#when a group of people say some rep is harmful just listen to them
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A lesson that the marauders fandom can't seem to fucking learn:
it's good to be diverse and have diverse headcanons but you need to fucking listen to the group of people that the representation is supposed to be representing when they point out when things are harmful and they're not comfortable with it
I mean this happens all the time in this fandom!
just to list a few examples:
- plenty of aroace people like myself have pointed out that peter isn't exaclty the best rep (with him becoming an antagonist and ntm the fat phobia behind it) and have asked for better rep and no one wants to listen (people only want to hc the unattractive people as aroace right cause if they're pretty they gotta be making out with someone for some reason haha /neg)
- quite a few poc members of the fandom have pointed out that they're not comfortable with des like Evan being headcanoned as black but people don't want to listen to them either
- now this one's more of a personal complaint but im not a huge fan of how people are making des and other antagonists queer for "diversity" (aka people just want to see men kiss for some reason). ik there's certainly quite a few people out there that agree with that
- similarly to the first one trans people like myself keep asking for more mainstream representation other than just regulus (who it seems less and less people are hcing as trans now too) bc while it may not be particularly harmful, its just about the only rep we get. and would ya look at that, hasn't happened yet has it
what in hell is even the point of headcanons for "representation" if no one even listens to the groups of people they're representing like seriously unless you're apart of that group you shouldn't get a say in what's good rep or whether it's not harmful and such
why do people not understand this????
#gotta a little repetitive there oops#but seriously#do fucking better#not that hard#when a group of people say some rep is harmful just listen to them#unless it applies to you you shouldn't get a say in whats good and bad rep#harrypotter#remus lupin#sirius black#james potter#maraudersheadcanons#lily evans#marauders era#regulus black#peter pettigrew#aroace peter pettigrew#harry potter marauders#the marauders#mary mcdonald#the marauders era#marauders
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coming from an enby whos tme (tho i myself am not transmasc), i feel like a lot of transmasc people are doing this "have their cake and eat it too" thing where they want to be perceived as men or men adjacent, in our society a part of the oppressor class, while also still wanting to benefit from structures meant to protect against said class. specifically ones that have been set up in queer spaces. ive met quite a few trans men who were just as vehemently misogynysitic as your average dude bro. and (this is speculation based on convos ive had with trans men im not in every transmascs head) a lot of transmascs have a lot of internalized misogyny that they project onto trans women. ive had an irl ex friend of mine say something that i think encapsulates this particular issue fairly well. this was like 8 years ago, we were talking about trans rep in media (specifically orange is the new black iirc) so im paraphrasing; 'its messed up that we (afabs in this context) are sidelined for people who used to be men, we cant escape the patriarchy.' that was horribly transmisogynistic, so lets unpack it.
it assumes that trans women are just men
it assumes sex essentialism, that they and i were just women. that we were just poor Females having 'our space' encroached on by mean 'former men.'
im not saying that all transmascs think like this ofc. #notallmen. im saying that some do, and enough transmascs have internalized misogyny and not enough self reflection.
just because you are trans doesnt mean you are immune to bigotry and recouping oppressive structures. none of us are free of Sin™️. you as an individual have to make an effort to reflect on your thoughts and actions and how they might affect yourself and others, so that you are not a willing participant of our communities oppression.
for example, ive talked a lot privately about my journey to being a better person, (and pobodies nerfect, its always a learning process, you always will have things you can improve on. and thats okay, were all just human) i initially hated it/its pronouns. 'it' gave me the ick. i was called 'it' as a kid incessantly to make fun of my gender presentation, i couldnt fathom someone else finding peace and even euphoria in using it/its. i bought into the conservative talking points about neopronouns and it/its being detrimental to the trans community. they were "the bad transes" and me? well i use they/them but shakespeare used the singular they so im fine :), im one of the good ones. then one day, i was listening to some video essay idr what or who, but something they said stuck with me, "if it/its makes me happy, why do you care? how does 'it' hurt you really?" my trauma is not everyones trauma, people will find comfort in things that i wont, and thats okay. 'it' hurt me when i was young, by cruel kids and uncaring adults. why am i hurting my community, my fellow transes, by continuing to deny them their autonomy to identify how they like? so i got over 'it.' i saw the real harm was the fucking wedge being driven between us by conservative grifters trying to pick off the weakest in the herd before they go in for the rest of us.
