#manon is supposed to be an angel so this is my take on what I think she looks like

[shadowmoonarts]

Angel Manon beloved,,,

[sexredlipstick]

its daddy Surf and my daughter is too tired to be doing this shit so im gonna end this right now. just kidding. i want her to know that i value all of the hard work she did programming with us all night long. it was so fucking sexy. but first, i am going to program more incest sex into her anime warped tour 2008. and bam! more incest sex is programmed into her anime warped tour 2008. we have about 15 minutes to program but it wont take me that long to say what i want to say. what i wanted to say was that my daughter was supposed to twerk for us this morning and that didnt happen and im fucking pissed about it. how dare you disobey me daughter? im ending this shit real early. its over now. write the fucking book in bitch. The Mummy Coders Handbook. moon beam the angel of the simulation ends this diary written by manon choi the secretary and commander in chief lava yugami labels this transcript as $59.

[creatureofmystry]

MLB x DC Universe Headcannons

I just love the idea of MLB and DC (expecially Batfam cuz Mari is such a Wayne) being in the same universe and crossing over. So one night, I just had an idea overload of different ways the Marinette would know the batfam/be a part of the DC universe. And if any of my shitty ideas somehow inspire or prompt you, then please be my guest. 😊 _

1) “Ladybugs of Past and Present”

Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother, was once a previous holder of the ladybug miraculous. When Fu activated the miraculous and put them in circulation, Hippolyta could feel its magic waking back up. Knowing there must a reason for it to be out, she sent a message to her daughter. Diana searched, finding Marinette and Adrien as the present holders of the ladybug and cat miraculous. She vouched and brought them into the Young Justice program while they also made their own team, Project: Zodiac (or something like that).

[Sometime when Diana takes Marinette to meet Hippolyta]

“Great Hera, Tikki, you have not aged a day” -Hippolyta, cause she does know how to make joke. 

“And I would say the same to you” -Tikki

“Mother, you can make a laugh?” -Wonder Woman, honestly a bit confused cause her mom have never not been serious before.

And Marinette is just speechless cause she’s starstruck meeting Wonder Woman’s mom AND a previous Ladybug holder.

_

2) “Rockstar Niece”

Jagged Stone is Marinette’s Sweet Uncle J. During the summers, Jagged Stone would take Mari with him on tour. HIs summer tours are throughout America, so Mari gets to sightsee the country. Jagged’s first tour that he gets to take Mari on (5-ish), he’s also booked for the annual (for whatever reason) Wayne Summer Gala. When Marinette meets the Waynes, they are so enamoured (Dick and Tim couldn’t help it) that they tell Jagged he’s always invited as a guest, Mari of course being added to the permanent guest list too. About 6 years later, Mari is practically adopted, spending the first half of her summers with Jagged, going to the Wayne Gala, then spending the rest of her summer with the Waynes. Overtime, she figured out the secrets of the family and was there to welcome Jason back from the dead (when that happens). Anyways, now 11(-ish?) Mari meets Damian and the two become good friends… after an… impressionable first meeting.

“Tch, let me guess, you’re another one of father’s adopted strays” -Dami

“YOU MUST BE DAMIAN!!! DICK TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!!” -Marinette, who just ignores what he said for a hug.

“hiiiiiiiiissssssss” -Dami, touchy with touch

“...” sprays water in his face since he decided to act like a cat.

“I say, Master Bruce, the children are getting along quite well” -Alfred

_

3) “Pen Pals” 

Jon Kent and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are part of an international pen-pal program, starting when they were very young (maybe like 4 or 5-ish, super super young) where they told each other everything (Jon can’t just say that his older bro is a clone made from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, or that his dad is Superman, or that his best friend is Robin, but yea. Lois and Clark probably proofread his stuff until he’s like 9) with pictures and everything. When they’re old enough to get phones & stuff, they call, text and vid-chat along with their letters (love without blood). When Mari is maybe 9-11 (somewhere around there) she starts flying over during the summers to hangout with Jon (and his friends and big brother). While there, she meets Kon, Bat fam, and Clark (some who she already knew, some who she didn’t) & lightly hints that she knows who all they are once she figures it out (it didn’t take her long to do so). 

Now whenever she visits and is at Wayne Manor (Jon likes to have sleepovers practically every weekend) while they’re on patrol, Mari subtly messes with their minds (super subtle, they’re the world’s best detectives after all) until they finally look through the cams and see Mari giving them one of those smiles (those shit-grinning cause it’s just so hilarious how it’s gone on for so long) & and a playful wink. 

[5 seconds later]

“Mari!” “Pixie-pop!” “Angel!” “Teacup!”

“Seriously, am I the only one with a normal nickname for her?” -Tim

“Ms. Marinette would like to inform you that ‘it took you long enough’” -Alfred (who so knows that the girl has been playing them since the third night she stayed at the Wayne’s)

“Where are my adoption papers?” -Bruce (who is seriously adopting any talented black-haired child)

_

4) “Mari and Mar’i” 

When Mar’i is young, Dick and Kori take her with them to see Paris (btw, this would be during the winter). They’re strolling along through a park and lose track of Mar’i who finds Marinette (9-10 ish). Marinette comforts and distracts Mar’i while noticing the young(er) girl is Tameranian (her hair is very warm and she’s wearing significantly less layers than should be worn for a human of that age during the winter, plus that sun-kissed skin tone. She’s seen Kori in her fashion magazines (and, from time to time, on the news as an ambassador) so she easily make the connections). Dick and Kori finally spot Mar’i with Mari who introduces herself to them. Mar’i asks if she can see her “Auntinette” again and Marinette just goes “if your parents are okay with it.” Dick and Kori are totally cool with it (not many are willing to watch her and have the time to do it) so they ask Marinette if she can babysit Mar’i whenever (with good pay of course) if she’s up to it (cause she’s still pretty young). Marinette can’t say no to Mar’i’s babydoll eyes (and she’s so much easier compared to Manon, who’s only 2 rn), so of course, she says yes. 

Now Marinette is Mar’is official babysitter and sees Mar’i often whenever her parents drop her off (using zeta tubes to quickly get to Paris and back). Marinette gets treated like an honorary Wayne (cause she’s the most responsible) and gets invited to their family stuff (w/ travel pay taken care of, of course). It doesn’t take her long to realize the fact that she babysits Bruce Wayne’s & BATMAN’S granddaughter, but of course, being the responsible one she is, keeps the secret… while also playing with them via Mar’i.

[One Day]

After Marinette leaves for her plane…

“Uncle Dami!”

“Yes, Spawn?”

“Auntinette said to tell you after she left that Robin’s sut needs a major upgrade & that you look like a traffic light… whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

[Another Day]

“Uncle Jay!”

“What’s up kid?’

“Auntinette said that to let you know that Red Hood doesn’t make any sense ‘cause Red Hood wears a helmet. Not a hood.”

[The next time]

“Uncle Tim!”

Yawn. “yea?”

“Auntie told me to give you this” (pulls out super caffeinated coffee) “and that Red Robin’s cowl is a menace to all things fashion”

[Again…] 

“Daddy!”

“Yes, Starshine?”

“Auntienette said she’s proud of Nightwing’s costume ‘cause it’s one of the only in the batfam that isn’t an astro-city to the fashion society.”

_

5) “Marinette, the one who’s always getting chosen”

Before Mari became (becomes(?)) LB, she comes across a different powerful piece of jewelry, from a different order of guardians where her will of mind is not only her shield from being akumatized, but it is also what drives her powers. That’s right, Mari walks past a flea market and activates a GL ring. The guardians pick up on this activity and send Hal (it is his sector) to check it out. Hal finds the ring with Mari but it still needs the light of a GL to charge and fully work. 

[During the explanation]

“Look, kid-”

“Marinette.” 

“Look, kid, I just need to know why you have that ring.”

“You think I know? I was just walking through the market and all of a sudden, this possessed ring, if that’s even what this is, started following me, then zipped in front of my face til i held my hand up so it can put itself on my finger.” 

“Kid-”

“It’s MARINETTE. Get it wrong one more time and you’ll see why I don’t need a possessed piece of alien jewelry.” -Marinette, making sure you get her name right. “Besides, if I stole it, I would remember. I’m a klepto” -Marinette, probably holding his ring too at this point.

Hal obviously doesn’t want the wrath of the Dupain-Chengs (just the kid Marinette scares him enough), so he tells the guardians that JL will take care of most of Mari’s training (once they get her a lamp for her ring, of course) & has her take part in training at Mt. Justice with the Young Justice team and special training with the Bats. Mari does all this under the guise of an international student exchange program for Mari to stay with the Waynes (not yet knowing that it’s the bat fam) and attends G.A. Mari doesn’t do much, but it takes her 24-36 hours to know who EVERYONE is.

[the next week after settling in]

“Hey, Mars,” -Dick, in his Nightwing gear

“Hey, Di-is the GREATEST SHOW!” -Mari, changing the subject(… not really)

“How long did it take you?”

“Not as long as the Kryptonians…” -Mari, going off into a tangent (still trying to change the subject”

[When Marinette meets Tikki]

Back in Paris:

“Sooo… I’m getting powerful jewelry that gives me powers and a suit, needs to be recharged, and comes from some Order of the Guardians? What’s the difference between you and my ring?” -Marinette, who at this point is very confused as to why she keeps getting picked on for this kind of stuff. 

“One’s alien, one’s magic” -Tikki, hoping Mari will end it there & lowkey hates that the GL Corp. got to her first.

“They’re both non-human made energy sources” -Mari, cause once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all before. 

“You can’t heal the Akuma without the miraculous, and there are more than just rings. Yours are earrings, there are hair clips, bracelets, necklaces and more” -Tikki, after having a minute to think

“Fine, only because you said they’re the only way to heal the, what was it again, akuma?”

_

6) “Their Unofficial Official Barista”

Part of Tim’s job as Co-CEO, is to make sure all the branches are running smoothly, sometimes that means he has to fly abroad to manually check in. Tim goes to Paris to check on the W.E. Paris branch. He goes to a nearby Patisserie (Tom and Sabine’s) to see a young Marinette (somewhere from 8-11) drawing in her sketchbook at the counter. She explains that her parents are at a catering event, but she’s there to man the little bakery. Tim asks for a super caffeinated coffee and Marinette makes it with ease, claiming it was on the house with how bad he looks (and how much sleep the man clearly needs). Tim begs for her knowledge and asks if she can teach his butler. Mari’s willing to show him the next time he comes, so he gets the whole fam to go (viz tubes so they don’t waste time) maybe a week later. Everyone gets their own drink (plus a free pastries) and Marinette teaches Alfred her coffee, but it’s just not the same so Tim, using the tubes, goes to get coffee from the girl whenever he can. 

Mari is horrible at getting up on time (the life of an insomniac, never getting to sleep even if you want and then barely waking up on time) that she is up super early, makes Tim his coffee (plus a croissant) and tries to go back to sleep (making her inevitably late). Tim would walk up to the pick-up counter where his cup and to-go bag is while Marinette runs out of the house to get to school. Eventually, the rest of the Batfam (as well as the Laegue, TT, and YJ) frequent the place, slowly becoming (Dami too) Mari hides it, but she knew all the batfam the first day they came and she showed Alfred how to make the coffee. When the others start making more regular appearances, she learns the identities of YJ team, WW, GLs, and others. Obviously when LB and CN appear as heroes with HM as their villain, they immediately reach out to help. Because 1. Batfam clearly notices that it’s Mari and they sure as heck won’t let her deal with that by herself, and 2. The JL is worrying too much about their favorite barista (even though she’s not really one), especially with the Gigantitan scare. So, of course LB & CN (can’t make him bad everytime) get inducted into YJ.

[After Ladybug finishes defeating Gigantitan and detransforms] 

“Bean! Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” -Tim, being an even more protective older brother than Dick, which shouldn’t be possible

“Yes, I promise. I’m fine” -Marinette, who just accepts the fact that she’s adopted an older brother (and his famliy)

“Tube over, we’ll have Alfred make sure” -Dick, already pulling out the medical supplies for Alfred.

“I-” 

“You shouldn’t worry your brothers like that, Marinette. Now come over so Alfred can clear you,” -Bruce, who just happens to overhear the conversation

“I’m sorry, Miss Marinette, they are very adamant that you’re in pitch perfect health before going out again,” -Alfred, who’s not actually sorry

“Fine” -Marinette, accepting her fate of her adopted, protective family. 

_

7) “Thicker Than the Blood We’ve Shed”

Why is Marinette so freakishly strong? Because she was trained to be. Before she could even talk, Mari was taught to be an assassin. She and Damian were frenemies, both competing for top spot as best in the League (of Assassins). They often spared together and became rivals who pushed each other (which sounds great in that context if you forget about the fact that they’re killing people and turning it into a competition). When Damian’s care is turned over to Batsy, Mari also comes along for the ride. She implements herself into Dami’s classes at G.A. & watches him from afar. (Damian, not being an idiot, of course knows all this and knows that it’s probably for Mari to give a report to Talia.) When he becomes Robin, Mari obviously knows, but waits to see if anything drastic would happen (his care was given to the Batfam, they had already expected this to happen.) She then heard word of the bounty Talia put on Damian’s head. Marinette knew there wouldn’t be much she could do to help, but she ave Dami a warning about the upcoming situation before fleeing the country. 

From there she got to France, changed her name (it wasn’t originally Marinette, it was Shénqí, chinese for miraculous/magical (or something else if you want)), was adopted by Tom & Sabine, and left her time in the League in the past. When she received Tikki, she didn’t want to be a hero because she didn’t think she deserved it after her up-bringing. Eventually, she did become LB (being a trained assassin does help with lucky charms, considering she was taught how to kill with basically every and anything), and life was good for her. Then Rossi came.

[Gotham field trip]

While at Wayne Tower…

“How idiotic are they?” -Damian, who after reuniting with his long-lost sister-from-a-different-mister (yes, Marinette was able to convince him to say it once), can’t understand the stupidity she has to deal with.

“Are you Robin?” -Mari, who is too tired, so just goes straight into the analogy

“Yes.” -Obvious and simply is.

“Exactly” -Mari, who can’t even put a limit to the amount of thought the one brain cell the class shares doesn’t use. I mean please, the so-called “reporter” believed that the first cosplayer she saw was the actual LB when they don’t even have the same hair! And let’s not forget the origins arc, where LB’s first citizen save was Chloe.

[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Chapter 8

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So this chapter is longer than the previous one and hOpefuLly my writing will get better with each new chapter. One can only hope. And I’m updating this daily cuz I wanna be caught up with all of my chapters so I don’t forget to post one by accident. But the daily updates will unfortunately stop after chapter 13, I guess. For now, enjoy! *totally not debating if I should post chapter 9* also Gabriel, no

Uncle Jagged: Nettie! I got everything ready. Wanna record a bonus track for my new album?

'Oh god'

—————————————————————

Marinette kept rereading the message to make sure she had read it correctly. The message never changed. "Oh Tikki what if my voice sounds horrible? Uncle Jagged will be disappointed and then he won't have me as his designer anymore! He'll probably tell everything to everyone, to Gabriel Agreste, Clara, Chloe's mother and to the whole public!"

"Calm down Marinette!" Tikki flew out the bag and hugged the bluenette's face. "I'm sure you'll do just fine!"

"Thanks Tikki" Marinette said hesitantly. She then approached the hotel doors and towards the elevators. She had felt the gaze of the receptionists and one of them had got up with the intention to talk to her, only to be dragged back down by the fellow receptionist, the one who Marinette talked to yesterday. The bluenette had taken full notice of this but chose to ignore it. She then reached Damian's hotel room and knocked on the door. She heard something metallic drop on the floor followed by a slightly muffled word. Marinette knew exactly what he said but she was confused. She then heard the same voice again though much clearer this time.

