#and i want to see gabriels face. sue me

[spamtonromantic]

stickers on windows 11 are pretty useless rn since you cant add custom ones but it DOES allow me to surround gabriel ultrakill in pusheens

[oval3000]

Chapter 3

Yandere Psych Patient König x Nurse Reader

Warning: Possesive, Obsession, Death, Gore, Blood, Smut, Toxic behavior, age gap.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

(This might suck idk. I don't know German so it's all Google translate)

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

He hasn't left his room for a month. They kept him in their with the straitjacket on. His meals are just vitamins that he has to swallow. You would go in to check up on him, but new orders from the administrator's to not go near at all, so you pass by his room. You would peak through the little window and see him laying on his back with little no to motion on his arms or body entirely. His psychiatrist, Dr. Smith is the only that goes in there. They have sessions in his room instead of the usual spot they have it in.

She was pissed at everyone, specifically you. You are her punching bag, even though it was Ben's fault. "Why hasn't he been given his meds!" She yelled at you.

"We are not allowed to go i-" you tried to explain your her, but she could care less.

"You are his nurse right! Your job is to give him his meds! How did you graduate when you can't even do that!" She yelled at you.

You plead for her to listen to you "I'm sorry, Dr. Smith. I can't it's Mr. Millers orders. No one can go in except you because you are his psychiatrist."

So she strolled her way to the administrator's office.

Ignoring his assistant from telling her that she can't go in. Slaming the door open to see him sitting on his chair, writing whatever cral he writes on paper.

"Sarah calm down!"

"Do you have any idea how dangerous he is, and you want me to deal with him alone! On top of that the lack of guards is making my job harder!" Dr. Smith argued with a hand on her hips and her finger pointing towards Ben.

"Do you remeber when you wanted a nurse to look after him." She rolled her eyes. Yes, you, the nurse. "Do you have any idea how much money is going towards her. Triple the pay for looking after him."

Her hands swing in motion, showing her frustration. "She can't even do her fucking job Ben!"

"If she's alive, then she's doing her job well. What's making this hard, is you barging into my office and telling me what to do when you are the one demanding this." He stood up from his chair, fixing his navy tie. "We're loosing staff. People don't want to go near him. Gabriel is threatening to sue the company. Gaurds are quiting left and right so sorry that there aren't enough staff attending your needs."

She crossed her arms with an annoying sigh leaving her lips tinted with red lipstick. "Then hire more people, I don't see the problem?"

"Did you not hear what I said" he walked towards her, standing toe to toe to her. "Majority of our budget is going towards (Y/n). She's been here for two months now, lasting longer than any other nurses. We can't afford another hire with the same pay to deal with König. Besides he hasn't actually killed anyone in those two months, I'll take that than dealing with someone who has a broken jaw from a simple punch."

"Then ask for more money." She scuffed like if it was a joke she said.

He laughed at her face, "Do you think the government cares to fund more for this place, I already have the staff on my ass for new medical supplies, do you think they are gonna hand me the budget to hire someone with triple pay just because you are scared."

"Then fire (y/n) and hire a new guard, maybe someone with military experience."

"Why would I do that. You came into my office, spreaded your legs cause you were so desperate for a nurse and now you want me to fire her. She hasn't done anything in particularly wrong."

"She doesn't follow orders!"

"She does, you just make it difficult." He came in defense.

"Wasn't she trying to stop you from putting him into a straitjacket?" She smirked while her arms crossed at her chest.

"Yes, and she was right. Putting him in a straitjacket does nothing. He was fine it's just that..." he closed his eyes taking deep breath.

"Just what?" She came closer to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, gently caressing it.

He turned his head to her, he used to lovy dovey with her seduction, but now it's more annoyance. "Eli, the other guard, came to my office the other day and told me that Gabriel was provoking König."

She rolled her eyes, looking around his office. Paying attention to the paintings hanged up on the wall and the light objects he has on his desk. "Like what? Making fun of him? We all make fun the people here what else is new?"

"I don't know the full details, but that's what he told me." He sat a bit on his desk.

"Why does that matter?" She shook her head without a single thought in her brain.

"Gabriel is threatening to sue us. If we fight the legal action, we'll have to defend König. König, just like any other patient represent us, our care. If they find out that Gabriel was the one that caused this, making König the victim it doesn't look good after we placed him in the straitjacket. Like we silencing him out. It will ruin our reputation, we'll all loose our jobs and you fucked your way up here for nothing."

"But he harmed a worker, beside murdered multiple people." She let out a little chuckle, placing her hand on his chest.

He didn't give in, instead, he gave her a stare. "He's ex- military and as for you being his psychiatrist, you'll have to speak on behalf of him. Meaning that people will find out about you, how you never studied to become a doctor you fucked every professor you had to get your degree."

"What are you saying, Ben." Her smile dropped.

"I won't fire (Y/n). She stood up for König, making us look like we care about our patients. As for Gabriel, all he's asking is for some 20,000 thousand dollars, which we can easily give him worth than standing infront of the judge. Which means that we can't afford new guards for you. Besides they're taking off his straitjacket today, so stop being so scared and do your dam job."

"I still think you should fire, (Y/n) atleast." She hummed, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm not doing that. Beside she's the only staff that doesn't barge in here demanding stuff. She nice and sweet...." he looked down to the side, " and...young and beautiful. "

She let go of his waist, clenching her jaw. Yes, you being so beautiful. "So what? You want to fuck her? Is that it. Never head young pussy before?"

"You should leave, I have work to do and so do you. This discussion is over." He walked to his desk, sitting down on his chair, unbutton his last few buttons from his dark, navy, blazer.

She stormed off his office, angrly stomping on the white tile floors with her heels creating a louder noise.

You heard the word going around that their taking of his straitjacket, so you quickly gathered what you need to check him up. You saw as the guards took off. He let out a big stretched, flexing more of his muscles. It caused a scare to the guards like a lion letting out a roar.

You walked up to and saw more of his face. He stared at you.

He missed you. He never thought he would miss you. During that month of not seeing you was a time he contemplated about you. Are you made for him or not. He will shut his eyes and images of you will pop up. You smiling at him. Taking good care of him. Watching you squirm under him as you take his full length cock inside your pussy. He'll treat you with respect as long as you do what he says that's all. Seeing your belly swell up with his baby. Can't wait to fuck your tits filled with milk. Can't wait to impregnate you with multiple of his children, making one big happy family. How protective he'll be for his kids, for you. To stand up to the bullies, to show them not to be scared of anything. To hold them if they cry.

He should kill you for making him react this way. He should just kill you. You are just another nurse thinking they have control over him. He use to give orders to people, being the colonel and all, he got the respect he fought for, why does he feel weak around you. You are so sweet and joyful to him. If he was back in the field and saw you, would he kill you. Or maybe fuck you. Maybe that's it. He hasn't done it in so long, so long he hasn't touch a women. He should've just fucked one of the other nurses. Yes, maybe he should do that. Fuck a nurse, just to see. I mean what's the harm in that.

"Aah...yes. right there ngh.... yes...oh fuck that feels good."

The sound of König's footsteps were low that they couldn't hear over the sound of skin slapping against eachother. Watching a men fucking his girlfriend on his bed.

"Does your boyfriend fuck you like this?" Slaming her ass back and forth on his cock.

"Ah....a-aah....he-..he could barley...make me- fuck!..mmgh....wet." She grip the bedsheets hard while he kept pounding her.

No. No. He can't. Not you. He can't. He can't betray you like they did. He can't imagine the face you'll make if you know he fucked another girl. No he should be pure to you. You should be the only one he touches.

He needs you. Okay, it's done. He'll make you his and you'll love him. You'll love him and care for him. Rather you like him or not it's done.

You wrapped the cuff around his bicep and squeeze the bulb reading the numbers on the circle, writing it down. Doing the usual things you have studied for. As you were checking his heartbeat, he reached up which caused you to flinch a bit. His index finger, gently, caressing your cheek. Your back was turned to the guards, making it hard them to see what's going. You stared at him as he touched you with such charisma. His thumb reaching to your chin, hovering over your lips. He placed the tip of his thumb on your bottom lip, gently pulling it out a bit.

You shouldn't have this feeling at the pit of your stomach. You couldn't tell of you didn't smack his hand away because you are scared or because you enjoy it. You never had this much attention, not like this.

"I don't have time to argue with you (Y/n)! Go to your room!" The little girl tuged at her moms shirt.

"Where's daddy?" She felt tears running down her face as her mother poured more wine into her glass, already finishing up the fresh new bottle.

"(Y/n)! Seriously go to room! You are such a headache! Why couldn't your father take you with him! Nauseating!" She dranked the entire glass, slamming the cup on the table.

"Where's daddy?" She said one last time not letting go of her blanket. The same blanket her father got her when she told him she was cold.

"HE LEFT! HE LEFT US (Y/N)! LEFT US FOR THAT BITCH! AND NOW I'M STUCK HERE WITH YOU. HE RUINED MY LIFE. I COULD'VE DONE SOOOO MANY THINGS! But no! I'm stuck to take care of a brat!"

He palmed your cheek, feeling your warmth. He went in closer to you. You could feel his hot breath, quicken as he got closer to your lips.

You pulled back, "I shouldn't- we shouldn't. I mean." You whispered to him.

"Mein liebling (my darling)." He whispered to you. The first time he spoke to you. You couldn't understand him, but he spoke to you. "Du bist mein (you are mine)." He pulled you closer to him, he didn't care if the guards were staring, if anything, he enjoys it. To show everyone that he is yours to touch. "Mein schatz (my sweetheart)," his lips were hovering yours, you felt a little tingle at how close he was.

You know this shouldn't happen. You turned your away from his. You walked back, feeling his grasp letting go. He stared at you witch a smile on his face. You saw the smile he gave you.

When your shift ended and went back to your apartment, the thoughts of what happened lingered into your mind.

That night, you couldn't sleep. He was in your dreams. What if you never pulled way. Were you really going to kiss him. You glazed over the parts where he touched you.

You searched the words he said to you to translate it. Sweetheart, darling, mine.

You felt the butterflies in your stomach again. You never felt so complicated before.

Having a crush on a patient.

You have a crush on König.

[galahadwilder]

Marry Me AU

Look, I liked the webcomic way back when, but I loved the movie. It’s been rent-free in my head all day. Sue me.

*

Marinette is a chronically single up-and-coming designer who had an extra ticket to fashion week after Alya had to back out. She’s not a particular fan of Gabriel designs, and she knows very little about his son except that he’s the guy from the perfume ads and he’s friends with the girl who used to bully her in middle school. Her school friend Wayhem, however, is obsessed with Adrien, and when he found out she had a spare ticket and nobody to go with (Zoe already has a ticket and will be meeting her there) he begs her to let him come and also to go to the Gabriel show with him.

Adrien Agreste is a full-time model who has never really had any control over his life. Everything he does is dictated by his father and his brand team. He’s been told that he will be marrying Chloé Bourgeois to unify the two fashion empires, but he’s really not looking forward to it because Chloé is kind of awful. But he can’t go against his father.

After Marinette finishes a rather successful show, she sets in to enjoy the rest of fashion week, with the singular exception of suffering through the Gabriel show. Wayhem brings a “Marry Me” sign to Adrien’s catwalk run, which—while bizarre—Marinette can’t exactly fault him for given that she did something similar for the Clara Nightingale concert back in 8th grade.

Wayhem and Zoe, who should not have been allowed to meet, spend most of the Gabriel show talking to each other, since Wayhem has finally met someone who actually personally knows Adrien Agreste and has kind of gone feral. Zoe insists he’s actually really nice. Marinette could not give a single crap. Dude’s Chloé’s fiancé. He sucks.

Adrien comes out on the catwalk, and Wayhem hands Marinette the sign so he can take out his phone and start filming.

Partway down his walk, Adrien stops.

His entire life has been managed, set, staged by other people. If he marries Chloé, it’s going to keep being like that—he’s never going to get the chance to make his own decisions, just living the life other people tell him to live. He’s staring into the faces of this crowd, into the face of a life he’s never wanted… and has a full-on mental breakdown.

He sees the girl in the second row—she’s beautiful, one part of his mind notices—holding up a sign that says Marry Me. And before he knows it, he’s making the first decision for himself that he’s ever made—he’s pointing at her, telling her, yes. Yes I will marry you.

Wayhem is screaming. Zoe is screaming. They both bundle a confused and terrified Marinette onto the catwalk, and since Zoe got ordained for the Kitty Section Julerose Wedding Concert she’s able to officiate right there and then. Marinette’s too caught up in the moment to say anything—and then she sees the sadness in Adrien’s eyes, and how excited he seems to be at the prospect of doing this, and she can’t bring herself to say anything other than “I do” when Zoe asks.

The wedding isn’t, technically speaking, legal. But in the eyes of the public… well. The Adrien Agreste just grabbed some nobody out of a crowd at random and married her onstage instead of his glamorous and wealthy fiancée. It’s all anyone in Paris is talking about.

And Marinette is starting to realize that this sad, kind, and—oh yeah, sculpted-out-of-marble hot boy may actually be just the kind of guy she’d given up on looking for…

[foolishlovers]

Cuz you're doing recs can I ask your favorite explicit non-AU fics? If this is weird, just ignore it please. also sorry if its weird.

that's alright, i don't mind recommending some!!

Just a Taste by summerofspock (3k) See, it wasn’t so much the eating. It was the noises. It was the indecent look on Aziraphale’s face. It was the way he licked his fingers and wiggled in his seat. Every little action felt specially created to undo Crowley. And Aziraphale had no idea.

Anywhere You Want to Go by Aria (9k) Aziraphale knew Crowley liked him. He'd known it with a horrible clarity since around 1100, which was at least a thousand years after the first time he'd thought of kissing Crowley, and some eight hundred and odd before it occurred to him that the specific quality of Crowley's regard could be very dangerous for both of them, if they actually admitted their feelings aloud. It was also two weeks since any of that had mattered at all anymore.

Lead me to the banquet hall by obstinatrix, wishwellingtons (14k) Crowley loves taking Aziraphale out to eat almost as much as Aziraphale loves eating, but it's always a bit of a one-sided affair. Aziraphale has never understood why. Crowley planned on keeping it that way, but best laid plans…

The road to rapture has a lot of pit stops by emmagrant01 (17k) Five times they kissed over four thousand years, and one time they actually meant it.

One Night In Bangor (And the World's Your Oyster) by Atalan (17k) "All right, I know I'm going to regret asking this," Aziraphale says. "What exactly does this wager entail?" Crowley grins like the cat that not only got the cream but has absconded with the entire cow. He grabs the bottle and swigs straight from it despite Aziraphale's tut of disapproval.  "The pot goes to whichever demon can get an angel into bed by the end of the evening."  AKA The Fic That Tumblr Made Me Write. Heaven and Hell share a corporate party once per millennium. This time someone's had the bright idea of issuing a challenge to the demons of Hell. Crowley has no intention of missing the opportunity; Aziraphale's just enough of a bastard to make him work for it.

Faking It by bisasterdi (28k) In the immediate aftermath of the Nope-Let's-Notpocalypse, Crowley and Aziraphale tentatively begin to move on, hoping Heaven and Hell will leave them alone in the wake of both of their failed trials. Of course, nothing could possibly be that simple. It isn't that Gabriel or Beelzebub have actually figured out how the trials were subverted…but boy, do they THINK they have it figured out. Thankfully, it won't take much to keep them in the dark. (Crowley and Aziraphale just have to spend eternity together, pretending to be in love with each other. All Crowley needs to do is make sure Aziraphale never finds out that everything he's saying and doing is true.)

32 Questions That Lead To Love by ffonippop (32k)

”First formulated in 1997, [32] questions to fall in love is a study by psychologist Dr. Arthur Aron which took place at Stony Brook University, New York. The aim? Speeding up the creation of intimacy between two strangers.” The Cosmopolitan

Okay, fine.

Crowley was 32-Questions-That-Lead-To-Love-ing Aziraphale. Sue him.

He had no expectations, all right? Just, an innocent curiosity.

The Sandford Flower Show by Mussimm (46k) Crowley had waited six thousand years, kept it all in check. But this was the slipperiest slope he’d ever set foot on and as soon as he’d indulged in a few discretionary acts of kindness he was falling face first into pining, tumbling into flirting, about to dislocate his knees on the sharp rocks of intimacy. Was this really it? What he had waited six thousand years for? A stupid flower show? Aziraphale wasn’t pulling away from him. Maybe… maybe this time he wouldn’t? Maybe they’d hold hands again. Maybe tonight with a bottle of merlot in them he’d finally work up the courage and just kiss him and he wouldn’t pull away. The very moment he’d thought it he spotted the problem at the flower show.

Flowers From The Grave Of Our Friendship by WaitingToBeBroken (50k) Crowley is very good at temptation, not so good with what comes afterwards. Aziraphale knows demons don't love so he is happy to take anything Crowley would give him. Both of them are too blind to realize the thing they want is right in front of them.

