#Controlling the identities of everyone close to them and seeing it as betrayal if you don't let them be dictators of who you are

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Stede doesn’t abandon community…

The pirate cultures of Zheng, Low, and Blackbeard (plus Izzy’s brief stint) all work via closed systems. Closed systems control by a specific set of top-down rules with little acceptance for spontaneity or individuality. Systems external to the unit are viewed with suspicion and resisted (Izzy’s resistance to Stede’s way; Zheng’s ‘join us or die’). It’s not surprising. They all likely grew up in closed family systems and replicate that in their adulthood through the culture of the ships they run. It also just… makes sense. It’s how countries are run, empires. People at the top create the rules, everyone else obeys or else.

Which is what makes Stede’s way so unique.

He does something amazing. Something entirely different it seems without reference or blueprint other than having a Big Think About It.

Because Stede absolutely grew up in a closed-family system. There was no room to be anyone other than his father’s replicant. And when that clearly wasn’t going to be the case, he is abused for not conforming, letting the side down. He also lives in a society which is a closed system - white patriarchal hegemony - and finds himself bullied as a child, and then trapped as an adult, within its tight behaviour rules.

And then he asks ‘What if it weren’t like that?’

When Ed first lands on the Revenge, and sees this ‘bunch of wild characters on the high seas’, he is struck by their lack of conformity. Sure, everyone appears to be wearing rope (hyperbole), but it’s not a directive, it’s idiosyncrasy.

However such behaviour coupled with spontaneity cannot be comprehended or tolerated by Izzy - the poster boy for closed-family systems - and he perceives it as an existential threat. Ed though catches the bug immediately with his joy at Stede’s curios and ‘Wanna do something weird?’ Yet some days even Ed can’t keep up. There are few rules. Just decide on a whim we’re going on a treasure hunt. Everyone’s just wandering around doing their own thing that day…

This is what open family looks like. Members are interdependent, but each able to maintain their own identities, and explore who they are. Stede never gets involved in the minutiae of interpersonal relationships on the ship. And the crew have a voice, but there is also accountability. Stede chastises in-fighting amongst the crew, and redirects or models a better way. It’s sometimes flawed, but it’s never punitive and there’s a culture of forgiveness.

Just look what Stede gave to the crew of the Revenge, even in his absence…

At the end of season 2, Stede doesn’t abandon the crew. In an open family you can leave and still be part of a wider community. Despite physical separation, Ed and Stede are still part of that community because they choose to be, and because they live by the same philosophies. This is what an open family looks like. The crew leave via their own agency, but take Stede’s ethos with them. And it’s not a dogmatic ethos. It’s a living, fluid thing. Stede has given his crew the tools to build their own community their own way.

Here’s the thing about closed families - you can never leave. Or be different. Or assert your own needs. It’s viewed as betrayal. I wonder if that’s what’s upsetting some people into thinking the crew of the Revenge have been abandoned, because they think community is about physical distance. You can be abandoned by people in very close-proximity - Ed learned that the hard way via Izzy.

Stede hasn’t abandoned anyone. In the very first episode he talks about helping the crew grow as people. They have grown to the point where they don’t need him in the same way as before. He basically says Here, take my ship as yours, and go live what I taught you. That’s not abandonment, that’s empowerment.

[leeknot]

Tethered Minds

mentally unstable!enhypen × psychologist!reader(psychological thriller)

Synopsis:

You are a newly hired psychologist at a high-security psychiatric facility known for housing the most challenging and dangerous cases. Among your assigned patients are seven young men, each with unique, unsettling disorders. As their doctor, you aim to help them confront their traumas and unravel their fractured psyches. But as time passes, their obsession with you grows, and you begin to suspect their placement in the facility—and your role in their lives—isn’t a coincidence.

---

Characters:

1. Jake:

Diagnosis: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with violent tendencies.

Profile: Jake is charming and warm one moment but explosively angry the next. His fear of abandonment drives his obsession with you, as he believes you’re the only one who truly understands him. His unpredictable nature keeps you constantly on edge.

2. Heeseung:

Diagnosis: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

Profile: Heeseung’s personas range from a vulnerable, childlike alter to a manipulative and cold presence that taunts you. His transitions are seamless, making it hard to know who you’re really speaking to at any given moment.

3. Jay:

Diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

Profile: Jay is calculating and suave, using his intelligence to outmaneuver everyone around him. He claims to know secrets about the facility—and you—that no one else does, leaving you questioning his motivations and your own past.

4. Niki:

Diagnosis: Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED).

Profile: Niki is prone to uncontrollable outbursts of anger, often triggered by small provocations. His youthful defiance hides a deep fear of betrayal, and his fixation on you stems from seeing you as a potential savior.

5. Jungwon:

Diagnosis: Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

Profile: Jungwon believes in elaborate, conspiratorial delusions that intertwine with your presence. He sees you as a key figure in a grand cosmic plan, and his eerily calm demeanor hides the chaos in his mind.

6. Sunoo:

Diagnosis: Histrionic Personality Disorder.

Profile: Sunoo craves your attention and admiration, often creating dramatic scenarios to keep you close. His charming facade crumbles when he feels ignored, revealing a manipulative and dangerous side.

7. Sunghoon:

Diagnosis: Psychosis with paranoid delusions.

Profile: Sunghoon experiences vivid hallucinations and believes he’s trapped in a twisted game where you are both his captor and his only hope. His paranoia makes him unpredictable and dangerous.

Themes

Obsession, manipulation, and control.

A/N : if anyone wants to be on my taglist feel free to comment😻

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Alternative ending

[dereality-existence]

ik that i said that i wanna ask just one more ask, buuuuuuuuuuut i couldn’t stop the urge from asking more questions, bc Adam is basically a whole frickin ocean and i wanna know that im not crazy for being this hyperfixated ;-; (i wanna see ur opinion too >:))

Why do you think Adam let Lute leave Vaggie in hell, after Vaggie let go of a demon child, instead of killing him, despite her being an exorcist? And why, despite Adam saying that: “You were on top, I wouldn’t forget a bad bitch like you. It’s why i named you after the best thing ever, Vaggie.” he left her bleeding in hell anyway?

i kinda got a lot of mixed vibes from Adam, cuz while yes, i know he’s basically just masking his whole identity at this point in the series, and while a ton of ppl will just assume that he just hates Vaggie for some reason, i kinda feel like he secretly regrets what he did, but still tries to convince himself he was right for letting Lute rip of Vaggie’s wings and leave her in hell (casually spinnin her halo with his finger while at that with the most menacing stare known to mankind), bc like.. he also basically congratulates her for having ‘Lilith’s little hottie’ (Charlie), admits she was a bad bitch and also offers her to work for him again, in exchange for shutting poor Charlie up (like ik that maybe im wrong and that maybe it’s just him being egotistical, but cmon bro there’s too many subtle signs even if we only had like 15 minutes of screen time with him, i cant help it man ;-;) - at that point, i didn’t know if he truly hated Charlie, or truly hates Vaggie (maybe both idk which to pick)

And, another thing to point out, while bro was singing in court (in the song “I didn’t know”, aka close to the end of it), Adam says the word “Liar” with the most disgusted tone i’ve ever heard from this guy express, like cmon dude i can’t be crazy that i think every line he says in season 1 has significant meaning to his character ;-;

btw tho, you draw Lute so pretty man, like with dah makeup stuff she pretty pretty, i wanna steal her makeup >:3 (and in ur art style u make me wanna put my hand on Adam’s hair bc it looks so frickin soft and comfy i wanna touch it >:3)

Because of betrayal. Both wives chose someone/something else, not him. So dude probably gained huge trauma from "everyone always choosing anything but me," and this will be a huge trigger for him afterwards. Heaven always had strict rules and codes. So I'm sure he had certain expectations of his exorcists. Vaggie's act of sparing the sinner kid would be like another betrayal for Adam. "She chose them, not us. Let her rot then."

I didn't see sincere hate in him for either Charlie or Vaggie. The only one who set his ass on fire was Lucifer; he completely lost all of his control. There was a genuine hatred in him for this guy. I would really like to see his attitude towards the girliiiies—Lilith and Eve; it would clear more of his personality.

Charlie is a "stupid brat" for him; Vaggie is a "traitor." For me it's not hate, but rather indifference. Adam's stare at Vaggie, spinning her halo like it's nothing, and his "liar" in a disgusted tone showing his contempt, not hate, and most importantly not to Vaggie personally, but to her act of betrayal. As you could see, for Vaggie personally, he's feeling "okay," saying that she was his best and congratulating her on being with Charlie. It's the act that Vaggie committed that he despises, not her personally. Oh, and the mere fact that Adam praises Vaggie, pissing off Lute so much, I'm sure of it. Because how fortunate that Lute was in the right place at the right time, witnessing Vaggie's "betrayal," right? The girl probably was waiting for such an opportunity to shove Vaggie away from Adam's attention once and for all, just to become his one and only. Damn, that's hot and crazy (Adam would probably say, and I'd partially agree with him).

Sometimes he gets irritated at Charlie, but it's only irritation because she's getting in his way and interfering with his deals. You know it's like a pigeon that proceeds to run from you in front of your feet instead of just flying away or running aside, and you're like, "GODDAMN DUDE GET AWAY WTF." I think Adam sees Charlie just like that.

Awww, thank you. For me, all my stuff looks shitty, not good, from my POV, so it's nice to hear that it's not as awful as I think! I'm trying my best х3

(Adam's hair is overall awesome and tempting to carrrrrress them~~~~)

[verity-clover]

wgats the story behind the limbo losers I'm so curous

theyre losers in limbo what do you expect jkjk

uh basically the gang is lucian, ethan, camilla marion. they're all dead (unspecified) and put in a purgatory by Eris (fate). she is giving them all a second chance at life if they manage to win her game.

she's gonna put them all in a tower and all they have to do is get to the top ! Which. Will be hard because each floor is designed to basically fuck over everyone in the head with some floors being tailored made for one of them specifically. In total there will be 8 floors but im not sure about that number.

everyone has a weapon: lucian has a knife, ethan has a baseball bat (customized with nails), camilla has a lighter and marion has a metal pipe.

in limbo hwoever, everyone basically has no memory of each other but they did have a bond with each other in their past life. ethan and lucian are estranged childhood friends. lucian and camilla are 'aquaintances' (as in they're the only person by each others side but theyre not close). marion and ethan are like. they know each other (classmates) but marion is just obsessed with ethan and wanting to be him. ethan sees marion as a lucian replacement.

lucian and ethan the silliest ever happy pride month are like. very close. they know each other inside and out. lucian has difficulty expressing his emotions outwardly and ethan could read him like a book, its the same the other way where ethan tends to conceal his own emotions. ethan is obsessed with lucian and wants him to be happy due to seeing him as like the only thing in the world that he chose for himself (ethan lives in a controlling family that believes in their own superiority so to him being friends with lucian is an extremely personal choice that hes doing out of love and not out of what lucian could give him.)

lucian is attached to ethan in a similiar way due to ethan being the only person who was patient with him. lucian tends to be ignored due to him having a hard time expressing his feelings properly without being awkward to people so ethan was like a blessing to him.

now the estranged part. ive mentioned once before that ethan has 12 older siblings. well thing is, his dad is a CEO whos NOT GAY and often moving from place to place, wherever he could get the most profits in the moment. and in turn, ethan has to move with him. lucian did not take the news well and tried to keep ethan with himself. he sees ethan leaving as a betrayal because ethan didn't find a way to stay by his side.

NOW CAMILLA TIME

camilla is so fun. she tries to stay on top of everything she can with her focus being on academics. she was proud and saw herself as above her peers so she tended to be a self isolating because in her eyes no one was worth her time. however, no matter how hard she tries to 'it doesnt matter' her stress away, she still ends up having a public meltdown due to mounting pressure to keep up because the older you get the harder things become and csmilla didnt change with her peers. and eventuslly she was left behind which sucked ass for her bevause her entire identity was based in her success !! and she doesnt have it currently !! anyway girlie gets an existential crisis and femmes it up to at least succeed in somethings. basically she wants to get a good grade in girl.

augh ill continue tomorrow since im so eepyy.... there are typos and may be veryyy rambly so👍

[xtinyslip]

"FINE AND WHEN I AGREE TO STOP MAKING THESE SUPPOSED BAD DECISIONS? WHAT THEN? YOU'LL LET ME OUT? JUST LIKE THAT?" a lot of what she was choosing to say to him was so that she could carry out her own fact finding mission. she needed to see his responses to certain things, she needed to be able to read the room and she couldn't do that if she didn't keep him talking. it wasn't like she knew anything concrete here which was difficult to go on, she was going to have to figure it out for herself and she would. when he leaned against the glass, her movement was very slight but she acting tilted her body slightly to lean more in the direction of where he was. again, another deliberate movement from her. "you may have made a minor error in your calculations, joe. i'm not sure i'm all that deserving of good." oh, she knew she wasn't but she'd accepted that and was making the most of what she did have. it was cecilia, there was always more she wanted but she was more in control of that part of her life than she had been in a long time. it seemed people didn't like it that way but they didn't want to see her when she was THAT hungry for something. "oh no, i can and do believe that he would like for parker to be out of my life. what parent wouldn't? the nonsense i don't believe is that he would make that decision for me, and that he would simply take it out of my hands rather than letting me decide for myself. he has never done that. WHY WOULD HE START NOW?" cecilia was very aware that she didn't want to hear it about will. after her father it should have been fucking impossible for her to let anyone remotely close to having that type of relationship and connection with her again. will had gotten more than close, no one was about to understand what he had done for her but it was a silent communication between the both of them but they knew. was she going to let this get into her head easily? no. if it was true? will was going to have the decency to walk down here and tell her himself and the reason she hadn't requested joe to get him? it was because she knew that wasn't a betrayal she may ever fully heal from. if at all. "i wasn't aware that i was supposed to be accommodating to their wants and needs?" shaking her head. cecilia was trying to find pieces of this that she could control, it was in her nature to attempt that. she didn't like that the identity of this person was being held over her, that everyone seemed to know and she didn't."all to happy to believe it. was he? would you like to try that again? i saw the state of him." that didn't happen to people who nodded and willingly agreed to believe and listen to everything someone had to say. "really? you too? it's a shame, i honestly did believe you were different." everyone wanted to hold that one thing over her head. everyone. "you're not going to leave the lights on?" she was so numb that the cold didn't bother her, it was a little cold ; she'd live but the dark? the fear inside her sparked back to life. "… because trust works both ways? and i'm not the one who suddenly decided to hurt you and trap you down here. you have more making up to do than i have." turning slowly, considering how sore and stiff her head and neck still were but she stared at him all the same. as if to show she knew her point had been made. "and we're back to the threat of the wizard of oz. the person behind the curtain? the mystery that you want me to drive myself crazy trying to solve? that's not going to happen.". @fcrafcrtnight

"I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. IN FACT, THE LAST THING THAT I WANNA DO IS COUNT YOU OUT, BUT.. YOU GOTTA HELP ME OUT HERE AND STOP MAKING.. only bad decisions." and it's hard. it's hard, because i want to help you and.. you're not making that very easy for me, are you? crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the glass, watching her. it could be easy to turn her in the direction that he wanted to, but.. then again.. patience. "not really. maybe you just needed someone to remind you that you can have something good." and that something good could be right here, waiting in front of you. who knows? of course, we'd have to get over all of these flaws of yours, but.. it'll be okay. you'll see. "AM I? YOUR AUNT KILLED HIS DAUGHTER. PARKER, BEING THE KNIGHT IN SHINNING ARMOUR, STOOD BY THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILD. is it really so difficult to believe that wil graham wants him out of your life? he does. and all this time, he's been orchestrating all this. he paid for it. he paid me. he made it all happen. made parker call you, made him say all those horrible things.. i mean, who else would know exactly what would get to you? who else would know what buttons to push in order to get you to sign those papers? YOU TWO WERE SET UP. AND I KNOW, I KNOW, IT HURTS WHEN IT'S SOMEONE CLOSE TO YOU, BUT.. WILL GRAHAM'S A TWO FACED LIAR. i just figured that it was time that you knew that. finally. same as.. well, he's been meeting with that tom guy, the lawyer, pretending to be parker. SORRY." it's truly nothing personal, but.. there's someone who wants graham out of your life and.. as a matter of fact, i have to agree with them. he's not good for you. not at all. "i don't think you want that. they don't talk much. and.. they're not ready to come and see you. yet, but.. SOON. YOU WON'T LIKE WHO'S BEHIND THE MASK." you're trying to be brave. i see that and it's admirable, but.. it's not going to help you. it's not going to take you anywhere, if you do not see the truth. will it, now? "i said what i had to say. and honestly, he was all too happy to believe it. you.. did hook up with john kramer when you were with him once, didn't you?" see? this kind of behaviour? it's not good. it's not good for anyone and i'm going to make you SEE that. because frankly? hadn't those two showed that they were not good together? hadn't those two showed that nothing good was ever going to come from them being together? because it wasn't going to. because it wasn't ever going to. "you should eat something," pointing to the crackers and cookies he had brought. "and drink some water. IT GETS.. COLD, OUT HERE AT NIGHT. AND DARK." he opened his mouth to say something and to confirm it, but.. it wasn't time. it wasn't and right now, if she didn't want to cooperate? so be it. "why would i tell you that, if you refuse to tell me something as simple as your passcode? why would i tell you how long you've been here?" i hate to be like this, but.. "no, but someone else does. the person behind the mask. they know everything about you." @xtinyslip

[testudoaubrei-blog]

Well, it’s not quite a master’s thesis, but this is (the first of) a series of posts on why Catra and Adora are the best love story in the history of kids TV animation and maybe the greatest love story in the history of TV. This may in some ways be faint praise - romance on TV is generally not very good compared with books or movies. Often it’s just some will they/won’t they sexual tension that is defused by getting characters together and re-heightened by breaking them up. TV is full of nearly shark jumping pointless dramas like Sam and Diane (Cheers, holy fuck am I dating myself, though that was technically before my time), Ross and Rachel (Friends, which was no Cheers) etc, but also some less annoying couples like Ben and Leslie (Parks and Rec) or Amy and Jake (Bk99) who are mostly just kind of cute and fun. Other shows, like the X-Files, teased viewers for years with unresolved sexual tension. In kids shows most romances are, appropriate for their target viewers, mild, sweet relationships based more on self-conscious flirting and blushing than on complex and conflicted feelings or deep passions - which is pretty realistic when the characters are young teens or even mid-teens. Some of these relationships are really well done - Finn and Flame Princess, Dipper and Pacifica (yeah I ship them), the early stages of Katara and Aang (before the showrunners imbued this childhood crush with cosmic significance), Steven and Connie, etc. Catra and Adora, though, are different. Their love story is not a side plot or a sub plot, it’s the heart of the show. It isn’t a childhood crush, it’s a very messy and passionate relationship between two young adults. She-Ra is an emotionally complex lesbian romance just as much as it is a thrilling action/adventure show. Everything about their relationship is baked into the show’s plot, its themes, hell even its musical score. The dramatic tension between Catra and Adora is not the result of stretching out a flirtation for ratings, but a coherent dramatic arc that runs through the entire show. As Noelle said, he made Catradora so central that execs couldn’t take it out without ruining the show. And the show is better for it. In this series of posts I’m going to try to show why, as well as showing why She-Ra is such a fantastic love story.

First off, let’s talk about how Catra and Adora’s character arcs are foils for each other, and how they come together and apart through the series. This is actually a post that I’ve been working on for a while but I keep summarizing the show rather than cutting to the chase, so I’m not going to recite many plot points so much as sketch out what’s going on with the dramatic structure at the time. But also, let’s talk about what each character’s arc is saying, and how they are commenting on each other. Spoiler alert: Catra’s arc is a subversion and critique of stories of empowerment through ruthless self-assertion and revenge, while Adora’s arc is a subversion and critique of chosen one narratives and stories of self-denial and self-transcendence.

When the show starts, Adora and Catra are shown as rivals and friends - their first scene starts the recurring motif of them reaching out for each other as one of them dangles above an abyss, as well as establishing their flirtatious banter and easy camaraderie. We quickly learn that these two young women plan to conquer the world together. These scenes and later flashbacks show Catra and Adora as deeply enmeshed in each others lives, to the point where neither of them (but especially Catra) have clear identities outside of one another. There is so much genuine love on both sides before Adora leaves, but also resentment, envy and fear, especially on Catra’s side, as well as a protectiveness on Adora’s side that deprives Catra of her autonomy. They are both being abused by Shadow Weaver - Catra physically  and emotionally, Adora emotionally. It wouldn’t be too much to say that Shadow Weaver holds Catra hostage to control Adora (this is why critiques that Adora abandoned Catra to be abused are actually kind of messed up, since they accept Shadow Weaver’s premise that Adora is responsible for what Shadow Weaver does to Catra). In addition, Catra and Adora actually see the world incredibly differently. Adora already sees the world in terms of right, wrong and her destiny to right wrongs - this is why it’s important for her  to accept the Horde’s obvious lies - she couldn’t keep living if she didn’t. Catra, on the other hand, sees the world solely in terms of survival and personal loyalty - everything for her is about preserving herself and the person she cares about - Adora.

Then, when Adora finds the sword, she leaves because it’s the right thing to do. Catra doesn’t even have a concept of ‘the right thing to do’ being something she should care about, or perhaps, something she can care about as an irredeemably evil, awful fuck-up. So at Thaymor neither one understands where the other is coming from, and Catra and Adora begin to part. This is the first turning point in their relationship. Adora chooses duty over what she desires, Catra chooses to protect herself (such as she sees it) and nurse her sense of betrayal and abandonment.

Their relationship until Promise is a kind of weird Frenemy thing that is fascinating to watch and sold me on the show. Neither one wants to fully admit to themselves that the other is now their enemy, neither one has given up on changing the other’s mind. Each is furious at the other, and desperate to see her again at the same time. There’s a lot of heartache and just as much sexual tension, especially at Princess Prom. Both of them come alive when they fight each other (more about that in a later post). But they’re already growing apart - Adora embracing her destiny as She-Ra, Catra rising in the ranks for the Horde. Adora now has the purpose she always wanted, plus other friends and a sense of being chosen to do something great, while Catra now has power - the means to protect herself from people like Shadow Weaver as well as the vindication she had always been denied, and even the opportunity to beat Shadow Weaver at her own game.