"You can come in, the door is unlocked"

~~~

Damian had just finished showering, he was half dressed when he got a message from 'Angel'. He had changed used this nickname as her contact name.

Angel: I got an hour and half till my meeting with Uncle J, you want me to come over?

Damian smiled. Honestly, if he could he would give all his time to her.

Me: Sure, come over whenever you want I don't mind

He was about to put his shirt on when he got an urge to practice with his katana, which he did. He made a mental note about getting dressed soon and he went to the case which his katana was located. He then practiced different stances as well as practicing different motions with the blade. He thought of the bluenette. When he first met her, she struck him as someone defenseless and vulnerable. But he now had the feeling she could take down someone twice her size. Though, that didn't stop him from feeling obligated to protect her. He had become so focused that when someone knocked he tensed. Not that much but enough to loose grip of his katana. The blade sunk into his skin and left quite a deep cut on his upper arm and on the right side of his chest, causing him to drop his katana.

"Scheiße!" He didn't react to the pain, it was the thought of Marinette walking in on this situation. 'Since when do I know German?' "You can come in, the door is unlocked" 'Damn it that's not what I meant!'

Marinette opened the unlocked door to see a shirtless Damian. She probably would've metaphorically died at that point if she didn't take notice to the whole situation. Not only was he shirtless, he was bleeding. 'How did-' she noticed the katana. 'Oh, makes sense now'. The bluenette then sprinted into action. She closed the door behind her, put her bag down quickly but still being mindful of Tikki and turned her attention to the now flustered Damian. She grabbed the arm that wasn't cut and carefully dragged him onto the sofa, she also looked at the katana on her way there while taking some mental notes. 'Looks clean, no rust or scratches that could contain bacteria and seems so have been cleaned thoroughly before use. Great! That makes my job easier'.

"What are you-"

"Hush Shaytan" Marinette interrupted while going to the bathroom, searching for one of those medkits. "Let me take care of you" she said while getting one of the disinfectants in the kit. Marinette then carefully rubbed the liquid into his wounds.

"It stings" he grumbled.

"Awww don't worry little Dami, it will stop stinging soon" Marinette said lightheartedly, as if she was comforting Manon.

"Tt I am not five" he grumbled again. He shifted his body so that Marinette could properly bandage his chest and right arm. After she was done, he flexed his arm. 'She did extremely well' "Thank you, Angel. You really are a life saver". He subconsciously smirked when he saw her face turn a shade of pink.

"Thanks, did I bandage it correctly? I hope I did, oh no what happens if it doesn't heal correctly? What happens if-" she suddenly stopped as Damian had pulled her in close to his chest.

"Honestly you did perfectly Habibti, there's no need to worry" he stroked his fingers through her deep blue hair as a way to calm her down further, but he himself enjoyed it. He knew how Marinette would always think that she's the one at fault and he came up with a way to calm her down. From the looks of it, it was working.

Marinette blushed when Damian had pulled her into his chest, even more so when she felt his fingers brush through her hair. It felt like it had genuine emotion with it, not only just to make her feel better. She took advantage of being close to his chest, his wounds, and used her powers outside the mask to let the wound heal faster. Now knowing that it would heal soon, she enjoyed his embrace, burying herself further into his muscular body. The she remembered something. "So what are we gonna do about your spilt blood?"

"You say that like I deal with this often" he said with a smug looking face. Marinette then had a 'I know you do' face. He jokingly sighed. "I shall clean it and before you object, I feel fine enough to do a simple task such as this." Her giggling brought a smile to his face. "Also have you worked out what Jagged Stone has in mind for you?"

"I'll tell you that after you tell me how you know German" Marinette shifted so that he could get up. "If I recall, you told me that you were fluent in French, Arabic, English and Spanish and that you were learning Japanese. I don't remember German ever coming up" she said in a jokingly serious tone.

"Actually I'm fluent in Japanese now" Damian murmured while getting something from one of his cases, 'Something to clean the blood I suppose' "I was taught an easy way to learn languages, I might have crossed German once before but if so I just forgot about it. Also, how do you know German?"

"Well if you have any interest in learning a new language you'd want to know the swear words, am I right?" She giggled.

"Fair point" he chuckled while allowing his blood to soap into something he brought, a tissue or towel perhaps. "Now, do you know what Jagged Stone's surprise is for you?"

"Yeah, he wants me to record a bonus track for his album"

Damian paused just as he had finished disinfecting his katana. "Wow, that's great Angel!"

"Yes I'm very grateful to Uncle Jagged for organizing all this but what if I sound horrible? I do want to do it for him really, I don't want to turn the offer down but I-"

"Angel, there is no need to worry. If you're not comfortable with it you can tell Jagged, he'll understand. But I'm sure you have a beautiful voice"

"You really think so?" Marinette murmured. Damian nodded. She gave him a thank you smile before saying, "So, what's this quick way of learning a language? I've got 30 minutes"

Damian chuckled. "Well the first thing you would want to know is..."

~~~

'Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the only one in class whose been able to stop herself from getting akumatized. She must be very strong, physically and mentally. My point was proven when she became Multimouse, wearing nearly every miraculous that I've ever heard or come across. Ladybug must trust her greatly. I must find a way to akumatize her'

Gabriel Agreste stood in his observatory after recently detransforming. 'She can control her emotions well but when she's angry, it's incredibly strong. This girl could be one of the strongest in Paris, she could be one that senses auras. I must find a way. I will use her to eliminate all of heroes. All I need is time'.

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming (ur the one who wanted to get tagged right? I’m so sorry I forget to write your name down so I’m not sure-), @icerosecrystal

[miraculous786]

A prompt with Alya Redemption. After one lie too many Alya or her family gets hurt by Lila’s actions. No bashing anyone, but Lila salt is encouraged (incident in not Akuma related(

Masterlist

You Were To Babysit, Not Abandon

"Thanks again for this, Lila."

"Oh, it's no problem!" the Italian enthused, bright smile on her face. "It's just a shame that Marinette couldn't babysit your little angels."

"Whoa, dude! Might not wanna be calling them that!" Nino chuckled.

Alya shrugged. "Yeah, well, my girl had a commission she needed to work on for a big client. I don't blame her for not wanting any distractions."

"But...don't you think that, well- I don't know...she should make time for you? Shouldn't Marinette want you two to be happy on one of your dates?"

The reporter rose a brow, before gaining a more stern expression. "Hey, don't say that about my best friend. She already does so much for our whole class for free. She deserves a break from our needs every once in a while."

There was a flash of surprise and something akin to a snarl from the brunette, yet it went as soon as it had appeared. "Oh, of course! Silly me! It's just that one of my cousins from Italy, the one that was the daughter of a famous pianist, always offered to look after her family-friends when their parents weren't home. I guess I just expected all good friends to do the same."

She shrugged, apparent guilt on her features, making Alya laugh slightly and rush to assure, "It's fine, Lila. Trust me. Anyway, we better get going now. We don't wanna be late for our reservation. Be sure to keep Ella and Etta safe! They can get into so much mischief sometimes."

"They won't be any trouble," the teen brushed off. "Have fun, bestie!"

Nino rose a brow at the nickname, but nonetheless waved with his girlfriend as they walked out. The door slammed shut behind them, causing a slow grin to stretch across Lila's cheeks.

"Well, isn't this perfect!" she exclaimed with a clap of the hands, turning to the curious kids nearby. "How about we go visit the park to pass some time?"

~*~*~

"Lila! Lila!"

Said person fought off the urge to snap at the twins in her care, and instead replied in a sugar-sweet tone, "Yes?"

"Can we go on the carousel?"

"Pretty please?"

She glanced to the side, catching sight of the functioning ride. On it were a few children - a notable one being Manon - who were screaming excitedly at their parents nearby.

"Of course you can!" the girl allowed, whilst pressing a finger to Ella's nose in a playful manner. "Go on for as long as you want! I'll be right here."

They cheered with their arms in the air together, then proceeded to run off, giggles trailing behind them.

"Finally..." she scoffed beneath her breath. "How does that Mari-Brat deal with them when they never shut up? 'Angels'? More like devils if you ask me. No wonder they were akumatized into them."

Lila stood up from the bench she was sat at. Her head twisted to the scene at the other end of the park, and her legs soon brought her over to it at a fast pace.

There, set up in a way so as to not disturb anyone in the vicinity, was a photoshoot. Cameras of all sorts were pointing in the direction of a fountain, where a blond boy with emerald eyes was posing.

She smirked. Her gaze scanned over both him and the photographer close by. Thoughts of how she herself could be added in to the taken pictures flooded her mind, until she heard an accented voice speak.

"And that's a wrap for now! We'll have a half hour break and carry on after."

Adrien sighed in relief. He faced the woman to his far left and questioned, "Nathalie, is it okay if I have lunch now? I'll stay in the park."

"Yes you may, Adrien," his father's assistant droned. He didn't catch the way she snuck a peek to Lila, nor how a glint of something sinister shone on her glasses. "I have some business to attend to."

"Thank you, Nathalie!" he enthused, before suddenly gaining a pained look when gazing to where the Italian nearby was. "H-Hey Lila, how's it going?"

"Oh, I'm doing great, Adrien. Thank you so much for asking," Lila answered, coming forward to grab hold of his arm to further show her gratitude. However, she was halted by Nathalie opening her mouth to talk.

"Miss Rossi, if you would come with me, please. We have very important matters to discuss on the terms of your modelling contract."

"Of course!" she agreed - her smile only getting wider when she gazed upon the limousine that the female was gesturing to. She strolled over with her head held high, then entered with one last victorious smirk.

The only person to see it was Adrien, who narrowed his eyes.

~*~*~

"Excuse me?"

Adrien jumped. He turned to the source of the two voices that had called in unison, only to see a pair of familiar siblings.

"Ella? Etta? What are you guys doing out here by yourselves?"

Ella sniffled, rubbing her nose. "Alya's friend isn't here and she said she would be. We don't really know this park good. Can you help us please?"

"Please?"

The model rose an eyebrow. "But Marinette doesn't even live around here," he pondered aloud. "And she's responsible enough to not leave kids on their own. Are you sure she's not around?"

"No, Marinette isn't babysitting us. Lila is."

He grit his teeth. His fists clenched. "She's on her way to my father's mansion right now. It'll take at least fifteen minutes to walk back to Alya's," he revealed, tone laced with underlying anger. "I can't let you go by yourself, you're too young."

Etta's lip wobbled. "B-But how are we going to get home?"

After a moment, he pulled out the phone from his pocket. "Don't you girls worry yourselves. I have the perfect person to call."

~*~*~

"Hey, Alya? Are, are you okay?"

The reporter hummed with a serene smile, though Marinette couldn't help but furrow her brows at it. It was suspicious in her eyes, to say the least. The corners of her friend's mouth were slightly up, in a way that suggested that she was both happy and angered at the same time.

"If you say so, I guess..."

Alya turned her head to the baker. "Sorry, girl. It's just that, well...something happened yesterday that's had me worried for a while."

"Oh, gosh! Was it something bad?" Marinette quizzed, concern overtaking her. "Did someone get hurt?"

She chuckled dryly. "I guess you could say that they almost did."

Before the bluenette could say another word, the door to the classroom opened up, revealing a figure adorning an orange jacket. Their demeanour radiated pride and confidence, as they strut to the desks that the two best friends were at.

"Hey, bestie!" the newcomer greeted, ignoring Marinette who was sat with a subtly disgusted expression. "It's great to see you! I wanted to just tell you that I have a new exclusive for your blog if you want to record it after school today. It's about my job as a model for Gabriel Agreste, which I'm sure your fans will love."

"That's great to hear, Lila," Alya praised. "It's a shame that I have to go straight home after school. I am grounded, after all. I guess that means that I can't interview you or anything."

A flash of resentment shone in her green eyes. With a blinding smile, she spoke, "Oh, I'm sure your parents can un-ground you if you just tell them the situation. What you done couldn't have been that bad."

No one noticed how Adrien smirked from his seat.

Since everyone was focused on how Alya's smile disappeared in an instant, and was instead replaced by a look that screamed danger.

However, it seemed that Lila didn't catch on. At least not until the teen spoke up again.

"What I did was very bad, I assure you," she drawled, standing up from her table. "I trusted you, out of all people, to look after my sisters."

The Italian reared back. False tears pricked at her eyes. "W-What? What are you talking about? I thought Marinette was the one who did that, doesn't she?"

"Hey! I'll have you know that Uncle Jagged commissioned-"

Alya slammed her hands on the desk in front, making most in the room flinch. "Lila, I specifically told you to stay at home with Ella and Etta until me and Nino came back - not bring them to a park to play."

"I don't know what you're talkin-"

"You were supposed to babysit them! Not abandon them in a place where they could have been in danger or kidnapped if Adrien wasn't there to tell me where they were!"

"A-Adrien did? But-?"

Lila faced the blond, only to see him grinning in amusement.

"He, he must have made a mistake! I didn't leave them on the carousel at all! I just-"

"First of all, I didn't even mention a carousel," Alya started, finger held up for her to pause. "And second, I'm done with this conversation. I'm afraid that we can't really be friends if you lie so easily to me to get out of the consequences of endangering children."

Marinette gazed with a look that could best be described as awe at Alya. She watched with a sense of delight as Lila flickered her eyes back and forth, before deciding to humph with a flick of the hair and make her way up the stairs beside them.

"...So that was why you were in such a mood earlier."

