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sineala · 3 years ago

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Tony Stark and Arthuriana

Coming to you by special request, a very long post about 616 Tony's interest in Arthuriana, with a focus on all of Tony's run-ins with Morgan le Fay!

I feel like I should disclaim the extent of my knowledge here, which is that I still haven't managed to read anywhere near every issue of Iron Man -- at least, not yet, anyway -- so I'm just going by the things I know I've read, and Morgan le Fay's Marvel wiki entry is frustratingly under-cited, so it's very possible I've missed something relevant, but I'm pretty sure I've got the big stuff down. My other disclaimer here is that I'm not as big an Arthurian nerd as Tony is, which is to say that most of my familiarity comes from modern retellings -- T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset -- and not so much the usual classic sources on the Matter of Britain, though I've read bits and pieces of them.

(This is because I wanted to read versions of them that were as close to the original as possible but so far have not ended up finishing any of them because, well, that's hard. So I've never read the Mabinogion because I do not know Welsh. I've got the Norton Critical Edition of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which is probably the best student edition if you're looking for something without modernized spellings, as I was. I've also got -- well, okay, it's my wife's but I'm borrowing it -- a relatively recent Boydell & Brewer edition (ed. Reeve, tr. Wright) of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), which is, you guessed it, in Latin with a facing English translation. I haven't gotten very far in it because, in case you didn't know this about Latin texts, the beginning is pretty much always the hardest, so I gave up and read some Plautus adaptations instead. Anyway, if for some reason you too want to read Geoffrey of Monmouth in the original Latin I'd recommend that one, but I can't recommend any particular English translations because I've never read one by itself. I bet you didn't think you'd be getting Latin prose recommendations in this post. I mean, maybe you did; it is me, after all.)

Okay. Right. King Arthur. Here we go.

We've got:

Flashbacks to Tony's childhood in late Iron Man volume 1

A brief discussion of Morgan's origin story and Avengers #187

Iron Man vol 1 #149-150: Doomquest

What If vol 1 #33: What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?

Iron Man vol 1 #249-250: Recurring Knightmare

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1-4

Avengers vol 3 #1-4: The Morgan Conquest

Civil War: The Confession

Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11: Time Is On No One's Side

In terms of universe-internal chronology, we know from Iron Man #287, from 1992, that Tony has been a fan of King Arthur since childhood. This is an issue of a fandom-favorite arc which features Tony having a lot of childhood flashbacks, including the famous "Stark men are made of iron" line (in #286) that for some reason MCU fandom decided it loved; I mean, seriously, I've seen that quoted in way more MCU fic than 616 fic. But slightly later, in #287, we get an entire page devoted to Tony's love of King Arthur.

The narration reads: "Over the next few years, I learned as my father intended. Discipline of body. Strength of character. But in what free time I was allowed, I worked my way through the school's library. At thirteen, I discovered Mallory [sic], who showed me a whole new world. A world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Of chivalry and honor. And the fantastic deeds -- of armored heroes."

The art shows Tony as a child sitting under a tree, reading a book labeled Mort D'Arthur by Mallory [sic] -- no, don't ask me why nobody at Marvel checked how to spell either the name of the book or its author -- and daydreaming of King Arthur, the Sword in the Stone, knights, et cetera. Just in case you somehow missed the extremely blatant hint that we are meant to understand that Tony's knight obsession heavily influenced him becoming Iron Man as an adult, we see one of his armors mixed in with all the drawings of knights. So, yes, canonically Tony is Iron Man at least partly because he's a giant King Arthur nerd, which I think is so very sweet. I love him. He's such a dork!

(This issue is currently in print in the Iron Man Epic Collection War Machine, should you need your own copy.)

This isn't actually the only reference to Tony as a King Arthur fanboy in this era of canon, either; a little later, in IM #298, we see that one of Tony's passwords is actually "Mallory." (Yeah, no, they still couldn't spell. But it's cute.)

But in terms of actual publication order, this is definitely not the first time we have seen in canon that Tony is into Arthuriana, as I'm sure you all know. I would assume, in fact, that giving Tony a childhood interest in Arthuriana is because Doomquest is one of the most beloved Iron Man story arcs of all time, and that all started at least a decade before IM #287 here was published.

The villain of Doomquest -- the one who isn't Doctor Doom, at least -- is Morgan le Fay. Yes, that Morgan le Fay. Yes, Arthur's evil half-sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, all of this King Arthur stuff is canonically real history on Earth-616. Morgan's first appearance in Marvel, per the wiki, was in Black Knight #1 (1955), which I have not read, and judging by the summary I feel like this is probably just supposed to be a straight-up comic retelling of Arthurian legends for kids; I don't think Marvel really had the whole Marvel Universe in mind as a concept in 1955, so I'm not sure this was meant to connect to anything else. I feel like this is another one of those instances of Marvel discovering that they can write comics about characters in the public domain for free -- like, I'm pretty sure that's how we also ended up with, like, Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology wedged into 616.

As far as I can tell from the wiki, the first time Morgan tangled with the Avengers (or indeed the larger 616 universe) in any way actually predated Doomquest -- it was in an early arc in Spider-Woman (#2-6) and then Avengers #187, which came out in 1979, actually right when Demon in a Bottle was happening over in Iron Man comics. If you read #187, Iron Man is not in it because he's off the team due to his drinking problem and also his accidentally murdering the Carnelian ambassador problem. So Wonder Man's filling in instead. This issue is part of Michelinie's rather sporadic Avengers run, which makes sense, I guess, considering where we see Morgan next.

Anyway, Avengers #187 is the classic issue where Wanda is possessed by Chthon, but what you may not remember from Chthon's backstory (I sure didn't!) is that he was summoned by Morgan le Fay because she was the first person who tried to wield the Darkhold to summon him. As you can imagine, this did not work out especially well for her and her followers and they had to seal Chthon away in Wundagore Mountain, which was where Wanda found him. (The Spider-Woman stuff is only slightly earlier and also appears to be about Morgan and the Darkhold; the Darkhold is not one of the areas of 616 canon I am especially conversant with, alas. It's on my to-read list.)

Doomquest, as you probably know, was a classic Iron Man two-parter in Layton & Michelinie's first Iron Man run that set up Tony and Doom as rivals; Doomquest itself was IM #149-150, in 1981, and then in their second IM run they came back and did a sequel in 1989, Recurring Knightmare (IM #249-250), and then the much later four-part sequel to that was the 2008 miniseries Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, which was also by Layton & Michelinie but generally does not seem to be as popular as the first two parts. They've all been reprinted, if you're looking for copies; I have a Doomquest hardcover that collects the first four issues and then a separate Legacy of Doom hardcover. Currently in the Iron Man Epic Collection line there's a volume called Doom, which confusingly only collects the 249-250 part of the storyline (as well as surrounding issues), because for some reason the first Layton & Michelinie run isn't in Epics yet but the second one is. So the beginning of Doomquest isn't currently in print, as far as I can tell. I'm sure you can find it anyway.

So what's Doomquest about? Okay, so you remember how Doctor Doom's mother's soul is stuck in hell for all eternity? Well, Doom's obviously interested in getting her back, and the strategy he has embarked on is to try to team up with other powerful magicians who can help him out, and he thinks Morgan le Fay would be a good choice, for, uh, his quest. Doom's quest. A Doomquest, if you will. (If you've ever read Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, you're familiar with the part where he later ends up waylaying Strange for this and they go to hell together. And if you haven't read Triumph & Torment, you really should, because it's amazing.)

So Doom is off to his time machine to go team up with Morgan le Fay and Tony thinks Doom is up to something -- Doom has been stealing components for his time machine from a lot of people, including Tony -- and he follows him and it turns out one of Doom's lackeys has a grudge and wants to trap Doom in the past forever, and Tony gets caught up in it. Now they're both in Camelot. Surprise! #149 is actually all setup; they don't get to Camelot until #150.

IM #150 begins with Doom and Tony thrown back into the past; there's a fandom-famous splash page of them locked in combat, only to realize that they have found themselves in Camelot.

They are then discovered by knights; Doom would very much like to attack them, but Tony, who naturally would be happy to LARP Camelot forever, persuades him to play nice. Also Doom thinks Iron Man is only Tony's bodyguard so he keeps referring to him as "lackey," much to Tony's annoyance. Somehow everyone thinks they're sorcerers. Can't imagine why. The knights take them to meet King Arthur himself, and Tony has clearly had his introduction all ready to go, as he introduces himself in a timeline-appropriate manner, says he's here to apprehend Doom, and demonstrates his "magic" by levitating Arthur's throne. Doom's response is essentially "I'm the king of Latveria," which is, y'know, also valid. So they're guests at Camelot for the night while Arthur figures out what to do with them.

We then have a page devoted to Tony alone in his room, musing sadly about how alien he feels, how he doesn't know if he'll ever get home, how he could never fit in here without his beloved technology. Then a Sexy Lady shows up to keep him company for the night, and he decides maybe it's not all bad. Thanks, Marvel. I guess they can't all be winners.

Doom is using his evening much more productively; he compels one of the servants to tell him where Morgan's castle is, because he's still interested in having that team-up. Then he jets off. Literally. He has a jetpack.

The next morning Arthur's like "one of you is still here and one of you has punched a hole through the castle wall and flown off to join Morgan so I guess I know which of you is more trustworthy." He then explains to Tony who Morgan is, because Tony professes ignorance, because clearly we had not yet retconned in Tony's love of Arthuriana. Tony offers to go fight Doom and Morgan with Arthur; meanwhile, Morgan and Doom have teamed up and Morgan has offered to help get Doom's mother out of hell if he commands her undead armies against Arthur because for Reasons she can't command them herself anymore. So that's a thing that happens.

So, yes, it's Tony and Arthur versus Doom and Morgan. Fight fight fight!

Tony tries Doom first but then decides to hunt Morgan down, and in the ensuing fight we get what I think is Tony's first ever "I hate magic," a complaint that we all know he still makes even to this day.

Anyway, Tony freezes a dragon with Freon (mmm, technology) and Morgan gets upset and disappears, so the battle comes to an end, and of course Doom is extremely mad at Tony because he blames Tony for Morgan not sticking around to save Doom's mom, because I guess Doom trusted her to keep her word? Weird. (Like I said, for the next chapter of Doom saving his mother, go read Triumph & Torment.)

Doom says if he and Tony work together, the components in both of their armors can send them both home. So Tony has to trust Doom. Which he does, because he really has no other choice. They build a time machine and Tony makes Doom agree to a 24-hour truce when they get back, so they can both get home. So it all works out okay, and they end up in the present, and Doom tells him, ominously, that they will meet again. Okay, then. That concludes the original Doomquest. It's fun! You can see why fandom likes it.

So that's all well and good, but you might have noticed that Tony's ability to get home hinged on Doom actually being trustworthy. And Doom was. But what if Doom hadn't been? What if he'd just stranded Tony in Camelot forever As you may have surmised from the form of that question, that is in fact a question Marvel asked themselves, because, yes, there's a What If about this! What If v1 #33 is "What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?"

The divergence point from canon, as you can probably guess, is the very end of Doomquest. Instead of Doom bringing Tony home, he deceives him and leaves him in Camelot. And since Tony cannibalized a lot of the tech from his armor to make the time machine, he doesn't have a way to go home.

This is not a story where Tony comes up with a way to go home after all. He really doesn't get to go home. But instead of drowning his sorrows in mead -- because, remember, Demon in a Bottle has already happened and Tony is sober now -- he decides he might as well just play the hand he's dealt. So with what's left of his armor, he defeats some enemies that Morgan rounds up to send against Camelot. And for his services, he's knighted. He is now Sir Anthony.

Tony acknowledges that he is both living the dream and would also like very, very much to go home.

He does end up having some fun in Camelot; it's not all miserable. But he obviously doesn't want to be there.

So if you're at all familiar with King Arthur, you know how this goes, right? Arthur fights Mordred and Mordred kills him. And that does happen in this version. Except Tony is right there, and with his dying words, Arthur asks Tony to rule Camelot... and Tony agrees.

So, yes, Tony Stark becomes king of the Britons after Arthur's death and he never goes home again. The end. Man, I love What Ifs.

Heading back to main 616 continuity, there is still more of this arc to go. The original Doomquest was only two issues, yes, but it was popular enough that Layton & Michelinie did a sequel a hundred issues later, in their second run of Iron Man, and that's Iron Man #249-250, Recurring Knightmare. (In the intervening issues were Denny O'Neil's IM run, specifically the second drinking arc (#160-200), and then Layton & Michelinie came back and most famously gave us Armor Wars (#225-232). I would have to say that Armor Wars is definitely the standout fandom-favorite arc of their second IM run; for their first one, I think a lot of people would have a hard time choosing between Doomquest and Demon.) But anyway, yes. Recurring Knightmare.

Recurring Knightmare is... well, the best way I can describe it is "a trip." It is definitely a sequel to Doomquest, and it is also definitely not a sequel you would ever have expected to see for Doomquest.

Much like #149, #249 is pretty much just setup. Fun setup, but the big action is in the next issue. We open with Doom in Latveria, on his throne, pondering which of his servants he should have disintegrated. Anyway, he's just hanging out there when a mysterious object appears. In California, Tony is suited up and entertaining the crowd at a mall opening when the same object also appears! He takes it to his lab. Please note that this is after the Kathy Dare incident, so Tony is still recovering and is walking with a cane. Doom sees on the news that Iron Man has found the same object, which cannot be carbon-dated, and he shows up at Tony's house. He criticizes Tony's taste in art.

Anyway, Doom basically orders Tony to work with him. Tony refuses, and then Doom sends some robots to attempt to steal Tony's version of the object because he thinks if he has them both he will be powerful. Doom manages to steal it, and when he puts the pieces together, both he and Tony disappear.

So where do they go, you might ask? Camelot?

Not exactly. The future! There is a great callback to the Doomquest splash page.

It turns out they are in London in 2093. Merlin brought them there. Tony still hates magic. And in the future, King Arthur is still there, except he is now a child, because he has been reborn. But he does remember Tony from Doomquest, at which point Tony kneels. Doom, of course, is not impressed. He asks why they have been brought to the future.

The answer is that things are going wrong in the future. If you do not personally remember United States politics in the 1980s, I need you to google the words "Strategic Defense Initiative" right now. I'll wait.

Back with me? Okay, so this is a future where Reagan's Star Wars program actually happened the way he wanted it to, and the satellites are still hanging around the Earth in the future and messing everything up, and Arthur and Merlin need Tony and Doom's help to stop them. Doom once again flies away with his jetpack, of course.

Tony is game to help, but he's not in an armor that can stay in space for long. This is when Merlin takes him and Arthur to the mall and Tony manages to get everything to upgrade his armor at Radio Shack. You see what I meant about this issue being weird.

Tony is out in space trying to disarm the SDI platform, which is where he runs into his future descendant, Andros Stark, who is in armor you will probably recognize from Iron Man 2020. He is referred to as "the resurrected spawn of Iron Man 2020" so I assume he's actually directly related to Arno rather than a direct descendant of Tony; Wiki confirms that Arno is his grandfather. This is all from way before Arno was contemporaneous with Tony in canon. Anyway, he's fighting Tony.

Oh, by the way, Future Doom exists. Future Doom would like to rule this future Earth and for some reason Andros would like to help him. Meanwhile, Present Doom finds out from Merlin that he can't leave except by magic and he can't leave without Tony, so he is reluctantly on Tony's side.

They need help from the Lady of the Lake, except the lake has been paved over and is now a parking lot. Merlin makes the lake come back and then of course they get Excalibur. Arthur is a kid, so he can't wield a longsword; Doom assumes he's going to take it because he is basically a king, and he's pretty grumpy when the sword picks Tony. Tony then uses Excalibur to destroy the space lasers, and I bet that is a sentence you never thought you would read. It's pretty cool. Tony concludes that magic has its good points. Tony stops Andros and Doom stops, uh, himself, and the world is saved and they get to go home. Also, Doom finds out Tony is Iron Man, but when Merlin sends them back he conveniently erases their memories, so neither of them remember anything about this and Tony's secret is still safe. And that's the sequel to Doomquest.

And if you think that's weird, wait until you see Legacy of Doom.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom is a four-issue miniseries from 2008, also by Layton and Michelinie. Even though it's from 2008, it's set during a much more classic time in Iron Man, continuing on from where we left off in this Doomquest saga. We start with a framing story in 2008. Tony, who has Extremis now, is busy scrapping some of his older armors and reviewing his logs when he suddenly remembers that there was a whole thing with Doom that happened that he seems to have forgotten about until right now. So the whole thing is narrated by Tony in flashback.

Tony's in space fixing a satellite when a hologram of Doom shows up and summons him to Latveria. It's not really clear why Doom needs Tony's help in particular here, but Doom tells Tony that he's discovered that Mephisto would like to bring about the end of the world, which Doom finds, and I quote, "presumptive." So Doom has his Time Cube, and with it he takes Tony to hell.

(Yes, I promise this is relevant to Doomquest. There will be some Arthuriana shortly.)

Doom brings Tony to Mephisto, and it turns out it's a setup! Doom trades Tony for an item he wants from Mephisto, leaves, and Tony's going to be trapped in hell forever! Oh no! (I mean, he's not. But it's quite a cliffhanger.)

At the beginning of issue #2, we find out what the Arthurian connection is, which is that we learned that after the events of Doomquest, Morgan had been granted sanctuary by Mephisto in exchange for a shard of Excalibur that she had somehow stolen. Doom still wants Morgan's help with some magic -- he doesn't mention what it is here, but he says he needs someone of Pendragon blood, and that'd be her -- so he traded Tony to Mephisto in exchange for, I'm guessing, Morgan and the Excalibur shard.

I have probably mentioned this elsewhere, but Legacy of Doom #2 is one of my favorite issues of Iron Man ever, solely because of the next scene. We return to Tony in hell. Howard Stark is also in hell, and he is now a demon, and Tony has to fight him. Mephisto brings popcorn and watches. This is the one time in canon when Tony actually confronts his father, and okay, yes, it's a fistfight in hell and Howard is a demon, but that's comics for you. Howard spends several pages insulting Tony -- specifically insulting his masculinity, but that's a whole other essay -- until he finally insults Maria too, and that's when Tony fights back, because his mother taught him to be good. Honestly if you're a Tony fan I'd recommend this issue just for that scene.

Anyway, we go back to the Doom and Morgan plot, and Morgan casts the spell Doom wanted, which was fusing the Excalibur shard with Doom's armor. Then Doom sends her back to Camelot rather than hell, because he's still mad that she never helped him get his mom out of hell like she said she would.

Tony freezes Howard with Freon -- yes, the same trick he pulled on the dragon back in Doomquest -- and tells him, "You're no father of mine." It is immensely satisfying.

(I had been going to mention that I thought it was a shame that neither canon nor fandom seems to have really engaged with this confrontation, and I know canon never believes in narrative closure but fandom sure does -- and then, anyway, it occurred to me that since the framing story of Tony remembering this is set when Tony has Extremis, there's a very good chance that he no longer remembers remembering it. Goddammit, Marvel.)

(If I got to retcon one canon thing about Tony, I think "the entirety of World's Most Wanted" is up there. I mean, okay, a lot of things are up there, but WMW is definitely on the shortlist.)

Okay. Tony has now engineered his way out of hell, and he's back with Doom in Latveria. Doom has Excalibur. Doom would very much like to fight him. While wielding Excalibur. You get the sense that this is going to be bad. Another cliffhanger!

Legacy of Doom #3 opens with Tony destroying Doom's lab to buy time and running away from Doom and Excalibur. I should probably mention that Doom still doesn't know Tony is Iron Man (anymore), so he thinks he is dealing only with Iron Man, Tony Stark's lackey. Meanwhile, some scientists at SI think there's something weird going on with space. Meanwhile meanwhile, Tony is in a forest taking a breather when a mysterious old man walks up to him.

It's Merlin! Surprise! Merlin wants Tony's help to stop Doom from doing whatever he's doing with Excalibur. The sword makes you invincible and the scabbard makes you invulnerable, so Merlin sends Tony to Scotland on a fetch quest for the scabbard. Doom has now magically sent the sword in search of the scabbard, so the sword flies away to meet it and Doom follows. Turns out the thing that's wrong with space is a thing that's going to hit Earth at the exact place Tony and Doom are. What a coincidence! So Tony and Doom get trapped in a stone circle and fight some stone warriors and then Tony ends up with the scabbard. And by "ends up with," I mean it fuses to his armor. Next issue!

Legacy of Doom #4 is when things really, really get weird. A giant demon made of eyes (???) appears, and this demon is apparently what Doom had been preparing to fight (because it's mad that Doom stole one of its spellbooks), and now he can't, because the sword and the scabbard aren't together. Thanks, Shellhead.

That's when Merlin shows up and says all is not lost. They can defeat the demon... if they put the sword into the scabbard.

"But I'm the scabbard now!" Tony says, uncomprehending.

"Yes," Merlin says. "You are."

Then Tony gets it.

So, yes, Doom has to, um, penetrate Tony. With Excalibur. I love comics. I love comics so much.

So that's a thing that happens.

And then Tony flies off and, I guess, resolves to never, ever think about any of this again.

