#sometimes it’s just so :/ … like maybe put down chloe and max for two seconds and talk about the literal game

[langfield]

every time i see a review of double exposure that harps on max’s and chloe’s characters only to then repeat the same criticism everyone and their mother has already said without actually elaborating upon the praise they do want to give de and without talking about any of the new plots, characters, or themes in depth i sigh a little. where’s some damn newness

[miraculouswolf99]

The Language of Flowers

I love Chloe Salt and while this is not the most action-packed of one-shots, I hope you all appreciate the effort that I did to research each and every meaning of the flowers.

*****

Lyon and Vallia Garden.

The first, a teen that would be described as having a heart of ice and a gaze that could freeze you solid. His twin sister, on the other hand, was pretty much said to be a flower garden made human with tree sap instead of blood.

Yet the two stuck to each other as if they were one of those pairs of conjoined twins. The two were opposites in personality, style, and even how they talk. But even then, they were as close as a brother and sister could be.

Nobody in Ms.Bustier's really had any idea about the two foreign students in their class. Of course, they knew that it was part of a program for students of different countries to experience other cultures. But it was almost like having two ghosts in class. They would come and go each day, silent as ever, and it was like they were never there at all.

There wasn't really much of a problem with them, especially since the first day they were there was pretty much the only time they had ever spoken. But they spoke only to give the class brat, Chloe, a good tongue lashing that they all thought she deserved when she tried to make the two as submissive to her as Sabrina. But since then, the two were so silent that most people that were not in the classroom thought that they were mute.

"They two of them are such a mystery," Nino says, a lot of the class hanging out in the classroom during a break since an akuma attack was recently stopped.

The twins were not in the room for reasons no one else knew.

"A mystery wrapped in an enigma and stuffed into a riddle," Alya added, the reporter in her really frustrated.

"They are not as bad as you guys think," Adrien tells them, a bit tired after his fight as Cat Noir.

"How can you be so sure," Alix crosses her arms. "They don't talk to anyone but each other and never in a language we understand."

"I've seen Lyon at his archery practice sometimes when Kagami and I are at fencing," Adrien says. "He probably just has high expectations expected of him like Kagami and me."

"It is probably the same for Vallia, as well, then," Marinette agreed.

"They could, at least, make an effort with us," Kim said.

"My calculations say that there is a less than five percent chance that the two will speak with any of us," Max says.

"They need to learn their places," Chloe sneered. "Bowing at my feet."

"Why are you even here, Chloe," Alya put her hands on her hips. "Everything that ever comes out of your mouth is about as trashy as that dumpster akuma last week."

It had been a garbage man that was having a bad day. Apparently, his daughter was sick, his partner in the truck would not stop singing opera, and then one grosser bags he was trying to put in the truck ripped open. All that combined made him a prime target for Hawkmoth. Luckily, Ladybug, Cat Noir, White Wolf, and Beautifly managed to stop him from turning Paris into one giant landfill. Which, ironically, was his villain name. Landfill.

"My father will hear about..." Chloe tried.

"Shut up, Chloe," Marinette yelled. "Maybe the reason they don't talk to us is that they think we are all just as under your pathetic thumb as Sabrina."

"I'd rather be turned back into Timebreaker than be her minion," Alix stated.

"Adrikins, you going to let them talk to me like that," Chloe tried to whine.

For once, Adrien didn't even try to defend her. He turned away from her, shaking his head. To say that the young model was sick of her never-changing attitude would be the understatement of the century. He did a lot of thinking after the Despair Bear incident. Chloe would never change how she was. She has gotten away with it for too long to ever even want to change. She especially didn't change after being turned into Queen Wasp not too long ago.

"They've only been here for a little over two weeks," Marinette reminded them. "Maybe they just need more time to adjust."

"Having friends would help them adjust, girl," Alya put her hand on her best friend's shoulder.

"There is an 86.5 percent chance of them adjusting better with friends by their side," Max said, Markov floating by his head.

The class would have talked more, but they heard the sounds of two people chattering away in a foreign language coming toward the classroom. And since Lila was still MIA since her first day in class, that meant that it had to be the twins. Everyone quickly scrambled to get into their seats and not look like they had a class meeting without the entire class.

When Lyon and Vallia walked in, the silence that had fallen over the classroom seemed to be a lot worse than being caught in a class meeting. But the Greek twins simply walked to their seats in the back and sat down for class to start up again.

"Vríkate ta sostá louloúdia," Lyon whispered to his sister. Translated: Did you find the right flowers.

"Me píre lígo, allá to ékana," Vallia whispered back. Translated: Took me a while, but I did.

The two silently had smirks on their faces.

*****

The next day, the class was unbelievably shocked by what they saw when they walked into the classroom. There were bunches of flowers on all of their desks. A different flower was on each of them. No two desks had the same flower. Except that Ms.Bustier's desk seemed to have a flower bunch with one of each blossom in it.

"Geia," the Greek twins greeted them, standing at the front of the classroom.

Most of the class was too shocked by the flowers to notice that the two of them had actually talked to them.

"Was there some type of flower akuma and we didn't know about it," Alya looked disappointed that she might have missed an akuma attack for her blog.

"Pardon," Lyon crossed his arms.

The class suddenly realized that the twins were talking to them. The two of them were also each holding a few roses in their hands.

"Are you two actually talking to us," Alix asked.

"Eínai tóso dýskolo na eísai oraía," Lyon says to his sister. Translation: They make it so hard to be nice.

"Páre, aderfí," Vallia responded. Translation: Behave, brother.

"Class, sit down," Ms.Bustier instructed. "Lyon and Vallia have some things that they have collecting in order to share with us."

"Flowers," Max asked, confused.

"We basically grew up surrounded by nature," Vallia says. "Plants can be a language all on their own. You just have to know how to use them."

Lyon took a small sniff of the roses he was holding.

"Take roses, for example," he said. "They perfectly describe us. Roses are said to represent people that are quiet and traditional. Quite fitting for the two of us, isn't it."

The class all sat down in their respected seats. Adrien and Marinette were probably the most interested ones of the class, even if they were all curious. Except for Chloe, of course.

"We spent these last couple of weeks getting to know you guys from a distance," Vallia explained. "It is one of our family traditions to give flowers to someone when they enter the family. By marriage or birth."

"We decided to take that tradition and make a classroom version of it," Lyon says. "Each of you has been given flowers that match your personalities. It took us a while to find the right ones and get them here. Luckily, we have a very wide range of flora at our family sanctuary."

"You spent over two weeks getting us flowers," Alix raised her eyebrow.

"Can there really be a flower for each of us," Mylene wondered out loud.

"You have them all in front of you," Lyon looked a little annoyed.

Vallia did have to admit that she was a tab annoyed as well. While they did not know just how much nature meant to them as a part of their lives, the doubt was still annoying.

"We figured this would show that we are more than two foreigners that like to keep to themselves," Vallia says.

"Keep in mind that I still like to keep to myself most of the time," Lyon said, Vallia knowing how much her brother likes the quiet.

"So, what do these flowers mean," Adrien asks.

To his surprise, neither of the twins pulled out a list or anything that could help them remember all the information. They must really know their stuff.

"We can start with Mylene," Vallia says, the small girl blushing. "We gave her peony flowers. They represent those that are kind and also like small gestures."

Ivan was particularly shocked by that. He had only gotten together with Mylene because she read his song as a poem after his second time being akumatized as Stone Heart. She was not up for the big-time rock and roll version he wrote it as, and just liked it as a simple poem or soft song.

"Ivan's was simpler to find," Lyon said. "The carnation flower has always been used to describe down-to-earth people. Ones that are very grounded."

The other members of Kitty Section looked at Ivan, knowing how that was very true. Ivan had always been the first to calm down any fame that might go to their heads after the Captain Hardrock incident and their performance. Well, after Luka that is. Juleka's brother was basically a saint when it came to being cool, calm, and collected.

"We chose poppies for Alix," Vallia explained the red flowers in front of the skater. "The traits that they represent are those that are creative and bold."

That was definitely Alix to a "T." Her art was a mix of both since she did spraypaint street art. And her natural athletic abilities did make her do some pretty bold things.

"Max and Kim, I thought, were the easiest to match," Lyon said. "Max has the aster flower, which represents those that are smart and devoted. Kim has hydrangeas, for those that are athletic and team players."

The class was starting to see just how much the two had worked on their "project."

"I, personally, liked to say that I enjoyed finding flowers for Rose and Juleka," Vallia smiled. "Mostly because I am holding one of their names."

That got a giggle out of the pink-dressed blond and an eye roll from Lyon.

"Get on with it, Vallia," Lyon says. "We still have actual classes to attend, sister."

The class had to hide groans, especially since Bustier was in the room and they did not want to insult her by accident.

"Fine," Vallia sighed. "I thought that tulips matched Rose because they are for the bright and cheerful. Juleka's are also my personal favorite flower, the lily. They are for ones that are quiet but also inspirational to others."

Juleka tried to hide her face in her hands, knowing that she was blushing. Rose was over the moon, for herself and her best friend. If there was any flower that was spot on for anyone in the class, it would be the one that Rose got.

"Nathaniel and Adrien ended up having the flowers that tie as my favorite," Lyon admitted. "I chose the iris for Nathaniel because it is a flower for daydreamers and the imaginative. Orchids are Adrien's because they represent those that are sophisticated, refined, but have good hearts."

Both mentioned boys blushed. While Adrien did have more friends than Nath, both of them were naturally quiet and not used to such praise. Yes, Adrien is a model, but it be a miracle to hear any sort of praise from his father. And Nath was only just starting to come out of his shell thanks to Marinette.

"Sabrina was a tad bit more difficult to match," Vallia almost did not want to admit. "But when you learn about who she is, she is optimistic and also tends to be a morning person. Those are the traits of the daisy."

Sabrina was shocked, as were most of the class. As usual, Chloe didn't care. She had been sneering at the flowers in front of her since she had sat down. Sabrina was internally jumping up and down in excitement. No one had ever tried to get to know her, especially after she became friends with Chloe.

"Alya is a very modern person while Nino also very much in the tech universe, so they were also a little difficult to translate to our olden tradition," Lyon says. "But we did think that Alya best matched with the daffodil. It represents those that are very social and also love friends and family. Nino's flower is the sunflower, a blossom for the warm and those that tend to be very happy-go-lucky."

Both of those descriptions perfectly matched the two. Alya was probably the most social person in the entire school. She had to be to run Paris's most popular blog.

"I thought that Marinette's was very much telling about who she is," Vallia says, Marinette a little embarrassed. "The calla lily is for hardworking people, but also represents people that can be said to be quite rare as well."

Marinette was now bright red as she hid her face in her arms, Alya patting her back. But you could see the look on the blogger's face that she was enjoying someone telling Marinette how special she was. The girl was too humble for her own good.

"And last, Chloe," Lyon did not look happy about it being his turn to talk when it came time to tell the brat about her flower.

"Saving the best for last," the blond ruined the nice moment the twins had created. "About time you two start giving me the respect I deserve."

That was when Lyon got the most ice-cold look on his face that the class had ever seen. Rose even shivered a little bit, as if she was actually cold from the look he gave the brat.

Adrien remembered seeing him give that look only once more. It was last week when he was at a photoshoot after school. Lyon and Vallia had been in the same park as the shoot and had heard the photographer becoming rather aggressive with him. After a few words about acting like a model should and not a teenage boy, Lyon got in the photographer's face and gave him that very look. He had not said one word, but that look was enough to make the man weak in the knees. He had not spoken to Adrien again the entire shoot and a different photographer was assigned to him soon after that day.

"Alright, here is what your flower says about you," Lyon's voice could freeze the Atlantic. "The gardenia flower represents those that like living in a life of luxury. Those that like the lifestyle of the one percent..."

Chloe seemed to be happy with that, but Lyon almost smugly popped her bubble.

"Basically, it's the flower for spoiled brats that need to get taught the meaning of the word 'no," he finished.

[tangent101]

An interesting Life is Strange writing concept

I just recently stumbled across an interesting concept for Life is Strange in which Alex Chen was adopted by the Caulfield family and went to Blackwell with Max... and it got me thinking.

First, I need to say this outright. I am using this fanfiction's idea as a launching point for brainstorming of concepts and ideas. My ideas are no better or worse than the fanfiction. This other story is fantastic on its own and does not need my input and this is not a criticism of the story. Instead, it's an examination of a basic concept: What happens if Alex Chen were to be adopted by the Caulfield clan.

The first thing to consider is this: Alex is a psychic. She is predominantly empathic and can get flashes of thoughts when emotions are intense enough and/or she focuses on what that person is thinking. So... this has caused a number of fostering situations to fall through.

Interestingly enough, there is a point when the Caulfield clan could have taken in Alex before this became an issue... and that's when Alex was 11 and first put into the foster care system. Foster parents are actually given a stipend to help pay for the financial expenses behind caring for a child, and in theory that could have been enough money to keep Ryan and Vanessa from moving out of Arcadia Bay.

But let's say that they actually adopted Alex (and thus potentially forfeited that financial boon). Would they adopt Alex and abandon Gabe to the system? Would we have two kids becoming Max's big brother and kid sister?

In this situation, Chloe would obviously know that Max has siblings now. And what's more, I cannot help but think that Alex, with her burgeoning psychic abilities, would push Max to either stay in contact or get back in contact with Chloe.

Okay, let's change things up. Alternative Reality #2 had the Chen family uproot themselves as Alex's father looked for employment. He ended up working at the docks in Seattle but losing his job when the incident happens that resulted in Social Services putting Alex and Gabe in the foster system. Alex languishes in a foster care system that is not good. Gabe ends up in Juvie. And when Alex was 14, she ends up fostered to the Caulfield family.

At this point, it's 2011. Max has been out of contact with Chloe for several years. She is pining though. And Alex, with psychic nerves rubbed raw, likely has come across several instances of this. Max, being the sort of person who hates causing a commotion, would not tell her parents about any weirdness and indeed if her parents were getting weirded out likely would come to Alex's defense. So after a small waiting period you end up having Alex adopted by the Caulfield clan... with emerging psychic powers but a family that is far more comforting and caring than the foster care system.

Alex knows how much Max misses Chloe. Yes, it's been a couple of years. But Alex herself has had friends in the foster care system that she has fallen out of touch with, others that ditched her, and she likely knows what it's like to be abandoned. Alex likely would push Max to get back in touch with Chloe early on.

I can't help but think that Max would succumb to Alex's good-intended urging on this. So Max contacts Chloe. She sends a text.

Let's say that Rachel intercepted the text. She blocks Max's number. Chloe doesn't need that drama in her life. (Bad enough that Joyce is constantly bringing up Max, and Chloe is having trouble letting her go. It's better this way. Sometimes you have to move on. Jealousy has nothing to do with this.)

Or maybe David confiscated Chloe's phone and blocked the number and deleted the text because Chloe doesn't need old friends when he's trying to break down this young soldier to rebuild into a productive member of society according to his military mindset (HA!) and Rachel's innocent in this.

Alex wouldn't just let this drop. Anyone who's played True Colors knows how stubborn our young lady is. And she's driven by psychic powers as well that are blossoming under a more loving home. Wouldn't Alex follow up with her own text? And Rachel or David likely wouldn't intercept every text or block her as well. Hell, she might go for broke and call Joyce. And Joyce sure as blazes would make sure that Chloe knew Max was contacting her. (And that Max has a sister now.)

So Chloe is now in touch with Max. The roadblocks are quite important because if Rachel blocked Max's number, then this is going to cause a bit of a blowup that weakens Chloe and Rachel's relationship, while if David were the culprit then Joyce is going to have words with him (as she loves Max and sees her as not only a second daughter but a stabilizing influence).

Of course, there is always possibility 3 - neither David nor Rachel tried to block Max's efforts to contact Chloe and that went off without a hitch but where's the fun in that? XD

Anyway, Alex would be urging Max to remain in touch with Chloe. She would also likely notice that Max is crushing hard on Chloe and may very well push Max down that path. And given that Rachel was flirting with other people... well, Max being back in Chloe's life could do one of two things - either draw Rachel closer into Chloe's circle out of jealousy, or give Rachel reason to push Chloe toward Max and do her own thing while remaining friends with Chloe.

I like Rachel. I can't help but think it would be #2, especially given what we know about Rachel from the original Life is Strange. She cared deeply for Chloe and didn't want to hurt her. So... yes, I can see Rachel helping encourage Chloe to let bygones be bygones and to pursue her own romantic leanings toward Max. We'd have shippers on either end pushing the two together (Alex pushing Max and Rachel pushing Chloe).

It might even be amusing and interesting to see Rachel and Chloe drive up to Seattle to meet Max and for Rachel in that situation to meet the mysterious Alex Chen who she's been texting and possibly flirting with on the phone. (Amberchen? Hmmm...)

One other thing that is likely to happen is that Max would be a stabilizing influence on Chloe's life. She is a pressure valve even as Rachel was more of an instigator. So with Max urging Chloe to focus more on school, we may very well see Chloe starting to apply herself more to her classes. And if Chloe doesn't get kicked out of high school then David has one less thing to rail against Chloe with.

Rachel and Chloe would graduate a year before Max would (and two years before Alex). With Max back in Chloe's life, and a new friendship growing between Alex and Rachel? Then we may very well see Rachel less desperate for an escape because now there is a plan. Go to college with Chloe up in Seattle. Sure, it's not California but there are other advantages to the region (including legal weed!) and having good friends there would be reason enough. She escapes Jeffershit's death trap by never getting close to him. Nor does she get close to Frank. Similarly, Max has no reason to go to Blackwell because Chloe is coming to Seattle!

And Alex? Alex gets a home life that is far more loving than what she went through in the original timeline. And she has good friends... which will be useful when on October 13, 2013 a truly nasty storm strikes Arcadia Bay, wiping out most of the town and killing hundreds of people including the student body of Blackwell Academy. Because fate is a fickle bitch and Chloe Price wasn't dying as a sacrifice in a bathroom in Blackwell Academy. But you know? While Chloe, Rachel, and Max grieve... Max never blames herself for something outside of her control, and the girls never went through the horrors of the original Life is Strange.

