#it's been a while since the last miraculous fanart I made but I still love it!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

littlereyofsunlight · 3 months

Text

I'm late!

Sorry, @doctorhelena for the belated Steggy Secret Santa gift! I'm still working on the rest, but I've got the beginning polished up and ready to share ...

I loved receiving your letter to @steggyfanevents/Santa: "here are some general ideas of things I particularly like (applicable to either fanfic or fanart!): - stories (or fanart) set during the war - AUs with Steve present during the Agent Carter timeframe - AUs in general - friendship and found family - secret relationships, but also Peggy and Steve getting teased about each other - shared adventure, working together to achieve a goal - banter - Peggy being badass and Steve loving it - hijinks and terrible ideas - the Howling Commandos, Howard, Phillips, the Jarvises, Angie, Rose, Natasha, Bucky, Sam, Tony, Pepper, Thor - Bernard Stark, Howard's flamingo"

I had a lot of fun pulling a few of these elements together to come up with this story. Hope you enjoy!

Peggy bit the inside of her cheek as they arrived at Howard’s Beverly Hills home. He'd assured them of their privacy when he’d offered this house as a place to lay low while the news of Steve’s return blew over. It was their best option—she just hoped this really was the place to wait it out.

The driver handed over their bags to Steve, who took them with a warm smile, despite his obvious exhaustion. Peggy noted the way weariness seemed to have settled into the laugh lines at his eyes, the crease on his forehead that never quite went away now, the perpetual, if slight, downturn his mouth had. She shook herself from her reverie, reminding her wandering, maudlin thoughts that she’d never thought she’d get to see his face again, let alone watch him age.

She rubbed at the simple band on her left ring finger. While Steve’s miraculous return had certainly caused a stir, it was the news of the wedding that had turned the press rabid.

Peggy looked at Steve. Steve looked at Peggy. There was, not for the first time since he’d returned, the feeling of uncomfortable tension between them. “Well,” Steve said, his voice congenial, “I’m fifty-percent convinced he’s not going to out us.”

Peggy nodded. “I might go as high as seventy-five percent, just knowing how well Howard pays.”

“He sure is doing us some favor.” Peggy found his tone inscrutable. This was a new development, since his return. The small lines on his face and, sometimes, the wrong-footed feeling that Steve was referencing something from where—when—he came from.

She shifted her purse strap higher on her shoulder. The California sun was hot, and Steve’s suit hadn't fared well on the transcontinental flight. She didn’t feel particularly fresh, herself. “Shall we go in?”

He inclined his head. “I take it you know the way.”

Biting back the sharp retort that flew into her head—this wasn’t the same callow Steve who’d suggested fondue was some kind of lewd act, after all—Peggy was acutely aware of Steve behind her as she strode up the front walk to Howard’s ridiculous mansion. The lawn was just as green and well-manicured as when she’d last been, two years ago. Peggy supposed Howard thought stuccoed walls and wrought iron details made the place stately, but she’d always found it cozy, despite its size. And of course, the pool made it especially appealing. She looked back at Steve—at her new husband—and thought idly of just how secluded the pool really was. She felt a flush come over her that she couldn’t blame entirely on the heat.

“Howard played host when I was here working a case with …” She fumbled for words as she reached the front door and dug into her purse for the key Jarvis had arranged to have messengered to her back in D.C. “Ahem, well … there was a scientist, I’m not sure I’ve had the chance to tell you about this one.”

Peggy’s mind raced. What exactly was she going to tell him in this moment about the escapade with Whitney Frost? Her flirtation with Jason Wilkes? Her dalliance with Daniel? Not exactly honeymoon talk. “Well, another time,” she finished inadequately, feeling suddenly quite tired. Opening the door, she stepped inside. The heat of the day hadn’t touched the cool tile entryway, and she sighed in relief. Peggy ushered Steve in after her and, with a final look back at the expanse of lawn and the eight-foot wall beyond it that encircled the property, she firmly shut the door and locked it.

“Alone at last,” she said, with a genuine smile for her new husband.

***

Steve took in the immaculate Spanish Colonial Revival details of Howard’s house. He’d visited Tony’s home in Malibu, once, before he rebuilt it. The setting had been spectacular, and the house had certainly gone out of its way to provide unobstructed views of the ocean, but all that glass and space had left it feeling empty.

Now, Steve wondered if it had been a reaction to this place and to Howard’s preferred style. There was dark, ornate woodwork, plush, heavy furniture and warm colors everywhere Steve’s eye landed. Light spilled into the vestibule from arched windows stretching above the front door. The tiles were an inviting orange, with a Moroccan motif bordering the floor. A staircase of dark risers and wrought iron lead, Steve presumed, to the bedrooms on the second floor. Beyond the stairs was a hallway into the back of the house, and to the left of the foyer Steve saw a study filled with bookcases and leather club chairs.

He suddenly became aware of Peggy’s eyes on him, her expression expectant. “Nice place,” he observed blandly. She raised an eyebrow, and he noticed, not for the first time today, how impeccably turned out she was. Her honeymoon suit crisply pressed, hat set just so, red, red lipstick looking freshly applied even with the transcontinental flight they’d boarded that morning. Steve knew his jacket was creased to hell and his collar had lost its starch—he was out of practice keeping his clothes up to this time’s standards, that was very clear.

And, he realized through his musings, there was a frown beginning on his wife’s incredibly beautiful face.

Steve reached out a hand, pulled her in close. “Did you say something about being alone?”

He was relieved when she melted against him immediately, her hand coming up to cup his cheek. “One hears that’s how newlyweds are supposed to spend their time, alone together,” she teased, her eyes soft as she looked at him. He’d been flagging on the drive from the airport, looking forward to a nap when they arrived. But now he couldn’t resist kissing her, pressing her fully against him, reveling in how her lush curves fit against his body.

“Good thing I cleared my schedule,” he murmured as they broke apart. She removed her hat and set it down on a table just to the side of the door. He let his hand roam down her shapely backside, knowing there were layers of nylon slip and girdle beneath the lightweight wool of her skirt. Maybe a nap could wait. Would she let him peel her out of each layer slowly this time?

Peggy rewarded him with a laugh before she leaned up to kiss him again. “I have a few items to add to your itinerary, darling.”

He wasn’t sure how long they spent, pressed against the door. Long enough for the shadows to change, lengthening over the stairs. Peggy’s stomach rumbled and Steve laughed. “Some things never change,” he said, a smirk on his face.

“Do people in the future not require nourishment at regular intervals?” Peggy quipped, smoothing her skirt back down. “If I’m hungry, I know you’re famished,” she said.

Steve dragged her hem back up a few inches. “I could eat.”

Peggy arched an eyebrow at him, her hand around his wrist. “Focus, darling.”

“I would be very focused.” He saw how her eyes darkened and her breath came just a bit quicker. He brushed the tips of his fingers against her thigh, keeping his touch light.

Her grip tightened and she exhaled. “Steve.”

He angled his head and let his lips graze the shell of her ear. “Peg.”

She sighed again, turning her head to kiss him firmly. “Lunch first.” She punctuated the imperative with a quick nip at his bottom lip.

“Is that an order?” he teased, chasing her lips as she pulled away.

Her eyes sparked at him as she put both hands on his chest. “It is indeed, Captain.” She stepped back out of his arms. “But if you find us provisions, you have leave to resume your mission after your wife’s been satisfied.”

Heat spread through his chest at that word. His wife. He couldn’t keep the goofy smile from taking over his face, even as he sassed back at her, “I’ve been trying to satisfy my wife this whole time, Mrs. Rogers.”

Peggy laughed as she took up her small suitcase, shaking her head with a smile that echoed his. “I’ll go freshen up. The kitchen’s back through there, and I expect Ana Jarvis will have left plenty in the larder.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am.” He resisted the urge to pinch himself as he watched her walk up the stairs. All the ways he’d struggled with the decision to find her, after everything that had happened to him—he’d nearly talked himself out of even trying to have this a dozen times. But somehow, Steve was here, with Peggy, and everything felt so right.

Even if they were technically on the run from the press.

Steve ventured to the back of the house, where the well-appointed kitchen was indeed stocked with food. Steve couldn’t remember if he’d ever learned when frozen french fries had been invented, but apparently it was before 1949. There was a box of those plus a few cans of Minute Maid concentrate in the freezer, along with a wealth of tupperware, all labeled in neat Palmer script with the contents and instructions for thawing and reheating. Steve whistled at the display and selected a stew to thaw for dinner later that evening.

There was a note taped to the fridge, and Steve scanned it quickly.

Peggy, my dear—

I’m desolate that I cannot offer you my heartfelt congratulations in person, and that my inspection of your illustrious gentleman will have to wait until Edwin and I return from our visit. Please help yourself to anything; I have arranged for more groceries to be delivered on Tuesday.

E says I must warn you that Bernard is suffering from some tropical malaise. But as sardines seem to cheer him up, I admit to being skeptical of my husband’s theory.

Affectionately yours,

Ana

Steve couldn’t remember who Bernard was supposed to be. But Howard had assured them both that his staff would give them their privacy while they stayed at his home, so Steve assumed the fellow would have to get his sardines elsewhere.

In the fridge, Steve found basic sandwich supplies. For his part, he was still a tiny bit sad that sriracha wasn’t yet a staple in American cupboards. Thinking of sriracha made him think of being on the run with Sam and Nat. Instead of shoving the memory aside, he let it wash over him. Two years of running that grief group had been good for many things, of course. But certainly, an unintended benefit was how it had prepared him to leave it all behind and return to Peggy.

Steve took the stairs two at a time, balancing the sandwiches, two glasses of water and a package of Oreos in his hands. He found Peggy down the wide hall, in a spacious bedroom with a private attached bathroom and a Juliet balcony overlooking Howard’s tree-filled side yard. She was still occupied in the bathroom, so Steve set down the food on one of the nightstands and pulled the inner lace curtains closed over the inset windows in the balcony doors, leaving the heavy velvet drapes open. The diffuse afternoon light that filtered through turned the room a cozy orange. By the time Peggy was done, he’d unpacked their suitcases into the closet and dresser provided, and stowed the bags underneath the giant four-poster bed.

She’d changed out of her suit entirely and had on her robe, her hair unpinned and falling softly to her shoulders in mahogany waves. “Sandwiches!” she said, and clambered up onto the bed beside him.

“Oreos, too,” he pointed out, delighted at her excitement over his extremely basic offering. “You were right about Mrs. Jarvis keeping the kitchen stocked. Which reminds me,” he fished the note out of his trousers pocket, “she left this for you.”

***

Peggy read the note quickly, mouth full of roast beef, and then tucked it under the water on the nightstand. Ana must have dictated it, as it wasn’t in her handwriting and she and Jarvis were on a trip to Europe, visiting cousins of Ana’s who had settled in the Netherlands after the war.

Steve had eaten a sandwich of his own, as well as several chocolate biscuits, and then he’d gotten up to hang his own suit and change into pajama pants as Peggy finished her own meal. Though it was three hours later by her internal clock, Peggy felt a bit of a thrill to be in her nightclothes in the daylight. She watched as the muscles beneath his white undershirt flexed with his movements, his physique somehow even more impressive now than when he’d first gone through the transformation of Project Rebirth. Peggy was grateful for all that had transpired to bring Steve back to her. She was grateful that the man he was now was with her in this time. She felt suddenly such a swell of overpowering love for him, she was happy to be sitting down as it hit. “Steve,” she managed, hearing the emotion thick in her voice.

He turned back to her, concern clear on his face. “Peg?”

She shook her head, smiling through the rush of feeling. She aimed for sultry when she spoke and tossed her hair behind her shoulders. “You have leave to resume your mission at your leisure.” She toyed with the tie on her robe.

Immediately, his eyes darkened and the concerned dip of his brows smoothed over. A hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. “Is that so?” Peggy nodded, unknotting her robe so she could let the neckline fall open. As Steve realized she had nothing on underneath, she watched his breath deepen and his hands clench at the suit he still held. “Remind me where we were?” he teased.

Peggy licked her lips eagerly. “I seem to recall you promised satisfaction.”

Steve tossed the suit behind him, ensuring it would truly need a thorough pressing before he could wear it again. He prowled back towards the bed. “Did you have anything particular in mind?—”

Before Steve had even finished the question, there was a loud crash on the balcony, accompanied by a sound Peggy could only describe as a goose attacking a chalkboard. Steve immediately closed the distance between them, pulling Peggy off the bed and positioning her behind him. The sound came again, this time accompanied by some shuffling and … flapping?

Peggy slapped a hand to her forehead. “Bernard!”

#steggy #peggy carter #steve rogers #my fic #steggysecretsanta #steve x peggy #doctorhelena

34 notes · View notes

icespur · 4 months

Text

My Sadistic Self Has Returned With Another Akeshu Angst Idea!

A sad take on "If Goro and Akiren had a biological child."

If Akechi unknowingly impregnated Akiren before the events of Sae's Palace, Shido's Palace, or right before Maruki Palace. So Akechi still "dies" and unknowingly leaving behind a child.

Or in reverse where---I dunno, a mission goes wrong and Akiren dies leaving behind Akechi to raise their daughter alone.

Mostly----

Do any of you recall a little anime called "Clannad"? Or specifically "Clannad After Story"?

Listen, I've seen Miraculous Ladybug AU fanart where they drew an Adrian and Adrianette Daughter version of the infamous "I'm Only Allowed To Cry In Daddy's Arms" and "Ushio Death Scene". If someone can renact that scene in other fandoms, we can do an Akeshu version!

I could only see the death Scene working with Akiren and Akeshu Daughter, because I can't ever see Akiren being so racked with grief that he'd act cold and distant towards his own child.

