#maybe Ikaris also has a headache

[softquietsteadylove]

could you write about Thena being very sensitive to loud noises and Gil comforting her by covering her ears etc. love your work!!

"Um, Thena?"

"What?!"

Heads turned towards the usually quiet Warrior Eternal. It wasn't just that her voice was soft, it was that she was usually on the reticent side. But everyone all but trembled as she barked at them all.

Sersi froze on the spot, her hand half extended in front of her. "I-I was just wondering if...never mind."

Thena sighed. Her face was still somewhat twisted into a deeply displeased expression. But she walked closer to her. "I'm sorry, Sersi. What did you need?"

The Elemental Eternal still hesitated, but she tried to force the words out. "W-Well, this batch is ready--if you could help us all carry them to the centre square. If you can't that's okay!"

"It's fine," the Warrior Eternal grumbled, already walking past her sister towards the piles upon piles of fire crackers they had fashioned for the festival. It was a celebration for the new lunar cycle. They were doing their duty by helping the locals with their cultural traditions.

The humans backed away as Thena leaned over to pick up their burden for them. They muttered a little, bowing and smiling. It was closer to cowering than anything.

All things considered, she probably should have done more to discourage their fear--assure them that she was here to help. But as more fireworks 'tests' went off her face was simply unable to relax. "It's nothing."

Even Sersi gave her some space as they began walking. Their loads were large, perhaps suspiciously large but not impossibly. Sersi cleared her throat, "how are you doing?"

"Fine."

Sersi tried again. "Really? I know they're testing the gun powder a lot lately. And I'm sure no one would say anything if you didn't want to-"

"I'm fine, Sersi." Thena walked ahead, towards the head splitting ruckus taking place in the centre of town. As Sersi said, the tests for their celebrations were happening near constantly now that they were so close.

Phastos was proud of their quick advancement with the new chemical compound. Sersi and Ajak were delighted to learn about what they had developed culturally around this time of year and what it meant to them. The 'younger' ones - as Thena considered them were just excited to have a night that wasn't fighting and watch duty and diplomacy and watch duty and sparring with Ikaris and more watch duty.

Gilgamesh was on watch duty at this very moment.

Another round of firecrackers went off. Weren't humans supposed to be fragile? How could they possibly endure this kind of cacophony?! Thena walked faster. The sooner she could drop off this load the sooner she could leave.

The humans around her jumped like crickets.

"Here!" she belted, slamming down the half a barrel of supplies. She was still restraining herself. She didn't break it.

"Sorry, she's...sensitive to loud noises." She could hear Sersi making excuses for her as she walked away.

"Hey, Thena, ready for tonight?" Kingo shouted at her over the noise.

"No!"

Maybe she would owe Kingo an apology. He wasn't to blame for all the excitement. But he would accept it. Of all her teammates Kingo would probably be one of the only ones who would understand the extra snarl in her tone and the stomp of her feet.

"Thena."

This was the last thing she needed. She glared at Ikaris ahead of her. "Not now."

"There's no need for you to be like this," Ikaris continued to scold her. "I understand you're not happy about Gil being on watch all night. But that doesn't mean you can-"

Thena grabbed her brother's head, making sure to dig her thumb into his scruffy cheek, and slammed it into the wall next to them. It didn't bounce like a ball, and Phastos would make her come back and repair the hole in the bricks she had made. But she kept walking.

Curse this festival, curse the gunpowder and every wretched form it could take. The sooner this was over and the settlement went back to being a quiet, peaceful village, the better. Her skull felt like it was being split in half from the inside out. There were even times she could swear her vision would become white like the clouds.

Eternals couldn't suffer a stroke, but perhaps she would be the first.

Thena turned a corner and ducked down against the wall. She pressed her forehead to it. She didn't know which would shatter first, her tiara or her skull. But at least the stone was cold, the little alleyway was somewhat darker than the red sunset. Already fires were being set, and soon the sky would be alight.

The high pitched shrieking of the first few shot into the air. The rapid pops of the firecrackers weren't absent either. They wound together in a violent harmony. At least now that they had started, they did have to end at some point.

Thena remained sequestered in her little attempt at finding some peace and quiet. If Ajak hadn't insisted on abandoning the Domo back with the remains of Babylon she could have been seeking refuge on their nice, comfortable mothership. Instead she was trying to put her head through a wall, all but curled up like a child.

She wished she could be different for them; celebrating with her brothers and sisters. Sersi was happy to help with the festivities. Makkari and Sprite would be encouraging the locals to show them how to have a good time. Even Druig tended to loosen up at these things. Maybe Ikaris could be convinced to pull his head out of his ass.