Well done, Alex! You saved the day once again! ^^ And amusingly enough, when Max, Chloe, and Rachel go with Alex to meet her brother Gabe, Max is on hand to witness Gabe's death, her powers emerge, and she saves Alex's brother... but that is a different story. ;)

[fanficgirl104]

Writing prompt: "Do you want me to leave? "

~~~~~

Adrien noticed there was something wrong with Marinette. She wasn't as joyfull or bubbly as usual, she looked as thought she was bored.

When he tried talking to her she answered his questions shortly and didn't try to make conversation like she usually does. Also, she didn't even statter once.

At first he thought it had something to do with him, but he noticed that she didn't even talk to Alya. Even Chloe didn't try to make a witty remark on the bags under Marinette's eyes. She had stayed quiet, which is unusual. As though she understood what was going on.

During last period Adrien remembered who Marinette would actually talk to. A certain black cat who liked visiting her from time to time. When school was finally over he looked over to Marinette to see her gathering he things and leaving with her head down.

He grabbed Alya's shoulder before she left. "Hey, do you know what's wrong with Mari? " He asked and Alya frowned "No. She won't tell me. She keeps saying she is fine even though it's obvious that she is not and won't let me help. Sorry Adrien she won't talk to me. I don't know why. She even asked me not to go over to her place." Adrien nodded sadly and let the redhead go.

His bodyguard walked him to the car and he could not stop thinking about Marinette. He has known her for a little more that three years now and even thought he still loves Ladybug very much, he learned to get over her and move on. That was when the sweet girl with the pigtails, a girl he considered one of his best friends, his every-day-ladybug, as he once called her, made her way into his heart.

He was visiting her as chat noir and they would talk and talk for hours. They would look at the sky and the stars. She knew a lot about them, something he recently found out, they would drink hot chocolate and share a blanket when it got cold. She would comfort him and make him feel loved and accepted for exactly who he was. Not the perfect model and shy friend everyone else thinks him to be. But the funny, adventurous, clown he really is. She would even laugh at his silly cat puns sometimes.

He thought back to the first time he realised he was in love with her.

---

It was just a normal day at school for him. No akuma attacks, no sudden explosions or anything of the kind. Just a normal, boring school day when he heard Kim talking to Max.

"Oh please! Ladybug is doing all the work, Chat Noir is just a useless idiot who makes mistakes and hold her back." He said naming Adrien's biggest fear. That he was useless, that Ladybug didn't need him. That he was holding her back. That he was vulnerable.

He looked around to find Marinette looking a second before realising smoke from her ears. Face red, if looks could kill Marinette would have tortured, brutally killed, brought back to life and killed him again. Alya was holding her arm like if she let go Mari would attack Kim like a rabid dog.

"I mean what kind of idiot almost gets his partner killed, and himself?! He is the worst partner anyone could have. He only brings bad luck. She would be better off without him, or she should at least look for a better partner." Kim said chuckling. Adrien wanted to crawl away and cry like a stray baby cat who had been hit by a bus and survived.

He almost missed the blue-black haired girl that was making her way to Kim angrily.

"EXCUSE ME?!?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?! LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR ARE EQUALS IF NOT HE IS BETTER!!!! HE MAY HAVE MADE A FEW MISTAKES BUT SHE HAS TOO. HE HAS SAVED HER LIFE MULTIPLE TIMES PUTTING HIS AT RISK WITHOUT HESITATION!!! SHE MAY BE ABLE TO PURIFY THE AKUMAS BUT SHE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO DEFEAT THE VILLAINS ON HER OWN!!! SHE WOULD BE DEAD THE MOMENT SHE EVEN TRIED TO TAKE THEM DOWN ON HER OWN!!!!! HE IS AN AMAZINGLY KIND PERSON WITH THE BIGGEST HEART, HE IS SINCERE, HE IS GENEROUS, HE IS BRAVE, HE IS THE GREATEST PARTNER SHE COULD HAVE EVER ASKED FOR!!! SHE IS THE ONE THAT DOESN'T DESERVE HIM!!! SHE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT HIM!!! IT IS SAD HOW EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT HER WHEN HE IS THE ONE GETTING THE HITS AND RISKING HIS LIFE TO SAVE US!! SHE WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITHOUT HIM!!! AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT ABOUT HIM EVER AGAIN!! YOU DON'T KNOW HIM!!! "

Adrien was sure the whole of Paris had heard her. He could stop smiling and blushing at what she had said. Did she really think that. He was close enough to hear Lila day something like "Of course trash likes trash. The most useless person on the planet would of course like the useless superhero. " He was so close to hissing at her. Like she had insulted something of his. But since when did he consider Marinette his?

He passed by her house that night to find her on her balcony curled up in a blanket holding two cups of hot chocolate. Waiting for him.

"Hello purrr-ncess. How are you in this lovely day? " He asked making an overly dramatic bow. She rolled her eyes at him playfully. "Why it had been great my kind knight. " She slightly bowed her head at him playing along.

He sat beside her, taking a sip, looking at his feet. "So, I was passing by your school.. And I heard an argument you had with K-a guy. I've been meaning to ask. Did you mean all that princess? " He hesitantly asked. Marinette turned around to look at him. She put her chocolate at the small table and cuped his face with both her hands making him look at her. "Of course I did. Every word." He averted his eyes "I didn't think I would actually matter to someone that's all. "

"You matter Kitty. You matter to a lot of people. You matter to me. " She said making him look at her shocked. He noticed how her eyes where a piercing blue in the moonlight, impossible not to notice them sparkling. Her eyes sparkle when she talks about something that she loves. He saw how her hair looked almost midnight blue when light hit them. He saw her smile. A smile that was for him. A smile he said to himself that he wanted to see everyday.

She kissed his cheek and hugged him. He felt his pulse quickening, he felt warm and at peace. Like he wanted to hold her forever. To freeze time. That was when he knew. He knew that girl was a criminal, she had stolen his heart.

---

With Marinette

"I'm tired Tikky. I'm so so tired. I can't do this anymore it's too much!! " Marinette was sobbing on her bed. She was just so sick of everything. Having to deal with school, being ladybug, being a guardian, having to lie to everyone around her. She feels like she lost her entire life. It has been three years! She was 17 going to 18. She feels as though her life ended three and a half years ago. She has lost her sleep.

Tikky was trying to comfort her any way possible but all Marinette wanted was to be left alone. On top of everything she had to deal with moving on from Adrien and her broken heart, her newfound feelings for chat noir, her «break up» with Luka and getting fed up with all the romance crap.

She was still crying softly when she heard someone tapping on her window. "Princess? " She heard Chat's voice. She remembered he promised to come by. After a minute without an answer he knocked again. "Princess?... If you don't answer in the next minute I'm coming in." He said.

Tikky begged Marinette with her eyes. She could almost hear the creature saying 'you need to talk to someone.'

She heard her window open. Apparently it had been a minute and he was worried. He thought something had happened to her. He saw her curled up on her bed her back facing him. "Princess?" He asked.

"Chat don't-dont look at me.. " She already felt insecure and her, well, maybe, crush seeing her a crying mess was not something she liked. "Why princess I bet you look beautiful, like you always do." He complimented. She didn't know that he actually ment it. That he thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever layed his eyes on. That every time she had her hair down during the nights he visited it took his breath away every time. That he thought she had the most beautiful smile that could light up an entire room. That he thought everything about her was beautiful.

He went closer to her bed while she hesitantly turned. And slightly sat up not looking at him. "Really? " She asked. She felt like such a little girl. Vulnerable. She felt disgusting like she was fishing for compliments. She is ladybug dammit. She doesn't need anyone to tell her she is pretty.

He cuped her face the way she had that night. The night he knew. He looked into her eyes and whispered "beautiful." Her slightly red nose and puffy glossy eyes gave away that she was crying. Yet he thought she looked amazing. He wiped her tears and placed his forehead against hers "what's wrong princess? " She started crying again and hugged him tightly.

"In just so tired chat. It's just too much. The responsibility is too much I can't deal with it. Everything is in the air! Nothing is in order. Nothing has a program. I am 17 and a half Chat! I've been doing this for three and a half years!! I've been lying to everyone for three and a half years. I'm saying I'm fine but I'm not chat. I'm not at all. I just want it all to stop. I just want to be alone.I can't do this chat. I'm not strong enough. "

Chat felt something inside him break. The girl that he thought was one of the strongest people he knew just broke into his chest. He didn't know what she was talking about him but he didn't really care. She would tell him when she was ready. Part of him wanted to comfort her. To keep her in his arms and let her know that it was okay to feel like this. But after the words 'I just want to be alone. ' he could help but think he was included so when she broke the hug he had to ask.

"Do you want me to leave? "

She looked at his through her lashes she didn't speak for a moment and he got nervous. He didn't want to leave her in a state like this. "No. No I don't. Please stay.. " She said. She looked tired. "I am. " He reassured her "when was the last time you slept? " He asked "I actually don't remember. " She answered and automatically yawned.

He layed her down and cuddled her. "Sleep princess. I am here now. " He whispered. She rubbed his chest making him purr. How did she know exactly how to do that? He would not find out. And frankly he didn't care. All he cared about was the sleeping girl in his arms. The girl he once thought as just a very good friend. Now he felt like an idiot. All that mattered was that she was in his arms. He would do anything to help her feel better. He didn't care about the cost.

He only cared that he was asleep with the girl he loved.

If only he knew she felt the exact same way...

[hogarthwrites]

the one

pairing: samuel drake/reader (m/f)

genre: angst, friends to lovers

warnings: none? (let me know if i should put any)

words: 2,333

summary:

part 1 part 2 Sam looks back on memories, some good, some he wishes he could forget. He feels bad about leaving you behind, but he's scared of confronting his own feelings.

note:

fin.

India

Sam didn't remember the last time he had pizza. Was it a week after he got out of prison? It definitely didn’t taste as good as it did at that moment. They’d saved the city, gave back to the people, and he probably helped Chloe find love. He did good.

But he didn’t feel all that good .

He couldn’t get the way you looked at him before he drove away out of his mind. He should’ve hugged you or said goodbye. Damn it, Samuel .

“So,” Chloe bit into her slice and stretched out the mozzarella. “What’s with you and that doctor?”

“Doctor?” Nadine raised an eyebrow. “Sam Drake has a someone?”

“I know, it’s hard to believe,” Chloe replied, erupting in laughter.

“Alright, alright,” Sam put up his hands in mock defeat.

“But is there anything going on between you two?” Chloe persisted.

“No?” He quickly said, instantly regretting it. “Shit, yes… No… I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

“We’re best friends,” Sam shrugged. “Who,” he glanced at Meenu. “Who hold hands.”

“But do you love this doctor?” Meenu piped in.

He looked at the little girl, her big bright eyes looking up at him in amusement and he didn’t know if he wanted to laugh.

“That’s a big word,” he finished his pizza. “ Love .”

“Coward,” Nadine taunted.

“When did this become a counseling session? Can’t a man just enjoy his pizza without getting grilled about his love life? Jesus.”

“As a friend , I just don’t want you missing out on a good thing,” Chloe poked him.

“Thanks for the concern, but I’m old enough to confront my own feelings.”

“Old enough, but definitely not mature enough,” Meenu muttered.

“Hey, now you’re just hurting my feelings,” he laughed.

“Don’t be a coward, Sam,” the little girl mimicked Chloe and poked him as well.

Chloe gave him a smug look and took another slice of pizza.

1978

“You’re leaving again?” Cassandra followed her husband to the door.

Sam tiptoed to the nursery, where Nathan was left on the rug, playing with blocks. He sat in front of his baby brother and held up his stuffed bear that had an eyepatch to resemble the pirates in his picture books.

“Look at this, Nathan,” he made the bear dance in front of Nathan, who looked nervous as Cassandra and Frank’s voices got louder. “This is Henry. He’s a pirate.”

“Henry!” Nathan reached for the bear.

Sam closed the door to muffle the yelling outside. It was normal now, and even though he was just seven years old, he knew it wasn’t a good thing.

“Why don’t you walk? It’ll be good for you!” Frank was saying.

He knew his mom was sick, but he didn’t know what was wrong. They didn’t ride airplanes or visit the nice lady anymore and Cassandra spent more time asleep than before.

Nathan was preoccupied with Henry when the front door slammed shut and soon after, they heard Cassandra’s footsteps as she ran to her bedroom.

“Mommy?” Sam found her under her blankets, sobbing.

“Oh, come here, honey,” she peered out at him and he crawled in under the blankets with her and Nathan. “I’m sorry you had to hear that, baby.”

“Are you feeling better, mommy?” Sam whispered.

“I’ll be fine,” she sniffled. She stared at her left hand for a while before slipping off her wedding ring. “Love is overrated.”

1987

“Right, so the cash register isn’t too hard to use,” Fred, the manager of the bookstore, led you around the back of the counter. He wasn’t that much older than you – he was probably 18 or 19 – and he stood tall and lanky as he punched buttons on the cash register. “You’ll have accountability for the accuracy of cash and charge transactions.”

“Okay,” you nodded, but you were distracted by a boy and a girl outside the shop. You recognised the boy as your coworker. Sam, was it?

“What’s going on out there?” You gestured towards the couple.

“Ah,” Fred simply glanced up. “Sam’s getting dumped. Again.”

Again? You watched as the girl was visibly upset with Sam while he tried to explain whatever it was he did wrong to her.

“I think you’re all caught up,” Fred gave you a pat on the back. “I have to go back to restocking that Stephen King book. Don’t worry about Sam too, this happens like, once a month.”

“Alright, thanks, Fred,” you busied yourself with rearranging the magazines in front of you, but you couldn’t help but glance up at Sam and the girl.

The conversation seemed to escalate and you clasped your hand against your mouth to suppress a loud gasp when she threw her milkshake at Sam’s face. She walked away in a huff and Sam stood there covered in strawberry milkshake. As he turned back to go inside the store, you looked down at the magazines again, pretending you weren’t just watching him get dumped.

“Shit,” he groaned as he tried to wipe his face clean.

“Geez, that looked rough,” you gave him an apologetic look.

Sam looked at you in confusion, wondering who you were.

“I’m the new hire,” you smiled. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

“Right…”

“Fred keeps an extra uniform in his locker if you wanna use it,” you shrugged. “I saw it when he gave me mine. Maybe you can ask him.”

“Nah, I’ll just pick it open,” Sam went to the back room.

Minutes later, he was back and clean of the milkshake.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver,” he smiled and nudged you.

“Don’t mention it. You don’t think he’ll notice it’s gone, do you?” You glanced over at Fred, who was assisting an elderly woman.

“Nah, I’ll put it back before he even notices it’s gone.”

“Right,” you chuckled, turning away as a customer placed some books on the counter. Sam sat on a stool nearby and took out a book to read. Treasure Island.

“So, um,” you turned when the customer left. “What was that out there? If you wanna talk about it.”

“That was Mina,” he didn’t look up from his book. “My now ex-girlfriend.”

“Right, I can see that.”

“She was mad about me working too much.”

“Why? How much time do you spend at the bookstore?”

“I don’t,” he flipped a page. “I work part-time at a garage after hours, fixing motorcycles and shit. Employment’s down, I’m barely getting by as it is. Also, I have shit luck when it comes to love.”

“I feel that. I think it runs in my family.”

“Did you just get dumped too?”

“Nah. My mom got tired of my dad so she ran off with a friend to Europe, then my dad fucked off to God-knows-where-ville.”

“Yeah, my dad fucked off too,” Sam laughed. “We have a lot in common, new kid.”

“I guess we do,” you smiled at him.

You and Sam were lying on your stomachs side by side, elbow to elbow on your bed watching the Angel Casas Show where A-Ha played a song.

“He has nice hair,” you pointed at the singer.

“You think I’d look good with longer hair?” Sam ran his hand through his hair.

Your face scrunched up as you tried to imagine his hair longer. “Your hair’s too messy and greasy to look as nice as his. And you're not blond."

“Is it really that greasy? I swear I try to wash it all off after work,” he pouted.

“Hmm,” you reached over and tousled his hair. “On second thought, try growing it out. It might be cute.”

“Why, thank you for finally recognising my good looks.”

“Alright, don’t let it get to you,” you pushed him off the bed and rolled over, laughing.

Arthur appeared at the door with his hands on his hips. “It’s late and I just want some goddamn rest. Time to go home, young man.”

“Hey, how’s it going, Art?” Sam winked.

“Go home,” Arthur sighed and walked away.

“I guess that’s my cue.”

You watched as Sam searched for his jacket and put it on. He stood in front of the mirror and touched his hair again, trying to style it differently.

“You really think I’d look good with longer hair?” He frowned at his reflection, annoyed that he could never get his hair to behave.

“Yeah, I guess so,” a corner of your mouth lifted into a small smile. You liked hanging out with Sam, and you didn’t know why you started thinking about him more whenever you weren’t together anymore.

“Don’t fall in love with me when I become even more irresistible,” Sam laughed as he climbed out of the window. He leaned in again with a lopsided grin on his face. “I mean it.”

You threw a stuffed animal at him. “Dream on, Sam. That’s grody to the max.”

Present Day

Sam ran his fingers through his hair as he stood outside your door. He’s been debating whether he wanted to go through with this and after a lot of failed attempts at calling you, he ended up at your doorstep.

Fuck it , he thought as he knocked. No answer.

“Come on,” he muttered. “Open the damn door.”

“Sam?” You called behind him.

Sam whipped around to see you walking up the steps with another person. Could it be?

“Fred?” He lifted an eyebrow. Fred was still tall and lanky, but his red hair was tied back in a low ponytail.

“If it isn’t Samuel Morgan,” Fred beamed.

“It’s Drake now,” Sam replied under his breath.

“Are you hurt, Sam?” You moved closer, inspecting his face. He had a cut on his nose, his lip, a bruise on his forehead and his hand was bandaged up.

“What the hell happened to your face?” Fred asked.

“I… fell,” Sam gave Fred a dirty look. “I’m fine.”

“Spare me the theatrics, Samuel,” you pushed past him and opened the door. “Come in.”

You grabbed his arm and led him to your sofa where he sat down with a grunt. His jaw clenched and he twiddled with his fingers while you went to grab your first aid kit.

“I have to go get ready,” Fred stood by the door. “Thanks for today. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you on Monday, then?”

“Of course,” you nodded. “See you then.”

“Hope you get better, Sam,” he nodded at the man on your sofa. “I’d like to catch up sometime.”

“Sure, Freddie boy,” Sam faked a smile.

As soon as the front door closed, you angrily turned back to Sam who tried to avoid your eyes. You unwrapped the bandage on his hand and saw that he had a cut on his palm and a bunch of bruises on his knuckles.

“Hold on,” you sighed and got up to put a bag of peas on his hand.

After you’d cleaned his wounds and bandaged his hand up again, you sat back and rubbed your temples. You didn't know how to deal with him anymore.

“Take care of yourself, Sam,” you muttered.

“Yeah,” he looked at the bandage on his hand and closed his fist as much as he could. “Thanks again.”

You looked up as Sam stood.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “This was a mistake. I didn’t mean to barge in on whatever it is you have with Fred.”

“Huh?” You sat up. “What are you talking about?”

“He did have the hots for you back then, I guess it just makes sense.”

“Wait,” you laughed as you stood up. “Do you think Fred and I are a thing?”

“I–” Sam held up a finger to say something, but he bit his lip as realisation dawned on his face.

“Sam, I’m a doctor. His pregnant wife is my patient,” you crossed your arms.

“Oh…”

“You’re unbelievable.”

Sam pressed his lips together as he moved closer to you. “I’m sorry that was stupid.”

You turned away in frustration, doing your best not to just throw Sam out, but he seemed like he wanted to say something.

"Can you at least tell me what's on your mind?"

“God, Sam. Right now I just have all these what ifs playing around in my head, like what if you didn’t disappear, what if we stayed together, what if we didn’t have that fight before you left for India? It might’ve been fun, we might’ve been good together.” You pointed a finger at him. “But that’s all there is with you, is there? What if? ”

“I was scared, okay?” Sam put his hands up. “I didn’t want to hurt you. Ever.”

You scoffed as you rolled your eyes.

“I’ve never done this before,” he took your hand. “I…”

Sam froze up, his chest rising and falling as he tried to find the words to say. Don’t be such a coward , he told himself. He’s been at the end of the barrel of plenty of guns, nearly died at the hands of so-called “doctors”, lived at the mercy of a rich psychopath, but he couldn’t even say the word love .

“Sam?” Your eyes bore into his.

“I…” He repeated.

Instead, he pulled you in and kissed you. It felt different from the usual, quick kisses he usually gave. It was a soft kiss and he cupped your cheek gently as you melted into his arms. There was an urgency in the kiss, almost like he was desperate to tell you how much he needed this. How much he needed you.

Your eyes were still closed when Sam slowly pulled away.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I should’ve left well enough alone.”

Before he turned away, you took his hand and he turned back to look at you.

“Don’t go,” you pulled at his hand.

“I’m trying… I want to say it,” he let out a breath.

He kissed you again, hoping you understood the message. I love you, damnit.

“I know, Sam,” you kissed his unbandaged hand. “I know.”

“Friends?” He leaned his forehead on yours and you laughed.

“Forever.”

[ecclais-fouoras]

Sometimes moving on is good

Chapter 5 pt2

Warning: slight smut

It had been a week since you had asked diane to go with you to the fun fair.

You were nervous to ask her again but, since she said that she was willing to try you did.

"Diane, will you go out at the fun fair with me tomorrow, they arrived two days ago already ?"

After a bit of esitaton she agreed, but told you she would not be doing the horror house or whatever that thing was called.

"So it's a date then, I'll pick you up tomorrow at 4pm and we'll have a nice evening then maybe if you are nice to me, I'll take you for a walk and we can have dinner at my house. Sounds good '?"

She nodded and you left before you were late for work. She always asked why you didn't work from her house since you worked at home. But you told her you didn't want to mess up her clean house with your stuff and your atelier was better for what you did anyways.

You gave her a quick kiss before leaving and she held your hand as you did.

The next day you were a bit nervous, not like you're first date, but rather because there was a lot of ways diane could not enjoy herself or even worst be hurt.

But you pushed that aside as you went to pick her up, she looked good, as usual, And she was even smiling.

"Hey !"

"Hi y/n, good to see you" she said before giving you a peck on the lips.

"You ready to go ?"

"Yeah Sure let's do this"

When you got there you opened up the door for her to come out, and closed the vehicle.

