#to think about miraculous again is so fun i love talking about them so much

[rainbow-arrow]

Something people miss with lukadrien: bonding over daddy issues.

okay yes literally this. I love love love playing with this idea in fics bc they really are such mama's boys it's really funny (also why I fully support Adrien being informally adopted by the Couffaine's so he gets a mom figure back).

They both have such valid reasons to hate their dads. Each were either previously or currently protected by a lie (Anarka not telling Luka, and now Marinette keeping Gabriel's identity a secret), but both Jagged and Gabriel were. not great. Jagged knew the whole time, and well, Gabriel's list is long but mostly he's neglectful and really doesn't care about Adrien, despite saying he does.

There's such bonding potential in the sense they have very different relationships to their dads, but they're both, boiled down, to bad.

Unfortunately as much good as I think it would do for him, I don't think Adrien will ever say he hates his father on the basis that he's his father; we saw his reaction to cataclysm-ing Monarch. But fuck I think Luka should say it for him fjdsklafsa.

I also feel like Luka's response to Jagged in canon was...not accurate to his character? (which I hate saying about canon, but they did make him a twin four seasons in) It is important to consider that yeah, he admires Jagged's music, but he really, realistically, especially with Jagged's reaction to Juleka, should've been more upset. This boy got akumatized over the truth TWICE. For Luka to find out that Jagged KNEW, and they'd interacted multiple times throughout the show before that moment, you'd expected any kind of reaction.

LIKE LISTEN. I love love love Lukadrien bc they're both such people pleasers in such uniquely different ways. With Luka (I say this with all the love in my heart) being so fucking enabling if he likes someone he will let them do wHATEVER (see: whatever the fuck he had with Marinette, and Ephemeral). And then Adrien doing whatever anyone and everyone wanted him to do (see: literally his entire existence, and Wishmaker). It places their dynamic on such a 'what do you want' type care is such an hnnnnn. sO good my fAVORITE.

Luka has every. right. to be upset at Jagged Stone. Adrien has every. right. to be upset at Gabriel Agreste. And they have every. right. to bond over this.

Sorry for the TedTalk, in my defense, I did cut like five paragraphs, but I have four fics to update and so much lukadrien passion

[jaewritesfic]

Everlasting Trio DP x DC Nobody Knows AU Part 8

Part 7

Shockingly, it turns out Danny knows how to cook. He's good at it, even, and when Tucker expresses his disbelief at the practiced way Danny moves in the kitchen Danny snorts.

“You know what the Fenton kitchen was like. When I got out of there and had access to food and kitchens that weren't biohazards, I learned eventually. I have a very distinct appreciation for good food nowadays, and I like being able to make it myself.”

He puts music on through a little Bluetooth speaker on the counter, invites them to participate, and they cook.

It's fun. They dance, they drink, they sample ingredients as they put their pizzas together. There's a minor flour war that sets off rounds of giggling and shrieking - more importantly it makes Danny cackle in a way she used to love and hasn't gotten to hear since they were teens.

It's exactly the same, and she missed it. Pure impish delight and mischief.

For as many things that are the same, there are ones that have changed.

Danny has a grace to him now that he didn't used to, and he moves near silently. He sways easily and elegantly to the music without thinking about it as they talk and make mischief with each other.

The oven and the adjusted thermostat make it much more comfortable in the apartment after a while, but Danny doesn't shed the pullover sweater he wears at any point. He didn't even roll the sleeves up to cook.

Come to think of it, when they entered high school he started doing that too. He wore long sleeves even in the summer - Sam tries not to think about abusive households or self harm. She hopes it's not that, but…

She puts the thoughts aside as well as she can.

Tucker had mentioned it before to her, but with all the grinning and laughing tonight Sam can see that he was right and Danny's teeth are sharper than she remembers. All four canine teeth are almost startlingly pointy.

She doesn't mention it. What she does mention is the apartment.

“This is a really nice place, Danny. You got a secret sugar daddy you haven't told us about?”

Tucker gapes at her and smacks her arm. Danny bluescreens for a moment before he snorts an ugly laugh and descends into near hysterics.

“Oh my God! Ancients, no! No, no sugar daddy. Just a well paying engineering gig lately, and some money I saved up before I left Amity. Holy shit, Sam.”

She shrugs, some tension she didn't know she was carrying leaving her shoulders. “Had to ask. Would have had a shovel talk to deliver.”

Danny starts laughing again, and Tucker groans and puts his head in his hands.

“I cannot believe you actually just asked him that,” Tucker moans.

“I can,” Danny responds with a chipper grin, Tucker's answering snort overlaid by the ding of the oven timer.

Danny knocks back the rest of his drink and waves in the vague direction of the living room area.

“I'll take this out and cut it. Go sit and we can eat it around the coffee table in case we want to watch a movie or something?”

The sitting area is spacious and comfortable, couches black leather. There's a heavy, fluffy white throw over the back of one that looks soft as all get out, but she and Tuck quickly decide to settle on the floor.

The coffee table is low enough that it's more convenient for reaching food and drinks set on it.

Tucker whistles appreciatively at the TV, so it must be a cutting edge new model. Fucking nerd.

Danny trots over not long after with two serving boards balanced precariously on one arm, his refilled sangria in one hand, the pitcher of sangria in the other and another beer held against his side by an awkward elbow.

Tucker and Sam both shoot to their feet to try and mitigate a disaster, but miraculously it all makes it to the table unharmed.

“It's almost like you guys don't trust me,” Danny pouts, his grin ruining it. “Careful, it's hot.”

“You are a perpetual accident waiting to happen,” Sam tells him scathingly, and he snorts with a peculiar look on his face.

“You don't know the half of it.”

As they all reach for slices of pizza, Danny takes them by surprise by taking a piece of Sam's, not Tucker's.

Tucker gapes at him. “Dude. Tell me you haven't betrayed me like that.”

Danny snorts, shoulders shaking with quiet chuckles. “Nah, I still eat meat. It's just sometimes I have spells where it kind of bothers me and I feel a little sick about it? I'm in one of those lately, but usually I'm still a huge burger and steak guy. Don't worry.”

“Huh. That's weird.”

Danny shrugs, taking a bite of his pizza despite his own warnings and cringing when it burns his mouth.

“Been like that since high school, actually. Used to be worse then,” he mumbles through his attempts to cool a mouthful of molten cheese.

Sam doesn't remember him ever having issues with it in middle school. She wonders what happened to change his outlook, but puts it aside. They're here to hang out and catch up. Have a good time. Not interrogate Danny.

They end up spending hours watching trashy TV and heckling the screen, making small talk and letting each other in on bits of their lives all the while. Everyone's well on their way to tipsy by the time they're done eating, though Danny a little more than Sam and Tuck.

He's loose-limbed and happy, sprawled across both of them in the haphazard pile they've ended up in. He seems incredibly content, and it does Sam's heart good to see him so relaxed.

She and Tucker are sitting with their backs against the couch, Danny's legs slung across Tucker's lap and head in Sam's. It's probably why he notices her shiver a little - it's still a little chilly in the apartment.

Lazily, he points up at the back of the couch. “You can pull that down and cover us if you want. It's really warm.”

Sam offers him a quiet thanks and reaches up to do just that, though she's startled to find that though the top is fluffy, the underside of what she'd thought was a throw is velvety and smooth. Like hide.

It's a real fur - hopefully ethically sourced. Decorated too, there are ornaments threaded into the corners and dangling that she can't pin the origin of. They're very pretty, shells and claws and beads.

As she pulls it down, she flips the edge up to peek at the underside and is startled to find the skin a distinct, familiar ectoplasmic green.

“Um. Danny. What kind of fur is this…?”

“Yeti,” Danny replies offhandedly, sipping his drink before freezing like the question and his own answer just caught up to him. “Uh.”

Masterpost

[shutupineedtothink]

More ep 7 thoughts, now that I’ve watched it twice and processed 🫠

Bookending the episode with Lilia’s fall but first it’s down and then it’s up - sick, twisted, beautiful, devastating, I’m crying

The soundtrack really goes hard in this ep

The wildest part about the “ex best friend” line is all of those things are equally insane - ex, ex best friend, or best friend. Like ma’am what hex were you living in

Babysitter is likely a reference to the comics, but interesting also in terms of WV because we saw Agatha babysit the twins only once I think. Does this mean she actually spent more time with them than we know?

Wow once again Kathryn Hahn is doing so much work in this first scene with Billy, she’s going from snarky to wary to calculating to hurt to i don’t even know. She’s doing a masterclass in face acting.

When they start to climb toward the castle, Agatha has her hands clasped behind her back and initially I was just like ma’am, why are you like this, but then I realized oh. Her hands are tied right now.

Waning moon for the Crone trial babyyyyyy called it

Fun and fast transition to get us into the trial, since we know the deal by now

She’s based on me you know — sooooo, tragic, misunderstood, secretly suffering her whole life, constantly judged by others, uh huh uh huh

Prove it - he really doesn’t believe a word she says! And she looks so hurt by it!

The way Agatha sits in the chair omg girl please chill

This is such like an Indiana Jones trap I love it

God I love Lilia’s visions, changing the perspective to hers, the blurring around the edges - sometimes you don’t need to do much, but it’s hella effective

Actually a lot of good camera tricks in this ep I’m not going to point them all out

It’s about limiting beliefs baybeee - once again the writers showing they know their psych

I’m sorry that tea leaves to the underground transition??? Spectacular

“Well tell me what more I should see when I look at you. No, I mean it” - hey nonviolent communication, how’s it going 🤌

God can you imagine how scary it would be to have these visions as a CHILD

Did you not see imminent impalement in your future?? Lol why did this get me

I get the fake nose on Agatha but idk maybe I could’ve done without it

Teenager his full name LOLOL underrated joke

Dory OMGGGGG

Jen being the ultimate Lilia champion this ep and I love it. Also seems to contradict her behavior even more in Agatha’s trial, but she’s still more snappy with Agatha here too

What are you wearing, I don’t wanna talk about it - bruh every line. EVERY LINE.

Did I mention the transitions are killer

Your task is not to control but to see. - I, I can’t keep writing down every line but

I love that as soon as Jen knows what’s going on, she’s totally on board, just asking Lilia for intel, like yep this is normal now

Ahhh the spell book. Interesting that Lilia finds it.

Ohp - I wish Lilia was here. Ask and you shall receive - see the Billy’s Road theory

She calls him baby again 😭

Is snappy dialogue one of my biggest joys on this earth? I think it is

Proper tarot takes time and care. And leads to large gaping wounds - …. You mean like internal wounds? Like trauma? Like you have to bring up the trauma to heal it? Uh huh uh huh cool cool cool cool you said it Agatha not me.

The Magician, the ability to turn all of your goals into reality - Agatha immediately side eyes him. Bruh.

I’m a forgotten woman. Then remember yourself. 🤌🤌🤌

I was falling. I will fall. - CAMERA. MOVEMENT.

What will you do with your remaining time 🤝 all we can do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us. Iykyk.

The subway baybeee get that House of R theory

God this tarot spread scene is so epic.

Ok Jen being the path ahead… I gotta come back to that

Agatha is the obstacle yep that makes sense (but the obstacle is the way)

Windfall - Billy, miraculous transformation uh yep ok

Destination - Death. Such a good reveal, even if I already knew it. Once again the power of good writing. In the end all roads lead to me. UGH WTF

NOT THE GREEN VINES SPELLING A BIG OL “R” WHEN THE DOORS OPEN

The original green witch…. Ok so she is in the coven… but also Billy’s in the coven? It’s a shared black heart? Or it means you can go one direction or the other… hm.

