#and I don’t think it’s unreasonable that people don’t want to ‘see’ a fence | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sinsandsweetness · 1 year

Text

Vigilant (sex and zombies- chapter 8)

pairing- {Rick x fem!reader x Daryl}

summary- Rick may or may not be developing some minor control issues.

warnings- 18+ content, MDNI! threesome, dp, anal sex, very filthy rickyl threesome

notes- Fully just an excuse for a threesome <3

You couldn't help but feel a little frustrated at the newfound lack of privacy within the prison walls.

It wasn't something you'd thought about before they all settled in, but the complete invasion of space and privacy had hit you hard with the acceptance of the newest community members. And since the prison had filled right up, it made sneaking away with Rick more and more difficult with every night. Your visits had become less routine, and more of an occasional thing. And while that bothered you both, there really were larger issues at hand.

The clusters of walkers were a never-ending threat to the safety of the entire prison. Glenn and Maggie mentioned over supper that they had passed a construction depot a few days ago, and decided that would be the best bet at finding some supplies. The reinforcements on the fence needed to be dealt with immediately, and everyone could see it. So as the crew was gearing up to leave in the morning, you joined them with your bag on your back and a machete in your belt.

"No." Rick glanced up from loading his gun when he saw you approach. "You're staying here."

"What? Why?"

"There's too many of us going already. You can stay here and hold down the fort."

"But Carol's already staying. And Hershel and-" You countered. You needed to leave the walls. You were beginning to feel like a zoo animal. Every day, rotting corpses watched you garden through their viewing point at the fence.

Before Rick could object again, the sound of wheels on the gravel grabbed your attention.

"Hop on." Daryl rolled his bike towards you both, motioning you to join him.

"Absolutely not." Rick stood his ground. You couldn't help the scoff that left your mouth. He could be so unreasonable. You wanted to leave.

"She can hold her own, man." Daryl spoke up before you had the chance.

"I know that. I just think she should stay here with Carl and Judith, there's too many of us leaving and if something-"

“Why don’t you quit tryna make decisions for her. You ain't in charge anymore, remember?"

Ricks jaw clenched and you wanted to crawl into a hole and sleep forever. Too much testosterone in this prison. It wasn't the first argument between them in the last few weeks, and definitely wouldn't be the last.

Daryl was becoming more and more irritated with you and Rick as the weeks went on. His frustrations taken out in the form of snide comments and rolled eyes.

Maggie, Glenn, and Michonne watched the encounter from the trucks on the driveway. If you did join, the whole trip would be a 'who's dick is bigger’ contest for the two men. And you didn't really care to be the the judge anymore. But you were sick of both of them thinking they could tell you what to do. When it came to the bedroom, you were more than willing. But Daryl was right, you could hold your own. And you actually wanted on the run. You needed some fresh air. Away from all the kids and former Woodbury citizens who never shut the hell up. You missed your original group and the quiet solitude that came with them. The privacy...

"I'm going ok? I'll ride with Maggie and Glenn." You started to make your way to the car at the gate. The sound of the men bickering was still behind you as you passed the courtyard gate.

"Hey!" Rick called your name from behind you. Jogging to catch up next to you. "Why can't you just stay here where it's safe, huh?" He moved in front of you, blocking your path.

"I feel like I'm trapped inside this fence Rick. And these people and their bratty children are driving me insane." You crossed your arms and looked at him with a defiant stare. "It's just a run, something I've done a hundred times before. If it's so unsafe then no-one should be going, don't you think?"

He scowled and looked around at the group waiting for you both at the gates. After a moment he rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He knew you didn't need permission, but he gave it to you anyway. He placed his hand on the small of your back, leading you down the rest of the gravel path. "But you're riding with me."

You bit back your smile as he opened the truck door.

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

"All right everyone, let's focus on getting the trailers filled first. We're grabbing all the lumber and tools we can fit. Then we can focus on the rest. Weapons, batteries, appliances, anything you think could be of use, and that fits in your bag." Rick announced to the group, circled around the main entrance of the hardware store. It was huge. And for whatever reason, seemed to be skipped when the initial shitstorm of an apocalypse had hit. Once you all entered, it didn't even look like it had been raided at all yet.

The group cleared the dozen walkers in the store effortlessly. Once Rick and Glenn finished with their thorough check of the building, you decided to venture off on your own. Towards the sign reading 'garden centre'. If Rick was going to keep trying to turn you into a farmer, you at least wanted a slightly more diverse palette of fruits and veggies to tend to. And to eat. Well mostly to eat.

While sifting through the packets of seeds on a stand, you daydreamed about eating raspberries, freshly picked and still warm from the sun. The thought of their sweet juice made your mouth water.

You grabbed the entire shelf full of seeds, and began packing them into your bag.

“Radishes?” Daryl’s voice made you turn. He was holding a packet of seeds that fell into the floor.

“Mhm, they’re good for you.” You snatched the packet from him and zipped up your bag. Moving towards the aisle with the gardening tools.

“Gross.” He followed you closely, as you inspected the tools and fertilizer on the shelves.

“They can actually be really good. I didn’t think possums were very tasty before I met you, but here we are,”

You could practically hear Daryl roll his eyes.

“Rick sure has you working out there a lot, you some kind of farmer now? How do you like being his little minion, picking weeds all day?” “Beats skinning squirrels with your ass.” You shot back. As soon as you stopped sleeping with him, his attitude went right back to how it used to be. Picking fights and being a prick. “You’re eatin’ the damn squirrels.”

“Oh shut up, seriously what is up your ass lately?”

“What’s up my ass? What’s up yours? You were all over me a few weeks ago and now you can’t even handle a little friendly banter.”

Daryl opened a door at the back of the aisle.

”We didn’t clear that room Daryl it could be-“

But he ignored you. Instead took off with his bow up, and ready. You swore under your breath and went after him.

“Seriously?”

Daryl had already taken the two walkers down, and was retrieving his arrows from their rotting skulls. The room was windowless, and contained a bunch of shelves. Most were empty, and a few were filled with cardboard boxes.

“Okay there’s nothing here so let’s just go back,” you tugged on his long sleeve. But instead of listening he just used your hand and dragged you further into the dark storage room.

”Daryl we should go back it’s not-“

With your attention on Daryl, a cold hand grabbed at your shoulder.

”Fuck!” You stumbled at the sudden pull on your arm and twisted around, quickly grabbing the machete from your belt. You could hear Daryl telling you to move but you swung instead, your blade slicing through the things skull like butter.

"-as I was saying," you pulled the knife out of the walker with a splat of blood hitting your face, "It's not safe in here." The body thunked to the ground.

He was only looking at you, crossbow loaded and ready to fire. But there was a hint of amusement written on his face.

“You’re no fuckin' fun anymore.” He gently approached, urging you backwards, until you were shoved up against a storage shelf. The metal cold on your skin.

"Daryl can we please just get out of here."

”You used to be so fun,” his voice was low and suggestive, “Before, when he barely payed any attention to you. You used to sneak around and do whatever bullshit I wanted.”

"Yeah well, things are different now, so just… get out of my face.” You turned your head but he brought his hand up, and his fingers closed around your jaw, pulling your attention back to his face.

"Yeah they are different now. He ruined you."

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You're his little puppy dog now. Never used to take shit from me, but you will from him? What could he possibly be doing to have you actin’ like such a loyal little slut-"

"Daryl." There was a warning in your voice. His eyes widened.

"Oh my god. I'm right aren't I? He's fucking you isn't he?" He must have sensed some sort of confession through your uncomfortable demeanour. "Makes sense I guess. The way you've been avoiding me, turning me down."

"Can we drop this please?" You grabbed at his wrist, and pulled his grip off your face.

"Did he tell you not to see me anymore?"

"No," you smacked at the hand trying to grab at your jacket. "I chose to stop ok? He didn't force me to do anything."

From the doorway, you both heard the faint sound of someone yelling, trying to get the group rounded up. Daryl's eyes rolled and shook his head. You pushed him away and started to make your way to the door. He kept up with your pace, right at your side.

"You've always been obsessed with him, I shoulda known." His voice was almost a whisper and you just wanted to smack him.

"Fuck off. Can we please just keep this between us?"

He huffed but couldn't hide the tiny laugh that escaped. "Typical."

"What happened?" Rick asked as you approached his truck. His hand came up to your face and wiped the tiny smear of blood.

"Nothing she couldn't handle." Daryl brushed by him on the way to his bike. Rick's face twitched in irritation but he kept his attention on you.

"Get inside." He opened the door of the truck and nudged you inside. Slammed it, walked around, and got in on the other side.

The ride back home was uncomfortably tense.

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

The team got the new reinforcements up in two days. They seemed to be working really well. Looked and felt sturdy enough. Only time would tell.

You watched a small cluster of walkers gnaw at the fence from your viewpoint up on the watchtower. Your attention suddenly caught by some movement around the inside fence. No one should be out here except for you. You squinted at the figure in the dark.

Typically Rick didn’t like you being on watch outside all alone, but he had no good excuse as to why you shouldn’t. You really could hold your own. And even he knew it.

Besides, most nights nothing happened. The point of watch had turned into making sure the fence and reinforcements were actually holding. Stabbing the walkers through the fence during the day only did so much. But now someone was in the yard. Setting your rifle up on the ledge of the railing, you peered through the scope, trying to get a better look at who might be out there.

Finally they moved again. And the crossbow on their back gave them away.

Just Daryl. You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. He had some small furry animal in his hands. Probably on his way back from checking a trap. Kind of late for that though.

You waved at Daryl once it seemed like he might be able to see you from the yard. He did, but didn’t wave back. A few moments later you heard the door to the watch tower creak open and you were joined by his company.

“Hey,” he sat on the desk in the tower. A dead rabbit plopped down right beside him.

“Hey…”

“Didn’t think you were even allowed up here. Let alone at this hour.” His passive aggressive tone accompanied by a scowl.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

A dry laugh escaped his lips. “Oh come on,”

You raised your eyebrow. You knew what he meant but you just wanted to hear it.

“He’s controlling. It’s toxic.”

Now it was your turn to laugh. Toxic. Rich coming from Daryl. The one who used to pick fights only to fuck an apology out of you the same night.

“He is not toxic. And trust me he is not controlling.” He might have been a bit protective as of late but he didn't control you. Not the way Daryl was implying. Rick made it clear that you were the one that makes decisions for yourself. It didn't mean he was happy about it when you decided to go against what he might want. But that rarely happened anyway. The run to the hardware store was the first time you really had to put your foot down.

“He’s just… protective.” You put the rifle down, propped up against the wall of the tower. You should be watching the yard, but you really missed Rick lately. He'd been busy putting up the fence reinforcements and hadn't really spoken to you since the run. So if Daryl wanted to talk about him now, you didn't care to object.

“He is controlling. That’s exactly how he is. He’s a cop, that’s like their thing. Hell It’s his whole personality, are you kidding?” Daryl’s voice raised slightly. “And you know what? When I confronted him about it, he didn’t even deny it. Didn’t make a single excuse. You just don’t see it cause you’re too dumbstruck by his-“

“You talked to him about me?”

“Oh don’t flatter yourself.”

“Daryl seriously...”

“What we ain’t allowed to talk? Just cause we’re both fuckin' you doesn’t mean we gotta be sworn enemies or some shit,”

“Then what is the big deal? He's a good guy. He's protective and caring and-”

“He doesn't want you to do anything except pick weeds for Christ's sake! It’s getting in the way of the important shit.”

“Why the hell do you even care? It doesn't affect you! Are you mad or something? That I listen to him better than I ever did to you?”

That struck a nerve.

“I had you first don’t you fuckin’ forget it-“

“Don’t be so crude.” You were in front of him now, settled between his legs as he sat on the desk. “‘Sharing is caring’ right?”

“Oh fuck off,” his tone had settled. He wasn’t really mad. He glanced down your shirt. A clear view from his angle. He was just sexually frustrated. You hadn't seen him in weeks. Not alone anyway. Not like you used to.

“He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to me. That’s all.”

“So?! I don’t want anything bad to happen to you either but I wouldn't wanna keep you locked up in here like some pet ,” he nearly spat the last word.

“Daryl he doesn't…”

“What do you even see in him?”

Jealousy was an interesting look on Daryl. Something you never really thought you’d see. And for some unknown reason, it turned you on.

“See in who?” A voice from the doorway startled you. An adrenaline surge straightened your spine, and you turned to focus on Rick's face.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” you pointed out. But Rick wasn’t looking at you. He was looking at Daryl. You backed away as he slid off the desk. Leaning against it instead.

“You should be watching the yard.”

“I am.”

“Seems like you're gossiping with Daryl.”

You rolled your eyes, reaching back for your rifle. But Rick grabbed your shoulder and pulled you back towards him.

“You know,” he started. Hand reaching up to caress your cheek gently. “Me and Daryl here get along a lot better than you might realize,” Rick's hand was pulling your chin up to look at him. Wanting to lean into his touch but avoiding it due to the audience you had.

“Isn’t that right Daryl?” He glanced at the man, now standing in front of the desk. A weird cloud of tension filled the room.

You looked over at Daryl but he was hard to read. He wasn’t uncomfortable. But he seemed a little shy. The nod of his head almost escaped your notice.

"He only really acts like an asshole when you're around."

Daryl only scowled.

Rick turned his attention back to you. "We're actually pretty good friends most of the time. When you aren't here at least. Funny isn't it."

You stayed silent. Unsure what Rick was getting at. His hands started to make their way down to your hips, pulling you towards him,

“Rick what are you doing?"

Instead of answering, he looked over at Daryl.

“I'm not sure that she believes me. Why don't we show her just how well we can get along."

His tone was suggestive. And you don’t even know how to feel about the whole situation. But before you could react, Rick turned you by the shoulders and urged you towards the other man with a gentle push.

You hesitated, and looked over your shoulder. Assuring his permission. Rick's nod and lust filled eyes were all you needed.

You reached a timid Daryl, still leaned against the desk. Slowly you grabbed his hand and placed it around your waist. Closing the space between you. Daryl’s eyes kept shifting. Torn between wanting to focus on the attention you were about to give him, and the hot gaze of the man behind you.

You closed the space between your lips, kissing him softly. Something you’d hardly really done despite your history together. His other hand instantly went to your neck. Pulling you in deeper.

You reached for his belt. What the hell were you doing.

Once you had Daryl’s buckle undone and a hand palming his hard on, you felt Rick's body press against your back. Lips going to your neck and hands holding onto your hips. You could feel his cock through his jeans, pressed up against your ass. Begging to be inside of you.

Daryl moved his mouth down to your chest, nipping at the sensitive skin. Allowing you to turn your head back and catch Rick's lips. You could feel the smirk on his face. He kissed you over your shoulder and peeled your shirt up and off, discarding it onto the ground.

The men shared a playful look before your jeans were being pulled down. Adding to the pile of clothes on the floor. You were positive that Daryl would be able to feel your heartbeat through your chest. Nerves heightened by the two men who knew your body the best.

“Sit down” you hear Rick order at Daryl. Fortunately, Daryl was too busy anticipating a potential orgasm to be bothered at the aspect of being bossed around.

So he sat in the office chair beside the desk, and Rick's hand on your shoulder pushed you down to your knees right in between Daryl’s legs. Putting you exactly where you belonged.

Daryl lifted his hips slightly to allow you to tug his jeans far enough to reach what you needed. And taking his cock in your hand, you focused on his face, holding eye contact while you licked and kissed your way up his shaft. It was something you didn’t even know if he enjoyed, since you usually just went straight into it. But the way he threw his head back and tangled his fingers into your hair assured you that he did.

You knew Daryl well by now. You could generally make him come in under two minutes. But for some reason, Rick's presence made you want to put on a show. You wondered if he liked it. If it turned him on to watch you with another man.

The hands peeling off your panties, hinted at an answer. Rick was knelt right behind you, and his fingers were tickling their way up your legs, brushing your clit and teasing your entrance.

You decided to quit teasing Daryl and allow his grip on your hair to pull your mouth fully onto his cock. Bobbing up and down in a rhythm you’d perfected so well. A moan escaped you before you even realized what had touched you. A tongue making its way up your slit.

Rick was eating you out from behind. And with a cock in your mouth and a tongue on your cunt, you were fucking aching. You looked up through long lashes to see Daryl watching the show behind you with slightly parted lips.

He was close already.

You could hear his labored breath and grunts. His arm muscles continuously flexed, holding you down. Your moans intensifying as Rick switched to use his fingers. Fucking you from behind. You slowed your pace on Daryl and eventually replaced your mouth with a hand, catching a breath and turning back towards Rick.

“Please…” you needed to be filled. His fingers were skilled, but he knew what you really wanted.

Instead of shoving his cock in you and fucking you senseless, he shook his head.

“Unless Daryl has an issue with you being told what to do, you better focus on him. Not me.”

You could see Daryl scowling when you turned around but the second you continued sucking him off, he couldn’t be bothered.

The determination to receive his reward had spit running down your chin and sounds you’d normally be embarrassed to have made, pouring out of you. As you kept going, Rick kept going. Pumping his fingers in and out. You could hear him tear open a condom. And finally, the fingers were replaced with his tip.

“Fuck I’m-“ Daryl tried to warn you. As Rick pushed into you from behind, Daryl came in your mouth, hand gripping your hair so tight your eyes watered. Keeping your mouth wrapped around him until the final drop. You swallowed it all. Coming up for air you moaned at the feeling of the forceful thrusts. Face immediately buried into Daryl’s thigh.

Rick only gave you a moment before he reached over top of you and pulled at Daryl’s shirt, urging him downwards onto the floor. You took the hint and helped Daryl maneuver underneath you, while Rick continued to fuck you. Daryl moved into a position, underneath you, where you were basically straddling him. Kissing him sloppily in between moans. His dick already getting hard again.

Rick slid out of you and pulled you up by your hair. Earning a small yelp from you.

“Ride him.”

It was an order.

And since you were such a good girl who does as she’s told, you obeyed.

You guided Daryl’s cock to your slick entrance and even Rick noticed the gasp he made when you sunk down onto him.

“Fuck,” the man underneath you muttered.

You turned back to Rick who was slowly stroking himself, watching you intently. Daryl started to buck up into you. A surprise sob leaving your mouth from the new angle. Rick ate it up with a wide grin. He aligned himself with your ass.

“Wait no I-“

“Shhh-“ he kissed you, one hand grabbing your face and the other attempting to stretch out your hole. The one that wasn't being pounded into from below.

“It’s not gonna fit-“ you tried telling Rick but the digit moving inside of you proved otherwise.

He spit on his hand, lubing himself up for you. At least he cared about your comfort right?

“I’ll go slow I promise,”

And he did. He inched his way into your tight hole, stretching you to a limit you’d never experienced. It was honestly painful.

Until it wasn’t.

“Oh my god.” A low whine dragged from your throat.

With two cocks stuffed deep inside you, the men took it on their own to create a rhythm. Coordinating their thrusts for your absolute pleasure.

At your sweet moans of gratitude, Rick kissed your shoulder.

“Such a good girl for us. Isn’t that right?”

“So fucking good,” Daryl agreed with him.

“Yes, I- " you started to respond but he pulled you down to kiss him. Shutting you up for the moment at least.

As they fucked you, the noises you made were downright unholy and there was nothing you could to do stop them. Rick finally forced a hand over your mouth in an attempt to muffle them.

An orgasm ripped through you quicker than you’d ever know possible.

And yet both men continued to pound into you until you were a writhing, crying mess of sobs and tremors.

You squeezed your eyes shut as your final orgasm took over and you felt Rick come, his hips jutting forward as he buried himself inside of you. Daryl pulled out and came with a moan, on both of your stomachs.

Shaking and coming down from your high, you mustered up the strength to lift off of Daryl's lap, and as soon as Rick pulled out and tossed his condom away, the three of you collapsed onto the floor of the watchtower. Though it wasn’t the comfiest thing, you were too tired to object. While you caught your breath, Rick covered you with his jacket, and sweet kisses fluttered down your neck. His touch had turned ever so gentle as you melted into him.

“Are you okay?” He wiped a tear you hadn't registered off your face. You felt like you’d run a marathon. Every muscle in your legs hurt.