We head back to the framing story, in which Tony, now having remembered all of this, flies to Britain, buys the land the lake is on, and paves it over, presumably so it will be there for Merlin to bring back in Iron Man #250. The end.

Whew.

Okay, yeah, I know I didn't have to summarize the whole thing, but Legacy of Doom here really is one of my favorite Iron Man miniseries. And I just want to share the love. Please read it. It's great.

But the Arthuriana fun doesn't end there! In fact, now we get an Arthurian-themed arc that actually isn't in Iron Man comics. It's in Avengers! Iron Man is involved, though.

(There is also apparently a Morgan arc in Avengers #240. I actually haven't read it. It seems to be yet another Spider-Woman arc. I get the impression that this isn't really Arthuriana other than having Morgan in it fighting Jess, though, so it doesn't seem quite as relevant. Morgan also apparently has some appearances in FF, Journey into Mystery, and Marvel Team-Up, but those seem like more of just basic villainy. Also, probably not involving Tony.)

Kurt Busiek's 1998 Avengers run, volume 3, is in large part the kind of Avengers run that is a nostalgic love letter to older comics. Heroes are heroes and villains are villains and good triumphs over evil. The Avengers all live in the mansion and are BFFs. I love it. It does assume that you are already a fan of the Avengers, because it starts out by summoning pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger and is available to the mansion, and that is... a lot of people. Thirty-nine, by my count. Also, when the entire team is magically whisked away, we are treated to the following narration, as Steve disappears: "And Captain America's last thought, as the world goes white around him, and he with it -- is that Iron Man would hate this."

The narration doesn't tell you why Iron Man would hate this, or how Captain America would know that Iron Man hates this. This is not explained later on. But if you have read comics -- or if you have read the above summary of Doomquest -- you know that Tony is absolutely, one hundred percent, thinking, "I hate magic." And Steve knows it.

The reference is not relevant to the plot; if you don't get it, you'll be fine. But that's what I mean when I say this is a nostalgia run. There are definitely Easter eggs for people who have read a bunch of comics. Busiek does this a whole lot in his work -- there's a reason you can buy an annotated edition of Marvels -- and, yeah, it happens here too. Just know that there will be references you're not getting, if you're new to comics.

Anyway. So Busiek's run actually starts out with an Arthurian arc, #1-4, "The Morgan Conquest." The name is a dead giveaway. Yes, Morgan le Fay is back. Again. For once, Doom is not involved.

The Avengers are all back from their sojourn on Counter-Earth after fighting Onslaught -- don't worry about it -- and mysterious things are happening. There are a lot of monster attacks. So pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger is summoned to the mansion, at which point we learn from Thor about some mystical artifacts that are being stolen. (They are the Norn Stones and also the Twilight Sword. That sounds like something from a Zelda game, doesn't it?) The Avengers go to try to stop this, end up in Tintagel, and then they run into Mordred. He wants to capture Wanda, presumably for Magic Reasons. Morgan le Fay casts a spell on all of them, reshaping reality. Yes, all of them. Surprise!

So now all the Avengers are living in a medieval castle and/or town; Morgan is their queen, and thanks to the power of mind-control they are all basically living in Ye Olden Times. The Avengers are all some variety of knight, except for Wanda, who is chained up in the dungeon so Morgan can steal her magic and use it to fuel all this reality-warping.

Wanda calls for help, and that snaps Steve (Yeoman America!) out of the mind control (or altered reality or whatever you want to call it) pretty fast, because Steve's always been very good at resisting mind control, and then Steve promptly goes and snaps Clint out of it, because I guess Steve is also good at inspiring people to snap out of mind control. "Oh, man!" Clint says. "Not another alternate reality! Not again!" (I assume he's referring to Counter-Earth? Maybe?)

So Steve and Clint go around reassembling the Avengers and orienting them as to reality. They get Jan and Monica easily, but then Steve insists on trying to get Tony because, I guess, he likes Tony and would really like to hang around Tony, who is half-naked and asleep in his bedroom, and certainly I am reading nothing whatsoever into this. Clint tells Steve it's not going to work. Tony has historically been fairly susceptible to mind control; it was only pretty recently at this point that he'd been doing Kang's bidding in The Crossing. But the more serious impediment is that this is Tony Stark and he would obviously like to LARP being a knight forever and ever. Tony, therefore, does not believe Steve, and throws him and Clint out of his bedroom and into the barracks.

"Iron Man's a good guy, normally," Clint says. "But he's waaay too into his whole nobleman/lord of the manor trip. That spell musta hit him right where he lives!"

Clint speaks the truth, clearly.

Anyway, they go around and manage to make pretty much every Avenger in the room other than Tony snap out, and attempt to rebel against Morgan while Tony is stil fighting them because he is Still A Knight. There's a lot of punching, because some of the Avengers still aren't free; they weren't ones Steve found.

The day is saved when Wanda manages to channel Wonder Man and break free. This gives the Avengers a fighting chance against Morgan and the Avengers are all lending Wanda their power when Tony finally snaps out of it and is on the side of good.

Then they take Morgan down, go home, and attempt to figure out which of these thirty-nine people should be on the active Avengers team. Hooray.

But that's not the end of Morgan le Fay showing up to screw around with Tony's life! There's more to come! Not much, but there is one that I know of, and at least one more memorable reference.

(I haven't read all her appearances or anything, but one of them definitely involves Tony; I can't swear that he doesn't appear in any of the other books Morgan shows up in, but it'd be a cameo for him, because I only know of one more arc that she's in in a book that Tony stars in.)

In a few more years, we have now entered the part of Marvel Comics history where Brian Michael Bendis writes all the Avengers books at the same time for, like, seven years running. It was sure A Time. There were a lot of word bubbles.

And the thing about Bendis is, Bendis looooooves Doomquest. If you're familiar with the very end of his tenure at Marvel where he made Doom be Iron Man after Tony got knocked into a coma in Civil War II, you have probably figured out already that he likes Doom. But he also likes Doomquest, specifically.

I mean, if nothing else, the giant splash page in The Confession where Maleev redrew the climactic Doomquest fight while Bendis had Tony talk about how deeply meaningful to his understanding of the world this all was -- and how it allowed him to predict Civil War -- was probably a big clue, right?

As far as I am aware, Morgan le Fay makes exactly one more appearance in Tony's life. And that's in Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11. Only one of those issues is named, so I'm going to assume the arc is named after it: Time Is On No One's Side.

You remember Mighty Avengers, right? The deal with the Avengers books at the time was that after Bendis exploded the mansion and made the team disband in Avengers Disassembled, the main Avengers book was no longer called just Avengers. Instead, the main Avengers book was New Avengers, and that was the only Avengers book. Then Civil War happened, Steve got killed, and New Avengers became the book about what was left of the SHRA resistance (i.e., Steve's side) after the war. So about halfway through New Avengers, Mighty Avengers starts up, and Mighty Avengers is about an extremely fucked-up and grief-stricken Tony Stark trying to run the official government-sanctioned Avengers team, with Carol's help. This is the comic with the arc where Tony turned into naked girl Ultron. You remember.

So, anyway, there's this Mighty Avengers arc where Doom is Up To Something (there are symbiotes and a satellite involved) and somehow Tony and the Avengers end up in Latveria, punching Doom. Also, by the way, Doom is visiting Morgan in the past because he likes her. The Avengers attacking his castle made him have to come back to the present, so he's kind of cranky. And he fights Tony, and in the course of the fight, his time platform explodes and sends Doom and Tony and also the Sentry to... the past.

This is one of those times where you should definitely look up the comics if possible because the way the past is visually indicated here is that it's colored with halftone dots the way you would expect old comics to be colored, although they have modern shading and color palettes. It's very charmingly retro.

So the three of them are stuck in New York in the past, and naturally they would like to leave. There's one person in this time who has a time machine and it is, of course, Reed Richards. Doom and Tony have a lot of banter in this arc; I think it's entertaining.

Sentry has to be the one to break them all into the Baxter Building because of that power he has where no one will remember him. So they do that, travel forward in time, and end up in Latveria in the present again except Doom is gone and also things are currently exploding where they are.

Doom, of course, has made a side trip to visit Morgan again and he asks her to help him build an army, because I guess this is what their relationship is like. So the rest of the Avengers are captured by what look to me like Mindless Ones and are in a cave in magic bondage, because comics. Jess comments that at least they aren't naked, because she too is remembering that memorable New Avengers trip to the Savage Land. Doom threatens Carol in some creepy sexist ways and eventually it turns out that Tony and the Sentry are fine and everyone kicks Doom's ass. Business as usual.

And the last page of the arc is Morgan alone, wondering where Doom is. So technically Morgan and Tony don't come face to face here, but I think she counts as being at least partially responsible for ruining Tony's day here. And then Secret Invasion happens and Tony has a very, very bad day.

There are a few more Morgan appearances after this, but, as I said, I don't think any of them involve Tony. She shows up in Dark Avengers, apparently, which was one of the post-Civil War Avengers titles I didn't read, and I know that recently, on the X-Men side of things, she's been in Tini Howard's Excalibur one, which I have only read a little of. No Tony there. Just a lot of Morgan and Betsy Braddock and Brian Braddock and the Otherworld.

If you are interested in Morgan's other appearances, you might like this Marvel listicle that is Morgan le Fay's six most malicious acts. I pulled some of the Darkhold backstory from their discussion, but it's not really focused on Morgan and Tony.

So there you have it! That's everything I know about Tony's love for King Arthur and every run-in I know about that he's had with Morgan le Fay! One of two terrible people in Tony's life named Morgan! Actually, I don't think we've seen Morgan Stark in a while. I wonder if he's alive. There should be a Morgan & Morgan team-up. I should probably stop typing and post this.

The tl;dr point is that you should all read Doomquest and its sequels, especially Legacy of Doom. They're great!

#posts i actually wrote

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host-club-hq · 3 years ago

Text

Call of the Scar pt. 2

➼ pairing: harry potter x reader

➼ genre: sfw, fluffy, fantasy

➼ word-count: 2.9k

➼ summary: Harry Potter and Y/N Weasley embark on their great journey together in their fourth year at Hogwarts. What does this unsuspecting year hold for them this time?

➼ part 2 of many :)

➼ want to request? do it here. let me know what i can write for you :)

➼ talk to the characters!

The campsite is a ruin now, drifting in smoke. A child appears, tear-streaked, wailing for his mother. Harry is still lying upon the ground. His eyelids flutter...

A figure strides through the teeming smoke like a ghost. The man pauses, surveys the devastation before him, and lifts his wand into the sky.

"MORESMORDRE!"

A peal of thunder shakes the earth and an eerie green blooms in the sky. Harry squints painfully, gripping his scar and peers up. A colossal skull of emerald stars erupts in the sky, a serpent coiling from its mouth. A shriek pierces the night and Harry's eyes shift, finding the motherless boy a few yards away, howling in terror at the sky.

Harry looks back, toward the man in the distance, and sees he's coming forward. The shrieking boy turns and darts away. Harry's fingers reach for his wand, eyes squinting through the smoke, trying to see the approaching man's face, but all is still a blur, the smoke like black fog, the man a wavering wraith as he draws closer and closer...

"Harry!"

Harry's heart unclenches at your voice and he audibly sighs in relief. Hermione, Ron, and you- tiny dots- race across the campsite. The man stops, looks, then withdraws into the smoke and vanishes.

"Harry!" you call again.

"Thought we'd lost you, mate. And then..." Ron nods nervously to the sky.

"What is that?" Harry follows his eyes to the monstrous thing in the sky.

"Don't you know...?" Hermione asks, confused.

Just then, a popping fills the air and- one after another- ten ministry wizards apparate into view, wands poised.

"DUCK!" Harry exclaims, and the group does as told.

"STUPEFY!"

As they hit the ground, ten jets of fiery red light electrify the air inches above their heads.

"Stop! Those are my children!" Arthur dashes to the rescue.

"Are you lot alright?" Arthur breathes hurriedly.

"Which one of you conjured it?"

Harry and the others turn and watch Barty Crouch- a stiff man with a toothbrush mustache and steely eyes- emerge through the haze.

"Mr. Crouch, you can't possibly-"

"Do not lie! You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!" Crouch points his wand shakily to all of the teens, alternating between each one.

"Crime?" Harry states incredulously.

Crouch wheels, pointing his wand directly at Harry, eyes glittering lethally when... he notices Harry's scar.

"Barty. They're just kids." Amos interjects. Harry watches Crouch blink. You side-step in front of Harry and draw him close to you. Crouch lowers his wand.

"What crime?" Harry speaks again.

You turns to him and nod at the sky. "That... it's the Dark Mark, Harry. It's... his mark." you whisper carefully.

"Voldemort?" Harry questions. You shush him. "You can't keep saying that..." you remind.

A disturbed murmur ripples through the wizards at Harry's utterance of the name. Ron looks particularly pained.

"Why do you always have to do that?" He sighs.

"Those people tonight- in the masks- they're his too, aren't they? His followers."

"Death Eaters." Arthur confirms solemnly.

Harry considers his, then gazes back down the beach, toward the spot where the mysterious figure appeared.

"There was someone before. A man. There." Harry points. Everyone turns to look.

"A man? Who, Harry?" you eye him carefully.

"Dunno. One minute he was there, then... not. I never saw his face. Could've been anybody..." Harry is beginning to realize that his witness is of no value without any facial recognition.

Harry glances upwards, clinging to the sky like a stain is the Dark Mark.

Hogwart’s Express

Students hang out of compartment doors, talking and laughing while an old woman pushes a candy trolley up to Harry, Ron, yours, and Hermione's compartment.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" The trolley witch asks, out of breath.

Harry and Ron leap up, while you and Hermione continue to read the Daily Prophet. There's a photograph of the Dark Mark, a headline screams: "TERROR AT THE WORLD CUP."

"I'll have a pack of Droobles. And a licorice wand and..." Ron digs into his pocket and frowns. "On second though, just the Droobles."

"S'alright, I'll get it-"

"Just the Droobles." Ron firmly interjects for Harry.

Ron takes his gum and quickly ducks back into the compartment. Harry frowns, feeling guilty, when a sweet voice sounds.

"One Pumpkin Pastie, please."

Harry turns and finds a very pretty dark-haired girl standing by the cart. Sensing Harry's gaze, she looks up and smiles. Taking her treat, she heads off.

"Something sweet for you, dear?" The trolley witch leans to speak to Harry. He looks down at her.

"Huh? Oh. No. I'm not... hungry." He decides. Harry watches Cho's lithe figure retreat, watching until she slips into a compartment and is gone.

"Head out of the clouds, Potter." you call from inside the compartment as the trolley witch moves to the rest of the train. Harry diverts his attention to you, seeing you haven’t even lifted your head from the Daily Prophet. He rolls his eyes.

"This is bad. Very bad..."

Harry turns and sees Hermione shaking her head darkly behind the Prophet's screaming front page. Harry considers the image of the Dark Mark and accompanying article: "DARK MARK STIRS OLD FEARS (First Sighting in Thirteen Years)," then eyes the photo of the article's author, Rita Skeeter. Hermione snaps the paper shut and stares at him.

"It's hurting again, isn't it? It was hurting that morning too. The day of the World Cup?" your gaze is gentle and concerned, but Harry doesn't reciprocate. Ron, full of gum, stops chewing, eyeing Harry with trepidation.

"I'm fine." Harry snaps. Your hand withdraws from his shoulder without a word. Hermione's eyebrows furrow and her eyes briefly flicker from you to Harry with distain.

"Suit yourself. But at least tell him. You know he'd want you to." Hermione eyes Harry with determination. He sighs.

"DEAR SIRIUS"...

Harry rolls up the parchment, fixes it to Hedwig's leg, and lets her fly free of his hands and through the open window.

Hedwig soars high, leaving the train behind as she knits her way across the sky. On the horizon, a castle appears.

The Hall glows magically, decked out for the start-of-term feast. Albus Dumbledore addresses the House Tables from the top of the Hall while Flitwick, Hagrid, McGonagall, and Snape look on. Filch flowers from the rear doors.

"Mr. Filch, our beloved caretaker, has informed me that the list of objects forbidden within the castle now includes Screaming Yo-Yos, Fanged Frisbees, Ever-Bashing Boomerangs, and Chocolate Marshmallow Bunnies." There is a mischievous beat before he continues. "I'm joking about that last one. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items and may be viewed in Mr. Filch's office." Dumbledore smiles.

"Mental. Always has been." Ron grumbles from where he sits at the Gryffindor table.

Harry grins and glances to the Ravenclaw table, seeing Cho grinning appreciatively at Dumbledore as well. You follow his gaze and smirk. "Catching feelings, are we?" you mumble just loudly enough for Harry to hear, who turns.

"What?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"The Chang girl. Pretty, isn't she?" you glance back at her. Harry suppresses a smile.

"Shut up." He pushes you.

"Not likely." you shrug.

"Now. There is, apparently, a rather nasty rumor flying about the school that Quidditch will not be played this year. That rumor, I'm here to tell you... is absolutely true." Dumbledore announces with suspense. Indignation fills the Hall. Dumbledore smiles in amusement.

"There is an explanation. You see, Hogwarts will this year play host to a legendary event. An event that has not taken place in over one hundred years... the Triwizard Tournament." Excitement hakes the Hall, one voice ringing clear:

"You're joking!" Fred exclaims. You put a hand over her face and peek from under it, watching as your classmates watch your brother make a fool of himself and hiding from under the palm of your hand.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley. For those of you know do not know, the Triwizard Tournament was originally conceived some seven centuries ago as a way for the three largest European wizardry schools to engage in a series of magical contests while their respective student bodies experienced the benefits of cross-cultural social intercourse."

A crackling, albeit bewildered, silence hangs in the air.

"In other words: One got to spend the entire year getting to know people who spoke a funny language. Unfortunately due to a distressing high death toll, the Tournament was cancelled..."

Hermione's brows knit together with dark concern.

"Then why the bloody hell are they bringing it back?" you lean over Hermione's shoulder to voice her concerns. Hermione leans back and reciprocates her expression. "You're asking the wrong person, Y/N." she sighs.

"... until now. Tomorrow, delegations from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magical Arts and the Durmstrang School of Wizardry will journey to Hogwarts. This year, our home will be their home. I ask only that you endeavor to make it a happy one."

Students- Harry, Ron, you, and Hermione among them- crowd the parapets, buzzing with anticipation. Far below, Dumbledore has assembled the staff as a kind of welcoming party.

Suddenly a rumble fills the sky and a team of winged Horses cleave the clouds, pulling a gigantic powder-blue carriage. Through one of the windows, a beautiful woman peers down. With an earth-shaking thud, the carriage lands.

Just then, great bubbles roil the glassy surface of the Black Lake and a long black mast pierces the water, rising higher and higher. A black ship rises out of a great rushing whirlpool of water, looking skeletal and ghostly in the half-light. A dark figure strides out onto the deck- tall, thin, ad sleek.

Students scramble into position and turn expectantly to Dumbledore, who stands before the staff. You notice a man near the back and nudge Harry. It's Barty Crouch.

"What's he doing here?" you ask in a low whisper. Harry shrug without a word and diverts his attention.

"Please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!" Dumbledore bellows.

Music begins- light and fanciful- and a woman in a diaphanous gown strides into the courtyard. She is beautiful. She is elegant. She is ten feet tall.

"Blimey. That's one big woman." Seamus stares shamelessly up at her.

Then, one by one, a procession of stunningly beautiful Beauxbatons girls enter in graceful synchronization. Clad in silky, skin-clinging robes, they make a decided impression on Ron- and every other boy present. You and Hermione are less persuaded.

"It's indecent to stare at women like that, idiot." you shove your elbow into Ron's and he grunts.

"Lay off, would you?" He sneers, earning your tongue sticking out at him in retaliation.

Suddenly, one after another, they pitch themselves forward and cartwheel to the top of the courtyard where, allayed in a circle, they wait for their last two members: Fleur Delacour, a particularly luminous girl, and her 8-year-old sister Gabrielle, who is her double. Vaulting side-by-side to the center of the circle, Fleur pulls out a silk scarf, dangles it from her fingertips, and 'spins' Gabrielle like a top.

The courtyard roars with approval. Hermione rolls her eyes and you take notices.

"Can you believe the lot of them?" you sigh. Hermione nods in agreement.

"You're just jealous you're not as pretty as them." Ron snickers. Your expression remains unfazed.

"You do remember I'm you're twin, Ronald?" you inform with a sheer, angered tone. Both Hermione and Harry burst out laughing, Ron's cheeks growing hot as the smile disappears from his face. You smirk to yourself.

"Madame Maxime. Welcome to Hogwarts, my dear." Dumbledore welcomes with a large smile.

"Ah, Dumble-dorr. You are well, yes?" A thick French accent is heavy laden over Madame Maxime's words.

"Blooming." Dumbledore ignores the fact that his name has just been mispronounced.

Madame Maxime steps away, passing Hagrid. His beard twitches. Suddenly, the thrum of balalaikas fills the courtyard.

"And now... our friends from the north! Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang!"

Igor Karkaroff- tall, sleek and arrogant- strides forth, trailed by a regiment of stoic Durmstrang boys in dark fur cloaks. A pair of sleek black panthers- eyes glittering like gold- pad sullenly at Karkaroff's side. As Karkaroff reaches the top of the courtyard, he glances about imperiously.