The next turning point is Promise. Holy fuck, this episode. It’s an episode that is even more heartbreaking after you’ve watched the show because you know just how much worse things are going to get, and yet, it’s a necessary part of both of their character arcs. Even through season 1 Catra and Adora had remained very much enmeshed in each others lives in an increasingly fucked up way as they grew apart but refused to turn away from each other. Even though they aren’t -exactly- a romantic couple (Adora doesn’t recognize and acknowledge her feelings until the last episode of Season 5), Season 1 of She-Ra is one of the worst breakups I have seen on TV. As I said in a couple of previous posts, this is the kind of shit that the Mountain Goats write songs about. Everything that was poisoning their love for each other even before episode 1 bubbles to the surface and combines with them fighting on opposite sides of the war to make a truly fucked up situation. In the end, it’s Catra that makes the choice to turn away from Adora. This isn’t a -good- decision. It’s spiteful, and destructive, and based on an outright deluded understanding of their relationship (inspired by Light Hope’s manipulations and her own issues), but it’s in some ways a necessary decision. Catra has been so wrapped up in Adora for so long that she isn’t going to be able to figure out who -she- is without cutting Adora out of her life. And the same is true of Adora.

But each of them do this in about the worst way possible. Catra embraces destruction, ambition, manipulation and outright cruelty, turning the tactics of her abusers against them and against everyone around her. She first triumphs over Shadow Weaver and manipulates Entrapta into trying to corrupt Etheria itself. Meanwhile Adora ‘lets go’ and commits herself to the self-denying mantle of She-Ra. Over the next several seasons, their respective paths will nearly lead both Catra and Adora to their deaths (in the Season 4 finale).

For the next season (counting season 2 and 3 as one) Catra and Adora are still closely linked, but as enemies. Still, there’s more than enough flirtation between them (that ‘Hey Catra’ in the first episode of Season 2 is something else), and especially on Adora’s side we see her hold back with Catra, and often take responsibility for the harm Catra inflicts, just like she had when they were kids. Yet they still drift apart - after facing off every other episode in Season 1, they spend less and less time on screen together through season 2 and 3. Catra continues her ascent to power and descent into villainy while Adora becomes more of a stressed out mess as she takes the fate of the world and the wellbeing of everyone she cares about on her admittedly broad shoulders. Catra’s one moment of vulnerability is rewarded by Shadow Weaver’s betrayal and her exile, then Catra triumphs in ruthless badass fashion through sheer desperation and aggression. In the Crimson Wastes, we see Catra at her most independent, and she almost seems happy. But once Adora shows up and Catra hears about Shadow Weaver, she’s sucked back into the worst of her resentments, and she makes very clear that being happy is less important to her than making sure Adora is miserable.

This changes everything. Catra completely breaks with reality and tries to kill Adora, herself and the world rather than lose to Adora and Shadow Weaver (I do think it’s important to remember that she does that after Shadow Weaver nearly kills her). Catra betrays everyone around her when she exiles Entrapta, threatens Scopria and lies to Hordak. Then she flips the switch. When Adora tries to fix things, Catra fights to her own death to make sure that the world disintegrates with her. For her part, Adora fights first to understand what is wrong with the world and then to fix it. Finally she tells Catra that destroying the world is her choice and she has to live with it, decks her, and then sees her off with a death glare once the portal is closed. With this, Adora writes Catra off even if, as she says later, she never never hated her. By doing that, Adora casts off the guilt that had dogged her and takes responsibility for her own life rather than someone else’s - this is actually a huge step for her, and one that will become more important in Season 4.

Season 4 is in many ways the nadir of their relationship. They only see each other once during the entire season, in Fluterrina, when Adora tries to blast Catra, much to the latter’s shock. There’s a sense in that scene that Catra is trying to have the same flirtatious enmity she used to have with Adora, and Adora is having none of it. Catra almost seems hurt by this, which is an early hint at how isolated Catra is beginning to feel. Catra spends the rest of the season at her highest and lowest. On the one hand she spends most of 12 episodes winning by every standard she has ever claimed to care about, besting Hordak himself in single combat and making herself co-ruler of the Horde and coming within a day’s march of ending the Rebellion. In many ways it is the ultimate empowerment fantasy - the abused young woman has defeated her abusers, showed up everyone who doubted her and forced everyone to respect her. But I think it’s striking that the show starts with her and Adora dreaming of conquering the world together and in Season 4 Catra nearly succeeds in conquering it alone, almost like she was trying to live out her old shared fantasy while proving she didn’t need her former best friend. 

At the same time, Catra is clearly miserable. She’s always been unhappy, but in Season 4 we see her completely isolated and lying to herself and everyone who will listen in a desperate attempt to justify her actions. Turning the tactics of Hordak and Shadow Weaver against them to gain power and then against Scorpia and Entrapta to maintain it haven’t vindicated Catra, they’ve made her more and more alone as Entrapta is exiled and Scorpia drifts away. Meanwhile Catra reaches out to Double Trouble, and her interactions with them reek of a kind of desperate desire to have someone in her life (the feeling of their interaction is of an unhealthy casual relationship where one partner becomes emotionally invested and the other takes advantage of that while denying the other the closeness they desire). As people leave her, one after the other, it becomes clearer and clearer that Catra doesn’t want power at all - she wants connection, friendship, love, and power is a very poor replacement. As I said in my long Catra rant, Season 4 is both her ‘Walter White as a Catgirl’ season and the beginning of her redemption. Everything comes to head when Sparkles destroys everything Catra has tried to achieve, Double Trouble delivers those harsh truths and Horde Prime shows up and makes it all irrelevant, just highlighting how futile all her struggles and sacrifices and crimes have been.

Meanwhile Adora spends Season 4 becoming her own her and her own woman. After telling off Catra, she grows more and more disillusioned with Light Hope and critical of Glimmer (though the latter has more than a shade of her old habit of taking responsibility for others - Adora’s development is not linear). She’s gained the courage and confidence to strike out her own path, not just follow a destiny. At the season’s end she once again breaks with her best friend to do what is right, and discards the destiny that she was being prepared for. But in this case she isn’t chasing one packaged destiny for another, instead she’s making her own choice and literally shattering the thing that she thought gave her life purpose. It’s badass, and heartbreaking, and along with decking Catra and jumping after Catra into the abyss (see below) it’s the perfect Adora moment.

In many ways Season 5 starts with Catra and Adora farther apart than they have ever been. They aren’t even enemies anymore, they’re completely out of each other’s lives. And both Catra and Adora are lost at the beginning of Season 5 - Catra is useless and alone on Prime’s ship, completely defeated despite ostensibly being on the winning side, and she goes through the motions of her normal plotting without any particular conviction and none of her normal flair. Meanwhile Adora is even more miserable and self-destructive than usual, throwing herself at Horde Bots and working herself until she drops of exhaustion. In a very real way they both stay lost until they have a chance to help the other. Catra takes responsibility for what she’s done and what she can do, saves Glimmer (at least partly for Adora’s sake), apologizes to Adora, and sacrifices herself. Adora only seems to come alive when she decides to turn around, face Prime, and save the cat. And when she does, Catra and Adora’s arcs, which had separated so completely in season 4, come crashing back together to end the series.

Adora during Save the Cat is such a contrast with the uncertain, hesitant and self-destructive wreck we’ve seen so far in Season 5. This is possibly her craziest plan in 3 years of mostly cazy plans, but she never wavers or questions herself. Even when Chipped Catra appears and we see Adora’s heart break while we watch, Adora doesn’t back down or relent. She keeps at it even as the tears stream down her face. She fights better trying to save Catra without She-Ra’s powers than she fought at the Battle of Bright Moon with them. Catra’s just about as desperate - we see her cry and plead, and now is probably as good a time to any to point out how amazing a job both VAs did throughout the show, but especially in this episode, and how good a job the board artists did. 

Seeing each other for the first time in a year, and only the second time since Catra blew everything up, Catra and Adora are probably the rawest and least restrained we’ve ever seen them. There’s barely any banter, no bravado, and no pretense that they are anything other than two women who desperately need each other (Prime doesn’t help with ‘You broke my heart’.) Then Catra is flung to her death, Adora jumps after her, breaks both her legs in the fall (we see her crawl to Catra, as though she couldn’t walk) and becomes the real She-Ra. It’s such a triumphant and deeply queer moment seeing a woman transformed into a warrior goddess to protect the woman she loves, and it’s the reason that, as dark as it is, Save the Cat is my Comfort Food episode.

Let’s not sleep on Taking Control, though. This episode is like a microcosm of what this show does best, especially the A plot with Catra and Adora. Catra’s reversion to lashing out at everyone and her refusal to be open to Adora shows just how much of a struggle this whole ‘being good and trying to connect to people’ thing is. Catra’s outburst gives Adora a chance to stand up for herself and refuse to be Catra’s punching bag, while also not trying to control her. Adora’s ultimatum gives Catra a chance to reach out to Adora (quite literally), and allow herself to be vulnerable. In this episode, we see just how far Catra and Adora have come since the messed up stew of their relationship in Season 1. Adora lets Catra be responsible for her own actions; Catra lets herself be vulnerable to Adora and takes responsibility for her actions. They’re both better people and better friends and better partners than they were, and the show has shown this in a strikingly nuanced and realistic way. 

The important thing to note in the next few episodes of Season 5 isn’t just how much closer Catra and Adora get to each other and how much they flirt (So much. So much, y’all) but just how -happy- they are. We see both of them transformed in the other’s presence. Basically, since they’ve parted, both Catra and Adora have been defined in no small part by how miserable they often are. They have both had their triumphs and their lighter moments, but there’s been a sense of melancholy dogging both Catra and Adora since episode 1. And now that they’re together again, that lifts, somewhat. Catra’s verbal barbs have lost their venom, and she can openly show how much she cares for Adora and even Bow and Glimmer. She’s still herself - snarky, cynical, somewhat devious - but she’s not engaged in a self-destructive zero-sum struggle with everyone around her. Meanwhile Adora has spent 4 seasons being a neurotic and sometimes nearly joyless mess who takes responsibility for everything and often doesn’t let herself enjoy anything other than the odd BFS group hug (exceptions include trying to uh...impress Huntara and reveling with the butterfly ladies of Elberron in Flutterina).  Around Catra, though, she’s a cocky, swaggering jock who gives as good as she gets. It’s a side of Adora we’ve only seen hints of before, and one that’s so much more confident and joyful even as the world is ending around her. Apart, Catra had tried to protect and vindicate herself with power and conquest, while Adora had tried to forget herself in duty and sacrifice. Together, they can be themselves again. This dynamic is crucial to the show’s portrayal of Catra and Adora’s romance because it doesn’t just show how much they love each other, but how they’re -good- for each other now that they’ve grown as people, and that they are so much better than they were when they were apart.

Until Shadow Weaver shows up. Their old abuser reintroduces tensions but even then things are different than they were. Now Catra isn’t just resentful of how Shadow Weaver prefers Adora - she’s  protective of Adora, which is clearest in Failsafe when she calls Shadow Weaver out for being willing to sacrifice Adora. And while Adora takes the Failsafe, it isn’t to follow her destiny or because she has a death wish - it’s because she loves her friends, and she is the only one who has any hope of doing this and living (though Catra’s suggestion that Shadow Weaver take it is a good one). And finally, when Catra leaves Adora, it isn’t because she hates Adora, nor, despite what she says, is it because she really thinks that Adora chose Shadow Weaver. At least, not exactly. It’s because Catra loves Adora, and can admit that to herself, and can’t stay around and watch the woman she loves sacrifice herself rather than choosing Catra. Before Catra leaves, she asks Adora ‘What do you want?” It’s a question that echoes Shadow Weaver’s speech in Episode 1: ‘isn’t this what you always wanted since you could want anything?’ As much as Adora has grown as a person, and defined herself and stood up for what she thinks is right, she still has never answered that question - it’s never been ‘what do I want’ but ‘what do I have to do?’ and that’s how Adora answers Catra’s question. This is Adora’s last gasp as a self-transcending hero, letting go of what she wants (not that she ever dared articulate what that was) in order to do what must be done. And it nearly kills her and dooms the universe, because Adora can’t be the hero that she needs to be by being anyone less than herself.

But it’s losing Catra that inspires Adora to tell off Shadow Weaver for good (not that she’d ever really warmed to her after season 1). And it’s love for Adora that inspires Catra to stand up to Shadow Weaver and demand that she do the right thing. In both cases, Catra and Adora aren’t just standing up to their abuser, but holding her to account for the harm she’s caused, and it’s the love that they have for each other that inspires them to do this. In Catra’s case in particular her refusal to let Shadow Weaver weasel out of finding Adora is a much greater triumph over Shadow Weaver than beating her up and breaking her mask in Season 1 - it’s proof not so much to Shadow Weaver but to Catra herself that Catra really is better than this and that she deserves better than this. It’s not turning her abuser’s tactics against her, but truly holding her to a moral standard and demanding that she do the right thing.

And then there’s Catra and Adora together at the heart. Catra has already come back for Adora and stayed to the end, choosing to die with her even if she can’t share a life together (not out of some death wish, but because Adora needs her). And Adora, who’s been avoiding answering the question for three fucking years, finally let’s herself want Catra when Catra finally confesses her love (breaking the last of her self-protective shields) and asks Adora to stay -for her-. And by admitting what she wants, Adora can truly be at peace with herself and be the hero she needs to be, lesbianism saves the universe, The End.

So anyway, that’s how Catra and Adora’s stories are woven together and how they compliment and comment on each other. Narrativiely, Adora and Catra start together, come apart, find something of themselves, and truly find themselves and each other when they are reunited. Thematically, they are critiquing seemingly opposing narrative tropes - empowerment narratives and narratives of self sacrifice. But by showing the flaws in both types of story and showing how neither self-seeking empowerment nor self-negating self sacrifice can actually make us happy, She-Ra asks and answers more profound questions than most prestige dramas for adults do. I’ll get into how the show sells the idea that the power of love can bring us happiness (and save the world) in a future post. But next up, I’m going to celebrate just how much Catra and Adora’s relationship revels in ambiguity, complexity and contradiction and so tells a grown up love story in a kid’s show.

[frenchrebelfries]

Fury’s Daughter

AN: Idk wth I just wrote... I just got this idea so yeah... Happy Reading!

.

You are the adoptive daughter of Nick Fury, when you were 5 he adopt you when your parents died on a plane crash that was cause by Hydra, your parents and Nick were good friends that’s why he took you in.

You were a smart kid, always analyzing things, Fury told everything to you and never lie. To protect your identity Nick made you a new one as you volunteer to be an agent of Hydra to gain information and was branded by the organization. You did dangerous mission and always getting out alive.

You were then sent back to and joined the Avengers initiative but the avengers were suspicious of you as you came out of nowhere, no files, no nothing but a name and Fury’s trust.

No one knew who you are to protect your identity in recon so the avengers treated you coldly but you didn’t care, you didn’t tell it to your father about the situation you are in because you were train to adapt and you did. You were kind to them and all as you and Natasha got closer… like really close. Out of all Natasha Romanoff is the one you have trusted the most.

.

.

You got out from the elevator after a short report you did to Nick about the information you got for the Winter Soldier when you heard the laughing of the team as they sat in the living room with pizza on the table as they talked and laugh at each other.

The laughter halted when they all noticed you and silence came… you knew you were never welcome her but your father trust them so you really had no choice but to put up with it, sensing their discomfort you just gave them a nod greeting them.

“Good evening Avengers” no one answered as you expected and left and went to your room, you heard a light foot steps following you and a hand holding your wrist and seeing a familiar red head you have fallen with for the past few weeks.

“Hey Y/N, I’m sorry about the boys you know how hard headed they are” she sincerely apologized to you as you gave her a soft smile

“it’s ok Natasha, I know they still don’t fully trust me and I understand why, so it’s cool” you replied to her as she looked at you suspiciously searching your face for any lies but you being good at hiding your emotion she immediately gave up when she didn’t find one.

“So… Movie night?” she asked cheekily at you as your brows furrows

“what about the others?” you asked her as she started pulling you towards her room as she shrugged

“they can take care of themselves, come on!”

.

.

One day when you were alone practicing in the gym at 6 am of the morning you accidentally took off your clothes leaving you in your sports bra forgetting that Steve Rogers is always awake at that time and saw your Hydra mark on your chest and thought of you as an enemy and told the team as they planned to eliminate you on the next mission.

To eliminate the Hydra scum.

.

.

“can I get a hand over here?” you heard Clint said in the coms as you took down the last guy from your floor inside a hydra base that you’ve been recon last week

“I’m coming on your way” you answered running to Clint’s direction knowing the base like the palm of your hands as you shot a Hydra soldier who was sneaking behind him

“Thanks” you nodded at him you continue your pursuit taking down agents as you skillfully glide yourself on the battle field.

The battle had stop when Clint finished the last guy as Steve and Natasha immerge from the control room with a case on hand.

They must have gotten the information

“Mission complete, how’s the perimeter Tony?” Captain said on the coms as you get close to Natasha scanning her for any injuries and sighted in relieve when you found none.

“Perimeter is clear as the sky Steve were ready to go home” you smiled at the thought of home… Fury promised you a dinner with Maria and Coulson when you get back since things have been busy these couple of week and you were really excited about it since it’s going to be your first dinner with them again since you got back from recon.

“time for phase 2 then, Romanoff” you frowned at Steve’s word

Phase 2? You never heard about it when at the briefing

You were still in confusion when Steve called Natasha and you felt a searing pain by your side

You wiped your head to your side seeing a knife… a knife you gifted to Natasha lunge by your side.

You looked at her eyes full of betrayal and so as Clint and Steve who was in there with you.

“Phase 2 complete, were leaving, now die you Hydra scum” Steve said voice full of spite hearing a ‘good job’ from Tony and a ‘let’s go’ from Clint as you fall down on your knees looking at their retreating figure leaving you.

The last one you saw was the red headed assassin taking one last look at you as they close the door as your whole body fall down on the cold ground.

You shakily grabbed your phone dialing your father’s number as he answered rather cheerful

“Y/N why are you calling me? Is your mission done?” you heard your dad’s voice making you tear up a bit

“D-dad…”

“get your ass here kid Maria and Coulson just arrived here and im about to finish cooking these turkey”

“c-can I have a rain check on the dinner dad… I kinda messed up…” your voice was now shaking and you are feeling colder than usual the blade may have a poison as you felt a burn and getting light headed faster than normal.

Fury must have sense that there is something wrong by the way your voice sounded

“Y/N what happened? Are you ok?” you can hear his voice full of worry as you heard Maria and Coulson from the background asking what’s wrong.

“I-I think I was the p-phase 2 of S-Steve’s plan dad… it’s really g-getting cold here ya know” blood tricked on the ground from your wound

Your vision darken as flashes of memories filled your eyes.

You can hear the shuffles from the other line saying they are tracking my call and will be sending medical help

“I’m s-scared d-dad… I still d-don’t wanna go” you cried,

“Help is on the way Y/N keep holding on I’m here for you kid” you can hear the shakiness of your father’s voice, you kept trying to keep your eyes open and now seeing dark spots forming.

“T-thanks for everything dad… tell Maria and Coulson I love them…” your voice was barely audible hearing their cried for you to wake up.

“Keep your eyes open for me kid… please”

“I-I think a need a nap… l-love you dad” and you were gone.

They kept calling for you but you never answered back.

.

.

Fury along with Maria and Coulson with a medical team arrived at the base eyes redden because of crying as they found you on the cold ground with your phone by your side and a stab.

Fury cradle you like a baby as the medic announced your death with Maria and Coulson crying by the side.

.

.

“Did you check the monitors?” Fury’s cold voice echoed in a quinjet as your cold body layed beside him with your head on his lap stroking the hair that is covering your face.

“you’re not gonna like it boss…” Maria said with blood shot eyes as she played the video of Steve ordering the Phase 2 and Natasha Romanoff stabbing you as they left you.

“call them up at SHIELD… they would pay for what they did to her” Nick ordered as Coulson took his phone out to call them.

Nick glanced at you as he swiped some blood by your mouth hugging your corpse closer to him.

.

.

.

They avenger’s arrived at SHIELD seeing Fury holding Y/N’s hand as she lay dead on the table with Maria and Coulson by the back holding back their anger.

“what is this Fury?” Steve stepped out in confusion to why they got the body of Y/N

“What is the phase 2 Captain” Nick’s voice was colder than usual

“… to eliminate the Hydra-“ Steve answered as the other’s stayed silent

“and who is the Hydra?”

 “Y/n…”

 Then there’s silence, the team were uncomfortable with the silence but Steve was getting impatient with all of it.

“Look I don’t know what is your point here but you should thank us for killing the mole here Fury”

Fury looked at them as Coulson held Maria who was about to attack Steve as Fury spoke…

   “I see no dead mole here Rogers… all I see is my dead daughter”

  The team’s eyes widen as they froze from there spot

“W-what?” Bruce asked

“Y/N Fury... is my daughter who you called a Hydra scum”

“B-but she had the brand-“

“She had the brand because she was undercover inside Hydra that gave her the mark to extract information for your missions that is saving billions!” Fury angrily shouted making them all flinch.

All of it dawned to them as Natasha fall into her knees realizing she killed a hero… she killed her friend who trusted her… she killed the person who loved her…

“I pulled her out of the recon to keep her safe knowing her all her covers were blown, I put her into your team so she can be protected thinking after all those years of being away we can have a normal dinner like she wanted for years, I trusted my daughter in your hand yet you are the one who killed her…”

Fury stood up tears streaming down on his face

“Avenger Initiative’s termination is effective immediately, all of you would be put in maximum security prison for killing Y/N Fury” Agents entered taking their weapons and cuffing them

 “Nick… I’m sorry” Steve’s voice filled with regret rang out as Fury looked at him coldly throwing a file on the ground in front of him as the content spilled revealing pictures of the Winter Soldier.

 “Y/N wanted to give you this information from the last recon she was put in to, James “Bucky” Barnes is alive and now known as the Winter Soldier who is working for Hydra and has killed thousands”

Steve’s face was full of shock knowing his best friend Bucky is alive…

“Nick-“

“I’m sorry to cap…” Fury cut him off and coldly apologies to Steve who is now confuse to why as everyone in the room looked at them in silence.

 “you took someone dear away from me… and now I’m taking yours, Good Bye Avengers and thank you for your service” before Steve and others could react they were all tranquilized knocking them out cold and only waking up in a glass cell with Ross smirking at them as they sat there in silence thinking the things that they have done for you.

“welcome to your new life Avengers…in prison!” and a loud laugh erupted from Ross as he walked out as ex-heroes gazes followed his exit.

[random-yandere-fandom]

Hey, it’s me again! I’m glad to see that you’re working again😇. I was wondering if I could request Hc’s for Bertholdt Hoover (Attack on Titan) going Yandere over someone during his time in Paradise and joining the scouts together with them? How he would act to them before he revealed that he is a Titan shifter and what he would do after they’re aware of what he is? Thanks💖.

Thank you for the request and I hope you and everyone else enjoys it! Btw. I love your blog so this makes me really happy. 

