#if this happened while they were in paris i would have yelled about it too /but it didnt/

[jessiesjaded]

"Why are you specifically bringing up America when other western countries can also be racist and xenophobic" cries the american when the topic at hand is about US AMERICANS AT A US AMERICAN EVENT BEING RACIST TO NON-AMERICANS. like yeah sure, bring up the west but only to deflect from taking accountability for your own cunt behaviour, yuh huh.

[seongclb]

PARIS IN THE RAIN ! pjs

pairings jay x reader genre fluff warnings none wc 901 ( 1K SPECIAL ) ♩paris in the rain by lauv note v cheesy ik x

the rain wasn’t exactly heavy; annoying would be the perfect word to describe it. the thin droplets had seemed almost insufferable now — hours of endless rain only for it to be thin droplets had you questioning the point of it.

it was such a miserable day already, the rain adding to it was just the cherry on top. watching the beads of rain trickle along the side of your hotel window, you couldn’t help but wonder how things were back in your hometown with your boyfriend. your great, amazing, handsome boyfriend who you missed so greatly at this current moment in time. the rain had usually been something the two of you had cherished since it was perfect weather to snuggle up under the covers at home. but no, you were stuck in paris right now, alone with the question of what he was up to and if he missed you even a fraction of the amount that you missed him.

jay wasn’t usually the type to make it known though, he wasn’t reserved but his love was shown in forms of care and right now he couldn’t show it when he was kilometres away.

sighing, you sat back in your bed where there was a direct view to the eiffel tower. it was brilliant; being able to see such a sight from your bed wsd truly something. just not enough. not enough to cure the small void that was longing to be with him right now.

after hours of attempts to distract yourself by drowning in piles of work, you picked up the phone to call him. it was time for your evening call, which was practically the only thing getting you through the long business trip.

ring after ring, until you received his voicemail. furrowing your eyebrows, you called again but to no avail. that was unusual, you’d thought to yourself.

the time was currently half past ten which meant it was six thirty am where jay was — the expected time that the pair of you had agreed you’d speak until you returned to korea.

perhaps he was still sleeping? or had a busy schedule?

you tried coming up with multiple scenarios to explain why he hadn’t called back but each of them had driven you up the wall even more; jay would have called. he knows better than to not since he’s well aware of how insane you’d get without it.

despite the night going on, your nerves hadn’t calmed down. even when your phone rang through the room with his name across your screen. picking it up instantly, you prepared to yell at him until the sound of his voice filled your ears.

“honey?” jay called.

with a frown etched on your face, you responded, “jay, are you okay? you didn’t call earlier.”

hearing him chuckle on the other side of the line made your heart ease slightly, “i’m okay, i just got caught up with something.”

before you’re given the chance to question him, there are a few taps on the door.

“wait, i think the hotel staff are here,” you say to him, as you get up to answer the door.

the staff stand at the door, looking panicked, “we’re so sorry, but we need you to evacuate the hotel immediately.”

panic courses through your veins instantly and you struggle to pull your jacket and shoes on while explaining to jay that you haven’t got a clue what’s happening, only that you’re being rushed out.

ending the call quickly, you follow the staff members to the lobby as they usher you outside.

within a split second of opening the door, your senses are overwhelmed with the presence of your boyfriend standing in the rain in front of the hotel with a bag of your favourite flowers in one hand and what looks like your favourite snacks in the other.

there’s about a million things running through your brain, yet not a single word can come out to form them.

“i heard it was raining in paris. it’s raining in korea, too. i had to see you,” jay breathes out, taking big steps towards you.

you finally break into a smile, “how? what? when? what?”

jay laughs, pulling you into a tight hug. the thin droplets of rain that seemed so annoying earlier didn’t bother you in the slightest now. the only thing your being was focused on was being in his arms. jay snakes an arm around your waist and presses a long kiss onto your forehead.

“i got the hotel staff to trick you so you could get out of the room,” jay grins. “i missed you,” he whispers, his wet hair stroking your face gently.

the corners of your lips only rise further, “i missed you way more.”

jay shakes his head to protest against you before meeting your lips in a loving kiss, with his hands on your waist to pull you in even closer. the kiss is sweet, full of warmth and adoration.

there’s not a single care about the rain; despite the fact that you’re both likely to get sick.

it only means you’ll be spending more time snuggled together in the rain; even if it’s in paris. it doesn’t matter as long as he’s with you.

୨ৎ — req by @jongsie ! ( list a, prompt 5 )

i hate this but i hope u enjoy <3 fluff isn’t my strong suit sorry

[scenteddelusion5]

"Two households, both unalike in dignity, In our unsightly hell, where we lay our scene," PART 3

Vox x gn reader (Alastor's child)

Note: sorry for the rickroll guys, I promise I won't do it again. It's a little shorter but I really wanted it to end where it did because dread. Part 4 will be around the same length as 1 and 2. Also for anyone wondering this takes place before Alastor's 7 years abscence. It's not canon compliant anyway but this does give you a bit of a timeline.

Word count: 2784

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

After thinking about it Y/n had reluctantly agreed to start 'dating', even thinking of it made them want to smash their head into the wall. And of course their father had already heard about, probably from Rosie or, even more likely, Paris himself. Alastor wouldn't shut up about it and they had to just nod along. This did mean, however, that Y/n was able to use this as a cover up for when they were hanging out with Vox, which is exactly what they did the day after.

Y/n had put on a big jacket, covering their fancy fit, and rushed out the door while rambling about meeting with Paris. Alastor just let them go, only asking for them to be back by ten.

"Hey Vox!" Y/n jumped in to give the man a big hug, getting a strong whiff of his cologne.

"You look dazzling tonight love." He kissed their hand. "I hope you'll like this place, I know it's not of your usual tastes."

"Oh, don't worry about it."

The night went well, the two love birds laughed and cried and gazed into each other's eyes in their private booth.

"You know, I thought it was very sweet you tried to eat demon for me. I was always scared that most people would think it was a dealbreaker."

" I mean I don't mind it but next time we'll go to a restaurant where they have options for the both of us." Vox laughed. "I don't find it a deal breakers, you shouldn't be scared. Besides aren't there a bunch of bachelors in Cannibal Town, like Paris."

"Don't remind me," they sighed, "Vox I... uhm I need to tell you something." Y/n thought back on yesterday, when they smiled in front of their father only to ball their eyes out in their room. "Something happened yesterday with Paris and... Just promise you won't do anything reckless."

"I promise." The TV Demon stared into their eyes with worry. So many thoughts about what this fucker could've done to them swirled through his head.

And so Y/n told him everything; the blackmailing, Paris' smug face, how he practically was an annoying Radio Demon fan wannabe and worst of all Alastor's positive reaction to the news.

"I know I lied to him... I-I know I tried to hide it from him, but somewhere deep down I hoped he would realise I was lying, that it was a facade." They cried. "I'm so selfish, aren't I?"

"Dearie, you aren't. And evening you were, this is hell, so who cares?" Vox tried to console them. "But if this bothers you so much, maybe we should tell him?"

"NO!" They yelled " He will KILL you."

"Alright... We'll find a solution, I promise."

The rest of the night went relatively well. They were able to joke around again. When Vox was walking them back, they complained that their feet hurt, so he swiftly picked them up. Y/n's face was buried in his neck while he held them close.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

When Y/n got home, they looked through their bookcase looking for a certain story. It wasn't there, they checked once more, then again, one last time... And nothing. They walked downstairs and saw Alastor sitting in the kitchen preparing for his next broadcast.

"Hey dad? Have you seen one of my books, it's called Demio and Cannette?" They asked.

"Hmmm, yes I did," he answered, "I didn't think that book was appropriate for you, so I got rid of it."

"What? WHY? You've never checked them before? Why all of a sudden..."

"I know you got the fairytale idea of 'falling in love' with my rival from that wretched story." Alastor stood up from his seat and came over to them. "But you don't need it anymore. You're now with a civilized man and I don't want you to change your mind because you are being influenced by frivolous stories. Speaking of Paris, how was your date?"

"Oh, it went well." They lied. "Don't just switch to a different topic! I STILL want my book back!"

"Not happening."

"YES IT Į̷͙̫̲̣̼̠̹̼̟͑̃̀̾̇̚͘͠S̵̻̪̠̔!!!" Y/n yelled back.

"You can throw a tantrum all you want, you aren't getting it back." His antlers grew. "I WILL do A̸͓̦̿̓̆N̶̻͑Y̶͚̅̓̄̕T̸͙̫͕̥̎͝H̴͈̙̘̮̋̕Î̷͊ͅṊ̵̪͖͕̆̅͒̄G̵̠̯͉͛̄͊ to protect you. Even if you disagree, U̶̢͚͚̲͕̎̇͂͝Ń̶̟͖̥̪̙̿̀͜D̴̹̯̩͓͘͜E̷̟̔̚R̷̬̫̜͛̋̒͗̕S̷͎̺͉͕̥̼̐͆̌̈T̴͇͓̠͈͈͐͆̒̂A̵̳̘̮̩͛̌̄̉N̷͇͚̻̥͖̂̌̇͗͋ͅD̸̡̺̀̔ ?"

"I... I understand." They walked back up the stairs, their head down.

Alastor sighed. He didn't like speaking at his child like that but it was necessary. They needed this, he needed to protect them.

A week and a half went by, on some days Y/n secretly met up with Vox while on others they were forced to meet with Paris. Their 'dates' got more and more uncomfortable. Paris got more daring and daring, he even tried to kiss them once, Y/n quickly shut that down, still they couldn't keep him away forever, he might get sick of their unwillingness and spill the beans.

Y/n and Alastor hadn't talked much since their little fight.... They had never had fights before and now they seem to have become a regularity.

Vox had noticed a difference in them and one day, late in the night, while the two were facetiming, he mustered up the confidence to ask what's wrong.

"Love, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself for a while."

Tears filled their eyes. "I had a fight with dad, he... I don't think he would ever except us..."

"Love, you know that I'm not the biggest fan of your dad but he does care a lot about you. I'm sure once he sees that I truly love you, he'll be fine with it."

"I don't think so... He is just to overprotective, since... I died. It was my fault, I was being stupid reckless and was killed. Before I knew it dad was down here with me and took care of me, sheltered me." Their tears fell down onto their bed. "He cares too much, he won't hesitate to get rid of you to protect me."

"Fine, but just know, I can protect myself against that old fuck!"

"I'll just have to take your word for it," they laughed.

"How about we go to that old school pub around the corner tomorrow?" His speakers started playing a nice tune from their time. "I can show you my dance moves."

"Ughh!! I can't, I have a dinner with me, dad and that asshole!" They complained. "I wish I could come! We're going to that restaurant we went to back then? What was it called again?"

"Heartie's, I will never forget that place."

The two continued to talk into the night. Little did they know, someone eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Heartie's huh?" Valentino held up his gun, loading it with angelic bullets. "Once that bitch is gone, he'll shake out of this and then we'll take out the Radio Demon together."

Y/n was looking through their gallery. Modern phones were so intriguing, those little devices could hold hundreds upon hundreds of pictures. Most of theirs were of Vox or them both, a few were of hell's scenery. Their favourite was by far a certain picture with the two of them. They were hanging out at Vox's place, he introduced them to Vark, his pet shark, and ended up watching a movie. Y/n could still remember the warmth they felled cuddling up, the smell of the pyjama-shirt they borrowed from Vox, everything was amazing.

That's when a knock came from the door. Y/n quickly shoved their phone in their pocket.

"Fawn, it's me." Alastor opened the door. "I know we haven't talked much since our little... disagreement but please put that aside for now. We have a guest, please come down."

Waiting downstairs was Paris, of course. They wanted to groan but kept their in a smile.

“I was wondering if I could take you on a late-night stroll?”

Y/n took his hands and left the house with him.

“What do you want to talk about?” Their voice was direct.

“You really don’t do small talk do you?” Paris quipped.

They looked to the side. “Only with people I don’t like.”

“Hah! Yeah, you’re going to have to learn how to like me. You see, I know it’s been only been a week but I think we are both ready to tie the knot.” He pulled out a little box. “I mean, can you imagine? Me being the official son-in-law of the Radio Demon?”

“What?” Y/n’s ears pulled back. “What makes you think I will EVER marry you?”

“It’s simple, you don’t want that box to die.” A disgustingly smug smile decorated his face “One wrong move and his fate will be sealed.”

“I-I..”

“One more thing.” He put his hand in their pocket and pulled out their gifted phone. “You won’t be needing this anymore.”

“H̵̱̱̖͛́͛Ḙ̵̯̖̭́̆̅̕Ỷ̶̨͚̣̮̆̅͠!̸̦̜̜͈͖͆̆ ̷̯̈́T̵̨̹̙̻̤̎̈́̂́Ḫ̶̦̥̃Ă̷̙̯̐̑͝T̷̳̝̆̑̕’̷̹̠͔̈͋̏̆S̸͉͚̊̒̊͐̕ ̷̡̧̲̹͒̊̚M̶̭͔̳̣̈͆̌I̷͕͉̬͚͖͠N̸̟̾̄͋͊È̵̛̟̬͖͉̦!!!" Y/n’s eyes glowed, their stature grew and a they scowled.

