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disaster-biraven · 4 months

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The Lazarus Problem Chapter 3

Jasonette Ch1 Ch2 Ch3(you are here) Ch4

Ao3 Dedicated to @girl-in-thechair

Marinette didn’t forget, per say, to try and find Jason. It’s just dealing with the Bats takes a lot of attention, and she was afraid of what she’d find. Tikki would call it procrastinating, but Marinette calls it protecting her sanity. It was still bugging her, and it seemed like she was seeing him everywhere. Once she thought she saw him in the background of a video about the latest Wayne Gala, and another time could have sworn he was outside a coffee shop near Wayne Enterprise. Marinette convinced herself in was a reflection or something, cause no one was around by the time she made it outside.

Once she finally got around to looking up his name, she almost cried at how easy it was. Jason had managed to get adopted by Bruce Wayne, of course he did. While she vaguely knew about Bruce Wayne and that he adopts kids, the last time she was in Gotham there was only one. And she didn’t try and keep up with that in Paris, Marinette was busy building a new life. Looking at the timeline, he was adopted really soon after they had been separated. Reaching out to them wouldn’t be easy, much less trying to run into him. ~

Her answer to her problem came in the form of a commission request a week later. She had finally opened them up again after finishing her move. Tim Drake had reached out for the whole Wayne family, needing clothes for the next charity gala. He was a big fan of MDC and had always wanted to commission her. Apparently Tikki’s luck was still working for her.

After reaching out and setting up an appointment, all Marinette was left with was nerves about the meeting with the Bats. But she had found Jason and the two sources of the Lazarus pits. So now all she had to do was reconnect with Jason, and then convince hyper-paranoid vigilantes that she was there to help. Fun.

The meeting with the Bats was setting to take place on Wayne Enterprise, the tallest building around. Most likely to keep random Gothamites from seeing most of the Bat family and an unknown meeting at 2am. It seemed like Lyca had gotten there first, but she knew better. At least one person was surveying the area, and it was only a matter of time til the rest got there.

Sure enough, five minutes later the faint sound of boots hit the gravel. She turns to face Batman and Red Hood. While the Bat sizes her up, Red Hood decided to make introductions.

“Batman meet Lyca, Lyca this is Batman. Uh, and you both already know me…”

“How do we know you really mean to help with the Lazarus pits? You very well could be a spy sent from the League of Assassins?” Batman waits impatiently for her to answer, probably so he can continue interrogating her.

“Do you know Ladybug and Chat Noir? And that they have Miraculous that they used?” Lyca points to her necklace, “I have the Fox Miraculous. I wasn’t Rena Rouge, but I did help the heroes in Paris. Now that Hawkmoth has been stopped, Gotham is the most unbalanced place. And how I can best help with that is helping you with the Lazarus pits.”

As expected, bringing up the Miraculous threw Batman off. She was aware that the Justice League had been looking for her. One of the reasons they hadn’t found her yet was because of the Miraculous magic, and her luck. If partly revealing herself help gain their trust, so be it. She could see the cogs in Batman’s head switch gears.

“I’ve been trying to get into contact with Ladybug, would you be willing to help with that?”

“She is already aware of that, the most I can do is pass along a message.” She wasn’t ready to step back into the earrings, and she figured this would at least get him of her back for now. Red Hood then spoke up,

“How would you even help with the Lazarus pits? I mean, I believe you but we’ve already looked into healing it and hit a dead end.”

“The pits were originally made by a wish using the cat and ladybug miraculouses. Ladybug and Chat Noir have given me the tools necessary to reverse the effects. I can delve more into it closer to when we actually do it.”

Red Hood seemed to accept that. Batman, however, seemed to still have some hang ups.

“I will reach out to Wonderwomen, and look into the fox miraculous. She may want to meet you.” Lyca nodded.

“That’s reasonable, if you want to reach me use this,” She handed Red Hood a phone Max invented that could connect to the miraculous and the Kwamis. “It’s untraceable both ways, and reaches me directly.” She didn’t feel the need to mention she could trace it if she really needed to. In case she ever needed to get the phone back, if it fell into the wrong hands.

Batman obviously wanted to ask more questions, but Marinette needed to go. Her consultation with Tim Drake was early in the morning and she had a lot of prepping to do.

“It was really nice meeting you Batman, but I’ll have to answer the rest of your questions another day.” Before he can respond she calls for Mirage and silently returns home. ~

Jason stared up at the ceiling as he laid back on the couch, waiting for his fitting with the designer Tim had obsessed over for ever. Tim and Bruce had already gone, while Dick was currently in there. Everyone had decided it was best for Damian to go last, so Jason was up next. The phone Lyca had given him was in his pocket, true to her word it was untraceable. Both Tim and Barbra had tried, when it was decided that magic had been used in the process of making it and they called it a night. Jason didn’t allow himself to feel hopeful that he could be cured, as it still felt to good to be true.

“Jason? It’s your turn.” Dick said as he popped his head into the library.

“Thanks, be right there.”

“Great, I’m going to go prep Damian. Try and bribe him to not insult or maim her.” And with that Dick disappeared.

Jason swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stood up. As he opened the door, the designer turned around and froze. She was painfully familiar, but the answer was harder to remember the harder he thought about it. She unfroze, blinking slightly. Immediately the answer came to him. An old friend, long thought dead was right in front of him.

He tried to speak, but he was in shock. Clearing his throat he attempted again.

“Marinette?” His voice cracked.

#maribat #marinette dupain cheng #mlb x dc #fanfic #jason todd #childhood friends to lovers

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ace-but · 1 year

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Alright, okay, so, hear me out, we have cat hybrids, we have dog hybrids, and we habe fox hybrids. So just imagine..a lion reader. Aghhhhh, like, they probably have the best fluffier hair, not to mention the muscles 😶

I can imagine characters like Itto always challenging them to arm wrestles and stuff. Like, they're one of the few who can match them in raw strength, and being around them makes him feel safe

Or, how about one of the scholars, like Albedo, All Haitam, or Dottore, who are always sorta fascinated by how the lion side of them affects them.

(Reader would probably have a really calm monotone voice right, except when they're mad, then they get REAL LOUD. They sound like they're in a screamo song.)

Characters like Traveller and Xiao who for the first time have someone they can rely on, and not the other way around

Imma say this just once, but naps would be a big plus. They are the perfect napping buddy.

What are your thoughts on this, and what would you like to add on about it? There's just so much to do with the idea!

Okay, I'm done gushing now.

🕊 anon

Okay, so being normal for a single second to say thank you for an excuse to talk about hybrids in Genshin. Pleas forgive any grammar and spelling errors, I am very excited

And now

FROTHING AT THE MOUTH. YOU WANT TO HEAR MY THOUGHTS ON OTHER KINDS OF HYBRIDS? YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT MY THOUGHTS ON OTHER KINDS OF HYBRIDS.

Lions are one of the most obvious cases in nature of sexual dimorphism. So I think that would carry over to hybrids.

Amab folk naturally developing thicker, longer hair. Perhaps getting a proper mane. I honestly can't think of a reason why they wouldn't have a straight up mane.

The social aspect of it would be interesting. Typically, Lion Hybrids would be Polyamorous. At least, the amab folk would be, but I think the afab too. Families consisting of 1-3 amab or trans men with 4-8 afab or trans women and any of their children. Ignoring for a moment that most lionesses in a normal pride are related to each other.

Sons are typically expected to be out of the home early, while daughters usually stick around for a while.

Originally, the women of these hybrids are hunters and warriors. Men usually staying home to care for the children. But now, more and more of these hybrids are just kind of out there. They're fairly common to see outside of their own communities.

Anyway. Now to what you actually asked for lol.

Itto and a Lion!Reader would be pretty evenly matched in terms of strength. He might find it a little comforting to have someone else be the strongest. Takes off some of the pressure to protect other people.

Lion!Reader would probably have a better reputation than Itto no matter what. Lions are not only seen as powerful, but as being regal and protective. Unless they were actively a violent criminal, Lion!Reader brings people comfort by being around. They have more sensitive ears than a human, sharper vision, and far more muscle. If someone wants to pull something, they probably won't do it with Lion!Reader around!

I think the scholars you've mentioned, with the exception of Alhaitham who I don't think is this kind of nerd, would be fascinated by a Lion hybrid.

Albedo is studying the anatomy, making sketches to improve understanding of the musculature of Lion hybrids. Ahem, if you'll allow him, that is? He's never pushy, but you're very aware that he would like to study you. His eyes are always on you, it would be a little unnerving if you didn't know he was just trying to understand how your body works.

Dottore may attempt a more... direct form of study. You may be subject to many experiments and vivisections. Uh, don't get caught? Or maybe you're into that idk.

You mentioned being loud? Hell yeah a Lion hybrid is loud! Lion!Reader's vocal structure allows for volumes exceeding 114 decibels! That's so loud that your yells could genuinely cause damage to someone's ears. Not yours though, your ears are capable of withstanding this kind of noise. Usually Lion!Reader

You want someone dependable? You got it. Capable of more feats of strength than a human, having more sensitive hearing and smell, and probably being raised with loyalty being drilled into their head, Lion!Reader is absolutely someone to turn to when you need help.

Xiao can rest a little easier when you offer, no, demand to take over his duties for some time. You destroy enemies with no problem, and if he just needs to rest, you watch over him. Xiao won't admit it, but this is the safest he has ever felt. His head on your lap while you silently keep watch.

The traveler can bring you on basically any commission without any sort of worry that you won't be able to handle it Especially if you have a vision. Finally, someone they can have as backup without any concerns of leading them to their death

And yes, perfect napping buddy. You make people feel so safe and warm and happy in your arms. :)))

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin hybrids #hybrid character #lion character

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yostresswritinggirl · 1 year

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Mother can you indulge us with the kintsugi-interlude quest thought, love you <3

*sneezes on tissue* Oh gawd what have you unleashed -

(Spoilers for both Kintsugi and Sumeru Interlude utc)

Hooo boy, that was a lot to take in and my head hurts trying to understand this and that, but thankfully things worked out in my favor when I worked on Kintsugi to make it work even after the interlude! So here's the explanations on how Kintsugi now ties with the info we have from the quest:

You’ve heard various warnings from Kuni to not be deceived by their invitations and coaxing, and to only engage when he’s with you.

Dottore experimenting on Scara is one thing I didn't at all see from all this, and that's actually super sad thinking about it, I'm sure that our lil edge lord had some trauma from those tests too (besides the abyss missions too). But that solidifies his hostility and warnings to not be alone with either Dottore and Sandrone, so that they don't end up experimenting on them too.

He willingly chose to be experimented on not just so that he can understand his limits but also to appease the Doctor's curiosities, the "take me instead, not them" mindset, so they never get their hands on reader. Which made the ending scene with Wanderer even better, and his obsession with being useful.

Immediately thought of Scaramouche dragging his feet over to their room, hugging reader from behind and leaning his full weight on them from being exhausted and pained from the experiments. Maybe he's shaking a bit too, gripping onto them so tightly while they're confused at what's going on. He's reminding himself that he's doing this for them, and that they're still here, alive and unharmed.

“Not only have you provided me with the gnoses, but you have removed the greatest obstacle to my newest magnum opus.”

I'm not gonna say much but Dottore has been using Scaramouche as a test subject FOR when he inevitably experiments works on reader actually :') He's long planned to dispose him because he knows they have better potential

“And once I become a god, I will create a perfect world for you too, one that you deserve and deserves you.”

"I will become the new moon, the answer to everything. Then, no one will know that there were once birds, foxes, and cats in this world. And no one can know that they were different." The line in the fairytale is actually closely related to his original intentions in this line. He wanted to create a world for the both of them where they are respected and seen as humans, never judged, used, or hurt for being puppets.

Shakkei Pavilion

Throwaway trivia: Kunikuzushi never brought reader to Shakkei Pavilion. At first I thought it would be a missed opportunity but now I'm glad I didn't do it, that place is full of pain and he doesn't want to jinx them dying after seeing that place too

NOW ONTO 3.3-Kintsugi continuity questions, because you might be wondering how does the story now tie in with the fic?

Did Scaramouche erase reader's memories as well?

Yes, yes he did. After he failed to ascend to godhood and go through with his promise of a perfect world, out of guilt, he thought that erasing himself from the world would then revert reader's fate to a life where they didn't meet - and as such, never met the fatui and never got destroyed and get their kintsugi. Of course that's not how it works.

A separate Fontaine Alternative ask would explain what happens after in full, I might actually make a fic for that.

What's Reader's fate in the new world?

So after the quest, you'll find out that the 6th Harbinger spot has been vacant for a while now. YEARS even. An unknown person, dubbed thee replacement 6th harbinger, is the one who found reader in Inazuma and brought to the Fatui as their retainer.

As for why they are now missing, replacement 6th actually went MIA from the meteor event where we first see Scaramouche. Since then, reader has pretty much replaced Scaramouche in the story - the one who handled the delusion factory and took the gnosis from Yae (but the fight broke out which gave them kintsugi, and Traveler never met them), met with the Doctor in Sumeru but was not the one who became Shouki no Kami (cuz Nahida said she found the machine empty)

While they're not the 6th Harbinger, they seem to be like a stand-in then

How about the Omamori Ending?

Reader would switch places with Scaramouche here and exist as the one that's supposed to be the one the Sages want to be as their god. But it is not their will and intentions to do so, Dottore chucked them in there as per order, and they ended up being broken and in a coma after.

Nahida also preserved their memories as a back up. So it's still feasible! However, Tighnari and Cyno won't be easily friends with them since they're the one who struck him with lightning, but they would at least give a heartfelt apology and would actually actively try to make amends. Not easy to forgive, but harder to not like.

Although it's also possible that the lightning strike never happened, Hoyoverse devised this cleverly so they don't have to address that plot hole lmao.

Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk I am exhausted uwu there's probably a lot more that I missed but I really hope that they explore more of the world changes instead of just sweeping it under the rug

#exile.goblet #shinarinchii #spoiler tag #exile.reader #about kintsugi #sumeru arc

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imthepunchlord · 1 year

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If you were to make a miracle box based purely off of Celtic/Gaelic culture, what animals would you put in (also for the sake of this ask let just pretend the Chinese miracle box doesn't exist)?

So, be aware I have not read up a lot about the Celts and anything related to animals if stuff I found by chance when reading around. I'm also not going to cover how it should be set up, I'm just going to mention animals that would be plausible to be there.

Ladybug is promising to be here as I found it's very European oriented in terms of mythology. It is a Christian associated symbol, but across Europe it's also a symbol of romantic love and luck. Plus, you got the official artwork of Tikki associated with a clover, which is a major symbol to Irish culture.

Rooster would be for sure as there's the Gallic rooster, the unofficial symbol of France, which hails from Gaelic origins.

