#BUT that's all off topic my point is. capes? fashionable. wish that were us

[mamawasatesttube]

theres a lot wrong with kryptonian society and culture but i gotta say they did at least one thing right and its the capes. everyone just wears capes, all the time. we could learn from them

[oh-boy-me]

Demon Outfits Discussed

The wait is over :) thank you for your patience and all the lovely comments on the casual discussion!!

I feel like it got longer this time, so I hope it’s all an enjoyable read!  Also, I apologize for the ugly pictures--it was the easiest and fastest way to both have all the design in one image and also prevent it from stretching so far.

Like last time, please don’t take this too seriously; we love these boys and Justin doesn’t know them but has no grudges against them.  We’re just harping on their fashion sense.  Absolutely no hate is intended towards the boys or the design team!

Participants in the discussion were

Jo ( @jodaneko ), our art major with storyboarding/character design experience, who finds they have more in common with Satan each passing day.

Justin ( @justinlester0629 ), our fashion expert, who dressed up and filled a wine glass with water for the occasion.

Noodle (Me), our untrained eye who owns the Barbie as the Island Princess video game on three different platforms.  It’s not even that good.

Featuring emergency guest star Megan ( @maggo77​ ), my sister who is physically near me as we look at the backs of their designs for the first time.

Edit: Distracted by the pretty jacket, we made a mistake when putting in Levi’s silhouette rating.  It’s the worst.  2/10, not 6.

Lucifer:

“Boy looks like he’s about to swing open the doors of an expensive mansion during a debutante party and give some SCATHING NEWS.” —Justin

“Short shoulder cape and a long split butt cape lol” —Jo

Jo has realized that based on both outfits, Lucifer doesn’t want people looking at his butt.  Possible reasons are: he doesn’t have one, or Diavolo someone was getting distracted.

His shoes match his outfit.  After last time that’s all I care about.

A triple popped color, and how many layers is the middle one?  Is that a book?  Dude has like 27 collars.

The forehead diamond is very important and it’s great that there are diamond buttons to match it.  But uh.  How about those red diamonds on his sleeves.  They.  They sure are there.  (I actually like the red accents and that they match his gloves; I just can’t take the diamonds seriously.)

  Lucifer 🤝 Some Horses Diamond on the Forehead

The peacock motif is HERE and we’re all living for it.  HOWEVER, the feathers on the cape and coattails should have matched, OR there should have been more lime green because there’s so little of that color.

The pants have a pleat in the front, which Justin says means he responsibly irons his clothes, and Jo says only heightens the fact that under the capes this is a marching uniform.

Can he fly?  Jo says these are baby wings that can’t support his weight, and his cape has a hole for the top pair but blocks the bottom pair?  Can’t believe Lucifer handicapped himself for the sake of fashion.

The red makes it regal and the wide flowy design makes it imposing.  Good job, Lucifer!  I might actually be intimidated if I saw you.

Definitely the classiest outfit.  You can tell they put care into it.

Mammon:

“BITCH MY BODY CANNOT TAKE THIS KIND OF SEXY, I THINK I AM OVERHEATING!  NO MORE FURTHER COMMENTS, YOUR HONOR.  HAUTE AND HOT.” —Justin

The whole thing does amazing with only three colors.  We’ve noticed the trend of black and white + one color, but I mean hey.  It’s working so far.

Damn those pants sit low.  No wonder literally all of you wear belts.

The leather jacket?  The studs and harness?  Bless.  Justin calls it “the perfect blend of stylish and ‘I’ll see you tonight *wink*’”.

Kind of don’t like how the belts connect to the pants, though.  It looks better in the back.

“He found a really cool jacket, but it didn’t pair with anything so he just didn’t wear anything.” —Jo

Honestly though?  We’ve all made fun of Mammon for having big hoe energy in his outfits, but like, he knew he had wings and planned his outfit to accommodate for that.  He’s the only one who didn’t cut holes in his outfit.  Maybe Mammon was the smallest hoe after all.

Also if there’s a motif it repeats elsewhere, like the studs and diamonds on his jacket and pants.  Did he and Lucifer have a “tastefully putting diamonds on my outfit” battle?  Because Mammon definitely won.

One of the charms broke off the belt loop and he never bothered to replace it, and honestly thank god there isn’t two of those anymore.

Torn between wishing the boots were tighter to match the rest of the outfit and saying “yoooo they’re open in the back!!!”

Ok so so far we’ve said generally only good things, but there is one major issue with the design: Its gravity.  Everything points down, his tattoos, the diamonds, even his wings.  The center of gravity in the image is his shoes.  Bitch loved his shoes so much he made his whole outfit point to them.

Either way this was universally considered the best and I mourn Justin who doesn’t know how far Mammon’s standards are gonna fall from here.

Leviathan:

Diagonal zipper

“Levi what the fuck.” —Megan

He looks like an e-boy.

Honestly it looks like he borrowed something from Justin’s wardrobe for Pride but he didn’t know how to put it on.

APPARENTLY the biggest hoe.  Abs that he shouldn’t have coming through a mesh t-shirt.  I thought Mammon’s pants were low, but Levi’s whole-ass ass is out.  Ok Levi, I see you.

The shirt pattern is good but he probably leaves it partially unzipped because it’d look really dumb fully closed.

Justin loves the funky pants pattern and Jo likes the pants but not with the outfit.  It’s because the devs were too coward to give him a thick tail base so his pants had to fill that role by sharing the pattern.

The shoes are good, and not just because they incited Justin’s deep-set hatred for Christian Louboutin and his uncomfortable red-bottom shoes.

Justin is offended that he’s hiding his suspenders; either show them completely or not at all, no in between.  Jo’s not fully convinced it isn’t just one suspender.  What are his suspenders doing?  What are they attached to?  Are they holding anything up?  Apparently not.

Jo pointed out that if you squint the belt on his waist looks like fangs and the orange dots on his sleeves looks like eyes so it’s like theres a snake head on his outfit.  Cute!

The gloves are throwing us off though.  Why is Levi of all other brothers need gloves?  I bet he has sweaty hands.

Ok really, does his sweater unzip all the way into two pieces?  Or does it hang by that tiny thread underneath the tail hole?  There’s even a button, just in case.

Can’t believe this antler-sporting, suspender-wasting nerd went diagonal zipper on us because we beat him at a trivia game.  Should have just zipped his hood.

Satan:

HONEY.

“I hate everything about this.” —Megan

First of all, he’s straight up wearing Lucifer’s casual shirt.  Does it only button down the back?  Can he take it off?

Then he spilled bleach on his pants.  Like I get what they were going for but with the white on black that is literally just bleach stains.

Incredibly differing opinions on the belt.  He got it in the cowboy department.  Justin adores it.  Jo despises it.

And are those… athletic slip ons?

And now the elephant in the room.  The ribcage made of ribbons.  The ribboncage.  The idea is great!  I love that they gave him a skeletal theme without throwing him into a Hot Topic.

But if you take the ribboncage and feather boa off he’s literally just wearing a dress shirt and some nice jeans.  And that’s the problem with Satan’s demon form.  Not that it looks goofy.  It’s that they took risks but then hid all the risks behind business casual.

Also Megan said that the back of the ribbons look like a rock climbing harness.  Someone (probably Justin) said the front reminds them of the underbelly of a green cockroach.  Ew.

The feather boa would look better if it was over something you wouldn’t literally wear at the office.  (And also didn’t look so much like worm on a string.)

“He is going to Dragcon 2020 and is definitely going to take a picture and ask to lip sync, but accidentally start beef with Acid Betty.” —Justin

On a good note, loving how the tail fades to highly radioactive green.  Feels dangerous.  Megan pointed out that it’s a pretty wimpy tail, though.  Jo enjoys the self-conscious posture it expresses.

That’s basically the only good thing we have to say, though.

I just????

Merry Christmas.

Asmodeus:

The kanji on the picture is just saying that the coattail is the same on both sides.

Ok now with that out of the way, HONEY.

I’m sure he says that to others but I hope he says it to himself too when he looks in the mirror.

Starting with the good.  The wings?  Adorable.  The heart-shaped hole to accommodate them?  Adorable.  One of the only good adjustments.

And I love that the tips of his horns look venomous, like a scorpion tail!

We love a good floral design and a good twin tailcoat.

But once again, the shirt just has too much going on.  The flowers.  The buttons.  The brick-pattern stitching.  The brooch.  The long collar.  The fact that if he closed the last button it’d end in a diamond covering his crotch.  Sometimes less is more, Asmo.

That scorpion brooch is the best thing to ever grace my computer screen and it shouldn’t have to share the spotlight with the rest of his shirt.  It should have wrapped around his arm and been paired with some more jewelry.  Then he could have ditched those giant cuffs.

The bleeding heart tattoos are a really good idea!  But they should have been angled better and not like someone else put them on at the roller rink.  And maybe they shouldn’t have been outlined in pink.  Those aren’t tattoos, those are gaping holes in his arm.  Is he ok.

I’ve been avoiding the pants, but.  The pants.

“Oh dear god. Oh no that’s… I thought you were a designer…” —Jo

One side is buckled the ENTIRE way down, and then the other side is COMPLETELY plain.  It’s too extreme on both ends.  It should have been only half a leg of buckles.  Not whatever this is.  I still don’t think he can bend that leg.

