#i love smug sabine

[xaerainy]

one brat being fucked by another brat (chat i think shes dead)

[aalissy]

Found Family

Just a short, fluffy lil oneshot for today! I hope you like it. I loveee getting to write Adrienette as a couple in love teehee. Lemme know what you think <3

AO3

Marinette nestled her chin on Adrien’s head, wrapping her arms tightly around him. They were cuddled up together on her chaise. A blanket was thrown haphazardly across them as Adrien curled up happily in her lap. A movie was playing quietly on her laptop though she wasn’t certain either of them was paying attention to it.

Most days, this was all she wanted to do, simply spend an afternoon cuddling with her boyfriend. She leaned down, brushing a kiss against his hair as she listened to him happily hum.

“I love you,” he murmured, causing her heart to quicken in her chest.

Just how many years had she dreamed of this exact moment? Dreamed that Adrien would tell her that he loved her?

“I love you too,” Marinette whispered back, tightening her arms around him.

Even still, how much longer had she dreamed that she would be able to say those words to him? And so easily, too, with none of the stuttering or the stammering or the embarrassing blushes that Adrien said were endearing.

As Marinette and Adrien basked in their moment, enjoying each other's warmth and affection, a gentle knock on the door interrupted them. Marinette's parents, Tom and Sabine, peeked into the room with smiles on their faces, holding a tray filled with snacks and pastries.

"Bonjour, lovebirds," Sabine said with a playful wink. "We brought up a couple of things to help make your movie night special."

Marinette grinned up at them, her eyes sparkling with genuine happiness. She picked up a chocolate croissant, biting into the warm, delicious dessert. "Thanks, Maman, Papa. You're the best."

She felt a surge of warmth and contentment. It was moments like this that truly filled her with joy. She realized just how lucky she was to have found love in Adrien and to have such wonderful parents.

“Thank you very much!” Adrien beamed back, picking up a strawberry macaroon. He bit into it, moaning with delight as he said, “This is delicious! Have I told you that you’re the best bakers in all of Paris?”

"Maybe once or twice.” Tom laughed, ruffling Adrien’s hair affectionately. Enjoy the snacks, you two.”

As her parents left the room, Marinette couldn't help but feel a sense of completeness. With Adrien in her arms, a comfy blanket thrown across their laps, and the most exquisite pastries in Paris within reach, there was absolutely nothing that she could think of to make the situation even better. She embraced Adrien even tighter. The person she loved and who loved her back just as fiercely.

“I hope you know that I consider you my family,” he murmured quietly.

Marinette’s eyes softened at that. “You’re my family too, Adrien. Forever and always,” she sniffled. “No matter what. And don’t you forget that!”

He nuzzled closer in her arms. A quiet sigh of contentment left his lips before he slowly nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”

Turning his head around, Marinette gently brushed her lips against his in a sweet kiss. Adrien hummed happily, turning around fully to wrap his arms around her neck. He moved his lips against hers, tilting his head to deepen their kiss. She curled her own fingers in his hair, tugging ever so gently. 

“I love you,” Adrien panted when they finally pulled back for air.

“I love you most,” Marinette whispered back before bringing their lips back together.

Quickly, though, he leaned back with a chuckle as she pouted over at him. “Hmm, not possible. I love you most.” 

“No way! I loved you first!” Marinette stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Yes, but I fell harder.” Adrien pointed out with a smug grin.

“Let’s just agree to disagree.” She laughed before pulling him back down to wipe that smirk off his lips with another kiss.

[ooops-i-arted]

ahsoka still calling anakin a 'good master' after everything he fucking did to her oh my god, ENOUGH!

cowboy hat man won't give it a rest. he wants to throw ahsoka in everything and have her ascend to glorified creator's pet status, but he still can't figure out how to feature her without making her whole worth and existence about anakin. a two year relationship that ended with the master nearly murdering his padawan gets to be highlighted repeatedly, as if it was the most emotionally resonant thing to ever happen to ahsoka and anakin. instead of literally any other relationship that could be explored more.

screw ahsoka's other relationships from the jedi temple or the clones. she can hang out with rebels characters who are reduced to hollow husks of themselves while she has the charisma of a plank. but let's remind everyone how special and awesome she is because anakin was assigned to her for a short time. ahsoka is almost fifty years old now, were the options really that limited? screw respecting anakin's kids who achieved their own legacies and played important roles in the rebellion, defying what he chose to become. luke and leia are barely present in these galactic events and it's rare for their names to be mentioned at all. and who the hell is padme at this point?

ahsoka's writing has been unimpressive for a while now and i haven't cared about her story beyond fandom osmosis. but her show probably isn't even servicing people who actually liked her from tcw anymore, it's about whatever caters to filoni's warped perception of these characters.

Not only is it egregious because we know Anakin is a child murderer, Ahsoka NEVER moves on or comes to terms with it! She just keeps wallowing in it so Filoni can wank off to Anakin licking Ahsoka's butthole. Also: two years. There's no way she's near as speshul to him as Padme (the woman he was in love with for 10+ years and his wife) or Obi-Wan (his Master who was like a brother to him, again for over a decade) or Shmi (his freakin' mother and likely his one point of stability in a chaotic childhood as a slave). Don't even tell me that if Anakin was dropped in the World Between Contrived Time Travel he would save Ahsoka over any of them lmao. Or drop her like a hot potato if he had to choose between Ahsoka and Luke, his son and the last remnant he has of Padme (her son), Obi-Wan (guarded and trained by), Shmi (her grandson) and pretty much the one person he was able to commit an act of true, unselfish love for (killing Palps).

I do feel bad for the fans since I've seen plenty of comments that it's "not her" and that RD's portrayal is just so flat and devoid of smirky smugness/cheekiness/whatever. I personally may hate it but it is part of her character. And you're right, why is it only people she isn't connected to? She barely knew the Rebels crew and mostly as Fulcrum, so a professional relationship, not a friendship. Not to mention Sabine being forced into a Jedi Padawan role despite NEVER showing Force sensitivity or any interest in being a Jedi, and she lived with two of them for years. She had plenty of opportunity to ask Kanan if she wanted to be trained! But nah, we gotta give Ahsoka a Padawan and throw in some forced girl power stuff on the side. (As a former little girl who deeply craved female representation in the male-dominated stories I loved, I can tell you, little girls can tell when it's forced.) (Also Sabine choosing to force herself into a Jedi role out of grief for missing Kanan and Ezra instead of actually being into it or confronting her feelings of loss could've been a really interesting character moment. But nah.)

Side note but I also find it interesting that Rex is barely in this show. Wasn't Rex Ahsoka's clone counterpart? They're very close friends? He's still alive and kicking and could help her out? That would be a really cool relationship to explore? Or did Filoni realize he can't whitewash a real Māori man the way he can animated clones?

(Also I saw this ask before bed and woke up thinking about Mara Jade and Jaina Solo, a female teacher-student relationship that was so badass, and now I want Mara Jade being Rey's teacher and helping her confront her relationship to Palpatine and Rey having the guidance of someone who Gets It, can you imagine. We could've had it alllllllll)

[tennessoui]

honestly doctor who! ahsoka having her own companion is very galaxy brain. i actually have some other suggestions for ahsoka time travel companions:

1) sabine

(she just becomes increasingly smug as the mission goes on and ahsoka keeps failing, then increasingly frustrated because she realizes that she is stuck with ahsoka. i do think she would shoot anakin or palpatine in at least a couple of the timelines.)

2) bo katan

(bo katan spends most of the time fighting with ahsoka and obsessively trying to obtain the darksaber. this backfires when anakin begins to suspect bo katan of being the secret sith lord. ahsoka and bo katan are forced to fake a relationship in order to get him off their back at one point. they accidentally become jedi-mandalorian married in at least one timeline before a humiliated ahsoka resets the timeline anyway. now bo katan is uoset because their fake marriage isn’t real anymore and brings it up saltily at least once every reset.)

3) kaeden

(no coherent thoughts just kaesoka 😔)

4) mace

(at first he is shook because of how truly degenerate some of the timelines get, but also he manages to kill palpatine in at least one of them and he’s pretty pleased with himself. other than that, i feel like he would take a “we should stay and fix the damage we’ve inflicted” approach as opposed to ahsoka’s “hit the reset button now” mindset. he would also pick up at least one hobby along the way, like idk crocheting or fishing)

5) yoda

(ahsoka spends most of the time miserably trekking around with a little green gremlin in her swagpack, aka swag backpack. he keeps giving her cryptic advice on how to deal with the situation until she realizes the best action is inaction. by the end, they decide to sit on the beach and just eat sandwiches together while they watch anakin throw a tantrum over the sand while obi wan sighs because he just wanted to try out surfing)

6) luke

(this is actually the canon backstory for how ahsoka and luke met. dave filoni just didn’t tell us because he didn’t think it was important enough to mention.)

7) count dooku

(this one doesn’t really have any explanation, i just thought it would be funny. bonus points because count dooku approves of obi wan but fucking hates anakin and so this is basically his personal hell. he nearly tries to kill ahsoka at one point, thinking that he will be freed, only to realize he’ll be stuck in the timeline with anakin and obi-wan forever. thus causing him to rescue her and hit reset. while ahsoka tries to matchmake anakin and obi wan, count dooku is constantly trying to break them up. at one point anakin accuses him of being homophobic and obi wan attends a support group for lgbt adults whose parents won’t accept their marriage and count dooku gets offended because he is NOT homophobic, he is just a hater. if anakin and obi wan have 1 opp, it’s count dooku. if anakin and obi wan have 1 million opps, it’s count dooku + an army of 999,999 droids. if anakin and obi wan have 0 opps, count dooku is dead. etc etc)

Note: I would put also R2 or Chopper as candidates but they don’t really seem like good companions to me on account of them being aggressively Dalek-coded.

i think all of these work in different ways and you have put it together so beautifully - i think it makes so much sense!

in my mind since none of this is really happening, ahsoka's companion could definitely change every so often as the Force pairs her with different people in an attempt to show her a different lesson....it's not actually the person but an aspect of their personality that could help ahsoka heal and maybe even appreciate the love obi-wan and anakin share

(except dooku. dooku wasn't supposed to be there and it's his actual force ghost. he's just such a strong hater that the force could literally not keep him out of this liminal space)

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Call"

In which we gain whale friends. :)

RIGHT, SO, FIRST OF ALL, ANYONE WHO CALLED THIS EPISODE USELESS FILLER OWES ME TWENTY BUCKS.

Even when I didn't know the purrgil specifically would be returning I knew this was an important episode for Ezra's character development and for growing his unique Force affinity for animal connection.

Technically falls under the Friendship Fetch Quest episode type, albeit on a bit more of an abstract level.

I love the touch of the fog on the inside window of the Ghost that Hera has to rub off. Everyone's breath fogs, and they even look a bit paler and more harried, eyes more lined, really emphasizing how cold it is.

Ezra's face when he first hears the purrgil song, aww.

It's really interesting that only Ezra can hear the purrgil, even though Kanan also has the Force. Could of course just be his stronger affinity for animals--he's more naturally attuned to them--but he's also more sympathetic to the purrgil throughout the episode, the only one actually listening to them, so maybe that's why he's the only one that can hear. Nice little foreshadowing either way.

Love that even though Kanan can't hear the purrgil, he trusts Ezra enough to believe him.

Right, I'm suspecting I'm going to be using up a lot of my limited photos with caps of Ezra's face this episode.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Sabine's double-take as she glances forward out the viewport and sees the purrgil.

Purrgil are presented as really interesting creatures, they're not actively malicious at all (unless you really piss them off lol) but they're big and tough-hided and can severely damage a spaceship just by brushing past them. They have natural migration routes that sometimes unfortunately run afoul of hyperspace lanes and ships traveling through them. They're connected to the Force. They live in space. They can achieve hyperspace, naturally.

