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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years

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Felix July - Villain Felix (Demon Felix AU)

@felixmonth

I was planning this for Halloween. The fact that the trailer for the latest Felix episode came out the day before is mere coincidence.

Though it does make me wonder which of these two Felix’s will be legitimately worse...

Shall we take a vote?

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Felix had a couple of encounters with the Kwamis and Miraculous in the past. Usually those encounters involved him butting heads with the godlings as the sort of person who would summon him would also be the sort to require a Miraculous or two to deal with. But only once had he ever met the one known as Tikki, and that was more than enough to sear the meeting into his memory.

Honestly, he had expected the Creation Kwami to remember him. He would have been surprised if she hadn’t. Joan was a favorite of hers, after all, and he had been involved in her rather unfortunate fate when one of his Contractors happened to use his position to ill effect. It was no surprise that the little thing would blame him, though.

As it was, he was more surprised at the chittering noise she made at his appearance, full of rage and as if she were about to attack at the very sight of him.

How rude. He hadn’t even done anything this time.

Yet.

“YOU!”

“Hello to you, too.” He said with an all too pleasant smile. “It’s nice to see you again. How have you been?”

Tikki let out an infuriated shriek that forced her mortal chosen to cover her ears but did very little to Felix himself. He merely looked down at her in distaste.

“Now that language is rather uncalled for.”

“What are you even doing here?” Tikki demanded.

The girl—Marinette Dupain-Cheng lowered her hands and looked back and forth between the two of them, all the more confused.

“So…I take it that you two know each other?”

“Obviously.” He replied with dry amusement. “But that hardly matters now.”

“I think it does.” She countered—smart girl. He could already tell this would be a fun one. “Who are you?”

Ignoring the kwami’s glare and attempt to get in his way, he merely brushed past the little being until he was standing face to face with his new contractor.

She was cute, he supposed. For human terms at least. She wore her hair in pigtails—a sign of immaturity. She seemed to draw back from him—clearly fear and uncertainty. She was in a constant state of anxiety and her aura was as limited as her self-confidence.

She was perfect.

He bowed with a flourish, appearing every part the picture of servitude and obedience.

“I am merely your humble servant, dear Mistress.”

“Eh?” Marinette flushed at that.

“NO! No, no, no!” The annoying kwami shouted, forcing her way between them. “You are not doing this! Not her!”

He smiled with false kindness. “Oh, but it’s already done. She and I have a contract to complete. I am merely here to fulfill my role.”

“No, it isn’t!” Tikki insisted. “She never summoned you or agreed to any deals! You have no claim on her!”

“Tikki, what’s going on? What is he talking about?” Marinette asked, increasingly worried at the state of her kwami.

“Don’t trust him, Marinette!” She exclaimed. “He’s here to try and make a claim on your soul!”

Marinette stiffened at that, her gaze jumping to Felix. “Is that true?”

He continued to smile. “Mostly. The only wrong point is that there is no ‘try’. Your soul has already been offered to me. I am simply upholding my end of the bargain.”

Both girl and kwami gasped in horror.

“But how?!” Tikki rounded on Marinette, not in anger but in worry as she looked the girl over for any sign of a contract. “Marinette, did you contract with him?”

She shook her head fervently in response. “No! I didn’t even know that was a thing!”

The kwami continued to mutter fearfully as she checked her chosen. Marinette was too stunned to move or try to stop her, her gaze not straying from Felix.

“What…what are you?”

He smirked.

“I’m a demon.”

Her eyes narrowed. At first he thought it was out of anger, but as she began to speak, he realized it was contemplation.

“I never made a deal with you. Or any demon.” She looked down to her clearly upset friend who had been just investigating her body. He could see her mind in motion, putting the pieces together and drawing conclusions.

“You didn’t, no. That original summoner would be a girl by the name of Lila Rossi.”

A pause.

“I take it you’ve heard of her.” He stated.

It went without saying, really. The way both girl and kwami tensed and the sheer anger they both displayed were indicative enough of that, even if he didn’t already know of their conflict with his former “Mistress” from his own observations of her or her final wish specifically targeting this girl.

But still…better to lead her in the direction he wants her to start looking. All the easier to build on that resentment and have her act on it.

“Lila! I should have known!” Marinette hissed, fists clenched and looking to the side. But then she immediately paused, considering. “Wait…”

Tikki floated up to her face, concerned. “Marinette?”

“Lila summoned you. Lila contracted with you. That means…Lila had to have made a wish from you.” Marinette reasoned.

Interesting. She was rather quick to put the clues together.

He nodded. “Three, in fact. Standard contract. Three wishes. No misfortune countertransference or ‘Monkey’s Paw’ drawbacks.”

Marinette nodded at that as she thought it out in her head.

“Is it possible…did Lila use her wishes to make everyone just trust her so easily?”

Felix didn’t dare grin. He merely nodded again, maintaining the picture of subservience. “Good fortune. Charm and charisma. Beguiling of the mind. The trust and adoration of those who meet her. Invoking immediate belief in her words. The inability of her listeners to question her unless she makes a claim they know with absolute certainty cannot be true.”

He let that slip out. It was all the better to confirm his new Contractor’s suspicions. Both to build her hatred of his former “Mistress” and to give her all the more justification to act in the belief she would be protecting others from Rossi’s continued manipulations if it’s clear they will be unable to realize it on their own.

“And as her last wish, she bequeathed her contract onto you so that your soul would be taken in place of her own.”

THAT got their attention.

“WHAT?!”

Ah, sweet music. Indignation, fear, righteous fury, injustice. A rather potent combination.

And he barely even had to do more than pluck a few strings to get it going.

But those few strings were perfectly times and expertly played as he divulged in full detail the tragic news of Marinette’s fate thanks to the schemes of a liar. He told them how Lila had gone well out of her way to learn about him and to summon him—the materials to conduct a demon summoning are hardly simple, after all. He spoke of the wretched girl’s history, of all the pain she had caused even before gaining any wishes from him and how much worse she became after. And he delightfully told them of how Lila, in an attempt to save her own life after having ruined so many others had seen fit to continue rather than repent—and went so far as to target the one person seemingly unaffected by her Charm. If allowed to continue, surely she would never stop. And she would certainly not make the same mistake as to allow anyone else to find the loophole Marinette had unwittingly stumbled into.

Through it all, Tikki merely glared at him, but Marinette…she was observing him just as much as he had been observing her. Considering. Contemplating.

It was all too perfect.

He already knew how this would end.

She was a thinker, this girl. Logic may not have been her strong suit, but she could certainly plan and reason.

He had dealt with people like her in the past. People who tried to rationalize their way out of bad situations while failing to see the traps. He had seen it before. This was nothing new.

She had a little understanding of how his power worked. Limited knowledge of the tools at her disposal. She was an outsider thrown into a game she did not know how to play. But she was smart—oh yes, she was certainly smart enough to come to the obvious conclusion.

It was clear how this would end. She would realize it soon enough.

The easy answer was to get vengeance against the one who sought to sacrifice her.

The logical answer was to make a wish to try and rebound the contract back on Lila.

The simple answer was that if Lila could wish her payment on another, then certainly it could be wished back on her.

The obvious solution was for the would-be victim to wish it.

“No.”

He startled.

“What?”

Yet it was the one thing she refused to do.

“No?” He asked in genuine surprise. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“Exactly that. No. I’m not going to wish anything to happen to Lila.” She insisted stubbornly. “In fact, I’m not going to wish for anything! I refuse!”

Tikki beamed with pride.

This was…not what he was expecting.

“You can’t refuse. No one has ever refused!“

If Felix was inclined to care about appearances, he probably looked more harried than he ever allowed himself to seem before. At this moment, however, he was more concerned with this sudden deviation from his plans.

Uncaring of any such plans, the girl merely crossed her arms with a huff. “Yeah, but they all summoned you specifically to get things in the first place. I’m not like them! I never asked for your help.“

“No, you didn’t.” He mused. “But you never ask for anything, do you?”

He walked around her in a circle. She turned with him, and never once allowed him out of her sight.

Smart girl.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if for once someone tried to help you without you having to ask? Without you having to jump through hoops and break your back to somehow ‘earn’ their loyalty first? Loyalty they long since should have afforded you as a friend if not all the good you’ve already done for them?”

“Don’t act like you’re trying to help me.” She snapped at him. “You’re certainly not doing this for free.”

“No.” He admitted. “But I’m not requiring anything of you either.”

“Just my soul.”

“Your soul is already mine.” He explained, logically. “You have Rossi to thank for that. This is merely you taking payback. Or at least making the exchange worth it.”

She glared at him fiercely. Something in her eyes sent a thrill down his spine even as his hands ached to take that fire and snuff it.

She huffed angrily. “Why would I go and do a thing like that?”

That was obvious.

“Because it’s in your nature.”

“That’s not—”

“Don’t kid yourself. Of course it is! It’s why your city is currently under siege. It’s why your friends are letting themselves be played for fools. It’s why I’ve been sent to you in the first place. Because everyone wants something. Even the majority of your most reviled sins are centered around the general concept.”

She frowned in confusion. “What?”

“Those cardinal vices—the seven deadly sins. Well, seven after the Catholic Church got ahold of the list, at any rate.”

Marinette looked rather unimpressed.

Felix was disinclined to care, and chose to continue.

“Greed. Lust. Gluttony. Each in some way is about the idea of wanting more than one has or should have. Whether it’s food, riches, or bodily pleasure. Even envy is about wanting what others have. Pride is in a sense feeling you are more deserving than others of the things you want. As for wrath…well, how often do people turn to destruction when they can’t get what they want? And in turn, the cardinal virtues that oppose the sins are all about restraint and holding oneself back from that which they want…and is it really no wonder why people keep giving in to the temptation if the demand that people should deny themselves the best they have to offer. Honestly, I barely have to try and convince anyone before they jump right into Faustian bargains.”

“You sound so sure of yourself!” Tikki hissed.

“Because I am.” Felix replied with a smirk. “I’ve yet to have a contract I never collected on. This will be no different.”

Marinette glared at him. “And what makes you so sure I’ll give in?”

“Because you’re human.” He replied simply. “If there is one thing humans excel at, it’s wanting. It’s the constant desire. The yearning for things they cannot or should not have, even to their own detriment. So many people every day waste their lives away wishing…dreaming…wanting.”

He caught her chin with his fingers, forcing her to meet his eyes.

“And you, my dear, are particularly brim with desires.”

“What would you know of my desires?”

He smirked. “How could I not know? You wear your desires so openly that it would be impossible to ignore them.”

Her eyes widened—likely fear and maybe embarrassment as he started to list them.

“The heart of a boy with no reason to even look at you.”

“To become renown for your designs and artistry.”

“A family life. A loving husband and…” He grinned. “Children.”

She gasped and drew back.

He barely held back the laugh, limiting it to a mere chuckle at the inanity of it all.

“Two boys. And a girl.” He leaned forward, whispering their names like a prayer. “Hugo. Louis. Ema.”

She gasped. Like it was a surprise. As though those names weren’t etched into her very heart, big and bright and so easily for anyone to read.

The girl was an open book.

“Such a loss…wouldn’t it be a shame?”

“You don’t touch them!” She snapped at him.

He didn’t even bother to hide the laugh this time.