The shoes are ok but they COULD have been a stiletto so.

Jo is DONE with these demons’ inability to wear socks.

We expected better from you, Asmo.  I hope you have to fasten all those buckles every morning as retribution.

Beelzebub:

He said “how many belts can I wear on one outfit.”

Justin said it’s like Barry B. Benson and Post Malone had a beautiful baby boy, and Obey Me! is cancelled for creating a sequence of events that could lead to me hearing that with my own two ears.

The jacket?  Stunning.  “It’s steampunk mixed with Jack Sparrow, mixed with Billie Joe Armstrong,” says Justin.  It’s got puffy sleeves!  And there’s objectively too much going on with the jacket, but since it’s a leather jacket I can forgive it.  Justin and Jo can’t.

I’m not sure why they keep giving him weird jacket collars but I prefer belt number 9 to fur.

“Why is it bucked in the back?  Couldn’t it have just been a jacket?” —Megan

Good that the black tank isn’t only black, but he has so little color on his outfit that it would have been nice for it and the matching pattern on his boots to have been a color besides gray.

I don’t mind the belts down the leg because they’re not too in your face.  Jo wants the white belt to be thinner.  Justin wants him to just pick one and go with it.

Poor Beel, he can’t do his lil thigh pat pose without his right hand being assaulted by studs and that bear trap-shaped buckle.

Justin feels like the cowboy boots are too wide up top and it’s probably because they’re FAKE cowboy boots.  I don’t know why he didn’t just get cowboy boots instead of putting fake coverings over his dress shoes.

Can’t fault the twin belt, though.  And the wing hole isn’t terrible.

Idk I guess.  They knew what they wanted to do at least.  

That seems to be the pattern with Beel: they know what they want to do, but something weird happens in the middle of it.

Belphegor:

“I don’t know which Teletubby let their son go through the it’s just a phase mom phase, but they should be ashamed.” —Justin

A toddler who just learned how to cut holes in paper got a hold of his hoodie.

Is it a hoodie?  A jacket?  A poncho?  The cow print actually isn’t terrible.  At least it had the decency to be unique in its spotting.  And the actual presence of blue is very appreciated.

On the topic of colors, Jo is calling the devs out on their apparent fear of color.  “Put the pink elsewhere, cowards,” they say.

We actually don’t hate the horseshoe, and using it for the belt buckles is actually really clever.  Even if 75% of them are doing literally nothing.  Feel like he didn’t need that many.  Could do without the bottom one, maybe even bottom two.

There’s a teeeeny tiny cowbell on the back?  Megan apparently finds that VERY important.  Why do they go to such great lengths to remind us that Belphie’s a cow?  Beel doesn’t rub his hands together 24/7.  Mammon doesn’t even get bird wings.

Just like Satan spilled bleach, Belphie has tar pants.

It’s nice to see a change in pant style, but.  Am I biased because I hate harem pants?  Maybe.  Are these harem pants too short on him?  Yes.  Maybe they were supposed to be parachute capris?  But it just looks he outgrew them too fast and Lucifer won’t buy him new pants yet.  At least they look comfy.

If he puts his keys in those pockets will his pants fall down?  Probably.  That’s a problem considering his are the only pants that look like they could hold any keys.

The shoes are fine.  I can enjoy a high topped sneaker.  …Is that a security tag?  Did he steal his shoes.  Belphie stole his shoes.

On the tiny tail hole, I appreciate that Belphie went for modesty.  But I hope it’s impossible to wear these outfits outside of demon form because I don’t want him walking around with a tiny hole right above his ass.

Honestly he doesn’t even look like a demon?  He just looks like… a cow.

There’s one more aspect of their demon forms that I didn’t feel comfortable forcing into a smaller space than it deserved: Silhouettes.  Jo puts a lot of weight on silhouettes and their role in character design.  Is it dynamic?  Is it recognizable?  Jo ranked them as such:

1. Lucifer: 9/10.  Care and effort were put into this design and it shows. 2. Mammon: 7/10.  Points deducted for most of it being form fitting but otherwise still manages to get a passing grade. 3 (tied). Beelzebub: 5/10.  His wings have actual mass but his horns being mostly hidden by his head reduce his score. 3 (tied). Belphegor: 5/10.  Evens out since his clothes aren’t as form fitting as the others but they also kind of turn him into a blob. 5. Asmodeus: 4/10, and only because he’s got multiple wings and that his tailcoat breaks up the bottom half. 6. Satan: 3/10, for the fact HIS BOA carries most of the work in altering his silhouette. 7. Leviathan: 2/10.  The tail and horns prevent this from being a total flop.

Our (surprisingly unanimous!) ranking of their outfits (not counting Megan her opinions deviated) were:

Mammon

Lucifer

Leviathan

Belphegor

Beelzebub

Asmodeus

Satan

In conclusion, any M-rated fic that doesn’t have it take demon Satan 20 minutes to take off his shirt is too unrealistic.

[2manyfandoms2count]

I love you (not) - Chapter 8

Somehow, this went over the 2k words mark. No wonder I'm running late on @marichatmay now. Oops? (I guess I just really like writing cooking scenes)

Hope you enjoy!

First | Previous | AO3 | Next

---

Chapter 8: In which the kids think about kissing each other a lot, but it's still too early

Chat Noir’s heart was heavy as he made his way towards Marinette’s place.

He knew that his decision to break up with her was the right one; he’d kept up the charade long enough, and he wasn’t comfortable with the fact that she was reaching out for him through Ladybug. They’d undeniably spent some nice moments together, the memory of which he cherished dearly, but he was afraid that Marinette was getting too confident about the strength of their relationship (and the fact that he found himself thinking about her a lot hadn’t been an argument in favour of not playing along a little longer).

His already cloudy mood had further been dampened by the really sucky day he’d had. His father had come up with yet another fashion shoot, which had prevented him from attending the Kitty Section rehearsal he’d been looking forward to all week. Then, Lila had managed to get them paired up for a History project, which he wouldn’t have minded too much had it not been for the fact that she’d bragged all morning about a trip to New York she’d be making the week they were supposed to work on the task, meaning that he’d have to do all the work himself. Finally, to top everything off, an Akuma had interrupted the only free period he had for the rest of the week; it had been nice to see Ladybug, but he wished he’d used the time to collect his thoughts and rehearse what he’d say to Marinette.

He landed on her balcony with a loud thump, and knocked on her skylight.

“Just a minute!” she called out, and he heard her rifle around her room before running up her ladder and opening her skylight.

“Hi,” she beamed, slightly flushed and breathless, as she ushered him in.

He felt his heart clench in his chest. He wasn’t sure if it was better that she seemed in a great mood, but he didn’t have time to ponder on the topic too much; she tugged him down the stairs, and all but pushed him on her chaise, before reverently presenting him with a wrapped package.

“Happy birthday, kitty.” She bit her lip, anxiously waiting for him to open it.

Chat Noir toyed with it. He’d been so busy in the past week that his lie about his birthday had completely slipped his mind. He found himself in a difficult situation. Either he could come clean to her about his intentions, and apologise about everything he’d put her through, or… He could open Marinette’s present. Which, knowing her, would be very thoughtful and amazing. She looked very excited about it.

The temptation was too great.

“You remembered!” He gave her a small smile as his claws gently tore through the tape, and found himself with a neatly folded knitted, black product on his knees. He got up and held it out before him; he had to lift it for it not to drag on the floor, it was so long. She hadn’t just seen something that made her think about him. She must have spent ages working on it. For him .

The bright green paw in the middle, associated with the matching cotton sheet that lined the blanket left little doubt as to that fact.

Marinette’s smile falling and her rambling snapped him out from his silent admiration of the gift. He engulfed her in a hug, holding her close to compensate for his speechlessness.

“It’s purr-fect, Princess,” he croaked, letting go of her and clutching the blanket again. “I mean, look at this stitching; how did you manage to get it so regular? And this yarn…” He purred as he rubbed it against his cheek. “It’s so soft.”

“Well, you deserve something that isn’t scratchy,” Marinette giggled.

“But you didn’t have to go so hard on this! This could almost be… A cape!” He wrapped it around his shoulders, holding its two top corners with one hand, and bowed before her. “Your knight at your service, Princess.” He took her hand and kissed it with a wink, before immediately standing up and wrapping it around him differently, therefore missing Marinette’s tension and flush. “It works as a toga, too!”

“A very historically accurate one at that,” Marinette snorted.

“Hey, you don’t know what my predecessors wore.” He crossed his arms over his chest. The top of his makeshift toga fell over them. Marinette grabbed a couple of safety pins and moved closer to him to secure it back.

“Yes, you’re right. I’m utterly ignorant when it comes to past Miraculous wielders,” she said as she did so. “Mind teaching me about them?” She looked up at him. She was very close, for the second time in the evening, her eyes glinting mischievously in the almost half-light.

His breath hitched as the thought that he’d only have to lean in a tiny bit to kiss her curious smile off her lips crossed his mind.

His stomach rumbled, then, and he jumped back, feeling his cheeks redden. He was about to use it as an excuse to leave when he noticed the colours had drained from Marinette’s face.