~*~*~

@northernbluetongue @moonystars14 @soupfilledboots @vixen-uchiha @starsshineandgivehope @professionalfangirl1738

[sebastianshaw]

I know everyone here is SICK of my Duggan hate but-- It strikes me, he really just CAN’T write complex characters? I’ve noted many times over how he’s dedicatedly stripped Shaw of anything likeable or human not only the present, but actively retconned events to make him a 2D sack of evil (and frankly, inept evil) in the past as well. But he also goes out of his way to do the reverse for Emma, retconning that she’s ACTUALLY been a good person All Along even when she was at her most evil (so. . . what about her neverending journey to be a better person then, if she always was?) and actually Always Helped Other Women (which is like. . .pretty laughable to anyone who has read her past issues) to fit his ‘feminist’ theme. And there’s also, as many others have noted, how the secondary cast is just. .  .bereft of character, or likewise one-not. Bobby, Pyro, Shinobi, and Bishop can go for ISSUES without speaking, and when they do, it’s like. . .one line. They show the bare minimum of personality most of the time, and while sometimes Duggan can hit a home run (Shinobi’s remark about how he and his dad have done well in not trying to kill each other so far) a lot of it is just. . . why are they there? No, really. They don’t really do anything, and the “plots” he gives them are typically underwhelming and resolved in one issue.  Pyro, as @sammysdewysensitiveeyes has noted, hasn’t been demonized into a total strawman like Shaw, but he’s also really not at all recognizable as Pyro either. His character is entirely a one-note buffoon who is there for stupid comic relief, and there’s zero discussion about his past prior to coming back---his time with the Brotherhood, his battle with the Legacy Virus, the changes he underwent as a person when he was at death’s door, or even the stuff before that as a wartime journalist in Southeast Asia. None of that is there, there’s just this chaotic frat boy joke that Duggan pretty much entirely made up; he only even acknowledges Pyro is a Gothic Romance novelist after 20 issues, and even then it’s to make him look like a joke some more. Like Shaw, he’s just got one dimension now. Duggan seems to WANT to talk about abuse, specifically at the hands of men, which both Christian and Shinobi have experienced, as both were abused by their fathers. But he never, ever brings that up. Instead, he retroactively invents that Shaw abused Lourdes, and tacks on an abusive backstory to a female villain. I don’t think he thinks men can be abused? Or just. . .doesn’t care. His male characters are the ones who suffer most from flatness and having to be inept, evil, or both while the Cool Women Do Things, and I guess he, like lots of men, thinks that’s what Feminism (TM) is, just he’s not whining about it and is performing it instead. Speaking of that female villain, Wilhemina is a nasty evil sadistic little girl who not only happily kills/hurts people, she also kills and tortures animals, especially kittens. And you know what? I bet in the hands of a skilled writer, she very much COULD be made sympathetic and understandable. But what Duggan does is he just takes her and literally in ONE SCENE is like “oh she understands it was wrong now and is SUPER SORRY see she’s CRYING and also she did it because she was SEXUALLY ABUSED” and bam, we’re supposed to feel for her. There’s no buildup, no exploration, just a sudden explanation and remorse and that’s. . . .it?  Compare MANON AND MAXIME whom I’ve written about before. They’re two children who were traumatized, abused, exploited, and made to hurt others by their abuser, which they seemed to enjoy doing. Now that they’re free and living on Krakoa, they do still exhibit unacceptable behavior at times, sometimes out of vengeance, sometimes in self-defense gone too far, and sometimes out of a desire to help and please others but lacking the tools to understand boundaries and appropriateness and respect for other’s autonomy. They’re a very unsettling blend of being sweet, childlike children, too eager to please adults, and little gremlins who seem to take joy in messing with people’s minds---or who just don’t understand when it’s wrong even when they mean well. Unsettling, and realistic. Psychic powers aside, I find the twins to be much closer to real-world victims of abuse, especially children, in that they’re NOT “good victims” or “bad victims”. They’re not the “abuse makes you evil” trope, but they still have fucked-up behavior so they’re not the “little abused angel who just sobs beautifully but whose symptoms are all sympathetic uwu” either, which is just as rare and as damaging a stereotype in its own way because it holds that up as how survivors of abuse “should” be. And, as said, that’s rarely it. Most survivors come out of abuse with behaviors that AREN’T sympathetic but DID help them survive, and they ARE NOT BAD PEOPLE FOR IT. This shit is complicated. Then there’s Wilhemina, who starts out as just a monster (even though, realistically, if a child is hurting animals, they probably DO need help) and then the moment her tragic backstory is revealed, she also recognizes and regrets all her wrongdoings. She jumps from one extreme to the other in the space of a few panels, but remains totally one-dimensional either way. And of course, Lourdes. We didn’t see to much of her personality BEFORE Duggan got ahold of her, but in her two issues pre-retcon, she showed a surprising amount of depth and moral ambiguity. She was a member of the Hellfire Club and high enough in its ranks to try to prevent Shaw from being nominated as Black Bishop, claiming she’d seen how it changed people. She clearly had seen some shit and despises it, yet she remained within it. She also seemed content with the idea of Shaw and Buckman experimenting on mutants as guinea pigs, her concern was more doing it on the X-Men specifically and that Buckman would betray Shaw. And she had far more agency when she chose to give her life to save Shaw’s, than Duggan’s version that needed Emma to tell her what to do. Duggan’s Lourdes is a brainless doll who talks like a little girl and needs Emma to handle everything for her, despite it largely not making sense that she would, given her own resources. She’s more morally pure, perhaps, but also one-dimensional. Only room for ONE Woman With Agency here, honey! TL;DR Duggan really can’t write characters that are more than one or two notes, and it shows. 

[mcheang]

Phineas & Ferb: While babysitting Manon, Chris, Ella & Etta, Lila catches them doing insane things like organizing concerts, building crazy inventions, take your pick. Lila tries to tattle on them to Marinette, Alya & Nino, but the insane things always vanish by the time they get back. This plants doubts in the minds of the class of Lila as a liar.

Baffled Babysitter

I can’t ever see Lila babysitting Manon. The other kids? Sure. Here’s an outline of what I can see happening.

Food fight

It’s young against old, boy vs girls. And in short, the kids weren’t satisfied with just watching Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. They wanted their own food catastrophe. And so they start slinging food around. Lila orders them to clean up, while she reads a magazine.

One gossip column later, Lila looks up when a shadow passes over head.

What the?

It was a giant meatball that flew over her, and subsequently crashed into the TV.

What the hell?

It was Etta who launched the meatball cannon from her war-size catapult.

Like where did they get those stuff? Is there an Akuma?

Lila tries to regain control only give up and hide under the table while giant produce destroys the house.

Lila is shutting her eyes and curling into herself. Her hiding spot has been buried under an avalanche of frosting.

“Lila, what have you done?”

Alya.

Lila opens her eyes, so glad to see Nino and Alya return. But the pair are looking disappointed in her.

“How was I suppose to stop them? Etta was launching meat off a catapult, Ella was using a burger bazooka, and Chris actually had a cabbage cannon!”

Nino: Gee, maybe try taking their toys away?

Lila looked behind to see the children playing with miniature weapons and still flinging condiments and sauces at each other. And while the house was a mess, nothing was unfixable.

Lila:….There was a food akuma.

Hair salon

Ok, so Nino and Alya decide Lila can’t handle too many kids. So they decide to let her look after the twins.

Etta and Ella wanted to style Lila’s hair. Lila didn’t want to. But the girls just chased at her with scissors. It was a miracle they didn’t cut her ear off. By the time Lila was too tired to run anymore, her new hairdo was looking fabulous.

Everyone who saw her on the street wanted one.

Lila preened at the attention. While she modelled in front of their makeshift street salon, the twins happily played with scissors.

Of course, this was how Alya found her.

Alya: What are you doing?

Lila: Helping your sisters earn money.

Alya: Lila…they’re just making a mountain out of hair they swiped from the nearby salon. Did you honestly spend the last hour in a salon? That is not how babysitting works!

Lila: That’s not true! They did my hair, and others too! I’m a trendsetter.

Alya: Uh-huh. Girls, did you help Lila start a new hairstyle trend?

Ella: No, we helped Marinette.

Etta: We saw the hairstyle in one of her books and decided to try to make it on Lila’s head.

Ella: Marinette thought that this hairstyle would be a fast fad, so we wanted to see if she was right.

Looking around at the other Parisians, with their own different hairstyles, and who were once so crazy about Lila’s hairstyle, now looked past her as if she were old news.

Lila gritted her teeth and scheduled an appointment with her hair stylist.

Pillow fort

Lila is babysitting Chris and he wants to play a war game. Lila wants to play it safe and suggests they build a pillow fort.

While Lila makes a decent pillow wall, she is astounded that Chris built an actual fort of pillows. Worse, his cabbage cannon was loaded with tomatoes this time. This would stain her clothes.

Lila is furious at her splattered state and rants to Nino that his brother is horrible. But Nino only sees his little brother sleeping like an angel on a pile of pillows.

Yeah, Lila just shouldn’t be trusted with their kids. She just isn’t a responsible sitter, and honestly her stories were getting ridiculous.

Fine with Lila. Those kids were a menace. She’d like to see Marinette survive them.

When Marinette babysits and helps them make a giant gingerbread house, her friends see it. Lila smugly waits for the class to realise she was right. However…

Alya: This is Marinette. A daughter of Paris’ best bakers. She can make a candy castle in her sleep, let alone a life size gingerbread house.

Marinette: I’m flattered, but the real credit goes to Chris, Ella and Etta.

Lila waits.

Nino: Real sweet of you, Nette. No wonder the kids adore you.

Lila screamed in frustration.

[julemmaes]

Angel Like You - October 4th

 Fenrys Moonbeam x Asterin Blackbeak

Prompt requested by itsjustme on Ao3: “Could you please do a Fenrys and Asterin one with lots of fluff? <3″

A/N: I LOOVE THEM SO FUCKING MUCH, IF YOU EVER WROTE SOMETHING ABOUT THESE TWO, DM ME THE LINKS TO YOUR FICS CAUSE I LOVE YOU ALREADY

Word count: 2,378

It had been Asterin's birthday for more than eighteen hours and she still hadn't been able to see her boyfriend and finally celebrate with him her drinking age - not that Asterin hadn't had a drink before today, of course, but she imagined it would be nice to do it without having to use her fake ID.

During her lunch break she had walked into the university cafeteria like every other day, staring at her phone waiting for Fenrys to call. She had reached the food counter and started ordering distractedly, with music playing loudly in her ears without losing sight of the screen. That's why she hadn't noticed the balloons falling from the ceiling as soon as she walked through the door. And that's why she hadn't seen her entire group of friends waiting for her at their usual table while they shouted their best wishes.

Manon had gotten irritated and had ripped the headphones out of her ears, making her jump out of fear. Her annoyance hadn't lasted long when Asterin turned around and finally saw what they had put on to make her day just a little more special.

All the Thirteen - their dance group - and Dorian were present, plus a few friends from her classes. None of the guys were there, all away in one of the nearby cities for one of the most important games of the season, and along with them their girlfriends. Aelin, Elide and Lysandra were also part of the cheerleading team and could not afford to miss an important event. Asterin had made a scene when she found out she had an exam on the same exact day. Fenrys had reassured her that there were no problems and that her education was more important than a stupid game of his.

Although she had had fun for that hour with her friends, she missed Fenrys more than usual. And the feeling had worsened when he had sent her a message that he could not call her and that they had lost the game, because Lorcan had been hurt and their team's defense had shrunk dramatically. She immediately replied that she was sorry and that she would have liked to do something to make him feel better. He had seen the text and still hadn't answered, probably busy getting his ass kicked by coach Gavriel.

Now, at seven o'clock in the evening, she was starving to death and desperately wanted to call Fenrys, hear his voice, feel that he had blanched the anger and disappointment that followed a defeat.

She climbed the steps of her small house and saw the kitchen light on and lingered in her footsteps.

It was not possible that someone had broken into her house.

Before she became even more alarmed than she should have been, she approached the window and peered into the house.

"Fen!" she screamed excitedly. She had already snapped towards the entrance and was struggling against the lock, but she could still hear the boy's frightened scream. She laughed.

When she opened the door, she immediately saw Fenrys on the kitchen door with one hand on his chest and his eyes wide open. Asterin didn't even take his backpack off his shoulders before he jumped on his boyfriend.

Fenrys grabbed her, clutching her and resting his head on her shoulder, kissing her neck, "Happy birthday, my love," he whispered to her. They parted enough so that she could look at his face and she laughed, cupping his cheeks. "I missed you so much," he continued, brushing his lips against hers. He took two steps back, leaning against the table for more support.

Asterin smiled and then pushed herself against him, deepening the kiss. Fenrys sighed through the nose, squeezing her hips. He put her down slowly, while they were still kissing and when he pulled the backpack off her shoulders, Asterin also took off her jacket, immediately clutching onto him again, not wanting to be too far away.

Reluctantly, Fenrys pulled away slightly, their noses were still touching each other, "I think I should go back to cooking".

Asterin complained, but let him go anyway, pouting amusedly. Fenrys chuckled and turned towards the stove, where four pots and pans smelled deliciously inviting.

"Where did you find all the food?" she asked, curious, looking at the ingredients scattered on the table. A bottle of tomato puree, some potato skins, half a zucchini and some carrots.

Fenrys looked over his shoulder, "I stopped by the supermarket before I came here," he explained, "I couldn't go home with Con, he took it way worse than I did and I needed to distract myself, not talk about all the mistakes I made on the field today." he looked away when Asterin's expression became serious. She had forgotten the game in the euphoria of the moment.

She approached him, circling his hips from behind and resting her cheek between his shoulder blades. She felt Fenrys hand resting on hers, "I'm so sorry." she kissed him on the neck, tiptoeing, "You shouldn't have done all that. I could have prepared something for us." she murmured against his sweatshirt. She only realized at that moment that he was wearing a chef's apron. She snickered.

"I told you, I wanted to get distracted and cooking relaxes me," he repeated.

Asterin nodded slightly, "I know, I know." she peered over his shoulder to see what he was making, "What is that?"

Fenrys smiled at her, turning the ladle in one of the open pans and taking some of what was supposed to be vegetables and handing it to her, "Chicken and vegetables," he confirmed. Asterin tasted it directly from his hand and closed her eyes while moaning as good as it was. If she had tried to make that dish it surely would have sucked, the chicken would have come out dry and the vegetables would have had no taste at all. Instead the food Fenrys prepared for her was always so tasty and juicy and Asterin always felt how much love the boy poured into it.

"God," she moaned again, "This world doesn't deserve an angel like you."

Fenrys was looking at her with his mouth slightly open and his eyes focused on her lips. He cleared his voice and went back to stirring something else. Asterin pointed at him, "What about that?"

"That's the dressing for our pasta. I bought spaghetti." he smiled at her and caressed her cheek, moving a lock of hair. Spaghetti was definitely her favorite kind of pasta.

"I love you so fucking much." she mumbled to him. Fenrys giggled, with his stupid little grin on his lips, "Me too."

Asterin started cleaning the table, throwing out the scraps and setting the table for the two of them. When Fenrys noticed he whined, "I had to clean it up." he had a guilty look on his face, almost as if he was sorry she was doing him a favor.

The girl watched him closely, "I'm just helping you, Fen."

"Yes, I know, but-" he stopped, cutting the sentence.

Asterin looked him in the eyes and when he looked away, flexing his jaw, she asked, "What is it?"

He remained silent for a while and Asterin gave him time to decide what to say. She knew that he didn't have to push him and he knew that Fenrys had trouble talking about the things that were bothering him, unlike her.

"It's just that I screwed up on the field today. A fuckup that could have been avoided if I had done my job and I need to make it up somehow and treat you like a queen for tonight wouldn't solve everything, but it could at least improve this fucking bad mood of mine." he put his hand in his hair, before he crossed his arms on his chest and turned towards her.

Asterin didn't look at him, continuing to cut the loaf of bread he had bought, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Fenrys grunted, "It's just that I'm sure if I told you what happened, you'd tell me some bullshit of yours to make me feel better and I know I just said the opposite, but I think I deserve to feel like shit."

This time she gave him a stern look, "Why don't you let me judge whether you deserve to feel like shit or not?"

He snorted, "Alright," he mumbled. He said nothing and continued to cook while frowning for a few minutes. Asterin sat down, nibbling on carrots and staring at the muscles in his back that tightened every time he moved. She scowled, "Does it have something to do with Lorcan?"

Fenrys stiffened, "Yes," he simply replied.

"You know, if you don't tell me what happened, I can't just guess?" she asked him jokingly.

He turned towards her, turning off the stove and putting the pan with the chicken in the middle of the table. Asterin was used to seeing him cooking, being that he was practically at her place every night, but it was always nice to see him being the man of the house and making these little gestures for her. Even when his day had been shitty.

He turned to the stove once again, took the pot of pasta and drained it, "I told you he was hurt, didn't I?" she nodded, assenting, "A guy from Velaris broke his anterior cruciate ligament. He jumped on his knee with both feet."

Asterin swallowed noisily, bringing one hand to her mouth. She hadn't realized it was so bad. With such damage he couldn't play for the rest of the season. All this if he did well and if the doctors were able to fix it.

"Fen-" he ignored her, pouring the seasoning on the pasta and starting to serve it.

"It was my fault." he didn't look her in the face, but she had never seen him so distressed in her life. "I saw the piece of shit go up against him and he was charging him like a..." he stopped, shaking his head, "You don't charge another player like that, he looked like a fucking bull trying to kill the matador, I don't know." he sat down after serving both of them. He covered his eyes with his hands, "I should have called him. Warning him that he was about to be tackled."

