#i scheduled this post for posting now if the children in need special has dropped by now someone hit me on the head w a baseball bat

[aq2003]

i miss them so much bro

(also for anyone interested in creating art/fic/etc for these two in honor of the 60th: check out @doctordonnaweek - it starts a month from now !!)

[asher-agere]

I am going to the bookstore tomorrow… I have many books to buy… yayayyaayya I love shopping and I love books and I love going out tomorrow is going to be so fun and so joyful for me!!

Anyways! Another request because I always add them to my asks! Can you share your thoughts on little Chūya with caregiver adam. If I have my bsd facts right (pretty much if what I’ve heard being said online is correct) Chūya is in Europe right now and Adam is also in Europe a lot so,, they have to have met again at some point. Right. I also just like their relationship!! They’re very silly to me. Expect more Chūya asks from me soon I have more ideas about him (current era Chūya and Shirase. That’s what I mean by “ideas”…)

It feels odd not adding “- Fyodor Enjoyer” to the end of this ask but I have an agere blog to send asks from now so I don’t need to signify myself with any text at the end… it also feels odd sending an ask from the website instead of the app but I don’t want to log out of my main to send asks so I’ll just deal with this.

That sounds like so much fun!!! By the time I post this you’ve probably already got the books hehe, so how’d it go? Also I can absolutely do that! You do have your facts right too! (Stormbringer reunion save me… Yes I’m including Verlaine give me him back. I need my gravity brothers) I also do believe I like these ideas you have, I wanna reread Stormbringer but I have no time (╥﹏╥) Plus I’m already rereading The Day I Picked Up Dazai for a role play. Those two light novels hold a special place in my heart. Oh and Beast of course. This is turning into a ramble- Beast and Stormbringer destroyed me emotionally-

Little Chūya + Caregiver Adam

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖

⛦ Chūya definitely doesn’t like Adam at first. The idea of regressing around the android horrifies the poor boy. Of course with how much Chūya went through around the time they met… Adam ended up seeing like- A lot of Chūya’s regression- At first he was confused, but he used his amazing android data banks to research the topic! Soon enough he knew what was going on! At least well enough to take care of Chūya. Chūya was not a fan of being researched

✮⋆˙ It takes some time but of course they grow closer! Adam understands the loss Chūya had to go through, he saw it first hand, he’s very happy that Chūya has a way to cope with everything and he wants to offer his support as much as possible! Adam definitely researches everything. Asks Chūya details about his headspace age, snacks and toys he might like, any information that even might be important! Then he makes use of it of course! Researching how to care for children of certain ages, keeping Chūya stocked up on snacks, everything he can do!

⛦ The more Chūya accepts help the more he realizes that Adam is actually… Really really good at this. Adam isn’t judgmental, he literally can’t be. If he’s told to treat Chūya like a kid then he does exactly that, no questions asked. Without any kind of judgment Chūya is able to completely relax under Adam’s care. He doesn’t need to worry about talking care of himself even! I think with Adam would be the first time Chūya fully drops since leaving the Sheep. He’s not able to fully relax in the mafia setting

✮⋆˙ Chūya struggles a lot with his humanity. He’d been told he’s human. And believed it to a certain extent. But never fully. Luckily Adam’s android reasoning is perfect to get through to him! “M no’ a real hum’n…” “I’m not human, are you like me?” “Uhm… No” “Well then you must be human. Don’t worry about such things Darling” Then Adam proceeds to not listen to any other reasoning. Chūya is frustrated, partly because why is that so helpful?

��� Chūya is very much the kind of person addicted to self sacrifice. He takes no time whatsoever for himself. That’s why Adam steps in to take care of him! Adam offers to take Chūya’s calls for him! He’ll manage Chūya’s schedule organizing plenty of time for self care, or more accurately time for Adam’s care. Adam has definitely tried making him cutesy little schedules, even regressed Chūya hates them. They feel mocking

✮⋆˙ Chūya gets very attached to things very quickly! Adam is aware that he won’t be able to help Chūya all the time, so he makes sure to get Chūya plenty of things to use in case he’s alone, and to remember Adam by! Robot themed pacifiers and toys for example. But also stuff Chūya likes! Plenty of dog plushies and clothes, sippy cups. And he makes sure Chūya knows how to use everything and where it is! Gotta be easily accessible for the baby!

⛦ Nicknames! Adam has tried many pet names saying “little” or “small” Adam also very quickly found out that doing so puts one in danger. Chūya does not appreciate it, it feels like he’s being made fun of! So Adam has to work around that a bit hehe. He’ll use nicknames like “Kiddo” “Chū” or “Darling” Chūya loves all the pretty names as long as there’s no size comments! He is perfectly tall thank you very much

✮⋆˙ Chūya is almost obsessive when it comes to drinking milk. He regressed to a toddler headspace so Adam is like. Oh hey. Toddlers like juice “Chū would you like some-“ “MILK” Someone told him like once that milk helps you grow and he never got over that… Adam will try explaining that milk isn’t necessary to grow and Chūya will just glare at him in response. And trust me this baby can glare

⛦ Chūya is generally quiet and pretty well behaved. He’d very polite, always uses his manners. However he can throw some pretty bad tantrums if he gets worked up enough. He’ll throw things, float himself up to the ceiling, scream. He needs calmed down quickly or he will activate Corruption. Adam tries making it fun though! After all laughter is a wonderful cure, even though Chūya doesn’t appreciate his Android jokes. Anything Chūya throws Adam will throw back, trying to get the little one to focus on that. Or if he’s on the ceiling Adam will grab things to lightly poke him with! Once Chūya calms down Adam happily rocks him to soothe the baby

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖

Ta-Dah! I love Stormbringer so much you have no idea… Chūya was already one of my like top 10 then I read Stormbringer and I was like oh he’s just my favorite (Then I met Nikolai and he got knocked down a peg. Sorry Chūya but like… Nikolai). Anyway! Have a wonderful day/night and Sun I hope you’re enjoying your books!

[lady-literature]

Found Family

holy shit did this one get way out of hand. Don’t expect them all to be this long because hot damn this is a monster compared to literally everything else but it just wouldn’t stop

(should I have expected this? probably. we all know how I am about found family.)

anyway enjoy 4.5k words ig

based on this post | @maribatmarch-2k21 | find more here

***

When Marinette had been chosen to intern with Monsieur Wayne’s PA, she hadn’t been expecting anything special. Sure, the Waynes were an odd breed and generally considered strange, but Marinette hadn’t actually expected to have much contact with them—if any at all.

She was here to earn credit for her business degree.

Instead, she has… well. She thinks she’s been somehow inducted into the Wayne family, mostly on accident and kind of as a joke.

That is, until it very much wasn’t.

***

Her first mistake, she supposes, was being too good at her job.

Marinette is an old hand at keeping track of multiple moving parts and riding herd on stubborn people who’d otherwise be too distracted or goofing off. (She was the Court’s leader for more than just being the latest in a long line of Ladybugs, after all.)

After the first two days shadowing Selina—“please, darling. Ms Kyle is so formal”—and learning the broad strokes of the job, Marinette felt confident enough to dig her nails in and get to work. Selina spent most of her time dedicated to international tasks and arranging Monsieur Waynes’ private affairs—all of which was highly classified and not discussed with Marinette—so she turned her attention to inter-company affairs.

Her first order of business was personally meeting with as many people in managerial positions as she could get. Not a requirement for the job per se, but these were people she’d have to interact with often and Maman had always stressed the importance of building connections in the workplace.

“People,” she would say, “are far more willing to do what you want them to when you’ve endeared yourself to them.”

So Marinette takes that advice and spends her breaks and lunches charming employees and giving baked goods to security guards and learning the names of the cleaning crew. She doesn’t speak to the department heads, because Selina handles their correspondences, but everyone else is free game as far as she’s concerned.

She becomes a well-recognized face astoundingly quickly.

***

Marinette probably should’ve seen the rumors coming.

It’s common practice in not only the Wayne family, but in most business conglomerates, for the children to quickly rise through the ranks of their company—if not just handed a high position right off the bat.

It took barely a month before the eldest was all but running Human Resources, and the second was placed as Head of Security practically out of nowhere. Monsieur Drake is the youngest (and most terrifyingly calculated) CEO to ever hold Wayne Enterprises, even if he does share the title with his father.

The other three are still too young or have yet to express an interest in the company, but people say it’s only a matter of time.

The track record speaks for itself, even if Marinette wishes it didn’t.

As a girl who’d come mostly out of nowhere and found herself with far more divisive sway in the company than she had any right to, it’s no wonder everyone thinks she’s some sort of secret Wayne finally coming out of hiding.

Marinette had nearly choked on her coffee when Selina dropped the bomb of that particular tidbit of company gossip.

“Most think you’ve been unofficially adopted,” Selina tells her, looking far too amused for Marinette’s liking. “Seeing as you’re too old for official avenues now.”

Marinette looks up warily from the schedule she’s rearranging. Selina had all but shoved the thing at her a month ago when she started suggesting more efficient ways of managing the CEOs’ valuable time.

“Only most? Does that mean the rest have common sense?”

Selina’s grin widens even further, if that’s possible, and Marinette regrets her question even before the older woman starts speaking.

“Oh, of course not!” she laughs delightedly. “The rest are hoping to hear news of wedding bells. It’s high time someone swept a Wayne off the market, don’t you think?”

***

“So you’re the new little sister I keep hearing about.”

Marinette stares up through narrowed eyes at the brightly smiling Dick Grayson. In her stomach, there are already the beginnings of resignation starting to form. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you!”

This man is going to bring her nothing but trouble. She can tell.

***

Dick takes a liking to her. And she, against her better judgment, finds herself doing the same to him.

It’s a little hard not to, if she’s being honest. He’s bright and bubbly and brings her bagels during his morning break without her ever having asked.

It takes practically no time at all before Marinette considers him a friend, relaxing when he’s near and laughing openly at his ridiculous jokes. Despite being the head of HR, he’s not great at the whole ‘professional’ thing and often employees will walk by to find him draped across a chair or balancing precariously on the edge of her desk while she tries and fails to get some work done while he’s around.

It really doesn't help all of the ‘Marinette is a Wayne’ rumors running around. Especially when Dick starts pointedly calling her every variation of ‘little sister’ that he can think of just to annoy her (and, she knows, because he thinks the entire situation hilarious).

***

Three weeks after befriending Dick, Selina all but shoves her into Monsieur Drake’s office and, in no uncertain words, says, ��He’s your problem now.”

Marinette blinks at what she can describe as nothing other than a disaster area and just… sighs.

Tim blinks back at her.

The motion is somehow both completely blank and filled with an uncomfortable amount of knowing at the same time. There is also, she notices, a frankly ludicrous amount of concealer caked beneath his eyes and more coffee cups scattered on every flat surface than Marinette has ever seen in her life.

She knows his schedule like the back of her hand seeing as she spends hours of her day pouring over it to make sure everything runs smoothly. He has no prior engagements for the next three hours.

“You’re not going to take a nap just because I ask, are you?”

He snorts. “Absolutely not.”

She nods, having expected the answer; her phone was already at her ear before he even finished speaking. “Hey, Dick!” she greets, sounding brighter than she feels at the moment, and watches as Tim stiffens in front of her. “Yeah, no. I was just wondering if you’re busy right now.” She pauses. “Oh, good! Can you come up to Tim’s office for me? Yeah, I need you to knock him out so I can fix his dumpster fire of an office.”

Tim has since started waving his hands frantically at her, panic setting in behind his eyes.

Marinette stares at him, unmoved. “Thanks, Dick! You’re the best!”

The silence after she hangs up is deafening.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed by the ease you’re manipulating me or pissed off that you’re doing it in the first place.”

She hums thoughtfully. “Does your decision have any bearing on my future employment?”

His eyes squint. “…No.”

Marinette shrugs, mind already whirling with what she’ll need to get done first and calculating how long she’ll likely have to get it done. “Then I think you should skip right over both of those and land on resignation as quickly as possible, Monsieur, because you’re going to have to get used to it regardless.”

It’s silent for a long moment, and she worries for just a second that she’s severely crossed some sort of line. Then Tim bursts out laughing instead of, you know, firing her like he probably should have.

“Oh, yeah. You’re going to fit right in here.”

Marinette doesn’t ask where the ‘here’ is. She’s pretty sure she already knows.

***

It takes ten days for Marinette to wrangle Tim’s life into something resembling order. His office is clean and organized to his liking. She’s developed a system of filing so that all paperwork goes through her and is quickly sorted into ‘can be handled by Marinette’, ‘forge his signature and tell him about it later’, and ‘actually important enough to have Tim read through’.

His schedule is the most efficient it’s ever been and Marinette is quickly honing the skill of getting him properly dressed and out of his office in under thirty minutes. (Dick is, thankfully, a great teacher and has little to no qualms about giving her the key to all his little brother’s weaknesses.)

Selina stares at her when Marinette all but drags Tim from his office, a folder tucked neatly under his arm and the sugary monstrosity of a caffeinated beverage she’s bribed him with in her own, with a whole ten minutes to spare before his meeting with the Board.

“My dear,” she says solemnly, “you are positively magic.”

She doesn’t even look up from where she’s simultaneously wrangling Tim’s hair into submission and laying his tie down flat. “You have no idea.”

***

She knows Tim is capable of professionality. She’s seen the cool facade he pulls up in front of the Board members and the kind but impersonal smile he uses on the employees of Wayne Enterprises. (He is not the Ice Prince of the Wayne family, but Marinette believes he should have some equally ruthless sounding title.) He is aloof and sharp and every inch the businessman people praise him to be.

She’s seen it. And yet… 

“Monsieur. Why are all the Lexcorp contracts I gave you done in crayon?”

Tim doesn’t stop messing with his Rubix cube or even look up at her when he says, “Cause deadbeat fathers don’t deserve the respect of a pen.”

Marinette is very tired. She does not have time for this. “What are you talking about?”

“Lex is a bitchass absentee dad and I live to inconvenience him.”

“What about inconveniencing me?” she all but whines. “I can’t hand him these!”

That does make Tim look up at her, eyes wide with false innocence and mouth pouting up at her. “But sister dearest, I’m your little brother. It’s my job to inconvenience you.”

Growling in frustration is probably an inappropriate reaction to the situation.

But, Marinette thinks, so is the fact that both of the Waynes she associates with regularly seem hellbent on convincing the world that she too, is a Wayne, so.

(Is this how Alya felt dealing with the twins? Cause if so, Marinette takes back every joke she ever made—little siblings are a bitch.)

***

She meets Damian without warning.

Honestly, she never really expected to meet him at all but, well.

She finds him in Monsieur Wayne’s office, sitting at his father’s desk and doing something that she thinks is vaguely illegal, but she’s not about to tell her Boss a dozen times over how to parent his children.

Damian is a near-perfect copy of his father with darker skin and calculating green eyes. There’s also a more potent aura of danger around the child than there is around his father, like Damian hasn’t yet learned how to hide behind his public persona as his father had.

Or, Marinette looks at the teen thoughtfully, perhaps he just chooses not to.

“Monsieur Wayne,” she greets. Children like to be treated like adults, she knows, and Marinette doesn’t think this one is any different. “Selina hadn’t told me you’d be in the office today.”

“I don’t run my schedule by her,” he says flatly. A response she expected considering Dick’s stories.

“Of course not,” she agrees.

He finally deigns to look up at her and something flits across his expression, too fast for her to pick up on it. “Are those for Father? Bring them here, I’ll deal with them in his absence.”

Marinette raises her eyebrow. “I’m not sure that’s wise Monsieur.”

Damian scowls and sticks his hand out. “I’m perfectly capable of forging Father’s signature. Give them here.”

She does not move and, instead, lets her lips quirk up into the smile she’s been fighting since she stepped in here.

“I don’t doubt it,” she tells him, and she doesn't. Forgery seems exactly like the kind of skill a child who broke into the CEO’s office of a multi-billion dollar company would have. “But you’ll find that all forging of signatures has been finished for the day and that these,” she shakes the sheaf of papers lightly, “actually require your father’s attention.”

He snorts disbelievingly and it says a lot about Marinette’s life up until now that the blatant display of disrespect doesn’t piss her off but instead reminds her of Chloé and of the fact that she still needs to reschedule their spa day. It's been too long since they spent time together in person.

“Well,” she pauses and eyes the papers thoughtfully. “‘Requires’ in the sense that its information needed to trounce the Board when they start spouting off greedy bullshit about cutting corners on our humanitarian efforts. I’m not sure how much of it is actually useful for anything besides that.” She shrugs. “But homework is homework, yes?”

That gets her a thoughtful once-over. His hand lowers and he then turns back to whatever he’s messing with on his father’s computers.

“Very well,” he concedes. “Father will be back in approximately thirteen minutes. You can leave the papers and I’ll inform him of their… importance.” He smirks, but it’s more like he’s letting her in on a joke than anything else.

Marinette smiles back as she sets the folder on the desk, feeling, oddly, like she’s passed some sort of test.

***

The day after, both Dick and Tim are waiting for her with what looks like an entire bakery laid out in her workspace.

“Uh,” she says eloquently, setting her purse down on her chair because there’s not a single open space on her desk not filled with some kind of pastry. “What’s all this?”

She looks up to find neither Dick nor Tim has stopped staring at her since she walked in. “We heard you met Damian yesterday,” Dick starts warily, like he’s scared of her reaction.

The response does not abate her confusion. 

“Yes, I did,” she says slowly. “That does not explain all… this.” She waves a hand, trying to encompass them as well as the state her desk is in.

The two brothers share a look.

“It’s a bribe,” Tim tells her simply and Marinette is taken aback for all of a second before her eyes suddenly narrow.

Dick cuts in hastily before she can say anything. “It’s more of an apology, really. For Damian’s behavior.”

But Marinette is confused and frustrated and just a bit offended by the apparent not-bribe at this point. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but it only does so much.

“Damain’s behavior was fine,” she tells them with measured neutrality. “You two, on the other hand, are being weird and it’s freaking me out.” She crosses her arms expectantly. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Appearing from out of nowhere, Selina drapes herself along Marinette’s shoulders and snags a raspberry scone. “I do believe,” she says as if sharing a secret, “That they are trying to keep you from quitting, kitten.”

Marinette wrinkles her nose. “Why would I quit? I like this job.”

She also likes the Waynes (in general, if not right then) and she likes Selina. The woman was a good mentor who didn’t shy away from the dirtier parts of the job and taught Marinette all she knew. (Even the bits, she noticed, that had little to nothing to do with being a personal assistant and were more likely to be found in the repertoire of a thief.

But, Marinette is in possession of her own sticky fingers and knows how to not ask questions, so. You know—curiosity killed the cat and all.)

She doesn’t voice any of that, but Selina, at least, knows it anyway. Marinette isn’t quiet about her gratitude after all.

“First meetings with the youngest Wayne don’t often go well,” Selina tells her. “In fact, I think he has a habit of making the interns cry.”

Dick makes some kind of offended noise. “Hey! He hasn’t done that since he was twelve!”

Tim elbows him in the ribs and Marinette makes a vaguely skeptical face at all three of them before deciding it wasn’t worth it. She has actual work to get done today and pastries to get rid of before she can even start.

She pats affectionately at Selina’s hand before grabbing as many boxes as she can hold. “Come on you two,” she says to the brothers. “You’re going to help me hand these out to the rest of the company.”

Dick immediately starts doing as told but Tim hesitates, humming thoughtfully. “You know that’s not going to help your whole ‘I’m not actually a Wayne’ thing, right?”

She glares at him. It doesn’t stop Tim from grinning like the utterly unrepentant little shit he is.

***

Things are quiet after the Damian Incident for a whole two weeks. It’s the longest lull Marinette has had since she first started and became somehow involved with the Waynes.

It ends because Dick finds out about the crush Marinette has been nursing on the Head of Security for three months now.

The Head of Security who is Jason Todd: second eldest Wayne sibling and Dick’s brother.

He takes it better than expected.

(Almost, she thinks later, a little too well.)

***

Despite her friendship with Dick and Tim—or perhaps because of it?—Jason had never seemed very interested in her. At first, Marinette had shrugged and counted it as a win; there was one Wayne, at least, who neither found her situation funny nor used it to poke fun at her.

They were on friendly terms, she supposed. Security has always been one of her more regular stops in the building, so she’d spoken to him often enough. He liked complaining that she spoiled his team rotten with all her treats.

But she also noticed that he likes her cherry danishes, so.

And then she noticed how crooked his grin was when he smiled. And how he seemed to have an arsenal of nicknames for everyone he knew. And the small collection of classic romance novels filled with sticky notes he tries and fails to hide in his desk. And, and, and.

It was around the time she began unconsciously memorizing his schedule based on when he was and was not there for her pastry deliveries, that she realized she may have made a misstep somewhere.

Jason was stubborn and passionate and flipped between overly proper and crass light a damn light switch. He was also, as stated, very much not interested in her.

Not that she would’ve pursued him anyway. He was a coworker as well as her friends’ brother.

Now if only one of said brothers could understand that.

“You should ask him out,” Dick suggests not for the first time and Marinette sighs, also not for the first time.

