitchen. "Food's ready by the way! Kids, your plates are on the table!" The two kids rushed to the table and sat, waiting for Mom and Mama to fix their own plates. The four of them sat to a nice dinner. Ruby could not be happier with her life.

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

Day 9: A Character Ten Years in the Future.

Had a long and rough day yesterday, so it’s late. I kinda used Day 10′s prompt too, so maybe I’ll see what the WRW prompt is today.

Anyway, Professor Ruby Rose has a talk with Heimdall Valkyrie, then goes home to Weiss and their kids.

[phantomphangphucker]

The Bindings Of Time - Chapter 2. The Sands Of Time Embodied - PhannieMay - Day 11 Redesign and Day 22 Memories

Summary: Danny’s got some changes to make

(Multi-chapter fic, each chapter falls under the Memories prompt as well as another day’s prompt)

-return to the present-

Maddie’s returned home while Danny’s been lost in thought, she can tell too as he rubs at the little purple pinky ring he’s started wearing. Danny jerks his head up as he picks up on her presence and quickly chases down his melancholic expression. “You’re home early”.

“Sweetie, it’s five p.m.”, Danny turns his head to clock muttering, “Oh”. As Maddie walks over and ruffles up his hair, “you’re not ok, why? Can I help?”. Danny’s still not really up for explaining to anyone really. But his parents especially, they might have accepted Phantom and him being Phantom but they know nothing about ClockWork or that he was even close with any ghosts. He knows they don’t see him the same as other ghosts and that they view him as more of a hunter, like them, instead of socialising and protecting what’s his, like ghosts do. He still appreciates her concern though, “not really”, pausing for a bit with a little smirk, “it’s more of a time thing”. He knows Jazz would lecture him about using jokes as a coping mechanism but Danny thinks he’s damn well deserved it. Plus jokes are really a knee jerk reaction for him. “If you’re sure”, she continues talking after sitting down next to Danny, “you can talk to us, you know. I know your life is different and you deal with things I could have never imagined, but still. You’ve got us in your corner no matter what it is or what you need”. Danny can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed as she kisses his hair before going to make supper. Danny can hear her come back out but she stops walking, waiting a beat before asking, “is there a reason you have a beat up thermos sitting on the table? You don’t usually leave them lying around”. Glaring at the thermos a bit before tilting his head backwards to her, “figuring out what to do with it. And before you ask, it’s not why I’m bummed out”. Pulling his head back forwards, he pokes the thermos cautiously, “in its confines is a powerful and very dangerous ghost. One whom I have full responsibility over now”. Maddie hands him a plate of crackers and a bowl of soup before glancing at the thermos warily, “well first, maybe put them in a thermos that doesn’t look partly destroyed. Second, why would you be responsible for a specific ghost? I know you view the ghost problem as your responsibility but this seems different”. Danny’s glad both his parents have stopped calling ghosts “it”, he was a bit surprised to find that it’s both because he’s part ghost and because their views have actually changed. Sighing, “he was another ghosts responsibility before, but he can’t do it anymore. And it’s my job now to do it”, continuing after shaking his head a little, “and transferring him into another thermos is too risky. He cannot be let out for any reason, ever”. Danny can’t know for sure but his gut says he’s right and he’s got a damn good gut. “So you have to make sure he stays in there? That’s this “job”? That seems a little extreme for any ghost and who are even giving you a “job”?”, Maddie frowns worriedly, “and why can’t this other person do it anymore? Is this dangerous?”. Danny can’t blame her for being worried, pretty much everything he does is dangerous and she wants him safe. “Keep him sealed away yeah, but also to deal with him if he escapes. The rest is complicated”, turning to his mom, “but trust me when I say this isn’t extreme, not for him. If any ghost is deserving of the titles “monster” and “evil”, it’s this one”. Pointing a soup-soaked cracker aggressively at the thermos, “jerk”. Maddie’s words don’t really match the mild humour previously in Danny’s voice, “sounds like you’ve dealt with him before and I really don’t like the sounds of that”. Danny eyes his mom before sighing, “yes and I guess he’s someone I really should tell you about. But it’s all tied to why I’m “not ok” as you put it. Because of who used to be responsible for him and why he’s mine now”. Danny’s sure his mom has jumped to some conclusion, normally he’d guess it was likely the right one, but he knows it’s not. As Danny rubs at the gear tattoo on his left collar bone getting lost in thought again.