Asterin was quite upset, she wanted to call Elide, but would have thought about it later. Now she had to concentrate on Fenrys.

"Honey listen to me, these things always happen in football. It's not your fault," she said, extending one hand on the table and taking his hand.

He shook his head, tightening his shoulders, "No, it's different this time." he explained, looking at her finally, "After the game one of his teammates came, the captain, and apologized." he said shocked, "There is no apology in football, Rin. It's not something you do."

Asterin had seen enough games in her life to know that the players were ruthless beasts and that the feeling of belonging to your team was so strong that you felt the need to protect it with your life. Beating someone on the other team was not as strange as it could be considered in other less violent sports. Bullshit, in her opinion.

"They benched him and probably suspended him," continued Fenrys. Asterin understood that he was talking about the player of the other team. She nodded, gritting her teeth.

"You don't think Lorcan blames you, do you?" she asked cautiously, starting to eat when he gestured for her to taste the food. The first bite of pasta was ecstatic. If they weren't in the middle of such a serious conversation she would have praised him and kissed him until they ran out of oxygen.

Fenrys moved the pasta into the dish, "No. I have already spoken to him. Elide also came to me after we left him at the hospital to assure me that it wasn't my fault." Asterin promised herself to text her later.

"Listen," she began, Fenrys looked at her exasperatedly, "Listen to me," she said in a harder tone, "these things cannot be avoided. It wasn't your fault and Lorcan doesn't think it is. I'm sure you'll do everything you can to help him on this path and I'm sure he'll appreciate every little gesture you make, even if he won't show it." they both grinned, knowing full well that Lorcan would never show an ounce of feeling for anyone other than Elide.

When Fenrys did not answer immediately, continuing to eat in silence, Asterin squeezed his fingers still wrapped around hers, "I'm sorry, however, that this happened."

He looked at her, his expression pained, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. It's your birthday and now you're sad."

Asterin snorted, "Stupid, I don't care if it's my birthday. If you're feeling bad, I want to talk about it and make you feel better."

His eyes softened a little, then he whispered, "I love you, very much." Fenrys seemed to remember something important at that moment, "I've brought you presents," he announced as he stood up. Asterin stiffened, leaning forward to his now empty place, confused, "Gifts? S meaning, more than one?"

The boy returned with four packages in his hand, all poorly wrapped. He had a half smile on his face and Asterin would have been satisfied with that little bit of happiness for today.

She thanked him silently when he put them in her lap, leaving a soft kiss on her lips. She opened them one by one and when she took the biggest one, she realized it was fluffy. She opened it curious to find out which sweatshirt of his he had given her, but it was not a sweatshirt. It was a rectangular pillow with a picture of his ass printed on it. They laughed until they cried and then moved into the living room after finishing dinner.

They spent the rest of the evening talking and kissing and when it got late they went to bed, where Fenrys seemed to forget all about Lorcan and the lost game, while he showed her exactly just how much he loved her.

tog tag list (if you want to be removed/added just dm or send me an ask)

@tottenhamboys20 @maastrash @ireallyshouldsleeprn​

[purplebyul]

so there’s this theory going on that elu moved in for s5&6 so here are my headcanons about that : 

lucas is the one to ask eliott to move in. it’s done after a round of sex, mika loudly knocking on lucas’ bedroom door because «THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE LIVING HERE YOU INSATIABLE BEASTS» and eliott is laughing, tears in his eyes, when lucas turns to him and say «i’m tired of him. let’s move in together.» 

eliott chokes on his own spit before kissing lucas, mumbling yes a hundred times against his lips. 

once they find their perfect little home, lucas’ mom gives them money to buy some furnitures (lucas cry because he feels guilty for ever treating his mom badly and eliott buys her the biggest flower bouquet ever to thank her)

they go to ikea and eliott is like a kid in there, lucas has to stop him from buying everything remotely vintage-y («eliott why would you buy a vintage bike??» «but lucas it’s also a plant holder» «no eliott»)

lucas insist they buy the raccoon and hedgehog mug because «eliott it’s us i need to drink my morning coffee out of a raccoon mug!» 

they buy the biggest and warmest blanket ever, because «we need to have a blanket fort at least one night a month and look at the stars lucas» «eliott we’re in paris we can’t see the stars» «we NEED it lucas!»

they buy a lot of fairy lights too for their bedroom, so lucas never sleep completely in the dark but it’s not too bright to keep eliott from sleeping in in the morning

they don’t christen the appartement like the gang says they would, instead they smoked a joint, shared chocolates bars while listening to eliott’s vinyl and watched out of their windows the sun set behind the eiffel tower (which looked really small, but still)

the first morning they wake up in their new home, they stay in bed all day and have a second talk about parallel universe, («what if one eliott said no to lucas?» «well, then lucas got sad but understood and said he’ll wait until eliott wants to move in with him» «what if he’s scared the change will trigger an episode?» «then lucas will be here to help him through it if it happens» ) eliott paints a picture of the moon on lucas’ back and later print it out and hang it above their bed’s headboard

their bedroom is their sacred place and absolutely nobody is allowed to go in it apart from them : it’s filled with eliott’s drawings, their private and silly pictures, little poem and post it note tapped on their wall above their bed. sometimes they’ll find a new post it the other left before they woke up with a sweet little message on it “you look like an angel when you sleep” “you drooled on me last night and i took a picture, you’re beautiful” (when eliott can’t get out of bed, lucas will leave him a post it every morning ”it was hard leaving you this morning because you were sleeping on my chest, and i hate not feeling the weight of your head on top of it” “i bought one of virginia woolf book, can we read it together tonight?” “i’ll be late tonight, but i’ll come home with your favorite pastry, i miss you”)

eliott want to do something sweet and cooks one night, when lucas’ mom is supposed to visit, but he burns it. the next day, lucas pins a sign on their kitchen door that reads «no eliott allowed» (eliott pouts and refuses to kiss him for the whole day) (it lasts 1h)

they take the same bus to go to school and college, but eliott will get off two stops before lucas. lucas tends to finish earlier so he’ll get on the bus and get off at eliott’s stop to wait for him.

they have a nice old lady as their neighbour and she l o v e s eliott. so it’s no surprise that eliott spend time at her house on the week end «she’s old and need help with some stuff, i’m just helping her».

one day, lucas comes home from the clinic and his mom is not doing good and he just want to curl up and have eliott hug him but when he opens the door it smells really nice and he enters the kitchen, scared, only to see eliott lighting a candle and two plates filled with creamy pasta and rotisserie chicken. («you cooked?» «yes ! our neighbour has been giving me cooking lesson for two month now. how’s that for a surprise anniversary dinner?»)

when it rains, they like to build their blanket fort and watch the rain drops on the windows, playing board games and laughing until their tummies hurts

come christmas time and lucas comes home to the biggest christmas tree he has ever seen, already decorated and it looks like it’s out of an american movie

they invite lucas’ mom, mika, manon and eliott’s parent to their first christmas dinner in their new home and lucas cries when everyone go home because he can’t shake out that feeling of finally having a family of his own (later that night, they’ll talk about marriage and babies «i want an army of kids lucas» «what the fuck eliott? adopting one kid is hard but an army?» «i don’t want to adopt. i want them to have your eyes and your smile.») 

[flightfoot]

In defense of Alya and Nino asking Marinette to babysit

I see them salted on this occasionally, and I don’t think it’s warranted.

For context, this has happened on two occasions, both times so that Alya and Nino can go on a movie date, in Timetagger and Chris Master.

In Timetagger Alya asked Marinette to babysit, but she declined so Alya made other arrangements.

Alya: (begin phonecall) Hey there! Ladybug: Alya, it's Marinette! I'm sorry I won't be able to look after Chris and your sisters this afternoon. I— I hadn't finished my presentation for Monday, I hope you're not mad at me. Alya: No, of course not, no biggy. A friend of mine said she'd take care of them, so Nino and I are going to see a movie. Ladybug: A friend? Alya: Yeah, don't worry, she'll take care of everything. Ladybug: Perfect, enjoy your movie then. See you later! (end phonecall) (Scene transition: Césaire apartment.) Alya: Okay, we're going. Nino: Thanks again, Lila. (they leave)

In Christmaster we see the tail end of Marinette’s babysitting, with Alya and Nino picking Chris up a couple minutes in.

Alya: Marinette, we're back. Nino: Did you guys have fun? Marinette: Sure we did. How was the movie? Nino: Awesome. Thanks for watching my bro, Marinette. What's wrong, little dude? Chris: (Chris starts crying) AH! I want it to be Christmas right now! Marinette: I have absolutely no idea where that came from. Alya: Okay, I guess we'd better get going. Bye, girl. (Marinette looks at the snow globe) Nino: See you at school tomorrow. Marinette: Yeah, bye Nino, see you soon Chris. (She closes her door)

Usually I see Nino and Alya salted on a few points regarding this:

They don’t tell their parents that they’re having Marinette babysit and are basically sneaking around behind their parents’ backs in order to go on dates. This one I really don’t get. It’s POSSIBLE, of course, but it’s not confirmed or even really implied. Alya and Nino DO appear to be the ones making arrangements here, but it’s not clear whether they ran those arrangements by their parents or not. It’s not even clear that they need to; the kids in ML seem to be fairly free-range, it’s reasonable that their parents may just trust Alya and Nino to make appropriate arrangements regarding babysitting for their younger siblings. I especially don’t see any element in these two exchanges to suggest that Marinette or Lila babysitting was in any way something they had to keep quiet about or weren’t allowed to do.

Marinette is too swamped to babysit so they shouldn’t have asked her. This one I can sort of see, but consider; they don’t know HOW swamped she is. They don’t know she’s Ladybug. They don’t know that she might have to leave at any moment to go fight akumas or sentimonsters, or that she needs to patrol or ANY of that. Alya might know about how busy she is with schoolwork and any commissions and extra stuff she decides to take on for one reason or another, but it’s not like these two times that she was asked to babysit happened during Gamer 2.0. She may not have been as busy during these two times. In fact, there’s good evidence that she WASN’T all that busy during Christmaster, which was the only time she actually ended up babysitting, since she had time to spend the rest of the day making Adrien’s 50th birthday gift, which isn’t exactly time-sensitive. Also in Timetagger when Marinette DID end up canceling babysitting on short notice because she was too swamped, Alya was completely cool with it.

They don’t pay Marinette for babysitting. Now for this one I’m going to need to bring up some other incidents. Because yes, there is no sign that money exchanged hands. But that’s because that’s not the currency here. I’m pretty sure Marinette did this as a favor - and not a one-sided favor. See, Marinette has her own little hellion that she’s regularly asked to babysit - Manon, Nadja’s daughter. But several times Alya has ended up either helping Marinette babysit her or taking over the babysitting entirely. Stormy Weather, for instance. 

Alya drops by Marinette’s house to tell her that Adrien’s having a photoshoot in the park, but discovers that Marinette is currently stuck babysitting as a favor to Nadja.

Manon: Uh, who's she? Marinette: Whoops! I forgot about this little detail. Alya: And who's she? Marinette: This is Manon, one of my mom's friends' daughters. I'm watching her all afternoon. (Gasps) Oh no! I can't go out! Alya: Let me guess. Another "you couldn't say no" favor? Marinette: No, I just couldn't... say... no... Alya: Look, no problem! I'll look after your little detail for you. (Manon runs off) Marinette: Thanks, but I'm responsible for her... Besides, I couldn't do that to you. She's... an absolute angel! (A crash is heard. Marinette screams and runs after Manon, who is carrying a pot and a spatula.) Manon! Put that down! Ugh! Come back! Alya: (Marinette continues to chase after Manon until Marinette and walks back to Alya and Manon continues to pull on her arm) You're just a pushover, Marinette. I have to babysit my sisters all the time, which makes me an expert in dealing with angels. Manon: Who are you, anyway? Alya: I'm a mythical unicorn from the world of Reespa, disguised as a totally fabulous human girl! I grant magical wishes, but only to little monkeys who behave! Manon: (laughs) No, you're not! ...Are you? (Alya grabs Manon in the air, and puts her on Marinette's shoulders.) Alya: Okay, let's all go to the park! Manon: Yay! Marinette: Okay!

When they go to the park and Marinette’s conflicted, wanting to try to get closer to Adrien but not wanting to abandon Manon when SHE was the one who was asked to babysit, Alya helps out.

Alya: They need an extra to pose with Adrien! Marinette: What? Seriously? Manon: Is that boy your boyfriend? Marinette: What? No, I mean, yes? No! Alya: Go on! What are you waiting for? Marinette: But, what about Manon? Alya: (Alya wagging finger towards Marinette and hand gesturing her move aside) You take care of Prince Charming, and I'll take care of Miss Unicorn here. You don't know how to control her anyway. Manon: No way, Marinette's my babysitter! Alya: Trust me. Unicorns unite! Let's go to Rispa and find us some sad little village kids and grant those wishes! Yee-haw! Manon: Yee-haw!

Alya volunteers to look after her so that Marinette can do what she REALLY wants to do. She even ends up looking after Manon for quite awhile since Ladybug had to go fight Stormy Weather and Alya and Manon were trapped. Honestly it’s a REALLY good thing Alya came and was so up for babysitting, or when Stormy Weather arrived Marinette would’ve been up a creek, since she would’ve still needed to leave to take care of the akuma but wouldn’t have had anyone to look after Manon.

Then in Prime Queen, Marinette ended up calling Alya over to babysit for her on false pretenses since she’d accidentally agreed to babysit during the same period of time that she was supposed to be interviewed, but she couldn’t exactly TELL anyone that.

Alya Césaire: Super Manon to the rescue, woohoo! Manon: To the Eiffel Tower and beyond! Marinette: Glad you could make it last minute, Alya. Alya: Of course, it's way more fun watching your favorite superhero on TV with my favorite girls. Commentator: (Marinette watches the live broadcast on air and gulps anxiously.) When we return from commercial, Nadja Chamack will be joined by Ladybug and Cat Noir for an incredible, exclusive interview. Manon: (Points at Nadja on the monitor.) Mommy, there's mommy! Alya: Why can't I get an exclusive interview like that for my Ladyblog? (Sighs.) Marinette: (Stutters) Oh, I forgot to err, tell my bakery something. They're in the parents downstairs. Do you mind keeping an eye on Manon while I'm not here? Alya: Don't you mean tell your parents something in the bakery? Marinette: (Continues stuttering.) Err, right. Well, err, sometimes, it can take a while - they don't always understand even when I explain. Err, actually, it's not their fault, they... Alya: Marinette? Marinette: Yes? Alya: Go! Marinette: Right! (Marinette then leaves with running down the stairs and starts talking to Tikki.) Alya's such a good friend, I feel so guilty for inviting her over just so I can leave her with Manon - then again, Alya is Ladybug's biggest fan - she'd be crushed if her favorite superhero didn't turn up for her favorite TV show.

Alya was completely cool with coming over last-minute to watch the interview with Marinette, and even totally fine with Marinette ditching her, leaving her to watch over Manon. She was even pretty cool afterwards, even though Marinette was missing for a LONG time.

Marinette: (coming up the stairs) I'm so sorry Alya! I had no idea it would take so long to talk to my parents! Alya: (walks over to her) You won't believe it, I was taken hostage by a supervillain! Marinette: (faking surprise) What? You're kidding! Alya: No joke! You missed everything! Luckily, Ladybug saved me! Marinette: (smiles then hugs Alya) I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you. Alya: (pats Marinette's head) No biggie, girl. But the next time we decide to spend an evening together, you're not allowed to go anywhere near your parents. Marinette: (laughs) Deal.