“Uh uh uh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, think about your paramour.” With one squeeze the thing crumbled up. As he let go, the now destroyed, device fell on the forest floor.

Vox was pacing around his apartment. He was contemplating going to the restaurant too, just to keep an eye on them.... But Alastor would recognize him. What to do? What to do?

That's when a call popped up on his screen. At first he got excited thinking Y/n might be calling him again but when he swiped it over to one of his set-up screens, he realised it was Velvette.

"Velvette, what do you want? I'm busy."

"Busy my ass! The only thing you've been doing the last two weeks is fawning over them." She held up her middle finger as if that'll prove her point. "I've been picking up YOUR slack, you piece of shit!"

"And that's why I've decided to send you out for a nice dinner tomorrow with all your friends. How about it?"

"This isn't some kind of trick is it?"

"Of course not." Vox's left eye took over most of his screen, circles spiralled his Z-shaped iris. "Just accept."

"Fine, but you NEED to get to work again. All this work has been driving me crazy and Val is doing jack shit." Her eyes drifted to something off-screen. "WHAT THE FUCK! Put that down you worthless BITCH!" She quickly left the call to deal with whatever was going on.

It's true that Vox had been somewhat slacking since meeting them, but can he be blamed? Anyone would if they were THIS head over heels for someone. He pulled up his digital to-do list. He wanted to try to get everything done by tomorrow, this way if something were to happen at the restaurant he'd be available and ready. So he dove into his documents and blueprints.

Vox looked over the different product proposals from his team, when one of them caught his eye.

The Voxle E-reader A VoxTech take on the older, popular kindl E-readers. A market VoxTech hasn't tapped yet and is overdue for a new revolutionary product.

The proposal came from a newer employee, whom Vox had already been considering demoting. The young demon barely brough anything to the table and an E-reader? It's true VoxTech never brought one out but it wasn't necessary, people could already use their V-pads which had many more uses. Besides, this is hell, how many demons actually read? Only those of higher status and they prefer paper books, like Y/n. Like Y/n... Would they like one? Before he could really think about it, he put the proposal in the approved pile. He couldn't wait to gift it to them.

Vox continued on working late into the night. He was so concentrate, the overlord didn't even notice he hadn't gotten any messages from his lover.

Morning came around and with that the dreaded day. The day went by like a blur for Y/n, eating, showering, reading, changing. They felt numb. This was happening, in a few hours they would be engaged to a slimy, shoe-licking bitch and there is nothing they could do about it. They couldn't even complain to their actual lover, their Vox. For the first time since dying, it actually felt like they were in hell.

They wore a beautiful green attire that showed their little deer tail with a matching hat they got from Cannibal Town. Walking downstairs, Alastor was waiting on them. He was wearing a fancier suit than usual.

"Y/n, I apologize for my role in our dispute." His apology was diplomatic and stiff, anything but sincere.

"Start actually meaning it and I might actually forgive you." They walked past him out the door.

Both Rosie and Paris were waiting outside. The whole way there was awkward. Y/n refused to talk with Alastor.

"Why don't you two head inside already?" Rosie shoved Paris and them towards the doors of the familiar establishment. "I want to talk to my dear old Alastor over here." Once the two were out of earshot she began, "So Al, what's going on?"

"There is nothing to worry about, Rosie. Me and Y/n simple had a bit of a disagreement nine days ago, nothing for you to worry about."

"You two never have fights, especially not those that last THIS long." She moved to stand closer to him. "And you're hating it. I see right through that smile of yours."

"I just, miss my little fawn... Ever since that wretched party, they seem to hate me..." For once in a decennia his ears fell back. "And they're hiding something from me, I know it! And it's troubling them, but Y/n refuses to come to me."

"Well... Maybe they're scared for your reaction. You can be a bit... Much when it comes to them. How about this? After dinner we'll have a good talk and lay everything on the table."

"Why not? Now after you." He opened the door for Rosie and followed suit. "Let's get to our table, I haven't been this hungry since the time my hunting rifle broke, hahaha."

Vox woke up on his desk, he had fallen asleep with papers and pen in hand. Looking at his computer it was late in the morning. His deer must have been worried about him since he hadn't texted them all morning, right? Right?

No, not a single text from them. They must have been nervous for the dinner.... But usually when they were nervous they would come to him for comfort. He was just being paranoid, just paranoid little Vox. It was just new for him not to have control over someone, the other two Vees often called him a control freak with how he hypnotised used his hypnotism powers...

Maybe he should've used it on Y/n after all? NO! he shoulder think like that! They were his partner, his equal.

He picked up his phone and messaged them:

Hey love! How are you? I know this day is stressful for you

No, answer. Y/n didn't even receive it. What was going on?

"Vox!" Velvette walked into his office. "I'm going to go get ready with the girls, don't forget to pick us up at the salon!"

"Don’t worry about it, I'll have it handled." He said smugly.

"You better! So make sure you don't fall asleep on your work again!"

Velvette took her leave again while Vox looked over everything he still needed to do. It was a LOT. So much he forgot all about his previous paranoia.

"So they're going to be at this restaurant?" An unknown voice asked.

"Yes, there're probably going to be one or two overlords with them," Valentino answered, "just get that whore and get out of there."

"Got it, don't worry. This isn't the first time I've dealt powerful demons."

Velvette and her girl friends had enjoyed their day at the salon and got picked up by Vox. The limo was fancier than usual, she guessed that he must've really felt bad for the slacking. Not surprising considering how much of a workaholic he was. She guessed wrong though, she guessed very wrong.

"Vox, what the FUCK are we doing back here?" She shoved her middle finger in his face. "This is about Y/n, isn't it?"

"Well, yes." Vox smiled. "Please Velvette, Y/n got a dinner with that Cannibal. They were really nervous about it, but the Radio fucker would notice me too fast."

"Fine, but you OWE me! GOT IT!!"

"Got it, whatever you want."

"Come on girls, we're getting dinner." She begrudgingly made her way inside.

Vox stepped back into the car just in time, because when he was on his way back, he saw them walking by. Y/n looked beautiful. How he wished he could be there.

Part 4

Masterlist/request guidelines

[evelhak]

Aaaaa, this!!! I literally cried, I am so happy to see some actual common sense!! I am so, SO tired of this trend, it's not just Rory either, there's a really unfair pattern going on where the "renaissance" on a piece of media is basically just fans ripping a protagonist to pieces for things that these fans do not hold other characters, particularly beloved antagonists and rivals, accountable for.

This video perfectly illustrates the dynamic: Rory, who tries her best to both achieve her goals and be a decent human being while doing it, who never was a perfect human if you paid attention, gets held to the standard of an angel, so every time she makes a mistake that mistake is treated as disproportionately horrible and irredeemable. Meanwhile, as a good example, Paris, who consistently treats other people horribly, gets downright babied, and how she deserved better is repeated, her own responsibility over her actions downplayed or completely ignored. Only her good qualities are remembered, and highlighted.

There's an excellent quote in the video:

"The audience loves Paris because she is so over the top that she becomes a non-character. But when you take her as a real person and judge her with the same standards as you would Lorelai and Rory, she is pretty terrible."

This. This happens with so many characters whose traits are so much that they are viewed as inherently comedic or unbelievable, so they don't count in people's eyes. Paris having a fit in her college entrance interview, yelling over the interviewers and defending eugenics, gets brushed off as "poor baby, she's clearly mentally ill, she just deserves better, she should have gotten in", while Rory, who got manipulated into an internship by the BIGGEST journalism figure just so he could tell her "she didn't have it" was JUST weak and entitled for getting upset and discouraged over it.

Paris cheating on her boyfriend for months with a college professor gets pushed under the rug because people are too uncomfortable to even acknowledge the whole thing, meanwhile Rory is THE WORST for sleeping with a married guy after she repeatedly asked him if both him and his wife agreed their marriage was over, suggested they could try counselling, and was lied to by said guy that both he and his wife knew things were over between them.

Yeah, Rory made mistakes, and definitely didn't act perfectly after either of the situations I mentioned. She was emotional and people generally make mistakes when they are. But for some reason certain characters get a free pass all the time, while it feels almost like Rory gets punished for even trying to be a good person. Like "See, I caught her making a mistake, that means she's the worst." As if trying to have morals and be decent is inherently arrogant and hypocritical. Like trying and failing is worse than not even trying. It's like, her mom and grandparents and home town expect her to be perfect, so fans did too, and now they're mad at her for being human because they put her on a pedestal. Meanwhile characters who consistently don't care about their impact on others don't get scrutinized, their actually horrible behaviour is just taken as comedy or proof of their victimhood.

Basically, people are desensitized to horrible things from certain characters, they expect it, so they don't react to it, but when Rory who is "supposed to be good" makes a mistake, it's suddenly the core of her character and all she is. Geez.

And don't get me wrong, I love both Paris and Rory. I love every character in the show. But this double standard drives me nuts. So many characters in the show have done very similar things as Rory gets accused of, some of them while feeling no remorse. Some of them have done a lot worse things that get forgiven easily.

And don't even get me started on what a hot guy with a tragic backstory gets excused for. Yeah, some things are understandable when you know the backstory. That doesn't make those things not wrong.

It's like people are obsessed with the idea that someone who appears good on the surface must be bad, and vice versa. Nuance be damned.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls-3x8: Let The Games Begin, aka Let The ShitCircus Begin (Part 3)

Luke Danes! Lorelai Gilmore! They are: The Abstinence (For Other People But Not Themselves) Brigade! They can detect bubbling teenage hormones from a mile away and will do anything in their power to stop them! Jess Mariano, with his awe inspiring ability to telepathically impregnate naive virgins in 1 nanosecond without removing any clothes, doesn't stand a chance! Thank god we have you, Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore! The Cockblocking Crusaders! The Dry Hump Destroyers! Scene: Our Handjob-Halting Hero, Luke Danes, has just interrupted an extremely chaste attempt at a kiss in progress. After witnessing his nephew openly groping Shane Campbell and likely several other girls in public and in his diner and his home over Horny Summer 2002, interrupting a kiss with Rory Gilmore with no tongue is just ONE STEP OVER THE DAMN LINE for Blowjob-Blocking-Batman!

I dare say, that was a stupid metaphor from our Intercrouse-Interrupting-Ironman.

There are frequent Sock on the Door references in this show. The thing is you hang a sock on the door to let other people know you're having sex and they won't barge in. Too bad Sex-Stifling-Superman here wouldn't abide by The Sock anyhow. Netflix borked the captions big time here, but there is a loud argument between Luke and Jess about the sock joke, with Luke yelling at Jess that there will be "no socks on the door in my house" and I'm just thinking how weird this conversation would sound if you didn't know wtf they were talking about. Luke, less than 5 minutes earlier (and I quote): Wow! WOW! This is great! Wow! Rory and Jess! Jess and Rory! This is great! Don’t you think this is great! They're only great if they reproduce asexually like snails, I suppose. When he thought Jess was doing much worse things with Shane in his own home, his response was certainly not a pleased one, but it was... different. So it's okay if he hooks up with a skanky blond girl he barely knows, because who cares if he takes a ride on the town bicycle, right? But when it comes to Rory, her purity must be protected at all costs by other adults. Ha, funny how that worked out. I know Luke doesn't think JESS is still a virgin.

He looks so defeated, and he WASNT EVEN DOING ANYTHING. Please don't make me turn on Luke, Tumblr. I already have so little left to live for watching this show.

But that's where they were the first time, Uncle Luke.

THANK. YOU. JESSTOPHER. You're so smart. *pinches cheeks*

The more I'm thinking about this notion that Luke is trying to protect Rory's virginity from Jess, where Rory is a newly minted adult and not even his relative, she's just the daughter of some annoying lady who comes into his diner and doesn't pay for her food, but "Jess doesn't need a guardian" if he'd like to fuck around with random girls of questionable purity, becaue he's a boy I guess, the weirder it sounds. This is just another fiber woven into the rich tapestry of "the young women of gilmore girls who lose their virginity will pay the price with a horrible experience or mental anguish" (Young Lorelai, Rory, Paris, Lane, possibly even Lindsay, god help her).

(girls only). Jess: What do you think is gonna happen? Luke: You KNOW what I think is gonna happen.

You know what, how about he doesn't and we say he did. Awkward.

If she’s not too distracted porking Dean to notice, as soon she found out Dean was a free agent she was all over that like a fat kid on cake.

I saw what Jess got away with at the summer bash. I wouldn't exactly count on Taylor Doose for his Makeout Meddling abilities.

Luke looking all smug like "yeah that was great parenting right there. Damn, I’m such a good Dunkel (DadUncle). He’ll never think about humping again.” Good luck.

[airi-p4]

It should have been me!

