#he's a good grandfather and mary adores him but is he a safe person for laurel? ...remains to be seen

[ybcpatrick]

i want to tell you about my nana.

her first name was mary, but she never ever went by it, that was just a catholic thing her mum did. she went by one of her middle names, nadine.

she was born on prince edward island on december 1st, 1949, the last of seven children. she moved to ontario in 1969, met my grandfather, got married on june 26th, 1971, then had their first child, my dad, a year to the very day. she had my aunt three years later. she loved them more than anything else on earth, and did everything in her power to make sure they were happy, safe, and cared for, even into their adult years. that extended to her grandchildren tenfold, and she adored being nana. to this day, she was the owner of the biggest heart i have ever encountered.

she always had carnations on the dining room table, and planted sunflowers along the fence that grew taller than her every single year. she went to clown college. she worked in the women's section at giant tiger. she was absurdly good at golf, and drew smiley faces on all of her balls so she knew they were hers from far away. she went to church every sunday her whole life. she took her coffee black, and i still have all of her mugs. she loved star trek: the next generation (data was her favourite), charlie chaplin, red skelton, the littlest hobo, touched by an angel, and m*a*s*h. she drove a blue oldsmobile with a wooden dolphin necklace hanging from the rearview mirror. her halloween costumes were always expertly crafted. her mother-son dance with my dad at my parents' wedding was to coat of many colours by dolly parton. she hung pictures of wolves and foxes around her house. she rocked a turtleneck with golden jewelry on the daily. all of her left shoes had a sole riser on them, because one leg was shorter than the other. she made sure she always kept nesquik syrup and double-crème cookies in her cupboards. she loved crafts, especially collages, and painting on woodwork that papa had started. the coffee and side-tables in her living room looked like gigantic books, and i can still smell the inside of the coffee table drawer where she kept my art supplies. her christmas village took up a solid third of the living room every year, glittering like magic.

she was strong-willed. she was driven. she was creative. she was faithful. she was compassionate. she was patient. she was the type to hear a baby babble and respond in kind, taking the nonsense sounds and treating them like they were articulate and valuable. to her, they were. everything a child said or did was the most important thing she'd heard all day, and she made sure that child knew it. everything i ever said to her was met with an unbelievable understanding and encouragement that i haven't experienced since.

she called me, and only me, pumpkin. she let me bring pooh bear with us everywhere, and even got him a high chair that hooked to the edge of the table so he could eat meals with us. she could sharpen my pencil crayons with her pinky nail. she kept everything i ever drew, and is the reason why i still do. she never made me feel silly, or embarrassed, or like i was too young or foolish to understand something. she never made me feel weird, because she was weird, too. she made sure we knew, while we had her and long after we didn't, that she loved us more than words. the eleven years i got to have her were like warm sunlight through the trees. she was comfort and quiet understanding wrapped up in a single person. she was my everything. she still is.

she died on tuesday, july 24th, 2012 around 4am. she was sixty-two years old. it was lung cancer, the kind that non-smokers and children get (and ironically, she had smoked at one point, but managed to kick the habit a few years before i was born). a year after she passed, her ashes were scattered over her brother's oyster bay on the island. my way by frank sinatra was the last song on the playlist for her celebration of life, and because of that, i can't listen to it more than once a year. but i can't deny that it was the perfect song choice for her. she was unyielding in her pursuit of her own happiness, and she was gonna take everyone she loved up with her, like it or not. she never compromised who she was. my nana was unapologetically herself, right to the end. and where she stopped, i decided i had to carry it on myself.

if you're still reading this, i'm glad to have gotten to share her memory with you. it's been twelve years since she had to go, and i was only eleven at the time; i will have to grieve her for longer than i ever knew her. but she's still alive every time i think of her, or i tell someone about her. and now i've told you about her.

thank you for letting her live again with you, even for just a moment or two. nana would've loved you, too.

[laurelwinchester]

So since a big part of HTLGI is how horribly people in Laurels life have treated her, which the show wasn’t willing to acknowledge, I’m trying to figure out how they stand on it. Is it like this?

Dinah: Unwittingly to admit she’s a horrible mother, probably blames Laurel for whatever problems they have, and isn’t willing to try and fix things. Or at least, not seriously try as the incident with the sweaters showed.

Oliver: Knows he was a bad boyfriend and a bad friend, and that Laurel deserved better. But he doesn’t seem to realize how bad he was/is (he thinks he was a 6 out of 10, but he was really an 8), and also doesn’t seem to be aware of what things were really bad. Such as his ableism.

Sara: Knows she was a bad sister, and is genuinely trying to be better and more supportive. I’m pretty’s sure she did finally apologize for everything.

Quentin: He’s the one I’m not sure about. Is he aware that he’s a bad father? That argument with Dean makes me think no. He seems to know that Laurel was murdered because of him, but also seems to expect people to forgive and forget that.

Just curious as to their views on their treatment of her, let me know is you can. Thanks.

okay so this is a meaty question and it requires a meaty answer so stay with me here, i have a lot to say.

dinah: i have no earthly idea what is wrong with dinah in canon. she's just an incredibly badly formed character written by incompetent writers who made it clear for the better part of a decade that they were unaware women were also people and who should probably be jailed for wasting alex kingston's time and ours for years. there is no other explanation. HOWEVER… i do know what's wrong with htlgi!dinah.

now obviously there's more to it - and i'll get into that in a minute - but the crux of the issue is this: when dinah looks at laurel, she doesn't see a daughter. she just sees the curse. a time bomb. not a thing to love, but a thing to be afraid of. she has never been able to escape that line of thinking and that destroyed any chance of her having any kind of normal relationship with her eldest.

the surprising thing about her is that out of everyone here she is actually the most self aware. at least now. she wasn't always, there was definitely a time where she was angry, where she put unnecessary blame on laurel's shoulders for their endless conflict, where she lived in denial, but at this point she is well aware that it's on her.

she is not someone who should have been a mother. she wasn't really interested in having children, but quentin wanted children and she didn't want to lose him. which is never a wise family planning method. she's not a particularly maternal person. she's not warm, although she's tried to be. mostly what she is, what she has always been, is a frightened person and that is, ultimately, what drove a lot of her choices. she wanted a normal life with her normal husband, away from the weird spooky darkness surrounding the ellard family, but for whatever foolish reason, she didn't take into account what would happen if her firstborn child was a girl. unfortunately, the person who ended up paying for that foolishness was laurel. she spent much of her life wondering what she had done to make her mother close herself off from her and it turns out all she did was exist.

reasonably speaking, there was likely some undiagnosed postpartum depression in the mix when laurel was born, along with environmental stresses (dinah and quentin were young, broke newlyweds living in the glades and eventually had to move in with her parents because their financial situation was so untenable) but at the end of the day a lot of dinah's treatment of laurel stems from stubborn ignorance and deep rooted fear.

when she looks at sara, she sees her mirror. they were able to have a good relationship because they were a lot alike. they were mother and daughter but they were also friends. dinah encouraged sara's youthful selfishness because it was something she never truly got to have. she never worked particularly hard to heal any rifts between laurel and sara, largely ignoring the deteriorating relationship between the sisters as they got older because, deep down, although she would never admit it, she probably wanted sara to distance herself from laurel because she believed laurel to be unsafe. she favored sara because sara was hers. laurel was something lost before she was even born.

when she looks at laurel, she sees the curse and all the others before her. dinah ellard was a wonderful person with a wonderful life - but she still drowned herself before she hit thirty five. faye, depressed and paranoid, yeeted her kids and hid away in the woods for the rest of her life, barely venturing out. faye's daughter elizabeth drank herself into an early grave. dinah's own sister, valerie, is unstable more often than not, has sucked all the air out of the room for her entire life, stealing most of bea and richard's attention even into adulthood and still, now, in her early sixties, needs to be looked after like a child. and then there's edie. volatile, explosive edie who brought down a building on hundreds of innocent people and got her throat ripped out by a hunter with a chip on his shoulder. and that's pretty much all dinah knows of the curse. terrible echoes of women who went wrong. so that's what she saw when she looked at laurel. and she's not really someone who will love the monster anyway. she's more of the opinion what's the point of getting attached to something that will either wither and die or kill everyone in the blast radius?

oliver: 100% this man's biggest problem is that he has rocks for brains. no other way to put it. he puts his whole foot in his mouth regularly and does not understand why people get upset with him. doesn't know what ableism is. probably couldn't spell it. thinks he can't possibly be misogynistic because one time he tweeted a picture of himself in a pink shirt that said ''the future is female'' and a bunch of blue check marked white women with ''freelance journalist'' in their bio came out of the woodwork to stroke his ego.

he rarely intends to hurt laurel. or anyone for that matter. most of the time he genuinely means well. in fact, right now, where we're at in htlgi, he is something that is causing major strain on laurel's marriage and he doesn't even know it. i think, just from seeing her in an actually happy and healthy (for the most part) relationship, he does realize in retrospect that their past relationship was unhealthy, that she was deeply unhappy, and that he was more than just a regular ''bad boyfriend'' but i doubt he knows what to do with that information. he definitely doesn't know how to make up for it.

but overall he is not a villain, he's not a bad guy, he is just a rich, entitled, privileged man who grew up lacking vital life lessons and kindergarten logic because he was never expected to need any of these things. he had money. he didn't need emotional intelligence.

(and i know we're supposed to believe the island made him better but we saw the flashbacks. those five years were mostly here's how oliver learned how to shoot an arrow, how to fight, how to speak this language, here's how he learned this skill and that skill, here's how he got this tattoo and met this person and made this enemy. there was very little here's how oliver learned emotional intelligence.)

sara: yeah, dinah was primarily the problem here. most of sara's bad habits were inherited from and encouraged by her mother. dinah taught her how to be selfish and callous and that her every bad decision would be forgiven no matter what. insidiously, without either of them even really realizing it or thinking too hard about it, dinah also taught sara that laurel was beneath them. again, that was never intentional but that was the vibe dinah gave off because of her own issues and kids are sponges so sara definitely picked up on it. she knows better now obviously. she's learning. she's her own person. if she makes it through htlgi and goes back to the legends, we know she'll learn more and carve out even more of her own personality separate from both her mother and sister. i think she will probably always be a little childish when it comes to laurel, but in normal younger sibling way. less i'm going to steal your life because i was taught i deserve it more and more yeah i cheated at mini golf what are you doing to do about it i'm baby.

quentin: he is a tough one because he truly is easily the most frustrating case here. he recognizes he's made mistakes, but does he recognize he is a bad father? not…really. to an extent maybe. he will carry the guilt for laurel's death with him for life, but will it make a difference? doubtful. he apologizes and will continue to apologize, but will it change anything? no, probably not. i don't think he's able to understand the concept of long term trauma.

like, if the lance family were to go to family therapy right now, dinah might have a breakthrough, but quentin would probably be unable to get there. laurel could bring up something blatantly horrendous that he did in the past and be like hey when i was nine months pregnant and scraping your drunken ass off the bar floor, you kind of called me a whore and blamed me for sara's death and it's been stuck in my head ever since and i've spiraled into self hatred and depression like a hundred times and have regular nightmares, is this bad? and he would just be like ……idk that was years ago babygirl sounds like a you problem.

and i have no idea why!!!

with dinah, i can work her out. i can attach her to the lore of htlgi and the mythology of the ellard family and make her make sense. a terrible kind of sense, but still a kind of sense. with quentin, i…really don't know why he is the way he is. he's just kind of a stubborn dick. maybe his own father was an asshole? maybe he's just one of those parents who think they can do whatever they want to their kid because they made them? (for the record, i think that seems like the option that's most in line with his character.) or in htlgi, there is the recurring theme, in regards to dean and laurel, of the hungry recognize hunger. maybe it's the same with dinah and quentin, but instead it's trash attracts trash.

[the-witches-you-couldnt-burn]

It started with a whisper

I originally wrote ‘Like I did with you’ as a one-shot but people wanted a sequel. This turned out to be waaaaay longer than expected (4.7k word count). Inspired by Everybody Talks by Neon Trees. I hope you lot enjoy!

Ao3

(Also this is Mari’s new outfit, all credits go to the original artist)

————

Two teens stood upon the balcony of a large banquet hall, exposed to the midsummer night air. The sky was a lilac blanket that hung over the Parisian buildings, speckled with glowing stars. The moon, with it’s crescent smile, beamed down of the young couple.

Hey, baby, won't you look my way?

Marinette’s eyes were closed as she rested her head upon his shoulder, relaxing after the night’s rapid escalation. Tonight she had arrived at the ball with the intent to be there for her friends, but somehow she found herself within the arms of Gotham’s (and probably Paris’) Ice Prince. She had overheard his nickname from the Gotham students, one of which being Jon, who was in the middle of mocking the young Wayne. She had never considered that nickname as suitable; sure he was temperamental & had a tendency to snap, but icey to the core? No.

I can be your new addiction

Damian was calm. For the first time in his life he felt like he could take a breath. His exhale was carried off by a small gust of wind, the bush over hanging the stone railing rustled. With his inhale, the scent of Marinette’s perfume became present once more. Mixed with the crisp night’s air, her usual scent of pastries was mixed with what could only be described as ambrosia. His phone vibrated within his pocket, it was never on volume due to the potential risk it caused during his heroic activities.

“Shit.” Notifications covered his screen, multiple tweets, Instagrams and Tiktoks in which he had been tagged in. But the alert came from his family’s private messaging chat. The whole thread was a shit storm, Grayson and Todd’s messages were completely capitalised (he learnt years ago this meant ‘to yell’ in writing form) and both had multiple ‘keyboard spasms’. Drake, like the thorough detective he is, had combed through the images and videos, investigating their validity. His honorary sisters had replied with ‘awwwww’(s) and ‘Omg we MUST meet this girl! I need to know how she tamed the demon!’. He could practically hear Brown’s shrill voice from across the ocean.

Hey, baby, what you gotta say?

No reply from his father or Alfred. The two of them were the only semblance of ‘normal’ paternal figures he had within his life, after the sham of a relationship he had previously held with his grandfather. Their silence unnerved him.

Marinette had noticed his attention had shifted to his phone, her own mobile was buzzing away within her baby pink purse. Messages, notifications of account tagging and comments galore. A sigh left her lips when she saw her parents seemed to be none the wiser. Good, she didn’t need to deal with future adoration for ‘The boy who swept our daughter off of her feet’ (or something along those lines).

Her cheeks regained some of the warmth they held before as she thought of her parent’s reaction. Scrolling through her Twitter she saw her friends had posted multiple images of the night’s events, majority being her shared dance.

Chloé Bourgeois @TheBestBourgeois

what kind of Disney shit is this? (Insert video of two teens dancing around an mostly empty dance floor.)

Alix Kubdel @Sk8trGirl

Replying to @TheBestBourgeois

I KNOW RIGHT?! THEY WERE FUCKING FLOATING!!!

All you're giving me is fiction

She was thankful that they hadn’t tagged her but she hadn’t been spared by others in attendance. Her post thread had blown up, thousands had commented and even more had viewed the evidence. There was no way she would come out of this unscathed.

“Has anyone been on Twitter today?” The blonde of the family asked as she walked into the dining room. Her eyes focused on her scrolling screen, brows furrowed in confusion. “Actually has anyone seen what’s happening on any of our socials?”

It was early in the afternoon and the family had recently returned home after a straining stakeout. The Joker had broken out of Arkham and the Batfam had to deal with his minions. Dick’s arm was in a sling (sprained from a grapple gone wrong), Jason was icing his hand, Alfred was stitching Bruce’s chest wounds while Tim and the girls escaped without severe injuries. All were still recuperating and finally able to recharge.

Alfred always enforced a strict ‘no devices at the dinner table’ rule; no matter how urgent it was, it could wait until after sustenance was consumed. Tim strongly opposed this, but there was no arguing with Agent A. This all surmises that probably no one had seen the crap storm on social media.

I'm a sorry sucker and this happens all the time

Bruce sighed, bringing his free arm up to rub his eyes. Tilting his head back to look at Steph, “Who was it this time?” Barbara quickly took out her phone to see what Stephanie was talking about, all the while glancing accusingly at Dick and Jason. Both of whom held up their arms (or in Dick’s case arm), declaring their innocence.

“It wasn’t fucking me!”

“Jason! Language!” Dick shot a glare at Jason and was met with one in return. “It wasn’t me either.”

“Then who-“ Bruce started before being cut off by his most rambunctious daughter.

I found out that everybody talks

Stephanie with a squeal, exclaimed that it was Damian. Visions of what the Wayne brat could have done flashed through the heads of everyone in the room. He had been sent overseas before the quarantines and lockdowns hit. During Damian’s first month in France he had been forced into online schooling and then finally when he got to go to in-person classes he hated it. Described the class as a kindergarten with petty and vindictive toddlers.

Had he broken someone’s arm? Was that person of such importance that it had spread over multiple social media platforms? France’s government had announced on June 15th, that teens were now being inoculated so him having COVID-19 was doubtful. Had he insulted the wrong person? Had he taken over the government? He certainly had the potential.

Everybody talks, everybody talks

What they saw stunned them, even Steph as she watched it for the 7th time. Damian Wayne was dancing. But not only that, he was dancing with a girl.

It started with a whisper

“What is this shit?”

No one verbally objected to Jason’s outburst but he was sent a harsh glare from Alfred, Dick and Bruce. Their focus soon returned to the images and videos before them. Babs’ and Steph’s phones were returned to them as the others ran to grab their own devices. They all met back at the table, comparing the posts and comparing their notes.

I can hear the chitchat

“There’s no way this can be real.”

“Jesus Tim,” Barbara rolls her eyes, “have you seen the amount of posts there are? You’d be an idiot to think otherwise.”

Take me to your love shack

“I’m with Tim, how do we know this isn’t some skit. I mean, Demon Spawn almost looks normal. That’s a matter of concern.” He almost dry heaved when he agreed with Tim. Damian couldn’t be capable of naturally exuding that amount of humanity unless there was something in it for him.

Mamas always gotta backtrack

“I was just saying Babs, that we should check the credibility of these images. For all we know they could be gorilla glued together and trying to get unstuck.” Tim cringed at his own reasoning, he really needed to either sleep (probably not going to happen anytime soon) or find his favourite coffee brand (which had been one of the first to vanish after the covid hoarders appeared).

When everybody talks back

Dick was too busy freaking out and spam messaging the youngest Wayne, to defend Damian’s humanity. The family saw this and followed suit, wanting to get information from the source.

Chat name: Alfred supremacy

BigBird: AHHHHHH DAMIAN!

BigBird: YOU LOOK SO CUTE!!!

BigBird: HAIFJDNDNFI

LittleWing: WTF HAPPENED DEMON SPAWN YOU LOOK ALMOST HUMAN

Babs: who knew the city of love would influence the brat

Blondie: they are so cuteeeeeee!

Blondie: We HAVE to meet her!

Silent-but-deadly: agreed.

Timbo: YO DEMON

Timbo: Apparently the videos are legit

Timbo: are you being blackmailed?

And it just devolved into more chaos from there, fueled by the fact that they saw Damian’s ‘Blood Son’ account appear online before vanishing once more. Dick shrieked, “I FOUND HER ACCOUNT!”

The family gathered around the eldest son, peering over his shoulder to view his iPhone 12max screen. They saw a young girl’s Instagram account. It was locked but they could see her profile pic, the girl had black hair and looked to be if Asian decent. They compared it to the videos but it was hard to see due to the hall’s lighting and the minimised facial features of the pfp. Alfred suggested that they search up her username and see who has tagged her, some might have other photos of her.

After research for awhile, the family began to get frustrated with lack of results.