They're like any herding group of big animals really, whales, elephants, moose, they need to be given a wide, respectful distance.

Which is why flying with them works. They recognize, "Oh, this is part of the herd now. Hello friend!"

Possibly the calls Ezra was hearing earlier was the purrgils' method of saying, "Hey, coming through, get out of the way!" because he says they calm when the Ghost starts flying with them.

Kanan praising Ezra for his good instincts. <3

Oh you know I'm gonna talk about the leitmotifs in this one, I gotta.

So! There are two main themes associated with the purrgil. One of them I'm going to call the "Hyperspace" theme, which is pretty self-explanatory, it's the track that plays when we learn that the purrgil can jump to hyperspace. This cue here that's playing I think might be part of the larger "Triumph of Nature" theme, it definitely sounds like it's in the same key and tempo. I'm calling it that because of the overall underlying archtheme of nature's wrath against the oppressive industrial world that features in this episode specifically and in Rebels and Star Wars overall. It's a very classic motif in extrapersonal conflict fantasy stories, the need to respect and live in harmony with nature, appearing in dozens of classic influential stories from Lord of the Rings to Princess Mononoke. (Both of which were inspirations for Rebels, funnily enough.)

Both cues are later going to come back in the finale.

All right, done with that tangent for now, back to Ezra making whale friends.

Lol he rolls his eyes at Kanan and Hera's argument.

Love how he immediately tries to connect with the purrgil.

The modified TIEs represent the Mining Guild's intimate ties with the Empire. The Empire supplies them TIE fighters to secure and protect their facilities and in exchange gets full exclusive access to the fuel they produce. Once again, Rebels says state corporatization of private industry = bad.

They're so low on fuel the front cannons stop working, Ezra's panic here is adorable.

LOL Hera's face when Kanan gets all smug about not shooting the purrgil. AND I LOVE THAT WHEN SHE CUTS HIM OFF ON THE COMMS HE COMES DOWN FROM THE TURRET TO PERSONALLY FINISH HIS GLOATING.

They're so married.

Love this little music box chime in the music here.

Kanan so completely on Ezra's side this episode it's so sweet.

Therapist!Ezra strikes again, getting Hera to explain why she's not fond of purrgil. Characters around Ezra just seem to have a habit of telling him their darkest secrets lol.

I remember a lot of people kvetched about the physics in this episode, apparently not realizing that this planetoid we're approaching is the source of the gravity. (It's certainly large enough.) And there is atmosphere it's just not breathable for humans, hence the helmets.

The lack of fuel is mostly a plot device for this episode but it works, limiting the movement the Ghost is capable of, necessitating personal infiltration, which puts Ezra more in contact with the purrgil in order to realize why they need the Clouzon. Also another plot element done way better in Rebels than in Last Jed--*shot*

Okay okay, less sequel salt.

Shut up, let me have this.

Ezra completely not actually paying attention to the plan lol.

"You said you just wanted to look at it!" "I did look at it... and it looked bad." <3 Sabine cannot resist painting a blank surface lol.

Gosh this sequence is just so... there's so much lightness and wonder and it just evokes a feeling of flight.

Ezra reaching out to touch the purrgil like the embodiment of every tropeiffic "A Boy/Girl and their [X]".

This is not Ezra's day is it? Lol.

Underrated Papa Wolf Kanan moment: The sheer quickdraw frantic speed at which he put his saber together and shoves Ezra aside to block the blaster shot.

Seriously, I timed it it's less than a second from initial alarmed shout to full saber ignition and blaster deflection.

Kanan's absolute trust in Ezra awwwwwwww.

Hanging a giant lampshade on the tendency for their plans to go sideways lol.

This is a unique cue, feels vaguely like a 90s animal rescue movie score. Which fits.

The running gag of Ezra just completely losing his head to be all, "Whale friends! :D" is hilarious.

Purrgil get colorful after they "refuel", interesting note.

Aaand down he go.

Love this handheld (computer held?) shot tracking Hera to the displays on the wall.

Kanan's spinny flip. <3

And the worry in his voice when Ezra doesn't answer. <3

:(((((

Ezra fortuitously landed on the back of a purrgil so he's not going to be falling to his death.

He is, though, in serious danger of suffocation.

Bbbbyyyyyy. :((((((

Once again embodying the spirit of every heartwarming animal friend movie ever.

And this is so cool. Love it when things get Force Weird.

This scene is also really well acted, Taylor does a great job of conveying the relief when he can breathe again.

"I can't believe we're gonna lose to this guy!" Lol.

REMEMBER THE OTHER LEITMOTIF I SAID THE PURRGIL HAD? THAT REAPPEARS IN THE FINALE LIKE A HEROIC HERALD OF EUCATASTROPHE? YEAH IT'S THIS ONE RIGHT HERE.

"TRIUMPH OF NATURE" BABY.

And the nasty foreman gets his karmic comeuppance.

Oh he got ate. He definitely 100% got ate.

Ezra gets his own cool spinny flip.

And there's the "Hyperspace" theme, closing us out triumphantly.

Even beyond all the implications and connections this episode has for the finale (and hoo boy are there many), this episode is just such a fun classic kind of adventure. It continues the spacefaring as sea voyages metaphor, has a little bit of a environmental message without being obnoxious, has gorgeous animation, is so SO important for Ezra's character and his unique personal Force abilities and it's just... delightful.

Imma just sit here, smug in the knowledge that I loved this episode before it became Plot Important.

Jokes on you it was always Plot Important.

[jessicas-pi]

Behold, another fic snippet!! (It's a sequel to this one.)

———

Sabine stumbles as she rematerializes in a burst of light—it gets easier every time she does it, but she’s still terribly out of practice—slamming one hand against the wall to catch herself.

She looks around. She’d been aiming for somewhere inside the Ghost, anywhere inside the Ghost, anywhere that wasn’t right there.

She’s landed in Ezra’s room.

Of course she has.

Ezra.

Ezra, Ezra, Ezra.

That’s all anything is these days.

The one trying to get her out of her room and into daylight. The one looking worried whenever she’s spent longer than usual conferring with the holocron. The one telling her not to listen to the voices in her head. The one going out of his way to make sure she eats at least one meal a day.

The one, when it came down to it, keeping her from self-destructing.

“Did I hurt you?” his voice echoes, and she feels his phantom fingers trace over her cheek. She can feel the sticky blood from the little cut, now that she thinks about it.

He cared.

He cared if he hurt her, even if the whole point of their fight had been for them to beat each other up until she’d burned off her steam.

And Sabine?

Sabine wants to be cared about.

It’s weakness, she knows it’s weakness, but she is so—so—tired. She is tired of being strong. She is tired of digging deeper and deeper into the Darkness and she is tired of falling back into her old arts.

Did I hurt you, he had asked, sounding truly afraid that he had.

And she’d grabbed him by the arm, and impulsively brushed her lips against his wrist.

You’re dangerous, Ezra.

Sabine sighs and runs her fingers along one of her paintings on the wall as the decrepit crones haunting her speak up again, clamoring over the block she’s tried to put on them.

You’re attracted to him, aren’t you?!

You’ve never even seen his face!

He’s so young. So immature.

His idea of dealing with trauma is a fistfight!

Come home to us, sweet one, and we’ll give you a prettier boy.

One who cares enough to show you his face, hm?

Sabine blocks them out as best as she could.

It doesn’t matter if she sees his face or not. Blind people fall in love without ever seeing the other person’s face, right?

And she isn’t even in love.

She just… thinks he looked… good. In that one particular moment. That’s all.

Except that isn’t all, because it’s also the way he laughs sometimes, not a smug chuckle or a wry snort but a soft laugh that was gentle and good. It’s the way he goes out after her when her Force-hazes get the better of her and she wanders off into the Atollon desert to commune with the murder spiders, and she would come back to herself and find him guiding her by the hand or sometimes even carrying her back to their base.

It’s the way he’s gentle with her—and the way he’s downright murderous with anyone who threatens her.

I can take care of myself, she had told him once.

Not if I take care of you first, he’d said, and it sounded like a joke, but he had meant it.

Everything feels so big. It’s too much, and if she doesn’t get it out of her, she knows she will just make things worse.

Sabine needs to vent.

She needs a friend.

But other than Ezra, she has none, and she can’t tell this to any of the rest of the crew. It would mean telling—or at least hinting at—just how far she’s been dipping into the darkness.

So what can she do?

Maybe I have no friends to talk to, she realizes, inhaling quickly, but I don’t need a friend, do I? Just someone who will listen.

She casts out with her presence and finds no one in the hall, so she slips across into her new room. Ever since Malachor, she’s stopped sharing a room with Hera, and instead moved her things into Ahsoka’s room.

The holocron is right where she left it, and she sends it spinning open with a flick of her hand and a twist of Darkness.

Hello, child.

“How do I find someone?”

To the point, as always.

She ignores the commentary. “I need to track down a specific person. I don’t know where they are, but they’re a powerful Force-user who is strong with the Dark side. Can you help me find them?”

And who is this Dark acolyte? A friend?

“An acquaintance. An… enemy, but… not an enemy. I have to talk to them.”

Who is it, Sabine?

Sabine takes a breath.

She sighs.

“I need to find the Emperor’s Hand.”

[natedogx15]

Miraculous Descendent Chapter 49: Of Parents and Their Pups

Previous Chapter

Sabrina looks at the small dog-like fairy creature with mouth-opened wide-eyed shock as it floats in front of her face. When Barkk sees her reaction, she has a smug and nostalgic smile.

"Oh, how I've missed that reac-" Barkk starts before being interrupted by Sabrina swinging at her with a heavy textbook resting near the desk.

The textbook flies through her, and Sabrina's shock returns tenfold while Barkk smirks at her.

"Nice swing." Barkk compliments so casually you wouldn't believe said swing was aimed toward her a second ago.

Sabrina doesn't say anything back to Barkk as her brain seems to shut down while trying to understand what happened. After a few seconds, her mind works again, and she looks at Barkk with fear and curiosity.

"What are you?" Sabrina asks the Kwami.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Barkk, and I'm what you call a Kwami." Barkk introduces herself with a disarming smile.

It doesn't seem to work on Sabrina, though. She keeps a suspicious gaze trained on Barkk. Upon seeing this, Barkk sighs.

"We Kwami are universal gods. We're magical beings that represent one of the concepts of the universe. I'm the Kwami of Loyalty, Barkk. It's nice to meet you." Barkk states while holding her tiny arm out to shake Sabrina's.

Sabrina doesn't take it and keeps her textbook ready for another swing.

"What do you want with me?" Sabrina asks the Kwami suspiciously, having trouble buying Barkk's story despite everything happening in Paris.

"Why, to make your wish come true. I want you to wield my Miraculous and become a hero. You'll be like Ladybug and Cat Noir and have the chance to fight Hawkmoth." Barkk offers the girl.

"And what do you want?" Sabrina asks, referring to what Barkk gets out of this.

Barkk gives her a faux flat look before saying.

"You know, most girls your age would probably be excited at the chance to become a magical girl," Barkk says before her face brightens with a grin.

"I love it. You're perfect to be my wielder." Barkk compliments her.

Sabrina doesn't say anything, and Barkk finally answers her question.

"I'm not interested in anything particular. I want a wielder, and you were the best candidate I saw. All I want is to live with you and for you to wield my power to become like Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hawkmoth." Barkk explains while waving their arm dismissively.

"So, you're offering to let me become a hero?" Sabrina asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty much." Barkk nods.

Sabrina's eyes light up in excitement as she thinks about being able to help the heroes and her dad against Hawkmoth. Then she remembers her dad, and her eyes seem to dim with worry.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Sabrina asks.

