#Reblogs are incredibly appreciated (as they help me to grow)! Thank you very much in advance!!

[spiraltonic]

☀️ Sun & Moon 🌑

[celestialtarot11]

Astro Observations 💘💌

• Jhené Aiko has a pisces stellium in her chart, no wonder she is ethereal, and carries spirituality as a huge part of her platform. I feel those with pisces in their big 3, or stellium could benefit from incorporating spiritual themes in their career/side hustle! Jhené has a wonderful way of connecting to her audience, and Pisces is very much in tune with the collectives energy. Pisces is dreamy & manifests easily due to their flowing nature! So pisces, ya’ll can greatly benefit from a spiritual side hustle to help grow yourselves 💅🏻🤍 I love jhené aiko 🤝

• She often talks about getting high in her songs which make so much sense. Pisces may use drugs, weed and alcohol as a way to escape. But when healing, they turn towards spirituality and themselves to face their shadows 🤗🫶 shadow world is incredibly important to all water signs to help settle their subconscious! And a way to open their heart so it can flow the way it’s meant to.

• Virgos when they were younger probably carried the most health issues ❤️‍🩹 virgo babies please take care of your health. I believe health issues are your bodies way of communicating strongly, it’ll tell you what needs to change in your life, and if what you’re pursuing is helping you/hurting you. Your body is strongly connected to the energies around you which is why it’s so in tune. Powerful 🤗💘 just like pisces.

• Saturn in the first have a way of finding comfort in their melancholy, they almost never want to leave. Especially if this native has cancer placements. Their past is their comfort and only source of predictability, thats why they stay the same, or it takes a long time to make inner changes. Even if their past was turbulent, they would rather be able to predict what happened, than to change and face the unknown ❤️‍🩹

• Libra venus are so sweet and definitely know how to talk your ear off in romance 💘🌸 golden retrievers for sure! All libra placements honestly ‼️

• Capricorn venus is very particular about who they date. Perfectionism is apart of their motive, which is unhealthy, but also they want someone who can equally help them and support them in their life. Lets be rocks together ‼️ kinda vibe lmao. Some capricorn venus’s want control to the point of not letting anyone in, it stems from fear of everything falling apart ❤️‍🩹

• 12th house synastry is truly unique. Every experience I’ve ever had is different, because it’s a water house. That kind of synastry will reflect exactly what needs healing in your subconscious, and in your heart. I’ve been in mature connections involving 12th house synastry, I saw how deeply spiritual it is & it has soulmate energy to it. Ive also been in connections that were turbulent, and fell apart because of the healing I needed to do. Now, of course other partners with 12th house synastry can have their own healing they were not committed to which also contributed! This is important to remember. Both partners need to heal and dedicate time to their shadow work to evolve, and move forward 🤝 12th house synastry is not bad, it is simply reflective of your innermost state when you meet that person. You are meeting yourself in another 🌸🌅

Thank ya’ll so much for reading 🤗🫶 this was cool to make again! I appreciate any likes reblogs and comments. Share to me what you think! 🙌🌸 see ya’ll around.

Distance Healing Services 💘💌

Paid Readings 🤝🤍

[russellsppttemplates]

He's going to be so loved (Pierre Gasly)

You're afraid your children won't have all the love they deserved

Note: english is not my first language. this is another long piece that is about a sensetive topic that I have hopefully depicted with the respect it deserves.

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: pregnancy, curse words, family issues (reader has cut ties with her family)

"Y/N, chérie, how is little man treating you?", Pascale asked once you opened the door, allowing her and Charlotte, one of your sisters in law, inside the house, "he's a kicker, that's for sure! But he's been good lately, usually just needs me to tell him once and he'll stick to just move around", you giggled helping them with their coats before getting together in the kitchen, "I'm finishing my breakfast, do you want something while I finish? Some biscuits, tea, coffee? Oh, Pierre also made this cake with me yesterday, I had a big craving for it and it turned out really good!", you offered, "I'll have some tea, please. And maybe some cake too, although if Pierre made it, I might start with a small piece and see how it goes from there", Charlotte chuckled as she helped you bring the plates to the table.

The initial plan was to get a few smaller things that you still needed to get, like muslin cloths and such things, but like any other time you had shopped with company, you ended up with way too many bags filled with baby things. When you got home, Pierre had already arrived back from work, meeting you at the door and helping you carry the bags up, "Mon amour, how was your day?", he asked, kissing your lips and grabbing some bags, "it was good, my feet are a bit sore, but I really enjoyed spending time with them!", you exclaimed, reaching the nursery and putting the bags on the floor, your arms opening sp you could hug your husband, "I kept telling them that, as far as I know, there's only one baby here, but they insisted on getting all of this!", you giggled, feeling his hands rub your bump, "Our family is growing and they're very excited, it's just one of the ways they show how happy they are and their support too", he said, kissing your forehead.

To anyone, that would be a simple comment and it would brush them as quickly as it was said. But for you, it stayed playing in loop in your mind. The reminders that you did not have your family by your side came and went since you decided to keep away from them, especially when it came to big dates or important moments, but recently it had been a constant thought.

Cutting ties with your family had been the best decision, there isn't a day that you regret what you did. Having said that, it was still something you wished you could have in different circumstances. To have your mother share her experiences, to show you things from when you were little, to have your father teaching you and setting you set up the nursery and tell you all about your family's customs through the years.

Pierre's family had been incredible like always. They knew just enough about what happened with your family and not only respected it but also supported you in any way they could, taking you under their wing like you were one of their own from the beggining. The pregnancy had been received with massive excitement from everyone, and they kept calling whenever they had the chance, wanting to know how you were and if there was anything they could do to help you and Pierre in this journey. But lately, it had been a bit of a handful dealing with your thoughts.

.

"Can you grab the bag, please?", Pierre asked once he parked the car, checking something on the car before exiting it and lacing your hands once he got out, locking it and heading to the front door of Charles' place.

They had invited you over for baby Hervé's shower, welcoming you inside while you looked around, "we have a specific chair for you so you can be comfy", Charles said as he pointed to his wife, "she ordered me to do it", he chuckled, "hey! You don't know what it is to carry a baby around! It's hard work, and we both need to rest!", she reasoned with her husband, hugging you the best way you could before she introduced you to the people you didn't know. While they had a lot of friends and family you already knew, Charles' in laws were there too and you hadn't yet met some of them. They congratulated you, easily chatting up about everything and anything while you ate the snacks and drinks being passed around.

Pierre felt his body get a little bit lighter. It wasn't like your demeanor had changed that much in comparison to the last few days, but you certainly looked comfortable and like you were enjoying yourself.

"There's something on your mind, and I have time while they decorate biscuits. So, spill it", Charles noted, sitting next to Pierre on one of the high stools, sipping from his drink while he looked at his bestfriend. "Does Y/N seem off to you? Or has she seemed off to you recently?", he wondered looking at his wife admiring her work of art in the blue powdered sugar icing.

"I mean, she's lost some of her energy, but that's normal at this stage. You can't expect that she is running around now", Charles reasoned, not understanding where he was going, "it's just, I think she's been a little crestfallen, quieter than usual lately, and she hasn't said anything to me in that regard, she's been very quiet. I've tried to get her to talk, but she never says much", Pierre slumped his shoulders, "you just have to take it day by day. It's a lot these days, I'm sure you feel it, too. And they feel it even more. Family and friends are a great help, but there are some things they have to deal with on their own and it's hard to juggle all of it. She'll come to you whenever she feels ready, trust me", Charles patted his back.

.

You put all the baby clothes you had washed and dried in the hamper, supporting it comfortably on your side as you walked up to the nursery. The room was coming along well, the crib was already finished, just needing to be done with the softest sheets your skin has ever felt, and the rest of the furniture had been assembled whenever you and Pierre found the time to do it. Setting the clothes on top of the dresser, you opened the respective drawers to allocate every piece, taking the time and effort of remembering who had gifted them to your baby boy. Charles and his wife got matching sets so that both of the boys could look alike, Pascale had gotten way too many pieces for you to keep track on, claiming she was so excited to be a grandma again that she couldn't help herself anytime she saw something cute and had to get it.

Without noticing, tears started falling from your eyes and into the small pieces of clothing, marking them and creating a strain on your breath. Breathing in this late stage of pregnancy was already difficult, and sobbing wasn't helping it. You carefully walked to the chair you had put in the room so you'd have somewhere to sit during the night, proving its usefulness now as you tried to manage your emotions.

Pierre came out of the bathroom after his shower, already dressed and towell in hand so he could take it to the laundry room when he heard movement in the nursery. He didn't expect to see you like how he found you, cheeks red and tear stained and a trembling lip while you looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey, amour, what's the matter? Are you in pain?", he walked, throwing the towell on the corridor and kneeling in front of you, holding your hand in his while the other brushed the hairs out of your eyes. "I'm not in pain, I'm okay", you gulped, "but I haven't been feeling good. And I've wanted to talk to you, but I didn't want to bother you, even though you always say I could never bother you, but I'm telling you now, I guess", you blurted, receiving an encouragement nod from your husband.

Sighing, you played with his fingers, "lately, it dawned on me that my family isn't around for this, for me or for baby Alexandre, for us", you began, "and seeing Charles and his wife and everyone for there for Hervé, it got me thinking even more like, everyone was there to see them! To see the mother to be, to support her and congratulate her. And I'm not saying this in a bad way, because I'm so happy that they have it. And I know we have that from your family, I'm not complaining about them either. Everyone has been lovely, but fuck, I won't have my family supporting me. I won't have my father checking up on his little girl after she gave birth or have my mother share her experiences because the thought of having to be in the same room as them chills my bones. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt still, because it does", you cried, the attempt of looking up to stop the tears from flowing failing as Pierre carefully wiped them.

"How long have you been feeling like this, mon ange?", Pierre asked, now holding your face in his hands, "a little while, and the shower just made it a bit stronger, I think. Fuck, I sound like an awful person, I'm sorry", you apologised, "hey, no need for that. It's okay to feel like this, you don't have to feel guilty about your feelings", your husband reasoned.

"It is the best decision to keep away from them, I wouldn't change it for the world. But it will only be me passing down our traditions, and letting him know how things used to be, our language, our customs", you sniffed, wiping your nose on your sleeve, "because I don't want him to not know. It is a part of me that I'm proud of and I'm not letting my parents take that from me too", you breathed out. Rubbing your hands, your husband looked for your eyes, "and we will make sure he knows. Him and his siblings if we are fortunate along the way. I know a few words myself, and I'll help with all the traditions. I'll make your recipes, even if they don't taste as good, I'll teach them about all the holidays you celebrate and that we will celebrate too and I'll support you in anything you decide to do, I promise", he stated, smiling in hope you'd mirror his, the corners of your lips lifting a little.

"I know they're your family, but I'm sure that our little one is going to be so so so loved, he's going to be doted on by everyone", Pierre pointed out, "and we will make sure we do everything we can for that. And you are going to tell me everytime things get too much, okay? I hate to see you like this", he asked, earning a nod from you, "now, how about we sort these clothes so we can finally decide on the outfit he's wearing for when he comes home?", your husband teased you, "your brother gave us this little set he found and I think that's the one, let me show you it", you said, getting up and waddling to the pile of clothes, happily showing you the choice and smiling as you watched your husband's excitement about it all. Your little boy was going to be so loved, and it didn't have to be from a blood relationship.

[kairiscorner]

my art teacher and last year bio teacher inspired me to do this (and ofc @binibinileonara did too, as always <333)

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

miguel o'hara x gn!reader (teacher au)

hunched over at his desk, busy checking and encircling items quickly with his red pen as his hazel brown eyes scanned the page for the answers written by the students in all kinds of handwriting. he sighed as he shook his head, the test he gave the students were probably way too hard... or these kids were always lying whenever he'd ask them if they understood what he was saying.

"what are these kids even putting on the blanks spaces? i'm surprised their brains are better teachers than me–coming up with their own answers..." he muttered under his breath as he kept encircling the answers on one whole page for this one student's paper. as he felt his eyes drooping from the fatigue he got from the amount of incorrect answers he had to correct, he also felt a light tap on his shoulder. he turned his head wearily to look at the one who tapped his shoulder, coming face to face with your beaming face. "oh, miguel, you okay?" you asked him with a gentle voice as miguel nodded, groaning slightly under his breath as he did; he was okay physically, but emotionally, he was incredibly dejected and disappointed by his students' performance in his tests.

"lemme guess, your students breezed through your quizzes again?" you asked him with a sympathetic grin as miguel nodded weakly again. "they can't even bring themselves to put out any effort for my sake. i spend countless hours being wide awake at 2 AM, triple checking my quizzes to make sure it's just right for them–not too easy that i'll get questioned by the admins if i'm taking my job seriously, but not too hard that they're plotting to give me a bad rating for the evaluation to get back at me. it's... so difficult." he said with a sigh as he shook his head, trying to shake the sleepiness from his all-nighters away. you placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, hoping that you could help him in any way–you and miguel were in different departments, with you being an elementary art teacher and him being a high school biology teacher.

it was much easier for you since the kids in your class were very fond of your bright, bubbly personality and your open-mindedness when it came to art; the kids assigned to you were also very obedient and would strive hard to impress you, to make you proud. meanwhile, miguel's class was harder to manage since he was dealing with hormonal teenagers that think they know everything they've doing. you pitied him so badly, the kids he was handling were seriously not gonna give him a break and at least make his job a bit easier by listening. "sorry, mig..." "it's fine, it's fine, i'll... test them again this week. that extra unscheduled quiz and printing costs will come out of my paycheck, sure, but i need to make sure they understand what i'm saying." he said with a sigh as you moved your chair closer to him.

you placed your hand over miguel's that was clutching the red pen and lightly gripped it. he looked up at you in response to your touch and widened his eyes at the fact you were touching him. "what?" he asked you with a quizzical look in his eyes, reflecting the bright, beaming shine in your own eyes. "if you ever need any help with these kids, ever need someone to listen to you, i'm here for you, miggy–from one teacher to another." you said with a sweet smile, which made miguel's face contort into one of surprise. his face heated up at your kind words, with him nodding hurriedly and facing away from you–his face growing ever more flustered as he dwelled on your words. "um... thank you, a lot." he said with a hushed, flustered voice.

"i know a few therapeutic art techniques, i'm gonna teach the students about that for the next few weeks–wanna try them with me?" you asked him, hoping he'd agree. surprisingly, your hopeful wish was heard and granted–miguel looked at you, and with a slight, bashful grin, he told you, "sure. i haven't done anything creative for... a good long while in my life. it might just help with the stress and migraines i've been getting lately. um, hit me up? if you're, y'know, gonna start. that is what they say nowadays, right? 'hit me up'?" he asked you awkwardly as your stifled laugh when he said those three words exploded into peals of laughter at him being confused about gen z jargon.

miguel chuckled slightly to himself at his little blunder, but his chuckle of embarrassment then became one of fluster as you offered to help him check the heaps of test papers he had piled up. miguel didn't know what he did to deserve such a sweet, caring friend like you–with more patience than he could ever muster in his whole lifetime. if you would have him, maybe... he could take you out sometime and help you forget about computing grades and checking papers for one night?

tags !! @miguelswifey04 @binibinileonara @luvstarrstruck @melovetitties @arachnoia @ophanimgold @popeheywardssecretgf @meeom @simsrandomstuff @hisachuu @wreakingmarveloushavok

[harrysfolklore]

need me a blurb of harry thriving in latin america bc we all know he absolutely peaks over there

here it is !! a blurb about colombia, peru, chile and argentina 💖 brasil will get its insta blurb once the shows are done ! i hope you like this

if you want exclusive blurbs, tropes and polls SUBSCRIBE TO MY PATREON

ask me anything | masterlist | likes and reblogs are appreciated !

Colombia

"I'm so excited. I've never played here on my own before." Harry said as he looked over the window of his private jet, you were on your flight to Colombia after spending an incredible week in Mexico where Harry had four amazing shows filled with love, music and moments he would never forget, you were beyond happy that Harry was making amazing memories in Latin America.

"It's going to be an amazing show, baby," you looked up from your phone and saw his excited little smile, you were previously texting some of your friends from Colombia about stuff to do and places to visit over there, you knew Harry was dying to explore and walk around before the show. "I have a list of places we should visit, and I made a reservation for dinner tonight, my friends say this restaurant is the best in the city."

"That sounds lovely, darling." He let out a yawn as he got comfortable, drifting off to sleep for the rest of the flight.

After an easy landing and check in at your hotel, you went strolling around, Harry clad in his signature blue adidas jacket and you were wearing matching comfortable clothes, after some nice dinner that was even accompanied by live salsa music that Harry absolutely loved and made sure to get it added to the Late Night Talking intro and a couple of shots of Aguardiente, you guys walked around the streets of Bogota, and even tho Harry's mask was covering his lips, his eyes gave away the happiness he was feeling.

He felt at home.

"You know, I feel like you've been glowing lately," you said after a few moments of comfortable silence, walking hand in hand "You've been glowing ever since the Guadalajara show" you added, turning your head to look at him.

"I thought that only happened during pregnancy, right?" Harry asked, looking down at you.

"You glow when you're happy, baby." you smiled up at him, melting at the sight of his eyes getting even softer, he let go of your hand to wrap his arm around your shoulders and kiss the crown of your head through his mask.

"I'm very, very happy. That's for sure"

//

Peru

“I’d like to begin with a massive massive thank you to you for such a warm welcome back to Peru, I remember being here in 2014 and I remember how incredible you were, and we’ve barely begun the show and you’re just as incredible tonight.” Harry said into the mic as he walked down the catwalk, you were fondly watching by the stage wings, absolutely enamored by the crowd and how beautiful Harry looked in his pink heart top,

"The last time I was here I went on a little hike with my girlfriend, who's here tonight by the way, give it up for my YN!" the screams grew louder at the mention of your name, and it didn't fail to warm your heart "We went to Machu Picchu last time, beautiful landscape, it was like watching my history books come to life," he continued, "However, I made the terrible decision to wear tight skinny jeans that day, I ended up with a nasty fabric burn on my bum," you couldn't help but laugh as you remembered how much of a cry baby Harry was when we had his little incident "Yeah, I was a naive 20 year old boy who didn't listen to his girlfriend, who persistently told him to wear more adequate clothes for the occasion." Harry turned his head towards you and sent you a wink, that didn't fail to make you blush like you were those 20 year old kids again.

"Anyway! Who's ready for more music? Mas musica Peru!" the lights went down and everyone got ready to sing and dance again, the smile on Harry's face growing bigger and his heart filled with happiness to be playing for another latin american crowd.

//

Chile

"Come here. I miss you"

"And I would also love to see you in that black bathing suit x"

You laughed as you read the texts Harry sent, you were currently in Santiago, Chile, and the weather was so nice the entire crew decided to spend the day by the pool.

You made your way towards the private pool area the resort designated for you, and once you spotted your boyfriend your mouth couldn't help but water a bit.

He was in his shirtless and black swimming trucks glory, his tattoos in full display and his skin glowing, arms open for you to crawl in.

"Finally, I've missed you" he said as you laid down next to him on the lounge chair he was resting, using his arm as a pillow.

"Don't be dramatic now, I was just gone for like 30 minutes" you turned your body sideways to look at his eyes, the sparkle on them hasn't left since you arrived to Colombia.

"Still too long," he placed your hand on your bare back and caressed it softly, causing goosebumps to appear on your skin, "I don't think I'll ever be over yesterday." he said making your move to nuzzle your face on his chest, his hand not leaving your back.

"It was a great show lovie, and tomorrow will be just as good" you placed a chaste kiss on his chest, and rested your hand there.