—two days ago—

Danny can’t say he’s surprised when his ghost sense goes off and he can tell it’s an Observant, sighing and sitting up as the ghost floats up through his floor, “I’m surprised you didn’t come sooner. Maybe you understand human mourning more than you seem”. Danny’s not about to give them too much credit, he knows it wasn’t out of care for him; rather they just wanted to time things effectively. Clearly the Observant can tell Danny knows that, “the time wasn’t previously favourable, as you likely know. You are being summoned to the clock tower, we do not doubt that you know why”. The Observant is of course right, that’s likely the whole reason one gave him the new time medallion. Apprentice becomes the master sort of thing. Though he hadn’t really expected ClockWork to ever fade, being outside of time and all. “Of course”, smirking a bit before he continues, “you’ve said your peace, now care to observe the door”. Like always he can feel the Observant glaring at him before leaving, ClockWork nearly always dismissed them like that, as did Danny; no way he was ever going to stop either. Even if the words felt bittersweet now and it hurt knowing no one else was going to say them anymore. Getting up with a groan before walking downstairs, “Danny, it’s almost midnight. If there’s a ghost issue then just tell me and go back to bed”. Danny curses himself a bit for not being ok enough to have the for-thought for invisibility. Rubbing his neck awkwardly, “I’ve got to make a Zone trip, and no you can’t really help. Sorry?”. Danny knows his mom’s not really comfortable with him going into the Zone and he’s sure she’d probably try to stop him, if that were actually possible to do. Maddie’s frowning gives away that displeasure, “And it can’t wait? At least take the Speeder then”. Danny shakes his head and stops walking just in front of the lab door, turning his head to her, “this doesn’t call for that. The opposite actually, I’ll be back”. Danny’s not sure if she hears him mutter as he walks down, “eventually”. It doesn’t take him long to get to the clock tower, he knows the route exceptionally well. Really he knows the whole Zone well, though his parents don’t really understand that yet. Putting his hand mournfully on the door and rubbing it before pushing it open. Walking inside he’s a bit startled as the floor and everything else starts changing colours, in a manner similar to rippling waves as soon as his feet touch the floor. Walking forwards and spinning around a little, taking in the blacks, whites, blues and greens. The place is still heavily dark and atmospheric, with an old dusty book feel and smell. But it also somehow feels more lively, sliding his foot across the white with black veining floor, “should have seen that coming. I’m surprised it still feels like the same clock tower”. Danny promptly schools his expression as he knows at least two Observants just showed up. Fastening his cloak on as they approach, instantly cluing in that they’re the two highest ranking, “things must be actualised of course and it should be no surprise that we believe you to already be too powerful. However”, one of the Observants floats over to Danny and hands him a core fusion crystal, a time one to be specific, “this is not something he would choose unwisely nor to spite us”. Danny takes the crystal gingerly, knowing full well it’s a time one. Rolling it over as the other Observant floats over to where Dan’s thermos is, “as his powers are yours so too are his responsibilities”. Danny wants to glare but he knows full well that’s likely not a good idea, he knows they’re right. Both of them float in front of him now and he can feel their power in the air, “so do you, Danny Phantom, bind yourself to all the confines of time. To be bound to it though free from it. Will you keep guard over the time stream and all those with it. And stand guard against those outside of it, your future evil self and any others who may appear. Do you swear to know the gravity of this roll and that you can ensure, you take this knowing full well you can never relinquish it nor pass it on, due to the nature of your existence”. Thinking back, at first Danny had watched with childish amusement and wonder at all of ClockWork’s viewing screens, portals and all the things he had rein over. But it hadn’t taken long to see the burden of it, especially when it came to seeing and knowing all of the past, present and future constantly. It made it impossible to really be close to anyone and it made it so you knew everyone intimately well, to degrees others would find disturbing. It was a lonely and solitary thing but in a sense, Danny stood separate and alone already. It’s not like Vlad was a true halfa and the chances of there ever being another was pretty well none. He could be close with people, have friends and family, but no one could truly relate and everyone was inherently different. That’s why him and ClockWork got along so well, and that made losing him all the worse. And it’s not like Danny wasn’t already burdened, what’s another burden? Besides, he’s certain even the Observants know, no one else can do this. There is no ghost nor human, or hybrid for that matter, who viewed the two species on equal footing and placed his duties above his own self and desires. Like the role of hero and protector, keeper of time was a self-sacrificial role. Not just in body and mind, but social life as well. Nodding firmly at the two before him, “with absolute resolution I know, accept and bind. Core bared, I will stand objective and solitary in and out of all aspects of time. To keep time above all others and self. Time eternally to hold me and I it. Time eternally to exclude me but I never it”. The two Observants put a hand on either side of Danny’s head, “then with that we bless you keep and forever know all of time, for all of time”. One Observant leaves quickly but the other turns back to Danny, “you have your place here now. Time favours none and neither do you. We will be watching”. Danny smirks lazily, “it’s not like you could stop me, we all know that”, smirking even wider, “time favours plenty, else we’d all die or fade at the same age with the same life experiences. I may have cheated time and death itself, but everyone else is victim to its whim or mine”. Danny hears that Observant mutter as he leaves, “he’s already just as insufferable as ClockWork, if not more so. And he isn’t even omniscient, yet”. Danny knows full well he has to absorb the crystal himself and no way is he going through this around his family. From what he’s heard core fusion was one part pain and one part getting bombarded by new fully fleshed out abilities. Considering how much of an issue his ice core was, this was going to be a trip. Walking to the room he had here, though all of this was his room now. Sticking his head inside and raising his eyebrow at the long object wrapped in purple cloth. Unwrapping it gentility and if this had been in less gloomy times he’d have laughed heartily. Instead only smirking faintly as the head of the staff comes fully into view. Shaking his head as he places it on the pillow, the rest still wrapped. Knowing full well that he really shouldn’t touch it without having an actualised time core. Rolling the core fusion crystal a little as he sits on the bed, pushing the tip into his chest directly where his core is; before promptly bending over and squeezing his arms around his chest from sharp pain. He’s quite glad for his high pain tolerance and the seclusion of the clock tower. Gritting his teeth and whining, far less painful than his half death but definitely the second most painful thing he’s experienced. Involuntarily shaking as little pinpricks of something that feels like how cinnamon tastes but on fire, ripples around his chest. His breath coming out cold and ice forming thinly on his skin from his overactive core as new energy is introduced. Pushing his head into the bedsheets as a waving pulse of blueish purple energy shoots out from him and out across the entirety of the Ghost Zone. In an instant he can see everything, some feel his energies pulse and become confused, others like the Observants nod as they know they’re being watched. Wheezing and putting his hands on his head at the bombardment of sensory input. Promptly passing out as his mind gets halfway through cataloging how every ghost died, in detail.