“Uhuh” you nodded and caught his lips, desperate for more, even after being destroyed.

“And you?” Rick pulled away, only to look over at Daryl who had zipped himself back up with a crimson blush covering his cheeks.

He grunted in response, and sat up slightly against the desk behind you. Your bodies still touching.

“Still think I’m controlling?” Rick gave Daryl a smirk. All that did was make the other man roll his eyes. You couldn’t help but notice the slightest pull of a smile at his lips.

You didn’t remember falling asleep. But it was obvious in the morning that someone had dressed you and carried you to your own bed. Tucked you in with a kiss and never brought it up the following day.

Your ass hurt for a week after that.

#daryl dixon fanfiction #rick grimes fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon smut #rick grimes smut #daryl dixon x y/n #rick grimes x y/n #rickyl #smut #twd fanfiction #rick x reader x daryl #sexandzombies #sinsandsweetness

258 notes · View notes

sabo-has-my-heart · 3 days

Note

Hello! This is the last anon who sent in an emergency request regarding my boyfriend and I, and sorry this is pretty late but I’d love to see both sides ! Don’t pressure yourself though and have an amazing day💗 (sorry if this sounds rushed it’s bc it kinda is)

Hey! so here's part 1 of the Law request, the... uh, happy ending? I suppose. you did say HCs in the original request, so that's what I did. Sorry it took so long, alone time in a house with 3 people + myself is hard. Especially when 2 of them are disabled (3 disabled people in one house 😖)

Warnings: violence, arguments, regret, talk of unsafe situations

Word Count: 850

A relationship with Law is going to be difficult.

It can still be healthy if you work at it, but the man doesn’t strike me as the type to be terribly open about his feelings or past.

So it’s going to take some time for him to open up to you.

He also strikes me as the type to waaaay overwork himself. (I don’t remember them outright stating that he overworks himself, but I can totally see him being a workaholic).

The beginning of your relationship was… bumpy.

Frequent arguments about him overworking.

Frequent arguments about how he never talked to you about anything.

You got through to him eventually, but it took quite a bit of time.

We’ve seen Law fight, we know he’s not exactly a pacifist.

That being said, he’s not particularly violent either.

He’s also usually pretty calm and level headed (Doflamingo excluded)

So for him to hit you, holy shit!

It’s not that either of you was being particularly unreasonable, just that things got a little too heated.

Instant regret!

But it’s Law so he doesn’t apologize easily.

You open up to friends (who aren’t the Heart Pirate Crew) who are very displeased with Law.

They (probably) weren’t exactly happy that he was a pirate in the first place.

But now he’s hit you?

Nope, they want you away from him!

So you’re torn between your love for Law and your need to make others happy.

You do eventually talk to the Heart Pirate crew. (Of course you do, you live on the ship with them)

Many of them are kind of on the fence about the whole thing.

After all, it’s their captain, they love him, they trust him, he means a lot to them. But he did hit you.

Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin are, of course, Law’s biggest supporters.

Totally keep telling you to talk things out again, their captain regrets it.

You two do start talking it out again but try harder to remain calm and see each other’s point of view.

It’s not easy for either of you.

After a lot of talking and a lot of effort, you both get your points across, sort of.

He understands you’re just worried about him and you sort of understand why he’s overworking himself.

I mean, he’s a captain and a doctor, it’s practically inevitable that he’s going to overwork himself… plus it’s Law, his definition of relaxation is probably organizing his coin collection (for the hundredth time).

You do give him a second chance, it’s just a part of who you are to do so.

He, oddly enough, tells you to stop being such a people pleaser after you tell him about what your friends and family said.

“Don’t break up with me because that’s what they want. Break up with me because you’re unhappy with me.”

He realizes this means that you could very well leave him one day because you weren’t trying to make someone else happy by staying with him, but Law is a good guy.

He might be a pain in the neck, but he really does want you to be happy.

Even if it’s not with him.

Because if you’re not happy with him, he screwed up and he needs to take responsibility for that.

Whether it’s changing to be a better man or living with the fact that you left him.

I think he’d try and change for you, but personal opinions.

I mean, you managed to get Law to fall in love with you, the man will probably go to the ends of the earth for you.

Law totally makes sure to keep himself in check from then on.

He will not hit you again.

If, by chance, he does hit you again, he will literally send you back home himself.

Like, you gave him a second chance and he betrayed that.

Clearly you aren’t safe with him and he doesn’t deserve a third.

Tries 10x harder to keep himself in check, like, he really doesn’t want a repeat of what happened. He doesn’t even want anything close to what happened.

Despite being standoffish and quiet, I really do think that if he’s in a healthy, loving relationship, he’s going to do anything for you….

Well, almost anything. He’s still Law, there are some things that just aren’t going to happen.

In private, he frequently asks if he’s scared you recently or if you feel unsafe with him or anything.

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to him about it, he’ll have one of the crew talk to you about it.

Will absolutely change or send you home if you don’t feel comfortable.

If it’s just a matter of being uncomfortable, he’ll try and change things to make you more comfortable.

But if you’re afraid or anything, he’ll send you home until either A) he can do better, B) you’re no longer afraid of him, or C) you leave him.

I really do see him as a good guy, just because he’s not public about it, I think he’s a very good person.

#one piece #op law #trafalgar law #trafalgar d law #one piece law #trafalgar law x reader #one piece trafalgar law #trafalgar one piece #op trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #traflagar law #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgardwaterlaw #trafalgar op #law x reader

18 notes · View notes

comfortabletogether · 4 days

Note

How about Kanata Inori, Satsuki Iranami, Hibiki Otonokoji, and Mikako Kurokawa discovering that their shy and timid fem S/O is actually secretly really jacked and has an absolutely absurd amount of strength?

thank you for the request!! I appreciate the support so much and this was another fun prompt to write lol. Why are you all so creative with your prompts??? It’s getting unfair.

I’m still on the fence about whether or not I write for Kanata, purely because I don’t think I probably understand her character same with Shinji, Kinji (though i am leaning towards writing for him once i rewatch DRA) and Kekaru.

Anyways, sorry I haven’t been active recently. I actually don’t know if I haven’t been active I’ve just being going to bed before I write. I write most of these fics at unreasonable hours (it’s currently 4:38am)

WARNING: SPOILERS, PRE-GAME MIKAKO, MENTIONS OF KANADE

~ Mod Haruhiko ✈️

Satsuki Iranami

🎠 The two of you are complete opposites of one another, Satsuki is chaotic, energetic and outgoing while you are more reserved, tired and shy. But Satsuki loves that about you. She brings out the most energetic part of you while you bring out the softer and more vulnerable parts of her.

🎠 Satsuki will one-hundred percent respect if you get overwhelmed easily. And sometimes in attempts to get you more out of your comfort levels she will take you out with her friends. But if you are seemingly getting overwhelmed she will immediately take you to a more comfortable space.

🎠 When she first learns that you are jacked, it’s verbally. So although her reaction is big, it’s not as jumbo as it will be when she properly sees your physique. But she is so dramatic that she’ll pretend faint from only you telling her. Don’t worry you catch her.

🎠 Satsuki will have her Amber eyes bulging out of her head when she sees your physique. It’s similar to how cartoon characters do when they see something surprising. But you being physically really buff fits with your opposites theme well, as she is strong too, but she’s more so agile and swift than buff like you.

Hibiki Otonokoji

🎶 At first, Hibiki teases you for your shyness talking about how cute you are when you get flustered. And she liked your modest clothes that covered most of your body. She thought they were pretty and she would try to wear something like them at a concert sometime.

🎶 Hibiki would try and get you and Kanade to hang out since the two of you are both extremely shy and easily flustered. But would stop it when you told her that Kanade frequently lashed out at you whenever you said something. And she figured it was because Kanade deemed you to be stupid.

🎶 When Hibiki sees you going to the gym for the first time, she is surprised. Like, she had no clue that you were working out especially since the two people who constantly worked out were weird about girls. Shinji couldn’t really function around girls properly and neither could Yuki.

🎶 Eventually when Setsuka forces the two of you, Kanade and Teruya to go to the pool with her. Everyone is blown away. Hibiki herself gets really defensive, asking why you didn’t tell her that you were buff. This will lead to you carrying her around when she gets tired by the way.

Mikako Kurokawa

🔮 Mikako loves your shyness so much, she herself is very outgoing and bubbly with the people who she surrounds herself with. And she’ll immediately be the person to introduce you to all of her/your friends if you are too scared to talk to any of your classmates.

🔮 Mikako will find your shyness so endearing but it also reminded her of herself when she was younger. When she was first adopted by the Kisaragi family. But if you want to work on being more confident in your speaking skills with other people, she will definitely help you.

🔮 She is caught off guard the first time you ask if she wants to work out with you. Or the first time she sees you wearing clothes that didn’t cover up your muscles. She’ll definitely blush before beating herself up for being a bad girlfriend. But you won’t get reassure her.

🔮 Mikako wishes that you remembered her from before this killing game started. But you had no memories of the past few years of your lives and Mikako couldn’t tell you about them. She could only smile when you asked her if she wanted to work out with you, which left you wondering why Mikako seemed barely phased by you being extremely muscular.

#mod haruhiko ✈️#sdra2 #super danganronpa another 2 #dra #danganronpa another #sdra2 x reader #dra x reader #hibiki otonokoji #hibiki otonokoji x reader #satsuki iranami #Satsuki Iranami x reader #mikako kurokawa x reader #mikako kurokawa

3 notes · View notes

zmwrites · 2 years

Text

Tag: Word Find CCCLVIII

I was tagged by @spacetimewraithwrites and given the words��chain, silence, speak, ghost, hold, and spell. Thank you!!

From Remnants:

CHAIN

They reached the main bar and, farther in, could see a group of people moving large sections of what appeared to be chain link fence. Vanya gave a resigned sigh. “I should’ve known.”

Radka’s brows drew together. She couldn’t tell what they were doing with the sections of fence. Each piece seemed to be about three meters tall, with two meters being reinforced with a second layer of fencing. They began setting up the fencing around a sunken section of the floor that appeared to be the same size as—

“You’re fucking kidding me.” It was about the same size as the fighting cage in The Ruby Coliseum. Anger roiled just under her skin.

“I take it you’re not a fan of the fights?” Vanya asked.

“Cage fighting is what got us into this mess,” she replied, words clipped as she scanned the crowd for Damir.

SILENCE

Damir closed his eyes so she couldn’t see him rolling them but she could still feel his exasperation. “You’re being unreasonable.”

“I’m being cautious. We lost more people to infection than to battle wounds during the Liberation. I don’t intend to lose you.”

The words hung between them in the silence that followed. There it was again, that fierce protectiveness that kept taking her by surprise. Him too, based on his startled expression that quickly melted into something softer—far too soft for how close they were standing.

SPEAK

“The Conclave is preparing for violence. I don’t think it’s a good idea to put ourselves in the middle of that. Not when most of our recruits are still mastering how to throw a punch without breaking their fingers,” Lili said.

“At least they have some training. The people out there facing down Conclave guns as we speak have nothing but their anger,” Roman argued. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet all morning, which was becoming more disconcerting the longer it went on.

Damir frowned. “Can’t stop bullets with a few days of hand-to-hand combat training.”

GHOST

“I’m leaving the country,” she said, then unexpectedly added, “You should come with me.”

The ghost of a smile crossed his features. “I can’t.”

“I know, you have to go save the day or whatever.”

His face pinched slightly as though he was disagreeing but he didn’t say anything.

HOLD

Everyone fell silent as the door swung open. Five pairs of eyes bore into her as soon as she crossed the threshold.

Radka sighed. “So there’s no chance of glossing over what happened yesterday?”

SPELL

Standing there, in the hazy club lighting with Vanya’s warm presence beside her, she almost broke. She wanted to tell him everything, to beg for his help to untangle the mess she was in, to lean on him the way she should have been able to lean on her parents. By the gods, she was only twenty-one; being a few days away from turning twenty-two didn’t mean she was at all equipped to deal with everything she was facing.

The elevator chimed, breaking the spell. Anything she shared with Vanya could put him in danger if the Liberty Conclave connected them. It was safer to keep everything to herself. To swallow her fears and bury them deep inside with the guilt, and the sorrow, and the rage. To leave them to rot like every memory she didn’t have time to process.

Every time I reread parts of this story I’m like damn..... maybe I am a good writer.

I tag @sleepyowlwrites, @ashen-crest, @akindofmagictoo, and anyone else who wants to play! Your words are wash, brush, tug, and floor. As always, no pressure!

#tag games #remnants #remnants excerpt

7 notes · View notes

kindan-no-kanojo · 1 year

Note

Ⓐ (with any oc you want!)

Send me Ⓐ and my muse will rate yours

Mun!R: Ok so I think I survived the decision-making task. Partially. I chose four 💀 This is what happens when you make me choose (?). It's basically the one that Scarlett already met, one I saw in the vines video and I liked the dynamic(?) and another two bcuz idk I also like and hope her to meet/interact with soon(ish? I mean I'd like her to meet everyone eventually but I wanted to finish this today) so yeah [wipes blood, sweat and tears off my face] I did it—

Note: For the last three, since she hasn't met them, it's all based on assumptions after seeing them somewhere. No one knows where. Maybe Twitter. Or Tumblr. Or Tinder. Idk. Somewhere.

—August Kurosawa

Attractiveness:

repulsive || hideous || ugly || not attractive || unappealing || not unattractive || meh || no preference || ok || mildly attractive || nice looking || cute || adorable || attractive || pleasant on the eyes || good looking || hot || sexy || beautiful || gorgeous || hot damn || would tap that || perfect || godlike || holy fuck there are no words

"August is simply not my type, hahaha... But not unattractive, I'm sure he has some charm that I'm not ready to handle."

Personality:

grating || irritating || frustrating || boring || confusing at best || awkward || unreasonable || psychotic || disturbing || interesting || engaging || affectionate || aggressive || ambitious || anxious || artistic || bad tempered || bossy || charismatic || appealing || unappealing || creative || courageous || dependable || unreliable || unpredictable || predictable || devious || dim || extroverted || introverted || egotistical || gregarious || fabulous || impulsive || intelligent || sympathetic || talkative || up beat || peaceful || calming || badass || flexible

"I never expected such a gentle heart from someone, which clearly caught me off guard. I'm still on the fence, I don't know what to expect out of him. Do kind people like him really exist...? Sounds unrealistic."

How likely they would have sex with them:

not if they were the last person on earth and the world was ending || fuck no! || never || no way || not likely || not sure || indifferent || I’m asexual || maybe || probably || it depends || fairly likely || likely || yeah sure || yes || would tap that || hell yes || fuck yes! || wishing that could happen right now || as many times as possible || we are already having sex

"Not to be rude, but that wouldn't be any healthy or good for me. Both because of his overall size and the fact that he's married. Not happening."

Level of Friendship:

never in a million years || worst of enemies || enemies || rivals || indifferent || neutral || acquaintance || friendly toward each other || casual friends || friends || good friends || best friends || fuck buddies || bosom buddies || practically the same person || would die for them || true friends || my only friend ||

"Again, he seems like a nice person! I can get used to his presence and kind energy, being friendly around the other doesn't bother me at all."

First impression of them:

I hate them so much || I don’t like them || I don’t trust them || they annoy me || they’re weird || I’m indifferent || meh || they seem alright || they’re growing on me || truce || I think I like them || I like them || I’m not sure if I trust them || I trust them || they’re cool || they’re genuine || I think we’re going to get along || I really like them || I think I’m in love || oh fuck they’re hot || I love them

"I don't see tall and/or considerate people often... It's a lot to take in."

Current impression of them:

"Maybe he's not that bad and it's all in my head. I hope I'm not wrong..."

How good of a kisser:

worst kisser ever || terrible || bad || awkward || just okay || alright || pretty good || good || makes me moan || excellent || exciting || oh god they’re good || I dream about it || fucking amazing || absolute perfection || we haven’t kissed

"And we won't~! Moving on..."

—Varick Kurosawa

Attractiveness:

"Nice... style."

"What are all those band-aids...?"

Personality:

"His fashion style is already all over the place. He must be hell to deal with, being naturally chaotic... Not that I mind."

How likely they would have sex with them:

"I will need a good amount of drinks to think about it seriously, but I'm yet to know more about this guy for a more certain answer."

Level of Friendship:

"I don't think we will get along, but who knows. Maybe we do...? Maybe we don't. Maybe we will argue often. ...But that's not new."

First impression of them:

"I'm not one to judge people from one glance alone. But. What is he wearing."

Current impression of them:

"And I'm lowkey scared."

How good of a kisser:

"I wonder if it'll taste like stickers..."

—Convoitise Kurosawa

Attractiveness:

"He's cute. Very cute... that's suspicious. But I'm curious."

Personality:

"That is what I assume, although I could be terribly wrong. Who knows, I have a skill in meeting the wrong people... But also in not caring~."

How likely they would have sex with them:

"I need to confirm a thing or two before jumping into this part"

Level of Friendship:

"I can't even imagine how good or bad our meeting would go. This is hard..."

First impression of them:

"He doesn't look bad. But he can't be all that good."

Current impression of them:

"The one way to clear my doubts, I assume."

How good of a kisser:

"Hm..."

—Shoma Komori

Attractiveness:

"She's cute, I've seen her around, once~ From afar. Long time ago."

Personality:

"I don't know too much about Shoma, though. She seems shy, but I could be mistaken."

How likely they would have sex with them:

"I don't think we're ready for that conversation just now."

Level of Friendship:

"...I imagine we could be friends if we ever meet. Maybe."

First impression of them:

"She doesn't look too dangerous, I can give her a try..."

Current impression of them:

"I'm looking forward to it already~"

How good of a kisser:

"One step at a time..."

#📭Asklett #Scarlett Wakahisa #Diabolik Lovers OC #kurosawa-family #komori--shoma #finally. kurosawa tinder.#no but jskdgd there are hidden references im too lazy to explain #how dare you make me choose 🙄#jkjk luv u rosy 😤#ⒶRank

4 notes · View notes

dream-to-be-frog · 2 years

Note

I'm curious, I too am on the fence about Pedro being Joel, but why do you and your friends think he will not be good?

i saw in a recent interview with gq or someone he admitted that he has never once seen even a PLAYTHROUGH of the game. i really have been trying so hard to keep an open mind about the cast. i didn’t actually have any beef with pedro before — he was just Some Guy to me, and once he was cast i was trying so hard to have faith. i’ll link the instagram post here.

i just really feel like there is no way that he can deliver on a convincing joel if he hasn’t even seen the original media?

i don’t expect the adaptation to be exactly like the game, because that’s unreasonable and not fair, but i DO expect the ESSENCE of the story to be the same, y’know? i care deeply about the games and i’ve only known them this year even, and i can’t imagine if i had been a fan since 2013 and some guy who hadn’t SEEN the game, let alone PLAYED it was cast in the role, how much that would drive me insane.

the best way to understand joel is to PLAY AS HIM. and i know gaming isn’t for everyone, but pedro said he tried for MINUTES before giving it back to his nephew or something. but if you were cast as the main character in a game to tv adaptation, i expected more of an effort.

if he really couldn’t play, watching a playthrough is SO EASY. there are so many on youtube, literally just google and it’s there.

pedro said something about not wanting to copy troy baker’s version, but the truth is, watching it once is NOT gonna be a copying thing? how else is he going to get until joel’s headspace, how else will he understand the connection joel forges with ellie and how this man will go to any length to save her??

also, people will compare him to the original game NO MATTER WHAT. might as well see what the original is like. i just do not think pedro understands the assignment.

i just really feel like without even having seen the story there is no way he can be convincing enough to play joel. my friends and i have hyperfixated on this series for months and we discussed this for several hours last night and had a whole bunch of good thoughts about stan culture and what makes a good adaptation and what it takes to understand a character and. we have ALL been trying to keep such an open mind but god i don’t think i can anymore.

there’s this whole thing about actors who play adaptations. my friend lexa had a really insightful comment comparing it to the james bond movies. each bond after the first was so busy trying to be the Best Bond that no one was actually just.... james bond. it’s kind of an ego thing with them, where they are so busy being the best VERSION of the character that they lose the INTEGRITY of the character. this isn’t ABOUT pedro pascal. it’s about joel miller. and he doesn’t even know who joel miller IS.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Last of Us HBO - Status (@hbosthelastofus)

instagram

#that got long but i hope i answered the question well enough #i might make another long post about this later with more of oir thoughts #bc we were so intelligent and insightful abt it lmfao #the last of us adaptation #the last of us hbo #pedro pascal #pedro pascal crit #joel miller #the last of us #the last of us show #frog thoughtz #frog asks #i didnt tag lexa in case some of yall wanna send her anon hate too #nonnies <3

15 notes · View notes

geekgirles · 3 years

Text

Mirrors

Disclaimer: This was originally going to be much longer (and it is very long already) but since I might have overdone it, I will be cutting it in two. The second part will feature the similarities and differences between Marinette and Kagami and some final thoughts.