She looked a bit amazed

-"i haven't been there since I was a kid"

She said her eyes a bit watery.

So you hugged her lighltly from behind and placed a kiss on her neck.

"Let's make new memories then diane."

As you saw the first ride you took her hand and lead her to it

-"no, no no no wait we can discuss this...OMG it's huge"

you laughed and paid for your tickets as you pulled diane to your seats

"Oh are you scared now ? Don't worry I'm here i won't let you throw up"

"Aha very funny y/n, i am not scared ju...AH"

She was straddled by the small rollercoaster's move.

And clung to you for dear life.

"Diane you are not going to fall you are attached here"

you said as you pushed the bar in front of you. But she didn't stop holding you for the intier ride.

When you got out her hair was a mess and you were both laughing slightly.

You spend the afternoon going on different rides, and then stopped at a food truck.

"Do you guys have chichis or like what are they called churros?" You asked the cooking guy.

"Yes ma'am indeed we do"

"Well I'll have 25 with powdered sugar."

"Here goes 25 churros max !"

You turned around and diane was lost in her thoughts looking at a cute girl drinking a soda so you pecked her cheek softly and told her she was beautiful while you put a strand of hair behind her hear.

"Diane...tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

-" I'm happy"

-"what?" You asked a little stunned at what she'd just said.

-"I'm happy, right now, with you. Before I met you I would have seen that girl and immediately get angry because her parents have her, and i don't have chloe. But now, with you I'm happy, happy that this girl ever there is smiling and laughing while drinking this sugar field stuff."

-"oh Diane, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that, you know I really care about you...and"

-" 25 CHICHIS OVER THERE MA'am" you were cut of by your order, so you paid and took your food.

"Here you NEED to taste this" you said as you handed her one.

"This really looks like a penis y/n"

-"WHAT"

-"Well yes It does"

-"OH MY GOD WHAT KIND OF DICK DID YOU SEE IN YOUR LIFE THAT LOOKED LIKE THIS"

You both burst out laughing as you held a churro in your hand.

You continued to walk while eating and doing some of the rollercoaster and games for a few hours talking about everything.

You took her hand again and lead her to a

Stall.

"Okay imma try to win you this one"

-"I'd like to see you try"

-"you underestimate me diane"

-"well do it then"

You had to shoot all of the blue balloons in order to win. After your second try diane said that you both should try something else but you insisted.

-"wait you know what they say, third time's the charm"

And you won, she looked at you with wide eyes.

-"How did you get it ?! Those games are rigged"

-"i know but as soon as you get were the trap is, you can avoid it"

It was almost 7pm and the sun was starting to set.

"So have you been good today diane ?"

-"what ?"

-"I told you if you were good i'dd take you somewhere so...were you a good girl today ?"

She couldn't help but get a little aroused at your words but it was something you'd explore later.

-"i think so ?"

-"Okay that's good enough for me" you giggled softly and took your car and drove of.

-"where are we going y/n"

-"it's a surprise diane now close your eyes"

"Oh..okay" she said shyly.

You both arrived a few minutes later at what looked like a dead-end.

"Are you sure you took the right road darling"

-"yed, i took the exact one i wanted"

You stopped the engine close to the edge of the road.

"There we are diane, time to get out of the car".

You both got out and she was confused about where you were. So you went to her side and lead her by the hand to where you wanted and she smiled at you.

"Here, don't move and don't peak"

You went back to the car, at some point she got scared you were going to leave her here and drive off, like her mom did to her once because she wasn't doing what she wanted.

Somehow you understood her fear and yelled from the car;

"don't worry I'm not leaving you here, just grabbing some stuff."

She laughed at how ridiculous it was for her to fear that you'd leave, you were too gentle and caring for that.

You got back with a cover that you set on the grass, a few pillows and what looked like a

Cool box.

You helped her sit as she still had her eyes shut.

"There, you can open them".

She blinked a few time to adjust to the light before she took in the amazing picture she had in front of her. You were at the edge of a cliff, with the sun setting on the horizon, and she could see green fields and forests from kilometers around.

"This view is so beautiful y/n"

"It is..."

You told her as you were looking at a very different landscape, her. Her beautiful brown eyes shining orange as the sun goes down, her long and golden red hair cascading down her naked shoulders. She looked at you and your replied.

"It is...this view is beautiful" emphasizing that you ment that she was the beautiful view.

She smiled lovingly and you share a few kisses.

"I know I said we'd have dinner at my house but I couldn't help but think that a picnic here would be perfect. So I brought a few things, wine...pasta...cheese...and cake"

You pulled everything out of the cool bag and set it on the blanket.

"Oh y/n ! You have the best ideas."

You ate as you chatted and stared at the sky, when you finished the cake she said.

-"See i told you, you had overcooked it last time, now it's perfect."

"Yeah, i gotta admit, i did pretty good here"

You stayed like this for a while cuddled together as the night came. You felt her shiver and as much as you didn't want to ruin the moment you knew you should get back.

"Hey... it's getting cold here, we should go back home"

"I don't want the night to be over, of we go home, I'll only see you tomorrow."

-"no it's fine you can sleep at my house tonight."

She held your gaze for a while.

"No funny business, I promise"

She chuckled and agreed.

You drove back to your house, diane staring at the moon, and your hand on her lap most of the ride.

When you got to the door she asked ;

"Wait, i don't have my stuff to sleep should I get it?"

-"No it's fine I'll hand you some stuff"

-"oh okay"

-"So do you want to watch a movie or go to bed directly ? Or both at the same time for that matter, i have a tv in my bedroom."

-"both?"

-" don't ask me, I'm asking you diane."

-"well both then"

-"Both it is"

You took her hand and lead her to your bedroom. You found some oversized t shirt and shorts for yourself and asked her if she wanted some too, which she did.

After you got ready for bed she got out of the bathroom and she looked really sexy, the short showing her slim legs.

"Hey"

-"hi..." She replied in a small voice.

"Don't shy away diane, you are very beautiful like this, and If you don't want me to sleep here, I'll sleep in the guest room."

-"okay...so what are we watching ?"

-"i got 'tomorrowland", "gravity" or "the fault in our stars or literally anything else here, "Carol" or "elisa and Marcela"?"

-"the last one please"

-"the last on it is"

You put the dvd in and got up on the bed next to her. When the movie was over you were ...-horny-...no happy and so was diane.

"I had an amazing night y/n"

-"me too diane"

-"i wish everyday could be like this"

-"yeah..me too"

"Thank you for tonight, it was perfect"

-"thank you for being perfect"

She giggled and it send a shiver down your spine.

You were both really close, your back against the headboard and her back between your legs. She turned around and sat on her heels.

-"I really appreciate everything you do form me"

-"and i appreciate that you let me do them for you, and that you are here with me"

you softly replied before kissing her sweetly.

It was just a peck at first but then she started kissing back and by the time you were done you had her on her back, your hands caressing her hips and you were making out with her.

Your hands went under her shirt and found her bra covered breast that you kneaded lightly. She moaned against your lips and you started to kiss your way down her neck, as you worked on getting her shirt off. You heard her soft whimper of pleasure as you bit her skin gently and traced your fingers over her nipples.

You took off her bra and kissed her chest electing soft cries from her as she arched her back. She wasn't very vocal but her breathing was a good indicator of what she liked.

After you started to sick on her buds she held your head up slightly looking at your eyes "wait".

You immediately got the message and was quicker to put it into words. "Hey..we don't have to do anything tonight, we can stop anytime and just cuddle for a while before we sleep...we can take this as slow as you want."

"I...can we...I'm not sure I'm quite ready to have sex with you tonight"

you pushed yourself off of her. And laid next to her while you whispered softly;

"alright do you wanna put your shirt back on and cuddle maybe ?"

-"i'dd like that...sorry"

-"hey no no no no... No need to apologise sweet thing...we are not doing anything you are uncomfortable with okay ? I'm already happy with being here with you. I can wait as long as you need." You got off the bed and she got worried, but her fears vanished away when she saw you were just looking for her shirt that you threw in excitement. "There, found it" you said as you handed it to her. You got under the covers and she finished putting her clothes back on. Once she was done you scooted close to her and asked her if she was okay with you spooning her.

"Yes I'd like that too". You pressed her back against your front and circles your arms around her middle as your legs were touching. "Goodnight beautiful".

"Night my sweet y/n"

[faeratil]

adrien, luka, marinette!

Ooo okay. This is a tough one because I love all of them so much. I’m going to try and answer this with Adrien and Marinette just as their civilian selves and not including Ladybug and Chat Noir (because Chat Noir would be number 1 cause he’s my favorite in the whole show).

So Luka would be my favorite of the three. He’s such a gentle soul, and he genuinely cares about making sure that the people around him feel comfortable and welcome. He’s also the kind of guy I totally would’ve had a crush on back in high school, and I still think the rocker vibe is super attractive. I absolutely love how he’s willing to be patient with Marinette and still tries to befriend Adrien even though they’re competitors for Marinette’s affection. When Luka first showed up, I was like “oh damn now who do I ship” because he’s just an all around great guy. I just feel so bad for him because he deserves so much more than waiting for Marinette to notice him the way he notices her, and I really hope he finds happiness and reciprocated love soon.

Second would be Marinette. She’s so giving and thoughtful and looks out for everyone around her almost all the time. Her only drawback is when she doesn’t realize she’s being selfish and ends up being the reason behind someone else getting akumatized, like when she beat Max at the video game because all she could think about was spending time with Adrien. I also just think she’s super adorable and is definitely the type of character I would write in a story. I think she could stand to be a little nicer to Chloe too, and maybe it would help lessen the tension between the two of them and they could actually be friends. Adrien even told Marinette multiple times that deep down Chloe is a good person. But for the most part, Marinette is very caring and perceptive and really does do whatever she can to make people happy. Even in the episode when Lukanette and Adrigami become canon (for however brief a time they end up lasting because I haven’t seen past that point), Adrigami is only canon because Marinette put Kagami’s feelings ahead of her own. She knew it would hurt to watch Adrien with someone else, but she wanted so badly for Kagami to be happy.

Last but definitely not least (because least would be canon Felix), would be Adrien. I like Adrien much more as Chat Noir (and I think he’s super hot when he’s older but permanently changed into Chat Blanc and is totally broken hearted over Marinette), but that doesn’t mean I don’t like Adrien. I think he’s a good character. He’s definitely been sheltered and given whatever Gabriel thinks will make him happy including a room that could fit my entire house with an upper story library and a tv and a bathroom with a shower. But he’s also poor baby because he never had friends before being allowed to go to school, and Gabriel is a terrible father who really only gives a shit when Adrien is in danger. I love that he always tries to see the good in everyone including Chloe, Lila, and Felix, and that he tries to have hope that one day his father will actually care about him. He still has a lot of development to go as far as his civilian character is concerned, and I feel like part of him dating Kagami was just out of pity for her because he was still obviously pining for Ladybug. He just really needs to focus on himself first so he can figure out his own identity that isn’t just what Gabriel wants or Chat Noir. He’s a work in progress, and I really hope he gets more civilian development in the future.

But yeah, out of the civilians Luka is my favorite and I want to hold him and shelter him from any pain because he’s a cinnamon roll. He deserves much better than waiting around for someone who will never be fully there like he wants.

@marv-llous I forget that sometimes answering asks doesn’t alert the person who asked.

[quicksilversquared]

The Substitute Ladybug: Chapter 6

After Lila takes things too far and Marinette ends up with a broken leg, Paris is going to have to deal with a different superhero arrangement for a bit. Having to share her superhero identity with her parents before Hawkmoth can be defeated isn’t something that Marinette had planned on doing, but- well, it might end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise.

links in the reblog

Marinette entered school Thursday morning to find Chloe and Adrien in what appeared to be a very heated discussion in the corner of the classroom. Chloe's expression was switching back and forth between furious, pleading, and absolutely aloof as they talked, and at one point, she stomped her foot. Adrien flinched at that, but only for a fraction of a second before he squared his shoulders again and raised his chin, clearly determined.

Marinette ducked her head down and tried to focus on her sketchbook. Normally when her classmates got into arguments with Chloe she tried to step in and provide some backup, but Adrien and Chloe's relationship was different. As much as Marinette didn't understand it, the two of them had a history and in the past, her trying to step in didn't work out so well. It just put Chloe on the defense, and made things harder to solve instead of easier. Even if she kept her distance- well, Chloe would try to throw a fit about her eavesdropping.

So she did her best to not eavesdrop, but it was hard not to overhear the stray word here and there. "Bully" and "unacceptable" came up several times, as well as more than a few exclamations of "ridiculous!" from Chloe. And then, quieter but still loud enough to be heard, "but you promised..."

"That promise was based on the assumption that you would continue doing better, Chloe," Adrien said firmly, stepping away from Chloe. "And you haven't. And I can't tolerate you bullying my other friends."

Chloe turned up the sniffles. "So you're breaking your promise? To be friends forever?"

Marinette couldn't resist the urge to glance up at that. This was usually the point when Adrien would cave to whatever Chloe wanted, when she turned on the tears. This time, though, his expression didn't waver.

"You're just being manipulative now," Adrien said, stepping back. "I told you why. You just don't want to do any work to be better, and that's not fair. I shouldn't have to be making excuses for you all the time."

"Excuses?!" Chloe snapped, and now it was impossible not to overhear. "Excuses for what?"

Adrien looked absolutely incredulous. "Uh, for your bullying? For how you behave? For how mean you are to my other friends? For-" He gave himself a shake. "Actually, you know what, I'm not going to go over this all over again. I've already told you my reasoning. You know what you need to do better on if you want me to be your friend again. And I'm not going to argue about it."

And with that, Adrien turned away from Chloe, steeping away and heading back to his seat. As soon as his back was fully to Chloe, Marinette could see the nerves surfacing in his expression, nerves that he hadn't let show before. Clearly he was going out of his comfort zone by standing up to Chloe, but this time he was standing firm.

Her heart skipped as Adrien let out a short breath before pulling himself together, shaking off his nerves and squaring his shoulders up again before sitting down in his seat. That- that was really attractive. One of her biggest reservations- one of her biggest concerns, really- about Adrien and her crush on him had been his friendship with Chloe (as nonexistent as that friendship seemed sometimes, considering that he seemed to prefer hanging out with basically anyone else) and his reluctance to call Chloe out for her bullying.

It- well, it had been frustrating, sometimes. But now- this time, Adrien hadn't backed off when Chloe grew upset. Yet, at least. It was still early.

Either way, it was a step in the right direction. Hopefully.

Chloe sulked for the entire morning. She sent pouty looks at Adrien on and off all morning, clearly hoping for a change in heart, but Adrien didn't even glance in her direction. There were a few times when he almost did, but he caught himself right away.

"Ugh, I hope she doesn't get akumatized again," Alya muttered as she glanced at Chloe sulking in her seat as everyone else packed up for lunch. "Every time Chloe gets akumatized, something bad happens. Or at least it seems that way."

Marinette nodded in agreement, automatically checking her bag to make sure that the box with the Horse in it was still safely stashed in its pocket. Thankfully, with the change in Guardians and the corresponding change in the shape of the Miraculous Box, the shape of the temporary housing boxes had changed too, to a more circular shape that somewhat resembled her yo-yo, and it didn't make nearly as strangely-shaped of a lump as the other box style would have against the fabric. With that change- well, hopefully it wouldn't stand out enough for anyone to question what it was. So far, she had been lucky.

"Then again, maybe Hawkmoth won't bother," Alya mused after a pause, gathering up the last of her things and heading for the door. Marinette followed on her crutches at once, not wanting to miss the latest on superhero gossip. "After all, it's been- what? Five days since the last attack? I think that one really rattled Hawkmoth, because everyone that was nearby swore that Mayura got hit by Sting right away and the superheroes just dodged all of the akuma's beams, no problem. And actually- did you know Max analyzed the footage with Markov, and he says that the chances of that happening, especially with a completely new team member in the mix, were, like, single digits. So it's insane that they managed it. And in such a short, intense fight, too- like, they got right in there instead of trying to fight from a distance!"

Marinette hid a smile. Those sounded like fairly accurate percentages, honestly, considering the number of resets that she had had to do for entirely getting-hit-by-akuma-beams reasons. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, and I wanted to post his calculations and analysis of that, but Nino pointed on that it might spur on the Ladybug-vs-Coccinelle debate and I didn't want that." Alya let out a long sigh. "This whole thing- all of the sudden inexplicable improvement- it's weird. When Coccinelle first showed up, the fights were pretty comparable in length to when Ladybug was there, and then they just changed like a switch was flipped." She frowned. "Like there was some other change. But I can't figure out what."

"Maybe there was," Marinette suggested. "And- I mean, Ladybug's probably still been involved, right? Since normally she's the one giving the Miraculous out and a couple extra ones came into play?"

Alya snapped her fingers. "Yes!" she exclaimed, pointing at Marinette. Then she frowned again, her hand drooping back to her side. "Unless she just gave access to the other Miraculous to Chat Noir or Coccinelle. Probably Chat Noir, because why would she put a temporary holder, even a long-term one, in charge of that? She didn't even let other temporary holders keep their Miraculous for more than one battle in a row."

...Marinette was detecting a bit of jealousy there, but she wasn't going to try to call Alya out on it. After all, even now, Alya wasn't supposed to tell anyone about being Rena Rouge, and sensing jealousy wouldn't make sense unless Marinette already knew (or just suspected, but Alya probably wouldn't think of that) about Alya's superhero identity.

"That's what I'm assuming given the evidence, at least," Alya added hastily after a second, glancing back at Marinette as they headed across the courtyard and towards the locker rooms. "Since we never had the same temps show up for two battles in a row."

Marinette smothered a grin. "Right."

"I'd try to get in after a fight and ask questions, but with the short fights- unless I'm nearby to start with or they don't show up right away, I can't get there fast enough," Alya added. "And I kind of doubt that Chat Noir would answer much more about Ladybug's absence. Vacation, burn-out, and illness seem to be the top theories on the Ladyblog, but I bet he wouldn't want to narrow down the field of people who might be Ladybug by confirming anything."

That was the understatement of the century. Her partner wasn't going to do or say anything that would further risk her identity. In fact, she and Chat Noir had discussed the possibility of asking her mom to maybe be Coccinelle again for a week or two later in the year, just to throw people off, just in case anyone was suspicious about the timing of Marinette's broken leg.

If nothing else, random reappearances of Coccinelle might help put Hawkmoth on edge and a bit more cautious about coming out and joining the battle himself, knowing that Ladybug and Coccinelle could swap out without warning. If he and Mayura ventured out, they could end up in a normal battle against Ladybug or Chat Noir, or they could end up on the losing side of an intense 5-minute battle against Coccinelle and Chat Noir.

...really, the more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea to swap out teams on a random basis sounded. It would keep Hawkmoth guessing and hopefully off-balance, which was right where they wanted him.

"D'you think that Chloe's gonna try to throw another party to get back in your good graces, Adrien?" Nino asked from behind them, pulling Marinette out of her musings about how often Coccinelle might come out again after her leg was fully healed. "Since it worked last time?"

Adrien snorted, and both Alya and Marinette abandoned their conversation to step back and join the boys. "Maybe, maybe not. I mean, it didn't exactly end great, did it? Chloe didn't want anyone finding out about her bear, and then the whole school did. And having to be on her best host behavior for several hours clearly wasn't easy, plus her mom is at the Grand Paris now. She might put her foot down about having a bunch of collegèe students running all over the hotel for an entire evening." He shrugged. "And it's not going to impress me now. She's actually got to keep it up if I'm going to want to be friends with her. Or even tolerate her company outside of the classroom, really."

Nino squinted at him for a minute, then blinked. "Who are you, and what have you done with Adrien Agreste?"

"Har, har," Adrien retorted, tugging on Nino's arm before he could walk straight into a wall. He didn't look nearly as confident as before, glancing away uncomfortably before looking back at Nino. "It's just that, well, I've realized that she isn't a very good friend, and I'm not being a great friend to you guys when I don't say anything about her being a bully. And maybe she'll eventually decide that she doesn't care about whether I'm her friend anymore and go back to being a bully, but maybe she won't. Or she won't behave as badly, or- well, even a little reprieve is a good thing, right?" He sighed. "Though stopping altogether would be better."

Marinette bit her tongue. In all honesty, she really, really doubted that Chloe would stop bullying people. She had been doing it for so long that it was habit now, and why should she stop? When she bullied people and ordered everyone around, she got her way. The loss of one friend- one friend who had been spending practically no time with her anyway, since Adrien clearly preferred to hand out with their more pleasant classmates- was probably less of a sacrifice than suddenly no longer getting her way on everything.

"But I guess we'll see," Adrien finished, glancing back towards the classroom once more before resolutely turning away. "We can only hope for the best, really. So. Uh." He glanced around, clearly wanting to change the subject but struggling for a topic. His eyes landed on Marinette's crutches. "What's new? Marinette, how's your leg feeling?"

