#is it even remotely undercover at this point though

[snk-smartpass]

TEXT Vol. 23 Mikasa’s Recipe

The “new Squad Levi” had made a remote home into their base of operations. There they hid Eren and the highly important Historia from a society that had been thrown into chaos as they feared the Titans who appeared within the

Walls, preparing to make their next move.

[Potatoes, carrots, meat, milk, flour, butter.]

[Wash vegetables well and cut into equal-sized pieces]

[Start simmering the toughest vegetables first…]

“Hm? Is this yours, Mikasa?”

“What…?”

As Mikasa performed ab exercises despite the injuries she’d sustained in the earlier battle, Sasha noticed a scrap of paper that had fallen out of her belongings and picked it up.

••••••

Mikasa trained atop the bed where she was supposed to be resting her wounds. Having realized that she had dropped something, she went to pick it up.

“Was that a scrap of paper from your notebook? It looked to me like something that had to do with cooking…”

Just as the ever-hungry Sasha said, it was a note that Mikasa had written carefully about ingredients and instructions for a recipe. She’d kept it in her military notebook, but it must have fallen out as she organized her belongings in order to live life undercover in civilian clothing.

“I don’t want to forget it, so…”

“I didn’t think you’d need to take notes to remember how to cook in the barracks. You had such good grades in our classes.”

“This dish… doesn’t have to do with training…”

On the inside, Mikasa was glad she’d found the note. She put it back in her belongings and recalled the time she learned to cook.

••••••

“Listen, Mikasa. You need to be careful when using a knife. Especially with meat… Yes, very good.”

Mikasa was still young that day. She’d joined Eren’s family for a short while after her parents had been taken from her, and there she lived in peace and quiet.

“What about this flour…?”

“You dissolve it into the butter and milk to thicken the broth. Be careful not to let it burn. Once the vegetables and meat are simmered, you mix it all together.”

Carla, Eren’s mother, was even kind to Mikasa, being every bit the mother to her as she was to Eren. When Mikasa asked to help her in the kitchen, she even taught the girl her specialty.

“This used to be popular at the store I worked at, too. The trick is to stay calm and mix well.”

“…Okay.”

As Mikasa awkwardly did her best to follow directions, the rest of the family gathered around.

“I’m home! Hey, something smells good!”

“Call your father over before you start stealing any bites, Eren.”

“Okay,” said the energetic voice, followed by footsteps running toward the underground office.

The young Mikasa wrote the recipe down when it became impossible for her to ever return to this home again, keeping the memories of her second mother alive .

••••••

Though Mikasa had been reminiscing all on her own, Sasha, who was sharp-eyed only when it came to food, seemed to figure out that when she said the memories had “nothing to do with training,” she meant they were from before the Walls came down.

“Yeah, some of those ingredients are really valuable now. It couldn’t be a recipe you learned in the military.”

“You read it…?”

“Just what I got a glimpse of!”

There was no particular problem in it being read, but it did seem somehow embarrassing. Like Sasha had pointed out, Mikasa understood most things after being told them once, so this seemed unlike her. Regardless of Mikasa’s expectations, though, Sasha smiled.

“There are a ton of recipes that I used to be able to make before the Walls were destroyed that I can’t eat now… Seeing that took me back.”

Sasha’s hometown would have thrown away their traditions because of the Titan invasion. As hunters, they must have had unique dishes.

“It’d be nice if you got to make that sometime. I bet it tastes great if you thought it’s worth writing down.”

“I… don’t know if I could make it well. But… when the person who taught me it made this… it was so…”

“You’re still in here?! The meeting’s about to start.”

“Oh! We’ll be right over!”

Though she was interrupted by Armin, who had come to call them over, she wasn’t bothered. Sasha was right. It would be a joyful thing if the day came when she could make the recipe again and serve it to someone else.

For now, though, it was still a distant dream. Mikasa made sure that her body felt alright before carefully leaving her bed behind.

••••••

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 3

TRANSLATION: Ko Ransom

[theflyindutchwoman]

Everyone seems to think it was so romantic when Tim said "I can't lose you the way I lost her", but I honestly can't.

To me it implies that he's ok with losing Lucy in any other way, just not in that especific way he lost Isabel.

Like his biggest fear is not losing Lucy, is going through those traumatic events again.

Which is totally valid and understandable, but I fail see romance in that. I just see Isabel's shadow looming over their relationship.

I really enjoy your analysis, help me see what others see. Thanks!

To be honest, I don't know if romantic is the word I'd use either, though I can understand this perspective… I can't speak for others, of course, but what resonated with me is the humanity and the extreme vulnerability that Lucy and Tim portrayed in this scene. This is about them sharing their deepest fears and that is something incredibly intimate and personal. Important too.

To me it implies that he's ok with losing Lucy in any other way, just not in that especific way he lost Isabel. I mean, if you were to take this out of context, maybe… But as it is, this sentence doesn't exist in a vacuum. Never mind that we're talking about the same man who was ready to cross a line when Lucy was missing, who needed to embrace her for a while to reassure himself she was alive… Earlier in the episode, he practically had a heart attack watching her get shot at and was only able to breathe again once he saw she was unharmed. He was still so rattled that it almost cost him his life a few minutes later. So no, this isn't a man who is even remotely OK with losing her, regardless of the way. And I don't think this is what the writers intended to imply.

Let's get back to what Tim says : 'Listen, I need you to take it seriously if I ever sound the alarm about something. Otherwise, the pain of what I went through will have been for nothing, and I can't lose you the way I lost her'. There's something so profoundly human and relatable in how he is trying to find a meaning behind his pain. To convince himself that what he went through must have been for something. This is how many react after a tragedy or a trauma. And for him, the meaning is related to Lucy. In his mind, if his experience can help her avoid some of the pitfalls of undercover work, can ensure that they make it through, then his pain wouldn't have been for nothing… He's trying to find a way to turn a traumatic experience into something positive.

Like his biggest fear is not losing Lucy, is going through those traumatic events again. See, I understand this part a bit differently - I think his biggest fear is to see LUCY go through something like that. To lose HER that way. Watching the people you love lose themselves and their light fade away while being powerless to stop it, is soul crushing. It's brutal. He barely survived it with Isabel�� Going through that all over again, with Lucy, who is so empathetic, who has been his light from the start, would be completely devastating. This isn't just reliving his trauma that terrifies him… It's reliving it with Lucy. And this fear is particularly tangible in that moment… Because Isabel just came back into his life. Everything is a bit more tender, more raw. Especially since they spent time talking about her time as an undercover agent. That had to stir up some memories. You can't erase life experience. And a few days later, Lucy had to go undercover… where she could have died. Tim can be very good at compartmentalising, but not so much when it comes to her. By the time they made it back to her apartment, he was reaching his boiling point. And fear took over.

I do think it was important for Lucy to make sure he understood she was different. Otherwise, it is unfair to her. And they needed to have this conversation. To set some boundaries. But I'm not really sure Isabel's shadow is looming over their relationship either… Until that episode, he had never said anything to indicate such a thing - with the exception of his outburst in 3.06. And notice that this was pre-relationship and right after his friend ODed. Other than that, he has been nothing but supportive, even going as far as encouraging Lucy to go to UC school. So it's not like there is a pattern. Yet. Who knows where this storyline will go.

The way I see it, relationships are not about perfection. It's about communicating even when it's hard, it's about choosing someone with all their flaws, not despite of them. It's about finding someone who can help you carry your baggage and who you can help carry theirs. Because we all have baggage. Some bigger than others, but we all do. And this is where I can see the romantic aspect. Because none of this is new to either of them. Lucy knew all about his hang-ups and Isabel and Tim knew all about her choice of doing undercover work. And yet, they both chose to take that leap of faith, they both believe that the other is worth the effort and the risk. They choose to communicate, even when their instincts would be to pretend that everything is alright. They choose each other and help each other when it's hard, when it gets uncomfortable… And that's romantic to me. I can understand if you feel differently though. I hope this answers your question :)

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

Danny Phantom (and technically optional crossover) Prompt

Imagine, if you will, a not-aging Danny Fenton. There’s about a dozen ways to do this, but in this case—Danny still has a human lifespan, he just looks human (though, I won’t argue against any immortal Dannys). As Fenton, he’s just stuck at fourteen. Phantom, being a ghost whose appearance is based on what he sees himself as, does look older. By this point, he’s probably retired from superheroics—I just find unphased and jaded 18 year old Danny to be hilarious. So, he’s just like ‘I wanna go to college’.

So he does. He just. Always looks 14. His hair grows, he can build muscle, and he can definitely have dark eyes—but otherwise? Short ass 14 year old. He constantly has to prove that yes, he’s the real Danny Fenton, and no, this is not a scam. He eventually has to get meta-specific paperwork filled out—no need for the genetic test if the power is fairly obvious. (Of course, it’s possible to do this AU as not crossover, but then you’ll have to do the legwork of making it less odd that someone has superpowers, and whether that means everyone knows he’s Phantom, which might change some of the issues. It also doesn’t have to be DC, for instance, you could use Marvel or even My Hero Academia—ultimately, up to the writer.)

Anyways, he gets his degree(s), enters the workforce, and by the Ancients is it hard to be taken seriously. Even people who see his paperwork and know for a fact he’s a full fledged adult are just like, aw, poor kid, can’t even reach the top cabinets without stretching or climbing. So, while he could just keep being the most qualified 14-looking-adult, he’s quickly getting sick of it. He can’t even be a school teacher, none of his students will take him seriously! Not even the younger ones, cause even the other teachers aren’t respecting him.

There are about… three options available to him, up to whoever wants to pick up this sort of prompt.

1-he gets into acting or modeling. Or perhaps, stunt acting. And everyone is just a bit unnerved about how absolutely none of the nonsense seems to get to him, and he’s just… a little *too* bendy sometimes. He’d make a great scare actor, if he wasn’t terrible at scaring people.

2-he goes into the work force as Phantom in a cheap wig and terrible contacts. Half the time, he forgets at least one contact. Cue mystery of who the hell this guy is, because, for ONCE, someone actually paid attention to the paperwork and knows that he DOESN’T look like THAT.

3-he tries to get work in a slightly more remote position, where his colleagues are few to none. Of course, that is, until some hero or another such professional has to meet him in person, and gets one hell of a shock about who their expert on the computer has been all this time.

There’s of course the undercurrent of Danny’s experiences as a teen hero, so sometimes absolutely wild situations show up, and his stories are like, super weird. He thinks at least SOME of his experiences must be universal, and they’re… really, really not. The outlandish stories don’t help the whole ‘not taken serious’ thing, but then they turn out to be true. Bonus points to rogues or ghosts showing up to say hi and everyone is like WAS THAT A FUCKING DRAGON?! And Danny’s just like ‘yeah she was a beauty pageant coordinator in my hometown, we kept in touch. I helped put her brother in jail’. As if that did NOT just raise more questions than before.

Of course, use or don’t use what you want (such as, he does keep a public-ish position, or he just goes full villain to prove a point, or even somehow starts working undercover at schools and summer camps for xyz reasons, whether or not the Justice League finds him, what his degree(s) weee even in, etc etc), I just think that Forever Teen Danny stories are interesting.

Basically… it’s reverse Shazam, haha.

[ghostofskywalker]

Hey Tori! Sliding in with a 3k (yay!!! congratulations🩷) request for Echo our most beloved <33

I am forever thinking about that one scene where Echo says "Harm her and you're a dead man". It lives rent free in my brain and never fails to make me smile the ways is says it is just so-

So maybe something with Echo being a little extra protective over the reader? Looking out for them and making sure they stay safe?

thank you ezzie!! he is just So Lovely!! i don't know if this is anything like what you had in mind but i really hope you enjoy this :)

words: 1,750

summary: rationally, echo knew this assignment was going to be easy, an in and out acquisition of information. he's just annoyed that he's not the one playing your lover at that gala tonight.

clone troopers masterlist || join my 3k celebration!!

Under a Watchful Eye

Echo watched from his seat in the cockpit as you stepped out of the barracks area of the ship, and the dress you were wearing stopped his breath for a minute. It was long and flowing, fluttering and shifting around your legs with every step you took, and the fact that the color was a near-perfect match to that of his old battalion was not helping. 

But unfortunately, he was not the one you were dressed up for. 

Technically, the mission was the reason that you had donned the gown that had apparently come from Echo’s deepest fantasies, not a person. But still, this assignment required two people, as you were going undercover as guests at a banquet. And much to his dismay, it wasn’t him that had the privilege of being the one who played your lover this evening. 

No, that honor had apparently been bestowed on Crosshair. 

Logically, it made sense why you and Crosshair were the ones going on this mission. Even though there was little to no Separatist presence on this planet at this point, you couldn’t risk being recognized, and Crosshair was the member of the team that looked the least like a traditional clone (and he was also the least likely to draw attention to himself in the way that the others would). 

But even though it made sense, it didn’t mean that Echo had to be happy about it. 

He knew his brother, he knew that there was no way Crosshair would willingly put you in harms way or leave you behind, but there was still a festering cauldron of worry in Echo’s stomach as he thought about the fact that all he could do at this point is just sit and wait until you left the function. He would have to sit by if something happened to you in there, and he hated the thought of it. 

“Do I look okay?” you asked, stepping into the cockpit as you finished putting a pair of earrings in your ears. As well as matching the color of the dress, they would serve as a communication device that could easily be turned on and off from a remote location, this way if anyone tried to scan you, nothing would show up. That was Echo’s job this evening: to sit there with Tech, Wrecker, and Hunter and listen to everything that went on while you and Crosshair were gathering the information they would send back to Commander Cody.

It took him a moment to realize that you were talking to him, and his eyes widened slightly before he responded. “You look amazing,” he said earnestly. 

“Thank you,” you responded, and he could see the hint of a smile cross your face. “I wasn’t sure how the dress would look, since I don’t usually wear this type of thing.” 

“Well, I would never know it if I just looked at you,” he said, the urge to walk over to you and take your hand only growing. “I mean it, you look stunning.” 

You opened your mouth to respond, but were interrupted when Tech stepped into the space. “Oh good, you’re here,” he said, directing his attention to you. “Come with me, I have a few things for you to add to the ensemble.” 

The “extra defense” had been Echo’s idea, a way to ensure that you would be able to defend yourself if necessary. Just in case everything went wrong, he wanted to make sure that you made it out unscathed, and it would be a lot easier if you had a tiny blaster strapped to your leg. 

Right as you and Tech walked away, Crosshair stepped into the cockpit. He was a wearing a suit, the tie matching the color of your dress perfectly. Somehow he had found a way to cover his tattoo, and Echo hated to say it, but the image of you and him together screamed “power couple” to anyone who wasn’t aware of your identities. 

The only thing wrong with Crosshair’s look this evening was the scowl etched onto his face. “Do you have all the information from Cody about the mission?” Echo asked, wanting to make sure they didn’t miss anything. 

“Yes.” 

“And you remember where we’re going to meet you when you have the intel?” 

“Yes.”

“And you know-” 

“Echo,” Crosshair said, cutting him off with a matching glare. “I already got this lecture from Hunter, I don’t need it from you too. I promise that I won’t let anything happen to your girlfriend.” 

“She’s not-” 

“-Your girlfriend, I know,” Crosshair said. “Even though you’re acting like it right now.” 

“I’m-” 

But Crosshair silenced him with a look. “You’re questioning me like I’m brand new to the team, and you haven’t been able to stop glancing over at the entrance to the barracks. It’s not that hard to figure out that you have feelings for her.” Crosshair was right, but Echo did not want to admit it. “Look, if you don’t want to say anything to me it’s fine, but don’t lie to yourself about it.”