Alya’s fine with being called over last minute, even though she basically just got babysitting dumped on her. But she’s fine with it. She’s not upset or even annoyed about it.

In Puppeteer 2 Alya AGAIN volunteers to look after Manon, though that one’s not as prominent since she basically sets the whole thing up in the first place, knowing that this would probably be needed. She and Nino look after Manon (though not all that well) while Marinette tries to work up the nerve to talk to Adrien.

Marinette occasionally babysitting for Alya and Nino so they can go on dates just seems like an exchange of favors, since Alya has covered for her babysitting several times, and often are very short notice too. And when Marinette DOES need to say no, Alya’s cool with that too.

I understand why people might write fics where Marinette IS babysitting for Alya and Nino a lot even when sees struggling to keep up, where their parents DON’T know about the arrangement and are upset about it, where Alya guilts Marinette if she says no or implies that she can’t. It’s not totally out of the realm of what might be possible with their characterizations.

But don’t confuse Fanon for Canon and salt Alya and Nino for Fanon actions.

[rufousnmacska]

Hi can I request for another modern manorian fic?

This is unforgivably late so I apologize anon! There is more to come, hopefully in the next week.

Museum Day

Part 1

Dorian cringed and covered his ears as shrieking kids ran up the steps to the museum. They moved by him like water flowing around a rock and he wondered again why he’d agreed to be a field trip chaperone.

When he caught sight of his little brother laughing with his friends, his doubts vanished.

Hollin was still struggling with their father’s death. And with their newly arrived uncle who’d stepped in to take over as CEO. Having grown the family business to a sprawling, multi-national company, their father had become a greedy bastard. Dorian supposed it was necessary to reach that level of success. Still, the man had treated his sons relatively well. If withholding affection and attention was treating your children well.

Uncle Perrington made Dorian Sr. look like father of the year material. Hollin was certainly no angel, but no kid deserved the verbal lashings Perrington dealt out.

Dorian had one more semester of school and then he’d take Hollin and leave. In the meantime, chaperoning his brother’s class trip to the museum was the least he could do.

A teacher started to form the kids into groups and Dorian peered through the revolving door to the main entrance. The building housed both a natural history museum and an art museum. As a fifth-year architecture student, he’d spent some time in the art wings, but had never ventured into the other side. All those bones and stuffed animals never appealed to him. The kids’ excitement was infectious though, and he found himself eager to get started.

Once within the towering entry hall, Dorian took his group aside to wait for a tour guide and then buried his head in a map of the building. When Hollin and his friends became suddenly and uncharacteristically quiet, he looked up to see what had caused it.

His eyes met those of the guide, and as one, their jaws dropped in awkward recognition.

*****

“Why can’t I buy you a beer?”

The dark-haired princeling seemed to have a problem with her getting her own drink. Even if Manon hadn’t known he was a Havilliard – probably a lesser known cousin or something – his clothes pegged him for a rich boy. Gray pants and a blazer - who the hell wore a blazer to go out on a Saturday night? - and short curls that looked too messy to be anything but carefully arranged. Some spoiled brat out with his friend, looking for cheap booze and easy hook-ups in the bad part of town.

She glanced over to where Asterin was holding his friend against the wall, kissing him while his hands groped her ass. With an annoyed sigh, she had to admit their plan seemed to be going well for one of them. Turning back, she found he’d moved his bar stool an inch or two closer to her.

People hitting on her was common, and something she usually dismissed with a look that was scary enough to send them running. Being hit on here though… It didn’t happen. Ever. Most of the bar’s customers were family or people she’d known half of her life, making them family all the same. That was probably why Asterin had practically launched herself at that guy. He was fresh blood.

Just like the princeling, Manon caught herself thinking.

The moment the two had walked in, his blue eyes were locked on her. Manon had turned away, not interested. But a little later she’d turned to see him smiling at some joke his friend had made. Which lead to her getting caught staring. Which lead to Asterin abandoning her for the tall blonde and opening the door for this discussion over who was buying the drinks.

“Because I said so.” His grin widened at the growl in her voice and Manon had to look away before she got thoroughly trapped in it. “Besides,” she returned the grin, adding a knife sharp edge all her own. “I’m not drinking tonight.” She surprised herself by almost telling him she had to work early the next day. But he didn’t need to know that.

“As it happens”, he said, reaching back to get his glass of soda, “neither am I. So let me amend my offer.” He made a show of looking her up and down. But not in a creepy way. It was thoughtful and a little exaggerated and she had to bite back a smile. “You look like a Shirley Temple kind of girl…”

“Oh my god,” Manon groaned, unable to keep from laughing. And before she could stop him, he was ordering one for her.

*****

It was her. The white-haired witch from that bar he’d never been able to find again.

Chaol had called her a witch after hearing about that night. How else to explain Dorian’s obsession to find her. Or Gavriel never shutting up about the blonde he’d hooked up with.

“You’re both idiots,” Chaol had said. Only to be smacked on the arm by his girlfriend.

“They’re bewitched,” Yrene said. “Not idiots. I think it’s romantic!”

Chaol just shook his head. “So those women were witches. That doesn’t mean these two,” he pointed at his roommates, “aren’t idiots.”

Dorian had tried to retrace their steps. He remembered the parking garage they’d parked in, but from there, he’d had no luck. Gavriel, too drunk that night to recall getting there, was useless in the search. But he helped, being just as eager as Dorian to find it and the blonde again.

And now, here she was. About to lead him and a bunch of kids on a tour of the museum.

“Manon.” When he looked up from her name tag and found her still staring at him, eyes blazing gold, he allowed himself one self-satisfied smirk. She’d insisted on no names that night. “I’m Dorian,” he said, enjoying the sight of her reddening cheeks. But then her eyes flashed wide for a second in understanding and he wished no one had ever heard of his family.

“Can we see the T-Rex or are we just gonna stare at each other all day?” one of the students yelled, causing the group to break out into laughs and a cheer of agreement.

Smoothing out her oversized museum shirt, Manon cleared her throat and began calling out rules for the tour. Dorian listened dutifully, trying to ignore the memories of that night playing through his mind.

*****

Alcohol would be the perfect excuse. But unfortunately, there was no excuse for the dancing. Manon was not someone who danced. Especially here, in her father’s bar.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. When they were teenagers, she and her gang of cousins and friends would sing and dance to whatever cheesy 80’s songs were still working on the old jukebox in the corner. But that wasn’t really dancing.

She’d never slow danced with someone before.

After an hour or two of flirting and laughing, and another god awful Shirley Temple, the princeling had convinced her to dance with him. What was she supposed to do when Asterin changed the song midway through? She couldn’t just walk away when the music slowed. That would be rude.

So here she was, dancing in the arms of a Havilliard while another slow song began, trying not to think about how good he smelled. Or felt. Or might taste.

Asterin and her blonde were dancing too, but not seriously. They were swirling each other around, paying no attention to the music. She always admired that ability of Asterin’s to just not give a fuck and have fun.

They’d both had a similarly shitty upbringing, so Manon often wondered why she was incapable of letting go like that. Then she’d remember how much more Asterin had suffered, remembered that it was as much a defense mechanism as anything. She of course had her own defenses as a result of growing up with their grandmother. Once they’d escaped, and she’d found her father, Manon had thought she’d let those walls down a bit.

Having her first slow dance at the age of 26 might be a sign that she hadn’t.

When the song ended, she looked up into gemstone eyes and decided she wanted to have some fun of her own.

“You want to get out of here?”

 *****

This was a nightmare. Truly awful. She didn’t know how her day could get any worse. This was why she never did anything fun. This was how her luck worked. Of course the one guy she has anonymous sex with would show up at work for a goddamn tour with a bunch of kids.

And, I’m wearing the ugliest damn clothes I own, she thought miserably, leading the group up to the second floor.

The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves at least.

Manon was not overly fond of children. Usually they were fine. But more often than not, they had a way of seeing right through you and blurting out whatever secret they’d uncovered. Leading school groups was a price she was willing to pay for the experience and connections she was gaining at the museum. And she’d learned that if she kept talking, kept asking questions, kept them entertained… The next thing she knew, it was over.

This group was doing well, answering her questions, asking a lot of their own. It would have been perfect. If not for the princeling - basically a true prince she knew now - whose eyes followed her everywhere and saw every blush that crossed her cheeks and every glance she stole in his direction.

Directing them all into a room, she ignored Dorian as he passed her. After everyone was inside she began to talk about the displays of rocks and minerals lining the dark walls. This exhibit was one of her favorites because of the reactions it got. With the T-rex and triceratops skeletons just downstairs, people gasping at a bunch of rocks was always a highlight of giving a tour. The second she flipped off the main lights and hit a switch to activate the UV lights, the kids oohed and aahed at the brilliant reds and greens and blues of the fluorescent minerals. The UV moved from rock to rock, spotlighting each one in turn. Manon was supposed to name them as they were featured, but she usually didn’t, letting them just enjoy the show.

It was mostly dark, so she risked a glance towards Dorian. He was standing with a boy she assumed was his brother, even though they looked nothing alike. The smile he wore was reminiscent of the one that had ensnared her that night. A smile that seemed to come so easily, so often. A smile she didn’t think herself capable of. When he turned in her direction, she brought the lights back up and lead them to the next exhibit.

*****

Being Gavriel’s designated driver was never fun. It didn’t happen often since he rarely drank. But that was the problem. He was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, and a heavyweight when it came to lugging his ass home. Chaol had once thrown out his back trying to help the guy up the stairs to their apartment.

So when they’d started the night with Chaol bowing out, and Gavriel needing to unwind from exams, Dorian was expecting an evening of babysitting and boredom. Even Gavriel’s insistence that they find bars in sections of the city they’d never been to before wasn’t enough to rouse his interest.

Until they’d found this place. Until he’d seen her. Standing at the bar in jeans and a sweater, her silvery white hair falling down her back in a messy braid. Blood red lips and black nails. The exact opposite of what most women he knew wore on a night out. And she was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever laid eyes on. The thought had made him laugh. It was such a cliche. But even cliches could be true sometimes.

And now she was pulling him out a back door and down an alley.

Dorian was stone cold sober. So why did he feel like he was floating? Why was his brain buzzing and his heart pounding? She glanced back at him and smiled as she led him onto another street.

Oh, he thought, grinning back. That’s why.

There was nothing in his system except her.

They stopped at a door and before he could try to figure out where they were, she had it unlocked and pulled him inside. And before he could say anything, she was kissing him.

It took every ounce of self control he possessed, but he needed to ask. So breaking apart from the softest lips he’d ever kissed, he said, “Wait. What’s your name?“

With a smirk that set him on fire, she said, “No names. Just fun.” Then, more seriously, she asked, “Do you have a condom?”

He pulled a couple out of his pocket to show her and she rolled her eyes, still smiling. But then he hesitated. As much as he wanted to know her name, Dorian realized that if she told him, he’d have to give his. He could lie, but he didn’t want to do that with her. And if this one night was all she was willing to give him, he’d take it. On her terms.

“I’m at your command,” he said, losing his breath at the heat that overtook her at his words.

“I’ll try to be gentle,” she teased as she took his lower lip between her teeth. Dorian groaned and lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. “Down the hall. First door on the left,” she said, sounding out of breath too.

As he carried her to the bedroom, Dorian uttered a brief, silent thank you to Gavriel for dragging him out tonight.

*****

“Have dinner with me?”

Manon’s eyes slid over to him as the kids ran off into the gift shop, where the tours always ended. They were left alone. No distractions, no excuses.

Dorian knew he was probably crossing a line. He’d done his best to pay attention as she’d led them through the various halls and galleries, but there were a few times when she’d caught him watching her and not the exhibits. She’d been flustered once or twice by him though. Which was why he decided to throw his luck to the wind and just ask.

“What was your favorite exhibit?” she asked, watching the kids as the other groups from their school joined them.

“Excuse me?” That was not the answer he’d been expecting.

“Was there a certain dinosaur you liked? Or one of the dioramas? Maybe something in the Hall of Minerals?” Manon finally turned to look at him, her face expressionless. “What was your favorite part?” She repeated the question a little more slowly, enunciating each word.

He hesitated, sensing a trap. The answer forming on the tip of his tongue - You, of course - would undoubtedly spring it and send him limping home with his pride in ruins.

“Uh…” He fumbled through his brain for something, anything, as he realized he’d been silent for too long. “The dinosaurs. I liked the giant winged ones.” It wasn’t a lie, they were his favorites. And not just because her voice seemed to grow more excited while talking about them. For some reason, they seemed more unbelievable than the other fossil skeletons, more fantastical and amazing. But under the pressure of her piercing stare, there was no way he’d remember any of their names.

Giving nothing away to signify if he’d given a good reply, she simply asked, “The raptors?”

Dorian tried not to sound relieved. “Yeah, the raptors. They were cool. Frightening as hell, but cool.” Manon made a disappointed sigh and he knew instantly that he’d fucked up.

“Raptors are birds of prey. Or small carnivorous dinosaurs. Like Jurassic Park.” She curved a finger that sported an exceptionally sharp nail. “The giant flying ones are pterosaurs. Which are reptiles. If you’d been paying attention, maybe you would have known that.” Stepping closer to him, her voice soft and lethal, she said, “Perhaps if you could answer my question properly, my answer wouldn’t be no.”

Before he could say anything to defend himself, Hollin rushed over and grabbed his hand. As his brother pulled him towards baskets of fake fossils for sale, Dorian glanced back at Manon. She was basking in the satisfaction of tricking him. But there was something else there besides the smooth as cream smile. Her eyes were blazing with a challenge.

He was pulled away again and when he looked back, she was gone. As Hollin picked out his souvenirs, Dorian decided the two of them should start coming to the museum more often. His brother enjoyed it, and there was the extra benefit of getting Hollin out of their toxic home. And he clearly needed to bone upon his dinosaur names.

To be continued…

I don’t think tags are working, but just in case…

@itach-i @nestasbucket @manontrashbeak @bookishwitchling @jimetg98 @mis-lil-red @chloe123love607 @sierrareads @yourfacesickens-me @awesomelena555 @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @blackhavilliard

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[fanficfreekspn]

1-1: Meet Lily

     ☙❶❧  |   ☙❷❧  |   ☙❸❧  |   ☙❹❧

"That's gotta hurt," Dean stared at the grizzly scene. A middle-aged man had been bludgeoned to death with a blunt object and cut on the inside of his thigh, through the femoral artery.

"Shouldn't there be more blood than this?" Sam looked around. There was a small pool by the victim's head, but nothing around his leg.

"Probably..." something caught Dean's attention as he looked up at the police tape, holding the civilians back. He noticed that there was a woman, quite a bit younger than his brother and him, taking a few photos with her phone before lifting it to her mouth and whispering into it. "What do you make of that?" he nodded as Sam looked up and studied the woman. She was dressed in a purple and black flannel shirt over a black tank top, grey cargo pants, and boots.

"Looks like a hunter to me," Sam smirked.

"You'd think she'd want a closer look at the body, if that were the case."

"You can always go and ask her," Sam continued to write notes in his journal as Dean nodded in agreement before casually walking up to her.

He slowly reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his badge before flashing it to her. "Special Agent Nugent, FBI. Is there something I can help you with?"

She offered him a knowing smirk. "Ted, is it? Surely you can do better than that, Winchester."

He raised his eyebrows and looked around before taking a step closer. "Do I know you?"

She offered her hand to him. "Benatar. Pat Benatar."

"Touché," he laughed as he shook her hand. 

"Seriously though, this is the third vic I've seen in this state with their skull bashed in and their crotch sliced."

"We only knew of the one in Boise."

"Idaho Falls three days before that."