“I’m so sorry Chat! I forgot to make you some macarons!” She gasped.

He almost laughed at how cute she was, but smiled tenderly instead, and held her shoulders. “Marinette, you made me a full blanket yourself in one week. I’m good without the macarons.”

“But you don’t have a birthday cake, and you’re hungry, and ugh, how could I forget...” She rubbed her eyes frustratedly.

His stomach manifested itself again, proving her point. With all his interruptions, he wasn’t sure he’d eaten more than an apple since breakfast. He really should be going to right that wrong.

“Okay, that settles it.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her trap door. He quickly stepped out of the blanket and tossed it back on her chaise; it wasn't very practical to walk in. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she started to open it. “My parents are sleeping, I think, so we’ll go down to the bakery kitchen. We’ll need to be quiet, though.”

“Okay,” he whispered back.

They cautiously sneaked down the stairs, stopping at any floorboard creak, hearts racing as they listened for any movement. They remained silent even after Marinette had carefully closed the front door of the apartment behind them, holding each other’s hand tightly, as if the stakes were much higher than Chat being sent home and Marinette to bed if they were discovered.

“It’s a bit late to make macarons, but how do you feel about chouquettes?” Marinette hid a sly grin as she turned the light on in the kitchen. She knew exactly what he thought about them.

“That seems like an excellent option.” Chat’s eyes lit up hungrily.

“Good. Could you turn on the oven? 250°C.” She indicated, while she took out the ingredients.

“Oui, Chef.” He executed. “What next?”

“If you could measure out 250mL of milk, then pour it in this saucepan,” she handed him a carton of milk and a measuring jug, before putting the saucepan on a hob and adding other ingredients to it. He followed her instructions, then, seeing as there was barely any left in the container, chugged the remainder, before sighing contently and throwing the carton over his shoulder, without looking. It landed straight in the dustbin.

Marinette paused in the middle of cutting the butter, baffled.

“What?” Chat asked when she’d stood there, blinking, for a couple of minutes.

“I’m sorry, what was that ?” She shook her head and waved her knife between him and the dustbin.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t ask if it was alright for me to finish it,” he said sheepishly. “I can buy you another-”

“I’m not talking about that, although maybe I should, because how stereotypical that you, a cat superhero, should drink milk,” she waved his apology away, raking the butter into the pan. “I’m talking about your aim. Do you play basketball?”

“Sometimes.” Chat scratched the back of his head. It wasn’t exactly true. He’d just perfected the art of landing baskets from any angle of his room out of boredom; it’d been his biggest challenge for a while.

“Maybe you should try out for a team or something.” She handed him four eggs, a bowl and a whisk. He started breaking them.

“If my schedule clears up, maybe.” He doubted his father would encourage the idea. He’d repeated that Agreste men were soloists enough times that Adrien sometimes heard it in his dreams; and unlike fencing, basketball was a team sport.

“Oh, right. Of course.” Marinette nodded. She hesitated to probe further; on the one hand, she was curious about what her partner was up to outside of their duties; it was difficult to probe how he was holding up, sometimes. On the other hand, she was afraid of learning too much about him. She decided to change the subject. “Could you gradually add the eggs to this while I mix?”

“Of course!” He cleared his throat. “These really aren’t hard to make, could you write the recipe down for me so I can make them again at home?” This was going to make great patrol snacks. He was sure Ladybug would appreciate them.

“Yep, no problem!” She finished stirring the ingredients together and pulled out a baking tray and two piping bags. She poked around for greaseproof paper while Chat filled the latter with the batter, before remembering that her parents had mentioned that they’d ran out over dinner.

“Hmm, this isn’t the most traditional way, but we’ll put some flour on the tray and then pipe the chouquettes directly on it. Would you mind taking care of that while I get the sugar?”

Chat nodded, grabbing the bag. He started sprinkling the surface, reaching in the packet every so often. It made the flour fly out a little, tickling his nose. He scrunched it, trying to get rid of the sensation, but it was no use.

He turned away from the tray and prepared to sneeze, instinctively putting the hand that still contained flour in front of his nose… Just as Marinette came back next to him.

“Achoo!” White powder flew everywhere, and Marinette jumped back.

“Ew, Chat!” She exclaimed, quickly dusting it off of her.

“I’m so sorry!” His eyes widened and he bit his lower lip, trying to contain his smile at her bewildered face. He had to admit, white hair looked nice on Marinette.

How cute , Marinette thought, before mentally slapping herself. No matter how true the statement was, it wasn’t helping at all. She reached for the packet and threw a fistful of flour at him to distract herself.

“Hey!”

“An eye for an eye!” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Is it really, though? I didn’t do it on purr-pose,” he said as his eyes landed on the flour packet.

Marinette started backing away, seeing exactly where he was going. “Now, now, no need to be rash about this, remember, we still have to cook the chou- eek!” She started running around the kitchen island as Chat sprung into a chase.

“Come back here, you little scoundrel!”

“Chat please! Think about your poor stomach!” She switched direction as Chat did the same.

“It can wait.” He grinned, gracefully leaping over the island.

Marinette squeaked again as she jumped out of his way, but found herself stuck between two shelving units. Chat approached her slowly, his devilish smile getting wider as the distance between them vanished. He pulled a fistful of flour out of the bag, and she felt her heart beat faster in her chest. Not just because of the imminent threat.

“I’m sorry Chat, I shouldn’t have done that…” She trailed off, backing herself further against the wall. “But this is going to make a mess, think about the clean up…” She pleaded.

Chat paused, his fist above her head losing a bit of its contents. She blinked slowly. Cat kisses, he thought. His eyes flickered to her lips. He wondered what it’d be like to kiss her, for real. He dared not go down that route.

“You’re right.” He shook his head, and brought his arm down, releasing the flour he’d been holding in the packet. “If I’m going to make a mess…” He paused, taking a small step back, and Marinette sighed in relief. “Better do it right.” He lifted the packet and emptied it all on her head.

“What the-” Marinette spluttered out, starting to get rid of it. She heard Chat laugh as he watched her, without so much as offering his help.

“Say cheese!” She was suddenly blinded by a flashing light, and her head shot up.

“Sorry, had to immortalise the moment.” Chat grinned, showing her the picture on his baton.

She glowered at him, and he moved out of her reach, just in case she decided to retaliate.

“You can’t be mad at me, I’m the birthday boy!”

She rolled her eyes, the hint of a smile forming on her lips as she finished dusting off most of the flour from her clothes and went to fetch the broom. Little did he know, she couldn’t be mad at him at all, since, A, she supposed that she’d been in the wrong in the first place, and B, it was him . Not that she’d admit it out loud, though. “I guess you’re right. You’d better hurry up making the chouquettes, then, else I’m putting you on broom duty.”

Chat happily complied.

---

As he left Marinette’s house, a full packet of warm Chouquettes in hand (he’d made his choice between it and the blanket), he had to admit to himself that even though he hadn’t accomplished his goal, it didn’t really matter.

There’d be plenty of other opportunities to talk to her, and he couldn’t say no to the opportunity of having fun; they were too rare an occurrence to pass up on.

[awhitehead17]

100 ways to say I love you - TimKon edition:

Number 47: “Did you get my letter?” 

A/N: This is a No Capes AU where the boys work in the military and have a long distance relationship. 

Enjoy! :D 

Tim had been pretty absorbed in the story being shared when his phone started to ring to the point where he almost missed it. One of the older and more experienced officers is currently sharing one of his many stories of his time away on a mission and Tim was hanging onto every detail being shared. The shrill of the call breaks him out of the trance and Tim excuses himself from the group to go answer it.

When he reads the caller ID an instant smile takes over his face. Answering the call eagerly Tim places the phone up to his ear as he finds somewhere private to have this call.

“Hey,” he greets happily.

“Man, it’s so good to hear your voice.” The other responds sounding both pleased and relieved. “I honestly can’t remember the last time we spoke to one another, it’s been forever.”

Tim chuckles sadly, having the exact same feelings to the sentiment. It has been too long. “Oh I don’t know, it’s only been like 3 months since we last spoke.”

107 days to be exact. Not that Tim is counting.

“3 months too long in my opinion.”

A wistful smile crosses Tim’s face as he thinks about his partner on the other side of the line. It’s been three months since they last spoke to one another but it’s five since they last saw one another. They both knew being in a relationship would be difficult considering their jobs, but Tim hadn’t been prepared for the amount of time they would be away from one another.

Tim has a job in Intelligence within the Armed Forces while his boyfriend, Kon, works as an engineer for the Air Force. The two of them often get deployed to different bases all over the world, their paths crossing over once or twice if they were lucky. It’s a rare occasion where they’re both at home base in America at the same time. Being in a long distance relationship like they are just makes every meeting between them that much more important and sweeter.

“I assume you’re on land now, that’s how you’re able to contact me?”

“Yeah we docked not even an hour ago. As soon as we could get off the ship I did and called you. I miss you.”

Tim’s heart flutters at the admission. He longs to hold Kon in his arms again, to squeeze his boyfriend in a hug and to be hugged back. “I miss you too. Where are you based now?”

“We’ve just arrived in South Africa somewhere. The ship needs to be restocked and among a variety of other things that need to happen. We’ll be back out on the water in a week or so, at least that’s what we’ve been told.”