It’s a full day before Danny wakes up, pitching forwards off the bed and onto the floor. Groaning as he rolls over blinking away the images of the eight other ways he could have reacted upon waking up. “Fuck ClockWork, better warning needed”, patting at his aching chest as he rights himself. Turning his head to the staff still lying innocently and temptingly on the pillows. Staring at it and wondering whether he should do that now or wait, the future doesn’t really seem to care on that one. So with a shrug he elects to unwrap it, chuckling as he normally would have been caught off guard by the little electrical shock of the staff bonding with his energy. Of course, he already knew that would happen, spinning the staff around lightly, “it is incredibly odd instantly knowing how to use literally every single new power, when it took over a year to get my ghost and ice core shit down”. Looking down at his chest and raising an eyebrow, “ice time core? Cold time core? Naw”, snickering, “time freeze core”. Sure it was ice first but the new time powers and “job” took precedence over everything. Plus his ice powers were just another ghostly power to him, but these time powers were a whole nother beast, a completely new aspect of himself. Tapping the staff on the ground and electing to test this out, pushing the button on the top, “time out”. Shaking his head as everything with exactly 28 feet of him just stops, “damn that is so accurate and it’s rather weird this power needs a vessel to channel it out of me, I get it but still”. Chuckling because of course he gets it, he’ll probably “get” everything now. Chuckling more, “it’s going to be impossible not to basically cheat at school, there’s literally nothing they could teach me that I wouldn’t automatically know. I’d just have to conjure up the knowledge”. Tilting his head as he says, “time in”, Danny’s not sure about how he feels more ok and comfortable with ClockWork being gone now. It simultaneously feels like it happen ages ago, today and years from now. Fully able to view his old mentor at any point in time. “Man, if I wanted his advice I could literally just view it”, Danny squints his eyes before facepalming as one of the scenes of past ClockWork, before Danny was even born, is clearly giving him advice, “welcome home, Daniel. I may be a phantom of times past but you’re the phantom of its future. Let your staff aid you well, we both know it will. I’d say not to worry about Dan, but you will. To protect is to worry. But now too must you guide and that spares little room for worry”. Shaking his head, “sneaky bastard, but thanks and I know. Still going to be a general mess of a halfa though”. Turning his head to one of the screens and making it show a reflection of himself, technically it’s not really a reflection just an angled view of the present but still. He already knows his eyes turn purple when using time powers but he literally has to see it now for his just recently past self to know it, “man this is somehow both messed up and seems utterly normal”. It’s easy to be used to something when it feels like you’ve had it forever because you can literally see and know those powers for eons past the current time. Calling another “time out” in front of the mirror just to make the point of seeing his eyes change to purple. He’ll admit it feels like a reminder of ClockWork and he knows the only reason ClockWork’s eyes didn’t change is cause he is, was, a full ghost. Giving himself a better look, the staff's body/neck is vertically pinstriped black and dark grey, with a white sphere at the bottom; easily taller than ClockWork’s. Which only makes sense as he’s quite a bit taller than him. Crowning the top of the staff is a black sideways capital D, making a dome shape. With an upright white capital P the spine of which is stabbing through the D, to connect with the body of the staff. The inside of the P holds a clock with the button resting on top. His outfit itself has changed only a little, there are hourglasses on the backs of his hands filled with black sand with purple sparkle. “Sam’s so gonna bug me about that”, but he’s going to say her exact words as she does just to bug her right back. Plus, as he tilts his hand to move around the sand, purple is ClockWork’s colour; so he’s got a little reminder even if he forgoes the cloak and staff. Next tracing his fingers over the little clocks lining his belt, all showing different times of course. Smirking as he summons a DP time medallion out of one, “convenient and stylish”. There’s no real humour in his words though as he sighs and rubs the gear clasp on his cloak, which is a little bigger, and he knows the cloak is truly part of him now. Though he could technically take it off, just like his jumpsuit. The only other difference in the cloak is that the hood comes to a long point and zig-zags like a lightning bolt. “Well it is a little odd having an actual tell on me of how I died, but I really should have had one already”, talking also makes him notice how his fangs are a bit longer, no doubt due to being more powerful. Checking his ears and yup, the points jut out further. “More ghostly but hey, no fire hair or blue skin”, Danny really means no offence to ClockWork but blue skin is something he’d prefer to avoid ever having. Calling “time in” and sighing as he can see his mom, clearly upset and sitting on his bed, “well it has been a full day”. Floating back into the main area while easily switching to his ghostly tail which wiggles about energetically, sighing a bit at the release of energy, “and no wonder why ClockWork sticks to his tail, it’s like the little release of built-up energy I get from my ghost sense”. At least the time part of his core he uses pretty well automatically just by thinking, so build ups not really a concern. But there’s a lot more of time than ice. Floating to be in front of Dan’s thermos and crossing his arms, knowing full well he can’t leave it here unguarded but otherwise he’s not sure what to do. Dan, and his thermos really, exists outside of time, he literally can’t see his/it’s future. Which is genuinely disturbing and feels so very wrong. “Dear Phantom, I really do feel like I’ve been this way for eternity”, he’s pretty well sure it’ll take longer to get used to this coming naturally to him rather than getting used to what is actually new but doesn’t feel like it is. Picking up the thermos cautiously he elects to go home.