“Touch them? Princess, they don’t exist! Those ‘children’ are mere illusions conjured by your imagination! They are figments of your desire. Nothing more than a dream. And the way you’re going, that’s all they’ll ever be.”

She practically wilted at that. He watched her spirit falter and fall like a dying flame.

It was over.

Tikki’s hissing didn’t even seem to penetrate the girl’s mind as she stared at him, looking oh so perfectly lost.

“You help others to no end and with nothing to show for it. You lose time and again to liars and bullies who abuse their power and authority to harm you and those you care about. You give of yourself until there is nothing left for the sake of a boy who would have every reason to love you if he weren’t so blind. And for all your attempts, it only leads to demands for more. From yourself. From your friends. From the world.”

He reached out a hand to touch her cheek in a gentle caress.

“You could have anything—simply ask for anything to at least make things a little better. Not even just for yourself, but for everyone. You could wish Hawk Moth to die and his Miraculous in your hands. You could wish Adrien to finally see how much you love him. And you know your friends are little more than tools to Rossi at this point. If you really want to save them from her, you could just ask and that little problem will simply go away. No blood. No mess. No guilt on your shoulders. You could erase her from existence entirely so you never even remember her.”

She looked up at him, almost shyly as she listened despite Tikki’s warnings. He knew he as good as had her.

“So many things. So many ways to make your life better in the here and now.”

He smiled gently now. Play the part of the rescuer. Calming her and reassuring her that it was okay.

“All you have to do is ask, Princ—.”

He was cut off by the sensation of something very cold and very wet hitting his face.

Sputtering, he wiped his eyes and found Marinette giving him an altogether unimpressed stare with what appeared to be a mister in hand.

He was…pretty sure he hadn’t seen her holding that just a minute ago.

“Did…did you just squirt me?” He asked, completely bewildered. He’d been stabbed, burned, hung, and even cut in half on one occasion. But no one just…SPRAYED him with water before like he was an unruly housecat.

Tikki laughed, joyously as Marinette looked down on him figuratively and literally.

“Yes. And there’s more of that, mister.” Marinette threatened, shaking the bottle and making it evident from the sloshing within that there was still plenty of water left.

“You can’t just do that!” He exclaimed, incredulous. It was silly, of course, because she clearly just had. But it was the principle of the matter!

“And you can’t just buy my soul from someone else! Especially not someone who has no claim to it!” Marinette countered.

“It was her wish.” He insisted.

“And it’s your contract. Surely there would have to be some stipulations about either party requesting or promising something they can’t deliver.”

…

She took his silence as an answer and smirked.

“Now let me make this perfectly clear.” She told him in a ‘no nonsense’ tone. “I don’t want you here. I never agreed to any contract or to any of the terms of your contract with Lila. I don’t want your power or any ‘help’ from you. I’m not going to make ANY wishes to you. In fact,” She straightened, growing…alarmingly more confident than he expected from the anxious girl with poor self confidence she initially presented herself to be. “I’m going to find some way to save myself AND Lila from you.”

Wait—what?

“You can’t do that!”

She couldn’t do that, right?

Marinette merely glared with all the fury of a very frustrated and unhappy teenager who happened to moonlight as a superhero with all the powers of creation at her disposal.

It…turned out to be more intimidating than expected…

“Watch me.”

And with that, she turned away and stomped to her desk where she promptly began working and doing her utmost to pretend he wasn’t there.

He frowned at her back.

“You are already doomed. Why not enjoy what you can?”

She would not be cowed.

“I couldn’t expect you to understand.”

Ah. A “human” thing. How droll. And as pathetic a comeback as any could be.

But she said nothing further, and took to ignoring him from then out. Tikki smirked at him from her side as she kept watch over them both—her to protect and him to be protected from.

He glowered at the two from the corner, considering his next move.

It seemed Marinette Dupain-Cheng would not be so easily played.

That was fine. Really. It was a minor setback, nothing more.

After all, she was only human. As was Rossi. As was every Contractor before.

She would falter in this newfound determination sooner or later.

He could be patient.

#ml au #felix july #felix month #demon felix #marinette dupain cheng #tikki #lila sucks #tikki is terrifying #spray bottle #ways to deal with an unruly demon #Marinette is awesome #felix was not prepared for this

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bevvydraws · 5 years

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“Please Stay?” (Why Stay? pt. 2)

Part two of “Why Stay?” Is now finished! This is a fix-it fic to the episode “Ladybug”! Read part one here! I hope you enjoy!

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For the next day and a half, Marinette threw herself into a frenzy. She didn’t allow herself to stay still for more than 30 minutes. Every time she tried to relax, she ended up dwelling on how everything had gone downhill so quickly. After her parents asked why she had been giving them a bit of a cold shoulder, she had a serious talk with them, and let them know just how bad it hurt when they just immediately accepted Lila’s lies. Cautiously she told them about all that had happened since the first day that Lila had shown up. Marinette had cried, and her parents quickly brought her in for a tight embrace. They apologized profusely, and Marinette understood. Her parents were caring, compassionate people. They did not think about how awful and manipulative some children could be.

After their talk, she had laid down and napped away her emotional exhaustion. But once she was awake, she began her desperate attempt to do anything to keep her mind off of what had happened. She cooked meals, cleaned the house, helped in the bakery, started on fashion projects she had been procrastinating for weeks, and even rearranged the garden on her balcony. In this span of time, Marinette had hardly spoken to Tikki, who recognized Marinette’s need for space. Marinette was grateful. Tikki could be a bit overwhelming sometimes with her well-meaning (albeit sometimes condescending) advice. But somehow no amount of busywork or space could completely erase the hollow feeling in her gut.

Alya had tried to call her once, right after she had left the school, but after that, there was nothing but radio silence from any of her friends. Not that she would have responded anyway, but it still made the pit in her stomach feel that much bigger. Her friends really were mad at her, weren’t they? Once she began thinking about it, she immediately turned to find something to do to take her mind off of it.

It was her fifth time rearranging the flower pots on her balcony when she heard a small “thud” on the roof. It didn’t startle her, despite the fact that she had been lost in thought about whether to arrange the flowers by name or color, but months of fighting akumatized villains left her with little to fear. Besides, she knew what it was--or rather who it was--that landed on her rooftop. The almost imperceptible jingle of a bell as he moved only confirmed what she already knew.

“Evening, Chat Noir.”

“Don’t you mean ‘good evening’?” Chat responded, chuckling, but there was no real humor behind it. For some reason, it sounded as if he were being cautious. Marinette looked up from her flower pot, focused her gaze on the beginnings of a beautiful sunset for a moment, then sighed before turning to face him. It was then that she could see that he was still perched on her roof, looking at her with a worried expression she’d only seen him give her when she was Ladybug. Her heart tightened in her chest, but her voice still kept the same dull tone.

“There’s nothing terribly good about this evening, I’m afraid.”

“Not even with your favorite hero here?” his tone suggested that he was joking, but Marinette knew him well enough to tell that he was worried (even if he didn’t know that she knew him that well).

“Well, maybe it’s not… all bad,” Marinette cracked a small smile, if only to get him to stop worrying. “Why did you stop by, anyways?”

“Well… I know someone who goes to school with you, apparently, and they told me about you almost being akumatized the other day. I figured I’d, I dunno, check and see how you’ve been holding up?” Chat was standing in front of her now, but he couldn’t seem to meet her gaze. He was rubbing at the back of his neck, a gesture that seemed oddly familiar to Marinette. But Chat’s defeated sigh distracted her from thinking about it too hard. “Honestly, Marinette? I was worried.”

Marinette took a step back, surprised, “You were worried?”

Chat nodded, and held his arms open, “I don’t know if you’re much of a hugger… but, whenever I’d had a really rough time a hug from someone who cared always helped me.” Marinette’s eyes widened, and in the dimming light of the sunset saw a tint of pink staining his cheeks. Without her consent, her eyes began to water and she threw herself into his embrace. Her face pressed against his chest, and she began to sob. Chat wrapped his arms around her securely. When it seemed like her legs were going to give out, he carefully picked her up and sat down on the lounge chair. Marinette didn’t seem to care that she was now curled up against him while on his lap. Instead, she leaned into him more and continued to cry.

Chat Noir rubbed the top of her hair, using his other arm to keep a firm hold on her. He started a low rumble in his chest that seemed to soothe her. Eventually, her crying died down to quiet sniffles. “I-” Marinette hiccuped, “I’m so s-sorry, Chat.”

Chat looked into her watery blue eyes and he could hear the sound of his own heart shattering into a million pieces. He moved his gloved hand from the top of her head to cup her cheek. “What on Earth are you apologizing for?”

Marinette leaned into his touch, wondering why she was suddenly craving more of his comforting presence. She opened her mouth to respond, but her voice got caught in her throat. Biting her lip, Marinette just shook her head and brought her hands up to hold the one cupping her cheek. She took a deep breath and once again met Chat’s gaze. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Chat Noir. Things are tough on me right now, but no one is to blame for that but Lila. And I refuse to keep letting her control my life. Which is why I believe I’m going to switch schools.”

“Switch schools?!”

Marinette winced at his sharp yelp, and Chat cringed. Marinette sighed, “Yes. I’m going to transfer schools. I mean, all of my friends gave up on me. They really believed that I did a bunch of terrible things when it was obvious that Lila had framed me. After everything I’ve done to be there for them… they really believed I was capable of being a cheat, a thief, and that I had pushed her down the stairs.” Marinette wiped at her eyes in hopes of keeping any more tears from falling, “They hate me. So the only real option that I have is to move schools because Lila won. She turned everyone against me just like she said she would.”

“You think everyone hates you…?” Chat Noir asked.

“My best friend Alya always takes her side, so of course Nino is going to agree with Alya, and the majority of the class is wrapped around her finger. Even Max, and he’s like the most logical person in the class! He’s able to do equations in his head like it’s nothing but he thinks catching a napkin will hurt someone’s wrist?” Marinette stood up then and began pacing, missing the warmth of Chat only subconsciously as she tugged at one of her pigtails. She huffed, even stomping her foot, “And then to make matters worse, even Adrien turned his back on me!”

“W-what?!” Chat, who had been too afraid to interrupt her rambling, suddenly sat up completely. Marinette gave him a funny look, so he cleared his throat, hoping it was enough to play it off but being more concerned with her last sentence, “What do you mean?”

“A while back… a boy in my class, Adrien, told me that everything would be okay as long as the two of us knew that Lila was a liar. He said that we’d be in this together. But now he’s doing photo shoots with her and I’m all alone. Even he hates me so much that he’d rather side with Lila.” Marinette looked down at her feet, “Honestly… that hurts worse than any of the others.”

“Mari-”

“I was so stupid to think that he’d ever love me back.”

Her voice was soft, almost too soft for Chat Noir to hear. But he did hear it. And his heart began pounding against his ribcage at a dangerous speed. Marinette just confessed her feelings for Adrien. He is Adrien. Marinette loves him. Marinette thought he hated her. Chat Noir’s brain became a jumbled mess of colorful language and confusion. He wanted to sort through the sudden chaotic emotions he was feeling, but the heartbroken expression on Marinette’s face brought him crashing down from whatever mixture of high and confusion he was feeling.

Now was not the time to be thinking about how lucky he was that such an amazing girl liked--no, loved--someone who was as unimpressive as him. Now was the time to cheer her up.