She sighed. She couldn't stay here forever. Perhaps it would be better for her to start repairing the wall she had broken with Ikaris' face while everyone else was celebrating. Another firework screamed its way up into the sky. It exploded, casting her shadow over her feet. Anything would be better than moping around, waiting for Gilgamesh's return.

She had volunteered to cover his watch duty. It would relieve her from this madness. And Gil was more suited to parties. She was quite sure he had wanted to enjoy it, too. He had been talking about all the different foods made for the feast that would accompany all the noise.

"What are you doing down here?"

Thena closed her eyes again.

"Shouldn't you be with everyone in town? I bet there's some food you'll like."

She felt like her teeth could feel the sounds entering her ears. She shook her head, which only ruffled the crown of her hair pressed against the plaster. Until two hands gently pulled her away from the wall. She groaned.

Gil pulled her face into his chest, putting his hands over her ears. At last, it was quiet.

Thena sighed. The sounds of chaos faded to the back of her mind. The breath in Gil's lungs, the beat of his heart, the rustle and clanking of his armour replaced it all. She inhaled, repositioning her forehead under his jaw. "I thought you were gone all night."

"Kingo came and offered to switch with me," he excused lightly as he pressed his cheek to her hair. "Pretty generous of him."

Thena smiled; she liked Kingo. He was a good brother. And she was sure he would come to her later with a demand of satiating his kindness. But currently speaking, she would give him anything at all.

"You must be having a tough time." He spoke gently, and the sound of his voice rippled through their connected bodies. It reverberated deep in her head.

She picked her head up to look at him, his hands still over her ears. His hands were bigger than hers, and they were soft, and warm. She nodded. He turned her around in his arms so she could look up. The fireworks were going off. Maybe they weren't so bad - pretty, even - when they weren't destroying her ear canals.

Gilgamesh kissed the top of her head as they admired the show from their quiet little corner. "I'm sorry you suffered like this alone."

She shook her head. She leaned back on him; he supported her easily. She laid one hand across her waist at her hip and raised the other one to his cheek, tapping it affectionately.

"That one's pretty," Gilgamesh pointed out as a collection of white stars exploded in the sky and rained down. "Reminds me of you."

"Hm," she smiled; he was such a soft hearted thing. A green one twinkled, not deep like emerald but earthy, like jade. "You."

"Yeah, I guess so," he laughed, admiring the show with her.

By the time the rest of the Eternals came to find them, whether to chastise Thena for her temper or ask if she was still suffering physically, they needn't have. All they arrived to was her curled up in Gilgamesh's embrace, his hands over her ears, and her: using his heartbeat as whitenoise.

[wenellyb]

i just saw your pinned post about other parts of mcu fandom being bad and i'm curious what's so awful about the Eternals fans? (aside from people ignoring characters you like who deserve more love or hype. it sounds very frustrating but i guess there's somethin more going on if it's so terrible you compared them to the loki fandom. do they argue a lot or just have bad takes on the movie?) i'd love to know if you don't mind explaining :)

i haven't seen Eternals, but i'm ok with spoilers

Hi Anon!!!

To start it off I would like to say yhat I really liked the Eternals movie. It's not the best movie I've seen but I still liked it a lot and most of all I really liked the characters...they were great.

What is bad about the Eternals fandom? Where to start? The same thing that is bad with all other MCU fandoms and the same stuff you’re mentionning... They find one White character to latch onto and obliterate all the rest. This time they did it with Druig. I would have guessed Ikaris, but I guess he didn’t have enough redeeming qualities so they had to go to the next White character, Druig; even though Kingo and Phastos, were just there. Kingo was definitely the funniest of the Eternals and also an interesting character to explore, but somehow the fandom is making it all about Druig.

Which itself is ok. It’s ok if Druig is their favorite character but I can’t stand them acting like he’s a sweet cinammon roll who has never did anything wrong in his life. He did some awful stuff in the movie (I know you said you don’t mind spoilers but just in case I put the recap at the bottom under read more).

It’s funny you mention Loki, because the Druig stans are reminding me of Loki stans a lot, maybe they’re not as bad, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the path they were following.

It was the same with Loki, I’ve always liked Loki as a character, but I can stand the Lonki fandom because most of them want to act like he’s an innocent victim. I have seen too many posts from Loki stans saying he had never done anything wrong in his life; when he’s a literal murderer, he killed dozens and dozens of people. Like a villain is fine... But the first step should always be acknowledging he’s a villain...