Ughghghghhh her just giving them each what they need before she sends them onward. She’s the GOAT.

Did I mention the music????

This whole scene is so EPIC. The tower upright fuck it up queen

Oh my God Lilia took her power back 😭

We didn’t see a body unlike Alice I’m holding onto that “see you at the end” lyric with all my might at this point

Time in a bottle was sick and twisted and beautiful I love it

I just… can’t believe this is something I got to witness. Like it’s so good I’m mad about it.

A few other quick thoughts:

Jen being the path ahead… if she was birth in the first trial (see my maiden mother crone trial theory), then maybe she’s also REbirth? It’s a circle sewn with fate… we’re going back to the beginning but emerging from the Road this time. Eh??

Patti…. PATTI!! Where’s her Emmy? Where’s the show’s Emmy???

Not only was this a better time travel plot than the rest of Marvel as I said in another post but it’s also better than time travel in Doctor Who for the last 10 years and that pisses me off low key.

Not to jump ahead but buckle up kids cuz if we’re following the loose structure of WandaVision then ep 8 is our flashback/reliving the trauma episode for Agatha and as much as I was destroyed by this ep I am so not ready for all of that.

Anyway. What a masterpiece. I’m DONE.

[estrellami-1]

Steddie Week 2024 | Steddie Microfic

July 7th prompt: Free Space - Mystery, Hands, Long, Trade, Exes to Lovers or Getting Back Together, Drunken Confession (aka I combined all the prompts I didn’t use this week) | July prompt: one

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

Word count: 1,111

No warnings apply

Rated T

@steddie-week | @steddiemicrofic

It was never a mystery, to Steve, how they got together. How they worked together.

The only mystery is how he managed to let him go—to lose him in a way Steve hadn’t understood until Eddie. Because Nancy was great, she was fantastic, Steve was in love. He doesn’t doubt that. But it never felt like it did with Eddie: low lights in the club, hands on each other’s bodies, open-mouth kisses that really was nothing more than them panting into each other’s mouths—

Stumbling into the bathroom, or into either of their bedrooms, hands in hair and under shirts and unbuckling belts—

Sleepy, slow morning kisses. Breakfast. Holidays.

How did it end?

Steve thinks, remembers fists clenched at sides, red faces, stiff shoulders.

Remembers shouted words, cold shoulders, slammed doors.

Remembers the key left on the kitchen counter.

That had done it, he remembers, he had called Robin, already sobbing, and she was on her bike and halfway there practically before she had hung up the phone. She’d held him as he fell apart on the kitchen tiles.

Then again, when he went to go to bed. Saw the two pillows. Threw one off; it hit the wall, slid down. Had to change the sheets; they smelled too much like him.

It took him a long time—a really long time—to get to the point he’d be okay on his own for more than a couple hours, to the point he could go out to clubs again. Not the same ones he’d gone to, never those, but… he moved on. Kind of.

He knew, and Robin knew, that part of him, at least, would always love Eddie.

It’s why when they’re in a club—a new one they had just found, okay music but better drinks and prospects—and Steve grabs her arm, she looks the direction he is.

He feels like he’s swallowing sandpaper. “His hair is longer.”

“It is.” She pries his fingers off, just so he’s not bruising her anymore, but holds his hand. “What do you want to do about it?”

“I don’t know,” he mutters, watches the way Eddie prowls through the crowd, smirking at people, but still definitely on his way to the bar.

The bar. “I’m gonna get us more drinks,” he says. They both ignore the fact that they’ve barely touched their current glasses.

“Let me know if you need backup.”

“Will do.” He looks at her, for the first time since seeing him, and smiles. “Love you, Robbie.”

She rolls her eyes, but smiles. “Love you, dingus. Go get your man back.”

Steve makes it to the bar before Eddie, asks for whatever is on tap. Looks away at the wall. Can’t watch him walk up. 

“Long Island,” he hears directly beside him, and turns to see Eddie turning to see Steve.

He takes a breath. “Eddie.”

Eddie looks… he looks good, because he always does, but he looks tired, maybe a little thinner. Not… not good, not happy like he was. He swallows. “Steve.”

The bartender hands over their drinks, and Steve takes a sip only to cough. “Sorry, fuck,” he mutters, finally looking at the glass in his hand. He’s got the Long Island, and Eddie’s got his beer.

Eddie’s watching him with an interesting little smile. “Trade?”

“Trade,” Steve agrees, nodding. He coughs again. “God, how do you like that?”

Eddie snickers, pulls a lock of hair over his face. Steve wishes he wouldn’t.

Miraculously, they keep talking. They’re never searching for the next word to make the silence go away because there is no silence.

Eventually Robin comes up to him, pulls him into a hug. “Imma go home with that girl,” she murmurs, pointing behind her. A cute, preppy-looking blonde smiles nervously at Steve. He smiles at her, then back to Robin. “Of course. Call the house, give me the address.” He kisses her forehead. “Have fun.”

“Oh, I will,” she grins, then turns to look at Eddie, eyes narrowed.

Eddie gulps. She grins, scary as anything, and whispers something in his ear that has him paling. “Yuh-yep. Yeah. Got it. Thanks Robin.”

Steve grimaces when she walks away. “What did she say?”

Eddie looks at him for a long minute. “Something I’ve known for a while now,” he eventually murmurs. 

It was inevitable, really, that they would end up back here, hands in hair and under shirts, stumbling into Steve’s apartment, panting into each other’s mouths, trying to undo buckles by memory because the worst thing in the world right now would be to stop kissing.

“God, Steve,” Eddie gasps, pulling him down the hall. “C’mon- c’mon, please, need you, need you-”

“Yeah,” Steve answers against his mouth, just as affected. He’s got his own pants halfway off, thinking about his shirt next, thinking about the lube in the drawer that hasn’t gotten as much action as it used to, and suddenly he aches for it. “Need you inside me,” he mutters, kissing down Eddie’s neck, stopping at a place behind his ear that he knows from experience makes Eddie’s knees weak.

“Fuck,” Eddie chokes out. “Yeah, yeah, c’mon, c’mon baby, lemme in you- lube’s in the drawer?”

Steve opens the drawer in answer, roots around until his fingers close on the bottle. Pushes it into Eddie’s hand, pushes him away so Steve can get naked.

Eddie’s eyes rake along his body. He drops his own pants just as fast, limbs flying as he strips out of his shirt too, clambering onto the bed beside Steve’s hip, eyes wide and fingers shaking as he lubes up.

It’s after, when everything’s cooling and drying and becoming itchy, that Eddie’s breath wobbles. “I shouldn’t,” he mutters into Steve’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t say anything. But hell if I don’t miss you like crazy.”

Steve closes his eyes, tries to keep the tears at bay. “You’re drunk.”

“I had less than one drink.”

The tears win. “We broke up for a reason,” he whispers. “Didn’t we?”

“I was scared,” Eddie says.

“And you’re not now?”

“Only of losing you.”

Steve sobs, can’t help it, but he feels Eddie’s hot tears on his neck, too, and that somehow makes it better.

It’s the next morning, after slow, sleepy kisses and breakfast, that Steve sighs. “I never stopped loving you. I don’t think I can.”

“I don’t think I can, either.”

Steve slowly turns to look at him. “So what does that make us?”

Eddie shakes his head. “I don’t know. All I know is it makes me yours.”

“Yours,” Steve parrots, daring to curl his fingers over Eddie’s, breath hitching when he holds on just as tight. “That sounds pretty damn good to me.”

[myokk]

I had so much fun writing this up as I drank my coffee this morning, thanks for making the templates @kiwiplaetzchen 🥹🙏

A little bit of backstory for Eloise - I’ll do an actual drawing etc etc in the future but for now if you’re interested!!:

Eloise has a brother, Leonard (Leo) who is a year older than her (I want to draw him soon!!) and her parents are both (unfortunately 😔🙏) still very much alive. If the family had continued to the 1930s, they would DEFINITELY have been part of the Sacred 28, making it the Sacred 29 instead. Her father was an only child so he inherited everything, and her mother is Elladora Babbit née Black, the woman who started the Black family tradition of beheading useless house elves😭 (and yes unfortunately that makes Headmaster Black Eloise’s uncle😫).

Eloise was kept a secret from the rest of magic society her whole life. In my imagination, the pureblood families have so much inbreeding amongst themselves that it’s not uncommon for them to give birth to squibs. Part of pureblood culture is not announcing they’ve given birth to a child until they’ve shown signs of magic - normally around 3/4 years old at most. When Eloise never showed ANY signs of magic, she was just their shameful secret. On her eleventh birthday when it was all but confirmed she was a squib, she was burned off the family tree and spent the next five years at a muggle finishing school. Always looking to take advantage of whatever they could get, however, Eloise’s parents arranged a marriage between her and the firstborn son of a wealthy muggle landowner when she came of age.

Her family had no idea that she was admitted to Hogwarts (they cut off all ties to her and disowned her) and Leo, who had always been fiercely protective of her growing up was simultaneously devastated and ecstatic that he could see his sister again. It’s been really hard to repair the relationship though, as there is a lot of resentment that they cannot get over even though they want to😭. And, for as much as her parents dictated everything about how her life has gone, Eloise can’t help but try to work hard to get their love and approval as it’s all she ever thought she wanted. And now that she’s in a position to become the daughter they’ve always desired, she feels a lot of resentment towards herself. She feels as if she’s betraying the young girl who was abandoned by her family, because she wants their approval so badly (it will take a while for her to get over this😔🙏)

In terms of the personality I did it a bit like the sims where I just max things out bc I think everything in the middle is boring jajajaja. But:

Shy: not shy in the sense she can’t talk to other people and she isn’t necessarily socially awkward. She just doesn’t always know what to say and will remain silent if she thinks she has nothing to add to a conversation instead of yapping away (BUT unfortunately rambles and over explains herself to not be misunderstood when she does talk, THANKS narcissistic mother), and normally she wishes people would ignore her. When the Daily Prophet article came out about her “miraculous” recovery and introduction to magical society she HATED it & she HATES all of the people trying to talk to her and befriend her.

Active: NOT active as in super energetic. She just wakes up really early and always needs to keep herself busy. She gets anxious if she doesn’t have anything to do - but, she includes thinking as doing something, and often retreats into her thoughts and doesn’t realize when people are talking to her.

