#around Robin shes just a girl who needs her emotional support cat

[love-and-chaos24]

*Belle Izadore having a really bad day, angry at everything*

Robin: Good afternoon Belle! How was your day?

Belle:

Robin:

Belle: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Robin: oh don’t cry my lady! Here, let’s have cuddles.

*proceeds to cry while holding her winged cat*

[somereaderinblue]

Trigun Teen Titans AU

Meryl Stryfe aka Shrike, The Girl Wonder

-Former sidekick to Julai’s vigilante Derringer (Roberto).

-Chose a shrike instead of a robin bcz its size, ferocity & feather colours suit her more.

-Parents were a wealthy couple who stuck their nose in the wrong place & got killed for it.

-Was adopted by her investigative journalist idol, Roberto who was also her vigilante idol.

-Although og TT featured Dick Grayson, she’s more like Tim Drake in the sense that she deduced Roberto’s secret ID, stalked him with her camera & emailed him 999+ powerpoint slides titled ‘Why You Need A Sidekick (Like Me)’ until he gave in.

(-Also, she noticed Roberto’s alcoholism & his less than stellar coping mechanisms. Julai needs Derringer, but Roberto needed an actual person by his side, not just a mass of faces to protect.)

-Eventually got tired of being stuck in his shadow & struck out on her own.

-Then she met a tall hot alien princess, a guy who could shapeshift into the animal kingdom, his cyborg brother & a half-biblically accurate angel and persuaded them into forming a superhero team called the Teen Titans.

-Takes her position as leader (& the only non-superpowered individual) seriously but shows a softer side overtime, especially to Milly.

-The newspaper clippings in her room aren’t strictly for detective work. (Most) Some of them are for sentimental value.

Milly Thompson aka Stunfire, Tamaran’s Princess

-The youngest of 12 siblings in the Tamaranean monarchy.

-Powers are similar to Starfire’s, only her beams are yellow & can stun opponents.

-Gordanians kidnapped her as a bargaining chip against her family. As the youngest, they had no choice but to leave her on her own & prioritize their planet.

-Milly already knew this (because contrary to what many believe, she wasn’t stupid) & escaped on her own.

-Unfortunately, her attempts to remove the handcuffs caused a LOT of collateral damage & misunderstandings.

-A tiny but feisty human warrior talked her down & removed her bindings. Milly kissed her so she could thank her, though that might be difficult since she’s unmoving & her face is now red for some reason??

-Has a huge crush on Meryl but is a bit intimidated by her professionalism. Still, it’s even harder to NOT fall in love with the woman’s strong sense of justice & compassion.

-Visits cafes & goes on long flights with Vash, coaxes WW to try smaller cuter animals she can cuddle with & empathizes with fellow gentle-giant youngest sibling Livio's struggles to fit in/not be a burden.

-Loves to eat her pudding with mustard.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood aka Punisher, The Hunter

-Although every kid at the orphanage was a younger sibling to him, he felt a kinship to the strays, have it be cats, dogs or birds.

-One day, someone swung by, offering apprenticeships for some kinda fancy animal research school. WW liked animals & jobs like that sounded like they paid well, so why not?

-He instantly regretted this decision when he realized he was the ‘animal’ they planned to research.

(-The Eye of Michael is more or less this AU’s H.I.V.E. Academy.)

-Despite his rebelliousness, he was their top (specimen) student. Livio was also ‘enrolled’ to keep him in check.

-Both of them were assigned to the Gung-Ho Guns & sent on a mission to properly ‘graduate’. Instead, they ditched at the first chance.

-Wanted to hide but couldn’t resist lingering around the orphanage. After stopping someone from robbing the place, he realized maybe, just maybe, these powers he never asked for could be used for something other than senseless violence.

-Also, becoming a ‘hero’ was the biggest middle finger he could give to Chapel.

-The EoM constantly pressured him into using ‘strong animals’ but his teammates have slowly coaxed him into expanding, i.e. a cute cate for recon & a mole for hiding.

-Realizes he has feelings for Vash after getting to know him but feels unworthy of reciprocation. Still, that doesn’t stop him from plopping into his lap for emotional support.

Livio/Razlo Wolfwood aka Double-Fang, The Tri-Punisher

-Has always dreamed of being a hero but knew the best he could be was a doctor or firefighter or something.

-When the EoM returned with an empty slot, he jumped at the chance (even though Razlo said he shouldn’t, he really shouldn’t, you can’t trust them-).

-Wasn’t suitable for the animal genes, but his body adapted to the cybernetic modifications. They kept him around for Razlo & to ensure WW behaves.

-Eventually, they managed to escape. Livio was still optimistic about becoming a hero, but WW & Razlo were very reluctant.

-Once, Livio wandered too close to the orphanage & accidentally scared a younger kid who called him a monster. He went nonverbal & let Razlo front for a week.

-Returned after he helped WW stop someone from breaking into the orphanage. Both of them realized that their powers could be blessings. Thus, they became a crime-fighting duo.

-After a series of chance encounters, they’re now part of a team.

-Livio is very self-conscious about his cyborg nature, well-aware that out of everyone, the public finds him to be the most intimidating. Luckily, any tabloids who try to slander him mysteriously find themselves socially & financially ruined overnight.

-He’s aware of Vashwood & MillyMeryl. He has front row seats to 2 live slow-burn romances & a betting pool with Razlo on who’ll confess first.

Vash Saverem aka Stampede, The Rebel Angel Humanoid Typhoon

-He & Nai were raised by Rem, a pacifist priestess that worshipped angels called Plants.

-Their blissful childhood was shattered the day they discovered the remains of their older sister, Tesla, the Plant that came to the temple before them as a blessing only for the priests to treat her with less dignity than a sacrifice.

-Nai slaughtered the entire order, including Rem, in a fit of rage & fear. He established a new cult solely devoted to him & Vash. Overtime, his possessiveness & wrath became uncontrollable.

-While attempting to smuggle a group of innocent human sacrifices, Vash got into a fight with Nai that resulted in the loss of his arm.

-It was the final straw, he fled to Earth.

-Briefly, he was taken under the wing of Luida & Brad, the last two survivors of the original temple, who taught him human culture and how to regulate his emotions to have better control over his powers.

-An encounter with a group of heroes & an offer to join their new team had to be a sign. This was it, his chance to atone for his twin’s sins.

-Tries to be the best hero & the bestest ally possible (so the prophecy never comes true). It’s a bit ironic, he wields dark magic but his sunny attitude wouldn’t be out of place in a kids’ fairy cartoon.

-Deeply admires everyone’s kindness, especially WW’s but is terrified of loving him because of his true nature.

-Aside from dark matter-esque energy, his powers sometimes materialize in the form of his Tristamp branches & flowers. Has Plant markings but also Trimax’s biblical feathers & wings.

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (5)

[Masterlink] (PART 1) (PART 4)

-----

Mari and Cass sometimes switch their suits as they have the same body type. Cass would sometimes go out in full Hellbat gear and give the appearance that Hellbat is out more often than she actually is.

So Orphan/Black Bat also sometimes uses guns.

This also helps with concealing secret identities. Maria was rescued by Hellbat from Joker’s Henchmen. (Vicki Vale was getting sus of the new Wayne and Hellbat.)

Unfortunately since Hellbat rarely comes out and she had already made all of her appearance for the month and it wasn’t a busy weekend, the public had come to the conclusion that Hellbat has a crush on the newest Wayne.

Basically everyone thought that Mari has a crush on herself. Which led to some teasing and escalated to Mari announcing that Jason had a crush on Red Hood on live TV.

It didn’t help that a video of Red Hood and Jason re-enacting Romeo and Juliet with Jason on his apartment balcony and Red Hood on the roof was posted on the internet a few days later. (Thank you, Trixx and Tim’s awesome video editing skills)

Sadly, it was taken down 24 hours later. (Tim and the others have multiple copies of it, on the cloud or hardware, hidden around in the manor and their respective safehouses in the US.)

Some people kidnapped Jason to hopefully gain leverage over the Red Hood and to their dismay and nightmares for years to come, Hellbat came instead.

One lucky and incredibly brave reporter asked why she was there instead of her brother.

Mari being a little shit, “Red Hood may be a tough and scary guy but when it comes to his feelings, my brother is a chicken.”

Pictures of Jason tackling Hellbat somehow never made it into any papers.

The criminal underworld hasn’t taken a hint and Jason has been kidnapped a few more times.

Other times Jason was kidnapped:

Robin: Red Hood made a fool of himself in front of Todd recently and he doesn’t dare to show his face.

Spoiler: He was taking too damn long checking his hair even though I told him that no one was going to see it under his helmet and he was so offended that he is currently sulking in the bathroom.

Red Robin: Red Hood can’t think straight when he is around Jason. I mean have you seen the dude.

Arsenal*during a rare visit to Gotham*: Red Hood owes me one now.

Dick finally ends it by going out as Red Hood and rescuing Jason. Gotham is happy that Redson (Red Hood x Jason) ship has finally sailed.

-------

Kate, Babs, Cass, Steph and Mari were out on Mari’s first girls’ night since her move to the manor.

This is set a little after she came back from Paris with Jason.

They watched rom-com movies, did hair and nails, gossip about the superhero community and bitch and vent to each other.

Marinette off-handedly mentioned the crazy shits she had done during her stint as Ladybug. It started with asking about the T-rex in the Batcave and she mentions jumping into the mouth of a live one before.

Everyone in the room was shocked and after a few more questions, it was obvious that she was very reckless and self-sacrificing. Yep, she was going to fit into this crazy family just fine.

And Holy Shit. There is so much trauma packed into this kid. She needs lots of therapy.

Babs finally decided that they all needed to get out and have some fun. All in their respective suits and they went out.

Joined by Harley, Ivy and Selina.

Plagg came along because I want Plagg to meet Selina.

It was a chaotic night and it was a miracle that Bruce didn’t find out about what the girls did.

-------

Batman and Red Hood were on patrol together when Selina jumped in front of them.

“Hello, Boys”

“What do you want, Catwoman?”

“I want to meet my new prodigy, Kitty Noire.”

Cue Marinette jumping down from her hiding spot, transformed with the Black Cat Miraculous. “Hiya.”

Red Hood carries her like a potato sack and points his gun at the other two.

“Nope, she’s my sister and I called dibs. I adopted her. She’s off limits.”

“Legally, she’s mine.” Batman coughed out.

“I did it first. Emotionally. She’s my emotional support sister. You have plenty kids already, B and Selina, get your own.”

“Hey, I am still here and can hear you.”- Maria

-------

Alya was worried for Lila. She had been acting weirdly for the past month.

She looked very out of sorts. Her clothes weren’t in order and her hair was in disarray. She had bags under her eyes and her eyes looked wild. Lila didn’t look like herself at all.

She jumped at any sound and flinched at really sudden movements.

Alya tried to find out what was wrong with Lila and received vague answers.

One time Lila said that Marinette is to blame.

Alya reaches the somewhat right conclusion that Marinette was haunting Lila and hurting her because Lila used to come to school with bruises and claims that Marinette did it.

Alya goes to Marinette’s grave to desecrate it. (Yeah, go anger the ghost that is haunting someone.)

Unfortunately, the moment she tries to do something, the sky turns dark, clouds appear and the wind begins whipping. A Lightning strike near her and there was a cloaked figure beside her with a scythe.

All Alya saw from the figure was the blood-red lips in a very sharp grin and glowing blue eyes, raising the scythe high before she ran away. The scythe swiped the air where her head once was.

Alya didn’t get far before she tripped and blacked out.

When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital with no idea how she got there.

She was told that somebody found her with a concussion in the park and took her to the hospital.

------

The next one on Mari’s hit list was Natalie.

She wasn’t as involved in the whole thing like Lila, Adrien or Gabriel but she still did it anyways.

Her punishment is a little mild compared to the others and was more of a warning to Gabriel.

Natalie woke up in the middle of the night to see a not-so-dead Ladybug sitting on her vanity chair with the moonlight from the windows illuminating her body and her neck. Her suit was torn exactly like the day of that battle with blood dripping down her arms and from her open wounds. The shadows kept her face hidden but glowing blue eyes stared at her.

Natalie was scared at first. But she regained her normal cool composure.

“I assume you are here to extract your revenge for aiding in your unfortunate demise. But before you kill me, I regret my part in my entire thing and I apologize for everything I have done against you even though I knew it was wrong.”

“At least you show remorse over what you have done. Visiting my grave when even my parents didn’t and leaving flowers. I love those purple hyacinths by the way. Did you know that they mean sorry in the language of the flowers?”

“Why are you stalling my death? Just kill me already.”

“Madam Sancouer. You just played a minor role in my downfall compared to what Adrien and Lila Rossi did to me. And you showed more guilt over your actions than they ever did and Adrien claimed to have loved me. And like I have told the Bats, Death is too swift of a punishment.”

“Who are the bats?”

“None of your concern. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

“Lila sees the ghosts of her past and they haunt her. Adrien is in a living nightmare and has no control over his actions and is despised by everyone. What are you going to do to me?”

“Well, since you show some guilt over your actions, let me tell you a little secret. I am not dead. Not really. I mean I did die. But there was a spell in the grimoire that revived me. It took a few days to work.”

Marinette changed to her normal form. It was a little jarring to see an older Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting on her vanity chair like it was a throne. The Ladybug suit and the wounds were gone. She looked a little familiar.

“Why are you telling me this? What was the point?” Natalie faltered as she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Marinette moved closer and her face was fully illuminated by the moonlight.

“I intend to take everything by which I mean everything from Gabriel Agreste for what he did.”

“M. Agreste just wanted his wife back. You just gave him your Miraculous, you would still have everything.”

“What difference would it make? Sure I had friends and family before but they turned out to be disappointing. I might have become a famous designer like I dreamed of and can't achieve because I died. Besides, he never said about wanting his wife to come back in his tedious monologues. For all we knew back then, he wanted them for world domination. He showed that he would end the world for them. For kwamis’ sake, he nearly started World War III, just for a pair of earring and a ring. He was willing to kill me to have her back. No wait, he did that too. If he actually read the translated grimoire or asked the Guardian or at least someone with magic for help instead or maybe used his head and made some who can heal as his champion using the Butterfly, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. Face it, Mme Sancour, your boss is a power-hungry and very controlling maniac who is also thankfully an idiot.”

“But- he- he just-. You are just a child, what do you know? M. Agreste knew what he was doing.”

“A child who had a normal life up until he tried to ruin it with his idiotic schemes and hiring Lila to do it. A child who had to fight a war on her own.”

“I am sorry you had to go through that but I doubt you and your little revenge rampage is going to solve anything.”

Ghostly Chains wrapped around Natalie’s body, squeezing tight like it was squeezing the life out of her.

“I was all for sparing you, you know. If you had actually listened to my side of the story, you would have spared from my ‘little revenge rampage’. This is going to be a little painful. Sorry about that.” In a tone that was definitely not sorry.

Pain coursed through Natalie’s body. Her skin crawled and itched as pitch back feathers grew out of it. Her bones turned to dust and reformed.

Where Natalie Sancour once was, there was a raven.

An omen of death and destruction for one Gabriel Agreste.

Marinette leaned down towards the raven. Natalie tried to peck her eye out but Marinette held the beak in a firm grip.

“Ah. ah ah. Luckily for you this is temporary. Mostly. Every night, you will assume this shape and each night the longer you will stay in this form. Slowly counting down the days until Gabriel’s downfall. Since you love helping him so much, you are going to help him know how long he has to live. The night you are a raven from sunset to sunrise, that sunrise starts the day Gabriel Agreste will be utterly destroyed.”

She released the beak and headed towards the window.

"Send him my regards."

With that, she was gone.

(Part 6)

[ravenclaw-questions-gone-writing]

Ven’s Idea Outline #1 (Maribat)

Remember that MariDamiJon fic that I mentioned I was going to do for the gift exchange? It’s still bouncing around in my head and Luka decided to join in so I’ve decided to at least make an outline in (assuredly vain) hopes that it will leave me alone for a bit.

Ao3

Part 1

Typical Daminette but Hanahaki style bc I can’t find any Maribat hanahaki fics and I need one and I can’t find any.

Dick and Damian sent to scope out Paris for Hawkmoth related reasons

Jon goes with bc he’s Damian’s emotional support kryptonian but he might arrive later This idea has been removed but I like it so I will share it.