When I got out of the cinema, I really liked Druig, he wasn’t my favorite but I found his character so interesting, but going into the Eternals tag... I nearly got a headache. Same stuff again and again...Everytime there’s a likeable White Character the MCU fandom pulls sh/t like this and ends up making me hate that character, or at least wanting to stay away from that character as much as possible.

Then, there’s the fact that the MCU shipping fandom has claimed for years that they wanted LGBT representation and when there’s a Gay character; who is married with a kid and who’s not a side character left into the background, but it’s hard to find posts about Phastos in the Eternals tag. Worse than that, they’re tagging their druig stuff with “Phastos” and as a result, it’s also getting difficult finding Phastos stuff in the Phastos tag.

It’s disheartening to go in the tag of the first Gay MCU Character and hardly find any new posts, or posts from other characters while know that if he were White and thin, his tag would be filled with dozens of new posts every day. Like don’t say you want LGBT characters if all you’re going to do is ignore them... or at least be honest and say that you want White LGBT Characters.

And it’s not a matter of screentime, because I checked and Phastos and Ben have the EXACT SAME screentime (maybe one or two minute difference on a 2+ movie, so exact same screentime).

TL:DR: What’s wrong with the Eternals fandom? The obsession with Druig while refusing to talk about his terrible actions, the fact that they ignored the first canon M/M couple just because none of them is White, in short, the same old thing.

Here’s what Druig did, I won’t go into details but it’s still spoilery so I’m putting him under read more:

He was upset about the Eternals stupid non intervening rule, which is good, but he went to the other extreme and while mind controlling people to stop a violent invasion, he chose another pat and decided to live in the forest (Amazonia forect in I remember correctlw) with a group of people he was mind-controlling. It’s implied that he mind controls them regularly, and they have this sorts of chapel, so it all points out to him being some sort of cult leader or leading a sect something like that. And when we meet him a thousand years later, they are being attacked by deviants and Druig mind controls those people again to fight the deviants, even though they’re humans and could die anytime. It took Sersi convinving him to let them go because it wasn’t their fight for Druig to change his mind.

Somehow I hardly see people talking about this; but there are already hundreds of posts about Druig’s leather jacket.

[stevetonygames]

Spotlight Post: Canon Soulmate Bonds

Yooo, this is a blog takeover, Mizzy here, ready to champion one of my favourite fictional causes: canonical soulbonds in the Marvel universe.

We all love a good soulbond fic. Words on your body, names on your wrist, red string of fate...so many glorious versions, and all of them *completely awesome*. The problem sometimes with starting a soulbond fic, though, can be all the worldbuilding required to make it work. But what if I was to tell you that no worldbuilding was necessary? That you could technically write a soulbond fic without having to set it in an Alternate Universe? What if you could set your soulbond fic *directly in main canon?*

Marvel 616 delivers you a canonical soulbond mechanic… not once… but at least *twice*. There could be more. There’s a lot of comics to go through and I’m only smol. But here’s the two I know about and I’m here to introduce you to today. :)

The was a ripple of mild confusion around fandom when Kevin Feige announced that the Eternals were getting a title movie in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s, in a wild combination of mythological fascination and spite at DC comics for not letting him finish his New Gods saga, the Eternals were an offshoot of humanity, created by the Celestials for humanity’s protection; this reason for their existence would lead them into their ongoing conflict against the deadly Deviants. There have been a few Eternals runs (notably one run by Neil Gaiman, which did not serve to bring the Eternals the commercial success Marvel was searching for with the title, that nevertheless remains the most fun and accessible Eternals volume), but they’ve not yet really reached wide-reaching traction among even the most die-hard comic fans. The MCU might change that, and here’s hoping, because I love these nearly-immortal idiots, and I’m hoping not to be alone in that for much longer. :D

But even my Eternals-happy soul has to admit, Eternals canon for the most part is dense and can be convoluted, and the spellings—both of their character names and one of the main fun parts of their existence, the Mahd W’yry—are enough to give one a headache. The idea of the Eternals is that they’re long-lived and have interacted with human history over the years in various impactful ways. You might think at first glance that you’ve never heard of the Eternals Sersi, Ikaris, Makkari, but I think you wouldn’t find Circe, Icarus, or Mercury unfamiliar names.

The Mahd W’yry is a symptom of the Eternals being so long-living. In order to stop them going insane, the Eternals have to bond into something known as the Uni-Mind, which basically squishes all their consciousnesses together into one, where they can share memories and blend temporarily into one mind. Regularly bonding into the Uni-Mind allows them to stave off the Mahd W’yry. (Yep, that’s just a headache-inducing spelling of ‘mad worry’, we know.)