Once home, he knows full well it’ll be a while before either of his parents are back. Having a ghost research meeting to go to in another state. Glaring down at the thermos, not really liking how it and Dan’s energy taints his room. Putting it down on his bed before changing back human, only to be promptly cut off from the complete awareness of well, all of time. “Figures, that'll keep me from coming off as completely weird and the break is nice”, this makes him sigh and feel a bit bad for ClockWork. But he can’t help but smile at his reflection, easily seeing the top of the new little gear tattoo; a mark of time. Pulling his collar down to get a proper look before patting at it gently. He knows he needs to see his chest too, his scar has changed some after all. Danny always found it amusing that his scar is more because of a forming core, a core that’s always there regardless of form, rather than the actual shock of the portal. Lifting the bottom of his shirt up and smirking at the fuzzy and glitchy looking circular white scar. Like a soft reflection of the moon over tightly rippling water. He does find it sad that he’s really the only one who will think of this scar fondly. Tucker and Sam just find it an unpleasant reminder of the accident, which was rather traumatising for everyone really. His parents had only caught glimpses off it but he knows they think it’s smaller then it is and won’t be happy about it when they do finally get a good look at it. Shaking his head and sighing at the thermos, it’s a lot easier to not be bothered by not being able to see its future when his heads not being constantly filled with all of time. Tilting his head as he checks up on time, he’s going to have to make a point to do this frequently while human; because therein lies the downside to this “break”. Time guarding wasn’t really something you can or should take a break from, so much can happen in seconds. Glancing at his phone before heading down to the living room, thermos in tow. He knows his friends are freaking out a bit, he’s been kind of hard to contact since ClockWork’s fading but they know what happened, so they’re giving him space and everything is giving him time. He’ll have a lot to tell them but for now, he’d really rather not. Especially because his human friends don’t really get his affection for ClockWork. End.

[quicksilversquared]

There’s No Camembert in Tibet Outtakes: Chapter 7

Adrien: Future

Adrien loved having his mom back.

It wasn't all smooth and easy, not by a long shot. She had a lot to deal with in order to get reintegrated into the life that she had been pulled from. She wanted to spend time with him, of course, since she had been missing for a year, and she wanted to get to know all of his friends and other classmates, but she couldn't just do the fun stuff. She had to talk to police and tell them what had happened when she went missing, and catch up with what was going on with the company, and then deal with the reporters that kept clamoring to know what had happened.

And then, of course, there was the whole need to deal with his father. She hadn't told him what had gone down during her visit to the prison, but she hadn't seemed very happy afterwards.

But his mom was getting along with his friends really well, and she seemed to adore Marinette already. Adrien had definitely heard the two of them discussing how they might renovate the front hall area to make it not so intimidating, and she seemed to really listen to what Marinette had to say.

...Adrien was a little concerned that he and Marinette wouldn't get any time to properly relax together, between them simply spending time with his mom, meeting up with their other friends that they hadn't seen for the first half of the summer, and doing all of the shopping for the impending redecoration. His schedule had already started up again with fencing and basketball and piano and photoshoots, keeping him busy for several hours each day almost five days each week. His mom had agreed to not resuming his Mandarin classes as long as he spent some time chatting with Mrs. Cheng every week, so he didn't have that, but still.

At least she had agreed to let him continue going to public school. Otherwise, Adrien probably would have had tutors starting to come in on top of everything else, and his summer would be done for.

(To be fair, she hadn't even argued that one. It was just automatically a given that Adrien would be returning to school, it seemed.)

"Sitting around doing nothing isn't all it's cracked up to be," Marinette assured him one day as he was practicing piano and she was listening, perched on the bench next to him. "It gets boring. I know Nino was talking it up, but he probably lasted for all of one full day before needing to do literally anything else at all."

"He's not gotten his full day of relaxation, either. He texted me grumbling about it." In fact, out of all of them, only Chloe hadmanaged to sit back and fully relax. Alya had had to babysit her sisters, Nino had been put in charge of his little brother Chris, Master Fu had re-opened his business, Mrs. Cheng had been working in the bakery again filling in for a worker that had come down ill right after her return, Adrien had had his activities, and Marinette alternated between designing, helping in the bakery with especially large orders, and helping his mom with redesign and renovation plans. "Maybe once we're back in school we'll get a Saturday free or something."

"And we've had half days here and there to hang out," Marinette pointed out. "Even if there were some very noisy kids around."

Adrien winced at the memory of Chris, Ella, and Etta running around screaming at the pool on top of the Grand Paris on their last afternoon out. If it hadn't been for their connections to Chloe, Mr. Bourgeois probably would have tossed them out right away.

(If Chloe had actually been there and not on a shopping spree, she would have probably kicked them out herself, friends or no. They had gotten the kids to calm down after a bit, but they were still a bit splashy.)

"Maybe we can go on a date this week and have an afternoon and evening to ourselves," Adrien suggested, finishing up the song with a practiced flourish and sitting back. "Not to do anything fancy, but maybe pizza and a movie? Or go to the arcade and trounce everyone's high scores."

Marinette beamed at him. "Oh, I'd like that," she agreed. "We can maybe start with one and move to the other after dinner, depending on when shows are playing and how late the arcade is open. Will your mom let us be out that long?"

"She's being strangely lenient about me being out and about." It was surprising, really. Adrien had prepared himself to be coddled to the point of nearly being smothered, but instead he had nearly as much freedom as he had had with Nathalie and the Gorilla watching him. Nathalie had warned that it probably wouldn't last forever- his mom probably felt guilty about leaving him on his own and about all that he had had to go through while she was gone, and was still trying to figure out where to set new boundaries now that he had gotten used to more freedom.

Adrien was going to enjoy his freedom while he still had it. Once his mom set new limits, there was a possibility that some of the stuff that he had taken for granted over the past couple of months would be off-limits until he turned 18- or until after he had graduated university and moved out.