Rabbit would be another, I believe they are tied to the Celtic spring goddess Eostre, which is the potentially inspired origins for the Easter Bunny and why the rabbit is tied to spring. There's also the symbol of the Three Rabbits that has popped up quite a bit in Europe.

Playing off nature being big in Celtic culture, Bee would be plausible to exist, I think they were regarded to have otherworldliness to them. I know in Greece it was thought bees would escort spirits of the dead to the afterlife.

Sheep/Goat is also plausible, especially if you're going with the two being interchangeable. Sheep are especially important to Britain as their wool helps keep people warm, even if they get wet.

As for the possible Celtic Zodiac, they may not be official/fake, but the Celtic Zodiac is promising in animals they have.

Deer over all is iconic throughout the world in a variety of cultures, and I think the Celts saw it as the Kings of the Forests. There's also the Celtic god Cernunnos, which a hero bearing that name has appeared.

Cats are associated with magic and otherworldliness, and there is fairy cat Cait Sith.

Snakes were a big inspiration for many dragons, Europe included. And I could see tying it to the Celtic Knot with their long body, but I think it was viewed unfavorably so may be better elsewhere.

Fox is very present Europe, I think it was more appreciated and admired for it's cunning and bravery, and it's even a popular fairy tale icon with Reynard the Fox, who was so popular that he changed out the French pronounce fox.

Bulls and cows I've read up are associated with solar and lunar energies and define the personalities differences between the two celestial bodies.

Seahorse can work off a lot of mythical water horses that do appear in Europe (kelpie, hippocampus, Loch Ness is sometimes portrayed as a water horse).

Wrens were thought to be "kings of birds" in Europe.

Horses are major in Europe through knights, with chivalry probably stemming from the word cheval. You can also tie them to the Wild Hunts, which shows up across the world in mythology.

Salmon, there is a Salmon of Knowledge in Irish mythology, gaining knowledge by eating a hazel nut.

Swan I haven't seen too much of, but I do know it's viewed positively in Europe as a symbol of faith and purity.

Butterfly is associated with the Otherworldly, and is an omen for what's the come.

Dog/Wolf can definitely work, especially Dog. There are a lot of mythical demonic dogs that appear in Europe. There's the Barghest/Black Dog/Grim/Old Shuck, and the fairy dog Cu Sith.

Hawk I haven't see much for, I think it's more present in Egypt and Norse mythology. Could tie it to history of falconry though I haven't much into it.

But those are the animals I know for sure could work and be tied to a Celtic Order or at least plausible if not for sure.

#ask Punchie #long post #celtic order

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halogenwarrior · 2 years

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Warriors, first and foremost has always tried to grapple with themes of community/culture/society, how it influences people and both causes pain and value. Even the Clans’ religion is not based on some omniscient god that transcends culture but just another community formed out of the ancestors of the community that exists on earth. Does it handle these themes well? Most of the time, definitely not. But I feel like a lot of fans are missing the potential nuances of this theme when they just reduce it to “the Clans suck and are literally 100% morally bad with no redeeming values, and cats who want to destroy them are cool actually”. Because I think it is possible for an ideal version of the series to show the oppression of a demand to devote your life to duty and fighting just because you happened to be born in a Clan, to the way Clan boundaries rip apart relationships, how the Clans think themselves above any outsider and all of the other problems with Clan life, and also show that there can be beauty in value in community and loyalty and taking care of the weak. Like the whole idea of making the final conflict in the original arc against a distorted Clan that had none of those positive aspects was a potentially interesting idea thematically, the problem was how it weirdly tried to tie caring for others to religious faith as if the good parts of the Clans’ system were inherent to their religion and structure rather than something that any society should aspire to and can accomplish, but some fall short of (including the Clans themselves sometimes, like with regard to Brokenstar!)

I feel this is duality of Clan life is particularly shown in Feathertail’s arc in A Shadow in RiverClan. A lot of the fans’ reactions to her seem to be just “well, what’s the big deal, why can’t she just girlboss her way out of RiverClan like any sane person would do!” But her internal conflict is compelling because she ISN’T the type of person (cat) who would be happiest cutting ties with the community she’s grown up in, she’s someone who, like most people, needs the sense of community and purpose and being surrounded by others working to help each other to survive. But in order to truly be a part of her community, she needs to buy into the values it holds, including the xenophobic huddling together of their group against all outsiders. She can’t just forget the destruction these values have wrought, can’t just go back to normal life after what happened, even as she feels to live without a community would be isolating and (pardon the use of the term for a series about cats) inhuman. The social contract was broken when her Clan broke the promise to mutually defend each other’s lives with their own and instead saw her life as forfeit, and that’s why she’s only able to build it back up by the incident with the fox restoring said contract. And so she spends months wrestling with her own thoughts, trying to force herself to believe with her heart something that she needs to believe but was irrevocably shattered. The hand that feeds her is the hand that tears her apart, and she can never truly turn away from it. Admittedly the point is somewhat undermined by the existence of ThunderClan, a group with basically identical culture that hasn’t horribly wronged her, though even going there wouldn’t be a full escape because it would just mean forcing herself to buy into another group’s xenophobic values, except this time it would mean those values turning her against cats like her brother.

This is why I’ve always been skeptical of people’s claims that Stormfur would have worked better being given Feathertail’s plot given his personality in TNP. Stormfur’s suspicious nature extended largely to outsiders, a feeling that straying too far from the code was what led to the previous disasters and would lead to further ones, while the arc a Shadow in RiverClan was trying to create needed a protagonist that wasn’t just generically suspicious and aloof by nature, even and especially to those his society told him to be suspicious of, but one who was by nature quite the opposite, who could never be happy unless she was allowed to be the open and caring cat she was by nature, but who couldn’t forget everything long enough to be that no matter how much she tried. (And we see in her interactions with cats like Ferncloud and Sasha that her aloofness solely extends to those who were involved with what happened on the Bonehill, that whenever she isn’t caught up in those thoughts and doubts and memory her “true” personality shines through).

I feel like a better Warriors series would lean more into this duality, of both the worth of the Clan system and its horror, of how loyalty might lead towards a noble fight for the preservation of valuable things one day and a pointless one driven by jingoism and xenophobia the next, and how every cat reacts to this tangled, beautiful, repulsive situation in different ways, rather than either the canon route of only paying lip service to the deep flaws in the system and patching everything up with “but the Clans and StarClan are good in the end”, or the fan responses of wanting everything burned down.

#warrior cats #wc #feathertail #a shadow in riverclan #bloodclan

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doverstar · 1 year

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Heyo! I'm sending this around to a few people in an effort to get to know them better, but I'm curious: is there an animal that is either a favorite or that you know a lot about? And if so, could you tell me about it?

Hiiiii! This is a great idea. No one ever asks this Very Important Question anymore in my life. As a child and kind of in my bloodstream, my favorite animal was always a lion. (I also like squirrels, cats, and cows.) But my most secret favorite animal (like an off-to-the-side favorite animal) is the thylacine, and yes, I can tell you about it! They're extinct! :)))) because! we suck! :)))))))))) They were also referred to as Tasmanian Tigers, but they're not canines or felines in spite of their looks; they're actually marsupials. Like kangaroos.

They were cream/tan/brown, and they came from Australia, Tasmania (of course), and New Guinea. They had pouches just like kangaroos do, and these ridiculously-cool mouths that could open crazy-wide. The widest the species is recorded to have stretched its jaws (as far as I've researched) was 80 degrees! Their footprints were way more symmetrical than that of foxes' prints or other, similar prints. They made "cay-yip" or sometimes "hop-hop-hop" sounds, or long winding calls to each other. Big carnivores. Big snoots. They were pushed out of their habitats by British settlers at first, and then hunted down mostly because local farmers thought they were eating their farm animals. (But also for sport.) They did like birds, and chickens, but even though their bite range was big, most of their known prey tended to be on the smaller side. The last known thylacine's name was rumored to have been Benjamin (that's it up there!) and in 1936, it froze to death in captivity because some idiot forgot to let it in where it was warm for the night. It may have been female, though; the name and male status were both kinda a myth. But that thylacine did die due to neglect at the Hobart Zoo. Scientists in have been trying to clone the thylacine from a dead fetus for years, but obviously it's super expensive, super unnatural, and super not-gonna-work. In my opinion. Of course I wish it would, but I just don't think that's quite how the Lord designed animals and their life cycle to work. People like to post hazy Youtube videos trying to say they've spotted a thylacine out there in the wild, but none of these videos are proven and as far as we all know, thylacines are long-gone. I first found out about them on a trip to Washington D.C., when we went to one of the museums and they had the thylacine's model blocked off in the dark behind a black gauze curtain. You could press a button and the light would come on above it, showing it to you behind the curtain, and explaining what it was and how it's extinct now. I was super fascinated because it's not often you see an animal you've never seen before, anywhere, onscreen or in-person. And then I spent the rest of the night researching it and now it's one of my favorites. The thylacine makes an appearance in all of my just-for-me original stories I write. I want a thylacine stuffed animal for Christmas.

#thanks for asking!#what's YOUR favorite animal?#asked #answered #thylacines #extinct animals #extinct species #doverstar's favorite animal #get to know doverstar #ask doverstar #way-too-addicted-to-anime

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weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables · 1 year

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So I watched Pinocchio and then I spent a whole day reflecting on it so my first response to it wouldn't be just angry ranting. I'm sorry but story-wise it's even worse than I thought.

I don't want this to be all negative so I'll start with the things I liked: the stop motion and visual effects were absolutely stunning. I loved the glow of cricket's eyes and the way rocks and nature in general were portrayed. Also Geppetto's outfit is very on point. The soundtrack was nice! And most of the songs. And I have zero complaints about the Cricket.

That's it for me.

I have so many complaints to make instead when it comes to the story. It looked to me like a game of telephone -like Del Toro watched Disney's Abominable Version, rightfully didn't like it, and decided to improve on that instead of reading the original. Which is an actual book written by an actual person for a real audience to touch on the very specific issues of a very specific time period.

This is not like a fairytale or a myth, where you can argue there is no original and there's room for interpretation or to put one's own spin on the story. Pinocchio is a story that works when set in its original time with its original premises. What Del Toro did is more than just "reinterpretation". He absolutely destroyed it, tore it down piece by piece until nothing remained.

And I like Del Toro's movies and his vision, but I knew this would be a mess from the moment I read his interviews on the topic. He says he believes the central message of Collodi's story is You must obey authority at all costs; this is apparent in his movie, where he insists obsessively on this point, having most if not all characters order Pinocchio to obey just for him to go No! in a clueless, spontaneous way. It's like Del Toro is constantly arguing with what he perceives the original story to be.

Which it isn't. The point of the story is that in order to be truly human, one must be kind, must care for the people around them, and should relinquish some selfishness in order to act for the sake of others, or to perform a duty. The duty in question was going to school. To become a real boy, Pinocchio had to understand Geppetto's struggles (this may come as a shock to those who only know Disney's "adaptation" from hell but Geppetto was so poor he made Pinocchio out of a piece of discarded wood) and put aside his desire to only have fun, always, in order to help his father when he was sick.

It doesn't seem like that bad of a message to me. [More under the cut.]

So let's talk about Pinocchio having to go to school. In Del Toro's movie the point that comes across is this: school is the mould thanks to which you learn to conform and obey. It's the fascist podestà who wants to send him there so he can be controlled. And yeah, school did prevalently have that function in fascist Italy. Which is Why Pinocchio wasn't set in fascist Italy! Pinocchio was written just after Italy became a nation (1861). Most parents didn't even see the need to send their kids to school at the cost of their free labour! People were poor! Kids had to work! There was an actual effort on the part of the government to convince parents in Italy to send their kids to elementary school. And it's in this context that books like Libro Cuore and Pinocchio were born. Geppetto is meant to be the model here. He sells his only winter jacket in order to buy Pinocchio's book, because he loves him and wants what's best for him!

And Pinocchio, who is ignorant of the world, is tricked into using the money to go watch the fair, because he doesn't know any better and wants fun and instant gratification. But when Mangiafuoco the puppeteer hears about Geppetto's condition, he sends Pinocchio home with some money for him.

And again, because Pinocchio has not gone to school, he is gullible, and gives up the money to the Fox and the Cat in order to make it grow into a money tree. Then the Fox and the Cat hang him from a tree.

Now I will never understand why Del Toro chose to erase the characters of Mangiafuoco and the Cat and the Fox (I'm sorry but Count Volpe is... Not the Fox) in order to focus such a great part of his movie on Pinocchio performing with the puppets, a scene that in the book lasts less than a day.

I will not touch upon the Youth Indoctrination Camp because it's just so far-fetched I won't even dignify it with more than a What the hell? I want to say something about his portrayal of fascism though, especially compared to how it was in Pan's Labyrinth. It tried to do what Jojo Rabbit did but it just fell flat, maybe because fascist regimes and Pinocchio do not mix well.

So the Turquoise Fairy is no longer Turquoise nor a Fairy. Now it's a Blue Eldritch Creature whose sister is Death itself. Fine. The design is great. It's not what the Fairy was for in the book though. She's meant to be sister and mother, gentle guidance and harsh reproach all put together. One could write an essay on the subject of the Fairy. And that whole thing with Death and Immortality? Super cool concept, makes no sense in the context of Pinocchio.

Pinocchio becomes a real boy at the end. Del Toro's objection to this seems... Childish. This is not an "ugly girl in high school gets a makeover" transformation. It's a metaphor. One that was meant for kids, as Collodi published Pinocchio chapter-by-chapter (think Dickens) and wrote the second part of the novel because the kids asked it of him! It was a well-beloved story, and for good reason!

Del Toro's changes feel disrespectful. How can you call it Pinocchio (even Del Toro's Pinocchio) if you remove the premise, all of the character's motivations are twisted, the setting is opposite to what it should be, the message is in direct contrast to the original, and most of the key characters are missing?

Is it even Pinocchio at this point?

It's like watching a beloved person die and come back all wrong. This is just a fraction of what I think about the movie and Del Toro's position on the original story. Again, it feels like he intentionally picked the worst possible reading in bad faith at every turn. Collodi's story might be a bit corny and on the nose at times but what part of Be Kind and generous do we object against? Is it not socially understood that we have a duty to each other when living in a society? Is that so objectionable?

I will close by saying that I don't think Pinocchio (original) is perfect. No story is. This one was written by a man in the late 1800s; some of its themes are to be taken with a pinch of salt. But all of it should be understood by looking at its context and purpose!

We don't believe in the modern-day internet version of Death of the Author (and historical analysis and character analysis) in this house. Nothing was stopping Del Toro from simply making his own original story... Since the only thing left from Collodi's novel are character names.