Anyway, did you need to know all this? Eh, maybe, a little bit of canned backstory is always handy for you to briefly glance over and promptly forget. Because along with some dense mythological adventures, some glorious angsting across beautiful landscapes, and that ability to turn into a big massive floating brain, the Eternals also gave us a beautiful gift:

The Gann Josin.

In Avengers #361, Ikaris comes down to Earth and decides that Sersi needs to be bonded to Dane Whitman, an Avenger who canonically didn’t have any powers, he was just a *really good guy*, destined for tragedy. Honestly. That’s his bio. Really good guy. Destined for tragedy. The character creation in the 90s was peak talent. Dane, sadly, was in love with another woman, but did this matter to Ikaris? No. Apparently the Eternals don’t know about the dangers of letting himbos like Ikaris have life-changing powers, like the ability to create the Uni-Mind. 

Because the power to control the Uni-Mind also gives an Eternal the power to form a Gann Josin bond. And that’s what Ikaris does in Avengers #361—he forces a Gann Josin bond on Eternal Sersi and tragic human Avenger Dane Whitman.

Gann Josin (sometimes Gan-Josin because what is spelling continuity in Marvel comics) is both the name of the bond, and the title given to an Eternal and their chosen life-mate. It has a bunch of cool side effects. Both Gann Josins get glowing full-red eyes. It’s a really intimate tiny form of the Uni-Mind (without the part where you become a big floating brain), and creates a small scale mental union. The Gann Josin bond makes the Eternal and their partner lifelong soulmates. As the bond progresses, it creates a telepathic/empathic bond that strengthens in time. According to the Eternal Sprite, humans are rarely chosen by Eternals for the Gann Josin.

Now, Dane Whitman does manage to break the Gann Josin several issues later. But… it’s not easy. It’s rare. When Dane manages it, it is called an “astounding act.” It’s pretty dang hard, in other words. There’s every chance your chosen Gann Josins won’t have the mental fortitude of Dane Whitman to break it. (Although, we’re talking about Steve and Tony, and are there any bigger stubborn idiots in the universe? Probably not.)

But Mizzy, I hear you saying. I don’t want to write about Ikaris, even if he is a party king and that sounds pretty nifty. I don’t know anything about the Eternals and I don’t want to go down that gnarly rabbit hole.

That’s totes fine, my friend. I am here to save you. Because in very recent canon, during Jason Aaron’s turn at the helm, the Eternals are all dead. Very dead. That whole Mahd W’yry thing got ‘em, it got ‘em good. But before Ikaris died, he granted his Uni-Mind power to someone we all know and love.

Yep. Tony Stark. Tony Stark currently has the power of the Uni-Mind.

Which means that Tony Stark can now Gann Josin people.

In Avengers #361, Ikaris performs the Gann Josin by basically just pointing his hands at Sersi and Dane and some light goes WHEEEEEEE!! in their direction, and bam, this rare and special bond is done. And Tony Stark can do that now. To anyone! Unfortunately Ikaris is dead and didn’t leave Tony with an instruction manual. But the point is, he *can*. You can make up all sorts of fun things with this canonical fact (or write your own version because lbr Canon Is Dead; Long Live Canon.)

There are so many possibilities. Does Tony deliberately learn how to use it so he can bond himself to Steve? Does Tony *need* to be able to hear Steve’s thoughts (to thwart some bad guys) and thus end up soulbonded forever to Steve in result? Is Tony’s power activating at random because he can’t control it, and he ends up soulbonding everyone around him? Does he just subconsciously bond himself to Steve without consciously meaning to? Do Tony or Steve want to try it for science?

Gosh, I love comics.

But WAIT. There’s MORE.

It’s not just 1990s comics going ham on the soulbond idea. No, we got some *this year*. Canonical soulbonding? TWICE? In one universe? Two different kinds??

And this time, it’s not in a D-list Marvel title. We’re up the ranks to the big leagues this time, folx, with a brief trek to the world of the Fantastic Four.

In Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #15, we’re introduced to a Spyre citizen called Sky, a winged team member of the Unparalleled (more cosmic-powered superheroes), who work under The Overseer. (The Overseer, in a burst of beautiful retcon in the way Marvel comics keeps doing to us, is apparently the entity who is responsible for giving the F4 their powers. Huh. The more you know.)

On the planet Spyre, all children are brought before something called The Great Eye. This measures them against the radiation signature of everyone on the planet, divining who their perfect match is. 