Echo was suddenly very glad to see you step back into the cockpit, because he had no idea what he was going to say to that. However, that happiness was tempered slightly when he realized it was time for you and Crosshair to leave. After one final check to make sure that everyone was up to date on the plan, he sat down in one of the seats in the cockpit and watched you walk away until you were too small to see. 

Security was bypassed, and you and Crosshair had successfully infiltrated the banquet. This was an assignment that spawned from an unnamed informant to the Senate, so they didn’t have as many details as they would have liked about what was going to go down, but so far it seemed like everything was going to work out and no major catastrophes would happen. 

“Do you see anyone suspicious?” you asked quietly, and you voice easily carried so that the rest of the team could hear you through the small device that Tech made to communicate with your earrings. 

“Not right now,” Crosshair responded, his voice slightly quieter. “But I don’t think we’ll have a good vantage point from where we are now.” 

“Where should we go?” 

“What about over there?” 

They could hear shuffling, so it was clear that you were moving somewhere, but the fact that this device only picked up audio was starting to get a little annoying. Echo wanted to see what was happening, rather than just hear what was being said. 

Suddenly the music suddenly got a little louder, and his curiosity only grew. 

Finally, your voice once again came through the radio, and he was allowed to imagine some of what was going on out there. “Wow Crosshair, you didn’t tell me you were such a good dancer.”

“I’m a man of many talents.” 

“I’m sure.” 

It was only for the mission, it was only for the mission, it was only for the mission, Echo kept repeating to himself. Although he understood the fact that you and Crosshair were going to be posing as lovers for this event, he didn’t really think about what that might have entailed. The thought of you dancing with someone that wasn’t him was almost too much, but he forced himself to keep his cool. 

***

Trouble always found them, there was no way they should have expected anything different with this mission. After you and Crosshair had acquired some very interesting information from another set of guests (which sounded a hell of a lot like what they needed to bring back to Cody), Tech was right about to tell you and Crosshair to meet the rest of them back at the ship when the sound of blaster fire came across the communication device, and they realized something was wrong.

Instantly, Echo jumped into a frenzy. “What’s going on?” he asked worriedly, pulling the radio device up to his lips. 

“Bounty hunters just showed up!” you whispered. “I don’t know what they want though.” 

“That doesn’t matter, you need to get out of there, now!”

Crosshair’s voice came through the device next. “Wow, what am I? Chopped bantha?” 

“You know I meant both of you!” Echo responded, rolling his eyes. He didn’t have time for the jokes right now, not when you were in danger. “Now, before anyone sees you!” 

All they could do was wait until you and Crosshair could be seen through the windows of the cockpit, and it was taking a much longer time than Echo was comfortable with. Although the communication devices you wore were still technically active, the sounds of footsteps and general chaos really were not of any use to them when trying to determine your location. 

Finally though, the two of you were bounding up the ramp of the Marauder, and Tech was pulling the ship off the surface of the planet and back into hyperspace. None of the other batchers batted an eye when Echo got up from his seat and made a beeline to where you had just walked in. 

Crosshair had already disappeared, probably having gone into the refresher to wash whatever was hiding his tattoo, and you smiled at Echo when he got close enough. “Are you okay?” he asked, noticing a few rips near the bottom of your dress. 

“I’m fine,” you responded, reaching out to take his hand. “We got out of there just in time, no one even noticed us leave.” 

“But-” 

“We took a shortcut through some woods and the shoes they sent me weren’t really meant for anything too extreme,” you said, laughing quietly as you reached up to place your other hand on his cheek. Echo’s gaze traveled back up to your face, and he couldn’t help but fall in love with the smile you gave him. “I promise, everything is okay now.” 

“I know,” he said, too busy drowning in the sensation of your fingertips touching his skin to really worry about what he was saying. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Me too Echo,” you said, pulling your hand away from his face. Echo would have been upset at the shift if you hadn’t leaned up and placed the softest of kisses on his cheek. It felt like his skin was set aflame, your lips permanently marking his face; it was evidence that he’d always be yours, even if you didn’t know it yet. “Me too.” 

- the end -

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[bozzowl]

A Scarab x reader where Scarab finally gets a break from Auditing and immediately goes to reader to unwind and chill with them. Up to you if said unwinding is sfw/nsf w 👍

Alrighty! Scarab x reader: Break time!

SFW! Here Ya Go! :D

It was a long, busy day for the Scarab. He had to chase down 3 delinquent gods who were causing trouble throughout the multiverse. Orbo had been on his back for getting these cases turned in on time, despite how hard it was to track some of them down. However, Scarab was the only one for the job and it was crucial that he catch them as soon as possible. Chasing for hours and having to go undercover here and there is not as easy as he makes it appear to be.

Scarab was exhausted from all the work, not to mention a few last minute inspections while heading towards the Judgement hall. Sometimes he'd get calls while on a mission, he hated that because that meant that he either had to hurry or put a case on hold depending on the urgency.

He had to hear about it from Orbo because he had arrived late to turn everything in. After filling some reports on the cases and other paperwork, Scarab finally clocked out for the day. He opens a portal to enter your world, he steps through to arrive at your home town/city/area. While heading down the path to your home, he sees you. Scarab smiled a little underneath his mask, You were his favorite person to visit even after a long day at work. He approaches you.

You turn your head to see Scarab coming towards you, his red glowing eyes are locked onto you. You smile, he loved that. The two of you walk together and you tell him about your day and about your favorite hobby. He loves the way you look when you talk about something you enjoy. The way you smile and how your eyes light up when you're excited always melted his heart. You didn't realise he was tired until his eyes drooped after he let out a yawn. His mouth open up as he did so, separating his face plate to show his sharp teeth and tongue. You offer for him to come stay at your place to unwind. He accepts and you take him straight home. After some time, you both make it to your home. You open the door and gesture towards the couch for Scarab, "Why don't you go sit down and relax?". Scarab nodded, then went over and slumped onto the couch. You lock the door for the day and join him, grabbing the remote and start flipping though the channels until it lands on something you both liked. Then you thought about it and realized Scarab was more tired than usual as he had fallen asleep. His big heavy body leaned over onto your shoulder. You turn the volume down just enough so you can still hear it without waking him up, letting him rest as he lay against you. After three episodes of the show had finished, Scarab opens his eyes a little. Scarab stretches before sitting upright onto the couch again, feeling better after his nap. Since he was fully awake, you ask him, "So... what happened at work?". He turned to look at you, "Hmmm?". You point out to him, "dude, I've never seen you this tired. Can you... tell me about work?". Scarab usually didn't talk about his missions, but he trusts you. He likes that you are the one person who cares enough to ask him, while everyone else tends to ignore him sometimes and just expects him to do his job. You make him feel appreciated.

The first case involved the Spider God, Noir Widoworth. He was a tall, black widow that stood 18 feet tall. He wore a dark grey stripped suit with thin white lines, a blood red tie, and black shoes. Instead of tending his duties, Noir has started a tailoring business as a front for money laundering. Scarab had to go undercover for that one, and had to find Noir to put a stop to Noir's business as the money was funding Drug Lord Narcoticles (Nar- cah -tic - clees). By the time he found Noir, his cover was blown. After having to fight through swarms of Noir's eight-legged goons, Scarab was finally able to capture him with his crystal. As soon as he places the egg-capsule into the crystal is when he got another call.

The Second case were the other two gods, the Pisces twins, Showa and Sanke. They are koi-fish like humanoids who are white with orange and black markings. They have black circles on their foreheads and backs. They were on the run and abandoned their post, taking the form of two cats with similar color and patterns. They were hard to track down as they hid in the same world YN lived in. Where cats are everywhere. However, their exact whereabouts were in an apartment in Japan. An elderly woman whom already had 12 cats had come across the twins and took them home. When Scarab found them, he had to chase them throughout Japan until they jumped into a lake and transformed to blend in with all the koi fish. It took a while for Scarab to find them according to the photos on file, but he eventually found them and captured them.

The Twins' case put him on a time crunch, it was really hard to go through all the koi fish as some even has similar patterns. Then, the started getting calls about some last minute inspections on the way to the Judgement Hall.

Now you know why he's so tired. All that running and little time for rest. At least after all that he gets to spend some time with you. You listen to him about other things as well. Then the two of you watch the rest of the show together. Enjoying the evening together and having dinner together before the day ends.

Scarab joins you as you lay in bed. He stretches out before wrapping his arms around you in a nice spoon. He was the big spoon, you were the little spoon. The night was quiet aside from the sound of you two breathing. after some time, you hear the rain outside hitting your window. The pitter patter of the drops and sound of thunder added to the relaxing atmosphere. You turn your head to see Scarab sound asleep. He often slept with his mask on, you could tell he was sleeping because his eye slits were completely closed. Then soon you joined, entering a welcoming slumber.

I hope you enjoyed it! :D

[experiment-000]

Imagine if Merrin was with Cal at the beginning of Jedi Survivor (in disguise or also as a captive your choice), how would she react when she sees that imperial droid punching Cal in the gut and then slamming him to the wall?

See before you even get to that point you have to question why Merrin was with Cal at that point. Does that mean she stayed? Because those two travelling alone together for a few years... Something would happen. They wouldn't be just friends anymore.

So let's say they're in a relationship of some sort. Merrin wouldn't have wanted to see Cal hurt before that but even more so now. Her magicks are fueled by her emotions so in that split second of rage at the droid for hitting Cal, I could see the droid bursting into flame (aside from the one arm holding Cal). The undercover ones would probably then have to move to restrain her further and she'd have to pretend not to be able to set them all on fire even with her hands bound.

I think it's more likely she'd be undercover though as Cal is the really wanted one (although after a few years of them as a pair causing the Empire trouble Merrin could easily be very wanted too).

So Merrin undercover. She'd be behind Cal, she wouldn't want to let him out of her sight. So she'd get a clear view of the droid hitting him. But being undercover she'd be focusing extra hard on staying in character and not losing control, whereas if she was a captive she'd have to play up the anger. So I don't think she'd react in the moment. Later she'd tear that droid limb from limb. And insist on checking Cal over for injury once they got somewhere even remotely safe.

Thanks for the ask! This was a really interesting thing to think about!

[sxbaist]

~ Character Info Sheet

name: Lovisa Göta Sjögren

name meaning: 'Lovisa' is a Swedified form of Louise, which originates in Louis and has been used in Sweden since the 17th century. It means "renowned warrior". / 'Göta' derives from the Old Norse “gautr,” which in turn derives from the Proto-Norse “gautaz,” meaning “Goth, Geat, from Gautland “Götaland, Gothia in southern Sweden.” Though Vega was named specifically after Göta älv, a Swedish river with the largest drainage basin in Scandinavia. / 'Sjögren' is an ornamental name composed of the elements sjö 'sea lake' + gren 'branch'.

alias/es: Vega, Commander

ethnicity: Swedish

one picture you like best of your chara:

three h/cs you've never told anyone:

Her two favorite teas are Maofeng and Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine. Ming Long introduced her to both, and she's loved them ever since. Three centuries later, they're luckily still easy enough to find on Terra. She may or may not have gone on super intricate and comedic undercover missions just to obtain some as a Starfleet fugitive.

Girl can cook. She doesn't do it very often, and usually burns food intentionally so no one asks her to again, but she can absolutely whip up a beef wellington, macarons, consommé-- though she is by no means a professional. Just someone that has hyperfocused on some things in the path of perfection. Someday she wants to master making decent Suodui.

I truly cannot recall if I've ever written about this or not, oh well. The reason she forsook her birthname is due to a metamorphosis, a way to break the cycle of trauma that had plagued her since childhood. Vega believes that by going by a new name, she was able to shed the vilest parts of herself. As far as she is concerned, Lovisa died on earth, in a remote forest, screaming her throat raw with ghost and man alike. This obviously isn't the case, unfortunately: now it's Vega that wakes up from night terrors, freezes at certain mannerisms and words, stares holes into blank spots yards away. The only truth is that she's older now, with more control over herself (some, in any case) and a tendency to repress.

three things your character likes doing in their free time:

Painting. The one every knows, because it's her thing. If she can't paint, she'll sketch or doodle. This is also a sort of idle habit for her.

Sudoku. Shocking that the astrophysics nerd would enjoy logic game. Yet she does, and she can spend hours going through the gazillions of puzzle books she's amassed.

Solitude in nature. That doesn't happen so much anymore, though when she's planetside, she enjoys exploring and discovering the local fauna and flora.

eight people your character likes / loves: She doesn't even have eight in her life RIP, unless one counts the augments in general. That's more of a general I love my people/kin/crew than anyone too specific.

Ming Long: Her first love, on Earth in the 90s. Vega lost her to the war, and it planted the seed that lead to her resentment of humanity.

Levi: Her brother, for better or worse. While he's mostly a thorn in her side, she does love him. After all, he's gone through most of the same awful things she has., even if they cope with it in very different ways.

Most other characters are verse dependent (@rickgrimesdoingrickthings, @vuulpecula, @respondedinkind specifically :p). She doesn't get attached to others very easily.

two things your character regrets:

In a way, she regrets her relationship with her brother. She wishes that she could have been a better sibling to him, helping him instead of closing herself off, and essentially leaving him to be as lonely as she felt. That's why she lets him into her life so often, speaking solely for modern verses, because she's trying to make up for something she really hadn't actually done.

In her main verse, she eventually regrets her distrust of Khan's vision, of having even toyed with the notion of betrayal-- or even of defection. It's a point where she's able to self-reflect and realize that her own ideas were invariably flawed. Whether she realizes this too late or not depends on the thread/verse, of course. :p

two phobias your character has:

Choosing two of the least intense/trigger worthy (she needs therapy ;_; ).

Monophobia: the fear of being alone. Strange, as she prefers solitude, yet cannot reconcile the idea of losing everyone around her.

Trypanophobia: the fear of needles, particularly in a medical setting.

Tagged by : sorta stolen from @ssolessurvivor <3

Tagging: @respondedinkind @rickgrimesdoingrickthings @invictasol @vacantwar / @juramentum (t'pring or qu ming because i'm smitten) @dreamsofalife @mediical-trek @mehrere-musen (shelby!) @pcrfumebcttles / @triiiplegoddcss @madeofstxrs (aev!) / @trailofstxrs (saavik!) @vartouhix and YOU!

[bippot]

The Monarch Hotel - Chapter 7: The Bees Knees

Story Summary -> How many times does Vigilante need to get injured before Harcourt finally gives in and hires a medic to help out with the squad's injuries? Far too many times, that's how many.

When it's uncovered that a fancy hotel is linked to, not only what's left of the legion of butterflies, but also a string of weird deaths and missing persons reports, the only two for the job are lovesick Adrian and the newbie.

Chapter 7: The Bees Knees Summary -> A week into their stay, the Bardots' seem to notice that the hotel is having affects on their bodies. While she does some scouting with one of Auggie's devices, Adrian takes the time to relax and eat some chocolate.

Tags -> Canon-Typical Violence, Gun Violence, Blood and Injury, Undercover as a Couple, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Summer Vacation, Butterflies, Alien Invasion, Stitches, Weird Biology, Creep in a Bathroom, Aphrodisiacs, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Drugging, Peeping, general weirdness, Human Experimentation

Would you prefer to read this on AO3? Click here!

Previous Chapter -> Milkweed

The hotel stayed at the same level of weird for a week.