Hi! I wrote this short Adrien salt + Lukanette endgame fic a while ago. Enjoy?

Summary

Ladybug was mad, ENRAGED. 

Yet- how come Chat Noir was the one akumatized instead, when everything was HIS FAULT? It should be her!

AO3

____________________________________

This was so wrong!!

She should have been akumatized instead of him!

He was the one who deceived her! 

And now Chat noir- Chat Blanc- was walking around trying to destroy her. And she, Ladybug, ran, jumping on the roofs of the Parisian buildings, and dodging destructive waves aiming for her.

So unfair!

___

It all started when Chat Noir finally stopped his flirting. 

"I understand you're not comfortable, so I'll stop. Besides, I'm in love with someone else now," he had said. 

Ladybug was grateful. Really grateful. He finally seemed to take his job seriously and their teamwork improved. It was nice to see that he changed.

Now, she didn't have to roll her eyes at unsolicited advances or for not going on dates she never agreed to. Everything stood professional. 

Until that night. 

All because she had let her guard down and allowed her excited Marinette self say too much. How could she have imagined that…

"You look happy tonight, Ladybug" Chat Noir hummed. "Did something good happen?"

"Yes. Very good" she smiled widely. 

"Oh? What is it?"

"I don't know if I should tell you, but I'm so excited and-"

"Oh?" He smiled and leaned his head to the side, showing curiosity. He imagined that she may have been accepted to her dream university as she mentioned before, but he was eager for her to tell him. 

Until he actually heard it. It wasn’t what he had expected.

"I have a boyfriend," she confessed. "We've been close friends for a long time and I still can't believe we feel the same! He's amazing and the most caring boy I've ever met. I’m so happy! I love him very much!" She squealed.

And that's what unleashed the storm.

"No!" Chat Noir stood up aggressively. "You can't have a boyfriend! You're supposed to be with ME! We're meant for each other! I even restrained myself from telling you how much I love you or to kiss you because I know you like gentlemen and- you were supposed to fall for me! I worked so hard to impress you and try to get your attention!"

“What…?” She couldn't register what he was saying immediately, but when she did she couldn’t help but feel betrayed. "Are you saying… That everything until now was an act…? You were just pretending? I trusted you!"

The betrayal was too much to bear. And yet- he was the one getting akumatized? Again. For his selfishness and for not listening to her, as usual.

She was enraged. Hell! She should have been the akuma, not him!

But now - She needed help. All the help she could get.

The fox, the turtle, the ox, the mouse, the dog, the dragon, the snake, the rabbit...

And after a few second chances, they finally defeated the akuma and a purified butterfly flew away. Magical ladybugs did the rest to fix the massive damage caused by Chat Blanc- Chat Noir-, Paris’ former superhero after the events. 

"No… M'lady…" he begged, but he could only watch as she walked away, leaving a trail of tears as she left Adrien Agreste sobbing on his own.

___

"I can't believe it!" Marinette cried, secure in her boyfriend's arms. "All this time-! I thought he was finally maturing, becoming more professional- I really trusted him!"

Luka hummed and rubbed her back. He did wonders calming her down. How many times could have she been akumatized if it wasn't for him?

"And he was Adrien all this time… I can't believe I was so blind! I thought he was sweet, innocent and caring… I even called him perfect a few times, damn it!" She yelled in Luka's chest. "But no! He is none of those things! He's just selfish, disrespectful and irresponsible! I thought we were partners! I thought he would be happy for me when I told him about you!" She groaned. "Hell- he even congratulated us when I had the mask off! You figured out my identity on your own, without magic, just because you care about me…" she took a moment to look at Luka, her hand cupping his face softly and he hummed happily at the contact. She let her hands descend to his chest level, gripping his jacket, and sighed. "Chat, on the other hand, couldn't tell us apart despite his claims of being 'in love'. Ugh, what a joke…"

"You couldn't have known. You did the best you could, melody" Luka kept caressing her back in support. 

"And he still got akumatized!" Marinette roared. "He completely betrayed my trust, Paris’ trust, our partnership! And still got offended because I have a boyfriend that makes me happy! Heck- I really should have been the one akumatized, not him!"

"Don't say that… I don't want you to get akumatized... Ever" 

"I know…" She softened a bit at that. "But I'm so mad, Luka! I want to scream, to curse, to set a freaking dumpster on fire!" He groaned. "Maybe with a bit of luck his photos that used to be in my room are still there and I can kill two birds with one stone!"  

That made Luka giggle. "Didn't you throw them out a long time ago?"

"I did! And I made sure not a single one of them remained! But now I wish there were still some so I could burn them to ashes!" She growled.

"You're funny even when you're rightfully angry," Luka laughed.

"I am rightfully angry! Very rightfully!" She pouted proudly and he chuckled. Cute. A moment later she blushed happily when he kissed her cheek.

"What are you going to do now? With the ring, I mean" he asked.

"I need to talk to Plagg first. Figure things out. And then, I think I'm going to keep the ring inside the box"

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I hope I can count on you if it ever becomes indispensable." She leaned in to give her boyfriend a kiss on his cheek.

"You can always count on me, Marinette. You know that" he smiled tenderly. "Especially if you ask me like this" 

He leaned in to kiss her cheek and she giggled. Music to his ears. 

"Thank you, Luka. I love you. You're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. I'm so lucky" She kissed his lips, making herself comfortable in his lap. 

Fin

[verymuchimmortalcat]

I'd fall to pieces on the floor, if you weren't around

For Bio Dad! Bruce Wayne Month, Prompt: Reverse Robins @maribat-bdbwm

ao3

Marinette scrolls aimlessly on her phone at the bakery counter. There’s no one other than her at the bakery, which is surprising. She’d worried that it may be due to an akuma that had not been reported. But two calls to Adrien and Alya had dispelled that worry.

She sighs in boredom, there isn’t anything interesting to look at on her phone, she’s done with all her homework and she doesn’t feel like sketching which leaves her nothing to do while she’s at the counter. Her shift won’t end for another hour, at which point she’ll be joined by Alya, Adrien and Nino to work on their literature presentation.

The bakery door slams open and Marinette looks up from her phone to see Alya panting, holding out her phone and saying, “Have you seen the news?”

Alya takes one look at her face and grimaces, “You haven’t seen the news.”

Marinette frowns, walking out from behind the counter. Wondering what’s get her friend looking like that, a weird mixture of pity, worry and fear. She takes the phone from Alya’s hand, sees the headline and freezes.

TIM DRAKE-WAYNE DEAD-

There are more words after that but Marinette doesn’t really register them. She knows Alya’s saying something but she can’t hear her over the roaring in her ears.

Her brother’s dead. Her brother’s dead and she had to find out from the news.

And suddenly all the pain vanishes and she’s consumed by anger. She doesn’t read the article. It’s almost certain the article is rubbish, another carefully crafted lie that maintains their secret identities. She can’t deal with that right now.

“You’re shaking,” Alya says gently, holding out her arms. And Marinette lets herself fall into her best friend’s arms and sob. In anger or in sorrow, she doesn’t know and nor does she really care at this point.

If any butterflies come their way, she doesn’t notice. Tikki and Alya must have handled it.

Some indefinite amount of time later, once she has stopped crying, she slips out of Alya’s hold. Muttering something about how she needs to speak to her family immediately, she turns to go upstairs. She doesn’t think Alya actually believes her but she doesn’t stop her either only telling her that she’s always here if Marinette wants help in kicking Bruce Wayne’s butt.

She nods before running up the stairs to the miracle box and grabbing the horse miraculous. Tikki shushes Kaalki when the kwami starts to speak, in any other situation Marinette would thank her kwami but she’s far too focused on the need to yell at her father to think about anything else.

Except Tim.

Taking a deep breath, she pushes thoughts of her brother away. Later. She can grieve later. Once she has an explanation.

Opening a portal, she steps into the batcave. Her father glances at her once before he returns to staring at the batcomputer. He doesn’t actually look at her until she’s stormed over and even then she can’t read his expression, he’s still wearing the damn cowl.

“How did it happen?” she demands.

“The Joker.”

“And where is he now?”

“Arkham Asylum.”

“Why did I not hear this from you? Why on earth did I have to hear about my brother’s death from the god damn news?”

“You could have been akumatised.”

Her father’s near robotic answers aren’t helping at all. If anything, it’s only making her angrier. In some quiet corner of her brain, she knows that he’s grieving too and he doesn’t really have a track record of making normal decisions but right now she can’t bring herself to care.

“I found out from the news. I had to learn of Tim’s death from some reporter who couldn’t care less that he’s dead. For what? So I wouldn’t get akumatised? I was in Paris when I learnt of his death, whether you would have preferred it or not.”

“I-”

“What? Were you even planning on telling me? Because you can’t tell me you didn’t know it would make international news. A Wayne died. My brother died. And I wasn’t told by my father. Do you not realise how messed up that is?”

“You should leave. You can’t return to Paris in this state. I’ll ask Alfred to take you to Damian’s-”

She stares at him open mouthed and says quietly, “I cannot believe you. Damian’s off-world. He’s been off world for the past one week, something about Jon and being Kryptonian. Why didn’t you try to contact either of us?”

“It doesn’t matter now. I’m heading out to patrol now.”

She’s crying, she realises, after her father has left. She knows Alfred is probably waiting worriedly upstairs. Hoping some sense will possess the man. But not worried enough to come down and check yet. So, she remains in the cave.

Alfred’s still waiting when she goes up an hour later. If he’s surprised by her being there, he doesn’t mention it. She follows him to the kitchen, he hands her a cup of tea but Marinette can’t bring herself to drink it.

“How are Steph, Cass and Duke?” she asks after a while.

“Miss Marinette.”

“Yes?”

“Ignoring what has happened will do no one good. It certainly hasn’t helped your father.”

Neither her nor Alfred say anything after that. Alfred drinks his tea, and Marinette stares at hers. Their silence is anything but comfortable, it’s heavy with grief and rage. Even if Marinette’s the only one angry.

“I’m going to kill him,” she states.

Alfred looks her in the eye and asks, “Would you like my gun?”

She stares at him in shock. “I- no. No, it’s fine. I’m sure Damian left a bunch of weapons in his room. It’ll be fine.”

It won’t. Not really. But she gets up and makes her way to Damian’s room anyways.

When the news breaks, her phone blows up. She ignores it, she’s not getting out of bed for that. Admittedly, there’s not a lot that she’s gotten out of bed for recently. Tom and Sabine have let her call-in sick for school, mostly giving her space. She frowns when someone opens the trapdoor to her room.

When a familiar voice says, “I heard the Joker was killed.” A sob rips itself out of her chest and she scrambles out of bed and down her ladder to see Damian, his eyes are red and he looks beyond exhausted. Marinette shakily states, “It had to be done.” And all it takes is a nod from him for the dam to break and the tears start free falling.

And somehow for the first time she thinks maybe things will be ok.

[justrandomfanfictionskh]

We should Have Stayed in Gotham ch3

(Almost every Maribat fic I read has the akuma class going to Gotham. But tell me which is more likely, a class touring the city of crime, or a class touring the city of lights? So here it is, the Daminette fic that only I asked for, where Gotham goes to Paris, and the poor students have to grapple with the fact that they have competition for the most dangerous city in the world. I wonder what will happen?)

ao3 Beginning Previous

The moment Damian had learned that he had a roommate, he knew that he would have trouble sleeping. Granted, the Gotham High student, Will, was quiet and unobtrusive, so at first Damian thought that it wouldn’t be too much of a sacrifice to share a room with him (but only if he kept a knife under his pillow). However, after seeing the giant baby trying to eat the Eiffel Tower all thoughts of sleep were quickly thrown away in favor of hours upon hours of research while his roommate slept.

So it should have come as no surprise to anyone, that Damian walked up to the Louvre with bags under his eyes and a scowl to curdle milk. He sipped his hotel coffee in distaste as his peers gave him a wide berth, as they waited for their French guides. Yet despite his exhaustion, and the distance of his peers, he was able to overhear their conversations and gauge their intentions for the rest of the trip.

“You can’t be serious!” Kathryn was yelling, “After what we saw yesterday you’re not freaking out? I’m freaking out! We almost died!”

“You live three blocks away from Crime Alley!” A Gotham High student who was on the “Parisian’s are overreacting” side exclaimed. “You almost die every day!”

“Yeah,” Kathryn said, “From muggers and henchmen. You know, people I can kick in the family jewels. Not magic giant babies! I can’t kick magic giant babies! And if you had bothered too even read the survival guide, you would know that that particular akuma happens like, a lot!”

“But it doesn’t matter!” Chad cried, “I mean their hero has a magic reset button, so…”

“Ok,” Alice said sardonically, all of the "Who cares" Gothamites were now firmly on the "It's a big deal" side, “So you’re suicidal. Great.”

“I’m not—”

“Students!” Mr. Robinson, their chaperone and French teacher, called. “Our liaison class is here, so be on our best behavior!”

