#not much clue as to what’s happening but humanity’s heroes are really not so great
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r0semultiverse · 8 months ago
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Okay, we’re only one episode in, but if you like the premise of The Boys & you like anime, I think you’ll enjoy Go Go Loser Ranger!
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Smooth animation, a somewhat unique art style, & a twist on the sentai genre! Please check it out!
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tr1nd2de · 2 months ago
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Old enough
I just saw a post from Wonderjanga (C.C. And Great Grandpa Wayne), and it improved my head cannon about Billy telling the league, that he remembers everything he went through in those 84 years of the time bubble.
I wasn't going to post this but I changed my mind. In my Head Cannon, Billy is already older, like 16 or 17 years old. He has been in the league for a few years since he was a kid.
Ever since Captain Marvel (or Billy Batson) joined the league, he's hardly ever asked for a reunion so it would obviously be a proven thing to deal with. Bruce was worried about this, for a few weeks now Billy has been acting strangely, missing some meetings and not responding to the communicators or the messages we send him.
So him calling a meeting was important, especially because he said it was urgent. The league members were quick to arrive, even Flash who is usually late arrived early, Billy didn't say much he just looked down trying to understand something... something was wrong Bruce could feel it.
Billy: Thank you for coming, I would like to say that the problem is not the end of the world, at least not our world but mine. I recently discovered why Fawcett has so many mental hospitals.
Superman: What do you mean by that Billy?
Billy: Do you remember the Justice Squad?
Wonder Woman: Yes, I fought alongside them in the second war, its members were Bullet Man and Woman, Golden Arrow, Mr. Scarlet and his helper Pinky, Mega Spy and Ibis the Invincible.
Green Arrow: From what we know, they returned to the United States for an urgent government mission. We have no further information about them to this day. Some myths say they were killed, others say they deserted and disappeared from the map. I prefer to believe the latter.
Billy: I found out what happened to them. When they returned for an urgent mission, they were assigned to deal with a being called King Kull. Just like Vandal Savage he is also a caveman, high intelligence and physical condition. In prehistoric times, King Kull was the ruler of a race of proto-humans known as the Undermen (also called the Beastmen), a brutish but technologically advanced race who ruled over humanity until they were finally overthrown in a revolt. Kull survived into the 20th century trapped in a state of suspended animation. When he woke up he decided that humans should suffer the same as he suffered, so he built a Suspendium bomb.
Batman: What would Suspendium be?
Billy: Suspendium was an artificial compound developed by Dr Silvana.
Flash: Since when has Silvana been alive?
Billy more than me and you
J'onn: Where are you going with this Billy?
Billy:Well... I-I knew Fawcett wasn't a "normal" place, not because of the abundant magic that pours into the city from the Rock of Eternity, but because of everything, the culture that hasn't advanced, the fashion sense that hasn't changed, and so on. I kept this in my head and went looking for answers, not only out of curiosity but because of memories that didn't make sense. Memories that I no longer remembered, I lived them.
Black Canary : Are you okay Billy?
Billy: yes, as far as possible.
Billy: I followed the clues that my memories gave me, and I arrived at an old building, the facade of Sivana, one of the Solar Centers, there was a passage to the basement and there I discovered where the old heroes of the Second World War ended up. They were trapped in a state of suspended animation, all of them, I came to the conclusion that the effect of the Suspendium had worn off after all these years. Apparently the Justice Squadron was unable to get Kull to detonate the bomb, everyone on Fawcett was affected, the heroes and Kull were trapped in a state of suspended animation that has not yet passed.
(Hal) Green lantern: Holy shit...
Billy: Yeah, holy shit. Well that was my report for the month, I would like to take a really long vacation, recommended by my psychiatrist.
Black canary: Psychiatrist!?!?!
Billy: Yeah, I'm seeing a-a psychiatrist, after discovering that my life was a loop of suffering and pain, finally my mind gave out and I developed a dissociative personality disorder, I-I- this is the first time I've come to consciousness. I-I-I have a few already, one of them is an 8 year old child called Hedwing, the other my supposed evil twin, all I fight are the sins, he was born from them I don't know his name yet...
Black Canary gets up and goes to Billy and hugs him."Oh Billy you don't deserve this"
Batman takes off his hood and stands up, hugging Billy. "I can't do much for you, but I will do what I can to help you, money won't be a problem."
wiping away the tears. "T-thanks, but that's not the whole problem, m-my Captain form also had new personalities."
After coming back from the shock Superman says: My God, I didn't know that was possible...
Not either, but the personalities that came are called Lord Shazam and a goth who says he has no name. says Billy leaving the hug: Lord Shazam prefers not to leave the Rock and Goth likes to explore the world.
So you mean that all that discussion about you being a child was a complete waste of time? Flash says trying to break the ice.
running his hand through his hair and leaning back in his chair (Hal) Green Lantern says: Nice try Barry, but how old are you Billy? Because the second war was about 85 years ago.
Well... coincidence or not, the Suspendium bomb exploded 84 years ago, in 1940 when I was 10 years old and had already been at war for 1 year. says Billy sitting in his chair.
Living for a long time has its consequences, Billy, but you are not alone, not today or tomorrow, because you have us and me, we will help you, little brother. Diana says, smiling at Billy.
Thanks but still, it's not something I like since well... I was childhood friends with Thomas Wanye. Billy looks at Bruce.
My father? Were you my father's childhood friend?.
Oh yes, how could I forget, Tommy was wild but fun, we got a good scolding from our parents, good times, I think that if the bomb hadn't exploded I would be a friend of the family, and possibly the one who would have been adopted would have been you. Smiling from ear to ear, Billy says looking at Bruce.
I don't know if it was good but that's it, have a good day, or night or afternoon, aah be well.
The End.
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bisupergirl · 4 months ago
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oh sorry, also are there any comics i should avoid completely because the gp recognises them as being completely ooc or just not a sensical comic for supergirl?
and i was thinking of collecting the series of graphic novels that start with supergirl vol 1 - reign of the cyborg supermen. is that a good comic run? i have no clue when it comes to kara haha.
also, one last thing i promise! what is kara's true personality? like as kara danvers but also as supergirl. do they contrast each other? is she a geek or is she still just as powerful but in different ways when she's kara not sg? if that makes sense
again im so sorry for all the questions, kara is a character that really intruiges me and i really want to know the canon version of her. (unfortunately i loved the cw version of her, no matter what any one says) but i know that's nkt exactly correct.
im so sorry if ive bothered you, and i will be eternally greatful if you manage to answer my questions. thank you so much!
YES THERE ARE. Anything you see written by either Jeph Loeb or Joe Kelly should be avoided at all costs. This includes Superman/Batman (2003) #8-13 and Supergirl (2005) #0-19. Basically anything written between the years 2004 through 2007 should be avoided like the plague. The early 2000s was truly an evil era for Kara... she was oversexualized to hell and back and really didn't have any sort of characterization beyond "sexy teenager". The only thing that I think is somewhat worth reading from those years is Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (2004) #16-36, but even that isn't super necessary if you don't want to slog through it just for her.
Aside from that.... this is just my controversial opinion, but I REALLY dislike everything Mariko Tamaki has written for Kara. This includes Supergirl: Being Super (2017) and the Supergirl Special (2023). I've just found that she has a very boring and uninspired take on Kara... Nothing she's written gives off the vibe that she's actually read any of Kara's comics. Being Super specifically irks me because it's literally just "what if Kara... was Clark!", and that's just not remotely interesting to me... Obviously nothing she's written is on par with the truly heinous shit that Loeb and Kelly were doing with Kara, so I don't want it to seem like I'm putting them on the same level! A lot of people DO like her Supergirl comics, I'm just not one of them.
Steve Orlando's run of Supergirl (2016)—which includes Reign of the Cyborg Supermen—was written specifically to appeal to fans of the CW show, so I imagine that if you like CW Supergirl, you'll also probably like that comic. I don't necessarily want to say that you shouldn't read it (since you like CWSG), but it's not something I recommend since the way that Kara's characterized there is quite different than any other comic version of her—past or present. If you do want to read something from Supergirl (2016) I recommend Marc Andreyko's run! It's spans from #21 to #36 (although I don't suggest reading past #33) and is collected in Supergirl vol. 1: Killers of Krypton and Supergirl vol. 2: Sins of the Circle.
As for her personality:
Kara is very headstrong and stubborn—she doesn't back down from her beliefs even if it means coming into conflict with her authority figures (like Clark, her mother, her employers, etc.).
She's also incredibly compassionate and protective—even in her early days as Supergirl when humans would reject her, she wasn't directly scornful of them and she'd still go out of her way to use her powers to keep them safe.
Relating to that, she's also very empathetic—there's been multiple storylines where Kara sees herself and her experience in the person she's helping, and it inspires her to do whatever she can to help them.
She's often driven by her anger and devastation of what happened to Krypton. The fury and nearly inconsolable despair that she feels for the mass death that was caused by Krypton's destruction is such a huge driving force for everything she does.
In regards to her interests: they change pretty frequently between continuities, but Pre and Post Crisis Kara was depicted as being very artistic in a lot of different areas! Kara used to have a passion for acting: she went to drama school, starred in two films, and went on to star in a soap opera. She was also very into fashion and used to wear so many cute outfits :'). Additionally, in Post Crisis continuity, she was a painter and even contemplated joining the Art Guild on New Krypton just like her father did. Recently she hasn't been shown to be that artistic and instead has an interest in history (Kryptonian history, that is). Before Krypton's destruction she was invited to study at the Society of Historical Science, and she actually preferred history to applied science. She does have a lot of scientific understanding (both because she's apart of the House of El and because Krypton is so scientifically advanced), but I've always loved that she's shown a consistent interest in the humanities rather than science!
As a quick aside, Kara has had a couple different human identities over the years: she was Linda Lee Danvers (sometimes just referred to as Linda Danvers) during Pre Crisis continuity, and that was her most fleshed out and meaningful identity imo since it lasted for around 26 years. During Post Crisis she briefly went by Linda Lang, and then in the Rebirth continuity she'd go by Kara Danvers to match the CW show. All that to say, she really doesn't differ that much in personality when she's in her human identity than when she's Supergirl! Aside from pretending that she doesn't have powers, she's still just as incredibly headstrong and compassionate and protective when she's [insert human ID here] as she is when she's Supergirl.
Okay now I'm just going to drop a few reading guides / comic recommendations that I've made here if you're interested!
Ultimate Supergirl Reading Guide Supergirl Storyline Recommendations Pre Crisis Supergirl Recommendations
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but-a-humble-goon · 4 months ago
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As are aware of Bruce's more negative character traits, who while not liking them doesn't dismiss them as a non canon aberration, you seem like the person to ask this question.
Do you think Gut's could be a good comparison as far as characters go in terms of being someone who is capable of great kindness & great cruelty, who is meant to be sympathetic but can at time horrify.
Obviously Guts having been written by one author for one story is a notably more coherent character. This is more of a general comparison if someone embodying two extremes & still making sense.
Guts in the Misty Valley arc could both save & be very cool towards a young child & be a source of comfort, but could also switch to holding a knife to that same child's throat to lure in an enemy for a surprise attack & still feel coherent.
Do you think a well written Batman could be handled as such, and or that Batman as he largely stands in terms of overall collective works could be regarded in a similar light?
I think the sheer insurmountable difference in the writing quality is what makes the comparison difficult. The way I'd describe it is Guts feels like an incredibly well written dark fucked up antihero and Batman feels like a very badly written morally grey goodguy. It's hard to reconcile Bruce's good with his bad because most of the time it genuinely feels like him being kind of a monster happens unintentionally thanks to writers just having no clue what they're doing. Like, clearly during the whole Stephanie War Games saga the audience was supposed to sympathize with Bruce over her but like... they sorta forgot to make him sympathetic and forgot to make Stephanie do anything bad besides being a teenaged girl so the result his he just comes across like a willfully abusive piece of shit motivated apparently by pure spite. Or, again, by pure misogyny if you take Chuck Dixon's word for it. Or whenever he's casually gleefully cruel to criminals and treats them like animals. Most of the time it doesn't feel like the story is commenting on Batman's own issues, it just kinda feels like it's being written by people who think the thoughtless brutality is okay and/or super cool actually and are using Bruce as a vicarious power fantasy. Or all the times they have him lash out with physical violence against his kids, do they actually get how screwed up and over the line that is? Because it feels more like the writers are just like "nah, it's cool, they're not his real kids so it doesn't count as child abuse, just regular abuse which is fine." I've said it before but it genuinely feels like writers think him just being Batman (the beloved childhood icon of whole generations) is a free pass to have him constantly act as awful as they feel like and never face consequences, learn any lessons or grow as a person while expecting everyone to still like him for some reason. I don't think there really is a way to square Batman's constant shittiness with the good person we're supposed to take him to be. Instead it just ends up feeling like there's two Batmans; one who's gruff, antisocial and scary but ultimately a hero who always means well... and another who is a totally incoherently horrible leech of a human being who everyone inexplicably has infinite patience for, presumably because they mistake him for the first guy. On the other hand, Berserk clearly at least understands that the extremes of bastardry Guts ends up going to are indeed extremes. They actually endeavor to make it make internal sense for the character. The dude is at any one time just barely clinging to his sanity after all the horrific shit he's lived through and every single time he tries to let his guard down and start healing the universe punishes him for it, leaving him broken all over again. He ends up being sympathetic because he's somehow only as much of a monster as he is. Even at his absolute darkest he's managed to hold on to even just the faintest glimmer of his humanity despite everything. Also to be perfectly honest, accounting for the sheer difference in quantity of content I would put money on Guts having a much higher proportional rate of humanizing moments of genuine kindness for contrast than Bruce does, even if he does also go a whole lot darker than Bruce ever has.
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So if anything the comparison feels more like: here's what to do and here's what not to do.
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tsunderesalty · 10 months ago
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20 Questions for Writers
Thank you for the tag, @mrsmungus and @oceangirl24! Sorry I'm late on this!
❣️How many works do you have on AO3?
109, as of today! A whole lot of very varied fics with multiple genres, tropes, and fandoms and ships! I've been working on a lot of OC stuff as of late, and that's become a decent chunk of my fics. Well, if you consider 1/20th a decent chunk XD
❣️What is your total AO3 word count?
I swear I did not plan on this happening, I didn't stall for time just to reach this number, but my exact word count is 420,000!
❣️What fandoms do you write for?
Ah, fuck, there's a lot! Off the top of my head (because I'm too lazy to check Ao3), I'm trying to do more DC, Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan, Marvel, and OC stuff!
❣️What are your top five fics by kudos?
Skull Signs - 553 kudos
Just Accept It - 525 kudos
Penguin Promise - 413 kudos
What Hurt Brings - 378 kudos
Putting Down The Book - 353 kudos
❣️Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I try my best to respond to comments, but sometimes I let them slip and fall under an avalanche that I'm too tired to dig myself out of.
❣️What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Probably Last Words, cuz it straight up is just bad ending through and through. Even the happy moment is sad.
❣️What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
A Wooden Castellan, maybe? Just some good ole birthday fluff!
❣️Do you get hate on your fic?
Hate on my fics? No. Hate because of my fics? Yes. We all met Evil Anon way too many times.
❣️Do you write smut?
Eh, a bit. It's not really my forte, and tbh there are times where I feel pretty left out because I see so many people writing smut and having fun with it and I'm just like "...I can't do that. I don't really write smut."
Gah, sorry for whining
❣️Do you write crossovers?
I think I have two crossovers?
A Detroit: Become Human x Wenclair fic I did by myself and a Ace Attorney x SCP that I'm writing with my best friend, @axolotlsupremacyowo!
❣️Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not to my knowledge, and I honestly don't see why anyone would want to.
❣️Have you ever had a fic translated?
No, but @mrsmungus did do a podfic for me, which I absolutely love! (She also sends me voice messages where she sings really nice songs amazingly, even if she doesn't think so!)
❣️Have you ever co-written a fic?
Yes!
As I mentioned above, I co-wrote a fic with @axolotlsupremacyowo, but that's one of three! We did a thing last week where we started fics by ourselves, then swapped them with the other person to finish them! It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again!
❣️What's your all-time favorite ship?
To be perfectly honest....I have zero clue. I have a lot of ships that I love, and I would struggle to pick out a favorite!
❣️What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Ah, I wanted to finish an old MHA fic from...January of last year, I think, but I doubt I'll ever return to it at this rate. It's just not on my to-do list.
❣️What are your writing strengths?
Oh great, here we go! Ugh. Well, I'd say dialogue and characterization is something I'm pretty great at.
❣️What are your writing weaknesses?
Low confidence, honestly. I don't write well because I don't think I will write well. It's a problem.
❣️Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I do my best to avoid it, because I really don't know any words in any other language! If I find myself needing to do it: I write it like this.
"Random phrase!" [Character] said in [Language].
❣️First fandom you wrote for?
My Hero Academia.
❣️Favorite fic you've ever written?
Not choosing. You can't make me.
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space-dreams-world · 2 years ago
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More DP x DC au prompts:
_ Amity's Exception: If you listen to DISTRACTIBLE Podcast featuring Markiplier, Bob and Wade on Spotify or YouTube, then you would have heard the episode with the Aladdin exception. So it's a similar concept, where the only people that can really help amity are either magicians or the non-meta batfamily.
_I'm a monster and I'll make you suffer: Danny is tired, tired of all the hate he gets, from the town he is trying to protect, from the GIW who want to eradicate his species, from his bullies and Vlad, from Sam and Tucker voicing their opinions on ghosts and not letting him think for himself and definitely from his crazed up ghost-hunting parents. One day, a big battle happens between him and another ghost that result in a misunderstanding, that they can both agree it was a mistake, but the fentons show up and start spewing bias nonsense about ghost kind. Sam publicly tries to defend the ghost, but ultimatly is bribed by her parents to confirm the fentons bias. Danny vehemently denies their facts and says he is not a monster, though they firmly believe he is one. Unknowingly, Circe or Klarion is in town and decides to cause some chaos. (Ghost have an funky reaction to magic.)
Circe or Klarion hits Danny with a spell at the same time as the fentons shoots their ghost revealer weapon and the whole town watches as their hero mutates into an eldritch creature. At first Danny screeches in pain as his form shifts, his face melts off to show his now space like skin, four more sets of eyes appear on his face all fully the neon green, his fangs become more pronounce and elongated, he slowly grows another set of arms with claws, a tail, two pairs of wings and a set of horns on his head, all matching his space skin. He is also quite bigger in this form and all his scars are visible. Suddenly the former phantom screeches, paralyzing all around him with fear as he books it out of town. (Sidenote that screech was so powerful, he was able to close the Portal to amity including Masters one in amity as he was the one to introduce ectoplasm to amity park.)
After Eldritch Phantom leaves, only the fentons are really happy before realizing their son is gone, so when Jazz and Danny's friends explain what really happened and where Danny is, they are shocked to discover that they sent their boy away, they decide they are going to find Danny and help him get back to normal before figuring out how to support his new changes. (Not great! Jack and Maddie, but they care for their son.)
Meanwhile, Vlad is searching for Danny with Skulker hoping to manipulate him into joining his side and curing his new form. To his surprise, Danny's new form is too much too handle and is forced to retreat. (Danny is definitely stronger than Vlad, due to the exposure of pure ectoplasm and the size of the portal. Keep in mind, Danny's brain is similar to a wild aggressive animal now, and while Danny struggled as a human ghost, he has no problem curb-stomping Plasmius now.)
Somehow this gets on JL or YJ radar and are forced to confront E! Danny. It's a difficult battle for whoever is fighting him, till the resident feeling reader attempt to read E! Danny's mind. All the team hear is <Pain... Fear... Sorrow... Anger...Betrayal...Too Young to Suffer... Alone... Child..> and that's what clues themselves in on something different about this foe. They are able to calm him down somewhat.