Chat Noir stood and placed one hand on Marinette’s shoulder, using his other hand to tilt her chin up gently so she was looking at him. “Marinette,” he said, his tone more serious than she’d ever heard in her life, “You are amazing. You have accomplished so much and have done so many things to help those around you. You’ve even stood face to face against an akuma despite the fact that you don’t have a miraculous. You are selfless, courageous, creative, patient, loving, forgiving, and an all-around super person.” As Chat spoke, he saw Marinette’s cheeks go red, “I know that right now things are really hard on you, but I swear that everything will work out just fine. Lila will get what’s coming to her, one way or another. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything in order to appease someone as awful as her. I swear on my miraculous that everything will turn out just fine.”

Marinette bit her lip again, not quite sure what to say but also not willing to break her gaze, “You swear?”

Chat Noir nods, “I do. And don’t worry about your classmates or that Adrien kid. I heard that all of them were devastated after you left.” He thought about how Marinette said that he--well, the Adrien him--hated her, and added, “And Adrien would have to be an absolute idiot to hate you, Marinette.”

That caused Marinette to chuckle, “He’s not an idiot, Chat.”

“He is,” Chat said matter-of-factly, “And he is completely undeserving of your love.”

“Don’t say that,” Marinette sighed, “Everyone deserves love, kitty. Except for Hawkmoth. And Lila.”

Chat Noir laughed, “You’re too kind, princess.”

Chat Noir stayed with Marinette well into the evening, and the two sat curled up together again on her lounge chair, laughing and talking. It was the best Marinette had felt since the day she got expelled. Finally, someone was listening. Finally, someone cared. It just further solidified what Marinette always knew: she could always count on Chat Noir, whether as Ladybug or as herself. And that knowledge made handling everything seem a lot easier.

Before Chat Noir left, he pressed a small kiss to Marinette’s cheek, giving her another reassurance that everything would be fine. “I’m sure your friends will try to apologize sometime soon,” he said, perched on the railing of her balcony. “But no one will blame you or hold it against you if you choose not to forgive them.” And with that, he leaped off of the balcony and disappeared among the rooftops.

Marinette watched him for as long as she could, and when she could no longer see him, she thought she could hear the faint jingling of his bell in the distance. Although it was likely just her imagination, she found comfort in it. She found comfort in him.

She looked at the stars that were now shining bright in the sky and smiled to herself. Chat swore to her that everything was going to be okay. And she was inclined to believe him.

——————————————

Marinette spent another day at home, mulling over Chat Noir’s words. Did her classmates deserve her forgiveness? Maybe not. In fact, she still found the thought of moving to a new school invigorating. A fresh start, new people, and no Lila sounded perfect for her aching heart.

But Marinette loved her class. She loved her friends. And it was because she loved them so much that she knew in her heart that if she did decide to leave that it would take her a long time to move on. Marinette wasn’t sure if her heart could take it. She told Tikki about the visit from Chat Noir, and everything he had said to her. Tikki just smiled and told Marinette that this was a decision that she had to make for herself and that she would support her no matter what the end result was.

With so many conflicted feelings and thoughts racing through her mind, Marinette decided to at least be a little proactive. She began scrolling through other schools in the area, check out the teachers and the clubs that were at each one. They looked promising, if Marinette were being honest with herself. Maybe she could find her place at one of these other schools, after all. The only downside she could see--minus having to meet new people--was the distance. But that still shouldn’t be too much of a problem. She was Ladybug, after all. She could leap across buildings if she ever found herself in too much of a hurry. Marinette almost found herself laughing at the thought of the scolding Tikki would surely give Marinette for even thinking of using the suit that way.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ding of her phone. The noise startled her, given that her phone had been completely void of notifications for the past three days. She glanced at it, seeing it was a text from Rose, informing her of an impromptu band gig at a party being held at Le Grand Paris Hotel.

Marinette sighed, should she go? Would it even matter if she showed up? Marinette stared at her phone screen when suddenly the text bubble popped up again indicating Rose was typing another message.

Suddenly a picture with the members of Kitty Section all sending her puppy eyes flashed on her screen, with the message underneath reading “Please come, it would mean so much to us!” Followed by another quick message informing her that it was a themed party, and she should come dressed as a princess.

“Like a princess?” Marinette said out loud incredulously, wondering what on earth kind of party she would be showing up to.

Marinette looked at the picture again and sighed, sending Rose a response that she would be there and to send her a time. Within a second of her pressing send, Rose was calling her. Marinette hesitantly answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Marinette!” came Roses delighted voice, “Oh we’re so happy you said yes! We’ve missed you so much at school and we—” there were voices in the background that Marinette couldn’t make out that cut off Rose. “Well, I just wanted to let you know that the party starts at 5 o’clock tomorrow! And don’t worry about a ride, someone will be there to pick you up!”

“Pick me up? Rose just what kind of party is—”

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow Marinette! And don’t forget to dress like a princess!”

“Wait Rose I—”

“See you tomorrow!!” And with that, Rose hung up and Marinette was left staring at her phone. She wandered downstairs to ask her parents for permission, and they agreed a little too quickly. The entire situation was odd, but Marinette thought it was a good sign that Rose insisted on seeing her tomorrow. At least the members of the band still cared about Marinette, at least. Perhaps not all of her friendships were doomed after all.

With hopes somewhat lifted, Marinette looked through her closet for her most princess-y outfit and decided on a dress that would be perfect after she gave it a few modifications. She slid the dress on a mannequin and pulled out her extra bits of fabric and set to work. She refused to look like an embarrassment when she showed up to support her friends.

She worked on it well into the night, and by the time she was finished, she couldn’t even make it to her bed. She crashed on her chaise sofa with a resounding ‘thud’ and was instantly asleep. Tikki watched on with a little laugh, before dragging a blanket over to her holder and draping it across her. Tikki pressed a kiss to Marinette’s forehead and snuggled beside her before the little kwami also fell asleep.

——————————————

Marinette woke up when the sun hit her face from her window. She tried reaching for her pillow to cover but came up empty-handed. Confused, she opened her eyes all the way and realized she was not in her bed. It took only a minute for Marinette to remember her late-night project. She shot up quickly, ignoring the stiffness in her back as she looked at the dress that was still on the mannequin.

If Marinette was being honest, it looked even better than she expected it to. She had taken an old pink sundress, removed the straps, and had carefully revamped the entire dress. It was now a knee-length formal dress with baby pink tulle sleeves and fabric flowers that she had painstakingly cut and sown on herself. She even did some beadwork in the center of the flowers and scattered along the bust. More tulle was draped over the skirt, and more flowers covered the line where the tulle was sewn to the dress. It was truly a beautiful gown, and Marinette couldn’t believe that she’d be wearing it. Everything was so sudden, so rushed, she wasn’t even quite sure what was going on.

But knowing that she’d be able to wear a dress fit for a modern-day princess (that she had designed herself) was making her unbelievably giddy. Marinette looked at the time and realizing that she only had a few hours to get ready, practically leaped off of her chaise and began getting ready. She decided not to do eyeliner for her makeup. Instead used soft browns and pinks to give her face a soft, rosy glow. She even let her hair down for the special occasion, brushing it out and letting it fall to her shoulders.

Marinette called her mom upstairs to help her slip into the petticoat and the dress since she was afraid of messing it up even the slightest bit. Her mother praised her for her creativity and talent, bustling about with the same excited energy Marinette normally gets whenever she’s feeling especially giddy. Sabine giggled about how she was going to be the center of attention at the party in a dress so lovely, and Marinette couldn’t help but blush at the compliments.

“I’m not even sure what this party is for, or why Kitty Section was chosen to play, or anything. Rose was being so vague about the whole thing which is really unlike her,” Marinette told her mother, who tried to keep a knowing smile from forming on her face.

“Marinette, dear, maybe it’s best to just go with the flow this once, alright?” she suggested, “You’ve been invited to a party that your friends are playing at! You get to show off this absolutely stunning dress you created in just one evening, and you might be able to talk to your friends about your concerns about coming back to school. But most importantly, Marinette, you have the chance to have some fun after so many days of feeling miserable.” Sabine hugged her daughter and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Everything will work out how it should. So try not to question things all the time and just let things happen as they were intended to”

“You’re right, Maman,” Marinette smiled, hugging her mom back. “I’ll just enjoy myself the best I can.” Her mom placed another kiss to the side of her head and the two walked downstairs to wait for her ride to show up.

To Marinette’s surprise, her ride was a limo. When the fancy vehicle pulled up to the front of the bakery, Marinette was a stuttering mess trying hard to figure out just what in the world was going on. She was sure that there was a mixup, but when the driver stepped out she recognized Adrien’s bodyguard--Gorilla, she had heard Adrien call him.

Marinette was nervous as she approached him, and she looked up at the intimidating man with what she was sure was fear in her eyes. “Is this ride for me?”

The man nodded and opened the door for her. As she slid in and waved goodbye to her parents, she cast another unsure glance at the Gorilla. Only this time he gave her a small smile. She found that his little smile eased her nerves quite a bit, and she sat back and enjoyed her luxury ride.

The ride was a short one, and soon she was in front of Le Grand Paris Hotel. Pink balloons were placed at the entrance, and the guard at the front was donned in a white uniform instead of his usual black. The man bowed to hear, mumbling a “Welcome, honored guest”, before opening the door for her. Marinette’s confusion only increased as she entered the hotel to see the lobby almost completely empty. Almost.

Standing towards the center of the lobby was Nino, who was donned in an outfit that was oddly familiar. His red hat was replaced by a pink one, and he was wearing a black button-up shirt and pink pants with matching pink and black shoes. “Nino?” Marinette called, stepping closer to him, “What on earth is going on?”

Nino looked at her and a bright smile lit up his face, “Welcome dud— I mean, welcome Princess!” He offers out his arm, “It’s my privilege to escort you to the party being held in your honor. Please follow me.”

“In my honor?” Marinette asked, her voice hoarse all of a sudden. She hooked her arm through Nino’s, though, and he began leading them towards the elevator. “Nino, what’s going on?”

Nino’s bright smile became a bit more apologetic as they stepped onto the elevator and he pushed the buttons. As the elevator started to move, he looked at her and said softly, “This is our way of apologizing to you, Marinette. It’s nothing compared to everything you’ve done for us, but we really hope you accept our apology.”

“We?” Marinette asked as the doors to the elevator opened. Almost as if in response to her question, she was greeted by a loud chorus of people.

“Welcome, Princess Marinette!” they all shouted.

And suddenly, everything seemed like a blur. She was rushed into the crowd of people. Friends both in and out of her classroom, all dressed to resemble her signature outfit. Most of the girls and even some of the guys put pigtails in their hair. Marinette was the only one dressed like a princess, she had realized.

“What is all of this?” Marinette looked around, her eyes watering as she took in the sight of pink polka-dotted balloons and a banner that said: “We love you, Marinette!”

Alya made her way to the front of the crowd of people surrounding her and wrapped her arms around Marinette in a tight hug. “This is our way of apologizing for how awfully we treated you, Mari.”

“We are so sorry for believing all of Lila’s lies!” Rose said, joining the hug and using one hand to wipe at her watery eyes.

“We miss you,” came Juleka’s mumbled response as she also joined the hug.