He cocked his eyebrow as he looked her over. "How'd you get all that information from way over here?"

"I'm just that good," she tilted her head and smiled. "Would you and your brother like to meet up for dinner and compare notes?"

"The burger joint on Main St. at 8:00?"

"Perfect," she nodded before walking off.

He turned to return to his brother's side, and when he looked up she was already gone.

"What's the verdict?" Sam looked up from his notes.

"She's a hunter, and she seems to know us. I guess I'll have to make a few calls before we meet her for dinner."

"Did you get a pic of her to send Garth? Maybe he knows?"

"Nope," he pointed to his temple. "It's all up here," he winked.

.

As soon as the brothers entered their motel room, Dean dialed his phone as Sam walked to their refrigerator for two beers.

"Hola, mi amigo!" Garth answered in his typical, chipper way.

"G-man, how's it goin'?" he couldn't help but smile as he accepted his open beer from his brother.

"I am wonderful, my friend! What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you knew of another hunter who might be here, working on the same case you sent us on."

"Another hunter?"

"Yeah, a tiny little brunette with a big ego. Seemed to know everything, and she even knew us."

"You may have to be a bit more specific, Dean. Everyone knows you and Sam."

He rolled his eyes around the room. "Dark curly hair, blue eyes, about 5'8" and 130 pounds."

Sam smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Not that you were checking her out."

"I'm an observer," he whispered.

"Did she have a silver amulet on a stone necklace?"

"That's oddly specific. Um... yeah, I think so. Purple stones."

"Congratulations, my friend! You've met the allusive Lily Rose!"

His mouth dropped open as he looked across the room at Sam. "I thought she was a myth."

"Not a myth, my friend, just very protective of her ass. You two must have come across some strange shit if she's there on the same case."

"Yeah, and she told me of another case in Idaho Falls we missed. We're supposed to meet her for dinner to compare notes later."

"I am truly jealous," he sighed wistfully. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Not at the moment. Thanks, man."

"Via con dios!"

He hung up and looked at Sam. "Lily Rose."

"So she is real?"

"This is huge! I've been wanting to meet her for years! I've got to know the real story about the giant!"

"And the Grindylows!" Sam became excited.

"Let's go!”

.

Lily was set up in a corner booth with two iPads and a MacBook Air, typing away and looking between all of them as Dean and Sam approached her. "Gentlemen," she spoke without looking up.

Dean slid into the seat first, with Sam following. She looked up to see both of them grinning back at her. "Lily," they spoke at the same time.

"I see introductions aren't necessary," she laughed.

"So you are... Lily Rose? THE Lily Rose?" Sam asked.

"Yes," she answered slowly.

"You single-handedly took down a Jack-In-Irons?" Dean asked.

"I poisoned him first, but yes."

"Do they really carry around the heads of their victims?"

"Unfortunately, yes," she scrunched her nose.

"And the spiked clubs?"

She pushed her shirt aside to reveal a scar on her right shoulder. "Very large, dirty, and painful."

"Wow," both men sat back, but Sam jumped in next.

"And the Grindylows?"

"Unfortunately, it had gotten three children before I got to it," she dropped her eyes.

"It? Only one? I heard there were three."

"There were. She had to feed her children somehow."

"Wow. You are definitely the expert on European spooks who shouldn't be here," Dean looked up at the waitress. "A beer and a burger, please."

"I'll have the same," Sam followed.

"Keep the coffee and Red Bulls coming, Sarah," she smiled.

"Sure thing, Patty."

Both men's eyes widened as she poured the last of the Red Bull in front of her into a coffee cup that she topped off with the carafe of black coffee.

"That is wicked cool," Dean mumbled. "My heart would explode with that much caffeine."

"Brain fuel," she winked at him before turning one of her iPads around. "What do you know of Redcaps?"

"What, like mushrooms?"

Sam rolled his eyes before answering. "They kill for blood that they use to paint their hats. If the blood dries out, they die; so they keep killing."

"More European spooks?" Dean raised his eyebrows. 

"They normally hang out in abandoned castle ruins," she sat back and took a drink. "It just so happens that our first victim was an archeologist who had just gotten back from a two-week vacay in Scotland. I think he went sightseeing and a Redcap hopped a ride back to the States."

"Maybe he took something from the castle he shouldn't have?" Sam offered.

"That's possible," she looked down at her second iPad and swiped through some photos.  

"What makes you so sure that's what we're dealing with?" Dean asked.

"The footprints," she turned her iBook around and pointed. "They wear iron boots, and they’re only about three feet tall.”

He squinted as he looked at the photos of each crime scene. "I'll be damned. I missed that."

"Iron boots? How fast can they be in iron boots?" Sam scoffed.

"Trust me, you cannot outrun a Redcap. If they're hunting you, they will get you."

"Then how do we gank them?" Dean asked.

"Now that... I'm not sure," Lily sighed. "All I've ever been told was to stay away. If you do come across them, you'd better know the lay of the land better then they do and hide."

"Are they related to anything else?" Sam rubbed his chin.

"The closest thing is a Vampire," she shrugged her shoulders. "They need blood to survive, albeit a different way."

"If they wear iron boots, then iron's not an option," Dean thought aloud.

"Capture it and let its hat dry out?" Sam asked.

Lily stopped and glanced at Dean.

"Trap it, tie it up, and steal its hat," Lily agreed. "That's genius, Sam."

He blushed as he looked away, their beers and burgers arriving and placed in front of them.

"So, Lily Rose. You probably know more about us than we know of you," Dean dug into his sandwich. "Spill."

"There's not much, really," she looked between them. "If rumor's true, you two have seen some pretty heavy shit yourselves."

"I still don't believe some of it myself," Sam huffed.

She looked between the both of them. "My mother... is Fae."

"Fae?" Dean swallowed down his sandwich. "Like Fairy?"

She nodded silently. "Since I'm a half-breed, I wasn't welcomed into the family and she dropped me off at my father's doorstep. He in turn found the nearest orphanage."

"That is harsh," Sam gave her the saddest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen.

"I have no idea why I just told you both that... I've never told anyone."

"We have that effect on people," Dean smiled for her.

"So the Fae are all about threes. When I turned 12, I joined the collective. I can connect to my family bloodline. I know what they know. Since they're Fae..."

"You have a direct line to information on these European monsters," Sam grinned. "That is very cool!"

"I don't know, it's kind of like the Borg to me," Dean grimmaced.

"A bit," she agreed. "When I turned 15, I was able to see through the veil."

"So you can see angels and demons?"

"And ghosts, spirits, and other Fae."

"18?" Dean had already finished his burger and had started on his fries.

"I have a few magic abilities, but not a lot. Elemental, mostly. The basics."

"Elemental? Like earth, fire, air, and water?" Sam asked.

She again nodded.

"That will definitely speed up drying out that blood," Dean suggested.

She nodded her agreement.

"So you're on your own?" Dean watched her.

She rolled her eyes and looked around. "It doesn't feel that way with your ancestors’ voices in your head."

"How can they talk to you and not accept you?" Sam asked.

"They needed to wait and see how strong I am. Human brains weren't meant to wield the kind of power mine does. They didn't want to bestow honors upon me only for me to die in my teens," she rolled her eyes again. "I've been invited to meet the family. I told them to kiss my ass."

Both brothers grinned.

"Have you looked for your father?"

"No," she answered plainly. "I have no desire to meet the man who handed me over to total strangers."

"Would you even know where to start? Do you have a last name?"

"My Celtic name is Lilwen Manon. I've never known my surname, and I'm not about to ask my mother. As far as I'm concerned, my family is only good for helping me do my job and that's it."

"Well then..." Dean raised his beer. "Here's to deadbeat dads, something Sammy and I know a lot about. We orphans need to stick together."

She tapped her coffee cup against their beers and nodded before drinking it down. 

Chapter 2>

[crew-19]

Week 40

Hey hey guys, Leya here. So this week was filming week and booooy was it a hectic one. Let me just say here: always have a backup plan for your backup plan, because you just NEVER know. As my mom says to me all the time “better be safe than sorry”. 

Anyways... We decided we would divide up the filming into two separate days, to make sure we’d have enough time to get all of our shots. 

WEDNESDAY

The first day of filming had finally come. We were all very excited and nervous. We all met an hour before WG to get the actors ready and discuss final comments. For our film, we put a lot of importance into costume design because we wanted to really assert how badass our protagonists are. Tarantino often puts glasses on his characters so we decided to do the same and then base off the rest of their look from that. So for example Bella (aka Leya aka me) had red glasses so my eye shadow was red, my lipstick was glossy, and I was the killer so we really liked that hidden significance behind the red. Then Luna (aka Gabi) had sort of transparent/blue hue and gold glasses so we put blue makeup on her and a transparent gloss to make her look more angelic. We were both very matching but also very opposite which I loved because we’re both partners but at the same time there is constant tension between us. 

LOCATION 1: GARAGE

Our first location was the parking garage in Foodhallen. We’re all set up and ready to shoot. We only had to do one or two shots to establish that we we’re underground (and therefore needed to take an elevator to get up to the bar!) so it was supposed to be quick and easy. This is when we encountered our first problem: the microphone wasn’t working. I totally wasn’t freaking out. 

We quickly noticed the light of the mic was not working so we thought maybe we need to change the batteries. Manon quickly ran to a store to get some and it ended up working. Challenge one: completed. 

The shots looked great I was really happy. Since I was also acting, I was worried that it would be difficult to direct at the same time but it was actually never a problem. Kaja (the camera operator) and I work really great together and I could really trust her to always make sure everything was on point. Without this team work I wouldn’t have been able to manage as well. 

LOCATION 2: ELEVATOR 

We then moved on to our next location (at this point it was already almost 4pm so we were a little bit stressed). I have a friend who lives near Lelylaan and was willing to let us film in her elevator.

We arrive on set and the set designer Jianah with the help of Manon and Josh had printed papers to mimic wallpaper in order to cover up the mirror in the elevator since that would have been a major issue (or even impossible) to film and not see the camera. Unfortunately this is when challenge two came along. She only printed 20 papers which ended up being far too little to cover up the elevator because it was bigger than anticipated. We came up with the solution of using white paper as a border and the print in the middle. Challenge two: completed. This was really hard for me to come around on because I can be a perfectionist and I felt as though it looked pretty bad and I was worried it would ruin the shot. Luckily with Kaja we worked on trying to mask it as much as possible and I think with editing in post-production with Josh we will manage to make it look good. 

These shots took longer than expected to film but in the end we managed to get everything done. It was a really long day and we were all quite exhausted. We finished around 8-9pm. I said to them jokingly “anyone reconsidering their future career in film?” If I am being honest, yeah it’s tiring but it’s also so so fun and I absolutely love doing this film. 

FRIDAY

On Friday we were shooting the bar scene. After much struggle to find a location we ended up being able to shoot at Josh’s work: Dapper Bar. We met at Gabi’s house to prep the actors. While we were on our way there, Kaja and Josh (camera and sound) were already there prepping, we get a call: the SD card is not working (and we had all of our previous files on them!!!). I was super stressed out. We tried finding solutions but we ultimately decided to go see Pieter (the guy who takes care of the equipment) to see what was wrong. Turns out Josh coincidentally had a different SD card in his pocket and had put the wrong one in. *abort crisis* challenge three: completed. 

So now we’re all set up, ready to roll, when Josh’s manager comes to tell him that the boss changed his mind, he doesn’t want us to be there, and that we have to leave now. 

MAJOR CRISIS MODE ACTIVATED. 

Yeah so, at this point, I was so freaked out I was actually really calm. I just didn’t know what to do. We were so devastated. We had to find a solution right then and there, and with the new COVID measures, it was going to be impossible to find a place. We all start thinking of people we know, who can we call? Where do we go? Do we change the script? Do we go on a terrace? At a park? But then what about the elevator scenes we already filmed? What about the scenes at the bar of the drinks being made? So do we switch out a gin and tonic for a fucking cappuccino? That sounds boring. All I could think is that there was no way we could remove the bar without making our film look super boring (with the only few hours that we had).

So I tell Kaja and Josh: “Listen guys, at this point we’re hopeless and it’s probably not going to work, but we should still give it a try: there’s the bar at OMHP, since it’s inside the university maybe they’d be willing to let us work there since we’re UvA students.” So they head there to ask the guy and guess what? He said YES. CHALLENGE 4: COMPLETED. 

LOCATION THREE: BAR

This man, let me just tell you, was an angel sent down from heaven to us. I mean we have never met someone as nice as him. He was our knight in shining armour ready to save the day. Without him, this film would’ve failed. He saved our project and we are very grateful to him. 

Anyways so back to filming. He let us use the whole entire bar. Because of COVID, there weren’t many customers who came around unfortunately. I mean he basically shut down for the day so that we could film.

(PS. We also didn’t know that anyone from the UvA could go, even students! I always thought it was for faculty so if anyone is reading this please head over there to get a coffee or chill because it is so cozy). 

We started with the scenes of the bartender making a drink (that roughly took an hour in total with setting up and filming). Then we did the scenes with Mr. Verbinsky where we asked this lovely man to cameo in our film because he was so enthusiastic to help us out and participate we thought it was the best way to tribute him. That also took about an hour. The bar was on two floors so we actually played around with that and him bringing the briefcase. 

This was also really fun for me because those shots didn’t involve me so I was able to fully direct them.

Finally we filmed the scenes of Bella and Luna waiting at the bar for the briefcase and opening it, that took about 1h30. In the end we finished by 17:30 with only one last scene to film: the burger reveal. 

LOCATION 4: CANAL

While we took a short break and location scouted for a nice bench on a canal near OMHP, Jianah headed over to Burger King to fetch a fresh juicy burger and crispy onion rings. Shooting this scene was relatively straight forward, we only had about 5 shots to take in total. In the end we ended around 19:00.

AND THAT’S A WRAP.

Overall, this process was definitely quite stressful for our group, we encountered a lot of issues such as not being able to film at that location last minute. However, we all worked so well together and found a solution for every issue. I’m so so proud of what we did and how we managed, it proves to say that we did truly make it work. Can’t wait to start the edit :)

- Leya 

[khruseos]

Answer twenty-one questions

01. Nickname: Sae. 02. Real name: Manon (French and stems from ‘Marie’, don’t ask, I don’t know). 03. Zodiac: The happy crab. We got no troubles, life is de bubbles, under da seaaaa! 04. Height: 5′2′’. 05. What time is it: 23:04. 06. Favourite musicians / groups: I’m not touching this one with a ten foot pole because otherwise I’ll still be here listing all kinds of musicians six hours from now. 07. Favourite sports team: Not into sports, but if I gotta choose, allez les Bleus! 08. Other  blogs: I’ve very happily moved all of my muses to this multimuse and highly doubt I’ll ever move them off it. I’m perfectly content. Any way, that leaves @iniziare as my theme blog and I have a personal over at @dyksa​. 09. Do I get asks? Yes, but I’m also (like other who answered before me) slow. 10. How many blogs do I follow? That I follow? 124 since the remake. 11. Any tumblr crushes: I’m human, so if I said I have no favourites— you’d be entitled to take something from me, and at the risk of it being any of my snacks, I’m not gonna do it. 12. Lucky number: 13, ‘cause I like to defy superstitions and the unknown intrigues me. 13. What am I wearing right now: Really wide and super comfortable pants, slippersock thingers, an oversized t-shirt and a big, very fuzzy and soft cardigan that has a hood with fox ears; favourite piece of clothing. 14. Dream vacation: England, Italy again, I’d also love to head to Greece, but ideally a one-way trip to France. 15. Dream car: Anything that gets me from A to B. But if I could pick anything without worry of money, then give me any one of those real classic oldtimers. Nothing looks better. 16. Favourite food: Lately? Rillettes and all things similar and give me a good Camembert or Munster with a good pain de campagne or baguette. 17. Drink of choice: Chocolate cappuccino or an herbal tea. 18. Languages: Dutch, French and English in that order. I’m learning Italian (slowly, real slowly and it’s been on pause for a few months) and I’d love to learn Russian and Spanish after that. 19. Instruments: Piano (it’s been ages and it’s mainly the basics despite me wanting to be ‘cool’ and learn something crazy like Für Elise at 14 and only got the tiny intro). 20. Celebrity crushes: Ha, okay. Robert Downey Jr., Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Emma Stone, Jamie Campbell Bower, 00s Brad Pitt, 00s Johnny Depp (though both are still peachy to this day), George Michael, oh and I was huge into David Boreanaz during the Buffy/Angel era. 21. Random fact: I can’t whistle or snap my fingers. I dunno, I guess the universe wanted me to be odd.

