#because they are starcrossed lovers and they are meant to be in the very end

[junosswans]

Entry to RoyEd Week 2023 August 2nd Day 2 - Soulmate AU

(Edited: Long fic ahead! Also I posted this on ao3 too :> thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments!! I am all giddy over them)

It was already late when they arrived at the Rockbell’s house, where villagers said they could find the Elric brothers if they were not home. The cottage was dim inside, only allowing the faintest trace of dusk to put shape to the helpless boy in the wheelchair, and the enormous suit of armour towering over him.

In the literal blink of an eye, Roy Mustang’s life was turned upside down.

Despite the darkness, Roy saw the boy in foreign vividness that he had never witnessed; colours exploded in front of his eyes like fireworks, rendering him speechless. The boy’s shade was accentuated by a distinct warmth— Roy would later learn the name of the colour that was gold, a pigment that he would come to associate with justice, passion, and everything that was pure and magnificent.

Before arriving at Resembool, Roy had rehearsed his recruitment speech for five different situations, but none of which took the current one into account. For the first time in a long while, he had no idea what to say.

At that moment, assaulted by colours he had yet to know, he only knew one thing— that destiny had cursed this little boy to be attached to him, Roy Mustang. A man who had far more enemies than allies, more nightmares than sleep— more dead than alive.

The boy did not give any visible reaction to Roy’s loud entry into the house, and his aimless eyes had already betrayed his state to Roy.

He could not afford to have a soulmate. Not when his soulmate sat defencelessly like this, deaf to the entire world. Being his soulmate meant putting a target on their back, meant always sleeping with an eye open, meant never finding peace till the day of his death.

He could not, in good conscience— with what little he had remained of it— put his soulmate through what his life entailed. Anyone sane enough would be able to see him from a distance and turn around immediately. Nobody deserved to be Roy’s soulmate to experience what he would inevitably put them through. No one would be tough and yet foolish enough to stay.

Ignoring the nausea this revelation has caused him, Roy bit his tongue and demanded an explanation for the situation instead. He listened, in slowly freezing horror, to the younger brother of the Elrics– Alphonse Elric– explaining how they ended up in their current bodies.

Roy looked at Edward Elric who was missing two limbs, and reminded himself that this young boy in front of him had committed the greatest taboo in alchemy and survived. Then, as if it was not enough, did it again to bargain his brother’s soul back. An improbable, stupid, and lethal decision—yet it was undeniable that he had done the unthinkable and survived the consequences. At such a young age nonetheless, when most alchemists' apprentices were still struggling with the most basic of elements.

Perhaps given time, this boy could grow into someone beyond Roy’s imagination. Perhaps given time, Roy could grow into someone strong enough to shield his soulmate from harm.

And so Roy told him, in an earnestness that surprised even himself, that when he was ready, he could find Roy in East City and Roy would provide him with resources that could put him back on his feet. That it would be a road filled with thorns and danger, but the rewards were worth the risk.

Against his better judgement, Roy had provided his soulmate a choice. Edward could choose to run after him into the shower of bullets and webs of lies, or he could choose to stay in the quiet countryside and never let their paths cross again.

Secretly, Roy wished that his soulmate would choose the latter, wiser option. But he also knew acutely that the world had a morbid sense of humour, and whoever that was tied with him could never have any good sense in them. If fate had decided that they were meant to be, then his soulmate must have been as much of a stubborn fool as him, if not more.

Roy bid the family goodbye, and walked out of the dark shadows of the cottage. He was greeted with an entirely new world, now coloured in radiant hues he could not put words to.

He examined his palm under the flickering street light. He could see his veins faintly under his skin, pumping blood into every corner of his body. It was purple and flesh and red and human. It was warm and colourful and alive.

Remember it, remember what I’ve said, and catch up to me. Roy thought. Those who cannot keep up with me cannot be my soulmate.

I’m putting my faith in you that, no matter which way you end up choosing, our paths will converge, and we shall meet again at a time when you and I are wiser and stronger and unmovable in the face of danger. I’m putting my faith in you that, regardless of the dangers on my journey, you will find me and stay beside me and not be frightened.

I’m choosing to believe, if fate has decided that I’m still worthy of a soulmate despite my sins, then there must still be something redeemable in me, and you must be someone with enough love to love me for the monster I am.

Please find me soon.

==============================

And then Ed surprised him after a year when Roy expected to wait at least 5 more years lmfao

I wanted to play on the idea of “you only begin to see colour once you’ve met your soulmate” and thought VERY hard about how to visualise it without turning it into a long comic. My very stupid, no good brain came up with the idea of putting a colour wheel in the background :> in hindsight it’s very cringe but at that point it was already too late to give up or change it lmaooooo

I also put paint and paint brushes around as decoration which i think is kind of cute ^^ and special thanks to my sister who helped me fix the colouring because my usual way of doing it just… lacks the vibrancy this prompt asks for. She’s a goddess and 192729% better at this drawing business than me.

@royedweek2023

[calisources]

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

All sentences and quotes have been taken from different media about starcrossed lovers or forbidden love, full of angst, some bold words, some nasty ones, possessive nature and letting someone use you as a replacement. So, some toxic energy in this one. Change pronouns, locations and names as you see fit.

I love you,and I will love you until I die,and if there's a life after that,I'll love you then.

Do people always fall in love with things they can't have?

And there is a difference between having your heart break and having your soul shatter.

I'm falling in love with you.

I'm going to fuck the shit out of you. I have waited for this for such a long time. Consequences be damned.

These violent delights have violent ends.

 I’m only human. And you are …all-consuming.

Don’t go into this lightly. If you’re mine, you need to understand I will burn the fucking world to the ground for you.

I will never let you go, do you hear me? 

 will keep you safe. And I will find a way for us to be together.

If you make me cry at my own coronation ball, I’ll never forgive you.

If you were any less the man you are, I would beg you to take me with you.

If you were any less the woman you were, I would beg you to come with me.

I've known lust. This is something worse. This is a barbaric need to possess, to eliminate, to own. This is madness.

This is lust.

She’s your very own forbidden fruit.

You said you didn't want this.

We all desire what we cannot have.

Have you noticed how the boy looks at you?

Do you think I didn’t notice? The way you look at me when you think I’m not watching?

You are dangerous desire, and I am your prisoner.

We can’t do this on so many levels.

I can't even whisper her name, my heart would burst out of my chest.

But I would fight against the stars for you.

I have ruined your life.

Some lines you just don't cross. 

I want to take you under the moonlight.

Having something forbidden is exciting, don't you agree?

The closer we get—the more I let you in…the more dangerous this gets.

Don’t you get it? You’re what everyone wants! But I’m not going to let them win.

Make it so I never have to dream about this again—make it so we can have this…forever.

Desires are what can most easily ruin us, lovely.

We were doomed from the start. 

Nothing is as deadly as the love of a powerful man.

But this kiss? It's ruined me. This is the type of kiss I never knew existed. 

You sure about that, Dad? Because he's done everything to me.

Are you scared of me now?

You loved me - then what right had you to leave me?

I have not broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.

One moment, you give me everything that I want, and in the next, you snatch all of that away.

It's hopeless. We can never work out.

The world didn’t want us together so I forged a new one where we would.

How could a peacock lust for a lion?

You're tattooed onto my skin, and the more I try to erase you, the deeper you sink in.

I’ve always liked you, from the first moment I saw you.

It's absurd how crazy love can make you...but even more absurd how stupid jealousy can make you.

 That you and I are meant to be together, but never meant to be.

Why does fate seem always to conspire against us? To deny us life's simple pleasures?

We'll meet after this war. I'll certainly find you wherever you'll hide. 

War makes fools of men and women wanton.

What offends you most, Father? That she's Catholic, or that she's poor?

If my father discovers you here, he'd cut off your little nuts and eat them. He can't stand you.

You tempress, I see you once and all I can think of is having you.

Feelings are forbidden, does not mean we cannot enjoy one another.

The more you deny me, the more I desire you. You are a plague in my mind.

Ever since we met, no one else can compare. 

How can I be with someone else, when I’m with them, it’s you I see.

You can have me, think of whoever you love. For tonight.

You can pretend I'm her/him. I don't care. I just want you.

[politemenacephd]

Question: So, if Miguel knows spider!reader in Arachnophilia, and spider!mig is mentioned in AFM, does reader know her own spider variant (personally or from Miguel/other spiders mentioning them) ??

I love both stories, and obvi the idea of Miguel & Reader being tied in several universes, but I was just curious on the idea of reader knowing.

oh im SO GLAD I get to talk about this THANK YOU SM cos its been on my mind for days!! I will use this chance to actually drop the dante fic cinematic universe timeline, which is: easing tensions - arachnophilia - a fortunate mistake - a fortunate mistake II There's certain things I gotta keep vague because I know how arachnophilia ends (and how it might tie into AFM II) and I don't want to spoil, but I'll talk about a bit because I'm rabid rn.

I wanna add for the sake of my lore on multiverse stuff, Miguel's who are turned into Spider-men are quite rare? I think this gets mentioned in AFM but Miguel's in general are rare, Spider Miguel's even more so. I took him saying Gabi's universe was the one where he was happy to heart, along with the fact we see zero variants of him in the society. That shit was always the most interesting thing to flesh out. I also don't know if I've ever talked about nena's multiverse story properly either, but its pretty tragic. She largely only exists in universes where Miguels' exist, and in all the ones where she comes into contact with him she dies. Our Miguel's universe is the only one where she doesn't, and Miguel blames this inititally on his canon but, as we know, canon isn't real, in reality it's because our Miguel was the only one with multi-verse experiences that humbled his apathy and violent tendencies. It's sort of like how meeting Miles put Peter B. on a better course, Peter's influence on Miguel is something no other Miguel had and it changed him in a way that made him capable of growing. Vig is the only other one we've met and it's obviously implied he was a poor partner who became a good dad after nena's death. Nena is like, universal collatoral damage, and it's only in the universe where she wasn't 'meant' to love him that she got to be loved. It's fucked up and she deserved better fr.