"Dear old Hogwarts. It's so..."

"Perfectly imperfect?" Dumbledore suggests. Karkaroff smiles and turns to Snape, who nods curtly.

"Igor." Snape acknowledges.

"Severus. Long time, no see. And Barty. I almost didn't recognize you. You look so... tired. Sleeping well these days?" Igor grins.

Crouch glowers. Karkaroff smiles, then snaps his fingers. A quartet of Durmstrang boys bring torches to their lips and spit dazzling comets of fire into the air. Enthusiastic applause from all.

"Oh my God! It's him!" Ron gasps and straightens.

Harry looks. At the end of the line, brooding behind his shadowed brow, is Victor Krum. Just then, Flitwick- striking his finest conductor's pose- lifts his arms before a ragtag band of students and a discordant tune fills the courtyard. Instantly, the Hogwarts students serenade their visitors with a glorious cacophony, then Hogwarts Anthem"

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts....

Teach us something please

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff

For now they're bare and full of air

Dead flies and bits of fluff."

Karkaroff raises an eyebrow.. Maxime struggles to hold a smile. Dumbledore beams.

"We just might have the worst school anthem ever written." you groan as she cover your face with your hands while the school continues to sing the horrid song.

"I never will understand who wrote it and why." Harry sighs in exasperation.

"Dead flies and bits of fluff? Why in Merlin's name is that necessary?" you scoff. Harry chuckles.

"Maybe if they're talking about you." Harry mutters. You gasp and turn to him.

"How dare you? My grades are better than yours have ever been." you whack Harry on his upper arm and he scowls at you.

"Not better than Hermione's." Harry reminds with a smug expression to which you roll your eyes.

"Hermione is inhuman, no one can have the grades that she has." you inform. Harry considers this a moment and nods.

"You're right." He sighs.

"So we bid you truly welcome

You are a funny lot

But any guests of Hogwarts

Can't be all rot!"

You snicker to yourself at the last few words and Harry nudges you, struggling to suppress a smile himself.

"It's not funny." Harry's lips twitch upwards as he wags a scolding finger at you as you laugh.

"It's a little funny. Can't be all rot?" you snort and induce laughter within Harry, who covers his own mouth in attempts to keep from disturbing the welcome. "Stop it." He pleads and shoves your shoulder with his own.

"Quiet, the both of you. There's nothing to laugh about." Hermione scoffs, which only results in harder laughter from the two of you. Hermione rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. "Honestly."

"Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here." Dumbledore sighs as the song comes to an end- thankfully for the two students in stitches.

Everyone feasts. Bewitched by Madame Maxime, Hagrid stares down the tall table to where she sits... and absently spears Professor Flitwick's hand with his fork. Karkaroff eyes Crouch darkly, then turns and sees that Snape is watching him. Smiling thinly, Karkaroff tips his goblet.

Harry eyes the Ravenclaw table, where the Beauxbaton girls sit and Fleur converses with Cho. Ron stuffs his face and stares at Krum, who sits with the Slytherins.

"Brilliant, isn't he?" Ron speaks up as he chews slowly, in a trance.

"He's eating." you smack your brother's shoulder and push his face to look at something other than Krum.

"Why d'you suppose they've been put at the Slytherin table?" Harry's eyebrows furrow as he peeks over at Durmstrang every now and then.

"Birds of a feather. Durmstrang puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts." Hermione takes a bite of her meal as she informs the group.

Hearing this, Harry's eyes shift, considering Karkaroff.

"Wishing it was you over there instead of Krum, are you?" Ron suddenly pipes up. Harry turns to see who he's talking to- and it's surprisingly his own sister.

"Ronald, what in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Hermione sets down her fork and leans forward to glance at Ron incredulously.

"What? Everyone knows Malfoy's got a thing for her. As much as I hate to admit it. That guy's the worst." Ron grumbles. You scoff in disbelief. You turn to look at the Slytherin table and then quickly back to your brother.

"Now what would provoke you to say such a thing?" you laugh humorlessly. Harry looks to Ron expectantly.

"Malfoy's a git to all of us." He reminds. Ron sighs.

"Especially to Y/N- don't you see it?" Ron looks around expectantly. Everyone looks at him with vacant expressions and he groans.

"Everyone knows the boys who tease the girls the most fancy them." Ron states like it's obvious and everyone around him is an idiot.

"That's like saying Malfoy's got a thing for Harry. Harry, do you think Malfoy has a thing for you?" you glance over at Harry and stare at him.

"What? No. That's... weird." Harry shivers to even think about that. "I'd prefer you never mention that again." He requests. You ignore him a moment.

"Besides, Ron. I'm related to you. Of course he hates me." you snort as you return to your meal. Ron shrugs without another word.

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harleenfleck · 4 years ago

Text

“Don’t forget me” (Part. 1)

Arthur Fleck/Joker x Reader fic

Summary: you’re one of the few female clowns who working in Ha-ha’s, over time, you made a nice friendship with Arthur, and at the same time, you began to be very attracted to him, but you never had the valor and courage to confess your feelings. The things get complicated when he gets fired of the job and you knew nothing about him until the death of his mother. Being convinced by Randall and Gary, you three plan going to visit Arthur.

Warnings: No one in this one, maybe sexist language from one of the characters, hurt/comfort, fluff.

Words: 4.6k

A/N: Well, lasts days I watched “Joker” for the nth time and this idea was like a seed flowering in my head when I see the Randall’s Death Scene. I change some details of the movie, but I really had too much creativity in this story that I had to get carried away with. The lyrics to the song "Night Mime" by Melanie Martinez inspired me very much, actually, the name "Night Mime" appears in the story ✨🌌

In fact, the story was going to be a One-Shot, but Tumblr said no 🙄 because it was on the limit of words, so I decided to do it in 2 parts, even though my heart is asking me to do a third part.

I’m sorry if I make some grammatical, spelling or writing mistakes, English is not my native language.

I hope you like it!

...

Running, you’re late, and you don’t want be late in the work. You ran upstairs and take a big breath when you punch in the time clock.

You came to your job at Ha-ha's, a clown agency in Gotham, you really loved your job, you loved dressing up, putting on wigs, put exaggerate and shining makeup in your face and making people laugh, especially kids, made some balloons for them, dances and giving littles jokes with your magic wand.

“I can’t feel my legs” You whispered to yourself, and coughing too. You really got tired.

“What did a lady like you last night who can’t feel her legs?”

You heard a masculine laugh, you frowned.

That motherfucker, Randall, he was one of the horrible things in that beloved place. Randall was a man who disgust you. Repulsive, misogynistic and unfriendly. It seemed that everything inside him was on his outside too.

You almost returned the insult but someone interrupted you.

“What is wrong with you Randall?! She’s a lady! Leave her alone!”

Oh, one of your friends in Ha-has, Gary, that great guy, he’s was so nice with everyone here, especially with the few women who working in Chuckle Town, that’s how Randall referred to work sometimes.

“Thank you, Gary, you’re really a real man in this place, so respectful, a real gentleman. Others should learn from you”

Randall breathed a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes.

“It’s just a joke Y/N! Tiffany, the redhead clown, you know her? Well, she laughs a lot with my jokes, why you don’t-”

“Because I’m not Tiffany! And I don’t like your fucking jokes! You always-”

“Hey, hey, calm down!” Oh no, Hoyt, your boss, appeared “Can you two please leave this stupid conversation? Always you two fight for bullshit”

“Boss, I’m sorry, it was Randall’s fault, he always says disgusting things to me and the others women!”

“Please Y/N! Why you don’t go to prepare for the show of today? I remember you Night Mime will go a Birthday Party Today”

Night Mime was your clown name in the job, Night Mine is the clown you played in every show you gave.

“Yeah, sorry, I forget that. I’m so sorry” Don’t want to disturbed the place, you decide to shut up your own mouth. Maybe Randall won this battle, but definitely not the war.

You go to your locker, looking for your make up and your wig, when Hoyt called you again. “Oh, by the way Y/N, Carnival will accompany Night Mime today”

You stayed mute to that words.

“Carnival will accompany Night Mime today?” You asked again, but more timidly.

“Yeah, when he comes, I’ll tell him”.

“O-Okay…”

Everyone (Except Gary) mocked about that. You turned around quickly, because you blushed instantly.

Carnival will accompany Night Mime, which meant Arthur Fleck would be with you. Your heart beat so quickly. And you don’t feel your legs again.

When Hoyt leaves, some began to mock the situation.

“You heard that shit? Arthur surely will think he'll have a date with Y/N” a laugh you can heard. You get so annoyed and you wanted to punch their faces of that idiots who made fun with him.

What’s the fucking problem with Arthur? He's not like one of the other idiots here, he's different, so different from everyone

You thought, cause that’s the true. You don’t understand why everyone were so mean with Arthur. He was just a man who have a strange condition, but that it’s not his fault. Maybe him don’t have a lot of money, but nobody in Ha-Ha’s were rich. He was just a boy with bad luck.

When you choosing what wig wanted to use for the show, you heard the time clock. Turned your head, you looked at him.

Arthur was there, with his bag, his dark yellow jacket and his green eyes. His beautiful eyes.

Blushed again, you moved your head again to the wigs. When you started to work in Ha-ha’s, you met every clown, one by one. When was the turn of present you to Arthur, you were so fascinated with him, you don’t meet nobody like him before. And you wanted to start a friendship with him.

But it was harder than you expected.

Arthur was so shy, reserved, barely talking to his male coworkers, especially Gary and Randall, never with women, maybe a "Good morning" or "Hello," but only that. You saw how he related to others, but from your position, you noticed that Arthur's friendship with Randall was unwholesome. He always made fun of him, so was the joke, you noticed that something inside Arthur it became uncomfortable.

You came to him slowly, sometimes you would come and say "Good morning, Arthur", which sometimes left him amazed, he didn't expect anyone else to remember his name. You remembered his name, why would you remember him? Arthur wanted to get excited, but he knew you weren't interested in him.

Or that’s what he thought.

One day, you said something nice to him about his hair, but that make he exploded in laughs. You thought he was mocked of you, but when he passed you a little card and you read that little card, your heart broke.

“I’m so sorry Arthur, I don’t want to be rude with-“

“It’s- It’s… O… Oka…”

He still laughs, and you, without experience in that cases, you hugged him and massaging his back. That was the first and last hug you shared. Arthur for a moment he felted safe, he felted confidence, and he return the hug. This could have made you two closers, made a pretty friendship.

If Randall hadn't opened his mouth:

“Hey Artie, Is she your new girlfriend? The lady Y/N have an expensive taste, I don’t think you can give her what she wants”

That was the first time Randall disrespected you. You were speechless because you didn’t expect it from him. And Arthur felt so insecure back, he doesn’t laugh again, but he apart to you, ashamed. He didn't want them to think you were his girlfriend, because he didn't want them to mess with you like they did with him.

And now, he tried to avoid you. That sometimes hurt your feelings. And felted some stupid, you started to feel attracted to him. You don’t want a friendship anymore; you want to be the girlfriend of Arthur Fleck.

But now, that’s was impossible.

Thank you, Randall, thank you for ruining everything".

“Hey Arthur” The voice of Gary sends you to the present again “Hoyt wants to see you in his office, he has a job for you today”

“Uh?” you heard a deep breath of Arthur and his steps to the office. You looked everyone, and they started try to mocked in silence.

You can’t hold it more.

“What’s so fucking funny?” You talked, almost screamed to them. They thought you were angry for share with Arthur your afternoon and job. You were really angry at them for making fun of him.

When Arthur backs, you were so nervous, you wanted to see him, but you were very shy for do it.

“H-Hello Y/N”

His voice, he called you.

Your heart beat like it had a life of it's own. “Hi Arthur! How are you today?”

“Eh… Fine, I think I’m fine, thank you…A-and you?”

You could notice he was very nervous. You didn't know if he still wanted to avoid you or he was just more shy than usual. Maybe he was ashamed to have to interact with you after he took you away from him himself.

It didn't matter, you'd forgive him. It didn't matter what he did.

“Fine too, thank you Arthur. So, Hoyt tell you about the job of today?”

“Y-yeah, a birthday party”

“C’mon Arthur, sit with me, don’t be shy” Arthur was discussed with himself whether he should do it or not. Then he scolded himself, you were being kind to him, he should reciprocate you. He sat with you, shyly. “So, Arthur, you worked with a partner before?”

“N-no…”

“Oh… Well, there’s always a first time, I’m so glad to work with you today, we gonna be a great team you and me”

The enthusiasm you radiated left Arthur delighted, why did he try to avoid you all this time? You were very kind to him, he had to be thankful.

“I hope so… I-I have a pair of ideas f-for the show”

“Really? Tell me Arthur”

You and him spent at least two hours preparing the show, perfecting it. The others at Ha-ha's, who waited a moment to mock him, just got tired of waiting. Even one who else realized you two made a good duo.

After prepared the show, it was the time to convert you in Carnival and Night Mime. You put on a purple jumper with a yellow blouse, big black and golden clown shoes and white gloves. You decide to use a two colors wig, turquoise and black, with a purple beret. Arthur get prepared for convert in Carnival too. He put his clown make up and his very cute clown suit.

You don’t have idea how to use your makeup today. Arthur noticed that, and he confused it a little.

“You don’t have one only make-up?”

You refused, making noises with your throat “I always change my makeup, but I don’t have inspiration today…”

“C-can I help you with y-your makeup?”

He really does it for you? You felted you going to melt for his tenderness.

“…That’s sounds great Arthur! Please, just don’t make me ugly”

“That’s impossible…” He whispered, but you heard him anyway. Blushed again.

Arthur started to makeup your face, something like the Carnival’s makeup but in pastel colors, more feminine and putting a heart in your nose instead a circle.

“That’s so beautiful Arthur!” You said very happy as you looked at yourself with your little mirror.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it!”

“Thank you, Y/N ...”

“No, thank you Arthur… Well, let’s go, it’s show time!”

You two advised Hoyt of your parting and went to the birthday party. It was the party of a little boy who would be 8 years old. The party wouldn't have been the same without the clowns. They cheered the place, told jokes that made even the adults laugh, played with the kids, Night Mime gave to the children a mime show, Carnival inflated balloons and made animals of those balloons, and finally Night Mime danced a song from Carnival's Ukulele.

When the party was over and they got their paycheck, you thought you'd invite Arthur to dinner at a coffee shop.

“I told you Arthur! That was amazing!” You almost cried to Arthur; he only could smile. You thought how unique two clowns should look in a coffee shop eating desserts and drinking sodas.

“Yeah, you’re right Y/N… I, I really like to work with you”

“Me too! Carnival and Night Mime really like each other, I hope they work together again”

“I hope it too…” Arthur drink to his soda. You looked him again. How you thanked to Hoyt for giving you the "penalty" to work with Arthur, you enjoyed every second.

“Arthur”

“Yes, Y/N?”

“You think we just… Mmhh…”

“Huh?”

“You don’t want to go to eat again with me?”

Arthur blinked to make sure it wasn't a joke you were telling him. Were you asking him to both come out again? Arthur could only feel that the butterflies in his stomach fluttered uncontrolled.

“Oh… Y/N, I, I love it, I love spend the time with you”

Arthur realized that maybe the following words he said would be misunderstood. Maybe you'd misunderstand him and get mad with him, maybe you'd be so angry that you'd leave him alone there.

But instead, you smiled at him.

“Arthur. Yeah, we must to go out again. Maybe the cinema next time?”

“Sure, I love movies”

Arthur smiled, were you asking him out on a date? Wait, you two were dating as a couple or friends? He chases the second option; it was the most probability.

And so, that’s was your plan, but at first only. You wanted things to be slowly given. You wanted him to succumb too to the same feelings you were trapped in.

But he was already trapped in those feelings too, but he was less brave.

…

The days went too fast, maybe it was already weeks, or months, but you and Arthur were best friends. Gradually you knew better that man in a yellow jacket who had the noblest soul in the world, knew his flaws, his qualities, every little detail of him in his life. And you also let him into your life, he would soon know what your favorite perfume was and that one of your favorite flowers was lilies.

Your feelings also increased too much; you felt your heart inflated as much as a balloon when you saw him, that one of those day you would fly out the window.

Arthur felt the same way about you. He loved the scent of your hair, the color of your eyes, your joy, your spontaneity. Even inside his mind he played that Carnival was in love with Night Mime too.

But again, his insecurities assured him that all those games were absurd, that you were his friend. You only saw him that way. He was said to himself you would find someone special soon, and that he should let you be happy with that someone.

But soon, things were going to change, and very badly.

One day, an animated Arthur told you he was going to a job at a music store, you wished him luck and enjoyed the show. When you were in your apartment, eating a couple of cookies, the phone was ringing. You ran to it and responded, it was Arthur, crying.

“Honey! What happened?! Are you okay?!”

“I-I got jumped Y/N, I got jumped for a bunch of kids…” His broken voice make you cry too. But you did it in silence, just for not worry him “It’s so stupid…”

“No Artie, that’s not stupid. Are you in home? You don’t wanna I go to your apartment?”

“No Y/N, it’s late, I don’t want you get assault too. W-we can talk about it tomorrow in the work”

“Okay darling… Are you okay, Artie? They didn’t hurt you?”

“…No, don’t worry for me, I’m fine…”

“Artie, I’m so sorry to hear this… Don’t worry, you can tell me everything tomorrow, right?”

“Right… Hey Y/N… Thank you, thank you so much for be my friend…”

You wiped your tear from your cheek. You talked a little more on the phone until he said the dream was beating him. You knew how bad Arthur was financially, you counted your bucks, and fortunately you had extra money. You could help Arthur with that.

…

“Randall… I’m not supposed to have a gun”

Randall had given Arthur a gun, under the pretext that he could defend himself a little.

“Don’t sweat it, Art. No one has to know, and you can pay me back some other time. You know you’re my boy”

Arthur saw the gun inside the paper bag again. He started laughing nervously. Maybe Randall was right, maybe he needed something like that to defend himself against those who wanted to hurt him.

“Hey Arthur, another thing. Don’t tell about this to your friend, Y/N”

Arthur, who was smiling, stopped doing it when Randall asked him that. “Why not?”

“…Because she is a woman, women don’t understand about guns and these things, that’s secret was between you and me, right?”

“Okay..." Arthur kept the gun in his locker, just then, you showed up. And you looked at his back. And the contusion in his scapula.

“Arthur”

Arthur was shocked with your voice. He feared you'd find him with the gun in his hands, but unfortunately, you couldn't see the paper bag. You could only see that purple stain on his back.

Randall left there, he knew very well when you were present, he wasn't welcome. But you didn't even care about Randall's presence. You come up to Arthur and made him sit on the seat, you sat down too.

You couldn't find the words to express yourself.

“Arthur, why you lied to me?” You asked him in a brittle voice, you didn't cry just because you were at Ha-ha's.

“What? I don’t lie to you”

“You did it! You said you hadn't been hurt when you were assaulted, and the first thing I see is that huge blow on your back, Arthur."

Arthur was embarrassed. What you were saying was true. He had lied to you, that wasn't something you could easily forgive.

“I-I don’t want to worried you, Y/N, I-”

“Well, now I’m double worry for you, because you’re hurt Arthur, they hurt you…”

Arthur looked at the ground, ashamed so many things, was ashamed that you saw him shirtless, that you saw the blows to his body, he was ashamed to have lied to you, he was ashamed to had worried you.

“I-I’m so sorry Y/N, I really don’t want to worried you. I’m sorry to lied you Y/N, I’m sorry” He hugged you, hiding his face on your shoulder, hoping that his condition would not betray him at that moment. You hugged him, you honestly were a little disappointed with him because he hid the truth from you, but Arthur did it so you wouldn't worry. He wouldn't do it with other intentions.

Randall only watched you from afar, disliked the scene, how come someone was able to hug Arthur?

“Arthur” Gary appears again “Hoyt wants to see you in his office”

You stopped hugging him so he could go with Hoyt, Arthur put on his white shirt and went to the office.

“Hey Gary” Randall opened his mouth “Do you people call it miniature golf or is just golf to you?”

Some clowns started to laugh; Gary feel embarrassed again.

You get mad, really mad, why the people love to mess with those who were not to blame for their circumstances?

“So fucking funny Randall, did you tell to your wife that joke?” You looked at him “Oh yeah, you don’t have nobody to love, and nobody loves you”

"Hey Y/N, when will you and Arthur's wedding be? Because I can’t wait, I must to rent a suit for that event"

They made fun of you again, but not Randall, you weren't going to win this time.

"Soon Randall, very soon, but don't worry, you're not going to be invited, and I don't think any suit of all Gotham fits on you"

The laughter was heard all over the room, even Gary tried not to laugh, but was impossible. Randall was clearly angry, you smiled maliciously.

But all the fun for you ended when you see Arthur leaving the office, and leaving the building. Something bad happened. In the middle of the laughs, you got up and went after him. You came down the stairs.

You left the building and got to see Arthur walk into an alley. You ran after him. And you saw the image of Arthur kicking a few garbage bags. You've never seen him like this before, so angry, mad and furious.

Arthur falls to grown, feeling some stupid, but he really felted so frustrated.