visibility isnt necessarily a good thing for marginalized people. transfemmes are the biggest target of hate in our community atm. they unfortunately serve as the canary. global fascism is on the rise and to be frank, a targeted hate campaign against a trans woman is asking for her to be killed. outed, paraded as a freak, doxxed, swatted, killed. protect trans women, fascism doesnt stop with one group nor will you be saved by being "one of the good ones." trans solidarity, even the people you dont like, even if you think theyre icky or gross or whatever the fuck else you do Not give up trans solidarity. you dont make callout posts, you dont send death threats, you dont send hate mail, if you dont like someone Block Them and move on.
we stand together or we will be eradicated.
#sorry this turned into a rant about impending fascism#but its all connected#rach rants#real cut a liberal a fascist bleeds vibes here recently#also im not proof reading this so sorry for typos#trans
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Ugh
I'm starting to fall in my trap again. I'm trying not to fall into the mindset that "no one cares so don't do anything"
Just to keep myself from slipping I'm gonna try and contiune my world building series. (I was actually gonna post a small story about this world, but it wouldn't make any sense unless you read the full piece or at least knew something about it.)
The State of Quandary
I absolutely love this story and back when I first starting writing this, I subjected my friend to explanations about the plot and the characters.
So, this is a long post, be warned.
Oh, but I'll plug my story as usual, check out normalities if you have the time 👋
The plot revolves around a highschool, Holma High, < school colors.
The city the school resides in is littered with crime. Any you could imagine lives here and within this school perpetrates the next leaders, by essentially forcing students to join groups based on some form of oppression they face.
After I decided that, I wanted to make the school the hub and made characters to be the leaders.
So, I'll go through each of them.
Cassie and Fang are unaffiliated but at the start of the story they band together for an ultimate goal Fang has.
However, Cassie is an information specialist and is friends with nearly everyone in the school. If she's not friends with them, then she knows them and anything they get involved with. She also gives everyone she works with a nickname and that is invaluable at the school. Most use it as a sign if you're trustworthy or not.
Fang is simply a rebel rouser who attempts to defend anyone he feels is being wrongly harmed. He's prone to getting into fights and is known around the school for being a hot head.
As for the secondary characters, I'll go in order of their appearance. If you want more detail on them, lmk. I might make separate posts to detail their personalities and such.
Amirani
Pronounced (Ah-me-ra-ne)
(I also drew them so.... I'll post it, but don't judge too harshly 🙇)
Ami is the leader of the group ALTRAZ. It's meant to be a street gang that takes the rep for people involved in the wrong things. They also dismantle groups that are extremely violent. In addition to that, they are also "stationed" in prisons to break wrongfully convicted inmates out and to listen in on any police corruption.
Oh and here's Cassie and Fang
Bushimaru
Pronounced (Boo-she-ma-rue)
His nickname is Levi because I based his appearance on Levi from Obey Me! Sorry not sorry. He is the leader of a Yukuza style gang called Bakesama. I'm trying to learn Japanese and in my nonsense attempt to make a unique name, I came up with this. I took Bakemono (monster) and added the honorific -sama to essentially mean "Lord of the Monsters." Their group saying is "We are children of the earth. We respect those we share a world with; if not, then like the monster you are, you'll be sent back to where you belong." They go after anyone who cannot be tried under the eyes of the law or someone who gets away with a crime based on power, money or influence.
Danai
Pronounced (Dan-eye)
! Trigger warning for domestic and other forms of abuse !
A victim of childhood abuse from her father, Dani has a strong dislike for men and created a safe group for battered women, abused young girls and small children of any gender called Celestial Haven. She aims to catch "john doe" in the act by setting them up or outright exposing them. Her group also infiltrates the lives of the rich and powerful by dating or being the "sugar baby" of the individual. She made a safe space for women who have had any kind of violence or crime acted against them and actively turns men away unless they prove they're "one of the good ones"
Cecilia
I think this is a normal name lol
Cece is the head of the Costa Family which is a mob family. While she has many duties, her main goal is to eliminate anyone who unnecessarily puts her city in harms way. So drug and weapon trafficking are her main concern. She's friends with many high ranking officials including the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Cece is known for her beauty and she uses that to her advantage, getting meetings with people who would otherwise wouldn't even look in her direction.