#personal #if anyone even decides to read this please don't put it in the tags!#i really don't want to stir up drama #this is just my perspective

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angelicyoongie · 3 years

Text

Christmas in abundance

— pairing: hybrid bts x human f!reader — genre: fluff! — word count: 4.5K — summary: If the boys wanted to play Secret Santa, who were you to deny them? Though maybe, just maybe, you should’ve thought twice before adding a penalty to the mix. — a/n: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!! I hope you’ve all had a good and safe time. This Abundance christmas special does not have anything to do with the original story, so nothing that happens here will affect it. This is a little rough, ngl, but that’s what I get for not writing for a month lol. Either way, I hope you enjoy it!!

"I'm home!" You shake off the lingering cold with a shiver, the warmth in the house wrapping around you pleasantly as you shrug off your coat. You barely have time to slip out of your boots before a body crashes into yours, a pair of strong arms pulling your body flush against a firm chest.

"You're late," Hoseok whines. The dog hybrid tucks his face into your neck with a huff, nose skimming against your throat as he works to cover the myriad of scents on your skin with his own.

"Sorry, I got held up a work," You sigh. "The office wants to do Secret Santa this year, so we had to figure out who would gift who.”

“Secret Santa?” A puzzled expression crosses Hoseok’s face as he pulls back.

“Oh, it’s a pretty simple game many people like to play during the holidays! You draw a random name, buy that person a gift, and then try your best to keep it a secret that it’s you,” You say, a smile tugging at your lips at how adorably confused the dog hybrid looks. The golden tail behind his back halts its quick movement; Hoseok’s head tilting slightly as he takes in your explanation. His eyebrows furrow as he thinks, an emotion you can’t quite place flickering in his eyes before he suddenly breaks out into a big grin, “Can we do it too? It sounds like fun!”

“Of course!” You say. “Just ask the others if they want to do it to? It won’t be much of a game if it’s just us two.” You reach up to gently ruffle his hair, the dog hybrid nearly falling over himself as he tries to lean into your touch.

“I need to go freshen up, I’ll see you guys for dinner?” You let out a soft laugh as Hoseok nods into your palm, a pout forming on his lips as you pull away.

“I’ll go ask them,” He gives you a bright smile before you turn to hurry up the stairs, more than ready to get into some comfortable clothes. Hoseok watches you leave, his smile falling into a frown as you round the corner.

He quickly walks down the hallway, mouth set in firm line as he turns into the kitchen and says, “We have to be secretive Santa’s.” The room grows quiet as six pairs of eyes find Hoseok’s form in the doorway, their stares a mixture of apprehension and bewilderment at the sudden declaration from the dog hybrid.

“What?” Namjoon sputters.

“Are you okay, hyung?” Taehyung rushes forward to place his hand against Hoseok’s cheek, his fox ears pinned to his head in worry.

“Did you hit your head?” Yoongi leans against the counter with a faint smirk, his dark tail swishing playfully behind his back as Namjoon shoots him a sour look. Hoseok only gives Yoongi a huff in response before he gently removes Taehyung’s hands from his face, pressing a soft peck against his palm at the worried expression on his packmate’s face.

“I’m fine Tae,” Hoseok assures him. “Y/n told me about a game humans play during the holidays. They draw a random person and have to gift them something, and since she’s playing it with her co-workers, we obviously have to play it too. We have to give her the best gift.” Looks of understanding flashes across the other hybrids’ faces, and Namjoon lets out a hum of approval at his packmate’s quick thinking. They can’t have their courting be upstaged by a human.

“But it has to be a secret,” Hoseok’s words are met by a displeased hiss, Jimin narrowing his eyes at the dog hybrid. Yoongi places his hand at the back of Jimin's neck, giving him a comforting squeeze as he says, “Well, it doesn’t really matter who gives her the present, right? As long as whatever we give is better than what the human gives her.” Jimin looks like he wants to protest, but a quirk of Yoongi’s brow in his direction settles him quickly, the younger cat hybrid leaning against his alpha with a defeated pout.

“What about the rest of the presents?” Jeongguk’s soft voice takes them all by surprise, the bunny hybrid hardly ever speaking up when they’re all together in one room. Jeongguk keeps his eyes trained on Hoseok, trying his best to ignore how his body grows more and more tense for each second as the attention shifts to him.

“Uh, I guess the rest will just gift each other something?” Hoseok clears his throat, heat creeping up the back of his neck as he finds himself pinned under the bunny hybrid’s big questioning eyes.

“Boring,” Jimin mutters. As Yoongi’s gaze narrows at his packmate, Seokjin hurriedly adds, ”If it’ll make Y/n happy, then I’m in.”

“Me too,” Jeongguk murmurs.

“Me three!” Taehyung grins.

“Sure, we’re in too,” Yoongi waves them off, his hand still tight on the younger cat hybrid’s neck.

“Fine,” Jimin sighs. Namjoon rolls his eyes with a faint smile as Jimin’s tail betrays his indifference, the younger cat hybrid obviously excited at the prospect of receiving a gift judging by the excited flick the end of his tabby tail does. “So we’re all in then,” Namjoon says.

“Great!” Hoseok beams, “I’ll go tell Y/n.”

❅

You grab another box, wobbling slightly as you take your first step down the ladder. You can’t believe it’s almost Christmas already. The last weeks have passed by in a blur of important court cases, and aside from greeting the boys when you leave and come back home from work; you haven’t had any spare time to spend with them. You feel bad. Not only because you miss them, and you know they miss your company too, but also because this is your first Christmas together, and you had wanted to make December as magical as possible. But, thanks to all the late nights you pulled at the office earlier in the year, you’ve earned yourself some extra days off. So, while you might not have been able to make all of December an adventure for them, you’re going to try your hardest to make the next three days leading up to Christmas Eve as fun as possible.

“Hey Namjoon, can you help me with this?” You call out over the boxes stacked in your arms, gritting your teeth as you try to make it down the attic ladder in one piece. Maybe you only should’ve done one at the time, but where’s the fun in that? There’s nothing quite like the idea of falling and breaking a bone to really get the Christmas spirit pumping through your veins.

You let out a sigh of relief as heavy box on top is removed, but the sight that greets you over the cardboard wasn’t one you were ready for. The wolf hybrid has a sweet smile on his face, dimples on full display as he easily hefts the box under his arm. It’s just so domestic that it makes your heart skip a traitorous beat; almost making you miss the last step as you stumble down into the hallway.

“You okay?” Namjoon takes a step closer as he looks you up and down, his free hand reaching for your arm in case you feel unsteady on your feet.

“I’m fine!” You wince inwardly at the high pitch of your voice, plastering on a strained smile as you try to get a better grip at the decorations in your arms.

“Just, you know .. excited for Christmas!” You barrel past him before he can see the flush creeping up your neck. As you hurry down the stairs, you can’t help but mentally curse yourself for how just seeing Namjoon holding a box and looking cute manages to short-circuit your brain. How the hell are you supposed to survive seeing the rest of the boys decorating the whole house?

❅

“Yoongi, that’s not ..” You bite back a laugh as the cat hybrid ignores you, practically folding himself in half to make sure he fits inside the empty cardboard box. You watch as Yoongi gets up and sits back down, folding his limbs this way and that way until he’s happy with his position.

“What?” He glares in your direction when he notices your amused stare, his tail puffing up defensively as you shake your head.

“Nothing. It’s cute,” You giggle. You turn before you can see the faint flush in Yoongi’s cheeks, the cat hybrid sinking down lower in the box to hide how pleased he is at your comment. You open another box, pulling out the rather tiny assortment of tinsel and garlands you’ve saved over the last years. It might have taken up a lot of room in your old apartment, but you doubt it’ll be enough to decorate past the first floor in this house. You do have time to run to the store and get some more, but even just imagining the crowds doing all their last minute shopping makes you want to shudder. It’ll just have to do this year.

“Hyung, I need those,” You hear a soft grumble from the couch as Jeongguk pushes Seokjin away from the nearly empty popcorn bowl, the hamster hybrid making a discontent noise as it’s moved away from him. The popcorn and cranberry string is looking a little short considering how much you gave them earlier, but you quickly realize the problem when Seokjin turns in your direction. He’s storing his snacks.

The hamster hybrid’s cheeks are so puffed out you’re honestly surprised he can even close his mouth. You stifle your laughter as you turn your attention back to the tinsel, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. It’s honestly adorable, but you know the boys can get embarrassed over instincts they can’t control, so if it’s something as harmless as eating popcorn and taking up residence in a box, you’re more than happy to pretend you haven’t seen anything.

“Hobi, can you help me with this?” You call over the dog hybrid, gesturing to the tinsel. You’re sure it’ll go much faster putting it all on the tree if you’re two people doing it.

“Sure!” Hoseok grins.

“If you go stand on the other side of the tree, we can just pass it back and fourth,” The dog hybrid easily follows your instructions, and you’ve already gotten the tinsel wrapped around the tree a few times before it abruptly stops. You frown, giving it a few tugs in case it got caught on the wrong branch, but it’s not moving. You peak around the tree, confused as to why it’s stuck when you have so much length left, but the reason becomes apparent when you find Hoseok’s hand tightly wrapped around the glittery garland.

“Hobi?” You give it a small tug, and the dog hybrid only smiles sheepishly in response as he immediately tugs back.

“Sorry,” Hoseok whines as he pulls his hand back again, the golden ears on top of his head drooping. “I didn’t let go of the tinsel before you pulled and ..” Ah. You let the garland go slack in your hands, and the dog hybrid only stares at the glitter for a few seconds before his grip loosens as well. His instincts thought you were playing tug of war. “Sorry,” He repeats.

“Hobi, it’s fine! I really don’t mind. Maybe we can play some actual tug of war later if you want to shift?” You offer.

“Really?” You can see the uncertainty still lingering in Hoseok’s eyes, but the tail behind his back can’t help but do a few excited wags.

“Of course. We can go outside the moment we finish decorating,” You grin. Hoseok’s face lights up, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration as he gently nudges you out of the way, taking the tinsel out of your hands. You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone decorate a tree that fast, the dog hybrid practically vibrating with excitement as he shoves a container of ornaments into Jimin and Taehyung’s hands.

“Hurry, hurry,” Hoseok mutters as he throws a look at Namjoon, confirming that the alpha is stringing lights above the window like he's supposed to.

“Right,” You smile, grabbing the closest ornaments to hang them on the tree. You let your eyes drift around the room as you place the first ornament, your chest almost feeling like it’s going to burst with fondness as you see all the hybrids look so focused on their different tasks. It’s moments like this where it’s easy to forget all the arguments and nasty behaviours that have transpired between the packs. You’re not gullible enough to believe that it’ll just be smooth sailing from here on out, but can you always hope. That’s what Christmas is for, after all.

❅

“Okay! Is everyone ready?” You say, taking your place on the floor in front of the pile of Secret Santa gifts. You honestly feel like you’re going to roll away on the floor if you happen to topple over, your belly full and sated with all the delicious Christmas foods you’ve eaten over the last hours. Jeongguk and Jimin are the first ones to reach your side, each taking up the space next to you as the others settle down in a circle. You’ve been collecting gifts from all over the house, trying your best to keep the whole game as anonymous as possible. You’re about to reach out for the first gift when you remember something you used to do with friends when you were younger, something that make the game a little more exciting.

“Boys, how do you feel about adding a punishment to the game?” Jimin and Hoseok both sit up a little straighter at your words, all the hybrids snapping to attention. The three alphas all share a look, a weird glint in them you haven’t seen before.

“Punishment?” Jeongguk stiffens as the air in the room grows heavier. Maybe that was a poor choice of words.

“Oh no, I meant like a .. penalty? Like if the receiver can figure out who their gift is from, then the giver has to do a penalty?” You say, placing a comforting hand on the bunny hybrid’s knee.

“A penalty is fine,” Jeongguk says, beginning to relax under your touch, “but what would it be?”

“How about the receiver decide the punishment?” Taehyung offers, a lazy smirk on his face as he leans back on his hands, “Wouldn’t that be fair?” You know the fox hybrid always tries to win by whatever means necessary, and that it usually spells trouble for you, but it’s Christmas Eve, so if there was ever a day to indulge Taehyung, this would be it.

“Sure. I don’t mind if the others are okay with it,” You shrug. There’s immediately a small chorus of agreement, and you take that as the go to give out the first present.

“First one is .. Seokjin!” The hamster hybrid takes the present from your hands cautiously, the room falling silent as he unwraps it. Hoseok snorts as he sees the item, the furrow between Seokjin’s eyes disappearing as soon as it shows up.

“Shampoo,” He announces.

“Well?” You prompt when the hamster hybrid places the item behind his back and out of sight, “Who do you think it’s from?” You swear you see the quick flicker of Seokjin’s gaze to Jimin, but it happens so fast you can’t be sure. The cat hybrid still has an easy smile on his face, and there’s nothing in his face that gives him away if he was the one behind Seokjin’s gift.

“I have no idea,” Seokjin shakes his head. “Let’s move on to the next one?”

“Sure,” You try to shake off weird feeling in your gut as you pick up the next gift. There’s no reason for them to pretend they don’t know who gifted them their presents, you must still be stressed after the intense week of work you had before your days off.

“Let’s see .. Namjoon!” The wolf hybrid gives you a bright smile as he takes his present, the grin never leaving his face as he rips through the paper. You notice the bunny hybrid stiffening next to you as Namjoon sees his present, his gray ears twitching slightly.

“A comb,” Namjoon waves it in the air quickly, the motion almost a blur as you only pick up the dark colour before he places it between his crossed legs. The wolf hybrid’s gaze scans quickly around the group before he shrugs, “No clue who it’s from though.”

Jeongguk lets out a small breath of air next to you, and when you think about it, didn’t that blur look similar to the comb the bunny hybrid uses for his ears? Before you can open your mouth to ask, Jimin hands you the next present with a sweet smile. Normally, that would put your worries at ease, but the lazy swishes of the tabby hybrid’s tail just makes you more suspicious. They’re definitely up to something.

The feeling only grows as you work through the presents. The boys casually hide their gifts before you can get a good look at them, and they somehow never know who the giver is, despite it being glaringly obvious whom it’s from with how the other hybrid perks up when their gift is unwrapped. You can’t figure out who gifted you the customized ink pen either, although Namjoon looked particularly proud when you couldn’t wipe the shocked smile off your face.

“This is just what I wanted!” You say. You think you might have mentioned it in passing a while back, but you never expected someone to actually remember it.

“Is it a better Secret Santa gift than the one you got at work?” Hoseok asks. The dog hybrid looks a little anxious, his canines digging into the soft flesh of his lips as his gaze shifts between your face and the gift in your hands.

“Of course it is! Soo-hyun got me an ugly Christmas mug she knew I would hate,” You snort, “There’s no way it could beat this!” You look down at the pen again, just missing the shared expression of relief that crosses the boys’ faces as you admire the sleek black and silver design.

