#anything. there was no questions? he just noticed the previous master found his son interesting and then he left ?

[al-luviec]

I got so insanely mad while drawing this

+ closeup and normalness

[jinx-jade]

Secret Dreams Chapter 3: Meeting Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Damian was woken up from the dream zone like he usually was for the past eight years, by three sharp knocks on his door.

“Master Damian, Breakfast will be served in fifteen minutes. Please make sure to be up and ready by then.” Alfred informed him.

He got out of bed, moving towards his closet to grab an outfit. Once he had an acceptable outfit Damian went to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. 

He came out of the bathroom wearing a black turtleneck sweater, with a pair of dark jeans, black dress shoes, and a dark gray dress coat. His hair was spiked up into its usual gelled back spikes.

Leaving the quiet sanctuary that was his room, Damian ventured toward the loud morning chatter coming from the dining room.

“..hy do I have to be at some event planning meeting? Replacement is the one who works there, not me!” he could hear Todd argue. ‘Most likely with father’ Damian deduced using previous events as evidence for his claim.

“What’s this about Todd going to a W.E. meeting?” Damian inquired as he entered the dining room.

Bruce let out a sigh, too used to the children and their antics. “Jason, Tim, and Cass will be joining me at a meeting to go over the charity gala last-minute details.”

Damian simply raised an eyebrow. A clear question as to why.

“The people we are meeting with are Jared Stone, Penny Rolling, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Jared is most commonly known as the world-class rockstar Jagged Stone. Penny Rolling is a Jagged’s assistant and wife. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is most known as MDC, the designer for our gala outfits.” Bruce explains.

Damian nodded his head in acknowledgment. Being careful to keep his face blank as he was trained to do. After all, it wouldn’t do to give the game away just yet. Malak most likely wouldn’t forgive him if he ruined her fun.

The morning continued like normal once Jason finished throwing his fit about the ‘boring’ meeting he was being forced to attend. Alfred drove Bruce, Tim, and Cass to the meeting, while Jason insisted on taking his bike. Everyone knew that Jason was most likely taking another form of transportation so he could ditch the meeting if it got too boring.

Once they arrived at W.E., Alfred left to go pick up their gussets. While waiting for them Jason seemed to get bored already and started an argument over something pointless. Tim argued back with Jason, the argument moving back and forth between the two. This was common for them, most times they could be found arguing over something that will make no sense to anyone but them. It was simply the way they communicated with each other. It might not make sense to others, but it made sense to them.

Cass watched the argument in amusement. Trying to read in between the line to what they were saying. As difficult as it seemed to others, all her training at reading body language made it fairly simple to understand.

Bruce simply watches his children interact. They had all come along from where they were when he first took them in. While he might not say it out loud, he hoped they knew he was proud of them.

Their attention was pulled to the door as a knock was heard. Bruce got up and opened the door. 

“Jared, I’m glad you could make it,” he said welcoming them into the office. “Am I right to assume that these lovely ladies are your wife and niece?”

“That’d be a right on assumption” Jagged agreed. “This is my wife Penny Rolling, she’s also my lovely assistant.”

“It’s nice to meet one of Jagged's childhood friends, feel free to call me Penny.”

Jagged continues with the introduction, “And this little rockstar is my niece and designer, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne. You can call me Marinette, my last name is a bit of a mouth full.” 

“Please call me Bruce, there’s no need to be so formal.” Once Marinette nodded her head, Bruce started to introduce his kids. “These are a few of my children. My second eldest son Jason Todd-Wayne, my second youngest son Timothy Drake-Wayne, and my daughter Cassandra Cain-Wayne.”

All the Waynes noticed that Jagged’s niece seemed no older the Damian, but according to the public, MDC has been a designer for the past six years. That would have made MDC somewhere between the ages eleven and thirteen, depending on her current age, when MDC had first started designing.

Marinette had smiled at them before taking a seat on the office couch, pulling out what seemed like a sketch, most likely to work on a design. The Waynes, Jagged, and Penny were the main holders of the conversation. Marinette mostly stayed out of the business conversation, only really talking when the conversation had to do with herself.

Everyone heard a noise that sounded like someone holding back laughter. Only to see that it was Marinette. There hadn’t been anything funny or amusing said in their conversation. No one asked what was so funny, only look in her direction for an explanation. Marinette had simply raised an eyebrow towards them until they went back to the previously abandoned conversation.

Their conversation was resumed until they heard Marinette say, “Mood” under her breath. All attention had turned to her, but she simply ignored the attention. The conversation slowly started back up. Looking in Marinette’s direction every once in a while.

One of the times they look to Marinette only to see her and Cass in some sort of staring contents. They watched for a bit before a smile appeared on Cass’s face.

“Can we keep?” Cass asked gesturing to Marinette, which made Marinette burst laughing. Much to the confusion of everyone else.

Realization appeared on Bruce’s face. “You can’t just ask to adopt people out of nowhere Cassandra,” Bruce said with a sigh.

“Keep?” Cass asked again with her best puppy dog eyes. Bruce simply shook his head, causing Cass to pout.

This interaction made no sense to the Waynes. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was certainly an interesting individual. They would have to ask Cass why she wanted to adopt Marinette later, but Cass's pout seemed to be the last straw as everyone burst into laughter.

tag list: @little-bluestar @redbullgivescaswings @stackofrandomstuff @meismu @maskedpainter @nyx-in-line @iamabrownfox @m0chik0furan @jjmjjktth @icerosecrystal @machichannx @a4-machete @our-preciousss @justafanwarrior @animegirlweeb @loopingtangent @buginetye @blueslushgueen @solangelo252 @officiallydarkgreek

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

A Miraculous TikTok Account

Part 29

First

Previous

Next

Chat was still reeling from the bombshell that was ‘everyone apparently knows about his family life’ when Master Fu had told them that he probably knew Hawkmoth… and then, because apparently the universe wasn’t done with him, Master Fu had told them that he had personally chosen Hawkmoth.

Master Fu sighed as he looked over all their faces and then motioned for them to sit down. They did so without question or complaint, though it was mostly because everyone was in shock and on autopilot.

He leaned heavily against his cane.

“You all know the way the story started. About thirty years ago, a woman calling herself Paon started terrorizing Paris with what she called Sentimonsters using the peacock miraculous.”

Of course they knew the story. They had only been alive for a little more than half of it, but that didn’t mean they didn’t remember the giant Sentimonsters wreaking havoc every day. Those kinds of memories stick with you.

“To counter her, a man called Pieris, with powers that varied by the battle, rose to counteract her.”

They all nodded. They were beginning to piece together who Hawkmoth was, they weren’t stupid, but… one thing didn’t make sense:

“But Pieris would have been an akuma, not Hawkmoth,” said Rena, frowning.

“Who says Hawkmoth can’t akumatize himself?” Said Master Fu quietly. He sighed again, looking even older than usual. “Anyways, you all know that it took about twenty years for him to defeat her.”

They all nodded again. Chat hadn’t been allowed out, but he remembered all of the parties and celebrations when it had been announced that Paon’s reign of terror was over.

(Not that he’d wanted to be let out at the time. His mother had just died, going out and having fun had felt wrong. How could he be happy when his mother would never be able to do so again?)

“But… it turned out that the man that I had chosen to be Pieris was Paon’s husband. When he found out what he had done to his wife, he was overcome with grief. His miraculous corrupted him.”

Beside him, Rena clenched her fists. “So… did you choose Paon, too? Is this just our fate? One day we’ll just go evil and there’s nothing --?”

“No,” Master Fu cut her off. “Paon… it was passed through her family. Sometimes the person would use it for good, other times bad, but no matter what they passed it on once the eldest child became an adult.”

Rena relaxed, but only slightly.

Chat couldn’t find it in himself to do the same.

He turned and buried his face in Rena’s shoulder, unsure what to do. There was no way...

Right?

Chat bit his lip.

His parents had always been very busy and a little bit distant, though he had just attributed that to their jobs. Then there was the fact that his mother’s death coincided with the day that Paon had last been seen. When Paon and Pieris had disappeared his father had been more present, and when Hawkmoth had appeared his father had suddenly had a heavy workload again...

But that could be explained away, he thought. The death could be an unlucky coincidence, and who wants to do extra work when their wife has just died? And then who’s to say that his father couldn’t get back into work again by the time Hawkmoth had appeared? No, that could make sense.

His father HAD been really interested in his ring, though --.

No.

Gabriel Agreste COULDN’T be Hawkmoth. Chat didn’t have any proof of it, but he knew it to be true. Sure, the man was distant, but that didn’t mean he was evil. After all, Chat still had memories of his father sitting him on his lap and letting him color a design he’d made. He could still remember all the times his father had shifted aside in bed so he could cuddle after a nightmare. How could a man like that be evil?

How could a man like that knowingly endanger his son every day?

No. There were other people.

Sure, there were only a few people he could consider himself close to, but that didn’t mean he never talked to anyone outside of his family, servants, Kagami, and Chloe. As an Agreste, he’d attended many different balls and galas and even business meetings to represent his family, he was acquainted with plenty other rich people.

Yeah. There were other options. He was just jumping to conclusions because of the Traitor Scare a few days beforehand. Yeah. It was someone else. It had to be.

~

Rena had been the one to escort Master Fu home. Maybe it was to question him further, they didn’t know. They were all pretty sure they didn’t want to ask, though, because she came home looking even more dejected than before.

When she got back she took a seat on the table. Chat had perched himself in the window. Chloe had laid across the couch, legs in Ladybug’s lap. Carapace had slung himself across the armchair.

Despite the disparity in their positions, however, all their faces had the same contemplative look.

Rena was the first one to speak: “Fuck that guy, am I right?”

Ladybug laughed a little, though it sounded forced. “Yeah. All I’m getting is that the bitch didn’t use to have child heroes.”

There was a beat, and then Carapace sat up suddenly. “Wait a minute, you’re right! Pieris was an adult!”

“It’s probably because kids are easier to manipulate,” said Chloe quietly. All eyes fell on her. “Think about it. Chat, Ladybug, and Carapace never really defend themselves -- Carapace defends other people, sure, but he wasn’t close enough to any of us to bother before. Rena and I both started out practically worshiping at least one of you guys. For one reason or another, we were all pretty easy to manage.”

The silence that followed the statement was deafening.

The longer they stewed in it the angrier they got and the luckier they were that Hawkmoth had already used up his akumitization of the day.

“Can’t believe that he did this to stop me from retiring -- actually, no, I can believe it,” muttered Carapace. “I shouldn’t have told him I was thinking about leaving for college. Should’ve just applied, made a public statement, and then dropped the bracelet on his doorstep… damn him...”

Rena laughed bitterly. “‘Damn him’ is right. Really, though, I should’ve known he was fucked from the start. Who the hell goes up to someone and says ‘I have been looking for a person like you for a while now’?”

“You punched him, right?” Said Chloe with a frown.

“Obviously. I punched him and ran. Went the wrong way, though, and ended up cornered in an alley.”

“You definitely should’ve been wary of him after that one,” agreed Ladybug. “If he had done that to me I wouldn’t have trusted anything he tried to put on my neck even if I saw a God coming out of it... maybe I would’ve trusted him less if that happened, actually.”

“Things have gone downhill since I was recruited, apparently.” Chat said with a weak grin, and Ladybug nodded her agreement. “I had to save him from getting run over. Which was stupid, might I add. What if I hadn’t looked up in time? Did he have a backup plan or was he just going to let himself get hit if I didn’t notice?”

“Wait, go back. You had to save him from a car?” Said Chloe. “I had to pick up his cane for him! Where was my super cool trial?”

“I think I can answer both of you guys’ questions…”

Everyone looked at Carapace, but he was determinedly looking at his phone.

“Well, for one, no, he did not have a backup plan.”

Rena’s hand flew to her mouth. “You let him get hit?!”

Carapace winced. “Okay, wait, hold up. I did not ‘let him get hit’. I just… didn’t notice that he was in danger until he was hit, there’s a difference.”

Ladybug and Chat looked at each other and their eyes widened as they realized something at the same time.

“Oh my kwami, are you the reason he has to use a cane?”

He didn’t seem to hear this, apparently very interested in something on his phone.

“Are you the reason he has to use a cane?” Chat repeated.

Still nothing.

“Carapace… Carapace… please tell me you’re not the reason,” said Ladybug. Her voice wobbled with either laughter or tears, Chat wasn’t sure.

Apparently their friend had gone deaf without them noticing.

Chloe’s eyes were alight with what was definitely laughter. “Your first day was even worse than mine!”

“PLEASE,” said the no longer deaf Carapace. He briefly set his phone down to count off on his fingers: “Let’s see… revealed your identity, covered half the city with honey, nearly crashed a train, got akumatized --.”

He never got to finish, because Chloe had thrown herself at him and started trying to smother him with a pillow.

“That’s a throw pillow, Chlo, you’re supposed to throw them,” supplied Rena.

He tried to yell something through the pillow, probably ‘traitor’, but it sounded like “Huhu!”

Chat smiled and walked over to Carapace’s fallen phone and started recording.

~

There was no context for the video that showed up on Carapace’s account that night.

All the people of Paris got was a video of Chloe and Carapace rolling around on the floor, laughing as they took part in what was essentially a pillow fight at that point.

Rena was in the background. She was goading them on, yelling encouragement for whoever she wanted and switching sides at the drop of a hat.

Ladybug was also there, her lips pressed together thinly in an attempt to hide a smile as she made eye contact with the camera and gave an eyeroll.

Chat’s laughter, which had been a soft but constant sound throughout the video, picked up briefly at the eyeroll.

The video cut.

~

Despite his exhaustion, he hadn’t been able to sleep. So, at four in the morning, he shuffled downstairs with a blanket wrapped around himself.

He started towards the kitchen for something to eat, only to stop cold when he heard a quiet scraping sound from inside.

The lights were still off in the kitchen… and everyone should have been asleep or out on patrols...

Many thoughts ran through his head. Hawkmoth could be back. Robbers could be in the house.

He pulled out his phone and transformed. If it was people robbing the place he’d need proof for the police, and if it was Hawkmoth Rena would kill him if he didn’t get a picture (if Hawkmoth didn’t kill him first, of course).

He started recording and then walked to the door, flicking the light on.

Ladybug was sitting on the counter in a Totoro onesie, eating mac and cheese straight from the pot.

He relaxed and let his phone arm fall limply to his side. “Oh, it’s just you.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I was hungry.”

“I can see that.” He realized something as she pulled more food to her mouth and he squinted just to make sure. “Is that… is that brown?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Put coffee in it.”

He was tempted to try and clean out his ears, because there was no way she should have been able to say that so nonchalantly.

“WHY?!”

“Wanted to see if it tasted better.”

He stared at her, trying to gauge if she was messing with him… and then, because he simply had to know, he asked: “And… and does it?”

She looked down at the abomination she had created sadly.

