#or oh cool I like their designs next to each other that’ll do it!

[myfandomhalf]

To be clear, there will be NO 🙅‍♀️ multishipping on this blog. That’s all fine and well for some people, power to you! But I am not one of them. When I ship it’s because I think those two characters are so intertwined together and have a bond that nothing can separate. They are separate halves, twin flames, soulmates, preordained by the stars, meant to be, you get it. And I like shipping based on canon content, I just don’t think it’s fun to base a ship off headcanons, but that’s just me. So if you see me ship a pair on this blog, you can be sure, with 100% confidence, that I do not and will never ship either of those characters with someone else.

[floweringlee]

One Latte Please?

Part 1

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Reader

Summary: A man runs into the shop you work at in a rush and all you do it make his coffee, this seems to be a daily occurrence between you too and eventually it turns into something more

Word Count: 1.8k

Notes: I’d been thinking of this one for a while sooo I hope you guys like it 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Part 1 || Part 2

☕️ ☕️ ☕️

You hummed as you wiped down a counter, the smell of coffee hitting your nose. You always opened the coffee shop that was on a small corner of Monaco at 7am sharp. Your parents owned it and eventually passed it down to you once they had gotten too old. Your coworker and best friend yawned beside you sipping on her Red Bull as they leaned on your side. “Y/N look! They brought back the Max Red Bull cans!” They squealed shoving the can in your face. You rolled your eyes pushing the can away.

“Bsf/n will you stop shoving things in my face?” You shake your head with a small laugh. Your best friend had been obsessed with this drivers for as long as you could remember but you never really cared much for it yourself. You tried your best to half heartedly listen to the things she said catching onto small things like her favorite driver Max Verstappen but that was about it.

“Ok ok fine I will but will you at least look?” They whined slightly.

“Fine fine I’ll humor you” you rolled your eyes looking at the can, on it was a man with a smile and one fist in the air, at the bottom was a racing car. “It’s cool,” you hummed.

“I know! But they totally took Checo off the can” they huffed with a small frown. “They used to sell them and I only have like a whole pack but still!”

You laughed a bit as she ranted before you sniffed a bit, “Uh- do you smell that?” You asked. They raised an eyebrow “OH SHIT! THE COOKIES!” They screeched, rushing behind the counter to disappear in the back. Just as they ran out a man ran into the shop slightly out of breath and clearly in a rush. His green eyes scattered across the room before the landed on you.

“A latte please?” He asked slowly out of breath.

“Of course!” You smiled quickly getting to work. Out of the corner of your eye you noticed the man tapping his foot which eventually swapped to pacing, checking his phone every once in a while. He really must have been in a rush. When you were finished you handed him the cup, a small leaf design decorating the middle. “That’ll be $5.31” you said.

The man frantically pulled some money exchanging it with the coffee “Keep the tip!” He called over his shoulder and he was out of the door just as quickly as he came in.

You stared at the door for a moment before looking at the bill in your hand, which was actually $100. “Wait! Sir I can’t-“ but you knew he was already long gone, the bell jingling at the door as a clarification. You stared at the money in your hand before your friend came back outside.

“The cookies are saved!” They declared proudly.

Huh. That guy looked familiar.

***

The next morning, it was just you, quietly humming to yourself as you iced a small cupcake. The familiar jingle of the door sounded as you smiled, ready for the first customer. “Hi! What can I get you-“ you looked up, only to become face to face with the guy from yesterday. Today he seemed much more tame, put together and definitely not in a rush like the day prior.

A smile graced his features, two noticeable dimples poking out when he saw you. “Can I get whatever you made yesterday? It was delicious.”

You let out a small laugh, “Latte it is then.” you say, picking up a cup to start the order. He was once again the first person in the shop, leaving the silence of each other and the light music to keep you both company. “What had you in a rush yesterday?” You asked, attempting to fill the silence while you worked.

“Oh just a meeting,” the man chuckled, which admittedly had to have been one of the best sounds you’ve ever heard. “I overslept.” He explained, “but the coffee you made did help, it’s got quite a punch” he added.

“Well I’m glad I could be of help,” you poured milk into the drink, crafting a small leaf pattern again. “Would that be here or to go?” You asked, looking over your shoulder.

“To go,” he nodded a bit.

You slipped a top on, setting it on the opposite counter. “That will be $5.31”

He pulled his wallet out, handing you a bill again. “Thank you for the coffee, again Ms….?”

“Y/N” you filled in the blank.

“Y/N..” he echoed, as if he was testing the waters on how to say it. “Ms.Y/N, thank you,” he nodded before spinning on his heel to leave again.

You looked down at the bill in your hand once again seeing a $100. Man. You really had to start checking this guys money before you took it.

***

Like clockwork the next morning the man showed up again. And again. And again. Soon it became a daily routine. You open, he comes in, asks for a latte and the two of you began to chat more and more. Sometimes he’d even help you with your opening duties if he was early enough.

You learned that his name was Charles. He had the most beautiful set of green eyes you’d ever seen. When he laughed he had dimples that poked the sides of his face. When you made him nervous he would fidget with his rings and his chuckle was melodic. He liked ice cream and he grew up in Monaco. His favorite color was red and it was on practically every article of clothing he owned.

He learned that you liked long walks. Had a pet cat, and your favorite color was (f/c). You hated making donuts because they never turned out right for you but you loved to make (favorite/pastry). He somehow learned your favorite drink and would bring it along when he came too.

One morning, as you prepared the shop for another day, Charles arrived even earlier than usual. His entrance was quieter this time, the bell above the door barely audible as he pushed it open.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he greeted, his dimples already on full display. In his hands, he held a small paper bag, a set of flowers and a coffee cup—your favorite drink, as always.

“Good morning, Cha,” you replied, smiling as you wiped your hands on your apron. “You’re early today. Couldn’t wait for your latte?”

He chuckled, setting the bag and cup on the counter. “Something like that. But actually…” He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck—a nervous habit you’d picked up on. “I brought you breakfast. You’re always making food for everyone else. I thought it was time someone made something for you.”

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, warmth blooming in your chest. “That’s so sweet of you. What is it?”

“Croissants,” he said, his green eyes sparkling. “Homemade. They might not be as good as yours, though.”

“You made these yourself?” you asked, opening the bag to reveal perfectly golden croissants. They looked almost too good to eat.

“Well, my mother might have helped a little,” he admitted sheepishly. “She insists I should know how to cook, just in case.”

You laughed softly, breaking off a small piece of a croissant to taste. It melted in your mouth, buttery and flaky. “This is amazing, Charles. Thank you.” He seemed relieved by your approval, his smile widening. “I’m glad you like it.”

The two of you fell into your usual routine—him helping with small tasks around the shop while you prepared his latte. But today, the air between you felt a little different, a little closer. As you handed him his coffee, a question slipped from your lips.

“What are the flowers for?” You asked curiously, noticing how, he hesitated before speaking.

“Y/N… I was wondering if you’re free tomorrow evening?”

You blinked, surprised. “Tomorrow evening?”

“Yes. There’s a restaurant near where I live,” he explained, his voice a little softer now. “Some of my mates recommended it to me and I thought you might like it”

You felt your cheeks heat up, a small smile tugging at your lips. “Are you asking me out, Charles?”

He laughed, a little nervously. “Maybe I am. Would that be so bad?”

You pretended to think for a moment, though your heart was already fluttering. “Hmm… I guess I could make time for you.”

“Perfect,” he said, his dimples making another appearance. “I’ll pick you up at six?.”

As he left the shop that morning, the familiar jingle of the bell sounded different, like a promise of something new. You watched him go, your smile lingering long after he’d disappeared down the street.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

Your best friend leaned against you as they grinned clocking into their shift.

“So. Who’s the mystery boy you always talk to in the morning?” They teased. “You always have sooooo much to say about them.”

You shake your head. “There’s nothing much…you start hesitantly. “He’s just really sweet and caring. He actually started bringing me little snacks from around Monaco and other places around the globe.” You explained.

“Awwwww!” They squealed. “He totally likes you.” The certainty that came with their voice was unwavering. “Who else would take the time out of their day to come this early in the morning every day to see someone!?Come on, you have to tell me his name! You’ve been hiding it long enough don’t you think?”

“Fine fine, his name is Charles.” You say slowly. “He’s got these beautiful green eyes and messy hair. Whenever he smiles he has these adorable dimples” there’s an airy tone to your voice but the look on your friends face made you stop. “What?” He raise an eyebrow.

“Did…did you happen to get his last name?” They ask slowly.

“Yeah…it’s Leclerc but why does that matter?” You say with a small nervous laugh, setting down the cup you had been washing.

“Do you have ANY idea who that is?!?” Their voice was a low screech but somehow loud enough to still manage to make your ears bleed. “That’s the Charles Leclerc. Y'know, like the Ferrari driver! The PRINCE of Ferrari!” They hissed.

Just then you pulled out your phone quickly googling the name. Your eyes scanned the screen and your jaw dropped in shock when the face of your cafe crush pulled up on the screen.

No wonder why he looked so familiar.

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

Azul pt 1

The fact that he waited until the next day to find her was a bit surprising, but that didn’t make it any less scary when Floyd Leech catches Yuu outside class.  

“Shrimpy.” his tone is flat. The hand around the collar of her uniform isn’t tight, but it’s clear she isn’t going anywhere. “With me. Now.”  

“Ah shit, he’s actually pissed.” Ace mutters, stiff beside her.  

“Floyd, how you doing?” Yuu smiles. Nope, definitely not in the mood.  

“Wait,” Deuce puts a hand on her wrist. “We still have class. She'll get in trouble if she skips.”  

“It’s not skipping, Azul can write a note as house warden.” He picks her up again, no more than a ragdoll. “If you pull the same trick you did yesterday, it’s not going to be pretty. Nobody has escaped my squeeze before, and we aint starting with you.” He bares his teeth, tapping her nose with his free hand.  

Yuu can’t recognize if he’s genuinely angry or just annoyed with her escape. She isn’t willing to test it, and she knows she is too tired to do so again. Mary had already warned her off of doing so outside of Ramshackle for now, until she got used to Underground magic.  

“Um, I’ll see you guys later?” she waves, hoping that this will be quick at least.  

He doesn’t put her down once, even when she politely asks. He isn’t quiet though. He seems more annoyed that he had to pull in Idia to provide camera footage that she actually disappeared and didn’t just decide not to get her. The twins don’t seem to enjoy arguing with Azul, though the lines look fuzzy from the outside.  

The bubble always feels odd going down, and then the coolness of Octavinelle settles in. It isn’t always a pleasant feeling when you are warmblooded, but maybe that’s why she rarely sees any Octavinelle student without a jacket on?  

Azul’s office is the same as ever, clean down to the last dust speck on the nearly excessive bookshelves surrounding the whole room. The soft glow of the aquariums below offer a nice touch that she’s always enjoyed though, and finds it difficult to not relax when looking at them. 

 He sits at his desk with the strange fishbone pen scribbling over a softly glowing contract. The laptop, some type of the line model probably, almost stands out like a sore thumb amongst the antique designs.  

It better not be for me, she thinks.  

“Thank you Floyd,” Yuu mumbles as her feet finally touch the ground.  

“Ah, Shrimpy gonna be all grumpy now?” He teases, pulling at her cheek.  

“Floyd, please.” Azul says, almost smiling at her swatting hands doing absolutely nothing. “We have business to discuss.”  

“Yea, I never got a text yesterday, so it must not have been that important.” Yuu crosses her arms.  

“Oh, that’ll come later. I am far more interested in what this was. A unique magic perhaps?”  

He turns his laptop monitor to show the footage of her turning into glitter, her wide eyes the last thing to literally blink out of existence.  

“Even if I had a good idea what happened, I wouldn’t tell you. It was a fluke, I haven’t been able to do it since.” Half of it was true at least. She wasn’t able to recreate the distance, though it may be the desire just wasn’t strong enough.  

“Ah, no need to be coy.” Azul smiles, the polite one that makes her eye twitch. “If your magic base is expanding that’s something to celebrate! How about a drink and dessert, on the house of course.”  

“What do you want?” she asks bluntly. “Nothing comes for free with you.”  

“Prefect!” he places a hand on his chest, “Do you think me so low as to not celebrate my friend's accomplishments?”  

“Are we friends?” Yuu snaps, “I didn’t know that friends made each other homeless.”  

His mouth snaps shut with a click. A huff of air behind ear reminds her that Floyd is still behind her, not at his usual spot beside Azul’s desk. Making sure to guard the exit?  

“I-” Azul takes a deep breath, twirling the neck of the fishbone pen before carefully setting it inside the holder, putting a lid on the ink bottle. “I’ll admit, not my best moment.”  

He sighs, walking around to the front of the desk and leaning against the ledge.  

“Ms. Yuu, you clearly have an expanding magical core, which is wonderful. I congratulate you on effort and achievements. But it’s clearly powerful magic.” He adjusts his gloves, avoiding her eyes. “I, of all people, understand powerful magic without a medium to balance it out. We both know what it looks like when there are...no guidelines.” 

Azul was capable of his spell without the contracts. The contracts are what allowed him to keep his sanity and mind. His step father had been the one to teach him and help, the best gift he had ever received from him truly. But there was something addictive in the power, and to see Yuu overblot, even by accident? 

“I...I do apologize for my transgressions in the past.” Even Floyd raises his eyebrows at him. “I’ll admit that I did not think of the repercussions of my actions as I was self-assured in my own victory. And, at the time, it was the only thing that mattered.”  

There are some deals that you prevent from happening, for the sake of his own skin of course.  

“I have teachers that are helping me.” Yuu relents, “Though I understand your concerns better now. If, and it’s a big if, I need help, I will...actually consider your offer?” 

He laughs, something a little softer than his usual one. “Well, as a show of good faith.” He pulls out a small metal piece from his pocket, “Take this. A representation of our benevolence, guided by the Seawitch and her two beloved eels.” 

It’s a simple band, two dark eels wrapped around a small nautilus shell. It was in the style she preferred, something elegant but minimal. It didn’t look like a cheap tourist thing either, she could feel that the shell was smooth, thin but strong. It wouldn't shatter easily at least.  

“Are these actual eel scales?” she asks, feeling the bumpy texture.  

“Why yes!” he smiles, “I thought something handmade would be of preference. You do seem to prefer things of a more sentimental variety.”  

She huffs, raising her pant leg to wear it as an anklet instead.  

“Alright Azul, I’ll choose to forgive, but I won’t forget. Afterall, forgetting how powerful you are would just be stupid for me.”  

A surprised huff leaves him, but he allows her to leave at last. Jade meets her at the door before she can even turn the knob, Floyd staying behind.  

“Huh,” he mutters, “Went better than expected.” Floyd stretches his body out, small pops along his spine that wouldn’t be there in a human body. “You get what you needed out of it?”  

“Enough, though not all.” Azul nods. “We do need her to trust us, and if that means giving away a token to show good faith, it’ll be worth the small energy exchange.”  

“Also allows us to keep an eye on her.” Floyd adds, rubbing the small spot along his upper arm. They were eel scales. Specifically, theirs. Azul wouldn’t be able to see through her eyes the way he could with his or Jade’s, but with a sprinkle of their scales and a small sample of all three of their magics in the shell itself, they’d always be able to have a vague idea of where she was at least. With the way she was progressing in and out of class, she was becoming a threat.  

And the best way to neutralize a threat was to make them a friend.  

“It’s for her own good.” Azul goes to sit back down. He thinks it is for her good at least, and it’s not totally invasive. “Besides, I would like to know more about these teachers of hers. Perhaps they are looking for more students.”  

Floyd shakes his head, making sure that Azul has a drink before heading out himself. He can’t afford to fail this next test if he wants to stay in the advanced classes. At least the advanced classes aren’t as boring as the main ones, but damn if they don’t test his patience some days.  

[jcmarchi]

State of CSS 2024 Results

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/state-of-css-2024-results/

State of CSS 2024 Results

They’re out! Like many of you, I look forward to these coming out each year. I don’t put much stock in surveys but they can be insightful and give a snapshot of the CSS zeitgeist. There are a few little nuggets in this year’s results that I find interesting. But before I get there, you’ll want to also check out what others have already written about it.

Oh, I guess that’s it — at least it’s the most formal write-up I’ve seen. There’s a little summary by Ahmad Shadeed at the end of the survey that generally rounds things up. I’ll drop in more links as I find ’em.

In no particular order…

Demographics

Josh has way more poignant thoughts on this than I do. He rightfully calls out discrepancies in gender pay and regional pay, where men are way more compensated than women (a nonsensical and frustratingly never-ending trend) and the United States boasts more $100,000 salaries than anywhere else. The countries with the highest salaries were also the most represented in survey responses, so perhaps the results are no surprise. We’re essentially looking at a snapshot of what it’s like to be a rich, white male developer in the West.

Besides pay, my eye caught the Age Group demographics. As an aging front-ender, I often wonder what we all do when we finally get to retirement age. I officially dropped from the most represented age group (30-39, 42%) a few years ago into the third most represented tier (40-49, 21%). Long gone are my days being with the cool kids (20-29, 27%).

And if the distribution is true to life, I’m riding fast into my sunset years and will be only slightly more represented than those getting into the profession. I don’t know if anyone else feels similarly anxious about aging in this industry — but if you’re one of the 484 folks who identify with the 50+ age group, I’d love to talk with you.

Before we plow ahead, I think it’s worth calling out how relatively “new” most people are to front-end development.

Wow! Forty-freaking-four percent of respondents have less than 10 years of experience. Yes, 10 years is a high threshold, but we’re still talking about a profession that popped up in recent memory.

For perspective, someone developing for 10 years came to the field around 2014. That’s just when we were getting Flexbox, and several years after the big bang of CSS 3 and HTML 5. That’s just under half of developers who never had to deal with the headaches of table layouts, clearfix hacks, image sprites, spacer images, and rasterized rounded corners. Ethan Marcotte’s seminal article on “Responsive Web Design” predates these folks by a whopping four years!

That’s just wild. And exciting. I’m a firm believer in the next generation of front-enders but always hope that they learn from our past mistakes and become masters at the basics.

Features

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this section. When there are so many CSS features, how do you determine which are most widely used? How do you pare it down to just 50 features? Like, are filter effects really the most widely used CSS feature? So many questions, but the results are always interesting nonetheless.

What I find most interesting are the underused features. For example, hanging-punctuation comes in dead last in usage (1.57%) but is the feature that most developers (52%) have on their reading list. (If you need some reading material on it, Chris initially published the Almanac entry for hanging-punctuation back in 2013.)

I also see Anchor Positioning at the end of the long tail with reported usage at 4.8%. That’ll go up for sure now that we have at least one supporting browser engine (Chromium) but also given all of the tutorials that have sprung up in the past few months. Yes, we’ve contributed to that noise… but it’s good noise! I think Juan published what might be the most thorough and thoughtful guide on the topic yet.

I’m excited to see Cascade Layers falling smack dab in the middle of the pack at a fairly robust 18.7%. Cascade Layers are super approachable and elegantly designed that I have trouble believing anybody these days when they say that the CSS Cascade is difficult to manage. And even though @scope is currently low on the list (4.8%, same as Anchor Positioning), I’d bet the crumpled gum wrapper in my pocket that the overall sentiment of working with the Cascade will improve dramatically. We’ll still see “CSS is Awesome” memes galore, but they’ll be more like old familiar dad jokes in good time.

(Aside: Did you see the proposed designs for a new CSS logo? You can vote on them as of yesterday, but earlier versions played off the “CSS is Awesome” mean quite beautifully.)

Interestingly enough, viewport units come in at Number 11 with 44.2% usage… which lands them at Number 2 for most experience that developers have with CSS layout. Does that suggest that layout features are less widely used than CSS filters? Again, so many questions.

Frameworks

How many of you were surprised that Tailwind blew past Bootstrap as Top Dog framework in CSS Land? Nobody, right?

More interesting to me is that “No CSS framework” clocks in at Number 13 out of 21 list frameworks. Sure, its 46 votes are dwarfed by the 138 for Material UI at Number 10… but the fact that we’re seeing “no framework” as a ranking option at all would have been unimaginable just three years ago.

The same goes for CSS pre/post-processing. Sass (67%) and PostCSS (38%) are the power players, but “None” comes in third at 19%, ahead of Less, Stylus, and Lightning CSS.

It’s a real testament to the great work the CSSWG is doing to make CSS better every day. We don’t thank the CSSWG enough — thank you, team! Y’all are heroes around these parts.

CSS Usage

Josh already has a good take on the fact that only 67% of folks say they test their work on mobile phones. It should be at least tied with the 99% who test on desktops, right? Right?! Who knows, maybe some responses consider things like “Responsive Design Mode” desktop features to be the equivalent of testing on real mobile devices. I find it hard to believe that only 67% of us test mobile.

Oh, and The Great Divide is still alive and well if the results are true and 53% write more JavsScript than CSS in their day-to-day.

Missing CSS Features

This is always a fun topic to ponder. Some of the most-wanted CSS features have been lurking around 10+ years. But let’s look at the top three form this year’s survey:

Mixins

Conditional Logic

Masonry

We’re in luck team! There’s movement on all three of those fronts:

Resources

This is where I get to toot our own horn a bit because CSS-Tricks continues to place first among y’all when it comes to the blogs you follow for CSS happenings.