BUT I will say, to actually answer the question (sorry lol) the reader in arachnophilia is actually not a variant of the reader from AFM. I am sticking with the rule that AFM reader is never a spider, because its important later hehe.

BUT! But this makes Spider!Mig and readers relationship equally interesting to me anyway. I am a sucker for starcrossed lovers, excellent trope, and while it was meant to be a one-off I wanna use it to explore the idea of fully abandoning ones canon and exploring a relationship beyond the bounds of ones universe. I will be going more into Spider!Migs backstory for this, but I think the films never properly addressed the potential dangers/tragedy of love between people from different universes. I used it a bit with OG Miguel with my explanation for what happened with Gabi, E.g him trying to combine their universes, but this is especially spicy. So, again, actual question (I'm so sorry I swear this is all I think about, rip my PhD) as of AFM II reader also doesn't know about Miguel's variants beyond Vig, YET. Miguel is aware of Spider!Mig and reader as of AFM, and if you go back you can see a lot of his mindset in there, especially when he talks about not wanting kids because of his genetic mess and feeling like he's too dangerous.

Miguel as a character is great, I can't say that enough, he's harboring so much self loathing and unaddressed trauma that while he wants to do the right thing he imposes very strict rules that always end in hypocricy. In the same way I think he's awful to Miles because he see's Miles making the same mistake he did (e.g destroying the universe for a loved one) and a lot of his violence is like, imposed, he's awful to his variants because he knows he's fucked up his own moral compass and takes it out on them.

But yes Miguel knows where they are, he has not told reader though, but I do want to have them cross paths.

[juodojimirtis]

I wonder how much truth is in Adriel saying he loved Areala. I have my suspicion he's sincere enough. I think he did love her, though possibly in his own twisted way.

He saw her as his, from the very beginning. His little Halo Bearer. His key to power. But soon enough, he became intrigued by her. She was sharp. Sharper than anyone else. She saw right through him. His lies. His manipulations. And she was beautiful. His curiosity turned to lust. And then, to obsession. He would have burn the world for her, laid the Heavens at her feet, as long as she loved him.

She was curious about him too. Wary of him, but curious. She found herself attracted to him. She would think of him in the dead of night... It frustrated her. She never cared for love nor sex. Until now. She had given vows, yet still, they meant less and less to her. God was helpless against the charms of the Devil. Her frustration only made it worse. Eventually, she fell for him, in spite of knowing who he was.

One kiss sealed both of their fates. Their relationship was an open secret in the OCS. Sadly, their love did not have a happy ending. She pleaded him to see reason. To cease his unholy charade. But, she could not get through to him. So she did what she had to do, sacrificing her life, and her heart.

"Forgive me, my love..." she whispered with her dying breath, as the look of betrayal in his eyes before he lost consciousness hurt more than any wound ever did.

I find it interesting Adriel appears to be wearing a... Wedding ring? I like to theorize he and Areala married in secret, and he still hangs onto her. Because Adriel doesn't let go. Oh, and that their wedding vows ended with "in this life, and the next". Then, it would make sense for him to keep the ring, he'd still consider her his wife. Maybe, he'd hope to get her back after becoming God.

The OCS nuns giving the middle finger to their vows romance-wise would also make sense, since it started with the founding member.

Damn, Adrieala is such a bittersweet ship. I hate the Starcrossed Lovers trope, unless the lovers are powerful enough to rearrange the stars.

[jaywritesrps]

What do you mean by

There's just two ways to clean this mess and it's very clear that they are not willing to go there to do it, so the best we can do is enjoy the ride and watch it crash and burn.

I personally think that ash should’ve just said fuck it and had a go back at ali and kk, when they started making up lies, but ash was nice enough with her retirement. Ash doing the right thing for the kids only ended up her being the shitkicker in this situation, she waited way to long with her statement and the narrative was set. Like even Sophia said in the video if it wasn’t for ash/kids she would’ve got lawyers involved

I mean there are 2 things that they could do to turn this hate on Ashlyn, without exposing her kids, but they aren't going to do it, cause both of them demands Ashlyn coming out of her comfortable position of using Sophia's resources as a shield. You can try a clean tactic or shady tactic:

1) clean one: Ashlyn stops letting Sophia fight her battles for her, come clean about everything and actually do something to justify the attention on her rather than just being her girlfriend's plus one. When I say come clean, I mean really clean, in as stopping pretending she is something that she isn't or adopting her gf's orientation. It's strip down all this show of fancy clothes and fashionable persona she created over the years, everything that is related to that and dress like a regular person (it's easier for people to connect and hear someone's voice when they notice the celeb is more down to earth when they dress humbly) and speak her version, closer to reality as possible, general public knows well when they are being lied to and she has to win their trust first. Also it's very important she finds something to work with outside soccer or anything sport related (cause she lost sport press' sympathy they won't help her to clean her image) or entertaining/political related, causual audience/main public will have more sympathy towards her if they see her doing anything that is not connected to her soccer past or connected with Sophia's works. They were joking again about her being a trophy girlfriend through this whole day. She only validates those comments by pretending to be a celebrity for association.

2) the shady one: It's try to change the narrative by creating a new one. This is pretty much by starting a rumor that they ended the relationship, then wait for a couple of weeks to the rumor to grow and let the haters really think they broke up, so the fanfics start to run and a lot of versions will pop without moving a finger, and then slowly showing them back together with the narrative that they tried to split but ended getting back together cause they realized they missed each other. This time with Ashlyn being the one doin the talking, and highlight how she felt miserable without Sophia and yada yada yada. The narrative will stop being about them cheating on their partners to something more as a starcrossed lovers, to sell that neither the haters could split them and they are really meant to be and all tht lovey dovey crap general public loves so much.

But again, they already showed they arent willing to do neither of those things, cause especially to the first one, it would demand her to tell what really happened between her and Ali and she won't do that not cause of the BS of "PrOtEcTiNG ThE cHiLdReN" or "I'm A pRiVaTe PeRsOn", it's because it's easier for Ali to debunk her version cause Ali has proof that Ashlyn didn't tell her about the divorce and she has public/press sympathy and it's easier for ashlyn let Sophia tarnish the name she took years to build to protect her than telling the truth.

[supercasey]

What Your TMA OTP Says About You

By a dumb asexual who makes too many sex jokes

Jon/Martin: You project onto/kin at least one of these two fools, but no matter what, you are yearning for a relationship like theirs. You're also probably a theatre kid, at least spiritually.

Elias/Peter: You like the dynamic of Jonmartin, but you think it would be 10x better if Martin bullied Jon back and if they were both GILFs. You also probably have "Big Boy Man" as your ringtone.

Tim/Sasha: You believe that both of these characters deserved better, and you probably love the Archivist Sasha AU more than life itself. Also, Tim gets pegged.

Basira/Daisy: You are a hotbed of drama, which is completely unintentional on your part and you rarely participate in it at will; you just want some quality wlw content, and you will not be stopped from getting it.

Melanie/Georgie: You are completely done with Jon's shit, but you still find him somewhat endearing in his panic induced stupidity. You are also a wlw and want to live in a small apartment with your gf and cats, but only if the apocalypse is happening in the background.

Michael/Gerry: You like Jonmartin, but you also want to crank that shit to 100 and blast MCR in the background while they kiss. You also might kin Nico from PJO, and you are most certainly a scene kid.

Jon/Gerry: You are all about that sadboi content, and I honestly can't tell which of these depressed motherfuckers you kin, but I know you kin at least one of them.

Jon/Martin/Gerry: Same as Jonmartin, but you're dead certain that Gerry would be an amazing addition/middle man for them and that he would've gotten them into a relationship together by the end of season 1.

Gertrude/Agnes: There is literally nothing more heartbreaking yet addictive to you than starcrossed lovers that can never be together because of circumstances outside of their control. You're also gay.

Leitner/Gertrude: You honestly just find it so funny that Jonny Sims' parents voice these characters so that's why you ship them. You either hated or loved when they roasted Jon at the end of S3, there is no in-between.

Jude/Agnes: You are a Jude Perry kinnie/you want to set the world on fire beside the woman of your dreams. Probably a top.

Jon/Tim: You lived for the sassy bits between Tim and Jon in seasons 1-2 and you would give anything for Tim to have kissed Jon to shut him up midway through a rant.

Mike/Simon: You're here to love Mike Crew and fuck some GILFs. Press F to pay respects to our short king.

Jon/Michael: I don't know what's going on with you after S3, but dear God do you wanna fuck monsters, specifically if they look like a Bill Cipher humanization that you can only perceive while doing acid.

Jon/Elias: You are an Eliasfucker and you wear that badge with pride.

Martin/Peter: You are an Eliasfucker and you hide this fact at all costs. Also you probably have a very complicated relationship with your father.

Jon/Basira: You thought Tim was spot on about these two being good together; they're bookworm buddies!

Jon/Georgie: You cannot get enough of absolute off his shits college!Jon and frankly, good for you. You also want Georgie to peg you.

Melanie/Basira: Just a couple of gals being pals, and nothing is sexier than performing life-saving, non-consensual surgery on your GF so she doesn't start killing people... according to you, apparently.

Jonah/Barnabas: You heard Jonah say that he held affection for a character mentioned exactly one time even though he left him to die, and you went fucking feral. Tbh you just wanna get with a Victorian dude.

Jonah/Mordecai: This is just Elias/Peter but with more Victorian outfits and letters that would be considered incredibly scandalous, even for the era. Also it makes Elias/Peter 100x more uncomfortable, but I guess some people are into that???

Jon/Martin/Tim: Why be just friends when you can all be in a gay polyam relationship together and kiss? In other words, every fight between Tim and Jon has gutted you like a fucking fish.

Jon/Martin/Tim/Sasha: Same as before, but you stan the first season of the series so hard that people outside the fandom think it's an office comedy.

Gertrude/Elias: Somehow you came to the conclusion that if Elias got pegged then none of the bullshit in the series would've happened.