“No.”

~~~

Taglist

@nathleigh @sassakitty @th1s-1s-my-aesthet1c @blueslushgueen @woe-is-me0 @ladybug-182 @cas-and-their-refusal-to-write @trippingovermyfeet @melicmusicmagic @meimei3841 @roseliali

[jadoue1999]

Wanda and the life she deserved (she’ll make sure about it) Epilogue

Summary: thank you for everyone for reading this story! Remember to read the end notes for the surprise I was talking about!

Previous parts:  chapter 1,  chapter 2 , chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, Epilogue

Chapter 12: Epilogue

And that was it. Everyone she cared about was gone. She stood in the foundation of her house; her grief so strong it made her numb. She pulled up the hood of her vest desperately wanting to be left alone. Monica soon joined her side.

“You did it,” she remarked, “you actually did it.”

Wanda didn’t answer, she just pressed her lips together and nodded in agreement. She had seen many movies and shows portraying people fixing their mistakes as a good thing, something that made them feel better. She couldn’t relate. She simply felt like disappearing into the unknown and never being seen again.

“You know, I don’t think I would have had the strength to do it, had it been me,” confessed Monica. “I would have done anything to get my mother back, I can only imagine what you’re going through.” The woman gently put her hand on Wanda’s shoulder, making sure to be slow enough so she wouldn’t intrude her personal space. When no protests came, she squeezed lightly. “I’m here for you if you need me.”

As they reached the town square, Wanda did her best to ignore the hateful glare of the citizens she had tortured over the last week. She wished she could tell them she didn’t know, but she was sure no apologies would be enough. Lost in her self-deprecating thoughts, she was surprised when Monica spoke once again. “So, who was the guy who played your brother? We never could identify him. Yet I can see that his family found him.”

Wanda didn’t answer as she looked up at the X-Men. Her brother was deep in conversation, probably telling them about his time in the town. She quickly changed outfits, feeling more comfortable in her newest costume. The Scarlet Witch, as Agatha called her; she liked the name. She was about to fly away when Peter suddenly appeared at her side.

“Wanda, don’t go.”

She froze in place; he didn’t seem mad at her, but she didn’t want to push her luck. Hatred came in many forms. Since she wasn’t talking, Monica spoke up.

“Hi again, I don’t know if you remember, we escaped the witch’s house together?”

Peter chuckled and nodded. “I do, that was wild.”

Wanda could feel Monica’s question, and the hesitation that came with it. “I know I’ve asked you before, but who are you?”

The silver haired man looked at the redhead, silently asking for permission. She couldn’t figure out why he’d even care about her opinion, but she nodded, nonetheless.

“I’m Peter Maximoff, I’m from a different universe.”

That certainly took the S.W.O.R.D. agent by surprise, she looked at both of them, wondering if it was a joke. She had many more questions, but she felt that the Maximoffs needed to talk. With a nod, she walked away to join an Asian man. Probably a friend of hers. That left Wanda and Peter alone, both wondering how to start the conversation.

“So,” started Peter, scratching the back of his neck. “Thanks for releasing me.”

Wanda scrunched her face in shame, why had she even thought it was a good idea? “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just wanted my brother back and you already wanted to leave, and I just couldn’t-“

“Hey, it’s alright. I mean, obviously it wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t as bad as witchy over there,” he said, pointing at Agnes who was seemingly flirting with police officers. “You wanted me there, so I wasn’t really controlled, I was just sure I was Pietro Maximoff.”

Running a hand through her hair and taking a deep breath to shake away her teary eyes, she finally looked at him in the eyes. “So, you’re not... mad?”

Peter blinked and cleared his throat, “Well, obviously I’m not pleased, but I think I would have done the same thing, had I been given a chance to see Wendy again.”

They walked over to a secluded bench that somehow hadn’t been destroyed by the battle. Wanda kept fidgeting with her fingers, the occasional glares of people mixed with the grief and guilt she felt made an interesting combination of emotions. Peter pulled her into a hug, and she held on for dear life, not wanting to be alone again. “I like the outfit by the way,” whispered Peter in her ear. “Might not believe me but it’s very similar to my dad’s. Irony of the multiverse I guess.”

She couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips, he soon laughed too, and let go of her. He looked around the town, taking in the situation.

“You know, it might not have been real, but our little life was good,” commented Peter. He looked at his team, “I didn’t have any superhero duty to think about or daddy issues to deal with. It was simple.”

Wanda looked at him, not sure if he was being serious, when she realized he was, she simply nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I wanted this. I’ve never had a shot at a normal life, not since I was 10 years old.”

Peter smirked in agreement, looking a little lost in thought for a moment. “Yeah, I remember, your life wasn’t easy, uh?”

The redhead suddenly widened her eyes, realizing the weight of his statement, “oh, I’m so sorry, I can remove his memories from your head if you want.” She tried to put her hands on his temple, but he shook his head.

“Nah, I’m good. I’ve had enough people messing in my mind for a century. Plus, I’m not really sure where my memories end and his starts.”

Wanda was left feeling even more guilty, how did she even think that it was a good idea to keep him? She looked at the ground once again, why could she never do things right?

“So... where will you go?” Asked Peter. “Cause I know how this usually goes, you leave in a remote place, isolate yourself and either build a new life or you get even worse than what your current low point is.” Wanda looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled as he raised his hands in front of him, “hey, you might be from another universe, but my dad basically did the same thing.”

She thought about her options, she had considered isolating herself, she had Agatha’s book after all, she wanted to study it. Before Peter stopped her from leaving, she truly wanted to be left alone. Knowing he didn’t hate her changed things. She wanted him by her side, willingly this time. After a minute or two of waiting, he spoke up, scratching his nose anxiously. “You... you could come with us, if you want.”

She turned her head towards him, eyes wide at the proposition. He gently took her hand and got to his feet. “From what I gathered here; you’re sort of a wanted person? No one knows you in my universe. Plus, powers like yours aren’t unheard of, you’d fit right in!”

He didn’t let her respond as he dragged her to his team. Anxiety was building up in her stomach, how would they react? She had, after all, kidnapped one of their members, even if accidentally. After a quick discussion with the bald man, the professor as he called himself, it was settled that she’d leave with them. The two blue people were polite, but obviously still suspicious of her. Peter’s father was, well, pissed to say the least. He didn’t talk to her and barely acknowledged her when she told them she’d create a portal to get them in their universe. She wasn’t sure how she had already mastered universe hopping, but she assumed it had to do with the scarlet witch thing Agatha had mentioned. After saying goodbye to Monica, who seemed glad Wanda had found people like her, they were off. Portal jumping wasn’t a pleasant experience, but it didn’t feel as bad as the first time she experienced her brother’s superspeed. The first thing she noticed upon arrival was the giant mansion, followed by the dozens of children freely expressing their gift.

That nearly made her breakdown right there.

She adjusted quickly, even made friend with a girl possessing similar powers named Jean Grey. It took a while for Mystique and Nightcrawler to fully trust her, but they eventually did. Erik still blamed her, but he had stopped glaring at her every time she came into a room. She had also learned to astral project herself, giving her more time to study the spell book. It had given her insight she never thought existed.

She had grown closer with Peter, who had confessed one day that his birth name truly was Pietro. They had both lost a twin and while they were both aware that it wasn’t the same; dealing with it together had helped them. Also, being the only people who truly knew Vision and the twins, they felt it was only right to grieve them together as well. Both had had their moments where they tried to talk to them, waiting for an answer, only to realize that they were speaking to shadows. It hadn’t really gotten better; Peter missed his nephews and Wanda missed her family.

Sometimes, when the mansion became too much, she preferred to keep herself in her room. In those time, she usually used it to study the Darkhold and it’s secret. That’s what she was doing, in the middle of the night, when voices pierced her concentration.

“Mom!” Screamed Billy. She gasped as she heard her son in her head. It was Tommy’s voice who followed, “mom, help us!”

Her eyes widened in shock. Her children were alive, they were somewhere. She snapped out of her trance, her mind returning to her body that was laying in her bed. She ran out of her room to join Peter who was listening to music on his Walkman. He looked at her, questions in his eyes, she smiled at him.

“Tommy and Billy, I hear them.”

In a blur, he was in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, hope gleaming in his eyes. “Really?”

Wanda nodded, barely able to contain her excitement, “really.”

In less than five seconds, Peter had packed a bag and was holding it at his side. He offered his hand to Wanda, who gladly took it. He grinned, “let’s go get the rugrats.”

***

Notes: so it’s done! I hope you guys liked it!

As for the surprise, both my father and girlfriend wanted to know more about how the X-men got to Westview so I wrote another fic of their point of view! I’m nearly finished writing it, and it should be about 30k words. Each chapter being approximately 3k words. Now, question is, when and how often should I publish it? I had thought about publishing it every Sunday, unless there’s a day where it’s easier for you guys to read.

[captain-ross-poldark]

Another interesting article from the Irish DM.

THE WOMAN WHO FINALLY TAMED POLDARK

By Maeve Quigley

Heartthrob Aidan Turner has a track record of dating co-stars and it seems like he’s finally found his leading lady as it’s revealed he and Caitlin Fitzgerald have tied the knot

THEY were the pictures that broke the hearts of thousands of fans — the dark-haired actor affectionately smooching his new wife on the romantic streets of Rome, as their wedding rings flashed in the warm Italian dusk. After three years of dating, Aidan Turner tied the knot with fellow thespian Caitlin Fitzgerald in a secret ceremony in the Italian capital last summer, although news of the nuptials has just broken.

The pair met on the set of adventure film The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot and it seems — despite Turner’s previous protestations that he would never date another actress — they couldn’t help falling for each other.

Pictures taken on August 8 show the newlyweds days after tying the knot as they flashed their gold bands while enjoying a romantic al fresco dinner date at Pierluigi’s restaurant in Rome.

In the newly-released images, the loved-up pair seem unable to keep their hands off each other as they sip their drinks, holding on to one another as they gaze into each other’s eyes.

It is believed Fitzgerald also came to Ireland before the pandemic to meet Turner’s extended family — possibly ahead of their big day. Of course, she’s not the first woman with beauty and talent to be seen on the arm of the dashing Dubliner.

But at 37, the man whose shirtless scything in BBC drama Poldark had women everywhere a-quiver is now officially off the market.

Turner was born in Clondalkin, the son of Eileen, an accountant, and Pat, an electrician. He is the youngest of two boys; his brother works for the Revenue.

The family later moved to Walkinstown where growing up he was quite shy so his mum sent him to ballroom dancing classes as she felt it would help him no matter what career he chose. He became quite the champion and could possibly have been headed for an international career before he got bitten by the acting bug when he attended the Gaiety School of Acting, where he dated classmate India Whisker for a short time.

Even then, Turner’s dashing good looks were getting him noticed off stage.

To supplement his acting career, he got a job as a barman in famous Dublin nightclub Lillie’s Bordello, where he proved to be a big hit with the VIP guests

‘Women would come in just to stare at him,’ said former hostess now wellness guru and television presenter Andrea Hayes, who gave the acting student his position behind the bar. ‘I’m not joking.’

His first big acting break came when he landed the part of receptionist Ruairi MacGowan in RTE’s long-running medical drama The Clinic, taking the seat left vacant by another major success story, Chris O’Dowd, who also played a medical administrator on the show.

Around this time he was dating Charlene McKenna. The thenaspiring acting stars were together from 2007 to 2009 and shared a flat together in London before their relationship ended just weeks after McKenna had said in an interview how happy she was.

McKenna has recently got married in secret herself, to actor Adam Rothenburg, with whom she starred in Ripper Street, although she has said she still has a friendship with Turner.

‘He’s flying and I’m so proud of him,’ she said of Turner in a 2016 interview. ‘We still keep in touch and I knew he would do this well for himself. I always told him he would be a movie star.’

While they lived together, Turner landed his breakthrough role as tortured vampire Mitchell in the BBC Three hit Being Human.

Mitchell was torn between his blood lust and doing the right thing and was keen on leather trousers and coats, allowing Turner to smoulder on screen for the first but certainly not the last time.

He managed to gain a cult following from the role — as well as a new girlfriend in the form of his co-star Lenora Critchlow who played a ghost to Turner’s vampire.

When their relationship ended, Turner also chose to quit his role on the show.

But it was Being Human that got him his role in The Hobbit after director Peter Jackson saw him in the show and was struck by his elfin features. He never made it to the elves though, instead playing a dwarf.

And as his star ascended, he began dating another actress, this time Cork-born Sarah Greene. They had been friends for a few years after meeting on the set of Titus Andronicus, directed by Selina Cartmell at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre; but love didn’t blossom until much later.

‘I played Demetrius, her character wasn’t a named character but we met on that,’ Turner said in a magazine interview. ‘It was all very platonic and we never hooked up or anything, but that’s how we got to know each other. Then years later we just met again and it just sort of took off.’

Turner and Greene became the golden couple of the Irish drama scene, both with careers on the rise. They were together when he landed the role of Ross Poldark in the BBC revival of the Cornish drama that became a huge international success.

The fame that came with the role was difficult for both to handle as Turner is not a fan of being seen as a celebrity while Greene hated people taking photographs of her boyfriend while they went about their daily business.

Though then happy in his relationship with Greene, Turner admitted that he had been heartbroken in the past and it was something he was able to channel into his role as the brooding Ross Poldark, a man torn between two women.

‘I don’t know anyone on this planet who hasn’t had their heart broken,’ he told the Radio Times. ‘It’s happened to me. Love is love it’s the purest and rawest thing we have in life.’

As their careers progressed, the couple spent more time apart as Turner was in New Zealand with The Hobbit while Greene was working on projects like Vikings closer to home. But he insisted the distance wasn’t a problem.

‘You meet someone, you fall in love, then you can only see them over Skype or phone calls or texts and emails. And you have this whole other side to your relationship and it’s... it was fun,’ he said in a 2015 interview. He added: ‘We knew we really wanted to be together. And knew if we could do that, we could tackle a lot more. It was never: God, this is hard, bloody hell, we need to review this. This sucks. We never questioned it; it was great. So we had that from the beginning...’

But as the Poldark mania went into overdrive, so did the rumour mill and there were false reports of an engagement and even a secret wedding between himself and Greene. In actual fact the opposite was the case, with the relationship ending in 2015, five years after it started.

Turner then seemed to swear off dating those in the same business, despite his track record. In a press conference for the fourth series of Poldark, he said dating in acting circles meant you could never get away from work, admitting: ‘If you’re in my business and you find somebody who does exactly what you do and you’re living with them, then you’re in the business all the time.

‘You go home, talk about casting directors, you talk about the press, you talk about the next job you’re doing — it can become quite dull and taxing,’ he added.

So instead he was linked to a mystery law graduate, an advertising executive and then the artist Nettie Wakefield, who he dated for around a year before their hectic schedules drove them apart in what was described as an amicable split.

But obviously when he met the stunning blonde Irish-American, Caitlin Fitzgerald, 38, on a film set three years ago, Turner’s new rules went out the window, so bowled over was he by the beauty and talent of his co-star. By the time the film was premiered, the pair already looked smitten, posing on the red carpet together.

Fitzgerald appeared at a concert with Michael Sheen, with whom she starred in Masters of Sex but was seeing Turner at that time and like him, is an intensely private person.

Despite his fame and the stir his bare-chested scything caused, Turner has never been one to chase the celebrity lifestyle — perhaps because of those nights he spent observing celebrities while working behind the bar in Lillie’s.

‘If I allowed myself to let it change my life, it could,’ he has said in the past of his fame. ‘Where there’s celebrity, it’s easy to slip into that — being followed in nightclubs, or dating famous people or getting adverts. I’m just not interested in that stuff.

‘I want to do good work with good actors and filmmakers, read interesting scripts. I didn’t get into this business for celebrity. I did it for my love of film and stories and theatre.’

So although it has now been widely reported that he and Fitzgerald tied the knot in front of his parents Eileen and Pat, neither of them are likely to confirm their nuptials at any stage in the near future.

In fact, the only kissing Turner is likely to talk about is for his role in the film Leonardo, which explores the life and sexuality of Leonardo Da Vinci. In the film we will see Turner as the renaissance artist in a passionate clinch with another man as it explores Da Vinci’s sexuality and his rumoured affair with his apprentice Gian Giacomo Caprotti, better known by his nickname Salai. It is for his art that Turner intends to keep us all guessing as he’d rather we were interested in his roles than his romances.

‘It’s important to me that people don’t know too much about me because I’m trying to play characters,’ he has said in the past

‘Sometimes you see actors who are really good, but you have trouble separating that actor from the celebrity profile.

‘I don’t want to be one of those guys. It helps that people don’t know a lot about me, I guess.’

[longing-and-heartache-and-lust]

the drug, the dark, the light, the flame, Ch.III

[previous] [next] [Ao3]

A third chapter for my work for this year’s @geraskierbigbang with the wonderful @gen-syz-art as my artist ✨

____________________________

It’s almost a month later that Geralt sees them and, despite himself, immediately thinks of Julian. 

He’s making his way through a crowded market early in the morning, trying to get to a tavern where he should be able to find the author of a contract he’d taken off the notice board, when his eyes catch upon a counter selling leather.   

Among the sheths and gloves, there is also riding tack and dog collars.

Geralt’s mind drifts to Asra and Lucio and he can’t help but think that the dyed purple leather of the wide collars would be a beautiful contrast to their winter-white fur. He knows that hunting dogs need special types of collars not to damage their necks, and the ones in front of him seem perfect.

It would be a nice way to thank him for the hospitality, Geralt thinks, Those dogs follow him everywhere.

And at the same time, somewhere deep in his mind, he knows that it’s an excuse to see Julian again, talk to him again. 

Which is, Geralt has to remind himself for what seems like the hundredth time in the last month, not something that he can indulge in.

Julian was simply a good host, it doesn’t mean that he wants to see the witcher again, even if he did talk to him like it didn’t matter who - what - Geralt is.

"I'm a hunter."

"A hunter with two swords behind his back and a silver medallion?"

"A monster hunter." 

"A monster hunter."