Damian took a swig of his coffee as they moved towards the glass pyramid in the center of the courtyard. He was tired, and he did not want to deal with whichever idiotic child they pared him up with, but he needed to know more. He had been researching all night, but he still didn’t know why the Justice League hadn’t been called in yet. And considering how many akumas had almost ended the world, he had a feeling that they should definitely know about this.

 But there was one more thing that was bugging him unceasingly, Hawkmoth. His motivation was clear, he wanted a wish, but he didn’t know the reason behind that motivation. And his strategy was baffling. Just from reading the blogs, it looked like Hawkmoth’s plan was to akumatize as many different people as possible and then hope one of them would be able to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir. It was ridiculous, idiotic, and completely ineffectual…And yet Ladybug had not been able to catch him. It made no sense. From the videos it was clear that even when Ladybug had been at her least skilled, she had always been competent and efficient. Now two years later, she had experience, training, and competent and effective team members. So why hadn’t she eliminated the threat?

His thoughts were aggravatingly interrupted when they reached the chattering group of teenagers in front of the pyramid. When they saw the Gothamites, the Parisians instantly quieted and lined up with plastered smiles, and bright, scanning eyes. It was…disturbing and pulled all of the Gothamites up short and had them frowning and scanning for any hidden dangers. It was almost comical, the line of bright, colorful Parisians facing off of the dark, scowling Gothamites. Damian just sipped his coffee and began memorizing the faces. He paused when he was the small group of people not joining the lineup.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Sabrina Raincomprix, and Chloe Bourgeois, and two other girls stood on the opposite side of the line from the teachers and little apart from their class despite the fact that two of their members were the class leaders. Marinette was sipping on a large cup, but her small welcoming smile seemed a hundred times more genuine than the toothy grins of her classmates. Sabrina was standing beside her, and she seemed to be fidgeting with excitement as she waited for the teachers to finish talking. Chloe was the only one who was not smiling, instead she was completely consumed with her phone and only huffing when her friends spoke to her. Damian couldn’t get a good idea of the other two girls, as one of them was hidden behind Marinette, and the other was…roller blading around the courtyard completely ignoring everyone.

Eventually, Mlle. Mendeliev cleared her thought as she began handing out papers to her class, with the Gotham teachers mirroring her with Damian and his peers. “Now,” she said sternly yet not harshly in English, “It has come to our attention that you all were caught up in the akuma attack yesterday. That is good, perhaps now you will take this threat seriously, and do everything in your power to avoid creating or becoming akumatized.”

“That being said,” Mlle. Bustier said quickly with a pointed look at her coworker, “We are glad none of you were harmed, and hope that it never happens again!”

“Hm,” Mendeliev said before snapping her attention to both classes commanding their attention like a general surveying their troops. “You have each been paired up according to those whom we have deemed least likely to cause akumas. French students will speak in English. English students will speak in French. Complete your work sheets by the end of the day to receive full marks. There will be no switching!”

Damian noticed her sharp eyes falling on a girl dressed in an awful shade of orange, with sausages disguised as hair framing her face. Said girl just smiled innocently, before her eyes fell on him, and he groaned. The sudden flash of predatory glee that she had eyed him with made his skin crawl. He wanted nothing to do with that girl, but he knew her type far too well. She was like his mother, desperate for power and willing to do anything to get it. At that moment Damian was the most powerful person there, and she knew it.

He prepared himself for an aggravating and unsatisfactory morning as he waited for the opportunist to corner whoever he had been partnered with him and “convince” them to switch partners despite the teacher’s mandate. Needless to say, he was surprised when the person who had extracted themselves from the mass of congregating students to find him, was not the sausage girl, but Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Her smile when she saw him was so bright and genuine, it had Damian squinting his eyes in suspicion as she moved toward him. But she maintained a respective distance and spoke formally in English as she said, “Hello, I’m Marinette. You must be Damian.”

“I am,” Damian said in perfect French straightening as he looked at his work sheet for the first time. Sure enough, Marinette’s name was right beside his at the top of the page. “Although, I should warn you that this exercise will not be very beneficial for me. As you can see, I am already quiet fluent in your language.”

Damian expected the girl to become annoyed or aggravated at his briskness, but apparently dealing with an emotional terrorist everyday gave her a higher tolerance for his behaviors than the majority of his peers. She just tilted her head with a cocked eyebrow and said in Mandarin,

“I understand. If I’m being honest, I’m in the same boat. As I am fluent in more languages than I’ll probably ever use.”

Damian raised his eyebrows in surprised, but he couldn’t help the smirk playing on his lips as he slipped into Arabic saying, “Well, that is unfortunate. But if you do not think you will use them, then why learn?”

“I plan to travel,” Marinette said in perfect Hindi. “I plan to go into fashion, and I wish to be able to reach as many people as possible. What about you? Why do you know so many languages?”

“I am expected to take over my father’s business,” Damian said in Russian. “It is an international company and possibly intergalactic if the treaty with Mars and Tameran goes through.”

“I hope it does!” Marinette said in Spanish, “I believe that intergalactic relations will improve international ones, as we will have to be united in order to effectively interact with the greater galaxy.”

“Interesting,” Damian said in Africans, “Not everyone has such an optimistic view of human nature.”

Marinette said something in Greek, and Damian winced. Her smile grew in victory as she found perhaps the only Earth language he had yet to fully master, but Damian would not be quelled. So, before she could capitalize on her victory, he switched to German and said, “Unfortunately I have yet to master Greek. It seems you have the advantage of me.”

Damian’s smirk returned as Marinette winced. But her smile remained as she said in perfect Japanese, “My German is almost non-existent. So I guess that makes us even unless…”

“I speak Japanese,” Damian said in the same language. “Perhaps this enterprise, will not be as fruitless as I thought. If you are willing to assist me in Greek, then you might even be an adequate companion.”

The moment the words left his lips, Damian knew that he had probably offended her, which would have been awful. She seemed to be the only person here who wasn’t a complete imbecile, and brushing up on his Greek was the only way this exercise wouldn’t be a waste of time. But instead Marinette just laughed bright and clear, and said,

“Adequate. That’s a new one, but I’ll take it. You know you remind me of Chloe, she doesn’t complement…well anyone.”

“Considering she is your friend; I will assume you meant the comparison to also be complementary.”

Marinette shrugged with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Why don’t you meet her first, and then you can decide if it’s a compliment?”

Damian nodded in appreciation and a little wariness before they were interrupted by a shrill voice crying, “Marinette!”

The unwavering class president wavered, which sent a shrill line of tension through Damian. He scanned the crowd for the person responsible for causing such a steadfast presence to flinch and found an overly excitable girl with round glasses running up to them with a too bright smile. Damian recognized the Gotham Academy student following her as one of the students who had retained very little of the French lessons, and could barely introduce herself in the language. This newcomer must have been under the impression that all of the Gotham students had a similar level of incompetence because she began to speak in rapid-fire French as if Damian couldn’t understand a word she was saying.  

“Marinette,” the newcomer said, “You have to switch partners with Lila. She’s desperate.”

Marinette took a deep breath as if she was actively steeling herself against something unpleasant and said, “Alya, that’s not going to happen. Mlle. Mendeliev, and Sabrina spent hours on these partners so that there would be as few akumas as possible.”

“But Lila—”

“Is a liar!”

“I know! But seriously Marinette, Adrien’s right. It’s not like she does any harm saying she save Jagged’s cat. No body actually believes her. Besides she has a disease! She can’t help it!”

“Yeah!” Marinette said perhaps a little snappishly, “A disease she is doing nothing to cure, and all you're doing is enabling her!”

“What?! I am not enabling her! I am trying to help a fellow student who is suffering from a mental illness, and trying to prevent akumas! Which you used to care about. Honestly Marinette, it’s almost as if you want this conference to be ruined. I think you’ve been spending too much time with Chloe.”

“Well, at least Chloe is trying to make amends! What does Lila do whenever she causes an akuma?”

Alya shook her head in disappointment, as if Marinette was the blind one here. “She’s just trying to get her Miraculous back. That girl couldn’t be genuinely kind even if she was hit by a personality reversal akuma. Just switch partners with Lila! It will be best for the whole class.”

“But not best for me,” Damian said in French with as much sternness as he could master. He did not miss the suppressed vindictive smirk from Marinette as Alya stared at him in shock. But Damian simply tilted his chin to the interloper with as much distain he could manage. “Now what ‘illness’ does this Lila claim to have that we must cater to her every whim.”

“She’s a compulsive liar,” Marinette said hiding her satisfaction under a lecturing tone, and a gentle smile. “To quote her words exactly, ‘It’s a disease and I can’t help it. So please be kind. I don’t intentionally want to hurt anyone, but there’s something wrong with me, and I need help!’”

Damian growled in distaste. He assumed that Lila was the girl with the sausages for hair. She had obviously seen the situation in Paris and decided to use it to her advantage. Whether she actually had a mental illness or not, was clearly not the issue, because she was using it to convince her class to cater to her ever whim. “Do everything I say or else I will call a supervillain to curse us all," she was basically saying, "But don’t blame me, I’m sick and can’t help it.” It was something his mother would do and immediately put bad taste in his mouth.

“Alya,” he said giving her the full weight of his “Ice Prince” persona. He took no small amount of satisfaction from her almost fearful reaction. “I can guarantee, that if I was to be paired with this Lie-la, then I will be akumatized within five minutes of our meeting. And if you ask any of my peers, I think you will find that me being akumatized is the last thing you want. So please return to your…friend, and tell her that under no circumstances will I take any partner other than Marinette. Now leave us alone, you aren’t wanted here.”

Alya turned to the other girl with a sort of desperate pleading, but Marinette just sighed and said gently, “I’m sorry Alya. But after that speech, I think we can all agree that it’s for the best.”

Alya shook her head in disappointment, and there was nothing but pure disappointment in her voice when she said, “And to think you used to be our ‘Everyday Ladybug.’ Now…now your just selfish.” She spun and marched off before they could respond.

Damian glanced at Marinette and froze. She looked as if she had just been stabbed. The words had meant nothing to Damian, but they had clearly meant everything to her. But before Damian could offer his support, Marinette closed her eyes and began taking deep breaths. An expression of complete and total calm passed over her. It was as if every negative emotion the confrontation had caused was melting away through her figure tips.

When she opened her eyes, she turned back to Damian with her gentle smile. But there was now a new sense of exhaustion in her clear blue bell eyes that said this was not the first time her “friends” had hurt her, and it would not be the last.

In that moment, Damian came to some very important conclusions about this Marinette. One, she was strong. She lived in a city under constant siege, and she still stood tall and genuine, with a smile that breathed kindness and compassion with every laugh and word. And two, these people did not deserve her. It was obvious that they were sheep, from the way a large group of them gathered around Lila and were now pandering to her to stop her from lashing out. They had traded a kind and gentle leader, for a mountain of fool’s gold. Pretty to look at but ultimately useless. And they had done it with their eyes open. It would have been better if they had fallen for her lies.  

“I’m sorry about that,” Marinette said in English with what Damian assumed was her signature cheerfulness, just as he addressed people with his signature superiority, “Things…well, let’s just say that the akumas have caused a lot of damage, not all of it physical. Make’s it hard to know how to…interact with people, and behave rationally. I hope you understand.”

Damian nodded as he said, “I can not say that I understand completely. But I can say that I know what you mean. I have some experience with liars and manipulators, and I can see how this situation could be very beneficial to them. However, if you’re classmates had any form of actual intelligence then they would not pander to that girl the way that they do. So, I cannot garner too much sympathy for them.”

A light returned to Marinette’s eyes as he said this, as if he had amused her instead of insulting the people she probably knew and trusted far more than him. “Ok, I have to keep you and Chloe apart. It’s the only way, I’m going to be able to prevent actual murder from happening!”

“Hm,” Damian said, his smirk returning. Perhaps a little brighter than he intended, but still too small to communicate any actual pleasure. “Now I must insist on meeting her. Perhaps we can cull the herd and bring some intelligence back into this city.”

Marinette laughed, and Damian thought it sounded like bells. But they were interrupted when the red haired girl on rollerblades zoomed up to them with a worried expression. “Hey Mari,” she said gently, “I saw you talking to Alya. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, thanks Alix,” Marinette said her smile brightening even more at her friend. “All good here. But where’s your partner?

"Oh, she’s over there!” Alix gestured to the side and Damian saw Kathryn leaning against a statue while she played with her phone. “I’m so glad her French is better than my English. But if you’re ok, then I’ve got to go. I promised to get her my extra blades from my dad’s office. We’re going to have so much fun!”

“I am already regretting the fact that you two were paired together,” Marinette said with a fond shake of her head. But Alix just laughed and raced off. Kathryn running beside her through what appeared to be an employee’s entrance to the Louvre.

“Her dad’s the curator,” Marinette explained. “She’s been racing through there since she was five. They’ll be fine as long as they don’t break anything important.”