Melanie/Helen: You're similar to the Jon/Michael shippers in that you wanna fuck monsters, but more like the kind of monsters that make your eyes bleed and your brain melt when you fully perceive them.

Jon/Helen: You either started shipping this as a joke or to cope with the death of Michael, there is no in-between.

Jon/Nikola: You heard Jon admit that he got daily, fully body lotion massages from Nikola and you lost your fucking mind. Clownfucker.

Breekon/Hope: Breekon's statement made you cry for a hundred thousand years, and you will never be over it. Fuck getting a bunch of divorces like Lonelyeyes, you wanna stay with your soulmate until the end of time!

Nikola/Jane Prentiss: You want more wlw content, but specifically you want them to be cartoonish supervillains who can't stop kissing each other in the middle of trying to murder Jon.

Alright, that's all the one's I'm doing. Please don't send me any hate, these are all just meant to be jokes!

[takaraphoenix]

1, 2, 24, 20, 19 for Buffy?

Thanks for playing, these look fun! ^-^

1. First ship you remember

Tara/Willow. When the show first started airing, I was too young to watch. I was only allowed to watch it during season 4, I think Hush might have been one of the first episodes I watched; it wasn't even from the beginning of season 4 on. So just around when Tara and Willow first started blooming, got closer, became a thing. Me, a back then still closeted little lesbian, that was so incredibly impactful and truly, for me the timing I started watching this show was just right.

2. Your newest ship

Probably Robert Dowling/Dylan Turner. Don't even ask me. I just want Spike and Buffy to have a nice, normal couple who they can go on double dates with. I also really like both of them and do think their personalities would fit together.

19. Ship that you never expected to ship.

Mh, probably Angel/Cordelia? Considering how they started out on BtVS, it is pretty amazing how much AtS changed them and their dynamic.

20. Ship that you liked but don’t anymore

Definitely Angel/Buffy. As a kid, I really loved that a lot because of that tragic starcrossed lover vibe and the feeling of validation that this older guy thought she oh so mature. With every year added to my life, I fell more and more out of it to the point of "hell no, and you are not making it any less creepy by having them point out how inappropriate it is every single episode, Joss"... because, genuinely, either you want to be on the moral high horse of showing that older guys/teenage girls are bad, or you want them to be fated, tragic lovers meant to be. He was, in a very weird way, trying to do both.

24. Biggest notp

100% Riley/Buffy. The way she was trying to make herself smaller than she was with him because of his inferiority complex really hurt to watch, she is such an amazing, strong character who deserves to stand tall and own her power. Not to mention the way that trainwreck ended...

Fandom Ship Ask Game

[thegirlwholied]

How about Loki/Stephen Strange from Marvel? I always consider it more of a rivals to lovers ship (especially in the MCU, the comics are kind of a different story) but I've definitely seen people call it enemies to lovers.

The way enemies-to-lovers is used as such a blanket term is what inspired This Dumb Chart, which will/should encompass rivals-to-lovers! i.e., Pride & Prejudice is often grouped as enemies-to-lovers and sometimes as THE initiating enemies-to-lovers novel & while its influence cannot be underestimated, imho it’s more dislike-to-lovers and the dislike is mostly one-sided following a Bad First Impression. Now, thrown into Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, they're more zombie-killing competitors: so rivals>l that go-round! 

But I find enemies-lovers still effective in terms of pitching that P&P-esque, I-despise-you to I-adore-you turn, and so many more obvious e>l stories are very P&P influenced. So The Chart will cover the blanket version... which is a long way of saying it should fit either the E>L or R>L version of this ship!

Which brings me to my other key This Dumb Chart explain-y point:

Within a ship, every fic *could* fall under a different subtype ~ especially as specific as I’m getting.

 By which I mean... oh no do I even want to risk using this example? And yet it’s so obvious: Rey & Kylo Ren from Star Wars are going to be a very different subtype if you follow my silly chart for their canon selves than if you do in a fic where a) he goes full redemption arc or b) she joins him, dark queen style. (I am confident assuming fics of both type exist but yes this is a case of ‘she doesn’t even go here!) 

You’re generally still going to be safely within enemies-to-lovers if the canon ship is enemies-to-lovers (or if they’re downright canon enemies) but- outside canon, variety!

So this may help me find flaws in my draft-system so far as I don't know Loki/Strange well (only via following you! I am as usual in my own little corner of fandom) but to take a crack at it:

we’re looking at different paths if you think they’d group more properly under “PERSONAL” or just “Opposing Sides” (which leads pretty quickly to ‘YOU’RE JUST STARCROSSED’ in cases where characters connect/respect/lurve each other pretty darn immediately despite the opposing sides of it all!)

But my read on Loki/Strange is, essentially, Both, right? 

Even when Loki is teamed up with the Avengers, and he is working with Thor/not directly in opposition to Strange when they meant in MCU canon, in comic book terms, we’ve got the classic comic-book villain/hero dichotomy in play, and I think definitely the Immediately Capable of Grating On Each Others’ Nerves personal aspect? 

...and of course my ‘Both’ section is the most Very-Much-In-Early-Draft-Stage section while the other two paths are fairly together, feedback very welcome and trying to fit ships in will likely help me find major flaws in my paths-so-far... but anyway away we go!

next question once we’re in BOTH will be “is the enmity mutual” (because sometimes it is only one-sided! Darcy influence abounds!). Loki/Strange I’m thinking that is a yes which should then should send us to:

...here. Which is a dilemma.

I think Loki might probably put *himself* more ‘in the certain POV’ & yet I would, thinking of him at the end of Thor & Avengers one & his attitude in general lean more toward “and proud of it”. Mileage may wildly & widely vary but...

...yeah I’m going with ‘and proud of it’.

(there’s only 2 options for the split here because I’m letting the ‘opposing sides’ do some heavy lifting in terms of them already being in clear-enough opposition and the choices ‘only from a certain POV’ will have backtrack options for the ‘neither is ‘bad’ actually’ types that have wandered down this path) 

But if we’re going ‘and proud of it’ my next question (option variety currently so wide I need to narrow it down or this is going to get out of control) is what changes? and  

that is then going to vary by fic.

but means we’re on track for this zone generally... which I think tracks? Or maybe Loki’s getting his Redemption Song on but... this zone seems his vibe.

[im-the-punk-who]

Could you post some more malex thoughts? What about that song? Or thoughts on them being endgame? Or season 3 malex thoughts?

Baby’s first RNM meta request 😭

ABSOLUTELY I can.

So I am gonna start with my S3 thoughts and endgame thoughts because everything else will tie into that.

From what I’ve seen, Roswell had 5 seasons originally planned, which is still what it feels like it needs to me. Which is cool! It also means we’re probably(hopefully, actually) not gonna get canon malex in s3.

The show has set them up as the ‘will-they-won’t they’ couple - most of their tension together focuses on *whether or not they get together* instead of if they’ll stay together. To me at least, it’s pretty clear the show’s assumption is that if they end up actually getting together in a healthy way(which they both seem to want in their relationships now), they will stay together.

If the show actually does it’s job right and takes the time to let both of them heal, grow, and experience other things that likely won’t happen until at least mid s4. It would make a nice dramatic midpoint for the season, they could play out a bit of that relief of finally being together in the late s4, and then whether or not they renew s5 they’ve told the story they wanted to. But if they do get a fifth season they can play with some hurt/comfort with Michael and Alex actually building/cementing their relationship. 

As we’re seeing with Liz and Max, tension has to come from somewhere and where RNM(as most shows do) fails is thinking it needs to come from the relationship, which is what I’m afraid would happen if malex get together so soon after making the(at least private) commitment to get better for each other. There won’t be enough time for growth and dramatic build to sustain the afterglow and they’ll have to find something else to torment the poor boys with. 

I don’t hold out a *super* large amount of hope for it, because like...this is the CW. But I do think either way malex will likely be endgame. Just from everything the show has told us and set up, I would be extremely surprised and honestly really fucking angry if they don’t. Not necessarily because they’re My Ship, or because it would be any sort of queer baiting - they’d both still be undeniably queer and I assume Alex would end up with Forrest or someone else in that scenario.

Honestly it would just be bad storytelling to set up your characters as having this deep cosmic connection, setting them up directly in parallel with our other pairs of starcrossed lovers Max/Liz and Nora/Tripp, dropping all the hints in the music choices(Holy Moly being the big one when linked with the Would You Come Home scene, but there are other small parallels in song choices - ‘Through Your Eyes’ as Alex walks away in 2x06 for example.) Especially with the literal confirmation that they both still *want* to be with each other (Alex’s song saying ‘if I got better and worked through my issues can we be together’ and Michael recognizing he’s got to give Alex the space to do that work so that maybe someday they can be together. ‘It’s not our time right now.“ “But it will be.” “I hope so.”)

Anyway! So, I would count a Not-Malex-Endgame as a bad ending, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get zero canon Malex content in S3. In fact given where the characters are, I think it would be an AMAZING choice to have these characters who are fan favorites and who everyone *wants* to be endgame - stay apart and work on themselves, and build all that TENSION( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) for an entire season in order to cash in for an s4 payoff.

Also, I really want to see Alex grow as a person. 

Michael really started to change in Season 2 - we’ve seen him start trying to be better, dealing with his emotions more, recognizing how bad his relationship with Alex is and trying to improve with Maria as well as building his other relationships, too. To me, Michael is already very different than he was in S1 and honestly, Alex has some catch up to do in terms of working on his fears and how they relate to how he cannot stand to be around Michael in stressful situations.

To that end, I really want to see how Alex and Forrest interact, and how a relationship with Forrest might change Alex. We heard before that Alex doesn’t really consider himself to have had a real relationship, and Forrest does *not* seem the type to be up for a fast and easy thing, so I think he could really push Alex to face his issues around commitment and his tendency to cut and run. 

Which would actually be really cool! I am not a Forrest-endgame person at all, mostly because he seems both way too put together and way too needy for Alex long term, but I do think they would be really fun to see played against each other and also just .... nice things for Alex Manes please. 