At the same time, the Fentons and Jasmine have clued onto Danny's signature and are approaching him. Danny sees them and starts to freak out more thinking they were here to end him. Jasmine is the only one safe enough to practically be beside eldritch! Danny and he won't panic. The team asks who the fentons are and they reply that they are the boy turned beast's parents. They somehow are able to get E! Danny to the watchtower where the resident magicians are able to craft bracelets that will hide Danny's new true form, while his parents try to figure out how to reverse the effects of their invention on Danny. ( They don't realize magic was involved, so it did not work.)
When Danny is able to speak again, his parents profusely try to apologize for hurting him, but it's a little too late. Danny gives them an ultimatum: Either destroy or move their life's work and focus more on the family, with more scientific proof of their theories or lose both Jasmine and himself forever. It's because Danny explains to them that Jazz and himself shouldn't have been to be the responsible ones in the family at a young age, that Jazz shouldn't have taken the role of Mom to take care of Danny, that they should notice when he comes injured by bullies and not assume it's ghost and listen to them for christ sake. That Danny and Jazz's lives are permanently damaged by literally growing up with unstable and untested chemicals and guns around them.
Route A: They agree to the demands, are forced to attend family counseling with the kids and rework their entire world views.
Route B: They disagree, thinking they know better than their kids. The fentons are sentenced to jail for child endangerment, child abuse, needing mental help among many others and all their asset are frozen and given to their kids.
If Vlad even tries to adopt Danny and Jazz, it will get denied because the JL know who Danny is and he has told them all about Vlad and his methods, the GIW and the Anti-Ecto Acts, so even if Vlad looks in his direction, it's automatic engage on site.
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edorazzi · 3 years ago
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Once again, it’s the post everyone’s been waiting for! Reviewing Part 1 of the Miraculous Season 4 finale. 
This is a followup to my reviews of the “Felix” episode and “Gabriel Agreste”, so if you haven’t read those then you might like to! They’re not required but do contain my thoughts/opinions/screaming/crying about the Felix storyline up to this point. 
I haven’t watched “Strike Back”/Part 2 yet so be gentle with me.
Sorry this one took such a long time, I just wasn’t emotionally ready for this journey (and caught Covid in the middle of editing). But hopefully everyone else is up to date and ready to watch me suffer, so I’ll throw the rest under a cut and let’s get going! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
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So to kick off, here are my pregame thoughts. Like previous episodes I went on total content lockdown once the finale aired so I’m only aware of a few spoilery things which slipped the net:
Felix gets hold of a Miraculous. Not sure how, why or which one; just that it’s orange. Also something about the Peacock brooch.
Whatever happens in this has radically changed the fandom’s opinion of Felix and not for the better.
Lila is featured somehow.
So I really have no clue where this is going. I recall Lila was working with Gabriel to control Adrien and seemed to ally with Chloe at the end of “Penalteam”; but Felix dislikes Chloe and outright hates his uncle - who he’s aware is Shadow Moth! - so I can’t see him joining this squad of villains.
I’ve talked about this before but at the end of the “Felix” episode I got the impression Felix really does like Adrien, he was just seething over feeling abandoned at his dad’s funeral (and trying to grab the family ring at the same time). In “Gabriel Agreste” the boys seemed on good terms, so I assume they consider that score settled and anything Felix is scheming from this point on is directed more at Uncle Gabe.
On the other hand, Felix’s relationship with the heroes isn’t great. In his debut episode he really messed around with them, appealed to Hawk Moth directly and looked genuinely hurt when Chat accused him of having no friends. However, they seemed fine in “Gabriel Agreste” when Felix was again in need of rescuing; and I can imagine him harbouring a long-term grudge like he had against Adrien but to sabotage the heroes in a way that benefits Shadow Moth/Uncle Gabe? Ehh. Unless Lila is finally staging an uprising and trying to take over as the big villain? MAYBE.
(And I will say - I think there was a HUGE difference in the writing quality of the previous two episodes. “Felix” was just a “fuck you” to PV fans, an incoherent mess which outrageously villainised this new character instead of telling a real story; while “Gabriel Agreste” was much more solid and portrayed Felix as an intelligent/morally grey figure. Like Chloe’s character assassination in “Miracle Queen”, I think Felix’s attitude in the Finale will heavily depend on which episode this draws more from.)
On my magic third hand, how about the increasing speculation of Felix and Adrien being Sentimonsters, or at least ‘more than human’ in some way? I wasn’t buying into the theory at first but at this point I’d believe it. Mostly because I’m genuinely nervous they’re going to “unalive” Felix; if they’ll basically kill Sentibug onscreen when she was a really sweet character then what makes Felix (the most hated one of all!) any safer?? 
I’m writing this all before going into the episode, obviously. Maybe all my speculation is useless and it’s just “Miracle Queen” Round 2 where they mess up an interesting morally grey character for no reason. Guess I’ll stop avoiding this and go see. :/
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- Alright, I’m going in. Seeing a bunch of the heroes together is nice; I heartily disapprove of “Kuro Neko” downgrading Chat from ‘partner’ to ‘basic bitch backup’ but this isn’t the place to talk about that (OR IS IT?). There’s also nobody in this group I actively dislike Vesperia. 
- How come Roi Singe and Carapace get a bro fistbump but not Chat? Are they EVER going to resolve the plot point of Nino revealing his identity to Adrien in “Rocketear”? He did apologise for beating Chat up in the street but have things been frosty since then or what? :/
- Everyone splits up before they detransform, and Ladybug won’t let Chat go with her to collect their Miraculous(eses) because she doesn’t trust him with their identities. And yeah, I’m glad Chat is going off about this, we’re like 10 seconds in and I’M MAD TOO. Ladybug let Viperion learn who Chat was without his consent (which could have led to a Luka/Adrien friendship arc but this series continues to starve me of the most basic sustenance!! >:0), and I’m glad Luka knows because someone has to keep an eye on both these magic idiots, but SHE CAN’T TRUST CHAT WITH WAY LESS VITAL INFO? GIRL...
- Also, doesn’t he at least know who Ryuko and Pigella are? Maybe he can’t admit knowing Carapace but I’m sure Chat was there for both Kagami and Rose getting their Miraculous. She could let him help a little! :(
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- “Cat Noir will always be a holder like any other...” / “Yep!” LADYBUG. WHAT ON EARTH. Kissing him on the cheek and calling him your “favourite” does NOT make up for that!!! >:0
- I’m also gonna go down that road and say kissing Chat is a really messy thing to do right now. He clearly interpreted that as something romantic and haven’t we established a million times that Ladybug does not want that relationship with him? :/
One thing I want to talk about here is how “Glaciator 2″ includes a scene where Chat admits that he’s been ‘acting up’ out of desperation to maintain the relationship he has with Ladybug, but he’s so inexperienced with affection that he always ends up acting flirty or romantic and just makes her more frustrated with him. 
I think Adrien (as an isolated, socially awkward celebrity heartthrob) has genuine problems knowing how to express platonic love - look at his failed relationship with Kagami! - and yes it’s his own job to deal with that but this kind of thing isn’t helping! What he needs is Ladybug trusting him with more responsibility as a partner to show she values him, not giving out misleading kisses to soften his rejection as a teammate.
Does that make sense? I do think Ladybug’s trying to be nice but this feels cruel to Chat after everything else this season. Where is Felix.
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- CAN YOU BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT RENA WHEN I WAS GETTING MAD ABOUT LADYBUG TRUSTING VIPERION OVER CHAT. THE WHOLE SENTIBUBBLER/SCARABELLA MESS WHERE CHAT WASN’T ALLOWED TO BE IN THE LOOP ON ANYTHING, AND THEN GOT BLAMED FOR BEING DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH. OH MY GOD.
- Anyway, Rena Furtive makes sure the coast is clear as Ladybug reclaims the Miraculous from each holder. They do a synchronised dive into an alleyway and detransform amid some cute banter and a plan to go to the movies.  This is really pushing the concept of Rena being Ladybug’s ideal partner and it’s making me feel super bad for Chat right now, especially when Rena does what I think is an imitation of him bowing to “Mademoiselle Ladybug”. Maybe it’s a coincidence but it’s very suspect when she’s currently filling Chat’s role as Ladybug’s trusted aide. It’s not funny if you’re punching down, ladies.
- I do apologise for being so nitpicky. I’m way too high strung for regular episode content. Just show me what Felix did and get it over with! >:0
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- Cut to Gabriel in his butterfly cave.
Side note: I’m watching a TV series with my family (“Temple”) about a guy who’s keeping his comatose wife in a secret basement, trying to find a cure for her illness while lying to everyone else that she’s dead, and the LOOKS I received when I said it’s the same plot as Miraculous Ladybug. They know I draw a lot of stuff for this sparkly baby show but I’m not even sure they knew it had a plot. They just know I like the catboy. :/
- Ol’ Gabe starts monologuing to his unconscious wife as per usual, mainly about what an embarrassment he’s been this season; but this time he ends up sobbing over the coffin and cracking the glass by beating on it with his fist. Can’t help thinking that the “I am not worthy of our LOVE!” stage already came when he started throwing Adrien around in Season 1; how many akuma has this man unleashed on his own son??
- Gabe reels back in terror when he realises the damage - huge props to the voice acting here, it’s very good! - and immediately shuts the safety doors on the coffin and bolts outta there like a kid who just chipped mom’s best plate. If you put it back in the cupboard right away it’s like it didn’t happen!! 
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- ...And goes straight to throw a fit in Nathalie’s room, apparently. I know she loves this trainwreck of a man, but 1) why, and 2) is she getting paid extra for this? Adrien comes to cry in here too but at least he brought sandwiches. These emotionally damaged people just bust into her room whenever they want and Gabriel doesn’t even have snacks.
- NATHALIE, I’M SORRY, BUT PRETENDING GABRIEL HAS NEVER MADE MISTAKES IS SO FUNNY. MY BRAIN IS JUST FLASHING THROUGH ALL THE TIMES HE’S MESSED UP LIKE A COMEDY MONTAGE. The worst mistake was letting Felix into his house, not once but multiple times! And where is the little bastard anyway? :/
- Gabriel rushes to Nathalie’s aid when she starts coughing, looks despondent as she assures him she knew the risk she was taking with the Peacock Miraculous; then leaps up with a maniacal laugh as he realises LADYBUG NEVER TAKES RISKS and bolts out of the room still cackling. THE WHIPLASH HERE IS INCREDIBLE. GUESS NATHALIE’S GETTING HER OWN DINNER.
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- Our regularly scheduled stop at the Butterfly Lair! But this time it’s all tinted red as Shadow Moth cooks up his plan to FORCE Ladybug to take enough risks that she eventually makes a mistake. I see we’re out of solid villainous plans and moving into Codename: Kids Next Door territory; this is something Knightbrace would do to increase traffic to his dental practice.
- I do like how Shadow Moth sifts through all the voices of people in Paris experiencing negative emotions; I think(?) it’s the first time they’ve illustrated exactly how he chooses his victims and confirmed that he only knows what he can hear; a nice dive into an otherwise staple sequence. :D
- He settles on a child who isn’t allowed to ride their bike without a helmet or training wheels. Classic Gabriel Agreste, here to start fights with children before getting dunked on by other children! Speaking of, where is Felix. It’s just occurred to me that I don’t even know if he’s in Part 1 of this finale. I better not be suffering through this for no reason. :/
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- New child character! Frog Boy and his generic backgrounder parents! He’s zooming around at the zoo and wishing for sweet sweet adrenaline, the kind you only get on the razor edge of death. I guess not all characters need stories based around their visual theme but why is this child a frog when his story is (presumably) about taking risks? Why not a tiger? Are frogs particularly fearless bastards?
- So Shadow Moth’s plan is to remove everyone’s sense of fear, meaning the citizens of Paris will start taking risks and doing dangerous things. I’m reminded of “Simpleman” where he made everyone incapable of complex decision-making and the fallout was huge. But what kind of risks are we talking about; is Marinette going to fearlessly confess to Adrien or is someone getting hit by a car?
Now I’m theorising Felix gets a Miraculous because he’s already a sociopathic little bastard who knows no fear; and as such is the only one Ladybug and Chat Noir can trust to act level-headedly in this situation. I’m under the impression he steals this Miraculous though. Hmm.
- Frog Boy’s transformation just gives him a bigger hoodie and a very slow pedal bike, and an annoying song to top it off. No flames or spikes on the wheels? Underwhelming but the less I remember him the better, I guess. A megaphone on his bike spits out glowing orbs which zap everyone they find, including Alya (and her whole family), Marinette and Adrien. So that’s our three main protags compromised! There’s a mark left on each of their necks which I’m sure will be used to tell apart two suspiciously identical blond boys at some point.
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- Adrien wakes up first! I appreciate that they scraped together enough leftovers from the budget to give him pajamas; four seasons in and we’re FINALLY allowed to see more of his fashion model closet. It’s taken equally as long for Marinette to get a blanket, she was sleeping on top of her sheets every night until recently! Alya isn’t allowed to sleep at all and Nino doesn’t even have a house (or parents), it just costs way too much. :/
- Nathalie video calls Adrien with his morning schedule, and I’m pleased to see the return of the Chinese lessons! They haven’t done much with that since Season 1, but between this and the Shanghai Special it’s becoming relevant to Adrien’s character again and that’s nice.
- “But first and foremost, the breakfast for two that my father’s been promising me for MONTHS!” SWEETHEART. OH NO. This breaks my heart because I already know Gabe’s going to cancel, I feel it in my bones. Please let Adrien tell his dad to get bent; the fear is gone, right?
- Okay, so Gabriel is deigning to set eyes on Adrien today, but in the study to discuss work instead of at breakfast. This old man can’t talk and eat at the same time, in the room literally JUST across the hall??
- I bet Gabriel’s invited Felix, hasn’t he. Is this ‘new project’ a twin fashion shoot thing? I don’t know why he’d let Felix in the house after what happened previously but maybe Uncle Gabe thinks he’s really got a grip on things this time. Either that or it’s a romantic photoshoot scheduled with Lila, and the test of the akuma’s powers is whether Adrien has the confidence to tell her to back off or not. I’m sorry for all these projections, I’m just trying to second guess this episode before it can get me first.
- PLAGG DECLARES THAT HE FOR ONE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE BREAKFAST WITH ADRIEN. That’s so sweet. This feels like a holdover from “Kuro Neko” where Plagg has realised just how emotionally vulnerable Adrien is - especially now Ladybug is pulling away from their partnership - and has really pitched in with supporting him! I love how their relationship is developing. :’)
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- Oh I see, the frog-shaped Risk marks get activated when Frog Boy (who has apparently been out cycling around Paris ALL NIGHT) passes within earshot singing his annoying song. I guess that explains why there’s no widespread chaos yet. I’m sure we’ll be having MANY “well well, if it isn’t the consequences of my actions” moments if it comes and goes in waves!
- With a burst of fearlessness Adrien FLIPS OUT, HURLS his neatly-pressed shirt across the room, and yells that he’s fed up of being a model and just wants Gabriel to be a dad to him! SWEETIE, ME TOO! He stalks off in determination to “GO TALK TO HIM” and Plagg can’t stop him. I KNOW THIS IS GONNA GO SO BADLY BUT IT’S WHAT I’VE ALWAYS WANTED FOR ADRIEN, YOU GO HONEY!!!
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- ADRIEN BURSTS INTO THE STUDY IN HIS PAJAMAS, ENRAGED, IN FRONT OF GABRIEL AND HIS COLLEAGUES. I’M IN TEARS. 
- Lila is also here (so no Felix yet), and is either wearing all white or they forgot to texture her outfit. It’s happened before; never 4get Alix going a whole episode with grey hair because they just forgot to colour her model properly. Does anyone remember that Season 1 episode where Max’s hair and glasses ran away from the akuma without him?
- Gabriel shoots Adrien down and he immediately subdues and leaves. I guess the wave of fearlessness has passed but BABY NO, YOU WERE GONNA GET HIM! Even Plagg is encouraging him to give it another try! :’0
- “Rebellions are like cheese soufflés: just because they sometimes collapse doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again!” is my new favourite line from this show. It’s so uniquely baffling. I want it on my wall like a Live Laugh Love sign.
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- Poor Adrien is stuck doing this romantic photoshoot with Lila, I guess. Is this all before school or did Gabriel pull him out of classes for this? Did they have a lot of time set aside for that breakfast they were supposed to have together? Has Adrien even HAD breakfast? LET ADRIEN EAT 2K22. >:0
- OOH, Adrien calls Lila out pretty viciously when she begins lying to him! Specifically claiming this photoshoot is nearly as romantic as a Hollywood movie she starred in. And that wasn’t even a “sure, Jan”, he went for the throat. Is he being affected by the akuma again or is this a holdover from last season where Adrien really told Lila where to shove it? I’m betting on the latter since he isn’t interrupting the shoot to yell at his dad like we know he wants.
- GABRIEL’S PLANNING TO SEND ADRIEN OFF FOR MONTHS ON AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOSHOOT WITH LILA. MY GOD. Can’t blame him honestly; sucks for Adrien (who can’t even bring himself to argue, sweetheart!) but Gabriel’s the one trashing the city on a regular basis and making the Surprised Pikachu face when his son gets caught up in it! I’m amazed Adrien hasn’t been in a Swiss boarding school since Season 1.
- “At the end of the ad, using CG, they will meld together to become the perfume bottle. Two souls, one mind, one heart.” Several concerns. I’m VERY nervous about this Sentimonster thing. Not to keep bringing Felix up before he’s even got here but is this about the cousins somehow, or is Ol’ Gabe just monologuing blithely about missing his wife again?  I’m not overlooking that camera angle of Emilie’s portrait right behind Gabriel’s shoulder as he stares at Adrien, either. Hashtag symbolism.
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- GUESS ADRIEN’S OUTTA HERE. SORRY BABY. Marinette’s apparently watched this news clip 22 times and is FREAKING OUT.
At least Adrien gets to attend school one last time, that’s slightly better than nothing but isn’t the “adrenaline or death” akuma still on the loose? Is Gabriel just counting on this not being the incident which gets his son killed before he can ship him off to safety? :/
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- Ah, we’re back to the strategic wheelie bins so Marinette can get around the school courtyard unseen! That’s a nice callback. And of course, despite Lila doing literally nothing this season until the previous episode, she’s suddenly commanding the class again and Mari can’t get near any of her friends. I sure hope Alya isn’t on Lila’s side any more, now she’s all in with Miraculous business can’t Mari explain what happened with Volpina? :/
- Nice to see Adrien with the guys too! I like that they’ve been pushing that friendship group a little more recently when we get so much of the Girl Squad already. I’m half sad to hear Adrien would be missing Nino’s birthday if this travel plan goes ahead (after all the trouble and property damage Nino went to for HIS birthday! :’0) but between episodes like “Rocketear” and “Penalteam” Nino’s been such an ass to him lately that I don’t know where they stand as best buddies. I’m still frustrated they haven’t addressed that! >:’0
- I will say, there’s no way this storyline will actually end with Adrien and Lila going on a months-long trip, so I’m not taking any of this very seriously. Season 4 has been better at updating the status quo but that’s way too big a change. It’s terrible that I expect them to kill Felix onscreen before sending Adrien off for an unspecified amount of time but here we are. :’)
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- I’M GLAD MARINETTE’S NOTICED HOW UNHAPPY ADRIEN LOOKS. I thought she was just going to focus on Lila “stealing him away” or whatever but this is a good use of her infatuation. She’s literally the only classmate paying attention to his feelings right now! I’m more surprised a public photo of Adrien going “:(” hasn’t been analysed more closely but I gotta maintain my suspension of disbelief here. Mari loves him.
- Also, I’ll be really disappointed if this particular shot (shown above) isn’t a rehash of that Season 1 scene where Marinette shuts her locker and Adrien is right behind the door. It’s set up exactly the same way, please, that would be so funny--
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- I expect nothing and I’m still disappointed. 
- Anyway, Frog Boy chooses this moment to cycle past the school and Marinette’s Risk mark lights up, cementing her urge to confess her love before Adrien leaves FOREVER (or at least long enough to fall in love with Lila)! >:0 
Where are this kid’s parents, by the way? They initially let him go because of his akuma power, but if people return to normal when he’s out of hearing range (and still recall what they did in their fits of fearlessness), shouldn’t they be looking for him? Calling the police to report their toddler missing??