The Grindr Logo Doesn't Even Have a 'G' In It by indieninja92 (79k) After the Apocalypse, Aziraphale ventures into a new space in the gay milieu - Grindr. There he starts talking to a charming young man who certainly doesn't bear any resemblance at all to a certain long streak of demon, not one bit, no thank you. Meanwhile, Aziraphale and Crowley navigate their friendship after the world failed to end. There is much drinking and silliness, but could it be that there are other feelings lurking underneath?? Of course there are, this is fanfic.

[wildissylupus]

@brownfrogs your rebolg got me thinking-

Now to be clear it is a canon retcon that Cassidy left after the Swiss HQ explosion;

Ok so if he left after the Swiss HQ explosion, why did this reblog get me thinking??

Because the public probably didn't know Cassidy was still employed with Overwatch. Cassidy was like Genji where the only criminal activity he participated was mostly through association, not only that but after his upgrades he wasn't really recognisable as the same person from the Venice Incident. He wasn't like Moira and Gabriel either, where they were respected outside of Blackwatch in they're respective fields. Cassidy has a big criminal record, not only that but he is recognised by the public as one of the founders of one of the biggest gangs in the American south-west.

I don't think him still being in Overwatch would have been public knowledge. So it is possible that after the Rialto mission, Cassidy essentially disappeared off the face of the earth for a while, at least in the publics perspective. We know that Cassidy did missions for Overwatch too, specifically the Hanamura mission and security work, so he still had work to do even if Blackwatch was gone.

Anyway this leads into what you said. Cassidy disappearing off the face of the earth, only to turn up in the aftermath of the explosion, injured and probably in close range to where Gabe and Jack were fighting?

Yeah that would definitely look suspicious to the public, and the UN wouldn't want to incriminate itself so they just went on with the idea that Cassidy was somehow involved.

I do think that in the six years he's been doing mercenary work he's cleared his name. Not only that but he most likely had Pharah and others vouching for his innocence.

Side note;

This genuinely made me laugh, never thought I'd see the words "tragic mary sue cowboy" be used in a sentence XD-

[daystar-by-jacqui-natla]

2. NEW YEAR

THERE HADN'T BEEN ANY NEWS FROM JACOB concerning the tribes or Leah's exile. The silence was deafening and only added to my frustration and sense of helplessness. Clearly, I didn't need an official update as I had already heard from Ayla that Sue had packed Leah's bag even before the trial began. It seemed like a preemptive move, almost as if Sue had resigned herself to Leah's fate without putting up a fight. Sue, Leah, and Seth's mom, was willing to let her daughter go, prioritizing the complex and ancient practice of imprinting that bound Leah to Ethan. This infuriated me, as it felt like Sue was abandoning her own daughter for the sake of tradition. When Leah finally received her bag, a tangible reminder of her exile, it was only Seth and Ayla who came to see her off, their faces etched with sorrow and helplessness. The absence of the rest of the tribe underscored the isolation and rejection Leah was facing, making her departure even more heartbreaking.

We — The Khotlers and Leah — took the plane from Forks Airport and headed to the BWI Airport where we would take another plane to London.

The flight to London was long, but the atmosphere among us made it seem even longer. Silence dominated, punctuated only by occasional whispers or the rustling of pages from a book someone was pretending to read. My thoughts kept drifting back to everything that had transpired, the changes I had undergone, and the decisions that had led us to this moment.

I could feel Ingram's steady presence beside me, a calming influence despite the storm raging in my mind. It was strange to think how much we had all changed. Once, the very thought of sitting on a plane, surrounded by humans, would have been unthinkable for some of us. Now, here we were, flying across the ocean with a mixture of resolve and trepidation.

The hum of the plane's engines was a constant backdrop, almost lulling me into a false sense of peace. But my mind refused to quiet down. The echoes of my past, the weight of my responsibilities, and the uncertainty of our future intertwined in a tangled mess that I couldn't seem to unravel.

Gabriel and Helena whispered softly to each other, their bond unbroken despite the trials we faced. Joseph and Rhona seemed lost in their own world, their expressions unreadable but somehow comforting in their solidarity. Simon and Alana, too, drew strength from each other, a reminder that even in exile, we were not alone.

I glanced back at Leah and Ethan. Leah's face was a mask of stoicism, but I could see the cracks in her facade. Ethan's presence was a small comfort, but I knew Leah was grappling with feelings of betrayal and abandonment. The tribe's rejection cut deep, and no amount of support from us could fully heal that wound.

My thoughts drifted once more to the Volturi and the chaos that had engulfed us when they loomed over the Cullens. Amun, Vladimir, and Stefan's remarks about my resemblance to Didyme still haunted me. Didyme, who was loved by many and died suddenly, a figure shrouded in mystery and tragedy. The comparisons made me uncomfortable, as if they were trying to fit me into a role I didn't understand and didn't want to play.

Billy's words echoed in my mind: "I know Violet the human, not Violet the vampire." It was true, in a way. He didn't know me as a vampire. He only knew me as a human. But it was the way Old Quil addressed me when I approached Billy.

"Back away, cold one."

I could still hear the seriousness in his tone, like he was ready to defend himself despite his old age. It was like they'd already saw me as a monster. A creature that didn't belong. A threat. The weight of their judgment bore down on me, making every step I took heavier. I had become someone different, someone stronger, but also someone more isolated. The transformation felt like a burden, a mantle I was forced to carry without ever asking for it. I tried to shake off the feeling, but it clung to me like a shadow, refusing to let go.

As we approached London, I knew we were stepping into another chapter of our story. One filled with uncertainty, challenges, and decisions that would shape our futures. But for now, all I could do was brace myself for whatever lay ahead and hope that, somehow, we would find a way to heal and move forward together.

The plane began its descent, and the cabin lights flickered on, casting a soft glow over our group. There was a collective shifting as we prepared for landing, the anticipation mingling with our shared anxiety.

We made our way through the airport, a flurry of motion and noise around us. Leah stayed close, her eyes scanning the crowd, but there was a guardedness to her stance, a wariness that hadn't been there before. Ethan stayed by her side, a silent protector. The rest of us moved as a unit, our shared history binding us together even as uncertainty loomed ahead.

Outside the airport, a taxi waited for us. We piled in, our luggage crammed into every available space. The city unfolded around us as we drove, its historic architecture and bustling streets a world away from the quiet forests of Forks.

We arrived at our destination: the Khotler Family Mansion, still standing tall over the ground. We unloaded our bags and made our way inside. We settled into the manor, each of us taking a moment to breathe, to gather our thoughts.

Leah sat by the window upstairs, staring out at the unfamiliar landscape. I approached her, unsure of what to say but knowing I needed to say something.

"Leah, we're here for you. No matter what."

She turned to me, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I know, Violet. It's just... hard. Leaving everything behind, being cast out. It feels like I've lost a part of myself."

I nodded, understanding all too well the pain of losing a part of one's identity. "We'll find a way through this. Together.”

Her lips twitched into a small, sad smile. "I hope so."

As the clock struck midnight on the first of January 2007, I entered the new year with a sense of dread. I entered the new year as a vampire, and the life of a vampire was never certain. The weight of the last few months bore down heavily on me, and I knew that each of us carried our own burdens. Leah's struggle with her exile, my own grappling with identity, and the shared uncertainty of our future hung like a dense fog over us all.

Days passed slowly at the Khotler Family Mansion. The old mansion had an air of both grandeur and melancholy, its walls echoing with the memories of those who had lived here before us. Leah spent most of her time in solitude. She wandered the vast gardens, lost in thought, or holed up in the theatre room with Ethan keeping her company. It pained me to see her so withdrawn, but I respected her need for space.

The events of that New Year's Eve still weighed heavily on my mind, but I knew that life must go on. As a vampire, I had eternity to look forward to, but for now, I would focus on the present and the family that had become my everything.

Beneath the crystal-clear water of the swimming pool, I found myself lost in a world of my own. Clad in my sleek black one-piece swimsuit, I sat cross-legged with my arms resting on my knees, feeling the cool water enveloping me. It was as if I had been transported to a different realm, far away from the chaos of the world above.

In this deep sea of tranquillity, I felt my connection to the world around me grow stronger. The absence of distractions and noise allowed my mind to focus solely on the people and places that mattered most to me. The unfamiliar sounds and slow-moving light that danced around my fingertips only served to deepen my sense of belonging.

As I moved my body through the water, each motion became a form of meditation, purging my mind of any thoughts that did not serve me. I knew that when I emerged from this underwater sanctuary, I would be centred and ready to embrace the best version of myself.

For in this moment, I had found a place where I could simply be. A place where the world above could not touch me, and where I could connect with my true self.

As I submerged myself into the depths of the pool, I was transported to a world of vibrant hues. The water was alive with a kaleidoscope of colours, each one tinted with a mesmerising green-blue glow. The sun, determined to make its presence known, fought its way through the water's surface, casting a soft, shifting light upon everything below.

The pool itself was a work of art, constructed with tiles of the coolest blue imaginable. The water, a perfect match for the tiles, was a soothing shade of blue that seemed to refresh my very soul. As I swam, the afternoon sunlight danced upon the water's surface, beckoning me to join in its playful game.

In this underwater wonderland, I was free to lose myself in the beauty of the world around me. The colours were so vivid, so alive, that I felt as though I had been transported to another realm entirely. And yet, as I floated weightlessly in the cool blue water, I knew that I was exactly where I was meant to be.

Then, an idea struck me. Why not practise my power underwater? I turned my hand around, my palms facing upwards, and focused my energy. Soon, a vibrant purple force began to form in my palms, coalescing into small, spherical balls. A grin spread across my pale face as I marvelled at the sight before me. It seemed that my force power was immune to the water's influence.

With a graceful movement of my left hand, the force remained steady, unaffected by the surrounding water. Encouraged, I repeated the motion with my right hand, and the result was the same. My two fingers twirled together, and a miniature tornado emerged from my fingertips, dancing playfully among the water. It was a fleeting moment, lasting only a minute before it dissipated into nothingness.

But I was not done yet. With a wave of my right hand, the force ball caught a bit of the pool water, and as I raised my hand, the force ball slowly followed suit. My hand spun around, and the force ball swirled along with it, a beautiful display of power and control. And then, with a simple closing of my hand, the force ball vanished, leaving nothing but ripples in its wake.

I emerged from the water, feeling invigorated and alive. My power had grown stronger, and I knew that I was capable of even greater feats. The possibilities were endless, and I couldn't wait to explore them all...

Then a memory came to my mind.

"But I am sorry!" Gabriel's voice was filled with desperation, his eyes pleading with the vampires to understand.

"He is sorry," Maggie's soft voice spoke up from the background, her eyes filled with compassion.

The Romanians snarled, their eyes flashing with rage. "You think apologising will change anything?" Stefan bellowed, his body coiled like a spring, ready to attack.

"Violet, get—!" Ingram was about to command me but I didn't listen to him at that moment.

With a flick of my wrist, the purple force field erupted from my fingertips, crackling with energy. It surged forward, a blur of violet light, and slammed into Stefan's gut with a sickening thud. He crumpled to the ground, gasping for air, while Vladimir rushed to his side.

Stefan's eyes widened in shock as he struggled to catch his breath. "You see that?" he wheezed, his voice laced with disbelief.

Vladimir nodded, his expression awestruck. "Your daughter has a powerful gift," he murmured, his eyes flickering to me and my father.

Joseph beamed with pride. "We got our maxima right here," he declared, puffing out his chest.

Simon shot him a warning glance, but Stefan merely chuckled. "A maxima, huh?" he mused, his lips curling into a sly grin. "Well, if the child isn't going to destroy the Volturi, then perhaps she will."

With a sudden burst of energy, I propelled myself out of the pool, sending a cascade of water droplets soaring into the air. As I hit the surface of the water, I felt the cool liquid envelop me, refreshing my senses and invigorating my body. I began to swim towards the edge of the pool, my arms and legs working in perfect harmony to propel me forward.

With a final burst of strength, I reached the ledge and pulled myself out of the water. Sitting on the edge, I gazed out across the room, my heart racing with excitement. It was still empty, just as it had been when I first arrived.

As I sat there, my mind began to wander. I couldn't help but think about the word that had been on my mind lately: maxima. It was a term used to describe vampires with multiple gifts, and I couldn't help but wonder what it would mean if I started using it to describe myself.

Would I become a saviour of vampires, using my gifts to protect and defend my kind? Or would I become a destroyer, feared and reviled by all who crossed my path? Would I be a hero or a villain, a victor or a victim? Would I bring hope or fear to those around me?

The uncertainty of my future gnawed at me, but I knew one thing for sure: I couldn't let fear dictate my actions. The choices I made, the paths I chose, would determine the kind of vampire I would become. Maxima or not, my strength lay not just in my powers, but in my will to use them wisely.

For a few minutes, I just sat there, listening to the trickle of the droplets of my cold skin and the occasional waves in the pool.

And then, I sensed him, his presence looming behind me. As I turned, Ingram stood there, a soft smile playing on his lips. His eyes held a mixture of admiration and concern, a reflection of the emotions swirling within me.

"You look so beautiful," he said, his voice low and reverent. "As always."

I returned his smile, feeling a warmth spread through me at his words. "Thanks," I replied, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. "You know, everything... it's all so confusing. This power, this... destiny, whatever this is. I don't know what to make of it."

Ingram moved closer, sitting down beside me. The proximity of his presence was comforting, a reminder that I wasn't alone in this. "You don't have to figure it all out right now," he said gently. "It's okay to take things one step at a time. We'll face whatever comes together."

I leaned my head against his shoulder, drawing strength from his steadiness. "I'm scared, Ingram. Scared of what I might become, of the choices I'll have to make."

He wrapped an arm around me, his touch grounding me. "Fear is natural, Violet. But remember, you have a good heart. That will guide you, no matter what. And you have us — this family. We'll support you every step of the way."

His words were a balm to my troubled mind. I closed my eyes, allowing myself a moment of peace in his embrace. "I just hope I can live up to everyone's expectations," I whispered.

Ingram's fingers traced soothing patterns on my back. "You already have. Just by being you. The rest will come in time."

I leaned into his touch as I turned to sit on his lap. Ingram's hands rested on my hip as he smiled at me. My hands found their place on his shoulders, and his gaze fell on the Lunaris Mark on my wrist.

"Does the water cause you pain?" he inquired.

"Strangely, no," I answered, surprised. "Only contact from others or the presence of a werewolf can make it burn."

"That is peculiar," Ingram remarked. "But let's forget about that."

He moved his head forward and kissed me. My hands trailed to his bearded face as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. My lips parted slightly, allowing his tongue to slip inside. The kiss was deep, charged with a passion that momentarily made me forget all my worries. Ingram's embrace was strong and reassuring, his touch grounding me in the present moment. For those few precious minutes, nothing else mattered but the connection we shared.

When we finally pulled apart, I asked him, "Get in the pool with me."

Ingram raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "Is that an order, flower?"

I laughed softly, a genuine sound that seemed to lift some of the weight from my shoulders. "Consider it a request," I said, my voice light but carrying a hint of challenge.

He didn't need any more encouragement. Ingram stood, removing his shirt and shoes with casual grace before diving into the pool with a fluid motion. The water barely splashed as he entered, a testament to his vampire agility. I watched him swim towards me, his movements effortlessly elegant.

As he reached me, I couldn't help but admire the way the water accentuated the lines of his muscles, the way his eyes seemed to shine even brighter beneath the surface. He broke through the water's surface in front of me, shaking his head to send droplets flying.

"Happy now?" he teased, his voice a warm, low rumble.

I smiled, feeling lighter than I had in days. "Very."

I crashed my lips against his, my arms snaked around his neck. Ingram's hands glided to the small of my back, holding me securely as we moved through the water. The pool, now our private sanctuary, seemed to pulse with the same energy that crackled between us. The coolness of the water contrasted sharply with the heat of our kiss, a mingling of sensations that heightened my awareness of every touch, every caress.

Our kiss deepened, an unspoken promise of the bond we shared. Ingram's fingers traced intricate patterns on my skin, leaving me in an animalistic state, wanting every part of him. No need to be careful around him anyway. I felt the tension of the past few months melt away, replaced by a sense of belonging and certainty that I hadn't known I needed.

Ingram pulled back slightly, his forehead resting against mine as he caught his breath. "Violet," he murmured, his voice husky with emotion, "we'll get through this. Together."

I nodded, my eyes searching his. "I know."

The water lapped gently around us, creating a soothing rhythm as I returned my lips to his once more. I couldn't help myself, his lips were so irresistible. Our kiss was a refuge from the chaos and uncertainty, a reminder of the strength we found in each other. For a moment, the worries and burdens of our journey faded away, replaced by a timeless connection that transcended our fears.