"I mean yeah, but i was talking about the amazing blowj-" you swatted his chest before he could continue, "Harry! Your entire tour crew is around, have some class" you said, making him laugh hysterically and kiss the crown of your head multiple times.

"Baby, they know I'm not a virgin, don't be so shy now" he gave you a teasing smirk that made you roll your eyes with affection before standing up.

"I swear you're like a teenager sometimes, I'm hopping in the water, bye!"

//

Argentina

"Holy shit! Look at how packed that pit is already" Harry said as he got a peek of the stadium, it was still early but fans were already inside and waiting for him.

"You know how much your fans here love you, baby. Tonight's show is going to be crazy" you rested your chin on his shoulder, looking at the crowd with him.

"It's going to be one of the best, I can't fucking wait" excitement was evident on his voice and you couldn't help but melt a bit, the man you love was happy and that made you the happiest as well.

"They scored!" Anthony Pham's voice made you turn your heads, a bunch of the crew members were watching the Argentina vs Australia match on a small tv, and the screams from the crowd just confirmed that their country had just scored.

"Wait, put the match on the big screens, let's watch it together with the crowd" Harry said and guys from the tech crew quickly put the match on the stadium screens, making fans grow excited.

By the end of the match and by a close call, Argentina won and the crowd erupted in cheers and screams, the entire staff celebrating too and hyping the crowd.

"Go celebrate with them baby! Go on!" you urged Harry to go on stage, "You know what? Fuck it!" and he ran to the stage and hyped the crowd, celebrating the victory with them

Argentina gave him one of his best tour memories already and the shows were still yet to happen.

taglist: @cucciolafaerie @eleanordaisy @sunflowersndpeaches @golden-hoax @alienorknight @daydreamingofmatilda @sunflowervolume66 @vanteguccir @ivyproblems @ayeshathestyles @stylesmygucci @gimsaysay @rosaliedepp @dontworrysunflower @milfrrynation @manifestrry @iceebabies @harrystylesrecs @pleasingrryyy @harianaswhore @leadmetogarden @abeanontoast @grapejuice-rry @vrittivsanghavi @msolbesg @tati813 @sad1esgf @ivegotparticulartaste @eviesaurusrex @itsgabbysblog @theekyliepage @gumballavocadoharry @watermelonsugacry @be-with-me-so-happily @a-strange-familiar @reveriehs @musicforcinemas @rafeyyyyy @tinydeskwriter @noooovaaaaa @tenaciousperfectionunknown @mxltifxnd0m @rach2602 @balletdancerry @b-reads-things @juiceboxrry @lomlolivia

[roosteraloha]

delightful ❄️

Bradley Bradshaw × Reader

wc - 1.9k

warnings - FLUFF, talks of seasonal depression & spending the holiday season alone.

disclaimer - ANY BLANK/AGELESS BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED!! I also DO NOT give permission for any of my works to be copied, shared, compiled, translated or posted onto other sites!!

a/n - this fic is part of the wonderful @sailor-aviator’s Christmas Challenge!! this is my first writing challenge & my first seasonal fic! hope y’all enjoy this one 🤍 title is taken from ‘let it snow’ ❄️

comments & reblogs are greatly appreciated!!

Christmas. The holiday season that everyone around you seemed to love. You however struggled this time of year, being so far away from what little family you had left was never easy on a regular day, holidays just amplified that longing - something Bradley could relate to all too well.

You couldn’t lie, you loved how the twinkling Christmas lights helped to cheer in the cold, dark nights. But you dreaded being alone, when everyone around you couldn’t stop raving about going home for the holidays and growing more and more excited, while your seasonal depression worsened.

At the first mention of tnr holiday season, Bradley was expecting you to be full of seasonal cheer, but in a way was gladly surprised that you too had lacked the stereotypical family atmosphere during the holidays. He lost both his parents and have a very fractured relationship with Maverick, his only real family, which led to many years he spent the entire holiday season alone. You had very little family left, those who you did have, an estranged aunt and uncle you barely knew, lived halfway across the world. The relationship between you was basically nonexistent, and there was no way ok your meagre salary, that you could afford to fly out to spend the holidays with them.

When you had met Bradley, you were initially cautious of his attitude towards the holiday period. There was no way you could be in a friendship or a relationship with someone who lives and breathes the season. You wouldn’t be able to stand it. You heart lifted when it was revealed that Bradley had the same attitude as you, he wasn’t going to try and change you and your feelings. Instead, he’d respect them and let you celebrate however much or little you wanted.

When December arrived, you immediately became much more gloomy and irritated. You didn’t need to look at the calendar to know the reasoning behind your sudden distaste for everything and everyone around you. The nights grew longer and darker, and you felt less and less like yourself. Bradley had severely underestimated how much you disliked the holidays, assuming you were just being over dramatic like you were known to be on subjects you felt strongly about. He swore that his heart physically hurt knowing how much you hated the holidays, the switch from your usual chipper routine, to barely being able to drag yourself out of bed for work.

You sighed heavily, collapsing onto the sofa, ignoring the snort from Bradley at your dramatics. “What now?” He chuckled, you got very dramatic around stressful situations, and the holiday season was the highlight. Truly he did care about how you were doing, but he only found amusement in these situations due to the one time you broke down crying laughing at how badly you’d overreacted over a tiny trivial thing, he knew you’d never take offence to his laughter.

“I completely forgot that everybody decides to do their Christmas shopping so incredibly last minute!! Like, why are you shopping for presents the week before the holidays?!” You huffed dramatically, unable to withhold your laughter at Bradley’s expression, trying desperately to hold a straight face while you acted out your day. “I don’t know, baby. But I’m thankful for them providing me with this entertainment.” You gasped in faux outrage at his words, grabbing a pillow from beside you and throwing it in his direction without looking, yelling in victory when you heard him yell at the unanticipated contact.

Bradley was cautious about voicing his next statement, already anticipating you to blow up at him, but being polite like his mother raised him to be, “Y’know, you shouldn’t be cooped up in your tiny apartment for Christmas.” He held the cushion in front of him, a pathetic attempt at a shield from your incoming wrath. Eyes widening at your sudden silence, he was quick to add, “Bub…I just meant, I also have to spend the holidays alone, in this big empty house.” He’s by your side now, hands running placatingly on your arms. “What if we spend it together? We can pick out a tree from that lot that Bob can’t stop raving about, you can teach me to bake those cookies we talked about, maybe just make it like any other day, if that’s what you really want?”

Your tense expression melted, tears seeking up in your eyes, not entirely certain whether it was due to the season, or your loving, highly attentive to detail boyfriend’s reaction and creation of alternatives for you, other than your entirely more depressing current tradition of spending the day in your bed, pillow over your head and duvet pulled over you.

Bradley froze at your sudden emotional breakdown. Presuming he had spoken out of turn and instead of pissing you off, had broken your heart, something he swore to himself and his parents that he would never do to you. Internally panicking momentarily, relaxing when you merely snuggled closer to him, curling up on his lap, your head buried in his neck.

The house was cold. That was the first thing you noticed when you got to Bradley’s late after your shift on Christmas Eve. You lived in San Diego. It did not get this cold, ever. Frowning, you trudge through the entryway, kicking off your shoes, then wincing as your socked feet meet the cold tiled floor. You called out for Bradley, he had texted you before you left work, asking you to come over, you assumed for a quick present swap. He had been ignoring your texts and calls since you gave him confirmation that you would be there. He must’ve turned the air conditioning down as low as it could go, which in summer would have been luxurious, but now?

Now, the drizzle and gloom outside was continued indoors, which kept you frowning as you move through the house looking for Bradley.

Hearing soft humming of Christmas songs from the kitchen, you scurry through the house, keeping your feet off the cold floor as best you could. You’d have to get Bradley to fix the AC. “Woah! Stop there! Close your eyes, this is a surprise, sweetheart!” You groaned, reluctantly closing your eyes, feeling a warm presence move in front of you, a soft kiss being pressed to the top of your head as a soft silk is tied delicately over your eyes.

“Bradley…” you whine softly, trusting him, but clueless as to where this was going. He chuckled, his breath fanning gently onto your cheek, a welcome warmth from the chill in the air. Rubbing his hand up and down your arms, appreciative that you were still in your thin work uniform, trying to warm you back up as best he could, “I’m gonna lead you upstairs, then I’m changing you into something warmer, okay?” You whined at the sheer unknown, but gave into the significant trust you had in your boyfriend.

He carefully pulled off your uniform, his warm hands welcome against your cold skin, goosebumps erupting down your arms. A soft, fleecy, warm shirt was pulled up your arms, and Bradley buttoned it up with immense care and precision. Next were the fleecy pants, which you felt were too long for you, and giggled as Bradley pulled on a fresh pair of fuzzy socks. You squealed as Bradley scooped you up bridal style, peppering your face with soft kisses, chuckling at your soft laughter.

Downstairs, he places you gently onto the couch, greeted now by a warmth the room lacked when you arrived. Warm breath fans gently across your cheek as Bradley gently unties the blindfold, squinting as your eyes adjust to the light. The room is bathed in a soft warm light, the scraggly tree you both had picked out and decorated the week before was twinkling softly, but wasn’t what made your eyes well with tears. The fireplace that usually stayed empty due to the warm California weather, was crackling with fresh logs, the fire casting a warm and cosy glow over the entire room.

There was also an extra stocking hanging from the mantle. Where usually there were just three - Goose, Carole and Bradley - there was one with your name lovingly hand stitched, matching the theme of the original trio. Swallowing thickly you glance at Bradley who shrugged nonchalantly, "I didn't have anyone else to spend Christmas with. Hope you don't mind if I spend it with you. Share old traditions…Maybe make some of our own…”

Throwing yourself at him, you hug Bradley tightly. It had been mentioned only in passing that growing up you never had your own stocking like most children, and your only happy holiday memory was spending quality time snuggled together with your family in front of the fireplace.

Bradley ran a soothing hand across your cheek, wiping away the tears you were unaware had started to fall. You had never had someone pay such attention to minute details you shared, not expecting them to remember them months later.

But Bradley was not someone from your past.

He is your future.

Several classic Christmas movies later, you were snuggled closely against Bradley’s side, under one of the seasonal blankets he ‘allowed’ you to keep at his place, It’s a Wonderful Life playing in the background. Your half drunk mugs of hot chocolate sat on the coffee table alongside platters of sweet treats Bradley had bought just for the two of you to share, alongside the decorated sugar cookies that the pair of you had made from an old recipe of Carole’s.

Humming contentedly, you crane your neck to glance up at the face of your loving boyfriend, feeling your eyes on him, he turns, kissing you lovingly, pulling you closer to him. “Happy?” You nod against his shoulder, “This is the best Christmas I’ve had in years, Bradley.” He smiles softly at your words, “You know, if you wanted…” He shrugged, trailing off, frowning, you shift and straddle his lap to get a better look at him. “What? If I wanted to what?” Bradley shook his head, a bashful expression on face, narrowing your eyes, you grabbed his chin gently, forcing him to look at you again.

“I wanna spend every Christmas like this with you.”

“Every Christmas?”

He nods.

“Move in with me.”

“Yes.”

“Why? Because I miss you when you’re not- Wait, yes?! You’ll move in?!” His expression frozen, not believing his ears.

Nodding and kissing him once, his eyes light up, grin taking over his face, laughing joyfully, tugging you close to his chest, covering your face in kiss after kiss after kiss. You join him in laughter at his reaction, tugging him down to lay on top of you, being lovingly overwhelmed by everything Bradley.

If this is how every Christmas would end up, snuggled up in front of a fireplace with the love of your life?

If this is what your future looks like, then you couldn’t wait to spend the rest of your life with Bradley.

[8turning]

⌕ . . . park jay — 02:49 !

bf ! park jay x gn ! reader ★ fluff. comfort. slice of life. established relationship ★ wc 768 ★ warnings: petname seong. let me know if i missed anything!

n. apologies for disappearing, i fell a little ill but am now slowly getting back!! thank you for your patience ♡

— this is a reposted fic from my old blog! this fic is not stolen.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀〈 REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED ! 〉

you barely had enough strength in your body to push open the door of your shared apartment, but knowing you could not sleep comfortably outside was enough motivation to walk the last few steps into your comfortable home.

working later shifts came with a few advantages, one of them being very little traffic on the commute both to and back home since you arrived and left at odd hours. and as time went on where you worked later, you've come to the conclusion that that is truly the only advantage.

the apartment was warm - the temperature outside incredibly low due to the late hour - and it felt as if tension was melting off of your shoulders the longer you stayed in the space.

you take a deep breath in, finally allowing yourself to relax as you set your keys and bag down, discarding your jacket to the couch to worry about once you awoke.

although the rest of your home was succumbed to darkness, the faint moonlight that shone through your windows was enough for you to navigate with. being extra cautious to keep the sound of your footsteps to a minimum, you make your way down the hall, your bedroom door cracked open the slightest bit, indicating to you that it wasn't vacant.

with your palm against the cold metal of the doorknob, you push the entryway open and can make out the vague silhouette of your boyfriend, already under the covers and on his side, waiting for you. his soft snoring filled the room along with the low volume of a random show on the television that he usually fell asleep to.

you smile at the sight, your fatigue becoming increasingly difficult to ignore as you make your way to the edge of the bed, unable to help yourself from resting your palm against his flushed skin.

leaning over, you kiss his forehead, pulling away to change into your sleepwear quickly; it wasn't often you and jay could sleep in the same bed due to his schedule being demanding of his time - and now with your updated work plan - nights like these only became more and more scarce.

the feeling of the soft fabric on your skin instantly soothed you, resting your phone on the bedside table as you took extra care in getting into bed without disturbing your lover.

for a moment after you settle next to him, head resting against the plush pillow facing him, you believe you had succeeded in keeping his slumber at peace - that was until you saw a tired smile spread across his lips, eyes opening the smallest bit to see if he actually felt you next to him or if it was just a side effect of his tired mind.

to his pleasure, you weren't an illusion, his smile only growing wider at the realization as his arms snake around you. "why didn't you wake me?" he grumbles, speaking into the crown of your head as he pulls you into his chest, carding his legs between yours to be as close to you as he could.

"you need to sleep, seong," you reply, arms tightening around his torso before you feel the vibration of a hum erupt from his chest. "let's just rest, okay?"

you feel as he nods, pulling away and bringing a single hand to your cheek to hold you in his palm, much like you had done to him moments ago.

in the dim light from the television, you could barely make out his soft smile, eyes already threatening to close as he leans down, a gentle kiss being pressed to your lips.

you could tell he was tired, lips moving slowly against yours as he gave you everything he could offer at the moment - and for you, that was enough.

"goodnight," he begins once he pulls back, his chin returning to its usual place on top of your head while your cheek presses against his chest. "i love you, y/n."

"i love you, too, seong," you reply, a smile on your face as you pull him impossibly closer, hands gripping at the back of his shirt as you feel his breathing and heartbeat even out.

his tired form held you close, the embrace he kept you in comfortable as you listened to the dull sound of the television, the atmosphere calming. you could only hope that more nights like this would come.

if working nights meant you could come home and sleep like this each and every evening, you might start to believe there were two advantages to having to endure such late shifts.

© 8turning 2023.

[stevie-petey]

Hello! I just wanted to start off by saying I LOVE your Come Home series and your writing with it. It has inspired me in so many ways, and in all honesty, I’ve enjoyed it more than I have actually watching Stranger Things! I cannot wait to see where you take the book, and how you navigate whatever comes with season 5!!!!

I was also wondering, how have you found so much success with this series on Tumblr, and do you have any tips for growing fics in general? It has gained so much popularity and I am so happy to see it because you totally deserve it, your hard work is paying off so good!

Have a great day or night,

Anon 🦋

hi dear !! first of all, thank you so much <333 i appreciate the kind words so much and i adore you for being so supportive :’)

long post ahead !!

as for how come home managed to become what it is now: i truthfully cant really say. it still amazes me that its so popular now, but even then i dont necessarily consider it “popular” in my head lmao shes just my lil story !!

i want to start off by saying i never intended for come home to become such a well loved fic. i uploaded the first chapter simply because i wanted to, i liked what i wrote and hoped someone would like it as well. never did i think “cool ok this fic will def become an overnight sensation”.

honestly, one day i was averaging maybe 60 notes per chapter and then the next day i was suddenly averaging 300-400. the fic quickly took off before i could even really process it, and i want to emphasize that this is rare !! so so so incredibly rare. i got lucky, thats all there really is to it :/ sometimes amazing stories dont get the recognition they deserve and sometimes they do. i have personally written fanfiction for 10 years now and i never once had a fic “blow up” how come home did.

i also want to say how fucking grateful that my story managed to find its own community and become this amazing thing. every day i cannot believe any of it is real and i genuinely love and adore each and every person who reblogs and recommends the fic.

what i CAN say is that tags help !! ive noticed some new authors dont know how to tag their fics, which can really diminish their reach. for tumblr, the first five tags are the most important. these are the ones that show up on dashboards !!! i think what also helped me was having a very clear and concise story structure with pretty frequent updates. im fortunate to be able to write and upload a lot faster than i probably should (it concerns many but i find it funny).

and lastly i also just think its super important to interact with everyone !! answer all the asks, reblog all the responses, reply to every comment. i firmly believe its the least i can do if someone has taken the time to read my story and found time to say a quick praise or simply tell me they laughed :)

at the end of the day, its a game of luck and perseverance if anything else, but the general creator rule of thumb is that you should never create something just for the notes/reblogs/praise. create for yourself, create because you WANT to !!! its a slippery slope keeping track of clicks and hit and whatever. i stopped keeping track of come homes own traction because i simply dont care enough to follow it. im happy where i am and i love how the story has grown :)

hope this helped a bit and that ya enjoyed my rambles <3

[matan4il]

Hiiiii!

Hope you're doing alright. I haven't been around much lately but wanted to make sure you were okay.💙

Sending you lots of love,

💙-nonnie

Awwww, blue heart Nonnie! Thank you so much for this ask. It’s so sweet, kind and thoughtful, I really appreciate it!

Okay, for anyone who might be interested in what I’ve been dealing with...

I was diagnosed with a tumor. One of my doctors thinks it could be the cause for my vertigo (yep, I’m still suffering from the constant vertigo). The tumor is situated right on top of a nerve, so presently they can’t even do a biopsy to see if it’s malignant or not. The docs are basically keeping an eye on it for now.

They found some other lump and thought it might be another tumor, but a few tests ruled that out for the time being. They don’t yet know what the lump is, so I’m due for more tests on that front, and hopefully it doesn’t grow and turn out to be a tumor after all (another one of my docs said she’s absolutely certain that it won’t).

Lastly, I started having shoulder pains to the point where I couldn’t sleep or get dressed without help, and at first I was diagnosed with an inflammation of the tendon, but then an orthopedic doc sent me to have more extensive x-rays, which showed it’s actually both my shoulders and both my knees that are in a bad state, and it’s because of the early onset of a degenerative condition. So there is no cure. There’s only treatment to counter it as much as possible and minimize the pains.

On top of everything else, my mom decided to make a big life change, which is actually a very positive one, but she’s incredibly stressed over it. And stress is not good for her mental health. She’s always struggled with it, and when she’s stressed, it takes a turn for the worse. So yeah, I’ve had that to deal with as well. She’s better right now, though she was getting agitated again last night. I talked to her and I try to help, but NGL. It gets scary sometimes.

So, yeah. That’s the stuff I mostly don’t talk about here ‘coz I know it’s a lot. Just know that you caring means a lot and makes a big difference, thank you so much! And if (and only if) you feel like it, you can always look through my content, and like or reblog something. It makes me feel like despite everything, I still somehow manage to make a positive contribution. And that always brightens my day.

For now, I’m holding on to the fact that there is a bright spot in every day. There is ALWAYS at least one thing to smile about, one thing to be grateful for. Last week, for example, I got to see my nephew. Look at this absolute pure ray of sunshine! How can I be anything other than grateful when I look at him?