One by one the rest of the class joined in on the hug, and Marinette was trapped. Tears fell freely down her face and she wiped at them the best she could without smearing her makeup. “You guys..” she said weakly, “I’ve missed you, too.”

“Please don’t leave!” Kim shouts, “Who else is going to make banners for when me and Alix race? Or let me stick pencils in their hair when I’m bored?”

“Kim!” Alix scolds, jumping up to slap the back of his head, “This isn’t about you!”

Marinette laughed as she watched Kim rub the back of his head and begin bickering with Alix while Rose tried to calm them both down. Everyone else either moved to watch them or wandered off to do their own thing. She shook her head and then turned to look at Alya, who had the most guilty expression Marinette had ever seen. “I’m really sorry, Marinette,” she said weakly, “And I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness or your friendship, but I hope we can still be friends…”

Marinette placed a hand on Alya’s shoulder, “Of course we can still be friends, Alya. But I feel like there are some things we need to work on, alright?”

“Of course, I agree,” Alya nodded quickly, “There’s a lot I need to do to make this right. And to start, I have some good news.”

“And that is…?”

“Lila is expelled from our school.”

“What?! Why?! When?! How?!”

“I can’t take all of the credit for it,” Alya said, “Adrien is most of the reason why it happened. The day after you left, he came to me with a lot of information that he had kept to himself. Like how Lila forced her way into his house, how he had to use their ‘friendship’ against her to get her to come up with a story as to why she framed you for expulsion, and a bunch of other things. And he told me about how you and him both knew all along about how Lila truly was. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you, Marinette.”

“A-Adrien helped get her expelled?!”

Suddenly a voice came from behind her, “It’s the least I could do for our everyday Ladybug.”

Marinette jumped and turned to face Adrien, who was smiling at her. Something about the smile was different, but Marinette was too flustered to think too hard about it. Then she noticed his hair pulled up into two tiny blonde pigtails and she let out an ungraceful snort. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “I-I love your hair, Adrien,” she managed to get out between giggles.

“Why thank you,” he said with a grandiose tone of voice while bowing dramatically. The pose made a bell go off in Marinette’s mind, but she tried to ignore it, “I was inspired by my favorite princess.” He looked up from his bowed position and winked at her.

Marinette’s eyes widened and her heart stopped. This was familiar. This was too familiar. The tone, the pose, all she had left to do was imagine that the pigtails on top of his head were leather cat ears and the boy in front of her was not her mild-mannered classmate but was instead the leather-clad goofball she ran across rooftops with. And by the expression on Adrien’s face, he knew that she had just realized who he was. Adrien stood straight again and offered his hand out to her. She could only stare at him in response.

“Care to dance with me, Marinette?”

“There’s no music,” she numbly replied.

“We can fix that!” Alya said excitedly and rushed off to get Kitty Section--who in fact was meant to play at this party--set up to begin playing. As soon as she was out of earshot, Marinette turned to look at Adrien again, who was smiling at her.

“I can’t believe it,” Marinette said, “I can not believe that you and him are the same person.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, princess,” Adrien grinned, “I am me, and that’s it.”

With courage that only comes from facing akumas on a weekly basis, Marinette stepped closer to Adrien until she was inches away from his face. “Is that so, kitty?” she teased, and made a motion as if she were flicking at a bell that was not there, “Well then it’s fair to say that I am me, and that’s it.”

It was Adrien’s turn to look surprised, but it soon turned into a look of utter joy, “Milady? Can I really be that lucky?”

Marinette grinned, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Adrien.”

The music started up, and Marinette held her hand out to him, “Now dance with me, tomcat.”

Adrien quickly accepted, and the two danced and danced until their feet hurt. The last song they had danced to had been a slow one, and it gave Marinette and Adrien time to talk. They whispered silently between each other, talking about how crazy it was that they had been right next to each other all along. They talked about how blind they both were, and they also talked about their feelings. There wasn’t much to talk about, though. It was plain as day that they both loved each other.

“You look stunning, by the way,” Adrien told her, smiling as he saw her face light up in a blush.

“Thank you,” Marinette bashfully whispered. “If I would have known I would have been dancing, I would have worn different shoes though.”

“I’d be happy to carry you, milady.”

“I bet you would, you alley cat.” Marinette nudged him slightly with a laugh. Adrien chuckled, then his tone became a little sadder.

“You know, we probably shouldn’t know each other’s identity, bug,” Adrien whispered, “It could cause all sorts of problems.”

“More problems than fighting a supervillain every week?” Marinette responded, “More problems than exams?”

“Maybe not,” Adrien laughed, “But I know that it doesn’t matter because even if it did, we’d figure it out.”

Marinette closed her eyes and hummed in agreement, “You’re right. We would.”

Adrien leaned his forehead against hers, and she opened her eyes in surprise. Adrien stopped the slow circle they had been moving in, and his hand cupped her cheek. “It’s you and me against the world, princess. And I’m sorry I left you hanging when it came to Lila. I was so stupid. And I am undeserving of your forgiveness and your love.”

Marinette placed her hand over his, “I told you before, everyone is deserving of love, kitty.” She reassured, parroting what she said when he visited her on her rooftop. “Except for Lila and Hawkmoth. And now that Lila is gone--thanks to you, in fact--all we need to worry about now is Hawkmoth.”

“But he can wait,” Adrien smiled, “Right now, I want to enjoy the rest of this party celebrating my favorite person in the whole world.” He leaned in a little closer, and Marinette met him in a kiss that made the problems of the past week melt away. Their free hands found each other and their fingers intertwined.

Despite all of the craziness and the emotional rollercoaster she had been on in the past week, she had found her place. Her place was at school, surrounded by people who did understand her. People who showed that they would rather band together and throw a ridiculous party where they celebrated her, than think about losing her for good. And side by side with the only person who had always had her back, even when she didn’t realize it.

And somehow, even though she had discovered Chat Noir’s identity, she still found herself more surprised that the party was Chloe’s idea than anything else.

#bevvy writes #my writing #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfic #ml fanfic #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #lila gets expelled #marichat

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bisexualsforprompto · 5 years

Text

Guilt and Love Chapter Three

Even though Gabriel had managed to get an akuma in Lila Rossi’s bag for her convenience in Gotham, as part of their agreement, it was still out of range. He thrust his cane done in frustration as he felt complete static from the connection. There was absolutely no hope in controlling the akuma now, but Gabriel didn’t want to risk scarring his miraculous by trying any further. He had two choices, either end his alliance with Rossi by detransforming, or let her have free roam and run the risk of her going completely off course and not getting him the miraculouses he needed. Gabriel sighed, “Dark wings, fall.” Miss. Rossi was going to be a worse enemy than ally, but her as a rogue akuma could be even more dangerous. He’d have a week to plan his next move before Rossi’s return home. A week before Hell came back again.

Lila felt the rush of adrenaline flood through her veins, Volpina’s abilities surged through her body until...they didn’t. Lila felt the power release and watched as a white butterfly flew past, out of the building. Hawkmoth broke their alliance?! When Lila got back to Paris he was so dead! As Lila felt the wave of becoming herself once again she saw her classmates flock like sheep to her, maybe it could still be used to her advantage. Lila continued her fake sobbing, “Oh, I’m so sorry! I swear I don’t know what came over me! Another spell of my illness.” Damian narrowed his eyes at the girl, he wasn’t sure what had happened and he didn’t know who ‘Hawk moth’ was but he knew that whatever it was wasn’t some illness. The class members still lapped it up though.

“Am I missing something?” Damian asked Marinette. She in turn sighed, she guessed Hawkmoth must’ve been out of range and dropped his transformation, although she’d have to investigate how an akuma got into Gotham in the first place. “Where to even begin? There’s this Parisian villain named Hawkmoth who feeds negative emotions and turns people into supervillains to retrieve the hero Ladybug’s miraculous. He used to also go after Chat Noir’s miraculous but he uh- isn’t doing anything anymore...anyway, I don’t know how an akuma got here for Lila, but the reason nobody’s calling her out on her bs is because of something she said last year. Basically, Lila lied to the whole school claiming she had an illness which made her lie uncontrollably. And of course everybody believed her.” Marinette huffed and rolled her eyes, originally she’d been grateful for that lie but now it was just Lila’s “get out of jail free card”.

“You’ve got to be kidding me? A simple google search would clear up that a disease of that manner is not a thing. What idiots. TT.” Damian scowled as he watched the students fawn over Lila. “Yeah, but she’s a great liar and even when her lies are proved false my class never learns, they just fall for the next one.” Marinette frowned, she couldn’t really tell anybody this but Damian made her comfortable. Damian continued to talk to her making the occasional comment that would make Marinette giggle, his stoic and sarcastic answers that not everybody seemed to pick up on made Marinette feel more at home with him. ‘I could get used to this’

Adrien watched as Marinette giggled with the Wayne boy. ‘Unbelievable’. She didn’t know it yet but she was supposed to be his soulmate! Ladybug was his other half! They completed each other! This guy obviously did something to make it seem like they were soulmates because Adrien knew they couldn’t be. He thought his lady would’ve crawled back to him by now. He was trying to teach his lady a lesson by ignoring her the way she had been ignoring the fact that they were meant to be. Dare he say it, they were endgame.

Adrien sauntered up to the two and grabbed Marinette by the wrist. “Adrien what the hell?” Adrien started dragging her away, saving her from the man who’d bewitched her into thinking she was his soulmate. “I need to talk to you.” “Can’t it wait?!” She scowled. Adrien shook his head, “No princess, I need to talk to you meow.” Marinette faltered just as Damian came storming up to them trying to rescue Marinette. “C-chat?”

Still in a dazed stupor, Marientte found Damian was comforting her and taking her away from Adrien. That was okay with Adrien, he saw everything he needed, on Marinette’s left wrist read “Robin”. Purrfect, Adrien knew exactly what to do.

In Marinette’s shock Damian began to yell at Adrien. The two bickered back and forth for a while until the French class came back to the main lobby, they’d missed the tour.

“Alright students! Let’s get back on the bus now!” Miss Bustier said cheerily. Damian growled, they went on the tour without them! How did the incompetent teacher not notice she was missing two students? Well one student and complete as*hole. Damian glanced back at Adrien who was clambering one the bus. Marinette turned to her soulmate, “Um now that that’s out of the way, do you maybe want to meet up tomorrow? It’s basically a free day, m-maybe we could coffee grab or something, I mean! Grab coffee!” It took all Damian had not to chuckle, keeping a straight face he said, “Sure. That sounds nice. I’ll give you my number and we can plan something.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Ahhhhh Tikki he gave me his number!” Marinette exclaimed as she flopped on the bed in her hotel room. Tikki giggled, she didn’t want to ruin the moment but she sighed. It had to be done, “Marinette, what are you going to do about Adrien?” Marinette shot up, “I-I HAVE NO IDEA! HE’S CHAT NOIR OH MY GOD!” Marinette started to freak out and pace around the room. As Marinette tried to make sense of what was happening she heard a tap on her window. “Hide, Tikki.”

Opening it she saw a man with an armored suit on and an R in the upper corner. He had a cape draping from his shoulders, Marinette recognized him as Robin, one of the heroes in Gotham. Then she realized who the Robin was on her wrist. ‘Could Robin and Damian be one in the same?’ Marinette inspected the man who stood before her, although she couldn’t see his eyes she did rule out that he was Damian, Robin was taller and he had blonde hair, like Adrien’s, not midnight like Damian’s.