As we finally broke apart, I felt a renewed sense of purpose. Ingram's presence had a way of grounding me, of reminding me who I was beyond the powers and expectations. I was Violet, a vampire, yes, but also a part of something greater.

I looked into Ingram's eyes, seeing my own resolve reflected back at me. "I love you, Shadow Man," I whispered, my voice steady.

He smiled, his hands gently squeezing my waist. "And I love you, flower. Always."

We lingered in the pool for a while longer, savouring the quiet intimacy we shared.

[britswriting]

Devotion (7)

Devotion Masterlist

Read on Wattpad

*Leighton's POV*

I stared at my sweet baby girl who now had an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose, her face full of dried tear stains, the moment being etched into my brain forever.

My thumb caressed the top of her hand as she clutched to the stuffed cow Colby brought her.

"She's going to be alright Leighton" Gabe tried to reassure me, having been sat on the other side of her.

"You didn't see her" I whispered, not taking my eyes off my daughter.

"I know, but we knew she had poor lungs when she was a baby. I'm not surprised things are starting to show up" He commented, my eyes snapping over to him to see him leaning back against the stiff hospital chair, staring at Gemma who was asleep.

"You're not surprised?! My baby couldn't breathe Gabe! I watched my daughter struggle to breathe!"

"Our daughter, Leighton! Our daughter!" He hissed, moving to lean forward in the chair as my jaw clenched.

"You left us. You weren't fucking there when I watched her fucking breathe all night long the second that damn oxygen tube came out of her nose! You weren't fucking there so excuse me if I'm a little more sensitive about seeing another fucking oxygen mask on our three year old!" I whispered yelled, glancing towards Gemma, not wanting to wake her.

"You can't keep holding me putting myself first above my head. I wanted to give her a better life Leighton"

"I'm not doing this. Not here. Not now."

"Then when? When Leighton? Because you don't talk to me" His voice raised, earning a glare from me.

"I don't have to talk to you. You're my daughter's father. Not my boyfriend. All I care about is her health and happiness"

"You wanted to get rid of her!" He threw in my face, letting the unwelcome memory begin to play in my head.

"I was in a different place Gabriel. Yes, I thought about putting her up for adoption, sue me" I quietly hissed, leaning back against the hospital chair, my right leg crossing over my left as my right foot began to bounce.

Was he really trying to pick a right whilst our three year old lays helplessly in a hospital bed?

"How do you think that will make her feel when she's older? You can't say that me leaving her when she was a newborn to go to college to better her life is worse than when you wanted to put her up for adoption!" Gabriel continues.

"Oh my god. Can you fucking stop? You weren't there!"

"You never let me be there! It was always Sam this Sam that, Colby this Colby that. Don't you think I deserved to be in the fucking loop with my own daughter?"

"You. Never. Showed. Up. So excuse me for taking the help handed to me! You never went to her OBGYN appointments so sorry if I felt alone. If she asks me about it, I'll be honest with her. I don't regret thinking that. I regret it right now, knowing Gemma now and being in the place I am now, but I do not regret wanting the best for my daughter. You aren't an addict. You weren't alone. You weren't even there, so don't you dare make me feel guilty for looking at all my possible options when you fucking left across the country the second she was born!"

"You always think you're all that, don't you?" He snickered, his ankle now resting against his knee, reminding me a lot of Colby which made my nose wrinkle as I looked away.

He reeked of cockiness and it made me want to punch him in the face.

"Our toddler is laying in a god damn hospital bed right now, and you want to pick a fucking fight about whose right and wrong? Yes, I played into it, I fell for your stupid game, and I apologize.. but how immature do you have to be do throw out that bait whilst our daughter has an oxygen mask over her face?"

"There she is. Always thinking she's right. That she's better than everyone else. Get off your fucking high horse. You're a pathetic addict who can't get her shit together for two seconds to even properly care for our daughter. Your fucking friends cared for her whilst you were in rehab!" He exclaimed, my eyes beginning to sting.

"You know, I might be a fuck up, but at least I'm not a liar. You really think you can be best friends with the people who fed into my addiction, and not touch a single substance? You belittled me time and time again, when you were doing the exact same thing, weren't you? You want to talk about being pathetic? I can own up to my shit, but you'll always be worse. You can look like daddy's perfect church boy all you want, but we both know you did the cocaine that night, so if you want to act like I'm the biggest fuck up, go ahead. But at least I'm clean and sober now. Are you?" I cocked an eyebrow, my lips pursed out of annoyance as I watched him fidget under my gaze.

"You were the drug whore. I didn't do shit" He snapped and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah. That's why you were so pissed about the weed, isn't it? Always wanted to look like the good guy. Congratu-fucking-lations Gabriel. You'll always be better than me. That's why Gemma begs every single Friday to stay with Colby and I. Because you're always better than me"

I could see the tension rise under his skin, but before he could defend himself, there was a knock on the door before it opened, the man in a white coat reentering the room.

"She's still out?" He asked and I cleared my throat, nodding.

"Alright, I'll lower my voice" He nodded, taking a seat on the stool. "Her scans came back good. They appear healthy" He said softly, showing us the Xrays. "Her lungs are small for her age" he noted and I nodded slowly, gnawing on my lower lip as I tried to stay calm. "We checked for bacteria, she's clean as a whistle. I know we were concerned about Asthma, but I don't think that's something to be too concerned with right now. I'd definitely keep it in mind as she gets older" He eyed both Gabe and I, myself nodding.

"So she doesn't have Asthma?" I confirmed, glancing between the doctor and my daughter.

"Correct. As of right now, I don't see clear symptoms. Yes, her attack, if we want to call it that, had similar signs, which is why I'm saying we should definitely keep it in mind as she gets older. Again, with her lungs being on the smaller side it could make things interesting. My personal opinion is that she got overworked and overwhelmed, and as she tried to inhale to breathe, her lungs couldn't keep up. When you inhale, they fill with air, when you exhale, they deflate" He explained and I nodded, looking over at my sleeping daughter, watching her chest slowly rise and fall. "When you begin to hyperventilate, it overworks. It's going at a quicker pace of up down up down" He continued. "Which led to the gasping, and the gasping could make her wheeze from the quick air intake. I wouldn't say she had a panic attack, or an anxiety attack or that she has Asthma and needs an inhaler. My professional opinion is that her lungs, which are already more undeveloped from when she was a baby, compared to where they should be now, got overworked" He explained and I blinked away the tears, composing myself as I nodded, guilt bubbling in my stomach at the thought of Gemma having any sort if medical problem.

Was it the preeclampsia? The low iron? Being born early?

"What does this mean for the future? She's going to cry, and yell. She's a toddler" I asked, the doctor nodding.

"I'm not saying you have to give into the tantrum, but maybe try and distract. Refocus her before she can go to that point again. Obviously she is a toddler, and they want what they want, when they want it" He chuckled, "I know it isn't ideal to play the trade game. Say she starts crying because you said no to a toy. Try offering her something of similar reward. Maybe something she loves to do.. get her mind refocused to something you can give her, rather than something you can't give her. I understand that it kind of defeats the purpose of discipline and not giving into everything they want. I've got an 8 year old at home, I get how backwards it sort of sounds.. but given the circumstances right now, I'd like to not overwork her lungs. Obviously crying is unavoidable, but it takes a lot to really get to hyperventilating"

So it was my fault.

"I would like to add a checkup once or twice a year for her lungs. Whether it be at her yearly appointment, which I see in her chart she's been to, and she's in good health besides her being short for her age" He rolled his eyes, chuckling. "I hate the height thing. Not everyone's tall" he motioned to himself, having been a shorter male himself making me smile appreciatively at him. "I would like to keep watch on her lungs. Organ's don't really grow unless you grow, but they can become healthier. She can breathe better, even if they're slightly smaller than average" He nodded towards us, making sure we understood.

We were given at home care instructions before he excused himself from the room, telling us we could invite Sam and Colby in if we wanted to, Colby immediately jumping from his chair to follow me into her room, muttering "It's fucking bullshit that only the parents can go in" to which I nodded at, still reeling at the fact that this could be a life long problem for my daughter.

I saw Gabe eye Colby as Colby b-lined it to where I previously was sitting, bending down and softly pushing the fallen pieces of hair out of her face, brushing a kiss against her skin.

I saw him murmur something before pulling away, looking over at me, and then past me.

Sam.

I quickly spun around, my eyes scanning his face to try and process what his expression could tell me.

He looked worried, defeated almost.

"Is she alright?" He asked and I nodded, stepping out of the way.

I watched him inhale, and exhale, and then inhale again and hold it as he looked over at Colby who was still fawning over Gemma.

I heard his exhale, his sneakers softly hitting the pristine white tiled floor, maneuvering around Colby.

"Are you alright Sam?" I asked, noticing Gabe getting up and leaving the room. "Sam?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?" I checked in, Sam nodding, returning to look back at our girl.

"She looks so....." he paused.

"You can say it"

"Pathetic" he said softly which made me chuckle as he continued, "I just.. I guess the word I'm looking for is small? Helpless? Fragile?" He continued and I nodded, walking over to him, Colby moving to the other side of the bed. "When I heard Colby's tone.. and him talk about going to the Emergency Room... my heart sank. I mean, we've been best friends for what... 11 years? I've never heard him so panicked and he wouldn't say anything in the car.. and to see Gemma, our little fighter laying in a hospital bed.. it's killing me" He confessed and I nodded, not knowing how to reply.

"The doctor said she'll be okay. Just gotta take it easy"

"How do you guys do this?" Sam questioned, looking between Colby and I.

"Do what?" I hummed.

"Love someone this much. I mean, she's not even my daughter and I was worried shitless"

I smiled, pulling him into a hug. Sam's arms wrapped around me and I squeezed him, nuzzling my face into his chest. "She loves you so much" my muffled words voiced against the fabric of his shirt.

I felt him exhale, his body dropping into mine.

He pulled away, and when our eyes met his blue eyes were covered in ready to fall tears.

I looked over towards Colby who was too in his own world as he fussed over Gemma, allowing me to offer Sam my hand and lead him out of the room for a second.

The two of us leaned against the wall outside of the room, my tongue wetting my lips as I gathered my thoughts.

"Thank you" I started, catching his attention.

"For what?"

"For being there. For being Colby's best friend. For always being a shoulder I can cry on. For allowing me to slap you across the face on multiple occasions. For being someone my daughter can not only love, but trust. When Colby found out I was pregnant... you were the first person he wanted to tell. You are his person, and I love that. I love that I have someone in my life that will be there no matter what. Whether it's a red eye flight, a late night drive of a 4am phone call.. you're there"

"You're my family Leighton. I remember when I found out you were pregnant with Gemma... just.. just wanting to help, you know? And I hated keeping the secret from Colby, it was complete and utter torture, but I kept it for you, and I knew he would understand. Just seeing G laying in a bed with a mask on her face is just.. it's heartbreaking" he exhaled, swallowing the lump in his throat, looking away from me.

"She's our little girl. I was always told it took a village to raise a baby, and without you... she wouldn't even be here with us — hey look at me" I softly demanded, Sam reluctantly turning to look at me, his eyes bloodshot red as a tear stained trail was left behind on his cheek. "You were my rock. You were there for me when no one else was. You came to the appointment so I wasn't alone. You bought the baby doppler and you stuck up for me when no one else would. Without you, I wouldn't have my beautiful baby girl and I know that. Without you taking a chance on me, I would have never met Colby" I told him sincerely, my heart clenched when I heard him sniffle. "I know it's been hard, and I'm so sorry.. but damnit, you'll always be my number one, alright? You got us in this shit, and I'll be damned if you're not also dragged through it" I grinned, seeing a smile crack on his saddened face.

"I love you, Leighton. Thank you for keeping my best friend happy. I know he can be a handful" Sam chuckled, wiping at his face.

"It has its perks, after all, I get free merch now" I joked, wiggling my eyebrows before pulling him into another hug.

The two of us walked back in and I walked over to show Colby some physical affection, Sam taking a seat as he pulled himself together.

"Everything alright?' Colby quietly asked and I nodded, bending down to kiss him.

"We'll be alright"

~

"Gemma, you need to keep your little booty on the sofa" I called after her, finding it impossible to keep this three year old seated.

Her giggles gave me heart palpitations every time I heard them, terrified she'll have another episode.

"Come on G, listen to momma" Colby encouraged from down the hall, leading her back to the couch.

"No pay wif Elle?" She pouted, her arms crossed as she stomped over towards the couch.

"Baby you need to rest" I reminded her, offering her a blanket.

"Coco no go bye bye" She frowned, Colby sighing, waiting for Sam to finish getting ready to catch his flight.

The four of us have been attached to Gemma's hip, the longest we've kept her seated was when she FaceTimed with Stas and Katrina; that was until she ran off with the phone to show them some toys.

"G, I'll come back"

"Sam go bye bye" She grumbled, her lips in an adorable pout.

"He's gotta go home to aunty Kat" I reminded her, Gemma's eyes lighting up.

"Go wif! Go see meow!" She giggled, something telling me the nickname was very intentional; she knew what she was doing.

"Did I hear someone say meow?" Sam called out, trudging a suitcase behind him.

"Yessss!" Gemma exclaimed, shooting off the couch, running over go him. "Go wif, go wif!" She begged, reaching up to tug at the end of his shirt.

Sam scooped her up, bouncing her a little on his hip, "You've gotta get big and strong to come see Kat and I" he told her, Gemma's eyebrows scrunching together.

"I big an... an stwong!" She declared, all of us smiling at her, Colby's movement catching my eyes attention as he walked to the kitchen.

My lips rolled as I kept my eyes locked on where he wandered off to, confused why he seemed so shut down again.

"You're the strongest three year old I know!" Sam exclaimed, Gemma grinning at him, her face showing complete and utter sense of pride. "When the doctor clears you, I'll sneak you to Vegas with me, okay?" Sam told her, Gemma quickly nodding her head. "Alright Baby G, I gotta go catch a flight home with Kat, alright? You're gonna be the biggest and bestest girl for your momma. Make me proud munchkin" He kissed her cheek, Gemma frowning when she was set down.

"No go" She shook her head.

"I have to go home G"

"Stayyyyy" She whined, clinging to his leg.

I went to stand up and snatch her away from him, when he crouched down to her level, quietly telling her something I couldn't hear; Gemma nodding as he stood up, Gemma coming back next to me, plopping on the cushion furthest away from me.

"Colby? You ready?" Sam called out, the sound of a drawer shutting being heard behind me.

"Yeah, one sec"

I walked Sam to the door, letting him slip on his sneakers as I did a quick checklist, making sure he had everything.

"If you want to tell Kat about the baby, you can, but I'd prefer to keep it between the four of us, just for now" 

"Yeah, totally, and I'll let you tell her. I know you guys didn't plan on telling me, but to be fair, it's very obvious when you're pregnant" he teased, my jaw dropping as I looked down at my stomach.

"Did you just call me fat?" I half joked.

Quickly shaking his head, he spoke up, his voice slightly more squeaky, "No. You're just more.. lazy and moody" He hesitantly answered.

"Me? Moody? Never" I grinned, Sam chuckling.

"Could never be Leighton" he shook his head, a big grin on his face, his cheeks tightening.

"Never" I agreed, pulling him into a quick head. "Thanks for coming, I'll miss ya loads. We'll need to catch up when I'm not feeling like actual garbage. The not so morning sickness has been brutal. Honestly, the worst part is just the constant nausea. I almost wish I would actually complete the task, whether feel like I'm always on the verge of needing to vomit"

"Was your sickness with Gemma bad?"

"Hers I think came in more waves? I'd have my good and bad days, whereas this baby is just a constant kick to my gut" I chuckled, my hand running over the small bloated area. "I'm definitely breaking out more which is annoying. I didn't have this much acne with Gemma" My pointer finger circled my face.

"Alright, we ready?" Colby spoke up, making me jump as he slipped past me, grabbing his shoes.

"Gemma, Sam's leaving, come say bye!" I called out, hearing her feet thud against the floor, her little arms spread wide as she ran towards him, Sam quickly crouching.

"Byeeeee Sammmmy!" She shrieked, Sam squishing her in a hug.

"Bye baby G. I'll call you, alright? And we'll figure out when you can come to Vegas and see Aunty Kat and I" He promises, picking her up in their hug, standing back upright.

"We should get going so you can go through check in" Colby noted, Sam nodding as he kissed Gemma's head, setting her down.

"Be good for mommy Gemma"

"I will!"

Sam walked out of the apartment and I stood still waiting for Colby to lean over and kiss me goodbye, but he kept his back to me, following Sam out.

"Hey" I called out, Sam turning to look at me, raising an eyebrow. "Colby" 

He turned around, his brow furrowed.

"Hm?"

"No hug? Kiss? I love you? What the hell?"

"Oh, sorry" He leaned over, placing a pity kiss on my cheek, my eyes narrowing as he pulled away.

"Drive safe and text me when you're there and coming back" 

I saw him nod and continue to walk down the hallway.