Women were heavily suggested to get a massage every other day, which was a nice luxurious thing to be offered, but the hotel staff were quite obvious that it was a non-negotiable because the one time Y/N chose to accompany Adrian to the gym instead of having her stomach pudge palmed around and played with until the masseuse thought their session was over, the men in the gym gave her very disapproving looks.

On Wednesdays and Fridays they were allowed to venture into Dubai with an escort. It took some sharp turns and confusing indirect paths to shake them off but the couple did eventually and managed to meet up with the rest of their team in the back room of a sushi restaurant. The 11th Street Kids were told about just about everything - even the things that weren't mission related - because as soon as Chris said one thing that sounded like a question to Adrian, he was spilling his guts.

Emilia kept a completely blank expression throughout it all, though Y/N could tell she was as weirded out as the rest of them. Especially when she lunged to hug her sister goodbye and whispered, "Be smart, squish."

Daily affirmation time was consistently so troubling for Adrian. He needed comforting before and after or else he would freak out. No matter how many times Y/N assured him that he didn't need to feel bad for giving her smooches whilst she was in that state, he wouldn't hear it. After every session, Y/N would spend the next two or so hours stroking his hair and murmuring words of comfort until he calmed down. He would still feel guilty, but hey, it was their job.

As far as they knew, Milkweed didn't have any negative effects, which was good news. Adrian reported no changes to his body or digestive system or general functions. Y/N, however, had noticed a change. "Do my boobs look bigger to you?" she asked him out of the blue one evening while they were getting ready for bed. At this point, they'd stopped retreating into the bathroom to change so she was fully on show to him.

He'd managed to get somewhat used to the sight. If she said anything remotely flirty or gave him a kiss whilst only in her bra and panties, his dick would be up in an instant. But the attire without that, he could keep a handle on himself. That was progress.

"Is this a trick question? If I answer, you'll yell at me for looking at your boobs?"

"Ade, I'm not blind. I can see it when you look at my boobs." His cheeks turned a lovely pink shade. "And because you seem to like doing so, can you give them a stare and tell me if they look any different?"

This was new territory for Adrian. He liked looking at her breasts, yeah, but he mostly tried to be secretive about the whole thing. Now that he was being directly asked to do it, well, he wasn't going to squander this opportunity!

"They do look bigger..." he replied quietly, trying not to let himself sound too excited by it.

Her hands came up to cup her boobs. "Hmm...they feel bigger too. I don't know what to make of this information," she pondered out loud, making the flush in his cheeks spread downwards towards his chest. "Can I ask something else of you?"

"If I say yes, will you stop staring at me with those big annoying eyes of yours and let me sleep?"

"Oh, I'm not going to say it now."

Y/N had to hide her smile as she crawled into bed and pretended to give him the silent treatment, which turned him into a mess of 'I was kidding!', 'Tell me, please!' and 'I'm sorry I called you annoying' and other pleads for her attention. He whined and curled himself around her, poking his nose into the crook of her neck and kissing her shoulder affectionately whenever he felt brave enough to try to steal one.

"I was going to ask if you'd do me a favour by keeping an eye on these bad boys to keep me updated - I don't know - if the left side suddenly becomes a cup bigger for example and I don't realise. But no, you clearly don't want this job -"

"I want this job!" He interrupted quickly, almost sounding offended that she said otherwise. "If there is anything I can do, it's look at your boobs and tell you if they're bigger! I can do that! Easily!"

She giggled, turning herself around so she faced him and placed her palm against his cheek. "I know, baby, I'm just teasing you." She pulled back so he'd be able to see every part of her face as she reassured, "I trust you to keep an eye out for me."

"I will. You can trust me with this," Adrian replied, his entire being showing how serious he was about this. It was fucked up that this place was physically changing her body.

To express her gratitude, Y/N wrapped the duvet over them fully before wrapping her arms around Adrian's waist and hugging him closer so she could pepper his cheeks with so many smooches that she felt his face change into a smile before she saw it. She ended with one on his forehead. If he wasn't already obsessed with her, this bout of affection would've done it.

They still had a job to do. There was an unspoken agreement of 'when we're done with the job, we'll properly give us a try' that existed between them. Right now it was hard to ignore how much he wanted her. He wanted her more than he had ever desired anyone before in his life. But that was okay. He would wait. He would love her and cherish her until the end of time. As long as she stayed in his life, he would hold onto this happiness.

Slowly, his thumb began rubbing circles into the soft skin of her face and neck. He loved touching her. It felt like such a foreign sensation that he always had to force himself to stop before he did something more severe. He'd never admit how much he actually enjoyed caressing her face and feeling her breath on his fingertips, but the way it felt was incredible. He couldn't think straight. He felt like his thoughts were getting more wild every day. He was soon to be clouded by passion and lust.

A few minutes went by in silence as he stared lovingly into her eyes. His caress continued its rhythmic motion, creating little circular motions and sending tingles throughout her entire body. This kind of contact wasn't something he usually initiated, especially not without asking beforehand. But he wanted to. He needed to touch her. She felt warm underneath his fingers. His thumb slid along her skin and travelled over her jaw, to her chin and to the tip of her cupid's bow. Her mouth opened slightly and his finger ghosted softly across her bottom lip. Then it trailed back down to where it started and the process started all over again until they decided to pack it in for the night.

The very next day, they took a step forward that they'd never be able to take back. It wasn't the couple's fault. The hotel had decided to get more weird. Well, maybe weird wasn't the right word to use. Fucking debauched probably is.

Sparrow had dropped hints here and there that a lot of the all of the other couples had really let loose during the daily affirmation session, which was very obvious when they emerged from their designated room with their hair all mussed and their clothes buttoned up incorrectly, and that the Bardots were an outlier. They were very serious outliers but he didn't need to know that.

When Y/N didn't feel any of the effects that usually presented themselves whenever they were in the affirmation room, she was a little confused. Had they forgotten to drug her? Had they figured them out and now they were forever locked in this hippie jail? Or was it simply that her tolerance had improved so quickly that it no longer affected her? Whatever the case, Adrian wouldn't have to take on this situation all on his lonesome today.

"Hey champ," she cooed in her normal voice, not the sluggish roofied version he was used to. "Say the words to me, baby."

So, he did. He was rewarded with a peck on the lips, which was normal, but the expression on her face was totally different than usual. Her eyes didn't have their usual glazed appearance and appeared to be sharper, clearer. And then she grinned at him happily, showing off that she was completely herself and out of relief, he surged forward to give her a proper smooch and wrapped her in his arms.

Throughout the session, they were very giggly, very sweet, and overall extremely touchy and kissy. It was so different to the 'I have to be respectful towards my roofied friend that I'm not so secretly in love with but still kiss her in a manner that seems like we are a newly married couple' vibe that he usually had to go through every day. Had they been reverse psychologied into being more affectionate?

Whatever the case, they exited the room in higher spirits than they ever had before. And since they didn't need to spend the next part of their afternoon calming down, they could do some sneakery. Y/N's plan was to use Auggie's robotic bee to do some spying. Adrian's plan was to watch Y/N execute Y/N's plan.

But as they walked through their hotel room door, they noticed something was different. The room being tidied up and the bed being made was normal - that's what happens in hotels. The fact that the gift basket that had previously contained the camera that was spying on them had been swapped out for a new one was definitely something to think about. And once Y/N had scanned to ensure that they weren't being recorded and broadcast to the enemy, she got on with her plan.

Auggie's bee was controlled like a child's toy helicopter and had a little screen between the two joysticks that showed a live feed of what the robot was seeing. It took a few minutes for Y/N to get used to the controls and adjust all the dials and buttons before bee was finally ready to fly.

Sat side by side on the couch, they got to work. The top level of the new gift basket was a bunch of chocolate bars and Adrian snatched them up in one swoop. As he watched Y/N, he munched on the sweet treats. Usually, he'd limit himself to just a few squares but he was on holiday, why not?! Why not eat as much as he desired? Today had been a great day so far.

Go fuckin ham on that chocolate bar! Maybe have two of them!

Surely, there won't be any repercussions for that.

"You want a choccie?" he mumbled, taking a bite out of the brown square in his hand.

"No thanks, champ. Eat to your heart's content."

Y/N was too focused on getting the bee in the air to even think about snacking. She held the robot in the palm of her hand and pushed up the joystick until the small bee was hovering in front of her nose, her eyes going cross-eyed as they followed the movement. With a few careful pushes, the bee buzzed out of the window and began its journey.

At first, she flew the bee around the outdoor premises but didn't find much, so they ventured through the grand front doors and saw a few people milling around in the lobby but no one paid attention to the flying object. Soon enough, they were going deeper into the corridors of the hotel and eventually came to a staircase leading to an area where they hadn't ever seen before.

"This must be the staff wing," she thought aloud. She wasn't expecting any response from Adrian, but he did let out an affirmative hum and relaxed further into the couch.

The bee zipped past a guy dressed in an incredibly mucky and disgusting looking lab coat that was a direct contrast to the clean and polished state of the rest of the hotel. Lab coat was treading carefully, an enormous amount of test tubes on a rack rested across his forearms. The guy glanced up for a split second when the bee buzzed right above his head but he didn't seem to notice or acknowledge its presence.

They followed the man down the stairs and kept heading deeper into the hotel until lab coat got to a heavily fortified locked door. He knocked once on the wall directly to the right of the door, popped open a hidden compartment with an eyeball scanner and bent down so it could get a read on his iris. A series of clicks rang out from the mechanism behind him and the door clicked open to reveal a large examination table covered head to toe in sterile white sheets, a few huge cabinets, a bunch of medical looking equipment and machines with a bunch of tubes and wires.

Quietly, the guy placed the samples on the table and scanned the room for his boss, looking over his shoulder to make sure. Once the coast was absolutely clear, he slyly reached into one of the cabinets and pocketed a bottle filled with a pinkish liquid, getting the vial safely concealed by the time one of his coworkers came into the room.

"Davey, the boss says you can clock out for the day if you want, yeah?" the new guy announced while he looked over his clipboard and began checking off various notes.

"Oh, cool. Yeah, I'll do that," Davey replied far too awkwardly for him to have done something normal, grabbing his things and exiting the room quickly. His colleague shrugged it off.

A lot of people in this place were weird.

When Davey left, Y/N manoeuvred the bee to look through the cabinets and found that each one of them was lined up with hundreds - if not thousands - of labelled test tubes, some empty, some not. The cabinet on the left was a vast array of colours, from yellow to blue to red, some labelled in fancy letters but most in plain black block capitals, and seemed to be named after emotions.

Davey had stolen a pink one. A lust one.

Oh, that's why he was in a rush to get home. To jerk it. Respect.

On the right side, the vials corresponded to the guests of The Monarch Hotel. Only a couple of them contained a honey coloured creamy gloop of some kind. The bee stopped at the 'Bardot' vial and, to their delight, it was one of the empty ones. Whatever DNA they were collecting, they hadn't got their hands on it yet.

Queen Caroline's was a quarter full. That was concerning.

Beside her, Adrian got all fidgety all of a sudden. He'd been sitting very patiently, his arm slung around the back of the couch and fingers occasionally pinching fabric at her shoulder, but suddenly, his leg started bouncing up and down. The amount of time between pinches shortened considerably and she felt how tense he became against her side.

"You good, champ?" she asked without looking back at him, concentrating on keeping the bee in the air as she searched the shelves for what else might be useful.

"...Yeah?"

"You don't sound convinced."

Adrian felt hot all over, an overwhelming heat that burned his skin as it rushed from head to toe. It was bearable for now.

He grabbed the nearest cushion and hugged it closer to him, hugging it for dear life, trying desperately not to melt into a puddle on the floor. His heart raced and he couldn't calm it. His breathing turned uneven and shaky and he was pretty sure his chest was going to burst open any moment. He needed a distraction.

Something to stop himself from thinking of...her...

Because Y/N was right beside him, their thighs almost touching, and that was simply too far away. Too much space. Too much temptation. His brain was too imaginative; too hyperactive. There was nothing he wanted more than to smack the controller out of her hand and pounce.

What if he was all suave and sexy and that totally forced her to pay attention to him and not that racist bee? He'd do that move he'd seen in a bunch of rom-coms and turn her chin to plant one on her lips. She'd be surprised but quickly melt into it and he'd feel her hands on his hips pulling him closer until -

No. No. This was only making it worse and he knew it. But the urge was still there. Well, it was always there. The desire to capture Y/N's focus and make 100% sure she'd never be able to think about anything other than him was prominent and constant in every aspect of his mind. He'd been able to push it down with the reminder that they were working so it wasn't really appropriate.

Now, it was unbearable.

There was no way this could be pushed down. There was going to be an explosion, he knew that. And so she didn't have to witness that, he blurted out, "I'm gonna, fuck, I'm going to shower. Don't come in," and hurried to the bathroom so she wouldn't see the boner in his trousers.

Thank god she was busy because it was like a beacon. It was the most comically obvious erection he'd ever had.

Y/N's brows pinched together for a moment, obviously twigging that he was acting weirder than usual but let him get on with whatever he needed to get on with, and continued to scout around the examination room. There wasn't much that could be observed without actual being in the room and touching things and jiggling vials around to test the consistency of the unknown liquids, so she found the nearest exit point - which was a window that was cracked open just an inch - and as the bee left, another figure entered the room.

If she'd stayed for a second longer, she would've seen a face she knew far too well.

"Oooh f-ffuck!"

A loud and frustrated grunt came from the bathroom, barely hidden by the sounds of the shower turning on, and that pulled Y/N's focus away in an instant. She happened to glance where Adrian had been sitting and set her eyes on the chocolate he'd been eating. She got the bee back to their hotel room as quickly as she could.

"Hey, how are you feeling, champ?" She yelled through the door and put her ear up to the wood panelling trying to hear any noises coming from inside the room.

"Fucking peachy, thanks. Thank you! Please don't come in," he spat out, though there was a crack in his voice that told her everything she needed to know.

"I know what's going on, baby. It's okay. Just take your time, I won't peek. Let it all out, yeah?"

That dumb slut had eaten a bar and a half of aphrodisiac chocolate.

Normally, you're only supposed to eat one square. He had ingested around ten times that in one sitting. She was surprised that the head of his penis hadn't exploded from all the blood rushing there.

For the next quarter of an hour, Y/N tried to act normal and read a book whilst Adrian was very loudly jerking off in the shower. She assumed he'd have a dirty mouth judging by how carelessly he throws out vulgarity in regular situations, but he'd actually confined himself to mostly moan out swear words or the occasional "Oh god".

Yeah, it was still hot. Yet, she assumed it would've been hotter.

"Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not working." He sounded defeated, broken even and Y/N was torn between wanting to go inside and comfort him for his pain, and staying professional. "You won't laugh at me, will you?"

"Of course not, baby."

Another groan was let out.

"Please don't call me that right now. It makes it so much harder, y'know?"

The bathroom door cracked open a few inches, revealing a flushed Adrian with a towel wrapped around his waist - and a huge tent in the middle - peering out into the bedroom through the gap. He blinked several times and wiped his sweaty forehead with the palm of his hand before opening it further and stepping out, his pained frustration so obvious on his face he looked nearly ill.

The sight caused a tug at Y/N's heartstrings.

"Come sit down'," she whispered, standing up and reaching forward to gently brush the hair away from his eyes so she could properly look at him. He leaned into her touch like a needy cat and she brushed her thumb along his cheekbone tenderly. "Is my touch helping?"