Yandere Bertholdt Headcanons 

Bertholdt is obsessive and protective

It probably started with you approaching him, he is too shy to do so himself. You two will most likely start as friends and good ones at that, Bertholdt is the definition of a friendly giant or at least it seems like it.

His feelings are kinda obvious before he even realises it. That means he becomes flustered around you and pays a lot of attention to you. He goes out of his way to help and spend time with you, genuinely enjoying your company. 

He still notices pretty early on though and panics. He is well aware of the circumstances, you two are enemies without you even knowing and that scares him. As a result he will desperately try to put distance between the two of you before he notices how lonely he gets without you around. You will likely try to talk to him about it, confused about the sudden change in behaviour. This will make the situation so much worse for him because Bertholdt realises that you care about him and that he cares about you more than he thought, too. He`d make up excuses and it`d be obvious that he is hiding something which upsets you. This makes Bertholdt feel incredibly disappointed in himself and he won`t know what to do so he will console Reiner about the matter. They come to the conclusion that Bertholdt should act like before but get his feelings under control so that you won`t get suspicious.

That might work for a while, but it won`t take all that long before he slips back into his obsession. Only this time he`ll convince himself, Reiner and Annie that he`s only acting. Reiner won`t even notice the obvious lie and Annie doesn`t really care as long as they don`t screw up and can return. Even if those two get into his way after the truth is out Bertholdt will insist on kidnapping you later on and they really won`t have much of a choice.

His obsession and worry for you are at an all time high and he will spend every free second next to you. He knows that the people on Paradis are normal humans but he believes you to be the greatest being alive. He will listen to everything you have to say and memorise it to the best of his abilities, loving it when he mentions something you like and your face brightening up with a genuine smile.

That said, he`d be rather jealous if you show that smile to anyone but him. Bertholdt would go silent, standing by your side and waiting for you to return your attention to him. If it takes too long for his taste he`ll join the conversation and mention some kind of task you two have to do so you can leave.

He will always be there to help you with anything you need, be it simply revising information or sharing his meals with you if he believes you didn`t get enough because of the food shortage.

He will try to push you into joining the Military Police or at least the Garrison even if it means you`ll join different regimes. After putting some more thought into it though he`ll come around real quick, the scouts are the only place where he really can protect you if they need to act quickly and in the long run it isn`t safe behind the walls either way. Bertholdt knows that some day in the future they will have to return and in order to secure your future he will have to take you with him.

When Reiner reveals their identities to Eren his thoughts are running wild in an attempt to plan a way to kidnap you without harming you. Everything happens really fast and he grabs you in his titan form, surprisingly gentle, before falling down the wall to save Reiner. While they escape he has your unconscious form in his arms the entire time and he`s scared of your reaction when you awake.

You wake up together with Ymir and Eren, your gear already removed. Questioning Bertholdt and asking him why he`s doing this will hurt him a lot but he`ll understand that you`re scared and angry. As such he will try to answer you without giving much information, nervous about your further reaction even though he is well aware what it will most likely look like. Bertholdt will assure you that he cares about you deeply and if you haven`t been dating already he might as well confess his love. It isn`t the best situation really, but he`s scared that he might never get to say it otherwise. If you`re already dating he will talk more about his plans to get you to safety but before you can react Eren will take over the conversation, his feelings of betrayal not allowing him to be silent any longer.

From then on out you`ll be knocked unconscious for most of their escape after noticing how close the Survey Corps are getting. Bertholdt is afraid that you`d try to escape so he believes it`s for the best. The times where you are awake he will treat you very carefully and full of understanding because even if you hurt him and try to attack, he knows that it`s not your nor his fault, he blames the world for being such a cruel place.

He knows that life in Marley will be anything but easy but at least he`d be able to protect you somehow with the little influence he has. It`s better than the future that awaits Paradise, so he will do anything to get you there.   

[spunky-89]

All Power (Kol Mikaelson x Female Reader)

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

Word Count: 1.8 k

Warnings: None that I can think of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-----------

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[crispyjenkins]

Can we get a fic where Jaster somehow gets sent to the future or something and him reacting to the clones? (Being pissed off that his ad would do something like this to these poor kids/ just reacting to them?)

(this one was so. fecking. hard. to write, i’ve been struggling with it for weeks, but i’m glad i did, because this is by far the best version i made of it. it’s interesting in how much my opinion of jango’s decision to be the template has changed since i first got this ask, and i was definitely coming at it with this post in mind for their characterisations here.

i love hondo. so you get hondo knowing jaster from pre-civil war days, and i don’t care if canon disagrees: hondo ohnaka has been terroising house mereel for three generations.

also i’ve already had a few people donate to my ko-fi and i’m completely floored by your kindness and generosity, and i sat down with this fill knowing i wanted to get it out as soon as possible. i sincerely love you all, i hope you’re all healthy and being as safe as possible.)

Alt+R to Quick Reblog on Desktop, Hold the Reblog Symbol to Quick Reblog on Mobile

  “Oh, Jango? We keep him here.” —Lama Su, AotC

-

  By some will of the Ka’ra, it’s Boba that finds him.

  The possibility of dying in his ad’s arms hadn’t exactly crossed Jaster’s mind until it happened, like a nightmare he had never even had. For the first time since the Fett farm burned, Jaster cursed the Ka’ra, and he curses them again when he wakes up not marching* to the stars, but standing knee-deep in the snows of Galidraan

  And the Ka’ra make sure he knows it’s Galidraan though he had never been there, just as he somehow knows Jango is long-since dead. That he is a dislocated bone in the universe, snapped out of time and place and thrown into a future where Jango’s face stares at him from a body that is not his.

  “Oh,” the teen with Jango’s nose says, the snow coming all the way up to their thighs, and they don't look dressed nearly warm enough for this biome. “Did Hondo send you?”

  Jaster blinks at them. “Did...? No, ad’ika, I have not spoken to Hondo in many years.” Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised Hondo is even still alive, Maker knows Jaster’s tried to kill him enough times himself, but if the number of years since his death on Korda Six is as many as he thinks it is, surely someone would have shot him by now.

  The teen doesn’t wear beskar’gam —it’s unlikely they’re even old enough to— but the style of the armor they do wear cannot be inspired by anything else, just reminiscent enough of evaar’gam that Jaster can’t help comparing every little detail about them with the faded image of Jango in his mind.

  “Then who the kriff are you?” They eye Jaster warily, left hand twitching towards the vibroblade at their hip.

  Promising to strangle every one of the Ka’ra when he can finally march away, and throwing the last of his caution down to the snow between them, Jaster simply says, “Jaster Mereel.”

  Impossibly, though maybe not entirely, not-Jango doesn’t laugh at him, or call him crazy, or even try to shoot him with the rifle slung over their shoulder. No, they straighten to their full height, and—

  And swear so colorfully in Huttese that Jaster knows this hell-child has absolutely been raised by Hondo Ohnaka.

-

  Boba takes him to the ruins of Kamino first, where the kriffing Sith Empire has destroyed another one of his people’s homes. 

  The growth labs were all blown into the ocean by imperial ilk soon after the formation of the empire, but the barracks and some of the training rooms still stand above the waves. In the ship he says belonged to Jango, Boba steers them to a dilapidated landing pad, controlling the Slave I (Maker, had Jaster really left Jango to that fate?) far too easily through the rubble for this to be his first time to return, and Jaster tries not to think about what that means.

  Walking the dark, grimy white halls, seeing the narrow bunks and bare req rooms, he then tries not to think about a child being raised in such a place, about hundreds of thousands of children being raised in such a place. How had Jango... chosen this for them?

  “I only have his stories,” Boba tells him quietly, when he shows Jaster the tiny apartment the Kaminoans had given them to “keep Jango close”. It’s bigger than most captain’s cabins, to be sure, but it is just as plain and white as the rest of the facility. “But he couldn’t even get one hundred Mandalorians to come and train the... clones.” He shuffles his feet uncomfortably as Jaster looks into the cupboard-sized kitchen and tries not to break down at the package of Mandalorian chiles rotted away on the counter. “Everyone else was New Mandalorian or Death Watch.”

  “And the rest... they fell at the Battle of Galidraan?”

“Buir always called it a massacre,” he looks away. “Only a handful of the Cuy’val Dar even considered themselves True Mandalorians, buir was there when the Jedi killed the rest.”

  Jaster inhales deeply, takes a few moments to steady himself, and is sickeningly, horrifyingly relieved. By the Maker, but knowing Jango had had no one left before his Kamino contract, that not even Skirata followed the codex anymore, that Jango had only taken the job after forcing Tyranus to give him an unaltered clone, makes Jaster guilty for having doubted his foundling. It doesn’t excuse anything, of course, but knowing Jango had done it all for aliit, well, it does make it easier to swallow.

  Boba leads him back out of the apartment, he had already stripped it of anything important years ago, and they don’t stick around after reboarding the Slave I. Only after they’re out of atmosphere with hyperspace coordinates for Tatooine in the astronav system does Boba join Jaster in the tiny galley with a bottle of tihaar that Jaster should probably reprimand him for, but won’t.

  “He tried to pretend he didn’t care, about the others,” Boba says and doesn’t even bother to find them glasses, “I think some days he even believed it.”

  “He always was stubborn as a rancor.”

  Boba takes a long pull from the bottle before passing it across the table. “Tyranus scared the shit out of me back then, he was too... put together, too fancy. Buir didn’t like him, I don’t know why he even did the tryout for him, the pay wasn’t even that great?”

  Rubbing his left eye until he sees stars, Jaster stares down into the bottle until he can come up with a way to explain core Mandalorian beliefs to a child that had barely a decade of living as one before that, too, had been taken from him. “If Jang’ika took that job intending to come out on the other side, I’ll kiss whatever Vizsla is left.”

  Boba’s mouth twists and he kicks his heels against the floor, not waiting for Jaster to hand it to him to grab the tihaar back. “Buir was an idiot,” he says, like the solve to a simple math problem, and Jaster can’t but agree.

  He sighs. “Unfortunately, he probably got that from somewhere.”

  “I mean, at least Montross didn’t live long enough to end up as the template? Kriffing fuck, can you imagine if the Jedi had had to work with that shabuir’s clones?”

  “Maybe the war would have ended sooner,” he muses and accepts the bottle, “surely this Emperor would have tired of his face much sooner than Jango’s.”

  “Or the Coruscant Guard would have shivved Palpatine in his sleep and tried to take over the Republic; what’s one betrayal of your leader to another?”

  “Then I’d like to think Jango would put him, them, in their place for a third time.”

  Snorting, Boba pushes to his feet to, presumably, check on the autopilot. “If buir would have even let it get that far, then I’ll kiss Vizsla.”

-

  “Old friend!” Hondo shouts as soon as he sees them, and Jaster winces, nursing his first hangover since his twenties.

  “Ohnaka,” he returns, and pretends he doesn’t notice the subtle way Boba brightens as Hondo comes to clap them both on the shoulders.

  The old pirate just chuckles and starts to steer them both back across the hangar bay to his latest junk ship. “I heard you died, Mand’alor,” he says casually, like the title isn’t cursed to the ka’ra and back, like it hadn’t been three decades since anyone had dared call someone from his house such a thing so sincerely.

  “I did.”

  “I found him on Galidraan,” Boba offers. “Is that why you told me to go?”

  Hondo scoffs, and Jaster would say he was flustered if he didn’t know him better. “No, I told you to go because Aurra had a job for you, that you seem to have forgotten about in your haste to bring my long lost best friend back to me.”

  Boba scowls. “Aurra wasn’t at the meeting place, laandur, it was a kriffing mynock chase and you know it.”

  Jaster side eyes his old “friend”, and wonders again about his preternatural... luck in all things pirate-related, despite being a boisterous mess of a man most of the time. If this Aurra had even been on the planet when Boba got there, Jaster will kiss Vizsla twice. 

-

Mando’a: Ka'ra — an ancient Mandalorian story, ruling council of fallen kings, “stars” ad — “child”, gender neutral 'ika — diminutive suffix, similar to the suffix “ita/o” in Spanish. generally used only by close family and friends beskar'gam — Armour made of beskar, “Mandalorian Iron” that was actually probably a steel alloy evaar'gam — lit. “youth armour”, fan name for the interim armour/garb Mandalorians would have worn before building their kit of beskar’gam buir — “parent”, gender neutral  Cuy'val Dar — “Those who no longer exist”, group of 75 Mando’ade and 25 others put together by Jango to train the clones aliit — “clan”, “family” tihaar — Mandalorian strong clear spirit made from fruit shabuir —  an extreme insult, mostly accepted in fandom to be an insult of an individual’s ability to parent (from buir), which is an intrinsic part of Mandalorian psyche and identity  laandur — used here as “weak”, “pathetic”, but is usually used as “delicate”, “fragile”

*in reference to the Mando’a word for the dead/deceased “taab'echaaj'la”, or “marched far away”, best explained in the Mando’a tribute to dead comrades, “not gone, merely marching far away”. 

[astaroth1357]

The Demon Brothers (Minus Asmo) at Their Worst  Pt. 1 (Lucifer, Mammon, Levi)

To the anons who gave me this idea, here it is. Unfortunately, I can’t say I’m all that happy to bring it to you, cause yikes this hurt to write. I’m grateful, however, because I believe I’m better for it. You shouldn’t always stay in your comfort zone. I left out Asmodeus for personal reasons. Regardless of my ability, given the nature of this challenge, I don’t feel comfortable with writing nor posting graphic content of sexual violence and chose to refrain from doing so. Please do not ask for this to be written at a later date, I will politely refuse then as I am now.

Check out the Masterlist for more.

Warnings: THEIR SINS HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO AN EXTREME (AND ALL THAT IMPLIES), Abusive/Controlling Relationships, Violence, Threat of Human Trafficking, Drowning, Angst, Regret, Suicidal Thoughts

This is all for the purposes of fantasy and in no way an endorsement for these behaviors in real life. Be nice (and smart) with your lives, my friends.

Intro: Maybe the MC should have known better. It should have sunk in a long time ago that they were in incredibly risky territory... They should have remembered that these men, though they call them friends, family, and perhaps even lovers, are still demons at their heart and core. Each of them are the embodiment of some of the worst behaviors man has to offer... MC, there are some people you just shouldn’t date, even if they love you, and now you suffer the consequences...

Lucifer

It’s not difficult to see how Pride can go awry. Self-confidence and dignity are wonderful things, but let them build up unchecked and all manner of petty, vindictive behavior can surface from within a person... 

Lucifer is far from immune to these flare ups. In fact, he falls victim to them so often that they may as well be ingrained in his personality. If you do anything that mocks or belittles him, even if it’s small, you’ll get a reaction. One that’s usually more severe than offense calls for...

The MC knew this going into a relationship with him. Supposedly, they knew all the no-go zones, too. Don’t make fun of him or Diavolo, don’t mention the Fall or his back, don’t call him a nag... That sort of thing.

What they hadn’t expected was the full brunt of the expectations suddenly leveled on them.

To say Lucifer was demanding would be an understatement. Everything about him had to be poised, powerful, collected, and perfect. Whether he realized it or not, these expectations bled into their relationship as well.

It started with him nitpicking little details... The way they stood, how they styled their hair, maybe a comment or two on what they ate. But it progressively got worse...

Suddenly he found problems with the way they dressed, what they listened to, what shows they watched, even how they greeted him in the mornings!

Before too long, nothing was right to him… Nothing was good enough. They were his other half, his biggest vulnerability, and in order for him to feel secure about that they had to be perfect… However Lucifer defined it.

They listened to him at first. Though his comments stung, he could be so loving too… He truly made them feel special. Like he wouldn’t be trying so hard if it were anyone but them...

But pretty words and kind actions could only go so far. They couldn’t completely erase the vitriol being tossed at them day after day… 

Slowly, with every little change, they could feel themselves start to dwindle… The choices they made felt foreign, the lifestyle they held became draining, and then one day they realized they didn’t even look right anymore… They were no longer the person they wanted to be. 

Lucifer was doing what he set out to do: train them, break them, then mold them into something new... So they could be perfect...

Just like him.

One day, however, they just couldn’t take being the person he wanted anymore...

He found them in their bedroom just before a party that Diavolo had been planning for weeks. Their hair wasn’t fixed and their clothes were a mess. His frustration nearly skyrocketed until he saw their face, vacant and broken, staring blankly straight ahead…

He couldn’t rouse them. They wouldn’t move no matter how much he shouted, threatened, or swore...

….they didn’t even budge when he begged…

His brothers eventually noticed something amiss and took them away. Their disgust with him was fairly evident… They probably would have tried something had he not been the strongest.

He had taken something wonderful and squashed it... Hurt someone he truly loved and ruined what they could have had to protect his damn ego…

Lilith, his brothers, and Satan especially… was everyone he tried to care for just bound to end up broken too…?

The MC’s recovery was slow. They had a lot of damage to repair and a whole new identity to build. He stayed out of it as much as he could, burying himself in work and seeing his brothers less and less...

He’d done enough damage to them anyway...

Mammon

The Greedy, Scummy Second-Born… Words to etch on his tombstone. Mammon had heard it all before from all angles: the demons above him, below him, hell even a passersby on the street would know his face and his laundry list of a rap sheet...

The one person who seemed to look past all that was MC.

He truly didn’t know what sort of karma he’d gained or luck he scored to have them in his life. They didn’t just see him at his best side, they made him want to fix his worst...

But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it?

The sad truth is Mammon is a gambler at heart. Oh he loves the money, the riches, fine things, and the bling but what else does he enjoy? The rush.

There’s nothing like that feeling of triumphant when the dice falls your way or the pure exhilaration of a close bet. When all cards are on the table and everything’s stacked against you, eking out that win can cause a head-rush better than any orgasm he’s ever had... The higher the stakes? The better the high.

But maybe he went a little too far…

It’s one thing to bet Grimm, he can make more of that in a night. It’s another to bet items, harder to replace but not impossible. People…? Well. If you want high stakes…

MC was actually with him that night when he made the “great” decision to bet his most valuable treasure on poker match. He was running out of Grimm and thought that the added risk would make him play better…

He thought wrong.

MC hadn’t been at the table at the time he made the deal, but they had come back just in time to see him get his ass handed to him. He lost. Spectacularly.

When the other demons there came over to encircle MC, it already felt like his world was crumbling down around him... The look of confusion, then hurt and betrayal in their eyes forever seared themselves into his memory.

“You bet me in a poker game?!”

It sounds almost comical, but he knew what the demons were planning to do to them wasn't. And just seeing the way his human’s wrist snapped when one of the men wrenched their arm from them confirmed it.

He wouldn’t let them get away with that. When the threats escalated to violence, he took his share of punches but in the end he was left standing.

The MC was furious. He had just whittled their entire existence down to a bargaining chip and one that he tossed away carelessly…

Yeah, he’s truly a scumbag, isn’t he?

They didn’t talk to him for quite a while, despite him begging for forgiveness. There was always a part of him that wondered why he even bothered… He had done it before, and in another gambling-induced high he would probably do it again…

They’d honestly be better off without him...

Leviathan

It’s, frankly, quite difficult to be the Avatar of Envy. Every day Levi feels uncomfortable in his own skin… Like he doesn’t measure up to this or that or like he’s not worthy of being in the meager position afforded to him. He preferred to hide himself away and try not to dwell on it… but then MC came along…

For once, he felt like he had something. Something truly special. Something one of a kind and like no other… He couldn’t point to any of his brothers and say that they had something better, hell, he couldn’t even point to Diavolo and say that he had a finer version.

No. He had them. The one, the only, MC. Better than all the rest. His only great accomplishment in his miserable, pathetic life...

… so why did they keep leaving him…?

It didn’t hurt that badly at first when they’d tell him they couldn’t go watch some new anime with him because they had other plans. Sometimes they’d go off shopping with Mammon or have lunch with Beel… That was fine. Understandable.

At least that’s what he’d tell himself.

After a while though, he started to feel lonely… rejected… Was he not good enough for them? Surely that had to be it, right?? A miserable shut-in otaku with someone like them? What a joke!

Any time he’d voice his insecurities, they’d always say the same things: “No, don’t be silly!” “I really do want to be with you.” “I love you, Levi. Don’t you believe me?”

No. He didn’t. With each passing hour spent away from him, time where he would get shafted for one of his brothers instead, he believed them less and less…

Soon all he heard was lies…

Something possessed him that day. MC had just missed their third live stream in a row in order to be with his brothers instead. Which one was it? It didn’t really matter. He felt the stinging pain of isolation all the same…

When the MC walked into his room they had no way of knowing that the festering hatred and inadequacy that had been stewing in him for months was about to spill over. His anger was so quick to spark and their human body too weak to resist...

It was only once he realized how long he had their head forced under the water of his aquarium that he finally let them up for air.

He was stepping over himself to apologize, stammering incoherently through his tears how he just lost control and didn’t know what came over him!

His brothers weren’t forgiving. Not in the slightest. Each of them seemed to want to beat him within an inch of his life and he didn’t blame them… If he could get away with it, he’d march himself into the sea and let it serve as his rightful prison…

His punishments were severe, but not unending, and soon he was back in his room again. Now he never leaves it and the MC is never allowed back in, even if they want to be.

He now, truly, doesn’t deserve them at all...

Link to Part Two: Satan, Beel, Belphie

[medusinestories]

Onwards to the episode in which we get to see Flint and Silver each having a very bad day (as well as two literal dicks that nobody had asked to see).

Black Sails VII (s1 ep07)

- We open on Pastor Lambrick's sweaty face as he intensely rehearses the Easter sermon and he’s obviously eaten up by what he did with Miranda. His sermon, unsurprisingly, focuses on sin, keeping sin hidden, and the hell that awaits the sinner. Which leads us nicely onto Flint, who’s distracted (by his own sin? by thoughts of Miranda? both?) during a meeting with Eleanor. Eleanor is pissed that Miranda let Richard Guthrie send a message to the Andromache and then waltz into town to close up his business; Flint tries to take the heat off Miranda, once again protecting her (at this point, he may not know the contents of the letter).

- During this meeting, Flint is startled when Silver first speaks up to say that the mob in the street was bad - clearly Silver is a sort of intruder in this meeting. But Eleanor, after Silver reminds her by unsubtly clearing his throat, tells Flint that he’s not to harm Silver because he was instrumental in setting up the Consortium. Silver looks so pleased with himself in these scenes, and Flint quite defeated when he tells Silver to follow him back to their camp. I love it.