Damian nodded, as the teachers called the students to order. It was time for the first activity to begin. A Louvre scavenger hunt, which will end with lunch and then a "getting to know you party" back at the school. “I hope you know you’re artifacts as well as you know languages," he said openly studying her compitence.

A playful smile spread across Marinette’s face, as if she had some great hidden secret that she was daring him to discover. “Oh, don’t worry,” she said, “As long as luck’s on my side, we can’t possibly fail. Our biggest competition will be Alix.”

“Because of her father?”

“Sure,” Marinette said still with that playful smile brightening her face, “Let’s go with that.” 

Next

@night-ngale @annastasha @ev-cupcake @hammalammadamdam @laydeekrayzee @itsemmylie @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks

[averysmolbear]

Just a Little Spark

CW: Nothing, really. There's so mutual pining vaguely happening. Reader is a witch, if that matters. It's mostly vaguely fluffy. It's also self ship coded as hell. It kind of flows as a part of a series of little one shots that tie together. Reader and Isaac are presumably in their early twenties in this. Oh! And it's a female reader, although I don't think there's much mentioned that would make it blatantly a female reader.

Word count: ~2.1k

Pairing: F!reader x Isaac Lahey

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Just a little note that this would take place (at least in my mind) some time after Isaac obviously left but before the (atrocious) Teen Wolf movie (where they still don't even bother to mention Isaac at all and I'm still salty about it) but since we don't know what ever happened to Isaac, I ran with the idea of him coming back to Beacon Hills for something and him meeting up with the reader who is on the road for her own reasons and there are more little parts to this whole thing that make it a friends to lovers kind of situation.

You rolled your eyes and let out a sigh as you felt Isaac Lahey hovering over your shoulder, your attention being drawn away from the book you were skimming through because of his near constant need for attention. This was becoming a regular occurrence and while you were used to it, it didn’t mean that it made it any less of an annoyance. It was hard to get much done with Isaac hanging around so close that you could almost feel his warm breath on your skin.

You could tell without looking that he was leaning closer and soon he would be close enough to rest his head on your shoulder. You knew how much he hated the research part of things so him getting this close was Isaac’s way of trying to get your attention. As you slowly turned your head to look at him, the young man backed away, a sheepish look on his face when you both locked eyes.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Isaac raised his hands in apology and flashed a charming smile your way, knowing that it would be a good way to get out of trouble. His smile seemed to always get him out of trouble with you and he wasn’t above using that to his advantage. “Don’t yell. Please?”

You sighed louder this time, shaking your head as you rolled your eyes. You rarely yelled at him and Isaac knew it. You turned back to the book you had been thumbing through, looking for information that would help you both out of the mess you currently found yourselves in. In reality, the two of you had been entangled in mess after mess from the moment you met. Isaac had found his way to Seattle after leaving Paris, not sure he was ready to go back to Beacon Hills. He had pissed off the wrong wolf pack in the area not long after arriving in Seattle. You, a young witch, had taken it upon yourself to take Isaac in to keep him safe.

That hadn’t gone as well as you would have liked but now Isaac had someone watching his back, which was something he had needed. You both made it away from the pack Isaac had upset, although that wasn’t the end of your troubles. He was going to continue to need someone to watch his back because while he said he had a pack, they were in Beacon Hills and he wasn’t. Most packs who saw Isaac would assume he was an omega and they never lasted long on their own. With the two of you traveling together, neither of you had to worry about being on your own.

You needed Isaac as much as he needed you. You wouldn’t tell him, because you knew he would get cocky, but you felt safer with him around. It wasn’t as if you couldn’t protect yourself but there were still parts of your magic that you didn’t have control over, as well as things you weren't aware that you was capable of. There were times when you didn’t mean to expend large amounts of your energy but if you got scared or angry, you did it without thinking. When it was all said and done, you were usually alone and vulnerable. You needed Isaac there to make sure that nothing bad happened to you too.

You had left your coven, the only family you had ever known, when it was clear that some of the members of the group wanted to use you for their own means as you came into your own power. You refused to be someone else’s pawn but the decision to leave hadn’t been an easy one for you. You had to slip out in the wee hours of the morning, taking only as much as you knew she could carry. Luckily for you, you had an RV that you had been living out of since you turned 18 and while a lot of your books and other various tools of your craft were inside of it, there were things you had to leave behind. More than that, there were people that mattered to you that you had been forced to leave behind and that had been the hardest part.

But now you had Isaac and Isaac had you. Neither of you had to be alone anymore. You were a coven of two, a pack of two — as much as either of you could claim that. It wasn’t much but it was better than both of you fumbling about alone in the world.

“Are you going to seriously leave me hanging here?”

You looked over your shoulder at him again, your eyes narrowing and your full lips pursed. You didn’t want to be angry with him but he had a way of pushing your buttons at the worst times. If you hadn’t been trying so hard to concentrate, you wouldn’t have minded but Isaac needed attention at the exact moment that you needed to focus. You weren't sure you could split focus in a way that would satisfy him and allow you to do the research that you needed to work on. 

“What do you want me to do, Isaac? Do you need me to entertain you? I’m sorry if this isn’t your idea of a good time,” you angrily said with a shake of your head, raising your voice more than you had intended. “Go for a walk if it bothers you that much.”

Isaac rolled his eyes this time, huffing as he flopped down onto the couch that sat behind the table where you was seated. His forearm was draped across his eyes as he laid there, acting like he was ignoring you. You hesitated but when Isaac remained quiet for longer than a couple of minutes, you let your attention drift back to the book you had been reading. You looked back once to see what he was up to when Isaac hadn’t bothered you again.

When you saw he was still laying there, you turned your full attention back to the book. If Isaac had fallen asleep, you didn’t want to wake him. More than that you appreciated the moment of silence. You tried to use it to your advantage, reading while you had a moment of stillness and calm.

It wasn’t long before you felt your concentration slip away. Maybe it was because you were worried that Isaac thought you were angry or maybe it was because you weren't learning anything that might help but you started to feel fidgety. It seemed that the book could wait since you were now having difficulty making sense of the words on the pages. The quiet was almost too much for you to bear. However, you didn’t hear Isaac as he rose and resumed hovering around behind you.

“Isaac?”

He had gotten up while you had been focused on your reading, silently pacing behind you as he hoped you wouldn’t notice him. It seemed as though sitting still wasn’t in the cards for him today either. When you called his name, Isaac perked up almost immediately, turning his head toward you. He had almost broken out in a grin but he suppressed the smile as best as he could, not wanting to upset you again. “Yeah?”

“Come here.”

There was something about the tone of your voice that Isaac wasn’t sure he should trust, especially after you had gotten snappy with him earlier. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched you, not sure what you wanted. “Why?”

You closed your eyes for a moment and sighed, hearing the skepticism in his voice. This time you waved him over as you spoke. “Just come here.”

“No, you’re going to hit me.”

You turned around to face Isaac, frowning as you realized that he still thought you were upset. “Look, you’re annoying me but I’m not going to hit you. Okay?”

His shoulders were slumped as he inched closer to you, closing the distance between you. He saw that the book you had been looking through was closed, noting that there was a slip of paper stuck in it to mark the page. His brows furrowed again as he stood over you. He towered over you even when you were standing but right now Isaac was like a giant standing over you and he could feel it. His back hunched as if he were trying to make himself smaller.

“What is it?” he asked, still a bit uncertain.

You reached for Isaac’s hand, your fingers gently stroking the back of his hand before you laced her fingers with his. An electric buzz raced through your body, starting at the point of contact between the two of you. It was an odd phenomenon that had begun happening recently whenever one of you touched the other. You saw that Isaac felt it too, seeing his breath catch, but neither of you mentioned it, as usual. For now it was just a thing that happened that neither of you could or wanted to explain and for now, you were happy to leave it that way.

You used your free hand to push back from the table, still holding his hand. Isaac looked down at your hands with a lopsided smile though. Sometimes you both wondered where this mutually beneficial arrangement was leading but most of the time you both let things happen. It didn’t stop Isaac from grinning like an idiot whenever you showed some semblance of wanting him around for any reason that wasn’t your protection or his safety and this was definitely one of those times. Maybe you both weren’t ready to talk about what was going on but you both certainly felt it.

His smile was infectious and soon you were smiling too, your thumb brushing the back of his hand. You weren't stupid; you knew the two of you were blurring the lines between this being something for your mutual protection and this being something more than a friendship. It was something you were going to have to confront eventually but today didn’t seem like it was the right time. Not when all you wanted was to keep Isaac from getting too fidgety, not when you knew you could use a break.

“How about we go into town and get something to eat? I think it should be safe.”

Isaac leaned forward and tugged on the curtain that covered one of the windows. It wasn’t far past noon and so far nothing had come for you both in the middle of the day. Even he had to admit that it should be safe. He nodded as he let the curtain fall from his fingertips, his eyes settling on you again. He gave your hand a gentle squeeze before nearly dragging you toward the seats up in the front of the RV.

You laughed softly as you followed him. You realized in that moment you were both too far past this being a friendship but you didn’t feel brave enough to bring it up. You thought Isaac felt it too but instead of bringing it up, you let him lead you forward, sitting in the passenger’s seat without an argument. Whatever you felt for each other was going to continue to be an unspoken thing for a while longer.

Isaac’s face broke out in a wide grin as he let go of your hand so he could start up the RV. You were renting a space at an RV park outside of a moderately sized town. If you were going to get something to eat, you would have to drive into town and Isaac was always so happy whenever you let him drive. You were so protective of the RV since it was the only home the two of you had at the moment. Giving up control of it to let Isaac drive seemed like you were trusting him with something even more important than your means of travel and the roof over your heads.

He turned on the radio, glancing over when he heard you humming along with the music. He almost reached out to brush some of your hair from your eyes but he stopped himself. Both of you hesitated when it came to gestures of affection, no matter how small they were. Soon Isaac was humming along with the music as it played as well. At least for a little while you both would get to be normal and that was so much more than he thought he could ask for. It was more than he thought he deserved but for the moment he was happy and he was going to live in this moment for as long as he could manage.

[thegeminisage]

okay it's star trek update time. saturday we watched voy's "demon" and "one" and last night we did voy's "hope and fear" and ds9's "tears of the prophets."

demon (voy):

this one was so fun. i kept yelling THE GOOP IS ODO and it wasn't ofc but it was fun to imagine

a y class planet...i feel like we only ever see m class...this was very exciting

always exciting when they break out the space suits too

the ship landing is so silly and ridiculous. only slightly less ridiculous than the saucer splitting from tng

for a few minutes there i thought we were gonna have the tom paris/harry kim version of 2.25 resolutions. like because they could only breathe the planet's air. really really really funny

i love that the solution was to just let them clone everybody. imagine after voyager leaves and you can choose any crewman and all the little slimes want tuvok so you just have a bunch of tuvok slimes running around. 10/10

one (voy):

MY GIRL SEVEN....................

this one was soooososososo good

first of all, wtf at chakotay like talking to janeway about her bond with seven...that was gay as hell

i loved also she and the doctor eventually getting tired of each other. their scenes are so funny because they're both really autistic but in different directions

i love also when she gets put through the fire and succeeds...there is nothing she can't do. she really ran that whole ship on her own WHILE HALUCINATING i'm so proud of her

how clever to kind of leave it up in the air whether or not that guy was real, also. i went back and forth on it a few times and finally landed on not real only second before the reveal

her dream about being alone in the snowy tundra...damn. she like hates other people but also hates being alone. what a way to be

hope and fear (voy):

i had to physically pause this one multiple times to collect myself re: janeway/seven

the holodeck game. the argument where they both hit below the belt. the bit in the brig where they reference the first thing that happened in the brig and janeway had to touch seven's little eye thingy in the soft mood lighting wwwwow

i think the ethical dilemma here was a little silly though. like, my guy, you were banking on the ruthless guys who were stronger than the borg and also wanted to eat everyone else for lunch on helping YOU? like everybody say thanks janeway for getting rid of something even worse than the borg! not fuck you janeway for not letting the borg get killed by them

idk. i don't see that she did anything too awful. she sent them back home and saved them from the borg and saved the borg from them and then also got her people thru borg space AND got a gf out of it. leave her alone

i did like all the stuff about intuition vs borg knowledge though...janeway and her intuition remind me of kirk, but janeway and seven both fighting in the brig and then making up in the brig (complete with the touching) is very spones bread and circuses of them.

tears of the prophets (ds9):

man, sorry to say this, but...this script sucked bad. i dont think avery brooks is capable of phoning it in but we probability saw him get pretty close here. that final monologue, which should have ben about dax and was instead about the prophets, was poorly written

and dax's last words being about a baby - come on.

and kira and odo's argument - he is not so stupid he would do this without expecting her to be mad

and the scene between dukat and damar...where was the tension?? crazy dukat great but he's been better

even the thing with quark and bashir moping around in the holodeck because of dax was bad on paper

like, all of these things were saved (well, some of them were saved) by admirable performances from a charming and talented cast, but whew! like, julian looked so sad this became funny. kira and odo kissing to make up was so charming i forgave the premise

but dax's death was a bad death and her final arc being about a FUCKING baby was really sexist. sisko leaving not sure if he is coming back bc of some prophet thing right when bajor needs him most seems ooc. and his monologue to dax not being ABOUT. DAX. was a crime. poor terry farrell.

overall s6 has been great so far aside from a couple of bumps but man did it end on a sour note. i have heard season 7 is divisive so i guess we will see!!