Akechi though, I could see. Of course he'd eventually snap out of it culminating in the heartbreaking "in Daddy's Arms" scene."

If none of you have watched Clannad, and don't know the context of the scenes I'll give them.

Father's name shall be abbreviated to "T", Mother as "N" and daughter as "U" as that's the first letter their names start with.

High School sweethearts get married, and N says she wants to have a child. But her parents and husband are worried because a pregnancy could be detrimental to her already fragile health from an unspecified illness she's had all her life.

But she wants a baby, and T & N successfully conceive. N goes into labor early and since it happens during Winter, the Doctor is struggling with driving (N was very persistent of wanting a home birth despite the risks, so they have a midwife helping and the Doctor has to come to them if I recall)

After a painful birth, their daughter is born alive and healthy, but the birth proved too much on N's body and she passes away.

This SHATTERS the husband, T. So much so he shuts down and can't bear to be around his daughter, so N's parents take her in and raise her. T only sees her on the occasional family outings with N's parents if they bring the daughter in tow. The Daughter knows who her father is but is kinda shy around him. They have ONLY INTERACTED ALONGSIDE THE PARENTS. T HAS NEVER BEEN LEFT ALONE WITH HER.

Until N's parents set him up on a promised family get-together that they "last minute" ditch leaving T alone for the first time to watch his estranged 5 year old.

T is very distant and cold towards her for a while. It doesn't help that the daughter is the SPITTING IMAGE of his late wife.

One day he takes her on a trip, buys her a toy robot, and even though it's not girly, she cherishes it. They go to a field of flowers where she happily runs and plays while T gets to meet an old friend of his father and gets a wake up call of both newfound respect for Father who he saw as a deadbeat, and of how shitty of a dad he's been to his own daughter.

He returns to his daughter who (I forgot to mention she lost her Toy Robot in the flowers and has been spending time digging through looking for it) is still looking for her toy, even as it's now sundown.

T has a genuine sweet conversation with his child and breaks it to her finding her toy might be impossible. But he can get her a new one.

She refuses and that "It has to be that one."

He asks her why and she says "Because it's the first toy Daddy gave me."

You can see this breaks T, as he realizes how much that one off toy meant so much too his kid even though he's been a selfish dad, she adored that toy as the first gift and act of love he's given her.

He apologizes for his behavior and asks if it's okay for him to stay and raise her. She accepts but still looks hesitant about something.

She reiterates something she told him earlier when he accidentally scared her and made her run off when he snapped at an unruly child and his mother on the train.

He thought she just went to the bathroom but saw her crying. She explains that Grandma taught her she's not allowed to cry in public, and only in a bathroom stall or----

"I can only cry in the bathroom or in Daddy's arms."

And for the first time ever, she gets to do the second option. T gives her permission and she runs into his arms, bawling the loss of her beloved robot, while T is hugging her back, crying and apologizing repeatedly for his behavior and missing so much of her life.

Second moment, is unfortunately the daughter, "U". Not only inherited her mother's looks, but also life threatening illness. She gets so sick to the point where she's bedridden and can hardly stand or walk.

T stays by her side 24/7 and does his best.

U keeps asking to return to the flower field because she loved the trip so much. He promises her once she's better and it's warmer out (since it's now winter).

But with how weak she is, she might not get better. And T feels so guilty and powerless of not being able to grant his dying daughter's wish. Despite his better judgement and logic, she asks again and insists "We have to go NOW!"

He takes her out in the blizzarding snowing cold to go to the train to go see the flowers for the final time.

U is visibly struggling just to walk and is breathing hard, and on the brink of passing out, he even has to catch her from falling at one point. He offers to carry her but she insists on walking.

Eventually though, the cold is too much and she collapses. T catches her in his arms, she's alive but barely.

"Papa? Are we on the train?"

"yes." (They are not)

"It's dark."

"Yes, it's night. You fell asleep."

"Papa?"

"Hm?"

"....I love you..."

"Daddy loves you too, I love you very much."

She doesn't respond.

T briefly pulls her back from his chest to see why she didn't respond, to see she died. He bawls and cries for anyone to help him, to bring his little girl back, turn back time, even desperately begs the heavens and his dead wife to save their daughter, until he too collapses in the snow, cradling his daughter's corpse.

These two scenes are infamous heartbreaking Anime moments. For those who have seen the Anime, I'm sorry for bringing back your PTSD of the moment, if not. I suggest you look up the clips or start binging because reading it does not do the scenes justice.

And my evil self imagined an Akeshu version.

Fanartist away!

#persona 5 royal #persona 5 #akeshu #shuake #ren x akechi #akiren #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #goro akechi #akeshu parents #akeshu child #angst #clannad #clannad after story #fanart request #fanfic writers away!#emotional #im not sorry #spoliers

14 notes · View notes

2manyfandoms2count · 3 years

Text

Alix's rom-com night

The June event of the @mlwritersguild was to create bonus content for one of our fics - I decided to seize the opportunity to finally sit down and write one of the bonus scenes of You can count on me (I will be there for you), and to do draw a bit of fanart to go with it (4 panels, including a Marichat piece)! Let me tell you that the Burrow is a pain to draw, but I'm actually quite proud of the result :)

About YCCOM: It's an aged-up, one-sided reveal with "fake" wedding fic, based on Sallteas' art. The fic is 9 chapters and 20k words long. It was written before season 4, so it's no longer canon compliant in terms of who knows who's identities at the beginning.

Synopsis: Ladybug's identity is compromised, and somebody is after her. After a lot of pondering, she and Chat Noir come to the conclusion that her best bet is for her to marry Adrien Agreste. It breaks her heart that she is not marrying Chat Noir, but she knows that she's buying them time to figure out who is behind the anonymous letters she's been receiving, and hopefully to find Hawkmoth. Whatever the situation might be, her wedding day should provide a moment of respite. And maybe it would have, had Chat Noir refrained from coming to visit her just before the ceremony...

About Alix's rom-com night: it's a one shot that's chronologically set before the main fic, but I recommend reading it after reading the latter since it contains spoilers for it. It follows Alix (obviously), and includes Ladybug revealing her identity to Chat Noir and the set up of their "fake wedding" plan.

Hope you enjoy!

---

Alix opened her door and dropped her keys in the bowl as she kicked off her shoes with a satisfied sigh. Home, sweet home.

Her studio apartment wasn’t very big, but then again, she didn’t need a huge surface when she had a whole extension waiting for her just a transformation phrase away. She’d mentally thanked Marinette more than once for choosing her to wield the Rabbit Miraculous, rather than somebody else, just for the savings she made in rent.

She whistled happily as she made her way to her kitchen area, grabbing a bag of popcorn out of a cupboard and shoving it in her microwave.

She deserved the treat. She’d been running around all week, trying to slide letters to her targets without being spotted, spending hours on end to find the perfect stationary, and then staying up at night to get the wording exactly right, a delicate mix of subtlety and threat to elicit some sort of response from them. It had taken a lot of trial and error, especially for Ladybug. Her friend had always been surprisingly oblivious on many fronts, and it seemed that her honeymoon phase with Chat Noir reinforced her optimistic ability to brush ominous details aside. It had taken three letters for her to start freaking out and to promise Tikki she would talk to her partner about them, whereas Hawkmoth had started the analysis phase upon the first one he’d received.

Alix had only been mildly surprised by the identity of their nemesis when she’d decided it was high time she knew who they were facing; it was all too fitting that the man who leached off Paris’ most intense negative emotions should be the most embittered person she knew, and the one who, in retrospect, had been the cause of many an Akuma (she still shuddered at the what-could-have-been of Chat Noir’s akumatisation).

The microwave dinged, bringing her thoughts back to her timeline. She took the bowl out and called for her Kwami.

“Fluff, clockwise! Burrow!”

A white portal appeared in the middle of her living space and she walked through it, emerging in the ovoid room covered in screens. She made her way to the furthest point, hung her umbrella up on the coathanger she kept in there, and grabbed a folding chair. It was a director’s seat which supposedly had belonged to a rising name in the cinema world before their career had been shot down for obscure reasons, but she didn’t really care about its story; she’d bought it for a very low price at a yard sale, and that was all that mattered to her.

“Right, where are you…” She muttered, scrutinising her surroundings, until she found the screen she was looking for.

She unfolded the chair, zoomed in on the empty (for now) rooftop, propped down in her seat and threw a fistful of popcorn into her mouth, waiting for the show to start.

Unsurprisingly, Ladybug was the first to arrive on the scene. She paced around, mumbling to herself as she wrung her hands together. Alix felt a pang of guilt as she watched her rehearse how she would break the news to her partner, but reassured herself that the ordeal would soon be over.

Finally, Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug, and she flung herself at him, holding him so tight he had to untangle himself from her arms to breathe.

“Well, well, well, my Lady, I know I couldn’t make it to patrol last night, but I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Alix rolled her eyes at just how lovestruck he looked as he did so. How could her friends be so sappy, and yet still be at square one in terms of knowing who the other was?

Some might have said that it was romantic, that they loved each other regardless of who they were; but those people did not have to deal with the constant end of the world threat.

“What was so important that you couldn’t just text me?”

Ladybug took a deep breath. Her fingers slid along his arms as she relaxed her embrace, taking his hands in hers at the end of the line. “Somebody knows my identity,” she said quietly, looking down. “And I don’t know who they are.”

“What?!” Chat’s voice detonated in the previously peaceful quiet of the evening, making a couple of pigeons take off in a loud flutter of wings.

“I’m so sorry, I must have been careless when I got home one night, they must have seen me, I bet it was last week when I was tired and I-”

“My Lady, no offence, but I don’t care about the when and why, just... are you okay?” He tilted her chin up, gently turning her head to each side, checking for any signs of injury.

She placed her hand on his, making him stop, and gave him a soft, sad smile. “Yes, Chaton. Just a little rattled; you know you were the first person I wanted to reveal my identity to. Not including Bunnyx, although technically I never told her who I am.”

“And technically, I’m still the only person who knows who you are,” Bunnyx smugly commented between two handfuls of popcorn. “Now come on, I want to see how you react when you reveal your identities to each other.”

“How do you know somebody knows, though? And do you have any idea what their intentions are?”

Ladybug’s expression darkened. “I received some letters. They’re not signed, but they’ve got enough butterflies on them to make me think that even if they’re not from the biggest pest in Paris, then they’re probably from somebody who’s up to no good.”

Chat Noir swore under his breath, then regained his countenance. “So, what do we do now? Do you think we can hunt down the bugger?”

“We definitely will, but…” Ladybug bit her lip, and Alix leaned forward in her seat. This had to be it. “Chaton, I think the time has come for me to tell you who I am.”

“YES! Finally!” Alix cheered, almost spilling her popcorn bowl.

“Are you sure, my Lady?” Alix didn’t have to be on site to tell that Chat Noir’s heart was beating faster than usual; the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smile, as though his excitement could make her change her mind.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I really want you to know.” In case something happens to me, Alix was pretty sure her friend had left unsaid.

“Okay, okay.” Chat Noir took a deep breath, buzzing with anticipation, so much so that he apparently missed the whole subtext of her previous words. “Do you want to do this now? And how do you want to do it? Do you want me to close my eyes? Are you going to write it on a piece of paper for me to read? Are you going to detransform? Should-”

“I was thinking the latter, and yes, now,” Ladybug said timidly. “Up to you if you want to look or not.”

“For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles without breaking their eye contact, then took another deep breath and closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his lips. “Ready when you are, my Lady.”

“Ok, here goes.” She let out a shaky breath and called off her transformation. The soft pink glow engulfed her and receded, her suit melting away to reveal her true appearance.

“Wow, Marinette, you actually broke out your favourite dress for this? Glad to see all of this isn’t affecting your ability to think straight.” Alix smirked. If her friend had gone home after a long, stressful work day, and found it in her to change and doll herself up to make a good impression on Chat Noir, things couldn’t be that bad. She had to agree that her dress, simple, white, with little red hearts embroidered on it, was perfect for the occasion, though.

“You can open your eyes now, Chaton.” Marinette gave his hands a squeeze.

Chat Noir obliged, blinking slowly as he took in her appearance, her identity, her. Marinette squirmed under his gaze, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts.

“H-Hi,” she stammered when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I, erm, I guess I should introduce myself? We’ve run into each other before, when we were younger, and even if you actually had lunch with my family that one time, I guess it’s been a while… My name is-”

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Chat’s smile finally broke free, spread from ear to ear, almost literally illuminating his face. Alix wondered if anything could ever wipe it off. Love and admiration twinkled in his eyes as he picked her up and started spinning her. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling giddily, before Chat Noir closed the gap between their lips.

Bunnyx modestly looked away, allowing them to have their moment. Her eyes landed on a rerun of Plagg putting an end to the dinosaurs’ reign.

“I should have known that it was you, Princess.” Chat panted slightly as he carefully set Marinette back on the roof. “Everything makes so much more sense now, I-”

“Before you finish that thought, I can’t know your identity.” She placed her index finger on his lips. “Yet, of course.”

“What?” Chat froze, and so did Bunnyx, her hand pausing midway between the popcorn bowl and her mouth. “But why?”

“I don’t know what might happen to me, but I don’t want to put you in any danger.” Marinette cupped his cheek. “And I don’t want to lose my memories of you. Of us.”

“Oh for Kwami’s sake.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Boo!” She threw a fistful of popcorn at the screen as her friend continued to list all the reasons Chat couldn’t reveal his identity.

“My Lady, Marinette, if you’re worried about your safety, maybe we should do something about it. I could move in with you, or in a flat nearby, maybe, stay transformed or wear a mask at all times so you don’t know who I am, we can figure it out… Of course I know you can protect yourself, but I could stand guard while you sleep, or...” Chat raked his hand through his hair as he thought.