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- So is this, like... a class fencing lesson? Like the class soccer outing in “Penalteam”? I really wish they’d give these kids some sports kits, I know animation is expensive but they’re never dressed properly.
- Just like the soccer game, Lila fakes a complex and obscure medical condition to get out of this activity; but it backfires when Marinette (who arrives late after angsting in the locker rooms) gets to be Adrien’s partner and their teacher won’t let Lila step back in for safety reasons. Get rekt LOL.
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- MARINETTE’S ABOUT TO CONFESS AND ADRIEN GETS NUTTED IN THE FACE WITH A BALL. GUESS THEY’RE NOT FENCING. I don’t know why I didn’t pick up on that when Lila was benched for “ball-ophobia” (there are no balls in fencing! >:0) but that was completely unexpected and SO funny. Is someone trying to get Adrien out of this modeling trip by smashing his face in?!
- IT WAS NINO!! HE’S CELEBRATING HIS STRIKE (I guess this is dodgeball?), ALYA’S LOOKING ON IN HORROR AND I’M CRYING WITH LAUGHTER. I DON’T KNOW IF HE’S BEING A GOOD FRIEND OR A DICK RIGHT NOW.
- Oh yeah, okay, they are playing dodgeball! Adrien gets smashed in the face and goes to the ‘dungeon’ behind the opposing team. Is this a metaphor for the way Gabriel treats him under the impression he’s keeping his son safe? And why is this the second episode in a ROW where nobody will explain team sports to this poor boy? :(
- Also I see Nathaniel didn’t get out of this one. Marc can save him from soccer workshops but not this!
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- Alya tags Marinette WAY more gently to send her to the ‘dungeon’ with Adrien! A very generous move. I appreciate that it was just a little bump on the arm while Nino nearly fucking ended Adrien’s modeling career; as Certified Best Friends they’re both doing what needs to be done! :D
- Adrien and Mari have a little talk. It starts out awkward as they don’t know what to say, then gets really awkward when Adrien’s Risk mark flares up and he starts kicking off about how much he hates everything! The photoshoots, dumb ads, his celebrity status and now being expected to just drop everything and go do all this with Lila!! >:0 I REALLY enjoy his speech here; Adrien’s given hints in the past that he doesn’t enjoy the things Gabriel demands from him but this is the first time he’s been so open about it. Yet again the voice acting here is awesome!
- Marinette says she understands how Adrien feels; probably referring to all the pressure of the Miraculous Guardian stuff. Which would be less of a problem if she’d TRUST CHAT NOIR once in a while (or at least build a healthy Alya-Luka support system in the meantime!) but I digress. Adrien seizes the moment and holds her hand! :D
- Lila is getting SO mad. Does she really think she can win Adrien at this point, or are appearances all that matter and she just wants people to think Adrien’s into her via these situations Gabriel engineers? Adrien and Marinette’s emotional exchange continues, and it looks like Mari is about to confess her feelings when LILA BARGES IN AND DRAGS ADRIEN AWAY. SORRY KIDS, NOT TODAY.
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- Everyone crowding in to say goodbye to Adrien is so cute! Albeit very frustrating that nobody is reading his emotions properly. His tutor lifting him up in a hug is adorable, between his dead mom and his emotionally constipated father (and Nathalie not being paid enough to actually touch him) have we EVER seen an adult hold Adrien like this?! I think he sees this as Adrien’s chance to escape - implying he’s noticed Adrien is unhappy at home - when tragically it’s the opposite and Gabriel is just locking him down harder! :’(
- So even Chloe is standing by and fine with all this? I know she and Lila got chummy in the previous episode but she wants Adrien too, right? And we’ve seen proof she genuinely cares about him. This would be a great moment for her to ally with Marinette for Adrien’s sake but I guess Chloe doesn’t get to have positive development any more. I’m sure Felix’s interesting character arc will be joining hers in the garbage soon.
- Oh, I see how it is. I should have waited two seconds for Chloe to hip-check Marinette across the street when she was just about to confess (AGAIN). Is she serious about being able to come visit Adrien whenever she wants, is that her agreement with Lila? They’re basically planning to hold Adrien prisoner between them? Jesus Christ.
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- Adrien even tries to check on Marinette before he goes! GORILLA, HOW COULD YOU DRAG HIM AWAY. YOU NEVER SPOKE TO HIM BUT ADRIEN ASSUMED YOU WERE HIS FRIEND.
- Alya does come to assist Marinette while she’s lying wasted on the sidewalk, thank goodness. Is this another metaphor for the Rena/Ladybug/Chat triangle? Too bad it’s over Chloe’s nonsense; I want to know if Alya’s suspicious of Lila! >:0
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- Marinette calls an emergency meeting with Nino, Rose, Kim and Alya. It’s not lost on me that this is the same group from the opening scene, minus Luka and Kagami who go to different schools. I wonder where Juleka’s got to?
- I enjoy Nino thoughtfully chewing on his juice box while Marinette lays out her wild Veggietales plan. Time is of the essence but she’s already wasted enough to make little cucumber glasses for the “Alya” juice box?? The life of an artist I guess, gotta put in the extra effort. :/
- Okay, I love��this whole sequence with the panning camera as Mari explains she’s trying to save Adrien instead of hinder him; it’s an emotional speech (again, great voice acting!) and way more cinematic than the usual static shots! 
- And of course the others don’t get it. Nino thinks Adrien deserves to travel (after his dodgeball assault plan failed, I guess); Alya thinks Marinette is overreacting to Lila’s involvement so I guess we know where she stands on this issue; Rose thinks this is Adrien’s dream for some reason; and Kim can’t fathom why anyone WOULDN’T want to be an international model. Again, why isn’t Juleka here? Isn’t it her dream to be a fashion model? She’d have more to say about this than Kim!
- “If (Adrien) didn’t wanna model any more, he woulda told ME! He’s my best bud!” NINO, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO BREAK THIS TO YOU, BUT THERE’S A CHAT-NOIR-SHAPED DENT IN A VAN OUT THERE WHICH IMPLIES YOU GUYS AREN’T REALLY BESTIES THESE DAYS.
- I was gonna say “why isn’t Marinette calling Luka? After Wishmaker he’s clearly the best choice to help Adrien!”, but it’s occurred to me that maybe that’s why Juleka isn’t here. Is the houseboat Mari’s next stop when her classmates won’t help? :0
- OOOH, OKAY! Alya gives a firm no, and in a flash of confidence Mari basically tells the whole table to go screw themselves and leaves to fix this herself! BETTER BE HEADING TO LUKA’S.
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- Chaos is erupting all around Marinette as she strides down the street WITHOUT FEAR. This is more what I expected from this akuma! Spontaneous love confessions and other emotional outbursts are embarrassing but not exactly beneficial to Shadow Moth, I want to see Kim catching fifteen different diseases from trying to swim the length of the Seine! >:0 
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- Back at the Agreste mansion and Adrien is despondent. His final bids for freedom have been struck down, his bags are packed and--
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- FELIX?
- MY BOY IS HERE, OH MY GOD. MY SON. I’m sure this is the only moment of genuine joy I’ll get in this entire finale but I adore him on SIGHT. He’s just chilling on top of Adrien’s suitcases, wearing Adrien’s clothes and messing with one of Adrien’s basketballs like a cat with yarn. How did he get in??
- Whichever way he broke in here, and whatever horrible nonsense he’s about to start, I appreciate that they kept his neater hairstyle this time. The “Felix” episode was terrible anyway but even worse since they just used Adrien’s character model for most of it. This time you can actually tell it’s our horrible little boy!
- I am so nervous to go beyond this point, honestly. This is such a nice scene. The music is soft, Felix is framed pleasantly in the afternoon sun, and I could just quit watching here and believe he’s shown up to take this bullet for Adrien because he knows how much it would mean to his cousin. WOULDN’T THAT BE NICE.
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- AND IT’S RUINED. The music shifts and Felix leers at Adrien with a menacing “Hi there, my favourite cousin. :)”. WHAT’S ADRIEN DONE TO HIM THIS TIME. DIDN’T THEY MAKE UP? Is Felix the kind of guy who just decides he’s freshly mad about something that happened years ago?!
- LOVE Adrien’s first question being “HOW DID YOU GET IN”, which is basically confirmation Felix isn’t allowed in their house any more. Did the “Gabriel Agreste” episode just not happen? I’d understand these hostile attitudes if this only took place after “Felix”, but how have they instantly started off on the wrong foot? 
Maybe it’s like Lilo and Stitch, where Adrien’s prayed for a nice and peaceful solution to his problems and here comes Felix as the most chaotic thing possible. The universe sent “the nicest angel it has” but stocks were low.
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- I’m sure this will escalate into something nasty, but for now I adore Felix’s dramatic impression of Adrien as a helpless maiden, and Adrien’s annoyed insistence that that’s NOT how he talks. Felix trying to cause trouble and Adrien gently slapping it down every time is the dynamic I crave between these two. I know I won’t get it but I crave it. :(
- I also like the detail of Felix brushing his hair from neat to messy and back again when imitating Adrien. It makes his impressions funnier and (like I said before) is less of a cop-out than just using Adrien’s character model the whole time.
Adrien tiredly pacing around the room with no time for Felix’s nonsense is great; he’s got more important things going on and doesn’t have the energy to deal with his twin cousin lounging around like a supervillain.
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- Also, do you think... are these suitcases a reference to Castle Vanily? Surely not. Felix just gives off that indulgent, catlike energy of sitting atop piles of things (which do not belong to him) like a dragon on gold, and I got there before the series did. Hmm.
- Alright, I KNOW Felix has nefarious intentions by claiming he’s here to “save” his cousin (unless he’s literally incapable of saying anything nice in a non-sinister way, which would be very funny), but I appreciate that he picked up on Adrien being upset from one single press photo on the internet. No one else but Marinette noticed and she’s literally obsessed with Adrien, while Felix has seen him all of twice since they were kids!
- Is it significant that Felix puts so much emphasis on describing Adrien’s “SUPER-cool, SUPER-nice friends”? Hmm. 
- Another reference to Felix living in London. I already suspect he won’t be in the London Special (if he even survives this finale) since that’ll likely be a backdoor pilot for the Miss Rose series, but I’m very fond of these little nuggets of info nonetheless. :’)
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- “Freedom is something you make, Adrien.” Ooooh, that line gives me shivers! I don’t know if we’ll get any more of Felix’s backstory at this stage but I’m REALLY curious about what’s going on with him. He’s so weird and edgy for a 14 year old, but it sounds like he had a breakdown alone at his dad’s funeral last year so maybe he’s earned that baggage.
- So Felix’s plan is to swap identities with Adrien like they did when they were kids; dressing Adrien up in his clothes so he can chill elsewhere while Felix fights his case and tells Gabriel where to shove it. He implies there may be a “hidden side” of Ol’ Gabe which Adrien hasn’t seen yet. I’m thinking it’s the side which tried to murder Felix in the study last time he visited! :V
- I HIGHLY doubt this is actually to help Adrien. I adore Felix shamelessly but I don’t trust him an inch. Is this a plot to distract Gabriel while Felix gets into the study again, this time undetected?
- Adrien’s Risk mark flares up at just the right (or wrong!) time, and he thinks Felix is on to something! Oh noooo. We’ve seen the kind of carnage that comes with Felix dressed as Adrien, but what about Adrien doing “whatever he wants” dressed as Felix? An untapped market of chaos. Is this all gonna go off the rails and Ladybug will give a Miraculous to the wrong guy?
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- THE MESS BEGINS. “Adrien” approaches Gorilla in the courtyard for help carrying his bags, and “Felix” sneaks out the front doors while he’s distracted. This naming will be a little confusing but I’m sure you guys get it.
- Back upstairs, “Adrien” takes a moment to swipe Nathalie’s work tablet under the guise of helping close her suitcase, which she is too weak to do. I’m noticing she has a Risk mark too and I’m sure that’ll be relevant. So this IS a plot for Felix to dig deeper into Gabriel’s business, colour me completely unsurprised!
- Also, does this indicate Nathalie is going on this trip with Adrien? Bedridden Nathalie who needs an Avengers-style exosuit to move around the house?? Nathalie who was on the verge of death at the beginning of this very episode??? GABRIEL.
- Speaking of Ol’ Gabe, he catches “Adrien” at the door and... doesn’t seem to recognise him as Felix. Which is EXTREMELY funny, because at the beginning of this arc he made a huge fuss about the cousins pulling this prank when they were toddlers. “I won’t be fooled a second time!” he said, and has now been fooled a second time.
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- Back downstairs, “Adrien” checks the coast is clear before ducking into the Forbidden Study. And he... apparently has a high-tech monocle which can scan the room and locate points of interest?
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- No, seriously, what on Earth is this thing. Where did Felix get this? How does a teenager just whip out a piece of Phantom Thief technology, and why did he need it when he already had a hunch something was up with Emilie’s portrait? Is this another Magic Kaitou reference, like his magician tricks from the first episode?
- He has a codebreaking device too, which must be pretty complex if it can crack Gabriel’s top secret safe in a house with a ridiculous level of security. How did he get any of this past boarder control? DOES FELIX’S MOM KNOW WHERE HE IS.
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- It’s an x-ray monocle and everything. OKAY, KAITO KUROBA. 
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- Ah, ALRIGHT. So Felix got the safe open and discovered what look to be the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous(es), but I’m guessing these aren’t the real deals. I think Miraculous lose their camouflage when they’re renounced instead of just removed (like Marinette losing her earrings in the Shanghai Special vs Adrien giving up his ring in “Kuro Neko”), and we saw Uncle Gabe putting the Peacock brooch away at the end of the previous episode while scheming up a “surprise” for Felix’s next visit. THIS IS A TRAP.
- Either that or the Peacock Miraculous is still damaged and will just outright kill him. I can’t believe how expectant I am that Felix is going to die; I just feel like if they’ll do it to Sentibug they’ll do it to him. :/
- So Felix takes the Miraculous(es), and manages to reset the whole system including security cameras exactly the way he found it. Even if this kid is evil you’ve got to respect how capable he is compared to literally every other character in this show. But his Phantom Thief monocle picked up more of Gabe’s fingerprints on the painting; is he going to figure out how to get to the butterfly lair or Emilie’s capsule? Are we finally going to see how that whole system works?! I’M LOSING IT.
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- UH OH, HE WENT DOWN THE TUBE BUT LEFT HIS BAG BEHIND. Guess you can’t plan for everything. Felix was ready for a heist, not his uncle’s fucked-up carnival funhouse slides! 
Yet again I wish this wasn’t all done using Adrien’s character model, but at least there’s a better setup for it this time.
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- Upstairs, Gabriel takes off his wedding ring while talking about this being his “riskiest plan yet”. What does that mean, dude. 
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- OH SHIT, FELIX FOUND EMILIE’S CAPSULE. I guess this is my moment of truth about his characterisation this episode; he seemed really fond of his aunt (or at least her portrait) in “Gabriel Agreste” so will he give a shit or are we playing by “Miracle Queen” rules? I really have no idea if Gabe intended this to happen or not, what on Earth is the fallout going to be?!
- HE JUST TURNED TAIL AND RAN. IT GOT TOO REAL TOO FAST. Like I’m sorry, I know this was a really tense moment and huge for all characters involved, but I love this whole spy movie setup leading to Felix just BOLTING at the sight of his dead aunt in his uncle’s basement. HE FIGURED OUT GABE WAS SHADOW MOTH AND STILL DUG DEEPER, BUT THE FRIDGE WITH EMILIE’S CORPSE IN IT WAS THE LINE. GOOD LUCK ADRIEN, YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.
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- Back upstairs, Gabriel puts his wedding band on Nathalie’s ring finger as a memento “in case something goes wrong”. Buddy, this is on the line with Ladybug kissing Chat Noir on the cheek earlier, you can’t maintain that platonic boundary you’ve been complaining about for this whole arc?! PUT IT ON LITERALLY ANY OTHER FINGER, GOOD LORD.
- “I’m trusting you with my wife’s ring. And my son.” WORST PROPOSAL EVER. At least Adrien won’t take much work; just leaving him alone will be better than the nonsense Gabe’s been pulling with him for the whole series. Except “Adrien” is currently Felix and having a heart attack in the study. Uncle Gabe warned you not to dig any deeper, honey, it’s your own fault!!!
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- FELIX DITCHES THE MONOCLE AND KICKS IT SOMEWHERE DISCREET IN THE STUDY. IT’S SHOWN HIM TOO MUCH. I’d say “why wouldn’t he just put it back in his bag where he got it from, which he’s currently holding?” but 1) I refuse to put the burden of common sense on my special boy; and 2) the kid just saw a corpse which looks exactly like his mom. He’s handling this pretty well all things considered.
- I CAN’T HANDLE HOW GABRIEL BURSTS INTO THE STUDY AND FELIX INSTANTLY SAVES HIS ASS BY SNAPPING BACK TO THE “PRETEND TO BE ADRIEN AND TELL UNCLE HE DOESN’T WANT TO GO ON THE TRIP” PLAN. LIKE THAT HORROR SHOW DOWNSTAIRS DIDN’T HAPPEN. I don’t know if this is equal to or better than his immaculate “Oh I just wanted to get to know you, Uncle! :3″ save from the previous episode; this boy’s core talent is recovering from heart attacks in record time! >:0 
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- Okay, THIS is interesting. Gabriel tries to tell “Adrien” he won’t stand for this rebellion, but falters at the look in “Adrien’s” eyes and itches at the place his wedding ring should be - a habit we last saw in (I think) “Megaleech” when he banished the real Adrien upstairs for being defiant. Nathalie glances at Gabriel, adjusts her glasses with the ring visible on her hand, and tells “Adrien” it’s “time to go”. And “Adrien” just flinches wide-eyed and agrees?! BUT THIS IS FELIX.
OKAY. SIDEBAR. I HAVE THREE THEORIES HERE.
The first (and weakest) is that Felix is just obeying in order to get everyone out of the study, because every second they linger in here increases the risk of his Spy Kids mission being discovered - especially since he’s taken things from the safe and his Phantom Thief monocle is lying on the floor in easy sight. He got what he needed here and Adrien can fend for himself.
The second (and strongest) is that this is about the family rings again - now Felix knows Emilie is here he also knows there’s a second ring to be had, so he needs to stick close to Nathalie and the best way is by taking over this trip Adrien’s supposed to be going on, especially if Gabriel isn’t going to be there. 
The third, returning to the Sentimonster theory, is that the ring actually did something to Felix. Maybe Gabriel just fidgets with it as comfort when he has to make tough calls with Adrien, but maybe it really does affect the fight Adrien has in him and forces him to be obedient, and if that’s the case then it might affect Felix too. I’m drawn back to “freedom is something you make” and how much trouble Felix went through to get hold of the first ring when Adrien has never touched this one. HMM.
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- Full disclosure, it was very late so I went to bed after that scene. Couldn’t take any more excitement. Now I’m back for the last five minutes and HI MARINETTE, I NEARLY FORGOT ABOUT YOU. I really appreciate this arc being Agreste-centric; I’ve talked about it before but it’s refreshing for Mari to take a spectator position instead of getting crowbarred into the Adrien/Gabriel/Felix nonsense.
- ANYWAY. Marinette is back and with less than half an hour to save Adrien! We’re returning to the fairytale analogy from “Gabriel Agreste” and Mari’s taken two and a half hours to figure out that Adrien needs to be rescued by a knight, whatever that means. She’s also kept copies of those illustrations Nathaniel drew which is a cute bit of continuity.
- My brain wandered away from me for a second, and when Marinette says “The knight will be LLLLL--” I REALLY THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA SAY LUKA, LIKE SHE GOT HIM IN ON THIS SOMEHOW. But nope, just Ladybug. There goes my OT3 dream. :( Her reasoning is “Nobody listens to Marinette, but EVERYONE listens to Ladybug!” which is actually very true, especially when Lila is around. If she’s willing to use Ladybug for environmental activism she can save Adrien too! 