"It's healing," Marinette said, trying not to make the words sound as robotic as they felt. She shrugged as much as she could with the crutches. "I'm halfway done with the crutches, though. Hopefully, at least. The doctors said that it could be six to eight weeks until the cast could get removed, though they were leaning more towards six." She made a face. "I hope it's only six weeks. I want to be able to go back up to my room. And I'm tired of stairs being difficult."

Alya made a funny noise that was very quickly smothered. Marinette gave her a dark look.

"Stairs aren't normally difficult, I just sometimes go too fast!"

Alya looked like she sorely wanted to say something about that but couldn't. Adrien just nodded, though, completely sympathetic.

It didn't take long for them to drop off notebooks and gather their things to bring home for lunch. Nino and Alya darted off for a lunchtime date in the park, waving over their shoulders as they dashed off in their hurry to not waste any of their lunch hour. Adrien lingered by Marinette's side like he always did, making sure that her crutches didn't get knocked over by the other students rushing through the locker room.

It had flustered her at first, but she had gotten used to Adrien's concern and his chivalry over the past couple weeks and had adapted to it. She had had to, because it was either that or end up in a Marinette puddle by the end of the day because he was always right there and ready to help her at a moment's notice.

With a bit of help from Adrien to get down the stairs in front of the school, it didn't take long for Marinette to reach the (mostly) even footing of the sidewalk. She thanked him with a quick kiss to his cheek, then hopped towards the bakery, dodging the other students as best as she could as everyone scattered for lunch.

Dodging was much easier when she didn't have crutches and a cast and could maneuver more easily, but at least most people tended to give her a wide berth. Marinette suspected that at least a few were worried that she might topple over and whack everyone with her crutches on her way down.

"How was school?" Tikki called as soon as Marinette made her way up to the kitchen and through the door. She was perched on Mrs. Cheng's shoulder as she warmed up lunch for Marinette. "Did it go well?"

"Someone made sure to lean down for his thank-you kiss today!" Sass called out, flitting out of Marinette's purse with an impish snicker. "He's looking forward to it now!"

Mrs. Cheng raised an amused eyebrow at Marinette while she spluttered. "A thank-you kiss?"

"I- uh- well-" Marinette spluttered, blushing bright red. "It's just- he always waits for me at my locker to make sure my crutches don't get knocked over, and then he's been carrying me piggyback down the stairs, and just being really sweet, and, uh..."

Tikki was giggling. "So he gets a kiss?"

"A cheek kiss!" Marinette clarified hastily. This was why she hadn't told her kwami (or Alya) about the cheek kisses, because she knew they would tease her. "As a thank-you! Or a hug, but he seems to like the cheek kisses and he leaned down for it today so that it would be easy for me to reach."

Tikki cheered and zipped over to Marinette. "That's good news! It's progress, right?"

"Or he's decided that it's a normal thing to do between friends," Marinette told her kwami with a little laugh. She had been working hard on not getting her hopes up or reading too far into Adrien's behavior. Doing so would just end with her stumbling over her words. "I doubt that he's seeing it as anything more."

"Yes, but he's clearly comfortable enough with you to encourage you to be in his space," Mrs. Cheng chimed in, stepping over to the table with a plate and cup for Marinette. She smiled at her daughter as she pulled out the chair for her. "And it's always nice if you're getting comfortable enough with each other to share casual touches like that."

Marinette just ducked her head, unable to keep the blush off of her face.

"So other than thanking Adrien for helping you out with getting around school, how was your morning?" Mrs. Cheng asked. She brought over her own plate of food, settling across from Marinette at the table. "Anything interesting?"

"Adrien is standing up against Chloe," Marinette told her mom, remembering the conversation that she had partially overheard from that morning. "He's told her that he's not going to be her friend when she's bullying people." After a moment, she frowned. "He seemed determined about it, but also really uncomfortable, somehow. Nino was teasing him about it, since the last time Adrien told her that, she went right back to being a bully right away, and Adrien just changed topics right away."

Mrs. Cheng smiled, setting her fork down. "Adrien is probably self-conscious about it, and drawing more attention to what he's doing is just making him uncomfortable. I'm sure he'd prefer quiet, private assurances that he's doing the right thing over teasing, no matter how friendly the teasing is."

Marinette frowned at that, puzzled. "Why would he be self-conscious about that, though? I don't understand."

"Because he's probably only recently realized what kinds of effects his friendship with Chloe and his excuses for her are having on his other friends," Mrs. Cheng told her. Her smile turned sad. "And a realization like that- well, it would be a bit uncomfortable that he hadn't realized it before, when it probably seems obvious looking back. So then he wants to make things right, which means going against habit. Habit, and I assume what he's been taught by his parents as well."

Marinette considered that. It made sense, but... "What his parents taught him?"

"Mr. Agreste seems the sort to drill in 'don't rock the boat' as an acceptable life lesson," Mrs. Cheng said, her nose screwed up in distaste. "And not the sort to want to point out what kinds of behaviors are right or wrong, or else he'd run the risk of Adrien knowing how very terrible Mr. Agreste's behavior can be." The nose scrunch intensified. "It's easier to just not bother to teach those lessons. More convenient, too."

"So if he's not been taught, then how would he be noticing now?" Marinette asked. She took a quick bite, then glanced up at her mom again. "Or do you think it's been something that's building up over time?"

"Well, it's impossible to know for sure, but I would assume that maybe a trusted adult mentioned something." Mrs. Cheng got up as the teapot started whistling, pouring herself a cup before returning to the table. "Now that he's going to school, he's coming into contact with more people than he used to. He's meeting more adults than the ones that his father had vetted and has control over. Maybe one of them said something."

Marinette thought about that. It had to have been a teacher, to see how Adrien and Chloe and all of the other students interacted, but that didn't seem right, somehow. "I can't see any of the teachers saying anything, though. Madam Mendeleev doesn't really get involved with student lives, and Ms. Bustier- well, she thinks that Chloe will get better if we're just nice to her all of the time instead of calling her out on being a bully."

"It might not be a teacher," her mom reminded her. She took a sip of tea, then made a slight face. "Ah. Needs honey."

"But how else would they know about what's going on at school?"

"Adrien might have told them," Mrs. Cheng said. She was rummaging through the cupboards now, then smiled as she pulled out her jar of honey. "He may have picked up that something about how he was interacting with others was off, and wanted to figure out what with an outside perspective. It's what Chat Noir has been doing, because- like Adrien- he hasn't had the best adult figures in his life so far."

Marinette bit down the reflexive mum, secret identities!whine that rose in her throat in favor of listening. "Oh?"

"They've had poor social training, but neither of them are stupid. They're bound to pick up on discontent and exasperation when they do things like not speak up about bullying." Mrs. Cheng scooped in a half-spoonful of honey into her tea, then rejoined Marinette at the table. "In their eyes, they were responding correctly to the situation, so why is it causing problems? Noticing that something is wrong and reaching out to figure out how to correct it is hard, and actually changing your own behavior... well, it's very hard. I can tell you that Chat Noir was quite worried that people would make a big deal about it."

Marinette could understand that. When she first started really standing up against Chloe, she had been going out of her comfort zone. Chloe was an established bully with plenty of influence with the teachers, and Marinette... well, she protested against Chloe's bullying, of course, but actually pushing back as hard as she did now hadn't come easily. Just staying out of Chloe's way and not getting into fights- and especially getting into fights on her classmates' behalf- was easier. Just trying to comfort her classmates after the fact was easier- well, until Hawkmoth arrived on the scene and could dig his claws in before she could find them and cheer them up.

After that... well, Marinette had gotten an extra confidence boost from being Ladybug and a whole lot more determination from Alya, and she had thrown herself into pushing back against Chloe. It had been hard, and there had definitely been times when she had maybe not acted when she could have because she was too tired.

And she had started from a completely different point than Adrien had. Marinette had never been friends with Chloe, and Adrien had had years of when Chloe was his only friend. Marinette had been on the receiving end of Chloe's bullying for years and knew what it felt like, while Adrien never had. If her mom was right, Adrien had probably been dissuaded from recognizing and calling out bullying, while she hadn't. He was probably going completely out of his comfort zone.

Which meant that he needed his friends' support, not teasing.

"So do you think that I should say something about it?" Marinette asked. "Like, encouraging him? Or do you think that would embarrass him too?"

Mrs. Cheng smiled. "Well, it depends. Not everyone is the same, and it would be different if you brought it up yourself versus if Adrien had just faced off against Chloe again or someone else brought it up. I'd say that if he brings it up, that might be a good time to mention your support, too."

Marinette nodded. "Right. That makes sense."

"Good." Mrs. Cheng took another sip of her tea. "So, other than that, how was your morning?"

  Afternoon classes were still ten minutes away when Marinette returned to school, giving her plenty of time to pick her way up the outside stairs (carefully) and across the courtyard. There were still some students walking around- after all, some people just ate in the cafeteria instead of going home- but for the most part, Marinette had a clear path to the locker room.

"Marinette! Wait up!"

Marinette paused, turning as much as she could to see Adrien trotting towards her, a grin on his face. He caught up to her right away, placing one hand on her shoulder to steady her as she turned back around to head forward again. "Hey! Where's the fire?"

"I wanted to catch up, that's all." Adrien grinned over at her. "You're going really fast on those crutches now. I don't think that I ever get that good when I broke my leg."

Marinette blinked. This... well, this was the first time that she had ever heard of Adrien having broken his leg before, too. Which- well, it was hardly as though there hadn't been chances for him to bring it up before, but maybe he had been worried about looking like he was trying to make himself the center of attention or something. "When you broke your leg?"

Adrien winced. "Yeah. I broke my leg when I was nine, during a basketball game against a team of older kids. It got a bit rough, and I ended up getting tripped and going flying." He paused, stepping ahead of her to hold the locker room door open for her to come through. He sent a glare at another student when they ducked through the door he had just opened, apparently oblivious to Marinette's crutches. "It was a pretty serious break, too. And I remember how much it sucked to have to deal with a broken leg. One of the things I hated most was getting my pants on and off every day. Like, even with shorts, it was just so hard to get them over the cast. So I may have begged my parents to just let me wear a skirt instead."

Marinette couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, man, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that. I bet your father wasn't thrilled with the idea."

"Not at all," Adrien agreed. "Even though I pointed out that the Scottish have kilts- I thought that was a very compelling argument, actually- and then the ancient Greeks and Romans had tunics. And it wasn't like I was going out in public anyway. But Father wouldn't hear of it." His grin widened. "He did eventually design several pairs of pants that had a zipper running all the way down the side, so that I didn't have to wrestle them over the cast. That was only after I started making and wearing bedsheet togas in protest, though."

Marinette had to stop walking so that she wouldn't fall over while laughing, leaning heavily on her crutches as she tried to imagine Mr. Agreste's face. He was so incredibly straight-laced that she had to imagine that his reaction had probably been either pretty funny or borderline frightening. She herself was glad that it was warm enough outside that dresses and skirts were an entirely practical choice, though she couldn't deny that she was also looking forward to being able to go back to her normal outfits as well.

But pants- capris, maybe?- with a zipper up the side? That was an idea.

...except that her sewing machine was only really accessible via use of the Horse Miraculous, unless she wanted to go up the stairs on her butt, and she was trying not to abuse the Miraculous powers for her own personal benefit. And maybe her mom had offered to bring the sewing machine down, but then she had to think about what materials she would need, and there were just so many components to think about, and she would need to start with a base pattern, which would mean going out to search for one.

Ugh. Fine. She would stick to skirts for now.

"Nino thought that it was a bit weird when I mentioned it," Adrien commented after a moment, neatly catching Marinette's crutch after it slipped out from under her arm because she was laughing so hard. An uncertain look flashing across his face for a moment. "Because 'guys don't wear skirts' or something like that. But I thought you might find it amusing."

"Nino's jealous that he can't pull off a skirt and you can," Marinette said right away, wanting to wipe that insecurity off of Adrien's face. She could totally see Nino being weirded out by the idea of wearing a skirt, but he hadn't ever had a broken leg. He didn't know how inconvenient it was to get dressed with a cast in the way.

And for Adrien, who had all of his clothes closely fitted to give off an ultra-tailored look, it would be super inconvenient.

Adrien laughed properly at that, taking Marinette's backpack so that she could open her locker. "Most of it is in the attitude, I think. If he's uncomfortable, it'll show. If you're fine with it, things tend to look normal."

Marinette nodded. She could understand that. After all, it applied to models normally, too. Sometimes it really was all about how something was presented. "I wish I could have seen that. It sounds like it would have been cute."

Adrien perked up. "Would- would you want to come over sometime and see the photos I have, maybe? Mom took a bunch, since it took Father a couple days to make zip-side shorts that actually worked."

"And you wore a toga the entire time?" Marinette asked. Without waiting for an answer, she grinned. "I'd love to come over. Just let me know when it would be a good time."

Adrien lit up. "Great! I'll definitely ask Nathalie when you can come over. I'll have to frame it as a study session, probably," he added. "Just in case Father is still being a stick in the mud about the whole thing and doesn't want me to tell anyone about it. So we'll have to do some studying, too, to make it realistic. And it might not be right away, either, since I don't know how full my schedule will be."

"Oh, no, how terrible," Marinette deadpanned, smiling wider when Adrien snickered. He had been super self-conscious about his father's habit of having Nathalie or the Gorilla check in on him and his friends when they were over there to study at first, so it was good to see that he wasn't so worried about how they would react anymore. Adrien knew that they weren't going to judge him for his father's over-supervision. "Studying? How will I survive?"

As Adrien laughed harder, Marinette could only smile over at him fondly. After how uncomfortable Adrien had clearly been that morning, it was good to see him relaxed and laughing again. Maybe it wouldn't last long- after all, once Chloe returned from lunch, it was very likely that she would make another attempt at getting Adrien swayed back to her side- but for now, Marinette would just enjoy their time together.

[ghost-in-the-hella]

51. “You make me feel alive.” with PriceMarsh.

My apologies for taking so long to finish this! For whatever reason, Kate POV seems to take me extra long to get my head around. Better late than never, I hope!

CW for implied cutting, implied suicidality, referenced canon drugging and sexual assault (the Vortex Club incident), and referenced homophobic and emotionally abusive parenting.

---

“I’m a bad influence on you,” Chloe says, and for a moment she’s so beautiful in the moonlight that Kate doesn’t catch the sadness in her voice. 

“What?” Kate says when it registers. “No, you aren’t.”

Chloe stares at her unblinkingly, cigarette raised so that her face is wreathed with smoke, and gives her a look like she’s somehow proving her point simply by existing.

“You aren’t,” Kate repeats more firmly. “What, you think nobody’s ever smoked in front of me before? I do all kinds of community service. Plenty of people have smoked in front of me.” 

“Okay, but did they smoke in front of you after sneaking you out of the dorms past curfew, and did they commit petty crimes before they lit up?”

Kate rolls her eyes and shakes her head softly. “I still say you’re not a bad influence on me. I didn’t vandalize anything.”

“Mm. You did let a persona non grata delinquent into the dorms and then sneak out with her so she could tag public property, though.”

“True, but…” Kate kicks her feet gently in the air as she thinks. The metal of Chloe’s truck bed is cold and hard beneath her thighs, but right now it’s more comfortable than her own dorm bed. She hasn’t felt safe sleeping there since she woke up on the floor after the Vortex Club party she can’t remember. The gross comments that keep popping up on her whiteboard don’t exactly make it feel like home, either. “I asked you. I don’t think you’re the bad influence there.”

Chloe mock-gasps. “Kate Beverly Marsh! Are you suggesting that you were a bad influence on me??”

“Maybe,” Kate teases, and this feels better. Chloe’s moods tend to turn on a dime, and Kate’s never quite sure how to handle them. They’ve only been hanging out for a couple of weeks, and although Kate’s learned to recognize Chloe’s sorrow she hasn’t learned how to comfort her. Chloe wears that hard, tough, punk persona so proudly; offering her a hug feels like it would be a transgression. But when Chloe’s joking around, Kate feels much less out of her depth. Most people don’t expect Kate to have a sense of humor - “good little church girl” that she is - but Chloe’s proven herself to be an exception. Chloe’s an exception to a lot of things. “I did ask you to help me break the rules.”

“Because you wouldn’t know how to break them on your own, goody-two-shoes,” Chloe teases with a chuckle.

“I’ll have you know I was a rule-breaker before I met you, thank you very much!”

Chloe flicks the ash from the end of her cigarette onto the damp, sandy asphalt of the beach parking lot. “Really,” she deadpans. “Kate Marsh, rule-breaker.”

“Yes.”

“Sure we’re talking about the same Kate Marsh?” She holds a hand over Kate’s head (mercifully, it’s not the one holding her still-smoldering cigarette). “‘Bout this tall? Literal human marshmallow? Goes to church every Sunday and volunteers at the soup kitchen?”

“Yes!” Kate laughs.

“Okay.” Chloe shifts her position abruptly, reclining with her shoulders propped against the wall of the truck bed and dangling one leg off the edge of the tailgate while the toes of her other dirty boot stop just shy of touching Kate’s thigh. Kate wishes she were as comfortable anywhere as Chloe seems to make herself everywhere. “There’s obviously a story here.” She gestures melodramatically with her cigarette, luminous red embers and pale blue smoke - almost the color of her eyes - against the colorless dark of the night sky. “So spill, Katydid. Illuminate me.”

In her head, Kate scrambles frantically to find something suitably rebellious to tell Chloe. She’s sure she must have done something interesting at some point in her life, but with Chloe’s eyes on her and the way that Chloe’s biting her lip as she waits she’s having a very hard time thinking about anything else. “I… Sometimes I stay up really late. All night, even.”

Chloe looks like she’s trying not to laugh. “That’s it? Kate, that’s… That’s not even breaking any rules! You’re eighteen; you can stay up as late as you want!”

“My parents are really strict about bedtimes,” Kate says a little defensively. “Right up until I moved into the dorms, they would do room checks every night to make sure my sisters and I had our lights out and were sound asleep.” A sneaky little smile tugs at her lips and she drops her voice into a conspiratorial tone. “But there was a creaky floorboard between their room and mine, so I would listen for it and then I’d pretend to be sleeping when they’d check on me. And once they were gone, I’d stay up reading or texting my friends or watching movies.” Kate can hear how boring this sounds, so she hurries to add, “Movies my parents wouldn’t let me watch. I would sneak them. Horror movies, violent stuff. Things like that.” Not only horror movies, Kate doesn’t add because she doesn’t want to tip her hand even though she knows - she knows - that Chloe likes girls, too; she hasn’t forgotten how Chloe used to look at Rachel Amber. But she suspects that Chloe never had to sneak around her mother to watch Imagine Me and You or Saving Face or - God forbid - But I’m a Cheerleader, and she’s not sure that Chloe would understand how incredibly criminal it had felt.

“Pfft! I’ve been doing that shit since I was a kid. With my old friend Max, even, and she was almost as much of a goody-two-shoes as you. Man, after we sneak-watched Jaws she wouldn’t so much as stick a toe in the bay for the rest of the summer. Total chicken.” She grins wickedly. “Nice try, though. And I’ll definitely have to remember about the horror movies. I’ve got some that’ll knock your socks off, guaranteed. So what else you got, Cup-Kate?”

Kate chews on her lower lip for a moment before blurting, “I cursed at my mother.”

Chloe actually laughs at that. “I did that this morning. And again this afternoon. I do that literally every day.”

“I called her a…” She balks. She knows that Chloe curses all the time, but somehow she just can’t make herself repeat the word even though it felt so good to say it and watch her mother’s face turn livid. “A bad name. She grounded me for a week.” Grounded is an understatement. But Chloe doesn’t need to know about Kate getting her mouth washed out with soap at the ripe age of seventeen. She doesn’t need to know that Kate’s mother took away her phone and computer as punishment and proceeded to read her most personal texts and emails before grilling her relentlessly about them until her father came home and put a stop to it. She definitely doesn’t need to know how much Kate cried and begged for forgiveness that week.

Something in Chloe’s face makes Kate feel like she knows it all anyway. “Sounds like she probably deserved whatever you called her.” Chloe nudges Kate’s thigh gently with her boot. “And hey, if you ever want someone to go call her names so vile you’ve never even dreamed of them, much less let them soil your lips, just lemme know. I’ll do it for free.”

Kate can’t hold in a giggle at Chloe’s offer. It shouldn’t be funny, she knows. But it is. She shouldn’t think Chloe’s offer is sweet, but she does.

Chloe smiles and stubs out her cigarette, which is by then burned down to the filter. She hauls herself back up into a sitting position, the toe of her boot still pressed lightly against Kate’s thigh. “Okay, so we’ve got cursing at your mother what I’m assuming is a whopping one time in your life despite the fact that she probably deserves it way more than that, and you staying up to watch horror movies past your bedtime. Not exactly sounding like a hardened criminal, there, Kate. Sounding more like a complete and utter cinnamon bun, if I’m honest.”

“I, um. I drink wine every week?” It’s a weak stab and Kate knows it, but it’s all she’s got left unless she wants to delve into much more personal territory that she’s in no way ready to talk about.

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Doesn’t count as breaking the rules if it’s literally part of church.” She wags a scolding finger. “That’s cheating.”