"Of course. There's a lot to think about here. Take as much time as you need. You have less of it than I do. I'm glad you didn't accept this without thinking about it." Barkk grins before she flies toward Sabrina's bed and gets comfortable on it.

"Ah, this is the stuff. How I've missed human beds." Barkk says as she lays on a pillow and puts Sabrina's blanket over her tiny body.

Sabrina watches Barkk make herself comfortable and bites her lip while thinking.

"Should I really go through with this? I want to help, but what will Dad think?" Sabrina thinks in worry.

Sabrina isn't the only one dealing with family problems. Marinette is sitting on her bed with Tom and Sabine standing in front of her with looks of anger, worry, sadness, and disappointment.

"Do you have an explanation for this young lady?" Sabine asks her daughter in a calm but forceful tone.

"Uhh..." This is all the nervous teenage girl can say under the two adults' gaze, her eyes shifting uncomfortably around the room to try and avoid their gazes.

"We're waiting," Sabine tells her, stamping her foot impatiently.

Taking a deep breath and remembering her and Nate's plan, Marinette looks at her parents nervously.

"The truth is... Ladybug... asked me to keep an eye around school... for her." Marinette nervously reveals to her parents, stopping in the middle of her sentence a few times as she speaks.

The parents pause for a moment and blink at their daughter in surprise. Tom is the one to recover first and looks at Marinette inquisitively.

"Ladybug... asked you to keep an eye around the school?" Tom asks her, having trouble believing the words coming out of his mouth but not wanting to doubt his stepdaughter.

"I-I know it's hard to believe. I'm still having trouble believing it myself. But it's the truth. She said she wanted me to see if anyone at school was suspicious. So, I've been going out during Akuma attacks to see if anyone around the fight has been acting suspiciously and passing the information to her. Please believe me. I promise I would never do anything like this otherwise." Marinette begs her parents with a pleading expression.

Tom and Sabine look at each other before heading toward the door. Before he leaves, Tom looks toward Marinette with a comforting smile.

"Your mom and I are going to talk about this with Samuel. We'll decide what happens after. This is a hard story to swallow." Tom tells her.

"I know." Marinette flinches.

Before closing the door, Sabine ducks her head back into Marinette's room.

"I hope for your sake this is the truth, young lady. If I find out this has anything to do with you suddenly becoming rich." Sabine lets the threat hang over Marinette's head, causing her to winch.

"I promise it is," Marinette promises again to her mom.

"We'll see," Sabine says before the two leave Marinette alone in the room.

As soon as the door closes, Tikki appears out of the earrings, and Marinette looks toward her worriedly.

"Do you think this will work, Tikki?" Marinette asks the Kwami in a low whisper.

"I do not know. You will have to trust in your plan. Though, it was a good lie. The best ones often have some truth to them." Tikki answers her before complimenting her on her performance.

Marinette winches at that and rubs her arm awkwardly.

"Can you not talk about it like that? I don't like the feeling of lying to Mom or Tom." Marinette begs.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd feel uncomfortable about it." Tikki apologizes with a bow and her smile turning neutral.

In the hallway, a waiting Samuel is talking with Tom and Sabine.

"So, Marinette gave you the same story Nate gave me?" Samuel asks after Tom and Sabine explain what Marinette told them with uncertain tones.

"It seems so." Sabine nods before looking toward her husband.

"What do you think of it?" Sabine asks.

Tom sighs, his shoulders slump slightly before he quickly shakes it off.

"It doesn't seem like she's telling us the full truth. I don't think she's completely lying to us, though. I've seen plenty of people trying to lie to me." Tom tells them.

Sabine nods before looking at the ground with a worried and confused expression.

"Yes, she didn't seem like it to me either. I've seen her try to lie growing up a lot. This doesn't feel the same as those times." Sabine explains.

"Nate didn't seem like it either. We may want to believe them and see how things go from here. If anything more suspicious comes up, we'll have another talk with them and maybe have to take more extreme actions." Samuel suggests.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tom asks his brother.

"I trust Nate. I think our family and the hotel staff have raised him well. If he's covering for Marinette for something, I have to believe it's important. Otherwise, I doubt he'd be willing to risk our relationship. No offense, you two, but I think I'm closer to him than your daughter." Samuel says jokingly at the end of his explanation.

The two parents of Marinette look at each other before Tom finally speaks up.

"I know this might sound like me wanting to make her more comfortable as my stepdaughter, but I think we should follow Samuel's advice. Let's trust she's telling the truth and punish her lightly. She hasn't been hurt, and her grades are fine from what you told me." Tom tells Sabine.

Sabine looks at her husband and brother-in-law while thinking about their words. Finally, she relents and decides to follow along.

"Fine, but only if she can get Ladybug to meet us and prove she's not lying. If she can't do that, we'll do something more." Sabine directs her words toward Tom with a glare.

Tom gives her a happy and loving smile before picking her up in a hug.

"That's a terrific idea, dear. I've wanted to meet Ladybug and Cat Noir for ages to thank them for all their hard work against Hawkmoth. This'll give me the perfect opportunity to after we're done dealing with Marinette's problem." Tom says happily as he hugs his wife.

Sabine smiles at Tom's enthusiasm and laughs lightly.

"Alright, alright, cut it out, you big teddy bear. We need to talk to Marinette and see if she'll do it." Sabine laughs lovingly at her husband as she tries to get him to stop so they can finish their talk with Marinette.

Tom quickly puts his wife down with a smile and nods. The two head back to Marinette's room while Samuel heads toward Nate, and they enter their respective child's room.

"Marinette, we've come to a decision. Your punishment will depend on if you can do something for us to prove you're not lying." Sabine is the one to explain this to their daughter.

"What is it?" Marinette asks, her eyes shining with hope.

"You have to prove to us that you're working with Ladybug. If you can get her to meet with us, and she tells us you're helping her, we'll let you go. Until then, you're going to be grounded." Tom is the one to answer her.

"You want me to introduce you to Ladybug?" Marinette asks while blinking at them in surprise.

"Yes. That's the best way you can prove to us that you're telling the truth. If Ladybug tells us what you're saying is true, you won't be in trouble." Sabine calmly explains to Marinette with her arms crossed.

"I think I can do that, but I don't know when I'll be able to see her. She usually comes to me to ask for updates." Marinette explains to her parents nervously.

"Well, you'll be grounded until you can prove to us that you're telling the full truth. No going out with friends or Nate until you have Ladybug talk to us." Sabine tells her with a tone signaling this isn't up for debate.

"That shouldn't be a problem. Wait, what if they figure out who I am?" Marinette thinks as she internally panics.

"Su-sure, we can do that. I'll see if I can talk to her soon and see what she thinks." Marinette nods.

While suspicious of the stutter at the start of her words, Marinette's parents decide to let it go and give their daughter smiles.

"Please understand that we're getting mad at you because we're worried. We don't like the idea of you not being safe during these attacks, even though Ladybug can fix the damage after beating the villain. We don't know if she'll ever lose or if her power will ever fail, so we don't want to risk your safety." Sabine tells her daughter while walking up and hugging her.

"Thanks, Mom. I promise I'll get Ladybug to show you I'm not lying." Marinette promises with a smile as she hugs her mom back.

"We're looking forward to it," Tom says as he watches the two hug.

Sabine looks toward her husband before looking back toward her daughter.

"Are you okay with a third person joining this hug? Or do you not quite feel comfortable enough?" Sabine asks.

Marinette looks toward Tom, somewhat uncertain. She loves having the man as her mother's husband since he's very kind and gentle despite his appearance. However, she's still feeling uncomfortable seeing him as a father figure since she's never had one before. Taking a deep breath, she gives her best, albeit awkward, smile while motioning for Tom to join them.

Tom gains a bright smile when he sees this and immediately joins the hug, keeping it light to try and somewhat comfort Marinette.

Finally, the two parents leave and give their daughter her space. As she watches the door close for the second time in the last hour, Marinette lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She then thinks about their request, trying to find a silver lining.

"Well, my face is covered, and my hair is changed while I'm transformed, so it's not like Ladybug is a perfect copy of me," Marinette says to herself after a minute.

Grasping onto that feint bit of hope, Marinette smiles and nods to herself before Tikki appears to add to her words.

"There's also the Miraculous adding an extra layer of protection by pushing people away from figuring out who you are. With that and the changes to your appearance, you should be fine when you talk to them as Ladybug." Tikki reveals to her wielder.

Marinette looks at Tikki in shock, and the Kwami stares back with her usual kind and composed smile.

"You're telling me the Miraculous can prevent my parents from realizing who I am? Does that mean no one will ever realize I'm Ladybug unless I tell them?" Marinette asks her Kwami.

Tikki shakes her head before saying.

"No. It's not an absolute shield for keeping your identity safe. People can get through the magic if they know you well enough, are trying to figure out your identity, have studied you enough to be certain who you are, or if they see you transform." Tikki explains, causing Marinette to panic.

"Then how will it protect me from my mom figuring it out? She raised me! She knows how I am and will see that I'm Ladybug!" Marinette yells at Tikki in a panic.

"Don't worry. Usually, it takes a mixture of different things for someone to see through who you are. You may get through this without your parents realizing who you are." Tikki explains to try and ease Marinette's worries.

"Are you sure?" Marinette asks.

"Yes. You aren't the first Ladybug who's kept their powers a secret from their family. It should be fine for a while." Tikki explains.

Marinette falls onto her bed in relief upon hearing that.

"Today has been so stressful." Marinette groans before remembering something else.

"Hey Tikki? What happens if I don't catch one of Hawkmoth's butterflies and it escapes? Does that mean I'll have to fight Stormy Weather again?" Marinette asks her Kwami in worry.

Tikki blinks at Marinette before saying.

"Well, it would depend on what power he used to create it. If you're lucky, it won't be the butterfly's core ability." Tikki explains.

"...What happens if it's the core ability?" Marinette asks fearfully.

Tikki is about to answer her before she thinks about it, and a mischievous smile replaces her usual one.

"No, I think that's too easy. I have to leave some things for you to figure out yourself. It's an important part of your growth. For now, try and be ready for anything. Miraculous powers can be unpredictable at times." Tikki warns Marinette calmly.

Marinette looks at her Kwami in a panic.

"What could happen?" Marinette begs Tikki to tell her, not wanting to see this surprise through.

"Nope." Tikki turns her head away from Marinette.

"Tikki, please." Marinette desperately begs for Tikki to tell her.

"Sorry Marinette. Sometimes, I need to be hard on you, or you may not grow properly. I will give you advice, though. Just think about what may happen based on the powers Hawkmoth has used so far." Tikki advises Marinette before flying back into the earrings to end the conversation.

"Tikki, Tikki! Come on, please tell me what will happen!" Marinette begs as she taps on her earrings to try and get the Kwami out.

Marinette eventually stops trying to talk to her Kwami and nervously rubs her arm as she thinks about what may happen.

In Gabriel's office, Gabriel is smiling at the butterfly that managed to escape as it rests on the back of his hand while he caresses it with his other one.

"You did a good job escaping from Ladybug, little one. It's too bad your sibling didn't escape with Pixelator's defeat." Gabriel sighs as he looks at the butterfly.

Its glow starts fading, causing Gabriel to raise it toward the Butterfly Miraculous.

"Get some rest in my Miraculous for now. You'll get another chance eventually. And you'll come out stronger than before." Gabriel promises as the butterfly is sucked into the Butterfly Miraculous like Nooroo when Gabriel transforms.

The Miraculous glows for a second before fading.

"I was close this time. Stormy Weather held Ladybug off and almost beat her today, while Cat Noir couldn't handle Simon Says. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time. I'm getting closer to defeating them. I might be able to save you soon, Emilie." Gabriel mutters happily as he puts a hand on the brooch.