“You know I love you, Chaton, and that’s why I can’t let you do that! You can’t live like that, I can’t ask that of you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me, do you really think I could resist having you so close, and not trying to get a glimpse of who you are?” She joked, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.

“Then we need to get you a bodyguard,” he insisted.

“I thought about it, but… Well, I can’t really afford it, and how could I justify suddenly needing personal security? I’m just a designer, and nothing I’ve ever done has been avant-garde enough that I should be worried about my safety.” She shook her head.

“Damn, I knew I should have targeted Chat Noir,” Alix swore under her breath. “He would’ve had to reveal his identity, and she definitely wouldn’t have been a pushover on her kitty’s protection matter. Come on Adrien, do something.”

She could tell that he was up to something just by looking at him. He’d been silent for a little too long for it to be natural. Cogs turned in his head, making him squint. He let go of her completely and paced around the roof, almost pulling his hair out as he did so. Alix sensed that whatever was on his mind was going to be big. She leaned forwards in anticipation.

Finally, Chat Noir came to a halt in front of Marinette, the fever in his eyes and his dishevelled hair making him look slightly unhinged.

“Buguinette, I think I’ve got a solution,” he whispered.

“You do?” Marinette’s voice was full of hope, although she looked slightly concerned about him.

“You’re probably not going to like it,” he warned her, lifting a finger.

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged, taking a step forward.

“Right.” He gave her one last look, an opportunity to stop him before the words tumbled out. She nodded encouragingly. “Okay, here’s the thing. I have it on very good authority that Adrien Agreste is being pressured into getting married by his father.”

“I see Gabriel’s just as delightful as always,” Marinette shook her head.

“Unlike good cheese, he definitely doesn’t get better with time.” Chat smiled bitterly, eyes losing focus a little.

“What’s it got to do with us, though?” Marinette prompted, placing a hand on his arm.

“Oh, Agreste, you absolute genius, I think I know where this is going.” Alix took another handful of popcorn.

“Oh, yes, right.” He cleared his throat. “See, Adrien’s not dating anyone at the moment…” Right, Alix snorted. “And he’s not really planning on starting a relationship with his father breathing down his neck, but, well, he happens to owe me a favour, and I’m sure that he’d be more than happy to put his security detail to good use…”

“So you’re suggesting that I marry Adrien.” Marinette deadpanned.

“Well, er, I actually thought you could just date, but thinking about it… It would be less strange for you to request a bodyguard if your relationship was more serious…” He trailed off.

Alix was impressed by how well he concealed his emotions. His poker face was truly exceptional.

“And you think Adrien would be ready to marry me because of a favour he owes you?” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips and squinting at him as she tried to pick at his lie.

Alix winced for Chat. Maybe he should have waited a bit before blurting out the (as it turned out) probably only sane option in that situation so he could work out all of the details for himself. Marinette was very good at trying to shake plans to see how solid their foundations were.

“Please. Adrien had a crush on you when you were younger, if anything I could probably smuggle it as another favour, given how perfect the fake scenario would be. Although I guess that since you also liked him… It might just cancel out.” He tapped his lip pensively.

“Adrien had a crush on me?” Marinette frowned. “Oh, you must mean Ladybug. I think Nino mentioned it once.”

“Well, yes, but he also had one on you, Marinette.” Chat stepped forward, mischief twinkling in his eyes as he poked her on the nose.

“Really, now,” she muttered to herself.

“The main reason he didn’t act on it was that he thought you loved somebody else.” Chat smiled ironically.

“Wow, what a pair of idiots.” Marinette chuckled.

“You don’t know the half of it.” He kissed her forehead.

“But you know what?” Marinette didn’t pick up on her partner’s comment. “I’m actually glad we didn’t get together. It probably would have delayed us getting together.” She pressed a peck to his lips. “If we’d gotten together at all in that timeline.” She smirked.

Alix snorted. Out of all the timelines she’d watched unfold in an attempt to keep things in check, there wasn’t a single one where Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, didn’t end up together, and not just because of her interventions to help them, and the rest of the planet, stay alive.

Marinette’s face fell at Chat Noir’s lack of response. Alix knew her friend didn’t particularly believe in soulmates, but she understood that she would have liked a sappy Chat Noir special comment on how he’d told her he’d grow onto her anyway, and that she would have soon discovered that the Agreste boy had nothing on him. She assumed that he was too busy restraining himself from saying the wrong thing.

“Actually… What about us, then?” Marinette cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes glistening slightly in the half light.

“My Lady… If you really think that you being a divorcée will spur me away…” Chat Noir looked down at their entwined hands, locks of blond hair falling in front of his eyes, concealing his giddy smile from her. You sneaky cat, Alix thought.

Marinette followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh as she watched their hands sway lightly. Alix knew her brain was probably trying to find all the flaws in the plan. She crossed her fingers, hoping that it would be enough for her friend to accept. It was perfect, whether they got their act together and figured everything out before the event, or not.

“Fine,” Marinette finally said with resolve, making Alix mentally thank whoever was out there. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”

“Anything, my love.” Chat let out a sigh of relief.

“Firstly, we’re honest with Adrien from the get go. No lying about anything.” Chat nodded along. “Secondly, we get cracking on finding Hawkmoth, and after we do and the divorce is settled, if we even get that far with Adrien because obviously if everything is settled before the wedding we won’t be going through the whole plan…” Chat smiled fondly as she took a deep breath. “After all that, we are getting married.” She gestured between the both of them.

“My Lady, are you proposing to me right meow?” Chat Noir all but purred.

“I guess so.” Marinette shrugged, a smile and a blush spreading on her cheeks.

“Wow, then, I’m definitely putting Adrien in charge of the proposal planning,” he replied with a smirk.

“Chaton!” She stomped her foot, her mildly amused smile cancelling out her frown.

“What?” He teased her.

“Will you? Marry me?” She held his gaze.

“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled. “You know, my Lady, I’m pretty sure that, in my head, we’ve been married since that speech you gave on the Eiffel Tower during our very first fight. Well, I’ve been married to you; you do whatever you please.”

“You’re such a dork,” Marinette laughed, brushing her nose against his and throwing her arms around his neck.

“And yet you still love me.” He pulled her closer.

“Unfortunately, I do,” she sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to his lips.

Alix dismissed the screen. She’d seen what she wanted, and it seemed like a good place to stop; a happy, sappy ending. Also, she’d finished all of her popcorn.

Everything was on track, her friends would start their Hawkmoth hunt, and soon everybody in Paris would be able to live without fear of their own negative emotions.

(Of course, that was the theory; she’d soon find out that she’d underestimated Adrien’s will to organise the perfect wedding for Marinette, and that, my friends, was no small oversight.)

#miraculous ladybug #the miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #ml #mlb #miraculous fanfiction #miraculous fanfic #miraculous fanart #alix kubdel #bunnyx #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #half-reveal #one-sided reveal #aged-up characters #elle writes #elle sketches #yccom

28 notes · View notes

sohotthateveryonedied · 4 years

Text

And Now I’m Covered in the Colors, Pulled Apart at the Seams

Alternate universe in which we gather soul strings as we fall in love, with different colors representing the different kinds of love you experience over time. Tim has loved and lost so many times over the years that, as rare as it is to find someone who actually loves him back, his strings are mangled like barbed wire. What's the point of loving if it only ends in heartache?

(Or: Tim’s experience with love, a story told in snapshots.)

Based on some awesome fanart by @omgiamwish!

It starts with two blue strings looped around his index finger. Tim doesn’t remember when he got them or how they came to be, which leads him to assume that they have simply always been there. Always been a part of him.

And that makes sense because most children grow up loving their parents—they’re the first true bonds they ever make. Tim’s mom and dad may not be the most affectionate parents in the world, always going off on business trips and leaving Tim at home with the nanny, but that’s fine. They’re important people. Tim should be grateful to have parents that he can be proud of, even if it leaves him feeling a little detached in their absence. The strings themselves start out strong, thick and bold. But the farther from Tim’s body they reach, the thinner they become. By the time he’s ten years old, they’re practically threadbare as they snake to his parents who are completely indifferent to the way Tim’s heart breaks every time he sees the frayed ends lying at their feet, unnoticed. It is odd that he can’t remember when the strings fell? If Tim didn’t know any better, he’d think they had been that way all his life.

Even when Tim has nothing else, there’s always Dick Grayson. From that fateful day at the circus, Tim has frequently lain awake at night and imagined what it would be like to have an extra blue string, stretching directly toward the last Flying Grayson. Toward the first (and last) person who made Tim feel seen. And maybe that means he’s selfish because Tim already has a family of his own, which is more than so many others can say. Clearly. So what if Tim’s parents don’t love him as much as he loves them? He’s grown used to it by now, so he has no logical reason to complain. It’s just the way things are. Still, when Tim bullies Bruce into making him Robin years later, it injects him with a brand of excitement that he hasn’t felt in years. Finally he has a hold on something bigger than himself, than his empty house, than waiting week after week for his parents to send him a present in the mail the day after his birthday. It gets even better when Dick—the Dick Grayson, Tim’s role model since the day he met him—takes Tim under his wing, and surely this can’t be Tim’s real life. The fact that he not only meets his hero of ten years, but that he gets to learn under him too? It’s a dream come true. Dick teaches Tim the secrets that make a Robin, what it means to be Batman’s partner, the ins and outs of crime-fighting. Tim absorbs it all like a sponge. “And if you stay on your toes like this,” Dick says, demonstrating, “you’ll be lighter on your feet and quicker in a fight. Don’t let the bad guys see you motionless, got it?” Tim nods. “Got it.” Dick raises his practice staff. “And remember—in a real battle you’ll be wearing your domino, so be mindful of your blind spots. Accommodate for them while keeping yourself on target at the same time.” Tim adjusts his stance on the mat. “Uh-huh.” “And don’t be afraid to turn your offense into your defense. Always be prepared to switch it up at a second’s notice in response to your opponent’s moves, so your brain needs to work ten times faster than—” “Will you just hit me already?” Dick laughs. “Fine, fine.” He strikes, coming at Tim with a hit that Tim blocks with his own staff. There’s something about sparring with Dick that gives Tim a sort of insight into the inner workings of Dick Grayson—things that most other people wouldn’t pick up on if they weren’t looking closely. As graceful as Dick is, there’s a strength in him. A secret power that lurks within the acrobat, ready to turn the tides at a moment’s notice. Dick’s plucky, carefree attitude is as much a mask as the domino is, leading enemies into a false sense of security. Dick blocks more often than he strikes and never stays in one spot for longer than a few seconds at a time, as if the floor is lava. It’s a dance. Tim has almost gained the upper hand of their spar—something that happens so rarely he can count his victories on one hand—when Alfred comes downstairs holding a tray of sandwiches and protein shakes. While Tim is distracted, Dick knocks Tim’s staff from his grasp and sends it skidding across the floor. He points the end of his own at Tim’s neck. Checkmate. “Most important rule of Robinism: Never take your eyes off of your opponent.” Tim rolls his eyes, batting aside Dick’s staff and walking over to Alfred. “That’s a made-up word.” “I’m the first Robin and I invented it, which makes it real.” Dick takes a sandwich. “Thanks, Alf.” “As nauseating as I find your mayonnaise and pickle concoctions, let it never be said that I don’t give you boys what you want.” And really, Tim’s got to admire Alfred for that. The guy practically had a stroke when Tim confessed that his favorite after-school snack is potato chips dipped in ketchup. Months later and Tim’s got a new blue string on his finger because it’s impossible not to love Alfred, guilt over ruining his faith in the human palate be damned. At least Dick shares Tim’s love of unconventional food combinations. Tim bites into his own sandwich, the wonderfully sour taste of picklenaise flooding his mouth. “You’re just jealous that you have weak taste buds.” “Yes, that must be it,” Alfred says, wrinkling his nose. As he goes, Tim finds himself wondering about Alfred’s strings. Bruce definitely has one, but what about Thomas and Martha? What about Jason? What about friends from the British military? Is Alfred’s string collection a graveyard of frayed ends? “I was thinking,” Dick says around a mouthful, diverting Tim’s attention, “I’m heading back to Blüd in a little bit but I’m free all next weekend. The fair is supposed to be in town so maybe you and I could check it out? They’ve got a ferris wheel.” Miraculously, Tim doesn’t choke. Dick has never invited Tim to spend time together outside of Robin training. In fact, Dick has always been quick to leave with a thrown-together excuse any time he sees Tim in the Robin uniform—in Jason’s uniform. Tim schools his expression into something remotely casual. He doesn’t think it works. “Really? Just you and me?” “Sure. I’ll talk to Bruce and see if he can let you off training early on Saturday. We can tell him the carnival games are for aiming practice or something.” He winks. “Okay. That would—that would be cool.” Tim tries to hide his smile behind a sip from his shake. He shouldn’t be this excited about the smallest gesture, but he can’t help it. Just the fact that Dick acknowledges Tim and treats him like an actual person puts him on a golden pedestal as it is. Tim tries to ignore the way his string warms on his ring finger, seeking to betray him. Dick’s thread started out green but has slowly shifted to robin’s egg blue over time. Tim is fully aware of how silly it is to care about Dick this deeply like he’s a manic fanboy and Dick is his celebrity crush, but he can’t help it. Dick changed Tim’s life, and for that he will never stop being grateful. In the back of his mind he’s always wondered if Dick felt the same way, but Tim never lets himself check. He’d rather be ignorant than find a tattered string sitting at Dick’s feet, which is almost definitely the case. Dick barely knows Tim. He doesn’t have the attachment that Tim does, and Tim can live with that. He can. Besides, it’s probably better than Dick doesn’t return the feeling anyway. Tim would feel bad knowing that he stole yet another spot away from Jason.

Continue reading on AO3!