Sky looked into The Great Eye, only to find out her match was Johnny Storm, who was 44 light-years away at the time. Long-distance relationships can be tough. Anyway, plot happens, the F4 get stuck on Spyre, get told they can’t leave, and Sky tells Johnny Storm that she is his soulmate. Oh, and she attached a soul binding onto him while he slept. Neat, huh, all the bodily autonomy people get in this universe before being force soulbond to people? So neat, much consent, wow.

Johnny feels a connection to Sky, which is supposed to let us know this lack of choice is a good thing I guess. The Overseer wants Sky to renounce Johnny and crush the F4 which obv doesn’t happen, so of course she leaves The Unparalleled and skips off to Earth to be with Johnny. 

Who knows how this relationship is gonna last. I mean, you can look at the rest of Johnny’s relationship history and have a good guess. Who knows. Anyway, Reed and Sue are each other's soulmate, and also share a “Soul Binding”, so there’s some canonical proof right there that maybe this system has some validity going for it.

The soulbond for this form takes the form of a golden bracelet worn on the upper arm, that Sky explains her people call a “Soul Binding”; it represents them as being soul-mates. This bracelet can only be removed by your soulmate. This soulbond doesn’t seem to come with any extra powers, it’s just to show that The Great Eye has measured their radiation signature and declared them a match that is supposed to mean they’re perfectly compatible in every way: spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty good feeling that Steve and Tony might just have matching radiation signatures… Or what if Steve and Tony have perfect matching signatures….with other people? (Someone else on Spyre believes Sky is *their* perfect match, after all!) What if Steve has feelings for Iron Man, but he’s a perfect match with Tony Stark? I feel faint already just thinking about it.

So here you go. Two canonical types of soulbonds for your fannish consideration. Feel free to ask me questions! You can find me on tumblr (@mizzy2k) or on discord (addy#0908).

[angelofthequeers]

Damsel In (Need Of) Destress

Rating: T

Summary: Ladybug and Ryuuko have a little competition going on. The aim? To rescue Alya during akuma attacks. And naturally, Alya is Done with her girlfriends' shenanigans, while Chat Noir is just oblivious to the three-way tension.

Slot: 1-2.5k fic

Written for an anonymous donor for the @mlbforblm drive! Thank you so much for commissioning me and I hope you enjoy the sweet wlw disasters! The drive ends in just a few days so if you haven’t already, please consider coming over and commissioning me or another of the amazing contributors!

This assumes that Kagami didn’t reveal herself in ‘Ikari Gozen’ and that ‘Miracle Queen’ never happened, so none of the heroes had their identities outed.

AO3 link

“I got her!”

If anyone had told Alya that she’d be annoyed at a superhero rescue, she’d have looked at them funny and wondered if they’d hit their heads. But that was before…this.

“Don’t worry, Alya,” Ladybug says with a winning smile. “I’ll keep you safe. Ryuuko and Chat Noir can hold off Jess Tear –”

“Césaire!” howls the akuma as if on cue. With her snow-white face, jet-black lips and tear-streak eyeliner, and asymmetrically patterned black and purple jumpsuit and pigtails, she resembles a bargain bin version of Harley Quinn more than anything. Not that Alya would say that to her face…but Hawkmoth is a different story altogether. Is he drunk or something when he akumatises people?

“Why is she even mad at you?” Ladybug says as she deftly leaps and swings through the city, still holding Alya close.

“She tried to insult the Ladyblog, I told her to stop clowning, everyone laughed at her,” Alya says as though Ladybug doesn’t know exactly why Jess Tear is angry. If Alya could slap her oblivious fourteen-year-old self around the head, she so would, because how the hell hasn’t anyone else figured out that Ladybug is her dorky best friend slash girlfriend Marinette? Hmm. Maybe that’s why only Alya has figured it out. That and being Ladybug’s number one fan.

“You’re a good friend, Alya,” Ladybug says. “I – uh, you sound like a good friend!”

“Thanks,” Alya says dryly, wondering if facepalming will give the game away.

“Incoming!” Chat Noir cries from somewhere to the right, and that’s the only warning Alya and Ladybug have before a gigantic purple mass shoots up and snags both of them in its rubbery, shrieking coils. Jess Tear’s mad laughter provides the accompanying soundtrack as she perches on the purple head of a balloon snake nearby.

“You seem to be a little tied up, Césaire!” Jess Tear says. Alya rolls her eyes.

“Right, because I’ve never heard that one before,” she says. “I’ve been akuma bait for, like, three years and that’s the best you can come up with?”