Kate seizes the opportunity with both hands, a victorious grin spreading across her face. “Which is breaking the rules! Ha, got you!”

Chloe scoffs. “Uh-huh. Very clever, Marsh. Still not disproving my cinnamon bun theory, though. You’re going to have to try harder to scandalize me.” There’s a lift to Chloe’s eyebrow that feels like a dare. Or maybe it only feels like a dare because Kate really, really wants it to be one. 

Both of Chloe’s eyebrows shoot much higher when Kate answers her challenge by leaning in and kissing her.

Kate wants to do this forever. She wants to press harder, dig deeper. But she’s never kissed anybody before and she suspects she’d do it terribly if it were much more than a peck, and if this isn’t something Chloe actually wants then pressing would only make it worse. So she holds her lips against Chloe’s for a couple of incredible, terrifying seconds, and then she pulls away.

Chloe blinks slowly, looking dazed. Kate isn’t sure whether that’s a good sign or a bad one. “Okay, wow, that… Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“...Does that mean I can do it again?”

Chloe lets out a laugh, fragile and amazed. “Holy shit, Kate.”

Kate wants to kiss her again, but Chloe hasn’t answered her question. Her stomach twists suddenly. “Oh my God, I’m such an idiot; I’m so sorry.” She puts her palms on her flushed cheeks. They feel impossibly hot; she can’t even imagine how red they must look. “I should have asked first. I’m so sorry.”

“It… yeah, that was definitely breaking the rules. I’ll give you credit for that one.” Chloe laughs a little shakily. “Kate Marsh, rule-breaker.”

“I shouldn’t have done it; not like that. Oh, Lord, I’m no better than those… those creeps who--” Kate can feel the warm feeling kissing Chloe gave her slipping into a cold spiral that seizes her chest and pumps ice water through her veins.

“Don’t even.”

“I didn’t even ask, or warn you, or anything; I just--”

“Dude, chill. It’s fine. I liked it.”

“You’re probably still-- I shouldn’t’ve just--” Kate blinks as Chloe’s words sink in. “You liked it?”

Chloe nods. “Yeah, I mean… It took me off-guard, for sure. Asking first would’ve been better, no doubt, but it’s not like I haven’t been wanting you to kiss me for, like… a week, at least.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It was nice.” Chloe rubs the back of her neck, frowning. Her face slips back into that space Kate hasn’t learned how to navigate, the one that shows she’s thinking too hard and feeling too much. “Uncharacteristic, though.”

Kate's heart sinks. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means… Hell, I don’t know. It means maybe I really am a bad influence on you. It means maybe my step-dick is right and I’m just a no good delinquent dragging you down with me.”

“Chloe Price, you are not a bad influence on me!” Kate touches her shoulder. Chloe won’t turn and look at her, so Kate touches her chin and turns her head until she has to meet her eyes. The look in Chloe’s eyes makes Kate’s heart hurt. “You’re the best possible influence on me.”

Chloe laughs again, but it’s a broken sound. Kate never wants to hear her laugh like that again. “Not fucking possible,” Chloe tells her. “You’re, like… the best person I’ve ever met. And I’m…” She waves a hand to gesture at the whole of herself.

“You’re a good person,” Kate insists. “You’ve lived through bad things, and they’ve hurt you. But you’re a good person.”

“I’m a high school dropout with no job and no prospects. I smoke, I drink, I do drugs, I swear, I spit on sidewalks, I--”

“You don’t judge me. Why should I judge you?”

“I’ve sold drugs,” Chloe plows on, “I’ve hurt people, I’ve started fights just because I was angry and I wanted to hurt someone…”

“I’m not saying that you’re perfect. I don’t expect you to be perfect. But you are a good person. And you’re a good…” Kate takes a steadying breath. “You’re a good friend. You don’t treat me like I’m some fragile little flower that’s been sheltered from the world, or like someone who needs to be sheltered from it. All my life, people have tried to control me.” Kate clasps her hands in her lap, fingers wrestling with each other anxiously. “My family, my neighbors, my church, my friends… They all expect me to act a certain way, to talk and think and feel and believe exactly the same way that they do, and they don’t care what I want. They don’t care what I think or feel or believe. But when I’m with you…” Kate feels something wet slip down her cheek and wipes at it absently. “Chloe, when I’m with you, I can be who I want to be. I can be me. I can break the rules I want to break and follow the rules I want to follow and you don’t judge me either way. You make me feel alive. You make me want to be alive.”

Kate’s fully crying now, so it takes her a minute to realize that Chloe’s crying, too.

“Shit,” Chloe says, and she’s half-laughing as she cries. “Shit, shit.” She mops at her face. “You, I… Fuck, I can’t even… Shit, Kate! You’re… you’re fucking perfect. Jesus.”

Kate wants to correct her: Chloe is the one who’s perfect. She’s a perfect mess with her tangled blue hair and the dark circles beneath her eyes, her chipped nail polish and chapped lips and bony elbows and scarred forearms. Her stained clothes, her dirty boots, her bra strap slipping down her shoulder, the stink of cigarettes hanging around her in a constant fug. Her mascara running with her tears, the way she’s smiling through them and looking at Kate like she’s some kind of miracle. She’s perfect, and Kate wants to kiss her again. She wants to press the knowledge of how perfect Chloe is into her flesh with her lips so that she believes it.

But they’re both still crying, and the moment just doesn’t feel right. So instead Kate asks a question she’s been wanting to ask since they met: “May I give you a hug?”

Chloe nods rapidly, and her smile brightens. “You’d fucking better.” She opens her arms, and she welcomes Kate home.

[akimmito]

Heroes are made by the path they choose

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Master List

Chapter 15

After the Akuma battle, Max calls everyone who participated in the battle to talk about what happened. Felix and Marinette agreed to meet later when they settled at the hotel, only Kagami excused herself because she had business to attend to.

An hour passes before everyone is gathered in the boardroom, where all meetings are held. Max stays on the computer, Luka has served snacks for the Kwami and tea for the others, everyone needs to relax to give their opinion, that will help them a bit to wait for Hugo to announce that the food is ready and they can eat, the good thing is that they finished the attack in good time.

Damian feels uncomfortable, perhaps a little irritable at feeling that he has failed at something. It was not his performance in battle, he did what was expected of him exceptionally, even Paris has had good opinions about him, even though he's a child. It bothers him not to identify what caused that feeling.

Everyone notices how introspective the child looks, but says nothing. It's best to let him meditate on what torments him, in the end, only Marinette is able to reach him effectively without receiving an angry look or offensive comment. The child can touch the angelic with his mother close (but sometimes even the worst of his character comes out).

"We're ready." Felix enters the boardroom wearing only the most basic suit, the sleeves of his white shirt roll up to his elbow, and instead of his black shoes, he wears gray, fluffy slippers. Only Felix would present himself like this with the dignity of a king.

By that time, Chloe has also arrived, taking advantage of the lunch hour to meet them, even Nathaniel has taken a break and has arrived, his expression is that of someone who has not slept in three days and is not very wrong, really not he's slept in three days (at that point, Marc is tempted to knock him out with a spatula to get him to sleep).

"We can start." Marinette sits next to Damian after giving him a kiss on the head, he just erases his annoyed expression as a sign of appreciation, calming himself by having her close. "What have they discovered?"

Marc sighs and waits for Max to put on screen the videos of the surroundings of the previous Akuma, it remains to be seen if this last Akuma Purple Dolphin had a similar origin, but with two that are the same, he's sure that this is also the case. When the images appear on the screen behind the engineer, everyone pays special attention to what is displayed.

"Those are images from before Abraham Bélanger was Akumatized, the butterfly suddenly appeared in front of a single camera, so we can assume that our villain moves close to the victims." Marc explains what he had already spoken to Max and Luka, but now they will add the additional information and debate theories. "We didn't discover anyone suspicious, so we also decided to check each owner's vehicles and background. Only one caught our attention."

"A vehicle by the name of Leonard Daract, which is a false name. Although there are several with that name, none of them reside in France and they are not the owners of a car of the registered model. "Max shows the records it found on the screen, since the only real connection is an affiliation with a ghost organization that, due to its investigation, it's a cover for money laundering, but they cannot identify the beneficiary of said scheme. Nicely covered with lots of fake names and dead ends. "Also the name of Jean Laperriére, owner of a vehicle captured away from the origin of the first Akuma, is among the members of B.K. Company. "

"So our villain is good at hiding." Felix analyzes the screen, thinking about which way to go from there. They must be smart and stop walking behind the villain to start taking steps forward.

"That also makes it easy for him to activate organized crime in the city, he already has a way to finance criminal groups without being tracked." Nathaniel comments and then just mutters a few random ideas, plus a couple of curses for the extra work.

"And if he has one, he must have more." Alix gives her little opinion, leaning back in her chair. "That brings me to what I discovered with Detective Fontaine, take. “She pulls out a USB stick and hands it to Max.

In a short time the case files are projected on the screen, the pieces of the bomb found, the witness reports and the names of the victims. Everyone observes a particular name: Nora Bélanger, twenty-two, died on the way to the hospital, the daughter of Abraham Bélanger, the Akumatized victim that day.

"What was the name of today's victim?" Damian asks, feeling that everything has been in motion since long before.

"Let's see. "Max starts reviewing the files on the second computer he has, it's easier that way and he doesn't overload the laptops with so much open file. A couple of minutes later, he has it. "Victoria Jouvet, last night reported a robbery at her house, but it was dismissed and this morning she received a message about it, minutes later, well, we already know what happened..."

"Since when did the police dismiss cases? Alix, did you know about that?"Marinette frowns, she doesn't like how Paris's safety is being affected. Since Mayor Bourgeois was no longer elected and a new mayor took over the city, many corruption cases were disappearing and a dismissal of cases, especially with the return of the butterfly, is not the best practice to keep healthy emotions.

"No, I had no idea." She almost growled about it, maybe she should talk more closely with Detective Fontaine about what's going on inside the police. Too good that she discovered that MT has that kind of jurisdiction, Chloe excelled in supporting the cause, she deserves a reward.

Max continues to collect information and decides to place an alert for registered crimes in the databases, to classify them and be able to monitor the victims. Perhaps there is a way to handle the most violent crimes that Paris has not seen in several years. Yes, there are still murders, robberies and rapes, but it is not something that happens every day and now with emotions as a vulnerable point, they need a way to redirect the negative effect in some way.

"Then the police are falling into old ways, we must clean it up. Kudbel, do you trust that detective?" She nods, resigned to having Felix continue calling her by her last name, sometimes someone's name escapes him, but he corrects him immediately, although she knows that he's fond of everyone, even if he denies it. "So I need you to start a joint investigation, we will make a file of every police in Paris to find out who are the corrupt, we will clean the place to avoid Akuma for police negligence. Any inappropriate behavior will be suspicious, we will remove all the dirty laundry, we have long ignored the police issue. If we only keep two assets in the entire city, it doesn't matter, there is a selection of recruits in the academy that can begin to be sent to the field from the moment we take out the vermin."

"Agree. It's fortunate that Detective Fontaine enjoys being hated by everyone."

"Our guy, tell him we send greetings." Marc says to lighten the mood a bit, although everyone is in work mode now.

"We must create a support project for families, if these police officers have children they must be protected and not left adrift by the mistakes of their parents. "Marinette takes out her phone to write down a reminder to consult Hugo about the possibilities of creating a project about it.

Nathaniel nods in support, also pulling out his phone to check his bank accounts and see if he can support, he doesn't have the exaggerated amounts of money Marinette has accumulated over the past few years at absurd speed, but he's in the same situation that she just He accumulates because neither he nor Marc spend too much, the most expensive thing they have is the apartment and they don't even have a car. They don’t spend beyond what is necessary.

Alix doesn't comment, she, if it were not for living with Chloe, would have a slightly less stable life. Having her own art school doesn't give her millions, but it's something that she really enjoys, just like being an Art History consultant at the Louvre, she doesn't complain, but sometimes she0s surprised at the gap that exists between her and  others. Felix with his millionaire family, Chloe with his exorbitant salary (and the Hotel, which remained in her hands when André was imprisoned for fraud, Chloe didn't touch her heart when she reformed it completely and changed its name, leaving not even the shadow than it was), Nathaniel and Marc have a very stable base of money for their comic book editorial and recently accepted two new writers and three cartoonists for the publication of new works, expanding the franchise, Max has an annual profit that rivals With Luka and his record label, Kagami and the Tsurugi company double Chloe's annual salary (and that's a lot of money)... And Marinette, she has managed to accumulate so much money in just five years that she's close to surpassing Felix's fortune, if her earnings continue to grow at the rate  it's going (and having two Wayne as her clients, she is sure it will happen) she really will go on those lists of the world's richest people. Yes, she is the one who earns the least because even Kim has more stable earnings. And almost all of them have made their salary base in the last four years, working even before starting university.

The MT is full of crazies with money, definitely, but aren't all vigilantes like that? She can bet her kidneys that Batman and Green Arrow are also crazy with money.

"Then with the police business going on. I think it is time to research every company in Paris, find any links with shell companies and list them. That includes ours. ”No one complains, knowing they are not going to be sidelined just because they could end up showing that in court and it is better to avoid suspicion. "All employees must also be investigated. It would be good to speak to Borealis to find out if his informants have any suspicious information. "

"I'll tell him to give us all the information he gets at the meeting." Now it's Chloe's turn to get her phone out and start sending messages.

"Going back to the bomb, do you have suspects?" Marc asks, redirecting the conversation.

"Only one. His name is Felipe Lombard, he was released from prison two years ago. He was arrested for exploiting an apartment building killing seventeen people in Marseille, he was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison and... I really think it should have been longer, but he came out because he made a deal with the prosecution to help dismantle a group of smuggling of weapons that the police had been following for years, but had no conclusive evidence. It seems they found the connection with him and it was one of two, or cooperating or adding another twenty years to the sentence. ”Alix explains with little interest. "He was found dead this morning, according to the detective's call... So we don't know if someone paid him or if he relapsed. "

"Ridiculous, completely ridiculous."

"I think we need to expand our allies..." Luka murmurs, weighing their options, they may have the equipment, but they need more people to give them information and, although Aurore's informants are useful, they are not enough to have more precise control than it happens on the streets. And its allies outside the country seldom have information that relates to Paris in any way.

"Yeah, but we will discuss that when it is the first meeting of the Order." Says Marinette. "By the way, our trip will be short, the jewel is in Istanbul, so after the small obligations that Felix committed to, we'll return. "

"Right, we'd better be going." Felix nods at her words.

Everything is saved and sent to the central database, all are removed and most go to the dining room where Hugo has just arrived thanks to Kaalki. Only Damian doesn't follow the others and instead hugs his mother.

"Sorry. "

"Oh? Why?" She immediately returns the hug and strokes his head lovingly.

"I'm just sorry... maybe I did something wrong."

"You don't have to apologize if you make a mistake, I don't expect you to be perfect or someone you're not for wanting to please me." She smiles and cradles her son's face, she can see the conflict in his green eyes. "I love you as you're."

"Me too, mother." He hides his face in her chest and clings to her as much as he can, feeling really loved and at home. And he decides it's best to ignore the information about soul mates, Constantine's sour gaze upon mentioning it is proof that it's not pleasant for his mother either.

-------

R. Grayson: I have a question regarding the design you submitted

Marie Lenoir: Yes?

R. Grayson: Why is the lining of my suit violet?

Marie Lenoir: Combines with the tie and with your eyes, your shade of blue is very vivid and beautiful

R. Grayson: Thanks, although my eyes are nothing compared to yours

Marie Lenoir: Thank you, I'm flattered.

--------

Lila Agreste is not a bad person, at least, she's not anymore. Being forced to marry Adrien taught her a few things, as well as being a reality hit on the course she was taking in her life. By the time the marriage contract was released, she no longer wanted to have anything to do with the Agreste and marrying the blonde was out of her plans, but she did.

How it happened?

Well, Adrien invested a great deal of money in cleaning up the family name and pleasing her in any way she wanted, that was what persuaded her. But as the years went by, she felt less comfortable with the situation, but she came to sympathize with Adrien's stance and stayed for it, despite the fact that she fell in love with another man. If only the heroes were less useless and found a way to wake Emilie from the coma, she would be free to return to Italy and plan her life with her lover.

She doesn't love Adrien, but she's fond of him. Seven years married in a friendly relationship generates that, he never questioned her and respected her space, in addition to taking her on many trips and including her in various jobs. Yes, she knows that she takes advantage sometimes, but she also feels quite bitter. She doesn't even find herself to lie about anything, she just wants to get out of that horrible life and for that she must play her cards well or the last years would have been a waste of time.

With the only person who keeps in touch during school days is Alya (who doesn't know anything about the contract), the others made their lives far away or their relationships with them fractured, but she knows what has become of all of them because her beloved husband he mentions from time to time, in addition to maintaining a close friendship with several of them. He has even gone to some dinners with him, although she was always uncomfortable.

The only one relevant to her record is Marinette, she was surprised by the turn she gave to her life after that discussion with her parents. She stopped being the annoying girl from school and became a force to be reckoned, the Lady Black brand emerged strongly and remains lifted with the same toughness as the beginning, even expanding to other areas besides fashion.

She's jealous, yes she's, but she learned to recognize that all of that was her effort. She didn't marry anyone to help her, she doesn't even have a partner nor does she need her to have a child. She still doesn't know the famous boy, but Damian Lenoir is not a name that is foreign to her, Alya complained about how that boy seemed about to stab her boyfriend with a table knife... Lila still doesn't understand that possessed her to date that nefarious guy, neither all the money in the world is worth to support such a disgusting man.

"Lila, here!" She smiles as best she can and approaches the table. Alya invited her and, being the girlfriend of the mayor's son, it's a very luxurious place. She has gone there, of course, Adrien sometimes invites her to places like this to give the appearance of a happy couple.

"Hi. "She still doesn't like how effusive the reporter is.

"How was your trip to Kazan? Russia must be beautiful. "She begins, it's been a month since they last saw each other and then just a few calls, Adrien always takes a long time in the cities. Not that she cares, but that gives her time to have a good time at her destinations.

"Wonderful. Adrien paid a tour guide to take us to know the secrets of the city, of course, two weeks is a long time, but we found ways to have a good time while balancing work. "A little lie, she spent most of the time alone, but she's not telling anyone that. Perhaps the only ones who know are Adrien's friends and, again, she returns to that overly successful group. It would have seemed unreal if she hadn't seen their growth firsthand.

"That's great, Lila! I would like to travel more, but Michel is always busy, at least we have the opportunity to have dinner every night. ”She nods as if she was really interested in knowing something about her boyfriend, Nino was a thousand times better and also more pleasant. She still remembers with disgust when Michel tried to seduce her, if he did the same with Marinette, it doesn't surprise her that his son was ready to riddle him with silverware.

"It must be difficult being a surgeon's girlfriend, they can call him randomly at some point."

"Yes, but it's worth it."

Lila wonders if Alya knows or plays stupid, her boyfriend is no better than excrement, however handsome or wealthy he's. Although the reporter has a hard time accepting when she's wrong and after three years of relationship, it would be disappointing, yes, maybe that's it.

-------

­­Alya Cessaire @Alya.Blogs.Out

Reunion! @ LilaA.Rossi

[Attached photo]

Tim Drake @TimDrakeW_

My brother just can't contain himself from flirting, his survival instincts are on the underground

Jason @IAm_YisusXD

@TimDrakeW_ Now what did he do?

Tim Drake @TimDrakeW_

@IAm_YisusXD the normal... only now he forgot that her son has dogs capable of devouring him.

[currentfandomkick]

Bio! Dad Strange part 4

Shorter but a paris update for her life and a little on gotham with Jason as Robin while Tim is a hero Stalker.

Marinette is 7 when she changes schools, ordered into the Dupont school chain by her teachers since she was getting ‘difficult’ and contradicting their ciriculum. When they challeneged her on this, she went to the school board with Rolland beside her of all people.

The board agreed on one thing, Marinette’s contradictions were not only factually correct, but were done to prevent the outdated ciriculum from hurting her classmates. Instead of punishing her, she got to skip a gade and was given to Dupont as a ‘highly reccomended gifted student’.

Her first day she met Max, who also skipped a grade. The pair bond in five seconds over a new programming focused on learning emotional intelligence. Uncle Riddler was showing her it, and Max got his hands on a various ai bases. This led to then teaming up and designing the one and only Markov together, if only in schematics.

A week in and the two notice that some kids are being followed around by a guy with a bat. They report it. Again and again, but no one can find him.

One day he catches the pair on their way to Max’s—they wanted to work on their ai together, ok? The guy tries to hit Max, saying something about them being lucky metas that needed to suffer.

Marinette’s gotham training kicked in. She caught the bat, ripped it away from him and hit him in the chest with it, while yelling at max to run.

At the end of the incident, videotaped by a bystander, the Dupont Stalker was arrested.