After so many years on the Path, Geralt has grown as immune to the hate as he was for illnesses but sometimes, when he would stumble across someone who would see at least a little past the witcher part of him, it was always harder to forget than the sneers and averted eyes, fear and disgust mixed in even proportions in them.

No, Geralt tells himself, almost aloud, No.

With an effort, he makes himself pass the stall without stopping. 

But in the evening, when the market is already closing and he has to pass through it again because he’s not familiar enough with the town to take a different route, the merchant is still there. He's getting ready to turn in for the day but the riding tack and the collars are still on the counter.

He must have noticed Geralt’s interest in the morning, for when the witcher passes by, he calls out to him and, before he knows it, Geralt finds himself standing in front of the stall. 

“What was it that caught your eye, Master Witcher?” the merchant asks with careful but practised curiosity of a salesman. “The dog collars?”

Reluctantly, Geralt nods.

This is a horrible idea, he tells himself.

“Ah!” the man smiles, following the witcher’s gaze and picking up one of the purple ones. “Exquisite, aren’t they? My daughter makes them. What kind of dog ya have?”

Geralt clears his throat, vaguely aware that he’s digging his own grave.

“Not mine,” he says in the end. “A-- friend’s.”

The merchant’s dark eyes light up with little sparks. 

“A present, then?” he asks.

“I suppose.”

The longer Geralt looks at the collar the merchant’s holding in his hand, the leather a beautiful, rich purple, the clearer it becomes that he’s not going to leave without it. The metal details, evenly spaced all around the middle of the collars, catch the light of the setting sun, almost hypnotising in their shine.

“It’s hunting dogs,” Geralt finally says, suppressing a sigh. “Two of them. Tall and slender, the bigger one can reach up to my chest with its nose.”

Maybe, he thinks, I can still get out of this because the collars are too small for dogs like this. He knows they're not but maybe the Gods themselves are going to preserve him from my own inability to think straight.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Master,” the merchant smiles, and Geralt’s last hope shatters. “These fit even the beast of a dog that my son has, so they will surely fit a hunting dog’s neck. Do you want them in different colours or both purple? There are some other colours under the counter, I can take them out to show you. Blue, red, maybe black?”

“Both purple,” Geralt says, accepting his defeat and reaching for his coin purse. “Identical, just like the dogs themselves.”

 ***

 “I’m going to give them to Arthur and we will be on our way,” Geralt tells Roach when they leave the town and turn towards Roggeven, where it will be easier to find their way to the mansion. “All I want is to thank him for his kindness, that is everything.”

Roach snorts at him, unimpressed by what they both know is a lie. 

“Well, it’s not going to be him that will come to open the gates, will it?” Geralt asks mockingly. “I will just give the collars to his majordomo and we will leave like we were never there. It’s a token of gratitude. Vesemir taught me that much.”

The mare just flicks an ear at him, uninterested and there is nothing Geralt can do but sigh and urge her into a faster gait with a whistle. 

Over the past weeks, he’d found himself thinking back on Julian a little more often than he would like to admit, even to himself. Especially to himself. 

Mostly because of a brush for Roach’s mane that he’d realised far too belatedly he’d taken from the stables in the mansion on accident. When he was packing the saddlebags before leaving, it was just there, right next to the riding tack, and he was still thinking about the stupid question he’d asked earlier to notice that it’s not his. 

When he’d finally realised, they were already three days away from the mansion. 

Well, yet another reason to return. Or so he tells himself. 

 ***

The road doesn't take long.

The mansion is only a two day ride away from Roggeven and, well, Geralt was meaning to head in that direction, anyway, the town and villages around the coast always generous with contracts this time of year. The warmer the water gets, the more monsters it seems to attract. 

But when he reaches the Duppa river, he turns east rather than west, and heads in the general direction of Gelibol, keeping close to the north bank. Soon enough, he’s in the town that had given him the nekker contract a month ago. 

The mansion is still a few hours away and the sun is starting to set, so, after a minute’s consideration, Geralt decides to stop for the night.

The town has two inns but he goes for the smaller one - the same one that he’d stayed at the last time. The quieter it is, the better. 

He can tell that he’s recognised as soon as he walks through the door but the innkeeper doesn’t say anything until later in the evening, when Geralt had already made himself somewhat comfortable in his rented room and has come downstairs for a drink. 

“Back so soon, Witcher?” the innkeeper asks, setting a tankard of ale in front of him. “Another nest of beasts somewhere?”

The inn is only now starting to fill up with guests and the dinner is just yet cooking, so it looks like the man has decided to pass time over a conversation. Strange, considering who Geralt is, but not so strange that it can be deemed alarming.

“Passing through,” the witcher says, taking a swig. The ale is just as watered-down as he remembers. “On my way to Gelibol.”

“Ah,” the man says with an understanding nod even though Geralt is sure that he had never been further than the croplands outside the town. “Not close.”

Geralt shrugs.

“Not far.”

He thinks about it for a few seconds but then decides that he’s not losing anything by asking. 

“The mansion a few hours away,” he starts, a little slow. “Who owns it?”

“Oh!” the innkeeper perks up like he’d been waiting for that question. “It’s a strange place, take my word on it, Witcher. There aren’t a lot of people from this village that go to those regions, mainly hunters and those that work on the croplands there, but some say that that mansion has been there ever since they could remember, some say that they’ve never seen it until about five or six years back.”

Geralt cocks a brow, indicating his interest and, when the innkeeper deliberately hesitates, rolls his eyes but throws another crown on the bartop. The man snatches it with a practised move and all of his attention is back on the witcher again. 

“And what about the owners?” Geralt asks, nothing in his voice to give him away. 

The innkeeper sets aside a tankard he’d been wiping and takes another one, shrugging with one shoulder. 

“I’ve only seen the mansion a couple of times with my own eyes but those who are in those regions more often say that they only see gardeners and stablemen working behind closed gates. On occasion they also see a man who they believe to be the owner,” he scoffs. “But from what I’ve heard, he’s way too young to own an estate like that, unless he’s Vizimir’s bastard son or someone. Cannot be older than twenty-five.”

An illegitimate prince? 

That would explain the size of the estate, Geralt thinks, And all the paintings, enormous beds and polished wood furniture. That would explain the giant garden and the stables with multiple horses. The way Julian dresses, those expensive silks that he wasn’t afraid of getting stained with blood when he was stitching the wounds on Geralt’s shoulder without pushing back the sleeves of his chemise. 

Suddenly, it all makes a little too much sense and Geralt is so taken aback by the thought that for a moment, he feels just as overwhelmed as he did that evening in the mansion, when Julian had invited him in. 

He could easily be Vizimir’s illegitimate son. The math is very simple. If Julian is twenty-five - and he cannot be older than that, by the looks of him - Vizimir had already been crowned king when he’d been born. 

How hard can it be for the king of Redania to send an illegitimate son away from prying eyes while still providing him with the comfort of what’s nearly a castle? Geralt had heard of monarchs that loved their illegitimate children just as much as they loved the heirs to the throne.

"Do you live here alone?"

"Depends on how you look at it. My majordomo lives here, in the mansion, and a little further into the garden, there is a house where the gardeners, the housekeepers and everyone else that works for me resides. So technically, no, I don't live here alone. But if you mean family, then yes."

Geralt shakes his head and makes himself concentrate on his ale. 

"What does an illegitimate prince want in these areas? Any major city is weeks away," he says.

The innkeeper shrugs and wipes his hands off on a dirty towel. 

"Who knows what's going on in the heads of the royalty?" he says. "It can be a summer house for all I know. But in this town, we all believe pretty much the same thing. No one has that kind of wealth unless they're close to politics."

Geralt hums, falling silent for a few seconds before asking:

“And you’ve never seen him in town?”

The innkeeper chuckles humorlessly. 

“What can someone that owns a mansion like that want from a place like this? I bet one room in that estate costs more than this entire town, twice.”

 ***

 After he leaves his place by the bar and makes his way up to his room, Geralt gets into bed as soon as he sheds his armour but finds himself unable to sleep. 

He knows he shouldn’t dwell on it, shouldn’t even really consider it an option, but the thought of Julian being a prince - legitimate or not - does not leave his mind. It doesn’t help just how much sense it makes. Geralt’s only seen interiors like that in castles, on those rare occasions that he’d set foot in them. 

But then again, all of those castles were nothing but displays of the monarch's wealth while as the mansion felt lived-in and loved. Like all the painting, all the sculptures and figures, all the velvet and silk had been hand-picked by Julian to accommodate to his own understanding of beauty. 

Geralt has never been the one to let any kinds of obsessive thoughts get the best of him but this one he just couldn’t seem to get out of his head. 

He’s not even sure he can make the rest of the way to the mansion in the morning. The idea of giving dog collars to someone who might be the son of Redania’s king suddenly sounds laughable. He’s probably got anything and everything he wants in that mansion and, surely, dog collars are included. 

But, well, Geralt’s already got them. He’s not going to carry them around in his saddlebags forever. 

The witcher curses under his breath, turning for what seems like the hundredth time of the night to try and finally settle in comfortably.

Making an effort over himself, he closes his eyes and clears his mind of any thoughts, sinking into meditation that will allow him to fall asleep peacefully. 

After all, he’s only going to give the collars to Arthur.

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 23)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Janus, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy, Roman & Remus & Janus

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Janus, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to find a missing 15 year old, all with different pieces of the puzzle about where he is. It really is too bad that no one is answering their phones.

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned, explosions, car crashes (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 My Master Post

“Would anyone care to explain themselves?” Logan asked the room filled with the most frustrating human being he’d ever met. He must have infused his voice with the desired amount of ire, because everyone in the room seemed to wince simultaneously except…

“No thanks!” Remus chirped. Logan shot him a tired look and stepped forward. “Wait! Dad! No!” In a move he’d been using since Remus was a rambunctious child, Logan swiftly put him in a headlock.

“We’re going downstairs,” he told the others. His son was a bit wiggly when Logan started to pull him towards the elevator in the other room, but he didn’t actually put up a fight. In fact, the wiggling usually meant he was pleased with the attention.

He let Remus go when they got to their destination. The elevator was small enough that they ended up taking it in two groups. Logan ended up in an elevator with Lena, his sons, and his brother.

There were a couple of moments of awkward elevator music. “I am very displeased with everyone in this elevator,” Logan informed them all.

No one responded but Patton who patted him on the shoulder. Logan turned on him. “You are at the pinnacle of my ire.”

There were a few seconds of drawn out silence, and then Patton removed his hand. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “You could hear a pen-acle drop.”

“Kids, you no longer have an uncle,” Logan said coolly.

“That’s right,” Patton said with a smile despite the glare Logan was sending him. “You only have a puncle now.”

Roman snorted out a laugh but looked quickly away when Logan glared at him.

The elevator came to a stop and they climbed out of it. “You all go to the conference room while I wait for the rest. Except you,” he pointed at Lena and her bloody nose. “Fred can debrief me. You go get that checked out.” She shot him a thumbs up (because apparently the lack of disrespect for his authority had rubbed off on her) and wandered off towards medical.

“Um,” Roman said tentatively.

“Yes?” Logan asked, already even more tired.

“Also, Janus may or may not have a broken rib. At least he said he might have.”

“Why on Earth is he walking around, then?” Roman just shrugged in response to Logan’s question.

“And send someone down to look at his Janus apparently,” he called after Lena right before she turned the corner. “Anything else pressing?” he asked the three still with him. “No? Then I’ll see you all in the conference room in a few minutes.”

“Conference room 16 or 17?” Remus asked.

“Remus, everyone here is aware that room 17 is a broom closet,” Logan said. “No one is falling for that again.”

Remus sent him finger guns. “Conference room 17 it is,” he said turning to strut off down the hall. Roman shot Logan an awkward half smile before following after his brother, and Logan’s own brother jerked forward to smack his lips against Logan’s forehead before waltzing off after them.

Why was his family like this?

He turned to wait for the elevator to go back up to the factory and down again. He crossed his arms as it arrived. “You’re injured?” Logan asked as the doors opened.

Most of the occupants looked confused, but Janus looked slightly annoyed. “Remus,” he muttered.

“Roman actually,” Logan corrected. “I’m having someone sent down to look at you.”

“I’m f-”

“Don’t even try to argue right now; your second on my list today.”

“Remus is first?” Janus asked.

“Of course, Remus is first.”

“Where am I on the shit list?” Remy asked with interest.

“Somehow, only 5th.”

“Score!”

“But you’re inexorably moving up.”

“But I’m not in the top three.”

“No, my children and brother fill up the spots above you.”

“You said I was second,” Janus said with a frown.

“Yes,” Logan said. “Also, you’re grounded.” Then, he turned to walk towards the conference room.

“Wait, Logan, what does that mean?!” Janus asked his back.

“It means, Logan owes me a buttload of child support,” said Remy.

“I am not your kid. You are not my dad.”

“Sure, son.”

When Logan made it to the correct room, his family was already hard at work making his life a series of aggravations. Patton and Roman were already bent over some sort of project that involved markers, but Remus was missing. Before even stepping into the room, he turned to the opposite side of the hallway and opened the door to the supply closet.

“Get in the correct room before I make you get into the correct room,” Logan said.

“Come on dad, you know it’s not nice to force someone out of the closet.” On most days, Logan would not have found that at all funny, but today for some reason, it elicited a snort of surprised laughter. Remus smiled up at him from his seat on the floor like he always did when he’d done (or thought he’d done) something clever.

“Don’t,” Logan warned, wagging a finger at him, and trying to smooth the smile off his face. It was difficult since his chest was light with the relief of everyone he cared for being relatively unharmed. “Don’t. That doesn’t mean your forgiven. I am very, very unhappy with you.”

Remus just kept grinning.

“I’m relieved that you are safe and happy to have you back with me,” Logan said, “but I am also very angry.”

“Eh, that’s fair.”

“Now get out of the closet.”

Remus found it fit to obey him for the moment, and stood, following him to the conference room where the others had gathered. Patton had somehow found a stack of name tags somewhere and had managed to convince Roman to help him draw little pictures on them along with the names. Patton stuck one with a broom drawn on it onto Remus when he came in. He noticed Virgil’s had a knife drawn on it and Remy’s a cup of coffee. Logan’s own was, aggravatingly, a mobile phone.

Remy and Fredrick were currently forcing Janus into a chair while Roman avoided the glare the injured man was sending at him, and Emile was talking quietly to Virgil.

“Okay,” Logan said. “Let’s start with the ones who haven’t started to explain yet. Roman?”

“My phone got broken probably somewhere between Janus tackling me and hitting me in the face.”

“Oh, is that why Dad texted me about where you were a thousand times?” Remus asked

“Yes,” Logan said, “and you said you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t say that actually.”

“Remus.”

“I was in the middle of something! …And then I forgot.”

“And then it ended up in the bottom of a lake,” Roman said.

“And then it ended up in the bottom of a lake!” Remus agreed. “Along with Roman’s car and us for a minute.”

“You drove your car into a lake?” Logan asked Roman. He felt like his eyes was going to start twitching. “Is that why you are all wet?!”

“Yes, he did!” Remus said.

“Hey! No!” Roman said. “I managed to stop the car before it went into the lake. It’s not my fault the guys behind us aren’t as good drivers as me and slammed into us!”

“Roman destroyed another car!” Remus crooned, and there was the eye twitch. “What’s that? Three? And you say Janus is cursed!”

“I take so responsibility for the Taurus or for this one!”

“Two’s a coincidence; three’s a pattern!” Remus sang joyfully.

Logan shook his head at them and chose to look over at Janus instead. “And you?” he asked. “You looked at your mission details and never responded.”

“You were trying to send me on a wild goose chase when my brother was missing!” He tried to stand up and Remy pushed him back down again.

“I was trying to get you in a controlled environment before telling you of the issues for fear you would overreact and do something careless if you found out on your own.”

“I already knew,” Janus growled, “and that is not your call to make.”

Logan considered that. “Perhaps it wasn’t,” he agreed, “but you still should have attempted to communicate with me, at the very least so I would have known you were okay. For all I knew, Nelson had caught you in a lie and your cover had been blown.”

“It is blown,” Janus muttered. “I smashed her phone, blew up her car, and disobeyed her. She sent men to kill me.”

That information was honestly a relief in a way. Janus had been in danger constantly while being a double agent and Logan had grown more than fond of the man in the last few years. Not having to play nice with Barbara all the time would do him some good.

“We’ll have to reassign you,” Logan said. “As well as Remus, and you’ll both need new permanent residences.”

“We already decided we’re getting an apartment together,” Remus said.

“You decided,” Janus said weakly, clearly not actually interested in protesting, but needing to keep up appearances.

“And we’re going to get a kitty.”

“Ah,” Logan said. “Well, in that case, I would highly suggest you verify it is in fact a ‘kitty’ before you allow it on the premises. I have made that mistake before.”

“You love Raphael,” Remus claimed.

“Possum,” Roman explained at Janus’s questioning look.

“In fact,” Logan said. “It may be advisable that Remington consider moving as well. Nelson very much knows where you live and will likely be unhappy with your continued existence. At least, you should consider taking up residence somewhere else temporarily. For tonight, I’ll get everyone set up in some of the rooms in the base, but that will come later. For now, we need to get everything sorted out. I have a good overall idea about what happened at this point, is there any other important information I need to deal with immediately?”

Most everyone shook their heads and Logan was about to move on to getting more detailed reports when Remus raised his hand.

“Yes?” Logan asked.

“There are two of Barbara Nelson’s men tied up in the trunk of Lena’s car,” he offered.

“What?” Logan asked.

“They were the guys shooting at us that caused Roman to drive into the pond.”

“I did not drive into the pond.” Roman said.

“You were shot at?!”

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 24

[chaoswillfallrpg]

RODOLPHUS LESTRANGE is TWENTY-NINE YEARS OLD and a DEFENCE BARRISTER in THE DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT at THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC. He looks remarkably like JACK FALAHEE and considers himself NEUTRAL. He is currently TAKEN.

→ OVERVIEW:

tw: death, murder