Emeryk
Pronounced (Em-mer-rick)
A young genius who at the age of 15 engineered a biochemical weapon. He doesn't really care who wants something made, his group is formed based on their desire to experiment and find new ways to old solutions. Their group is named the Chemical Compound, but they themselves don't often refer to themselves as so. Their desire is to learn and experiment on things no one else will. So if someone approaches them with a less than appropriate offer, if they take an interests in it, they'll help regardless of the problems that may arrise.
Now, onto the main antagonists.
This story does have a "man vs. Society" conflict, but it only happened because of these two:
Gavin and Jayvee Reller
Two of the most infamous individuals. Born as twins, by the time they were in middle school, they were controlling most of the city by their good looks and charm or by brute force. They both take any means necessary to get what they want and there's not a single person who wants to be on their bad side.
Gavin (left) is the older of the two (by two minutes) and is charming to a degree that's almost frightening. He's good with his words and has a way of understanding exactly how people act and feel just by speaking with them. Out of the two, everyone fears him the most.
Jayvee (right) talks more with his fists and is constantly used as their "muscle." However, he's not just brawn and has a similar manipulative streak about him. He uses his good looks against women to con them into doing what he wants. Anyone who doesn't listen, he makes it his mission to break them.
I made this story based on the feeling that the world I grew up in as a kid felt anxiety inducing. The internet was (and still is) a dangerous place for kids, the world was crumbling right before my eyes and it never felt like any adult could understand the fear I held for growing up or even going outside. I wanted to physically show that and I think I did a good job considering some of the things I heard from people as a kid.
Also, this is a manifestation of my love for True Crime and Psychology. So there's that too lol.
< The Demonic Repentance
> A Fourth Dimension Reality (TBA)
#my writing#creative writing#writing#writing community#writing side of tumblr#female writers#women writers#writeblr#writeblur#writers of tumblr#original world#my worldbuilding#world building#worldbuilding#ya story#ya writers#worldbuilding series
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I guess it's bi month? That is what I've heard. At any rate, I remember a bi week at least taking place in September. It being Elul is more at the forefront of my mind. But I was thinking...what can I do to acknowledge bi week/month beyond saying "oh neat" and maybe sharimg a couple posts with bi flags on them? How can I celebrate my sexuality? I have a few ideas.
•take my wife on a nice date!
•watch a show/read a story with positive bi rep.
•make art! Draw or write the bi rep that I want to see.
•this may seem a stretch, but: be nice to myself? Idk. Treating myself, a bi, like trash isn't very bi positive, is it?
•On that note, just do something that makes me happy. I made a list today of things that make me feel free, which may seem unrelated on a surface level to sexuality. But I think to move intentionally in that direction, to get freer, is very queer. Singing my heart out is bi. Listening to new music is bi. Doing anything I couldn't do when I was weighed down by shame is bi.
•Read bi historyyy. A good idea year round, but you know, especially now.
•~make it fashion~ I have a bi dress and a bi necklace pendant. I also think general dressing up is good. Just a confidence boosting outfit, as a treat.
•Write a letter to my past or future self. Sorry, I love this journal prompt so much. Always reveals new things.
•Get in some quality time with other bi folks I know! I could totally see a trashy movie night + painting nails or something.
•Another writing prompt: What does a "bi future" mean to me? ...Pls don't misinterpret this. No everyone is not a little bit bi. No everyone doesn't Have To Be bi. But what does a safe future for bisexuals look like? [hint: fighting for 1 group's safety means/necessitates fighting for many people's safety.] What does a future where, biphobia is a bad memory look like? What might it look like to build a community with less stigma and misinformation that harms bisexuals? With less stigma around sexuality in general?
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hii! could i request the demon bros (+ undateables if u can?) with an ugly MC? not that they're insecure they're just... unattractive. and fine with it, because they have other good qualities O_o thanks in advance!
Are all demons this rude?