I’m also stoked to see Smashing Magazine right there as well. It was fifth in 2023 and I’d like to think that rise is due to me joining the team last year. Correlation implies causation, amirite?

But look at Kevin Powell and Josh in the Top 10. That’s just awesome. It speaks volumes about their teaching talents and the hard work they put into “helping people fall in love with CSS” as Kevin might say it. I was able to help Kevin with a couple of his videos last year (here’s one) and can tell you the guy cares a heckuva lot about making CSS approachable and fun.

Honestly, the rankings are not what we live for. Now that I’ve been given a second wind to work on CSS-Tricks, all I want is to publish things that are valuable to your everyday work as front-enders. That’s traditionally happened as a stream of daily articles but is shifting to more tutorials and resources, whether it’s guides (we’ve published four new ones this year), taking notes on interesting developments, spotlighting good work with links, or expanding the ol’ Almanac to account for things like functions, at-rules, and pseudos (we have lots of work to do).

My 2024 Pick

No one asked my opinion but I’ll say it anyway: Personal blogging. I’m seeing more of us in the front-end community getting back behind the keyboards of their personal websites and I’ve never been subscribed to more RSS feeds than I am today. Some started blogging as a “worry stone” during the 2020 lockdown. Some abandoned socials when Twitter X imploded. Some got way into the IndieWeb. Webrings and guestbooks are even gaining new life. Sure, it can be tough keeping up, but what a good problem to have! Let’s make RSS king once and for all.

That’s a wrap!

Seriously, a huge thanks to Sacha Greif and the entire Devographics team for the commitment to putting this survey together every year. It’s always fun. And the visualizations are always to die for.

[tharizdun-03]

Hyouka Watchthrough

Episode 1: The Esteemed Classics Club has been Restored

Pleasantly surprised by how good the direction is. The show looks great in general too, even for KyoAni (even for KyoAni 10 years ago).

Narratively, this was solid. Mystery-solving is an interesting quirk. Not sure how that'll hold up over 22 eps but I get the feeling this will be more about them wasting time anyway with the mysteries as frosting on the whole thing, so probably not a problem.

Characterization is strong. You immediately get a feel of what they're all like. Horeki, is a typical trope, you know the loner, but I mean, it's not like it can't be done right, so we'll see. Satoshi with his database thing, Chitanda being curious. There's potential. 

Opening is cool.

The only real weird thing is the ED, where they're dressed in erotic baby clothes??? Odd choice, but it does look good. 

Episode 2: Activities of the Esteemed Classics Club

She is cute.

She is cute as well. 

Love how her arm extends beyond what should be possible to grab Oreki. Lots of good visual comedy in this show, as expected.

Good direction in this episode as well. I was particularly fond of the restaurant metaphor, and intrigued that they lingered on the shot of the librarian walking past the camera even when it wasn't necessary to do so (later on ofc it also makes sense why they lingered on the librarian and her nametag, with the succeeding mystery in mind, so clever foreshadowing).

This episode's mystery wasn't really interesting, but not quite boring either. This show is obviously more interested in just spending time with the characters as they waste time, and luckily, there's nobody better at that than KyoAni.

Episode 3: Inheritors of the Classics Club and Its Circumstances

EP 3 was an improvement on the first two. The direction is even more playful, and the mystery was the most interesting one yet.

First, I thought, "oh, he's probably hiding porn". But then they deduced he wanted to ventilate out a smell, and my mind was still set on the porn route, so the natural next step was the smell of semen? But he had to open windows AND use a fan? How much did he masturbate? Like, good god dude, control yourself a little bit.

But, enough about how my mind processes things lol. The show isn't doing much yet, but I'm just liking the mood. But, if not each mystery is strong, it could walk on that line of being almost boring, but I think we're slowly working up to something more significant here.

Episode 4: Past Days of the Classics Club and Its Glory

Hyouka continues to improve with EP 4. It's very much a mood piece, this show. I'm feeling it's less so (as of now) based around the character interactions like some of KyoAni's other SoL's, and more about the atmosphere the mysteries and discussions around them create.

That's not to say there isn't substance and charm to the character interactions, but it's not as solely focused on that as many of KyoAni's shows, this is more atmosphere oriented in another manner. if I'm making sense? I think we'll get more character meaty later too.

And again, Ibara is just so cute, I love her design. Also, lovely jeans overalls? I've always liked when girls wore those. They’re cute as shit.

Also, Oreki getting lost when he only had one direction, walk straight lol.

I'd be remiss, of course, to not mention the presentation here. Again, it's just stunning. KyoAni puts their heart and soul into every little detail.

Episode 5: The Truth of the Classics Club and Its Past

Really good episode.

Now that we've practically completed the first arc in the series, I can't say any particular element in the story blows me away, so if there's a bad mystery the entire narrative will suffer for it, but I do think it's just doing a really solid job at everything so far. 

So, yeah. I think it just comes down to KyoAni's exceptional execution again, but I certainly hope the mysteries keep being worthwhile, and that the characters keep deepening as well.

Episode 6: To Commit a Deadly Sin

EP 6 really took the idea of the show just being about kids wasting time with mysteries to the next level. It's a more low-key episode, but it's still amusing like the rest. Always pleasant to spend time with the characters. KyoAni is kinda good at this stuff, after all.

And, to be honest, dissecting random topics and thoughts (usually instigated by me) to death is practically all I do with my friends, so I totally see myself in them. It's oddly comforting, I suppose.

Episode 7: Seeing the True Identity

Loved Hyouka's 7th episode! The most engaging mystery so far (it's easy to lure me in with the challenge to explain the most seemingly unexplainable things, the supernatural being the epitome there), and it's the most in-depth look we've gotten into Oreki's head too.

I can't say all the mysteries in the show are super engaging, or that the characters are anything special, but it's all very pleasant, and it's like I said before. Hyouka is more a mood-oriented show, it's selling the feeling of the entire package, and it's succeeding at that.

That said, I do still think we got some nice Hotarou stuff, how his cynical perspective of "all ghosts are just withered flowers" was challenged in the end either way. And some shipping! We get that as well, which is always appreciated.

No shame on Houtarou, as this has happened to me, twice actually, but the fact that he actually passed out from just being so horny his body couldn't physically handle him staying conscious throughout it lol. A pitfall of his energy-conserving lifestyle perhaps.

Blessings. 

Episode 8: Let's Go to the Screening!

EP 8 seems to be the beginning of a second major story arc, huh.

The opening texting scene was interesting. It was framed as "suspicious". I suspect that the author of the script is actually in on this (cause even if she's sick, why couldn't she just tell them the answer?). Also, that you can tell it's Chitanda through the texts lol.

Very well done KyoAni, when it came to making their short film as amateurish as possible, with all the flat framing, bad acting, and camera movement that barely captures the stuff it's supposed to lol.

I'm finding myself consistently enamored by Satoshi. He mentioned earlier in the episode that even with his being a database, he isn't talented enough to do anything special with it, and the fact that he seems to envy Oreki (giving him the Strength tarot). 

I am very much enjoying this show. Again, it's so easy to see me and my friend group in these kids, so I often just get pulled into that headspace when watching it now.

Episode 9: Murder Case in the Deserted Furuoka

EP 9 was interesting enough (tho not much happened) with the whole rejecting each proposed theory, cause they either break against mystery rules or just aren't narratively satisfying, but why don't they just ask the author? She's sick, not dead.

Now, yes, obviously that's the actual mystery, hence the episode title being, “Why Didn’t She Ask Eba?”, but why haven't our characters realized this yet? They don't seem to care too much about all this anyway tbh.

We have a little fun gag with Chitanda getting drunk on whiskey chocolates, which I was concerned about since it's school, and they're underage, which did get out of hand, but it just heightens Chitanda's cuteness. 

Speaking of Chitanda, Houtarou here doesn't really act until Chitanda isn't sastified, cause she's his audience. It's not about finding bulletproof logic, usually mysteries aren't like that anyway, it's about satisfying the reader.

I thought this was an interesting moment, cause it seems like Chitanda should be really into mystery stories, so why isn't she? She's not much about deducing stuff herself, but I mean, the detective character usually does that. Maybe I'm missing something?

Another interesting moment was finding out Satoshi likes mystery novels (another hint that he's jealous of Houtarou's deductive capabilities?). 

And Mayaka getting offended on his behalf is very cute.

Episode 10: What No One Noticed

Another good episode. Having a solution where the cameraman is the killer is very creative (tho not compatible with traditional mystery rules). Satoshi continues to be really interesting, there's subtext in everything he says. Ofc, one twist is left in store for the arc.

Episode 11: End Credits of the Fool

That concludes Hyouka's movie mystery arc. It was a bit long, and a bit overdramatic by the end, but I think it all served a larger theme in the end, and that was more so the point. We got some Houtarou good stuff, along with a well-constructed mystery, so good overall.

Episode 11.5 (OVA): What Should Be Had

This was fun. It's just pleasant spending time with the characters. I was wondering if they could involve a mystery somehow, and they did (tho even I figured this one out quick). And a pool episode with attractive characters is always nice.

Episode 12: Practically Piled to the Ceiling

Great episode! Finally, the culture festival is here, and it's difficult to think of it as having been better done than here. It's just an excuse for KyoAni to show off (the breakdancing and NO CG CROWDS), and truly have the characters just "waste time."

As interesting as the mysteries can be, this is more my jam, when it comes to Hyouka at least. And there's just so much happening here, and we focus more on the characters other than Oreki this time, and their interactions with all the events, it's lovely.

The breakdancing was great, I loved Satoshi's Saturn costume and how he immediately wrecked it, and Chitanda continuously getting distracted is literally me lol. This is a really effective way to make me more emotionally invested and make the characters more loveable. 

Also, GODDAMN IT, Mayaka is cute.

Loved the visuals for the new opening, showing metaphorically how Chitanda causes Oreki to step away from the observer role and actively engage with the life around him.

The new ED is super cute too.

Episode 13: A Corpse by Evening

Hyouka's Culture Festival arc continues to be a joy. Love how the characters are all over the place so we get to see all these new sides to them, and allows KyoAni to pop off by bringing all these events to life with insane detail. This type of SoL vibes with me more.

The two presenters during the quiz show (my favourite scene in this episode) brought their A-game to this. Comedy gold. 

And Mayaka debating media experiences. Gooo drag her slay queen!

Mayaka was already plenty likable, but I think exploring her passion like this, especially as I share this passion of hers, makes her even more loveable.

As mentioned tho, while I like the mysteries in this show, this is working a bit better for me in terms of investment and is a smart move since I'm expecting the climax of the show to give us some emotional payoffs that'll hit harder with this set-up.

Episode 14: Wildfire

I'm convinced. This is the best culture festival I've seen in anime.

oh my god is that a reference to the hit visual novel 'The House in Fata Morgana'????

She is so cute i almost can't stand it.

Chitanda striking that Mugi pose (on that note, crazy that Chitanda and Ritsu share the same voice actor).

This arc is leaps and beyond what's come before in this show. I'm really loving it. Yes, we still got a mystery, but it's more of a fun one in the backdrop, and that's how I like it. Also, shout out to the OST in this episode. And, ofc, Oreki being adorable. He does care.

I was also particularly impressed by a bunch of the directorial tricks in this episode, so I looked it up, and what do you know, it's Naoko Yamada's episode, because of course. 

Episode 15: The Juumonji Incident

And with EP 15, Hyouka's Kanya Festival arc goes for a more serious turn. I do find so far that the series is doing less for me the more it focuses on its mysteries, but by all means, this was a well-executed episode nonetheless.

We still get some character stuff, of course. Hyouka never leaves that out. We really see here now how Satoshi isn't actually satisfied with only being a database, and wants to solve the mystery for once.

In the meantime, Mayaka's dynamics with the manga club is establishing her as a bit more of an independent character herself. Oreki is mostly in the background in this arc (altho he does find out that he can order products from the festival online, happy for my boy) and Chitanda does her best to help the Classic Lit club in her own special little way. 

This arc is more and more seeming to be about Satoshi and Mayaka finding their place in the world.

Episode 16: The Last Target

And Hyouka's Kanya Festival arc keeps it up with EP 16, delivering on the best slice of life, mystery-setting, and character development the series has seen so far.

While Oreki (whose PoV we still always return to) and Chitanda (who might not offer much complexity but is always busy with something) are still around, they've really taken a backseat for Mayaka and Satoshi to shine.

With Mayaka we see a more vulnerable side to her as she deals with the bullying in her club, and with Satoshi, we see him try to grab the spotlight and actually solve a mystery but still fail at it. He's a sweet guy, but there is anger there, and I fear it might burst. 

Also, literally Umineko.

Episode 16: Kudryavka's Order

And EP 17 marks the end of Hyouka's Kanya Festival arc. What a very elegant arc. The series high point, if you ask me. Impressive just how much was accomplished here, and how every layer of the narrative and characters ties back to the central theme; the curse of expectations.

Episode 18: Are the Mountains Sunny?

EP 18 is back to formula, and ngl, the Kanya Festival arc raised the bar so high that I kinda want a bit more plot again. Quirky, fun little one-off eps like this are pleasant enough, but oh well.

The most interesting thing about this episode is Houtarou. The character development in this show really is slow and subtle and you almost don't notice it, but it's there.

Houtaro has likely always been curious but just rarely acts on it, which is why he's used Chitanda and his sister as an excuse to force him to act, for example, but he's doing it himself now. He's growing. Slowly, but steady.

Episode 19: Anyone Who Knows

EP 19 was probably the best standalone episode so far. I'd still want some more meat for these final set of episodes, but can't lie and say I wouldn't respect the hell out of it if it's just lowkey stuff like this the entire way through. This was super fun.

I was honestly amazed by just how much information they deduced from a 5-second announcement alone. Hyouka is definitely unique, no other show could do this, or would even attempt to.

It's funny how the series has returned to the structure the first half had, but now with a different Oreki who's grown. Also worth noting, once Oreki starts, he ends up really trying anyway cause he hates being wrong.

But, he also just enjoys spending time with Chitanda so much that what they're doing specifically isn't important enough to remember. And on that note, boy was there some sexual tension here.

Overall just an extremely well-structured episode with plenty of good character moments (Oreki asking Chitanda about the funeral, and being willing to go with her to Jun's grave) and filled with all types of visual shots to keep things engaging on that level. Great stuff.

Episode 20: Sappy New Year

Not always a lot to talk about when it comes to Hyouka, but EP 20 was another pleasant one. I'm gonna miss this show. I really hope we follow up on Satoshi and Mayaka's character arcs from the Kanya Festival tho, cause so far, it just kinda feels like they've been reset. (also look at Oreki’s coat fucking badass)

The mystery in this episode was probably the worst one, yeah, but believable enough that it didn't hinder my enjoyment or anything. And spending time with these characters is always nice enough to just overshadow some of that.

Episode 21: The Chocolate Files

FANTASTIC EPISODE! Hyouka is one of those shows where the character development is there, but it's so subtle that it takes its time before it gets up to the surface, but it's always present in their actions if paid attention. Satoshi is the prime example of this.

Did I not say at the beginning that Satoshi seems like the most interesting character, that there was stuff beneath the surface? Did I not praise the introspection we got from him (and Mayaka) during the Kanya Festival arc? Did I not ask for a conclusion to that arc yesterday?

Yes, I fucking did, and this show answered my prayers. And I am so thankful that the payoffs we got here wasn’t grand emotional outburts, but quiet mundane wexecution wise. I also watched Toradora this year so haha. 

But, really, what we have here, in its most stripped essence, is Satoshi's fear of commitment. But, done in a really unique manner. Satoshi is afraid of commitment because he overcommits.

Satoshi explains how he eventually gave up being perfect (represented wonderfully by the uneven snowball) and is now instead just obsessed with not being obsessed, which is of course, still an obsession.

Yes, Satoshi. It might give you some temporary happiness, but you haven't gotten rid of the root problem, which still affects your relationships negatively.

We know from the Kanya Festival arc that Satoshi still cares if he loses. He certainly tries to let that go, but it still hurts. He hasn't truly grown up, he's just sweeping things under the rug (which Mayaka to an extent already knows, cause she just knows him that well).

The possibility of obsessing over Sayaka to the degree that it can bring back his old tendencies is a legitimate fear of Satoshi that has been present in his characterization from day one.

And, you know, obviously, he can't toy with Mayaka's feelings like this, but maybe, for now, he shouldn't be with Mayaka. Until he's grown up enough, maybe he shouldn't invest in another person like that, but just enjoy their presence platonically.

But, that does not give him an excuse to hurt other people's feelings. And, while we didn't hear what his conversation with Mayaka would be about (and I suspect we won't follow up on this in the next episode cause the implication is enough),it's pretty safe to guess that he's made the first step towards emotional accountability; confesses to Mayaka about all his insecurities and stops treating her so selfishly. 

He still has some growing up to do, but he'll get there, and Mayaka is obviously a girl of patience.

Episode 22: Doll in the Distance

Hyouka's finale was a fantastic and very satisfying end to the series. Beautifully encapsulated just how much these characters have grown, and how they'll continue to grow. Spring has only just begun.

I feel a bit empty after that tbh. That's proof a series has left its mark on me. There's a lot to talk about, all my thoughts are jumbled up in my head, but let's try.

I loved the soft-focus image they used when Oreki is captivated by Chitanda.

And I also love the spinning slow pan around him and Chitanda as they were walking together after the festival.

We also checked in quickly with Mayaka and Satoshi, and we got the impression that they were doing alright. Satoshi is finally being honest with her, and they're still friends, but they'll get to that next stage eventually when they're both ready.

And then we come to Oreki and Chitanda. They both practically proposed to each other here lol. Chitanda showed him her future and what she plans to do with her life, basically an open invitation for Oreki to join her and what he'll get by doing so. And he imagines it.

He imagines asking her if it'd be okay to stay by her side and help her. But he's not there quite yet. But even the fact that he imagined it is big growth on his part. He'll get there. They're 16. Ofc the show will end open-ended, their lives are open-ended at that point.

Hyouka is a great show by all means, but it was not always great. Never bad, but uneven. When it was at the top of its game, particularly the Kanya Festival arc and these last two episodes, it was superb stuff. But then the rest varies in quality. Yet it was always fun.

But, and I mentioned this back in EP 1, Hyouka is all about atmosphere, so it's slow-build. It takes its time, and it's only by the end that you really realize everything the show accomplished and how invested you got.

And this slow build applies to the character writing as well, where the character development is so subtle and rarely explicitly commented upon, but you observe it in their behavior instead. Satoshi is still the prime example of this, but they all had fantastic arcs.

But, all in all, great show. It sneaks up on you, but it's a really unique one. And I'm happy it exists.

Overall Thoughts: 

Hyouka was great! Sophisticated and intelligent narrative, filled with emotional depth and subtlety in its character writing. It's a bit uneven, but its highs are sublime. The Kanya Festa arc is genius, and the ending is fantastic. What a unique show. I'll miss this one.

[souichioneshots]

Souichi x Reader 【Gloves】

Started the date one shot collection thingy

Here is the first addition to the collection

Thought of and wrote it in an hour, so I apologize if it feels OOC or boring or whatever

I especially apologize for any misspells

But other than that, please enjoy!!

The summer heat of Fukazawa could really be killer sometimes. People would line up for hours to buy shaved ice, and the public pools would be filled to the brim with people from all over town. It was days as hot as today that Souichi wished he could just make everything freeze over. But, then again, it was thanks to days like these that Souichi could experience a different kind of fun.

A small bell chimed as you opened the large heavy-looking door, allowing Souichi to walk into the building first. As you walked up to the ticket counter, an elderly lady greeted you.

“2 for public skating, please.” You said in a voice loud enough for her to hear. “That’ll be 4,000 yen.”

Just before Souichi could take out his wallet to pay for his half, you waved your hand at him and insisted that he didn’t need to pay. “You can pay for the hot chocolate instead.” You assured him with a smile.

After receiving your tickets, the door to the area buzzed loudly, finally allowing the two of you to enter the ice skating arena.

Souichi let out a small hum as cold air engulfed him. It was like you two had stepped into a completely different part of the world.

The inside area was separated into 3 sections. The food court, the private rink, and the public rink. The food court was empty, except for a couple of kids playing on some old-styled claw-machine games set up on the side. The private rink was extremely well lit and filled with a couple of pro-looking skaters twirling and jumping around in the air. As for the public rink…

“Looks like we got here at a good time!” You said in an excited voice. Even though it was the weekend, there were barely any people. What sounded like pop music played at a moderate volume, and the lights had been dimmed quite a bit. Souichi wasn’t exactly expecting to be alone with you on the ice, but he was sure there would be way more people than there were now. A feeling of nervousness arose within him as he realized that he couldn’t use the excuse of there being too many people to explain why he wouldn’t be able to skate so smoothly.

Turning the corner, you made your way to the skate-rental area. ]

“Shoe size?” The staff member asked looking at Souichi. “２✖cm.” “And you miss?” “２✖ and a half, please.”

After receiving your skates, you made your way to the benches that were set up nearby.