Raised to have a strict worldview due to the fanatic attitudes of his parents, Rodolphus Lestrange has never had reason to question the nature of his reality. Rodolphus and his family resided in the beauty of Lestrange Manor in Nottinghamshire, Rodolphus’ childhood family home stood secluded on the outskirts of Nottingham. A gothic chateaux that took inspiration from their family home of the same name near Paris, it was surrounded by fields and trees, far away from muggles and cloaked in magic in the event any came for a walk in the forest. Brought up away from the Muggle world they detested, with only his mother and father for company until his younger RABASTAN was born, Rodolphus was absorbed in the thinking of his parents with very little reason to doubt anything outside of their word. MARIE LESTRANGE loved her children more than she loved herself and showered both Rodolphus and his younger brother in affection. Whilst most Pure-Blood families they associated with had nannies and school masters to aid in the raising of their children, Marie disagreed with handing her children over to someone else and insisted on doing everything herself with only the aid of a single house-elf Posy for help. She taught her children to read and write and ensured they were fluent in French by the time they went off to school and well versed in many authors that had been pre-approved by Marie for them to read. 

Rodolphus and his younger brother were raised given almost everything they could ever ask for with a childhood spent taking afternoon tea in the garden and discussing the future she wanted her boys to have. His mother upheld tradition and longed for her children to make respectable Pure-Blood marriages to people who loved them. The relationship his mother and father shared captured the attention of a young Rodolphus, who longed to have a relationship like the one his parents shared and provide for them and the rest of his family. Though the Lestrange family were wealthy, their ancestors had wasted a lot of the Lestrange family fortune throwing balls and having custom couture outfits made to line the walls of their wardrobes. The building of the British Lestrange Manor cost their family a great deal and began the long tradition of the Lestrange family working in government and slowly rebuilt the fortune the rest of the wizarding world had no idea they had slowly lost, beginning with Radolphus Lestrange of who he was named. His father THIEBUAT LESTRANGE worked directly for The Minister as her Senior Undersecretary, a job which he believed was beneath him especially in a traitorous administration and had aspirations of climbing higher. His plan would be to groom Rodolphus to work in government and have him infiltrate The Department of Magical Law Enforcement to keep an eye on the goings on there and report back to him. 

Before Rodolphus was sent off to Hogwarts he was given one particular request from his parents and that was to grow close to influential families within the wizarding world, particularly the Pure-Blood families who his father remarked he might need in the future. BELLATRIX BLACK was of particular interest to his parents, with a father who worked in Wizgamot and wealth and beauty that would make a good wife. Rodolphus went to school in the knowledge she’d be someone he’d need to at the very least befriend but was disappointed with the person he found. Bellatrix was incredibly loud and opinionated with a fondness for torturing other children and an inability to follow even the most simplest set of rules as did her friends CASTOR WILKES and EVAN ROSIER. An intelligent young man, Rodolphus had a high opinion of himself which was solidified by the praising of teachers and almost flawless grades which made hanging around Bellatrix and her posse even more difficult for him. He tried to keep them sweet by sitting with them at parties and occasionally handing in a page of homework for them but mostly preferred to seek the company of his roommates LUCIUS MALFOY, ARISTAEUS GREENGRASS who he found far less tiresome despite Lucius’ over inflated ego and Eirik’s constant mood swings. Though he narrowly missed out on being a Prefect due to PROFESSOR SLUGHORN’s clear favoritism of Lucius, Rodolphus did graduate a celebrated member of the Slytherin Quidditch team and Slug Club which greatly pleased both his parents. 

Upon graduating from Hogwarts, Rodolphus was quickly swept up into a job at the Ministry and began training under Bellatrix’s father CYGNUS BLACK. Rodolphus wasn’t quite sure if it was his legal knowledge, spotless record from Hogwarts or a polite word from Bellatrix or his father that had made Cygnus agree to be his mentor, but either way he was glad to have such a respected name in the wizarding world teaching him how to practise law. Training to become a barrister was certainly grueling and required Rodolphus to sacrifice the majority of his personal life in order to be taken seriously by Cygnus. When he wasn’t at the office, he spent the majority of his time at the Black family home helping Cygnus prep for his cases and eating dinner with his family who had come to slowly replace Rodolphus’ own due to the amount of time he spent with them. Bellatrix thankfully was hardly ever home, supposedly travelling or working on personal projects her father hoped would be beneficial to their family Rodolphus had chalked up to meaning a polite term for finding some direction beyond sneering at mudbloods and barking at her sisters. The Black family seriously lacked direction from Rodolphus’ point of view, NARCISSA seemed harmless but if you looked at her often enough you’d see the way she looked at men with eyes like a snake, burrowing into the souls of helpless men. 

Rodolphus had been suspicious for some time that Narcissa's trained gaze had been on his younger brother, considering he’d notice him acting strangely lately and spending a lot of time at the Black home, which he disliked. Bellatrix was Bellatrix. Then there was ANDROMEDA, the middle daughter who was quiet and studious. She cared not for parties and rolled her eyes at the idea of finding a husband often along with a rude quip that made Rodolphus chuckle to himself. The two exchanged the odd piece of polite conversation, though Rodolphus only fully began speaking to her when he took over her father’s job when he became a judge. Andromeda had graduated from an accomplished witch with a longing to learn and better the world she’d been raised in which he found both admirable and misguided considering she came from wealth and privilege as he did. Nevertheless he agreed to train her using the same methods her father had used on him. The life they had chosen was a lonely one and whilst Andromeda did have friends and a personal life he noticed she spent the majority of her evenings in his apartment in High Gate attempting to find something useful which would help them win their cases and slowly became more than just his mentee. He began to learn things about her that he found interesting, her relationship with her sisters and her theories on blood purity he hadn’t really considered before. 

Rodolphus still thought being a Pure-Blood made you better than others, but he did consider those he knew of the same blood as them who were not fit to wipe their shoes. As Andromeda nears the end of her training, Rodolphus has come to regard her as a close friend of his and a much needed warmth in his life he’d been missing in the pursuit of greatness. Though their caseload is often petty crimes such as underage wizards using magic, there have been a few more interesting cases recently that have kept both him and Andromeda busy as Aurors attempt to find the culprit of those kidnapping and killing multiple people across London. Most recently the pair have been defending SILAS CRUMP, an unregistered werewolf frightened he’d be framed for the killing of his daughter. Supposedly found by a witch and wizard he can’t recall the names of, Silas was put under the Imperius Curse and given a false memory both he and Andromeda can’t seem to break through. Curious, the pair have been trying to find other cases of other magical creatures with similar stories, until the case took a turn. The Minister’s son BOOKER BAGNOLD was found dead in the Ministry’s fountain on Halloween with one named attached to the killing. Silas Crump. Confident there is more lurking underneath the case, Rodolphus won’t rest until he has won his case but with his client missing, people closest to him keeping secrets and dark forces at play has no idea what else he may be uncovering in the process. 

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Blood Status → Pure-Blood

Pronouns → He/Him

Identification → Cis Male 

Sexuality  → Up To Player

Relationship Status → Single

Previous Education → Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Slytherin) 

Societies → N/A

Family → Thiebaut Lestrange (father), Marie Lestrange (mother), Rabastan Lestrange (brother), Ilar Travers (uncle), Vivienne Travers (aunt), Isolde Travers (cousin), Evora Travers (cousin)

Connections�� → Aristaeus Greengrass (best friend), Andromeda Black (close friend/mentee/potential love interest), Lucius Malfoy (close friend), Decius Flint (friend), Bellatrix Black (friend), Castor Wilkes (friend), Isolde Travers (friend), Cygnus Black (ex-mentor), Silas Crump (client), Regulus Black (assistant) 

Future Information → Eventual Member of The Death Eaters, Husband of Bellatrix Black

RODOLPHUS LESTRANGE IS A LEVEL 7 WIZARD.

[embretheworld]

So in the Elemental Masters AU, what do their parents think of all of this? Especially Lou, Ed & Edna. Because they raised these kids who are suddenly seen as gods and they were there for all the big and little moments. The good and the bad and the embarrassing events that happen as children grow.

Good question! Okay, so let's get this straight(mostly for me but yeah) some of them knew what they were getting into when they made their decisions and some didn't. I'm gonna put these into two groups those who did and didn't. But I should also say this that they aren't really viewed as Gods until later on in the seasons. Like season 8. 

 Those who knew what they were getting into: Maya, Ray, Lilly, Lou, and partly Misako. 

 Those who didn't: Julien, Ed, and Edna 

 Maya and Ray are both very powerful beings, so you can expect that they knew what they were getting into, they know one of them would have powers but they didn't expect both. They've fought their battles and so many others so I'd say that they were the least affected to what happened, maybe a little surprised that they both of them have powers. But yeah. 

 When it comes to Lilly and Lou they are both entirely different. Lou managed to make her fall in love with him unaware that she was the master of Earth but that didn't scare him off when he eventually found out. They had a kid and slowly but surely as that kid grew up Lilly's power started to fade, she noticed this but never got the chance to tell him since she had enemies to fight and they'd have to move every few years as a just in case. 

Eventually they settled down in a town no one really knew about, Lilly taught Cole a few things she knew(Gardening and stuff that she used to do in order to connect to Earth) and she eventually got sick.(But the thing was she got sicker a year or so later than she did in canon) She got sicker and sicker and eventually on her last week of living she told Lou what Cole was going to get her powers but she didn't want him to have to bare the responsibility of being viewed as a god just yet. So Lou never told Cole about him having his mothers powers until eventually a year later he found out himself, he and his dad fought he went to climb a mountain that Sensei Wu just so happened to be training the ninja on and he became a ninja. Lou wasn't necessarily happy at first when he found out but he learned to accept it, even if it means that he won't get to see him as much as he used to. 

 For Misako she married Garmadon before he became evil. When he became evil she knew that was gonna have some repercussion so as you know she up and left when Lloyd's behavior got to bad and sent him to school. She didn't mean to be a bad mother but she kinda was in this au. The fact that Lloyd had some sort of powers wasn't a surprise but the fact that he was the legendary Green Ninja was. The fame that came with that was no surprise but being viewed as a god was. 

 Julien: Let's establish this, I have no idea why or how Zane is the ice ninja because he's an android but I won't question this. (Okay never mind, turns out he was given his powers) The previous master of ice visited them, gave Zane his powers completely unaware that his son was given said powers. History happened, he was taken and Zane was left alone. History repeated itself and eventually he found out that Zane was now the ice ninja. He was surprised but nevertheless supportive. But the thing was he never got to see this happened since, sadly, he died but I can imagine that he'd be a little concerned, maybe over more often than not so make sure Zane's alright but we'll never get to see that though. 

 Ed and Edna: These two found a child on their doorsteps, took him in and slowly but surely they learned that there was more to this child than meets the eye. It started with him vehemently finding interest in things having to do with lightning, like storms all things like that until eventually his powers started to show. They were confused at first, they didn't know what to do, they knew there wasn't anything wrong with his son but they wanted to know what exactly was going on, enter in Sensei Wu. He informed them what was going on and what exactly was going to happen to their son, ensuring them that this was perfectly normal for him 

Nevertheless to say out of all the parents they were the ones who knew what was going to happen to their son when it started happening and it wasn't hidden. They didn't understand what was going on with him since they never had experience with this before but they wanted the best for their son even if that meant having their son become a ninja despite how much it hurts to not see him as much as they wanted to. They didn't know exactly how this would end up but they were suprised when their son came to see them with both a girlfriend that was a ninja like him and the fact that they were now both viewed as gods in the public eyes. 

It was strange to them because to them they were just children who just had powers that wanted to help but to others they had god like powers. They were the chillest with that but nevertheless it was the most surprising thing they heard in a while.

[krispydefendorpolice]

The Demon’s Bride (4)

Call out to @vitaliciouscreations for their “Drop of Paradise” story. I’m using the same name Tiān but they came up with it (to best of my knowledge). Another fun read. Anyone interested in me putting up a random maribat recomendation in this part?

On to the story

Beginning Previous Next Masterpost

_________________

Chapter 4

After dropping Mari in front of the hotel she was staying at, where the teacher definitely had not noticed she was missing he fumed, Damian returned to the Bat cave. His father, all three of his brothers, his sister, Alfred and the rest of the extended Bat Clan were waiting.

“You never turned your comm back on,” Bruce commented.

“I needed to speak with Mari before talking to you,” Damian said, passing his father and pulling up files on the Bat computer.

“We had noticed. It would have been nice to know you were alright after she took down Jason the way she did.”

“Hence the reason I left my tracker on instead of disabling it. You knew where I was.”

“Who is this mystery girl the boys are talking about?” Barbara, aka Oracle, asked.

Damian ignored the question while he filtered through the files of the Wayne conference attendees for the school group staying at Mari’s hotel and down to the students on the trip. He pulled up the school picture of Mari and the information they had on her.

“She is a friend from my childhood,” he finally said looking at the information. He saw that her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, her parents on file were listed as Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng. So they hadn’t changed it, he thought, disappointed in himself because he never looked.

Damian turned when no one said anything after his declaration. Leaning against the console he waited for their responses.

“Bull shit Demon Spawn. You’ve never mentioned friends other than Jon and the Titans before,” Jason said, “and even then it’s because they are not your friends.”

“I assure you she is,” Damian said.

“Then why is this the first time any of us have ever heard about her?” Dick asked.

“None of you have ever shown a particular interest in my childhood with the League of Assassins before now, so why would I have talked about her to you?” Damian answered with a question of his own.

“Because you bit off our heads every time we asked anything,” Tim argued.

Damian narrowed his eyes, “The last time anyone asked me anything about the League I was 11 years old, had just moved in with a bunch of strangers, and had witnessed my family and my whole life destroyed by a madman. Of course I fucking yelled at you. I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t cry, yell or rage about the unfairness of watching my family, my family,” he emphasized, “die because I was with strangers and emotions make you vulnerable and I could not afford any more vulnerabilities with the unknown situation I was in.”

The entire clan was silent during his tirade, and a bit ashamed at what he was revealing to them years afterwards.

“I’m sorry Damian. We should have realized that and asked you how you were handling the changes at the time,” Bruce was the first to apologize.

“So you weren’t just rabid from Mom’s Tender Loving Care?” Jason asked.

“Master Jason,” Alfred chided while the rest of the clan just gave Jason a Really? look.

“In the 10 years I lived with her I probably spent less than two in her actual company,” Damian said. “I don’t think I would have responded well at the time even if you had realized,” he acknowledged Bruce’s apology.

“Can you tell us about her?” Bruce asked.

“I can but there’s a lot to talk about to really understand everything. I’m meeting her tomorrow for her free day, we can come here for dinner. I can give you some of that background information now and she can answer any of the questions about herself that I can’t answer.”

“Alright. So tell us what we need to know.”

“Might I suggest we move this discussion out of the cave and to the parlor where we might be more comfortable while we talk,” Alfred interrupted.

“That sounds like a good idea Alfred,” Dick said.

**************************

They did as Alfred suggested and moved to the sitting room so they could sit comfortably while talking about Damian’s past. They were all aware that before he came to them at the age of 10 he had lived with his mother and grandfather and with the League of Assassins. He had been volatile and reckless even while he was taking up the mantle of Robin and began following the others into the vigilante lifestyle.

But apparently there was more to his actions as a kid than just being a snobbish brat raised to believe he was better than everyone else.

Damian sipped at his cup of Black tea while settling his mind around what he was going to discuss. He had spent the last 7 years trying not to think of the other half of his biological family and believing the rest were dead so that he hadn’t had any other reason to reflect on his youth in the League. But that had obviously been a mistake. If Mari survived did anyone else? Can I get my family back? He wondered to himself while the rest of the clan settled down with their drinks of choice.

Finally everyone was settled. Bruce was the one to set the ball rolling.

“So what should we know?”

“Before I start about what I know,” Damian began turning to Jason, “I need to know more about what you know of the League, Todd.”

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked at him stonily. If Damian was quiet about the League as a kid (lies, he really wasn’t because he was an Al Ghul dammit) then Todd was a monk who had taken a vow of silence (slightly less a lie, he didn’t talk about it but he did rant about what a bitch Talia was). None of the Bats knew much about his time with the League other than he met Talia before returning to Gotham to seek vengeance on the Joker.

“Like what, Demon Spawn?” Jason asked.

“Well, first, did you have a designation?”

“A what?”

“That’s a no then. Consider yourself lucky, or not, since you were one of mother’s various pet projects then.”

“Damian,” Dick warned as Damian still had a tendency to be very blunt, to the point of being abrasive, when talking about other’s trauma’s.

Damian frowned before nodding in acknowledgement of the warning and in apology for his tone.

“I suppose the first thing you should know is that the League of Assassins is only about two hundred years old, while Tiān the city from which it was established is thousand of years old. Grandfather found it years ago and started to recruit certain prized and influential citizens and families into following him. Eventually the majority of the city were members of his cult and doing his bidding. We can get more into why the League as its own city is important tomorrow.

“Now, since the League is a cult and it was born out of an independent city how has it maintained it’s membership for so long? And I assure you it wasn’t because grandfather shared the secret of the Lazarus Pits with anyone” he asked.

“They recruited new members,” Dick answered with a shrug.

Damian gave him his own Really? look. “Recruits only account for about 25% of the new trainees and they are usually older teens and young adults. The people that are disenfranchised from the society outside of the League. Individuals with knowledge of the world outside shaped by influences from outside and not by Ras Al Ghul,” Damian said. “I was one of 79 children born in my year group. I was not raised by Talia no matter how she spins it. Despite having a personal bodyguard, private tutors and a nursemaid because I was an Al Ghul heir, I was raised with the other children my age in the al’akadimia*.”

“Talia didn’t raise you?” Barbara asked.