After a few seconds, Gabriel stops and works on his latest design with a smile from his near success despite one of his Akumas attacking him.

Unknown to him, a wildcard is about to come into play. One that would throw a wrench into his plans.

Roger Raincomprix is returning to his home after a long day of work and dealing with the aftermath of Simon Says. When he gets home, he sees a nervous Sabrina fiddling with her thumbs on the couch.

"Sabina, is everything okay? Did something happen?" Roger immediately rushes toward his daughter worriedly.

Sabrina jolts up in surprise, not having heard him come in, before turning toward him with an uneasy expression.

"I-I'm fine, Dad. But there is something I need to show you." Sabrina tells her father with an anxious expression.

Sabrina stands up and walks stiffly toward her room. Roger follows her with a worried expression until they enter.

"Barkk, can you come out please?" Sabrina begs.

To Roger's shock, Barkk flies out of Sabrina's bed and stretches in front of the two.

Roger instinctively reaches for his taser from the shock as Barkk yawns.

"Have you made up your mind, kid? Or did you grab your father to get someone else's input?" Barkk asks Sabrina before looking toward Roger.

"What is this? Is this Hawkmoth's doing?" Roger asks as he gets between Sabrina and Barkk while glaring at the Kwami.

"Yes and no. I'm here partly because of Hawkmoth, but I am not in any way affiliated with him outside of him wielding the Miraculous of one of my fellow Kwami. Other than that, I know nothing about him and am here for my own reasons." Barkk quickly explains to Roger while making movements with her arms for emphasis.

Roger still looks at her suspiciously while keeping a hand close to his taser.

"And what reason would that be? I hope it's not anything that'll threaten me or my daughter." Roger warns the Kwami while glaring at her.

"You, no. You're daughter, maybe." Barkk bluntly states, causing Roger to latch onto his taser while Sabrina winches.

"I'm offering her the chance to wield my power and become like Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hawkmoth. As such, she'll be able to help Paris, but it'll put her at risk of getting hurt." Barkk explains calmly, as though she isn't being threatened.

That statement causes Roger to blink in surprise while loosening his grip on his taser. Sabrina looks at her father in worry as the words slowly register with him. When they do, he is not happy.

"What do you mean you want my daughter to become a hero?" Roger asks the Kwami in protective worry as he shifts slightly to try and better protect Sabrina from Barkk.

"It's exactly as I said. I think your daughter can be my wielder and would like to have her reach her full potential." Barkk nonchalantly explains while shrugging.

"I refuse to allow this," Roger tells the Kwami.

That answer doesn't satisfy Barkk, though. She looks past Roger toward Sabrina.

"You can not do that. Only the person I've chosen can refuse. Anyone around her cannot decide for her. And they must do it with complete confidence. That is our rule." Barkk explains while looking into Sabrina's eyes.

"So, will you confidently refuse my offer, pup? Will you have me wait until you're truly ready to refuse it? Or will you accept the offer and follow your wish to help others?" Barkk asks these three questions toward Sabrina, angering Roger.

He turns toward a nervous Sabrina and points toward Barkk.

"What are you waiting for, Sabrina? Refuse their offer so we can end this nonsense quickly." Roger demands.

"Well..." Sabrina says uncomfortably as she rubs her arm.

Roger's anger changes into confusion at Sabrina's actions while Barkk smiles.

"It looks like someone isn't ready to refuse," Barkk tells him, causing Roger to look at Sabrina in worry.

"Sabrina?" He asks gently while looking at his daughter.

"...I'd like to help the heroes if possible." Sabrina finally reveals to her dad.

Roger's eyes widen in shock before he turns toward Sabrina.

"What are you saying, Sabrina? It's too dangerous for you to fight Hawkmoth. We don't even know what could happen if you accept this deal." Roger tells the girl, voice slightly raised in alarm.

"I-I know. But, if I can help you and the heroes, I-I'd like to take t-the chance." Sabrina tells him shyly.

"Sabrina..." Roger looks at his daughter warily and is about to say something before Sabrina interrupts him.

"When Ladybug gave me a way to help her, Cat Noir, and you against Hawkmoth, I felt happy. I wish to help as much as I can. Please, Dad." Sabrina begs while holding her hands together pleadingly.

"Sabrina..." Roger starts again, but Sabrina keeps going with tears welling up.

"I know you're worried about me because of Mom. But I promise I'll be okay. Please let me at least try. I want to make sure you're safe, too." Sabrina begs her father.

Roger pauses when he hears that last part and looks at his daughter sadly.

"I promised you I would always be okay. I'm not going anywhere." Roger promises his daughter as he brings her into a reassuring hug.

Sabrina accepts the hug and returns it with one of her own while tears run down her face.

"I-I know, b-but I'm still scared. I'm scared that Ladybug and Cat Noir will lose, and you'll be gone. Or that someone else will hurt you, and they can't fix it." Sabrina cries to him.

Roger's heart aches as he hears his daughter's tears before releasing a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Sabrina. But your old man is tough. I'm not going anywhere." Roger promises her.

"You don't know that," Sabrina tells him, tightening her hold.

Roger sighs, knowing that Sabrina's right. He won't lie and say he hasn't been extra nervous about being out in the field with Hawkmoth's arrival.

"You're right." Roger finally relents.

However, he still hasn't given up on keeping Sabrina safe. He narrows his eyes at Barkk, who has been silent throughout this exchange, patiently waiting for them to finish.

"If she accepts this, can she give it up later if she doesn't think she's cut out for it or if it's too dangerous?" Roger asks in a tone showing he's still distrustful of Barkk.

"Of course. However, the same rules as refusing me apply to giving up a Miraculous. The person has to be completely certain they want to give it up." Barkk explains, causing Roger to nod.

With a heavy sigh, Roger looks toward his daughter with cautious eyes.

"You really want to help the heroes and me?" He asks his daughter.

Sabrina nods but doesn't say anything, causing Roger to sigh.

"Alright, I'll let you do this. But please quit the second you feel you're not ready or if you feel weird in any way." Roger tells Sabrina.

"Thank you." Sabrina cries to her father.

Roger sighs before gaining a proud smile.

"Seems like I raised you too well. You're too much like me." Roger tells her with a small laugh.

Next Chapter

[edenrabbitnest]

I love the dark riders cause jessica and erissa are always smug as hell, sabine has resting bitch face and katja looks like she's playing a 144p fish spinning to funkytown in her head

[lapinbunwrites]

Title: A Date In France

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Characters: Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Sabine Cheng

Additional Tags: Fluff

Word Count: 1,711

Ao3 Link

Luka rubbed his hands together and blew hot air on them. Winter finally has its cold grasp on France. As much as he liked the winter, there were still a couple of things he didn’t like about it. For instance, he didn’t like it when ice formed, or when the snow melted into slush. It always made it difficult to maneuver through it. Especially when he rode his bike.

He shook his head as he biked through the city, carefully moving around snow hazards. His frown slowly turned into a smile as he approached Marinette’s parents bakery. It only grew bigger when he walked inside, smelling the fresh baked bread.

“Oh! Welcome Luka,” Sabine greeted with a smile.

“Hello, Mrs. Cheng,” Luka greeted back. “Is Marinette here?”

“Unfortunately, no. She is still at school. She won’t be home until late tonight,” she apologized.

“Thank you,” he nodded. “I should go meet her there.”

“Before you leave, do you mind taking this with you?” She asked, handing him a box full of food. “I fear she might forget to eat if she ends up being too busy.”

“Of course,” he agreed, taking the box.

After Luka said goodby, he placed the box of food into his bike's basket. Luckily for him, her school wasn’t too far from him and he didn’t bike far in this weather. When he got to Collége Françoise Dupont, he went straight to Marinette’s classroom and watched her erase something off the board.

“Food delivery,” he softly said, knocking on the door panel.

“Hello Luka!” Marinette cheerfully said, turning to face him. “I don’t remember ordering food.”

“You didn’t,” he reassured her, placing the box down on her teacher’s desk. “You mother was concerned you might not eat tonight so she wanted me to give you this.”

“Heheh, whoops,” she chuckled as she scratched her head. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“Our date,” Luka reminded her.

“Our date?” She asked, her voice slowly becoming softer.

“Let me guess, you forgot and you planned to do something else with another friend,” he said, playfully rolling his eyes.

“What? Noooo!” Her voice becoming higher as she frantically taking out her phone.

“Marinette,” he sighed, placing his hand on her phone to make eye contact with her.

“Yes,” Marinette sulked. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“It’s alright,” Luka chuckled. “We can reschedule it.”

“Oh, no! I can cancel on this person,” Marinette reassured him.

“Are you sure?” He asked, letting out another sigh.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she smiled. “It’s just Chloe and I don’t think she will care.”

Luka softly smiled.

“And there! Text sent!” Marinette happily said as she gave him a big smile. “Do you have anything in mind for our date?”

“I was thinking we could go to the movies,” Luka suggested.

“What movie,” she asked, opening the box of food. “Mmm!~”

“I was thinking about that new animated movie. The one about the princess and her knight,” he said, laughing as she shoved bread into her mouth.

“Pwrinthess and Thbe…” She said, struggling to chewing and swallowing her food. “Knight! I’ve already seen it. It’s sooo tragic. The knight and the princess fell in love with each other but the princess but when they were in early adulthood, the princess became betrothed to someone else. A nobleman. So they could never be married. But it gets worse! Shortly after the princess became queen, and after she had a two children, her husband was murdered and it was framed on the knight. The queen knew it wasn’t him so she let him escape. And-”

Luka couldn’t help but smiled as he listened to Marinette talk about the movie as she guzzled down more food. He placed his hand on the desk, leaning closer to her before licking off the icing that was on her face.

“Wha-What’s with the sm-smug face?” She asked, her face heating up and her breathing becoming more rapid.

“Just your face,” he replied, poking at her.

“Do-Do I have anyth-anything else on it?” She asked, placing her hands on her face.

“No,” he reassured her, licking her lips.

“You c-could have just told me!” Marinette said, lightly slapping his arms.

“Heheh,” Luka chuckled. “But you wouldn’t have taken a breath of air if you kept talking and eating. You would have choked on your food.”

“That is a lie,” she laughed along with him.

“Well, that may be true,” he nodded. “Now that I have your attention, maybe we could do something else, instead of the movies. How about we go to the park? Maybe we will be able to see André and get some ice cream.”

“Heheh, I highly doubt it. It would be a little weird seeing him in the park with ice cream in the middle of winter,” she giggled.

“Then we can go on a little adventure and look for him,” he suggested.

Luka took out his phone, checking if Andrè made any updates to where he was. When the ice cream man did, Luka took Marinette’s hand and led her to the first destination. It so happened to be the park. They didn’t see him anywhere, just children making snowmen and having a snowball fight. Luka looked over Marinette’s shoulder as she looked up the next location, it was on the other side of town.

When they reached their destination, he was nowhere to be found. Luka and Marinette constantly checked André’s updates, going to each location. They made their way to the Eiffel Tower, Jardins des Tuileries, The Louvre, to the Trocadéro with no luck of seeing him. With one last check, they found his latest location at Musée Grévin.

“He isn’t here either,” Marinette pouted. “I guess it’s time to give up.”

“I suppose you're right,” Luka agreed. “I don’t think we have enough time to go anywhere else today. Especially if he is on the other side of town again.”

“That is true. Plus it’s starting to get late,” she added. “We should probably go home.”

“Well, since we are here, we can always go look around,” he suggested.

“Are you sure?” She asked “Don’t you want to get home?”

“We didn’t get to look at anything at the other places we went to,” he replied, squeezing her hand. “I do also want to spend a little more time with you.”

“I suppose. I don’t have to be home until later anyways,” she agreed, her face beginning to heat up again. “Why don’t we go see the new exhibit that they have?”