Hey honey you could be my drug

You could be my new prescription

“Come on!” Jason complained, “What kind of teenage girl doesn’t post her life online?” He ignored the girls glares and went back to researching. How had the account by the name of ‘mariiiiinette’ to managed to prevent the entire Wayne clan from accessing it? Damn Instagram privacy settings. He groaned, dragging a hand down his face, “We are fucking stupid. Why don’t we just use the Bat-computer? It would be so much fucking easier.”

“It shouldn’t be used for civilian issues-“

Too much could be an overdose

“The girl could be a meta for all we know! We aren’t safe until we know who she is.” Jason points a finger at Tim, his paranoia flared up and even though he would never admit it, Jason would do anything to protect each member of his family (although Bruce is still debatable).

All this trash talk make me itching

Barbara and Tim took their usual positions as Oracle and Red Robin (who had been banned from patrol due to lack of sleep). The rest of the Batfam stood behind them either with arms crossed or still failing at researching.

Oh my my shit

“The account is owned by a girl called Marinette Dupian-Cheng. She is French-Chinese and her parents own a popular bakery. Also if it wasn’t already obvious, she goes to Collège Françoise Dupont, aka Damian’s French school.” Tim begun informing his nosy family, “But this account has been inactive for the past 6 months, which is strange due to her frequent posting schedule before hand. It seems she probably has a second account and this is her old one.”

Everybody talks, everybody talks

“Not only that,” Barbara interrupted. “There are unopened messages from other accounts that accuse her of being a bully. There is a whole Facebook page about this girl and how she has been hurting her old friends, but neither side seems reliable. The so called victims seem to be twisting the truth but there is barely any information about Marinette so we can’t disprove it either.”

“Read out some of the messages.” Bruce took a cup of coffee from Alfred and sipped it.

The main screen of the bat computer displayed a Facebook group with the banner picture being a photo of Marinette. “They are mostly complaints expected of teen girls when there is a girl they don’t like; ‘Marinette is such a know-it-all’, ‘She is constantly insulting Lila’s intelligence’. They go on to talk about how Marinette was briefly expelled from the Collège before being reinstated by the principle for a reason unknown to them.”

Everybody talks too much

“Her school reports up until this year were good. The newest one states, ‘While Marinette is a wonderful and bright student, I encourage her to settle her disagreements outside of class. This seems to only be a recent occurrence and I implore her to go to the guidance council if she is in need of help.’” A beat of silence echoes through the cave, Tim sighed. “Jason’s meta theory could be correct. She could have just recently started exhibiting her abilities and using them to get what she wants.”

“Bruce what do you want to do?”

“We’re going to Paris.”

She opened her eyes to the blaring morning light that streamed through the blinds. Her lashes still painted with mascara that refused to leave. She felt a pang of sorrow when she was removing her makeup and dress last night, she never wanted the night to end. She shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen, covering her mouth when she yawned. She greeted her mother as she entered the kitchen to get breakfast.

She glanced at her phone and there was the chaos that was started hours ago and it was still occurring. It was the weekend, she wouldn’t need to deal with her classmates until Monday. But she would still have to survive her parent’s interrogation. Out of the corner of her eye she caught her mother smirking at her.

Everybody talks

“Nadja told me some interesting news about last night.” Marinette held her breath, glaring at the toaster, willing it to hurry up so she could escape. “Well,” Sabine patted her shoulder before rubbing Mari’s back. “I know you didn’t want to go but I hope you had fun.”

With that she exited the kitchen, probably going to help her father in the bakery. The ravenette stared after her, eye widened in shock, jumping when the toaster went off. Buttering her toast she went over the conversation, her brows furrowed in confusion. She had expected a ‘When do I get to meet the oh so famous prince?’ or ‘Should I be expecting a new guest sometime in the near future?’ or at least a ‘Who was that young man, Bǎozàng (宝藏 it means treasure)?’ But she said nothing.

A small smile was plastered upon her face as she changed and went down to help her parents in the bakery. Her father didn’t say anything either, he gave her a knowing smile before continuing to kneed the dough. She sat at the the store front as the cashier whilst her parents were busy making ‘Paris’s Finest Pastries’.

Her musings slowly faded as she was brought back to reality by badly hushed whispers. Two young preteens were by the bread roll casing near the door. She had seen them come in before with their parents, the girls went to the prestigious international school over in the 16th arrondissement. The one with purple hair kept whispering to the brunette, both ‘subtly’ glancing towards her. Using her enhanced hearing she listened in on their conversation.

“That’s her, I swear that’s her in the video.”

The blonde’s face soured likes she sucked on a lemon. “No, it wasn’t good lighting there is no way he would dance with someone like her.”

Everybody talks

Marinette had tough skin but their words had an impact, only a small one due to her defence mechanism of repressing emotions. She stopped listening and went back to drawing in her sketchpad, she was in desperate need of a new school outfit.

The two girls eventually came up to the counter, goods in hand. Marinette rung up and bagged their items (paper because save the turtles sksksk) in a tired daze. A phone was shoved into her face, her eyes barely adjusted to view the screen before the blonde spoke.

“Is this your instagram?” She asked in a tone so snobbish that it should be illegal from a person her age. Marinette finally was able to view the screen that was barely an inch from her face. Her old Instagram ‘mariiiiinette’ was displayed on screen, she hesitantly nodded, gaze flicking back to the two in front of her.

The blonde’s nose scrunched up and the purple goth girl squealed in delight. They soon after left the store, their conversation had devolved into ‘See! I told you’ and ‘Yeah, yeah. You were right.’

Walking to school on Monday, she had finally come down from cloud nine. She still rode the tail end of her high as she rushed along her path to her campus, she wasn’t going to be late but she sure wasn’t going to be early. She had spent the better part of the weekend designing and sewing a brand new outfit. Her new look was composed of a black cropped singlet (L'amour gagne hemmed into it and it’s straps), paired matching peach plaid cropped overshirt and a-line miniskirt. Her hair was down, ballet flats were worn and her makeup was the usual with the added edition of a rose gold eyeshadow.

Even though her face was covered in a black and gold mask, she looked hot.

She reached the campus and the whispers started again, people were still buzzing from Friday night. Her classmates, the majority of her grade and the younger years seemed to gossiping before class about the formal’s events. She couldn’t spot any of her friends or the two Gotham transfers, so she was stuck listening the the chitchat. Why couldn’t she have been late like usual?

Damian had a fowl disposition and it showed in multiple icey glares (and that was before he even reached the collège). His family had made their appearance known in Paris at 1am Sunday morning. He could have used his dorm to escape but his family didn’t have the word ‘privacy’ within their vocabulary. He didn’t want to have to pay for a lock replacement due to his brothers’ (most likely Todd with Drake & Grayson laughing at him) lock picking habit.

The Ice Prince was back with full force. He had just been... influenced by all the other couples. Yes he did respect Dupain-Cheng and he appreciated her company & pleasant conversations. He would struggle to hide a small smile at the memory of the dance, even if he denied himself the happiness of normality, he felt content when reminiscing.

“Ooo the Ice Prince is here, did he have a fight with his princess or something?” The voice seemed to mock him.

“The Disney Magic is gone. The demon is back.”

Everybody talks

At the second jeer he shot a glare at the perpetrator. Jon held his hands up in an ‘I surrender manner’, laughing as he joined Damian at his side. The two entered the school’s large foyer and looked to see if any of the classes were open yet. Sadly they weren’t, before he was wrong and the his class was plain torture but this was truely hell.

He saw Dupain-Cheng sitting alone on the stairs, drawing within her sketchpad. He wondered how a girl like her, who always seemed to be involved in other’s lives (for the better) was ignoring all of the comments about her. She felt his focus centre on her, eyes flicking up to meet his, she provided him with a small wave before continuing to draw.

Jon nudged him with an elbow to his ribs and dragged him off to the side, into the boy’s locker rooms. Jon scowled at the door, “It’s a mad house out there. You’ve heard what some people are saying right?”

“Why would I care about these imbeciles?”

Jon jabbed Damian in the chest, causing the demon to stumble. Green eyes darted from blue eyes to the tan finger. “You care when lies hurt people you care about.”

The day began to rapidly decline once the two dance partners took their seats, next to each other. They had both been placed up the back of the class and them sitting together hadn’t been a problem until now apparently. She wasn’t even safe when the teacher started their lecture, whispers and glances were cast towards them. Once the two got to biology it was better, Ms Mendeleiev was a strict teacher and was able to control the class.

Everybody talks

But the recess came. When the bell rang she slowly started packing up her equipment, Alix and Max (who she shared biology with) waited for her; she watched as the Ice Prince left through the door. She knew she didn’t need to be concerned about her friends joining in with the gossiping, if anything they would dispel people and tell them to ‘Mind their own fucking business’ because this whole situations is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

She did receive some slight teasing from Alix about being a Disney princess, but Marinette quipped back about the skater’s fairytale story being ‘Pinknette, the Geek and the Beast’. The three met up with the other two of their group, they had just come from geography. Kim was complaining that Argentina was a state in America.

“That’s Arkansas you idiot!” Chloe shrieked, lightly hitting his arm with her white handbag. Max held his head in his hand as he approached, how had his tutoring sessions failed so badly?

Chloe turned to Marinette, a smile forming from her glare. The blonde examined the designer’s clothing, nodding. “You look like you are about to have a hot girl summer.”

Marinette’s face burned, the tips of her ears coated in red. Alix chuckled and nudged her shoulder.

Everybody talks

“Look at her, she is so desperate for his attention that she probably copied those designs.”

“Why do you think he danced with her anyways? Maybe she has something on him? I mean, she forces him to sit next to her in class, who knows what else she has done.”

What. The. Fuck.

Chloe glowered towards Lila’s posy. “We have a fucking seating plan, those cretins-“ She made a motion to storm over but was caught by the ravenette, looking back to Mari, her rage decreased from a boil to a simmer.

“No Chlo. It’s fine, it’s not worth it.”

Everybody talks... back

The group walked out to the school’s front steps, it was a mad house... a mad courtyard? Students sitting on the stairs, on the grass and standing around mingling, all of them now were staring at her. She held her backpack close to her chest (she had swapped her signature coin-bag purse for the pastel pink bag), pretending its a shield. Her friends circled around her becoming an obstacle to prevent their stares. If people were afraid of a scowling Kim then they don’t know the scorn of Chloe or Alix’s bite. And Max, sweet quiet Max.... you better hope he doesn’t have blackmail on you (he probably does), he can dismantle your life with a single anonymous post.

Rushed footsteps approached them. The group was broken apart by a rude Wayne boy, he swept Mari away from the school and the gossip crowds within. Her four friends shouted at him and he kept walking, shooting a glare at them in response. He kept pushing Marinette forward with a hand placed on the small of her back, her backpack was now swung over his other shoulder.

They ended up in her favourite alcove. She had brought him here with the other Gotham transfers for a native’s tour of Paris. It had always been her safe place to be creative.

It started with a whisper (everybody talks, everybody talks)

“My apologises for our rushed departure but you seemed to want to get out of their anyhow.” His gruff tone danced through the silence, his head still peaking around the corner; watching for any unwelcome guests.

“Thank you.” She whispered, her voice almost being carried off by the gentle wind. A genuine smile illustrated upon her face.

“We weren’t able to converse after the events of the other night. I would like to formally apologise once more for my actions causing this adverse reaction. If I had kn-“

“You don’t need to apologise!” She squeaked, hiding her eyes behind her fisted hand. Her shoulders curled inwards as she tried to make herself seem as small as possible, a side effect of her common use of her secondary miraculous form: Multimouse.

“I chose to dance with you, you don’t need to apologise for my own actions.” He stared at her with confusion. He had taken the blame so she wouldn’t need to do so herself; but she had taken it anyways. He had given her an out. Why does she always take the blame, even for things out of her control?

“But if I hadn’t danced with you then you wouldn’t have been the focus of the entire school.”

Marinette stepped forward, her eyes hardened and blazing. “Damian Friday night I went there out of obligation to my friends, I didn’t want to be there. But dancing with you? That was the highlight of my week, probably my month too. I enjoyed our time together.” Her face softened, lips twitched downwards ever so slightly. “I don’t regret anything about that night, but do you?”

He was bad at comfort. Everyone in his family avoided him when they were in need, he plainly didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t visibly upset but he sensed that she is disappointed that he apparently didn’t share the same opinion of the night. The only thing he regretted about that night was letting Jon call him a coward, but then again if he didn’t he never would have danced with Dupa- Marinette.

He picked up her clenched hand, the tension in her body alleviated at his embrace. He remembered how Grayson would apologise to Kor’i or how his father interacted with Ms Kyle. He brought their hands up and placed a kiss upon her knuckles.

And that was when I kissed her (everybody talks, everybody talks)

“I do not regret anything either—“ he cleared his throat, “In fact, I’d appreciate if we would be able to interact more, especially outside of that cesspit.”

Was he...?

It didn’t matter.

She smiled the same dazzling smile she gave him at the dance. She nodded while laughing, “I’d love that.”

Everybody talks

The two stay talking, hidden within their secret alcove for the rest of the day. She texted her parents to say she was with a friend and would be back later that night. Damian didn’t bother texting his family, Marinette knew he had to be back soon due to his dorm’s curfew.

The sun was setting at they walked back together, he did the gentlemanly thing and dropped her off at her bakery door. She could see her mother behind the register inconspicuously looking over at the two of them. Damian’s lips quirked upwards, she was satisfied with his kinda-smile.

He walked back, hands in pockets and a neutral expression upon his face instead of a scowl. He reached his door and took his keys, he found that it was already open. Damn.

His family was splayed out within his two roomed dorm. Todd and Drake were fighting over a place to sit on his bed, whilst his father sat at his desk, watching the commotion. The three of them turned to him as he enter the room, they were the only family members able to attend on short notice; Cain had a ballet audition, Gordon & Brown had concert tickets for tomorrow, Grayson had to take care of Mar’i while Kor’i was on Tamaran and Alfred stayed to ensure no one died during their night time activities.

“We need to talk Damian.” His father stood, leaning onto the desk chair. “The school called and said you had an unexcused absence for half the day. Where were you Damian?”

Damian stared into his father’s eyes. He was fifteen, almost an adult, but was treated like he was ten again.

“I was with a friend.”

“Probably the girl from the dance. Marinette, right?” Todd mocked him. Damian snapped his head in the direction of his bed, glaring at both his brothers.

“That’s what I want to talk about with you Damian. Now I don’t know her personally but from what we’ve discovered through our investigation we have some concerns. What’s happened Damian?”

The youngest Wayne’s glare shifted off of his brothers to the floor, and then finally to his father; his family sitting in wait for his answer. Straightening his posture, his shoulders clicked as he rolled then back. His statement’s tone was sure and steady, “Everybody talks father.”

Everybody talks... back

[miraculouspenta]

Endearments

Mominette Month 2021 Day 02: Signs of Affection Masterlist

They say there are five love languages; words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Each person has their own way to show their affection, ways you won't understand until you get to know the person. When it comes to her boys, Marinette can read them like a book.

Damian Wayne, the youngest.

Damian’s love language, like Tim’s, is quality time. Again, his mother and grandfather most definitely has a large impact on that fact. He loves the fact that someon is spending their time with him without any reason. Back when he was in the league, the only time his mother and grandfather would spend some time with him was during training sessions.

One of his favorite activities is baking with Marinette. Even if half of the time his brothers would be there and mess things up, the warmth of making something (quite literally, ovens are hot, let me tell you) together always makes him happy. He does enjoy the nice time he has baking with Marintte only, sometimes Alfred, things actually get done and it’s not even messy.

Solving cases with Tim is nice too, not that he’ll ever admit that. Despite his claims, he does enjoy spending time with his brothers. When Dick would drag them out together, or when Jason would softly read to him. He likes the times his father would just walk into whatever room he was in and just sit in silence.

Tim Drake, second youngest, second middle.

Tim’s love language is quality time, his neglectful parents certainly had a large impact on that fact. Spending time with someone makes him feel appreciated, it’s nice to know that someone wants to do so. He’d most often sit around in the living room when Alfred is cleaning, comfortable silence surrounding them with the occasional questions.

Sometimes when he’s working in his office, Marinette would purposely bring her sketchbook to the tower so they can work together. Tim adores those moments, to know that someone is there for the sole reason of spending time with him is a nice feeling. He’d glance at her every once in a while and smile. If they happen to turn to each other at the same time, they’d smile even brighter, sometimes laugh.

With his brothers, he most often spends quality time when they’re reading. All four of them just lounging in the library, reading different books. Sometimes Bruce and Marinette would join them. Alfred most definitely has pictures.

Jason Todd, second eldest, first middle.

Jason shows his affection through acts of service. The little things he'll do for his brothers, his father, and his mother, shows that. Often he will come across one of them tired and he'll make them a coffee, or if he finds them asleep he'll cover them with a blanket. He’ll never admit it, but his family knows, and he knows that they know.

“It’s a matter of pride,” he said once to Marinette, “I don’t really know why.” Like most of the other boys, he opens up to Marinette the most. I guess it’s just her motherly bond.

Sometimes, most times actually, Jason would help Mari carry bolts and bolts of fabric into her studio. Other times, he’d help her and Alfred in the kitchen. He would help Tim with cases and work, and help Dick after a fight with Bruce. He’d take care of Damian’s pets when he is away. He rarely helps Bruce, but he most definitely has done something for him.

Dick Grayson, the eldest.

Dick's love language leans heavily on physical touch as well. He has always been the best at stating his emotions (as best as a Wayne boy can be). If Marinette stayed in her studio for days, Dick would burst into her studio and just drag her over to the couch asking for cuddles.

On other days, he'd just come up to his mom and hug her from behind. Sometimes they'd chat while Dick had his head on Marinette's lap, sometimes they'd just sit in silence. His brothers don't seem to enjoy the sudden hugs though. Then again, they're all just on different levels of paranoia.

Marinette would often schedule family game nights, movie nights, and Dick would be the most ecstatic out of her four boys. Family movie nights were always going to be some sort of cuddle session. The rest of the boys would pretend to be annoyed but Marinette knows they're enjoying every second spent together.

Bruce Wayne, the father.

Bruce’s love language is physical touch. This man may seem all broody and dark, and he is, but he loves a good cuddle. After late patrols, Bruce's favorite thing is just to spoon his girlfriend. Bruce loves the feeling of knowing that his loved ones are nearby. He feels content knowing that they’re safe.

He’s most open about hugging Marinette more than anyone else. He loves his kids, he really does. It’s more because of the fact that he feels like he failed as a father. He has a multitude of arguments with Dick, Jason literally died, Tim has worked piled up for WE at a young age, and he didn’t even know Damian existed until he was ten years old.

The guilt he feels seems to only push him even farther away from getting to know his children. His children are all ready to get to know him and Marinette’s helping him work on that, slowly…

Alfred Pennyworth, the pseudo grandfather.

Alfred's love language is both acts of service and words of affirmation, his boys definitely needed the second one more. Being a butler to the Wayne family allows him to help them in a lot of ways. From as simple as making breakfast to fixing up their injuries, he's always been ready to help them.

After Martha and Thomas died, Bruce had it hard emotionally. Because the younger boys had been raised by Bruce part of their life, they managed to somehow adopt part of his lack of emotion. Alfred would be the one to help reassure them. Word after word Alfred would ground the boys back down to the earth.

With Marinette, he helps her out of her spirals, her flashbacks. She is incredibly stubborn when it comes to him doing things for her. Still, Marinette most likely has the best control of her emotions. She also manages to somehow see when he is tired, when he is reaching his limit, then again, she is partially magical.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the mother.

Marinette has the love language that completes the five in the family, gifts. She always likes to make custom items for people and give it to them, one of the reasons she decided to become a fashion designer. All of her boys have something custom she made them, more than one actually.