Souichi kicked off his shoes and placed his feet inside the hard-plastic skates. The shoes let out a loud clicking sound as he adjusted their tightness. When you both finished, you wobble-walked to the lockers nearby and put your stuff inside. Wrapping the key-band around his wrist, Souichi made his way to the ice with you.

“Gloves?” A large man standing near the only visible entrance put his foot out and blocked you both from walking any further.

After stating that you had none, he explained that it was arena policy to wear them while skating. Pointing you to the nearest gift shop, he asked you both to buy a pair and then come back.

You let out a sigh of annoyance as you walked back to the locker area. Unlocking the locker, Souichi got some money from his locker. “We should have just sliced his leg off.” Kicking your foot in the air, you spoke. “I bet we could have done it if we kick hard enough. Hehehe.” Souichi laughed through his nose. He loved when you made dark jokes like that.

Walking into the skate gift shop, his eyes scanned the area, ignoring the dozens of sparkly outfits that hung from the ceiling. When he found the glove section, he carefully walked towards it and searched for a color and design that he might like. However, there weren’t many options for him to choose from. It was either sparkly pink, neon green, or 2000 yen professional gloves. Shifting through the different gloves, he finally found a pair of his liking all the way in the back. Carefully taking it off the rack, he slipped one glove over his hand to make sure it was the right size.

“Oh~ Those are nice.” You said, admiring the grey glove on Souichi’s hand. “But how about these? They’d really make you stand out on the ice.” You said with a smile as you held out a pair of neon green gloves for Souichi to wear. “No way. Those are disgusting.” Souichi immediately responded. “Ah…Yeah. Haha. True…Mmm...” You said, trying to make what you had previously said seem like a joke.

It wasn’t until Souichi finished paying for the cheap gloves that he realized what you had been trying to do. Walking back towards the rink, he watched you put the neon gloves on your own hands. You rubbed your thumb over them, an expression of embarrassment plastered across your face.

Before Souichi could say anything, you looked up at him with a new smile. “Ready to skate?” Souichi nodded his head as he rushed to put his own gloves on. He’ll fix this little problem later…

The man who guarded the entrance to the rink gave you both a smile as you waved your hands in the air, showing off your new gloves.

Putting his foot on the ice, Souichi immediately held onto the barrier of the rink. This was nothing like roller-skating. The ice was way too slick, and the blades under his feet wouldn’t stop sliding to the slides. Souichi bit down on the nails in his mouth as he struggled to keep his balance.

“Everything okay?” You asked as you casually glided next to him. “Yeah. Just uhh… Familiarizing myself with the rink.” He said, leaning against the barrier. “Hmm~” You hummed as you stopped and stood close next to the raven-haired boy.

Feeling nervous by the sudden change in atmosphere, Souichi pushed off and tried to skate forward. He kept one hand on the barrier as you two skated side by side. He was slow. He could tell by the way you would skate slightly further than him and then slow down to be by his side again, that he was holding you back.

He wanted to tell you to go skate freely. That he wouldn’t mind just watching you skate from afar. God knows that would have been easier for him. But, you had other plans.

Suddenly, you stopped, forcing Souichi grip onto the barrier tightly to stop as well.

Turning to look at him, you put your neon gloved hand out for him to grab. Souichi looked up at you with nervous eyes, unsure what you were planning. Taking a deep breath, he let go of the barrier and took your hand.

Souichi let out a sound of surprise as you pulled him towards you, your other hand reaching to take his free one into yours. His eyes moved from the floor, to you, to the moving surroundings as you skated backward, tugging him along the entire time. He never knew you could skate backward.

When you finally stopped, he realized where you were.

“The middle of the rink…” He whispered to himself, getting a small laugh out of you. It was much more spacious than the sidelines, and the ice beneath his skates felt somewhat different. Smoother and untouched by other blades. Although it was cool, it was also quite terrifying at the same time. The middle of the rink was known to be territory only experienced skaters and staff members could use. Yet, there you two were.

“What would you do if I just left you here?” You said with a wicked laugh. “Eh?” Souichi looked up at you with shocked eyes. You wouldn’t. “I mean, it’s not like you can chase after me. Perhaps you can crawl after me though~” You teased, letting your grip on his hand go weak. “Don’t even think about it.” Souichi said in a stern voice, tightening his grip around your hands.

You smiled at the raven-haired boy’s panicked expression. “I’m just kidding. I won’t let you go.” You extended your arms and started to skate backward again, pulling Souichi towards you. You laughed as the pale boy took actual footsteps on the ice.

“Careful!” A staff member who had been skating exclaimed as he glided right behind you. Souichi let out a small yelp as you suddenly stopped.

“You okay?” You asked, helping Souichi regain his balance. Souichi shook his head yes, looking down at his wobbly feet once before looking back at you.

His cheeks burned red as he realized how close he was to you. The grip he had on your hands tightened.

“Can…” He whispered, making you lean a bit more forward to hear him better. “Can we trade gloves?…” Your cheeks burned red at his sudden utterance. “I thought you didn’t like these gloves?” You asked with a nervous laugh. Souichi didn’t respond. He did think it was an ugly color, but it was the color you had chosen for him.

Slightly pulling him closer, you guided Souichi’s hands to hold onto your shoulders. “How about we trade one glove?” You suggested, taking the glove off your dominant hand. When you finished, you put your hands on his shoulders, allowing him to do the same. Souichi smiled as he looked down at his now mismatched gloves.

Holding tightly onto each other’s hands again, you started to skate. Souichi listened with a smile as you gave him advice on how he could skate a bit better. But ultimately, he just wanted to keep holding onto you, even if it meant making a fool of himself.

Finally making it to the other end of the rink, you slowed your pace down and guided Souichi to take ahold of the barrier.

Souichi leaned on one arm as he tried to keep his balance.

“So…Do you want to get some hot chocolate now?” You asked.

Looking down at his free hand, Souichi saw that you two had yet to let go of one another completely.

Pushing himself off the barrier once more, he quickly moved to grab your other hand. “How about we skate in the middle one more time first?”

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter 6: Let’s Play a Game (Overprotection)

Prev

AO3

Marinette ended up not staying for dinner. She talked to Bruce for a little bit, but he had to leave for some WE emergency and Marinette wasn’t really up to bonding with the boys- her brothers- yet. But that was fine. It wasn’t like she was desperate to get to know the man and wouldn’t be able to after this trip because she had to stay in Paris because of Hawkmoth. No, she wasn’t upset. Not at all. It didn’t hurt her feelings. Nope.

---

Walking into Madame Soleil's Wax Museum with Adrien by her side, Marinette is hit with a major wave of deja vu. And not a good deja vu. No, the memories of the last time she was in a wax museum with Adrien were awful, humiliating and- feeling a hand wrap around hers pulls her from her spiraling thoughts. Glancing down, Marinette tries (and fails) to hide her grin. Adrien is holding her hand. Adrien is holding her hand!

“Hey Marinette!” A familiar voice calls, a hand squeezing her shoulder, making Marinette squeal and whirl around.

“Dick? What are you doing here?” She asks, frowning at the boy- her brother- as he stands there with a huge smile.

“Well I heard that a new wax figure is being revealed today, and I thought I might come and see it.” He says with a nonchalant shrug.

“Really? Who?” Adrien asks. Dick’s smile twitches slightly as he glances at Marinette, making her frown. Was he seriously about to play the overprotective big brother card? Really?

“Jagged Stone.” Dick finally says, glancing at their entwined hands. Marinette tries hard not to roll her eyes. Come on, her crush is finally holding her hand and her brother (who she’s known for a day!) is seriously trying to ruin that for her?

“Oh cool! Do you think he’ll come to Gotham to see it, Mari?” Adrien asks.

“I think he’s definitely scheduled to make an appearance in Gotham in the next couple days. He’s picking up his new suit in person.” She whispers, grinning at the idea of seeing her “Uncle” in person again. He’d been touring for several months and she hadn’t been able to see him for awhile, just the occasional video call.

“So! What figures did you guys want to check out first?” Dick asks, wedging himself between the two and forcing Adrien to drop her hand. Glaring at her brother, Marinette scoffs when Dick just smiles innocently.

“The hall of heroes and villains sounds cool.” Adrien suggests, looking around Dick to see Marinette.

“Hmm. Okay, but if the Nightwing figure is in his disco costume, I reserve the right to melt the statue.” She says, frowning at the choked noise Dick makes. “Are you okay?” She adds.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah I’m fine. What’s 1so bad about that costume?” He asks, a hurt expression on his face.

“Have you even seen it? The only worse costume is Riddler’s.” Marinette says, adding a shudder for dramatic effect. Walking past the local celebrities room and the pop stars room, Marinette’s eyes widen as their small group walks into the hall of heroes and villains. Walking away from Dick and Adrien, she’s almost instantly drawn to the Batman figure. She reads the little plaque about the artist and frowns, turning to Dick who had moved to stand next to her.

“I thought it’d be taller.” She says, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion when Dick starts choking on air, gasping for breath as broken chuckles flood out of him. “Ookay then.” She mutters, turning and walking back towards the villains. Nightwing was, luckily, depicted in his most recent costume. As was Robin. Which meant the only real fashion tragedy (besides the god awful helmet Red Hood wore) was the Riddler. Pulling her sketchbook out, Marinette circles the wax figure, occasionally making notes and sketching out slight adjustments to the man’s costume.

“His costume might be terrible, but it’s still better than half of the akumas.” Adrien whispers, leaning over her shoulder. Marinette looks up at him, eyes wide as her face heats up with a blush.

“I, uh, um, yes. Yeah.” She says, trying not to wince at her lack of speaking skills. “I mean, at least we can rule out any fashion designer in Paris as Hawkmoth. Because if Hawkmoth was a designer, that’d almost be a bigger crime.” She adds, smiling as Adrien laughs.

“Good to know you’re not moonlighting as Hawkmoth, m’lady.” He says with a mock bow. Marinette snorts, then covers her mouth, embarrassment rushing over her. Adrien just shakes his head, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.

“In case you forgot, we’ve definitely seen each other at our most embarrassing.” He says, making her groan.

“Oh god, no. I tied us up with my yoyo!” She moans, turning and burying her face into his chest so she doesn’t have to look at him anymore. Her face heats up more when she feels him chuckle and wrap his arms around her.

“I’ve always thought that was paw-sitively adorable.” He says, laughing when she groans again. She pulls away slightly, looking up at him with a timid smile. He smiles back, starts to lean forward and-

“Hey guys! I heard they’re about to unveil the Jagged Stone figure. Come on, let’s go! Don’t wanna miss it.” Dick says, grabbing each of their hands and pulling them towards the exist (and successfully separating them again). Marinette tries not to glare at Dick. She’s about to have one less brother.

---

Dick Grayson wasn’t used to having a little sister that he could protect. Sure, he had a little sister. Cas was awesome, but she could also kick his ass without breaking a sweat. No, he’d never had a little sister to protect. Someone he could watch out for and support. But now….now he has Marinette. And he’ll be damned if he lets some little punk take advantage of his little sister. Ignoring Marinette’s glare, he positions himself right between her and...the boy. He’d need to ask Timmy to do a background check on the kid later. Especially if he thought he was good enough for Marinette.

“So are you guys big Jagged fans?” He asks, trying to pull the two back into a conversation. He narrows his eyes at the smile the kid gives Marinette. It’s too...adoring. Too much. She’s only...what, fourteen? Much too young to date. Especially this kid.

“Mari’s a bit of a fan, I think. But, personally, I much prefer Jagged’s designer.” He says, and Dick turns to him, missing the way Marinette’s face turns bright red.

“Are you talking about MDC? I love them! Their work is amazing! And Jagged Stone says that he’ll never have another designer. I heard that there’s a possibility of them opening their commissions again. God, I hope they do. I’d do anything for something made by MDC.” Dick rambles with a wide smile, deciding to ignore the kid for a minute in order to ramble about his favorite designer. As the group walks into the pop star room, Dick steps back and glares at the kid. He’d stepped just behind Dick and was apparently trying to hold Marinette’s hand again. Not on his watch. No siree. No one’s gonna hurt his little sister.

---

Bruce sighs, running his hands through his hair. He’d been checking the street cameras in Paris, trying to figure out what time Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol so that he can set up a meeting. Try and offer help, or maybe even offer to take control of the situation. Anything to get rid of Hawkmoth. But instead, it was like the heroes didn’t exist. He’d read reports of the heroes patrolling before, so why were they so quiet this week? The only akuma from the past couple days wasn’t even taken care of by both of them. Ladybug did it alone, and seemed worse for the wear when she came out of the battle. Where was Chat Noir? And why did it seem as though they had gone into hiding?

---

Marinette was five seconds away from committing her first murder. Okay, probably her only murder, unless her other brothers decide to be as involved in her love life as Dick is. Because Dick won’t have the chance to be a problem for much longer. Because Marinette was honestly going to kill him. Right as she turned to finally yell at him, and tell him to knock it off, the lights flickered. She pauses her tirade, glancing to gauge Dick’s reaction to see if this is normal. And if his worried glances back at her are anything to go by, this is not normal.

“Let’s play a game! Solve my riddles and you all can leave freely, but make a mistake and someone will pay greatly! Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. What am I?” A man’s voice asks, Marinette frowning as the Riddler walks in, a wide smile on his face. Ten goons walk in behind him, all of them carrying guns. She was used to the akuma attacks almost every day, but didn’t Gotham’s rogues have anything better to do than attack every place her class went? With guns? Come on. Riddler smirks and points at Adrien with his cane.

“A match.” She blurts out, ignoring Dick frantically shaking his head. If nothing else, she should be able to work with Adrien to get everyone out. But she knew his style. And riddles weren’t really his thing.

“Oh goody. We have a volunteer. Tell me, what has to be broken before you can use it?” Riddler asks, stalking towards her. Thinking for a second, Marinette tries to suppress a smile.

“An egg.” She says. Riddler narrows his eyes.

“I have 13 hearts, but no lungs or stomach. What am I?” He asks, Marinette frowns, running through possible answers in her head.

“A deck of cards.” She finally says.

“Buzzy, come over here and hold onto our friend.” Riddler says, gesturing to one of the goons. The man comes over and grabs Marinette’s arm roughly, she winces. That’ll definitely bruise.

“I answered your riddles.” Marinette says, deciding that now's as good a time as any to start distracting the man.

“And how did you answer them so quickly?” He asks, the frustration clear on his face.

“What do you mean? Were they supposed to be hard?” Marinette taunts, ignoring the choked sound Dick makes behind her. She knew what she was doing. She did. She had to.

“Why you-” Riddler starts, stepping forward and pulling his hand back as if to hit her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette waits for the slap. The slap never comes. Opening her eyes, Marinette’s jaw drops when she sees the Riddler’s fist held tightly in Dick’s hand.

“Don’t. Touch. Her.” He says lowly, a dark look on his face. Well that was unexpected. Riddler opens his mouth, probably to start spouting more riddles or other nonsense, when the goons blocking the exits drop. Noticing Red Robin and Red Hood picking off the other goons, Marinette throws her elbow back into the gut of the goon holding her. Not waiting for him to recover, Marinette stomps his foot and twists out of his grip. Grabbing his arm, Marinette manages to yank the man off balance and toss him to the ground. A hand on her shoulder makes her jump back and prepare to hit the person.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay ma’am.” The voice attached to the hand says. Marinette whirls around, ready to tell off the person, but immediately stops when she sees Red Robin.

“Sorry!” She yelps, jumping away from him. And she was too. She was determined to hit the person who grabbed her shoulder, so locked into battle mode, but she had managed to stop herself. Glancing around the room, Marinette notices Dick talking to Red Hood, his usual smile back on his face. That’s good. That’s normal, that’s right. The sudden blaring of the akuma alarm makes Marinette want to scream in frustration. Really, right now? It’s definitely already dark in Paris which means- Chat Noir. Ignoring everyone else, Marinette runs over to Adrien and grabs his hand.

“Akuma?” He asks, his voice low. She nods and tugs him towards the bathrooms, unaware of the eyes following them out.

Next

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @imarivers8 @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 75 and 76 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 73 and 74 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

75: A Field Trip Tag Duel!

For their field trip, the students of the Academia head to Domino Town, the holy dueling land known for producing the likes of Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba.  Judai and his friends visit Yugi’s childhood house, where they meet Mr. Sugoroku.  While exploring the town, Sugoroku is kidnapped--and while Shou and Kenzan argue as they look for him, they are challenged to a Tag Duel by an assassin duo from the Society of Light: Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru.  Kenzan’s dinosaur  Monsters find themselves powered down by Mobius Castle as he's dealt the first blow...

76: The Ultimate Combo! Rex Union

Shou and Kenzan’s Tag Duel versus Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru continues.  Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru are powerful despite their being on bad terms with each other, whittling Shou and Kenzan’s LP down to 1000 early on.  Kenzan’s dinosaur Monsters don’t match well with Kourimaru’s Ice deck, while Shou’s vehicle Monsters are stalled by Ikazuchimaru’s System Down and Rampage Condenser Magic Cards.  But for all of Shou and Kenzan's arguing, they start working together once they realize that their losing would cause trouble for Judai.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Episodes 75 and 76 are now finalized!

These two episodes start off our Domino mini-arc, as the Academia goes on a field trip to the land of dueling legend--which picks up on plot elements that were going to be included in the canned Yu-Gi-Oh! VS GX movie Takahashi had pitched at one point but were reworked into GX Season 2′s story.  75 introduces us to Mizuchi right off the bat (credited as “Shrine Maiden” for only this episode’s credits) and, after we take a trip down memory lane with Sugoroku while Ed and Saiou’s friendship starts to show some cracks, it’s revealed to Shou and Kenzan that she’s related to Saiou.  

Through both episodes, we also get some closure on the Shou/Kenzan feuding over Big Bro Judai, after Kenzan reveals he would’ve won if he didn’t feel bad for beating Shou while he was down, and after a rocky start to their Tag Duel vs Ikazuchi/Kourimaru, they come back and put their egos aside to keep Judai from having to deal with them.  Ultimately, it’s a futile effort thanks to the Mirror of Duality that Kourimaru activates, but a good one nonetheless.  Also do like the Marus’ designs, and it was cool at the time back in 2006 to see the original Monarchs make their anime debut.  76 also has some nice art to it, being a Tea Sun In animation-team episode (and Gil-bo No chipping in with some good key animation), so it’s a fun watch.

In terms of animation and other fixes, 75 and 76 both had a handful of card fixes, while 76 had more in the way of animation error fixes and other quality-of-watching things.  As I mentioned before, I also translated the guidebooks Sugoroku wrote held by Shou and Kenzan early in ep. 75 for the eight scenes they appear in.  Details under the cut, as always, along with a Translation Note for 75 involving one of Mizuchi’s scenes.

Enjoy, folks; for the next release, I want to get 77-79 out together for a triple treat to avoid just releasing 77 for a cliffhanger, lol.  That’ll get us through the Iwamaru duel (poor Honoumaru being shafted) and Judai/Ed vs Mizuchi to close out this mini-arc.  Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (75)

As I mentioned above and highlighted in this post, I translated the front cover of the town guidebooks held by Shou and Kenzan in the eight scenes it’s visible in.  I first blanked it and applied the translations in the second-to-last shot it’s in--the closeup as the two show them to Sugoroku, which I also used for 75′s preview in 74--then isolated it to manipulate into the other scenes, mainly using AfterEffects’s CC Power Pin effect and then masking the right side of the original cover (with the landmark photos, but above the bottom “Legendary Duelists’ Stomping Grounds” text) on top to make it blend in.

After Kenzan tells Kourimaru that his weakened Dark Driceratops can still defeat his Mobius, Kourimaru activates his Mobius Castle, but in the shot that rapidly zooms out from him while it activates, we see him holding the card with its back facing the camera--which is inconsistent with the close-up just before as he held it up with the front facing the camera.  Fixed by first grabbing Mobius Castle’s card art from this close-up shot and touching it up in Photoshop to then make a proxy for it, then applied it in AfterEffects with a Power Pin before I then redid the zoom-out in Sony Vegas.

After the Marus’ Reflector Bit combo ends up making Dark Tyranno’s attack hit Shou for damage, and Kenzan notes that it went in circles, Kourimaru notes that their Reflector Bits are, along with Side Attack, also cards used exclusively in Tag Duels--but the Mobius on his Disk in this shot is in Attack Mode when Kenzan’s Earthquake Magic Card just put it in Defense Mode.  Fixed by making a Mobius proxy that I then applied in one frame in AfterEffects, after which I redid the panning shot in Sony Vegas for it.

After Kourimaru tells Ikazuchimaru that he should thank him for letting him hit Shou for damage, Ikazuchimaru draws for his turn and prepares to sacrifice his Thunder Knight for Zaborg, but his Disk shows Thunder Knight in Monster Zone #2, which is where Reflector Bit should be; he summoned Thunder Knight to Zone #4 on his first turn, and Reflector Bit was summoned by Bit Shoot to Zone 2 per its placement on his field here.  Fixed this by first using the shot of Kourimaru holding up Reflector Bit earlier to nab its card art and touch it up in Photoshop to make a proxy for it, then did the same for Thunder Knight as Ikazuchimaru held it up on his first turn--once that was done, in AfterEffects, I first applied the Reflector Bit proxy to his second Zone in Attack Mode, masking the orb on his Disk over it, then added a Defense-Mode Thunder Knight to his fourth Zone when it swung into view near the end of the shot for a quick two frames.