Also then we get lots of Michael making sad eyes at Alex which is just *chefs kiss*.

For Alex, his personal conflict has always centered around his trauma, his father, being ashamed and afraid of being openly gay, and having enough faith in people to believe he personally is worth fighting for and my main wish for Alex is to finally fucking learn how to love and be loved in return.

So in that vein and especially if we see Malex as endgame, it only makes sense that Michael’s journey needs to be a parallel one of him finding something worth staying on earth for. He’s started to build a family for himself fucking finally - Maria, Isobel, Sanders, hell I think there is even the potential for Liz, Max, and Kyle to be family. And of course, Alex has always been his family. But previously no one has ever had his back in the way he’s had theirs. 

From what we’ve seen, Michael has always been the one who gives with his whole self - both Maria and Alex comment on it - “I don’t doubt your capacity for love” & “He keeps secrets because of how much he loves Max and Isobel, not because of how much he loves you.” He is a character who has spent his life throwing affection and emotion at the wall and seeing what(if anything) sticks. 

He took the crayon from Max at the orphanage, told Isobel he killed the girls, dropped his plans to leave Roswell for her, he both defended Alex from his father and didn’t stop him from leaving a place he was in danger, he let Liz experiment with his blood for Isobel’s antidote. He tells Alex once that he was glad that Max and Isobel had an easier time, even if it meant he didn’t. Michael’s biggest character flaw is that he believes he has to be useful to be wanted. That he, as he is, is unloveable. Or, maybe better put, that he is not worthy of the kind of love others have.

In S3 I want this challenged, CW I will fight you. I *REALLY* want to see him have to face head on his assumption that he’s going to leave Earth at some point and everyone is going to be fine with that. I want him to realize he’s become core in someone’s life again. I want to see someone grab hold and refuse to let go. I want it to get messy, and I want them to stay, damnnit! 

I want to see Michael start making plans to stay again.

I said in a previous meta that I thought the growth Michael has gone through already would lead to him being approached by Jones with an offer to leave (so that Jones can separate the pod squad, so that he can use Michael to get to Max, something like that) and I really want to see what decision a more grounded Michael might make in a situation like that.

And what my tiny shriveled shipper heart REALLY wants is a scene where Michael is put to this choice of being able to leave and - despite being offered everything he has been working towards for his entire life - the relationships he’s built are strong enough to make him stay(again.)

(Hint, I REALLY want this to be Alex, for the plot resolution for them in S3 not to be ‘we get together’ but to be ‘we are able to recognize that we can BE there for each other even if we aren’t together’, which would lead spectacularly into an early/mid s4 get together after some light angst :) 

I have a lot more thoughts re: what I want from everyone else and what I’d love to see from the non pod-squad squad (MARIA ALEX LIZ ROSA PICNIC DATE WHEN) (CENTERING YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS OF COLOR WHEN) (TRY MAKING YOUR VILLAIN NOT A FUCKING PERSON OF COLOR!) Also like, Generyx, Deep Sky, Mr. Jones, possible connections between them and characters who aren’t pod squad oh my god can we for one episode focus on someone else, etc, but like.....this is already so long so maybe that’s for another time xD

Also as stated like....this is a CW show so this isn’t what’s going to happen, but it’s what a I *DESPERATELY WANT* to happen. My interaction with RNM is VERY much dead-plot-do-not-eat until proven otherwise and I’m just here to no-thoughts-head-empty enjoy the parts of Malex I like and ignore everything else :)

I’m gonna use this image that Diana made me because honestly this should be a disclaimer to any RNM post I make.

[mneiai]

Star Wars AU Drabble

When the beginnings of a clone army are discovered, the Republic turns against the Jedi who must have commissioned an army to take control. 

Obi-Wan/Satine.

AO3 Link

"Ben," the way Satine says his name jolts Obi-Wan from his memories of Qui-Gon, and he's not surprised when she's suddenly there, in front of him.

After tucking Anakin safely away with the Naberries on Naboo, he'd known he had to make a choice (one teenage boy wasn't so hard to hide, a man along with him became harder, he could not risk the Naberries, Anakin, or Naboo). To stay in Republic space at all was to invite death at every turn--he had no illusions about what happened to most of the Jedi who were arrested, he'd felt too many deaths in the Force over the last few months.

The comm to Satine was short, coded with phrases they'd used while on the run. He'd left for Mandalore without a reply, knowing it was too much risk for both of them.

He'd been approached as soon as he entered the space port, taken through backstreets and a utility entrance, and now he was here, in Satine's home.

"I thought--I thought the worst, before you commed."

Obi-Wan hesitated only a moment before gesturing in offer of an embrace, which she readily took. As proper as she could be, as much as she wanted to ignore her people's traditional culture, she still felt as strongly as any of them.

Holding her tightly, breathing in the scent of her (and the lilies that must have been in her hair before she came to see him), he allowed himself to relax for he first time since the Chancellor's announcement.

"Thank you, for doing this. You--I'm sorry for bringing any danger here, with me."

She scoffed. "You're just returning the favor, now I'm the one who gets to protect you." Her voice softened. "I know what it's like, to have your House threatened. I wish you weren't experiencing this."

After, she helped him settle into a grand room, clean up, and the two of them settled in for a meal. The food was familiar enough to be nostalgic and while Obi-Wan normally didn't have much of an appetite, he found himself eating all of it.

"I know enough about the culture here to pass, I can even fake an accent, I just need the papers to go along with it," he finally said, into a lull in the lighter conversation they'd been holding. "I can head to one of the more transient areas and--"

"Your plan is to hide here?"

She was container enough to not be easy to read in the Force, but there as a hot edge of determination that made Obi-Wan pause.

"Yes, it won't be long until the Republic starts pressing the outside systems harboring Jedi to turn us over or face consequences."

Not that he knew why. The excuses given, about the clone army that had been found in its nascent stage, was ridiculous. The Jedi Order didn't want an army and definitely not to take over.

"You'll need to hide. Any slip into that Coruscant accent, any show of the Force, and the game would be up." Before he could protest, she reached over to him, placing a hand over his. "Ben...when we...when you left. What were you thinking?"

She knew, of course she knew. She'd been too familiar with the weight of duty to say anything about it, before.

"...I would have stayed, if you asked."

"You couldn't, because of the Order. Because Jedi can't follow their hearts. But...I don't want to use what we have out of cynicism, I don't want to taint it, but to anyone who learned our story, wouldn't this look like the perfect opportunity?"

He'd dwelt on it for two days as Satine handled her duties and he spoke to her people. Even before he had accepted, they were outfitting him in a wardrobe of expensive Sundari clothing and briefing him on recent politics and policies.

Satine thought it was inevitable. Obi-Wan suspected it really was.

They kicked it off with an official announcement, that included Obi-Wan having to stand up on holocam and say he was no longer a Jedi. It was infuriating, but he didn't know what else to do. Maybe other Jedi would come, knowing they'd be safe, and they could quietly continue the Order until they could become public again.

Not that Obi-Wan would be doing that with them....To save others, he'd have to break some of the most basic tenants of the Order. He couldn't just pretend to be with Satine, he would be, he'd let himself get so attached he wouldn't be able to return to being a Jedi.

His announcement was broadcast throughout Mandalore and picked up, of course, by Republic news. He, Satine, and her speech writers had spun a tale of starcrossed lovers, duty, and how Obi-Wan was finally 'free.'

The Mandalorians ate it up, of course.

So they dated. Or maybe it was more like they courted. Someone, somewhere, dug up a few records of his mission to protect her. He found himself doing activities just for the press, just to make his story more believable (to protect Satine, to protect Mandalore).

Not that it was a smooth process. Not all the New Mandalorians liked him, even as he hid his lightsaber in special pockets and layers, because he wouldn't fully commit to pacifism (his people were out there being murdered, he couldn't swear he'd never find a way to help that could include violence).

A trip to Keldabe in an attempt to mend more ties ended up with him accidentally using Mando'a (blessedly not caught by anyone but the residents and a few of Satine's people), which somehow got around the city enough that the more traditional Mandalorians thought he was on their side.

Which was hilarious to Satine's people up to a point, and that point was Jango Fett's reappearance and claim to still be Mand'alor.

"He has the Republic's backing, no matter how well they're trying to hide it. Because of me," Obi-Wan hissed when they dug deeper into what Fett had been up to all these years.

"You know you're not to blame, the Republic is becoming more expansionist. They want Mandalore to submit to their rule and are using Fett as a way to get that."

"I can't believe he'd give up Mandalore just to rule it."

That had caused Satine to look thoughtful and the very next day that was the speculation across the holonews networks--that to follow Fett was to join the Republic. It effectively squashed much of his support, especially since Satine decided desperate measures were necessary and sent Obi-Wan to talk to many of the traditional hold-outs. He--his attitude towards fighting, his knowledge of Mando'a--was a sign that maybe if they kept pushing, the New Mandalorians would compromise on something.

Obi-Wan felt bad about perpetuating the lie, but he owed Satine too much not to help her. And he'd been trained to play politics, even if that was from a Jedi perspective.

He'd been on comm silence for much of a year when he finally heard from Anakin. It wasn't what he'd been expecting and he had a sinking feeling in his stomach (a warning hum in the Force) as Anakin said the Chancellor had pardoned him and any other Padawan or initiate who renounced the Jedi.

Anakin thought it meant that Obi-Wan should return, that since Obi-Wan had wanted to leave as a Padawan but been forced to stay (and, oh, how the holonet had twisted his story after it had been released) and was a hero of the Chancellor's on planet, that he could get a pardon, too.

But there was something wrong, Obi-Wan knew it. Anakin seemed happy, healthy, but...even with their training bond stretched to near-nothing, he was unsettling.

A part of him felt awful doing it, but he turned down the offer. He used his relationship with Satine as an excuse, so it would not be taken by the Chancellor as some sort of insult.

The Chancellor who lied about the Jedi, ordered them destroyed, and was trying to get control of Mandalore.