Thank you again, my beautiful blue heart Nonnie! I hope you’re okay as well? Sending you all the love and hugs! xoxox

[ladyelissarose]

Hey y’all!

So I wanted to come here and apologize about my recent absence. I try to post here and there and keep up, but I got college sending me everywhere even before I start lol.

My first day of college is on the 28th, and as my new chapter begins there, we’ll have a few changes here. I will open up my ask-box, but I’ll be responding when I get the chance. And I’m mostly going to be answering questions or comments if y’all have some, I appreciate either to be honest. They make me smile and feel grateful.

As far as requests, I’ll be probably doing blurbs or headcannons, since they are a bit shorter to write- it’ll be that way until I’m able to settle down a bit then I’ll let y’all know about asking for one-shots (one-shots are my fav tbh) but either way, know I’ll be putting my heart into your requests and deliver my very best.

Responses can be quick or slow, it depends my friends. But either way I won’t let it slide or forget about them at all. Please be patient with me.

I’m very grateful to tears for all my friends here, you guys are the best, beautiful and talented people I know. I’ve come this far with y’all and I can’t thank you enough for inspiring me in different ways. I appreciate the talks, comments, funny things we send- they all want my heart when I get to see it. Y’all mean the world to me.

And as for my followers…. Y’all welcome home!! Ahhh you guys I’m grateful for the follow and support!! Make yourself comfortable here as we grow bigger for better. Feel free to send a message or ask, I’m up for answering reasonable questions or for a talk when y’all need it. Even to listen, I’m there too🤍

Likes, reblogs, and comments are much appreciated. Please do this to others as well and support everyone. They work very hard to bring such incredible content to y’all, and to be honest, I get through my days because of a lot of it. So please, be kind, respectful, and helpful to grow their fandoms and work progress.

Bless you all, and I love you all very very much.

(I cried while writing this.)

🫶🏼❤️🌻

[thehiddenbaroness]

I posted 8,636 times in 2022

That's 867 more posts than 2021!

23 posts created (0%)

8,613 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@infected

@lastoftheptolemies

@ofallingstar

@crowcoyote

@malglories

I tagged 1,231 of my posts in 2022

#a sensible chuckle - 190 posts

#long post - 109 posts

#epicurean - 101 posts

#soapbox - 87 posts

#lingerie - 85 posts

#mineralia - 73 posts

#scrapsofbiography - 72 posts

#lotr - 50 posts

#fav - 38 posts

#weaponry - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#not my fandom but incredibly good points here for writers and worth the read for those of us concerned about character depth and realism

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Wow, four followers short of a thousand and so close to my birthday? How unexpected and lovely! <3

Glad you're enjoying your stay and welcome to new folks!

5 notes - Posted December 1, 2022

#4

Please spare a thought or two over the next couple of days for our newest furbaby Ariel; he's been hospitalized for some gastrointestinal problems. <3

10 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

#3

Getting to Know You

(Or for some of us, a check-in on the status quo!) Tagged by @ohtobealady -- thank you darling wifey! <3

Rules: Tag 10 people you want to know better!

Favorite time of the year:

Traditionally I grow more powerful feel more like myself in autumn, but the past couple of years I have a new appreciation for spring. Winter comes close just because frankly it's more comfortable down here.

Comfort foods:

Can't go wrong with a warm meat in gravy with a starch: pasta, stews, savory pies, risotto (in a way), (lately) curries... But I also have a sweet tooth so pastries and cobblers are also up there. At a simpler level, I enjoy warm buttered bread with honey.

Do you collect anything?

I'm a collector by nature and have been my whole life, probably a trait from my mother. My collections are currently tempered by space (and not wanting to inundate the house I share with my Darling Viking more than I already have!) and money, but a few: Japanese porcelain, antique Blue Willow china, a specific pattern of Noritake Morimura, gemstones and minerals, fossils and other natural specimens (responsibly-sourced when not personally found) such as feathers, scarves, perfumes, antiques in general...

Favorite drink?

Probably very boring but I really do love water. I'm also very partial, currently, to my extra-hot caramel macchiato.

Favorite music artists:

I tend to gravitate more toward songs than individual artists, but some coincidental favorites to that end: Thomas Newman, Breaking Benjamin, The Goo Goo Dolls, Ludivico Einaudi, Simon & Garkfunkel, Hiroyuki Sawano, Linkin Park, Michelle Branch, Sash!, Yoko Kanno...

Current favorite songs:

'Midnight Moon' by Eydís Evensen ft. GDRN thanks to a concert by the pianist linked by @karrova; 'Age of Men' by Jo Wandrini because it gives me certain shippy feelz for my novel; 'Firedancer' by Rúnfell because I'm on a Valheim kick recently and it helps keep me motivated for my latest build project; 'Notorious' by Bonnie Grace for more novel work; and 'Dead Man Walking' by Jelly Roll for an added surprise, simply because it's catchy. I should also add that I'm really into Japanese-themed lo-fi lately because it helps me concentrate on my state projects.

Favorite fics:

I'll admit I don't really read much fic presently for various reasons, with the exception of my inherent bias toward @ohtobealady's ouvre, but I have immense respect for all the tireless work everyone in the Downton fandom does. I may be just a satellite to that dreamworld but y'all are amazing from out here.

I'm tagging: @aryasnow, @yelena-belxva, @elegant-moonlight, @plumcoloredblazer, @of-dahlias-gloom, @karrova, @malglories, @oftwodarkmoons, @webedragons, @insomniarama But only if you feel like it, lovelies!

15 notes - Posted August 22, 2022

#2

Baroness' General Writing Tips, Part II

Part I Here's Part II of my general writing tips I've started to compile of little (and big) things I've learnt over the 20+ years I've been compulsively recreationally putting one word in front of the other; I hope it's helpful or at least reassuring!

While much of this is slanted toward fiction, a lot of it applies to nonfiction as well. I've also gone for more general tips this go round. You're welcome to pick my brain about specific topics and I'll do my best to answer.

Again, the key thing to remember is that this is what I have personally found helpful; they may have more or less degrees of usefulness or relevance to you personally, but they can still serve as starting points.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(12) Remember that your goal is a read-worthy narrative, not a product.

Not everything you write has to be published to be considered valid. Hell, not everything you write has to see the light of day. Your writing is for you. IMO it verges on a spiritual need and whatever actualization of it brings you joy is good and right. Don't let capitalism fool you into thinking all that matters is profitability and never let any kind of numbers dictate your self-worth or smother your creative spark.

(13) Embrace whatever keeps the flow going.

Placeholders are your friends. Write the ending first or start in the middle. Write a scene as a skeletal script to fill in later. Whatever gets the job done.

(14) If you need an outline, make one. If you don't, don't...

There's a lot of documented discussion about 'types' of writer -- you may hear terms like 'gardener' versus 'architect' or the like. Don't feel like you have to fall into one category only or remain the same for the rest of your life. You may find it helpful to do in-depth planning before you even get started, or you may prefer to wing it.

I also find that different projects require different approaches, and that actually the same project can require different approaches at different stages of development. The key thing is that your skills are going to carry over regardless the more you practice them.

(15) ...but keep notes for longer projects.

However, I heartily recommend keeping notes in some shape or form -- the more organized the better -- to help with consistency in longer projects. This will save you time and frustration, trust me.

(16) Keep a writing journal/workbook.

Writing is a mental muscle and part of exercising it is in changing how you process the world. Having a journal or workbook of some kind to jot down ideas for titles, character names, new projects, scene or dialogue snippets, and so on helps your brain learn to transform raw inspiration into new narrative, making it easier to get to work when you have time to sit down and actually write.

And no, you don't need fancy writing software or expensive notebooks. There is no 'doing this properly'. If it brings you joy to have an exceedingly organized writing journal bound in Italian leather, great, as long as you don't spend more time color-coding than you do writing.

(17) Find first readers you trust...

Not everyone has access to a writing group, but at some point you will need to find your first reader. Although I recommend finding one or two people to read your first draft, they can come in at the second, third, or final draft.

At some point you've stared at the project too long and you will be biased, no matter how trained of an editor you are. Fresh eyes will help spot both big plot holes and tiny typos. Find people you trust to give you balanced criticism, rather than just fluff your feathers.

(18) ...but limit access to drafts.

Too many cooks spoil the broth. If you involve too many readers at the drafting stage, you risk losing your own instincts or saturating the work trying to make everyone happy. It can simply lengthen the writing process unnecessarily, too.

Also, remember that some of these early-stage first readers may have been better suited as finished-work first readers; a first draft may put them off from reading the end result, however much it's changed and however much they love you. Curbing your enthusiasm now may yield greater rewards later, in other words.

(19) Remember to look after your physical wellbeing.

It's tempting to romanticize the writer who shuts themselves away in an attic for a week and doesn't eat or sleep until they emerge with a polished draft -- don't do it. Look after your posture, eyes, hungers, and thirsts. Get sleep. Move around frequently. Go outside. Check in with loved ones.

(20) Self knowledge is power...

Find what environment facilitates your best work. For me it's typically isolation, appropriate music, and evenings. Also note this may differ between when you want to write and when you need to edit. Equally, find what inhibits you. For me I know I can't read sink my teeth into a TV series or novel in the same genre and write original copy at the same time. I also find it hard to concentrate when I have paid projects on the books or my house needs cleaning.

(21) ...but accept that part of learning the discipline is being able to work in imperfect conditions.

See #2. By the time you found the right music for that one scene, you could have written the damn scene and half of the next. Often, we will never have enough time or the right time. Learn to work with what you have.

(22) "Write what you know" is generally bullshit...

See the full post

19 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Baroness' General Writing Tips, Part I

I decided to finally start compiling little (and big) things I've learnt over the 20+ years I've been compulsively recreationally putting one word in front of the other; I hope it's helpful or at least reassuring!

While much of this is slanted toward fiction, a lot of it applies to nonfiction as well. I've also gone for more general tips this go round. You're welcome to pick my brain about specific topics and I'll do my best to answer.

The key thing to remember is that this is what I have personally found helpful; they may have more or less degrees of usefulness or relevance to you personally, but they can still serve as starting points. Part II

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(1) Your method is your method...

This goes for whether you plan ahead or just roll with it, but also things like when/where you write.

(2) ...but discipline and practice will help you do the heavy lifting.

At some point the difference in your personal skill plateaus is down to how often you write regardless of your mood, knowledge of where it's going, or perceived skill. Persistence will be your strongest ally during the inevitable droughts and valleys of self-doubt.

(3) Reading is good and helpful...

Read widely, read deep. Learn from the successes and mistakes of others. Learn what you want to emulate and what you want to avoid. Broaden your perspective, take note of different techniques, build your knowledge base. Train your discernment. Likewise, back-reading your own material to see where you left off can be useful if you struggle with consistency / sticking to the point. (4) ...but don't let it distract or saturate. Sometimes, back-reading your own work can scratch the itch you had to work on something and you end up not writing new material. This can happen with others' work in a related genre/field -- it scratches the itch you had for that type of content, or conversely you begin unhelpful comparisons between their work and yours.

Most of all, you will need to learn the difference between being inspired by something and mimicking it to the point of plagiarism.

(5) Learn to take a break, not to quit. If you feel a piece truly isn't working, don't let your first response be to give up on it. Put it away for a while and come back to it, then maybe try, for example, a different angle or point of view. (6) Light immersion in related media helps with burnout while still being useful. Sometimes writing isn't going to be the most helpful thing to do. You will always need to replenish your creative batteries, but sometimes this can feel like avoidance or laziness -- it isn't. Browse concept art. Sketch. Work on some worldbuilding that'll never make it in. Visit a museum. Listen to an audiobook in your genre. Watch a documentary on the same topic.

(7) Your first draft is just that -- a draft. Be open-minded and forgiving, and embrace the process. The most important thing in this stage is to get content on the page, because you can't do anything without it. Trust your gut and let the words flow how they want.

(8) There is immense opportunity in the editing process... Often the best breakthroughs come through asking questions during your editing. The answers can forge new links or callbacks, or open up new avenues for plot, or enrich what's already there. Editing isn't pass/fail -- it's a conversation. (9) ...but don't be a forever-editor. Perfectionism is the enemy. Nothing will ever be perfect to you -- accept that sooner rather than later -- but it will be perfect to someone out there. Yet they'll never see it if you don't let the project out into the world. (10) Read it aloud. No matter your experience, this will inevitably catch clunky sentences, weak pacing, and even sub-par semantics. It's very important to do this with dialogue so that it sounds natural.

(11) Accept you belong in the writerly ecosystem just as you are.

There's three aspects to this: first, that everyone feels like an imposter at some point and probably will in the future, regardless of their experience or how much they have published. Second, that there are no new ideas, but your telling will always be new. And third, that you remain a writer if you haven't written for years or struggle to jot down a sentence a week just as much as if you churn out a book a year. Don't let these things hold you back.

20 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[kaythejay]

July 23, 2024

Yesterday I was able to go home and saw the town for the first time since . . . Everything. I've been living several hours away and haven't yet had the chance to get back.

It was rough. There's no sugar coating it. Granted, I didn't actually go through and explore the damage, but honestly what I saw was hard enough. They've gotten it cleaned up quite a bit (at least the main stretch that I drove on). However, there was no hiding the homes and businesses that were roughed up or the fact that I could see all the way to the fairgrounds in a spot that you could never see them before. There's no hiding the red X's that were spray painted on to indicate that somewhere was dangerous to go into. There were little cornstalks growing everywhere because the tornado drug that through.

It was hard. So incredibly hard. But it was something that I needed in order to process everything. Everyone down there has been working so incredibly hard to make sure that the town is able to clean up and recover. As much as there was destruction everywhere, there were also a plethora of signs of recovery. Construction sites, patched roofs, kids playing in the street.

If you are able to donate to help them as they begin to rebuild, I would appreciate that *a lot*. Even just $1 can go a very, very long way.

If you don't have the means to donate, reblogging this post to get the word around would mean *so* very much to me.

Thank you ❤️

Hey all

My hometown got obliterated by a tornado. It's a super small town with a close-knit community. There's a lot of people who completely lost *everything*. They've banded together and are all helping out as much as they can, but the town is basically gone.

If you can donate, it would be very, very helpful. If you can't, please share this post so we can get them the help that they need.

Thanks so much in advance 💜🖤🩶

[casper-spills]

Hey Love! Happy Belated Halloween? How's life? I hope its treating u well.

I am JD, sagittarius sun and I would like a free reading.

Question - My fs current situation. Like whats going on in their life?

And what I dressed as Halloween this year? It was pretty basic but a witch. Me and my friends decided to dress up as witches we represent or give the vibes off. Wbu? I am interested too

Hello J!

Happy Belated Halloween! Thank you for following and reblogging! Life has been treating me well thank you for asking! I hope it's going well for you too ♡ (and also I'm sorry for the incredibly late response.)

I always love to see a witch and thats such a cool idea for a group of friends! ♡ I dressed up as Misa Amane from Detah Note.

Discaimer: Tarot reading is for entertainment purposes only and should never take the place of professional therapy or professional legal, medicinal or financial advice.

Cards: The High Priestess (reversed), The Star (reversed), The Magician, The Devil, Five of Coins (reversed), Eight of Swords (reversed), Three of Wands, Nine of Cups (reversed), Two of Coins, Knight of Wands, The Tower, Page of Cups (reversed), Five of Cups, Six of Wands (reversed), Eight of Cups (reversed), Ace of Swords, King of Coins

Details about your future spouse:

Appearance: Noticable mouth, facially expressive, bright eyes, delicate features, friendly smile, tall, animated story teller, shake legs/fidget when nervous. Traits: Active and vivid dreamer, intuitive, imaginative, spiritual, innocent, naive, merciful, kind, sweet, forgiving, compassionate, sensitive, empathetic, childlike, optimistic, unrealistic, ambitious, introspective.

What is going on in their life currently?

They seem to be on some sort of healing journey which is heavily focused on spirituality. This could be that this person is religious or they could have some beliefs which are spiritual (such as divination for example). They may have been feeling disconnected and are starting to lose faith in whatever they believed in. This isn't nesessarily a bad thing. This person seems to be exploring darker thoughts and are accepting bad as well as the good. Perhaps they are developing a unique perspective on what they believed in. They might be doing a lot of shadow work which is a very personal process. They are releasing self limiting beliefs and manifesting a greater power from within. In other words, they're trying to grow and become a stronger person. This person has had a tower moment. It seems to be work related and it could be that this person has made an impulsive decision to quit work. They were dissatisfied with their work so they decided to start fresh. They didn't think this through as much as they probably should have so they are left feeling regretful and a little embarrased. However, now they have no choice but to take the next step. They have decided to fully commit to their new plan and start their own business.

Songs that feel like them:

I hope this reading was helpful and I hope you enjoyed it ♡

All feedback is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Cassy the friendly ghost ♡

[breakyourrxles]

I totally always reply in reposts and then I obviously followed you and saw you'd rather have it in an ask so here's a copy paste of my repost initial reaction to let you know how awesome you are :) This was fucking absolutely incredible. I haven’t had the kind of reaction to a fic like I had in a long while. I broke open a bottle of soju, turned on “love me harder” by Steven Rodriguez and sparked a joint. I dropped my phone a few times. When I tell you, you took my mind into memories in other countries with beautiful humans. I kept having to take breaks because I was reacting in REAL TIME. You reached through this phone and played me like a puppet while you narrated the whole thing. I adore this. I adore you. Your writing is magNIFICENT. When writers are able to make things so REALISTIC I just, I am in awe. I stick to writing supernatural AUs because I cannot comprehend the simple things in life and you make putting on an earring in the mirror as you hear them greeting feel like a fucking wrecking ball of emotions. I got nervous TOO like WOW THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING HUH YOU REALLY FINNA DO THIS WOW. The dialogue, the ducking DIALOGUE I just, my breathe was taken away. Oh the Gemini Sun, Rising, Mercury and Venus just lost it. I absolutely lose it at good dialogue and believable communication. How, how did you put these men in my head so realistically?! Do you offer master classes? God, you are blessed. For free?! Thank you so very much!!!!!!

ask or reblogs are fine, tbh! i just don't reblog feedback because it clogs up the blog but i do still read and appreciate it! 💗

this ask is SO SWEET!! thank you so much for the kindness, i saw your reblog as well and you're super lovely. i'm happy you enjoyed the fic, it's an old one but perhaps still a good one 🤭

How, how did you put these men in my head so realistically?! Do you offer master classes?

GHJDFJDF. I DON'T KNOW! the istj in me is always watching and thinking and judging and considering, maybe it's especially good for the writing 🤔 i wish i could help but half the time when someone asks me for writing advice i'm just like hm. i have no idea what i'm doing, hope this helps! (somewhat facetious, of course, thankfully i've done a lot of learning and growing in the past year or two especially)

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Finale

Here it is.

6-months Later

(I am really sorry about the delay)

There were some hiccups, technical difficulties and other things that delayed this part more than I anticipated.

Shout out to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for having such incredible patience with me. And Give her props, she managed to defy time and space just to beta and fix my work. She is a National treasure.

Check her writing out on AO3 as Ramblingwren

(Master post)

(And here is the full fic on Ao3)

If you do like the story, Comments and Reblogs are greatly appreciated.

But before all that.

Thank you.

This story has been going on for over 2 years now and yet so many of you have been sticking by and reading it. Seeing all of the comments, fan art, and tags has really made making this Fic worth it. Its also the reason that I want to make sure this ending pays off and delivers the joy to all of you that your support and kindness has given me. So be aware that the next update will be the big finale.

Alright enough Camembert,

Enjoy the dish in front of you.