She loves Dick—she truly does—but he has been an aggravating level of unhelpful since he found out about Marinette’s latest romantic disaster.

“I’m definitely not doing that.”

Dick groans, like she’s being the unreasonable one. “Why are you being so stubborn about this?”

“Because I don’t like embarrassing myself?” she asks rhetorically. “Not everyone can have a fairy tale romance like you and Wally.”

He throws his coffee stirrer at her. “We are not a fairy tale.”

She shoots him a flat look. She’s heard Dick talk about Wally and Tim’s told her all the stories and she was there when he and Wally finally got their shit together. Dick was unbearable for an entire week with his gooey, lovestruck new lease on life.

“You two are the definition of fairy tale. You two make fairy tales look like trashy romance novels.”

He opens his mouth to argue the point before forcibly cutting himself off. “No. Stop distracting me. We’re not talking about that; we’re talking about you and Jason.”

“There is no ‘me and Jason’,” she reminds him through her clenched teeth.

“Not yet,” he says optimistically. Like it’s a fact, like he knows something she doesn’t.

He makes her want to slam her face into a wall. Truly, he does.

***

Dick stops running his HR papers up to her office. Instead, he’s somehow convinced Jason to play errand boy for him even though he literally never looks happy about it. What used to be a flimsy excuse for Dick to slack off for a few minutes and gossip with her has now turned into awkward silence as Jason drops off the papers and leaves without even a ‘hello’.

During their shared breaks, Dick takes to orchestrating ‘chance encounters’ between her and Jason, all but shoving them into each other (and even actually shoving that one time).  She catches Jason shooting dark looks at Dick every time he does it, and if she’d been holding any iota of hope at this point, it’s been smashed to dust. Jason obviously knows of his brother’s meddling and isn’t happy about it.

But Dick just can’t take the hint.

Every failed plan of his makes him steadily worse about it all—more frantic and frustrated and like he wants to strangle her for her stubbornness. (The last feeling being more than mutual.)

Dick’s meddling starts to make her and Jason’s previously friendly, if distant, relationship awkward and embarrassing. With every pointed comment, she gets closer to just punching Dick in the face. Or, maybe, she’ll just tell Wally who really ate all the chocolate strawberry macaroons she made; it’d certainly be more devastating.

***

It all comes to head on a Thursday, after most employees have left for the day. 

They run into each other in a breakroom, and she watches as Jason suddenly goes stiff, eyes flicking over her shoulder to no doubt scan for Dick. That single action makes her expression sour and she slams her empty mug down with more force than was necessary.

For Kwamis sake, he looks like a cornered animal. An image not helped by the way he jumps a foot in the air and stares at her like he’s worried she’ll suddenly lunge at him.

“Can we agree this is ridiculous?” she says abruptly. “I don’t know what Dick is trying to accomplish with his wingman schtick, but we both know it’s not going to work. Can we just… agree that he’s an idiot?”

A complicated look crosses Jason’s face before he snorts wryly. “Yeah, we can agree on that. Dickie-boy has always been a few sandwiches short a picnic.”

“I know things have been awkward between us lately, and I’m sorry about that, but I hope we can keep being friends?” she says hopefully.

“What in the world do you have to be sorry about?” he asks before she can start catastrophizing about the bewildered expression he makes at her words. “It’s not your fault.”

The smile she shoots him is rueful and she shakes her hand in an ‘ehh’ type gesture. “Kinda is. And I understand if the-” she makes a vague gesture between them that she hopes properly conveys ‘my giant, stupid crush on you’, “you know, is too much for you. Just say the word I’ll try and keep out of your way.”

She’s trying to be comforting or understanding or something like that, but all her words seem to do is make him upset. “Absolutely not,” he insists. “Sunshine, you are not going to change your routine just to make me feel better.”

Marinette crosses her arms, frowning up at him. “Why shouldn’t I? If I’m making you uncomfortable-”

He makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “Uncomfort- Marinette. ” She jolts a bit at the use of her name. She doesn’t think he’s used it since her second week at W.E. “I’m not sure who made you think otherwise—and if it was Dick just tell me cause I’ll kick his ass —but barring the fact that I still enjoy your friendship regardless of any… feelings-” Marinette concentrates very hard on not showing emotion when he says that, “-it’s not your responsibility to deal with it.”

Okay, but… that makes no sense. Of course her feelings were her responsibility, that’s the whole point of them being hers.

“If it’s not mine, then whose responsibility is it then?” she asks, wondering where the hell his train of thought is running.

���Mine, obviously.”

She gives him a look, complete with narrowed eyes and thinly veiled judgment. “What? Is this some kind of gentleman’s martyr complex? Is that what’s happening right now?”

Jason huffs a laugh, but there’s no humor in the sound. “If me taking responsibility for my own damn feelings is a martyr complex then sure,” he snarks, not unkindly. More like he’s trying to protect himself by retreating behind a sour attitude.

Her mouth is halfway around a retort when his words catch up to her brain and she freezes.

“Your feelings?” she repeats. “Your feelings for… me?”

His voice is carefully neutral when he says, “Those would be the ones.”

Her mouth opens and closes and opens again. “You like me? Seriously?”

His face spasms at the question, starting at anger before he properly looks at her and the surprised expression on her face. He pales.

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” she squeaks, something she hasn’t done since she was fifteen. “Well Dick said but I didn’t believe him!”

And fuck, she thinks. This means Dick knew the whole damn time, didn’t he? Oh, she is so going to kill him the second she gets the chance.

Jason runs a hand down his face, covering his mouth as he gathers his bearings. Suddenly, his eyes shoot back open and land on her. “Wait. If you didn't know, then what the hell were you talking about just now?”

She blushes to the tips of her ears and buries her face in her hands so she doesn’t have to look at him. It was easy when she thought he’d figured it out himself. It’s harder now that she has to tell him. “I- I was talking about my crush on you.”

He’s quiet for so long that she gets antsy and peeks out from behind her fingers to see his expression. He’s still looking at her, but now there’s a wide, crooked smile on his face. The expression softens something in her chest and she lowers her hands.

“Really?” he asks, leaning closer.

Marinette nods, feeling a small smile spread across her lips.

He jolts forward, hands reaching for her before suddenly stopping just shy of touching. She startles a bit at the motion but doesn’t move away.

Jason licks his lips, smile smaller but no less bright. “I- can I?”

She blinks. “Can you what?”

“Kiss you.”

The blush returns full force, but with it also comes a smile, giddy and bright. She nods and no sooner than she does, is he swooping down to pull her into a toe-curling kiss. His hands cup her face with a tenderness that makes her smile, makes her giddy, and it’s not long before they’re both smiling too wide to actually kiss and are forced to break apart.

His hands fall to her back, practically engulfing her, and his chin drops onto her head. It’s warm and cozy and she thinks she could so very easily get used to this.

Later, they’re going to have to deal with Dick and Tim and Selina and the teasing they’ll no doubt have to endure—not to mention how much worse the rumors are going to get—but right now? Right now Marinette pulls Jason back down for another kiss and very pointedly doesn’t think about it.

[violetjedisylveon]

More 3 a.m. AU Stuff

So I made a post about a Modern Star Wars AU abouy a week ago and I had more thoughts about it so here's part 2! I also realised I left some characters out, I've fixed that here. You can find the first part here.

And I added ghosts and supernatural stuff so I guess it's not exactly a modern AU anymore, more like a super natural modern AU. I think I'm gonna call it Jedi Supernatural Secret Service AU. Or Jsss AU, that's probably easier.

So, Dooku.

Dooku is Qui-gon's older brother and was his mentor in the Jedi secrete service thing.

He did become disillusioned with the Jedi and joined the Sith but only after his brother died. Secretly he was trying to avenge his brother because to heck with Canon/Legends!

Yaddle is Yoda's younger sister, much younger, he's in his late 90s and she's in her early 60s at the time of Anakin's birth. Both Yaddle and Yoda have a genetic disorder that caused their ears to be longer and pointy because.

And for the sake of my own sanity, humans live longer, they generally live to their hundred thiries, some longer.

Yaddle's kids are Oppo Rancisis and Yarrel Poof. She was trained by her brother in the Jedi but eventually said 'Fuck this' and left to start a humanitarian organization. Now she has a lot of children.

Plo Koon and Barriss both volunteered there and Barriss started working for Yaddle after leaving the Jedi.

Barriss was basiacally adopted by the children at Yaddle's orphanage, the kids usually call her big sister and sometimes call her mom, they call Yaddle mom more often.

The Jedi use high tech gunsword things instead of lightsabers.

Boga is Obi-Wan's bearded dragon house guard. In this AU, bearded dragons were specially bred and modified to be bigger, stronger, have more loyalty and generally be a better partner for people like Obi-Wan, so Boga is really big, not as big as cannon but big. Boga is almost always near Korkie to keep him safe.

Yaddle comes over to watch Korkie when Obi and Cody go on dates, she did the same with Obi and Satine before Satine died.

Yoda used to be in charge of the Jedi, even though he was a really old man but when Order 66 happened, he moved to a swamp where he fished and would occasionally come to family reunions but doesn't like them because Yaddle always gives him a hard time about something.

Plo Koon adopted his clones, imedeatly. He brought all of them home once and they just kept going back.

Plo lives if I didn't mention that already.

Obi-Wan's mother died when an assassination attempt caused her to go into premature labor, she and Qui-gon were having another baby, they were a girl. They both died. Obi-Wan was about 6 and a half.

Shmi was an immigrant from a dangerous country. She worked as a waitress and sometimes an extra cook in Dex's Diner.

Qui-gon and Dex were really good friends, Dex was Obi-Wan's godfather and would either go to Qui-gon's house and watch him or let him stick around his dinner, depending on his schedule.

After Qui-gon's wife died, he and Obi-Wan went there for meals because Qui-gon didn't have the motivation to make anything at home. Cooking always reminded him of her since they did that together.

Shmi was usually the one who served them. She always gave them some extra food to take home since she figured something was wrong, she is very good at reading people in this AU. Qui-gon appreciated that since it made everything a little easier and gave Obi-Wan something to look forwards to.

When Qui-gon had to work, Shmi would bring food over for Obi-Wan on her breaks and always gave him little treats she paid for.

She would talk with Obi-Wan when he was dropped off at the diner and keep him company even when she wasn't working. She was almost always there and if he needed someone to talk to, he could just take a walk down to the diner.

Later, Shmi helped Dex and Qui-gon introduce Obi-Wan to Satine(then set up a date when they were older;)

Shmi and Qui-gon became very good friends and Qui-gon began trusting Shmi with Obi-Wan, she would take him to school when there wasn't enough time and Shmi covered for Qui-gon on take your parent to work day(she brought snacks for all the kids).

After enough time, Dex eventually saw what Qui-gon and Shmi didn't and conspired with Dooku, who wasn't 'bad' at this point, to set them up.

They failed.

When Yaddle visited her nephews and grand nephew for the holidays, she saw Shmi and Qui-gon interacting exactly 1 time then asked Qui-gon if he planned on getting married anytime soon or what.

Yaddle doesn't care if she's not appropriate, she does what she wants and doesn't beat around the bush.(I'm picturing her as a kick-ass old lady kinda vibe in this AU, Yaddle doesn't take anybody's shit.)

This is after about three years after Obi-Wan's mom died, Shmi was around before that and had been friends with Mrs. Kenobi(he has his mom's last name, remember).

So Shmi didn't exactly feel like she should take her friends place and didn't want to disrespect her but(since it's October when I'm writing this I've decided spirits are still a thing so it's not a completly normal world, there is some supernatural elements in this AU, and certain people can see the supernatural stuff better and ask for help/manipulate them, hence the Jedi and Sith groups) her spirit came to Shmi and told her it was okay and that she wanted her husband and son to be happy ans that Shmi made them happy.

So Shmi and Qui-gon get married! Yay!

Qui-gon and Obi-Wan both got super nervous and scared when Shmi was pregnant, especially Obi-Wan, he didn't want to loose another mother and sibling.

But Anakin and Shmi survived, it was a good, fairly easy birth.

Happy Secret service family times!

Aka, Qui-gon teaching his whole family how to not die and getting tips from Dooku.

Yes, Dooku has children, mostly adopted/other people's kids who he serves as a fatherly uncle towards. And he's really good with teenagers. He adopted Asajj after her other adopted family got killed, he adopted Keelyvine Reus, (he adoptes Keelyvine first) he helped Tholme with Quinlan and later Aylaa, he sort of adopted Sev'rance Tann, and also the rest of who were the dark acolytes in legends. His biological kids are Rael Averross, his son and oldest bio child, Komari Vosa, his daughter and youngest bio child. They both have their mother's last name, Vosa but Rael changed his.

Dooku also has grandchildren, Rael has two illegitimate children, Nim Pianna with a women named Selbi Pianna, and Lamia. Komari adopted some kids out of a life in criminal gang because she's a good person I decided. Keelyvine adopted Tyzen Xebec after his dad died. Dooku has more grandkids but I don't wanna write them all out here, he loves all his grandchildren equally.

He(&Yaddel) taught Plo the ways of serial adopting and was proud when Plo out serial adopted him. Yaddel taught him how to serial adopt. Plo and Shaak Ti were serial adopting buddies.

Between the four, a lot of otherwise neglected children would have been without someone to talk/go to or any sort of good, supportive adult figure in their life.

So Anakin and Obi-Wan have a lot of first cousins from Dooku and a bunch of other cousins from Yaddel. Qui-gon is drowing in cousins, neices and nephews and is super proud of his big bro.

Plo Koon was a good friend to Obi-Wan and Anakin, like another dad because he exudes a fatherly presence.

Shmi, Satine, Cody and Padmé all had no idea what they were signing up for when they married into this family. A hell of a lot of cousins, crazy family reunions where somehow, everyone can almost always make it in some way, usually about 100 or so people in person and everyone else doing it over the holophone.

As people from small families(except Cody, he's got a shit ton of 'brothers', most aren't actually related to each other, just raised together) this was a big adjustment but a fun one since the big family was generally pleasant to be around as a whole, there were some annoying members but not too many of them.

Shmi loves the big family a whole lot, she thinks it's very fun if tiring to remember everyone's names at times and she really likes to learn about everyone.

Satine is surprised that there aren't major family fights because of stupid disagreements, they have a surprisingly effective mediator, Yaddel, who no one wants to piss off, she likes the relatively calm conversations over disagreements unlike her family who solved things with violence and shouting.

Padmé has heard of the one disagreements that no one is allowed to talk about because of the family war that happened but she can't find out about it because they don't speak of it and it drives her crazy. Other than that minor annoyance, she loves the big crazy family too.

Cody sees the big family and was like; 'Cool, just like home but less violent.' He adjusted to the new family very well.

Most of the family is supportive of Obi-Wan and Cody, others just don't mind it and nobody says anything against it because they are basically asking for death.

The same thing happened with Ahsoka and Kaeden. Everybody loves it when there are babies and no one has to look far for a babysitter.

The whole family goes to weddings, they are all outside weddings because there isn't any indoor place big enough to handle all these crazy people.

Bail and Breha are politicians, Breha is still a queen and she and Padmé are buds. They would have 'diplomatic' meetings every few months where they just chilled and gossiped about stuff.

Alright, this is really long I'm gonna stop it here but this one kinda covered the early life and family of Obi-Wan and Anakin.

I think I gave Dooku too many kids but whatever!

And I still left people out, I'll fix that soon ;)

I am going to start writing out this concept because I think it will be really fun.

Have a good day!

VJS out!

[everythingthemoontouches]

Hiii Jahn!🌙 I’m just a new follower. I discovered you while searching for D9 asks. I was amazed by your in-depth explanation on each placements. 🤍 I’d like to send in my D1 & D9 charts also for future spouse reading to understand more about it.Thank you so much!!🤍 Please take your time. I’ll patiently wait. 💕 Hoping you’ll have a lovely day/night! 🌹

Hello there

This, my love has been a longtime coming. First off I'm gonna introduce you to an intuitive read and then present it in a more formal, bulleted manner. You seem to ha e chosen quite a challenging path in this lifetime. Props to you for bravery. And a hug + some tea to help you brave it 💕 your life could be a beautiful movie on love, healing, growth, spirituality and personal power.

Future BAE seems to be stable, practical reliable with service being his love language. He is down to grow together, and help you walk in your power.

Taurus rising.

Scorpio 7th house. + Pluto + moon.

Wow. Lots of shadow work involved when it comes to close personal relationships. You need to turn that critical eye inwards.

Untill you work at managing or integrating your inner child issues, any partners you end up with will continue to trigger you. At its best, this is someone who helps you work through your feelings. Breakdown. Confront reality. Breakdown and rebuild yourself stringer than ever. A hades and persephone kind of love. Lots of sexual allure. Strength, protectiveness, passion, push and pull, makeup sex? Specially since the ruler of the 7th house (Mars) is in the 5th house. You're not the kinda person who'd be happy to marry just for stability. Passion and mutual attraction, love is a must.

Mars and rahu. Service. Over exerting for those you love. Days spent in bed. Service kink. Lady in the streets, freak in the sheets.

You're definitely attracted to people who help you better your place in the world. They have to have a little bit of ' I wanna do good / change the world in them'. A friendly leader kinda figure. Disciplined.

Your darakarka Mars is retrograde. Controlling. Dominant. Future BAE is definitely gonna overthink themselves into a worry when it comes to dating and wooing. Or they could think that only their way is the right / best way to do soemthing. Poor lil baby( I say baby, but as a Virgo Mars they're probably the person who takes charge, plans, overanalyzes things has a set way of doing things.) this could be someone who is an advocate for universal free education, teaches children for free or some such. Could second guess themselves when it comes to taking action.

Mars Rahu conjunction: sub kink. They'd want a lot of adulation. Could be from a different culture from you or have studied in a very different environment.

I think your fs gets better at dealing with overthinking after you guys tie the knot. They learn to be more at peace with themself, letting their intuition guide them instead of focusing too hard on trying to do the logical thing. Okay with being messy. May like to act and arrange things behind the scenes. Imagine coming home tired to find that they've already called the restaurant, arranged for your favorite food to be dropped off, warmed, alid out on the table. Gives me the vibes of a puppeteer(katputli - a rajasthani folk dance)pulling the strings. You can't see them, but the show goes on.

From being ficusssed on accumulating wealth your focus goes towards doing things that boost your sense of Self confidence. You could also grow more tactful as you learnt to seek out harmony. You probably become more direct and assertive as a result the peopep you attract are more easy going / Libra like.

I'm seeing a house for a wedding present? Or moving into your spouse's ancestral home. They could also come from a matrilineal lineage.

Your household could be supported by one or both of you working in tax, insurance, financial industries. There could also be soemthing related to life insurance.

Pluto and Saturn in the 7th is a tad concerning. There's a very heavy sense of some kind of karmic duty. Saturn is exalted in Libra.

Way too controlling. Narcissism. Moon Mars mother. Karmic ties. Moon 8th house.

U must learn to stand up for yourself.

If you're meant to have any babies in this lifetime, they'd probably visit you in a dream or a psychic trance before they come down to earth. Call it mothers intuition. This is just a gut feeling wrt your moon in 8th house in Scorpio in the D9. I say this because the moon rules the 4th house of home, and children are an important part of the house if you're a mom. The 4th house is also the home/ heartland what you'd protect.

You suppress your emotions. Emerges as a volcano. But a cold one. U turn to ice and grow aloof.

Out of body experiences

You need to learn to be more dominant and combative. I'd suggest watching the teal Swans video on creating a zero sum game in relationships. Strengthened by Aries ascendant in d 9. This life u gotta learn to fight for yourself, and not sit quietly because people attacked u or kept u under their thumb when u were younger by a strict dad.

OK, now let's look at the placements and aspects

D1 lagna (ascendant) VS D9 lagna

You go from comfort stability minded to taking more risks and initiative. Self Confidence increases. Assert your needs better.

Vargottama Moon

The moon is quite dominant as it does not change signs between d1 and D9. You're super cooperative and hate to disappoint people. I'd suggest reading up more on Anuradha Nakshatra.

Moon - Pluto - 7th house

Could indicate karmic ties or past life connections to FS. You work through a lot of your own inner insecurities, self doubt, lack mindset related issues in close romantic relationships. There could be some mother wound related issues. You can only love as deeply as you allow yourself to love yourself. In order to attract people who inspire positive growth in you, you must first sit with your shadow, examine why people trigger you, and make peace with yourself or, perhaps your mom?

Mars Rahu - sextile moon

Mars and Rahu are both impulsive action oriented Planets. Them sextile your Pluto and moon could lead you to feel quite triggered and attacked by the slightest hint of advice or suggestion from someone else. Sex with the wrong people can really mess with you. In a better manifestation good sex has you feeling liek you can change the world and also that you're super safe and secure.

Venus combust - 10th house

You need to feel appreciated for your uniqueness. Ego battles could arise and get in the way of finding, expressing love.

Saturn- Ketu Pisces

The ruler of your 7th Nakshatra this is someone who loses themself to community service, could do too much for the wrong cause. Money could come in from fish farming. Seduments or other aquatic culture.