“Anyway, let’s move on to the next gift!” You say. “It’s for .. Yoongi!” You hand the second to last gift to the cat hybrid, Yoongi’s sharp nails slicing through the paper with no trouble.

“A book, wonderful,” He smirks before he places it behind his back. You frown as you see the cover that is all too familiar, is that the book your aunt gifted you those years ago? The heavy atmosphere is back in the room as eight pairs of eyes shift to the last present on the floor. You swallow thickly, trying your best to school your features into something neutral. It’s your gift. And there’s no way you’re going to let him figure out it’s you, not when you were the one to come up with the penalty in the first place.

“Me!” Taehyung exclaims with a boxy grin as he picks up the last gift, his slender fingers carefully opening the paper. The fox hybrid lets out a delighted gasp as he uncovers the console games, his tail swishing wildly behind his back in excitement.

“Thank you Y/n!” Taehyung’s eyes sparkle as he meets your gaze, and the “You’re welcome!” tumbles out before you can stop it. You wince as something mischievous settles in Taehyung’s handsome features, the fox hybrid looking pleased with himself that you managed to slip up.

“How did you know it was me?” You groan.

“You have a tell,” Taehyung says.

You have? .. Crap. “What is it?”

“It’s a secret,” The fox hybrid smirks. Secret Santa was definitely not a hybrid game – the boys had come to realize that as soon as the first gift was handed out. The presents reek of the giver, but of course, that’s not something your human nose would be able to pick up.

“Fine,” You pout, tracing your finger over the pen in your lap, “What’s my penalty?”

The fox hybrid’s face grows serious as his gaze shifts around the room, searching for something to use as your punishment. You can’t help the way your stomach flips with nerves – or is it maybe excitement? – as you wait for him to figure it out. If it’s one thing you’ve come to learn, it’s that these boys are never predictable. Taehyung’s orange ears perk up as his eyes suddenly catch on an item, and Yoongi lets out a low hiss as he follows the fox hybrid’s line of sight. You barely have time to blink before Taehyung springs to his feet to grab your hand, dragging you along with him over to the living room entrance. You suck in a surprised breath as you find yourself standing directly underneath the mistletoe, Taehyung’s hand warm around yours as he gently pulls you a step closer.

“Only if you want to,” He says. Taehyung’s low murmur soothes the nerves prickling under your skin, the obvious fondness on his face easing your fears. The problem isn’t that you don’t want to, it’s that you do. And not just with Taehyung, but with all seven of them.

“It’s okay,” You hesitantly place your hand on Taehyung’s shoulder, the fox hybrid’s muscles jumping under your touch. You spare a glance back the rest of the boys when you notice just how silent the room has become, a flush creeping up your cheeks as you find all six of them staring at the both of you with an intensity you haven’t seen before. You quickly turn your attention back to Taehyung, the fox hybrid’s eyes fluttering shut as you begin to rise up at the tip of your toes.

You ground yourself in Taehyung’s firm grip around your hand, the fox hybrid’s warm breath spilling across your mouth as you lean in closer. Your aim is a little off, the lush dark lashes across Taehyung’s cheekbones distracting you enough that the kiss that was meant for his cheek, ends up at the corner of his mouth instead. When you pull back, you find Taehyung’s wide sparkling eyes already trained on your face, the fox hybrid gazing at your reverently for a few seconds before he dives down to bury his face in your neck.

“This is the best Christmas ever,” You let out a choked giggle at Taehyung’s words, stroking his back affectionately as he tries his best to rub your shared scent back on your skin.

“Me next,” You nearly jump out of your skin as you find Hoseok standing next to you, the rest of the boys lined up behind him with sheepish smiles.

“I thought this was supposed to be a penalty?” You quirk a brow, gently untangling yourself from Taehyung as the dog hybrid begins to move impatiently in place.

“Kissing Taehyung is just nice, it’s not a penalty unless you do it to all of us,” Hoseok whines. You catch Jeongguk nodding his head behind Yoongi’s shoulders, his long ears flopping from the force. Well, you think, what’s the harm?

“Fine,” You usher Taehyung over to the couch, turning back around to face Hoseok. “One mistletoe kiss coming right up.” The dog hybrid practically vibrates out of his skin when your lips touch his cheek, and he doesn’t waste any time mixing his scent like Taehyung had once you pull back.

You can see Namjoon’s silver tail wag behind his back as you place both hands on his shoulders, needing a little extra boost to reach his cheek. A dimple blooms where you delivered a soft peck, and Namjoon briefly touches his cheek against the top of your head before he joins his pack on the couch.

Jimin steps up next, placing his hands behind his back as he offers his cheek with a playful grin. “One penalty please,” He says.

“Of course,” You place your hand on Jimin’s jaw, holding him in place as you kiss his cheek. You catch the slight disappointment in the cat hybrid’s eyes as you pull back, but the gentle touch of your fingertips tracing his jaw is enough to wash it away. Taehyung might be the fox, but Jimin is by far the slyest when it comes to getting what he wants.

“Not yet,” You murmur, taking a step back. Jimin nods, his eyes filled with warm understanding as gently rubs his cheek against your shoulder before he lets Yoongi take his place. The alpha regards you with hooded eyes as you peck his cheek, a faint purr spilling from his chest as he rubs your mixed scent against the opposite shoulder. The soft fur on his ears tickle your throat, and the cat hybrid offers you a low thank you before he steps away.

“You okay?” Jeongguk’s cheeks are bright red as he takes Yoongi's place, but the bunny hybrid hurriedly nods in response. You can almost feel the jittery energy coursing through his body as you step closer, Jeongguk inhaling sharply as your lips make contact with his skin. The bunny hybrid shyly takes your hand in his, bringing it up to rub your wrist against his freshly kissed cheek. Jeongguk hurries off before you can say anything, his tail twitching rapidly behind his back as he joins the rest.

Seokjin has a fond look in his eyes as he steps closer. The hamster hybrid leans down slightly, just enough that his mouth graces you ear as he murmurs, ”You took your punishment well.” You feel plush lips against your cheek before Seokjin pulls back, a knowing smile spreading across his face as your fingers trace the spot he kissed. You stand there a little stunned as Seokjin joins Jeongguk on one of the couches, praying that the hamster hybrid didn’t notice the shiver that bolted down your spine at his words.

You awkwardly clear your throat as you realize they’re all waiting for you to join them, gesturing over to the TV as you say, “Do you want to watch a Christmas movie?”

You let the boys argue over which movie to watch, quickly putting on your old copy of Home Alone once they’ve decided. You squeeze into the spot between Yoongi and Namjoon on the couch, the two alphas shifting closer the moment you’re settled; their sides flush with yours as you press play on the movie.

As the minutes begin to trickle by, you catch yourself watching the boys more than the colourful screen, a pleasant and comforting warmth spreading through your body as they laugh and giggle at the funny moments. Truthfully, the seven hybrids fill a space you hadn’t even realized was empty. And now – sitting here in your cozy living room with lights twinkling all around, you don’t think there’s anything else you could ever want.

You already have it all right here.

#hybrid bts #hybrid!bts #hybrid au #bts x reader #ot7 x reader #bts poly au #bts fluff #hybrid jungkook #hybrid yoongi #hybrid jimin #hybrid hoseok #hybrid taehyung #hybrid namjoon #hybrid seokjin #bts au #bts fanfic #hybridbtsnetwork #abundance

1K notes · View notes

gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years

Text

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 37

Shout out to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.

Check her writing out on AO3 as Ramblingwren

(Master post)

(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)

(The latest chapter will be up on there once this reaches over 300 notes on tumblr)

_____________________________________________________________

Simularé looked out over the city from the top of the school. Using her replicated powers, she took the form of Volpina so they'd be able to alter the illusion quickly should something pop out and accidentally reveal the true form of the school. Thankfully the sentimonster didn’t need to do much in order to maintain the illusion; Paris was a surprisingly quiet city.

As far as they could tell, no one in the city outside of the school had any idea what was going on. And that worked out perfectly for them.

“So, this is where Lila has you stationed,” a voice called out, resulting in the faux fox turning around. The figure behind them was a woman clad in dark blue, with blue skin and a feathery fan. She looked confident and the sentimonster instinctively felt that this individual was very much aware of what it was.

Mayura had quickly deduced it was the sentimonster as it was in Lila’s previous akuma form, Volpina. With Lila now Masquerade, it was unlikely she would choose to take such a form. She would likely want to stay in her new form to show it off.

“Do not be alarmed, Simularé, it is your creator. Mayura,” Mayura spoke again.

The shapeshifter leveled a sharp glare at the woman. What made her so certain of that?

“How do I know that is true?” Simularé questioned.

The villainess took a moment to examine the sentimonster. Mayura had to admit that this sentimonster was her finest work to date. The amount of emotion harnessed from Lila to create it made it far more unique, much less of a mindless creature than her previous creations. Amoks were created much like akuma were, locking on to intense emotions before sending off. But unlike akuma, amok can be shaped and tailored with enough focus. Simularé was a special case, as it was made from the conclave of emotions that Lila was experiencing during her breakdown. It had been quite difficult to focus on one specific feeling but Mayura had pushed through. Simularé was sculpted to be Lila’s ideal ally, but it was also so much more than a simple asset. This Amok embodied Lila’s core personality. Her cleverness, her cunning, her mistrust of others, her playfulness, her pride and so much more. To put it simply, this Sentimonster was Lila’s spirit given a new form.

“Trust me Simularé, you would be best not to ask that,” Mayura warned.

The sentimonster felt as if it was being talked down to and clearly did not approve of anyone talking to them in such a tone, save for its master. It charged at the peacock villainess, ready to make contact, But, before it could get close, Mayura stuck out her hand and pinched her fingers together, causing the sentimonster to feel as if some force was pulling its essence out. The pain it felt was indescribable! It felt as if its very being was being ripped out. Mayura was in range to sense the Amok and could easily remove it without difficulty, much like Hawkmoth could with an akuma. Though Mayura had a feeling that letting the Sentimonster know that keeping her out of range of the item was the key to its survival would not be wise. It was best in this moment to display power.

“Stop! Please!” Simularé begged. “I … I believe you! I will do whatever you ask, just please stop the pain!”

The villainess smiled, it seemed there was even more to this Sentimonster than Mayura had anticipated. It had a powerful sense of self preservation, something controlled sentimonsters didn’t seem to have. She took note of that.

“Good. Now, you are going to explain to me your master’s end goal and where Ladybug and Chat Noir are in the building.”

Simularé felt the grip that Mayura had on its essence and held back its burning resentment towards the blue bird villainess. She would behave. For now.

“Okay… I will tell you everything.”

_____________________________________________________________

“Duck!” Ladyice called out as she had Ice Noir lower their bodies to avoid oncoming ice projectiles.

“Surprising that she's only attacking us with ice. She's Stormy weather. You'd think she would be attacking with more, maybe some rain or like a vol....” Ice Noir commented.

“Don't talk about that! Do not give her any ideas!”

The two had skated out of the room and made their way through the now icy hallway while Stormy Weather gave chase.

“I was just saying it seems weird how...mediocre her attacks are.

“It’s like we saw before, the akuma servants are like robots, they can’t react quickly so changing up her powers is likely just as much of a problem. She's probably not as dangerous as we initially thought.”

“So maybe we should face this problem head on now that we aren’t cornered?”

Ice Noir changed direction and began skating towards the umbrella-wielding akuma.

Stormy Weather noticed the approaching cat and raised her umbrella, creating a mighty gale to blow him back and ending him flying past Ladyice to the end of the hallway.

“She can use her other powers… can confirm,” Ice noir commented as he got off the wall, still dazed.

Ladyice skated up to the dazed cat and helped stabilize him. Despite seeming like a wasted effort, the cat’s brash antics actually inspired Ladyice with a way to take her out.

“I just figured out how we can stop her, think you can give her one last charge for me?”

“Why Bugaboo, asking me to rush headfirst into danger? How heartless.” He feigned hurt.

Ladybug rolled her eyes.

“Silly Kitty. Just be ready to hang in there when she blasts you with wind. Don’t get blown back this time.”

“Got it.”

Ice Noir quickly skated across the ice as he drew his weapon. He was ready for her this time.

“Hey breezy weezy! The weather today was supposed to be sunny with a 20% chance of raining Cats and Dogs!” Ice Noir called out, clearly happy with his lame joke.

Stormy Weather saw the cat approaching once again and prepared to send another wind blast at him.

But the cat was prepared this time around and extended his staff to anchor himself to the walls on either side.

“Nice try!” Ice Noir snarked. “But a small little puff of wind won't blow me back again.”

The storm akuma decided instead of creating just another wind blast, she was going to step it up with a cyclone attack! A powerful tornado tunnel would surely blast the cat down for good.

“We were wrong! She can amp up the power too!” Ice Noir exclaimed as he held onto his staff with all his might while his body was being blown back by the massive winds. “This was not well thought out!”

He focused on digging his claws into his staff and doing his best to remain in the wind tunnel. The powerful winds blew into his face and he could see Stormy Weather slowly approaching.

“I don’t think I can hold on much longer, Ladyice!”

He felt his grip slipping. Any second now, he was going to get blown back.

“Don’t worry, Kitty. I got this.”

Stormy Weather didn’t get a chance to react when she felt something tackle her full force and rush her into the wall on the opposite end of the hallway.

The wind died down and Ice Noir was able to land on his skates. He released his grip on his staff and fixed his windblown hair to resemble its original state before quickly skating down the hall to help his partner.

“Nice job, Ladyice.”

The red-clad heroine stood up from her grapple with the storm akuma.

“Actually…”

Ice Noir looked up to see that his partner had shifted power ups. Her skates and ice skater aesthetic were replaced with a suit that had red spacesuit-like plating, a jetpack with retractable wings with red and light blue colors that matches her helmet.

She had changed into her space form, Cosmobug.

“Space power up! Because you can fly through the wind! Genius!”

Cosmobug smiled.

“Well, Stormy Weather is dazed but probably not for long.”

The two heroes noticed her about to grab her umbrella, but Chat Noir’s cat-like reflexes helped him snatch it first.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Ice Noir broke the umbrella over his knee.

“I don’t think she will be as mobile without her powers.”

Stormy Weather tried to stand but slipped on the icy floor she had created.

“Let’s just make our way to the boss,” Cosmobug said. She used the jet on her back to swoop up Ice Noir and fly slowly down the icy hall.

“Just like you to sweep me off my feet. But don’t think I will be a smitten kitten like usual.”

“Oh? Is that so?” The bug heroine raised an eyebrow. “It’s hard to imagine that you haven’t been dreaming about this scenario.”