_____________________________________________________________________

Fu heard the sound of walls crumbling and stopped for a moment to focus on where the sound was coming from.

“That must be where the akuma is.”

“That is a relief. I was starting to get lost in this place,” Wayzz confessed. “This building is even more confusing than the studio I was in the other day.”

“Right, you were with the one Marinette had chosen for you. I will admit I don’t know that much about him. Nino was his name, yes?” Fu inquired as they walked.

“He is a good boy, He is very good at going with the flow, and he has a good heart that wants to protect his friends,” Wayzz assured. “Marinette has picked a fine chosen for the role.”

Fu smiled.

“That is good to know, especially that you approve of him. It does make it easier,” Fu said, his words beginning to sound more distant despite being so close.

Wayzz felt his concern for the elderly guardian grow.

“Master, your tone is a bit… foreboding. You speak as if you don’t have long left,” Wayzz remarked.

Fu knew that the turtle kwami was concerned for his well-being. The two of them had been friends for over a century. Wayzz was, in a way, his best friend.

“Apologies, Wayzz, I suppose I am just feeling relieved. While I am still spry, I am no spring chicken. It is good that we know that she will be a good guardian in the future. It makes me feel lighter, like my failure wasn’t the end.”

Wayzz suddenly paused, causing Fu to also stop when he noticed Wayzz wasn’t keeping up.

“Wayzz? What are you doing? We need to make haste.”

“I need to say something to you. You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened, Master.”

Fu sighed.

“I know what you are going to say. I was young and it was an honest mistake. It wasn’t my fault that it ended up the way it did…”

“Yes. You did make a mistake, and you have made up for your mistake 100 times over. You have guarded us alone for over a century. You have gone above and beyond for your duty. You did not fail — if anything, you have succeeded and proven yourself to be a guardian on par with the order, if not more so. Therefore I don’t want you to belittle yourself anymore!”

Fu looked at his kwami confidant, he was emotionally touched by his dear friend’s speech.

“Thank you Wayzz. You truly are an amazing friend.”

“Good, now let's hurry and help the heroes out.”

“Indeed. Let us go, my friend.”

The two continued to where the sound of smashing walls and roars was coming from.

______________________________________________________________________________

The heroes stared up at the Giant Gorilla as it broke down the finely constructed walls of the throne room, leaving a massive hole that let the light of the outside world into the school.

The floor it was standing on was starting to crack, so it quickly jumped out the hole as it grew to its complete size.

The upper body of the Sentimonster now reached the second floor and the situation looked more like a child playing with a doll house.

“So, what was that plan, Ladybug?” Viperion asked, as the Gorilla let out a primal scream.

“Well, the plan is…”

Ryuuko smiled with anticipation.

“Actually Ladybug, let me take this one. I have always wanted to fight a Kaiju.”

“Wait Ryuuko!” Viperion cried out, but it was too late. Ryuuko had already charged at the massive primate and started attacking it with her blade.

The shape-shifting sentimonster was still adjusting to its new size and Ryuuko was able to effortlessly dodge one of its overhand strikes. It's lumbering movements left plenty of space for the swordswoman to hop to the face of the giant.

“Hello” Ryuuko taunted.

“You little…” The sentimonster growled as it tried to hit her with its hand, only to end up smacking itself in the face when she jumped away. The gorilla needed to steady itself as a result of the unintentional blow.

Ryuuko spun at a high speed as she descended, her sword slashing at the Kaiju gorilla.

“Amazing!” Chat Noir complimented.

“Impressive work Ryuuko!” Ladybug praised.

“You are incredible!” Viperion cheered. “Keep it up!”

“That was kind of hot.”

The other three paused and turned to look at Queen Bee.

Chat Noir  smirked slightly.

“What was that, Bee?”

“I said… I could totally do better.” Queen Bee corrected herself, clearly trying to pretend she didn’t say anything.

“Sure Chloé, sure.” Chat Noir quipped, rolling his eyes.

Queen Bee glared daggers at the cat, ignoring the action around her

Viperion noted that despite Ryuuko’s impressive movement and attacks, she wasn’t making much progress against the ape.

“Ryuuko won't be able to keep this up forever. What was that plan, Ladybug?”

“Well, we did need a distraction. Thankfully that’s taken care of,” Ladybug started as she looked around. “Queen Bee, you wanted to show you could do better?”

“What do you need, Ladybug?”

“I think now would be a good time to use your power. Just wait until I give the signal then activate it,” Ladybug instructed.

Queen Bee smiled.

“About time!”

She'd been dying to use her power and now she finally got to shut up that stupid gorilla.

“Ryuuko, keep it busy!”

“No worries, I can do this all…”

Ryuuko’s boast was interrupted by the large gorilla grabbing her.

“Got you! None of you move!”

Ryuuko struggled as Simularé secured its grip on her. She tried to activate her power but the grip was too tight. She couldn't even speak to activate it!

“Nobody move. Now, you are all going to detransform or I am going to make Dragon Soup with my bare hands,” the large sentimonster threatened.

Queen Bee was about to approach anyway but Ladybug raised her hand, silently signaling her to hold off.

Ladybug looked around for some sort of way to help her escape, but to no avail.

“Let's go! Detransform now,” Simularé commanded.

Ryuuko struggled to try and activate her power but Simularé tightened its grip and bone cracking could be heard.

Viperion couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore. He threw his lyre at the giant beast’s snout and it bounced right back to him. The brief moment caused Gorizilla to loosen its grip and Ladybug took advantage of that to fling her yo-yo and pull Ryuuko out and back to Viperion's waiting arms.

“You alright?”

“I’ve been better. Nice catch, Hissy.”

Viperion smiled a bit, briefly forgetting about the gorilla in the room.

Simularé was furious.

“You dare make a monkey out of me?!”

“You did that to yourself,” Queen Bee mocked.

“Chloé, wait, it's…”

But it was too late, as she had already jumped forward. She was going for her big play.

“Get ready for a show stopper! Ve…”

Before Queen Bee could even activate her power, Simularé had reacted. With a quick movement of its fingers, Queen Bee was flicked with incredible force through the wall.

“Queen Bee!” Chat Noir called out in alarm.

“Well, that one’s down for the count.”

Ladybug looked around to see Ryuuko still recovering and Chloé thrown through a wall. This was not going to be as simple as dealing with mindless puppets. She needed to take a risk.

“Lucky Charm!”

She activated her power and the item that would help her succeed was… and umbrella?

“An umbrella? How is that going to…”

“It won't!”

Ladybug jumped to avoid the swipe of the large ape hand, but failed to notice the other hand right above her. It caught her in its grip, and she dropped the umbrella.

“No!” Chat Noir shouted.

Ladybug struggled to escape.

“Seems you have forgotten the situation, Ladybug. You were so sure that I would be as brain-dead as the servant akuma that you let yourself get sloppy.”

“You won't… GHHH,” Ladybug gasped as Simularé tightened its grip on her.

“Oh, I don’t have to. I know how the miraculous works. Since you aren’t an adult, your transformation will wear off in 5 minutes,” Simularé gloated with a malicious grin.

The true peril of the situation suddenly dawned on Ladybug, and she realized she needed to find a way out. But, unlike with Ryuuko, Simularé wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

Chat Noir took a deep breath. This sentimonster wasn’t like most of the others. This one had its own thoughts and emotions… he needed to make it lose its sense.

Chat Noir charged forward, trying to distract her.

“Oh, does the cat think he can save his master? How cute.”

Simularé was about to make a swipe at him when, as if repeating himself, Viperion threw his lyre. But the ape saw it coming, and used the hand he was holding Ladybug with to block the stringed instrument.

“Predictable!” Simularé mocked, forgetting about something as they focused on gloating.

“Cataclysm!”

Simularé’s smugness changed to horror when they realized their mistake. Taking their eyes off the cat had left them wide open! Chat Noir had used his staff to raise him upwards right to the head of the distracted sentimonster and had placed his cataclysm-infused hand right on its forehead.

Simularé dropped Ladybug and Chat Noir dove to catch her. The swift motion had Ladybug landing on the diving cat.

“OOF.”

Ladybug looked down seeing she had landed on Chat Noir’s back.

“Thanks for the save, kitty.”

Simularé’s form started shifting wildly as the cracks became larger and more apparent.

“What have you done to me?” Simularé roared in rage and confusion.

It smashed its hands on the walls of the upper level while having its tantrum, causing the ceiling parts that were still intact to be very unstable.

Ladybug managed to roll her and Chat Noir out of the way of the thrashing fists. They both quickly spring up into fighting stances.

“I will destr…”

Just then, its massive arms shifted to be much shorter, looking like they belong to Lady Wifi.

“Well that’s new,” Ryuuko commented as she got to her feet.

“Chat Noir’s cataclysm makes Sentimonsters go haywire. Normally not ideal in most situations but with that sentimonster being smarter than the usual ones it needed to be done,” explained Ladybug.

The head that was once Gorizilla shrunk down to appear more like Dark Owl.

“I am … I am ….” Simularé was trying to stabilize but it kept shifting and looking more and more like a mismatch of different akuma forms.

Ladybug could see the anguish and pain on the sentimonster’s face. They'd all  known that Chat Noir's actions would cause the sentimonster to go haywire but this seemed more chaotic than usual.

“Hold still, we can fix this.” Ladybug tried to walk forward.

“I must… I cant…”

The out of control sentimonster sprouted Dark Cupid's wings and flew high into the air and escaped.

Ryuuko looked up and tried to see where the sentimonster had flown off to but it was already out of sight.

“Should we go after it? Ryuuko asked. “It might cause trouble.”

Ladybug pondered for a moment.

“For the time being it's probably better that we let them go. We should focus on finding the akuma. If we can find her, then we can get the akuma and the amok and fix all the damage.” Ladybug rationalized.

“Solid point. So, what’s our next move M… Ladybug?” Chat Noir inquired.

“Well you and I need to recharge.” Ladybug replied before turning to the other two heroes. "Viperion, Ryuuko, have either of you used your power?”

“No, we recharged earlier,” Ryuuko replied. “You two should go find a place to refuel safely.”

Ladybug glanced at her lucky charm again, wondering why she hadn't needed it yet.

Brow furrowed, she looked around and noticed spots appear on the crumbling ground near Chat Noir, as well as the roof above, and chat Noir himself.

“Why would…”

Before she could finish asking, she heard the sound of crumbling coming from the walls

“Something sounds off,” Viperion said. “I think the walls are gonna collapse!”

Ladybug knew how good Viperion’s ears were with sounds, and now her lucky charm made sense. It was never for Simularé, it was for what was coming now.

Dashing to where the group was standing, she shoved Ryuuko and Viperion back and opened the umbrella over her and Chat Noir’s head. Just as she did, the ceiling above them caved in, dropping chunks of rubble  right on top of them just as the floor beneath them gave way. The other heroes just barely made it out of range of the collapse

“Crap!!!” Ladybug and Chat Noir shouted in unison as they fell through the floor and the hole above was covered by debris. A massive cloud of dust obscured them for a moment.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” Ryuuko called out. But as the dust settled, all they saw was a pile of rubble where the two heroes had been.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Stupid ape,” Queen Bee grumbled as she got up. The powerful flick that Simularé had given her had sent her halfway through the school. If she didn’t have super powers she was sure that flick would have turned her into a red smear.

She cracked her back and stretched her arms in order to loosen up.

“Alright, now to hurry…”

Thump

She stopped as she heard the sound. It seemed faint.

“Probably just another one of those mindless akuma.”

“Come on!” came a muffled call.

It was clear it was someone that required help.

“Everything will be fine for them once we beat the akuma,” the heroine tried to reason with herself.

She started to walk back the way she was launched.

“I've got to get back to Ladybug and the others to fight the stupid akuma that caused all of this. This person probably isn't in real danger. I really don’t need to check on them.”

“Momma is coming...”

She stopped as she heard that. It was someone’s mother.

“Damn it!”

Queen Bee began making her way to where the voice was coming from.

“There better still be akuma butt to kick when I get back.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Chat Noir coughed as he tried to get his bearings. The area was covered in rubble and debris, and right now, Ladybug's umbrella was the only thing keeping that from collapsing on them.

“Ladybug?”

“Guess it was lucky after all,” Ladybug joked as she shifted a bit.

Both of them heard their miraculous beep.

“Looks like we need to get out of this debris heap before we change back and suffocate.”

“Probably would be a good idea.”

Chat Noir put his staff against one large gathering of ceiling rubble and made it extend, giving them a little opening.

“On the count of three, I pull you away from the umbrella and we jump out.”

“Sounds good.”

“1.”

“2”

“3!”

Chat Noir pulled Ladybug away and they jumped out of the hole. Ladybug closed the umbrella as she was pulled out, causing the rubble to pile on more and collapse the area they had just vacated.

“Made it!” Chat Noir said as he coughed up some dust. “I really hope this isn’t asbestos.”

“I am sure you're fine, Kitty. Let’s move in case more parts of the ceiling decide to collapse.”

The two quickly moved toward the wall so they would be by the door should any more rubble start collapsing. Chat Noir noticed that Ladybug was holding on tightly to the umbrella.

“So, is there another use for your lucky charm? It probably wouldn’t have been that close if you had let the umbrella stay.”

“Huh… oh. I didn’t realize I was still holding it, sorry Kitty,” Ladybug answered as she took a look at her lucky charm

“It's fine. I was just curious.”

“I guess I held onto it subconsciously… it does remind me of something pleasant.”

“Oh? Fan of singing in the rain?”

“Not exactly what I meant.” She brushed some of the dust from the umbrella. “I guess it’s fitting that this type of umbrella would have saved me.”

Chat Noir came closer and looked at the umbrella. He hadn’t noticed it the first time, but the umbrella did seem really familiar. The ladybug color scheme may have been enough to throw him off at first glance, but really seeing it now, it looked exactly like the umbrella he had given to Marinette.

“How would it be fitting?”

“Oh, it's personal stuff. Just reminds me of a time with my boyfriend in the rain,” Ladybug admitted.

There was a silence in which only the sound of the miraculous beeping could be heard. Ladybug felt a sharp pang of guilt when she realized what she'd said and who she'd said it to, tried to course correct.

“Friend! That is a boy. The umbrella reminds me of my dear friend of male gender, my buddy that happens to be a boy and…”

Chat Noir put his hand on her shoulder.

“It's okay LB, you don’t need to be worried. I'm happy that it worked out with that guy you were in love with.”

Ladybug looked into her partner's eyes and could see his words were genuine and that there wasn’t even a hint of sadness.

“You’re… okay with it?”

“First and foremost, I want you to be happy. Even if I was sad about this, I would still rather you be happy rather than miserable for my sake,” Chat Noir said.

“Now, if I had heard this news a few weeks back, I probably wouldn't be as cool about it as I am now, but I would still have been happy for you.”

Ladybug felt a bit of relief from that news. She'd been dreading giving this news to Chat Noir, knowing his feelings for her. He was someone very dear to her and she didn't want to hurt his feelings, so hearing him say he was happy for her was great.

“And it does help that I also have someone special,” Chat Noir added as he shyly scratched his cheek.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, sounds kind of shocking, I bet. I actually had feelings for her for a while but I wasn’t really sure what they were until I did some soul searching.”

Ladybug had to admit that she was a bit surprised to hear him say he'd found someone. Considering how he acted at her house during the incident with her dad, the girl he had feelings for must have been special.

“Congrats, Kitty! I would love to meet her someday, the luckiest girl in Paris.” She gave a playful nudge to Chat Noir.

“And I can’t wait to meet the boy that you were crushing on, the second luckiest guy in Paris.”

“Second luckiest?”

“Well I am clearly luckier,” he teased.

“You dork.”

Their miraculous beeped again.

“Okay, we should probably go detransform somewhere,” Ladybug said.

“Yea, we need to refuel. We kind of got distracted talking because of that umbrella.”

The duo look around the destroyed classroom and noticed that since the rubble had blocked the doors and windows, their options of escape to detransform in privacy were limited.

“There has to be some place we can go before we detransform? We might actually have to do it here.”

“Maybe your Lucky Charm is a double use. Maybe it has something that could help us again.” Chat Noir commented as his eyes caught on a small detail on the umbrella. In the handle. “E.A”

“E.A?” Ladybug asked as she turned to him.

Chat Noir looked at the umbrella closer. His eyes saw the carving on the umbrella handle. It was one of his mother’s umbrellas. It was unmistakable. This umbrella was an exact copy of the one he gave to Marinette back when he first started school.

“Ladybug, why did the miraculous make a copy of an umbrella I gave to my girlfriend months ago?”

The question seemed out of left field.

“The Ladybug miraculous creates an item either from my imagination or that I have seen before with some alteration to make them useful to the situation. I doubt I made a copy of an umbrella you gave to your girlfriend. If anything, it’s a copy of an umbrella I hold dear, like the one my boyfriend lent me before we were dating.”

It was at that moment that everything clicked. Both of them looked at one another in stunned realization.

As if by design, the miraculous beeped for the last time and their transformations faded.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ms. Rossi smashed her feet against the door with all the force she could muster, but it still had no effect.

After a dozen attempts she refused to lose hope. Even if it took 1000 times to kick the door down, she would do it if it meant it would save her little Stellina.

“Once more!”

Before she could kick the door again, the door opened.

“Huh, so there was someone up here.”

Ms. Rossi looked up to see a blonde teen in a yellow and black colored costume looking at her.

“You are awfully lucky I heard you, there is a lot of crap going down.”

“Wait, I know who you are… you’re…”

“Queen Bee, the one and only. And you have been saved by me. So feel free to brag about that.” Queen Bee started untying her.

“Thank you. I need to hurry and find my daughter.”

“Well you go do that, I need to get back to where the action is. There is a crazy monster that shapeshifted into a giant gorilla and needs a shot of venom to the face.”

“Wait, what?”

Before Ms.Rossi could get any answers, the bee heroine had dashed out of the room.

“I should find Lila.”

It took her a moment to gather her bearings. She realized the room she was in was the principal's and that she had been locked in his closet. She looked inside the closet to find her bag, trying to find her phone so she could call her daughter. She needed to find out what was going on.

______________________________________________________________________________

Viperion looked at the pile solemnly. “Do you think they're okay?”

“Our superhero forms make us very durable, so the impact probably wouldn’t be enough to hurt them too badly...”

“Okay, that’s a relief. But then why are you still concerned?”

“They both used their powers earlier. If they don’t get out of there before the transformation wears off…” Ryuuko trailed off.

Viperion realized why Ryuuko was so concerned. “Oh… yeah, we're gonna need to get them out of there.”

“I don’t think you will be able to do that” a smug voice called out to them.

The two heroes turn to see the masked villain that was responsible for all of this destruction.

She was flying in the air with two black angel wings as she stared down at them.

“I was expecting to find Simularé having dealt with all of you, but for some reason I can’t seem to call them. So, I assume you probably beat them.”

Viperion and Ryuuko shared a concerned look. Masquerade was clearly someone with a lot more power than they'd been anticipating. She didn’t even seem fazed by the fact that the sentimonster that could have any power it wanted was gone.

“I'll try digging them out, you try to handle Masquerade,” Viperion whispered. “The others don’t have that much time left and you’re a much better fighter.”

Ryuuko looked at Masquerade for a second before agreeing that it was the best course of action.

Ryuuko went to go but found herself blocked by two adults clad in red, black and white. Both of them wore the white face masks that all controlled akuma wore.

The first one Ryuuko had recognized from some new segments and some time on the Ladyblog as The Collector.