Kon’s been on a naval ship for the last five months, that’s why Tim hasn’t seen or heard from him. The ship is serving as a base for planes in the Atlantic. Tim doesn’t know all the details but that’s the basis of it. Kon’s supposed to be working on the planes that come and go.

“And yourself? Where are you currently?”

“I’m still at base camp at home. I think I’m being deployed to the middle east soon, so that’ll be interesting.”

“Just be careful, especially in that region, I’ve heard that things are starting to flare up again. Over what I have no idea but something’s happening.”

“I’m always careful.”

“Sure you are Tim.” Kon comments sarcastically, though Tim could tell he’s grinning. That alone makes Tim smile back. “Anyway, did you get my letter?”

The question makes Tim snort. With his free hand Tim digs through his pockets and brings out a tightly folded bit of paper. He unfolds it and holds it up in front of him, his eyes wondering over the scruffy handwriting. Warmth blooms inside of Tim at the sight of it.

“I did yeah. A little old fashioned isn’t it?” Tim laughs lightly. His eyes wonder over the words he now knows off by heart after many hours of re-reading his lover’s words.

“Well, when I can’t use a phone to call text or email, a letter seemed like the right way to go. A lot of people actually do it. Only because once a month a plane from home arrives to drop items off before returning, it provides an opportunity.”

“It’s cute, and very thoughtful. I didn’t expect it so it made a nice surprise.” Tim comments. He certainly isn’t telling Kon about how the letter overwhelmed him (in a good way) and made him cry and he most definitely isn’t going to mention the tear stains on the paper either. It had made his day to hear, or read, his boyfriend’s words. Tim’s kept the letter on him everyday since, often re-reading it at night when the feeling of saudade is at its strongest.

“I wish I could see you…” Tim admits softly.

Kon’s quiet on the other side for a long time, the silence is dragged long enough to make Tim question if their connection has been cut. That’s not a problem though because Kon soon speaks up. “I know, I feel the exact same. I miss you so much there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about you. I don’t know when we’ll next see each other but we will, we can hold onto that.”

Tim feels tears building up in his eyes and he wipes them away with the back of his hand before they could fall. He takes a deep breath to try and compose himself. “Yeah definitely. I love my job, I do, but being away from you is hard, for such long periods of time too.”

“We’ve been apart longer before -”

“That was before we got together…”

“True but any time away from you doesn’t change my feelings towards you.”

“As mine about you.”

Tim hears Kon take a breath on the other side of the phone and he knows Kon is just as affected by their situation as he is.

“I’ve still got a few minutes to spare, so what have you been up to away from work? Have you heard from Bart at all?”

Tim answers Kon’s question about their mutual best friend with no problems. It’s a change of conversation away from the emotionally draining topics which Tim doesn’t mind. They’re able to talk for a long while until Kon gets called away. They say their goodbyes along with a promise to call again before Kon goes back out on the water and finally hang up.

Before returning to the group, Tim takes a moment to himself to in order to compose. Once he's ready he heads back and slots back down in his space. The others shoot him looks but he ignores them, pretending to be invested in the new story now being told rather than how his mind is thinking about nothing else other than his boyfriend on the other side of the world.

[aknight]

Vyzerre The Hive Knight

Thanks to a CERTAIN ASSHOLE IN MY DISCORD who got me addicted to Corruption of Champions and CoC2, I’ve been playing it nonstop for like two weeks at this point. So I decided to make a character sheet for my character as if he was an NPC that the Champion could recruit. I can sum up my experience with this one text.

Vyzerre

This Hornetfolk Hive Knight can be found in the Frostwood, occupying one of the tiles on the right side of the split in the path just after Evergreens Cottage. Once a harem breeder of a Vesparan Hive, upon first glance he appears to have suffered the same Corruption as his brothers and sisters but not to the same extent as those encountered in the Old Forest.

Appearance 

A nearly nude Vyzerre stands in front of you, he looks to be nearly six feet, impressive for a male vesparran. With a warm smile he takes his crossed arms away from his body, taking a more relaxed stance making it much easier to take in his toned muscles. His warm smile turns into more of a knowing grin the longer your eyes linger on him, long, cape-like wings protrude from his back seemingly ready to snap out from their stowed position and take flight. 

One of his hands rubs at his chin as a shy blush comes across his face as your eyes travel further down his slender and athletic form. Copper Brown flesh only occasionally interrupted by thick black bands turns to thick, smooth and shiny black chitin at his otherwise humanoid elbows and knees. No doubt at one point it was perfectly smooth but the nicks and breaks in its surface not fully healed shows that the natural armor only proves to further the aura and image of the domineering knight that you know Vyzerre as… at least when you're not gazing at him causing him to fidget.

Normally he’d dress himself in blackened bronze armor, and carry a blackened short lance and an oblong, convex shield that layers itself in a similar pattern to the chitin on his arms. Though currently his lack of armor and arms is making it difficult to look away, for the most part he's lacking any actual clothing aside from a slightly dirtied white breechcloth that runs down to just above his knees keeping him modest for the most part though leaving little to the imagination. 

Dark brown fur wreaths his neck like the trimmings of a coat in stark contrast to the pale yellow hair is kept behind his long elfin ears at the sides of his head, its flowing waves only interrupted by his rather animated and candid antennae feelers. “I know I carry all the grace of my mother-” Ornate solid black orbs look over you with an eager gaze, his painted black lips curve up at the edges, “-but if you're going to stare so intently, I expect something at the end of all this.” His fuzzy insect abdomen sways impatiently, despite his efforts he is still a horny hornet at heart. 

Information

Species: Vesparan

Gender: Male

Occupation: Warrior, Breeder

Family: Unknown

Location: Frostwood, Frost Hound

Stats

Health: 250

Resolve: 120

Description

Interactions

First Encounter

When first encountering the hornet, he takes up an aggressive stance, seeming more frustrated by your encounter than anything. Suspecting you to be a threat, another Katsune in disguise or would-be corrupted invader from elsewhere in the forest. You can Attack him, Speak with him, or Leave the first encounter without having done anything.

If you Attack, then you must follow through and fight the Hornet.

If you Speak, you will ask the Vesparan about himself and he will share his name and speak on how he is aspiring to be a Hive Knight. Afterwards you may subsequently introduce yourself, ask about his Hive, or Flirt with him. Once you have Flirted with him, he will offer to have sex with you.

If you Leave, Vyzerre wishes you well and allows you to go without a fight.

Subsequent Encounter

Subsequent encounters with Vyzerre will depend on how you acted when you first encountered him. 

If you chose Fight and lost to him, or if you chose Leave, then he becomes a random encounter that can be met by exploring the Frostwoods area. In this case, on subsequent encounters, he will give you the options to Fight! or Try to Talk! - the latter option is the same as if you chose the Speak option on your first encounter.

Once you have spoken to him and learned his name, he becomes a permanent resident of the square where you first met him, and can be interacted with. In this case, you have the option to Talk, Challenge, Attack or Leave.

Talk

The Talk interaction allows the player to talk about  Him, His Body, His Hive and Flirt options, as per the first encounter.

Once the player has had sex with Vyzerre at least once, the Talk menu also allows the player to ask him to cuddle, which restores 10 hit points and presents the player with the option to either have Sex or Leave afterwards.

When asking about himself, Vyzerre can give a series of banterous topics referencing the Kitsune in the forest, the Drider Queen and his encounters with Evergreen and her daughters.

When asking about his body, Vyzerre arches an eyebrow confused before the Champion asks if they’ve been in contact with the Hive to the south. He says that he had a run in with a few drones who had tried to assault him when he first arrived in the marches but since then he's avoided them not wanting to quote ‘go through that again’. When pressed by the champion he says that the pheromones were almost enough to kick in his breeder instincts. Returning to the Champion's original question he says he was originally smaller, but made a deal with one of Evergreens daughters to change his build, lamenting how he wished they’d him a bit taller and sturdier built like his sisters, quietly mentioning he wished he had a stinger too.

When asking about his Hive he seems less keen on talking about it compared to his other dialogue options, in the end he relents saying that he is far a Hive far to the south. Originally he was a breeder and a member of his queen's harem and later took it upon himself to become a Hive Knight. 

When flirting, Vyzerre chuckles to himself before his cheeks change a color of red before averting his eyes saying it's been some time since someone has spoken to him in that way and that his race often dies when alone. Scratching at his neck he chuckles again talking about how he had gotten so used to being alone that he’d forgotten how it felt to long for another's company.

Sex

Vyzerren has five sex scenes (Need to think of more innuendos)

Get a Treat - “So maybe it’s not honey, but it's still pretty sweet.”

The Challenge interaction allows the player to fight a practice spar with Vyzerre, suffering no penalties if they lose. During this battle, Vyzerre fights in a defensive stance, and he may take flight, making him harder to hit in melee. Oftentimes letting the player use their abilities before counterattacking. 

Once the player has challenged Vyzerre three times whether or not they have beaten him, Vyzerre comments on how he appreciates the company and the practice the Talk menu will reflect his change in tone and allow the player to ask him about being a male Hive Knight, where he will disclose that he is the only Hive Knight left of his Hive and that he must get better.