Damian is getting familiar with the new battlegrounds  taking a walk in the park when a girl falls from a tree and lands on top of him

The girl apologizes profusely before explaining that she’s really clumsy and she was just trying to help a kitten stuck in the tree

It’s not love at first sight but Damian appreciates an animal lover and is slightly less of an ass than he would usually be

Might mix this with my Blossom Soulmate AU that I never got around to finishing and posting, now that I think about it

Anyway, Damian helps her get the cat down from the tree

He latches onto this potential information source who is not as annoying as most other people and sticks with her

They become friends friendly acquaintances and he drops by her school to pick up her up after she agreed to show him around Paris.

Debating Lila salt...

Debating Class salt...

If yes: Damian walks into a scene where Marinette  and sweeps Marinette away without a word to the rest of her class

If no: Damian arrives and proceeds to wait for her outside by his motorcycle

Either way, his appearance makes waves in Dupont’s rumor mills

They do not know he’s Damian Wayne, just that there’s a dude who attractive enough to be model with a motorcycle waiting for the schools (tragic, if salt) sunshine fashion princess.

Robin and Nightwing meet up with Ladybug and Chat Noir to offer their help in figuring out who Hawkmoth is, as well as fighting and training.

Full Miraculous court meeting with Ryuko, Viperion, Queen Bee, Carapace, Rena Rouge, Pegasus, Bunnyx, and Monkey king. (Rena Rouge is removed if Class salt. Replaced with Fox!Nath or Fox!Julieka)

Ladybug and Robin get along

About two weeks in Adrien starts officially dating Kagami.

Another week passes and Damian finds out Marinette has been coughing flower petals and her unrequited love is her classmate Adrien Agreste.

She refuses to remove the hanahaki - this version is the standard they can’t fall in love ever again if they remove it.

This revelation makes him oddly uneasy, it isn’t until his own Hanahaki shows up later that night that realizes he understands why.

Damian does a pretty good job of hiding it.

Dick knows something is up but he’s trying to give Damian more space so he doesn’t look into it and trusts Damian would ask him if it’s life threatening

Ladybug notices his discomfort on patrol and they talk

He is surprised to learn Ladybug also has it and Robin comes up with the brilliant idea that they should fall in love with each other.

There is precedent that if you fall out of love with the person, the Hanahaki will go away. But falling out of love is difficult and not easily done. There must be no lingering romantic feelings at all.

Ladybug encourages Robin to chase his crush first, because he at least has a chance if the girl he likes also has it.

Cue the debates

If Ladybug wins: Enter Damian going all out in flirty assassin seduction techniques from his mother - Good Talia that kills rapists, none of that she raped Bruce bs, she actually had a good relationship with Bruce and a mutual breakup because of differing views on killing people - that he’s barely used since his lessons on it in the league and romantic advice from Dick.

He goes full on Bitch-sensei from assassination classroom.

He’s commissioned a shirt from Marinette. She gets to design it however she wants.

It is a long sleeved button up, specifically made to accentuate his muscles without being too revealing.

That’s the shirt he wears when he asks her out with flowers and a stuffed kitten holding a stuffed wood board that says “please date me” He has his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, top button undone. Collar and hair ruffled up for maximum sensuality. He’s got a lot of references between all the people he knows (Bruce, Talia, Selina, Dick, and really his whole family is full of objectively attractive, seductive people he can reference. Just as long as he avoids mimicking their failing romantic habits, he should be fine.)

He tries to be suave about it but is a little too nervous to completely pull it off. It doesn’t matter because Marinette finds it endearing.

On the date, he’s more confident and is able to pull off suave bastard much better but only at the end. He’s a gentleman until the very end, when he leaves her in the bakery

He goes in, and twirls her admittedly short hair around his finger, maintaining eye contact as he presses his lips against her hair - it’s admittedly harder than he expected given how short it is but being so close made it more intimate and the blush on her face was definitely worth it

He leaves in the bakery slightly dazed and counts the date as a success.

Marinette’s mind shut down bc damn that boy is fine and smooth af is flustered and confused as heck but she’s willing to give him a shot

Alternatively: Marinette’s not sure about dating Damian because she feels like she’s just using him to get rid of her hanahaki bc of the idea that Robin had proposed.

Dick is ecstatic that Damian was acting weird because he had a crush and loved helping his brother out with this date planning in the city of love

He doesn’t report it back to the batfam yet because they had a small argument about it and Damian pulled away with the small victory of Dick has to wait until after the first date to tell them.

Damian is glad he Marinette’s willing to give him a chance but he’s worried about Ladybug

he wonders if he should set her up with Tim or Duke, it’d be a shame to lose a friend and hero like her.

Robin brings up his success to Ladybug and asks if there’s anything he can do to help her.

She notes that a friend had actually confessed to her and she’s giving them a chance.

They accidentally compare notes on their dates and that’s their reveal.

If Robin wins: An awkward start that smooths into moonlit dates on the Eiffel tower, dancing on rooftops, an increase in flirting but only after battles, never before it bc they have a professional reputation to keep, increasingly physical training routines, stolen kisses but not on lips until they’re more comfortable with each other.

Fast tracked mutual slow burn which kinda defeats the purpose of a slow burn but whatever

I have realized these ideas are not mutually exclusive.

Maybe Ladybug wins first but Damian fails to seduce Marinette because she has the doubts so they go with plan B and date each other. Ladybug is more comfortable with the idea of dating Robin because they both have Hanahaki and are knowingly using each other to get rid of it?

There is no identity reveal in this version

Complaint Break time: I was writing this to get it out but it keeps growing, wtf.  This is so long and I haven’t even gotten to the main part.

It was supposed to be an established Daminette but I wanted to show how they got together, this was supposed to be like 5 bullet points, 10 tops.

At some point, I’m going to have to mention the rumor that people with Hanahaki are being kidnapped because the flowers that bloom after their death make great medicine but that cures most illnesses and are good potions ingredient whatever, something along those lines. It’s not the ones they cough up but the flowers that grow on the vines constricting their lungs after until they die and only blossom after death. Those flowers that spread the pollen into the air that makes the Hanahaki disease possible.

That’s why people keep it a secret unless they’re going to get the surgery as there’s not other way to treat it.

But that’s a plot point for part 2.

I feel like this is already longer than anything I’ve put out at this point in time.

Back to the story:

Even though they’re dating, the Hanahaki doesn’t go away immediately. It slows and becomes less frequent but there are times when they think of how their love doesn’t return their feelings and the flowers come back with a vengeance and they’re down for the day, possibly the entire week, hacking up flower petals and buds.

(Ladybug Wins version until otherwise stated) It’s during one of these fits that Dick finds out and is angry at this girl playing with his brother’s feelings.

Damian is too busy hacking up bloody flower petals to correct him

The entire batfam and subsequently Superfam now know the batfam’s youngest has hanahaki

Jon is called in and flies in to help keep an eye on his best friend

Bruce, Jason, Tim, and Duke are shocked but they pack up and are ready to go in guns blazing to have a talk with this girl bc the boys might not be on the best terms but that’s their baby brother. The girls stay behind to hold down the fort (because I need more time to get familiar with them before I can confidently write their characters. I’m not too confident about Duke either but I already mentioned him and it’s too late to back out now.)

So, Damian’s brothers and his father track her down to a different park in Paris where Marinette’s hanging out with her friends

They’re incised to find their brother’s girlfriend with another guy’s arm around her, leading her away from the main group of friends

It’s Luka, he’s helping her hide her hanahaki because she assures him that she has it under control and will go with him to the hospital if it becomes too much

They confront the couple

There’s a lot of intimidating posturing and accusations

Batfam is absolutely not prepared for the bloody flowers that spill from her lips - her hanahaki is even worse than Damian’s

Detective bats (correctly or incorrectly, depending on which version happens) put the pieces together and figure they’re dating to get rid of the hanahaki, that is something Damian would absolutely propose

and oh shit, this time it’s not just Bruce that’s adopting someone. They have a little sister now.

Luka explains what he knows about the situation and basically confirms what they’d deduced.

Welp, since they’re here, Hawkmoth has become top priority.

Hawkmoth takes one look at the Miraculous circle and the new set of bats and just- nopes out plus super boy and just nopes out.

Like, he tries but he has no expectation of winning and tries to run instead. It doesn’t work, they have all grounds covered.

I should probably make use of Mayura if I ever do write everything out but she didn’t really leave much of an impression on me tbh and I don’t have a lot of ideas. Maybe if I ever go back and watch it.

Celebratory, on-the-spot kiss between Robin and Ladybug where they do “oh“ and realize the pressure in their chest is finally gone and the Hanahaki is no more.

(Robin Wins) Dick is obliviously happy about little Robin leaving the nest and finding a mate until he finds out both the little heroes coughing up flower petals on their date

then he goes in and mother hens them both, before demanding answers

He’s also less happy about this whole dating thing

Dick can’t do much about Ladybug without revealing her identity but Damian isn’t getting out of it so easily

Dick figures out who Damian’s crushing on and goes to do a little investigating. He is very surprised to see it’s a bubbly, energetic designer girl and not someone... calmer. But then he thinks of Jon and it makes a little more sense

He talks to her, asks about what she thinks of Damian and is pleasantly surprised by her positive view of his brother. He asks if she would go out with him and she coughs up some petals

Now, Dick’s freaking out and why are there so many children with Hanahaki? This is the third one in two days!

fast forward because I’m finally out of ideas for this part

Ladybug knows she’s fallen for Robin, which was the entire point of them dating but she not sure he actually reciprocates or is still trying to forget that other girl.

Or if you went the other way, Robin’s still chasing Marinette but Ladybug now likes Robin and is aware that he’s trying to woo her. So, out of the frying pan and into another for her.

Robin is absolutely having regrets bc he is an emotional wreck and crushing on two girls and this was not supposed to happen, damnit.

A meta gets akumatized and takes out half the miraculous court but turns out the meta’s psychic ability can help track Hawkmoth so its all cool, now that they know what Hawkmoth feels like

Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuko, and Robin vs Hawkmoth and Mayura

Nightwing stayed behind to watch the other heroes are no longer brain dead from the battle but boy are they out of it and he has to make sure they get home safe

that does not mean he’s not extremely put out and worried about it since he knows half the team has hanahaki and it may interfere with the fight

Even if the Ladybug suit lessens the hanahaki attacks, they still happen from time to time

For two people who don’t  show up to fight often Hawkmoth and Mayura put up a good fight

Ladybug has an hanahaki attack and Hawkmoth tried to take advantage of it, only to get knocked out by Chat Noir who’s still pissed at his dad for causing this whole thing

Chat Noir and Ryuko are pretty shocked Ladybug has hanahaki, even more her timer runs out and she choses to present it to Robin

Robin is shook

He gets it together and pulls her into a kiss that cures their hanahaki and makes their brains melt

Now Marinette’s kinda confused bc what the other girl

Damian, slightly shifting his mask so she can see who he is: That other girl was YOU

Now Marinette’s the one who’s shook

Note: Chat Noir and Ryuko have both de-transformed at this point and are watching with wide eyes but they do not see who is under that mask. Also, no cameras in this section of the manor bc that would be proof.

They have a lot to talk about but it works out in the end.

the outline above was written out of order bc I had to go back everytime a new idea hit and I cannot be bothered to go back and dodeca-check this thing again just to make sure everything makes sense.

Part 2 (that was supposed to be the main story- finally made it, the starting point. I cry.)

Ok, so, now that Daminette is established and the evil is defeated

Damian returns to Gotham with his girlfriend in tow to introduce her to the rest of his family, despite his better judgement

Jon is happy that Damian is in happy, loving relationship but he’s a bit sad that it’s not him and oop, sunshine kryptonian boy got hanahaki’d.

Same for Luka. (Yes, Jagged will be his dad and a Gothamite.)

Jagged and his kids join them in Gotham bc he has to be there to show his favorite designer niece around to all the best places of his hometown.

Luka finds out Jon has Hanahaki and they bond over the experience

They make a pact to cover each other and get the other to the hospital when it gets to that point

Pining/Simping meetings over their best friends that for some unknown reason seem to lessen the flower coughing over time even though these meetings probably make things worse but they also need vent before it increases again.

Luka and Jon beginning to fall for each other but they think the other is still in love with Marinette/Damian and it’s true that they still hold feelings for their best friends that aren’t diminishing in the sleightest and it’s all very confusing.

It’s even more confusing when we add the new hero in Gotham, Viperion who’s there to continue training with the bats since he’s visiting the area, rescues and lightly flirts with Jon who ended up developing a small crush and Jon realizes he has a type.

So, poor Jon’s now crushing on Damian, Luka, and Viperion

Viperion meets Superboy and the kryptonian doesn’t seem to like him?

Luka’s crushing on Marinette, Jon - still doesn’t know that Damian is Robin. And is kinda curious and a little hurt that the Robin’s oddly familiar kryptonian is actively and obviously avoiding him and that heart song is kind of familiar but different.

Viperion also gains a crush on Robin after watching him take down a thug in a very graceful way - the bird was showing off for his bug and decided to make it a little showier, he accidentally also caught a snake

Ladybug and Robin still flirt but the court - aside from Ryuko and Chat, depending on which version - think that’s just their dynamic, though they do pull Robin aside for a bit to tell him she has a boyfriend now. He assured them it’s fine and he knows, oddly amused at their attempt.

man, I am not original with this identity porn thing

It isn’t until Luka sees Jon again that he puts it together.

Marinette suspiciously notes Luka and Jon been hanging out an awful lot she’s making connections to the time she had hanahaki and Luka covered for her

The pains of befriending deductive genii.

Cue the panic and they accidentally claim they’re dating but it throws Marinette off for now, so it kinda worked?

Hanahaki fic with a fake dating AU. Oops.

Mari decides since she and Damian don’t know this, they must have been neglecting their best friends and double dates are the way to go.

Cue more panic

Unlike Marinette who is willing to trust their word, Damian’s a suspicious bastard who’s kind of dubious and a little salty that Jon didn’t tell him earlier if they’re telling the truth but Mari’s all gung ho about it so he lets it go for now

They go on the date and it is an emotional mess for everyone involved

It starts out fine

Jon and Luka act a bit weird because they have to cover for each other randomly coughing up petals, not to mention they’re on a date with their original crushes without actually dating their original crushes not even mentioning their new crushes and the secret identity reveal that Luka still hasn’t confronted Jon on and Jon’s guiltily thinking about Viperion half the time he thinks about Luka and shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Yeah, so they’re a mess

Damian’s watching them like he’s trying to figure them out and it is not helping but thank god Mari’s distracting him totally on accident

Marinette? She found a random lost kid in Gotham looking for their parents

So now the double date’s been temporarily derailed to help the lost kid

While Damian’s watching Marinette try pass the crying kid off to Jon for a  moment so she can make a phone call to report a lost child but the kid’s clinging onto Marinette, and they exchange looks so Jon calls in the lost kid instead and he’s just struck with the idea of a family with the three of them and some kids

Cue panic time (again)

Ignoring the thought of children, why was Jon in his fantasy?

Luka’s just watching a smitten boy go into panic mode over the trio and while doesn’t quite know what’s going on in Damian’s head, but that was really cute and oh not again

They find the kid’s parents, and the date moves on

Jon’s more comfortable, Marinette wasn’t really bothered in the first place. Luka and Damian are now having crises

Luka makes a joke under his breath in an attempt to calm down before his Hanahaki acts up

It did not help bc Damian overhears and gives a small amused snort that made his heart stutter but hey positive interaction!

Both Marinette and Jon but end up having feelings very similar to the one Damian had earlier when they look over at Damian and Luka’s little interaction - Damian’s giving Luka a small smirk and Luka is entirely embarassed at being heard when he wasn’t hadn’t meant to be.

But then Luka gives Jon a small sign before he excuses himself to the restroom so Luka can run off and cough up his flower petals

You remember that whole thing about the kidnapping people with hanahaki so they die and medicine and things can be collected from the flowers springing up from their corpse thing? Yeah, the kids are in Gotham and there is definitely a group there that has dealings with the trade and someone saw Luka hacking up flowers

but they mark him and pull back to plan instead of kidnapping him then and there bc drama and Jon followed him to the restroom to check on him

Date ends ok and everyone’s kind of an emotional wreck

Damian has surprisingly learned his lesson on miscommunication and guiltily confides his fantasy to her like a parishioner to his priest

Marinette basically goes same and confesses about the moment she and Jon saw his interaction with Luka.