I think grouchy and nice can exist together so with this one I put it in the middle. She’s both simultaneously😭

Aaaand with cowardly/brave, she thinks she is really cowardly for going back to her parents so easily and wanting their love so badly, and hates herself for it (not realizing it’s an accumulation of a lifetime of emotional trauma). But lots of times when things get very high-stakes she will jump in and do incredibly reckless things without thinking of the consequences, although if she stopped to think before she acted she would definitely NOT do them. So maybe brave in actions, cowardly on the inside (IDK)

If you read all of this I love you!! I want to share more about her but this was getting crazy long jajajajajajaja😇🙏

[lostryu]

i need gay rights because literally not a single self-proclaimed cis/het 'ally' understands the alienating experience that comes with being the only gay person in the workplace.

i am a gnc butch lesbian. i use he/him pronouns. when i came out to my manager regarding my pronouns (i had been an open lesbian since the moment of my hire), she told me that she supported me, but she could not enforce or ask our clients to use the correct pronouns for me. she told me it was something i would have to learn to deal with. she never uses the correct pronouns for me unless a person from a different department (who also happens to be LGBT+) is present. she is our HR in addition to manager.

none of my coworkers in my department ever remember to use my pronouns. if i remind them, they go over the top with the "im sorry's" and the "im still learning" and "you know i try my hardest's!" and "i swear im not homophobic!", it has been over 6 months since i came out. if i say nothing, they continue to use she/her (unless that other lgbt+ person from the other department is present, then they miraculously get it right).

sometimes they call me 'girl'. they always flounder and correct to "man-boy-uh youknowwhatimeanright". they laugh it off. they never bother to ask what terms i am comfortable with, or if i even cared in the first place. they don't care about my gender, they never bother to ask. somehow the subject gets changed every time i try to tell them, or set a boundary.

once in a while in a slow shift, the conversation will hop to our dating lives. somehow, it always jumps to how men suck and how dating a woman must be so much easier. they wish they could be gay and not straight. every time, they'll stare at me expectantly, like i am an animal at the zoo. no matter what i say, positive or negative, i must be lying. i cannot be that happy in my relationship, or if i have any issues, they must be minor. if i say 'why don't you try dating a girl then' to their remarks, they'll laugh, say something like "there is no way i possibly could" with that special tone of disguised disgust.

i am a prop, at work. they tell me about how much they love their kids. how they could bring anyone home and they wouldn't care. "they could be black, brown, or purple," they'll say "it could be a woman or a man! I support gay rights!" Then they will talk about how hungry they are, and how they will be going to Chick Fil a for the 4th time this week. 'as a treat'. it is thursday. they talk about going to Hobby Lobby again for christmas decorations, or another sale. sometimes i think i can taste blood.

its june. they talk about the pride parade and how excited they are to see the queens and their 'funny costumes'. they talk about how fun it is to go and watch, how they like the free things the corporations hand out. they don't want to bring their younger kids though. they're not old enough. they do not know that the first pride was a riot. they do not know what happened during the AIDS crisis, how many died. they don't really care when i try to tell them, they'd rather focus on the fun parts of the parade. the spectacle.

i wear a pronoun pin, to make it easier. still somehow no one can get my pronouns right. a client notices it. commends me for "being brave" and "coming out." she never uses my correct pronouns. i stopped wearing the pin after the 11th person asked me if my name on my name tag was my real one, and after the 45th person went out of their way to use incorrect pronouns every sentence. my manager, the HR, did not care.

i need gay rights, but somehow everything got resolved when they allowed us to marry in 2015. to our allies, the work is done. somehow i am left more alone than when we started.

[windvexer]

Maybe this is a dumb baby question but, How do you know if a spell works? I’m investigating different practices and all the spells are like… focus, luck, etc, like things that are supposed to either influence my interior state or encourage certain events to occur. But I can’t help but think that if magic was “real” it could do things that are obvious or immediately observable. Have you ever done anything you think was undeniably magic? How did you know?

Not a dumb baby question.

It works if it works! And you can test this.

Broadly speaking we can divide all practical sorcery into two categories: verifiable and unverifiable.

It's really hard to know if an unverifiable spell works. E.g., a spell for focus could often be explainable by the placebo effect. (Or, this lovely Guardian Animal Shielding exercise, which is a fun and relaxing thing to do).

But a verifiable spell is something that you should be able to test and see if your magic did or didn't work.

A good way to find sources of verifiable magic in your life is to observe relatively stable patterns in your own life which have been going on for months, and then cast a spell to directly change it.

An example might be always getting a bad parking spot at work - and then trying to get a very good parking spot.

Either you get to work and have a great place to park even though the whole lot is normally full, or you don't. The spell worked, or it didn't.

Yes, I've worked magic that is obvious and immediately observable. I've worked so much of it and some of it is so miraculous that I don't talk about it publicly because practitioners have a lot of hangups about what kind of magic they think is allowed to exist.

But more importantly I think that while wanting magic to be real, and sorcery to work, are very valid, just chasing that realness alone is probably going to lead you to a path of misery. Here are some of my thoughts on this: On witchcraft as spirituality

Here are some random stories:

At one time there were many arguments in the household due to home renovations (stressful!). I cast a spell to cause one person in the household to be more mindful of the situation. I cast the spell and stepped outside of my practice space. That person was, surprisingly, in the yard and started asking me questions about the exact issue I had just cast on. We ended up having a very long conversation and after that the arguments stopped.

Some years ago the neighbor was causing horrible ruckus and giving my partner awful anxiety, as he could clearly hear it through the old, thin window. I found a bit of thread and "tied up" the neighbor's loud sounds into a knot, and weighted it down with a rock on the windowsill. At this time I wasn't living with my partner, so I came back some weeks later to see the knot. I thought I'd get rid of it, but when I moved the rock my partner stopped me.

"You know what's strange? After you put that there, the neighbor stopped being loud."

I looked at the disrupted rock, which was to "weigh down" the spell, and immediately the neighbor started yelling. I put the rock back, and about 30 minutes later he piped down again and stayed quiet.

Years later, after many calls to the police from many people in the neighborhood with no traction at all, I used the Justice tarot card in a spell and that neighbor was permanently removed from the home within a couple of weeks.

At one time, I was trying to do a distance energy reading for someone. But something was wrong; I couldn't see clearly. In fact it looked like they were consumed by a black void... then presently a lighter blue color was around the blackness, then white, then dark blue. It was no energy I was familiar with and I double-checked with the person that they had no magical protections to stop me from Seeing them.

"Oh, the only ward I didn't take down was my nazar." 🧿🧿🧿🧿

I have Very Silly Tendons, and in the morning I usually have a painful limp for several minutes until my foot stretches out. That is, of course, unless I remember to do a very simple energy exercise the night before. Then my foot is as loose and supple as a bowl of buttered noodles.

Once, I cast a spell using the planetary energies of Mercury in order to secure a good deal on a used van. I put in very specific requirements, and asked that if I tried to buy a van that didn't meet these requirements, that the elementals would stop me and not let the deal go through. Immediately after I cast the spell I found a van which was disqualified from the list, but I reallllly wanted it. I contacted the Craiglist seller, who didn't respond for a couple of days, but the listing stayed up.

The next morning my friend contacts me. She says she had a dream that yellow tornadoes came and told her to give me a message; that I was making a mistake.

Well if you know Mercury, then you know yellow airy energies are really his thing.

I immediately set up the spell again, retracted my requests, and apologized for going against what I said I wanted.

The seller contacted me within the hour, and I got the van.

[advisorykitty]

Two is a Partyⁿʸᵒⁿ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

You had no idea how you got yourself into this situation.

It started with a simple task: get a snack from the kitchen. Simple, right? Somehow, though, you ended up sitting on the living room floor with Nyon—Luther’s mysterious, soft-spoken catman—attempting to have a conversation.

Attempting, being the keyword.

You weren’t entirely sure what was happening. Nyon didn’t talk much, and when he did, it was usually a strange mix of heavily accented Russian and vague gestures that left you more confused than enlightened. The whole situation was becoming a comedy of awkward pauses and half-formed sentences.

You sat there, legs crossed, giving your best “I totally understand” face while internally screaming: What is he saying?

Nyon was staring at the wall now, lost in thought. His ever-present hat tipped forward, partially shadowing his eyes. Was this normal for him? Did he always zone out mid-conversation? Or was he, like you, wondering what the hell this interaction was supposed to be?

“So… what do you usually do for fun around here?” you asked, once again breaking the silence, hoping this time he’d catch on.

Nyon blinked a few times, then turned his head toward you, his expression unreadable. “Fun?”

You nodded eagerly, desperate for anything resembling a real conversation. “Yeah, like, do you watch TV? Play games? Read? I noticed you like to read.” You pointed to the battered novel sitting beside him on the couch.

Nyon blinked again, his face still expressionless. Then, as if after deep internal processing, he nodded. “Da. TV… and reading.”

Well, you thought, this is progress, I think.

“Nice! Uh, do you do anything else? Like, make stuff?” Your words were coming out in a sort of nervous ramble, trying to fill the silence.

Please, just say something normal

You begged internally.

Nyon’s ears perked up slightly, and his expression shifted, as if you’d just sparked some fond memory. “Da… bombs.”

You blinked. Bombs?

“Wait,” you said, trying to maintain your composure, “like… literal bombs?”

Nyon nodded, as casually as if he’d just said he liked knitting. “Small bombs. Only small.”

Oh, great. He’s a bomb-making catman. Lovely.

You had to hold back a laugh, not because you found bomb-making funny, but because this whole situation was so absurd you were starting to lose it.

“Right, right, small bombs,” you echoed. “Cool, cool.” This is fine. Totally fine.

There was another awkward pause. Nyon, seemingly pleased with his answer, went back to his quiet contemplation of the room, leaving you to internally panic once again.

I’m stuck in a room with a bomb-making catman and have no idea what to talk about next.

Awesome.

Nyon, as if sensing your discomfort (or maybe just getting bored), reached for a bundle of tissues next to him. You watched in confusion as he began meticulously folding and twisting them into a strange little figure. After a few moments, he held it up for you to see.

“This,” he said softly, “is smoke join.”

You blinked at the tissue figure, then at Nyon. “Uh… smoke joint?”

Nyon nodded again, dead serious. “Da. For smoking.”

What?! You stared at the tissue creation, half expecting it to do something miraculous. “Wait, you actually smoke these?” you asked, your voice teetering on the edge of laughter.

Nyon, still entirely serious, nodded again. “Da.”

Of course he does. You had to bite your tongue to stop yourself from laughing out loud. “Okay… cool. Can I—uh—have one?”

Nyon, ever the gracious host, immediately began making another smoke joint for you. Within moments, he had began filling it with some dried green looking substance, a you looked at what he was creating lik some kind of sacred relic.

I’m about to smoke a joint. What is my life?

Nyon seemed perfectly content, his ever-present hat tipped forward slightly as he lit the end of the joint with an easy flick of the lighter. He took a slow drag, his expression as neutral as ever, like this was the most normal thing in the world.

And then he handed it to you.

Oh no.

You took it cautiously, like it might explode if you breathed on it the wrong way. Okay, just be cool. Just take a drag. How bad can it be?

With a deep breath, you brought the joint to your lips, mimicking what you’d seen Nyon do. You inhaled.

Big mistake.

The smoke hit the back of your throat like fire, and immediately your body betrayed you. Your eyes watered, your throat seized, and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from hacking up a lung.

OH GOD, WHY DID I DO THIS?

Nyon was watching you with mild curiosity, completely unfazed, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. You could practically hear him thinking amateur in his calm, Russian-tinged mind.

You held in the cough with all your might, your lungs burning, your face turning a worrying shade of red as you exhaled shakily. “S-see? No big deal,” you managed to choke out, blinking furiously as your vision blurred with tears.

I’M GOING TO DIE.

Nyon, still expressionless, gave a small nod of approval and took the joint back from you, taking another smooth drag like a pro. Meanwhile, you were sitting there, trying to discreetly gulp down air without wheezing.

“Are you... ok?” Nyon asked, his voice soft and polite, though there was a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Was that the beginnings of a smirk?

“I’m good,” you wheezed, blinking away the tears. “I’m totally fine.”

I AM NOT FINE.

Nyon didn’t seem to buy it, but he didn’t push further. Instead, he reclined against the wall, letting out a slow stream of smoke with a contented sigh. You watched, wondering how he could look so calm and collected while you were internally screaming.