“A-Arthur?”

He gets dumbfounded and turned surprised at you when he was crying and hugging his legs on the floor.

“Y/N? What you’re doing here?”

“I see you leave the job, what happened?” Despite the bad smell, you sat next to him. And then, you heard him, you never heard his voice full of angry and sadness at the same time.

"Hoyt said he was going to take it from my check the sign that those who assaulted me destroyed, he thinks I kept it, why would I keep his sign, Y/N? He said he didn't think I was assaulted for the sign, and I need the money, I need the money for my mother… He also said that... That many at work are not comfortable with me, they think I’m a freak, a weird. Y/N, is that true? I’m a freak? You feel uncomfortable with me?"

Arthur's voice nearly broke when he asked you that.

And now, it’s was your turn to get mad too.

“Arthur, what the fuck? Why Hoyt say that bullshit?”

“M-maybe it’s true”

How they dare to hurt Arthur?

“Well he’s is fucking wrong! I don’t think you’re a freak, I think you’re just a human” You took a pair of tufts of his hair “You don’t make me uncomfortable, you’re my best friend darling, please Arthur, believe in that, right?”

“R-right…” You surrounded him with your arms one more time. But that injustice to him wasn't going to look like that.

A little while later, you went to Hoyt’s office

“Can I help you, Y/N?” He said without looking you.

A loud noise made he stops to read some letters. It was your hand with a bunch of dollars.

“For your fucking sign. By the way, he’s not a freak”

He looked at you, and he didn't know if it was the way you spoke him or he'd never seen anyone defend Arthur the way you did.

He only took the bunch and counts the money.

“It’s okay…You can go”

And you leave the place.

…

That morning you woke up, you felt something bad was going to happen. Your instinct was telling you.

In Ha-ha’s, Arthur mentioned to you he was going to a children's hospital.

"Night Mime could come with you" You suggested, you could make back that fantastic duo, in fact, when you both worked together, they even tipped them for yourselves, you kept a little and with the rest you were going to eat at some small restaurant.

"That's a great idea, let me ask to Hoyt" Arthur went to Hoyt's office excitedly. That day, you felt the need to stand by him, to protect him.

Arthur backs with a disappointed face.

“And? What Hoyt says?”

“He said no”

“Oh…”

You also got disappointed, you really wanted to be with him that day.

“It’s okay, I’ll be alright”

“Yeah, you’re going into a hospital, a children’s hospital, nothing bad gonna happen”

He smiled at you. He prepares himself to convert in Carnival Clown. Before he let the place, you wish him good luck. And you don’t know this was the last time you’ll see Arthur in a lot of time.

The next day, you went to Ha-ha's in the afternoon as you had a little event at a school. You didn't know everything that was going on in the city until you got here. Hoyt said the school had canceled the clown show.

“Why? Why they cancelled the show?”

“You didn’t know Y/N? for the fucking killer clown”

The words "Killer Clown" took you by surprise.

“KILLER CLOWN?! What the…? What happened?”

“Y/N! Right here!” One of the clowns pass you a newspaper, you read the notice. A killer clown kills three rich guys in the subway.

“Oh my… What horrible” You said with total honestly. And you notice to Randall was so very nervous. You slowly went to where Gary was sitting.

“Gary” You whispered to him “What happened to Randall? I very enjoy the show, but I want to know why he’s like this?

In that moment, Gary saw you with some concern and preoccupation.

“Oh Y/N, a lot of things happened in the morning”

“What?”

“This… Well, it’s about Arthur”

You worried instantly, because Gary's face said a lot of things and at the same time nothing.

“Arthur? Arthur It’s okay?”

“Y/N… Arthur bring a gun to the children’s hospital; they warned to Hoyt about it and he fired Arthur”

Your mind clouded at that instant, your eyes became small, trying to understand all the information exposed to you in that little sentence your co-worker told you.

Arthur with a gun? Take it to a children's hospital? Arthur getting fired from Ha-ha's?

“…And today, he said the gun was Randall’s in front everything, and Arthur owed money to Randall from that gun”

As if it wasn't too much information to process the one you received first.

“What… What the fucking hell?”

Your mind processed everything, absolutely everything. Why would Arthur carry a gun? He himself had told you before that he could not take one, would Randall have forced or insisted until he had accepted? That’s probability, and now again thank to Randall, Arthur was out of job.

Randall deserved the little hell in he was in that moment.

…

You waited to the night, use you telephone and called to Arthur. You hoping he response the call.

You called him for three times, in the third time, he answered.

“Who is this?”

“Art… It’s me, Y/N, are you okay Artie?”

“Hey Y/N, I’m fine, I’m really fine, thank you, and you?”

You noticed that voice wasn't Arthur's. You knew it was him, but not at the same time. He sounded so different, like he was someone else, a stranger, not the Artie you knew, the Arthur who was your best friend.

“…Worry Artie… Gary told me everything about the morning in the job, it’s true about the gun, Arthur? it’s true Randall gave it to you?"

He didn't answer for a few seconds. You even though the phone was failing.

“Why you want to know that?”

You got frozen when you heard that, why Arthur was talking to you like that?

"Because I care about you, why you didn't tell me Randall gave you a gun? You know Randall is an asshole. I can, I can tell Hoyt you explained to me that the gun was a toy, I can get one just like it, and we could get rid of the real gun, we can…"

You were looking for a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, possibly a plan for every letter of the alphabet, something you could help Arthur with it, because he didn't deserve to be fired, you could help him, you wanted to help him. Your love for him was so big that maybe you could let forgive him that he's hidden things from you, he should keep his own secrets, right? But you really wanted to help him.

“It’s okay Y/N, I don’t need that job anymore, everyone there was awful with me, don’t need to support they shit. Don’t fix my mistakes, please”

Frozen, again.

And what did he mean by that they were all awful to him? He was forgetting you and Gary?

“Arthur… A-Are you really okay?”

“You don’t listen me? I told you, I’m fine, really fine, thank you, I guess”

But what the fuck was going on with Arthur? Maybe he was irritated and upset about Ha-ha's and the incident, but it was no reason to treat you so indifferent. It was much worse than when he was trying to avoid you at Ha-ha's for the first time, only that time it was for shyness. Now it looked like you really bothered him.

“I’m sorry Arthur, I just… Can I see you soon Artie? In your apartment? I can bring some candies and chips, what you think?”

Maybe you could make better his days, maybe it was time to tell the truth, to tell how you really felt about him.

But what you never expected of him was a rejection. Or at least something like that.

“I'll call you. Bye"

He hung up the phone, you said his name twice to make sure it wasn't. But yes, he hung up on you, ending the call.

You tried to understand him for the first few seconds, but soon your blouse and hands would start to soak in your tears.

Continue

#Arthur Fleck fanfiction #joker fanfic #Arthur Fleck/Joker x Reader #Joker x Reader #joker x you #Arthur Fleck x Reader #joker fandom #joker film #joker movie #joker joaquin phoenix #joker #arthur fleck #arthur x reader

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lumosinlove · 5 years ago

Text

Sweater Weather

part iii

Remus didn’t always have too much time for it, but there was nothing he liked more than sitting on the bench and watching Gryffindor City’s Hogwarts Stadium fill up with red and gold. The waves of chatter got louder and the seats filled, and it was a nice balance to the energy in the locker room as he walked back down the tunnel and through the doors, leaning against the wall with Moody. There, in case they were needed, but out of the way.

Even more than watching the fans, he liked watching the boys get ready. Kasey was down on all fours in a butterfly squat, full-pads making his body look huge and his head look tiny. Leo was down the hall some, throwing two balls against the wall and catching them quickly. Remus’ eyes blurred after watching for a minute and he looked away. Which turned out to be a mistake in itself.

Sirius was sitting in his stall, shirtless and knees spread to accommodate the stick he was taping between them. He didn’t have any of his pads on yet, typical Sirius, who always had to get ready at the last minute because he spent so much time on his stretches and sticks. He was just in his underarmour, the tight material leaving absolutely nothing to imagination. He had a Lions’ hat on backwards and stray strands of hair were sticking out of the front, casting shadows on his cheeks. He stuck his tongue out and wound the tape carefully around the blade of his stick, checking for wrinkles and creases every other turn. James was saying something to him with broad hand gestures, probably a play he wanted to get perfect tonight.

They all wanted to get everything perfect tonight. It was the home opener. The crowd would be wild, and the pressure would be on. Remus loved every second of it and he knew the boys did, too.

James let out a loud whoop then, clapping his hands together and and throwing his helmet on even though his pads were still hanging in his stall. “Let’s fucking go, tonight, eh boys? Durmstrang fuckers won’t know what hit them.”

He was met with a series answering shouts of approval, all of which amplified when Coach Weasley appeared through the locker room doors with the large lion on it. He grinned and held up a little slip of paper, tonight’s line up.

“Pots, since you’re already standing, why don’t you do the honors?” Arthur said, handing James the paper.

James hit his helmet on his head. “Alright, let’s see. Starting tonight,” the boys yelled and James dropped down a little, knees bent and voice low like the commentators, “in the cage,” there was another round of shouts and James wound up his arm and then bounded over to Kasey, “we have the man named for the sport of hockey itself, Kasey Winter.”

There were a series of “Yeah, Kase!” and “Be the fucking blizzard!” before James could continue.

“Next we have…on your left, Harzy!”

Harzy looked up from where he was lacing his skates with a little salute to the cheers.

“On your right,” James smiled around at them all, so wide that Remus could see where one of his outer bottom teeth was still missing, just out of sight. He pressed a hand to his own chest, “yours truly.”

“Alright, Potty-mouth!” Kasey shouted the nickname James had earned himself for his relentless chirping on the ice, name-calling and poking fun until the refs eventually had to call him on it.

“Your favorite D-man pairing, Kaner and our resident Finland-man, Olli!”

Timmy Kane and Olli Halla did some strange, complicated handshake.

“And your center tonight…the man, the myth, the one who holds the record for most marriage proposals by teenage girls at the glass,” Remus laughed at that and James ran back over to Sirius, pretending to take his stick just to see him flinch back, and taking his hat instead and placing it on top of his own helmet, “oh captain, my captain, Sirius mother-fucking Black!”

Everyone clapped a little, Arthur shaking his head fondly and Moody letting James run over and touch his leg for good luck, per tradition, and then it was really business time. There was some calmer chatter as everyone got into their gear and laced up, getting into the right headspace for a game.

Remus rifled through his own inventory in his head, making sure he would be prepared on the bench. He had extra blades for everyone, laces, sterile gauze, and a little box for teeth which he’d learned to keep the hard way (Olli Halla spitting a few directly into his open palm). He took one last look around the locker room before heading back to the mouth of the tunnel at the bench where the guys would pass on their way out for their lap-around introductions under the lights and warm ups. He could see some of the Durmstrang equipment guys over on their bench, and they exchanged nods that were friendly enough. Eagles games were always odd, not just for the competition—they had nothing compared to Lion and Snake games—but because their colors were nearly identical, and so the away-team always had to wear their more solid colored third-jerseys. Remus was glad they were on home-ice, so the Eagles would be the ones stuck in their nearly all goldish-yellow uniform, not the Lions.

Remus looked up at the stands, figuring his parents were out there somewhere, trying to keep Julian at bay, who was no doubt in his BLACK jersey and bouncing out of his shoes with excitement. At nine years old, Remus sometimes wondered if his little brother was a bigger Lions fan than even him, despite living halfway across the country from them.

He had a sudden fantasy of bringing Jules back to the locker room and Sirius being there, maybe James, too, and Sirius would give Jules a hockey stick maybe, and then smile at Remus—

“What’s with the face?”

Remus started, looking at Moody who had brought out the fresh bottles of gatorade and water.

“What? What face? Nothing.” Remus reached forward and started to help him line the bench with them. “I wasn’t making a face.”

“Alright, at ease.” Moody laughed a little. “Jeez, Lupin.”

Remus desperately tried to change the subject, “How’s the lucky leg?”

Moody scoffed, giving it a stomp. “It’s been kissed by Harzy, that’s what. Fucking crazy-ass.”

Remus laughed and sat down on the bench, looking up towards the jumbo-screen where they were showing a video of a few of the guys saying what they did that summer. James was on, giving a typically sarcastic answer. Something about hamburgers. When Sirius’ faces came on next there was a positive roar from the crowd and Remus felt flushed with their enthusiasm. Gryffindor loved their Captain, and they were just as eager to avenge him as the team was. It was pretty fucking thrilling to sit and watch it all, but if he could, Remus would be out there on the ice, fighting to get Sirius ever goal and point he could. He pushed that thought down just as the lights shut off and the music stopped, signaling the beginning of the Lions’ entry onto the ice, their first of the season. Remus’ heart pounded.

“Gryffindor!” boomed Frank Longbottom’s voice, one of their beloved announcer. Frank came with the team on the road, along with Marlene McKinnon. Butts and Kinzy were well loved by the team, and, maybe unfortunately for them, the subjects of many pranks, but Remus was sure they loved the boys’ attention as much as he himself did. The crowed boomed back in response and then the jumbo-screen bloomed to life, along with the lights and the lasers that streaked across the crowd and ice.

“Are you ready?” Frank asked the stadium, and then the jumbo-screen started counting down from ten with loud booms that quickly developed into a bass-heavy song.

“Ten…nine…” Remus found himself smiling, mumbling the numbers under his breath.

“Your Gryffindor Lions!” Frank drew out the words and the lights went crazy as the boys appeared down the tunnel.

Kasey came first, goalie mask propped on top of his head as he skated out onto the ice. Then Timmy, Finn, Leo…Olli, Brady, Evgeni, Kris, Tyler…

They all looped around the rink, warming up and pounding on the glass, laughing when the crowd pounded back. Remus liked watching the rookies the most, their eyes alight with the attention and praise.

And finally James, always second to last, and then Sirius, always last. Remus watched him come all the way down the tunnel, just in time for his name to be read out by Frank. Sirius raised his glove and knocked it into a few of the kid’s fists who had made it down by the glass, before scampering back up to their parents, delighted with having received a fist-bump.

Remus didn’t expect Sirius to look back at him, but for the split second between him being beside the bench and him being on the ice, their eyes met. And Sirius dropped a wink. And he was gliding away, dropping to one knee as he went and raising his stick a little, drawing screams from the crowd. They were happy to have him back. Sirius was cocky, and Remus didn’t like to admit that he loved that, but he did.

Sirius belonged on the ice, that much had always been clear, and when he wasn’t there, something was out of gear. Everything felt settled now, ready.

The lights came up after a bit and then Eagles filtered on, too, taking shots at their goalie. Victor Krum crossed center ice and met Sirius where he was talking to James, offering a somewhat stiff hand. Sirius smiled, so Remus guessed he had welcomed him back. The Eagles were good like the Snakes, but they weren’t assholes like they were. Remus watched Sirius pluck at Krum’s shoulder, no doubt chirping him for the bright yellow color, and Krum laughed, nudging him back and skating away.

Kasey was busy nesting his goal, scraping up the crease with his long goalie skate blades and catching the boys’ practice shots. Remus watched him for a minute, always enjoying how specific and protective Kasey was of his goal (he patted his posts whenever a puck got knocked askew by one, for god’s sake), but soon his attention was—predictably—dragged away by Sirius. Sirius had a routine, a strict routine, and there was few things Remus loved more than watching him go through it. Remus wasn’t sure he even knew about all of it, but he wanted to. He knew Sirius had to tape his own sticks, do specific stretches in a specific order, had to put his left skate on first, and during warm-ups he had to trace the Lions logo with a puck. He knew Sirius liked to have two pieces of toast with butter and honey an hour before games. Remus wished he knew more, secretly. He wanted to know how long Sirius’ pre-game nap was and what he looked like when he woke up from it—

“Earth to Remus Lupin.”

Remus’ slowly spiraling fantasy was abruptly cut off by James waving a glove in his face.

“What?” Remus stood up. “Sorry, what’s up, what do you need? James, face-off’s in like two seconds, you’re on first shift.”

“I just want some gatorade and it’s all red.” James practically pouted.

Remus huffed out a laugh and handed him a blue, shifting to the side as the other team members shuffled down the bench, coach Weasley slapping a few of them on the back. “There, now go!”

James whooped and skated off to take his position. Sirius was at center ice, eye to eye with Krum, the ref between them with the puck. They crouched, eyes on the puck, and Remus said a soft prayer to whatever god anyone could believe in.

The ref dropped the puck, and the game began.

Remus was on his feet the entire time. He was meant to be watching for any trip-ups, any hard hits, anything that might need to be looked at. Instead, he kept catching himself just enjoying the game, standing behind the bench. Sirius came careening over the boards, tapping Brady’s butt as he jumped onto the ice to replace him, and sat down heavily in front of Remus. He turned, sweat dripping down his temples.

“iPad,” he said, and one of the assistant coaches held it out to him. Sirius stayed turned, brow intense as he watched a replay of his latest shift, and so Remus got to study his profile. He loved Sirius in the heat of a game, loved how fast he talked. He leaned over to explain something to Olli, who leaned in like if he didn’t catch every word, he’d parish. Everyone on the team tended to listen to Sirius like that, like he was their leader through thick and thin.

“How’m I doing?” Sirius said as he handed the iPad back. Remus assumed he was talking to the coaches until Sirius’ eyes fell on him.

“Me?” Remus asked—stupidly.

Sirius smiled, “You.”

“You look great out there. You know you look great out there.”

James laughed, whacking Remus lightly in the stomach with his glove. “Way to call him on it, Loops.” Then the whole bench leaned back as Brady shoved an Eagles player nearly over the boards and into the bench. The crowd loved it, and James banged his stick on the boards after them. “Way to go, Shady-Brady!”

They were gone shortly after that, Coach calling for short shifts for the end of the first period.

“Keep ‘em coming boys, keep this lead!” he was shouting.

The Lions were up 3-1, and the atmosphere was electric. Remus loved this. It was the closest thing to being on top of the world there was, he thought. Suddenly, Sirius was on a breakaway up the ice off of a clean pass from Harzy. He skirted around number 16, number 3, with hard edges, and then he was nearly at the net—

Krum came out of nowhere, slamming Sirius into the boards.

Remus was on his feet in a second, pressing up behind Tyler and Evgeni on the bench.

It was a clean hit, but it felt like ages before Sirius got up. Remus didn’t even watch Krum take the puck, didn’t watch Kasey miss it, didn’t watch their goal-horn light up, didn’t watch the scoreboard change to read 3-2. He didn’t watch the Eagles celebrate.

He watched Sirius skate towards the bench. It was just for a shift change, but Remus looked over every part of him, checking for a limp, a wince, anything. He looked okay. James was on him in a second, skating shoulder to shoulder and talking to him. Sirius was nodded, even smiling a little, but Remus could tell he was shaken. To have something like that happen in the first game, and when he’d just gotten back…

The stadium filled with booing that felt like it shook the walls.

Sirius took his seat on the bench, but before Remus could get through his teammates and to him, the buzzer signaling the end of the first period was sounding and everyone was filing off the ice and back into the locker room. Good, Remus thought. He’d ask to see Sirius, he’d check him out fully, just to be safe.

Marlene was waiting for Coach at the end of the tunnel.

“Hey Arthur, who can we have for media?” she asked.

“Not Black,” Remus stepped in, “I want to check that hit.”

Coach nodded, “right. You can have Pots, or Kasey, I think.”

Marlene nodded and shot Remus a smile, which he returned tightly as he pushed between them and into the locker room. Sirius looked up at him almost immediately, like he had been waiting.

Remus only had to jerk his head towards the quiet and training rooms, before Sirius was getting up and following him. Remus held the door open to the quiet room. It was technically for concussion testing and protocol, and Remus hadn’t seen Sirius hit his head, but better safe than sorry. Sirius stepped inside and Remus closed the door.

“How do you feel?” Remus asked, then pointed to the padded observation table. “Sit there. I’m going to check your ankle and your head.”

“Loops—”

“Does anything else hurt?”

“Remus.”

Remus looked up.

Sirius loomed over him anyway, but he practically towered over him while wearing skates. Remus nearly had to crane his neck.

“What?” Remus asked, a little breathlessly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t a bad hit.”

“I know. But given your recent history I want to make sure everything’s fine.”

Sirius sat down on the bench and took his helmet off, laying it to the side along with his gloves while Remus bent to start unlacing his skates. Remus’ heart was still pounding, and Sirius’ gray desperate eyes filled his head. He wouldn’t be helpless this time. He’d fixed Sirius’ broken bone, and he wouldn’t let anything go amiss, not now.

“Durmstrang’s always a tough one to call, eh? Sometimes they’re brilliant and sometimes they’re…”

“Angry?” Remus supplied, carefully sliding Sirius’ skates off of his feet before rising.

Sirius laughed a little, “Yeah. For sure, yeah.”

“Look here.” Remus held up a small flashlight and a finger. Sirius looked, but right at Remus, not his finger. A small smile was still lingering on his face. “My finger, Black.”

Sirius laughed again but obeyed this time.

“When’s your birthday?”

“November third.” Sirius supplied easily.

“When is Pots’ birthday?”

“March twenty-seventh. When’s your birthday, Re?”

Remus chest fluttered a little. He clicked off the flashlight, satisfied. “March tenth.”