“H-hi!” Marinette exclaimed, she didn’t believe it, what was she going to do? She had two soulmates, she was starting to feel really guilty, she should’ve told Damian! “Hey there pr- miss. What brings a pretty girl like you to Gotham?” The blonde boy leered at her. “Um- I- School Trip. Sorry, could you uh back up, you’re making me nervous…” Marinette responded as Robin moved forward to her, pressing her against the wall. “Hmmm. Interesting…” He said to her with a small smirk. “What?!” She squeaked. “You’d look even prettier with your hair down.” The boy reached for her pigtails while Marinette ducked. “You know, look at the time! Maybe you should head back! I’m sure you’ve got lots more important things to do!” Marinette said gently pushing the boy off her. “Marinette it’s okay, I know you’re my soulmate. You don’t have to hide it…” Marinette trembled as the boy brought a finger to her lips, “I’m not! I just, you're making me feel a little uncomfortable…” The blonde chuckled, “Sure darling… I’ll come by again tomorrow.” He said glancing at his ring? Marinette shook her head quickly, he was gone just as quickly as he appeared at her window. ‘Is he really my soulmate?!’

Adrien detransformed. A success. Plagg was able to easily change his outfit and his lady seemed to be falling hard for him. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow. ‘Robin’ was going to pay her a couple more visits before the trip ended. It would be glorious, Adrien began to imagine it. First she’d fall for him as Robin and then when he showed her who he really was she’d realize that the Wayne kid was a liar and accept Adrien as her soulmate. Adrien licked his lips, ‘the perfect plan.’

Tag list (ask if you’d like to be added and let me know if I missed you)!:

@interobanginyourmom

@beaversuenightly

@legendaryneckjudgestudent

@luciferge

@northernbluetongue

@mandy984

@Zebrabaker

@violatiger8

@gingerdaile

@poshplumcot

@thanks-captain-obvious

@miraculous786

@superrrpc

@souleateralicestein

@mochinek0

@shamefullove

@satans-favorite-homo

@heldtogetherbysafetypins

@draco-kasai

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry

@synnesstra

@ace-aro-agender

@almstreet

@winter-gardenflower

@dast218

@novicevoice

@chaosace

@hypnosharkrebeldreamer

@emjrabbitwolf

@kuroko26

@eliza-bich

@mystery-5-5

@mewwitch

@shreky-boi

@zerotosiki

@imanerddealwith

@queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm

@casual-darkness

@bluerosette23

@crash-the-mode

@fertileleaf

@my-name-is-michell

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aaronhart93-archive · 4 years

Text

meet and greet || eden and aaron

Discord thread featuring: Aaron and @wtf-eden

When: 9/23/2020

Where: the park

Mentions: @alison-haynes

Description: Eden meets Destiny for the first time.

Trigger Warnings: -

Aaron

Aaron was not at all nervous for this. In fact, he was pretty damn excited that Eden finally got to meet Des. He spoke about her all the time. Obviously. And the times that Des had come around the the restaurant, Eden hadn't been there to meet her. He felt bad that it had taken him literal months to get around to doing this. But...better late than never. Aaron picked up a very riled up Destiny from first grade. She was still in her uniform when they got to the park. He shot a quick text to Eden to tell her that they were there and what bench they decided on. He let the tiny blonde play on the playground while he waited for his ex to arrive.

Eden.

Eden was beyond nervous about this meeting. She wasn’t sure why, Destiny was six after all. She wasn’t some big business partner of Aaron’s, but she did know that Destiny was the most important person in Aaron’s life, so the fact that he was letting her meet the young one was a big deal. Eden changed about a million times, before heading down to the park. Upon getting the text from Aaron, she glanced around in the distance looking for her ex and his young daughter. Finally, she spotted him, making her way past a few New Yorkers and taking a seat on the bench beside Aaron, “Fancy running into you here.” She teased.

Aaron

Aaron's face lit up when his ex sat down next to him. "hey!" He beamed, pulling her in for a little hug. "The little monster is..." He scanned the playground for his kid. She was hard to miss considering she was so loud and was already making new friends near the slid, telling them that she was going to be the queen and they were all going to be her court jesters. Jesus. "Destiny Louise!! Come here!" He yelled for her. Her pigtails flailed in the air as she ran towards them. "Des." He said, putting her hands on her shoulders and turning her towards the waitress. "This is my friend Eden." He smiled down at Des, then looked back up at Eden with bright blue eyes.

Eden.

It was nice to see Aaron outside of work, lately it had just been work related reasons that the two had seen one another. “Hey.” Eden smiled, following his gaze to find the little girl. Eden knew what she looked like from Aaron’s Instagram and from seeing the small blonde in the press with Alison. Eden felt her heart flutter seeing the small blonde, she was adorable. And from the way it looked she was a natural born leader like Aaron. Eden smiled softly at the small girl when she approached, “Hi Destiny. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Aaron

Aaron knew that Des had no issue meeting new people. She was not shy by any means; something she got from both of her parents. She hopped up on the bench in between Aaron and Eden. Craning her neck, she looked up at the petite woman and told her she was pretty. The businessman looked down at her daughter than up at Eden and raised his brows and smiled. To this day, whether they were dating or not, Aaron still thought that Eden was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. That was just objective at this point. “Eden works with me at the restaurant.” He told his kid.

Eden.

As Eden looked at the small girl, she couldn’t help but think how precious she was. She was a good mix between both Alison and Aaron, but for Eden, Aaron’s features stuck out to her, as she knew Aaron and not so much Alison. Eden smiled down at the small girl, “Well, I think you are very pretty too.” Eden said, twirling some of the blonde hair in her ponytail. “I hear Destino’s is named after you, that is pretty fancy.”

Aaron

Aaron wasn't sure if Eden was good with kids or not. By the way things were going, he could assume that she was pretty good with kids. Of course, he didn't forget all about her abortion and her relationship with her parents. He hoped this wasn't too triggering for her, but Des always seemed to make people happy even on their worst days. Destiny nodded at Eden's words, then looked over at her father who nodded back at her. "She loves the fact that I named a restaurant after her. It gets to her head." He chuckled, poking his daughter in the nogin which caused an eruption of high pitched laughs to escape from her lips.

Eden.

Seeing Destiny made Eden think that she could have a child that was close to her age, but Eden still believed she wasn’t ready to be a parent. But, Destiny was a sweet kid and it wasn’t possible to even be remotely upset around her. Eden smiled at the girl, glancing back to Aaron then back toDes, “It would get to my head too if someone named a restaurant after me too.” She glanced back to Aaron, with a big smile as the small girl giggled in her lap.

Aaron

Aaron and Eden smiled at each other for a moment, before they both turned their attention to the child. Destiny gave Aaron a little heeeey! look, crossing her arms and scrunching her face up at him before giggling in Eden's lap. She was so full of it and she knew it too. That was most definitely Aaron's fault because he spoiled the absolute fuck out of her. Destiny Hart-Haynes could do no wrong in Aaron's eyes. "Des, Eden is the one who got me that book of dad jokes that you've told me you liked." He chuckled. "You're the only one who likes them. Everyone else rolls their eyes."

Eden.

Eden knew that the little girl in her lap was probably one of the most spoiled children she would ever meet. When Aaron and Eden dated, Aaron spoiled her, she could only imagine how much he spoiled the daughter he loved so very much. Alison smiled at Destiny, “You like the sad jokes? I thought they were pretty funny too.” She told the blonde, looking over to Aaron, “Everyone else just isn’t on your level. They don’t get your cool dad jokes.”

Aaron.

"See! I think we're the only people who think my dad jokes are funny." He chuckled. "Des..." He poked his baby on the shoulder. "Tell us one good thing about your day at school and one bad thing about your day at school." That prompted always seemed to get her going on a tangent about her day at school. His kid was certainly charming as hell, and liked to ham it up for the adults around her. She loved the attention. He looked at Destiny like he was hearing the greatest story ever, and encouraged her to continue my nodding along and giving a couple mhmmss.

Eden.

Eden smiled as she watched Aaron interact with his kid. It was obvious that he adored the small child, as most parents did. Eden ran her fingers through her dark hair, interacting with the small blonde on her good and bad things from school. After that, Eden looked at the small blonde before glancing out to the playground set in front of them. "Are you any good at the monkey bars?" She asked the small blonde.

Aaron

Aaron smiled at his daughter very proudly as she wrapped up her story. He crossed his ankle over his knee and bounced his foot slightly. He was looking at Destiny and at Eden and wondered why he hadn’t thought to introduce them before. It was a little awkward to bring up considering that Eden and Aaron had had an intimate relationship before, and logically she would have met his kid months ago. Either way, he was still glad this was happening at all. Better late than never, right? “She is.” Aaron said, watching his daughter shake her head wildly. Des looked at him like he was asking her for permission to go back on the playground and show Eden her monkey bar skills. “Go ahead, but you have to let Eden holding you up.” He told her, which prompted her to hop off Eden’s lap and run towards the monkey bars. Aaron got up and slowly started walking to follow his daughter over, waving Eden along with him. “She’s amazing, right?” He asked.

Eden.

Eden remembered when she was a kid, the monkey bars had been her absolute favorite part about going to the park -- which had been why she prompted asking the small girl if she was any good at them. She knew every kid had a favorite thing to do at the park, and she would ask Destiny which was her favorite after their adventure to the monkey bars. Eden pushed herself up off the bench, and followed slowly to the monkey bars with. Aaron. "Absolutely amazing." She told him with a small smile on her face. "Being a parent --, it must be so rewarding." She mentioned, knowing very well that she could have been a parent right this very moment, but her life choices made it so she was not.

Aaron

Aaron watched his kid as they talked, making eye contact with Eden every so often then flicking his eyes back to destiny. He cleared his throat a little bit then remembered why he hadn’t suggested Eden meet her daughter sooner. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “It is.” He nodded truthfully. “I mean... you know I’ve told you all about the guy I was before I had her. She honestly changed me for the better and I really don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for her.” He spoke. The thought of him being the same guy he was at 19 and 20 as a 27 year old was cringe worthy. He was still flat out embarrassed that he ever acted the way he way did, and the fact that some of that was televised was even worse.

Eden.

Eden was glad that she was meeting Destiny, it had been a long time coming for this. She was thankful that her and Aaron could still be friends even after everything that had gone down between the pair. Her eyes darted over to his daughter, then back to him. "Thats amazing that a child can do that for someone." Eden rubbed her arm quietly, wondering if she had gone through with her own pregnancy years prior, how that child would have changed her. "I know you love your daughter, and you are a great father, but do you ever wish you were older when you had her?" She asked softly.

Aaron

The bar owner nodded in agreement. He looked over to her at her next question that back over to his kid. He shoved his hands in his back pockets and took a deep breath, knowing that what he was gonna say next was going to make him sound like a prick. “It’s kind of different when you’re rich. I didn’t really have to put anything on hold. Maybe for the first few months but after that I just hired nannies and personal shoppers and what not. And I was able to continue on with my job, the show. So no. Not to mention, if I had her later I probably would have stayed an asshole for a lot longer.” He joked.