“Who’s the clown now?” Jess Tear cries as though Alya hadn’t said anything. “Now I’ll strangle the life out of you and collect Ladybug’s Miraculous from her dead –”

With an explosive pop, Alya’s bonds vanish and she plummets towards the ground, screaming. But she’s caught in a pair of red arms before she can splatter like a cracked egg and whisked out of danger, held close to another scarlet-clad, black-haired superhero whose eyes are cinnamon brown instead of bubble-gum blue.

“I’ve got you, Alya,” says Ryuuko, aka Kagami, aka Alya’s other girlfriend, aka the whole damn reason for Alya’s constant headache because she and Ladybug can’t seem to stop themselves from turning “rescue Alya” into a goddamn competition.

(Ryuuko’s winning seventeen to thirteen, but there’s no way Alya will admit that she actually keeps count of how many times her girlfriends rescue her).

“Hey! I was saving her!” Ladybug shouts as she untangles herself from the deflated corpse of the balloon snake with Chat Noir’s help. Kagami lands on top of a nearby blue car, turns back to Ladybug, and has the audacity to wink at her. Alya feels the sudden urge to yeet herself out of Ryuuko’s arms and beg Jess Tear to end her suffering already. She’s, like, ninety percent sure that Ladybug and Ryuuko know each other’s identities, which is so not fair because what is she? Chopped fox liver?

If she was Rena Rouge right now, none of this would even be happening in the first place. There’s no justice in this world, honestly.

“Strategically, I’m the better choice to save Alya, while you and Chat Noir close in on Jess Tear!” Ryuuko calls back.

“Like hell!” Jess Tear yanks a purple handkerchief out of her sleeve and keeps pulling, revealing hanky after hanky tied in a long chain. She hefts this chain and cracks it at Chat Noir, causing him to yelp and jump away from Ladybug, who only just manages to leap out of the tangled mess of deflated balloon before it collapses on her. “Who’s the clown now, huh?”

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug catches a tiny clothes peg. “Seriously? Why am I always the one getting trolled?”

“And that’s why I’m the better knight in red spandex.” Ryuuko unsheathes her sword and crouches in front of Alya. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“At least you’re a cute damsel in distress!” Chat Noir calls from his hiding place behind a lamppost. Yeah. Alya doesn’t even know how that’s supposed to work, but Chat Noir’s always been two filaments short of a lightbulb. She rolls her eyes and flips him off.

“Just do your job and save me already!” she retorts.

“I believe that’s my job,” Ryuuko says. She throws herself at Alya and cradles her as they roll off the car and across the rocky road, just in time to avoid Jess Tear’s next hanky crack. “What’s the plan, Ladybug?”

A grumpy Ladybug swings over with Chat Noir in tow, who provides cover for the girls to dart behind the car. Once they’re safe and joined by Chat Noir, Ladybug frowns down at the peg and hums.

“I think it’s time for Jess Tear to find out what happens to clothes on a windy day,” she says, smiling slowly. Chat Noir and Ryuuko also grin. “Chat, give us some cover again?”

“But of course, milady. Cataclysm!” Chat Noir leaps out from behind the car. Alya peeks around just in time to witness a nearby building crumbling, dousing Jess Tear in dust and rubble, before Ladybug and Ryuuko pull her back.

“Stay here,” they say together, then narrow their eyes at each other.

“Oh my god, you can give it up already,” Alya mutters. “I know it’s you two. And I know you two know.”

“Uh…of course it’s us two!” Ladybug says quickly, while Ryuuko’s cheeks flush pink and her eyes dart away. “Who else would we be?”

Alya facepalms. “You know, a relationship is supposed to be nice. Happy. Beneficial. I’ve had more headaches since your silly little competition started than I’ve had my whole life. How the heck did you not expect me to notice after, like, the seventh time you two went at it to save me? I mean, sure, I love being the pretty damsel in distress, but honestly.”

Ladybug and Ryuuko just blink at her. It’s not until Chat Noir bellows, “Any day now!” that they’re snapped back into action.

“Um…Ryuuko!” Ladybug says in a higher voice than usual. Ryuuko jumps and almost drops her sword.

“Right! Wind Dragon!” Ryuuko dissipates into a burst of cool, fresh air that whooshes out towards Jess Tear. Right before the clown akuma can separate Chat Noir’s head from his body with one crack of her whip, Ryuuko hits her and howls around her in a whirlwind.