Obi-Wan had a sinking feeling he knew why, knew what was behind all of this, and could only pray that Anakin could resist the Dark better than most of their lineage had.

Notes: For the AU verse, basically someone investigated Sifo-Dyas' path way earlier, the clone army wasn't at all ready (nor was the Separatists or the political turmoil set up well enough) and so Palpatine manipulated things to look like the Jedi meant to basically take over the Republic.

[theartificialdane]

Ah 🤣 I'm sorry I didn't mean for it to sound angsty! I just meant it would have been nice to see the friendship between b and v before anything else. I'm a sucker for the friends to lovers trope. and of course because Vanj wouldn't ever flirt with someone else while she had a boyfriend so when b realises he has a thing for her it will initially feel one sided. So a little angst eventually sure but only slight

Are we sure B would develope feelings though?

It’s my headcanon sprinkled with irl facts, but from what I believe a large part of Brooke’s intial attraction first came from respecting Vanjie as a professional with skills he himself didn’t have, and then those feelings only shift after Vanjie (with the help/force of Silky) admitting to having feelings first?

Brooke specifically talks about in Hey Human who he has accidentially chased off a lot of potential relationships by being too intense, and I fully imaging what he enjoys so much with his dynamic with Vanjie and why he ends up behaving so freely is because Vanjie is obviously (in a very positive way) more invested in the beginning.

Vanjie wears his heart on his sleeve, and I fully think that personality trait made Brooke very attracted to Vanjie since he could let go of a lot of his insecurities.

You may not enjoy what you hear, but Vanj will always tell you to your face how he feels.

I don’t think Brooke would nessesarily have the courage to be the one that introduces any amount of flirt into their dynamic, so I could actually see B never developing a relationship with Vanjie at all beyond someone he finds funny but that he doesn’t connect with?

Also this has turned into something super long, but B&V are truly starcrossed lovers because hot dang does/did the planets have to align for them to even find each other like the two blinde chicken idiots they are!

[mariana-oconnor]

@ameliahcrowley replied to your post “Watching the Jane Austen fandom collectively implode after the...”

I read a little about Sanditon, thought "Oh that's interesting", read on, discovered that it was the brainchild of the genius behind *that pond scene*, thought "Ah..." read some more, discovered that the incomplete nature of the text supposedly meant they had creative licence to do as they pleased, and tiptoed quietly away. I now kind of regret my choices because I have no idea what everyone's so worked up about.

SPOILERS below, people. Ye have been warned. Read no further should you wish to avoid such spoilers of Sanditon. If you don’t care and feel like reading more, click the read more link.

I read about it - notably the step-incest and sex scenes - and thought ‘wtf?!’ and decided to see what was going on. I’m not a massive Austen fan, though I have read and seen a lot of it because... literature student and Austen-loving friends. I tend to prefer adaptations because I find Austen’s prose bogs down the humour somewhat for me. I know it’s there, but it comes across better when I see people performing it.

So I come into this with little investment in ‘being true to Jane’.

Having said that, it has often been written that there is an unwritten contract in romance fiction. That being that there will be a happy ending. Jane Austen, though she predated the genre, is sort of the progenitor of it, so that contract is sort of all wound up in her work. What’s that quote? “The good end happily, the bad unhappily, that is what fiction is.” Jane Austen’s always seemed to me to have the decisive belief that everyone’s endings should be suitable to their characters and main characters have to earn their happily ever after married ending through hardship and character development.

Sanditon... did not do that.

The thing that 99% of the people online seem to be angry about is that the main pairing, the obvious endgame pairing, did not end up together. And, in a move that was actually pretty blatantly baiting them, there is a last minute (like really the last minute of the last episode) scene that looks like it’s going to be the romantic ‘I couldn’t let you get away. Everything is fixed. Will you marry me?’ moment, but then turns out to be the ‘I had to say goodbye. Duty compels me to leave you forever’ starcrossed lovers scene. They are apart, they are separated, the male love interest chooses his duty to his family and the need for money over love, the heroine sort of agrees with his decision... well, she never really has an opinion beyond ‘this makes me sad, but my regency manners forbid me to speak of this openly’. It’s very much not the ending that you go into a Jane Austen adaptation expecting.

The thing that upset me more, but which no one is talking about, is different. There’s another character, who’s been set up all along to have (reasonable) ambitions, talent and skill, who has been striving to better himself, and at the last minute, he is struck by tragedy and he turns his back on his dreams because of his own duty to his father and basically decides to continue with the life he chafes against, despite the fact that he’s been an entirely sensible, earnest and good-hearted character throughout. Again, not very Austen.

Overall, they are clearly trolling for a second series, because it is unfinished so why should they limit themselves? Either that or Andrew Davies - the writer - is so fed up of writing Jane Austen adaptations that he has decided to completely break down every cliche and stereotype of the genre in the desperate hopes no one will ever ask him to do it again. But I think he’s actually already adapted everything she’s ever written, so that might be too little too late.

[nerdgenie]

Ashburn sails

In celebration of the upcoming kiss that will probably kill us all, I put down all the things that made me love Ashburn.

They started off in a veeeerrrryy cute sexy way with Ash’s cock sure grin kick the chair out in invitation for Michael to join him teasing yet respectful flirting to Michael’s confused what am I feeling should I be feeling this this is not logical I don’t know how to act around him we should keep this professional but he is very interesting and I like spending time with him dynamics that had me smiling at my TV whenever they’re on screen together.

Their attraction evolved into something deeper as their relationship progressed. Ash helped Michael to be more human– to be more open and in touch with her emotions. Her eyes smiled when she was with Ash. Michael helped Ash heal and find peace after all that he went through. He put up a front around others, but he showed his pain to Michael.

Ash declared not only to protect Michael but to love her No. Matter. What. Michael Said. It. Back.

Another note on the protection thing. Ash is kind of a superhero. 30 something kills over Lorca’s 20ish kills. He is very capable, but he is not afraid to be vulnerable. He knows Michael is smart, strong and just as or maybe even more capable, and he was never threatened by that. Michael was always that one cradling him, and that was refreshing to see on TV.

As much as Michael took care of Ash, Ash did the same for Michael. He was very excited about Lake Shasta, but when Michael reminded him she was going back to prison after the war, Ash responded that maybe the war doesn’t have to end. As much as the needs of the many are important, the needs of the few (or the one) are important too. Michael was important. I think that assertion that early on in her redemption arc meant a lot to Michael.

They were each other’s home. The mirror universe took a toll on Michael. Ash was her reprieve. Ash was her anchor to herself.

I honestly thought the whole Voq mess would be the end of Ashburn. I grieved. When Ash lashed out at Michael, I was turned off. I thought that was the end of my love for Ash Tyler. But then “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for… Starfleet.” Damn, my boy is back! He realized his mistake, listened to Michael and respected what she wanted.

Listen, I never blamed Ash for Voq’s actions. It was painful to watch, but I was always of the mind that Ash was a victim. He was kidnapped and violated. What happened to him was incomprehensible. I even understood why he didn’t tell Michael when he was starting to notice things were off. It was wrong, yes, but it was also a very human thing to do. He was scared so he hid it. What I didn’t like was the whole “you can’t leave me I was a victim you don’t know how to love” meltdown he had when Michael broke up with him. However, the more I thought about it, I realized that Ash was confused and scared. The one he loved the most, the one he wanted to be human for was leaving him. He didn’t think he could ever be okay without Michael so he lashed out. But Michael, the queen that she is, stood her ground and left. Ash was alone. He had no choice but to do it alone. So he did. While Ash and Voq were having their internal battle, I don’t think Ash really considered having to redeem himself. He was focused on surviving and wanting to make sure that Michael was okay. It stopped there. Michael leaving was the spark that lit Ash’s realization that he needed to make amends. He needed to find himself again and rebuild. My love for Ash was restored and increased exponentially by this point, so I was back to grieving Ashburn because Michael was over it.

But them Michael opened up about her parents to Ash. Correct me if I’m wrong but this very important insight about Michael was never revealed before in the series at this point. The show’s main character told another character something very important about herself for the first time ever in the show. If that does not scream the relationship of these two characters are important to us I don’t know what does.

Ash decided to go with L’rell to Kronos. Yay for Ash’s redemption, eeewww for everything else. Michael’s surprised face. Michael was obviously planning to be separated from Ash until their individual redemption arcs were complete and they were both healthy human beings then maybe try or not try the relationship again but that’s okay since they will still be in the same ship and breathing the same recycled air. Ash leaving Discovery was not something Michael wanted.

Bowline. Nuff said.

“To me, Tyler, it feels like violation.” I never really empathized with L’rell.

“I need to take this call”

The awkward small talk. The longing. Ash wanting to end the call after the official business had been taken cared off as it physically pained him to talk to Michael this way and not love her the way he wanted. Michael wanting to hold on to and prolong whatever moment she can with Ash.

The way the scene was shot. The narrative is convincing enough of Ashburn. The juxtaposition of their locations during their call was just an added bonus-- the show telling us that these two are their starcrossed lovers, the love story (among all the other wonderful stories) they wanted to tell.

Michael’s reaction to seeing Ash. She was thrown again. She already accepted that Ash’s and her paths were different. She belonged on the Discovery while Ash chose Kronos. Our boy really needs to stop surprising our girl and start discussing major life decisions with her soon. No matter, we will get to that at some point. 

“It’s good to see you.” “I feel the same”

Michael walked it to the bridge and locked eyes with Ash. Strictly professional interactions blah blah blah. The camera panned from Michael to Ash. The two shared a look. Crumbs. But I’ll take it.

“I was in love with her, and she was not entirely disinterested in me.” Was. Ha! Sure, keep telling yourself that. Ash knows he loves Michael. He admits it, but he is not allowing himself to feel the full force of his love because he needs to be okay without her. It’s the same thing when he wanted to end their call ASAP. It’s his I need to be able to function without her in my life strategy. Also, not presuming to speak for Michael by saying she loved him to. I stan a man who respects a woman's own agency.