The sleepovers were already out-of-bounds, they didn't even need to ask to know that much- and Adrien didn't want hangouts in the park to be next, just because some fangirls (and fanguys) didn't understand the concept of leaving him alone and his mom was worried about them harassing him.

"Right, so let me check my calendar." Adrien pulled out his phone, hoping that his mom wasn't going to come investigate if she didn't hear piano music for a while. He knew that he was meant to be practicing, and he did have a lot of ground to make up after not playing much after his father's arrest and not practicing at all for the first part of the summer, but his girlfriend was right there. After being together all the time on the trail, their separation back in Paris was jarring. So sue him if he maybe wanted to set practice aside for a little bit to figure out when they could have another proper date before their evenings filled up with homework and projects again. "Ooh, it looks like most of my photoshoots have passed! I only have one this week."

"More fall stuff?"

Adrien winced at the reminder that he would have to get dressed up in clothes that were far toowarm for the hot Paris weather. "Ugh. Yeah. Promise you'll come rescue me?"

"I can bring iced lemonade again. Does that work?"

"That sounds purr-fect, my Lady."

  "Oh, we're getting dirt all over the floor!"

Adrien grinned at his mom's distressed exclamation. "Mom, we have a broom. And a top-of-the-line vacuum."

"And mops," Marinette added, trying to push her hair out of her face without actually touching it with her dirt-covered hands. She wasn't entirely successful. "It'll all come up! We knew it would get messy! That's why we didn't put the rugs down yet."

"Oh, but still." Mrs. Agreste scanned the footprint-covered floor. "I know we wanted the entry hall to look lived in, but this is going a little too far."

Adrien caught sight of Nathalie peeking out of the office at the mess and wincing before vanishing back into the room. He grinned at that. Nathalie wasn't used to seeing the mansion in anything but perfect shape, and right now, in the middle of their redecorating, the front entry hall was anything but perfect. The couches, chairs, tables, and rugs that Marinette and his mom had found for the space on one of their little outings were shoved together and piled up in one corner, waiting to be arranged. Another corner was filled with their new curtains, the light, airy fabric draped over the banister of the stairs and trailing across the floor in anticipation of being hung later on.

And in the middle of the space, almost every centimeter of floor was covered by planters, pots of plants, and bags of dirt. Marinette had come up with the idea to replace the old planters, formerly filled with dark red plants, and replace them with a number of new ones, light and fun instead of dark and businesslike, and then fill them with a more playful arrangement of plants. Ferns and bamboos and palms and orchids and all sorts of plants Adrien didn't recognize were scattered around them, waiting to be planted and arranged around the room, making his mom and Marinette's vision for the space a reality.

Of course, before they could get planted, they needed to actually fill the planters up with dirt. That...was taking a while.

Mostly because Marinette was the only one out of the three of them to really be willing to get elbow-deep in dirt and fertilizer. Adrien was doing his best, he really was, but he wasn't used to the feeling of dirt under his fingernails, and his mom was fussing over the dirt that was getting on her clothes and on the floor. Apparently she was willing to put up with a little dirt while camping, but not at home in Paris.

Adrien could relate, honestly. He felt the same way.

Things got sped up when the Gorilla came in, saw Marinette wrestling with a heavy bag of dirt just as big as she was, and heaved a sigh before helping them get all of the containers filled properly in no time at all.

"Okay, arrangement time!" Adrien's mom said cheerfully once the empty bags were cleared away. "Marinette, dear, what were you planning on doing?"

As Marinette and his mom planned which plants would go where, Adrien became the muscle, rushing around to get the plants they pointed out and placing them in front of their designated planters. There was a bit of back-and-forth before they settled on their arrangements, making notes to go back and out and buy a couple more of certain types of the plants, and then it was time to actually remove all of the plants from their flimsy plastic pots and get them in the planters.

By that time, the Gorilla had managed to return with a couple hand trowels and gardening gloves. Adrien pulled his on eagerly, grinning at the cat pattern that ran across the back of the gloves. His mom cooed over her own ladybug-spotted gloved before diving into the work with renewed vigor.

"This place is going to look so nice once we're finished," Mrs. Agreste said eagerly as they started arranging things in the first of their planters. Now that they were past the step of wrestling with heavy bags of dirt, her cheerful mood had returned. "Just switching out the painting already has changed the mood of the room!"

Adrien nodded, glancing up the main stairs. Up on the landing, overseeing the entire room, the dark portrait of Adrien and Mr. Agreste had been replaced as soon as possible with a colorful painting of flowers and butterflies. His mom hadn't been sure about having butterflies in the picture at first, but Adrien and Marinette had eventually convinced her that not all butterflies were bad, so there was no reason why she should avoid them.

Besides, there were no purple butterflies in the painting.

"And then the electrician is going to come in this afternoon and switch out those ugly light fixtures," Mrs. Agreste continued, absentmindedly stroking the fronds of a fern. "And then- what else will we have to do, Marinette? There's so much."

"All of the rugs and couches and everything will get put out," Marinette reminded her, patting the dirt down firmly around a plant with trailing vines. "And the curtains will go up. It's not that much, really, it's just bulky."

"Can you really call them curtains if they don't really block any light?" Adrien mused, handing Marinette a plant with silvery leaves. "They have about as much substance to them as a wisp of a cloud. Not that I don't like them, of course, I trust your vision, but..."

Marinette giggled. "They're just for show. Fabric makes softer lines."

"We're all going to get a good night's sleep tonight, that's for sure," Mrs. Agreste announced. "And- oh, this plant won't come out!"