#discord #eden #destiny

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professorandmaryann · 5 years

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MAG vs. MAP - Reasons why I don’t ship Mary Ann and Gilligan

I made a faux pas when joining the Gilligan’s Island fandom online. In one group, I asked if anyone else likes the Professor and Mary Ann together. According to a few of the responses, my opinion is ‘invalid’ and that Gilligan is the only acceptable mate for Mary Ann. Who would have guessed this was a touchy subject?

“IT’S NOT IN THE SCRIPT!”

Word for word? No. Mentally? Yes. Physically? Yes. Intentionally? Yes and no. You’ll have to hear me out.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Gilligan and Mary Ann. They are a sweet couple — especially in the early episodes when Mary Ann is so adorably crushing on him.

But...

Mary Ann matures as the series progresses. Gilligan… he has his moments, but he will always Gilligan. We wouldn’t want him any other way. More on this in a minute.

At the time of the shipwreck, we see Mary Ann fresh off the farm and tossed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. She is the most sheltered of the bunch, as in she’s had little to no life experiences outside of Kansas. She is not without a contribution to the group. She plays a vital role in making sure the castaways are eating proper meals and not just grazing. However, her skills don’t override her naivete. In his own way, Gilligan is also naive. If not naive, then happily oblivious. This is a quality she can relate to, and hey, Gilligan is super cute and the closest to her age. Given her upbringing, she is naturally going to gravitate toward him. They also have common interests such as butterfly hunting, taste in music, etc. They are a good pair and in many ways, Gilligan is any ‘Mary Ann’’s dream. He’s innocent and incapable of hate.

But he’s also insanely uncomfortable expressing any kind of romantic affection, going as far as to state in one episode he never wants to get married. Unlike Ginger, Mary Ann respects this. She has moments of pushing a kiss on the cheek but never tries to seduce him or force him into anything that makes him uncomfortable (’The Second Ginger Grant’ aside...). By the end of the series, Gilligan appears to accept Ginger’s overzealous flirtations and once or twice falls into her trance. With Mary Ann, he still retracts. Mary Ann is his friend. His best friend after Skipper. Romance doesn’t come into play for him.

Back to character growth… by season two, we already see noticeable differences to Mary Ann’s personality. Yes, she has maintained her innocence. Yes, she has held on to some of her youthful qualities. No, she is not the little bumpkin who needs to be protected. She was never weak, but all of the castaways are protective of her. Again, only natural given she’s the baby of the group. But overall we see a shift in her personality. A lot of the MAG implications drop, and a new prospect is introduced: The Professor.

Going through old posts and archives, I’ve seen so many MAG fans write off the MAP storyline in ‘Beauty Is As Beauty Does’ with comments like, “He only chose her because he felt sorry for her,” and, “The episode is only that way because Gilligan had to be the tiebreaker.” There are truths to this. I don’t deny it. However, The Professor prides himself on his intellect. He seldom shows romantic interest in Ginger. Though not quite as uncomfortable as Gilligan is with her advances, a romance with her is, at best, a superficial passing thought. She isn’t capable of a serious romance. Acting and Hollywood are her true loves, and she makes it known that she’s had more than her fair share of boyfriends. A strong platonic relationship is the only probability. Moving on… Mrs. Howell, of course, isn’t a prospect. So yes, in a sense, he was ‘stuck’ with Mary Ann when it came time to announce his vote for the most beautiful woman on the island (or world, to use his exact word). Obviously, the writers aren’t going to write out Mary Ann from the running. But as viewers, we shouldn’t only be thinking about why an episode is written a certain way. We see the plot presented to us and it is part of the overall story of the characters. However perceived, the Professor wouldn’t have said these things about Mary Ann lightly. As the most level-headed of the lot of them, he truly is able to see her inner beauty as well as the outer. He’s paid special attention to her from the start (keeping her safe in one way or another, generally spending time with her), so he is more aware of her growth than anyone else. And yes, we know Gilligan had to be the tiebreaker. We also know that he isn’t the kind of person to choose one friend over another. He appreciates all of them for who they are, no one better than the other. Another admirable quality, but I digress.

The plotlines for MAP are mostly unspoken. But they are there. For example, interactions between the two can be quite intimate. They’re almost always standing near each other and grabbing each other’s hands and arms. We can assume an overlapping morning routine (i.e. their good morning exchange as he’s shaving) in which they are comfortable, Mary Ann helping the Professor dress as a woman in ‘Gilligan The Goddess’, swimming together, dancing together whenever there’s a party, and other similar moments. Then there’s the matter of the Professor’s horrible acting. He is stiff and uncomfortable rehearsing with Ginger, but much more natural and relaxed rehearsing with Mary Ann. The theory can be stretched, too, by noting in Gilligan’s dreams, his love interest is almost always Ginger. Mary Ann is his buddy, usually. The one defending him. Ginger knows how to draw out his sexuality more, it’s as plain as that, even if it is buried in his subconscious. She can only relate to him in an adult way. If Gilligan were to end up with either of the girls, my vote would have to go to Ginger for this reason. Likewise, I think Gilligan would be good for her.

Come season three, Mary Ann is on a whole new level intellectually. She expresses interest in the Professor’s experiments, is able to take charge in some instances, can hold her own, and for all intents and purposes, grows up. In season one she states she has nothing in common with the Professor. This is true here. By season three, they develop common interests. In addition to a growth of knowledge, her outward appearance changes a bit. We see the pigtails much less as well as a more mature wardrobe. She is fully adapted to the situation life presented her. Gilligan is more or less in the same place in which he started. Clumsy, big-hearted, and boyish. They are no longer compatible romantically. At some point in the second season, Gilligan and Mary Ann form a brother/sister-like relationship. (“Think of me as your sister,” Mary Ann says in Rescue From Gilligan’s Island.) And it works. They bicker and play together and love each other.

Censors or no censors, psychologically, if something romantic were to happen between Mary Ann and Gilligan it would have by the end of the first season. They were both young and in a new, adventurous surrounding. One or both of their personalities would have set something in motion, especially with the nudge of Mrs. Howell. Fact is that Gilligan just isn’t in a romantic mindset. He loves his job and he loves his friends. A wife doesn’t come into play. With Mary Ann, we’re left to assume she wants to settle down and have a family. While Gilligan would undoubtedly be a good father, he would in many ways be another child for Mary Ann to take care of. Dawn Wells has said herself that a romantic relationship between Mary Ann and Gilligan is improbable.

Another comment I’ve seen more than once: “MAP shippers only write FanFiction because they’re just writing themselves with the Professor.”

Well… yes. Isn’t that what writing is? Perhaps I’m taking it too literally as an aspiring author, but you have to put yourself in the place of your characters. Even in FanFiction. Especially in FanFiction. Why else would we write for someone else’s character? For the money? For fame? Our favorites, be it a single character, a group, or a ship, are our favorites because we connect to them. There’s a passion there. Some we connect to more than others or on more than one level. As a writer, it is your duty to put yourself in the place of the character you’re writing, even if you wouldn’t necessarily go after a Professor or go after a Gilligan. So yes, perhaps someone writing a story about Mary Ann and the Professor would like to and is imagining what it might be like to find someone like the other. When writing, it’s only natural that an essence of ourselves go into our words. It’s not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s extremely obvious, especially when the character strays too far away from their canon personality, but the solution is simple. Hit the back button. All of this can be said for MAG stories as well. Stated before, Gilligan is in many ways a dream match for the ‘Mary Ann’ personality type. He represents the innocence that has been lost in modern times. So really, there’s more fantasy surrounding him. A Gilligan isn’t as obtainable. He is a rarity that should be cherished. And there is nothing wrong with that. Overall, my biggest question about this comment is, why are you reading the story if you don’t like the pairing? Why are you wasting your time making someone feel bad for something they put their heart into? Move on.

For me, the chemistry was never there for Gilligan and Mary Ann. A deep, deep, friendship? Absolutely. Romantically, she is much better suited for the Professor, and vice versa. Mary Ann has a desire to learn things, the Professor has the wisdom to offer. And she retains it. Subsequently, he can protect her and she can nurture him. In a way, it makes sense Mary Ann would end up with someone older, though that is an entirely different matter I’ll save for another time. Finally, the actors’ real-life chemistry brings this pairing to life. As far as Dawn and Russell are/were concerned, the love between the Professor and Mary Ann was real. It was in their script.

I believe MAG was the intent of Sherwood Schwartz, however, aside from the musical (which, I’m sorry, I do not personally accept as canon, partly because I am a self-proclaimed theatre snob and there is no reason this or any other tv show needed to be brought to the stage), he didn’t take the opportunity to make this relationship a reality. Lord knows he had more than one opportunity to do so. I know Bob Denver liked the prospect of Gilligan marrying Mary Ann, but again, not much came of it aside from a comment here and there. Dawn has single-handedly created a MAP mentality and has been backed up by Russell, and for me, that’s half the fun of this ship: Watching these two friends make inside jokes about the love affair their characters had off-screen. It’s hard for me not to fall in love with the pairing myself.

“When people ask how I survived on Gilligan’s Island, I always tell them, ‘A lot of coconuts and Mary Ann.” - Russell Johnson

I didn’t write this whole thing out as an attempt to convince MAG fans that their ship isn’t accurate, ‘invalid,’, or that MAP is superior. I wrote it because I wanted to share my personal reasons for not being a fan of MAG (romantically) and to hopefully provide some reasons as to why people like MAP and/or what they see in them. (I also found it to be a good psychology piece. It’s amazing how many profound themes are hidden in a show that consists of dozens of pie in the face gags.) Will I have the guts to post this outside Tumblr? Probably not right now. I’m a newbie in the community though I’ve been watching the show off and on for about ten years. The MAG vs. MAP debate has been weighing on my mind and I thought I might as well put my thoughts into words. It seems strange to me that there is such a war between fans over something like this. Remember this show is first and foremost a goofy sitcom from the 1960s (that had almost no romance in it). Quite frankly, I’m appalled by a few of the comments I’ve seen on old message boards. I’m choosing to believe those dark days are over and fandom culture has evolved since the mid-2000s to be more respectful of other fans’ opinions… the aforementioned people I encountered recently aside. Gilligan’s Island is the definition of escapism... and the island is plenty big enough to home MAG, MAP, Pringer, and the rest.

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ganymedesclock · 6 years

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ALL RIGHTY, onto them TFA people. since these take a lot more out of me than I was expecting, I’m gonna close this particular meme for now and not take any more asks.

Bear in mind these reads are only as far as SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy and I would really prefer to avoid any spoilers! I’ve already seen some and it’s not fun. And yes, I do read the tags/replies on this post so watch y’alls spoilery mouths, people.

@numinousbones said:prowl and shiro for the ask meme!

Shiro was last masterpost, so, Prowl!

Prowl is my absolute favorite out of the main crew so far and that’s pretty darn hot competition since most of the TFA main cast won me over fast and hard. I mostly love how deeply expressive he is with his noticeably flat affect and how this isn’t met with a “ha ha but what is Prowl feeling or thinking??? he’s such an impossibly unreadable enigma.” Prowl does have his enigmatic qualities but they are not tied to his autistic traits.

Also when he grinned really big in Megatron Rising Part 2 that absolutely melted my heart. Prowl, you are like almost definitely a child soldier career assassin with deep personal issues where do you get off being that cute.