Anuradha 7th house

This is a Nakshatra that focuses on achieving success by working with a group. Your fs is collaborative and good at managing people. Someone who shares success. And is hence likely to go far ahead in life. Major success may come later in life.

Mars 7th house

Expect healthy amount of frank, direct communication. Some arguments with FS. But there's also protectiveness, concern, and the will to do the best by someone. Mars and moon aspects indicate a healthy sex life. They're probably enamored by you. You in turn would find them super sexy.

7th Nakshatra lord and Ketu

Your fs and relation with FS is a highly spiritual one. You could both be looking for a soulful connection. There is love, there us duty there is a need to help each other value time, focus on the future. They could have been a strict disciplinarian figure Ina past life. You both probably have a knack to look down at your phone just in time tos ee an email / message alert from them? Perhaps you two run or help/volunteer at an institution for the mentally challenged.

7th house relation to pieces

OK, so this is where we have a lot going on. Mars opposes saturn. And is placed with Rahu. Mars here feels restrained. Your fs could feel blocked in their creative gifts. In the sense that all they want to do is focus on it, create, post, gain fame but saturn and Ketu try to restrict their creative time. They could be perfectionists. Having to redo things. Since Rahu is also in virgo there's a focus on creating things with the hands and fine tuning every single detail. Directed towards you, this is someone who is always encouraging you while trying to micromanage a lot of details because they think they're being helpful. This is sosmrhtinf you two could have in common so

Mars Darakarka: they teach u to fight for you. Opinionated. Honest. Perfectionist. Service before self. Hardworking. Have integrity. Very active mind.

Mars conjunct Rahu-venus D9 creativity

The 5th house rules creativity and with your venus in the 9th house in D9 your fs is someone who encourages u to be more creative and follow or take up a course to be better at your hobbies. It's like full creative freedom to be you and do you.

D9 Exalted Saturn

Justice. Duty. Not very affectionate but they make sure you have everything you need. Balanced approach. Someone thoughtful. They're fair in a fight.

Libra, venus ruled 7th house

Beauty, peace and harmony in thr relationship. You're not gonna feel like you're being taken for grated. They will treat you to nice things and probably have a schedule for dates and other such romantic leisure activities.

Jupiter rules 9th, in 2nd house

Philosophy. Art. Culture. Museums. Travel coudk be a key focus in your married life. This is something you two bond over. Could also strike God fortune when u do travel or go on pilgrimages. Luck and money via foreign sources.

Rahu in aquarius

Social media influence or you get better at making friends just make sure that they're not provoking you into taking uncalcukated risks or actions that are wya too bizarre. Could denote some kind of breakthrough with technology, a love for a high end gadget driven spaces. An interest in Photography. Any couples pictures posts would be well received. Like you're the couple that looks exotic in their photos. Radiant. Aloof, intellectual, stimulating and even more appealing together.

Jupiter Taurus in 2nd house of D9

Debilitated Jupiter 9th house- religious issues - venus 9th house - conversion?

You may have struggled with religious ideologies being forced on you, or the one you were born into didn't quite feel right. Your fs may follow a different religion or show you that being religious does not mean you feel bad about some of your lifestyle choices.

Pisces Mars d9: he is either tactful and charming or a bit manipulative. You may feel like you prefer to act behind the scenes. It may be a little hard to be recognized for the things you do untill you get really really angry.

D9 Cancer 4th house: the home is a serious source of pride. Beautiful interiors and you'd be quite guarded about who you invite over. The best meals. Soothing interiors.

Pilgrimage within the 1st year of becoming a mom ( Jupiter's aspect on the 9th house)

Venus in Sagittarius D9: future BAE is gonna love his freedom. He could be a workaholic.

Alrighty, that's all I've got today. I hope this helps. I wish you the best on your healing and integration journey

[arhvste]

dad hcs with your top 3 HQ boys? 😚

my top 3 haikyuu boys? #exciting 😌

-

KUROO, IWAIZUMI AND ATSUMU AS DADS

-

KUROO

he’s always wanted 3-4 

growing up the only child in the household with his grandparents and father got a little lonely when he wasn’t with kenma

so you, y/n his wonderful and beautiful wife, fill his world with much more joy by bearing his children 

you have 3 so far and phew good luck

two boys and a girl 

kuroo has already started teaching your kids his trademark catchphrases 

to your despair your youngest son’s first words had been “oya oya”

your face dropped while kuroos hyena laugh roared through the house

“wHY WOULD YOU TEACH HIM THAT”

“because bokuto dared me??”

for the first few weeks all you can hear is little mutters and screeches of “oya oya” and it’s driving you ✨insane✨

kuroo is however good with kids 

and he will put a stop to it by giving your kid a pacifier to keep quiet

kuroo would love if his kids took an interest in volleyball 

but he won’t force it on them 

he’ll support whatever they want to do

your kid wants to try ballet? kuroo will buy several pairs of specially made shoes

art? kuroo is more than happy to hire a whole studio for the day

swimming? he’ll have a pool installed in your house

material arts? kuroo will find a ninja to train your kid

he wants to be the best dad he possibly can for his kids 

i’m not saying he plays favourites but he does have a soft spot for his little girl

he will absolutely try and encourage her that boys are the worst and she shouldn’t date them until they get his seal of approval

he has a ridiculously high standard for the type of boy your daughter can date

you could be a high achieving graduate, astronaut in training, saved 36 old ladies on the street and a candidate for president 

and kuroo would still be like

“is that it? 🙄”

good luck to your daughter then 

he is there for every event 

his whole schedule will be made around any birthdays, graduations, shows etc

he will make sure of it

he doesn’t care if he’s scheduled a meeting with the highest world leader

if that meeting falls on the same day as his kids sports game he will not be sat in an office chair but rather in the crowd cheering his kid on alongside you

he wants to give his kids the best in life but he also doesn’t want to completely spoil them 

he was raised pretty normally so you and him agreed you should try to at least do the same

however when uncle kenma or uncle yaku babysits his kids 👀

“dad uncle kenma bought me a new pc!”

“uncle yaku bought me a pony!”

that’s it

kuroo will spoil tf out of your kids from time to time just to one up his friends

overall he is such a doting dad

yourself and the kids mean the absolute world to him 

and he appreciates you to no end for bringing them into this world 

together the two raise such humorous, perceptive and successful children 

and he couldn’t be more proud of his family 

-

IWAIZUMI

years of practically babysitting oikawa have prepared him for this 

he has the patience levels built up

he is also extremely responsible and level headed 

the two of you have 1 son who is 4 years old

the toddler has iwaizumi wrapped around his little finger 

iwa denies this though

whenever your son misbehaves or makes a mistake (which is rare btw) iwa is looking down at him sternly

“s/n, you know better than this”

but all it takes it one pout and iwaizumi is all soft again and swoops your son into his arms 

lmao i just know he’ll teach your son to insult oikawa 

“say trash-y-ka-wa! that’s my boy!”

“iwa-chan stop teaching your baby to bully me i can’t even handle it from you alone 😩”

sometimes iwaizumi takes your son to work if you’re feeling particularly tired or have somewhere else to be

he definitely will wear on of those baby carrier harnesses 

that’s kinda hot tbh 

bokuto and hinata are all over your kid while iwaizumi is trying to train team japan

while he manages to get both players back over he notices his son is missing from the portable baby chair he brought with him 

“omi omiiiiii look! baby germs!”

atsumu is running around with your son securely in his arms while sakusa  is SPRINTING away from the blonde shouting profanities at him 

needless to say, iwaizumi tries not to bring his kid along whenever serious training needs to be done

he will bring him to more laid back sessions though

iwaizumi is THE responsible dad of the year

he cooks, he cleans and he knows how to handle your son

by now your son has started to develop into his personality more

being around his calm and level headed dad has really rubbed off on him

he doesn't get too overexcited and knows how to behave well

there is something that bothers iwaizumi about your son though

his first words

“iwa-chan~”

iwaizumi’s face dropped when the familiar phrase left his sons mouth

“shittykawa i will FLY over to argentina to personally beat you up”

“it’s not MY fault s/n likes hanging out with his uncle tooru 😗”

oikawa is a doting uncle too

whenever he can he visits your family and spends time getting to know your kid 

the nickname ‘trashykawa’ did happen to stick though

iwaizumi considered it fair now that your son called his best friend after the nickname he taught him 

another dad who would like if his son took up volleyball, but won't force it

your kid does actually pick it up though 

and he’s damn good at it 

not to be clichè but he will like the position of ace the best

this is to your husband and bokuto’s delight

iwaizumi will be there for every game and will absolutely let him come to work with him more often as he gets older so he can watch pros up close

maybe one day your kid will end up on the very team his father trains

and he’ll be there alongside you cheering him on

-

ATSUMU

atsumu is blessed with the gift of twin daughters

hey, twins are in his genes it was bound to happen somewhere down the line

his girls are the most precious beings to him

other than you obv

to him, you are his heart, soul and everything inbetween

he treats his girls like princesses 

like kuroo, boys are off the table 

“oi if ya think you’re bringin boys home you can think again!”

“baby, it’s only their first day of preschool please calm down 😀”

unless these boys can beat him at setting, they’re not allowed within a 48 mile radius of your daughters

he will defo want you to bring them to his games

put them in personalised jerseys and he will be showing them off to his team and the crowd

every point he scores he’s pointing at you and your girls

“THAT ONE WAS FOR YOU MY PRINCESSES!”

when his team wins he will absolutely bring the three of you out onto the court and pull you all in for a tight hug and shower you all with affection for the world to see

your kids take a liking to sakusa believe it or not

they find his presence interesting in comparison to the other msby players

lmao sakusa will show your girls his flexible wrist trick and they’ll giggle in excitement 

“uncle omi is so cool!”

hang on a minute

‘UNCLE’ omi???

atsumu is in shock 

“how come’s ya nice to em and not to me omi omi?”

“they take after y/n more than you. they're not annoying and gross like you that’s why”

as he’s apart of the dedicated dad society, atsumu will make sure he’s there for every event he can too

if his games fall on the same day as an event with your daughters you can bet ur ass he is there as soon as his game is over

celebratory drinks with the team? not on his watch when his daughter has a dance recital 

any moments he misses when he's playing an away match or can’t get out of training he asks you to record so he can watch it back multiple times later

probably cries when he watches your daughter win her sports match or perform in a dance show

his camera roll is FULL of pictures of you and your daughters

insists on posting them all so he can show the world what a beautiful and loving family he has 

uncle osamu makes sure he tells your daughters embarrassing stories about their dad

“and then your dad turned around and told the girls to stop squealin like pigs when they were only showin their support”

“wth dad that's so rude 😠”

“thEY MESSED UP MY SERVE SAMU SHUT UP”

your family is raised super close 

atsumu always knew he wanted both of your families involved with his daughters upbringing so he makes sure everyone is included and the two girls are familiar with their whole family 

it’s important to him that they’re familiar with his volleyball family too

he loves the fact they're so comfortable and familiar with his teammates 

uncle bokuto and uncle hinata are a hit with the twin girls

but its uncle omi who takes the crown for favourite

there is never a dull moment in the miya family 

and atsumu couldn’t ask for better people to be involved with his daughters upbringing 

-

requests are open!!

[gxccistyless]

Fine Line: The Divorce Series - Part three.

Here is the last part of fine line - the divorce series.  You can read part one here and part two here

I would LOVE to write some one shots based on Harry and Eliza. Feel free to send in requests!! 

That night after he left Eliza’s  Harry went home and sits in his shower for 45 minutes, he thought about going to the pub and then he thought about going to the liquor store to get a bottle of bourbon to drink it in its entirety all in an attempt to try and forget about the fact that he had just kissed Eliza. Harry decides against it, he calls his sponsor instead, his sponsor came to lend an ear and help him get through the night, without liquor. He and his sponsor had become close, he could trust his sponsor to be there for him without feeling the need to worry about his personal struggles with alcohol being leaked to the press.

Two weeks later he found himself at a social gathering at his sponsors house, a family garden party of sorts, alcohol free of course, and that’s where he first met  Olivia Dane. He and Olivia seemed to have an instant connection, no awkward spots in their conversations, no awkward silences where he felt the need to fill time with rambling. Conversation flowed freely. He left that night not having a single drop of alcohol, and with her number in his phone. One week later they were out to dinner ams six weeks after that had her on his arm down the red carpet. 

Eliza and Harry never discussed the kiss. For him it was something he was able to freely move passed, for her it was so much more. The kiss lingered on her mind for weeks and weeks she had so many unanswered questions, questions she knew she might never have answers to. The two had reverted back to old ways, going through third parties to organise Harry spending time with Koa and Lennon. Eliza didn’t love the idea of not having any contact with Harry, especially because they had just started going to therapy and she was really hoping that this would be the turning point in their co-parenting attempt. She was happy that their children had their father back though, every child deserves happy and healthy parents was her fundamental belief. That’s truly all she has ever wanted for Harry, for him to be happy and healthy. With Harry out of the picture for her, she spent more time getting closer to her now partner Andrew. She never spoke a word of the kiss. 

harrystyles . MINE .  LIked by jefezoff, oliviadane and 12,573,399 others.  The post took Eliza by surprise. She saw it on a Sunday morning as she was lazing in bed. She wanted to be happy for him, she wanted him to love and to be loved, but she still wanted him to love her. It was selfish of her, and she was aware of this. Selfish because she has and still was seeing someone else, so why shouldn’t he be able to do the same. But that kiss still lingered in the back of her mind.

She would come to find out some hours later that at some point during the day Harry had unfollowed her on all social media platforms. This hurt her more than it should have, Andrew copping the brunt of her anger, leading them to a huge argument where he had accused her of still being in love with Harry. I can’t be in this relationship with you Eliza, this isn’t healthy. You still love him and that’s okay, but let’s be honest here you can’t love him and still have me. He was right. They ended things that night.  Harry was thinking about introducing Olivia to his kids. It had been on his mind for a while, probably from the second week he had known her. Him co-parenting with Eliza made it harder for him to see Olivia on weekends. He had just gotten into such a good schedule with having the kids again he didn’t want to cancel visits, but he also didn’t want to lay in bed alone at night when they were asleep. Olivia didn’t fancy children very much, her opinion of children didn’t change just because they were linked to the man she was sleeping with. Harry waited three months before he organised a brunch date where she would meet the children. 

Anne had gone to Elizas to pick up the children just as she had been all this time. Koa had fallen ill and Eliza had almost canceled their visit but she had caught wind that the kids would be meeting Olivia and decided against canceling, but packing everything from his prescription medication to his favourite lovey just to be safe, writing out a note giving perfectly clear descriptions about the contents of the bag and their uses.  Olivia rolled her eyes and complained about said bag and note she seems so dramatic over a damn cold were her exact words. Harry didn’t say anything in return letting her comment slide. It was moments like this that he would come to later regret, letting things slide was in his opinion the way people got into bad behaviours, but he loved her and didn’t want to royally fuck this day up over a comment before it had even really started.  He seemed to think that the brunch went well, Olivia on the other hand was less than enthused. Koa had spilt his yoghurt, Lennon her orange juice, children were crying and there was snot everywhere. Despite her distaste for the children of the man she loved, she smiled through it. But really all she could think about was ways to get Harry to herself next weekend, child (and snot) free. She somehow managed it and the following weekend, an hour before Harry was scheduled to have the kids, he canceled. Something about a surprise weekend in Paris that had been sprung on him at the last minute was the reasoning Eliza had gotten off of Anne. 

oliviadane you had me at bonjour ❤️ Liked by harrystyles, jefezoff and 5,452 others.

Harry’s visits with the children had become few and far between by late September. Fallon’s anniversary was fast approaching and Eliza was not coping. Anne, who had stayed in contact with her and loved her like a second daughter picked up on it. Eliza was out of sorts, and rightfully so. She had a lot on her plate between the twins and mentally trying to process the upcoming date. Harry on the other hand was off in a different country every week. Brushing off the responsibilities of parenthood had yet again come so easy to him, Eliza wasn’t surprised at this point. Old habits die hard. Anne had let her concerns about Eliza known to Gemma who went to visit to see for herself. Eliza was a mess, Anne had not been lying. Gemma gave Harry and absolute ear bashing on the phone, told him how much of a disappointment he was to her and their mother, how his kids would resent him some day, how he should be ashamed of himself. Gemmas words must have hit a nerve, or at least talked some sense into him. The following week Harry had done a complete 180 again and the visits with the children, much to Olivia’s dismay, were back on schedule. 

It started with small incidents at first. Koa coming home crying, Lennon expressing her disinterest in going to her fathers house for weekend visits. The weekend before Fallon’s anniversary was the last straw. Koa was screaming and crying as Anne’s car pulled away from Eliza’s house. Eliza could hear his blood curdling shrieks from down the road as she stood frozen in her driveway watching her babies drive away. She hated sending them to him when they were in such a state but she couldn’t figure out what the sudden change had been, they had always loved spending time with their dad until suddenly the didn’t. 

Harry came home from the studio at around lunchtime. His mum had brought the kids some hours earlier and Olivia had been with them for the few hours that they had been there. Harry did not expect to come home to two screaming, crying, hyperventilating children. How long have they been crying? Olivia rolled her eyes and told him they hadn’t shut up since they had gotten there, adding in that they had given her a splitting headache and she was very happy he was home because now they were his problem. Harry knew in that moment that he would have to break up with her. Her small comments about his children and the mother of his children needed to stop, he thought that once she got used to the idea of having the kids around and spending more time with them to get to know them a little better that the comments would stop, but they didn’t. He couldn’t change her, her hatred for children was so deep seeded there was no flipping this situation. He thought that perhaps they could spend one last night together and that he would break it off in the morning once the children had left, but then he noticed the bruises on the children’s arms. When he asked Lennon what had happened she simply pointed to Olivia and that was enough to send him into a fit. Olivia had her bags packed and was out of the house by nightfall. 

Elizas doorbell rang at approximately 7.45pm. She found Harry on her doorstep childless. She panicked thinking something had happened to the twins at first and he must have seen it in her face because he just about jumped at the chance to tell her that his mother was watching them. This had been the first time since the kiss that the two had seen each other.  She pulls the door open more than it had been and lets him stroll through. She makes him a coffee whilst she makes herself a tea and then he tells her everything. She wants to press charges, to hunt this lady down and give her a bruising. Harry tells her that the children need her to be with them at home and not in a jail cell, she decides for once that Harry may have the better judgement here and settles down with Harry promising to never bring her, or any other woman, around their kids every again.  The following weekend, the family of four had an afternoon picnic at Fallon’s grave. It was nothing special, Eliza and Harry both cried the whole time, holding each other extra tight. It had been a rough year for the both of them, they had come so far yet here they found themselves back where they belonged the most... in each other’s arms, surrounded by all their children. With Olivia gone, Koa and Lennon relaxed and seemed to be once again enjoying their time with Harry. Truth be told, she had been enjoying time with Harry too. He became a regular for breakfasts at Eliza’s, and then when the kids were at kindy he became a regular for lunch, and then dinner and then a regular in her bed. This has been over the course of a few months, Eliza made boundaries very early on and part of her stipulations were that they needed to have weekly therapy and not put too much pressure on themselves. In true Harry and Eliza style, the two didn’t take things too slow.

Harry and Eliza remarried in a causal courthouse ceremony in late January, his mum and Gemma were their witnesses. They went to a swanky restaurant to celebrate with the most expensive Sunday roast dinner Harry has ever had in his life. Harry surprised the public with the news, they had somehow managed to keep the rekindling of their relationship under wraps and the media and fans lost their minds in unison. The pair were a hot topic for days.

harrystyles Eliza Ray Styles, I am so lucky that you agreed to marry me twice in one lifetime. I don’t deserve you, but I will love you until the day I die. Love you, wife.  Liked by elizastyles, annetwist and 32,763,278 others.  A few weeks later, it was their turn to be surprised with news that they were once again expecting. Both Harry and Eliza were secretly relieved to only see one baby on the screen at the first appointment. Eliza decided to keep this pregnancy to herself, Harry had no tours and no press junkets and no radio interviews and the pair were both able to fully enjoy the pregnancy. Eliza went into labour in the early out of October 3rd, what would have been Fallon’s 6th birthday, and gave birth and home in the water just six hours later. They once again found themselves trending for days after the announcement of the birth of their son. 

elizastyles for the last nine months, we have been holding the news of this little blessing very close to our hearts. One month ago, Jairus Cohen Styles arrived three weeks early, happy and healthy, and shares a birthday with his Angel sister Fallon Noel. Our family is complete. We are both tired and in love ❤️ Liked by harrystyles, jefezoff and 7,625,618 others. 

[adoringeun]

Lemon Drop Café

Welcome to the Lemon Drop Café! My name is Eunha, I'm the owner of this place. It's a blessing to have you visit my café, what would you like to order?

Inside the Lemon Drop Café

In this café we offer a variety of different food and drinks! Don't be fooled by the name of the shop, we sell all kinds of food and beverages here. We even have a special delivery service for everyone!

T H E B A S I C S

-> This is in no way affiliated with the Idol I potray to be. I am not claiming to be her nor do I say this is how she acts in real life. Everything here is purely fictional and is all for your entertainment only!