“She oversaw my training, instruction and education which seems to be her impression of parenting, but no, she was not involved in the day to day of my life growing up. I got more of that with Father in the first few months than I did from her in the entirety of my time with her,” Damian answered.

The Bats were silent as they digested this new piece of information from their youngest.

“In the cave you mentioned losing your family. It sounded like it happened in Slade’s attack. If not Talia, who were you thinking of? The girl?” Tim asked.

*academy- Arabic via Google translate

_________________

So, this chapter f*cked with my head. I was just writing and playing with the story and had to come up with a reason for Damian being such a little shit as a kid. And I threw in the line about him losing his family and moving in with strangers when I had an oh shit moment of enlightenment.

In the Son of Batman, Damian witnessed his grandfathers death. His mother brought him to strangers and essentially dropped him on their doorstep. Then we get into the fact that most likely he was essentially abused growing up (how else do you get a kid that wont show emotions) but they were still his family and yeah...

I try throwing in a flippant reason but really it kinda sounds like a canon reason too.

I had never thought about why canon Damian was the way he was especially in that first movie and now my head hurts. I’m curious if anyone else has ever given that a thought or if you’re just now having that oh shit reaction?

Taglist: I’m so happy so many are enjoying it. I’m trying to get everyone but if I miss you I’m sorry but it’s not intentional. Also, I appreciate the comments but unless you ask I won’t tag you so if you’ve commented and not been tagged it’s cuz you didn’t ask or because I overlooked it trying to find everyone who’s asking to be tagged. And I’m going to ask that you message me since I’m having trouble finding all the asks in the comments. Thank you.

And thank you all!

@ozmav @multifandomscribette @mochinek0 @inevitableenquere @zebrabaker @poshplumcot @tog84 @luciferge @sonif50 @ravennightingaleandavatempus @northernbluetongue @actual-human-disaster @clumsy-owl-4178 @aarushi-03 @bluerosette23 @g-arya @moonyloonyx @fertileleaf @shreky-boi @thanks-captain-obvious @panda3506 @hinata3487 @thequestionablyhuman @dontgiveaflyinflip @dast218 @chocolatecatstheron @asianfrustration13 @slytherinsheashire @weird-pale-blonde-person @yin-390 @mycupisbroken @vixen-uchiha @kuroko26 @autisticlinx @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mariae2900 @zalladane @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @tbehartoo @novicevoice @violatiger8 @thebookish3lf @fandomkitty8 @redscarlet95 @gingersnapnoir @chewbaccaatemythoughts

[zukuthehero]

Questions and Answers and Homes

First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter || AO3

##  Aizawa POV ##

I watched with growing dread as Nedzu picked through problem child’s file.

He really did just figure out his quirk, his first update for having a quirk was two weeks before school started.

He apparently updated it again just this weekend, noting a few additions and changing the name.

I was not happy.

Fuck I’d made the kid hurt himself on the first day just to use his quirk!

“What do we do?” I asked Nedzu.

“Why, we teach him! If his quirk does increase his mental capacity we’ll have to check, and of course hone whatever skills it helps with the most.”

Nedzu was studying the file carefully.

“His scores are pretty mediocre for someone with a mental enhancement quirk though,” he murmured, sipping his tea.

I frowned, what did that mean, was he saying problem child lied about that? Or something else? Did problem child hide his smarts? Why would he do that?

“Oh well!” He chirped, “We’ll just have to wait and see, hmm?”

I glared, that was the opposite of what I wanted.

“Do bring him by tomorrow after the memorial service, I’ll have a test ready for him.”

I sighed, “Fine, whatever. Also, check the cameras for outside my classroom right after classes let out, some students were causing trouble and harassing my kids.”

He looked up, a strange gleam in his eye.

“No need to worry Aizawa! I’ll deal with the one’s bothering your… students.” He grinned at me.

I nodded and quickly left, Nedzu was in a strange mood and no one wants to be around for that.

##  Tomura POV ##

I hummed, studying my Otouto’s file.

His quirk, Enhancement. Allowing him to enhance himself physically and mentally, too subtle to notice previously as it was limited to mental enhancement, but recent stress triggered his quirk’s evolution and gave him the capability to use it physically.

Does that mean the Otouto was never truly quirkless? Or did his quirk come slowly?

I studied the other notes.

Physical enhancement of a high degree, but special training needed to make his body able to handle the enhancement, otherwise the backlash breaks the bones. Troublesome.

Otouto would definitely be able to master it, and if it is a mental enhancement…

“Well Tomura, what does it say?”

I looked up at Sensei’s screen.

“Of course, sorry Sensei. His quirk is called Enhancement. It says he had it all along but it just wasn’t noticed cause it was enhancing him mentally, so he just looked smart.”

Sensei frowned, “Strange, I checked him for a quirk myself, to insure the doctor was correct. I didn’t sense a mental enhancement, or any quirk at all… then again…”

He trailed off and I perked up, “Sensei?”

“Well, I was unable to sense my brother’s quirk as well, perhaps the drawback of my quirk is being unable to sense family’s quirks. So perhaps he did have one and I just couldn’t sense it… I will have to think on this.”

Sensei shook his head and tilted it back towards me, “Continue Tomura.”

I nodded, “Says it recently evolved due to a mix of stress and physical training, giving it the physical aspect that I saw. Downside noted is that the backlash breaks his bones as his body can’t handle the stress.”

“Stress?” Sensei said sharply.

I frowned over the report, “Yeah, I don’t know. It doesn’t say what the stressor was.”

Sensei looked displeased, can’t blame him. Apparently Otouto was put in a situation sufficiently stressful enough to make his quirk evolve.

That’s not good and someone’s gonna die.

“Well, it is an interesting quirk nonetheless. The implications of its capabilities.”

I grinned as Sensei trailed of for a second.

“Yeah?” I questioned.

“What all can it enhance? Could he enhance his healing with it? His strength is an obvious part, but could he enhance his muscle strength as well to counter the backlash? Can he focus the enhancement? Can he enhance other’s skills? Share his strength with them? How does he gain the power to enhance himself? Does it build up over time? Or does it draw from something around him? Does he need an external force and hasn’t realized yet? I will need more information to insure he is able to train his quirk to his full potential.”

“Yes Sensei,” I nodded.

Sensei always makes excellent points, there’s a lot about the quirk we don’t know. Otouto probably knows more and is keeping it off the record, but it would be helpful to know more so that we know how to help him.

But if Sensei is correct about the scope of Otouto’s quirk then Otouto will need a lot of training…

“Shouldn’t we just pick him up now? He’ll need training and we can teach him here. Away from those filthy heroes. Obviously they’re not teaching him right! I mean, his quirk is hurting him! If they were teaching him how to control it then he wouldn’t be having those kinds of issues with it!”

“I know Tomura, and I want Izuku here as much as you do.”

I nodded, staring intently, of course Sensei does, Otouto is his precious son after all! He wants him safe more than anything.

“We simply need more information.”

I slumped.

“The Sports Festival will let us analyze him, see his strengths and weakness’s, let us see how he acts around his classmates. It will give us a large advantage in knowing what to focus on in teaching him plus allow us to see how he interacts with any friends he’s made. His safety comes first, but we mustn’t forget about keeping him happy either.”

I sighed, that’s true.

“I guess. But I want him here now!”

Sensei smiled, “As do I, but we must be patient.”

“None of them are worthy of Otouto, he’s worth more than all of them combined.”

“He is, and we’ll make sure he’s well aware of that when we retrieve him.”

“I need to figure out his room for when we do get him. He’ll need a soft space, plus of course video games. Otouto will only get the best.”

I need to start deciding now don’t I? What if Sensei changes his mind and decides to get Otouto sooner?

I heard a soft laugh, “Very well. Tomura, you should design and gather the supplies for Izuku’s room there with you. He’ll likely stay in your base for a while.”

I perked up. “Really!?”

“Yes, gather whatever think necessary for Izuku. He’ll also want some notebooks I’m sure.”

I grinned, “Yes Sensei! He’ll have everything he needs and more!”

I’ll need to find out all the details, I know his favorite food is Katsudon, does he have a favorite snack though? A favorite dessert? I know he loves Pokemon, so I’ll get some of the side games he doesn’t have yet. Yeah, a full gaming system for him would be best I think.

Oh, he’ll need clothes, not like we can just raid his house. His mom would probably be upset. So clothes, and soft blankets, lots of pillows.

He likes heroes but maybe we can compromise, and I can get him some vigilante merchandise? It’s close enough right? Maybe some underground hero merchandise? It’s less common but the underground heroes aren’t nearly as sucky as the show off ones.

Okay, he’ll need some electronics, a computer and stuff. Don’t want Otouto getting bored!

There’s so much to do and so little time.

“Kurogiri! We have stuff to do! Get ready to go out.”

##  Izuku POV ##

I shuffled slightly.

Tsu nudged my arm, glancing up at me. I offered her a weak smile.

The Memorial was today, the one for Mineta.

It was… stressful.

The other students finally seemed to remember that a student died, and they were all shooting our class looks. I’m very thankful that the class was hiding me and Tsu from view.

I swallowed as Principal Nedzu came up to speak.

“The year has only just begun, and yet we have already lost a student.”

His expression was solemn.

“His loss is a great tragedy, he stood by his classmates during the attack and in the end, he died for it.”

Well he didn’t exactly stand by us, more like he tried to flee at every opportunity but…

“Mineta Minrou was only a student, like the rest of you. He should not have been in such danger at his age. We will all mourn his death. Hold your silence for a moment in memory of Young Mineta Minrou.”

No one spoke.

“Thank you.”

His gaze swept around to study the students, “Now, I know there has been some discussion as to what happened during the attack. I am going to clarify it now.”

Everyone went silent.

“The villains that attacked used a being called Nomu to fight All Might. This creature is safely in holding now so there is no need to worry about it! The two leaders of the villains managed to escape before they could be captured due to one of them having a warp quirk. The other has a     quirk that allows him to disintegrate things. Currently the limits of his quirk are unknown, though it likely relies on touch. Both of them are extremely dangerous. The rest of the villains were unfortunately broken out by the warp villain, but the police were able to question them first.”

He looked around, “The villains are dangerous, and they won’t hesitate to harm you and were capable of bringing down two pros. If you run into any of them your best bet-“

~~Otouto~~

I shook my head.

Principal Nedzu was talking still.

“Now then, that is all that I can share with you about the attack. Please do not question your fellow students on it as it was a very traumatizing event.”

I swallowed, oh I hope no one questions me about it.

“Remember children, some of your fellow students just lost a classmate. Be kind, the students are recovering from their loss. If any of you are found to be bothering them,” He smiled brightly but I felt a shiver go down my spine, “You’ll regret it!”

They dismissed us shortly after.

I went to find Aizawa-Sensei.

##  Tsu POV ##

I sat quietly with Hound Dog. Midoriya and Aizawa-Sensei dropped me off before heading out, Midoriya apparently has to complete a test with Nedzu while I’m talking to Hound Dog.

The therapy session started out fine.

He asked me how I was feeling, fine, how classes were, fine, how did I like the hero course, it’s fine.

Then he moved onto the USJ incident.

Asked me how I felt about it, asked if I wanted to talk about the details, asked if I was alright, how I was holding up.

I answered as best I could.

It had been scary, I couldn’t believe that we’d been put in danger like that.

I still didn’t understand why the one villain called Midoriya Otouto. But I’d promised not to speak about it till Midoriya knew more.

So, I answered, I kept it vague, told him an outline of what happened.

“How do you feel about Mineta?”

And I broke down.

He sucked, I didn’t like him, he was groping me right before that.

But I didn’t want him to die.

I tried to stifle my cries, but Hound Dog gave me tissues and gently rubbed my back.

Mineta died right in front of me.

It could’ve been me.

It would’ve been me.

Except Midoriya told him to leave me alone.

And he did.

###  Izuku POV ###

The Test had been hard, lots of questions, lots of different scenarios, there was even a quirk analysis section (that was my favorite part honestly).

It wasn’t as hard as it could’ve been. I might have kept the grades a bit lower in school to avoid attention from the worst bullies (last thing I wanted was for them to try and make me do their work for them and get blamed for plagiarism on top of everything else) but Dad made sure that I had everything I needed to learn a lot. And sometimes he would send mini-quizzes in the letters, so I always made sure to do the reading he gave me.

Plus, it was from Dad, how could I not do it? He was sending me something to do, even though I was a useless quirkless child at the time he still did extra to humor me, even if just for mom. I refuse to let him down more than I already am or well, was.

So yeah, the test was hard, but Dad’s quizzes can be harder. For once I didn’t change my answers to wrong ones though, I’m trying to claim I have a quirk that enhances my mental capacity, if I do badly they’ll realize I’m lying.

Now I had to go back to class. After that is lunch and I have my meeting with Hound Dog then. That was fine, I brought some of the snacks Dad sent me in the care package with my bento today. I was excited to try the Cheez-Its Dad sent me. I’d try the Pop-Tarts another time.

Class was boring, just English lessons.

Present Mic was good at making it interesting most days but today I just have way too much on my mind.

“Midoriya! How do you say ‘The wind sent the rock across the placid lake.’?”

I answered it, barely paying attention.

Dad wanted me to learn English a while ago. I was fluent enough to be able to respond to his letters in English and talk to him on the occasional phone call. I was also alright at Mandarin, Russian, and French. But not fluent. French was the hardest but Dad wanted me to learn them. I could write in them and say some words but not much more… And I was going off track again.

I’m not excited for the therapist appointment. What was I going to say? Oh yes he died and I didn’t see it cause the Nomu was right in front of me? That I didn’t even realize he was dead till Tsu told me?

Ugh I was not looking forward to it.

The bell rang, jolting me out of my thoughts.

Right, time to go to Hound Dog. Aizawa-Sensei was waiting for me at the teachers’ lounge, he led me to Hound Dog’s office.

“Thanks.” I mumbled.

He studied me, “I’ll be here at the end of lunch to bring you back to class. Don’t forget to come to the teacher’s lounge after your last classes to meet with the detective about what happened.”

I nodded, mumbling an agreement, before turning to open the door.

Hound Dog was nice, his quirk was super interesting to I wonder exactly what he gets out of it? Is he human that’s like an animal or animal that’s like a human? My hands itched to pull out my notebook, but I forced the urge down.

“How are you doing today Midoriya?”

“I’m okay,” I murmured, shifting in my seat.

“You can pull out your lunch, I know it’s a bit difficult having to see me during your lunch hour.”

I nodded, pulling out my bento with the leftover Katsudon and the bag of Cheeze-Its.

“How are your classes going?”

I swallowed my bite, “Um, the-they’re doing okay.”

“Struggling in any?”

“Not really.”

“Do you have a favorite?”

I thought for a moment, “Math? It’s a struggle sometimes which is fun…”

Hound Dog nodded.

“Are you enjoying the hero course?”

I perked up a little, “Yeah! I really love learning to be a hero, I never expected to be able to get in right away. My original plan was to go through the sport’s festival.”

Hound Dog frowned, “Oh? With your quirk it seems like you’re more than able to be a hero.”

I shifted, “Well, my quirk only… it only became obvious recently. Before I was considered quirkless.” I looked away.

Hound Dog didn’t say anything for a moment, I nibbled at one of the Cheeze-Its, it’s good.

“That’s impressive.”

I blinked, “What?”

“You were planning to become a hero even when you were thought quirkless, that takes guts. You’re really brave, and clearly determined, to do that.”

I flushed, “Ah, well, I just- It’s not- I’m-“

Hound Dog chuckled, “Don’t undermine your strength pup.”

I nodded.

“Did you have plans for the kind of hero you were going to be?”

“Yeah, I was, I was gonna be an underground hero. No quirk meant no being flashy….”

He nodded, “True.”

I swallowed, “Ah well, I was gonna try to become an analysis expert. Um, I know they’re kinda rare, but my dad does analysis’s, I don’t know for which company but he’s good at it. He helped me learn a bit about it and I really enjoy it…”

Hound Dog blinked, “Oh? Have you still been doing it?”

I nodded, “Uh yeah, I try to…”

“Tell me a bit about one of your classmates quirks?”

I straightened, mentally going through the quirks my classmates have and which I have some info on right now.

“Uraraka has a quirk called Zero Gravity but that isn’t quite right because there’s more to it then just cancelling gravity. After all, there’s air resistance, friction, air pressure, and other forces involved as well. It seems more like her quirk reverses momentum or enhances it or something along that line. Her quirk lets her decide the momentum almost. She completely cancels the velocity of the object, even when it’s falling.  When she touches stuff, it floats up and drifts if it was just sitting there, which shouldn’t happen unless a force was exerted on it. But if she moves it, it just keeps moving till it hits something. Plus she seems to almost be able to control the amount that she affects the object that she touches.  That doesn’t line up with Zero Gravity.”

I paused for a breath.

“But moving away from the exact way her quirk works, the potential for it is massive. She’s limited right now on what she can move but she can easily keep an opponent from escaping with just a touch. She can lift practically anything, making her an ideal rescue hero. If she could add thrusters or something of similar nature to her costume then she could make herself weightless and use the thrusters, or a grappling hook at the least, and fly around. It would extremely increase her mobility.”

I faltered, noticing Hound Dog’s wide-eyed look.

“And um… yeah.”

“… Well… That is… very thorough. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this.

I flushed, “Ah well… Quirks are interesting?”

He nodded, making a note.

“Well, it’s fairly impressive how much you’ve thought about it.”

I gave a weak smile.

“How are you adjusting then? Have you… analyzed? Your own quirk?”

I nodded, “Um, yeah, I uh, I’m still figuring it all out… but uh, I’m working on it?”

He nodded, offering me a gentle smile. Or well, gentle for him.

“Alright, have you made any friends?”

I blinked at the sudden shift in subject.

“Uh, yeah, um, Tsu, Tsu and Uraraka are friends…. I think.”

He nodded, making another note.

“Have you talked to anyone about the USJ incident yet?”

I winced, diving right in then.

He studied me, “You don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want, we can meet as many times as you need.”

I shook my head, “No, no…. It’s okay. Um, I haven’t… haven’t talked to anyone yet… I uh, I have a meeting with the detective after this…”

He nodded, “Alright, how did you feel about it?”

“Scared,” I looked away, “Nervous. We all almost died… Mineta…. He…”

“It’s okay, it’s a hard subject, and you saw the death. That isn’t easy.”

I shook my head, “I didn’t see it.”

He blinked, “Oh?”

“The Nomu, it was in the way. I didn’t see it. Didn’t even realize…” I hunched in on myself.

“I see… that still can’t have been easy, to be right there, with two of the high ranked villains trying to kill you.”

How do I tell him that the villain stopped when I asked? How do I say that the villain did not try to hurt me? Could I say that?

“Yeah…”

He kept talking, coaxing me to talk about the events more. To discuss how it felt.

I answered him as best I could, he stopped a subject any time I seemed too worked up. We ended up jumping between the USJ attack and my Junior High and what it was like being diagnosed as quirkless and what I did for hobbies.

It got easier to talk when we left the subject of the USJ.

Then lunch was over and Aizawa-sensei was walking me back to class.

That was nerve-wracking, but I’m glad I did it. I felt surer of myself now. I would not let that happen again, I wouldn’t let someone be hurt right in front of me without me noticing. I would be a hero, a good one.

##  Naomasa POV ##

I settled down to talk to Midoriya Izuku, Toshinori’s successor. Toshinori said he’d be sitting in on the meeting to.

I quirked an eyebrow when Eraserhead brought the kid in.