Attack

The Attack interaction causes the player to attack Vyzerre unprovoked, causing them to gain 3 Corruption. If they lose, Vyzerre chastises them and steals some of their money. However, he remains in the square for further interactions.

 Queen and Consort

Once the Champion has challenged Vyzerre three times and has listened to the subsequently unlocked Hive Knight? Dialogue option, the next time the Champion encounters male Hive Knight he will be deep in thought as he glances over the scars that chinks in the chitin that covers his hands. His face shifts into a snarl as he hurls his shortlance across the small clearing he’s taken to occupy before freezing up his expression shifting to one of embarrassment as he notices the Champion before slinking over to his shortlance to reclaim it. The Champion can either choose to Leave or to Ask. 

If the Champion chooses to Leave, Vyzerre will shift awkwardly in their presence for a moment as if he has wronged the player in some fashion before bowing apologizing and flying off. (This doesn’t lock or disable the quest, the Ask option will appear the next time they speak with him) If the Champion chooses Ask Vyzerres posture and expression will relax, fluttering over to the Champion thanking them inviting them to sit and stay with him for a while. Where the Champion will be given the option of choosing Yes or No. Refusing the Knights offer, he will smile bitterly clearly disappointed by the players decision, responding with a simple ‘Oh’ before watching them as they leave.

Agreeing causes him to blink at you before turning and collecting a few pieces of fruit jerky and offering it to the party before he settles down across from the Champion and their party. As everyone partakes, he mentions that it was one of his Sisters who got him addicted to fruit jerky, and that he learned how to use the lance and shield thanks to her too. The Champion remarks how they are sure she would be proud of him. Grimacing, he spits a bit of the fruit jerky out onto the ground, the taste seemingly fouling in his mouth; before going on to mention that she's dead and so is his entire Hive. 

It's clear by how his demeanor changes that it makes him uncomfortable to think about it, but he waves off the Champion's attempt at interjecting. He goes on about how he was the Queen’s consort, a member of her harem, and while he was not sent with his sisters on raids and nowhere near as strong as them, he blames himself for being absent the day his Hive was attacked. He opens his mouth a few times but no words come out. Settling on his phrasing, he says he did his best to avenge them, but came up short before coming north hoping to find some kind of conquest that would bring his Hive honor. Pausing, he relents in his domination of the story and looks to the player for their opinion.

The Champion can then make the decision to choose to ask, The Marches, Vengeance, Honor, or choose the option Next to advance.

Choosing The Marches, Vyzerre moves into his small camp retrieving a small book from his bag. Flipping through its contents, he goes over some of the stories he's transcribed onto its pages. Each is a story of his Hives past, though the one he settles more thoroughly upon is one of the Godswar where he talks of how his Hive could not resist the call of battle in the North and mustered against the Wraiths… he mentions in passing that mother always hated that story before gesturing in the direction of the local Vesparan Hive saying that he wondered if they might be distant cousins from a Hive Knight who stayed after the campaign concluded.

Choosing Vengeance, Vyzerre bites at his cheek before looking at you, much like how a child might a parent when they’ve done something wrong. He speaks on how he couldn’t let his family's deaths go unanswered and any death in the name of the Hive is worthy of honor, but he argues that what happened wasn’t just them dying, it was them being murdered. He reveals that his hive was smoked out and that its inhabitants died with very few being able to raise a hand in its defense, that they burned his Hive. He furrows his brow, saying he did his best to make sure that their killers paid.

Choosing Honor, Vyzerre nods affirmatively at the word, repeating it before smiling. He tells the Champion that he swore to his Queen that he would bring enough Honor to their Hive so that even upon his death, the Hive would pass on into legend. Bowing his head he sighs, saying that he wishes he hadn’t made such an impossible promise.

Choosing Next causes Vyzerre’s antennae to vibrate as he jumps to his feet and searches the edges of the small clearing before a party of Imps appear, attacking the party. Once they are defeated the players finds that Vyzerre’s small home has been ruined in the battle and its contents, all but destroyed. Sighing, he looks from the Imps to the Champion openly wondering why there are so many of the Imps running around and where they are coming from.

The Champion recounts their fight with the Alurain, Kasyrra, and the Hornetfolk to the south, to get where they are now. The Knight's black eyes twinkle like stars, muttering to himself about how amazing the Champion is, telling them that they would make their own Queen proud. Though once the magic of the moment passes, he furrows his brows and glances back to his hand before tightening his hand into a fist. There is a tinge of regality in his voice like he was standing in court. He asks if he could come with the Champion on their adventures. 

Should the Champion refuse to bring Vyzerre into their company, he will frown his stance, deflating a moment before he straightens back up and mention that he will salvage what is left of his camp and make his own way back to Hawkthorne and see if he might hunt Kasyrra for what she's done to the local Hive.

(Updates and continuations planned)

Companionship

If the Champion decides to bring in Vyzerre to their company during the introduction of Queen and Consort, they will have the option to immediately add him to their party, or send him to Hawkethorne to be picked up later at the tavern.

At The Frost Hound, Vyzerre can be found under the Guests option where, if the Champion did not bring him into their company, they will have a Recruit option to bring him along. Other than the Recruit option, the Champion may ask Vyzerre about his quest, to which he laments that it is going rather poorly for those who have yet to recruit Berwyn.

Approaching Vyzerre once he has been recruited will bring up the following options:

Appearance

Talk

Him

His Hive

Flirt

Sex

Azyrran?

Royal Treatment

Give Item

 If Vyzerre has been recruited if you haven’t sparred with him yet that day, there is a 20% chance that the Champion will receive a Vyzerre? option the next time they go to look for him at The Frost Hound. They will find Vyzerre missing from his usual spot and go to look for him. The Champion will find him outside the southern gate humming to himself as he taps the tips of his carapaced fingers on the surface of his shield, which he has resting across his lap. When asked what he’s doing, he will reply that he’s looking back towards home before correcting himself, saying where his home once was. Laying his hands flat on the shield's surface and explaining that every Vesparan knows where their Hive is no matter how far away they are, but his case is different, feeling more like a ghost clawing at him than a Mother calling their children home. His body trembles a moment before clearing his throat as he explains how he hates that something he used to take such comfort in now only serves to remind him of his past. His hands tighten into balls as he crushes his eyes closed, continuing on about how there were hundred of others who deserved to be the one to survive the fire. Stopping, he realizes how he is speaking in the Champion's presence and apologizes. Silence falls in the conversation for a few moments before the Champion redirects, and asks him what it was he was humming, prompting the Hornetfolk to smile with a downcast gaze. He explains it is a song from home, but doesn't know who started singing it. It's one of his favorites, going on about how his sisters would sing it when they came home from raids. The Champion will have the options of Sing or Leave.

Choosing Leave, the Champion excuses himself from Vyzerre telling him they will be waiting back at the tavern.

Choosing Sing, the Champion asks Vyzerre to sing the song for them to which he smiles and agrees drumming up a rhythm on his shield with his finger tips before he starts to sing. 

(It's a work in progress)

‘We were born early spring to beat of royal wings and the loving grace of Lumia fell all over us. 

O’ and every single night when the Knights would end their flight, they’d invite the neighbors out with this fine chorus. 

No sense to run and hide, if you've already caught our eye. Let's tell the world how you won your medals.

Let's tell them how the beat of wings made you want to run and scream, from our Queen and all her lovely dames of Vespa. While we went one to one and never did we run when we sent the Wraiths back into their burrows.’

His voice is warm, like the honey as it often was, but this time it held more pride like a father boasting of their child. The Champion settles next to him as they enjoy his voice and the picture he paints, until his voice wobbles for a moment, but the Champion excuses it, thinking  that it was their imagination, until it happens a second time, his voice wavering on another line. Opening their eyes they find Vyzerre with tears streaming down his face as he fights to keep them from his voice while he sings. As his voice is silent, he simply stares off over the path he had originally taken to come north, much like the Champion not so long ago his lips quivering as tears continue to fall.

The Champion rests a hand on his shoulder and smiles, snapping Vyzerre out of his would-be trance before he apologizes. The Champion tells him there is nothing to apologize for before pulling him to his feet, offering to buy him a drink back at the Frost Hound. Walking with Vyzerre back to the tavern the Champion is given the options of Drink, Sing Together, or Leave.

Choosing Drink,  The Champion chooses to sit and drink with Vyzerre, who after a few drinks turns smiles at the Champion hugging them suddenly telling them that they are the first person outside his Hive who he’s sung that song to and that he appreciates them listening. 

Choosing Sing Together, The Champion picks a pair of drinks from the bar before giving one to Vyzerre, drinking together for a moment before standing and telling him that they are glad this particular Knight found they’re way home starting the same beat they had heard earlier. The Hive Knight takes the hint, raising his pint to his lips and starts to sing with the player following suit.

Choosing Leave, The Champion drops Vyzerre off at the counter letting Garth take care of him before taking leave of the Hornet. 

[johnmurphysreddit]

The 100 Aesthetic/Preferences

Tagged by: @lovelyrosiey​

This is a tag game about AESTHETICS, not content, plot, characterization, etc. Just keep that in mind. (And keep in mind that I do not have a visual brain and I’ve decided to work from memory to keep things interesting.) 