Being the mother, she also has words of affirmation as a love language. Her boys would often come to her when they feel down or need some advice, aside from Alfred of course. She's always there for them whenever they need her and she's willing to listen to them through.

She and Alfred make a great team keeping everyone grounded while simultaneously grounding each other.

Their life was not perfect, but it was happy and that's enough.

1215 words

1215 words

Well damn, I actually posted. Wow. XOXO -Leen

@mominettemonth

Permanent Taglist:

@animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @nickristus-dreamer @miraculouslydumb

Taglist:

@tazanna-blythe @galla02006

[ejm513]

FAIRY TAIL NEXT GEN CHILDREN-GRUVIA EDITION

 NALU

1-I know there is now a cannon child for edo Nalu and edo Gruvia with names and everything. I also know that Gajeel and Levy have twins and Levy is currently pregnant in 100 Years Quest.  I love it and their names and everything about those precious babies-but I’ve had these ideas and characters and backstories growing and developing in my head for years so I’m being the stubborn Taurus that I am and sticking with it.

2-Also please forgive any misspellings and grammar mistakes as I am dyslexic and my school failed us at teaching spelling and grammar. I did my best.

Hello my lovelies!! 

So I’ve spent most of the day working on the first two ships and editing everything so I figured why not just post the second one right away. 

And the next ship we’re doing on this crazy journey is my personal favorite my OTP to end all OTPS 

GRUVIA!!

Ah yes people... I’m in my happy place. 

THE FULLBUSTERS:

  Nicolai Sliver Fullbuster- Nicknames- Nick, Nicky, Nicky Bear (gotta love little sisters)

Birthday: March 15th, 797 (Bonus points if anyone gets the reference :P)

Magic: Ice Make Magic

Appearance:

-Height: 5’10 (same height as Gray)

-Hair: Dark and thick like Grays, slightly wavy curiosity of his mother.

-Eye color: Dark blue and large like he’s mother’s.

-Built like his father.

-He and Gray are the closest to clones.  

IMPORTANT FACTS:

-Gray doesn’t want his boy to deal with the consequences of being a demon slayer… so he doesn’t teach him how to be one. At least not completely. He does pass on some techniques and skills but nothing more.

-For example he teaches him Ice Make Sliver. 

-He got the name Nikolai Sliver from both of his grandfathers-I chose a Russian name because I have this idea in my head that in the real world Juvia would be Russian and nothing can convince me otherwise.

-Though he got over it eventually poor thing hated the cold and having to strip in the snow.

-He too got the illness Ultrear had, and while he didn’t get through it as easily as the Dragnell children he got through it in the end.  

And before anyone ask yes… he stripes.

Personality:

-Kind

-Loyal (but maybe not to a fault)

-Laid back like his father

-A little moody and temperamental at times

-Can be a bit reserved but more or less wears his heart on his sleeve like Juvia.

-Very imaginative like his mother… which sometimes lead him to being a little ditzy and spacy.

-Very loving

-Very protective of those he loves

-Definitely inherited Juvia’s possessiveness-when his sister was being introduced to the guild for the first time after she was born he grabbed hold of her little blanket, stood in front of her and said

“No! She’s MY baby sister!!”

-Gray QUICKLY helped him get it under control

-A huge romantic like Juvia…like MAJOR romantic. He even enjoys reading her romance novels (but don’t you dare tell anyone)

-He also enjoys drawing, doing anything in the snow and ice

-Very intelligent and did well in school-given his magic he was particularly skilled in art. No one understands how he managed to do so well in school because his note books are covered in doodles

-In general just a much more open and expressive person than his father or sister, much more like his mother.

Relationships:

-Extremely close with both of his parents-the Fullbusters are known for having a very close knit and loving family.

-Like almost every boy in this generation he is a total mama’s boy and you better not call him out on it.

-Also idolizes his father and wants to be just like him

-Absolutely adores his little sister is very gentle and sweet with her. He’s extremely protective of her  and one of the only four people he can be a little possessive over (the others being Lila and his parents).However, she can get on his nerves because like most little siblings she follows him everywhere and wants to do everything with him. Plus they can both be temperamental and stubborn. They are also so much alike yet express themselves in such different ways that it causes clashes.  As a result, they bicker the most out of any of the siblings in the next gen-but their fights never, EVER turn physical. But the bottom line is they are exceptionally close-so close in fact they are one of the only pairs in the next gen that can successfully pull of a Unison Raid.

-Real he just wants Eliza to stop calling him Nicky Bear… in public at least.

-The first of his two best friends is Simon Scarlet. At first it was a matter of convenience because he was the only boy in the guild close to her age, but it didn’t take too long to become genuine friends. They love to bond over their love of sweets. The other of course is Lila.

And naturally Happy… Happy is everyone’s best friend

-He has loved Lila pretty much his entire life-before he even understood what that feeling was. When he learned what the concept of marriage, he knew right away she was the one he was going to marry. As stated before he constantly referred to her as his wife as children and when they were older (like almost 20 or older than 20) he would say “You know I’m going to marry you one day Dragnell right?”

Elizaveta/ Eliza/ Liza Ur Fullbuster

   Birthday: November 23rd, 801

Magic: Water.

Appearance:

Height: 5’2 (a couple of inches shorter than Juvia who is 5’4 according to the Wiki)

Hair: Long, thick and wavy like Juvia’s, dark like Gray’s

Eyes: Juvia’s shape but dark like Gray’s

-She has the same gifted build as Juvia, but somehow a little more fragile looking

-Has her father’s smile

-Yes that beautiful beautiful smile 

-Has heard from Gray that despite her strong resemblance to her mother something about her reminds him of his mother

IMPORTANT FACTS:

-Elizaveta or Eliza Ultear got her name from Juvia’s mother and obviously Ultear. Eliza is what she goes by and only those closest with her call her Liza

-Eliza was born five weeks early and this caused… problems. She was extremely sick as a baby. She ended up becoming dyslexic. Finally, it messed with her powers. She has water powers like her mother, but because she was born so early they are technically incomplete because her body isn’t completely made of water like Juvia. This means she’s not impervious to physical attacks, but she makes up for it in other ways.

-Due to being born early and being a little sickly, when she got that infamous illness all the children in the next gem see to get Ultear’s illness (I have no idea what else to call it) she got hit the worse. She actually came close to dying and Gray and Juvia were told to expect the worst.

-Because of this, despite obviously being a skilled and well trained wizard, Eliza is more known for her emotion strength and endurance rather than her physical strength (at least until she was almost an adult)

-Is definitely no ice wizard and can’t stand the cold, but did learn some tricks including how to freeze her rain into snow or freezing rain.

And yes… she is absolutely forbidden to strip under any and all circumstances unless she doesn’t want to see the outside world until she’s 30 or until Gray is dead… which ever comes first

Personality:

-Massive, huge heart of gold

-Very sweet

-Very shy and introverted

-Extremely reserved, keeps everything close to her chest like her father

-Appears laid back but is a ball of emotion and anxiety and occasional bouts of depression

-Comes off as an ethereal, sweet, Mary Jane type of dainty princess when she is anything but

-Actually, has a very snarky, sarcastic sense of humor a la Gray and is just funny like her mother.

-Is never willing to start a fight but if you push her enough she follows the same line of thought as Lila;

-Is very stubborn, moody and temperamental at times

-Very ambitious and always smiling despite everything that’s happened to her.

-Is quiet laid back with her language when she’s older and has been known to swear.

-Is also great at impressions.

-Has Juvia’s quiet astounding imagination and is definitely a dreamer.

-Is a HUGE romantic, openly reading her mother’s romance novels. Otherwise she’s very good at hiding it… mostly.

-Exceptionally smart but struggles with math and is a slow reader because of her dyslexia. She excels in history and music.

-I have a head cannon that Juvia can sing because of all the hydration she gets from having a water body, mermaids/sirens luring sailors with their voices and because apparently Juvia’s voice actress can sing. So Eliza inherited that gift but never sings on stage for the public.

 RELATIONSHIPS:

-Because of how sickly she has always been, and because she was the first girl born to the guild a string of boys, and because of how bad she’s treated by kids at school, Eliza is utterly spoiled and a little coddled by all. No on one minds though because she never acts spoiled. She just loves having such a safe and warm space to fall.

-Like her brother is super close to her parents.

-Juvia is her rock and the pair are inseparable.

-She is also daddy’s littler girl though don’t you ever get her to admit it. They love joking around with each other and just talking.

-She adores and idolizes her big brother-her Nicky Bear. She always wanted to follow him around and do what he did-which after a certain point would get on his nerves. She also sometimes get annoyed with how protective he can be. They can both be a little possessive over each other and their parents.  As mentioned before they have many of the same personality traits but express them in different ways, so they bicker a lot. But in the end she would be lost without him.

-Like her mother Eliza was unfortunately bullied badly by kids outside the guild and even more unfortunate a few kids in the guild. So her three closest friends are Lila Dragnell, Hazel Redfox and much to her chagrin Iggy Dragnell.

-Iggy is the only person who can flare her temper on the daily and who she has fought with-he never fights with more than words but from time to time she will blast him with water just to get him to leave her alone. He is more or less the annoying younger brother she never asked for but similar to her own brother would be lost without him.

-And before you ask no she has not and will never have a crush or any romantic feelings for Iggy… but Simon Scarlet on the other hand….

-Has a love hate relationship with Happy after he was flying her around ounce and dropped her from pretty high up which gave her a fear of heights.

 All right my lovelies!! That is it for this round! I’ll be back soon... hopefully with the next ship!!! 

GAJEELX LEVY!!! 

[bisexualsforprompto]

Teen Titans AU Part 6

Hi! I’m so excited I was able to update at the end of the day today (phew barely made it). Hopefully you like this chapter, it’s mostly setting up for the plot (and climax soon) but I also added some Daminette fluff. Here you go!

VI

“Are you kidding me Kori?!” Asked Damian, “We’re not going back to the tower! We have to find Deathstroke!” Starfire shook her head at Damian, internally she was freaking out, she even wished Dick was here to help her lead this. “Damian, if we go now we’ll be underprepared and Slade is aware of your rashness, he’ll be expecting us. We’ll be pummeled and Marinette will go back with that psycho.” Kori responded. Jamie nodded at Starfire’s statement and sat down on the couch with Garfield. Team meetings normally weren’t so tense and they probably wouldn’t have been if Marinette was there to keep the peace, but Kori sent her to her room. The poor girl had gone through enough and she needed sleep. Damian and Jon were understandably furious but Jon saw Kori’s point, “She’s right you know.” He turned to his friend, who had his normal annoyed expression. Jon continued, “If we try to find them now we’ll be going in blind. I don’t want to send Mari away, but they know she’s here. What should we do Starfire?” Kori thought about it, “I-“ she was interrupted by a scream, Marinette’s scream. “I’ve got it.” Damian said running as fast as he could to her room after checking the camera they put in her room just in case. Nobody was in her room, she was just having a nightmare. Damian understood, sometimes he’d have nightmares about his grandfather. But Ra’s wasn’t coming back unlike Marinette’s tormentor. He quickly opened her door and tapped her until she woke up. “Did-did I do it again Damian?” She said with tears in her eyes. “Don’t worry Marinette, he’s not coming back. And if he does I’ll kick his ass, I’d die before I let anything happen to you.” He whispered into her ear. He felt relieved that the other Titans were in a meeting and couldn’t hear him talk to Marinette. He squeezed her tightly as she sobbed into his arms. “Dam-Damian?” She said looking up at him staring at him with her wide blue eyes. He couldn’t do anything when he looked into her eyes, he was intoxicated. Bluebell eyes continued to stare at him and he looked back at her with his piercing emerald ones. “Yes malak*?” She breathed deeply before asking, “Could-could you stay with me tonight? I feel safer with you.” Damian couldn’t say no to her, he already knew that, “Yes, I will.” He remembered he was a gentleman though and added, “Where would you like me to sleep?” Marinette paused and gathered up some courage, “could you stay here?” She said motioning to the bed she was on. “Are you s-sure?” Damian asked. He didn’t know what to make of it, he knew he would never take advantage of her, but he was surprised that after the Agreste kid she wasn’t afraid of sleeping in the same bed as a boy. Marinette nodded, “I-I am. I trust you Damian.” Damian nodded back to her and laid down. He didn’t mention that she had also trusted that idiot cat partner of hers, but he knew he would never hurt her and if he did, even just emotionally, he would never forgive himself. Damian held marinette as she slowly drifted off to sleep, he ruffled her hair soothingly, “I swear nothing will ever happen to you as long as I’m alive.” He whispered and he too, fell asleep.

The morning sun peeked through the windows of Titans tower. The team, aside from Damian and Marinette were awake for most of the night. Garfield turned on the TV to see if there was any news about the whereabouts of their blonde model. If this kid was really as famous as Kori had mentioned he knew there’d be news about him, and sure enough an anchor with dark hair and chocolate skin was talking about it, with a picture of the smiling blonde model on the TV.

“If you have any tips about where Mr. Agreste might be, call this hotline right now. Now to Mindy with an interview with one of Adrien Agreste’s classmates.” Lila and the interviewer panned onto the screen as Jon walked in. Lila spoke in perfect but choppy English,

“Oh I just hope he’s found soon! I don’t know what Id do without him, we’re such great friends, unlike some people…” The interviewer took Lila’s bait, “Who would be ‘some people’?” Lila put a hand to her head dramatically, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s been obsessed with Adrien since day one, she probably kidnapped him, or worse. She was always so jealous that he’d rather spend time with me instead of-“ Jon growled at the liar on TV, “Turn it off.” He told Gar. “But-“ “Turn it OFF!” Jon yelled. Garfield obliged and the other Titans trickled into the room, except for Marinette and Damian, they were still fast asleep. “Should we wake them?” Tara asked, motioning towards the camera that was taping Marinette’s room. It showed the bluenette and Damian sleeping side by side, with Marinette’s arms placed on Damian’s chest. “No.” Kori said, if the stakes weren’t so high she would even call the display cute, “They deserve a little rest.” Tara nodded and sat next to Gar on the couch. The two had gotten much closer since Marinette arrived, Gar had even told Jamie that Tara and he had kissed. Jamie wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he was happy for his friend. The team sat on the furniture as Starfire got up to make breakfast.

Damian was awoken by the ringing of a cell phone in his pocket. “Just five more minutes.” He heard Marinette mumble. Adorable, he thought. He slowly got up from the bed and answered the phone. “Yes Alfred?” He said in a hushed whisper, as to not wake up Marinette. She sat up anyway watching Damian speak. “No? Is anyone hurt? That’s good. Yes, I think that would be a good idea… today? In TWO HOURS?! Yes, yes sorry Alfred. I’ll be there, do you mind if I bring a friend? Good. We’ll be there.” After hanging up Damian sat on the bed stroking Marinette’s soft, beautiful hair, “My family has offered us their house in Gotham for the time being until we have a good plan to find Deathstroke and Agreste. They could use a little help with Gotham villains, and I think a change of scenery might be good for you anyway...We’d leave in two hours, on a plane. Is that ok?” Marinette nodded, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little happy about going with Damian to another place, far away from Adrien. She thought it would be a good distraction to meet his family. “Ok, malak. Unfortunately you’ll have to get changed and we’ll have to leave almost right away.” Marinette looked puzzled, “Damian? What does ma-malak mean? I heard you say it last night too but…” Damian chuckled a little, “It means angel in Arabic. (*courtesy of google translate) You don’t mind me calling you that do you?” He asked, suddenly self conicous. He only called her that because he thought it described her perfectly. Marinette blushed, “I don’t mind, not at all! I-I-I ummm. CHANGE! I should change!” Damian held in a smile as the bluenette sprung out of bed and ran to her bathroom.

When Marinette was safely in her bathroom, she pulled out clothes from her closet (don’t question it) and woke Tikki up from her makeshift bed in the closet (Tikki wanted to let Mari have some space). “Oh my gosh Tikki, I’m hopeless.” Tikki giggled, “Is this about Damian?” “What how’d you know?!” “It’s obvious, you look at him lovingly, he actually smiles around you…” Marinette turned fifty shades of red, “I- uhhhh. I’m going to change now!” She shut the closet again and changed quickly into some warm clothes, she didn’t know a lot about Gotham except that the weather was generally colder there. She opened her closet once more and pulled out some luggage and packed as fast as she could. She took her purse and motioned Tikki inside. She grabbed her luggage and walked out of the bathroom. She didn’t see Damian, so she assumed he went back to the main room. She headed there too. The Titans had congregated in the main room when they got wind that Damian and Marinette would be in Gotham for a while. Jon didn’t want her to leave but he knew it was safer since only the team and the batfamily knew about them leaving. He wanted Marinette to be safe above all else.

Damian had packed and gathered in the room at record speed, Marinette was close behind. “So I guess you heard…” she said. The team nodded. Marinette was never any good at goodbyes, even temporary ones. Damian looked at his watch, they would have to leave soon if they wanted to get to the airport on time. “I wish you all the best in Gotham, you two.” Kori said. “You’re going to love Gotham,” Garfield jumped in, “Very inspirational.” Marinette nodded, it was awkward, these people had seen her at her worst and seen her laugh so hard she cried. She took a deep breath, “I know it’s only temporary but I’m going to miss all of you so much.” Jon sighed, it was going to be even harder to let her leave. “Don’t worry Mari, we’ll chat all the time. Maybe video calls?” Jon looked at Damian for his approval and he nodded. “I’m sorry Marinette, I know it’s not ideal but it’s the best temporary fix we have while we come up with a plan to beat Slade and Agreste. Plus, I’m sure my family could benefit from the help of a certain spotted heroine.” That made Marinette smile slightly just like Damian thought it would, nothing cheered her up like helping others. Jon pulled Mari in for a tight hug, Garfield, Jamie, Kori, and surprisingly Raven followed suit. Tara stood by Damian and when Marinette was released from the group hug she walked up to her and gave her a small farewell and good luck hug, nothing long but Marinette could tell she cared. Damian said a quick goodbye to his team and walked out of the tower, luggage in hand, with Marinette.

Damian took the Titans smaller car that was used for personal reasons, not Titans business and drove off as the two heroes waved goodbye to their friends. Marinette looked at him as he drove, she was content to let drive in silence, it felt like she didn’t need words at all with him but then she suddenly remembered, “Damian, what villain does your family need help with?” Damian sucked in a bit of air, “The Riddler and his son, normally they’re not much of a threat, but they’ve escalated and are appearantly planning something big. My ‘sisters’ are on a girls trip so my father asked for me to come back and help.” Marinette nodded, “it’ll certainly be a desired pace from Adrien.” She seemed to wince at his name, “and I can’t wait to meet your family, if they’re as g-g-great as you I’m sure I’ll love them.” She blushed. Damian blushed too, she thought he was great! He pulled himself out of his thoughts with a coughing fit, “We’re here.” Damian said pulling up at a small airport. Damian stepped out of the car and opened the door for Marinette, causing a whole new wave of blushes. They walked into the airport together and when they were cleared through security, traveled to the gate just in time for boarding. The Wayne’s had bought them tickets in first class that were next to each other. A TV and a small set of earphones were attached to the back of the seat in front of them. Marinette took the window seat and looked out the window as the plane started to take off, she looked slightly nervous. “Is this your first time flying malak?” Damian asked. “Y-yeah, at least for the first time when I was awake.” Marinette responded. Damian placed a hand over hers, “Is this ok?” He asked. Marinette smiled, “Thank you.” They sat in a comfortable silence for a while until they experienced turbulence. Marinette shut her eyes tightly and Damian came up with an idea. “How about we watch a Movie? It’ll get your mind off the flight.” Marinette nodded and reached for an earbud as Damian reached for the other, their hands touching briefly sending sparks and blushes through the teens’ bodies. They placed their respective earbud in and Damian searched for a movie. Marinette saw her favorite on the dashboard, “How about Enchanted?” Damian looked puzzled, “Sure. I’ve never seen it but-“ Marinette looked at him with wide eyes, “You’ve never seen Enchanted?! That’s it we’re watching it.” Marinette pressed a thumb to the movie and it started to play. Marinette seemed pretty engrossed as the movie went on and Damian found himself looking more at her than the movie. Soon it was over though, and they landed. “You were right Damian, that helped a lot.” She said looking gratefully at the dark haired boy. Damian gave her a slight smile, it was nearly impossible not to smile when she was around. Damian took her hand gently and led her off the airplane, she was awed by the sight of the city and thought of new sketch ideas right away. Gar was right, the city was inspirational. Damian looked at her and her dumbfounded expression and smiled a bit more, “Welcome to Gotham Marinette.”