I hadn’t gotten the chance to see more than his file yet, he was smaller than I expected.

He mumbled to the teacher who nodded, settling down in the seat to the right of Midoriya. Toshinori took the other one.

“Hey kid, how are you today?”

“Hi Al- Uh- Toshinori-san!”

“Wait you know him Toshinori?” Aizawa’s eyes narrowed on Toshinori.

I sighed, best to interrupt for now at least, give Toshi some time to come up with an excuse.

“Hello Midoriya-san, I’m Naomasa Tsukauchi. I’m covering the USJ incident case.”

Aizawa swung to glare at me.

“Hi,” Midoriya mumbled, peering up at me shyly.

“How are you doing today Midoriya-san?”

“I’m alright.”

“I’m glad.” I shuffled my papers and smiled gently at him, “Before we begin I need to let you know that my quirk Lie Detector will let me tell if you lie, so speak only the truth.”

He nodded, eye’s sparkling suddenly, “Yes sir,” He murmured.

‘How does he know when they’re lying? Is there some sense? A sound? A feeling? And can he turn it on and off at will? Can he tell when they’re withholding information or just when they don’t speak a truth? Does it work for truths in general or if they phrase the answer carefully can they slip past it? Can they complete the sentence in their head to trick it?’

I blinked as he mumbled out an analysis of my quirk, that was…. Impressive, and mildly scary.

I cleared my throat and he flushed, ducking his head.

“A thorough analysis Midoriya-san, but now let us move on to the questions.”

He nodded.

“Tell me what happened when you arrived at the USJ.”

He swallowed, “So we got there and Thirteen was talking to us when the lights suddenly sparked, that was likely because they cut the alarms and communications, probably through someone with an electric quirk, I believe he had a run in with Yaoyorozu and the others with her later on. Then the fountain acted weird for a moment, faltering and then the spray stopped momentarily, a purple portal made by the warp villain appeared and covered a large area to let the villains, and the Nomu, walk out. It’s also likely that this was the last group brought in as the villains were scattered already around the facility.”

I frantically wrote the notes down, looks like his analyzing wasn’t just for quirks.

“Then the one in charge, the villain covered in hands, yelled asking where All Might was. The teachers told us to run while Aizawa-sensei went to fight the villains there, the majority of them were mutant type quirks from what I saw, but the warp villain managed to reach us. He ended up transporting us around the facility after Kacchan and Kirishima tried and failed to attack him. I ended up in the shipwreck zone with Tsu and Mine-“

He faltered for a moment, before swallowing and continuing on.

“Mineta.” He paused for breath, “I landed in the water and Tsu saved me when a villain with a shark head mutation, who was able to breathe above water as well as below so it can’t be a full mutation but he didn’t seem able to turn it off which is interesting so perhaps-“

“What happened next?”

He flushed, “Right, um next we used our quirks to destroy the ship and cause a small whirlpool, using- using Mineta’s quirk to bind everyone together and Tsu getting us out of there while I made a shockwave.”

I nodded, he gives a pretty good outline of events.

Toshinori was looking at him worriedly.

“We landed by the shore, near where Aizawa-sensei was fighting. We watched the hand villain use his quirk on Sensei, it seems to be a five point contact quirk, he had to put all five fingers down to do damage, a disintegration quirk, works very fast…”

He stared at his hands, which were fiddling with a nice pen.

I scrambled to write down his thoughts on the villains quirk, Orochi still hadn’t gotten back to us.

“Um, right, so then the Nomu attacked, um, it hit Sensei hard and the disintegration villain started talking about how strong the Nomu was. He talked a lot of gamer speech, roleplay game speech mainly. But then the warp villain returned and told him someone got away and he said they would leave…”

He bit his lip.

“It’s okay,” I said gently, “take your time.”

He took in a deep breath, “So then he came at us, he stopped before he touched us though, said something softly then turned to Sensei and said Sensei was cool for stopping his attack. I attacked to get him away, but the Nomu got in my way. It started to grab me and then All Might arrived.”

I nodded. “We know what happened from there but is there anything you feel you should add?”

He shook his head, fingers deftly putting the pen back together.

“Alright, thank you for your time. I know this was hard.”

He nodded.

“Well, I have everything I need. Take care of yourself Midoriya-san.”

I gathered my things as Aizawa led the kid out.

“Well?” Toshinori asked.

I sighed, “Nothing really that we didn’t know. Though his thoughts on the Tomura Shigaraki’s quirk are certainly welcome, he seems good at that analysis thing.”

“Ah, yes I suppose he’s alright at it. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Analysis experts are few and far between Toshi. You should encourage him, it could be a big help to both him and other heroes.”

Toshinori nodded, “Yes, he’ll have time for that, but for now we’ll need to work on his quirk. He needs to get strong enough as quickly as possible.”

“The world won’t fall apart if he’s not ready when you retire, it lived for a long time without a symbol of peace and can do it again if it needs to.”

Toshinori sighed, “I know…. I just worry.”

I smiled, “Let the kid live, it’ll be okay Toshinori. Want to have dinner tonight?”

He nodded, offering me a wane smile, “I’d like that.”

[akimmito]

Heroes are made by the path they choose

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Master List

Chapter 11

It's not the MT

Silent Hill: Nightwing and Robin have gone to Paris.

It’s a Nara: Do you know their motives? We are not aware of any crime or related crime network between Gotham and Paris

Silent Hill: Red Hood told them about the MT

Almost pretty: Corvus should pay him a visit and shoot him in the knee

Three balls: with real bullets

Plasticine: or a rocket launcher

Wild goat: Can I go? So I can test my confetti grenades

Silent Hill: I think that sense of humor fits in well with Gotham

Needle: With the rogues

Olive: I totally approve of any kind of aggression against the nosy man

Great mother: If you do something illegal, make sure no one knows it was you

Almost pretty: the boss has spoken

Divine gift: It’s my duty to remind you that you must be investigating, if the foreign watchers have affairs with us, we will know in due course. Let's not do anything rash.

It’s a Nara: He’s right. I'm going to check the security cameras for any sign of them… Is Nightwing wearing his own outfit or did he come as Batman?

Silent Hill: Batman can't leave Gotham

The Antibiotic: Do you think if I get on a roof I can get a Nightwing autograph?

Wild goat: If you get on it, maybe Byakko accidentally shoves you into the void

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

Marinette sighs as she watches the group chat, foreign vigilantes while she and Felix have plans to get out of Paris, just wonderful, but she can't stop to think about it. She must first speak to Damian and then prepare for her travel.

She's heading towards her son's room, she can hear the little barking of the puppies as she gets closer. Adult dogs are used to sleeping in a room set up for them, except for Ícaro, the Australian Shepherd, who likes to sleep with Damian when he visits (which means that there will now be five dogs in that room, alongside Picatso, Dafne prefers to sleep with she). She knocks on the door and before long, he opens it, wearing only his pajama bottoms because his shirt is being used as a bed by Ringo.

"Is something wrong, mother?" Damian opens the door completely for her to enter, ignoring, for the moment, his previous fight against the cubs for his kidnapped shirt.

"Yeah... Tomorrow I will go on a trip with Felix, we will go to Turkey."

"Why?"

"Oh well, it's... there's a prodigy in Turkey and it seems like a demon wants it, so we'll find it before it becomes a problem." She explains, she was about to tell him about John, but with her out of the country, there was nothing to prevent him from discovering his identity and she doesn't know what could happen for his small Machiavellian head.

Marinette loves her child, but she can't quite predict it right now. Luka, a divine gift for her, explained that Damian doesn't want to be taken away from her and that he fears that someone external can achieve it, that he desperately clings to the only person who loves him for what he is and that if they take him away from him add more weight, separate he from his new family; that she represents his whole world. He also explained that it will take a while for him to get used to receiving people outside the MT, especially if they seem to show interest in she and that after Michel Laforet, well, the boy doesn't have a good impression of men. Although he showed bewilderment about his reaction for his two new clients, since he was openly hostile and he could not give him a definitive answer, but that he would analyze his behavior to help him go through the process he's living.

"I see... why don't you take me, mother? Am I not good enough to accompany you on your missions?" She sighs to see his hurt look and sits on the sofa in the room, inviting him to sit next to her, he immediately obeys and sits down, allowing himself to be embraced by his mother.

"It has nothing to do with anyone's abilities, if it did, it will lead other team members not only to Felix." She explains, beginning to pat her son's head, looking up at the ceiling as she decides to explain herself better and be totally honest with Damian. "When I founded the MT, I had been working alone with Felix for a while we were looking for evidence to convict Gabriel Agreste once and for all, we found so many charges that the prosecution would have a field day in the case... so that our victory was bitter because someone stole the butterfly brooch..."

"Mother, why are you telling me that? I know the story. ”He interrupts, not understanding Marinette's intentions.

"I know, you know the origin, but not the process." She responds with a nostalgic smile. "We spent half a year locked up cursing the person who dared to steal the Miraculous and realized that, as heroes, we could not hunt it without attracting attention... Hence the first idea of the MT arose and we founded it officially a week after the last Gabriel's trial, along with Kagami and Tomoe, who joined Luka soon after. Adrien decided not to be an active part of everything, but he became an unofficial member a year later because of his desire to find Nathalie's murderer, becoming an informant and investigator, everything that we could not take, he did it by getting a job modeling in the city where I was supposed to go. "

Damian did not know that, he believed that Agreste was affiliated with the MT just because he was previously one of the heroes, but, considering that not all the old Miraculous wearers are related, he should have considered another possibility (especially since the old wearers still wield a prodigy and he doesn't). He credits him for his commitment and intelligence to have a reason to go to those places, that also explains why he has been modeling for so many brands (some very strange ones like a brand of sardines with yellow peppers, he still remembers the jokes in the chat about his sardine costume).

"After we had an initial team in place, we started building our local network and expanding it using my grandmother Gina's connections, before long we were up and running and took Tomoe's recommendation to build a stronger team, in part for our work and so that the prodigies would have more places to be transferred… Each person who associates with the MT and proves to be loyal, receives the tattoo of the guardians. "Damian goes away to see his mother, that is something that he didn't know,  why? "That is why everyone knows magic, although not everyone is compatible..."

"Why don't I have it?"

"Because I wanted you to have options, not because you are my son and part of the MT means that you must bear that responsibility. I took you out of an organization where you were against your will… I wasn't going to put you in another, that's why we didn't introduce you to training until you asked for it. "Damian doesn't know what to say, is she taking his decisions into consideration? Does he want to be part of it in the same way as the others? He doesn't know, because he doesn't know what it means to be a guardian, but if he ask, his mother is sure to explain and give him all the time he need to make a decision.

"Why are you telling me now?" It's the only thing he can ask, he doesn't understand how conversation came to that.

"Because it's one of the reasons I am not taking you to Turkey." He understands, that is a job for them as guardians and he's not one, it should be obvious, but he still feels displaced. "The other is directly related to the history of the MT... I learned to work with Felix, we both know what to do and we don't stop, we create our own system over the years. We have had our difficulties, like four years ago in Liverpool, but here we are... And we just need to learn to coordinate us, for you. "

Marinette draws him back into her hug, this time placing a kiss on his head.

"What is the reason for the nicknames in the chat?"The question surprises Marinette, he was complaining about it, especially since his is Olive.

"Protect the identities of informants affiliated with the MT, that is, those who received a tattoo, but who are not part of the official registry."

"Is your lover one of those?"

Marinette smiles in amusement, of course her child would start tying up dots. Taking into account that they are traveling almost unexpectedly (he knows when it's so and it not a planned one, because she would have warned him in time) and for that to happen he must have found out very recently, that is, the day before and that day was see to John.

"Yup... And I won't tell you what his code name is." He just clicks his tongue, there are four users whose identity he doesn't know: God Shit, Not in Hell, Guardian Angel and Silent Hill. It could be any one of them, but he's noticed that Silent Hill maybe a girl, so he dismisses it. Returning to the users, only one is active, the others have not spoken to date, despite the fact that they are registered and that makes it more difficult... especially since man is related to magic, the occult and those things, hardly he can dismiss one and only because he's sure Guardian Angel is too bright for someone he know deals with demons, leaving him with the last two.

"I'll find out eventually. "He declares and Marinette knows it's true, one way or another he will. She hoped that didn't imply any international problem, considering that John lives in England.

"I know." She hugs him tighter before releasing him. "I wish it lasted longer, but I have to finish packing... Rest, Damian. I will come in the morning to say goodbye, I love you. "

Marinette gets up, but not before leaving another kiss on her son's head and then leaving the room.

Damian watches her go and his head begins to form a plan to take advantage of his mother's departure.

He will find the lover and question him (he will also threaten him a lot).

----------

Marie L. @MarieLenoir

It's always a pleasure to contribute to a good cause. Istanbul wait for us.

Chloe B. @BourgeoisQueen

I also want to travel, how unfair it's to be trapped in Paris

Dick Grayson @TheFlyingGrayson

The vigilantes of this city feel very happy or maybe Batman is too gloomy

Roy @RoyHarperQ

@TheFlyingGrayson Probably, although Green Arrow can be very gloomy when he wants

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

@TheFylingGrayson yes, well, it's that Batman is the living reflection of Gotham... gloomy and a piece of shit

-------

Damian gets up early and rushes into his mother's room to get Plagg out and talk to him, the night before he placed an order for various types of gourmet cheeses and his beloved Camembert cheese (specifically Camembert from Normandy), to please the more exotic tastes of the little god (especially since he has money that he doesn't use and has been accumulating for too long and this was a strategic move for information).

He takes him to his room, Longg is already awake and looks at him without much surprise, deciding to ignore the situation, knowing that he's a boy on a mission, the best thing to do is wait and advise him in a timely manner.

"Plagg, I need you to tell me the name of my mother's lover."

"Boy, as much as you want to say it, I won't betray... What's that?" The little cat asks noticing that the computer screen is on a website that he knows well, that's where Marinette asks for some cheese on occasion.

"That is the cheese order I made for you, if you tell me the name, of course, otherwise, I will cancel... All those cheeses that mother only allows you to eat once every three months, lost by a man." Damian smiles when he sees the excitement shining in Plagg's green eyes, he is sure he will say him.

"Did you ask for Camembert?"

"The original, Camembert of Normandy. "

Plagg is in conflict, so many delicious cheeses at his fingertips.

"When you get back from Turkey, they'll be here waiting for you." Damian keeps pushing for the name, he needs to know it, and besides Felix, Plagg is the only one who knows him and the little god is easier to convince. "You just have to give me a name. "

"FINE! Don't torture me, boy. "

"So?"

"John Constantine, blond, out of the same hell. You will recognize him immediately, he never quits the damn cigarette. I don't know how Marinette enjoys being with him, it's all the unpleasantness of humans combined in the same man. ”Plagg says wearily. "I better see those cheeses when I get back or I'll cry with Marinette about how cruel you were to me. "

"I think we all know that's impossible." Longg intervenes from his location, away from both of them. He watches with a little amusement the interaction of both, he knows that to obtain that Plagg decides to cooperate normally requires less moral methods. "It would be more credible that you were cruel to my dragon. "

"I can use blackmail, however, you're warned, boy. I can also cause nightmares. ”Plagg leaves the room to give his warning, returning to Marinette.

Damian smiles and goes back to bed satisfied, waiting for his mother to say goodbye and to plan how he will get to that man to talk. He pulls out his phone and starts checking group chats, Not the MT is always one of the most active, although Let's save Adrien is also usually enough active when they plan crazy and ridiculous ways to get rid of Lila Rossi, Adrien's wife.  Among the most extreme forms is sending her to hell or offering her as a sacrifice to some ancient god in America, although he knows that they will not do that, because only his mother can and she doesn't approve (she also scared them telling her about how everything can go wrong and condemn them all to hell, no one ever mentioned it again later.)

After a while finishing reviewing all the conversation that followed about the vigilantes and as the other heroes they know or admire got sidetracked, he leaves his phone aside and lets Picatso jump on him purring happy to be petted, the puppies seem they share the idea and they also get into bed... the best they can, although their jumping skills leave a lot to be desired, at least they are creative dogs.

Several minutes later, after feeling sorry for Ringo and putting him to bed, Marinette, completely groomed, gives him a funny but affectionate look before fully entering and sitting on the bed.

"Felix will be here soon, do you want to have breakfast with me before I leave?"

"Of course, mother."

She smiles and takes Titus in her arms to carry him with her, Damian takes Ringo when he gets up and Milo jumps out of bed to go after them, with Picatso following close behind. Ícaro continues sleeping.

-----

Bruce Wayne is Batman

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: Who changed the name of the chat?

I'll rest when I die: The same one that changed our names ... at least it's right

Hell rejected me : I think it gives us more personality than our names

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: Ok?

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: So! Since we will spend several days in Paris, I thought it would be good to wait a little to see the routes without them knowing about our presence

Hell rejected me: So yeah you are going to show up

I’ll rest when I die: It seems so, although from what I discovered patrols take turns in pairs or trios, last night only the sighting of Byakko and Genbu was recorded.

I’ll rest when I die: And last night it was Pyxis and Caelum

Nothing escapes me: They must have a very well protected base of operations, perhaps magic, I identified a network that connects all of Paris, but not the source

Nothing escapes me: I deciphered the accessible code, but it's incomplete. I don't think I can go any further

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: That only tells us how competent they are, I think we can get to know them and not meddle more in their affairs

Hell rejected me: Considering that all your interest is sexual, yep it's posible

I'm not Batman: What are you talking about?

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Max is not usually frustrated much, he has had to develop his patience and mental strength to solve the problems he encounters, but among the attempt to find the source of the MT by an unknown hacker (although if he must guess it must be related to the bats) and appreciates the magical defenses that only allow just a bit to crack all the code, just the general parts that don't show anything from the entire system. Of course, he could hack back and issue fixed, preventing him from trying again, but his priority is developing a new algorithm for butterfly detection, the old one was unfortunate when tested with one of Duusu's feathers (being that they share the same characteristics).