Ash’s faith in Michael. He will always choose Michael over everything else, including his new home where he thinks he can belong to. I don’t think I need to say how huge that is for someone who is struggling for a place in the universe, but there. I said it.

Michael’s unwavering faith in Ash. She believes him without a doubt despite being presented evidence that incriminates Ash.

In season one, Michael was closed off, had no rank and was Starfleet’s most famous mutineer. She was at her lowest point. Ash reached out to her or rather kicked out a chair for her to sit with him and showed her she is worthy by believing in and loving her. Season two reverses their roles. Ash is at his lowest point now. He is keeping his feelings for Michael bottled up. He doesn’t fully understand who he is, and he lives with the guilt and stigma of Voq’s actions. Michael is the one reaching out now. She will show Ash he is worthy by believing in him when no one else does.

I honestly don’t know what will happen to these two. We will get an epic kiss for sure, but other than that I don’t know if these two will get married and have five babies, one set of twins and one set of triplets, and live happily ever after exploring deep space where no one has gone before in a new ship where Michael is captain and Ash is her no. 1. All I know is that these two are an epic love story. They are the love story that Star Trek Discovery is telling us.

BONUS: Daddy Pike: "What is going on with you two? And don't say nothing because I am totally sensing a vibe. Tyler, you are confined to quarters. Burnham, I order you to not go near him"

[howlsmovinglibrary]

i'm mad bc dany has been doing problematic things for seasons now but a lot of it has been framed heroically and it pisses me off that the showrunners called that "foreshadowing" as if the audience was entirely to blame for thinking dany's "heroic" behaviour meant she was a Good Guy, when they were the ones who framed it that way. then we had to waste time with tyrion + chairs and jon's emo trek into the wilderness when idgaf ??? sansa being queen in the north is the only thing im not mad about

I’m mad for the exact same reasons. There were some genuine flaws in Dany’s personality and her belief in her entitlement to the throne despite evidence of her being terrible at managing a city, that would’ve been good to exploit in a genuine, nuanced, hero-to-villain arc. I’ve always wanted Danaerys to become a villain, and have her problematic shit - which you’re right, the writers always seemed to portray as good and heroic - called out. But the writing was so rushed and disingenuous that it simultaneously undoes all the groundwork that was done for setting up this interpretation of her character, while saying that we should’ve known it from the beginning.

Instead of exposing her as a coloniser who weaponises non-white people to achieve her own ends, the show seemed to imply that her freeing people with initially good intentions was a sign of evil from the very beginning, rather than the hypocrisy of a would-be monarch who uses liberation rhetoric to try and justify the reasons why she should be given power. Tyrion’s whole speech regarding her past actions as symptoms of madness equates a slave rebellion with a million innocent civilian deaths, when those two things are very differe. What’s more, through the way this speech echoed criticisms of appeasement to Hitler in the second world war, this entire section of dialogue implied that a rebellion against slavery was the same kind of “warning sign” as, you know, racially motivated genocide. Meanwhile ‘Savage’ Dothraki and faceless Unsullied are used as the true signifiers that Danaerys has become evil -_-

I could’ve bought an evil Dany whose character was an exploration of imperialism. Instead I was given an evil Dany who is genetically destined for madness ‘because reasons’, whose sexual desire and ambitions for power turns her evil, who is surrounded by evil people of colour, none of whom question her actions while all the good white man start having deep and meaningful man pain and doubt.

And agreed, Sansa’s plotline was one of the only consistant threads of the series and one of few bright spots in this last episode. I eagerly await the ultimate starcrossed enemies-to-lovers fanfiction where her and Yara Greyjoy set up a Northern alliance in Theon’s memory and gradually fall in love despite the bad blood between their families.

[chokedecho]

( KIM CHUNGHA. CIS FEMALE. ) Everyone in Vivian’s pack knows of ( BO-HUI “VIOLET” MAE, ) one of her loyal Leechers. ( SHE ) is a ( 213 ) year old lycan known amongst their packmates for being ( FERVENT & DEVOTED ) but also quite ( RETICENT & SENTIMENTAL. ) They’re known for being the ( FALLEN. ) Though they are technically disbanded, they are still dedicated to their cause.

is me again, ur biss. sorry 2 anyone i owe plotting messages, i had fam over & am easily overwhelm but pls loveme anyway and love violet she’s worth it i promise ヽ(◕﹏◕)ﾉ

violet was born to a family of leechers, highly regarded among their peers and who were widely sort after during the war efforts against the vampires. as such, her birth was more a way of carrying on the family name than it was to bring a child into a loving home. that isn’t to say they didn’t love her in their own way, but it was a particular way and not one easily felt by a child.

when the call came for her parents to show their loyalty in a distinctly dangerous fight, they knew that they had a responsibility to keep her safe should they not make it home again. instead of leaving her with the nanny she was accustomed to, she was sent to a small, barely formed village in which some family friends had chosen to settle to raise their family in. two young sisters, a mother and a father, and only a handful of local humans who they theorised would not be an issue. at first she did not want to leave, but after a time of being there among a real family unit, she began to feel more at home than she ever had.

it’s assumed her parents fell to the vampires, as she nor her adoptive family ever heard from them again. she wasn’t given an opportunity to grieve before disaster struck in the peaceful town she’d found a haven in. the locals grew suspicious, and no matter how much the mother of the family tried to reassure her it wasn’t her fault, violet couldn’t help but feel she was bringing fuel to the fire. a mysterious young girl showing up in the middle of the night, no explanation given. it meant more animal killings, more near-sightings. more people were on edge, and whether it was her fault or not, the humans came for them.

cherry screamed as they took her, and violet remembers reaching out for her, wanting to hold onto her even if it meant taking her, too. she doesn’t recall who held her back, but her mind replays the same warning from the mother over and over again. run. don’t ever look back.

she was barely out of her preteens, too young to understand the world through the eyes of an adult. she could never return to her new home, nor to the place she had lived with her deceased parents. she ran as far as she could, and there she remained. lycan instincts alone kept her alive for those years, feral in areas that her presence would be seen as nothing more than another wolf in the woods. she was ashamed of herself, carrying the burden and the guilt of having destroyed a family so good to her, and the weight of her family name so heavy on her shoulders she could barely stand.

she lost track of dates and time, living that way for as long as she could before she was finally noticed. this time by a pack who took her in without many questions, gave her shelter and helped remind her of her more human side. she refused to tell them her birth name, only giving them the alias of violet despite the amount of time she spent with them, developing a trust and a bond.

quietly she admired a leecher in their pack, watching from afar as they went about their duties in a manner that reminded her of her birth parents and of a world she was too scared to rejoin. decades passed, and no matter the efforts the leecher put into protecting their pack, numbers still dwindled and the war waged on around them. when the friendly faces she’d learned to know and love slowly disappeared from her once more, she knew she could no longer stand by and watch. it was too painful, and far too shameful.

finally she revealed her name and her intention to fill her parents shoes, and from then on she trained. she trained hard. introduced to all the people she needed to know, things began to fall into place and she grew stronger, both physically and mentally, emotionally, a century of age on her side when opportunity finally came in a heartbreaking way. her pack’s leecher fell, the last and the only protecting her new family, and she was ready to step up and take their place to keep them safe. and she did.

yet more decades passed, faces came and went, both by choice and by not, and still she trained, working every day to be stronger, to be better, to be ready for anything.

the only thing she had not prepared herself for was the end of the war, and the shock that brought her.

she stayed among her pack, but she grew restless. she itched for the release of the fight, of the pride of protecting those she’d sworn to protect, and when word slowly spread across the waters of a stirring beginning in the supernatural streets of NYC, her interest was peaked.

sure that she had trained her successors well, she left her pack in good hands and travelled the miles to where she felt she was needed most. the place she believed her parents would have been, were they still alive. she wasn’t sure what she expected to find, but this uneasy truce between elders, leechers and death dealers, as well as new buddy system rules and secrets starcrossed lovers was not it. she’s feeling out of her element, hackles raised whenever she so much as sniffs a vampire nearby, but at least here she feels of use.

tl;dr -- goes by violet. is very old and does not trust vampires!!!! very lesbean, much gay. has some abandonment issues but who doesn’t. basically just rocked up to NYC because she’s heard whispers about the growing tensions here and she’s itching to protec and to attac. 

[lordmartiya]

Fox Rain chapter 03

@lilanette-week

@supermenteuse

@emblian

@starcrossed-stardust

I’m back! Sorry for the delay, but I needed to find information on foreign etiquette-and writing it was absurdly hard. Anyway, I started writing this chapter after the first episode of season 3. I will take some hints from that, but I still remain of the opinion I had when I started writing this: that Lila, when she first appeared, wasn’t evil. That, and in her months of absence she had been the target of a very experienced manipulator capable of using excessive means (seriously, financing a movie just to piss Lila off at the right moment?!)… And today we have the decisive moment. What, at least in my version, would have started pushing Lila toward the one villain that Papillon cannot control, but, due different circumstances, has a completely different outcome.

Chapter 03: Her Holyland

“Salima, was Vorpika hidden inside a half-Klingon, half-duck creature?!”

“I suppose we could call it that, y-”

The suite’s phone ringed, prompting Salima to distract herself-just long enough for her charge to leave.

Natalie took the pre-paid SIM card out of the old burner dumbphone, broke it, and threw it in the public thrash bin. It had done its job to try and isolate Lila Rossi from her oldest friend, and no matter if it worked or not it wouldn’t do to risk it being traced back to her. She had made the call from her car as she went to work for that reason, after all.

As she prepared to go back to Agreste’s mansion she started hoping it would work. She was painfully aware of how they were acting, and would be rather infuriating if it failed.

“WHO IN THE FUCKING WORLD WAS SUCH A DERANGED IDIOT TO PUT THIS ON LILA’S DESK?!” Lila and Marinette heard shouting.