Tag list:

@zebrabaker (sorry I don’t understand why it’s not working).

@2sunchild2

@northernbluetongue

@mochinek0

@violatiger8

@beaversuenightly

[nerdasaurus1200]

AU Masterlist

Any and all asks for these AUs are more than welcome.

Kwaminette AU- AU where Marinette is Plagg and Tikki’s daughter. She’s a Kwami instead of a human, but she prefers to take on a human form because she likes interacting with humans. She’s the Panda Kwami of Balance, and the kwami of Cory Bernard/Panda Girl, my Miracusona. When she’s not helping out Cory, she’s busy trying to bond with Adrien. This one takes place within the show.

Miraculous Injustice AU- AU where the members of Team Miraculous are placed in the Injustice video game. The canon Team Miraculous gets sent to a dimension where the team is split up and akumas fight for both good and evil because Cat Noir turned evil after they found out Gabriel was Hawkmoth. The Quantic Kids (Felix, Bridgette, Melodie, Sparrow, Gavroche, Kim Mime, and Mercury) are included in this AU as well.

Dupain Cheng Kids AU- AU where Tom and Sabine adopt everyone in the Miracuclass as their child (except Adrien cause he’s their future son in law). Marinette keeps an eye for fellow classmates that don’t have the best home life. She then passes word to her parents, who fight tooth and nail to earn legal custody of said child (We don’t care they aren’t on the adoption list, they deserve to be in a home FULL OF LOVE).

Catbug AU- AU where Marinette has both the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses. She calls herself Catbug. Plagg and Tikki are like a second set of parents to her, and she eventually develops a harem.

Mike and Mari AU- AU where Marinette has an older brother named Michael. He is her favorite thorn in her side as well as her go-to Miraculous Holder. He’s dating Miss Bustier and is going to school to become an interior designer.

Role Reversal AU- AU where Marinette and Adrien are switched Miraculouses. Lady Noire and Mister Bug protect Paris against Pavona and Hudie (Gina and Sabine); who want the Miraculouses to bring back Tom. Involves reverse crush and somewhat reverse life.

Adrien’s Monster AU- AU where Duusu summons a full time sentimonster to protect Adrien. He names it Hiss and it follows him everywhere he goes. Hiss and Plagg hate each other.

Supernatural AU- AU where everyone except Adrien (who’s still human) is a mythological creature. Marinette is a fairy, Kim and Rose are werewolves, Alix is a Hobbit, Mylene is a Dwarf. Juleka and Luka are vampires, Ondine is a mermaid, Ivan is an ogre, Alya is one of the last of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan, Chloe is an elf, Lila is a changeling, Max is half-sphinx, Nathaniel is a brownie, Kagami is a yokai, Marc is a leprechaun, and Nino is a Kappa (though nobody knows). The Kwmais are fae creatures that run/protect the school. Miss Bustier is a pixie, Ms Mendeleiev is a witch, and Principal Damocles is the owl of Athena. Gabriel is secretly a hunter of mythical creatures and sent Adrien to the school so he could get closer to them. (Courtesy to @miraclesoup for some of these ideas)

Hive Guard AU- AU where Chloe keeps her Miraculous at the end of Miraculer, runs away, and becomes a freelance hero of sorts. She’s extremely active is trying to find and stop Hawkmoth and Mayura. She lives in the eiffel tower, and trains with Pollen every day. Nobody but Sabrina knows her location; and she becomes Queen Bee’s right hand.

Jurassic AU- AU where Emilie’s maiden name was Hammond, and one day Adrien discovers is grandfathers work and reopens Jurassic Park.

House Cat AU- AU where Cat Noir actually decides to date Marinette in Weredad and becomes the Dupain Cheng housecat.

Mother Peahen and Papallion AU- also known as the MP3 AU. AU where Duusu and Nooroo adopt Adrien after Heroes Day with Plagg as the greasy uncle.

Road Trip AU- An AU where Team Miraculous travels around the world looking for Lost Miraculouses after defeating Hawkmoth and Mayura. Ali and Aurore bear the Moth and Peacock Miraculouses in this AU.

Miraculous Descendants AU- An AU where Miraculous characters are in the movie Descendants. Most of them are the children of Akumas.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 AU- An AU where there are two boys that like Kagami. Conner (a new student from America who tries to make Kagami jealous by lying about Ryuuko being into him) & Hiroki (a rival from Japan that she beat who believes that she should be his girlfriend) & Luka/Viperion doesn't like how uncomfortable they make her or how angry they make her feel.

Guard Dragon AU (Rockstar!Luka & Bodyguard!Ryuuko AU)- An AU where Kitty Section's new bodyguard is so mysterious and tough. Anarka trusts her to keep her children and their friends (Juleka and Rose dating) safe. Ryuuko does not plan on letting her down, but with Luka? It's hard for our Lady in red black & gold to stay professional.

SongHeart & The Queen (Ryuuka's Beauty and The Beast AU)- Kim is Lumiere, Anarka as Maurice (great parents are great), Chloé and Sabrina as Gaston and LeFou (duh), Emilie and Adrien as Mrs Potts and Chip (need that adorable mother/son bond), Marinette is (a younger) Wardrobe (fashion girl!) and Luka's closest friend in the place. Luka is Belle and Ryuuko is the Beast. Instead of inanimate objects, they’re cursed to be akumas.

Scales and Whiskers AU- An AU where Ryuuko and Cat Noir fight over who gets to date Marinette. She eventually gets so sick of it that she just tells both of them to date her. Before she knows it, she’s got a superhero boyfriend and girlfriend.

Behind the Scenes AU- An AU where Miraculous actually is a show in the canon universe and the characters are all actors. Chloe and Rose are sisters from the South. Jagged, Marinette, and Kagami are siblings. Gabriel and Adrien are Uncle and Nephew, and Lila is Marinette’s best friend.

Akumavillian AU- An AU where everyone who has been akumatized has the ability to turn into their Akumas without the power of the Moth.

Cat’s Shipping Show AU- An AU where Cat Noir runs a blog dedicated to all the ships of Team Miraculous, because he’s shipper trash. He gives people the news on certain ships, and reviews ships as well.

Ghost Bug AU- An AU where the past Ladybug’s are attached to Marinette. They’re like her 24/7 Obi-Wan, and they’re a little Ladybug family. Turns out, everyone on Team Miraculous (plus Hawkmoth and Mayura) are in the same boat.

Sentibug AU- An AU where Bugette wasn’t destroyed by Mayura and instead becomes Ladybug and Cat Noir’s sidekick/daughter

Mom Pink AU- An AU where Pink appeared instead of Steven when his gem was taken out. Somehow they can both exist now and mother and son are reunited.

Adrien Universe AU- Steven Universe, but with Miraculous characters.

Momma Mayura AU- An AU where as soon as Stoneheart appeared, Nathalie grabbed the Peacock Miraculous and became Mayura. She fights on Ladybug and Cat Noir’s side to bring down Hawkmoth and quickly becomes the team mom.

Tales of Pegasus and King Monkey AU- An AU where Master Fu instead distributed the Horse and Monkey Miraculous and Kim and Max are the main characters of the show.

Chatroom AU- An AU where Team Miraculous has a group chat

Genderbend AU- An AU where everyone’s genders are swapped.

Teacher Kwamis AU- An AU where Miss Bustier is fired and the Kwamis take over teaching.

Frozen Dragons AU- A Hiccelsa AU that combines Frozen and How To Train Your Dragon. Basically, just before the events of Race To The Edge, Elsa and Hiccup have an arranged marriage and her, Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, and Anna are present for the events of the show and Dragons 2

Kumafeather AU- An AU where Max and Kim have the Moth and Peacock Miraculous and are trying to bring Max’s dad back. They call themselves Kuma and Dark Feather and are like that classic supervillain and dumb sidekick trope but they’re gay.

GrayBlue AU- An AU where Adrien and Marinette have the Moth and Peacock Miraculous and are trying to bring Emilie back. They call themselves Grayling and Beau Blue.

Mastermind Fu AU- An AU where Master Fu is evil and the Miraculass steal the Miracle Box to fight him.

Evil Miracuclass AU- An AU where the Miracuclass is evil and steals the Miracle Box. Master Fu must use the remaining Miraculous he has to fight them.

Marigod AU- An AU where Marinette and her parents are Gods.

Tangled Sisters AU- an AU where Cassandra grew up in the tower with Rapunzel and Varian is Flynn’s protege/adopted little brother. It’s be the same as the movie, just Cassarian, Aged Up!Varian of course, and the sister duo we deserve.

Apprentice AU- An AU where Master Fu was Emilie’s mentor. They have a father-daughter bond

Killer Princess AU- An AU where Juleka has the Moth and Rose has the Peacock

Timmy Dupain Cheng AU- An AU where Timmy (Sandboy) is Marinette’s foster brother and earns the Dog Miraculous under the name of Pup Fidele

Forbidden Love AU- An AU where Flynn is still a thief and Rapunzel is the ruler of Corona. The two of them have a little flirty to and fro, as he’s the most wanted theif in the kindgom and they both really dig each other but don’t want to admit it, not even to themselves. Lance is his sidekick and Kiera and Catalina are their young protégés. Meanwhile, Varian and Cass work under Raps. Cass as her royal adviser and personal bodyguard, and Varian’s her little brother and the royal alchemist.

Cousins AU- Inspired by the theory that Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna are cousins. An AU where they were there to celebrate her birthday in Secret of the Sundrop and went with her and the gang to the Dark Kingdom! Sven, Kristoff, and Olaf tag along too, of course.

Twins AU- An AU where Marinette and Kagami are long lost twins

The Prince and The Pup AU- An AU where Prince Ali starts going to Marinette's school after falling for the heroine known as Chien De Guarde after his first encounter with her. What he doesn't know is that Chien De Guarde is Sabrina Raincomprix.

Tales of Monarch and Chien de Guarde AU- An AU where Monarch and Chien are the main heroes

Tales of Ryuuko and Viperion AU- An AU where Ryuuko and Viperion are the main heroes

Tales of Ryuuko and King Monkey AU- An AU where Ryuuko and King Monkey are the main heroes

Elsa Padare AU- an au where Elsa is adopted by Cass and Varian

Gandalf Swears AU- An au where everything is the same except Gandalf swears

[homespork-review]

Homespork Act 3: Insane Mindscrew Haymakers (Part 1)

BRIGHT: Before Act 3 proper starts, we see a message from Nanna to John, written in the front of the Sassacre’s joke book from Dad’s safe. The message is somewhat bizarre. For one thing, according to Nanna, the book it’s written in will end its journey on the day she dies...and still carry on for a while. For another, it talks about game elements we’ve encountered already, and hints at more to come. Overall it’s a nice bit of detail, enough to whet the reader’s interest.

You are no doubt reading this as a handsome and strapping young man! Why, the mangrit needed to lift the book is itself a sign of your maturity, not even to speak of the wisdom needed to grasp the nuance of Sassacre's time-tested mischief. I am so proud of you, grandson! How I wish I could have delivered this heirloom to you in the flesh. But I am afraid it wasn't in the cards! For you see, John, like you, this book must yet take a journey! Its journey will end on the Final Day of my life, and even then will continue some. Though I suppose that will be up to your Father. Perhaps he will discuss it with you one day, when he and you are ready. But it is your journey I am writing about to wish you luck! There will come a day when you will be thrust into another world. And once you arrive, that is only the beginning! You will soon delve even deeper into a realm of Warring Royalty in a Timeless Expanse. A realm of Agents and Exiles and Consorts and Kernelsprites. Of toiling Underlings and slumbering Denizens. A realm where four will gather, the Heir of Breath and Seer of Light, the Knight of Time and Witch of Space, and together they will Ascend. John, if only you knew how important you were! I regret my passing came so early in your life. And yet I feel in my heart we have already met. But what I know for sure is that we will meet again! Until then, John, I do hope your Father keeps you well fed!

FAILURE ARTIST: As I said earlier, Hussie has artfully defaced books, including one antique one about an expedition around the world. Defaced books show up again in this comic.

CHEL: Particularly, it implies that Nanna also had knowledge of the game during her lifetime, somehow, and refers to the gathering of four heroes. This is our first introduction to the classpect system, which now rivals Hogwarts houses as a method of personality description in fandom at large. I think at the time I didn’t realise who it was referring to… Anyway.

Next, we officially meet GG, the fourth and final member of our gang, a “silly girl” with a cheery grin, sleeping in a greenhouse full of vegetables and spirograph-shaped flowers. Since she’s sleeping and can’t object, she’s referred to for a while as FARMSTINK BUTTLASS, but she’s way ahead of us; under her hand is a note admonishing the reader and declaring her actual name to be Jade Harley. I think she’s the cutest of the kids, myself - just seeing her first appearance makes me happy! All its weaknesses aside, Homestuck’s pretty great at creating painfully cute character designs and attaching a good range of personalities to them.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade Harley was considered a “Mary Sue” when she was first introduced. I don’t know why. Yeah, she has a lot of eccentricities and unusual possessions but so do the other characters.

Farmstink is a reference to an old comic Hussie did about this dude obsessed with the stink of farms. Hussie’s early work is really weird.

CHEL: The reader attempts to wake Jade by dropping a pumpkin carved with an animal’s face on her head, but the pumpkin disappears; as we know, WV now has it. Fortunately for the pacing, Jade wakes up on her own. Look closely, and you’ll notice the symbol on her shirt changes each page; that turns out a bit later to be due to her hi-tech WARDROBIFIER. If I recall correctly, Hussie intended to settle on one chosen by reader vote, but ended up on a cycle of three different ones.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade settles on three icons to appear on her shirt. However, eventually just one icon stays on her shirt. The WARDROBIFIER doesn’t get much use with her, though a later character has the same thing.

CHEL: Jade is also wearing COLORFUL REMINDERS on her fingers, and when the view pans out it’s revealed by the view from the window that her GARDEN ATRIUM is on a high floor. She plays the flute badly for a while in a Flash game; apparently it’s not her preferred instrument. Also fortunately for the pacing, we think, she knows how to use her sylladex, and prefers to set its retrieval function in the form of a memory game because you seem to have a knack for always guessing right on the first try! On checking her reminders, she remembers to wish John happy birthday, gathers some fruit, and heads upstairs by means of a teleporter.

Jade’s bedroom proves to be full of various disturbing-looking plushies, albeit not nearly as disturbing as the Smuppets, hanging baskets and potted plants, a bass guitar, and G-rated furry artwork, including a piece obviously drawn by Dave. Franchises depicted in her toy and poster collections include GREEN SLIME GHOST (the apparent copyright-friendly source of John’s T-shirt and pogo ride), MANTHRO CHAPS (mustachioed human faces on plush animal bodies), and SQUIDDLES (adorable octopi with magnets in their bellies which stick together as Tangle Buddies!). Her favoured weapons are rifles, though she would never shoot an animal, and she has various gadgets on a worktable, including a thing that looks like a disconnected window not unlike those shown in Rose’s book, which she apparently hasn’t been able to get to work.

FAILURE ARTIST: Manthro Chaps is a reference to Hussie’s particularly disturbing set of comics where he plays around with anthropomorphization. Like having an anthro chicken man lay anthro eggs.

CHEL: The comic in question, Humanimals, can be found here; warnings for extreme body horror and general grossness.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade is told by a forum prompter to Lose interest in fauna and never speak of it again. Jade refuses to in a beautiful little speech but she denies she’s a furry. Oh, if she only knew what was coming for her.

Jade looks out the window and we find out she lives somewhere next to a volcano.

CHEL: The very same one which appeared in the animation at the end of the last act, in fact.

Your grandfather is a WORLD RENOWNED EXPLORER-NATURALIST-TREASURE HUNTER-ARCHEOLOGIST-SCIENTIST-ADVENTURER-BIG GAME HUNTER-BILLIONAIRE EXTRAORDINAIRE. He has taught you everything you know.

Grandpa is heavily coded here and in his appearance a bit later as a Great White Hunter, an upper-class European guy who goes to faraway countries in order to shoot the animals there. Of course, non-white people can certainly do that, but white is what people will immediately picture upon seeing the trope. Also note we have another ridiculously wealthy family here. Since all four of the kids have now been introduced and we’ve had a lot of WSP points from their races and financial statuses already, here we get another HOW NOT TO point as well.

The Country Club Here every single character is white and middle-to-upper class. Unless your novel is taking place in rural Sweden, this will eventually give the reader the eerie feeling that some form of ethnic cleansing has taken place. HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 14 WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 7

One could argue that some form of ethnic cleansing is taking place, since these are the kids who are surviving the apocalypse, though that’s not actually fair because there are plenty of other SBurb sessions all across the world which might also succeed.

Jade opens her GADGET CHEST and produces several more items pertaining to her interests, including her computer, which she keeps in a Squiddles lunchbox. Several fortune-telling items are included among them, but according to Jade they are not the source of her abilities. The Magic 8-Ball is apparently usually wrong, responding to being asked whether it’s John’s birthday today with NOT EXACTLY, and the Magic Cue Ball is supposedly always right but is impossible to read, making it completely useless.

FAILURE ARTIST: There’s another Problem Sleuth reference (or rather Problem Sooth) but what’s important is the Magic Cue Ball. Unlike her Magic 8-Ball, it has no window where one can read the prediction. If only Jade had a special vision. Perhaps an eightfold vision.

Jade goes to feed BEC. She has some sylladex trouble until she finally just takes a steak out of her fridge.

CHEL: Once again, the sylladex shenanigans waste several pages.

GET ON WITH IT!: 9

Bec’s identity is as yet unknown, but recall that Dave called him a “devilbeast” in an earlier conversation, and when he suggested shooting Bec Jade said she didn’t think she could if she tried. He also apparently eats nothing but steaks (lucky Grandpa’s a billionaire), so Jade is living on an island with apparently minimal supervision from her guardian and an allegedly dangerous carnivore running wild outside. Like Dave, at this point it seems to be very lucky she’s a cartoon character.

FAILURE ARTIST: Using a special oven she irradiates the steak. Umm, I think Bec can take that but I worry about Jade.

Jade finds and plays her elaborate bass and she’s much better at it than with the flute. During the flash, the camera pulls out and we find out where she lives: in a tower on a small volcanic island with a frog temple in the lagoon. An airplane goes by and drops a package.

Jade uses her super high-tech “lunchtop” to have a conversation with John. Nothing special about that but we see on her chumroll a bunch of unfamiliar handles. Hmm.

CHEL: The unfamiliar handles are listed in the “Trollslum”, which one presumes is a blocklist. I think you have to see just how hi-tech the lunchtop is:

"Jade: Get down to business." (Watch on YouTube)

Hussie’s really coming into his own with the animations by now.

FAILURE ARTIST: Dave has sent her some messages begging her to wake up and unfortunately one line has the f-slur in it.

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 7

In the end, he decides she’ll probably forget what he says.

CHEL: Begging her to wake up” doesn’t exactly cover it.