Rank the seasons from favorite to least favorite:

Season One: “OK sexy “teens” you have 15 minutes in Hot Topic to pack for the apocalypse.”  I came for a CW show and they delivered.   

Season Five: Spacekru are adults now.  Sexy, well scrubbed adults. 

Season Two: Grounders riffing on Mad Max vs Mole people riffing on Bible Camp.  

Season Six: Space hippies, finger curls, and too much makeup with just a dash of cultural borrowing for our self made gods.  It was awful, but it was distinctive and hilarious too, and I give credit where it’s due.

Seasons three and four: nothing about them stands out except Roan’s nipples.   

Rank Clarke’s hair each season from best to worst:

Season one had the class president twist and pull back.  8/10. gets the job done. 

Season six: Josie looked good.  I’m going to assume she had hair and I don’t recall it needing a wash. 

Season three: The red is negative 10 points, but Lexa turned her over to the polis salon and things perked up from there. 

Season two: dabbling in grunge.  

Season five had the pink spot I think.  2/10. Why do you look like a 45 year old housewife who’s trying to prove she’s still cool? 

Season four: I guess she had hair? 

Rank Bellamy’s hair/beard each season from best to worst:

Season five was the professor look and it’s a hot damn yeah from me. 

All other seasons I assume he was in various stages of needing a haircut but mysteriously unbearded.  Let’s say 2, 3, 1, 4, 6.  The hobo look in late 6 really wasn’t working for me. 

The real debate: Bellamy in the blue shirt or the tan?

Is this the season five henley or the season two guard uniform?  Blue Henley. 

Clarke’s blue dress or pink dress?

I remember a sausage casing dress as she came down the stairs in season six that people loved and I thought was unflattering and weirdly 1950s, and Josie’s painting nightie.  The painting dress. 

Favorite Raven season: One.

Raven’s ark vest or red bomber jacket?

I only remember the red bomber jacket, so I’m picking that. 

Raven’s ponytail or her s6 look?

Ponytail. My girl would never sit around curling her hair in a crisis.

Favorite Octavia season: One.  She’s such a cute lil rebel baby.

Octavia’s hair in s2 (the braids) or s4 (the ponytail)?

I don’t care for white girls in braids so tight they show skin.  It just bugs me, like that’s not for you, and she didn’t even do it in a way that kept all of her hair out of the way for a fight.  Season four.  

Blodreina or Skairipa?

As best I remember Blodreina was wearing Lexa’s cape and trying to look murdery.  The actress pulled it off but the costume didn’t help much IMO.  I don’t recall what Skairipa wore but I'm picking that.   

Favorite Murphy season: Season five.  Shave and a haircut, damn hot.  They also let him look like an adult instead of trying to force youth on him and it was appealing. 

Murphy with long hair or short hair?

He needed a skateboard to complete his look in the first several seasons.  Short. 

Favorite Monty season: 5. He was an attractive man, and forcing the kid look on him didn’t do him any favors.

Favorite overall episode: LOL.  This is not how my brain works.  Whatever the one was where Murphy and Emori were Primed and Echo was in her new costume.  

Favorite scene of all time: As a look, the hugs at the end of season six.  It was well lit enough that we could see everyone.  There was that fashion horde walk as the groups came together.  Visually there was a lot going on.

Biggest wish for s7: The drugged out episode with the fish eye lens looked ridiculous.  Don’t do anything like that.  Please.  And if they could keep the lights on so that we can actually see the action that would be swell.  I get that they like to have a lot of action at night, but hang two moons and let us see.  This isn’t radio. 

Everyone I would normally tagged has already been tagged, so consider yourself tagged if you read all the way to the bottom. 

[iatethepomegranate]

Blue is the New Red Chapter 46

Masterlist

Note that due to tumblr being ridiculous, I no longer post external links on individual chapters. If you prefer to read on AO3, please refer to the masterlist link above.

Rated: M for torture, flashbacks, trauma reactions, PTSD, sexual assault of minors, consensual sexual content and related freaking out about it, drug references, non-consensual drug use, possibly underage drinking, homophobia and biphobia, references to self-harm, suicidal ideation and attempt. Chapter warnings:  animal cruelty, allusions to the sexual assault of minors, mentions of Wally's jerkass dad, hints of PTSD

Main Pairing: Birdflash

Status: Multiple chapters, in progress

Overall summary: Nightwing has finally made his return to the Team, but he finds the events of the past two years aren’t quite done with him yet.

Chapter notes:  Batgirl is participating in her first team mission, and Nightwing is finally back on active duty after his long absence.

Additional notes (and an apology): It's been far too long since I last updated. I'm so sorry. I wish I had a good explanation, but the fact is I just could not get myself into the right mindset to write this, let alone reread what I've written so I can remember how it goes. (See a longer explanation on the AO3 page)

Reminder: dialogue in bold is said through M'gann's mind link.

Chapter 46: Reconnaissance (Maybe)

It took Batman three tries before he was able to let Nightwing on the bioship the following morning. If it hadn't been for the smorgasbord of trackers embedded into every piece of Nightwing's uniform, he probably wouldn't have been allowed to go at all.

Batgirl squeaked when the seatbelt fastened itself over her chest. Nightwing, very charitably, he thought, did not laugh.

“You control the ship with your brain?” she asked Miss Martian once she'd recovered.

Miss Martian nodded. “I can also make her respond to commands from non-telepaths. I'll show you how to fly her one day.”

Batgirl rubbed the seatbelt between her gloved fingers. “Maybe once I've gotten used to this.”

“Wait until you see her shapeshifting,” said Kid Flash.

“You just want her to turn into that version of you with boobs again,” said Nightwing.

“Who can blame me? I'm hot.”

“Oh, grow out of your hormones already,” Artemis complained. “You don't hear Nightwing going on like this anymore.”

There was a very specific reason for that, but Nightwing made a conscious decision not to ruin the mood. At least it shut Kid Flash up, probably because he'd had the same thought. Artemis winced and opened her mouth to apologise, but Nightwing waved her off before she could. Better to just move on.

Miss Martian smiled awkwardly and called Batgirl over to show her how the bioship controls worked.

“Batman said he added colour change options to these suits, didn't he?” said Artemis, pressing various spots on the chest logo of her cold-weather uniform until it switched to her usual green. She pressed it again to switch back to white. “Nice.”

“I told him we wouldn't be very covert if we wore white indoors,” said Nightwing. “Nice to see he listened for once.” Nightwing hadn't had call to wear his new cold-weather uniform until today. Similar design to his usual costume, except in white, plus the cowl that had featured on his cold-weather Robin uniform. For the first time in a while, he felt naked without a cape. If the weather proved too punishing, he might have to add one for future missions.

“You stole that idea from me,” Robin complained. Seeing him in the same cold weather uniform Nightwing once wore brought on a feeling of nostalgia that he thought he'd finally gotten over.

“You snooze, you lose,” he said, shaking it off.

Everyone strapped into their seats and Miss Martian willed the ship into flight. It would take a few hours to reach their destination and Nightwing could barely contain his excitement. After such a long time of being stuck on the sidelines due to a never-ending parade of bullshit, he was finally back where he wanted to be, with his best friends in the whole world. There was that nagging fear in the back of his mind about what would happen if they came across the al Ghuls, but the likelihood of that happening was so remote that it didn't take more precedence than that.

Besides, there was nothing better at sharpening his focus than a good old-fashioned team mission. He already felt a thousand times smarter and they'd only just left home base.

“This is exciting,” Batgirl admitted. “I had no idea there was a team like this until a few months ago. How did you convince the Justice League to let you do this?”

“Well, to be fair, it started when KF, Aqualad and I broke into a supervillain's science lab without anyone's permission,” Nightwing said. “Then we found Superboy in a pod and busted him out. We also may have blown up the place, just a little bit.”

“Then we had to wait a thousand years for them to officially approve the team,” Kid Flash added. “Supey crashed at my place in the meantime.” The corner of his mouth tightened. “Well, I wouldn't call it my place anymore...”

“You've mentioned something about your dad before,” said Batgirl. “Ages ago, at that gala where you embarrassed Nightwing with that Enrique Iglesias song.”

“I'm amazed you remember that,” Kid Flash replied. “I don't even remember what I told you.” At least that eased some of the pain out of his expression, even if they were still talking about it.

“I have an eidetic memory,” Batgirl said. “Comes in handy. You mentioned Dick's—I mean Nightwing's—dad took the news about you two better than your own dad did.”

“Yeah...” His mouth tightened again. “He kicked me out of home last year. Been staying with my aunt and uncle.”

“That's horrible. I'm so sorry.”

Kid Flash shrugged, but no one believed he meant it. “My aunt and uncle have had all of us in the same room for a family dinner so it's not like he and Mum are out of my life completely. Just... mostly. I'm gonna invite them to my graduation. No idea if they'll show. No point dwelling on something I can't do anything about.”

Nightwing rested his foot on the edge of Kid Flash's seat; they were too far away for hugging, even if that's what he really wanted to do right now. A friendly foot of support would have to do.

“You really remember everything?” Zatanna asked Batgirl, who grasped onto the change of topic.

“No one remembers everything,” she replied, “but I can get pretty close.”

“Impressive,” said Aqualad.

The conversation very pointedly moved on, but Kid Flash had this faraway look in his eyes, even as he went through the motions of smiling and nodding at what the others said.