- Tikki starts the “you mustn’t use your powers to solve personal problems!” lecture, but I’m not taking any moral guidance from the Galette cake monster. Mari should totally do this. At any rate her Risk mark flares up again; she vetoes all Kwami concerns and forces Tikki to transform her! I’m sure this can only end well.
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- Now we’re with Adrien, sitting on a park bench dressed as Felix. At least I get to see Felix’s character model in SOME form today. It’s like a glimpse into some alternate universe where Felix remained the deuteragonist instead of... whatever this is now. Sigh. 
- Plagg is excited about Adrien’s newfound freedom, though he was VERY critical of Felix in the first part of this arc so it’s interesting he doesn’t suspect any mischief here. Though maybe Felix was serious about getting Adrien out of this mess; like yeah it’s an excuse to go raid his uncle’s stuff again but no harm no foul? I do believe he likes his cousin. Hmm.
- Adrien doesn’t want to risk taking advantage of this freedom (or isn’t in the right headspace to do anything except sit nervously) because he’s just waiting for Felix to call him. Kagami calls first and starts RAGING down the phone about not saying no to his dad. I guess this makes three people who noticed Adrien was unhappy about this situation! She asks how long he’s going to stay Gabriel’s “puppet”, and yet again I’m nervous about that choice of words. Is Felix okay right now?
- Uh oh, Kagami brought up their relationship. I don’t condone what happened there (and still think it’s a sign of Adrien having issues expressing platonic affection) but can Adrien get a break today? Everyone’s dunking on him. Though I think Kagami’s realised how unhealthy it was; she points out how between herself, Gabriel and Felix (and Ladybug) there’s always someone telling Adrien what to do. I’m getting increasingly concerned about this Sentimonster thing.
- Kagami yells some more, apologises for the harsh truths and hangs up, and Plagg just goes “wooooooow”. ME TOO BUDDY. KAGAMI IS GREAT.
- Adrien’s Risk mark flares up and he thinks Kagami is right, he should have stood up to his father a LONG time ago!! He texts Felix to stop the plan because he’s coming to confront Gabriel his damn SELF. All well and good but IS FELIX OKAY THOUGH.
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- Felix (still dressed as Adrien) receives the text, reads it with narrowed eyes, then deletes it and gets into the car. Oh man.
- Both Adrien (in Felix’s clothes) and Ladybug see the car leaving. Adrien says “I should have known, he tricked me again!”, but like-- to what end? The car is heading to the station for an international trip Adrien doesn’t want to go on, right? Does he just assume Felix is tricking him even if he can’t figure out why this is bad? What is the plan here. He dashes off home with the intent of talking to Gabriel.
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- Ladybug arrives at the station and sees “Adrien” and Lila about to board the train. Her Risk mark flares up and gives her the confidence to JUMP DOWN THERE IN FULL COSTUME AND TELL ADRIEN SHE “NEEDS” HIM. GIRL. IS SHE GOING TO SAVE FACE BY MAKING THIS A MIRACULOUS THING??
- Oh no, okay, she saved face with “Adrien Agreste is a national treasure and if he leaves Paris everyone will get akumatized from grief, so TURN AROUND RIGHT NOW AND TELL GABRIEL AGRESTE WHERE TO SHOVE IT”. Which is fair actually.  “Adrien” says he doesn’t have the confidence because, unlike Ladybug, he’s “not a superhero”. This is like the third time Felix has used the word “super” today; is he actively gunning for a Miraculous after all?
- “ADRIEN” GETS ON THE TRAIN AND IT LEAVES. LADYBUG COLLAPSES IN GRIEF. DUDE WHAT IS GOING ON. I guess Felix doesn’t have to pay for his own ticket back home to London but I have no clue how to read his character right now; girl HELP--
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- THE REAL ADRIEN BUSTS INTO THE MANSION. Does he have a door and gate key? I get the impression he’s not allowed to come and go as he pleases. Maybe Gabriel just didn’t lock up after all the capable household staff left. What does he MEAN he left the front door open for three days after Nathalie went on this trip, YES you have to close it yourself--!!
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- Back on the train. Lila and “Adrien” take their seats. “Adrien” overhears Nathalie calling Gabriel to report his son is safe (lol no he isn’t). 
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- Gabriel answers his phone FROM THE TOP OF THE EIFFEL TOWER, WHERE HE TRANSFORMS INTO SHADOW MOTH IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, READY TO CAUSE WIDESPREAD CHAOS WITH A SENTIMONSTER.
- This is all very unnerving, but what I’m getting is that GABRIEL DEFINITELY DID NOT LOCK UP HIS HOUSE. THE REAL ADRIEN JUST WALKED IN THERE OFF THE STREET. If Felix had waited like 3 hours he could have wandered in and explored the place totally uninterrupted, but I guess hindsight is 20/20 (and maybe he’s more interested in the ring?). :/
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- Shadow Moth creates Ultron. Between this and Nathalie’s Avengers exosuit he’s definitely been watching too many of his son’s movies.
- Ultron (or “Strikeback”, I guess?) begins stomping through the streets; and fearless Parisians start approaching/waving at/trying to take selfies with it. Which is honestly par for the course and I’m surprised the superheroes are only dealing with this NOW; if the influx of akuma haven’t destroyed the tourist economy they’ve just boosted it!
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- Marinette has returned to the station roof and detransformed to lament about Adrien. Tikki tries to comfort her by describing Adrien simply going on a “voyage”, but Mari’s Risk mark flares up at the key word. IS SHE GONNA USE THE HORSE MIRACULOUS ON THE STARTRAIN AGAIN. “No magic portals” is the kind of sign you’d see in the train carriage and wonder what happened more than once to make it necessary.
- TIKKI IS NOT ON BOARD BUT MARINETTE IS THE CONDUCTOR OF THIS TRAIN. She didn’t even feed Tikki before re-transforming; I guess there’s no need to replenish her energy if she didn’t use Lucky Charm but isn’t it polite to provide a snack?!
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- Back at the Agreste mansion, Adrien ventures into the study. Is he gonna find Felix’s Phantom Thief monocle and use it to discover Gabriel’s secrets too?? 
- Oooh YES. His Risk mark flares up at just the right time to deter him from stepping back out of the room and he spots the monocle; but the sound of Ultron stomping through the city distracts him! 
AND THEN THE EPISODE ABRUPTLY ENDS. SHEESH, OKAY, BYE.
--- 
ALRIGHT, SO. GOODNESS. MY THOUGHTS SO FAR.
Realistically I know the “Adrien leaves Paris forever on an international photoshoot with Lila” thing isn’t going to happen, so I’m not too engaged with that (and only focused on it so much because I was nervous about whatever mess was about to happen with Felix, lmao); but as usual the Felix stuff is very interesting. I assume he’s going to do something horrible in the next episode which is why everyone’s been ominously telling me to “have fun :)”. 
HOWEVER. This ring stuff. You guys know I wasn't totally buying the Sentimonster theory back in my "Gabriel Agreste" episode review, but with Felix's submissive reaction to Nathalie - especially right after challenging Gabriel for Adrien's freedom, and Gabriel's fumbling response as he went for a ring which wasn't there - I'm VERY suspicious of what's going on.
At this stage, I think Felix really DID intend to help Adrien out (as a fair trade for being able to get into Uncle Gabe's office again), but he wasn't prepared for how much he'd discover, AND the family ring had some kind of effect which led to him obeying Nathalie and deleting Adrien's text. Is it just because he wants to steal the ring for keepsies, like before, or does it have some other connection more deeply related to Adrien being Gabriel's "puppet"? Is this related to the "surprise" Gabriel planned for Felix's next visit which I'm sure involves the decoy Miraculous items? And where is Amilie in all this??
Can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode (which I’m planning to post a second review of sometime soon), I’m sure I’ll hate it! :D
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astaroth1357 · 4 years ago
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Demigod MC Series: Ares
Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena, Hades Pt. 2, Poseidon, Ares
Lucifer
He cannot overstate what kind of damage this mortal was able to do in their first few seconds in the Devildom...
The instant they got to their feet, they had managed to incapacitate Satan and knock down Beel. Lucifer himself tried to get between them and Diavolo but…
If he hadn’t moved his head, if he was standing just ONE INCH to the left… he wouldn’t have a head anymore. Barbatos was there to intervene, but had he not they could have probably taken out the Avatar of Pride and done critical damage to the Demon Prince himself in one strike...
Frankly, Lucifer prefers not to dwell on that moment... He's sure Ares must be proud of this one...
He pretty much treats the mortal like a live bomb afterward, if he can get away with not interacting with them at all, that’s what he’ll do.
He’s NOT scared of them... much... It’s just that they have a bullish and uncooperative attitude at best and since they know they can take any of them, they don't even consider him - Lucifer, the eldest demon brother - a threat...
But you know what the most frustrating thing is? They won't give him an inch of respect, but they'll always listen to Levi! Levi!!
Look, Lucifer knows he may not hold a rank among the Hell's army and he might not have been a major player in the Celestial/Demonic wars of the day, but he's still the strongest demons here, dammit!! 😡
Lucifer finds nothing is more embarrassing than having to ask Levi of all people to keep the mortal in line because he can't... Oh, the humiliation… He hopes they leave soon...
Mammon
At first, he thought they were scary. But in time he thought they were scary… and also pretty damn awkward.
Mammon wasn’t there when they more or less wiped out the majority of his brothers in the Conference Hall but when he finally showed up he'd never seen Lucifer look so pale… If THAT doesn't make you shit your pants, he doesn't know what will.
Naturally, he kind of toned it down on the "stupid human" stuff real quick after seeing that…
But here's the thing. After the two made a pact together, Mammon started to notice that the MC wasn't all that mean, they were just… violent?
He legitimately thought that they couldn’t stand him for a while until one day a guy on the street called him a dirtbag. The MC threw a punch right there! No questions asked, they just decked that guy!!
It was kind of touching… and messy. Very messy. Did he mention that they’re terrifying yet? 😥
As it turns out, the MC has apparently spent a lot of their life just fighting things and being asked to fight things so they're not very used to showing non-violent affection… 
It took him awhile, but he realized that their way of saying, "I like you," is, "I will attack your enemies." So now all he does when his brothers tease him is say, "I'm telling MC!'' and they'll stop immediately. It's great!! 😁
Considers them to be his bodyguard when he goes out to gamble in some… shadier places. Most of the time not even the bouncers want to take on the MC, ain't nobody getting paid enough to lose that many teeth…
Leviathan
Okay, so. It's not very obvious anymore, but he USED to be on the front lines of the war against demons in the Celestial Realm. He was in charge of battle strategies, he led armies, and even now he still holds the highest rank of the royal navy!
So leave it to the kid of a war god to sniff all that out about him, huh…? They appeared to know all about his record the instant they saw him and they actually seemed to respect him for it!
For context, this mortal tells pretty much everybody to shove off but any time he’s around they call him “Admiral” or “sir” and actually pay attention to what he says! He can tell it drives Lucifer insane, but honestly? It’s a bit of an ego boost. 😌
It’s sort of cute when they come to him asking for tactical advice… They get just as into it as he does with his anime and any time he points out something that they haven't seen before they get so excited it's like they're a kid watching a magic trick. HUGE ego boost. 😏
Speaking of anime, it’s hit or miss whether or not they can watch any of it. Anything with good fight scenes (and let’s be honest, not that much talking) they’re on board for. But if the hero and the villain talk to each other for like an episode before throwing punches then the MC will just rant...
MC: “The enemy is distracted... Why aren’t they attacking yet??”
Levi: “Because the villain killed the hero’s best friend and they’re-”
MC: “They could avenge their friend right now if they ended things right here!”
Levi: “MC, we’ve been over this... That’s not how plot works.”
MC: “And now he got away!! See?? They should have killed him when they had the chance!”
Levi: “*sigh*... Let’s just play some CoD.”
Satan 
The last thing he remembered when the ���human” hopped out of the portal was a sharp pain to the side of the temple and Asmo wailing as he fell unconscious…
Yeeeeah, not great. And unfortunately for the mortal the Avatar of Wrath tends to hold a grudge… 
For a comparatively brief moment in time, all of Satan’s considerable ire had shifted away from Lucifer and to their new housemate. They found their bed, clothes, pillows, food, and even their toothbrush cursed!
… But Ares kids must be built from some strong stuff, because half of what he employed didn’t even faze them! He even put an explosive spell on their backpack and not only did they tank the blast, it didn’t hurt them at all!! It was like they’re damn near immortal!
Annnnd they kind of are. Apparently the MC had taken a dip in the River Styx at some point before and became nigh invulnerable…
Was it maybe a little terrifying to know that they had kidnapped a nearly invincible demigod on the level of Achilles? Yes. Did that also mean that they must have had a weakness too? In theory....
Satan honestly devoted a depressing amount of time trying to uncover the “Achilles’ Heel” of his new sworn enemy… until…
The MC was walking with him and Asmo to RAD one morning when they passed by a group of lesser demons harassing a small puppy. Now Satan may be more of a cat man, but NO ONE fucks with animals while he’s around.
He was right about to go over and rip those demons a new one but the MC actually beat him to it! Apparently, the second that they realized what was happening, they launched themselves forward and started bashing the abusers' heads into a wall!
… Live by violence, forgive by violence because in that very moment Satan decided they weren’t so bad after all. He even joined in!
Oh, Asmo gave them both shit all day for the bloodstains on their uniforms and the scratches on their… everywhere, but it’s not like either of them cared. Righteous justice had been served and it was glorious!!
100% would team up with the MC in some kind of vigilante “punish-all-animal-abusers” gig. They have but to ask. 😌
Asmodeus
Oh they TERRIFIED Asmo when they first showed up! How else was he supposed to react?? They brought down his brothers like they were made of cardboard!!
Though he had to admit that the confident, battle-ready look they had about them was sexy as hell, he knew better than to go bear poking! 😣 He avoided them like plague until they finally asked him for a pact.
And then he discovered something… something very unexpected….
They're actually adorable!!!
Okay, like, not in appearance (they look like they could pile drive Cerberus for Pete’s sake!) but he discovered that they have NO CLUE how to handle physical affection. Like zero!!
The first time Asmo actually got the courage to try and hug them he expected them to toss him off, but instead they just stood there like a malfunctioning doll, all flustered and confused… It was so cute!!! 🥰
From that point on, Asmo would take every chance he could to wrap his arms around them or kiss their cheeks just to watch them try and fail to handle it. It's more fun than picking on Levi!!
It took two months for them to finally attempt any kind of reciprocation and even that was adorable! They pecked him on the forehead without thinking about it then nearly passed out from the realization. Apparently, they had never felt like kissing anyone before so he was quite honored!
The brothers know that if the MC's looking too mad to listen to Levi, they just need to call Asmo. A nigh invincible warrior becomes a LOT less scary after you’ve cuddled them into submission! 🤭
Beelzebub
Beel didn't like them one bit, at least not at the beginning. They had managed to get past him and actually attack Lucifer which was NOT a great first impression on their part...
He honestly saw them as a threat for a while, but unlike the rest of his brothers he didn’t avoid them. He just kept an eye on them.... constantly….
Look. Beel is a big guy. Stealth is not his strong suit… If he's tailing you, you're probably going to know about it because there's a six-foot something behemoth in orange following you around while pounding down bags of chips. He's not very subtle…
That being said, after following them around for a while the two finally got to talking and he realized that they didn’t want to hurt anybody or anything. They were just acting on instinct before.
After making the MC promise not to hurt any of his family, they got on much better terms. Hell, he actually got them into fangol!
Beel's sport of choice is pretty much just ultra-violent American football so the MC took a liking to it instantly! After enough begging, the coach let them try out and they got onto his team immediately.
He likes having them as a teammate! They're very good at the game, uh... even if they take it a little too seriously…
They once tried to convince his teammates to decorate the team bus with "the helmets of their fallen foes." They're REALLY into the sport… But hey, they haven't lost a game since they’ve joined. It’ll be fine!... Probably.
Belphegor
Hahaha… He’s in danger… 😥
It took one look at this mortal to make him rethink the whole, “Trick the Human” plan… Since when have humans looked like that?? They could crush his skull under their heel!!
It took all he had in him to play it cool when they first met because his internal monologue was nothing but screaming… THIS was the "human" he had to use to get him out of there?? How in the WORLD was he going to kill them?!
Admittedly, he had to think about it for a while. Belphie's a clever guy… and a demon. So who needs an honorable fight, anyway? If he can’t win one-on-one, then he’ll cheat!
He waited until the MC got the door open and didn't attempt a frontal assault… No laughter, no gloating. He just waited for them to turn their back, claws ready to dig out their heart, and then-!
MC: "Do you really want to try that?"
The MC must have had some kind of danger sense, because they didn't even have to turn around to know what Belphie was doing…
MC: "Look. I like Beel and you're his twin brother… So I'm willing to let this slide. But if you really want to try me…"
MC: *looks over their shoulder with the glare of a bona fide killer* "I won't hold back."
That was... very persuasive.
The MC brought Belphie down to the others peacefully with his tail between his legs and honestly Lucifer was more relieved that he wasn’t a bloodstain on the floor than he was mad… They could have killed him sooo easily… 
They did, indeed, forgive and forget about the whole “attempted murder” thing, though Belphie was never quite able to shake off how frightening they were in that moment… He had nightmares for a while.
Thankfully, Asmo clued him in that the MC would melt into a harmless puddle of fluff if they got even the slightest bit of physical affection... Oh, the sweet payback he could dish out... It’s cuddle time. 😏
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the-fae-folk · 3 years ago
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Hello ! This is my first ask, so I apologize if it doesn't make much sense. Can you tell us about the Fae Courts, specifically the Seelie and Unseelie ones ? The descriptions I've been able to find online don't go into much detail beyond a few main characteristics, and I was wondering if you knew some things about them and their lore ? Thank you for putting together this blog, it is very interesting !