“So, We’re together, and they’re together...and I might be in love with Jon, you think you might be in love with Luka... What now?“ Damian asked, trying to make sense of it all

“We could...” Marinette swallows, “um, all four of us? together?“ she offered meekly. Seeing that Damian seemed to like the idea, she continued. “Y’know, feel out how receptive they are to the idea and then just seduce them?”

Ok, so the temporary communication skills were nice.

Because instead of talking it out with their best friends, they decide to seduce them but to be fair, there’s at least one version of this where Damian got where he did because of seduction.

Between both Damian and Marinette’s phsyical attractiveness, their combined determination and stubbornness, Damian’s assassin seduction knowledge, and Marinette’s fashion ability and tactical knowledge of where to accentuate what, Jon and Luka have no chance of leaving pining hell for the foreseeable future.

Marinette doubles down on the “double dates” aka, seduction plans in action and group hang outs, aka much more softer, subtle seduction plans

Marinette and Damian do not do much seeing how receptive they are and really just jump right into the seduction, except they adjust the plans so Luka and Jon don’t catch on so Daminette couple thinks it’s ok to go all out.

Cue seduction and pining hijinks, and a whole lot of bloodly flowers and plenty of internal screaming

Damian learns that Luka might not be too bad in the group and Jon is panicking because oh shit he’s got another crush and it’s his best friend’s girlfriend.

the quartet’s love issues are really full circle... or whatever this shape is supposed to be. Because there’s still the whole Viperion/superboy thing and - i just... I’m not going to keep analyzing this.

Somewhere during this, Jon confesses his feelings this particular friend group to Con, leaving out the whole Hanahaki thing. Con tells Tim for advice on being a big brother and things happen but I’m not sure what. I just want TimCon and the Superboys bonding

So a couple weeks pass by the Hanahaki’s getting pretty bad and Luka suddenly goes missing

Ladybug and the bats are on it as soon as they realize he’s gone

Except they are missing one, very important piece of information

Luka’s hanahaki

So, for the next few days, they don’t get anywhere until Jon slips up and ends up coughing up a shitton of bloody flowers which leads to panic, confusion and explanation, bc wtf Jon, you’re supposed to be dating Luka and that’s definitely not unrequited

So everyone gets the full explanation, the final piece of the puzzle snaps into place and the bats are on it.

Marinette and Damian have to put aside that whole revelation in order to track and save Luka before he dies of Hanahaki

They both make sure to kiss Jon first so he doesn’t get handicapped by his hanahaki like Ladybug did but he and Luka will be on thin ice once they get Luka back

So it’s pretty much a race against time bc they don’t know how bad Luka’s hanahaki is

Tracking, beat up bad guys, possible magic related villain(s) searching for potion ingredients that may take harm Superboy more than than if they weren’t there

They rescue Luka or Luka and Ssass break out as Viperion and meet them halfway.

Hey, the identity reveals!

 Either way, at the end of it, Luka ends up with Ladybug and the unconscious and they have to wait until he wakes up to administer the kiss/cure bc it doesn’t work if one party is unconscious

which sparks an interesting idea of a sleeping beauty-cinderella style hanahaki fic where it would work if they’re unconscious, and the patient has to find go out to find who cured them and I’ll have to adjust some other rules of the hanahaki disease such as who can cure it but goddamn it

So while Luka’s out, Marinette and Damian confront the possibly injured but very much awake Jon

Once Luka wakes up and is brought up to speed, they take care of his hanahaki and work out the new boundaries of their new relationship

Part one is longer and I’m a bit put out by that. This made much more sense in my head but if you got this far, my rambling must have made some sort of sense.

[taliaquinn]

Why Me!? Chapter 18

You guys really are mini-dectives so I am just going to put this warning out. I might mix up my times, due to the fact that in the story, the setting is in both Gotham and Paris, both of which are in completely different timezones. So yeah just a PSA :)

Both Parties were staring at each other, one in shock the other in fear.

“Hey guys, uh t-that was an illusion for uh a magic trick I was practicing since I am a secret magician wellnotsecretsecretsinceuhsinceobviously I have to perform but uh yeah that was uh an illusion…..” Marinette trailed off at the deadpan faces that Jason and Dick had. They were not buying it. 

“Nice try pixie pop explain now” Jason demanded. One normal sibling that was all he asked for. He quickly walked over to help Dick sit up from where he was laying on his couch.

“Marinette it's okay you can trust us, we’ll help with whatever it is,” Dick said, looping his arm over Jason's shoulder.

Glancing between the two she was having an internal debate. Should she just tell the truth? It would be nice to no longer have to hide her alter ego and get a little bit more of support. But Jason is a civilian, Dick at Least is a cop. She couldn’t put them at risk like that. Hmm, Tell the truth or lie? Decisions decisions.

“Fine”

“I’m ladybugs helper” Lying won today. 

“Hold up what?” Jason was confused but a little regardless he had a little bit of hope reignite. “Who is ladybug?”

Marinette let out a sigh of relief and out of exhaustion, both emotional and physical. “Ladybug is a superhero in my city, she sometimes needs help when the villain Hawkmoth is a bit too strong.”

“Wait so you are a superhero?” Dick asked cautiously. What was it with these Wayne kids? Is it genetic?

“WHAT!? No, it's just uh a lot of akumas come from my class so I would give Ladybug a heads up” Marinette couldn’t help the shiver that ran up her spine when she said this “somehow lead to me becoming the unofficial helper” Marinette paused before coming up with the next part of her lie “Chat, her partner was uh decommissioned, she gave me his ring and Kwami to take care of” She quickly went into her purse and pulled out a protesting Plagg out by his tail to show them. 

“See” she showed them the now grumpy upside down Plagg to the dumbfounded pair.

“Hold up, what you're telling me is that you aren't a superhero, just an assistant, a gal in the chair?” Jason said elatedly. His dreams and hopes alight once again.

No. “Yes,” Guilt was crashing down on her now. How did Lila manage to lie constantly? She felt so dirty with each lie that she spewed.

“That's nice, you know your sister's secret,” Plagg piped up “Hello I'm Plagg god of darkness, one quick thing to add QUIT HOLDING ME UPSIDE DOWN WOMAN” he yelled. Marinette immediately released him. Whoops. 

Plagg quickly swooped over to Dick who was still processing the newly revealed secrets. “I can't believe I was manhandled like that. I wanna switch babysitters, Hey got any camembert?” Plagg immediately asked, swooping in Dicks face before noticing the bruises “Hey what's up with the bandages, DID MARINETTE ABUSE YOU TOO!!” he gasped. 

“Plagg” Marinette scolded before quickly sidestepping Jason to make her way to Dick to check up on him. Looks like she found Bludhaven Dingwatt?

“How did this even happen?”

“Uh Motorcycle accident, I called Jason to help me tow it with his…. truck”

“Jason owns a truck?” Crap. Note to self get Bruce to pay for a new truck for Jason. 

“Yep I most totally do, it's really nice and really expensive with custom wheels and leather seats” Jason replied. Doing a mental happy dance. He was getting a new truck!!! He was going to milk this lie for all it's worth and best of all Bruce is going to be forced to pay for it! Santa came early this year.

Dick shot Jason a glare while Marinette was busy poking his torso. 

“So…..you're Ladybugs assistant? Do you have like your own hideout or lair or something?”

“Are you joking? Nope I help her and this other girl run a website called BugOut and I make sure to take note of Akuma attacks and try to somehow find a pattern, unfortunately, I recently became a babysitter to two mini gods” She said glaring at Plagg who was busy rummaging through Marinette's desk. 

It has been 30 minutes since he has been fed. He was starving for some cheesy goodness. The audacity.

“Who's the second one?” Jason asked, trying to pull the cat god out of his little sister's desk. “Hands off Gramps” Plagg spit out zooming to avoid getting caught.

“Kaalki come on out,” Marinette asked, Kaalki zoomed out to offer her paw to Dick who was now sitting on Marinette's bed. Which was comfier than the sofa.

“Greetings, May I ask what family do you descend from?” 

“Oh my gosh she’s a mini Alfred,” Dick squealed.

“So Like basically you work as Ladybugs, Paris’s Heroine, girl in the chair?” Jason asked, biting into the pastry while holding a struggling Plagg who he finally caught.

“Yep,” Marinette answered, checking Dicks Bandages wrapped around his torso and making sure he was made comfortable. Motorcycle accident my as-

“Now explain how you got trapped babysitting this mangy cat, the other one seems nice enough”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!”

“Jason let Plagg go before he bites you, trust me he will, and like I said Chat Noir was decommissioned, now it’s my job to babysit him until a new wielder is found”

“But no superheroing right?” Dick asked giving Kaalki a small bit of pastry

‘No superheroing at alllll” Marinette replied. She needed to switch the conversation, she was feeling too much like Lila now.

“Anyways would you guys mind keeping this a secret?” The last thing she wanted was for Mr.Wayne to start nosing around.

“Maribug this seems dangerous, we’ve seen how the attacks have destroyed buildings, killed Chat Noir, It’s only because of Ladybugs cure thingy majig that everything is restored” Jason explained. What if she was used as leverage against Ladybug?

“Plus how are you planning on hiding this from everyone else for long?” Dick was already making a mental plan on how to help her regardless “It didn’t take long for us to figure it out”

“Uh lemme figure that part out” Marinette was gonna have to start planning “Speaking of which, how did you guys figure out it was a fake me on the bed?”

“Beats me, it was dick wad over here who figured it out”

“Let's chalk it up to older brother instincts and leave it at that” Dick teased. He was the original Robin. He practically wrote the handbook on “Sneaking out of Wayne Manor 101”.

“He’s also a mother hen”

“Yeah that too”

Agreste Manor                                                                                                    Paris, France                                                                                                    6:00 a.m

Adrien walked up the stairs to his home heartbroken. He has just lost his very best friend. He has lost his job. His only escape from the pressures of being an Agreste. He needed it back. He will get it back no matter what. Right now all Adrien needed was someone to talk to. His father was very obviously a no. Nino was a definite negative. He had broken up with Alya, his other good friend. 

The last thing he wanted to do was be dragged into another conflict. He was already dealing with the whole Lila and Marinette conflict. Wait a minute. Marinette. Marinette can be trusted. He can talk to her!!!

Immediately whipping out his phone he clicked on Marinette's contact and held it up to his ear. Ready to confess his secret and talk with her.

Line Disconnected

What!? Nononono this had to be a mistake. He retried again quickly. After being met with the same message he called Chloe. 

After a dial tone, Chloe picked up “Adrien? Do you know what time it is?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“Sorry Chlo, it's just....do you know what happened to Marinette, I know she's in the States with family, but why isn't she answering? Her phone is disconnected” Adrien asked apologetically. The other end was completely silent before Chloe started shuffling around before releasing a sigh

“Not that it's any of your business, but Marinette doesn't really wanna talk to any of her old classmates” 

“What about me?”

“Especially you” 

“WHAT!? 

Authors Note: This blog stands for diversity and being inclusive. I will not tolerate hate towards others, least of all between my readers. I know that a few of us might be upset over recent occurrences over in the Harry Potter Fandom. Just know that I am a writer that loves all my readers 

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

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[currentfandomkick]

Marinette did not sign up for this pt2

forgot to post this before i passed out last night. part one here ao3 here

It was almost four years into being Ladybug when the Justice League made contact.

In that time, she and Chat had built the miraculous team and they both knew each members identities, but swore them all to not seek out one another’s identity. (Though Alya was Alya and had Carapaced figured out on his first outing… convincing her not to reveal that to him took a bit. The girl was determined, but Marinette follows Fu’s rules to the letter (as much as she can) and that meant Secrets Stay Secret damnit.)

Not contacting the JL themselves was partially due to some fallout the Mayor and Parisian government with a (dissolved) Justice League’s branch. It was well before her team’s time. Something about collateral damage and if her miraculous could fix damage dealt by JL members or not playing some role in that too.

She decided it was a good thing when two years later she found a fucking dagger with a large bouquet on her balcony. It became a regular occurrence for special occasions—birthday, winter holidays and on Easter (she didn’t even know why on that one. Her parents aren’t Catholic. Maybe Murder Robin was, or thought she was?). She would just find some weapon with flowers somewhere in her room. She had no fucking clue what Murder Robin (Alya found articles where the ‘new’ Robin was cited as likely having killed multiple people in Gotham and just, yikes) or his friends or even her father (Fucking Batman, the Ghost of Gotham) might have meant by leaving it, but it was clear they had her address, knew which room was hers, and could do a lot of damage if she toed the line. She wasn’t testing any of those ‘no contact rules’ after that.

Hiding a dagger and various other weapons (so many knives and throwing stars) from Maman by giving it to Fu and later passing it off as an eccentric gift from him to her for always helping him out was… an adventure when Fu was still Master Fu. She hopes Murder Robin doesn’t find out about that bit. She has no clue how he or his family (not hers, hers are in Paris with her. Hers at least tried to talk to her, tried to listen and did make time for her. His family? Complete strangers she may share DNA with.)

She (logically) should be terrified that Murder Robin knows her alias and secret identity are the same person; if he’s really one of the world’s greatest detectives’ kids, why wouldn’t he know? Batman must have known for years—why else would Murder Robin be able to find her? the DNA scan was in a closed match system to just Paris. And she knew there was no way Goddamn Batman, Ghost of Gotham, would hang around Paris long enough to get dragged into the system for him to have a ping.

He just did not want anything to do with her or her city’s trouble since it wasn’t his. She wasn’t his. Wasn’t wanted by him. That was fine—he has enough to worry about in his hell city.

Sending Murder Robin out to do his dirty work?

Not fine.

Her team and her were… managing the Hawkmoth situation. Keeping it from spilling out of Paris since Startrain. Goo-guy managed to give them a break—people can grab akuma that aren’t meant for them and become much weaker akuma than if the akuma reached its target. Same with the few that could grab an akuma in the air. It meant when akuma went out, some citizens were willing to bear Hawkmoth’s wrath for a bit—even groups taking turns sometimes—to prevent someone from getting akumatized until Ladybug could purify the akuma or Chat Noir could destroy it.

And for akuma battles, well, she has more than just her and Chat, Luck (Creation) and Destruction. Viperion gave them multiple chances to change costly choices in battle. Bunnix fixed the ones that Viperion couldn’t. All oversized opponents fell to Ryuko and her mastery of the elements, even if she can’t always make it thanks to different schools and tight schedules. Miss Sting was chosen by Marinette—Aurore was easy to lean on for news team reports and media appearances that Ladybug and Chat Noir don’t have the time or energy for. Plus, Aurored needed the anger management, so win-win. Don’t even get her started on Pegasus or King Monkey always being ready at a moment’s notice and how they both started joining Nino and Alya’s parkour dates that have morphed into group hangouts in last two years. Seriously—if she knew where she needed to be, Max was ready to answer her call. If she knew more chaos would work as a distraction, long live King Monkey, the Great Distractor.

Then there’s her emotional support in the field (besides her chaton), Carapace. He’s a great shield in battle, good with civilians and quick to defend. He’s also big on mental health (something their team sorely needed). How Nino managed to get turtle headphones, Marinette doesn’t know. She does know she nicks them from him regularly as Ladybug for team hangouts and when she needs to clam down on patrol.

Then there is her civilian bestie, the one who convinced her to stay as Ladybug, Alya Cesaire, aka Rena Rogue and the Ladyblogger. Rena Rouge is by and far one of her favorites to talk about potential Hawkmoths with, and work out akuma prevention techniques with. In the battlefield she was one of the first to strike (even if that’s not how she should be using the flute, Marinette has no room for judgment given how she uses all of her Lucky Charms.) Alya always posted and circulated anti-akuma tips and altered the Ladyblog to have each icon for known miraculous mean something.