After a moment of silence, you decided to break it, hoping to distract yourself from the fact that your throat was on fire. “So… do you, uh, do this often?” you asked, gesturing vaguely toward the joint.

Nyon shrugged. “Da. Sometimes. It is… relaxing.”

You nodded like you totally understood, even though your brain was currently doing somersaults. Relaxing? How does anyone relax like this?!

Desperate to shift the focus away from your very obvious discomfort, you tried to engage Nyon in conversation. “So, uh, you like Dostoevsky, right?” you asked, eyeing the novel on the floor next to him. “I noticed you’re always reading his stuff.”

“Da,” Nyon nodded, taking another drag before passing the joint back to you. “It is… nostalgic. Reminds me of… before.”

You took the joint again, your hand trembling slightly. Just take a smaller drag this time. You can do this. You inhaled cautiously, trying not to repeat your earlier mistake. The smoke still stung, but at least you didn’t feel like your lungs were going to implode this time.

As you exhaled, you nodded. “Yeah, Dostoevsky’s pretty deep. I’ve read a bit of Crime and Punishment myself. Really makes you think, y’know?”

Nyon gave you a slow, thoughtful nod. “Yes. About… human природа. About what people can... do”

You nodded along, feeling a little more confident now that you weren’t immediately dying from the smoke. “Exactly. It’s like, we all have this darkness inside of us, but it’s about whether we give into it or not.”

There was a long pause as Nyon stared at you, his eyes narrowing slightly like he was trying to figure you out. Finally, he said, “You think too much.”

You blinked. “Oh.”

Was that an insult?

Before you could dwell on it, the door suddenly swung open with a loud thud, and in stomped Nyen. His eyes immediately narrowed as he took in the scene—the two of you sitting there, joint in hand, clearly stoned out of your minds.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Nyen demanded, his voice sharp and annoyed.

Nyon, completely unbothered, simply took the joint back from you and took another slow drag. “Relaxing,” he said, his tone as neutral as ever.

Nyen rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at you both. “You’re such an idiot” he muttered, his eyes flicking to you. “And you—why are you even here?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but your brain was moving at about half-speed. “Uh… I dunno. Just… hanging out?” you offered weakly, your voice coming out more like a question than a statement.

Nyen scoffed. “Hanging out. Right.” He gave you a long, disdainful look before turning to Nyon. “You really picked a winner this time, huh?”

Nyon didn’t respond, but there was a slight twitch of irritation in his usually placid expression. He blew out a cloud of smoke, completely unbothered by Nyen’s attitude.

You, on the other hand, were starting to feel the effects of the weed hitting you harder. The room felt slightly tilted, and your thoughts were starting to spiral in slow-motion. What is happening right now? Why is Nyen so mad? And why did I think smoking with Nyon was a good idea?

“Whatever,” Nyen muttered, clearly unimpressed. He walked over to the bed and flopped down on it dramatically, his back to the both of you. “Just don’t set the place on fire, you idiots.”

You exchanged a quick glance with Nyon, who was still as calm as ever, then back at Nyen. The whole situation was so absurd, you had to bite back a laugh.

This is the weirdest day of my life.

“Sooooo,” you said, trying to break the awkward tension, “Nyen, what do you usually do for fun around here?”

Nyen didn’t bother to turn around. “None of your business,” he said flatly, his tone dripping with annoyance.

You blinked, taken aback by his bluntness. “O-okay then!”

Well, this is going great.

You turned back to Nyon, who was still completely unfazed by the whole situation. He offered you the joint again, and despite your better judgment, you took it, if only to give yourself something to do besides sitting there in awkward silence.

After another shaky drag, you exhaled and tried to salvage the conversation. “So, uh, Nyon,” you started, “do you and Nyen hang out a lot? Like, do you guys do stuff together?”

Nyon gave a small shrug. “Sometimes. Nyen… is different.”

Different how? you wondered, but you didn’t dare ask.

Nyen, still lying on the bed, snorted. “Yeah, we’re real best buds,” he said sarcastically, not bothering to lift his head. “Can’t you tell?” He emphasised the last sentence as if you were to dumb to understand.

You blinked back at the biting tone. “Right…”

Okay, this is officially the most uncomfortable situation I’ve ever been in.

Deciding that maybe it was time to switch gears, you cleared your throat awkwardly. “So, uh, about me—” you started, trying to fill the silence with something, anything.

Nyon perked up slightly, tilting his head in your direction. “You?”

You nodded, trying to gather your thoughts through the haze of the weed. “Yeah, uh… I mean, I don’t have any cool talents like bomb-making or reading Dostoevsky, but, y’know, I like... stuff?”

Nyon nodded thoughtfully, as if your vague answer was the most profound thing he’d ever heard.

Nyen, on the other hand, groaned from the bed. “Oh, please.”

You flushed, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. “What? I do stuff.”

Nyen finally lifted his head, giving you a pointed look. “Like what?”

“Uh…” You scrambled for an answer. “Like… watching TV?” you said awkwardly.

Nyen stared at you, his unimpressed gaze boring into your soul. He sat up slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, and gave you a deadpan look. "Watching TV. Wow, how fascinating. Truly a talent for the ages."

You cringed, feeling the burn of his sarcasm. The joint was still in your hand, forgotten, as the awkward tension in the room thickened like the smoke hanging in the air.

Nyon, still sitting calmly beside you, blinked slowly as he listened to the exchange. “TV can.. make relax too” he offered quietly, his voice as soft and chill as ever.

“Yeah, well, I’d rather not be around while the two of you waste your brain cells,” Nyen muttered.

He swung his legs over the side of his top brunk and stood up, towering over you. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at you, and you could tell from his posture that he was growing increasingly annoyed.

He crossed his arms and glared. “Why are you still here, anyway? Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

Your mind, still fogged from the weed, scrambled to come up with a response. Why am I still here? You glanced at Nyon, hoping for some kind of rescue, but he merely shrugged. He seemed indifferent to Nyen’s rising irritation, his usual calm and spaced-out demeanor unchanged.

“Well, uh,” you started, your voice unsure. “We were just… hanging out, I guess?”

Nyen snorted, his face curling into a scowl. “Yeah, I can see that. But you’re not needed here. Nyon’s got better things to do than hang out with some random tagalong who thinks watching TV is a personality trait.”

Ouch.

You opened your mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Nyen’s words stung, especially in your slightly hazy state. The capital letters in your mind were back.

WHY IS HE BEING SUCH A HATER?

Before you could figure out what to say, Nyen crossed the small distance between you and the door in three long strides. He grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open, gesturing out of the room with a sharp, impatient motion.

“Out,” he ordered, not even bothering to look at you. “Go waste time somewhere else.”

You blinked at him, your brain trying to catch up. “W-wait, are you kicking me out?”

Nyen shot you an exasperated glare. “Yes, genius. You’ve overstayed your welcome. Get lost.”

For a moment, you considered arguing, but honestly, Nyen’s intense glare and the whole weird vibe in the room made you second-guess that plan. You stood up slowly, your limbs feeling a little wobbly from both the weed and the sudden awkwardness.

Nyon didn’t move from his spot, merely watching the scene unfold with his usual calm expression. He didn’t seem to care one way or another about you leaving or staying, which, in a way, made you feel even worse. You were just… there. And apparently, you didn’t belong.

With a defeated sigh, you headed toward the door, glancing once more at Nyon, who gave you a small, almost apologetic nod. Nyen, on the other hand, was glaring at you the whole time, his expression practically daring you to say something.

But you didn’t. You just stepped out into the hallway, and as soon as you did, Nyen slammed the door behind you.

You stood there for a moment, blinking in confusion as the sound of the door echoed in the quiet hallway. The events of the last few minutes felt surreal, and your brain was still processing what had just happened.

Did I really just get kicked out for watching TV and getting high?

You shook your head, trying to clear the fog. Maybe hanging out with Nyon wasn’t such a great idea after all.

With another sigh, you turned and started walking down the hallway, leaving the weird, smoky room behind. Maybe next time, you’d think twice before getting involved with whatever bizarre shenanigans Nyon was up to.

And as you trudged back to your own room, one thought echoed in your mind, louder than the rest:

I’M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN.

[aphtwitterau]

(3) Lightbulbs

Travis and Nana walked together to the University Campus cafe. Normally, Nana would not go in on her day off but today was an exception due to Zane's rudeness. Travis coming along with her was not on her agenda either but the more people to upset Zane, the merrier. Although, Nana can't figure out why Travis is walking so fast, so giddy and wide eyed as well. Could he really want coffee that bad?

After a few more long struts past the campus, the two were in front of the cafe. Before Nana could open the door, Travis quickly stepped in front and opened it for her.

"Ladies first," he said with a wink.

Nana smiled at him and thanked him, walking into a sea of people, Travis stepping in behind her. Her mouth agape before she started laughing.

"I don't think.." Travis started to speak, while looking around skeptically, "we're going to get our orders too fast.."

"That's okay! I didn't want to order anything anyway!" Nana replied cheerfully, "I wanted to come in to upset Zane because he was asking me for help!"

Travis nodded as she spoke while they tried to make their away around the cafe, looking for two seats they could steal. Miraculously by the power of Irene, they managed to snag a table they could use to watch Zane from the front. Travis pulled the chair for Nana as she giggled and called him a gentleman. They both idly sat as they watched Zane in a frenzy, him being one of the two employees who were working today. The both of them in an annoyance and panic due to the amount of people. Zane caught view of Travis and Nana staring at him and much to their chagrin, he glared at them harshly before going back to making the orders.

Nana giggled and turned her head to Travis who had in what she would call a dopey grin. His head rested heavily on his palm as he continued to eye the front of the store. Nana curiously tilted her head before speaking again.

"So why did you want to come!" Nana questioned, smiling her happy smile while raising an eyebrow, leaving her hands rested on her lap.

Travis dropped his dopey expression and went back to his neutral face, in which he would describe as suave and charismatic. "Oh you know, just thought you'd love my company."

Nana pointed at him slightly, "then what was with that cutesy smile just now! I've never seen that smile on you before!"

Travis raised his own brow this time in confusion, "what are you talking about?" He asked, as if he was unaware of his own expression from before.

"You had this cute, dopey smile on your face while you were looking at the front! Like you were admiring something, or someone—" Nana said before gasping, "do you like one of our coworkers?!"

Travis' expression switched to a nervous smile, "I— I don't even know your coworkers, cutie," he replied.

"You don't have to, you probably think one of them was cute! Is that why you wanted to come, to see if they were here?" Nana jested lightly in her high pitched voice excitedly.

Before Travis could answer, Zane walked over with his cafe apron off and threw it in Nana's face. "Hey traitor," he glared at the meif'wa, "my shift ended, you can LEAVE now. Pierce clocked in."

Nana laughed and held the apron in her lap, "well then ladies first!" She giggled at Zane's annoyance. She turned to Travis to ask if he wanted to leave as well or if he wanted to watch his mystery person before noticing that Travis again had the same dopey expression. Although this time, it was pointed at the man right in front of them. Then, a lightbulb went off in her head.

Nana threw the apron back at Zane before standing up, "okay! Let's leave!"

Travis got up as well, keeping the same soft, yet giddy, smile on his face, "how was work, cyclops?"

"Hey do me a favor, take a swan dive off the roof of a 10 story building." Zane replied harshly, while flipping the white haired man off.

The trio walked out of the cafe but Nana slowly walked behind them, letting Zane banter with Travis and letting Travis have a little bit of fun. Nana smirked at Travis curiously, realizing why he wanted to come along and why he was so excited to get there.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I got to thinking about that "Hawk Moth does the Villain with Good Publicity" angle idea and I love it but it needs some tweaks to work I think.