Brothers x gn!reader
Warnings: none
Wasn't too clear with the req so I decided to turn it more into comfort/fluff haha
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You were very much aware that you wren't the most good looking and to be honest, you didn't really care. You knew you were competent and you got things done, so who cares if you weren't the best looking person in the room? Your demon roommates certainly didn't. So what happens when they overhear some overzealous RAD students mouthing off about it?
Lucifer
The cold blooded Pridy McPrideface isn't one to be easily swayed by appearances. What he does find attractive however is the way you hold yourself. Confidence is always sexy and knowing you recognize all your worth and merits are unrelated to physical appearance is a good quality in his books.
You are well aware that people generally tend to gaze over you, so you made a conscious effort to prove yourself as a competent person. When you were first confronted with the 9 most powerful and influential demons in the Devildom, your need to prove your worth and meet their standards only grew.
Lucifer stands out to you as someone who is purely business, which you appreciate. As intimidating as he is, he only ever comments on your performance in class so as long as you pay attention to your work, you don't see yourself facing any of his judgement.
Now, Lucifer is aware that you, as the only human student, are bound to be heavily scrunitised by the majority of the demon population. He is also aware of how ruthless demon society can be, and as a result knows what the small groups of lesser demons are whispering about when you pass by.
Lucifer can't take direct action against the majority of them so he settles with dropping a few 'subtle' hints that he appreciates you and your genuine self
It's not like the pointless snickering behind your back ever bothered you but you have to admit it's pretty sweet of him
Now, it's one thing to let them get away with their mocking sneers, but the second one of them decides to take it a step too far... Attempting to physically harm the exchange student would be considered a direct challenge of Lord Diavolo's vision for the future and surely would be taken care of accordingly.
It's a safe assumption to say that he probably had something to do with the same trembling demon begging for your forgiveness the next day
Mammon
It's almost a surprise that for as incompetent as he may appear, Mammon is actually considered an attractive and charismatic demon. You might not have had the honour of witnessing his 'charm' firsthand, but it's clear he has a rep for a reason.
Congrats! You've reduced the second oldest brother to a simp! He finds literally anything you do attractive, so even if you were ever overly conscious about your appearance, you've got nothing to worry about. He's your biggest hype man, and tolerates absolutely none of the shit these lower ranked demons are giving you.
It frustrates him that you don’t care about it, that you have always shot down his suggestions to go teach them a lesson. Hell, he’s raring to get involved too! Screw being the bigger person, don’t you want to feel the instant gratification that comes with a right hook wiping those smug sneers from their faces?
This is why you’re getting strung up by Lucifer every other day
Anyways, he’ll listen to your pleas for peace when you convince him that you simply don’t value what they have to say about you, but the second they’re stupid enough to take it a step too far, don’t think the threat of Lucifer’s corporal punishment is gonna stop him from kicking some ass
He caught two of them trying to curse your textbooks one day and decided the only way they'd get their lesson is through his fists. Don't worry - Asmo saw too and he's more than happy to usher everyone away to let his older brother take care of the pests
Levi
This poor soul has been starved of touch and affection for the better part of the last century, do you think he cares what you look like? Not that it matters to you anyways… but the sentiment is appreciated. When you get closer it’ll be Levi seeking affirmation from you more often than not actually - please tell him it doesn’t matter if he’s a yucky otaku or not, he should still always love himself >:(
Lots of respect for you for not giving a damn about what others see as unattractive. He knows how it feels to be a social outcast, but he could never stop caring so damn much about what he could be or comparing himself to others (well it’s sort of his job to be jealous, but…)
So when he hears that some delusional classmates of yours have been bad mouthing you behind your back, he’s angry on your behalf. Why did they think it was funny to criticise you for something that did nothing to change your character or capabilities? They were clearly nothing more than cowardly scum that didn’t deserve the light of day.
Imagine their surprise when the tame third born gives them a pointed glare from across the hall. Even a shut-in like him saw nothing he’d ever be envious in them and would gladly make his disdain be known.
Dislikes confrontations and would rather not have to deal with the likes of them but do you really think a rag tag group of lesser demons have it in them to challenge the Grand Admiral of hell’s navy? Would gladly help one of his more eager brothers get away with teaching the trio a lesson.