Welcome, Child. The two courts you speak of, Seelie and Unseelie, are a tradition whose roots lie deep within Scottish Folklore and a number of other pools. Now, a lot of what we imagine when it comes to Faeries tends to fall along the lines of graceful elfs and pixies, parades of royalty and finery, and many strange but relatively wonderful faerie beings. You and I know that there are more kinds from a great number of different sources. But how do you categorize them? How do you group them? Well in older days, one way to do so was to say that here in one group were the good Faeries, and in this other group are the wicked ones. But of course, that doesn’t really work too well, especially when the supposedly good ones keep doing nasty and vindictive things to people whenever they feel even remotely inconvenienced or slighted. The name, Seelie, gives us a good clue as to what is going on. It comes from an older Anglo-Saxon word, “Sælig”, which meant blessed or happy. Adding the prefix “Un” to that was a negation effect. Unhappy, unblessed. Either feeling miserable due to evil natures, or more likely... causing misery and unhappiness to others. As far as scholars can guess, Irish and Scottish shared many of the same myths and their characters. The Irish Tuatha Dé Danann shifted at some point from deities and supernaturally powered kings and heroes to the Daoine Sídhe, what we know as Fae. It’s uncertain when this happened, but the growing power of Christianity very likely had something to do with it. These depictions of Faeries could be separated into their own groupings, much like the Seelie and Unseelie. But it was not wicked or kindly, it was a distinction of where they could be found, in the air or on the ground, and whether or not they were frightening. While the Irish had the Daoine Sídhe, the Scottish had the Daoine Sìth. More or less the same beings, at least at the start, but the depiction of them was painted somewhat differently. While the Irish Fae were said to teach skills like metalworking and to deal with humans quite often, the Scottish Fae kept to themselves, and any dealings with them were almost always likely to end badly. The names, Seelie and Unseelie, did not show up until very very late in Scottish Folklore. In fact, it was only by the late medieval and early modern period that those terms took any real meaning at all, as much of the Scottish Folklore we actually have deals with the Highlands and Islands. Even then, the people didn’t really see these as clear and concrete distinctions, as different groups of fairy peoples, but rather they offered them as euphemisms and epithets, naming what they saw or what they hoped would be. If the Folk are cruel and nasty without cause, ugly and horrible to see, or frightening and eldritch... then clearly they are Unseelie. They are everything we are afraid of. But if the Folk seem beautiful and kindly, offering aid or sage advice, or are willing to let you alone as long as you pay the proper respects, then clearly they must be Seelie. The blessed, the wonderful, the happy. And the ideas of what Faeries were wasn’t a solid unchanging tale. Even as the witch trials spread throughout Scotland it changed what the Faeries were and how people saw them. Interactions with the English, with the Irish, the Welsh... all influenced the tales of the Folk and other folkloric aspects of the Scottish myths. One idea came up from the more Germanic and Norse cultures, depicting Faeries as the shades of the dead, still wandering in and out of heaven or hell or places between. As a parade, a wild hunt, a night ritual during sacred times of the year. And whether those dead were good and beautiful, shining bright, or whether they were dark and unholy, terrible demonic forces... that too would graft itself onto the ideas of Seelie and Unseelie Courts. In modern fantasy literature we’ve inherited this idea of two distinct Fairy Courts, and a popular trick is to assign them parts of nature that seem to fit them. Winter and Autumn for the Unseelie, the dead and dying, the cold and unmoved. Spring and Summer for the Seelie, warmth and life, light and laughter, plenty and growth. Still today our ideas of what the Folk are change and grow as time goes on, with every addition to the idea of what Fae are they will change a little more. And it’s important to remember that the things we speak of, the names we talk about, are not free of all those influences, that they might not have started out even remotely like what we use them for today. I would definitely suggest finding more comprehensive and citable sources to delve into when it comes to Scottish Folklore, for there is a vast amount that I simply cannot cover here, not even if I had several lifetimes to do so. Remember, not everything is online, even now. There is so very much that has not yet bridged that gap between paper to webpage. Speak to the librarians, ask for their help in finding sources, chances are that many would be thrilled at the opportunity to put their library science degree to good use.
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loving-all-for-loki · 3 years ago
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Can you write one where the Rogers is assigning a new recruit to each avenger for training? Loki gets the new girl and he’s irritated thinking she’s just some normal human that hasn’t a clue how to fight properly because of her petite size. When it comes time for them to spar, she gives him hell. She fights with swords and is very skilled in the art. He says something to piss her off and she ends up blasting him away with powers she never told anyone about. Loki realizes what she is since he knows the magic she used. She’s part light elf but being half human she was abandoned and left to die just like Loki was. They end up bonding and work together on the team.
A/N: I hope you like it! I didn't focus a whole ton of them working together, but I feel like you get the point. It's a bit longer than my other one shots.
The Moon And Her Darkness
Summary: Y/N, the newest avenger, starts her first day of training. An unimpressed Loki’s doubts are proved to be wrong when she reveals herself to be stronger than he knew.
Word count: 2744
Warnings: angst, dick Loki
Forever Tags: @mm2305
-
Your blood pumps fast through your body as you stare at the raven haired god. Ever since you joined the team, he’s been giving you dirty looks and eye rolls. You tried to not pay attention to it since you know of his past (and have been warned by Tony), but as the newest Avenger trying to prove herself, you find yourself longing for his approval.
It has been a week since Nicky Fury showed up at your home, extracting you from it, and throwing you into the lion's den you called the Avengers. You never signed up for it, but given that you were on the government’s radar for a long time, you’re not surprised. A couple mishaps here and there made them take you on their own terms. They’ve decided that having super powers is not something to be normalized and that you couldn’t live like a normal civilian.
Although you want to be home, the Avengers have already shown to be a great family. Nat and Wanda have already taken you shopping while Steve gave you a tour of the tower. As far as the others, they have been out of sight. Bucky avoids everyone, Sam with him because they’re glued to the hip, and Tony is somewhere else working on new technology with Bruce. Clint? Thor? Who even knows. You’ve been thankful for the attention they have given you.
Except for Loki.
You remember the attack in New York and you won’t lie when saying that approaching the god is intimidating. He stands with great pride and power, it’s hard not to feel small, but when he stares at you the way he does, it’s harder. He doesn’t stop looking at you as if you were a rat he found in a sandwich. Disposable. Replaceable. Disgusting. You don’t expect much from the God being that he’s only staying here out of punishment for the attacks, but you had hoped for a little something more. Even a prank or two.
When Steve told you that you were going to start training, you expected hand to hand combat like the rest, not whatever involves Loki being in the gym at the same time as the two of you. He hasn’t said a word, but just stared at you as Steve goes over some basic disabling techniques and defense. Most of it is already burned in your brain from your childhood, being a warrior and all, but you still manage to learn some new things.
But learning as to why Loki is there, that still remains unclear. Everytime you throw a punch or try to block one of Steve’s, Loki scoffs at you and rolls his eyes. He looks completely relaxed on a bench in the room, yet he could not be looking at you with a more tense gaze. He looks worried, as if you’re going to get beaten to a pulp.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” You yell at him.
Panting, you block Steve’s last hit and turn to the younger Odinson.
“Sorry?”
“Oh, don’t sorry me. Cut the crap, Loki. What’s up?”
“I believe the sky is.”
You grab a knife off the wall and aim it in his direction, startling him slightly but not even shocking Steve.
“You stare at me with daggers in your eyes and judge my every move. You have yet to even talk to me since I joined the team. What do you have against me, you ass?”
“Y/N-”
“Shut it, Steve!” You yell, quickly aiming the dagger at him before returning to Loki, “You. Talk.”
“It’s just pathetic, that’s all.”
“Pathetic? You’re calling me pathetic?”
You start to charge at Loki, but Steve quickly wraps his arm around your waist, holding you back from gutting the god.
“Y/N, I wanted you to spar with him after me,” he cuts in.
“And why would I do that?”
“Because he's a skilled fighter who matches your level.”
“Oh, so I spar with the tricker who decides I’m too pathetic to fight. He’s going to teleport or some shit and stab me like he does with Thor.” Loki’s eyebrows raise at the mention of Thor getting stabbed. “Yes, I’ve heard the stories. I’m not that naive, Steve.”
“I won’t leave you alone with him. I’ll be here to watch and guide.”
“What do you know about fighting with me? I have magic beyond belief” Loki asks the both of you.
“I know more than you think,” I spit, turning back to Steve, “Can we do something else?”
“Well, you coud-”
“I am not sparing with Loki.”
“Okay, then how about weapons? Whatever one you want to start with?”
Loki scoffs again at the mention of you fighting any other way than hand to hand combat. He’s lucky you’re on the same team as him or else you would have decapitated him by now just because of annoyance. How can a man so attractive be so obnoxious?
You walk over to the wall of weapons were Steve and quietly discuss which ones you’ll practice with. He recommends knives so you can spar with Natasha when he’s gone, but the swords are more up your alley. They remind you of your childhood, the weapon of your people. Some days, you miss them, but you know they are fighting their own battle that is too dangerous for you.
Picking up the swords, Steve warns you he is not good which makes Loki laugh again. He has the right to this time because how do you practice with a man who doesn’t know what he’s doing. You can’t last ten minutes with Cap before you’re tired of his flailing. He’s really not good.
“Loki, you wouldn’t happen to know how to use swords would you?”
“I have some experience. Asgard knights and Valkyrie used them, we were forced to learn.”
He stands and takes Steve’s sword from him. Turning to you, he smirks, taking you in. Your frame looks so small compared to his, nothing but a mortal. He’s never admit it, but he finds you slightly adorable, in a helpless baby sort of way. You take proper stance and stare at Loki dead in the eye, determined to prove him wrong.
The two of you run at each other, swinging at any unblocked area you can, yet never hitting. He blocks your swing, pushing you back but not down. Looking up at him, you scream and run, thrusting your sword towards his neck and legs. He blocks you again, but not without stumbling. Before he’s able to get up, you land a blow right to his chest, knocking the air out of him. He hooks his foot around your leg and flips the two of you over so he hovers above you, sword to throat.
“I’ll admit it, you are good, but not great,” he laughs.
He stands up and walks off, setting the swords back on their holder on the wall. You gradually stand up, fury in your bones for the way he speaks to you.
“You… are irritable!” You yell.
Right before Loki gets to the door, he turns to face you. Steve rushes to your side.
“Y/N, stop. He’s not worth it.”
“Oh, he’s not worth it, alright,” you mutter to Steve, “He’s not worth the pride. The praise. Whatever the ‘glorious purpose’ he thinks he has. He’s just an insecure little boy who needs to prove himself over others, make them feel small so he feels superior. Just a bully.”
“I’d watch your tongue,” Loki warns.
“Or else what? You’ll challenge me to a words competition? See who has the best insults or can sound like the biggest douche because I think we all know who would win! Another check mark for your book of things you’re better at than ‘midgardians’ or ‘mortals’ or whatever degrading nickname you think of next.”
Loki’s chest heaves in anger. You’ve never seen someone so angry or heard anyone yelling at you with concern like Steve. Nothing he says registers in your head as Loki’s daring looks fill your mind. You’d almost be scared if you didn’t know he’s full of empty threats. Just a scared little god boy.
“You imbecile, think you can scare me?”
“Actually, I think anything can.”
“I can take words from someone who does not know me, but to be called a coward is not something I take lightly.”
“So what are you going to do about it? Huh?”
“Nothing, I don’t waste my time on people like you.”
“Oh, people like me? Because the great Frost Giant Asgardian is sooo superior.”
“Don’t you ever say that.”
Loki rushes to your side, grabbing you by the throat and lifting you up against the wall.
“Loki, stop it!” Steve yells.
“This is not about you, Rodgers. I suggest you leave before getting in the crossfire.”
“I can’t do that. The safety of this team-”
“Is your priority. I know you are honorable, but I highly suggest you leave.”
Steve hesitates at the sound of you gasping for air. You cling onto Loki’s hand, tightly wound around your throat. His veins pop out of his hand like a dehydrated man. Steve looks back at you, eyes now closed to focus on your breathing.
“Put her down first,” Steve orders.
“Fine, always have to be the hero.”
Loki sets you down and your body goes numb. Everything hurts, your throat swelling. You gasp for all the air you can, feeling it go down your throat and enter your lungs. It’s fresh, comforting, healing. Leaning your head back against the wall, you barely open your eyes to see Steve by your side.
“Are you okay?”
Not energized enough to speak yet, you nod your head and place your hand on his shoulder. Steve looks over at you with worry before turning back to Loki.
“Leave, now.”
“Gladly.”
Loki turns to walk away, but doesn’t. He stands there to listen to you and Steve. At this point, neither of you care. You’re too focused on not dying.
“Can you breathe?” Steve asks.
You nod your head.
“I can get you help. We have a hospital room.”
“No,” you choke, “I’m fine. I just need a moment.”
Steve nods, but doesn’t listen. He gets up and leaves the room, rushing down the hallways to get a nurse, leaving you alone with Loki.
“Why haven’t you left?”
“No reason.”
“Please, just go. I’m tired of fighting. You’ve done enough.”
Loki turns to look at you. You look weak, but actually weak this time. The purple tint to your skin is fading as your lungs self regenerate as you keep breathing. Gripping onto the wall behind you, you stand up. Your knees are weak, making you wobble as you do. You’re not lying. You’re tired of Loki. You’ve barely spoken to the man and he’s made two attempts on your life in ten minutes. Sure, you teased him, but doesn’t he deserve it for being an ass.
“Weak.” He mutters.
That was the last straw. You look up at him. He stares at you as if the devil himself has entered you and your eyes glow bright red, but you know what is wrong. Holding out your hand towards Loki. A glow erupts from behind you, bright yet dark. It’s dark blue like the night sky and Loki watches it in awe. In seconds, Loki’s body is flung through the training room doors, blasting him into the wall of the hallways. He feels his rib breaking, his head hitting the wall. He yells out in pain as you slowly approach him, the anger seeping through.
“Never call me weak.”
Loki flips his head up to look at you, shock running through his body. At the sound of his body collapsing, the other Avengers come running forward. They look upon the sight of you towering over the trickster god with a look they’ve never seen before. Ethereal. Godly. You look as if you’re a queen staring at her peasant handmaid. Anger. Controlling. Power.
“What the-” Bucky mutters.
“You,” Loki gasps.
He struggles to stand as the team tries to help but he refuses. You two locked eyes but nothing was said. “You’re an elf.”
Everyone looks back at you with confused faces, but you don’t say anything. Your body goes hot at the mention of the word ‘elf’. The fire inside you fades out as anxiety places it, waiting for Loki to continue.
“I knew if someone was here to figure it out it’d be you,” you whisper.
“Light elf yes?”
“Yes, moon elf to be exact.”
“How are you here? Aren’t the-”
“Yes, they’re away. I was left to die. Our town got ransacked, everyone fled. No one stopped for me.”
“Then how are you here?”
“The Air elves. They got word of what happened and came. Found me. Took me back, but-”
“You weren’t suited. They found out.”
“Yes.”
There’s a moment of silence between you and the god. His eyes shine with sadness, tears coming to the corners. He looks at you with great pity as the wall inside you breaks.
“Can someone explain what’s happening?” Steve asks.
“Can you tell?” You ask Loki.
He nods, “Yes. Y/N is a moon elf, a tribe of light elves. They’re as high up as Asgard in the nine realms, powerful warriors. They’ve been at the center of every creature out there. People have been after them for their weapons, gems, and wealth. A landmark for every thief and warrior in the universe.”
“My town was destroyed when I was a little girl. Nobody wanted me because I was a child. I was a burden to them.”
“She was left for dead to be found by the Air Elves. Another tribe. Not as powerful. But they didn’t want her and there’s only one reason why they wouldn’t want a moon elf. She’s a half-breed.”
“Moon elves are the only ones who tolerate them. Half human, half elf. Considering many of them come from moon elves, they’re not despised, but Air Elves.”
“They dropped you off on Midgard to be picked up by someone else. I assume you hid your powers?” “I had to. I acted out once when I was little and my parents freaked out. They sent me away. I lived in a orphanage before some group took me, trained me, helped me hone in my powers. They saved me.”
“Until you got to old and left.”
“Didn’t know where to go. I became a waitress at some back alley bar, lived above it in an apartment with my manager. Lived paycheck to paycheck.”
“Then?”
“Nicky Fury came to me. I was on SHIELD’s radar and they wanted me on the Avengers.”
The room goes silent. Throughout your talking you missed the way Loki got considerably closer to you. You practically stand right under his nose. Loki raises his hands and places them on your shoulders, getting your attention. You two look each other in the eye for a long moment.
“I am… so sorry.”
You feel the tears forming in your eyes as Loki pulls you into his chest, holding you by your waist. The team watches in awe as the closed off god embraces you. Slowly, everyone leaves you two in the hallway. An hour goes by as you cry in Loki’s eyes.
Eventually, Loki picks you up bridal style and brings you to your bedroom. He helps you get dressed for the night and settled in bed before you grab his hand, making him turn back to face you. His eyes are no longer riddled with anger or hatred, but kindness and pity. He looks at you like you’re a little lamb to be protected.
“Yes, darling?”
“Stay with me?”
He nods before undressing and getting in bed with you. He pulls you close, your head leaning on his chest, and places an arm around your waist.
Every night goes on like this. No matter what happened in the day, even if you two got into an argument, Loki always found his way back by your side in your bed. You would have never expect it from how he treated you at first, but after the last few months since you met him, you find yourself growing closer to the god.
Loki slips into your bed for what feels like the 1482nd time. Resting your head on his chest, Loki pulls you close to his body.
“Goodnight, darling.”
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bumblesimagines · 4 years ago
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Part 15
Request: Yes or No
Nebula and Tonys friendship was v cute and we deserved to see Tony be a dad to her. This feels v short so I'm sorry
~
"Maybe some company will do you good, (Y/N)." Natasha said softly, rubbing your arm. You stayed silent, staring at the table. Rhodes had offered you your old room back but you couldn't give him an answer. Your gaze shifted to the glass of water, brows furrowing when the water in the glass began to move. Natasha followed your gaze.
"I'm not doing that." You said softly, glancing at her. Steve entered the room, heading towards the exit.
"Something's coming." He called. Rhodes and Bruce quickly followed him out. You stood up, doing the same. You walked out onto the field, seeing Pepper staring up at a ship. You watched the woman set it down, looking back at you all. Steve ran forward, helping Tony off the ship. Pepper sobbed, running forward as well. You turned, walking back towards the facility.
"Great, the douchebag survived." You muttered, opening the door and sitting back down. You knew loss would come with trying to save the world but you didn't expect to lose everyone you loved. Clint and Natasha were still around but they were grieving as well.
"(Y/N), this is Carol Danvers, a friend of Fury." Natasha said as she entered the room. You turned to look at the blonde, giving a small nod. You watched as Rhodes pulled up images of everyone who had been lost to catch Tony up. Your gaze dropped onto the table when you saw your friends images appear.
"World governments are in pieces. He did.. He did exactly what he was planning to do. He wiped out.. 50 percent of all living creatures." Natasha explained, voices getting softer. You took in a shakey breath, sitting up and glancing at everyone. You made eye contact with Tony. He was skinny and weak but he held sadness in his eyes.
"Is Barton..?" Tony trailed off.
"Clint survived... Laura and the kids are gone." You told him, voice threatening to crack. Tony inhaled deeply, nodding.
"Where is Thanos? Where is he now?" Tony asked, looking at Steve. Steve frowned.
"We don't know. He just.. Opened a portal and walked through." Steve said, staring down at the floor. Tony hummed, turning to look at Thor.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which, yeah he did but so did the rest of us." The talking raccoon, Rocket, said. You didn't have enough energy to question how a raccoon ended up in space, much less question how it could talk.
"Honestly, until this exact last second, I thought you were a build-a-bear." Tony said, looking at him.
"Maybe I am." Rocket muttered in a tired and defeated tone.
"Thanos has been missing for three weeks now. We've got nothing. Tony, you fought him."
"Who told you that? No, he wiped my face with a planet while the magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight-"
"Okay, okay.. Did he give you any clues?" Steve asked. Tony blew some raspberries, shrugging. You sighed at his childish response.
"I had a vision. I didn't want to believe it.. Thought I was dreaming-"
"Tony, I need you to focus."
"-And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. You know what I need?" Tony knocked over some glasses, standing up from his wheelchair. "I need to shave."
"Tony, Tony, stop." Rhodes approached him as Tony ripped off his IV needle.
"What we needed was a suit of armour around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not." Tony looked over everyone.
"Your project got Sokovia destroyed and ruined." You reminded him, finger running over the rim of the glass cup. Tony began stumbling as he argued with Steve, stumbling towards him. He ripped off the Arc reactor, putting it in Steve's hand before falling to the ground. He fainted afterwards so Rhodes and Steve got him to the medical unit.
"This is such a shitshow. I'm going home." You said, standing up and picking up the glass. Natasha turned towards you.
"Stay for a little longer-"
"For what? So I can be told nothing's gonna bring back by family? My best friends? I had nothing then I had something and now I have nothing again." You flinched when the cup shattered, pieces of glass and water landing on the ground. You sighed softly, taking the shards stuck in your skin out.
"Sorry. I'll clean this up." You mumbled, using your other hand to get the water off the floor. Carol blinked, watching in surprise. You opened one of the cabinets, pulling out the first aid kit. You turned your head when Carol stood beside you.
"Hey." You breathed out, running your hand under water to wash away some of the blood. Carol picked up the antibiotic cream, using a cotton ball to dab it onto your cuts. You didn't really feel like healing yourself.
"I'm sorry you lost so many people." She said quietly, picking up the bandages and wrapping them around your hand.
"Well, shit happens." You looked at your bandaged palm, sighing softly.
"I lost two best friends." Carol said, leaning against the counter.
"Nick and Monica, the daughter of a good friend." Carol looked at you, arms crossing.