“Hey, you and James are birthday-buddies.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “Raise your arms. Touch your—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Sirius obediently brought his fingers to his nose and back out again a few times, then, without prompt, got up and walked in a straight line, toe to heel, and turned and looked at Remus expectantly.

Remus narrowed his eyes at him. “And your ankle? Tell me the truth.”

“Fine.” Sirius smiled and sat down in one of the chairs in the room to start getting his skates back on. “Really, Loops, I’m alright. It probably looked worse than it was.”

“It took you a bit to get up.”

Sirius shrugged down at his laces, digging his heel in to pull them tight, “I’ll admit, I was a little surprised. It’s the first real time I got hit since…you know. Since Snape. But you said it yourself,” He looked up at Remus then, sweat damp hair falling into his eyes a little, cheeks flushed, “can’t let the fear get to me, can I?”

Remus swallowed dryly. “Right. Yeah.” He watched Sirius until he was standing again and pulling his gloves back on, tucking his helmet beneath his arm. “Right, right. Sorry.” He opened the door, “Have a good second period, okay?”

Sirius paused beside him in the doorway, tall as ever with his skates back on and looking down at Remus. “Hey.”

Remus looked up at him. Sirius had a funny expression on his face, something soft and determined.

“Don’t ever say sorry for helping me,” Sirius’ voice was low when he said the words.

Remus caught one last glimpse of the odd expression, and then Sirius was gone, enveloped back into the energetic mass of the team.

They won 5-3, Sirius with three points, two goals and one assist, in the second and third period.

The locker room was ecstatic afterwards, and Remus was kneeling to tape up Kasey’s thigh for him when Arthur came out with the lion head. The lion head was this seasons team token, of sorts, an object that got past around the locker room after every game, depending on who played best that night. For the first game of the season, Coach was the one who handed it out. After that it would go from player to player. This year, the object looked like an overly-furry lion-mane and nose, maybe from some poor, cotton stuffed animal, sewed onto a baseball cap. Remus grimaced just looking at it. He didn’t want to think about how sweaty and disgusting that thing was going to become by the end of the season.

“Great game, boys. Great start to the beginning of the season.” There were some cheering and Arthur smiled, waving his hand, “As you know, it is my pride and joy making our season tokens.”

“What section of the wall is last year’s going on?” James said, making everyone laugh. Arthur’s creation last year had been a monstrous blend between a gladiator helmet that had a yarn lion tale glued to the back of it.

“Front and center, thanks for asking.” Coach said. “This year, we have…”

Kasey started a drumroll which the entire locker room eventually joined in on.

“Lion-cap. Gorgeous, isn’t he?” Arthur held it up. “And tonight…I’ve got to give it to the captain, don’t I?”

“Yeah you do!” James pounded the wall of his stall with his fist.

“Quite a hit, and beauties of goals. Sirius.”

Sirius laughed as he walked forward, just his underarmour on again, and put the hat on, crouching into a ridiculous pose so that James could take a picture. He looked hilarious in it, the mane fluffing out around his ears and the nose resting on the brim.

“Thanks, Coach.” He said, and then handed it off to Remus for safe keeping, per tradition. Remus was always put in charge of bring the token on roadies, and keeping track of who got it when.

Remus felt his phone buzz in his pocket and was pulled abruptly from the bubble of the team when he saw his mom’s name flash up. He slapped a hand to Kasey’s shoulder, telling him he was done, and slipped out of the locker room to answer.

“Hey, mum.”

“Hi, baby. Great game!”

“It was,” Remus smiled. “I’ll be right out to get you guys and we can get ice cream or something. I just have to—”

“Remus?”

Remus pressed the phone to his shoulder, turning on his heel back to the locker room. Sirius was standing there, head poking out and smiling a smile that looked almost—shy.

“Yeah? Hold on, mum—Sorry, can I help?”

“Bring them back,” Sirius said.

“Huh?”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Your family. Bring them back, show them the locker room and stuff.”

“Oh.” Remus’ heart beat. He would love that. Julian would freak out. “Oh, I don’t want—”

“C’mon, the boys would love it. We can sign a jersey and stuff, or a stick.”

Remus’ mouth hung open for a minute before he heard himself say, “okay,” and Sirius grinned before retreating. Remus didn’t move until he heard his mom’s voice in his ear. He blinked a few times and raised his phone back up. “Hey, mum, do you want to…would you guys want to come back to the locker room?”

And so here Remus was, his parents and Jules in toe, walking down the all too familiar hallway.

Julian bounced up beside Remus, both hands around his arm. “Are we going to meet Sirius?”

Remus smiled, “probably.”

“Are we going to meet Pots?”

“Yep, him too.”

“Blizzard?”

Remus laughed, “I think you could meet Kasey, sure.”

“Can I take a picture with them?”

“If you say please,” Remus said, because it was definitely what his mom would say. Once they reach the locker room doors, he looked back at his parents. Both were wearing BLACK jerseys, which Remus found unbearably endearing and also slightly embarrassing now that Sirius knew how Remus felt about him as a hockey player. There was no doubt he was going to think Remus had had sway over his parents’ jersey choice. His dad was clutching his phone excitedly to his chest, and Remus couldn’t think why he hadn’t asked to do this sooner. He was glad Sirius had said something, and he’d make sure to tell him thank you later.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready, ready, open the doors!” Julian whisper-yelled.

The sound wave once Remus did hit them like a wall, and Remus heard Jules quiet down a little, maybe with nerves as the reality that this was actually happening set in, and Remus turned around to put a comforting hand on his back. He could see that the media was just leaving out the press door, which Remus was thankful for because it meant that none of the players would be surrounded by cameras. He didn’t want this to look like a photo-op.

He made eye contact with Sirius almost immediately, and tried to smile in a way that didn’t look like he expected Sirius to come over or anything. Sirius had a routine, and that included winding down. He looked like he was about to leave for his twenty minute cool down on one of the stationary bikes, and Remus didn’t want to interrupt that. But then Sirius was grinning and motioning them over.

“Oh.” Julian said softly from beside Remus, and Remus patted his head softly and motioned for his parents to follow him over to Sirius’ stall.

Sirius stood when they got there, grinning warmly.

“Who’s this?” Sirius asked, holding his fist out for a dumbstruck Julian to bump.

“These are my parents, Hope and Lyall, and this is Julian, my brother.” Remus said, smiling a little at Jules’ expression. His heart was pounding. “Say hi, Jules.”

“Hi Padfoot. I mean—” Julian flushed.

Sirius laughed. “You can call me Padfoot if I can call you Jules. You play hockey, bud?”

Julian nodded frantically, “yeah, I’m a center, too.”

“Nice.” Sirius raised his eyes briefly to Remus’ parents and held out his hand for them to shake, “Hi, I’m Sirius.” As if they didn’t know, as if they weren’t wearing his last name on their backs, “Did you all enjoy the game?”

“That was such a nasty hit on you.” Julian said, eyes going from Sirius’ face to his locker to his pads to his stick.

“It was, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, we hope you’re alright.” Hope said with a very motherly disapproving frown.

Sirius nodded and, to Remus’ surprise, threw an arm around Remus’ shoulder. “Your son took care of me. Remus takes the best care of us, right James?”

James had come over with a protein bar hanging out of his mouth, but took a bite and chewed quickly when he put together who he was speaking to.

“Jesus f—” He looked at Julian whose eyes were practically hearts. “Hi,” James said again, laughing a little at himself, “you must be Loops’ parents.” James looked down at Julian again, “And older brother, I presume? What’s up, man? Here to try out?”

“Yeah.” Julian said softly, clearly barely able to think, and they all laughed.

Remus, on the other hand, was much to pre-occupied with Sirius’ arm which, having slid away from his shoulders, was now briefly a warm, pressing weight between his shoulder blades, before it disappeared completely as he slapped the seat of his stall.

“Well I’m certainly not going to have a spot on this team if you’re playing, so you might as well take a seat. Let’s see, what will he need to be a Lion, Pots?”

James crossed his arms, pretending to think hard. “Jersey, definitely.”

“Oh, two, I’d say.” Sirius added, “And a couple sticks, don’t you think?”

Julian, now seated snuggly in Sirius’ stall, was red-cheeked with happiness.

“On it.” James said, and winked at Remus as he left to get a few of his and Sirius’ jerseys and sticks to sign.

Sirius on the other hand, crouched down to Julian’s level. “Hey, Jules, do you know how awesome your brother is?”

Julian grinned up at Remus, then back at Sirius. “Yeah.”

Sirius nodded back, “He does practically everything for us. Gets us new skate blades, makes sure we have what we need on the road, keeps us healthy.” Then Sirius looked at him with a similarly fond and happy expression that Julian was wearing, and Remus felt a little like he might cry which would be completely and utterly embarrassing. “He’s pretty great.”

Remus felt his own cheeks flush. “Okay, okay, thanks.”

Hope laughed from beside him, squeezing him in a one armed hug. “Never could take a compliment, could you, Re?”

“That was a lot of compliments.” Remus laughed, running a hand through his hair. He couldn’t stop looking at Sirius and Sirius wasn’t looking away.

Remus felt like he was back in Sirius’ car, unsure what it all meant.

“Hey, did you know I’m your brother’s favorite player?” Sirius asked Jules.

“You’re mine, too! We both have your jersey!”

Remus flushed and had to look away from Sirius and his raised eyebrows then, pretending to watch James come back across the locker room with the gear. He didn’t want to hear what Sirius had to say about that.

James and Sirius were both at Julian’s level for a good fifteen minutes, signing things, taking pictures, and talking hockey. Kasey even came over before leaving to sign the jerseys and offer one of his own sticks. Remus didn’t know how Julian was going to carry it all.

His parents eventually left for their hotel with promises to meet him for breakfast the next morning and their favorite pancake spot—really everyone’s favorite pancake spot—in Gryffindor. Remus watched them walk back to their car until they turned out of view, smiling to himself at Jules’ insistence that he carry all three sticks and wear both jerseys at once.

Remus stopped by the exercise room on his way back to lock up the office for the night and, as expected, Sirius was there. He looked fresh off the bike and was on one of the mats, stressing his fingers towards his toes. Remus knocked lightly.

“Hey,” Sirius said with a grin.

“Hi.” Remus walked in a few more paces and leaned against one of the treadmills, scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the floor softly. “I don’t want to interrupt you or anything, but I just wanted to thank you. For earlier. You—You really made my little brother’s life, there. He loves you guys.”

Sirius stood, dusting off his leggings and picked up his water bottle from the floor. “I hope he’s not the only one.”

Remus bit back a smile, and his heart clenched. If only Sirius knew what he was saying.

“Of course,” was all Remus could think of to reply.

“You’re family seems great, Re. Really.”

“They are,” Remus replied before he thought about what that statement probably meant, coming from Sirius. Sirius who didn’t have a family like that. Remus felt guilt and the want to strangle anyone who didn’t love Sirius properly swirl in his chest. Sirius deserved so much. Look what he would do for just one kid who he never even met, for Remus, who he barely knew outside of his work.

“I’m headed out soon.” Sirius said. “Do you need a ride?”

Remus shook his head, “Moody said he’d drive me.”

Even though everything in him was screaming at him to lie and say yes, he didn’t want to explain that to Moody.

“Ah.” Sirius said, nodding. He looked, if not disappointed, something like it. “Okay. Well, let me know, eh? Any time.”

“Thanks, Sirius.” Remus was aware of how soft his voice sounded, but there wasn’t much he could do about it with Sirius’ gray eyes on him.

Sirius smiled, a soft and lopsided thing, and Remus’ heart flipped in his chest. As Sirius left for the showers, Remus got back to his desk. On it, was a hat.

It was a Lions hat, red with gold piping and the gold lion. On the bill, in the gold sharpie that the team used for signing, was a messily scrawled message and a signature. Sirius’ signature, complete with the number twelve.

I’m glad I’m your favorite, it read.

(A/N: Ah, slowly but surely....:)

#sweater weather #sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar #sirius x remus #remus x sirius #the marauders era #wolfstar au #harry potter au #lumosinlove #writing #hockey au #hockey player!sirius #trainer!remus #wolfstar fluff #wolfstar angst #wolfstar slow burn #slow burn #ahhhh

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vln-vibes · 5 years ago

Text

Ephemeral Flowers

WEEK 3 DAY 7 of Maribat March; BROKEN Part of Staying Whelmed and Erable.

Ships: Dickinette, AdriKon, NatMarc

Summary: They won. Earth was saved from the Reach... but at what cost?

Paris, France June 20, 12:20 CEST

“Everyone get to the shelters!”

Adrien was lucky he was already out when this disaster began. His mom had called to see if he’d been alright, he felt an uneasy squeeze to his heart when he told her that he was in the safety of the Bourgeois hotel; he never liked lying to his mom before, but he didn’t have the choice right now. Not especially after he just got her back.

Somehow, he thought six hurricanes surrounding the Eiffel tower and making their way around the city was easier to handle than their Final Stand barely a month ago.

“You think this has anything to do with the Reach?”

“Most likely, Chaton” Ladybug’s voice was in his ear, the team going around and helping the citizens head to previously designated akuma shelters. Ryuuko had activated Wind Dragon form to try and contain the hurricanes in one place, but they seemed to be more powerful than the average hurricane… y'know, considering there were six.

“Any word from the Team?” Bunnix asked.

“Guys, I know what's causing these things!” Viperion’s voice was hard to hear, a lot of interference where he was. All their devices got pings, each of them showing an oval shaped device floating in the air with a swarm of drones surrounding it, currently in statis.

“What the hell are those things?” Monarch asked, indigo locks, where normally red hair was, blew wildly in the air.

“I’d say that looks pretty alien to me” Paon responded, their embroidered royal blue mask shaping to the same furrowed brow they had. “It's like the Reach’s final present to Earth, if anything. Y’know, one last kick to the heroes and all that.”

“Mon ange, now is not the time to think of how fitting this would be in a writing point of view”

“Look, it's either this or panicking.”

“It.. a.. Eiffel….attack..g hurry!” Viperion’s signal was beginning to cut out, but they all got the idea.

Paris, France June 21, 05:16 CEST

The Dupain-Chengs watched as the Justice league announced that the reach had been defeated; the world was now safe.

The world panicked as machines began to pop up in different places of the world, two even in Paris, but were dealt with by their own heroes. Many had wondered if they would continue once Hawkmoth was defeated, but they continued to protect their home. It was of no real surprise when they teamed up with the other heroes to take down the Reach. But something deep within told them that all was not well when the announcement was made.

“The Reach is being sent back into space and will be awaiting trial Green Lantern Corp.” Captain Atom announced as the crowd began to cheer, but his face was not one of celebration. Wonder Woman taking his place at the podium, sadness and acceptance in her eyes before speaking.

“But it was not without a cost; Today we mourn and celebrate the lives of the Parisian heroes who gave their lives to save the planet”

A hologram appearing behind them, one by one appearing as she said their codenames;

“Souris,Tyger, Paon, Monarch, Bunnix, Taurus, Roi Singe, Pegasus, Ryuko, Viperion, Carapace, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, Chat Noir and Ladybug.”

The permanent smile on the holograms made Sabine’s heart ache, those young heroes who’d been protecting Paris for more than five years. They had finally defeated their villain only for them to parish.

But she knew there was more to it. She might have been paranoid, but a mother’s instinct was never wrong

“Oh their poor families,” Tom said, shedding a few tears for their beloved heroes. A knock on the door interrupting their solemn thoughts, going downstairs to open it they were surprised to see a red eyed Richard with his younger brother, Tim, and friends, Artemis and Wally.

“Richard? Is everything alright?” Sabine tried calming her voice, but alarms rang in her head as she noticed their matching expressions. The same look of guilt and regret as no one dared look her in the eye.

“I-It’s about Marinette “ Richard softly spoke, the group silently entering the apartment. “I think you need to sit down for this, both of you”

Tom and Sabine shared a look, both instinctively knowing that they would not be seeing their little girl for a long time.

“... She wanted to tell you for so long” Artemis’ voice cracked, handing them a small device. Sabine cradled it in her hands, one last thing from their daughter she was sure. Pressing the sole button on the device a hologram popped up before them; Marinette was there from the waist up, as though she had been sitting when recording this message, the only identifiable item of clothing was a black zipped up half-jacket.

‘Hi maman, papá. If you’re seeing this then it must mean that my mission is complete or I gave it my best til the bitter end’ her little girl looked so tired, as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Had she always looked like that?

``I don’t know how long I have before our final fight, but I gave it to Dick so he’d give it to you guys just in case. For nearly the past seven years, I have been at the front of what seemed to be an endless war. I’m sure I’ve changed, hopefully into a respectable woman that will make you proud. The truth is…’

‘Please don’t.’ Sabine stubbornly thought as the tears welled up in her eyes, her husband's squeeze on her hand tightened as they heard her next line, a familiar mask being placed on her face. The world froze and her blood grew cold.

‘I am Ladybug; wielder of the Miraculous of Luck and Creation, Guardian of Miracles and Protector of Paris. I wanted to tell you for so long, but with Hawkmoth out and about I just𑁋I just couldn’t! I couldn’t allow you to suffer, knowing I was out there everyday risking my life because of some maniac with too much power in his hands. I didn’t want your lives in danger because of my selfishness.’

Their sobs echoed in the now too empty house, regardless of the other guests in the room who accompanied them in silent tears.

‘I hope you can forgive me for having to learn this way. I can only pray I made you proud. Know that wherever I am, I’ll always love you. Signing out, your daughter Marinette Dupain-Cheng.’

Paris, France June 21, 05:16 CEST

Conner Kent hated the news he had to give.

But he owed it to Adrien.

He stepped into the gates of the newly named Graham de Vanily Manor, knowing that it was late, but hearing soft speaking voices come from inside. Part of him wished that he had agreed to let someone come with him, but he knew that there’d be other places that need visiting.

Too many.

As he softly knocked on the door, knowing its residents could hear him, Conner felt like he would throw up. The last look of those emerald eyes haunted him and made his heart ache.

He heard the heavy doors open and thought he saw a ghost.

“A-Adrien?” he felt his throat tighten before noticing the differences; this new figure was taller, leaner, hair platinum blonde instead of honey, green eyes with specks of gray.

“No. I’m his cousin, Felix,” the lean man asked, clearly perturbed by the fact that a complete stranger was knocking at their doors at five in the morning.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Can I come in, it’s about Adrien” Conner could hear his spiked heartbeat as he moved to the side and beckoned him to the family room.

In the room were three figures, two of them looking nearly identical if for differences in hues and a few hardly noticeable grays on the paler one (then again losing your sister and husband would do that to you). It explained why Felix looked so similar to him, at first glance they could be mistaken for twins. The other was a big burly figure, bigger than himself.

He knew Emelie Graham de Vanily and Guillaume ‘Gorilla’ Durand. He could only guess that the other woman was Amelie, the aunt that lived in England with his cousin that Adrien would sometimes talk about.

“Conner.” Emelie caught his attention from her wheelchair next to her sister. He hadn’t known her for long, mostly through stories he was told, until she was woken up; then he was introduced as Adrien’s boyfriend.

“Mrs. Grah- I mean Emelie”

Conner couldn’t do this.

He didn’t want to.

But they deserved to know the truth.

“It’s fine dear. I’m afraid Adrien was going to spend the night with Chloe when that disaster started.” her eyes clearly worried, looking out the window, the first few rays of sunshine peeking through this somber morning.

“I hope they were fine” Amelie sighed in agreement, “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“No. No it’s fine, thank you” he took a deep breath, not wanting to allow his own emotions to overcome him.

“I need to speak to you about Adrien.” Everyone’s heartbeat elevated as he did nothing to hide the somber tone in his voice, and Conner wanted to hate his super hearing.

“Adrien left this behind. In case anything happened, he wanted for you to read it before letting anyone else say anything.” he pulled out a black envelope, in silver cursive it said, ‘To my Family’

“Co-Conner, what is this about?” Emilie’s hands shook as she got a hold of the thing, as though she were afraid it would burn her.

“I think you should read the letter first.”

‘Hey fam,

I know I just got you back, which is why I’m sorry this had to happen. What I’ve been doing this past half decade has been a real wild ride. After what happened with mom, Gabriel practically locked me up in the mansion, only letting me leave whenever it was for his convenience. I was just the trophy son, I wonder if he ever loved me.

Life is full of unexpected turns, one minute you feel like you’re locked up in the highest tower by an evil witch, the next you’re on the adventure of a lifetime with the best friend you can ever ask for.

There’s a lot of things I regret not doing; not stopping Chloe from becoming a total brat and bully when we were younger, not going to uncle Arthur’s funeral, being complicit in Gabriel’s will and therefore Lila’s and especially harassing one of my best friends because I couldn’t take no for an answer just like that man.

I regret not telling you that I am Chat Noir, the Black Cat of Misfortune and Destruction and Protector of Paris.

I hope you can forgive me for not coming out with the truth sooner but m’lady and I had already come to an agreement to not tell our families in fear that they’d be targeted by Hawkmoth; can you imagine what would have happened?

Even with all of that over and done with, the risk was too high, and honestly I didn’t know how to casually bring it up in conversation. Oops.’