1: He needs to know there is a Guardian and suspect they are in Paris, rather than rely on the "Chaos will reveal the Black Cat & Ladybug" angle, he's specifically trying to get at another human & coax them out.

2: He needs to collab with the media, mayor and more, so he's likely out in public as himself at first and does a lot more public perception handling than Ladybug or Chat ever did to help maintain his public profile.

Plan:

With that in mind he likely stages and or orchestrates several accidents and criminal situations. Some of which definitely target Chloe cos why break the habit of a life time. & he uses these to establish himself as the Heroic Hawk Moth!

Adrien being at school is so helpful for this.

Fu is suspicious cos he can sense rancid vibes but the guy hasn't done anything wrong yet or even seems to know about Akuma. He ends up tracking him down when transformed to talk & hinges turn ugly when HK reveals' he wants the LB & BC.

Hawk Moth uses a civilian, again maybe Chloe, to goad Fu into attacking him, they have a fight and Fu saves the civilian and gets away but is pursued by Nathalie, turns out Gabriel was just hiding his Akuma. Still, Fu gets away, but they know his general area.

HK claims to have been ambushed and severely wounded by a 'thief;. He claims himself to be the Guardian of the Miraculous & that while injured he can now create champions. The mayor is all "We must do all we can to help our beloved hero Hawk Moth!"

So, Paris is looking all over for a short older man who might have the Miraculous. Police are poking around all over, Hawk Moth's champions are on the move & Fu realizes he needs allies.

Story thoughts:

The thing here is that this totally changes the dynamic and type of story being told. The powers that would be useful to hand out, even how many people Fu would want active given he's specifically being hunted. Let alone how public perception and such would effect things and more to the point the heroes strategies and motives and methods!

Hell, Fu may well end up looking for entirely different personalities and people for this task. Or find himself pulling from whoever is left over from conspiracy theorists to the universally contrarian, to people who were caught up in Hawk Moth's staged crimes but came away suspicious.

So yeah, that'd be my set up anyway.

Honestly a fun part of this could be that as Chloé was targeted, she'd know the truth.

And Gabe doesn't think much of her as anything but a tool, so he'd never expect her campaigning against him to ever get off the ground. But it's enough for a small rebellion.

[ryuichirou]

I do remember how Azul one of two housewardens to be top so he can literally be ship with all but Kalim. Same goes to Kalim. Now I want to see a headcanon of Azul and Kalim with the other housewardens relationship besides the mentioned like with Azul and Idia.

The fact that you keep that in mind, Anon! I myself keep forgetting about it omg, Azul, Kalim and a bunch of bottoms… and if we’re talking overblot boys, it’s just Azul and some bitches 😔 What a flower garden.

This is a fun ask. I’ll try to talk about every possible ship that isn’t usually mentioned in our blog or mentioned very briefly. Well, minus Azul/Malleus because we just talked about them a day ago lol And Azul/Riddle because we have some posts about them too.

Looking at the list… it’s mostly Kalim/everyone huh lol

Azul/Leona. It’s difficult to picture them this way, but if they were to miraculously end up being a couple, it will 100% be out of mutual benefit. Plus, Azul would use it to prepare his revenge because he isn’t over the whole sanding contracts thing. Leona knows that, and he fully expects Azul to try to backstab him sooner or later. It’s giving “Scott Tenorman must die”, somehow.

Azul/Vil. This relationship either would end after one hour or would survive surprisingly long. They have a lot in common whether they like it or not, but Azul is too fake for Vil’s liking, and Vil doesn’t mince his words which Azul doesn’t like because Vil isn’t as easy to bully as Idia. Still, Vil enjoys how hardworking and dedicated to self-betterment Azul is; and people in the press would probably consider them to be quite a striking couple… still, they would drive each other insane lol

Kalim/Riddle. It’s like they’re speaking different languages. It’s super difficult for them to understand each other because both of them are kind of impulsive in different ways. But when they have fun, it’s good! Riddle’s inner child really thrives around Kalim whenever he relaxes a little bit, but that always ends with Riddle being super nervous about all the rules they broke. Kalim is chaotic and irresponsible… even though Riddle really loved riding the carpet with him :( They wouldn’t break up though because Kalim would misread Riddle’s attempts at having the talk with him and understand it as something completely different. He likes Riddle a lot! If only he relaxed and had fun more often :)

Kalim/Leona. If they miraculously end up together because of how oblivious and positive Kalim is and because of how passive Leona is, they could end up dating for years… Kalim is that force that takes Leona’s sarcastic comments literally and does whatever he was being sassy about, and to Leona’s shock, somehow he ends up going along with it. How did that happen again? Maybe this is how they ended up dating.

Kalim/Vil. Even if they start out like a couple, Kalim will end up being mothered by Vil. And this isn’t the kind of overprotective and through-the-teeth mothering that Jamil does: Vil-the-mom is strict and very focused on discipline, so I think both of them would experience a cultural shock lol Vil knew things were bad, but was it that bad?... Similarly to Kalim/Riddle though, when it’s time to have fun, they enjoy each other a lot. They dance and sing and Kalim even manages to make Vil laugh… but the rest of the time it gets kind of miserable for both of them.

Kalim/Idia. I want this for Idia, to be honest. I genuinely want this for Idia. This would be such a shitshow though because Kalim has zero understanding of how Idia works; pardon me for a clichéd comparison, but it’s like putting an excited loud puppy in a room with a sheepish scaredy cat. But actually, I think Kalim is smart enough to ask Idia to teach him how to play videogames one day, and even though he would be horrible at it, he would have so much fun failing miserably that maybe… Idia’s heart would melt a little… and then instantly cringe.

Kalim/Malleus. Shameless. Well, Kalim is pretty innocent about it, but Malleus is shameless. He is very satisfied with all the attention he is getting. Everyone around them? Confused and mildly scared, wondering if Kalim even knows what’s going on between them. Kalim? Super excited to have 1000 dates with Malleus, give him all kinds of cool gifts, dance with him and feed him a lot of yummy ice cream. Malleus responds very well to this kind of treatment, so Kalim would go all-out! They would either end up being a power-couple (Kalim would still be very oblivious…) or break up after a while because while Malleus enjoys attention, Kalim just isn’t as reactive to his flirty provocations as he would’ve loved… plus he has too many friends >:(

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Con Man’s daughter (10)

[Masterlist]

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 7.5)  (Part 8) (Part 9)

------

Anyone else want more Damiraenette content?

Dick live streaming or something on Tiktok to keep up the appearance of not being the Batfam.

Tim drinking an unholy amount of coffee and gaining a lot of respect from college students. Shows them the library and makes small talk with Duke who was there.

Pretends Jason is not there in the corner to troll people into thinking that he is a ghost. Cass doing a short ballet show. You know the Wayne Family’s daily life.

He comments on how Damian is not awake yet which was unusual for him.

So being a big brother, he goes into Damian’s room without knocking to wake him up. Only to find topless Damian sleeping next to Raven in his bed. Damian woke up to Dick’s loud greeting.

#

“GRAYSON, GET THE FUCK OUT.”

“Sorry, lil’D, didn’t know that you had company over. So that’s what those noises from last night were.”

#

The chat is absolutely going crazy at this point.

Damian picked up a pillow to throw at Dick.

Then, Marinette sat up from the other side of Damian, half-asleep and wearing one of Damian’s signature black shirts. She yelled, “I am up. I am up.”

She then sees a shocked Dick.

“Go away, Dick,” she said and pulled Damian down to cuddle.

 Dick closed the door before the pillow Damian threw could hit him

Suffice to say, #likefatherlikeson and #PlayboyIcePrince was trending on Gotham twitter for a while.

Until Damian said in an ‘interview’ that he was in a polymorous relationship with both of them and would kill sue the hell out of anyone who dared to call his girlfriends harlots and other degrading names.

No one ever dares to bring up his relationship ever again.

—---

Raven gets taken to Hell by her father, Trigon.

Marinette is friends with a few demons who know about her relationship with Raven.

So those demons were all too willing to spill the beans about Trigon’s big plans when she came knocking on their doors in fury and a deadly former assassin by her side, asking about where their girlfriend was.

Trigon is talking to Raven about how she was going to be used in his latest plan to take over the world.

Meanwhile, his front door is knocked down/ blown open by one Marinette Dupain-Cheng in her signature red coat.

Trigon grinned as he felt the intruder in his domain, “Well, looks like that Constantine girl of yours came to rescue you. I am going to have so much fun, ripping her head off in front of you.”

“No. Don’t hurt her.” Raven cried as she struggled against her bonds.

“Be patient, dear daughter. You will meet her soon. Maybe with less of her than you remembered.” Trigon vanished with a laugh.

“NO! NO! NO! FATHER!!!” Raven screamed after him.

Marinette is thrashing Trigon’s minions, using every Miraculous she has and every trick she knows when Trigon shows up.

“You are rather good. For a mortal.”

“Why. Thank you.” Marinette cheerily replied while sticking a paper talisman to a demon’s face. Her tired body struggling to keep up against the horde of demons told a different story.

“Well, let me put you out of your misery, pest.” Trigon said as he threw a bolt of lightning at her.

She expertly dodged it and it hit another demon instead. She grinned at him, “I will also take that as a compliment.”

“You are just a foolish child. What makes you think you can defeat me?”

“And you are a piece of shit who just got awarded the worst father of the century.” Marinette retorted before grabbing the demon who was coming behind her, “Of course, I can defeat you. With the power of love. And a shit ton of firepower.”

She sat the demon she was holding on fire and threw it at Trigon

Trigon just batted it away.

Battle continued for a few minutes. Marinette was feeling the effect of using all the Miraculous in her possession. 

“Hah. Give up. It’s only a matter of time before you lose. You are already weakened by the overuse of the Miraculouses.”

Marinette just gave him a smile. She stood where she was and smiled. And it wasn’t just a smile. It was a familiar Constantine smirk that said ‘Shit is about to blow’.

Then, the room they were in started shaking.

“What did you do?”

“I am just the distraction, Trigon.” Her smirk widened into a grin as Raven in rage mode burst into the room. “And you forgot that me and Raven have a wonderful boyfriend.”

Damian showed up besides with a few Miraculous of his own.

Fade to black as Trigon gets his ass kicked by his daughter and her two partners.

-Little Cut scene-

John is just chilling at a bar when the bartender gets possessed by Gowther.

“What do you want?”

“Do you know that your spawn is in hell?”

“I am aware she takes unsupervised visits from time to time but it’s not like I can stop her. She’s too bloody stubborn to let something like being grounded stop her.”

“Yeah, about that. She just lost her shit and is basically going to war against Trigon to get her girlfriend back.”

“She’s WHAT?”

“Thought you might appreciate knowing.”

“You just love being a snitch to get her in trouble since she beat you in every video game.”

“That too.” Gowther cheerfully agreed.

“She’s in bloody trouble, alright. I am telling her mother.”

“Ooooh. Calling in the big guns, are you?”

“Now, shoo before I bring out the Latin and the holy water. I have a child to go save from her own stupidity.”

Bartender put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, John.” Black eyes disappear as the eyes roll to the back of the body’s head.

John leaves a few bills as he went to make a call to Chas.

--- That following summer... ---

Marinette was face down on the couch as her dad stood in the middle of the living room, shirtless and painting some concoction on himself for a ritual.