-> As of now, the café is only open for chatbots and chatbots only.

-> This is mostly a delivery service chatbot meaning there will be no plots introduced, yet!

-> A schedule is included in this post that says the days I accept reservations, delivery requests, and answer asks.

-> Daily positivity posts and health reminders will be posted!

-> I will sometimes pop in people's dms to drop of treats from me! I'll try my best to send everyone at least one treat so you all will hopefully get a smile out of it ^-^

-> A bulletin board will be posted every once in a while. What is this for? Well, it will act as a chatbot news for everyone. For example, person #1 and person #2 are now engaged! Let us congratulate the soon to be married couple. If you have any new information or news to share, feel free to message me and I will post about it!

-> This bulletin board will also act as a spread of awareness to everyone. Not only to Korean entertainment related news, but to the many things that are happening around the globe. (example is BLM petitions and such)

R E S E R V A T I O N S

-> Reservations are basically you reserving for a table at the café. This is a perfect way to have a nice date with your partner, hang out with your friends and bond with your family!

-> If you don't have anyone to go with, you can still reserve a table! Only difference is, I will be there to keep you company as I serve you your food or drinks. I can even maybe teach you the ways of the kitchen, if you're lucky enough.

-> Once your reservation has been accepted, a GC will be made and you along with the person/s you are bringing will be invited.

-> Be patient with Eunha as she can get very busy making orders and accepting reservations.

-> More details will be said once you have been invited to the GC.

HOW TO RESERVE A TABLE

-> You can send me a message (or an ask if that's what you prefer) saying you would like to book a table, please include how many people you will be coming with.

Example:

“Hello! I would like to reserve a table for 3 people thank you 😊❤”

-> Shortly after your request has been accepted, you will be made a GC.

-> A menu listing all the available food and beverages we have will be given to you (and the people you are with)

-> Do tell me when you are finished eating so I can hand you your bill and delete the GC.

D E L I V E R I E S

-> For deliveries, we have a lot of methods for you to choose from!

— Asks [💭]

> The ask delivery can only be used as a letter service. Meaning, I will send an ask to the person whom you want to send a letter to. You don't have to write a long paragraph for this. It can simply be a short “Good Morning!” or “How is your day today?”

— Submissions [💌]

> Submission deliveries are like asks but gifts included in them. Example is person #1 saying “Have a good day!” to person #2 with a lemon pie and a bouquet of sunflowers as a gift.

— DMs [📩]

> This is pretty much self explanatory as a lot of other bots have done this as well. I call this Private Deliveries. Private deliveries are like submission deliveries but are sent through dms. [TW//NSFW] This is the most recommended option if you were to send lingerie for your s/o, give them a new toy, etc.

— Post [📌]

> Deliveries through posts are the most common way to send someone something. It's more like the DM method but it's public. No further explanations needed.

-> We don't only offer food as gifts, you can pretty much send anyone anything! Just make sure it's not as complicated as; A caramel macchiato, three pumps of pumpkin spice, slight whip cream, a chocolate drizzle, and a cherry on top. Don't be those type of people.

HOW TO REQUEST FOR A DELIVERY

-> Send me an ask or a message that includes the listed below.

1.) The @ of the person/s you are giving the gift to.

2.) Whether you would want to be tagged or want to stay anonymous.

3.) Send the letter/gifts you want to give to that said person/s. If you don't have any pictures or gifs of the gift, it's okay! I will look for the pictures/gifs for you.

-> Before I send something, I will send screenshots of the post for confirmation that everything is correct.

-> Please do be patient when I don't complete your delivery as soon as possible. Admin is very busy but will be sure to go on with your request one she is free.

A D V I C E

-> Do you need ever need advice but don't know who uou should ask? Lucky for you, I'm here to give that needed advice! It can differ from life tips, health tips, relationship talks, pretty much anything!

-> All you have to do is send an ask or a message and i'll give the best advice I can give!

-> !!! : I am not saying that the advice I will give will 100% work. I will try and understand your situation and give you the best I can give. Please note that there is no guarantee that it'll work.

A D V I C E —S L I D E T W O—

-> This is for all the love birds out there!!

-> If you have a certain person that you like and want to ask them out on a date but have no idea where to go, I can give you some possible locations that will fit both you and person #2

-> Following what was said above, if you're going on a date and plan on confessing there, you can also ask me for tips on how you can confess!

-> For the long term couples here, if any one of you plan on proposing, I can help you set up and plan things.

-> If you're planning a wedding but don't know where to start, you can also hire me as your wedding planner! Since most weddings are held in discord now, I can help with setting up the server, thinking of themes, and overall the aesthetic of your special day.

-> I will make sure all parties are satisfied with the final product and have smiles on their faces once they see it.

-> All in all, I pretty much help with anything. Heck, you can even hire me as your babysitter! I'll make sure the child/children will have the time of their lives with me ^-^

-> All you have to do is hit me up in my dms or send an ask! Simple as that.

B U L L E T I N B O A R D

-> The bulletin board is one of the most important things I have included here.

-> It will include not only the latest chatbot news and K entertainment news but also news outside of the K-media!

-> I will post about the many things that have been happening recently. Those who have not been given justice yet, the brutality of the police, etc! There are a lot of topics that need to be covered, but not have been given enough light yet. My main goal for this is to bring peoples' attention to these so more people will be aware of the wrong doings others are doing to innocent lives.

-> As I respect everyone, I will be putting trigger warnings whenever I post so people will proceed with caution when they see the warnings.

-> If you don't want to be tagged, please do let me know! I don't want to post a sensitive topic and have some people frowning in front of their screens because of it triggering them. Send me an ask or a message and i'll take you off my taglist ^-^

-> Same goes for those who want to be tagged. Send me an ask or message anytime you like! Or even just reblog my post saying you want to be tagged in future posts :)

GOT ANY NEWS YOU WANT TO SHARE?

-> Send me a dm/an ask! From chatbot related news to petitions people can sign, anything you want! You can even send a submission if that is what you prefer doing.

E U N ' S S C H E D U L E

M O N D A Y : [Answering Asks, taking reservations, replying to dms, sending gifts]

T U E S D A Y : [Taking reservations, replying to dms]

W E D N E S D A Y : [ASK ONLY DAY!]

T H U R S D A Y : [Taking reservations, sending gifts]

F R I D A Y : [FREE DAY]

S A T U R D A Y : [ALL WORK DAY]

S U N D A Y : [ALL WORK DAY]

ALL WORK DAY – are days that I accept anything and everything from everyone. Meaning, everything is open and available (Reservations, advice giving, etc.)

FREE DAY – is a day where I only respond to important dms and reblog posts.

O T H E R I N F O

-> My asks aren't only open for requests and stuff, they are always open for anything!

-> I'm mostly active during the afternoon because I do work in the morning and at night.

-> Don't be afraid to message Eunha! She's always open and happy to make friends ^-^

-> My timezone is KST! (Korean Standard Time)

-> I will sometimes post “Inside Eun's Life” posts which are basically what and how I'm doing.

Credits to the person who made the idea of making chatbots, lots of love for you @yandereminholee!!

Special thanks to @your-roseanne and @floristluda for the inspiration!

Another special tag is @specialdeliveryforyou! Credits to them for starting the whole delivery service trend ^-^

And to @cherry-nayeon the OG café concept chatbot! All love and credits goes to her!!

Amazing people who you should also check out!

@mafia-minho @leextaeyong @5sosxseulgi @xiyeonnie @babyhj1sung @mafiajjh @mafiawyk @shinhaneul-oc @yoonhana @queenbeejessi @yourchungha @skaterchae @hunter-chaeyoung @og-aisha @sweetandsleepyjamie @fabricatedxkun @switchseola @seventeen-chatbot @mafia-chaeyoung @split-jiu @doll-hyunjin @wolfxhwasa @sub-chungha @chatwithchuu @bunjihyo @babieyuqi @domyeonjun @yvespunk @icyracer-chae @midari-jieun @peachyminju @yanderechenle @purgejaemin @spamnotes-cb @lovely-jisoo @amazingspiderhan @artsydahyun @xdomkangseulgixx @detectivexsicheng @yandere-lia @yanderetzuyu @time-for-confession @kittenjennie @urkai and more lovely people! ^-^

[charincharge]

Cruel Summer, Part 1

cruel summer masterlist

AN: It’s here. Idk what the posting schedule will be like, I have no idea what my writing schedule will be like, but... I think it’s gonna be 25ish chapters? Maybe? Who knows. It’s gonna be fun, I think. I hope. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts. Alright... without further ado...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rowan Whitethorn is having a really horrible day. Not just the kind of bad that he can shrug off, but the kind that seeps through his skin and sinks into his bones, that permeates even the smallest thing, turning everything into a giant annoyance.

First, he missed his alarm, so his grumpy manager, Lorcan, has been even grumpier with him since he pulled through the gates of Ashryver Playland this morning. The amusement park job is less than ideal. Rowan hadn’t planned for his summer to be taking tickets and cleaning up melted ice cream cones from sweaty-faced teens – but it was the only place that called him back, and he doesn’t come from the type of family that can afford to pay his rent. So unless Rowan had wanted to spend the summer in his mom’s unairconditioned apartment, dodging set ups with her mahjong circle’s daughters, this was his only option.

It's nearly 3PM, and Rowan still hasn’t been able to take his lunch break. He knows that’s adding to his bad attitude. Rowan has a tendency to get hangry, or so his coworker Fenrys tells him. And because he was in a rush this morning, he forgot to pack his lunch. Which means he’ll have to spend money buying overpriced crap at the park.

Rowan’s also on trash duty today. Which means he gets to spend the whole day circling the park grounds with a giant broom and pan and pick up the fallen bits of funnel cake and popcorn and soda cups and dump them into the closest trash. Then, once those are full, he gets to haul the heavy bags of stinking trash all the way to the back of the park where the dumpsters are. It’s pretty much his worst nightmare. Though Rowan isn’t opposed to physical activity, he’s not super fond of smelling like rancid garbage. He tugs at the collar of the too tight uniform polo shirt stretching uncomfortably across his chest and frowns. After a bag split all over him earlier, Rowan was forced to go diving in the employee lost and found for another uniform. Apparently, the only person who’s missing a shirt is two times smaller than him. He sniffs himself and nearly gags. He can’t wait to get home and shower. He look at his watch … in … five more hours.

“Whitethorn,” Lorcan calls, crossing across the yard at him. “Take your thirty now. Then you’re taking over for Connall at the ferris wheel ‘til closing, yeah?”

Rowan barely contains a shudder upon hearing his new assignment. He hates trash, but working the ferris wheel is somehow worse. He didn’t realize until last week that’s where every middle schooler goes on their first make out date. He’s had to pull too many kids off the ride, feeling like their disapproving father as he pulled their clashing braces apart to make room for the next patrons in line. Frankly, he finds PDA disgusting. And the sight of thirteen-year-olds going at it is enough to scar him for life.

At least Rowan finally gets to eat something, though. The oppressive mid-day heat combined with hours of physical labor and no fuel has him feeling like he could keel over any second. He grunts his acknowledgement at Lorcan and makes his way to the closest concessions stand, which luckily has barely a line – I guess since it’s 3 fucking PM and not actually lunch time. Rowan is about to step forward when he feels tiny fingers poke against the back of his knees. He’s about to snap at whatever parent to keep their kid on a tighter leash when he realizes there is no parent, just a kid – and the kid is, in fact, trying to get his attention.

“Um, excuse me? Sir?” the little boy says. Rowan’s never been a sir before. He hates it.

“Yeah?”

“I think I lost my family,” he says resolutely, not sounding even a little bit scared. “Can you help me find them?”

Rowan’s stomach grumbles and his head pounds. He knows he has to return this child to his family, but he also knows he needs to eat immediately or he’s going to lose it.

“We can absolutely do that,” Rowan begins, “but I haven’t eaten all day. Do you think you can wait like… ten minutes?”

The little boy nods and sticks out his hand. “I’m Gavin and I’m five.”

“Hey, Gavin. I’m Rowan and I’m hungry.” Gavin giggles at that, and Rowan finally cracks a smile and shakes the boy’s hand.

Rowan steps up to order, thinking about what’s going to be the fastest, since his thirty minute break is going to include an unforeseen detour to security at the entryway of the park. “Can I get a hot dog, a pretzel, a cherry coke and…” He looks at the little boy next to him. “Anything for you?”

Gavin’s eyes widen with glee. “Cotton candy?!”

“…and a cotton candy.”

Rowan reluctantly hands over a $20, saying goodbye to three hours of hard work. But he has no choice. They get their food and make their way to the eating tent. Rowan keeps his eyes open for anyone looking panicked or in search of a child, but he doesn’t see anyone who fits the bill.

Rowan inhales his hot dog in record speed and takes a giant gulp of his cherry coke and immediately feels better. Sitting under the shade of the tent helps, too. The pair sit quietly and eat their food. Gavin swings his legs happily as he peels off pieces of his cotton candy, licking the sticky sugar from his fingers.

“So…” Rowan has no idea how to talk to a kid, but he figures he should ask him a few questions to figure out who to return him to, at least. “Who are you here with today? You said your family?”

Gavin nods excitedly, the sugar clearly starting to make its way through his tiny body. “Yup! My whole family is here today. My mom, my dad, Auntie Ae, Nana and Grandpa.”

“Wow.” Rowan’s heart tugs slightly. “That’s fun. Any special occasion?”

“Nope. We come every week,” Gavin says.

“Every week?” Rowan asks, his voice rising in pitch. He’s trying to do the math of the ticket prices. $30 for six family members. That’s $180. For every week of the summer…? Rowan’s mental math skills stop there, but he knows that’s a LOT more than he’s ever been able to casually throw down.

“Yup. Since I was a baby,” Gavin says. “It’s my family’s special place.”

“Think your family would adopt me?” Rowan jokes. He loves his mom a lot, and she did the absolute best job raising him, but they’ve never had a special place. His mom thinks adding guacamole to her Chipotle bowl is special. Not that Rowan disagrees. Guacamole is a perfect condiment.

Gavin finishes his last lick of cotton candy and holds his red hands up at Rowan. “I’m sticky.”

Rowan shoves the final bite of his pretzel into his mouth and stands up. “Me too. Let’s go wash our hands and then find your family. Sound good?”

Gavin nods, skipping next to Rowan, his little shoes lighting up as he matches the striding pace. They make their way to the row of porta-potties and outdoor sinks, which line the side of the park. As Rowan washes his hands, he notices Gavin struggling to reach the stream of water. Of course. He’s only five.

“Need a hand?” Rowan asks, and Gavin nods, holding his arms up to be lifted. Rowan’s arms burn, since he’s been picking up giant bags of trash all day, but he manages to keep Gavin mid-air until he’s finished cleaning the sugary crystals from his hands. He’s putting Gavin back on the ground when he hears a loud voice shrieking behind him –

“YOU! SIR, STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILD!”

Damn it.

Rowan sighs and turns, letting his hold on Gavin drop completely. This is so not what he needs right now.

“Gavin, honey, come here,” the voice calls again.

Rowan searches to see who the voice belongs to and is momentarily stunned. Gavin’s mom is… young. And hot. Her golden blonde hair is swept away from her face in a high ponytail, resting softly down her bare back, on display in a strappy yellow tank top. And her jean shorts show off her long, tanned legs. Rowan stares a beat too long because the next thing he hears is, “Gavin, earmuffs,” and suddenly the blonde woman is inches away from him, in his face and pushing at his chest with her pointed finger. She is mad.

“Stay away from this little boy, you pervert!” The woman’s eyes flare angrily as she pushes Rowan’s chest again forcefully with her finger, and he is not having any of that. He grabs her finger in his large fist and moves it away from him, making the woman stumble back slightly. Her mouth widens into a small circle as she looks up at the man grabbing her finger.

“I’m sorry, pervert?” He chuckles humorlessly. “This little boy asked for my help finding his irresponsible family. Who lost him. I work here.” Rowan uses his other hand to point to the stupid logo on the corner of his polo. “He happened to find me on my lunch break. Maybe if you’d been a more responsible mother you wouldn’t feel the need to get this worked up the guy who was clearly about to take your kid to security.”

“Mom?” the woman says, horrified and snatches back her finger. “Oh my god.” Her demeanor shifts entirely as she looks to Gavin and motions for him to uncover his ears. “Gavin, please tell this very rude man that I am way too young and cool to be your mom.”

Gavin frowns. “I don’t think he’s rude, Auntie Ae. He gave me cotton candy.”

The woman’s eyebrows shoot up in accusation. ‘You gave him cotton candy? You’re only proving my point.”

Rowan puffs out his chest defensively. “I’m sorry, is cotton candy a sex offender favorite? I wouldn’t know.”

“You clearly offered sweets to a child to lure him away from his family!” she says way too loudly, looking around and making a show of her statement.

“Quiet down!” Rowan snipes through gritted teeth. “I need to keep this job, for fuck’s sake.”

The woman smirks and steps closer. “I think your employer deserves to know you were luring children away from their families!” she exclaims dramatically, attracting the attention of a nearby security guard.

“No,” Rowan says, his voice increasing in volume as well. He’s had it up to here with this day, and this woman has grated his last nerve. “That’s not… Listen…” Rowan takes a deep breath. He really cannot lose this job. “I was starving and about to go on my lunch break when some poor lost kid asked for help finding his family. I told him he could order something with me, since I felt bad. Sorry. I’ll be sure never to be polite ever again.”

Rowan has gotten in “Auntie Ae’s” face, and he’s breathing hard. He’s worked up, and he knows it’s not her fault, but fuck this day.

“Is everything alright here, Ms. Ashryver?” the approaching security guard asks, and Rowan pales.

The woman steps back and takes a breath, her fury melting into a warm smile for the guard. “No, Frank, everything is fine. Just thanking one of our newest employees, who made friends with Gavin today.”

The guard chuckles. “He run off again?”

The woman’s eyes flash in warning and the guard shakes his head. “Ah, don’t be mad, Aelin. You did the same exact thing when you were his age. Running from ride to ride and driving your old man crazy.”

Rowan crosses his arms as the guard saunters off, and the woman turns back to him with a shy smile.

“Ashryver, hm?” Rowan asks, feeling a little ill as he pictures the large Ashryver sign that hangs over the entryway to the park.  “So, what is this, like… hazing?”

“No! I was really only going to make the one joke and then let it go,” the woman says, biting her lip guiltily and shoving her hands into her jean shorts pockets. “But then you called me his mom and I just… got carried away. I do that sometimes. I’m Aelin. Ashryver.”

“So I heard.” Rowan rolls his eyes. “You know there’s absolutely nothing funny about calling someone a predator, right? I could be arrested if the wrong person overheard that.”

“You’re making me feel very bad,” Aelin says with a grimace.

“Good,” Rowan says resolutely. “Because now I’m also late to get back to work.” He’s more than a little annoyed at how this entire exchange has played out. And even more annoyed that he can’t stop staring at Aelin’s bright blue eyes. This is the last thing he needs. He’s about to head off when –

“You’re really not going to tell me your name?” Aelin asks, tilting her head up, trying to figure Rowan out. Rowan’s about to reply when she cuts him off, not even giving him a chance. “That’s fine. I’ll find it out. I have connections, you know.”

“I’m sure you do, princess,” Rowan says. Her lips purse at the nickname, and Rowan can’t tell if she loves it or hates it.  

“See you, stranger,” she replies, dismissing him and grabbing Gavin’s hand as she walks off. Just before turning the corner, she tosses her ponytail over her shoulder and looks back. It’s only when she winks at him that Rowan realizes he’s still standing motionless, watching her go.

[liamloveslarry]

Baker! Harry & Primary School Teacher! Louis

so, a couple of weeks ago i made a little post about how i’d love for people to send me prompts/writing ideas and the lovely @louistsbravery sent me one based off her moodboard she so kindly made, here!

my brain kind of ran away with me and so i hope you like this, i tried to stick to the theme as best i could, enjoy! :)

Harry eyes the man from behind the counter. 

He watches him as his eyes scan the board above from where he’s standing, sleepy blue orbs blinking tiredly behind the square glasses perched upon his nose. 

His heart thumps something fierce when he notices the tufts of brown hair sticking out slightly from behind his ear, a noticeable trait he assumes from lack of sleep and too many early mornings.

It’s 6 o’clock in the morning and the sun is barely edging over cobbled streets and tall buildings, its shimmering waves casting a pale glow over puddles on the pavement and bouncing off lampposts. 

‘Babs Bakery’ is nestled between a small row of shops along the Northern Quarter. Its quaint, rustic exterior leads itself into a small tea room and peaceful eating area. Potted plants line the windowsill outside while the smell of fresh baked scones and coffee beans pulse and weave through the air, an atmosphere Harry’s prone to taking naps in.

He’s been here for about a year now, taking over from his Nana when she’d gotten too old to carry on the business, but he hadn’t changed a thing. It might be slightly old fashioned but it reminds him of his grandparents and how he used to sit at the table in the corner by the window with his colouring book and jumbo crayons, while being served hot vimto and iced fingers.