I waited around on the couch with Gemma, snacking on crackers and watching movies; bribing her with cookies to stay still, which I knew later would bite me in the ass as we waited for Colby to get home.

I heard the front door open, my head turning to see if it was Colby since I haven't heard from him, only to see Aaliyah.

"Oh, hey. How'd it go?" I questioned, Aaliyah sighing as she slipped her shoes off, taking a seat on the chair next to me.

"I can't get a co-signer"

"We've offered to help ya know?"

"Whatever" She grumbled, her eyes rolling.

"Not whatever. I want to help you. What part of it is frustrating? Just the co-signer part?" I quietly questioned, trying not to talk over the movie.

"That and finding an actual place, let alone a job! I shouldn't have moved to fricken Tennessee! I was doing so good until I followed him" She grumbled, slouching in the chair.

"You loved him"

"Yeah. Loves fucking stupid" She grumbled again, silence falling between us before she shoved herself out of the chair, walking past Gemma and I to her current bedroom.

I let her be alone for a while before knocking on the door, letting myself in to find her curled up on the bed, a blanket pulled up to her face.

"Hey" I spoke softly, afraid to make the wrong move. "You know you always have a room here, right? No one's kicking you out" I reminded her, slowly walking closer to the bed. "I just want you to be happy"

I heard her loudly exhale, shifting to lay on her back, so I crawled into the bed, pulling her into me.

"I'm always here, ya know? I've been through this. I understand how hard it is, and how much it sucks. Imagine being where you are, and pregnant" I joked, Aaliyah turning to look up at me, my arm wrapped around her shoulder as she leaned into my chest.

"I don't know how you did it" She whispered, a small smile pulling at my cheeks.

"You take it one day at a time. Hell, I took it one breath at a time. Sometimes that's all you can get through. It felt like I was freshly in NA meetings when I was homeless, pregnant and freshly broken up with. Inhale, exhale until you can breathe again. We'll figure it out, one breath at a time. I promise" I rested my cheek against her head.

"I love you" She whispered, and I could tell she was starting to cry, breaking my heart.

"I love you too"

~

I listened to Colby's voicemail for the 6th time, my chest tightening as I dialed it again, pacing in the kitchen as Gemma and Aaliyah conversed, Aaliyah's eyes burning a hole in my side.

You've reached the voicemail of *click*

"He's a dead man the second he walks through that door I swear to god" I complained, my hand turning white from how hard I was gripping the edges of my phone. "I said to text me. It's been hours! Sam has already texted me that he's landed!" 

"Coco come home Momma?" Gemma asked, rubbing salt into my wound.

"I don't know Gemma" I answered honestly, my forearms resting against the countertop as I collapsed into it, my head hung low.

The room fell silent.

I knew Aaliyah had no idea what to say, because point blank, Colby should be home right now.

I began our nightly routine, the apartment feeling ghostly without him.

I sat next to Gemma's toddler bed, Gemma tucked neatly under her blankets as I closed the book, her beautiful blue eyes looking up at me.

"Coco say goodnight?"

"I'm sorry lovebug. He's not home" I whispered, my hand brushing the stray pieces of hair out of her eyes. "I love you so much Gemma" 

"Wuv you!" She grinned, her head tilted back with her chin in the air getting me to let out a breathy laugh before leaning down and placing a tender kiss against her forehead. 

"You sleep good for me bug, okay? You get to see Papa tomorrow" 

"An Nonna!"

"And Nonna. Dream good dreams okay? Wanna hear about them in the morning. Can you do that snug-bug?"

She nodded, her eyes getting heavy as my hand brushed down her hair.

"Sleep well baby"

I left the door open knowing that was her preference now, grabbing my bin of laundry, turning the TV onto a soft hum as I distracted myself, every minute more agonizing than the last.

I got into a mindless routine of grabbing a clothing item, folding it and setting it aside as my mind began to wander, my eyes stinging with threatening tears as I listened to people on the Sitcom laugh; the moon only shining brighter through my apartment window as the night dragged on.

I tried him one more time, my phone reading 12%, the time telling me it was almost 2am; once again receiving his voicemail.

I let my shaky inhale pull me through the tears as I shoved the bin of folded laundry against the wall, turning off the TV and walking through the apartment, making sure all the windows were locked, the stove was off and clearing a few stray toys from the main walking spaces when I was met with the front door, the deadbolt lock staring me dead in the eye.

My fingertips brushed over the lock as I contemplated.

Did I really want to lock Colby out of the apartment he pays for?

But I live near LA. You never know what could happen.

My wrist tightened as I prepared to lock it, holding my breath, hoping to hear the trudged footsteps outside the door; a few moments slipping by until I heard the soft click of the lock, a tear rolling down my face. 

Inhale, exhale.

My shoulders dropped as I turned on my heel, flicking off the final light in the apartment, the scenery of pitch black being the nail in the coffin as I stripped out of my clothes, tossing them into the hamper; snatching Colby's discarded clothes off the floor.

Inhale, exhale.

I got myself composed enough to stop fumbling around, throwing on some shorts and a loose shirt.

I softly shut the drawer, only to be met with our empty bed.

Inhale, exhale.

I crawled into our bed, plugging in my phone and setting it aside, shifting around to get comfy, only for my eyes to land back on my phone.

Why won't he answer?

Try one more time.

Just one more time.

This is it. I can feel it.

Like muscle memory I dialed his contact, listening to the dreadful dial tone, once again getting his voicemail.

He's okay.

He has to be.

Right?

Try again.

Just once more.

He'll answer this time.

The dial tone. The anticipation. The dread. The voicemail.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Dread.

Inhale, exhale. 

Inhale, exhale. 

Inhale, exhale.

Breathe.

I scooted up in the bed, pulling open our texts, scrolling through the string of unseen messages I've sent over the past 10 hours.

Delivered. Anticipation. Dread.

I felt my finger turn off my phone, my own tear stained reflection staring back at me.

He's okay. He's just.... not answering. 

I set my phone aside, sliding back down into my covers, allowing my eyes to fall shut, instantly regretting it as memories of him breaking his leg flashed through my head.

I grabbed my phone again, finding Sam's contact, the ringing irritating me as I resisted the urge to start pacing.

I yanked my charger out, allowing myself to pace back and furth only to hear his voicemail.

I could feel my blood boil, my hand beginning to shake as I inhaled a sharp tight breath through my nose.

Inhale, exhale.

I tried Sam again, once again getting his fucking voicemail.

Before I knew it, I threw my phone across the room, it slamming into the wall, falling to the ground as I ran my hands through my hair, tugging at my roots as hot fresh tears rolled down my face; my body crumpling to the ground.

Where was he?

~

"Is it yummy?" I softly asked, Gemma happily slurping the milkshake as I dreaded going home, not wanting to be met with an empty apartment.

It had been 26 hours since I saw Colby last; it was dreadful.

Work went by agonizingly slow, every millisecond feeling longer than the last; calling and texting him on my break, only to get no response made it feel never ending.

Gemma nodded, looking up from her milkshake, making me smile when I saw she had it on her face.

"Don't drink it too fast, bug, you'll get an owie in your head" I warned, Gemma ignoring me as she guzzled it down.

We finished our milkshakes and I decided to bop around with her, wanting to kill time; the two of us grabbing take out before finally making our way home, Gemma overly excited over her french fries.

My hand reached for the door handle, clinging onto any hope I had left, praying it twisted easily; only to be met with it not budging.

Locked.

Exhale.

I painfully twisted my key in the lock, pushing the door open so Gemma could go use the bathroom. The now dark apartment haunting me once again as I flipped on the lights.

I placed her food on a plate, setting it on a table; grabbing her a juice box from the fridge.

Checking my phone once more, I sat down at the table, Colby's empty spot directly in front of me being a haunted reminder.

Impatiently waiting for Sam's text, Gemma emerged from the bathroom, running up to me with her hands in front of her.

"Feel! Wet! I wash dem!" She declared, her clearly soaked hands dripping onto my floor and pants.

"Gemma!" I shrieked, the cold water surprising me; her giggle shaking me out of my state of shock, "I see bug, please grab the towel and dry them so you can have your fries"

Halfway through dinner, Aaliyah came back and I informed her there was food in the bag for her; Aaliyah joined us at the table.

"Still no reply?" She asked, and I nodded, glancing towards my phone, praying to watch it light up. "Sam hasn't heard anything?" I shook my head, picking at my fries before rubbing my fingers together to get the salt off. "Do you think we should call the police? How long does he have to be missing for them to get involved?" 

"I don't know. I don't even know if he's missing. He's just not replying to me"

"Maybe his phone died?" She suggested and I shrugged, Gemma cutting us off to tell Aaliyah that we got milkshakes, boasting about how good it was and how her and my dad got to paint today; my brain eventually tuning her out since I already heard about her day.

"Leigh? Leighton?" Aaliyah shook my arm causing me to jump, my head snapping to look at her. "G asked you a question" She nodded towards my daughter.

"Hm?"

"Watch Punzel night?" She asked and I nodded slowly.

Inhale, exhale.

"Coco watch too?" She asked, and I shrugged, excusing myself from the table.

I listened to the dial tone again, pacing in my room.

Maybe his phone did die, but was he okay? Was he hurt? Did he need help and now he can't contact anyone? Was he in an accident? Is he a John Doe somewhere? Did he have an incident and get killed? Kidnapped? Beaten? Did he leave me? He was weird before he left.. Maybe it was a plan? He didn't take anything with him though? 

My brain continued to overanalyze until something clicked.

His meds.

I rushed over to where we kept our bottles, Colby and I normally taking them together.

I opened his bottle, dumping the pills out and began to count.

Due to me working, I've been getting up earlier than him lately, doing my routine without him.

 I trusted him to take his meds.

One, two, three, four I mindless counted, plotting the pill back into the bottle, seven, eight, nine-

I froze, my entire body tensing as I started at the multiple extra pills laying out in front of me, knowing there should only be one more.

My eyes ran over the pills, continuing to count.

15.

He hasn't taken his antidepressants in five days.

I quickly swiped them into the bottle, closing it and setting it aside, staring at it for a moment.

He hasn't taken his antidepressants.

He's been cold turkey for days.

DAYS!!!!!

"Shit" I hissed, grabbing my phone to quickly google what could happen if you missed a day or two... or five.

The more articles I read, trying to piece together if I've noticed any symptoms the more I felt myself begin to shut down.

I called him again and again and again until it told me his voicemail was full, tears streaming down my face as true panic began to set in.

My finger hovered over the 9 button, my breathing becoming a pant as I sniffled, my vision completely blurred.

I pressed into the nine, my legs bouncing as I sat criss-crossed on the floor, hitting the once twice.

Call.

I listened to the dial tone, sniffling over and over again as I struggled to breathe, the air getting knocked out of my lungs when I heard the ringing stop, a woman calmly saying;

"911, what's your emergency?"

* * * *

Sorry it's shorter than normal 😬🫠

Written on: March 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 2023

Published on: Marc 4th 2023

Word Count: 5625

Part Eight

[dreamwreaver]

Every time I see Chloe salters use the excuse of "she's a racist" as part of why Zoe sue is better than her, I want to point out several things.

1. That episode is in season 1, we never see or hear of her doing anything like that until the retooling from s4 where she doesn't even resemble s1 chloe.

2. How is her confusing Marinette's great uncle for a sushi chef any more racist than a: gabriel in universe making him look like this

Or b: the writers and designers taking elements that are not associated with Chinese elements but are vaguely Asian and sticking them on a Chinese character? The goku uniform isn't Chinese (even if sun goku was inspired by sun wukong who is from a Chinese story) the pizza final fantasy sword isn't a Chinese weapon, I'm a bit iffy on the face makeup being culturally accurate but it still feels very uncomfortable to look at. Like most akuma's appearance are based on either the object they're holding or them as a person. Aside from the chef hat what does anything in this design have to do with him being a cook?

You know what makes this worse? Bakerix

How come the French guy who in his debut episode was far more racist than Chloe ever was gets to resemble something that's his passion?

This is the best gif I could find forgive me. How come the French white guy gets to be a bread Viking but the Chinese chef is a mishmash of "Asian" stuff?

Or heck, anyone remember that infamous ml comic where Marinette is the racist one? Like to every Chloe salter out there, please if you can provide any more evidence about her being racist I'd love to see it. You can absolutely say she's an elitist I won't argue on that, but everyone takes a s1 episode where the show was still figuring stuff out as gospel of Chloe being a racist when every episode thomas wasn't involved with after that has her being mean to people for... still stupid reasons but never because of their race. She doesn't hate Kagami because she's Japanese, she hates her because she was a rival for Adrien's affections!

[below-average-fangirl]

Right, now that I've seen it a second time I'm a little clearer on how I feel about Dead Reckoning Part 1.

First off the things I love

The IMF motto being, We do this for those we hold close and the people we'll never know.

Ilsa looking so badass with that eye patch and a sniper gun

How did you plan on getting out?.... Of course.

Ethan, Luther and Benji especially the airport scene and the bomb. I especially loved Luther directing Benji to the bomb, much like Benji does for Ethan.

The dynamic between Ethan and Grace was something straight of an old school caper movie, loved it. Especially the scenes in Rome.

The Fiat chase but most of all Ethan crashing the car and just.. oh my god his embarrassed apologies and Grace be like, it's okay. Metaphor for premature ejaculation or what. (Yes my mind went there both times. Sue me)

Ilsa and Ethan in Venice, especially the balcony and gondola moments.

Grace's outfit at the party was fucking incredible.

Paris

Ilsa with a sword

Benji immediately going to look for Ethan on e the Comms had been compromised.

Benji believing in Ethan so much, that he was going to let him drive off a mountain without telling him.

My reservations

As much as they didn't want to leave this film on a cliff hanger, it's still only half the story and I can't wholly judge how I feel about it until I see the second part. So I do feel a little dissatisfied.

I am not a fan of the idea that Ethan was semi-forced to join the IMF because he'd have ended up in prison otherwise. Personally I feel it's a bit dull and not as interesting as Ethan actively joining because he was young and dumb and thought the idea of being a spy was quite cool and fun, until his team was killed and shit got real. Also, at the end of the first film Ethan is still somewhat naive to believe he can just walk away from this life. (My feelings on this may change when we get the second part, but at the moment I'm like, thanks but no thanks)

It's seemingly a lot easier to not fall off a moving train than you think. That was not my favourite action sequence and as much as it was done on a real train, it felt somewhat fake because they just laid on it and did seem to worry about having to hold on.

The Gabriel guy was a bit, meh.

Overall there are v.interesting themes, which are not just about what you can trust digitally but also what you see, or think you see, in the real world. Which is extra enhanced when you have the IMF and face masks. I mean the fact it was Ethan who broke into the security building at the start was perfect.

[nandysfix]

it pisses me off how they can make so many characters with incredible potential and then just… don't? like marinette had everything to be a /great/ main character but they decided to not give her a flaw. HEAR ME OUT FIRST WAIT DONT THROW ROCKS. Marinette was not supposed to have a flaw, her flaw was meant to be a good thing kinda like in a job interview in which we say our biggest flaw is perfectionism. Her flaw was supposed to be too much love, she loves too much and that makes her clumsy, anxious, shy, quirky, haha.

But not satisfied in giving her a not-really-a-problem as a flaw, they wanted to make it funny. And THAT'S the show biggest mistake. If you watch the first few seasons you will realize Marinette's behavior was supposed to be funny, a joke for the viewers. So to make it clear it's a joke they had to tone her actions up, and it would theoretically be funnier. But it's not funny, she looks creepy as hell. Like, it becomes obvious this show was written by a guy who has no idea how a teenage girl is supposed to act and no one in the production had the guts to tell him he's wrong.

And after five seasons he finally realized he fucked up and decided to give her a justification to make her actions redeemable. It was just bad writing, really. Too in your face, just like the attempt of humor in this fucking show.

And now that her actions were redeemed Marinette has no flaw. She now has a secret, a big one that's bound to bring problems, but no flaw. She is now "perfect". And there's nothing worse than a perfect main character.

So we can either move on from the fact they made Marinette a fucking creep and she's now a Mary Sue, or we can hold her accountable for her stalker obsessions from the previous seasons and now we have an unbearable main character who is not a good person. There's no winning with her anymore because they refuse to acknowledge they made a mistake.

ALSO Marinette not having a character flaw comes from the fact they did not plan this show as well as they think. Marinette's biggest flaw is control. She's constantly juggling thousands of things because she can't not be responsible by things in her life. That could be played as a response to her bullying, in which she felt powerless and now that she's ladybug her way to make sure everything keeps working is to literally take all matters to her own hands.

She's the one that comes up with plans in Ladybug and Chatnoir partnership. She becomes class president. She wants to keep working as a designer, doing countless extra curricular projects like jagged stone's glasses, album cover, and kitty section logo, merch and accessories. She wants to hang out with her friends, help her parents with the bakery, have time to get closer to her crush, have time for school, projects and be a superhero. This girl screams burnout since the beginning and they only realized in the later seasons.