It took them nearly three hours just to get the planters all finished, though a couple had small notes on them with what needed to be added in the future. The three of them headed in for lunch with growling stomachs and dirty hands, and it was only Nathalie catching them at the door that made them remember that they had to wash up first.

As they ate, Adrien couldn't stop smiling. It never failed to make him amazingly, stupendously happy when he saw how well his mom and Marinette got along. He had worried about it at first, of course- if his mom would feel like Marinette was taking up too much of Adrien's time, or if she might not like Marinette simply because she felt that he was too young for dating, or- well, anything, really. He had read so many stories and seen so many shows where the main character had to deal with a disapproving family, and Adrien had been so, so worried that he might have to deal with something similar.

Thankfully his mom didn't seem to have any problems with him dating- she was quite supportive of it, it seemed- and she adored Marinette. The two of them had hit it off right away.

She would love Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng once she got to spend more time with them, of that Adrien was sure. They had only had time for a few short meetings so far, since both families were understandably busy, and, well, so far, so good.

Lunch went by too fast, and then they were back out in the front room, moving the planters into place. Thankfully they all had tiny wheels on the bottoms, making it easy- well, easier, the planters were still heavy- to get things into place. The white planters and colorful plants filling them hid a lot of the dark marble and filled in a bit of the empty space around the room, already making it feel a lot nicer.

"We were thinking of doing a hanging herb garden over that bit of marble so that the cook could use fresh herbs without having to get them from the store, but the hanger hasn't arrived yet," Marinette told Adrien as they maneuvered the last of the planters into place. "And there'll be air plants around the room, too, but we're still trying to figure out where."

"It'll be easier to tell once we have everything else in place," Mrs. Agreste told them. "There's no point in overdecorating and making the place feel cluttered."

Their maid appeared out of thin air to help them clean up all of the dirt on the floor, sweeping and vacuuming and then supervising Adrien and Marinette as they mopped up the last bits of dirt. She made sure that the floor was dry enough for them to not slip and fall before vanishing again, taking the cleaning supplies with her.

"Rugs next?" Mrs. Agreste asked. "Maybe the large one first?"

Wrestling the large entry run into place was a hard, sweaty task, but it was so worth it once it was settled. It covered the large black-and-white motif on the floor and made everything not feel so empty. There were a couple more smaller rugs, ones that would go under the tables and chairs, and one fun little mat that Marinette had made for their shoes.

That one got tucked behind the planters at the entrance, mostly hidden from view but still fun.

The rest of the day went by in a rush of sweat and sore muscles. The electrician came, switching the light fixtures in the entry area from straightforward and functional to more artsy and brighter, switching the light's tone from cold to warm. The Gorilla helped them hang the light, airy curtains, softening the windows. A few smaller paintings went up around the room, adding color to the space without tearing anything out.

Adrien's personal favorite, though, was the several comfy benches and chairs posted around the space, some obvious and others tucked away behind the planters. Near them, a couple tables had been arranged and decorated with warm lamps. Per Marinette's idea, baskets with blankets in them had been tucked under the tables, in case anyone wanted to curl up in a corner with a cup of tea and a book.

His mom had forbidden the two of them from using the hidden chairs to make out. Whether or not she was being entirely serious, Adrien wasn't sure.

"Well, I think we did a good job," Mrs. Agreste said once the last of the tables was in place. She pushed her hair off of her face. "I don't know about you, but I need a shower now. We have showers in the guest rooms," she added, looking at Marinette. "And Adrien has plenty of extra soap, or you can use some of mine if you want. Then maybe we can have some ice cream and plan what room to attack next?"

"Are you trying to steal my girlfriend away again, Mom?" Adrien joked. "Maybe I wanted to spend some time with her."

His mom giggled. "How about we keep the planning under an hour, and then I can give you money for the two of you to go out for dinner?"

Adrien pretended to think it over. "Hmm. I suppose."

"That sounds lovely," Marinette told Mrs. Agreste. She playfully poked Adrien in the side. "Adrien can share for a bit longer."

Adrien could only laugh.

  Adrien had messed up.

He hadn't meant to freak his mom out, he really hadn't. But he had spoken without thinking, talking about his relationship with Marinette as though he were in front of Tom and Sabine instead of his own mom, who didn't know the whole picture. Who didn't know that he and Marinette had been close as Ladybug and Chat Noir before finding out each other's civilian identities. Who thought that Adrien and Marinette had only been friends for a couple months before they started dating, because that was what Nathalie had told her and several of their classmates had apparently said the same thing.

So yeah, in hindsight he could see where his mom would maybe not take him casually mentioning that he fully planned on marrying Marinette in the future well. But hindsight wasn't going to help him now.

Nathalie had warned him that his mom would likely get strict again, setting boundaries that he didn't much like because he was used to getting free rein. Adrien just hadn't expected the change to be so sudden, rules materializing overnight even though there hadn't been any issues before.

His door couldn't be closed if Marinette was over, and they were meant to do homework together in the dining room instead of his room. He had to let his mom know if he was going over to Marinette's house and for how long and if they would be supervised. She had to know when Marinette came over to visit him. Dates had to end right after dinner, and wouldn't it be fun if they did group dates instead of individual ones? When Marinette did come over, it seemed like his mom always just happened to get off work early to come home and watch them together.

In short, he was being heavily oversupervised.

His mom had apparently talked to Marinette's parents at one point, right after his accidental slip-up, but they had only had a few minutes to chat since the bakery was so busy. It seemed that their chat had only made his mom more anxious, though, since Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng hadn't seemed that surprised about Adrien's declaration and clearly had a bit more relaxed parenting style.