The other one she had no idea. All she knew was that it was a woman with blue skin. While the white mask covered the front of her head, she could see the dark helmet with a red visor. Her costume was a dark grayish cornflower blue dress suit with pointed shoulders, including a strong red front and swan neck collar that featured a red downward-arrow-shaped section in the center. The sleeves covered her entire arms, with the tips of her fingers fading into red. She also had pocket-like ridges on each side of her hips, and her pant legs came down to her feet, having red high-heels, soles, and tips. Ryuuko thought the figure seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

“Oh, did you think I came alone? Collector, Catalyst, why don’t you handle the uppity dragon girl. I need some entertainment while I wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up.”

“Need MORE minions to do your dirty work?!” Ryuuko shouted with a mix of frustration and annoyance.

Viperion knew things were looking bad. He instinctively had his hand go to his bracelet but Ryuuko raised her hand out, non-verbally telling him to hold off.

She clenched her sword and charged, but the two akuma seemed to have a bit more skill and evaded her charge.

Catalyst even caught the blade of the heroine with her hands. Ryuuko tried to free the blade only to receive a front kick by the Collector, sending her flying back.

From the corner of her eye, Ryuuko noticed Catalyst's blade coming back at her like a throwing knife.Ryuuko managed to control her backward momentum and caught the blade moments after landing on her feet.

“Okay… this is going to be a challenge,” Ryuuko huffed.

Ryuuko dashed past the Collector and delivered a roundhouse kick to Catalyst, who used her arms to cushion the strike.

Viperion started digging only to feel the force of a front kick by the Collector sending him flying back.

“And what has you focused on digging through rubble rather than acting as entertainment for me?”

Viperion tried to get up, but felt a foot step on his chest.

Viperion grabbed the leg that was keeping him pinned and used his strength to roll and twist, the motion causing the akuma servant to move off balance.

Ryuuko noticed Viperion struggling and managed to trip and kick Catalyst hard enough to send her flying right into the akumatized Collector.

Viperion stood up and moved his way towards Ryuuko.

“We can’t get to Ladybug or Chat Noir while these two and Masquerade are here.”

“Then we will need to hope Ladybug and Chat Noir can get themselves out while we buy time.”

Masquerade watched the two heroes in amusement,“It’s cute that you think you stand a chance when you’re outnumbered.”

“If that’s cute, then you being a dumb bitch that thinks she is going to win makes you downright adorable,” commented a familiar voice.

Masquerade’s smug smile disappeared as she looked to see the arrival of a certain bee heroine.

“So, you’re the mask bitch that's been causing all these problems,” observed Queen Bee..

“Wow, Ladybug must really be desperate if she sent for you again.” Masquerade descended from the air and flicked her charm to remove her wings.

“It’s funny how you call me desperate when you’re the one akumatized.”

Masquerade noticed her charm bracelet glowing, and a sinister grin appeared on her face.She snapped her fingers, calling her two servants to her side.

“You know, Chloé,” Masquerade began as she stalked closer, “Out of everyone in Paris, I think you are the most pitiful.”

Queen Bee kept eye contact with Masquerade as the villain stopped  a few feet away.

“Me? Pitiful? I’m not the one who looks like a theater reject,” she retorted.

Masquerade shook her head.

“Your mother is a famous fashion critic, and your father is the mayor of Paris. You can have whatever you want whenever you want by just sending a text or making a call, but you know that having such privilege doesn’t give you any value. It doesn’t matter that your daddy bends over backwards for you, because your dear mother who you aspire to be doesn’t give a crap about you. You are just a spoiled brat, and everyone knows you’re nothing special. At best you’re a rich bully who acts out to get some form of attention. When you got a miraculous by some fluke, you hoped that it would be your ticket to being someone people liked, respected, and found exceptional.”.

Queen Bee’s head lowered with each sentence, her fists tightening.

Ryuuko and Viperion tried to land a strike against Masquerade while she was talking, but the Collector and Catalyst blocked their  attempts and managed to pin both of them to the ground.

“Are you done?” Masquerade looked at the two pinned heroes. “I’m not dumb enough to leave myself open.”

Masquerade cleared her throat, and turned back to Queen Bee.

“Where was I? Oh yes. I remember. No matter how hard you try, no matter what you say or do, you will NEVER be a hero. You will always be Chloé Bourgeois, Audrey’s embarrassment of a daughter,” Masquerade cruelly declared.

Queen Bee refused to look up. Masquerade knew this was her moment.

“Don’t worry Chloé. Now you have a chance to be a part of something exceptional for once.”

Masquerade took a mask from her dress and threw it at Queen Bee, only for the mask to be smacked away by the heroine herself.

This was a surprise to Masquerade.

“What?! How did you do that?”

Queen Bee started to laugh. She looked up at the confused Masquerade.

“That was it?! That was your big take down? That was going to make me so demoralized that I would settle for being one of your puppets? GET REAL!” Queen Bee mocked. “It’s actually funny that you thought that would work.”

“What do you mean!? I just exposed your biggest insecurities, your fears! You should be a sobbing mess!”

Queen Bee shook her head.

“You’re not wrong. What you said about me was, word for word, all of my insecurities. Problem is, I’ve heard it before. I have heard this crap from Hawkmoth, I heard it from my own mother and I hear it from me. I think this about myself every single day. Those thoughts echo in my head, and all those other people that have said it to me said it much worse than that rank amateur trick you just tried,” Queen Bee spelled out.

“Amateur!?”

“Look, I may suck at getting all the things about being a hero right. I may need to work on ‘being a good person’ or whatever, but I do know one thing and that’s how to be mean. You? You’re nasty not because that’s how you are, it’s because you think you are. I know why you always seemed off now, that lame liar that had everyone wrapped around your finger by telling them only things they want to hear. You want to talk about my need to be accepted? Let’s talk about yours. You want nothing more than love and attention. And since your lies bit you in the butt, now you think the only way to get what you want is by going full mean girl and hope that your akumatization makes it so you can at least have some sort of control again. But you suck at that too.”

Masquerade gaped in disbelief at what she was hearing.

“Are you saying I’m not mean enough?”

“Oh, I think you’re pretty cruel, but that’s out of defense. It isn’t your default. You’ve lied to yourself so much that you don’t even know who you are anymore. Me? I’m a petty, self-absorbed bitch with mommy issues, but I know who I am. But tell me ‘Masquerade’, who are you, really? Under all the lies and borderline psychopathic tendencies, what is the real Lila like?”

Ryuuko and Viperion looked at Queen Bee with a mix of shock and awe.

For the first time, Masquerade felt shaken. She backed away, glaring daggers at Queen Bee.

“Oh, wow, look at the mighty mask akuma shaking like a leaf,” Queen bee mocked before turning to Viperion and Ryuuko. “By the way, what happened to the giant gorilla? I thought we were fighting that weird sentimonster.”

Ryuuko kicked Catalyst off her and stood up. “Oh, Chat Noir Cataclysmed it, then it ran off.”

Viperion followed suit with Collector. “Right now, Ladybug and Chat Noir are below us, if they aren’t buried in rubble.”

“Thanks for the recap.” Queen bee turned her attention back to Masquerade before whirling back to the other heroes. “Wait, they’re WHAT?”

“Buried in rubble. But knowing Ladybug, they likely got themselves out and are fine,” Ryuuko assured.

��Oh, yeah probably.” Now calmer, Queen Bee turned back to Masquerade

“Now, where were we?”

Masquerade’s shaken anger shifted to a crazed smile.

“You know what, Chloé? I’ve decided I’m done playing games. Collector! Open the book.”

The akuma servant moved to the open hole they had entered through and opened the book.

It was at this moment the heroes realized that Masquerade had a lot more in store for them.

__________________________________________________________________________

The Lucky Charm vanished as their transformations dropped, leaving Marinette and Adrien standing right in front of each other with stunned expressions. Their two kwamis, Tikki and Plagg, popped out and saw the two looking at one another.

“This is not how I was expecting this to go.”

“Plagg!”

“What? It isn’t! I was expecting something more along the lines of one of them finding out through some gift delivery, and then the other one revealing themselves by saving the first from an akuma attack or some elaborate trick to find out the other’s identity and then intending to reset the time with the snake but not going through with it… actually scratch that, this way was better.”

“Plagg, seriously!”

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other as everything came together. The vanishing of their masks was really just the garnish on what they had both realized. Marinette had realized that her trusted partner was the boy she’d been crushing on and was now dating, while Adrien realized the girl he believed he had moved on from but still cared for is actually the girl he was in love with the whole time.

“I think they're still processing all of this,” Plagg commented as he flew down to Adrien’s jacket pocket.

“You might want to grab your snack while you can, Sugarcube, I think it’s gonna take them a bit to get over the shock.”

Tikki wanted to say something, but Plagg made a fair point. They were going to need food to refuel.

The kwami snagged their foods of choice and floated a short distance away just as both teens looked ready to speak.

“It’s you,” they said almost in unison. Another beat passed.

They rushed towards each other and hugged.

“I’m so glad you're okay!”

“You distracted Simularé back then without your powers so I could get away. Don’t you know how dangerous that was?”

“Yea, but I figured that I could buy you some time to get away, and Ladybug usually arrives right when I need her to.”

“Just because you got lucky and she was me doesn’t mean I'm not mad you almost got yourself hurt!”

Adrien smiled at her sweetly. Marinette looked up and met his gaze. The tension this day had them go through and finding out that the other is not only safe but has been fighting with them gave them both a renewed vigor and a sense of relief.

Marinette cupped his cheeks and kissed him.

“Aww, they are so adorable!” Tikki squeaked.

“Ugh, they're being too cheesy even for my tastes,” Plagg snarked.

Tikki shot him a look.

“I'm joking! Of course I'm happy for them. But you've gotta admit, it is pretty funny seeing how they've been running circles around each other.”

After a long moment, the teens broke away from the kiss and took one look at each other before bursting into laughter.

“I struggled for so long to tell you how I felt and you were already flirting with me that entire time,” Marinette wheezed.

“You kissed me two times that I can't even remember,” Adrien pointed out.

“You asked me about how YOU did when I had you watch over civilian me when we fought Evillustrator.”

“You put me in a sarcophagus!“

“You reset time 25,913 times just to hide the fact that you were Chat Noir!”

“I did that because you came looking for Adrien and I really didn’t want to let you down!”

“That was very sweet and very dumb!”

“I was made aware of that!”

“But I also really wanted to make sure you got a miraculous because I wanted to fight by your side.”

“I actually thought you were Ladybug at one point, but then you were Multimouse which really threw me off.”

“That was because of an elaborate plan involving a lot of miraculous.”

“Well, it was pretty impressive.”

They both smiled wryly and turned to their kwami.

“Okay be honest, how ridiculous was all of this to watch?” Adrien asked.

“You mean that moment, or your whole Lovesquare dynamic since we knew you?” Plagg asked between bites of cheese.

“Well, now that you mention it…”

Marinette was the first one to come back to Earth.

“Oh no! What’s Fu going to say!?”

Tikki nearly dropped her cookie.

“That is going to be a problem,” Adrien mused, mirroring Marinette’s concern.

“Now that we know each other’s identities, we're a danger to each other as superheroes… we might have to give up our miraculous now.”

Tikki and Plagg looked at the two teens with sad eyes. They'd had dozens of different users over the course of centuries, but Marinette and Adrien were special. It would be heartbreaking to have to leave them.

Adrien looked at Plagg. While he was overjoyed to find out his girlfriend was actually Ladybug and that the two people he was torn between were actually one, he didn’t want to say goodbye to his cat confidant.

Marinette looked at Tikki. The ladybug kwami had always been a well of positivity and support for her. Tikki was her biggest cheerleader and had been one of the happiest to see her get together with Adrien. Now, although finding out that Chat Noir and Adrien were one and the same was incredible, it was also bittersweet because she didn’t want to say goodbye to her sugar-fueled friend.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Their revelation was interrupted by the sound of concussive impacts coming from outside of the room. It seemed that something big had arrived and the other heroes were going to need help.

“Look kid, we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Plagg is right. There's still trouble to deal with up there.”

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other then at their kwami.

“This might be our last fight together,” Adrien solemnly said.

Marinette took his hand in both of hers.

“Then let’s make it count,” Marinette said, giving him a peck on his nose.

“Tikki, Spots on!”

“Plagg, Claws out!”

______________________________________________________________________________

Masquerade smiled as outside of the school stood multiple akuma were ready to strike. She had shown that she had a back-up army in wait.

The giants Megatitan, Glaciator and Gorizilla towered over the opened room. Queen Bee peered out to see dozens of more akuma, such as her butler and parents all in their akumatized forms.

While the heroes couldn’t identify all of the akuma present, all of them white masks that accommodated their various sizes. They were all under Masquerade’s complete control.

“That is a lot of akuma,” Viperion said.

“Did you really think you stood a chance?” Masquerade taunted. Her anger from earlier twisted into a sadistic glee as she could see all of their bravado fading away. “I think I will take your miraculous as trophies. Hawkmoth is only interested in Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous. He can have those. I'm more interested in what you have.”

“You are getting way too overconfident. We've dealt with your mindless akuma puppets before, and they were never a match for us.” Ryuuko pointed her sword at Masquerade.

“So you think that you can fight them all at once, then?” Masquerade asked.

Ryuuko still looked determined.

Viperion put his hand on her shoulder. “Hold on, rushing in will not help right now. There are dozens of them out there. We need to find a way to Masquerade and deal with her so that they can be dealt with.”

“I finally found it!” A sudden voice from out of view exclaimed.

Masquerade and the heroes turn their attention to the direction of the voice, but the one who said it was obscured from view.

“Forgive the intrusion, but it was quite a task getting up here. This school is quite a labyrinth.”

“Show yourself!” Masquerade called out, getting annoyed by the interruption.

“Allow me to make an entrance.”

There was a brief moment of silence, but they heard the words.

“Wayzz, shell on!”

A figure jumped out from a hidden corner and landed in the center of the room standing between Masquerade and the heroes.

There they saw an old man clad in green armor. He had a dark green chest plate with light green pauldrons and tassets with dark green edges; dark brown, loose pants, elbow pads, and collar; and dark green armor boots with light green toe-caps and dark brown soles. His mask was dark green on the upper half and light green on the lower half.

Masquerade cracked up at the sight of him. “You have to be joking! I bring an army and your response is an old man!? That is something else.”

“I am not just any old man, I am Jade Turtle. And you must be the akuma that has been causing all of this chaos. I think it’s about time I put a stop to it.”

“Is that right? And what are you going?”

Jade Turtle turned to the heroes behind him.

“Allow me to show you kids what one can really do with the full power of a miraculous.”

“No, I don’t think so. Collector! Catalyst! Take him out!”

The two akuma charged at the turtle hero.

Jade Turtle confidently jumped in and took off his hat to use as a shield.

“Shell-ter, projectile mode.”

Jade Turtle shot off two baseball-sized green spheres at the two approaching akuma. Both shots made contact, knocking them over right as he landed.

The Akuma recovered quickly, getting up to attack again, but their movements were too predictable. Jade Turtle ran towards them, and right before they attacked, he slid forward and knocked both their legs from under them. The two akuma fell hard on their masks and the turtle hero popped up behind them.

“Whoa!” The three heroes were stunned at how easily he'd handled those two.

Before Jade Turtle could acknowledge this, Masquerade fired what appeared to be a blast of lightning from her hands. The stormy weather charm on her bracelet glowed.

“Don’t think it will be THAT easy to deal with me.”

“Shell-ter!”

He quickly created a hamster-ball-like shield around himself, allowing him to take the lightning attacks as he ran forward.

Masquerade saw him rolling towards her and jumped out of the way but then realized he was moving straight toward the army.

“STOP HIM!”

The akumas outside all tried attacking the turtle hero as he rolled out of the building and bounced right in the middle of their forces.

He watched as they tried to break his shield.

“Reinforce!”

His shield bubble became thicker than before, allowing it to resist more of the damage that the akuma were doing.

He felt his legs wobble.

Easy Fu, you can’t overexert yourself. You have less than 9 minutes before you transform back. You need to hold them off now. Let Ladybug and Chat Noir know what to do.

Jade Turtle touched his shield to reveal a phone feature. He called Ladybug. Thankfully, she picked up right away.

“Master Fu? What's going on? Are you okay?”

“I am fine, Ladybug. Are you and Chat Noir in the school?”

“Yes, we're on our way back to fight the akuma, we just had to refuel first… Master Fu, we need to talk with you about something.”

“Is it life or death?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Then I think it can wait until later. Right now I am holding off an army of akuma. I will buy you 8 minutes. You need to defeat the masked akuma by then.”

“Wait…You're fighting!? Master what about…”

“Don’t worry Ladybug. I am not as weak as you think. But do hurry.”

“Understood. We won’t let you down.”

The turtle hero hung up the phone. “Time for the big one. Shell-ter!”

His shield opened up a small hole to send out a new large, green barrier. This one overtook all of the akuma surrounding him.

“Condense!”

The larger bubble started shrinking and the larger akuma were forced to get down, pinning them to the ground, while the smaller akuma were getting tightly pushed together. Jade Turtle closed the shield surrounding himself and watched as the akuma that had been attacking were forced to stop due to their inability to move. He was thankful that they were unable to think for themselves or they might have figured some way out of this situation.

The elderly hero felt his breathing grow labored. This was taking a lot more out of him then he'd anticipated. He did his best to still his movements but using the miraculous was still draining. This wouldn’t hold forever. As soon as his transformation dropped, so would the shields. He just needed to focus.

He crossed his legs and sat in the lotus position. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. He needed to minimize his movement and strain to maximize the amount of time he can maintain this transformation.

‘The rest is up to you, Ladybug and Chat Noir.’

Masquerade looked at the condensed shield.

“No way… my army…” Masquerade was in shock. The old man she'd mocked earlier had somehow managed to seal off her army from her. Even her giant akuma were trapped in there. And with his other barrier, they couldn't even finish him off! He had crippled her forces in under a minute.

“Did we know him? Because I feel like we should know him,” Viperion asked.

“No, he's new. The turtle hero we're used to seeing is a lot younger… but this one seems to know a lot more tricks. I wonder if we can tweak our powers like that to make them more effective?” Ryuuko responded as she mulled over possibilities.

“Well so much for your army, they're getting handled by an old guy cosplaying as a Ninja Turtle,” Queen Bee jeered.

Masquerade turned to face her.

“You know what? This is fine. I don’t need an army to turn you into bug juice.”

“Ooo, I'm shaking in my costume.” Queen Bee rolled her eyes.

Masquerade touched several of her charms.

Her eyes glowed bright as she rose into the air with black wings.

“You wanted to know who I am, Chloé? Well then, let me tell you exactly who I am!”

The winds around them started getting more intense. Ryuuko almost got swept up in the winds, but Viperion quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into the eye of the storm.

“I am not a nice new student. I am not the mean, manipulative bully. I am Masquerade, the akuma with infinite powers who is going to take over Paris! I am stronger than Hawkmoth, deadlier than any villain this city has ever faced! And by the end of today, you and all of Paris will be bowing to me!” she roared.

The area around them grew colder as Masquerade started channeling more powers.

Catalyst and Collector stood back up only to get swept up in the winds that Masquerade created.

“Well, you really kicked the hive with that one, Queen Bee” Ryuuko snarked.

“Look, it’s not my fault it’s hard to take her seriously! She looks like a theater kid reject mixed with a Hawkmoth fan. Also… was that a pun?”

“Umm, I really don’t think this is the time for that. We have a super angry, power-mad akuma that is clearly very angry at us, specifically you, Queen Bee,” Viperion interjected.

“Right,” the two teens conceded.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Masquerade looks at the three heroes.

“Plan? Do you three really think you stand a chance?! The only reason you're still standing right now is because I've been toying with you! I wanted some entertainment until Ladybug and Chat Noir finally showed up.”

Viperion slyly activated his power as Masquerade gloated.

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” she said as she summoned what appeared to be a trumpet from thin air.