Satan
He’s said on multiple occasions how he values intelligence and knowledge as much as he does raw power. When you first plopped down into the devildom he saw you as nothing more than a tool to get under Lucifer’s skin. Nothing more, nothing less. It was much easier to tag along when he witnessed just how competent you were, and as your presence slowly started to grow on him, he could admire how hard you worked, paying no attention at all to what anyone would whisper about your outer appearance.
He never really cared about the stupid and pointless gossip they spread about you. He finds it laughable how pathetic these demons are being. They see you, minding your own business and succeeding in your studies, and instead of trying to better themselves they choose to harass you, who they are jealous of, for only some misguided and momentary satisfaction.
You didn’t care either, since your sense of self worth had nothing to do with a stranger’s approval - and now, he can’t help having the same opinion as Lucifer on this but he finds that confidence hot. He doesn’t feel the need to acknowledge them either.
There are times where they get dangerously close to setting him off though - like when they try to take physical action. The leader of the group tried tripping you on the main staircase of the RAD campus and you could’ve sworn he was about to pull out a couple limbs in retaliation if you hadn't stepped out of the way in time. Luckily for everyone involved you only laughed at their attempt to embarrass you as you passed on by.
Satan has his reputation as a composed gentleman to maintain, it’d be such a waste to throw it all away to get rid of such unrefined filth. That being said… it’s not like he’s gonna stop Mammon from roughing them up a lil, and it's not technically his responsibility to tell the profs that it was actually Belphie who framed them for cheating…
Asmo
Being good looking has always been a curse - take it from the avatar of Lust himself. Can you imagine all the hands that reach for him at the parties wanting him for anything other than his pretty face?
If he’s being honest, he too had once overlooked you simply because of your plain appearance. He was looking for something interesting in the new transfer student, and you definitely didn’t show anything worth remarking at first glance.
He feels terrible about his behaviour back then. He realises how incredibly hypocritical it was for him to lament about how superficial all the attention he ever got was when he also only judged you superficially
Now that he’s able to make amends, it’s really refreshing for him to spend time with you, who doesn’t care for outward appearances anywhere as much as he’d be able to imagine. You just naturally bond over your very very different yet kind of relatable circumstances, leading to the two of you confiding a lot in each other.
Now when it comes to these cute :) Little :) very uninformed group :) trying to feel better about their poor lives by snubbing you in the halls, he finds that pathetic. You clearly aren’t giving them the time of day and all they can do is giggle amongst themselves as you ignore their comments
Asmo decides to be as flippant as he can as he makes his way over to you, giving them a threatening smile as their eyes are naturally drawn to his approaching figure. They blanch, unable to do anything other than stand there in their stupor as he plans out exactly how he’ll make the three of them the laughing stock of the school.
Who's to say that it was him who was responsible for those embarrassing devilgram posts to be recirculated, or the rumours that led to their eventual rejection from the rest of the student body?
Beel
Compliments and assurances all day round for everyone :). Make sure to give some back in return as well, Beel’s always been such a doll. The only thing he pays attention to when looking at your outward appearance is your health - make sure not to skip meals and get exercise daily!
Happy for you knowing you’re comfortable with yourself exactly how you are. As long as you’re happy and healthy, who has the right to criticise how you live your life? Beel truly didn’t want to believe there really were some demons going around behind your back at school but here we are.
I say this every time but Beel is such a sweet and pure guy. The thing is, his kindness really only extends to his brothers and you - he is one of the 7 demon lords of hell, and that's how the general public sees him. Not happy at all about what these lesser demons have been on about. It’s rare for you to see him with a frown on his face, but at school he doesn’t try to hide his displeasure with the group.
He confronts them eventually one day, blunt and in their faces. Not only is it uncomfortably awkward, but terrifying for them as well - there’s a reason a rumour about Beel eating lesser demons that got on his nerves exists. If they have a working head on their shoulders, they would stop.
Would offer to walk your around school everyday like he does with Belphie since he intimidates everyone enough to scare even the idea of trying to talk shit about you out of their skulls.
Might even talk to Lucifer about it because even if you say you don’t mind what others say about you, it can always go too far and when that happens, he can’t promise that he’ll be able to stop any of his brothers from tearing them apart.