TONIGHT: ds9's "image in the sand" and "shadows and symbols."

[mac-cheez]

My Guide To Surviving The Waynes

This is inspired by an earlier post of mine and will be in an epistolary/Dracula style in the view of said uni student. I hope y'all like it!

Thxs @arrowheadedbitch for proofread and confidence.

Pt. 2 Pt. 3

--------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Diary,

I'm not a diary person really. I was always told it helps you relax or work through your feelings, but it never seemed worth it...... well not till now. Not till a "normal" morning for me was eating cereal while shouting goes through the house and under threat of death if I finish the milk. This is what's currently happening as I write this on my laptop trying not to spill said cereal. As I listened to another argument between Tim and Damian about something inconsequential (something about galleries robbing banks?), I finally caved and started writing. I figure this could be useful for reference or advice or even study (these bitches are weird as hell). Maybe I should start with how I got here?

I grew up down South. The bible belt was a weird place, but I survived I guess. My parents are loving and as understanding as they can be with their own experiences and opinions. My father is Army so we were lucky to not be on wheels at all times. My only major move was my sophomore year of high school. I decided to apply for the exchange program and was picked due to my fluency in French. I was sent to Paris and, loved it so much I decided to stay. I was able to stay till graduation and still keep in touch with my friends. I know, picture perfect right?

After graduation, I applied to many different Universities and programs hoping for a good criminal justice program to learn in. Forensics was the main interest I was looking for. It just so happened that Gotham University's Forensics and Criminal Justice Facilities just got updated by the Wayne Foundation (probably to deal with the crime problem). I saw that it met all of my criteria and applied not thinking about it. A couple of my picks fell through, but most came back as acceptances. I was about to accept one of my local Universities when I got the Gotham U acceptance letter. It said the usual spiel of "we'd love to have you, blah, blah, blah", I was about to throw it in the pile when I saw one specific detail, "We boast a 95% employment rate of our Science-based graduates."

After some research, I found out that it was true. Most GU grads get hired straight out of school if they have a scientific degree. That paired with the brand new facilities made me reconsider. I talked with my parents, and they agreed that it was likely the best option, but they were concerned about me living in the dorms or an apartment in a place like Gotham. I was about to suggest living in a city nearby and just commuting when my dad asked us to wait for a minute. He made some calls while I talked with my mom about other things concerning the move. When he came back he said he had a friend from work who I could stay with. He told me he had a couple kids my age and plenty of room. It wasn't till I was in the limo with a very nice elderly man on my way to said friend's house that I realized he meant Bruce Fucking Wayne. Once he parked (his name is Alfred btw) I got my luggage out and kinda just stared. He asked to take my bags but I just said no thank you. He hummed and led me to the door. It was quiet when he opened the door which I thought would be normal, but the worry on his face told me otherwise.

Suddenly from the hall, two boys ran by one yelling "MERCY" while the other smaller boy chased him with a sword and........ pink hair? I was concerned, but Alfred seemed more at ease so I tried not to think about it too much. Behind them, a guy came from the same hallway snickering at his phone.

"Master Duke, would you mind filling me in on the situation at hand?" Alfred asked him.

"Oh yeah Alfred, it was hilarious," 'Duke' said laughing, "so Tim put pink dye in the shampoo for Dick and then-," he stopped looking at me. "Uhhhhhhhh, Who's the girl?" He asked.

"A guest of Master Bruce," said Alfred.

"Oh! Oh. Uh, You're not......... ya know..... a guest," he asked.

"No god no I'm not that broke yet," I explained hoping the humor would land.

It seemed to because he immediately brightened and started introducing himself as Duke Thomas, one of Mr. Waynes Wards. I introduced myself and why I was there. It seemed like he was going to ask something when there was a crash and he said he should "make sure no one gets stabbed again".

"Well that was eventful," I said looking towards the hall he exited through.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," said Afred, worrying me a little. This wasn't an occasional thing?

He started leading me-;skjfbsgdpibzebERROR++vbvnjkm;n;mxcvz;'anrvbA:----

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

How would all the violetta and SL girls’ parents react if they told them they were pregnant? (If they told them during canon and not as adults)

Violetta: Well we know that even if Violetta would be an adult and married Germán would beat the crap out of whoever did this to his daughter… but Yeah in the show when she’s a teenager it might even be way worse. I can see Violetta trying to desperately hide it from him as long as possible.

Luna: Her parents would be a bit concerned due to her young age, but support her no matter what. I also think their feelings depend on how Luna feels - if Luna wants to keep it they help her out and support her, and if she doesn’t then they help her with that too. Although in private when she isn’t hearing they are probably more anxious about the whole thing and try to discuss what to do.

Francesca: Judging from what we saw in the show, Fran seems to have a lot of family around even when her parents moved back to Italy (as she got to live with her aunt and uncle when she stayed). So I think her parents reactions are essentially ”Well. It’s up to you to do what you want with this. If you keep it we’ll make a little nursery for it and it can be with your aunt while you’re at school”

Nina: Ricardo would immediately be like ”that’s great!! 😃” while Ana would give her lectures on how she should have been more responsible, while simontaneously deciding she’s gonna be some sort of guide on how to be a mom. She’d also be like ”and have you figured out what to do with school? If you keep it, have you thought about dropping off? Can I talk to the father’s parents??”. Also Mora (she’s also Nina’s mom she has two moms) would just be like ”Wonderful news you gave me!! 💜💜” and sew a bunch of baby clothes, even if Nina was only like some few weeks in.

Camila: I love the idea of ”Camila has a giant hippie family” so if she was pregnant her parents would just shrug. ”Someone is always home if you need someone to look after the baby when you’re in school”

Ámbar: Haha… yeah there’s no way she’d tell Sharon. However, Sharon 100% would find out anyway and when she does, Ámbar prepares for her to disown her or yell at her for ruining her reputation with this teenage pregnancy. She is ready to say she can get an abortion (even if she’s not sure she wants one) just to please Sharon. However, Sharon sees this an opportunity to raise someone else just like her. So she’s like ”keep the child. We have plenty of room. And I can take care of it while you study in Paris.”

Ludmila: Priscila would be disgusted that her own daughter could do something like this and ruin her reputation… the odd thing is, she’s against abortions but she’s also against Ludmila keeping the child. So she plans on essentially forcing Ludmila to adopt away the child immediately at birth and ”forget this ever happened”.

Jim: I feel like her parents would be like ”well, if you’re sure about this then we’ll support you through it all”.

Naty: My feeling is that they’d feel whatever Naty feels about it. If Naty is happy, they are happy. If Naty is sad, they are sad.

Yam: I think her parents trust her so they are like ”well, whatever choice you make with this will be the right one. We’re here to help if you need it.”

Delfi: I feel like her parents would feel a bit disappointed that she wasn’t ”careful” enough and scold her about it, while they want to make her prove she’s capable of taking care of a child.

Jazmin: I have a feeling they think Jazmin is super innocent about everything and didn’t know how she ended up pregnant, but they also want to keep her pure so they are like ”Yeah honey you must be the next virgin Mary <3”. Meanwhile Jazmin is like ”lol my parents think I’m the virgin Mary they can’t believe I slept with a boy 🤣 They’re so odd”

[sariahsue]

Let Me Count the Ways

Chapter Eleven - Hide and Seek

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [Ch 8] [Ch 9] [Ch 10]

It was a training night, and Ladybug couldn't keep her hands off Chat Noir. Not that he was complaining, but it was really putting his resolve to the test. He wasn't going to make her uncomfortable or make her push him away. The sweet, agonizing burning of her proximity was something he would endure.

The blur of her yoyo sliced through the cool air, and Chat Noir, caught off guard, barely raised his baton in time.

"Nice block!" She reeled the line in with a quiet zip and laid one hand over his. (He would die before admitting either that that block was 90% accidental or that her constant touch was NOT helping. It felt like his bones were liquifying under her fingers.)

As soon as she walked away to ready her next attack, he stepped back to lean against the wall and closed his eyes, grateful for the short reprieve.

A whistling started, the sound of the yoyo spinning in a tight circle. "Okay. Again."

On a completely related note, he hadn't gotten a hit on her all night. (But, oh, was it ever worth it.)

Chat Noir pushed himself off the wall, swinging his weapon shakily, and missed the gleam in his Lady's eyes until it was far too late.

The yoyo flashed in an arc, wrapping around his baton as well as his hands. Ladybug yanked as hard as she could. It had been so quick that he didn't have time to even yell. He was flying off his feet and crashing into her before he knew what was happening.

He leapt off of her just as quickly, but not before he felt her mouth pressing against his collarbone.

"S-sorry," he managed to sputter out.

"No, I'm sorry," she said, unbothered, as she sat up. "I was only trying to disarm you, not grab you."

Heat crept up his face. He felt a sudden urge to fan it away, but if she hadn't noticed his blush yet, he wasn't going to draw attention to it, so he cleared his throat instead. "You usually have better aim than that."

"Well, I am very distracted tonight." She gave him a look, like he should know what had caused her bad throw.

Chat Noir busied himself with untangling his claws from her string. She kept doing that, expecting him to know what she was talking about, like it should be obvious to him. He should add that to his list. If he could just add everything up, he might finally puzzle out the secret message that he was missing.

In general, though. Not for this particular instance. Now the only thing he could think that she might mean was himself, but she couldn't have.

"Distracted by what?" he asked when his claws were finally free.

Ladybug gave a big sigh. "Never mind."

For the next half hour, the moon rose higher and Ladybug gave him a little bit more space. At first, it was helpful. He needed to catch his breath. But as the minutes ticked on and she kept her distance, he realized he was the one being driven to distraction. He wanted to be closer to her, to close the gap, pull her to him.

"I've got an idea to shake up this training session," she said after a silence that had stretched far too long (and had left him with ample time to agonize about spaces and how to fill them). "Wanna hear it?"

"Sure."

"So we have to hunt down akumas sometimes. What if we practice by looking for each other?"

Chat Noir tucked his baton away. "Isn't that just called hide and seek?"

"If you want to be boring about it, I guess we could call it that."

"Tactical detection training, then," he said. "Don't want Paris to think her heroes are boring."

She laughed. "I was thinking more along the lines of cat and mouse." Her smile turned dangerous. "But I go first being the cat."

Ladybug offered him a head start, and he didn't want to argue, not with that look on her face. Bounding across the rooftops, he wondered where he should hide, and what she had in mind. While it was true they occasionally had to search for akumas, it was a rarity. They were usually loud and proud about the destruction they were causing. Plus, it wasn't like practicing hiding would do them much good. It was too dependent on the section of city the fight was in, and there was no way they could just… memorize all the good spots.

After a few minutes, he found an open window that led into the attic of an old museum. The lights on the main floors were off, and the attic itself looked dark and dusty and unused. A quick look around told him his Lady wasn't nearby and wouldn't see him sneak inside. Perfect. He slipped in, past boxes and furniture and forgotten things, trying to find the perfect spot, somewhere he could watch for movement outside but would provide plenty of cover should she happen to peek in.

One of the dust sheets behind him rustled, but when he turned, he didn't see any movement. He was playing the mouse, but he suspected that had been caused by a real one. He wrinkled his nose. It certainly smelled like them in there.

When he turned back to face the window, he heard another rustle but ignored it. At least until he felt a touch at the small of his back and a whisper at his ear.

"Found you."

He jumped away, heart racing, only to hear Ladybug laughing in response.

"How?" he croaked.

"There's lots of open windows. While you were making up your mind, I came in on the other side." She grabbed his hand. "You're going to have to lead me out. I can't see anything in here. I almost tripped and landed on my face before."

Chat Noir let himself have one small indulgence. Instead of keeping his hand stiff and flat in hers, he curled his fingers, letting the pads press gently against the back of her hand.

And then he tried to stop thinking about how great it felt and stop being weird about it and started leading them out.

The silence between them was as thick as the dust in the room. He wanted to say something, make a joke about holding hands, or maybe chance intertwining their fingers, but he couldn't. If he called attention to it, she would probably be flustered and embarrassed and would stop. And he did NOT want her to stop.

When he reached the window, he paused. The toes of his boots were inches away from the shaft of moonlight shining in through the open window. A part of him wanted to stay in here with her, alone together, where no one could see them.

Ladybug didn't wait for him, instead pushing past him when she saw the faint light.

"Wait." He pulled, and she came willingly, until they were face to face. The air felt warm despite the cool air snaking in through the window and curling around them.

"What?" At first she seemed simply surprised at being held back, but the raised eyebrows were soon exchanged for a small smile. Which he only noticed because he was staring at her mouth.