- To parallel Flint/Miranda’s Sulky Sex scene from ep4, we have Anne/Rackham’s frustrating/disconnected sex scene. It shows us a few things about them mainly that Anne wants to keep a lot of control over what happens, hence Rackham being tied up (though of course this might also be his kink), her wearing a shirt that covers up most of her body, and the reverse cowgirl position that means that she’s both in control of what happens and completely avoids eye contact. The position reminds us of the Flint/Miranda scene, where Miranda was also on top, but their scene involved more eye contact (yes glaring counts, he’s still intensely focused on Miranda), gentle touching (on Miranda’s side) and her being naked and open to him. Another parallel is that both Flint and Rackham aren’t in the right frame of mind for sex, Flint being angry and Rackham lost in a sea of worries (and probably also somewhat angry/disappointed at Anne for forcing him into the plot to kill their crewmates). The difference between Flint and Rackham is that while Flint doesn’t seem to have any trouble performing, Rackham is miles away and doesn’t even notice that he’s lost his erection - again. Anne is frustrated by this, and apparently knows him well enough that she offers to put something up his arse, but he’s clearly not in the mood, and she leaves in a huff, abandoning him all tied up as a sort of revenge for his performance problems. Whatever the problem is between them isn’t put into words (because Anne can’t yet, for starters), unlike the one between Flint and Miranda. The intimacy between Rackham and Anne, so often described as close partners, seems much more distant to me than the one shown between Flint and Miranda. I’m not sure whether it’s because of anyone’s sexual orientation, or just the fact that they’re fucking but they’ve never discussed the big important things, such as Anne’s identity/feelings/etc.

- In this episode, Dufresne gains a lot of power: with a freshly (and badly) shaved head and a new tattoo, he’s been promoted to Quartermaster on the Walrus in Billy’s place. And very quickly he has a problem to deal with: Randall revealing that Silver stole the page. Gates had actually already told this to Dufresne, as is revealed at the end of the episode, which might explain why Dufresne is relatively calm during the whole conversation, while DeGroot wants Silver and Flint hanged and Howell is surprisingly ruthless: he brings up the idea that it may be better to kill off Randall in order to get to the treasure, if they can’t make sure he’ll keep quiet about Silver being the thief. Dufresne is actually quite kind towards Silver in the scene where he puts Silver’s memory to the test - a test that could result in his death if he fails it and that Silver constantly grumbles against (I love his grumbling!). Basically, at this point Dufresne remains quite a sympathetic character, which will change a lot as the show goes on, especially after Jannes Eiselen had to leave the show (such a sad story, RIP Jannes).

- In the meantime, the Flint and Gates relationship is crumbling. It's sad to see, especially since they're shown sharing chuckles as they talk about Dufresne's appointment in the beginning of the episode. But then Gates brings up the subject of Miranda and demands explanations about the letter Billy found. We're not shown exactly what Flint answers, but it's clear that he's actually trying his best to give him an explanation without incriminating Miranda too badly. The sad thing is that Flint is actually telling the truth: he actually wasn't involved in any betrayal of his crew and and can only guess at Miranda's motivations. But the fact that he's lied time and again in previous situations, including on the Maria Aleyne where he claimed Lord Alfred drew a weapon on him (and Gates secretly verified that this was a lie), and used men as pawns to advance his and Miranda's plans, is now catching up to him. Flint seems truly hurt when Gates accuses him of using the men for his own purposes, and turns spiteful, telling Gates that he should have been "a better father" to Billy and helped him "understand the world he was living in" (suggesting that such a forthright character as Billy can't really survive in a world of pirates who are all ready to stab each other in the back). After that slap in the face, Gates says he's exhausted from Flint and threatens to take it to the crew. Somehow, this pushes Flint to bare all: he tells Gates about his plan to keep a part of the treasure and use it to build up Nassau, depicting himself as a sort of saviour, doing it for the men's good: they'd rather be rich men in a safe place than dead thieves hanging from a noose. Gates sees this as delusions of grandeur, and tells him that while he'll see the Urca plot through, after that they're done. I actually think he sees Flint’s point, since he doesn’t just throw him to the crew, but won’t admit that out loud. The whole of this scene hurts bad, because you can tell that Flint is desperate and sad to be losing his closest ally and friend, and that Gates is hurting from the loss of Billy and exhausted from the toxic relationship he has with Flint, where he's played enabler to his manipulations for years.

- While Flint and Gates’ alliance is breaking, Silver has to forge one with Randall or die. Randall finds out in the beginning of the episode that he’s been voted out of the crew. This is apparently due to DeGroot’s fears that Randall could be a fire hazard, which the crew took disproportionately to heart. Randall is furious with Silver, who smugly tells him that in these situations, a setback often comes with a new or unexpected opportunity. He’s right, but at this point he doesn’t know that he is the opportunity Randall’s going to latch on. Randall reveals that Silver is a thief, and Silver denies it, saying that Randall is both a halfwit and was in a haze of opium when he heard what he thought he heard; he even tries to convince Randall that he was mistaken (this, my friends, is gaslighting). However, by revealing that Silver was the thief, Randall sets a chain of events into motion which could either end with his death (if Howell has his way, since Randall is an inconvenient witness) or Silver’s (if DeGroot tips the balance, not trusting Silver to remember the coordinates and not wanting to sacrifice Randall for nothing). Silver figures out that these are the outcomes, and tries to talk sense into Randall by making a deal with him: he’ll care for Randall and make sure he can stay on the ship. But it’s only when Silver finally admits that he is the thief and that Randall was right, that Randall accepts the deal. Later, Silver realises that Randall might have orchestrated the whole thing: he’s now got Silver to serve him, doesn’t have to take any risks on the ship, and gets to remain with the crew. Silver wonders if Randall is a genius rather than a halfwit (a word thrown about a lot to describe him). And it seems quite obvious, considering what happened, that Randall still has strong survival skills (an amputee with impaired cognitive skills doesn’t stand a chance of survival outside a crew and he must be aware of it), that he still has a good memory and an ability to pick out useful information and that he’s aware enough of what’s going on to be upset by the crew’s rejection and Silver’s attempt to gaslight him. I think it’s important to recognise that Randall is more than a comic relief or a grotesque character: he’s a disabled man who's lost parts of his cognitive ability and is struggling to survive.

- This episode focuses on Vane facing his past. He seeks out the island where he grew up and its master, Albinus. I’d forgotten or never really registered that Albinus was a pirate and that the men who work for him were mostly his crew - and likely slaves (or children, hence Vane?) that he managed to capture/press into service. He’s retired from pirating and set up a system where his men cut down trees for timber all day, without wages. It’s not clear exactly how he holds so much power over these men, although it seems that everyone is terrified of him. He’s extremely strong physically, seems shrewd, speaks rather well, and his tattoos suggest that maybe he’s involved in some kind of ritual (truly religious or just for show?) which would make him all the more scary to superstitious people. Vane is clearly still frightened: he barely makes eye contact and practically stutters when he first tries to make the deal with Albinus, which is that he’ll take some of Albinus’ men as crew and send Albinus part of their earnings as tribute. It says a lot about Albinus that Vane, after years of having run away, is still so scares that he’s willing to pay him a tribute. But he changes his mind as he stares at a boy bearing the same brand as he does: he tries to persuade the men that Nassau is a pace of pleasures rather than hard labour, and confronts Albinus. The fight is brutal and ends with Vane buried naked, just after Albinus tells him that he’s proud of him. But of course Vane wouldn’t be Vane if he didn’t rise from the dead at the last minute and kill Albinus, goaded on by his inner Eleanor voice.

- In the meantime, Mr Scott returns to Eleanor, apologising for what he did, telling her he betrayed her out of love. However he also reminds her of his slave status: technically, he belongs to her. The argument upsets her, and he quite cleverly uses this moment to ask her to free the slaves who were on the Andromache. And it works: by the end of the episode, she’s made arrangements for the men to work on ships and has bought the women’s freedom and found them jobs in her tavern. But Mr Scott has still decided to leave Eleanor to join Hornigold’s crew, to refrain from meddling with Eleanor’s affairs, since he disagrees with her so strongly re: the Urca. Hornigold approached him earlier in the episode, and the introduction to that scene is quite interesting: Hornigold says to Mr Scott “I’ll need to know your secret” and Mr Scott looks startled and frightened. It seems that he’s startled because he’d been giving food to the slaves, but in light of S3, it could be a much greater secret that’s being referred to. Mr Scott is relieved when he realises that Hornigold is simply talking about tolerating Eleanor, who he clearly can’t stand.

- Flint’s bad day continues, of course, with the big confrontation he has with Miranda. He’s furious about the letter (of which he now knows the contents thanks to Gates), telling her that it could have got him killed, or destroyed the plans they’d made and asking her whether she was trying to embarrass him. This sounds so weirdly petty, and yet it also sounds exactly like the kind of argument that would come up in a bickering couple. Miranda answers that she was trying to help him out of that life, because she wants to move on. This is where Miranda utters the famous “there is no life here, there is no joy here, there is no love here”. I noticed that, covered by Flint yelling at her, and distorted because her voice has gone very shrill, Miranda says another line, which sounds like “you used to love, then”. If that really is what she says, it’s extra-extra-extra heartbreaking to hear (if someone wants to check it for me, it’s around 35:40). It’s obvious that Flint and Miranda’s views on life are very different, and I can’t help but think back to the fact that, as a carpenter’s son from the country, Flint has had to struggle all his life to become who he is. So when he says that you can’t get a life without having a war, and Miranda tells him he’s wrong, she’s speaking entirely from the point of view of her privilege. She’s never needed to fight as hard as he has to be happy, because she got extremely lucky in marrying Thomas. And when she says that Thomas would agree with her, I’m certain she’s right. But life has never been like that for Flint, and there’s no way he’ll ever entirely agree with their point of view. Rewatching this scene is tough, btw, because they both have great points, they’re both hurting so much, and there’s so much to take in between the body language, the facial expressions, the tones of voice and the actual words that it’s a whole whirlwind. And it feels very, very real.

- It’s absolutely hilarious to see Rackham get robbed by the whores taking advantage of his lack of knowledge (and research). He should absolutely have done a better job and has no clue how to run a brothel. He’s lucky Max takes things in hand after having heard from Idelle that the girls were taking advantage.

- Then we have the beautiful Drunk Flint scene. Eleanor notices him feeling very sorry for himself after Gates has pretty much broken up with him and he’s still reeling from fighting with by Miranda. I think Flint feels very misunderstood here. He thought that he was doing something good, to save Nassau and avenge Thomas, and doesn’t understand why they can’t see it, why they only see the terrible methods he uses to reach his goals. So he’s full of doubt, clearly wondering if he’s the villain of the story, and puts the question to Eleanor: is their plan worth it? Eleanor is the only person who still believes in him, which leads us to the only scene that I would ever call straight-baiting. Flint hovers near Eleanor, breathing heavily, and a variety of emotions play over her face during this moment of tension, as she seems to think this is leading to a kiss. It does, he gives her a chaste little forehead kiss and leaves. All the elements are in place to make your average viewer start shipping these two. I actually find it hilarious that the ship barely exists in the fandom (though I wasn’t there in the beginning of the fandom and I guess the viewership changed a lot between S1 and S4).

- The scene with Flint and Gates glaring at each other from their respective ships and Parson’s Farewell playing in the background... epic! We know this is the beginning of a big struggle between them, especially since we find out that Gates has pretty much decided that he’ll hand Flint over to the crew once they get the money. But nnnnggh that scene! The ships leaving on their hunt! Awesome and heartbreaking!

[secret-rendezvous1d]

“don’t leave me”

hello, hi!

i definitely don’t think this is a one-off thing anymore and this blog may be on the way to merging into a harry styles + matthew gray gubler blog so i’d like to think that that is a new exciting venture people will . i’m really enjoying writing about a new scene, a new character and a new life to plan out and write about. the stories don’t essentially follow each other so they can be read anyhow and in any way but i’d like to think they all follow the same storyline/timeline so they link in that way.

like, reblog and give me some feedback. it’s greatly appreciated and it helps me work out what you want to see and what you are after.

thank you. enjoy.

-

“don’t leave me” spencer reid x female reader (reader insert imagine) word count; 2.1k.

* if you haven’t watched criminal minds then this does contain some spoilers to the show that you may want to dodge if you are thinking of starting the series up. *

summary; spencer struggles to come to terms with emily’s return and the betrayal of his friends.

-

“Spencer, look, we’ve got to talk about this.”

YN came to a stop with what she was doing when she saw her boyfriend and JJ starting a conversation in the station’s negotiation room, setting down the files she was sifting through so she could pay a little more attention to the conversation happening just a few feet away from the desk she was seated at, eyes still focused on the page with the bold name of a potential unsub printed at the top, accompanied by a picture of what they looked like. She tried to, at least, make herself seem busy without showing herself being nosey over a conversation that didn’t necessarily include her.

“What do you mean, talk about it?” Spencer questioned, looking at her in disbelief, “talk about what?”

YN hated how passive-aggressive he’d been, over the last two days, towards the two women who used to be considered a few of the only women close to him. He was never like that and, given what had happened, she understood his pain and his upset… she just hated how he wanted to push it, and them, away so he could carry on like an unexpected change hadn’t just sprung into his life.

“I get it, okay? You’re disappointed with the way we handled Emily,” JJ stated, hands on her hips as she stood around the opposite side of the table, watching intently at Spencer as he stood looking at the paper in his hands, eyes darting from the print to his scrawny handwriting on the board beside him, “I get that.”

The tension amongst the team was unbearable, to say the least.

As soon as Emily had entered the roundtable room a week prior to their case in Oklahoma, much to the surprise of everyone occupying the room who had stood waiting for the next plan of action to take down Ian Doyle and find his son, there was a sudden wave of uncertainty that seemed swallow the team whole and didn’t have plans on spitting them back out again anytime soon. No one could pick apart the emotions on one person’s face and state clearly how they were feeling. Confusion, shock, anger, happiness, joy, surprise… there were flecks of each emotion but never one clear facial expression that gave away how someone was truly feeling.

Now they were deep in Oklahoma, on a case and trying to find an unsub who had come to light in the recent murders of two young women prior to their touchdown, with Emily back in her regular place and trying her best to get back to normal as a BAU agent for the FBI. No longer under protection of the higher authority, no longer hiding behind an alias that took her identity away and stripped her of who she once was and she was finally able to go back to the Emily Prentiss whom she had been loved by many before life did a one-eighty flip. Almost as if nothing had changed, like the seven months she spent in witness protection hadn’t ever happened, like her death and her funeral and her burial were a fever dream that seemed to never leave the rest of them alone.

For most of the unit, having her back was something so wonderful and so great, to see her jumping back into a case with a mindset ready for justice and helping out with the mind she was graced with having, to have the same pair of eyes that were used to seeing case after case of young victims and unstable unsubs be considered a fresh pair of eyes now she was back. To work a case with someone you were comfortable with, that was what the most of them loved; the witty banter shared, the anger that bounced off from each sentence, the kind and caring charisma to get the best result of a case.  

But for some, it was difficult to adjust to something they had only just overcome.The grief they felt towards the situation of losing a beloved member of the unit, someone so loving and kind, a huge part of their team, it was unbearable and tore them down soon after they presumed they laid her to rest. Going back, visiting her burial site, resting flowers and almost keeping her updated with how everyone had been. They refused to believe she was gone yet denied her when she was found out to be healthy and alive and ready to start back where she left off.

“Well, I have a lot going on, alright?”

A lie, to say the least, but she wasn’t to know that.

“You know what I think it is?”

That caught his attention. And YN’s.

The one question that many profilers, specifically Spencer, hated to be personally asked was that question. They didn’t need to know what others thought when they could have the same thought pattern as each other, they didn’t need someone else telling them what they think they should be thinking and Spencer didn’t need a pity chat from someone who wronged him to find out what he was thinking.

Deep down, YN knew what the problem was and she was handling the situation as best as she could when she was alone with him in their hotel room, but she didn’t think it was as clear cut as people assumed. So how had JJ worked it out? If she was correct in what she thought was wrong with him, that is. He was hurt and he was upset and he was confused; he showed his grief towards missing a friend and he showed how much they meant to him by showing so much emotion yet he just couldn’t come to terms with how none of that was needed anymore. How he didn’t need to build his walls any higher because there wasn’t going to be any more heartache to deal with..

“What?”

“You’re mad that Hotch and I controlled our micro-expressions at the hospital and you weren’t able to detect our deception,” JJ suggested, a little more vigour in her voice as she spoke to him, frustration dripping from her words because she was desperate to get through to him. Absolutely desperate to find some way to resolve an issue that others had forgiven almost instantly, “you’re mad because you couldn’t catch us out on our lies.”

“You think this is about my profiling skills?” He scoffed and shook his head, looking back to the paper in his hands, ”Jennifer, listen, the only reason you were able to manage my perceptions was because I trusted you. I came to your house for ten weeks in a row, crying over losing a friend, and not once did you have the decency to tell me the truth,” he continued, disappointment laced through his words. And he so badly wanted to look up and catch the eyes of his girlfriend, the only one he felt truly supported him and his decision to act out, but he knew he needed to fight a battle of his own. Especially one that he caused but especially one that he was actively dragging out.

“I couldn’t.”

“You couldn’t? Or you wouldn’t?”

It was the first time they made eye contact through the debacle. And, in that moment, JJ could see the pain behind his eyes. The deceit he felt. The grief that was nonsense because they were grieving over no one. The time wasted crying. The time wasted over nothing but false information and lies. She could see he looked vulnerable and naive and she felt guilty for even bringing her back to help on the mission they so direly needed her help with.

“No, I couldn’t.”

“What if I started taking Dilaudid again? Would you have let me?” YN’s eyes shot up at the question he bit towards his colleague; he never considered that, she was sure of it. YN would have known if he did. That time of his life was something she wished he would let go of, something she wished he forgot about so he could carry on with his life, something she wished he never considered again, “I thought about it.”  

YN couldn’t only feel her heart ache but she could feel the eyes of Hotch and Morgan resting upon her figure as she tried to occupy herself.

“You didn’t-”

“I did,” he hissed, placing the paper down on the desk below him and striding towards the doors, passed JJ as she pressed an apology upon him, hoping to get him to stay behind so she could hash it out until he fully understood their reasoning why they chose the plan that they did, “I did.”

“Spencer, I’m sorry-”

“It’s too late, alright?” He mumbled.

His legs took him out of the room and down from the floor they were situated on, ignoring the calls from Hotch as he stood with his arms folded in the corner of the room, everyone watching him as he left to go outside so he could catch a breath of fresh air and clear his mind of all the things rattling around inside his head. An alarming look from Morgan and a squeeze to her shoulder had YN up from her seat, case files left behind as she followed her boyfriend out of the station’s vicinity, catching him on a bench just a short walk away from the entrance of the building.

“If you’re coming here to tell me I need to focus on work rather than what’s happening then don’t, Morgan. I’m not-”

“What on earth gives you the impression I’m the big dude with muscles and a charming voice?” YN teased, his upper body twisting so he could catch the sweet stature of his smiling girlfriend, the slightest hint of a smile twitching his lips before he turned back to face forward. Hands clasped together and resting on his legs, thumbs tapping and rubbing at his skin in circles, feeling the presence of his girlfriend behind him, “mind telling me what that was all about?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He slipped to the other side of the bench so there was enough room for YN to sit down beside him, her hand reaching over to lace her fingers through his, squeezing his hand tightly as their conjoined palms rested upon his thigh, “I’m hurt and I’m angry, YN. I’m so angry. You saw how much I cried, how much I struggled, how much everyone had to adjust to life without Emily when she ‘died’. Yet they knew, they knew she was alive and they knew she was healthy and okay. They didn’t tell us and that’s- it’s sick,” he grappled, his voice full of passion; there was no way he was angry with them anymore and there was no way he would continue the trait up until someone said something to bring him back down to earth. He was glad she was home - he told her so many times in the last few days about just how great it was to have her home - but he never failed to drift back to the subject of how they dealt with the situation.

“They did it for her protection, Spence. They saved her and, essentially, saved us for truly having to say goodbye to her,” YN admitted, bringing their hands to her mouth so she could press a tacky kiss to the back of his hand, leaving a pink lipstick stain behind in her wake, “she’s safe now because of what they did. Doyle, he’s dead. Anyone who was after, they’re dead. She’s safer now than she was ever.”

“But they watched us grieve at a funeral. We buried something in that ground and were made to believe it was her,” Spencer sighed shakily, “they cried for her, too. They grieved. They said nothing was the same anymore. When they knew the truth all along. I cried with JJ, she helped me when you were working, she was denying it all but, in her head, she knew everything was a lie.”

“Emily left for a reason. To save everyone. She’s back now and you’ve got to remember how everything was before she left us,” YN’s hand gave his a gentle squeeze before she let go, bringing her hands to her lap and waiting for him to look up from the ground so she could see his eyes and so she could see his bright smile, “Spence, she’s not going anywhere.”

He nodded slowly and hesitantly lifted his head, his eyes a little raw around the rims and his lip a little chewed at, but the light in his face was still there. His body scooting closer to YN, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side for a little bit of romance before they were caught and checked on by another agent.

“You won’t leave me like that, will you?” He wondered, “don’t, okay? Don’t leave me.”

“If I’m going anywhere, you’re coming with me, mister,” YN grinned, leaning up to press a kiss to his pink lips, “we do it together or we don’t do it at all.”