“Oh my god! Go away!” Jess Tear shrieks as she’s buffeted by wind on all sides. She tries to aim her hanky whip, but the chain of cloth seems to have a life of its own under Ryuuko’s guiding wind-hand, slapping Jess Tear around the head and coiling around her in a twisted imitation of her previous balloon snake. Once Jess Tear is nothing but a purple hanky mummy, Ryuuko lets her plummet and lands on the ground just in time to solidify and catch a wriggling Jess Tear, whose screams are muffled by her new face mask.

“Okay but how are we gonna find the akuma now?” Chat Noir says as he bounds over, followed by Ladybug, who pegs the ends of the hanky rope to hold Jess Tear’s bonds together.

“That’s your problem, not mine!” Alya calls from her car shelter. “I’m outta here now that she’s toast! I gotta have a good, long talk with my girls!”

She takes a moment to revel in the way Ladybug and Ryuuko blanch, then she turns and heads off, whistling. Ha. And her girlfriends thought they had it over her. Now she’s got the upper hand. Let them sweat while they deakumatise Jess Tear and do the whole post-akuma comfort thing with Jessica Terrence, who’s more than likely going to cuss them out, considering what she’d said about the Ladyblog.

“Gami seventeen, Mari thirteen, and Alya one million,” Alya snickers to herself.

[ientina1234]

[Goretober] Day 7- Forced

(Tired to add the other days)

Somebody shine a light, I’m frozen by the fear in me Somebody make me feel alive, then shatter me

‘‘Ikari, please- ‘‘ ‘You forgot what he has done to you, you SIDED with HIM after EVERYTHING he has done, Yugi. I’ll go through you if that’s how I’ll get to him.’  ‘’I will stand right here till the very end then, if I can’t talk some sense into you.’’ ‘So be it’

Forced. The very first thing I thought was Yugi forced to face Ikari from my and my friend’s RP where Ikari got split out from Yugi, which resulted in...a small change. Very small one. Maybe 2. One of them being that he doesn’t remember that they made up with Yami already, Yugi has constant headaches because a part of him is missing (Ikari) and..shhhh not telling.Also Yugi knows how to fight here so! He doesn’t need weapons, he has teeth anyways, but Ikari has in human form also claws so.. Hm.  I bet someone will be able to tell why Yugi and Ikari are half transparent faded downwards, I wanted to draw all this but wasn’t able to,so.. Someone will probably get the reference. >- >  Models by omomo and Tokami-Fuko (edits by me).Yugi’s blood was added in sai because I was lazy to go try to edit the model. 

[theoneinfamous]

Hope For The Fallen Chapt. 1: Wake-up Call

RUN

Run.

Running.

“From what?”

I don’t know. Where am I? The darkness offers no answers. All I know is fear.

Deep, unfettered, unadulterated fear.

But of what? I’m not sure I want to know.

The void distorts around...me? Who is this “me”? Does it matter?

Am “I” just dizzy, or am I distorting too? Don’t know. Don’t care. The pain is so excruciating, I almost cease to feel it. Almost.

The world seems to finally materialize around me. All red and black and grey. Then the bodies. So many bodies, falling one after another. Why do they seem so familiar? My chest tightens and when I close my eyes, the image still haunts me until...nothing.

I open my eyes, and suddenly they’re gone again and I’m alone in the darkness once more. Is this real? What does real even mean? And what is this, this feeling of…? Sadness? Is that what it is? I don’t know. Words seem to have no meaning here, and coherent thought is nearly impossible.

Then...a light. A voice. The sound is familiar, and feels melodic. And then I’m running again. Or am I? Perhaps “I” am not in control. “My” legs are moving before I realize. Stronger than any fear, sharper than any pain, I feel it; I have to get to that voice.

Reaching the light is like passing through a gateway, and the desolate void is encompassed in white light. Then...nothing. Until…

A new voice? Is it...mine? The words that escape reach me as nothing more than sound and I can’t understand. It may as well be silent. But...wait...is that me? Who is that “I’m” holding? Another body, limp and lifeless, some black liquid-like substance seeping from their body, staining the void black as the darkest shadows. Though I can’t truly hear or comprehend, the wails and sobs that escape from the familiar figure that holds the body are clearly audible to my heart.

And then I feel it. And for the first time I understand the feelings. They are all too familiar.

Sadness.

Loneliness

Now, once more

I am truly, utterly…

ALONE

February 21, 837 ATF

Zera woke up in a cold sweat. Sitting up, he rubbed his forehead, nursing the biggest headache he’d ever had. He stood up dizzily and stumbled over to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, Zera desperately tried to remember whatever nightmare brought him to this, but it was too late; the memory faded under the pressure of his headache.