"Sams' sister calls nonstop and I don't know what to tell her. She has two toddlers, both parents passed away, and she's a widow. How can I tell her that her older brother turned into dust and I couldn't do anything to save him? Dad and I can't even look at each other without noticing how empty the house feels. I wake up everyday hoping it was all a nightmare but then I don't hear Laura telling the kids to get up or Clint going on about teaching Lila archery." You looked away from her, eyes watering. Carol placed a gentle hand on your arm, giving it a light squeeze.
"You did what you could. What you have to do now is be there for the people who are still here. Your friends sister needs you. She needs someone familiar. Someone close to Sam and someone who was there in his last moments." Carol said, watching you.
"You'll never get back up if you keep knocking yourself down." She said softly. You let out a shakey sigh, nodding and sniffling. Carol offered you a napkin, patting your back before she walked away. You wiped away your tears and splashed some water on your face, patting your face dry. You turned and grabbed the broom and collector, taking care of the glass. You put the first aid kit away as Carol re-entered the room with Natasha and Steve following.
"Hey, we usually do things as a team here." Natasha said as Carol spun around to look at her.
"We realize up there is your territory but this is our fight too." Steve added.
"Do you even know where he is?" Rhodes asked, head tilting. Carol shrugged lightly.
"I know people who might."
"Don't bother." You looked at the blue android girl, Nebula.
"I can tell you where Thanos is." She revealed. The humans glanced at each other before gathering in the office to hear what she had to say. You leaned against the doorway, semi interested.
"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. When he worked he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled I wanted to please him.. I'd ask where we would go once his plan was complete. His answer was always the same." Nebula turned her head to look at everyone. "To the garden."
"That's cute. Thanos has a retirement plan." Rhodes mumbled as Rocket climbed onto the table, making a hologram of Earth appear.
"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for ridiculously high cosmic proportions. Nobody's ever seen anything like it." Rocket said, making the hologram change to a different planet.
"Until two days ago on this planet." Rocket motioned to the planet shown. Nebula nodded, leaning forward.
"He used the stones again." Natasha whispered. Everyones attention shifted onto the planet.
"You can count me out. I have a therapy session soon." You called, turning around and walking down the steps.
"You go to therapy?" Rhodes asked, brows furrowing as he turned to face you.
"Yeah, it's called napping."
~~~~~~~~~~
You entered the house, taking in a deep breath. Neither you or Clint dared clean up the place. Everything was left exactly how it had been left after Thanos snapped his fingers. You entered the livingroom, gaze landing on the metal on the ground. You sighed softly, picking up the monitor. Clint had broken it. Clint not following the rules of his house arrest was probably the least of the governments problems. You tossed it onto the couch, walking to the kitchen and opening the fridge.
"Beer, beer, beer, leftovers, beer." You mumbled as you sorted through the fridge. You shut the fridge, looking at the drawings and pictures pinned to it with magnets. You swallowed, leaving the kitchen. You stepped over the Legos on the ground, going to the front door. You watched as Clint drew an arrow, shooting it at a target in the distance. All Clint did was practice. Probably to get his mind off things.
"Should I head into town for food?" You called out. Clint stayed silent so you took it as a no. You took out your phone, looking at the contact.
Sarah Wilson
You watched it ring, guilt creeping into your heart. You sighed, licking your lips and answering.
"Hello?"
"Oh, thank god! I've been trying to reach you for the past few weeks. I haven't heard anything yet about Sam and the others. How is Sam? Is he with you?"
"Sam.." You started, biting down on your lip as you shut your eyes. You let out a heavy sigh, taking a seat on the stairs.
"I should explain everything in person, Sarah. I'm not gonna make you wait until I get to Louisiana. Sam.. He, uh.. He didn't make it. I'm s-sorry." You sniffled, hearing a soft gasp leave Sarah.
"Oh, God.." She whispered.
"I-I'll stop by. I tell you everything but.. Sam.. Sam was a hero until the end." You said softly, hearing the kids in the background. You were relieved she wasn't completely alone.
"C-Could you just stay with me on the phone?" Sarah asked softly.
"Yeah, of course." You replied, answering her softly cry.
"What the hell am I gonna do now? Half the folks in town are gone and.." Sarah sniffled. You listened to her soft sniffles and sobs, sighing softly.
"I'm not gonna leave you, Sarah. Sam would have my head if I did." You smiled softly, hearing her chuckle.
"Thank you."
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dakotacrisis · 4 years ago
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Adrien’s Sick Day
(This dumb idea would not let me sleep. Adrien gets sick but refuses to miss school so chugs a bottle of Nyquil but starts crashing when he gets to school. Shoots back an energy drink to keep awake. Disassociates so hard he comes to with a new fencing trophy and a girlfriend.)
---
Adrien was sick. He never got sick easy but he was sicker than a dog today. His temperature was through the roof and the only medicine in the house was a bottle of Nyquil.
“Sounds like an easy day in.” Plagg said. “Chug it down and let’s get back to bed.”
Adrien shook his head. “I wanna go to school.”
“School?” Plagg rested on top of his head, “Kid, do you really want to attempt class today?”
“I have already missed normal human interaction for the first fifteen years of my life. I am not missing another day!” Adrien chugged down the Nyquil. “Let’s go!”
Despite Plagg’s protests to stay inside Adrien collected his bag and headed to school. He was doing well up until he stepped inside and the medicine really started kicking in. Right...the medicine wasn’t the non-drowsy kind.
“Hey dude,” Nino clapped him on the back to which Adrien almost fell face first into floor. “Dang, what’s wrong with you?”
“Fever. Medicine. Sleepy. Not missing class.” Adrien rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Got any coffee?”
“I have this.” Nino pulled out an energy drink from his bag. “You can have it if you really want it but I think you should just go home.”
“No, I’m fine. Hand it over.” Adrien took the drink and walked with Nino into class.
In the blink of an eye Adrien was no longer in class but back home in his room holding a half empty cup of boba. “What the...” Adrien looked around. “How did I...”
The sun was further down in the sky so it must be later. Oh god, where did he put his phone? On his desk was a new fencing trophy he didn’t remember earning. Hanging off the trophy’s miniature epee was the lucky charm Marinette had lent him.
This was strange. He checked the clock on his computer and was surprised to see that it was five in the evening. What had happened all day? He couldn’t remember a thing.
The sound of his phone ringing with a notification caught his attention. He rummaged around in his bag and pulled it out. The background on his phone had changed too. Instead of the picture of him and Nino it was him in his fencing uniform holding a trophy in one hand and his other arm wrapped around Marinette who was kissing his cheek.
Okay. What the heck happened today?
He went to his contacts and hit Nino’s number. Hopefully he could shed some light on this situation.
“Hey bro, what’s up?” Nino shouted over the roar of a crowd in the background, “You change your mind and want to come out to the party?”
“Party?” Adrien asked. “What party?”
“Well I guess it is turning more into a festival. I know Marinette said you should go home and rest but you sound a lot better. We’re currently out under the Eiffel Tower if you wanna stop by.”
“What festival? What’s going on?” Adrien couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying. He was fairly certain there wasn’t any parties or holidays today.
“Sorry dude, I can’t hear you.” Nino shouted over the noise, “Eiffel Tower! Come out! Have some fun!”
He hung up and Adrien was back at square one but with even more questions. Maybe there were some clues in his phone. He checked his pictures and saw that there were more pictures he had taken today. The picture he had set as his background was there. There was a group shot with the guys who held Adrien up on their shoulders. Those were taken around four.
Adrien checked his calendar and saw that he did have a fencing tournament today at three. So that’s where he must have been for that hour. And he ended up placing first while zonked out on cold medicine. Adrien wasn’t sure what to make of that. Either his opponents weren’t that great or he is just an amazing fencer when he’s blacked out. Neither sat right with him.
That’s still leaves the seven hours from school and the hour between when he won the tournament and when he got home. Wait! Plagg! Plagg was by his side the entire time! He’d know!
“Plagg!” Adrien called, “Plagg! Where are you?”
“Ugh, you said I could relax.” Plagg’s voice came from the cheese cabinet. Adrien opened it and saw Plagg nesting atop a large wheel of camembert. “Haven’t we done enough today?”
“Plagg, I don’t remember what happened today. You have to fill me in.”
“Seriously?” PLagg laughed, “You don’t remember a thing?”
“No! And it’s creeping me out!” Adrien pulled him out of the cabinet. “Please tell me what I did.”
“Well I don’t really know.”
“How do you not know? You hide in my bag all day!”
“I sleep in your bag all day. I only woke up for the akuma.”
“Akuma? When was there an akuma?”
“A bunch of akumas. We had another Scarlet Akuma pandemic going on before you ran off to go fencing. You and Ladybug were really struggling for a while there until your doppelgangers showed up. Something happened after the akumas got purified but I was tired and bored at that point and stopped paying attention.”
“No! Plagg, I need to know what happened! And what do you mean by doppelgangers?”
“Oh right, bunny girl brought future you and Ladybug back in time to help with the akumas.”
“My future self! Future Ladybug?!” Adrien was going to throw himself off a building. He had completely missed meeting his future self and seeing what Ladybug looked like grown up. She could have only gotten more beautiful.
“Yeah, it was trippy.” Plagg said. “That’s all I remember though. After you transformed back you had to go to fencing and I stayed in your locker resting.”
“So you don’t know anything else? Not even about this?” Adrien showed him the picture of Marinette kissing him.
“Awe, finally got that girlfriend of yours I see. But no. No idea.”
“You’re awfully helpful.” Adrien sighed. He needed answers. He wasn’t gonna be able to focus until he filled in the blanks from today. He got online and started combing through the footage from the akuma attack. Plagg wasn’t kidding. This was the most akumas Adrien had ever seen. It looked as if half of Paris had been infected.
Him, Ladybug, and some of the other heroes were fighting against them but losing ground fast. A shining portal opened up and...holy crap. It really was his future self walking alongside a grown up Ladybug. Bunnix also joined them. The footage sped by as the heroes, future and present fought side by side. Adrien had always thought that he and Ladybug were a well oiled machine but seeing their future counterparts fight made them look like fish flopping on a deck. It was as if they were thinking about each other’s moves five steps ahead.
There was an eruption of white butterflies as the akumas were purified. The people cheered. Future Chat grabbed Future Ladybug and spun her in the air in victory. And then...oh…present Ladybug grabbed present Chat and kissed him. Seriously?! Another kiss he couldn’t remember!
“PLAGG!” Adrien shouted, “YOU SAID NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED!”
“Nothing did!” Plagg shouted back.
“LADYBUG KISSED ME! THAT’S NOT NOTHING TO ME!”
“How is this any different then the other times she kissed you and you forgot?”
“Y’know what--!”
“Can’t hear you. Napping.” Plagg started snoring loudly.
Adrien sighed. He turned his attention back to the screen.
There was only more cheering as the two kissed. Wait. So he kissed Ladybug and Ladybug kissed him back and they both remember so why had Marinette been kissing him in his fencing picture? Once again, more questions.
The future miraculous holders went back through the portal. His present self and Ladybug waved to the crowd then vaulted out of frame. According to the akuma report online that was from 12:40 to 2:55. Another two hours accounted for. Yet it was the minutes in between that seemed to hold all the answers.
Adrien grabbed his school bag and dumped it out looking for more answers. There had to be something else. All of it looked pretty normal. Books, homework assignments, a couple empty containers of camembert, and a few loose papers. He picked up one and saw it was an excerpt of a script. A Midsummer Night’s Dream? What was this doing in his bag? They were supposed to start their Shakespeare period in literature class so it wasn’t so out of place.
The assignment was to recreate a scene from one of Shakespeare’s plays. At the top of the page was Adrien’s name as well as Marinette’s. He guessed they must have gotten partnered up. Maybe he should try calling her to figure out what was going on.
He picked up his phone and searched for Marinette’s contact, her name in his phone had been changed to Girlfriend with a bunch of sparkly hearts around it. So apparently she was his girlfriend now, according to his phone at least. He called her but the call went to voicemail. Okay, maybe Alya knows. He called her next and was relieved when she answered.
“Hey lover boy!” Alya was shouting over the same crowd as Nino had been, “Nino said you called. Feeling better already?”
“Alya, you have to tell me what I did today.”
“What?”
“What did I do while I was at school? I can’t remember.”
“How do you not remember?”
“I was zonked out on cold medicine! I don’t even know how I got home let alone how I won a fencing trophy and got a girlfriend in the past few hours.”
“Wow. Just...wow. I knew you were kinda loopy today but I figured you’d remember confessing to Marinette. Girl was over the moon.”
The memories tickled right in the back of Adrien’s brain but he just couldn’t get to them. They had been washed away in a tidal wave of medicine and energy drink. He needed answers. He needed to talk to Marinette. “Are you all still by the Eiffel Tower?” Adrien asked.
“Yeah, you coming out?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there in a few.” Adrien hung up and grabbed his coat. He felt much better physically than he had that morning which was nice. The walk to the Eiffel Tower gave him plenty of time to think about what it was he was missing. There was a significant piece of the puzzle missing, the one piece that would make the rest of the day make sense. If only he could figure out what it was!
He found his friends and everyone cheered when they saw him and pulled him into their circle. Standing with Alya was Marinette. Face alight with a smile and laughing. She turned when she felt Adrien’s eyes on her and her smile grew.
“Hey, I thought I told you to go home and rest. Or was it that you didn’t want to miss out on all the fun?” She grabbed his hands, “I suppose I’ll let it go this time seeing as how today was very taxing and we could do with some fun after that Scarlet Moth fiasco.”
“Yeah, about that,” Adrien said, “Can we talk somewhere a little quieter?”
“Sure,” She pulled on his hands as she led him away from the group. Their classmates whistled and teased as the couple left. When they were far enough away from the noise and people Marinette spoke to him, “What is it you want to talk about?”
“Right um…” Adrien felt heat climbing up his neck, “So I was kinda really sick this morning and I took a bunch of drowsy cold-medicine that I tried to counteract with an energy drink and now I don’t remember anything that happened today. Nothing whatsoever.”
Marinette stared at him, her wide, unblinking baby blue eyes piercing through his skull. “Are you joking?”
“No. I swear I am not. I’ve put together some of what happened but there are some things that I don’t understand like how um, you know, how you and I…” He looked down at his feet, mortified that he had to have this conversation with her. He felt like he was breaking her heart or something.
“You dumb kitty.” Marinette bonked the top of his head, “That explains a lot actually. I’ve always known you to be kinda spacey but today was something else. How is it that when you’re out of it you can still function as a human being?”
“Marinette?” Adrien looked up at her, “What did you call me?”
Marinette sighed and motioned for him to sit down on the bench. “Alright, so this morning when class started…”
*Earlier that day*
“Did that help at all?” Nino asked Adrien as they sat down for class.
“I guess we’ll see,” Adrien almost missed his seat when he went to sit down, “So far it is a rousing success!”
“I really think you should just go home, dude.” Nino shook his head. “I think the caffeine just made this worse.”
“Nah!” Adrien corrected himself and slid himself into his seat, “I am fine! Look how fine I am! I am super fine!”
“Sure are.” Nino snickered, he couldn’t help it. His best friend was essentially high as a kite right now.
Everyone took their seats as Ms. Bustier began the lesson. “For this unit we will be focusing on William Shakespeare. I figured we’d start off with something fun so I want everyone to get into pairs or small groups and perform a scene from any Shakespeare play you would like. Group up and figure out what you’re performing in class today. Go over your lines and we’ll do the actual performances tomorrow. Try not to do really long ones. Have fun!”
Immediately everyone around the room started pairing off. “Hey Adrien,” Alya grabbed his attention, “How’s about you and Marinette team up? You would make a wonderful Romeo and Juliet.”
“But I wanted us to do Romeo and Juliet, babe.” Nino pouted.
“That’s fine, Alya. You two can have Romeo and Juliet.” Marinette told her, her face tinted a cute pink. “Adrien and I can do something else.”
“Hernia!” Adrien shouted, “You can be Hernia and I’ll be Lightsaber!”
“What?” The other three teenagers stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“You know, that play, the one with the donkey head?” Adrien mimicked large donkey ears on his head.
“Oh! I got it!” Marinette said, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You want us to be Hermia and Lysander.”
“Yeah! Those two!” Adrien nodded, “Hernia and Lightsaber.”
“Adrien, sweetie,” Alya looked at him with an amused smile, “Their names are Hermia and Lysander. Not Hernia and Lightsaber.”
“Got it. Got it.” Adrien continued nodding so hard he looked like a bobblehead. “We can be them.”
“Alright, I’ll find us a scene to do.” Marinette started looking for a good scene. They eventually agreed to do the opening scene when Hermia and Lysander plan to runaway together. Marinette was being super giggly through the reading which made Adrien start laughing which made her giggle more until they were in a perpetual loop of laughter.
When class ended everyone got up to move onto the next class. Nino and Alya went on ahead leaving Marinette and Adrien alone still chuckling over their inability to be serious during their scene.
“It may be the fact that I was laughing through the whole thing but I have to confess that I have no idea what Lysander was saying.” Adrien squinted at the text before shoving it in his bag. “Did you?”
“It’s pretty simple actually,” Marinette said, “The couple are lamenting that none of Hermia’s choices that she was given from Theseus let her be with Lysander. Lysander though figures that they don’t have to follow their rules and talks Hermia into leaving Athens with him and getting married where the Athenian laws don’t apply.”
“I wish I could do that.” Adrien sighed.
“Do what?”
“Runaway with the love of my life. I have this whole plan with an island and a hamster but I know you’d never go with me.” He slumped, looking utterly defeated. “Why don’t you wanna go with me?”
“Love--love--love--love of your what? Runaway? Me and you? To an island? With hamsters!” Marinette was stammering as she tried to piece together what it was Adrien had just confessed to her. Was this really happening?
“Oh wait,” Adrien frowned, “I meant my lady.”
“Huh?”
“Ladybug is so pretty…” Adrien murmured dreamily, “She’s so awesome but she only sees me as a tomcat which--just--boo! I love her! Why doesn’t she see that?  My spotty lady! Buggy boo! I love her spots and her eyes and her pigtails…”
His green eyes turned to Marinette and batted a hand against Marinette’s hair. “Just like your pigtails.” He muttered, “You remind me a lot of Ladybug. You can be my Maribug!”
Tomcat? In love with Ladybug? No...there was no way. Surely someone like Adrien couldn’t also be her dorky partner in crime fighting.
“Hey Adrien,” Marinette smiled nervously, “Why do you think that Ladybug thinks you’re a tomcat?”
“Because I am a cat!” He stated proudly. Then his expression soured. “Or as Ladybug says, I’m a bad kitty that needs to stop flirting with her cause they’re working and she likes someone else. It’s sad that she likes someone else. I wish she could like me…”
Yep. Definitely Chat Noir. Although Marinette had never called him a bad kitty before. Chastised him for flirting an inappropriate moments? Yes. But she never berated him. She’d have to have a talk to him later as Ladybug.
WAIT! Chat Noir is Adrien! Adrien is Chat Noir! The love of her life is also her partner! Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy! Crap! Calm down, Marinette! More important things to focus on right now!
She looked over at Adrien who was still pouting like a sad little kitten. She put an arm around his shoulders. “Well I got some good news for you, kitty. I know who Ladybug is really in love with.”
“Really?!” Adrien looked at her with stars in her eyes, “Who? I’m gonna whoop their butt if they mistreat her!”
“Ladybug has a crush on Adrien Agreste.”
“Boo! He sucks!”
“Dummy, Adrien is you. Ladybug likes you.”
“Oh...SHE DOES?!” He nearly screamed and Marinette clamped a hand over his mouth. He moved his head away from her, gaping at the information. “How do you know that?”
“Because that’s who I have a crush on.” Marinette’s cheeks felt entirely too warm. When she looked at Adrien there was absolutely nothing going on behind those big green eyes of his.
“Adrien?” She waved a hand in front of his face? “Goodness, you silly kitty, you are really out of it, huh? Give it a moment. It’ll come to you.”