Marinette was nothing but supportive of her friend, even if the blog is a behemoth to maintain and resulted in Alya retiring as her Deputy (Rose took over gleefully as Deputy). She liked that the Ladybug was for news, and the Cat for if an attack is ongoing. The Butterfly tracks akuma sightings before an attack, and was a bit on the nose in her opinion, but it’s effectively mapped out areas where Hawkmoth’s lair is or has an opening, giving them an area to investigate and patrol more heavily. The Turtle offered guided meditation videos and yoga sessions (somehow always on-going), while the Fox was for group chats and various akuma-related support groups. The Peacock offered mental health resources, and was constantly growing. The Bee was for self defense videos and sat next to Dragon for akuma survival tips. The Snake was one of her personal favorites, advice on calming down with guided breathing if someone feels close to being akumatized, and she’d used it herself more than once. The Horse was the one she’s the least familiar with, for shelter routes that she never used. The Monkey held a number of fun distractions, videos and memes uploaded by her followers with art and songs, and was overall very light hearted.

Marinette is proud of her team.

Though it doesn’t mean there aren’t days she’s waiting for it all to unravel, or for an Older Bunnix to appear again and tell her they have to undo the day Marinette’s identities were compromised. But that is a always an apocalypse event option only. Chat Blanc still haunts Marinette’s nightmares, and Alix’s too. the Princess Justice timeline haunts Alix since she lived it in real time, but it’s Adiren’s nightmare come to life in multiple other akuma attacks. Apparently if Marinette is akumatized, she brings about a second Reign of Terror so encompassing, it made Robespierre’s look like a child’s drawing of what a reign 

It was during another Syren event when things went from workable to a slow boiling unbearable. All but Alix were transformed and fighting minions to clear a path for Ladybug to get to the main akuma.

Imagine her frustration when Aquaman and Aqualad appeared behind her while she was scouting on the outskirts, and both refused to make any eye contact, practically kneeling in water to her and making themselves a target. When they should be able to read the room and see that the battlefield isn’t the place for this.

“Oh Great Paschalítsa” Aquaman began, “I understand your hesitance in this matter, given the Miraculous and Atlantis’ history,” Aquaman continued as she dodged yet another minion further ahead and kept working her way to where the akuma was, ignoring his speech. “But I ask that you do not sink—”

Marinette gave up on her current task to ensure there wasn’t some international incident of Ladybug letting Aquaman be captured by akumas or something. She’d never head the end of it if she didn’t.

But now they were surrounded. Aqualad at least kept his attention on the task at hand (re: keeping minions from spotting her) as they all worked out a way to escape, even if he wasn’t looking anywhere near her. Apparently Aquaman got the message (finally) and did the same as his sidekick(?) after Aqualad made a few gestures she wasn’t paying attention to. She does have an akuma item to break and akuma to catch and purify.

The pair did manage to act as decent bodyguards and distractions while she worked out the kid’s item and how it connected to their fixation—no swimming until their grades up meant all of their gear but a whistle was taken away. One Lucky Charm and convoluted plot that merged fighting in 3-D, a pair of scissors and a lot off kicking off underwater buildings later, and Paris was back to normal.

She managed it without talking to Aquaman once. She could give quick directions to Aqualad without toeing the line—he wasn’t part of the Justice League and was known to operate in the ocean alone when Aquaman wasn’t there.

“Great Paschalítsa,” Aquaman began and Marinette wanted him to go off and leave her alone. Him and Aqualad. “As king of Atalntis, I humbly offer my aide in whatever has caused you and the great Mávri Gáta to show yourselves to the world.”

What was with all this formal speech? Marinette thought they knew French, or well, Alya mentioned it said they did in their bio, but it clearly wasn’t the kind her class used for projects. And Marinette was exhausted, frustrated, and now did not have a good and convenient target for her rage (re: akuma that drowned Paris) and well…

Well, she blew up. A bit. But can you blame her?

They wouldn’t take the hint. (Silence means Fuck Off).

“Look,” Marinette whirled on them, ignoring her team’s shock and not even going in for the celebratory ‘Pound it’.  “I told Murder Robin—“ the pair winces at the that wording. Good. They knew who she meant then.

“—that I won’t get involved with anything involving our dad.”

She didn’t miss the sharp intakes from her team. Chat knew, only due to a freak out over being left a freaking sword one time and she panicked, okay?

“And I meant it. Just because Batman felt guilty or something,” She doubted it. Ghost of Gotham doesn’t feel anything and can apparently take out entire buildings on occasion. (Even if she was pretty sure that was someone filling in for him, she wouldn’t discount it either.) “That Doesn’t mean I’m going to change my mind on the matter—My team has got this. And we don’t need a handout four years too late.”

They had to. Fu was gone (For three months now. Three months Marinette held the weight of being The Guardian on her shoulders alone. She had to have this. She wouldn’t trust random elements sent by Mr. ‘I accept my murderous son and ignore the one in constant peril that blew herself up twice to save Paris.’  

“Bug out.”

She knew her team would have questions, but Chat could answer them for now and Miss Sting would be able to handle any questions if any the media tried anything. Bright side of having the main Miraculous Team journalist as Rena with a determined hacker Pegasus; if it was personal to the team, the pair made sure it was never there.

--

Later at JL HQ

Aquaman walked up to Batman once the meeting was over. Batman knew the man had something on his mind and that it was related to himself—why else would he keep looking at him during the meeting? Whatever was troubling the Atlantian, Bruce could only hope it wasn’t emotions. That was really, really not his department… Jonn was much better with issues like that.

“Batman, may I have a word?”

Batman nodded, quick to follow the other out into a more private room.

“It has come to my attention that your daughter and you have a, uh, tricky relationship.”

Batman raised an eyebrow, as his relationship with Cass was doing well… he thought. Maybe he should visit her more? She was doing fine on her own and was always warm to him when he visited her in China on her missions against the Triad. Perhaps he should see if she was open to working with him on a case on that, or see if she wanted to come to Gotham again.

“And I don’t mean to judge here,” Aqua man continued, obviously nervous. “But uh, apparently your current Robin is well aware of her existence.”

Batman raised an eyebrow under the cowl. “Black Bat and Robin are close.”

The way Aquaman’s face contorted indicated nothing good. “Your other daughter.” The man paused, waiting for Batman to understand. “Ladybug.”

Bruce… Bruce froze. “I don’t have another daughter.” Not to his knowledge.

Aquaman ran a hand through his hair. “Well apparently ‘Murder Robin’ has met her,” Aquaman said with air quotes of all things. “Years ago.”

Bruce felt his heart stop. Damian’s… adjustment into the family had not been easy. And a few years ago Damian was much more… willing to do things against the Batcode, things that had him thriving in the League of Assassins. Things that changed a person. Things he’d need to ask this Ladybug—his daughter, another surprise child—about.

“And given that a Ladybug being active has always been a sign of a potential apocalypse—“

Batman’s red flags began flashing. Hard. His child was in danger and fighting a potential apocalypse event. Without his help. Without Batman’s resources.

“I assume Ladybug is a mantel.” Bruce hoped she had a mentor, someone to ease her into hero-work.

“Yes.” Aquaman looked… hesitant then. “Were it not for one Ladybug’s mercy, my people would have died when Atlantis was sunk by her equal, the Black Cat’s user. It seems this time they’re allies this time, against the Butterfly—I, Batman, are you alright?”

Bruce was not okay, at all. There is an ongoing apocalypse event, a daughter he never met stopping it (how old was she? Was she Damian’s age or older? Younger? He didn’t want her to have to live with this life, but she was and was doing so without him, without his help, without someone he knew she could lean on for support) and apparently his youngest son was well aware of this and did nothing to help. Did not even tell him.

He was going to have words with Damian.

“Excuse me.” Batman turned to leave. He has a son to interrogate, research to do, and a daughter to find (beg forgiveness for not getting to her sooner, and help her) on top of the usual workload. A Bat’s work is never done.

Wonder Woman who stopped him while he was reeling with this information, her grip too solid on his arm, and unlikely to break.

“It is not wise to rush in.” She began, appealing to reason in the hopes of keeping a panicked “Batdad” from making the situation worse. “From what Aquaman has told us, she does not welcome your involvement,” she said slowly, hoping it would sink in. “The Ladybug Miraculous has always been an agent of creation, of healing.” Diana hoped that would set her friend’s mind at ease. Ladybugs were notorious for their battle prowess and strategies, yes, but first and foremost their duty was to undo damage. “Ladybug herself will have much on her shoulders if her role is anything like my mother’s when she was among the Chosen, and adding yourself to the equation before her adversary is defeated will only serve to distract her from her goal.”

Batman remained tense, but didn’t struggle against Wonder Woman’s grasp. Good.

Green Lantern was the next to approach, as planned. “So why don’t you focus on your family in Gotham before rushing into meeting this kid,” Green Lantern—no, Hal suggested. “We’ll work on finding out what’s causing this possible apocalypse. You get your house in order.”

Bruce heard the words that weren’t said. Find out what your ex-assassin son did your demi-god daughter and make sure he doesn’t screw up anything further.

“That is not—“

“Batman.” Wonder Woman squeezed his arm. “This is not a suggestion.”

Cold curled in Bruce's stomach. His daughter was in danger, fighting against a potential apocalypse, and he was told to sit this one out. When it was personal. (His daughter who he needed to meet, to learn about, to see what made her tick and work out how to help her wherever she might need it. His daughter who he had lost years with.)

(They were ordering him to lose more time with her.)

“You are benched from League activities until this is sorted out.” Wonder Woman continued, as though she hadn’t just gutted Bruce. “I will take lead on Ladybug’s case. My people have much experience with her and the Black Cat as allies.” It was Diana that was smiling then. “Perhaps Mother’s connection will convince her to allow our aide.”

Green Lantern nodded along. “And when I’m not with you guys, well, GL core is in charge of keeping things not-apocalypse-y across the universe and keeping it from spiraling. And Miraculous tend to like the whole Balance thing, so it shouldn’t be too much for me to help out every now and then with them too.”

Bruce twitched where he was. He wasn’t going to win this. Not by a long shot.

But they were taking Aquaman and a Green Lantern. Granted, at least it wasn’t Guy. But a Lantern. Over him. When it involves his family.

He had to get his house in order quickly.

--

Damian would say he was quite pleased with himself that day. He managed to decide the type of weapon that would help his sister defend herself against others best, given her profession as a seamstress, he was annoyed he hadn’t thought of it sooner. Selecting the type of needle to give her, and to ensure they could be used for fabrics to give her a reason to carry them on her person, was crucial however.

She had rejected his other offerings thus far, though he could hardly blame her. This would be his seventh attempt. He did hear it was a lucky number from somewhere… and he had gotten better since his last attempts at understanding the type of person she showed herself to be and the type of person she wished to be seen as.

The Swiss dagger on his first attempt was too bulky and not hidden enough for a style of fighting she should strive to cultivate. His second attempt was an ear dagger which were easier to use and she could add additional force with her thumb. He thought it was better protection for her, and it was small enough this time to be kept in her purse. Much better than his first attempt. Only from her pictures he knew it wasn’t ever in her purse.

He had failed to find her an acceptable apology gift that offered her the protection she needed. The third was when he moved to a larger blade, hoping the thin rapier could be hidden well enough as decorative or as a fancier fencing tool than standard. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility given her closeness to an Olympic level fencer and this ‘Adrien Agreste’ who often partnered with Tsurugi. He was glad she had taken to displaying it at the least, though Adrien claiming to have given it to her left a bad taste in his mouth.

His sister wished to not have it known she had her own weapons then, he could handle that. His fourth attempt was  going to be a butterfly knife but given legal restrictions that he had come to realize she would follow (as idiotic as they were) he changed it to a classic Swiss knife. He did see this carried on her person on occasion, but not often. He looked into more easily concealed knives and gifted her a ballpoint pen knife—it looked like a pen and he made sure to customize it to resemble the pens in her room (he took a sample for reference) and did see her often carrying that one, though by active attempt or chance he couldn’t gather. He decided she would need a long range item next, and gifted her a small variety of throwing stars (and a knife or two, she seemed to favor possible close combat weapons of those he gave her). He noticed that none of these were carried on her person (he may have bugged them with trackers to figure out her preference) and they rarely left her room.

That was why he concluded that this time needles that she could use for sewing or battle were his best bet. Finding a way to walk that line was proving challenging.

Father came in while he was making his selection. He did find it odd Father hadn’t mentioned her to the rest of the family, but it could be that he wished her a more peaceful life. Damian would not disrespect his father’s wishes by bringing her up.

“Damian, we need to talk.”

Damian furrowed his brow, running over what could warrant that tone. He came up empty.

Father did move closer and see he was looking at needles this time. And showed surprised.

“For Okhti Al Kobra,” Damian stated, hoping his father wouldn’t be upset at him recognizing her. He knew now it was better for her to be apart from them, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do what he could to help her protect herself. His older sister deserved better.

Father did freeze at that.

Had Damian displeased him? (He wouldn’t… wouldn’t send him to back. Damian knew that. But that look… it brought back the boy that wondered when he’d be tossed aside by the Great Batman for no longer being a good solider.)

“Father? I know you don’t like to speak of her but.”

“You, you’re getting her needles?” it was a question. He didn’t get why.

“Yes, my last presents seemed inadequate. She has taken to the penknife, but only sometimes. She keeps the Swiss on her sometimes too—haven’t you been keeping an eye on her social media? She posts a disgusting amount. I figured given the boutique it wouldn’t be unacceptable for her to carry needles on her as a weapon and tool in the future, should anyone else discover our connection.”

Bruce stared Damian, waiting for him to finish.

“She does keep the flowers I left her, though she does react oddly. The first time she was very pale.” Looking back, it was likely fear. She was a civilian after all… “However I believe she has come to accept that even with distance, she is still a Bat by blood and as such, should remain vigilant.” Damian hoped his report was adequate.

“She… how old is she?” Father’s tone was softer then. but the question didn’t make any sense.

“Father, you should know how old she is.” Damian waited for the man to respond.

He didn’t.

Damian furrowed his brow. “Father, you do know who she is, right?”

“Ladybug.”

Damian blinked at that. He had no idea who that was, but he knew an alias when he heard one. “She’s a civilian—when did she—”

“Damian.” He stilled at that. “How old is she?”

Damian straightened then. “She was twelve and a half when we first met. She will be sixteen in two weeks.” Damian glanced at his abandoned screen. “She enjoys design.”

“Her, her name.” His father looked… lost.

“I, we don’t revel secret identities?” Damian was a bit lost. Father should know of his sister. They were only two years apart. She was from before his father’s training became serious. He should know of her, at least. And if he didn’t, wasn’t it a betrayal to her if he revealed who she was without her permission? Whenever he tried to visit, she was always elsewhere, and he couldn’t very well show up as Damian Wayne. That would reveal the family and she didn’t need to know that. Didn’t need that burden.

“She knows she’s my daughter.” Father sounded…desperate.

“She knows she is Batman’s. I didn’t reveal your identity, or the family’s.”

“I…”

Damian took a deep breath. He didn’t want to betray his family. Or further hurt his older sister. “I believe that we should speak to her before discussing her identity. It… it should be her choice.”

Father looked pained at that.

“I assume you don’t…” No, father would not know how the first meeting went… right?

Father said nothing before leaving.

Damian wondered if he should visit her sooner. He eyed his cart and got her a set of weaponry needles, knitting, and a set made for seamstresses with small hands. He hoped these were to her liking. Perhaps he should add white heather (Protection) and purple hyacinth (I’m sorry) in addition to the zinnias…. Or just give her two with the zinnias mixed between them, as Damian reasoned the heather and hyacinth wouldn’t looks the best together. Yellow (daily remembrance) and scarlet (constancy) zinnias with heather (protection) and some greenery should be fine, and purple hyacinth (I’m sorry) mixed with magenta (lasting affection) white (goodness) and perhaps a white daffodil (stay as sweet as you are) with a filler of some sort would work well. She accepted his apologies (albeit in flowers) before, and he hoped he had proven he was paying enough attention to her for her to see that he meant it.

He was glad he hadn’t killed her that day.

Now he had research to do to help his sister.

He missed Brown as she slipped out. And completely missed finding out she was messaging Todd, Drake and Cassandra the news: there was a missing Bat into design, goes by Ladybug, and Bruce has no clue what her identity is.

Cass didn’t send anything in response.

Jason stated he would find her before Tim.

Stephanie was just excited for another girl in the group. Little sister in need of help? Count her in—being Spoiler versus being Batgirl was a world of difference. Having a team made it easier, and it shouldn’t be too hard to convince the girl to give it a shot, right?