“Hey,” Nightwing said quietly. Superboy would hear, but he was pretty good at pretending he couldn't.

Kid Flash sighed. “I'm fine, babe. I just miss them sometimes.”

“I know.”

“I don't know whether I'm more afraid they'll come to my graduation and be horrible, or they won't come at all.”

“You sure you wanna invite them?”

“Yeah. I wanna know they care. If they care.”

“Whatever happens, you're surrounded by people who love you. And we're fully prepared to fight your dad if you want.”

Kid Flash snickered, just a little bit. “Please don't. He'll think we're moving into the final phase of the gay agenda: eliminate the heterosexuals.”

Nightwing cackled. “I'll pencil it in after brunch.”

The issue wasn't resolved, but the levity helped in the short term. Kid Flash relaxed in his seat over time and his father slowly filtered out of everyone's minds. There'd be time to deal with that can of worms later. No need to let it spoil the upcoming excitement of the mission.

Nightwing was so ready for this.

Miss Martian had to land the bioship a mile away from the facility due to a lack of surrounding cover, plus the thermal imaging at the base. Small groups wearing insulated costumes would have a better chance of slipping in undetected.

The team split into their squads and put some distance between each other, the better to trick the sensors. Zatanna prepared a teleportation spell for alpha squad while Nightwing hopped on Kid Flash's back for beta's run to the facility. Rocket expanded her bubble to include Superboy and Robin to improve the speed of gamma.

Alpha would arrive first and relay any immediate findings to the other squads. Batgirl was already a talented hacker and could handle any low-risk hacks, though anything more serious would have to await Nightwing's arrival. Batgirl was a quick study and would surpass him eventually, but that wasn't today.

Nightwing buried his face against Kid Flash's shoulder as they began to move. They screeched to a halt maybe a minute later, but he didn't get the chance to climb down before Batgirl's voice was in his head.

“I've got a virus into the external cameras. Nightwing should be able to take out the infrareds with minimal interference.”

“Thanks, BG.” Nightwing climbed off Kid Flash's back and they pressed themselves against the dull stone wall that surrounded the entire complex.

Miss Martian dropped to the snowy ground and rolled a few times. “There. My body temperature should blend into our surroundings if I'm quick. I'll find the sensors for you.” Martians already ran cooler than humans anyway. She camouflaged and phased through the wall.

“We're definitely safe from the infrared cameras here, right?” said Kid Flash.

“As long as we stick to the wall,” Nightwing replied. “The walls are insulated and the exterior cameras angled to watch for approaching invaders, remember?”

“I may have dozed off in the briefing a little bit.”

Whatever smartass reply Nightwing was cooking up had to be aborted when Miss Martian reappeared. They hugged the wall as they slipped in through a gate, the guard already unconscious, and then legged it to the security station.

Said station was a rickety little shack with a tin roof and a door thicker than its walls. Nightwing slipped inside with Kid Flash while Miss Martian stood guard outside.

Nightwing found a port on the three-monitor computer's CPU and pulled a plug from his wrist computer. He went slowly at first, just poking around in the guts of the programming to see what he had.

“Looks like the al Ghul techs added a shutdown sequence in a hurry,” he said, leafing through the programmers' documentation attached to the code. “Not part of the original programming. It's tied into some functions deeper in the facility.”

“Can you turn them off without alerting anyone?” asked Aqualad.

“I can make it look like a malfunction, but they're gonna know about it.” It wasn't ideal, but that's what he had to work with. “Are you in position? We won't have long to get inside, and we'll have trouble getting out again if they fix the system faster than we can work.”

“Perhaps we should consult Batman. It may affect the League's mission if we are discovered.”

“Make it quick. We had to knock out a guard to get here and I don't know if there are any alarms in this system.”

There were a few tense moments, each longer than the last. Nightwing half-expected they would have to fall back, but Aqualad's voice filled his head again, giving the go-ahead to shut down the infrareds.

It only took a moment. He'd had plenty of time to plan how to do it, after all. Then they hurried out of the security building and through the nearest door, Miss Martian taking point. Invisibly.

“I found an alarm system,” Robin said. “Doesn't look hard to turn off but, you know...”

“Looks can be deceiving?” Nightwing replied.

“Well, this is Ra's al Ghul we're talking about.”

“If you are concerned, perhaps we should leave it alone,” said Aqualad.

“Sure thing, boss,” said Nightwing. “We'll avoid detection the old-fashioned way.”

Kid Flash stifled a snicker beside him. Old-fashioned for him meant tripping over things and falling right into the people they were trying to avoid. So maybe they wouldn't do that.

“Our priority is reconnaissance,” Aqualad pointed out. “No unnecessary risks.”

“You ever notice how our recon missions always end with explosions?” said Kid Flash. Aqualad didn't respond, but his annoyed vibes through the link got the point across. The link wasn't typically strong enough to pick up on specific emotions, but Aqualad was uniquely talented in that regard. He'd certainly had plenty of practice making his frustration with the team's nonsense clear without uttering a word.

The corridors were long and made of soulless concrete. It was not like Ra’s at all. He preferred old-fashioned stone whenever possible, but maybe it didn’t hold the heat in this climate.

“What’re you thinking?” asked Kid Flash

“This place doesn’t look like an al Ghul original,” Nightwing replied. “Maybe it’s an adaptation for the cold weather, or he doesn’t care about aesthetics in a facility he’ll rarely visit. I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Maybe he didn’t build it,” suggested Artemis. “He could’ve found it abandoned or killed the original inhabitants.”

“Possibly. If he was desperate enough.”

Unfortunately, Nightwing had been hoping for a more traditional interior, because there tended to be little alcoves that made good hiding spots. No such luck here. He spotted a heating vent and Miss Martian floated up to test if it would open, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Fused shut,” she whispered. Damn it.

“That’d be too easy,” Nightwing muttered. Ra’s knew about the batfamily’s tendency toward air vents and had clearly taken steps to thwart their use.

“I could get it open,” Miss Martian said, “but it would make too much noise.”

They continued, peeking into solid metal doors as they went. Each room looked like a horror movie version of an examination room, some with beds or dental chairs or even metal tables. No computers or samples yet. Nothing they could work with.

“Found something,” said Batgirl. “In the heart of the facility. Some kind of computer server. There are cages, too. We haven’t gone inside yet. I think there may be an elevator in there. Get here quick.”

“On our way,” said Nightwing. Kid Flash’s running would be too loud, so they ran at a Nightwing-level pace instead. Well, Miss Martian flew a little ahead with her camouflage.

If there really was an elevator, maybe that would explain why there was so little of use on this level. It made sense, really. Any infiltrator worth their salt could get in here. Maybe the central chamber was more difficult, or at least the fact it was central would deter all but the most determined snoops. Ah, language.

All three squads met up at a giant pair of metal doors, all taking turns to peer inside. The door was electrified shut, linked to a keypad beside it.

“Does anyone else think it’s strange we haven’t seen anyone aside from that one guard?” said Robin.

“Super strange,” Nightwing agreed. He pressed a button on his mask and scanned the keypad, lighting up four fingerprints that denoted the most commonly-used buttons: 5, 7, 1, 4. There were 24 permutations of those four numbers, and trying them all in a brute-force strategy would undoubtedly trip another alarm.

There was a camera on the wall behind the team, which was dead. It must have gone off when the infrareds did… Nightwing hoped. If he could break into the system and find the camera footage for the code.

“I need to find another security room to have any chance of cracking this without ruining the mission,” he said. Sadly, Ra’s al Ghul knew better than to use WayneTech. “Think there’s one inside, or do we have to go all the way outside again?”

“We passed one on our route,” said Batgirl. “It’s a few doors down that way.” She pointed behind her, to Nightwing’s right.

“What do the rest of us do in the meantime?” asked Rocket. “I feel silly just standing around.”

“We look for alternative entrances,” said Aqualad. “I want everyone to know this place so well they could walk it blindfolded.”

“Now you sound like Batman,” said Robin, as Nightwing took Miss Martian and Kid Flash down the corridor to find the security room.

“I will take that as a compliment. Begin searching.”

The security room was the third door on the left of the concrete corridor. Nightwing had to swallow bile, because the stack of cassette tapes on the wall reminded him too much of Skinner’s compound. He shook his head to clear it.

“Get a fucking grip, Nightwing,” he muttered, crossing to the computer on the cheap grey desk before Kid Flash or Miss Martian could question or comfort him. It was a modern computer with a flat-screen monitor, and it took him moments to break in. Fortunately, the video records were archived on the computer itself. The tapes must’ve been old. Good. He didn’t want to look at them again.

Nightwing also didn’t want to delve too deeply into the video archives. He found a digital map of the facility with all the cameras marked and downloaded a copy to his wrist computer. He also passed copies to Robin and Batgirl.

He found the central chamber on the map and made a note of the camera’s codename: AX253. He then found that folder in the archive and started sifting through the footage until he found someone using the code. It was a bad angle, but it was all he had. He ran the video a couple of times and finally figured out the first digit: 4. That brought the possible number of combinations down to six. Better, but still too many to risk a brute-force approach. Most systems got antsy after more than three attempts, especially in places such as this. If he could piece together at least one more digit…

“What’s taking so long?” said Superboy. “Whatever you did to the cameras could’ve been fixed already.”