‘Damn it. Maybe I’ll remember later.’

Zera drowsily brushed his teeth and washed his face, wondering if he should tell his friend, Taejin.

‘Nah he’d only laugh it off, or make it some long, ongoing joke.’ He looked back at the mirror.

Suddenly something appeared in his mind, and without thinking, he said it aloud.

“Crystal.”

Zera looked at his reflection, his sharp gaze returned equally. Confused, he repeated himself.

“Crystal…? What is that, a name? It sounds so familiar. Does it have anything to do with my dream?”

He immediately thought to himself, ‘Of course it does dipwad. Its fucking ominous.’

A sudden knock at the front door caught Zera’s attention, and he lost his train of thought. Zera lazily walked to the door, while the mystery visitor continued to knock impatiently.

“I’m coming, geez!” He opened the door and his surprise made him forget the strange name entirely.

Opening the door, Zera was greeted by his younger sister.

“Corona?! What are you doing here?”

Zera’s sister had changed since he’d last seen her. She had grown out her long silver-white hair, the mark of a Kurenai family member. It sat at waist-length, with one long streak of natural red, an indicator of her abilities. She had certainly gotten taller, but not by much, and she stood just to Zera’s shoulders. Zera estimated she was about 5’ 3”. She wore on her kimono the traditional red and silver colors of the Kurenai family with purple stitching and embroidery. Zera’s surprise was visible.

She scowled angrily. “Is that how you greet people? How disappointing, no wonder you never have visitors. You should be elated that I came to visit a loser like you at all.”

Not waiting for a response, she brushed past him, walking inside and looking around before seating herself in the only chair not piled with random stuff.

“So this is your new dump. I’m surprised you can afford the place.”

Zera scoffed. “Mother disowned me and banished me, cutting off all interaction with any aspect of the family with the exception of a select few. She didn’t ban me from getting a job.”

Corona laughed, much to Zera’s displeasure. “Yes well, you never seemed the productive hard-working type.”

“Don’t have much of a choice.”

“No, you don’t,” Corona continued, smirking. “No, you certainly don’t.”

Zera seemed to growl under his breath as he sat down, moving some clothes out of a chair across the room from Corona.

“Is there a reason you’re here Corona, or did you just come to mock me? I don’t recall you being the helpful type, and you certainly didn’t care three years ago.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your insolence is quite unwelcome, but since you asked so nicely, yes, I am here for a reason. But for the record, I was 9 when yo-”

“And I was 10, what’s your point?” Zera cut her off, glaring maliciously.

The two siblings glared at each other in silence for a while before Corona sighed and continued.

“Anyway, I came to tell you a few things. You should be grateful, I could get into trouble just by idling so long here.”

“Get on with it.”

Another glare followed, and Corona continued.

“You probably guessed as much, but Ikari has taken your place as predicted heir. Unless you redeem yourself in these next seven years, he will become head of the family and your banishment will be permanent.”

Zera’s expression softened and he nodded sadly. “Understood.”

Corona nodded and continued. “Mother has been convinced by Father to place you in Fox Den Academy. Our family has extensive history there as you know. Also, Father told me to tell you something he said you’d understand.”

Zera looked curiously. “Yea, what is it?”

“He said, and he wanted me to tell it exactly like this, kyuu-bi no kitsune no nana-bi ga kagayaku koto wa mō arimasen. Kemononochikara ga otoroeru. And last but not least…”

Their eyes met once more, but this time there was no malice in their gaze. Zera nodded.

“I understand.”

Corona sighed, relieved as she stood and walked to the door. “Good. Oh, and by the way…” she turned and smiled.

“We’ve recieved word that Silver is not only alive, but she seems to be active. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this but...I miss your presence with us, the way we used to be.” She took one final look around his place. “Too bad, you have succumb to the hands of fate, and fallen so. Ah well, my sentiments can be overlooked. Farewell, elder brother, and good luck. I mean that, really I do.”

Surprised, Zera blushed and nodded serenely.

“Yea well...thanks I guess.”

Corona smirked cockily, nodding to him as she left, closing the door behind her. Zera waited for a minute before relaxing, and he hadn’t realized he was so tense until he did. He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Geez that girl is a handful, no doubt she’ll be an obstacle someday...and Ikari as predicted heir? That’s certainly not good for me. First things first, I need to end my banishment. To do that, I’ll have to face him...sooner or later.”

He stared at the ceiling in silence, lost in thought as to what he was going to do, until he eventually fell asleep.

END OF CHAPTER 1