--

Thanks for waiting. part three here

tags: @heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06

debating which bat will find her first (in person), so feel free to state any preferences, and thanks for the comments and kudos--it really does help with working this idea out.

[ladyanput]

Seeing Green Ch.9

Alright, here’s the chapter where you all find out I can’t write action scenes worth crap.

Chat Noir had left her alone, shivering in the cold as freezing air blew in through the warehouse's broken windows. Her limbs were beginning to feel numb, and her wrists were raw and bloodied from all of her vicious tugging to try and get free.

She faintly heard the sounds of footsteps and Chat Noir appeared in her vision once again, holding a small plastic bag. He smiled as he knelt beside her once again, blissfully unaware of her growing shivering.

"I got you the perfect outfit now, my lady." Chat grinned excitedly, reminding Marinette of a toddler about to show their messy art to their parents. A very deranged toddler, that is. He pulled a red mask out of the plastic bag, it was obviously made of some felt material and had crudely drawn on black dots. She flinched when Chat put it on her. "There we go, now you're perfect, Ladybug."

"Chat, no, Adrien, please let me go. I- I can't feel my fingers." She begged, then flinched when he got close. He kissed her without even listening to what she said, and when his tongue invaded her mouth, a sob left her.

This was supposed to be her partner, someone she could rely on and fight with until the end. They had been through so much together, yet here he was, lost in some sick fantasy that he refused to let go of. When he pulled back, he had a look of euphoria on his face as he stroked her cheek.

"You taste so sweet, but I alway knew you would be. You're my beautiful Ladybug after all." Chat hummed, reaching into the plastic bag again. He withdrew a pair of silver rings, sliding one onto Marinette's left ring finger, the other onto his own.  "There we go… Our own perfect happily ever after."

"What?" She croaked out, her voice dry. She shivered as another cool breeze swept over them.

"I dreamt of us having a big house, three beautiful children… I always knew you were meant for me when you stood up to Hawkmoth on our first day as heroes." He nuzzled her cheek gently, then nuzzled her cold, grey earrings. "I'd rather you be yourself right now, but I can pretend. I always know how to play pretend really well."

"Adrien…" She felt the bile rise in her throat, thoughts of Adrien's past nightly activities flashing in her mind and fear flooded her further. She squirmed when his body pressed close to hers as he cuddled close. Her voice rose in pitch as hysterics set in. "Please..  Please, don't!"

"What?" Chat stopped his kisses on her neck and his green eyes studied her, before widening, looking almost hurt. "Ladybug, I'd never do that to you… I'd never hurt my precious Ladybug."

Marinette closed her eyes and tried to think of Damian, of her friends back at the hotel, of Eva. They must be looking for her, they had to be. They wouldn't leave her alone here, would they? Surely they cared. Right…?

Chat was looming over her face once again, his smile wide. Marinette tried to turn her head away from him, but he forced her chin over and his lips were on hers once again.

---

Nightwing watched helplessly as Robin savagely beat up a thug that had mentioned to them that he had seen a guy in black leather carrying a girl towards the warehouse district. 

There was obvious frustration and anger radiating off of Robin, his desperation to find Marinette clear to the rest of the team. They all felt the same, but they couldn't afford to go in rashly and end up getting the girl hurt, especially with the black cat's destructive powers that Tim told him about.

"Robin, that's enough." Batman stepped forward and grabbed Robin's shoulder, pulling him back roughly, leaving the thug curled up in fetal position on the ground. "Killing him won't help us get to her faster."

"He has her. I know the police couldn't find anything, but who the fuck else would have her?!" Robin turned on his father, his body trembling with the rage that just kept bubbling inside of him. Usually he was good with his emotions, of being able to control them, but when Marinette was in trouble all of that training seemed to go out the window. "If he's such a fucking creep that he spies on her at night, what else could he do to her?!"

"Yes, but keep in mind he's most likely transformed, and from what Red Robin saw in those videos, these Miraculous' powers can withstand a lot of damage." Batman shook his head and turned towards the direction of the warehouse district. "Everyone, move. If you see Chat Noir, proceed with extreme caution, we don't want casualties today."

The team made their way towards the warehouse district, eyes peeled for any signs of movement. It was a cold winter's night, the air biting deep and cruel. Worry spiked dramatically as Robin thought of how cold Marinette must be. He was sure the stupid tomcat was too much of an idiot to even think about bringing her winter coat, especially since it was snowing outside.

"I don't see anything down at the south end." Red Hood reported over his comm as he looked into every warehouse that he could. Lots of abandoned warehouses, but no Marinette, and no furry freak.

"Guys, I think I've got something." Black Bat's voice sounded slightly strained as she watched the scene inside of the warehouse from her perch by one of the windows. Marinette tied to a pole by her wrists, shivering hard with her lips looking rather blue. When Batwoman dropped in beside her, she grimaced at the sight of the crude mask put on the young woman's face, or the cat themed hero forcing kisses on the barely conscious girl.

"I want to skin him.." Batwoman hissed through clenched teeth as she watched Chat adjust a bridal style veil onto Marinette's head. "She can barely keep her head up."

Black Bat couldn't respond due to Robin shoving his way past them and rushing his way into the warehouse, sword drawn, a look of murderous intent on his face, Nightwing hot on his heels.

"Robin, wait!"

Chat looked up at the sound of commotion, only to be knocked back and sent flying across the room by a superb kick from Robin. Batman cursed under his breath and when he accepted the planned surprise attack was compromised, went in and joined the rest of them.

Chat got to his feet and brushed off the kick as if he had been swatted with a damp towel. His green eyes narrowed furiously at the sight of the Gotham heroes, his clawed hands curling into fists.

"What are you all doing here? Get away from my Lady!" He snarled when he noticed Red Robin knelt beside Marinette, cutting away the ropes that had cut so deep into her wrists. He made his way towards them, but was intercepted by Black Bat who tackled him. "I'll fucking kill all of you!"

"You had no right to kidnap her!" Black Bat snapped back as she struggled with him, getting right in his face as they both strain in their fighting. "She's not some toy you keep around to play with, pervert!"

She didn't get a chance to react when he wrenched her arm and it popped out of its socket, the air leaving her lungs. Chat then grabbed the back of her head and slammed it down onto the concrete floor, making her see stars.

Red Robin carefully helped Marinette stand, though the shivering girl pressed into him, desperate for any trace of warmth. With a soft curse, he took off his cape and draped it over her shoulders. 

"Did he hurt you, Marinette?" He whispered, watching as Robin wailed on Chat, their weapons meeting with loud clashes. Carefully he began moving her towards the entrance of the warehouse. 

"No, but… but he…" She swallowed thickly, reaching up and taking off the crude mask and the cheap wedding veil. Red Robin felt disgust at the sight of the ring on her left hand. He slid it off of her finger and tossed it onto the floor. "Just kissing, that was it."

"Let's get you out of here, you're freezing." He whispered, but frowned when she struggled against him.

"No… I need Tikki… to take Chat's ring." Her words slurred, her lashes fluttering as her lids felt heavy, but she took a step towards where Chat was currently trying to strangle Batman.

Chat's gaze rose and he snarled when he saw Marinette was untied. He took a threatening step towards her, but Robin stepped into his path, swinging his sword. The black cat met the sword with his staff and hissed at him.

"You're trying to take her away from me. She's mine, she belongs to me, not some pretty boy spoiled brat." Chat hissed, shoving Robin back only to charge at him. The two struggled as Robin kept getting knocked back by the inhumanly strong cat themed hero, but that only fueled the young assassin's anger.

"She's not property! She doesn't belong to anyone!" Robin snapped, aiming for Chat's head, but stopping short when the cat reached out and grabbed his wrist. This was Ladybug's partner? A guy who acted like he was owed the girl he had feelings for? That he automatically got her because of some stupid delusion of soulmates? "I'll cut your fucking hands off for what you did."

Chat stared at him, before grinning. Then in a swift move, he crushed Robin's hand, then reared back and smashed his head into his.

---

Marinette stumbled her way towards the exit, shivering wildly as Tim supported her. She went to thank him, but he was ripped away from her and sent flying across the room, slamming into one of the concrete poles.

Chat wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against him, his expression one of deranged fury.

"If any of you come near us, I'll destroy her. Cataclysm!" Marinette felt the blood drain from her face as he held his powered up hand inches from her face. "If I can't have her, I'll never let anyone else! She's mine, and if I can only join her in the afterlife, so be it!"

"Adrien!" Marinette let out a shrill scream, drawing the attention of the remaining conscious heroes. She struggled, mentally begging for Tikki to hurry and find her. "Adrien, please stop!"

"No!" Chat snarled right in her face, his grip tightening on her, making her wince. "You're mine, Ladybug!"

"She's not Ladybug."

All eyes turned to the warehouse doors as they were thrown open, a strong wind bursting in, filling the place with flurried snow.

And there stood Ladybug, hands on her hands and a furious expression on her face.

"M- my Lady. But how..?" Chat began to tremble, dropping Marinette in his shock, sending her sprawling across the floor. "Ladybug, you're here!"

"I can't believe you, Chat? Kidnapping a civilian? Threatening to kill her? And here I thought you were my partner, a superhero!" Ladybug shook her head sadly, hugging herself. "And here I thought I was falling in love with you…"

"No, wait, Ladybug, please!" He stepped away from Marinette and made his way towards his Ladybug, reaching out towards her. "I thought you were being stolen away from me! You do love me, you know you do! You see? I was doing this for us!"

"Oh Chat…" Ladybug gave a thin smile, then narrowed her eyes. "I'll have fun kicking your scrawny ass."

Ladybug burst into orange smoke and a pair of feet planted themselves firmly on Chat's chest, making him sprawl onto his back. Everyone stared at the woman standing on Chat's chest.

Her violet eyes sparkled with amusement, body clad in an orange bodysuit, what looked to be a black collar around her throat, the Fox Miraculous dangling. Her fox ears twitched every so slightly, her fluffy tail curled up tight.

"Hello kitty cat. You know, what you did was highly illegal." She purred, then stomped hard on his throat.

"Are those high heels?" Marinette hissed, narrowing her eyes as she watched Chat throw the fox heroine across the warehouse, then him spreading after her, claws unsheathed as he went at her with his Cataclysm. 

"Hey Sugar Cookie, I think this belongs to you!" The fox unfurled her tail, Tikki darting out and rushing towards her Chosen.

"Marinette! You're safe!" Tikki cuddled to her chosen, only to flinch back when she felt how cold she was. "Hurry, transform and take Chat's ring!"

"Tikki, spots on!"

---

Chat swiped furiously at the mysterious fox, maddening fury pumping through his veins. This bitch used Ladybug's persona against him. He couldn't wait to turn her to ash.

"You're getting rusty, Tomcat. Must be all of those times you'd laze around and let Ladybug do all of the work." She taunted, running backwards as Chat kept trying to swipe at her with his Cataclysm. But Chat managed to trip her by smashing the back of her knees with his staff, and he grabbed her by the throat. He inched his powered hand closer, but it halted when a familiar spotted yo-yo wrapped around his wrist.

"Not so fast, Chat Noir! You're not hurting anyone." Ladybug smirked and ripped the black cat backwards, while Red Hood appeared and tossed one of the boomerangs. He tossed it at Chat, who instinctively caught it with his free hand, and it crumpled into dust.

"Looks like you've lost the upper hand." The fox grinned and bore her claws, slashing at Chat's face, blood splattering and he was sent stumbling back. Batwoman ran up and slammed her fist right into his face, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone. "Ladybug, now!"

As Batwoman, Red Hood, and the fox combined barely pinned down Chat Noir, Ladybug rushed forward and grabbed his wrist, plucking the black cat ring from his finger.

"Adrien Agreste." Ladybug's voice was cold as his transformation slid away, leaving the bleeding teen glaring up at her with furious green eyes. "As the Guardian of the Miraculous, you are hereby retired as the Black Cat holder."

"You can't do this to me! I am the Black Cat, you can't take my ring!" Adrien snapped and struggled, only to freeze when Red Hood took out a gun and held it to his head.

"Move a fucking inch and I'll fucking end you, you disgusting creep." He snarled, body tense. He was itching to end this kid.

"I contacted the police. They'll be here soon." Red Robin made his way over to them, his arm hanging at an odd angle at his side. He eyed the fallen Batman, Black Bat, Robin, and Nightwing. "Jesus, we all practically have military training and he took out over half of us."

"Oh!" Ladybug's eyes widened a fraction, before she stepped back and threw her yo-yo into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

---

Robin's eyes slowly opened, and he saw an angel. Marinette smiled down at him, before taking his hands, now perfectly healed, into his own and helping him stand. Without a word, they tightly embraced and she wept softly into his chest.

"I'm glad you're safe, Angel." He whispered, stepping back and wiping the tears away. She was still shivering, but it had subsided some. "You're safe though?" 

"I'm fine. He didn't do anything to me." She assured him, before turning back to the entire Bat squad who had gathered around, everyone's wounds miraculously healed. "Where's the perv?"

The fox lady, who stood off to the side, pointed to the entrance, where Adrien was tied up, his nose broken. He then noticed Marinette cradling her right hand and the bloodied knuckles and smiled. 

"So…" Marinette turned and crossed her arms, smirking at the fox. "What do I call the heroine who decided shoulder pads and high heels were a smart choice for a superhero costume?"

"I managed to do flips and cartwheels in these heels, so you don't get to judge." The fox pointed a cautious finger at the young teen, smiling. "But I guess you can call me Lady Vixen."

There was a high pitched beeping and soon as the flash of light disappeared, Evangeline stood there, hands on hips.

There was silence for a moment, then a clattering sound. Red Hood had dropped his gun. 

In a swift move, he took off his hood and tossed it aside, his messy dark  hair framing his face. Suddenly, Eva's eyes widened in alarm.

"What the fuck? Jaso-" Before Eva could say anything else, Jason grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. Marinette felt her cheeks heat up and an uncomfortable giggle left her as she shied her eyes away. How long had this been going on?

"You're a fucking crazy woman." Jason muttered, resting his forehead against Eva's.

"I had to save Marinette. She couldn't transform without that red fairy." Eva shrugged, though she seemed to have a rather dreamy smile on her face.

"Yeah, but your form was terrible." Jason grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder like she was a sack of flour, before he began striding towards the entrance past Adrien. "You and I need to work on that flexibility of yours."

"Jason, what the fuck are you talking about?" Eva struggled in Jason's tight grip, and Marinette watched as her expression went from confusion, to realization, then to a cherry red eagerness. "Oh.. OH!"

Marinette felt her own cheeks heat up, but she quickly turned back to Batman, clearing her throat.

"Thank you all for saving me. I really appreciate it." She smiled, snuggling into Robin's warmth as they heard sirens in the distance. 

"That power of yours comes in handy. I was sure I'd be in the hospital for months." Black Bat grinned, gingerly touching her healed shoulder.

The police quickly arrived, and Adrien was hauled off to Gotham Prison, with a call being sent out to his father.

Marinette was taken back to the hotel, where the entire class was waiting for her in the lobby. Juleka, Rose, Kim, Alix, and Nino all rushed forward and gathered the shivering girl into a tight hug, allowing her to leech off of their warmth, all the while Commissioner Gordon explained everything to Miss Bustier.

"There must be some mistake." Miss Bustier shook her head, looking rather frazzled. She couldn't let this get back to the parents, back to the school board. "Adrien is just a child, you can't arrest him. He just made a mistake, that's all!"

"A mistake?" Gordon's brows shot up in bewilderment before he shook his head. "Listen, Miss, kidnapping isn't a mistake. Holding a terrified girl captive for several hours isn't a mistake. Keeping her bound, in the cold and letting her starve isn't a mistake."

"Marinette probably coerced him into doing it!" Lila spoke up, stepping forward with tears in her eyes.

"She's been obsessed with him for years, he probably couldn't take it anymore. She blackmailed him into some sick fetish game or something to finally get her to stop. Marinette always did like getting all of the attention!"

Alya crossed her arms and glowered over at Marinette. She just had to go and get kidnapped and ruin the entire trip! If Marinette hadn't come, she'd still have her boyfriend, would still have money, and her phone wouldn't be off after her parents decided to cancel her cell subscription. Now she couldn't even update the Ladyblog!