His mom didn't really like it when he went over to Marinette's house for exactly that reason, actually. She didn't think that they would be adequately supervised.

"My parents have Sundays off," Marinette told him as they ate lunch together on the school steps after two weeks of Mrs. Agreste's hovering. "Maybe she can sit down and have a proper conversation with them then? Because I don't think they gave off a very good impression that one time when they were super busy and your mom came over in a panic. I can ask them to invite her over this weekend, and then maybe you can have some of your freedom back."

"We can stop having her hovering over our shoulders, you mean?" Adrien dropped his chin onto the top of Marinette's head, giving in to the urge to cuddle despite the still-warm early fall weather. "Yeah, I liked it better when we could just hang out and she was encouraging us to go on dates instead of making sure that there was someone around all the time so that we don't rush anything."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. And maybe no more comments about getting married," she added, giving Adrien a Look. "Or else she'll still be following us around and making sure that we're behaving when we're in university. We won't get to do anything except cheek kisses ever again."

"I probably shouldn't tell her that you've already come up with names for our kids, then?"

"Adrien!"

  Adrien and Marinette didn't get to sit in on the Sunday morning meeting between their parents. Instead, they were sent off to the park with a picnic basket of pastries and fruit.

It would have been easier to enjoy their breakfast if they weren't worried about what was happening in the Dupain-Cheng kitchen. Adrien was mostly worried about the Dupain-Chengs accidentally saying something that would make his mom really not trust them and not want him around Marinette any more.

If they let on that Adrien had slept over before, that would be it. He probably wouldn't be able to date again until he turned 18- or worse, until he was through with University.

"I wish she would trust us more," Adrien said quietly as they sat back against the trunk of a large tree- or, rather, as Marinette sat against the tree and Adrien reclined with his head on her lap. "Like, I can see where what I said might have freaked her out, and then Nathalie told me that it wasn't helping that your family was my main support network when I found out about Father."

Marinette frowned. "Wait, why?"

"Because I wouldn't want to break up with you and lose them, too." Adrien squeezed Marinette's hand. "But I know that your parents wouldn't just stop talking to me if we broke up, as long as it wasn't messy. That's just not their style."

"They adore you." Marinette rested against Adrien's side. "Hopefully they'll tell her that and she'll believe them. They'll probably still be more lenient with us than your mom will after their meeting no matter what, but she doesn't know about the kwamis. And the kwamis are why they're fine with us being in my room by ourselves."

"I don't mind keeping my door open. I understand that, and Nino and Alya both said that their parents enforce that as well. It's the constant supervision when we're just hanging out." Adrien groaned and stretched. "Constant parental supervision, that is. Tikki and Plagg are different."

"Yeah, because they're off doing their own thing half of the time." Marinette ran a hand through Adrien's hair, drawing a purr out of him. "I can understand where your mom is coming from, really, it's just..."

"She overreacted?"

"Yeah."

It was a full two hours before Marinette's phone dinged with a text to let them know that they could come back up. It didn't say how the parent meeting had gone, so both teens were a bit anxious as they headed back across the park towards the bakery.

They found three smiling parents at the door.

"See, I told you they wouldn't be long," Tom said with a laugh, reaching out to usher them in. "Don't look so worried, you two. We had a good chat."

"We cleared up a couple misunderstandings," Mrs. Agreste chimed in. "And came up with a revised list of rules."

Adrien and Marinette turned their expectant, hopeful looks on her.

"I'll stop hovering," she told them. "Though I still expect the bedroom door to be open when you both are in there."

Adrien and Marinette nodded in unison. They had expected that. It was fairly standard.

"And I still want you to text when you're going anywhere other than home or your regular activities," Mrs. Agreste continued. "Just to know where you are, in case you lose track of time or something comes up. That's just a safety thing."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah! That sounds reasonable."

"And we can discuss curfew times after dates later on," Mrs. Agreste told them. "We want to be reasonable, of course, but you're both young. It's not smart to stay out super late, we all agreed on that."

"In the past, we've always aimed to get home by nine," Marinette told her. "Unless there was a movie or concert that we wanted to go to that ran later, and then we discussed it with Nathalie and my parents beforehand."

Mrs. Agreste perked up. "Oh, that is very reasonable."

"And we made sure not to do late movies on nights when either of us had something we needed to be up for early the next morning," Adrien added. "And it's a once-a-week thing. We're not going to go overboard with it."

"I know." His mom reached out, pulling him into a hug. "You two are smart. I just- it's a lot to take in and adjust to."

Adrien nodded. He knew that. He could see the strain that everything was taking on her- from getting back into her job to getting to know his new friends to dealing with the whole deal with his father (the divorce, the new charges against his father's continued planning to get the Miraculous, all of the reporters wanting to get an inside scoop). Even if he didn't like it, it made sense that she might try to control what she could.

He was just immensely grateful that Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng could get through to her and talk her out of going too far with her overprotective parenting.

"It's a learning process as the kids grow up," Mrs. Cheng said fondly, patting Marinette's shoulder. "You want them to stay young forever, but they don't. All you can do is make sure that they have the support and the knowledge that they need to grow and fly."

"It's the letting go part of that I'm having trouble with," Mrs. Agreste said wistfully, though there was no disagreement in either her voice or her face. "I liked the ten-year-old stage. They're still cute but can take care of themselves, but there's no dating to worry about."

Adrien gasped, playing up the wounded look. "You don't think that I'm cute, mom? I'm hurt! Marinette, you still think that I'm cute, right?"

That broke any lingering tension and they all laughed. Mrs. Agreste shook her head as she giggled, ruffling Adrien's hair.