That the shouter was Chloe Bourgeois, that she was pointing at the sheet of paper in her hand, and she had been cursing were all hints it was something unforgivable and she was beyond furious. Enough Lila glanced around for an Akuma, before grabbing the sheet from a very surprised Bourgeois and seeing it was a printout of a gossip site praising “Vorpika, the Real Wielder of the Fox Miraculous” and shitting on Volpina.

“I take I was being punked when they told me it’s a Parisian tradition to give new students some toilet paper?” Lila replied as she crumpled it, stopping Bourgeois mid-step as she was about to bolt.

“You-you aren’t getting Akumatized? I mean-”

“Just some idiot running their mouth and someone who should deal with I-know-what a better way.” Lila declared. Then, noting the whole class was there, she continued: “Speaking of idiots, I apologize for considering you one, and I think I did call you that, for taking at face value that claim about Jagged Stone. I had no idea it was believable.”

“Huff! As long as you admit you were wrong…” the mayor’s daughter replied. “But for the future, remember that in the class where everyone but two students and the homeroom teacher have been Akumatized at least once everything is believable.”

“And that makes sarcastic claims much more difficult to do.” the Italian girl replied with irritation. She had spent two whole weeks to come up with something unbelievable that would be immediate to the French, only to end in the same class as the daughter of Jagged Stone’s landlord and the girl who designed and created his Eiffel Tower glasses in an afternoon and drew the cover art for Rock Giant… What was she supposed to claim if she didn’t want to be believable? That Jagged Stone had a kitten? No, if what she had heard about his crocodile was true that could be believable too…

“Why don’t you use calling cards that declare you’re the Queen of Sheba?” Rose proposed, answering to the unvoiced question.

“For a very good reason: I hadn’t thought about it. You’re a lifesaver.”

With that Lila went to her seat, near Kudzberg, wondering why did Marinette and some of the others seemed so surprised about Bourgeois’ actions. Obviously she didn’t believe she’d let someone get Akumatized on purpose, so why she was so surprised?

As the class was being let out for the lunch break, Marinette was still having trouble believing that Chloe had been trying to stop an Akumatization. Maybe she was being unjust with her, but with everything she had pulled, especially in the four years before Marinette received her Miraculous, it was just surreal to see her trying to be helpful.

“But seriously, what’s with that stupid name? Vorpika, ha!” Chloe let out as she had been talking with Sabrina of the new hero, putting the world back in place.

“It’s Italian slang for “Fox-themed antihero from Rome”.” Marinette explained.

“And you expect me to believe it?”

“Would a confirmation from a Roman of Rome help?” Lila intervened. “The short version is that, back in the 1960s, the comic book Diabolik and its villainous protagonist made such an impression that it spawned an entire subgenre of Italian crime comics, and between that and Disney, of all publishers, getting in the game, in Italy names that end with “-ik” are reserved for villains and antiheroes of both genders, and “-ika” for female antiheroes(1). And if you add it to an actual word you can also get the character’s theme. For example, an evil guitarist would be named Chitarrik(2), a certain most evil comic book character was named Satanik(3) and Vorpika takes her name from the word for “fox” in Romanesco, the dialect of my beautiful Rome.

“An association quite obvious to an Italian… But not to a Frenchgirl, especially so far from the border. Let me guess, Italian relatives?”

“My grandmother, she used to visit often enough I picked up the language, well, I understand it, and a few other things, including body language. I used to be mistaken for an Italian on that alone…”

“Could have been worse, you could have been mistaken for an Englishgirl.”

Marinette was starting to get worried about Lila’s apparent hatred for England, but before she could even think to ask anything a tan boy their own age, dressed in rather covering clothes and with a pair of dark glasses and the most fake pair of mustache on his face, barged in and started addressing Lila in a language Marinette didn’t understand, with Lila covertly passing her phone to Rose that for some reason, used it to call someone as she left the classroom.

As Lila was calming down the newcomer, Marinette went in a corner and covertly asked Tikki what was happening.

“He guessed that Lila is Vorpika, apparently she “signed” her first appearance.” Tikki whispered. “Also, he thinks she got Akumatized on purpose to cover for it.”

As Marinette tried to process the fact someone could think Lila would do something like that (and noticed that Adrien too was in a corner and looked as Lila as she had grown a second head), none other than prince Ali’s chaperon came in and grabbed the boy with the fake mustache, who was looking at Lila in surprise.

“Had Rose call Salima, because, seriously, you have a crack shot as a chaperon for a reason.” Lila told her friend-who Marinette realized was the Prince Ali. “Seriously you can’t just come here like that!”

“After school at the hotel?” Ali replied.

“After school at the hotel. Stay safe, Lustro.”

“Don’t get into your nickname, Shijjar.”

As she looked at the prince being grabbed away by his chaperon, Marinette went to Lila, trying to speak through the shock.

“Yes, we are on nicknames term, comes with being each other’s oldest non-imaginary friend.” Lila said. “And no, we aren’t dating even if someone seems convinced we’re secret lovers.”

As Rose gave a shy smile at the remark, Marinette started wondering exactly how much had Lila actually lied, and why. It made no sense…

Trixx liked Lila for many reasons. Among others there were her cunning, her ability to use the illusions to their full and devastating effect, the “if I’m smart enough to pull it off” attitude (though that meant he’d have to work a lot to keep it in check. Especially at how she had accidentally used the “I’m half-Klingon half-duck”(4) in-joke between her and her friend and outed herself on the first sortie), the fact she actually knew how to play the dizi (he was a musical kwami, he needed that and instructing the Holder was always a pain), the wealth and related unwillingness to spend too much (by the description of her wardrobe, he’d have cried in pain had he been entrusted to Chloe Bourgeois), and the immense quantity of hair (made possible by the wealth) that allowed the kwami to stay close to her head without being noticed. The latter was especially useful right in that moment, as Lila, after visiting her royal friend, had just been given a potentially devastating news.

“What did you say?” Lila whispered in shock.

“This morning a woman called us and revealed that not only you aren’t friends with Ladybug, but also that you refused an offer of friendship.” Salima, the chaperon, repeated. “I of course reported this and all the very numerous details to His Majesty, who gave precise instructions.”

“Shijjar, my friend, you must make amends with Ladybug.” the prince said, looking pained. Trixx believed it was because he knew Lila well enough to anticipate her answer, or what she was thinking. “You are my sister in anything but blood, but our kingdom cannot afford to be seen linked to the enemies of Paris’ protector.”

Trixx knew exactly what Lila was thinking, who she was going to blame, and how she was going to react. He understood how angry she was, and that she’d blame the wrong person-unless he made her notice something:

“The chaperon said “woman”, not “girl”.” he whispered to his Chosen. And by her slight wincing he knew she had understood.

“It is not His Majesty’s policy to support such foolishness.” Salima said.

“But letting a terrorist use him and his heir to manipulate a girl is?” Lila replied coldly.

“What are you trying to come up with to get out of your trouble?”

“Who were the witnesses?” the prince instead asked, quickly realizing what his old friend meant.

“Only Ladybug, Adrien Agreste and myself were present for the initial encounter, though the terrorist Papillon obviously knows though the same magic he uses to find his victims. As for our later disagreement, it took place above Gustave Eiffel’s apartment in the Tower, with only Ladybug, Chat Noir and myself present-and the terrorist once again knows thanks to his magic.” Lila explained.

“And we actually don’t know if he has accomplices.”

“What?! Your Highness, you can’t believe this girl!” Salima protested.

“Why, exactly? It certainly makes more sense than the alternative. Would you please inform my father about this?”

“There is no need.” an unfamiliar voice announced, coming from an equally unfamiliar man that had appeared in the computer’s screen. Unfamiliar to Trixx, because the humans appeared to know who it belonged to, though both Lila and the prince appeared startled.

“Your majesty, I was not aware of your presence.” Lila said to the man without bowing, heavily hinting what country this man was king of. The following words confirmed it: “And I believe your son wasn’t either.”

“That was the point. I needed to know if he was ready to assume greater duties-though I cannot say I’m displeased to have missed this chance due something we should have suspected all along.”

“In the current circumstances? Easily forgiven.”

“Then I believe you should share the saltiest bread.”

“Of course, father.” the prince replied with a smile.

“I’m grateful for your attention, though I believe your subjects are worthier of it than myself.” Lila continued, in a display that would have likely confused many of the other kwami who lacked experience with the Arabic etiquette.

“I’ll follow your suggestion, then. Just… Please, find an honorable peace with Ladybug as soon as possible. Be well.”

As the king of Akdor left the conversation, Lila turned to Salima with an unpleasant smile.

“And so, we kept you from causing a mess.” she stated. “Though I believe I should be grateful-now I know who I should ruin.”

“Lila, calm down.” the prince told her.

“I am calm. Calmer than I thought I’d be with this mess.”

“That’s what worries me-you were just like this before you started denying non-existing rumors at your London school.”

“I agree, we should all calm down and discuss things around a good coffee.” Salima added.

“I’m not taking advice from you. You almost cost me my place in the world, my trust in people and my friends, my… Uh uh… My Holyland, that’s what you nearly cost me.”

“What did you say?” the woman hissed.

“Nevermind, I’ve read the hotel’s brochure and I see we need one of their services. Follow me, both of you… And please don’t interfere.”

The tone of the last phrase worried Trixx. The prince too, he looked focused and wondering what his old friend was thinking to do.

As she, her friend-currently doing something with his phone-and the add-on went to look for the one she needed, Lila was taking deep breaths to keep calm after being completely manipulated like that. Just a simple phone call from an accomplice and Papillon had her murderously furious at Ladybug, to the point she had almost been about to renounce to what until the previous day had called her oldest non-imaginary friendship just to have a shot at destroying her, and lose all remaining trust in her friends in the process. Sure, Lustro, the add-on and His Majesty had been fooled too, but considering what their realm was going on they had an excuse to not notice on the spot, while she had needed Trixx to realize what was happening.