Marinette was given another name by the police, ‘fille de batte’ or bat girl. Her having family in gotham only made the nickname more popular.

This put her on Kim and Alix’s radar. Kim wanted a challenge for fighting and competitions, and this tiny kid did that—to an adult! New friend and rival!

Alix was went from shock to joy as Marientte does art. She does art. Art friend to rant to found!

Nino ran into Marinette not long after Kim and Alix attached themselves to her and Max. Nino became their judge for Kim challenges. Including Mari pinning Kim to the mat, or deciding who did a circus move better (Mari won acrobatics).

Chloe doesnt go to dupont until next year, and sabrina is in another class, mildly concerned for Marinette.

In this au, again, Dupont is considered a ‘i would not be shocked if there were metas there’ school for gifted kids in any way.

Marinette is sent there for her insane science obsession at the time, but is also put in their arts program with Alix to develop as an artist with her medium, fabrics and fashion.

And if marinette redesigns hero outfits as “monsiuer ross, scribbles have more style, let alone fashion sense” alot, well. Kids get obsessed a lot and the Justice League is a common one, as are known villians. Her everyday outfits having different hero schemes—oddly enough some forensic scientist she’s obsessed with from some american city ended up in her mix—well. She’s a kid and showing signs a few types of anxiety.

Possible social and OCD and a developing case of perfectionism common to the arts program. The school has her see a therapist and know she isnt telling them everything beyong mild concern for her gotham family, and confusion over people just ‘not getting things’ as she is terribly smart and good at finding patterns and how do people not see it?

By the end of the year Marinette is in a strong friend group who’s parents and hers have decided to have joint custody during the school year.

She was now (forced) to learn vietnamese from Kim’s Grandparents, italian from Rolland (her nonno that has a Thing for tradition and somehow married Gina and raised Tom mostly on his own while running the bakery to boot), english from Father/Strange, Mandarin from her Maman and she started Arabic to talk with Nino’s aunt who kept saying marinette was her future in-law and point out that nino and her are friends, not dating ma’am.

However, Nino endured most of this with her-not the italian or Mandarin, but the others. Kim couldnt get Arabic but mandarin was a breeze for him. Alix cannot get vietnamese or arabic but Mandarin is her jam after french. Max just speaks french and english, he understands the others he just cant get the sounds right, ok?

When Marinette goes back to Gotham that summer, she ends up dealing with Hero Stalker Tim (jason is robin now) while looking for Red Hoodie who No oNE is telling her what happened and she’s worried, ok?

Tim feeds her obbsession with fixing problems. He sometimes sends her building layouts of places Catwoman stole from. And then the jewlry reappears thanks to a nervous Marinette coached by Rose and Ghoul while Frost handles her post-fix it freak out. Tim also may or may not get helped by her alot during Batman Stalking Time as she teaches his butt how to sneak and complains he’s worse than penguin.

Tim hates that, works on it, and still has nonidea who she is. He does admit to figuring out who batman may be, but needs more evidence so...

Marinette hits him becuase “thats dangerous!” And tries to lecture him in identites.

Batman’s radiowave was used for said lecture.

“And it puts their families in danger you, uh, hero stalker! And stuff so no more identity investigations!”

“They have the same builds, and did signsture moves from—“ the signal cutout.

He and Jason are more careful... ish. They change channels and monitor the old one.

Sometimes Batman catches Marinette and Tim talking about coldcases and she has asked three times if he heard anything about Jason’s street kid identity. Jason is feeling guilty about this as she’s his Pixie Pop. This lets Bruce know that the probably-clark’s-kid would keep Jason away from GCPD and CPS.

When a convo leads to Batman finding out Tim and Marinette have considered asking the police for help with a case of medicine that needed to be recalled as it was beign used to mule drugs contaminated the batches and hurt patients, but turned it down after she saw some taking bribes from Fish, Batman lets Gordon know and an investigation is launched.

While Bats is away, Jason visits marinette as Robin and tries to get her to bats for more information and a lecture on heroing without adult supervision. Maybe.

Only she’s currently stealing from a sleeping selina at another HQ. A Selina who has stopped trying to stop marinette and let riddler turn her house into one of his ‘traps’ to stop Marinette’s ‘return theiving’.

Jason gets stuck in a trap. Marinette is gone by then, scared Robin will tell Superman about her and he’ll hurt her family or something.

Catwoman is annoyed at Marinette’s sucess. She goes to stop the girl after leaving him tied up for Batman with a message: leave her new kitten-to-be alone.

Follow up talk post-Caught Marinette reverse theiving.

“Blame the Council’s decrees. She’s their little princess, and my new neice,” Catwoman watched Batman carefully.

Confused Batman in interrogator mode. “You mean the Court of Owls, arent they disbanded?”

“Bats, the council is gotham’s underground. Apparently Two-Face made the contracts as penance for scaring the Princess during a breakout. Unless you want an organized attack by the council, steer clear of her.”

Batman conencts the dots and curses himself. The girl he was looking for last summer is the Princess of Gotham’s underground. It will be hell finding her. And Superman/Clark will lose it when he’s told.

He lets the JL know about it, saying ‘possibly kyptonian clone, female child. Gotham’s underground is calling her their Princess. Connor and Kidflash tailed her last summer during the arkham breakout while Robin was with the Titans. Be alert for a small asian girl.’

That was how Marinette ended up on the JL watch list and how Superman had another existential crisis.

Dick freaks out with the Titans over this. Becuase kyltonian raised by villians is terrifying. Jason forwarded the message and adds on “she’s a good kid and wants to help. Somehow keeps zsasz and joker from killing people, so its not good to take her away or issolate her from the villians if you find her. From what i remember, she is terrified of her family beign put in danger. The others wont listen to me. If you can, pass this along to the other sidekicks and your allies—none of them trust me enough to listen. I cant talk to her as a civilian like i used to either for obvious reasons. And she’s terrified of me-Robin. Maybe you can get through to her, or someone else can. Just talk to her first, she’s more reasonsble than she looks”

Dick doesnt read the add on until much later and regrets it.

He met marinette once. She was a very excited kid babbling about aerodynamics in acrobatics and asking about that. Not hero things, not power things, or justice league but That.

He tried to be nice but he was having a horrible mission, saw the girl floating as she rambled and tried to grab her.

She freaked out and bolted, sort of. He got slammed into a building, or would have had she not caught him, rambled in french while trying to apologize (he was a but stunned from the throw, and rebooting as villian-kyptonian was... nice?) and put him on the roof, hit his communicator and said one thing.

“I think i broke your robin? All are robins like bird bones or something?”

He regained a functioning brain as that. That was something he could respond to.

“I am human thank you!”

That seemed to be enough for her as he moved to get up. She waved bye and bolted, something about Rose being mad at her for being late...

“Titans. I think we might have been wrong about the kid...”

Later with Young Justice the info was passed on.

Jason asked if anyone read his attachment and was met with silence. He groaned and told them “so another team she’s going to avoid... great.”

Marinette added the titans to her list of ‘people to aviod—tetch and Jerimah were the worst. Luthor and Cadmus were under them. Then the entire Justice League (they would tell batman or superman. Snitches.), followed by GCPD, CPS, the Bat Family and now Titans. She wonders if she needs to add anyone else, and hates that she cant talk to heroes. They could help with controlling her powers instead of suppressing them but she cant trust them not to give her to superman like batman did with Rose to Poison Ivy and she’s pretty sure Superboy too.

Next time, times marinette accidently put together identities and curses Hero Stalker Tim for her now knowing.

[agreste-image]

☕️ your classmates!

Well, this is going to get a little long, probably. I mean, there’s 14 other people.

In general, I like them all to a degree. Some I consider my best friends, some I’m just not close to, others are...

Not nice people.

We’ll just go for a paragraph per person. Skipping myself, obviously, I’m not my own classmate.

Soooo... Chloe, then. She manages to fall under both not a nice person and a best friend. Even I’m not really sure how. She can be kind when she wants to be, and she was my only friend for years. I hope I can help her be more of herself, not just a little platinum blonde echo of Audrey, because I think she’s struggling too.

Alya, I’d like to think, I’m kind of close to. Not as close as I could be, considering she’s dating one of my best friends. She’s a nice person, wayyyy too freaking brave, though. How many time have Ladybug and Chat Noir had to physically relocate her out of the danger zone of an akuma? I guess it’s kind of admirable, though, that she’s willing to do that for the sake of providing information to the public. Sometimes, though... she needs to do actual research... I’m definitely a huge part of that whole nightmare situation, though.

Her boyfriend, though. That’s Nino! You guys have probably seen me talk about him on here sometimes. He was the first one to actually give me a chance when I started going to public school, everyone else just assumed I was going to be like Chloe. He’s kinda my hero? All he knew about me was that I was friends with Chloe but all it took for him to decide to befriend me was watching me try and get gum off a seat. He knows what his goals are and he goes for them, though he does get pretty frustrated when things don’t go the way he hoped, but he’s quick to forgive other people when they mess up and damn I know that’s hard to do. He’s ALSO recklessly brave, like Alya... I thought I was going to have a heart attack when Anansi was a thing. Augh.

Sabrina is... weird. You’d think I’d know her a little more, given she’s always with Chloe, but I really don’t? I don’t know if I’ve ever spoken to her one on one. She’s eager to please Chloe, but I don’t think that extends to anyone else, not quite the same way. I know a lot of people feel bad for her because she basically acts as Chloe’s servant, but I, uh. Don’t? Obviously it’s not a good relationship, but I remember bits and pieces of the One Time Sabrina was partnered with Marinette and Chloe on a project, and Sabrina’s capable of being just as mean and manipulative as Chloe. She’s just more submissive, for some reason. I dunno.

Rose is like what I would be if I was incapable of truly recognizing the cruelties of people. It is SO strange. I’ve never seen anyone as optimistic and bubbly as her. I like being around her, but in small doses. She can be a little airheaded sometimes, which makes planning things with her just a bit of a headache, because she’s always so excited about everything...? Once you get it all ironed out fully, though, usually it’s okay. She’s not a planning person, definitely spontaneous, or at least that’s the impression I get. She’s the singer for a rock band, actually, Kitty Section. I play keyboard for them sometimes.

I feel like I have to talk about Juleka after Rose. They’re a pair- dating, maybe??- I almost never see one without the other. Juleka’s pretty opposite to Rose. Rose is bright and loud, Juleka’s dark and quiet. Short and tall, outgoing and shy, confident and too hard on herself. She wants to model, or did at one point, and I fully believe she’d go quite far if she put her mind to it, but she is so. Painfully. Shy. It’s nice to see her with Rose and her other friends because she’s not trying to curl in on herself and not be seen. Unfortunately, because of that shyness, I really don’t know her very well. I’ve made some attempts to get to know her better, but, ah, to get her to talk requires Rose’s presence, and third-wheeling is awkward.

Kim is... yeesh. Competition is fun, but life isn’t a competition!! You don’t have to constantly dare everyone to ridiculous things. Sometimes it’s fun, but my god, Kim, dial it back. I’ll give him this, he’s calmed that down somewhat in the last few years. but beyond that, I barely know the guy. I’ll admit, my most prominent memories of him usually involve akuma, so that probably makes me subtly wary, but those weren’t his fault. I should try and hang out with him sometime, really, and actually get to know him.

I don’t know Ivan very well either. He’s quiet, seems grumpy a lot of the time, but I think that’s just his default expression. He and Mylene seem very happy together, which is. Surprising to me. Mostly because of how they got together. I know he’s ridiculously honest, I’ve seen him try to lie and it was... so embarrassing to watch. I should try spending time with him as well.

Max I’ve been around, but again, am not super close to. I’ll be perfectly honest, his intelligence is a little intimidating at times, while occasionally making things awkward when he takes stuff too seriously. But, wow, he made Markov. Who I would count as a classmate if he was able to participate, but he’s not, at the moment he’s... well, not recognized as a person, legally, yet. 

Alix is always the one taking Kim up on his dares. Usually, her conditions are that he stop making dares, which makes me laugh. She’s very comfortable and confident with who she is and doesn’t ever seem afraid to speak her mind, which does lead to some fights when she won’t admit she was in the wrong for a little while. She comes around, though. I admire that, and yet again, I realize I should probably try to spend more time with her.

Mylene, poor girl, she’s such a scaredy-cat. I’ve literally seen her jump at her own shadow before. From what I’ve been able to gather, she’s a very caring, kind person who will always do her best to help others, even when she’s on the verge of tears from how frightened she is. I wish I could help her with that, but I don’t want to give her a heart attack by approaching her. (She seems pretty easily distracted at times.) I think she could be an actress, if she wanted to be. She’s not half bad at it.

Nathaniel is a VERY talented artist, and I’ve encouraged him multiple times to at least consider doing it as a career, or side-job, at least. He’s shy about it, especially after Evillustrator regarding himself and Reverser with Marc (another class), but he’s been working off and on with Marc on a small series of comics. I swear, he never puts the pencil down, and I don’t ever want to interrupt him while he’s in the zone, so he’s another one I’ve mostly observed, but would like to know better.

Marinette. Where to begin with her? I can easily describe her as our everyday Ladybug. She’s a wonderful girl, always taking the lead, doing her best to help everyone within reason and not backing down when threatened. She’s gotten the attention of celebrities, for crying out loud, my own father and Audrey Bourgeois and Jagged Stone all acknowledged her talents and that makes me unbelievably proud of her. Sure, she...may not have been able to get a proper sentence out around me for a few years, and sometimes we don’t even say anything, but that’s alright. I know the reason behind it, even if I can’t do anything with that information, and I understand that feeling. Being around her is comfortable. But I don’t know her as well as I’d like to. I wish I could ask without making things potentially weird. Besides, she’s almost as busy as I am. Class rep, clothing design, helping with her parents bakery, helping all of her friends. Our schedules almost never line up, I think...

...Lila. I put off talking about her as long as I could, and that turned out to be a good few hours as I slowly answered this ask. She breathes lies that can be unraveled with the slightest bit of research, but nobody ever DOES and it infuriates me to no end. Lila made me regret being kind and giving her repeated second chances because my refusal to tell someone about the lies I caught her in got Marinette temporarily expelled and ostracized, and I’ll never forgive myself for my part in that. I have to be around her that much more than anyone else because of course she somehow managed to get Father’s attention and started modelling with me because for some goddamn reason she wants to be around me for some fame to rub off on her. Or wants me. One of the two. I legitimately hate every second I’m near her.

That should be everyone in my class other than my teachers. I realize, reading back over it, that I don’t know most of them too well, which makes me feel a little bad, but hopefully I can correct that. 

[journeynaut]

This decade I went from being 14 to 24. From my understanding this means this decade has pretty much shaped my tastes, beliefs, and personality more than any other decade will. It’s also an important decade because at the beginning of the decade I felt like a real person, and now I feel like a ghost that occasionally almost inhabits the same space as this flesh prison.

Anyway, here’s a list of games that shaped me in reverse chronological order for maximum pretension. Spoilers and typos will be abundant. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

I like little, mostly irrelevant prepping activities in games. Currently, I’m playing Death Stranding, and my Norman Reedus always puts on a cap. Mostly to cover up his weird little pony, but also just as a thing to do to focus before a mission. Like, listening to Friends in the Armed Forces by Thursday before the helicopter lands. Like, grabbing your wallet in the morning. Or, like in Arthur Morgan’s case, putting on a bandana before being a nasty crime boy.

Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. I always play characters as good and pure as possible. But after I got done doing my good boy crimes I could always return to camp. Sure, camp was always moving as we ran, but the people were there every time. The world of RDR2 is beautiful, I think the characters were my favorite thing about this game. The entire plot was that camp, the outcasts in it, and the dreams they followed. They fused a cowboy simulator with a cult simulator. It says, don’t worry, friend - just keep going and Eden is the next job.

This is a game where you give, break, and are broken in pursuit of a lie. This is a game where your perfect life never arrives and the simple pleasures you find are taken. In the end, you only do whatever little bit of good you can, thank your horse for carrying your weight and the weight of everything you carry, and lay down to go peacefully.

Night in the Woods (2017)

This last decade took my memory from me. When I was a freshman in college taking an intro psych class, the class took a short term memory test. I got second in the whole class. Now I’m sitting here trying to remember who said what in this game. But regardless, one character says something like, “Getting older is your list of first times growing shorter while your list of never agains grows longer.” Heavily paraphrased, probably.

I think there’s a Bojack Horseman episode where he says, life is a series of closing doors, isn’t it? In our modern capitalist hell, very few don’t get trapped. This game understands that sometimes you can’t get out, and sometimes you just need to break some fluorescent bulbs at a dumpster. Or in my case, procrastinate on my life by playing this game while everything fell apart around me.

World of Warcraft: Legion (2016)

Tanking in WoW was my most fulfilling gaming experience of the decade. I wasn’t great, but I could be good occasionally. There are a few moments of genuine pride I can remember. Which, now that I think back, might be some of the last times I felt pride.

I had never played WoW or even an MMO before Legion, but everyone has to get into an MMO when they’re in college, right? So I got into it for about a year, and I played it way too much. So much so, I lost myself after I stopped, both personally and in games. It was hard for me to stick to any game for a long time after I stopped playing, and it honestly still is.

It wasn’t the tanking or the pride or the addictive design elements that kept me coming back - it was the people. This became a Return To game for me. Whether I was playing seriously or just goofing off, I would return to the trans mog shop in Stormwind. There were a few players who would gather consistently and talk between queues. I barely knew anything about these people but I spent hours there with them. There was my healer and best friend who I played with every day. There was the carpet layer from Hawaii. There was the player we always assumed was a young girl but turned out to be some rich man? And behind the anonymity of my characters I was able to comfortably interact with the regulars and the passerbys and mess with the assholes. I learned that pretending to be an actor playing someone else is the best way to talk to people.

Even though I barely knew these people they became friends in the modern way people become friends where you see them every day, but are also shocked to find out any detail of their personal lives. I often wonder what happened to all the people I played with. I never said bye to them or anything. I wasn’t planning on never playing again. One day it just happened.

I’ve often thought about playing again. When WoW Classic came out I thought about playing it. I’ve even thought about getting into FF14. But you can never go home, right? Some things that were good can’t be good again.

Inside (2016)

God, this is extremely my shit. I don’t have anything touching or personal to say about this. Every moment of this game is so tight and perfect, and the aesthetic is spot on. Run on, my child, go be one with your blob friends.

Or maybe I just like it because I too am a disgusting blob monster haunted by a dreary dilapidated landscape.

Firewatch (2016)

The plot of this game is messy overall, but I think about the character interactions all the time. This is a perfect example on how good dialogue isn’t realistic. It should be what we want reality to be. Henry and Delilah have such a believable relationship, strictly because I wanted to believe in it. I wanted to believe two people could always be so perfect and so witty.

And Firewatch just won’t let you believe in it. At the end you can beg and beg for Delilah to stay, and she won’t. The game gently pats you on the head, and says, sometimes people are too broken to be perfect with each other.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

The PC version lets you set custom music to play as you drop in from the helicopter for your missions. This led to me hearing the beginning to Thursday’s Friends in the Armed Forces god knows how many times. Sure, maybe a 2009 emo song blaring out of a helicopter in 1980’s Afghanistan doesn’t exactly fit, but the mood fit. And it helped set the mood for the routine of going on missions.

Routine is what this game does so well. It’s an incomplete game with a not great story, and it fails at being a good Metal Gear Solid game. But the routine and mechanics blend together to create one of the best playing action games ever made. I never got tired of walking around my base, of boarding my helicopter to go drop into the desert, of launching random animals into the air with reverse parachutes.

This game also led to me formulating my Return To/Go Out theory of games, which I believe most games fall into. An old Mario game is a great example of a Go Out game. You never return anywhere; the princess is always in another castle. The Animal Crossing games maybe exist as the perfect example of a Return To game because you never even go out anywhere. You’re always there, where you mean to be. MGSV falls mostly on the Return To side of the spectrum, as it focuses on building up and managing your base and the people on it, something I’ll always be a sucker for.

Her Story (2015)

This is one of the last games that made me feel smart. As a person who feels chronically dumb as shit, that’s pretty rare. Sure, everyone in my life, and the university I went to, and all my grades say I’m not dumb. But we know that’s just because I tricked them all, and I’m actually a complete fool. But diving into this game’s wild and twisting non-linear story made me feel like a detective.

The Witcher 3 (2015)

Move out of the way Skyrim. The Witcher 3 was actually the best fantasy game of the decade. I played through all of The Witcher 2 in preparation for 3. I became so invested and involved with this universe. I feel like I should have so much more to say about this. In what was a very turbulent year of my life, this was the perfect escape. The world, writing, and characters are all so beautifully done. The DLC provides an emotional finale for the story. I never understood Gwent? But I did everything else in this game, and I still think about escaping into it again.