TG: youre asleep again arent you TG: or do you even know if you are TG: i still dont know how that works TG: its like nothing means anything

Apparently Jade sometimes talks to him while she’s sleeping.

FAILURE ARTIST: There’s a little flash where you can listen to some of Dave’s tunes. When you’re done with that, you can join her in looking at mspadventures.com. A crude John wearing a wizard hat is sitting on his lawn with the caption

It begins to dawn on you that everything you just did may have been a colossal waste of time.

What the hell is going on here? Is Jade reading what John is doing right now?

CHEL: I think it’s just a fourth wall joke, but it’s certainly accurate, considering our GET ON WITH IT count.

FAILURE ARTIST: Next, we get this flash called Midnight Crew: Act 1031. If you are watching it in 2019, the song playing is Dead Shuffle by Mark Hadley. However, the song was originally Nightlife by Bill Bolin. Unfortunately, Bolin had a dispute with Hussie over Hussie using music that Bolin considered WIP. Bolin blew up and called Hussie “unprofessional” and in a very professional move posted a photo of himself giving the double deuce. It’s a shame this happened since Nightlife is a jauntier and more appropriate tune.

CHEL: The Midnight Crew, to be specific, are gangsters with card-themed names who bear a striking resemblance to WV, living in a mysterious purple city full of towers, pitted against the Felt, another gang of odd-looking green fellows who wear bowler hats with numbers on them, in the colour schemes of a set of pool balls.

Hussie did make reference in the previous page to a “weird tangential intermission [which] clearly advanced the plot in no way whatsoever”, implying that it actually is relevant, and the purple city and its shiny black beady-eyed inhabitants look very familiar, but since as far as we know at this point the Midnight Crew is just a comic-within-a-comic, you know which counts get added to.

GET ON WITH IT!: 10 WHAT IS HAPPENING??: 2

Just for the record, the leader of the gang is named Spades Slick, and yes, we’re aware that “spade” is a slur against black people, which makes it slightly unfortunate to be applied as a name to a black-shelled alien creature. However, we’re not counting that as PROBLEMATYKKS because Hussie and the Crew’s original writer certainly did not intend that. It’s not that commonly used a term from what I’ve seen, the playing cards would be the more likely immediate association, and with the other characters being Clubs Deuce, Hearts Boxcars, and Diamonds Droog, it’s just an unfortunate coincidence. If he was a black human, then I’d object more strenuously.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade talks with Dave (I think the conversation is a repeat?)

CHEL: Yep.

GET ON WITH IT!: 11

FAILURE ARTIST: Finally, we get the flash we’ve been waiting for: Dave strifes with his mysterious guardian. Or rather, he strifes with Lil Cal while Bro is a speed blur.

BRIGHT: Unlike the other strifes up to this point, the reader can’t do anything other than watch, because Bro slices the command box in half right at the start.

TIER: In the world of Homestuck, the parental units are overall just really weird! Like dad Egbert severe overabundance of cakes and mom Lalonde's drunken dysfunction. It's overall all hilarious, fitting with the tone and humor of the story well!

But then we have our lovely outlier. The one, the hated, The. Bro “a huge bastard honestly” Strider! A.K.A basically the one guardian whose questionable parenting gets the Real Consequences treatment later on in this tale. Peculiar that.

CHEL: Now, under most circumstances, an adult man beating the hell out of a barely-teenage kid, on the precarious rooftop of a high-rise building no less, would be horrifying. However, Bro chooses to hit Dave with his puppet, which… is frankly hard to take seriously. Obviously it would still hurt if a real person did that, but it looks so stupid that the immediate assumption is that it’s a joke.

BRIGHT: Particularly when earlier strife moves like Rose’s ‘Empty Suicide Threat’ were intended to be humorous. This is about on the same level as that, in terms of severity!

TIER: Being smacked around by the flopping noodle limbs of a freaky puppet is honestly hard to take seriously. Hell, this entire sequence is chock full of outlandish “Rule of Cool” bullshit and I am Peeved that I was apparently supposed to look at this sequence of ridiculous events and go “OBVIOUSLY THIS IS FUCKED UP AND ABUSIVE”.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 7

CHEL: I could kinda see that with hindsight from the rest of the comic, but definitely not “OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A LOT MORE FUCKED UP AND ABUSIVE THAN THE OTHER AWFUL FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES”, which is what was apparently intended. And we also get another HOW NOT TO point, which we’ll give now even though the official “reveal” comes much later.

A Novel Called It - wherein an abusive parent exists Bad parents are everywhere in unpublished fiction. Whole cities of abusive fathers and sneering mothers live in the pages of books that can’t be sold. While occasionally, and notably in the horror genre, this sort of material can be made good (Carrie, V. C. Andrews), most cruel parents in fiction are just as much fun as they are in real life. HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 14

That damn puppet gets creepier every time, admittedly, more so now that Bro is moving so fast that the thing appears to be dancing on Dave’s head under its own power. Dave’s expressions look more annoyed than afraid or hurt, however, in my opinion.

FAILURE ARTIST: Anyway, we go back to Jade. Rose is pestering her.

TT: I require a font of frighteningly accurate yet infuriatingly nonspecific information. TT: Do you know where I can find a wellspring of this sort?

Very business-like, isn’t it? Rose and Jade’s relationship is a big missed opportunity in this comic. They’re more like friends-of-friends than friends.

CHEL: I don’t know, that sounds to me like how Rose talks to the boys too; facetiously formal. Still, they don’t converse nearly as much as the boys do with each other or them. Male writers in particular tend to do this, and it’s not entirely their faults. People are socialised to think women talk a lot more than they do, so he probably didn’t notice.

TIER: A real shame honestly, we were fucking robbed of some peak interactions between a sunshine flower child and a “dark and brooding” baby goth. Fucking. Robbed.

FAILURE ARTIST: We find out that Jade was the one who had the idea of playing Sburb. She had told Rose that the game would answer some of Rose’s unnamed questions. Rose wants more information on this Big Day. Jade says the game will not be what Rose thinks it is and will answer questions Rose hasn’t thought of yet. On that mysterious note, Jade says goodbye.

CHEL: We check in briefly with Rose in the present, confirming that she’s found the secret passage and is escaping the fire, bringing the corpse of her cat along with her, then to John, who is doing much worse. The ogres (the giant tusked imps) have cornered him, and while he flails frantically about with his Pogo Hammer it doesn’t do much good. They beat the snot out of him with the old Sassacre book and the tire swing, then send him flying into the abyss; fortunately, Nannasprite is able to catch him on his bed and provide healing, allowing him to flail uselessly at the ogres again and get beaten up again, ad infinitum.

Back in the desert, a giant worm-like creature emerges from PM’s bunker and chows down on the cart full of mailboxes. PM is displeased, and puts a hand on the hilt of an ornate black sword.

Cut back to the FAQ, which John has found time to edit with information about the punch card system. He doesn’t know if anyone is left alive to play the game, but Rose asked him to add to it, so he will. He’s figured out with his 133t h4x0r 5k1llz that the captcha code on the back of the cards is converted into a binary-based pattern on the cards, 0 being blank and 1 being a punched hole. Overlapping the cards functions like a bitwise AND operation, causing both to be enacted. The 48-hole card system allows for 300 trillion combinations, but John lampshades the fact that this couldn’t possibly cover every conceivable captchable item, and that various combinations of overlapping cards would just produce the same combination. This is just adding to my conviction that the system ought to be reworked; the totems alone would probably allow for a much wider range, if one gets down to the atomic level of their shape. Then again, those would be a lot harder to merge… Still, I’m sure there’s some way to work it.

BRIGHT: This section was kind of surprising to me because up to this point we haven’t had much if any description of John being into coding, so the section came out of left field somewhat. Not bad, necessarily, just jarring.

CHEL: Actually, he did mention in his intro that he likes to program, albeit not very well, he had some coding books on his shelves, and the icons on his computer are named in a way which implies they’re some of his attempts at coding. However, this interest never really comes up again later that I remember.

Meanwhile, the secret passage Rose followed led to her mother’s laboratory, which bears the logo “SN” with a stylised atom and a spirograph pattern in the loops of the S. It seems Mom Lalonde knows more than she’s letting on about the game. Inside the laboratory is an enormous HUBGRID of devices into which the laptop can be plugged.

FAILURE ARTIST: Rose uses that ol’ r-slur when she says she won’t go on the pad so that’s another point.

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 8

CHEL: Jade uses the TRANSPORTALIZER to travel most of the way down to the ground floor, but not all the way down because the one on that floor is blocked. As she walks down the last couple of flights of stairs, we see Grandpa’s own collections of stuff; taxidermised animal heads, suits of armour, mummified corpses (made by pasting in photographs to the cartoon background, it’s creepy as hell), and his BLUE BEAUTIES, or the DAUGHTERS OF ECLECTICA; sun-bleached portrait photographs of beautiful women. On the final floor, we are confronted with the thing blocking the final portal; a gigantic preserved monster with a white head and green serpentine body. It took me till just now to figure it out but I think the white part is supposed to be a human torso on the snake tail; at first it just looked like a snake wearing a stocking mask. That’s what happens when the humans don’t have arms.

Jade thought she had logged off from Pesterchum, but suddenly it pings again, and here we are introduced to an entirely new section of the cast. We’re probably not spoiling anything by not being mysterious about them at this point in the fandom’s history, but just in case, we’ll stick to doing the reveals when the comic does. The person talking to Jade is one of the names from her TROLLSLUM, under the handle carcinoGeneticist; they gloat about being “BETTER AND SMARTER THAN YOU, FOREVER” when asked how they’re still contacting Jade after being blocked, and mock her about today being “FINALLY THE DAY YOU FUCK EVERYTHING UP”. Angry, Jade blocks them again.

FAILURE ARTIST: I had forgotten that “they” appeared so early.

CHEL: Well, “appear” is stretching it; the TROLLSLUM only make contact through Pesterchum for a while yet. And when they show up, we’ll have both plenty of skilfully-written points to pick out and plenty of counts to apply.

[isuthetimelady]

Adrigami!Felix au: Sick kitty

Timeline: Bri and Fé know each other for a while now (let’s say, two months or so) but still are in that first phase of her being a little bit too annoying and him avoiding her

~~~

Wow.

That’s all Bridgette could think, looking at massive mansion towering her as she was preparing herself to enter it.

She imagined Felix’s family was wealthy - after all, his father was famous model and his grandfather used to be even more famous fashion designer - but she definetly didn’t expect his house would be that big.

She felt a bit overwhelmed.

“Can i help you?”

Girl almost jumper, hearing female voice coming from a speaker on her right.

“Oh, i… I brought today’s lessons. For Felix. Can i come?” asked Bridgette, feeling a bit insecure.

After a short pause, voice spoke again.

“Yes.”

“T-thank you.” stuttered girl, watching the gate in front of her as it opened. Then she took a deep breath and entered Agreste’s possesion.

As she was walking into the mansion, an impressively tall woman in elegant suit - which Bridgette recognized as her mother’s creation - passed her, walking out.

“Greetings. My apology, i can’t stay any longer, i have important meeting.” said woman, sending her quick smile.

“Uh, okay… I mean, i understand…” but she didn’t listen, already running past the gate.

“Sorry for my wife.” heard Bridgette from the inside of mansion. She looked in that direction and saw Felix’s father, Adrien Agreste. She recognized him from television; she sometimes watched fashion shows with her mother. “Kagami likes to keep herself busy. Sometimes i barely see her at home.” he came closer to her and offered his hand. Girl accepted handshake. “So you are Felix’s friend?”

“Sort of. We are in the same class. I know no one else would probably come so i brought my notes from today’s lessons. I’m Bridgette, Bridgette Couffaine.”

“Oh! So you must be Marinette’s daughter?” she nodded. “What a coincidence! We’ve been in the same class too. Didn’t see her in a while. How is she?”

“Good, recently taking a little break from work. Should be visiting my grandparents today, i think.” girl reached to her bag and pulled out her notebooks. “Could you give them to Felix, sir? I don’t want to bother him.” that sentence hurt to say but she could understand that Felix didn’t want to be disturbed while sick. And she didn’t want to catch anything too.

“Sure! Come, let’s see how he is.”

As they walked through the maze of corridors, they talked a little bit more. For Bridgette man seemed to be very amicable and outgoing; she definetly did not imagine Felix’s father to be like this. She thought about his parents as distant and a bit cold people - that would explain him not accepting her affection as he would not be used to it.

But now, she had no idea why he was like this.

“Wait here for a moment, will you?” asked Adrien when they stopped in front of one of the doors. When girl nodded, he knocked on the door. “Felix?” there was no response, so man gently opened the door and looked inside. “As i suspected, he’s asleep. I’ll leave your notebooks on the desk, he’ll find them when he wakes up.” he whispered.

“Okay.” agreeded Bridgette as Adrien walked in, leaving her on the corridor. She couldn’t resist peering inside, hoping to see sleeping Felix. Sadly, all she could see was a total mess of sheets on bed with boy somewhere inside, probably. Bri felt a little bit disappointed.

She quickly turned back from the room and pretended to admire hallway’s decor when Adrien quietly left the room and locked the door.

“Wanna some tea? Unless you don’t have time of course.” he asked. “You may catch Felix later, he was sleeping for a while now so he’ll probably wake up soon.”

“I can stay a while.” Bridgette smiled. “I don’t have any plans.”

***

Felix, very sleepy and wrapped in a warm blanket, left his room with an urgent need for something warm to drink. Also because Plagg wouldn’t stop begging for some camembert. Seriously, that annoying creature needed to go on some diet. He ate definetly too much cheese.

Passing the living room, he heard sounds of his father’s favourite video game, Mecha Strike or something like that. Weird. Father didn’t really play that one recently, mostly because neither Felix or Kagami liked that game enough to play with him.

Curious, the boy decided to look inside. As he opened the door, he heard Bridgette’s victorious shout… Bridgette?

What was she doing here?

Winning with his father in Mecha Strike, it seemed.

“Felix!” man noticed him. “Do you need something? Sorry, i thought you were still asleep.”

Bridgette turned to look at him. Felix noticed that she blushed a bit and with terror realized how bad he had to look right now, with messed from sleep hair and flushed cheeks.

Whatever.

“I wanted to get something to drink.” answered finally boy. “Welcome, Bridgette.”

“H-hi!” seriously, why did she seemed so nervous?

“What are you doing here?” he asked, trying to be as polite as possible. He leaned against the door frame, suddenly feeling weaker.

He hated being sick.

“Bri brought you lessons from today. They’re on your desk.” father looked at him with strange smirk. “Why didn’t you ever mentioned you have friend, Fé?”

“We’re actually not…” boy stopped, sighing. Adrien wouldn’t listen anyway, too happy to see his son finally making friends.

“You should come more often, Bri.” commented man. “I know Fé probably won’t invite you, he’s too shy, but feel welcomed whenever you like.”

Felix hardly stopped himself from growling. His father was officially lost to Bridgette’s charm.

From now, not even his own house was safe.

~~~

Of course Adrien would totally adore Bridgette from the very moment he saw her, she’s cute, can play video games and is (sort of) friends with Felix! His poor, lonely boy, finally making friends!

And he notices the way Bri looks at his son (he’s blind only when it comes to girls crushing on him) and obviously ships them hard

As for Felix, he IS grateful for Bridgette’s help (and he thanks her later) but before he knew he could find peace and quiet in his house. From now, how can he know if he won’t suddenly meet Bri in his living room or kitchen? How was he supposed to avoid her then?

As for Bri, at school Felix was always dapper and serious, so seing him with messed up hair and wearing a pajamas and blanket instead of his usual vest… She’ll probably have problem sleeping that night ;*

Also, i personally headcanon adult Kagami as really tall woman, absolutely loving her height - she feels like she’s taken more seriously because of that (of course, she doesn’t need that to be taken seriously, she’s amazing regardless of height)

Surely, she wouldn’t trust anyone else with her outfit than Marinette. They might not be that close friends anymore but Kagami knows Mari will make her exactly what she asks for

[beatriceinmessina]

Halloween Terrorfest, Day XIII: ‘This is Halloween’

(A note: This one is just pure nonsense I wrote to amuse myself.)

31 October 2019

“What are you supposed to be?”  asked James, looking up and down as Thomas and Edward came in through the door.

Thomas gave him a surprised look.  “You really don’t know?”  James shook his head in reply.  “I love rock ‘n’ roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby!”

“No, that’s obvious.  You,” James said, gesturing to Edward, who was dressed in a top hat and greatcoat, “who are you?”

Edward sighed.  “James, don’t tell me you’ve never seen The Body Snatcher.”

“What?”

“The Body Snatcher.  You know, the film where Boris Karloff gives this doctor guy bodies and is obsessed with him.”

“I don’t know that one.”

“Then you’ll have to come over to our place and see it.  Next week?” asked Edward, already walking into the house.  Thomas shook his head, smiling affectionately.

“Just watch it alone unless you want to hear his theory on how the two main guys are exes, which is actually pretty plausible,” he said, and tilted his head to the side.  “Wait.  I didn’t ask you who you are, and I’m still not sure.”

An evil grin spread across James’s face.  “Surprise, bitch!  I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”

“Oh, yeah.  And I think Francis is staring at me?”  Thomas’s eyes slid over to the dining room table where Francis was sitting and back again.

“No, he’s staring at me and counting down the minutes until he gets to screw me in this.  He told me before we left.”

“Um.  Thanks?”  

“You’re welcome!” James said cheerily, stepping to the side and letting Thomas through.  He had barely gotten through the living-room before there was a screeching of tires so loud that practically everyone in the room jumped.  Tuunbaq hissed and stood up on the sofa’s arm, his fur standing on end.

“Oh, no,” Harry whispered, going to collect the infuriated cat before he tore a hole in the couch and looking out the window.  “They’re going to crash something going like that.”  Another screech as the car skidded into a parked position, and then an infuriated shriek that could probably be heard all the way in Lancashire.

“JOHN HARTNELL, IF YOU DRIVE LIKE THAT AGAIN, I SWEAR TO EVERY GOD ABOVE, I WILL CUT YOUR HANDS OFF FINGER BY FINGER!”

“It’s part of the character!” John could be heard protesting, and then Tom shouting again.

“DON’T TELL ME THAT, JONATHAN -- YOU DRIVE LIKE A FUCKING DEMON TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN -- YOU ARE GOING TO SET THIS CAR ON FIRE ONE DAY -- YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME DRIVE--”

“One, the full name ultimatum doesn’t work when Jonathan isn’t my name.  Two, you’re adorable when you yell like this.”

“Adorable?  ADORABLE?!  I AM NOT--”

“Come on, you know Mary Ann’s the only one who inherited Mum’s terrifying gene.  Your face just gets all screwed up and cute.”

“Hey,” Harry called, opening the door and standing in the entrance, “you might want to get inside before someone reports you for being public nuisances.”

“Am I that loud?” Tom called, his voice finally dropping below a scream.  

“If you were any louder they’d hear you in New York,” John groaned.  “I think my eardrums almost exploded.”

“They wouldn’t be in danger of exploding if you drove like a normal person.  It’s a miracle your licence hasn’t been revoked.”

“Yeah.  We should--”

“WELCOME TO A SHOW ABOUT DEATH!” a gleeful voice screeched from inside, and Graham all but slid into the doorway, leaving Harry a split second to get out of the way.  “If you die during this party, the festivities will not stop.”

“Yes, it will,” Harry said.  “Now come inside before someone gets arrested.”

They got out of the car; Tom headed for the house, and John stayed by the car, looking at it disappointedly.  “It didn’t break down.”

“Wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles.  Come on.”  Tom grabbed his brother’s hand and dragged him from the house.  Harry stared at them when they came up the stairs.

“Tell me you were not driving with those sunglasses on.”