A small cough nudges Harry from his stupor and he blinks, realising he’s been staring. The man is smiling slightly, the last traces of sleep pull at his lips as he lifts his hand to cover his mouth while he lets out a yawn.

“Morning.” He says, his Northern twang is raspy and gentle, a higher pitched lilt whispering through words.

Harry wipes his clammy hands on his apron and steps forward, fingertips drumming along the counters edge. He can see the man’s wearing a light blue button up underneath a soft, grey jumper. Pale pink tie burrowed in between. A shoulder bag is situated over his left arm and there are textbooks, papers and pens bursting through the zip.

“Hey. G’morning.” He replies, fingers aching to touch him. “Find anything you like?”

The man squints one more time at the blackboard, eyes moving over loopy words and today’s specials.

“I think,” he says, dragging out the ‘I’. Harry finds it that endearing he has to grip the countertop and remind himself to keep breathing. “I think I’m gonna go for a latte and a cheese and ham toastie, please. Is that alright?” 

Harry nods and reaches for a paper cup. “Is that to go or stay in?” He asks.

“To go, please. Need to make sure I get to work before the little monsters. If I time it right, the caffeine rush lasts all day.” The man responds, smirking a little. “I swear I love my job, but sometimes they can be a handful.”

Harry nods and spins on the spot, turning the face the coffee machine and placing the cup underneath the metal nozzle. There’s a spurt and a groan before hot milk starts to pour into the cup.

“Am I right in assuming you’re talking about children, not animals, right?”

The man laughs and Harry blinks up towards the ceiling, whispering a quiet ‘fuck’ as his knees buckle. 

“Yep! Early years. I work at the Primary School just down the road. The only animal I have is Eden here, and she’s still asleep the lucky buggar.”

“Eden?” Harry asks, as he places the cheese and meat on top of the bread baked only this morning, crumbing bits of pepper on top and drizzling balsamic vinegar over the sharp cheddar. 

He places it into the small oven and turns the timer on.

“Yeah, heh. Sorry. She’s my pet rabbit and the kids go crazy when I bring her in. I hope you don’t mind me bringing her in here? She’s in her carrier so she can’t escape.” Louis looks sheepish, and he rubs the back of his neck while he flicks his eyes up to meet Harry’s; but the look is quickly dissolved when Harry dashes around the counter and asks if he can see her.

Louis nods and steps aside, giving view to the medium sized carrier sat next to his feet.

Harry crouches and sees through the bars, a small golden rabbit, tufts of white fur peeking through the strands. Her nose twitches in sleep and her soft whiskers brush Harry’s fingertips lightly where he’s resting against the metal bars. 

“Oh my, she’s so cute.” He whispers, not wanting to wake the sleeping animal. 

He peers up at the man from where he’s situated on the floor and realises he’s eye level with the fly of his work pants. He flushes and bends his knees, standing up. 

This only makes things worse as he’s now directly facing him, no counter in between their bodies. If Harry were to inch his fingers out, he’d feel just how soft his jumper is. He flexes his knuckles and reminds himself not to think about if his skin is as soft as his voice.

He coughs into his fist and steps back.

“Sorry – uh. I just love animals. And I don’t mind them in the shop,” he nods his head to where a small tank rests next to the till. “I have one of my own to keep me company, too.”

A plump goldfish swims happily from rock to rock, bobbing his tiny mouth as he scoops up the remaining pieces of fish food Harry had sprinkled in earlier.

Louis spins to face the tiny morsel, but only after his eyes drop down to where Harry’s biting his lip, a small bridge of pink scattered over his nose and cheeks.

“Nice.” He says, smiling at Harry once more. “What’s its name?” 

Harry walks back around the counter and scoops the cup from underneath the machine and presses the button on the timer, stopping the chirps that are signalling the food is ready. 

He places the items down in front of the man and bends to rest his elbows on the counter, reaching one finger out to follow the fish through the glass.

“Phillip.” He huffs, the sound sculpting into an embarrassed laugh. 

Louis looks at him with his eyebrows raised, a small grin quirking his lips.

Harry groans quietly and rolls his eyes.

“Please don’t ask – my niece named him and I couldn’t say no.”

Louis laughs and reaches a hand into his pants pocket, pulling out his wallet and sliding his card out of the slot. 

“Mate, you don’t need to explain anything to me.” He says. “I deal with 15 of them on a daily basis, why d’ya think I bought a bloody bunny?” 

He smirks as he places the card into the reader and enters his pin, and Harry stares at the way the sun is peeking its way in through the windows, causing the man’s hair to shine, highlighting his cheekbones and lightly freckled skin.

He stands there for another couple of seconds before the reader beeps and he pulls his card out. 

“Cool, well - I think that’s me.” The man says, slipping his wallet back into his pocket and gathering the items in his hands. “I guess I’ll see you around, uh?” he looks a little expectantly at Harry and smiles, a tiny quirk of his top lip.

“Harry.”

“Louis,” he replies. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around then, Harry.” 

Harry manages a wave before the man is out the door, smiling at him through the window one last time before he disappears down the street.

-

It isn’t until Harry’s shutting up shop and wiping down the counters that he spots a small folded piece of paper, wedged in underneath the till.

He frowns and drops the cloth, peeling open the sharp edges until scrawled black writing looks back at him, reading:

“Nice Buns!” 

Harry stares at the letters and the scribbly, rushed image of two iced buns smiling and feels a flush work its way from the top of his head to the bottom of his toes.

The thing is, is that Harry doesn’t know who could’ve done this. 

The bakery’s been busy non-stop all day and plenty of customers have been in and out over the last eight or so hours, and so he’s confused as to who left him the note.

He pockets the piece of paper and picks up his cloth, continuing to clean.

This time with a small smile etched onto his face.

-

The notes keep appearing after that. 

Once a day, in the same spot as before. 

Usually, Harry only notices them at the end of his shift, treating them as little surprises after his busy schedule.

Some days there are short sentences, wishing him a good day, and other days there are lyrics from songs that make him smile, every now and then there’s a cheeky one liner that makes him blush.

There’s a small glass jar that sits beside the toaster where he keeps them, day in, day out, the glass gets fuller. Sometimes Harry, after a bad day, will twist the top off and read through them one by one, curling up on the chair by the window and instantly feeling the stress of the day melt from his shoulders, sated happiness washing over him.

He hasn’t yet managed to find the person on the other end of the notes, always too busy to stop and look. And anyway, what would he say if he found out? Yes? Maybe? ‘No Jonathan, if this is you, I’m not into threesomes so stop asking me?’

He kind of likes there being an air of mysteriousness to them. 

But he guesses, it wouldn’t be so bad if it turned out to be a certain someone, now would it?

-

It’s after an unusually busy day that has Harry rushing around on his feet and trying to serve a long line of customers that seems never ending, flour dusted through his hair and balancing both dishing out food and cleaning up after people, that come 5 o’clock, he’s exhausted and practically dead on his feet.

He slumps against the counter and rests his head down between his shoulder blades, having a minute to himself and heaving a big sigh, when he hears the telltale sign of footsteps approaching him, shuffling he thinks, a little slowly.

“Hey.”

He whips his head up and sees Louis. 

His hair is a mess and there’s a line of purple felt tip staining his cheek. His tie is skewed and the top button of his shirt is undone, Adam’s apple bobbing slightly as he swallows, lightly dusted with midnight scruff. 

“Sorry, I know you’re uh-technically closing soon,” he says, “I just wanted to pop in really quick for one of those chocolate chip muffins? My sister’s coming up for a few days and I need something sweet to get me through, long day ‘n all. Which I’m sure you can relate to.”

Harry huffs a laugh and nods his head, turning to face the cabinet full of pastries and frowns when he realises there aren’t any in there. He closes his eyes and sighs.

“Ah, sorry. It looks like we’re out, I have a fresh batch of blueberry in the back if that’s okay?”

Louis nods and smiles and Harry wanders into the back, letting the smell of bread and cookies sprinkle over him as he pulls out one of the trays and picks a particularly plump muffin, bouncy slightly in texture.

He finds Louis in the same spot as he was before, only this time he’s rubbing his eye with his fist, looking even more tired than when he first padded in. 

He waves the muffin at Louis who grins in response, arm falling back to his side and walking closer to the counter.

“Let me just wrap this up for you.” Harry says, and places the muffin in a small decorative box, closing the lid and taping it with a sticker.

When Louis’ walking towards the door a couple of minutes later, he looks over his shoulder and says,

“You might wanna check something over there,” nodding his head to a small counter display full of flapjacks, where a piece of paper looks to be slotted in between, sticking up as if waiting to be plucked, “looks like you missed something.”

And then with one last smile that’s bordering on slightly nervous, he’s gone.

-

Ten seconds later when Harry unpicks the paper, the words ‘you bake me crazy, wanna grab a drink sometime?’ look back at him.

He thinks back to the other day and presses his lips together, suppressing a smile and biting his lip.

He knows just what to say.

-

And then, three years later when he stares down at the ring and card with two pieces of bread on the front and reads, ‘I loaf you very much, shall we grow mould together?’

And he looks into teary blue eyes.

He knows just what to say then too.

[nightmarenoise]

Some thoughts on TMNT 2012

I finished watching the entirety of the TMNT 2012 series a while ago and boy, do I have some thoughts™. First of all though, the following is going to be my opinions and you’re free to disagree with them. If you feel like attacking me for expressing these opinions though, I’m just going to have to ask you to take a minute and consider that you are about to be a bitch online over an eight year old children’s animated show, and that maybe you should find something else to base your entire identity around. Secondly, I don’t hate the show, not by any means. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine, you guys. I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise. I watched usually about half a season per day because I have too much time on my hands but if I do more than 13 episodes, my puny brain will implode. That being said, I understand that the binge watching might have affected my judgement, because having to wait for a new episode to air each week hits different, I know. Still, I came home after work each day, cozied up in bed and watched 13 episodes of turtle shenanigans before going to sleep and my sleep schedule has never been better. But I digress. Also, I will compare 2012 to Rise, because that’s the only other TMNT show I’ve seen and because this is my post and I want to and it’s only initially.

I feel like the main difference between Rise and 2012 is that Rise is a character-driven show, while 2012 is ultimately plot-driven.

Why do things in Rise happen? Because a character wants something (the boys want to buy their dad a nw robe, April wants to spend a normal day with her new friend, etc, those are just from the top of my head). The motivations are ultimately mundane, and then the story goes from there.

Why do things in 2012 happen? Because the plot said so. Sure, the characters grow and change, but they’re ultimately vehicles for the plot. We don’t really take a minute to let the characters breathe. Usually, things happen because the Turtles saw something on patrol and they’re on patrol because they know the plot is waiting out there to get them.

The show starts with April’s dad being kidnapped by the Krang (/Kraang? It’s unclear) and April herself being spared this presumably gruesome fate because Donnie saved her at the last second. She then goes on to live with an aunt we never see.

We also don’t see much of how this affects April at first. Sure, she is shown to be sad and wanting to get her father back, but the episode ends on the Turtles leaving her at her aunt’s place and then we’re done for the day. Hell, the next time we see April, she just casually drops by their place to show Mikey how to make online friends.

Maybe that’s just me being overly criticial, but I could have done with more time between those moments, showing her coming to terms with things, her normal day-to-day live, or heck, even just going to the lair for the first time.

But we don’t get that because plot has to happen.

April isn’t the only character who suffers from that, but I feel like it affects her the most.

The writers seem to have learned their lesson, because when April loses her dad for the second time, to mutation this time around, she blames the Turtles (which isn’t wrong) and then doesn’t talk to them for a month while presumably going back to her aunt, who I suppose never asks any questions. She only goes back to talking to them when Casey tells her a similar story and she realizes something something, hurting someone without meaning to. Which is fine, but it’s also not really, because it implies April being rightfully upset isn’t valid, because the Turtles didn’t mean to mutate her dad and it was an accident, but it feels like it tone polices someone for experiencing a loss and not letting her take some time for herself to come to terms with that.

But y'know we need her, in part because she’s The Special, but most importantly, so one of the most tedious love subplots can happen.

I know they explained April’s specialness as her being a human/Krang mutant and the Krang needing her unique brain to mutate the entire planet because …reasons. Except for when they later attack New Yok and then don’t need her for that anymore. On that note, I do not understand Krang’s plan at all. Time passes faster in their dimension and they’re kind of at war with the Triceratons and have trouble with the Utrom, so they want to leave (even though the Triceratons are clearly also in our universe, so why not pick a different dimension to take over entirely? There’s established to be ten) and mutate a planet to take over. This is all well and good, except they’ve been at it for about seven million years? Krang takes credit for creating the first humans with mutagen and it’s been mentioned that they steered human evolution to the point where they could create a human/Krang hybrid, such as April. But why did they only have one? They lost track of her when her dad and her fled to New York City, wouldn’t it have been more convenient to have more mutants to do their vague mutant stuff they require by the plot to take over the planet?

Even if we assume that this first mutation means that the first humans didn’t surface between seven and five million years ago, humans haven’t evolved that much in the last couple thousand years. Why wait so long? It must have been billions of years for the Krang.

I know it’s a cartoon and stuff, but they could have easily removed that problem by cutting the line about Krang taking credit for human evolution and for the Krang having been with us for thousands of years. It just creates problems.

Speaking of problematic, the romantic subplots. So, Leo wants to bang his sister, Donnie is creepily obsessed with the first human girl he’s ever met and Mikey is such a good boy, he gets two love interests, because one isn’t enough for all the love and goodness contained in orange boy. I still think it’s weird because all of these love interests are humans, but I gradually got over that. I managed to think about this without physically convulsing for ten whole minutes, for starts.

Okay, so Donnie/April is just bad. The writing and the execution are bad. The characters are fine, I love Donnie, even though he focuses way too much of his time and attention on obsessing over April, but I can let that go on account of him being a teen dealing with his very first ever crush. April though  is frequently made to be a callous bitch who knows of his feelings and leads him on when she wants something, but pushes him away at all other times. I vividly remember the time New York was overrun by Krang and April helped Donnie bandage his injured arm and he was about to confess his feelings to her and she pulled too tight to get him to stop. Instead of being up front about it or just telling him that she either liked him or not or that now just wasn’t the time to focus on romance - all of which super valid in their own right. Rip the bandaid off, girl. None of them look especially good coming out of this.

It gets worse considering that after seasons of back and forth and even introducing Casey to give us a love triangle, everyone’s favorite thing in media and April redeeming herself by also being That Way to Casey and by redeeming I mean informing us that she just isn’t really fit for a relationship because she is very toxic in handling them, the whole thing is just kind of dropped forever. There’s no payoff. We spent so much time watching Donnie agonize over this, get worse, then get over his stalker-ish tendencies and get rewarded with a kiss and then nothing ever happens. They don’t even have a conversation about their feelings. The show tries to make it seem like there’s a special connection between April and Donnie because she kills him and then feels bad and brings him back, but, no. That’s not how any of that works. Ultimately this whole thing feels like a huge and infuriating waste of time. Fourth place. And that’s a kindness.

Leo and Karai get third place, mainly because of the incest. Neither of them is as toxic over this subplot and it also has the common decency of not taking up that much time, but it’s still weird. I don’t have much to say here. I guess it was dropped in the end, but maybe also not, but at least there weren’t 30 episodes about Leo agonizing over Karai while she was being weird and also she had her own thing going on and felt like a more fleshed out character than April despite getting less screen time. Third place.

Mikey gets silver because while he’s flirting with two human girls, they both seem to be exclusively into it and also he’s much more mature about dealing with it than his supposedly intelligent brother. Get this. Mikey, being mature at something. None of these ships are confirmed, but it’s a nice change of pace.

Raph takes gold because he fell in love with a girl after she beat the crap out of him and nothing is more valid than that.

Okay, the plot feels kind of rushed, in that they’re confessing undying love after kissing twice, but one, they’re teens and two, this is just the best we’re going to get out of this show.

Casey, well.

Casey exists. He doesn’t add all that much to the story. He has a delightful dynamic with Raph, coming in just after Slash confronted him with his worst traits and then reinforcing the “be a vigilante and do good”-angle and that’s nice. Outside of that though, he tries to hit on April, he hits things with his hockey sticks and I guess he has a family he cares about that we never see. Oops.

I’m very ambivalent about Splinter. I do get him and he’s a good sensei, but kind of a lousy father? Sure, his entire life went up in flames quite spectacularly, but as soon as he realizes his daughter is alive, he often seems to prioritize getting her back over the lives of the four sons he actually raised and spent the last fifteen years with? Also, he’s a dick to Mikey? He gets better later and then he dies. Hm.

Mikey wasn’t as annoying as I feared, going in. He was still stupid, but he had his moments. I also didn’t find him as funny as some of the writers probably hoped, but he was fine. He’s a good boy who deserved better every step of the way, but his brothers and Splinter are kind of not nice to him despite him being just as capable as his brothers. Neither is the show, often making him the butt of a joke or downplaying his achievements (producing super-retro mutagen, saving all his brothers from parasite wasps and the one time he saved the city from cannibal pizza it was treated like a “it was all a dream or was it” and nobody believed him). He doesn’t get a lot of development, but he’s the goodest boy.

Raph again surprised me. He arguably underwent the most development, dealing with his many demons and getting a grip on his temper. This was especially apparent in the Northampton arc when he did chores without complaint and helped Leo train.

Leo on the other hand, started as the leader of the team and ended the story as the de-facto leader of the family and also he was stronger now. I don’t know. Being a leader was his defining trait from start to finish and while he agonized over that, he wasn’t allowed much development outside of that. His first meeting with Karai introduced this subplot about him wanting to be irresponsible and do his own thing, but that was quickly dropped and never brought up again. I liked him best when he was being a dork over his favorite TV show or that time he went to space and on his first outing tried to hit on an alien lady. I would have liked to see more of that Leo, because that Leo was actually interesting.

Donnie, I don’t know. Most of his time was poured into the world’s worst romantic subplot and outside of that he had some traits, but he was mostly there so he could analyze things, develop antivenoms at the drop of a hat, finally create a retromutagen and build 152 vehicles. I like Donnie, but there isn’t much to talk about that isn’t directly tied to April. Except maybe how he promised to turn Timothy back into a human and then never did, even though we keep seeing his frozen remains in the back of the lab. For shame, Donnie. For shame.

To the show’s credit, a lot of the mutants looked horrifying and creepy. They had a tight grip on that horror vibe and it was great. They maintained a balance of comedy and horror and while it wasn’t great, it was a nice reprieve.

I hated Shredder and I know I was supposed to, but I will never get over what a petty bitch he was.

The thing that hit me the hardest was probably the destruction of Earth at the end of season 3. I was legitimately upset about that, so that’s probably a good thing. But when five minutes into the next episode Scrooge McDoctor Who did some timey whimey bullshit to reverse it, I was not any less upset. Make of that what you will. (No, I’ll explain, I felt cheated and it was cheap and annoying. Just when you think the show has some balls, it pulls a “sike” and then flips back to the status quo, usually). The space arc was simultaneously interesting and also not, with a lot of predictable plot threads, but at least we got more locations  than the same two nocturnal New York streets all the time.

The ending though was super weird. The other turtles then went into space and probably died or some shit, because they never show up again and also the Fugitoid’s head is alive in orbit, but whatever, no time for that because we have to go back, for the 50th time, to the Foot!

The plot has no time to unfold because the plot needs to happen.

Do you ever think the writers squabbled a lot? It kind of feels like a lot of them wanted to do their own thing and then someone else meddled with that and then we got a patchwork of unconnected threads, left loose and dangling.

I was surprised when we got some buildup to April’s growing dependence on her alien crystal and even one episode dealing with its powers before we got to the episode dealing with the crystal’s effects on her. That sort of nuanced pacing was new. I was also initially very sure that this subplot would only find its payoff in the season finale or half season finale, like most other plot threads usually did, but no, it got its own separate episode.

Yes, they went all Dark Phoenix, but the ending was super anticlimactic, because April killed Donnie and then someone reminded her of it and she felt bad, so she stopped being possessed by evil. They fucked up on the home stretch, but they tried.

I never liked the time travel episodes with Renet much, they felt weirdly intrusive and adding nothing new to the plot. It felt like the first one only happened so we could meet Tang Shen before she died and that didn’t add a whole lot of anything. It confirmed things we already knew and introduced Mikey’s love interest and that was that.

The show tried to do a thing about anti-mutant racism once, but it sure is a good thing that the only people racist against mutants were the mafia, so we don’t have to worry about making a nuanced take here. They could have done something really interesting, but then went for simple black-and-white-morality instead.

My favorite episode was when the boys played Dungeons and Dragons with a sparrow mutant.

The worst part of the show though was its fifth season. First it seemed like it would just continue from where the fourth season had left off with Shredder being revived - because like a good villain, or herpes, Shredder always comes back - by the worst looking dragon I have ever seen in my entire life, but then that arc surprisingly ended after four episodes, shocking me to my core. Almost as shocking as Donnie almost killing a guy, but then deciding not do at the very last second. Again, feels like they could have done more here, but then they didn’t.