He has not slept the last twenty-four hours and is beginning to resent, but he must wait for Marc's arrival to be able to drop into one of the beds at the base for a little nap, if someone else comes with him, much better, so they can check all manual while he rests.

With Marinette and Felix going on a trip, it's inevitable that the leadership will fall into the hands of Chloe, who seems ready to go to war at the first hint of the butterfly (also Kagami, but she's leaving more ready to go on a murder mission).

This is not how he thought everything would go, they had seven years of preparation and at the moment of truth, none of them really knows which direction to take. Marinette and Felix are very determined to analyze the whole situation from a general perspective, looking at each variable and, while he agree, most of the team seems to want to just go after the thief and take away the jewel, without fully considering that this new villain's way of acting is much more lethal, his Akuma are well thought out to generate problems for them if they make any mistakes, as happened with the last attack if it wasn't for the second chance they would have lost (Luka explained what happened).

"Good morning..." Marc comes in yawning, his hair totally disheveled and still wearing his pajama bottoms, but with a dark blue sweatshirt on. He decided to sleep at the headquarters the night before to facilitate his arrival, in the same way Luka and Alix, because their work schedules allow it (advantages of being their own boss).

"Good morning, today you can dedicate yourself to review the surveillance cameras... although so far none have caught the butterfly."

"Okay, I'll check."

"I'll leave you then, I'll go to sleep... will you wake me up when breakfast is served?" Max gets up from his chair and feels his bones creak with movement, resentful at his disuse.

"Sure." He smiles sleepily and adjusts himself to the vacant post, ready to manually check each camera, starting with the ones closest to the last Akuma and starting to rewind to, perhaps, identify something.

He spends about three hours like this, watching the video tapes of at least four cameras from where the Akuma originated, noting that the butterfly is arriving and then the giant rhomb is present, but when he looks for the route... he only loses it, as if it had just appeared near the victim's residence.

There are multiple cameras in that area, but there are still blind points, if someone knows the exact location, they should be able to position themselves in those places. Could it be that the new villain was close to his future victim? Will he live there or did he decide to run to the place? If it's the latter, it makes him bolder than Gabriel, that's for sure, but it should make him more sloppy and still they are unable to find a clue.

According to Max, who was reviewing footage, the first Akuma came out of nowhere. No camera records the butterfly that should have come from somewhere.

So for him there are only two viable alternatives and neither is positive for his research.

Still, the possibilities are various and he can only guess the villain's line of thought.

[iheardarumorxxx]

Alright, time for biology class, let’s go.

Except not quite yet because I have a continuity question: This might be a book to movie error, but this says that Emmett, Rose, and Jasper were pretending to be seniors, but in New Moon (definitely in the movie, but I thought also in the book), Jasper is there at school with Alice and Edward and Bella. So did Forks High flunk Jasper???

Anyway, Biology class.

would manage to pull out anything in his lecture that would surprise someone holding two graduate degrees in medicine.

Edward has two graduate degrees in Medicine. This makes all of the Twilight books look hilarious in retrospect, but makes the fourth one especially funny in a rage inducing kind of way.

The humans weren't smart enough to know that they feared me, but their survival instincts were enough to keep them away.

1) You said this shit already back in the cafeteria, and I didn’t buy it then, so stop repeating yourself, and 2) I will say again since we’re repeating ourselves: They stay away from you because you’re a stuck up, smarmy little asshole.

Still, from the place where Bella Swan stood, nothing.

If only, sweet Weirdo, you had taken this as a sign of what it truly is: Your sweet precious flower Bella is empty space. A placeholder where hundreds of thousands of guys, gals, and non-binary pals can slip in and make it their fantasy. Can’t do that if she has unique and interesting thoughts. (And no, dear readers, I do not consider Twilight Bella’s ‘unique and interesting thoughts’ because SM never mastered that first person POV and it never felt like we were actually in Bella’s head.)

There was no room full of witnesses - they were already collateral damage in my head.

Okay everyone (myself included) clowns on the fact that as soon as Weirdo gets a sniff of the blood, he’s plotting out the murder of his entire class, but if we could all just take a second here. 

Edward Cullen, the Vampire with Morals and A Heart Of Gold (according to the fanbase) gets a sniff of Bella’s blood and is immediately plotting out the murder of his entire class. No hesitation, no thought. This does not strike me as a man with a high regard for human life, as the books tried to tell me over and over that he was. If the line is still in there, this will get even worse later, but for now, I’m letting it rest on that.

I would also like to make a point about Vampires and their Instincts, but I don’t think this is the time for it. Not yet. So hold on to that thought for later.

the face I'd beaten back with decades of effort and uncompromising discipline

Remember that time Weirdo got pissed at Carlisle and fucked off to go people for a few years in a fit of warped vigilante justice?

Okay, the section is far too long to quote, but let’s talk about Weirdo’s little murder plot, shall we? At this point in the story, especially in this one as I am in Weirdo’s head, I’m supposed to think that he’s driven mad by bloodlust and in some kind of incontrollable madness.

But he’s sitting in his seat literally planning out exactly what the best route is to kill every single student in this classroom so that he doesn’t leave any wittnesses to his crime. He’s being detailed to the point that he can tell exactly how much time he has to do this. 

That isn’t driven mad by bloodlust, guys. That’s fucking cold and calculated. This man is planning to the second how to kill 20 people all at once without getting caught. It’s planned down to the detail. As hilarious as it may be to clown on Weirdo about this passage, please think about it. Think about the cold, calculating way he’s describing murdering innocent teenagers and his biology teacher just so he can drink Bella in peace. Please think about the implications of what kind of person Edward Cullen is, that he can so coldly plan something like that. 

In my head, Carlisle's kind eyes did not judge me.

I have a lot of feelings about Carlisle, and none of them are very nice, but I’ll save that rant and see just how he is in this book, since we’re gonna see more of him.

There is more of Weirdo’s woe is me bullshit here. I feel like it’s supposed to be dramatic and really get us into his Feelies about the Tasty Good Hooman Blood he’s wiffing, but it reads so much like a dramatic pre-teen diary entry that all I hear when I read it is ‘Waaaaaah! Why me? I hate everything, this isn’t FAIR!’

But I didn't have to breathe.

This is a very relevant and important point about the mythology of vampires in this canon. They don’t have to breathe. They literally never have to breathe and choose to do so anyway, and while I could understand that new vampires might continue to breathe because it’s a comfort of their previous life and a force of habit carried over, Weirdo has had plenty of time to lose the habit. And it is absolutely possible to not notice someone not breathing if you aren’t constantly staring at them waiting for the signs, so saying that it’s a tactic to blend in (especially when the Cullens do nothing in their power to blend in to begin with) doesn’t fly either. Weirdo goes on to make a point about how he relies on scent more than his other senses, for the hunt and for warning signs and all that, but he is in school, and if we go by the text, he doesn’t want to hurt the humans around him, so even if he does use his sense of smell, he has no reason to use it in a school full of vulnerable teenagers.

Weirdo calls Bella a Woman-Child and Thanks I fucking Hate It.

And once again, Edward is going into a lengthy fantasy about how to get Bella alone to murder her. I said it already but I’ll say it again. This isn’t fucking bloodlust, this is a cold blooded killer plotting his next kill. This fucker is Calculating. He’s plotting. If he was truly as bad off as he’s claiming, he wouldn’t have the brain power to be this cold and rational about it.

I played a CD of music that usually calmed me, but it did little for me now.

This is funny to me for a number of reasons. The first is my assumption that the CD he’s playing is that one with the DeBussy song on it. Symbolism and all that. But the second is that this is v much something that happened all throughout the Twilight saga with SM. She refuses outright to call things by name. She won’t say the names of bands, or search engines, and the only ‘product placement’ we get is the cars. I can’t tell if she did this to try and make her stories feel more timeless or because she was genuinely afraid of being sued or something for using specifics.

He's almost young enough to be my son. Too young to think of that way..

We get is SM, you want us to think your Pires are the most beautiful, amazing, alabaster angel creatures on the planet. But no sane, rational middle-aged school secretary is going to think of a student this way. It’s gross and creepy and makes me think extremely badly of Mrs. Cope if she’s having lustilicious thoughts about what she thinks is a teenage boy. 

like they've found some way to cheat in every subject.

I would like to point out that, at the very least Weirdo has found a way to cheat in every subject. Even taking into consieration the amount of times he’s been through high school and college, the guy can literally just pluck the answers right out of the teacher’s head. 

And we end Chapter One with a wimper. There are a lot of plot holes in relation to Alice’s visions, but they aren’t bad here, so I’ll leave them alone. The narrative of ‘Vampires do everything so much better than icky humans because they’re just the best and wonderful and great and amazing’ has already started happening, and now that we’re in the head on one of the Pires, I can only assume it’s gonna get so much worse. Here, it only really came up in the form of ‘pitiful, insignificant humans could never do that that I could.’ and the super fast driving bullshit that makes no sense because a car is not a Pire so it can’t just magically adhere to the warped Pire physics.

Anyway, that’s chapter one done. On to the next.

[daquanfromthetrap]

Sebastian x Reader(Chapter 1)

You groaned hearing the news that you, along with your father, were expected to attend a ball at the Phantomhive estate. You dreaded these high-class social gatherings and found it a bit suffocating to be an unmarried, unbetrothed young lady of your social standing. It was comparable to being a sheep among wolves. Wolves that were ravenous for titles, money, and power. Personally, you didn’t care much for nobility or the gentry. You found it all to be quite boring. Unfortunately for you however, you and your father were formally invited to the Phantomhive manor to attend a ball the young lord was hosting. Your father had recently been given the new title of the “Queen’s Spider” due to the untimely death of the previous Spider and now had the dutiful obligation to attend these ridiculous parties. Alas, being a woman of noble birth as well as being your father’s only child, you too had duties to fulfill, if you were going to inherit your father’s land and title. 

“Tonight, I need you to be on your best behavior, Darling”, your father remarked as he studied the scowl you wore on your face. “I need you to look your best as well. This will be my first meeting with the Earl Phantomhive and I intend to make the best impression. No doubt, he is just as eager to meet his new counterpart as well.”

“Hmph, you speak as if I behave like some sort of savage”, you muttered.

“That is not my intended meaning, Darling,” he chuckled. “I just would like to emphasize the fact that we will be in the company of some very prominent families tonight, and you know how the nobility can be once they see anything that is deemed indecent in their noble eyes. We must make the maximum effort to exhibit our worthiness of this title as well as upholding the honor of our family’s name.”

“Yes, yes, I know Father. I was just teasing. You do know how I loathe these petty gatherings. Nonetheless, Adira and I will begin the preparations for tonight’s ball, since I am to look my very best for all those fatheaded peacocks” you smiled, grabbing your handmaiden and rushing out of the room before your father can lecture you on your language.

***Meanwhile at the Phantomhive Estate***

“Sebastian, what else do we know about the Queen’s new Spider?” Ciel questions his butler while sipping on his tea.

“Well, my lord, let me see...” *Sebastian dramatically pulls out a long scroll* “Lord Reginald Herbert, 15th Earl of Pembroke and 12th Earl of Montgomery. He is a direct descendent of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who is also often referred to as the greatest medieval knight. Through the generations, this family has maintained their title and traditions of knighthood as well as being formally acknowledged by the royally family. He currently has no wife or sons and is to be succeeded by his only child, Lady (Y/N) Herbert... oh, and he also has a fondness for cats and proudly holds an impressive collection of stamps.”

“Interesting”, Ciel takes a moment to consider all Sebastian has told him. “When Lord Herbert and his daughter arrive, I want you to keep a very close eye on them. Watch who they mingle with. I want a full report of their whereabouts throughout the night.”

“Yes, my lord.”

____________time skip to the arrival at the Phantomhive Ball___________

Your carriage was steadily approaching the Phantomhive estate. It was impressive. You could already begin to hear the excited clamoring of the party guests as you near the entrance of the manor. You could just barely make out the figure of a young boy next to a tall, lanky man, greeting each of the guests at the door. 

You turn to look at your father before he states, “You look absolutely radiant, Darling.”

“It’s true milady. This dress is gorgeous on you” Adira, your handmaiden, expresses proudly.

You remain quiet, looking out at the manor before you. When the carriage comes to a halt, you take a deep breath, preparing yourself for the night ahead. 

The three of you are greeted at the top of the entrance steps by none other than Lord Phantomhive and his butler. He’s shorter than you imagined. A lot younger too. When you heard of the renowned Earl Phantomhive, you would have never imagined such a young boy. 

After greeting your father, the boy turns to you and smiles, “We are honored to have you here my lady.”

“The pleasure is mine, my lord.” you curtsy before looking up to catch the crimson eyes of his butler, watching you intently. 

You never break eye contact with the butler as you stand back up from your curtsy. To this, he seems surprised, widening his eyes ever so slightly. There is something about this butler that you can’t quite place your finger on. You notice that Ciel also quietly notes the reaction his butler has had to you before introducing him.

“This is Sebastian Michaelis, my butler.”

Sebastian quickly regains his composure at the words of his master and takes a step forward, bowing. “We welcome you to the Phantomhive estate. My lord. My lady.” 

You continue to watch him while he remains bowing, one hand on his chest and the other behind his back, eyes closed with a polite smile on his lips. As Lord Phantomhive welcomes you into the manor, your father takes your arm while they continue their conversation on the way inside. You pass Sebastian, still silently watching him, and from the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of him opening his eyes to watch you too.

Once inside, you take an observation of the party in front of you and those who are in attendance. Adira quietly excuses herself to stand amongst the other servants. Seeing that your father is deeply in conversation with the young lord, you excuse yourself to walk through the crowd of mingling nobles. Much to your chagrin, you are stopped by some bloke sporting an elegant white suit with a ridiculous amount of ruffles and jewelry. 

“And who might this young dove be?” He asked while grabbing your hand and pulling you into him.

You were dumbfounded by the boldness and sudden closeness of this stranger but remained calm, remembering your father’s request to be on your best behavior tonight.

At this rate, I won’t last the night with the likes of him hanging around me, you thought as you gently pushed the man away from you. Judging by the blond hair, lavender eyes, and the animated melodrama, you determined that the nuisance that stood in front of you was the Viscount of Druitt, Aleistor Chamber. You had heard of the Viscount’s eccentric behavior but you had never thought it would be this brash. 

You gritted your teeth, mustering up any resilience you had in you to give the Viscount a polite curtsy and smile before introducing yourself. “Pardon me, my lord. I am (Y/N) Herbert. My father is Lord Reginald Herbert. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you, sir.” 

“My Lady (Y/N)! My beautiful dove! I have so looked forward to meeting you. I have only but heard of your exquisite beauty!...” 

You rolled your eyes, quietly backing away from the blabbering buffoon. The fool is so caught up in his own voice that I could be removing my frock and he wouldn’t even notice.  

“For me to have you, right here, in front of my eyes, I cannot bear it!! You must stop playing coy and simply dance with me this instant, my darling! Let us take flight into the night as turtledoves do and dance this night away with a passion so fiery that even the devil himself, could not withstand it!!” 

By the end of his act, he had struck a rather dramatic pose right before opening his eyes and noticing your absence. Hiding behind the ballroom doors, you listened to his over-exaggerating exclaims of lost love. You couldn’t help but giggle, as you turned to relieve yourself from this crowd of insufferable individuals. Just as you turned, you hit something. Or someone. 

“Pa-pardon me. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry.” you stuttered bashfully. Embarrassed of your clumsiness and carelessness. Damn it, pay attention you idiot!

You looked up to see that you had actually bumped into Sebastian, the butler. He smiled before bowing, “The fault is mine, my lady. I was not paying any mind to where I was standing, and for that, I sincerely apologize.” 

You laughed. “You surely, cannot be apologizing for merely standing in a spot you, by no doubt, were ordered to stand in. I accept your apology, sir, but the fault is mine.” You nodded your head at him, gently placing your hand on his arm for a moment.

At the touch of his arm, you felt something. A shock? A spark? No. More like a pulse. A hum. A tangible energy of some sort. As sudden as the feeling came, it disappeared. It was clear that the butler had also felt this same feeling as he stood there, wide-eyed and frozen, gaping at you in bewilderment. His look of astonishment was soon switched to one of intrigue along with something else. Distrust? Wariness? 

The butler regathered himself before clearing his throat. “Please my lady. Call me Sebastian.” He politely smiled at you. “And, if I may, that was some rather impressive maneuvering I seen you do back there. The Viscount of Druitt can be very...” He paused for a moment searching for an appropriate word, “...intense.”

“That’s one word for it.” you muttered under your breath.

“If I may ask, my lady. Where is it that you were off to?”

“Anywhere’s better than here”, you looked at the crowd of people dancing, drinking, and laughing. 

“Oh? Would you like me to retrieve your handmaiden to accompany you?”

You scanned the crowd to spot Adira talking to the other servants. She seemed to be enjoying herself. You quickly looked over the crowd to see your father amongst a group of nobles, including the ball’s host. He too seemed to be enjoying himself. You sighed and shook your head, “Poor girl needs a break. I think I can manage on my own.”

“Well, if it’s not too much trouble milady, may I accompany you on your trek to anywhere?” He smiled, lacing the last few words in sarcasm. “If you like, I can offer you an exclusive tour of the Phantomhive manor.”

You eyed him warily before accepting his offer of accompanying you. Don’t want to let the new spiders out of your sights aye? I appreciate the vigilance Lord Phantomhive. “Very well then. Although, I don’t care for the manor very much. I wish to be shown the gardens.”

“As you wish, milady.”

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

Author’s note:

So it begins... I didn’t want to make this post too long bc I have so many ideas for future parts/chapters so here is a bit of introduction to the story!! Think of this ending as that part right before commercial break. Promise things will start picking up soon!! Hope you guys like it!!!!! <3

[angstmongertina]

A Holiday Medley: Winter Wonderland