They stayed for another half an hour, chatting idly about what was going on at school and around Paris, and then Adrien and Mrs. Agreste had to leave to go meet up with an old friend of hers.

"See you at school tomorrow," Adrien told Marinette, dipping in for a quick kiss before pulling back. "I can send you my schedule tonight and we can figure out when we can get together with Max and work on our group project."

"That sounds good." Marinette returned the quick kiss and beamed up at him. "Can I text you later if I have any trouble on the Chem homework?"

"You bet. Even if you don't, we could Skype and work on it together."

Tom laughed. "You haven't already gotten it done? What were you doing for the past couple hours?"

"Breakfast in the park and worrying about what was going on up here." Adrien grinned cheekily. "We're expert worriers."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "You guys have no faith in us, honestly. There was nothing to worry about."

It didn't take long for them to get out the door, and then it was just Adrien and his mom again as they headed back up the street towards home. It was one of the last nice days of the season, so they had opted to walk instead of having the Gorilla pick them up.

"I'm glad that I had a chance to properly sit down with Marinette's parents and talk," Mrs. Agreste commented as they rounded the corner and headed past the park. "They're lovely people, and I would have hated to be at odds over me misunderstanding them before. We had never really talked about boundaries in your relationship before, just about... well, everything else."

Adrien nodded. That was understandable. He knew that his mom had been really concerned about what he had gone through and how he had grown so much over the past year. Figuring out the dynamics of what had initially seemed like a normal teenaged relationship was naturally pretty far down on the list of things to do. "And then I seemed too serious, too soon."

"Right. It didn't help that I was a bit anxious about what the effects of a break-up might be like," Mrs. Agreste added. "I've seen people get married young and then divorced shortly afterwards, and I've been finding out just how much a pain in the rear it is to get a divorce. It's not just a matter of signing a paper and being done with it."

"I'm not going to rush into anything," Adrien assured her. It was true, more or less. They weren't rushing at all, but to an outside view, it might appear that they were. "We didn't when we started dating, because we knew that there was no reason not to wait a month or so for everything to settle down and for me to be properly ready. It wasn't going to be healthy to get into a relationship when I was still coming to terms with- well, with everything."

His mom's smile grew. "Yes, I heard about that! I hadn't known about that before. Given the timeline I had been hearing about, I had assumed that you two had started dating either right before or right after Gabriel was arrested. And Marinette's parents said that they had already talked with you guys about not rushing into marriage?"

"Not rushing into marriage or anything else," Adrien agreed. Yeah, he wasn't going to forget that conversation any time soon. He was pretty sure that he hadn't been able to look Mr. Dupain or Mrs. Cheng in the eye for several days after that, but he couldn't deny that the conversation had been an important one to have, and was pretty informative to boot. "They said that it's important to build a good foundation instead of rushing to hit milestones. There'll be time for that stuff later on."

"They're very wise." Adrien could see the look that his mom was giving him out of the corner of his eye. "You seem to have paid attention to what they told you."

"Of course, they've been happily married for ages!" There was no doubt that Marinette's parents were excellent role models and had a stable, loving marriage. Adrien wanted to have a marriage like that- well, when he grew up and was old enough, that was. If they were willing to share any of their advice, Adrien was going to sit up, listen, and take notes. "They clearly did something right."

"What else have they told you?"

"Besides not to rush?" Adrien thought about it. "Communication! They're big on communication. Letting the other person know when something is wrong and then listening. Not waiting until something becomes a big issue to address it. Making sure that one person isn't putting in all the effort in- well, in the relationship, in a household, whatever- while the other person coasts by." He grinned. "They've been teaching me how to do things like dishes and laundry and cooking and cleaning. And baking, of course."

"You're probably a better cook than I am, then," his mom admitted with a laugh. "I haven't in years, since we have a chef."

"I can teach you! And Marinette can help. She's really good at stopping me before I can make too many mistakes when we cook together-" Adrien caught himself. Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng had suggested that part of his mom's concern might have stemmed from how attached he and Marinette were. They did a lot of stuff together, preferring to attack things that they had to get done as a team. It might be nice to have some things reserved for mother-son bonding only. "I mean, if you want to."

"I'll... think about it."

  Things improved a lot after that. Mrs. Agreste was supportive of Adrien and Marinette's relationship, but not to the point where Adrien was wondering if the pod people had taken her over. She didn't hover, letting them have their privacy as long as they didn't abuse the privilege.

She didn't tease them like Tom and Sabine did- she still wasn't as laid-back about their relationship as Tom and Sabine were- but that was okay. It was understandable. She still had a different parenting style than they did, and she didn't know that they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, the Heroes of Paris.

That was okay, though. Mrs. Agreste was giving them enough freedom to have a comfortable relationship now, and she was talking to Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng on a regular basis. There wasn't any tension between her and Marinette like there had been after Adrien's marriage comment, and questions about their dates had gone back to sounding like a curious mom, rather than tense interrogation.

No doubt there would be shifts in the future, times when she felt like Adrien was growing up too fast and she would overreact about it, and he would have to push back. For now, though, they had found a good balance.

For once, Adrien could have it all- a parent who was there and present, a fantastic, supportive girlfriend, and a whole army of friends. It didn't matter that his father was going to trial again on continued conspiracy to steal the Miraculous and change the timeline to get out of jail, or that there were still reporters who occasionally tried to stop him or his mom on the street to get an interview. They were inconsequential details, really, unable to permeate the bubble of happiness that had surrounded Adrien in one form or another, ever since his mom returned to Paris.

And to think- it was all because Plagg had wanted more cheese.