Part 2

Kagami’s name means ‘mirror’ in Japanese, and according to Thomas Astruc, that’s not a coincidence. Indeed, she’s supposed to be a reflection of the main characters. This trait is best seen through her role as an alternative love interest for Adrien, but she is also a reflection of Marinette’s own character; more specifically, her own relationship with Adrien.

However, the way Kagami works as a mirror changes from one character to the other. For Adrien, she’s a direct parallel to many of the traits that make him who he is, only that she adds more nuance to them. For Marinette, despite their many similarities, they are also opposites.

In this analysis I will reflect (pun not-intended) on the way Kagami works as Adrien’s mirror, how she does the same for Marinette, and the way that affects her relationship with both of them.

Adrien and Kagami:

As Adrien’s alternative love interest over Ladybug, it is to be expected that Kagami would have enough things in common with him for Adrien to be able to relate to her and see her as something other than a friend.

And this is one of the reasons why Adrien has considered Kagami as his girlfriend and not Marinette; her proximity to his own situation.

Kagami’s introductory episode, Riposte, already focused a lot of its attention in highlighting how similar the two are. Aside from sharing a common interest in fencing (which allows them later on to spend time together outside of school or business-related occasions), Riposte already showed enough of Kagami’s background to make us understand why Adrien would bond with her. Their respective parents are both strict, expect nothing but the best from their kids’ performance in everything they do and, most importantly, they’re both very absent in their lives while simultaneously being present in every aspect of them.

We all know how Gabriel controls every single aspect of Adrien’s life while never spending time with his son at the same time, but Tomoe is just as controlling and overprotective. In Ikari Gozen she considered her daughter having friends should be at the bottom of her priority list, even hinting some trust issues with the sole idea.

And, despite that, in Riposte Kagami was all alone in the car, calling her mother to let her know that she had failed, but not showing any signs of expecting any sort of comfort from her. After all, she said it herself:

“There's no such thing as a second chance in my family.”

Another parallel between Adrien and Kagami is precisely the fact that Tomoe relies on someone else to look after her daughter, just like Gabriel tends to shove his responsibilities with Adrien onto Nathalie and Gorizilla. Except that in Tomoe’s case it’s even worse; she entrusts her daughter to Tatsu, an artificial intelligence, not a human being.

Of course, the similarities between them don’t end there. Adrien and Kagami are pretty much birds of a feather in the sense that both of them are very inexperienced with socialising. They’re both lonely, rich kids with a difficult home life who just want to be able to do things most kids their age do.

That’s why Adrien connected so well with Kagami; they’re on the same boat.

As I said earlier, Kagami acts as a mirror to Adrien, not only because of the similarities that have already been discussed, but also because her personality is very much like Adrien’s, except she either takes things to the extreme, or isn’t as similar to Adrien as she should.

Facing their parents:

Believe it or not, when it comes to calling out their parents for their behaviour, Adrien is more willing to face his father than Kagami her mother.

Ever since his mother disappeared, Adrien’s been trying to be there for his father. Pretty much everything he does that isn’t related to his friends or his life as Chat Noir he does it for Gabriel. He studies Chinese, goes to photoshoots, fences, plays the piano, and any other extracurricular activity I might have forgotten about because he thinks that’s what will make his father happy. Deep down, Adrien knows it’s unfair that he’s forced to live like that, he just sucks it up because he knows his father’s hurting and wants to alleviate that burden.

But whenever Gabriel’s behaviour becomes too unreasonable for even Adrien to excuse, he’s always ready to rebel against him in some way. In Origins he tried and succeeded in going to school instead of staying at home like his father wished. In Santa Claws he ran away from home because of Gabriel’s cold and distant attitude despite being the first Christmas without Emilie for the both of them. In Simon Says, as Chat Noir, he called his father out on his stubbornness and refusal to get help despite being an akuma’s main target. And in Feast he showed his disappointment and disapproval of the way Gabriel brushed Nathalie’s condition off.

And he did all that on his own, either for himself or for the sake of others.

Kagami, on the other hand, still relies on others to face her mother. In Ikari Gozen, despite going against her mother’s wishes, it wasn’t until Marinette had the guts to try and stand up to Tomoe that Kagami managed to put her foot down in her request to spend some time with her new friend. And unlike Adrien as Chat Noir in Simon Says where, despite having some help from the confidence his secret identity gives him, he confronted his father on his behaviour, Ryuuko confronted Ikari Gozen, not Tomoe. In other words, she stood her ground against an exaggeration of her mother’s flaws, not against her mother’s true self.

Moving on:

While the show has shown Adrien having difficulties letting go of Ladybug, the main difference between him and Kagami is that he has at least considered it. Since Frozer, Kagami has shown she will fight for Adrien until the very end.

In fact, of the four teens romantically involved with each other, Kagami is the only one who hasn’t expressed any sort of conformity with the idea of her love interest not choosing her in the end. Even Marinette and Adrien, despite hurting immensely, had considered letting go of their respective crushes and pursuing somebody else when it looked like they were getting nowhere.

In Frozer, despite acting nonchalant about it, Kagami was very clear to Adrien: “The day you realize you've got the wrong target, I'll be here.”

With that she makes it very obvious that she’s willing to wait for Adrien, no matter how long it takes him to realise his feelings for her. That’s Kagami’s approach: she prefers to wait before accepting defeat.

In a way, this makes her a foil to Luka as well.

Ever since Frozer, Luka has shown he will support Marinette if she chooses to go after Adrien instead of him in the end, whereas Kagami, while never outright declaring she won’t be there for Adrien if he weren’t to choose her, she never really hinted she would move on from him if he did, either.

The best example of this would, in a way, be what she said as Oni-Chan: “He's the only one who's worthy of me! And the only one I will ever love!”

If I’m being perfectly honest, this sentence doesn’t do Kagami’s character and her feelings for Adrien justice. The way it was written, it just makes her look unreasonable and like a yandere. And you might say it’s because she was akumatised. And you would be right, if it weren’t because Luka’s confession to Marinette also doubled as a declaration of protection and wasn’t painted in nowhere near the same negative light.

But back to the point.

Summing up, the kind of trouble Adrien has moving on he inherited from his father (in a, thankfully, less worrisome way), Kagami has too, but hers seems to be more severe. And there’s a high chance this will play an important role in Lies, or at least in season 4...

Making friends:

Now, as stated above, this is one of the points they have the most in common but also have the most differences in; their issues with socialising.

What makes the two of them so similar is that they’re both kids who’ve been sheltered their whole life, kids who long to have some friends of their own, and who, as a result, struggle greatly with reading social cues.

However, their respective personalities are what really makes the difference.

Adrien is kind, honest, and approachable, both on a superficial and deep level. Kagami, on the other hand, is all those things, but once you get to know her; at first glance she might seem cold, honest to the point of brutality, and difficult to connect with.

Unlike Lila, who got the class’ attention for her supposed life and high status, these two really are the children of influential people, and yet that’s not why the class appreciates Adrien, or even pretends to get along with Kagami for what it could give them. They’re not that shallow.

The class likes Adrien because he’s a cinnamon roll. And, judging by the girls’ reactions to Kagami in both Frozer and Desperada, they aren’t close to her because they only know her on a superficial, non-flattering level.

They’ve both been sheltered and yet, Adrien manages to connect with others better. While Kagami had to rely on an app to try and get along with Marinette, with rather awkward results. And, let’s not forget, it wasn’t until Marinette got to see Kagami was just like Adrien at the beginning that she realised that she’d misjudged her and actively tried to be her friend.

And now the three of them are close friends! (Leaving shipping drama aside…)

The main difference between the two is that, at first sight, Adrien is more approachable than Kagami.

Recklessness:

As the series progressed, we’ve seen little by little how these two tend to be reckless at times. Especially when handling their miraculouses.

Now, it is true that Marinette has made her fair share of mistakes as well because she was impulsive, but most of the time that flaw shone through as Marinette, not Ladybug. Whereas Adrien and Kagami appeared to be far more composed as their civilian selves (because they have to be due to their parents’ strictness) than their superhero selves.

When they both received their miraculouses they both made the same mistake: they transformed before learning everything they needed to in order to be effective users. In Adrien’s case, he didn’t listen to Plagg when he was about to tell him about the Cataclysm’s time limit. And in Kagami’s she transformed just as Longg was about to tell her about Ladybug’s plan.

As a result, Chat Noir wasted his power when facing off against Stone Heart, and Ryuuko allowed Ikari Gozen to capture Chat Noir.

Moreover, in both cases they viewed their newfound powers as a chance to escape their parents and their lifestyles, both literally and figuratively. Therefore, judging by these similarities as well as the others we have already discussed, I’m going to dub this impulsiveness they display as superheroes as the “Sheltered Rich Kid Syndrome.”

Even so, there is a difference between the two: Kagami was actually more reckless than Adrien when she first transformed.

In Origins, Chat Noir acted on his own not because he wanted to, but because Ladybug was still doubting herself to be of assistance. But, the moment she stepped in and took charge of the situation, Chat followed her plans without hesitation.

Kagami, on the other hand, fuelled by her own issues with her mother, her impulsiveness, and her newfound liberty, insisted on taking on Ikari Gozen by herself without a plan or even Ladybug and Chat Noir’s assistance (despite them being the seasoned heroes of Paris). And this decision lacked forethought because 1) she had no experience fighting akumas, 2) despite her experience fighting her mother, Kagami always loses (and that is when Tomoe has no superpowers), and 3) she obviously had no strategy.

It wasn’t until she ultimately failed and made things more complicated for the heroes that she realised her mistake.

In other words, while both Adrien and Kagami use their alter egos as an escape from their proverbial prisons, Adrien takes his responsibilities as Chat Noir and his loyalty to Ladybug more seriously than Kagami.

Honesty:

I did say earlier that Adrien and Kagami are both honest people. Even so, saying they’re at the same level of honesty would be a lie.

Adrien’s sincerity is what warmed Marinette up to him, just like it did for Kagami, but he’s nowhere near as honest as Kagami.

As @miraculouslycool and @flightfoot pointed out not long ago, Lila is actually what Adrien would have turned into if it weren’t for his redeeming qualities and the use he gives to his abilities. Because both are kids who have learned to be sneaky in order to get what they want. Adrien can’t afford to have his father finding out about the things he hides from him because it would lead to disastrous consequences, like when he pulled him out of school over the grimoire.

True, Adrien chooses to be honest, kind to others, and the best person he can possibly be. Major kudos for that. But he’s still not above lying or using relatively underhanded tactics to get the results he wants. The best example being his lie to Théo about being an item with Ladybug just to get him to back off.

In a way, that could be a reason why he’s so disgusted by Lila’s behaviour. Unlike him, she doesn’t use her lies and manipulation as a last resort, she uses them with everyone regardless of her interactions with them and the consequences of her actions just because she can.

But I’m getting off topic.

As stated above, Adrien chooses to be honest, but is perfectly capable of being sly and sneaky. He knows how to operate in the shadows.

Kagami doesn’t.

And that is probably because in her case not being honest is what can get her in serious trouble, let alone if she misbehaves or not. So, fear of the consequences tied with a natural disdain for lies have made Kagami to be honest to a fault.

And this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if it weren’t for the fact that she’s so honest, she becomes brutally honest; coming off as rude to others. To put it simply, Kagami doesn’t know how to sugarcoat things, for one reason or another. Which is why her assessment on Marinette’s personality based on her deduction of her blood type and a single question about her favourite season can be seen as rude or impolite. And it is perfectly fine to see it like that! After all, that is the conclusion many of us would arrive at if we were in Marinette’s situation and had no context on why the other person is acting like that.

Honestly, if I’d been in Marinette’s shoes, I would’ve been like, “Joke’s on you. I’m type A.”

Basically, while Adrien is used to working in the shadows, Kagami is forthright and prefers to face things head on, and both are mindsets and strategies with strengths and weaknesses.

The rings:

Now this is another delicious parallel between the two, just like Marinette and Luka both have earrings.

As we’ve been saying all along, Adrien and Kagami both have a lot on their plate. They have many responsibilities that can become a burden in the long run, especially when we keep in mind that they are still children. Just like Marinette is exhausted from having to be level-headed and responsible in so many scenarios.

However, the rings Adrien and Kagami wear are both parallels and opposites from one another. They both represent some kind of responsibility at their core, but the effects of said responsibility vary.

In Adrien’s case, he wields the black cat miraculous. Needless to say, this ties him with the duties that come from being Chat Noir and having the power of destruction by his side. A power that, as seen in Miraculer and the New York Special, can be disastrous if handled poorly. And yet, his miraculous actually represents the best part of his life, because it gives him freedom. Being Chat Noir has allowed him to be himself, without the restraint from his father’s presence. It gave him the chance to meet Ladybug who, aside from being the girl he loves, is also his best friend. The miraculous has just… given him a chance to live.

Adrien’s ring is his saving grace.

On the contrary, Kagami’s ring represents the kind of duties she’s far more familiar with. Her ring ties her to her family.

That ring is a constant reminder of the pressure she’s under, of her family’s expectations, of the person she’s been raised to believe she should be. Which is symbolised by her family’s kanji being engraved on the ring.

As seen in Riposte, when Kagami loses any kind of challenge she’s supposed to have been prepared for, she believes she has let her family down.

Kagami’s ring is the lock of her golden cage.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

167 notes · View notes

thebeautysurrounds · 3 years

Text

THIS CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR NEVER HAVE I EVER S2 READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

This is quite long I had a lot to unpack.

Since watching the 2nd season of Never Have I Ever a few things have been bothering me about the way people are reacting to Devi, and the show overall but mostly Devi. First of all she’s what a sophomore in high school? and she’s doing this all while being the only brown girl (up until kinda the middle of S2) and still dealing with grief and having absolutely no idea who she is yet. To me outside of being an honor roll student she is not doing things FOR HER she is doing this to appease her mother. Who while she means well pushing Devi to succeed to certain extremes which if Devi shows the slightest behavior of fucking up her mother makes harsh comments instead of understanding Devi is a literal teenager and needs room for fucking up.

Is Devi hella unreasonable at times? YES does she often times act strictly on impulse without a second thought…YES. But as a girl who virtually has no one outside of her friends who also are staring to drift from her and get into their first relationships themselves and have their own activities she essentially is left to navigate the world and her teenage angst alone. While I will give Nalini credit for all the work and time she has put in to not only being a single mother and navigating her own grief but also being a working mother who is a doctor and quite possibly has her own struggles with being a brown women in that filed. My problem lies with her not being able to balance or even let go of a strong arm parenting style that mostly focuses on Devi’s fuck up more than her accomplishments and makes comments on how her fuck ups that haven’t even happened yet. I’m not sure Nalini even realizes Devi is at the very very top of her class because I truly believe (after S1) even though Nalini apologized to Devi Nalini has a ‘hoping for the best but expecting the worst’ attitude when it comes to Devi and that’s in the for front of her mind so much she doesn’t realize Devi goes above and beyond not only for herself but to make her mother proud of her all for her mother to just not acknowledge that.

Now with Devi’s characterization I get where some people are coming from on saying Devi shouldn’t have been “boy crazy” or that they “ruined her character development” but here’s my problem those critiques while valid and your allowed to have those opinions…It’s just not really realistic and let me tell you why like I stated Devi is what a sophomore in high school and she has made it a abundantly clear her parents forbid her to date cause it’s school and extra curriculars only. Which will lead to a good college which thus will turn into a good career. While that’s all well and good. I don’t think y’all realize the FOMO of being in high school and growing up with very strict parents, and wanting to have your first relationship. Wanting to be an actual teenager and not wanting to think about 3-4 years down the line which most teenagers don’t/can’t visualize cause it’s not the right now. Devi wants to have those experiences and there’s nothing wrong with that does she go about it the right way…not exactly but y’all act like YOU have never been a teenager and said and done awful things out of anger or just pure immature stupidity. For the boy crazy part Devi is literally having her first feelings and experiences with boys she has 0 clue what she is doing outside of probably books, tv, movies and what her friends assume they know (even though they mean well) the only person Devi would remotely trusts is gone, and she can’t ask her mother cause her mother would honestly probably shut her down and make her feel guilty for even wanting to start having her first experiences with boys. Y’all have such a warped view of not only real teenagers and high school aged kids but also fictional ones. Y’all are so use to shows having protagonist being awful or starting off kinda okay but then their character turns awful and remains that way. What some of you fail to realize is actual teenagers and “teenagers” in shows can/are VERY morally grey.

Should Devi have been honest and possibly communicated to both Ben and Paxton that she has some sort of feelings for them both..possibly but Devi is a teenager do you think she is having a in depth analysis and talk with herself (outside of a pros and cons list) about what infatuation versus lust versus genuine connection versus romantic attraction looks like probably not. Let’s also analyze how she literally goes from being in her eyes forgettable to being noticed and even though it’s not talked about in the show explicitly she honestly probably struggles with self esteem/self image issues. To go from being a girl who to her no one cares about/notices to one who is getting the attention of two boys who are in Devi’s eyes attractive in their own right. She is so consumed with two guys ACTUALLY being interested in her that she fails to realize she is/and will hurt them both, Do I think Paxton is genuinely attracted to Devi…maybe. But I’m still on the fence about their relationship to me in the beginning I felt Paxton felt Devi is just another meaningless high school fling that he will forget about once he gets to college but to Devi here’s this guy who is “popular” very attractive and he pays attention to her is she looking at the semantics of the situation and how Paxton is more than likely just using her and is only engaging with Devi to get a passing grade and to basically give her the superficial experience of a “high school boyfriend” no she’s not she’s looking at it like here’s this guy who is attractive and he wants to be with someone like me. But do I also believe Devi in S1 was using Paxton and then fell for him DEFINITELY but I will give credit to Paxton for trying at a real relationship with Devi and I hope he will try to be more open and honest.

Do I think Ben likes Devi I honestly do, While the insensitive jokes (exchanged between both) should be discussed I think Ben over time started to see Devi as a girl who finally saw him not the rich, annoying, know it all. But in his view Devi and him are on equal playing fields because they are both overly driven smart individuals and when she said yes to going out with him it was probably the first time he felt like a girl saw the real him. While Ben too more than likely struggles with abandonment issues him dating Devi in a way made him feel like this was the first time he could actual be happy about something cause it was something he actually wanted and not something he just did to earn points in others books and impress people he genuinely got something on his own and that he was actually happy not a front he put on. To me Ben’s abandonment issues come out even more than in S1 when he tells Devi why he’s so hurt and it’s the night of the party when she runs after Paxton (who he sees has it all) and Devi doesn’t “choose him” Do I think Ben and Devi should date cause they share some form of the same trauma no. But again Devi is not use and doesn’t even know what to do with the attention of two people. Again is Devi looking at the semantics of her relationship with Ben…No. I don’t think Devi even realizes she’s quite literally hurting two people cause we could also discuss how Ben and Paxton probably have had other flings and relationships without a second thought while Devi having no relationship experiences and this is territory for her and she has no idea what she is doing or how to properly navigate this situation.