“It helps that you aren’t riding a horse with the wind blowing in your hair,” Chat Noir joked back, catching Ladybug’s teasing.

Cosmobug quickly moved them to a part of the hall where there was no ice. Both undid their potion transformations, reverting back to their usual hero forms.

“Not keeping the jetpack?” Chat Noir asked. “It is really cool.”

“The room halls are pretty limited, and there's not much mobility, otherwise I might have,” Ladybug confessed.

The two heroes took a moment to catch their breaths and figure out their surroundings.

“We should thank Stormy Weather.”

The cat looked at his partner skeptically, remembering how a few minutes ago, the wind had nearly sent him flying through a brick wall.

“What makes you say that?”

“Lila probably had Stormy Weather out and about to flush out other people in the school and make sure the area was difficult to traverse. She likely sent out a bunch of other akuma to do the same, which means her forces are scattered and we have a better shot of dealing with her with fewer obstacles.”

Chat Noir nodded. He would not have deduced such a thing from one encounter with a weather akuma.

“Good to know, so the plan is to locate her and save the day.”

“No need to figure out where she is, I already have a good idea where she should be.”

Chat Noir noticed Ladybug had already started moving. He quickly followed behind, though he didn’t need an explanation this time. He already knew where Ladybug was heading — to his homeroom class, but he couldn’t say that without revealing what he knew.

_____________________________________________________________

‘This was a ridiculous decision.’

That was the thought running through Chloé’s mind as she ran for her life from a large group of Reflekta clones.

The two or three she had run into early were easy to avoid, but now it seemed like a horde of those tacky clones. And all of the ice that surrounded certain hallways made it impossible to traverse. She was limited in her running space and she was running out. But what made it all worse was that now those Reflekta copies had adjusted to running.

“HOW CAN YOU RUN IN THOSE HEELS!?” Chloé screamed as she ran down the hall.

She just had to try and be a hero. Why was she even doing this? The assistant probably got turned into one of those gross clones or got masked like those other students. She could have just sat back and just waited for Ladybug and Chat noir to find her or let them handle it.

“You can’t run forever” The crowd of clones sang in Rather impressive and creepy harmony.

Chloé took a turn down the hall and went into the door of the nearest room.

She closed the door and locked it before smelling the musty wet air.

“What the… EWW!” She spat in disgust as she realized she had locked herself in a janitor’s closet.

“Why did it have to be in such a gross smelly room?” she moaned.

Unfortunately, her comments caught the attention of the crowd chasing her.

She heard banging on the door.

“You can’t hide, we will find.”

Chloe put her back to the door to keep them out and felt herself slide down it in despair.

Was this how it was going to end? Getting turned into one of those fashion nightmares after hiding out in such a rank smelling closet? She didn’t even save… wait. She did save someone. She saved that old man. It hadn't been glamorous, but she did manage to save at least one person.

“I guess I did do something good after all. May not have been exceptional… but it was something.” Chloé smiled for a brief moment.

She took a moment to look at the positives, Ladybug and Chat Noir would likely come in and save the day, plus there were those other two heroes. Perhaps that would be enough. But she had to admit, finding solace in that was getting harder to do when the smell of the closet was destroying her nostrils. Just then, she remembered she had some nice perfume in her bag that she could spray to alleviate the smell.

“Well, at least I won’t smell awful when they capture me.”

She put her hand in her bag and felt around for her perfume. As she searched, she felt an unfamiliar object in her designer handbag. She pulled it out.

“What is this?”

She noticed a note on top of it. It was a bit dark to read so she pulled out her phone and turned on her flashlight.

“Return to Ladybug after mission?”

Chloé’s eyes went wide. Could this be what she thought it was? How was it possible? She didn’t have time to question it.

She opened the box and out came a floating bee creature, who Chloé recognized right away. It was real.

“Pollen!” Chloé exclaimed with cheer.

“It has been a while, my queen.” the bee kwami said.

Chloé would have loved to revel in this moment more but she knew that door was going to burst open any minute. She needed to be the bee heroine.

“As much as I would love to talk more, we need to hurry. We have some akuma clones that need bashing.”

“Right away, my queen!”

Chloe put the bee miraculous in her hair.

“Pollen, Buzz on!”

_____________________________________________________________

“It is a good thing there are so many copies,” Ryuuko stated as she leaped over a few Reflekta copies.

Viperion swerved and dodged the replicas of his sister’s akumatized form while avoiding getting caught in the bubbles that froze them and floated them up in the air.

Deadzone had been doing a lot of friendly fire thanks to its single minded obsession.

“After this, I really hope I never have to see my sister take this form again,” Viperion commented.

“Right, Adrien mentioned that you were Juleka’s brother. Older brother, right?”

“Older twin brother. But yes.”

“Really? You seem older.”

“I am a grade ahead of her, but we are the same age,” he explained.

“Could have sworn you were at least a year or two older.”

“A lot of people think the same thing. Even my mom forgets, sometimes. Rose, my sister’s girlfriend, says I radiate ‘big brother energy’ or something.”

“You learn something new.”

“What about you? Any siblings?”

“Sadly no. I was an only child.”

“Too bad, I think you would have made a great older sister,” Viperion encouraged

“A snake charmer, are we?”

“Well I am the snake, and I am not charming myself, so I think the more correct term would be dragon charmer.”

“Change that to fun killer because you killed my fun right there.”

Before Viperion could retort, they had made their way down to the end of the hall and noticed that it was frozen off.

“Dead end,” they say at the same time.

“No, Deadzone.”

The two turn to see the deadly akuma amalgamation pointing its blaster at them.

The two heroes looked at the deadly akuma.

“Any ideas?” Ryuuko questioned.

“Just one.”

Viperion moved his hand to his bracelet.

“Second chance!” Viperion activated his power.

“Now we have some options.” Viperion explained.

The akuma fired a bubble blast at Ryuuko, and she was frozen.

“Second chance!”

Things reset to how they were a few seconds before. Viperion grabbed Ryuuko and pulled her out of the way of the oncoming bubble blast.

“Thanks. For a minute there, I thought that thing had me.”

“It did, but I used my power to stop that. we still have to get out of here.”

“Look out!”

Ryuuko got hit with another bubble as they got up, protecting him from an attack.

“This might take a few attempts…”

_____________________________________________________________

Hawkmoth paced inside his lair.

Mayura was out there, his son was out there… and things were not going the way he planned. Masquerade seems to be building a base for herself and was more concerned with that than getting the miraculous. Adrien is MIA, and Mayura isn’t responding.

“I might need to step in. But there is a lot of risk in this. Far too many variables that I can't account for”

Hawkmoth never liked leaving his lair. It had too many risks to it. After Heroes' Day, he had nearly been exposed. And after that fiasco in Shanghai he didn’t want to risk getting taken out by his own akuma. He had already taken plenty of risks that had blown up in his face. Would this be another one of those times he would need to risk his miraculous?

“But it could also be just what is needed to beat Ladybug and Chat Noir once and for all.”

With an akuma this powerful, the two would likely have to use their special powers multiple times. If he can just locate them and wait for them to do so, he could potentially gain the advantage. Maybe Mayura was on to something with her actions.

Hawkmoth walked to the window.

“There will be a right time. I just need to wait for it.”

He felt an itch in the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure what it was but he could tell one thing, something big was going to go down, and he needed to figure out the right call soon or it could cost him dearly.

_____________________________________________________________

“…And that’s her plan.” Simularé finished. “As for Ladybug and Chat Noir… I am unsure. I lost track of them before I was given a new assignment. But they are in the building and they have not tried to leave.”

Mayura smiled at the information. While it was quite unfortunate that she didn’t have the exact location of the two heroes, it was good to know that they were still in the building, and Lila’s plan was certainly something interesting.

“Indeed, that is quite a clever plan. Ensuring everyone in the school couldn’t escape was pretty smart. You likely had a few escapes anyway, with how clumsy some of the akuma were. You are fortunate that neither one was Ladybug or Chat Noir. Still, though, it isn’t your master’s fault for that. They are basically mindless puppets. But then again, it seems that there might be zero escapes since there seems to be no new reports on the subject of a school takeover.”

Simularé let the peacock villainess muse, analyzing her movements as if trying to figure out any advantage it could handle.

“So, the next step now that all communications are cut is to send out a message that Ladybug and Chat Noir have already been defeated, so as to cause massive despair in order to create even more minions. Sounds a bit derivative, don’t you think?” Mayura mused.

Simularé said nothing. It held its tongue. Deep down, it knew that starting any dispute with this peacock was not wise. Especially given that crazy power she had over their being.

“Still, it is quite a plan. And with all those extra akuma recruited and Ladybug and Chat noir cut off from their guardian, they wouldn’t be able to get any sort of back up. They wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight before all of Paris is under Masquerade’s thumb. I approve of the plan.”

“I am glad you do,” Simularé stated with a forced smile.

Their conversation was cut short when an akuma appeared. Seeing one it did not recognize, the artist akuma prepared to fight. But thankfully the shapeshifting sentimonster stepped in.

“Stand down Evillustrator, this one is not our enemy,” Simularé ordered.

Evillustrator eased and walked over.

“Masquerade has ordered that we start reinforcing the building. She wants this place to be like a fortress,” he parroted.

Mayura looked at the artist.

A fortress? Yes, Simularé mentioned that Masquerade wanted to reinforce the school so that she could ensure Ladybug and ChatNoir would have less chance of escape.

Simularé nodded at the akuma servant.

“Alright, so she wants us to drop the illusion, then?”

“She wants the place to be like a fortress.”

“Go ahead and start,” Simularé motioned. She figured that her master likely didn’t care about the illusion much as she was prepared for stage two. But she would maintain it for a bit.

The akuma moved to the end of the roof and begins working to reinforce the walls

Mayura began moving to the door of the roof to get back down into the school.

“Tell your boss I will be heading to her, and she best be welcoming,” Mayura ordered.

“As you command,” Simularé replied, hiding a large amount of anger and resentment towards the blue bird.

As soon as the blue peacock is out of sight.

Simularé contacts its master.

“Simularé, what is going on? Did Evilustrator reach you?”

“Yes. He is working to make this place a fortress. You want me to maintain the illusion, right?”

“I am about to go public shortly. After I make the announcement. Drop the illusion and make sure this place is a full-on fortress. After that is done, report back to me.

“Yes master. By the way, I had an idea.”

“Oh?”

Simularé smiled sinisterly. She was going to show Peacock why she was sorely mistaken.

“I will report the details to you shortly.”

_____________________________________________________________

“Everything is set up,” Robostus noted.

“Excellent. Let’s do it now.”

The Reflekta camera crew was all set, and Gamer had set it up so the moment they went live, every screen in Paris would show Masquerade.

Masquerade got off her call with Simularé. Something seemed a bit off with her sentimonster but she was intrigued that she had a plan.

“We are live in 5….4…3….2…” the gamer stated before pressing the go live button.

Masquerade smiled.

“Good afternoon, citizens of Paris. You may not know who I am, but don’t worry! You will be very familiar with me very soon. I am Masquerade, and I have decided to make Paris my personal kingdom.”

She paused to let that sink in.

“Now you are likely very alarmed by this declaration and that is normal. It will only be a matter of time before I spread my influence to everyone in Paris.”

She paused to let her words hang in the air before continuing.

“Do not be afraid, I am no monster. I plan on being a fair leader. All I ask is for your undying admiration and absolute loyalty. After that, you are free to live your lives as you normally would. Do not resist and you will have no problems. However, if you do… well, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

Masquerade took a calm breath before finishing.

“This last message goes out to the heroes of Paris, Ladybug and Chat Noir. I know you are here, I know you believe you will stop me, and I know you have allies here. But you will fall to me. Your days of superheroing have come to an end, your miraculous will be taken from you, and I will expose you as the failures you are,” Masquerade finished with venom.

She ended the transmission.

“Now make sure that it is being looped,” she ordered.

“Already is,” Gamer confirmed. “And panic is starting to rise.”

Masquerade smiled. Her plan was already working.

It may have seemed like a simple ego boost, but that speech of hers was a crucial part of her plan. Her charm bracelet could hyper focus on anyone that was akumatized in the past and have their biggest insecurities exposed. But that one by one process took far too long, if the hope of the entire populace of Paris was already demoralized. Then all she needed to do was send out her masks and let them take hold. And all she needed to do was go out there and send the masks.

She could already feel massive amounts of negative emotion from outside of the school. As soon as she headed out of the school, she could easily go and get more akuma soldiers. She could feel her bracelet trembling with all the potential additions.

She was prepared to leave, activating one of the charms to give her black angel wings, but something she remembered caused her to stop.

“Simularé I am moving to phase two of my plan. Get down here.”

It only took a few seconds for the sentimonster to jump from the roof and knock on the window.

One for the Reflekta copies opened the large window to let in what appeared to be Dark Cupid, before it shifted into the phantasm form that was its base.

“Right on cue. So, what is this plan you wanted to suggest?” Masquerade inquired. “And be sure it is not a waste of my time.”

“What if I told you I could get you a Miraculous?”

The sentimonster could feel that Masquerade was very pleased with that idea.

_____________________________________________________________

37 attempts.

It took thirty-seven resets before Viperion figured out what they needed to do.

“Ryuuko, follow my directions exactly,” Viperion instructed. “I know how to win.”

He quickly pulled her towards him to make sure she dodged the first bubble.

The akuma was surprised by the avoidance.

Viperion smiled.

“Your next line is, ‘How did you know I was going to blast at her?'” Viperion stated confidently.

“How did you know I was going to blast at her?” Deadzone parroted in shock before realizing they had said exactly what Viperion had said they would say.

The dragon heroine looked at the determined expression of the snake. She could see experience and certainty in his posture. All her years of fencing taught Kagami the art of reading body language, and the hero in front of her was someone that exuded an aura of confidence. She knew she could trust him.

“Alright, Sassy Snake, I will let you take the reins.” Ryuuko responded.

“Jump to the left in 2 seconds and start running.”

Ryuuko followed the instructions and sure enough avoided yet another bubble attack from Deadzone.

“Head to their left and bounce off the locker at the end.”

Ryuuko dashed past the akuma and jumped as Viperion instructed, perfectly avoiding the barrage of blasts sent her way. Viperion had perfectly mirrored her motion as he explained the next steps.

“Now somersault twice and draw your sword.”

Ryuuko somersaulted as Viperion leaped over her and the dragon turned to draw her sword, now on the other side of the hall.

“Now as soon as it fires a bubble at you, activate your wind! No matter what! I believe in you Ryuuko.”

The last words seemed a bit strange to the fencer. What did he mean by that?

“Will you shut up!?” Deadzone shouted before sending a bubble at Viperion.

“For my final glimpse into the future, you will say, ‘Not so tough now are ya?'”

The bubble contacted Viperion.