Marinette groaned for the nth time that day.

John took that as his cue to finally ask what was wrong, “Sweetheart, what are you doing here?”

Marinette slightly turned her face towards him so her voice wasn't muffled.

“Hawkmoth is being a bitch again.”

“Why haven’t you stopped him then? You already know who he is. Get the cops. Knock down his door and arrest him then.”

“You know why. It’s just circumstantial evidence on my part.”

“You don’t have to find a cure for his wife, you know. Take the matter into your own hands if you don’t want cops involved.”

“I am trying to save Emilie for multiple reasons and top of the list is to make sure Adrien has at least one parent when this whole mess is over.”

“I know he is your nemesis’s son but why do you care so much about him?”

“Because he is also Chat Noir.”

John stopped what he was doing. “Say what now?”

Marinette realised that she had given her father more ammo to complain about Master Fu.

“Are you telling me that the old fool gave one of the most important Miraculous to the Butterfly Man’s own son?!”

“To be fair, before he got taken away by the Order, I didn’t know for sure that Hawkmoth was Chat Noir’s dad.”

“How come I didn't know about this until now?!”

“I thought you knew.”

“All you told me was that he was a boy in your class!” John sighed. “Fine. Anything else I need to know about?”

“Nothing I can think of.”

“Then, why are you still here? I have to finish painting over my body for the cleansing ritual and I can’t do that with you around.”

“I am bored. My friends are either out of town or busy with their own thing. Damian and Raven are on that Teen Titans mission in the next galaxy for 10 days. And I hit a dead end on the cure.”

“Then go to hell or something. I am sure you can find something to entertain yourself with down there. That’s what I would do.”

John went back to painting before he realised what he had done when it had gotten too quiet.

He looked up to see his daughter gone from the couch.

He hesitated before deciding that his daughter is a more responsible person than he was and probably won’t get into much trouble.

That was his mistake.

-----5 days later....-----

John was at a Justice League meeting when his phone rang.

The number was 666 which was worrisome because it was Lucifer’s number.

It wouldn’t shut even when he took the battery out.

“Constantine, turn off your phone.” Batman ordered.

“Look, mate, I am trying but the bloody Devil is calling me.” John showed his phone battery out of the phone and the screen that is still showing 666. “He will probably keep ringing until I answer.”

“Then, do it.”

“Hello, your Majesty. Can you hurry up on what you need? Because I am in the middle of something here.” John answered.

“Ah. Constantine Senior. You finally picked up.” Lucifer’s smooth baritone is heard by everyone in the conference room, “You already know who I am so I will keep this short.”

“What do you want?”

“I am calling on behalf of Hell to tell you to come pick your daughter up.”

“What?”

“Your daughter, Lady Rouge. She refuses to give me her name. She is currently in my castle dungeons although I am not sure how long that will be true. She has caused quite a bit of trouble in my realm and well, my subjects are not happy.”

“What did she do?” John sighed, already feeling a headache and dread at what his daughter had done. Damn, he was beginning to understand why Batman sighed so much when his kids are mentioned.

There was a bit of paper rustling from his end. “Oh my me. There is quite a list of complaints but from the paper I am reading from. The gist is that your hellspawn had made a deal with a lot of demons.” Lucifer seemed to be suppressing his laughter.

“She appeared to have found a way to abuse each of those deals and made a deal with another demon to take her place in the deal. There are quite a few loops. Unless the perfect conditions are fulfilled, every demon is stuck trying to hold up their end of the deal. There is an UNO game made up of at least 20 demons and counting that is never going to end because they all made a deal that the game wouldn’t end unless a red Zero is placed down and she appeared have given all of the red zero cards to Mammon who is tasked to guard it with his life unless someone manages to get all the golden bust of the Founding fathers of the United States and exchange them for the cards. Except Alexander Hamilton is being moved every hour and George Washington is part of a prize pool for a Super Smash Bro Tournament where Gowther has to win every game and when he wins the tournament restarts. You get the idea.”

“Can’t they just… stop?”

“They could stop but they would lose the souls they all had collected till now. You know how prideful demons are. At least one third of the demon population is stuck in what they are now calling the Ouroboros deal and the soul stock market crashed 3 times since she arrived. Once literally.”

(Ouroboros is that symbol of the snake eating its own tail. The above idea is from @writing-prompts and I will link that post when I find it.)

John was quiet for a minute and said, “Please tell me that’s it.”

Lucifer laughed. The bastard. “Sorry, Constantine. That would be a lie and you know I don’t lie.”

John groaned. It had been five days since he last saw Marinette. Since Hell ran on a different time, 5 days could be either 5 weeks or 50 years in Hell’s time. Fuck, even Batman was giving him a look of pity. A few other Leaguers had gotten popcorn to watch his hair turn grey in real time.

 “What else?”

“Let’s see. Trigon’s territory is a bit of a mess now but he can’t do anything because most of his minions are part of the Ouroboros deal. There is a pack of hellhounds and wild animals loose in Dis. Your daughter was caught five times and escaped each time. She was last caught because she was waiting in line for boba tea.”

John took a moment to use those calming breathing techniques he heard worked. “You sound too happy for a monarch whose realm got thrown into chaos.”

“This is the most entertained I have been in years. And I also scheduled a vacation in LA for the next year or so. Plenty of time for Beelzebub to get it right. I can always extend my vacation if Hell still isn’t fixed by then.”

“So why are you calling me?”

“Your daughter made a deal with me to get her out of Hell in one piece, mentally unscarred and soul intact in exchange for information on how to break the Ouroboros deal. She is quite the evil mastermind.”

“I suppose it’s not going to be easy and very beneficial for her.”

“The conditions are either to make Emilie Agreste wake up again or make sure Gabriel Agreste isn’t allowed to send out any akumas or amok for 5 years. The problem is that the demon she made this deal to had a third condition to fulfil and because they chose to do the third, the entire Ouroboros deal started.”

“Oh no. What was the third condition?”

“To disguise themselves as any inanimate object. Change location and appearance once every twelve hours and not be found for 10 years in Earth’s time. If they get found, they have to fufil one of the other conditions. If they succeed any of the conditions, they would get a soul from her. The best bit is that it’s not hers.”

“Whose soul did she put down for all this trouble?”

“A girl named Chloe Bourgeosis apparently. Apparently, the demon bought the lie that it was her real name. Essentailly she is inconveniencing nearly half of Hell unless they solve her pest problem or they are stuck in a loop for the next 10 years. And all we would get out of it is some bratty girl’s soul. You see, not everyone is happy with her right now.”

“I reckon. I am coming over as soon as my business up here is done.”

“Sure. But make it fast. Trigon is first in line for her head.”

John put the phone away and turned to Zatanna. “Bottle of the strongest whiskey you can summon.”

She gave him a sympathethic smile and handed him a glass of water. Traitor.

—

Marinette is at the Mystery House to do something and sipping coffee since she didn’t get much sleep last night due to an akuma. She wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings, too tired to register and walking past the dark haired boy who was nervously sitting on the couch in the living room.

A moment later, she realised that there’s a kid in the house of Mystery.

She backtracked and the kid was now trying to avoid her gaze.

Marinette slapped herself, much to the boy’s confusion, and muttered, “It’s not a dream then.”

The boy nervously looked at her and said, “hey…?”

Marinette blinked and realised that she was supposed to say something.

“Bonjour. I mean, hi. I am Marinette. Sorry, it’s just that we don't get many visitors at the house. Who aren’t demons or other non-human entities. Especially kids cause Dad’s bad around them. And I am a little tired right now and I am babbling like a moron. So what’s your name?”

“Um…”,he hesitated but less apprehensive than before.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Fae rules are like that. Are you okay with me calling you kid instead? Or do you prefer something else?”

“No, it’s okay. I am Billy. Billy Batson. It’s just weird since I didn’t think that anyone else lives here besides Mr. Constantine.”

“I don’t. I just pop in from time to time.”

“Oh…But um…how do you know Mr. Constantine?”

“He’s my Dad.”

“He’s married?”

Marinette snorted, “Hell no. I am a product of a one-night stand. My mom and him had a friends-with-benefits kinda deal. My mom is married to someone else. They run a bakery together.”

“I didn’t think that he would be someone’s dad.” Billy said. “He looks so… irresponsible.”

Marinette snorted, “I know, right? He doesn’t strike people like a father figure. So, Billy, what brings you here to this House of Mystery.”

“He’s Captain Marvel.” John’s voice came from the side room and there were sounds of him moving stuff to find something.

“Who?”

“You know, the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Champion of Magic.” Billy explained, finding it weird introducing himself like that.

“Oh. Shazam’s successor. The asshole finally picked someone.” Marinette said.

“You knew the Wizard?”

“I met him once. Wu Kong made a wrong turn and we landed on the Rock of Eternity. Man, it was even more awkward when Tikki came out and basically threw hands with the guy.”

“Who’s Tikki?”

Said Kwami came out from her hiding place in Marinette’s pocket. “Hi, my name is Tikki and I am a kwami. I give Marinette her powers to become Lady Rouge.”

“Isn’t Lady Rouge that Parisian hero that made Green Lantern cry?”

“It wasn’t me. Well, it was partly my fault but having both Wonder Woman and Batman being angry at you would be terrifying for anyone.”  Marinette tapped Tikki’s head. “And Tikki, never seen you this excited to reveal my identity to someone?”

“Marinette, I have to make a good impression on the new Champion. It was a tragedy what happened to the old one.”

“You know about Black Adam?” Billy asked

“Yes. His story is quite a sad one. Teth-Adam was a great Champion and fought alongside one of my holders. Shazam locked him away over a misunderstanding.”

“Ah yes. The classic old tale about foolish old men who dump all of their responsibility on children and can’t even give simple guidance and talk in the vaguest riddles like they know everything because they have lived for so long. I know that Shazam had died but I thought he would have the common sense to have his Champion be someone older.”

“I can take care of myself. I know what I am doing.”

“Billy. I am sure you can but you shouldn’t have too. Those old men were just cowards, afraid of the consequences of their actions, covering up their mistakes as best as they could and when it finally came back to bite them in the ass. They put the task of cleaning up their messes on us. We would have lived normal lives and never have to see the horrors we have seen or make the hard decisions at such a young age when we should have been having fun.”

“Oh. I never thought it was like that. Being Captain Marvel made me believe that someone like me who is just a nobody that I can save the world.”

“You aren’t wrong for thinking like that. Having powers is cool and I have taken that for granted before I got Tikki. You are a better person than me, Billy Batson. But still it was wrong of them to give us the tools that would be bad in the wrong hands and have us fight their war for them.”

“Who was your wizard?”

Marinette laughed before answering Billy, “Have you ever heard of the Miraculous before?”

“A little.”

“Well,...” Marinette told Billy about the situation in Paris and Master Fu.

The two talked about their respective hero work and bond while John searched for whatever he needed to help Billy.

Marinette gave Billy a card with her number and told him to call her if he ever needs help.

“I will come over wherever you are. Immediately. No questions asked.”

“But why?”

“Well, you are a kid and I just emotionally adopted you as my little brother now so you can’t get rid of me. Besides, I am easier to get hold of than my dad if you ever need a bit of expertise on a few magical matters.”

Then, John came in with a thick book in his hands and looked between the two of them, “Found it. Did you two have a nice playdate?”

“Billy is my new brother now.”

“I am not going to adopt him. He already has his own family and one hell spawn is enough for me to deal with.”