He flicked his eyes toward the window. "Uh. Remember to duck, so you don't hit your head on the way out." Okay, maybe he should tell her to stop. This was careening toward unfamiliar territory. Dangerous territory.

Ladybug didn't let go of his hand until they had both made it through the small window and were in plain sight of the buildings around them. Lights from streetlights and cars all felt pointed at him, illuminating the heart on his sleeve. It was only a matter of time before she saw it.

"We shouldn't do that again."

Ladybug stopped short, caught off guard by his abrupt declaration. "Why not?"

Because being in the dark, hidden from the world, had given him ideas that would threaten the balance he'd created in himself - between the contentment her platonic friendship gave him and his desire for more - that would threaten to tear it all to pieces if he let it grow. It would have been so easy to lean in, kiss her, and believe that she would have welcomed him.

"Because it took too long," he said bluntly.

"Yeah," she agreed with a frown. "You're right. This wasn't the best use of our time. It's already time to go. And I didn't get the result that I wanted anyway."

He let out a held breath. That was good. She hadn't suggested switching roles and trying again. He wasn't sure his self control could handle chasing her right now. The wind blew, and on the street below engines revved as a light changed, and he tried to focus on that instead of how badly he wanted to let himself love her.

Ladybug took a step forward and cupped his cheek. All of his attention snapped back to her in an instant, his hands finding her hips before he thought to keep them still. Their eyes locked.

"It was a good idea, though," she continued, like she hadn't even noticed where he was holding her. Should he move? She would say something if it was bothering her. He knew she would tell him if he was in danger of making her uncomfortable, and he shouldn't worry. But he felt guilty anyway.

The hand on his cheek dropped to his chest, then slid down lower.

His eyes slammed shut.

Don't react, he chanted to himself as he started to shake. Don't, don't, don't. The muscles in his stomach clenched as her fingers brushed over them.

Breathe normally! He couldn't let her realize the effect she was having on him. He wasn't sure he was successful.

The hand finally dropped and he opened his eyes.

"Same time tomorrow?" She smiled up at him, waiting for an answer, but he could only stare and feel her hips still in his hands.

"We should go," she whispered, and then she stepped away, slipping out from underneath his palms.

Chat Noir had to ball them into fists to keep from grabbing her again and dragging her back to him. Pulling her flush against him, blazing heat everywhere they connected. The image was so strong and so, so close.

But what would Ladybug's reaction be to his unwelcome pull? That image was a dark shadow. He didn't know how it would play out, but the dread building in his chest whispered suggestions. And he didn't want to ruin this.

So he forced himself to stay still and let her go, waiting until she was gone before sitting down on the roof and putting his face in his hands. His resolve was quickly crumbling. If he didn't do something soon, he risked pushing her away and damaging the friendship that meant so much to him.

Too bad he had no idea what to do.

---

Tag list: @clawsout83 @trippingovermyfeet @tbehartoo @yoonjae20 @random-cartoon-fangirl @jasvalka 

[dootznbootz]

saw this post while browing the odypen tag and someone in the comments said something along the lines of "penelope WOULD have to be abducted and not going alone of her own free will like helen" and im gonna lose it

https://www.tumblr.com/usuallyobsessedtmblr/744370775987994624/the-urge-to-write-a-fic-where-penelope-gets?source=share

A N G R Y

The post itself is perfectly fine. I have my own ideas on "What if Penelope gets kidnapped instead?" (Hector's pov most of the time, Odysseus basically does a stealth mission, Andromache's life is in danger for a bit, Everybody gets whiplash from the man who was so fucking terrifying and under a different name is now kissing and crying with your guest,etc. IDK gimme an ask if you want a snippet)

But the fucking rest?!?!?

I get excited often, thinking "HEY!!! We're getting better with Nuance!!!" and then get slapped by THIS.

Sure, technically it's kind of unknown if she for sure went of her own choice. From what I remember, there's basically a bit of play on words with how "Oh Aphrodite caused this." which either means "Oh I've been struck by LOVE!" or "She literally grabbed me and plopped me on Paris' boat and/or love spell"

Either way, does it matter that much?

Like personally, I believe in the "plopped on Paris' boat" version. As that makes the most sense. AND because to me, her and Odysseus' stories are "mirrors" in many ways as they have a lot of the same stuff kind of happen to them. I made a post about it a while back.

But by the Iliad??? She clearly doesn't want to fucking be there!!!

I get so fucking upset when it literally states in the text that "Hey, they're not having a good time. They're very scared and they're victims." and then people act like "well they didn't try hard enough"

ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE ARE GODS INVOLVED! This isn't PJO where 12 year old Percy beat Ares!!! She cannot just say no as that literally gets her yelled at by Aphrodite!!!

Thus spoke the goddess, and Helen's heart yearned after her former husband, her city, and her parents.

(Book 3, Butler)

[...]you’re in love with some mortal man and Menelaus has just beaten Paris and wants to take me, a despised woman,                                    back home with him? Is that why you’re here, you and that devious trickery of yours? Why don’t you go with Paris by yourself, stop walking around here like a goddess, stop guiding your feet toward Olympus, and lead a miserable life with him, caring for him, until he makes you his wife or slave. I won’t go to him in there— that would be shameful, serving him in bed. Every Trojan woman would revile me afterwards.                            Besides, my heart is hurt enough already.” Divine Aphrodite, angry at Helen, answered her: “Don’t provoke me, you obstinate girl. I might lose my temper, abandon you, and hate you just as much as I have loved you. I could make Trojans and Danaans hate you, too. Then you’d suffer a miserable death.” Aphrodite spoke. Helen, born from Zeus, was too afraid. She covered herself in her soft white linen shawl, went off in silence, unnoticed by all the Trojan women.     

(Book 3, Johnston)

SHE TRIES!!! SHE'S HURTING!!! Technically,there is no real answer if she went willingly or not...that's kind of the point!!! But by the Iliad, she's miserable.

Getting offtrack but this line is doing something to me

Menelaus has just beaten Paris and wants to take me, a despised woman,                                    back home with him?

I mean, holy shit!!! "He just beat Paris, Menelaus still wants to take me, a piece of shit, back home"

This sounds like such a fucking PLEA. She's SO hopeful. This gives an undertone of "Save me, please" and ksldjf HELEN!!!!!!!!!!! 😭 MY DARLING I'M SO FUCKING SRORRY

Look, I hate cheating just as much as anyone. Like, personally as well. But to even think something like "Well they were fine with it at first, therefore this is what they get." like??? Do you hear yourself? You're saying someone deserves to be raped. That's even if you are just going with the "She was clearly fine with it at first." because that's not necessarily supposed to be the "correct" interpretation.

I'm hoping that whoever said it, is just misinformed, because any other thought makes me itchy.

Also side thing, I'm fucking tired of comparing Helen and Penelope and "having them bitter towards each other". Even in the Odyssey, Penelope SAYS Helen wouldn't have left of her own choice and that's why she tested Odysseus because she was scared of the same thing happening to her. Honestly it's funny because the more "pitting against each other" I see the more I'm like "They're even CLOSER now in my fics!!! They are gossiping and having fun because THEY DON'T HATE EACH OTHER!!!"

Remember Helen of Argos, Zeus’s daughter— would she have sported so in a stranger’s bed if she had dreamed that Achaea's sons were doomed to fight and die to bring her home again? Some god spurred her to do her shameless work. Not till then did her mind conceive that madness, blinding madness that caused her anguish, ours as well.

(Book 23, Fagles)

I love both the gals so much, even for their "awfulness". Retellings, you're fucking boring if you make them hate each.

[logically-asexual]

Ladybird

summary:

Cat Noir faces Dream Fairy, an villain that puts sleeping children into a spell so they won’t wake up. Ladybug can’t help him so he has to find someone he trusts to take her place in this battle. If you follow me you can guess who it will be.

Could happen during season 4.

notes:

leave a comment if you want!! just no season 5 spoilers please, i’ve only seen the first half ^-^

Read on AO3

word count: 3,613

Cat Noir smiled as he felt the fresh night air of Paris against his face. It was late and everyone else was asleep, his suit blended into the sky, and no one would tell him what to do. He knew he shouldn’t use his powers for personal reasons, but he hadn’t been able to get any sleep, only tossing and turning in bed for hours. Besides, he had agreed with Ladybug that they would patrol the city once per day, and nobody specified it had to be during daylight hours.

He was about to break his record of leaping over four buildings in one jump when a flashing light in the distance caught his attention, followed by the sound of loud cackling. His expression dropped. So there would be work to do, after all.

He used the repeating flashes to track the villain and follow after them. Once he was close enough, he heard her yell “None of you little brats will be able to interrupt my sleep ever again!” as she shot bright rays of light into every window along the street.

He was able to tackle the person (an exhausted mother, maybe?) while she was distracted, crashing both of them into the sidewalk.

The villain, dressed in an extravagant costume that reminded him of Maleficient, recovered from the hit quickly. “Cat Noir!” she scowled, “You know what time it is? Children like you shouldn’t be roaming the streets! But don’t worry, Dream Fairy will fix that soon.”

She pointed her staff at him, which had a green glowing orb at the end. He managed to move out of the way before the magic shot got him. The akuma was surely in that staff, but he needed to wait for Ladybug to destroy it so she could capture and de-evilize it before it flew away. Deciding to stall her as he waited for his partner, he jumped away and ran through the city, the witch close behind him.

He landed on a windowsill and tried to call Ladybug, but she wouldn’t pick up. While he was distracted, it was the villain’s turn to crash into him and send them both falling into the house. He found himself in the middle of his own foyer.

“I smell a little brat lives here!” Dream Fairy turned towards his, well, Adrien’s bedroom door at the top of the stairs. “But he’s not asleep like he should…”

Cat Noir tried to get a hold of her staff, but she was too quick. On the corner of his vision he saw Nathalie struggling with the crutches to run out of her room.

He shielded himself from the rays of light with his own staff, and said “Don’t worry ma’am! I’ve got everything under control!”

Ironically, at that same moment the villain slipped away and made a run for Adrien’s bedroom, only to be faced with Nathalie now blocking the way and swiftly evading every attack, even with her limited mobility.

Cat Noir distracted the woman again and attempted to lead her out of the house. The battle continued, until Tikki was suddenly next to his face holding Ladybug’s earrings. He kept sparring with the villain as he spoke to her.

“Tikki? What’s going on? Where’s Ladybug?”

“We have a problem! My owner is asleep and I couldn’t wake her up! She seems to be under some spell. I tried to find someone else to use her powers today but all our other allies were the same!”

“We need Ladybug to capture the akuma,” he said between strikes, “there’s no way I’m making it without her!”

Wearing the earrings himself wasn’t even an option, he had no experience wearing two miraculous at once, let alone the most powerful ones! He leaped away right before being hit with a magical ray, which gave way for the villain to run back towards the stairs.

Nathalie, still guarding the bedroom door, didn’t waste any time punching Dream Fairy right on the nose, knocking her out. Cat Noir looked at her in awe. He had an idea.

He grabbed Nathalie’s hand and pulled her into her bedroom, with Tikki following after him.

“Nathalie, right? I need your help.”

“Wait—“ she tried to get back out, but Cat Noir stopped her, saying that he had already made sure Adrien would be safe. He was touched by her worry and her eagerness to protect him, but he had no time to waste.

“Nathalie Sancoeur, here’s the miraculous of the ladybug, which grants the power of creation. You will use it for the greater good.” He held eye contact with her and noticed that her stare grew panicked while he spoke. “Once the—“

“Me? No, you don’t want me, I can’t even walk properly!”

“Don’t worry! The suit enhances all physical abilities! And I saw you fighting just now, you’re awesome already! I need someone strong, intelligent, and trustworthy, and—“

“No,” she interrupted, “you don’t want to trust me.”

Nathalie couldn’t believe she was this situation. She knew Gabriel would want her to take this opportunity and finally get what they were both after this whole time. The jewels he so desperately wanted were right in front of her, being handed to her on a silver platter, and she, of all people, would be the one giving them to him. Everything in her knew that she should take advantage of this, even if she had to defeat Gabriel’s akumatized villain first, but there was a voice in the back of her head that forced her to hesitate, only made louder by the kind look on the superhero’s wide green eyes.

“You’re Gabriel Agreste’s executive assistant, right? If he relies on you for his work then you must deserve this honor. You are the most trustworthy person I kno— I mean— here!”

Cat Noir smiled at her, and something in his eyes reminded him of when Adrien was little, begging for her not to tell his mom that he had stolen a cookie from the kitchen, not afraid, but hopeful, because he knew she would cave in eventually. She always did, as she did now.

She would end up disappointing the boy either way, sooner or later. Might as well get something out of it.

She took the pair of earrings, switched them with her own, and attentively listened when Cat Noir explained the basic information about her powers, all of which Nathalie was already aware of, but he didn’t know that. Soon, they were ready.

“Tikki, spots on!”