Emelie’s voice cracked as she choked on a laugh, her vision too blurry to see what the next word was, quickly engulfed by her sister in a hug as she passed the note to Felix. His own eyes were bloodshot but he refused to let any tears run until he finished reading.

‘Most importantly I regret not proposing to Kon.’

Conner felt his heart stop. The world was spinning around as the line repeated in his head; did everything always look so blurry?

``I was going to ask mom for her ring, but I thought it’d be better for a wedding. I even started wedding planning with Mr. Dupain-Cheng, did you know he’s a hopeless romantic?. Mari thought I was insane when she helped me pick out the ring. We got it custom made too; Tungsten𑁋 one of the strongest metals on Earth, it’s harder than Steel!

I had hoped to give it to him myself but things don’t always turn out the way we want them to and I’ve learned that that’s okay. I lived my life to the fullest and experienced things no others have; pretty cool I’d say.

Forever your little cat waiting for his knight,

Adrien Agreste Graham de Vanily’

Conner hadn’t realized he was crying until he felt a small object placed in his hand, Felix having placed it as he shook in an attempt to suppress his tears. Connor realized that it was the ring Adrien had gotten him.

The mansion was filled with sniffling, the shadow of a cat seemingly looming over them.

The WatchTower June 20, 07:16 EDT

Lex Luthor did not think everything would go to shit with the Reach so quickly. Neither he nor the Light trusted those aliens as much as Superman could throw them; that is to say they were just using them and planned on backstabbing them once their usefulness was done.

Not only had they killed one of the members of the Light, not that any of them thought he’d be gone for long, but they had also planned to betray the Light as well.

He convinced the most likely fired United Nations secretary general Zhang in order to call the League; he may not like them but he also enjoyed living on Earth… maybe until they find a sustainable planet to move their society to should anything happen.

“Luthor! What are you𑁋”

“ Secretary Zhang was kind enough to let me borrow his frequency,” he decided to ignore Captain Atom’s outrage and cut to the chase. “As I have a possible solution to our mutual problem”

“A problem created by you and the Light when they collaborated to bring the Reach to Earth.”

“But as I believe you know, the Light always planned to betray the Reach. Lexcorp𑁋”

“I think that’s enough of that Luthor,” the man could say he was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Parisian superheroes who’d “recently debuted” after defeating a magical terrorist that had been rampaging for the past years. He hated having not known that, apparently it was something no one in the Light knew.

Though Vandal Savage and Ra’s al Ghul gave interesting looks when finally catching glimpses of them.

“We have already created a solution, one that needs no help from the likes of you,” Ladybug’s eyes glowed red as she looked at Luthor, a ladybug themed flash drive on Nightwing’s hand.

“And trust that the Light will see justice for their crimes”

With that Chat Noir cut the transmission, the team turned back to Blue Beetle as he continued to create Reach Tech eggs, as per Ladybug’s instructions, and Pegasus transferred the flash drive's information into them.

“Alright guys, we have 19 Magnetic Field Disruptors to destroy and stop the world from ending”

They distributed the eggs with groups of two going up against each MFD; one as cover while the other went to disable the device. There were barely enough heroes available as the majority had gone out to help with rescue of the citizens.

“I love it when she takes charge like that.” Nightwing sighed before helping distribute the eggs and sending the teams to their designated areas.

Paris, France June 21, 05:16 CEST

Kaldur’ahm found himself in front of a ship, The Liberty. He never ceased to feel like it matched Luka’s easy-going attitude.

As he boarded the ship he could see some water remaining from the storms earlier, quickly using his hydrokinesis to throw it back into the river.

He was procrastinating.

He walked down the deck towards the door leading to the cabin. With a swift knock on the door, he could not hear anyone approaching; that’s when he noticed the bell.

He needed to deliver the news.

He pulled on the rope as the bell chimed loudly, a muffled yelling coming from within. A woman with graying hair in a messy braid came out, although tired, there was a clear resemblance to them in the way she currently looked like she’d skin him alive and feed him to the fishes for waking her so early. It was a few times he’d seen the siblings genuinely angry and he could say it matched the woman before him.

“What’re ya doing on my Liberty so early?” she wipes the sleepiness from her eyes and adjusted her glasses. Despite how carefree she’d been described, he couldn’t help but think she looked older than she should.

Oh right.

She became a single mother of two at barely thirty years.

“My name is Kaldur'ahm, a friend of Luka and Juleka. I am… sincerely sorry. I am afraid I did not come bearing good news” the woman, Anarka Couffaine, looked alert and like she was about to fight him. He gave her the item the siblings entrusted the team to deliver should anything happen.

Luka and Juleka had left a song.

Anarka did not hesitate to go down to her children’s room , an old radio with a DVD player being used to play the song; Luka’s soft guitar strums soon became accompanied by Juleka’s gentle voice.

Happiness and joy

Sorrow and sadness

You and I

We shared them together

Shared for a time

But suddenly faltered

Flowers of a dream

Anarka slowly sank onto the floor, Kaldur holding her to the best of his abilities as silent tears. As soon as the strums of the guitar started she knew what it meant; she had learned to understand her husband, and then her son's way of communicating after all.

A field of grass

Leads to heaven

A gentle wind passed by

When you gave a smile

Nothing to fear

Forever in my heart

Blooming flowers prevail

“H-How did they… ?” Anarka’s broken voice softly spoke as the music continued.

Despite what Nightwing had said earlier, he couldn’t help but blame himself; if they had captured all of them earlier, then perhaps the Reach would not have gotten the chance to implement the MFDs. If they had detected the two remaining at the poles, then none of this would be happening…

“They were heroes.”

Paris, France June 21, 05:25 CEST

Batgirl and Impulse were there at the Kante residence only for Claudie to beat them to the punch.

“Max programmed Markov to tell me everything if his vitals couldn’t be detected anymore” her sad but proud smile did nothing to help them feel less guilty for the single mother.

Wonder Girl stood in awkward silence as Eden and Roux Lavillant-Piaf reacted to the news of their daughter’s death. The two men taking comfort in each other's presence as they cradled one another, Eden humming a tune she thought was familiar while Roux shed silent tears, one she later realized was one of Souris’ favorite songs; La vie en Rose.

Kid Flash didn’t know what to take of Kagami’s note;

‘I do not need that woman’s tears, nor those of whom call themselves my family. I would rather tell the Dupain-Chengs or Couffeine, however, if these are being delivered they are already heavily burdened. Knowing my friends shall mourn my loss is enough’

He also didn’t know what to make of Nathaniel’s request;

‘Don’t tell my family about Monarch. I doubt they’d even care’

The beautiful smell of the land that lingers in our history

Sands of black that color every little corner

I saw eternity only once, but I realize it cannot be kept in sight

Paris, France June 21, 05:30 CEST

Bumblebee was not surprised by Abeille’s video to her parents or even the fact that she was ‘fired’ by Audrey Bourgeois. When Guardian asked her about it she just shook her head in somber.

“Some people mourn differently”

“I always knew my little Marc was a hero” Mrs. Anciel, Paon’s grandmother if Garfield remembers correctly, said as she sat in her rocking chair in a daze “I just never thought it’d be so literally”

The Le family had just thanked L’gann with clear tears forming in their eyes after giving them a letter in a language he did not recognize. It wouldn't be until after that he learned Roi Singe’s native tongue was Vietnamese .

Our lives are truly in a world of wonder

A poem of my life - it's a pretty song to remember

We already acted a thousand lives

For the briefest moment in our long history

Paris, France June 21, 06:16 CEST

Robin, Tigress, Blue Beetle and Miss Martian felt their hearts heavy.

They had decided to be the ones to inform the Cesaires, Kubdel and Lahiffes of what happened to their daughters and son.

They were the only heroes apart from the Couffaines that had siblings.

“If I had never given her that watch” Mr. Kubdel buried his face in his hands.

“You didn’t know but maybe she did… She was always a spitfire, I don’t think we could have stopped her if we tried” Jalil told his father. Neither men wailed, they simply hugged each other for a while.

“No! She𑁋She can’t be gone!” Ella and Etta had viciously tried to beat at Tigress as he kneeled down to them. The hug she gave the twins seemed to trigger the waterworks as they devolved to sobbing.

“I couldn’t protect her…”

“You can’t blame yourself for this” Blue Beetle tried consoling Nora as she sat on the couch, hand on her head as she hid her face from everyone; he knew that if he heard about Milagro he’d feel the same.

“He’s too lame to be a hero!” Chris yelled out “You’re lying!”

“You know we’re not,” Miss Martian said soothingly from her place with Ms.Lahiffe, trying to help the crying woman.

“I hate him! I hate him!” Chris’ yelling got louder

“No you don’t” Robin spoke next to him, “No matter how much you fight, no matter how much you get on each others’ nerves, no matter how much you wish you’d never see him again… You still love him. He’ll always be your big brother”

“How would you know?” Chris’ voice cracked as he finally realized that his denial would do nothing to bring Nino back.

“Because I lost my big brother too”

I love you; I miss all of you

No warning what had happened then

I won't ever say goodbye

Metropolis June 20, 08:30 EST

“So now that Hawkmoth’s gone are coming back to Gotham?” Robin asked from behind Taurus, the hero engaging in a fight with one of the drones, headbutting it into the other one.

“Don’t know replacement,” he grunted “I kinda like it there, but I do miss the English language, as annoying as it is”

“Well,” Robin continued, using his bo-staff to push away the drone blocking the main device, “You know you always have a place back home, right?”

With one last dash he pressed his egg onto the MFD, deactivating their device. The two heroes looked at each other proudly as Taurus smirked.

“Yeah I know”

Birds are singing

Clouds are drifting

Trees are rustling

They cover the night

Gotham City June 20, 08:30 EST

“Hey Ma fée?”

Nightwing leaped across the street, throwing an EMP on one of the drones before Ladybug used her yo-yo to throw them away.

“Yes, Mon coeur?” Ladybug looked at him curiously

“I was thinking” he touched the MFD with the egg, letting the machine fall onto the Gotham street, “Maybe it's time we take a break from the whole hero business. I doubt we’ll be able to fully take off the capes like Wally but𑁋”

The two shared a tender kiss, the last strike of lightning disappearing from the Gotham sky.

North Magnetic Pole June 20, 13:50 UTC

They missed two MFDs.

Their locations blocked them from the initial search until Blue Beetle and Tyger told them that there were still two out there in separate parts of the world.

Ladybug had volunteered her Team to go, originally just planning to go by herself and Chat Noir while Rena Rouge and Carapace could get the other; Viperion and Bunnix immediately objected and instead her whole team was deployed to go.

They were herself, Monarch, Paon, Taurus, Viperion, Ryuuko, Tyger and Souris. The other team was Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Abeille, Bunnix, Pegasus and Roi Singe. Pegasus would teleport both teams to their destinations due to the simple fact that there were no Zetas in the Arctic or Antarctic.

She would lead the team to the North Magnetic Pole; Chat Noir would go to the South Magnetic Pole.

“We’re too late…”

Ladybug’s crestfallen expression was felt by her team as they watched the Magnetic Field disruptor reach its chrysalis state as they watched the ice cave collapse in on itself. The Earth will fall in a new ice age…

South Magnetic Pole June 20, 13:50 UTC

“Both MFDs have reached Chrysalis state” Chat Noir informed the Watchtower. He didn’t think it would all end like this.

After everything they went to, after finally defeating Hawkmoth, after finally getting his mother back and the literal end of the world had to happen.

‘No! This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!’ Plagg’s voice echoed in his head, ‘We can still stop this if we combine our powers’

“Ladybug, is Tikki𑁋?”

“Yes, she also says we can do it.” Ladybug’s steeled voice responded before he finished asking.

They could still save the world, they could still stop the Reach from winning.

But Chat Noir knew better than to think that there would be no consequences to their wild plans.

“Are you in, Noir?”

“Always, my Lady”

Adrien could only hope they could forgive him, and that the letter would get back to them in safety before feeling his consciousness merge with the god’s.

Time passes by

With merciless pride

The sun will rise again

Mount Justice Remains June 21, 00:02 EST

Batman found the need to stop himself from gaping at the remains of Mount Justice. Sure it had been sabotaged and destroyed partially before, but now it was gone.

All of it thrown with chunks of rock and metal scattered around the beach.

As he and the others descended with help from the Green Lanterns, Hal and John. He couldn’t help but fear it was too late.

They were too late.

“By the Gods” Diana gasped, suddenly clutching at her head, “Something is wrong”

With a gust of wind they were greeted by Flash, followed by Miss Martian’s bioship landing on the beach. One by one the Team came in various forms of disarray and emotionally compromised.

“Oh” Martian Manhunter sumbered, likely reacting off of the wave of sadness the teenagers made no effort to hide. Batman missed the look of remorse and sympathy sent his way.

“What happened?” He hadn’t meant to growl it out, but there were only so many reasons why the whole team would feel this way; there were casualties.

Batgirl and Nightwing could barely look his way before Robin decided to take a step forward. Tim had always been able to push aside emotions better than Barbara or Dick.

Our lives are truly in a world of wonder

A poem of my life - it's a pretty song to remember

We already acted a thousand lives

For the briefest moment in our long history

“The Reach left one last surprise for Earth in an attempt to cover their tracks; Magnetic Field Disruptors meant to cause natural disaster before forcing the next ice age. All but two MFDs had been deactivated, each located at the two poles. By the time we arrived they were already at their chrysalis stage. Those sent were able to deactivate them… at a cost” Tim choked out as he heard Diana, Kal and Sheyra take sharp breaths, it had to be bad for him to get so emotional.

“Robin?” Batman kneeled as he placed a hand on the younger’s shoulder.

“T-There were no survivors B”

“... Who was dispatched?” Diana asked, fists clenched in frustration of being too late and having others pay the consequence.

Batman must have been too distracted by Tim’s state to have noticed Nightwing launch himself into his arms and silently cry.

“I’m sorry Batman.” Flash stepped forward, and he knew Barry well enough that the man was probably holding back tears. Batman felt a familiar sense of dread build up inside him; the last time he felt this way had been when….

“Team Miraculous was sent.”

Bioship June 20, 13:55 UTC

“Whatever they’re doing, it's working!” Atom’s voice could be heard on the comms as Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Tigress, Robin and Nightwing sped as fast as they could to the North Magnetic Pole. Aqualad, Superboy, Impulse and Blue Beetle made their way with Sphere to the South Magnetic Pole.

“The power’s too strong” they could hear Chat Noir mutter with Plagg’s familiar echo.

“Can’t stop! Won’t stop now!” Ladybug gritted out as the interference with their comms got stronger.

“AHH!” The sudden screams made their blood freeze as they could only think of the worst case scenario.

“It’s not time, not yet!” their mantras continued as the static became painful.

Both groups made it to their destinations as the bright white light of the MFDs became tinged with color. The rainbow of lights shot up higher in the air before a similar bridge of light joined it, both Team’s powers combining in that moment.

“They’re doing it!” M’gann and Bart cheered before Jaime and Tim interrupted.

“Something’s wrong!”

“What do you mean fade!”

Suddenly the light began to expand, encasing the heroes inside before their figures began to shimmer and break.

With one last look the lights gave one last powerful glow, it dissipated, spreading a warmth like that of a hug to each of them.

But by the time each group managed to look, the cold finally seemed to reach them.

There was nothing left behind.

Paris, France June 26, 10:00 CEST

The official story was a kidnapping.

The teenagers that disappeared some time last week during what many had taken to calling “The Reach Invasion”; Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Graham de Vanily, Luka and Juleka Couffaine, Chloe Bourgeois, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Cesair, Nino Lauffey, Max Kante, Le Chien Kim, Alix Kubdel, Nathaniel Kutzberg, Marc Anciel, Rose Lavillant and Jason Todd-Wayne. The fourteen children and single adult had been caught up during the chaos of the Reach’s invasion and had been taken when looking for shelter.

There is always a little truth in every lie.

The amount of missing children cases in general had been increasing since the Reach had arrived on Earth, but even after sending them off to Oa they had yet to find evidence of all of them. Only a small percentage had been freed, now having to undergo Metahuman training, and sent back home or relocated.

Over half had been deemed unsatisfactory and were subsequently terminated.

But that still left about forty percent of potential victims to be found and rescued.

But their parents knew that their little heroes would not be part of that percentage.

They had saved their planet at the ultimate sacrifice.

“Today… We would like to honor the fallen heroes of Paris by lifting a new statue in their memory for all their services… One that is long overdue and that we can only hope they will see from wherever they are'' Mayor Bourgois spoke, though his eyes seemed so far off, not that anyone would blame him after they caught word of his daughter’s disappearance. There was a major turnout for the unveiling, it seemed as though all of Paris was present; guests like Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Bruce Wayne and his sons Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, Oliver Queen and his newly found son Roy Harper, Lex Luthor, Prince Ali of Achu, Audrey Bourgois and reporters like Lois Lane, Cat Grant and Iris West-Allan were in charge of reporting live.

The statue was golden, each hero caught as though they were in the middle of action with it’s two longest heroes in the center, the rest surrounding them for a 360 effect;

Ladybug and Chat Noir back to back, one with her scarlet yo-yo flying midair and the other using his baton to jump like a cat with a black gloved hand behind him. On Ladybug’s side was Viperion strumming his harp, his arm’s bangle glowing turquoise, while on Chat Noir’s was Rena Rouge caught playing the orange flute in the middle of a leap. Next was the newest heroes Monarch and le Paon on Ladybug’s side, one with a white with purple butterfly about to fly away from his outstretched hand, the other blowing into a single blue feather, while Tyger and Souris were on Chat’s, Souris also leaping while using her pink jump rope and Tyger getting ready to roar, magenta claws cusping around her mouth. Roi Singe was in the back of Ladybug and Chat Noir, his yellow glowing bo staff frozen mid twirl before calling for “Uproar”, assisting him was Bunnix, using her umbrella with a baby blue glow at the tip as a sword, and Pegasus with his horseshoe boomerang, arm encircled with a blue ring. Ryuko, in the middle of transforming into Wind Dragon form, with her ruby sword at hand and Abeille, launching her glowing spinning top, charging into the fray. On the sides were Carapace, with his shield armed up in front of them, the beginnings of his shield being formed in a translucent green glass, and Taurus, with his fists in the middle of punching and eyes glowing red, defending the group from oncoming attacks.

“I’m so sorry,” Dick found himself whispering once the ceremony was done and everyone had left their offerings. If only he had done better; if only he had asked them to join the raid; if only they had caught everyone instead of leaving them divided and scattered;

The rose gold ring weighed heavily in his pocket.

I love you; I miss all of you

No warning what had happened then

I won't ever say goodbye

They talked about what would happen in the future; neither saw themselves leaving the hero business anytime soon, it was too hard to after so long. She had dreams of becoming a top-tier designer while he wasn’t sure what he’d do. They jokingly said he’d be a stay-at-home father or a model for her line.

Now none of that would be happening.

“He looks different from when he was Robin” he heard Tim whisper, melancholy and reminiscence, in his look as he stared at Taurus. Definitely more brute stregth and hands on but that look of mischief and cockiness were the same as Robin II.

“He was always a little shit” Dick laughed softly, remembering that they’d be adding the Miraculous team to the new Grotto at the Watchtower, Jason’s being specially made to display both his time as Robin and Taurus.

Today would be his last day at the Watchtower for a while.

He was tired, after all of this, and was ready for a break. He knew Conner also planned on doing the same thing while Artemis was coming back to active duty despite Wally’s reluctance. He wasn’t too sure about his best friend, but the redhead insisted that he wanted to get his degree first before going back to the hero business, even part time, he even began hinting that Dick could go to college and try and get a semblance of normal life; they both knew it was in vain but neither said anything.

But before any of that he still had business to take care of.

Paris, France June 19, 00:20 CEST

Marinette woke up in a cold sweat.

The same nightmare she’d been having for the past week.

Her Team would fall for the sake of the world.

“I think we both know what this means Mari,” Adrien said silently as they watched the Parisian night atop of the Eiffel Tower.

“I don’t want it to come true” Marinette could feel the tears starting to sting her eyes.

“Then we’ll do our best to stop it” Adrien’s determined face made a soft smile appear; something told her that as hard as they’d try it wouldn’t change a thing.

But it was nice to hope.

“Why should we make these goodbye messages?” Chloe asked skeptically that morning after the team had gathered. They had just been told to do them or write any requests for someone to follow if anything should happen to them. After all Marinette and Adrien had finished theirs.

"Come on Chlo, just do it."

"Better to do it than regret not doing it."

"Think of it as a little thing to look back at when we come back after missions. A motivation to come back and destroy it"

They just hoped they’d be forgiven.

Paris, France June 26, 12:30 CEST

Walking into the Dupain-Cheng household he found that it was much colder than anytime he’d come to visit. Sabine and Tom had let him in with no hassle, the duo still reeling in the fact that Marinette was gone, he was too. They made little small talk for once, just checking to see how the others were doing and to not be strangers, before they excused themselves to meet up with Tom’s parents. Dick went up to the familiar step of stairs and opened the familiar hatch.

Her room looked the same as it ever did except it was missing a certain shine, an aura of creativity. He supposed that with the owner of the room and the goddess of Creation missing that would happen.