TRANSLATION NOTES!

As detailed in this post, after Sugoroku goes missing and Judai & co. split to find him, Mizuchi’s  "急々如律令 、 奉導誓願可、不成就也!" line that leads to the Monarchs’ barrier around Domino Town is an apparent diviner/Taoist favorite that, when rephrased, essentially means "大至急、不成就に導くよう願いたてまつる," or something like "In offering my wishes, may we be led to unfulfillment ASAP"--so, Mizuchi’s line here is beckoning for misfortune to befall Judai et al at once.  Part of the delay in getting these done, aside from the fixes listed here for both episodes, was the slight rabbit hole I fell into trying to first transcribe Mizuchi’s line by ear (and failing), then finding it transcribed by a Mizuchi-script Twitter bot, then using some search-fu to get the phrase broken down.

Fixes/Edits! (76)

As the Marus fall out and challenge each other to see who beats Shou or Kenzan first, as Kenzan breaks the fourth wall to call out their cockiness and Shou joins him, there’s a quick couple of frames where the right-side border of the split screen appears on Kenzan’s dino earrings.  Fixed it by just copying the previous frame to keep the border still, though while I was there, I also closed Kenzan’s mouth as it was oddly left open after his line.

As Kourimaru jokes that Shou and Kenzan make a great duo as he draws for his turn, as he lifts his Disk to place one card face-down, we see the Defense-Mode Mobius on his Disk reversed (should be facing with the name box to our left); fixed it by applying the proxy correctly in AfterEffects for the two frames of his Disk’s movement, then redid the slow zoom-out on each for a few frames in Vegas.

Just after #2, after Kourimaru switches Mobius to Attack Mode, as he’s declaring its attack, a few things happen as he swings his Disk: first, we see Mobius both in Monster Zone #4 (where it should be) and in Zone #2 (where his Reflector Bit should be), and then we see the card in Zone #2 in Defense Mode when Reflector Bit was left in Attack Mode.  Fixed by first applying the Reflector Bit proxy in AfterEffects to Zone #2, then by applying it to Zone #2 in Attack Mode in the second frame and masking the main Disk bit over the card.

As highlighted in this post, as Shou worries that the Element Saurus Kenzan summoned won’t be enough, Kenzan turns back to retort, but for the first few frames of his turning, the orb in the middle of his Disk is red (for “on”) but unlit; fixed by just applying a bright red paint layer over the orb which I Gaussian-Blurred a bit and screen-blended so it just lit up the area.

After Shou summons Shuttleroid and Ikazuchimaru’s Rampage Condenser hits him, as he notes the 500 damage he takes, a few things happen.  First, as Shou slides in with the LP counter dropping as he’s hit, there’s a quick frame where there’s an outline for his neck but it’s colored like his hair, all before it’s fixed in the very next frame of movement--which I fixed by just recoloring his neck accordingly in Photoshop.  Then, after Ikazuchimaru says that Zaborg’s counterattack on Shuttleroid will finish Shou off, Shou starts to raise his head to say he never said anything about having it attack him, but his neck is missing for most of this, as the area is fully colored as part of his hair for these two frames, and then suddenly it’s all neck and no hair--fixed again by recoloring the area to define his neck and hair based on the previous no-issue frames.  After that, Ikazuchimaru gasps in surprise, but his hair suddenly invades the top-right of Shou’s split-screen and stays there for the rest of the shot--fixed by just masking in the same part from a previous no-issue frame in Sony Vegas, along with holding the previous correction to Shou’s no-hair neck.  Next, Shou lifts his head again to say that he’s attacking Element Saurus, but it’s still all neck and no hair for the two movement frames involved, until he’s done lifting his head, where he’s correctly drawn without any issues, with his well-defined hair and neck--fixed here by again recoloring the neck/hair area for those two movement frames, holding the fix to the top-right corner of Shou’s split.  Finally, as the split-screen splits to show Element Saurus, first we see that Shou’s side moves but Ikazuchimaru’s stays still without a change in background behind the split-screen, all while a second split-screen is seemingly moving behind Shou’s up top; then, we see Shou’s side of the split-screen take a few frames longer to leave the shot than Ikazuchimaru’s--fixed all this by redoing the split-screen’s split over an Element Saurus still and having them leave the shot simultaneously while keeping Shou’s side consistent. (You can see all this in these gifs; the original, and my fix [may just need to give them a minute to load])

After Kenzan activates Ultimate Evolution Pill, as he swings his arm around with his Dyna Base card, there’s a quick few frames where only the card outline is visible; they seemingly forgot to add the card itself there.  Fixed by making (in Photoshop) and applying (in AfterEffects) a Dyna Base proxy, darkened a bit as it was under Kenzan’s hand.

As Shou swings his arm around to activate Vehicroid Connection Zone, there’s a quick frame where he swings his hand a frame over before the card joins it, resulting in awkward black space (a similar error happened in ep. 65).  Fixed it by masking in the correctly placed card from the next frame over the frame in question.

After Shou explains that Super Vehicroid -- Rex Union inherits Super Conductor Tyranno’s effect (which actually doesn’t end up being used) and can attack twice, Kourimaru and Ikazuchimaru come in on a split-screen to react in shock, but Ikazuchimaru’s side actually comes in first for a few frames before Kourimaru’s joins it.  Fixed by holding Shou and Kenzan still as I redid the split-screen over them to make sure the two  sides came in simultaneously.

As Kourimaru faces down his half of Rex Union’s attack, the light on his Disk’s orb isn’t on; fixed by just applying the red light to it in a frame after it unblurs on him in Photoshop, then redid the Gaussian un-Blurring as the camera focused on him in Vegas.

[kittyprincessofcats]

She-Ra S5 E09 - An Ill Wind

In which the Best Friend Squad’s back on Etheria and I’m back to writing up my thoughts about it. (The real question is whether I’ll manage to finish these posts before season 5’s one-year-anniversary.) I probably really don’t need to say this anymore, but there might be spoilers for the rest of the season in this post.

- I think it’s funny how Catra can’t stand teleporting, but what’s even more important is how visibly concerned for her Adora is each time. Have you seen how she touches Catra’s shoulders and looks at her with such a worried expression? D’awww.

- “Wow, you don’t trust the princesses? I am shocked.” No Glimmer, Catra’s 100% right. This has nothing to do with trusting the princesses; you really don’t know who’s chipped and which places are occupied by clones. Perfuma literally told you the rebellion was compromised.

- “Catra’s right.” THANK YOU, ADORA! (Also, I love Catra’s satisfied little smirk in the background when Adora says this.)

- I just paused the episode when they arrive in Erelandia and counted the Horde flags you can see hanging all over the town: 14, plus one giant Horde sign in the sky and a spire not too far away. Prime, are you compensating for something? (Also, Adora has an arm on Catra’s back again. Cute.)

- Is it a little disappointing that all the rebellions against Horde Prime on other planets got reduced to one brief exposition scene where a clone mentions they’re happening and a few quick images? Yeah. But I also get why the show just didn’t have the time for more and wanted to focus on Etheria.

- Speaking of, are those the magicats we see in the second image? Interesting… I’m not sure how I feel about the idea of Catra potentially being an alien as well. But then again, the show never clearly answers it one way or another, and there’s no reason magicats couldn’t have existed on multiple planets.

- Also, am I understanding this right: The Star Siblings started the intergalactic rebellion after meeting the Best Friend Squad? And now there are already rebels on several planets? Nice job, Star Siblings!

- “My heart aches for these misguided children.” I’m not sure if I’ve ever properly addressed the heavily religious symbolism around Horde Prime and his cult, but… that right there is *such* a Christian-extremist-coded line, holy hell…

- So Prime says he wants to use the Heart of Etheria “to bring peace to all the universe” and at this point I’m not entirely sure what his exact goal is. Does he just want to destroy all the planets with the Heart? Because I’ll be honest, I tend to find “I just want to destroy everything” a bit boring as a motivation in villains. What’s the point of him ruling the universe if there’s no one left to rule over? I mean, I know Prime had his whole “If there’s no one left, there are no wars, etc.” speech in an earlier episode, but that’s also just so dumb.

- Where did the Best Friend Squad even get those cloaks? Either way, Catra looks adorable with the outline of her ears showing under the hood. 🥺

- “I hope you, too, are full only of love for Horde Prime… and have no crippling doubt eating at your soul.” / “Brothers, there is nothing to see here!” Like I said in an earlier post, all of Wrong Hordak’s lines are absolute winners. Also, I love how the other clones just keep falling for his very obvious bluffs.

- Wrong Hordak learning to wink so quickly makes me jealous because I can’t wink. (No, I really can’t; I’ve tried. Whenever I try to only close one eye, I always end up closing both. If anyone has good advice on learning to wink, let me know.)

- I love the character designs of the mushroom people.

- Catra wasn’t wrong about the locals selling them out and not telling them anything useful. The others should listen to her more.

- Bow posing as the “average traveler passing though” is especially funny because I’m pretty sure there are no “travelers passing through” in times of Horde Prime.

Catra: “A town that hates princesses? Should I buy property here?”

Everyone else: *glares*

Catra: “Is what I would have said before I joined you. Go, team.”

😂😂😂 Catra’s quiet little “Go, team” in the end is what gets me most about this moment 😂. She’s adorable and trying her best, okay?

- I love how Wrong Hordak just calls everyone “brother” regardless of gender. Also, Adora’s little “Did you just wink at me?” / “That’s not how winking works!” moments are hilarious and adorable.

- “You’re wearing hooded cloaks, it’s highly suspicious.” Okay, mushroom lady’s not wrong, though. And I love how someone finally points this out, since hooded cloaks are so often used as “undercover” disguises in shows like this.

- That said, both she and mushroom guy earlier did try to sell the Best Friend Squad out super quickly. Like, I get that the locals are scared, but still… They could have tried to stay safe without running towards the clones to tell them everything right away.

- I’m just noticing that Erelandia has mushrooms everywhere. Obviously the people are mushrooms, but there are also mushrooms growing outside in the streets everywhere, and the shop they’re in is selling mushrooms and clothes with mushrooms on them as well.

- Both Bow and Glimmer blowing their covers almost immediately and Adora just quietly shaking her head at both of them in the background is amazing.

- Love Catra (and Melog) just casually stealing a mushroom from a mushroom lady.

- So Catra’s just chilling in a tree and eating stolen mushrooms and Entrapta wants to analyze samples that’ll be ready in 4-6 weeks – neither of them’s really helping right now. But then again, Catra wanted to leave in the first place because she thought the locals would sell them out (and she was right about that), so she probably thinks it’s not worth the effort.

- Also, you know who this scene with Entrapta and Catra is missing? Scorpia. If there is one problem I have with season 5, it’s that we didn’t get any Super Pal Trio reunion / moments with all of them on the same side now. (Or just in general, that we didn’t get to see Scorpia and Catra properly talking things out.)

- “That’s the windy one, right?” Okay, am I the only one who finds this line weird? Spinnerella literally has Adora, Bow and Glimmer trapped in a tornado as Entrapta says this. Obviously she’s “the windy one”? Entrapta can literally see that??

- “Lord Prime has given me peace.” Oh, I’m just realizing that’s just what Catra said when she was chipped. That’s got to be awful for Adora to hear again.

- Glimmer grabbing Bow and Adora’s hands and teleporting them out of the tornado was badass.

Adora: “How are we supposed to fight our own friends?”

Catra: “It never stopped you before.”

OMG. I love that Catra still considers their time as enemies as “being friends”.

- I really love Netossa’s entrance. What makes it really cool to me is that at that point the Best Friend Squad didn’t even know if there were any unchipped princesses left, so Netossa jumping in there with a casual “Welcome back, guys” was just an amazing moment.

- Also, I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but I really like that this season finally made Spinnerella and Netossa more important characters. (And I wonder how much network censorship of LGBT+ storylines had to do with them not being that important earlier on.)

- Hordak getting flashbacks of Entrapta again (while Prime looks at his older body’s memories) is just 🥺. I like how Prime talks about Etheria while Hordak slowly remembers more and more about his own life on Etheria.

- “So, the only person I’m fighting here is… my own wife.” I love the on-screen confirmation that they’re married! But also, Netossa wanting to attack Catra and Wrong Hordak at first was pretty funny.

- Catra and Glimmer’s respective expressions when they hear about Scorpia and Micah being chipped are a gut punch. Also, Netossa talking about how she has to get Spinnerella back is making me tear up.

- “Where are the rebels?” “Right beside you!” 😂😂😂 Amazing, just amazing.

- Love to see Catra taking out those bots. She’s so badass ❤️.

- “Be careful.” “Always am.” I wonder at what point Netossa started to realize what’s going on between Catra and Adora.

- Love Netossa whistling at She-Ra’s new look. Your wife’s right there, darling. But then again, who wouldn’t whistle at She-Ra’s new look?

- Honestly, why did anyone ever say Spinnerella and/or Netossa were weak? Their fight here really shows how powerful both of them are when they don’t hold back.

- “Stop holding back. She won’t.” Looking past how hard this must be for Netossa, this line really sums up why so many characters in shows like this seemingly become more powerful when they turn evil (or less powerful when they turn good): Because the bad guys have no reason to hold back.

- Adora firing a rainbow beam from her sword was amazing. I wish we’d gotten to see a bit more of She-Ra’s new powers this season.

- “Please. I love you. Come back to me.” I’m crying 😢. That’s a nice first taste of all the “I love you”s to come in the finale. And I love that it works (even if just for a bit). The whole “power of love helps you break free from mind control” thing might be a cliché, but it’s a cliché I love, so…yay, awesome!

- But also, and I’ll probably talk about this more when I get to the next episode (that I had a few problems with), I like how Netossa doesn’t only rely on the power of love, but still realizes she has to first fight Spinnerella without holding back to get her into a position where they can even have this talk.

- Yay, mushroom town is saved!

- Catra reassuring Netossa that Spinnerella will be okay was so sweet. She’s really trying to be nice and I think she’s doing great 🥺. (Also, Adora looks at her so proudly.)

- I just noticed that when She-Ra replaces the Horde symbol in the sky with her sword symbol, all the Horde flags around town are already gone, too. Did Catra, Glimmer and the others just like… take all of those flags down in between fighting the bots? Or did Wrong Hordak maybe walk around taking off the flags while the others were fighting?

- That said, the rainbow sword in the sky looks amazing.

- “I think Horde Prime is going to know She-Ra’s back.” “Good.” Love Adora’s determined expression here.

- Geez Horde Prime, no need to punch the screen. The screen didn’t do anything to you.

- Okay, so Horde Prime finally decides to go to Etheria himself, and when he announces that, Hordak looks at the crystal in his hand – it’s all coming together.

- “This is where the rebellion is hiding out?” “Yup. Why, have you been here?” The looks on Glimmer and Catra’s faces here are amazing. People have of course already written all kinds of amazing metas analyzing their expressions, but the short version is that Glimmer seems to remember their fight fondly, while Catra seems embarrassed.

- Perfuma trapping them all in vines and demanding to see their necks is not only hilarious, but also shows that the rebellion has learned from their past mistakes. 👍

- All of their reunions (Bow and Perfuma, Glimmer and Frosta, Adora and Swift Wind, Entrapta and Emily) were super sweet – I like big reunion scenes 🥺. Wrong Hordak meeting Emily was adorable. Perfuma clinging to Bow and crying about how she doesn’t want to be in charge anymore had me laughing so hard 😂.

- Okay so, I know Frosta’s punch breaks the mood a moment later, but I really think Adora wanting to officially introduce Catra to everyone after seeing her standing there alone while everyone else was having big reunions was super sweet. The way her face falls when she sees Catra standing there sadly, the way she asks her to come here so gently… it’s just so sweet. 🥺

- Also, unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who didn’t really find Frosta punching Catra funny? (And the same goes for Scorpia electrocuting her in the next episode, by the way.) I know these moments are meant to be cathartic “drag the former villain because some people are still mad at them” moments, but Catra’s whole story is largely about being a victim of physical abuse. Wasn’t there some way for the story to make fun of her without having other characters physically assault her? I like how Catra’s redemption was handled overall, but moments like those kind of rub me the wrong way. (Netossa trapping her in a net was fine though, because that didn’t actually harm her.)

- That said, Adora’s “Catra’s with us now. Okay? Hmm.” was hilarious. I love how she just gives the briefest explanation and then turns away from Frosta with a smile and little “hmm”, just completely expecting Frosta to be fine with this now.

- That ending shot of all of them together is epic.

So, what changed this episode is that Erelandia was freed, the space group has reunited with the remaining princesses, and Horde Prime is heading for Etheria. Good episode!

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[thr-333]

Just Another Class Trip :) Part 6

Marinette goes on a nice peaceful trip to the pool. Me? sarcasm? how dare you sir!

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“Did you find what you were looking for Marinette?” Kagami asks oh so foolishly.

“Kagami look into my eyes and ask me that again,” Marinette dares, her eyes red rimmed with bags underneath bigger than Chloe's luggage.

“... You found your glasses?”

“Never mind,” She sighs, finishing the rest of her coffee, “At least that one isn't missing,”

“I thought you only wore them as M-you-know-who,” Chloe whispers, a purposeful look towards Lila’s posse leading the way to the bus.

“Just wanted to try them out without a mask,” She brushes off easily, she needed to be able to transport back to Paris at any time after all.

“Oh it was just terrible!” Lila cries, capturing the attention of everyone surrounding her.

“Did she finally hear a recording of herself?” Chloe scoffs, making Adrien shush her and Marinette crack a smile.

“This Starling kidnapped and tortured me for information,”

If only I had

“Luckily Batman was there to save me, but I knew he would be,” Lila croons, the class fretting over her all the while, “He was probably searching furiously the second I didn’t return his call,”

“When did she get Batman’s phone number?” Chloe whispers to her.

“No idea, think she’d give it to me?” Marinette smirks.

“Oh sure I bet it's 3825968,” Chloe laughs at her own joke.

Marinette doesn't get it but Kagami starts laughing, so she moves to stand next to Adrien while they share a moment.

“Any idea?”

“Not really,”

They reach the door going through it to find Gotham in the nice peaceful state it's always been.

Just kidding, lights start flashing in their faces and everyone around them is yelling. Lila of course tries to take this opportunity to get attention. To Marinette's great delight they push right past her, and to her horror opt to shove a million microphones in her face.

“Miss Wayne were you adopted?!”

“Yes but-” the cameras start flashing and the yelling increases tenfold.

“When?! How long ago!?!”

“A baby I guess?” She hadn't known her birth parents after all.

“How have you stay'n out of the public's eye for so long?”

By not being like Lila for one

“Mari I don’t think you’re talking about the same thing,”

“Yeah thanks, I’m getting that Adrien,”

“Adrien Agreste? Are you two dating?!”

“Great,” She ignores them, instead whispering to Adrien, “From now on Buttercup will be your codename,”

“Cool,” He leans in to whisper in her ear, “But I don’t think that’s helping things,”

It’s at this point the cameras are going crazy taking a million pictures of the two whispering in each others ear, while Kagami and Chloe try to push them all back. The class follow behind just as confused. Madame Bustier is trying to reason with the crowd, trying to . They reach the curb, fighting not to be pushed onto the road by the crowd. A limousine  pulls up and for a wonderful second Marinette thinks Liam has come to save her, the wonderful manager he is. Instead Alfred steps out, surprising to say the least. He ushers her inside and tells the rest of the class the bus will be through momentarily. Marinette slides into the car right next to Bruce Wayne… well.

“Hello again, I um…” Marinette thinks back to their last meeting, “I don’t think I actually told you my name,”

“No you didn’t,” Bruce chuckles, “And Selina has been avoiding me ever since,”

“Sorry, well I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng Auntie Selina’s niece,” Marinette shakes his hand, “She didn’t tell me she was engaged,”

“Bruce Wayne, Selina didn’t tell me she had a niece,”

“Yeah, that's a bad habit isn't it?”

“Indeed,” Bruce pauses, both trying to reach for a conversation topic, “So you like fashion?”

She had said she would design her aunts wedding dress. She should probably double check that with the groom, whoops,

“I do I already sketched out some designs,” She takes out her sketchbook which has a good thirty pages dedicated to wedding dresses, “Oh you were probably going to hire a professional designer weren’t you?”

“We were considering MDC,”

“.... I think that’ll work out just fine either way,”

“Hm,” Bruce looks curiously at her as she hides away her sketch book, she would be using those designs either way.

“Anyway!” She changes the topic oh so subtly, “About those reporters…”

“Theres a certain rumour running rampant that you are a Wayne, after someone took a photo of you with my son at the airport,” Bruce explains, switching over to business mode in a heat beat, she could appreciate that, “We’ve been doing our best to contain it, but…”

“At the airport…” She mutters to herself, “Oh! Tim’s your son, that explains Alfred, that must mean Dick is too!... work at Wayne tower, yeah very funny,”

She tries not to roll her eyes at their understatement of the century, wasn't Tim Drake a CEO there?