Luka nodded as she led him to it. His eyes grew bigger as he saw the wax figures. They were no longer the akumatized villains, but the superheroes that helped Ladybug.

“Wow,” he muttered as he looked at his own wax statue. “This is amazing!”

“I know right!” She agreed, placing her hands together.

“I wonder how they were able to make these without these heroes being present,” Luka mused, walking up to the other figures.

“They were given a picture of them all together,” Marinette subconsciously said.

“And how do they get that,” he asked, raising his eyebrow and smiling.

“Uuhhhh,” she stammered out, flailing about. “It was Ladybug herself! They took a picture with all of the Miraculous holders and gave it to someone here! Yeah!”

He chuckled as she kept on stammering out her explanation. He nodded as kissed her check. “If that is what you say is true, then I believe you.”

“Ehehe,” she laughed, placing her hand on her face. “We better get home now.”

“Very well,” he agreed. “But we should head back to your school to get my bike.”

“Mhm,” she nodded.

Luka held her hand as they slowly made their way back to Marinette’s school. He grabbed his bike, taking her back home.

“Why don’t you come upstairs for a little while,” she suggested, tugging at his arm.

“Are you sure?” He asked, following her inside.

“Yes, and we can have dinner here with my parents,” she smiled, dragging him into the kitchen. “It’s the least I can do for forgetting our date.”

“Are you parents going to be okay with this?” He asked, following her.

“Yes, but just get ready for my embarrassing parents,” she informed him, going to grab her parents.

Luka nodded, sitting down on one of the stools. It wasn’t long before they all came into the kitchen and made dinner. She was right, her parents became very embarrassing very quickly. They asked him many things, most of them being about him in a band.

“Heheh,” I don’t think I would ever get out of that conversation,” he nervously laughed as he walked up to her room.

“I’m truly sorry! I didn’t expect my father to get a little mad about your life decision about being a musician,” she apologized profusely. “Even though you made it clear you were going to make instruments. And all the food getting everywhere.”

“I thought that would relieve him,” he said, shaking his head.

“I guess not,” she apologized again, taking out her hair bands.

Luka grabbed her hair brush, bows, and mirror before sitting behind her. “How did I manage to get so much food in your hair?”

“I still get more food in my hair than you do,” she sighed.

He faintly smiled as he brushed it all out. Afterwards, he took a clump of hair, tying it with a bow hair band and then doing the samething to the other clump.

“There,” he said, handing her hand mirror to her.

“These bows are so cute! I completely forgot that I had them,” she smiled. “Thank you Luka.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, fiddling with the edges of her hair. He then looked at his phone, seeing Juleka texting him. “Well, I better get home. Juleka texted me that my mom is starting to get worried.”

“Awe,” she pouted. “I supposed if you have to.”

“Goodbye, Marinette,” he said, giving a peck on her cheek. “I will text you when I get home.”

She nodded as she walked him down to the door.

He waved goodbye before biking home. When he arrived, he texted her before getting ready for bed.

“Today has been a fun day,” Luka softly said before going to sleep.

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I was able to piece for @mlsecretsanta! Unfortunately, my giftee dropped. Nonetheless, I still had a lot of fun writing this fic!

[dexters-bluemilkshakes]

i made “the 501st go to target” , “the disaster lineage goes to target” and “The Clone Wars Squad ™️ (+Satine) Goes To Target” and now i give you: The Rebels Go To Target

hera: got to relax for once. she found some magazines and read them in the asiles while drinking a coffee. she got the newest additions to book series she likes and bought a few DVDs for her and Kanan’s few and far between “date nights.” she bought chopper a cat toy.

kanan: does the shopping. finds all the groceries/ food staples that they are running low on. also buys plain clothing/ accessories to be used in disguises. he grabs many packs of hair ties because ezra and sabine were tired of him stealing theirs. when both he and hera were done shopping they walked around the store, hand in hand, chuckling when they heard laughing and screaming and everything in between from their kids, and were very thankful zeb drew the short straw.

ezra: mr.kleptomaniac steals little trinkets and whatnot by putting them his pockets or by making it look like it was already his. He is pretty smug about it at first but sabine saw the whole thing and a few days later let’s it slip that ezra shop lifted in a half-successful attempt to get the heat off of her for smth dumb she did. ezra sheepishly returned/ paid for all the items while a stern hera stood behind him. zeb could. not. stop. laughing. zeb got in trouble later bc he was supposed to be watching ezra.

sabine: ogled over the hair dye, graphic tees, and art supplies. Despite them not having spray paints, she finds a lot of different materials she’s never had the chance to use, or just materials most people wouldn’t think to put in a piece. she re-stocks on snacks and her preferred hair dyes/ purple shampoo/ products. it’s going to be a long time before they come back here.

zeb: was the Designated Parent for the day. He had to make sure Chopper didn’t destroy the whole store, make sure ezra didn’t steal anything (he failed miserably at that), and make sure sabine didn’t paint anything. he also had to make sure kanan and hera didn’t do the smooches in a quiet corner. (he failed even worse at that) he was very frazzled but during his running around the store he found a really nice pair of boots. he also jump scared ezra like three times and made weird noises in neighboring aisles to try and freak ezra out. ezra insisted it didn’t (it did).

chopper: pinched people’s legs while hiding under clothing display tables. eventually zeb put him in time out and he had to spend the next 10 minutes walking in (grumbly) silence with zeb until he could continue his chaos. repeat cycle. hera gave chopper the cat toy and that kept him very occupied for a while. despite his insistence that he doesn’t care for it, he now refuses to shut down without it nearby.

rex: ezra tried to get him to lift him into the ball crate. rex said no. (ahsoka then looked away for like five seconds and rex threw ezra in the pit with no hesitation. ahsoka saw and immediately face palmed.) he walked around with ahsoka, and they reminisced about all the times they came here with their friends during the rare downtime they got during the war. oh! there’s where fives managed to slip and bring down a shelf. oh! there’s where padmé and anakin were caught holding hands. oh! that’s the hair product obi-wan insisted he never used but he did. oh! there’s where this person and this person and this person and he and she and they and

they’re all gone.

ahsoka and rex tried not to cry.

(when they saw the still lingering stain from where the wolffe pack managed to burst 12 pens and get ink everywhere the tears began to fall)

ahsoka: she could hear the whispers of her friends still lingering on the shelves. she thought she saw obi wan and anakin and padmé and…

but it wasn’t them.

it’s hard going back to the places of your past when the ghosts still haunt you.

she and rex left before the rest of everyone else

all she got was a keychain of a dino that anakin swore he would get on their next visit

and he would have gotten it.

except there was no next visit.

hondo: no one knows how he got here. no one invited him. he mostly left people alone except to ask for them to pay for his things. no one did. he eventually just stole a cartful of random stuff. he got caught, so he flew away with bags of stuff falling out of his window while shouting “until next time, my friends!”. the rebels left soon after that.

kallus: (post getting stranded on a Geonosian moon w our favorite Lasat) was parent for the day with Zeb, even though he didn’t have to be. That is, until he found the hat section and spend the rest of the time admiring himself in different fedoras. he got a watch, despite never saying he needed one and no one even saw him near the watches.

bonus!

thrawn: does not shop at target. ever. but it was a late night and he desperately needed more coffee grounds so he had little choice.

tarkin: lol dude just sneered at everything and made haughty remarks about the state of the store.

he actually loved it and goes back with a black mustache taped on his lip.

[miraculouscontent]

I say Miraculous AU where Luka comes on the trip as a chaperone.

- Marinette stressing over what happened with Fu and now being guardian. Tom and Sabine are actually concerned about their daughter and want to do something about it, so when Luka visits the bakery to say “hi” to Marinette, they recognize him (he’s been in Marinette’s room in “Silencer” so they’ve almost definitely seen him before) and ask him to go along on the trip with Marinette, with them pulling all the strings to find a way for him to join. Luka isn’t a fool, so he happily agrees. Tom and Sabine like, “oh don’t forget to ask your parents if it’s okay,” and Luka’s just, “trust me, she’s fine with it.”

(optional bonus that, since the whole class but Lila went, there is actually an extra seat that they’d reserved for her before she backed out when she thought Adrien was going to stay behind)

- During the scene where Ms. Mendeleiev offers Marinette her seat, Luka moves in after the switch has been made, chiming in to offer Marinette his seat so she’s not uncomfortably crammed in between two adult men. She’s surprised at the offer, but thanks him and swaps with him, earning a nice window seat in return.

- At nighttime, Marinette wakes up (her head probably slipped and it hit the wall; didn’t hurt but she’s awake now) and slips out of her seat to go check on Luka to see how he’s doing. She giggles at the popcorn Mr. Damocles has dropped on him, finding it cute, then carefully reaches over to wipe off the pieces. She turns to leave, but her earlier motion brushing the popcorn off wakes Luka up. He gently calls her name and slips out of his seat to join her; she tries to apologize but he just smiles and assures her that it’s fine.

- While on their way to the back of the plane, Marinette trips slightly on Alya’s foot (as Alya is sleeping on Nino and her foot was partly in the aisle; Marinette didn’t bump into it earlier because she didn’t have to move to the side for Luka back then). Luka steadies her and Marinette covers her mouth to suppress a yelp, then they keep walking to the back.

- Still, the movement woke Alya up and she glances back to look at Luka and Marinette watching the sunrise together. Confused, she nudges Nino so the both of them can look together. Alya comments that she’s seen Marinette making “lovey eyes” at Luka (referencing “Captain Hardrock” and “Frozer”), but Marinette is so OBVIOUSLY into Adrien and “can’t be honest about her feelings.” Nino chimes in that he’s having “best bud struggles” too because Adrien is still as sheltered as ever and “won’t come out of his shell.” They get the idea to perform “Operation New York” as in the original and think that it’ll be totally easy with no roadblocks whatsoever!

- Meanwhile, Marinette and Luka have their talk about her getting her “clarity.” Marinette sighs and admits that it feels like people are going to talk about her and Adrien no matter what she says/does (which tips Luka off that something’s wrong), to which Luka replies with a smile that he promises not to bring up Adrien for the rest of the trip unless Marinette does so first. She agrees to that, even giving him a “thank you” hug that he eagerly returns.

- On the ride to the place everyone’s staying at, Alya tries to engage Marinette in conversation about Adrien, clearly smug and feeling confident that it will be easy, but then she realizes that Marinette isn’t paying attention and is idling on her phone. Alya nudges Marinette, earning her attention, but when Alya starts talking about Adrien again, Marinette’s phone goes off and she looks back down at it, now giggling. Alya, now annoyed, asks Marinette if she’s even listening, which gets Marinette to look up and really give Alya her attention. “Oh, sorry about that. I was texting Luka.”

- Alya is just, “?????”

- Yes, this special is very much going to be Alya and Nino suffering to try to get Adrien and Marinette alone together and constantly failing. You’re welcome.

- No sliding door lock-ins because that’s dumb and the special is dumb for thinking it. Also, when Alya goes to mock “tease” Marinette about her Adrien crush in front of Sabrina, she turns to realize that Marinette is with Luka talking to Miss Mendeleiev about where he’ll be staying since he’s not technically with the class, and/or Luka is talking to some of the New York people about how amazing Marinette is ala Jagged Stone.

- Later in the night, everyone sneaks out to the party (bonus if someone comments that they “never took Luka for the type to sneak out” and Luka just grins like, “You clearly haven’t met my mom.”; double bonus if Luka stumbled into Aeon and Jess’ room with Marinette and Adrien, so Aeon was all “those two are--!” before seeing Luka and being confused) and a few party-goers ask Marinette and Luka if they want to dance to the energetic music. Marinette grins nervously and insists that she’s clumsy and will just end up falling all over people (a few pout and complain that “it would’ve been fun” but drop the subject).