The fifth season started with two arcs that seemed to tie up loose plot threads, like Shredder’s revival and the bug alien guy I could have sworn died when he was yeeted out of an airlock coming back to enact his grim revenge, all so Raph’s girlfriend could live on the same planet as him and then never appear on the show ever again. Also Mikey died and his brothers were sad for five seconds before going about their business and then he came back with superpowers and then he conveniently lost them at the end of the episode, because the plot doesn’t have time for things that are emotional or interesting. Then there was that time the writers were like “What if we made Yojimbo, but with anthropromorphic animals and also the turtles are there” and it existed and the Turtles added very few things to the story and then went back to their dimension and never talked about it ever again. Or the time they said “what if we made Mad Max and also everything was terrible” and so they did and Leo became a hulked up war criminal but everyone forgave him because he wasn’t himself but immediately snapped out of it after seeing his brothers and Raphael was on steroids and Donnie became a robot in what I assume was a reference to the comics where he died and became a robot and also Donnie ended up being the only one whose body died, but considering what became of his brothers, he was probably the best off? And Raph had amnesia just so he could say he had amnesia and it didn’t actually factor into the plot once because he immediately recognized Mikey. I don’t know, I hated that special.

But at least it gave me emotions. The best part of the “that time travel demon is back and trying to monster mash” arc was when I remembered that I could browse tumblr on my phone while it was on and then I didn’t bore myself to death and also didn’t miss anything of value.

The series finale was fine. Nothing to write home about, but perfectly fine, even though the show threw an awful lot of shade at the 1987 version.

I feel like the most jarring thing about the fifth season was that the show spent four seasons going out of its way to present itself as something with a cohesive narrative and a plot that goes on and on and then we get these disjointed stories, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with the story at all. Just the writers throwing some idea at a wall to see what sticks because they either didn’t have any ideas anymore, or too many, but the end result wasn’t great and I’ll recommend newcomers to stop after the fourth season, because for real.

Tiger Claw existed and he was infuriatingly capable and powerful and then his sister chopped off his arm and then he got a robot arm and that was it forever. I don’t know, some episodes felt more pointless than others, but some managed to be fun or interesting and some just added something they thought was fun and it ended up never mattering again. 

Some characters disappeared randomly, like the dove guy and I don’t care enough to ask what happened there.

Karai’s mutation being reversed off-screen was super bizarre. Sure, her being able to change at will as metal as heck, but it felt weird and incomplete and like I missed an episode. Maybe I did. It was also infuriating how her venom was a plot point in one episode and never brought up again after that.

Outside of that, I don’t have much insight to offer. Other people already exlained how the fight scenes, while nice, are not very accurate, especially the bo staff moves, or how the show is very dark, not in tone, but in actual absence of light and lots of greyscales or how most characters have singular traits rather than fleshed out personalities, especially the supporting cast. How there isn’t a lot of diversity in the human characters and how figure-hugging a lot of April’s and Karai’s clothing is (shoutout to April’s yellow shirt, it’s uncomfortable to look at, cheers) or how the female characters are frequently damselled.

I liked when the animation added personality to the characters because the writing sure didn’t think it had time for that.

All in all, it’s a mixed bag for me. It’s a fine show to watch if you have the time and it’s not all bad and I can see why people enjoy it, but it’s not for me. I liked some episodes enough to watch again, but I feel like in nine out of ten cases, I’ll opt to rewatch Rise instead because it has more of what I personally like, but I won’t think less of you if you enjoyed this version of the show. I’m not telling people that one version of the Turtles is superior to the other, just that I think it’s important to take off those rose-colored glasses and be critical of the things you consume every now and again.

But if you prefer plot-driven shows that can be surprisingly dark, you might enjoy this. Or you could watch Avatar, because it has that as well as three-dimensional characters and better worldbuilding.

Thank you for reading my way-too-long thoughts about an animated kid’s show.

[bedbellyandbeyond]

The Doc’s Patient

(Story Post)

First day back at APID, Reid was having a hard time settling in. First, since he had been covering Syd's break before, he was using Syd's office. Now that the dragon was back, he was relocated to a different, smaller office. It had been used as temporary storage and not all the boxes had been removed yet when he got there. If he was a more passive aggressive person, he'd push all the boxes out into the hall and let someone else deal with it, but that would be a hazard and he put up with the clutter so long as it didn't get in his way. He'd tell Aoife about it later, maybe, but for now, he would tolerate it. Besides, the ward seemed busier than ever and he would be spending more time on his feet than sitting in the office. As soon as he'd even logged onto the computer, he already had a visitor.

“Ah, you made it in,” Sydryn said as they stood in the doorway. “How are you?” “I'm fine,” Reid said. “You know, just getting...settled in.” “If you're ready to get started, I have some patients you could look after,” Syd said. “Aye, um...” Reid rubbed his neck. “Can I have five minutes?” “Of course.” Sydryn pulled out a tablet. “Next scheduled appointment is Mr. Cassidy in fifteen minutes. Do you think you can handle that?” “Nathan? Yes, of course.” Reid smiled, getting a little excited. He still hadn't seen Nathan since before he delivered. “How is he? How are the twins?” “Faring well, so far,” Sydryn said. “I do have another patient right now, though, but of course you can ask Nathan all about it. Room seven.” Reid nodded quickly. “Thanks, Syd. I won't keep you.” “Ta.” Syd headed back to their office. Reid knew that Sydryn didn't think highly of his work but he appreciated that they made a point of checking in and giving him a patient he liked. When he felt he was ready, he straightened his clothes and went out to room seven. As he entered, his face lit up immediately. Nathan had his back to the door as he crouched in front of the twins' stroller, trying to put a sock back on Gabriel's foot. He was talking to them quietly in an adult tone, mostly just explaining the importance of looking professional on special occasions. Reid had to clear his throat to get his attention. “Oh! Sorry, I—” Nathan stopped when he turned around, and his eyes widened when he realised it wasn't Syd. “Dr. Gardi!” “Hello,” Reid said, smiling with a bit of a wave. “It's been a minute, hasn't it?” Nathan stood up straight and smile. “You're alright!” “I'm doing better, yes,” Reid concurred. “Aoife took good care of me.” “Your hair,” Nathan pointed out. “You got a haircut.” “Yes, Aoife did it,” Reid said pushing a hand through his hair. “You got one too.” “Yeah, last time I had twists like these, I still had dark hair,” Nathan said. “I kinda like it.” “I love it,” Reid admired. “Can I say it suits you?” “Yeah, I think it does,” Nathan said. “Also, you're hairs lighter now?” Reid nodded. “Yes, my condition made it pale out like this. My beautiful red is gone...” Nathan nodded. “Seems to be a common occurrence around here. As you know, I haven't had to dye my hair since I got bit...” “The affects of trauma on the body are really something,” Reid said. “Well, I think your new hair suits you too,” Nathan said. “Thank you, I'm glad you like it,” Reid said. “Anyhow, who are these two little strangers?” “Ah, right! So...” Nathan went around behind the stroller and placed a hand on his children's heads. “This is Grace and this is Gabriel.” “So, you did go with ‘Grace' then,” Reid recalled from Nathan's choices. “As I said, ‘Grace’ was my grandmother's name,” Nathan defended. “Similarities to anyone else is strictly coincidental.” Reid threw up his hands. “Alright, I won't pry. Anyway, are you still seeing bird boy?” “Yes, Dax has been such an amazing help these last few months,” Nathan said. “And the twins love him. They just get so excited when they see him, it's beautiful.” “That's wonderful, Nathan. I'm very happy for you,” Reid said. “You seem to be doing very well. Your mood in particularly has picked up significantly.” “Yeah, well...” Nathan shrugged. “I have those days, sometimes. But I try and keep a happy face for these two, you know. I read some book that said they feed off my energy or something.” Reid nodded. “You're doing a very good job with them. They look like very happy babies.” “Well, thanks. I'm trying my best...” Nathan said. “Oh, and Wano's living with us now. He's also really good with the twins.” “Wano? The Eclulan?” Reid asked. “Yeah, um... He had a bit of an accident a little while ago,” Nathan explained. “Dax and I took him in for his recovery and to help him get out of APID for a bit.” “That's awfully kind of you,” Reid said. “So, you and Dax are living with each other?” “Um, well, sort of,” Nathan said. “Dax still technically shares a place with his roommate and he goes back there sometimes, but mostly, he sleeps over with me to help with the twins.” “Sounds like you've found yourself a keeper,” Reid said. “Hold onto a boy like him. Honestly, anyone willing to wake up at three in the morning to change a diaper for you is fit for duty.” “It's true, I think he really enjoys taking care of them. Probably more than I do if I'm being honest,” Nathan admitted. “I'm just so drained.” “Parenthood hits everyone differently,” Reid said. “But you've got a lot of helpers. Remember to take breaks when you need to.” “Yeah, thanks, doc,” Nathan said. “I know Dr. Aias was the one who helped deliver these two, but you're the doctor that got me through this. I'm really glad you're back on your feet.” “Aw, Nathan, that means a lot to me,” Reid admired. “I'm sorry I wasn't there to see you through to the end. But look at the two beauties that came of it. They're precious.” “Thanks. I still can't believe I gave birth to them,” Nathan said. “It's been quite the journey,” Reid agreed. “It has, yeah...” “So, what do I owe this appointment?” Reid asked. “Oh, just a check-up really,” Nathan said. “I'll be on wolf cycle starting tonight. You know how it is.” “Ah, of course,” Reid pulled up Nathan's last wolf cycle records. “How about we start by getting your weight and height, then we'll proceed from there?” “Okay.” Nathan followed the doctors instructions through the examination. Reid had been worried initially that he would have forgotten some of the procedure, but he'd done this so many times with Nathan before that he was practically on auto-pilot. When they were done, he was internally quite proud with himself. On the other hand, Nathan's mood had dropped slowly. At the end, he was quiet and solemn, watching his kids from the corner of his eye. “Is something wrong?” Reid asked in concern after he'd finishing washing his hands. Nathan knit his brow. “You're the only other person I really know who knew anything about...you know, their father.” “Ah, I see.” Reid sat down at the computer and crossed his legs. “Does my presence bring you poor memories of him?” “No, it's not like that,” Nathan said, shaking his head quickly. “I just, I don’t really have anyone to talk to about him who has shared experiences with him with me. I told Dax about him, but he doesn't know him. You knew him.” “That's true to an extent,” Reid agreed. “I can't say I know him as well as you, but, aye, I was there. Do you want to talk about him?” “I don't even know...” Nathan frowned. “I feel like, I'm holding back emotions I've had about him that I think I have to confront, but I'm scared of the pain it could make me feel...” “You can talk to me,” Reid said. “You don't have to, but you can if that's what you want.” “I think I need to,” Nathan said. “But, I've been here a while... You must have another patient.” Reid shook his head. “My first day back, they're pretty much letting me take my time. You could be my only patient all day if I want and no emergencies come up.” “Okay...” Nathan glanced over at the twins who were now putting their hands in each other's mouths. “I...see him in them.” Reid nodded his head slowly, taking a moment to look at the kids. “Aye, he's there.” “You're the only other person who can see it because no one else saw him...” Nathan said. “Sometimes I don't see him at all, but sometimes they'll move some way or they'll pull a face, and it catches me off guard. I just...I wish he wasn't there. I wouldn't have to think about him if I didn't see him.” “You're never going to completely forget, I don't think,” Reid said. “But the pain will subside.” “Sometimes I wish they were just Dax's kids,” Nathan said. “Then I wouldn't have to be reminded of Kent all the time.” “Well, if you keep Dax around, he'll rub off on them for sure,” Reid insisted it. “Environmental influence is a key part of child development.” Nathan nodded. “Yeah, that's true... Hey, um. Do you want to hold them?” “Oh, sure!” Reid smiled. Nathan got up and unbuckled the twins out of their stroller. He handed Gabriel to Reid first and he got the boy sat up on one knee. Then Nathan helped sit Grace down in Reid's lap as well. Grace immediately started to play with the hem of Reid's lab coat while Gabriel just stared up at the stranger holding him. “A curious pair,” Reid said happily. “They'll be bright little ones.” “Yeah, they're crawling now and getting into everything...” Nathan said. “You're a busy man, now,” Reid said. “Are you sure you don't have your hands full, considering you have Wano at home too now? Eclulans aren't the easiest to manage.” “Ah, well, I mean, yeah.” Nathan scratched his head. “I'm not gonna lie, it feels like I have three children now... But his pride makes him very helpful. He doesn't like to take things for free so he likes to clean and mind the twins and do yard work. But he refuses to change a diaper. That's the one hitch. It terrifies him.” Reid chuckled. “You win some.” “Yeah... But I think I'd rather have him with us than not,” Nathan admitted. “Now that Dax is back at work, I need the help.” “Sounds good in the end,” Reid said. “Yeah. Anyway, it's getting to their nap time,” Nathan said. “I should head out and get ready to move back into APID tonight.” “I'll come visit later!” Reid said. “I heard Sydryn got you the family suite. Very nice.” “Yeah, it's a lot easier to breathe in there.” Nathan picked up each twin and strapped them back into their stroller. “I'll see you later then. Glad to see you back on your feet.” “Glad to be back,” Reid agreed. “See you soon.” Nathan smiled and pushed the stroller to the door. “Good luck with the rest of your day.” “Thank you! Good luck with the nap!” “Oh, I'll need it. Bye!” “See you.”

[llendrinall]

(1) Draco, Harry, Hermione & Ron (aged 23) all are working on a case. Harry & Ron are Aurors. Draco & Hermione are both Healers & Unspeakables. The case is something like a bunch of Death Eater wannabes trying to resurrect the dark lord. So while busting in on their ritual all 4 are transported to their younger bodies at different times. Draco (5), Ron (7), Hermione (9), Harry (11) (The day before Hagrid comes to fetches him.)

(2) Harry and Draco were married so they use a phrase to each other so the other knows that they're the other and then plan a meet in the Room of Requirements. After confirming that Ron and Hermione (Married) are who they are too they go to the meet too. While each playing the roles they had the first time around. They then work out a plan for the war (Since Draco hasn't found a way back they plan to change things).

(3) Draco needs to play the bully/death eater and work to save the lives of the war victims. While Harry, Ron and Hermione work out the horcrux ect. Befor and during the war they secretly work to make preperations and stuff to minimize the damage while also playing their parts as school rivals. And they manage to minimize the deaths and they manage to save a lot of familiar faces. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, George ect.

(4) So after Harry kills Voldemort (He had an argument with Draco cuz Draco was worried he wouldn't come back this time) they're in the grand hall and everyone just sees the golden trio going to Draco with smiles. Ron gives him a handshake, Hermione a Hug, and shockingly Harry kisses him infront of everyone (Draco's parents are like "WTF?") And says "Told you i wouldn't die." "Shut up you bloody git". (In my head its a long fic with a LOT of stuff added. I just wanna know how you'd write this)

 Mmh, yes this would be a long plotty fic, so I won’t detail the structure, just some of the elements I would use to build it.

First, I would have them go back to exactly one month before they turn 11. There is a very nice symmetry there and we avoid having Draco too long in his child’s body. An adult Draco in a 5-year-old body would be terrifying. Lucius would just flee the country.

So they go back to 11 minus one month. Harry and Draco have 1-2 summer months to get settled and start figuring things out, Ron gets around 7 months to think about family dynamics and draft a plan to contact his friends. Hermione has a whole year plus change to rage, study and come up with a definite plan to Get Things Right.

There is a beautiful tense scene as they board the train, because Harry and Ron don’t know if their friend is their old self or their young self. They are both very cautious around each other until Harry notices the way Ron looks at Scabbers and he knows. It just takes a couple of loaded comments afterwards to recognize each other.  

Hermione barges in their compartment in her usual way and they have to drop some very heavy hints to remind her they are not alone. They can’t spook Pettigrew.  Draco comes by, stares at Harry in silence for a whole minute and then passes him a note saying he can’t find the diary and also he ordered Dobby to go serve Harry, he should be waiting in Hogwarts. It is unclear whether Draco knows this Harry is the old Harry because Draco is, and has always been, kind of odd. It took them a while to discover it, but Draco is just a bunch or random powerful ideas held together with anxiety and fire. Harry loves him so much.

They go to Hogwarts. You would think that in this timeline Harry would be the most belligerent/hostile of them, but it is actually Hermione. Hermione is a nightmare student. She has a list of one hundred and fifty names and she is going to save all of them (except maybe Dumbledore and Snape). She has no time nor attention to waste in silly classes telling her what she already knows. She only comes to class sporadically, aces all her tests and hands out beautiful neat homework that barely took ten minutes out of her day to complete. Teachers hate her (or heavily dislike her), but they can’t expel her. It’s beautiful. The twins develop a crush on her.  

Harry waits patiently until Christmas so Dumbledore can gift him the Invisibility Cloak and then announces that he is not going back to the Dursleys. Dumbledore insists. Harry says softly “by Jove, I will not” and Dumbledore thinks about that exchange for a week. He forgets about it when ten days later there is an incident in Transfiguration class and McGonagall discovers that Ron’s pet rat Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew.

(They were going to wait until Quirrell tried to steal the philosopher’s. Hermione insisted they couldn’t deviate too much of the original timeline or they would lose their advantage of knowing what was going to happen. If something was going to change, it was better to attach it to some other important event.

But Harry pointed out that it would be much easier to keep Sirius alive if he had some extra months of freedom and he didn’t have to live as a fugitive and Ron was certain that they would be fine even if they changed everything. It wasn’t just their knowledge of the events to come, it was their knowledge, period, their experience.

Ron is a man now, and adult, and he is kind of freaked out at the shenanigans they did when they were merely children. What were they thinking? Was there no competent adult to point out that were kids? It shouldn’t be up to them to rescue Sirius or Buckbeak, what in the seven hells.)

Anyway, Sirius is freed and Dumbledore is forced to explain everything about prophecies and love magic and blood protection early, because Harry insists he is going to live with Sirius. Harry agrees to go back to the Dursleys for two weeks, but Sirius has to come with him and no, he will not come as a dog, that’s demeaning. He will spend his time at the Dursleys as a human, thank you very much.

Sirius is the first adult to realize that there is something not quite right about Harry. The others had noticed that Harry was… special. But Sirius is the first one to see through, although he doesn’t know what he is seeing exactly.

Lucius still uses the Diary against the Weasleys, but this time Ron picks it up. Their first week back in Hogwarts, they all go for a nice excursion down to the Basilisk lair. They bring the Diadem, too. Harry speaks to the Basilisk and both horcruxes are destroyed.

The rest of the year is spent plotting. Draco takes on the role of the bully and plays it up to hilarious heights. He picks on everyone, and that’s everyone, except Neville and Luna. Funnily, Cedric Diggory is a big fan of him and always answers to Draco’s banter.

Draco suggests having a Duel Club to Lockhart. There has been no student attacks, of course, but Lockhart loves the idea and Draco wants the opportunity to fight Harry and make ridiculously sexually charged comments. They have five very nice duelling sessions until the curse of the DADA post acts up and professor Lockhart is unavailable the rest of the year.

(Harry tutors everyone in his year so this time people will actually now how to cast a protego. Ginny comes to the classes too and is by far his best student).

That summer, Ron has a very long chat with Percy explaining everything. Ron is now eight years older than Percy and understand why his brother fell to the Ministry and rejected his family. The Weasleys had pushed him that way, hadn’t they? Ron also understands that suddenly being nice to Percy and giving him recognition won’t work. It’s too late. But telling Percy they come from another timeline in which Fred died gets Percy’s attention immediately. Percy spends a whole weekend freaking out in silence (nobody notices, of course, and boy is Ron appalled at his family dynamics). Come Monday, Percy emerges relatively calm, all things considered. He has given himself a haircut and is resolved to infiltrate the Ministry.  

The locket is destroyed that summer. They let Sirius and Kreacher do it.

They were hoping to have all horcruxes down before Voldemort rose back, but Pettigrew escapes Azkaban and Voldemort comes back a year ahead of schedule. (Early 4th year).

Dumbledore locates the ring. Despite warnings from all of them (and Snape) he still puts the ring on and gets a curse for it. Hermione says if he is going to be like that, she will take him from her To-Save list.

Barely eight months after Voldemort comes back to power, the Ministry is full of his followers. For now, Voldemort is happy with acting from the shadows, but soon he will want more and the four of them want to avoid open war as much as possible.

Percy sends Ron Helga’s cup, broken. Ron asks how he did it in case they ever find themselves in a similar situation (new timeline and all), but Percy only says that he asked politely. That means there are only two (two? Or is it one?) horcruxes remaining. Draco decides to speed things up, before Voldemort stars his terror campaign. He tells his father than Dumbledore has a mysterious ring with an interesting crest and that’s enough to have Voldemort attack Hogwarts with all his might.

It may not seem like a good idea, but if you think about it it’s much better to have dark wizards try to take over a castle than over a cottage where a half-blood family lives. Plus, now they don’t have to sweep Britain looking for Nagini. They can see her perfectly well down in the grounds trying and failing to eat Hagrid.

The battle draws on and almost becomes a siege. The Ministry comes to help, only they help Voldemort’s side, what with being infiltrated and all.