“Impressive, have you met Damian too?” Bruce asks, a slight smile that would have called Kagami expressive.

“Not yet, but should I invest in a bingo card?”

“Maybe so,”

They fall into silence Marinette would usually hold polite conversation but her thoughts were in turmoil. Lila didn’t seem to know anything about the miraculous then again her interrogation was cut short by a certain someone . However Tikki had advised her against placing all the blame on Lila, she needed to consider other options as well. But who else could it be? she was in Gotham Hawkmoth couldn't reach her… unless he somehow...

“Marinette are you alright?”

Marinette startles look over at Bruce who is blurred by tears. She hadn't even realised she’d been crying.

“I-I’m sorry,” She hiccups trying fruitlessly to wipe away the tears, “I-it just…”

“It’s ok,” Bruce rubs her back comfortingly, but boy did he choose the wrong words.

“IT’S NOT OK!” Marinette yells not looking at anyone in the car, they didn’t matter, nothing else mattered, she had failed and people were going to suffer for it, “I left it behind! It’s all my fault! Now it’s GONE! It’s been stolen and I don’t know where it is!”

“What was stolen?” Bruce presses, getting over the shock of the polite and put together girl melting down into a puddle of sobs.

Now I’ve gone and messed up, time for a classic cover story and some half truths

“A good friend of mine gave me a very important jewellery box,” Marinette sighs, wiping the tears away and rebuilding herself, “It was stolen shortly after arriving in Gotham and I’ve been trying to find it,”

“Do you know who stole it?”

“I thought it was one of my classmates,” Marinette frowns, they should have certainly been there by now, “Still do honestly,”

“Which one?”

“Lila probably,” Marinette tries to keep her tone neutral, tries, “Brown hair that looks like sausages,”

Marinette could almost see the words ‘oh fuck’ written across his face.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, we have arrived,” Alfred speaks up for the first time, not leaving her time to puzzle over the reaction, “Your class arrived some time ago,”

“How did that happen?” Marinette frowns, they should have arrived ages ago.

“Alfred must have taken the scenic route,” Bruce shrugs, acting like an innocent party in all this.

“Well then I guess I’ll see you for the wedding,” Marinette tries not to rush out of the car, certain her class or rather Lila would have caused some grief by now.

“I’ll make sure to send the invites to your family personally,” Bruce promises, shaking her hand before she can run off.

“And I’ll make sure Auntie Selina doesn’t destroy them,” Marinette smiles back brightly, she can see the concern for her all over Bruce's face but doesn't have time to reassure him.

Marinette walks into the indoor pool, knowing her luck the class was already inside. They were and the owner was not happy about it.

“First your class was late then you waltz in here late as well?” The manager berates her.

“I’m sorry sir,” Marinette tries to seem more sincere but her tardiness falls short on the things she has to worry about now.

“That class mate of yours came an yelled at me that one of our pools were dirty so we had to drain the whole thing,”

“Let me guess, sausage hair?” Marinette raises a bow, it really being all the energy she can put into the action.

“Yes,”

“Sorry sir I’ll talk with her,” Marinette promises, she slips into the changing rooms as they grumble about lazy employees.

There is absolutely no way Marinette was going to talk to Lila. She enters the changing room, a shower running somewhere. She tucks Tikki and Kaalki into her bag, Tikki had insisted she relax today, recharge and get ready to find the miraculous. She couldn’t find enough will to argue not after having to wake up in the middle of the night to fight an Akuma back in Paris.

She slowly changes into a red and orange ruffled one piece swimwear. She honestly just wanted to take a nap in here, hide away from the class and the well meaning questions from her friends. Instead she drags herself towards the shower, they are all open and there's someone towards the back standing underneath the spray in their bathers.

Something fires back at her to be careful, it puts her on edge but with miraculously potentially loose in Gotham city it’s no wonder her instincts are screaming at her. Instead she steps under the spray hoping to loosen up.

She doesn't, after standing there for ten minutes she still can’t relax. Maybe it’s the cold water, maybe its the other person. The were still standing there, they had been in the shower even before she entered the changing room. Marinette peaks over, they are still standing still, with their arm out… the same way they had been ten minutes ago.

“Are you ok?” Marinette calls, no answer, not even a twitch.

Marinette creeps over. They are standing stock still, she can’t see evidence of them so much as breathing.

“Hello,” Her voice echoes off the tiles, not a noise in the empty room besides from the shower running.

She is right behind them, they haven't even moved, arm still raised. She walks around to see their face. Frozen in a look of concentration, not so much as blinking with water running into their eyes. She follows their eyeline to see them peeling off dead skin from their arm, stretching towards their fingertips. There's a faint glow of yellow all around them, concentrated at their back.

Marinette steps away, walking out the showers, she closes the nearest door to find herself in the pool area. Her friends are on the other side. Kagami is dunking Adrien as Chloe waves her over. Marinette sprints over to them.

“No running!” The life guard yells.

But that doesn't matter, all that matters is that there is someone using the bee miraculous for evil, she has to stop them before they get another Hawkmoth. They probably have the whole miracle box! She'll need the back up.

“Mari-”

“Come with me,” She doesn't let them have another question helping Adrien out of the pool.

She pulls them along despite Chloe's protests, pushing them through the door.

“Mari what's-”

“Hush now Buttercup,”

“You were serious?” Adrien gasps, Chloe just giggles.

“Yes,” She walks over to the frozen body, “Look at this,”

“Whats-” Chloe pokes them, immediately recoiling, “The fuck?”

“They’re frozen,” Kagami does the same.

“We have to help them,” Adrien waves in front of their face, looking on in horror.

“We have to hide them,” Chloe pokes them again, getting slapped away by Kagami.

“We have to find the culprit,” Marinette races at the idea that this could be the Bee miraculous.

“We’ll do all three,” Kagami decides, getting their attention, “Now first let's put them in a stall so we don’t alarm anyone or the villain, then we need to look for clues,"

They all nod, Marinette turns the water off. Adrien tries to move their arm to no avail.

“Looks like we have to carry them,” Adrien suggests, he and Marinette each taking an arm.

“Ew, no I’m not touching it Buttercup!” Chloe cringes away, backing up as Kagami lifts a leg off the ground.

“Has that really stuck?” Adrien asks Marinette, as Kagami sends Chloe a powerful enough death glare to get her to help.

“You bet Buttercup,” Marinette grins, as they shuffle through the changing rooms to the toilet stalls.

“Fine then, I’m calling you Cupcake,” Adrien teases, sticking out his tongue.

“As you wish Buttercup,”

“Someone get the door,” Kagami commands.

“I will!” Chloe lets go of the leg, the body becoming no heavier.

They manage to fit them inside the stall without too much hassle.

“Who could have done this?” Adrien looks on sadly at the person, tilted at a slight angle to fit into the stall.

“I’ve been thinking,” Marinette speaks up, “If this is a villain it doesn't make much sense to attack a random person, and if they were trying to be stealthy they would have hidden the body,”

“They aren’t dead!” Adrien says aghast.

“Exactly, why wouldn’t a villain just kill them?”

“That's very dark of you Cupcake,” Kagami says, missing Adrien’s pout, “What’s your theory?”

“This is likely a new villain, one not ready to kill,” Marinette decides, not even blinking at the nickname, “They have something against the pool, they probably want to ruin its reputation,”

“You did say that this was a very safe pool for Gotham,” Chloe closes the stall door, “Minimal murders, so why would someone want to ruin it?”

“Insurance? Sick of their job?” Marinette’s eyes go wide in realisation, “The pool!”

She darts out the changing room the others close on her heels.

“No Running!”

“Where are we going!?”

“The manager said they were refilling the pool,”

“Why- oh my god,” Chloe gasps, overtaking the lot of them, “Run faster!”

They burst into another pool room, the pool noticeable empty with diving boards on the other end. They run to the edge of the pool. A frozen body wearing employee uniform frozen at the bottom the water slowly rising.

“Get them out! Get them out!”

Marinette jumps down into the pool, causing a splash, the water is up to her ankles, barely a centimeter from covering the person at the bottom. She runs over and tries to pull them up. Kagami makes a splash behind her running over to help. They drag the person, frozen in horror the yellow focused on their chest instead. The pool is far too deep to climb out of so they pass the body up to Adrien and Chloe.

“Who would do this?!” Adrien can just reach them when Marinette and Kagami lift the person over their heads.

“I heard the manager mutter about lazy employees,” Marinette gives one last push, Chloe and Adrien pull them up over the edge.

“So we have a suspect,” Kagami says, water rising up her leg, “We should check their office next,”

“Well, they went from no murder to yes murder in record time,” Chloe huffs, the employee safely to the side.

“It’s concerning, but they may have more of a grudge against them than the other person,” Marinette points Kagami towards the ladder to get out.

“More evidence towards the manager,” Kagami nods, letting her up the ladder first, “We should choose codenames if the manager is potentially familiar with us,”

“They did have the class roster,” Marinette nods along, then grins, “You should be Teacup!”

“Fine by me,” Kagami nods, not showing how happy she truly is with the nickname.

“Oh I want to be-” Chloe cuts herself off head snapping towards the door.

They hear scratching at the door, everyone tenses. Marinette crouches in a position to defend her friends. The door slowly creeps open and… a little snout pokes through followed by the rest of the dog.

“Is this what you wanted to see Cuppy?” A person wearing a lifeguard uniform follows in a second later.

“Excuse me is your dog named Cuppy?” Marinette plasters on a fake smile quickly pulling a nearby towel over the body.

“Yes it’s a weird name I know,”

“No! It’s perfect! On another note could we please borrow your dog?”

“Um... sure?”

“Thank you, we have to go! Careful the pool is empty!” She calls as they race out the room, the person tucked away out of sight, “Come on Cuppy!”

"NO RUNNING!"

The dog wags its tail following them out the pool area and through the changing rooms. They come to stand outside the staffroom door, dripping water on the carpet.

“Everyone ready?” Marinette asks, hand on the door, they nod and Cuppy lets out an 'off', the door slowly creaks open.

Marinette looks through to see, nothing, the hallway is desolate and dark.

“It’s safe,”

“You call that safe?” Adrien pokes his head through the door, followed by Chloe and Kagami.

“Be brave Buttercup be brave,” With that Chloe pushes him into the corridor.

They creep along the empty hallway, footsteps echoing around them. The manager's office door could be seen at the end of the hall. Gold color plate glinting in the few stray beams of light filtering through. Marinette could feel every hair stand on end, danger seeming to lurk from every shadow in the dark hall. The pressure of something ready to pounce and immobilise them at any moment hung heavy in the air, dragging them down into a pressure that-

“HIC!”

Everyone jumps out of their skins, Adrien actually hits the ceiling, rubbing his head on the way down. Kagami draws her sword, Marinette falls into a defensive position.

“Hic!”

“Chloe!

“I’m sorry! Hic! It’s not like I can help it! Hic,”

“Thats it! You’re Hiccup!” Kagami snaps, Marinette tries not to snort.

‘What?!” Chloe screeches stamping her foot, “No way!”

“Deal with it and lower your voices!” Marinette shouts, Cuppy barks along, “Not you too Cuppy?”

Another yip

“Traitor,”

“Cupcake stop picking fights with the dog and lets move on,” Adrien implores, still rubbing his head.

Marinette rolls her eyes speed walking to the manager's office before the tension rises again. The reach outside the door, Marinette counts down to three on her fingers and they burst through the door.

Inside is silent, the bright light blinds them for a second, she shuffles in front of her friends acting as a shield, waiting for them to adjust. When she does she sees the desk chair is turned away, Cuppy pads forward Marinette doesn't grab his collar in time.

He starts licking someone's hand, Marinette creeps around the desk, waiting for the hand to snap out and grab her. The others follow, surrounding the chair preparing to come face to face with the villain. She peeks around the edge they are sitting there, she freezes the others following her lead. A beat, another one, nothing. They’re frozen.

“It’s not the manager,” She relaxes, patting Cuppy’s head.

She lets out a sigh, releasing all her tension.

BAM

Turning around the door is slammed shut, a striped villain standing before it. They all drop into a fighting stance watching for the stinger on their right hand. Cuppy starts wagging his tail, trying to approach the villain.

“Cuppy no,” Marinette grabs his harness, bringing the Pitbull back.

“He’s my therapy dog,” The villain growls, Cuppy wagging his tail happily.

“Not a very good one is he?” Chloe sneers, looking the villain wearing her stripes up and down with disgust.

“Wait, you’re the lifeguard at the pool?” Marinette gasps, maybe she really shouldn't have run, “Why did you-”

“I work here, you can’t imagine the horrors I face every day, people are disgusting,” The villain shudders, this was the guy who stole the miracle box?

“Yes, but murder?” Kagami gets a nod from Chloe and hissed at by Adrien.

“My co workers are completely useless and the boss always yells at me,” A sinister smirk crosses their face, “Or at least they did,”

“So you thought murder before you thought quitting ,” Adrien points out, probably not the best time to imply a villain is stupid.

“I didn’t kill anyone,”

“Ah yeah thanks to us!”

“Shut up!” They lash out at Chloe, stinging her in a single strike.

“Run!” Marinette shouts, they all scatter.

Marinette dodges the first swipe, ducking down. They get distracted by Kagami lashing out. Marinette darts around them to get closer to the door, Kagami gets hit. Marinette reaches the door the villain comes after her, they are inches away. Adrien leaps in front of her, getting stung. With the distraction Marinette bursts out the door Cuppy on her heels.

“Traitor,” She sprints down the hall, “Did you know?”

Cuppy happily pants beside her. She can hear the villain banging around the corridor behind her and runs faster. She dodges into a room around the corner, hiding among the pool noodles. She sees the shadow pass under the door. Pause. She holds her breath intently watching the shadow, she has no one, not even Tikki. He heart beat rises, she can feel her breaths shorten, this is it, this is it, this is it, this is-

Something nuzzles her hand, she looks down to see Cuppy. He starts to lick her hand, letting her relax into it, focusing on him as the shadow continues on. With a sigh Marinette starts to take off her skirt, flipping it inside out to the cape side.

“You aren't going to tell anyone about this are you?” Marinette asks Cuppy, right before pulling up her mask, he lets out a happy bark, “Good boy,”

She sneaks out the room, looking up and down the clear hallway. She walks the opposite way of the office. She doesn't need to see her friends paralysed, she just needs to help them, she just needs to fix her mistake.

She reaches the pool area, hiding behind a lounge chair, watching through the slats as the villain gathers everyone together. Starling sneaks closer, Cuppy on her heels. There are several civilians, locals if their calm demeanour is anything to go by, although they do seem uneasy at an unknown villain. Her class is significantly less calm.

She had told them time and again that there was no coming back in Gotham, no miraculous cure. It seems for once they had decided to listen to her. Unfortunately they did not do well under pressure. Lila of course was aggravating the situation, making empty threats. The villain reared up to silence her and man, Marinette could relate.

“I don’t suppose I can wait a minute can I?” She whispers to Cuppy, he settle a paw on her knee, letting out a quiet whine, “I guess that’s a no,”

She runs up behind the villain, signalling the civilians to be quiet. Lila looks down at her, anger flashing over her face. Starling bears her teeth right back, she can just try it. Lila ultimately decides her life is more precious than petty revenge, a hard choice for her to be sure.

Starling stands up to her full height behind the villain tapping them on the shoulder. They turn around in surprise, to find her dazzling smile. But the real thing that makes them see stars is her right hook. As the fall Starling rips the bee miraculously right out of their hair, their transformation falling. Marinette stands above them as they detransform, Pollen hiding behind her. It makes her stomach churn watching them detransform, looking up at her with fear. The twisting of her insides lessens when Cuppy nuzzles up next to her. She busies herself with hiding the miraculous away.

“It’s them!” Lila screeches, ah now she can get to that petty revenge, “The one that kidnapped me!”

“Look what you did,” Staling bites instead, looking down at the villain.

“I had nothing to do with this!” Starling is highly entertained when Cuppy growls at Lila, actually getting her to back off.

“Sure you didn’t,” Starling openly rolls their eyes, grabbing the villain and hauling them up by their shirt, "Where is the rest!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" She scowls, making them whimper, guess they really didn't know,

Shit

"Where did you get this?" She holds up the miraculous.

"I found it! it was just lying out on the street!"

Shit

"Did you see any others?!"

"No!" the blubber swearing by it and begging for mercy.

Shit

The police sirens can now be heard, Starling drops them and runs from the room.

“NO RUNNING!” She turns on her heel and glares down at the villain, “... sorry, it’s a reflex,”

She nods running from the room to change, grabbing her bag with Tikki and Kaalki on the way. After a small celebration at finding another miraculous and reunion with Pollen, they have to make a plan to find the other miraculous. They are cut short when sirens are heard outside. She wears the Bee miraculous under her ponytail, to keep it hidden from view.

When she is ready she goes to find her friends. They are outside talking to the police. Marinette only gets the chance to signal she’s ok before being intercepted by officers to get her statement. When she’s retold her account of trying to find the pool freezer she is finally allowed to check on her friends.

“Hey Cupcake, glad to see you missed all the fun,” Chloe teases.

“Sorry Hiccup,” Marinette looks her in the eye deadly serious grasping each shoulder, “You were an adequate shield,”

“Shut it,” Chloe pushes her away playfully.

“Teacup, Buttercup are you alright?”

“It was nothing,” Kagami assures.

“Didn’t you guys think their powers were a lot like Queen Bees?”

“You would know Hiccup,” She nudges Chloe playfully, “If it was I think we should keep that to ourselves, wouldn't want that information somehow getting back to Hawkmoth,”

She looks purposefully towards Lila, the others nod along.

“Still some random person now might have the miraculous,” Chloe glares down at the ground, “Can we really trust this Starling person,”

I mean no I'm operating on negative six hours of sleep, but also yes

“I don’t think we have much other choice,”

“Marinette,” She freezes at that familiar, low gravelly voice.

“Batman, sir,” She adds, trying to look like someone who wasn't chased down by him yesterday, “How can I help you?”

“I heard you knew the most about this villain,” How did she get in trouble for interrogating Lila when this is how he talks to civilians.

“Not really I just found someone paralysed and tried to find the culprit,” Marinette shrugs, hoping her friends wouldn't point out that she is lying to The Batman.

“You didn’t call the police,”

Well thats a good point, not that I would have

“... To be honest it absolutely did not occur to me,”

“These abilities were spontaneous and now they seem to be gone,” Batman points out, damn he already knows too much, “Do you know what caused this?”

“I do not,”

“Very well,” Batman nods turning away, “Go to your class,”

“Yes sir,” Marinette walks away far too quickly.

How was she going to search the city with that hunting her down?!

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[couchpotatoaniki]

One Year ❣︎ Three: The Execution

Chapter Summary: Trying to cool off, you decided to spend the day by yourself. This couldn’t have gone any better for San’s plan.

Pairing: Mafia!San x Fem!Reader Genre: Mafia AU, fluff, angst, eventual smut, lotta crack and stupid shit ngl Chapter warnings: swearing, stalking, kidnapping Word count: 2.5k+ A 365 Days parody

Previous: Chapter Two For the rest of the series, click here

Speech in bold means they’re talking in Korean

Speech in italics is whatever the reader wants their native langue to be that’s not Korean or English

Speech without either means they’re talking in English

Buzzing came from your pocket, initially thinking your phone got a notification until it continuously vibrated. Yunho was calling you.

“Yo, where are you? Mingi told us what happened between you and Dom--and before you say anything, he’ll be having hell to pay, regardless of whether you approve or not.”

Chuckling, you sighed as you looked at your surroundings. “Fine by me. Do what you like to him.” Slowing down in front of a cute-looking coffee shop, you answered his first question...partially. “Just taking a stroll in the town.”

“Wanna be left alone?” You hummed as you entered the establishment, being hit with wafts of bakes goods. “Very well then. But we’re gonna hunt you down if you’re not back by midnight.”

“M’kay, Pops,” mumbling absent-mindedly while overlooking the menu on the screens above the counter.

You couldn’t see the gentle bitter smile on his face, knowing very well that you weren’t as stone-cold as the façade you masked yourself in. Had an idea that you just needed space. “Alright then. Look after yourself.”

“You too.”

Beeping over the line indicated to you that he had hung up. Shoving your phone back into your coat pocket, you let your feet carry you to the till, where a young teenager dressed in a pale blue polo shirt and evergreen apron on top greeted you with a nervous smile.

Must have been new, or had some sort of social anxiety, from the way they avoided your eyes and fidgeted with their hands. “U-Um, hello. Welcome... What would you like?” the taller kid practically whispered, but you caught on to their words.

Sending a soft, warming smile, you answered, “can I have a buttered croissant with a mango and passionfruit iced tea, please? Actually, would you mind adding a chocolate muffin to that too?”

Nodding, they tapped the till, pressing various buttons before saying, “that’ll be 6,500 won, please.”

Pulled out your wallet and paid the employee. As you sat down, waiting on your order, you began to reminisce from when you used to be that age too--then again, it was not hard at all since it wasn’t too long ago.