89 notes · View notes

chicoriii · 4 years

Photo

🎶Made for @lovesquarefluffweek Day 1 - Concert 🎶

Please, click on the picture to see it in full resolution, it looks awful when small and Kwamis are hardly seen.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

It’s the first time I take part in event like this. When I noticed concert day, I knew I need to do this, since instrumental music is my the biggest passion. I love jazz and classical piano so much, even though piano is not my favourite instrument.

It's great to combine my love for Miraculous and instrumental/classical music. I'm not a musician, but I can do it by drawing a fanart which illustrates music scene with my favourite side of Love Square.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

It’s one of my first attempts at drawing humans from years, I’ve never been good at it, Miraculous gives me lots of motivations to improve my terrible skills. I prefer drawing things like animals or various creatures (so also Kwamis), but humans are getting more and more enjoyable. So there’s lots of anatomy mistakes and so on, but it’s not too bad for now, I guess. Despite I made many improvements during drawing it, there’s still something wrong with Marinette’s face and I couldn’t fix it enough.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

Some background for this fanart:

I imagine it’s a first private concert which Adrien is playing specially for Marinette, he even rents a concert hall (he’s rich and romantic enough to something as much extravagant) when it’s not used. It’s not just one piece or two, he’s playing about 1-hour long piano recital (look at playlist below) only for his girlfriend (and magical creatures). It’s post-reveal, so Kwamis also can enjoy it without being hidden. While Tikki is excited about it not less than Marinette, Plagg is more interested in his Sugarcube, since he’s used to listening to Adrien’s piano and sometimes he’s playing with him. But rather cheerful jazzy-like improvised pieces, because he doesn’t like classical as much, especially sad compositions (Feast gave me some thoughts like these). Adrien decides to give a concert in a melancholic theme (so slow, soft, beautiful etc. pieces are played) to make this date as much romantic as he can. Even though blond boy is usually closing his eyes while playing on piano (like many instrumentalists), he can’t stop staring at his sweet girlfriend with his signature soft look™.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

One of my the biggest wishes is to see a scene when Adrien is playing on piano specially for Marinette, any good composition (I don’t like that one from Heart Hunter), preferably classical one. And I’d love to see an episode with a classical instrumentalist based akuma, rock and pop are not the only musical genres out there.

Classical music (and instrumental music in general) is highly unappreciated, so I'm happy when it’s represented in media, especially kid shows. This is what I love the most about classic cartoons, there’s lots of classical music. The Cat Concerto, Tom and Jerry episode which won an Academy Award, is one of the best examples of very creative use of classical piece for a slapstick comedy. Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 was even played by two pianist, by classical and jazz ones.

Classical music can be enjoyed by anyone who has some passion to music at least. It’s a very eclectic type of music where you can find everything. Classical is not only over 1-hour symphonies, there’s also compositions shorter than typical radio-friendly song. It’s not only serious music, classical can be also playful with very catchy melodies. Everyone can find something for themselves.

🎹🎹🎹🎹 Playlist 🎹🎹🎹🎹

I'm also enjoying choosing played pieces so much and it's too hard, since there's tons of beautiful piano music, though I know only a very small part of classical world. It’s about one-hour long concert, so also recordings were chosen to last about 1 hour together.

As sonata is a musical form with several movements (usually three or four) and since not all of them fit melancholic theme of this concert, Adrien play only one or two selected movements. For example only the first movement of extremely popular Beethoven's Moonlight sonata - Adagio sostenuto - is that dark and sad piece which everyone knows. The shortest second movement Allegretto is still not fast but quite cheerful, while the last Presto agitato is... Check it yourself, it's one of my favourites music moments ever. 😊

I also decided to try selecting lesser-known compositions (but it doesn't mean they are all little-known) to promote them, so there's a chance than maybe someone gives this music a shot and discover something new to appreciate.

Fryderyk Chopin - Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1 - I couldn't choose anything else for the beginning. Nocturnes are my favourites Chopin's compositions and this one I love the most. No word describe how much I adore it, it's the most beautiful piece ever composed.

Franz Schubert - Minuet in A Major, D. 334 - The first time I heard it, I thought about Adrien. I think this short sweet piece describes his childlike innocence quite well.

Fryderyk Chopin - Prelude Op.28 No.15 in D Flat Major, "Raindrop" - This thing is shown on the screen of Adrien's smartphone in few episodes (like Captain Hardrock), but for some reason it's not what's actually played. I have no idea if it was supposed to be played, but was changed after rendering was done or it's just an error. It's so nice composition, though not my favourite Chopin's prelude, even if it's the longest one. Unfortunately, the piece which is actually heard in the show is unknown for me, I'd love to discover it, but I can't. All I know it's definitely not any other Chopin's prelude.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110 - I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo and III. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro ma non troppo - It’s almost the whole sonata, the only missing thing is the shortest second movement. It's probably my favourite piano sonata, so I couldn't not choosing it.

Franz Liszt - Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major, S. 172 - If once I wonder why I love this, this is because it's so Chopin-esque.

Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata No.16 in A minor D.845 - I. Moderato - I discovered this wonderful composition thanks to Nodame Cantabile, my favourite anime and manga ever, which is focused on classical music college students and professional classical musicians. Two main characters are also opposites who learn much from each other. I gave a link to the performance made specially for Nodame Cantabile, because I'm mostly attached to it. Usually this piece is played faster and it kills the atmosphere in my opinion. This rendition is the most emotional I've ever heard.

How would be this list without any French composers? I believe Ravel and Debussy are a mustm since they are the most known and important, I believe, and I also added something from Satie, because he wrote lots of soft compositions for piano solo. Chopin was also half-French (from his father), but: "Chopin's biographer Adam Zamoyski writes that he never considered himself to be French, despite his father's French origins, and always saw himself as a Pole." (source: Wikipedia) Besides Chopin's music is very Polish.

Maurice Ravel - Jeux d'eau

Claude Debussy - Rêverie

Erik Satie - Gnossiennes: No. 1 - Lent

Maurice Ravel - Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant - finish it with something very short but so beautiful.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

Many beautiful things are missing, probably the most fitting for this concert would be Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3, since it's love music essentially, but it's too well-known (one of the most popular if not the most popular compostion by Liszt) and I'm kind of tired of this. I'm also very sad because of Chopin's Prelude in E Minor, but two pieces of the same composers are enough and this is his the most known prelude, too. I couldn't not recommend this jazz trio cover, because it's too good, too atmospheric though a different take on this theme.

Jazz musicians are often turning compositions into something much different. Everyone knows Beethoven's Für Elise, one of the best- known and (in my opinion) boring classical pieces in existence, but this jazz trio cover (sorry, I can’t find it outside of Spotify and other streaming services, it’s a very niche band) is just outstanding, I can't stop listening to it! Jazz arrangements of classical music is something I love so much.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanart #ml fanart #my art #lovesquarefluffweek2020 #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinete dupain cheng #plagg #tikki #kwami #kwamis #lovesquarefluffweek2020 day 1 concert #piano concert #classical music #chicoriii

66 notes · View notes

the-walnut · 5 years

Text

Night Vale + Scientists

Alrighty, I’m relatively new to this fandom and all, so I’m not entirely sure how well this actually coincides with canon and whatnot, but I’m going to feel free to vocalize this anyway.

We all know from relatively early on in this particularly lovely podcast that Carlos the “Perfectly Imperfect” Scientist has an unrivalled passion for the unexplained. The idea of mystery drives him crazy, and he chases blindly after anything that doesn’t have a feasible answer, that can’t be understood, that seems far too beyond human comprehension to decode- a trait that, I will argue to my last dying breath, is part of why he fell head-over-kettle in love with Cecil Palmer, perhaps the most mysterious and unexplainable character in the show, and the first impossible riddle he wasn’t hell-bent on solving

Cecil, though, is the exact opposite of his counterpart. See, Cecil’s job is announcing the happenings of Night Vale, not analyzing them. When something occurs out of the ordinary, he doesn’t always need a ‘why’- in fact, in most regards, Cecil’s pretty content to just have a general grasp of what’s going on or what to expect from something and roll with the punches. Animal carcasses raining from the sky? Don’t panic, just get a stronger umbrella. The sun didn’t rise today? You know, that happens sometimes. It’ll pass!

It makes sense, in this fashion, for the fandom to naturally come to the conclusion that Cecil is terrible when it comes to science. I’ve seen a lot of posts and fanart about the worst accidents in the lab being Cecil’s doing, and while they’re amusing, I have another perspective to bring to the metaphorical table.

What we often seem to forget is that, while Carlos always seems to come to the right conclusions at the right times, and make sense of an insensible world, he’s still an Outsider. Night Vale is a curious thing to most of its occupants, let alone an individual who wasn’t born and raised there. There’s a lot of stuff about this one unique speck in the desert that even Carlos doesn’t know anything about, and I have no doubt in my mind that it would hinder him sometimes.

So instead, in the early stages of their relationship, I can imagine Cecil waking up to a call from a frustrated Carlos, going off on an absolute venting tangent from the lab at 4:37 A.M. And at first, it’s a bit of a shock to both of them because, well, from Cecil’s end it is 4:37 A.M. on a Wednesday, and he’s talking particle theory with a man who probably should’ve tried getting some sleep three days ago at the rate he’s going, but all the other members of Carlos’ team have long since gone home, and he usually finds it helpful to go step-by-step through his experiments vocally to catch any mistakes or hash out new ideas.

After at least a full forty-five minutes of Carlos rambling into the phone about how the molecular bonding of this solution shouldn’t be even remotely close to what it is, and that he can’t understand why it keeps giving off such staggeringly different temperatures with each batch he makes, Cecil (getting over his initial surprise that Carlos is calling him of all people) gently reminds him that maybe he’d best rest and think about it again with a clear head.

“Try some of that raspberry oolong Intern Stephen dropped off earlier this week,” He suggests brightly, explaining that it’s supposed to help with clarity and that the crushed beetle wings in the mixture hardly throw off the taste at all. “And remember to whisper a compliment to the water before you try to boil it- it can get fussy otherwise, you know. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten and wound up with a solid block of ice in my kettle or, worse, the kettle itself melting all over the countertop. Terrible to get out of the carpet later in that case, but as long as you’re cordial, it should boil nicely for you.”

And at first, there’s dead silence on the other end of the line, before Cecil can hear Carlos scrambling to make a note on this development, because of course he wasn’t whispering anything to the water he’d used in his experiment, and that’s probably the reason for 74% of the problems he’s come across so far.

It doesn’t take long for this to become a normal occurrence, Carlos calling in regularly with all kinds of questions and, as before, just needing to talk through something, Cecil offering advice on how to handle certain stuff, or even just talking a while about the things Carlos is working with. More often than not, this leads to some kind of revelation, because while Cecil might not understand the science behind why glass stirring rods need to be used only in a clockwise direction, he at least knows that they just do, and that’s what Carlos needs.

Eventually, this extends to the rest of the lab crew as well, because, yes, they might be Night Vale residents, but there’s a pretty large chunk of information about their town that even they are missing. With how quickly things can come up or change in their spooky little town, it can be impossible to keep track of everything on one’s own. Tentatively at first, but with growing speed, the other scientists begin asking for advice and extra help with info as well.

Catching on to the trend, a new addition makes its way into Cecil’s radio show, where, every day, scientists can send in questions for the citizens of Night Vale, and they can respond accordingly, offering insight. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder to those listening in on the broadcast that their scientists don’t miraculously have the answers to everything, and that the downside to having the entire population of your city looking to you for those answers is sometimes not having any.

Even those who don’t have knowledge to offer find ways to help. Scientists return home, weary beyond measure from saving their friends and family from yet another disaster, only to find the lights already dimmed and welcoming, old takeout containers thrown away, and bed made. There’s a note on the table that would be eery and concerning, were it not for the sensation that there had always been a presence in their home, and, if nothing else, this only confirms one of their many hypothesises, setting another theory down to rest. Creatures (that definitely are not angels) appear in the lab every now and then, bringing with them a smiling old woman, and several Big Rico’s pizza boxes, cases of bottled water, and bundles of grapes. Nobody knows why grapes in particular. Maybe the not-angels have an affinity for them. Either way, the mandatory snack break is welcomed by many. Secret police mutter helpful tips from bushes under open windows, and, despite books being banned, once in a blue moon a torn-out page from some volume makes it’s way onto a given scientist’s lab table, curating many more questions, and causing many to reevaluate their perceptions of the harrowing librarians, the hooded figures who show no fear of them, and the public library itself.

Night Vale is a place of mystery and intrigue and danger- but it is also a place of people bonded by experience and survival. It’s a place called “home” by many, even if they do not necessarily understand it, and these are the people who save this city by supporting discovery in their own little ways. Night Vale loves its scientists, and it will do what it can to help them understand it even a little bit more.

#night vale #nightvale #cecil palmer #carlos the scientist #cecilos #welcome to night vale #welcome to nightvale #WTNV #wtnv headcanons

674 notes · View notes

athyrabunlord · 6 years

Text

About LLSHP AU (Afterword)

[Brief note about School Term] [other LLSHP AU stuff] [YohaMaRuby concept arts] [ChikaYouRiko concept arts] [KanaDiaMari concept arts] [Hogwarts Staff]

[FFN link] [Pixiv Link] [Translated to Chinese by plin2290]

I’m just so pleased and happy to have made it! I have so many existing incomplete stories that it’s astounding for me to actually complete a multi-chapter story. Once again, I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU!! to my readers for staying with me to the end, providing me feedback and expressing interest, motivating and inspiring me enough to reach this point.