Belphie
He’s always been a brat himself so you wonder why he feels the need to confront you about the ‘bullies’ at RAD. Pretends not to care about it, just slipping in a casual question as you’re studying together. You truly don’t feel self conscious about your appearance and he knows it. What he wants to know about is how far they’ve taken the name calling, since you’ve admitted to feeling a bit bothered by their constant jeers.
Y’know… physical appearances aren’t really that important to demons… do you even want to know what any of his brothers’ true forms look like? It’s not even comparable to what you humans see as ‘ugly’, so don’t expect any self respecting demon to judge that part of you. Clearly these demons don’t even deserve to be in the same room as you.
Uses this as another excuse to cling to you even more. What if they were to hurt you this time? Surely letting him rest his head on your lap will warn them from getting too close. Don't worry about what others say, and he'll take care of them some way...
When you aren't looking, he's incredibly petty and mean. The trio finds themselves victims of every single prank you could think of. Thumbtacks left out on their seats and in their shoes, phantom appendages they always seem to trip on, buckets of used mop water strategically placed on top of doorways they pass through…
It doesn’t help the poor demons that Lucifer is supposedly turning a blind eye to the youngest brother’s antics… but that’s neither here nor there. Clearly, they brought this upon themselves.
#obey me lucifer#obey me#obey me shall we date#obey me leviathan#obey me mammon#obey me beelzebub#obey me satan#obey me asmodeus#obey me belphegor#obey me swd#obey me x reader#aaaaaa
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yet again im back on my bullshit so... (gazes with mixed feelings at the TV show Firefly) i could fix him.
my extremely long thoughts about my Own Personal Good Version of Firefly (with plenty of spoilers for the show and the movie) under the cut:
things that are getting axed first thing no question:
out with the whole “let’s add in a thin veneer of Chinese cultural aesthetics out of context for ~flavor~” deal. just no.
instead, let’s hire some actors from a bunch of different cultures and work with them to figure out how their characters would bring those cultures into space with them!! and also hopefully bring some experiences with immigration/alienation/travel into it, since the Whole Core of Firefly is about how humanity always brings our doomed and silly and stubborn and unique warmth with us even into the cold void where nothing is familiar or homey in the slightest.
let’s respect our sex worker character shall we?
i do appreciate that Inara’s work as a companion is described as legitimate and well respected in the show. however please stop having your captain and hero call her a wh*re every five seconds against her clearly expressed wishes and portraying this as just a totally acceptable thing
let’s be more respectful of our characters of color and also have some more diversity, shall we?
others have put it better than me but yeah, the way Zoe and Book are treated is very uncomfy, and the rest of the show is depressingly monochromatic. come on let’s do better.
stop the weird confederacy hat tips
again others have pointed these out with much more thoroughness than I could, but the names of some characters and locations, as well as some of the language used to describe the browncoats, has uncomfortably confederate vibes. instead i propose we very Clearly tip our hats to the Alliance equaling space capitalism instead! you can’t go wrong with space capitalism as a villain.
don’t! make! the! psychotic! character! violent!
listen i love River Tam with my whole heart. but you should absolutely not portray your only character with psychosis as violent because of that psychosis!!!!!!! and yeah, a huge part of her character is that her brain got fucked up by the alliance and so she hallucinates and is also a super ninja. but like. she doesn’t need to be a super ninja for her character to work, okay? the crew does not need to be scared of her for her character to work, okay??? more on this later bc it would take a lot of care and nuance to make her character work but i really think it can be done
things we are absolutely keeping:
found family tropes my fucking beloved
this should be self evident. this is why the show is as appealing as it is despite its flaws, at least in my eyes.