It’s still preferable to the years of the war.

Sirius has been put under a careful and insistent treatment of “Sirius, no”, so he actually stops when he is told to, he doesn’t follow Pettigrew to a trap and he isn’t killed by Bellatrix. Well done, Sirius! Another advantage of Sirius surviving, beyond the fact that he survived, yay, is that he gets to save Snape when Voldemort decides he might not be a good double spy after all. Snape hates the idea of owing his life to Sirius. It is very entertaining.

Neville kills Bellatrix Lestrange. Luna kills Nagini (and feels bad for it, and cries, sweet Luna, may she always have a soft heart). Peter Pettigrew dies in a freak accident in which both the giant squid and the twins are involved. Cedric Diggory bullies seven Ministry wizards into switching sides.

Things are going good. There are many wounded, more than the last time, but no dead, not on their side.

Harry knows he will have to die, again. And it will have to be Voldemort. He can’t risk having anyone else cast the curse (would they even meant it?). They have changed so many things… They can’t be sure that all those changes won’t coalesce in this one instant in time. They can’t be sure that Harry will make it back.

But Harry still goes, because that’s what he has to do. He tries to make things as similar as possible, act the same way, say the same things. Maybe having Sirius and Moody and Tonks and Lupin alive and well and fighting won’t matter if Harry just follows the script on this.

But just in case it will matter, just in case Harry doesn’t come back this time, he throws some ad lib.

“Hey, Tom,” Harry says, holding his thumb between his index and middle finger. “I’ve got your nose.”

Well, at least he can be sure that Voldemort means it when he cast the curse.

 The honour of killing Voldemort falls on Hagrid this time. It isn’t pretty.

And Harry comes back. Draco forgives him just for having said that line.

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

These Violent Delights Ch. 1

Close to Home 

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Elijah Mikaelson x OC

Word Count: 2.9K

Warnings: Horrible crime references. I seriously need to look into this more before next week’s post. But not much is going on in this one. 

Author’s Note: WELCOME TO THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS! I do hope you guys enjoy this one and I am definitely looking forward to writing this out for you guys!♥

Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. ♥

<<Masterlist || Chapter 2 >>

Sirens filled the air as several cop cars surrounded the outside of the Vega household. What was once a quiet night at home had been ruined the moment the sirens blared, leaving the members of the house knowing there was nowhere to go. That their night would be anything but peaceful

The younger Vega children that were at home didn’t understand what was going on. They didn’t understand what it was that any of them had done to cause the police to enter their home. Worry filled Adriana’s face as she helped her mother hold on to her younger siblings as several officers led them outside. She and her mother understood what was going on. Her father’s life work had finally caught up with him and they were finally there for him. 

Victor Vega had his hands deep in the black market. Whatever anyone needed, Victor could easily procure it in a timely manner. For the right price of course. His morals were out the window when it came to his business. There was never a shortage of business and his family had been able to live comfortably. At least that was until he messed up, catching the attention of Mikael Mikaelson. 

While Mikael once followed the rules, he now used what he could to his advantage. His pockets bought the information he needed and it led him straight for Victor. If he could arrest someone such him, Mikael could make a name for himself on the force and he could move up the ladder as he wanted. 

At least that had been the plan. Until the search through the house came up empty. Victor had been sane enough to ensure he never brought his work home with him. While those traces had led them to Victor, the proof of possession was lacking. 

“Just tell me what you know,” Mikael said as he looked at Adriana. He had pulled her over to the side, wanting to speak with her privately. “Your father must have told you something.”

“I know nothing.” Adriana said as she crossed her arms. While there were many reasons why she had despised the Mikaelson in front of her, she hated him even more for coming to her home and disrupting her younger sibling’s sleep. “He has never pulled me into this. You would know that if you actually listened to what your son has told you.”

“My son has been wrapped into your lies for long enough that I no longer accept what he has told me.” Mikael’s eyes narrowed at her. “What he sees in you, I’ll never understand. Maybe after tonight, Elijah will actually see how much you try to protect your vile family.”

“Mikaelson!” A new voice filled the air. Another officer came up to them, someone that Adriana had never met before.  “That’s enough. She’s a kid.” 

Mikael took one last look at Adriana before walking away from her. This wouldn’t be the last time he had that conversation with her. His gut was telling him that even a child such as her would eventually find herself in plenty of situations similar to her father. 

Fifteen Years Later

The sound of metal snapping had been music to Adriana’s ears. Cutting the lock to the roof access was one of the easier tasks of the night. A small smirk pulled at her lips as tossed the bolt cutters into her bag before picking up her rifle case and headed up the last few steps to her destination.

As the cold night air reached her face, she took in a deep breath. Tonight was going to be easy money. As she walked over to the ledge of the building, her brown eyes scanned the building right across from her. The view of the high-end hotel in front of her gave her the perfect view she needed. 

Once she had the right room she needed in view, she began unloading the sniper rifle she carried with her. While she would never admit it out loud, this was one of her favorite parts of the job. To have the power to take someone’s life way without them ever knowing that they were the target. 

From years of practice, she had the rifle set up and in position in a matter of moments. Just as she moved into position, her target walked in through the door with his mistress. “Right on schedule.” She mumbled to herself. All she had to do was wait for the right moment. 

A second later, her phone began ringing. Her eye never left her target as she brought her hand up to her headset. Tapping on the button she accepted the call before bringing her hand back into position. At the beginning of the automated message, her eyes rolled. It never failed that she would be getting a call from someone in a detention facility. 

It usually meant that her next black card would come from someone that was behind bars. In Adriana’s line of work, a black card held a chip inside of it that gave her all the details she needed of her target. It gave specific routines and details that she would need to complete her task. She just wondered who it would be from this time. 

Rosa, it’s Damon. 

A huff passed her lips at the quick recording. Damon Salvatore was an old friend of hers as well as a regular client of hers. The Salvatores had given Adriana a pretty nest egg over the last few years. She could comfortably retire and live her life off on some island if she wanted. But she was still young, and she enjoyed what she did a lot more than the idea of retirement. 

“How is it behind bars, Salvatore?” She asked the moment the call connected. 

Damon’s laugh on the other end had brought a small smirk to her lips. He hadn’t changed one bit. “I bet you say that to all your inmate callers.”

“Just you, Damon.” She said as she adjusted slightly. “If I said it to everyone, it wouldn’t make you so special.”

“Careful, Rosa.” Adriana could hear the smirk in his voice. “Wouldn’t want Elena to hear you have a soft spot for me.”

A scoff passed her lips. “I’m in the middle of getting take-out. I’m assuming there was a reason you were calling me?”

A chuckle came over the phone. “What is on the menu tonight?”

“Chinese.” She watched as her target came to settle on the couch in front of the window. The exact place she had noticed from the information on the black card. Where was the challenge of someone going out of their daily routine? All she needed was for the woman that was currently entertaining him to move. 

"Sounds delicious." She could hear the teasing in his tone. "Look, I was wondering if you could pick up a kitten and drop it off in New Orleans. Elena is a little lonely, and I thought a companion would help ease that while I'm gone. She’s had her eye on this specific one for a while now." 

"Does it need to be a handoff or can I drop and run? I do have a lot of things I need to take care of starting tomorrow." At this point, she knew this was going to be a conversation of interest. The faster she could get off the phone, the better.

"Preferably a handoff." He scoffed. "Can't leave a kitten on a porch until Elena gets off of work."

"Alright. Have Blondie leave word at my office; I'll get the details once I get back." She watched as the companion moved over to the bar and began pouring herself a drink. 

"When will you be back?"

"As soon as I finish my order." She mumbled before pressing the trigger. A satisfied smirk pulled at her lips at the chaos that unfolded before her." You know it's rude to be speaking on the phone while getting ready to order.” She said as she pulled herself up from her spot. 

“Right.” She could almost see him roll his eyes at her comment. It wouldn’t have been Damon if he hadn’t. “Before I forget, put a red bow on it. Make it cute.”

Adriana laughed. “Anything else I should remember?” She asked as she began putting things away in record time before picking up the shell casing. 

“I’m sure she’ll know it's from me, but it wouldn’t hurt to tell her.” 

Her eyebrow raised at the words. That was a dangerous game, and Damon knew it. But Damon also knew it was Adriana that could pull it off flawlessly. “Want the works or short and sweet.”

“Will it hurt to do the works?”

A chuckle passed her lips. “A little extra never hurt anyone.” She said as she made her way towards the roof access. She had a usual routine when it came to ‘the works’. “Make sure Blondie gets it to me soon; otherwise, I might not be able to do it.”

“Don’t worry, Rosa. I already called her and details would be waiting for you the moment you get back from lunch.”

Without another word, Damon hung up. Or it was that his time was up. Either way, Adriana knew that with this next job, she’d be going to the one place she hadn’t been to in years. 

Home. 

_____

The light green case folder slid across the desk, pulling Elijah Mikaelson’s attention from the desktop for only a second. His eyes moved back to the screen, continuing to fill out the report he had been working on. The sound of a throat clearing was what caused him to finally stop and look away for longer than a second. 

He found Marcel Gerard standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Sighing, Elijah reached over and grabbed a hold of the file. 

"What is it now?" He asked as he started to open the file. 

"Damon made an interesting call last night." Marcel said as he leaned against the desk.  

"And?" Elijah's eyebrow raised, not bothering to look at the case notes just yet. 

“The first call he made was to Caroline Forbes.” Marcel said with a slight shrug. “Mostly to check in on his girlfriend, who was working at the time. But he asked her to deliver a package to a friend. There were no details on what the package was. At least there wasn’t until he made the second call to a burner phone.”

Elijah’s eyebrow raised as he took in Marcel’s words. “He’s making deals while behind bars.” 

Marcel shook his head. “He’s ordering hits. The transcript is in there. I was told this one holds priority.”

Elijah flipped several pages over until he found the transcripts of the calls. Just as Marcel said, Damon’s call to Caroline had been nothing too out of the ordinary. While the details of the package hadn’t been clarified, he had gotten more details out in the next phone call. 

Placing the file down on the desk, Elijah leaned back in his seat. “I would ask how Salvatore had managed to get a mercenary’s number, but this is Damon we are talking about. We’ve been after ‘Rosa’ for years and he’s been one way to get to her all along.”

Several years after Elijah joined New Orleans PD, a mercenary by the name of Rosa had started appearing in multiple intelligence reports. Corrupt politicians around the world were relying on Rosa to get several jobs done. And as the years passed, she became untouchable. No one in the world had managed to get a hold of the woman and take her in. 

Anytime someone called her, her voice had been distorted, leaving her voice unrecognizable. No matter what techs had been hired, they couldn’t fix her voice. She left no traces of her time there and there was never any DNA Evidence left behind. 

Elijah had been close to finding out who she was when he had first become Detective. He figured out the location of her next target and was ready to take her down. But just as he was about to, he was handed a more important case that focused on the Salvatore Crime Family. His priorities changed and Rosa slipped through the cracks. 

Marcel sighed. “Your sister said that would be the only  fact you focused on.”

Elijah’s eyebrow raised. “Is there something I’m missing?”

“Rosa is coming to New Orleans to take down a target. The only one who has pissed of the Salvatores recently has been you.” Marcel hoped that his words would register in his mind this time.

Elijah shook his head and chuckled. “You think I’m the target?”

“Rebekah believes so. And if Damon hired Rosa, it’s not going to be something you see coming.” Marcel didn’t like the thought of it, but it was something that needed to be discussed. 

Elijah thought for a moment. Rebekah had reason to worry. He had dismantled the Salvatore family in more ways than one. The Salvatore Brothers were both sitting in two different Prisons. The girlfriends were the only ties to the organization. Both of them had currently been under surveillance. 

If Rosa was hired to take him out, Marcel was right. He wouldn’t see it coming. That was proven several times over the years. Every one of her targets never saw it coming. Her Mo was different each time, making it harder to decipher if it was her or not. The choice of death was always asked by the person that hired her. 

With that thought in mind, he pulled the file back to him. His eyes scanned the transcript. If it was for him, he needed to know what was the choice. As he scanned over the transcript, a small smirk pulled at his lips. “I’ll see it coming.”

“Excuse me?” Marcel asked wanting to be sure he had heard Elijah correctly. 

“If I am the intended target, I’ll see it coming.” He held out the file to Marcel. “She asked if it would be a handoff or a drop and run. Salvatore replied with a handoff. It means he wants her close and personal with the intended target.”

“Elijah, this could be anyone.” Marcel hated that at this moment Elijah was being stubborn about this. While he understood that hiding away wasn’t the best option, it was going to make things difficult. “Waiters, bankers, anyone that we may come into contact in our daily lives and you wouldn’t know the difference.”

“She works based off of routine.” Elijah reminded him. “If I stick to the same places and faces, this will work in our favor.”

“You really want to do this?” Marcel asked as he pointed a finger to the file. “He asked her to put in the works as well. That could be anything. If it’s an in-person encounter, she has an unlimited amount of ways she could do this.”

“I’m taking this as a challenge, Marcel. One that I’m surprised you aren’t taking. We’ve been after Rosa for years and now that we have a target close to home, you want to back out.” Elijah understood the risks. His whole job was about risks. But he wasn’t about to lay low out of fear. He’d rather face it head-on. 

“Are you crazy?” Rebekah asked as she walked into the office. She had heard the tail end of the conversation. She wasn’t about to have her brother go through with his crazy ideas. “I would expect this from Nik, but not you Elijah.”

An amused looked formed on Elijah’s face at his sister’s words. “I’ve been in worse situations than this one. Say, for instance, actually taking down the Salvatores.”

“Bloody hell,” Rebekah said as she ran her hand down her face. “You had a bulletproof vest on. Are you going to walk around with one on all day until she is caught?”

It was Marcel’s words that shocked them both. “He’s got a point, Bex. This is a case that we haven’t solved in years. She’s still out there because we started working on the Salvatore case. I’ve always been wondering who’s the face we are supposed to put on the wanted poster.”

Rebekah looked between the two men in front of her. She shook her head and threw her hands up. “Fine, but we are making your life a case out of it. You will have your team on standby any time you go out. I want surveillance on Forbes up until the handoff.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Marcel said with a smirk. Rebekah rolled her eyes and walked out of the room at that. “Remind me how she’s your boss when she’s your family?”

Elijah chuckled. “As many times as I’ve mentioned she’s my sister, they never quite believe it. If there is anyone to ask about why, I’d say it has something to do with Mikael.”

Marcel shook his head slightly. “I bet she’s already out there getting people on it.”

“No doubts about that.” Elijah said with a nod. “Why don’t we get Niklaus on surveillance. I’m sure he wouldn’t lose sights of Forbes.”

Marcel threw his head back with a laugh. “100 says he’ll get smacked from attempting to get her number.”

“Lets make it more interesting. 200 that we’ll get a call about it.” Elijah said as he stood from his desk and grabbed his jacket.

There was a lot of work ahead of them. If things were going to work in their favor, there was a lot of prep work that needed to be done. From experience, Elijah knew there was going to be long nights ahead of them. Especially if Rosa was coming into town.  And this time, He wasn’t going to be letting her slip through the cracks again.

<<Masterlist || Chapter 2 >>

Always & Forever Tag: @taylordrunkonwhiskey​ @thewolf-and-thesheep​ @wayward-dan​ @neeadinghugs​ @fafulous​ @kenmen02​ @elizamonet​ @dora-the-grownup​ @mschellehitt​ @xanderling​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​ @buckysarm4​ @hi-my-name-is-riley​ @helenasingers​ @alka16555​ @yaniiie​

These Violent Delights: @asiaaisa77​ @kpopgirlbtssvt​ @winchestert101​ @deni-gonzalez​

Stag Tag:   @elejah-wonderland​  @xxsovereignsarayaxx​ @asiaaisa77​ @astudyoftimeywimeystuff​

The Originals Tag: @zillahvathek​ @obsessedwithvampires​ @alien-sida

Bold Tags mean for one reason or another I cannot tag you. If you would like to be added, or taken off, any of the lists please let me know. ♥

[whatisthiscontentyouspeakof]

Guardian of Light

So for anyone wondering, I don’t have an update schedule at all, just posting when I feel like it, mostly to avoid going to bed. This chapter gives you some information and a flashback to Marinette’s past before she was found unconscious in Paris. 

Would it be helpful to you guys if I put Marinette’s age at the beginning of each section so you have an idea of how much time has past between each part of the story.

AO3  First  Previous Next

Chapter 4: First Days

(Age 3)

Marinette was used to her colourful bedroom so when she awoke in a room that was completely white she was confused. There was no blue ceiling with fluffy white clouds and glow in the dark star stickers, no lush green mountains or fields with fun little animals running around, no giant stuffed animals or anything of the other things that were in her room.

Confused, she was about to call out for her Maman and Papa when she remembered the birthday party in the park and the strange man that had taken her away. Tears started to form in her eyes as the fear came back.

“None of that now.” A voice said. Marinette turned her head to see the man who had taken her standing in the rooms’ doorway. “Crying is for the weak and the weak are unacceptable here.”

“I want to go home,” Marinette said. A part of her wanted to suck on her thumb but that was something babies did and she was three. Not to mention she had a feeling that if crying wasn’t allowed, then neither was thumb sucking.

“Whining is unbecoming of a young lady such as yourself,” The man said. “As for going home, there is no need; this is your home now, Niu.”

“Niu?” Marinette repeated, having never heard the word before. The man had pronounced it ‘nee oo’.

“Your name,” the man said.

“My name is Marinette,” she told him, confused. He had called her it in the park after all.

“That was the name of a weakling, of someone insignificant and worthless,” The man’s voice was cold and mean sounding. “Niu is your name now. You will respond to it. You will not ever respond to Marinette ever again. If you do not follow either of these rules, you will not like what happens. Failure is not acceptable here. Marinette is dead as of today. In her place stands Niu, someone who will be worth something, who will make a difference in the world. From this day on, you will be training with me and the other Guardians so that you can reach that goal. When you are done with your training and have shown us that you are worthy of the title of Grand Guardian you will be able to earn your own name.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Guardian Zhu. I will be your teacher from this point forward. To fail or to be weak here isn’t just a short coming on your part but it also negatively affects me. As such, I expect nothing but perfection from you. If you do not perform to perfection then you will have to face the consequences, and trust me when I say, you will not like them. Now get up. It is time to eat and then I will be showing you what chores I will be expecting you to do every day upon waking.”

Marinette’s chest felt like lead. She swallowed before swinging her legs over the bed and standing up. She walked over to Guardian Zhu, her head looking down at the ground as her heart pounded; her entire body trembling as she walked.

Guardian Zhu whipped around, his hand reaching out and slapping her straight across the face. Marinette fell to the ground, one hand reaching up to touch her face in shock. “You will answer me with a ‘yes Master’ when I speak to you.” Guardian Zhu said sternly.

Marinette looked up at him, her heart pounding. “Yes Master,” she whispered.

(Age 12)

Marinette walked calmly down to the bakery, her parents already down there and working for the day. She would have normally been down there, learning their trade the same way she had every other day, but today marked the first day of school for her. Her parents informed her that she had been in school and with her class the day she was taken but as far as she could remember she had only been taught by a parade of different tutors from across the world. The largest group of peers she had learned with had been four, and that had only been on the one occasion, with most of her other classes either being just her, her and Nuri, or her, Nuri and his cousin, though it was rare that Mara was allowed to learn with them. The rest of the Fist weren’t allowed to ever train with her or Nuri since they were seen as so below them. Never had she been in a class full of strangers.

“Morning Marinette,” Her father greeted from where he was kneading some dough.

“Morning Tom,” she greeted. She and her parents had agreed that it was a bit too soon for her to call them anything but their names. She was waiting for some sort of ‘special’ occasion to call them by any paternal nicknames, though she was unsure if she would ever truly view them as her mom or dad. She wished she could talk to Nuri about this. He would know what it was like to suddenly find himself living with a biological parent that was more stranger than parent.

“Are you ready for your first day of school?” Sabine asked her, having just finished ringing up a customer. The only one that had been in the bakery. The calm before the breakfast rush.

“I have all the suggestion supplies and a few of my own,” Marinette told her. She wasn’t sure what she expected from classes, she didn’t need them after all since she was guaranteed to be farther ahead in her own studies, but they were going to make her seem like a normal kid. She just had to remember to get a question wrong every once in a while and not to see eager to answer questions.

“I meant mentally, sweetie,” Her mother said.

Marinette shrugged, something that would have gotten her smacked at the very least if she’d done it at the Temple or League, but was something she’d seen Chloe do regularly enough that she assumed it was something common among Paris school children. “I see no reason not to be ready. It’s school. I listen to teachers talk about subjects, I socialize, I eat, I go back to class, I come back here.”

Sabine just smiled at her like she was missing something. Why would she be nervous about school of all things? It’s not like she was scaling a cliff wall during an earthquake without any equipment. “If you get overwhelmed or anything like that you can come home right away and we’ll let the school know you weren’t feeling well or something,” Sabine offered.

Marinette smiled at her and thanked her for the offer even though she was sure she wouldn’t need it. It was the polite thing to do after all.