The following is really just about my rambling, about my thoughts, about the planning process and my decisions, so do keep reading if you’re interested in the makings of this story. I just feel like sharing (aka: blah blah blah) since, again, I actually friggin completed a story omg (´；Д；｀)

===================

First of all, let’s go way back to near the end of October 2016, not long after LLS Season 1 ended. Yes this is so long ago lmao. After drawing several canon-related fanarts and writing short blips to satiate my thirst, I decided to create a complete whole AU so I can fantasize more XD I ended up picking the Harry Potter verse because, come on, it’s always fun trying to Sort your favorite characters and think about their abilities and whatnot.

Ideas started to whirl and initial sketches began. There’s an old post explaining why I Sort the girls into their respective Houses. That’s also when extra details were pondered over, the why and the pros in doing so. You should know by this point that I’m a complete useless 3rd Years trash, but as I brainstorm more, I realize that their story is more suitable to be a prequel, something that supplements a main story. And so, what should the main story be about? What kind of story do I want to present? Who would be the perfect main character/narrator for this?

Yoshiko. In canon, she’s already associated with (black) magic and, as a First-Year and Muggleborn, she would be perfect for a reader to immerse into this fascinating new world of magic through her perspective. As an old post says, I fudged up the School Term and age during the initial stage and didn’t realize until everything’s all finalized, that’s why I had to keep it as it is XD;;;;

Anyway, at this point, I’ve already decided Yoshiko to be a Horcrux, with the antagonist of this story to be Yohane, and how the last few chapters are going to play out. Everything else, even the other characters’ backgrounds are all further elaborated and refined based off of this central plot. On a side note, how sexy is Aikyan’s solo in the 3rd Live, I mean, the white and black wing I could only think about Yoshiko/Yohane DX

Ahem, I’ve always found Yoshiko’s character fascinating, that there’s a Yohane side of her even though, really, she’s Yoshiko (a good girl). The Chamber of Secrets and the Half-Blood Prince are the main source of inspiration for this particular idea, but of course HP fans might notice many elements from the original story used or modified in my story. I’m also a strong believer that the Patronus Charm can do more than just warding off Dementors or Lethifolds (and Obscurus), hence its significance in this story, especially later chapters.

Therefore, each girl’s Patronus was tentatively decided at this early stage, with 1 or 2 possibilities. After this, I then thought of what ships should this story present. As much as I did not want romance/ships be The Major Point, I have to acknowledge that ships are what people go for in a story, myself included. I understand shipping might turn people away from even trying a story, that’s why I kept it secret for the first few chapters before confirming it on tumblr (where the chapters were first uploaded). I was just testing the waters, to see if people are interested in the story enough to keep reading even if the ships aren’t their preferences.

Back to planning stage - as a multi-shipper, I did not want to set in stone right off the bat what the ships are either. And thus I continued expanding on ideas and see where things would go, keeping most of the initial interactions and important moments intact. This is why there are times it might seem there are multiple pairings even though nothing was specified (cough wee kanadia, youriko etc (｡･ ω<)ゞてへぺろ♡). Not to mention, as the main character, Yoshiko will always have moments with each of the 8 girls. I remember joking in an old post that, if this were a gal-game, there are various routes to this story, from the default path to those you have to unlock via certain conditions XDDD

Naturally, members of the 1st-year trio and Guilty Kiss get more screen time with Yoshiko. Then, as a fellow Slytherin and part of the tsurime trio, Dia does too. Not to mention Season1’s anime ED shows You & Angel together, You gets special moments too. Chika is Aqours’ leader who first accepted Yoshiko into the group as datenshi, so I tried to show that as much as I could given the circumstances in the story. And so, this leaves poor orca on the side lol. But yeah, YoshiMaru, YoshiRiko, YoshiRuby, so many possibilities! However, as more details get finalized, such as Yoshiko’s childhood, her Shiira-KANSU! Patronus and about the Augurey, YoshiMaru just happened. Things seem to click into place with their love as the focal point and I was able to keep expanding the story. First puppy love, innocent and pure. A dream that grew to become reality. Could other ships have worked? Yes, but then that would’ve given this story a different direction and it wouldn’t have been LLSHP AU – Yoshiko Tsushima and the Fallen Angel anymore. As I developed YoshiMaru more and more, I was very satisfied with my choice.

On a side note, I confirm Yoshiko did have a crush on You at first (and Hanamaru had a crush on Kanan) xD it’s mostly just physical attraction in a “the-senpai-I-admire” kind of way, and it soon morphs to strong friendship as this story progresses. I don’t know if this was obvious at all but that’s why these two girls always have a soft spot for Gryffindor Baka#2 and Baka #3 xD!!!

On the other hand, I was not expecting DiaRiko to form. Yes, it was my guilty ship but I didn’t intend for them to be a couple in this story, just close friends/confidantes. In canon, they’re already the straight man of their respective year trios (most of the time anyway, I’m looking at you ponkotsu penguin). Yet, given their respective pasts and personalities, they became intimately close and found solace with each other, and that kind of relationship is what I tried to show to the readers, especially through the Carbonado Interlude. They’re not predestined to fall in love but they did and found happiness. Out of the four ships, I was most worried about DiaRiko since it’s a rareship unlike the other three. That’s why I keep saying how pleased I am that it ended up being well-received by fans ;;A;;

ChikaYou came to be as I finalize the 2ndYears’ background and Riko’s part, while KanaMari’s story is set aside for the prequel and thus not given much spotlight in the main story (and also due POV effect). In spite of how much I adore ChikaYou, it’s also not shown much because of what happened in the story but also because I wanted to present their dynamic as a duo and CYR bond with Ruby (since that’s how Yoshiko perceives them most of the time anyway).

Ruby, my widdle cinnamon roll baby, is left unpaired for a reason. I want to show that platonic/friendship love is just as wonderful and powerful. There’s a saying ‘lovers come and go, but friends are for life’, and that’s exactly what Yoshiko and Hanamaru meant for Ruby, and vice versa. Now, while I’m on this, I have a confession about Ruby’s fate. After the concept arts were drawn and uploaded, I was finalizing the details of the three Arcs before I toss the first chapter onto tumblr. The end of ch19 is definitely one of the biggest climax of the story - Ruby ended up being Yohane’s target instead of Dia. Originally, uh, yeah, Ruby is supposed to die because her wounds were too much. Regular healing spells do not work on sectumsempra, only a special counter-Curse could reverse the effects. I tried very hard to find a way around it to save her. I don’t want my baby to die, any of them really, and she still have so much ahead of her. Fortunately, I was able to save her through Yoshiko/Yohane which, in turn, saved this raven-haired girl as well. I was able to continue working backwards on finalizing the Arcs and individual chapters with a peaceful state of mind.

‘Yoshiko’, as in the one who’s been narrating the story from ch1-20, still died in a way, but at least I was able to change the story from Bad End to True End (?). True End is the ch21 I uploaded. Bad End route would have Ruby dead, Yoshiko gone and ch21 would turn out completely different. A Happy End would be Yoshiko the Narrator miraculously alive and the others not having scars or still recovering, but I just find that too unrealistic. I’ve minimized the, uh, damage enough as it is, given the circumstances. J.K. Rowling did go on a killing spree in Book7 but come on, with a psychotic maniac like Voldemort and all those magical spells, you can easily kill people. You don’t need Avada Kedavra to kill someone, a sudden Diffindo or Reducto is enough. I’ve chosen my sacrifice and one is too many already. And speaking of sacrifice, let me talk a bit about Riko and why she was the ‘first victim’. Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare. Even though this story was outlined even before the First Live, this song already stands out to me from the anime, a song where the 8 of them sang in Riko’s absence but her spirit is still with them. And so, I sort of portrayed that the way it is in this story. Even though Riko didn’t get any lines from ch12 onward until ch20, her role remains significant and is the pivotal point for the remainder of Arc2 and Arc3. In terms of the plot, I’ve followed my outline quite closely. All the core points remained unchanged as I write out the chapters, though how I write a chapter (ie the wording, the extra little details, and actual professor dialogues instead of just narration) did change as I go along, influenced by more of the official content. Facts about characters that are only revealed in Season2 or other media such as SIF etc were not incorporated into this story (for example, Kanan being afraid of ghosts and height). As I mentioned in an older post about wands, I would have chosen phoenix feather for Ruby’s wand core had I known about the Duo-Trio results. The Kazuno sisters would have been incorporated into the story alas, back then, very little was known about Saint Snow in Season1 of the anime. Yes… season2 was finished and, like, a total of 15 live performances have happened between the creation and the completion of this story LOL Back to the plot. Seven is said to be a magical number in the HP verse and that’s why each Arc has 7 chapters. Arc 1 is the Intro, Arc 2 is the turning point, Arc 3 is the climax and the resolution. Sounds easy and straightforward so I thought I would’ve finished the story within a year. Well. It ended up almost taking two years lmao. Obligations IRL aside, new ideas, more AUs, more fanarts etc also make sticking to the update schedule difficult. It’s the worst when it comes to writer’s block – you have the outlines, you know what’s supposed to happen in a chapter, yet the words just aren’t flowing and you’re stuck. Thankfully, with you lovely readers giving the feedback and encouragement I need, I made it over each bump on the road to get to the finale. Hanamaru wrote most of this story, yes. Each chapter titles with exception of Ruby’s interlude and ch18-19 also showed up in ch21. The title of the ‘book’ is supposed to be revealed in the Epilogue but, since I had to upload it onto Fanfiction.Net, I can’t just call it LLSHP AU so I had to reveal “Yoshiko Tsushima and the Fallen Angel” right away. Back then I called this a temporary title because I did think about giving this story an alternate title, since she didn’t write the interludes, ch21 and the epilogue. However, at the end of the day, this still suits the story best. After all, the individual titles for ch21 and the epilogue make up the story’s title.

“Yoshiko has always known that she isn't normal like everyone else. Surely, she would master everything about magic at Hogwarts, and become the amazing fallen angel she's meant to be. Little did she know, her school year would be more than eventful as she makes great friends, uncovers secrets, and learns what it truly means to be Yohane.” - this is the summary I put on Fanfiction.Net. It speaks from both Yoshiko the Narrator’s perspective, and Yoshiko from the Epilogue’s perspective. It probably sounds confusing but I hope you understand what I mean. So, what’s next? I’ve invested a lot in this world of LLSHP AU already and there are still so many more possibilities, especially with the rather open ending both ch21 and the epilogue presents, so I’m definitely not done with this AU! Since I have the memory of a goldfish, I don’t know if I’ve already mentioned this but the prequel will be told mostly in Mari’s POV. It will have occasional Dia and Kanan POVs too (because I’m a shameless 3yrs-oshi and writer privilege); Rather than taking forever to write and cramping the scenes into a massive interlude chapters, I’ve decided to split it in shorter chapters - this will roughly be a 12-part story that took place before the main story, showcasing segments of the kanadiamari’s first 3 years at Hogwarts.

This prequel is… relatively normal and lighter compared to the main story, meaning it’s more school-oriented and more slice-of-life episodes for the most part (at least, that’s the outline), and much more Professor cameos. There will be more N-card girls to be showcased as well, such as kanadiamari’s Housemates and Quidditch teammates. Overall, it’ll be shiny °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° There will not be a full sequel to the main story. Instead, there will be blips/drabbles about events that happen after the main story, as teased in the Epilogue - the TriWizard Tournament for one XD And, unlike the main story, the ideas for blips in this sequel-timeline are more vague, so I’ll be able to incorporate new content into it (as in, from official content 2017 onward such as proper characterization of Saint Snow).

There are plans for omake/filler fun blips as well - little incidents that happened throughout the main story or, rather, ‘excerpts’ that Hanamaru wrote but didn’t make it to the final version of her book. The first Halloween, more scenes with the Professors, birthdays and so on.

There are also plans for character-exclusive blips as well, similar to an Interlude. For example, DiaRiko’s ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) cough cough.

My tentative plan is to keep going with the prequel, and maybe every few chapter or so I’d write a sequel-timeline blip. I’ll see how my muse and inspiration is in the future, I’m already extremely satisfied that I finished the main story XD And I do want to work on some of my other existing AUs (ie Animus AU and Mafia AU just because I’ve already invested time in creating the concept arts and so I don’t want them to sink into oblivion…) or who knows, there might be new AUs. I mean, pretty much every new SIF set is enough to inspire a brand new AU please allow me a moment to giggle like the trash I am over the DiaRiko UR set *pterodactyl screech*

AHEM. Another thing is illustration/artworks. Since most of my time was spent on writing, there are much fewer artworks than I would’ve liked for this story. I think I mentioned this somewhere that I’d love to have an individual cover art for each chapter alas, no time at all DX I’d like to have at least one illustration per chapter too but OTL I can only pick one and so for this AU I chose writing over drawing. Cry.

Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough and I think I’ve talked about everything I want to get off my chest. If you have any questions/feedback, go ahead and fire’em at me, since I’m now able to answer anything without fear of spoilers now XD (unless your question is about the prequel or things that happen in the sequel-timeline)

Thanks for reading the whole thing and, ofc, staying with me until the end of this story!

#LLSHP AU #athyra rambles #really just athyra blabbering #this thing is almost 3k #at least it's shorter than the Patronus Ramble lmao #but yeah I think that's everything #all that's left are the fun times with the prequel and blips #makings-of #I feel accomplished to have come this far #it really has been an amazing journey #yeah I think that's everything I want to say #it's not like this is the end-end...#prequel and other stuff

24 notes · View notes

itsyouraveragebooklover · 7 years

Text

Family

A/N: Hello everyone! I’m back with another mini story for you all! I hope you all enjoy this Nessian drabble I thought up after being inspired by countless fanarts. This was a fun one to write and hopefully everything flows smoothly. As always the characters do not belong to me. But without further ado, let the story begin~

Laughter echoed throughout the room tediously bouncing off walls and furniture. The sound rang in her ears, loud enough to break her stream of consciousness. However, she didn't mind for the sound was comforting and pure. It almost possessed the power to brighten a night sky or crack smiles for even those who have not an ounce of happiness within their hearts. It was something worth remembering.