Marinette started counting in her head. She got to one hundred and seventeen before Adrien finally perked up like a meerkat. “Ladybug?!” He pointed at her.
“There it is.” She ruffled his hair, “I’m guessing you’re happy?”
“I--I--”
BANG!
*Present*
“Then that’s when Scarlet Moth and all the other akumas hit and we went to got fight them. Our future selves showed up to help kick some butt. We kissed. Then we went back to school so you could get to your fencing tournament. You won. You looked pretty tired so I walked you home after but you insisted we stop for boba first so we kinda went on an impromptu boba date. Got you home then I came out to celebrate with everyone about today’s akuma win.” Marinette finished, “Did that fill you in well enough?”
“So you are…”
“Yep.”
“And you like me?”
“Also yep.”
“And I somehow managed to do all this while disassociating to the point of amnesia?”
“Apparently so.”
“I am never mixing Nyquil and Red Bull again.”
“Turned out okay in the end though, right?” Marinette flashed him a bright smile.
As all the information settled within him Adrien smiled back and kissed her. She squeaked for a second not expecting it but eagerly kissed him back. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She giggled. She stood up and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, kitty, let’s go have some fun.”
*The next day*
“Hey bugaboo,” Adrien entered her room holding a hot cup of tea, “Sorry for getting you sick. Probably wasn’t a good idea to have kissed you so many times while I had a cold.”
Marinette blew her nose. “Worth it.”
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fairydxll · 3 years ago
Text
𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐲
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧
↳ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | uh fighting? Lmk if anything.
↳ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 | 2124
𝐚/𝐧 ~ sorry I haven't updated this story in a while. But I'm back now!
masterlist | series masterlist | taglist
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<- previous chapter
After a couple of days, Rory kinda got used to her new "home." Since Tony didn't know how long it would be before they went back to California, and with Pepper gone, they decided it was best if Rory just took a break from school.
Rory did eventually grow to like her new room. She was not allowed to leave the current floor, so she basically just spent all of her time there. Tony was gone all day and didn't get home until very late at night, meaning Rory had to have food delivered. She didn't mind, though. She figured that if they end up staying, she'll be able to tell Tony what all the good restaurants are.
Tony never told her anything about why they were here with the exception of, "Daddy has business."
So in order to pass the time, Rory would read or watch movies. She even took up drawing which turned out to be something she isn't too bad at.
This morning, Tony was already gone by the time Rory got up, so she got dressed and migrated to the living area. She sat on one of the couches near the large window and began sketching the tall buildings surrounding her.
As she finished the shading on one of the skyscrapers, she peered back up to see a tall man with long, black hair dressed in what looked like a Halloween costume standing on the terrace. Rory put down her sketchbook and looked closer. He was very tall and had large, golden horns that decorated the top of his head. She had no clue as to why this man was standing outside of her window on her father's building.
Rory looked to her right and noticed her father, in the Iron Man suit, land on the landing pad. The man just stood there, watching as machines swiftly removed the armor from Tony's body.
The strange man made his way into the room from the balcony. The room she was in. Rory didn't know what to do. She was frozen, scared. Instead of running away as any sane person would, Rory remained in her chair.
The large man entered the room. He studied his surroundings, his eyes eventually landing on Rory. "Who might you be?" He asked with disdain.
Rory could do nothing but blink at him, too afraid to speak. He opened his mouth to say more, only to be interrupted by the presence of Tony. "Rory, come here," Tony said blankly.
Rory immediately dropped her things and ran to her father's side. Tony wrapped his arm around her protectively, hoping to shield her with his body.
The man watched this all happen before finally speaking, "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." He spoke as if she weren't there.
"Actually I'm planning to threaten you," Tony responded. Rory couldn't sense any different emotions other than his natural sarcastic tone.
"You should have left your armor on for that," the man bantered, walking closer to Tony and Rory.
"Yeah," Tony pushed Rory behind the bar. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny." Rory crouched down below the bar and pulled her knees into her chest. She couldn't help but let tears stain her cheeks, afraid of what was happening. "Would you like a drink?" Tony asked the man as he walked behind the bar, actively trying to ignore you in hopes you wouldn't become a target.
Rory heard the other man laugh. "Stalling me won't change anything," he said. If Rory knew what it meant, she would describe their conversation as passive-aggressive.
"No, no. threatening." Tony began making himself a drink. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one.
"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that." His words sounded like gibberish to Rory. "What have I to fear?"
Rory watched her father casually make a drink as if nothing was wrong. "The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team." Rory had no idea what he was going on about. ""Earth's mightiest heroes"-type thing."
"Yes, I've met them."
"Yea," Tony's smile helped calm Rory down. He had to have the situation under control, right? "It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a headcount, here. Your brother, the demi-god," demi-god? "A super-soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend." He secretly slipped a metal-looking band on each wrist.
"A man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella," none of his words were making any sense. "You've managed to piss off every single one of them."
"That was the plan."
"Not a great plan," Tony walked past you and out from the bar. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."
"I have an army."
"We have a hulk."
Rory finally gathered enough courage and stood up carefully. She peeked her head over the bar to watch the men while also trying to stay out of the way. Tony was approaching the man as they spoke; the man keeping his ground.
"I thought the beast had wandered off," the man said.
"You're missing the point. There's no throne," Tony's voice rose slightly. "There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."
Tony took a sip of his drink while the man took a few steps closer, a scowl spreading across his features. "How will your friends have time for me when they're so busy fighting you?"
For the first time since this scene began, Tony looked scared. The man brought his scepter-looking thing up and tapped it against Tony's chest with a clang noise. The man's face dropped for a second before he tried a second time, and then a third. "This usually works."
Tony didn't look scared anymore. "Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five--" his sentence was cut short when the man forcefully grabbed Tony's throat and threw him onto the floor. Rory squealed and then immediately covered her mouth.
The man turned his head in Rory's direction with a puzzled look. He turned away from her as soon as Tony stood up and went for his neck again. "You will all fall before me," he said.
"Deploy!" Tony called before the man threw him out the window, shattering the glass. Rory screamed with all her might. Did she just watch her Dad be murdered? What was he going to do to her?
Rory hid behind the bar once more, watching and listening closely to her surroundings. A loud sound rippled through the room causing Rory to throw her hands over her ears to block out the noise. She peeked over the bar and saw nothing but more shards of glass and broken furniture.
The man stared Rory down. "Who are you?"
Rory gulped, "who are you?"
He chuckled. "I am Loki, of Asgard. I'm surprised you have not yet heard of me." His tone was a lot softer with her than it was with her father. "What is your name, little one?"
"Rory," she nervously answered his question. "My name is Rory."
"Let me guess; Stark's child?" She didn't say anything. Rory simply nodded. "Ah I see," he gave you an almost heartwarming smile. "Come here, Rory."
Fearing she had no other choice, Rory walked over to Loki and he crouched down to meet her gaze. He smiled at her. Rory watched her father fly up behind him. She was more than thrilled to see her father alive and more tears fell from her eyes.
"And one more thing," Loki's face dropped and he spun around to face Tony. "Get away from my daughter!" Tony shot at Loki, sending him flying backward. Rory jumped out of the way, too stunned to do anything else. With Loki knocked out, Tony looked towards his daughter, "Rory go hide, now!" He flew away into the sky, and Rory wasted no time in running to her bedroom.
She slammed the door shut and locked it. She looked around her room for anything that she could put in front of the door to make it harder to reach her. Rory tried to move the couch, but it was no use. It was too heavy for a ten-year-old to manage. She tugged on her roots as she spotted her desk chair. Once it was securely tucked under the knob, Rory ran over to her window to watch what was unfolding.
Rory couldn't help herself as she began to sob. She was afraid and she was alone. There was nothing she could do to help. Tons of thousands of aliens flooded the skies and streets of New York as Rory sat up in her bedroom, watching. She was sobbing uncontrollably as she pressed her face and hands into the large window.
More loud noises were flowing from the living area into Rory's bedroom and Rory could do nothing to stop them. She hoped that the man who called himself Loki was gone and that her Dad was alright.
At this moment, Rory really felt like a child. She felt small and helpless. Lonely and afraid. There was nothing else she could do except watch. She had no clue as to what she was watching either, which was not making her feel any better.
At long last, the aliens seemed to dissipate and things seemed to calm down. It looked to Rory like the fight was over. But who won?
Rory was drawn away from her thoughts by the sound of her father's voice calling her name. She nearly sprinted out. She ran up to Tony and engulfed him in the tightest bear hug she could manage. He was still in his suit and covered in dirt, but neither seemed to mind.
"I was afraid," Rory murmured into his neck.
"I know, bubs." They pulled away from the hug and Rory got the chance to really see the other people in the room.
There was a giant-sized man with green skin, a man with a shield, a man with a bow and arrow, a man with a red cape and long hair, and what looked like Natalie, only with shorter hair. They looked odd. As if they were straight out of a movie. She noticed Loki in handcuffs. He looked angry and sad at the same time. Rory didn't really know what he did, but she knew he lost and her dad won.
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
Tony held a silver case in one hand and Rory's in the other as he walked alongside the other Avengers waiting to send Loki away. Tony had made it very clear that from now on, Rory would not be leaving his side.
Rory let go of her Dad's hand to let him deal with the case. Thor, as he had told Rory to call him, led Loki a few feet away from everyone else. He waited for Loki to grab hold of the glass container for the Tesseract. Before she knew it, the pair had disappeared in a storm of blue.
Once everything else was settled, Tony reached for Rory's hand again and walked her over to the rest of the Avengers. "Rory there's some people I'd like you to meet," he motioned to the team. "That's Capsicle, Legolas, Jolly Green, and the Triple Imposter. This is Rory." The others shook their heads at Tony's nicknames.
"Steve," the tall, blonde man smiled and Rory shook his hand.
"Bruce," the shorter man with grey hair politely smiled and waved.
"Yea," Nat showed you a friendly smile to which you returned. "Nice to finally meet you, officially."
"And I'm Clint," the last man with spiky hair and sunglasses introduced himself.
"Hi," you said, shyly and waved at them all.
"Bubs, you go wait in the car I'll be there in a sec," said Tony.
"Okay. It was nice meeting you all!" You said as you walked to the car.
"You ready to go, kiddo?" Tony asked as he got in the car and fastened his seatbelt.
"Are we going home? Like, back to Malibu?" you asked as he started the car and pulled out.
"Yea," he smiled. "I think we deserve a break."
"What about the tower?"
"We're working on it. It'll be fixed in no time."
"Good," you sighed
"Good?"
"I don't mind it anymore. I don't think it would be so bad if we moved here."
"Really?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Really."
Next chapter ->
。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
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dameronology · 4 years ago
Text
one hell of a mandalorian {din djarin}
summary: actions speak louder than words - which is good for din djarin, because he's not very good at words. (this was a commission for an anon! i hope you enjoy).
warnings: language
enjoy!! if you're interested in commissions, you can find out more here :)
- jazz xx
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Din Djarin was a man of few words.
That had become clear not long after you'd met.
It wasn't that he didn't like talking, or that he was rude - he'd just never had the need for it. The Mandalorian could spend days and days in hyperspace, on his own with nothing but a frozen bounty to keep him company. And they were hardly chatty, even before they were thrown away into the trawling depths of carbonite animation. There were a few select geniuses who tried to make conversation with him in a last-ditch attempt to appeal to his humanity and beg for mercy, but so far, they'd had a zero-for-zero success rate. It wasn't that he didn't have any humanity to appeal to it - because he did, and his weird, green surrogate kid was an absolute testament to that - but it just took a little bit for it to come out.
The beskar made him seem a little...robotic. Like a droid, which was ironic, because he wouldn't have gone near the things with a ten-foot-barge pole. Din had just become so used to people seeing his mask and his intimidating posture before him that having human traits, like feelings and thoughts and opinions, had never been any use. Having defining traits and a personality was all well and good, but nothing helped you through the galaxy quite like the ability to put the fear of God in people.
The Mandalorian was something, but Din Djarin was somebody. He was good; not necessarily pure and golden-hearted like a typical comic book hero, but he had a strong moral compass. Sometimes, it pointed in opposite directions, but he helped those who needed it and he paid his dues. That was probably a lot more than anyone in the galaxy could have said for themselves. In the fight of good and bad, in a world that existed entirely and black and white, there was nothing more grey than an honest man. Somebody who refused to pick a side held the power of both. For that, Din could have either been extremely smart, or extremely dumb.
Sometimes, he was extremely dumb. Made the wrong moves in combat, or got too cocky, however out of character it was for him. It was the losing fights that truly brought out the human side of Din, and it took a very, very specific eye to see it, sometimes to the point where even he missed it. It never went over your head, though.
You'd joined the crew on the Razor Crest as a mechanic - then you became a baby sitter, and his partner-in-crime, and the closest thing he'd ever had to a friend. His non-verbal nature meant that most of his emotional cues came in the physical form. It went over the heads of everybody else, but between your intuition, and the time spent in such a cramped space, it quickly became like a second language to you. Helmet tilts when he was confused, and little nods when he was pleased; tensed shoulders when the Mandalorian was nervous and balled fists when he was about to absolutely lose his shit.
Today was one of those days. Even though you were both in one piece and the baby was - by some absolute fucking miracle - asleep, it almost hadn't been that way. Nevarro had been quieter than usual, and Din had let his guard down; finally convinced himself to relax a tiny bit and ever-so-slightly loosen the stick that was firmly up his backside. His sudden lack of awareness for your surroundings had meant that someone managed to track the Crest, however briefly. The kid had barely noticed, and you weren't phased by what had been a simple, human mistake. Din, true to nature, was already beating himself up for it.
That was evidenced by his heavy footsteps, and the way he'd immediately retreated to the cockpit and slammed the door. Common sense would have entailed that he wanted to be left alone, but you'd long surpassed the point of any of that. Common sense didn't exist in a galaxy like this one. Doing the obvious thing was, nine times out of ten, usually the wrong way. Expecting the unexpected was the right way to go.
You'd paced outside the door for the better part of fifteen minutes - to go in, or to not go in, that was the question. You were torn between wanting to give Din space and wanting to be there for him; a cranky Din was often an unbearable one, but you cared deeply for him. Maybe a little too much, but that was a can of worms to open later.
"Din?" You gently called. Nothing. "I know you're brooding, or whatever it is you do under that helmet, but talking is good."
"I'm fine."
You sighed. "The scale goes great, good, bad, awful, world-ending and then fine."
"I've never heard that before in my life."
"Yeah, I just made it up on the spot." You murmured.
Resting your hand against the doorknob, you pondered for a moment. Did you want to risk it by going in? Making him mad when he was literally shutting you out? It was hard to know what to do with Din - it wasn't like he came with an answer key, or even a vague manual that could point you in the right direction. It was all just guess work.
"Is the helmet on?" You softly asked.
"Yeah."
You took that as a sign - with a deep breath, you gently opened the door and stepped inside the cockpit, shutting it quietly behind you. The tense atmosphere inside was almost enough to swallow you whole. The man practically radiated angst.
"Talk to me." You took a seat beside him.
"There's nothing to say."
"Bullshit." You murmured. "You might have a thousand inches of beskar hiding your face but your body language is a dead giveaway."
"I'm meant to protect you and the kid." He replied. It wasn't much, but it was better than silence. "It's my job to catch bad people and outrun them when I need."
"You did outrun them." You reminded him. "I'm safe. You're safe. The kid is safe. Does anything else matter?"
"It shouldn't have happened in the first place." Din said. "I was relaxed-"
"- you allowed to relax." You cut him off. "Despite your best efforts, you're a human being."
Reaching out, you gently placed your hand over Din's ungloved palm. He didn't resist or try to brush you away. His hands were soft and callous in equal measures, which felt like a fitting metaphor for him on the whole. You tangled your fingers in his and held on tightly, perhaps in a sad attempt to remind him that you were there.
But Din knew you were there - he could feel it constantly, and he thought about it just as much. Every day of his life prior to you had been filled with rigidity and angst, then you'd come waltzing in and for the first time in years, he'd untensed his muscles and stopped looking over his shoulder. Learnt to take a breath and enjoy the simple things in life, like Grogu laughing or you accidentally tripping over a tree branch. You'd become so important to him that the prospect of losing you was too much for him to even fathom. He'd come close today - too close - and it had been an eye-opener. The irony was that telling you why he was so fucking scared was more frightening than the entire thing itself.
"Don't be so hard on yourself." The gentle pull of your voice lulled him back to reality. "Please?"
His grip on your hand tightened. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." You breathily smiled. "You don't have to apologise."
"I never thought I'd have someone like you." Din admitted. "Coming so close to losing you was terrifying, even if it wasn't that close at all."
He'd never been so open about his feeling towards you before. Obviously, you knew that he viewed you in a way he didn't see anybody else, but that knowledge had been based entirely on physical cues and mere guesswork. You'd never expected him to vocalise the way he felt, or even acknowledge them. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, or even something you considered to be detrimental. The words came as a nice surprise.
"You mean a lot to me, Din." You said. He'd always loved the way his name sounded when you said it; nobody had used it for years, not since he'd lost his parents. It was something to vulnerable and personal. You were the only one he trusted with it.
"I do?"
You didn't mean to laugh at that - you really didn't, but it just came out. A low snort of disbelief; shock at his absolute inability to read the fucking room. Din was as intuitive as they came, with the ability to read criminals like a bedtime story he'd been rehearsing since he was a kid. Then it came to you, and he knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. To call him clueless would be the understatement of the century.
"Maker." You murmured. "Of course you do - more than anyone or anything."
"You're special to me." Din replied. "It scares me sometimes."
Din was straight forward with everything he said - it was just finding the courage to say it. He'd gone into battle with Imps and Republic Rangers alike; fought krayt dragons and droids and fellow Mandalorians and yet this entire thing shook him to his very core more than anything else.
You didn't know it, but you were perfectly holding his gaze. Staring right through it and looking right into his soul. He forgot he had one sometimes. It was probably a little dusty and covered in cobwebs, but it was there, and you were bringing it right out of him and back to reality.
Din used his grip on your hands to pull you a little closer - a moment later, he gently pressed the cold metal of his helmet to his forehead. It was the closest you'd ever been to him, even if it wasn't that close at all. You could hear his soft breathing through the modulator, the sensation acting as a stunning reminder that there was a person underneath there. There were times when you forgot, or felt a little disconnected from the idea entirely. You'd never felt the need to see his face, though - you hadn't a clue what he might look like, but at the same time, you had an image of him in your head. It was as clear as day; as bright as the suns on Tatooine and as persevering as the kid's insistence that he receive all your attention, all the time.
You knew what the action was; a Keldabe kiss. The Mandalorian had recounted its meaning to you not long after you'd met - he'd finally let his barriers down and let you plague him with questions about his culture and the creed, and you'd stumbled on the subject. Initially, you'd been entertained by the fact that it two such vastly different meanings. On one hand, it could be a headbutt. A beskar punch to knock the daylights out of anyone who particularly annoyed you. On the other hand, it was almost a romantic gesture; a way that Mandalorians could show their affection to one another without having to remove their armour.
Din had the latter meaning in mind, but also so much more. He was giving you a piece of his culture - including you in the very thing that defined him as a person.
"It won't happen again." The Mandalorian gently said. "I'll never let you get hurt again. I promise."
"I know." You softly smiled. Your eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the cool metal against your forehead. "For what it's worth, I have your back too."
He softly chuckled. "Thank you."
You gently pulled back, eyes meeting again (not that you could tell).
"Seriously!" You said. "I can be a bad-ass."
"You can be a lot of things." Din replied. "You're one hell of a girl."
"And you're one hell of a Mandalorian."
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Why Elias And Laia Mean So Much To Me
Okay so I’ve been wanting to write this for a while but knew it would be long and that I’d need some time to get my thoughts in order. So without a further ado here is my attempt:
Why is Elaia so important to me. Well to start off, Laia Of Serra in particular is very important and inspirational to me. She is not only a brown girl who is a hero but she is the most realistic hero I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. I’m so used to white female main characters that are badass warriors who are smart, beautiful, strong, special, that everyone is attracted to, and who fight for their people. I grew up on books like that. In which don’t get me wrong I still greatly enjoyed those stories and some of them are still my favorite to this day.