She was supposed to be a role model for kids, so they couldn't make a character that has a burnout due to helping everyone on top of doing all of her own responsibilities. Kids were supposed to see her and try to achieve as many accomplishments as she did. Let's just give her this quirky personality that definitely is how every fourteen year old act when they have a crush (eyes twitch, internal screams intensify).

Anyways this rant got a lot bigger than i originally intended but yeah i agree with op in many takes. Chole is my Roman Empire, i think about this bitch's redemption every single day. Zoe shouldn't exist but now she does and i love her so i dont want her gone. I hate the way they handled Gabriel, it's never easy to write a redemption arc but they didn't even try. Like how stupid do they think the audience is?

Every day we get closer to the moment I decide to rewrite the scrip of this fucking mess of show by myself.

Miraculous Tier List

Okay, so before you all get your pitchforks and torches, I do have explanations on why certain characters are where they are, so please hear me out, and please be nice. 🫣

S TIER

Alrighty, when it comes to my favorites, MY BABIES, these three were easy, but it was ranking them that was difficult for me. Marc is only the lowest due to the lack of screentime we have with them, but I love them very much. Juleka is next when I first saw her in the show I became the meme "they're like me fr fr" due to her being the shy little bean that she is as I too was like that in my middle & high school years and I wish we get more of her in the future. Kagami is on top as I genuinely love her character from the moment she first appeared on screen back in Riposte, and the more we got to know her in the next seasons, my heart just melted. I'm so invested in her, and if they do anything bad to her and my other babies, Astruc, I will find you.

A TIER

These characters are ones that I enjoy whenever they come on screen and feel for them. Ivan is the lowest for me as we don't have too much screentime, but when he does, I enjoy him, especially when paired with Mylene. Max is also this low as he too doesn't have much screentime, but I enjoy him whenever he does, and I hope we get more of him. Mylene is one of those characters I had to get used to, and when I did, I thought she was pretty cool. One of my favorite scenes in the shit show that was S5 was in Derision, where she told Rose to shut it, and when it happened, I chuckled hard, so she got my approval. Alix is also a character I grew into, though it was definitely much quicker, especially when she calls out about Marinette being a creep in Gigantitan. I also love her tomboy aesthetic she rocks, but that's my take also... future Alix.... 😘. Natalie is definitely a character I grew to love from S1, where I thought she was ok to now where she is best mom for Adrien (no hate to Emilie). She does have her flaws and is an accomplice to a terrorist, but she was there for Adrien, unlike someone we all despise and did at least try to change in the end, which I can respect. Luka is a character I enjoy a lot, but the only reason he's not S tier is.... I don't actually know there's something about him that I can't quite figure out, but I do enjoy when he is on screen. Chloe is this high because I enjoyed her a lot in the first three seasons, and that has stayed with me even to this day. When we first got a taste of her potentially becoming a better person I was one of the many people that got really pissed the moment the S3 finale aired and then the rest of the seasons that came afterwards. I might make a separate post about her, so look out for that.

B TIER

These next characters are ones I don't like as much, but I think they're still pretty ok. Nathaniel is this low for me due to a couple of reasons, the first being not a lot screen time with his character and the second being how rude he was to my baby, Marc, in Reverser. Although he apologized and is a pretty chill character now and with my child, I still won't forget that. Zoe is here cause I do think she has potential, but right now she's just "nice chloe" and I don't like that. I am a firm believer that if she was planned (you know she wasn't) that they should've introduced her in S2 with Audrey, but that's my take. Felix would've been much lower, hadn't he appeared more, and we got to see more of him. I didn't like him in S3 when he deleted Adrien's messages that were made to make him feel better except for Marinettes' you get a point there Fathom, but when he appeared more I think he's pretty ok in my books, however if he hurts my baby Kagami I'm putting him with Gabriel you have been warned. Rose is someone I don't hate, but I also don't love either. Don't get me wrong, she's a sweet person, but I think she's a little oblivious sometimes and has gotten on my nerve a few times, but otherwise, she's ok. Adrien is someone I had to take my time with as he kept getting on my nerves, but I know there are some things he can't really help as he hasn't had many people his age to be around besides chloe. The only thing I can't look past is when he's Chat Noir and is constantly flirting with LB even though she's told him no multiple times that's the only thing though as the rest we can blame Gabriel for, but I do feel bad for him and wish nothing but the best for him.

D TIER

I skipped C as these characters are ones I don't care for and am not apologetic about and shouldn't have that liberty. Nino is the highest as even though to me he's a whiny bitch he isn't as bad as the other two. He was a pretty chill character in the first couple seasons, but then S4 happened and ruined him for me as not only can he keep his mouth shut about his and Alya's identities, but he's also not a really good friend to Adrien especially in S5. Sabrina is next here as she's been a little shit ever since S1 and only started to change in S5 which I think is too late. I just personally don't like her character as she's just been nothing but insufferable to me, but not as much as... Alya is here cause like Nino was a pretty cool character, but all changed in S4 (fuck this season I guess). Even after learning her "besties" secret, she still believes Lila like huh? did I miss something? she told you her secret identity which I still think is stupid to this day, and you still believe the girl that you should know now is a liar like bitch please. Lila is the lowest here as she's just a bitch that has somehow gotten away with the shit she spits out and just for that fact is why she isn't in F tier, but she's still hurt poor Adrien & Kagami, so you're high F and low D.

F TIER

Oh boy these fuckers, these characters are ones I FUCKING HATE WITH A PASSION! Kim is here due for many reasons, but one of them is for hurting another baby that isn't on this list, Ondine by saying another girl is pretty IN FRONT OF HER oh and also what he did to Marinette which is arguably much worse and hasn't apologized to her til Derision, fucking garbage. Marinette... Oh what can I say about this "normal" girl with a normal life... Ah yes I know.... FUCK YOU! She is the worst protagonist that I have ever witnessed like they want us to root for her... this creepy stalker like I get she was hurt in the past, but that's what therapy is for not... THIS?!

I can't believe some people still like her after this? The only time I like her is when it's someone else's rendition of her other than that, I hope Adrien takes his rose-tinted glasses off and dumps your ass. Gabriel only beats Marinette as the worst for me because of his abuse towards Adrien and also the fact he's a damn terrorist. The fact they had the nerve to "redeem" him in the end and asked creepy stalker to tell his son to "rEmeMber whEn I waS a GoOd fAthEr" LIKE HELL HE'S GONNA REMEMBER THAT when all you've done for the past five seasons was control every aspect of his life. Actually, I changed my mind, I think Marinette and Gabriel are tied for worse as they're both characters I HATE with every fiber of my being.

That's my tier list though, so what did y'all think? Remember that these are my opinions, so I ask again please be nice other than that <3 you gremlins.

[spectral-kitkat]

Miraculous Rant.

Where the hell do I begin…

Season 1:

The show was decent in season 1. Some episodes were just mindless filler and probably weren’t needed in the grand scheme of things but they helped us get introduced to the characters, we got to know the plot and the world our characters inhabit. It was good. The love story between Adrien and Marinette was cute and off to a touching and fluffy start.

Season 2:

This season was immediately better than season 1. It had character development, it went more into detail about the lore surrounding the Miraculous and we got to learn more about our characters and their families and the villian’s motives. (HM really went from “I wanna destroy the world” to “I wanna wake my wife from the coma she’s in”).

We got to see new heroes which was fun! We got new characters like Luka and Kagami.

The season finale was epic! The Miraculous team all taking down all the previous villains in the show was awesome. At the end we even got Mari kissing Adrien on the cheek. It was great! (Even though it clearly reset itself in season 3 cause it’s never mentioned again)

I really enjoyed season 2 and it’s probably my favourite out of the 4.

Season 3:

Season 3 was kinda good and kinda bad. We had some great episodes but this is where the show took the wrong turn.

Marinette lost some of her character in season 3. This was the start of her descent into being the Queen of Mary Sues. It’s also where she was crowned the Queen of Stalkers! Her character took a fucking nose dive in this season. We had so many moments that just creeped me the fuck out.

1. The ENTIRETY of Puppeteer 2 🤢🤢🤢 I could not stand that episode. When we reached the dreaded statue scene I physically had to pause it like 10 times. That scene takes about 3 minutes to watch… it took me about 20. I cringed so fucking hard because of the secondhand embarrassment I was feeling. That was not sweet, it wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t the least bit cute… it was a train wreck! It was creepy and stalkerish and it’s a wonder Adrien even spoke to her again after that atrocity!

2. LB delivering the present in Chat Blanc. Two words: STALKER BEHAVIOUR!!! I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw LB run her hand across everything in his room and then actually SNIFF Adrien’s pillow. Like WTF!!! 🤮 I’m pretty sure whoever was responsible for that scene clearly thought it was the equivalent of when someone gets their S/O’s jumper or something and it still smells like them. But this turned it up to the nth degree and way passed the line of sanity.

Adrien was extremely under-utilised in this season. He didn’t really do anything. The only episodes we got about him didn’t really focus on him. ‘Felix’ whilst focusing on Adrien’s family didn’t really feature him. ‘Party Crasher’ while a beautiful mess was more about Mari trying to get into the party than the party itself. ‘Chat Blanc’ again focused more on Mari trying to fix her mistake.

We got even more heroes in season 3, not in the right order but they were there. It was fun seeing everyone’s transformations.

Season 3 was also the season of destroying redemptions. The big one obviously being Chloe. Season 2 was setting up this amazing redemption for her and before it could go anywhere it was wiped off the face of the earth during the finale (and don’t worry we’ll get to that dumpster fire later). Gabriel also had any remaining sympathy ripped away from him. How did the guy who stopped Gorizilla from letting Adrien die when he only thought he was CN go from that to using his son like fucking baseball in Chat Blanc when he knew his son was CN. Like I knew you were a shit father but you still cared about Adrien in some way shape or form but after that episode I can see I was clearly mistaken!

Before we get to the finale I want to talk about probably my 2 least favourite episodes from this season: Desperada and Reflekdoll

Desperada:

I fucking hated this episode! The only good thing was Luka getting to be Viperion, other than that this episode was awful!

Marinette was a selfish cringey bitch. Completely ignoring Luka to gush about Adrien to Jagged. Brushing Luka off as soon as Adrien turns up. Immediately cuddling up to Aspik and flirting with him when she needed to focus on the akuma (something which she has told CN not to do many times before)

Adrien, I love you kid but Jesus Christ you were a dumbass in this episode! Aspik’s design was terrible! Aspik himself was awful. I know Adrien tried his best but dude you were given the Black Cat miraculous for a reason! He shouldn’t have tried to be Aspik but even when he did he should’ve called it quits after like 5 resets not 25,913 times.

The only person with a brain this episode was Luka. So well done guitar boy, gold star!

Reflekdoll:

This episode was annoying! It was basically the start of the Marinette can do no wrong streak! When they have to swap miraculous I was happy cause it meant we got to see new outfits and see how they each handle the different powers. It would also serve as a way to get LB and CN to see what their partners role is first hand. Until we actually get to it…

LadyNoire is of course amazing and needs no introduction to using this new miraculous that she’s never used before. She’s cocky and confident and basically just LB in Chat’s costume with his powers.

Mister Bug on the other hand is just useless. He struggles with this new miraculous (like anyone would!) and is stupid and goofy. He has to rely on LadyNoire to solve the lucky charm. They swapped miraculous so shouldn’t that mean that Mister Bug should get the lucky vision and the creative powers that the earrings give him.

Overall Reflekdoll is awful. It was shitty writing and the start of Adrien getting the short end of the stick.

And now the season 3 finale… Just what the fuck. That is my only reaction: what the fuck!

Chloe you poor fucking child! What did they do to you!!! So much potential SQUANDERED!!!!

What was the point in bringing in all these different superheros with unique skill sets, costumes and transformations if you were just going to immediately reveal them to the main villian so they can’t be used again. That’s stupid! If you wanted the shock value that is “Oh no HM knows some of the heroes identities!” Then keep it as only some. Have like Max, Kim and Kagami outside trying to find somewhere to hide but unfortunately they get hit. Or Nino and Alya are hiding but the windows open and they get hit. Have some of the heroes hide so they’re fine! Taking away every ally of LB and CN’s was a stupid move! (Even if they wanted Alya to become a spy have her as part of the like 4 that get revealed or something, it’s not that difficult)

Season 3 was 50/50 for me

Season 4:

So I know season 4 isn’t even halfway through yet but so much is wrong with this season already that I need to vent!

So my biggest problem with this season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybitch and Rena Rouge, I mean Rena Furtive… shit, Chat Noir! Is that CN is basically pointless! Adrien has been flung over a rainbow and is only remembered when he’s needed as

1. Marinette’s love interest

2. Someone for LB to shout at

3. A plot device

He has basically been sidelined. Partners my ASS!!!

Adrien is being blown off by pretty much EVERYONE! It’s coming to a point where this poor sweet summer child is going to crack! And it is not gonna be pretty… I definitely feel like the writers are leading up to a big fight between CN and LB which will probably end with Chat Blanc 2.0.

I REALLY HATE MARINETTE/LADYBUG!!!! In Season 3 I said it was the beginning of her descent, well in season 4 she’s done it. She’s descended, she has hit rock fucking bottom. She is so unlikable I don’t actually care about her as a person. She has entered full blown stalker territory it’s only a matter of time before she starts killing people for even looking at Adrien! Not to mention that Miss Mary Sue here can’t do anything wrong! She never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, she is always perfect no matter what she does… it pisses me off!)

She’s the Guardian now big whoop. I know what it feels like to be stressed and under pressure so I do understand why she needed to tell someone about it all. I just don’t see why that person had to Alya! Especially considering she has someone by her side every akuma attack going through pretty much the exact same thing. I know she’s worried about CB happening again but as I said before the more she leaves him out the more she is actually pushing that to become a possibility! Plus it makes sense for them to reveal their identities now since LB is now the guardian it’s probably a good idea to know who holds the cat miraculous, she knows everyone else’s identities!

Even if she didn’t want to tell CN her identity she could still explain the situation to him. If she didn’t want to tell him anything (which she doesn’t anyway) then instead of Alya she should’ve talked to Luka! Her boyfriend for all of half an episode (thanks writers…). He’s so sweet and caring and clearly loves her so much! If she wanted someone to confide in then why not choose the person you clearly wanted to date but couldn’t because of that very reason! (Yeah I know it’s kinda a moot point now since Luka knows both identities but still). He wanted to try and comfort her so it would’ve been the perfect moment for it. That way you could still date him and he’d know why you had to suddenly leave dates halfway through! But no break the boys heart instead!

Adrien and Marinette were both such fucking idiots in the first 2 episodes. Like why would you start a relationship with someone when you know your heart isn’t in it! That’s called leading someone on and is a really shitty thing to do to someone! No wonder Kagami and Luka ended up akumatized!

Another aspect of season 4 I don’t like is Rena Furtive. Yes ok having a spy for your side is a good strategy but when said spy basically tells an important member of a duo that the 2 person job doesn’t involve them… it just really ticks me off! Alya you are the sidekick to LB and CN! Chat isn’t!

Miraculous specials:

The Miraculous World specials suck! Shanghai is better than NY but still has its problems. Both specials add nothing to the overall plot/lore of the show apart from trying to set up some weird cinematic universe…

NY special:

One of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through! The plane scene alone I paused a few times. I want to say well done to Mari for trying to move on from Adrien (especially considering I’m pretty sure she’s dating Luka at this point) but I can’t help but think it’s just to give her character some pointless development that goes nowhere and doesn’t actually develop anything!

LB can pretty much fuck off at this point! I hate her! She put all this shit on CN (like she doesn’t know exactly how that feels). It’s like why does she get to go off on holiday but CN can’t. LB should’ve stayed in Paris for 3 reasons:

1. She’s recently become the guardian meaning it would probably be best that she stayed with the Mircle Box

2. She’s the only one who can purity the akumas

3. If she’s so sure about being the boss then she should take responsibility of Paris and the citizens.

What really pisses me off about her is what she says to CN during the big fight. “I can’t trust you”… surely you could have this conversation afterwards since you’re supposed to be focusing on taking down the villian! Plus everyone bashes Adrien for giving his miraculous up in this episode but look at it from his point of view: His partner and best friend just said she couldn’t trust him which in turn caused him to cataclysm someone and essentially kill them. That’s gonna take a toll on anyone, especially a 14 year old! He probably thought in that moment. “Ladybug needs a partner she can trust and someone who won’t mess up and kill someone. She needs a better partner.” It makes sense he renounces his miraculous! I’m just upset that in doing so he loses Plagg who is pretty much his only friend who actually understands what Adrien goes through at home.