"Nope. If anything, it's making it worse. But I like it when you touch me," he admitted before closing his eyes, leaning forward, and resting his forehead on her shoulder. Her hand brushed through the hair at the back of his head again, her fingers running through and attempting to soothe the tension she could feel. "Why is this happening to me, Y/N?"

Obviously, he didn't read the chocolate wrapper.

"You ate far too much 'Cookie Crumble Nookie' and, yeah, now this is happening," Y/N informed him, reaching for the packaging so he could read what he'd done to himself.

His shoulders tensed.

"...Shit."

"Mhm."

"I fucked up big time, didn't I? I can't believe I let myself get carried away with the chocolate. Fuck. Why did I do this to myself? Fuck! What should I do? I mean-"

"We'll figure this out."

She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. He seemed so vulnerable, unable to keep his composure under pressure anymore and, as he slumped forward into her shoulder again. She pulled him in and embraced him gently, hoping to comfort him in some small way. She ran her fingers along the back of his neck, massaging it gently, and he relaxed slightly under her ministrations, melting against her and letting out a long exhale.

"Can I ask you some medical questions about your arousal?" she ventured after a couple of quiet minutes had passed and he seemed calmed down a bit.

"Uh… sure…"

Removing himself from her shoulder, he gulped the biggest gulp she'd ever seen and stared at her expectantly. She took in his flushed cheeks. His dilated pupils. His damp skin. His clenched jaw. His tense muscles.

It should've been a really sexy sight but it wasn't. He looked so uncomfortable and unsure of himself and Y/N felt bad seeing him like this. She hated how much this affected him.

"If you had to estimate, how long do your erections usually last if you don't stimulate yourself?"

There was a brief pause that caused a slight crease between Adrian's eyebrows as he tried to get an honest answer. She could tell he was thinking hard. "Normally... usually between 10 and 40 minutes. Sometimes longer," he admitted eventually without a hint of shyness. He was sitting there rock hard and whining for her touch as they spoke about the habits of his penis

Any sense of pride or bashfulness had been thrown straight out the window.

"Hmm... That sounds normal to me."

Mentally, Y/N was running through all the complications that he could be facing at this moment.

"I don't want to alarm you any more than you already are, but have you ever heard of priapism?" He shook his head. "It mostly occurs in patients who have sickle cell but can be developed by anyone with genitalia, although it is more common in men. Basically, it a prolonged - and often tend to be painful - erection where deoxygenated blood gets trapped and if it sits there for too long, it begin to damage the tissues in the penis - "

"I don't have any tissues in my dick so I'll be fine."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I haven't shoved a Kleenex up there so no problemo for me."

She couldn't help but snort at that. "Okay, that's good to know..." she started, trying to not laugh at the stupid idiot. "I meant tissue like skin tissue."

"Ooooh...gotchu."

"Normally, if an erection lasts more than four hours, you should see a doctor."

"YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO LAST FOUR HOURS?" He shrieked, sounding absolutely horrified.

Shit, he was barely holding on now. Four hours of this would kill him. It would definitely kill his dick, too. Maybe she could give him something to relieve the pain. A painkiller. A blowie. Something!

"I don't know how long this will last. The instructions on the wrapper say, 'Snap off a square to eat, wait 30 minutes, then get to lovin' for up to the next hour' and you ate ten of these."

1 hour x 10.

"TEN HOURS?!? I can't! That's too long! I can't wait this out!"

"With your healing factor, I assume it will be less. You've consumed enough viagra to keep a horse fucking for a fortnight and if you were a regular human, I don't know, you may have overdosed."

He let his head roll back so he was looking up at the ceiling. "If I died because I overdosed on sex chemicals, Peacemaker would never let me live it down," he huffed, rolling his eyes and glaring at one particular patch of plaster. "For the first time in my life, it's a blessing that I'm not normal."

Laughter flew from Y/N's lips because, yeah, he wasn't normal. Nothing about him was. And that's why she liked him.

"Normal is overrated," she mused out loud before looking over at him. He met her gaze and her breath caught in her throat at the desperation in his eyes. She placed her hand on his cheek and stroked it softly. "You're not normal. You probably never will be. And that's okay," she smiled warmly, leaning forward slightly so their faces were close together, "Don't worry about anything. Just relax, and let me take care of you. Okay?"

"...Okay," he whispered, nodding slowly.

In times of immense and painful need, professionalism was forgotten about for the night, and in doing so just this once, crumbled it into a thousand pieces never to be put back together again. Because even though they were pushed into intimacy by his recklessness, they wouldn't be able to rein themselves back once the deed had been done.

Next Chapter -> Raw

*Click here for my Adrian Chase masterlist, or here for the entire masterlist*

Wanna be added to a taglist? Either comment on this post or send me a message!

taglist: @sarahskywalker-amidala , @she-wolf09231982 , @afraidofshrimp

[skyetears]

The First Day: Chundering Into The Toilet Bowl to The Chili Peppers – Part 2

After purging myself of everything my body would not accept, it was time to go walkabout. There was no destination in mind, simply the desire to put one foot in front of the other and achieve a crossover of the physical action and the mental action. I eventually found my self a suitable location to gather my thoughts; this was a new estate with a park that obviously had a lot of development money sunk into it, the playground was a work of art, it had undercover areas and a public bbq for families to gather and socialise, and multiple families were making use of the space with parents talking to other parents, enjoying a cold drink in the shade while keeping a side eye on their children who were learning to explore their environment through play and develop their imagination. It was a beautiful and comforting site to behold. However, there was me, a single entity, a 28-year-old man lurking on the fringes of a playground, and I was out of place. I could feel the side eyes of parents seeing me as a potential risk factor, and once again in my life I felt the exclusion and anxiety that accompanies being part of an out group. And so, my first reflection was born: how to be accepted into an in group. While I have always been somewhat of a black sheep, my education in psychology taught me communication skills to build rapport with whoever was in front of me; this lead to an acknowledgement in my own skill to be somewhat of a social chameleon, I felt at just as comfortable talking to the Aboriginal from a remote community who spoke English as a fourth language about the social issues faced in their community  as I did sipping Grange on a cruise ship with millionaires discussing the current demands for hypothetical niche markets, as well as talking to everyone in between. Human beings were my people in my mind and I prided myself on my ability to learn to speak in the cultural language of others and identify what they found worthy of discussion and what was taboo. During this time in my adult life, I always had a close-knit social circle of my own, and that was the place I could return to and vent, talk in my own natural language and be heard without fear or favour. However, even within my circle I had an unofficial support role, and an expectation placed upon me of wisdom; while I was allowed to have many moments of immaturity, it didn’t quite hit me how the idea of me people had in their head would affect their opinion of me after I hit rock bottom. When I was freshly considered a man, I was told “you don’t truly know someone until you either live with them or go traveling”, as I got older, I realised the point of this saying is that you don’t genuinely know someone’s true colours until you have experienced conflict with them that can’t be avoided because through conflict you will see their willingness to grow with you, you will see their level of maturity. What I had never deeply considered is how you know when someone truly knows and accepts you; in my mind I believed that if you always be true to yourself people will see that, but people don’t consider your actions in the same way you do – it sounds simple to say out loud, though I think the complexity beneath that is something worth noting.

[theshapeofhorror]

Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) - Part 2

I personally think that John Carpenter’s Halloween in general puts most of the later entries to the franchise to shame for one reason or another, but mostly in regards to Michael Myers as a character and the way he’s both portrayed as well as utilised throughout the movie.

(That’s not to say no other movie has done the character justice. I enjoy most of Michael’s iterations throughout the franchise, though admittedly some more as a guilty pleasure and others only to simp for rather than because they’re genuinely good portrayals.)

1. Michael’s presence throughout this movie is constant - yet we don’t actually get a good, close-up look at the mask until very late in the movie

For most of the movie we get to see Michael from one of two “perspectives”: we stalk his victims with him from behind his shoulder (I talked more about this in my post about the voyeuristic subtext of Halloween 1978) or we see him standing somewhere off in the distance. Especially the stalking scenes persist throughout almost the entire runtime of the movie, the last one occuring at around 57 minutes when he watches Linda and Bob make out on the couch.

And yes, technically we can see the mask while he stalks Laurie around Haddonfield, but with the distance between him and the camera and the short length of those scenes it’s hard to really look at it, especially if you watch the movie for the first time and aren’t on, like, the 20th rewatch in the span of a month - not that I’d ever do something like that, of course...

As for when we finally get to see a close-up of the mask, I guess you could argue for one of three moments: Michael killing Annie in the car, Michael about to pin Bob to the wall or Michael picking up the phone after he strangled Linda. I personally would argue for the last, as the camera hovers outside the car in the scene with Annie, our view blurred through the windshield,  and the mask is half-hidden in shadow when he kills Bob. All of these scenes happen rather late in the movie, the earliest - Michael killing Annie - more than 50 minutes into the ~1:30hr runtime. 

2. The movie manages to make Michael creepy without having any actual on-screen gore

It’s the suggestion that scares us, the unnerving physical vocabulary established by Nick Castle, the way he lurks in the shadows or stands outside in broad daylight, slowly closing in on his mostly unsuspecting victims. 

We don’t need to constantly see Michael kill to be afraid of him (or simp for him...) here, it’s the anticipation of when he’s finally going to do it, the payoff of tension when he finally does.

The kills are shot in a way that don’t need shocking gore-filled imagery to be terrifying and poignant; with Michael choking all of his victims in some way and his vocalizations throughout they have a fascinating but horrifying sexual subtext to them that many of the later sequels sadly never returned to.

3. Michael as an ambiguous character

With enough scenes to support either a connection to the supernatural or a strictly human Michael - or both - this movie leaves the interpretation of his character mostly to the viewer. We can believe Loomis’ monologues about Michael being simply evil, not at all a man - yet Michael displays many small quirks and shows behavior that directly disprove this as well.

Michael

accidentally walks into the flower pot in front of the door when he spies on an undressed Annie

tilts his head at her in the background after she gets locked into the laundry room

tilts his head after killing Bob

dresses up as a ghost 

sets up the ‘haunted house’ for Laurie

... and those are just the most obvious instances of him showing behavior that doesn’t fit the description of a consciousless, purely-driven-to-kill force of evil. (I’m probably going to come back to this topic in more detail at some point.)

It’s the small things like him stopping for a second when he notices Tommy after he grabs the wrong kid that make this portrayal so fascinating to me, those clear hints that there is a (evil, psychopathic, dangerous) human being beneath that mask, despite what Loomis tells us.

With ambiguity I don’t only mean the “is or isn’t he supernatural”-debate, I also mean the question behind Michael’s motives or the lack of them, what his reasons for killing are. Take for example Halloween 2: it wants you to believe that Michael hunts Laurie because she’s his sister, which is not only much less interesting but also written really badly. This is a pitfall many of the sequels fall into for me personally; I feel like trying to explain Michael just isn’t a concept you can ever get to work in a satisfying way.

4. The un-masking scene

I could probably rant for days about the last 20 minutes of the movie, but I’m gonna keep it simple here: casting Tony Moran for the unmasking scene was a stroke of genius. It plays into an aspect that I feel sets the original Michael apart from many other slashers: there’s nothing obviously wrong with him. He looks unassuming, even handsome. 

Add to that the contrast between his inhuman strength and his normal physical build as well as his way of moving throughout the rest of the movie (graceful, but also unnaturally still, unnerving to look at without steering into zombie-like or otherwise inhuman territory) - all of it proves him to be human without actually humanizing him too much.

It’s a shame that most of the sequels didn’t try to do anything like this again (I know the Halloween 5 unmasking scene exists but I honestly wish it didn’t, so lets not talk about that here) - I’m very happy they went back to the concept of showing Michael both with as well as without the mask in Halloween 2018.

5. And finally - the end of the movie!

This is very biased as I’m a total sucker for open-ended movies, as long as they don’t leave any critical questions unanswered. But I think this also applies at least somewhat objectively to the Halloween franchise: most of the endings that had Michael die got retconned sooner or later anyway, most of them not in a very convincing way.

The movie’s last moments with Michael breathing in the background while  we revisit the locations we saw throughout the movie hammers home the thought that he could be everywhere and that nothing can stop him, and that - to me - is a very poignant and satisfying scene to end the movie on.

[unholy-obeyme]

STOMACH CHURNING

Note: This was done as a request for @iamtiredfinalsistheworst

TW: Blo*d mentions, Gore, torture, red room, if I left anything please let me know, it means a lot <33

Note 2: I’m so sorry this took so long! I hope this is to your liking!! Im sorry once again <33

You stared at the carnage in front of you being shown on your laptop screen. The room was red. The sight in front of you was unlike any other sight you had seen. It was positively, stomach churning. You couldn’t tear your eyes from the carnage in front of you.

A MONTH EARLIER :

“Mc?” “Yes sir?” “We have an ongoing investigation about the deep web, you may be aware” “I am aware sir, how am I involved in this issue though sir, if you do not mind me asking” “well, since you are in the cyber security department I’m handing this case over to you. I need you to alert us immediately incase anything, even remotely alarming, let us know immediately.” You merely nodded and walked to your desk as you opened your pc, ready for another round of browsing the potential dangers in the dark web. Hearing about it was one thing, but browsing it? It felt illegal. You even forgot you were a member of the cyber security department and that this was your job. The brothers and the royals, and the other students of RAD had been kind enough to let you off the hook since they knew how important this was for you. The brothers, and the prince and his butler were sitting with you, helping you find any suspicious links, or illegal sites while Simeon and Solomon were keeping Luke away from the carnage you all were about to witness. It was then Leviathan pointed on a link which seemed extremely suspicious despite the innocent url. Nothing could have prepared you all for what was going to present itself on the laptop screen. When you clicked on it, it asked for all of your details, which you filled, as you gave it false details to remain undercover. The screen loaded for a while, as the screen read:

ll WELCOME TO THE RED ROOM ll

Your stomach dropped as you immediately understood what you were getting exposed to. “Mc?” Asked Lucifer worriedly, as you immediately started trembling lightly. “I-it’s nothing.. I-I’ve seen plenty of t-this, I-it’s my j-job you k-know” you stuttered as you clicked the link and it led you to a room. It illuminated red, a man was tied to the centre of a bed, naked, while the wall was decorated with all sorts of knives and machetes you never knew existed. “Hey human…” Mammon stated as he and the others knew where this was going. You watched as the man was screaming in fear while there was another individual watching him scream in fear while asking the viewers their weapon of choice. The prince had a serious scowl on his face as he watched each and every one of those viewers and their sick chats. The carnage soon started as the individual dragged a rake all over the naked man’s body drawing blood and creating open gashes. To say you were scared, was an understatement. You were witnessing a live murder, that had existed much much before you were even notified of it…. How many people died at the hands of this man? The demons, however, were furious. Each and every viewer would be dragged to the deepest pits of hell as they watched the innocent man was killed, then his wife, and his kids…. It was then Mammon snapped out of his anger as he noticed you staring at the screen, frozen in fear, as your eyes, with tears prickling at the corners as you were trying to process everything happening in front of you. He immediately notified others about your distressed state by which the prince immediately closed the pc. Clearly you did not expect this. The others too, suppressed their anger and helped you calm down from your hysterical state.

Belphegor lulled you to sleep as he immediately held you close as you slept with small dried tears. “Why must you do this to yourself Mc..” he asked tenderly as the others bitterly retreated to their rooms. Your task can wait. What mattered the most was your mental and physical health and that’s what everyone focused on. You were granted a holiday to recover and the best therapist was on speed dial incase you ever needed help. But everyone could agree on one thing.

While, the entirety of the human race may not be as bad or twisted, this one was particularly

Stomach churning

[miraculouscontent]

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

i want dick grayson to be annoyingly perfect in the smallest of unimportant ways. and i want it to irritate the living hell out of everyone around him

every now and then, jason and dick will go to different chili dog carts around the city, and dick will sit and nod in agreement as jason nitpicks the food, occasionally offering his own two cents. the conversations are tense and if the topic strays from anything except food jason books it, but it’s progress, and dick’s grateful. but he doesn’t understand why jason always growls at him when he’s preparing his chili dogs, chalking it up to jason’s obsessiveness about that food in particular. dick figures he’s probably doing it wrong. until one day, jason bites out a rough question, asks him how he did that. dick’s confused, until jason points out, “you tear open the top of the ketchup packet in a perfect line every time. and you get all of the ketchup out of the packet in one smooth squeeze, and you never get any on your fingers, and i don’t understand how.”

roy was, arguably, a better archer than ollie. green arrow had been birthed from the island, from the trauma of survival. roy, however, had been practicing since he was a kid, and now that he was well into his twenties, he could safely say he was one of the best shots in the world. he could beat all his friends at darts, shoot an apple off wally’s head, and was generally pretty awesome. or, he would be awesome, if only dick fucking grayson would stop making every single shot of anything he threw in a trash can. no matter what he was throwing away, no matter the angle, no matter the wind or rain, as long as the trashcan was in eyesight, anything dick tossed would inevitably end up inside the garbage. sometimes, dick barely even glanced at the damn thing, just took note of it a threw the trash, expecting it to land in the proper place. and it always did. the worst part was, dick didn’t even seem to notice it. he wasn’t actively trying to make every shot. when asked, dick just shrugged and said “we had some pretty good knife throwers in the circus.”

tim’s memories starting out as robin were a whirlwind, a push-pull of bruce’s mistrust, then bruce’s acceptance, of dick’s fear and hesitation, then of dick’s love. he still remembered dick making the two of them hot chocolate in the kitchen after a day of training, tim’s muscles sore and entire body aching but the feeling of pride, because he was good enough to be robin, he knew he was. he hadn’t expected that to happen anytime soon again, given the way their relationship had fractured after tim had left dick’s batman, a terrified fury in his eyes. yet, he’d been proven wrong when, after a particularly rough arkham breakout, alfred asked both dick and tim to stay instead of returning to their own apartments. just because the manor brought back a feeling of warm nostalgia, however, doesn’t mean it kept the nightmares away. he came down to the kitchen and saw dick already up, moving around the stovetop. with a knowing look in his eyes, dick grabbed another mug to make tim some hot chocolate. tim was washed over with a feeling of relief, of acceptance. dick slid the mug towards him and tim took a sip, letting the rich chocolate warm him up from the inside. it was delicious. his little sigh of pleasure must have been audible, but then he remembered something he noticed. “dick. did you use alfred’s recipe for this?” and dick laughed, responded with, “nah. too much work. i just sort of tried to remember what was in hot chocolate, and eyeballed most of the ingredients. i’m glad it turned out good though. no clumps too, that’s good.”

donna didn’t care how old she got, playing in the park with dick never got old. as one of her oldest friends, the two of them could just walk around the park, in companionable silence, just letting themselves relax and enjoy the moment. so, of course, dick would break the silence and ask if she had any earbuds, because it was getting to quiet for him. donna laughed, and reached inside her pocket, fingered past the keys, and grabbed the headphones. the tangled little ball that came out made her sigh, and she pulled on an earbud to loosen it, only managing to make one of the many knots tighter. then, dick took the headphones out of her hands with a here, i got it, and with a few quick tugs, the tangled monstrosity unraveled easy as breathing. then, completely unaffected, he handed her an earbud, putting the other in his own ear. “i’m the one who’s got a lasso,” she said, ignoring dick’s snort and quip about how earbuds and a lasso are two completely different things, donna.

cass hadn’t expected to enjoy such a gentle, graceful form of athletics, but after a few lessons, it had become apparent that ballet could be far from gentle. it pushed her, made her practice and strengthen herself, and she’d fallen in love with the art quickly. however, the most frustrating part of the entire thing had little to do with actually dancing. the school bruce had helped pick out was prestigious, which meant a strict dress code, which meant her hair had to be in a bun. unfortunately, her hair never seemed to want to cooperate. after her latest attempt, falling into a mess of hair at her nape that had so many locks falling out, cass contemplated how mad the teacher would be if she showed up in a ponytail. at that moment, dick peeked into her room, having heard her frustrated noise, and asked if he could do anything to help. cass pointed to the mess of hair, not even remotely contained by the hair tie, and blew a strand out of her face. dick smiled with understanding, then came into her room, grabbing the comb on her bed and standing behind her in front of the mirror. he smoothed her hair with the comb, then pulled it this way and that, twisting and turning and wrapping until, two minutes later, a picture perfect bun sat atop her head. cass blinked with surprise. “first try,” she said, staring up at him, but he just shrugged and said, “it’s not that hard. you want me to drop you off?”

bruce could admit that he rather enjoyed undercover missions. it was an extended game with high stakes, a test of his own acting skills. with makeup changing his face, an expertly made wig, and a demeanor completely different from both brucie wayne and from batman, he swept through the crowd of greasy men, looking for a specific contact. then, he caught sight of someone specific indeed, though they weren’t his contact. eyebrows raised in a what are you doing here? gesture, he slid onto a barstool. from behind the bar, dick offered him a blinding smile, cleaning a glass. he tapped his wrist twice, a clear message. undercover, same as you. then, dick grabbed a couple bottles from underneath a shelf, flipping them in his hand and pouring with grandeur. bruce noticed he hadn’t put any alcohol in his little mixture, only making it seem as if he had. the flashy moves were entertaining, bruce could give him that. dick slid him the drink and bruce took a sip, eyebrows raising in brief surprise. “this is good. bartending?” dick put the bottles and the lemon away, unimpressed. “it’s not like it’s hard. just mixing a couple ingredients. no biggie.” bruce was fairly certain bartending was more difficult than that, but just then, his target came into view. 

steph understood some of the bats’ frustration with dick, she really could. he hadn’t exactly been a welcome and opening batman, that’s for sure. regardless, as the few masks left in gotham had to work together, and she’d gotten to know the man pretty well. and she enjoyed his company as nightwing much more than batman. she dropped onto his balcony in his bludhaven apartment, announcing her presence in that loud-subtle way. dick was nestled in a couple blankets on the couch, going over a couple files, apparently just back from patrol if the small bandage on his neck and bags under his eyes were any indication. nevertheless, he brightened when he saw her and she nodded when he asked if she wanted to spend the night. he moved some of the papers to make room for her on the couch, but she flitted into his bathroom, going through the nail polish bottles she knew he had, and grabbing a shade of red that caught her eye. she tossed him the bottle and put her fingers in his lap, talking aimlessly about a movie she watched with cass. dick seemed to relax amidst her jabbering, and he shook the bottle a couple times before opening it and focusing on her right hand. but as he started, steph paused her rambling and focused on him instead, holding her hands gently and brushing paint onto her nails. he managed to cover her entire nail in three easy strokes, smooth and glossy, not a hint of paint on her skin. the nail was practically perfect. oh god she was jealous. “got a lot of practice with this, grayson?” she asked, and laughed at dick’s mock-offended of course not!

damian wasn’t one for photography, and he could grudgingly admit drake was far better at that particular skill than he was. however, his art class had promised to cover all types of media, and had upheld that pledge. the next two weeks were dedicated to photography, and their final project for the unit had to be a small collection of photographs. animal photography, of course, was damian’s chosen subject, and the knowledge that animal photography was one of the hardest skills to master only had damian wanting to do it more. days later, however, he could admit that it was trickier than expected. how had he never noticed how active his animals were? they never sat still, and every single picture came out blurry. grayson, upon coming across him in the manor grounds, noticed his futile attempts and asked if he could help. damian acquiesced the camera to grayson, who looked through the lens, finding the right angle and background, adjusting the focus settings slightly. then, he let out a sharp whistle and snapped his fingers. in nothing short of a miracle, damian’s pets pasued to look at him, only for a second, and the shutter clicked furiously. damian flipped through the photos, a good many of them clear and wonderful. damian snapped in irritation when dick ruffled his hair and said, “now you try!” it definitely wasn’t as easy as grayson made it look.

babs didn’t really know what she was expecting when she broke up with dick. there was hurt on both ends, and distance for a while, and she had no idea how much she’d miss him. but after a couple months of working together, of remembering that underneath the romantic tangles, their friendship was strong, she’d gotten to the point of dick randomly dropping by her apartment again. the downside was, dick kept randomly dropping by her apartment again. he stole her snacks and messed up her filing system and was so irritating that barbara almost forgot how relieved she was at having one of her best friends back. fortunately, it did come with benefits, because when he was bored, he did some of her chores for her. pausing in the doorway, she smiled at the sight of dick folding her clothes and putting them away. the gesture was platonic now, but no less appreciated. she pushed her wheelchair forward, and in greeting, dick told her how much he wanted to steal all her patterned socks. babs reminded him they wouldn’t fit, and laughed at his pout. dick grabbed one sock off the top of the laundry basket, then dug his hand into the pile of clothes randomly, coming up with the second sock in an instant. folding them together, he repeated the process for each pair. “that...that was fast. you got all of them?” babs asked in confusion. “yes? why, did you expect some to be missing?” was dick’s reply as he shook the wrinkles out of a sweater.

wally was never surprised. he knew dick better than probably most people in the world. he’d gone from frustrated and jealous of dick’s random talents, to admiring and appreciative, to just accepting them as a fact of life. dick’s phone never cracked if he accidentally he dropped it. dick never buttoned up shirts wrong, aligning each button with the right hole perfectly on the first try. dick could plug in usb ports the right way. dick always remembered which light switch was for which room, no matter whose house they were at. dick could pop a cd out of its case without ever smudging the disk, holding it by the rim perfectly. and dick always seemed to know when wally needed a day off, to just visit their old haunts, grab some ice cream, and spend the day talking away on a rooftop. that was just something his best friend could do. and wally would never tell dick, but underneath his fake irritation at it, but he loved him for it.

tag list:  @comicsandhoney @birdy-bat-writes @elles-shitposts-personified @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @astroherogirl @yesboopityboop @dangerduckjpeg

[somewhatgreatexpectations]

I'll Stand By You (Wanda Maximoff/ Reader)

Hello! We've reached Halloween in Westview. I hope you all enjoy!

Songs used: "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders (1994) and "This I Promise You" by NSYNC (2000)

Summary: Westview is slowly falling apart as Wanda worries reader is drifting away. With some sibling chaos. I'm bad at summaries. :)

With a sigh, you began making your way downstairs, following the sounds of the commotion. Wearily tugging at the skin-tight suit that you couldn’t seem to avoid wearing for the day.

“Woah, smokin’ costume, sis-in-law!” You heard Pietro whistle which only made you sigh again in exasperation. “If you weren’t already married to witchy over here…” He trailed off as he leaned against the wall.

You rolled your eyes, biting back a chuckle when you saw Anna smack his shoulder. “That’s my sister you’re talking to.” She warned, glaring at Pietro who just laughed in response.

“You and Mom look nice, Momma.” Billy said sweetly with a smile which you easily returned. Reaching over to affectionately ruffle his hair.

“Yeah, Mom is old Red Riding Hood and you’re old green riding hood, Momma.” Charlie said with a laugh, looking at Pietro for approval who merely held up a hand for a high five. You clutched your chest to feign hurt and gave Anna a disbelieving stare when she began to laugh as well.

Much to your annoyance Pietro then turned his attention back to you. “Let me guess, you’re a… woodland fairy queen? Or the woman of my dreams?” He finished with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Pietro.” Wanda warned. Anna smacked him in the back of the head.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was going for, Pietro. I live to visually please you.” You quipped back sarcastically.

Before he could say anything else, Wanda walked over to you. Leaning in and pressing a kiss to your lips which you shortly returned. “Thank you for humoring me and wearing this… dramatic get-up, honey.”

“Well, there were no other clothes in my closet, so…” You replied flatly, watching the way Wanda’s smile faltered. Unable to stand seeing the look on her face, you attempted to lighten your tone. “I knew you had a thing for me in tights.”

Her shoulders relaxed when you posed dramatically and sent a teasing smile her way. “I have a thing for you in general.” Wanda said in a husky voice, a small smirk on her lips.

Leaning in closer you matched her smirk, “What a coincidence because I just so happen to have a thing for you as well.”

Wanda let out a quiet giggle and you smiled adoringly at the way her nose scrunched. As Wanda was leaning in again, you turned to face the rest of the family in the living room. Wanda sighed.

A short laugh escaped your lips as you watched Billy and Anna cover Pietro and Charlie’s eyes in a desperate bid to win the video game that they were playing. The laughter faded when you watched Pietro pull out sodas, teaching the twins how to chug the can and then burp much to your annoyance. Anna threw her own can at Pietro’s head.

“It’s wonderful that our siblings are so…” You paused as you watched the four begin wrestling for the remote. “Great with kids.”

Wanda nodded unconvincingly as she watched the scene by your side. “Yeah... They’re just full of surprises.”

Lightly you pat her shoulder as you stepped around her. “Well, good luck with them tonight. I’m sure it’ll be entertaining to say the least.”

Wanda turned to face you, a frown tugging down at the corners of her lips. “What?” She followed after you as you made your way to the door. “What do you mean? You’re all dressed and ready to go.”

You gestured vaguely to yourself. “I’m undercover. Ellie said there’s been mischief running amuck in the community and she suspects neighborhood watch. An inside job, Wanda! I'm an investigative journalist now.” Dramatically you tossed your cape over your shoulder for emphasis.

The frown on Wanda’s face remained as she shook her head lightly, “But that’s not what you’re supposed to…”

Skeptically you eyed Wanda. “What do you mean supposed to?”

“You didn’t tell me you had plans.” She eventually grumbled in annoyance, ignoring the question entirely.

“Well, I’m telling you now.” You replied with a small shrug.

Her eyes gleamed with frustration as if she couldn’t believe the words you were saying. “It’s the twins first Halloween. You have to be there.”

Anna and Pietro stepped over before you could get a word out. “Woah, what’s the big deal?” Pietro asked as he teasingly placing his hands in between you both like you were about to start fighting. “I’m much more fun than Y/n. No offense, you’re still smokin’.” He winked your way and you gagged.

Anna pushed him away and turned to Wanda with a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, Wanda. We can help with the twins. It’ll still be fun.”

“Uncle Petey to the rescue, huh?” Pietro added with a goofy grin.

You clapped his shoulder and turned to Wanda. “Sure… Petey. Problem solved. Have a spooky time tonight, kiddos. I love you!” You called out to Billy and Charlie who were engrossed in their game.

“Love you.” They called back distractedly, never taking their eyes off the screen.

Hesitantly you stepped back over to Wanda, ignoring the gloomy expression on her face as you lightly caressed her cheek.

With a small smile you leaned in and kissed her other check. “Be good.” You whispered before pulling away. Once again, you posed dramatically, smirking when Wanda begrudgingly replicated the action. “Time to solve this case!” With a final toss of your cape you left.

Wanda’s shoulders drooped slightly as the door closed behind you. Seconds later, you poked your head back in. “I forgot to say… you look beautiful, my love.” You called out sincerely, sending a wink Wanda’s way before shutting the door behind yourself again.