“Viperion!” Ryuuko cried out.

The bubble enveloped the snake and floated to the ceiling, taking his frozen form along with it.

“No…” Ryuuko muttered. She looked down in sorrow.

I failed to protect him. He ended up protecting me. He had been backing me up to make sure I wouldn’t do anything reckless.

Ryuuko felt her mind flashback to a few days ago which now seemed almost like it happened a year ago. They had made such a good team back then and now… they get a chance to be heroes again and she couldn’t cover him like he did her.

“Ha, not so tough now are ya?” Deadzone stated with confidence.

Ryuuko’s ears perked up at the statement. That was the line Viperion predicted they would say. That means… Viperion knew this would happen! Which meant his previous statement was to show he planned this. She knew what to do.

Deadzone turned its attention to Ryuuko.

“Don’t worry, you will join him shortly.”

Deadzone fired another bubble right at her, but this time Ryuuko wasn’t moving. She was at the perfect distance to do what she needed to do.

Ryuuko smiled.

“Wind dragon!”

The dragon-themed heroine turned into a cloud and blew the bubble right back at the akuma.

“What!”

The bubble encapsulated the akuma, causing it to freeze in place and then float to the ceiling.

Ryuuko returned to her original form and smiled, seeing how they had finally incapacitated the akuma.

“We did it, Viperion. We took them down. I'm sorry it cost you so much… I won't let you down!”

She raised her blade, upon realizing that her partner was indeed trapped in a bubble.

“Wait a minute…”

Ryuuko walked underneath Viperion’s bubble. She wasn’t entirely sure if this would work, since akuma magic was weird and often unpredictable, but it would make a lot of sense if it did.

“It is a bubble, so this should work right?” Ryuuko questioned as she used the tip of her sword to touch the bubble. She pushed it forward a bit causing the bubble to pop.

Her partner dropped to the floor.

“Ugh… my head.”

“You’re okay!”

Ryuuko hugged her friend, but then realized her sudden action and quickly jumped back up. A bit flustered, she could swear Marinette was rubbing off on her.

“I am glad you are alright, friend. You had me concerned — slightly,” Ryuuko corrected herself.

Viperion was surprised by the quick motions but managed to steady himself.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. But make it quick, we will need to get a move on.”

“Okay… Who am I?”

Ryuuko froze at the question. She could see the confusion on his face. He was completely serious.

“Oh… that is not good at all.”

_____________________________________________________________

Masquerade is on phase two of her plan and Simularé is starting to make waves.

Who will get to the akuma first, Mayura or our heroes.

What will happen to Viperion now that his memory is gone?

Will Queen bee be the right choice?

Reblog and Comment . Your support is invaluable in keeping this fic alive. And I love hearing your thoughts on it

#ml #ml fic #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction #ladrien #miraculous fanfiction #drama #ladybug #chat noir #slight ladynoir #fan akuma #masquerade akuma #ml au

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i-sea-fiera · 2 years

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Mechs and daemons part 2

This one has some takes on backstories as well as their daemons.

Brian and Aisling

Aisling was first a Merlin falcon, calm, focused, tolerant, and decisive. On Brian's planet of origin witches were quite common, their daemons free to go as far as they pleased from their people. That didn't bode well when they ended up where they did with amnesia. She escaped the execution and remained on planet, pushing their connection to the edge (a daemon can't survive without their person after all). When Carmilla mechanized him, she feared she went too far, his daemon was nowhere to be found on Aurora, had she made him an empty, soulless husk of the person he'd been? When they went planet side to resupply the doc had been nearly hit by a blur of blue-grey feathers streaking through the ship to her lab. By the time she’d caught up there was a Lynx curled but on Brian's chest.

Aisling is Brian's rock. Whenever he's spent too much time on the bridge disassociating she'll jump on his lap and press close to his heart to remind him that he's still a person no matter what he looks like.

The Toy Soldier and SongBird

Song Bird, much like TS, is exactly what the name implies, a clockwork song bird. What kind of bird depends on the day and their mood. Songbird understands that it is not real, but it can't help but pretend otherwise. Why else does it know exactly what TS is thinking? Why else does TS react like it's been burned when someone touches Songbird? Why else would the rest of the crew treat it like any other daemon on board, if it wasn't real? I mean, if Borealis is a real daemon, why not Songbird?

Tim and Lucy

Tim had always believed that he and Lucy would settle as some kind of cat, everyone around them had thought so as well, so imagine their surprise when the time came, she ended up as a chocolate coloured retriever. Honest, caring, and loyal to a fault. They had a good few years, but those times never last, do they. The thing about war is that it changes people for better or worse. Many don't recognize themselves after they return, it wasn't all that uncommon to see a solider with an unsettled daemon. After losing Bertie, Tim lost himself. But what hurt the most was that neither of them knew at first. It was only after Jonny dragged them to a fox hole during a microwave attack that they figured it out. Tim's face was buried in much thicker fur then he remembered, in the dim light he saw that Lucy's features were sharper as well, not only that but she was larger all the way around, not by much but just enough to be noticed. Still thin due to years of depleting rations, but no longer a gentle domestic dog, Lucy was a wolf, much better suited to a fight. They both wept that night for everything they'd lost, not knowing that the next day they'd leave the moon no more than space debris. Mechanization simply proved that the boy and pup from London were long lost, and they'd have to make something new of themselves in that new wide universe they were stuck in.

Raphaella and Davino

Nearly everyone on Raphaellas home planet had settled as some kind of flying animal, so it was no surprise when she settled as a white tailed kite, prideful, ambitious, but somewhat distractible. She rose up quickly in the scientific community there, at least as much as she'd been allowed, and then due to dissatisfaction in the work she'd been given, she pushed farther. When one flies too close to the torches of power they tend to be set aflame. The government made her punishment a public spectacle; her wings torn from her in payment for her hubris, Davino shrieking in the cage they'd placed him in, dust sloughing off his wings, unable to keep the form they loved.

They spent years trying to get her wings back only to be met with failed experiment after failed experiment. So when a beautiful and mysterious doctor offered to help, who was Raphaella to refuse?

During this time Davino had to get comfortable as a bengal cat so he could stay close to Raphaella, seeing as he could only fly so far before it started to hurt them.

Marius and Darla

Darla settled as a ferret out of necessity, small, easy to hide, and crafty. Growing up on a war torn planet will do that to a person, necessity over self, survival over truth. Darla did her best to help, scouting out decent hiding places, food and other supplies while keeping close and unseen. Marius had resented her form and himself for a while after they settled, it didn't feel quite right, the skin too small to show who they wanted to be. He never resented her though, he couldn't bear the thought of hating her.

The events leading up to their mechanization are blurry and fairly unimportant to this particular story. When Marius woke up on Raphaellas shuttle afterwards he was greeted by a massive head resting on his cot, a cow moose was dosing on his lap.

The entire crew of the Aurora make a scene of how impractical a moose on a spaceship is, but the two take no mind, this form suits them just fine. Darla will still become a ferret most of the time for ease of movement, but she relishes being a nuisance when she wants.

Aurora and Borealis

Borealis didn't really exist at first. But after so much time spent with other beings with coexisting souls, Aurora developed one as well. No one is quite sure how, not even Nastya or Aurora herself, but one day Borealis made himself known and wove himself into the comings and goings of the crew. Made of metal and cybernetics, similar to Songbird, but a lot more complex in engineering. He first took up the appearance of a fox after observing Kassian and after that Ember. It seemed like a good and common shape, seeing as how at least two of their crew's souls took that shape as well at any given time. There was also something appealing about felines as well, so there might be a automaton cat prowling the hall, stalking stray spiders or messing with the octokittens. Aurora will be the first to admit that she loves being able to participate with the crew on a whole other level through Borealis, and this includes crew daemon cuddle puddles.

The next post will have Scuzz, Doctor Carmilla and at least one other that doesn't fit in any other category

#the mechanisms #daemon au #the mechs #the mechs daemon au #drumbot brian #the toy soldier #gunpowder tim #raphaella la cognizi #marius von raum #the aurora

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tsuki-chibi · 2 years

Text

Post-Reveal Revelry Day 2: Rules

Read them all on AO3

---

“Okay… annnnnd go!”

Ladybug watched in amusement as Chat reached up and took the blindfold off. He looked around, eyes narrowing slightly, at the multiple copies of Carapace standing around him. There was a moment’s pause as Chat took in each copy before Chat stood up and walked very confidently over to the one standing further from Ladybug.

“This one!” he proclaimed, throwing an arm around Carapace’s shoulder. Carapace didn’t fade away, so Ladybug realized that he had – again – chosen right.

“No fair!” All of the copies vanished as Rena Rouge stomped her foot. “I’ve really been practicing! How do you keep seeing through my illusions so easily?”

“You can fool my eyes, but you can’t fool my nose or ears,” Chat told her.

Rena’s eyebrows furrowed. “Huh?”

“I can smell the onions that Nino had with lunch,” Chat said dryly.

“Hey! I brushed my teeth,” Carapace said, elbowing Chat in the chest.

“Wait. You’re smelling the original one out?” Rena said incredulously.

“And hearing. These aren’t just for show now, you know.” Chat reached up and gently flicked the tip of his claw against the black kitty ears that perched atop his head. Though originally the cat ears had just been a part of his costume, a recent power upgrade had made them functional.

“What?! That’s cheating,” Rena whined.

“No it’s not,” Chat disagreed.

“Yes it is! Ladybug, tell him. He’s not following the rules.” Rena shoved her bottom lip out into a full pout, face scrunched up, and Ladybug had to fight back the urge to laugh.

“Technically, you didn’t say anything about Chat being able to use his other senses,” she gently pointed out. “But Chat, you know that’s really not in the spirit of the game. Alya is trying to practice her illusions.” She gave Chat a pointed look. They should be encouraging the newcomers with their powers, after all.

Chat made a face. “Alright, fine. I’m sorry. Your illusions really are getting better though.”

Rena sighed. “Not good enough.”

“Hey, no, they really are. I had to use my ears and nose this time to be able to tell,” Chat said.

“Really?” Rena said, perking up a bit, and Chat nodded.

“Really. Though you still need to work more on your poses. None of them really stood the way Carapace would.”

“That’s because none of them were as cool as the real thing,” Carapace interjected smugly, which made Ladybug roll her eyes.

“I’ll make note of that. You know, Trixx says that someday I’ll be able to factor in smells and sound to my illusions too. This means that you get to be my test subject when that day comes,” Rena said, her eyes taking on an intent glint that definitely would’ve worried Ladybug had she been the target.

To his credit, Chat looked a little worried. “Uh, I never agreed to that.”

“Too late. Your agreement is implicit,” Rena chirped, smirking back at him.

“I wouldn’t be too concerned. Trixx also says that day is quite far away,” Carapace spoke up. “Apparently that’s advanced Fox magic.”

“I’m going to learn it way faster than any of you could guess,” Rena shot back. “Soon my illusions will be so great, and I’ll be able to keep using my miraculous for so long, that I’ll be able to send an illusion to school for me!”

“Awesome!” Chat and Carapace exclaimed.

“What,” Ladybug said.

Rena winced. “Uh… not that I would misuse my powers like that or anything. It’s just an idle thought on my part,” she said innocently.

Ladybug just stared at her, unconvinced.

“Well, at any rate, we should be celebrating how successful Rena and Carapace are being. Right, My Lady?” Chat said, grabbing Ladybug’s hand.

“… I guess,” Ladybug said finally, deciding to let that go for the time being. She decided to pretend not to notice Rena mouthing a ‘thank you’ at Chat. If that was the motivation Rena needed to keep improving, then Ladybug wasn’t going to stand in her way.

But she was going to poke Alya’s arm every morning from now on to just make sure it was really Alya!

#miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #carapace #rena rouge #post-reveal revelry #postreveal2022

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sturchling · 3 years

Note

I've read your stories where the Justice League is banned from Paris, and I love them! What if the League and the Avengers were in the same world, but the Avengers didn't ignore them while the Justice League did? I imagine that Steve would convince Tony to help because these are KIDS, like Peter. So, the Avengers help, but since the League and Avengers are at odds, the Avengers don't tell the League. Team Miraculous is perfectly fine with that. (Big Team Miraculous and more users if possible!!)

Team Miraculous had practically begged the Justice League for help when Hawkmoth was still active. But they received no response. But the Justice League weren’t the only ones they reached out to. They also sent the same video asking for help to Tony Stark, who everyone knew was Iron Man, hoping the Avengers might help them. They sent the video with little hope for a response. After all, the Justice League had ignored all their requests for help. Why would the Avengers be any different?

----------------

Tony Stark received hundreds of emails a day. Emails from people at Stark Industries, SHIELD, and the avengers. But he didn’t often get emails from an unknown address from Paris. That is what initially caught his attention. The message was simple. The subject simply said Avengers, please help us. When Tony opened the email, there was no text to it. Just a video attachment. Tony called the team into the meeting room and played the video.

--------------

They watched the video as two kids in animal themed costumes explained what was happening in Paris. These kids couldn’t be more than 14. When the video was over, the group sat in silence for a moment before Steve spoke up. “We need to help them.” Tony sighed, turning to face Steve. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but we can’t just go to Paris and help. Not when they are still discussing the accords. We can’t go unless France’s government asks for our help.” Steve stands up from his seat, angry. “So what? We just ignore this? You heard what they said, France wants to keep this under wraps so they don’t lose the tourists that come to Paris. They aren’t going to ask for our help, then they would have to publicly admit there is a problem!” Tony stands up too, walking towards Steve. “I know that! But our hands are tied. With the UN still discussing the accords, we can’t go making the situation worse then it already is!” Steve rolls his eyes and starts to walk away in frustration. “Oh come on Tony! Those are kids! Those are KIDS who are having to fight against a terrorist all on their own with no training! They need help! If it were Peter in Paris, would you leave him to face this alone?” That made Tony pause. In the quiet, Thor decided to make his opinion known. “I also feel that we should help them. I am familiar with these miraculous. The power they grant users is great. A terrorist powered by one is a sobering thought. I am especially familiar with the Black Cat miraculous, as is Loki. And I do not believe either of us wants to be on Plagg’s bad side again. We should help these children immediately.” Tony just sighs, shaking his head. “I feel like I am going to regret this. Fine, lets go to Paris.” The Avengers quickly made preparations to go to Paris. Before they left they sent an email back to the kids who sent the video to let them know that help was on the way.