She shot a small blast from it and hit Ryuuko, making her disappear.

“Ryuuko!”

A sticker appeared on Masquerade’s dress.

“That is from the akuma Desperada. I can release her whenever I want.”

“Second Chance!”

The situation reset.

“Alright, that’s enough of that.” She said as she summoned what appeared to be a trumpet from thin air.

“Get down!”

Viperion managed to push Ryuuko out of the way of the blast.

“Those blasts are instant Game Overs, don't let them hit you.”

“Instant Game Overs? What is this, a video ga…” Queen Bee tried to ask before she was hit with one of the trumpet blasts.

Viperion sighed. “Here we go again.”

“Second Chance!”

_______________________________________________________________________

“This way!” Ladybug called out as they made their way past another piece of falling rubble.

Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to get out of the room they were trapped in and, thanks to Fu, they knew about the situation above.

“Things must be pretty serious if Fu got involved,” Chat Noir commented.

“Well, this is probably the most dangerous fight we've faced since that whole thing during Heroes' Day.”

“It is pretty cool that Fu is jumping in to give a hand, though. Has he used the miraculous around you?”

“Not that I've seen, but I remember him mentioning that using it takes a lot out of him due to his age, so even though he's an adult, he's still on a time limit.”

“Right, but he probably knows a few tricks that would be fun to see.”

“He's been the guardian for over a century, so he likely knows more skills and tricks.”

The two rushed up a staircase and managed to make progress.

“So Ma…. My Lady. You still haven’t said how we're going to deal with Masquerade.”

“That’s because I don’t have a plan yet. But I figure once I see her face I'll probably know when to summon my Lucky Charm and figure a way to defeat her.”

“Reasonable. But do you think the others will be able to hold on until we get there? With how unstable that room got, we couldn’t go straight upward and risk the ceiling caving in on us, and those winds and ice are making things more difficult to traverse. Those three are facing an akuma with the powers of every akuma we ever faced.”

Ladybug thought for a moment. “If Viperion has his power active, they should be okay. He can keep them out of trouble. Even if he doesn’t have his memory, his intuition is still incredibly good.”

“True, he was a better snake than me.”

“You were a good snake, but you're a better kitty. I think you should stick with the cat powers. They suit you better.”

“You’re saying they are purrfect for me?” Chat Noir punned.

“Oh no, what did I start?”

“You set me up for it.”

“I did and I hate myself for it.”

“Don’t hate yourself, you're amazing.”

“Kitty, I'm going to need you to stop being cute or I'm going to have to kiss you, and we don’t have time for that.”

“Now you're just baiting me to do that.”

They heard a massive crash in front of them.

“We should hurry,” Chat Noir said.

______________________________________________________________________

“WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO HIT?” Masquerade shouted in frustration.

Viperion had managed to help his fellow heroes avoid the attacks of the crazed akuma. She stopped using Desperada’s power and tried a plethora of different powers at her disposal.

She tried Lady Wifi’s pause symbols, Jackady’s command cards, Bubbler’s bubbles,  Rogercop’s handcuffs, and even Horrificator’s slime shots. Masquerade was trying everything in her arsenal, but to no avail

“Perhaps your multitasking is what is making it so difficult for you to focus,” Ryuuko suggested. “Maintaining those winds around us may limit our movement, but it means nothing if you can't hit us. Your focus is split and therefore you can’t dedicate yourself to defeating us.”

Masquerade glared at the dragon heroine skeptically.

“Nice try, but this is clearly a trick to get me to let my guard down. If I reduce the winds, you'll have a chance to escape.”

“You misunderstand. We have no intention of running away. We are heroes and we are going to stop you. Retreat isn’t an option.”

“Then why bother telling me to cut down the winds if not to try and get the advantage?”

“Well either you cut out the winds or we come up there and take you down personally.”

Masquerade pondered for a moment before speaking again.

“I decided I'm just going to end this.”

Masquerade focused her winds to close in on the three heroes, forming a tornado.

“Well that was dumb, now she's gonna rip us apart with this tornado.”

“Not exactly,” Ryuuko smirked. “Viperion, give me a boost.”

Viperion rushed over and linked his fingers together for her to place a foot on.

“Queen Bee, get Ryuuko’s other leg.”

“This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

Viperion and Queen Bee quickly get ready as the winds start closing in.

“3… 2…. 1…. LAUNCH!”

The two heroes sent Ryuuko as high as they could.

“Lightning Dragon!”

Ryuuko turned herself into a bolt of lightning and struck the masked akuma.

Masquerade screamed as the winds ceased and her hair stood up.

Her body started dropping and Ryuuko shifted back into her solid form, falling right next to her.

Viperion jumped and caught Ryuuko. Masquerade face planted into the floor.

“Nice work.”

Ryuuko smiled.

“You seem to have gotten very good at catching me.”

“You've been falling a lot today. I’d almost think you planned it this way,” Viperion teased.

Ryuuko punched his arm playfully.

“Guess that takes care of her-” Viperion stopped speaking. It was as if some force had frozen him in place.

“Viperion?” Ryuuko got out of his arms and saw the pause symbol on his back.

A second pause symbol shot her way before Ryuuko could react, and then she too was frozen in place.

Queen Bee stared in shock. She'd thought that this was over, but Masquerade had recovered while the two other heroes were distracted and ensured they were both paused.

Masquerade got up, her mask cracked from the landing, her hair smoking from the lighting attack from Ryuuko. Her eyes glowed red as she began walking towards Queen Bee.

“You know, I thought I would be angrier after everything. The collapse of my reputation, the shame I brought on my mother, the loss of my sentimonster, and just the consistent humiliation I faced ever since I saw you heroes. Maybe I've just become so unbelievably enraged that I've come full circle.”

Queen bee felt herself backing up as Masquerade approached.

“I think I know what I am going to do with you Queen Bee. I am going to use you as a test dummy and try out every single one of my powers on you. And when I am done, THEN I will let you cease existing.”

“If you wanted to prove you were a mean girl, you were right. You are definitely mean...” Queen Bee said as she continued backing away.

Masquerade moved her hand and a wind blew Queen Bee into a wall.

“Now, which power to use first on you? Oh I know! One of the powers that the akuma had was a replica of Chat Noir. I wonder what a cataclysm will do to a person.”

Masquerade's hand began emanating a dark energy reminiscent of Chat Noir’s famous move.

Queen Bee closed her eyes to brace herself for what was coming. She hoped it wouldn’t make her ugly.

But before it made contact, a yo-yo wrapped around Masquerade’s legs. The string was pulled and Masquerade ended up falling to the floor where the cataclysm destroying a piece of debris.

“Sorry we were late, it was difficult getting back up here,” a feminine voice spoke from out of view.

Queen Bee opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the voices.

“What took you both so long?” Queen bee exclaimed

Masquerade looked up.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir.”  She spat as if those were the foulest words in her vocabulary.

Ladybug and Chat Noir walked closer.

“We are going to give you one chance. Just hand over the akumatized object and we can all go back to normal,” Chat Noir tried to reason.

Masquerade glared at the two heroes.

“Normal? There is no normal left for me. I watched it all crash and burn. But who cares, now I am the most powerful person in all of Paris. No one can ignore me now.”

Ladybug shook her head.

“You’ve gone power mad.”

Masquerade touched her charms and summoned vines from her wrists.

“Vines? When did we fight an akuma that used plants?” Ladybug questioned.

“Weredad…” Chat Noir said with a horrified gasp. He remembered that beating all too well, and knowing that Masquerade got to Marinette’s father was not sitting well.

Ladybug’s confusion shifted to determination as she jumped to dodge the vines.

Chat Noir and Ladybug moved gracefully as they approached Masquerade. The akuma realized the two were quickly approaching and needed to push them back. She activated Stormy Weather’s power to use a mighty gust to blow them back.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were sent back to where they started, but landed on their feet.

“Okay, so it's safe to assume she has every akuma power so far."

“Well except Chloé's, Luka’s and Kagami’s,” Chat Noir added.

“Right. That’s a relief. Dealing with Queen Wasp or Riposte would not be good.”

“I was more worried about Silencer. If he made us quiet, I wouldn’t be able to hear you call my name.”

“Focus, Kitty.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Seems it's lucky charm time.”

Ladybug activated her power.

“Lucky Charm!”

What appeared was another unexpected item with a ladybug color scheme.

“A mop bucket?”

“Heads up!”

Chat Noir jumped in front of her and spun his staff to block several pause symbols heading their way.

“I’ll cover you. Figure out how to use the charm.”

“Oh, hell no!” Masquerade shouted as she pulled her hand back, revealing her arm shifting to stone.

She smashed the ground, causing the already unstable floor to crack and send more rubble falling from the ceiling.

Ladybug grabbed the bucket and jumped away.

She looked around, Her eyes looked at Masquerade, Chat Noir’s staff, the ground, her yo-yo, the bucket, and finally Queen bee.

She had a plan.

__________________________________________________________________________

It was endless, the voices in their head screaming. Their body shifting and changing with each passing second, constantly shifting into something else belonging to someone else.

“STOP IT!!!” They screamed as they shouted in the alleyway they landed in. They were alone.

“Mind… shattered… Thoughts… endless… Focus… split!” they tried to articulate.

Their brain felt like it was on fire! Nothing seemed to make sense, it felt like they were losing all control and that they would be left in the dust.

“Focus…. Focus…. FOCUS!!!”

They continued to try and get themselves back on track. They needed something, anything to put their mind to. They needed order! They needed purpose!!!

“I need a reason! Why am I here?! To suffer!? Is this all there is!?”

They held their head with their ever-changing hands.

“They hurt me! Now I am in pain! I hate them… Hate…. HATE!!”

Their clouded mind seemed to calm. They had realized why they were here. That among all of the emotions that they had been created from, one was their defining prime emotion.

“Hatred… I was made from hatred. I am the embodiment of Her hate,” they said.

Their mind flashed with images. The faces of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Alya Cesaire, Marinette Dupain Cheng, Kagami Tsurugi, Luka Couffaine, and…

The face became like their original form, a cracked smiling white mask.

“Yes. I know what I must do. Simularé must destroy those it hates!”

The Sentimonster focused and began changing its body to now be more in control. It started molding its body. It was no longer changing against its will. Simularé was starting to regain control.

“Yes…”

______________________________________________________________________

Masquerade noticed Ladybug standing back and she used her powers to jump at her. Ladybug quickly jumped out of the way and rolled near Chat Noir. Just then, she realized she had left the bucket behind.

“The Lucky Charm!”

Masquerade looked and saw the bucket.

“Let’s not take any chances.”

She touched her charm, now imbued with the power of Copycat’s cataclysm.

Just before she could touch the power, Chat Noir uses his baton to extend out and move the bucket out of the way, causing her to touch the ground and causing the area she touched to break and make a hole that half of her fell into, only to be saved by her other arm catching the floor.

“Nicely done Chaton.”

Ladybug moved to Queen Bee, who had been motionless and watching the two heroes fight with Masquerade. She went into her yo-yo and revealed a purple Macaroon.

“Queen bee activate your power. It's time.” Ladybug relayed her message and used her yo-yo to snag the lucky charm back to her. “Pop this in your mouth when things get serious.”

“Huh?! Oh right!”

Queen Bee started moving again. She had let herself freeze, almost paused just like the other two heroes she was fighting with. But now it was time to act.

“Venom!”

Masquerade managed to get up and out of the hole. It was there that she saw Queen Bee charging at her.

“Oh that is cute. You finally stopped watching and decided to join in getting your butt kicked.”

Masquerade used Stormy Weather’s wind powers to blow Queen Bee back, but this time, Queen Bee popped the macaroon into her mouth.

Suddenly her costume started to shift. She gained a clear face covering and her suit was glowing a shinier gold color, with thicker black gloves. Her hair was now shining gold, and she had an impressive gold jetpack reminiscent of Bee Wings.

“What the heck is that!”

Queen bee realized that Ladybug had given her not just a weird tasting macaroon, but a power-granting one. She got a power up.

“You heard of Cosmobug and Astrochat. Get ready to meet Stellarbee!” she exclaimed.

Stellarbee pushed her jetpack to push through the powerful winds.

Masquerade realized that at the rate she was going, Stellarbee was going to reach her! She couldn’t let herself get tagged. She pushed more power into the wind, and just as she did, an idea popped into her head.

‘If I tag her first, then there will be no issue.’

Masquerade started easing on her wind powers and moved one hand to prepare a deadly touch from the powers of Timebreaker.

Stellarbee kept approaching.

“You know, Lila, you really are a pathetic person.”

Masquerade rolled her eyes.

“And why is that?”

“Well, for one thing, you are so focused on what other people think of you. I must say it's clear that out of everyone here you have the lowest self esteem.”

“I have self-esteem! I have tons of it. You are the one with Mommy issues!”

“Defensive much? Yea, I have issues. But I never lied about who I am. I am Chloé Bourgeois. And you are a girl with a bucket on her head.”

“I am not… Wait what.”

As if on cue, Ladybug covered Masquerade's vision with the sanitation bucket. The surprise caused Masquerade to lose focus on her powers and Stellarbee zoomed right by her, making sure to contact her with her power. Masquerade froze.

Masquerade was in utter shock, unable to move.

Ladybug walked up to Masquerade and touched the charms, causing all the powers she had active to deactivate, including the pause power she had on Viperion and Ryuuko.”

“It's finally over.”

Ladybug took the bracelet off of Masquerade. She ripped it apart with her hands, causing it to break and an akuma to pop out.

“No more evil-doing for you little akuma.” Ladybug spoke as she snagged the akuma with her yo-yo and purified it.

“Bye bye little butterfly.”

Masquerade's form dissipated, returning to that of Lila Rossi.

Jade Turtle, who had kept the tight barrier around the akuma army to keep them from making any moves noticed that they had all ceased to function. They were all still transformed but they were no longer moving.

“Wayzz, shell off.”

Fu transformed back and the barriers he casted vanished.  He was catching his breath.

“Cutting it very close, Ladybug…” Fu commented with relief. He knew there was a reason he didn’t get involved initially. He needed to retire.

The Power that Stellarbee had used on Masquerade had worn off now that she was back to normal.

Lila took off the bucket.

“No! No no no! This can't be happening.”

“The game is over, Lila.” Ladybug said definitively.

Stellarbee deactivated her space form and pulled herself out of the wall she'd collided with when flying.

Viperion shook his head.

“Whoa, everything feels clear again. What happened.”

Ryuuko hugged the snake hero.

“You’re back!”

Viperion felt his cheeks heat up from the hug.

“I am? What did I miss?”

Ryuuko realized the sudden emotional outburst and quickly let go of the hug.

“It's… I will tell you later. I am just happy you are back to normal.”

Queen Bee slid down from the wall looking at the two reptilian heroes and rolling her eyes. She was not gonna be a third wheel in that conversation, no matter how hot they both were. So she decided to make her way to Ladybug.

Chat Noir jumped to land next to Ladybug.

“That’s the end.”

“It always comes back to you doesn’t it?” Lila hissed.

Ladybug raised her eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“You are the one that ruined my life once again!”

“Ruined your… you were akumatized and tried to enslave Paris!”

“Because of your stupid fan printing that garbage about me working with Hawkmoth!”

“Well there is that footage…” Chat Noir pointed out.

“I was angry! I was frustrated and saw an opportunity… I don’t work for Hawkmoth” Lila defended herself.

“Assuming that is the truth, using the akuma just to have a temper tantrum is still pretty scummy,” Ladybug commented.

“That’s not the point! Ever since you popped up and yelled at me in the park everything went downhill.”

“Is this what it is really all about? Why are you blaming me when all you have done is lie? I shouldn’t have confronted you that way, I admit I went about that wrong, but you shouldn’t be lying about things like that. Why didn’t you just try being honest? Why did you need to spread rumors just to be popular?”

“Are you joking? Have you ever been a new kid at school? Have you ever had to constantly try and make friends only to be ignored or dismissed, and any time you do get a few people that do talk to you only to stop as soon as you are whisked away to a new location?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir watch as Lila continues to unravel, both of them trying to figure out if this was just another elaborate lie.

“No, you haven’t been ignored or dismissed. I can tell you two are just BATHED in love and acceptance. You don’t have to deal with not knowing if you are going to be moved to a new place where you don’t know anyone and the only person you know and love has to work ridiculous long hours just to take care of you! You never had to constantly try and fail to make new friends, constantly getting bullied or ignored just because you were an easy mark. You wouldn’t know what that is like at all! Is it wrong that I wanted to be liked? Is it wrong that I was sick of being pushed around so I pushed back? Is it so bad that I just wanted to be noticed?”

Ladybug put her hand on Lila’s shoulder.

“Assuming that what you’re saying is true, I think I understand you a bit better now. But that still doesn’t make what you did right.”

Chat Noir put his hand on her other shoulder.

“I do understand that loneliness, better than you think. Maybe if things shook out differently, I could have ended up with a similar mindset. But Ladybug is right. Your actions aren’t justified.”

Lila pulled back from their touch.

Lila looked at the two heroes. She could see the looks of annoyance and anger had shifted to something much worse in their eyes, pity.  Honestly it was better when they were angry with her. At least then there was some sort of begrudging mutual animosity. But right now… everything she worked for was gone, her school life was destroyed, and that whole bit about conquering Paris as an akuma now seemed unbelievably dumb in retrospective. But does that really matter? Lila felt her soul sink. She felt as ruined as the school looked.

“So… what happens now? You're gonna lock me away and throw away the key?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir look at the girl puzzled.

“Lock you up?”

“Yea, after all of the crap that Alya posted on the Ladyblog. All of this? And whatever else I didn’t mention. I bet you want to put me in a cell and let me rot.”

Ladybug sighed. Part of her had to admit that if this was before Lila’s meltdown, she would have agreed. The girl had issues. But seeing Lila now, whether her tantrum was real or not… It made the girl seem so small. And even without the temper tantrum, prison probably wouldn't be possible.

“We aren’t going to hold what you did as an akuma against you. If we did, then we would have to lock up a lot of Parisians,” Chat Noir started off.

“However, we do know that you have been causing a lot of trouble, and your actions outside of being an akuma have not been good.”

“We sure we can’t arrest her?” Queen Bee suggested.

“Train incident,” Ladybug and Chat Noir stated in unison.

“Nevermind.” Queen Bee backed off. “Yikes. You both are in unison way too much all of a sudden. You know what? You two handle this. I will … check on the old guy.”

Queen bee jumped away in the direction of the motionless akuma puppets.

Lila turned her attention back to Ladybug.

“What happens next is your call, Lila,” Ladybug spoke sternly. “There are going to be consequences for what happened regardless of your choice. It’s up to you how you deal with things going forward. And if you want my opinion, the honest you right here, I think, has a better chance of earning a second chance than the version you tried out when you first came to this school. You would be amazed how accepting people are if you stay true to yourself. I don’t promise it will be easy, but I can say it is better than the path you are going on.”

Lila still felt a fierce dislike of Ladybug, and she still remembered all of the pain and frustration she endured since her first akumatization… but she knew that Ladybug was being genuine and trying to reach out. She just wasn't sure if she could be willing to accept help from Ladybug of all people.

“Mi Stellina!”

The voice calling out had the heroes and Lila turn.

“Mama?” Lila asked in surprise.

______________________________________________________________________

Queen Bee had dashed out of the building to see, laying in the middle of multiple masked akuma who remained motionless, an old man. One who looked very familiar.

“Hey… you’re that old guy I saved earlier.” Queen bee mentioned. “What happened to the old turtle guy?”

Fu took a second to process what she had just said and decided not to explain.

“And you are the young girl that helped me out. What a coincidence,” Fu said as he tried to get up. “Did you finally prove to yourself that you were always a hero?”