I’m almost done with this long ass rant I promise but it’s two more things I want to make light of/point out I don’t think anyone really gives Devi credit for still going to therapy, loosing a parent is unbearable especially loosing one as young as Devi did, especially when you feel the only parent that truly understood and supported you is gone. Devi doing things that are impulsive and unreasonable because she quite literally has no guidance her mother is only consumed with Devi not making the family “look bad” Devi’s grief is so heavy and she feels she’s going at it alone because her mother doesn’t take genuine time to talk to her. Now was Devi “stalking” her mother extremely inappropriate yes for sure but do Nalini and her need to communicate better for Devi to understand that her mother wasn’t dating sure even if Nalini was on a date their should have been communication there. Devi will probably never stop grieving her father hell he literally came to her in a dream to tell her she deserves better when it came to “dating” Paxton and Nalini will probably never stop grieving her husband but she deserves happiness too and I believe if Devi and Nalini were both honest with each other her slowly dating again wouldn’t have been a problem. Another point I wanna make connecting Devi, Paxton, and Ben is they all have this view that the grass is greener on the other side and that’s just not the case. Ben is jealous of Paxton cause he feels he has the “Perfect life” but in actuality Paxton is extremely flawed and honestly insecure his own family doesn’t believe in him and he knows people only like him because he is attractive, while Paxton looks at Ben like this, while annoying Ben is smart, rich, and no one ever questions Ben’s intelligence but in actuality Ben is very lonely and has spent most of his life alone or being raised by other people which has caused him to put on a huge front to people and often times overcompensate in his social life, and Devi looks at other girls like they have it all and have 0 struggles or problems (I.e her views on Anissa) but Devi fails to realize thy also struggle, are insecure, is struggling with mental illness, and don’t have themselves figured out, and Devi is looking at this man her mom is “dating” as if he’s taking something away but In actuality he is experiencing his own losses. All in all Never Have I Ever gets teenage angst and messy problematic morally grey teenagers right and the fact that y’all beg for more “flawed or problematic” characters and when you get them you don’t like that they are just that it’s odd to me it seems like y’all only want problematic characters if it’s how you see fit.

TL;DR: Y’all need to stop acting like y’all weren’t gross annoying and had fuck ups as teenagers y’all should really stop pretending like teenagers in real and some of us as teens didn’t have/engage in relationships that weren’t good but we learned from it while this show isn’t real it shows y’all will scream let people fuck up and let them grow but you don’t actually mean it. Devi is a teenager and requires room to grow she even admits she acts out and is impulsive but y’all act like she’s supposed to have the self awareness of a 60 year old.

#netflix never have i ever #never have i ever season 2 #tv show #never have i ever #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #ben gross #nalini vishwakumar #maitreyi ramakrishnan #darren barnet #Poorna Jagannathan #jaren lewison #rant #analysis #spoilers #never have I ever spoilers #I wrote this at like 2am so if it doesn’t make much sense 🤷🏾‍♀️#I just had to get these thoughts out there cause it’s been on my mind

60 notes · View notes

starshine583 · 3 years

Text

New Girl on the Block (12)

(Are you guys getting tagged for these??? I’ve been putting all of the names on here, but it doesn’t look right.. anyway, sorry if the tag doesn’t work. I tried!!! Anyone else who wants to get tagged or asked but isn’t getting tagged, please contact me and let me know!!!)

Ch. 1 / Ch. 11 / Ch. 13 (ao3) (Journal Entries- a mini series connected to this fic)

Chapter 12: Quiet Conflictions of the Heart

Felix tapped his pencil against his textbook, staring blankly at the words that he wasn’t reading. The minutes ticked by on the grandfather clock that sat across the room next to the stairs, informing him of exactly how much time he was wasting by sitting there, and moonlight poured through the wide windows in front of him, signifying the beginnings of the evening. The fact that he started this assignment during the day and still had hardly anything done should have been frustrating, but Felix’s mind was too far lost in other thoughts for him to care.

As soon as Rosemary found out about his direct involvement with the akuma, they sent him, along with Marinette and the others, home for the day with light homework assignments and instructions to “take it easy”. The procedure was meant to help them regain composure and process the traumatizing events, but it only gave Felix more time to think.

And think.

And overthink. About him hitting the ground with Marinette, about her pulling them behind the fence only to run right out again, about her shocked and panicked expression upon being picked up by the akuma.

About her flailing body falling from the sky.

Felix set his pencil down and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh. That scream still rang in his mind even hours later, sharp and blood-curdling, like a constant echo of a bad dream. He couldn’t help wondering what might have happened had Chat Noir not arrived on time, how she might have felt hitting the pavement, or if she would have survived at all. The very thought left him gripping his textbook and forcing a deep breath to relax. It hadn’t happened, after all. She was fine. Everything was fine..

And yet, no matter how many times he tried to push the gruesome images out of his mind, they continued to worm their way back in, fueled by how tame Allegra, Claude, and Allan’s reactions had been towards Marinette’s incredible risk of self. The girl almost died multiple times over the course of a single hour, and the only thing those idiots did was hug her and tell her that her actions were justified. Who cares if they were justified! Justification does not equate to rationality, and doing something for a good cause doesn’t always mean that it’s the right- or wise! -thing to do.

Normally, he could brush it off and ignore it. The experience had been daunting, of course, but he could accept it knowing that Marinette had learned her lesson, realized how stupid her decision was, and vowed not to do it again. The problem came with the little fact that Marinette hadn’t learned her lesson. Oh, she’d apologized and admitted that her actions weren’t properly thought through, but it was clear that she didn’t intend on waiting for the heroes any time soon. He couldn’t quite explain how he knew- maybe it was how calm she looked when she returned, as though everything had been in her control the entire time, or how she only smiled when he asked her not to do it again instead of fervently agreeing to his request -but he knew. Her entire demeanor gave way to her belief that her sacrifice had been both necessary and acceptable, and it disturbed him to think of how far she might be willing to go under that belief. What if she challenged another akuma that wasn’t nearly as polite or rational? What if she was alone next time this happened and didn’t have Allegra or Claude or himself to help her when things inevitably got out of hand? Why was she so willing to throw away her own life without a second thought?

“Felix?”

Felix flinched, his eyes snapping upwards. His mother stood next to the couch with a frown, which was odd. He hadn’t heard any footsteps approaching. How long had she been standing there?

Bridgette shot him a concerned look as she sat down next to him. “Are you alright, sweetheart? You’ve been on that same page for half an hour now.”

It’s been longer than that. He thought to himself, plucking up his pencil and closing his textbook. There was no point in leaving it open if he wasn’t going to read it.

“It’s nothing.” He muttered. “History homework just tends to be monotonous after a while.”

Bridgette narrowed her eyes at him, though her tone remained gentle as she said, “Oh, come now. You don’t expect me to believe that. We both know that you would sit and read every history book available if you had the time. What’s wrong?”

A small, bittersweet smile tugged at the corner of his lips. She could always read him well. Too well at times.

“Is it about the akuma attack?”

Felix felt himself stiffen, and he silently chided himself for it. That would be all she needed from him to know the answer.

It’s not that he wanted to hide his distress from her. He was simply unsure of whether he wanted to talk about it or not. The threat was over now, meaning all of this worrying was somewhat unreasonable, and Felix didn’t want to express irrational thoughts to his mother only for them to fade away by morning. It would just make this a bigger problem than it probably was.

Then again, watching your classmate casually wave off their jumping headfirst into an akuma and almost dying was a decently sized problem.

Bridgette lightly touched his shoulder. “Felix, honey, if it’s bothering you, then you need to talk about it. You can’t let things like this weigh on your mind unattended. It doesn’t have to be with me, but communicate with someone, please.”

The amount of earnestness in her voice caused him to avert his gaze, and he began tapping his finger on the arm of the couch. Her wording could almost be considered amusing, as he had no one else to talk to aside from her and Father. Allegra, Claude, and Allan clearly didn’t care as much about the subject as he did- not to mention, he’d rather spend his days putting up ad posters for Adrien Agreste than confide in them about anything personal -and Marinette was the cause of the problem. Besides hovering around those four, Felix was a common shut-in who proudly (and happily) hid himself away in the penthouse with his books and, on pleasant occasions, Mother’s tea.

Nevertheless, he knew that Bridgette was right. He needed to get these tangled ponderings off of his chest, but to do that, he’d have to unravel them first. Where should he start? The attack seemed as though it had happened within five minutes, yet it also seemed to drag on for hours. Time is a shaky illusion when your entire body is buzzing with adrenaline.

“I just don’t understand,” He said slowly, beginning with the thoughts at the forefront of his mind, “how they can all act like nothing happened. Marinette risked her life for no reason, and they all want to treat it as though it’s an everyday occurrence.”

“Who risked their life?”

Felix and Bridgette turned towards the stairs, where Felix’s father was now standing. The man’s eyebrows knitted together as he continued his descent, similar to how Bridgette’s expression had been a moment earlier, and in a few, long strides, he was standing in front of them.

“Oh, Francis.” Bridgette greeted with a smile. “I thought you were still working.”

“I was,” Francis replied, leaning down to give her a light peck on the lips, “but I came down to get a drink. What’s all this about someone risking their life?”

“Apparently, Marinette did during the akuma attack today.”

A disapproving hum came from him as he settled on the couch next to Bridgette. “Isn’t that the girl from school that he’s always talking about?”

Felix bristled. “I don’t always talk about her.”

A soft chuckle fell from his mother’s lips. “You do talk about her more often than anyone else, though.”

“Can we get back to the point?”

“Of course.” Francis said, lazily wrapping an arm around his wife. She leaned back against him naturally. “Start from the beginning. How did you get caught up in this akuma business in the first place?”

Felix sighed, letting his irritation quiet down before thinking back on the attack. Where were they when it happened again?

“I believe we were exiting the café.” He said. “Claude was telling some story as we walked to our cars, so we didn’t notice the akuma flying towards us until she was landing in this gust of wind that knocked us over.”

A ghost pain trailed up his back at the memory of skidding across the pavement. He didn’t get a chance to see it during the battle, but the prickling sting of the injury told him that his shoulders and back had been scraped up immensely, especially during the second blast. If the miraculous cure hadn’t healed him, he probably wouldn’t hadn’t been able to sit up straight now.

“As you can imagine, we were all terrified, since we’d never seen anything like this in person before, but Marinette wasn’t. She grabbed all of us and helped us hide behind a fence within the first few seconds of falling. It was like she hadn’t been phased by it at all.”

“Perhaps she’s simply more level-headed during a crisis.” His father suggested.

“I’d assume so,” Felix replied, “but it’s strange considering she’s usually someone who would jump at their own shadow.”

“True, but people with anxiety can still flourish in a stressful environment.” Bridgette remarked.

Felix tilted his head in a nod. He supposed that was true.

“The akuma said she wasn’t going to hurt anyone, only the buildings to get the heroes’ attention.” He continued. “But Marinette didn’t like the thought of that, saying the people in the buildings might get hurt or killed. So she decided to counter the claim by running out to the akuma to lure them away.”

“That’s very noble of her.” Francis commented.

Felix tisked. How many times has he heard that now?

“Noble and stupid. She was a powerless bystander running straight into danger. Am I the only one who sees a problem with that?”

“Sometimes you have to try to do what’s right even though you might not be able to succeed,” Bridgette said softly, “but I can understand why you would be distraught about her actions. You didn’t want to see her get hurt, and that’s not a bad thing. It proves you care.”

Felix’s gaze flicked to the ground. Admitting his recent attachment to Marinette hadn’t sounded irksome before. She was a kind and compassionate person who hadn’t failed yet in giving him a sense of satisfaction after each of their conversations. Anyone with half a brain would gravitate towards her presence. After everything that’s happened today, however, a part of him was starting to resent that sentiment. Why did he have to care for the one person who would openly throw themselves to the wolves without prompting?

“What happened next?” His mother prompted, tugging him from his thoughts.

Felix drew in a breath and continued again. “She told the akuma that she could lead them to the bigger, corporate buildings, since that was apparently what they wanted. I didn’t understand it at the time, because wouldn’t that bring more death? But looking back on it now, it was probably a ploy to stall time. I doubt she actually intended on leading the akuma anywhere.”

It was quick thinking, considering they’d all gotten attacked seconds earlier, but it hadn’t been quick enough to account for the consequences.

“The akuma accepted the offer and used more wind to carry Marinette into the air with them.” Felix paused, Allegra’s horrified cry resurfacing in his mind. “It was.. nerve wracking. We didn’t know what was going to happen or what the akuma was going to do to her later on.”

Bridgette reached forward and rubbed his upper arm, giving her silent support, and Felix leaned into her touch as thanks.

“I ran after them. I’m not really sure how, but I did.” He said, gazing absently towards the windows again. His reflection stared back at him, along with the glittering stars and illuminated city behind it. How many alleyways did he run through? Five? Seven? He knew he couldn’t see the cafe by the time he stopped, nor could he hear Allegra and the others calling.

“I followed them for a few blocks,” He resumed, deeming the exact number of alleyways unimportant. It was what came next that shook him to his core. “I thought I had lost them at one point, but then I caught a glimpse of Marinette in the air again. She looked like she was talking with the akuma again, but I couldn’t hear what was being said. Then..”

Felix briefly closed his eyes, once again trying to push the image of Marinette’s flailing body out of his mind.

It didn’t work.

“..Then she fell.” His voice was quieter than he expected, but he kept going anyway. “I’m not sure what happened. All I saw was this silver pole that came out of nowhere and hit the akuma, and suddenly, Marinette was falling from the sky and screaming.”

And screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming. He had to stand there and watch her fall, knowing full well that he couldn’t do a thing to save her. The feeling of helplessness that overtook him in that moment had been overbearing.

A classmate passing away was not something he hadn’t experienced before- accidents happened every year, and sometimes, those accidents involved Rosemary students- but he’d never witnessed their deaths personally. It was something you heard about over the morning announcements or from your teacher at the beginning of class, not something you stood there and watched in a daze, and he’d certainly never lost someone that he-- someone that was so-

“I heard later that Chat Noir saved her mid-air.” He added, if only to help his parents’ nerves. The anxiety crawling across their expressions was evident. “I wasn’t aware of that until after I went to look for her, though.”

Until after he scoured the dismantled streets and ever-increasing debris for signs of her. Until after he lifted boulder upon boulder by adrenaline alone and being torn about whether he’d want to see her under one or not. Until after he called her name till his voice was hoarse and searched relentlessly for some kind of clue, like a shoe or a purse or even blood.

Gosh, he looked for blood! Felix was out there, in the middle of a terrorist attack, looking for the lifeless corpse or the splattered blood of his classmate, and everyone wanted to act like that was fine simply because she came back alright. How could any of them be considered alright after that?

“She could have died.” He stated for the millionth time it felt like. She probably will die if she keeps doing this. “But no one seems to care. They all brush it off because she’s safe now, instead of worrying about the fact that she purposely decided not to be safe beforehand.”

Bridgette let out a breath and pulled Felix into a hug.

“I’m so sorry that you had to endure that.” She whispered, her voice full of emotion. It reminded him of Marinette’s apology back at the cafe. The way she carefully held his hand, the warmth of her palm against his- it told him, in that moment, that she truly was there and that she truly was safe again. That confirmation had admittedly been one of the things to keep him from unraveling towards the end of the fight.

Felix felt the slender fingers of his father ruffle through his hair. “You went through something that no one should have to go through, but you also made it out alive. And so did everyone else. Remember that.”

Bridgette’s cheek brushed against Felix’s forehead as she nodded. “I know it’s scary, and you have a right to acknowledge it in your own way, but don’t let yourself get carried away with the ‘what if’s and ‘what should have been’s'. You’ll never be satisfied with them.”

Felix heaved a heavy sigh and allowed his eyes to drift shut. After a full day of almost dying, almost watching someone else die, and worrying about both of those subjects for hours on end, he was officially exhausted. Felix couldn’t remember the last time he’d put so much energy into a single event.