Her scattered design sketches and pieces of fabric reminded him of the latest project she told him about. Balls of yarn from when she started knitting or would use to play with the Kwami, and Adrien from time to time. Schedule reminding him of all the plans they had for once Hawkmoth was caught.

He made his way to her desk, a secret compartment on the side of the desk had been almost invisible to all except those who were aware of its existence. Opening up the small door he let out a small gasp, the Miracle box reminding him so much of her again;

The box was in the shape of an apple blossom, fading from red at its center to white at the tips, overall its appearance was rather simple but then again they always said appearances are deceiving. He then took out an old phonograph, a tablet, and an ancient book, the Miracle Book or Grimoire. With a sad sigh he pressed the small apple blossom’s center at the top before tapping the top petal, followed by top left, bottom right, bottom left, top right and center again. The lid to the compartment lifted, revealing seven empty slots, before opening up its petals, two layers of six petals stretching themselves so as to not cover each other. Only four compartments were being used. Using a bag he carefully stored the box inside the phonograph while using a satchel for the Grimoire and tablet.

He already told Zatanna and Zatara about the Grimoire, the two assuring him that it would be safe and that they’d even get other magic users like Constantine and Doctor Fate, who seemed to think he owed a debt to the Kwami and would honor their remaining comrade, to help protect it. The tablet could go to Tim and Barbara who’d have the best bet in perfecting the translations and encrypting it further so even if someone got their hands on it they’d have a hard time even unlocking it.

But he hadn’t thought of the Miracle box.

He looked up at the pink room with nostalgia, remembering every video chat, midnight meeting, talks at the terrace, impromptu sleepovers, designing frenzy, fashion talks, modeling session, strategy meetings, emotional breakdowns and kisses they shared in the very room.

He couldn’t help but want to take it with him.

Dick looked at her desk, a photo from when they were still Ladybug 1.0 and Robin, one he took as Dick Grayson when he commissioned her to make him a suit for the Wayne Gala (only to wear it to the Sweetheart’s Dance), one from Rolling-Stone wedding as he was twirling her around the dance floor and another from a few weeks ago when they were celebrating Hawkmoth’s capture with the Team. More photos littered her wall; Adrien and Wally arm wrestling, Artemis and Alix doing parkour, Kaldur learning some guitar from Luka, Conner being subjected to a makeover from the girls and Adrien (which he needed after his third year of wearing the same outfit), M’gann meditating with Barbara, Nino and Marc, Tim and Max looking at some sort of schematics on screen, of Jason during combat training with Kagami, Chloe and Black Canary.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Are you alright?” Dick hadn’t realized that the tears began to fall again. He turned around but saw no one there.

No one would be there.

“We miss her too” the voice spoke again, Dick knew he couldn’t be hallucinating, looking inside the bag he noticed the Miracle Box glowing even as it was held shut. With far more patience and calm than he truly felt Dick opened the Miracle Box again with four bursts of lights appearing as he did so.

He barely remembers Marinette explaining the Miraculous to him but he did recall the kwami’s names and powers;

Barkk, dog kwami of Bonds and Foraging.

Ziggy, goat kwami of Endurance and Speed.

Daizzi, pig kwami of Abundance and Ingenuity.

Orikko, rooster kwami of Forethought and Cycles.

“I miss our Guardian” Daizzi cried into Ziggy who seemed to be in a similar state, Orikko looked quiet but clearly saddened given his downward feathers and comb, Barkk was the one who had been speaking to Dick.

“You loved our Guardian, she loved you very much” Barkk sniffled sadly.

Dick realized that they not only lost their Guardian but their fellow Kwami as well;

He wasn’t the only one left with a gaping hole in his heart by the love of his life and little brother.

“Hey now,” he said, taking the miniature gods into his arms in a small embrace, “You won’t be alone. We’ll make it through this, together”

As Dick made one last glance at the room, memories playing out like ghosts before him, he secured the bags containing Marinette’s precious items and made his way out of the cold apartment.

He didn’t know if he’d ever recover, just like with his parents; But he knew he wouldn’t be alone.

He just hoped that he’d make them proud, from wherever they were watching.

Nothing to fear

Forever in my hear

Blooming flowers prevail

Ko-Fi

#maribat au #Maribat #MaribatMarch2020 #Maribat March #Week 3 day 7 #Broken #Dickinette #Dick x Marinette #dick grayson x marinette dupain-cheng #AdriKon #Adrien x Conner #Adrien Agreste x Conner Kent #angst week #ml x dc #ml x yj #mlb x dc #mlb x yj #Staying Whelmed & Erable

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onenettvchannel · 4 years ago

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OneNETnews EXCLUSIVE: PBS Kids' Arthur is Speaking Out with George Floyd's Death, under the Worldwide Issue of BLM

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- A year before the CoViD19 Pandemic in Wuhan, China... There's a newest short Public Service Announcement (PSA) straight from the PBS Kids at WGBH-TV 2: PBS Boston's original longest-running children's programming known as Arthur.

For those you don't know about Arthur from PBS Kids... A simplified explanation from the PBS website based from the About page:

"The chronicle adventures of Arthur Read is based on a children's books by the Author & Illustrator named Marc Brown, who has been working with the beloved Aardvark for over 4 decades. This was started in 1976, turned into the American-wide franchise before it goes worldwide. The viewing age target is aiming to 4-8 years old. His goal is to help foster an interest in reading and writing, to encourage positive social skills, and to model age-appropriate problem-solving strategies. It is originally produced by WGBH-TV 2: PBS Boston and animated by the Oasis Animation."

Arthur Read's house is located from the Elwood, Pennsylvania; under his own show with the same name for over 2 decades. His recent voice actor was named to Roman Lutterotti from 2019. But today, the death of George Floyd is in effect in selected countries worldwide from both North Carolina & Minnesota. The reason why before the worldwide protest starts, Black Lives Matter (BLM) will commence just a few weeks later after his death. You might remember with the non-protest person was arrested in Texas named Jose Martinez (known as BN_King, a former Brony media LIVE Streamer from Fort Worth city), after he was filmed for documenting his personal underground experience on foot (on our sister-affiliated station The Brony Network).

Today, he is now contacting from the video call by reaching out at home to Leah MacGrady, an oldest Lunch lady at the Lakewood Elementary School (LES), during the post-Pandemic of CoViD19 worldwide for the unfair issue of Black Lives Matter (BLM).

Arthur & Buster is speaking out publicly via Zoom by addressing this issue to OneNETnews, "I can't believe someone would be hurt like that, just because they're Black." He adds a response from Arthur... "Racism is so unfair. No one should ever judge someone by the color of their skin. I was talking to Mrs. (Leah) MacGrady the other day. She said there's a really long history of Black people not being treated fairly in this country."

Leah MacGardy was spoked to Arthur Read & Buster Baxter from home with the response of Black Lives Matter issue, "Well, Racism is like a Disease. If you don't treat it, it's just gonna get worse. It's about all of us. It's not enough to just say, I'm not racist, it's not my problem. We have to actively fight against racism. As my friend (John Lewis) once said... If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it".

She adds with the finale of response, "Talk about racism with your friends, your parents, your teachers. Don't be afraid to ask questions. We all have a lot to learn about this issue. Listen to people who have experienced racism firsthand. Imagine what it would be like if it happened to you or someone you love. And finally, act. When you see or hear of someone being treated unfairly, stand up for them, say something! It might be scary, but I guarantee you it's better for everyone. And it's the right thing to do."

At the end of the Public Service Announcement (PSA), the memoriam of John Lewis was reportedly died from the Pancreatic Cancer (known as the founding Father of Better America in the 5th District of Atlanta, Georgia from his hometown of Troy, Alabama). His battle was failed for 6 months but not for the CoViD19 post-Pandemic at the Civil Rights & Congress.

The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) was possibly violating the free-to-air network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) if they air the Racism episode or the newest short of Arthur, under the Broadcast Code of the Philippines in 2007 with the referencing of Article 15: Section 4. There will be a fine on Television to PHP30,000 (U$D612). Additionally, it also applies to the Senate Bill #2814: Section 3.2 & 4b (Anti-Ethnic or Racial Profiling and Discrimination Act of 2011) with a sentence for a year, known as the Arresto Mayor with other fine of PHP100,000 (U$D2,100). PBS is on the crystal clear kid safe standards to prevent the racism episode or the short, excluding this Public Service Announcement (PSA).

Arthur has warned to the kids' viewers like you to stop this protest or the illegal activity of Black Lives Matter (BLM) for George Floyd. As always until then, it has to make a difference at all cost, during the post-Pandemic of CoViD19 worldwide; even for the bashers on social media themselves. Act responsibly if you can.

SOURCE: *https://pbs.org/parents/shows/arthur/about/ *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_(season_23) *https://arthur.fandom.com/wiki/Elwood_City *https://arthur.fandom.com/wiki/Leah_MacGrady *https://wral.com/fbi-to-investigate-arrest-of-black-man-who-died-after-being-pinned-by-officer/19114480/ *https://wral.com/protests-over-death-of-george-floyd-end-in-fires-looting-property-damage-in-raleigh-and-fayetteville/19122800/ *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis *https://troymessenger.com/2020/07/17/john-lewis-lion-of-civil-rights-and-congress-dies-at-80/ *https://troymessenger.com/2020/07/30/lewis-mourned-as-founding-father-of-better-america/ *https://www.kbp.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2007-Broadcast-Code-Revised-June-15-2011.pdf and *http://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/112189539!.pdf

EXTREMELY HONEST DISCLAIMER: The views & opinions expressed from this news report are not those from the WGBH-TV: PBS in Boston. It does not clearly imitate this Police Suspect and/or the kids' programme in any matter of tolerance. Furthermore, the assumption for this news report will NOT state, intervene or reflect those of our news reporters. The station, management, interwebs and the network. Thanks for reading everypony...

-- OneNETnews Team

#international news #boston #massachusetts #elwood #pennsylvania #arthur read #buster baxter #arthur #pbs kids #blm #black lives matter #leah macgardy #zoom #george floyd #protest #worldwide #CoViD19 #pandemic #OneNETnews

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gryffindorcls · 5 years ago

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The Best Friend Swap: Chapter 1

Five years ago, Adrien Agreste’s life shattered into a million pieces. The final battle with Hawkmoth had been intense. Every miraculous had a holder, and Ladybug valiantly led her team to victory. However, in the end, it turned into a battle between the original dynamic duo and the villain they sought to defeat. The rest of the heroes defended the perimeter against an onslaught of Akumas and Sentimonsters. After hours of fighting, Ladybug finally ripped the Butterfly Miraculous off of Hawkmoth. When the light faded to reveal a seething Gabriel Agreste, Chat broke.

To this day, Marinette can still hear the anguished scream that came from Chat Noir as he collapsed into a heap on the ground. She remembers holding the shaking boy as he begged for it to be nothing more than a horrible nightmare. That was the day she learned that her “Chaton” was Adrien.

When Chat’s mask melted away, Gabriel crumbled, as well. During the battle, they had fought each other viciously. At that moment, both Agrestes were inconsolable. Ladybug simply held Adrien as he and his father came to terms with their new reality.

By the time the tears subsided, Ladybug’s mask was long gone. As Adrien’s eyes met Marinette’s, she could see a small spark of hope reignite within him. They sat together, huddling in the cold. They were exposed in more ways than one, but at that moment all that mattered was each other.

From then on, Marinette and Adrien were an inseparable pair. They walked hand in hand down the winding road of recovery. With each new struggle Adrien encountered, Marinette could be found supporting him in every way she could. It wasn’t long before their mutual feelings led them to become a couple. They became each other’s strength and solace.

As painful as it was, Adrien decided that he wanted his father to remain a part of his life, and Marinette respected his choice. At the time, Hawkmoth simply disappeared. Paris knew none the wiser, and it gave the Agreste family the space it needed to heal.

Years passed, and many things became easier. Unfortunately, nature abhors a vacuum, so the void created by the absence of Akumas gave rise to a new conflict. Gabriel and Adrien began to work closely to find a cure for Mrs. Agreste’s condition; however, after a tragic mistake during their quest, the Butterfly Miraculous once again fell into the wrong hands. Shortly after, a new, more ruthless Hawkmoth rose to infamy.

Today, Ladybug and Chat Noir still fight side-by-side, their bond stronger than before the reveal. However, the secret of their identities no longer belonged exclusively to each other and Gabriel Agreste. Through Ladybug’s leadership, Paris’ team of heroes formed a bond of mutual trust. She brought them together just as King Arthur assembled his knights at the round table. To Ladybug, the other holders were not her subordinates; instead, they were equals in her eyes. They knew one another in and out of the masks, rendering them a formidable team against the destruction left in the wake of the city’s new supervillain.

Even though Ladybug had a battalion of superheroes at her disposal, she still preferred the company of her beloved Chaton. He is, was, and forever will be her partner--they were balanced in every way.

They listened to each other, so when Marinette suggested that Adrien try going to therapy, he complied. He worked hard with his therapist to not only heal his relationship with his father but to strengthen his friendships with others, as well. So, when Adrien suggested that he and Marinette spend time with the other person’s best friend, she was not surprised.

“Think about it, Bugaboo. How well do you know Nino?” he asked, taking a seat next to her on the living room couch in his apartment.

Marinette cleared her throat. “Uhm...we went to school together when we were little, but I didn’t start hanging out with him until you and Alya came along.”

Adrien nodded his head. “And I don’t know Alya outside of our double dates and...well...I guess we also spend time together when we...you know…”

She offered him a sideways glance. “Become magical superheroes who save Paris from destruction every week?”

He smiled and clapped his hands together. “Yes! That. When we do that.”

“Okay...let me get this straight. You want me to spend a day alone with Nino, and you want to spend a day alone with Alya. Did I get that right?”

“That’s what I am proposing, yes.”

Marinette scooted closer to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his torso. “I like it.”

Adrien grinned, looped his arms around her tiny form, and pressed her into his chest. “You do?”

She giggled and craned her neck towards his face. Marinette gave him a gentle peck on the cheek. “Yes, Chaton. I think it’s a wonderful idea. When were you planning on putting this little plan into action?”

“I was kind of hoping we could do it this Saturday.”

“Wow...that soon, huh? I'll have to see if they're available.”

“I may have already talked to Nino...and he agreed. He and I already came up with activities to do with both of you.”

Marinette laughed. “Awww! That's so cute, Minou! Of course, you would already have something planned.”

Adrien nuzzled the top of her head. “I felt like you and Alya deserved to have a good time if we decided to do this.”

She pulled away and gazed into her boyfriend’s eyes. The look of sincerity on his face melted Marinette’s heart.

“Come here, Chaton,” she whispered.

Adrien smiled and bit his lip as he slowly closed the gap between them. Even though they had kissed hundreds of times throughout their relationship, Marinette still experienced an explosion of warmth and happiness when their lips met. She may be twenty-five now, but every time Adrien showed her this kind of affection, she turned into the blushing schoolgirl she once was years ago.

“Do you know how much I love you?” he said, finally pulling away.

She lightly pressed his nose with her index finger. “Not as much as I love you.”

They allowed their noses to touch as they stared into each other’s eyes and laughed. Marinette started to lean in for another kiss when a small, gravelly voice interrupted.

“Excuse me, but what are Tikki and I supposed to do all day while you two are off galavanting with other people?” Plagg complained, zooming into view.

“For you, it’s not going to be any different than a day that Marinette and I spend together,” Adrien responded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Plagg,” Marinette began, “you do realize that Adrien will be spending the day with Alya right?”

“So?” Plagg retorted.

“So...I thought you would be excited to spend the day with Trixx,” Marinette shrugged.

The Kwami’s eyes grew wide and he turned towards his holder. “Wait...you mean to tell me that Wayzz and Tikki won’t be coming with us?”

“No, Plagg. That’s the whole point. It will be Alya and I together while Nino and Marinette do something else,” Adrien explained with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Tikki flew over and joined the conversation. “Plagg, I know what you’re thinking, and you are expected to be on your best behavior. We can’t have a repeat of last time.”

Marinette shot her Kwami a concerned look. “What exactly do you mean by ‘last time’?”

The tiny red being glared at her counterpart. “When Plagg and Trixx are alone together, they tend to get a little carried away. Have you ever heard of a place called Pompeii?”

Adrien buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply. “I know there’s a story there, but I really don’t want to know what happened.”

“Yes, same,” Marinette agreed, “Especially after the time you told us what happened to the lost city of Atlantis.”

The pair looked at each other and shuddered.

“It still gives me nightmares,” she whispered into Adrien’s ear.

“I know, Princess,” he said, lightly kissing the top of her head, “Me, too.”

“Jeez, you two are dramatic,” Plagg noted while rolling his eyes.

“Are we though?” Adrien asked, “When you and Tikki told us that one of our ‘yet to be unlocked’ powers was telepathic communication with our Kwamis, maybe you two should not have led with that specific memory.”

Plagg poked Adrien in the chest with his paw. “It was meant to teach you a lesson.”

His chosen crossed his arms. “Never trust a floating, black cat who claims to have the ability to solve a rodent problem with magic?”

Marinette elbowed Adrien in the side, eliciting a soft “hey” from her boyfriend.

“They wanted us to learn that even when we have the best intentions, things can still go wrong,” Marinette stated plainly, “and my Miraculous Magic won’t always be there to clean up the mess.”

Adrien reached his arms around Marinette, pulling her back into his embrace. “I know, but you and I can overcome any obstacle as long as we’re together.”

“If that’s the case, are you sure you want to spend a whole day apart, kitty?” she asked with a teasing lilt to her voice.

“I think we’ll manage,” he said, pulling her even closer, “Besides, it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah,” Plagg cackled, “especially considering we’ll be leaving behind Captain Buzzkill and Lord Limp Noodle for the day.”

Tikki flew over to her counterpart and swatted at his arm. “Don’t talk about Wayzz that way!”

Plagg stuck out his tongue. “You are proving my point, Captain Buzzkill.”

“You are irritating. I think I prefer ‘Sugarcube’.”

“But you still love me...Sugarcube.”

The red Kwami softened her expression “And I always will, Stinky Sock. However, that doesn’t change the fact that you and Trixx need to be careful. I’m sure Marinette and Adrien would appreciate it if Paris was still in one piece by the end of the day.”

“Now that’s not fair. We were young back then. I’ve learned to control my powers...kind of...and I’m sure Trixx has, as well. I only broke half of Paris when Ladybug and I fought Style Queen all those years ago. I’d say that’s a big improvement.”

“I’m still not completely convinced.”

“Do you really think I’d do anything to mess up their day on purpose?”

“Need I remind you of the Great Molasses Flood in Boston?”

“Ah, yes...the Boston Molassacre,” Plagg stared fondly into the distance before snapping himself out of his reverie, “Okay, you got me, but that was one time...and it was hilarious. People in the United States are still laughing about it today.”

“People DIED, Plagg!” Tikki retorted, “And what about the Great Emu War of 1932?”

“Don’t peg that one on me! That was all Trixx, and Australia was still in one piece when it was over.”

“You definitely didn’t help when you encouraged her to make everyone believe that they saw millions of emus that weren’t there.”

“There were still a ton of emus that were actually there.”

“That’s not the point, Plagg!”

Marinette plucked her Kwami out of the air and cupped Tikki in her hands. “How about we all promise to be on our best behavior on Saturday. None of us will do anything reckless,” she turned to Plagg, “or destructive. Agreed?”

The black Kwami groaned. “Ugh! Fine.”

Adrien poked him. “And I will be making sure that he follows through on that promise.”

Marinette laughed. “Thanks, kitty. I’ll be sure to talk to Alya about Trixx; however, I’m pretty sure she can handle anything her Kwami throws at her.”

“Thanks, Bugaboo,” Adrien gave her a gentle squeeze.

“I know it will be a fun day...especially since you’ve got it all planned out!”

He scratched behind his neck and released a nervous chuckle. “That’s what I’m hoping for!”

***

Adrien awoke on Saturday morning in a panicked sweat. He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. Today was quite possibly the most important day of his life.

“Good morning, lover boy!” Plagg teased with a cackle.

The disgruntled blond buried his face in his hands. “I can't do this, Plagg!”

“Don’t you dare feed me that nonsense! You have been head over heels since the day you met the girl. You are doing this, kid.”

“What if I forget what I'm going to say? Marinette will think I'm weird. She’s going to hate me and never want to be with me again. She’ll quit working for my dad’s company and cut off all connections to me. Then, I'll never see her again, and I'll be alone forever...FOREVER, PLAGG! Do you know how long forever is?”

“Look at me, Adrien.” Plagg used his paw to lift his chosen’s head by the chin. “You seem to be forgetting what your little bug was like before she knew you were Chat Noir. The girl could barely string two words together when she tried to have a conversation with you. She loves you. I don't think I've ever seen two people love each other more than you and Marinette in all my years of existence. So, yes, to answer your question, I do know how long forever is.”

“But…”

Plagg cut him off. “No! No ’buts’. I know how important this day is not only for you but for everyone involved. I am going to do everything in my power to help you pull this off.”

Adrien took a deep breath. “Thank you, Plagg. I can always count on you.”

“Now, my first act of service for the day is to tell you to go take a shower. You may still be a model and the future CEO of Gabriel, but you smell like a two-day-old cheeseburger that got left inside a hot car.”