--------------------

Marinette and Adrien could hardly believe the email in their inbox. They hadn’t expected to hear back from the Avengers so soon, or hear that they were taking this seriously. This is incredible! By now, team Miraculous had revealed their identities to each other to make it easier to communicate to each other. Marinette sent out a message in their group chat. Group project meeting. Meet in the usual place, 30 minutes. Half an hour later, team Miraculous was meeting in their secluded area of Chloe’s hotel suite, which had been sound proofed so no one would hear them. Marinette and Adrien filled them all in on what had happened involving the Avengers and everyone was excited. They would finally get some help with Hawkmoth after all these years. It wasn’t long before they received another email saying that the Avengers had landed and asking where to meet. Marinette sent them the location of a secluded warehouse to meet in and Team Miraculous transformed, leaving to meet the Avengers.

----------------

The Avengers weren’t sure what to expect when they arrived at the abandoned warehouse the kids asked them to meet at. But they certainly weren’t expecting a small army of kids in costume, in addition to the two that sent the video. In addition to the original two dressed as a ladybug and cat, there appeared to be a fox, turtle, bee, horse, snake, monkey, dragon, and bunny. And they were all children. The girl in the ladybug outfit and boy in the cat outfit stepped forward. “I am Ladybug and this is Chat Noir. We lead the miraculous team. Thank you for your help.” Steve stepped forward, being the first to recover from the shock of seeing this army of children. “We are glad to help. We have the basic idea of what is happening from your video, but could you explain in some more detail what the situation is?” Ladybug spent the next few hours going over everything with the Avengers, giving a more detailed picture of the ongoing battle with Hawkmoth and Mayura for the last few years.

---------------

At the end of the explanation, the Avengers are horrified. The situation is worse than they thought. And the Justice League had been ignoring these kids? That just made it worse. Tony, his head still reeling from all the information, said “I am glad we got your message when we did, seems things are pretty bad here. We can help you track down this Hawkmoth and end this. But we need to keep our involvement in this quiet. With the UN still discussing the accords, we aren’t technically supposed to be here.” Ladybug looks visibly confused, asking, “Accords? What are the accords?” The Avengers fill them in on the accords and what all it means for them.

---------------------

Ladybug was shocked that they would even consider agreeing to this. “You all agreed to this? To be monitored by the UN and restricted in what you can do. And anyone that they view as a threat could be imprisoned just because of that, regardless of if they had done anything wrong. That is insane! The Avengers I know wouldn’t agree to that. I remember watching you Agent Romanoff, testify before congress and challenge them to put you in prison. The world needs the Avengers and other heroes to be able to act in a crisis without worrying about if a panel will let them.” Tony tried to argue his point, and Marinette continued to say it was wrong. The two argued for a while, which was concerning for both team Miraculous and the Avengers to watch. But by the end of it, Marinette being Marinette, had managed to convince Tony that he was wrong and that they wouldn’t agree to the accords. The Avengers were a little shocked that this young girl had changed Tony’s mind, but you wouldn’t hear them complaining. With all the discussions out of the way, they got to work.

-----------------

Tony got Jarvis to start running analyses to see who in Paris was likely to be Hawkmoth. It had to be someone with a lot of time on their hands, a large amount of resources, and had to have a supply of these butterflies he was using. He also compared these results with the typical behavioral profile of a terrorist like this. Then the Avengers went over the list with Team Miraculous and started eliminating suspects. Anyone that didn’t already have an alibi was tailed by either Hawkeye or Black Widow until they were cleared. Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers helped train the kids in combat and how to work as a team in the field so that they were better able to face akumas. It took weeks, but soon, they were down to only one subject. Gabriel Agreste. Adrien didn’t want to believe it, but as the weeks went by and neither Hawkeye or Black Widow were able to clear him, it became clear to Adrien that his father was likely Hawkmoth.

--------------------

By now, the Avengers knew of the kids identities. All the Avengers felt bad for Adrien, and also didn’t want him to stay in that house a minute longer. Besides how his father treated him, having another miraculous user in that house, especially the Black Cat that Hawkmoth craved was a recipe for disaster. So Tony had his lawyers help Adrien file for emancipation. That made Gabriel frantic. He didn’t want to lose his control over Adrien. He was so close to getting the miraculous and his wish. He could have his family back again. But that can’t happen if Adrien is emancipated and leaves. Gabriel became more desperate with his akumas and became sloppy. That was his downfall.

-----------------

By the end of the week, the Avengers and team Miraculous were facing down Hawkmoth. By this point, Hawkmoth was so frantic, that they fight was easily won. When he revealed why he did all this and what happened to Emilie, Master Fu, who had come to collect the missing miraculous, was able to reverse the damage done by the peacock miraculous on both Emilie and Nathalie. Gabriel was arrested, as was Nathalie, and Adrien was ecstatic to be with his mother again.

------------------

Once Hawkmoth was defeated, news of what had been happening in Paris spread like wildfire. It wasn’t long before the Justice League swooped in to do damage control. They landed in the middle of the city, already starting their spiel about how they were here to help with any damage and chaos from the final battle. But they were shocked to see the city in perfect condition, and the police surrounding them, telling them to leave. Over the heads of the police, they see the members of the Avengers standing with some kids in animal costumes. Two of the kids are familiar, from the videos asking for help all those years ago. Batman fumed at seeing the other group of heroes allowed to be in the city while they were being forced out. “Why are we not allowed here, but they are!? They aren’t local heroes.” The girl in a Ladybug themed costume stepped forward through the crowd, “They get to be here because they actually answered our call for help and were instrumental in the defeat of Hawkmoth. They arrived before the ban, followed my team’s lead, and respected the wishes of my team as well as the city. They proved to be good allies. You and your group on the other hand, ignored and denied our requests and now want to come in and do damage control. Now you leave, or we will make you.” While some of the members of the Justice League have the good sense to look embarrassed and back down, Batman got right in Ladybug’s face. “And how are you going to make us little girl?” Ladybug turned around and walked back to her team, not sparing Batman another glance. Batman looked smug, thinking he had made her back down. But when she got back to her team, she turned to the horse themed hero. “Pegasus.” Without another word, the horse sprang into action. All the Justice League heard was him call out “Voyage” before they were back in the watchtower, wondering what had just happened.

------------------

Finally, it was time for the UN meeting on the accords. When asked if they would sign, the Avengers officially declined to sign the accords so they could actually help in Paris. Team Miraculous watched the live coverage as all of the Avengers said they wouldn’t sign the accords. The head of the UN panel stood up, angry at their defiance. “Maybe we should just go ahead and toss you all in a cell. Clearly you are a threat to the world. While we were discussing these very accords, you went into France without permission and acted as the Avengers. You cause untold damage in each fight, do nothing to fix the damage, and won’t allow for a little over sight to make sure you don’t destroy everything. Seems pretty dangerous to me.” There were mummers of agreement through out the room. Tony was the last one to speak. “You won’t put us in a prison cell. Here’s why. As Agent Romanoff once said, you all need us. Yes, we have made the world a more vulnerable place. But, we are the ones most qualified and able to defend it. So, if you want to arrest us, do it. You know where to find us. But then you will be even more vulnerable to even bigger threats than us.” Angry voices sounded from around the room, but the Avengers just turned and left. Most other heroes followed suit, officially stating that they would not be signing the accords. Eventually, the UN realized that if they arrested every hero that didn’t sign the accords, they would have no one left to defend the Earth and they dropped the issue.

--------------------

Things quickly returned to normal, for both team Miraculous and the Avengers. Team Miraculous was happy to have defeated Hawkmoth and not have to constantly guard their emotions. The emotional toll on the citizens of Paris was huge, but the Avengers weren’t done helping. Tony Stark brought in several therapists and took care of all the bills, so all of Paris could have access to mental help as needed, after enduring the trauma of living under Hawkmoth’s threats for years. And the Avengers kept on being heroes and helping everyone they could all over the world. And team Miraculous would often give them a hand with missions as needed. The Avengers and team Miraculous remained close allies after everything and were happy to have helped each other.

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marauderundercover · 3 years

Text

Taking Chances Ch. 21: Apologies (Father’s Day)

AO3

Marinette purses her lips as she looks at the neatly wrapped package in her hand. She knew she should still give it to her dad, shouldn’t let her hurt over the Gala stop her from celebrating Father’s Day with him for the first time. She’d already gotten confirmation from her Maman that her present for her Papa had arrived. So that was taken care of. A small part of her, the petty part, wanted to use Kaalki and go back to Paris for Father’s Day. But she also didn’t want to hurt her dad, no matter how much he’d hurt her. She had to be better than that, she is Ladybug after all. Sighing, she drops the present onto her bed. Grabbing the rest of what she needed for a movie night at one of Jason’s safe houses, she rushes out of her room. She knew that her dad’s conversation with Superman in the Batcave wouldn’t last too long, and then he’d be looking for her and Damian to lecture the hell out of them. Unfortunately for him, neither of them planned to be around to listen to it.

“Got everything Pixie Pop?” Jason asks as she rushes down the last of the steps, barely stopping herself from falling. She quickly balances herself and shoots her brother a small grin.

“Yup. Let’s go before I can get grounded.” She says, rushing past him and out the door, grinning as she hears his loud cackles behind her. It will get better. She’d talk to her dad eventually, and shove the bad feelings away. But she was going to let herself mope for another day. After all, letting herself feel negative emotions was part of the reason her parents agreed to let her stay in Gotham for the summer.

---

“What do you mean there’s an entire movie about you and Cat boy?” Jason asks, shoving another cookie in his mouth. Marinette shrugs.

“I mean we have a movie. It’s not my favorite, it’s kind of ridiculous. None of it is accurate. Except, Adrien did voice Chat Noir for the movie...still not sure why he thought that was a good idea.” She says, thinking back to the original premiere of the movie and all of the drama that came with it.

“Well shit. He’s not the brightest kid, is he?” Jason asks with a snort. Marinette opens her mouth to argue, then remembers some of Adrien’s….less brilliant moments. Okay, so maybe he’s not perfect.

“Ya know, we were once cast as Ladybug and Chat Noir in a music video.” She says, snorting at the look on Jason’s face.

“You’ve gotta be kidding. Really? Kid, please tell me you didn’t go through with it.” He says, looking mildly distressed. Marinette just rolls her eyes.

“No, we didn’t. The concept for the video changed and so no more hero costumes. I was terrified though. Kept losing the mask on purpose ‘cause I was convinced the mask would be what gave it away.” She admits with a small laugh.

“Ya know, that’s almost as bad as the time that someone at WE thought it’d be a good idea to enter B in a Batman look alike contest. Sent in his photo and everything.” Jason says with a snort. Marinette’s jaw drops.

“Wait, really?” She asks. He nods.

“Yup. But that’s not the best part.” He says. Her eyebrows furrowed together. What could possibly be better- Oh. No, oh my-

“He lost, didn’t he!” She cheers, laughing at Jason’s huge smile.

“Of course he did! You didn’t really think Brucie Wayne could ever be THE Batman, did you?” He asks with a smirk.

“Who entered him?” Marinette asks, kind of assuming that Jason did it with Tim’s computer.

“No one could ever prove anything, but Lucius Fox couldn’t stop smiling for weeks after it happened.” Jason says.

“No way, Lucius Fox? Oh my god!” She starts laughing again, the negative feelings from earlier almost completely gone. Disappeared. Times like these, she was beyond relieved that she wasn’t an only child anymore. She doesn’t know how she’d ever function again without her brothers and Cass.

---

Bruce takes a deep breath before knocking on Marinette’s door. He’d spent some time talking to Clark in an attempt to calm down. He still couldn’t believe his two youngest children had gone to the Watchtower without permission...well, he could believe that Damian went. But not Marinette. And then there was her attitude towards him at the Tower. Her posture was very Damian, but her words and tone were very much Jason. He couldn’t decide if he was glad that they were bonding, or frustrated with the way his sons were corrupting his daughter. Not hearing an answer on the other side of the door, he knocks again.

“If?” He says. Alfred nods.

“Marinette, I know you’re angry, but shutting yourself away in your room is not the answer. I’ll give you ten more minutes, but then we need to talk about your behavior today.” He says, nodding to himself. That sounded good. That was right, right?

“I’m certain that wouldn’t work on Miss Marinette even if she was in her room, Master Bruce.” Alfred says, giving him an unimpressed look. Bruce’s eye twitches.

“Indeed, sir. It seems that Miss Marinette will not be sleeping at the manor tonight.” He says, turning to walk away.

“And I’m assuming you know where she is?” Bruce says, doubting that Alfred will actually give up her location. He’d definitely been picking the kids’ side the last two weeks or so. It was different, and he wasn’t fond of the change.

“Of course I do, sir.” Alfred says, raising an eyebrow in a silent challenge.

“Will you tell me where she is?” He asks, trying hard not to huff when Alfred shakes his head.

“Of course not, sir.” He says before walking away. Right. So she wasn’t sleeping at the manor, but she was safe. If she wasn’t, Alfred would have told him where she was. He mentally runs through a list of possible places she could be. Dick’s apartment, one of Jason’s safe houses, the Siren’s apartment, Paris- He pales as he realizes that she could definitely be in Paris. Was she really so upset that she would go back to Paris? Would she ever come back if she left? He lets out an uneven breath. He messed up. He messed up and now she was going to go back to Paris and she’d never talk to him again. Unless- maybe she didn’t. Swallowing the guilt that appears at the thought, he pushes her door open. If she had left for Paris, she would’ve taken everything with her. The sight of her clothes and sewing supplies still scattered around the room makes him breathe a sigh of relief. She hadn’t left Not yet. He’s about to walk out when an envelope on her bed catches his eye. Frowning, he walks over and picks it up, ‘Dad’ written on it in neat cursive. Now standing by her bed, he realizes there’s also a neatly wrapped package (Batman wrapping paper) on it. He smiles, then glances back at the envelope. He opens it, smiling at the art on the cardstock. It was clearly Marinette’s art, but he was confused why it was addressed to him.

‘Dad, I just wanted to let you know that I’m so happy you’re my Dad, and I’m so glad that I got to meet you. Finding out that I was adopted was a little scary, but you’ve made sure I’ve been okay through it all. Happy Father’s Day! Love, Marinette’

Bruce blinks. She was scared. If he had to guess, she was most likely scared that the family wouldn’t accept her. They’d been getting along so well, until the Gala mistake. Until he’d decided for her. Assumed she wouldn’t want to go to the Gala. And now she didn’t even want to stay at the manor tonight, and she was angry enough earlier to throw a chair at him. He pushes a hand through his hair, cursing lowly under his breath. He had to fix this.

---

A sharp pounding at the door makes Jason leap off the couch. He holds up a finger and gestures for Marinette to hide. No one should be here. No one else knows which of his safe houses he was at today. Grabbing a gun, he walks over, glancing through the peephole. He scoffs.

“Get the fuck outta here Bruce.” He calls through the door, watching Marinette as she immediately tenses as if she’s gonna run. He shakes his head at her. She didn’t have to run, he sure as hell wouldn’t open the door if she didn’t want him to.