[maccreadysimp]

breaking down this anti-ian article bc it bothers me ( from the child of a bipolar mother and a male teen with same sex attraction ) while also providing valid reasons ian sucks ( from someone who likes ian )

ive had this drafted for a while so i dont think i cover anything from season 11

tw for i^cest and r^pe

he was with a married man

in this point it points out that he was with kash and he continued his relationship with kash even after linda put cameras in the store

“Ian didn't seem to care about how wrong his affair with Kash was or how much it could hurt Kash's wife Linda, whom he saw at the store regularly. “

that is a quote from that part.

ian gallagher was fifteen in season one, kash was an older man who bought him gifts and payed attention to ian ,, that was not on ian , none of that was ian fault because he was a child

ian wasnt open with lip

“ Ian didn't tell Lip about his preferences and forced Lip to figure it out on his own. Lip was instantly accepting of his brother's truth and even offered to help him figure out any confusion he might be harboring, so it's really strange that Ian wasn't just upfront with his closest confidant from the start.”

no , lip wasnt forced to figure it out on his own and he also wasn’t instantly accepting.

in this point it mentions that ‘they’re extremely close ( bestfriends and brothers ) so its strange ian didnt tell him’

like point 1 , ian is a fifteen year old boy, growing up on the southside , and thoughout the show it has mentioned multiple times that the southside isnt that accepting

back to lip -- lip wasnt accepting, sure he was fine but ‘helping your younger brother figure it out’ by having a (female) classmate give him a blowjob isnt helping

he secretly dated his best friends brother

“Most friends have an unspoken rule about not dating each other's siblings, but Ian broke this rule by secretly entering into a relationship with Mandy's closeted brother Mickey.”

the only thing i have to say about this is , he was still with kash and mickey was a boy in his age group who was gay , growing up in the southside ian probably thought he was the token gay so of course hes going to chase after mickey

he stood by as kash attacked mickey

“Ian didn't do anything to stop Kash from shooting his new lover, and didn't even tell the police about his boss' over-the-top display of jealous action so proper justice could be served.”

okay. because two men he had fallen for had gotten into a fight, there was a gun involved and he panicked, in the end after mickey got shot he went to him

now to address the quote, he didnt say anything to the police because he probably knew that that would bring shame onto kash and his family, along with mickey and his family who are very homophobic

oh yeah and it was like 2011 and cops suck and THEY LIVE ON THE SOUTHSIDE

he and lip tried framing terry milkovich

oh the homophobic and racist dad of his boyfriend and bestfriend who tried to kill him and r*ped his daughter ?

yeah , shit man , that was real bad they shouldn’t have done that /s

he dated jimmy-steves married father

“Ian didn't bother telling Jimmy the truth about his father and didn't end his relationship with Lloyd upon finding out that he had a secret wife and family, either.”

at this point ian is probably sixteen but that doesnt matter bc i wont even address that

he met him at a club and then used his relationship with ned to make mickey jealous which was one of the reasons he kept seeing him, he didnt tell jimmy-steve about the relationship or his father bc he shouldnt find out from him he should find out from his father , again like kash, ned was an older man who payed attention to ian and ned later did develop feelings feelings for ian

he stole lips identity to enlist in the army

he enlisted because he didnt know what to do with himself, its implied/stated that the army timeline was the start of his bipolar

“While impersonating Lip, Ian had tried to steal a helicopter and then proceeded to go AWOL.”

this is because of the bipolar he suffers from, it is referenced later in the series after he gets back and hes manic

ian refused to accept being bipolar

of course he didnt accept it, it is made very clear that his family thinks lowly of monica so of course if hes the lucky duck to get what his siblings demonize her for, of course he’ll not want to be it

“He refused to take medications that could alter his personality or mood.”

okay. this is why im making this whole post, this goes along with part 15 ( or so idk ) ,,

my mother , my dear mother, who is bipolar and doesnt take her meds because they are mood altering , my mom doesnt take med because she told me once that they make her feel like shit, she told me that a little after i was born she started taking them but realized she felt nothing, she felt nothing for my dad or for i ( making her numb )

she told me anti deppresents dont help either because when shes on them and manic it pushes her past productive and into angry

my dad told me that when my mom was on bi polar medication she would seem angry most of the time

he wasnt faitful to mickey

“Ian's bipolar disorder made him very reckless and impulsive and led him to be unfaithful.”

lets break that down.

ians. bipolar. disorder.

this plot point i actually didnt like, mainly bc ian never addresses it so ill give the article a point. but then i take away 2 because they have more of a problem with his bipolar messing with him rather than the fact he never apologized and they never worked it out

ian stole yevgeny

before i start quoting i should mention because his boyfriend, who has supported and helped him is suddenly telling him he needs help, he was helping raise yev so he’ll see yev as his own

“Ian failed to recognize just how crazy he was acting...”

cuting you off right there , he was in a bipolar state, he wasnt ‘crazy’ and isnt ‘crazy’

he cant even keep count of his number of partners

just slutshaming i see

he helped throw frank off a bridge

“His relationship with Frank was understandably never the same after that, as Frank struggled to get over this act of betrayal and cruelty.”

‘was never the same after that’ frank never liked ian, ian was probably his least favorite and that point is very apparent

also , it wasnt just ian , his siblings and his boyfriend caleb

he left a healthy relationship to be with mickey

he fell in love with mickey at 15 , mickey was a comfort and always someone to fall back on, when mickey was taken away and no longer in the picture his heart still obviously was with mickey and when mickey came back he didnt know what to do

he told mickey he had a boyfriend but because mickey has been such a constant in his life he finally has back of course he couldnt resist

he liked trevor, i could tell he did but trevor wasnt the one he watched get r^ped by a russian prostitute, he wasnt the one ian was secretly dating bc it would be a death wish other wise, he wasnt the one there when ian was manic or depressive ( at the start )

he tried blackmailing an old client for money

“Instead of raising the money in an honest manner, Ian chose to visit an old client from his time working at the Fairy Tail and blackmail him into funding the shelter.”

because he felt indebted to trevor and wanted to make it up to him, it would have taken longer to do it in ‘an honest manner’ when his sister would have gotten it instead, he knew how much gay youths like he once was needed a safe place

“He grew up wanting to be nothing like his father, but this whole money-making scheme was straight out of the Frank playbook”

because thats all he knows, he grew up with that ‘playbook’ so of course hes going to take a page out of it, he is nothing like frank , franks money making schemes are selfish and for his own greed while ian wanted the money to help build a safe space for lgbt youth

he let fame inflate his ego

of course he did, hes a southside kid who was destined to fail

also it is very apparent that during the gay jesus era he went off his medication which didnt help

“Before long, he just completely forgot about his ex and focused solely on being a deity”

as much as yes, he did let it mess with his head, he was trying to still help lgbt youth and was going against anti gay churchs , in the end it didnt work out for him because he was off his meds and went over board

he stopped taking his meds

see previous point and ‘ian refused to accept being bipolar’

he actually wanted to stay in prison

because he was doing good in there

ian was helping others and was spreading awareness about lgbt with in the prison , and as him and jail scenes go , we can see people were listening to him and he was trying to make it safe sane and consensual

he let down his army of followers

“Ian admitted that most of his actions were completely irrational and the mere results of his bipolar disorder.”

he didnt want to, we can see this, because he knew he would let down everyone, his family were the only ones to ever ground him and they knew it would be the best option for his own mental health

during the gallavich wedding we can see that a lot of his supporters still have his back because they must know how hard it was for him to put all of that success on something he can’t control

he constantly wasted his potential

this is actually the only point in this article i actually agree with , so only 1/20 i agree with

his relationship with mickey wasn’t actually great

“Mickey spent the first several years of their relationship denying his feelings for Ian.”

he was raised by a homophobic and racist father who he knew would react the way he did when terry had caught the two that one day

“Even after he finally embraced his true self, Ian's bipolar disorder kept them from becoming truly happy together.”

yes but mickey was there for him the entire time and helped him through it, he told him he loved him which was really big for him and did his best to care for him

“They couldn't seem to remain faithful to each other for more than a few weeks.”

back to the point about ians bipolar but for mickey he wanted monogamy , now that scene in s11 may say otherwise but it is very clear that he wants a monogamous relationship with ian and ian ( after getting help ) wants one too, and in the later seasons they are monogamous

“When Mickey asked Ian to run away to Mexico with him, Ian refused.”

he wanted to, it’s obvious, but ian has his family and didnt want to abandon them again, i think part of him knew he would see mickey again because they always find eachother, he gave mickey all of his money and wanted mickey to have a good life

“Their relationship was simply never healthy.”

no it wasnt, but thats why the ship is great in its own way, the gay closet kid raised by a homophobic man is obviously going to have a lot of baggage , and ian who is bipolar and struggling with himself will also have a lot of baggage , but in the end they love eachother and that really shows in season five and season seven specifically

that is all lol ,,, this is long sorry

now, i am not a ian apologist , i love ian but hes a dumbass sometimes

actual valid reasons ian sucks

genuinely believes frank is worse than terry

yes frank was definitely abusive but terry is definitely worse ,,

mentally/physically/sexually abusive , the whole nine yards

terry hired a prostitute to r^pe his son , threatened to kill him and ian on multiple occasions , r^ped his daughter who ended up pregnant and is actively racist

frank on the other hand will make gay jokes but in the end doesnt give enough of a shit , he has attacked his children on multiple occasions but not to the brutality that terry has ( this isnt me excusing it )

sorry ian , terry is worse

never apologized

he never apologized for all the shit he put mickey and his family through, never apologized to mickey for cheating on him , never apologized for all the manic and depressive episodes mickey endured with him

never apologized for walking away when he couldn’t handle it, in hall of shame mickey actually acknowledges this saying ‘its youre whole MO’

debbies sexuality

he has constantly made statements saying debbie isnt gay and that bothers me because , why does it care ? as a gay man and as a gay man who soent time with a lot of lgbt youth wouldnt he support his sister even if shes just ‘experimenting’?

in the recent season he doesnt seem to care and doesn’t say anything but it still bothers me

mickey only getting like 80% of his heart

okay look , i get what ian means when he says this , everyones hes been with has made him who he is but fucking hell dude ,, shut up , thats your husband , thats the love of your life you shouldnt be saying shit like that , especially to him

and then this man had the audacity to say mickey probably feels the same about past flings when he knows that ian is the only one hes probably ever been with/serious about

obviously there is probably more but those are the main ones that come to mind

—

before anyone brings up the trans or bi thing im going to explain my thought process for him

like ive probably mentioned multiple times he grew up southside and obviously only ever grew up with lgb and not t ,, trevor did inform him a lot and ian became supre accepting of everyone,, sexual preference isnt transphobic but i do think he approached the matter badly

now the bi thing , legit all i think is that he doesnt hate bisexual people its just that the man he really liked slept with a woman and never expressed any heterosexual attraction so it probably just suprised him and pissed him off because caleb did cheat on ian

—

if you read this far HOLY SHIT THANKS LOL ,, im not adding things that i think are pro about ian this was just me breaking down that article and giving my two cents :)

feel free to message me and talk to me or send me articles like this about any other character/relationship and i will totally break that one down too lol

thanks for letting me rant

[gemsofgreece]

random but I find it a bit uncomfortable when we Greeks, especially someone like you who actually knows about history and is educated, calls Scopje "North Macedonia". Just bc they decided to call themselves like that and our dumb, unpatriotic politicians accepted it, I don't see why we should play along. Macedonia is Greek. Alexander the Great was Greek. Period.

If even we Greeks give in and start calling them like this, then we can't expect foreigners not to do so or not to eventually believe the false historical facts spread by that country. And eventually everyone, even Greeks, will believe that Macedonia or Alexander or whatever else were not Greek.

This thought worries me a lot. But since I live overseas myself, I do try educating foreigners about this.

sorry for the lil rant, but it's not the first time I see Greeks (even on tv!) do that and it is disappointing and saddening to me.

like Turks, Germans, French, British or ppl from any other country would never behave the way Greeks do on such a matter.

Really makes me wonder sometimes what it is that makes us Greeks so unpatriotic. it's somehow like being patriotic equals being a fascist for us, and obviously no one wants that so we just accept everyone else running over us, our history and our culture. (generally speaking, not only about that topic and it's definitely not towards you. just an observation of mine)

anyway again sorry for the rant.

I agree, many Greeks have that belief that any slight patriotic sentiment, even without hatred or any feeling of superiority, automatically makes you a fascist. It frustrates me too.

On the topic of our neighbour country, things are very complicated though. It’s not as easy as to say “There’s no other Macedonia - our politicians betrayed us - I try to educate as many people as I can”.

First of all, Skopje is not a correct term to use either. Skopje is their capital city and if I said “there are Pomak populations in Bulgaria, Northeastern Greece and Skopje”, then the average foreigner would misunderstand that sentence. We Greeks simply use that name for the country in lack of any better alternative and because it is not our job to find one for them.

Of course I dislike the name North Macedonia, however I think it is better in comparison to what was being used till the change. Just because we Greeks used the former official name FYROM, it doesn’t mean foreigners did too. It is very sad but it is the truth. In the absence of Greeks, everybody was calling the country Macedonia. The reason is a) the insane propaganda of the neighbours, b) the weirdness of an acronym used as a country’s name and c) the extremely long and complicated name when said in full. Trust me, everyone called them Macedonia and when a Greek showed up and screamed “it’s FYROM”, they were largely ignored or even ridiculed.

Let alone that FYROM is in truth an even more terrible name than North Macedonia. Remember what it means. Former Yugoslavic Republic of Macedonia. What the hell does that mean? That it was formerly (yugo)slavic but now it is not? And that it was or still is THE Republic of Macedonia, the one!!! You get how this was way worse than North Macedonia? North Macedonia suggests that there is another Macedonia too, a South Macedonia. So the average foreigner who doesn’t know much about Greek or Slavic history may be intrigued by that North specification and look up what the “south” Macedonia is and find out about our region and its inhabitants and history. Also the differentiation between North Macedonia and Macedonia (ours, often called Historical or Aegean Macedonia) may intrigue new people to study the issues of the tensions between the two countries and have an educated opinion on it. This was much less probable to happen when foreigners were expected to call the country FYROM and then they were weirded out, so they would be like “oh just call it Macedonia for short” and they would do that without second thought, without knowing someone else condemns this name as appropriation of history and direct land claim.

Of course, the name North Macedonia is mostly inaccurate as only a small part of the far south of the country is part of the actual Ancient Macedonia. The ideal would be a NO Macedonia name but right now it was not realistic. They would not accept it and they were getting deeply under the influence of Turkey. Albania and Bulgaria are deeply influenced by Turkey, Greece felt it was suicide if she destroyed entirely the relations with North Macedonia and was literally surrounded by Turk friends from all sides. I am sure both sides absolutely loathe every single term in this agreement but politics sometimes work differently than our principles. I don’t like it but I have come to a place that I kind of understand. I hate it but it is better than the absolute nothing we had before.

What I can’t come to terms with is giving in for the nationality and language. That really seems as little other than a big fat betrayal. However, if I try hard to be objective about the situation, I believe neighbours are in a worse place than us in the longterm. Huge tensions often arise inside North Macedonia with like 1/3 of “”””””MaCEdoNIAns”””””” being Albanian and Bulgaria claiming the rest 2/3 are actually Bulgarians. And what is factually the truth, that the “Macedonian” language is basically a Bulgarian dialect just must create a situation of chaos within the country. I wouldn’t find it surprising if the nation feels unsafe. And when a nation feels unsafe, the best way to control it, distract it from the identity confusion and give it a purpose is to feed them with a shitload of propaganda, the kind they would LIKE to hear.

When Slavic populations were pushed north and out of Macedonia by the Greeks during the Balkan Wars and then they became part of what was called South Serbia and then part of Yugoslavia and then Yugoslavia collapsed and their population is a blend of Serb Slavs, Bulgarians, Albanians and apparently there must be Greek Slav origins there too, it is no wonder the nation suffers from identity crisis and is susceptible to brainwashing and propaganda. I suppose they hate the guts of all of us surrounding them. So the claim that Macedonian is a separate ethnicity, unrelated to Greeks, and they are the sole descendants, a claim that was only made in 1935 for the first time, was a desperate way to establish an identity against Slavs and Greeks who surrounded them and with whom they felt entirely disconnected and hostile. I mean, at points in time, they were even denying any Slavic heritage. I think lately things aren’t as bad as they were. Of course, their government remains provocative towards Greece even after the agreement but this is no surprise after Greeks agreed on nationality and language. Currently they have tensions on ethnicity and culture mostly with Bulgarians and Albanians so our issue is somewhere in the back. Some of their youth now says they don’t actually believe they are descendants of Alexander the Great and that was an extreme measure to spite Greece. This was one of the terms of the Prespes agreement after all: that they would stop claiming Greek history and culture. Of course extreme and brainwashed nationalists are alive and well (everywhere) but things are better than they were some years ago IMO. I could be wrong though.

Anyway I get why things happened the way they happened. But of course butchering history is not the solution… but as you see they are not very close at solving anything. That was kinda my answer’s point, not sure it came across right. In the meantime, I have to use this geographic term to be understood and it is a little better than any widely understood alternative.

Context for foreigners: Alexander the Great died about 800 years before the first Slav stepped on Macedonia or any other Greek territory. Macedonians and all other Greeks technically stopped being considered as “ancient” half a millennium before the first Slavs showed up.

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 67

Firstly, I am sorry this took so long to do but it's finished now and hopefully it is a good read. Anyway, this was really fun and hard to write but I enjoyed it. I tried to make it quite light hearted compared to the others I've wrote recently and this officially marks the Lukanette part of the story. Like i know these two blueberries have been dancing around each other for a while but now they are finally on the same page on each other's feelings. However, Anatis won't be telling Lady Noir about it and vice versa. The reason is because they could work out each other's identities. Anatis thinks if he tells her, she realize he's is Luka from it as he wouldn't want to be with anyone else then Marinette and Lady Noir is still Marinette so she figures that if she tells him, he realize that both her and Marinette had the same thing happen to them at the same time and from that, he realize they are the same person. So I will be working on the Halloween Special for the Specials section and Crescendo next so I'm pretty excited about them XD

Also I changed Heureux Fin's powers a bit. He has a dust that turns people into fairytale characters that makes them not worry as a side effect. It can also change objects and places into fairytale scenery. Fairytale can shape-shift into fairytale creatures aka a fairy, a shadow and a wolf. It can also produce a dust in it's fairy form that turns Adrien's friends into the lost kids, making them think they were always lost kids while forgetting who they really are. Their canon hero names are inspiration for their lost kid names. For example, Kim is just monkey as a lost boy. Another reason why I decided to give it that power is because Neverland has that effected on the characters in the book.

Oh and for the fairytale characters that the characters became check the end notes :)

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

Chapter Sixty-Seven:  Heureux Fin

~Agreste Manor~

 "Thank you all for coming," Gabriel stated as he looked to his guests. Audrey and her husband were sat close to him on the right side of the tablet while Tomoe was sat next to him on the left. She was still gripping her cane. XY had come in place of his father and Amelie Graham de Vanily was sat opposite him. The only person who hadn't turned up was Alim Kubdel but this did not surprise him as Alim had walked away after the birth of his son. "As we all saw the temple of the miraculous has returned,"

 "Is that why you called us here, Gabriel?" Audrey asked, making him look at her as she glanced at her nails. "I already did my part for the order,"

 "Yes and your daughter was a wonderful contribution but now we must focus our efforts on the true goal of our organization," He stated, making almost all of them look at him. "Finding the mage's latest form,"

 "We have been looking for years," Tomoe replied. "We even hoped our own children would be him reborn and when it wasn't the case, we gave up or did you forget that?"

 "Of course, I remember that but I have reason to believe he must be here in Paris,"

 "Why on earth would the mage come here?" Amelie asked with disgust. "This rat hole is not worthy of his presence,"

 "Because of Hawkmoth," Gabriel stated, causing everyone to look at him. "Hawkmoth is currently misusing a miraculous and trying to steal more. It would make sense that this would draw the mage to Paris. In fact, I believe he might even be the one responsible for giving Anatis and Lady Noir their powers,"

 "So you're saying the mage has already been reborn?!" Amelie gasped, standing up. Gabriel nodded in reply. "Well, that simply won't do! How are we suppose to control him now?! He could be older then all of us,"

 "Relax, my dear. I have reason to be believe that he isn't that old," Gabriel replied, making her frown. "As for controlling him, there is plenty of ways to indoctrinate him into our way of thinking... as I'm sure Audrey will testify with her daughter,"

 "Yes, Zoe is doing wonderfully at her current school. By the time she is 18, she'll be a perfect fit to take over my position as both the Style Queen and Queen of the underworld," She smirked, looking at her nails. "Shame that Chloe is such a broken child though... however, I'm surprised none of you decided to put your child into the program,"

 "The Tsurugi family never let anyone dictate how they see the world," Tomoe declared, making Audrey frown deeply. "We are as elusive as the wind, as powerful as the flood, and as swift as lightning. We never let anyone rule our hearts or control us,"

 "Yet you're one of the most controlling parents here," Audrey pointed out, making Tomoe frown. "So much for not letting anyone control you,"

 "At least, my family understands honor," Tomoe retorted back. "Yours only understands money,"

 "You say that like it's a bad thing," Audrey laughed. "Money is power. We all know that,"

 Gabriel clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention.

 "As much as I would love to see this continue, let's focus on the subject at hand," Gabriel stated, making everyone look at him. It took a lot of mental strength for him not go to his secret garden and akumatize the room but having said that, they would make great akumas. He would even akumatize Amelie despite the fact that she was technically family. He cleared his mind of those thoughts as they began to talk about how to track down the mage's latest form and how they would take control of him. Of course, Gabriel had no intention of letting the others have him. No, he would take the mage for himself and akumatize him. He would be the perfect akuma to finally take down Anatis and Lady Noir. They wouldn't know what hit them.

~Feng's Hut~

 "Su Han used the wish?!" Luka gasped, pushing his fingers through his hair. "Why? Why did he do that? Why did he kill Toutai?"

 "Because he wanted the title," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "Su Han believed it was his destiny to become the Celestial guardian as soon as he found out about my existence but when Toutai was revealed to be my most recent incarnation, Su Han became jealous. That jealousy was left to fester and grew, turning into resentment as the years passed. It did not help that both were in love with the same woman,"

 "Mulan," Luka muttered, causing Feng to nod. 

 "When she chose Toutai, it added salt to an already infected wound and the resentment that Su Han had for Toutai turned into a cold, deep hatred," He stated, making Luka frown. "From that, things just got worst. Thanks to his hatred, Su Han fell victim to the dark spirit I mentioned. This dark spirit influenced him with promises of power and his 'rightful' destiny. He tried to get Su Han to murder Toutai but when he wouldn't, he suggested using the wish to claim what he called Su Han's destiny but as you know, the wish requires a price in return for what you wish. Su Han wished to be the celestial guardian and so Toutai lost the title but even with the title, it didn't change that Toutai was the rightful guardian. Su Han only wished to be have the title. He should have wished to have been born as my reincarnation but he did not. He thought just having the title was enough. He thought that he would become the best celestial guardian there was and that Mulan would rush to his side as his bride. Of course, she didn't rush to his side and stuck with Toutai. The two of them intended to leave and rebuild else where but the dark spirit whispered in Su Han's ear, making him believe they intended to usurp him. He made a special dagger and confronted them but he did not expect Toutai to challenge him for his betrayal. They got into a fight and as a result, Toutai was murdered and the dark spirit was freed,"

 "That's when he possessed Su Han," Luka stated, making Feng nod. "Tell me more about the dark spirit,"

 "His name is Simme. He was born of humanity's cruelty and feeds off negative emotions. Feelings such as anger, jealousy and resentment are what he is drawn t. He is also drawn to those who's hearts are darker then others. Just been around him will bring these negative emotions to the surface but it goes much far then that," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "Simme is what the kwamis call Móguǐ or Devil in your tongue. He inspired the stories of Lucifer, Satan and most devil figures in mythology and religion. He is a trickster and a deal maker but those deals never go the way people want them to. They only work in his favor,"

 "How did he get trapped?"