The same laughter rumbled from outside her room within the corridor. Out of curiosity, Nesta listened to the chuckle grow in volume. It soon reached its apex in volume as the sound quickly passed the entrance to the room she currently occupied and down the hall growing fainter and fainter by the second.

A rustling of wings and pounding of feet joined in with the boisterous noise swiftly gliding passed her room as well. Taking a quick peek her eyes only caught a pair of large wings and fighting leathers race off in the direction of the giggling.

After a moment the cabin quieted enough for Nesta to retain her focus and return to the novel laying deserted upon her lap. She sank into the plush cushion enjoying the softness of the material and propped her book up into a comfortable position.

This week she picked up a book detailing the past policies and overall history of previous High Lords within the Summer Court. Over the years Nesta took it upon herself to learn everything she could possibly learn about each of the seven courts.

When negotiating and discussing policies the High Lords take her as emissary more seriously. It also helps immensely during negotiations once she teases them about revealing certain secrets which were meant to remain buried.

Slowly she flipped through the pages studying records and letters until a faint sound of laughter returned from the direction it disappeared from. Once again with each tick of the clock, the giggling grew closer as well as what sounded like labored breaths?

She shook her head of the distraction and returned to reading until a body flew past her chair straight into an unoccupied closet. The figure was so fast it caught her heightened senses off guard. Not all the training in the world could have prepared her for someone who snuck up so quickly behind her.

Her storm grey eyes peeked towards the closet. There was a small crack between the doors since they weren't fully closed. With closer inspection, she spotted a blue eye appear and glance between her and the door. The blue was bright and charming as well as the rim of purple surrounding it.

Nesta raised an eyebrow towards the curious soul lingering within the wardrobe and would have spoken if it not for the shuffling outside the room.

"Nesta," a voice spoke out soon appearing at the door.

With a moment to inhale she glaced towards the mysterious figure hiding away, then replied, "How can I help you?" Once the words rolled off her tongue she turned to face the owner behind the voice.

It was no surprise to find Rhysand for she distinguished his voice the second he opened his mouth. Along with him stood Azriel. They were both at the doorway, hands on knees and chests puffing in and out rapidly no matter how much they tried to hide it. Their long intakes of breath told her enough of what she needed to know.

“Have you seen him anywhere?” Rhysand laughed out with a huff as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Nesta surveyed the two men, glancing back and forth with calculating eyes. Once she took in all she wanted to see she twisted back into her sofa and opened the book, dust floating into the air around it.

“No. Last time I heard, you two chased him down the hall and that was it,” she spoke, no hint of the playful bluff laced within her words. To no surprise, Rhysand didn't believe her for a minute.

“And what direction might that be?” Rhysand countered with a bluff of his own.

“Run down to the right, and straight into the kitchen. You know better than anyone how much he loves to eat,” she spoke with a wave of her hand.

Rhysand and Azriel merely glanced to one another. They lingered for a moment longer than turned to sprint down the hall towards the kitchen pretending as if they were in a hurry.

She listened closely waiting for footsteps to emerge but none came. Waiting a few moments longer she finally deemed it safe to walk about the room without another ambush. Nesta straightened her back and crawled out of the chair, leaving the warmth behind. She placed the book on the wooden table nearby and lifted off the cushion.

“It’s safe to come out,” Nesta whispered loud enough for only the boy to hear. She sensed him hesitate and heart rate quicken fearing she would expose him to his seekers. But then a pair of small hands grasped the doors and pushed them aside careful not to make a sound.

With each sway, Nesta spotted the black and blue shaggy hair first. It was ruffled, unlike its usual combed look. Then the pointed ears came into view next as well as the boy’s golden skin. Each time Nesta lays eyes on him he looks more and more like Rhysand.

“Aunt Nesta!” The child screamed out throwing his tiny arms around her neck. It was at times like these where she was thankful for her improved reflexes. In one swift movement, she caught him carefully, aware of the developing wings sprouting out from behind.

The embrace was warm and soothed an ache within her chest that happened to linger after a recent meeting between the High Lords.

"Are you hiding from your father again?” She questioned enjoying the feeling of his small sausage fingers touching her cheeks.

With another laugh, the boy chuckled laying his head on her shoulder, “Sure am. Papa, Uncle Azriel, Uncle Cassian, and Aunt Mor haven't caught me yet!” He chuckled mischievously, a hand over his mouth.

“Think again,” a chorus of voices chanted in the background behind Nesta. Chills radiated up and down her skin leaving goosebumps in their wake. With a glance over her shoulder, she saw Rhysand and the rest of the Inner Circle stand within the doorway. Each of them held an evil glint within their eyes that almost made her feel bad for the boy and his winning streak. Almost.

The child squealed in joy and stretched his wings out ready to fly. Nesta merely unhooked her arms around him and let him drift down to the floor. He quickly broke into a sprint around the room purposely running to the back to get the Inner Circle from blocking his only exit.

His plan miraculously worked. He saw an opening and took it. The boy was out the door running off to who knew where next with everyone hot on his tail.

“Shit! He’s so fast!” Mor mumbled leaping out the door. Rhysand and everyone else joined her evident on capturing him. Their shouts and stomps died off with time until silence washed over the west side of the cabin. It almost felt empty now without the welcomed ruckus, not that she would ever admit that.

Nesta’s grey eyes lingered towards the doorway, a hand clutched to her chest. A slight pain flickered deep inside as she stood there deep within her thoughts.

With sadness, the boy reminded her of a childhood she never had the chance to experience. A childhood where she could have been chased around a garden, her parents, and sisters hot on her trail squealing with joy. A childhood filled without fear and the hope to survive long enough to see the next sunrise. A childhood where she wished she wouldn't have suppressed emotions and closed herself off to those who cared most.

But then looking back at the boy he reminded her of happiness and uncontrollable laughter. A happy childhood filled with people who love and cherish him to no end including herself.

A small smile formed on her lips at the thought.

"I have a feeling he likes you more than the rest of us," a voice spoke out.

Nesta's heart quicken at Cassian's appearance. These Illyrian males would give her a heart attack from all the sneaking around. They were infamous for their stealth and she still hasn’t gotten used to it.

"I doubt that," she turned to face him, arms crossed. "Amren is clearly his favorite."

Cassian huffed a laugh advancing towards Nesta with no more than two steps. "Maybe, but he's clearly your favorite amongst the Inner Circle."

Nesta felt the heat rise to her cheeks and playfully swatted his chest. "That might be true but you're still my favorite too," she whispered looking up at him with thick lashes.

Cassian leaned his forehead against Nesta's while wrapping his arms protectively around her frame. "I'm honored sweetheart."

The feeling of his breath tickling her cheek made her legs sway. She smiled and opened her eyes to look up at him, "Cassian, I wouldn't mind starting a family of our own."

She felt his breath catch. The reaction caused her to quickly glance down towards her feet, avoiding his gaze.

"Really?" He questioned his tone unclear.

Nesta's stomach dropped but immediately settled once his palms lightly lifted her head to look at him. This wasn't like her, she hated feeling vulnerable, but she also knew how much she trusted him. Cassian would never upset her or do her any harm.

Once her gaze was lifted up she saw the single most beautiful smile ever made by him. The corners of his mouth couldn't have gone up any higher. The white of his teeth and canines couldn’t have shined any brighter.

"I would love to start a family." A genuine and strong statement. One he'd been wanting to say for years.

Her hand wrapped around his which was still pressed upon her cheek and whispered, "I'm scared."

Cassian rubbed his thumb against her soft skin and gazed into those mesmerizing eyes he constantly found himself getting lost into. "I'm scared too. But we'll figure it out together... as we always do."

#Nessian #Nessian drabble #Nessian Fanfiction #Nessian Fanfic #Nesta x Cassian #Cassian x Nesta #Nesta Archeon #Cassian #Fanfiction #Drabble #Fanfic #ACOTAR #ACOMAF #ACOWAR #A Court of Thorns and Roses #A Court of Mist and Fury #A Court of Wings and Ruin #Dani's drabbles

207 notes · View notes

immergladsss · 6 years

Photo

So these pictures are of my “best” work for 2017. The first is the cover for my fanfiction (The Secret of Moonacre) and the rest are my Miraculous Fanart. I couldn’t exactly post my fanfiction... that would be too long lol. Anyways, now that I’m back from family I have been thinking of 2017 and, I’m gonna get a bit sentimental right now. 2017, was personally a tough year for me...

School wise, I became a TA, started a job as a research assistant, and took on a bit too many classes- bottom line, I overworked myself. Not only that, but we started working with another research lab and my partner can be so arrogant and condescending to me. This just has drained my life and passion for research. :( Healthwise, I fell off my horse and hurt my hip, and now, due to the stress of school and neglecting my health, I also lost hearing on my right ear (weird I know- sudden hearing loss, its a thing LOL). As someone who dances, this has been such a shock. Music sounds so different now since it was my high-frequency hearing that was affected, and it was just so sudden it left me worried it’ll happen to my other ear. Emotionally, my puppy passed away and my boyfriend and I became long distance due to school. We have been together for 6 years, practically inseparable, so this was like super hard.

I know others have it worst, and I know I have many things to be grateful for (its what keeps me pushing forwards) but I still can’t help but think how tired I am.

And yet, despite it all, there are so many wonderful things that have happened and connected to the above. For one, I actually wrote something! Since 8th grade, I always tried to write a story but I always failed. It just never sounded right to me. But now, after watching the Secret of Moonacre and being upset with the ending, I got down to writing and finished my first fanfiction! It’s over 100,000 words long AND I started a part 2. So excited!!! :D

Due to my school stress and horse accident, I have been focusing on my drawing and I believe it has improved! After I fell off my horse, I couldn’t walk for a few days so I was bedridden. While visiting, my 5-year-old neice decided to decorate my phone case with Miraculous stickers. I had seen some fanart before and decided since I had nothing else to watch, went on Netflix and binged watched it. I loved it! When work and school started getting too miserable, I have been inspired to draw my own fanart and gave digital drawing a shot. Its been a tough learning curve, but I think I’m getting better!

Relationships and friendships. Because I no longer have my BF with me, I was forced to make new friends and oh my god its been the best thing ever! I have learned so much, done so much, and grown so much. I am NOT the same person I was last year just because of the wonderful friends I’ve made. This includes my online friends I’ve made through miraculous, Secret of Moonacre, and other fandoms. You are all the best.

So, overall, I want to pretend that my misfortunes happened for a reason. I mean, it was the year of the rooster, and according to the zodiac, as a rooster myself, that year is an unlucky year... But from them, I have been forced to learn, grow, and change, and for that, I will always be thankful. No lie, I’m actually scared for 2018. I am worried that my hearing will continue deteriorating, and I actually kinda dread going to work now... But life continues and so long as I keep writing, drawing, and dancing, I think I will be alright.

#personal #2017 #fanfiction #fanart #the secret of moonacre #miraculous #goodbye 2017 #2018 #I'm ready for you #bring it on

17 notes · View notes

decembercamiecherries · 7 years

Note

miraculous x hunter prompt... maybe 'sleep' shaigdjiagjd i love your writing

THANK YOU!!! Your message had me smiling all day I swear ^-^ I’m sorry I haven’t been writing as much but I hope this makes up for it a little bit! Please enjoy anon, thank you for responding to my last minute request thingy~

@softkillua beta’d this for me because he is incredible, thank you Kaz!!!!

Ao3 link

Links:

BEAUTIFUL fanart by emthimofnight that sparked this whole au

Miraculous x Hunter tag with other drabbles, asks, etc & the ao3 series page

Gon remembered the first time Killua slept over his house as if it had happened last night rather than eight years past.

He most clearly remembered Killua gaping at him when he’d asked, his startling blue eyes blown wide and round cheeks flushing pink.

“A- a sleepover?” he’d squeaked. It was slight, but Gon noticed the slight tremor in his friend’s voice. “You- you want me to stay over for the night? Here? In your home?”

“Mhm!” he hummed and watched Killua curiously. “What do you think?”

“But…my parents, they-”

“It’s just one night, Killua,” Gon said, tugging lightly on Killua’s sleeve to pull him closer, even as the other boy’s face clouded over with worry. “You can borrow my pajamas- the ones you like with the cat faces on them! Oh! And maybe you can use my toothbrush if Aunt Mito is okay with it? Since you don’t have one here. Or we could go out and buy a new one! We could rent movies and buy candy and-”

“Gon!” Killua interrupted, looking slightly overwhelmed.

Gon just beamed. He swung their arms back and forth in the space between them, saying excitedly, “It would be a lot of fun! We wouldn’t have to say goodbye! Wouldn’t you like that?”

Killua chewed on his bottom lip. He was silent for a few minutes and Gon hopped impatiently on his feet. Why wasn’t Killua saying yes?

“What about when we go to bed?” Killua finally asked. “I didn’t bring a sleeping bag or a pillow or anything.”

Gon cocked his head to the side. He didn’t get it; why was Killua asking that? Killua was smart, Gon knew because they had been best friends for years now. He knew that Killua knew the Freecss’ apartment wasn’t big enough for an extra bedroom. So that could only mean-

“You’ll sleep with me, of course!” Gon said brightly. “In my bedroom, in my bed!”

Killua’s flabbergasted expression at Gon’s declaration had left Gon laughing for days.

But that was years and years ago. Sleeping together in Gon’s bed had become a normality to them- like walking to school together as their hands lightly brushed, sitting next to each other at the same lunch table every day, helping Aunt Mito at the bakery while the sweet scent of fresh cakes was slowly absorbed into their hair and clothes.