Maybe it was best to just let it go..

~~~~~~

By the time Marinette arrived home from Rosemary, her parents were beside themselves with worry. Apparently, they saw her on the news while they were working and spent the last hour and a half trying to reach her. Marinette had been either running around as Ladybug or talking with Allegra on the phone so she hadn’t noticed her phone ringing.

They doted on her and hovered around her for a good twenty minutes, with Marinette insisting that she was fine and apologizing the entire time.

“Chat Noir saved me before I could really get hurt.” She assured, plastering on a bright smile. “And the miraculous cure healed any scratches that I might have gotten. See?-” she held her arms up and did a small twirl “-I really am fine. But I’ll try to keep my ringtone on from now on.”

Her parents’ worried looks didn’t change.

“We were hoping that transferring schools would keep you away from akumas.” Her papa lamented. “How do you keep getting caught up in these fights?”

“I don’t know, Papa.” She replied honestly. Maybe some of her partner’s bad luck had rubbed off on her. “I was hoping I wouldn’t run into any more akumas too.”

Sabine sighed and gently rubbed her daughters back. “Well, as long as you’re alright.. Would you like to see the package that came for you?”

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows, confused. “A package? For me?”

Tom nodded, a small smile returning to his features. “From a Mr. Claude Herolds. We put it upstairs in the living room.”

“Tried to.” Sabine corrected under her breath.

Marinette tilted her head slightly. A package from Claude? But what could he be giving her that he couldn’t give in perso-

“My fabrics!” She gasped, immediately shooting for the stairs. Her parents chuckled behind her, but she hardly heard them in her excitement. The fabrics finally came! How many were there going to be? What kind of fabrics? He hadn’t really specified when he talked about buying them, though she gave him as detailed of a list as she could. Oh, please, be the good ones-

Marinette threw the front door to their apartment open, coming to a dead stop as soon as she entered. The mere sight of their living room had her jaw dropping to the floor.

Claude had indeed sent her a package of fabrics, but her parents happened to leave out exactly how much fabric he had sent. There were rolls upon rolls lining the couch and the floor, hiding in the corners of the room, sitting on the coffee table and the dining room table- it was too much to count. She was quite certain that she couldn’t see the floor!

Just- Just fabrics.

Fabrics everywhere.

Marinette turned to her parents, who had since caught up to her. They shared eager smiles as they waited for her reaction, and she quickly found herself smiling as well. In fact, she found herself down right laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Who needs this much fabric for three suits? How did Maman and Papa manage to bring it up in the first place? What did the deliverer think as he loaded this up into his truck to take to one person? How was she going to fit it all into her room?

Nevertheless, despite the insanity of the situation, she couldn’t help being ecstatic. This was more fabric than she could have ever dreamed of having, and it was all of the highest quality. So, with the help of her parents and her steely resolve, Marinette got to work on carrying the “package” up to her room in the attic.

It took a while, as one would expect. They had to stop several times for Marinette to rearrange her room simply so she wouldn’t be completely swimming in fabric by the time they got everything up there. They also had to make sure she could reach her trapdoor to get out of her room, her stairs to get to her bed, and her desk to work with the fabrics in general. This resulted in her creating a sort of obstacle course with the few solid things in her room that she could stand on without the fear of breaking something.

“I can’t even believe it, Tikki.” She said to her kwami once her parents went back down to the bakery. “Look at all of this! How am I even going to use it all? This is crazy!”

Despite her words of disbelief, she had the widest grin on her face, so wide that it was starting to hurt. Claude had told her that once she was done with his suit, she could keep any of the leftover supplies, since he supposedly had no use for it. She assumed it was his own little way of paying for the outfit, even though she’d told him that she would make it for free.

Tikki zipped around the room, giggling as she inspected the different types of fabric. “You could make him ten different suits with all of this!”

Marinette laughed. “Tikki, I could probably make him thirty five different suits and still have some leftover.”

She walked over to the piles of fabric in front of her and plucked up the first one that caught her eye. It was a deep blue silk that sheened under her bedroom lights, and she smiled at the mesmerizing display. Marinette had used silk before, but nothing like this. This was the type of silk that she imagined royalty to have, something smooth and soft and slick as butter. It was incredible, and she couldn’t wait to start working with it.

Marinette picked out a few more fabrics, the finest of the bunch, and brought them over to her desk to compare the colors and theorize how they might look together. If Claude was going to give her the best of the best, she was certainly going to return the favor by giving him the most regal and enchanting suit she could muster. Not to mention, this was an amazing, probably once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Fabric of this quality was something she could never get on her own without saving months and months of allowance, and that was only to buy one roll. The fact that she had piles upon piles of this fabric at her disposal now was a miracle in and of itself. She couldn’t waste a piece of it.

She rolled the blue silk out across her desk to begin measuring, but just as she pulled out her sketchbook for extra notes and other things, her phone buzzed next to her, informing her that she’d received a text.

DancingQueen: Hey guys! Mom said that February eighth would work well for the sleepover if you’re all free! I think it’d be a great way to celebrate winter break.

A soft, delighted gasp passed her lips after reading Allegra’s text on the group chat. With the whole akuma battle and receiving Claude’s fabrics, she’d completely forgotten about the sleepover that they talked about earlier.

She quickly switched the calendar app to check her schedule, and her smile widened at the sight of an empty time slot. She appeared to be free that day.

Marinette found herself beginning to wiggle with joy on her rolling chair as she switched back to the messaging app. This was going to be her first sleepover with her new friends! It would also be the first time going to one of their houses! What was Allegra’s house going to look like? Would it be a mansion like Gabriel Agreste’s? She hoped it didn’t have high walls.

Another text drew her thoughts back to her phone, where a message from Claude had just appeared.

TheBetterShakespeare: works for me! What time are we gonna come over?

DancingQueen: I was thinking right after school like usual

TrebleChild: Sounds good to me :)

Marinette perked up when Allan joined the conversation. That meant most of them were going to be there! All they needed now was Felix.

She began typing.

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: February eighth works great for me too! I’ll probably stop by the house for my clothes and stuff first though lol

DancingQueen: Of course! I can send a car by to pick you up if you want?

TheBetterShakespeare: Woohoo! Mari’s coming! All we need now is Felix

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: Oh, you don’t have to! I don’t mind walking

DancingQueen: Are you sure? The walking distance is pretty far, and I totally don’t mind sending a car! (no pressure though. If you wanna walk that’s also fine!)

Marinette pulled her lip between her teeth in thought. Whatever the walking distance, she could probably just swing over as Ladybug within a few minutes. That way, she didn’t have to bother Allegra. If she got there too fast as Marinette, though, they might be suspicious.. Well, not suspicious, but curious because getting there faster than her legs could possibly carry her would be odd.

Ugh, just take the car. She told herself. It’ll be easier than carrying your luggage around while swinging through the air anyway.

TrebleChild: You think Felix is going to respond on here?

Marinette glanced down at Allan’s text and frowned. That was a good question.

After the akuma, Felix seemed to shut down. He hardly uttered a word to anyone, even after they were sent home early from school. She supposed he tended to be quiet in the first place, but it just felt different. It was as though he were in some trance, lost in the distant corners of his mind. He wouldn’t even talk to her all that much. Not that she was someone special to him or anything. They just.. They normally exchanged more comments to each other than they did on the way out of the school. Either way, she’d be surprised if he actually texted them back that night.

TheBetterShakespeare: Oh he’s going to have to respond when I’m done

Claude’s reply caused Marinette to suck in a breath and cringe. Oh, what was he going to do to poor Felix now?

Allan and Allegra appeared to have the same thought, as they quickly texted back.

DancingQueen: Oh dear

Marshmallow Man: Uh oh

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: Claude, maybe you shouldn’t bother Felix. He already doesn’t like the group

TheBetterShakespeare: LET’S

TheBetterShakespeare: FLUSH

TheBetterShakespeare: HIM

TheBetterShakespeare: OUT

DancingQueen: Claude, please-

TheBetterShakespeare: I’M

TheBetterShakespeare: NOT

TheBetterShakespeare: STOPPING

Marshmallow Man: Dude

TheBetterShakespeare: UNTIL

TheBetterShakespeare: FELIX

TheBetterShakespeare: DECIDES

TheBetterShakespeare: TO

TheBetterShakespeare: SHOW

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: What do you want?!

TheBetterShakespeare: HIMSELF

TheBetterShakespeare: Oh hey Felix!

Although she felt extremely bad for the blond, Marinette had to purse her lips to avoid laughing. She could practically hear the growl in his voice, and the image of Felix’s signature glare flashed through her mind. He had to be so annoyed right now.

TrebleChild: I’m surprised you didn’t just delete the app again

Rolling-Eye-Emoji:You know, that’s a marvelous idea.

The BetterShakespeare: NOOOOO ALLAN SHUT UP

DancingQueen: lol we were wondering if you were free February eighth, Felix.

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: Free for what?

TheBetterShakespeare: Can’t you just tell us if ur free or not?

TrebleChild: for the sleepover at Allegra’s house

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: We’re still doing that?

TheBetterShakespeare: Absolutely!

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: If you’re up for it!

TheBetterShakespeare: Mari that statement was way too nice for Felix

TheBetterShakespeare: You gotta drag him kicking and screaming or he’ll never do anything!

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: Why don’t you take a guess as to why?

TheBetterShakespeare: because you don’t know how to have fun and it’s our job to teach you

TrebleChild: Claude, you’re never going to get him to the sleepover that way

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: Claude, you couldn’t teach a cat how to climb a tree, and I know how to have fun just fine.

Marinette snorted towards Felix’s reply. She often wondered how he managed to perfect his sarcasm and cutting remarks to a fault. Did he read a book on it somehow or was it just practice?

TheBetterShakespeare: RUDE

DancingQueen: lol Felix, are you free on the eighth or not?

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: ..I’d have to check my schedule.

TheBetterShakespeare: Don’t laugh at him Allegra!

DancingQueen: Hey, if it’s funny it’s funny lol

DancingQueen: Do that please, Felix

TheBetterShakespeare: Betrayal!! I can’t believe I was naive enough to trust you!

DancingQueen: Oh whatever. It’s not like you haven’t laugh at me before

Marinette chuckled as she continued to set up the silk fabric. She almost worried about using her sewing machine for it in case it ripped, but hand sewing it wasn’t an option either. That would take way too long, and she wanted to finish this for Claude as soon as possible. (without cutting corners of course)

“Oh!” She gasped, straightening in her chair. She hadn’t told Claude about the fabrics arriving yet! He’d probably want to know that.

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: Hey Claude, I almost forgot to tell you but your fabric arrived today!

TheBetterShakespeare: Really?!

Marinette smiled and stood up from her rolling chair to take a picture of the room. She then sent the picture to the group with an added message:

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: I could barely fit it all in my room!

The responses were immediate.

TrebleChild: WOAH

DancingQueen: CLAUDE

TrebleChild: you sent that much?!

TheBetterShakespeare: …

TheBetterShakespeare: I may have gotten carry away

Marinette giggled and shook her head.

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: PLEASE feel free to get carried away anytime you like, I’ve literally never been happier

DancingQueen: lol

TrebleChild: lol

TheBetterShakespeare: Will do! 😉

Marinette smiled and set her phone down again, before rolling her chair over to the other fabrics to pick another one out. Her phone buzzed as she rolled back, notifying her of the new additions to the group chat.

Rolling-Eye-Emoji: Mother said that the eighth of February would work fine.

Marinette let out a squeal. They were all going! This was going to be the best sleepover ever!

TheBetterShakespeare: Aw yisss group sleepover!!

TrebleChild : awesome, so we’re meeting right after school?

DancingQueen: Yep! Except for Mari who needs to go get her clothes. Did you want me to send you a car Mari?

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: If you don’t mind :)

DancingQueen: Nope! I’ll make sure to tell you when it’s on its way.

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: Thanks 😁

DancingQueen: Of course! See you guys at school tomorrow!

TheBetterShakespeare: See you Al!

TrebleChild: Bye A

Our-Cinnamon-Roll: See you tomorrow!

Marinette set her phone down and let out another squeal of excitement as she kicked her legs back and forth.

Her first group sleepover with everyone!

How do you make time go faster?

Tag List: @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182 @jaggedheart11 @marinahrasauce @i-need-blog-ideas @thewheezingbubbledragon @crazylittlemunchkin @unabashedbookworm @moonystars14 @sunflowers-and-mooncakes @2confused-2doanything @magnificentcrapposts @moonnette @nickristus-dreamer @vixen-uchiha @casual-darkness @luxmorningstarr @jjmjjktth @kaithehero @itsme1598 @theymakeupfairies @xjaccyx @miraculous-ninja @miraculouspenta @swiftie-miraculer13 @justafanwarrior @all-mights-asscheeks @ira-sairain @lookatthestars1 @dahjokester

#felinette #Rosemary AU #New Girl on the Block #Marinette #Felix Culpa #Quantic Kids

221 notes · View notes

dreamteamfanblog · 3 years

Text

Y'know, I don't actually have a well defined stance on the "Should We All Be Treating Dream Better In Prison" debate, partially because I haven't been watching the Smp regularly for a while and am most likely not up to date with everything and from what i've heard/seen I am kinda on the fence, so like, i'm not arguing for either the stance that Dream should be treated better in prison than he is or for the stance that nobody's obligated to be nice to him after the moral event horizon's he's crossed. Like. I am not making a stance on which is correct.

But I will say the debate in Dream's favour makes me a bit uneasy solely for the fact that it really seems like the long standing Dream Apologism (or at least tolerance) tendency back in full force. That's not me saying "We can't criticize the way the prison is set up rn", I myself don't know how I feel about the conditions in the prison. It's not the suggestion that conditions should be better in of itself that puts me on edge. It's the sheer unadulterated passion and fury and intolerance towards characters who aren't Dream next to this very lackluster mumbly noncommittal "hahh yeah that was really bad and not good :(" certain parts of the fandom extend when it comes to what Dream's done.

I see lots of people incredibly passionate about how Dream's mental health is bad now and he's not getting enough nutrition and he's being mistreated, and i'm not going to go on record and say I even disagree necessarily but I will ask where that energy is from these exact same people while Dream's continuing to regularly commit atrocities?

A lot of the "Dream Deserves Better Treatment In Prison" crowd will vaguely acknowledge that Dream is Bad and has done Bad things, but they never match the passion they extend in Dream's favour to criticize him with the same fierceness when it comes to things like his consistent and continued abusive behaviour towards poor Ranboo, the fact that he beat a child to death while locked in the prison together then laughed about it (then smugly taunted about how he could do it again and again and the people on the server were still his puppets), murdering Ghostbur/reviving Wilbur with no remorse or hesitance, etc.

I mean sure all but the most diehard out of touch Dream Apologists will very briefly acknowledge these things with a neutral-negative tone but it's literally so blatantly lackluster besides the same people's impassioned fury over how Dream's treated in prison.

And this isn't a new thing!

People are quick to downplay Dream's corruption in the early days of the Smp before the revolution, people are quick to minimize Dream's role in everything Schlatt did, people were a bit too hasty to insist back when the exile conflict first happened that he very possibly really was just upset with Tommy for griefing and probably wasn't even planning to hurt L'manburg or use Tubbo (which...we know is false now and honestly knew was false then too lets be real), hell, there was this whole cognitive dissonance mental gymnastics thing going on throughout season two where people tried to juggle both the fact that Dream's actively psychologically torturing a child all season and the idea that he's not really a tyrant per say and we don't necessarily need to shove him out of power cause has he really done that much to deser-

you get the idea

It's not apologism per say. When pushed people will acknowledge that Dream's a bad person or that specific things that are pretty impossible to ignore were really awful of him.....then cha cha slide right into "But is it REALLY okay to do/say/feel ____ regarding him???".

It's not apologism. But it is tolerance. And the expectation that his victims be tolerant as well.

During the early days of the Smp, Dream unfairly asserted an authority over people who did not want him to govern them. He dished out punishments, made up rules, dictated the lives of others, involved himself in conflicts that were not his business, etc, and when he was told to leave just a few of these people alone in just a tiny little area of land because his governing was unwanted? He asserted himself supreme authority, named his friend king, and then repeatedly killed and destroyed the land of like four people who literally just asked him to leave them alone and stop bossing them around for no reason. He was oppressive, he killed, he stole, he destroyed everything around him with no mercy because someone asked him to stop bothering them and not enter a plot of land that literally took up like a hill in a plains biome and nothing else at the time. There are one person houses on the server bigger than the original L'manburg land plot. Dream was a tyrant who took five canon lives in one day because he was so entitled he couldn't fucking handle the hit his overblown ego took over such a reasonable request. However many people, even people who will vaguely acknowledge that Dream wasn't a good leader back then, will actively ignore or even openly flippantly downplay his atrocious behaviour while also getting weirdly fixated on, like, the 'drug' van thing. Wilbur is a very corrupt person and he has been since before the Pogtopia arc, I will die on that hill, but within the context of the Independence War....L'manburg was entirely in the right? And didn't really do anything?? Like first off I really don't care how often they do the whole bit of calling them drugs, they're potions, the implications are not the same. Secondly, they literally just scammed Tubbo, and not even out of much all things considered, which are like, standard Dream Smp shenanigans, come on now, and like, when it was blown up and made into this big thing where now Tommy and Wilbur are going to jail.....everyone was kinda just like "wait what the fuck". Like. Eret and Tubbo both literally switched sides to side with Wilbur and Tommy midway through the arrests cause like...what the fuck. Like, as Wilbur himself pointed out, they didn't even do anything illegal, Sapnap just decided on the spot that it was and he's taking them into custody. Tubbo was literally the one person scammed and he was a L'manburg citizen from its very conception. The fact that people have always been so ready to minimize Dream's corrupt bs at the time while fixating on bUt ThE dRuG vAn is really weird. And while most people don't take it so far as to claim that independence was a bad thing to ask for full stop, they're also way too fuckin' keen on making L'manburg's side look a lot less innocent than it was and making Dream and his soldiers look a lot less corrupt, unreasonable, and power hungry than they clearly were at the time, instead implying that L'manburg somehow took things too far or had disingenuous origins despite not actually doing anything illegal or super immoral anyway, they were literally just asking Dream to back off from their absolutely tiny little patch of land and stop telling them what to do, and Dream was the one who declared war outright and then started murdering/stealing/pillaging/burning-and-exploding shit all over the place. A lot of people, even as they acknowledge he's Bad, expect an unreasonable amount of tolerance for Dream while being rather overly critical and judgmental of the other side of the conflict in question to an unfair degree. They aren't defending Dream per say, they're just fixating heavily on the other party's perceived wrongdoings while Dream is doing horrific atrocious things and just kinda gets vaguely handwaved at. Sometimes this dips directly into the "Dream was bad obviously, but was starting a revolution and war against him really necessary when it caused so much bloodshed :( ?" argument as well.

This carried on very neatly into the Manburg-Pogtopia arc, Dream's tyrannical oppressive destructive violent acts are acknowledged by a little "Dream's bad and all" and then is followed up by heavy criticism of the other side for doing something completely reasonable as the "Well, Schlatt was TECHNICALLY legally elected!" argument takes hold and it's implied that Pogtopia maybe shouldn't have staged a coup, I mean, that wasn't legal, y'know? Are they Just As Bad actually? Or if not just as bad at least also bad and therefore worthy of criticism? What right did Every Single Member Of L'manburg have to overthrow a democratically elected leader even if he did wrongly imprison them, exile his political opponents, tear down historical monuments, raise taxes unreasonably, and execute a child in front of a crowd? What about the Law? Aren't Pogtopia technically usurpers??? Isn't that Wrong™? I cannot stress enough how often i've seen people trying Really hard not to look like they're defending Dream while actively downplaying his actions and criticizing the rebellion on its legality as if Schlatt was not literally the only citizen of L'manburg left because he executed/exiled/chased-off literally every single other person in the nation wanted him gone because he was a tyrant and obviously his Legal Election doesn't counteract that despite people's attempts to argue that while Dream was bad (and schlatt too, though we'd be lucky to get any sort of description of what 'bad' entails here, much less one that does justice to how monstrous these people are) did we really have a right to force them out of office so harshly with violence?

Or going into the exile conflict, I like, instantly clocked that the plan was to isolate/hurt Tommy, drain L'manburg of whatever resources he wanted out of them, then destroy them. I think most people with two braincells to rub together at least picked up on some of his plan, and of course it's very obvious that what Tommy did was not exile worthy and that Dream would have picked up any excuse he could think of here. But of course you had a ton of people downplaying Dream's actions/intentions/motives. And somehow the weird hyper criticism of the victims got even more severe. Like. To the point where some parts of the community almost seemed to be engaged in a contest to see who could find the most ways to tone police Tommy, Quackity, and Fundy the most for being upset about tyrannical governmental abuse that put all of them in danger and functionally destroyed one of their lives. Like. They will literally downplay or brush right past Dream's shady horrendous bs so quick to jump right into their best point of how Tommy brought this upon himself or was too emotional or needs to learn how to control himself or is so Selfish because he dared be....baffled and angry by the random unfair disproportionate punishment when he didn't do anything wrong. This exact same bullshit extends to when Quackity and Fundy get upset and snap over the exile decision, people sweep right past how horrifically agonizingly atrocious Dream's actions were and then immediately start calling Quackity and Fundy hysterical at the absolute best but much more commonly manipulative or power hungry for the high crime of being deeply upset that a good friend of theirs was just unfairly exiled on the whims of a tyrant, to the point where there were people outright criticizing them for the fact alone that they dared be upset/question the decision instead of immediately politely accepting it and just letting the leaders responsible get on with their lives with no complaint!