 "Another spirit fought him and trapped him in Jīngshén, an area in the spirit realm," He replied, making Luka nod before he frowned. "Luka?"

 "Wait... if he escaped from there and possessed Su Han at the temple..." Luka muttered as the color drained out of his face. "I restored the temple! That means he's back!!"

 "Yes and no," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "Simme is a spirit, meaning it is rather difficult for him to interact with the physical world so while he is technically back, he can only do so much right now, especially with the fact that his host is weak... but should there be an event that creates enough negative emotion or if he was able to find a dark soul and use it as a host, it could be enough to allow him to break through the spiritual barriers and manifest a form in the physical world,"

 "Great... wait what's a dark soul?" Luka asked, frowning.

 "It's a form of a pure soul but one that is born pure evil," Feng replied. "It is rare but what's even rarer is a light soul, which is one born pure good. You see most souls are a mix of good and bad. It's very rare for someone to be born pure evil or pure good,"

 "And I brought this thing back?!" Luka gasped, running his fingers through his hair. "I've made a huge mistake! I should have given up been Anatis and then-"

 "Simme would have returned regardless of your choice. Whoever defeated Feast and cast the miraculous cure would have brought him back," Feng replied, making Luka at him. "But regardless, this is what was meant to happen and your choice has been made. You are Anatis and Simme is free but that doesn't mean you are helpless against him. As my reincarnation, you can use a spell to trap him back in Jīngshén,"

 "Wait... I can?" Luka asked, making Feng nod. "How? I don't know magic... or at least not that type. Obviously, I know how to project my emotions... but casting spells... isn't that evil?"

 "No, a spell is neither good nor bad. It is the intention of the caster that makes it either," Feng replied, making Luka nod. "As for learning, I can teach you. Of course, you won't be able to cast that spell yet. It is a very powerful spell and you must first learn to channel magic, which is why we have the tests,"

 "Tests?" Luka asked, confused.

 "Yes, tests," Feng replied, making Luka raise an eyebrow. "These tests are required to prove you are worthy of magic as well as the title of Celestial guardian,"

 "Whoa, whoa... Celestial guardian?!" Luka gasped, making Feng chuckle. "I'm not celestial guardian material! I'm barely guardian material, Feng!"

 "Becoming a celestial guardian is your destiny, Luka," He explained, making Luka frown. "Think of it as you are my heir and I beg to differ. You have already ticked a number of the boxes to becoming a celestial guardian and passed one of the tests,"

 "I... have?" Luka asked, surprised.

 "Yes," Feng nodded. "You lead a team of heroes, you have the trust of a civilization, you restored hope, the kwamis you have met love and respect you and you are willing to fight for the right. As for the test, you passed the test of determination... my test... when you continued to fight, despite having a chance to walk away. Whether you see it or not, you're on the path of becoming the next celestial guardian,"

 "What do you mean your test?"

 "Each test comes from our different lives," Feng replied, making Luka frown a little. "Me and Khnurn came up with them after he showed determination in saving Egypt despite having a strong dislike towards most humans,"

 "...Why does he hate people?" Luka asked, making Feng sigh.

 "It is not really my place to save but let's just say for now that Khnurn has seen how cruel humans can be," Feng replied, causing Luka to frown. "He'll tell you in his own time but for now, let me explain more about the tests,"

 "Ok," Luka nodded. "Why is your test determination?"

 "It is what I represent," Feng replied, making Luka give him a confused look. "Hmm... how to explain this? Well, I guess you could say we're the closest thing to a spirit a human can be,"

 "Wait... that does mean we're not human?!" Luka gasped, concerned. Feng chuckled a little and shook his head.

 "No, we're still human... we're just part spirit too," He replied, making Luka frown. "Well, you know Kwamis are born from concepts and Renlings are born from values. Well, spirits are born from traits,"

 "Traits?" Luka echoed, making Feng nod. "I'm not sure I fully understand,"

 "Ok," Feng replied, making a thinking face. "Well, a good example is Simme and his opposite,"

 "His opposite?"

 "All things have an opposite, Luka. Where there is light, there is always shadow and where there is evil, there is also good. The world is of balance and Simme is no different," Feng replied, making Luka blink as he stopped talking and took a drag from a pipe. He rose an eyebrow as he was certain that Feng didn't have it a moment ago. However, he blew smoke out of his mouth and to Luka's surprise, it formed shapes that resembled men. He frowned as he watched them hurt and kill each other as a new form shaped. It resembled a snake with a grin. "Simme was born from the cruelty in the hearts of man and as a result, he can influence it,"

 Luka frowned as he watched the smoke snake whisper to the men, causing them to be cruel and evil but the smoke changed and showed a smoke person offering another food.

 "But where there is cruelty, there is also kindness," Feng replied as Luka watched. "Not all humans are evil or cruel. There are kind and it was from this kindness, Simme's opposite was born,"

 From the smoke people, a new shape formed but this one resembled a bird.

 "Finni, the spirit of kindness.... you met him during the mob boss situation. It was him who guided you to safety," He replied, making Luka blink. He did remember seeing a bird but he had no idea it was a spirit. "And it is him that we owe our long lives and immortality to. He is why we are part spirit,"

 The scene changed, showing a boy in a temple surrounded by others but what made them stand out was they didn't look solid. Instead, they appeared to transparent but the boy in the scene looked solid. Luka realized the boy was Feng.

 "I was born with the gift of foresight and I have always been able to see spirits..." He replied as the smoke changed. It now showed the boy but he was alone in the temple while others whispered to each other. Luka knew they were whispering about him. "Other humans believed I was mad. Even my parents. I never fitted in and the other children thought I was weird,"

 The scene changed to the boy, walking through a forest before he stumbled on the kwamis.

 "Then one day, I met Tikki and the other kwamis. I invited them to live with me, finding that I had more in common with them then other humans," Feng replied as the scene showed him laughing and playing with them. However, the scene changed to him trying to tell his mother something during a thunderstorm. "But then I had a vision of death and war,"

 The smoke changed to Feng talking to a girl in a village before it showed him running from her.

 "I tried to warn my family but they did not believe me so I ran away," He replied as the smoke showed him going deep into a forest and crying to himself. As he did, the grinning snake approached him. "That's where I met Simme. He tried to tempt me into using my gifts for evil but I refused him and found Finni,"

 The smoke showed an injured bird and Feng trying to heal him.

 "I tried to help and my kindness saved his life but he was still weak. I took him home with me and for a small amount of time, I was happy again but my vision haunted me and one day, it came to be," The smoke changed into a scene of carnage as a village been attacked by men on horses. Luka covered his mouth in shock as he watched Feng been cut down then attacked by Simme. Before he could kill him, Finni flew in and attacked Simme to protect his friend. He used his magic to banish him, sending the snake away and tried to heal the boy's wounds with his tears. When that wasn't enough, he possessed a nearby body and lifted Feng into his arms. The smoke changed and showed Finni's host taking a dying Feng back to their temple and to the other spirits who surrounded the dying boy. The other kwamis and Finni discussed something and then the scene showed them surrounding him and singing as Finni turned into a ball of light before it covered the area. When it disappeared, the smoke showed Feng sit up, alive. Finni had sacrificed himself to heal him.

 "That war drained Finni's power a lot and he used the last of it to merge his soul with mine and save my life," Feng explained, making Luka blink as the smoke showed Feng placing his hand where his heart was. "That was the moment I became the spirit of Determination. Up until the very end, I tried to warn my family of the attack and when Finni merged his soul with mine, it made me into a spirit... well, the closest thing to a spirit a human could be. That is why my test is the test of determination and each time I have been reborn, I became a new spirit with a new trait but the same soul. Each of my tests is based on those traits,"

 "What is my trait?" Luka asked, looking at Feng. "Did you know straight away?"

 "No... and I don't know what yours is either," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "But you will find out,"

 "Can I know what the other tests will be?" Luka asked, making Feng nod.

 "You will be tested on honesty, loyalty, courage and compassion," Feng replied, making Luka nod. "But I can not tell you when you'll be tested or how. Only that you will be and what their traits are,"

 "Four tests? That's it?" Luka asked, a little surprised. "What happens if I pass them? I mean I don't feel any different from passing yours..."

 "Oh, you are different since you passed mine. You're stronger and I know you felt it," Feng smiled, making Luka remember how he felt when he transformed after reclaiming his miraculous back. He had felt stronger. "As for rewards for passing, I can teach you how to farther your magic and how to channel mine. You also unlocked one of the locks,"

 "Locks?" Luka asked as Feng gestured towards the door of the hut, the one that never opens. "There's locks on it?"

 "Yes, five all together," Feng replied, making Luka blink. "One for each trait and once you have passed all of them, it will open the door, allowing you to join me and the others in Shangi-La both spiritual and physically,"

 "Ok... cool..." Luka muttered, not entirely sure how to feel. "I am here physically?"

 "No but this is still real," Feng replied, making Luka nod. "Anyway, do you understand spirits, our lives and the tests a bit better?"

 "A little... yeah..." Luka admitted. It kind of did make sense. He had to admit he was interested in learning how to channel magic. "So you can teach me to channel your magic? Does that mean I can have visions? And will that help with learning to cast spells? Also what spells can we do? Is it like Harry Potter? Do I need a wand?"

 "Luka, calm yourself," Feng stated, making him blink and grin in a sheepish manner. He did get a bit excited. "No, you don't need a wand. It isn't like Harry Potter. We can cast any spells but certain ones need certain things and power level so you'll be learning basic spells and yes, it will help with casting and you will be able to have visions but learning your own magic will help too and most things can be a spell. We just need to work out how you cast,"

 "Ok!" Luka grinned, making Feng smile. While part of him was kind of weary of it, a bigger part of him was excited. After all, he just got told he could do actual magic and it wasn't like Issac was in his life anymore. He didn't need to be afraid of been a witch plus Feng had explained that it was his intention that determined what the magic actually was so as long as his intention was good, his magic would be too and this was a chance to learn more about his empathy. "When can we begin?"

 "Now if you want," 

 "Yes!!"

 ~A Few Days Later~

 "Urg, I can't believe we're back at school," Alix groaned as a number of students walked back to the school grounds. Summer holidays were over now, meaning it was back to the humdrum routine of studying and akuma attacks but the children were back, heading to the school. Felix had returned from London and was talking to Aurora and Mireille while they waited for Jean to turn up. Nino and Alya were similar in the sense they were waiting for Adrien and Marinette. Nathaniel was already at the school and in the art room, discussing the new ideas for the comic that he and Marc came up with during the holidays. Marc was also there. Alix would have joined them but she wanted to wait for Kim and Max. Mylene and Ivan were stood with the others, waiting for Juleka, Rose and Luka. "Why couldn't the summer holidays last longer?!"

 "We had two months off, Alix," Max stated as he walked up to her, making her groan before she grinned. "How was your holiday... other then... you know?" 

 "History Keepers," Alix replied, rolling her eyes. "It's been fairly good. Dad's still embarrassing and Jalil is still a history geek. When's Kim gonna be here?"

 "Oh, he is currently stuck in traffic," Max replied, pushing up his glasses. "Mr Pigeon has been trying to get rid of cars. I'm surprised Alya isn't on the scene,"

 "Eh," Alya shrugged, making Nino snigger. "It's Mr Pigeon's 60th time as an akuma and it will be over soon anyway. No one wants to watch that,"

 As if on que, the miracle cure rushed throughout the city, fixing any issues the akuma had caused. The students grinned as they saw it before beginning to chat about the recent akumas and how Anatis and Lady Noir saved them. A few of them had been akumatized before going back to school. Nino had been one of them. He had been re-akumatized into the Bubbler as he wanted Summer to never end so he tried to get rid of the adults again to allow the summer holiday to continued. Fortunately, Anatis and Lady Noir had dealt with him pretty quickly. A few minutes after the cure had been cast, Juleka and Rose walked over, followed by Luka. At the same time, Marinette had rushed out of the bakery, holding a croissant in her mouth. She had ran over and hadn't seen Luka, who had been jogging to catch up with Rose and Juleka. The two of them knocked into each other and fell on the ground with Marinette landing on Luka. She jumped up and helped him up as he laughed it off.

 "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have looked where I was going!" She gushed, making him chuckle.

 "It's ok, Marinette," He replied, smiling before he pulled a face as a limo pulled up. "I was rushing too so I should have been more careful as well,"

 "Did I miss something?" Adrien asked as he climbed out, followed by Kagami. He smiled at her as he held her hand, making her smile back as she linked their fingers together. Instantly, Marinette cooed at their action, making both Adrien and Kagami blush a little. Alix laughed and moved her arm around Marinette.

 "Just Marinette and Luka falling for each other," She grinned, making both of them blush a little bit too. However, the mood soured as they heard the screech of none other then Lila Rossi. They all looked over as she waved at them before she walked up to them, instantly making a number of them feel uncomfortable.

 "Hi everyone!" She grinned before turning to Luka. "Hi, Luka! I'm so glad you decided to take the restraining order off me! I hope we can be friends,"

 "I didn't take it off. It was granted on a temporary basis and I'll be in court tomorrow afternoon to get it reinstated," He replied in a calm but cold voice. "So no, we won't be friends. Just because it is currently inactive doesn't mean you can come near me so I suggest you back off, Rossi,"

 Lila gave him a look before huffing and walking over to Alya.

 "Can you believe his attitude?" She asked, rather loudly. It was obviously to make Luka hear. He took a small breathe and ignored her, turning back to Marinette. "I just want to fix where we went wrong and he won't even give me a chance,"

 "Lila, you didn't exactly treat him nicely," Alya muttered, making Luka roll his eyes. It was more then that. "I mean you kissed him without his permission,"

 "I misread the situation!" Lila gasped.

 "Still..." Alya stated as Nino started to berate her, saying it wasn't cool to kiss people even if she thought it was but Marinette took Luka's hand and led him inside the school, making him smile a little as they walked over to the benches. They took a seat as he let out a sigh.

 "You ok?" She asked, making him nod. "How come the restraining order ran out?"

 "The court granted it on a temporary basis," He sighed, making her frown. "If the problem still occurs, we can get a fresh one which we'll be doing tomorrow. I asked if we could get it renewed before but apparently it needs to run out first and they review the case before granting a fresh one which can take up to two weeks to grant depending how bad the case is. There is a chance they won't grant a second one against her,"

 "They should," Marinette stated, taking his hand in hers as he looked at her. She gently moved his hair, causing him to close his eyes. "Are you sleeping ok? You look tired,"

 "Hmm... my nightmares aren't as bad," He muttered before a yawn escaped him. "But I'm not getting a lot of restful sleep. Music's been on my mind,"

 "Oh, you writing some new songs?" She asked, making him smile before he shook his head. "Oh?"

 "I've been practicing for that violin contest," He admitted, making her grin.

 "You're entering it?!" She gasped, clearly excited. "Wait but weren't auditions for it a couple of days ago?"

 "Yeah... I'm just waiting to find out if I got through to the next stage," He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn't even told his ma or Juleka that he had entered yet. He didn't want to disappoint them if he didn't get through. There had been a lot of entries for it and a lot of talent. Luka wasn't sure if he could get through to the next stage so he decided to keep quiet about it until he knew for certain. "I don't know if I'll get through and I don't want to disappoint anyone if I didn't so I figured I'd tell Ma, Juleka and you if I got through but I guess you know now... sorry for not mentioning it,"

 "Hey, it's ok," She smiled, making him smile back. "I get why but you're gonna get through to the next stage and blow those judges away!"

 "Thanks, Melody," He smiled as the first bell rang. "We better go to classes,"

 The two of them got up and walked over to the locker room as the other kids headed inside. Luka completely ignored Lila, who shoot a glare at him when she thought no one was watching before he put his stuff in his locker and grabbed what he needed for his class. Once that was done, he locked his locker and headed over to Marinette's locker as she put her things in and grabbed what she needed. The two of them left the locker room with their friends and headed upstairs to their classes.

 "See you at Lunch?" She asked, causing him to nod before she gently kissed his cheek, making him blush. He smiled dreamily at her as she waved to him before heading into her classroom. He turned and walked over to Mrs Mendeleiev's class as Aurora hooked her arm with his and grinned.

 "So you and Mari are an item?!" She grinned, clearly excited. He blushed a little. "Oh you are, aren't you?!"

 "W-We're taking it slow," He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Like we're not exclusively dating... just enjoying each other's company,"

 "Oh my gosh! You're courting her!" Aurora grinned, making him blush as she giggled before she leaded against him as they joined the rest of their class. "I'm so proud! Our Lu is a true gentleman!!"

 "Have you told her that you love her yet?" Mireille asked as Aurora let go of his arm and took her seat next to him. Luka rubbed his neck again. "You haven't, have you?"

 "I mean we're taking it slow..." He mused, looking to the side. "And I know she likes me but I'm still unsure if it's just because I'm her friend or more... I'm probably just a friend to her..."

 "More... it's definitely more," Marc stated, making everyone look at him. He was scribbling in his notebook but he looked up to address everyone. "She flutters to you like a bee to a flower... I would use a butterfly as an example but... akumas..."

 "It's not their fault," Luka pointed out, making everyone look at him. "Hawkmoth uses the butterflies, just like he uses people,"

 "Hmm... that is a good point," Marc smiled, writing something down. "Anyway, Marinette definitely likes you. She moves her hair, blushes and she also shows you her wrists and 'vulnerabilities'... which means she trusts you,"

 "Trust and liking someone isn't the same thing," Luka pointed out but he couldn't help the smile on his face. He liked that she trusts him. "Still... it's nice that she trusts me,"

 "She's also open with you, has a genuine look in her eye when she looks at you, she mirrors you a little bit and when you two talk, she leans towards you and acts like it is only the two of you in the world," Marc pointed out, making Luka blush. "All signs that at the very least, she has a crush on you,"

 "How do you know this?" Luka asked, making Marc blush a little as he begin to fidget. "Not that it's a bad thing... I'm just curious,"

 "I wanted to show that Lady Noir has feelings for Anatis in the comic so I researched body language for it plus it helps Nathaniel with expressions when he's drawing," Marc replied, playing with his hands. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line. I just think you should know that Marinette likes you a lot and definitely as more as a friend,"

 "No, it's cool," Luka smiled before looking down. "I just guess... I like that she might like me but I'm just Luka so I guess I don't really see why..."

 "Stop second guessing yourself, Couffaine," Felix stated, making everyone look at him. He was so quiet they had actually forgotten he was there. "Dupain-Cheng likes you. You like her so just date already,"

 "Felix! Be nice!" Aurora gasped, causing him to give her a cheeky grin before she turned to Luka. "But he's right. Oh, you should ask her out on an actual date and make sure she knows it's a date date!"

 "I don't know, Aurora..."

 ~Meanwhile in Miss Bustier's Class~

 "You look happy," Alya grinned, making Marinette jump a little as she had been day-dreaming about watching Luka playing violin. Alya grinned, making Marinette look at her. "So you finally asked Luka out on a real date?"

 "W-What?! No!" She blushed, covering her face with her hand. She wanted to but they were taking it slow. However, when she thought about it, she did want to been more then just what they were at the moment. She liked the idea of been his girlfriend. She liked the idea a lot. She really enjoyed going on their little dates and she had thought about kissing him a few times but hadn't done so because she wasn't sure if he wanted to. It seemed like he did but she didn't want to assume. She loved and respected him too much to do that. She looked up from her hands as Alya grinned at her. "I... I want to... but I'm not sure if he likes me like that. Like I know he likes me but I'm not sure if he likes me enough to want me to be his girlfriend,"

 "But you want to be his girlfriend?" Alya asked as Rose gushed, leaning against Juleka who gave Marinette a small but happy smile. Everyone knew she shipped what they had dubbed 'Lukanette'. Marinette slowly nodded. "Girl, you need to ask him out,"

 "I bet he would say yes!" Rose gushed, making Marinette blush even more.

 "Luka definitely likes you," Mylene agreed as Alix rolled her eyes.

 "I don't get the whole dating thing but you like him and he likes you then you should go for it," She added in, making Marinette smile. Even Chloe encouraged her in her own way. However, Lila kept to herself, digging her nails into her hands as she listened. She wanted to destroy Marinette and take everything from her but taking Luka from her will be really hard since he knows what she is like. Somehow, that freak had seen through her facade extremely quickly. Even Marinette hadn't seen through it straight away. It was only after Lila slipped up that Marinette had realized that she was lying and tried to expose her. As annoying as it was, Lila was partially glad because she couldn't stand the baker girl but she had to pretend to. Sure, she still had to pretend but before she couldn't do anything about it. Now, she could mess with her and that's exactly what she did. In fact, that's what she'll do. She might not be able to turn Luka onto her side but she could at the very least make Marinette asking him out impossible. Hell, Marinette or Luka might even get akumatized out of it. She could then claim that they hated her and it would be especially funny if Luka got akumatized. If it succeed, he would have to fight his friend for Hawkmoth and if it didn't... well, he'd be sick for a few days and out of her hair. She held back a smirk to herself as she pretended to listen to Miss Bustier. The day moved on and soon enough, it was lunch time. Marinette was getting her food and Lila was watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Seeing Marinette walking towards the lunch table, she tried to trip her up but much to her annoyance that failed so she moved onto the next plan. She tried to get Marinette to call her out by saying something clearly false. Instead, Alya told her she didn't need to lie again and Marinette ignored her. She didn't even notice Nino rolling his eyes. After a few more attempts, she saw Luka walking in with his friends and annoyingly enough, his expression lit up when he saw Marinette. It was so obvious he had feelings for her that it sickened her. However, she also noticed a number of students looking at him. A few girls were looking at him with a dreamy expression but a couple of guys were glaring at him. Lila smirked as she saw one of the boys who she knew had a crush on Marinette, not that she understood why. She didn't know his name either and it didn't matter but luckily enough, he looked like Adrien and most of the school knew Marinette had a crush on a boy with blonde hair and green eyes. She could use that to ruin Marinette's chances with Luka by getting this boy involved. She excused herself from the table, not that Nino or Alya noticed and walked over to the boy. He looked up at her with mild surprise.

 "Hi, I have a message from Marinette for you," She smiled, making him frown.

 "Um... what is it?" He asked, a little confused.

 "She asked me to tell you that she has a crush on you but is just too shy to ask you out," She stated, making him blink.

 "Uh... isn't she with Couffaine?" He asked, making Lila mentally smirk. She knew they weren't together.

 "Oh, no they're not actually dating," She stated, making him raise an eyebrow. "She sees him as a brother and really likes you,"

 "Right... but aren't you that liar?" He asked, making her frown. "Doesn't Marinette hate you?"