It was normal. It was familiar. Even being Ladybug at the start of his teenage years hadn’t changed anything. Gon still slept on the right side of his bed, next to the wall because Killua had been terrified of Gon falling off the mattress in the middle of the night when they were younger. Gon knew this without having to be told, and usually the presence of his best friend calmed him enough to sleep before Killua could even snuggle under the covers.

Tonight was different, though. And Gon couldn’t figure out why.

It had been hours since they’d climbed into bed together. Killua had passed out within minutes of his head hitting the pillow, lines of exhaustion clear on his face. Killua had been more and more tired lately and although Gon had noticed, he hadn’t asked why. He understood enough that if Killua wanted to talk about what was bothering him, he would. If he didn’t, he would avoid the topic all together.

Gon had seen a very clear example of that just a few nights ago when he found Killua sitting alone on the roof. Even though Gon had been Ladybug that night, Killua had somehow been able to open up to him in a way he never did around Gon’s civilian self. Gon felt like he’d learned more about his best friend in those few nighttime hours as Ladybug than he had since the day they met as children on the playground.

Gon gazed at Killua’s sleeping face, mulling over that night’s events and hardly daring to breathe in fear of having midnight blue eyes snap open and land on his face. And that was the last thing in the world Gon wanted; Killua looked peaceful and relaxed and so much younger like this. The tension so often present in the Zoldyck’s expression was gone now. Sometimes Killua walked around like he held the world on his shoulders, and it made Gon’s heart ache.

Slowly, carefully, Gon lifted his arm out from under the covers. He reached out with his hand, his broad fingers hovering over Killua’s cheeks-chin-lips before finally brushing a silver lock off Killua’s forehead. Gon couldn’t help but notice how Killua’s hair glowed like starlight where the moonlight touched it.

Just like that night a few days ago as Ladybug, Gon was struck by Killua’s elegant beauty. He’d never given much thought to Killua’s appearance before now; he loved Killua for his humor, his wit, his daring character that had him chasing after and ahead of Gon on even the worst days.

But now…

Gon’s heart fluttered. Now Gon couldn’t help but notice everything about Killua. He caught himself staring at Killua during class, distracted by the shape of his mouth. He leaned closer to Killua on the bus just to catch a whiff of his strawberry shampoo. And now the look of Killua’s peaceful face was enough to leave Gon breathless and his skin tingling with warmth.

It was a weird feeling, being so- so aware of someone he’d known and loved since he was a kid. It was weird to have his stomach twist and turn whenever Killua’s piercing gaze was focused on him. The only time he’d ever felt anything kind of similar to it was when he was with Chat-

Gon’s fingers curled into a fist. Chat. His partner. His other best friend. His crush, the person he should be having all of these feelings for, and still did.

But this was different. Because suddenly the person he was staring at in wonder was Killua, and the butterflies he so often had around Chat were now coming to life in the presence of someone entirely new but completely familiar.

Gon swallowed thickly. He lightly traced the faint freckles scattered across pale cheeks, ran his finger down soft, smooth skin the color of ivory and porcelain. He drank in the sight of his best and most precious friend as Killua slept on, blissfully unaware of the turmoil wrecking Gon’s mind.

A quiet sigh escaped between Killua’s lips and something hot and burning coiled inside of Gon’s gut. The abrupt urge to pull Killua close and crush him to his chest startled Gon. His fingers twitched and he had to make a conscious effort not to move.

Gon bit the inside of his cheek until the sharp taste of iron filled his mouth. What was happening to him?!

Gon buried his face into his pillow and grit his teeth hard enough for his jaw to ache. He tried to breathe evenly, to somehow stop the loud pounding of his heart, but the lack of sight only made the strange, pulsing want inside him worse.

Because now, every time he closed his eyes, all Gon could see was Killua.

#killugon #hunterxhunter #miraculous ladybug #killua zoldyck #gon freecss #miraculous x hunter #miraculous ladybug au #dc writes #modern au #gon's so lovely dovey #gosh #XD #requests

153 notes · View notes

decembercamiecherries · 7 years

Link

Fic title: Moonlight

Word count: 4520

Summary:

"Don’t you have someone to talk to about all of that? Someone you trust to help you?”

Killua laughed but it sounded broken and wrong. “If I did, do you think I would really be up here on the roof in the middle of the night talking to you, Ladybug?”

Ouch.

That hurt, more than Gon would ever admit.

(Killugon Miraculous Ladybug AU! Featuring a sad Killua and a comforting Ladybug~)( BEAUTIFUL fanart by emthimofnight that sparked this whole au)( Miraculous x Hunter tag with other drabbles, asks, etc)

This scene was actually something I proposed the emthimofnight about a half a week after she first posted her ideas for this au! So this fic has been an idea since the beginning of March, as crazy as it sounds...

@softkillua beta’d this fic for me because he is awesome and the best beta ever!!!!!!!! Please check out his writing, I swear you won’t regret it!

Killua pushed the window open with a gasp. A cool, night breeze hit his face a second later and rustled his white locks. It was like being doused in cold water: the low temperature and outside air was refreshing and helped lessen the terrible pressure building behind his eyes.

The Zoldyck Mansion’s roof was sloped and had few openings to grasp or even sit on without risking a fatal fall to the cement below. Killua scrambled out onto the landing anyway, eyes quick to find the small, familiar grooves to help him safely navigate the treacherous surface. He’d done this too many times by now to fall.

Killua was no stranger to rooftops. He spent most of his nights on them as Chat Noir- sometimes chasing akumas, but mostly chasing Ladybug. They practiced new fighting techniques on roofs just like this one, other times pausing to catch their breath after long sprints and hurtling jumps.

Killua preferred the isolation and peacefulness of the roofs to Yorknew’s bustling streets below. Up here he had the freedom to do as he pleased without anyone’s pressing eyes on him. He could do whatever he wanted, be whoever he wanted, and no one would know.

But as much as he loved the rooftops, he was rarely on one as his civilian self. It wasn’t just his lack of powers that made the activity a challenge, but his parents and their heavy expectations of him. He always had ‘meetings’ to attend with his father, tutoring sessions with the butlers, another yelling match with his mother.

“You have an appearance to uphold, Kil,” she’d hissed at him the last time she pulled him from the Mansion’s roof. “Duties, obligations! If you go up there again, you won’t see that so-called friend of yours for a month!”

So. There was risk involved with roof climbing as Killua Zoldyck. He only dared to do it now when his parents were out of town and couldn’t catch him.

Sometimes, though, the effort and danger was worth it. Like tonight, for instance.

Killua let out a long breath as he finally got sat down on one of the roof’s shingles. He wrapped his arms around his shins and rested his chin on his knees as he stared out at the skyscrapers, their multi-colored lights twinkling in the distance. His eyes still prickled, his throat still burned. But at least his parents couldn’t see him collapse into himself while he perched three flights above the street.

College. Graduation. Future. Three words Killua hated to hear more than any other and he had heard them repeatedly throughout his most recent conversation with his mother and father.

Killua dug his nails into his arms to keep them from shaking. He didn’t want to think about it- any of it. Thinking about his future made it more real and Killua refused to believe there could be a life for him without Gon in it.

Gon was his best friend. They had grown up together, lived together, done everything together. He barely remembered a time when he didn’t know Gon; his oldest memory was meeting the raven-haired boy on the playground that sunny afternoon years ago. Killua could still remember seeing the emerald leaves stuck to Gon’s whale shirt, the gaping hole in his front row of baby teeth when he smiled at Killua.

That was the first time anyone had accepted Killua for who he was, and not what his family name represented. Gon had grabbed Killua’s hand in his dirt-covered one and dragged him off towards the swings without even stopping to catch his breath.

Killua sniffed, blinking rapidly to fight down the water welling up in his eyes. The lump in his throat was getting harder to ignore. It made his breathing ragged and uneven. A soothing breeze swept around Killua as he struggled to calm himself and he bowed his head.

He had to stop thinking about Gon so much. He loved Gon with everything he had but it was just too damn painful right now. Life was too painful to add onto the heartbreak of being in love with someone who didn’t love him in return.

Killua inhaled deeply and lifted his blurry gaze to the sky. His fingers were starting to go numb from the cold but he didn't couldn’t care less.

Maybe if he stayed out here long enough, he wouldn’t be able to feel anything at all.

Gon hated going on patrol alone.

Well, maybe not hated. That was a strong word. He just...really, really, really disliked it. Patrols were always so boring and lonely without Chat around to tease or egg him into racing up the nearest skyscraper.

But Chat was busy tonight. He told had a ‘family commitment’ he needed to stay home for, and Gon had accepted Chat’s explanation without question. He knew how strict Chat’s family was; they had high expectations for him and stopped Chat from fighting akumas on more than one occasion. He kind of reminded Gon of Killua like that.

Killua and Chat would get along so great if they ever met, Gon just knew it. But Chat was scared of revealing his identity for reasons he wouldn’t explain and Gon wasn’t so selfish that he would force Chat into telling him against his will. So, until Chat was comfortable, meeting Killua would have to wait.

Gon was getting pretty close to Killua’s home, actually. He couldn’t visit Killua while dressed up as Ladybug, but-

Gon sucked in a sharp breath, stopping short at the sight of familiar white hair gleaming in the moonlight a few rooftops away.

His mind whirled and his chest heaved. What was Killua doing on his mansion’s roof? Killua told him in school earlier that his parents were home, meaning Killua couldn’t sleepover Gon’s house like usual, but the fact that he was outside on the roof instead of sleeping peacefully in his own bed….

It wasn’t a good sign.

Gon bit his lip. There was no way he couldn’t talk to Killua now. He had to make sure his best friend was okay, even if Killua didn’t like Ladybug and didn’t know that it was actually Gon checking up on him. That’s what best friends were for, after all.

Gon squatted low, gathering energy in his legs before leaping off the roof and jumping between buildings to finally land a few feet away from Killua. The other teen didn’t flinch at Gon’s sudden appearance. He didn’t acknowledge Gon at all, actually.

“Why are you up here?” Gon couldn’t help but ask as he slowly walked over to where Killua was sitting. His heart twisted painfully at Killua’s expression; Killua’s pale face was stony but incredibly sad. It wasn’t hard for Gon to spot the quiet agony in the shadows of those blue eyes, the anxiety in the flat line of his mouth.

He was honestly surprised when Killua confessed: “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Gon’s heart plummeted to the street three floors below. What did Killua mean?

“Don’t…I mean, are you okay? You’re not hurt or anything, right?”

Killua shook his head and Gon breathed a sigh of relief. For that, at least, he was glad.

“Then, what’s wrong?”

His best friend shrugged. “’S nothing. Just, you know, thinking.”

“About what?”

“The future. Graduation and college. Stuff.”

Gon swallowed thickly. Killua’s parents must have talked to him. The future was a topic he and Killua avoided mentioning at all because Killua would never see Gon again after high school if his parents had their way. And neither Gon nor Killua were willing to even consider that a possibility.

Just thinking that he might never see Killua again made Gon’s heart freeze over and his breathing quicken with something close to panic. He didn’t want to lose Killua, ever. They were so close that Killua was a part of him now. Without Killua at his side, he felt strangely empty and alone, at loss with what to do.

But that was exactly why he didn’t understand what was going on- why hadn’t Killua called Gon after his conversation with his parents? Gon always helped calm Killua down whenever his family got too demanding. This time should’ve been no different.

He pressed cautiously, “You seem kind of...stressed. Don’t you have someone to talk to about all of that? Someone you trust to help you?”

Killua laughed but it sounded broken and wrong. “If I did, do you think I would really be up here on the roof in the middle of the night talking to you, Ladybug?”

Ouch.

That hurt, more than Gon would ever admit.

“I’m sorry,” came Killua’s whisper. “That was really...bad. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Gon scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “It’s okay. You’re upset right now. And I know you don’t exactly, um, like me too much. I shouldn’t have-”

“I like you, Ladybug.”

Gon’s jaw dropped. “Wha-”

“Uh, I mean!” Killua’s face was flushed scarlet. “I-I don’t dislike you. You’re not the worst person on the face of the planet, so.”

Gon threw back his head and laughed. The tension hanging in the air between them had disappeared with Killua’s stammered confession, and with it so did the heaviness in Gon’s heart.

Killua really was awful at being honest. No matter who he was with.

“I’m glad, Killua,” he said, smiling as the blush slowly drained out of Killua’s cheeks. “I really thought you hated me.”

Killua scowled. “As if. You would know if I hated you, okay? I just think you’re unnecessarily annoying. And you hover way too much.”

“I only do that when you need my he-” Gon’s protest died in his mouth at the venomous glare Killua leveled at him. Killua might not hate Ladybug now, but he definitely would if Gon kept arguing with him.

Killua turned back to face Yorknew’s skyscrapers. “You look stupid just standing there. You should sit down.”

Surprise washed over him. He never expected Killua to willingly submit himself to Ladybug’s company. But if Killua was offering, there was no way Gon was going to turn him down. The patrol had been super boring without Chat to flirt with, anyway.

But, there was Killua’s parents to worry about. He started to ask cautiously, “Are you sure-?”

“Ladybug,” Killua growled. “Sit. Down.”

Gon sat.

Killua was the first to speak. “Where’s your partner? Chat Noir, right?”

Gon bobbed his head. He was surprised that Killua was even asking about Chat given how indifferent he seemed to both Yorknew’s superheroes.

Maybe Killua wasn’t so indifferent as he thought.

“He’s busy tonight,” Gon sighed. “He has family stuff to take care of.”

Killua snorted and Gon perked up. “Why’d you laugh?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s just-” Killua’s expression turned unreadable once more, “- that’s why I’m out here too, because of what my family said.”