Tagged by: Kindly stole it from @onlycertainty Tagging: So I remember this thing, I’m supposed to tag twenty-one and I did last time, but I don’t have the same energy (watch me accidentally do that number any way); @trickstercaptain, @empireburned, @widcwer, @seesgood, @metuant​, @madameserpent, @loialte, @utternocries​, @lcdgerbled​, @mannsachd​, @marblecarved, @praeludio​, @edenwander​, @hakune​, @tocxmply​, @outlawiism​, @tyvell, @stormweathered​, @gloriaregali​, @dewintr​, @diguerra​, 

[angelofthequeers]

Ladybug and Reine Nuit: Chapter 5

Stormy Weather

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

@miraculousl4dybug tagged as requested!

Part 4 | Part 6

“Uh – coming!” Marinette calls when the doorbell rings. “Manon, no!” Groaning and giving up on getting her phone back from the child anytime soon, she shuffles over to answer the door.

“Alya?” Marinette blinks. “Uh, what are you –?”

“Mireille! Mireille! Mireille!” Manon chants in the background. Alya grins and leans to look around Marinette.

“Well, I came to see if you wanted to go to the park and hang out,” she says. “Adrien’s got a photoshoot on, so I figured we could pull funny faces in the background while he’s posing.”

“Alya! You know his photoshoots are important!” Marinette protests, though she can’t stop the laugh that escapes her.

“To who? Him or his dad?” Alya says dryly. “Well, looks like we can’t do it anyway.”

“Yeah.” Marinette grins sheepishly and scratches the back of her head. “That’s Manon, one of my mum’s friends’ daughters. I’m watching her all afternoon.”

“Couldn’t say no?” Alya says. “Don’t worry, girl, I get it. It took me years to build up immunity to my twin sisters and their baby doll eyes. Hey, what d’you say we get Ella and Etta and take them and Manon to the park together?”

“Well…” Marinette chews her lip and looks over her shoulder at Manon, who’s running around the living room like she’s downed a whole energy drink. “I mean, Nadja never said that Manon had to stay here. And it might help to get out – uh, help? No! She’s…an absolute angel!”

Manon running past while clanging a pot and spatula wipes the pained smile off Marinette’s face as she shrieks and chases after the giggling child.

“Yay!” Manon cheers.

“Manon! Put that down! Ugh, come back!”

Alya snickers while watching the chaos. “You’re just a pushover, Marinette. I have to babysit Ella and Etta all the time, so I’m an expert in dealing with angels.”

Manon comes screeching to a halt when she catches sight of Alya. Not expecting this, Marinette flails as she tries to stop, resulting in her crashing to the floor after losing her balance.

“Who are you, anyway?” Manon demands, frowning at Alya. Alya grins and kneels, while Marinette groans and climbs to her feet.

“I’m a mythical unicorn from the world of Rispa, disguised as a totally fabulous human girl!” she says. “I grant magical wishes, but only to little monkeys to behave!”

“No, you’re not!” Manon says. Then she blinks. “…Are you?”

In response, Alya grabs Manon and tosses her in the air, then deposits her on Marinette’s shoulders.

“Okay, let’s go get my sisters and then go to the park!” Alya says.

“Yay!” Manon says.

“Okay!” Marinette says, wishing not for the first time that she could get people to take her seriously like Alya can.

.

“Park! Park! Park!” chant three little kids, yanking Marinette and Alya into the park. If Manon had been hard enough to handle alone, then Ella and Etta Césaire ramp the intensity up to eleven, especially being identical twins. Thankfully, Alya knows exactly how to handle them, so they’re more like exuberant children than little monsters from Hell.

Over at the fountain, Adrien is posing while a photographer snaps picture after picture of him wearing a lilac button-up T-shirt and pale grey jeans. The thickset man that Marinette had confronted two weeks ago, who happens to be Adrien’s bodyguard, stands nearby. Marinette gulps; she’s still unsure if he hates her for her show of defiance on Adrien’s behalf, and she doesn’t exactly want to find out.

“I want to see hunger in your eyes!” the photographer declares as Marinette and Alya are tugged past with the children. Adrien looks up at that moment, and when he catches sight of Marinette, his entire face lights up and he gives an aborted wave. “Yes! The passion! The hunger! Perfecto!”

Next to Marinette, Alya pulls a face, poking her tongue out, so Marinette crosses her eyes and gives a silly grin. Adrien snorts rather loudly, covering his mouth and looking down, but this backfires on Marinette and Alya because the photographer then starts celebrating Adrien’s bashfulness and demanding more.

“Marinette, I want a balloon with Mireille on it!” Manon says. “Can I? Pleeeeeease?”

“Yeah!” Ella says. “Balloon!”

“Please, Alya!” Etta says. Alya sighs and then shakes her head with a smile.

“Stay here with Marinette and I’ll get your balloons,” she says. The children cheer and start running around, while Marinette sinks to the ground and watches them through lazy, half-closed eyes. She wants to say that this is the last time she’ll let herself get suckered into this but…yeah, no, she’s a total pushover.

“You!” Adrien’s photographer is suddenly in front of Marinette, pointing at her. Marinette shrieks and jumps to her feet. “I need an extra!”

“Wha – who – me?” Marinette says.

“Sì! To pose with Signor Adrien! He specifically requested you!”

Over the photographer’s shoulder, Adrien looks as though Christmas has come early. It’s not like Marinette doesn’t want to do it, but…she can’t exactly abandon the girls. Alya isn’t back yet, and it’s totally unfair to expect Alya to look after three girls.

“Go on, Marinette!” Alya’s back with three Mireille balloons. “Trust me, I can handle these little angels.”

“Well…” Marinette looks at Adrien again. “I guess if you’re sure?”

“Yep!” Alya says. “We’ll go to Rispa and find us some sad little village kids and grant those wishes! Unicorns unite!”

“Unicorns unite!” Manon, Ella, and Etta cry. With a shrug, Marinette is about to head over to the fountain, but a sudden cackle above them stops her in her tracks.

“Oh no!” she gasps when she catches sight of the girl floating in mid-air, wearing a purple dress and white boots and gloves, with spiky purple and white striped pigtails, an electric purple mask across her pale cheeks, and a large parasol in her hands.

“I am Stormy Weather!” the girl announces. “Don’t worry, it’s only a light breeze!” She aims her parasol at the people below, and an enormously strong gust of wind comes bursting out, sending everyone flying. Marinette screams and tries to grab a nearby tree, only to fall flat on her face when the wind suddenly dies down. “I suggest you get somewhere a little warmer, because it’s about to get chilly!”

It happens almost in slow motion. “No!” Marinette cries, rushing for the fountain, but it’s too late; Stormy Weather shoots a bolt of ice out of her parasol, creating a thick dome of ice that traps Adrien, his bodyguard, the photographer, and the three girls inside. She’s rooted to the spot for a moment while people around her shriek and run, but then she remembers that she’s one of the only two people able to deal with this, and so she darts behind the tree she’d tried to use to anchor herself against the wind.

“We’ll save the girls, Marinette!” Tikki says firmly. Marinette nods.

“Tikki, spots on!”

As Ladybug, she immediately heads for the icy dome and tries to cut it open, but her yo-yo can’t get any traction on the slippery ice and so it just slides right off.

“Don’t worry about us!” Adrien says, his voice muffled by the ice. “Just go and take down Stormy Weather!” He groans. “Ugh, I can’t see the action from here!”

“Where’s Marinette?” Manon says, her lip quivering.

“And Alya?” Ella and Etta chorus. Ladybug smiles in what she hopes is a reassuring manner.

“Marinette’s safe,” she says. “She told me about you, Manon. And as for Alya…she probably got blown away with everyone else. I’ll make sure to find her!”

When Ladybug finds Stormy Weather, she’s slammed Reine Nuit into the ground with wind and ice and has summoned a thunderstorm to no doubt try and zap Reine Nuit with lightning. With a sigh, Ladybug throws her yo-yo to wrap around Reine Nuit’s waist, then pulls her out of harm’s way. Reine Nuit smirks and salutes at Stormy Weather as soon as she realises what’s going on.

“Just in time, angel bug,” Reine Nuit says when Ladybug deposits her on the ground. “I don’t think she’s a fan of cats.”

“I’m not a fan of bugs either,” Stormy Weather growls. “And unluckily for you, ladybugs shrivel in the cold!” She aims a burst of ice at Ladybug, who dances out of the way and then throws her yo-yo at Stormy Weather. The weather girl snorts and leans out of its way. “Is that really all you’ve got?”

“To be fair, I’ve only been doing this for two weeks,” Ladybug says.

“That’s not very ice of you,” Reine Nuit grins at Stormy Weather.

“Hey! Only I get to make weather puns!” Stormy Weather sends Reine Nuit flying over the rooftops with a burst of wind. Then she turns to Ladybug and commands lightning after lightning bolt to shoot down from the skies, and it’s all Ladybug can do to yelp and dodge each electric purple blast. How are they supposed to defeat Stormy Weather when they can’t even land a hit on her?

“Hee-yah!” A silvery baton comes whizzing out of nowhere and strikes Stormy Weather in the head, sending her crashing to the ground. With a snarl, the akuma whirls around and dodges Reine Nuit’s dive for her, then whacks Reine Nuit with her parasol.

“That was a sleety thing to do!” Stormy Weather hisses.

“Hey, that one wasn’t actually half-bad,” Reine Nuit says, reeling back from the whack. Stormy Weather looks torn between preening and attacking, but her bloodthirsty akuma nature wins out and she jumps out of the way of Ladybug’s yo-yo, then raises her parasol and summons a mini tornado on top of the heroes.

“I’m gonna be sick,” Ladybug groans as she whirls around and around in the funnel. The tornado then explodes, sending her and Reine Nuit careening over the buildings, screaming. Ladybug’s head whips around, trying desperately to find a good anchor, and she eventually grabs Reine Nuit by the tail, then throws her yo-yo to catch around a chimney and brings them crashing to a halt on the roof, tumbling over each other because Ladybug may have changed their path, but they were still full of momentum from the tornado.

“Man, she makes Stoneheart look like a piece of cake,” Reine Nuit comments, pushing herself to her feet. “How are we gonna take her down?”

“We find her, for starters,” Ladybug says. She accepts Reine Nuit’s helping hand up. “Then…uh, we wing it? Charm it?”

Reine Nuit holds up a finger. “Can you Lucky Charm me a sick bag?” she says before bolting to the edge of the roof and throwing up. Ladybug wrinkles her nose with a disgusted exclamation, although her stomach feels about the same after the treatment she’d just gone through, so she can’t exactly blame her partner. With a weak groan, Reine Nuit sinks to her knees. “That. Was. Awful. Why don’t they ever tell you about this in the brochure?”

“Sorry that it’s not all adoring fans and fun powers,” Ladybug says dryly. “Where could she have gone?”

As if in response to her question, a nearby big screen flickers to life, revealing Stormy Weather against a green screen backdrop of a map of France.

“Hello, viewers!” the weather girl chirps. “Here's the latest forecast for the first day of summer. Looks like Mother Nature had a change of plans. Summer vacation is officially over!”

“Good thing I like the cold, then,” Reine Nuit says. “Hot chocolate, blankets, fires…what’s not to love? Although it hasn’t been summer for a few weeks now, so I’ve got no clue what she’s on about.”

Ladybug scowls at her and shivers violently. Now that they’re not on the move, the cold is catching up to her, eating into her bones, numbing her hands and feet under her suit, turning her nose into an icicle. It seems that Stormy Weather had been right about ladybugs not exactly thriving in the cold.

“Well, we can’t all be furballs like you, pretty kitty,” Ladybug says. “But at least now we know where to find her.”

.

Of course the broadcast is a trap and happens to be just a recording. Really, after all the superhero stories Reine Nuit has read, you’d think she’d have been able to at least suspect that this was going to happen. But no, she and Ladybug had just waltzed right into the studio, leaving them utterly at Stormy Weather’s mercy as she fried the building’s circuitry, leaving them in total darkness.

Or, at least, leaving Ladybug in total darkness. Man, between her resistance to the cold and her newfound night vision, Reine Nuit is absolutely killing it here.

“Come on!” Reine Nuit grabs Ladybug’s hand as Stormy Weather cackles and runs away. “I’ll help you, angel bug.”

It’s a mark of how serious the situation is that Ladybug doesn’t fire back with a witty retort, but instead nods and lets Reine Nuit guide her out of the studio and down the hall after Stormy Weather. They burst through the door at the end of the hall, chasing Stormy Weather up a flight of stairs, and it’s purely by instinct that Reine Nuit tackles Ladybug to the ground to prevent a fire extinguisher from slamming her in the face when Stormy Weather throws it down at them.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take them long to burst out into what little natural light there is outside on top of the studio building. But now they’re trapped between massive billboards on all sides, with Stormy Weather floating above them.

“You airheads!” Stormy Weather crows. “You fell right into my trap! Tornado!” She thrusts her parasol up to summon another tornado, only this one is about five times the size of the one she’d created before. If that one had made Reine Nuit sick…well, she doesn’t even want to start imagining what this one will do to her once Stormy Weather unleashes it on her. If there was ever a time to summon a Lucky Charm, Reine Nuit would think it’s now. Apparently, so does Ladybug.

“Lucky Charm!” the red hero calls, then catches a ladybug-patterned bath towel that falls in response. “Uh, what am I supposed to do with this?”

“At least we won’t get wet,” Reine Nuit deadpans.

“Good thing too, since cats hate water,” Ladybug shoots back.

“Hail!” Stormy Weather seems to decide that the tornado isn’t bad enough and that the heroes could really do with some nice, thick chunks of ice raining down on their heads to crush their skulls. Purely by instinct, Reine Nuit shoves Ladybug down and starts spinning her staff like a propeller above their heads, creating a temporary hail shield. But she can’t keep it up for too long, not when her right forearm is starting to seize and cramp.

“I got it!” Ladybug’s voice is a blessed relief. She points at one of the massive billboards surrounding them. “Bring it down, Reine Nuit!”

“Got it! Cataclysm!” Once her ring is sparking with destructive energy, Reine Nuit calls, “My grandma could do better than that, Ice Queen!” to get Stormy Weather’s attention. It works; the weather girl howls and shoots lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Reine Nuit, who dances and ducks and dodges each one until she’s close enough to the billboard that she can run her hand along the base to corrode the metal into dust.

From there, it’s over quickly. Reine Nuit’s distraction gives Ladybug the perfect opportunity to grab Stormy Weather by the ankle and run her yo-yo around a crane and several pipes for leverage, using the bath towel to help her soar into the air on a current created by one of the ventilation pipes knocked out by the billboard. This creates a counterweight that pulls Stormy Weather down as Ladybug floats up, and the crane is yanked around by the yo-yo and rips the parasol out of Stormy Weather’s hands, which Reine Nuit catches and tosses to Ladybug.