Part 2/3 (the last one for now but keep an eye out in the future) of my Secret Santa gift for @corgi-shepard! I may or may not have replayed Regency Love for this. Hope this is IC for your character (because I couldn’t just ASK, you know)!

December dawned over Cambridgeshire, as it so often did in the English countryside, in cold and grey. The leaves had long since fallen in the brisk cold wind, leaving bare branches and strewn brown across the grass. Clouds hung, dark and bulging, over the land, bringing occasional torrents of rain but nothing more.

To Mrs. Elizabeth Graham, formerly Miss Kaye of Hertfordshire, however, the weather was hardly a deterrent. In fact, it was a commonly established index of the neighboring families that, if Mr. and Mrs. James Graham were not seen out, either arm in arm or, on those rare days when the rain or wind proved too strong even for Mrs. Graham’s sensibilities, within the comfortable interior of their carriage, the weather was not safe for any to venture into.

Indeed, it was not uncommon to find the lady out on her own, running errands while her husband managed the matters of their estate. And as the days grew ever shorter, the more frequent were her visits, for fabrics and cloth, furniture and food, with all deliveries accompanied by an insistence that her husband was not to find out.

The shopkeeps, knowing of her intentions and her impending visitors, smiled and said nothing.

Morning dawned in a light dusting of white. A military man through and through despite his most recent months of civilian life, James awoke at dawn, though, as was true every morning, he did not so much as let himself stir until slumber released his wife. As she awakened, she, as was tradition, raised a teasing eyebrow at her husband, lips pursed in a show of disapproval.

“Mr. Graham, have you no thoughts of propriety? What would the maids say if they saw you here?”

She received a lazy smirk. “No doubt the same thing they think every morning, my dear. Either admiring my exemplary physique—”

A most unladylike snort escaped her lips.

“Or impressed at how serious their masters are towards their duty in producing an heir.”

Hiding a smile, she slapped him gently on the shoulder. “Certainly, they couldn’t think anything scandalous when there are so many generous interpretations.”

“Of course not. My wife? Scandalous? Perish the thought.”

She rolled her eyes, relenting as he kissed her, slow and languid, though she knew full well that she couldn’t have stopped held back her laughter if she tried. “Oh, certainly not, especially if they saw that display. Perish indeed.” She shook her head, still with that silly grin tugging on the corners of her mouth. “Now if you’re quite done, I believe we have a busy day today.”

At that, he groaned with all the theatrics of a stage performer and she offered him an arch look. “Has civilian life spoilt you so, that you have such difficulty rising after the winter sun?”

He laughed, rich and clear. “Perhaps that’s it. Or perhaps it is nothing to due with that but rather due to the irresistible Mrs. Graham?” When she simply raised another skeptical eyebrow, he groaned again, turning to glare at the sky as though he thought he could intimidate the sun back below the horizon if he stared hard enough.

The next minute, however, he was on his feet, practically throwing the blanket off of her bed in his eagerness. She yelped, pulling it back over herself before the rest of the warmth could escape, but he hardly seemed to notice as he rushed toward the window, evidently all of his previous complaints about the time or the chill put out of his mind.

“James?”

When he failed to respond, instead standing, almost transfixed, she forced herself to her feet, biting back a curse at the sudden chill, and made her way to his side, before gasping in delight.

Everything she could see was white. Snowflakes filled the air, swirling in the light breeze and covering the trees and remnants of autumn in a layer of soft powder. Farther in the distance, the forest too was blanketed in snow, pristine and untouched.

Overnight, it seemed, the countryside had been transformed.

She was not entirely surprised when James fairly rushed through his morning routine, rushing her all the while. In fact, it seemed as though she had barely been dressed and settled herself at her desk before he was entreating her to join him for an errand in town before settling to break their fast.

His grin told her, even before his actions, that it was naught more than an excuse to explore the wilderness. Then again, if she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she knew her husband well enough that she wouldn’t have expected anything else… and herself well enough to admit that if he had not, she would have made the same suggestion.

In fact, given the speed with which her maid was able to assist her into a gown more appropriate for the elements, it seemed even their servants had been expecting the excursion, and also had given up requesting that she limit her activity in what they would consider inclement weather.

Properly attired, she found him awaiting her arrival in the foyer, looking somewhat as though he would pace a hole into the floor if she had delayed any longer. As it was, she barely had time to put on her gloves before he was leading her outside.

In the snowy morning, there was hardly a soul to be seen, something that suited the pair of them just as well. The white expanse lay open and unblemished, save for their tracks as they laughed and floundered through the snow, sometimes she in the lead and sometimes he, but always hand in hand.

When they had first moved to Cambridgeshire and the estate that had once been his family’s, the path to town had been strange to traverse. Both overly reminiscent of their walks to Darlington and yet just different enough to be disorienting, the walk proved to be at once a source of homesickness and a reminder of how far from her childhood home she was.

Walking through, hand in hand with James, however, the familiarity was a comfort. The road passed over rolling hills and snow-covered woods, not so different from the path to Darlington that they had taken strolls down, those quiet, warm days, that she had traversed more times than she could count. In fact, if she stopped, she could almost imagine herself, accompanied by her parents. Or not she and her parents, but instead, she, James, and…

“Elizabeth?”

His voice pulled her from her reverie, where she had been so absorbed that she did not realize she had fallen behind, lingering over the view in her mind’s eye. She smiled, shaking her head at his questioning look and brushing her hand over a low-hanging branch, watching as the snow fell softly to the ground.

“You have been in a contemplative mood as of late, my dear.”

“Indeed, and for good reason,” she returned, deliberately evasive, and tilted her face towards the still-falling snow, hiding a smile at the brief frustration that crossed his mien.

“And what contemplation has so possessed my wife that she must answer with such evasiveness?” He raised an eyebrow, a teasing look replacing the frustration on his face. “Have I lost my ability to hold her attention so quickly?”

She laughed. “Certainly not. I am merely considering what differences there will be to grow up here rather than in Hertfordshire.” When he appeared still to be puzzled, she took his hand, eyes dancing. “Though, I must admit I am also wondering whether your interest will soon be captured by someone else far more than by his poor mother.”

Gratification flooded her system at the indignation suffusing his face. “Hardly! The only possibility of that would be…”

As his expression shifted with his slowly dawning realization, she giggled, watching confusion, understanding, surprise, and then finally joy dance across his visage. “Mother?”

The word was uttered so softly that she could scarcely hear him. When she nodded, however, he whooped, enough that a nearby flock of birds took offense, fluttering into the air with cries of displeasure.

She laughed with him, which abruptly became a shriek as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her bodily off her feet and twirling her in a circle. Pressed against him, she could feel his laughter in his chest, the joy that radiated out in waves.

His eyes glinted as he set her back on her feet, shining with a thousand different emotions, and his voice was hoarse when he spoke again. “This is the happiest day of my life.”

Smirking and carefully disguising her own breathlessness, she raised an eyebrow. “I would never have guessed.”

His laughter echoed through the trees, much at odds with the mock dismay on his features as he stepped closer, shaking his head. “So impudent. What would our daughter think?”

She raised her chin, though she knew perfectly well that it did nothing to hide her wide smile at his words. “No doubt our son would believe that his mother is a scamp and a scoundrel who is very fortunate indeed to have caught the eye of a proper captain to provide her with at least some level of respectability?”

“Or that she and her father are both lucky to have such a clever, spirited, and beautiful woman in their lives?”

She huffed a laugh when he stepped closer still, a gloved hand cupping her cheek as he pressed his forehead to hers. “Flatterer.”

“Only the best for the mother of my child.”

“And your wife?”

“That too.”

She laughed again, though it was soft, more affectionate than teasing, and let her eyes flutter closed as their lips met, warm and gentle and slow. Of joy and wonder and promise.

For a long moment, they stood still, relishing the moment, before she cleared her throat. He started with a chuckle and bowed, offering his arm.

With a laugh of her own, she accepted it and they resumed walking, arm in arm, down the serene, snow-covered path.

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs “terminator: dark fate”, part four

In which Sarah Connor suffers for the cause in the most ironic way possible.

(one, two, three)

I've already waxed poetic elsewhere about the "My entire body is a weapon"/ "Save it for the ladies" exchange, but let's just say the Rev-9's claim of "Metal hip - two tours in Afghanistan" is a) a great manipulation, and b) might even be true - certainly the part about the metal hip is! And the "thank you for your service," / letting him pass through is just... the irony... I can't even...

(and also, this MAKES SENSE when you realize that Legion was designed to process people and manipulate/control them and THAT'S why he's so good at it).

Sarah Connor gets picked up by a smarmy dude named Officer Rigby. "You belong in your own private cage," he tells her. He's probably going to die soon, and we are not supposed to be sorry about it. (And meanwhile, some random dude yells in the background, "I want to go, too!" No, you don't. Trust me.)

Grace does not believe in bureaucratic bullshit. And she won't accept "detainees" instead of "prisoners". YASS. At least there's fresh meds for her.

Oh! I just realized why she steals the guy's clothes.. it's because nothing else would fit her. It's tough being so tall.

Grace pulls the fire alarm and Sarah recognizes an opening when she sees one and manages to kick Rigby in the groin and take him and both her guards down with both hands in cuffs behind her back. LEGEND. Kyle Reese would be so proud of her, especially since he pulled the same stunt back in T1 in the police station sequence. 

Grace starts opening doors and people rush to get out, oh please let this not be a slaughter.

The dude who was with them (Flacco?) slams the door into the Terminator's face and he gets punched into a wall for his trouble. I hope he survived...

The Rev-9 jumps UP into the rafters, holy shit, and is scrabbling over the metal fence like the Rev-7s in the future scene, and it's so a) predatory and b) so feral and inhuman... and that guard who sassed Dani looks terrified as hell as she faces him down.. and gets slashed for her troubles.

Slaughter ensues, but only people in official uniforms thus far... Every one of them is mobbing the Rev-9 and just getting stabbed.

Oh, good, they found a helicopter. Someone gets punched out the door after them, and you think it's the REv-9 who did it, but it's actually Sarah! YASS. Dani wants to wait for her and Grace wants to get away. Dani doesn't want to leave Sarah (hey, callbacks to earlier!) and jumps out of the helicopter with the gun as the REV-9 runs at her. Dani starts shooting the REV-9 which is very cathartic for her, but Sarah tackles her and pulls her into the helicopter. The REV-9 jumps for it, but misses, and falls the ground and just looks... annoyed despite having no expression whatsoever.

The REV-9's accent with the sheriffs is interesting. There's the same "good ol' boy" attitude as "That's a nice bike" in T2 and the same cut back to our heroes that speaks volumes.

Cut to a forest in Texas. I have no idea if this is botanically accurate or not because I have no experience with Texas flora. But there are pine trees and maple trees, I can tell you that much.

I like how Sarah and Grace are ready to draw when they knock on the door of this ordinary-looking house in the woods, and Dani just looks at them like they're crazy.

Hey, and it's the same music as in the prologue, as Sarah recognizes the Terminator! He says her name and she raises her gun to shoot him except that Grace intervenes and she hits the ceiling.

“My name is Sarah Connor, you killed my son, prepare to die...” No, okay, she doesn’t actually say that, but I’m gonna do it for her.

Sarah stalks off when they won't let her shoot the Terminator. Dani and Grace exchange a look, and Dani goes after Sarah while Grace deals with Carl (his nom de... paix, I guess). They have the ... "So you're a cyborg, too?" talk, which goes about as well as you can expect.

Poor Sarah looks so broken sitting outside alone. Dani uses her people skills to rally her. Sarah's admission that she never took photos of John is a) heartbreaking, and b) good tactics, especially given how previous Terminators used photos, and how the REV-9 uses facial recognition software.

Sarah's sarcasm as she contemplates Carl's family photos is biting and hilarious and poignant especially given what she just said to Dani (and how a photograph was what brought Kyle to her in the first place). MY HEART.

We are meant to parallel Carl's treatment of Alicia and Mateo with Sarah and John, and Sarah and Carl in "Without purpose, we are nothing". The irony that Carl understands Sarah in this way, and that Sarah has been getting her raison d’etre from a Terminator the whole time... way to lay on the pain, writers!

I've heard a lot of critique of this film claiming that Terminators just wouldn't act like Carl, and I think that's not accurate. What exactly do people think a Terminator WOULD do after they finished their mission instad? It's not like Skynet or Legion or whatever gave them any other programming, and we know from T2 they can't self-terminate. So what are they supposed to do, just stand there??

Even though Carl doesn't have his chip removed the way the T-800 in T2 did, Terminators are very accomplished at learning and mimicking humans. They are adaptable. And I think the filmmakers are right that the T-800 would try to find a new mission--paralleling the old one--to give his life purpose. I think this is a very plausible plot device, and also a great opportunity for irony and parallels, which this franchise thrives on and I personally love.

(There's great fic from Carl's POV on A03 by Tyellas that expands on this that I LOVE, so you should all go read it RIGHT NOW.)

I also LOVE the growing parallels not only between Sarah and Carl, but Carl and Grace that the film keeps emphasizing YASSS.

Sarah is NOT PLEASED to learn she's been manipulated the whole time by the robot who killed her son.Understatement of the year. I was wondering when she was going to shoot him!

"Do you believe in fate, Sarah?" OW, MY HEART.

Oh. Interesting. So when Sarah destroyed Skynet, she released Carl from his programming, thus allowing him to learn?? Okay, I'll buy it. Which means that Carl was released at the same time as the other Terminators in all three films (though we get into the simultaneity problem, but that's a headache for another time). It's plausible if I don't think too hard about it, so I'll buy it. I wish people would stop calling plot elements they don't like/agree with "plot holes". That's... not what it means.

[so who is sending the other terminators? Are they from Legion or Skynet? what is their purpose? Since Sarah is a wanted woman in America, it makes sense if she was killing Terminators in Mexico, which makes me wonder if she's been protecting Dani until now???) I have a feeling the film will not answer this question.]

There's a dog curled up at Carl's feet when they cut to the next scene. This is NOT a plot hole, as some people have claimed. This is actually a clue that Carl IS as human as he claims to be... i.e, he seems to have mastered whatever subtle cues that makes the dog recognize him as human, and not a foreign predator. Obviously, YMMV, but I don't see it as a plot hole.

The secret storage armory is de riguer for a Terminator film, but I also enjoy the deadpan social commentary about human barbarism coming from a reformed murderbot. "And also, this is Texas." He's definitely living in the right state for that.

Wow. The training lesson at the shooting range was everything I could have hoped for. I love Sarah's wry smile as the watermelons explode.

OF COURSE SARAH CONNOR "KNOWS A GUY" with an EMP, lol...

Kudos to Carl for getting his family out of the way and for preparing him for this day. But it's clear he won't be back.

... how about that leather jacket and sunglasses? because he's about to start being way less human and way more machine.

oHHHHH he leaves the sunglasses behind, I was NOT expecting that. NICE WORK.

hello rev-9 smashing the family photographs, that's not symbolic of anything at all.

Hey, did they take all the guns with them or is the REv-9 going to use them against their owner?? was leaving the photo of the van on the fridge intentional? Too early to tell! Either way, ironic given Sarah's caution with photos earlier!

Sarah's withering expression as Carl lectures about interior design is GOLDEN.

I now want a road trip movie about this dysfunctional found family. I cannot believe they are only together for less than 24 hours. Thank goodness for fic.

"I don't commit treason for just anybody," is such a great line and one of my favorites in this film.  

Of course the EMP is probably going to disable/take out Carl AND Grace AND the Rev-9 because that's just how this kind of movie works, but there you go.

Sarah telling Carl to shut the fuck up is GOLDEN, they work so well together. Mommy and Daddy, indeed.

AHHH, the major bringing them the EMP on the sly gets shot. It's tough being a minor character in these films. Dani pulls him into the van but I can't help but notice in that position he's a human shield.

Okay, so leaving photos on the fridge was NOT intentional... maybe Sarah should have had an op-sec chat with Carl about that??

Oh, hey, the flesh-like bit of the REV-9 jumped out of the copter while the chassis keeps flying. That's a neat trick. And the moment where the fleshy bit jumps in and they merge is always cool.

Okay, so they're going to the air base. I guess another fight is in order. Ah, this is where the planes are coming in. Apparently, Grace is piloting. That answers my question from the trailer.

They just run the van right up the ramp and the Major is there to take awkward questions. "District contractors" indeed. I hope he'll survive this movie, but I have my doubts. Oh, he's not going with them - I don't know if that increases his chances or not. WHAT THE HELL KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO HE AND SARAH HAVE ANYWAY??

They didn't bother to close up the back before taking off??? Wow. Okay, I guess that works...

Carl uses himself as a shield for Sarah, which just makes her mad...

The Rev-9 flips out of the burning helicopter onto the ramp, and Carl just takes him down and shoots him. It doesn't take, but it's pretty glorious. SARAH AND DANI ROLL THE VAN OVER HIM OH MY GOD.

Needless to say, I'm pretty sure the Rev-9 will be back... in an EVEN BIGGER PLANE.

Oh, so the EMP is dead...? Maybe they can improvise something.

Flasback! Dani beats the punks that are harassing Grace and talks the last guy into not shooting her because "this is what Legion wants us to do". FUCK YEAH.

"FUCK FATE" is basically the motto of this series (and a slightly more concise, if vulgar, reframing of "no fate but what we make for ourselves" or "no fate" in T2).

OH MY GOD THAT LOOK ON FUTURE!DANI'S FACE WHEN SHE RECOGNIZES GRACE...

"You are the future" - okay, this is very moving and dramatic, but I feel like Grace should have mentioned this back on the TRAIN why the fuck did she wait this long.

"You're John..." Sarah gasps... and just adopted a kid. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, Y'ALL. Carl was right, she needs a purpose or else she’s just going to self-destruct.

YESSSSS, I love it when movies answer my questions: apparently future!Dani told Grace not to mention it earlier, because younger!Dani wouldn't be able to handle it. Ah, the ouroboros of causality... I'll buy it, but I still think the film would have been stronger if they had had this conversation earlier on the train.

plane vs. plane hijinks ensue. Grace puts the ship on autopilot so she can actually do stuff. There's a lot of flailing as the ship starts to explode. The REv-9 climbs aboard and uses his oozy bits to rip all the flesh off Carl's hand. There's a humvee with a parachute, but the way the scene is laid out, it's kinda convolunted, but okay.. ... They bust the door open so the humvee can drop out. Carl pins the chassis to the plane but the oozy bits escape and go running free towards them. The plane explodes seconds after the humvee pulls free and parachutes to the ground.... okay.

Sarah Connor's "Aw, fuck," as they land on the hydroelectric dam is GOLDEN.