“Here’s your lunch,” Tom said, handing her a stack of tupperware. She placed it in her bag and looked up to see her father handing her a box with the bakeries logo on it. “A little treat to share with your classmates on the first day of the year.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said smiling up at her father. He just offered her the perfect chance to get to know her classmates and decide which ones would be the most useful to be on friendly terms with.

Marinette was about two steps out the bakery doors when a limo pulled up long the crub. The window rolled down to reveal Chloe.

“Get in,” she said.

“The school is literally across the street,” Marinette protested. “Why don’t you get out and walk?”

“Because I’m wearing heels,” Chloe said. Marinette couldn’t really argue against that. Even the Temple didn’t make her wear heels unless absolutely necessary.

Marinette climbed into the limo, realizing there was someone else in the limo. “Hi I’m Marinette,” she said, putting her hand out for the other girl, a red head, to shake.

The girl gripped her hand, firm and professional. “I’m Sabrina Raincomprix. Sorry we haven’t met yet but I’ve been with my mom in Scotland. Divorced parents and all that. But Chloe told me how she made a new friend. I can’t wait to get to know you.”

Marinette smiled at the girl. “Same.” she said politely.

She looked the girl over noting that she looked a bit uncomfortable in her skin, though Marinette couldn’t tell if that was because she was self-conscious or she wasn’t comfortable in the clothing she was wearing. She’d bet that Chloe had picked this girls outfit out for her the same way she had for Marinette. Not that Marinette minded; it gave her a better idea of youth fashion in Paris.

Sabrina was wearing a pair of purple flared dress pants with a blue button up and dark grey blazer. Her shoes were mainly white with black toe covers, laces and soles. She had a white headband in her hair and a pair of red toned brown glasses sitting on her nose.

Chloe, on the other hand, wore an outfit of black and yellow. Actually, Marinette couldn’t think of a time in which the heiress wasn’t wearing black and yellow. At least it made buying gifts on her birthday easier if Marinette went the clothing route. She wore a black pleated skirt with balck tight and black belt. She wore a ¾ sleeve yellow shirt topped with a shiny black tie. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and with a pair of black sunglasses sitting on top of her head. Her heels were black with gold little bobbles that suggested buttons, and red underbottoms hinting to their designer origins.

Marinette had decided to wear the outfit Chloe had sent her. One, she was still trying not to rock the boat, and two, Chloe would know better than her what would be popular to wear on the first day of school. Marinette could study all she wanted but there were only things you could learn first hand. She wore a dress which had two different colours, separating the top and the bottom to give the appearance of her wearing a skirt and top. The skirt of the dress was royal blue in a half circle style. A black belt, it was really just a strip of fabric sewn into the dress, sat just below her waist, creating a drop waist silhouette. The top of the dress was also black with ¾ sleeves and a large curved neckline. Chloe had sent her a pair of black kitty heels but she had decided to wear flats and her hair was pulled up into what would be a ballerina bun if Marinette’s hair wasn’t several feet long, the layers in her hair creating a messier, more teenage, version to the perfect bun of professional ballerinas.

The limo pulled up to the curb in front of the school. The three of them got out and Chloe’s driver pulled away. Sabrina and Chloe started to head into the building but Marinette grabbed Chloe’s arm before she could get too far away.

“Why does this place feel familiar?” she asked the blond, the only person outside of her parents who knew of her kidnapping and knew her before it had happened.

Chloe looked at her paling a bit as she came to a realization. “Our old school, where we attended Maternelle, used to be here. They bulldozed it the year after you were taken,” CHloe whispered to her. “They built this school here last year when they decided to decrease class sizes in Paris and needed another school.”

“Oh,” Marinette said. After a moment she shrugged. “Hey, what better way to start a new chapter of your life then to close an old one.”

(Age 13)

There was an energy in the air when Marinette awoke that had not been there before. Something was going to happen today, she just knew it.

Marinette glanced over at the clock seeing that there were only a few minutes left until her alarm would go off and decided to get up anyways, knowing she could just say she was excited to start the school year if her parents made a comment. She didn’t know what they had against her waking up so early, they were bakers after all, but she tried to seem like she was sleeping in during the school year. She’d already been up at the wee hours of the morning to go for a run, both on the ground and across the rooftops. She wasn’t about to let herself get out of shape.

Marinette got dressed for her first day of class, slipping on the outfit that Chloe had picked out for her, once again gifting her and Sabrina with new clothing for the first day of school. Unlike the year before, Marinette’s style no longer shifted towards dark clothing, instead taking on a brighter and more colourful and inviting colour scheme, finding that it helped her fit in more and make her seem kinder and more inviting instead of cold and aloof. Not to mention she no longer had a tactical advantage with wearing darker colours that she needed to concern herself with.

This year Chloe had gotten her a pastel pink chiffon floor length skirt, something Marinette would never have picked for herself, but found herself liking it. It was also easy to hide her throwing daggers beneath the flowing skirt. She wore a whtie tank top that she did some white on white embroidery on since the outfit had arrived a couple of days before school started and she wanted to experiment with something new. She wore a light grey fisherman rib knitted sweater over it, which had actually been a hand knitted gift from Sabrina for her birthday. Judging by the texture of the yarn it was cashmere, and had likely been bought by Chloe. She had slept with curlers in her hair, leaving her hair in a nice wave before she pulled it back into one of her favourite styles, a messy bun. It hid the true length of her hair well and kept it out of her face while she worked, the messy nature making her seem more like a busy youth.

After a quick breakfast Marinette heads off to school, a box of Macarons from her dad for her to share with her classmates. She had convinced Chloe that they could just meet at school this year instead of having the blond pick her up in a limo, which meant she had to follow things like crosswalk lights, the one leading from her parents bakery to the school having just turned red when Marinette arrived. Sighing, she moved into a more relaxed position to wait only to see an old man half was across the street and a car speeding towards him.

Not about to let an old man be squished, it would put a bad spin on her day and she didn’t feel like dealing with the police, Marinette rushed forward and grabbed the man by the arm. A slight spark went through her and she glanced down spotting a bracelet on a leather string with a turtle in the middle. The spark that had come from the man could have been static shock but Marinette had trained long and hard enough to know what it felt to make contact with someone else who had trained to be a Guardian. This was the man who had all but destroyed the Order of Guardians, running off with the First Miracle Box and apparently wielding the Turtle Miraculous.

Marinette dropped her pastry box, making it appear as if she had stumbled a bit as the two of them made it safely back onto the sidewalk, reaching into her pocket to grab a tiny tracker that would look to the untrained eye to be a small pebble and slipped it into the man's pocket. She couldn’t let on that she had sense anything different about him but she wasn’t about to let him get away.

Marinette picked her dessert box off the ground hoping she hadn’t destroyed too many of the delicate macarons with that little trick before offering the man one out of politeness before crossing the street with a quick ‘stay safe’. If she found out where the man worked, most Guardians were to be self employed, she could ‘stumble’ upon it and try to gain the man's trust, at least until she found where the First Miracle Box was and could claim it, though it would be better if she could manipulate the old man into giving it to her since it would create a stronger bond right off the bat. She would stop at nothing to get the box however, even if it meant taking years to create a strong enough bond with the box and the Kwami’s inside. After all, the only reason the Guardians had not tried to contact her or bring her back to the Temple was because of their belief that unseen powers brought things to be and that one of those unseen powers was one of the reasons Marinette reunited with her parents and thus there must be a reason that she had to stay in Paris. Reclaiming the First Miracle Box and becoming Grand Guardian was her destiny and now she knew for a fact that it was in Paris, within miles of her, and she’d rather die than let it slip through her fingers then fail her destiny.

Heading over to the school, Marinette pushed thoughts of the First Miracle Box from her mind, instead focusing on being just Marinette, the daughter of two bakers. She smiled as she climbed the school steps instantly spotting Chloe standing just inside the entrance.

“I thought I’d have to make my way to our classroom before I found you,” she told the heiress. “What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for you obvious,” Chloe said, lying to her. Marinette decided not to push it at the moment, mainly because the bell for them to head to class sounded, and she had all over lunch to interrogate her friend.

The world was apparently against her finding out what Chloe was lying to her for because after their first class during their study period, a massive crash sounded around the school. The surveillance showed one of her classmates, Ivan, transformed into a stone being. Marinette could have waved off the sudden attack as one of a pissed off Meta the way a lot of her schoolmates were doing, but with the meeting between her and the shameful Grand Guardian trainee had her thinking it was all too much of a coincidence for it not to all be Miraculous related.

Marinette made her way home and up to her room to formulate a plan on how she could be involved without bringing unwanted attention to herself but the second she stepped into her room she sensed something off. A quick glance around the room showed that someone had been up there and had left a black box on her desk. Someone who wasn’t her parents since they’d be too busy with the bakery to step out.

Slowly approaching the box, Marinette started going over all the possibilities of what the box could be when she saw a familiar symbol, one she had seen all her life.

The symbol of the Order of Guardians

A miraculous box was sitting on her desk.

Stepping forward she picked up the box and opened it, closing her eyes so as not to be blinded by the bright light that it omitted as the Kwami inside formed its physical body.

She opened her eyes and had to blink, not quite believing what she was seeing.

“Hello Marinette, you are the only one who can stop Stoneheart and save Ivan and the rest of Paris,” The Kwami, the Scarab Kwami, said looking up at her with wide eyes.

She was chosen to be the next Scarab wielder.

Well shit, she hadn’t been this put off by a surprise revelation since she’d woken from the coma to find her birth parents waiting for her. Who knew that this was how the day was going to go.

Next

Tag List

@ertyzeta

@miraculousbella

@mochegato

@how-to-fuction-properly

@clumsy-owl-4178

@nach0ava

@laurcad123

@wannajointhecrabcult

@diamondjewel123

@fantasyislive

@lovemidnighteclipse12

@marinettepotterandplagg

@lilyreadbooks12

@readingalldaysleepingallnight

@sassakitty

@lavenderjunes

@depressedrainbowcake

@maybe-nonsense

@chocolateherringtacofan

@maybe-nonsense

[crqstalite]

crisis.

so! i got tagged for wip weekend, which if you’ve tagged me before, i rarely have one to give lol. except this was already a wip i’d started a long while ago that i never got around to properly finishing. then i read it over before submitting and decided it needed some editing -- and then it got finished at some point in the last half an hour or so. 

so everyone gets some post!alchera feelings for the shep sisters of mine.

tagged by @ljandersen (ty!) and tagging @ripley95things + @actualanxiousswampwitch + @that-wasnt-so-bad + @purple-hawke :D

cw for a major character death.

2183.

It starts like any other day. Wake up, eat something in the mess quick, check in with the nurse to make sure her implant wasn't trying to kill her, get to work. It was never odd, never shifting into something else. Sure maybe she threw in a late wake up, or no breakfast at all, or an absence or two to fool around somewhere, but it always loosely adhered to it. She could predict every single day, and just how much she could press buttons before something broke.

It comforted her, being so far away from home -- though she'd never admit that, lest someone take advantage of her comfort. L2s didn't exactly have it easy, and those like her (the ones that were 'special' and 'hand picked for their willpower' as children for what she'd refer to as experiments, were all young when they received their implants) rarely had it easy. The schedule at least gave her some semblance of purpose.

That's what she does. It's Tuesday afternoon, just after lunch. Her omni-tool had been buzzing with unanswered texts for ages now -- maybe about the party that was supposed to be after lights out tonight. She doesn't check, it doesn't matter. Lounging around the classroom until the instructor got there, with her feet up on the desk. There's a hearty laugh spilling out of her mouth, other students around her enjoying the quips she throws out like fishing lines. A hand running through her hair, her sides sore as she pulls it back. The door clicks open behind her as she rushes to pull her feet down, clattering the datapad back on the desk. The room falls silent, a stylus falling to the ground but no one daring to pick it up.

The usual instructor. Grey hair in a tight bun. Cleanly pressed uniform, buttons shiny unlike her own that was missing two. She holds her breath, she's about to get that biting tone for her boots not being clean enough to eat off of. Or maybe something that they'd cackle about in the dormitory a few hours from now. Except she has an ashen look on her usually steeled face, searching the students until piercing grey eyes land on her. A cold sweat starts, a bead running her forehead. That, did not look like she was going to get on with the class period, "Miss Velasquez? You're, needed in the front office."

The woman's voice cracks. Her anxiety only grows in the pit of her stomach -- what had she done now? Had her parents finally found out that she'd been skipping the biotic advisory courses? Or the failing tech class she'd needed to pull up before the next break? This woman had done nothing but cause her problems since she enrolled here, why did she look so nervous? Would she be that sad that she'd be leaving her class, or stars forbid, the school?

How often did Grissom expel students? Being one of the only places that even took biotic students, much less someone like her, could they even afford to expel them and then deal with the rogue biotics that resulted?

(Not that she would go rogue -- she didn't have enough control over her biotics to even think about it without getting a bloody nose and one hell of a headache)

Citlali chooses her next words very carefully, her tongue feeling like sandpaper against the dry leather of the roof of her mouth, "Did Principal Sanders say why she needed to see me?"

The older woman bites her lip, trying not to avert her gaze, "Only that she needed you, now. Bring your bag, your dormitory will be cleared out in the next few days."

Her heart drops, ears filling with static. Clearing out her dormitory? Had she finally flunked the algebra class? Were they expelling her for being late so many times? Leaving the school, now? When she was so close to getting certification to serve on a cruiser with the Alliance? She drops her gaze to her desk, flopping her head into her hands and trying to process all the thoughts bouncing around in her head. A moment later, she picks up her bag by the strap, throwing it over her shoulder. Oliver mouths a goodbye.

"Do you know why I'm leaving, ma'am?" Her voice is small, throat tight, "Not that I don't love the early vacation, but not sure I want to be gone so quickly." A rough chuckle to keep her emotions in check.

"It's..." A steel glance around the room before she sighs, "It's about your sister. Your parents want you home. Principal Sanders has told me not to expect you back for the rest of the semester, or the next."

Home?

Sister?

Shit.

Something had happened to Kodelyn.

No, wait. Don't panic, it made her nauseous and her parents had drilled it into her as a child. It was okay, all of it was. There was nothing to worry about, nothing to make herself sick over. She had none of the facts and all of the possible answers.

It was okay.

Maybe she was finally settling down, with that not-so-bad-looking lieutenant from the SR-1. Wedding maybe? That'd make sense, right? It would be a little odd that it would be right in the middle of their cruise around the Terminus for leftover Geth, but it made sense. It totally made sense. Even though Kodee was rarely spontaneous.

Citlali doesn't want to consider the alternative. If there even is an alternative. Right. Keeping her chin up. No reason in being doomsday-ish. Military life was dangerous, but no more dangerous than being alive was.

Right. Her parents were only pulling her out of school because maybe they're going to be moving somewhere else, and her complaints about Grissom (and the focus on her biotics) had finally hit decidedly not-deaf ears. Yeah, of course. She was probably getting enrolled in a normal school, a flight school if she's lucky.

Except, when she glances at the secretary just outside Sanders' office after the much too short of a walk to the administrative section, the man's face falls, hurrying to let the Principal know she was there while almost tripping over himself. He looks as if he wants to say something, but then reconsiders immediately afterwards. She gives him a rough nod, before stepping into the office.

Don't panic.

Her heart sinks as soon as she enters. Her mother's face is one without emotion, eyes glued to the wall behind the desk, her father with his head in his hands. Sanders is the only one to look at her proper, a sad smile on her face.

There's a vid playing in the background. If she knows any better on first glance, it's the Captain (Councilor, apparently) that Kodelyn had served with just before the investigation with Saren began. Though, the reason he's giving a speech on the extranet is...odd. And worrying.

Don't panic.

"Mom..." She starts before her mother stands from her chair, "What's going on? If it's because I'm flunking algebra, I just need a couple weeks to get it back up to a passing grade. It's fine. I-I can study here."

"Mi princesa," Her father's voice is just as rough as her's, she recognizes it as the one he had when she'd been injured that one time, the way he'd been when she been hospitalized all those times ago. Sad...scared, "We could not care less about your grades."

"A-And the Advisory Course! I can start attending those again, the nurse says I'm good to go, and I won't skip them anymore, I promise!" She says earnestly, heart rate rising as her mother nears her. She's in her uniform, which rarely happened if she didn't visit Grissom immediately after a posting. Her mother wasn't on a posting this week, she was home. She should've been.

Why was she in her uniform then?

Don't panic.

"No..no..no, Mom what happened? Mrs. O'Brian said this was about Kodee. What's going on?" Her heart is racing, thumping like a drum beneath her chest, the feeling of nausea climbing up her throat, "She's home? Right? And we're going back to Earth, right?"

Citlali can't stop talking the more and more she panics, words tumbling out to cover up her own pessimistic thoughts. She doesn't even want to glance at the screen when her mother wraps her arms around her tightly, allowing Citlali to bury her head in her chest. The words catch in her chest when her father does the same to both of them. She can't even voice what she's truly thinking.

She doesn't want to. She doesn't want to hear her mother say anything. Nothing at all.

"Your sister isn't coming home, Citlali." A whisper by her mother as Citlali is sure her heart stops upon hearing the words cross her mother's lips with a shaky breath following, "She..."

"No! No, she can't be! She's not gone, she promised to introduce me to..to Kaidan when she came back! She promised to take me around the Citadel after the cruise was over! She-she promised to show me the Normandy!" Tears are spilling out of her eyes, clutching onto the back of her mother's uniform like her life depended on it, her own disbelief pressing down on her lungs as if to suffocate her, "Don't say it! Please don't say it!"

"An attack over Alchera, somewhere out in the Terminus. From what we know...she gave her life for everyone else on the Normandy." Her father's voice is nearly drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in her ears, sobs pushing their way out before she can clamp down on them. Her legs weaken beneath her while her eyes burn, "We're going home, princesa. There are...preparations we need to make."

"No! She can't be! She can't, mom please, someone must have seen her, right? Must've known she was...was in an escape pod or something, mom!"

"There's nothing I can say, love. I wasn't overseeing that operation, and the Normandy was destroyed in the attack. All we have to go on is Lieutenant Alenko's report. She wasn't with them for the days they spent on the planet afterwards and no one just...survives that." Her father pulls away so that her mother can lift her head to look at her.

Citlali doesn't want to. Her sister, Kodelyn, is a carbon copy of their mother. All she sees is her sister in her face, and she only cries harder. Her mother wipes away what tears she can, her calloused hands holding her face by her cheeks while her sobs wrack her body.

"We'll be clearing out your dorm before we leave, love. You can stay home as long as like, as long as you need." Her deep brown eyes are only radiating love, comfort, but a line of liquid is beginning to form at the corners of her own eyes, "Mrs. Sanders, surely you'll be able to handle the students knowing? I wouldn't want Citlali harassed for information."

"Of course, Admiral Shepard. I will do my very best if that is what you wish," She responds, "I am so, so very sorry. She was a remarkable woman, and she will be missed."

"She's not dead!" The word is a hurdle to get over, trying to tie it to Kodee, her sister so very full of life the last time she'd seen her. To imagine some Geth, some stupid AI had ripped her out the galaxy destroys a part of her, "She can't be!"

"Love...please. I know it's hard to accept, but it's what we know. And that is simply what it is. There is nothing we can do now but simply remember her as she was. Your sister, our daughter, and an inspiration to a galaxy," Her father comes back into a view with his own bag slung across his shoulder while her mother bites her bottom lip, a rogue tear slipping down her scarred cheek, "Denying it will do nothing."

Citlali has no words anymore.

"You and your mother go ahead to the shuttle. I'll get the things from your dorm." Her father whispers, gently squeezing her shoulder, his own eyes rimmed red. Dry from his own crying, she's sure.

The headline scrolls across the vid when she pulls away from her mother, it scrolls across her datapad, it scrolls across her own mind, burned into her memory. Her brother has a similar reaction, though is stuck in shock for weeks afterwards. The family is never quite the same afterwards, she doesn't remember her mother ever being home this often -- she doesn't remember ever being home this long, ever being in one spot, ever being on Earth so long.

Citlali doesn't ever remember a day that she was home and didn't receive a call from her sister, Citlali doesn't remember going months without having her sister home. Unlike her brother and father and mother, she sits in the middle of Kodelyn's old room, terrified that she'll lose her scent and start forgetting things about her. Just what her favorite color was, or how she used to speak, how she used to comfort her after something bad had happened or after a discharge from the hospital when she was younger. How it felt to be hugged by her, how it felt just to be with her.

She's scared she'll start forgetting about her older sister.

Citlali remembers crying for ages, wrapped in Kodelyn's old N7 sweatshirt until she can't. Then it's simply dry heaving, dry sobs.

The crew's names are like leaves in the wind to her during the funeral. She remembers little more than the fact there'd been a Quarian, a Turian, a Krogan and an Asari among them. She remembers Kaidan a little better, but moreso how his dark eyes only reminded her of her own. After that, she doesn't remember seeing him again.

Citlali remembers once saying the galaxy didn't revolve around Kodelyn Shepard.

She realizes that Kodelyn Shepard was her galaxy. And her galaxy had just fallen apart.