When Uncanny gets CN to come back, LB acts like it’s not her fault in the first place that he feels inadequate! She didn’t even apologise for saying what she did! He apologised for lying about not being in Paris but nope LB wasn’t in the wrong at all and didn’t have anything to apologise for 🙄… (yes the LadyNoir hug was amazing but I just wish it was under different circumstances!)

Also are we not gonna mention Gabriel Agreste almost starting WW3??? He wanted to launch a fucking missile!!!

Shanghai:

As I said before, this special is way better for several reasons.

We got MariChat! (Best side to the love square imo). This special actually had some semblance on a plot. Fei, whilst a bit op, was a cool character. It was nice to see Wang Cheng again.

However once again there were many problems.

A big one being Marinette yet again! (What a shock! 😒 I’ll come back to this). Another was that once again HM’s motivation has changed. How is getting the Prodigious gonna help bring back Emilie??

Back to Marinette… The fact that the words “Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! … His 5 first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!” come out of her mouth whilst she is flipping through his schedule that she keeps in her pocketbook is a hugh red flag!!! That is not cute or adorable! That’s messed up and Adrien needs to fucking run and maybe possibly go into witness protection… Marinette is a full blown stalker! Not to mention the GPS she has (that could just be the find my friends app on iphone but still).

It also is extremely rude of her to use not only her great uncle’s birthday but also a lie about wanting to know her Chinese heritage in order to go to Shanghai to stalk her obsession, I mean crush. This could’ve been avoided if the Dupain-Chengs were going to Shanghai for the purpose of celebrating Wang Cheng’s bday and then Adrien just so happened to be in Shanghai.

Also this means LB left Paris without telling CN! I know CN did the same but again he can’t purify the akumas. Plus he has a reason he couldn’t stay in Paris, Mari just went cause her crush did. Great guardianship there Marinette.

This was also the last time CN actually did something. Even if it was for a short while before LB and her female partner took over (the beginning of a theme…)

Other things:

There are 2 other things that I wanna say but felt they needed a separate bit.

In Furious Fu, Su-Han has a rule book that he uses to tell Marinette which rules she has broken. At the end of the episode he tells her that is she breaks 1 more rule that he will take the Miraculous and the Miracle Box off her, which fair enough but wouldn’t it be helpful to leave the rule book with her?! How can she be wary of not breaking anymore rules when she doesn’t even know what the rules are??

Now the big one: Master Fu…

Where do I even start with him. He is so fucking manipulative!! He is Asian Dumbledore!

He decides to leave these extremely powerful jewels in the hands of 13 year olds! Surely leaving the miraculous to someone in their 20s would’ve been better!

He clearly favours LB over CN even though the Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be partners! Wouldn’t it make sense for them both to be in contact with the guardian from the start?? He randomly started introducing rules such as if LB and CN find out each other’s identities they would lose their miraculous… what kind of bullshit rule is that? It also came out of fucking nowhere!

Final Thoughts:

But to summarise all of that: Miraculous is on quite a steep decline but I’m invested at this point and I am genuinely curious as to where the fuck this will go.

Marinette needs professional fucking help before the writers even consider canonising Adrienette cause at the moment she is not what Adrien needs!

Adrien needs to stand up for himself! He needs to pull LB to the side and tell her what he feels and what he’s going through cause he is on the precipice of a breakdown!

(Small point that’s more to do with the fandom: when searching for fanfics it’s really annoying that Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir Bashing is a tag but Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug Bashing isn’t. Why does everyone think Marinette can do no wrong???)

[misha-moose-dean-burger-lover]

for @bend-me-shape-me 's SPN advent calendar 2020. prompt: phone calls and late night texts.

Cas isn't a serial texter.

And Dean's a-okay with it.

But for all that's worth, they sure seem to have a ridiculous amount of emotionally significant conversations via, or starting off as, texts. And most often, in the middle of the night.

*

>>> hello, dean. [12:07 am]

Dean jolts up at the sound, realizing he fell asleep still wearing his headphones, with the laptop on his lap (and a new episode of The Good Place playing) and rolls his eyes at himself, hitting pause before he can see what’s happening (because he has good reflexes, and because screw spoilers that’s why) and rummaging for his phone.

At this hour of the night, it has to be something important.

It doesn’t really strike him that Mechanical Engineering majors whose only other selfprofessed skill is air guitar aren't exactly the frontline warriors for midnight emergencies.

Cas's name shows up when he squints at the too-bright screen, and he sits up a little straighter.

<<< hey [12:09 am]

<<< you OK? [12:09 am]

The response is immediate.

>>> do you have peanut butter? [12:09 am]

And as if it's an afterthought, Cas adds.

>>> yes, I'm fine. how are you? [12:10 am]

Dean blinks.

<<< peachy. peanut butter? [12:10 am]

At least this time the response takes a while. Dean wonders if Cas realized it was midnight, and not exactly a time to run inventory on your best friend's stash of condiments.

>>> I ran out. [12:12 am]

Dean sighs, unable to help smiling.

It's not like he's a stranger to Cas's weird cravings when he's high. (There'd been this one time with pie and a traumatized Gas 'N Sip cashier that still sits heavy on Dean's conscience.) But he doesn't think Cas is supposed to be high right now — Dean's usually either invited or informed by an unspoken rule — which just means this is regular "jelly, not jam"-Cas, at his core a weird, persistently sleep-deprived economics major and astronomy nerd, that Dean may or may not have had a crush on for an embarrassingly long time, and who's also prone to grammatically perfect texting, deadpan, Disney references, and bluntness when the occasion calls for it.

<<< pretty sure i have some [12:14 am]

>>> :) [12:14 am]

>>> I'm coming over [12:14 am]

*

And weird as it may sound, that had turned out to be the night Cas told him he was gay. Said it had been a revelating moment, unprecedented and wholly unexpected — and apparently revelations come in pairs because it had been followed by an intense need for peanut butter, and the rest, he explained emphatically, was history.

Dean had just snorted, congratulated him, and brought out the fancier plates for sandwiches — shipped in from home instead of a sale at Target — all the while, repeating to himself in a loop, that this changed nothing between them, nothing at all, and Cas having the capacity to be attracted back to him didn't mean that he ever would be (or for hell's sake, he'd scoffed at his traitorous chick-flick-nonsense brain, is.)

*

The second time had been early — way, way too early and it was by pure chance that Dean was awake to respond at six friggin' am on a Sunday. Like, that’s practically nighttime. 

Goddamn stupidly-fit running-freak.

Dean picks up his phone blearily, tongue in cheek as he clicks on it.

>>> I miss you [6:28 am]

>>> I'd* miss you [6:29 am]

Dean's stomach twists, and he's not sure if it's in a good way, or a bad way, or what-the-sincere-fuck-are-you-talking-about way.

<<< what [6:32 am]

<<< wtf are you talking about? [6:32 am]

Nothing.

<<< cas? [6:33 am]

<<< dude [6:34 am]

<<< cas???? [6:34 am]

Dean swears at his screen, more queasy than irritated. He can't stop fidgeting, so gives up on lying down altogether and hoists himself to his feet. Better to get his friggin' toothbrush since he's already up, and now definitely awake. Cas was so paying for this later.

He comes back, mouth mint-fresh in theory but still tasting awful and of fear and dread, and practically sags when he sees his screen blare with two messages from Cas.

>>> sorry, I had to make a call. [6:42 am]

>>> I'm not taking the job. [6:42 am]

*

And that's how Dean finds out about Michael (Cas's oldest brother, entitled asshole) inviting Cas to join his and Lucifer's (second oldest, bag of dicks) firm the year he graduates — invite, of course, being a loosely used word here for expecting it blindly (out of some crap he calls 'loyalty') and being readily willing to manipulate him into it.

And it's how he finds out that Cas turned them down.

"It's not who I am anymore." Cas had repeated, third time probably, and surer than before, and Dean had nodded earnestly before realizing Cas couldn't see him through the phone, and humming his affirmation instead. "And if I go back there, I'm never getting out again."

Dean'd swallowed.

"I don't want to." Cas had said, voice trembling. "I am — my own person here. It shouldn't be like this but this is the first time I have autonomy, Dean. Here is free will, and here are you. I don't — I can't. I'm not going to let them take it away."

"Good." He'd sounded shaky to even himself. "Don't."

"Yes." Cas had promised. "I'm not going."

*

And eventually they'd moved past the heavy talk into why-didn't-I-hear-about-this-before territory, Dean being righteously annoyed at his best friend for keeping something so huge from him, and Cas making lame (but probably valid) excuses in the name of not knowing how to explain the situation until he knew himself what he was going to do, because Dean may've been the first person he'd confided in about the insane fuckery that been his childhood and adolescence, but that still didn't mean he'd understand this, broken and convoluted.

And then Cas had nicely segued himself out of Dean's target of irritation and added, "They asked Gabriel too, by the way."

"And?" Dean didn't ever have much care for Gabriel (third oldest brother, cares about Cas, still a jerk) but Cas shared an apartment with him, so he had to face him plenty.

"He's running off to Miami."

And Dean had thrown his head back and laughed until Cas had smoothly added, "And I was wondering if you would consider moving in with me." 

At which point, of course, he'd started coughing instead, because holy shit, it actually made sense (Sammy had left for Stanford two months back, and Dean lived alone in a space that had probably been two big even when there were two of them) and might actually happen, but Dean wasn't really sure how much longer he'd be able to hide his crush, sharing a friggin' kitchen with the guy.

*

The third time's after their first date.

(Because, well. It happened.

It happened with Dean leaning across the breakfast table to prove to Cas his bacon was superior (to cookie friggin' crunch, because goddamn is Cas a dork) and Cas taking a bite with their eyes fixed on each other's, and Dean turning red when Cas licked his lips and then, just like that, Cas swearing under his breath (definitely filed for later pondering, that bit), grabbing Dean, and kissing the living daylights out of him.

And Dean had kissed back with everything he had, hands cupping his face, and nearly melting in his arms - but then they'd separated for air and Cas had had an apologetic look on his face and when Dean had tried to lean in to kiss it away, he'd received half a smile and a shake of his head.

"Let's do it the way we're supposed to."

And Dean had known immediately what he'd meant. Let's not fuck this up by becoming best friends and roommates who sleep together. Let's...play safe.

"Okay. Uh," he'd rubbed the back of his neck. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

"Thursday." Cas had promised with twinkling eyes, though Dean had already known he was going to say that since he knew Cas’s week at least as well as he knew his own, and two days and an anxious half of a thursday later, they went on their first date. Burgers and beer, and Led Zepp, and hands held in the Impala. Four hours later, they were back, and in their respective rooms, and Dean couldn't stop thinking about Cas.)

When his phone vibrates, Dean reaches for the bedside table.

It's at least midnight, it feels like he's been in bed for ages, and the only reason he isn't asleep is because all his brain seems to be capable of at the moment is thinking endlessly about the date. Fortunately, he's not the only one — although he's better at hiding it (practise, he'd say) because his heart is in his mouth the moment he reads Cas's text.

>>> I think I'm falling in love with you [11:43 pm]

>>> already. [11:43 pm]

Dean is very grateful for autocorrect as he types back with too-excited thumbs and a racing heart.

<<< so much for doing it the regular way cas mosby [11:44 pm]

>>> in my defense, it's been years. [11:44 pm]

<<< that part i get [11:44 pm]

<<< me too [11:44 pm]

<<< but youre supposed to wait three days before calling dumbass [11:45 pm]

Jesus, he'd never expected to blush cause of texts, but here they are.

>>> I'm texting. [11:46 pm]

And he guesses he'd never expected to giggle (he's alone there, sue him) cause of them either, but Cas apparently exists to prove him wrong about himself.

<<< good for you [11:46 pm]

He sends, biting his lip, and then lies in the silent darkness for a couple of minute, devoid of text notifications entirely, thinking uneasily — before he gives up.

They're idiots, sure, but nobody is this dumb.

<<< so when the fuck are you coming over then [11:50 pm]

>>> on my way <3 [11:50 pm]

And thinking about the lightening speed of that reply and the fucking heart emoji is enough to sustain him the entire one minute it takes Cas to get there, gently opening Dean's door, and climbing into bed — fitting in Dean's space like it's been made for him, and kissing him in greeting after leaving his phone on the table next to Dean's.

*

As it goes, with the confessions and the midnight cravings (and the grocery lists that keep getting piled onto through the day, and random pickup lines Cas decides are perfect to send Dean daily once he's found a website for puns, courtesy of Claire, and of course, pictures of Grease, which clog Dean's cloud in dozens whenever the ridiculously cute cat does something even slightly out of routine, god bless her lazy soul) Cas might just be a texter.

But Dean's pretty sure he's more than okay with it, so it doesn't really matter.

[sugarcubetikki]

Marinette Isn’t A Mary Sue.

At least a half of her salters constantly complain about how Marinette’s a Mary Sue and use this as a reason to justify their hate of her character (Ironically, the other half keeps complaining about how her flaws are really really bad). There are a number of so-called “justifiable reasons” on why she’s a Mary Sue. And I’ll just say that I don’t agree with any of them. These reasons can range from “absolute nonsense. are you even watching the show?” to “I can see why you’d think that but you’re ignoring this aspect.” I’ll be breaking down each and every claim that I know of to tell you why exactly I disagree.

Marinette never faces the consequences of her mistakes

This is one of the reasons I downright disagree with and think is absolute nonsense. Marinette is very fallible. The show has portrayed that on multiple occasions. When she makes a mistake, she always faces the consequences and she tries to fix it. That element to her character is what makes her a great role model and it builds up majority of her character arc. I’m not sure what the salters who say this are exactly thinking, but it looks like they really need to re-watch the show. 

I’ll give you a fine example. Ikari Gozen is one of my favourite exhibits of her fixing her mistake. She judged Kagami too quick. Based on some presumptions she had on her personality, her feelings towards Adrien and her own jealousy, she judged her intentions too quick and made some really bad choices that episode by trying to sabotage her. In the first half of the episode, a lot of us were quite irritated by Marinette’s behaviour, we genuinely felt bad for Kagami. Which is quite surprising as Kagami is an over-hated character and Marinette is the popular protagonist. But no. The show painted the first half in such a manner that we’d feel sorry for Kagami and reprimand Marinette’s actions. The show itself acknowledged that Marinette was on the wrong side in that moment. That she wasn’t perfect, she was in the wrong. Until Marinette finds out that Kagami had genuine intentions, that she only wanted to be friends with her, she feels bad. She feels really bad with the way she treated her previously. And she realises that her unfriendly treatment could potentially lead to Kagami getting hurt, and yes, it did happen. Kagami did get hurt. And Marinette almost lost the chance of becoming friends with Kagami in that moment.  And she would have to live with that guilt for some time if her mother hadn’t called. When her mother called, Marinette stepped up and took the opportunity to prove to Kagami that she was a good friend. That she was sorry. And did want to be friends with her. She made a mistake, faces the consequences and steps up to fix them. The way her relationship with Kagami changes in the course of episodes is a really good example that tells us Marinette is fallible.

Marinette has way too many talents and achievements 

Okay. This one is somewhat reasonable and I can see where people are coming from here. However, I still don’t think it accounts for her being a Mary Sue. Here’s why. In Miraculous World, not going to lie, everyone is pretty talented, they’ve all made crazy achievements. Do I need to list now? 

Alya runs a famous blog: The Ladyblog. She even earned an interview with Nadia Chamack. Nino is a DJ. He appeared on a show and won! Marc and Nathaniel write/illustrate and publish comics! Ivan, Luka, Juleka and Rose are in a band: Kitty Section. They played live on TV! Adrien’s a teen model, multilingual, pianist, has great physical skills due to fencing and basketball. Even Lila has decent modelling skills, she works for Gabriel now. Kagami is an excellent fencer. That comes from the idea that she’s from a prestigious family world-renowned for fencing. Marinette is pretty close with Jagged because she designed his #1 album for him. Also, she won the contest for Gabriel and was recognised by Audrey Bourgeois. Max literally built a super-intelligent robot with emotions and everything. 

So, what does that mean? They’re all Mary Sues and Gary Stu’s. No! We need to remind ourselves that this a kids show and there’s the aspect of encouraging kids to believe in working on their own talents, so they’re encouraged to do anything and push ahead for their dreams. Plus, it doesn’t portray that their talents come naturally, it shows that they work for them and developed these talents through practice. 

Clumsiness and stuttering are Mary Sue traits

First of all, not every character that has these traits is a Mary Sue. It always depends on how these traits are represented. Her stuttering isn’t just there for no reason. It’s meant to display her difficulty with expressing her own feelings. We’ve had episodes with Marinette saying how it’s difficult for her to say what she feels. Episodes! And it isn’t just a meaningless detail. It represents her fear. Her fear of rejection. Her fear of being in a relationship and things going wrong. Her fear of many things. Her fear is the reason why she hesitates. Why she stutters. And it tells us that fear is completely natural. Fear in love is something that’s natural.  

I'm so tired of not being able to just tell him how I feel! But I'm so scared, Tikki, always so scared he'll reject me.