“I told him to take them off,” Tom said.  “He said it wasn’t, and I quote, ‘in the spirit of Elwood Blues’, and he wasn’t going to disappoint him.  So we almost crashed four times on a fifteen-minute drive.”

“You’re not hurt?”

“We’re fine,” John said, walking inside.  “Anyone else coming?”

“No, everyone else is here -- Tuunbaq, stop trying to attack them,” Harry sighed, trying to contain the squirming, hissing cat in his arms and close the door at the same time.  “We talked to you about this.”

“I told you,” Silna called from the table.  “He only listens to my dad.”  The door now securely locked, someone turned the music, which had been playing at a decently low volume, way up.  Tuunbaq screeched and leapt out of Harry’s grasp, searching for the culprit as “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” blasted at approximately one hundred thousand million decibels and Blanky, dressed in what looked like a nineteenth-century sailor’s uniform, stood by the speakers and nodded his head as if absolutely nothing was wrong at all.  Francis grabbed him and pulled him backwards whilst Silna leaned over and turned the knob way down, restoring the momentarily-dashed order.  

Cornelius, for one, had somehow managed to find a perch on top of the kitchen counter and was telling some story to the group he had come with, all of whom were dressed as the Sawyer family of Texas Chainsaw fame to a disturbing degree of accuracy.  (Magnus, in particular, resembled Leatherface so closely that no one was entirely sure that Leatherface hadn’t actually turned up.  The chainsaw in his hands wasn’t helping.)  The story seemed to involve some guy he knew and the Regent’s Canal.  Charlie Des Voeux had gotten bored of said story and, true to the character of Nubbins Sawyer, was currently antagonizing whoever he could with a prop pocket knife.  (Or at least it seemed like it was a prop.)  Stanley, made grotesquely white by greasepaint, was occupied in eyeing the matchbox left near the stove.  Francis and James had brought Neptune with them, and, while he was usually a very good boy, the dog had been growling at Tuunbaq all evening.  If everyone wasn’t careful, there would be blood and fur on the floor by the end of the night.

“Hey!” Charlie seemed to pop up out of nowhere in front of John and Tom, waving the knife around in a truly irresponsible manner.  “You want some head cheese?”  

“Stop being a dick,” someone grumbled, and Solomon, wearing a suit that looked like it had just been found in an attic chest, appeared behind Charlie.  “And put the knife down before you stab someone.”

“That’s the point,” Charlie said irritatedly.  “It’s Halloween.  Scary shit is the point -- what -- PUT ME DOWN!” he shrieked when Solomon lifted him into a bridal carry.  “ARSEHOLE!  LET ME GO -- I WILL STAB YOU--”

“Too late,” Solomon said calmly, picking the knife out of Charlie’s fingers.  “This is mine now.  Don’t contradict me, I’m your grandfather!” he added as a final word.  

“Isn’t the grandpa in that movie over a hundred?” John asked.  “He probably can’t carry anyone.”

“I’m saving you from certain death; don’t tear my case apart.”

“Isn’t that a prop, though?”

“Charlie?” Solomon asked.  “Is this a prop knife?”

“Cornelius gave it to me, I don’t know!  PUT ME DOWN,” Charlie howled as Solomon carried him into the kitchen, presumably to interrogate Cornelius as to the function of the knife.  

The kitchen being thus commandeered, everyone else had gathered in the next two rooms, and now that all ears were safe from spontaneously combusting, the party had settled into conversation and dance, and would have gone on perfectly normally if not for a few things that turned it into a night to be remembered as long as anyone lived.

A hissing, popping sound came from the kitchen, followed by Solomon racing out into the dining area with Charlie still in his arms, some of the “Sawyers” behind him.  

“The stove was on fire,” Charlie said.  “I think I saw Stanley climb out the window.”

“Was?” Silna repeated.  “It’s not on fire anymore?”

“It just, like… exploded for two seconds.  Like a gas explosion.”

“Did we leave the stove on?”  Silna turned to Harry.

“I don’t think so.”  He shrugged and went in to look.  “No, we didn’t.  Someone would have had to light it with a match.”

“He took your matches too,” said Tommy Armitage.  “I saw them in his pocket.”

“Wait.”  Harry scowled.  “Stanley set the stove on fire, stole our matches, and climbed out the window?”  Yes, his co-worker was consistently disapproving and Harry was ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent sure he wasn’t capable of smiling, but setting things on fire?  For no reason whatsoever?  But sure enough, Stanley had been gone when he’d checked the stove.  And the window was open.  Good gods, was work going to be awkward tomorrow morning.

The spectacle being over before it even began, everyone was about to leave when someone screamed upstairs, a scream so long and loud it was amazing the screamer hadn’t run out of breath by the time Francis hurried up the stairs to investigate.  He found John Irving staring into the open-doored bedroom, looking as though he had glanced into Hell itself.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.  John made a mewling sound and pointed to the bedroom.  Cornelius stood in front of the bed, along with Billy Gibson.  Both seemed to have hastily pulled their clothing on.  Francis sighed.  “You couldn’t go out to your car?”

“We all came over in Sol’s,” Cornelius said.  “It would be rude.”

“And this isn’t?”

“Well yeah, but it’s not illegal.  You can’t hang me for it.”

“Is that your criteria for what’s appropriate to do?  Whether or not you’ll get hanged?”

“Yes.”  Cornelius grinned his cheeky grin.  “And you can’t hang me for that either.”

“What’s all this about hanging?” Francis asked Billy, who shrugged.

“I don’t know.  I just came up here to get laid.”

“Get out of Silna and Harry’s room before you traumatize anyone else.”

“Yes, sir, Captain, Dad,” Cornelius said cheerfully, and marched out pulling Billy with him.  “We’ll be in the coat closet.”

“No, we won’t,” Billy contradicted.  “Sorry, John,” he added to the trembling figure now curled up on the floor.  “We’ll lock the door next time.”

“Lock the door next time?  There shouldn’t BE a next time!” John shrieked, his eyes nearly falling out of his head.  “You two are scorched on the insides of my eyelids for the REST OF MY LIFE!”

“It’s free jerk-off material, you’re welcome,” Cornelius called before Billy yanked him down the stairs.  Francis followed them after seeing that John wasn’t getting up anytime soon, where everyone had dispersed save for Silna and Harry, who were talking over something clutched in Harry’s hands.  

“Where did you get it?” Francis heard Silna say.

“The Budgens three streets over.  The brand starts with G or something.”

“And every single piece has bits of metal in it?”

“Every piece I’ve tried.”

“How do they even get metal bits into candy?  How is anyone that staggeringly incompetent?  Or evil?”

“I don’t know.  We just have to get rid of it.”

“Burn it,” Blanky said, appearing between them.  “Burn it all.”

“Burn it?” Harry repeated.

“Sure, it’s a great bonding experience.”

“He’s right,” Francis said, remembering the Great Cornwall Beach Bonfire of 2005.  (To be fair, they had all been high out of their minds, which might have had something to do with the feeling of togetherness.  And the bonfire had gotten out of control and they had all almost died.)  “You have a fire pit, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s burn it.”

“I mean, if everyone wants to, I don’t see why not.”  She cupped her hands around mouth.  “We’re going outside for a few minutes; there’s something important to do.  You want to join, join.”  Surprisingly, everyone (even John, who had come downstairs) headed for the back door along with them; the coat closet’s door opened and out came John and Harry, along with Billy and Cornelius, who had made it there after all.  (It was a very large coat closet.)

They processed into the backyard and assembled around the fire pit, Silna holding the candy bowl solemnly.  “We were going to serve this,” she explained, “but somehow there’s pieces of metal in all of it, according to Harry, so we’re going to burn it.”

“Why are we burning it?” Thomas asked, leaning on Edward’s arm.

“According to Blanky, it’s good for bonding, and it’s more fun than throwing it away.”  Silna poured the candy into the pit and scanned the crowd.  “Miss Montgomery,” she called, and James stepped forward.  “Will you do the honors?”

“Absolutely.”  James showed her the cigarette he’d been carrying all night.  “Who’s got a light?”

“I do.”  Tommy held a lighter above his head.  “What?” he asked when Graham gave him a side-eyed glance.  “I don’t smoke.  I just like melting stuff.”  He came around and lit the cigarette.  

“On three,” Harry said.  “One -- two -- three!”  

James tossed the cigarette into the fire pit.  And--

WHOOSH!

The candy went up in flames that shot at least halfway to the sky, burning orange and gold.  For a moment, all was silent.  Then, over the snap and crackle of the fire, Edward’s voice.

“Love, love, love, love,” he sang to a tune they all knew well, and Thomas joined in.  Then Graham and Charlie.

“Drop out, drop out, drop out, drop out…”  Now two out of three Johns, Harry Peglar, and Tom added their voices.  John Hartnell added his harmonica, playing for dear life despite not knowing a note of the song on his chosen instrument.

“Be in, be in, be in, be in…”  When the lyrics changed from one-word repetitions, everyone else joined the song.

“Take trips, get high; laugh, joke and goodbye; beat drum and old tin pot; I’m high on you-know-what,” they sang to the sky and the roaring flames.  “Take trips, get high; laugh, joke and goodbye; beat drum and old tin pot; I’m high on you-know-what.  Take trips, get high; laugh, joke and goodbye; beat drum and old tin pot; I’m high on you-know-what.”  By this time a neighbor was standing on their back porch, staring.

“Are we bothering you, Mr Ross?” Silna called to him over the singing.

“No, but you’re worrying me.  What is this--” -- Mr Ross shaded his eyes from the flames -- “--some sort of Halloween ritual?”

 “No, sir,” James shouted, pulling Francis into a dance that seemed to combine proper waltzing with tripping over one’s own feet.  “It’s a be-in!”

“A what?”

“A BE-IN!” Solomon yelled joyfully, whirling around with Edward and Thomas.  “You can join us!”

“We’ll be quiet in a few minutes,” Harry said, going over the fence.  “Sorry.  We’ve gotten a bit carried away.”

“Make good on that,” said Mr Ross, and went back inside.  On they went with the dancing and singing, until the flames died down and the candy was reduced to ashes.  There now being nothing to dance around, they shuffled back inside.  Blanky looked at his phone.

“Damn it,” he said.  “Playlist’s run out.”

“We’ll sing!” Tom piped up brightly.  “We’ve been practicing.”

“Go ahead, then.”  Blanky shrugged, and the two brothers leapt up onto the table, ignoring Harry’s protests.  Tom snatched Blanky’s phone, pulled something up on it, and nodded to John.

“A-five-six-seven-eight!” John counted, and country music began to play from the speakers.  Blanky burst out laughing.  “Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, though the streams are swollen, keep them doggies rollin’; Rawhide!  Rain and wind and weather, hell-bent for leather; wishin’ my gal was by my side.  All the things I’m missin’; good vittles, love and kissin’, are waiting at the end of my ride.”  He elbowed Tom.  “Move ‘em on!”

“Head ‘em up!”  Tom ducked as an empty soda can came flying at his head.  And another.  And another.

“Head ‘em up!”  A fourth can whistled past John’s ear.

“Move ‘em on!”

“Move ‘em on--”

“Head ‘em up!”

“Rawhide!”  By this time, at least fifteen empty soda cans were on the floor.  “What the hell are you doing?” John asked.

“We don’t have beer bottles to throw at you,” Cornelius explained, tossing another can.  

“But there’s no chicken wire!” Tom cried.

“Empty cans won’t knock you out,” Charlie said.  “We’ll stop when you sing something doesn’t call for it.”

“Fine.”  Tom fiddled with the phone, and new music played.  “Come on; oh, baby, don’t you wanna go?  Come on; oh, baby, don’t you wanna go?  Back to that same old place -- sweet home Chicago!”  A soda can hit the back wall.  “Oh, come on!”

“Think of it as applause,” James said.  “Now keep singing!”

And so they sang, and ducked, and a wonderful night was had by all, in spite of the massive amount of cleanup the house would require, which they would all definitely have to come over for.  

[sweet-sugar-cowboy]

Miss. Orléans | Red Dead Redemption 2 | Part 4

Elizabeth Orléans comes from a background of unimaginable wealth from her father. Raised in the life of luxury, she adored her parents and was always a respectable little girl. However, when tragic hits and she’s wearing all black at her mother’s funeral, her life is turned upside down as her father became a drunken mess.

During one of her fathers business meetings, Elizabeth wanders in town and gets herself caught up in something dangerous. Then the infamous Dutch Van der Linde saved her and took her in. There she fell in love and only to have her heart broken.

When events and situations change, Elizabeth leaves the gang and her life as an Outlaw. Leaving only a note and a pile of cash.

John Marston x OC (implied)

Arthur Morgan x OC

Word count : 2081

Elizabeth sat alone in her study after a long day of fishing with her kids and Hosea. The twins took an instant liking to him and even shy James warmed up to him by the end of the day. Both of them listened intently whenever Hosea said something and it made her almost laugh because she was the same when she met him. Just like how much the children adored Hosea, the man adored the two and acted like a grandfather to them. Of course Rosie asked if he was their grandfather and Elizabeth didn't have the heart to tell her no. Hosea didn't seem to mind, he even seemed slightly proud to be called Grandpa.

It was such a heartwarming sight to watch her children bond with the man she considered her father. Hosea even talked about Jack who was a few years younger then them and little Rosie was eager to have a new playmate.

However, the girl was always a curious bugger and had a good memory as she asked if Arthur was gonna live with them. She took an instant liking to him and it worried Elizabeth that both her kids were smart and would soon make the connection to Arthur.

On the topic of Arthur, Elizabeth didn't know what to think about him. The man was still as handsome as ever but it was obvious that the rough lifestyle of gang was catching up to him, but it didn't take away from his good looks. A small whisper of a smile graced her lips as she remembered the time when Arthur and her were a couple. The time they spent together she always cherished and never forgot as Arthur was her true love. While she did love John as well, there was something more to Arthur that made her feel complete and stable.

But that all ended when he went ahead and left her for sweet Mary.

Elizabeth was never bitter at Mary when Arthur ditched her to be with her. Instead she became insecure and thought lowly of herself for the longest of time. She wanted to know what Mary had that she didn't and chalked it up to the fact that she could just never be Mary so Arthur would never love her. Maybe that was one of the reasons she left the gang, because she was selfish and didn't want Arthur to be with her just for the kids sake. She wanted him to be happy with Mary if that's where his heart laid.

It was embarrassing to date two men in the gang and only for both of them to leave you for another women. However, contrary to what John believed, Elizabeth never really hated Abigail all too much, it was just awkward to be around her due to her past relationship with John

Elizabeth began to question her taste in men, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind. It was all in the past and her children is her present and her future.

*****

"Have a safe trip Hosea," Elizabeth was outside, dressed down a bit more as she wore a simple burnt orange wrap dress. It was much more toned down then her extravagant dress she wore the day before.

James and Rosie were dressed in similar clothings the day prior but the colors changed to match their mother's. Hosea's couldn't help but think how cute the family looked, all that was missing was a certain Outlaw to stand next to Elizabeth.

Hosea was going to go back to where the gang was staying to tell Dutch about the plans in means of moving the gang to Elizabeth's house to not attract any unwanted attention. They decided if would be best to go in small groups with Lenny, Charles, Karen, Mary-Beth, Abigail and Jack being the first to come. They wound be going in a carriage and Lenny and Charles the driver as it would look less suspicious and it would look like the girls will be simply visiting their friend.

The only people Elizabeth knew from that group was Abigail and was slightly nervous about meeting the rest. At one point she was part of the gang but they got new members they probably never knew of her. Now they'll be living with her.

"I wanna go with Grandpa Hosea," Rosie complained, not wanting her new found family relative to leave. Just like usual, her hands were grasping James as she pouted and whined, "can I go with him?"

Chuckling, Elizabeth gently patted her head, "He's got business to do Rosie, but he'll come back soon," she tried to reassure her.

However, the little girl was stubborn just like her, "but I just met Grandpa and I don't want to leave him! It gets lonely and boring at the mansion," she manipulated her tone to sound sad and to add more dramatic effects she casted her blue gaze on the floor, "I don't want him to leave."

Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth frowned slightly as she tried to figure out what to do. It was true, it was just the three of them and a few helps around the house, but that was it. They never left the house too often so the kids never got a chance to meet and make friends with many people. It cause a slight tinge in her heart as she observed the distraught girl.

"I can take her, I'll send her with Abigail when they come here," Hosea offered as he patted his horse, truth be told he also didn't want to be separated from them. However, it was a risk to bring them around the gang, but they're hidden well and there were plenty of people in the camp to protect them. He also wanted to give Arthur a chance to bond with them.

"I'm not sure Hosea," Elizabeth replied warily.

"Please mama!" Rosie pleaded desperately, "James can come with me and I'll be in my best behavior! I promise I'll stick by Grandpa the whole time!" She even did the little cross your heart thing.

Unsure of the decision, Elizabeth looked to James, "you have the final say, do you wanna go or not?"

Surprisingly, James slowly nodded as he wanted to make Rosie happy but was slightly fearful of the thought of being away from his mother.

Sighing in defeat, she looked firmly at Hosea, "you promise you'll watch them good? Don't even let them out of your sight Hosea," there was a warning in her voice as she placed her hands on her hips.

Tipping his hat, Hosea smiled, "I'll watch them like a hawk Eliza, I'm sure everyone will welcome them to the camp and I'll have them back to you the day after tomorrow."

Still not fully sure, Elizabeth only nodded, "okay then, I'm trusting you Hosea."

*****

The trip down was relatively peaceful and one of the most joyous rides Hosea had. Rosie was in the front, happily petting his horse and giving compliments to it. James was behind her, his arms wrapped securely around his sister, and Hosea was behind them, making sure they don't fall off as they galloped in a good pace, he avoided taking the mountain path back to camp, staying relatively close to the ground. The last thing he wanted was his horse getting spooked and bucking the kids off a mountain. Elizabeth would bring hell upon the camp if that ever happened.

Luckily they managed to make it back to camp before the sun set. He didn't want to risk riding in the dark just incase some dangerous people was lurking about and didn't want the camp outside as anything could happen. Of course Hosea would have always rented a room if they didn't get back to camp in time.

Rosie was much more of a sociable person than her parents were, always striking up a conversation every other minutes. James was more reserved, like Elizabeth but Hosea noticed as time passed he was talking more, opened up more. The two talked about what it was like living in the mansion, but most importantly talking about all the moments they could remember spending it with their mother. It was the most endearing thing to hear whenever they started to talking how much they loved their mother and it caused Hosea's heart to melt.

It was absolutely heartbreaking when Elizabeth left, it was as if something was missing, a void because he always viewed her as the daughter Bessie and him wanted. However, he knew she left with good reasons and was never bitter towards her.

Now that they reunited, Elizabeth has these two most wonderful kids who call him Grandpa.

"Whos there?" Lenny shouted as they trotted up to the camp, a rifle in his hand.

"Just Hosea and some guests," He replied as he waved at Lenny who looked at the two children in confusion, "I'll explain it later, these kids must be hungry."

By the time Hosea got off of his horse and hitched him, Rosie was ready to jump off in pure excitement. The only thing that's stopping her was that to her, she was relatively high up, and James held her tight, knowing his sister all too well. Their blue eyes lit with curiosity as they took in the camp and the people in it.

"Come on now," Hosea chuckled as he helped Rosie off the horse then James. The trio nearly got everyone's attention in camp as he lead them towards Dutch's tent who looked at Hosea for explanation, "The two wanted to come with me and Eliza allowed it. Sending them back when we send Abigail and some other people to the mansion," He explained.

Rosie, always being the brave and sociable person she is, took a step towards Dutch, remembering his face from yesterday. Remembering she told her mom she would be on her best behavior, she smiled politely, "My names Rosemary Elaine Orléans mister, call me Rosie though! It's nice to meet you," She stuck out her short arms towards the older man.