Her glasses and crutches were gone, leaving only a magic suit and mask behind. Her suit wasn’t very different from the girl’s apart from the fact that the colors on Nathalie’s were inverted. Her hair didn’t change a lot either, with her bun now higher up and two red strands of hair hanging loose next to either side of her face.

“A pleasure to meet you…” Cat Noir waited.

“Ladybird,” she completed. The word felt foreign on her mouth, but it was all that came to mind.

Cat Noir opened the door for her and led the way to the villain, who was now standing from the place on the floor where they had left her.

It took a few minutes to get the hang of her weapon. She was skilled when it came to self defense, but her aim had never been great. She found that her power and her enhanced vision improved it somewhat, once she got familiar with the shape and mass of the object she was throwing. She was able to use it to block the rays from hitting Cat Noir and to distract Dream Fairy, who had forgotten about Adrien and was now giving them her full attention.

Cat Noir insisted on being the one at the front, leading the battle while she supported him any way she could. They knew they had to get to the staff, but Dream Fairy was too agile and avoided them with ease.

Growing frustrated, Cat Noir suggested for her to summon the lucky charm. She followed his instruction and stepped away to call the power. In her hands now was a… a DVD copy of Solitude, with Emilie on the cover. Was this some kind of joke?

The black cat struggled defending himself while she stared at the movie. She remembered that Gabriel had his own copy in the safe behind his wife’s portrait, which gave her an idea. She called for the villain’s attention offering her the miraculous and ran into Gabriel’s office.

Dream Fairy ran after her, trying to hit her with her staff but missing every attempt. Nathalie walked backwards into the room until she was in position right next to the painting.

“Cat Noir, your cataclysm!” As she spoke, the villain attempted to take her apparent distraction as a chance to strike, but was met with a perfectly-timed hit in the face with the frame of the painting. She stumbled backwards before Nathalie slid the DVD case across the floor so the woman slipped on it. “Now!”

In the fall, Dream Fairy let go of her staff, which Cat Noir was able to get mid-air and destroy. As always, the dark butterfly flew out of the object. Nathalie went through the famous following motions, de-evelizing the creature. Then, she picked up the movie and threw it upwards and said, “Miraculous Ladybird!”

Swarms of ladybugs flew all around them, fixing the broken window, the dented frame of the portrait, and the staff, now turned into a flashlight. The disoriented woman who used to be Dream Fairy tried to stand up, but soon lost balance and dropped back to the floor, sleeping peacefully at last.

Ladybird felt relief for the poor woman, who must have been awake for one-too-many nights in a row. Her attention then was brought back to Cat Noir, who was holding up a closed fist at her, offering the victory gesture the heroes always did. She looked down at his hand, the ring on his finger was blinking.

Through his shared vision with the akuma, Gabriel knew that Cat Noir and someone had just defeated his villain in his office before losing contact with them, so he would probably wait a while to come out, to avoid being discovered. Nathalie was on her own. It was now or never.

“Sorry,” she muttered. In a blink, with a flick of her wrist the yo-yo flew around Cat Noir and immobilized him. All tied up, he lost balance and fell over with a soft thud. His alarmed eyes shifted from side to side, but he didn’t get enough time to figure out how to escape before she took the ring from him.

Ladybird took the ring from his hand and wore it in her own, ignoring the green light of his transformation on the edges of her vision. Still looking down at the miraculous, she took a deep breath. She would be clear with the wish, making sure the life that would be taken in exchange wouldn’t be anyone else’s but her own.

“Tikki, Plagg, unif—“

“Nathalie, no!” the boy interrupted.

She finally looked up gasped, stumbling a few steps back. The world froze for a moment, the air in the room suddenly cold enough to make her body tremble as she saw who was laying on the floor in front of her.

“Adrien,” she barely whispered.

“Wh— Why are you doing this?” He appeared to be on the verge of tears, a state she would probably share soon, not yet believing this was real.

“That's… that’s impossible.” Her head turned between him, Emily’s portrait, and the ring on her finger. Not enough air was getting into her lungs, maybe she had hit her head and she was currently the one on the floor and this was all her imagination, product of a concussion. Maybe she had dreamed this entire night and the sound of her alarm clock would wake her up at any moment.

A part of her brain registered a shift in the air behind her. Then, two hands yanking away her earrings fully brought her back to reality. Every last drop of strength left her body along with the magical suit, causing her knees to buckle and she came crashing down. It was as if the exhaustion and pain she had avoided during the fight had accumulated and now she had to take it all back.

Nathalie couldn’t make out the fuming words of the girl who must have been the actual owner of the ladybug miraculous. She could see she was wearing a gray and white costume and sunglasses as she put on her earrings. She argued with the ladybug kwami, and Adrien chimed in a few times. It surprised her to see him standing up, before her mind caught up with the fact that her powers were gone, and so was the yo-yo and the string that had been restraining him.

Nathalie tried to discern more details of the situation but her vision was fogging up and she felt like everything was crumbling around her. She was about to lose consciousness when a bright light forced her back. Ladybug left through the portal she had just opened carrying the de-akumatized person as Adrien ran to Nathalie’s side.

He helped her sit up and explained what he had discussed with the superheroine. She couldn’t understand much of what he said at the beginning, but slowly she was able to take in less shallow breaths and comprehend more of his speech. She gathered some general ideas. He had said that he didn’t tell Ladybug everything that had happened to protect his identity, and that he had asked her to leave them alone and let Adrien and Cat Noir manage things.

Then, she realized he was asking her a question. She blinked at him for a couple seconds before registering the words. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered. She tried to give him proof of her statement and managed to stand up, but she couldn’t bring herself to take a step forward. The shaking of her legs convinced her that she would fall if she tried. “You should get back to bed.”

“Wait.” He moved to stand in front of her, as if he would be the only thing blocking her from leaving the room. “Please tell me, why did you do that?”

She bit her lip. She was in no condition, physical or mental, to have this conversation. What could she say that would reveal just enough to satisfy his curiosity, and not too much to raise any more questions?

A part of the truth should be good enough. “I wanted to make a wish.”

“You know about the wish?”

She swallowed. “Uh, yes. I’ve seen the news, I’ve heard about it.”

The sadness in Adrien’s eyes pierced into her own. This shouldn’t be happening. She should be the one protecting him. Still, his voice was full of kindness. “I know it sounds like an easy solution to any problem, but it’s more complicated than that. The balance of the universe has to be maintained, which means every wish comes with a price. If you wanted to cure your illness someone else would have to fall ill in your place, and that’s… well… it’s not fair.”

Nathalie knew about the price of the wish. He was right. Things were more complicated than they appeared, but she couldn’t explain the real reason why to Adrien. It was neither the moment nor the place. It wasn’t even a job for her to do, it was his father’s. “That’s… not what I wanted,” she muttered. It bothered her that he could think she would do something so selfish.

“It’s okay, I didn’t know that at the beginning either. Now you know you see, it’s better this way.”

As offensive as it was, she would have to let him believe that he guessed the wish she intended to make correctly, and hopefully he would forgive her and not interrogate further.

Adrien smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back, until he extended his hand to her and she remembered today’s discovery.

The ring was in its disguised form, all silver, just like Adrien had worn it the entire time. As she took it off and held it between her index and thumb, it turned back to black and the green paw appeared in the center. She should have known it, and yet not even now could she fully believe it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said, “I do think you’re the most trustworthy person in the world, but we had to keep our identities a secret from everyone. You’re… not going to tell father, are you?”

Memories came to her of all those moments when both Mayura and Hawkmoth had faced the heroes. Focused on their goals and thinking of the superheroes as nothing but obstacles to them, it was easy to attack with no restraint or care for the children behind the masks. Now everything was different. It had been Adrien, all this time. The girl behind the red spotted mask might be infuriating, but she was someone’s daughter, too. Why had it taken all this for her to actually acknowledge it? Was ruining these children’s lives really worth it?

All her experiences up until this point were altered under this new perspective. She wondered if Gabriel would feel the same if he knew. Would he stop if he did? “I… don’t think I can lie to your father.” She had to tell him. What if Hawkmoth chose to fight in person again? What was Nathalie supposed to do then? She closed her fist around the ring. “I also don’t think I could stand to keep watching you get hurt.”

Adrien went on a long speech defending himself, arguing that the suit made him nearly invulnerable, that he and Ladybug always had each other’s backs and always came up with a solution, that he was never more worried about the akumatized villains injuring him than he was about Hawkmoth harming his victims as they were used for his nefarious purposes.

If only he knew, Nathalie thought. If only he knew why his father was doing this. But, as usual, it wasn’t her place to speak, so she just frowned at him, not yet persuaded.

“Please,” he was now begging, “if my father finds out he will never let me out of the house again! I don’t want to be a prisoner for the rest of my life! It’ll be even worse than before I went to school.” He grabbed her from both arms, almost pouting. “I know what I’m doing, just trust me. You don’t have to lie to him, you just have to keep doing everything the same way you did up until today. Please!”

As he dragged on the last word and looked up at her with the same puppy eyes that had convinced her to take the magical earrings earlier, she felt once again cornered. No truth was more universal than the fact that when an Agreste wanted something from her, they would get it. She simply sighed and handed over the ring back to him.

He immediately squeezed the air out of her in a hug, which she returned to the best of her ability. She had promised Emilie that she would protect Adrien, but she never expected that to be such a difficult task. However, that didn’t mean that she would simply give up.

After a minute the boy pulled away. She had been leaning some of her weight on him, so he noticed her effort to stay upright after losing his support. He called for his transformation with a wide smile. Looking into those green eyes now, she couldn’t believe she ever thought they belonged to anyone else but Emilie’s son. He held an arm around her, and carried her back to her bedroom.

Cat Noir thanked her and hugged her one last time before leaving to find Ladybug and explain his version of what had happened earlier. Luckily, all the girl knew was that her kwami had left with the earrings to find a temporal holder and she figured out she would find them at the Agreste Mansion once she followed the villain’s signs of destruction on the streets. She probably assumed Cat Noir had hidden once Nathalie had taken his ring and the secret of his identity was safe.

Nathalie watched from her window as the boy jumped from one rooftop to another, disappearing into the night. Before bed she would delete the footage from the cameras in the house, then she would sleep, and then… that was to be determined.

She would have to think carefully about what she would do about Gabriel now. Adrien didn’t know the scope of the burden he had put on her. She didn’t know how the man would react if he found that his son was Cat Noir, but she was sure that if Gabriel ever found out that she had known Cat Noir’s identity and hadn’t told him, he would be furious. If she was honest, sometimes Nathalie was just as scared of him as Adrien was.

Unfortunately, she had no choice now. The matter was delicate so her actions should be the same. She would have to thread carefully until she could find a solution that hopefully didn’t end with Gabriel losing his mind, Adrien getting hurt, and her being fired. For now, she’d have to act natural, while she pretended her world hadn’t been shattered around her and completely differently rebuilt in a single night.

[alittlefrenchtree]

Is there anything from the book that you would have liked to see in the film and what do you now prefer about the film compared to the book?

Many things in both case.

Main things of the book I would have like seeing in the movie:

-Unpopular opinion but i'm not a big fan of the Paris love making scene. Taylor and Nick's performances were really good and most of my issues are with the directing choices. While most of the movie looks very fresh and that what makes it a good romcom, the Paris scene looks and sound a bit outdated so I wish the scene looked a bit different and maybe closer to the book.

-The After the kensington palace scene. The way they go from yelling at each other to the V&A scene is waaaay too quick in the movie and doesn't make much sense to me if i'm being honest. I'm not sure if I'm the biggest fan of how it happens in the book either but, there's something at least.

-Raf Luna. I think his storyline was too complicated for the book so i did not miss him that much in the movie but I liked the idea of a queer role model for Alex and one of (if not the) my favorite scene and quote from the book was with Raf Luna so that would have been cool to see on screen. “Sería una mentira, porque no sería él”

-Alex's panic attack and how he firstly reacts to the leak.

Main things I like better in the movie:

-how Alex handles his bisexuality. I know it was a big issue for some but it was so refreshing for me to see the fact that he's into guys being barely a subject (and focusing on he freaking out about being into Henry). There are still many important milestones for all queer people scene, like owning the word for himself, the importance of his speech on the topic of coming out but. Hearing him say "i can wrap my head about being lowkey into guys" three (movie) minutes after the first "maybe i'm not straight" thought entering his mind like it's no big deal because it's no big deal and it makes sense to be no big deal with the way he's been raised IS GOOD. Gave the movie more time to focus on other things.

-how they simplified many things about the storyline that were too complicated (or weren't what the movie has supposed be about) in my opinion. Like I said, half of the Raf Luna storyline. How they tried the fake dating thing with June and Nora to try to bury the leak. I'm still debating with myself on what they did with the Claremont-Diaz family. I think they should have kept the divorce but maybe Leo wasn't necessary yet? I'm not sure.

There must be more but they're the biggest things that come to my mind at the moment. Thank you for the questions, it was fun to think about it 💜