What if he tells me that he loves me? Or that he doesn't love me? Or that he likes me, but not in that way -

Yeah. Don’t you dare tell me that this fear isn’t depicted in the show. It’s blatantly obvious.

As for her clumsiness, it represents her nervousness. It comes in the form of her fear to mess up. She’s clumsy when she’s nervous. And thus she’s afraid she can mess up due to that clumsiness and nervousness. In the Origins, her insecurity, her nervousness was all displayed in the form of her clumsiness, and she knows she displays her nervousness through clumsiness And she was afraid that her clumsiness could mess things up. That’s why she believed she was disaster-prone. And incapable of being a superhero. Because she was nervous and scared. 

She gets too much screen-time

This one I really don’t get. How is having more screen time making her a Mary Sue? She’s the main protagonist. Of course, she’s going to get a lot of screen-time. Her endearing personality and active lifestyle molds the storyline of the show. She’s easy to follow along. If you’re comparing her to Adrien, I’ll say that...Adrien’s a mysterious and sheltered character. Giving him too much screen-time can get boring because he’s stuck at home all the time. We can focus on his family mystery but if the show does it too much, it ruins the mystery aspect of it. I adore Adrien getting screen-time with episodes focused around him too but I’m not going to expect him to get as much as screen-time as Marinette because his character is different, and him getting as much screen-time as her doesn’t work for the style and demographic. And claiming that she’s Mary Sue because of more screen-time is stupidity.

Encouraged jealousy and despising other girls around her crush is a Mary Sue quality

Firstly, the show never encourages Marinette’s jealousy. It doesn’t encourage it. Plus, she’s not jealous in every situation. Only in specific situation when she thinks there’s something off about the person like Chloe and Lila. In Volpina, Marinette had realised she had gone overboard with calling out Lila. And she did face consequences for it. Her akumatization. And she did try to fix her mistake in the end by apologising for overreacting. Lila was the one who turned her away that time. As for Kagami, her jealousy arc changed based on her attitudes about Kagami. During Frozer, she wasn’t jealous per say, upset but not jealous. Frozer made Marinette and Kagami misunderstand each other, that’s why they’re quite petty towards one and other for the next few episodes. In Animaestro, I don’t think Marinette would’ve been that petty if it weren’t for Chloe. But yeah, that episode isn’t one of her best moments. I’m not a fan of it either. In Ikari Gozen, these misunderstandings were cleared and so were the issues from Animaestro, and it’s fine now. On a overall, I don’t believe Marinette would get jealous around everyone. At least, not in a way where she would try to stop them from getting close to Adrien all the time. It depends on the person and situation. 

---

In conclusion, Marinette isn’t a Mary Sue. She’s fallible, has flaws, fears and works for her achievements. And that’s on point. 

[thatasianstereotype]

Fuck. I’m Gay.

I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 

Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 

.

.

.

Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 

Yeah. It was a small number. 

But Lila is still a bitch. 

Anyway, Lila’s lies and manipulations have disturbed the status quo and not in a good way. She ended up making the majority of the class fawn over her like she was a perfect goddess and not a pompous-temperamental-hormonal teenager. Teenagers were prone to be gullible; he can understand his classmates being inclined to believe her. But this was utterly ridiculous (man, Chloe is rubbing off on him). No. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Ms. Bustier letting Lila get away with it. She doesn’t even stop the class mistreating Marinette who claimed she was a bully just because of you know who - Fucking Lila Rossi. The audacity of that bitch and her bitchy followers, am I right? 

Growing up he watched the tv shows and the animes. High schools always had their drama but he thought that was to get some plot going on. He didn’t think it was an actual thing that happens in real life. But he was proven wrong. Françoise Dupont High School had their drama and it was way worse than what he watched on screen. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t get away from Lila. Or he’ll be pulled from school (Fuck you Dad). He had to sit next to that bitch and listen to her drone on and on about things they both knew she didn’t do, about things she promised to do for her ever gullible followers friends. And couldn’t say anything against it if he wanted to stay in school. But even his discreet questioning didn’t do that much. It got some of the class to think something’s possibly fishy with her stories but not enough to think Lila was evil. So he just gave up. Because what was even the point? 

He was distancing himself from Alya and Nino. He couldn’t really be friends with people who thought Lila held the sun and moon. They didn’t hang out as much as they used to and he made excuses when they did invite him to stuff. Lately, he was making outrageous excuses - like he had to take his cat to the vet even though he didn’t have a cat - to see if they caught on. They didn’t. It was fun but he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that. But feeling sad-depressed-pain over it was a bitch so he decided to take his victories as they come. 

Chloe had left the school earlier on. Her mom wanted to spend one-on-one time with her daughter (Yeah, Audrey is better at being a mother here). She was completely out of this drama mess. And Nathaniel kept his head down to not paint a target on himself. 

His only consolation and ally in this whole mess was Marinette. His darling angel. His sunshine incarnate. His own goddess (not like that bitch Lila let’s get one thing straight). 

When he was feeling overwhelmed (which was a lot), he spent it at her house. They spent it discussing fashion, trash talking Liar-la and the sheep class, playing video games, and making/eating the best baked goods in all of Paris. If he wasn’t at his photo shoots or at school, he was at her house. And with how often they spent time with each other, it wasn’t long before they accidentally revealed their alter egos to each other. 

(The class’ Everyday Ladybug was actually Ladybug. How amazing is that! Isn’t Marinette the absolute coolest?!) 

Since they outed themselves to each other, they had to give up their miraculous. And new heroes had to be chosen. As the guardian, Marinette decided to give the Ladybug miraculous to herself and the Cat one to Adrien. And make them the superheros of Paris. 

(Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t get any cooler) 

They both collectively decided that being friends were for the best and put away their obsession crush over the other far far away. Now they were best friends-almost siblings. Oh who was he kidding? He was an honorary Dupain-Cheng. Marinette and her parents said so. And who was he to deny the goddess? 

All was well. 

Until he met this gorgeous boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes that made him question everything in life. 

Like fuck. His life wasn’t hard enough already? 

.

It was a slow patrol. Just stopped a few petty crimes. No akuma tonight. He wasn’t really expecting much to happen.

Mari said patrolling regularly gives citizens a sense of security and it helps if one of them were on scene if an akuma does appear. 

He didn’t mind. He loved running on the rooftops and feeling the wind in his face. After some time, he stopped and stood on top of one of the tallest buildings. Just soaking the view. The peace and serenity of it all. Seeing the glowing lights of his beloved city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower standing tall and proud. 

(Forget school. Forget Liar-la and her hoard of bitches) 

This was his city. This was why he fights Hawk Moth with Ladybug. They had something precious to protect. 

He was done patrolling the regular routes and all his schoolwork was already finished. He could go to sleep but he didn’t feel that tired. And he really didn’t want to go back home. Mari shared her theory on his dad being Hawk Moth. She had really good reasons and a plethora of proof. If they could switch miraculous, why couldn’t he and Mayura - most likely Nathalie? Which would explain how Gabriel got akumatized.

After all her support with dealing with Lila, he was way more inclined to believe her even without the evidence. But those things just made him more wary of his dad. And he wasn’t too stoked on spending more time than what he can get away with with the guy. Because his dad being Hawk Moth explains why he wants Lila (his strongest supporter - Chameleon and Oni-chan, anyone?) close and makes Adrien play nice with her. And anyone who enables Lila’s bitchiness is on his enemy list. 

Anyway, he was out here to enjoy the good mood not think about evil bitches and evil dads. So he sat himself down and enjoyed the sights. It was more calming than you would think. 

He heard cars blaring and even a dog barking. The slight breeze felt nice. The moon was pretty bright tonight. The stars too. There was a lone couple walking through the park. There was also another teen in black running on rooftops a few buildings away. 

Wait. 

What? 

He blinked and looked again. Huh, there was another teen in black running on rooftops. And it was not a hallucination. 

What the actual fuck?

He was instantly on his feet, baton already in hand as he raced across the roof to reach said stranger. 

“Hey!” 

But because he was the lucky owner of the unlucky miraculous, the moment he said that, the guy was about to jump off a building to presumably roll onto the next one like Chat was watching him do beforehand. But his call made him lose focus and Chat watched horrified as the guy slipped and started falling into the alley. 

Oh fuck! Mari was going to fucking kill this dumbass kitty!

He hoped to everything that Mari thinks is holy that he makes it in time. Extending his baton, he used it as a huge Pogo stick to basically catapult himself towards the stranger and wrapped his arms around him as he braced himself for the full weight of hitting the gravel at this height and speed. But he wasn’t that that concerned. His suit protected him from the majority of the injuries that would’ve occurred if he wasn’t wearing it. It hurt but it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Remember earlier? He takes his victories as they come. 

This was not the smartest of ideas, he’ll admit. Mari had the brains to be honest. But it wasn’t bad if he say so. And he does say so. 

He rolled over and immediately looked over the stranger that was remarkably unharmed in this whole mess. 

And oh.

Oh.

The stranger was taller than he was with a lithe and lean frame. He had raven black hair that complimented his tanned skin and gorgeous green eyes that pierced through him, making his heart do funny things. 

He was not expecting him to look as hot as he did. He wore a simply black t-shirt and jeans but he looked like a fucking Adonis, what the fuck.  Even the moon shone down on him, highlighting his handsome features even more.  

He shook himself of those thoughts and focused on what was more important. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” 

He was rudely pushed away, but he didn’t take offense. He did cause the guy to fall after all. 

“Do not touch me.” (What kind of accent is that?) “I’m fine. You are truly a moronic imbecile of the highest accord to yell like that. And what are you even supposed to be? Some kind of knock-off Catwoman?” 

At that, Chat looked at Hot-And-Sexy weird. “Are you new here? I’m the superhero Chat Noir. I protect Paris with Ladybug.”

“You’re joking.”

“I know I come off as the goofy hero because I make purr-fect puns all the time but I’m not joking about this.” 

He took out his phone to show the foreign (since he’s obviously not a Parisian) stranger the akuma attacks and Ladybug and Chat Noir being a dynamic duo, saving Paris and beating Hawk Moth. Ok, he showed the stranger a lot of stuff. Sue him. He gets to brag about his Princess. And himself too.

“I never heard about this before.” Hot-And-Sexy (he has got to come up with a better name) said afterward. “3 years this has been going on? Why didn’t you ask for help from the Justice League or other superheros?” 

Chat shrugged. “We tried. But they said we’re obviously pulling a prank and making this all up. So we stopped asking for help.”

For some reason this made Hot-And-Sexy angry. “They ignored your plea for help and left you to fight for yourselves?”

“Pretty much, yea.” 

“You and Ladybug are children.” 

“Excuse me? Are you doubting our ability to protect our city?" He was not apologetic at the sharp edge his voice took. Forget looking hot. How dare he? The audacity really. 

Hot-And-Sexy shook his head. “I’m not. I know some child superheroes who are adequate at their jobs and a few who are remarkable like Robin in Gotham. But the majority of them had adult mentors to guide them. From what you’ve shown me, you and Ladybug had no one. You were left alone to fend for yourself with essentially no help.” 

He never thought of it that way. But hearing it like that made him think: Fuck Adults Who Chose Children to Fight Their War For Them and Fuck Hawk Moth For Putting Them In This Position In The First Place. 

You know what. Just to clear all his bases - Fuck Everyone But The Dupain-Chengs. 

Chat couldn’t help but shrug, not quite knowing what to say to that. “Life is a bitch, I’ve come to find out. But enough of that. Why were you running on rooftops anyway?”

“It calms me down.”

Relatable. 

“Is...Is your tail moving?” 

“Huh?” He looked behind him to see his tail was indeed moving lazily. “Yeah. I’m called Chat Noir for a reason.”

“May I touch them?” Chat was used to people (usually kids) pulling on his tail to see if it was real (It was). And it really hurts because they usually rough. Not that he blames them. Kids don’t know any better. Still, he usually says no when people ask. 

But Hot-And-Sexy had such a sincere expression that he said yes. To his surprise and delight, Hot-And-Sexy was extremely gentle (Can this guy be anymore perfect?) and it felt nice to be petted like that. Curse his touch-starvation (again Fuck you Dad).

Hot-And-Sexy was apparently fascinated by his ears and tail. 

“Are you a meta?” He noticed how Hot-And-Sexy’s voice turned softer and fonder (or was he imagining that?).

“Nah. I’m fully human. I just got powers to transform into this.” He looked down at his phone seeing that the time was nearing 2 am.

“Have you suffered any injuries from your stupid stunt?” 

“Hmm?” Chat looked back at him before gesturing to his body. “Don’t worry. I may not look like it but I can take it.”

He can practically feel Hot-And-Sexy rolling his eyes. “What an utter dolt.” 

But there wasn’t any heat behind it so he didn’t take it to heart. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

“That was an insult.”

“And I’m taking it like a compliment.”

Chat stood up and stretched his limbs. Hot-And-Sexy doing the same but dusting off his clothes instead.

“So, uh, need any help getting home?”

“I am perfectly capable of finding my own way, thanks.” 

“Ok. Have a nice night.” He was about to leave when he was caught off guard by Hot-And-Sexy staring at him for a good few seconds, making his limbs freeze in place at the heavy attention.

Before he said. “You should try contacting the Batfamily in Gotham about Hawk Moth. They’re used to dealing with weird things. I’m sure they won’t turn you or Ladybug away.” 

Chat was a bit distracted by how intensely those green eyes focused on him, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a vibrant red. 

He was so screwed. 

He used his baton to shoot himself up so he can run on rooftops, hurrying to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

.

“Mari! I think I’m gay!”

“It’s 2 in the morning, Chaton. Go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

.

After a good night’s rest (and thank everything that was right in the world that today was a weekend), Adrien told Mari all about Hot-And-Sexy. And yes, he did call the stranger that out loud. His everything-that-actually-matters sister simply took it in stride after giggling a bit. They spent the majority of the day discussing emotions and everything that came with that bundle. 

Before he finally came to a conclusion. 

He is definitely gay (He liked girls but not like like them). And most definitely had a crush on Hot-And-Sexy with the pretty green eyes. 

Good news: He is no longer having a sexuality crisis. 

Bad news: He is going through an emotional crisis. 

Like dealing with these feelings that is making his stomach flip flop over and over again? The only one he ever had to deal with was the one he had on Ladybug and that (he talked with Mari about it months before. She was amazing with these emotional matters) was more of a hero-worship crush than anything really romantic. 

And his crush on Hot-And-Sexy was so much more. 

.

So it’s been about 2 weeks since he encountered Hot-And-Sexy. And he still haven’t figured out what else to call him. But the nickname was growing on him. 

(He also told Mari about asking the Batfam for help but she was a bit apprehensive after the disastrous attempts of convincing the Justice League. He shrugged, trusting her opinion and left it at that) 

Anyway, Lila was being her usual bitchy self. Father was being non-existent like always. Mari was his only source of sanity at school. And Hawk Moth was being a bitch. 

Because of course, the day before they have a huge test, he decides to akumatize someone (in this case, a businessman who was really unhappy with getting fired) and cut in on study time. And this akuma took a while to defeat. Guess he drew a lot of strength from his burning hatred of the failings of the corporate world. 

And just yesterday, a teenager who was upset at being grounded got akumatized and terrorized the city for 3 hours before Ladybug could purify her. It did however confirmed her fears. Hawk Moth was getting stronger. It took longer to defeat his monsters. They needed to find him and ended this fast. 

Adrien landed on Mari’s balcony and slipped in her room, crashing on her big comfy bed, de-transforming on the spot. Plagg sleepily floating and laying next to him on the pillow. He was so tired. And photo shoots and school drama were not helping things.

.

For the record, he was not at all expecting to see Hot-And-Sexy in a bookstore of all places. 

He was so engrossed in looking through the latest Boku no Hero Academia manga (can’t wait until Season 5 comes out) that when someone touched his shoulder, he was not proud to admit he squeaked a bit.

He turned around and his eyes widened his surprise. 

“Hot-And-Sexy!” 

It was indeed the Adonis Adrien had a huge crush on. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt paired with a blue denim jacket and black ripped jeans. Wow. He really can make anything look hot.

No. Bad Adrien. Don’t let him know you actually have a crush on him.

And oh fuck. Hot-And-Sexy was staring at the blonde and Adrien tried not to let himself get flustered. He has a very intense stare. For all he knew, Hot-And-Sexy stares at everyone like that.

Calm the fuck down, heart. You too brain.

He raised a handsome eyebrow in amusement. “Excuse me?”

Adrien felt himself burn with embarrassment, his face turning bright scarlet. No wonder he was fit for the unlucky miraculous or was this just a side-effect? Note to self, ask Mari about this later. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your name last time. And I just started calling you that in my head. Cause you’re really hot and you have pretty eyes.”

Fuck mouth! Why won’t you stop talking! Please for the love of everything that makes Mari a BAMF stop. Stop digging further into the hole of embarrassment! Abort mission! Abort!