“I love you too, dad. Don’t be afraid to ask for a favor, Billy. I have to go. I have school in -like-” She looked at the grandfather clock that showed time in another dimension where time runs backwards, “-an hour.”

“Don’t run just on stamina potions for three days straight again and go to sleep once school is over. I will call your mother to check on you. I know you came here to get your hands on the ingredients for it.” John called after her.

“Okay. Bye. Love you. See ya” Marinette said as she stepped through the portal.

John turns back to Billy, “Kids, amirite? That’s why you have to use protection.”

“I’m twelve.”

“But she’s right, Billy.” John added, “You need someone who’s an expert when you find yourself in a pinch. As much as I hate to say it, she’s good at the family ‘business’. Besides, I might not be available all the time. She can teach you magic too when I can’t be bothered.”

—

First time, Billy called Marinette. She portaled to his location immediately and found Billy as Captain Marvel in the phone booth, awkwardly standing inside as the area they were in was in chaos.

“So what happened?” She asked in her Lady Rouge suit.

“Um, who are you?”

“Whoops. Sorry.” Marinette removed her mask. “It’s me, Marinette. This is my hero costume and the magic makes me unrecognisable by other people. I go by Lady Rouge.”

“Okay.”

“So what’s up? And why is everything on fire?” she asked as she put her mask back on.

Billy explained. There is a demon on the loose. Somebody in Fawcett had the bright idea to sumon one but didn’t do the ritual right. He tried everything but the demon bastard was slippery to catch.

Everytime he is close to catching the demon, there will be people nearby who will be in danger so Billy has to let the demon go in order to save the civillians.

“At this point, I need some help.” He sheepishly ended. “Hope I wasn’t a bother to you.”

Lady Rouge reached up and ruffled his hair, “I made a promise to you,kid. You call for whatever you need and I will come. Now, let’s go catch that bastard.”

They set a trap and Captain Marvel tries to lead the demon towards it. It gets trapped.

Lady Rouge being dramatic steps out the shadow, “Well done, Cap. Just as planned.”

When the demon caught sight of who was helping Captain Marvel, it shrieked, “IT'S YOU!!”

Lady Rouge tilted her head confused, “I’m sorry. I don’t think I have ever met you before.”

“You don’t need to know my name. I am leaving. I swear I will never come to the human side ever again. Please let me go. Please.” It begged.

Lady Rouge just rolled with it. “How can I trust you to keep your promise?”

“I swear on my name. I swear on everything I have. Please. Please let me go.”

Lady Rouge took the demon’s hand, used a sharpie to draw something that looked nearly phallic and chanted a spell that glowed bright. The demon cried louder.

“Don’t be a baby. That was a simple tracking spell. It doesn’t hurt.”

“You used angelic runes!”

“Oops. But now I will know if you come upside again. Oh, by the way, tell all your friends down there that my sentence was lifted.” She said before opening a portal to Hell under the demon.

Captain Marvel stared at her.

“What?”

“Why was that demon so scared of you?”

“Nearly every low-level demon thinks I am a demon. High-ranking ones won’t say shit because they know how much of a headache it would be if it got out that I was just a human or because they think what I do is entertaining.”

“That’s kinda messed up.”

“It’s hell, kiddo. Of course, it’s kinda messed up. I can give you a tour of the place one day.”

“It’s fine.” Billy didn’t want to go to where demons lived willingly. “What did you mean that your sentence was lifted? Are you banned from going to hell or something?”

Marinette looked away and muttered something quickly in French.

“What?” The infinite wisdom of Solomon meant he could understand what she said but he wasn’t sure he heard it right.

“I was grounded because I might have… caused a ruckus down there a while ago.”

“What did you do?” he questioned.

“It’s a long story. You don’t need to know.”

“I heard something about the crashing of the stock market and loopholes.”

“There were a lot of things one after another. First, my girlfriend was taken away by her demon father and he was a high-ranking one so it caused a lot of buzz. For the next few months, I was getting tired of fighting akumas so I caused a lot of... mischief for the denizens of hell as stress-relief and long story short, I fucked over Hell’s governing system and the Devil himself made a deal with my father that I won’t be able to go to Hell for my entire lifetime so they wouldn’t have to deal with me.”

“You… you got a lifetime ban from hell.”

“Yes, when I die, I might go to hell but as long as I am living and breathing, I can’t step foot in there.”

“But you told the demon that you were coming back.”

Lady Rouge’s mask widened and Captain Marvel knew that she was grinning under her mask. “That’s the fun part. They don’t know that. And they are going to send Hell into a frenzy because they are scared of me returning.”

“You are basically Hell’s bogeyman.”

Lady Rouge laughed. “Oh my kwami, that sounds awesome. I am putting that on my business cards.”

-------

Taglist:@vixen-uchiha, @laurcad123, @pale-lady-dreamer, @frieddonutsweets, @demonicbusiness, @iloontjeboontje, @plantsarefun06, @khneltea, @avs17, @imarivers8, @tieronick2411, @bookwalmartav, @intoomanydamnfandoms, @paradoxaloccurance, @its-maemain, @fairlyfatale, @talia-scar123

[baenyth]

After too much stalling, I finally finished the other half of Miraculous Season 2. Here's my thoughts episode-by-episode:

Zombizou: The episode focused on Ms. Bustier. Honestly I get where she's coming from in that statement to Marinette. This is a world where people can become butt-ugly abominations because they felt upset, although I think Chloe still needs consequences for her actions as well as something like positive reinforcement. She had plenty consequences in season 1. Speaking of Chloe, That Asshole was wrong. There was clear intent for Chloedemption. Also could we at least have seen all that stuff Ms. Bustier does in previous episodes?

Syren: This was an episode the salters talked loads about, and honestly, I get where Adrien's coming from here. On a fundamental level the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculi aren't equals due to the Ladybug's magic reset button, but as one of the first Miraculous users, Adrien should've still been let in on the loop. Kid felt like he was useless, that Ladybug could save the day without his help. At the very least have Master Fu go one-on-one or have both kids show up while transformed or blindfolded. Also the water voices ticked me off, but that's relatively minor.

Frightningale: A fun character-of-the-week episode, especially since I'm fond of Clara Nightingale's constant rhymes and rhythm. She's dedicated to it and I love it. It's also good to see Chloe be an exceptional and talented dancer! It's good to see her having talents and interests that aren't just making people suffer!

Troublemaker: Another episode showing why I think Marinette and Adrien shouldn't date in any of their forms. I don't know enough about stalker shrines but I think Marinette's room is getting close enough to be one for Adrien. Though I'm pretty sure Adrien's seen worse or has been conditioned to not care, based on his reaction at the end. Still a shame that the local TV show had to live-film Marinette's room and beach her privacy in the local city-town of Paris while the real Paris has been converted to an amusement park for tourists. You got any other reasons why the population is so low? One more thing: I'm pretty sure the lack of ladybug-vision was more due to anxiety over losing one of her earrings and the difficulty of the villain more than anything else.

Anansi: I find the new heroes good, personally. They give more screentime to other characters. Also again with Adrien's insecurity about being useful. And I think this episode would've been over sooner if they noticed that Anansi was going to get herself akumatized over the stress and maybe just let her come or something. Or if they got Marinette to arm-wrestle her instead. Marinette has muscles, right?

Sandboy: A lore episode, mostly. The nightmares were funny for a second and I was a bit annoyed by the Akuma's voice, but that's small potatoes. I like how compared to season 1, where we would be given a bunch of development for Sandboy it's just explained to us afterwards while we instead get more time for lore.

Style Queen: Hawkmoth has a contender for the most evil character in the show. Audrey Bourgeois is the kind of person that would be made fun of in those Karen freakout videos. She cheats on her husband, neglects her daughter to the point of not remembering her name, fires people over the most minor inconveniences, and starts G-rated killing people over getting a seat in the second row. She needs to be cancelled, deplatformed, and Chloe needs a therapist and better role models. I really liked the split-second of Adrien looking shocked after Marinette told him he had the catwalk down, btw. Did he think his identity was outed there?

Queen Wasp: This is why teenagers shouldn't get superpowers. I get secondhand embarrassment watching them. Also Marinette What The Fuck why the Hell are you getting Chloe to bond with the Absolute Worst Person For Her

Maledictator: This is what happens when you make Chloe bond with a Chernobyl-level toxic influence, Marinette. In general this episode was funny, both intentionally and unintentionally. Everyone starts celebrating Chloe ditching Paris with her mother except Adrien because Chloe was her only friend even though she was a detriment to everyone else and suddenly Marinette feels bad because she worships Adrien. The first thing the villain of the week does is make Audrey stop being such a horrible person and later he made Chat Noir reach the limit of catboyness. It's like a Smiling Friends episode. Also it was cool to see Chloe's depths and self-loathing. Surely that won't be forgotten and Chloe will be given therapy so she can become a better person, right?

Reverser (Put here so it makes sense timeline-wise): It's Yaoi time. Except that Nathaniel is into Ladybug (who I assume he knows is Marinette) here and Marc is fine with that. Overall a good episode. Some nice humor, and Reverser's probably the best akuma design so far I love the paper stuff. Plus more info on the side characters and a spot of good humor, excellent!

Frozer: Ah, there's the Nathmarc. And explicit Julerose. And Marinette getting some idea that her fantasy of Adrien is unhealthy and shouldn't be followed. And Adrigami, albeit a bit one-sided. Quit pining over someone who doesn't love you and get with someone who does, kid. And a smidgeon of Marigami. And Adrien's bodyguard being his daddy in place of his father. And a pinch of me seeing what the salters were talking about with the girlsquad and them forcing Marinette and Adrien together. Or at least Alya and Mylene. I couldn't hear what Alix, Juleka, and Rose were saying, but they disagreed, right? At least one of them had to disagree, right?

Heroes' Day Two-Parter: Marinette you're being too hotheaded against Lila no you gotta be like Columbo. Also yet another Marinette Costanza moment. Otherwise not much to say here. It's the boss rush episode, it's the series finale, Alya managed to catch onto Nino being Carapace but still can't seem to connect the dots between Ladybug and Marinette, the Peacock Miraculous is introduced, and Natalie is on my suslist.

I might procrastinate again on the first half of season 3. The first episode deserves a post of it's own. It's the salt episode.

[lunar-system]

the acolyte e8 liveblog

last one to go. i'm already scared there will be a big cliffhanger and no closure in sight. there is so much more to explore here, but no.

OSHA HAS MINDCONTROL POWERS YEESSS

good to see osha in the present day <3

based on tumblr i thought this is the fun hot manny show but this has been much much darker. i was led astray. why only gifs of manny's handsome face. not complaining tho. just surprised i was not spoiled about any of this, other than manny's darker role

his character really does not have a name. i will just keep on calling him manny

sol and mae can argue to eternity who was at fault at the fortress. they will never see eye to eye.

"see you in hell, jedi" is a rad line but raises questions about the cosmology of this world

pip is mayyyybe returning to themself?

amazing flight sequence visuals in the rings of the planet btw

poor bazil is still stuck in this mess. will no one think of the rights of the working otter?

NOOO BAZIL NOOO BAD OTTER i'll take the working otter rights away from you you little shit

uuuhhh senator has some hot takes about the jedi, i like him

the fuck is that shadow creep on manny's island?

very tasteful symmetry of ending it where it all began

sol is haunted by ghosts of his own making here wherever he goes

could sol and manny not fight pls? manny is most interesting when he is NOT fighting

mae to osha: "you didn't fail. he did." alternatively: you failed because you we set up to an inpossible task.

the witch choir singing while osha and mae fight 😭

watching light saber fights, it is more miraculous that they DON'T costantly hit each other

HE DID IT!! SOL DID THE DIRTY TRICK OF SLICING HIS SABeER HANDLE IN HALF HAHAA why am I so happy abou that

but if sol kills him. there will be no proof it was manny who did the other killing. is there?