Chloé looked at the old man with a perplexed expression. She didn’t know how this old man knew so much. But she wasn’t going to question it.

“I don’t know for sure. I know it’s easier to be a hero with powers,” Queen Bee answered.

Fu looked at the unsure blonde and smiled.

“I can tell that there is a hero inside of you. It wasn’t visible at first, and many would argue that it isn’t there, but you just have to believe that there is good inside of you. If you can push forward and try to keep being that hero, soon the day will come when you don’t need the powers to be a hero.”

Queen Bee thought about his words for a moment.

“You know, after all of this mask insanity and finding one’s true self crap, I think I've realized what I am. I am not Ladybug and I am not my mother. I am me. I may not be kind, I may be self-interested… but I know who I am and I know I can be a pretty good hero.”

Fu had to admit that it was an interesting way of looking at things. Being a good person was not always easy as one might think. Chloé Bourgeois was definitely a long way off from being a completely selfless person, but she was leaning in the right direction at least. That was a start.

“Hey… Ladybug already de-akumatized Lila. Why is everyone still in masks?”

The old man looked around and noticed what Chloé had pointed out. They all were just lifeless puppets but they were still there.

“That is odd. The powers of the akuma usually wear off when the akuma is freed, unless…”

“Unless?”

“Something else is tethering the masks to these individuals. Tell me, was there a sentimonster that was paired with the akuma?”

“Oh yea, but like Chat Noir handled it with a cataclysm.”

Fu’s eyes went wide.

“A standard Cataclysm doesn’t destroy sentimonsters, it only frees them from the control of its wielder. So, then the reason the masks are still… oh no.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Ms. Rossi ran to her daughter and hugged her.

“Are you okay? Back to yourself again?” she asked as she touched her daughter’s face.

“I'm not akumatized anymore.”

“Oh, thank goodness! Now we can talk with the principal and straighten out this whole mess.”

“Mama…”

“We can clear up this whole misunderstanding and get you back into class. I am sure that your boyfriend…”

“Mom!”

Ms. Rossi stopped talking.

“Those things… I did them. I was telling the truth. I'm not the person you think I am. I… I lied a lot. But I lied to you the most.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir took a small step back to give the two some space to talk.

“Lila… why did…”

“Because we're always moving! Do you know how hard it is to make friends when we hardly stay anywhere longer than a year? I've been to ten schools in five countries over the last four years! I know it’s your job and that you need to do what they say… but I just couldn’t keep being the same person over and over only to feel rejected and lonely! It would drive anyone…” Lila’s eyes were welling up with tears as she spoke. She struggled to keep her composure.

Ms. Rossi saw the sheen of tears in Lila's eyes and realized that everything she said was true. She didn't know what to say.

“And what's this?”

A voice from above caught the their attention.

Lila's ears perked up as she quickly wiped her tears.

“Simularé! You're still here? I thought you were finished.”

Lila looked up at the sentimonster. If the it was still here, then maybe this wasn’t over for her. But her hopes dwindled when she saw the Sentimonster’s new form.

“What… What happened to you?”

The shape-shifting sentimonster had changed quite a bit. The lower half of its torso was large and similar to Ikari Gozen, But each of its legs were different. The front right leg one looked fuzzy, almost like purple static, and had an ice skate like Frozer on its foot. The front left leg was a darker blue, reminiscent of Maledikator, but its foot was a rollerblade like Time Tagger. The back right leg was black and like that of a panther. The back left leg looked oddly as if it was made of bread.

The upper half looked much more humanoid, but it had 6 arms on its torso which was akin to that of Gorizilla. Each arm was different and held a different weapon. The uppermost right arm was rock-like matching Stoneheart’s body, but wielding a sword much like Darkblade. The uppermost left arm was beast-like and furry, with thorny vines on its wrists, much like Weredad. The middle right arm was shorter and metallic, with a mechanical claw that held an umbrella. The middle left arm was pink and had a mirror on its back like Reflekta's, and held a bottle similar to Princess Frangrance's perfume blaster. Its lower right arm was made of gold glitter and held a stylus, while the lower left arm wore a long red and black sleeve with a tablet on the back of its wrist.

The monster was riding on a massive paper airplane much like Reverser had, and had black feather wings spreading from its back which clearly belonged to Dark Cupid. The top of its head had pink dreads similar to that of Guitar Villain, and on its back was a canister of bubble soap. The fox ears of volpina also peered out from the hair. Despite all of this, though, the most striking feature was the cracked white mask it had for a face.

“I have taken the next step in our evolution.”

The Sentimonster leapt off the paper airplane and landed with a thud. Ladybug and Chat Noir jumped in between the monster and Lila.

“That’s enough Simularé! It's over. We are going to cleanse your amok and you will be able to ease your suffering.”

“Suffering? No no no. I am not suffering, I AM LIVING!” Simularé exclaimed.

It used its massive upper arms to knock both Ladybug and Chat Noir back. Thankfully Ryuuko and Viperion noticed the two heroes flying through the air and ran forward to catch them.

“Lila! I finally see everything clearly. I understand. I am unbelievably free now! And we can finish what we started!” Simularé spoke with glee.

The sentimonster stuck out its hand to Lila, beckoning. “Masquerade or not, you still have a role to play.”

“Don’t listen to that monster!” Chat Noir called out.

“You can’t let it sway you! End this now,” urged Ladybug.

Lila looked at the heroes, who were now staring daggers at the monster. This could be her big chance. It wasn’t over yet! Her earring still had the amok. She could still get what she wanted. She could best Ladybug! She could get that win she had been craving so desperately. But then she felt someone touch her shoulder and turned to see her mother, her very terrified mother.

“Mi Stellina… I know you are hurting. I know that thing is part of the evil that you took part in. But you can’t go back to it. I promise you I will be a better mother to you. I won't let you feel alone like you have been ever again.” Ms. Rossi spoke softly as she tried to keep her voice steady.

Her mother was shaking, tears dripping down her face. Lila may have been angry, but she could see that her mother wanted to protect her.

Lila turned to her mother.

“Mama… I…”

“Please… don’t take another step. I can't lose you too.”

That statement hung in the air for a moment.

Lila turned away from her mother.

“Simularé.”

“Yes?”

“It's over.”

The Sentimonster took a step back in surprise.

“You can’t be serious.”

Lila took a deep breath.

“I have done a lot of awful things. I have been selfish, cruel, manipulative and spiteful. Part of me would love nothing more than to just watch the heroes fall to you… but I can’t break my Mama’s heart anymore today.”

Simularé shook its head.

“I knew you were pathetic.”

“Excuse me?”

Simularé grabbed her collar.

“What are you doing!?” Lila gasped as she struggled. “I order you to stop!”

Simularé pauses for a second but then starts laughing.

“Wait… why aren’t you listening to me?!

Chat Noir was the first one to realize it. His cataclysm had done this.

“Oh no…”

Simularé used one of its hands to take the earring. Putting it on one of its fox ears.

“I will say I am disappointed, but I am not surprised. You were always held back by your weaknesses. You were always self-sabotaging, as if you were begging to get in trouble. I am everything that made you strong with none of your weaknesses. I am everything you wished you could have been but never had the guts to be. And this explains why some of the hatred inside of me is directed towards you. You hated yourself as much as everyone else. So, I suppose this was going to happen anyway. Goodbye Lila.”

Simularé tosses Lila, sending her flying out of the classroom, presumably to her death.

“No!” Ms Rossi cried out as her daughter fell out of sight.

But before she hit the ground, Queen Bee jumped up and caught her.

“You are really lucky I'm trying to be better.” Queen Bee commented.

Simularé shrugged its shoulders.

“Well then, since it seems that I am the only one left, shall I finally end this?”

Simularé flies up with its wings. It raises all of its hands in the air.

“Now, how should I do that?” Simularé questioned.

Ladybug looked around. The Lucky Charm mop bucket was right by her, but that charm couldn’t be used for Simularé. And with it present she couldn’t summon another one. Her timer was running low again and things were only getting more intense.

“The power of one’s miraculous is limited only by its user,” a voice emanated from the yo-yo.

Ladybug picked up the yo-yo.

“Master, what do you mean?”

“Right now, I am at my physical limit, but you and Chat Noir are still fresh. The miraculous’s ability is limited only by what you think you can do.”

“But I already used my Lucky Charm…”

“Have you truly done so?”

“But… how?”

“You and Chat Noir need to dig deep and push past your mental limits. It is at the most uncertain of times that one discovers what they can truly do. I must leave. I am far past my limit and I need to ensure the Miraculous are safe.”

The call ended.

Chat Noir pondered what the guardian had said.

“Fu said our power is limited by us. I think I can fire my cataclysm from a distance. I might be able to hit the earring.”

Ladybug realized that it was a long shot, but it might just work.

“Are you sure it’s possible?”

“Not at all, but I know that Simularé probably doesn’t want me hitting her with another cataclysm and if you can create an opening. I might be able to hit the earring.”

“I’ll get you your shot. Don’t use cataclysm until I give the signal,” Ladybug said. “Ryuuko, Viperion. I need you to distract Simularé.”

“On it!” The two heroes exclaimed.

“Queen Bee. Get Ms. Rossi out of here. Then come back.”

“But…”

“You want to be a hero?”

Queen Bee wanted to fight, but Ladybug was right. She was really regretting the whole ‘trying to be a better hero thing’.

“Fine.” Queen Bee begrudgingly accepted. She dashed over and scooped up Ms Rossi before moving into the building.

“If our powers are limited only by us, then maybe…”

Simularé noticed Queen Bee retreating and summoned a trumpet, prepared to blast the hero. Viperion’s thrown lyre smacked the instrument out of her hands.

“Annoying lizard!” Simularé used an arm to shoot icicles at Viperion, still keeping a tight grip on Lila.

Ryuuko jumped upward and went for a slash with her sword, only to be blocked by Simularé’s blade.

“Foolish girl. Think you can best me? I can handle all of you at once! And you're both running out of time!”

Ladybug picked up the lucky charm next to her.

“Fu said we were limited only by ourselves. The lucky charm is always something I need… Maybe…”

Ladybug closed her eyes and focused on the charm. Her body glowed with a red light for a brief moment as she focused on the situation they were in. She needed a lucky charm that would help them defeat Simularé.

“Lucky Charm! Change!” Ladybug called instinctively. She opened her eyes and saw the mop bucket glow.

__________________________________________________________________________

Queen bee had rushed the two Rossis to the front side of the school.

“There, you’re safe. Now go run off and hide while we go handle your mess,” Queen Bee said, exasperated with the situation. She started to get ready to leap back into action.

Lila looked at Queen Bee.

“Don’t act all smug just because you have a miraculous. I know you aren’t that great of a person either, Chloé.” Lila snarked.

Queen bee stopped for a moment. She was about to leave, but she had her fill of this prissy wannabe mean girl.

“You know what? I think that Sentimonster really is a good reflection of you as a person.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“I'm saying you are a total knock off of everything. Your nice girl shtick is basically pretending to be Marinette, your bullying is an inferior version of mine, even each of your akuma forms were rip offs. Volpina, a lesser version of the Fox miraculous. Rena Rouge wore it better. Your Chameleon form is just you pretending to be anyone but yourself, and your last form Masquerade, you were just a rip off of Hawkmoth. Face it, you are just a knock off of everything because you don’t know what being original means.”

Lila tried to speak but found that her usual quick responses had failed her.

It was Ms. Rossi that spoke up.

“Listen here. My daughter has made mistakes, and that falls on me as her mother. I should be the one that is to blame for today. I didn’t see how she was suffering and didn’t notice how she was treating others. I will be the one to set this all right, and if you want to insult someone, it will be me.”

Queen Bee blinked at the response. Seeing such strong motherly love was an unfamiliar concept to her. She had to admit she was a bit envious.

“Well, be thankful that you have a mom that is still trying to help you despite all the crap you pulled. Not everyone is that lucky. So if you want my advice, try being original.”

Queen Bee turned her back to them and ran back to the fight.

“Mama…”

“It is my fault, dear. I should have seen the pain you were going through...” she said.

Lila hugged her mother closely, tears spilling from her eyes. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything.”

Ms. Rossi held her daughter. “It’s a start, Mi Stellina. It’s a start.”

__________________________________________________________________________

The mop bucket she had summoned turned into a glowing sphere of magic and then transformed into something entirely new.

Ladybug opened her eyes and saw that the lucky charm had changed.

“It’s a scarf.”

Ladybug saw the lucky charm was a scarf similar to the one she gave to Adrien. But right now wasn’t the time to get sentimental.

She scanned the area. She saw Ryuuko, she saw Viperion, and she saw a book, she saw the scarf, and she saw Chat Noir. She had a plan.

“Viperion, grab that book over there,” Ladybug instructed as she began making her move to the right of the akuma.

Viperion nodded. He quickly dodged the icicles sent his way and grabbed the book. Just as he grabbed it he noticed several more icicles heading for his face. He instinctively used the book to block the projectiles and noticed that the book didn’t get pierced. It was an akuma weapon!

“Huh. Neat.”

“Limit its options. Don’t touch it directly with the book. We need to de-amokitize it.”

“Got it!”

“Ryuuko, bring the storm.”

Simularé overheard that part.

“Enough!”

The monstrosity sent a burst of wind that was meant to make Ryuuko go flying.

“Wind Dragon!”

Ryuuko’s body transformed into air and began swirling around Simularé.

“What the heck! I thought Lightning was your power!” Simularé growled.

Ryuuko’s wind form caused the wings of the sentimonster to move and throw off its rhythm.

Viperion used the chance to touch the book to each of the sentimonster’s weapons - its sword, its tablet, its bubble canister, its umbrella, and the perfume blaster.

“Disarmed!”

“Chat Noir, get ready!” Ladybug called out.

“Cataclysm!”

Chat Noir called forth the black energy from his ring into his palm. He pointed his cataclysm hand at the Sentimonster.

“Now… how do I throw you?” he said to himself.

“Simularé was done being messed with. “I said ENOUGH!”

A massive burst of command came out and forced Ryuuko to transform back into her tangible form.

“I am done with you.” Simularé shouted as it grabbed Ryuuko by the face and went to slam her into the floor.

Right before impact, Ryuuko screamed.

“WATER DRAGON!”

SPLASH!

Her body turned into water and splashed back toward the Sentimonster, soaking its wings.

Viperion saw the earring and made a leap for it, only to get caught by the rock arm of Simularé. One of its lower arms knocked the book out of his hands and to the floor.

“Predictable.”

Simularé tried to fly upward but its wings felt way too heavy. The water in the plumage was weighing her down.

“What utter bull…”

Ladybug saw her moment and used the chance to cover the sentimonster’s mask with the scarf.

“What the?”

Ladybug wrapped the scarf tight around its head. Seeing the earring on one fox ear. Ladybug went to grab it, but the Gorizilla arm grabbed Ladybug and pulled her back just before she could reach it.

“No!”

Simularé removed its wings, forcing the water form of Ryuuko out. The girl became tangible once more

Viperion felt his timer beep one final time as his transformation dropped.

“Well, that’s one,” Simularé taunted.

“Let him go, you monster!” Ryuuko jumped to try and slash at him but her timer timed out.

“That makes two.” Simularé counted as she used her two lower arms to snag.

Kagami tried struggling but to no avail.

Ladybug tried to use her yo-yo, but the grip on her tightened.

“Don’t move Ladybug, or I might just lose control of my strength and… well the school is already a mess.”

Ladybug noticed Kagami and Luka helpless in the sentimonsters grasp and she heard her miraculous beep. She had very little time left. She glanced at Chat Noir, looking at the boy she loved. Putting her faith in him.

Simularé’s face was still covered by the scarf. The Sentimonster tried using its spare arms to untie the scarf from its face but it couldn’t reach.

Chat Noir saw the situation. Simularé was distracted, it was 30 meters away. He could hear his heart pounding into his ears.

“I got one shot….” His hands were shaking. If he missed… he could hurt his friends or his lady… and that’s assuming he could even shoot the cataclysm from a distance.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

‘Focus Adrien. This is your one chance. Getting too close may put that thing on alert. I need to fire the blast from here. I need to be accurate. I can't fail.’

He opened his eyes, and he could see Ladybug glancing at him. Her eyes full of trust, full of hope. She believed in him.

He felt his heart pound loudly but his hand was now steady.

He nodded to her, assuring her that he could see her.

His eyes focused on the earring.

He raised his cataclysm hand, he pointed his finger at the amokitized object. His body glowing with a light green aura.

“Cataclysm! FIRE!”

A small bullet shaped cataclysm shot from his finger. Chat Noir nearly fell over from the force, but steadied himself. He hoped he aimed true.

Just as Simularé managed to reach the scarf with one of its hands but stopped.

“Something doesn’t feel right…”

The Volpina ear with the earring dropped to the floor.

The Sentimonster’s monsterous form shifted, turning back into its phantom-like form, releasing its captives. Ladybug caught Luka and Kagami and Landed on the ground. The scarf that once covered its head dropped off its mask.

“What just…” The sentimonster questioned before it saw the earring on the ground. “No…”

Simularé tried to grab the earring but it turned to ash… causing the amok to fly out.

Ladybug put the two teens down and used her yo-yo to snag the feather.

“No more evildoing for you little amok.”

Simularé felt its existence start to fade.

“No! I was free! I don’t want to stop existing! I want to live! I WANT TO LIVE!!!”

The purification process finished and Simularé’s screeches faded to silence as they faded entirely.

Ladybug walked over and grabbed her lucky charm from the ground. She picked up Luka and Kagami, moving to just outside of the classroom and putting them down. Chat Noir moved and landed right next to her.

“Shall we do this together Chatton?”

“I would be honored.”

“WAIT!”

They froze to see Queen bee rush out and jump to be right next to them.

“Okay you can go now.”

“Together?”

“Together.”

“Miraculous Ladybug!” They shouted as she threw the scarf into the air.

They watched as everything got repaired, the decimated parts of the school were now restored. The masked akuma puppets were transported to where ever they were before they were captured.

The five teens stick out their fists and bump them together.

“Pound it!”

Ladybug heard her miraculous beep.

“Okay, so I need to go recharge. I am gonna need the miraculous from the 3 of you.”

“Okay.” Luka and Kagami compiled as they took off their miraculous. The Dragon and Snake Kwami reveal themselves.

“It’sss been a pleasure asss always.” Sass bowed to Luka.

“The feeling is mutual.” Luka sad as he fistbumped the kwami.

Longg looked at his owner.

“Perfect as expected.” Longg congratulated.

“I still have a ways to go.”

“Yes, but not a LONGG way to go.” The dragon kwami spoke.

Kagami and Chat Noir lit up at the pun. Ladybug wanted to facepalm but resisted the urge.

“I will be sure to get you more rice balls next time.”

Kagami and Luka handed over the miraculous to Ladybug.

Queen bee looked a bit sad as she said that.

“Chloé?”

“But I still haven’t detransformed so I …” Before she could finish her transformation dropped revealing her civilian form.

Pollen had popped out of the miraculous.

“Sorry my Queen.”

Chloé sighed, she knew there was no point in arguing now.

“Okay fine. But just remember to include me next time you need extra help. Or I will reveal who the snake boy and Dragon girl are.”

“Chloé…” Chat Noir said with a bit of disappointment.

“Fine, I won’t reveal it. Just keep me posted.”

Ladybug took the miraculous in her hand.

“Until next time.”

The two heroes jumped away, leaving the teens to their own devices outside of the school.

“Well I don’t know about you two, but I am heading back to my class. I need to tell everyone why they need to kiss my butt.” Chloé boasted.

“We have our own way to go. Good luck with that.” Luka responded.

“Whatever… but umm… thanks for the help. You two were pretty good for sidekicks.” Chloé said trying to be thankful yet keep her pride.