“When did we meet?”

At that, he blink a few times. Oh fuck. He was not Superhero Chat Noir. He was Civilian Adrien Agreste. Mari was definitely murdering his dumbass tonight. Lightning please strike him down right now. Where was an unlucky lightning strike when you need it?

After a few seconds of his horrified silence, Hot-And-Sexy chuckled (he had such a nice laugh). “You are extremely lucky I already figured out your alter ego beforehand, Chaton.”

Before Adrien could even unwrap that statement, he held out a hand and had a dangerously sexy smirk on his face. “My name is Damian Wayne. Would you care to get a cup of coffee with me?”

And Adrien nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. He can deal with the superhero thing later when he can think straight (hah!) and is not distracted by Damian’s beautiful smile and alluring green eyes and perfect everything.

.

Guess what?

Ya Boi got game.

(At least, he likes to think he does)

After a successful coffee date (was it a date? Please let it be a date), they exchanged numbers (cue internal squealing) and met up a few times afterward to hang out.

Apparently, Dami was here on business to deal with something for Wayne Enterprises.

“Aren’t you 17?”

“Father believes in preparing us when we’re young.”

Dami was amazingly sweet. Arrogant and pretentious with a stick up his ass but sweet. He treats stray animals with such reverence that Adrien’s heart melt every time he sees it.

It was an added bonus when Damian scorned Lila with cruel words and disgusted looks when she tried to cut in Adrien and Dami’s date(?)/meetup(?)/spending-time-together event.

She cried and whined afterwards and Adrien has to endure his father’s lecture. But it was totally worth it.

Oh yeah. Mari was not pleased that he accidentally outed himself to a civilian. But nothing that a couple of sad kitty eyes can’t fix.

“You are so lucky you’re cute, kitty-cat.” Mari grumbled but she was smiling. “I just need to have a good talk with him on the importance of secrecy.”

.

That day Damian Wayne learned to fear a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

.

It was 2 weeks later when Adrien woke up to a package next to his futon in Mari’s room. When he opened it, he saw the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous inside.

There was a card beneath it. And in beautiful cursive script read: 

I dearly hope you enjoy my courting gift, mon amour. Allow me the honor to formally ask you out on a date. I look forward to hearing favorably from you soon.

- Damian Wayne

He couldn’t believe it.

“Mari! Damian likes me back!”

“Chaton, I swear. It is 2 in the morning.”

Next

[jennagrinsoverml]

The Closest Thing to Love - Chapter 1

Summary: When Gabriel tells Adrien it’s time for him to learn about the brand internationally, Adrien knows he can’t leave Paris - or Marinette. The two concoct a plan to allow Adrien to stay and finally achieve his independence from his father. They’ll just get married.The only problem is...they’re not actually dating.But that won’t cause any issues. After all, they’re just friends, right?What could possibly go wrong?

Read it on AO3

"Marinette, my lady, bugaboo, light of my life, will you marry me?"

Marinette looks down at Adrien where he kneels at the foot of the dress form she’s working on. She spits out the pins she was holding in her teeth and sticks them back into the pincushion at her wrist.

"That's not funny," she says flatly.

"I'm not joking," Adrien insists, trying to ignore the pang of hurt, even though he knows she has no reason to think he’s serious.

"Right." Marinette rolls her eyes and resumes pinning.

"I'm not!"

"You want to get married."

"Yes."

"To me."

"Sure," he says with affected ease because he can’t very well admit that he’s been dreaming of exactly that for years.

She sighs. “Get up,” she says, and he gets to his feet, feeling foolish. She turns away from her work, giving him her full attention and crossing her arms. "We’re fresh out of lycée, we’re not even dating, and you want to get married?? Adrien, what's going on?”

"It's my father," he tells her, swallowing uncomfortably.

Her face hardens instantly. "What did he do?"

"He doesn't want me to go to university. He wants me to continue modeling and learn the company better and...and he wants me to travel around the world to do it."

"You're leaving?" she asks in a small voice before gasping and grabbing at her hair. "But if you leave how will you be Chat Noir? This is a disaster! You'll have to give up your miraculous and then I'll have to choose a new Chat Noir and then you won't be my partner and we'll never see each other and the new Chat won't be experienced enough and I can’t even imagine being Ladybug without you and Hawkmoth will win and—"

"I'm not leaving!" he bursts in, grabbing her arms and cutting her off mid-rant. He curses inwardly. He knows better. He should've led with that. Gently, he disentangles her hands from her hair, and she allows him to lower them. “I’m not leaving,” he repeats as he gives her hands a squeeze. She squeezes back and he knows that she believes him. "I won't leave Paris—or you. Not with Hawkmoth still attacking. I told Father that I wanted to go to university and stay in Paris with my friends but..."

"He didn't care."

"He thinks I'm exhibiting poor decision-making by prioritizing staying with my friends over my future," he recites. Even though he's not sure the fashion world is his future. Modeling is fine and he's good at it, but he can't do it forever. And the business side of it doesn't appeal to him at all. But no one has ever asked what he wants and Father has never appreciated his desire to go to school.

She gives his hands one last squeeze before letting go and going to sit down on her chaise. "You could just tell him no? You're 18 now, Adrien."

"I'm still just a dumb kid to him,” he says, sitting down next to her.

Marinette's mouth twists unhappily. "But you’re an adult. He can't force you to leave if you don't want to."

"He can cut me off. How will I pay for school or food or a place to live?"

"What? Adrien, you've been modeling since you were a kid. You don't have anything saved up?"

"Some money since I turned 18 but everything from before... I can't touch it," he explains, swallowing uncomfortably. "It's in a trust and inaccessible until I turn 25. Father says it’s for my own good. To keep me from squandering it."

"That - that can't be legal."

"I don't know," he admits, "but what am I going to do? Sue my own father?"

He knows from many years of friendship that that particular expression means that she wants to do a lot more than sue Gabriel Agreste. The thought that she cares enough to be angry and protective on his behalf warms him as it always does.

"How does getting married fix this?" she asks instead of commenting. "Is he suddenly going to care about what you want because we got hitched?"

"Yeah, no." He huffs out a bitter laugh. "Actually I think he'll be really angry about it. Maybe enough to get akumatized again." Adrien pushes down the guilt that bubbles up at that thought. As much as he tries telling himself that it's not his responsibility to sacrifice himself to keep his father happy... old habits die hard. He clears his throat. "Maman's family… they're old money . Very old fashioned about it too. A husband should be able to take care of his wife, you know? When Grandmère passed, her bequests to her grandsons were set up as trusts that vest upon marriage."

"So your plan is to marry me, get your money, and tell your dad to suck it?"

"Pretty much."

"Not the worst plan you've had."

"So you'll do it?"

"Why me?" she asks, sidestepping his question.

"Because I trust you," he answers. It’s the truth, anyway, or at least most of it. And the last thing they need right now is his unrequited love complicating things. “Who else would I marry? Who else would even understand why it’s so important that I stay? And besides there’ll be advantages to you too!  I’d pay for our housing and living expenses and - and I’ll give you a payout when this is done.”

She sighs. “I don’t want your money, Adrien.”

His heart drops. “You won’t do it.”

“I didn’t say that. This is a lot, okay? I’m trying to figure it out. But you know it’s you and me against the world, right?”

“Always,” he agrees.

"What other options have you looked into?"

"What do you mean?"

"Adrien! Don't tell me that getting married was the first and only idea you considered? What about taking out a loan or - or moving in with Nino or, I don't know, getting a job??"

Embarrassment burns his cheeks, but he’s not willing to admit that once it had occurred to him, he’d thought it was so perfect that he’d raced over here without considering anything else.

Besides...

"My contract with Gabriel still has another 3 years in it. It's pretty draconian with the non-compete." He draws idle circles with his finger in the fabric of her chaise.

"Were you even an adult when you signed?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! This sounds very, very illegal!"

"I don't want to end up in a legal battle with my father. I don't want to keep doing what he tells me to but I don't want to publicly fight with him either."

She sighs. "What about working in a different field? Waiting tables or something like that?"

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and she glares.

"You think he'd sue you for that?"

"Maybe."

"Kitty, that's ridiculous."

He shrugs helplessly. It's not like he doesn't know his father is over the top. Ever since Maman disappeared...and of course after Nathalie... Adrien knows his father is just afraid of losing him too and he's tried so hard to be supportive. But he can't live like this forever and now... his father is forcing his hand. No matter how much he loves him or how understanding he wants to be, he can't leave Marinette to fight on her own.

(Or leave her at all , the little part of him he keeps pushing down whispers.)

(He pushes it down again.)

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, let's get married," she says and he doesn't try to suppress the smile that breaks across his face. Marinette's just agreed to marry him! It won't be real and she doesn't feel the same way about him that he feels about her but she does love him.

"Now if we're doing this, we need a plan."

"You know I always leave the planning to you, my lady."

She rolls her eyes. "As you should. Okay..." she trails off, clearly thinking as her face scrunches up in what Adrien has always thought of as her Lucky Charm Face TM. It's one of his favourite sights in the world and he can feel himself relaxing as he looks at her. If it's one of Marinette's plans, he knows they're going to be fine.

After all, when have any of her plans not worked out?

She meets his eyes. "Anything I need to know before I plan this out?"

I'm in love with you.  

"No."

Keep Reading

[aliensunflower-fics]

In Defense of Salt AND Sugar: Aka ML Fandom pls chill out.

So I don’t talk much as those who follow me will say I tend to just stick to myself and my own things. HOWEVER, Ive gotten a lot of asks about why I write both Salt and Sugar for Miraculous Ladybug.

The short answer: Both salt and sugar are valid, fun, intriguing things to read and write and the point of writing is to entertain and be entertained.

The long answer: Salt isn’t inherently someone hating on your fav show and sugar isn't someone necessarily giving it a free pass either. Ya’ll are just dramatic as hell.

The LONGER answer:

I write salt because I LIKE Miraculous Ladybug, BUT the show has not lived up to its potential AT ALL. The show could be so much better and the characters are so flawed or full of holes that occasionally I feel FRUSTRATED and mad!

I hate that Alya a character who I was so excited about, gets shafted ignored, sidelined, or written like a jerk! She could have been this great detective working alongside her friend to unmask the villain, but instead she often comes across as pushy, obsessed with Ladynoir or Adrinette, and so damn easily tricked. Not to mention how when shes not gushing over her ‘ships’ shes pushed to the side and ignored. [or you know... LILA]

I hate that Marinette’s crush makes her do things that are so cringy and awkward i feel ill I hate that she’s constantly the only one making mistakes and ‘learning lessons’ when the show has all these other great characters that could use the spotlight and be the ones learning lessons. I hate that she’s so jealous and that she cant ever seem to catch a break as if the show is punishing her constantly.

I HATE that Adrien is a mary sue, how the writers say hes perfect and treat him as such, I hate that he gets to guilt Marinette into fixing everything and dealing with bullies, I wanted a funny, Ron Stoppable, naive boy who learns about real friendships and grows into a great partner. Instead he gets to be pushy and downright a jerk as Chat Noir ignoring his responsibilities, guilting Ladybug with his feelings, never taking no as an answer. He’s not a good role model for kids.

I hate that Chloe got built up to have a redemption arc several times only for the writers to decide that Chloe a teenage girl who needs some serious therapy [and actual reasonable punishment for her actions] is worse than Gabriel child abuse Agreste. She could have been a great lesson on compassion and growth and dealing with your own pain without hurting others. Instead the writers wrote her off completely.

And dont get me started on how the show treats Nino, Kagami, Luka and the rest of the cast. They may as well be a backdrop for the forced love square that we NEVER get a break from. Seriously I’m a sucker for romance but does it need to be EVERY damn episode?! Can’t we just get some wholesome friendship between everyone including Adrien and Marinette at this point like COME ON.

And i’m not even touching on the white washing, awful lessons on responsibility and forgiveness, awful lessons on well so much other stuff really, the guilt trips, the teacher, the fact that she show could be used to teach kids how to better handle negative emotions and the importance of open communication and not keeping quiet about injustice and/or your feelings but instead decided that the main priority should be a love square that gets force fed to us EVERY SINGLE EPISODE.

My point is the show has FLAWS. That doesn’t mean its the worse show ever and it doesn’t mean its not fun, and has a great premise and characters, and so when I write Salt I write it because i’m frustrated! Im frustrated with the show, with the characters, with the writing and so I vent that out with salt I write those characters as their worst selves because I cant stand how the show has decided to treat them and Im ANGRY and disappointed.

It feels good to write salt and to read it. It’s nice to see characters get called out for bad behavior, its nice to read about Adrien not getting the girl. Its nice to occasionally indulge in salt because it validates that the show is flawed and lets you get out that frustration.

BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE

Miraculous Ladybug is a lovely show. It’s a show that decided to give little girls a FEMALE HERO. And not just as a side kick or background character! No they made her the protagonist! Its so important to me that little girls see good well rounded female characters in media.

And even if the show is clumsy about it they are TRYING to build an expansive lore that tickles the theorist brain. And gets people invested in the world.

The show also made Marinette shy, and awkward, and clumsy something a lot of girls deal with during puberty as growing up can literally make you clumsier as your body adjusts. Having a character who tries to be positive and tries to find solutions who solves things with creativity instead of pure violence. Thats LOVELY for young girls to see.

Growing up I loved and admired Kim Possible, and probably would have loved Marinette, even if the shows not perfect I can admit its trying and I can see why people love it as much as they do! And why they write these fluffy sugary fics its the reason I WRITE fluffy sugary things.

Because even though I am frustrated and angry and disappointed with the show, I still see Alya’s potential and how great she is as representation to little girls who want a black female superhero so I write fluff where Alya’s loyalty, compassion, cleverness and her pursuit of justice are center stage.

I see how Adrien could be better and I want him to be better and I WANT him to be the naive funny comic relief the Ron Stoppable to Marinette’s Kim Possible. I want Adrien to grow and learn and spit in his dad’s face I want him to overcome the abuse and be happy. To show people that neglect and abuse doesn’t mean you will get stuck like that forever, that you can overcome that and be a better kinder person.

I want Nino and Kagami, and Luka and Chloe and the class to grow and get attention and have funny moments I want to laugh and make other people laugh! So I write prompts focused around comedy and shenanigans and where the characters get to be fun and silly and make decisions for themselves!

SO IN CONCLUSION:

I write salt AND sugar. I see the value and merit in both sides of the coin, and I respect how other people see the show. I know its easy to get angry with other people in the fandom who see the show differently then you do but please can we put down the weapons and just BREATHE.

Someone who writes salt might LOVE the same show as you, and they might in fact love it so much that they vent their frustrations in angst and salt and cracky fics. Let them vent about how they wish the show was better, leave their tags alone or block them if you cant stand to see it. But dont attack salt writers for ‘hating on your show’ when they might love it just as much as you do but want a way to vent out their feelings.

On the flip someone who writes sugar might NOT be forgiving the show for its flaws, they might see all the same flaws as you but decide to take that frustration and write fluff and fix it fics and sugar because they want to indulge in a version of their favorite show where everything is just... OK. Where everyone is well written and happy and the character development sticks. Stay out of their tags let them have their sugar, they aren't writing it to hurt you just like you don't write salt to hurt them.

So ENOUGH. Enough hunting each other down, enough sending each other hate, enough filling each others tags. Let people write SALT if they feel angry and vengeful and disappointment, let them have their tags, let them explore the dark side of the characters, let them rant and rave and be HURT when the characters they love upset them with their actions. Its not your place to tell them to stop, to tell them their feelings are invalid, to tell them that ‘adrien is sweet sunshine boy how dare you’ or ‘alya would never’ or ‘i hate your marinette leaves dupont au’. Just leave it be, heed the tags, and let it go.

AND ENOUGH. Enough hunting each other down, enough sending each other hate, enough filling each other tags. Let people write SUGAR if they just want something to feel happy about. Let them makes coffee shop au’s, let them make fix it fics where everything is just happy without needing 8 pages of backstory for why everything is just happy. Let them squeal and gush and talk about the ship they like and the fluff they see. Its not your place to argue with them that the show is flawed, its not cool to ruin their fun by accusing them of not understanding the flaws, to tell them ‘umm actual this character shouldn’t get to be happy’ or ‘wow this is so shallow’. Just leave it be, heed the tags, and let it go.

PS: Now with that said and done. I do have one final message for everyone - If you write/enjoy pedophilia, if you sexualize KIDS. Then get the fuck out of fandom spaces, stop fucking following me, and do everyone salt and sugar a favor by LEAVING. Your pedophilia and child sexualization aint wanted, aint ok, and I will fight you.

PSS: IF YOU HATE WHAT IVE SAID ABOUT SUGAR AND SALT FINE OK I RESPECT YOU REGARDLESS. ENJOY THE SHOW, STAY CLASSY, DONT HURT PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION.