#like girl if he decided hanging out with a wasp lady is better that's on him. he can endure a little poison.

[lactoseintolerentswag]

yeah reading noir comics past ewoaf. not worth it

Your noir!mj is everything. She deserved so much more than Just love interest laser beam. Like there's so much she could add to the story and I love her

I know!!! It’s insane to just reduce her to only a love interest when she’s such a compelling character. Idk why fun characters who can have agency and will to shape the world and narrative are just never given the chance. It makes for a better story??? But whatever. I have no clue what happens behind the scenes of comic stuff so I don’t even know who to point a finger at LMAO

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #246: GATHERINGS

August, 1984

Family feud! Guest-starring SERSI of the Eternals!

She comes!

A portent of times to come! I hear a faint rumbling of leather jackets from distant years...

Also, hey! She-Hulk! I missed you!

The Avengers have been through the Secret Wars and participated in the Wraith War! What’s next for our band of heroes?

Maybe parties? The cover makes it look like a party is going on before some Kirby-looking guys crashed.

But also? Vision’s vague scheming to raise the Avengers’ profile continues as he and Scarlet Witch take a trip to visit President Reagan and First Lady Reagan at the White House.

Weird thing is that we don’t get an unobscructed view of Reagan’s face. He’s either back to the ‘camera’ or cropped on the panel border. Weird, since this wasn’t a problem last time he appeared in this book. Y’know, the time some plant people tried to hold him for ransom? That time?

President Didn’t-Pay-for-the-Likeness-Rights thanks Vision for taking time to personally brief him on all the biz the Avengers have been up to.

President Reagan: “I wish we could talk like this more often! The National Security Council keeps me posted on your missions, but there’s nothing like getting the news firsthand.”

Vision: “I quite agree, Mr. President. In fact, I have a few suggestions for making the lines of communication between Avengers Mansion and the White House more... shall we say... direct?”

He suggests they speak in private which Reagan gladly agrees to, shooing Scarlet Witch and Mrs. Reagan out. To Scarlet Witch’s surprise because he sprang the trip on Washington on her and now he’s sprung this on her.

Also, every time Vision meets someone in private and the conversation takes place off-panel, they suddenly come around to his point of view so.... uh...

Well, I’m sure it’s fine.

Meanwhile, we get back to Captain Monica Marvel Rambeau’s subplot. Remember how she worried after getting back from Secret Wars that she had no explanation to give her family for being missing for several days? And was thinking of telling them about her secret superhero thing?

Well, she calls home to New Orleans and her presumably firefighter dad answers. I presume he’s a firefighter because there’s a firefighter hat and coat hanging up prominently in the background. We call that environmental storytelling.

Monica’s mom isn’t home so Monica asks for her parents to call her back when they’re both available.

Monica: “In a way, I’m glad momma wasn’t home. That gives me more time to figure out how I’m going to tell them that their ‘little girl’ is leading a double life... as an Avenger called Captain Marvel!”

... Geez, her costume looks so weird when there’s nobody in it.

Monica ponders just bringing it up casually by RECAPPING HER ENTIRE BACKSTORY! Which, in fairness, would be an appropriate way to handle it. But she decides that just going ‘yeah I was helping old family friend Professor LeClare investigate a secret lab on an oil platform, punched a machine, got powers, and then joined the Avengers’ would sound crazy and that there must be a better way to tell them.

I say, take it slow and ramp up. Start from ‘I have superpowers’, do a little pew pew flashlight beam and let their questions guide your explanation.

Meanwhile again but elsewhere, Wasp van Dyne is just chilling at Avengers Mansion, bumming herself out rereading the World According to Garp, and receiving a phone call from West Avengers Chairman Hawkeye.

He tells her that he found a great HQ for the new West Coast Avengers, some old silent film star’s home, and he’s overseeing renovations now.

This ongoing Hawkeye real estate subplot is to get you excited for the upcoming West Coast Avengers series. Are you?

I dread it.

Anyway, Starfox comes in after the phone call and recognizes that Janet is in a Mood. A very bored mood. A post-chairperson funk.

Wasp: “It’s just that Wanda and the Vision are in Washington... Hawkeye and his new wife are setting up a new team in California... Cap and Thor are away on missions of their own... Everybody’s doing something! Everybody but me! It’s funny, after all we’ve been through lately, especially with that horrible Magneto, you’d think I’d appreciate a little leisure time. But instead, I’m bored out of my mind!”

Magneto kissing her really teed her off if that’s what she’s focusing on from the whole Secret Wars thing and not having died.

Starfox has just the answer for Wasp’s post-Magneto-kissing blues though.

PARTY.

He was on his way to a great party and Wasp can be his plus one!

Meanwhile, on the Washington to New York plane, Vision and Scarlet Witch.

She’s confused why they didn’t just take the Quinjets that they have instead of flying on a commercial airline but Vision says that getting out among the people is just good public relations.

I mean, he’s not wrong. But also flying in public, in your costumes, seems like it runs the risk of aggroing a supervillain attack.

It doesn’t happen but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it did.

The flight attendant asks Vision if he drinks before course correcting into asking him if he wants a drink.

I don’t know what’s more amazing here. Wanda going ‘he never has coffee at home’ like that coffee ad that Airplane spoofed.

Or Vision patting himself on the back for connecting to the common man with his drink order.

Simply superb.

Back at the casa Rambeau, Maria Rambeau returns and then returns Monica’s call. Monica says she’s going to come over for dinner and then a panel later, she’s knocking on the door.

Her parents are confused because it’s a twenty-minute drive between Monica’s house and theirs but that’s just part of what Monica wants to explain to them.

I see Monica decided to just jump into her explanation.

Back in New York, Janet frets over whether she’s dressed right for the party but Starfox just dismisses that as one of Earth’s weird mores. Why, he only wears the one outfit and that’s just gonna have to be good enough.

They arrive at the party and it seems to be a hobnobbin’ sort of event, with people discussing court settlements and acting. Also, She-Hulk is there. Hi, She-Hulk!

Glad Stern found another excuse to include you after Byrne stole you away to the land of the Fantastic.

She-Hulk says she met the host at an exotic bakery shop just last week and that’s how she scored the invite.

I wonder what made these baked goods so exotic. And I’m wondering if it wasn’t actually erotic. Do I think that She-Hulk would purchase a butt cake? Yes, yes I do.

She asks Starfox how he knows the host and, well, he doesn’t. He heard about the party and decided to invite himself (and Wasp) along. I.e. crash.

But the host...

ITS SHE!

SERSI!

SHE COMES!

But the host, Sylvia Sersi, isn’t too bothered by the pair of party-crashing Avengers and has She-Hulk introduce them.

Starfox is enchanted to meet Sersi and she likewise but they’d best not be too enchanted to meet each other because I’m pretty sure they’re not too distant relations.

Mentor founded the Titan colony of the Eternals and the Eternals have all been around a while so there’s not that many branches between Starfox and Sersi, I don’t think.

Anyyyyyway.

A drunk man pauses before a mirror to tidy up his tie and gets a startle when a Watcher-looking guy that isn’t the Watcher because he has hair appears in the mirror instead of his own face.

When Sersi comes over to investigate she tells him he must have imagined it and sends the guy away for some air but then interrogates the mirror face man and calls him Domo.

Domo, in the mirror: “We need you here in Olympia! Everyone is needed for the final decision!”

Sersi: “I told you before, I don’t care! Go ahead and make your big decision! It won’t affect me, because I intend to go right on doing as I please!”

Then she turns the mirror into a picture of penguins??

Her powers are great indeed.

Although her investment in the community is less so.

Whatever this mysterious decision everyone is voting on, it is clearly less important than this rockin’ party. This party has a She-Hulk!

Back over at the Rambeaus, Monica decides to just rip off the band-aid and tell her parents that she’s Captain Marvel. They find it hard to believe so she just pulls out her costume and lightspeeds into it.

Harder to hold doubts when your daughter glows with an awesome power.

Frank Rambeau: “It’s true... my little girl’s an Avenger. Hey, that means... you’ve met Captain America!”

Frank jumping right to the important points.

Thankfully, Monica’s parents are very supportive. And actually like the Avengers. You have cool parents, Monica.

Frank Rambeau: “Monica, I don’t know what to say! The Avengers are heroes... like Cap and the Black Panther and Thor... They’re like a legend! To think that you’re one of them -- !”

Maria Rambeau: “We’re very, very proud of you, dear... Prouder than we ever thought possible!”

Very cool parents.

Meanwhile, back at the party, mirror spooked guy (apparently Harry) goes out for air like Sersi suggested and then sees something else which spooks him even harder!

He runs from the party babbling about seeing things or not seeing things and not sticking around to sort out which.

Then a bunch of goons crash the party by flying through the terrace doors.

Look at these total goons.

Starfox steps forward and tries to defuse the situation both by words

Starfox: “Easy, my friends! I’m sure you don’t want to hurt anyone!”

And by shooting pleasure beams from his mind.

Predictably, his pleasure beam, besides being creepy, can’t be allowed to be too effective.

If it actually worked we wouldn’t have conflict and plot.

So like the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #300, these dudes called Delphans just slap Starfox out of the way.

Then superhero number two steps up.

One of the Delphans say that they need to get “that witch” before she can cause them any grief and She-Hulk was in proximity and assumes they meant her and takes exception to that.

She-Hulk: “‘Witch’, huh? You wouldn’t mean me, would you? That’s a bad choice of words, but you’re right about one thing... I can give plenty of grief!”

The Delphan just immediately hits her with an energy pole which just pisses off She-Hulk and ruins her party dress. Thankfully she had the unstable molecules FF costume on underneath.

She dresses in layers.

Delphan: “You’re still standing? But that photon-burst would have stunned the mighty Karkas!”

She-Hulk: “You stupid jerk! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find nice things in my size?!”

She-Hulk and Starfox start beating on the Delphans but its Sersi’s party and she can shoot eye beams if she wants to, eye beams if she wants to.

Sersi: “I should have known Domo would send you Delphans after me! Well, it won’t work! You’re not taking me away without a fight!”

Not just eyebeams but apparently a piggifying beam!

A singing piggifying beam!

Oh, sure, the Delphan says that its a transmutive ability but I know whats what.

Her name is Sersi, which is like Cerci, and she can shoot pig beams at people, especially Greek soldiers.

Unfortunately, like other witches before her, she needs some wrist range of movement to do her business and grabbing her by the arms will just nullify her.

Sigh.

If only he didn’t have armored outpanties, she could kick him in the business.

But fortunately, Wasp “can blow up a small house” van Dyne won’t be stopped by armored outerwear and shoots the Delphan grabbing Sersi right in the butt.

That is, Wasp shoots him in the butt, not that he’s grabbing Sersi in the butt.

Meanwhile, over in the Vision and Scarlet Witch subplot, their plane lands at LaGuardia and they’re instantly accosted by journalists who wants Vision’s take on rumors that the president is going to make chairmanship of the Avengers a cabinet-level post.

Vision coyly tells them that he and the president discussed many things but he’s not at liberty to confirm anything.

Hmm.

Then Vision excuses himself, saying that he and Wanda have to get back to Avengers Mansion.

Scarlet Witch: “We certainly do!” And when we get there, we are going to have a little talk!

Seems Wanda is annoyed at all this being left out of the loop.

Back at the A-plot, where A stands for Avengers go to a party and then get into a fight, Sersi gets fed up with these shenanigans and threatens to turn the Delphans into worms but she gets grabbed by the wrists again, this time by power-dampening chonky handcuffs, and dragged away by the Delphans to their spaceship that was hovering right outside the party.

Starfox and Wasp fly out in pursuit, with non-flying She-Hulk complaining about being left behind.

Wasp: “After them, Starfox! We mustn’t let them get away!”

Starfox: “I quite agree! Hostesses such as Ms. Sersi are all too rare!”

Wasp: “No kidding! Once we rescue her, I want to find out how she does that trick with her eyes!”

... Really.

The eyes specifically? Not the singing pig beam?

Huh. To each their own.

The ship takes off shortly after Wasp and Starfox stow aboard and the two heroes resume beating Delphan ass to try to save Sersi.

Lead Delphan: “We have the advantage in number, but they’re still making us look like idiots! We can’t let them beat us now! Have to initiate transport... while there’s still a chance!”

The ship then disappears with a FWOF!

And reappears above the mountains of Northern Greece.

Apparently, Eternal transportation is like the kind in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy because Starfox and Wasp are discombobulated and nauseated by the transport.

The Lead Delphan seizes the opportunity while the bull is hot and pulls the lever to make the ship just completely disassemble.

The Delphans take advantage of the heroes startlement to beat the shit out of Starfox in midair.

Clever. But rude.

Sometime later, Starfox comes to in Olympia to discover that he and Wasp are completely surrounded and in the shit.

Domo: “Citizens of Olympia!! At last, we all stand together... reunited with our Polar and Pacific cousins! Our destiny beckons! But before the ritual may begin, we must first deal with these two... who have intruded into the affairs of the Eternals!”

Hey, dick! They don’t come to a party you’re crashing and slap the host!

But I guess we’re going to meet all the Eternals next time.

What a fun coincidence that I’m hitting this point of the story when the Eternals movie is just a few months away.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because one day I’ll read comics about Sersi wearing a leather jacket. Like and reblog for the same reason or for different reasons.

[imthepunchlord]

It always bothered me that in Origins, HawkMoth simply decided to attack Paris with a random akuma and that is how he got the Miraculous to look for, especially if you consider that HawkMoth did not know anything about Fu, much less that he was in Paris. How would you have fixed that? What would you make HawkMoth's "strategy" to attract the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir?

I saw that you sent this to @miraculouscontent as well and since she already gave you an answer, I’m going to talk about something else, particularly an agreement of issues I have with Origins. Not so much as a way to correct it, but just to call out things that don’t work; and the ep was written by Thomas so I am not surprised that looking back at Origins, you see how much of a mess it is. 

A good origins story should set up your characters and have the least amount of contradictions to your story as a whole. Actually, there shouldn’t be any contradictions. But Thomas isn’t paying attention to his whole show so there are a lot of contradictions and things that just don’t work. 

Like details that don’t match up and/or don’t work in the grand scheme of things.

Adrien thinking Chloe could be LB in Lady Wifi but Origins shows he sees LB save Chloe. 

Alya deeming Chloe to be evil and is up to stand up to her; only, we don’t see Alya doing that again. At most, we had her recording Chloe in Darkblade but that’s it. Despair Bear has her encouraging Marinette, who she knows Chloe targets, to give Chloe a chance and its just Marinette being stubborn about the past. 

And speaking of which, you have Origins revealing that Chloe bullied Marinette for 4 years. Before Origins, Chloe and Marinette were thought to be rivals, making them more equals in their opposition, though Chloe can take things to a petty and childish extreme. But Origins revealing that Chloe was Marinette’s long time bully didn’t work in the show’s favor. 

- That tipped the power in Chloe’s favor for their history, making Marinette a victim of bullying. Its good that she finds the courage to stand up to Chloe, but for her being someone Marinette dreaded and feared; its too drastic a step up to be covered in just a two parter ep. There should’ve been at least one more ep to really cover Marinette finding it easier to go toe to toe with Chloe on her own. 

- This also dismisses a lot of the hurt Chloe has caused Marinette when you have her friends get on Marinette for not wanting to give Chloe a chance. They all know Chloe has bullied Marinette, has made her life horrrible, and still does, still loves to pick and lock onto Marinette; yet its Marinette who needs to be willing to change and give Chloe a chance. No. This is not how it works. Its not up to a victim to make up for what their bully has done and help them change and give them a chance. Its not a good message for victims of bullying, and it makes Marinette’s friends really horrible to pin this on her and push her to change. 

- Then there’s the issue of Marinette giving Chloe a miraculous. Now, if you go back to that old idea that Chloe and Marinette were rivals and not bully and victim; it can make her giving a miraculous to Chloe more believable, and it wouldn’t have made her friends’ pressure so terrible (so long as there was equal pressure for Chloe to improve and give Marinette a chance). Marinette choosing her rival Chloe works a little better, this removes a lot of the hurt and wrong Chloe caused Marinette. But her giving her long time bully a miraculous that has changed and has no interest to change? Yeah this makes no sense. Like, Adrien picking Chloe, ok, I can see that. But this whole thing, its a mess and the reveal that Chloe was Marinette’s bully instead of simply being a rival, it didn’t work in the show’s favor. 

Then there’s a whole mess with Adrien. 

- The matter with Fu. 

Realistically and logically, why does Fu think Adrien was a good pick? Because, honestly, Adrien is a bad idea for a hero; not because of his levity in this, Fu wouldn’t know that, but Fu would know that Adrien is famous. He lives in Paris, he gets to see Adrien’s face is all over Paris. Adrien is well known. He has attention. And Fu’s big thing is secrecy. Adrien’s life isn’t a secret. Even if he has adults to handle the publicity for him, Adrien still has a lot of attention on him. Why would Fu think its a good idea to give this icon a miraculous, and one of the two most powerful? 

And why is Adrien’s test so much simpler and easier in comparison to Marinette’s, which endangers her life. There’s also the factor that Adrien’s test is set up for him to pass with flying colors. If Fu did this in a crowd, based on Adrien’s character and him not stepping in to stop Chloe or Lila, Adrien would’ve let someone else help Fu up realistically. 

And to me personally, Adrien’s test is downplayed when Adrien doesn’t have as much of a loss. He goes to school the very next day to try again. That really downplays Adrien missing his chance to go to school like he wants. He just tries again tomorrow. Its not really much of a loss. 

Honestly, his test was weak and his reasoning for being picked makes no sense. And with Fu’s reluctance in the future to reveal himself to Adrien, it might’ve been better that Adrien wasn’t chosen by Fu and got the ring in a different way and Marinette was the only one Fu picked. 

Him and Marinette being friends. 

- Origins ends with Adrien deeming them friends! Only the rest of the season contradicts this with them being a lack of friends. This whole show in general cause if you really look at it, Adrien doesn’t go out of his way to hang out with Marinette. If he does, its usually an obligation or simply because there will be others there to hang out with. Its not Marinette alone that he wants to spend time with, which doesn’t really make them real friends. 

Going to her house in Gamer, that’s an obligation, they’re both going in for the tournament. 

Him going to her birthday party, that’s a mix of a social obligation and a chance to be with other friends not Marinette alone.

Kung Food, more of an obligation, Alya asked because Marinette needed help and Adrien was up to help; though its help Marinette didn’t initially ask for. 

Him offering to be her model in Queen Wasp, friendly obligation because he is a working model and his father would want Marinette tied to his company, he’s obligated to model her work when he has the chance to. Its good for their business. 

- There are only two instances that Adrien approaches Marinette on his own. One works in him trying to become better friends, the other… Mr Pigeon was a nice moment of Adrien trying to befriend Marinette. 

And then we have Frozer, which really was only done at the expense of her getting hurt, because he’s asking Marinette for help on a date with Kagami. Marinette who isn’t dating anyone, who would end up the awkward third wheel till she asked Luka to come along, who has feelings Adrien is unaware of and the writers only did this so she can be hurt and confused and this whole thing didn’t need to happen; Adrien could’ve asked Nino, who is dating Alya, and it could be a callback to Animan with Adrien trying to help Nino. 

Anyway, Origins wanted to end setting up that Marinette and Adrien are friends but they’re not. Not really. 

Marinette falling for Adrien. 

Like, ok, Adrien falling for LB I can kinda see. Kagami confirms he’s drawn to those with a strong spirit and have an inner fire that comes out to shine. He got to see LB having an inner fire, though him falling for her was kinda tossed out there, but by set up, you get it. 

Marinette falling for Adrien though… it doesn’t work as well. He explained and sorted out the misunderstanding and offered her an umbrella. And that’s it. And um… well, you can say she fell for him being genuine and honest, only, the show contradicts that by revealing he’s actually not, he’s dishonest (Copycat) and not really genuine, like, how does she believe he’s interested in her when she sees him easily flirting with other girls showing interest elsewhere (LB, Marinette, Rena); is it because he’s gentle, only he’s not, the show has him being extremely pushy, he’ll back off for a time but comes back to push for her affections later. 

Origins sets up that Adrien gets to see who Marinette is, sees her at her lowest and see her rise to who she really is. 

But it doesn’t extend this to Marinette. She has an idea of who Adrien is, but its not who he really is, and the show won’t let her see who he is. She tries countless times in this show to make a connection, to get to know him better, to get closer and not only is the universe against her, much of the time it makes her feel bad or be embarrassed for her efforts. 

And when you have Origins setting up that being the reason she fell for him, its an unfair set up. She has this idea of what he’s like based on this moment, only that isn’t who he truly is, she’s not allowed to have a chance to get to know him, and is made to feel horrible and humiliated for her efforts. And a few times she’s willing to move on but she’s given a hard time for that too! For what Origins set up its not worth what she goes through, that’s not even who the real Adrien is. She’s only allowed to see Adrien through rose colored glasses, based all of this from a sweet moment they had, but its not a strong moment for her to fall for him, especially in the grand scheme of things, of what she deals with and her never allowed to get to know the real him. 

And last, yeah, the convenience of everything. 

Its convenient that Fu was in Paris when Gabriel decided to act. Its convenient that he released the very two that Gabriel wants, only, now the show really contradicts this with the reveal of the Zodiac, and Plagg saving the day in Style Queen. 

With kwamis able to use their power outside the miraculous, do the earrings really need to be active? Can’t Fu release other heroes and have Tikki on stand by, ready to cleanse the butterfly and use ML to restore everything? Its hard to picture ML going out of control, like, LC I can see spamming items and filling the streets with objects, but ML which restores everything? Does a Ladybug really need to be active? Couldn’t it just be Tikki? 

Also, ok, we’ll say an actual Ladybug is needed, why is Cat being released? Cat has no role to play in stopping HM, now, if Cat had a power to destroy the item so LB can cleanse, ok, that makes sense but its not set up that way. Cat at this point is just a glorified bodyguard and its role isn’t restricted to just Cat. With the reveal of Fu have 17 other miraculouses, Fu didn’t need to release Cat and that’s one of two miraculouses that Gabriel wants safely tucked away. 

Fox should be good against Butterfly, though illusions are kinda limiting but you can trick akumas. 

Bee would be a good aggressor to counter LB, could immobilize most akumas. 

Turtle would be good for defense, watch LB’s back and should be able to withstand against most akumas. 

Dragon would be another good offensive miraculous. 

Snake would be another good precautions one, able to reset time if things don’t go well. 

Horse would be good covering long distances, getting them away from danger, getting other people away from danger, getting them to the akuma quickly. 

Monkey would be really good, disrupting akuma powers and giving them a leg up in the fight. 

Also, now that we can see that they can use two miraculouses ok, why doesn’t Fu send out two? At least to Marinette who has the ladybug, giving her a leg up since she is the more essential part in keeping Paris safe. Any miraculouses I listed above would have been really good to help her win and stay ahead of HM a little. Bee, Dragon, and Monkey would’ve been good to give her some offense to work off LB being more passive. Snake, Horse, and Fox would be good giving her some fluidity and really play off how much of a planner she is. And Turtle could’ve given her some really good defense to make up for the lack of defense she has as LB.

Fu’s choices in Origins makes no sense and its more to be convenient for Gabriel than realistic. 

Origins is a mess and it doesn’t work in the show’s favor with all its contradictions. 

[elsb-hrngtons]

We can help each other, You and me- Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Links to Ao3 in notes

Well isn't this a pleasant surprise, Steve fucking Harrington caught literally with his hand down his pants. Billy is delighted if not a little awkward, the situation isn’t exactly ideal, but it's a vast improvement from the last time he and Tommy ran into Steve.

How he managed to sneak in without either of them hearing him he’s not sure, he guesses he was too caught up with Tommy’s dick in his ass to really pay attention to his surroundings, which is very bad form especially if you’re fucking at your work place. Billy would be pissed, and very worried about being caught in an incredibly compromising position, with another guy no less, if it were not glaringly obvious that Steve the dirty little pervert, had just got himself off to the very same compromising position.

In fact this whole thing actually presents them with a pretty sweet opportunity, and if handled well all three boys could be a winner in this. Or it could all go wrong again and Billy and Tommy will be left licking their wounds.

Harrington looks like he’s ten seconds from throwing up, and honestly Billy can sympathise, getting caught jerking off has to be embarrassing, and well he and Tommy are no better, he did just have Tommy’s railing him not 5 minutes ago. If he didn’t know any better he’d say Steve has a really severe case of sunburn with how hard he’s blushing, avoiding their gaze sat uncomfortable with cum drying on his hand and no doubt in his shorts, but when Billy chances a look at Tommy, the poor boy’s not faring much better, freckled splattered skin, complemented by a rather deep shade of pink, he’s staring down at Harrington, mouth agape as if he can’t quite believe what he’s witnessed, and to be fair Billy can’t either, but Billy is the only one in the scenario who appears to be functioning like a human being, so to break the tension he decides to open his big mouth.

“Ya know Harrington I’m glad you showed up” he smirks trying for cool, collected, aloof. Steve still closely resembles a tomato and had been avoiding making eye contact up until now looks shocked, visibly flinching, probably preparing himself for an onslaught of insults, maybe even a beating, he’s biting his lip with an adorable little crease between his brows and then shifts his gaze back onto his lap, incapable of holding their stares for very long. “Freckles here was just talking about a little get together he’s having at his place tonight” Billy slaps Tommy on the back as he moves closer to Steve, taking up the seat next to him and nudging Steve in his side with his elbow. “Weren’t you Tommy?”

Tommy looks as if his brain is still malfunctioning, on a 10 second delay or some shit, Billy swears he can actually see the cogs turning in his mind as he clues into what Billy is doing and his trademark boyish grin splits his face.

“Oh yeah. You know nothing major, just a few beers, maybe some weed. You should come!” Tommy slides in on the other side of Steve, who once again looks around at the two, complete surprise etching his pretty features, he still hasn’t said two words and Billy’s not convinced he’s not lost all ability to talk at this point, that the shame hasn’t rendered his vocal cords permanently useless.

“Tell ya what.” Billy states leaning in closer, not missing how Steve tenses ever so slightly at this intrusion. “I’ve invited Heather, how about you invite your lady friend, the one who’s always hanging around you, and we make a night of it” Billy’s all charm now, laying it on as thick as he possibly can, maybe it's for Steve’s benefit, maybe it's for his own to save face or something, he doesn’t care, all he cares about is Steve’s response, if Steve ever does respond.

Steve swallows hard, throat bobbing jaggedly as he tries to regain composure and the ability to speak.

“Err yeah.. Sounds… sounds good.” Steve’s voice is harsh, but at least his blush is receding slightly, he appears to be choking down on his embarrassment.

“Great!” Billy claps his hands together as he jumps up. “We’ll see you at nine Pretty Boy” and with that Billy is dragging Tommy back out of the locker room, and back out into the heat of the Indianna summer.

###

Fucking great. Not only was Steve a monumental pervert, he was caught being a monumental pervert. It's like life's one big joke and he’s the punchline.

He’s mortified and all he wants to do is drown himself in the pool. But if he did that there would be no ‘party’ at Tommy’s, no chance to right his wrongs of the last time he attempted to test the waters with Billy and Tommy, and sure he feels right at this moment like he could die of embarrassment, the other boys appeared to take it in their stride and brush off Steve’s indiscretions like they were nothing. He’s not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Steve’s in a daze, in shock as he attempts to clean himself up best he can, but even standing under the spray of the shower for 15 minutes won’t wash away the dried spunk in his trunks, the very tangible evidence of his shame and apparently newly discovered hobby of voyeurism. He loosely wraps a towel around his waist to hide the obvious cum stains and steels himself in the mirror before making his way out into the pool area.

The brightness of the day is almost blinding and Steve has to give himself a moment for his vision to adjust from the darkness of the locker room before he can focus on where he and Robin had set up base. No surprises, she isn’t where he left her, he scans the general area, quickly averting his gaze from where Billy sits atop his makeshift throne and Tommy just beside him, he’s still recovering from the severe dent in his pride, he glances over the pool and still can’t see her. Then as he’s about to give up his search to go sit back on the lounger and wait for Robin to appear from wherever she disappeared to, he spots her a few feet away, blue slushie in hand talking animatedly to Heather Holloway of all people.

He knows he should probably hang back, give Robin at least a fighting chance at talking to the literal girl of her dreams, but Steve’s two seconds away from an emotional breakdown of his own making and while he’s come on in leaps and bounds in the last couple of years, he isn’t entirely selfish and right now he really needs to get out of here, he needs Robin to talk him through his impending anxiety attack, and maybe to stick his head between his knees and to breath in and out of a brown paper bag.

He strides over as smoothly as he can holding on tightly to the towel around his waist as if it's some kind of life line, and in a sense it is, if anyone were to see the state of his shorts he’ll probably die. Robin spots him and she ushers him over.

“Oh there you are! Where the hell have you been!?” she both asks and exclaims as if she’s accusing him of something, chastising him like a mother.

“I’ll tell you later,” he mutters.

“Oh this is Heather by the way!” she says excitedly gesturing towards the female lifeguard, who’s smiling something genuine, even though he can’t see her eyes through her sunglasses, he knows Heather well enough to know she’s a nice girl who’s entirely incapable of being a dick.

“Oh actually, me and Steve already know each other” she says sweetly.

“Hey.” Steve turns to Heather before entirely dismissing her, he knows he’s being rude, being a bad friend, but he’s also desperate and he’s hoping he can convey the urgency enough in his voice without coming across as too much like an asshole. “Robin. We have to go.”

“What!? Why? We just got here Steve” Robin sputters, she sounds exasperated and to be fair she’s justified, he realises, Steve’s being completely unreasonable out of context.

“I’ll explain later. We have to go.” he states, grabbing Robin by the elbow, jerking her away from Heather and dragging her towards the sun loungers where their things have been left.

“Okay, okay” Robin snatches her arm back, looking over her shoulder “See you around Heather” she calls out.

“Sure! Look forward to it” Heather calls back, giving a little wave.

Robin looks disappointed yet hopeful as they reach the loungers, Steve gathers up his stuff and awkwardly waits while Robin shoves her towel in her bag, he decides to throw her a bone.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see her tonight.” she shoots up to stare at him, one eyebrow raised a picture of scepticism.

“Wait. What?” she asks.

“You’ll see her tonight, we’re going to a party” he explains shuffling from foot to foot, getting increasingly antsy.

“A party?” she asks, they’ve finally started moving towards the entrance, Steve takes one quick look around the pool as they go through the turn-style in single file.

“That's what i said.”  he deadpans.

“Who’s party?”

“Tommy’s”

Realisation dawns on Robin’s face as she rounds towards the passenger side of Steve’s car.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Steve agrees, unlocking the car and shoving their things in the back seat. “Now c’mon we’ve got a party to get ready for”

###

Steve’s pretty sure he’s gonna throw up, why he originally thought that going to Tommy’s was a good idea was beyond him, especially considering the events that lead to the invitation. He was excited, sure, but his gut is trying its best to qualify for the Olympics with all the gymnastics it's currently doing. It is far worse than the gentle and oddly pleasant sensation of butterflies, resembling closer to angry wasps just buzzing away down in his gut.

He and Robin are walking to Tommy’s from his, because honestly it's not that far, and he fully intends to take advantage of the alcohol that will most likely be on offer, although he swears to himself he won’t let himself get into a state like last time, much to Robin’s scepticism and to be fair even he was pretty sceptical himself.

He thinks the best thing to do right now though is to distract himself from his own existential crisis, and perhaps for the first time today be the good friend he knows he is and discuss Robin’s own crush on Heather.

“So i’m pretty sure i never apologised” he leads with, because honestly he does feel kinda shitty about interrupting the two girls.

“For what?” she asks.

“For interrupting your little flirt fest with Heather” he says wagging his eyebrows suggestively and softly nudging Robin in the side.

“Flirt Fest!? When?” she’s practically choking out eyes wide like a bug

“Earlier at the pool.” Steve explains “don’t act all coy with me, i saw what was going on”

“There was no flirting, we were just.. I don’t know.. Talking” Robin shrugs, she looks bashful, it's cute.

“Looked a helluva lot more friendly than ‘just talking’” he emphasises his point by making air quotations with his hands, it's lame but it does the trick.

“ and what would you know? Huh?” She stops walking mid sentence to stare up at him “ you” she pokes him in the chest to emphasise her point “were there all of 1 minute, before you dragged me away, because you jizzed your pants!” she’s smirking clearly amused at Steve’s anguish.

“ROBIN!” he squeaks, eyes bugging out of his head in a poor reflection of Robin’s earlier reaction.

“Steeve” she sing-songs all high pitched and nasally, mocking him. She turns back towards the direction they were walking in and leaves Steve behind to catch up.

Steve finally with the program strides back up alongside Robin  in less than 3 steps, he’s pouting but not willing to drop the Heather thing, especially not now Robin’s been acting all defensive about it.

“Whatever. I still think she likes you.” he says

“Duh. I’m delightful” Robin says obviously sarcastic and flourished with an exaggerated eye roll.

“I’m being serious”

“Oh I know, you’re just wrong”

“I know i’m right” he teases

“you don’t know shit Harrington. And anyway i’d prefer not to take dating advice from a guy who literally got caught jacking off, by the guys he likes.” she snaps at him, but smiles triumphantly when Steve gapes back a little dumbfounded.

“Okay…” Steve huffs “now you’re just being rude.”

###

Tommy’s buzzing with so much pent up excitement he’s practically vibrating  as he whips around his basement trying to make it as presentable as possible for their impending guests, he doesn’t want to make it look like he’s making too much of an effort, still wants to keep an air of cool collectedness about him, wants to remain nonchalant, but he can’t help the excited little squeele he lets out when the doorbell rings.

“Christ will you calm down” Billy chastises him from where he’s sat, legs spread wide across the couch, nursing a beer and giving of his usual ‘ i don’t give a fuck vibe’

“Sorry” Tommy says over his shoulder sheepishly as he makes his way up the stairs, out of the basement and towards the front door. Thank god his parents aren’t home, away with his little brother visiting some family in Chicago, or this little get-together might not have been possible. Not that they would care if he had friends round, or that they were drinking , it's just easier when you have free rein and don’t have to be mindful of the other people living in your house.

He gets to the front door and all that excited energy turns slightly nervous as he tries to tamp down the butterflies in his stomach and not make a fool of himself when he answers the door. He can’t help but be a little disappointed when it’s Heather and not Steve, but he guesses with her already here it might make things a little less awkward and a little more easy when Steve and Robin do eventually turn up, if he turns up.

“Hey” Heather smiles warmly, all sugary sweetness and girl next door, she’s holding out a bottle of something , and Tommy’s instantly reminded of Steve and his past insistence that ‘it’s rude to turn up somewhere, without something for the host’, he figures it must be some rich people bullshit, considering Heather and Steve were both practically raised in a country club.

“Hey Heather! Thanks for coming” He accepts the bottle and holy shit on closer inspection it's the good stuff, some expensive brand of whisky that Tommy would only bother giving the time of day if it was either gifted or stolen, because there ain't no point in spending stupid amounts on money on booze when the cheap stuff gets you just as drunk, for a fraction of the price.

He leads Heather down to the basement, where Billy has shifted slightly on the couch to make room for other guests, Billy’s also taken the honours of selecting a tape from Tommy’s collection and playing it full volume, no doubt grumbling to himself about the poor taste in music. He smirks up at Heather and gives a little salute before knocking back the rest of his beer.

There’s a slightly awkward atmosphere at first, heather just standing there probably waiting to be asked to sit, like the good polite girl she is, Billy’s not saying anything, which is a little unusually, but he is distracted by rolling a joint and well Tommy doesn’t often play host, and when he does he’s at least already half cut, and has been chatting shit all night anyway, so the awkwardness never happens. Now though, they’re all relatively sober and Tommy doesn't know Heather that well to just start shooting the shit at her, he’s kinda relying on Billy to be a little more social here.

Eventually Heather sits next To Billy who’s finished rolling the joint and is sparking it as he scoots further up the couch to make room, Heather offers him a small smile.

“I thought you said Steve and Robin were coming?” She asks

“They are.” Billy replies around a mouthful of smoke, passing the joint onto Heather.

“Oh cool, coz otherwise this is a little bit of a sausage fest” she quips, inhaling and relaxing back into the couch.

“Nothing wrong with a bit of sausage Heather” Billy laughs and she laughs too

“No I know, just would be nice to have some female company” she leans across the coffee table and passes the joint to Tommy who’s still stood up like an idiot shifting from foot to foot, still a ball of pent up energy.

Tommy chills out a little as the evening goes on a bit, still anxious that Steve might not turn up, but he’s well distracted by Billy and Heather bitching about work and telling stories of snot nose little kids who quite frankly  deserve to drown alongside their entitled mothers. All three of them are giggling away, comfortable in each other's company when the doorbell rings.

Each one of them looks wide eyed up at the basement door, frozen to the spot. Tommy soon comes to his senses and bolts up, jogging up the stairs and towards the front door, he straightens out his t-shirt and unnecessarily fluffs up his hair a bit and then opens the door, signature cheeky grin firmly in place as he greets Steve and Robin.

“So glad you could join us”

Steve’s got that deer caught in headlights look about him, as if he didn’t expect the door to actually open, his mouth is slightly agape and he swallows thickly, Robin elbows him in the ribs and he extends his hand out, in it another bottle of expensive booze.

“Uh hey.” He says and Tommy accepts the bottle.

“Damn Harrington” he whistles, “knew i could count on you for the good stuff” he holds the bottle close to his chest with one arm, gesturing for them to come in with the other. Steve smiles weekly hands in pockets as he and Robin follow Tommy inside.

“Heh well you know, it's rude to turn up to someone's house without something to offer the host”

“I thought this was meant to be a party Hagan, where is everybody?” Robin cuts in as the make it to the basement door, music heard faintly behind the door and the distinct smell of weed wafting in the air.

“Right this way Buckley” he opens the door and holds it open for the two new guests before following them down the stairs.

###

The evening’s going by quite nicely in Tommy’s opinion, Steve and Robin have settled into the group rather well and the atmosphere in the room is rather pleasant, Robin’s settled herself next to Heather on the couch, while Steve is sat on the arm of the couch next to Robin. Tommy’s on the other side of the room in an armchair that’s seen better days and is in a more sorry state than the couch if that could even be possible. Billy’s next to Heather and they’re all grossly involved in a game of ‘Never Have I Ever’.

Tommy thinks maybe it's a little middle school to be playing it, like days gone by where the height of entertainment was playing spin the bottle or seven minutes in heaven, but he’s enjoying himself so he can’t complain.

“Okay okay I’ve got one” Robin pipes up giggling behind a solo cup. “Never have i ever been punched in the face” all three boys take a drink, indicating that they have in fact all been punched in the face, nervous glances are shared between Billy and Steve atmosphere going just a little tense at the memory of their fight the previous year, but then Steve giggles and the tension is broken.

“Pft that was blatantly a set up Robs.” he grins at her and she rolls her eyes.

“Don’t see you coming up with anything better” she quips back.

“Sure i can!” he argues between laughs “ ohh i got a good one! Never have i ever played a musical instrument” at that Robin and Billy both drink, which triggers a few questioning looks towards Billy.

“You play an instrument?” Robin asks excited

“Used to” Billy shrugs

“What instrument?” Heather pipes in

“Guitar wasn't very good at it though so gave up” he shrugs again , downing the rest of his drink and throwing the cup onto the table. Robin looks as if she’s about to say something when the doorbell rang, they all glance around the room at each other doing a mental headcount, wondering if they were expecting anyone else.

It takes monumental effort but Tommy gets up and jogs up the stair for what feels like the hundredth time this evening, he’s ready to tell whoever is at the door to fuck off when he opens it. He’s struck speechless however when it's Carol who greets him with a nervous smile and glassy eyes.

“Hey Baby, can we talk?” she can obviously hear the voices from the basement “You having a party?” she asks one eyebrow raised and arms crossed, Tommy’s in shock, he wasn’t expecting this, and he’s a little too high for this.

“What do you want Carol?” it comes out a little harsher then he intended, but if it gets him the desired effect of Carol to fuck off so he can return to the basement then so be it. Her expression softens and she uncrosses her arms.

“Please, I just wanna talk Tommy” she pouts a little “I feel real bad about the way we ended things and i just wanna make sure you’re okay” Tommy’s thoughts are still a little sluggish, and if he’s being honest he’s still a little hurt by Carol just dropping him at the beginning of summer, but Tommy still has a soft spot for Carol and she does look pretty miserable, so against his better judgement he decides to humour her and invite her inside.

He takes her to his kitchen and offers her a seat at the breakfast bar. Thye sit there like that in awkward silence for a moment, avoiding eye contact neither one of them daring to speak, it remains like that until ultimately they both work up the courage to speak at the same time

“Would you lik-” Tommy says as carol blurts out

“I’m so sorry”

They both giggle nervously at that

“Sorry you go ahead” Carol speaks first giving room for Tommy to finish his sentence

“Would you like a drink?” he offers, already jumping from the stool and walking towards the fridge “We’ve got beer, wine, some pretty fancy whisky that Heather brought round” He lists off grabbing a beer for himself in the process.

“Heather’s here?” Carol asks “and i’ll just have a beer please” she’s picking at her nails nervously as she tracks Tommy’s movements.

“Uh yeah actually, and some others” he grabs another beer out of the fridge and hands it to Carol, taking a swig of his own.

“So.. you are having a party then?” she asks, acquisition clear in her tone .

“Uh yeah kinda, what did you expect Carol? For me to just be moping around here by myself? Just waiting for you to turn up?” Tommy’s trying really hard not get pissed off, not to get angry, he was having a good time up until now and he really doesn’t want to have his night ruined because of Carol.

“No.” She says rather petulantly.

“Then what?” despite his best effort he’s getting a little heated

“I don’t know Tommy” She throws her arms in the air clearly just as frustrated as he is “ look i’m sorry i shouldn’t have come here” she’s getting off the stool now, making her way to leave “I just wanted to smooth things out with you, apologise for hurting you, maybe see if we could still be friends.”

Tommy grabs her by the elbow and spins her to face him.

“Don’t go” he pleads, for a second she stares him down, narrows her eyes as if she’s trying to figure him out, but then she relaxes and rests her forehead on his chest, a little stuck for what to do, Tommy hugs her closer and pets her back, strokes her hair.

“I just miss you so much Tommy, i miss hanging out with you” she cries into his chest, Tommy’s a little at a loss, emotionally he’s all over the place all he wants to do is comfort Carol, he knows he’ll always love her in some kind of way, but gone are the days where he could ever think about taking her back, even if Billy wasn’t in the equation.

“I know, i miss hanging out with you too” he speaks softly into her hair, rubbing comforting circles on her back trying to calm her down.

“I just don’t wanna lose you, y’know? Like we’ve known each other since we were 4, that doesn’t just go away” she continues her muffled sobs nuzzling into his t-shirt, he inwardly cringes imagining all manor of snot and tears ruining it. He grabs her by the shoulders and holds her at arm distance, bends his knees slightly so he can be at eye level.

“Hey, hey” he says gently “you’re not gonna lose me alright?” he sighs guiding her back to a stool giving him a  moment to figure out what he’s gonna say next. “ look i’d love for us still to be friends” with that she looks up swiping her tears away.

“Really?” she squeaks

“Of course I do, like you said that kinda thing doesn’t just go away, but…” he trails off look nervously down at his hands, wishing he had something, anything at all that he could keep his hand busy with to try and channel the nervous energy building.

“But what Tommy?” she asks, he lets out a long exaggerated sigh, preparing himself for the next part.

“But, me and you, we can’t ever get back together” there he said it,  it's out in the open now and he can’t possibly make his intentions any more clear. “You really hurt me babe, and don’t get me wrong, I understand why you needed to do it, really I do! But i can’t go through that again, and anyway i’m kinda seeing someone” he explains, there's no point sugar coating it, he needs to make it clear he’s no longer available for Carol to pick back up and then drop again on a whim.

“You are? Who?” She sounds kinda like she’s accusing him, which is rich coming from her, he can feel anger begin to bubble to the surface and if he’s not careful he might snap again, he needs to keep a level head, at least try to remain as calm as possible.

“It doesn’t matter who, the point is, me and you, it can’t ever happen again” he gestures between the two of them. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try just being friends” he offers a weak attempt at a smile.

“God, it sounds like you’re the one doing the breaking up” she cries out before letting out a quiet giggle. “Okay then, friends” she extends her hand for Tommy to shake, he looks down at it and back up at her quizzically.

“Get away with that, come here”  he steps closer and drags her into a tight hug “I’ll always care about you Carol, you know that right?”

“I know” she says

“Right c’mon, since you’re here, you might as well join the party” He says, releasing her from the hug and guiding her down to the basement with his arm slung around her shoulder.

###

Tommy’s been gone for some time now and Billy’s not worried per say but he is curious. He makes his excuses about going to find Tommy and maybe some more beer, leaving Heather, Steve and Robin to their conversation. As he gets closer to the basement door he hears voices, one is obviously Tommy’s  and the other is distinctly female, he can’t quite make out who’s exactly with the door closed so he gently opens the door so he doesn’t bring too much attention to himself. The conversation he hears is getting a little heated and he wonders if he’s gonna have to step in at any point, make sure something doesn’t get broken, at least that's what he tells himself as he creeps round the corner and listens in on Tommy and what he can now clearly hear is Carol.

He’s not spying, he assures himself as he continues to listen in out of sight, he’s just curious as to why Tommy’s ex-girlfriend of all people might have turned up at his house at 11pm on a friday night, nothing good he concludes. A pang of jealousy blooms in his chest as he hears snippets of their conversation, watches as Tommy consoles Carol with a hug, petting her hair and everything.

He’s about to lose his shit when he’s brought out of his thoughts by a hand suddenly appearing on his shoulder from behind, he jumps having not heard Steve leave the basement also and swings around ready to attack.

“Woah woah, hey man take it easy” Steve jumps back hands out in a ‘i surrender motion’. Billy huffs, heart rate slowly returning to normal.

“Jesus Harrington, you can’t just sneak up on people like that” he whispers

“Sorry, i was just wondering what you were doing” He whispers back “hey why are we whispering?” he asks and Billy has to try really hard to suppress an eye roll, he learns further out of the corner to try and get a better look at Tommy and Carol, Steve catching on leans in too.

“Carol’s here” Billy grunts, he doesn’t want to have to explain himself, and he knows Harrington isn’t that stupid, so he hopes quietly that maybe he might clue on without needing much of a push.

“Oh” is all Steve says. They share a look before Steve is walking away towards Tommy’s back door.

“Where are you going?”

“To get some fresh air, you coming?” Billy stays put for a second weighing up his option, follow Steve or stay and listen to Tommy making nice with his ex, if Billy were a stronger man he'd just return to the basement and forget all this happened, but he’s not and he does have a petty streak. So he follows Steve out into the yard and into the night air.

###

It’s a warmish night but with the slightest of breezes which causes goosebumps to rise on Steve’s skin, he’s secretly glad he has the benefit of a belly full of alcohol to keep him from shivering. He’s not sure exactly what he’s supposed to do now, but he’s glad Billy followed him.

Tommy’s parents aren’t exactly rich but they’re not poor either, they’re well off enough to have a nice back yard, complete with a  smallish patio, with a stone wall about a foot wide around its perimeter, overlooking a spacious grassy area lined with flower beds right up to the very end. There's an old swing set under a large oak tree that’s home to the tree house Tommy’s dad built one summer back when they were kids.

Steve perches himself atop the patio wall, crosses his legs and the ankles and inhales deeply. Billy joins him eventually, sitting beside him, legs spread wide taking up as much space as humanly possible. Steve thinks maybe it's a dominance thing, demanding more space and forcing others to make do with the little he’s been gracious enough to gift them, or maybe it's just more comfortable for him considering he has thighs the size of tree trunks. Steve lulls his head to the side so he can look at Billy, he looks lost in thought, staring at the ground, little crease in between his eyebrows, lips set in a hard line.

“Any chance I can bum a smoke?” Steve asks, hoping it might break the ice a little, relieve some of this awkward tension. Billy says nothing just reaches in his jean pocket for his packet of Malbros and hands it to Steve. Steve takes one, handing the packet back and watches intently as Billy takes his own out and lights it, Billy holds the flame closer to Steve and he leans in to light his own, making eye contact with Billy and holding it the entire time.

“What?” Billy asks when Steve still hasn’t broken eye contact. Steve’s heart rate picks up, he’s consumed with a sudden burst of confidence, bravery to finally address the elephant in the room, to stop dancing this tentative dance around Billy and Tommy, to finally make his feelings clear and to hopefully confirm theirs in return, worst case scenario he gets a fist to the face, but if he plays his cards right, he might just stand a chance here. Sure he would have preferred Tommy to be here too, but he has to work with what he’s got and well for the first time he’s actually got one of them alone, and he’s not a complete mess, he hopes the stars might have aligned tonight and luck is on his side, so maybe he might just get a win out of this.

“Why’d you invite me here tonight?” he asks on an exhale of the cigarette Billy had gifted him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Billy says voice gruff, there’s not much light outside, only the gentle glow of the moonlight and the light seeping out from Tommy’s back door, but even in the dim lighting Steve can see a faintest blush creep across Billy's cheeks.

“Oh i think you do” Steve’s feeling bold, brash so he leans in a little closer, this close he spots the light dusting of freckles across Billy’s adorable sun-kissed nose, his gaze darts down briefly down to his lips and back up again to hold eye contact with Billy, he swallows thickly and Billy mirrors his actions. “I think you invited me here because of an ulterior motive” he smirks.

“Oh yeah? And what's that?” Billy asks, quiet, he looks bewitched by Steve.

“Why don’t you tell me” Steve’s inching closer and closer, they’re barely a breath apart

“Seems like you already know” Billy’s eyelashes flutter as he breaks his stare and instead focuses on Steve’s lips.

“I do. But i want to hear you say it” the atmosphere is thick around them, anticipation building, they’re so close yet so far, all it will take for them to close the gap is from one of them to lean in further ever so slightly, but they both seem to be playing chicken with one another. Just as Steve is about to give in himself, lean closer, brush his lips against Billy’s, admit defeat yet claim the victory, the back door swings open.

Just like that the spells broke, they both separate and look in the direction of the house. Tommy’s stood there and he’s absolutely seething, breathing hard. Steve breathes a sigh of relief, happy in the fact that they hadn’t just been caught in an incriminating position by Heather or Carol. The relief is short lived however because Tommy’s storming towards them, fists clenched, jaw tight, anger rolling off him in waves.

“What the fuck.” is all he bites out. He swings for Billy and catches him square in the jaw, giving him no time to recover as he grabs Billy by the shift and hoists him close, getting in his face.

“What the hell Tommy!” Steve shouts, trying to get in between, trying to break them up. Billy’s not reacting, he’s not swinging back or trying to defend himself and Steve thinks that's odd, from personal experience he knows that's not Billy’s style. “Tommy, get off him”

Tommy snarls, letting Billy go and stalking to the wall, throwing himself down in a huff

“You two looked cosy out here” he spits, arms crossed against his chest as he kicks at the dirt, picture perfect tantrum in the works. “Sorry to interrupt”

“Oh yeah like you weren’t getting reacquainted with Carol in there!” Billy argues back.

“It’s not like that and you know it Billy”

“No, i don’t think i do”

“Yes you fucking do, stop being such an asshole Billy!”

“Oh I'm the asshole, you punched me in the face!”

“You were kissing Steve!” Tommy’s got in Billy’s face again, looks like he could throw another punch, Steve decides to step in.

“Guys will you shut the fuck up!” he shouts over them. “No one was kissing anyone!” Both Tommy and Billy look over at him both with one eyebrow raised, their disbelief written all over their faces. “okay well maybe i was about to kiss Billy” Tommy looks hurt, Billy looks a little smug.

Tommy shoves a bit at Billy still angry.

“See!”

“Tommy!” Steve whines “Stop!” Steve drags a hand down his face, trying to wrack his brain of how he’s gonna explain himself with words, he had kinda hoped actions would speak louder than words tonight, but so far everything just been one horrendous misunderstanding after one horrendous misunderstanding. “Look I like you. Both of you.” he bites his lip, preparing himself for a rejection. “And i think maybe you both like me too?” his voice is 4 octaves higher than it should be and Steve cringes at that. Smooth real smooth.

They both stare at him, dumbfounded, mouths agape, comically blinking as if they can’t quite believe what they’ve heard.

“Wha?” Tommy whispers

“You do?” Billy asks.

It's adorable how they’ve been essentially struck speechless, when usually neither one of them has the ability to shut up, Steve just rolls his eyes shuffles closer, grabs Tommy by the face with both hands and kisses him chastely on the lips, and then does then repeats the action with Billy.

“Yes you fucking idiots.”

Both boys break their own unique signature grins.

“Well thank god” Tommy says, turns to Billy and kisses him, before laughing like an idiot, a contagious laugh that had Steve and Billy join in too.

“C’mon you two, I think we’ve left the girls alone, long enough” Billy says, dragging both boys by the hand back into the house.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Lady Luck AU: The Queen’s Battle Trilogy + Miraculer

In the show, these episodes deal heavily with Chloé’s plot of getting the Bee Miraculous. However, in Lady Luck, she’s had the Ladybug Miraculous since day one. So of course these episodes are going to change. A lot!

So let’s discuss that! Uh, slight trigger warning for Audrey’s shitty parenting.

Style Queen:

When Audrey shows up, Chloé is conflicted.

She still wants her mother’s love and attention, but Chloé has made actual progress toward not being a jerk.

She doesn’t want to agree with her mother’s comments, but when she tries to be nice she gets told off.

After they bump into Marinette, Chloé sticks by her instead of her mother.

They talk a little, mostly a ‘oh god no wonder you were terrible if that’s what you grew up with.’.

Mari also reassures her that she doesn’t have to be like that.

The events of Audrey getting Akumatized are the same, and Style Queen turns Adrien into a glitter statue.

Realizing that not only are they down one teammate, but that Chloé will not be at her best fighting her mother, she decides to go to Master Fu for a new Hero.

First she tells Marinette to stay and try to find Style Queen’s weaknesses. But prioritize herself over the mission.

Marinette Transforms into Fennette and both head off.

After getting the Bee Miraculous, Chloé heads to Sabrina’s house.

Their talk is a little rushed because, you know, Akuma to fight.

But Chloé is basically like “I know we haven’t been hanging out as much and sometimes I disappear at random, but I promise I have a good reason and you’ll find out after you open this box!’.

Sabrina takes the comb and minorly freaks out when Pollen appears.

Chloé explains that this is the Bee Miraculous, and Pollen is a Kwami who will help Sabrina become a Hero.

Sabrina then has a bigger freak out over ‘holy shit you’re Lady Luck!’.

Chloé cuts her off with a ‘we can discuss this later. Right now we need to go fight my mom.’

Lady Luck and Abielle go meet up with Fennette, who has done a decent job studying Style Queen while staying in the shadows

The three battle Style Queen, and it goes easier than in Canon, with Fennette making an Illusion of Gabriel to bait her, and Abielle using Venom to give them a few minutes of peace to deal with the Akumatized Object.

Plagg probably still destroys something though.

Queen Wasp

The fashion show goes off as normal, though with Chloé and Sabrina hanging with Marinette (much to the confusion of Mari’s parents and Alya)

Gabriel shows up to check on Adrien. He also low-key checks on Chloé and Marinette because fuck you that’s why.

Legit though, I do write Gabriel caring about both of them.

With Chloé, it’s because she was Adrien’s friend since they were little, so he knows her fairly well and does think of her as part of the family.

With Marinette, it’s more like ‘Hello future daughter-in-law!’. 

Audrey still offers to take Marinette to New York

Marinette herself is a hell of a lot more hesitant, having seen how Audrey treats her own daughter.

Chloé is still fucking pissed. Because she’s wanted her mother’s love and attention for so long, but instead Audrey is giving that to some random girl she just met instead of her own daughter.

Then Audrey drops the ‘the only thing exceptional about you, is your mother!’ line. And hoo boy.

For Chloé, this is one of those ‘five seconds feels like five years’ type situations.

She wants to do something. To prove herself. Part of her does think about transforming into Lady Luck, and being all “I’m a superhero! Isn’t that exceptional?!”, but she realizes that it won’t be enough for Audrey, because nothing’s ever enough

And everything just kinda… clicks into place with that. The realization that nothing she does will be something Audrey considers ‘exceptional’, because the goal is always pushed further and further back.

And the realization that she doesn’t need Audrey to think anything of her.

Chloé snaps, getting this manic look that makes everyone back up a few feet. She tells Audrey that she’s going to get through to her in the only way that matters. Ruining her precious reputation.

She then heads over to the news reporters and says ‘Hey, Nadja! Wanna hear the one thing Audrey Bourgeois isn’t ‘exceptional’ at? Being a good mother!’.

Chloé goes tf off on her mother, shouting everything she’s ever felt at her. How much she’s hated everything, especially herself. How miserable she was being a jerk to everyone. How much happier she is when she’s not trying to gain the love and attention she’ll never be ‘worthy of’. How she’s stuck in this place of depression over ‘I’ll never be enough for you’ and rage over ‘why the hell aren’t I enough!?”

Audrey is trying to do bare-minimum damage control. Just telling Chloé to stop because she’s ‘making a scene’. Every time uses some variation of her name, it only fuels Chloé’s anger, and she brings it up. “Chloé! My name is Chloé! What kind of mother can’t even bother to remember her daughter’s name!

Chloé eventually brings out the ‘big guns’, AKA: Emilie Agreste. Because Emilie and Audrey were supposedly friends. She accuses Audrey of not caring about her either. After all, she didn’t even come back to Paris after hearing that Emilie was missing!

She even goes as far to ask ‘did you even pause and worry for five seconds when they told you she was gone? Probably not. Just shrugged and went back to firing your tenth assistant of the week!’.

Eventually she says something that makes Audrey angry enough to actually slap her. And while everyone else had been frozen at the fight, they start handling the situation.

First people to move are Marinette’s parents, with Tom shielding Chloé from her mother while Sabine cusses out Audrey in rapidfire Chinese

Adrien, Marinette, and Sabrina all physically pull Chloé out of the situation. Taking her somewhere safe. Maybe back to the hotel?

While Gabriel doesn’t get into the situation, he does catch Chloé’s eye and give an approving nod to her actions. (Because while Gabe is a fuck sometimes, he does care about Adrien and his friends, and tbh while he respects Audrey’s talent, he’s wanted to knock her down a peg for a long ass time.)

Chloé’s dad, however, is still frozen in shock. But we’ll get to him later.

Her friends take her somewhere safe to ride out the rest of the breakdown.

She goes through a ‘manic’ phase first. She feels great, but also full of rage. She’s grinning but wants do do something destructive. She kinda half-hopes for an Akuma so she has something to direct that at.

She apologizes to Adrien for bringing up his mom too.

Eventually she hits the full breakdown point and starts crying. This time though, she has her friends to comfort her.

‘Queen Wasp’ doesn’t really happen. Gabriel kinda decided to give her a break on this, so no butterflies come for her.

Malediktator

This picks up from the end of ‘Queen Wasp’, with Adrien, Marinette and Sabrina comforting Chloé.

At some point, Chloé’s dad shows up, already Akumatized into Maediktator.

He insists on taking Chloé with him, and the Heroes decide that it’d be better to play along for now so that they can escape and transform later.

Chloé herself is more in shock, and feels guilty over her dad’s Akumatization, knowing it probably had something to do with what happened.

Malediktator’s actions are entirely to try and make Chloé happy.

He commands Audrey to be an actual caring mother(for once), and all of a sudden she’s showering Chloé with love and affection. Telling her how wonderful and very exceptional she is.

He uses his power to make several teens(mostly the classmates) adore Chloé and wish to be her friend.

At some point the others sneaked away to transform, and when they show back up Malediktator demands that they give Chloé one of the Miraculous, as is wonderful and deserves such an honor!

At first, Chloé is still in breakdown mode. Just kind of going along with everything.

But after a while, everything just hurts more and more. Because this version of her mother that loves her? The classmates who adore her? They only exist because of a magic spell.

And while she still feels guilty about her dad getting Akumatized, it does make her feel better to know he’s just trying to help her.  

Malediktator begs Chloé to tell him what will make her happy. She tells him that she just wants him back to normal.

Obvs there’s the conflict there, as Akumas don’t usually want to give up their power, but doing that would make her happy.

This distracts him long enough for Abielle to use Venom and freeze him in place.

Chloé sneaks off to transform, drop in long enough to purify the Butterfly and change things back to normal.

After all this, Chloé and her dad talk for a while.

He apologizes for everything. Like, he knew Audrey was… high maintenance. And kind of a bitch. But he never realized how bad things were for Chloé.

Like, it seemed like he’d always been able to cheer her up. Telling her she’s great anyway, buying gifts, everything. He also didn’t hear how bad Chloé had been to her classmates, because the school staff was always too scared to report her.

She understands that he tried, and reassures him that he did help. She’d probably be worse without him. Hell, she might even be the kind of person Audrey would like, which isn’t the person she wants to be anymore.

Eventually, he asks her if she’s at all happy being around her mother, if she would rather try and fix things or let Audrey go back to New York. Chloé answers honestly. She doesn’t really care where her mother goes. She doesn’t need her. She’s happy without her.

After that, he’s like ‘well in that case, time for a divorce!’.

Chloé starts to go ‘wait, no!’ at that.

But he assures her that this was a long time coming. The relationship honesty hasn’t been right in a long time. Audrey had always been…. High maintenance… but she’s gotten worse and worse and she’s never even in the same country anymore!

The only reason he kept trying to make it work was because Chloé had ‘adored’ her mother before. But considering everything that just happened? That’s it. He was highly debating divorce anyway after the fight(and especially the slap), but he wanted to ask Chloé first.

She ends up seeking comfort at Marinette’s place.

Mari’s parents kind of assume the worst at first. Like, the ‘she needs somewhere to stay now’ worst. But Chloé explains that’s not the case.

There’s a bit of venting, and Mari and her family are like ‘okay look if you need somewhere to stay, even if it’s just to get away for a while, you can stay here’.

She’s going to take up that offer a lot.

Miraculer

So, Lila has nothing to do with this plot. Because 1. Chloé knows she’s a trick ass bitch 2. there’s no issue over the Bee Miraculous.

Anyway, after the events of the Queen’s Battle Tirlogy, Chloé spends a lot of time at Marinette’s house. Because out of her close circle of friends, it’s the one she finds the most comforting.

She cares about Sabrina, but Roger kinda hates her so she feels unwelcome in her home

Adrien’s place reminds her too much of Emilie, so it hurts to be there(something Adrien agrees with).

All other friends she’s made so far are nice, but their families aren’t as ready to welcome her in all the time.

Meanwhile, Tom and Sabine saw what happened with Audrey and went ‘Where’s the adoption papers?!’.

Episode starts with Chloé at Mari’s place. Along with some of the rest of the group at that point. At least Adrien and Sabrina probably. They get a text from another friend telling them to check out the news channel.

Turning on the tv, they see an interview with Audrey discussing the divorce. Specifically, which parent gets custody of Chloé.

Audrey is playing it up in the interview, talking about how this whole ordeal has ‘made her realize how distant she’d been the past few years’. Obviously Chloé just wanted to spend more time with her mother! And full custody would help give them the time they needed!

She’s very obviously trying to control the situation. Make herself look like a misunderstood victim. And potentially, get control over Chloé again to make her more obedient and horrible.

Audrey says she’ll definitely get custody, even after the ‘incident’, because she’ll be taking Chloé to New York with her. Somewhere far away from all the dangerous Akumas.

Naturally Chloé is very distressed by that.

Not only is she finally starting to feel happy with a handful of people who genuinely care about her, but she’s Lady Luck. Lady Luck can’t just leave!

The whole thing sends her into a panic attack.

Chloé is very nearly Akumatized over it, but her friends manage to help her pull together. They’re not going to let Audrey take her away.

While she’s safe, the Butterfly heads to someone who is less ‘distressed’ and more ‘filled with righteous fury’

Sabine Cheng gets Akumatized.

I’m debating on her Akuma name. The canonical ‘Verity Queen’ fits, but I was also thinking about ‘Godmother’. Like, a ‘fairy godmother’ theme.

Sabine’s anger is half ‘How dare someone treat their child like this’, and half ‘My daughter now!’.

Godmother, naturally, goes after Audrey.

It’s a tough fight. Partly because Chloé is very tempted to let Godmother kick Audrey’s ass, and partly because Marinette is hesitant to fight her mom.

And also because even though they’re trying to fight her, Godmother is more like ‘You’re all children! How dare this responsibility be handed to you!? You’re my kids now too.”

Eventually they do defeat her, and they end up in front of cameras, with Nadja trying to get answers about Sabine’s Akumatization and Audrey trying to get Lady Luck to agree with her about how ‘dangerous’ this city is.

While Lady Luck remains somewhat calm, as she can distance herself from the situation by talking in third person, she goes tf off on Audrey again.

She explains to Nadja that the Butterfly was originally after Chloé, who was having a panic attack over the idea of Audrey taking her away from her friends and ‘real family’. That Chloé was able to avoid being Akumatized, but the Butterfly went after Sabine who wanted to protect a girl she cared for like a daughter now.

When Audrey plays the ‘it’s so dangerous here because of the Akumas’ card, Lady Luck asks ‘are you implying that we can’t do our job?’. She also points out that Heroes and Villains and Magic exist everywhere, even in New York.

Most importantly, she says “I think Chloé is far safer with the woman who got Akumatized over wanting to protect someone she cares about, than she is with the woman who got Akumatized over ‘being put in the second row’, don’t you think?’.

Oh? You’re probably wondering about Mayura. Well…. I might stretch this out into a two-parter since the Akuma took up so much.

Chloé heads back to her hotel, thankfully walking through the lobby and up the elevator instead of swinging in as Lady Luck, because Mayura is in the room waiting for her.

Chloé is hella on guard, wondering if Mayura figured out her secret identity. She doesn’t transform just yet though.

Mayura is here to offer a deal of sorts.

She explains how the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous have such amazing power. That they can do so much, give her anything she wants.

Anything, including the mother that loves her.

Chloé scoffs at that, saying she doesn’t want some magic spell version of Audrey to love her, so Mayura can take her offer and shove it.

Mayura clarifies that she wasn’t referring to Chloé’s biological mother, but the mother figure who recently disappeared.

Yeah. Basically the offer is Gabriel and Nathalie banking on the idea that Chloé wants Emilie back just as much as they do.

The plan involves first testing the waters, seeing if she’d join them for the reward of saving Emilie. If she does, then they’ll let her in on identities.

From there, they’d use her to make Akumas. Either Akumatizing her directly over and over, or having her be a jerk and cause negative emotions.

If she steals the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, then great. If she steals one of the others, then she can use that instead.

If she steals two of the others, they might let Adrien in on the plan.

Side note: the reason they’re using Chloé instead of Adrien for this is because Adrien is a bit softer, less likely to fight(as far as they know), and even more unlikely to fight on the ‘dark side’.

What they didn’t expect was Chloé judo flipping Mayura, pinning her to the floor, and interrogating her.

Mayura might be stronger than Chloé when not transformed, but Chloé had the element of surprise.

Chloé also taps into her Aura Vision stuff and finds out that the Peacock is broken.

Basically Chloé interpreted the offer as more of a ‘we know where she is and if you help us we’ll help you’ thing.

She’s turning the threat around. ‘Tell me everything you know about what happened to Emilie or I will fight you without magic’.

Mayura manages to keep her cool and clarifies that she meant it literally, the Miraculous could help bring Emilie back, no matter where she is.

Once Chloé gives a definitive answer of ‘I’m not going to become a supervillain and hurt everyone else just to bring her back to me!’, Mayura breaks out of her hold and runs off.

After making sure she’s left, Chloé texts the team, and Master Fu, to meet right the hell now.

I already mentioned the ‘Titan’s Tower’ System

Everyone shows up and she tells them what just happened with Mayura

She assures them that her identity isn’t in danger because Mayura didn’t even look at her earrings, much less try to take them.

She also asks Master Fu about the broken Peacock, what it’s effects are, and how to deal with it

Chloé also brings up the ‘Gabriel might be Hawkmoth’ thing

I mean, she never really dropped it after The Collector, but still. This is a time to bring it up. Because Mauyra specifically brought up Emilie.  

Adrien reminds her that Gabriel was Akumatized, and she points out that he has Mayura, who could’ve Akumatized him.

They also come to the conclusion that if Gabriel is Hawmoth, than Mayura is Nathalie.

The team debates back and forth on this

Ultimately, they decide that while Gabriel and Nathalie are good suspects, they’re the only good suspects that they know about. There’s a decent chance that Hawkmoth and Mayura are some random people that they’ve never met and have no connection to.

They do decide to keep an eye on them though.

[brutashaswin]

Two Assassins, a General, a Witch, and a Wasp Walk Into a Starbucks...

Synopsis: No, there’s no punchline; it’s a fanfiction! Inspired by the “Chill” Princesses in Wreck it Ralph, the Super Cafe scenes from HISHE, and my Black Widow solo film wish list. (Where I predicted the end credit scene was going to be the lady Avengers hanging out in a Starbucks.) That’s literally all this fic is: Gamora, Nat, Okoye, Wanda, and Hope just chilling in Starbucks and talking about life. This was SO much fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy! :)

“Order for Gamma Ray?”

Gamora met the barista’s eyes in a moment of confusion.

“You had the caramel macchiato?” Said the barista impatiently.

“Yes, but my name’s not...” Gamora started.

“Have a nice day!” The barista interjected, walking back over to the cash register.

Gamora picked up her drink and walked over to her table, where a crowd of women were waiting for her.

“Sorry about the wait, ladies.”

“Oh, don’t sweat it. They get my name wrong all the time.” Okoye responded, nonchalantly spinning her straw throughout her frappe. “That’s why I give them a basic name. Like Amy. Or Natasha.”

“Hey!” Replied Nat, crossing her arms in mock offense, causing the two women to giggle.

“I think I got the worst one.” Said Hope, squinting at the cursive handwriting on her cup. “I don’t think they intentionally left out the P?”

A scattering of laughing spread throughout the table.

“What did you guys get?” Gamora asked Nat and Wanda.

“Well, I got the pink drink.” Said Wanda, holding up a pastel pink mixture with floating slices of stawberries. “But then this one...” She gestured to Nat, who had a mischievous grin as she toyed with her straw wrapper. “Decided to be all cute.”

“I ordered the Green Tea frappe, and told them my name was Cosmo!” Nat said, looking around the table expectantly. No one laughed. “Get it? Cuz...the Fairly OddParents?”

“I think we’ve been babysitting Clint’s kids for too long.” Wanda said teasingly, playfully elbowing Nat.

“I think you’re right.”

“Speaking of kids,” Said Okoye, “How is Cassie doing, Hope?”

“Oh, she’s great! She just won her school spelling bee the other day. You should have seen Scott’s face, he was so proud.”

“He seems like a great dad.” Said Wanda.

“Oh, he is. It makes me melt.” Hope replied.

“Any of you guys want kids?” Nat asked.

“Definitely not. But I get to watch the children of Wakanda grow up, so it’s not like I’m not missing out on anything.” Okoye responded.

“I don’t know. Not anytime soon, for sure.

But I can’t help but think how nice it’d be to have a little girl like Cassie.” Said Gamora.

“You really think Quill would be up for it?” Asked Wanda.

“Oh sure he will. Besides, Ex-cons make great parents.” Said Hope, giving Gamora a wink.

“Woman after my own heart.” Answered Gamora with a smirk.

“Yes, you two have great taste.” Okoye replied with a joking eye roll.

“Well, there’s actually a reason I called all you ladies here today.” Nat said, bringing her hands together on the table all officially.

“You’re pregnant.” Hope said, deadpan.

“What? No! Off the table, remember?”

“Right.”

“No, Bruce and I went to a show yesterday, and...”

She unclasped her hands, bringing one of them to the center of the table to reveal a sparkling diamond ring.

“He asked me to marry him!”

The other girls burst into explanations of shock and joy, squealing over the beautiful ring. Choruses of:

“Oh my god!”

“Congratulations!”

“We’re so happy for you!”

(And a “About damn time.” from Okoye.)

Rang throughout the entire restaurant, causing other customers to stare.

“When is the wedding?” Asked Gamora, taking Nat’s hand in hers to get a better look at the ring.

“We don’t have a date set yet. But what I do know is...”

Nat took a deep breath, looking adoringly at each woman in turn.

“I’d like you all to be bridesmaids.”

[oblivionhold]

I mean sure I guess.

1) Netflix says my first watched episode was late October 2019, but I watched a couple episodes beforehand and bounced off of it.

2) Nope.

3) Nope.

4) Nope.

5) I heard about the original PV and decided to watch the full thing. Bounced off the first two episodes. I came back when I saw, in Eldenadoubleca5t's 'what your favorite ship says about you' video, that Alya also received a miraculous. Since a magical girl's best friend getting powers is my favorite trope, I jumped back in.

6) Probably something to do with overwhelming noise or sensation? Make noise so loud that people can't hear themselves think, or, alternatively, make everything quiet.

7) Lady Wifi, because I think it would be easier to escape her than a bubble lifting me into the air.

8) Sass so I could just have infinite 5 minute power naps.

9) Chloenette.

10) Every ship is a sin ship if you try hard enough, so Chloenette again.

11) Ladrien in theory, Marichat in practice

12) Mr. Ramier has a dedication that I one day hope to match.

13) English.

14) Opinions cannot be overrated or underrated. I guess I'm kind of tired of both love square dominance in the fan media scene and sentiadrien theory, but I don't know if that really fits the answer.

15) Adrienette.

16) Probably Queen of Secrets by SairenHaria

17) Buggachat's Bakery 'Enemies' AU

18) It seems unfair to compare a promotional piece to a full show. I do prefer 2d animation to 3d but the full CGI show has budgeting issues the PV does not have.

19) Does 'Chloe again' count? If not, I do want to see what Lila could do with a miraculous.

20) Does the theme song count?

21) The Puppeteer is the only one of those that has an actual power that might help, assuming she has access to at least one doll. If not, Volpina.

22) None of them (Because most of them are kids and I'm like double their age). I guess Nathalie looks nice? Not a big fan of all the blue personally.

23) one of those is an actual character. So Adrien.

24) Marry Rena Rouge, Kiss Queen Bee, Kill Carapace on account of me being a straight dude I guess?

25) I'm not creative enough for Mirage and not athletic enough for venom. Shellter.

26) Ladybug.

27) Cataclysm. Lucky Charm seems a bit authorial fiat-y to me.

28) I like the scene at the end of Gang of Secrets.

29) I'm going to go full Chloe-stan and say Queen Wasp.

30) Assuming we're not talking about the 'Gang of Secrets' akumas, I'd rather hang out with the girls because I'm unsure I could handle Kim.

31) Stormy Weather is a classic.

32) Chat knowing Ladybug would provide more angst I would feel. Because as far as Adrien would know, Ladybug has rejected him as both Chat and Adrien.

33) I sympathize with Nooroo.

34) Kim has not done much of anything of note, even in his debut episode.

35) Rose is so extra I love it.

36) I mean assuming Hawkmoth is not in his lair I would have no problem hanging out with the butterflies.

37) Luka, as a character, basically existed to just be the other boy for Marinette. It's kind of a generic coupling.

38) Better! I honestly prefer it to Adrienette, because at least Kagami has limited her amount of creepy personal interactions.

39) Alya pushes Marinette way too far sometimes. Maybe it's just me, but if my best friend tried some of the things Alya did to Marinette, we would either have had some discussions that might have resulted in the end of the friendship.

40) Alya really seems invested in making Marinette happy. Sometimes it goes too far, but it's nice when it does happen.

41) One of her parents.

42) Either in the season 4 or 5 finales.

43) Eh? I'd say he doesn't get enough credit from the writers; we don't really see much from the public in universe, and out of universe he's beloved by the fans.

44) Assuming Chloe doesn't count as a holder any more, Kagaminette.

45) Julerose needs to be made official that's what.

46) I mean I think she's intended to be annoying, so 9?

47) Eh, not really.

48) I'm not much of a crack person

49) God yes, so many problems could be solved...

50) I want to say Chloe but I feel her writing is too inconsistent as of season 4. So I'm going to say Kagami. Apart from Mr. Pidgeon 72, she's consistent, and a nice mix of good qualities and bad.

51) Lila might as well have left Paris considering how rarely she shows up.

52) Clearly it's Sabine Cheng. The miraculous just makes her younger.

53) I think Marinette goes too far as Ladynoire but I just hate Reflekdoll in general so. I do like the braid, but the suit itself is too generic.

54) I haven't even heard the french version TBH.

55) It's okay.

56) Bryce Papenbrook

57) I guess? It makes some preceding/following episodes kind of weird though.

58) Either Lila becomes Hawkmoth or Chloe becomes Hawkmoth and Lila becomes her Mayura-analogue.

59) Aqua because I am sucker for mer-people.

60) I guess Max by virtue of both being nerds?

61) I don't like the Love Square as a romantic ship.

62) Master Fu.

Questions to know more about your mutuals! Miraculous Ladybug edition

For how long have you been watching Miraculous Ladybug?

Have you ever cosplayed as a MLB character?

Have you bought MLB merch?

Have you gotten any of your friends or family members into Miraculous Ladybug?

How did you get into Miraculous Ladybug?

If you were akumatized, what would be your power?

Would you rather being attacked by Ladywifi or The Bubbler?

If you could have any miraculous, which one would it be?

What’s your favorite ship?

What’s your sinful ship?

What’s your favorite love square ship?

Who is your favorite background character?

What’s your preferred dub?

What opinions do you find overrated and/or underrated about MLB?

What’s your least favorite love square ship?

What’s your favorite fanfic?

What’s your favorite AU?

Original PV or CGI?

What character would you like to see get a Miraculous?

What’s your favorite MLB featured song?

Reflekta, The puppeteer, Volpina and Dark Cupid; one is fighting by your side, the rest of them are trying to kill you, who would you choose as ally?

What MLB character do you have a crush on?

Who do you like better: Adrien or Félix?

Marry, kiss and kill: Rena Rouge, Carapace, or Queen Bee?

Mirage, Shellter, or Venom?

Ladybug or Chat Noir?

Lucky Charm or Cataclysm?

What’s your favorite scene?

What’s your favorite episode?

Would you rather having a sleepover with the gang of secrets or with The Boys™?

What’s your favorite akumatized villain?

Would you rather Chat Noir knowing LB’s identity or viceversa?

What’s your favorite Kwami?

What’s your least favorite Miraculous holder?

Favorite Miraculous transformation sequence?

Would You Rather be in Hawk Moth's lair for a day or have to listen to Cat Noir constantly use cat puns towards you for a whole day?

How do you feel about Lukanette?

How do you feel about Adrigami?

What's one thing that you don't like about Alya?

What is a good quality that makes Alya stand out?

Who do you think would accidentally find out about Mari's identity?

When do you think Emilie Agreste will wake up?

Do you personally think Chat gets enough credit?

Favorite Miraculous-holders ship?

What's a ship that's not in the show too much that needs more screen time?

On a scale of 1-10 how good do you think Mela Lee plays Tikki?

Do you ship Plikki?

Do you enjoy Miraculous crack?

You are in a table with Ladybug and Cat Noir. You know their true identities. Will you reveal them to each other?

Favorite character? and why?

Which character would you not mind if they were to leave Paris ?

Wrong answers only-Who could Ladybug be?

Do you like Ladynoire?

Do you perfer the french version of the Miraculous theme song or the English version?

Do you like The wall between us?

Who's your favorite actor/actress on this show?

Do you like the episode Pixelator?

What is a theory that you are willing to share?

Aqua or ice powers?

Which character do you relate the most?

What’s your unpopular opinion about the show?

Would you rather cosplay Jade Turtle or Master Fu?