- Cue the superhero hot dog vendor (a description I never thought I would say but here we are) handing out hot dogs. Aeon (foreseeing what will happen; it does pain me to still put her in the roll of “love square shipper” but I’m trying not to change what characters do or how they act unless I’m specifically adding things, meaning the main change is just that Luka’s here) and knowing that Luka interfered earlier, sees the guitar case on his back and quickly requests that he play some music alongside Jess since they both play guitar. Luka agrees, assuring Marinette that it’s alright and he’s not interested in having hot dogs since he’d just get crumbs on his guitar.

- Alya and Nino grin because they’re finally going to do something here!! As in the original, the hot dog vendor only has two hot dogs left and Alya and Nino split them in half, handing two halves of the same hot dog to Adrien and Marinette, who eat their respective half.

- Marinette yelps as her feet leave the ground and Luka’s head darts up on alert. He immediately abandons his guitar, his hand reaching out and catching hers as pulls her back down (or at least as down as she’ll go while still floating). He looks up at Adrien - as if to consider helping - but Adrien doesn’t want it and seems to be having fun trying to figure out how to fly, even muttering to himself about how he wish Kagami were there because they could’ve done “air fencing.”

- Luka looks back at Marinette, ensuring that she’s okay. She’s staring up at Adrien, expression mixed, then looks back at Luka, his presence grounding her as she calms down. She almost seems to forget that Adrien is there, focusing on her current flying capabilities and how light on (off?) her feet she is.

- “Oh...oh!” She gasps, realizing with a grin. “I can’t fall over if I’m floating! Luka, dance with me!”

- He’s caught off-guard by the enthusiastic request, then chuckles and nods in agreement, happily taking her other hand as well as he guides her to the other people dancing.

- Cut to the next day when the group is going to the museum. Alya and Nino are absolutely exhausted because Luka has consistently gotten in her and Nino’s way, which leads to them coming up with the new scheme with Aeon and Jess.

- Nino sends Adrien to the planned room and Alya goes to send Marinette, but Luka catches on and casually asks Marinette if he can go with her. Alya cuts in to “playfully” dismiss Luka and tell him to stop “hovering over Marinette,” leading Marinette to slowly walk off with one longing look back at Luka.

- Luka intentionally waits for Alya to not be watching anymore, then follows after Marinette.

- Episode plays out mostly as normal, though because Marinette has to carry Luka off to somewhere safe, she’s not as easily able to go off after Chat until later since she had time to cool down. Aeon doesn’t die but Paris is still a wreck because Chat Noir didn’t show up, leading to the same Chat Noir quitting scene (just with Ladybug calling out Chat here instead of mid-battle) as before. Adrien still ends up having to leave and Alya still snaps at Marinette, which leads to Marinette chasing after Adrien (mostly due to just mounting stress and pressure and the loss of her partner).

- As Marinette lies on the pavement, Luka shows up, soaking wet because he had actually never gone back with the rest of the class; he’d run off when Ms. Mendeleiev explained to him that Marinette was missing. He panics when he sees Marinette lying motionless there, running up and quickly checking her for injuries and to ensure that she’s breathing. She just leans forward and hugs him without warning, defeated but happy to have him with her.

- Marinette slowly explains the situation, Luka looking horrified when she starts talking about what Alya was shouting at her about, and he listens all the way up until the end before pointing out, “You didn’t have to like him that way to want him to stay.” “W-what?” “Marinette, you can be Adrien’s friend and still want him to stay in New York with us. It didn’t have to be any deeper than that.”

- His words cause Marinette to realize something; she - and definitely her friends as well - had put so much weight to everything she did for Adrien just because of her silly crush that of course she couldn’t see him as a friend. With all the insistence that getting him permission to go to New York and wanting him to stay was due to her crush, it was all she could focus on. She can want things for Adrien and want to do things with him regardless of her feelings for him, and she doesn’t have to put a name to those feelings either; she’ll never be able to truly move on if she keeps equating any good feeling towards Adrien with crushing on him.

- That done, Luka helps her up and they slowly walk back to go inside, though stopping as they see that Ms. Mendeleiev is at the front of the building chewing out Alya and Nino; both of them for sending Marinette and Adrien away from the group for fake tasks at the museum, and Alya specifically for sending Marinette after a car in the rain. Ms. Mendeleiev states that they’ll talk about it more inside but everyone should get back to their rooms for now.

- Marinette heads back to her room alone (as she shared a room with Alya but Alya’s getting a talking to at the moment) and is later visited by Uncanny Valley, who explains that she’s needed. Marinette - now with renewed confidence in how she feels thanks to her revelation - doesn’t say that she “can’t imagine Ladybug without him” and instead states that she and Chat Noir are partners, and a partner doesn’t abandon the other. She did it once herself, a long time ago, but she was ready to face her mistakes afterwards and she hopes that Chat Noir is too.

- Cue return of Chat Noir (no LadyNoir hug because no Chat, you have to earn that back) and the battle plays out as usual. Adrien still has to go home and Marinette sends him a text for later saying, “I wish you could’ve stayed,” but with a smile on her face, confident that this really is a friend thing and that’s all it needs to be.

- Marinette and Luka end up sitting together on the plane ride back to Paris, right behind Juleka and Rose. It’s nighttime, but neither can sleep and Marinette decides to use the private time to thank Luka for what he said (really, all the things he said), but Luka assures her that any improvement is all on her and he’s just happy to be around for it. She chides him for his modesty and tells him to take the compliment because he deserves it (they’re just flirting at this point), then slips out of her seat and into Luka’s, lightly jabbing at his chest with a finger while insisting that he accept everything’s he’s done for her. He laughs and replies that he’s happy to do that and is just glad seeing her smile.

- Eventually, the subject shifts to Juleka and Rose, who are once again sitting in the same seat, all cuddled up and sleeping together. Marinette asks playfully if Juleka and Rose are like that back on the Liberty, to which Luka nods and answers that they are, all the time. They have a good giggle about it, with Luka explaining that they’re very close (possibly giving some exposition on how long they’ve been “together” which is obviously referring to dating but could be seen as friendship by writers who are chickens).

- Marinette thinks about that for a moment, fingers briefly twitching, then she settles a little closer to Luka, asking quietly, “Do you think we’re that close?”

- Luka gapes at her in response, needing a moment to study her expression - which is more confidence than he’s ever seen her show before - and make sure that she means what he thinks it might. Once he’s certain, he gives her an almost shy smile, replying, “I’d like us to be. What about you, Marinette?”

- Marinette turns more towards him, one of her hands falling upon his. She leans up, and the camera then cuts away to Juleka and Rose in the seat in front of them, smiling and cuddling closer to each other (a very obvious hint that Luka and Marinette kissed because the show is allergic to people kissing if it’s not the love square so fine, I’ll get creative)

- Just as the screen fades out, Marinette’s voice can be heard, saying, “Luka, I think I found my clarity after all.”

[mlwritingprompts]

Submitted prompt:

edited a bit for clarity, and some added details

Chat Blanc AU.

Gabriel salt because he is an abusive asshole who should die and Adrien deserves better.

Adrien sugar and salt.

Made because those disgusting Adrien stans would like Adrien to be abused to justify his actions instead of having him freed from his abusive father. So much love for Adrien’s mental health right there /s  >:(

–

In hindsight, Gabriel should have known better than to threaten Marinette with his son’s freedom in some nefarious plan to Akumatise her.

–

He knew that Marinette was clever, meticulous, creative, and very capable, and he knew that she was able to impress many famous people with her skills and personality.

And most importantly, he knows how much she cares about Adrien.

So how is it that he ignored the possibility of her reacting to his “ultimatum” in any way other than complete compliance?

So when Nathalie left the bakery, with Gabriel feeling smug at his work, as if he’d made a prank, he didn’t see as Marinette calmed herself, and instead of her heartbroken expression, rage was bubbling inside of her.

The sheer audacity of what Gabriel was trying to force her to do, the sheer cruelty he has when he casually threatened the happiness and freedom of his son.

Gabriel was never a pleasant person to be with to her, and the times she met him made it clear to her that she should never associate with that man anymore than she has to, and the only reason she even entertained the idea of being in the general area with him was because Adrien seemed to like his father and craved his attention and respect.

And now he is doing this?!

Yeah, no. She won’t stay silent about this.

“To think he actually said that!” She seethed, as her parents looked furious as well. They’d heard everything, since it wasn’t like Gabriel had tried to keep it quiet, or anything.

“We had expected this, and planned for this scenario sweetie,” Tom responded to Marinette’s surprise. “We’ve been trying to figure out a way for months now to get Adrien away from that abusive home, and this is the final straw. We can’t wait any longer, not when he’s being this blatant in his cruelty. Now, all we need is to act. No way an abusive jerk like him will be allowed custody of Adrien anymore.”

Sabine took her phone and told Marinette.

“I’m calling child services right now, and I will be sharing with them the conversation I just recorded Mr. Agreste having, and if they don’t do anything, I’ll share the recording with Nadja Chamack as well. Go relax now.”

They didn’t say “calm down so you don’t get Akumatized” out loud, but they all knew that was a danger.

Marinette nodded as she calmed herself, and went up to her room.

She immediately opened her phone and called.

“Hi, Alya, tell Nino and the entire class and their parents that Adrien is in need of help. We’re going to take down an abusive father.”

–

When Gabriel woke up, he was expecting this day to be a good one, even with the rain outside.

After all, this is the day where he will be able to Akumatise Marinette, and have his “Masterpiece Akuma” and finally win and revive/heal his wife!

Those expectations were immediately broken when he heard a loud sound from outside his house making him wonder what’s going on, and he then got even more confused, when a loud voice was telling him that he was arrested.

Looking from the window to see who is the idiot that thought of arresting him was, and…

“What!?”

He couldn’t hide his bafflement.

Just outside his mansion’s gates (that were practically ripped off), was a horde of citizens, quite few of them he recognized some as Adrien’s classmates.

On the front, Ladybug, along Carapace and Rena Rouge were holding voice amplifiers and were commanding him to give himself up to be arrested for child abuse, being a horrible employer, and abusing his employees.

Nathalie was also ordered to give herself up in along with Henri as suspects of accomplice with Gabriel, so they will be investigated and to see how far their involvement with Gabriel’s crimes goes. They’d worked for Gabriel for years, but neither of them had reported his abuse of Adrien.

Meanwhile, Adrien is both shocked and strangely happy at the idea that his classmates cared this much that they will have a mob to protect him, and a dreadful dawning realization at how he was treating them just with the same disrespect his father was giving to him, makes itself known in his heart.

Gabriel is easily captured, along with Nathalie, and their attempts of making an Akuma and/or an amok to deal with the rioting citizens is met with immediate and painful results of them losing, and exposing themselves as the two villains who tormented Paris, and this only makes Marinette more adamant on getting Adrien free from their clutches.

Adrien gets adopted into a loving family (not Marinette’s, obviously), and ends up going to therapy to help him deal with the trauma of his abuse, and to learn how to not repeat that same abuse onto others.

This also helps Adrien finally accept that what he was doing to Ladybug, and how he acted to his classmates was bad, and accept his responsibility for his actions and the harm he caused.

He always knew that what he was doing was horrible, but he didn’t want to accept responsibility for that, and tried to defend it and justify it to himself because it was fun and enjoyable for him, so other people’s feelings didn’t matter.

But now, he no longer wants to be like his abusive father, who only cared about how he could benefit himself, no matter how many other people he hurt in the process. That’s exactly what Adrien was doing, and there’s no excuse for his behavior.

He wants to be better.

Even if it required rebuilding everything from zero.

And he would start with giving Plagg’s Ring to Ladybug, and apologizing for how much he abused her, and Plagg.