MAE IS FIGHTING TO SAVE MANNY NOW?

this was osha's vision! mae, not using the lightsaber against sol

"i did the right thing. i wanted to protect you both." how many times have you told yourself that, sol. how many times.

and now osha will hear it from him. finally.

Sol you are the worst. Literally stop talking.

"I did everything because I love you." You don't get to say it, Sol.

He is a collection of quotes from the worst parents. And.

Osha killed a jedi with no weapon. Jesus.

GREEN WOMAN IS MANNY'S FORMER MASTER

and bazil is back to being a working otter, doesn't matter what the purpose of the tracking is as long as he's paid. i hope he's paid.

NOOO DON'T EVEN SUGGEST A MEMORY WIPE IT'S THE SADDEST TROPE EVER

they just found each other again.... and now??? already gone.

also please manny take off the helmet i wanna see your face

but this is all such darth-vader teasing, like the helmet the cape the voice the red saber, and especially the choking to death

it is such a juicy setup for many seasons to come AND YET

fuch disney seriously

the green lady is scapegoating it all to sol. clever. understandable. horrible. "it was all work of one flawed man." and the jedi order survives, with no consequenses. no looking in the mirror.

manny got his power of two in the end <3

GOD i want to see manny and osha together more!!!!! i love them!!

osha and mae completely switched positions. with Mae now in the grips of the jedi order.

so so so sad there won't be more. truly amazing relationships and characters. and if this really is the origin of the order of the sith, i mean there would have just been so much to explore?? god i hate the entertainment industry. happy we got to see one season.

[ninadove]

Nina reads Dracula 🦇

May 24th

And we’re back, thank goodness!!! I’ve been so worried about my good friend Jonathan! I can’t wait to hear how he outsmarted the Count and made it out safely and —

Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray.

GODDAMMIT

But hey, it’s the girls! I love the girls! Let’s see if they’ve been building any castles in the air recently.

My dear, it never rains but it pours. How true the old proverbs are. Here am I, who shall be twenty in September, and yet I never had a proposal till to-day, not a real proposal, and to-day I have had three. Just fancy! THREE proposals in one day! Isn't it awful!

This is my idea of a nightmare actually. But!!! More points for the poly theory!!!

I feel sorry, really and truly sorry, for two of the poor fellows.

Nevermind, they didn’t pass the vibe check. (Or did they?)

You and I, Mina dear, who are engaged and are going to settle down soon soberly into old married women, can despise vanity.

Cottagecore sapphics anyone? 💖

I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic-asylum man, with the strong jaw and the good forehead. He was very cool outwardly, but was nervous all the same. He had evidently been schooling himself as to all sorts of little things, and remembered them; but he almost managed to sit down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do when they are cool, and then when he wanted to appear at ease he kept playing with a lancet in a way that made me nearly scream.

Wasn’t he supposed to be the cool unaffected one? Maybe Lucy just has this effect on people.

He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I did not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said that he was a brute and would not add to my present trouble. […] And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to tell him that there was some one. I only told him that much, and then he stood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever wanted a friend I must count him one of my best.

GOOD!!!!! I LIKE HIM!!!!!

Well, my dear, number Two came after lunch. He is such a nice fellow, an American from Texas —

[Miraculous flashabacks] DON’T —

I know now what I would do if I were a man and wanted to make a girl love me.

Normal Things To Tell Your Bestie, 99th edition

Mr. Quincey P. Morris found me alone. It seems that a man always does find a girl alone. No, he doesn't, for Arthur tried twice to make a chance, and I helping him all I could; I am not ashamed to say it now.

😏

I must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always speak slang—that is to say, he never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well educated and has exquisite manners—but he found out that it amused me to hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there was no one to be shocked, he said such funny things. […]

'Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your little shoes, but I guess if you wait till you find a man that is you will go join them seven young women with the lamps when you quit. Won't you just hitch up alongside of me and let us go down the long road together, driving in double harness?'

OK BUT THIS IS LITERALLY SO SWEET he personalised it and even made fun of himself to diffuse the tension 🥺

And then, my dear, before I could say a word he began pouring out a perfect torrent of love-making, laying his very heart and soul at my feet. He looked so earnest over it that I shall never again think that a man must be playful always, and never earnest, because he is merry at times.

AND THEN MADE HIMSELF VULNERABLE!!!!! What a man!!!

I burst into tears—I am afraid, my dear, you will think this a very sloppy letter in more ways than one—

LUCY

Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?

Wait. THE POLYCULE IS CANON??? THE POLYCULE IS CANON?????

'If that other fellow doesn't know his happiness, well, he'd better look for it soon, or he'll have to deal with me. Little girl, your honesty and pluck have made me a friend, and that's rarer than a lover; it's more unselfish anyhow. My dear, I'm going to have a pretty lonely walk between this and Kingdom Come. Won't you give me one kiss? It'll be something to keep off the darkness now and then. You can, you know, if you like, for that other good fellow—he must be a good fellow, my dear, and a fine fellow, or you could not love him—hasn't spoken yet.' That quite won me, Mina, for it was brave and sweet of him, and noble, too, to a rival—wasn't it?—and he so sad; so I leant over and kissed him.

Honestly? Mood. I am utterly charmed by this cowboy.

Now number 3 has to be something.

P.S.—Oh, about number Three—I needn't tell you of number Three, need I? Besides, it was all so confused; it seemed only a moment from his coming into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was kissing me. I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to deserve it. I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband, and such a friend.

THAT’S IT????? A POST-SCRIPTUM????? GIRL THIS IS YOUR FIANCÉ

OK OK I am willing to accept that the strength of your feelings can’t be transcribed into words. But still.

In conclusion: these are Lucy’s three boyfriends, and yes, they eat garlic bread. 🧄🥖

(Also the contrast with Dracula’s roommates did not go unnoticed)

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[lilblucat]

Quick question!! So with the recent episode of MD out (I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but if you have you could answer this if ya like) are you worried for how the show is gonna handle the love triangle between Uzi, N, and V? Because ship wars are still going on at least over on Twitter and Envy shippers are going crazy and insane, plus it doesn't help that some of them are toxic (not saying that Nuzi shippers aren't toxic too, because they are) but, I'm worried that these shipping wars are gonna get worse and heck, it even concerns me that shipping could end up ruining the show..just look at shows like Miraculous Ladybug + Star Vs, but Star Vs is a huge example because that show was pretty much ruined by shipping and it also ended up making Starco feel rushed at the end..I've seen people point out that the love triangle is common in Liam's work so maybe I'm missing something. But, are you worried for how this love triangle will be handled in the end and do you think it could ruin and mess up the show?? Also, which couple would you say you're rooting for (When it comes to Envy and Nuzi, at least) and who do you think works better as a couple? I don't wanna cause any shipping drama, but I was wanting to ask this question because it's been on my mind, it also gave me some concerns..because don't be wrong, I'm someone who enjoys and adores shipping and has fun with it, but there is something that I never wanna see is to have a ship take over the story entirely, you know what I'm saying?

Anon, this is not a quick question lol.

Idk I don't think the love triangle is gonna be all that important going forward. It felt like there was going to be some love dynamic between Uzi, N, V, and Thad but as of episode 5 I think that's all mostly scrapped now. Thad is completely irrelevant and it seems like episode 5 cleaned up the romantic plot threads between N and V.

Episode 5 is... weird to talk about regarding the romance threads in the series. Like yeah, it does offer some Envy moments, but then once they remember everything they go back to their dynamic up to this point. V immediately wants to hurt Uzi while N is much more excited to see Uzi again than react to V's quick embarrassed blushy moment. The events of this episode and the lack of any shipping merch for N and V kind of seal the deal for me that Envy isn't happening. Episode 3 went all in on the shippy vibes between N and Uzi on the marketing, so episode 5 not getting any for Envy just feels like proof to me, honestly.

However, most of the marketing was about N and Uzi, and while they are the main 2 characters, it feels like this episode was meant more to progress their dynamic along than N and V's. N had been saving Uzi from something every episode up to now, and this was finally Uzi's turn to repay the favor and boy do I have things to talk about regarding that. Uzi having so much ability to really mess with N, but Uzi ultimately not doing any of that because she wants what's best for him. Which, you'll notice is what V also wants, but the difference is Uzi actually communicates with him while V seems stuck on what her own idea of that is. Like, Uzi clearly has a crush on the guy, but even though she's seeing his past with V and how close they were she doesn't take any action to make him stop remembering things. She actually encourages him to uncover as much as he can, which he thanks her for at the end. I don't know how to put it, it's just such a risk she took even though she knew it was the right thing to do and I just really like that aspect of her character this episode.

Anyway, that wall of text is to explain my reasoning behind what I have to say on the state of shipping after this episode. I think the endgame ship is going to be Nuzi because I see no meta reason to ship otherwise. That's literally the only ship with merch behind it and it's the ship Glitch and staff seems to like the most art of. I feel that going forward, the show will end up going that route with these characters and people will either have to accept that or drop the show if shipping is really that important to them. And tbh, Liam's works aren't that focused on shipping anyway. There's probably going to be romance, but it won't be a tumor on the show. I haven't read any of his stuff yet where it felt like the romance threads were hurting the story tbh. That's another point for Nuzi tbh in that pretty much all of his main 2 duos have the most ship tease in his writing. I would not compare his writing to those other shows because Liam's writing is so distinct and has its quirks. Also, Murder Drones is written by a single person compared to these network shows which are written by many people, which is how you get these convoluted romance plots in the first place.

People are gonna be toxic, that's just a given and especially so because the main two ships in this fandom are at odds with each other. Once the show commits to one, I think things will chill down. I will say though, all the stupid discourse I see about Disassembler/Worker ships is pretty bad and misinformation keeps this a hot topic in the fandom. It's not a problem, yet people keep making it one and I cannot understand how this happens lol.

And yeah it's probably obvious but yeah I'm Team Nuzi. I've just always felt like Liam was aiming for it anyway plus I have a feeling that if the genders were swapped, Envy would be no where near as popular as it is. I get the appeal of Worker Envy, but Disassembler Envy is a whole different beast where V's treatment of N is still completely unaddressed. That's not to dis V exactly, but I think people forget that she remembered much more than N prior to episode 5 and cared enough about him to try to keep him safe from the Solver shenanigans. Her methods for doing that, however, definitely need to be addressed at some point. Like again, people forget that she didn't do all that because she didn't remember, she did that because she was traumatized and ended up hurting N because of her actions. Regardless of why she did it, she's still very harsh with him and hasn't made any steps to fix this. Also again, not to dis her as a character, she's obviously made these choices out of trauma and I think that's pretty realistic.

N also has baggage that V's presence gets in the way of, but since he's been with Uzi for a while he's been getting through it. When separated from V, N learns to grow a spine and respect himself. I think V can learn and grow too, but only if she takes a leave from N to get her away from the living reminder of her traumatic past. That's why I'm personally not into Envy in the current time, they cannot reconnect in the same way anymore, they are simply too different from how they were back in the past. Reconnection means a whole new dynamic, and at this point I don't think romance is in the cards for this new dynamic.