Still, raging would not help. All she needed was to play along, wait for her chance, and at the right moment rip the Butterfly Miraculous from him and throw him to the authorities-no matter what his reasons were, the Princess Fragrance incident had left the French government and judiciary with no reason but hitting him with the full weight of their laws, and that was without counting Volpina and everything else(5). Maybe the French authorities would consider reopening Devil’s Island just for sake of a papillon pun(6)-that was what she’d do if she could, at least.

For now, however, she’d be content with exposing him for what he was besides a terrorist, and crumble the romantic ideas some people had to have on him. Not personally or by Lustro’s hand, she needed him not knowing she had found out. No, the Tiger would do it-she wouldn’t deny her this favor, and as she was in Beijing and normally lived in Tokyo and showed her location on the Ladyblog’s forum it was unlikely she’d be connected to her, even if the bowtie hebephile could track internet connections.

And now that she had found Bourgeois, she could get the password for the wi-fi and talk to her friend.

“Bourgeois, I need your help.” she asked to the mayor’s daughter, who had been using the phone.

“Uh… Just a moment.” the blonde replied before doing something and turning to her. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I would need the wi-fi password, even a temporary one. I need to urgently contact a friend who’s currently in Beijing, a friend that doesn’t have the, how is it said in French, well, she’d end up spending a lot if I called her without internet and I just don’t have the time to go back to the Italian embassy or register at an internet cafe.”

“Does that have anything to do with your current collective mood?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s a o-”

Chloe was interrupted by her phone’s ringtone, Clara Nightingale’s It’s Ladybug, but touched it and put it away.

“Sorry for the interruption, Lila. Now, this thing that’s getting you furious and that you need need the wi-fi password for, it’s a one-time only, right?”

“Of course. I know I’m not registered as a guest and shouldn’t access the wi-fi, but…”

“Save it, here’s the password.” Chloe said as she pulled out a ticket with a password. “But remember, you owe me.”

“Thanks.” she replied, and web-called her friend.

“What’s up, Zorra?” her friend saluted her in French-one of the languages they shared-except for the chosen word for “female fox”.

“Just a thing that happened today.” she replied in Japanese. A language none of the presents knew, aside for Trixx, so they wouldn’t be able to stop her. “It’s a bit long to explain, and it’s urgent, but… Could you start a discussion on the Ladyblog’s forum and denounce Papillon as a pedophile?”

“… Why aren’t you doing it by yourself? Wait, are you planning to try and make yourself an accomplice to strike him down at the right moment?!”

“Exactly.”

“Don’t you think it’s crazy?”

“Precisely. And why it’ll work.”

“Uh-uh. By the way, does your Arabian prince know of what happened to make you plan that? Because I was on the forum right now and someone from Paris, username “Fatimid”, has just started that very discussion.”

“Come, scusa?”

“A guy calling himself Fatimid has started this very discussion a few minutes ago. Sounds like Prince Ali to me.”

“Oh. Sorry for disturbing you. I suppose tomorrow you’ll have to work with the movie…”

“Second day of shooting… And he’s even hotter in person!”

“Just… Just don’t make your parents grandparents, ok?”

“Not for another three years-no child of mine will be called a bastard! Good luck in that madpeople cage!”

“And you don’t start a revolution. Good night!”

Lila took another deep breath to calm herself, then she turned to the prince and leveled a glare to him.

“I’m your oldest non-imaginary friend, remember? We may have met before the Pantherhunt, but I still know exactly how you think.” Ali reminded her, completely unfazed. “And I’m not letting you get in that kind of mess.”

“What if I wanted to get in that kind of mess?”

“Then you were too angry to think straight.” called an unexpected voice, prompting Lila to turn-and see Ladybug and Chat Noir standing near a very smug Chloe, who was showing that her cellphone had an ongoing call… With Ladybug.

“Listen, Ladybug, I just discovered that Papillon tried a horrible thing, and-” Lila started, but was interrupted.

“And you’re going to let him anger you and give him power over you?”

Lila stopped, surprised at what she had just been said. She had to admit, at least to herself, she had screwed up. And she should be grateful to Ladybug-but why had she done it? She could have manipulated her so easily had she just let her stay angry…

“Wait, where’s Vorpika?” Chloe asked, jolting Lila from her thoughts.

“She’d been in Tokyo until a few days ago and was too busy investigating a possible trail to Papillon to rest.” Ladybug explained, surprising Lila again. The superheroine was quite good at lying for someone who hated lies so much…

Nathalie Sanscour was a user of the Ladyblog forum, and prone to use it during work hours. “Secretly”, of course-officially she had to keep it secret from Gabriel or risk a reprimand or being fired, something that would come handy if Adrien or the Gorilla (she really needed to find out his real name) saw her while she looked if someone slipped something useful for Paris’ supervillain. And her scouting of the forum was the reason for her current anger.

“Nathalie, calm down.” Gabriel told her, ignoring Nooroo as he chuckled at the irony.

“Calm down?!” the woman replied. “Sir, they’re calling you a pedophile! A PEDOPHILE!”

“And how did we act with Rossi?”

“Well, we tried to manipulate her, and-”

“She’s fourteen. Or fifteen. Between the age gap and teenagers being Akumatizable far more often than adults, it was only to be expected they’d mistake me for a pedophile.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, I can shoulder this until I win-and then, it will have never happened. Now excuse me, but I need to set a supervillain on Rossi or the prince as soon as possible-I have a character to keep.”

As she waited for Vorpika with Chat Noir at the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug thought at what she had seen of Lila at the hotel-and the effect of her words. It had been a gamble, based on how close she was acting to certain things she had wanted to do before Tikki… And it had worked. That gave her a different perspective on the Italian traveler-one she’d rather not have, if it wasn’t for the bullet everyone, and especially Lila, had just dodged. If nothing else, Chat had accepted to just follow her lead on that-she hadn’t managed to tell about that even to Tikki, and Chat, sadly, was out.

“Hi, guys.” Vorpika said as she arrived, before coming extremely close to Ladybug. “The thing at the hotel, how, and why?”

“Well, we gave Chloe our numbers due the many Akumatizations she causes so at least she can get us to intervene, and she hadn’t abused it.” Chat interjected, trying to distract the fox. “Not yet, at least. We gave them to the mayor, Jean David the butler, the Agreste’s Gorilla, Marinette…”

“Makes sense… But it wasn’t about that. Ladybug, how did you know what to say to calm me down, and why?”

“I’d rather not talk about how I knew-and frankly, you wouldn’t believe it.” Ladybug replied. “As for why… Why not?”

“Because you could have easily turned me into your pawn, eliminated a future enemy and gained the best attack fox in Paris, that’s why!”

“Maybe I don’t want that. I want you as a friend, not a pawn.”

Vorpika stepped back, thoughtful and curious, muttering something about owing Ladybug her “holyland” (and using the English word). Then, after a few seconds, she asked: “Where did you guys learn how to fight without weapons?”

“I did some karate(7)-” Chat started.

“What style? Goju Ryu, Shotokan, Kyokushin? Was it sundome, or-”

“I was five and mom and father pulled me out after a month. Never knew why.”

“Oh. And you, Ladybug?”

“Well, I try and imitate my cousin, she’s a Savate practitioner and often shows off her moves to try and get me to join.” Ladybug said.

“So, one may or may have learned something years ago and never practiced again, and the other tries to imitate advanced moves without knowing the basics. Explains why you’re so bad. Fists in front of the face, now.”

After that, Vorpika taught them the jab-cross combo, or one-two. The very basic of boxing, she had said while she moved Ladybug’s left arm through the jab motions. Ladybug knew it was her way to not feel indebted for pulling her out of her anger at the hotel, not an actual sign of friendship, but was willing to wait. Maybe it would never happen, but at least she’d make sure to save her from herself and that she didn’t need saving-that was what she promised to herself.

Notes

(1)The longer version is as follows: in 1962 Diabolik was first published, and its success spawned the “Nero Italiano” (Italian Noir) genre, comic books characterized by being a rather violent take on the crime genre and featuring protagonists whose name includes the letter “k” (not used in Italian words) or, sometimes, the suffix “-ik”; among the public outrage (including even judicial seizures and trials) also appeared parodies such as Cattivik (created by Bonvi, of Sturmtruppen’s fame, and then gifted to fellow author Silver) and Dorellik, and Disney Italy, when creating an antihero alter ego for Donald Duck, named it Paperinik (also known as “Duck Avenger” in the English-speaking world), adding the suffix “-ik” to Donald’s Italian name “Paperino”, and this being still Disney they also gave one to Daisy (in Italy, “Paperina”. Disney is usually more clever than this…) and called it “Paperinika”; while the genre all but disappeared under moral outrage and the low quality of most of Diabolik’s successors, it and especially Diabolik (who is still published) had already left a standing impact on Italian comics and media, that included the association of the suffix “-ik” with antiheroes and villains and “-ika” with female antiheroes.

(2)That is how Guitar Villain is named in the Italian dub of Miraculous Ladybug.

(3)An actual Italian comic book created to ride on Diabolik’s success, whose protagonist renamed herself Satanik upon getting the power to act on her revenge plans.

(4)Blame Astruc, he said that when he was asked about Lila’s ethnicity. Then again, that and crazier could be applied to all Italians…

(5)The Princess Fragrance incident saw an Akuma villain attack foreign royalty and diplomatic personnel (what the prince’s chaperon would count as), both covered by diplomatic immunity, and he made a full threesome of attacks on people covered by diplomatic immunity the moment he Akumatized Lila, the daughter of an Italian diplomat. Simply put, after those stunts the minimum Gabriel can get is life in jail with eligibility for parole at 18 years.

(6)The Bagne du Cayenne (Penal Colony of Cayenne), also known as Devil’s Island, was a French prison famous for being used for internal exile of political prisoners and the harsh treatment of the inmates (up to 75% death rate). Closed in 1953, the prison is the subject of numerous books and movies, including Henri Charriére’s best-seller Papillon.

(7)Chat said that in “Simon Says”. Given his performance and Gabriel being Gabriel, either his dojo wasn’t focused on combat (more common than one would expect) or he didn’t stay there long.