[aerequets]

i had a dream and of course i had to connect it to mlb

so this is set in olden times or whatever

yaknow those fics where they’re all from rich families in like the 19th century? like historical/period fiction? this is that

so basically in my dream this rich family was hosting a fancy lil tea party on their fancy estate right (my role was the host family’s daughter LMAO)

all of the guests were lined up with their plates at the brunch table (dont know if that’s how real rich people do it. probably not because that sounds like an all you can eat buffet, but whatever) and this one Asshole Dude would keep on turning around and plucking the plate out of the hands of the girl behind him. the girl was too timid to say anything but every time she got a new plate he just. took it for some reason

so after he took a few plates, i, as the mature host said “I swear to God give her a plate or I’ll smash mine over your head” 

cue gasps because that’s probably a “socially unacceptable” thing to say 🙄 

Mr. Asshole also looked shocked and since I was really mature, I stuck my tongue out at him too 

(cue more gasps)

then some old lady (maybe asshole’s mother, idk), wearing fancy clothes and all the like, was like “how DARE you”

i replied “YEAH I HAVE A TONGUE AND YOU BETTER WATCH YOURS” (particularly proud of this one). cue more gasps, you know the drill

at this point my fake family was like “[NAME!!!!]” and the old lady + asshole began looking real smug, but then fake family went on to be like “you are absolutely right” and they chided the guests. very satisfying

so. all this to say

dream me = marinette

dream family = sabine and tom

adrien happens to be at this brunch and falls in love when marinette loses her shit

i just think it would be very funny to have a period fic/comic where there’s none of the usual drama because the family/parents don’t care and the main character loses their cool all the time. that is all if you’re still reading this i commend you and have a pleasant day 

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

Spell Caster Pt. 1

Masterlist

Hawkmoth stood on the platform above, laughing at the two downed heroes. Ladybug and Chat laid facing each other barely able to move, exhausting shining in their eyes. They had fought long and hard but in the end he had led them into a trap, delivering hit after hit till neither could stand anymore. He had led them to his secret garden where beloved wife rested, and poor Adrien could barely keep himself together. He kept fighting, unwilling to let Hawkmoth win even if it was his father. While Marinette did her best to cover her hurting partner, he was just too much for them. Hawkmoth stood talking to Emilie as if she could hear him, going on about how he was finally going to bring her back. Ladybug shifted her gaze from Hawkmoth’s back to her partner’s eyes. Chat was crying as he stared at his best friend, knowing he hadn’t really helped in the fight.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered softly trying not to draw attention to them for as long as possible. “I’m sorry Ladybug, I should’ve helped but that-that’s my dad. I kept freezing up and I failed you.” Ladybug smiled gently, moving her arm and grabbing his hand.

“It’s not your fault Chaton.” A single tear fell from her eye as they stared at each other.

‘You need to move.’

Ladybug tensed at the voice looking around when she noticed Chat didn’t react to it. The voice was a woman's, it was soft and comforting, almost familiar.

‘You need to move now!’

She couldn’t find anybody else in the room, there was nobody but them. Yet the voice was still there, perhaps she was going crazy. It would make sense to her, especially because she couldn’t place who the voice belonged to.

‘Sweetheart, I will explain later I promise, but you must remember!’

Remember what? Why did this voice want her to remember something, couldn’t they see she was in a bit of trouble right now.

‘Ugh! Foolish girl! You are more than just Ladybug!’

Rude. Of course she was more than Ladybug, she was Marinette...she was Marinette daughter of..

‘Yes Marinette! Marinette daughter of! You are so close, remember the book!’

Marinette, she was Marinette, the book...what book, could the voice mean her spell book?

‘Yes! Yes, my little Spell Caster!’

She was Marinette, she was a spell caster. She was Marinette, and she was a spell caster. She was the daughter of Tom Dupain and Sabine-

‘Not by birth.’

Not by birth…Not by birth?! A distressed whine left her lips as she thought of her Maman, not by birth repeating in her head. Until she shoved it back focusing on her current crisis. She was Marinette and she was a Spell Caster, why hadn’t she thought of this before? She tried so hard to split Ladybug and Marinette to hide her identity that she forgot Marinette was special, if not more than Ladybug. What should she do though? She could alter his mind, but would it work? Would the Miraculous Gods affect her powers? Perhaps she could try an illusion?

“Chat, what was she like? Your mother.” Chat looked surprised as a gentle smile crossed his face.

“She was amazing, soft spoken, always so gentle and warm. She hated violence but she never backed down when it came to her family. She’d...she’d never want this to happen.” Chat broke as more tears fell and he held her hand tightly, barely even able to find the strength to.

“ Do you trust me?” She whispered as Hawkmoth began walking towards them. She’d need him in order to pull this illusion off. She’d need to see his memories. Chat nodded weakly, not willing to look away from her.

“Yes” She smiled and her dark blue eyes shifted into an unnatural swirling lavender.

“eciov reh raeh em tel.” Soon Emilie's soft and melodic voice graced her ear. Perfect, now the illusion will trick him.

‘That’s my Spell Caster.’

Who even is this voice, no no focus, she needs to create the illusion.

‘Silly girl.’

Hey! This voice seriously needed to stop distracting her. She turned her head slightly looking past Hawkmoth, and ignoring the smug smirk that she wanted nothing more than to punch off his face. Very hard.

“trapa mih raet reh evah efiw sih mih wohs.” She watched as an angry vision on Emilie appeared behind him looking as if she had sat up from her high tech coffin. Yes, coffin, the woman was dead, soul long gone and she didn’t have to be a daughter of Hades to know that. Daughter of Hades? What? What is she talking about?

‘Soon my child, soon.’

Who even was this voice! Later, she promised herself focusing on finalizing the illusion.

“Gabriel Agreste.” The same melodic voice called out, but instead of a soft and loving tone it was stern and angry. Hawkmoth turned immediately, staring at the vision of his wife in mute shock and disbelief. “What in the world are you doing!

‘I have called in a favor, one that will help you.’

Ugh, this voice popped in at the worst time. At least they were trying to help her though. She watched as Emilie’s illusion shifted slightly and it took her only a second to realize that it was more than an illusion now. No that was Emilie, just not her in body it was her, her soul.

‘Yes my child.’

She let out a wobbly grin as Emile began tearing into her husband. She squeezed Chat’s hand briefly hoping Emilie’s soul would be here long enough to say goodbye to her son. His eyes moved away from his mom’s form back to Ladybug’s.

“I will explain everything, I promise Chat. After this, no more secrets.”

She turned her attention back on Hawkmoth staring at his back intently. How could she get his miraculous? She was exhausted already so it couldn’t be anything complicated. Not to mention they’d need to get out of the lair after she took it. Summoning and a transportation spell, not a good combination when magically and physically exhausted. This left her in a very tough situation.

‘Someone is coming for you. You are too weak right now, the summoning spell will knock you out. Tell your partner to trust the one that comes from the shadows.’

Someone is coming? How can she know to trust them, just because a voice told her? Ugh, this was too difficult. Very well, tell Chat to trust the one from the shadows and then summon the butterfly Miraculous. She’d already taken the Peacock from Nathalie when they fought her earlier, so all that left was Hawkmoth’s.

“Chat, trust the one that comes from the shadows.”

“What? Ladybug-”

“Please Chat, trust me?”

“Always. Milady.”

“Then trust the one that comes from the shadows.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Suolucarim ylfrettub eht nommus i.”

The Miraculous immediately came to her hand but she didn’t get to celebrate as she began to see black spots. Her transformation dropped and she didn’t even get to enjoy Chat’s shocked face. Soon everything faded to dark with only parting words from the strange voice.

‘You and your partner are safe now my Spell Caster.’

She barely remembered what happened when she came to for the first time, everything was blurry as she panicked. Waking up in an unfamiliar room with someone she could barely see standing above her. Marinette threw a messy punch at the blonde above her, just barely missing even in her state. She lurched to throw herself off the bed but Will stopped her pulling her back onto it and talking softly. It did not help her at all and she didn’t stop panicking until Tikki flew in front of her face. Marinette took deep breaths staring at dearest friend. Will began pulling out new bandages getting ready to fix everything messed up in her panic. He was stopped by Marinette’s hand, she gave a weak smile as their eyes met. “Sorry…” She whispered out accent strong before falling back into the darkness.

Sun was directly in her eyes this time and she whimpered until it was blocked. Eyes meeting yet another stranger and instead of their stunning blue were a bright orange. She let out a distressed whine but did not move, Tikki was pressed against her neck. She was safe, even in the company of a stranger. Percy glanced at the door wishing for Will to magically appear before lifting the girl's head slightly holding a straw to her lips. “Drink please, it’ll help I swear.” He whispered trying to comfort her. Marinette took small sips, eyes changing to a soft and soothing blue at the taste of her favorite toasted white chocolate with triple espresso coffee. She glared when he pulled the straw away from her, causing Percy to laugh softly. He ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to be comforting. “I know, I know but too much will hurt you.” Her eyes watered slightly at the comfort.

“The voice didn’t lie.” She said softly, leaning into his hand. He quirked an eyebrow leaning closer to hear her. “The voice said we’d be safe, and we are.” Percy was silent before connecting the dots and nodding continuing to stroke her hair.

“The voice didn’t lie, you’re safe.” Marinette gave a small smile before darkness took her again.

“I can still barely believe it, Mar. The Gods are real, like real real, and you. You! You’re the daughter of one, her most powerful daughter too! I wouldn’t expect anything less of you. You’ve always been amazing in and outside of Ladybug. You’re my best friend, and-and I can’t wait for you to wake up. I need you to wake up please.” Adrien said softly, holding her hand, playing with her fingers. “I don’t know what our relationship will be. I don’t know if we’ll stay best friends or we’ll start dating. All I know is I want you in my life for the rest of my life.” Marinette squeezed his hand gently as her eyes faded to a soft pink.

“That sounds amazing, Rien.”

“Marinette!” Adrien cried out hugging her, laughter falling from both of them along with happy tears.

“Till the end?”

“Till the end.”

Percy smirked standing in the doorway, Chiron beside him as they watched the two.

“The holders of Creation and Destruction, in our camp.” Chiron mused watching the two before turning and walking toward the archery range. “This summer will be interesting won’t it.” He said ignoring Percy’s snort.

“I call training them Chiron!”

“Oh Gods help us, just what we need. Two more added to the chaos that is Percy Jackson.” Percy grinned, turning back to the two.

Yes, it would be a very interesting summer

✨Tag List Closed✨

@kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

@athena452

@thornalchemist23

@fangirlnerd001

@witchbitch1998

@insane-fangirl-of-everything

@thewackest

@vivilikesmiraculous

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: “Fighter Flight”

We went out shopping and wound up stealing a military aircraft, only on Rebels people, only on Rebels.

This is one of my favorite episodes to rewatch, it’s just so FUN.

A very pretty shot of Lothal, pre-burninating, and a short mellow excerpt of the Main Titles theme to open us up.

Behind the scenes it seems that Kanan has been teaching Ezra something, because he’s poised over this bowl like he’s ready and raring to practice something he learned.

You know I gotta talk about it, it’s the flirting scene!

Look at this dork trying to be all suave and charming. ^_^

It doesn’t work because of course Ezra is fourteen and a dumbass just how I like ‘em but I like that Sabine never really seems overly bothered by his attempts, mildly irritated at worst, and even then she never gives him a hard no and she’s plenty capable, she certainly doesn’t let niceties get in the way of her speaking her mind on other things.

(See: How she was almost outright rude to Kanan and Hera about the whole Fulcrum thing.)

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Ezra briefly losing his place leaned against the doorframe and having to quickly readjust.  Adorkable.

Zeb, you’re already awake, there’s no point to threatening Ezra here.

Smug little bastard I love him so much.