 "Look, I have an illness that makes me lie sometimes but I'm currently in therapy for it and it's helping so much," She replied, making him nod. "Besides, I don't lie about crushes and I want to make up for my behavior towards Marinette so I figured getting her with the guy she likes. Anyway, you should totally ask her out. I'm sure she'll say yes,"

 "Well... I do like her..." He admitted, making Lila smirk. Though she morphed it into a friendly grin. He got up and walked over to Marinette, who was chatting to Luka. Lila returned back to her seat, just as Alya looked up and the guy talked to Marinette. He frowned as she gently let him down and asked her why she got her friend to tell him otherwise. Marinette looked at him confused as he pointed out Lila. She frowned and apologized to him before she walked over.

 "Why did you tell that boy I like him?" She asked, crossing her arms. Lila gave her an innocent look.

 "Oh, I thought you did," She gasped, making Marinette grit her teeth. "I'm so sorry. I thought that's who you were talking about in class today when you were saying about having a crush on a boy called Luke was it? Or was it Luka?"

 Marinette's face went red as Lila gasped.

 "Oh, no! I must have got the names mixed up," She gasped in fake regret. "I hope I didn't embarrass you! I was just trying to help you out... I mean you suffered so badly with your crush on Adrien that I didn't want you to suffer in the same way with your new crush but I should have known it was Luka you were crushing on. I just hope you're not stalking him like you-"

 To everyone's surprise, Marinette slapped Lila across the face before storming out of the room. Lila held back a smirk but instantly started to cry. However, no one jumped to her defense. Instead, Luka rushed outside to check on Marinette and Alya leaned over to her as the rest of the room glared at her.

 "Lila, girl, I know you were trying to help but you shouldn't have done that," She gasped, making Lila frown. "Everyone knows that Marinette has a thing for Luka and moved on from her crush on Adrien. You didn't need to lie to get her to ask Luka out. We don't do those sort of plans anymore,"

 "O-oh, I thought it would be ok since you and the other girls have come up with plans like that before," Lila gasped, tears rolling down her face. "I didn't mean to embarrass her. I guess I deserved that slap..."

 "Damn right!" Alix growled as the class glared daggers at her.

 "I get it, Lila but Marinette was getting there," Alya replied, causing her to grip her fist. "It's not nice to reveal a crush like that and that poor guy... I get you were trying to encourage her but you shouldn't have told that other guy she liked him? What if he hadn't take no for answer?"

 "Oh, no! I didn't think of that,"

 "Yeah right," Nino muttered, making both Alya and Lila look at him in surprise. "It's clear you did all of that on purpose,"

 "W-what? No!" Lila gasped as Alya looked shocked. "Why would I?"

 "Because you hate Marinette and probably want Luka yourself," He pointed out, making her blink. She would have to be careful with Nino. "I mean all you do is lie. You lied to me about having a crush on Adrien, you framed Marinette and you lied about been friends with heroes,"

 "Babe, that's enough," Alya gasped, making him look at her. "I get she lied but she's trying to be better and she did it to help Marinette, right Lila?"

 "Of course," She lied, making Nino glare at her before he suddenly got up and walked off. Alya sighed and went to follow but Adrien stopped her.

 "I'll go talk to him," He stated before walking away. Alya nodded and sat down as Lila mentally frowned. Her plan didn't go the way she wanted but at least, she embarrassed Marinette enough to make it awkward with Luka.

 ~The Art Room~

 "Hey!" Adrien called out as Nino stormed in, slamming the door. He ran up to him and gently grabbed his arm. "Nino, calm down,"

 "How can I?" He asked before sitting down and taking off his cap as he ran his hand over his head. "I had to say something, dude. I wasn't there for Marinette when Lila caused her to become Princess Justice. I actually believed her until Anatis exposed her and then this whole thing Alya still believing in her. It nearly drove us apart and I keep telling her that Lila isn't a nice person and is lying to hurt people but Alya still wants to see the best in her and I love that because it's sweet but it's wasted on someone like Lila. She doesn't want to be nice! She didn't do that to make amends with Marinette. She did that to hurt her and Alya can't or doesn't want to see that. I love her but she is acting dumb around Lila!"

 "Whoa, it's ok, Nino," Adrien gasped, kneeling down as Nino tried to calm down. "I get it. You just want to look out for your friend and your girl. And someone like Lila is nasty but Alya has to realize that herself. You just need to be there for her when she does,"

 "... you're right, dude," Nino replied, nodding. "I'm sorry... I just... I just don't want Lila to destroy her faith in people but I also know she needs to realize Lila isn't the person she thinks she is,"

 "I know," Adrien stated, sitting next to him. "I wish I had realized sooner myself but if you want, I can try and talk to Alya bout Lila,"

 "That be cool," Nino sighed. "I wish I had known before Anatis exposed her. I can't believe it took that for me to see the truth,"

 "I know the feeling," Adrien sighed, looking down. "I never realized how damaging her lies could be before Anatis called her out... I really thought she was like a tabloid and that she was just doing it for attention but after he pointed out that she was hurting myself as well as others, I realized how damaging lies can be,"

 "Yeah," Nino replied before he suddenly looked up. "Wait... Anatis called her out in front of you?"

 "Y-Yeah, like a few hours before he exposed her online," Adrien replied. He was sure he had told Nino about that. "She had tried to claim she was a descendant of a superheroine and that Marinette had threatened her into blaming Chloe,"

 "Y-You knew before the rest of us?" Nino asked, making Adrien frown. "Did you know before Anatis called her out? She use to claim that she knew Aspik and Ryuko and you always seemed to ignore that..."

 "Well, I thought at first she was telling the truth but then she said something that I knew was a lie..." Adrien admitted, making Nino start at him. "I asked Nathalie about it and she just said to ignore her like a tabloid and that she would expose herself..."

 "You knew and you didn't think to warn us? Me?!" Nino gasped, surprising Adrien. "Did you not think that we wouldn't realize?!"

 "I honestly thought she would expose herself and I didn't think she would go so far," Adrien gasped as Nino looked at him with hurt, making him realize how wrong he had been. He should have exposed her straight away and he would if he could go back in time. "I'm sorry, Nino. I wish I had told you and the rest of the class. I could have saved everyone so much pain but I really thought she would expose herself and disappear like a tabloid paper,"

 "Well, she didn't!" Nino gasped, pinching his nose. "God, Adrien! This isn't a fairytale! Things don't just randomly fix themselves! You should have told us! I... I don't know how I can trust you anymore..."

 "Nino!" Adrien gasped, surprised but Nino walked out of the art room, causing Adrien to follow. "Nino, wait!"

 Nino ignored him and kept walking, failing to notice the akuma and amok heading towards him but Adrien did. He gasped and suddenly pushed him out of the way, causing Nino to turn around in anger.

 "What the- Adrien?" Nino gasped, feeling his anger melting away as he noticed Adrien gripping his head and stepping backwards towards the wall. A purple butterfly mask appeared around his eyes as he tried to fight off Hawkmoth's control. Nino gasped and reached out his hand as he realized that Adrien had taken an akuma meant for him. He gripped his shoulders as Adrien tried to fight off Hawkmoth's influence. "Adrien, dude! Fight him!"

 "I'm not going to listen to you!" He gasped before groaning. "I won't be one of your puppets, Hawkmoth!"

 "That's right, dude!" Nino gasped, trying to encourage him. "Think only positive thoughts! You've got this, Bro!"

 "I won't do evil for you!" Adrien gasped but his eyes widen as Hawkmoth spoke to him. Nino slowly let go as he remembered what it was like giving into him. Hawkmoth had a way with words that made it seem like the greatest idea of all time. No one could resist for long, even Adrien and both of them knew it as Adrien's arms fell limp to his side. A single tear slid down his cheek as he gave one last look of desperation towards his friend. "N-Nino... run..."

 "Adrien!" Nino gasped as the purple smog engulfed him and a small blue smog appeared next to him before it disappeared, revealing his akuma form. He actually didn't look much different or scary at all. His outfit had changed into a green tunic with leaves on his sleeves and he had matching green pants. Material shoes were on his feet and he had a dagger attached to his hip, along with a pan-flute. His hair was still blonde but it was messier in style and he had a green mask across his eyes. The only thing that he could see right now that was unusual was his ears that were now pointed. In fact, Adrien actually reminded Nino of Peter Pan. Nino stepped forward, unsure what to do but maybe he could find the akumatized item before Adrien did anything. He went to reach for him but Adrien snapped open his eyes, revealing that his scleras were now green and his irises  "A-Adrien?"

 "Not anymore," He replied, smiling as Nino stepped back in fear. Adrien took out a small bag and reached in it before taking his hand out and blowing the dust in Nino's face. His eyes rolled up into his head as he fell down onto the ground. A golden glow surrounded him as Adrien grinned. "Don't worry, Nino! You'll be seeing me soon... but first, I have a game to play! Come on, Fee!"

 He flew up into the air and laughed happily before he flew off with his sentimonster following him. 

 ~In the Courtyard~

 "Marinette!" Luka gasped as he rushed out of the canteen after her. He frowned as he looked around but he couldn't see so he took a small breathe and closed his eyes, listening for the familiar song. He picked up on it and luckily it was close by so he followed it, coming to one of the staircases. He stopped and looked underneath. Hugging her knees while sitting underneath it was Marinette. He crawled next to her and sat down, making her look up from her knees. Her eyes were bloodshot and her tears were tear-stained. Luka gave her a soft look before he opened his arms. Instantly, she crawled into them and wrapped her arms around his torso as he hugged her. "Are you ok?"

 "E-Embarrassed," She mumbled, looking up at him. "N-Not of my feelings for you but just how it came out... I don't make you uncomfortable, do I?"

 "No, you don't," He replied, moving part of her hair out of her face. "If you did, I would have told you already but I like been with you. Lila was just been a bitch because she is a black hearted coward,"

 "But... now you know I like you.." She mumbled, looking down as she pulled away. 

 "Well, I hope so... we have been going on dates with each other..."

 "Yeah but only like small dates. They're practically friend dates," She mumbled, pressing her fingers together as she still felt embarrassed. She really liked Luka but she hoped he liked her but they were probably just really close friends... even though she wanted to be more. She would love to be his girlfriend but there's no way he would like her that much, especially after Lila's stun. "Lila meant that I like you... like really like you... and I'm sure you don't like me. I mean I'm sure you like me enough to go on a few small time dates but I don't think you like me as more then that. We're just friends... right?" 

 "Marinette... I-"

 "Marinette! Luka!" Adrien's voice stated, causing Marinette to gasp and bring her hands to her face. Luka looked behind him as Adrien walked over. Before he could reach, Adrien suddenly blew a golden dust in his face, causing Luka to fall to the ground as he heard Marinette shout before he heard a thumb as well. He tried to look over and saw Marinette laying on the ground as Adrien grinned to him before he looked over at Luka. "Don't resist it, Luka! This is your happy ending!"

 Luka felt himself getting heavily before he fell into darkness...

 ~Hawkmoth's Lair~

 "Dusuu, fall my feathers," Mayura declared, turning back into Nathalie. As soon as she did, she felt dizzy and began to cough. Hawkmoth went to see if she was ok but to his surprise, she pushed him away. He gave her a puzzling look as he turned back into Gabriel. "I'm fine, sir... but why didn't you recall the akuma? Adrien-"

 "It would have been too suspicious," He replied, making her frown. "That friend of his is the boyfriend of the lady blogger. If he tells her then she'll publish it and it will end up in Anatis' hand which could lead him to find out that I am Hawkmoth. I have managed to keep his investigations at bay but that would only fuel his belief that he is correct,"

 "I see, Sir," Nathalie replied as they made their way back to the lift. It took them a few minutes but once they were back in his office, she took a glass of water and sat down. Gabriel frowned to himself as he began to work on designs while keeping an eye on the news. As soon as Anatis and Lady Noir were on the scene, he would transform back into Hawkmoth but right now, Heureux Fin was wreaking havoc across Paris so he might as well do some designs while observing the situation. It also gave Nathalie time to rest. He glanced over to the news as Heureux Fin burst into the news reporter. He transformed Alec into one of the ugly step-sisters and turned Nadja into a version of the boy who cried Wolf before he addressed the camera.

 "People of Paris! I am Heureux Fin, bringer of happiness! I invite all of your to the grandest ball in the whole of Paris, brought you to by me and to be hosted at Agreste Manor!!" He declared, making both Nathalie and Gabriel to stare at the screen before he grinned and flew out. 

 "Wait what?!" Nathalie gasped before the doors suddenly burst opened and Heureux Fin flew in landing on the table.

 "Father!" He declared, grinning as Gabriel stared at him. "We're having a grand ball and I've invited everyone in Paris!"

 "Absolutely not," Gabriel declared but he regretted it. As soon as the words left his mouth, Heureux Fin's expression turned dark and his sentimonster, Fairytale, transformed into his shadow before it wrapped around Gabriel, trapping him in place. Nathalie jumped up in shock as Heureux Fin walked across the table towards his father. "Adrien, stop- hmm!"

 The shadow covered his mouth.

 "I'm not Adrien anymore! I'm Heureux Fin!" He declared, taking out his bag of dust. "We're having a grand ball and all of Paris is going to come whenever you like it or not!"

 "Hmm!" He declared as Heureux Fin took a handful of dust and blew it in his face, causing his shadow to let go him as he fell to the floor and began to glow gold as well. Nathalie rushed over to the door but the shadow got there beforehand, causing her to back up from it. She felt a tap on her shoulder before she turned around. Heureux Fin was hovering right next to her.

 "Adr-" She started but he grinned and blew the dust in her face, causing her to collapse to the floor as well. Heureux Fin turned to his shadow and grinned. "Go and bring our Princess Charming. She can help us set up the ball with her skill!! Oh and why you're at it, spread this all over Paris,"

 The shadow grinned and nodded, turning back into it's fairy form before it took the pouch that Heureux Fin handed to it. He had already transformed those who he needed to. Now he just had to set up the ball. He was even willing to let the cat and the beetle come to the ball. Though he will take their miraculous from them before the clock strikes Midnight.

 ~Back to the School Yard~

 "Luka!" A voice echoed as he slowly came around. He slowly blinked and opened his eyes, causing him to notice that he was laid on the ground. He slowly sat up and looked around as he recognized his surroundings as the school yard. Tikki flew in front of him and let out a sigh of relief. "You're ok,"

 "What happened?" He asked as he looked around. He remembered been in the courtyard with Marinette. He was making sure she was ok after Lila pulled one of her tricks and was about to fully confess to her but then they got interrupted by Adrien, only he didn't look like himself. In fact, he looked like he had been akumatized. Luka's eyes widen as he looked around and saw Marinette was gone. "Where's Marinette?!"

 "She was taken by something that looked like a shadow," Tikki stated, making Luka look at her. "I think your friend was akumatized.."

 "We have to transform," He declared, standing up. "Tikki, sp-"

 "Luka!" Juleka's voice echoed, making him stop and turn to Tikki. He went to open his hoodie, only to find that his clothes had changed. His new outfit resembled the waiter outfit Marinette had made him but it was more ragged and wore out. He blinked before pointing to his hair which was messier then usual. Tikki got the idea and hid in his hair as Juleka rushed over to him. Like himself, she was wearing a different outfit too. She was wearing a white dress with a blood red overcoat, matching red shoes and a ruby and gold circlet. Her hair was her natural color, which like himself was raven brown, almost black and her lips were blood red. As soon as he saw her, he realized she was suppose to be Snow White. Following her was Rose, who was wearing a pink dress in a style similar to Juleka's. "Are you ok?!"

 "I'm alright," Luka admitted. "Just confused about the new outfit,"

 "Oh, Luka must be Cinderella!" Rose gasped before yawning. Of course, she would be sleeping beauty. "Sorry!"

 "What's that?" Juleka asked, making him frown and look down. She was pointing to a golden envelope on the floor, causing Luka to pick it up and opened it. "Well?"

 "It's an invite to a ball at Agreste Castle," He stated, making him frown before he read it out. "Citizens of Paris, I, Heureux Fin, am throwing the finest ball in all of Paris! Everyone from all walks off lives are invited so they find their happy ending and forever after! Even the beetle and his cat are invited as long as they promise not to cause a fuss and hand over their miraculous! The ball starts at 7pm tonight at Agreste Manor..."

 "That's in half an hour!" Rose gasped, making him blink as she yawned. "Sorry! I'm just really tired,"

 "No worries, Rose," He replied before continuing to read. "The Dresscode is Fairytale theme. Though that shouldn't be a problem for anyone in Paris..."

 Luka's eyes widen, along with Juleka's and before anyone could say anything else, the two of them had ran out of the school. They came to a stop as they looked around. There were a number of giant beanstalks, thorn bushes and trees, making them realize that Heureux Fin had transformed the city into something out of a fairytale. The Grand Paris hotel was now a huge castle, there was a number of smaller castles and huts around. To Luka's surprise, the bakery had been transformed into a tower. Luka rushed over and made his way inside, finding Tom and Sabine had been transformed into a king and queen. He wasn't sure what fairytale they were from but he was more concerned about Marinette. They looked up at him and rose an eyebrow at his outfit.

 "I see you got hit as well," Sabine sighed, making him nod. "Are you ok? You look pale, dear,"

 "Is Marinette here?" He asked, making the two shake their heads as they looked at him with worry. "She was with me at school but the akuma ambushed us and when I woke up, I was dressed like this and Marinette was gone,"

 "We can help you look for her," Sabine stated, lifting her dress a little and following him outside with Tom. Luka nodded and led them to where Juleka was. He frowned as he noticed she was staring. He followed her look, causing him to stare at the floating ship. For a second, he thought it was Guard-O-War again until he realized it resembled the Liberty. A rope was thrown down and Anarka swung down, making them look at her. She was wearing a red captain's coat, black pants and boots but the most interesting thing was her right hand was replaced with a hook. She grinned at them. 

 "Ahoy, Me Hearties!" She grinned as a crocodile jumped down and landed next to her. Weirdly enough, they could hear ticking coming from it. "I see that scallywag hit ye all with his cursed magic,"

 "I'm afraid so," Sabine answered as a puff of glitter appeared next to Anarka before it reformed into Penny. She was wearing a silvery suit, had fairy wings and was holding a wand. "Oh, Miss Penny, you look lovely,"

 "Thank you," Penny smiled before turning to the kids. "Everyone ok?"

 "Well, no one's hurt but we've all been turned into something out of a fairytale," Juleka muttered, gesturing towards the school where a giant version of Ivan stood. Luka rose an eyebrow as he smiled and waved at him. He waved back before turning to the others. "At least, Anatis will be able to fix this,"

 "Have you seen Marinette, Penny?" He asked, making her frown as she made a thoughtful face.

 "No but I have an idea where she might end up," She stated, making Luka raise an eyebrow. "At the ball. Everyone in Paris is invited and Marinette is friends with Adrien,"

 "She's also the class representative," Rose gasped before yawning again.

 "And she's the best at making parties and organizing things," Juleka pointed out, making Luka frown before his eyes widen.

 "You don't think Adrien has taken her to help set up the ball, do you?" He asked, making everyone look at him.

 "It makes sense," Penny stated, making him frown. "We should attend the party then,"

 "Aye!" Anarka grinned as Penny cast a critical eye towards Luka, making him blink. 

 "Something wrong?" He asked, making her look in his eyes.

 "Marinette would never forgive me if I let you go to a ball dressed in rags," She pointed, making him blink. "And since I've been turned into what is clearly the fairy godmother... it makes sense that I have the ability to do this,"

 She waved her wand at Luka, causing a silver mist to move around him, causing him to shield his face as it changed his outfit. Once it disappeared, he lowered them and looked at his new outfit. He was now wearing a light blue vest with dark blue detail and silver buttons with matching light blue pants. There was a blue ruffle tie around his neck and he had a light blue gloves on his hands that only covered part of his hands and middle fingers. His boots were a dark crystal blue and sparkled like they were made from glass. Over his shirt, he had a silver tailcoat with a small amount of frills on it. It felt like it was made from the finest silk there was and his hair had been tidied up but remained in his normal style.

"Ok, now you can definitely go to the ball," Penny grinned, clearly enjoying herself. Luka would have to find a way to sneak away from them at some point during the ball so he could transform into Anatis but at least this way he could get in there without been spotted. Now just to get there. Maybe he could get close enough to Adrien to find out where the akumatized item is.

 ~Agreste Castle~

 "Are you coming to the ball as well?" Luka asked as the ship came to a stop outside the castle. Penny looked over and shook her head as Anarka walked over and handed her a bottle of rum. "I'll take that as a no,"

 "Well, I am a pirate, Lad," Anarka grinned. "We'll just wait here until Anatis fixes everything. Now go have fun at the ball!"

 "Right," He smiled before Penny lowered a plank for them to walk. Juleka and Rose went first before Luka followed. He felt nervous as he walked through the gates with a number of other people that looked like something out of a fairytale. Once he had located Marinette and made sure she was fine, he would find a way to transform. While his mother was flying them to the castle, he took a moment to check on Tikki. Luckily, she hadn't been affected by the change of clothes but gushed over his outfit. She was now resting inside his jacket, waiting for him to find the perfect moment to transform. He hadn't seen anything on Lady Noir yet so he guessed she was in a similar situation to himself. He took a deep breathe and followed Juleka and Rose in. The ball room was the grandest room he had ever seen. It was clearly based on an enchanted forest and hundreds of people there including a number of his classmates. Luka rested his hands on the edge of the banister and kept himself hidden a little as he looked around and observed the room in his luck vision, noticing the amount of exits in the place before he turned his attention to the guests. Rose and Juleka had joined the others and started to dance but Luka was observing everyone. In the back of the room was two golden thrones. A woman dressed as a queen but with a pig's nose was sat one. Judging by the color of her hair, it was Gabriel's assistant Nathalie. He noticed a frog king sat next to her that looked a little bit moody and he suspected it had seen better days. Judging by the smirk on Nathalie's face when she looked at the frog, it was Gabriel. There were other fairytale themed characters to. A lot of the guests were transformed into one might reference to as stock characters such as royalty and witches but it seemed that Adrien's friends were themed around main characters from fairytales. There was a wooden puppet next to his maker, making Luka realize it was Max and Marvok as. Alya and Nino had been transformed into Beauty and the Beast only Alya was the beast. Kim resembled a mermaid and seemed to be holding something in his hand while he sat in a bathtub. That made Luka assume he was the Little Mermaid. Near him was Alix who was talking to Aurora. Both appeared to be characters from Alice in Wonderland. Alix was clearly the white rabbit and Aurora herself was Alice. They were also talking to Nathaniel, who was Red Riding Hood, Marc who looked like a warrior, Mireille... she was the blue fairy and Jean who was dressed as Aladdin. It took Luka a second but he realized Marc was Atreyu from the Neverending Story. He took a deep breathe as he looked over the remainder of the guests, hoping to find Marinette. The Bourgeois family were there. Audrey was the Queen of Hearts and Andre was the cowardly lion but Chloe was dressed in a beautiful dress that resembled a Swan. Clara Nightingale was nearby. She was dressed as Clara from the nutcracker by the looks of her dress and she was talking with Felix who resembled a pixie. In the far corner of the room was an old witch, which he realized was Lila. Luka wasn't surprised that she had been turned into that. He moved his eyes from her and scanned the rest of the room until his eyes landed on Marinette. She was dressed in a pink tail coat with a golden waist coat and matching pants. Her boots were dark brown and her hair was tied into a loose ponytail. She had a ruffle tie around her neck and a pink rose pinned into her hair. It was simple outfit but she looked very beautiful. However, she seemed to be look around. Her eyes moved over to where he was and a look of relief came onto her face as she saw him. A blush crept over his cheek as that look turned from relief to awe. She must have spotted his outfit. Alya was next to her and said something to her but she shook her head as Luka took a deep breathe and walked over to the staircase. He descended down them as Marinette pushed through the crowd, causing people to look at her as she moved over. 