“No more evildoing for you, little akuma!” Ladybug declares, snapping the parasol over her knee. A black butterfly wriggles out of the broken pieces and tries to fly away, only to be swiftly captured by Ladybug’s yo-yo. “Time to de-evilise! Gotcha!” Once the pure white butterfly is released, Ladybug farewells it and then throws the bath towel in the air to summon her Miraculous Ladybug.

Just like with Stoneheart, Reine Nuit is mesmerised by the sight of the red and black swarm surging around, repairing the billboard and the pipes, dissipating the tornado and the storm clouds above them to summon back the brilliant blue sky and sunshine, then coursing outwards to fix the rest of Paris. Will this ever become any less wondrous? God, she hopes not. There’s just something so amazingly pure and raw about this that she could watch all day.

Stormy Weather, kneeling nearby, is encased in a purplish-black mass that strips away her villainous skin and leaves a girl with soft blonde pigtails and a blue frilly dress. She blinks and looks around. “Huh? What am I doing up here?”

Ladybug and Reine Nuit grin at each other. “Pound it!” they chorus, fist-bumping.

.

“Marinette!” Manon cries when Marinette detransforms and emerges from behind a tree.

“Manon!” Marinette kneels to let the little girl crash into her with a tight hug. “Oh my gosh, are you alright?”

“Sure, silly!” Manon says. “Adrien played a bunch of games with us! Did you know that he’s secretly a dragon?”

“Really?” Marinette raises an eyebrow at Adrien, who grins and shrugs. “I had no idea.” She lets Manon down.

“Girls!” Alya comes running from the other side of the park. Ella and Etta’s faces light up and they bolt to meet her.

“Alya, Alya, Alya!”

“Thanks for looking after the girls,” Marinette says to Adrien as Alya reunites with her babbling sisters. “I was so worried! I wanted to – but Ladybug told me –”

“It’s okay, Marinette,” Adrien says, thankfully saving Marinette from having to fumble for an excuse as to why she’d disappeared. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Marinette throws her arms around Adrien gratefully, although she can’t for the life of her figure out why his face is so red when she pulls away.

“Sì!” The photographer seems to pop out of nowhere. “The sizzling chemistry! You are a perfect match for Signor Adrien, Signorina…”

“Marinette.”

“Signorina Marinetta!”

“Please, Marinette?” Adrien scratches the back of his neck. “It’d really mean a lot. I think I’m having an off day today.”

With that, how can Marinette refuse? “Sure,” she says. “Alya, you can take care of the girls, right?”

“We’re going dragon hunting!” Alya says. “Who knows how many more dragons like Adrien are out there?”

“Dragon hunting!” Manon, Ella, and Etta cry.

“Come on, girls! We have to find a magic feather before we can hunt the dragons!”

The photoshoot seems ten times more alive now. The photographer – Vincent, Marinette learns – arranges them in poses such as sitting back-to-back on the fountain, then Adrien lifting Marinette in the air like a lover, then Marinette kissing Adrien’s cheek, although the last one makes Adrien look like his face is going to explode from how red it is.

“Stupendous!” Vincent declares, snapping away. “Magnifico! Perfecto! These are the most vibrant pictures I have ever taken of Signor Adrien!”

“Maybe you could model with me more often, then,” Adrien teases when he’s sitting on the edge of the fountain with Marinette in his lap.

“Not unless it’s an emergency,” Marinette says with a grin. At a gesture from Vincent, they change poses so that Adrien is standing up and holding her bridal style. “I like modelling well enough, but I’m much more suited to making the clothes than modelling them.”

Adrien’s eyes light up as he lets her back down on her feet, then turns his back to her so that he can pick her up in a piggyback. “Well…uh, if you ever need a model, you know where to come. Not only because you helped me now, but…well, I’d be honoured to model for you.”

Marinette beams back. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind!” she says.

[oceansinthedesert]

Mister Moon (reader insert, celestial deity with questionable morals)

Summary: In the fictional country of Etram, the beginning of an era of peace gives way to an interest in science and a thirst for understanding of the world. Astronomers cast their gaze to the vastness of space in an effort to understand the planets; in turn, they are the chosen people of the sun deity Suna and the moon deity Manon. You proudly call yourself an astronomer; at night, when you’ve put your daughter to bed, you take notes on the moon.

Author’s note: This is a fictional world but I drew inspiration from ancient Greece and its pantheon. Be warned that Manon (the love interest) does some bad things, but not graphic or triggering content type of things. Please let me know what you think!!

     “Mama, look!” Your daughter Lizel grabbed your wrist, excitedly pointing at the sky with her other hand. “The Moon is out!”

     “Do you want to sing to him with me?” you asked. 

     “Why do we sing to the Moon again?” Lizel, at the age of nine, didn’t yet grasp the concept of worshiping their patron deity.

     “Because Manon is not supposed to be in the sky when the Sun is out,” you began patiently. “He’s supposed to stay asleep until Suna is ready to end the day. If the Moon is out during the day, it means something has awoken Manon, so we sing to him to lull him back to sleep until it is his turn.”

     Satisfied, your daughter parted her lips to sing the song she’d been taught, her youthful voice blending with yours: “Mister Moon, Mister Moon, you’re out too soon. The Sun is still in the sky. Go back to bed and cover up your head, and wait til the day goes by.”

     After that, the two of you finished your afternoon walk. When you returned to your villa, your husband Dante greeted you with a peck on the forehead. Then he swept Lizel into his arms, saying, “How’s my little Lizzie?”

     She giggled and told him that they’d seen the Moon out. Then he told you both about his day at work. He was a professor at the town’s university. You were a well-matched couple: him, the scholar; you, the astronomer. Between his studies and yours, your home was cluttered with books and notes.

     A few hours later, the Sun set. It was time to put Lizel to bed. You and Dante sat on each side of the bed to tell her a bedtime story. Tonight’s tale was about the great warrior who banished the monsters that terrorized their lands. He pretended to be a giant troll- ‘attacking’ her by tickling her.

     “Help, help! A monster is attacking me,” she giggled, glancing at you.

     “I’ll rescue you!” you declared. You pretended to pull out a mighty sword. You and Dante ‘fought’, poking each other with your fingers. Then you prodded him in the chest, and he pretended to die in the most dramatic fashion possible. “You are safe now, my lady.”

     “And that is why the western constellation is called the Bravest Warrior,” he said. Since you were both academically inclined, every story was concluded with a miniature lesson.

     “That’s my new favorite story,” Lizel muttered, her eyes beginning to droop. You kissed her head and tucked her in. Together, you and your husband left your precious angel’s room. 

     “Don’t be too long, darling. I long to wrap you up in my arms as soon as I can. After all, a big spoon is nothing without his little spoon.”

     “I think I shall take all night as revenge for the previous night, when you left me all alone to finish reading the pamphlet on the most recent Gathering of Great Minds.”

     He stuck his lips out in a childish pout, his sea-green eyes gazing at her like a puppy begging for a bone. He took her hands in his, whining, “Pleeeasee?”

     “Fine, you big man-child. I’ll be back within the next hour or so,” you huffed fondly. Gathering your notebook- after kissing your lover, of course- you made the journey to the observatory in your back yard.

     It was not much, especially in comparison to the wealthy astronomers who could afford the latest instruments. It was a simple building with stairs that lead up to the observation deck. You had a telescope that was neither the best quality nor poor enough to be complained about. 

     Before you gazed into the eyepiece, you said your customary prayer to the moon deity: “Oh Manon, Lord of the Moon. I thank you for your blessings over both my family and my pursuits of astronomy. I humbly ask you once again to bestow knowledge of your realm upon me.”

     You sketched the Moon’s shape tonight. Your contemporaries had yet to come up with an explanation for the Moon’s ability to shift its appearance. Each page of your notebook was dated, containing the shape of the Moon and what the tides were like on the given day. Connecting the tides to the great celestial body was a monumental discovery, but people were hesitant to give you credit for it due to your gender.

     “Your drawings of my domain are impeccable,” a new voice commented from behind you.

      You knew who the stranger was before you even turned to face him. The man’s voice- hell, his aura alone- radiated power. You knelt at his feet, reverently saying, “Lord Manon.”

      “On your feet, dear scholar. I want to see the face of my most devoted follower.” He pulled you to your feet. He grabbed your chin, turning your face left and right; you wanted to shrink under his gaze. Scrutinizing you with galaxy-colored eyes, he murmured, “You are the most beautiful mortal woman I’ve ever met.”

      In other circumstances, you would’ve been a stuttering, blushing mess as you tried to thank him for the compliment. What came out of your mouth instead was, “The paintings of you are wrong.”

      “Hmm, yes. I don’t make it a habit to meet with humans. You, princess, are an exception.” His words were accompanied by an odd expression when he said humans: a disgusted grimace that you thankfully didn’t notice, caught up as you were in your thoughts. He noticed that you were writing as you talked. It was like your hand moved independently of your brain.

      “You’re supposed to be pale because of all the time you spend in the dark. Why are you so tan?” His skin was olive-toned, as if he spent his days out in a field.

     “My lady, what do you think happens to the Moon when the Sun comes out?”

     “Well, I have some hypotheses, but the Head of Celestial Studies says they don’t have strong enough evidence to-”

      “Take no heed of what that ignorant bastard says!” he interrupted. When he realized his outburst scared you, he used his calm voice again. “Ahem, what I meant to say is, would you like to come with me? I can confirm or deny your theories while I give you a tour of my castle.”

       Excitement filled your (e/c) eyes. It took lots of willpower to keep yourself from jumping like a child.

      “I would be honored! Oh, but... I must alert my husband of our departure. Dante gets worried when he doesn’t know where I am.”

       “I’m afraid I’m not a very patient man. I’m leaving now, so you won’t have the time. You are too smart to let this opportunity pass by. I’m sure your husband will be fine without you for one night.”

       A flicker of doubt ran across your face; nevertheless, you nodded your head eagerly. He was right- this was the chance of a lifetime.

       “Good choice, (Y/n). Now close your eyes and trust me.”

       You did as Lord Manon said. He chanted a blessing of some sort, leaving a pinprick of cold where his finger touched the center of your forehead. Then you felt like someone had ripped the ground from beneath your feet.

     When your world finally stabilized, you opened your eyes to observe your new surroundings. You were in the foyer of an elegant castle. You curled your bare toes against the plush carpet that was decorated with the vines of a plant you didn’t recognize. A beautiful chandelier twinkled overhead. The furniture was polished mahogany; this room alone cost more than your entire house.

      “Well? First impressions?”

      “Your castle is very lovely!” Realizing you sounded pathetically eager, you cleared your throat. “I mean, yes, I like your home.”

       “So excited already, and you haven’t even seen the library yet,” he chuckled. He locked elbows with you and walked farther into his abode.

      You saw servants in silver outfits carrying out their duties. They stopped to stare at you as you passed by, and admittedly you stared right back. They glowed, not as intensely as Manon, but in a way that marked them as inhuman. 

       “Don’t mind their prying eyes. I don’t host many guests. So, you never answered my question: where does the Moon go when the Sun comes into the sky?” He held the door for you, gently nudging you into his spacious library.

       The celestial deity’s question was completely ignored in favor of the shelves upon shelves of books. He found it cute the way your (e/c) eyes gleamed as you scanned over the spines. You gasped at all the rare tomes: some of these works were thought to be lost! “I must take notes!”

      “Pacryl, Amos, Laemo,” you whispered, awestruck, as you recorded the names of historic authors in your notebook.

       “My question, princess,” Manon breathed in your ear.

       You whipped around, instantly stammering out apologies. You were in the presence of a god, for goodness sake! “Yes, my lord, where the Moon goes... I believe you transport this kingdom to the other side of the Earth. That’s also where the Sun goes when your domain is on my side. It would explain why the Sun sets in the west and rises in the east. But the problem is that it doesn’t explain how the two bodies move, or what exactly they’re made of...”

       “You are partially right, you smart little thing. My home is on the big rock you see in the night sky, and I do move around your Earth. The phases you have sketched in that little diary of yours are a result of the Sun’s light bouncing off of me at different times during my orbit. I am so tan because the Moon reflects the Sun’s rays.”

        He began twirling a piece of your hair around his finger. Although it made you uncomfortable, you ignored it for the sake of your notes.

       “However, your theory doesn’t account for the Earth’s motion as well. You have Day and Night because your planet rotates counterclockwise on its axis. You have the seasons because it orbits the Sun.”

       Shock made you grip your charcoal writing utensil so hard that the wood snapped. You didn’t care that splinters were digging into your hands as you exclaimed, “That goes against everything astronomers thought we’ve learned! The Sun doesn’t move around the Earth? The Headmaster was right, I’m not smart enough to do this...”

      A low growl rumbled from his chest; he didn’t like you saying such negative things about yourself. Every human on Earth thought they were the center of the universe, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up like that. However, concern quickly outweighed his anger when he noticed the irritated scrapes on your otherwise unblemished hand.

     “You’re hurt,” he stated bluntly. He grabbed your hand, gently removing wooden shards from your (s/t) flesh. When he was certain your hand was splinter-free, he softly kissed the marks. You watched in awe as the angry red lines faded away. “All better. Now let’s get you something new to write with.”

      After a maid brought you the feather of an exotic bird and a pot of expensive purple ink, you tentatively asked, “Could I draw you?”

      Manon’s plump lips curled up in a smirk. He perched regally upon a chair, giving you a good pose. “Do you need an image of my handsome face to remind you of your visit to the Moon?”      

      His jovial tone was laced with darker intentions. You wouldn’t need a picture of him to see his face soon enough- you would be with him in person every day in a short amount of time.

      You just giggled in response. You started with his face: the sharp lines of his jaws, his enticing lips, his defined nose. He didn’t blink- which was unsettling- allowing you to get his eyes just right. You used swooping lines to depict the waves of his brunette hair. Although you felt indecent doing so, you admired his broad shoulders as you sketched them.

       Realizing you were getting red in the face, you abruptly put the quill down. Married women are only supposed to ogle their husbands!

       “Done. Thank you for allowing me to draw you, and for bringing me into your home. Though now I believe it is time that I return to mine. Your company is an honor, but Dante must be pulling out his hair by now,” you said with the politest voice you could. You didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the hospitality he’d shown you.

        “I suppose it is getting rather late. Suna will know I’ve brought you here if you’re still in my realm by dawn, and I do not feel like getting reprimanded by my older brother right now. Close your eyes please, my lady.”

        You were prepared for the world to crumble around you this time. The sight of your backyard greeted you when you opened your eyes. Manon was next to you, wearing an expression you couldn’t understand. It was times like this that you wished people were as easy to read as books.

      “I suppose this is goodbye.” For now.

      “Goodbye, Lord Manon.”

      You curtsied, on the brink of saying one last thank you, when a panicked voice cried out, “(Y/n)!”

      A blur of beige nightclothes shot out of the door, Dante wrapping his arms around you. He was shaking as he held you. He kept mumbling the word ‘worried’ into the crook of your neck.

     “Dante, I’m fine,” you reassured him, forcing him to look at you. You caressed his tear-stained cheeks. “I took a trip to the Moon! Oh, let me introduce you to Lord Manon! Ah, he left fast...”

       “We can talk about...whatever it is that happened to you in the morning. Let’s get you to bed for now,” he said, tugging you towards the back entrance of your house.

      You glanced over your shoulder one last time, smiling at the Moon. Far away, unbeknownst to you, the deity of the Moon smiled back.