"Why you little…" Alix took a threatening step towards her, but froze in her tracks when she saw Bruce Wayne and Damian making their way into the hotel.

"Good evening, Commissioner Gordon. I heard Marinette was found and we rushed over as fast as we could." Bruce smiled as he shook the Commissioner's hand, watching as his son gathered Marinette into his arms and hugged her tight. "I contacted her parents. Funny thing, they were never told their daughter had been kidnapped."

The glares the adults in the room sent Bustier made her go pale. Eva would certainly have a field day when she got wind of this.

"And I believe that she isn't really safe under the care of such a… mediocre caretaker." Bruce's smile was kind, but his eyes were deadly. "Her parents gave permission for her to stay with us until they get here to take her home."

The class was quiet as Damian guided Marinette over to the elevator, before Alix began laughing, practically doubling over from it.

"Fuck, this is too perfect! Marinette gets to live that pretty princess life you're always boasting about having, Lie-la." She taunted, and the Italian's hands curled into fists as she glared after Marinette and the Wayne heir.

Once in the privacy of her hotel room, Marinette took a seat and gingerly touched her hurt wrists. Plagg hovered over her, looking guilty before he floated down and sadly nuzzled her hand.

"I'm sorry, Gumdrop… I should have reined him in better. I could have stopped him." He whispered, tearing up as he looked down, eyeing her wounded wrists. "I could have stopped him from doing this. But he learned how… how to control me."

"Don't blame yourself. I know he wasn't a true Black Cat." Marinette smiled, scratching the kwami gently between his ears, causing him to purr. Tikki went and hugged Plagg close, the two of them settling on one of the pillows. "But… I think that this madness that overtook him, it was always within him. He chose which path to take."

"We'll find you a new cat, don't worry.." Tikki whispered, hugging Plagg tightly. But Plagg wasn't paying attention, he was staring straight at Damian.

"Well.. We should get you back to the mansion. You'll need all the rest you can get." Damian gathered up Marinette's luggage, eyeing the red and black box she picked up and putting it back into it's secret compartment.  Once it was all gathered up, he kissed her. "Let's go home."

"Home…" Marinette smiled and nuzzled him, having a feeling she was finally where she was meant to be.

---

"Nathalie. Get us some tickets…" Gabriel glanced back at his secretary. "We are going to Gotham to get my foolish son."

[houseofvans]

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | INTERVIEW WITH LAUREN YS

From large scale murals to multi-layered works on canvas, LA based artist Lauren YS’s art captures everything from the female experience, addressing topics like sexuality, death, aliens, monsters, and the occult. Her works are complex much like her own experiences, so we’re super stoked to find out more about what drives her, who and what inspires her, and what challenges and advice she has for our readers in this awesome Sketchy Behaviors interview..

Take the leap!

Photographs courtesy of the artist. 

Introduce yourself. Hey! I’m Lauren YS - Hmm, something you might not know … I used to play ice hockey and my favorite candy are Peach O’s. I am a really good listener, but that also means I hate being interrupted. I dream, often, about being underwater.

Tell folks a little about your artwork and what do you love to make works about? I make work about the female experience, sexuality, identity, space, aliens, heritage, death, monsters, nature, emotions, natural phenomena, the occult and whatever else I might be obsessing about. I like slimy creatures, kitsch, psychedelia, sex and Halloween, and mixing repulsion with attraction. I want the viewer to feel unsettled as much as engaged. I make things in an effort to try to process the beautiful shit rocket that is the world around me.

When did art become something you were aware you could do for a living or as a career you wanted to pursue? I have always been making art, but I never thought it was possible to support oneself as an artist: It seemed really out of reach or surreal. It wasn’t until I had already been fully freelance for a year before I realized I was actually doing it. I think it’s just something that comes out of necessity, it’s like – if I want to keep making art as much as possible at the rate I am living, then damn, I’m going to learn how to make money off of it.

What’s a typical studio day for you like? I tend to work nocturnally. I’ll paint through the night and sleep through the day and watch horror movies, listen to podcasts about art, serial killers and cults, and eat anywhere from 1-2 sacks of tangerines every day. I like to really plow through paintings as well, it’s hard for me to stop working on something once I start. After about three weeks in the studio like this, your mind starts to wander off into deep strange places, and that’s when the really good stuff comes out.

What’s your studio or creative space like? What do you keep around to constantly motivate or inspire you? I have always worked best in a bit of “artistic chaos”–I like to fill my space with odds and ends, knick-knacks, items from my travels, talismans. I believe in the power of objects. I love my lava lamp and need to buy seven more. I also have this drawing I made of an Asian grandma screaming “DRAW, MOTHERFUCKER” which I plan to make into a screen print and give to all my artist friends.

When working on a body of paintings and works for a show, what is your process like? How long does it typically take you to complete a painting from start to finish? Depending on the size of the gallery, it can take anywhere from 2-6-10 months to create a show, given that it is often punctuated by mural tours and big projects to pay the bills. I like to work on lots of pieces at the same time, so generally it’ll take a few days to a week or two to finish a piece. I am trying to get better at reworking pieces rather than just pushing through them one by one. Workflow is still sorting itself out. I also make a ton of pieces that end up being nixed from the final show. I am very prolific but also very psychotic.

Not only do you work on canvas, but you are also known for some of your amazing murals! When did you start going from painting on a regular scale to large scale works? What’s your process like for mapping out these large works? Well shucks, thank you! I started painting murals around 2013, which was a sort of natural transition because I wanted to work bigger and bigger, I wanted to travel and be in the sun and use giant machines to make my art. I actually started learning color from using spray paint. I freehand everything because I like to feel independent of projectors or machines, especially if I’m in a foreign country or don’t have time or resources.

It makes me feel empowered to be able to make big things on my own. Maybe that comes from growing up under the common experience girls have, especially asian girls, where you’re expected to be small and quiet and obedient. I have always worked in active aggression against that stereotype.

Is there a medium you’d love to get your hands on, but yet to have the chance too? And what are your go-to materials? I’d really love to learn how to use an airbrush, a la Sorayama. Outside of 2D I am dying to get back into stop motion animation. My favorite brand of spray paint is Montana Black (high pressure forever!), and I use a wide variety of acrylics and gouache in my paintings, specifically the Holbein gouaches from Japan.

What do you love about where you live, and what is the art community like in your area? I never thought I’d move to LA, but I’ve been really enjoying it here. I’m a communal living person (been in and out of communities for about 9 years) and I am lucky to have found somewhere that fits with my work ethic (intense) and social vibe (weird). I like to be able to work alone while still having people bustling around and making things all the time. It helps me to feel like I’m not dead or a total solipsist.

I’ve also found that the artists in LA–especially the female artists–have proven to be really kind, generous and welcoming. There’s a lot of room for weirdos here; it might take a while to find them, but they’re here. We also have a one-eyed cat, did I mention that?

Who are some artists you’re inspired by and have influenced you throughout the years? I’m a big fan of dark/psychedelic/erotic artists like Keiichi Tanaami, Suehiro Maruo, Sorayama and the whole Ero Guro movement. I also love Goya’s dark paintings and the sculpture work of Bernini. Some contemporary artists I’ve been into lately are Christian Rex Van Minnen, David Altmejd, Robin Francesca Williams and the fabric sculptures of Do Ho-Suh. Jamie Hewlett, Swoon, Andrew Hem, Aryz. I find that my taste changes constantly and I am always thirsty for different influences.

What’s been the most challenging part of your art career? What’s been the most rewarding? What do you do to keep the balance? Something really challenging has been learning how to trust myself while growing in the industry and balancing business, work and travel. It’s a really solid test: moving to a new city, providing for yourself, going on tour, shifting from place to place, managing gallery work and mural work, all while protecting and nurturing your own ambition and positivity, and not feed into the shitstorm of capitalism and social media past what is required of you.

The muralist life is not for the faint of heart. I would hardly say that I keep any type of “balance”–art is my life and there isn’t much room for anything else, and that’s how I like it. It is the most rewarding thing to look around and feel like you’ve created something new and good and powerful, all on your own terms. It is similarly rewarding to feel the need to level up - I enjoy feeling stressed arguably more than I enjoy feeling accomplished.

What would your dream collaboration be? What do you enjoy most about collaborations with other artists or clients? I would love to do something with Takashi Murakami and/or his gallery (Kaikai Kiki Gallery). There’s also this amazing Australian animator named Felix Colgrave whose work I’ve been obsessed with lately, I’d love to find a way to make an animated short with him! I love collaborating - especially on mural work - because it’s such a cool experience to be able to intermingle your visual world with someone else’s. Working with ONEQ in Hawaii this year was really great, she had so many suggestions and ideas from out of left field that made me rethink my own work as well. It also forces you to relinquish some control on the way you work, and reflect on the basic joys of making shit in the first place.

If you could paint a portrait of anyone living or dead, who would you choose and why? I really want to do a tripped out portrait of Yayoi Kusama or Bjork or maybe Steve Buscemi—all heroes of mine.

What’s your advice to folks who see what you do and want to pursue art as a career? I would say, go at it as hard as you possibly can! Make sure you really enjoy doing it! Not all parts of painting murals are glamorous (actually, few are) and it’s important to truly love every part of it if you’re going to commit your life to it.

This means: hustling walls, handling machinery, travel, people, logistics, finding somewhere to pee, dealing with unexpected bullshit, not complaining, being comfortable handling yourself in dangerous situations, being independent and resourceful, etc. I have reservations about artists who genuinely don’t seem to enjoy all the elements of mural painting going too deep into it. But if it’s something you love, there’s nothing better.

What are your FAVORITE Vans? I’ve been rocking the classic authentic Vans in black/burgundy as paint shoes for years now. But I also love the Sk8-Hi boys in burgundy… I never wear them because I’m too scared to get paint on them, haha!

What other artists would you love to see interviewed for Sketchy Behaviors? I’m currently really into Andrea Wan, Louise Zhang and Caratoes. It would also be really cool if you covered a GNC or trans artist, like Nomi Chi or Laughing Loone!

What’s next for you that you can share? My first book is coming out this year with Von Zos, and I’m also going to be designing a tarot deck with them. April is my first mural tour in several months; I’ll be hopping from Australia - Guam - Peru, and then moving around South America for a while, trying to practice my spanish. After that, I’ll be starting work on my next big show, scheduled for a city in Asia, which I’m really, really excited about - keep an eye out!

FOLLOW LAUREN YS | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | SHOP

[maddie-grove]

The Top Twenty Books I Read in 2019

My main takeaways from the past year’s reading:

Sometimes you think something is happening because of magic, but then it turns out to have a non-magical explanation so weird that you find yourself saying, “You know what? I wish faeries or God were responsible for this. I’d honestly feel less disturbed.”

Stop bathing and changing your clothes and shaving for three years, three months, and three days. You’ll find out who your real friends are. I promise you that.

I want more books about bisexual ladies!!! Give them to me!!!

Anyway...

20. The Prodigal Duke by Theresa Romain (2017)

Childhood sweethearts Poppy Hayworth and Leo Billingsley were separated when his older brother, a duke, sent him away to make his fortune. Years later, the duke is dead, a financially successful Leo has come back to England to take his place, and Poppy has become a rope dancer at Vauxhall Gardens after a life-shattering event. New sparks are flying between them, but is love possible when so much else has changed? Leo and Poppy are believable and charming as old friends, Romain makes great use of obscure historical details from the oft-depicted Regency period, and I loved Leo’s difficult but caring elderly uncle.

19. Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi (1996)

Althea Winsloe, a young widow in 1900s Arkansas, has no interest in remarrying, but almost everyone in her small Ozarks community is pressuring her to remarry, and she still needs someone to help farm her land. Enter Jesse Best, a strong young man with cognitive disabilities who’s happy to take on the work. As he makes improvements to her farm and bonds with her three-year-old son, Althea gets to know him better and starts to see him in a new light. This earthy romance could’ve been a disaster, but instead it illustrates how people with disabilities are often...uh...simplified and de-sexualized in a way that denies them autonomy. Morsi has a similarly nuanced take on Althea and Jesse’s community, which is claustrophobic and supportive all at once.

18. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (2018)

Outspoken and insecure, bisexual high school senior Leah Burke is having a tough year. Her friend group is in turmoil, her single mom is seriously dating someone, and she’s caught between a sweet boy she’s not sure about and a pretty, perfect straight girl who couldn’t possibly be into her...right??? The sequel to the very cute Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Leah on the Offbeat pulls a The Godfather: Part II with its messy protagonist, sweetly surprising romance, and masterful comic set piece involving the Atlanta American Girl Doll restaurant.

17. Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper (2006)

Kidnapped from her home in eighteenth-century Ghana, fifteen-year-old Amari is sold into slavery and winds up on a South Carolina plantation, where she faces terrible cruelty but finds friends in an enslaved cook, her little son, and eventually a sulky white indentured servant around her age. When their master escalates his already-atrocious behavior, the three young people flee south to the Spanish Fort Mose in search of freedom. Draper’s complicated characters, vivid descriptions, and deft handling of heavy subjects makes for top-notch historical YA fiction.

16. A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole (2019)

After her controlling politician father was jailed for poisoning a bunch of people in their small, prosperous African country, Nya Jerami gained unprecedented freedom but also became the subject of vicious gossip. Johan von Braustein, the hard-partying stepson of a European monarch, wants to help her, partly because he sympathizes and partly because he has a crush, but she thinks he’s too frivolous and horny (if wildly attractive). After an embarrassing misunderstanding compels them to enter a fake engagement, though, she begins to wonder if there’s more to him. I’m not a huge fan of contemporary romance, but this novel has the perfect combination of heartfelt emotion, delicious melodrama, and adorable fluff. 

15. One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney (1997)

Stephen, the Duke of Ashburton, has always done the proper and responsible thing, but that all changes when he learns that he’s terminally ill. Wandering the countryside in the guise of an ordinary gentleman, he ends up joining an acting troupe and falling in love with Rosalind, the sensible adopted daughter of the two lead actors. Like another Regency romance on this list, this novel celebrates love in many forms: there’s the love story between Stephen and Rosalind, yes, but there’s also Rosalind’s loving relationship with her adopted family, the new bonds she forms with her long-lost blood relatives, the way her two families embrace the increasingly frightened Stephen, and the healing rifts between Stephen and his well-meaning but distant siblings. Stephen’s reconciliation with his mortality is also moving.

14. My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes (2018)

Facing a death sentence in Newgate, footman-turned-prosperous banker Quinton Wentworth decides to do one last good thing: marry Jane McGowan, a poor pregnant widow, so she and the baby will be financially set. Then he receives a pardon and a dukedom at the literal last minute, meaning that he and Jane have a more permanent arrangement than either intended. I fell in love with the kind-but-difficult protagonists almost at once, and with Burrowes’s gorgeous prose even faster. 

13. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2013)

It’s 1986, and comics-loving, post-punk-listening, half-Korean Park and bright, weird, constantly bullied Eleanor are just trying to get through high school in their rough Omaha neighborhood. He’s only grudgingly willing to let her share his bus seat at first, but this barely civil acquaintance slowly thaws into friendship and blossoms into love. Far from being the whimsical eighties-nostalgia-fest I expected, this is a bittersweet love story about two isolated young people who find love, belonging, and a chance for self-expression with each other in an often-hostile environment (a small miracle pre-Internet).

12. Shrill by Lindy West (2016)

In this memoir, Lindy West talks about the difficulties of being a fat woman, the thankless task of being vocally less-than-enthused about rape jokes, the joys of moving past self-doubt, and the very real possibility that Little John from Disney’s Robin Hood was played by “bear actor” Baloo, among other subjects. I was having a hard time during my last semester of law school this past spring, and this book’s giddy humor and inspiring messages really helped me in my hour of need.

11. Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood by Karina Longworth (2018)

In 1925, very young businessman Howard Hughes breezed into Hollywood with nothing but tons of family wealth, a soon-to-be-divorced wife, and a simple dream: make movies about fast planes and big bosoms. He got increasingly weird and reactionary over the next thirty years, then retired from public life. More a history of 1920s-1950s Hollywood than a biography, this book has the same sharp writing and in-depth film analysis that makes me love Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This.