“...was it anything really bad?” Gon hesitantly asked. He didn’t want to press Killua too much, but. Well. He did want to know why Killua didn’t want to talk to his civilian self.

Killua shrugged, untucking his legs and leaning back on the palms of his hands. “Let’s just say they have a big interest in my future. They have this idea of me in their heads and I just don’t...agree with it. At all. I don’t want anything that they want, so we fight a lot.”

“Not a happy home life, then?”

Killua let out a long breath and his silver bangs shifted from his sigh. “You have no idea, Ladybug.”

I do, Gon thought silently but kept it to himself. No matter how badly he wanted to blurt out to Killua that he was Gon, Killua’s best friend, he couldn’t. That would be a betrayal to Chat and Gon respected- and cared- too much about his partner to do that to him.

“What about friends?” Gon tried and his heart started to pound. “I know you said you didn’t have anyone to talk to, but. I’m sure there’s someone you’re close with.”

A series of emotions flitted through crystal blue eyes- guilt, sadness, even fear. They were gone before Gon could blink and by then Killua had already turned away, hiding his face from Gon’s view.

“I wasn’t being completely honest when I said that earlier,” Killua admitted. “I have friends. They’re good to me, but. I don’t feel comfortable talking to them about this sort of thing. And then…”

His voice trailed off and Gon perked up. He repeated, “And then?”

Killua visibly swallowed. Then he said very quietly, so quiet that Gon barely heard him-

“And then I have one best friend. He’s, uh.” Killua coughed, the tips of his ears turning pink. “He’s great. Really. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.”

Happiness bubbled up inside Gon’s chest until he felt like he would burst. He knew personally how hard it was for Killua to say something like that. Killua got so embarrassed over feelings. He couldn’t have said that directly to Gon’s face without stuttering and tripping all over himself. He would’ve given up halfway through.

Leaning closer, Gon chirped brightly, “It sounds like you really care about him!”

One of Killua’s hands curled into a fist. Gon could just make out the upward curve of Killua’s lips when Killua said, “I do. I mean, he’s kind of an idiot and a crybaby, but he-”

“Crybaby?!” Gon interrupted, shocked. What did that mean?! Gon wasn’t-

Killua’s burst of melodic laughter caused Gon’s thoughts to scatter. His heart fluttered; Killua’s laughter was always so nice, especially when it was natural and pure like it was now. How long had it been since he’d heard Killua really laugh?

“Yeah, he’s definitely a crybaby,” Killua said, grinning at Gon with eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. “This one time, we were playing in the park and his bracelet snapped on a branch- oh, sorry, that doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

Killua started over, explaining with a wave of his hand, “Me and Gon have been friends since we were young. Really, really young. Only a year or so after we met, we both made these friendship bracelets for each other- I made Gon’s, and Gon made mine.”

A smile tugged at Gon’s lips at the memory; he and Killua were only kids then, but he so clearly remembered sitting at Aunt Mito’s kitchen table with Killua, random beads and multi-colored string scattered all over it’s wooden surface. He had carefully sorted through each and every bead they owned to find the perfect ones for Killua’s bracelet. Every ounce of his love and adoration for Killua had been used to make that bracelet for his best friend.

It had been a sad day when they discovered they’d grown too big to wear their friendship bracelets anymore. Now Gon’s bracelet from Killua hung on a corkboard in Gon’s room, next to dozens of pictures of Gon and his friends (but mostly Killua, though).

“That’s really cute,” Gon said out loud and Killua’s face darkened slightly.

“Yeah, I-I guess. The bracelet Gon made for me was a real mess, though. All the beads were different sizes and shapes and everything. Not a single thing matched. But I wore that bracelet every day no matter what, even when my parents yelled at me for bringing it along on a business trip. I really did love it.”

Killua’s expression softened. His cheeks were dusted pink and the small but genuine smile on his lips caused a swell of warmth inside of Gon’s heart. It was extremely rare for Gon to see his best friend this open; Killua usually changed the topic or ran away whenever things got too personal. Even after all these years, Killua still hid parts of himself from Gon.

But not from Ladybug, apparently.

“The bracelet I made for Gon was much better,” Killua said, chest puffing out with pride, and Gon giggled. “The beads I chose were all neat and even and everything. And you could actually read the letters on his since I used beads from the same set. Anyway, the point of all this is that when we were playing in the park one day, the bracelet I made for Gon got caught on a stray tree branch. The string snapped and the beads flew everywhere.”

Killua shook his head, bemused. “Gon freaking bawled for at least three hours. I helped him collect all the beads out of the grass and dirt and told him I’d make another one, but man. He was so upset.”

“I wouldn’t blame him,” Gon said and his cheeks ached from trying to hold his smile back. “And I don’t think that makes him a crybaby! I think it just means he loves you as much as you love him.”

Killua blinked. Gon expected him to sputter again, tell Gon off for assuming things he had no idea about. That was the ‘Killua’-type reaction Gon was used to.

But Killua didn’t do either of those things.

Gon watched, silently surprised, as Killua lowered his gaze to his lap. His best friend clasped and unclasped his long, graceful fingers over his knees, bowing his head until white curls shone silver in the moonlight. Alabaster skin glowed and blue eyes were glazed under thick lashes.

Gon’s breath hitched and his heart skipped a beat.

Killua looked...beautiful. There was no other way to describe it. He was beautiful in a way Gon had never noticed before- stunning, breathtaking and mesmerizing, even though he was just sitting there, staring at his hands.

Killua was beautiful, and Gon couldn’t look away.

“Love,” Killua murmured, snapping Gon out of his reverie. “Is a strong word.”

Gon swallowed thickly. It was a strong word. But- “D-Don’t you love him, though?”

“Of course I do,” his best friend sighed and the rush of pure joy that coursed through Gon’s veins at the simple confirmation was so strong that it surprised him.

He didn’t have the time to dwell on it though because Killua was still talking-

“-best friends, how could I not love him.” Killua tucked a snowy lock of hair behind his ear. “We...me and Gon are closer than most friends, Ladybug. I practically live with him. We sleep together in his bed, my brush is in his cabinet, I have my own draw in his dresser...it’s gotten to the point where his aunt automatically makes two of everything because wherever Gon goes, I follow. And she knows that. I even have my own tube of toothpaste in the bathroom because Gon’s toothpaste is cinnamon flavored and that shit’s disgusting-”

Gon couldn’t hold back the peal of laughter that exploded from him. He laughed so hard his sides burned. When he started to fall over, Killua was the one who grabbed his wrist and yanked him back into place.

“Jeez, Ladybug, calm down! I didn’t even say anything that funny.”

“S-Sorry!” Gon gasped. He wiped the edge of his eyes with a gloved hand and tried to slow his breathing.

Killua absolutely hated his toothpaste. He hated it with a passion that was borderline ridiculous. He claimed it was ‘too spicy’. Gon didn’t really understand how toothpaste could be spicy but Killua’s revolted reaction to it was something that never failed to make him laugh. So the fact that Killua was now complaining about it to Ladybug…

It was just really, really funny.

“Ladybug, seriously. You’re starting to freak me out here.”

“‘M fine!” Gon wheezed. “You- you just reminded me of my friend, he hates cinnamon toothpaste too!”

Killua raised an eyebrow. “Really? I’ll have to tell Gon that; he always makes fun of me for it, the idiot!”

Gon bit his bottom lip to keep himself from bursting into another fit of giggles. He could laugh later when Killua told him that. Again.

But there was still something that was bothering him.

“Um, Killua? I have a question,” Gon said.

Killua cupped his chin in his hand, turning to look sideways at Ladybug. There was a warmth in his gaze that hadn’t been there before. “What is it?”

Gon’s brain momentarily stuttered to a halt.

“Um, you. You and...and…um....”

Killua frowned. “Ladybug? Uh, you okay?”

Oh, right, he realized distantly. He’d wanted to ask Killua something. Heat rushed to Gon’s face and it took him a few seconds to realize he was blushing.

He was blushing...because of Killua? Had that ever happened to him before? He didn’t think so, but why now?

Killua was still waiting for him to respond.

“Ah, I m-meant to ask you,” he stammered as Killua watched him with blatant concern. “If you l-love your friend, why didn’t you call him? He could’ve helped you feel better, maybe?”

An unrecognizable emotion flitted across Killua’s face. But it disappeared so fast, Gon wasn’t sure if he’d seen it at all, or if it was just a trick of the light.

“Gon is...Gon’s got a lot on his plate right now. There’s a big test that’s coming up and if I call him this late, he won’t sleep at all. He would spend the whole night worrying about me instead. And then he’ll end up falling asleep on me during lunch tomorrow, or even in class.”

Killua sighed heavily and ran a hand through his starlight bangs. “Gon needs to rest. Me calling him tonight, when I could just as easily talk to him about this tomorrow, is pointless. Gon’s well-being is more important than my worrying.”

There was a pang deep in Gon’s gut. “I don’t think he’d see it that way, Killua.”

“Probably not. But it’s not up to him. It’s my choice and I guess, in a way...”

“You guess, what?”

Killua chewed on his bottom lip. “I guess I just wanted to be alone. Gon’s my best friend and we do everything together, but sometimes I just need time by myself. You know?”

Gon knew. He knew that when Killua had yanked his hand out of Gon’s years ago after some random kid had called them bad names for the simple show of affection. He knew it when Killua had told Gon they were too old to take baths together. And he knew it tonight, after learning that there were times when Killua suffered alone and didn’t tell Gon about it until he could put on a brave smile and act like it didn’t affect him at all.

Because Gon knew Killua wouldn’t tell him about the conversation with his parents tomorrow, even though he said he would. Killua didn’t want to make Gon worry, so he wouldn’t tell him no matter what. And if Killua wasn’t telling Gon this now, there were probably at least a dozen other things Killua had never told Gon.

Gon’s heart ached for his best friend. The pain was so bad it felt like a part of his soul was bleeding. He wanted to rip the spotted mask off his face and crush Killua to his chest, hold him tight until Killua couldn’t be sad anymore.

But he couldn’t.

Gon took a deep shuddering breath. He was Ladybug, Yorknew’s hero. He saved people. And tonight he would just have to ignore his own selfish desires and put Killua first. It’s what Killua wanted. It’s what a hero would do.

“If you want to be alone,” Gon said, voice quivering only the tiniest bit. “I’ll just go-”

“No!”

Killua’s hand grabbed Gon’s wrist and held Gon in place before he could even stand.

“I-I mean,” Killua stammered as Gon’s eyes widened. “You-you don’t have to go. If you don’t want to.”

...what?

“But, you just said you wanted-”

“I know what I said!” Killua snapped. “But you’re not...I don’t…” Killua huffed out a sigh, cheeks blazing red once more. “I don’t mind talking about it with you, okay? You’re, uh, actually a lot cooler than I originally thought, Ladybug.”

Happiness burst to life inside Gon’s chest. Some of that joy must have showed in his face because Killua’s eyes narrowed and a second later a cool hand was shoved in Gon’s face.

“AHH!” he yelped and flailed dangerously. “K-Killua, why-”

“Don’t go getting any ideas just because I said you don’t suck!”

“Coming from you though, that’s practically a love confession!” Gon teased, pushing Killua’s hand out of the way.

Killua groaned loudly. “Just. Shut up. Please. Before I take back everything I said.”

“No way, no take backs!” Gon said and poked Killua’s side. Killua swatted his hand away easily, a grudging smile starting to form on his lips.

“You’re a piece of work, you know that?” he said.

“Heh, yeah. But I don’t suck, apparently.”

“No,” Killua said with a snort. “You don’t. Apparently.”

They grinned stupidly at each other and Gon’s toes curled in his boots. It was amazing how even like this, with him as Ladybug and Killua as Killua, that they could still make each other laugh. Killua could still make him feel like he was on top of the world even though they were just sitting on his family’s mansion’s rooftop.

And it was only Killua who could do that. No one else. Killua was special like that.

“Hey,” he asked. “Killua, does this mean we can be friends?”

Shock filtered into Killua’s sky-blue eyes. “Friends? You want- you want to be my friend?”

“Mhm! Of course!”

Killua glanced upwards, letting out a shaking breath. His eyes were glossy against the starry sky and something in Gon’s chest twisted.

It was so sad how Killua didn’t think he deserved friends, or that people wouldn’t want to be his friend because of his family’s reputation. Killua was not his family. He was better. And he deserved everything good life had to offer him.

“Okay,” Killua said, voice small. “We can be friends.”

Gon’s heart swelled. He threw his arms around Killua before he could stop to think and Killua squawked.

“L-Ladybug?! Ladybug, ACK, I can’t- breathe, c’mon let go-”

Gon laughed in Killua’s ear. He did as he was told, but continued to beam at his best friend with pure, simple joy.

Killua made a face. “What’re you smiling about?”

“I’m just really happy, Killua! I’m glad we’re finally friends!”

The other teen stared at him. “You’re so weird,” Killua grumbled, turning back to face Yorknew’s glittering lights.

He didn’t say anything though when Gon’s fingers brushed across his, or when Gon turned his slender hand over and slid their palms together. He responded to Gon’s squeeze with a tiny squeeze of his own and Gon’s heartbeat raced. His smile was wide enough now to make his cheeks hurt. He felt so light he could fly, and it was all because of Killua.

It wasn’t until dawn the next morning- after he said goodbye to Killua, after they spent hours upon hours talking and laughing about everything and anything in between-

It wasn’t until then that Gon realized he hadn’t thought of Chat at all for the rest of the night.

#dc writes #miraculous ladybug au #miraculous ladybug #miraculous x hunter #hunterxhunter #gon freecss #killua zoldyck #killugon #modern au #superhero au #gosh #i never know how to tag this #ladykillu #i can't believe i finished this #wow #Moonlight

208 notes · View notes