Seven years ago, you were only 16, enjoying life just before things took a turn you never expected and you were never the same air-headed, happy-go-lucky kid you once were.

All you needed at the time was someone who was kind, who gave you a breath from the onslaught you faced all around you. Mingi was probably the only reason you’re still alive.

Thinking about the old days did more damage to you than you’d like to believe, but almost seemed impossible with the Dominic situation.

Being betrayed again hurt like hell, and although he wasn’t as bad as what you had experienced, he still broke your trust. Trust you tried to rebuild after all you went through the last time.

Thoughts you spent so long trying to get rid of grew back like weeds of the concrete walls you put up five years ago.

And despite what you tried to convince yourself and Mingi, you actually really liked the guy.

“Here you go, miss,” the young employee mumbled as he placed a tray with your order on it. Almost everything was right, except that there was a vanilla and chocolate chip muffin instead of a complete chocolate one.

Oh well, a muffin’s a muffin.

“Thank you,” you grinned, handing the teenager a tip of 10,000 won.

Their eyes widened at your strange generosity before hesitantly taking the money you held out between your index and middle fingers.

Your lips wrapped around the straw as you took a sip of your ice-cold drink. Strong tones of mango, with a hint of passionfruit, slight sweetness from honey and faint tang of fresh lemon.

Iced tea was something you had grown to love over the past five years, first time being too bitter and flavourful for you. Then again, the events prior left a bad taste in your mouth. Seonghwa was the one who helped you, always getting you an iced tea every time he went to a nearby coffee shop.

Learned quite quickly that your tongue was sensitive to heat after being so concerned how you refused piping-hot meals he cooked for you often. Waited until it cooled a lot before digging in.

No doubt the four boys would do anything for you--Mingi the most out of the rest since you wouldn’t be where you are without him--but sometimes you needed to breathe by yourself. Enjoying the little things you like croissants and muffins rather than focussing on your soon-to-be ex boyfriend cheating on you for a reason that eludes you.

That’s how the rest of the day goes.

Aimlessly walking, window-shopping, sight-seeing. Nothing registered in your mind but it was better than something negative.

Your phone was on silent, growing cold in your pocket from the lack of heat being transferred from your hand. Even then, you doubt anyone (except Dominic) would be texting you since you told them you wanted peace.

Before you realised it, the sun crawled above your head and began to set in the horizon, a clash of beautiful blues, oranges, pinks, and purples hovering in the sky. Lampposts along the streets lit up and the sky grew dark, yet that didn’t stop the hustle and bustle.

Irritated by the noises of people, you turned to an alleyway which had significantly less lighting but also significantly less humans.

As you walked, you were deep in thought, not thinking much of your surroundings. Then the hairs on the back of your neck stood up and a chill ran down your spine.

Someone was following you.

You were about to turn around and defend yourself--and you had no worries that you would lose. But then bright LED headlights of a hidden black SUV had highlighted the hair of a rather short person who stood in front of it.

Shocking electric blue stands brushed against his porcelain-smooth skin from light wisps of wind passing by. The same colour hair you realised had been barely peeking in your peripheral since the airport.

Next to a man you had very briefly met on you birthday dinner while searching for the bathroom.

Exactly how long have they been following you?

Though you chided yourself for not noticing it sooner--despite all the excuses of being ‘on a holiday’--you found yourself pondering. You had never met those two funky-haired people before in your life, and you sure as hell made sure any dangerous people couldn’t find you (not without going through one of the other boys first) so who exactly were these people?

Perhaps you were like a bee, drunk on the honey in your tea, or maybe you wanted to get your mind off the situation, needing a thrill at the moment.

You felt the need to destroy something--or at least toy with it for a bit--and these cocky assholes seemed perfect.

Either way, you relaxed your muscles (only a little, as to not raise suspicion of the young man before you).

One foot stepped behind you as you kept your eyes trained on his coco ones, only to rip them away a moment when you turned to ‘run’. As expected, something else tried to stop you. Another black SUV with blinding lights swerved into the other end of the alleyway as you tried to leave.

You’d prided yourself on good acting, and it always seemed to pay off. Right now, to sell the part of a scared girl, you stumbled backwards--planning to fall of the cobblestone path, but only to be saved by something hard.

The mysterious man’s chest, his hands holding your arms as support.

“Sorry about this,” he whispered in your ear, covering your mouth with a chloroformed cloth. You didn’t really put up much of a fight (to your standards, anyway) and succumbed to the strong chemical.

At first you were floating in a sea of black, unable to connect with your senses. Slowly, after moments of nothingness, you could feel the world materialise around you.

Soft fabric was cushioned beneath you, cradling your body with warmth. Light began to seep through your closed eyelids as the gentle, sweet smell of sugared almonds filled your nose with every deep inhale. And finally, a headache that began to pound harder with every pulse.

Grunting, you pried your eyes open, immediately noticing what appeared to be a shower room in front of you. There were two shower heads on each side, with only pillars of soft light embedded into the tiled wall rather than a proper partition. To add to the lack of privacy, the only material separating the shower room and the eyes of the bed was simply a thin pane of sliding glass which hid absolutely nothing.

“What kinda perv decided to design this monstrosity?”

Propping yourself up on your elbows, you looked down on the bed you were lying in, thankfully still in the same cotton dress, phone no longer in its pockets. The mattress was significantly softer than the one at the hotel--yet another indicator that your kidnappers were rich.

On the tables dotted around the space were lilac candles. Most likely the culprit of the amazing scent in the room.

Your eyes then caught the daylight peeking through the curtains, enlightening the room in a soft apricot glow. “Fuck,” you muttered, remembering Yunho’s words in the previous call she had, “they’re gonna kill me for staying out.”

Pushing yourself off the illegally comfortable bed, you inched towards the only door you saw. Fingers wrapped around the cold metal handle and pushed down, finding it much to your surprise that it was actually unlocked. Pulled it open without hesitation, though making sure you peered out to see if there was anyone.

There wasn’t.

“Great security, guys,” you sighed, actually feeling disappointed in the lack of effort you had to put in while walking openly around. After all, it was the reason you let yourself be taken.

Then again, this could all be a trap.

Now that was exciting.

You let yourself become familiar with the surroundings upon one glance, noticing the obvious luxurious colour scheme of gold and cream that had your eyes rolling at the basic rich vibes it gave you.

Then you found your breath catching in your throat as you continued to explore, eyes frozen on a portrait hung up on a wall.

Though the fact that it was a portrait of you had initially shocked you, it wasn’t the defining feature that had your heart palpitating at a dangerous speed. Your hair was short again, a pixie cut, while you were sat on a beach that looked a lot like the one you visited in Santorini.

“Fuckin’ hell.”

In fact, the painting was an exact replica of you from five years ago, down to the clothing of ripped jeans and loose top you wore. You, from one of your darkest and lowest moments.

“Are you lost, babygirl?”

The same voice rang in your ears, repeating the only sentence you heard spill from his lips. When you turned around to confirm who it was, it was indeed the same man you saw.

The damn muscular guy, with pitch-black hair and a lock of platinum blonde brushing just above an eye.

The blood was rushing too fast, fear in your eyes no longer an act. Just who the fuck was this guy?

You took one step back, knees buckling instantly but before your brain could process it, the man had wrapped his arms around you, catching your body before hit the ground.

San could smell the delicate citrusy aroma wafting from your skin and he tried so hard to not bury his head in the crook of your neck, to kiss the area and whisper sweet nothings into your ear.

Taking advantage of your frozen state, he lifted you up and place you on a nearby armchair, one beside a fireplace since he felt you were too cold for comfort.

Only until he had a ice cube pressed against your lips, did you snap out of it. “You should have it. Maybe you had a bad reaction to the chloroform. Sorry about that, by the way.”

Head turning the other way, your guarded eyes stayed locked on him rather than your painting behind his form. “English.”

“Why? You spoke perfectly good Korean at the dinner two days ago,” he said, pressing the ice cube onto your mouth once more.

“Simply because I feel more comfortable with English,” you remarked, swatting away his hand. “And stop putting that on my mouth.”

Sighing, he dropped the cold, melting cube back in the glass of whiskey before putting a bit of distance between the two of you. He could feel himself getting angry, that you won’t trust him, that you won’t listen to him.

But could he blame you?

“I feel like explanations are in order,” you said, narrowing your eyes down on his figure, flickering firelight resting on him to make him seem even more good-looking, shadows casted to make each feature appear sharper. But that wasn’t what you were focused on.

You wanted to deduce this stranger by his body language.

Stood tall, maintaining good eye contact, showed that he was confident. Classic black suits--expensive by the look of the fabric--showed that he as rich. Tattoos littering the skin of his hand showed a bit of a bad-boy nature. And the aura he emitted was that of a leader.

Corner of your lips twitching, you realised who--or what--he might be. The boss of a fairly powerful crime syndicate.

San, on the other hand, couldn’t see what you were thinking as you looked at him. Did you think he was as hot as he did you? Fuck, he hoped so--clearly not understanding how a normal person would react in such a situation.

“Hello? Earth to whoever the hell you are?”

“If you want answers, you certainly won’t be getting them if you act like a brat.”

Scoffing, you tilted you head, eyes boring into him with a cold glaze coving them. Like a lifeless doll. “Then how do you suggest I act then? Hmm? After seeing that you’ve been stalking me for the last five years,” you nodded towards coloured canvas, growing more unsettled every time you looked at it.

“Fair point,” he said, taking a seat on the chair opposite you. “But you should know that I haven’t been doing that. Stalking you, I mean.”

“The fuck do you call that creepy-ass portrait, then?”

“I call it a precious memory.” San shifted his focus from your gaze to the flames lazily dancing on charred wooden embers. Tongue swiped over his lips before chuckling, almost bitterly. “Doubt you’ll believe me, but I’ll tell you anyway.”

Lips pursed, you sat quietly as you listened to his story.

☕︎ Tag list: @little-precious-baby​ , @sparklychangbin​​ ,

[etoileholland]

The Sims

Pairing: Tom x female reader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of woohoo lol

Word count: 1.4k

Summary: You teach the boys how to play the Sims, which may or may not have been a good idea.

A/N: I downloaded the boys from the gallery in the Sims, and Harrison’s Sim really is this chaotic 😭 he’s nearly died at least three times and I still have no idea how it’s happened. Also the gif is not mine, all credit goes to its respective owner.

“Okay, so how do we even play?” Harrison asked as you gave him an odd glance.

“Seriously, you’ve never played the Sims before? Are you sure you’re not like a forty-five year old man in a young man’s body?” You retorted as Harrison glared at you.

“I’m not, I was always very physically active as a child. You know, like actually playing sports and running around outside, unlike someone over here who apparently played video games all day.” He replied as he shot you a side glance.

“Okay you got me there, not gonna lie.” You said as you grabbed a few Cheez-Its from the bowl that Harry was eating out of. “Basically you can design a character and live out whatever you want to do. You can be stinking rich and famous, or you can be a kleptomaniac and steal from the rich and famous. Whatever dream you want to live out really.” You added as the game loaded to the main screen.

The guys were all huddled around you on the coach, staring at the screen while you showed them how to create a Sim. “Okay so who wants to go first?” You asked and Tom raised his hand.

“Cool. You can make it look like you, or you can make yourself look totally different. You even can live together in a big house if you want, to make it more realistic.” You added as you handed Tom your laptop.

It took him about 30 minutes to create his Sim, and it looked just like him. He handed the laptop to Tuwaine as he made his own Sim, but he only spent like 10 minutes on it. Next, Harry and Sam made themselves, and lastly Harrison created his own Sim. About an hour later, the boys were ready to play.

“Aren’t you going to make your Sim too, love?” Tom asked as he handed you back the laptop.

“Nah, I already have a Sim. She’s living in Del Sol Valley, and you guys can look at the different worlds to see where you want to live.”

They all made the collective decision to live in Del Sol Valley as well, since they all had the acting career aspiration. That came as no shock to you.

“Alright, I’m not good at building houses, but if you want to look at the gallery-” you pointed at the top of the screen, “you can download one that someone else already made.”

The boys collectively “ooo-d” as they clicked around the gallery, before deciding on a modern build home that’s two stories tall, with five bedrooms.

“So in order to actually afford this house, I’m going to show you a little cheat.” You smirked as the boys became excited.

“You can cheat in this game? I already love it.” Tuwaine said as you laughed a little.

“There’s a cheat for everything, you can even cheat the gender of your children.” Tom’s eyes widened as he contemplated something.

“So we could have children together in the Sims? We need to work on that immediately.” Tom said as he pulled you onto his lap. He placed a kiss to the back of your neck and buried his head in the crook of your neck.

You did the ‘motherlode’ cheat a few times so that the boys would be able to afford the house, and then you helped them move in.

The house was beautiful, with a hot tub, a pool, a library, and an exercise room. It was massive, and you could tell they were all excited to play.

“Here, have at it.” You got up from Tom’s lap as you handed him the laptop, so that they could control their Sims.

Apparently, it was a bad idea to leave them to their own devices.

You were sitting at the kitchen island, eating a bowl of ice cream and scrolling through Instagram. Your scrolling was interrupted when you heard a blood curdling scream come from the living room.

“Ahhh, oh my god oh no I’m gonna die! Y/N I need you right now!” Harrison screamed as you ran into the living room.

“What? What’s the matter?” You inquired as Tuwaine just pointed at the laptop screen.

“Harrison set the bloody house on fire! And no one knows how to put it out!” Tuwaine said as he was trying to click on the screen.

“Oh my gosh okay click on the fire and press ‘extinguish’. Hurry!” You instructed as Harrison did the action. It worked, but Harrison was charred black, and his moodlet was ‘very tense’.

“I have no idea how that happened. I was trying to make pancakes for everyone but instead I caught myself on fire, along with the stove and the counter.” He stated as he showed you the damage.

“Well, when art imitates life.” Harry said as Sam gave him a high five. Harrison then smacked Harry on the arm, and Harry let out an “ow!” before pouting.

“Boys, boys, play nicely. You can replace everything, it’s okay.” You said, rubbing Harrison’s back.

“Will do.” Harrison said as he fixed up his Sim and they continued to play.

Less than thirty minutes later, Harrison screamed again.

“Oh my god my Sim has a death wish! He got struck by lighting when he went to take out the garbage. I didn’t even know that could happen!” Harrison said as he set the laptop on the coffee table, and got up dramatically, throwing his arms in the air to signify that he’d surrendered.

“I’m done, I don’t want to play the Sims anymore.” He pouted as he put his arms around you, and pulled you into a hug.

“Oh angel, I’m sorry your Sim is so chaotic. It’s okay though, it’s just a game.” You cooed as you rubbed circles on his back. “Why don’t you go have some ice cream or something? That’ll cheer you up.” You said as he nodded, letting go of you and trudging to the kitchen.

“Hey look! Y/N your Sim came over to visit!” Tom said as he grabbed the laptop so he could control it. “I’m going to make you fall in love with me right now.” He smirked as he made a move on your Sim. He flirted enough so that the option “woohoo in a hot tub” appeared, and without hesitation Tom clicked it faster than the speed of light.

“Now this I want to see!” He said as he rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. He saw your Sim and his walk over to the hot tub, and the boys were staring intently as well to see what would happen. They all wooed and cheered as your Sims hopped in, and they were curious to see what would happen next.

Your Sim straddled Tom’s waist, and they both fell backwards into the water. Tom’s Sim raised a finger and motioned for your Sim to come over, and she jumped on him, pushing him underwater.

“This is a child’s game?!” Sam said as they couldn’t tear their gaze away from the woohoo-ing sims. Not gonna lie, it was pretty hot watching Sim ‘you’ and Sim ‘Tom’ go at it, hot and heavy.

Hearts came up from the water, and your Sims emerged, before deciding to make out with each other.

“Need me a freak like that.” Sam exclaimed as Harry high fived him.

“Damn that was hot. They should really stick that on Pornhub.” Tuwaine said as everyone broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Phew, I don’t know about you but that’s got me feeling some type of way.” Tom said as he wiped a bead of sweat from his face.

“Same here.” You said as you moved onto Tom’s lap so that you straddled him.

“Oh my god don’t recreate it here!” Harry said as he covered his eyes.

“Wanna woohoo?” Tom asked as you giggled, pressing your lips to his. He pulled away and stood up, before carrying you to your shared bedroom. Your legs were still around his waist as he became more aggressive with your kisses, and you moaned slightly as he locked the bedroom door behind you two.

The boys shared a glance as they realised that you two would be preoccupied for a while. “Hey hand me the laptop, let’s see what other bad things can happen to Harrison’s Sim.” Harry smirked as they huddled around the laptop, continuing to play the game.

——

Additional A/N: Is this the dumbest thing I’ve ever written? Yes, yes it is. Also, is your girl so touch starved during quarantine that seeing sims woohoo in a hot tub suddenly became too steamy? Also yes.

mes petits anges (taglist): @scarletxwidow​ @sunflowerhollands​ @fangirlwithasweettooth​ @taciturnspidey​ @musicalkeys​ @harrysleftchelseaboot​ @quaksonhehe​ @halfblood-princess-505​

[allcrncthing]

TITLE :: WHAT?

DESCRIPTION :: Flynn gets an unlikely visitor early one morning.

TIME PERIOD :: July, 2012

CHARACTER(S) :: Flynn Aspen, Nick Fury

WORD COUNT :: 1.7k

WARNINGS :: Swearing

NOTE :: This is part one of two in the DON’T RUIN HER mini-series!

It was seven in the morning when knuckles thumped against her apartment door. Flynn shuffled out of her room, rubbing her eyes as she went. God, I hope it’s not Mrs. Baust complaining again. Mrs. Baust was Flynn’s elderly neighbor located on her right. For whatever reason, she didn’t like the redhead; always complaining about stupid shit and trying to her the landlord to kick Flynn out.

She opened the door then nearly slammed it shut. Standing before her was Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. “Can I help you?”

With his one good eye, he looked her up and down. “You know why I’m here. Get important shit and meet me on the roof.”

“Mister, you must be confused.”

Fury scoffed. “Me? Confused? Hurry up and grab your shit, I’ll see you on the roof.” He closed the door for her, leaving a dumbfounded Flynn in his wake.

She pressed her forehead against the cool wood of the door. “How the hell did he find out?” She groaned, agitated. “Christ Flynn, he’s Nick Fury, he always finds out.”

Around three months ago Flynn found out she had powers. She gained them after a chunk of alien tech fell from the sky. Crazy, right? The tech--which was a good sized piece of metal if she was being honest--slammed into the back of her neck, embedding itself in her skin. Flynn could still feel it back there, sometimes rubbing her finger over the weird bump when she was nervous or bored. It must have been from a far-off society that thrived off radiation or something, because these new powers were seemingly radiation based. It was all still very new to Flynn, so she wasn’t 100% sure of anything regarding her abilities.

She trudged back to her room, shrugged off her lavender old lady nightgown, and stepped into bleach-stained grey sweatpants and an oversized I HEART NYC shirt. It was left over from her parents’ visit a while back. Hey, she wasn’t going to get all dolled up for a stranger who told her to “pack up her shit” at seven something in the morning.

Flynn grabbed a duffle bag and filled it with the basics; toiletries, a few pairs of clothes, and chargers for her devices. She hopped whatever Fury wanted with her was quick and easy. Trying to explain her disappearance at work would be a bitch.

Minutes later she appeared on the rooftop, seeing Fury standing off at the ledge, looking off into the distance. “Seen Fallen Soldier recently?”

Her blood ran cold.

Flynn licked her lips, “No.”

“Not after your skirmish in the alley?” He pressed, turning to face her.

Flynn shook her head.

Fallen Soldier was one of HYDRA’s goons. He was a fallen World War I soldier by the name of Dennis Van Dyke. According to what Flynn had read--which may or may not have been on the dark web. . .--HYDRA recently reanimated his once frozen corpse to snuff out anyone with powers. His supposed mission was to kill his target before dragging their body to a local HYDRA lab for testing.

It just so happened that he went after Flynn. Three nights ago while walking home from her shift at work, the corpse struck. He came at her with stinking, peeling flesh and the sharpest bayonet she had ever seen. While he moved at a slow pace, every time he made contact with Flynn she would get knocked over by his force. The fight was her first real power test-run. Flynn discovered she could fly and somehow create fireballs among other things. Going against Fallen Soldier was tiring. So much so she lit him on fire then proceeded to pass out on a nearby rooftop. Flynn was lucky he didn’t find her and kill her in her sleep.

Fury turned back around, facing the sun once more. From his coat pocket he drew a remote. In the sea of buttons he pressed a white one off to the left.

Hundreds of feet in the air floated the SHIELD Helicarrier. Flynn had never seen the beast of an air ship in person before. She only saw pictures of it from the battle in New York.

“Wow,” she breathed, nearly dropping the duffle bag.

“Welcome to your new home.” Fury said, watching as a ramp came down from the helicarrier’s underbelly.

Her brows immediately furred together. “My what?”

“New home! Can’t let you stay down here with that undead bastard looking high-and-low for you.”

Fury walked towards the ramp, taking quick strides. “Hurry up so we can get started on paperwork.”

She scampered after him like a puppy. “Why?”

“You’re just full of questions.”