 "Hi..." She smiled shyly as she met him at the bottom of the stairs. "You look amazing,"

 "T-thanks..." He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as well. "You look beautiful,"

 "Really?" She asked, making him nod before she moved closer as if to inspect him. "I'm glad you're ok. I was really worried when I woke up and you weren't around. I thought Adrien had hurt you. He assured me that he didn't and that he needed my help to set up this. I was gonna post on the akuma alert app but Adrien seems harmless and the heroes haven't turned up yet,"

 "I know," Luka replied, nodding. "I think they might be stuck in their civilian forms and haven't had the chance to escape yet,"

 "That makes sense," Marinette replied, nodding before shrugging. "Oh, well,"

 Luka nodded in reply and looked around as the music changed. It was the same song they danced to at Chloe's party and in the moonlight. He had a feeling Adrien was behind the song choice. Marinette smiled as she looked around too before Luka cleared his throat nervously.He knew he should make some excuse to get away so he can transform but it would just seem odd to just sneak off. Besides, Adrien seemed harmless as an akuma and he could fix everything later. He should be able to enjoy himself, especially since he was with Marinette. 

 "W-Would you like to dance? It's our song... You know... never mind it's stu-"

 "Yes," She stated, making him look at her. "I would love to dance with you,"

 Luka broke into a smile as she grabbed his hand and lead him to the dance floor. The two of them moved together, ignoring everyone else as they just danced and zoned out into their own little world. Luka couldn't help but smile when Marinette leaned against him as they swayed. The more they danced, the more a fog seem to cloud their mind, making them forget as they continued to enjoy each other's company. Around them, the same thing seemed to be happening to everyone else. Nino, who wanted to talk to Adrien and apologize to him, decided he could just do it later. After all, he was having a good time and it was thanks to Adrien. The other guests were the same. Aurdey didn't care what people thought about her, Chloe was complimenting Sabrina and others and Marc wasn't hiding behind his hair. He was laughing and happy. Lila was talking happily to people as if she wasn't a malicious witch. Her lies and fake personality forgotten by both herself and everyone else. Even Gabriel had forgotten that he was Hawkmoth and that he was after the miraculous to bring back his wife. Instead, he was sat in Nathalie's hand as they danced, all of their worries forgotten. Luka smiled as he swayed with Marinette. His own worries lifting away and been forgotten as they danced. 

 "I love you..." He whispered, making her suddenly look up at him with surprise in her eyes. A blush crept over his face as she searched his features. A smile broke through as she looked at him as well.

 "I love you too," She stated, making him stare at her before he grinned like a love struck fool. She smiled back and gently leaned on her head against his shoulder again as they swayed. Luka smiled and pulled her a little closer to him as he rested his chin on top of her head before closing his eyes as they swayed on the spot with their friends grinning and whispering as they finally confessed their feelings for each other. However, their peace was short-lived as Heureux Fin flew in and landed on the stairs case, crowing as he did. 

 "Hello, Paris!!" He shouted, grinning before a fairy like creature flew over, trailing dust over everyone. "Let's get this party started!!"

 He laughed and flew up into the air as everyone cheered before the party kicked into a swing. Everyone laughed and danced without a single care as the castle shifted into a real forest. A huge roaring fire was created in the middle, causing everyone to dance wildly around it including Heureux Fin. It was like something out of a fairytale with wild fae and characters dancing around. Sure, it would be a mess in the morning but Luka couldn't bring himself to care. Just like everyone else, he knew Lady Noir and Anatis would fix it, even if the heroes hadn't turned up yet but that didn't matter. Now was the time to have fun. The music changed into a fast paced song, causing everyone to clap and dance faster as the evening went on. Song after song, played and Viper laughed as he spun around arm in arm with Ladybug but he suddenly stopped when he saw someone standing in the crowd, watching. He let go out of Marinette's arm as he stared towards the figure but Carapace knocked into him, making him look over.

 "Everyone ok, dude?" He asked as Viper blinked.

 "Oh, I thought I saw someone over there," He replied, looking over again but the person was gone. "Huh... guess they went away,"

 "Ah don't worry too much!" Carapace laughed, joining the party again as he howled and danced around the fire with Rena and the others. Frowning to himself, Viper glanced over to where the person had been. He felt like he knew that person and something had changed but he couldn't place his mind on it. He shrugged and turned around to dance again but something inside his mind niggled at him. Something felt wrong. Very wrong but he didn't know what it was. It just felt like he had forgotten something. He groaned a little as he felt his head ache and very slowly, the fog began to lift. It still wasn't clear what he had forgotten but it was definitely something. He moved to the side and sat down as he held his head. Ladybug moved over and leaned down in front of him. He looked up at her and frowned. Was she always dressed similar to Rena? For some reason, he was sure she was dressed as a princess before.

 "Hey, you ok?" She asked, making him look over. "You look pale,"

 "My head hurts," He replied, frowning. She frowned back and sat next to him, gently rubbing his back. "I feel like I've forgotten something important,"

 "Really?" She asked. "What do you think it is?"

 "I don't know," He replied, looking down. He frowned as he noticed his outfit had changed as well. Like Rena, Carapace and Ladybug, he was dressed in what he could only described as ragged clothing. He was in a teal green tunic with dark teal breeches and material shoes but he was certain he hadn't been wearing it before hand. He was sure he had been wearing something similar to Cinderella. That's what his fairy godmother put him in. Wait... not his fairy godmother but Penny! His eyes widen as he remembered her and his family. She had been transformed into the fairy godmother and his mother had been transformed into Captain Hook by an akuma. His eyes widen even more as he remembered Juleka and Rose. They were Snow White and Sleeping Beauty respectively and Marinette... Marinette had been Princess Charming. He glanced over and saw Rose and Juleka dancing by the fire. They were dancing as if there was no care in the world. He turned to look to Marinette, who was looked at him with worry and fear. He stood up as she watched him. "There's an akuma.. we have to get out of here,"

 "What's an akuma?" She asked, confused before gasping. "It is to do with that nasty pirate-"

 "Marinette, listen to me," He gasped, cupping her face. "Do you remember who your parents are?"

 "I don't have any, silly and my name is Ladybug," She giggled, making him frown. "We're the lost kids, remember? Part of Fin's crew. We never grow up and we get to play all the time. You know that, Viper,"

 "Viper?" He asked, frowning.

 "It's your name," She giggled, tapping the side of his head. "You came here with Tigress and Pigella,"

 "Tigress and Pigella?" He asked, causing her to point to Juleka and Rose. He frowned and shook his head before gently grabbing her shoulders. "Listen to me. None of this is real. It's the effect of the akuma,"

 "Viper, you're scar-"

 "My name isn't Viper, it's Luka," He gasped, making her frown. "And your name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Your parents are Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng. You're 15 years old and a fashion designer..."

 "This game isn't funny, Viper,"

 "It's not a game," He gasped before he took a deep breathe. Something told him he needed to wake her up as well. "Remember what I said to you just before Kitty Section played live. You are an extraordinary girl, Marinette. Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. You have been the song I hear in my head since we first met..."

 Recognition flowed into Marinette's eyes as the fog began to lift for her. She gasped and looked around, panicked.

 "Luka?" She gasped, making him let out a sigh of relief. "What happened? My mind feels foggy and confused,"

 "There's an akuma but I can't remember everything. I just know we need to get out now," He gasped, grabbing her hand and leading her away from the fire. Everyone else was having too much fun to notice. The farther they got away from the fire and the others, the clearer their minds got until they fully remembered everything including that they are heroes and that they needed a chance to escape and transform. Luka turned to Marinette, making her look at him. "I'm going to see if I can find Anatis. He might have been affected by the spell as well,"

 "Right," She nodded. "I should find Lady Noir as well,"

 He nodded before they were their separate ways. He slipped into the garden and hid behind a rose bush before letting Tikki out. He found her in his pocket asleep. He poked her and woke her up, making her yawn.

 "Luka?" She asked, making him slight in relief. "What happened?"

 "You feel asleep and I fell under the akuma's spell but now it's time to rewrite this story," He stated, making her nod before he swiped his earrings and transformed into Anatis. The rest of the fog completely cleared. He took out his yoyo and made his way back into the forest to fight Heureux Fin. He spun his yoyo when he came to the fire as all of the 'lost kids' looked at him with annoyed expressions. Heureux Fin got up from his throne and flew over, landing in front of him.

 "So you finally turned up, Bugboy," He declared, glaring at him as the lost kids sneered and shouted. "You know I'm just trying to let people have fun and helped everyone get their happy endings,"

 "By forcing them to forget who they are?" Anatis replied back, shaking his head. "That isn't how to help people... Adrien,"

 "My name is Heureux Fin!" He shouted back, taking to the air. "Besides, you can't catch me! Unlike me, you can't fly,"

 "He might not be able to fly but he isn't alone!" A voice shouted, causing Heureux Fin to look behind him as Lady Noir jumped on him. He managed to throw her off, causing her to land next to Anatis. "Got a plan?"

 "Not yet," He replied as Heureux Fin laughed and taunted them. "We need to ground him so we can find the akuma,"

 "Ok,"

 "You can't catch me!" Heureux Fin shouted before whistling. The fairy like creature flew over to him. "Fairytale, deal with this losers!"

 Fairytale turned into a giant wolf and landed on the ground, making Anatis and Lady Noir stare at it.

 "Great, he has a sentimonster," Lady Noir gasped as the wolf changed at her. She hit it with her baton as Anatis threw up his yoyo and summoned his lucky charm, which was a shoe and a sock. Anatis rose an eyebrow at it with confusion but before he could work it out, Heureux Fin tried to grab it off him. He jumped out of the way and stepped back, dropping the sock in the process. However, he was grabbed by the lost kids as Lady Noir was knocked back by the sentimonster. Anatis struggled against the lost kids as Heureux Fin flew over.

 "Now we can finally finding out who's behind that mask," He stated, reaching for his earrings. Anatis' luck vision kicked in, highlighting Heureux Fin himself, the shoe and the trees as a plan formed in his head.

 "None of this is real!" Anatis suddenly shouted, making Heureux Fin stop reaching for his earrings. "It's all a lie created by your powers. You're not Heureux Fin, you're Adrien Agreste! And this isn't a forest!"

 "You're lying!" Heureux Fin shouted but he lowered closer to the ground again, causing the lost kids to look at him with a little confusion. Seeing his chance, Anatis yanked him self free and threw the shoe, causing everyone to gasp it flew towards tree tops. Heureux Fin gasped and went to fly after it but Anatis stopped him, using his yoyo. The shoe hit the top, shattering one of the skylights before it fell down with shattered glass. The lost kids gasped and realization appeared in their eyes, causing Heureux Fin to realize. He fell down to the ground, allowing Anatis to recall his yoyo. Heureux Fin yelled out and charged at him but before he could hit, Lady Noir got the upper hand on the Sentimonster and threw it into him, causing it to fall on top of him before Anatis threw his yoyo, tying Heureux Fin and the Sentimonster to one of the trees with his yoyo. "Let me go!! Fairytale, atta- hmm!"

 To everyone's surprise, Nino shoved the lucky charm sock into Heureux Fin's mouth, cutting him off and causing Heureux Fin to look at him in surprise and slight betrayal.

 "I'm sorry, Adrien," He stated, taking the ring off and turning to Anatis, holding it out to him. "The akuma and the amok are in there. He took them to stop me from been the victim,"

 "Thank you, Nino," Anatis replied, taking the ring. "Kitten, would you mind?"

 "Cataclysm!" She called as he flipped the ring, tossing it towards her. She caught it and it rushed in her grip, causing the akuma and the amok to escape. Anatis recalled his yoyo, causing Heureux Fin to fall to his knees as Fairytale disappeared in blue smog before he threw out his yoyo and captured the akuma and the amok in it before releasing them. Lady Noir picked the shoe and handed it to him, causing him to smile as he took it. "Should I get the sock as well?"

 "The shoe will work fine," He replied before tossing it up in the air again. "Miraculous Ladybugs!!"

 The shoe burst into the cure and spreaded throughout the forest, getting rid of the trees and fire as it turned back into Agreste Manor. It washed over the party guests, turning them back to normal and restoring them to where they had been originally before bursting through the windows and spreading across Paris, turning it back into the city they loved. Heureux Fin turned back into Adrien and looked up confused as the heroes fist-bumped each other. Gabriel and Nathalie also looked around confused.

 "How did I get here?" He asked, confused before he noticed them. His eyes widen in realization and dread. "Oh, no! I was akumatized, wasn't I?"

 "Yes but I know you took it to stop Nino from been the akuma," Anatis stated, helping him to his feet as Adrien stammered an apology, "No need for an apology, Adrien,"

 "But I hurt people!" He gasped, making the heroes look at each other. "I did hurt people, didn't I?"

 "Adrien, you threw a massive party and turned people into fairytale characters," Lady Noir explained. "The most trouble you caused was causing them to forget their troubles. You didn't hurt anyone,"

 "But Nino... he must hate me," Adrien groaned, covering his face. Anatis frowned. "I... I should have never trusted Lila! All she does is hurt people and she upset my friend Marinette and Nino got upset with Alya because even though she told Lila off, she thought Lila was trying to help and fit in, just like I did. I offered to talk to her, to help her see the error of her ways like I did but in the process, Nino discovered I knew about Lila before anyone else and got upset that I didn't tell him like I should have!! I upset him and I saw an akuma coming for him! I couldn't let him down or fail to protect him again so I pushed him out of the way but the akuma and amok got in my ring and I tried to resist I swear. I-"

 "Adrien, calm down," Anatis stated, making him look at him. "Yes, you made a mistake with the whole Lila thing but that doesn't make you a bad friend. Talk to Nino and get him to help you with understanding social situations. None of this would have happened if you were taught how to interact with people your age and allowed to interact with them,"

 He shoot a look toward Gabriel, who looked at him with shock.

 "How dare you suggest that I'm the cause for this?!" Gabriel gasped. Anatis was ready to chew him out but to everyone's surprise, Nathalie stepped forward.

 "Anatis is actually correct, sir," She stated, making Gabriel look at her. "While his grades are excellent, he does lack in understanding normal social situations due to his isolated upbringing,"

 She turned to look at Anatis.

 "Which is we will work on," She stated, making him nod before she lead Adrien out, promising to get him some ice cream and to clear his schedule for a couple of days. Both Gabriel and Anatis stared in surprise as she lead him out before Gabriel turned to Anatis and held out his hand.

 "A thank you is in order," He stated as Anatis looked at it with distrust. "Is something wrong?"

 "I'm sure you saw how I call out a number of people for their behavior," He stated, making Gabriel retract his hand. "Well, you're heading to the top of the list, Mr Agreste. Adrien isn't some puppet or property. He is your son and if you keep going down this path you have chosen, you're gonna end up losing him forever,"

 "Is that a threat, Anatis?" Gabriel asked. He was certain the young hero didn't know he was Hawkmoth but he suspected the boy still suspected him. "Or a promise?"

 "Neither, Mr Agreste," He replied, making him raise an eyebrow. "It's a warning and if I were you, sir, I would heed it. Let's go, Kitten,"

 The two heroes walked out of the door, making Mr Agreste frown in a dark manner.

 "Soon enough, Anatis, I will crush you like the insect you are,"

 ~A Couple of Days Later~

 "So Adrien's schedule is been relaxed a little bit and he's asked me to help him to understand social ques," Nino explained as he and Marinette walked up to the school. "Though he won't be back in school for a couple of more days. Apparently, Nathalie is letting him have sweets and watch whatever he wants,"

 "That's good," Marinette replied before seeing Luka sat on one of the benches, listening to music. "Hey, would you mind going ahead? I need to do something,"

 "Sure thing, dudette," Nino smiled as he saw her looking at Luka. He grinned. "Go get him, tiger,"

 "Nino!" She gasped, blushing as he laughed and walked off. Licking her lips, she began to walk over. Since been restored, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Luka. She had tried to text him but he barely answered and she had a feeling is because of the party. She wasn't sure if it was the affect of Heureux Fin but Luka had said he loved her and she told him she loved him back. She did but she wasn't sure if he knew if she was been sincere. She had a feeling that he thought it was because of the effects of the akuma and in a way, she thought that might be the case as well. She stopped in front of him, making him jump a little and take out his headphones. "Hi..."

 "Hey," He stated, looking down at his hands. "Um... how is everything..."

 "G-Good," She mumbled, feeling her face heat up as he looked up at her. "How are you?"

 "I'm... good..." He muttered, though he didn't seem ok. In fact, he seemed surprised. Marinette rose an eyebrow. "I... I got through to the next stage for the music contest..."

 "Oh my gosh! That's great!" She gasped, going to hug him but she stopped and rubbed her neck, making him frown. "Sorry,"

 "It's fine," He replied, making her smile. "But are you ok?"

 "Um... actually, I wanted to talk to you about... the party and what you said..."

 "Oh god," He muttered, making her frown as he looked down in embarrassment. "Marinette, I am so sorry... I don't know what came over me with that. I know you don't like me in that way at all. I mean if you did, you probably would said already and you're out of my league anyway. I mean why on earth would a beautiful symphony like you want to be with a sour note like myself? You deserve better then me..."

 Marinette frowned as he looked down before a wave of clarity came over her. Luka didn't think she meant it but not because he didn't love her. He did but because he thought he wasn't good enough for her. 

 "Luka," She stated, making him look at him. "You're an idiot,"

 "That's mean, Melody," He stated, making her giggle "Why am I an idiot?"

 "Because I like you," She stated, making him blink at her in surprise. "I meant what I said during the party. You're amazing, funny, brave and creative. You mean everything to me and I'm so sorry it took me a while to realize it. I was so blinded by my crush on Adrien that I didn't even consider that someone else could be the one I want to be with but with you... there isn't any of that. Everything is so easy and simple with you. I don't feel like I have to be something I'm not. When I'm with you, I'm happy. Luka, I know I'm not perfect. I'm clumsy, stupid and I'm sure there's tons of girls that are way better then me but... I like you, Luka as more then a friend. I really like you and I..."

 She took a deep breathe.

 "I want to be your girlfriend," Luka's mind went completely blank as her words sank in. Marinette... liked him. Like actually liked him in the same way he liked her and she wanted to be his girlfriend. Marinette, the most beautiful girl in the world, wanted to be his girlfriend. He must be dreaming. There's no way this could be real but when he looked up at her, she was still there and he hadn't answered yet. He needed to say something before she thought he didn't like her. He opened his mouth as she looked down. taking his silence for rejection but before she could get up and leave, Luka gently took her hand, making her look at him. The way he was looking at her made her cheeks heat up.

 "I don't think you're clumsy or stupid. I actually think you're brilliant, beautiful and gifted," He stated, making her cheek heat up even more. "And there might be tons of other girls but they don't hold a candle to you. Marinette, I meant what I said when I said you were the song in my head. I still mean it and I always will. I... I love you..."

 "Luka..." She gasped, blushing. "I-Is that a yes to been my boyfriend then?"

 "Yes, it is," He smiled before blushing as well. "I-If you'll have me that is. I mean I'm not perfect and I'm certain gonna mess up but I love you and if you'll have me, I want to be your boyfriend..."

 "Yes, absolutely!" She gasped, making him blush. "Sorry, too much?"

 "N-No... I like your enthusiasm," He replied, causing her to squeak and throw her arms around him in a hug, making him chuckle and hug back as the bell rang. "We should go to class,"

 "Ok but meet me at lunch! I want to spend it with my boyfriend and hear about the contest! Ah, I can't believe I can say that!!" She grinned, making Luka smile back. Her song was louder then it had ever been. The second bell rang and she jumped. "Right! Gotta go!! See you at lunch!!"

 She blew a kiss at him before running off to her class, making him smile dreamily before he headed to his own lesson. He couldn't wait for lunch.

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Miss Bustier’s Class:

Marinette- Princess Charming/Ladybug Nino- Belle/Carapace Alya- The Beast/Rena Nathaniel- Little Red Riding Hood/Red Rose- Sleeping Beauty/Pigella Juleka- Snow White/Tigress Ivan- The BFG Mylene- Little Princess Max- Geppetto/Pegasus Marvok- Pinocchio Kim- The Little Mermaid/Monkey Alix- The White Rabbit/Bunny Sabrina- Rapunzel Chloe- The Ugly Ducking/Swan Princess/Bee Lila- The Evil Queen/Hag Miss Bustier- Mrs Darling

Mrs Mendeleiev's Class

Felix- Rumpstileskin/Chat Luka- Cinderella/Viper Kagami- Puss in Boots/Dragon Marc- Atreu (Neverending story)/Horns Aurora- Alice Liddle Mireille- Blue Fairy Jean- Aladdin Ondine- Thumbelina Mrs Mendeleiev- Unaffected

Other Characters:

Audrey Bourgeois- Queen of Hearts Andre Bourgeois- The Cowardly Lion Nathalie- The Pig-faced Princess Gabriel Agreste- The Frog King Anarka- Captain Hook (didn’t attend the party) Jagged- Tick-Tock  (didn’t attend the party) Clara Nightingale- Clara from Nutcracker Penny Rolling- Fairy Godmother (didn’t attend the party) Jean (Butler)- Knave of Hearts Mr Damocles- the Piped Piper Nadja Chamack-  The Woman who cried Wolf Gorilla-  The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Officer Roger- The Huntsman (didn’t attend the party) Master Fu- Wizard Of Oz (didn’t attend the party) Master Mila- Snow Queen  (didn’t attend the party) Tomoe- Mother Gothel (didn’t attend the party) Emile- The White Queen (didn’t attend the party)

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Next Chapter: Coming Soon