Evaluating the attractiveness of robots is. weird. I like Prowl’s color scheme and also him being a delicate-built lanky motorcycle man.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

This was a tough one. I almost went with Ravenclaw or Slytherin, and excluded the former because while Prowl is smart and observant, he doesn’t particularly value knowledge for its own sake- his curiosity and fascination is saved for specific things that capture his interest.

And Slytherin is right out- Prowl might be ambitious, but the other side of Slytherin is interpersonal loyalty, maintenance of a trusted circle, and while Prowl heavily benefits from that, he relies on others to build it for him, and often doesn’t really think to reach out to it.

Thus, Gryffindor remains- because if there’s one thing to be said about Prowl, he’s very headstrong- about what he believes in, about what he thinks needs to be done. He pushes tenacity further and further to the point that in Fistful of Energon in particular, “whatever it takes” is practically his mantra.

best quality:

His empathetic side is pretty prominent, especially when that’s the thing that reigns him in during Fistful of Energon. Where his mind can justify almost anything with the urgent, hand-to-mouth way he seems used to operating, he sets his compass to his heart to figure out if he’s going too far. Also, he loves cats, and that’s adorable.

worst quality:

Prowl. Prowl for the love of fuck I don’t know what your backstory is yet but these implications are incredibly viciously unhappy please just. pursue journaling. Get a cat. Talking to your teammates might be too uncomfortable and you’re afraid of the only friends you’ve had in a while judging you and that’s understandable but please talk to someone, and, of course, you won’t, not until this becomes an informative but upsetting episode plot. :/

ship them with:

I have no Prowl ships at present. Mostly I’m trying to figure out what exactly his approximate age ‘in human years’ is.

brotp them with:

Honestly Ratchet loaning him the EMP generator in Fistful of Energon was a pretty deep statement of trust, which makes me really want to see the two of them interacting more in positive situations. As far as relationships we’ve actually seen, I really like his interactions with Bulkhead and Optimus.

needs to stay away from:

I Still Don’t Know Prowl’s Backstory disclaimer but nobody gets like that without someone else setting things up and I have three guesses who and all of them start with “fucking” and end with “Megatron.”

misc. thoughts:

I have a Prowl backstory theory and it’s one part the entire way he relates to Grimlock and one part “so anybody, at any point, gonna call Prowl on his ability to fly and noticeably dark, murky color scheme compared to literally every other autobot we have clapped eyeballs on”

@theicombaticon said: Hi! Since you're doing the character asks and I haven't seen you say as much about her.....what are your thoughts on Sari?

So Sari is one of the few details I knew about Transformers Animated before watching it (specifically her having some sort of relationship with Cybertron/ not being all human) but I didn’t have that many assumptions about her character, but whoa nelly does she deliver.

I would seriously point to Sari as a case study in how to attach a Kid Sidekick to any kind of long-running franchise. Because she’s narratively, perfect- has a well-defined niche, conflicts and problems, unique and reasonable relationships with multiple characters, she’s cute, endearing, has character flaws and conflicts, has nicely diversified interests and is proactive in a way that’s both realistic and effective.

She Is An Eight Year Old.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

In like... the third damn episode Sari basically told the gods to fuck off and brought Optimus back from the dead because what’s the point of gaming the system if you can’t punch the world hard enough to make it cough your friend back up and that is like the most Slytherin possible exercise in heroism I have ever seen, ever.

best quality:

Honestly I love this scheming eight-year-old. I love her heroics and equally obvious inclination to break the rules because. what are you gonna do??? stop her?

worst quality:

I mean she has character flaws but a lot of them are related to her debilitating loneliness and the growing horrified realization that a lot of her life was living in a kind of narrow protected bubble that her father made for her because the possibility for magic destiny aside, the Allspark itself pretty clearly implied that her story isn’t one that she particularly is gonna enjoy hearing.

And that just feels... mean to criticize. She’s eight. She’s doing the best she can. That’s only so much.

ship them with:

This Is An Entire Child.

brotp them with:

Her sibling relationship with Bee and Bulkhead is adorable, and I would LOVE to see more out of her interactions with Ratchet but this is because I want to see Ratchet interact more with everyone because I love Ambulance Dad from the bottom of my heart.

But y’know what I really, really want? I honestly want Arachnia and Sari to take their grudging mutual same-hat to the next level. I want Arachnia to become Sari’s terrible decisions big sister. By their powers combined they would be literally unstoppable. Optimus gets to find out second hand what sort of shit his sorta surrogate niece and his Significant It’s Complicated have been up to when Arachnia rolls up an hour past midnight like “guess who’s officially a wanted criminal in Botswana?”

There is at least one (1) heist in which Arachnia gets Sari to climb in the vents to infiltrate a place, which she complains about the entire time but is mollified when someone corners her and tauntingly asks what a Little Girl can possibly threaten him with and then Sari’s just like “oh, y’know” and a giant spider crashes through the wall.

needs to stay away from:

Fuck you, Powell.

misc. thoughts:

Literally my only qualm with Sari is why the hell doesn’t she take her pigtails and hairclips off to sleep. What’s up with that Sari. I know you’re some manner of bizarre cyborg child but what.

Anonymous said: TFA Optimus Prime

So I’ve been very aware of Transformers for a long time because it’s pretty impossible not to be, but I’ve also been obstinately indifferent to it for a long time. Watched the first episode of Prime ages ago, really didn’t get into it, haven’t really felt compelled to look further until friends of mine whose cartoon tastes I trust talked me into TFA.

Optimus... won me over a lot. It’s really nice to see energy and color breathed into a character who’s such an archetypal cornerstone hero- he feels fleshed out and this allows me to actually connect with him as a character.

I know all the autobots have pretty baby blues but like... Optimus in particular. They are nice. I also like the curvature of his mouth because especially in his more snide expressions (e.g. The Headmaster Returns) it means that Optimus Prime, Headliner Hero of the Transformers Franchise, goes >:3 sometimes. Also when he’s sorta miffed about something, it makes him look like he’s pouting.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

See the interesting thing here is Optimus is exactly the kind of person who’d get incredibly snippy at the Hufflepuff House reputation, but, what mostly sticks with me is that fitting with his fireman’s motif, Optimus’s primary weapon in this setting is a fire axe- which is not a weapon meant for fighting. It’s a tool- meant for clearing obstructions in the way of rescuing people.

This is both a rather powerful statement of confidence- it implies that the enemies he faces down are obstacles, rather than rivals, reflecting both his formidable skill as a combatant and the certain degree of unforgiving pressure he brings to bear on people he sees as obstructing what needs to be done- and it heavily suggests that to Optimus, combat is a labor of necessity, not something particularly glorious or to be reveled in.

Optimus is a hard worker. His morals are stated repeatedly in someone willing to put his nose to the grind and who would rather be doing meaningful work with people he finds honorable than reveling in glory. In a meta sense in Garbage In, Garbage Out, an episode partially about being a hero and what that makes, the first thing we see Optimus doing is personally hauling waste because it’s a job that needs to be done- and it’s Prowl that comments on the indignity of it all, not Optimus who was actively covered in other people’s trash.

best quality:

Optimus has an impressive tenacity of personal character. He’s, I think, one of the big archetypal Lawful Good characters out there, and his willingness to do things like take Sentinel out in Mission Accomplished is contrasted by his willingness to calmly walk right up to Ultra Magnus and state that he accomplished his objective- if Optimus appears to rebel from the system, it’s because, in his eyes, he’s not the one turning away from the ideal of what should be- it’s Sentinel, it’s Magnus, it’s Cybertron that turns away and leaves him to chase what he’s sure is the right course of action, and, as a Lawful Good, he is also willing to quietly turn himself in and face the consequences of his actions as long as he feels his point has been made.

worst quality:

He feels pretty overly responsible for other people. This can lead him to sink deep into personal grief (see Along Came A Spider and the way he parsed Elita’s fate before reuniting with Arachnia), it can make him a little pushy and intrusive (see the way he needles Ratchet about opening up to him about his history in Transform And Roll Out part 1 and again in Thrill Of The Hunt, the latter only acknowledging there’s a reason Ratchet might not want to discuss it after something similar happened to him) and, at his absolute worst, it can make him incredibly snappy and controlling when he feels like every minor thing counts (several occasions, but Megatron Rising part 1 is the cleanest example)

ship them with:

Arachnia. It’s pretty clear they both miss each other terribly, though, they’ve still got a lot of work to do.

brotp them with:

BRIDGE CREW! BRIDGE CREW! I particularly like his interactions with Ratchet (surprise there, huh) and Prowl.

I’d like to invite Sentinel to this party but Sentinel has a lot of emotional shit he needs to sort out first, because, while Sentinel is clearly at least awkwardly trying to patch their friendship, he’s still not... listening to Optimus about what’s important to him.

needs to stay away from:

Nobody in particular that’s not a general hazard to all autobots.

misc. thoughts:

For the longest time I thought Optimus was the equivalent of a twentysomething but now I am genuinely wondering if he’s actually like. basically eighteen. The bridge crew is just Ratchet shepherding a bunch of teenagers around.

@sepublic asked: General opinion on Lugnut?

Lugnut’s honestly got me really intrigued. From his appearance to the sheer raw firepower he’s capable of to the way he is absolutely, to the bottom of his soul terrified of Megatron and at the same time snarls at the idea of anyone so much as suggesting Megatron is less than a grand and benevolent god resplendent on the planet raises some deeply upsetting questions. There’s clearly something to him we haven’t heard, yet.

Not necessarily in the conventional sense but he’s got a really appealing monsterish design that makes him stand out a lot visually.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

Fervent, unyielding loyalty, personal ferocity in the face of battle. Lugnut never abdicates unless it’s in the face of Megatron- if anything, we’ve never seen him afraid of anything except his beloved lord.

best quality:

Loyalty and tenacity, definitely.

worst quality:

Like Sari, it feels a little mean to criticize Lugnut because I think it’s pretty obvious a lot of his flaws aren’t really of his own crafting outside of stubbornness. He’s pretty obviously profoundly indoctrinated, and the purr to Megatron’s voice in Lost And Found when he calls Lugnut “truly loyal” is deeply disquieting when we know thanks to Soundwave and Grimlock both that Megatron is quite fond of child soldiers... and Lugnut looks almost nothing like a conventional cybertronian.

ship them with:

I’m not convinced he’s not a child given cybertronians basically pupate directly to their adult size and then stay there so I consider him off the shipping table.’

brotp them with:

None of his current canon connections seem super appealing to me. I mean, in an AUish sense I really like the idea of after Megatron’s defeated or driven off Earth, Isaac Sumdac taking in Lugnut and helping rehabilitate him. The guy just... really deserves better than to fling himself reverently at the feet of an abusive person who actively finds his worship either obligatory or annoying.

needs to stay away from:

Megatron, child protection services has a sniper on the roof.

misc. thoughts:

Lugnut’s really not a guy I expected to care about this much, which is kinda the story of TFA. If I didn’t go in expecting to love the character, I was proven wrong.