However I could never relate to those characters and it really solidified the belief that I most likely could never be a hero cause I could never fit that mold. And for the longest time I thought I was okay with that and I never really understood how much physical and emotional representation could mean to me until, Laia Of Serra.
Laia is a brown girl that is afraid, insecure, oppressed, sheltered, poor, weak, with no fighting experience, kind, emotional, girly, and self deprecating. She’s scared and second guesses herself all the time. It’s hard for her to phantom that she’s good enough to make the right choices or save anyone or anything. Which is exactly what I struggle with on the daily let alone in the middle of a war. I first read aeita when I was 17, the same age as Laia. So meeting a heroine that made mistakes, berated herself, cracked under pressure, had no clue what she was doing, let herself cry, understood that in a place filled with skilled deathly warriors she was weak, and let people trample over her. It was so relatable and heart wrenching. Especially when I’ve been wired to think girls like her are useless and typically the first to die or used as a stepping stool for the real hero.
Seeing her continue to fight with what she can and however she can made my heart soar. There were so many times she wanted to give up and feared death. However in time she grew and instead of fearing death she embraced the possibility of it in order to fight for what is right and for the people she loved. She stayed true to herself and became a badass without the need of having to kill people. Laia detested killing people especially after having to see how her people got killed all the time. She’s filled with understanding, love, forgiveness, sensitivity, kindness, and determination. No matter how many times she got knocked down she kept getting back up.
She gave and still gives me hope. Hope for who I am today and who I can grow into the future. She’s a symbol that you can be strong in other ways. That physical strength isn’t the only way to be a hero. Her bravery to face things head on, her compassion towards everyone, her determination to reach her goal, and her heart always willing to accept others is what makes her a hero. Even when it came to the final battle. It wasn’t her powers or weapons that got her to win the war. It was her kindness and understanding and love.
I understand people are disappointed that she wasn’t as “brutal” or stabby as other heroines. I love stabby women as well! But I think her depiction of strength and heroism is so important. It really shines a light on the meek and shy and scared and shows that it’s okay to feel like that. How that doesn’t automatically make you weak and how you can be just as important in the world.
I also love that Laia isn’t reduced or or shown as “not like other girls”. Laia loves to dress up, she likes to look pretty, she does think about boys, she is bossy, she is emotional, often has break downs, and she’s just so human. I find that a lot of the most badass heroines are always the ones that don’t like dressing up and finds it a waste of time, doesn’t fit in with other women, is stoic, cold, good with swords but not with words, and violent. Im not saying that these characters shouldn’t be allowed, but I feel like it reinforces the idea that the normal things a woman feels or behaves is considered weak. Not saying that all women are emotional, but we do feel. We do stress and some of us do love to put on make up and dresses. That shouldn’t be demonized or looked down upon.
That’s why I adore Laia. She’s a normal teenage girl that IS like most girls. And she gets praise and stronger because of it. Also people need to realize that at the start of the series Laia is a 17 year old girl with zero survival training skills. Elias and Helene have been training since they were literal children. Their whole lives revolves around fighting. Laia’s didn’t. So it makes sense and is realistic why she isn’t as “strong” or “skilled” as them.
To expect her to be at their level within the three year timeline between these books is impossible. I feel like people are so used to heroines that know how to fight or learn to become the most badass fighter through mere chapter montages that seeing a realistic depiction of a teenage girl that’s never fought in her life is displeasing. But I love that about her. She always becomes stronger in spirit, braver at heart, but at her core she is still Laia. A teenage girl trying her best.
Her needing help or needing a team to fulfill her goals shouldn’t be looked down on. It’s shown through even real history some of the best fighters or leaders needed a team. Needed support, right hand man, etc. Which is why I feel so connected to her and wish she wasn’t so underrated or looked down upon. Cause I feel like she’s a voice for girls like us that so desperately needed a way to be heard. She’s someone I can look up to and remember and find comfort in when times get stressful or dark.
Now as for why Elias and Laia’s relationship mean a lot to me. It’s simple. They’re a healthy brown couple and I love finally seeing a girl that looks and acts like me get praise and love. I love that Elias sees her strength and admires her for who she is. And how he actually finds comfort in a person like her. How he views her at times even stronger than him and everyone else.
Girls/characters like Laia are always reduced to a side character, the best friend, the second choice for the love interest, the death that motivates the main character, and or the character that pops in and out to give moral support. However under Elias’s eyes she IS the main character. She IS the only girl for him. He loves everything about her and was the first to believe she’s strong. He chooses her above all. Above anything and anyone else.
As a brown girl as shallow or dumb as it may sound it really does feel touching to see us described as not only just strong and desirable but loved and wanted by the warrior. The main love interest. That in his eyes this brown girl that others deem as weak, useless, boring, and a waste of time. To him she is everything. She is brave, smart, powerful, beautiful, admirable, and perfect. It means the world to me. Especially with how characters like her especially in fantasy is seen as never good enough or tossed aside.
I also love that Elias shows the struggles on what it means to be “strong”. How a lot of learning to be the best fighter happened through a lot of trauma, shame, and guilt. He does show how physical strength isn’t the only way to be strong. Which is why Laia is his balance. She is the peace and freedom he yearns for while Elias is the strength, power, and love she’s always yearned for. Where she falls in believing herself he is always the first to count his vote on her. They compliment each other perfectly. Countermelodies. True loves.
They show me a healthy version of love. One of the purest and sweetest kinds of love. Elias is always soft, kind, and patient with her. He’s proud of her even if she feels like it’s undeserved. She sees the good in him even if he feels like he’s a monster. They see each other for who they are and love that about each other. They love each other so much and I’d never seen two characters be as in love as these two are. They are utterly devoted to each other and constantly fought for their way back to each other. It’s been five years and rereading their scenes still makes me smile and feel butterflies, like it’s the first time all over again.
Even now seeing any content of them is like a shot of straight up serotonin. They are my comfort ship. Despite the stress these past five years of being with them and shipping them has brought me. They also bring me great happiness and excitement and I wish I never had to say goodbye.
Though here’s to hoping that maybe we can have an Elaia novella, at the least, in the future 👀🤞
♥️♥️♥️ Elaia Forever ♥️♥️♥️
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thequietmanno1 · 3 years ago
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Thelreads, MHA 253, Replies Part 2
1) “Oh man, Mic is a bit pissed, this is… Well, this is worrisome, to say the least. Jesus, what happened that you had to get Mic to go with you man? “- Aizawa dealt with his grief by embracing it and allowing it to mould him into somebody with a self-destructive outlook, in effect projecting his grief into a dour, snarky attitude with a hint or two of cynicism behind his gloomy exterior. Mic, by contrast, was always the light-hearted extrovert between them, and when Kumo died the first time he felt obligated to pull double-duty on that front to help keep Aizawa’s mind-set from becoming too self-destructive, doing what he could to keep his partner-in-mourning from losing himself to his worst impulses even at the cost of supressing his own grief and avoid dealing with it at all, putting on a happy front in order to hide how he was really feeling, which means that for him, a lot of the trauma from Kumo’s demise is still unresolved, and this is tearing the old wounds open again, leaving them nice and bloody.
2) “wait
are we- Are we talking about… the traitor?  Are Aizawa and Mic going to go after the traitor? Oh god oh fuck- By the way he`s talking about it it must be a teacher. Oh fuck oh no”- Well… technically, Kumo did betray the old dream and career they once aspired to have together, but does it really count as betrayal if you’re forced into it and have no idea what you’re really doing anymore? If your mind is so heavily remixed and remodelled to suit another’s whims you might not even have a sense of self to object with at this point? All For One would have a good hearty laugh over the situation in either case, since to him, this would prove the folly of wanting to become a hero if all it takes is some minor tweaks to your thought process and you become equally capable of great villainy.
3) “…
Is that
Is that Tartarus? Wait no- is the traitor already in jail and they there to interrogate them? No, it  can`t be, Hori wouldn`t cut a conflict like this, then what the hell are they coming here for? Are they going to talk to All for One or something?”- They’re here to catch up with an old friend who doesn’t even know he’s their friend anymore- and maybe never will again. Does it still count as Kumo if the mind inside him bares no resemblance to his old self anymore? How much of a man can you cut away before what’s left is another person entirely?
4) “oh okay, a random exposition to remind us what Nomus are, I`m sure this is just small talk without any plot relevance whatsoever did they caught a nomu or something?”- Oh they’ve caught this Nomu as long time ago- In fact, I think they probably still have the OG Nomu in custody somewhere, even if he is absolutely inert until he receives the appropriate commands. Oh, and can’t forget Hood’s charred corpse on Ice somewhere, possibly stored alongside the Hosu Nomu and the remains of Izuku’s old friend- sure feels awkward remembering those guys now after Ending tried using them as a justification to legally murder him a few chapters ago. If they’d had the capacity to restrain them without killing them, then maybe the damage done to their brains might have been fixable, as opposed to Kumo, who seems to have had far more extensive mental re-mapping done to him in exchange for him retaining his ego. But those were simply too powerful and dangerous to restrain- plus, people weren’t going to hesitate giving a lethal attack to something non-human, which feels worse now when you know there was probably somebody on the inside of those monsters all the time, perhaps trapped in the sunken place and begging for help than nobody wanted to give them…
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5) “Gran Torino here as well? Man, been a while since we saw turbo yoda there, but I think he was with Phelps as well. Huh. Okay, I have no fucking clue where this is going now, but I`m starting to suspect we`re gonna go down the Nomu plot once again.”- Since he was the one to bring him in, it makes sense he’d be involved in looking after his ‘suspect’- plus, Torino is proverbial boot on the ground trying to hunt down the league whilst Phelps runs support and logistics, and since this is the best and only lead they have, given how absolutely the PLF have concealed their plans, they’re both out of options beyond praying for a miracle with getting some piece of useful intel out that Aizawa and Mic can coax out of their deceased colleague’s cadaver.
6) “That would definitely explain why you`re going over stuff we already know about, and have known about for almost 200 chapters by now, not counting the Vigilante ones.”- Well, that, and the fact that overturning that assumption by hoping some piece of Kumo still resides inside his shattered mind and can communicate with them is the plan they’re going for, painful as it is for Aizawa and Mic.
7) “Alright, you know, I`m not gonna get in the merit of “we already knew that goddammit” because I don`t know how far Vigilantes had got by this point, but we already knew that goddammit, McBee showed that Nomus could be way more than simply automatons if needed, and now with Shigaraki about to become a nomu it gets even more obvious.”-Well, we can safely say for sure that we were past a certain chapter by now…
8) “Oh jesus, Mic is really not okay right now, and the way Phelps phrased that- I don`t feel like I like where this is going.”-Both men are barely holding it together, and can you really blame them? This not only overturns the nature of the enemy that’s been harassing their student and helped brutalise Aizawa, giving him permanent scars, but the last who-knows how many years of their lives since high school, realising that all along, all the time they were training to be heroes and helping others in Shirakumo’s memory, his reanimated cadaver had been dug up, stuffed with science beyond the ken of normal men and was walking around like a sick puppet at the whim of a malicious monster in mockery of all that he hoped to one day became. And the worst part is, it appears to have been completely random. There wasn’t any special reason that Shirakumo was chosen to be one of the bodies chosen for AFO and Ujiko’s experiments with what would become the Nomu, he was merely just a convenient corpse they happened to come across when they were looking for a body that nobody would miss- in fact, it’s very likely that he was far from the first one they did that to.
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If you can turn even dead bodies into Nomu, then it’s a far more convenient method of acquiring the physical parts you need for the monster than by kidnapping living people off the street- less people looking for the missing person afterwards for one thing. After all, it’s not like you could imagine a corpse would get up and walk around on its own after breathing its last breath, right? But then again, Quirks make the impossible, possible, and heinous as he may be, Ujiko is undoubtedly the man on the cutting edge of quirk science. The messy, bloody, unethical edge far beyond the boundaries of decency and morality, but the cutting edge nonetheless.
9) “wait
wait a moment
Am I losing my mind or are they implying that Kurogiri is also a Nomu?”- 
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Sure is a similar eye shape they both have there, huh? Rather than Hood resembling Kurogiri, Kurogiri actually resembles a High-end Nomu, so I think one of the uniform identifying traits of the high-ends must be a similar eye design, in addition to the whole exposed brain deal. Kurogiri’s smoky form probably just obscures his physical alterations underneath all that smog. That said, Hood seems to be a great deal less stable that Kurogiri, despite being able to communicate and follow orders, in part apparently because he’s far more powerful than Kurogiri in a combat sense, but accordingly, in a similar manner to Izuku needing to build up his body to use all of OFA’s multiple powers at their maximum, his multiple quirks put a greater strain on his mental faculties, and getting pushed too far in a fight trying to put Endeavour down apparently pushed his mind to the breaking point, causing him to devolve into a feral beast in the final moments from having too much power being controlled by a mind who couldn’t withstand the strain of it, even if his body had been physically remodelled to handle more power than God intended he be born with. 
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Kurogiri, meanwhile, is much weaker, and actually doesn’t even have any direct combat applications with his quirk besides the situational portal cut function, something he indicates would be unpleasant for him to experience, but his mind is far more stable, and he’s even been able to form a completely different personality and mentality compared to his old self. In fact, it’s a little jarring to realise how ok Kumo was with killing a person in such an intimate manner in hindsight, even if there was likely a component of him being unable to ignore AFO’s direct orders on the matter. Kurogiri is a support-type Nomu, there to protect Tomura and offer him a way out until he’s adequately prepared to start taking the fight to the heroes and can be given access to the more hard-core toys AFO stashed away for a rainy day, like the high-ends and Machia. By the time he reached that point, Kurogiri’s role had run out, and accordingly, he’s effectively abandoned by his ‘masters’ now his purpose has been served and to help further push Tomura into becoming the symbol of Fear, taking away the safety and security afforded by his warp gate function.
10) “Okay, it must be that, right? But what the fuck, Kurogiri doesn`t even have multiple quirks, at least not that we`ve seen. But it must be him that they are talking about, Gran Torino captured him”- Kurogiri takes the opposite approach to the typical Nomu. Whereas they have multiple individual quirks stuffed within a vessel modified to be tough enough to take the strain, he has multiple quirk factors merged together to form a single, powerful quirk, in a similar manner to how OFA first formed. It’s heavily implied that this is because Kurogiri is actually the first Nomu, or first of that line of quirk-enhanced monstrosities that Ujiko and AFO created once they’d perfected the method. Before they started on making bodies strong enough to hold multiple powers, they went for making a specialised individual power out of multiple ones in order to both create a highly-useful trump card and figure out the baseline level of power a body could hold whilst still retaining its intelligence and ego, and from there making more combat-applicable ‘tanks’ that didn’t require higher brain functions too much because they’d just be disposable weapons to be unleashed at a target and only needed enough mental power to process commands.
11) “Ah damn, now I know it can`t be McBee, he wouldn`t shut the fuck up about his master plan, he would`ve given AfO plans away the moment he got caught, just so he could gloat how the plan couldn`t be stopped”- This puts Kumo’s situation in bleaker terms- it’s not that he’s ‘willingly’ aiding the league after having his memories and mind tampered with, it’s that he literally can’t think of not helping them. Any thoughts that might lead to rebellion or non-compliance with AFO’s commands literally shut his mind down like a robot who receive an incorrect command code, and he ‘powers up’ again shortly afterward like a blank slate, unaware of what was asked of him. 
In exchange for being allowed to have his own ego and mind-set, it seems that the cost that came for Kumo’s conversion into a Nomu isn’t a loss of mental functions and his body becoming grotesquely warped into an inhuman form, but a greater and more extensive mental remapping of his brain, ensuring said mind will never turn on AFO, even if he has every reason to want to. He’s had his Id and Personality scooped out and put back together in ways that benefit a loyal soldier of AFO and he literally can’t imagine being anything else, or his mind cuts out. Even if he can be conversed with, it’s possible that Kumo’s modifications are so extensive that there’s even less of a chance of him regaining his humanity than the other Nomu.
12) “Huh… No, also is implausible, he doesn`t have the speed and strength, he just teleports things around, and apparently that is just the result of multiple quirks coming together. The most probably explanation is that Kurogiri, like a lot of babies, was merely an accident, and then they refined him when they saw the potential that not having to pay for Uber would entail.”- Less an accident, but more a deliberate creation designed to create a ‘base’ Nomu Ujiko and AFO could expand upon. It was outright stated how convenient Kurogiri’s portal powers were when he first appeared and how unfortunate it was that a highly-useful power like that was in the hands of villains. In retrospect, it was too convenient a power to be a naturally-born one. Every single quirk we’ve seen had some kind of limitation or drawback to it- in fact AFO himself has another warping quirk that he used to save the league at Kamino once Kurogiri was knocked unconscious, but he himself admits it’s inferior, as he can only warp people to and from him and to places he’s familiar with- but Kurogiri’s power alone seems to contain no drawbacks to it, nor any limit to what he can do with it beyond needing precise coordinates to reach a location he can’t see. Now we can see that the drawback for having such a power was him losing his mind and willpower to become nothing more than a mindless puppet of AFO’s at a single command, in mockery of all he once hoped to be.
13) “WHT NO NO WAY NO FUCKING WQAY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU NO
NO
NOPE NOPE FUCK YOU NOPE HORIKOSHI NO I REFUSE TO NO NO ABSOLUTELY NOT HOW COULD YOU “
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Horikoshi’s face right now.
14) “So that was the connection that people wanted me to see. Not the whole “how Aizawa became who he is” shit, oh no, it was not about how he became a hero and why he expelled all students that didn`t met his high standards and all that, oh no, it was all so the punch here would come ten-fold.
Kurogiri, one of the first villains we got to know from the League, AfO`s right hand man, was in fact not only a high-end Nomu, but a Nomu made out of Aizawa`s dead friend.”-Aizawa’s so committed to his Ninja aesthetic that he even has his own Sasuke… ok, there’s another character who’d fit the comparison even better, but naturally their identity is as spoilerey as Kurogiri’s true name.
15) “I want to be mad, I really want, but I`m just baffled, completely speechless. So that`s why that arc back on Vigilantes was miles above all the others, because Horikoshi literally had a choke-hold on Furuhashi and how the plot should go. It wasn`t only something like why Aizawa is how he is, it was also because it was set-up for one of the biggest plot twists of the series so far.
holy. shit.”-
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I actually quite like that this relied on Knowledge from the Vigilante spin-off. I sorta see it as similar to the Marvel Netflix series in that events from one film can interact with the series and sometimes the series can make cameo appearance in the films and other shows, but you don’t need to actually know who they are, nor do they significantly impact the plot of said films, but it does show how the universe they live in is one with many stories and many heroes, and they can interact in ways you wouldn’t expect. Checking out the plotting of MHA so far, it’s actually been really tight and fast-paced- this last arc has only been 10-ish chapters so far, and everything’s been building up on a tight schedule, so taking time to properly flesh out Aizawa’s backstory would not only have slowed the pacing, it would have allowed savey viewers to pick up on the fact that Kumo was likely to be more important than just a disposable character to galvanise Aizawa’s character progression. By putting the backstory in the spinnoff, it made it seem irrelevant to MHA’s plot, beyond merely being character explanation for Aizawa’s behaviour so far, and thus the impact of the twist is magnified when all of a sudden that side-character you thought you knew about turned out to have been involved with the story all along, in an unrecognisable form to the point you never saw it coming.
16) “And now that I`m finished I finally got to see what the cover page was. Can you guess what the tittle of the chapter was? Take a fucking guess”- So, what happens to Shirakumo (White Cloud) when it gets dragged down to earth, muddied and corrupted from the pure form it used to be into an agent of a malevolent will to serve it unquestioningly as a mockery of all it once hoped to be?
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It becomes Kurogiri (Black Mist). @thelreads​
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