“Jason, open the door. I need to talk to Marinette.” Bruce calls, Jason snorts.

“Yeah, not gonna happen B.” He says.

“I would like to apologize to her.” Bruce says. Jason blinks. That’s new. Did the old man finally figure out that fuck ups warrant apologies? He glances over at Marinette, raising an eyebrow. It was her call. The unsure look on her face almost makes him decide for her. Almost. The kid’d had enough of people deciding shit for her.

“Let him in.” She says. He opens the door, glaring at the man.

“Is it okay if he comes in?” She whispers, and Jason nods.

“Up to you kiddo.” He whispers back. She stands taller, pushing her shoulders back before nodding.

“She’s the one who let you in. Don’t fuck this up.” He warns before stepping aside and letting Bruce walk in.

“Marinette.” He says, nodding at her. Jason groans. Yeah, B was totally gonna fuck this up.

“Father.” She says, shifting so that her arms are crossed, a neutral expression on her face. God, he really hopes her mimicking Demon Spawn is just a phase.

“I would like to preface this conversation by letting you know I went into your room.” Bruce says. Marinette just raises an eyebrow. Yeah, Jason wasn’t seeing the connection either. “I apologize for invading your privacy like that, Damian has definitely reminded me several times that your personal rooms are not to be messed with. However, when Alfred let me know you weren’t sleeping at the manor tonight, I was worried that perhaps you had gone back to Paris.”

“I wouldn’t have gone back without telling you. Well, other than akuma attacks. Do you really think I’d do something like that?” She asks, frowning.

“I know that I’ve done things I’m not proud of when hurt. Things that I came to regret. And I saw earlier today how hurt you actually are. I didn’t realize-” He pauses. “I also read the card that was on your bed.”

“What! No, that was- that was for Father’s Day.” She says with a sigh.

“I didn’t open the gift. I originally thought the envelope would have a note from you on where you had gone. Or that you never wanted to see me again. I thought the chances were pretty even.” He says and Jason snorts.

“Oh, okay. Wait, why would you ever think that? Yes, I was hurt. I still am hurt, if I’m being honest. But I don’t want to cut you out of my life.” She says, shaking her head.

“Nor do I want you out of ours.” Bruce says. Marinette blinks. “I realize now what it must have looked like, to you. Not informing you about the Gala, taking the rest of the family. It was, admittedly, not my best moment. I made a decision for you when I should’ve asked you what you wanted. You could have even come with us as MDC, but I took that option away from you. I am very sorry, Marinette. I am glad that you’re my daughter, sweetheart.” He says and Jason blinks. Well shit. The old man did have feelings. Too bad no one would ever believe him if he tried to say something about it. He watches as the tension in Marinette’s body drops almost instantly before she runs over and launches herself at Bruce. She wraps her arms around him and Jason can see the way her body shakes. Bruce just stands there, staring down at the top of her head in shock.

“You wrap your arms around her.” Jason snarks. Bruce blinks before listening, returning Marinette’s hug. Well, they were still dysfunctional as hell, but at least now he’d be able to take Pixie Pop to the manor without feeling like an asshole brother.

---

Marinette bounces nervously in her seat as she watches her brothers hand her dad presents. She’s shocked when Jason hands over a small gift, knowing that the two’s relationship wasn’t….great. She leans forward in anticipation, watching and waiting to see what he’d picked out.

“Thank you, Jason. Clark will never let me live this down.” Her dad says, the fondness in his tone not matching the frown on his face. He turns the box around and the room erupts in laughter. Somehow, Jason had found a company that made customizable bobbleheads. The body was probably just a stock body, dressed in civilian clothes with a superman suit peaking through the shirt. And the head, the head was hilarious. It was very obviously crafted to look like their dad, specifically with his ‘Brucie Wayne’ smile. It was awful and amazing at the same time.

“I think Jaybird wins best gift.” Dick says with a grin.

“Tt. Unlikely. The new katana that Cass and I gave him is obviously superior.” Damian says, crossing his arms.

“I don’t know Damian, I still haven’t given him my present.” She points out, grinning at the slight frown on Damian’s face.

“While I doubt your present could be better than mine, there is no doubt it will be better received than Todd’s.” Damian says. Marinette snorts at the look on Jason’s face.

“Listen Demon Spawn, there’s this thing called humor. That’s what my gift had. I know you wouldn’t know anything about humor, so let me explain it to you.” He starts, and Marinette jumps in to cut him off before they can start arguing. It was Father’s Day, the least they could do is avoid fighting with each other for a couple more hours.

“And this one’s from me.” She says, passing him the present wrapped in Batman wrapping paper. She grins as Tim and Dick both laugh, not having seen it before now.

“I think Mari might win just ‘cause of the paper.” Tim admits, taking a large drink of his iced coffee that Marinette had picked up for him. She’d had to fight an akuma right before they started presents, so she’d stopped and got Tim coffee from the shop that he’d tried when they’d all been in Paris. She watches in anticipation as her dad carefully unwraps the box, opening it and pulling out the black suit jacket. He smiles at her.

“Did you make this? It’s amazing.” He says, and her brothers nod in agreement (though Damian does so reluctantly).

“Look at the inside of it.” She says, gesturing for him to unfold it. His eyebrow twitches, but he does as she says. She watches his face for the moment he spots it, and grins when his face drops into a wide smile. On the inside of the left side of the jacket, she’d added a breast pocket. It wasn’t really for anything though. Instead, it was so that she could embroider all of his children’s names in a way so that it would rest above his heart. The jacket also had tiny bat logos embroidered at the cuffs of the jacket. The thread was shiny and very dark so that it would barely show up against the black of the jacket. It had to be lit just right to see it, but as he tilted the jacket again, she knew he saw it. It had taken longer than suit jackets normally do for her, but it was because she knew that it had to be perfect. It was, after all, the first piece of clothing she’d made for her dad.

“It’s perfect, Marinette.” He says softly, running a hand over the names. She lets out a sigh of relief before smiling at him. Things were still a little rough, but they were so much better than they’d been the night of the Gala. She was glad that she had stayed, that she hadn’t ran like she had so badly wanted to.

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @trippingovermyfeet @mizzy-pop @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @tazanna-blythe @jaybird-and-co @jumpingjoy82 @lady-bee-fechin

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owlheartt · 3 years

Text

12:12 counts as noon, right? I haven't gone over my limit? Anyways, chapter 2 :)) Please for the love of god why can't I pump out other content this quick look I swear I love my stories equally

Again, original fic is OSD by @calcium-cat, first part, previous part, next, still can't tag you, and Nightmare's POV is next tho it prolly won't be posted till next weekend (or later)

It felt like the multiverse had been inverted. Cross seemed like just a normal skelton. He gave Dream chocolate, got him tissues, and… he talked about the others like they were family. Family. Dream wasn’t sure what he had expected, but… Cross had thought that Dream didn’t know what texting was, when Dream just hadn’t realized that Cross had people to text. Ok, that thought was ah, kind of embarrassing. Of course he had people to text. Everyone has friends, right? But another thing that threw him… “He finds lost things.”

…

Whatever it was about that sentence, it made Dream stop and think. Lost things. Why? Nightmare wrecked so much chaos and destruction and thrived on negativity… Cross made it sound like Dream’s twin was just… running an orphanage or something. That he was kind, and caring. That he took care of his gang. Looking back on conversations with Sci, he could see little hints that Sci would drop about it. Mentioning that the mess was caused by some frantic searching for fever meds, while it was a mess clearly made by Nightmare (and neither twin got sick like that). Dropping that crutches was in urgent order, when Dust had his leg broken earlier that morning.

Little things like that. Dream had brushed it off with the thought that Nightmare just wanted everyone in the field, but he could also remember a time that Sci was working on substitutes for bacon. Why? “Oh, Nightmare says he doesn’t want to eat pork any more but wants something like it in his castle.” Sci wouldn’t elaborate, saying that he’d already shared too much, but the next time Dream had run into Horror he was petting a pig.

The pieces hadn’t clicked at the time, but looking back it was rather obvious. Nightmare, the brother that refused to share anything but the battlefield with his twin, did everything he could for his gang. It hurt Dream in ways he didn’t know were possible. But at the same time it fueled his hope.

Cross had pulled out a deck of Uno cards from Toby Fox knows where, and was shuffling the cards on the floor while Dream watched from the bed.

“Do you know how to play Uno?” Cross glanced up at Dream.

“No,” Dream said, even though he totally did. Younger Dream wouldn’t know, the game hadn’t even existed.

“Come on down here and I’ll show you! It’s not as fun with just two people, but I don’t know if Boss wants you to meet the others yet.” It was weird how Cross avoided saying Nightmare’s name. Dream had the impression that Cross didn’t know what was happening, but he seemed to know enough to not call Nightmare by name. Or did the gang always call him Boss? Dream thought that was just something they did in front of others.

“Dream?”

“Oh, right.” Dream slid off the bed, bringing what little remained of the chocolate bar with him. He kind of just wanted to sleep. The past hour had told him uncountably much about Nightmare, and it was a lot to process. Also, dear goodness, his limbs were small and weary. Maybe… a hug would feel good? Back with his friends, it was always easy to ask for a hug. Oftentimes, Blue wouldn’t even ask and just scoop them up.

… But that probably wasn’t the case here. And Dream had been the enemy just an hour before. Still… a little kid asking for a hug would be normal, wouldn’t it? Especially Dream. His whole deal was “friendly.”

“Could I have a hug?” Dream said, shifting a little and looking down.

“Uhm…” Cross looked uncomfortable for a moment, then set down the deck. “Sure.” He reached out and held Dream for a few moments. While Cross was quick to let go, Dream felt a lot better. Having other monsters near him was just always pleasant. Dream waddled around to sit opposite Cross, then waited patiently for the explanation.

“Ok, so, uh, everyone gets a certain number of cards. It’s kind, uhm house rules but we do 5. Do you know what house rules are?” Cross said, picking the deck back up. Dream nodded, recalling how the village kids explained that they had different rules with Hide and Seek. Night hadn’t liked their rules, and refused to play with them. Dream wished he had pushed the other kids harder to accept him. “Well, everyone gets 5 cards. The goal is to have none.” Cross started to deal.

“Most of the cards will stay in the deck, which goes in the center,” He continued, though Dream was only half listening. Eventually Cross finished explaining and it was time to play. Cross was right, it wasn’t as much fun with just two people. Still, it was better than sitting in awkward silence. They played a couple rounds, Cross’s phone binging intermittently. Who was texting him? The reset of the gang, probably, but why were they texting him? What had Cross texted them earlier? Was it about Dream? Probably.

Cross finally checked his phone when it started ringing.

“Dust, I’m busy, what do you need?” Cross sighed. “Yea, I don’t know much about it, so you should ask Boss- yea, he told me to. No I can’t- well yea. When Boss orders you to do something, you do it. Ohhh yea, you should’ve seen him. He’s not taking it well. The plan. I’m not sure. Again, ask him. No! I don’t even know enough- I’m busy. Let me- no. I don’t even know enough to tell you! I don’t think he knows much eith- what was that?? Oh jeez, seriously? Yea, ok, bye.”

“What were you talking about?” Dream asked as casually as he could.

“Dust was just asking me what’s up.” Cross hadn’t turned off his phone yet, instead scrolling (presumably) through his notifications. “Oh, and Boss just got back. He left for Sci’s to get something for you I think.”

“For me? Who’s Sci?” Maybe Cross’s description of Sci could tell Dream more. Maybe it would just tell him what he already knew, but what Cross had already revealed was groundbreaking.

“Oh, yea. Boss got… something, for you earlier, and it didn’t work right I guess. So he went to clear it up with Sci. Sci is… the local scientist. He’s neutral-ish, just kinda helps whoever. His morals are wonky but it’s not like we’re complaining.” Cross shrugged, then scrunched up his face at his phone. He muttered something about Killer under his breath, then turned off the phone and stuck it back in his pocket. “Anyways, wanna get back to playing?”

“What does that mean?”

“What?”

“Wonky morals.”

“Uh… he’s ok with, uh, kinda icky things…” Cross trailed off, visibly uncomfortable.

“Icky?”

“Uhm, like, uh…” Dream got the sense Cross was trying not to say murder.

“Like staying up past your bedtime?” It was a dumb suggestion, but Cross’s absolute bewilderment was 100% worth it. The bigger skeleton just stared at Dream for a few moments, then finally spoke again.

“You have a bedtime?? I thought you didn’t have parents??” Cross scrunched up his face. It took all of Dream’s strength not to laugh. Kid Dream would’ve been serious. And thus, Dream must act it.

“I don’t, but the village kids talk about it. They say they can’t play with me after dinner, but everyone’s dinner is different. Sometimes their parents give Nighty and I dinner too.” Dream said, trying his very best to keep his matter-of-fact voice while Cross was just so obviously lost.

“Oh. Ok, I guess-”

They were interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.

“Who is it?” Cross called.

“Good, you’re in there. I assume Dream is with you too?” It sounded like Nightmare, but it was kind of hard to hear through the thick door.

“Yep, he’s in here.”

“Sci needs to see him.”

Cross got up, gesturing for Dream to follow suit. Nightmare was glowering outside the door, and Dream reflexively felt guilty… which caught Nightmare’s attention pretty fast. He looked Dream up and down, then shot a quick glance at Cross, who seemed rather normal, if not anxious. After concluding something, Nightmare addressed them.

“Come on, Dream. Sci needs to give you a check-up.”

“A check-up?” Kid Dream had never seen a doctor, and Dream wasn’t sure what all a current check-up would include.

“Yes. Sci is going to look at how you feel, make sure your SOUL is ok, and then we’ll come back.” Nightmare explained.

“Ok,” Dream said. It didn’t sound dangerous. Nightmare probably wanted to see the effects of the potion and how far it reached. Then again… what if Sci could reveal that Dream knew what was going on? His cover would be blown, Nightmare would be impossibly mad, and… and there would be nowhere Dream could hide. He would just have to trust. Besides, as Cross said, Sci was neutral. There was a bit more than a chance that he would keep Dream safe.

Nightmare opened another portal. Dream would have to go through it. The building apprehension… While Dream asked for Cross’s permission, Nightmare wouldn’t get that pleasantry. No, brothers are required to give their sibling comfort. So Dream reached out and plucked a waving tentacle out of the air. He wouldn’t- no. He did. Nightmare snatched his tentacle away and shot Dream a glare. Nuh uh. Dream wasn’t standing for this. If Nightmare could cut pork from his diet because Horror decided he liked pigs, he could give Dream a tentacle to hold.

Which devolved into a bit of friendly sibling wrestling, and ended with Dream clinging tightly to a tentacle. Cross looked like he was pointedly not watching.

#nightmare's gang #owl's writing #osd fanfic #fanfic

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