Also Triss for life.

Also also god, that show sucks shit though, doesn’t it?

Life is Strange (2015)

I love everything about Life is Strange. I love the melodrama, the stilted dialogue, the songs that still make me cry. I love the weird high school that resembles no high school ever. I’m not too much of a fan about what it says about me as a person though.

See, I let the entire town die to save Chloe. The crazy part is that I didn’t even think Max and Chloe were good together. When the game gave me a chance to kiss Chloe, I didn’t take it. I thought they had been apart too long, that they had too much personal baggage, that they were going through too much. But when the moment came I couldn’t let her go. I let the entire town get blown away to save her.

Transistor (2014)

Hey, do you want a cyberpunk, post-rock fueled, murder revenge love story?

Transistor had such an impact on me that Red and the Transistor are still my phone’s wallpaper and lockscreen. It’s the game I always mean to get around to playing again, but year after year I don’t. Maybe one day I will, or maybe that’s just what I tell myself about most things in life.

Regardless, this game acts as a perfect spiritual sequel to the studio’s first game, Bastion. In Bastion, everyone wanted to live in the perfect world that had been, but was now destroyed. In Transistor, the world exists - it’s there and could theoretically become whatever people want, and yet, no one wants to live in it. You’re not even trying to save the world; you want escape as much as anyone else. You just need revenge for the small part of your personal world that has been taken.

Also, at the end you get to basically fight yourself, and I’m such a sucker for when games have you fight someone with the same powers as you.

Gone Home (2013)

I had never been in love when I played this game. I thought I had, but being a teenager is dumb and weird. Of all the first times I wish I could experience again in games, this is up there on that list. Maybe even the top. Mainly because I understand love now, and I think it would make this game hurt more.

Both times I played Gone Home I sobbed, and I’m certain if I played it again, I would sob again. This was the first game to impact me in that way. As I’ve grown more and more dead inside, as I feel less and less, I seek those experiences out. Why yes, I would like to play whatever the sad new indie game is. Why yes, I would like to listen to that song that makes me emotional over and over. That scene in a show made me cry? Yes, I will absolutely watch it again.

Gone Home, like Spec Ops, taught me so much about what games could be and do. In a decade of walking simulators, Gone Home still stands out as one of the best.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2013)

Animal Crossing is the best goddamn game series of all time, and this is the best one because you can stack fruit.

Hotline Miami (2012)

I have never done cocaine in the 80’s, but that’s pretty much this game, right? This murder simulator game does something to your body on like, a visceral level. Imagine it’s like your 20th attempt on a level. Your hands are shaking with adrenaline, but you have a careful plan. It immediately goes bad so you just panic and start running around knifing fools and it somehow works out anyway. That’s the thing that makes this work so well, and also the thing the devs absolutely did not understand when they made Hotline Miami 2.

You know what else makes this game great? The vibes. Miss me with your vibe checks if you’re not putting off Hotline Miami vibes. It’s the trippy and psychedelic story, it’s the way you have to walk through the bodies of everyone you just murked at the end of the level, it’s the game constantly asking if you feel good about what you’re doing. Hotline Miami and Spec Ops made me reevaluate how I thought about violence in games. Which isn’t to say I don’t play violent games, just that I think more about what the games are asking me to do.

Borderlands 2 (2012)

My experience with Borderlands was different than how most people played it. I didn’t really uh, have friends, so I played it alone. But it wasn’t an inferior experience. I got to play my haiku spouting sniper at my own pace. All the guns were mine. I could laugh at the dumb jokes as long as I wanted.

Hey wait, actually, is this game still funny? If I thought it was extremely funny originally, would it still hold up? Like, Mr. Satan being Mr. Torgue still has to be funny, right?

Anyway, most of the DLC for this game is pretty mediocre or just straight up bad, but the Tiny Tina DLC is some of the best DLC of the decade. Those madmen just made D&D in a goofy ass game where guns yell at you when you shoot them, and somehow made it an emotionally resonant end to the story.

Spec Ops: The Line (2012)

We all really missed what this game was trying to tell us, huh? It constantly asks you if you’re okay with the dehumanization of minorities and the glorification of imperialism and the military that runs rampant through games. Here we are going into 2020, and goobers are still trying to argue games don’t have politics in them. Anyway, gamers are dumb as shit, and we should have listened to Spec Ops more.

Portal 2 (2011)

This came out at the beginning of this decade, huh? Guess I gotta break out the walker and sign up for AARP. Anyway, being funny is hard. I mean, I’ve never managed to be funny so I assume it’s hard. I mean, sometimes my life is funny in a cosmically ironic way, like I’m god’s personal clown and not in on the joke.

Anyway, anyway, the puzzles are fantastic, and Portal 2 is funny as hell in a way I’m pretty sure would still hold up. The humor is definitely more overt than the original Portal, but Cave Johnson is a god tier character. I can’t remember what I did yesterday, and I still remember Cave Johnson lines from like, 8 years ago.

Minecraft (2011)

*twirls mustache* Not to sound like a hipster, but I started playing Minecraft in 2010 before release. My first world seed was the most perfect seed I ever encountered. It was a large island, the size of which, I never encountered again. Like, it was big enough that it felt like I had to branch out to explore, but also small enough that I could know it all. Playing on that island was the most pure experience I had with Minecraft, in retrospect. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t realize that actually everyone else was way better at building things and playing the game than I was.

But eventually you get bored of everything, right? So I found a server and joined the forums. Over time I grew a bit bored of the game, and eventually realized I wasn’t very good at it. But I stuck around on the forums. Like, for years. Playing on that server, even as my time actually playing lessened, and being on the forums defined my teenage years.

I had a complicated relationship with the forums and the game, though. I’m not good with people. That’s just something I’ve had to learn to accept. But I’ve actually gotten better over the years. Back during my teenage years I was awful with people. I was antisocial, standoffish, pretentious, etc. I also felt like I couldn’t get anyone to like me, which I now realize was my own fault. There was a group of players I wanted to be a part of, but also could never really break into. The game and forums became what I was experiencing and also everything I couldn’t experience. It’s what I did every day but also what I was missing out on. Even today my thoughts on Minecraft are complicated. That one song, you know the one, always makes me emotional.

I originally had a different end planned to whatever this list is. It was gonna be a pretentious ending about how a few years ago I tried to go back and play Minecraft but just couldn’t because you can never go home again. I was gonna talk about my first world seed and the optimism and exploration I experienced, and it was obviously gonna mimic my decade. Because, you know, pretentiousness. But I can’t do that now.

See, I just looked up that server, and I found out it’s still active. The website looks like when I left. The same people are in charge. It’s like a time capsule. Due to a lot of personal turmoil, I asked for a server ban and a forum ban to stop myself getting back on in January 2015. That was when my time with Minecraft came to an end. But here’s the crazy thing: a couple of weeks ago, almost 5 years after I quit, someone posted on my forum profile that they missed me. And we weren’t even close friends, I thought. I mean, no one liked me, right? And it wasn’t just this one person. Multiple people had left similar messages on my profile over the years.

Normally I don’t like when people have memories and perceptions of me. Like, hell is other people, right? But this kind of hurt my insides deep down, like nothing has in a while. I don’t quite have words for it because it’s so personally tied to how I felt about Minecraft, and thus the forums, and thus a lot of this decade. Does this mean that multiple people I’ve encountered over the decade miss me? That some amount of people greater than zero miss me not being around?

Anyway, this has gotten off track, but also maybe it hasn’t. The point I was trying to make was to make a pretentious list about how silly little things we do in our free time can affect us years later in ways we won’t realize and sometimes can’t understand.

In conclusion, games track better with the most personal moments of my decade better than almost anything. Games are great. The people who play them are often terrible. Video games forever.

[worddevdealswithml]

Side Effects Include: Empathy

Chapter 22:  (Be advised, this chapter ends on a Note.  Make sure you’re ready for some Stuff if you proceed)

Chloe looked like she’d lost her mind.  Arms bared in the black and white striped tanktop she usually wore under her yellow overshirt.  Her ponytail had strands of hair out.

Marinette knew that it was a dream.  She knew that this ‘Gabriel’ couldn’t have been the real thing.  But, somehow, it didn’t matter.  It felt real, and… She could stand up to a supervillain, no matter what, but she’d never had to stand up to Gabriel Agreste.  Was she supposed to punch him, or—

The door slammed open, rattling the hinges.

“What do you think you’re doing in my—

“Shut up!”

Marinette blinked.

Chloe looked like she’d lost her mind.  Arms bared in the black and white striped tanktop she usually wore under her yellow overshirt.  Her ponytail had strands of hair out.

The strangest this was the wild expression in her eyes.

To Marinette’s… Moderate surprise, the room at large had listened when she’d said to shut up, an opportunity which Chloe had taken to look at the two of them.

“One unexpected visitor was one too many,” said Gabriel, coldly, “a second is—

“I said shut up!” Chloe screamed.  “You’re a dream.  You’re not real, and if you can’t tell me where Sabrina is, I don’t care!”

“If you cannot keep a civil tongue in your head—

“You’ll what?  Keep telling Adrien he can’t come shopping with me?”

Gabriel’s expression soured, and he went silent, as Chloe stared him down.

A second passed, then two.

“That’s what I thought,” said Chloe straightening up, and turning away.

Gabriel didn’t move, still staring at where she’d been.

“Next!” called Chloe, walking away.

“Wh-  What?” Marinette managed.

Chloe gave her a disdainful look, and then a… not disdainful look at Adrien.  “Obviously, Dupain-Cheng, if you stand up to them, they just give up.  They’re dreams.”

“But that’s… That’s…” Marinette saw Adrien’s expression, and something clicked.

“Adrien?”

He looked at her, and mouthed what could have been ‘What?’

“How should he have reacted?”

Adrien blinked, and shrugged, giving her his best ‘how should I know,’ look.

“Chloe.  You’re a genius.”

“Obviously,” she said, walking past them.

“This is Adrien’s dream. He didn’t know how his father would react, so… so he didn’t!”

Adrien contrived to give some implication that he didn’t know how he was supposed to have known how his father would have reacted.

“Yeah, figured that one out already,” said Chloe, already almost to the window.

“Wait, where are you going? Shouldn’t we stick together?”

Chloe shook her head. “I’m going to find her before Ladybug and Chat Noir do.”  

Without explaining herself, she jumped out the window.

She heard a faint sound, and…

Adrien tried to repeat himself, and she was relieved to hear at least some sound as he tried to speak.  He’d been… Silent, before.

Had that been his nightmare?  How long had it lasted before?  That whole time she’d been following Max?

She leaned in close, managing to ignore the proximity to him on the grounds that it was literally the only way she could hear him speak.

“I guess her pride is good for something.”

Marinette laughed, a bit unnerved.

“Yeah…  I guess so.”  She pulled back.  “Alright. We’ve got to find this Akuma, and we know how to do it, right?”

He shrugged.  “…fuse them?”

“Confuse them? Yeah…  And stick together.  There’s not a nightmare alive that can scare everyone, and if you’re not scared of it… You can fight it.”

He nodded.

“Now… Do you think the door will lead to where Chloe came from?”

He shrugged.

“Let’s find out.”

--

She stared, stoically, at the sight before her.

To call it a landscape would have been generous.  It was more a cloud, a collection of places, melting and shifting improbably in space.

The closest thing to a landscape was the courtyard around her, where this thunderstorm of a setup was hanging ponderously in space.

She’d made a new nightmare, just for Adrien, but…  She’d had to put Chloe somewhere.

Her expression shifted minutely, as she picked out the path of destruction Chloe had left behind her… Three nightmares, wrecked, their occupants only mildly nervous now.

She jumped out the window.

A twist of the head, and Chloe landed in Max’s dream.

It would buy her a few seconds, to find a better place to put her.

She groaned.

‘Ladybug’ and ‘Chat Noir,’ at least, hadn’t figured it out.  Yet.

They would.

She knew they would.

Because…  Everyone knew they would.

Everyone knew Ladybug and Chat Noir would show up to fight… so they had.

Everyone knew Ladybug and Chat Noir would figure out how the villain would work… so they would.

But…  She turned.

A small ball floated behind her, half liquid, half cloud.  Every second or so, a wisp of the same material would find it, floating in from the surrounding air, and sometimes, a wisp of the same material would leave, siphoned away.

Pain was power.

Power could be used to inflict more pain.

And if there was enough left over afterwards…

The ball grew, just a bit.

Expression stoic, but internally displeased, she noted that Chloe wasn’t her only loose cannon.

Adrien and Marinette were leaving their dream.

Adrien had been so profitable, and now…

If she was any judge, Ladybug and Chat Noir would figure it out before she could get enough power, especially with those three defusing nightmares right and left.

She wanted to undo them, Ladybug and Chat Noir, that was.  She wanted to just… destroy them, but they had strings in every nightmare. If she undid them, she’d undo every nightmare at once.

She was hurting people as fast as possible, but she wouldn’t be fast enough to escape a fight at this rate. She needed…  She needed something big, to finish this.

Well then, Adrien and Marinette could go to one of her marginal successes.

Marginal, but… sturdy.

--

The first thing Marinette noticed was the sound.  It was an awful, ear-itching sound, like… scratching.  Then, she heard a soft voice, somehow simultaneously rough and gentle.

Her eyes focused, and she saw… A small, candlelit wooden room, like a log cabin.  The windows outside were pitch black, but for occasional flashes of… something.

And sitting on the couch...

“Rose?  Ah- Mylene?”  Her eyes focused on the dark figure sitting between them.  “Juleka?”

“Oh, hey Marinette,” said Juleka.

“Marinette!” said Rose, straightening in her seat, but not quite getting up, “and Adrien!”

“Wh-  What are you two doing here?” said Mylene.

“Oh, um… We’re—”

Juleka asked her something that… Marinette couldn’t quite parse.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

“What?”

Juleka smiled.  “Good.  Shapeshifters commonly understand all languages, so if you didn’t understand that…”

“Shapeshifters?” said Adrien, voice still faint enough that Marinette knew the other three couldn’t hear him.

“Shapeshifters?” she repeated.

“There are… a lot of monsters out there,” said Mylene, pressing up a bit closer to Juleka, the only one of them that seemed halfway at ease.

“Shapeshifters seemed like a possibility,” said Juleka shrugging, “but, since you’re probably not, we’re still fine.”

Of course.  Mylene got scared easily, and Rose had such a vivid imagination for glittering towers and fancy ballgowns that it came as no surprise she could imagine terrible monsters just as easily.

“Do you know what’s going on.”

“You know what’s going on, right?”

“It’s like a nightmare!” said Rose, shuddering.

“We’re going to be okay,” murmured Juleka.

“I’m sure you are,” said Marinette, “and I know why Mylene and Rose are so against this,” said Marinette, “but don’t you love monsters?”

She smiled.  “I was with Rose, and whatever happened didn’t manage to split us up.  They’ll be trapped outside for the next few hours.”

“You… Just, trapped them outside?”

She shrugged.  “What kind of cabin in woods full of monsters wouldn’t have the materials to repel them?  The herbs should stay fresh enough for the next few hours, which is plenty of time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to sort things out.”

“Right…” said Marinette, trying not to think about the fact that she was the Ladybug they were counting on.  “So… You three… You’re going to be okay.”

Rose nodded in the fervid manner of one trying to convince themselves they’re ready to go under anesthetic for surgery.

“But… That doesn’t help us,” muttered Marinette.

“You’re welcome to stay with us,” said Juleka.

“I think… I think I’d be a bit less frightened with a few more people here,” offered Mylene.

“Not…”  Adrien coughed.  “Not an option.”  His voice was weak, but no longer a whisper.  Good. That was good.

“Adrien?” asked Rose.

“Losing his voice was part of his nightmare.”

“Oh…”

“But he’s right.  We need to keep going, until we get to the bottom of this.”

“But… Why?” Asked Mylene. “Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here soon anyway, right?”

“Well…”  Said Marinette.  “Maybe some people aren’t as safe as you three.  We need to make sure of it.”

The room went silent.

“If there’s really a way out… You’ll probably need to go straight through danger,” said Mylene, with the voice of who hesitated to even think what she was saying.

“Outside, then,” said Marinette.

“There’s… Something out there,” said Mylene, “I…  I think it’s a fire?  Like a cave, with something burning in the back?”

“Sounds like a destination,” agreed Adrien.

“Do we have anything to fight with?  Any… weapons? Anything to keep us safe?”

Juleka smiled.  “I think we can spare some materials.”

--

She grimaced.

Why did they have to be so businesslike?

They should have been terrified, or anxious, but some of Chloe’s raw inability to worry had apparently rubbed off on them.  She’d already plowed through another nightmare by the time Marinette and Adrien had gotten ready to leave their first one.

Still… She’d be close. She just had to bump them into the right nightmares, and…  Her hand twisted, and the path to the exit became that much longer.

She’d be close, and they’d take long enough that she’d only need to hold out for a minute, against a fake Ladybug and Chat Noir.

She could do a minute, just stalling for time.  As long as she didn’t have to fight, she’d make it, just fine.

Of course, if the real ones showed up…

She’d catch them in a dream, and they’d be far too late.  That was no risk.

She was well on her way to undoing the horrible day she knew she’d had before… All of this.

Soon, she’d have all the power she needed, and if Hawkmoth needed her to find the real Ladybug and Chat Noir… Well, she’d have plenty of time to design suitable nightmares to find them.  After all, if the entirety of Paris was suffering, she’d have all the power she needed to make sure every person was checked for a Miraculous.

Just so long as she had enough left to revert herself back to the start of the day.

A better day was only a handful of minutes-

She practically jumped as she realized that Chloe was passing through an exit.

No, no, no.  Chloe couldn’t be allowed to escape.  However much damage she could do in there, she’d be worse out here.  She’d need to actually use the power she’d stockpiled, and she couldn’t afford that kind of expenditure.

She scrambled for a suitable dream, and managed to find something halfway decent, hand flicking Chloe into Kim’s madhouse of a nightmare.  Let her try to figure out what was even happening in there.

She let out a tiny sigh of relief, which lasted the barest instant, as she felt both Marinette and Adrien on the verge of exiting into reality.

She spun, reflexively batting them away from her.

Safe.

They hadn’t broken through; she’d successfully redirected them to…

She froze, and a growl left her.

“No,” she snarled.

They could have landed in Kagami’s nightmare, where she was silently meditating and barely losing ground.

They could have landed in Chloe’s old, defunct dream.

Instead, they’d landed in the single nightmare that had produced the most suffering by far.

At this rate, Ladybug and Chat Noir were going to break out early enough that she couldn’t stall.

If she wanted a chance, she’d need a game-changer.

She had… Only a few minutes.

--

Marinette squinted in the sudden light.

She was… Looking out across Paris.

It was a sunny, beautiful day.  Cars were driving around.  Birds were flying.  It looked like a normal day.

She heard a sound from beside her, and turning, she saw Adrien, a gently surprised expression that matched hers on his face.

“Well,” he said, “that’s different.”

“Yeah… I don’t know what I expected, but… It wasn’t this.”

They knew this view. It was the one you got looking out of Mme. Bustier’s class.

Turning, they saw, sure enough, that this was the room it should be.

Empty.

“So… What kind of nightmare do you get in an empty school?  You need people to have a proper naked in school dream, or a ‘forgetting your homework’ dream.”

She shrugged.  “It’s someone’s dream, and we’ll need to deal with it, whatever it is, before we leave.”

“I mean… We could just walk out the front door, right? I’m a bit shaky on the rules of these dreams.”

“Maybe… But I wouldn’t feel right leaving someone to a nightmare, whatever it might be.”

“Yeah.  I…  You’re right, I’m just asking.”

“With any luck, this is an easy one, and we’ll be out in no time.”

“Yeah.”

They made for the door, but—

They stopped almost immediately as the ground beneath them crunched.

They looked down.

“Is that… Salt?”

“Sugar, maybe?”

Whatever the white powder was, it was spread haphazardly across the floor.

“Maybe… The janitor, scared of the worst mess he can imagine?”  Adrien crouched down, and from one of the thicker sections, idly scooped a bit onto his finger.

“You… Probably shouldn’t eat that,” she said.

He shrugged.  “Maybe, but I’ve never gotten sick from a dream before. I doubt I’ll start now.

“Maybe,” said Marinette, slowly starting to walk again.

“It’s sugar,” said Adrien from behind her, and she pursed her lips.

A classroom full of sugar.

There was something very wrong about that.

She tried to ignore the crunching underfoot, but couldn’t, because…

--

“Empty,” she said.

“What?”

“You were right…  There’s nobody in here.  Just… A messy school.”

“Maybe they left?”

“Maybe.  Or maybe they don’t like the silence.  I know I don’t.”

He didn’t like it either, if he was honest.

Marinette reached the door.

Adrien managed a small laugh.  “Still, if silence is your worst nightmare, that’s got to be one of the lighter options, right?  I mean…”

He trailed off.

The courtyard below them was covered in the same white substance, but…

It wasn’t all powder.

There were strange, irregular shapes.

Odd angles stuck up from the floor, and bent back on themselves.

One crumbled as he looked at it.

He tried to laugh.  “I… I don’t think that’s how sugar is supposed to grow.”

“No.  Sugar’s a… A cane, that you harvest from.  These look more like…”

Her voice stopped.

His mind continued.

He looked at Marinette, and knew from the look in her eyes that they’d come to the same conclusion.

Rose and Mylene hadn’t been scared of the darkness; they’d been scared of what was in it.

And… Whoever was here, it wasn’t the silence that bothered them.

It was the people who weren’t here to fill it.

[ecclais-fouoras]

Sometimes moving on is good

Ch5 pt2

(pt1 here)

Again sorry idk what's going on, it's hard to know how many chapters there is (tumblr's bad for multi ones so feel free to read it on wattpad it's easier and there's music.)

Anyways so

WARNING: a bit of smut

It had been a week since you had asked diane to go with you to the fun fair.

You were nervous to ask her again but, since she said that she was willing to try you did.

"Diane, will you go out at the fun fair with me tomorrow, they arrived two days ago already ?"