“Well, I was kind of nervous last night. I guess I did sweat a little.”

“A little! Your perspiration created a new tributary to the Seine in your bed sheets. Get clean, and go get your girl.”

Adrien laughed and shook his head. He threw back his covers and walked into the bathroom. After a half hour, he was showered, dressed, and ready to go. He checked his pocket to make sure he had everything he needed.

“It’s there,” he thought to himself, “There’s no turning back now, Agreste.”

Adrien walked over to the mirror, fixed his hair one last time, and walked out the door. As he stepped into the cold, damp November air, he felt the reality of the day hit him once again. Remembering Plagg’s words, he shook off his apprehension and continued on his journey.

Both couples agreed to meet at a cafe before splitting off into pairs for the rest of the day. Upon entering, Adrien saw Nino, Alya, and Marinette happily chatting at a table near the window.

“About time you showed up, Sunshine! I was starting to think that my date bailed on me!” Alya said jokingly.

Adrien laughed nervously and offered her a tense smile. “No, I’m here! Sorry for making you worry.”

Marinette got up from her seat and walked over to her boyfriend. She touched his cheek and gave him a worried look.

“What’s wrong, Minou?” she whispered into his ear.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Why would you think something is wrong?”

“Please don’t lie to me. You’re acting strange...well, stranger than you usually do.”

“Bugaboo, I’m okay. Really...I promise that I’m fine. Maybe I’m a little tired.”

“Are you still up for today? I can tell Nino and Alya that we need to go. Then, we can go to your place and cuddle for the rest of the day.”

Adrien could feel his confidence growing. He bit his lip and shot her his signature “Chat Noir” grin.

“As tempting as that sounds, Princess, we already have plans for today, and I would hate to let down our friends. However, maybe we could move those cuddling plans to later. It sounds like a paw-some way to spend our evening together,” he purred into her ear.

She giggled and gave him a small peck on the lips. “There’s my flirty kitty.”

“Hey!” Alya called over to them, “Excuse me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but I believe Mr. Model is my date for the day. You can have him back when I’m done.”

Marinette turned to her best friend, scrunched her nose, stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, very mature,” Alya said rolling her eyes.

Adrien took Marinette by the hand and led her back to the table. He pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down before taking his seat. He then grabbed her hand under the table and gently stroked her knuckles with his thumb.

“I expect to get the same kind of chivalrous treatment today, Agreste,” Alya said with a light chuckle.

“Am I not good enough for you?” Nino retorted, feigning hurt.

“You are perfect for me,” Alya responded, “However, it’s not every day I get to spend time with a living breathing protagonist of a romance. He’s like dessert. It’s nice to have every once in a while, but not all the time.”

Marinette laughed and poked Adrien with her elbow. “I guess it’s a good thing I have a sweet tooth then! I’m always up for dessert.”

Adrien could feel his insides turning to mush. He loved Marinette so much that it hurt. She wasn’t just his world--she was the center of his universe. Like a black hole, she was both beautiful and dangerous. It was scary how easy it was to love her. Nonetheless, he happily allowed himself to get caught in her gravitational pull. She was an enigmatic force of nature, and he felt privileged to be a part of her life.

He leaned over and allowed their noses to touch. From their point of contact, he felt a blossoming of warmth that created an involuntary smile on his face. He sighed happily.

“Sometimes I forget how perfect you two are for each other, and then I see you do stuff like that,” Alya remarked.

“As much fun as all of this is to watch, don’t we have a schedule to keep? If I’m correct, Marinette and I have an activity starting soon,” Nino said, giving his best friend a wide-eyed look.

Adrien looked at the time on his phone. “Oh jeez, yeah you do. My first activity with Alya doesn’t start for another hour, but you two need to get going.”

Marinette stood up without letting go of her boyfriend’s hand. He got up, as well, and pulled her into a loving embrace.

Adrien pulled away and brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. “Have fun today, Princess. I will see you later when we all meet up for dinner.”

“You have fun, too, kitty. I love you.” She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you, too...so much,” he said, resting his forehead on her shoulder.

Behind them, Alya gave Nino a lingering kiss goodbye. She whispered something into his ear and flicked his hat. He responded with a laugh and kissed her again before moving next to Marinette.

“Are you ready?” he said with a cheerful expression.

“Yup!” Marinette responded, “Let’s get to it!”

Nino and “date for the day” waved to their significant others, turned towards the door, and walked out of the cafe. Once the pair turned the corner, Adrien and Alya returned to the table.

“So, Agreste,” Alya smirked, “Nino told me that you already have everything planned. What kind of fun are we going to have today?”

Adrien breathed out deeply and gave Alya a serious look. “I have to tell you something. You have not been told the whole truth about the nature of today’s events. Nino knows, but I had to keep you in the dark until now...for...reasons.”

Alya raised her right eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Uhm...yes. I’m sorry if you were expecting to have fun today, but you’re actually here because I need your help.”

“Okay...how about you tell me what’s going on, and we’ll start from there.”

Adrien pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and put it on the table. He opened it, revealing a white gold ring with three princess cut diamonds in the middle.

Alya’s eyes grew wide. She gasped and her hands flew up to cover her mouth.

“How could you possibly think that this wasn’t going to be fun?!” she exclaimed, “This is going to be THE MOST FUN.”

——————————————————————————————

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and following my other stories. You are all wonderful! (A “Chat for a Day” update is coming soon.)

This idea had been rattling around my brain for a while, and I had to write it down.

Also, thank you to those who have left comments and asks on my other works. They make my heart feel full, and it fuels my passion to keep writing! (That and I love talking with all of you!)

——————————————————————————————

Next—>

AO3

Fanfiction.net

#The Best Friend Swap #Chapter 1 #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #Miraculous Fanfiction #fanfiction #ml fanfiction #ml fic #adrienette #ao3 #lovesquare #aged up #fluff #tooth rotting fluff

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crimsonrevolt · 7 years ago

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Congratulations Spencer you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Arthur Weasley ↳ please refer to our character checklist

We were absolutely thrilled to see your app in our inbox! Arthur is such a beloved character and your characterization left no doubt in our minds that this loving, curious, goofy but responsible guy is him. One of the things I especially loved about your app is that you talked about Arthur being a capable wizard but not desiring a promotion because he loved the action of his job. I like to think his passion for his work influenced his children to follow their passions rather than money as well. Welcome to the family! *your faceclaim change to Arthur Darvill has been accepted

application beneath the cut

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Hello there. I go by Spencer and I am twenty years old. I identify as genderqueer and I don’t have any preferred prnouns, because I answer to all. I am in the GMT +2 timezone, as I live in Belgium.

ACTIVITY

I think that I can manage a seven out of ten level of activity, but I am currently writing a bachelor thesis as well as doing a full-time intership, so sometimes my activity drops. Oh, and I have a long-distance relationship, so I do travel a lot.

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

I just looked through the ‘hp rp’ tag and found a promo post.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

I don’t know if I identify with any of the characters in Harry Potter, but I like Severus the most. He is very complex and I guess I am too, on quite a lot of levels.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Nothing really, I didn’t find a password so I hope I didn’t read over it.

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Arthur Septimus Weasley

FACE CLAIM

Arthur Darvill

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

Arthur Weasley is my favourite character to play, because his obsession with Muggles is very amusing to me. I think he is a very humerous character, which I can have fun with but he is more than that.

He is a good and honest man, who cares about doing the right thing. He cares about being a good husband and father. While he may not be able to give his family everything in the material sense, he provides them with what he can give: love, guidance, protection… and he will do everything for them. He is a very calm man, but when someone insults or threatens his family, he can get quite angry.

He is very good at charms, transfiguration as well as duelling. He can also apparate, and so he is a very skilled wizard. I love that a character that can be described as kind of goofy, also has

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Arthur Weasley, to me, is a cis-gender man who uses he/him/his pronouns. My Arthur is biromantic and heterosexual. I think that he could fall in love with a man, on a platonic level but I couldn’t see him have sex with a man or have a relationship with him that includes sex.

I think that Molly is the love of his life. I look forward to exploring their marriage and how they are as parents to little kids, because we’ve seen how they are as parents of teenagers, but I do wonder how they deal with toddlers, so that will be fun to explore.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

Arthur weasley was born on the 6th of February, 1950 to septimus and cedrella weasley (née black). He has two brothers, and arthur is the middle child. He is a pure-blood wizard, but was never brought up with pureblood supremacy beliefs. His father was considered a blood-traitor and even encouraged his son’s interest in muggles, which he has had since a young age. He has always found it fascinating how they were so similar, so much less powerful and still were able to survive and find non-magical solutions to problems.

HWhen he was eleven, he went to ogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor house. He was a capable wizard, especially good at charms, transfiguration and apparition. He was also very good at studying the history of magic and muggle studies. He’d go on to get N.E.W.T.s in five of subjects, adding to his favourite studies a N.E.W.T. in Study of Ancient Runes which he barely passed, but passed nonetheless.

HHe loved his time at ogwarts, though he never made head boy or anything of the sort. He wasn’t really that interested in being a prefect or a head boy. It just seemed like a lot of work and it didn’t seem fun either. He wasn’t very good at sports, so he never made it onto the quidditch team but he did go out to support them when they played.

He met Molly Prewett, a fellow Gryffindor during his time there and fell madly in love with the witch. They went out for midnight strolls and their love for each other blossomed. He adored every bit of her and it surprised no one that they got married when they graduated.

He had always wanted a big family and he was over the moon when his first son was born on the 29th of november, 1970. They named him William, but called him Billie for short.

A little over two years later, on the 12th of december, 1972 they had their second son. This time they named him Charles, though calling him Charlie from the moment he was born.

Percy Ignatius, their third son was born on august 22, 1976 and Arthur had been hoping for a long time for a third child. They had been trying for three years before Molly got pregnant.

Then there was a surprise. They found out that they were going to have twins and secretly, Arthur was hoping that he’d finally have a daughter. He wasn’t disappointed though, when they got two more little boys. The first one to be born they named Fred and his twin brother, they named George.

While arthur’s family was growing, he got a job at the Ministry but his position wasn’t very well paid. The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office wasn’t seen as that important and so, he wasn’t paid much. It was hard to make ends meet with their large family, but they always managed and really, Arthur wasn’t that ambitious. He loved the action of his job, which he wouldn’t have as much if he rose in the ranks.

What is going on right now, with the war, is terrifying to him. He is constantly worrying about his wife and children. His family is seen as blood-traitors and unlike other pureblood families, they were poor. That was something that the other families looked down upon. He sympathised with the order, but he couldn’t join. He had a wife and children that depended on him, and they had to be his priority.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

“A spell that soothes babies and small children would be great! We have babies and toddlers, and the amount of sleep we lose because they just want cuddles can be very tough. I love my children and I don’t mind giving them attention during the day, but in the evening and at night, I want to give my wife attention as well as sleep. So, yes, I’d love that kind of spell.”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

“I would not take Molly, even though she’d probably be mad about that. Putting her in danger is the last thing I’d do. I think I would take Alastor, I think. He is a great wizard, so I’d feel quite safe with him around. As for an object, I think I might go for a firearm. You never know what you encounter in there and I do want to test them out, to see if they’re effective in the Wizarding World. Oh, not that I’d go in the forbidden forrest to kill, I’d avoid it but again, who knows what might attack me in there!”

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

“Decisions regarding punishments for the kids. I mean, I generally don’t like to be too hard on our boys, because I want them to look back upon their childhood as happy and that they felt loved. I am not trying to say that my wife isn’t loving towards the kids, we just don’t always agree and that is alright. I guess we balance each other out.”

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

“I think that it would be horrible if someone called me a lousy father or a lousy husband, because to me, being there for my family is the most important thing there is. Bill, Charles, Percy, Fred and George along with Molly are my priorities in life and if people preceived that I was not good to them, that would honestly hurt me to my core.”

REACTION TO LAST EVENT DROP

Arthur was shocked by what transpired. He faught against the Death Eaters, to protect Bagnold and the Ministery, but failed. He felt terrible about it and for a few days, he felt hopeless and leaned on his wife to make him feel a little better. Though, when Bagnold made it clear that even though Rodolphus was now in charge or the Ministry, she wasn’t defeated yet and that battle cry made Arthur feel like not everything was lost - not yet.

He now helps Molly by looking after the children as much as he can, while she cares for the wounded together with Hestia and Greta. He doesn’t know what to do about his job though. He is a pure-blood and he could keep on working for the Ministery but the thought of working under Rodolphus and essentially Voldemort makes him sick. His family needs the money though, so right now, he has taken a temporary leave to figure out what to do about that.

WRITING SAMPLE

Arthur sighed as he was walking along Diagon Ally. He had to go buy shoes for the children and he was already counting in his head how much he could spend on that. It wasn’t much, he decided and sighed softly. Ron wasn’t walking yet, so he was in the pushchair and he didn’t need shoes yet - luckily - but the twins’ feet had grown and he could see that their shoes were uncomfortable. That just wouldn’t do.

Fred and George, who were two, were very excited that they could run as all toddlers were and tried to escape at any given moment. Arthur’d charged Percy and Billie to hold their hands, one getting a toddler each and to try and keep them in line, though it wasn’t as smooth sailing as he’d hoped. Charlie, who was only four, had been told to hold onto the pushchair and luckily he did. Yes, they all looked a bit messy, the children were loud and sort of tugging at each other but overall, he was pleased. This was going quite well, he decided.

That was until Fred and George both made an escape and toddled away, surprisingly quickly. “Fred! George!” he yelled, “Boys don’t run after them.” he said, not wanting to lose more children. “Someone stop the ginger toddlers!” he yelled out, not sure what to do. He couldn’t just leave his other children behind. He looked around for help, not sure if anyone would come to hid aid.

#Accepted App #arthur weasley #hp rp #literate rp #arthur darvill fc

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papirlife · 7 years ago

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Good day my dear readers, I sincerely hope that you are all having a fantastic day!

Now, you must be thinking, ‘what the hell is a blog dedicated to books and the lot doing with a post about movies?’, well since it’s October, the month of the Sabbath and a period of terror and also Friday the thirteenth, I decided to kick off the month with some much-needed horror.

So without further ado, let me introduce you to some of my favorite horror movies!

1. Silent Hill

After the continuous sleep walking episodes of Sharon, Rose Da Silva’s adoptive daughter, a decision is made to take Sharon to the place only mentioned in her restless dreams, Silent Hill.

However, the road to Silent Hill is anything but easy to encounter, and when Rose enters into a high-speed chase with a police officer, she inevitably leads both herself and the officer into an accident.

When she wakes up, Sharon has disappeared and Rose is at the entrance to the deserted, dream-like town of Silent Hill.

As she begins the search for her daughter, she begins to see the true terror and mystery that encompass the fog riddled town before her.

Rose is led on a blind search for her beloved child, but ends up finding herself getting more and more entwined into disturbing past of Silent Hill.

It is, in every sense of the word, Hell on Earth.

Silent Hill was originally a survival horror video game franchise, whose games were well known for their intense, psychological stories and downright terrifying game-play.

The franchise had gained popularity with their first release, ‘Silent Hill’ in 1999. However, many fans would agree that the sequel, Silent Hill 2, was by far the most disturbing of all of the games.

The movie for the Silent Hill series was released in 2006, and as far as horror movies go, was generally well received.

I watched the movie a few years ago, and I have to say that it remains one of favorites to this day.

In my opinion, it combined the elements of horror very nicely and I honestly fell in love with the concept of Silent Hill after watching it.

Fair warning though, the movie is very gory and disturbing as far as I remember and it is not recommended for the faint of heart.

2. The Ring

At first, it sounded like just another urban legend – a videotape filled with nightmarish images that leads to a phone call foretelling the viewer’s death in exactly seven days.

Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller is skeptical of the story until four teenagers all die mysteriously exactly one week after watching just such a tape.

Allowing her investigative curiosity to get the best of her, Rachel tracks down the video and watches it herself.

Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery behind the tape, and save her son’s life in the process.

The Ring is an american remake of the 1998 Japanese horror movie, ‘Ringu’, which in turn was based on the ‘Ring’, the first of a book series written by Koji Suzuki and published in the 90’s.

I watched this one a few months ago and I have to that it is by far one of my favorites.

‘The Ring’ doesn’t use blood and gore to terrify its viewers, instead it focuses on the elements of psychological horror and while it might not necessarily scare you shitless, it will disturb you and creep you out to no end, and after watching it you’ll still be thinking about it days later.

There might also be that silly bit of paranoia that you’ll die after seven days of seeing the movie, I distinctly remember that very thought in the back of my mind that stayed in my head for a week after I saw the film.

‘The Ring’ delivers a kind of horror that stays with you, no matter how many times you try to be beat it down. Because, you see the thing about good horror, is that it never really dies.

3. Insidious, Chapters 1 and 2

Josh Lambert and his wife Renai move with their three children, Dalton, Foster and Cali, to a new home, in hopes of a fresh start.

However, one day when Dalton is exploring the attic, he falls from a ladder and hits the head on the floor.

The next morning, Dalton does not wake up and he soon falls into a coma, but the doctors are not able to come up with a concrete diagnosis.

Three months later, strange events begin to occur in the Lambert household and Renai soon starts seeing apparitions.

She is sure that the house is haunted and convinces Josh to move again. But things are no different, if not worse in the new house and this time Josh does not believe his wife when she tells him of the spirits she has seen roaming the halls of their new home.

That is until his mother, Lorraine tells Josh that she had a vision of a fiend in Dalton’s room.

Frightened and desperate, the Lambert’s take Lorraine’s advice and invite the medium and Lorraine’s old friend Elise Rainier, who brings her team of ghost hunters to investigate the supernatural phenomena in their home.

Elise explains that Dalton has gained the ability of astral projection and his spiritual body is lost in a place called the Further that is not meant for the living and the entities there are gathering around him, trying to get inside his empty physical body.

Among these entities there is a demon that needs Dalton’s body to complete its malicious agenda.

And to complicate matters even more, Lorraine discloses that Josh had also once been a traveller and may very well be the only person who can bring Dalton home.

I like the Insidious series for its take on the this ‘Other world’ of sorts that was deigned for the dead.

It’s a very creepy place to be, and definitely not somewhere you’d want to end up. This movies essentially go hand in hand and Chapter 2 pretty much continues the story from where Chapter 1 left of.

Insidious Chapter 3 is an older story that takes place before the events of Insidious but I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I did it’s predecessors.

The movie in general is very creepy, the music ties into the film really well and it’s chock full of jump scares that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

It’s also got a good story line, which is a little surprising for a horror movie and it’s overall a must see movie for the season of Halloween.

4. Hush

A deaf writer who originally retreated into the woods to live a solitary and peaceful life must fight for her life when a masked man arrives at her window with a fierce determination to kill her.

Now, I get it, just by the summary, it sounds just like one of those cheesy horror flicks you’d watch when you’re bored but trust me ‘Hush’ is way better than that.

It’s not really the idea of the movie that makes it so great but it’s more so the way it’s been made.

In no way, shape or form is the heroine ‘weak’ or ‘helpless’ as heroines are often depicted in the horror genre. Instead, she’s just as determined to survive as her killer is to murder her.

And she might not be able to hear, but she uses her wits and intelligence to outsmart her would be murderer.

This is one thriller that will for sure have you on the edge of your seat, even if it doesn’t sound too enticing at first glance.

5. The Woman in Black

Arthur Kipps, a lawyer and recently widowed and grieving the loss of his wife, is sent to a remote village to put a deceased eccentric’s affairs in order.

But, soon after his arrival, it becomes clear that the villagers are hiding a terrible secret.

Kipps discovers that his late client’s house is haunted by the spirit of a woman who is trying to find someone or something she lost, and that no one — not even the children — are safe from her terrible wrath.

Now, I watched this a very long time ago and I can’t really tell you much about it aside from the fact that the movie gives off a very creepy vibe in general.

And that it runs along the same lines as the Insidious series.

So in my opinion, if you liked Insidious then you’re sure to like the Woman in Black.

6. The Conjuring

In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists Lorraine and Ed Warren are summoned to the home of Carolyn and Roger Perron.

The Perrons and their five daughters have recently moved into a secluded farmhouse, where a supernatural presence has made itself known.

Though the manifestations are relatively benign at first, the situation soon escalates with a horrifying intensity, especially after the Warrens discover the house’s macabre history.

This was a very creepy movie as far as I remember and it does a really good job of making your hair stand on end.

That being said be sure to add this to your Halloween horror movie list because like all the others, it’s a real creep show.

Well, those are the only ones that I can think of right off the top of my head.

Now, keep in mind, I love horror and anything there is to do with the genre and because of that, I’ve pretty much watched every horror movie Netflix has to offer and then some.

And most of the time, the movies I watched sucked and as far as I remember, these are the only ones that stuck with me over the years and they are the ones I enjoyed the most.

These are all movies that incorporate the fear factor more than blood and guts.

They might not necessarily scare you outright but they’ll always be at the back of your mind on those dark nights when you can’t sleep.

And that’s when they’ll really scare you.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and please do let me know what you thought, and as always, happy reading!

Image via Google

Horror Movies to Watch this Halloween Good day my dear readers, I sincerely hope that you are all having a fantastic day!

#halloween #horror #lists #movies #thriller

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