“That is the best compliment we will get from you isn’t it?” Kagami rhetorically asked.

“Yes.”

“As one sidekick to another, you could have been worse.” Kagami shot back.

Chloé gave her a fierce glare, but she had to admit that was a solid line.

“I wouldn’t mind fighting with you guys again.”

Chloé walked off as if to show she left with the final word.

“Shall we head off?”

“Lets.”

_____________________________________________________________________

Gabriel’s eyes shot open as he found himself standing at the steps of his front corridor.

“What? How?” Gabriel spoke as he held his head. He quickly touched his chest and felt the butterfly miraculous underneath. He sighed in relief.

He looked down to see Adrien’s driver at the bottom of the steps also looking perplexed.

Gabriel reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. He called Nathalie.

“Nathalie! Are you there.” He asked as he made his way back to his office.

“I am… I am alright. The akuma and sentimonster have been bested.”

Gabriel sighed.

“It was probably for the best. Lila was far too volatile.”

“It was more of the sentimonster. That sentimonster was far too clever for its own good. Utilizing complex sentimonsters in the future should be handled with much more care.”

Gabriel nodded.

“If there is no danger, then return back. Don’t overexert yourself.”

“Yes sir.”

Gabriel hung up the phone.

He tightened his fist. Nathalie was no actor, he could tell that she was getting much weaker. Today’s attempt was far too dangerous. She had risked far too much and gained nothing. He was going to insist she take a break so that she could rest.

Gabriel sat in his chair and looked at his desk. Taking a moment before sighing deeply.

“Today was an absolute failure.”

He  banged his desk in frustration. He needed something, anything that could settle the score. The peacock was too unstable and it wasnt producing results. He would need something new. He would need to investigate.

__________________________________________________________________________

Ladybug and Chat Noir moved a good distance away from the school, landing on a remote Rooftop where they were sure they had privacy before dropping their transformations. Their kwami’s popped out and they handed their kwami their respective snack of choice.

“Great job as always Bugaboo.” Adrien complimented.

Marinette’s expression was a sad smile. It was bittersweet.

“No need to be so down. We did save the day, Lila got exposed for her lies, and I found out that I fell for the same girl twice.” Adrien listed.

Marinette felt her face flush a bit.

“I found out my boyfriend is a furry.”

Adrien looked mock offended, noticing the teasing smile on Marinette’s face.

“Too cruel Marinette. You wound me.” He exaggerated as she put the back of his hand against his forehead and tilted his head back, doing his best to look devastated.

“I found out that I had been turning down the boy I have been in love with for months and struggling to say it out right at the exact same time.”

“We were like a dog chasing its tail.”

“Don’t you mean cat?”

Adrien glanced at her with a mix of pride and affection. He loved her so much. But still continued to talk.

“It is kind of crazy.”

“Crazy? You two have no idea!”

The two teens turn to their kwami who had been watching their little exchange.

“We have known since that time you almost got drowned in cream. If it wasn’t for the whole thing with Fu and the kwami censorship I would have told you right away!”

“He would have.” Tikki confirmed. “I almost smacked him when he was about to say something.”

Adrien’s amusement turned to stern.

“Speaking of Fu… what are we gonna do now that we know?”

Marinette’s expression matched his own.

“We can't exactly hide it from him. He is the guardian, and it was part of the deal.”

Adrien’s thoughts about telling fu clouded his mind.

“Wait, what if we tell him and he does some sort of Guardian memory mind wipe that makes us forget everything?” Adrien feared

“Don’t be ridiculous Chat Noir, that is only for assigned guardians when they renounce ownership of the guardian title.”

“Solid Fu impersonation Mari.”

“I didn’t say that.” Marinette answered.

“I did.”

The two turned to see Fu, who had appeared without a sound.

“How do you do that?” Adrien questioned.

“Ancient secret.” Fu teased. “Also, I just hid behind a wall while you were talking.”

Marinette showed Fu the three miraculous.

“I got them back.” Marinette answered.

“Excellent work you two.” Fu took the miraculous from them.

Marinette went for her earrings.

“I guess you will want ours as well?”

Tikki felt anguish as Marinette reached for her miraculous.

Adrien looked at Marinette and then to his ring.

Plagg’s expression matched Tikki’s. The two Kwami didn’t want to lose their holders.

“If I told you both to hand them over. Would you do so?”

Marinette and Adrien look at one another, then back to Fu.

“Yes.”

The guardian took a second as he studied their resolve.

“Before you say anything. I'm sorry about this. We were trapped in a room and… It was my fault.”

“No Marinette. I was the one that kept looking at the umbrella. It was my fault that we didn’t…”

“Enough!” Fu spoke loudly to stop their apologies. “That is not what is important in this situation.”

The two teens stopped speaking and let the guardian give his verdict.

“You two have risked your lives time and time again to protect this city, protect the miraculous, and protect those you love. For as long as I have been alive, I have never seen a Ladybug and Chat Noir as incredible as you two. You were both fated to be heroes, just as you were fated to be with one another.”

The two blushed at the comment but let the old man continue.

“It is true I set the rule that no one can know your identities. I feared that the moment you learned it that it would distract you from doing your work as heroes, that it would do more harm than good. But I watched as you two have grown closer and trusted one another on each side with and without the mask. I think that if you two believe you can handle working as heroes and knowing eachother’s identities… I will allow it.”

The young couple’s eyes went wide and their mouths fell open. Marinette grabbed Fu and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, Master Fu!” Marinette exclaimed

“That is amazing! Thank you.” Adrien hugged him and Marinette.

The kwami were equally overjoyed and joined in on the hug.

Fu accepted the embrace, letting everyone enjoy the moment.

After the hug broke he continued.

“Of course, you two knowing each other’s identities means there will be more risks, and it means I will need to prepare you both for the next level.”

“The next level?”

“You had a taste of it today. You saw how your powers were able to be altered with enough will power. That is just the tip of the iceberg.” Fu began. “I will prepare you to be stronger against akumatization, stronger in your powers, and stronger as a team.”

Marinette and Adrien gave the other a knowing look. They could tell the other was excited and ready to hit the next level.

“We’re ready.”

“That will start In due time you two. But for now. I need a break. I could use some tea and a nap. And you two should make your way back to school.”

Marinette and Adrien realized that the old guardian had a point.

“We will continue this conversation another time.” Fu spoke as he started walking away.

“We should probably get going to.”

“Wait a second.” Adrien interrupted.

“What’s wrong?”

Adrien smirked as he took her hand and kissed it.

“To many more battles.”

Marinette felt her face heat up.

“You smug little cat.”

“Your smug little cat” He emphasized. “ Plagg, Claws out.”

“Tikki, Spots on!”

The two transformed and quickly got off the roof to head back to where they needed to be.

_____________________________________________________________________

Luka and Kagami walked away from Francois Dupont.

“That was truly something.” Luka started off.

“That is an understatement.” Kagami retorted.

The two of them walked in silence as they tried to think of something to say.

“I used to play violin.” Kagami bursted out.

The fencer felt her cheeks heat up as she did that. She still was feeling a lot from everything that happened.

“You did?”

“Yea… I hadn’t played in a while and I was thinking about trying again. My mother had me learn a while back but stopped so I could focus on other activities. It is different from Guitar, but it is similar.”

“I play violin.” Luka responded.

“You do?”

“Yea, along with the guitar. I always loved stringed instruments. I even made a few myself.”

Kagami’s eyes went wide?

“That’s incredible, Ive never heard of someone our age doing such intricate work.”

“It's my dream. I love making instruments and sharing music with others.”

Kagami could see the passion in his eyes as he talked about it. It was something she admired, when someone knew what they wanted.

“I would love to try out one of the instruments you’ve made.”

“Maybe we could play the violin together, maybe you could even play in the band.”

“I assumed your band was more into Rock and Roll?”

“Who says a violin cant be rock and roll?”

Kagami didn’t know how to respond to that, but she decided to go with it.

“Sounds like it would be fun.”

Kagami pauses when she sees her mother’s car.

“That’s my ride.”

“Oh, I suppose you do need to head off then.”

“Yes, would you need a ride by any chance.”

“I’m good, I am close enough to where I need to be.”

Kagami shrugged.

“Suit yourself, music man.”

“I will Femme Foil”

Before she headed off.

“Before I go…”

Kagami moved and had her face close to his own, her eyes looking into his. Luka couldn’t help but feel his face heat up, he had no idea what the girl was up to.

Before he could ask, Kagami punches his arm hard.

“Ow! What was that for?” Luka questioned as he grabbed his hurt arm.

“That was for sacrificing yourself to save me from getting mind wiped.” She stated with a fierce glare.

“Is that going to be a regular thing?”

Her fierce expression softened right before she placed a kiss on his cheek.

“And that is… for everything else.”

Kagami quickly ran off before Luka could respond.

Luka felt his ears ringing with her melody and the beating of his heart, and what a sweet serenade it was.

“What a lovely song.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Marinette and Adrien had slipped back into the classroom with no issue. Most of the class was still a bit dazed from the akuma attack, many students having to move around to get back to the classroom they were supposed to be in. Chloé filled most of the class in on her exploits as queen bee. Which the two heroes knew was probably a touch more exaggerated than what happened, but they wouldn’t ruin her moment for once, she earned it.

“And that’s how I helped Ladybug and Chat Noir save everyone.” Chloé finished all too conveniently.

“Sure, Chloé sure.” Alix rolled her eyes.

Alya noticed Marinette sit in her seat and rushed over.

“Thank goodness you are okay.” Alya hugged the girl.

“I'm fine. Adrien protected me.” Marinette replied.

Alya shifted her gaze to Adrien with a smirk. Adrien was blushing at Marinette’s response.

“Oh did he? Well look at him being your handsome knight.”

“No need to stroke his ego more. Gotta keep the cinnamon roll humble.” Nino chimed in.

“Well Marinette also protected me. If anything, she is a real hero.”

“You two are so sweet that you are going to give everyone here cavities.”

“Could you not ruin my big day with your sap?” Chloé said with a bit of annoyance.

“Well I was going to mention what I saw Queen bee did that was pretty cool, but I don’t want to ruin your “Big day”. “Marinette responded.

“Pretty cool? Well I suppose you can be a bit sappy today.” Chloé answered. Trying her best not to glow from the tiny bit of implied praise.

Just as the conversation was to continue, Ms.Bustier walked into the classroom. The class sat in their seats

“Hello everyone. Due to the rather… hectic nature of today. The school has decided to dismiss classes for today. But before I dismiss you. I have some news to share. Lila, will you please come in?”

Everyone watched as Lila walked in. She was clutching her backpack. Everyone was silent as the brunette stood in the center of class.

“…Due to everything that has come to light. I will be leaving Dupont. I will no longer be a part of this class or this school.”

The class remained silent but were stunned by her statement.

“I apologize for the deceit and lies I have told while I was here. I also apologize for any physical and emotional damage I have caused with my actions. I will try to do better in the future.”

The statement felt wooden, Lila’s lies were usually over-the-top and fluid. Here Lila was nervous, strained, and clearly uncomfortable. It was debatable if she was being genuine.

Max was the first to speak up.

“So, are you going to be going to a different school in Paris?”

Lila looked at the teen and sighed.

“No, my mother has talked with Mr.Damocles. She felt that it might be best if our family went back to Italy. I think it’s better that way.”

Lila looked to the door, feeling she had said her apology.

“Miss Rossi, I believe you still have one more thing to say.” Ms. Bustier pointed out.

Lila took a deep breath and walked over to Marinette.

“Marinette. For all the threats, all the mean words, and damage I have done. I…had gone too far. I am sorry.”

Marinette looked deep into Lila’s eyes, trying to get a good of a read. I think part of Lila did believe that was true. But she wasn’t completely sorry, so Marinette wasn’t going to completely forgive her.

“I accept your apology. I hope you do better for your sake.” Marinette offered her hand to shake Lila’s.

Lila looked at the hand for a moment before taking it reluctantly.

“Maybe I will come back one day. Paris is a very unique place after all.” Lila said to Marinette as she finished the handshake. “Now I must be off.”

Lila went to the door and closed it behind her as she walked away.

To Marinette, that was the most honest thing she had said. She watched as Lila left the classroom.

“With that, you are all dismissed.” Ms.Bustier told the class.

Alya had leaned over to Marinette.

“So… I should probably take down the article on the ladyblog then right?”

“Probably, but keep it just in case. This could all be an act.” Adrien whispered as he turned his head to the two of them.

Marinette, Nino and Alya look at Adrien in surprise.

“What? It could be.” Adrien followed up.

“Yea, but you are the one that is always saying, give the benefit of the doubt.” Nino stated. “Its like I am seeing you lose your innocence. Like a kid learning santa isn’t real.”

“Santa isn’t real?” Adrien looked shook.

Nino felt his eyes go wide in horror.

“What? Of course santa is…”

“I'm busting you Nino.”

Nino looked proud and concerned. Adrien really was growing up and he is getting pretty good at deception.

“It's still shocking to hear mr.Brightside say such a negative thought though.” Marinette teased. “I thought you would be the one to suggest giving her a second chance.”

“I normally would be, but I have been burned too many times by that specific fire and I am not risking it again.”

“Fair, but I think I agree. I will keep the article, but take it down from the site.”

“That can wait, How about we get some ice cream?” Nino suggested.

“Sounds like a sweet idea to me.”

Marinette could swear she saw his chat Noir showing.

______________________________________________________________________

After Lila moved, it was relatively quiet in Paris for a bit. Maybe Hawkmoth had needed a vacation after that colossal failure. It was hard to say for certain. Regardless, the peaceful patrols served more as unofficial dates than actual patrols.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had come to an agreement that while in public view, they would keep their romance quiet. Chat Noir would still flirt and Ladybug would still respond cheekily, but it was never distracting. The two knew how to keep it professional. If questioned, Chat Noir would even admit that sadly there had been no developments.

It had been about two weeks since that little hectic event and things had been relatively calm for Marinette and Adrien. Gabriel had told Adrien that he would be giving Nathalie a vacation for a time, and that he will need to manage his schedule for the time being. Adrien still attended all his photoshoots, but he made sure his girlfriend could attend with him. While Adrien wasn’t fond of modeling, having Marinette there made it more fun. Though he did have a few tutoring cancellations which may or may not have been Adrien’s own doing, Gabriel always seemed too busy to notice that Adrien had used that time to hang out with his friends.

Class life without Lila didn’t go back to normal right away. Max apologized to Marinette, saying he should have noticed something was up with Lila. Alix joined in too, but Marinette told them all that it was okay, and she knew how tricky Lila could be. All she asked was for them be more critical in the future. Most of the class tried to do some nice things for Marinette to make up for all of the stuff Lila had tried to pull. Marinette felt flattered but told them she wasn’t going to hold it against them. It wasn’t really their fault they’d been tricked. This didn’t stop the class from trying to make amends and treat Marinette better. Adrien only encouraged the behavior, saying Marinette should be cherished.

Chloé was still Chloé, but it seemed the more grating aspects of her personality were starting to soften. She had even started holding back on her insults. Alya became convinced she was an imposter but that accusation was proven false when Chloé caught her trying to do an expose on her. Chloé just said that she was just trying to live up to her “hero” status. Most of the class rolled their eyes at that, but Adrien and Marinette gave the girl some credit. Queen Bee had been a big help and Chloé was really stepping up. It also seemed that she’d struck up a friendship with the school nurse – Marinette caught her getting the new nurse a gift for her birthday. Chloé tried to threaten Marinette out of telling anyone, but Marinette just assured her that no one would believe her even if she did.

As for Marinette and Adrien, there was a bit of an adjustment period for them now that they knew each other’s identities. Marinette found out about ALL the Ladybug photos and teased Adrien about it much like he did her. Their biggest struggles came from remembering to keep it professional as heroes. It did help that Fu was getting them some training for the ‘next step’ as he called it.

One night, Ladybug and Chat Noir met at their usual spot.

“Evening, My Lady.”

“Evening, Kitty.

“Fu has really been hitting us hard with that training of his.”

“He’s being strict for both of our sakes, remember? And you did say you were excited to learn new moves.”

“I know, but I’m so tired. Anyway, enough of that for now. How about we enjoy our patrol tonight, since we may not know what he has in store for us in the next session?”

“Sounds lovely,” Ladybug mused.

“Oh by the way, remember that app that gave us 100% compatibility?” Chat Noir asked suddenly.

“Soulmate Searcher? The app that got you to start viewing me as more than just a friend?”

“I was dense and I admit it. Yes, that one! Turns out the guy who created it is on the run for tax evasion.”

“Oh, that’s weird. I thought you were going to say that the app was totally bogus or something.”

“Nah, it seems to be holding up. But having too much faith in an algorithm is a bit crazy if you think about it,”

“So here’s a question, what would you have done if I wasn’t on your list at all?”

“I remember Alya was the one that got me to download the app. The only reason I really tried it out is she said you were on it. I told Alya I still would have given it a chance even if you weren’t on it… but I don’t know if I actually would have gone through with it… I was hesitating pretty hard despite her insistence. Then your name popped up.” She paused and looked at him. “What about you? What would you have done?

“I think I probably would have tried to see if that person was Ladybug,” Chat Noir joked.

Ladybug playfully punched his arm.

“Ouch! You wound me,” Chat Noir reacted dramatically. “Okay, if it was someone I didn’t know I probably would have deleted it.”

“Sure, sure. So why did you do some digging on the app?”

“I didn’t. Apparently my father had been doing some research on the app. I found the papers scattered in his office when he asked me to move some stuff off his desk last week. I think he might have wanted to set up a business deal or something. But I remembered it because I got an email from it.”

“Oh! I know what you’re talking about. That one that wanted you to take a few minutes to tell them what you thought of the app.”

“Yea, the survey.”

“It is kind of a weird idea if you think about it.”

“What is?”

“Asking people to do a Soulmate Survey?”

“I guess it does sound a bit out there. But it does sound fun when you say it like that.”

“I’d give them 5 stars.”

“I’d give them 4 stars.”

“Why only 4?”

“Because it didn’t tell me you were my kitty too.”

Chat Noir moved towards Ladybug, pulling her into a loving embrace.

“Well, how would you rate me?”

“5 stars.”

Ladybug cupped his cheeks and the two shared a tender kiss.

_____________________________________________________________________

THE END!

THATS ALL FOLKS

THATS ALL SHE WROTE

68 PAGES!

I have no idea how I managed to get this all on one post

do check out the Ao3 version

Please let me know your thoughts and if this was worth reading.

And do share it, it really does help.

[ceo-of-daichi]

Hey guys,

I just wanna start off by saying a massive thank you for helping create a little safe haven here on Tumblr. The support I receive from friends, mutuals and followers on this app on a daily basis still blows my mind and I appreciate it so so much! I’m so glad that you stumbled across my little blog and are still present to witness it grow!💛

Today, if I may, I just wanted to bring something to your attention that I have been struggling with for a while, and a way that you could support me through this tough time.

With the increase in the cost of living in the UK (and i’m sure everywhere else) and inflation at the moment, i’ve been forced into a very tough financial situation for the past 8 months or so. And unfortunately, despite my efforts to cut down and a lot of hard work, I am struggling to see an end.

So if AND ONLY IF you have a bit of spare cash to throw into my Ko-Fi, I would be beyond grateful. I mean it, every pound counts. I will link my Ko-Fi at the bottom of this post, but its also linked in my Navi and will always be at the top of my fics.

These Ko-Fi donations will all be going into my food and essentials budget just to help me get to the end of the month (its a really long one😭).

And if not, all reblogs would be greatly appreciated and incredibly helpful💛.

Whether you donate or not, just know that I really appreciate each and every one of your presence on my blog and in my notifs. And thank you for taking your time to read this post till the end💛.

- Lydz🌻

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