After a bit of esitaton she agreed, but told you she would not be doing the horror house or whatever that thing was called.

"So it's a date then, I'll pick you up tomorrow at 4pm and we'll have a nice evening then maybe if you are nice to me, I'll take you for a walk and we can have dinner at my house. Sounds good '?"

She nodded and you left before you were late for work. She always asked why you didn't work from her house since you worked at home. But you told her you didn't want to mess up her clean house with your stuff and your atelier was better for what you did anyways.

You gave her a quick kiss before leaving and she held your hand as you did.

The next day you were a bit nervous, not like you're first date, but rather because there was a lot of ways diane could not enjoy herself or even worst be hurt.

But you pushed that aside as you went to pick her up, she looked good, as usual, And she was even smiling.

"Hey !"

"Hi y/n, good to see you" she said before giving you a peck on the lips.

"You ready to go ?"

"Yeah Sure let's do this"

When you got there you opened up the door for her to come out, and closed the vehicle.

She looked a bit amazed

-"i haven't been there since I was a kid"

She said her eyes a bit watery.

So you hugged her lighltly from behind and placed a kiss on her neck.

"Let's make new memories then diane."

As you saw the first ride you took her hand and lead her to it

-"no, no no no wait we can discuss this...OMG it's huge"

you laughed and paid for your tickets as you pulled diane to your seats

"Oh are you scared now ? Don't worry I'm here i won't let you throw up"

"Aha very funny y/n, i am not scared ju...AH"

She was straddled by the small rollercoaster's move.

And clung to you for dear life.

"Diane you are not going to fall you are attached here"

you said as you pushed the bar in front of you. But she didn't stop holding you for the intier ride.

When you got out her hair was a mess and you were both laughing slightly.

You spend the afternoon going on different rides, and then stopped at a food truck.

"Do you guys have chichis or like what are they called churros?" You asked the cooking guy.

"Yes ma'am indeed we do"

"Well I'll have 25 with powdered sugar."

"Here goes 25 churros max !"

You turned around and diane was lost in her thoughts looking at a cute girl drinking a soda so you pecked her cheek softly and told her she was beautiful while you put a strand of hair behind her hear.

"Diane...tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

-" I'm happy"

-"what?" You asked a little stunned at what she'd just said.

-"I'm happy, right now, with you. Before I met you I would have seen that girl and immediately get angry because her parents have her, and i don't have chloe. But now, with you I'm happy, happy that this girl ever there is smiling and laughing while drinking this sugar field stuff."

-"oh Diane, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that, you know I really care about you...and"

-" 25 CHICHIS OVER THERE MA'am" you were cut of by your order, so you paid and took your food.

"Here you NEED to taste this" you said as you handed her one.

"This really looks like a penis y/n"

-"WHAT"

-"Well yes It does"

-"OH MY GOD WHAT KIND OF DICK DID YOU SEE IN YOUR LIFE THAT LOOKED LIKE THIS"

You both burst out laughing as you held a churro in your hand.

You continued to walk while eating and doing some of the rollercoaster and games for a few hours talking about everything.

You took her hand again and lead her to a

Stall.

"Okay imma try to win you this one"

-"I'd like to see you try"

-"you underestimate me diane"

-"well do it then"

You had to shoot all of the blue balloons in order to win. After your second try diane said that you both should try something else but you insisted.

-"wait you know what they say, third time's the charm"

And you won, she looked at you with wide eyes.

-"How did you get it ?! Those games are rigged"

-"i know but as soon as you get were the trap is, you can avoid it"

It was almost 7pm and the sun was starting to set.

"So have you been good today diane ?"

-"what ?"

-"I told you if you were good i'dd take you somewhere so...were you a good girl today ?"

She couldn't help but get a little aroused at your words but it was something you'd explore later.

-"i think so ?"

-"Okay that's good enough for me" you giggled softly and took your car and drove of.

-"where are we going y/n"

-"it's a surprise diane now close your eyes"

"Oh..okay" she said shyly.

You both arrived a few minutes later at what looked like a dead-end.

"Are you sure you took the right road darling"

-"yed, i took the exact one i wanted"

You stopped the engine close to the edge of the road.

"There we are diane, time to get out of the car".

You both got out and she was confused about where you were. So you went to her side and lead her by the hand to where you wanted and she smiled at you.

"Here, don't move and don't peak"

You went back to the car, at some point she got scared you were going to leave her here and drive off, like her mom did to her once because she wasn't doing what she wanted.

Somehow you understood her fear and yelled from the car;

"don't worry I'm not leaving you here, just grabbing some stuff."

She laughed at how ridiculous it was for her to fear that you'd leave, you were too gentle and caring for that.

You got back with a cover that you set on the grass, a few pillows and what looked like a

Cool box.

You helped her sit as she still had her eyes shut.

"There, you can open them".

She blinked a few time to adjust to the light before she took in the amazing picture she had in front of her. You were at the edge of a cliff, with the sun setting on the horizon, and she could see green fields and forests from kilometers around.

"This view is so beautiful y/n"

"It is..."

You told her as you were looking at a very different landscape, her. Her beautiful brown eyes shining orange as the sun goes down, her long and golden red hair cascading down her naked shoulders. She looked at you and your replied.

"It is...this view is beautiful" emphasizing that you ment that she was the beautiful view.

She smiled lovingly and you share a few kisses.

"I know I said we'd have dinner at my house but I couldn't help but think that a picnic here would be perfect. So I brought a few things, wine...pasta...cheese...and cake"

You pulled everything out of the cool bag and set it on the blanket.

"Oh y/n ! You have the best ideas."

You ate as you chatted and stared at the sky,  when you finished the cake she said.

-"See i told you, you had overcooked it last time, now it's perfect."

"Yeah, i gotta admit, i did pretty good here"

You stayed like this for a while cuddled together as the night came. You felt her shiver and as much as you didn't want to ruin the moment you knew you should get back.

"Hey... it's getting cold here, we should go back home"

"I don't want the night to be over, of we go home, I'll only see you tomorrow."

-"no it's fine you can sleep at my house tonight."

She held your gaze for a while.

"No funny business, I promise"

She chuckled and agreed.

You drove back to your house, diane staring at the moon, and your hand on her lap most of the ride. When you got to the door she asked ;

"Wait, i don't have my stuff to sleep should I get it?"

-"No it's fine I'll hand you some stuff"

-"oh okay"

-"So do you want to watch a movie or go to bed directly ? Or both at the same time for that matter, i have a tv in my bedroom."

-"both?"

-" don't ask me, I'm asking you diane."

-"well both then"

-"Both it is"

You took her hand and lead her to your bedroom. You found some oversized t shirt and shorts for yourself and asked her if she wanted some too, which she did.

After you got ready for bed she got out of the bathroom and she looked really sexy, the short showing her slim legs.

"Hey"

-"hi..." She replied in a small voice.

"Don't shy away diane, you are very beautiful like this, and If you don't want me to sleep here, I'll sleep in the guest room."

-"okay...so what are we watching ?"

-"i got 'tomorrowland", "gravity" or "the fault in our stars or literally anything else here, "Carol" or "elisa and Marcela"?"

-"the last one please"

-"the last on it is"

You put the dvd in and got up on the bed next to her. When the movie was over you were ...-horny-...no happy and so was diane.

"I had an amazing night y/n"

-"me too diane"

-"i wish everyday could be like this"

-"yeah..me too"

"Thank you for tonight, it was perfect"

-"thank you for being perfect"

She giggled and it send a shiver down your spine.

You were both really close, your back against the headboard and her back between your legs. She turned around and sat on her heels.

-"I really appreciate everything you do form me"

-"and i appreciate that you let me do them for you, and that you are here with me"

you softly replied before kissing her sweetly.

It was just a peck at first but then she started kissing back and by the time you were done you had her on her back,  your hands caressing her hips and you were making out with her.

Your hands went under her shirt and found her bra covered breast that you kneaded lightly. She moaned against your lips and you started to kiss your way down her neck, as you worked on getting her shirt off. You heard her soft whimper of pleasure as you bit her skin gently and traced your fingers over her nipples.

You took off her bra and kissed her chest electing soft cries from her as she arched her back. She wasn't very vocal but her breathing was a good indicator of what she liked.

After you started to sick on her buds she held your head up slightly looking at your eyes "wait".

You immediately got the message and was quicker to put it into words.

"Hey..we don't have to do anything tonight, we can stop anytime and just cuddle for a while before we sleep...we can take this as slow as you want."

"I...can we...I'm not sure I'm quite ready to have sex with you tonight"

you pushed yourself off of her. And laid next to her while you whispered softly;

"alright do you wanna put your shirt back on and cuddle maybe ?"

-"i'dd like that...sorry"

-"hey no no no no... No need to apologise sweet thing...we are not doing anything you are uncomfortable with okay ? I'm already happy with being here with you. I can wait as long as you need."

You got off the bed and she got worried, but her fears vanished away when she saw you were just looking for her shirt that you threw in excitement.

"There, found it" you said as you handed it to her.

You got under the covers and she finished putting her clothes back on. Once she was done you scooted close to her and asked her if she was okay with you spooning her.

"Yes I'd like that too"

You pressed her back against your front and circles your arms around her middle as your legs were touching.

"Goodnight beautiful"

"Night my sweet y/n"

[vgckwb]

ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 44: Love in All Its Forms!

Max had arrived at Carter’s place with Markov. He rang the doorbell. Carter answered. “Come in” he said.

Max entered and noticed that a lot of stuff was being boxed up. “What’s all this?” Max asked.

Carter looked stern. “Since dad’s arrest, we’ve lost a lot of money. We’re doing what we can with what we have, but we’re moving.”

“Oh. I’m, uh, sorry to hear that” Max said, nervously.

“Don’t be” Carter said. “It’s..liberating. All my life, my father dictated what I should be doing. Selling this house. Selling a bunch of his stuff. It’s like I’m clawing my way out of this deep hole.”

“I see…” Max said.

Carter smiled. “We’re still going to be in Paris,” he said. “We’re just not going to be in the lap of luxury. We’re budgeting ourselves. We’ll be fine.”

Max looked at his new old friend. “I know you invited me over to talk about something concerning me, but do you want to continue venting before we do that?” he asked.

Carter sighed. “A little.” They went into his room. His hoodie was thrown over his computer chair, which he sat in. Max sat on his bed. Markov floated around Max. “Heh. Remember when you first came here?” he asked.

Max nodded. “You had just gotten Ultimate Mecha Strike: II. I wanted to play it, so when I heard you had it, I asked if I could come over.”

“Yeah” Carter said. “I miss days like those. Just playing games for the fun of it. My dad pushed me to play games competitively” he said in a somber tone. “I mean, I’ve enjoyed it, but I never wanted to do it as much as he did.”

“Pardon me asking, but why did you not say no to him?” Markov said.

“Markov!” Max said, nervously.

“It’s fine” Carter said. “You’re just a curious little thing, aren’t you?”

“Why yes” Markov said.

Carter smiled. “My dad was a very powerful man. It was really hard to say no to him. He had everything over me. Wealth. Power. I didn’t want to upset him. I’ve seen him upset at people before.”

“So, you were scared?” Markov said.

“Pretty much” Carter said. “When you guys beat me, I was more scared that I’ve ever been. I guess that’s why I got akumatized so easily. But even then…” He sighed. “One thing I did to make my dad happy was inherit some of his attitudes. He thought in order to get what you want, you have to control people. I kind of fell into that same trap.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that as much” Max said. “Hawk Moth’s the one who gives powers. He’s the one who made you Nighthawk, not you. Trust me. I’ve been on the receiving end of akumatization as well.”

“As have I” Markov said.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that I inherited some of his other terrible behaviors as well,” Carter said. “Part of me thinking through things was trying to undo all of that. I’ve still got a ways to go, but I feel like I’m getting better.”

Max smiled. “Glad to hear it.”

Carter then realized something. “Wait, did you say ‘He’?”

“What?” Max asked.

“When describing Hawk Moth. You said ‘He’” Carter elaborated.

“Yeah…?” Max said.

Carter held his head. “I know it’s a bit fuzzy, but I remember a female Hawk Moth.”

“WHAT?!” Markov said. “What does this mean?”

“I dunno. But we should tell Ladybug this” Max said.

“It could be nothing…” Carter said. “I mean, villains need to be themselves as well. Hawk Moth could just be trans.”

Max looked at Carter surprised. “I think you’ve made a lot more progress than you think.” Carter smiled.

“That could be true” Markov said. “But at least that could give us a lead as well.”

“Yeah” Max said. “Anything that could lead to Hawk Moth’s capture is valuable. No matter the circumstances.”

“Great! But, how are we supposed to meet with Ladybug?” Carter asked.

“Well, she patrols the streets sometimes” Max said, nervously. “Maybe if one of us sees her, we could tell her.”

“Right” Carter said. “Well, I’m feeling better. Wanna talk about your thing?”

“Sure” Max said.

“So, I don’t know about asking Katelyn out right away,” Carter said.

“Why not?” Max asked.

Carter got serious. “That has to do with how she joined the team. See, her ex-boyfriend was Mitchel Baume.”

“Wait, of the Orleans Alphas?” Max interjected.

“Yes” Carter said. “They two had dated for a long time. But when Mitchel moved to Orleans to be a part of the team, Katelyn got upset that a team was more important than her. She came to us after she found out we were looking for a fifth. She was on a mission to destroy the Orleans Alphas. We let her on because she was talented. We did beat them in many tournaments with Katelyn on the team. But she was always distant. Though, I can hardly blame her.”

“I see…” Max said.

“I’m not saying you don’t have a chance,” Carter said. “I’m saying tread lightly. Despite my attitude, I don’t want to see anyone on my team get hurt.”

“Right” Max said. Max looked around and noticed that Carter’s consoles were not packed yet. “Hey, wanna play some games? You know, for old time’s sake?”

Carter smiled. “I’d like that.”

Meanwhile, Marinette and her parents arrived at the Agreste Manor. They rang the doorbell. The camera came to meet them. “Come on in” Gabriel said.

The Dupain-Cheng family walked in and were greeted by Gabriel and Adrien. “Hi” Adrien said, clearly embarrassed.

“Hi” Marinette said, equally embarrassed.

“Shall we have lunch?” Gabriel said. They all moved to the dining room. Adrien usually hated that room, but his father, his girlfriend, and her parents were there. Adrien’s face lit up. Everyone sat down and their lunch was plated. “So, shall we get started?”

“Um, sure?” Tom said. “But what’s this about?”

“Yeah. Isn’t it a little early to be talking about their future?” Sabine asked. “Unless...” Sabine looked at Marinette.

Marinette was eating when she picked up on what her mom was implying. “Mom, NO! We haven’t even been dating a week. We haven’t even had a second date yet!”

“Well this could be our second date” Adrien said, trying to lift Marinette’s spirits.

“With our parents?” Marinette said.

The adults chuckled. “I understand it’s a bit early before anything serious happens,” Gabriel said. “I just wanted to have a talk. I’m not sure what you know about me, but I can be a bit overprotective of Adrien here. He’s all I have, after all. I’m just concerned is all.”

Tom was offended. “Are you saying that Marinette isn’t good enough for your son?” he asked.

“Not at all” Gabriel said. “Marinette is a wonderful young lady. I just can’t help but be concerned. I want what’s best for my son.” There was a distinct sadness in his voice

Tom smiled. “I understand” he said. “As parents, we all want what’s best for our children. Why, I remember when my little Marinette was rejected by Cat Noir. I got so mad that someone wouldn’t want to date my little girl that I ended up akumatized.”

Adrien coughed up his drink at the mention of the Weredad incident. “Is something the matter?” Gabriel asked.

Adrien looked at them staring at him. “It’s just… I can’t stand the thought of someone saying that Marinette is not good enough for them…”

Tom looked at Adrien. “AHHHHHHHHH. You and I are going to get along just fine. If we weren’t at a table, I’d give you a hug right now.”

“Yay” Adrien said, nervously. Marinette put her head down on the table.

“Well, regardless, I still think Marinette and Adrien are a great couple,” Sabine said.

“Of course. Based on the limited amount of times I’ve seen them together, they seem to bring out the best in each other” Gabriel said. Marinette and Adrien thought about that. That certainly was the case with Ladybug and Cat Noir, but it was a bit more subtle when it comes to them specifically. 

“Still, I have a greater concern,” Gabriel said. “Now, I don’t mean any disrespect by what I’m about to say. It just comes from my overly cautious nature. Adrien and I are very well known figures around Paris. I don’t WANT to think Marinette is like that, but…”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that” Adrien said. “Marinette couldn't stand me at first.”

The rest of the table was surprised. “Adrien!” Marinete said.

“Pardon?” Gabriel said.

“Isn’t that what you told me?” Adrien asked.

Marinette sighed. “Yeah…” She said. “When Adrien first came to school, I thought he was helping Chloe pull a prank on me. I just kind of wrote him off as another spoiled rich kid. It was only after he apologized to me and gave me an umbrella that I saw the real him.” She began to think about incidents with he and Adrien and her and Cat Noir. “Someone whose kindness knows no bounds. Someone who puts others over themselves. Someone who will do whatever it takes to cheer you up. That’s the Adrien I fell in love with.” Adrien was stunned at Marinette’s words.

“I see” Gabriel said. He was starting to well up. “Please excuse me.” He left the table.

A few minutes later, a loud noise was heard coming from Gabriel’s office. “Father?!” Adrien said.

“Let’s go!” Tom said. The four left the table and ran out.

They got to the doors. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Agreste told me not to let anyone in” Nathalie said.

“Move!” Tom said, pushing her out of the way. Sabine caught her. Tom burst through the doors. “Are you OK, Mr. Agreste?!” he shouted. Everyone else entered. They saw Gabriel’s office in complete disarray. Gabriel was sitting down. “Mr. Agreste?” Tom said much more calmly approaching him.

Gabriel looked up and saw the kind faces surrounding him. “I’m sorry” he said, tears in his eyes. “I just hate people seeing me like this.”

“It’s OK” Tom said.

“What’s the matter?” Sabine asked.

“Nothing” Gabriel said. “It’s just, when Marinette was describing Adrien she reminded me a lot of myself and my wife back when we were dating. I miss her every day.” Tom and Sabine sat next to him and gave him a hug. “Thanks” he said, a smile coming over his face. “If you don’t mind though, I’d prefer to be alone.”

Sabine and Tom broke the hug. “We understand” Sabine said.

“We’ve gotta get back to the bakery anyway,” Tom said.

“Marinette, are you coming?” Sabine asked.

“Well…” Marinette said.

“If it’s alright with you, maybe she can stay here a while?” Adrien said.

“Of course son” Tom said. “You to have fun!”

“But not too much fun!” Sabine said.

“MOM!” Marinette said.

Tom and Sabine were about to leave when the ran into Nathalie. “Sorry about pushing you out of the way like that” Tom said.

“It’s alright’ Nathalie said. “You were concerned for Mr. Agreste.”

“Thanks for being so understanding,” Tom said.

“Of course” Nathalie said. Tom and Sabine left.

“Marinette why don’t we go to my room?” Adrien said. Marinette nodded. The two walked off.

Back at Carter’s, after some gaming Carter got up to go to the bathroom. Max took out his phone and texted Vlad. “JW. We have some information on HM. Need to talk. -P.”

“Got it. Tomorrow” Vlad replied.

Max sighed. “Alright, no where were we?” Carter said, getting back Max got another text. “What’s that?”

Max checked his phone, worried that it was a more specific text from Vlad. However, much to his delight, “Katelyn?” he said.

“What does she want?” Carter asked.

“She wants to meet with me,” Max said. “Right now.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Carter said.

“Right” Max said, getting up. Just as he was about to leave. “Before I go, since we were reminiscing, why don’t you pursue that goal you told me about the day I first came here?”

Carter smiled. “I’ve been thinking about that. I kind of want to move first.”

“Fair enough” Max said. “Anyway, seeya.” He left.

Adrien and Marinette made their way to Adrien’s room. “Well, that could have gone a bit better” Adrien said.

“Well, it could have gone worse” Marinette said. “So, what did you want to do?”

“Well, I had something in mind” Adrien said. He put his phone on his speaker and played “Rebel Girl” by Angels & Airwaves. He then held out his hand. “May I have this dance?” Marinette took his hand and the two started to dance together.

Max was running off to meet Katelyn while Adrien and Marinette were dancing their hearts out. Max eventually found Katelyn and ran up to her. “*huff….huff…..” he said. “You wanted to see me?”

Katelyn looked at Max. “Yeah… So, I had a really bad break-up. I haven’t been able to move on. The only reason I joined Carter’s team was because I was still caught up in all that petty nonsense. But, being with you this past week had made me let go of all of that stuff. What I’m saying is, I think I might like you-A little bit! But I can understand if you don’t feel the same.” Tears started streaming down her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She started to run away.

Max grabbed her hand. “Wait” he said. Katelyn looked back. “Carter told me the whole story. I understand what you’re going through. But I also like you too. In fact, that was the reason I was talking with Carter. We can take it as slow as you want. But I do feel the same about you. You’re so amazing. It feels like even though I’ve known you for a week, I know you well.”

Tears continued to flow down Katelyn’s face, but they were tears of joy. “Thank you” she said. The two held each other. Markov looked on, proud of his creator. If he could cry, he would.

Meanwhile, after the song wrapped up, Marinette said “Wow. That was amazing.”

“Not as amazing as this” Adrien said. He then kissed her. She kissed him back. They sat on his bed. “Marinette. There IS something I need to talk to you about.”

“Was all of that to try to butter me up?” Marinette said, teasingly. “You don’t need to do that. But I appreciate it.” She nuzzled her boyfriend.

“Yeah…” Adrien said. “So, we know who we are as superheroes, right?” Marinette nodded. “So, is there anything I should know? You know, since we’re dating and all.”

Marinette was surprised. But she dd think she owed him something “What do you want to know?” Marinette asked.

Adrien rubbed the back of his head. “Well, truth be told, Master Fu told me a lot about what’s going on already. But I want to know who everyone else is.” Marinette was shocked. “You and Vlad both know everyone else already. I kind of feel out of the loop.”

Marinette looked concerned. “Well, it’s not necessarily up to me” Marinette said. “I’d have to ask everyone.”

Adrien smiled. “I understand.” They both got a text. “Possible HM information. Meeting tomorrow?” “It’s from Vlad” Adrien said.

“We can meet tomorrow” Marinette said. They both texted Vlad about agreeing.

“There” Adrien said. “Now, with that out of the way, allow me to butter you up some more.”

“What is it this time, kitty?” Marinette said.

“Just for fun, bugaboo!” Adrien said. They spent the rest of the day hanging out in Adrien’s room.