Dutch only chuckeld as his bowed playfully at the girl before shaking her hand, his large hands engulfing her small ones, "Aren't you a polite little lady," His eyes landed on her brother behind her as he raised an eyebrow at him, "Aren't you gonna introduce yourself young man?"

Nodding warily, James walked over to Dutch, not liking all the looks he was getting from all the strangers. His mother always told him to be wary of strangers, "James Arthur Orléans sir," he mumbled as he shook the man's hand. It was big and rough in contrast to his small and soft ones. Definitely similar to Arthur's hand when he shook it.

"I welcome you to our little camp here, I'm Dutch Van der Lind, call me Dutch," the man introduced himself as he gestured towards the cozy little camp.

Miss. Grimshaw walked up to the group as she eyed the two new young guests, "You little munchkins must be hungry, Mr. Pierceson just finished the stew," without warning, she began to shove the two kids gently to where the campfire was set up. Instantly she knew who's kids these were as she was a smart person, and it wasn't a coincidence that they had birthmarks just like Elizabeth, "While you eat you can introduce yourselves."

Miss. Grimshaw ended up getting the two a bowl of stew while the two kids sat on a log in front of the campfire, Rosie beaming with excitement as she took in her surroundings. They rarely ever left their home and if they did it was always to Saint Denis and only for a short while. Everything was new to them as they introduced themselves to welcoming people like Mary-Beth, Tilly, Kieren, Charles and Javier. The rest were wary of the youngsters as Dutch explained they were Elizabeth's children.

Many didn't know who exactly who Elizabeth Orléans was, they heard her a names a few times but she was like a myth. No one except a handful of people ever met her and knew her, and the people who did don't speak much of her. So they were curious yet wary of associating themselves with the kids, as Hosea warned that Elizabeth would bring every Lawman, and every Pinkerton down upon them if anything were to happen to her kids.

Everyone was curious about the newcomers, especially a certain young Marston.

[storytaeme]

sun & moon – vmin

Taehyung had never liked the sun, always steered clear of it, until he found its presence within Park Jimin.

vmin week 2017 – taehyung x jimin

❧ Elements: Fluff  |  College AU, Shy!Taehyung

❧ Word Count: 5,266 words

❧ A/N: I binge wrote this in two hours so I apologize for quality! I like this concept because I love turtles and I really love quiet Taehyung who finds happiness in Jimin. Merry Christmas, all!

Despite his love and admiration for the vast universe and its grand schemes, Taehyung didn’t like the one thing that his earth revolved around—the sun. It perhaps had been a little strange for a child to say such a thing that his family, especially his grandfather who adored the sun for the care and nurture of his strawberries, had grown concerned.

It wasn’t as if it was anything personal. Taehyung was just… sort of afraid of the sun.

Most children welcomed the blistering heat and the light that rained down upon the streets and illuminating the city. They loved the sun because, the longer it remained in the sky, the more time they had to play outside. While other children could be found constructing skyscrapers in the sandbox or chasing after one another in the open park, Taehyung used to hide behind his mother’s legs.

Even as he grew older, Taehyung tended to shy away from things that shone too bright to be natural—his mother’s diamond ring, the glistening vase in the hallway, stove in the kitchen that had flames licking up its rings when switched on. He wasn’t quite sure why either, but he had the penchant to steer clear of them. It was perhaps the reason why he eschewed the spotlight, choosing to blend into the crowd of students in his high school and then university instead of competing to stand out amongst the rest.

It wasn’t as if he was overwhelmingly underachieving—no, Taehyung was rather smart in fact. His curiosity had always led him onto paths never ventured upon, placing him in the midst of other intrigued minds in the subject of science. Taking up oceanology had been an easy decision to make. The immense blue abyss was untouched, filled with millions of wonders and mysteries that could sate his ceaseless interest.

However, best of all, whenever he dived deep into the oceans, he could stay far, far away from the light.

The moon—on the other hand—was easy to love. To avoid the presence of the sun, it was easy to fall in love with the lady in the sky—or as she was so often referred to as. The moon is sweet and mellow, a calming existence in the night sky that threw light upon the town. He spoke to the moon sometimes, spoke of his dreams and current fascinations. The moon always listened quietly, glowing a little brighter whenever he talked as if it was listening. Taehyung loved the moon. The moon was good, the moon was safe.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He leaned against the windowsill, letting his legs dangle over the ledge. It used to scare the bejeezus out of his flatmate to find that Taehyung could prop open his window and sit without a care to face the moon on clear nights. But he had done it so many times that the other boy chose to ignore the oddity of such behavior and instead chose slumber over anything else.

She shone silently in the sky, bidding Taehyung a good night.

“I don’t know why,” Taehyung murmured earnestly, “I think something may happen soon. I’m not quite sure what, but it feels almost life-changing. Do you think I’ll find a new specimen? The professor said that I’ve been on progress with my tracking for the turtles. They hatched the other day and most of them made it alive to the sea. The others—” he paused “—you’ll take care of them, won’t you?”

Of course, the moon never responded and it was fine. Taehyung could take the silence as its answer nonetheless.

“I should be heading to bed, I have to go to a study tomorrow as a subject. It’s kind of nerve-wracking even though everyone does it,” Taehyung laughed quietly, “but I’ll put up with it. I can’t stay with the turtles forever, I suppose.”

He glanced up at the beautiful satellite. It said nothing, yet its presence was everything.

“Wish me luck,” he whispered one last time before slipping back inside the comfort of his room and closing his window.

The sun would be out soon.

Taehyung had always been content with the way he was, strange tendencies and all. He didn’t think anybody else minded it all that much, not if it didn’t interfere with their own lives. Taehyung understood that. It was a man-eat-man world in spite of all the talk of sharing is caring. Goodness never lasted very long in the day, Taehyung preferred the solitude of nighttimes.

It wasn’t as if he had expected some huge epiphany to crumble his world to pieces, but he certainly wasn’t expecting to fall so fast, so deep for someone he barely knew.

The man’s name was Park Jimin.

Frankly, Taehyung had been a little frightened of him at first. He had greeted Taehyung with the most blinding smile, radiating so much happiness and enthusiasm that the other boy felt intimidation creeping into his bones. The instructions had been simple enough and Taehyung followed them suit. Sweat was collecting at the back of his neck because he hadn’t expected the experimenter (Jimin) to stick around. His attendance was sort of there. Taehyung couldn’t avoid it.

“You did very well for the biology trivia,” Jimin noted, flipping through his results. “Sorry,” he suddenly blushed, looking a little timid that Taehyung almost found him sweet. “I’m not supposed to be looking at individual results, but you’re just really impressive.”

“I’m a biology major, oceanology concentration,” Taehyung stated simply.

“Oh, that’s really cool,” he smiled that smile again. The bright one, the one that had Taehyung’s fingers trembling a little. “So you like the sea, huh?”

The other boy nodded shyly, knowing that people always asked these kinds of questions out of politeness rather than genuine interest. “Yeah,” he answered simply, keeping it at that. That was safe ground so he wouldn’t end up rambling too far and end up being boring like others had deemed him. People were kind of scary when they were mean.

Jimin blinked at him, looking almost puzzled. “So, um, what do you do in your free time?”

This was strange, right? Taehyung wasn’t quite sure what the normal procedure was for these studies. But he finished his portion and Jimin had debriefed him of his activities. He had expected to be told to leave but there the man was, sitting on the table he had used earlier, making conversation. It would only break social norms, however, to interrupt him and ignore his question, so Taehyung humored him. “I intern with a sea turtle conservation organization.”

The boy’s eyes lit up like fireworks again, almost sparkling if Taehyung looked closely. “Oh man, really? Damn, that sounds really cool. You do like field work and stuff right? Beach must be nice this time of year too.”

Taehyung wasn’t quite sure how to escape without sounding rude. It wasn’t as if Jimin was unpleasant—no, he was rather almost ten times more agreeable of a company than the rest of the university and his classmates. But there was an uneasiness in his heart that nagged at him. He wasn’t sure whether it was good or bad, but he didn’t want to stick around to find out. “It’s good,” he replied, “and yes the weather is quite nice.”

There was an ensuing silence afterwards in which Jimin shifted with his clipboard awkwardly. It was a nervous tic, Taehyung guessed. “Right, yeah,” he coughed, “that’s great. I hope you’re liking it.” There was a thick wall of quietness once more in which neither of them moved nor said anything. “So, uh, yeah, you’re basically done. Thanks for coming in!” Jimin chirped, clapping his hands together and grinning again.

Thump, thump. Taehyung’s heart was being particularly loud that day. “No problem, I hope my data comes in handy.”

Jimin beamed, seeming almost giddy all of a sudden, “Yeah, it definitely will! Glad you could come in. I’ll walk you out.”

“That’s not necessary,” Taehyung said instead, halting him and watching the joy slip off his face. It was almost heartbreaking and Taehyung almost felt regretful. “I can find my way out, I’m sure you have to start processing so I don’t want to keep you.”

“Nah,” Jimin shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, “it’s been a pretty long day and lonely too. Kind of sad to just see people come and go.” His laugh was a little strained and Taehyung found that it didn’t quite suit him, but he wasn’t in any place to say anything. “Sorry,” he apologized again when the two o had been quiet for long enough. “You probably have places to be and here I am just rambling. Um, you’re free to go, yeah.”

Taehyung offered a weak, sympathetic smile, “Sorry to hear, I hope the rest of your day goes well though.” The guy brightened again—it seemed like it didn’t take a lot to do so. “Good luck with your experiment.” Then he was bolting out of there.

The second time he had met Park Jimin was actually the time that Taehyung had found sort of a friend in someone else. Sure, he had a few friends he could rely on, but he wasn’t the most social butterfly. It was in the cafeteria and Taehyung had been in line to swipe for meals when he spotted Jimin and his friend—or rather, they spotted him.

“Taehyung!”

He jerked his attention away from his phone to find Jimin. At first, he didn’t recognize him. Not until he smiled. His sweatshirt was a bright, mustard yellow and the color complemented the blonde of his hair.

“I don’t know if you remember me,” Jimin said. His name had escaped him at the time, though the face rang familiar. “Jimin, I was the student experimenter for your study last time.”

“Oh yeah,” he said dumbly, unsure of how to respond.

“So, uh, you got any extra meal swipes?”

That was how he ended up squeezing into a table in the crowded dining hall with the two of them—Jimin and his buddy, Jeongguk, who was apparently two years younger than them but was working in the same lab as Jimin.

“More marine biology, huh?” Jeongguk asked, mouth full of his burger. Taehyung nodded and spooned more rice into his mouth. That way, he could avoid talking and finish his food quickly. “That’s pretty neat. I considered it once too, but turns out I’m pretty bad with anything water-related.”

The two were easygoing, engaging him in their conversation from time to time. Taehyung did feel comfortable around them, but wasn’t sure of his place in their interaction. Things took a turn when Jeongguk had to leave for basketball practice, thanking Taehyung for the meal before taking off, which left Taehyung alone with Jimin.

“You don’t like me very much, do you?” Jimin asked quietly, his gaze downcast.

This time, Taehyung really did feel remorseful. “It’s not that, I’m just… I’m not very good with strangers. I know it comes off as cold sometimes but I really don’t mean to do it that way.”

“Ah, I see,” Jimin nodded, processing this into his brain, “that’s cool. I don’t mean to push, I just tend to open myself up too fast to people so let me know if I make you uncomfortable.” That was a sweet sentiment. Usually, when Taehyung told people that, they tended to brush him off or give up on him entirely. But Jimin seemed as if he wanted to make the effort to get to know him.

By the end of the meal, they had traded numbers with Jimin promising to text him soon to hang out and treat him for a meal. True to his word, the boy had sent Taehyung a message that same night. With Jimin’s easygoing nature and Taehyung’s attempt to be welcoming towards him, they became fast friends.

An odd pair the two made. Taehyung would join Jimin at times whenever he hung out with his friends or keep him company in the lab, while Jimin would visit him in the library, gracing him with steaming cups of tea to keep him going during exam week. It was a mutually beneficial relationship and Taehyung—Taehyung liked it. He liked Jimin.

It was odd really. Jimin liked to pull Taehyung out of his shell during the day, keep him busy with activities that had him grinning from ear to ear—the kind of grins that Jimin adored pulling out of him. “You look nicer that way, very cute,” he had complimented with an innocent grin. Taehyung’s heart had skipped a beat, but he figured that his biology was a bit wonky with the indigestion.

But it happened again and again and again. Taehyung who had once upon a time loathed the sun so ended up spending the majority of his time out in it. Jimin would tug him out of his room whenever he had been cooped up studying for too long to take a break in the park, sharing homemade sandwiches the blonde had prepared to keep Taehyung sane and well-fed. Other times, Taehyung would take the initiative and invite Jimin to places he’s wanted to visit, like the aquarium the other day.

Jimin—he was different. Different in the best way possible. Jimin listened when Taehyung talked about his interests, especially the turtles. He never interrupted and always absorbed everything so intently, never once missing a detail. It was almost impressive how much of it he could remember.

“How do you remember so much of it?” Taehyung had asked once.

The boy had only tilted his head curiously. “Well, it’s something you’re really passionate about, right? I want to make sure I know what I’m talking about. Don’t want to embarrass myself in front of you.” He had said all this before delivering a playful punch to Taehyung’s arm.

Taehyung wasn’t sure how to describe it, but Jimin’s presence always had his stomach warm as if he were full and his heart nearly bursting with happiness whenever they were together. His professor who worked with him in the lab told him that he was perfectly healthy and insisted on Taehyung telling him who’s gotten him all worked up. Taehyung had smiled shyly and told him that it was no one right before Jimin came knocking to pick him up. Safe to say, his professor had a very strong hunch.

He was content with where they were and what they had. It was a good dynamic and the two’s personalities fitted each other very well. But perhaps the world had other plans for them. The sun was no longer an enemy of Taehyung, rather a reminder of a good thing he had in his life.

Jimin was that, he supposed. That was what terrified him about Jimin at first. He rivaled the sun. His rambunctious self and his brilliant smile. Every inch of him radiated warmth and happiness, sunshine and brightness oozing out of his every action. Taehyung couldn’t help but draw the uncanny comparison and, when he told Jimin that, the boy had only laughed with pink dusting his cheeks.

“I look like the sun?”

Taehyung had nodded, expression too serious.

“That’s nice to hear, I think? Is that a compliment?” Jimin questioned with an amused smile dancing on his lips and mirth glittering in his eyes.

“Not sure,” Taehyung muttered honestly.

“Well, if I’m the sun then does that make you the moon?”

It would make sense. Polar opposites present on different wavelengths and time periods, yet coexisting all the same. “I guess so, I like the moon,” Taehyung rolled his shoulders. Jimin knew that Taehyung liked talking to the moon, mainly because the information had been involuntarily offered to him when he barged in during one of those nights of cloudless skies. He hadn’t questioned in and instead had told Taehyung to scoot so he could converse with the moon too.

“Hm, you kind of give off that aura,” Jimin nodded, stroking his chin in feigned deep consideration, “that calming sense. It suits you.”

“Thank you,” Taehyung said, returning to scribble in his notebook.

“Not sure if that was a compliment,” Jimin teased next to him, bopping the other’s nose with his pencil.

Taehyung crinkled his nose in distaste, “It seemed like it.”

“I don’t think I could ever insult you, Kim Taehyung. You’re too precious, too special.”

He ruminated over that thought for a second, before saying, “There are many moons in our solar system, but only one sun. I think that phrase fits you more, don’t you think? The moon only visible on earth due to the sun.”

Jimin looked taken aback by the answer, plump lips parting and eyes widening. “H-hey, don’t put it that way.”

“It’s just science,” Taehyung shrugged, paying it no mind and shifted his gaze back to his homework.

Silence blanketed over them. It wasn’t the kind of comfortable silence that Taehyung was used to, but rather it left him fidgeting. “You know,” Jimin started again, “I think it’s cool that the earth hasn’t seen all sides of the moon, but the sun has. The way the moon appears to the earth depends on the sun, right? I think—I think it’s nice that you only show me these sides of you and no one else. There are dozens of other stars in the galaxy, but you make me feel more special than I am. “

That sentiment, his words, had left Taehyung stunned. When he turned around to face Jimin, the boy was already burying his face back into his book—burying it a little too deep if you asked him. But the pink of the tips of his ears seemed to be enough of an indicator of his expression at the time. Taehyung had smiled to himself, patted Jimin on the back to thank him, and went back to work.

“You’re going where?” Jimin whined, twisting around on Taehyung’s bed. He had flopped onto the sheets an hour ago after he came back from his research assistant position in one of the professor’s lab. Being a psychology major, he had been tasked to developmental studies, which included working with children. So many children.

Taehyung had just informed him that he wouldn’t be able to make their weekly Friday Movie Night at Hoseok’s place. It was a thing that Jimin and a few of his friends had started, but Taehyung had been pulled into the group when he befriended Jimin and had participated in it ever since.

They had a week-long break coming up and, while Jimin had anticipated spending more time with Taehyung and his other friends outside of school, Taehyung had already prepared other plans.

“Busan to work with the aquarium there on the breed, rescue, protect project,” Taehyung said as he finalized the last details of his trip. He had booked all the transportation while accommodation had been provided by the organization.

“But why,” Jimin protested petulantly again, flipping over to create enough noise and catch Taehyung’s attention. “It’s break, we should be resting, having fun!”

Taehyung chuckled, “I don’t have time this summer and I promised to volunteer there again before I graduated, so spring break it is.”

“Taehyung,” the boy pressed again, a weak glare. Taehyung could practically read the internal moral dilemma Jimin was facing. On one hand, he really wanted to beg his friend to stay in the city for break and spend time with him, but on the other, he couldn’t really pull him away from his duties in saving the turtle population in South Korea.

“You can come if you want to, you’re from Busan, right?”

Jimin pouted, “Yeah, but—” cue the sigh “—wanted to spend time with you around here, stuff ourselves stupid with food.”

Taehyung’s lips twitched as he padded over to his bed and dropped down next to Jimin. His friend turned to face him, cheek squished against the pillow. “Sorry, Jiminie.”

“Can I really come though? Would I be volunteering too?”

“I’m sure they’d like an extra pair of hands,” Taehyung nodded, “if you’re interested.”

The boy pursed his lips and looked at the ceiling for a moment to contemplate the offer. “You always talk so highly of these things, I kind of want to see it for myself. See whether you’re only all talk and no action.”

Taehyung knew it was a harmless jab. Jimin could be blunt, but he could also be a little indirect with his intentions, especially if it were a sweet gesture he tried to mask as indifference. “Yeah? I can email them if you want.”

He huffed, “I guess, yeah. Sign me up. I’m down.”

“You don’t have to, you know? We can always hang out when I come back,” Taehyung smiled at him.

Jimin frowned, “No, I want to see what you hype up all the time. It’ll be productive.”

“Alright,” Taehyung agreed, “it’s set then.”

The weekend that spring break hit, Taehyung and Jimin hopped on a train to Busan while others prepared for a week of relaxation and lots of karaoke and drinks. Jimin had whined the entire time there that they were missing out. Taehyung did feel a little guilty that Jimin was spending time with him there and offered for him to come back. “It’s not too late,” Taehyung swallowed, “I mean, if you change your mind. It really isn’t a big deal.”

Jimin was always fast to pick up on Taehyung’s emotions and remorse was practically leaking out of him at that point. He had immediately softened, clamping his lips on his mewling. “You know I’m just messing with you right?” His voice is quieter, gentler, as if he was trying to get his point across cautiously. “I do want to do this, want to spend time with you doing what you love. I’m just kidding around okay, I promise.”