“Oh no, how dare I question the man who told me to pack up my stuff and follow him.” Flynn groaned.

A look flashed over his face, like she did have a point. “I watched your fight with Fallen Soldier and I liked what I saw. Had to get to you before HYDRA.” Fury pressed another button, opening a door on the carrier’s side.

“Is this a temporary thing?”

“Temporary?” He howled. “Does Tony Stark shop at Walmart?”

“No. . .”

“Well, you have your answer.”

The inside of the helicarrier was bustling with life. Scientists in crisp white lab coats drifted around while armed security members marched from corridor to corridor, looking for any threats. Standing in the middle of that mess was Maria Hill.

The brunette had her arms crossed, eyes focused on Flynn. “How the hell did you get her onboard so quickly?”

Fury chuckled, “I have my ways, Hill.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Welcome aboard, Aspen.” She held out a hand for a quick shake. “Come with me and I’ll take you for testing. It’s just to make sure your physical health is decent. If not, we have world-class doctors on board.”

“Don’t forget about that paperwork,” hollered Fury, walking away from the two women.

The ladies made eye contact. “The paperwork isn’t much, don’t worry. Most of it’s just new stuff the council requires.” Maria explained, easing Flynn’s mind just a little.

They walked down the hall, heading towards the lab wing.

Walking through the helicarrier was just mind boggling. Each part of the air ship held a certain meaning, and all of them served it well. She passed by a holding cell of lower-level, petty villains sitting inside. Many of which were whining about calling their lawyers. Another section was dedicated to the testing out of weapons. A tall ginger dressed in precautionary armor threw a small, onyx colored orb at a rubber dummy (akin to the ones found in dojos). Upon making contact with the dummy, the circle exploded, wrapping it in two thin but sturdy pieces of white rope. The tester let out an impressed noise and went to scribble something down on the clipboard next to her.

Now, they were in the lab wing. Each scientist aboard the helicarrier had their own designated lab, Maria explained. The one they were heading to belonged to their lead medical examiner, the one they sent all of the new recruits to, Doctor Sierra Warner.

Dr. Warner was a tall black woman with thick dreads dyed light brown almost blonde, pulled into a ponytail atop her head. She greeted the two with a smile, motioning for Flynn to take a seat on the examination table. “Welcome,” she said, voice as sweet as her smile.

“Thank you,” Flynn replied as she hopped onto the table.

“Fury’s newest recruit?” She inquired, eye flitting between Maria and Flynn.

Maria nodded, “Yup.”

The following minutes were taken up by basic tests; ones where Dr. Warner would check Flynn’s reflexes and her eyesight. Pretty standard stuff. Then she kind of went off track. “Fury showed me footage of your. . .fight with David Van Dyke--”

Flynn’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. He has footage of that? “How the hell did he get footage of that?”

Dr. Warner chuckled, “SHIELD has cameras all over New York.”

“God, you guys are like big brother.”

“I like to think we have flashier stuff here,” said Warner. “But as I was saying, Fury showed me your video and I thought it would be smart to use a dosimeter on you; just to check your radiation levels.”

“But why?”

The doctor shrugged, “I just have this gut feeling. Here at SHIELD we developed our own version. Instead of having you hold it, you’ll breathe into it like a breathalyzer. The results come back much faster and more accurately. For whatever reason.” Dr. Warner reached into a desk, and pulled out the SHIELD dosimeter, which did look a lot like a breathalyzer. “You can tell that I didn’t help in the development of this.”

“Who did?” Flynn inquired, grabbing the dosimeter. She brought the tube to her lips, sending a steady stream of air into the piece of tech.

“Dr. Celeste Flores-Rivero.” Warner replied, pulling the dosimeter from her mouth after it beeped, allowing her to know it was done processing the sample it had received. “Before she dropped off the map,” she muttered, observing the data displayed on the dosimeter’s digital screen.

“I’ll tell you later,” Maria whispered, giving Flynn’s shoulder a pat.

Dr. Warner chewed on her bottom lip, eyes flitting from Flynn to the dosimeter. “Flynn, I’ve never seen numbers like this before.” She rubbed at her chin, face full of uncertainty. “You’re as radioactive as Chernobyl. Hell, I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“Me?” She pressed the tip of her finger right in the middle of her chest. “Me? Flynn Aspen me?”

She nodded, “Yes.”

Flynn’s fingers went right to the back of her neck, feeling the foreign object just below her skin. “What will happen then?” God, I should’ve just stayed in my fucking room.

Dr. Warner wheeled her chair over to Flynn, resting two gloved hands on her knee caps. “We’ll figure something out. We’ve dealt with the Hulk, we can deal with some radiation. For the moment we’ll keep doing tests and then figure out what our next steps are. Some of the most brilliant minds are here, we’ll find a way to help you cope.”

She let out a heavy sigh, deflating a little bit. “Okay, yeah, that’ll work.”

[munchcorner]

Pastries (SakuAtsu)

Atsumu's a lonely baker who spends most of his time baking. It was his way of coping for when his parents had passed from old age and his brother, Osamu, had gotten married and started a family. He used to be surrounded by so many people he loved, but as time passes and they grew older, their time for each other became limited, leaving Atsumu feeling a little lonely. So, he builds his own bakery to keep him busy and fill his loneliness by interacting with his customers.

Atsumu had fun talking to various people. He's met students who buy his sweets as their reward for themselves for their hard work at school. He's met children who loved his cookies because they looked adorable. He's met lonely adults like him who think that life is boring and is a constant misery. He's met people who were enjoying life. He's met people who are in love and are content with their lives. But the most memorable one was the man with black curly hair and dark emerald eyes.

He was a man who looked like he who saw the world in monochrome. One where he just goes with the flow of life. Even his voice was monotonous when Atsumu strikes a conversation.

"You don't seem like someone who would enjoy cookies shaped like characters," Atsumu comments as he puts the cookies in a box.

"Well, they're not for me. They're for my daughter," The man answers, making Atsumu go, "oh,"

"Yeah, so how much?" The man asks as he pulls his wallet out of his pocket.

"That'll be 4867.52 yen," Atsumu answers and hands the man the box of cookies.

The man pays for it, and just as he turns around to leave, his phone starts to ring, and the man's face immediately lights up at the sight of the name flashing on the screen.

Atsumu wanted to ask if it was his daughter, but he didn't want to be intrusive, so he presses his lips together and remains quiet.

The man answers the call, and Atsumu could hear his daughter's voice, excitedly screaming, "did you buy them?! Did you buy it?! Please tell me you bought them! Please! Please! Please!"

The man chuckles as he pulls on the door, "Yeah, I have it, don't worry,"

Atsumu watched as the man walk away. He places his hands on the counter and softly smiles all to himself, "I wonder what it's like to have someone who looks forward to seeing you come home?"

The loneliness Atsumu had been feeling comes back after that little encounter, but it became stronger when he got home. He immediately dialed Osamu's number, hoping that maybe he's free, but he ends up sighing when he was directly sent to voicemail.

Atsumu doesn't leave a message and just ends the call before going to bed.

The next day comes, and the curly-haired man he met yesterday comes to buy a different set of pastries from him.

"So, did your daughter like it?" Atsumu asks as he packages the cupcakes the man just bought.

"She loved it," The man answers shortly, but unlike before, now he has this small little smile on his lips as he answers.

Atsumu hums in delight and gives the man the cookies, "I'm glad to hear that,"

A month passes with the man buying different types of pastries from him. They'd have small conversations from time to time, and as the days turn to months, they slowly started talking about more personal stuff.

Atsumu finally learned what the man's name was after three months of constantly talking to each other. His name's Sakusa Kiyoomi, a dashing name just like the person itself, but aside from Kiyoomi, he also learned his daughter's name, Sakusa Sayomi.

"Sayomi said she wanted to meet you," Kiyoomi says as he watches Atsumu put the cake in a velvet box.

"Oh, is that so?" Atsumu asks and puts a ribbon on the box.

"Yeah, if that's alright with you," Kiyoomi says as he takes the box and takes out his wallet to pay for the cake, "it's fine if you're not okay with it,"

"Are you kidding me? I'd love to meet her! I'm actually amazed that it took you three months to bring her here because you talk about her a lot," Atsumu says with a chuckle.

Kiyoomi puffs his cheeks and looks at his feet in embarrassment.

Adorable. Atsumu thinks.

"Do I really talk that much?" Kiyoomi asks, his cheeks flushed red and his fingers pulling on his slacks.

"Yeah," Atsumu answers, "so, when can I meet her?"

"What about tomorrow? Is that a good time?" Kiyoomi asks.

"Yeah, I'm cool with that,"

And with that, they finally bid their goodbyes.

The next day arrives, and Kiyoomi enters the bakery with an eight-year-old child holding his hand. She had this huge smile on her face as she enters, and her eyes immediately brightened up when she saw the pastries.

"Daddy! Look at the Kirara-designed cake!" Sayomi beams and pulls Kiyoomi to the cakes.

Atsumu chuckles as he watches Sayomi pull Kiyoomi around. She was like a bouncing ray of sunshine, and Atsumu couldn't help but wonder what it'll be like if he had a daughter.

Kiyoomi and Sayomi roamed the bakery jumping from one pastry to another until Kiyoomi finally pulls Sayomi to Atsumu, "Sayomi, this is Atsumu, the man who makes all the pastries you eat every day,"

Sayomi's eyes shine, and she lets go of Kiyoomi to run to Atsumu and hold his hands, "this hands,"

"What about them?" Atsumu asks and crouches down to be on the same level as her.

"I'm thankful for them because they make me my favorite treats," She answers and smiles at Atsumu.

"What about me? You're not thankful for me?" Atsumu asks and points at himself with a pout.

Sayomi chuckles and pulls Atsumu into a hug which surprises him, "of course, I'm most thankful for you because you make my treats and make daddy happy,"

Atsumu didn't expect what he heard, and so did Kiyoomi because when Atsumu raises his head to look at Kiyoomi, his eyes were wide, and his cheeks were flushed.

"How do I make your daddy happy?" Atsumu asks without breaking eye contact with Kiyoomi.

"By talking to him, silly. You see, daddy had been very sad lately, but ever since he started buying treats from you, he comes home happier," Sayomi says and pulls away, "that's why I wanted to meet you, Atsumu-san,"

Atsumu doesn't know how to respond properly, so he ruffles her hair and says, "I'm glad I can make your daddy happy,"

The rest of the day proceeds, with Atsumu, Kiyoomi, and Sayomi sharing a meal they prepared in the kitchen. It was already late when they finished talking, and Atsumu didn't want them to leave eating nothing but pastries, so he offers to cook them. But he didn't expect them to help.

The kitchen was too small for all three of them, but it was fun nonetheless. Atsumu found out that Kiyoomi cooks for them, but his knowledge in cookies was limited to a few kinds of pasta, ramen, and a few dishes. So, Atsumu decided to cook something Kiyoomi didn't know how to prepare so he and Sayomi could learn.

That night Sayomi and Kiyoomi leave with some leftovers from their dinner.

"Thanks for the meal, Atsumu," Kiyoomi says shyly while Sayomi waits in the car.

"it's nothing. I had fun," Atsumu says.

The atmosphere around them turned a bit awkward after what Sayomi said about Atsumu making Kiyoomi happy. But the awkward silence didn't last when Kiyoomi said, "Why don't we go out next time? All three of us,"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Atsumu asks, and Kiyoomi nods, "my invitation sucks, but I'm hoping you'd say yes,"

Atsumu laughs and takes a step towards Kiyoomi, "I'd love that," he whispers and kisses Kiyoomi's cheek.

Atsumu steps away and sees Kiyoomi staring at the ground with his cheeks flushed, "oh, Omi-kun, that was just a kiss on the cheek,"

"Shut up!" Kiyoomi says and turns away, "anyway, I'll come by tomorrow to pick you up,"

"Sounds good to me. See you tomorrow, Omi-kun," Atsumu says with a smile.

"See you tomorrow, Atsumu,"

The next day arrives, and Kiyoomi does pick Atsumu up with Sayomi. The date was fun, and it made Atsumu feel like they were a family. That one date alone was enough to make Atsumu feel happy and less lonely. But that loneliness stopped coming when Kiyoomi constantly asked him out on dates.

Every month, Kiyoomi would ask Atsumu out on a date. Sometimes, they'd bring Sayomi with them. Sometimes, it'll just be them. The dates were fun, and it made Atsumu feel happy and full. Kiyoomi and Sayomi shooed away the loneliness Atsumu had been feeling ever since his adulthood.

But sometimes, Atsumu would wonder how long it'll last.

The day came when Kiyoomi stopped visiting the bakery. Atsumu thought maybe Kiyoomi was just busy. But the text messages became lesser with each passing day until all Atsumu receives are good mornings and goodnights. It scared Atsumu that maybe Kiyoomi was over it. That Atsumu didn't make Kiyoomi happy anymore.

But after three weeks of Kiyoomi being cold, he asks Atsumu to meet him at their favorite restaurant. This made Atsumu think, "ah, he's finally breaking up with me," and despite the pain in his chest, Atsumu goes to visit him.

Atsumu arrives, thinking this would be the last time he'd ever meet Kiyoomi and Sayomi again. So, he was surprised when the lights opened, and all he saw were Kiyoomi and Sayomi standing in the middle.

"Kiyoomi, what's happening?" Atsumu asks, but Kiyoomi didn't answer. Instead, their families came out, each holding a letter to form the sentence, "will you marry me, Atsumu?"

Atsumu was stunned, and he didn't know what to do. He ended up staring at the words in front of him until Kiyoomi walks up to him and takes his hand before kneeling down.

"Everything might seem too fast to you. We've only been dating for a year, and yet here I am on my knees, asking you to marry me," Kiyoomi starts and kisses Atsumu's hand with quivering lips, "but you make me and Sayomi so happy that I think this is the only way for all three of us to be happy together for the rest of our lives,"

Atsumu's tears start to fall as he waits for Kiyoomi to continue.

"It's so bold of me to assume that we give you the same happiness you give us, but you just seem to smile brighter when you're with us. So, I'm taking this risk and asking you to marry me, Atsumu," Kiyoomi ends and raises his head to look at Atsumu.

"You idiot, who acts so cold to their significant other when they're about to propose, huh?" Atsumu asks and jokingly kicks Kiyoomi's knee, "you suck at this. You should've been sweeter, not cold,"

Kiyoomi chuckles, "I'm sorry,"

"I would've said yes if you weren't so cold, you know," Atsumu says, making Kiyoomi panic.

"So, are you saying no?" Kiyoomi asks and gulps.

"I'm thinking about it," Atsumu jokes.

But Sayomi seemed to have taken it seriously because she runs to Atsumu, clings on his pants, and says, "please, don't say no, Atsumu. I really want you to be my papa,"

Sayomi had tears in her eyes as she said it and made Atsumu's heart clench.

"I was just joking, Sayomi. I'd love to be part of your family. It's just that you're dad is terrible at this," Atsumu says after kneeling down and hugging Sayomi.

Atsumu can hear the sigh of relief Kiyoomi had put out and laughs before turning to Kiyoomi, "you're lucky Sayomi's here to make up for your coldness,"

Kiyoomi rolls his eyes at Atsumu's words, "right like you didn't want to marry me in the first place,"

"Why are you suddenly so cocky?" Atsumu asks in disbelief, "it's because you already said yes,"

Kiyoomi smirks at him and takes his right hand to put the ring on his finger and placing a kiss on it, "thank you for saying yes, Atsumu,"

Atsumu smiles, "No, I'm glad you asked me to marry,"

And ever since then, Atsumu didn't have to wonder what it'll be like to have someone waiting for you at home because now he comes home to his husband and their daughter.

--*--

I also have this posted on Twitter.

[unmaskedagain]

White Horse (This Ain’t a Fairytale)

          Quick one-shot. Needed to do something sort of different.

 Marinette had dreamed of the moment. The moment she would finally be brave enough to look Adrien Agreste in the eyes and tell him how she left; that she loved him. She had pictured, hoped, how would be a thousand times. It would be like fairy tale. Adrien the handsome prince. Her, the princess. He’d sweep her off her feet. And they’d go get ice cream together, ready to start her happily ever after. Like in the movies.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Adrien frowned, scratching his head, like he didn’t know what to say. “I just don’t think of you that way.”

           In retrospect, Marinette should’ve known better.

“Oh,” Was all Marinette could say. She felt numb, despite knowing her heart had shattered in her chest.

           Because of course he wouldn’t feel the same. Marinette so stupid to think he would. She should’ve known… She should’ve known!

           Adrien shrugged, “It’s not you,” He offered. “I like someone else.”

           Because of course he did.

“Yeah,” Marinette nodded, looking anywhere but at him. “Cool. I get it.”

“I might’ve considered once,” Adrien rushed to add. “But you sort of changed.”

           Marinette took a step back, “Changed?” She didn’t change at all.

“You’ve been distant from the class and all our friends,” Adrien explained. “And the whole Lila thing?”

“Lila?” Marinette said numbly. “She’s a liar, and people deserve to know the truth. And I haven’t been distant from the class. They’ve been ignoring me.”

“Because you keep calling Lila out,” Adrien put in. “It’s causing problems. She’s not hurting anyone.”

           Marinette looked at him, really looked at him. “You don’t think that she’s hurting anyone. Not even Nino who she promised would meet a big time director so he’s not finishing his piece for film festival. Or Nathanial who broke off a great partnership with Marc because Lila promised he was better off and that she introduce him to DC comic book writers? You don’t think that’s hurting him?”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Adrien shrugged. “They’ll be other opportunities. Marc will take Nathanial back if he apologizes.”

           Again, Marinette just stared. Because no! No Marc wouldn’t because Marc was already poached to work on Claude’s graphic novel about a kid who finds out he’s the descendent of Van Helsing.

           Could Adrien be serious? Was he that naïve? Was Marinette? Had she gotten so lost in his eyes that she never even stood a chance of seeing what he was really like? How could she claim if she had ever loved him if that was the case?

“And when the class finds out Lila’s lying,” Marinette raised her hand to stop Adrien from interrupting. “And I have no further intention of outing her,” To her disgust he looked pleased. “When they find out she’s lying, and the fact that they stopped being my friends, bullied me, harassed me in some cases, and basically given me the cold shoulders for almost a year. Do you think I will forgive them? That we’d go back to being friends?”

“Of course you will,” Adrien said brightly. “Why wouldn’t you?”

           Marinette just blinked, amazed. “Because they hurt me.” She just shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when get there.” And Marinette would take sweet pleasure in burning it down. “I’m going to go now…” She started to walk away.

“I’m sorry again!” Adrien called.

           Oh that Marinette knew for certain. And so was Marinette for that matter.

Over the next few weeks, Marinette was in a state of confusion. Her heart had been crushed. But it seemed to fade rather quickly. Mostly because every time she thought about him, she’d hear his words and feel sick. All those dreams she had about her and Adrien made her want to bang her head against the wall. Because what if that’s she came across; with all her fairytale wishes. Life wasn’t a fairy. She wasn’t a princess. No one was going to come sweep her off her feet. And unlike Adrien, she had always known that life wasn’t anything like the movies.

The issue was that maybe she was more like Adrien then she thought. Didn’t she think that once her friends knew the truth everything would be okay? Didn’t some part of her think Alya and her would go back to being besties? That’ll it would all be bygones? But what about all the hurt feelings? The broken trust? The cruel words? Those all didn’t just vanish. That wasn’t how life worked. There was no possible way for them to go back to the way it was.

And the more she thought about it, the more Marinette wasn’t sure that she wanted it to.

Marinette had been really tired of being taken for granted; all those school trips, dances, birthday parties, fundraisers, and she never even got a thank you. A lot of her classmates just frowned in disapproval once Lila mentioned how she could’ve done it better, made it better if Marinette had let her help. So Marinette gracefully quit being class president; let someone else take the lead. She was tired of doing free commissions; it cost a lot of money and time and no one seemed to even care. Then Lila mentioned how she had a tailor and personal designer who was so much faster than Marinette, who might be doing it on purpose as no one could be that slow. In the face the suspicious glares, Marinette had casually mentioned how great it was for Lila to offer to help their classmates as Marinette would no longer be able to do free commissions. Then Marinette decided that the next thing to go was demands, not asks, of her time. This had come after Alya had dropped off her little sisters’ at Marinette suddenly and cited how busy she was. Only for Marinette to see posts about a class party.

           Then Marinette made sure she was always busy. And she asked her parents not to just let anyone up to her room. Marinette had to go get then now.

No, Marinette was quite sure, she rather nothing went back to the way it was. Too much had been said and done. It was too late for fairy tales or movie magic. Too late for anyone on a white horse to come around to carry her off to a happy ending.

Time passed, and Marinette watched with a twisted feeling of glee in her chest, when the entire class seemed to slowly fall apart. First it was the winter school trip. Originally, Marinette had planned an amazing tour of presidential office and then a quick trip to the beach. However, when it became clear that nothing had been done yet for the trip despite months of warnings, Marinette backed out of going. She laughed for days, when she saw the pictures of the class on a local farm.