10. The Beguiled by Thomas Cullinan (1966)

In Civil-War-era Virginia, iron-willed Martha Farnsworth and her nervous younger sister try to run their nearly empty girls’ boarding school within earshot of a battlefield. When one girl finds Union soldier John McBurney injured in the woods, she brings him back to the house, where he exploits every conflict and secret among the eight girls and women (five students, two sisters, and one enslaved cook). Charming and manipulative, he nevertheless finds himself in over his head. Cullinan makes great use of the eight POVs and the deliciously claustrophobic setting; it’s fascinating to watch the power dynamics and allegiances shift from scene to scene.

9. A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian (2018)

Reserved tavern keeper Sam Fox wants to help out his brother’s sweetheart by finding and destroying a nude portrait she once sat for; disgraced gentleman Hartley Sedgwick isn’t sure what he wants after having his life ruined twice over, but he happened to inherit his house from the man who commissioned the painting...plus he’s not exactly reluctant to assist kind, handsome Sam in his quest. I wrote about this heart-melting romance two times last year; suffice it to say that it’s not only one of the best Regencies I’ve ever read, but also possibly the best romance I’ve ever read about the creation of a found family.

8. Frog Music by Emma Donoghue (2014)

Blanche Beunon, a French-born burlesque dancer in 1876 San Francisco, has a lot going on: her mooching boyfriend has turned on her, her sick baby is missing, and her cross-dressing, frog-hunting friend Jenny Bonnet was just shot dead right next to her. In the middle of a heat wave, a smallpox epidemic, and a little bit of mob violence, she must locate her son and solve Jenny’s murder. This is a glorious work of historical fiction; you can see, hear, smell, and feel the chaotic world of 1870s San Francisco, plus Blanche’s character arc is amazing.

7. The Patrick Melrose novels (Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother’s Milk, and At Last) by Edward St. Aubyn (1992, 1992, 1994, 2005, and 2012, respectively)

Born to an embittered English aristocrat and an idealistic American heiress, Patrick Melrose lives through his father’s sadistic abuse and his mother’s willful blindness (Never Mind),  does a truly staggering amount of drugs in early adulthood (Bad News), and makes a good-faith effort at leading a normal life (Some Hope). Years later, the life he’s built with his wife and two sons is threatened by his alcoholism and reemerging resentment of his mother (Mother’s Milk), but there may be a chance to salvage something (At Last). Despite the suffering and cruelty on display, these novels were the farthest thing from a dismaying experience, thanks to the sharp characterization, grim humor, and great sense of setting. Also, I love little Robert Melrose, an anxious eldest child after my own heart. 

6. The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1974)

In 1550s England, no-nonsense Kate Sutton is exiled to the Perilous Gard, a remote castle occupied by suspicious characters, including the lord’s guilt-ridden younger brother Christopher. Troubled by the holes she sees in the story of the tragedy that haunts him, she does some problem-solving and ends up in a world of weird shit. Cleverly plotted, deliciously spooky, and featuring an all-time-great heroine, this book was an absolute treat. The beautiful Richard Cuffari illustrations in my edition didn’t hurt, either.

5. An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole (2019)

Daniel Cumberland, a free black man from New England traumatized from being sold into slavery, and Janeta Sanchez, a mixed-race Cuban-Floridian lady from a white Confederate family, have been sent on a mission to the Deep South by the Loyal League, a pro-Union spy organization. Initially hostile to everyone (but particularly to somewhat naive Janeta), Daniel warms to his colleague, but will her secrets, his shattered faith in justice, and the various dangers they face prevent them from falling in love? Nah. Alyssa Cole’s historical romances deliver both on the history and the romance, and this is one of her strongest entries.

4. The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite (2019)

Heartbroken by the death of her father and the marriage of her ex-girlfriend, Lucy Muchelney decides she needs a change of scenery and takes a live-in position translating a French astronomy text for Catherine St. Day, the recently widowed Countess of Moth. Catherine, used to putting her interests on hold for an uncaring spouse, is intrigued by this awkward, independent lady. I’ve read f/f romances before, but this sparkling Regency was the first to really blow me away with its fun banter, neat historical details, and perfect sexual tension.

3. The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli (2010)

After losing his entire fortune to a tidal wave, Sicilian nineteen-year-old Don Giovanni de la Fortuna sinks into poverty and near-starvation. Then Devil makes him an offer: all the money he wants for as long as he lives if he doesn’t bathe, cut his hair, shave, or change his clothes for three years, three months, and three days. This fairy-tale retelling is an extraordinarily moving fable about someone who learns to acknowledge his own suffering, recognize it in others, and extend compassion to all. 

2. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell (2013)

In this collection, Russell weaves strange tales of silkworm-women hybrids in Japan, seagulls who collect objects from the past and future, and, yes, vampires in the lemon grove. She also posits the very important question: “What if most (but not all) U.S. presidents were reincarnated as horses in the same stable and had a lot of drama going on?” My favorite stories were “Proving Up” (about a nineteenth-century Nebraska boy who encounters death and horror on the prairie), “The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis” (about a disadvantaged high school student who discovers an effigy of the even more hapless boy he tormented), and “The Barn at the End of the Term” (the horse-president story). 

1. The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (2016)

Lib Wright, an Englishwoman who has floundered since her days working for Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, is hired to observe Anna O’Donnell, an eleven-year-old Irish girl famous for not eating for four straight months. With a jaundiced attitude towards the Irish and Catholicism, Lib is confident that she’ll quickly expose Anna as a fraud, but she finds herself liking the girl and getting increasingly drawn into the disturbing mystery of her fast. Like The Perilous Gard, this novel masterfully plays with the possibility of the supernatural, then introduces a technically mundane explanation that’s somehow much more eerie. Donoghue balances the horror and waste that surrounds Anna, though, with the clear, bright prose and the moving relationship that develops between her and Lib, who grows beyond her narrow-mindedness and emotional numbness. I stayed up half the night to finish this novel, which cemented Emma Donoghue’s status as my new favorite author.

[nightmaretyrantvantas]

Gracie lucio writing wips if any of you were curious(to perhaps be posted soon)

Normal universe writings

She looked into Damian’s eyes uncertainly, briefly convince he was trying to prank her. There was no way he was deciding now, in a locked cell in a mission gone so wrong, tied together and both hazy from injuries, was the best time to talk about their feelings.

Even though his eyes were a little glazed over from either the pain of the head injury and stab wound or the small delirium of his slight blood loss, they were stubbornly determined and fierce as he leaned his face closer to hers. She caught a wisp of his shampoo from how close they were and ‘oh sweet moon goddess he’s fucking serious’  now was NOT the time for her to get all flustered this was a serious situation and she needed Damian to be more focused and maybe a tad more lucid.

~~~

“ Hey Dick?” The thirteen year old’s companion gave her his attention from his position beside her as her reading cushion, the two of them having curled up after a long patrol in the rain on a self made nest of blankets and pillows beside the lit fireplace. The bright blue eyed boy smiled and rested his chin on top of her head from where it was nestled against his shoulder. 

“ Yeah Gracie?” She took a small breath and glanced up at him while setting aside her book. She had been reading and re-reading the same sentence over and over again for the past half hour, deep in thought and decided to banish any negative ones right away. She reached out and found his hand, gripping it tight seeking a comfort he gave by twisting his body so she rested against his chest.

“ You’re always going to be my best friend right?” He smiled at the question and and chuckled softly.

“ Of course silly. Best friends forever. We promised after all.” She was quiet for a moment and looked ahead of her.

“ So...we’ll always be together right? You...you wont leave me like everyone else right...?” The only sound for a few moments was the sound of the rain pattering on the window and the snap and crackle of the fire. Dick’s other arm wrapping around her in a hug as he squeezed her hand.

“ I’m not leaving you. We’ll stay together...no matter what.”

~~~

I heard the safe house door open and I looked up tiredly from the couch, huddled up in the smoke scented leather jacket that was much too big for me to look at the tall man I considered my friend.

“ J-jason...” He gave a sigh and put out his cigarette in a nearby ash tray and sat beside me, ruffling my hair.

“ Dont worry kid, my buddy Roy is out there now diverting anyone who possibly followed us. From now on, until we hear the signal from Dickie, you are officially dead and off the grid.” I nodded and leaned into his hand almost desperate for affectionate physical contact. I was cold, tired, and shaken from the thought a silver bullet had almost pierced my heart a second time if it hadnt been for Jason and Roy. He didnt say anything about the way I pushed into his hand like he didnt mention the way I moved closer and curled into his side for comfort, trembling inside the warm confines of his jacket. All he did was ask what kind of take out I’d want for dinner so he could text Roy to pick some up on his way back, as he was starved but too lazy to go out himself at the moment. I shrugged meekly and stayed quiet, soon falling asleep in his scent and already missing my bed back in the tower...

~~~

“ aaaaachoo!” The ten year old lycran whimpered in pain as she shivered under her quilts and blankets, sniffling through her stuffed up nose pathetically. She felt like she was DYING even as the small relief of a cold rag was laid on her burning forehead. She looked up blearily expecting to see the tall grandfatherly figure of Alfred above her checking on her and gave a slow blink when she saw Bruce’s even taller, bold, blurry shape beside her bed. She felt his big worn hand against her cheek and leaned against its coolness gratefully, cheek scratching against his callouses soothingly. There was another hand that patted her messy, tangled mop of hair and smoothed it down a little. He was talking to her but she was so tired she barely caught any words. 

“ Bruce? Will she be ok...?” Dick’s voice floated into her ears and she opened her eyes, not even realizing she had shut them in the first place. Her eyes drooped and landed on on her concerned partner who now accompanied the large adoptive father figure, peering around his frame to look at her with wide worried blue eyes. She tried to tell him she was fine but the moment she opened her mouth a surge of fiery pain shot through her throat and made her hack and cough violently, leaning her now throbbing head further into her pillows with a miserable groan after.

“ Im not sure yet Chum...we cant have a normal doctor check her out so im trying to find someone trustworthy to examine her. For now, we should let her rest. If you’d like you can help Alfred bring her things while I go out looking for a doctor.” 

~~~

"Here."

She looked up at Damian a bit startled then down at the box he held in front of her. She blinked once, then twice as she examined the white box and the various holes in the side and the neat pale green bow keeping it tied shut before looking back up at the boy wonder.

"Um...this is sweet of you Damian but...my birthday is a few months away..." He grunted and stepped into her room, noting how it was a little disheveled and unorganized with case works and evidence and clues, just like the rooms clearly drained owner. As Damian looked at the shorter girl he held back from saying anything her extra messy hair or the dark smudges under her eyes from all nighters. He did sigh at her hesitance though.

"Im well aware. I just...i...just open it already." She rolled her eyes a little but obeyed his command nonetheless, undoing the ribbon and pulling the lid off.

She didnt know what she expected to be in there. The past two all nighters mustve been screwing with her to have not recognized the scent coming from the box. She dropped the lid to the ground and put a hand to her mouth in surprise.

"I...i found him wandering outside a shelter in Gotham...when i brought him back in they said he was an abandoned emotional support animal that had slipped out the door. I thought of you so i...filled out the papers and got him his shots and everything. I figured after all the hassle months ago and the extra work loads youve been taking on to help out Grayson and Father...perhaps a supportive companion would be beneficial to your mental health..." She looked up at him as he almost over explained his gift and she looked back into the box, slowly reaching in and lifting the year old black and brown Maine coon kitten from the box and into her arms. The movement awoken him and the kitten meowed at Gracie and sniffed her before purring contently and getting cozy again. The sound of the purring and the feeling of the cat's warmth and breathing body and soft fur made her heart warm and her stress ease away like the tide. She knew he didnt just find this beauty by chance, he likely searched shelters and adoption centers for him. She looked up at Damian and happily moved forward and kissed his cheek with a smile.

"Thank you Damian i love him! Youre too kind" he shrugged but smiled at the two as she cooed softly and cradled the fluffy beast kissing his little head. He knew the cat was something she needed to keep from falling into that dark place, a co.fort and a responisiblity that would keep her from restarting that cycle.

He cleared his throat a little and reseized her attention.

"What will you name him?" She hummed a little and got a playful little grin that made him narrow his eyes.

"I think...I'll name him Robin."

~~~~~~~

Young justice au story wips(The main ship for her in the young justice universe is Dick X Gracie) 

“ You cant just--Are you even listening to me?” Gracie dragged herself into a sitting position and leaned close to the half-kryptonian with a bitter but playful grin.

“ Nope. Not a word Connor. Im afraid I was much too busy staring deeply into your handsome eyes like in the scene of a romance novel. So I missed every single word.” He stared back at her but snorted out a laugh at her joke, rolling his eyes with a smile of his own. The smile made her relax, feel more at ease with the situation. She couldnt help it, and she lifted her camera up and aimed.

“ Connor look over here with that smile!” He turned his head still smiling, one eyebrow quirked curiously as she hit the button and the camera flashed with a beep and a blink. She lifted her head from the viewfinder with a much more joyful grin, looking rather pleased with herself.

“ Now THAT one is getting printed professionally, or else no one will believe its real.” They both shared a small laugh and she set the camera aside to lean against him, shoulder to arm while she fiddled with the photo settings. They settled into a comforting silence for a few long moments

“ She isnt that bad....or bad at all really. Under different circumstances we would be good friends by now...” She finally spoke up, not taking her eyes off her camera.

“ But?”

She gave a sigh and leaned her head against him in exasperation before looking up to him.

“ Its not her. Its...It’s all the conflicting and difficult feelings that arise when I see her and Robin together...getting so...close and dare I say flirty. Sometimes seeing it makes me downright sick to my stomach and I just need to leave the room.” There was a long silence and she opened her mouth to apologize for bringing up feelings. But she never got the chance.

~~~

“ Dont...you win...you win ok? I surrender.”

The words were resentful, but defeated as Gracie aka Alpha Wolf dropped her staff and utility belt to the ground and raised her hands in surrender. She stared at the tall armed man that stood a few feet before her, the monster that has haunted her every step and shadow since the death of her parents. She stared into his apathetic eyes with her head no longer held up proud, but hung almost submissively with hateful eyes. She ignored the any reasoning against her decision, ignored the sounds of her pained teammates coming back to their senses and realizing what was going on.

“ Alpha dont!”

“ A-alpha d-dont do it!” 

She grit her teeth and ignored their voices, ignored Superboy’s warning shout as he started to get up with difficulty. She kept all her focus on the monster in front of her, determined to protect her team, her friends, her pack. Just like she should as an Alpha. 

She never wanted this man to hurt anyone precious to her ever again. Not if she could help it. 

“P...please...you win. I give up. Kill me, capture me, do whatever. Just...please, let the others go free....its me you want not them...just let hi--them go...” The pleas burned her mouth like acid, as if she had swallowed silver and Wolfs bane.But she gave them, staring into his eyes and keeping her hands up in the air. She wouldnt let him take anyone else away from her again. Not this time. 

Not with Robin dangling in his steel grip with a gun to his temple. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tadaaaa! A bunch of my DC and my Gracie writing wips! Im working on all of these at different paces but theyre getting done! 

If there are any particular ones of these you guys wanna see published soon please do tell me in my inbox! Itll motivate me to finish it faster! You can also send new writing prompts or story ideas for me to write too! I hope you guys enjoy these little sneak peeks of future oneshots!

[lala-kate]

Remnants Ch 5

I thought I’d go ahead and post writing here for my readers who don’t follow me on twitter or receive ff.net updates. So, in honor of @evilcharmingweek, here is my day-late contribution--an update to Remnants. I went ahead and added the drabletto I posted in this verse some months back, as well, since it is vital to the timeline. The drabbletto is posted on ff.net as Ch 4, this update as Ch 5. 

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who’ve sent such lovely messages my way over the past few days. They mean so much and have put a huge smile on my face, even in the midst of a difficult weekend. So again--thank you! You bless my life in more ways than you know.

And as always, I wish everyone of you a wonderful week. 

She starts, her eyes blinking haphazardly as she props herself up on her elbows and gazes around the bedroom.

There it is again. Someone is pounding on her front door.

David snorts in his sleep beside her, and she puts on her glasses so she can see the clock. Eight twenty-eight a.m. Shit. They overslept.

Regina slides out of bed and grabs her robe, tying it around herself securely as she hurriedly makes her way down the steps. The last thing she needs is for Nadia to wake up and start howling again--they’d had a rough enough night with her as it is. An eleven month old with an ear infection isn’t exactly a recipe for a good night’s sleep, and she’d had a hard time resting at all, even after David took a shift with the baby so she could try to get some shut-eye.