“It hasn’t,” Nightwing replied. “I need a few more minutes. Got one digit figured out. Need at least one more to make brute-forcing an option.”

“Genius takes time,” Kid Flash added. Nightwing would’ve elbowed him and told him to shut up, but he was busy.

He sifted through the footage and found a shorter person. Both people had been wearing labcoats. This one was a woman, and she fumbled the combination the first two times because her hands shook. She got it on the third because she went slowly, enough that Nightwing could pick up the whole combination. That was nice. He also knew the keypad could take at least two mistakes.

The combination was: 4157.

“Got it,” said Nightwing. “Anything cool on your end?”

“No luck,” said Zatanna. “That door is our only way in and out.”

“Wonderful.”

They headed back to the door and Nightwing keyed in the combination. The door buzzed and released. Aqualad tested the handle, and it turned.

There were more metal tables in the room, and fur was stuck in some of the cages. Nightwing made a beeline for the enormous computer that took up an entire wall, dragging Robin and Batgirl with him.

“Find another way down if you can,” Aqualad said. “I would prefer not to use the elevator.”

“Bit of a fire hazard if it’s the only option,” Kid Flash quipped.

“Would Ra’s al Ghul care?” said Robin.

“Probably not,” Nightwing replied, pulling a cord from his wrist computer and plugging it into a port. “As long as he gets out in once piece, most of his people are expendable. Hell, even he is to an extent. Yay, Lazarus Pits.” He shook off a sick feeling at the green memory and focused on breaking into this computer, explaining his steps to Robin and Batgirl as he went.

It was a simple enough task to log in and poke around in the files.

“Nightwing, what are we dealing with?” asked Aqualad, who was examining the elevator across the room.

Zatanna had freed some fur from a cage and was feeling it between her fingers. “This is real fur. A wolf, I think?”

Nightwing found some research notes. “I’m not sure what I’m looking at yet yet. KF, get your science brain over here and help me make sense of this. I think we’ve got some test results.”

“All the test subjects have codes,” said Batgirl, pointing to the screen. “Can we find what those mean?”

“Sounds like a good starting point,” said Kid Flash, zipping over to them. He rested his hand on Nightwing’s shoulder, leaning in to get a look as Nightwing sifted through the files until he found a name authority file. “Maybe that’s it.”

Nightwing opened it. “Each code translates to a Latin name and a number.”

“Scientific animal names?” Kid Flash suggested.

“Makes sense,” said Robin. “Zatanna, can we look at that fur?”

Zatanna brought it over. Between the five of them, they were able to identify most of the Latin animal names. Lots of wolves, which made since given the grey animal fur. There were also foxes, various kind of large-breed dogs, large canines, and even horses and a bear or two. Nightwing swore he saw the scientific name for an African elephant as well, which was just upsetting and made him think of the circus.

“So, they’re doing animal tests here,” said Kid Flash. “Can we save some of this data? Uncle Flash would have a field day.”

“I’ll save as much as I can,” said Nightwing. “We still need to take a look downstairs.”

“The elevator is not code-protected,” said Aqualad. “It would appear we are clear to use it, if there is no other option.” He sounded less than enthused. Nightwing couldn’t blame him. You never wanted to get stuck in an elevator when you weren’t supposed to be there at all. Sure, they could try the elevator shaft, but it was a bad idea when you didn’t know if you could get in and out of the elevator if the need arose.

Nightwing went back to the test results, but even knowing the code meanings wasn’t much help. He downloaded those records and went searching for a thesis statement that would explain all this.

Finally, he lucked out:

Mission: devise a method to command dangerous animals to control human population levels.

Classic Ra’s al Ghul. Environmentalism through genocide. How exactly was he trying to command these animals?

“There a lot of information,” Nightwing said. “We should probably leave a small team here to gather as much as possible and keep a lookout for any patrols. There has to be a reason we haven’t encountered many people yet.”

“Robin, Batgirl, are you confident continuing Nightwing’s work here?” asked Aqualad. “We may need him underground.”

“We can do it,” said Robin. “He’s done the hard work already.”

“Very well. New squad assignments: Robin, Batgirl and Rocket are to stay here. Everyone else, with me. Should we need to split further, I want Superboy and Kid Flash protecting Nightwing.”

Nightwing almost made a smartass comment, but it did make sense. He was the only hacker going underground. If something happened, the rest of the team could become trapped if they were unlucky.

They headed to the elevator and peeked inside. There was a hatch up top. Superboy gave Nightwing a boost so he could test the opening. It budged without too much effort, so Aqualad pressed the down button and they all climbed out the hatch. If anyone was in the room below, better they saw an empty elevator than one full of invaders.

Nightwing crouched on top of the elevator beside Zatanna as it lurched downwards. He checked over the blueprints he’d downloaded, but they didn’t provide any information on the bottom floor. They were going into this without any knowledge of what was down there.

“I figured out why the infrared cameras need to be turned off,” Robin said.

“We figured it out,” Batgirl cut in. “These animals are controlled by radio and light signals. The canine and feline animals are controlled by high frequencies, but some of the others are controlled by low frequencies.”

“The cameras interfere with the signals,” said Robin. “Also, they’re probably jammed full of machinery. Enjoy.”

“Thank you,” said Aqualad. Aloud he whispered, “Be ready. We could find anything down here.”

The elevator shuddered to a halt and the doors pinged open.

“Hello?” came a voice. “Who’s there?”

“Oh, god, has someone come to rescue us?” came another voice.

“Please, show yourselves.” A third voice.

The team shared a look.

“I’ll go,” said Superboy. “They’ll recognise my logo.”

“And you’re harder to shoot,” Artemis added.

Superboy didn’t dignify that with a response. Aqualad gave the okay, and he dropped through the hatch.

“Superman?!”

“That’s Superboy, genius. God, I thought you had a PhD.”

“Care to tell me what’s going on here?” Superman said.

“We were kidnapped months ago to work on cybernetic animals.”

“Are there more of you?” asked Superboy.

“Yes! Are you going to get us out?”

“Sure.”

Superboy followed the three people out of earshot, so Superboy narrated through the mind link.

“They’ve taken me to another door. There are dozens of scientists in there. One of them is telling me they have been stuck here for days. They have to swipe identity cards to get back in the elevator, but they stopped working. Someone needs to stay in the elevator to keep it open for us.”

“Can you get to the scientists?” asked Aqualad.

“We should… no. Their cards have stopped working on this door and they don’t know what would happen if I broke it. We need Nightwing.”

Aqualad nodded to Nightwing, who dropped into the elevator with Kid Flash.

This room had even more cages, and the metal tables were covered in fur and stained with blood. Kid Flash shuddered. Superboy and the three scientists were on the other end of the room. Someone inside the room was beating against the glass.

“Hi, everyone,” Nightwing said. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.” A scientist offered her key card and Nightwing tested it on the keypad. It didn’t respond at all. “Do the upstairs security features affect these cards?”

“No,” said the scientist. “We have to swipe for all the rooms around here. We can’t do our tests if we can’t get the doors open.”

“Are there any animals left on-site?”

“No,” said another scientist, wiping sweat off his brow. “Soldiers came in and loaded them onto trucks a few days ago.”

“Did they leave us to die in here?” said the third. Nightwing decided against answering, because the answer was absolutely yes.

“We’re here now,” he said instead. “What kind of security measures are down here?” The keypad didn’t accept any codes and had no way to plug in and open it with his computer.

“Not many,” said the first scientist. “We have emergency buttons to shut down everything, but I don’t think anything happens with the keypads.”

“Okay, but just in case, we have to get everyone out quickly,” said Nightwing. “Aqualad, we might have to smash the security measures to get people out of this room. Are we ready for that?”

“This is supposed to be recon only,” said Aqualad.

“I know. Call Batman while I see if we’ve got any other options?”

“I will. One moment.”

“I’m going to see if there’s another way to get this open,” said Nightwing, “but there’s a very good chance I’ll have to ask our muscled friend here to tear it off to get at the wires instead. Do you have any computers you can access?”

The scientists showed him to a few laptops. He saved the research files on there but couldn’t find a way to get into the security system. He hadn’t expected anything, given these scientists were prisoners and possibly geniuses, but it was worth a shot.

“Batman gives his approval to get the scientists out. He is sending backup to take them from there. We are to rendezvous at the front of the facility and then head home.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Nightwing. “Okay, I can’t see any other options. Superboy, could you rip that keypad off the wall for me?”

Superboy tugged it off like a piece of gum from his shoe. The door was still shut, so Nightwing dug around in the wires until he found the right two and tapped the copper ends together to complete the circuit. The door slid open.

“Everyone out, please!” he called. “Go straight to the elevator. No dawdling.”

The trapped scientists flooded out and headed for the elevator. Nightwing nudged their three new friends to join the crowd. Not everyone could fit.

“We’ll take this group up and come back,” said Aqualad. Nightwing relayed that to the people stuck in the room.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised. “Our teammates will be back with the elevator in a few—”

A growl erupted from one of the other rooms.

“Um,” said Kid Flash, “didn’t the scientists say those soldiers took all the animals?”

Well, shit.