Then it was the school dance. Lila’s personal designer apparently suffered a horrible fire in her studio and all the dresses were destroyed; leaving most of the girls in the class in tears. They’d gone in old dresses. Marinette, however, had worn her most fabulous design yet. A beautiful, lacy, scarlet dress that made her look WOW, as her new friends had put it. Luka had been her date; only as a friend of course. The two had realized that while they had a lot in common, the attraction wasn’t sexual.

Fundraisers were next. And the targets were never hit. Trips to festivals, museums that required more than a few hours ride, and the like were cancelled. The annual spring trip, something the class had looked forward to for two years, had been all but cancelled. Usually, it was trip to another country for two weeks. Marinette had planned on New York. But Marinette was no longer class president by the first week of October.

Marinette’s only problem came when Rose and Juleka broke up. The one other pairing, Alya had once sworn, the class was more invested in than Adrien and Marinette getting together. The two had been so in love. Then Lila happened.

She got into Rose’s head about deserving a prince, about how shy Juleka couldn’t really be serious about her if she never expressed it like others did, and what about Prince Ali? How would he feel if he found out Rose was dating someone else.

And Rose, poor sweet Rose had always had a head full of fairy tales. She never stood a chance.

It wasn’t surprising when Luka and Marinette found Juleka crying on the deck of the boat. Marinette had taken mercy on the girl. She made not have been Juleka’s friend anymore but she was still Luka’s sister. And anyone could see she needed time away,

So After a quick intervention, Juleka now knew Lila to be the biggest Liar on the planet. Marinette invited her on her trip to Metropolis for spring break. The trip had been under the guise of World explorers club, which had been just Marinette and her new friends (Claude, Marc, Ondine, Aurore, Luka, Bridgette, and Felix) who saved enough money to spend two weeks in the States away from their and any and all drama.

To make it look education, and to stop Mendeleiev from giving them suspicious glares, they even book a tour of LexCorp. Again, mostly to appease Mendeleiev.

However, Lexcorp was the highlight of the trip if you asked Marinette. She’d run into Connor Luther-Kent, a small town boy, with biceps as big her head, and the biggest blue eyes she’d ever seen and promptly knew exactly how she’d be spend the rest of her vacation.

Connor had led the tour.

…Okay so Connor was supposed to lead the tour. But he and Marinette had kept sneaking glances at each other with blushes on their faces so much that his Aunt Lena, who swore she wasn’t spying, took over the tour. Eventually Connor and Marinette felt the far back of the tour, trading jokes and accidently touching hands. They didn’t even notice when tour ended.

“And the concludes the tour,” Lena announced. “Oh pretty French girl making eyes at my nephew, Connor’s free tomorrow around 6. He’d love to meet you at the fair in town. Maybe win you a stuffed animal.”

           Connor turned bright red.

“Oh Marinette would love to go, handsome farm boy,” Mendeleiev answered with a smirk. “She just wants to say her curfew is eleven. She’ll brings friends, so brings some of yours. And she respectable girl who doesn’t kiss on first dates.”

           Marinette squeaked.

“Understood,” Lena beamed at the embarrassment of the blushing teens. “Connor’s a gentleman. And such a boy scout, if pretty French girl doesn’t make the first move, nothing will happen. He’s a shy one.”

           Mendeleiev crossed, “That might be a problem. Marinette’s just as shy as handsome farm boy. I guess we’ll see what happens.”

“Guess we will,” Lena smiled.

           The two women and the rest of Marinette friends just stared at the two teenagers who looked ready to die.

           The fair was great. Marinette’s friends and Connor’s got along great. Though Luka skipped out with a handsome kid named Tim. Aurore found redhead named Wally intriguing. Ondine ditched everyone to go hang out with a black boy with blond hair name Kaldur. Marc and Claude left together. And finally Juleka and a girl named Artemis went to ride the Ferris wheel together. Turned out, Juleka had a thing for blondes.

           Marinette and Connor spent the entire time, holding hands, and eating weird fair food, and getting more than a little lost in each other’s eyes.

           The rest of the trip was pretty much the same. The two friend group would meet up and usually break off into couples not long after.

           Marinette did find herself covering for a curfew breaking Luka at one time, another for Ondine. And most surprising for Juleka, who assured everyone she was fine through texts, but didn’t make it back to the hotel till the next day. Luka high-fived his sister on her way in.

           The only times, it was a couple-free zone when was when they had to do something educational. The daily planet had been fun. Lois Lane had been insightful and gave great advice to Aurore. She had been interviewing an Olympian swimmer who had no problems shelling out advice to Ondine. And then to the local history museum and the art museum.

           It took everything they had to convince the teacher that a movie premiere was education. If the movie was some action superhero blockbuster, it might’ve been easier. But still the glasses wearing teacher caved, though with way she eyed Chris Evans, Marinette thinks they might tried too hard.

           And once when Marinette got backstage passes to see Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale perform on their Pop and Rock tour. Neither star hesitated to bring Marinette and her friends on stage. They had announced her as their fashion designer, who did the amazing dress Clara was wearing and rocking look Jagger sported. Luka got to play guitar for Jagged. Clara and Jagged did a cover of an old *NSYNC song that her mom had revealed was her favorite song growing up.

(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You.

           The bluenette had shed a few tears on stage, in front of everyone.

           Marinette would find out later that the concert was live streamed.

           Her most heart stopping moment came when Marinette met Connor’s parents; it had been an accident. They had been going to outside concert when Connor remembered he needed to drop something off at his dad’s place, and it was just going to be for five minutes. They had gotten to the penthouse. Connor left her in the living room. Marinette had been looking at the pictures on the mantle when she heard a clearing of the throat.

           She turned around and came face to face with Times’ man of the year, Lex Luthor. Never again, will she considered Gabriel Agreste scary. He was tickle-me Elmo compared to Lex Luthor, maybe a rouge furby doll. Those things were always creepy.

           Lena stood next to him with a pretty blond woman Marinette knew to be Kara, who Marinette knew from picture to be Connor’s aunt, who worked out of National city.

“You must be… Marinette?” Lex drawled.

           Marinette fought not to smooth out her fifties-style chic sliver dress. “Yes, Sir. Connor just stepped away.”

           They made light conversation after that. Marinette telling about her interests and achievements and wondering where Connor was because five minutes her ass. When Connor’s other dad arrived.

           A ruffled looking man looking man, that looked remarkable like Connor, that wore the most hideous plaid shirt she’d ever seen. “Hi’ya, I’m Clark. Connor’s dad.” He introduced. Clark held out his hand. “You must be Marinette, Connor hasn’t stopped talking about you since you two met.”

           Marinette shook his hand with a smile. And she didn’t mean the say, doesn’t how it slipped out. “Who let you out of the house dressed like that?”

           The two men froze. So did the women.

“What?” Clark asked a stunned look on his face.

“Seriously!” Marinette said, unable to stop herself. “That shirt shouldn’t just be thrown away. It should be burned to ashes and fed to the designer.”

           Clark blushed, and pushed his glasses up. “I like it. It looks like my other ones.”

“There are more of those sins of nature!” Marinette exclaimed. “How? Why? Who hurt you?”

           Lex smirked.

           That was when Connor came into the room, with a smile on his face. He wrapped an arm around Marinette’s waist and looked at his parents, “What’s going on?”

“An intervention,” Marinette snipped.

           Lex Luther pointed at Connor, “Marry that girl.”

           Lena and Kara fell down laughing.

           Connor’s face turned red.

           Clark looked like a confused puppy.

           Marinette came with apology cookies the next day.

           Connor and Marinette were officially boyfriend and girlfriend by the time the trip ended.

           While they were gone, however, things in Paris weren’t going great for the class. The three days of break had been great. Spring trip was just to an amusement park which had disappointed quite a few, but they’d perked up when Alya pointed out that at least Marinette wasn’t there to ruin it all for them. As far as they were concerned life was good without the bluenette.

           Then the fourth day happened. And Juleka posted her first picture. Marinette, her new friends, Juleka; the World Travel’s club, in Metropolis. The mood quickly soured after that. The pictures of their fabulous hotel rooms. The pictures of them at LexCorp with Lena Luther herself; Max was left reeling. Then came the pictures the fairs and dates the group had gone on. Alya had nearly cried when she saw the pictures of the tour of the Daily Planet. Rose had cried when she saw Juleka with some beautiful girl named Artemis.

           The worst of it happened when the entire class got together to watch Pop and Rock on tour as Alya’s house. The concert had been stream. And They had all been so excited. Until Marinette was called on stage, and along with all her friends. The popstar and Rock star dedicated a song to Marinette.

           It had been a trip worthy dreaming about.

           That was when the class remembered just how amazing Marinette had been at planning school trips. Why they ever wanted her to resign, they couldn’t remember.

           Adrien saw a picture Marinette and some dark haired boy holdings hands and for some reason felt his heart break a little.

           When they got back to Paris and the break ended, Marinette and Juleka walked to class with their heads held high and love in their hearts. When the girls got to their seats, Alya was the first to try and ruin their good mood.

“Have fun over break?” She snapped.

“Loads,” Marinette raised an eyebrow. “As many times as you like Juleka’s pics of the daily planet I’d assumed you know that.”

           Alya’s temper grew as jealous soared through her, “You could’ve at least invited your friends.”

“I did,” Marinette stated. “Or don’t you remember when you yelled at me the lunchroom that you weren’t my friend anymore. And rest of you agreed.”

           Some looked ashamed. Others still looked petulant.

“Our trip sucked,” Kim groaned. There were nods in agreement.

“Talk to your class president,” Marinette shrugged. “Last I check, that wasn’t me.” She motioned to Lila. “I’m surprised Lila couldn’t do something better with all the connections she has. I’m sure she could out due a bunch of kids who just saved a few bucks over the course of the year.”

           Lila smiled pleasant but the look in her eyes could’ve killed Marinette, “I was so busy. With all my charity work. There was no time.”

           Marinette hummed in response.

“You all looked so amazing at the movie premier!” Rose beamed. It was clear to those who really looked that the blond was sad, maybe even heartbroken.

           Juleka nodded, finding that the sight of her ex-girlfriend wasn’t as devastating as it would’ve been before the trip, “Marinette designed all of our clothes.”

           It took six months after that for Lila’s kingdom to crumble and for the entire class to apologize to the bluenette. Unfortunately, Marinette didn’t react like they’d hoped. Sure, she accepted their apologies, even forgave them, but she made it clear they weren’t friends. They’d never be friends again.

           Adrien had given her a disappointed look afterwards and had tried to convince her that everything could go back to the way it was. She shrugged, and didn’t dignify him with a response.

           It was three months after for Hawkmoth to finally be defeated thanks to Connor who turned out to be Superboy and the rest of Young Justice who may or may be dating the rest of the new team Miraculus.

           It was a week later that Chat Noir and Ladybug revealed themselves to each other. It didn’t go as either of them had hoped.

           Marinette didn’t know who was more surprised. Her or Adrien. She frowned when she saw the hope in the blond boy’s eyes.

           Adrien had been stunned and then a happy smile appeared on his face. Ladybug and his princess was one in the same. She had liked him. Had asked him out. Adrien may have been stupid to turn her down but that it didn’t matter anymore. It would all work out, “Princess,” He said. “I knew we were meant to be.” That was what he thought until Superboy flew down to stand next to Marinette.

           Marinette gave Adrien a pitying smile, “I’m not a princess, Adrien. This isn’t a fairy tale. This isn’t the movies. We already had our chance.  I’m leaving Paris. I’m joining the justice league. It’s too late to catch me now.”

[smolthealmighty]

Spinaraki Week Level 2 Day 1: Chase

Give Myself To You

When Spinner had the idea to visit his hometown and show off his old hideaways to Tomura, he thought it would be romantic. He could turn these sad places where he went to cry into secluded havens where he could spend some quality alone time with the love of his life, and do something he's wanted to do since their third date. He was not expecting a neon orange pickup truck to interrupt the date by hurtling towards them at high speed.

In which Spinner's old bullies want to run him over with their truck, Tomura wants to beat the shit out of them for daring to try, and Spinner just wants to pop the question.

~~~~~

This was not how this date was supposed go. Spinner just wanted to show his boyfriend around his hometown, give him a tour of all the isolated spots he would hide away in before he eventually shut himself up inside the Iguchi house. It was gonna be a nice romantic getaway, where the places he associated with some of his worst memories could be re-contextualized as he turned them into secluded little havens where he could woo his boyfriend –and eventually propose to him– in peace.

There they were, sitting together at the edge of the forest that semi-surrounded the town, watching the sun start to set over the hilly meadow that lay below them. Tomura was fully relaxed for once, leaning heavily on his boyfriend as he reminisced about the utter disaster that was the one time they tried to go clubbing, while Spinner was mustering up his courage and fidgeting with the rings in his jacket’s pocket. Just as he turned to face Tomura and was about to start the speech he had been revising in his mind since –admittedly– their third date, he saw the unmistakable neon orange pickup truck that belonged to Spinner’s worst nightmares, Nōtarin, Iyaga, and Rase, speeding in the background. And the truck was gunning straight for them!

“Oh no.”

“Hm, what do you mean ‘oh no’?” asked Tomura, who also uttered an “oh no” once Spinner pointed towards the truck that was now only a hundred meters away. With reflexes that were still etched into his bones after years of dealing with the trio, Spinner clutched his boyfriend close and launched the both of them down the hill in a barrel roll, barely missing the thick tires of the truck as it blew past them.

“What the hell was that shit?” yelled Tomura, as Spinner shot up, grabbed his hand, and lead them towards one of the few trees that dotted the meadow.

“Those are the assholes I told you about, the ones who always went after me. One of them must’ve seen me and recognized me, and now they’re picking back up from where we last left off!”

“You last left off with them trying to turn you into roadkill?!”

As they ducked into the hollow, a chorus of brash voices with heavy country accents boomed across the meadow.

“Shuichi, you purse designer’s wet dream! Why don’t you let us mount your lizard head to the wall like the hunting trophy you are!”

“Nōtarin, I saw someone with him, hey gecko geek, do you mind if we mount your friend too?”

“Damn Iyaga, keep it in your pants. Though to be fair, compared to talon-hands you’d probably be a better fit!”

At this point Tomura was already struggling against Spinner to march out of the hollow and wreak vengeance. “C’mon Spinner, I’ll mount their heads on our base’s wall!”

“Would you just gimme a sec to cool down a bit?!” Tomura relented and stopped squirming, letting Spinner hold him as he tried to stop trembling.

“Ugh, I swear, they always know how to get under my skin. And I really thought I’d be over them by now.”

Tomura turned to face Spinner and squeezed him back, taking his boyfriend’s scaly beak and pressing it into his scarred neck. “You’ll be alright. You’re just a little stuck, I’m right here if you need a push you know.”

Spinner sighed as he nuzzled the curve of Tomura’s shoulder. “I know I’m not the pinnacle of dating material but damn, people can have different tastes.”

Tomura snorted, “Oh please, as if those hillbilly bitches know anything about ‘good taste’. If your loyalty and empathy for empty husks like me aren’t enough to prove ‘em wrong, then you having the muscles to be able to wield a giant ‘fuck you’ sword should’ve done the job. The fact they can’t see any of that just shows that their IQ scores are all in the negatives.”

Looking up and seeing Tomura’s self-assured smile, the smile graced his face whenever he was so sure that he was right, knowing that he truly believed that his boyfriend was really all that, melted Spinner’s heart into a puddle of goo.

“Marry me.”

Maybe melted it a little too much.

“Huh?”

Realizing what just came out of his mouth, Spinner blushed violently and tried to start some damage control. “Uh shoot I mean um-”

“Hey Nōtarin, let’s ram into that tree! I think I hear them over there!”

Hearing that brought Spinner back to his senses, and he dragged Tomura out of the hollow, Nōtarin swerving just enough to only nick one of the headlights off the truck before resuming the chase.

“Son of a bitch, I had it all planned out and I messed it up!”

“Had what planned out?” asked Tomura, still in a whirl from what he was pretty sure he heard Spinner blurt just seconds ago.

“You know what, it’s fine, I’ll just do it on the fly. Follow me!”

They booked it across the meadow, Spinner weaving them around the hidden hills and valleys camouflaged beneath the waist-high grass. The truck kept slowly gaining on them, but the constant bangs and thumps of the truck bouncing against the uneven ground and the arguing between the driver and his passengers betrayed how little the tormentors knew about the terrain.

“Dammit, stay still you lizard-fuck!”

“Nah, let him keep running. Makes the chase more exciting!”

“Maybe if you’d gotten your driver’s license, you’d actually be able to hit him Nōtarin!”

“Fuck off Rase!”

Jumping over a particularly thick mud puddle, Spinner finally began the speech that had been previously interrupted.

“I’m sure you already know that I fell for you pretty fast-”

“Understatement of the year, but I’m not one to talk.”

The neon orange paint was splattered with mud, with the new coat of brown getting bigger as the wheels spun, sluggishly making its way through the puddle.

Spinner laughed breathlessly as he continued, “-yeah, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able put how much the love you gave me in return means to me into words. I couldn’t do it even if the ocean was made of ink and the earth was paper, it just wouldn’t be enough.”

“Shuichi…”

“And, well, since I can’t use words, I thought I’d show my devotion with some kind of gift, but I don’t really have much to give you except myself. Still, I’ll give that to you for the rest of my life if you want it.”

By this point they had stopped just a few feet in front of a moss-covered boulder, one that blended in with the green grass and was in the direct pathway of the truck that continued driving towards them at top speed.

Ignoring the oncoming truck, Spinner took Tomura’s other hand into his own, and softly asked, “Tomura, will you marry me?”

The truck hit the rock, skyrocketing up and over the couple. The screams of the driver and his passengers fell on deaf ears as Tomura gazed into bright, cherry-petal eyes and answered the proposal:

“You’re more than enough for me, you’re more than I could ever dream of asking for. Of course I’ll marry you.”

Not even a moment after he accepted, a loud crash echoed across the meadow as the truck collided with the ground, flipping over as it did so. The bullies were quick to exit the wreck and make their way towards the still lovestruck duo to attack them. It was a farce from the start, the newly established fiancés barely paying them any attention as they began to brawl.

“Look at you all smiley and shit,” said Tomura as he kicked Rase across the field.

“Why wouldn’t I be all smiles? I’m gonna get to marry to the love of my life! You should see your face right now, looks like your smile’s gonna split your face in two with how big it is!” exclaimed Spinner, dodging Nōtarin’s sluggish punches with ease.

“Touché, fiancé. I bet you’ve already got a plan for everything that comes next, you gooey romantic.”

“Well, I was thinking we could have a small ceremony, just us and the league. Nothing too fancy, we’d just do the vows, ring exchange, ‘I do’s’, and sealing it with a kiss, all within fifteen minutes tops. That way we can splurge on the reception, the best music-” Nōtarin screamed as his arm was sliced by Spinner’s hunting knife.

“-the most delicious food and drinks-” Nōtarin gurgled as the knife ran through his neck.

“-and a cake so big that’ll make everyone sick. We’d just have to grab someone to officiate the thing and make it official.”

“We can get Giran to do it, he’s got just enough connections that he could make it happen.” Iyaga howled as his chest caved in.

“And for the honeymoon, I was thinking about taking a joyride on the coastline. We could stock up the van and make stops at all the beaches, and maybe get rid of a few heroes along the way if we’re up for it.”

“That sounds good to me, I’m certainly looking forward to having some fun alone time to ourselves!” Tomura cried happily, as Rase joined Iyaga in the pile of dust that lay at his feet.

~

By the time they came down from the high of the fight, the sun was dipping below the tree line, Tomura and Spinner sprawled out next to each other on the bloodstained earth.

“Ah shit,” said Tomura, “I just realized that there goes my future date idea of murdering your hometown bullies.”

Spinner chuckled at his fiancé’s annoyed tone, “That’s okay, we only murdered a couple of them. Next time we can take down the town leaders who encouraged everything, make a day out of it.”

“Hmm, alright, but I’m planning it. It’s only fair.”

Satisfied, Spinner let out a sigh before suddenly sitting up. “Oh right, I gotcha these,” he said as he pulled the rings out of his pocket.

“It’s just a pair of those plastic rings from the arcade we went to a while back, but I figure we’re not gonna wear these for too long because they’re just engagement rings. We can rob a jewelry store together to pick out the wedding rings.”

“Sounds perfect,” said Tomura, as they each took turns slipping the rings onto each other’s fingers. Taking a second to let the presence of a ring on his finger sink in, Tomura smiled and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful that Re-Destro only snapped off my first three fingers.”

“Well, that’s one way to say you’re happy to be engaged,” Spinner joked.

“Hm. Then I’ll say it more romantically, just for you.” This time, it was Tomura who took Spinner’s hands into his own as he spoke his piece:

“Shuichi, you are one thing in this world that I could never hate, and the only person I will ever promise myself to. I’ll do whatever it takes to give you the life you want to live. I love you, and I’ll continue to love you until the stars grow cold, and even after that.”

If that speech hadn’t already swept Spinner off his feet, then the deep kiss Tomura initiated sent his heart skyward with how much it fluttered. When they both came down to earth, they went about flipping the thoroughly beat-up truck right side up, and as the last rays of sunlight disappeared beneath the horizon, the newly engaged couple drove off into the ink and lavender sky.