And then the rest of the season was the same shit with people acknowledging Dream as bad but pearl clutching at any sign of action against him or people not being polite and tolerant of him. I think I damn near cracked when people watched Quackity call Dream a tyrant and insist he couldn't get away with treating people the way he does and immediately jumped into how dumb and reckless and mean spirited and power hungry and whatever Quackity is. Literally any time he spoke out against Dream for like any reason in any way! This also extended to anyone else whenever they weren't super palatably polite and tolerant of Dream and wound up immediately labeled all sorts of distasteful things because they actually tried to take action against him or even just had the 'audacity' to say some mean things to/about him or the people who help him commit atrocities! Dream gets away with just vaguely being Bad™ but his victims, whenever they aren't the picture of grace or respect or obedience for two seconds, become any number of very specific and very passionate insults and accusations.

They aren't Dream apologists, they don't condone or defend his actions, they acknowledge him as Bad, but they're so much more angry whenever people DO something about it!

Dream is bad™ but wasn't L'manburg escalating to independence like that so quickly in bad faith, especially after the Drugs™? Dream is bad™ but like he has a point that Schlatt was elected so did the people really have a right to stage an illegal coup there? Dream is bad™ but Tommy shouldn't have been so angry and reactionary when Dream tried to get him exiled for no reason, right? Dream is bad™ but can we really say it's right for Quackity to engage in mild skirmishes with him and insult him??

This weird tone policing in which anytime one of Dream's victims is harsh or mean with him they're suddenly *insert wide range of very harsh insults/accusations* is really weird. Dream is bad™ but if anyone does anything about it besides quietly/politely asking him to please stop that sir? They get harshly critiqued to hell for it wheras there's never any suggestion for what they should be doing besides Giving Him What He Wants Very Politely Until He Goes Away. Any insults or acts of rebellion or god forbid violence against Dream is so unacceptable and the people who do any of the listed things are just indescribably bad. Even when Dream hurts and oppresses everyone to this very day and shows no remourse about a single thing, I still see people out here doing this shit.

And, well, I see a lot of the "Dream Needs Better Prison Conditions" crowd be very critical of people who aren't Dream and literally every time they do anything that could be considered even remotely Mean To Dream and they get so much more heated about that then about the actual horrific things Dream has done.

So while I don't take a stance on the point itself at the moment, i'm at least very wary of the whole situation because there's this long standing precedent of fixating in on people not being palatable™ and respectable™ in how they handle interacting with the person responsible for brutal and consistent oppression against them, this long standing precedent when it comes to narrowing in on how Dream's effected by the people who's lives he's ruined acting out against him or not treating him well and absolutely refusing to extend empathy to the other party who, even when they do end up doing 'bad' things at any point, never do anything near as bad as what Dream's done and yet get significantly less sympathy or tolerance than he does. And while i'm neutral on the topic itself i'm deeply suspicious of this whole debate by nature of this precedent and how a lot of the Improve Prison Conditions For Dream crowd are openly much more empathetic towards him than any of the people he victimized and are more likely to brush by his honest to god unforgivable sins than literally anything at all from the objectively much more sympathetic/justified people he's hurt. It just all feels very familiar and i'm inclined to feel like a lot of the debate can read as worryingly disingenuous on that premise alone?

#dream smp #dream smp discourse

44 notes · View notes

thenovelartist · 3 years

Text

Burned Beginnings, Chapter 9

<<Previous Next>>

25. Shooting Star

“If you could wish upon a shooting star, what would you want?”

Leaning back further in her balcony lounge chair, Marinette looked up to the sky to spot the few stars whose glitter could surpass the light pollution Paris offered. “Can you even really see them?”

In the chair beside her, Adrien turned his head up towards the sky. “Well, not really, but if you could, what would you wish for?”

Marinette hummed. “Like, what kinda wish are we talking about? Are we talking a genie wish or realistic wish?”

“Um… realistic wish,” Adrien answered. “Specifically, it’s been a little while since you decided not to pursue fashion, so have you decided what to do next?”

Marinette looked at him, only to see him looking inquisitively back at her. “Not quite yet,” she said before turning back to the sky. “I guess the more time goes on, the more that a part of me wants to have a job that would allow me to be around clothes in some way.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I had to take a little time away from designing to clear my head, but… I think I’m ready to start picking things up again because I miss it.”

“I’m really glad to hear that,” Adrien said, his voice earnest and gentle and soothing.

“I’m not quite sure what that future looks like yet,” Marinette confessed. “But I think I’m ready to start moving forward on it. I’ll do some searching, maybe look for a boutique or tailor shop to work at.”

“I think that sounds like a really good idea, Marinette.”

She turned back to Adrien, only to melt under his affectionate gaze. With this man at her side supporting her like that, she felt like she really could do anything she put her mind to.

“Enough about me,” she said, shifting in her chair so as to face him better. “What about you? What’s your wish? Don’t think I forgot our promise you made me.”

“I didn’t,” he assured, twisting in his own seat to face her more. “I’ve been looking. And don’t judge me, but… I decided that I want to continue working for your parents.”

“Yeah?”

Adrien nodded. “I’ve done my own soul searching, thinking about what kind of jobs I might take. Deciding if I wanted to go to university or find a trade job. Laid out all my options that sounded interesting along with all the pros and cons of those jobs on so many pieces of paper that I lost my desk under that pile. And what I came to is me realizing I’m really happy with where I’m at and the people I’m working with. I did think about going to my old fencing school, though, and taking up that pastime again. But I’m uncertain if my reputation would precede me or not.”

Marinette shrugged. “If that’s what you want to do, doesn’t hurt to try.”

A small smile picked up Adrien’s lips. “We’ll see. I won’t rule it out yet until I know the answer.”

“As happy as I am to hear your progress,” Marinette began. “I also can’t help but wonder if you will for sure be happy with that. Because I feel like there’s more that you’re not telling me.”

For a moment, Adrien studied her with a small amount of surprise before relaxing with a sigh. “You really know me, don’t you?”

“Well, you do return the favor,” she said with a wink.

He huffed in amusement. “Yeah… guess I do.” He then took a fortifying breath. “Marinette, I definitely should have asked you this before I proposed, so I’ll ask you now. Do you want kids?”

Marinette’s brow furrowed in confusion before her stomach twisted into a knot. “Did we really never talk about that?”

A slight panic began to settle in Adrien’s expression. “No, I don’t think it ever came up.”

Exasperated, Marinette tapped her forehead with her fist. “Wow, what a fail,” she muttered before turning back to him. “Yeah, I do want kids. Two or three sounds like a good number. Is that okay with you?”

Marinette watched as Adrien’s shoulders relaxed as relief washed over his face, and she took that as a good sign. “Two or three sounds amazing.”

“Good,” Marinette said, feeling a sense of relief settle over her, as well. “I’m glad.”

“That being said,” Adrien continued. “Back to me working here, part of me wants to take up your parents’ legacy and then one day, be able to give the option of passing on the legacy to our kids.”

A gentle breeze blew by them, yet despite that, Marinette still felt her cheeks grow hot. “You…”

Adrien grinned. “I mean, there might end up being some other place I’d like working, but for the first time, I feel like I belong somewhere. I belong with you and your parents who’ve welcomed me with open arms. And cherishing and protecting that is more important than my job, you know? So, I want to stay here and be a part of this warm place with the people I care about and build something around this warmth. That’s my dream.”

Her heart hurt. She wasn’t even sure why it hurt, only that there were too many thoughts and feelings and emotions piling on top of each other and weighing on her heart. “Oh Adrien.”

She stood from her own seat, only to plop down in Adrien’s lap. He grinned, instantly cuddling her close to his heart and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “You mean the world to me, Marinette. And I don’t really care anymore about shooting for the stars when I can have something far more grounded and stable and warm right where I’m at.”

She settled against him, nestling under his chin and relishing just being there with him. “Only if that’s for sure what you want.”

“It is.”

“Then you will always have my support.”

He squeezed her close once again, holding her tightly. It spoke all the words she needed to hear, yet he still whispered, “Thank you so much, Marinette. I love you so much.”

She smiled, feeling warm and oh-so-very-happy. “I love you, too.”

26. Moonlit Dance

It had taken months of planning and scoping out venues and securing everything needed. But finally, things were almost completed and the wedding was a month away.

Adrien was stoked.

However, there was still one thing he and Marinette had to sort out.

“We are not waltzing at the wedding.”

“Aww. Why not, princess?”

Marinette’s nose crinkled as she pouted. “Because…”

“Because?...” Adrien prodded. He didn’t think he was being unreasonable considering he’d let Marinette plan most of it and only wanted a couple things himself, this one included. Marinette had originally agreed… before hearing what it was.

“Because I don’t want to accidentally step on your toes.”

Adrien snorted in his attempt to hold back a laugh. “Come on. I’ll show you. It’s not that hard.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“Oh?” Adrien raised a brow, growing grin on his face. “Is that a challenge?”

Marinette glared at him.

He chuckled then held out his hand for her to take as he bowed before her like a dance partner would. “Come on, princess. Partake in this moonlight dance with me.”

Marinette looked around the balcony they stood on, one covered with her chairs and a little table and basket plants. “There’s like… no room up here.”

He… had to concede to that. “Not for a waltz, no, but that’s not the point.”

Marinette glanced at his hand before looking back up at him, the fight leaving her eyes. “You really want to?”

“Well,” Adrien drawled out, feeling a bit mischievous. “If I’m being perfectly honest with you, this isn’t quite the moonlight dance I’d like to do with you.”

He watched confusion shroud Marinette’s face. “Huh?”

In a flash, he snatched her hand, pulling her flush with his chest. She gasped at the action, her eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. Chuckling, Adrien lowered his lips next to her ear. “Yup, but the wedding is a month away, so I can wait until then,” he whispered.

Marinette, sharp as she was, caught his implication immediately. Sputtering, she shoved his chest, pushing away from her. “A-adrien!”

It was rare whenever Adrien caught Marinette totally off-guard like this. Normally, she had the upper hand or at the very least was able to retort back. But to see her so flustered stoked a fire in him, and if anyone thought he was going to waste the opportunity he was given and not continue to press his luck as far as it could go, they were wrong. “Awww, what’s with the surprise, princess? No witty comebacks today?”

She pouted, turning her face away, likely to hide the blush on her cheeks. “Oh, shut up.”

He snorted a laugh. “Wow, you’re really off your game if you’re resorting to snapbacks like that.”

“And you’re nothing but a tomcat if your head goes to the gutter with the words ‘moonlight dance’.”

“Only if it gets under your skin.”

“... okay, that was purposefully bad wording.”

“Look whose head is in the gutter now.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Why do you always have to start these things?”

“Um, excuse me, but I have a hickey on my collarbone that says otherwise.”

She huffed, turning her head away and remaining silent

Adrien grinned, stepping up closer to her once again. “Oh? Did a cat catch your pretty tongue? Let me see.”

Before he could pull her face back towards him, she turned, sticking her tongue out at him.

And he caught her face in his hands and kissed her.

It didn’t last long, but he had made sure to kiss her hard and fierce, wanting to keep her surprised and on her toes. “Aww,” he teased once he had forced himself to pull away. He had to restrain himself to not immediately go back in for more. “This cat almost caught it.”

She looked positively red now. “Adrien, I swear…”

“Hmm?” he goaded. “What was that? Couldn’t quite catch the end of tha—mmpf!”

She didn't let him finish. She dug her fingers in his hair and yanked him closer, smashing her lips on his.

Oh, it was on.

He shoved her backwards. She struggled against him, not wanting to let him win. She never wanted to let him win. But they’d done this enough times for Adrien to know she wasn’t mad about his actions, or else she would have stopped and told him to knock it off.

Since she didn’t, he took that as an okay to keep shoving her backwards into the wall. She moaned into his mouth, suddenly using the wall to her advantage and pressing her body against him, and Adrien practically forgot how to breathe.

Gradually, what had started a battle slowed to a sensual tango as lips and tongues and hands lead and followed in time. Adrien was going to die between the way Marinette raked her fingernails along his scalp and across his shoulders and down his arms and…

Shit, what were they doing again? Because Adrien’s mind was shrouded in a thick haze that only allowed him to think of one thing.

Marinette.

She won this battle. Just like she did every time. He was such a goner when it came to her that he rarely minded. If marrying this woman meant she’d harass him within an inch of his life then turn around and black his mind out like this…

Where did he sign up and how fast could he do it?

It took him until much much later to realize the answers were A) he already had and B)less than a month’s time.

27. Future Kids

It was a week after the wedding, and Marinette and her idiot husband were just getting back from their honeymoon. The amount of make-up both of them would be wearing for the next week was shocking. And that was just on the visible marks they’d left on each other.

“Home sweet home,” Adrien said, opening the door to his-apartment-turned-their-apartment. He still had half a year left on his lease, in which time they’d go on the hunt for a new place. For now, the challenge of living together would be complicated less by moving. And it was best not to break the lease early if they could help it.

“My boxes are still everywhere,” Marinette commented, referring to the fact she’d brought several boxes of her things over. She still hadn’t moved all her stuff over yet, half her sewing supplies still residing in her parents’ house for the time being until they figured out where everything would go in the small place.

“You’re just settling in. I don’t mind it for now.” Adrien then turned to her, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her in close. “This mess just means I get to have my wife live with me now.”

Marinette couldn’t help but smile, but before she could say a word, her phone went off. Adrien pouted, muttering something about the phone stealing her away, but she just laughed it off before checking it anyway.

“Oh, is it your mom?” Adrien said, looking at her phone as well. “Answer that.”

She shook her head. Adrien loved her parents and her parents loved him. Had Marinette not married him, they probably would have adopted him.

She answered the phone. “Hey, maman. I’ve got you on speaker.”

“Hey, Sabine,” Adrien said, sunny smile back on his face.

“Hi, Adrien,” her maman warmly greeted. “I won’t make this long for now, but you know Tom and I want to hear all about your trip. So, how about you come over for dinner tonight?”

“Yes!” Adrien instantly answered.

“Glad to hear it. Then I’ll see you both tonight at seven?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Um, I’m still here,” Marinette cried, good-naturedly.

“Sorry, sweetie,” her maman said with a giggle. “But it’s not like you have objections to that, right?”

Actually, Marinette did have objections, but she also knew that her parents were either going to ask her now or later, and since that ‘later’ might end up being during work, she might as well get it out of the way now. “No. No objections.”

“Great. Then I’ll see you both tonight.”

“See you then, Sabine.”

“Bye, Maman.”

“Bye, you two.”

After Marinette hung up, the smile dropped from her face as she sighed.

“Huh? Something wrong?” Adrien asked.

“No, not necessarily.”

“Yeah? What’s ‘not necessarily’ entail?”

Marinette took a breath. “Maman and Papa are going to start with asking about the trip, but I know them, specifically my papa, and at some point during this conversation, they—specifically Papa—are going to ask when they can expect grandkids.”

Seemingly unperturbed, Adrien just shrugged. “And we say ‘we don’t know yet’. Field the questions. It’s not like we don’t want kids, but neither of us know when the best time would be to start for them. Easy.”

“You say that now,” Marinette grumbled.

Adrien tilted his head, looking a little like a confused puppy.

Cute.

“Is that the wrong answer?”

“No,” Marinette dismissed. “It’s just that you say it so easily.”

“When it comes to your parents, talking with them is easy.”

“Then I’ll let you field those questions,” Marinette said, slipping out of his embrace. “I am going to go shower.”

“Oh, can I come with?” Adrien asked, sparkle in his eye and hope in his voice.

She scoffed, feeling a little bit of heat creep up her neck. “No, because I actually want to shower.”

“So do I.”

“Then wait your turn.”

“Why, though? Can’t I just come with you?”

“I don’t know. Will you behave?”

“I promise!”

Marinette huffed. “Yeah, I know what happened over the honeymoon. I don’t believe you.”

“So cruel,” Adrien said, pantomiming being stabbed in the heart. “It wasn’t like you slipped into the shower against my will two nights ago.”

Marinette paused. She supposed she did do that.

But considering what followed, it was hardly ‘against his will’.

“So…” His smile suddenly turned devious, and Marinette found herself thinking that grin was incredibly hot. “I guess I’ll just have to call ‘fair fair’ and return the favor.”

Okay, whatever you say, Hot Stuff. Do your worst.

She shoved that thought down as quickly as it came up, knowing she had to remain responsible or else they were totally going to miss dinner. She checked the time on her phone, biting her lip in deliberation. “Here’s the deal,” she eventually said. “Set an alarm; we shut this whole thing down with plenty of time to make ourselves presentable before we go over there.”

Adrien looked like a cat that got the cream, and Marinette knew by the racing of her heart that she was in trouble. But she’d realized during her honeymoon that she’d signed up for this.

She’d also realized during the honeymoon that she really didn’t mind.

#miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #adrienette #adrinette #AdrinetteApril2021 #fluff #and a little steamy #It's a day late #but oh well

60 notes · View notes

spade-riddles · 3 years

Text

Submission:

I’m a lesbian just a year older than Taylor and I’d never heard of that “All Over Me” movie, tbh. But you know what I had heard of? You know what was absolutely HUGE in the community when it came out in 2006?

“Loving Annabelle.”

Younger bloggers don’t like to talk about this on Tumblr because the age gap relationship is considered problematic in the post MeToo era. But I was around at the time and this was one of a handful of lesbian movies we had, and I can tell you, EVERYONE watched it. It was like Spashley in “South Of Nowhere”. Or “The L Word”. We clung to every scrap of representation we could find back then, even if it wasn’t amazing, because it was all we had. Especially if the women actually got to have sex in it, and they didn’t die or get dumped for a man in the end.

And “Loving Annabelle” was HUGE. It had a badass heroine and a sexy older woman. It had actual chemistry between the two leads. It had a killer soundtrack.

The premise of the movie is that a senior at a Catholic boarding school starts a relationship with her teacher. She is already sexually experienced and is the one who pushes for the relationship, which does end up with the teacher being fired regardless. But you can see why people would have problems with the premise today. However I feel like I should say, in the movie it is very much played as two women with an age gap falling in love, when the timing is wrong. Many lesbians in age gap relationships, or femme/femme relationships, felt really represented by the movie. It was also one of the few movies to show a woman trying to reconcile her love for other women with her Catholic faith. For a lot of reasons, this resonated with people.

Pretty much every fandom back in the day had its “Loving Annabelle” influenced AU for their lesbian ship. Whether you like it or approve of it or not, it was big at the time, and if Taylor was gay back then (as evidence suggests she was) then it would be nearly impossible for her not to have checked it out. And if we’re not projecting 2021 standards of wokeness on teenage Taylor (which I think would be pretty unreasonable to do) then yeah, I think she would have liked this movie.

She was in a relationship with a (slightly) older woman. She had her own journey with her faith. She had a thing for blondes. Hell, the lead character in the movie even wins over her love interest by playing a song for her on guitar!! I absolutely think this movie appealed to Taylor back then. It even explains something that has always seemed a little odd: the music video for “The Story Of Us”. The song is probably about Taymily, even though the hetsplanation says it’s about John Mayer or somebody. And Taylor sets the video in what looks like some kind of American Catholic school, from the uniforms?

I think this was Taylor’s way of hiding her truth in the video. She keeps calling back to “Love Story”, with the lyrics and the book and the school setting, but then she includes these uniforms, even though she didn’t go to a high school like that. And they’re so similar to the “Loving Annabelle” uniforms, I feel like it was Taylor’s way of sneaking in her truth with Emily.

In some of the cutaways she even looks like she’s having an emotional breakdown sitting on the teacher’s desk. (What would she be doing hanging out in the teacher’s office if she was a student in love with another student, like the video wants you to think? It’s weird.)

But the biggest piece of evidence this movie had an impact on Taylor is the soundtrack. There was a whole soundtrack created for the movie by the band Aurah. The main song is the one from the love scene, called “All Over Me”. And now we find out Taylor wrote a song, in the Taymily era, with those lyrics? Too much of a coincidence.

You want to know what’s even weirder? Someone made a post about this song in the Kaylor fandom, about a year ago. They were comparing the lyrics to “Delicate” and saying how “Taylor” the themes were. I was on the fence about it back then but the more I think about it the more I think they were right. It just went back earlier than they thought. I can see younger Taylor being inspired by this movie.

(PS: if people want to clutch their pearls about this movie can they please just not? If “Twilight” is allowed to be a guilty pleasure movie for the straights I don’t see why lesbians can’t have our one flawed thing. The actual way the characters treat each other in this is way healthier, despite the teacher/student set up.)

67 notes · View notes

rvpx-99 · 2 years

Text

Since Zoe has no personality at all (and I don’t buy “being nice” is a real personality trait) I decided to play a little even though it’s kinda hard.

Zoe is in the show only to replace Chloe by being a new bee miraculous holder. No one can tell me otherwise.

Pity since she looks gorgeous and I wish she received some real emotions with reasoning for her face that is very suitable for facial expressions.

I like the idea of Zoe being much different from Chloe and her mother. I like her design and her clothing except for the shirt and trousers which are only yellow because you know. Bees.