The blush on Wanda’s cheeks made both Pietro and Anna smirk in amusement.

____________

“Unleash hell, demon spawn!” Pietro called after the twins with a smile as they walked off to one of the houses with Anna. He furrowed his eyebrows questioningly when he noticed Wanda staring at him.

Wanda attempted to force an easygoing smile on her lips. “Do you remember when we were at the orphanage and there was this song that we used to sing? The one that would play on the radio whenever the soldiers radio frequencies would interfere with the our frequencies? It went like,” Pietro just stared, his head tilted slightly. “Let me come along, ‘cause even if you’re wrong-”

“-I’ll stand by you, I’ll stand by you. Won’t let nobody hurt you. I’ll stand by you.”

You sat patiently outside the door, the music playing quietly on your phone to break up the silence that surrounded you. And possibly send a message to the woman who was currently ignoring you.

Natasha walked over and kneeled by your side. “Are you planning on staying out here all night?” In response you lifted your shoulders slightly in a small shrug. “You should at least eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.” You murmured, spinning the rings on your fingers absently.

With a sigh Natasha stood up and gently pat your head. “I’m going to bring you both food. And I expect you both to eat, even if you aren’t talking right now.”

Almost as soon as Natasha had walked away the door behind you opened, causing you to fall backwards. “You can turn the cheesy 90s music off now. I get it.” Wanda said quietly, her posture tense.

You scrambled to shut the music off and rushed to your feet. “Hi.” You said nervously.

From where you stood you could see Wanda fight a smile. “You’ve been sat outside my room for three hours and all you came up with was hi?”

Shyly you rubbed your arm. “I did have a whole speech planned out in my head but looking at you now I can’t seem to think of anything other than you.”

Wanda melted with your words and you could see the frustration in her eyes begin to fade away. “Did you really mean what you said? That you don’t care?”

Tentatively you reached out and took her hands. “Never. Not about you. I was talking about myself. I will care about you forever.” Care was a placeholder for what you truly wanted to say and you both knew it. "I'm sorry for making you think I didn't."

With a sigh, Wanda pulled you into her arms. “Well I care about you, so if you care about me you also have to care about yourself.”

You buried your face in her neck, breathing in her sweet scent. “Okay. I care...” You mumbled letting the silence wash over the moment. “Did we just have our first fight? I hated every minute of that.”

Wanda’s chuckled slightly. “Yeah. Me too…” Her eyes shone brightly with amusement as she gently tilted your head up to meet her lips, finding comfort in your touch.

You were her safety.

Impatiently Pietro snapped his fingers in Wanda’s face, squinting his eyes slightly at her expression. “You’re testing me.” He said flatly with a knowing point of his finger.

Wanda quickly feigned innocence, still shaking away the memory that had filled her mind. “No, I’m not.” She insisted.

Wanda was testing him though. She knew he wouldn’t know that song. He shouldn’t have.

In response he waved a hand dismissively as he gestured vaguely to his face. “Hey, it’s cool. I know I look different.”

Unable to help herself, Wanda nodded. Her brows furrowed. “Why do you look different?”

Pietro shrugged. “You tell me. I mean, if I found Shangri-La I wouldn’t want to be reminded of the past either.” Wanda looked back at him pensively.

Anna then rushed back with the twins. “Your turn, Uncle Petey!” She exclaimed patting Pietro on the shoulder.

“Alright, Uncle Petey’s about to maximize your candy acquisition. Not like your lame Aunt Annie over here.” He joked, ruffling Anna’s hair who just smacked his hand away. He offered a hand to Charlie who eagerly took it as Billy linked on.

Before Wanda could even blink they had sped away. “I’m beginning to think he’s a bad influence.”

Anna spun around to face her. “Beginning? I hate to break it to you, Wanda, but between the two of us I’m the only good role model here.”

Wanda just shook her head in amusement when someone in the distance caught her attention. “I’ll be right back, Anna.” Anna nodded and ran to try to catch up to the twins. Wanda made her way over to the person of interest. “Hello, Ellie.”

Ellie turned to face Wanda a mild look of surprise covering her features. “Hi, Wanda. Where’s your lovely wife?”

The polite smile that Wanda had grown so accustomed to made an appearance. “Oh, it’s okay you don’t have to be secretive. Y/n told me about the undercover piece about neighborhood watch that you have her working on.”

Curiously Ellie quirked her eyebrows. “I haven’t assigned Y/n to any undercover pieces.”

Wanda’s smile wavered slightly. “Oh. I thought… I thought she…” Her lips pulled down slightly in thought.

Ellie shifted nervously in the silence as her brows furrowed in concern. “Is there something I can do for you, Wanda?” She continued on before Wanda could utter a response. “Do you want something changed?”

A confused chuckle fell from Wanda’s lips. “No. It’s fine. I must have just misheard her this morning.”

“If you say so. Tell Y/n I said hello.” Ellie finally replied, sending a wink Wanda’s way as she walked off.

“Hey, that woman looked so much like Amelia. Y/n loved her.” Wanda jumped at Anna’s sudden appearance. Her eyes clouded over when she processed what the teenage girl had just said.

__________________

“This is so lame. I can’t believe you’re making them return all the candy.” Pietro grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

Wanda crossed her arms indignantly. “Well, I can’t believe what a bad influence you are.”

“That’s why I’m better.” Anna added in a sing song voice.

Pietro sneered. “Oh, shut it, pipsqueak. We’re here to do the exact same thing, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the sis-in-law, stir up trouble with the rugrats and ultimately… Give Wanda grief.”

Anna huffed when Wanda looked at her suspiciously. “I mean, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” She asked, her tone dripping with irritation that was a stark contrast to her positive attitude earlier.

The confusion at the situation caused Wanda to purse her lips as she allowed herself to consider the two people before her. “Anna, weren’t you six when Hydra… I mean, you weren’t a teenager when you…” She trailed off slightly, not wanting to finish the thought.

The younger girl rolled her eyes defensively. “Look, that was years ago. I aged. That’s what happens inn life, isn’t it?” Anna crossed her arms when Wanda didn't seem convinced. “I don’t know, okay?”

Wanda frowned slightly then turned her attention to Pietro. “And you. What happened to your accent?”

“What happened to yours?” Pietro countered defensively. He sighed when Wanda leveled him with an unimpressed stare. “Look. Details are fuzzy, man. For both of us. All I remember is getting shot like a chump in the streets for no reason at all. Next thing I know, I heard you calling us.”

Anna stepped forward, nodding along with Pietro. “We knew you needed us.”

The words hung in the air like an unanswered question. “Uncle P, Auntie A, guess what?” Charlie shouted excitedly effectively ending the conversation as she rushed over with Billy.

“There’s a treasure bag with full sized candy bars on the lamp post!” Billy pointed up eagerly at the post that was hanging directly above their heads. “Mom, can you help us get it?”

The sound of metal crunching filled the air as Charlie waved a hand. The lamppost giving way easily as she skipped over and took the bag off the light. “Next stop, Cavity Town!” She cheered as she walked back over and passed one of the treats to Billy.

“My niece is a badass!” Pietro hollered as he lifted Charlie on his shoulders. Wanda couldn't help the pride that bubbled in her chest as she watched her daughter's powers develop. She wished you would have been there to see it too. “Just like your uncle P! Chip off the old Maximoff block!”

Anna coughed pointedly. “Manipulating earth and metal? Sounds a lot like the badass comes from my genes.”

“It’s okay, baby. You can take it slow, and you can-” Wanda’s words were interrupted as Charlie began flying through the sky, cheering all the while. Wanda shook her head in amusement at the way Charlie smoothly flew through the air, her smile unwavering.

Billy watched his twin excitedly which Wanda took note of.

When Charlie floated too low, Wanda grabbed her foot and gently pulled her down. “If you’re going to explore, please just take your brother with you.” Wanda said seriously.

“Really?” Billy asked happily.

“Really?” Charlie repeated with a pout.

Wanda bit back a smile as she nodded. “Really. And please, just remember-”

“Don’t go past Ellis Avenue.” They responded in unison.

“We know, Mom. We know.” Charlie said dismissively as she offered her hand to Billy and a moment later they floated into the air.

Pietro and Anna shook their heads. “Be careful! I love you!” Wanda shouted after the twins.

_________________

For the past several hours a feeling of discomfort had settled in your chest as you wandered the city of Westview. The feeling reached its breaking point when you watched a woman frozen in time, replicating the same action again and again. The moment solidified your resolve. You needed to see what was outside this city. To see if all these odd occurrences were just that… odd occurrences.

You didn’t want to believe it was Wanda. It couldn’t be.

In a bid of desperation, you took advantage of one of your new-found skills and allowed yourself to fly into the skies of Westview. Everything looked completely normal... Except for one set of lights stopped strangely at the edge of the town.

Curiosity got the better of you as you flew over to investigate the scene. The sight of the stalled car unnerved you as you wearily made your way over to the driver’s side. “Agnes? What are you doing here?”

Despite the question, Agnes continued to stare off into the distance, almost as if you weren’t there at all. “Took a wrong turn.” She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. You worriedly took note of the way her eyes were glossed over with unshed tears despite her face being completely void of emotion. “Got lost.”

Her words were monotonous which was so out of character for the woman you’d seen before. You frowned. “Lost? In the town you grew up in?” There was no response from the other woman as she continued to stare blankly ahead. Your fingers tingled with uneasy energy. “I wonder…” Hesitantly you lifted your hand until it hovered over her temple. You closed your eyes as you focused, becoming one with the earth’s current until a short burst of light drifted from the tips of your fingers into the side of Agnes’ temple.

With a gasp, she sprung back to life. Agnes desperately took your hands, pulling you down. “You! You’re one of the Avengers! Are you here to help us?”

“I do want to help.” You assured her. “But what’s an Avenger?”

Agnes pulled her hands away as if she’d been burned. “What? Why don’t you know?” Suddenly she began patting herself down anxiously. “Am I dead?”

Your brows furrowed in concern. “No, no, why would you think that?”

There was a brief pause before Agnes turned her attention back to you. “Because you are.”

The tightness in your chest increased tenfold. “I am what?”

“Dead. You’re dead. Dead, Dead!” Agnes shouted hysterically causing you to flinch back involuntarily.

Determinedly you pushed forward again, ignoring her words. “Agnes, I want to help. I’m going to get help. To reach someone outside of Westview and figure everything out.”

“How? No one leaves. Wanda won’t even let us think about it.” Manic laughter startled you into silence as she continued. “All is lost. We’ll never escape her.”

Despite numerous attempts to call out to her, Agnes’ laughter never stopped. The unsteady tingling in your fingers began again as you took a deep breath and grounded yourself with the earth once more. You lifted your hand to her temple and almost as soon as the light entered her temple the laughter stopped.

“I will fix this.” You declared softly.

A caricature of a smile overcame her features. “Alrighty, neighbor!” She said as she turned the car around. “Happy Halloweenie!”

With a new sense of determination, you marched forward into the open field in the distance. The soft buzzing of static becoming louder and louder the further into the field you ventured.

Cautiously you reached a hand out to touch where the sound seemed to be coming from only to be met with resistance even though nothing was there. Confusion took hold of your emotions as you watched the costume you were wearing transform into your typical clothes as you pushed your arm through the energy barrier.

Knowing this was the only way, you pushed forward, feeling as if your mind was being wiped clean the further you walked.

The pain was becoming unbearable, but you knew you couldn’t turn back.

As the pain worsened, a quiet song began playing in your mind, almost as it was attempting to comfort you.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Look at me.” A soft hand on your face tilted your chin up. Her eyes were flooded with worry but her gentle touch brought you comfort. “This might hurt a bit, but we have to do this.”

A soft groan fell from your lips as you could feel the first stitch begin to close your wound. “Wait, wait.” You hissed, pushing her hand away from your bleeding side.

Her fingers gently brushed through your hair. “Y/n. You’re bleeding, we need to stitch this up now.” You knew she was right, but you still wanted to roll away. The woman quickly scrambled to her feet, stepping away for a moment before rushing back with a small device in her hands. “Here. Focus on the music. Focus on me. Not on the pain.”

“I've loved you forever, in lifetimes before and I promise never will you hurt anymore. I give you my word, I give you my heart. This is a battle we’ve won and with this vow, forever has now begun…”

When the song from the radio reached your ears, a choked laugh fell from your lips despite the pain you were in. “Did you plan for the cheesiest 90s song to play?”

In response she smiled ever so slightly, but her eyes remained focused on the task. “I didn’t, I swear. Guess I just got lucky.”

“Yeah. Me too…”

Staring up at her made it impossible for you to focus on anything else as you processed the words that floated from the radio. She was done before the song had even finished. You didn’t feel a thing.

“I didn’t see they were government agents.” You murmured guiltily after a moment as you watched her wrap your now stitched up side.

Her concerned eyes met yours. “Y/n, I don’t blame you. I’m just glad you’re okay. I was so scared I wouldn’t get there in time. That I wouldn’t be able to protect you. I... care about you.” Her words were sincere as her thumb lightly caressed your cheek. The placeholder word from your past making a comeback.

The small box of a room that was your newest hideout was dingy, but with her here it was the most beautiful place in the world.

Your chest tightened with familiar feelings that you spent so long avoiding. “Can you hold me?” You looked away as you asked, still not used to the vulnerability.

“Of course.” She breathed out, carefully helping you to bed before gathering you in her arms. Her heartbeat against your ear was the sweetest song you had ever heard. You had never felt safer than when you were in her arms.

Wanda was your safety.

“Wanda.” You gasped out, feeling yourself refocus on the current world around you as thoughts of Wanda flashed through your mind. Of Wanda smiling. Of Wanda laughing. Of Wanda crying. It was all there again.

Until it wasn’t.

With a gasp you fell to the floor, clutching your head, feeling yourself – your mind - begin to fade away.

“Why aren’t you helping her? Something is wrong with her, she needs help!” You heard a voice scream anxiously. You looked up just in time to see the woman get held back by someone. “Steve! Natasha! Help her!” She cried out holding her ear as a man tugged her arm down and handcuffed her to a car.

Despite the pain coursing through your veins you continued to weakly crawl forward. The threat of losing consciousness and the sense of who you were increasing the further out you moved from the barrier. “Th-they need h-elp.” You gritted out, not remembering why, but knowing it was why you were there. One of your arms gave out from under you as you fought to keep your eyes open.

The bespectacled woman watched you with growing concern, tugging desperately at the handcuffs that kept her in place. “Steve, Natasha, you need to hurry.” She said quietly, her eyes widening when you fell to the floor.

Everything went dark.

__________________

There was a comfortable silence in the air and Wanda could almost allow herself to relax as she sat on one of the bales of hay while the twins played on their own in the town square.

Almost.

“Where were you hiding all these kids up until now?” Pietro suddenly questioned with a smirk.

“What?” Wanda replied in surprise.

Anna leaned back on her hands, feigning amusement. “I assume she let them all sleep peacefully in their beds.” She picked at the hay in disinterest. “No need to traumatize beyond the occasional holiday cameo, right?”

Pietro rolled his eyes. “Hey, back off. She’s the empathetic twin.”

“I don’t-… I didn’t-” Wanda stuttered. Anna smirked slightly.

Waving his hands dismissively, Pietro continued. “She handled all the ethical considerations of this scenario as best she could.” Wanda’s mind seemed to be put at ease as Pietro’s speech continued. “Families and couples stayed together, most personalities are the same, people got better jobs. Better style, for sure.”