Taehyung still looked a little doubtful, but nodded. “Okay.”

The other boy was instead flooded with guilt that his best friend was swamped with the same emotion. He took Taehyung’s hand and held it tightly in his. “I promise, Tae, I really want to do this.”

His smile nearly had Jimin exploding. “Thanks, Jiminie.”

Taehyung listened closely to the instructions from the staff and was easily welcomed into the team. Jimin, on the other hand, was a little bit lost and had to ask Taehyung more than a handful of times for clarification. “I’m so in over my head,” Jimin muttered, and before Taehyung could drop another apology, he had inhaled sharply. “I got this, I can do this.” Taehyung had bit back his smile.

The two worked tirelessly in the heat of the sun, relocating nests and jotting down data about the creatures. It was admittedly fun and Taehyung was relieved that Jimin looked very accomplished with whatever activities they were assigned to for the day. It was amusing at times to see him struggle at something Taehyung was so deft at. Like looking into an alternate universe even. Jimin had always been good with people and interaction, while Taehyung stumbled over his words and sometimes even his feet. But this time around, Taehyung had the upper hand and was lending it to Jimin to help him get through the week.

“Taehyung, Jimin, you’re on night survey,” the head staff tasked before moving to the next one.

Taehyung could see Jimin visibly swallow his groan. It was their second night in a row of night survey. Although the workload was lighter for tonight, it was still a post-day shift. Jimin didn’t work too well with things after the sun sank down on the horizon. However, he had sucked it up and followed Taehyung’s lead without complaint—to which the man was grateful for. Jimin helped him weigh the turtles and mark the nests, taking down information for the organization to process.

When they were done, they settled on the porch of the house by the beach. The wind was cool and bristled through their thick, tangled locks. The atmosphere was serene and peaceful, had them feeling at ease yet at the same time restless. Neither of them had the desire to sleep despite their full schedule of activities the next day. They instead sat side by side, shoulders touching and knees bumping together, on the stairs.

“Thank you,” Taehyung murmured under his breath, his voice so quiet it was almost carried away by the wind if Jimin hadn’t been paying close attention to his friend.

“For what?”

“For being here,” he fiddled with his clipboard. A nervous tic he had picked up from Jimin. “I know it’s not the best way to spend your break, it’s a lot of labor work, but I’m—grateful you’re here with me.”

Jimin nudged his shoulder teasingly, “Come on, it’s not that bad. Can’t believe you call this hard work. It’s not that much. I can still keep going.” As if to prove his point, he flexed his arm and poked at the hard bicep.

Taehyung giggled, shoving at him playfully. “Nice try, I heard you complaining all the way back this afternoon,” he noted.

“That was earlier, I’m good as new now,” Jimin scoffed, “it’s called a fast recovery.”

“We all know you’re weaker than that,” Taehyung jabbed right back and Jimin stuck his fingers into Taehyung’s side to elicit a yelp.

Jimin sighed, breathing in the salty sea air. “Really though, it’s no big deal. I’m enjoying this and I’m glad I spent my break with you. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This—” he gestured to the empty beach and the crashing of waves in the background “—this is your world. I think I just took a huge step in it so I’m happy. I’m glad that I got the chance to experience what you really love.”

The slightly younger boy flushed at that, ducking his head shyly and biting his bottom lip. Whenever he was with Jimin, he ended up smiling until his cheeks hurt. There wasn’t a time when they were together that Taehyung didn’t laugh, didn’t grin until his face muscles were aching. He was glad that he had met Park Jimin, had welcomed him into his life.

“You’re—really something else,” Taehyung hummed.

“Is that an insult?”

“I don’t think I could ever insult you,” he echoed and Jimin laughed, poking fun at how he was tossing his words right back to his face. “And I mean it, thank you. I’m really glad you’re here with me.”

Jimin blushed slightly at the sincerity in Taehyung’s voice. “Stop it, it really isn’t a big deal.”

Taehyung shifted closer, leaning his head on Jimin’s shoulder. “It is to me,” he whispered.

“You��re my best friend, Taehyung, and the most wonderful person I know.”

The boy looked up then and found himself staring at Jimin’s gorgeous side profile. His best friend was beautiful with the kind of loveliness that rivaled even the prettiest gods and goddesses. Couple his looks with the sweetness of his nature, Park Jimin was a force to be reckoned with.

And Taehyung had reckoned with it many, many times. Had reckoned with his emotions and feelings, strange shifts in his moods that pointed out the obvious signs. Attraction to Park Jimin was common, but the way his heart fluttered and his stomach churned, the way his heart would skip two beats instead of one, and how his chest inflated with affection whenever they were together, were clear signals of what he felt towards him.

Without much thought, Taehyung had absentmindedly tipped his chin down a little and placed a gentle kiss on Jimin’s cheek. He stayed there for a millisecond or two, before pulling away shyly. He knew that Jimin had whipped around to face him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do the same.

“Taehyung—”

“Sorry,” he blurted out, squeezing his eyes shut and balling his hands up into fists, “s-sorry. I just—I’m sorry. That was bad, I should’ve asked first. M’really sorry.”

“Taehyung,” Jimin repeated and Taehyung was still trying to regain some semblance of understanding over what in the world just happened. What was he doing? Why did he just risk their friendship over the tiny blip of his emotions in the grander scenario of their relationship? He was an idiot. “Taehyung,” he called again, “look at me.”

Taehyung licked his lips, another nervous tic, and did as he was asked. Jimin was looking at him with shining eyes and an almost sad smile on his lips. His heart fell at the sight and he wondered whether he had truly ruined this beyond repair.

“I’m not mad,” he quickly said, “I’m not. I’m just surprised is all.”

“Y-you’re not?”

Jimin’s teeth caught his bottom lip. “I’ve—I’ve wanted to do more, but I didn’t have the guts to make that first move. Guess I’m the coward huh?”

“What do you mean?” Taehyung asked with furrowed brows.

“I mean, I like you—a lot. I figured that I could wait it out, see if they would fade if you find someone else, but… it’s not that easy,” he breathed, throat moving as he gulped, “you always make me smile stupid, laugh until my stomach hurts, and—every time I’m near you, I feel like my entire body is going to combust from how much I adore you.”

“Jimin,” the younger whispered, eyes blown wide.

Jimin’s gaze flicked up to meet his. “Can I kiss you? Properly?”

“Like—”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

And there it was. Jimin leaned forward and his warm breath first touched Taehyung’s cheek before his lips captured the other boy’s. They were a little dirty from the sand, and the air was a little humid despite the breeze, but it was the perfect moment. Taehyung could hear Jimin’s rhythmic heartbeat, the sweet sound of life thrumming a beat inside his soul. It was a beautiful sound, the best sound that he wished he could bottle up and listen to for days on end.

But he had Jimin and he never needed to keep things, never needed to try and savor it, because he had the real thing right in front of him.

Taehyung never did quite like the sun as a child. It was heat that rained down and dried up one of his favorite plants, it had scorched his skin and left him with a wretched sunburn, and it meant that Taehyung had to get up in the morning to go to school. The sun had never been associated with anything good.

But Taehyung loved the moon and all its calmness and lack of calamity. It was present in a time when he felt most at peace with himself and the world. She was there to listen whenever Taehyung needed an ear, was there to glow whenever he needed a little bit of light.

However, the two coexisted all the same. Taehyung had to learn to love the sun for the moon could not exist without it in the sky. Once upon a time, it had been a feat to accomplish, but with Jimin by his side, it was a luxury he could afford.

Jimin was like the sun after all. Bright and warm. A presence comparable to a necessity. He was beautiful and radiant, always shone somewhat more vividly than everything else in Taehyung’s life. Jimin was the epitome of goodness in his world.

And Taehyung loved Jimin, so he could learn to love the sun too.

[post-bronze-medals]

PJO AU

Hi! I posted awhile ago that I have a Percy Jackson AU for Yuri on Ice! in my head and I thought I would finally get around to typing it all out. Super thanks to @forovnix​ for not telling me to piss off when I sent her most of this drunk off my face and for encouraging me. Jus, you’re the best, ily a lot. Also I heard through the grapevine that her and @actualyuuri​ are writing one together, which was the whole inspiration for this universe I have thought up, so I am crediting them too ;) . It is very long - so I will put it under the cut!

Let us begin with...

THE CHARACTERS

Yuuri

CHILD OF: Hecate

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS: Magic - specialism in spiritual and shielding; Mist control; Astral Projection into the lives of other Demigods and godly beings; Dance is his primary spell casting method.

BACKSTORY: After Hiroko had Mari, she found her womb was too damaged to bear another child. Wanting another child, they tried everything from medicine to, eventually, prayer. The only one who answered was Hecate, who was a distant relative of Toshiya from many generations ago. And with a little divine interference, Yuuri was made from three parents.

Yuuri’s eyes go gold when he uses his powers, a throwback to Kronos that Hecate thinks is kind of adorable. Zeus banned visiting their godly children back after WWII, but he can only really control what happens in the US, as it is the current seat of Olympian (and Roman) power. As such, Hecate has visited Yuuri four times a year since he was a baby, and drops in on him occasionally for a few hours at other times too.

Viktor

CHILD OF: Persephone

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS: Control of flowers and plant life - especially creating and killing them; Strengthen harvests in the early stages (springtime); Talented at poison creation; Spreads poison through his flowers (airborne) and generally though touch.

BACKSTORY: Victor’s mother had zero need or desire for a husband, partner or indeed, physical sex. She, being somewhat dramatic, prayed to Persephone in a ritual handed down from mother to daughter for generations but generally regarded as a bit. Persephone, bored and wanting to create some life in the world, agreed to help her conceive a child with her as the other mother. She however, recalling how much Hades’ indiscretions had hurt her, told him about her plans beforehand, and Hades’ was absolutely fine with it. He knew he had no room to talk about extra-marital children and he loved his wife a great deal. Something that came of her would surely be only a good force in the world.  

Victor has his human mother’s silver hair, and his godly mother’s eyes that cycled through colour according to the weather, the state of the plants around him and his mood. He settled on a teal he liked as his day to day eye colour, and controls himself to keep it that way. Persephone and Hades, taking advantage of the same loophole as Hecate regarding non-interference, bring him down to the underworld every so often. Hades is actually a very doting uncle and is immensely fond of Victor’s loving and giving nature. He teaches him about poisons and summons spirits Victor wants to talk to for a chat whenever he asks. Persephone loves him a lot as well, but in a more distant fashion. It was her that taught him French, and they like to sit together in the pomegranate orchard underground and read.

Yuri

CHILD OF: Apollo

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS: Graceful; Slight Precognition; Archery.

BACKSTORY: Yuri’s mum had a relationship with Apollo for two weeks, in which she could have sworn she was careful with condoms, but apparently not. Yuri was conceived and he left long before she found out or could tell him about it. The loss of the relationship didn’t really hit her hard, it was only really a fling to them both. She decided to have Yuri anyway, and once she recovered from the birth, she went straight back to work to earn money to support them all, leaving Yuri with his grandfather.

Yuri inherited his fathers colouring but his mother’s face. He also had Apollo’s artistic talents but enjoys dance the most, so generally ignored poetry and music - until he discovered hard rock at age 11. He is also a little precognitive, his instincts have got him away from more than one fight and also led him to the rink where Yakov took him on.  His mother doesn't care about his father’s absence but he kind of does, and really really hates the guy, whoever he is. Apollo never bothered to think of a loophole to the decree of non-interference and so never even tried to meet Yuri - he fairly quickly forgot about him and his mother when his newest conquest came around.

Otabek

CHILD OF: Thanatos

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS: Sense when someone is about to die and if it is their ‘time’; Gravitas; BACKSTORY: Otabek’s parents were cultists when they were younger, cultists in service of Thanatos. Although they settled down a bit when they were older, dropping most of their worship, Thanatos never forgot about them. He doesn't often get cults in his name! So when they were trying for a kid and it turned out his father was infertile, Thanatos helped out without even being requested.

Otabek’s parents love him a lot, as an unexpected and much appreciated surprise. After his birth they figured that it must have been some kind of divine interference and began to pray to Thanatos again. The god sometimes comes to chill out with Otabek and teach him how to use his senses. Unfortunately, his heritage makes him seem creepy af to non demigods. Yuri is his first true friend.

Christophe

CHILD OF: Cupid

PANTHEON: Roman

POWERS: See the truth of love - as threads binding people; Cause lust (orgies); Wings

BACKGROUND: Chris' dads are a very gay, very happy couple who are somewhat overdramatic (being theatre actors) but love with all their hearts. While performing in Paris they prayed they could have a child through their love and nine months later, Chris was dropped on their doorstep in Switzerland. Whether he is the child of all three parents, or of one of them and Cupid, or if he is adopted is unknown.

Chris is seriously loved by them, even though they definitely know something is up because he has large bird-like rose pink wings that show up every so often when he is excited and cannot control himself. His dad isn’t around often, it isn't his nature, but he leaves gifts for him whenever he is in Switzerland, so Christophe doesn't really mind. He has his parents either way!

Seunggil

CHILD OF: Athena

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS: Tactics/Strategy; Unshakeable calm

BACKSTORY: Seunggil has a single biologist father who had a one night stand with Athena when in the US for a conference. When he returned to S Korea, a son showed up on his doorstep and after confirming he was his son he rolled with it.

Seunggil was brought up as a scientist, to question everything, which only helps his sense of strategy. He is a calm person but if you rile him up utterly he completely loses it and is terrifying.He also is very interested in coding and technology. He never meets Athena and doesn’t care about it - his father barely knew the woman anyway. 

Phichit

CHILD OF: Venus

PANTHEON: Roman

POWERS: Charmspeaking; See love bonds

BACKGROUND: Phichit’s mothers are devotees to beautiful things, but most especially to dance. Venus saw them dancing and blessed them with a threesome in bed in exchange for them spending an evening dancing for her. Phichit was the result, as they found out several months later.

Phichit, like his mothers, loves beautiful things but prefers selfies and photography as his outlet, he is determined to capture the manmade and natural world in all its diverse beauty! Being able to charm people into doing what he wants means that he can be a little manipulative but he has a very strong moral code generally and would never hurt a friend.

Leo

CHILD OF: Morpheus

PANTHEON: Roman

POWERS: Send people to sleep; Influence dreams

BACKSTORY: Leo's dad has a very long and healthy relationship with Morpheus through his dream scape, where the bright colours of his artistic mind drew the sleepy god. They decided, after much deliberation, that they wanted a son as a sign of their love and to dote upon in the real world. Leo was conceived in a surrogate’s womb, but is of the two men’s DNA. Leo gets visited as regularly as possible by his godly dad in his dreams, as he is unable to leave the underworld to meet in person. He has never doubted that he is loved. He lives in Mexico with his dad but trains in the US / for the US when he gets his bracelet (more on that later)...

Guanghong

CHILD OF: Vesta

PANTHEON: Roman

POWERS: Fire, Constancy

BACKSTORY: Guanghong parents were unable to conceive and both being pure of heart, were blessed by Vesta so that they could have just one child. He doesn't see her often, but feels close to his godly mother when near a fire or a hearth. He is the emotional centre of his friend group and his sweet nature is pretty much never-ending, also he is asexual.

Mickey 

CHILD OF: Dionysus

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS:  Grape Control; Invoke Narcissism and other disorders involving delusion; Makes a party crazy fun when he feels like it (rarely).

BACKSTORY: Mickey and Sara’s mother is a single black mother from a big Italian family. Dionysus didn't want to test his father in Italy, although he probably would have been fine, and decided to leave the Crispinos alone ‘for their own safely’. They pair were raised by their grandmother and long extended family primarily as their mother works. Mickey is protective of Sara for multiple reasons that are Not a sister complex here.

Sara 

CHILD OF: Dionysus

PANTHEON: Greek

POWERS: Cause Maenad like madness with a touch; Make wine at will

BACKSTORY: Mickey and Sara’s mother is a single black mother from a big Italian family. Dionysus didn't want to test his father in Italy, although he probably would have been fine, and decided to leave the Crispinos alone ‘for their own safely’. They pair were raised by their grandmother and long extended family primarily as their mother works. Sara is very gay.

Mila 

CHILD OF: Venus

PANTHEON: Roman

POWERS: Create infatuations; Exceptional Beauty

BACKSTORY: Mila has a single father, who is a premier ballerino and remarried when Mila was seven. Mila was a typical Venus ‘one night of passion’ baby, who was dropped off with her father after her birth and then promptly ignored by her mother. She really likes her stepmum actually, who is a ballerina as well. Mila is very beautiful personally and also a dab hand at makeovers.

Phew - that is a lot! Dont worry, anything important will come up in the fic (if I ever write it...)

Now, onto the actual Plot...

THE PLOT

ARC 1: Yuuri begins to astral project as a child, while he is still learning to control his powers. Through his astral projection he meets the other demigod kids (the geographically closest first, then he ranges progressively further afield). He makes friends with them all and gets something of a crush on Victor, his skating idol (and pretty lovely guy when he gets to know him in person!) Monsters, able to smell their scent, are coming for them even though they aren't in America and everyone is pretty afraid. Yuuri, having the biggest heart,  decides to try to change that fact of demigod life at just age 11 and he is very very stubborn about it, asking all the gods of the underworld and all the friendly or neutral monsters he sees about it. He hurts himself a lot trying it, but after a year or so he managed to create a bracelet that holds in the demigod 'scent', making his friend safer. The bracelets have to be personalised to the specific powers of each child so the first one goes to Phichit (his first friend). Then he makes them all one as he meets each character in person, either posting them out or giving them at the novice and junior skating competitions he attends. The hardest to create was Victor’s, who as the first child of Persephone is very powerful. Yuuri ends up accidentally putting a piece of his Self into the bracelet as that is the strongest power he has. It is very dangerous but even after his upset mum Hecate told him what he had done, he could;t regret it. The life of his friend was the most important thing!

ARC 2: Aboveworld gods don't care for their kids by and large (see character notes above.). They often forget them as they are not under American jurisdiction and therefore won't fight battles for them. Only The underworld gods and those mentioned above really care. Even as they become friends at competitions and through Yuuri’s projections, the strain of the bracelets wears on yuuri and maybe eventually one bracelet snaps or becomes overwhelmed. No one blames Yuuri but Yuuri, they just didn't realise how tough it was to power the close shielding of their scent. They have to team up to defeat the monsters that come for them. There is a Big Battle Scene and despite their desperate prayer to the above world parents, none can help. The underworld ones do their best but it is the solstice - their absence would be noticed. The arc ends with them all being pseudo adopted by underworld gods.

ARC 3: They all decide fuck the above gods, they won't be beholden to them anymore. The decide to circumvent their monopoly on items such as nectar and ambrosia, in the process setting up in the Underworld and creating their own godly market/culture/empire for those who dont want to use Olympus. In the process, they make friends with or at least win respect from some monsters. who admire their chutzpah, and also their stylish fashion.

ARC 4: Camp Half-Blood need hep with something as of yet undefined ( a prophecy?). Nico knows Victor through the Hades/Persephone connection and also because of their underground empire. Hades favours Victor as an heir despite not being his son because of his love for Persephone and also his strong underworld connection through Yuuri, his boyfriend, who is also an immensely powerful son of the underground. Victor, having survived past his teens, is also very responsible and wise so is a generally good choice. The whole crew agree to visit the camp at Nico's request and to meet their siblings. Drama ensues...

Yes, There are elements not mentioned here (how do Victuuri get together? What about other pairings? What happens at Camp Half-Blood?) but hey, have to leave something for the actual fic. Hope this is interesting to you guys, I spent several weeks daydreaming this. Tell me your head canons if you want, what do you think about my godly parent decisions? I would love to chat about it. <3 <3 <3

[rolando754011-blog]

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