She was bullied by her classmates for her fake personality and she didn’t figure herself yet. Good story but a terrible excuse. Also if she’s tired of pretending to be someone who she isn’t … how is her dream to become an actress??

I imagine Zoe breaking free and running from her mother to her new friends. Jumping the fences and making some mistakes. She’s basically there to be perfect.

Since she doesn’t really know how to be herself, she’d enter the school acting mean and superficial, just like she did to show Chloe she’s worthy to be her sister. However she’d probably meet Luka with Marinette first. Why both? To add more drama. She’d act nice. Luka would notice it and we’d get a hint for a new ship that would peacefully end Lukanette. Also I think Luka could be very suitable for her. Not only because I think their colour coding and shoes match. But also because Luka sees through people and helps them with their internal struggles. Zoe is someone who struggles with her self and personality. In the school she’d be mean. But she’d be nice meeting Luka again. Marinette would think she only wants to use Luka and would try (Mari) to protect/warn him. No one would listen, because Luka is no longer her boyfriend (or is? I’m little lost in the chronological order). And there we have some actual drama and the story not only being centered on Zoe which is only worse if she’s a bad character (not a bad person, a badly written character). However she’d meet Marinette alone too and Marinette would give her a chance to explain herself (+points for Marinette, because she’s only getting worse and worse). Then Zoe would tell her (a part of her) story about faking personality in school. Marinette would encourage her to be herself, but not in the best way. She’d just mess up some words and out of this misunderstanding, Zoe would do street art on private property or something. Everyone would tell Marinette Zoe is really messed up and Zoe would run away to meet Luka. She wouldn’t want to talk to him and get akumatized into an ORIGINAL villain. Not some lazy unreasonable copy of Chloe. After she gets purified, she apologizes and learn from her mistakes and get a second chance… but that could never happen because if did, we wouldn’t have Zoe in the show in the first place, right?

I imagine Zoe listening to pop punk genre.

And JUMPING THE FENCE!

#zoe lee #miraculous season 4 #miraculous ladybug #mlb season 4 #mlb #miraculous les aventures de ladybug et chat noir #chloe bourgeois

13 notes · View notes

purplerose244 · 3 years

Text

It was always you

Hello everyone!! 😊

I’m a bit late but I really wanted to contribute to the @lukadrien-june event, I hope this is okay! Based on the third prompt, while throwing in some character study for sunshine boy! 💛

Enjoy!! 😙😙

Summary: Love was supposed to be easy, at least in his head. A pure perfect fairy tale... except it was not. Adrien takes probably more time to realize it than other people but he is getting there. Especially not alone.

Read it on the AO3 here

If there was one thing that Adrien wished he had known, before giving up homeschooling once and for all and finally starting to build a life, was that loving wasn’t nearly as simple and dreamlike as his extremely well-developed imagination had led him to believe. He truly wished that he could borrow Bunnix’ Miraculous sometimes, just to head back to that room where he used to spend his entire time on his own dreaming of himself and his soulmate and getting married at sight, and tell him that if living was hard outside, heart matters were even harder.

Love wasn’t that ideal, it wasn’t reductive.

It wasn’t nearly that basic either. It took him a while, but he had figured it out.

It had all started with Ladybug of course, most of his new experiences in the real world had started with her. He had fallen in love with her pretty much two days after meeting her… granted, being stuck into his own house for years thinking of himself as a poor prince in waiting of a savior rather than a knight out to get the princess, might had developed in him a bit of an eagerness for romance. She was smart, beautiful, courageous, resourceful and a hero, what was there not to love? Besides they were Chat Noir and Ladybug, they were meant to be… because… that was Ladybug. The moment he had realized how much he loved that image – if he used to fantasize before looked at him now –, and how he had started to slowly care less and less about knowing what was hiding behind it, that was the dealbreaker. He didn’t want to be in love with a figure, an icon for Paris, because it was what all people had always reduced him to. It would have not been a good way to start, and it would have not been fair for her either.

Getting over all those dreams about the marriage, the children and the hamster – oh the hamster, heart stay still – that he had wished for so intensely had been… easy? Not exactly, but smooth. A strong emptiness and pain that had slowly faded away with time. After all, Ladybug was never going to be far from him, and she cared about him a lot, he knew that much. He could love her, no matter what, no matter in what way.

After that singular and very one-sided experience, a spectacular sequence of disasters had made him slowly and steadily feel aware of how much messier the concept of relationships really was. One thing was dodging Chloe’s overly affectionate tendencies or his fans’ intense assaults over him; the other realizing that Kagami was ready to commit into something he wasn’t sure of, that Lila was still somehow convinced that he wanted something to do with her after all of her lies – for a fox this sly she sure was in denial… why did that sound hypocrite? –, and that Marinette had apparently harbored feelings for him almost as soon as they had met – oh yeah that was why. Life, a real, multifaced, worth living life was chaotic and confusing, it hurt, and it saddened, and he was behind everyone, struggling like mad to catch up.

Rejecting so many people he cared about had been awful. Some of his closest friends, all important parts of his life in different ways, and all because he wasn’t smart enough to understand feelings and his own clearly weren’t right. When Marinette had smiled at him with tears in her eyes, saying that it was okay and that she understood, Adrien had decided that it was enough. He wasn’t going to attempt anything else, if it always ended up with hurting someone he cared about.

He could deal with his feelings on his own, he always did, without paining anyone. There was no problem anyway, after Ladybug no one had ever shaken his heart.

No one, no one at all… and during that time, between slowly realizing that perhaps looking for wedding rings after two days sounded a little unreasonable and somehow managing to hate his face plastered all over Paris even more than before, the Music Festival had occurred, along with the awakening of Captain Hardrock. The famous tripping over the bridge had happened, a goofiness that had somehow gotten him into a band.

Him had happened. The charming, kind, intriguing guitarist of the Liberty, that had welcomed him the moment he had been there.

Luka Coffaine.

… Adrien was starting to hate his heart a little bit.

Luckily or unluckily, around that time he had found himself too caught up in his and other people’s messes to even realize how he had always unconsciously smiled at the boy whenever he was there, and how it had become normal for him to stay with him after band practice, without caring on how father could had reacted to his delay – just how dense was he about his feelings… never mind. It took Lila to finally focus on something other than plotting, Chloe to start paying attention to her own life instead of worsening others, and Marinette and Kagami to begin exchange sweet looks for him to finally find some normality to think – and develop an extremely intense fanboy soul.

Enough to realize that ever since Desperada, with the brilliant introduction of Viperion to the team, Adrien had found himself as Luka’s confidant, the only one besides Ladybug aware of his secret identity. Exciting stories, confessions, insecurities, all while the guitarist was making such an effort to communicate with words, because he trusted him enough not to judge his mind.

And Adrien was enjoying the confidence, the vicinity. A lot. Truly a lot.

… way too much for it to be normal.

It had woken him at night. He had teared up in his bed, curled on one side while Plagg had been purring next to his ear all night. It was the first time that being in love had felt this terrifying. He didn’t want to mess everything up, not again, not with Luka. The freedom he felt with being on the Liberty, the time spent with his friends in the band, the warming welcome he had always received from captain Anarka and Juleka – and by extension Rose, those two always came in pair –, and every single moment spent without having to care about who he was and what did he represent because Luka didn’t care about covers, he cared about the real music coming from people. Everything could disappear in a moment.

With that set of mind, he had spent some of the most tense moments of his life, constantly pondering about what to do next. What exactly was a person supposed to do if he liked another without making a mess? What was the alternative to confess his undying love and hope to plan a wedding at the end of his studies? Was there an alternative??

His anxious attitude had inevitably gotten the attention of his group of friends, that for some miracle hadn’t gotten tired of his denseness, especially Marinette. She hadn’t seemed to care much, especially not while distractively holding the amulet Kagami had made for her – somehow love life had made the fencer even deadlier during practice, like she was fighting was someone, impressive. It had taken them to bribe him with a new recipe of croissants from the Dupain-Cheng bakery to be forced to talk, a necessity that had exploded out of his lips the moment his friends had been gathered on Marinette’s bed to listen. The sweets had been amazing. Just a bit salty… but that was probably because he hadn’t been able to talk without tearing up all over the food.

At the end of the discussion, Marinette had squeaked so loudly his ears had started to ring.

“You have to confess and get together, you two would be a great couple!” To which he had responded that he didn’t want to risk it, especially since he didn’t know how it was going to end.

Alya had slammed her hands over her own knees – ouch –, standing up.

“You have to man up! Don’t think about what could happen, go for it and make him yours!” To which he had said that he didn’t want to be insensitive again in case it didn’t go well – also that that kind of wording was a little confusing, enough to turn him bright red.

Then Nino had looked up from his phone, looking a little baffled. He had changed too, considering that love matters used to make him all nervous.

“Why don’t you ask him out first and see how it goes from there? You don’t have to become boyfriends if it feels too soon.” The table had gone silent, all eyes were on the DJ, who simply arched an eyebrow. “… you do know you can go on a date with someone, realize that it’s not working without actually get together, right?” More silence had followed. Adrien was sure that he had felt a weird mixture of disappointment and relief, while Marinette had looked so very shocked.

In conclusion, Nino was amazing. Like that was new.

Starting from there the blonde had been practicing in front of the mirror every day, terrified of rejection but less tense over how things could go. Despite fans and admirers his past relationships, if those could be called, weren’t giving him much of a booster or a good feeling about how this chance was going to play. Somehow it hardly mattered. Luka was a very reasonable person, he was going to reject him very nicely. It had been almost uplifting the idea of the guitarist treating him with absolute kindness, even while shattering all of his dreams.

One day Luka had called him over for an improv session. It happened often, this artist was extremely instinctive when it came to music, and he had told him that having a more rational and accurate player like Adrien around grounded him to his usual style. It was flattering every time he was called for that same reason, it was an occasion that made the blonde ignore all about his current schedule – of course he was at fencing right now, Kagami could cover- uhm, confirm for him –, to finally focus on something that he really wanted to do. Luka was always waiting over the bed of his room, playing a few notes, stopping for minutes then going again. It was calming and endearing, like Adrien was allowed to hear the inside of his mind.

He had been standing there, legs crossed at the end of the bed while Luka was lying down with the instrument. There had been only sounds for all of this time, without additions or suggestions or anything. It was nice. Really nice. Adrien had wondered what else could he discover out of him just by stay close like this, and how much he wanted to. The need to let those words out had been steadily growing without him realizing it.

“Luka?” Until they were out. “Do you wanna go on a date with me?” Mirror practice had helped, it had come out almost mechanically. There was a spark into his stomach, the adrenaline pouring out. The melody in the air had stopped for a pretty terrifying second.

Then it had come back as a full, real song. It was timid, sweet, and sincere.

“I’d love to.” In his own giddiness, Adrien could admit of being wrong. Yet he was almost sure he had seen the calm and controlled guitarist blush the tiniest little bit.

A single date at the restaurant where Alya’s mother worked at without people in the way – he loved his friends so much – had followed another one walking hand in hand through Rue Montorgueil in disguise – at last he had achieved his long-lasting dream of looking like someone else without the mask –, that had followed another one at a secret party Chloe had organized at Le Grand Paris for her classmates – she had given him such a smirk at seeing his plus one, gossip was coming. It had nothing to do with the dates of his daydreams, the ones he had lived through his head for years: every single time his stomach was so tense it felt like it was burning, painfully, making him question if he really wanted this. Then, the moment they were there talking, engaging themselves into an interesting topic while letting time pleasantly leave them behind, the stress was gone and there were only the two of them.

They had gone like this for months. Some absolutely lovely months. At some point Alya, stopping him at school, had calmly stated that him and Luka combined with Marinette and Kagami were making her feel single, and she had a boyfriend, so it was probably time to make it official. He had agreed with her, of course he had. He liked Luka… yeah right, he loved him. Everything with him felt so real, so close and intense, like he was finally living.

His feelings weren’t the problem… Luka’s were.

Not that he doubted him. Not after all the little orange blossoms left over his keyboard before band practice – they meant eternal love, oh heart stay still once again –, the songs sung for him whenever he felt upset or angry at his father, or the hand kisses at the end of every single date, like he was being cherished every single time. One of the guitarist’s biggest qualities was his sincerity, Adrien was absolutely sure he could trust him and his heart. Just how he had never blamed anyone before, not Chloe, not Kagami, not Marinette, not even Lila, for their feelings towards him.

They had been real, like his own feelings for Ladybug used to be… but they were for Adrien only, the supermodel, Paris’ iconic pretty face and perfect boy. That perfection in him, one he had been forced to practice in order to please his father, that was attracted others, but it wasn’t in any way all that was in him.

What was all the rest? It was also there. But it came out only whenever he wore the mask.

With time, the image he had been forced to wear for the profit of his father had grown into an uncomfortable, old sweater that he hadn’t known it had felt unbelievably itchy until he got the possibility to take it off, to try something else. And that black-leather armor was his absolute favorite. Nothing felt like freedom as that, nothing felt like him as those moments, whenever he jumped into the sky holding hard onto his staff. Thanks to his Miraculous he had discovered himself. Thanks to that he had found out that he liked making jokes, he loved puns, he liked making a fool of himself for the sake to have fun. He liked risking, he liked dancing, he wasn’t too keen on closed places, and he absolutely loved how the moon reflected into the Seine at night after patrol. Everything was him, so vividly him it made him choke a little at the mere thought of it.

Adrien Agreste was another mask, one he was growing considerably tired to wear. He had been through some love experiences now, even though they did not end quite well: there was no point into pretending to be someone he wasn’t, there was no meaning into hiding himself when he truly wanted to establish a bond with someone. He had known this, he knew this.

But if everyone liked Adrien better… if Luka liked Adrien better, how was he supposed to do that?

The tension coming from those thoughts was there only when he wasn’t around his favorite guitarist, making him at least forget about the dilemma coming with. Even so, around those times he had found himself at least wondering exactly what kind of opinion his date had about Chat Noir. He wasn’t sure, they had never talked much in their superhero personas, because of the urge of the moment and because with his lady’s strategic mind and a power like Second Chance it was unfairly easy sometimes to solve the situation – Ladybug needed to start bringing Viperion more often and yes, maybe just a little bit to see more of Luka in sexy snake cosplay. He was fairly sure he didn’t mind him, he seemed to even smile at him sometimes – total heart eyes –, but he wanted to be sure.

It had been night at the Liberty, they had ordered pizza. Sugary drinks made Rose giggle like mad, so Juleka had brought her to her room to take a nap and probably cuddle, leaving the two of them alone. That wasn’t weird. Wondering if the guy Adrien was dating liked his cat counterpart, that was weird. At the end, looking at how relaxed the boy over the sofa was while distractively bending the last pizza crust, he hadn’t been able to do pose a potentially confusing question, asking instead what he thought about Ladybug – he had made a mental post-it to whine loudly into his pillow later.

Luka had brought up stuff he already knew, how she was a great leader, an inspiration, extremely smart and courageous. Despite the failure of questioning him Adrien had smiled, he was weirdly happy they thought the same about his partner.

“She has a huge responsibility and deals with it incredibly, that’s commendable… with that being said, my favorite is Chat Noir.” A boom inside. “He’s hot.” A second, bigger explosion had occurred into Adrien’s head – in a feeble spark of lucidity he had begged his brain not to produce smoke out of his ears. Luka had laughed, playing some more, without looking directly at him. “And he’s such a selfless, reliable person, you can tell from how he doesn’t hesitate to help others or support me or Ladybug. He’s incredibly loyal, and… really funny.”

It had taken perhaps a second too long, in which a thousand of tiny little Adrien running all over his brain had been screaming out loud hysterically about how this handsome guitarist was a Chat Noir fan, and it had been the best day ever. Then he had managed to talk, ask, his voice was a little raspy.

“You… you like his puns?” Luka had scooted closer to him, smirking a little.

“It’s our little secret.” With that he had put a hand around his shoulders, bringing him closer to him. The blonde had abandoned himself into the embrace, trying to hide the giddy smile in his chest.

It got easier to let himself go from that moment forward, knowing that at least some parts of Chat Noir Luka didn’t mind at all. Having Nino groaning like mad after they had all taken their matchmaker ice creams from Andre, with Adrien coming out with a “I scream for an ice cream”, had been worth it just to see the guitarist rolling his eyes with an endeared smile. It had felt good. He couldn’t fully let go, being a model and famous and all that baloney, but he could stop pretending for a moment and embrace a little bit more about himself.

It had hit him much later that perhaps, maybe, possibly, the matter of telling Luka about his superhero identity was meant to come up at some point. It hadn’t seemed an important matter before, he was not supposed to do reveal it anyway according to Ladybug. Then again, this wasn’t a relationship behind masks like that one, it was as open as it could be. Also Plagg wasn’t exactly the biggest fan or rules anyway, he had doubted he would have minded. Hearing Luka talking about his latest adventure with Viperion, basically summarizing everything Adrien already knew from his point of view, made him feel a bit guilty about not coming clean. Still, it was hard to recall that unpleasantness with Luka always ending the discussion making a comment about Chat Noir, probably catching up over the fact that Adrien was also a ‘fan’. Knowing that such a charming boy like Luka considered his pun machine alter ego attractive, stating that the only blondie with green eyes as handsome he knew was Adrien, was definitely a good way to end the day.

Then, that had happened. Apparently, Hawk Moth had thought that the idea of unleashing once again Gorizilla over the powerless city of Paris was a hilarious idea. It had taken them forever to calm him down, the bodyguard had been all agitated since there had been no sign of his protegee – at least for what he knew. Cataclysm, Lucky Charm, Miraculous Ladybug, the script was old and overused and after the most tired pound it ever Adrien had called it a day, sinking into his own bed as soon as he had been home.

The unconscious was a calming place, a pleasant one, just like Luka.

Just like Luka… Luka… the date.

Out of pure will and terror he had managed to get on his feet, realizing with horror that not only he hadn’t just fallen asleep, but he was also late. Two. Hours. Late. Dread didn’t describe properly the feeling that had taken over. Begging a very annoyed looking Plagg he had launched himself into the night sky, running on all four out of pure despair. When he had arrived at the restaurant, miserably closed, Luka was leaning over the wall of the entrance that was off, humming a very mellow, very melancholic melody. And he had dressed up, for once in his life wearing something classy, a white dress shirt and a black jacket without sleeves. His hair had grown a bit in those months, enough for him to pull a little ponytail.

What a waste, Adrien had thought. What a waste on someone like him, this beautiful person lightening up as soon as he was there, running to hug him, saying that he knew there had been an akuma today and he was happy to see he was okay. Except he wasn’t, this wasn’t, it was not okay. He was taking advantage of his position, the fact that there was stuff he was keeping for himself. It wasn’t fair for himself, most importantly it wasn’t fair for him.

“And you’re okay with this?” He didn’t know what he had been implying with those words, he had felt the need to get them out. To be heard. Because Luka always listened.

The guitarist had given him a weird, aware look, holding up his hands.

“I am if you are.” Unfair. Unfair. Unfair. Nothing but that feeling of guilt had filled his heart, and Adrien had rushed in, hugging him as closely as he could. Luka had embraced back, caressing his back slowly and gently as it was his way of being, telling him that they could postpone on a day with a less dangerous akuma terrorizing the city. Adrien had kept his eyes shut, choking silent sobs against his jacket. Thinking that maybe it was okay, maybe they could still keep going like this. H was scared, besides there was no need to change anything, or even better there was no need to say something that wasn’t needed. This was enough, this could be enough.

Adrien had then opened his eyes, only to feel them pinching. From the window of the restaurant, he could see the lonely white table with two dishes and two glasses, and all around… were candles and roses. Luke remembered. He had remembered the mention of the romantic gesture the blonde had done for a girl that hadn’t gone as planned. He had remembered how Adrien had always wished for something like that for himself. He knew how much of a hopeless romantic he was. Luka knew him.

At the same time, he didn’t. He didn’t know him. It was not okay.

It was not okay, and it was not enough.

Mirror sessions were back after that, more frantic than ever but less frequent than he would have liked – he was dense he could admit, not enough to proclaim to his father or Nathalie that he was Chat Noir while in the shower. He had wished it was like preparing for a shooting, or even imagining to be an actor like mom was. The tension was nothing like. The number of warnings coming from all directions was massive, starting from how once again his friends were getting worried about him – he wasn’t going to resist the bribe of chocolate chip cookies for long –, how Ladybug had expressively told him no one was supposed to know about their real identities, how there was no telling how Luka was going to react over the fact that his date was the cat boy with whom sometimes he fought crime with – man that was a weird line to say out loud. He had found it hard to sleep, too tense to get lost into his dreams, questioning his decision all night long.

One night, after a particularly harsh internal battle between him himself and he, he had rolled over a little too much forgetting about his poor little cheese-eating friend. He had been on his way to apologize to the squished kwami, but with a single firm gesture coming from his tiny arm Plagg had gotten him to shut up, eyes widened and extremely pissed.