Flicking a piece of hay at Pietro’s head, Anna added. “Convincing my sister that she’s in love with her.”

Wanda turned her head sharply at Anna’s words. “What do you mean convincing? Y/n loves me.” Her brows furrowed as she considered Anna’s words. “She does.”

A laugh fell from Anna’s lips. “You can cut the act, Wanda. Pietro and I know everything.”

“I’m not acting. Y/n and I love each other.” Wanda defended quietly, trying desperately not to let Anna’s words get to her.

Anna shrugged. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself. Y/n was in love with Amelia- sorry, you renamed her Ellie.” She smirked when she saw Wanda’s fingers flex slightly. “They were soulmates. They made the best team. I’ve never seen Y/n more in love than she was with her.”

Wanda’s jaw clenched, and Anna’s smirk grew.

“Do it. Make her go away.” Pietro encouraged Wanda when familiar red tendrils began drifting from her fingers.

Anna tilted her head in mock sympathy. “What? You don’t want to hear the truth?”

With a wave of her hand, Anna slumped on the hay. Pietro cheered. “She’s just sleeping. She’ll be up in a few minutes.” Wanda said quietly, feeling the shame creep up on her as she tried to shake Anna’s words. Pietro laughed, and she turned to face him. “You don’t think it’s wrong?” Wanda asked quietly, her voice uncertain.

“What, are you kidding? I’m impressed! Seriously.” He admitted with a knowing smile. “It’s a pretty big leap from giving people nightmares and shooting red wiggly-woos out of your hands.”

For a moment Wanda stared off in the distance, allowing his words to wash over her.

“How’d you even do all this?” He finally asked. Wanda shifted uncomfortably at the question. “Hey, I’m not some stranger, or your wife, or your wife’s annoying little sister. I'm your brother. You can talk to me.”

Wanda’s eyes began to glisten to unshed tears as she thought over his question. “I don’t know how I did it.” She admitted quietly. “I… I only remember feeling completely alone. Like I was drowning. Just… Endless nothingness. Empty.” A tear fell down Wanda’s cheek.

“Mom! Mom!” Wanda heard Billy call out to her frantically as he ran over with Charlie following closely behind him. Wanda quickly composed herself.

Rushing over to the twins, Wanda felt dread build in her chest. “What is it, Billy?”

“I hear Momma. In my head! She’s in trouble.” The fear on his face made Wanda’s concern increase tenfold as her stomach dropped. “I don’t know understand. What’s happening to me?”

Wanda placed comforting hands on his shoulders as she struggled to control her emotions. “Where is she? Where is your mother?”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, sis. It’s not like your dead wife can die twice.” Pietro flippantly replied with a chuckle.

Anger. That's all she felt when Pietro spoke so dismissively about you. Unable to control her anger, Wanda shot out a hand as Pietro was sent flying back from the force of her powers.

Taking a breath, Wanda turned back to her terrified son. “Billy, I need you to focus.”

Closing his eyes, Billy began recounting what he saw. “I can’t tell. I see these… soldiers.” Wanda tensed even more. Billy gasped. “They think she’s dying!”

For a moment Wanda was sure her heart stopped.

Thinking quickly, she turned away from Billy, her eyes glowing red.

.

.

.

Steve and Natasha ran up just as the walls of the barriers began moving forward. They continued to sprint forward while Haywards minions made desperate attempts to run away.

“Y/n!” Steve cried out, feeling fear seep into his bones when he saw your lifeless form sprawled out on the empty field. On numb legs he began moving faster. Hopelessly, he was forced to watch the red energy wash over you once again.

Natasha cursed as they lost sight of your body. The red barrier continued to push forward when they were mere feet away from Darcy. “Fu-” They heard her mumble through a wince as she also became lost behind the barrier.

“We have to get in there!” Steve shouted.

With determination, Natasha nodded. “Let’s try.” A moment later they were pushing against the red energy that was fighting against letting them in.

Annnnnd we have concluded with the 90s! Chaos is the main population of Westview right now. A lot happened here. I'm not even sure what to say to be completely honest. A little nervous about this part.

Anyway...

As always, thoughts and comments are always welcome! Let me know what you think. :)

Taglist:

@theofficialzivadavid // @tquick99 // @abimess // @marrymemcgrath // @the-camilucha // @afuckingshituniverse //@pxterstrk // @aimezvousbrahms // @ensorcellme // @sapphicshots

[bigskydreaming]

Its always interesting to me when I see people saying Damian is just like Bruce, in a totally matter of fact way, like its just such a foregone conclusion to them, because I don’t really see it at all, lol. 

Like to be clear, its not that Damian doesn’t have ANY similarities to Bruce, I think all of Bruce’s kids share various attributes with him....I just think most of the ones Damian shares tend to be more superficial than characteristic, and there are others who are far more like Bruce than he is? Personally, I think Cass and Tim have the most in common with Bruce, albeit in different ways.....but tbh I think even Jason has more in common with Bruce than Damian does, for example.

Idk.....like for instance, I consider one of the key differences between Dick and Bruce being that Bruce’s sense of morality and ethics is clearly defined, exists as specific, hard-clung to views that he applies regardless of whom is involved in whatever situation he’s applying them to. To Bruce, ethics and morality exist outside of people, and are inviolate.....they’re not meant to change depending on who they’re aimed at or will be affected by them. In contrast, Dick is someone I see as having a morality largely defined by people. His sense of morals and ethics are more fluid....its not that he doesn’t have clearly defined views of right and wrong that underly his regular actions and choices as sort of a default benchmark, a starting point to work off of....its that Dick sees morals and ethics as meaningless if they don’t serve those he cares about or fights for, or if he has to sacrifice someone he values in service to what he views as an arbitrary moral or ethic that CAN be adjusted if he so chooses to adjust it....like that’s the thing HE’S not willing to do. Its like.....Dick sees individual lives as having more value than the abstract, which is what he ultimately considers a singular principle, and so he’d rather sacrifice the principle than the life. Bruce in contrast doesn’t view morals and ethics as being remotely abstract, and views them as the very things that GIVE individual lives value, so he’s not willing to sacrifice his values or principles full stop.

Or to put it another way: If it comes down to a choice between a killer and their intended victim, where it looks like the only possible way to save their victim is to kill the killer before they can kill instead....Dick will take the shot so to speak.....but since he does still believe killing is wrong and an absolute last resort and he’s been raised by someone who he very much does value and who believes that there’s always another way.....then Dick will self-flagellate for not having been able to find another way that didn’t involve killing the killer. Bruce on the other hand, will attempt down to the very last second to find a way to save both lives, no matter how impossible it seems.....and if he’s ultimately unable to, he’ll then self-flagellate for not having found a way to save both. 

The truly ironic thing IMO, is even in a situation where BOTH consider themselves to have failed, they’ll both still consider their failure to be the exact same thing....though for entirely different reasons and with different results. Both will view ‘not having been able to find another way’ to have been the true failure.....even though, one killed and one didn’t. Because Dick wouldn’t perceive having killed as his true failure.....because that’s the part he doesn’t actually regret, if it means that he saved the killer’s intended victim as a result. He still did it with intent, in this complete hypothetical, because he perceived the victim’s life as more important than his personal desire not to kill or view that killing is wrong. BUT he’ll still consider himself to have failed because despite having saved one life, he’d view the fact that he couldn’t find another way where taking one life wasn’t a NECESSITY in order to accomplish that.....that was his failure, in his mind. Similarly, but completely differently at the same time....Bruce will consider his failure to have been not having found a way to save both. BUT just like Dick’s true regret isn’t that he killed the killer, Bruce’s true regret isn’t that he DIDN’T, in order to save their victim. Its that he couldn’t find a way out of that box that made it a choice of one or the other.

Course, that’s just my perception of the two of them.

But as examples, this is I think WHY Dick was able to kill the Joker at all in Last Laugh, whereas Bruce will ultimately never bring himself to cross that line. (And while Dick wasn’t matter of fact about it by any means, its significant in my mind that his actual stated regrets about that were always that he played into what the Joker had wanted and thus let him win, and that he’d failed Bruce and let him down....never once was it actually that he’d killed the Joker, period.) Similarly, its why Dick’s a lot more willing to work with people he’s ideologically opposed to or more flexible....in fact, I maintain its specifically why Bruce was so convinced that only Dick could infiltrate Spyral. It wasn’t JUST about the logistics of Dick being believed dead after Forever Evil, or Bruce’s issues about having just watched Dick die.......because Bruce is great at undercover work himself, as Matches Malone, and he traditionally HATES delegating the ‘hard stuff’ to someone else, especially when the stakes are this high....even if he does trust that person absolutely. He believes that if its his responsibility, its up to him to do it if at all possible.

Which is why I think that ultimately, the only reason Bruce didn’t find a way to take on the Spyral mission himself, is because he didn’t think he’d be able to. Spyral was a shady spy organization that engaged in morally compromising work on a day to day basis. Deep down, I think Bruce was aware that there would be too many occasions in which he’d be likely to be sidetracked or frozen by his conviction that there HAD to be a way around whatever he was being asked to do for the sake of keeping his cover, that didn’t require acting against various hard-set morals....which more than likely would have cost him the mission and rendered it a failure.....with catastrophic results for his family and the rest of the hero community. Whereas he knew that Dick would be able to find a way to make it work, because despite having a very strong sense of right and wrong of his own, he knows Dick’s highest moral prerogative is that he WILL act on even something he does firmly believe is wrong, if he’s convinced its the price he needs to pay for the sake of loved ones. And thus, even though he wouldn’t be any happier about the moral compromising nature of a lot of Spyral’s work than Bruce is, he’d be less likely to find himself unable to act in a split second decision time, so long as Bruce uttered the magic words: this is an utter necessity for the sake of your family.

Also ironically, btw, I think one of the key ways that a lot of people perceive Dick and Bruce as different....I’d disagree and say is actually where they’re MOST alike. And that’s that people point to Bruce as closed off and tightly guarding his emotions, hurts, and vulnerabilities at the expense of getting close to people or letting them in.....whereas Dick is more of a people person. But honestly, I disagree. I think people overlook that Brucie Wayne is still as much a part of Bruce Wayne’s life as Batman is. Bruce is and always has been completely capable of being the life of the party and surrounding himself with droves, on a surface level. I think Dick takes it perhaps a bit further than that, he IS more approachable than Bruce in general, that sorta thing.....BUT when it comes to his most private emotions, hurts and vulnerabilities.....I think Dick is just as inclined as Bruce to keep those parts of himself closely guarded and he doesn’t LIKE giving them up. The actual difference between them IMO, again comes down to the role other people play in their ways of thinking.....as I think that the times and reasons Dick DOES open up about his most closely guarded thoughts or emotions....its for other people, because he’s convinced himself that THEY need this from him. Left to his own devices, or at least the perception that he’s the only one likely to be affected by whether he shares his most intimate self with someone else or not, I think he’s just as likely as Bruce to well, not.

And all of this is key to why I think that Damian tends to have a lot more in common with Dick than Bruce, whereas others in the family have more in common with Bruce than Dick. Because see, Damian, like Dick, is more likely to ACT as a result of other specific individuals rather than his own personal sense of right and wrong. Look at when he first came from the League of Assassins. He had a clearly defined view of right and wrong, an already formed morality of his own, even if it was diametrically opposed to most of the Batfam’s, particularly Bruce’s. 

Damian didn’t set all that aside because people succeeded in just uniformly shifting his paradigms to be more in line with their views of right and wrong. The changes to his moral code came as a trickle down result of him ALREADY adjusting his actions or behavior - even before he necessarily came to view them as wrong - for the sake of the connections he was building, with Dick, with Alfred, with Steph, and then from there with others.

Just like I outlined with Dick, where he’s more likely than Bruce or many others to act on even something HE believes is wrong, if he views it as a necessity for the sake of a loved one.....Damian is similarly likely to act in a way that completely flies in the face of everything he came to Gotham already believing....if he views it as a necessity for the sake of the individuals he came to value. Just like Dick, simply starting from a different point on the moral spectrum. The sense of right and wrong that they ‘betrayed’ for the sake of other valued individuals was different....not the reasoning for that ‘betrayal’ of their previously established moral code.

Similarly, while Damian is just as inclined to be closed off and guarded as Bruce is (and Dick. and well, most of the Batfam shares this part in common, lol) - like Dick, when he does open up, be it to Dick or Alfred or Jon or Colin.....its because he’s convinced himself that on some level its what THEY need, rather than because he actually believes that he himself needs to let them in.

Meanwhile, the reason I say Jason is actually more like Bruce than even Damian is, lies in viewing Jason as falling somewhere between Dick and Bruce on a lot of this. Basically, I think that Jason is more naturally inclined to be more like Bruce in how rigidly he holds to a particular sense of right and wrong.....its just that the particulars of what they both view as right and wrong are different. Same thing with it being more natural to Jason to be like Bruce in terms of guarding his emotions. But in both instances, he’s still ENOUGH like Dick, as opposed to Bruce, that he does still adjust his emotional behavior and how likely he is to act on or against his personal view of morality.....for the sake of valued individuals. It just doesn’t come to him AS....naturally, I guess, as it does to Dick, and thus he’s not AS fluid as Dick in these things....but he’s still MORE fluid about them than Bruce. And that’s why even though it takes a LOT to budge him from his view of the right and wrong approach to vigilantism, he IS still willing to put aside what he does still believe is a necessity or right....if that’s what it takes to have his family in his life, etc.

To be clear - I am trying to not cast any particular judgments on any of the approaches to morality here....simply just, not the aim of this post. I’m more trying to view things analytically here, so when I frame Bruce as being the most intractable of the lot here, the least likely to budge his morals or act against his personal sense of right and wrong for the sake of loved ones, its not because I’m trying to say that he DOESN’T love his family, or even that he loves them any less than Dick does, Jason does, etc. And I’m not even trying to suggest that he’s wrong for his approach. I’m literally just....exploring the WHY of it.

And for me, that tends to go back to the singular difference between Bruce’s later childhood, after his parents’ deaths, the period between ages 10 and adulthood.....versus the childhoods of his various children around those same ages, or after their parents’ deaths.

Because these are the ages when most of us most fully develop the....intricacies of our personal moralities, when we explore and shape how our behavior stems from that sense of right and wrong and when and where we act on our beliefs, etc. 

And the key thing about Bruce during this period of his life, IMO, is that at the time.....he had very few specific INDIVIDUALS who played significant emotional roles in his life and in his mind. Bruce cares about people. Absolutely. A lot. But for a lot of the period in which Bruce shaped a lot of his personal moral behavior, people were almost as much an abstract to him as morals themselves. That’s not quite the right way to put it, but I mean, its more like....there was a kind of uniformity to the way he viewed people as a whole, because there were less individuals specifically standing out from the rest, as PARTICULARLY significant to him himself....and thus likely to influence his growing moral code.

The other key factor is the people he DID have valued emotional connections to at this point, like....they had a kind of permanence that stretched back to early childhood for him. They weren’t NEW additions to his life. While I believe that his parents’ deaths absolutely was formative for him and left him with severe abandonment issues....for Bruce, these abandonment issues were specifically geared around fear of losing people to death. He was already rooted in the same place, same life, same people, that he was before his parents’ death, that part of his life didn’t change.....and thus the people who were left to play large emotional roles in his life and worldview, like Alfred and Leslie.....he might have been afraid of losing them the way he lost his parents, but he wasn’t especially of losing them for other reasons. Specifically: I don’t think Bruce grew up during this time feeling any particular fear of losing someone like Alfred - a staple of his entire life - to, say, Alfred judging him for his choices or his morals.