I really do like that they explore the inevitable friction that was going to occur when you house a snarky teenager with a cranky grown adult.  It builds naturally off the previous episode.

Plus I just love Zeb and Ezra’s dynamic and love seeing them grow to respect and care about each other, sue me.

This is nitpicky but... sometimes the paths the characters take through this ship make no damn sense.

Like right here, Ezra comes out of the nose gun pod... which can only be accessed via the cockpit ladder that he immediately runs to.  We can hypothesize that maybe he made a detour via the vents, as in the pilot, but... Zeb comes that path too.  And he definitely doesn’t fit in the Ghost’s ventilation system.

Granted I notice this because I obsessively charted out the Ghost’s layout but still, it bugs me.

Zeb coming in with a flying leap to tackle Ezra will never not be hilarious.

The Found Family dynamics are in full swing this episode; Hera lording over as Team Mom, Zeb and Ezra acting like squabbling siblings, pretty sure this is the first time someone refers to the other three as “the kids”, Kanan and Hera being absolutely low-key married...

The bouncy, elastic character movement is also very prominent here.  Like I said, the show loses this as it goes on, but it lends itself perfectly to the comedy of this episode.

Please appreciate Ezra swiping at Zeb like a feral cat with me.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The animators take time out to have Ezra scratching up into his hair as he turns from Sumar.  I love little tiny character details like this, it just makes things feel so natural and organic.

Imperial March snatches coming on the clarinet here.

Again with the small character moments, Ezra crouching and readying his slingshot.

Rebels said Eminent Domain is the arm of state tyranny, pass it on.

Friiiiiiick the height difference between Ezra and Zeb is getting to me, he is so freaking tiny!

No wonder everyone he meets feels the immediate need to adopt and protect him.

Serious question: What exactly does the Empire want or need with a crate of meilooruns?  They hardly seem the type to care that much about the nutritional needs of their troops.

Like as not it’s for the plate of an officer with an expensive palate.

Ezra already responding much better to Zeb’s shoulder punches.

I would like to just reiterate: I love Zeb and Ezra’s friendship, it is adorable, they play so nicely off each other and I’m glad they got this bonding episode in early Season One.

The bouncy woodwind that’s been picking away in the background here transitions seamlessly into the Force theme prelude, hgn I LOVE it when the score adds to plot beats.

I could be wrong, but this sounds vaguely like a cue from ANH when the Stormtroopers were chasing Han and Chewie.

Ezra being so smol that Zeb can literally chuck him up to a rooftop. *cries*

Baron Valen Rudor was featured in Ezra’s introductory short (Zeb’s too I think?), it’s kind of a running gag how the Rebels show up to ruin this guy’s day in particular.  And it is hilarious.

Please appreciate Zeb’s maniacal cackle as he blasts troopers away with the TIE fighter with me.

Oh wow, I never noticed the subtle Force ring sound effect right here with Ezra leaping to the other roof.  Nice touch.

I hear some notes from the Return of the Jedi soundtrack here, specifically when the Rebel Alliance is making its attack on the Death Star.  I think that may be one of the leitmotifs associated with the Rebel Alliance specifically?

I really want to know the story behind Ezra’s, “You don’t know how.  Let me!” here.

A lot of this really seems to suggest that Ezra’s flown ships before.

Force ring sound effect coming in as Ezra senses the approaching rock formation and once again, I love this show’s animation.  I think I have a gifset of this moment specifically under my #your clone wars could never tag.

(Explanation: That tag is mostly for appreciating early Season One Rebels animation, which is on the level of TCW’s Season Three at least.)

I may be a Sabezra whore at heart, but I do love how casually domestic Kanan and Hera are right here.

This is one of the funniest exchanges on the show. XD

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Zeb’s ear flickers and the awkward way Ezra scratches his face.

Ezra’s “I think I know where it [the smoke] is coming from.” makes me think he’s visited the Sumar’s farm at least once or twice and knows its general location.

IIRC a large part of this episode’s inspiration was the toy or concept of this specific transport right here.  Fun trivia fact.

I don’t think anyone anticipated Lyste becoming more prominent a player lol.

Like an OC you get inexplicably fond of.

Oh hey!  Ezra’s theme is piping in here!

Oh frick is that a Dies Irae reference?

(For context, the Dies Irae is basically an ooooooooold classical music meme, usually used to musically portent death, doom, or gloom.  Star Wars tends to use the Dies Irae liberally.  Rogue One in particular had heavy Dies Irae references in several of its tracks.)

This music cue, on the other hand?  Unique to Rebels.  Kind of fun, but then I’m a soundtrack nerd and enjoy this kind of thing.

Zeb continuing in the classic Star Wars tradition of, “We’re fine, we’re all fine here... now... How are you?” failed bluffing lololol.

I know I’ve mentioned my appreciation for the hair animation but... seriously.

It’s so soft-looking.

A stuttered, half-formed variation of the Force Theme here, which only plays a few notes in the sequence, just the suggestion of the leitmotif really.

Luke’s Theme, on the other hand, though in mellow horns, allowed to play more fully, though interrupted on the very end by a sharp discordant note as the Stormtroopers come up top.

This is what we call ~*musical storytelling*~.

Snrk, one Trooper downed by fruit, the other by friendly fire.  Love the whimsical little sting as Ezra’s pelting them with meilooruns.

“You did all this... for FRUIT?!”

Still one of the funniest lines in the series.

Oh wow I just noticed the nice scuffed texture on Ezra’s backpack.

Ezra’s jaunty little salute character tic, which Kanan picks up. <33333

Props to Zeb’s prehensile feet, love whenever the writers use them.

I wanna know when and how Zeb learned about Ezra’s helmet collecting hobby, did Ezra try to cram his stash on the shelves as soon as he moved in?  Lol.

Awwww and Ezra’s already getting comfortable with arm bumps, love to see it.

*bangs “Rebels animation was gorgeous from the start, ya’ll just hatin’” drum*

I think I can hear some of the cue from the “Property of Ezra Bridger” short.  Pretty sure it’s used as a kind of “Rebel shenanigans” leitmotif throughout the series.

Prime “aww” moment here as Zeb and Ezra wrestle, love love love the boys being affectionate, underrated friendship, gimme more.

Lol, Ezra sounds more confused than offended by Sabine’s painting.

And a slightly more upbeat rendition of Ezra’s theme to close us out.

I love this episode it’s got Zeb and Ezra friendship bonding, Kanan/Hera being adorably married, it becomes delightfully relevant to the finale, and it’s hilarious, I don’t really have anything else to say except haters to the left, why don’t you have some fun occasionally?

Tomorrow, the episode that most people said was the hook for them for the show and the start of major Spacedad-Spaceson feels.

[pretchatta]

REBELS APPRECIATION WEEK, DAY 2: FAVOURITE CREATURE

It was a rare day off for the Ghost crew. Hera had skillfully tucked the ship out of sight of Imperial eyes, amongst the rolling hills of Lothal’s grassy plains. 

Kanan was helping Hera with some repairs in the cockpit, Zeb was watching Sabine create her latest artistic masterpiece in the gun turret (“Non-permanent!” Hera and Kanan had both yelled in unison, and she’d rolled her eyes and groaned an “Of course.”) and so Ezra was free to do whatever he felt like.

And he felt like practising Jar’Kai.

With Kanan out of the way, it had been easy to sneak into his room and borrow (not steal!) his lightsaber. No-one was around to see him slip out into the long grasses, and then he was alone. He held Kanan’s lightsaber in one hand and his own in the other. With two simultaneous flicks of his thumbs, twin beams of humming blue energy swept out in front of him. 

Kanan hadn’t taught him any of the training forms for Jar’Kai, despite asking several times, so he made up his own, twirling the blades around himself. He imagined his Jedi robes flaring dramatically as he leapt and spun, looking just like the old forbidden holos his parents used to let him watch. This was so cool, Kanan only wanted to make Jedi training as little fun as he could, why else would he not let Ezra do this–

The blades struck each other above his head, and he was unprepared for the way they bit together. He managed to hold onto his, but in his off-hand Kanan’s twisted out of his grip. The blade retracted into the hilt as the metal cylinder spun through the air and vanished into the grasses.

“Karabast,” Ezra muttered. “I guess that’s why you need the proper forms for this.”

He took a step towards where the saber had fallen, but before he could get there, the blades of grass twitched. A loth-cat leapt out, looking inquisitively up at him. Gripped between its teeth was Kanan’s unlit lightsaber.

“Hey there,” Ezra said, grinning at the creature. “Did you fetch that for me?” He reached out to take the saber back, but with a sweep of its tail, the cat turned and scampered away.

“Wait, come back!” Ezra chased after the loth-cat, but it flicked his ears at him happily. Its eyes were lit up with the fun of the game.

“Oh man, Kanan’s gonna kill me! ‘This lightsaber is your life, Ezra,’” he said in a poor imitation of his master’s voice, “and I’ve just given his to a loth-cat!”

Ezra took off again, racing after the creature, but it stayed ahead of him easily. Each time he got close it would leap gracefully away before turning its head back to make sure Ezra was still playing. 

He tried every trick he knew; running at it quickly, approaching slowly and then pouncing, even walking away to see if reverse psychology would bring the loth-cat closer to him. Nothing worked. He was dreading facing Kanan, and worse, asking for his help to get the saber back.

Ezra watched the loth-cat happily curling its tail as it looked right back at him, lightsaber firmly grasped in its mouth. He could swear it was grinning at him. He could almost feel the creature’s satisfaction... 

Wait.

What if he tried to connect with it? 

He still wasn’t convinced he could do this, but by this point he was desperate. He closed his eyes, stretched out a hand and emptied his mind, focusing his senses forwards towards the loth-cat. It was smug, pleased that it had won the game to hold onto the strange stick. Ezra used this to form a bond with the creature; they both wanted the stick, and they both loved playing under the open sky. They were friends, right? And now that the game was over, it was okay for the loth-cat to bring the stick back to Ezra. 

He could feel the cat warming to him. It agreed with his logic, and a few moments later Ezra felt soft fur under his outstretched hand. The cat purred, happy to have made a friend, and Ezra opened his eyes and retrieved Kanan’s lightsaber hilt. That hadn’t been so hard. He scratched the loth-at under the chin and smiled at it – maybe it was pretty cute.

He should probably return the lightsaber to Kanan’s room before his master realised it was gone...

---

In the cockpit, Kanan sipped his fresh cup of caf as he watched his apprentice through the viewport.

“See, he got it back!” Sat next to him, Hera had her perpetually cold fingers wrapped around her own cup. “I told you you didn’t have to go down there.”

Kanan’s brow remained creased in a disapproving frown. “I’m still going to discipline him for losing it. And for stealing it in the first place!”

“No, dear, that’s a terrible idea,” Hera said, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. “The fear of you finding out will do far more to make sure he never does it again.”

Kanan huffed out a sigh. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I always am. And speaking of being right, we really do need to fix the proximity sensor, I think there’s a whole frequency band it doesn’t pick up.”

Hera leaned over to bring up the results of the latest diagnostic scan, and Kanan finally turned away from the viewport to give his captain and the repairs his full attention.

---

“Pay up, big guy!” Sabine crowed from her perch on the turret gun’s controls.

Zeb grumbled from the gunner’s seat as he handed over the last blue cookie from the packet. “I still can’t believe you chose to root for the kid.”

“Not for the kid – Kanan’s training,” she said through a mouthful of cookie. “Had to kick in sometime.”

“Hmph. Fair enough.” Zeb glared through the transparisteel bubble to where he could still just about see Ezra, who was now walking back towards the Ghost with two lightsabers in his hands and a loth-cat on his shoulder. “I just wanted to see telling-off he would’ve got if Kanan had found out.”

A cunning look came over Sabine’s face. “Maybe next time we can engineer that...”