“You’re telling him.” His eyelid had twitched a little. Right, he had kept him awake as well. “I don’t care what Ladybug says, I don’t care what Tikki says, you’re telling him.”

“Huh, okay?”

“It’s not a question Adrien, it’s an order. Do it or else you won’t find Atlantis that much of a natural disaster.” Wasn’t for experience he would have doubted that this tiny guy was able of much. Good thing he did have precedents, so Adrien had opted to nod and lay down once again. Following orders was still pretty normal for him anyway. “… besides…” Plagg had scooted closer to him, nudging against his shoulder while closing his eyes. “No secret is worth taking away your happiness, kid.” Adrien had found no problem sleeping from then on.

At last, after a bit more of self-convincing, it had all come down on the matter of when. Adrien wasn’t exactly sure if the news was particularly good or bad, consequentially he had no idea if the reveal had to be organized during a joyful or tense situation. Was a date a good idea? Or was it better to simply invite him over, or go to his house and talk? Luka was a great listener, but he didn’t always like to talk much, maybe he was going to feel pressured in the second case. He communicated better with songs… but writing a jingle about how he was a superhero in a leather suit with a ring that could pulverize the Tour Eiffel didn’t sound like a hit – maybe… or maybe it was, he had to ask Luka later if the matter was going to be solved. After so much time pondering, he had been left with nothing concrete, no ideas. He couldn’t ask his friends, nor Ladybug. Maybe this was a bad decision after all – never mind Plagg that was still glaring.

He had been trying to focus on his Chinese homework all afternoon, his mind running miles with him unable to make it stop. Then his phone had lightened up, a welcomed distraction that had blossomed into absolute delight at reading the sender’s name. Despite the migraine coming along with the situation, it was all worth it just for a chance to be with him.

Melody: Hey Sunshine

Melody: If I remember right you’re free tomorrow

Melody: Do you want to come over?

Me: Of course I do :)

Me: My schedule ends early afternoon

Me: Is the evening okay?

Melody: Perfect

Melody: Dress nice, it’s a date

Melody: A special one, for a special day

Me: Why? What’s tomorrow?

Melody: Wanna guess?

Me: …

Me: Thursday?

Melody: Ahah, well also

Melody: But also exactly one year since the Music Festival

Melody: It’s the day you and I met

Somehow while melting into an absolute puddle of tears and adoring whines, Adrien had realized that this guy was too wonderful. In his heart the last thing he wanted to do was ruining something good, especially a night Luka had prepared for him. But this wasn’t about himself anymore, this was about giving him what he deserved. Hopefully they were going to have a date still after this.

Hopefully. Adrien had tried to forget about that eventuality, at least enough to finish his homework. It had taken him a while to fall asleep that night – Plagg had simply whispered “thin ice” in a very grumpy tone.

The next day he had used all his experience as a model to look his best, raised two thumbs up at his mirror, and headed out. He had begged his bodyguard to leave him alone on this one and the big guy had actually agreed, somehow seeing his seriousness and commitment more than his father – granted that the bar was pretty low on that one. The path leading to the Liberty was not exactly short from his house, yet he had felt the absolute need to rethink everything. Perhaps to find it in himself the strength to blame himself for wanting to come clean only now. It had been a year, a year since he had met Luka. He had changed so much, his thoughts, his world, himself. He was there to make just another change and take control, it was terrifying and exciting…

…

… and there he was.

When he saw the Liberty, his stomach did that fluttering again. Pure tension and longing mixed together, because this was about him and it was making him grow terrified; but this was about him, and he loved everything that involved him. The sight of the ship covered in aromatic candles and roses with the table prepared on the bridge, the most romantic place once again, should had not surprised him after all. He still had to close his eyes for a moment to recollect himself.

Luka was waiting on the dock, smiling at him. It was such a lovely view, and when he extended his hand towards him it turned into the perfect view.

“You look amazing. You’re ready?”

He was. He finally was. Adrien sighed, shaking his head.

“I have to tell you something first.” Huh, something was wrong. The guitarist had changed expression, he looked so confused and hurt all of the su- wait. “Ah! No! Not that kind of ‘I have to tell you something’, an actual ‘I have to tell you something’!” He had practiced this moment for so long, how was it possible he had never noticed how off it sounded? Luka let out a nervous laugh. Ah, his hands were sweating already, where was Chat Noir’s confidence when he needed it? “I really need to get this out of my chest.”

“Oh, okay. I’m listening.”

“And if afterwards you have doubts about…” He didn’t like it, but he needed to state it as it was. “… all of this, I’ll understand.” He was in. He was doing it. No turning back. That most likely didn’t sit right with Luka, he wasn’t looking any less distressed.

He reached for him, grabbing one of his hand for comfort. Even though he didn’t understand, he was still doing his best to be there. Gosh, Adrien loved him, so much.

“Don’t jump to conclusions, tell me what it is and then we can talk about it.” He looked for communication in his relationships, he had told him from the start and even before, during the times they used to talk about anything and everything, waiting for the sun to set behind the bridge over the Seine. The blonde hoped they were going to talk too.

He closed his eyes again, took the deepest breath in his life, and nodded.

“It might sound crazy, but please listen to me and believe me.” Luka nodded immediately. “I…” He had composed a whole speech about how much these last months had been amazing, how he was sorry that he had kept quiet over something important for so long, and how he hoped that they could still try and be together for real. A convincing discussion slowly leading to the reveal. “… I’m Chat Noir, and I love you.” Out of all of that he had taken seven words max and blurted them out without a single thought in his head.

The cat was out of the bag, classic cat superhero style. If only that knowledge wasn’t making him feel worse. He was tense, sweating, completely still, waiting for his judgement. Every second was turning into a minute then an hour then it was getting lost into his own misty head.

It was warm outside, even at that hour.

Those long fingers clenched around his hand.

Adrien looked up. Luka was smiling tearfully at him, his blue eyes were mesmerizing. He laughed happily, then he reached for his cheek. Heartbeats echoed into the blonde’s head as he got closer, eyes narrowed but still open as to catch any kind of rejection. It hit him very very slowly that this was actually true, this out of world fantasy was not a fruit of his messed up imagination, and the moment the realization took over Adrien closed the distance between them. Wow. Luka kissed nothing like he would have expected. His hand on his cheek was careful and gentle like him, but his lips were caressing his with want and passion, like they had lost all the patience behind the moment they had met in electric need. Closeness was something Adrien had missed for such a long time and could never get enough of. Luka’s closeness was whole, real, his. He reached for his jacket, just to hold onto something and have another proof that this was happening.

They parted, and then got closer, kissing again and again, happily trapped into a bubble in which time and space couldn’t reach them. When they back away with trembling breaths, Adrien felt his lips getting immediately cold and couldn’t help himself as he reached for one last peck. Luka laughed into it, pressing back then leaning his forehead over his. There was an amount of sweetness into those eyes that it made the blonde want to look away, his sight getting all blurry.

“I love you too.” His hand was still over his face. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

The answer was the clearest of his life. It was screaming from the bottom of his stomach, it was highlighted in neon in the middle of his brain. He was almost tempted to tackle him to the ground and let his actions speak for himself – alright he needed to chill for a moment –, then confusion hit him. He… he said it, he had said it, right? He told him the truth about his identity. Then what was this lack of reaction? Where was the amazement, the fright, the confusion, even the anger? Adrien Agreste had just confessed he made a habit of running over the roofs of Paris in full cat cosplay and this was the reaction?

“I… you… what’s going on?” Luka giggled, probably still caught up with the latest nice mood. Maybe he didn’t believe the blonde, maybe he didn’t hear him at all. For a musician this talented it sounded farfetched to miss a sound, but you never knew. “I’m… I’m Chat Noir, Luka.”

The guitarist blinked, smile slowly decreasing but without disappearing.

“Yeah, I heard that.”

“As the superhero, Chat Noir.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“Then why aren’t you saying anything about that?” A little shrug. The last thing he would have expected was this nonchalance. It was maddening. “I’m a superhero, I’m Chat Noir! Why aren’t you mad? You deserved to know! You should’ve known for a…” Suddenly the guitarist’s eyes were not as easy to find as before. Like they were hiding something. “… a… while…” Again, Adrien was extremely dense emotionally, and some things were harder to understand for him. But he wasn’t stupid, most important, he couldn’t ignore that little guilty grin of his taking over. “… you knew.” The pressure that had assaulted him for the last period disappeared completely, now there was only absolute shock. “You knew I was Chat Noir?!? What in the world, since when?!?”

The guitarist passed a hand over his neck, looking a little reluctant. It was a little weird of an emotion on him, on someone so on track with himself and proud of his persona. He took his hands, gently guiding him onto the bridge. That was one relief at least.

“To be honest, I was never completely sure. If you hadn’t told me I wouldn’t have known one hundred percent… but at some point I started to have my suspicions.” He led him near the rail, the moon was mirroring into the water of the Seine. His heart soared at the view. “It was the kind of thought you pay attention to only when something comes up, so I never actively tried to prove it was real.” He sounded relaxed. Perhaps he had made peace with it for a while.

Adrien nodded absently, feeling a weird limbo between relief that he wasn’t completely recognizable and that there were at least doubts in people’s minds.

“Okay, but there has to be a time when you started to think about it.”

“… there was a moment.” Once more Luka looked guilty, while smiling still. He looked at him, raising his hands. “Again, it was a doubt, not a certainty. I never actively knew for sure you were Chat Noir, okay?” The blonde frowned but nodded. “Well… remember the Desperada incident?”

He gaped, so strongly he almost chocked.

“You have a suspicion for months?!” Luka laughed a little, that managed to calm him down a little.

“An idea, a speculation, call it what you want. It got me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.” He leaned against the rail, looking pensive. “We were hiding in the lockers, and while I was in there I heard you opening and closing a locker… then opening and closing a door.” Holy Miraculous he was an idiot. “When I found you with Ladybug in the sewer you left, and I got the snake Miraculous. Right after that Chat Noir was back.” He grinned, eyes lightening up. “From that moment the possibility has never really left my mind, and nothing has happened that made me think it couldn’t be real.” Of course not, Adrien was never around Chat Noir and Chat Noir was never around Adrien. It almost made sense – sure, ‘almost’.

Adrien took a few deep breaths, still recovering from that sudden reveal – a confession that did not go the way he would have expected. He looked at this guy who so calmly was taking everything in, a view that was calming like very few other things and, slowly, he smiled, joining him at admiring the Seine. He let his head fall onto his shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment.

“I was so worried about this.”

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t know what to do. On one hand I didn’t want it to be true, because it made me feel anxious whenever I looked at the news and saw another dangerous akuma.” He wrapped his arm around him protectively. It felt so nice. “On the other, it was kind of an endearing thought, that the two gorgeous blondes I knew just happened to be the same person.” Gosh he was going to die, this person did not hold back with compliments with either of them.

Speaking of…

“Wait, if you were thinking about it since back then… were you teasing me on purpose whenever you talked about Chat Noir in front of me?” Whoa, he had to take in the fact that this very zen guitarist was able to make such a suggestive smile. I made his entire face burn. “Oh my gosh.”

“You were always blushing whenever I did it, I couldn’t help myself.”

“For real??”

“It was too adorable. At that point either you were really him or you found him attractive as well… which I would’ve understood.”

“Stooop!!” Adrien covered his eyes, his heart bursting out of his chest, laughing out what was left of his fear. “… you really don’t care? I’m the one who asked you out, not Chat Noir.” A bit a sadness made him step away just a little. “And people like me better when I’m not him…”

“If people aren’t into you when you’re a blonde superhero with a sexy catsuit, maybes there’s something wrong with them. I suggest blindness.” It got him to laugh. Luka brought him closer, arms around him. “Besides, there aren’t two people here. You are Adrien, and you are Chat Noir. Being a superhero is a part of you. And I love it, because it makes you… you.” Truly sincerity was his biggest quality. Adrien didn’t doubt a word that had come out of his mouth. He leaned his head into the crook of his shoulder.

“Are you sure?” Luka nodded, his hair tickling his cheek.

Then he pulled away. He put a finger under his chin, raising it up. Their eyes met. There was such a calm, comfortable world behind those blue globes. It made him want to never leave.

“You’re a rare symphony, Adrien Agreste, one that had been kept hidden for far too long. I wanna hear that song, your soul, finally free to be heard. I want to know its beauty, because the echo alone is astonishing.” He knew him. He knew all of him. “The kind and selfless to a fault, the professional and determinate model, the mischievous and enchanting superhero, these are all notes that play in your life, that make your life. And I wanna be part of that song, if you will let me.” He pressed another, shorter kiss on his lips, as to seal this moment forever into his body, forever into his heart.

There was no way Adrien would have been able to stop tears. Luka gulped. The blonde smiled, a horribly wide, unsophisticated curve that would have made all of his photographers shudder at the same time. Perhaps that was why it felt so immensely good.

“You… y-you’re not allowed to say you’re not good with words after this.”

The guitarist laughed, relieved, holding him closer.

“It’s a yes then, Sunshine?” Adrien smiled, reaching forward again, thinking that there was no imaginary world of his able to replicate this.

“It’s a yes, Melody.”

This was pure, unparalleled, wholesome reality.

#lukadrien #luka coffaine #adrien agreste #chat noir #viperion #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #ml #ml fic #ml fanfic #lukadrien june 2021 #fanfiction #fic

32 notes · View notes

mc-lukanette · 4 years

Note

if you take writing requests could you please write a fic where marinette agrees to go on the subway with luka after he asks her in frozer? 🥺 (if you dont take requests you can ignore this)

(I don’t usually take requests but I had an idea for this so--)

Marinette sighed as she watched Adrien's car drive away from her. The whole ice skating thing had been a total mess, what with Adrien, then Kagami, then Luka...

And she couldn't stop thinking about Adrien's reaction when he asked if she was talking about them ice skating together, like the whole concept was foreign or strange to him. Was it really? She'd been the one to suggest that he and Kagami go together and he said it was a great idea, but when it was him and her...

Of course, she supposed that was the difference. He had feelings for Kagami. He didn't go around asking people what he should do about Marinette, or what he should be doing with Marinette, because they were friends and close and...

He and Kagami were fencing partners, but Adrien and herself were classmates. Wasn't that enough?

"Tikki, I think..." She stared dejectedly at the sidewalk. "I think I'm an idiot."

"What?" Tikki jerked up, startled at the suddenness of that. "Marinette, no! You're not! You're an incredible Ladybug. Smart, clever—"

As Tikki continued to ramble, Marinette's mind was still drifting. The whole day had been an eye-opener for her.

It was always her hoping, always hoping that he'd notice her. She and Adrien were supposed to be friends - Adrien had said so himself - but she was the only one trying. Then, knowing him in even less time than Marinette herself did, Kagami swooped in and swept Adrien off his feet like it was nothing.

She'd lost. It wasn't about hesitation; it wasn't even a competition. Maybe it’d been a sign when he chased after Kagami to give her the fencing spot that he knew Marinette had wanted.

"He likes someone else," Marinette spoke up, cutting off whatever Tikki was saying in the moment. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, perhaps because it'd had time to finally sink in. "And I'm... I'm tired, Tikki."

"There'll be other times," TIkki offered, placing a paw against Marinette's hand.

Marinette withdrew her hand immediately. "I don't want there to be other times! It—" She put a hand to her head, slowly realizing that the anxious beating of her heart was more painful than pleasant. "It's over. He asked me for advice to take another girl out on a date, Tikki. He doesn't feel anything for me."

Tikki pursed her lips, averting her gaze and clearly struggling on what other comfort she could offer. "Well... he helped you when you fell?"

"I'd hope he'd do at least that much," she murmured. "Besides, Luka was there t—"

She straightened, mouth gaped and realization flashing in her eyes.

"Marinette?"

Marinette covered her mouth, horrified. "Luka."

She made a sudden turn, nearly sending Tikki toppling out of her purse. Like some sort of climax to an episode of a soap opera, she'd hoped for Luka to be standing there, having been waiting for her the whole time.

But there was no one.

"...Tikki," Marinette said resolutely, "Hang on."

Before Tikki could respond, Marinette was running, hoping beyond hope that there was still time; that she could still catch him.

She felt awful. She'd asked Luka to come with her to the ice rink, then spent so much time fretting over Adrien and ditching him to go sulk. She probably worried him half to death when she got hurt and then just left.

And after he'd done so much. He had no obligation to go with her as the fourth wheel to her third wheel, nor did he need to catch her when she fell or lead her around the ice or look at her like he really cared about her and liked her—

Her heart was pounding, and not just from running anymore. With Adrien out of sight, her mind was clearer and she could only wish it'd been so before. Luka had kept her thoughts off Adrien in a way no one else could, and he had a way of comforting her that no one else did.

Stupid, stupid...

She began to pant as she sprinted along, tempted to check her phone to see if it was too late but knowing that it would only slow her down.

She messed up. She chased someone who never noticed her; who didn't want her. She didn't know if Luka wanted her, but she wanted to know if he did. They hadn't known each other for long, but she wanted to know him.

He noticed her. He cared about her. When she was rescuing everyone on the Liberty as Ladybug, all he could ask about was her. He'd made her feel seen, and she could only hope that she could make him feel the same way.

"L-luka!" she called out in frantic desperation. "LUKA!"

Her legs felt ready to give out. She kept calling, Tikki letting out confused shouts from her purse that were promptly ignored.

She kept calling, kept running, and just as she turned a street corner, she slammed into something; some_one._ She tumbled forward, falling against their chest while they could only let out a light grunt.

"Sorry!" Marinette shouted, though not giving the person a glance as she frantically looked around. "Luka!"

Her heart sank as she caught sight of the subway entrance, but with no sign of Luka coming to follow her voice. Either he'd already left or he'd heard her voice and chose not to listen.

Then, she heard him from below her. "Marinette?"

Confused, she looked down, seeing that Luka had been the one she'd slammed into. A horrified and embarrassed tint of red covered her face as she pushed off the ground and away from him, sitting a small distance away. "I am so sorry! I—"

She coughed, mouth dry and begging for air.

"Are you okay?" Luka asked, sitting nearby but not touching her. "I was about to get on the subway when I heard you shouting."

She went to answer - to talk about how relieved she was - but all that came out were ragged breaths.

His hand fell gently upon her shoulder. "Take your time," he soothed.

"I—" She stopped, obeying his suggestion to catch her breath. Once she could manage it, she continued, "I—I'm sorry..."

He blinked, pulling his hand away and looking genuinely perplexed. "Sorry? For what, Marinette?"

"The...the whole thing?" she replied with a dramatic gesture to everything around them, having felt it was obvious. "I invited you, and then it was you who did all the work... and Adrien.. and—" She groaned, burying her face in her hands in frustration. "You were trying to make sure I had a good time and I ruined it. I was just thinking about myself."

She wasn't sure what response she'd expected out of him, but after a few seconds, she felt a simple tap against the back of her hands. Slowly, she lowered them to see him smiling reassuringly at her.

"That's not how you sounded to me."

She lowered her hands fully to look at him, confused. "What?"

"You didn't want to go to the ice rink with Adrien and his date, right? I thought it was amazing that you tried to help."

"B-but—" she began, completely baffled. That was a very different reaction than what her friends had before. "I-I still used you?"

He shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with wanting some support, Marinette."

She instinctively went to retort, but stopped herself. She couldn't exactly disagree with him. Talking to someone like him just felt so bizarre after dealing with everyone else.

"...Luka," she said steadily, "um… can I still take the subway with you?"

His brows rose in surprise. "You want to?" After a pause, he asked in disbelief, "Is that why you ran all the way here?"

Blushing, she nodded. "That, and the apology."

He looked at her with a mixture of thoughtfulness and sympathy. She tried to be patient, knowing that he didn't owe her anything, but she couldn't help shifting in place.

"I would've said 'yes'," he admitted, "but..."

He glanced behind him to the subway entrance and Marinette immediately realized that the subway must've already left.

"Oh." She whined in the back of her throat, staring dejectedly downwards. She considered her options, afraid that Luka would slip away if she let him go again. "Then—"

He met her gaze. She hesitated.

"...I know the last time I asked you something didn't go that well—" That at least got an amused smile out of him. "—but would you like to get something with me, and then we'll catch the next subway instead?"

He was clearly thrown off by the suggestion, though he didn't look at all like Adrien did when he asked, "Just you and me?"

Instead, he looked rather pleased. She could only nod, trying not to smile too hopefully.

Luka slowly pushed himself up, then grinned comfortingly at her and held his hand out to her. "I'd love to, Marinette. Thank you."

She beamed. This time, she didn't hesitate to reach up and grab his hand. Something about him just responding to her like that made her feel unreasonably happy.

She dusted herself off once they were standing, then dusted him off too (earning a giggle out of him). She initially didn't mean to so casually take his hand again afterward, but when he squeezed back, she didn't regret it.

They started walking as they looked around to find a nice place to stop at. Now, more than ever, Marinette wanted to get to know him better.

"So, if Jagged is your favorite singer too... then what do you think of XY?"

He made a face in response that had her bursting into laughter.

#((Wow it sure feels great to write when youR KEYBOARD IS FUNCTIONING.))#type: story #story: oneshot #Flower Arrangement Shipping #((I've seen fics before where Marinette agrees and stuff where she starts to leave but turns back to him at the last second))#((I wanted to do something a little different.))#((Hope it's still quality!))#Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

313 notes · View notes