As a result, Bruce grew up shaping his personal view of right and wrong and resulting morality-stemming behavior, on pretty much nothing BUT those morals and ethics themselves. And there wasn’t any particular NEED to shape those morals AROUND the people he valued in life, or likelihood that he’d lose them due to differences in opinion or ideology, like....with all of this adding up to be the reasons HIS moral code and behavior is less fluid than even most peoples’. Because there wasn’t really any reason for it NOT to be. There were very few people and thus few occasions, while still DEVELOPING all this, that made him feel that he was maybe on the wrong track, or that he needed to make room for exceptions or the possibility that he might need to adjust his views or behavior in these regards.

In contrast......Dick, Jason and most of the others all came to Bruce after significant upheavals in their life that necessitated basically starting over in an entirely brand new environment with brand new people, etc. So they lacked the specific aspect of the PERMANENCE Bruce felt in regards to his own valued loved ones during this period of his life. So unlike him, where he had a bit more space to contemplate his moral code and behavior without being particularly afraid of getting it wrong or that his choices here might cost him these people.....Dick, Jason, et al like....they formed their moral codes and behavior with significantly more awareness that many of the people they valued already had fully formed codes of their own they felt very strongly about...AND at the same time, they had REASON to be....less secure about whether or not the choices they made here could potentially cost them these people.

Which is a perfect recipe for the kind of moral fluidity based around specific individuals, that I maintain most of the kids display to various degrees. In fact, you can almost kinda....chart the extent of their moral fluidity, via various factors like the QUANTITY of significant emotional attachments in their lives at this time. Like I maintain Dick is the most morally fluid based on people.....but that I think has a lot to do with the fact that Dick had the most attachments to....protect or preserve. Even though he was forced to live apart from his extended circus family, they still very much figured into his thoughts as people he cared about and valued, and then there were Bruce and Alfred, and then Clark, Barbara, the Titans, etc, etc. 

In contrast, look at how Jason came to Wayne Manor with very few pre-existing emotional attachments with anyone still alive.....and the fact that Jason during his time living with Bruce didn’t really even have occasion to form a large number of attachments outside of his immediate family, as he wasn’t on any teams unlike Dick, and he didn’t mingle all that much with other members of the hero community. Ergo, Jason’s LESS morally fluid than Dick simply for the reason that like Bruce, he had more reason to construct his personal morals around simply his own perceptions and convictions, and less people he felt this moral code and behavior needed to acccomodate, or be prepared to make exceptions for or around. 

Meanwhile, I’d argue that Damian is like Jason in that he had fewer people to build into his personal view of right and wrong and how and when to act based on that.....BUT a key difference here is that Damian didn’t have a lot of experience pre-Gotham with feeling valued and valuing other individuals in turn, like...at all. The connections he developed with Dick, Alfred, Steph, etc.....they were brand new to him, basically a revelation in a lot of ways, because before that we’ve seen how he was often taught to dampen his view of how valuable or not to view personal connections.....whereas Jason, pre-Wayne Manor, like......we know that he DID very much have a strong emotional attachment to Catherine that he embraced and was not hesitant to value, etc. So my point here being that the sheer NEWNESS of what Damian was feeling in regards to even WANTING to adjust his behavior based not on what he THOUGHT was right or wrong but based on the PEOPLE he was coming to value....this was a complete shock to the system to Damian in ways that it wouldn’t necessarily have been for Jason, resulting in a likelihood that Damian would feel an enhanced INTENSITY around all this that Jason might not, and thus despite both of them having similar NUMBERS of emotional attachments they shaped their changing and developing moral codes around, these people carried an additional weight for Damian, just as Jason’s few carried an additional weight that Bruce’s didn’t have due to the differences in THEIR upbringings in this period of their lives.....and thus resulting in Damian having an even more fluid moral code and behavior than Jason did....closer to being on par with Dick’s, just as Jason still has a more fluid one than Bruce does.

ANYWAY.

This was a LOT longer than I thought it would be when I started a little post about huh weird how I don’t see Damian the way a lot of other people do BUT SINCE WHEN IS THAT NEWS.

In conclusion, this has been a post.

Good day.

[fridayfirefly]

Homecoming Confessions

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Written for Maribat March Day 25 - School Dance

"Marinette. Wally. You two will be going undercover at the school. You'll be posing as a couple, which should give you an excuse for how much time you will be spending together. Be prepared to keep up your cover for a while - I can see this mission taking several months."

Marinette glanced over at Wally, who was already staring at her. She quickly looked away, flushing. Of all the people I could be fake dating for a mission, why did it have to be the one person I have a crush on?

The mission itself wasn't exactly standard. Young Justice usually dealt with the typical supervillain. However, this mission was a favor to Batman, who was investigating a remote boarding school in the Allegheny Mountains to be a cover for a money-laundering scheme concocted by the parents of many of the students enrolled. Marinette, Artemis, Wally, and Dick would all be playing the part of students in order to snoop around and gather evidence. Wally and Dick were in a suite with two other boys, while Marinette and Artemis shared a suite with two other girls.

After a month undercover, the teens had finally discovered their best chance for apprehending all involved in the money-laundering scheme. There would be a Donor Appreciation Night the same night of the Homecoming Dance, held in the Headmaster's Office for select parents who had donated above a certain threshold. It was the make-or-break night of their mission. No matter what, their time at the boarding school was up.

As much as Marinette wanted to focus on her mission, her mind always seemed to be somewhere else. It was torture to pretend to date Wally when that was all Marinette really wanted. Getting ready for the dance, Marinette reminded herself, It’s just for a mission. Nothing more, nothing less.

Beside Marinette, her dormmates were getting ready as well. Artemis was painting her nails a shade of green so dark it looked like black, Caroline was putting on eyeliner with the focus and precision of a neurosurgeon, and Betty was cursing as she tried to squeeze her feet into too-tight heels.

"I swear my feet grow half a size every time I go off to school. As soon as I can't buy a new pair of Jimmy Choo's, none of the ones I already own fit anymore," complained Betty.

"I think that we have a similar size. You could borrow a pair of mine, if you'd like," offered Marinette. In truth, she would be glad to get rid of some of her shoes. To blend it at the school, her wardrobe had been given a very expensive makeover. Marinette loved fashion, but even she felt uncomfortable with how

Betty brightened up right away. "I love your closet, Marinette. If my Dad wasn't so strict about my spending money, I would have a closet like yours. Could I borrow that pair of Miu Miu heels your parents sent you last week?"

"Sure." It was good luck that Betty asked for that pair of shoes. Batman had fitted a select number of shoes with listening devices, hoping that if Marinette lingered outside of doors, the shoes might catch snippets of conversation slipping out from under the door. The Miu Miu heels were one of those select pairs. If Betty's parents were involved (which, after a little snooping through Betty's laptop, Marinette was almost certain that they were) and Betty knew about it, there was a chance that the heels could be used to gather evidence.

"When is Wally coming to pick you up?" asked Caroline.

Caroline and Betty had both been very supportive of Marinette's very fake relationship. "He's coming at seven with my corsage."

"I wish I were getting a corsage," sighed Caroline. "I'm so jealous of you. I hate being single."

"Than you shouldn't have dumped Michael two weeks before the Homecoming Dance," criticized Betty.

"I didn't want him in any of my group photos," Caroline defended herself.

"Fair point, fair point." Betty shrugged.

Marinette giggled at the antics of her friends. "Can someone help me get the button on the back of my dress?" There was one tiny silver button right at the nape of her neck that Marinette could never reach.

"Sure." Artemis leaned across the bathroom counter to get the button.

The dress was custom made - but not by Marinette. Marinette secretly hated the dress, though she cooed over it along with the rest of her dormmates. It was navy blue with silver accents, and it had a microphone sewn into it, so well hidden that not even Marinette, with her knowledge of its existence, could find it.

A knock at the door startled Marinette from her thoughts. She rushed to get her shoes on, slipping her feet into the two-inch heels. "Does my hair look okay?"

Caroline nodded. "It looks absolutely perfect. Wally will be drooling over you all night long."

Marinette forced herself to giggle at the comment, even though she knew it was false. Wally would spend the night playing the part of the doting boyfriend for the mission. He would tell her that she looked beautiful and he would be lying. Marinette wanted to cry over how unfair it was to watch the boy she liked pretending to like her back.

Marinette opened the door. Wally stood behind it, holding the corsage in his hand. It was at that moment that Marinette realized she had never seen Wally in a suit before. He tugged at his collar uncomfortably, but still smiled when his eyes landed on Marinette. "You look beautiful, Marinette."

Exactly as Marinette had predicted. She forced a smile on her face, hoping that it looked genuine enough to fool her dormmates. "Thank you. You look very dashing in a suit."

"Hey Rudolph, I didn't think you knew how to tie a tie," Artemis raised an eyebrow. Artemis and Wally had been playing the part of cousins at the boarding school, their cover being that their education was being funded by their wealthy Grandfather.

"Dick tied it," Wally grumbled. He then whispered to Marinette, "I might be ditching the tie. I think Dick might be trying to strangle me with this."

Marinette giggled, whispering back, "I have a clip-on in my closet. It won't match my dress, but I can live with that if it means you're alive and breathing."

"You're a lifesaver, Mari."

Marinette's heart gave a flutter as he called her by her nickname. He had started using it in public right when they began the school year, to convince everyone that they were dating. However, when it was just the Young Justice team, Wally always called her by her full name. It was just another reminder that their relationship was all an act.

Marinette went into her room and started digging through her closet. As she searched for the clip-on tie, Artemis entered the room, lingering at the closet doors. "What were you and Wally whispering about?"

Marinette replied, "We decided to replace his tie with a clip-on."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Sure."

"Artemis, I've told you a million times. Wally and I are fake dating."

"There is nothing fake about the way he looks at you," Artemis continued stubbornly.

"I already told you the truth. Just because you don't believe me doesn't mean it's not true."

"I know for a fact that there is something between the two of you."

Marinette sighed. Damn Artemis for being so persistent. "Fine. You're right that there are some feelings involved, but they aren't Wally's. I'm the one who has a crush on him, not the other way around."

Artemis looked shocked. "Really? I could have sworn..." Artemis stopped herself, a devious look growing on her face. Marinette could tell that she was scheming up some sort of plan.

"We just need to get through this one dance, and then we're done fake dating for good. Please, don't interfere," Marinette begged.

"Alright, but only if you promise that you'll tell Wally you like him. It doesn't have to be tonight, but you do have to tell him."

"Fine," agreed Marinette. With no time limit on the promise, who was to say when Marinette would tell Wally. After all, plenty of people confessed life-altering secrets on their deathbed.

By the time the group made it down to the banquet hall, the Homecoming Dance was in full swing. Pop music was blasting through every speaker in the room, and Marinette winced at the volume of noise.

Using the loud music as cover, Wally whispered in Marinette's ear. "Dick's already in position. He found a way up into the vents, so he has a good position to listen in on whatever is said in the Headmaster's Office."

"Good. I'll go find the best window to view the Headmaster's Office from, to make sure we can keep track of everyone going in and out."

Wally nodded. "I'll catch Artemis up to speed, and then I'll join you."

Marinette scouted out the tables at the edge of the dance floor, eventually finding one that had both a view out the window of the entrance to the Headmaster's Office and a view of both entrances to the banquet hall that the dance was held in. A minute later, Artemis approached, dragging Wally along beside her.

"I'll watch the entrances. You two need to go dance. It'll look weird if you don't," said Artemis.

Artemis was correct, but that didn't stop Marinette from feeling a little indignant about being bossed around.

Wally just shrugged, seemingly unaffected by Artemis's bossy tone. "You ready to dance, Mari?"

Marinette froze, searching for the words. "Uh, sure."

Marinette was prepared to dance along to a pop song. Marinette was prepared to pretend that it didn't pain her to pretend. What Marinette wasn't prepared for was the slow song that came on - a song that could only be danced to with a slow dance.

"I guess we'll have to slow dance," said Wally with a shrug. His tone was light, but there was an edge behind it. Marinette assumed that he felt uncomfortable dancing with a girl he considered just a friend.

"I guess so."

Marinette tried not to be stiff in his arms. She was acutely aware that this moment would have been perfect if it were real.

"You can relax, you know," Wally said as if his words were a joke, but his voice was flat.

"Sorry." Marinette forced the stiffness out of her joints, swaying in his arms.

Wally sighed. "I know this isn't ideal, but at least it's over after tonight."

"Yeah." Marinette couldn't keep the frown off of her face. Though it would be nice to stop pretending, Marinette was disappointed to know that she would never dance with Wally again.

Wally grimaced. "It's one more night. You don't have to look so miserable. I'm not that bad to spend time around, am I?"

Marinette's eyes widened. Wally had interpreted her disappointment over their relationship being over as something else entirely. "No. I-"

"Whatever," sighed Wally, pushing her away as the song winded down. He walked off the dance floor and toward the table, leaving Marinette behind.

"It's not what you think," protested Marinette, rushing after him to explain. "I'm upset that we only have one more night."

Wally looked shocked. "What do you mean?"

"I like spending time with you. I like you, Wally. It's so hard to pretend to date you when that's all I really want."

"Why did you never tell me?" asked Wally.

"Because I know you don't feel the same way about me. If I can't have you as my boyfriend, I at least wanted to have you as my friend."

"You think I don't feel the same way about you? Dick and Roy make fun of me for my crush on you all the time, how have you never noticed?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to be shocked. "Wait, you're telling me that you have a crush on me too?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Wally. "I thought you already knew about my crush and were ignoring it. I never brought it up because I didn't want to make things uncomfortable between us."

Marinette shook her head in exasperation. "This whole time we were both keeping our feelings a secret and it was making us miserable, and it was all for nothing."

Wally groaned. "We're so stupid, aren't we?"

"Yep," chimed in Artemis, who had snuck up behind them. "But we don't have time to unpack that. Cars have started parking out front. I think the meeting will be starting soon. I'm going out to document their license plates and plant trackers on the cars. I need you two in position to assist Dick if he needs it."

"Got it." Marinette grabbed Wally by the hand and started leading him to the door. It took them no time at all to get to the Headmaster's Office, but once they were there they needed a plan. "How are we going to remain inconspicuous?"

"Like this." Wally pulled Marinette into an alcove, giving her direct line of sight of the door to the Headmaster's Office. "If anyone catches us, the worst we'll get is detention - which we won't even have to serve, given that we're leaving after tonight."

"Good idea." Marinette stared up into Wally's eyes. "Now that we're alone again..."

The buzz of a text message distracted Marinette from Wally. It was Dick, on the team's encrypted line.

Dick: The meeting is wrapping up. Marinette and Wally, you two need to get away from the Headmaster's Office as soon as possible. I recorded enough evidence to convict, so we don't need to stay any longer. Everyone head back to the dorms and get changed. We leave in 20 minutes.

Marinette: See you in 20.

"I guess it's time to go." Wally looked disappointed, even though their mission had been a complete success.

"Don't worry, Wally. I have a sneaking suspicion that this won't be the last night of us dating." Marinette pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then twisted out from behind him. "See you in twenty!"

Marinette turning around just before she turned the corner to get one last look at Wally. His face was lit up with a goofy smile, and Marinette couldn't help but laugh. More than one mission was a success that night.

@maribatmarch-2k21