#send me a character #readmore

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xyliane · 7 years

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sugarhighs and chaperones

summary: just because people ship gon and killua, doesn’t mean they realize gon and killua are already together. killua’s daughter and a motley crew of his students take it upon themselves to correct this issue. leorio does not understand how he keeps getting roped into these things.

notes: a very special thanks to @sunfloweranimator whose comment on a previous headcanon post lead to...this mess. gen, fluff featuring inedal zoldyck, fourteen year old troll, leorio paladiknight who is too old for this shit but it’s not his problem if the kids are sugarhigh, a collection of well-meaning but ridiculous students, and killugon in their thirties. 1800 words.

notes the second: I’m so sorry for the delay, but next chapter of “all roads” is going up in the next few days! I was computer-less for most of the weekend still need to edit and this was half-phone-words

---

“Hey oldest geezer, I’ve got a question.”

“Inedal, you’re my favorite fourteen year old, but you know you can call me Leorio. Or Uncle Orio, like your siblings. Or Dr. Paladiknight if you feel polite for once.”

“But if Dad is the geezer, then you’re the oldest geezer.”

Leorio is immediately and viscerally reminded that Inedal is Killua’s daughter to an almost terrifying degree, her voice over the phone matter of fact like she’s stating the obvious for an idiot. He carefully turns away from the chart he’d been staring at to press fingers against his already pulsing forehead. He’s almost used to Killua’s oldest calling him at odd hours about topics ranging from wrapping sprains (so Killua won’t know) to how to unbreak a broken lockpick (so Killua will know). But usually, she just barges in with whatever it is she needs, knowing Leorio will have what she needs. That she’s hedging means either she’s growing up or wants something she’s not comfortable with. “So what’s your question?” he says.

She hums tunelessly, probably flipping a coin or a knife across her knuckles. Leorio almost starts to ask again, before she blurts out, “How do you go on a date?”

Aaahhh. Leorio leans back in his chair, a smug grin growing on his face. She’s a little younger than her dad had been before he’d started asking about this sort of thing, but it’s about time. Although why she’s asking Leorio and not Gon is another question entirely. Maybe she doesn’t want Killua to know. “So who’s the lucky kid?” Leorio asks. “Is it one of Killua’s students? Or someone from school?”

“Ew, gross!” Inedal half-screams, her voice echoing like she’s pulled the phone away from her ear. “No, this isn’t me! This is setting up Dad and Gon!”

“But...” Leorio crunches his eyebrows together. “They’ve been together for years. Hell, you know they’re together.”

“I know. But Gon only just got back, and some of Dad’s students don’t know, and they’re trying to set them up with each other to try to get my old man to relax a little.” She blows out a puff of air. “They don’t appreciate that he is relaxed, especially now that Gon’s back. He’d be training them over minefields, not the cliffs outside of your city, if he wasn’t relaxed. It’s obvious.”

And there’s the headache. “Have you been stealing their things again?”

“Only when the old man doesn’t notice. And I’m training my hatsu!”

Leorio is understandably terrified when she finally figures that out. Killua had to adopt the prodigy thief girl. “Inedal. Dating. Your dads.”

“Killua’s my dad, Gon’s Gon.”

“Right, right.”

“So? You gonna help me get them on a stupid date so the idiot teenagers my dad teaches can get their heads out of their asses?” Leorio waits, hoping that Gon’s influence holds out a little bit. She finally relents. “Please?”

“Anything for my favorite fourteen year old.”

----

Leorio regrets the anything almost immediately. She’s Killua’s kid, raised by Killua and Gon themselves. She will never fight fair, and uses every skill at her fingers to get what she wants. Which is how Leorio ends up chaperoning a mess of young adults, plus Killua’s kids Inedal and Fen, into a cafe in the bushes outside of Naclabore’s fifth most famous outdoor fish restaurant. It’s not the most expensive, and definitely not the most attractive, but it’s a place Leorio ends up going when he’s taking favored patients once they’ve healed after a particularly risky procedure, or the occasional friend blowing in from out of town. That the cafe next door has such convenient bushes for observation is completely a coincidence.

“How many of you have mastered zetsu?” Leorio asks.

About half of the teenagers thrust their hands in the air, cocky grins on their faces belying their overconfidence. Killua would eat his students alive if he knew they were overplaying their hands. The ones that have mastered it, two or three of the students as well as Fen and Inedal, have been in it since they got within sight of the restaurant. Leorio too, but he’s been a doctor for more than a decade and friends with some of the most reckless idiots in the world for two. It’s self-preservation. Not that Gon or Killua has been very good at that either.

Well. Leorio’s a doctor, not a teacher. Not his job. And Gon and Killua seem to be having a good time, wide grins on both their faces and only occasionally reaching over the table to toy with each other’s hands. At one point, Gon brushes something off of Killua’s cheek, and two of Killua’s students turn to each other and make a noise like tires squealing against pavement. “Okay, so. Those who know zetsu, can stay. Those who don’t, get going.” He turns to Inedal, who’s opening cameras on four different phones with a sly cat-like grin on her face. “Can I leave now? I have work tomorrow.”

“Oldest geezer, we both know you’re sticking around.”

“Yeah, Uncle Orio!” Fen adds, his grin wide and guileless. “We’ll pay for your lunch, too.”

Leorio eyes the ten year old boy and the fourteen year old girl, and looks right at the oldest of Killua’s students. Razin stares right back at him. While not Killua’s longest-taught student, Razin’s in their early twenties and seems to have accepted that Inedal is too stubborn for her own good. Much like her dad and Gon. “You're here,” they say, shrugging, and settle back into their salad.

“You’re talkative,” Leorio mutters, and they smirk and shrug again. “Fine, I’ll stay til they leave. But this is your fault.”

----

A list of things Killua’s students think they know about Gon, as per them not shutting up the entire time Leorio’s eating his lunch. (Inedal, thankfully, follows through on Fen’s promise. She also looks like a cat that ate a dozen canaries, so Leorio gives up bothering to stay in zetsu. If he’s getting a paid-for day off, he’s going to enjoy it.)

1. Gon is Killua’s best friend. 2. Gon is a two-star lost hunter best known for tracking down Ging Freecss multiple times, getting gem hunter Iundara Gola to finally accept payment on almost forty years of work, and how he helped end a war with Killua. 3. Gon is able to vanish into the woods and return weeks later having saved three endangered species and a giant hawk. 4. Gon can turn his whole right arm into a sword that he uses to carve trees into boats. 5. Gon once swam from the Yorubian continent all the way to the Bergerose Nations to find the right swarm of shrimp for a dinner for his mom. (Leorio nearly chokes on his drink at this one, because he knows exactly what they’re talking about, and...no. No. But yes. But no.)

A list of things Killua’s students think will happen with Gon and Killua, kept PG more likely due to Leorio’s adultly presence than Inedal and Fen’s youthful egging on.

1. Kissing. How many dates before it happens is a debate that lasts all lunch. 2. Easier training sessions while Killua daydreams over his best friend, an idea that a few of the more intelligent students shoot down immediately, but such voices of reason are drowned out. 3. More dates, which means less time spent being zapped for inadequate form.

That Inedal isn’t telling them most of these lists is complete and total bullshit of one form or another, says more about her ability to keep her mouth shut for the sake of the game than any inconsistencies in narrative. Fen is practically vibrating, spinning increasingly ridiculous tall tales about things Gon and Killua have done, until his ice cream arrives and he buries himself up to his elbows in the frozen dessert.

Absolutely none of this is Leorio’s fault. He’s just the chaperone.

----

The only warning most of the not at all covert gathering of students has that Gon and Killua have finished their lunch is how Inedal mysteriously vanishes from sight midway into a conversation with one of the students about how she does her hair. The student looks briefly puzzled before Killua appears all but out of nowhere right behind her. “We’re doing zetsu training for the next two weeks,” he says with the sort of gleeful menace usually reserved for melodramatic laughter by movie villains.

Almost the entire table scrambles to their feet, dishes scattering across the stone. Leorio narrowly rescues the last of his wine, sipping it as casually as he can with Killua’s grin widening to something horrible. “Sup, old man. It’s been a while.”

“Leorio!” Gon calls, and Leorio is half-choked by Gon leaning in for a hug. He’s not as tall as Killua or Leorio, but he’s built as solid as ever, and his hug is strong and tight.

“Welcome back to civilization, buddy” Leorio says.

Killua exchanges a look with Gon, and he sighs. “What are you even doing here. With my students. And...” He tilts his head to the side, lightning flickering through his thick ponytail. There’s a yelp from overhead, and Inedal bounces out of the tree, glaring and embarrassed at being found. “Two of my kids.”

“You need to stop teaching Inedal how to wrap people around her fingers.”

“You need to stop letting her.” But he ruffles his daughter’s hair affectionately nonetheless, leaving her pigtails a staticky mess. She huffs and plops into the seat next to Leorio.

Fen all but vibrates his way up Gon’s arms, tugging at the shorter-than-usual spikes on Gon’s head. Leorio guesses he got it trimmed before meeting up with Killua and the kids. “You got a date with Pa!” Fen says, smile wide.

“I did,” Gon says, and smiles warmly. Killua’s cheeks turn a little pink.

“You gonna go on another?”

Gon’s smile stays the same, but his eyes dance. “I dunno, Fen. That’s all up to Killua.”

“What do you mean it’s up to me,” Killua grumbles. “You’re the one who--”

“You have to take him out again!” one of the students says, hopes higher than Yorknew Tower.

“Yeah! Killua’s a great guy, and a great teacher!’”

“He’s kind of an asshole about his chocolate, but I’m sure you’re already used to it!”

“And he talks about you a lot, even if the stories seem weird.”

“Did you really catch stars in your fists?”

Killua holds up a hand, and everyone shuts up almost instantly. Leorio is more than a little impressed. Until Killua opens his mouth and says, “Wait, are you dumbasses trying to hook me up with Gon?”

“That is why all the students set you up,” Inedal says, and picks at her nails to avoid Killua’s boggled stare. “They even paid for Uncle Leorio’s help.”

“I wasn’t paid!”

“You got lunch. And dessert.”

“Which Fen ate.”

“Which you let Fen eat. He eats too much ice cream. Aren’t you a doctor? Shouldn’t you tell him to balance it with carrots or something?”

Killua and Gon both choke back laughter. Or more accurately, Killua started groaning about Fen and sugarhighs, while Gon asks, giggles tickling out of the back of his throat, “I don’t know, Killua. Dating sounds fun.”

“Gon, we’ve been together for fifteen years.”

“But we never officially dated, Killua. Boyfriend and boyfriend. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Killua opens his mouth to say something absolutely ear-meltingly awful and not at all safe for Leorio’s mind, but holds off at the last minute. Maybe he thinks better of it and has actually grown up at some point in the last twenty-plus years. Maybe he catches sight of his kids. Instead he says to Gon, “More dates this time. You’re buying.”

“Half.”

“Two-thirds. And as for you all...” Killua glances at his best friend and smirks. “Before we start in on retraining your zetsu, we’re going to go back to camp straight through the mountains. Inedal, I think you could use a refresher too. Gon, you mind grabbing what we need?”

A chorus of terrified groans echoes around Leorio, who simply leans back and enjoys the chaos.

#hunter x hunter #hxh fic #killugon #aged up killugon #inedal #and the kids #gon freecss #killua zoldyck #leorio paladiknight #I'm sorry I keep roping you into things like this leorio #this is an incredibly self-indulgent fic with an oc or ten #it's about 20 years post-canon I'm sorry #my writing #fluff #copious amounts of ice cream consumption by a ten year old

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