The floor is cold under her bare feet, and she reaches the door and looks out the peephole, cursing under her breath when she sees exactly who’s standing on her front porch.

It’s Emma. And she does not look pleased.

Regina breathes in and unlocks the door, attempting to steel herself against whatever might be coming her way.

“Is he here?”

Regina blinks, tossing Emma what she hopes is a withering look.

“You’re out and about early today.”

“That’s because I was supposed to meet Dad at Granny’s almost half an hour ago,” Emma returns. “I’ve tried calling him, but he’s not answering his home or cell phone or his texts.”

“He’s probably still asleep.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Regina,” Emma cuts in. “You know I can always tell when you’re lying.”  

The women stare at each other as cool air rushes under Regina’s robe, making her shiver as she crosses her arms over her breasts.

“Is he here? With you?”

Regina swallows, inhaling sharply before a sound behind her takes her off guard.

“Yes,” David answers, moving down the stairs to stand directly behind her. “I’m here.”

Heat floods her face as his presence warms her body, and an arm slides protectively around her middle, leaving Emma with no doubt as to the current state of their relationship. She leans into him slightly, greedily taking the support he so freely offers before opening the door a bit further and gesturing towards her fourier.

“You’d better come in before you wake the whole neighborhood,” Regina says, and Emma closes her mouth, moving past both of them, bringing the cold inside with her. Regina’s stomach drops to her knees, but a soft kiss whispered across her temple allows her to take a deep breath.

“It’s alright,” David breathes, and she nods, even though her mind and emotions fear that nothing may be alright ever again. Emma turns and stares at the pair of them, her face moving through a myriad of emotions before she clears her throat and puts her hands on her hips.

“Were you ever planning on telling me? About...this?”  

Emma gestures towards their covered-up state of undress, Regina’s hastily knotted silk robe, David’s shirtless, pajama-pants only attire, prompting Regina to tug the corner of her robe a little closer to her neck. David sighs into her shoulder before moving out from behind her and taking her right hand within his, leaving her back feeling uncomfortably exposed.

“Of course we were,” he answers. “When we felt the time was right.”

Emma’s mouth drops open again, her eyes rounding in two seconds.

“When was that going to be? After the two of you moved in together? Maybe had another kid or two?”

“Shhh,” Regina says, pointing towards the staircase. “The children are still asleep.”

Emma breathes in as if she’s about to say something, then stops herself, dropping her hands to her side in frustration.

“Maybe we should take this into the kitchen,” David suggests, doing his best to keep the situation as calm as possible. “I’ll make everyone some coffee, and we can talk.” The look he gives his daughter is pointed, the squeeze to Regina’s hand meant to be reassuring.

Emma stares directly into her before nodding and following her father into the other room. A wail from upstairs captures Regina’s attention, and she rubs her free hand over her scalp, silently counting the seconds until Nadia cries out again. She motions for David to go on into the kitchen before heading back upstairs, her hopes that Nadia will just go back to sleep as rudely interrupted as her own morning lie-in. She steps into the nursery and picks up her red-faced, unhappy baby, cradling the child to her chest, kissing dark, matted hair before laying her down to change her swollen diaper.

She kisses Nadia, now sporting a dry footed sleeper and smelling of baby lotion as they make their way back downstairs. Regina’s heart hammers loudly into the kitchen’s weighted silence, and she glances at David before returning her gaze to Emma, now standing by the counter with both arms crossed over her chest.

“We’re doing nothing wrong, you know.”

David’s words slide over her, the very reassurance he’d whispered over her nakedness in private now shared with the one person they both need in their corner.

“Then why in God’s name have you been sneaking around?” Emma fires back. “Acting like kids trying to grab a quick fuck behind their parent’s back?”

Regina’s eyes narrow.

“It’s not like that,” David states, laying a hand on Regina’s shoulder as Nadia begins to whimper into her mother’s robe. “At all. And Regina and I have every right to keep our relationship private until we see fit to bring it out into the open.”

“Of course you have that right,” Emma returns. “But don’t you think you could have let me know before all of Storybrooke figures it out? For God’s sake--I’m your daughter,” Emma continues before looking directly at her. “And your best friend.”

Regina swallows hard.

“It’s nothing personal,” she begins as she strokes Nadia’s hair and sways back and forth to sooth the girl. “But you of all people should understand the sort of talk we’ll be facing once we let the proverbial cat out of the bag. Prince Charming and The Evil Queen--come on. Do you think everybody is going to just accept us as a couple and wish us well?”

“People might just surprise you, Regina,” Emma says. “And I’m not just anyone. I’m family. So’s Henry.”

She draws in a sharp breath.

“Henry knows?” Regina questions, earning herself an eye-roll from Emma.

“Who do you think told me to look for Dad here?”

“Shit,” Regina mutters, wondering what in God’s name she’s going to say to her son when she next sees him. “I wondered if he suspected, but…”

“Our son isn’t stupid,” Emma fires back. “And he’s not upset about....this...either, just so you know.”

David gazes back at Regina and gives her a soft smile, the sort he offers her when she confesses her fears to him while lying naked in his arms.

“So he’s okay with us?” Regina asks. “Me and David?”

“He was really matter-of-fact about the fact that Dad had more than likely spent the night here last night,” Emma returns. “Like it’s just part of his life now.” She pauses to take a deep breath as the coffee maker sputters out its final drops of Kona Roast. “He wants both of you to be happy--shit, we all do. Losing Mom like we did…and Robin...”

Nadia starts to cry and reaches out towards David who takes her in his arms as if she belongs there. The baby rubs her right ear before settling into his chest as he strokes her back and kisses her dark hair, sniffing back tears Regina knows are pressing hard to get out.

“I’ll always love your mother,” David manages, his tone fractured and low. “Always. You know that, Emma. But I’ve come to love Regina, too.”

The silence is overwhelming, making Regina wish that she still had Nadia in her arms as a distraction. It’s out there now, the fact that they love each other, the fact that they’ve chosen to move forward after losing their perspective soul-mates to circumstances beyond their control.

“Wow,” Emma breathes, running a hand through her hair. “So this is serious, then. Not just a rebound thing?”

David looks over at Regina, the tenderness in his gaze washing over her in waves.  

“It’s serious,” Regina answers, earning herself that soft smile she now needs as much she needs air.

“And do you love my dad?”

The question hangs between her and Emma, daring her to share feelings she still considers private.

“I do,” Regina confesses, her bottom lip trembling at the sheen in David’s eyes. “I love him very much.”

Emma presses her lips together before blowing air out of her cheeks.

“Then I’m happy for you,” Emma says. “I truly am. God knows the two of you have been through hell and back over the past couple of years and deserve some happiness.”  She pauses to clear her throat. “But you need to talk to Henry. Now. He deserves to hear about this from you.”

Regina exhales and nods as a small set of feet make their way down the steps and into the kitchen. Neal walks straight over to her, raising his arms up in her direction, and she picks him up, snuggling into her chest as he sticks his thumb into his mouth. She strokes blonde hair sticking up every which way as she makes her way to a chair and sits down, looking back at Emma who is studying the four of them rather intently.

“Morning, buddy,” David mutters, walking over to stroke his son’s tousled head, balancing Nadia securely with his other arm.

“You all make quite the picture, you know,” Emma states, her expression oddly neutral. “Like an actual family.”

Regina’s heart flutters beneath Neal’s sleep-warmed forehead, and she realizes that if Henry were here, this new family of hers would feel complete. She’s put her heart out there again, damn it, knowing full-well what can happen when it’s entrusted to another human being. But blue eyes gaze into her from where he stands, promises made to her in private now on full display for his daughter and everyone else to see.

“This works for us,” David replies, taking a step towards Emma. “Being together like this--like the family we’ve become. It’s not what we expected and certainly not something we planned, but it’s good and healthy and...and right.” He pauses to look back at Regina, his gaze warming her in places nobody but he’s allowed to see. “And it would mean everything to us to have both your and Henry’s blessing.”

Emma stares at David before casting a glance over at Regina and Neal.

“Then you’ve got my blessing,” Emma says with a shrug, stepping into her dad’s embrace, careful not to squish Nadia in the process. Muscles relax around Regina’s ribcage, and she draws her first full breath since Emma showed up this morning as father and daughter hug.

“Mama,” Nadia babbles, effectively forcing Emma and David to separate and making them chuckle. Regina waves at her daughter from her seat, wincing as the baby whimpers and rubs her ear again before leaning back into David’s chest.

“Dada.”

The room freezes as Neal snuggles further into her breast, all air seemingly sucked out of it. Three adults look back and forth at each other, the weight of Nadia’s pronouncement hitting them all like a Mack truck in a head-on collision.

“Well,” Emma finally breathes out, placing her hands back on her hips. “If things between you weren’t already serious, they sure as hell would be now.”

[megairishrose]

My Mother’s Daughter chapter 9: Sweet Sixteen

It was the night of Sophia's Sweet Sixteen. She had been planning it for a year and it was perfect. There was family, friends, food, laughs, music. But now for the emotional part.

She stood in behind a small table at the front of the room. She had worked for weeks on this, telling her parents she was at the diner working longer shifts to afford a car. She was shocked they believed that lie; her grandfather was buying her a car. She stood a tad bit straight and smoothed out her purple dress. If there was one thing Sophia knew, it was how to command a room.

"Can I have your attention please?" She said into the microphone. She suddenly had what seemed like a billions eyes on her. When you're sixteen, even a dozen eyes seem like a billion. "First off, I would like to thank you all for coming to my sweet sixteen and making this an amazing party. I did some research online about a month ago and I learned about a tradition for sweet sixteen parties. It involves candles and thanking the most important people in your life. So here we go and I do plan on making you cry."

Her homemade candle holder was purple and was covered in Hawaiian flowers.

"This first candle is for my mother. Mom, I know I give you a hard time but I couldn't ask for a better role model. You always fight for what is right. You are always there for me, mostly when I say I don't need you. You taught me about kicking ass and standing up for what I believe in. I love you so much. Mom, would you please help me light this candle."

Amelia got up from her seat next to Neal, wiping tears away from her eyes. Yes, her daughter was amazing and brilliant and made her cry. But she had never been prouder. She held lit the candle with Sophia and hugged her tight. "I love you too pumpkin."

"This next candle is for my father. Daddy, you taught me over and over what sacrifice really is. You taught me what True Love's kiss is and how powerful it is. You showed me what I want in a man. I will always be your little girl no matter what. We have amazing fun memories together and I hope to make more with my number one man. Dad, would you please help me light this candle?

Neal unlaced his fingers from his wife's hand and went to stand by his daughter. They lit the candle together. Sophia got a kiss on the top of her head.

"This next candle is for my grandparents, Grandma and Pops. You are not only an inspiration to me but to my mother as well. You have always included everyone into your family without a second thought. You have the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Will you please come light my third candle with me?"

Michael and Helen walked up to their granddaughter, proud as ever. Together, the three of them lit the candle.

"This next candle is for my other grandparents. Grandpa, you know I have you wrapped around my finger. You are my biggest teacher of second chances and learning from one's mistakes. You have always put family first. Grandma Belle, you taught me about the power of books and how they shape a person. I am indented to the both of you. Please help me light this candle."

Gold had to collect himself before he and Belle walked up to Sophia. He had so many days happy in his life, the day she was born was one of them. Belle never thought this would have been her life when she agreed to work for the Dark One. And if she had been told, she wouldn't have believed it.

"This next candle is for my big brother Henry. You are the Truest Believer. You never ever stop believing me in, even when I fail to believe in myself. You are the wisest kid I know. I know I can always count on you to back me up or give me advice on what to do next, whether it's in school or life in general. I love you. Henry, would you please help me light this candle."

Henry had been standing off to the side with Violet. He walked over to his sister and carefully the two of them lit a candle. His hug picked her off the ground and an inside joke made both of them laugh.

"This next candle is for my younger brother. Derek, you are the sweetest most thoughtful boy I know. You never get into trouble and you attempt to keep me out of it. You are always able to put a smile on my face. Please help me lit my sixth candle."

Derek got up from his seat. At thirteen, he was shocked Sophia was going to let him play with fire. But she held his hand tight together they lit the candle. She hugged him.

"This next candle is for my sister, my shadow. Wendy, you never fail to make life interesting for everyone around you. You are so talented and I only hope I can find the same amount of talent and passion in myself. We share everything and I hope we have this bond forever. Please help me light this candle."

Wendy bounced out of her seat. She was ten and knew this was coming. Maybe she had been secretly practicing lighting candles, she would never tell. But when she and her sister lit the candle, she knew she did a good job.

"This next candle is for those family members who are only here in spirit. My grandparents Sophia and Andrew, and my uncle Alexander, Richard and Derek. They have all shaped the family that I am proud to be a part of. I know they are watching and guiding me. A moment of silence while I light this candle."

Silence fell over the room. Amelia blinked back a tear. Her parents would have been so proud and Derek would have been an amazing uncle. And, she couldn't help but notice her daughter overlooked a certain grandparent.

"This next candle is for my aunts and uncles. Aunt Jordan, you are always there for me when I have a problem and your advice is the best. Uncle Nathan and Uncle Aiden, you never fail to make me see the good in any situation. Aunt Rosie, you are truly more than an aunt, you are like the older sister I never had. Will the four of you please come up here and help me light the ninth candle."

Nathan, Jordan, Aiden and Rose went up to their niece and crowded around her to light the candle.

"This next candle is for my godparents, Aunt Emma and Uncle Killian. You both have taught me so much just by being yourselves. Aunt Emma, you taught me about home, it isn't always a place, it's a person. It's where you feel safe and welcomed. Uncle Killian, you taught me good form, about always fighting for what I want and loyalty. Can you two please come here to light this candle?"

Emma and Killian walked up to Sophia and lit the candle. They were so proud of her and of her parents. It was like everything happened just the way it was supposed to.

"This next candle is for my aunt and uncle. Aunt Regina, you taught me that no matter what, one must always hold their head up and look for hope. You taught me how to command a room. Uncle Robin, you taught me how to shoot when I was only seven. Sorry, the cat is out of the bag. But it instilled a skill that I hope to keep for the rest of my life. Please help me light my twelfth candle."

Regina and Robin got out of their chairs and went to Sophia. Never in a million years did either of them think this would be their lives.

"To my cousins: Richard, Charlotte, Liam, Hope and Roland. What a ragtag group we are. We are destined from the greatest heroes and villains of fairy tales and we hold our brand of power. Together, we can face any foe and come out on top. We have each other's back and will always support each other. Please help me light this candle."

Shockingly the five teens calmly walked up to their cousin and crowded together to light the candle. Sophia made sure she hugged each of them.

"This next candle is for my best friend, Ivy. We are so good at getting into trouble together but also good at getting out of it. We have had many adventures side by side and I can only imagine what the future has in store for us. Ivy, will you please light this candle with me?"

Ivy walked up to Sophia as royal as a queen. But she could not keep a straight face, a giant smile broke out. The two girls lit the candle and shared a tight hug.

"This next candle is for my boss, Granny. You taught me what hard work means and how to deal with people without wanting to throw things at them. Please help me light this candle."

Granny left her seat, she was shocked that she had received a candle. She had watched Sophia draft this for a month during her shifts. Sophia truly had grown into a remarkable young woman.

Now there was one candle left.

Amelia looked around, who else was left?

Sophia looked down at her script and swallowed hard. This was going to be the difficult one. She locked eyes with her grandfather and suddenly Gold knew what she was going to do.

"This sixteen and last candle is for my grandmother, Milah. She made tough decisions in her life, ones that effected everyone in this room whether they realize it or not. As much as I do not agree with her choices, I am grateful she made them. I would not have the amazing family that I do today. So, wherever you are, thank you." Without another word, Sophia Eleanor lit her last candle.

No one expected that but there were a few people who were grateful, Killian being one of them.

Amelia leaned over to Neal and kissed his cheek. "We raised a good kid."

He squeezed her hand. "Yes, we did." He stood up and went to his daughter. Sophia got the tightest hug of her life from him.

Neal turned back to the crowd. "Not sure how I can follow that. I think there's a point in every parent's life where they look at their kid and sit back and say "I did a good job." Sophia, that was it."