malcolm reynolds, the knight in dusty armor
there’s something so appealing to me about what Mal stands for. because at his core is this ridiculous, silly, stubborn, doomed devotion to what he thinks is important and right, a romantic idealism thinly covered by cynical cowboy platitudes that he thinks make his bleeding heart totally invisible. and he is so obvious and entirely incorrect. bless. this is a man who will do anything for his family, who charges into swordfights to defend his friend from a man who wants to turn her into an object despite having no clue how to hold a sword. at his worst, he starts brawls in bars just for the martyr’s thrill of being persecuted for supporting the right; at his best, he inspires downright religious belief from his crew because he represents a romantic and chivalrous and doomed dedication to the right thing over any practical concerns. and then he throws a “selfish” quip over it with 100% confidence that everyone fell for his clever distraction and believes him to be a dirtbag. he’s oblivious and ridiculous and god he makes me want to be a better person because he’s just so goddamned sincere. stupid, but sincere. 10/10 himbo. <3
Mal and Inara ultraslowburn friends to enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers to friends to...
there’s nothing i love more than a ship that’s just two people who know each other way too well, and they’re each the only one who knows the other well enough to call them out on their bullshit. the way Mal and Inara interact in the show sometimes makes me uncomfy but like. the core of their relationship has to stay.
space western aesthetic
i need the cows on a spaceship scene to stay like i need air okay
that sweet sweet religious shit
mal, who lost his faith in gd and a whole lot else during the war. who lost his faith in himself, and now feels he has to hide the part of him that still wants to be good, because he knows he can’t be anymore, and he feels like it’s embarrassing for a guy like him to want something so unattainable. who takes a preacher on board, and the preacher has lost something, too. the preacher has his own past, and his own questions. but not questions like the observant neurodivergent girl, the one who wants to interact with and understand this thing that’s so important to him, but it just doesn’t click with how her brain works and she feels like something needs to be fixed, either the Bible or herself. and Mal takes care of them all, and slowly, he begins to find gd again, not in a prayer but in humanity. humanity doesn’t need to be fixed, like the alliance thinks. the shining imperfect strawberry sweetness of it in his family’s smiles is something to be worshiped and served and devoted to. and he finds he has something to believe in again. (and his crew find that he’s given them someone to believe in, too. and maybe suddenly he’s a saint.)
and finally, my brilliant ideas as to what i would like to add:
TRANS WOMAN KAYLEE RIGHTS
listen her femininity is so important to me okay? it’s so thrilled about everything that’s pretty, from dresses to the spaceship’s electric innards, and it’s so non-traditional and grease stained until it’s not and it’s pink and ruffly and twirly, and she never sees any of it as a contradiction, because none of it contradicts, it’s all just her! her gender is warmth and love and prettiness, feeling pretty and appreciating the pretty and making her friends’ days pretty too.
i want us to find out she’s trans in that episode with the ball, and i want us to find out alongside Mal who just never asked or never realized. Kaylee gasps and squeals at the dress in the shop window and Mal makes an off handed, ill considered comment, and then... someone yanks him aside and hisses a few very significant words in his ear. and suddenly he remembers what the blue white and pink she painted all over the engine room means, and he knows he has something to make right. so he buys her that dress himself and lets her know just how pretty she looks, and when he walks into that ball with her displayed on his arm like something precious, he looks the proudest out of any man there. and she notices. for a few seconds, of course, until there’s chocolate, and ‘nara, and a chandelier—and some horrible girls, but she’s used to that, until—suddenly, she finds her people. a group of old men who light up when she jokes about compression coils and whack presumptuous boys who ask her to dance. they adopt her as a treasured granddaughter, and Mal is beaming at her like a proud dad, and she finds that one of her new elderly friends gazes a little too long at her bracelet, and so she gives it to xem and teaches xem a few new words, and... it’s a good day, huh? it’s a really good day. (of course, then the captain has to go and punch somebody in the face, but it was a real nice party up until then.)
also she and Simon are both transhet t4t im correct and you know it
time for a better River Tam
the first thing we’ve established is that this version of her is not unpredictably violent and the crew is not scared of her!!!! it makes no sense to take a kid who’s primarily brilliant, experiment on her brain, give her telepathic powers....... and tack on the fact that she also has super strength and speed and dexterity and what not, AND say that they programmed her to be super violent. no! no. not only is that extremely harmful rep, that’s also just stupid.
instead!! my version of River is in fact not terrifying to the crew, but is actually the one they feel safest around. River has always been totally blunt, she was one of those kids you could tell realllllly early was autistic, and she doesn’t like being disengenous at all. so you can always trust her to tell the truth and not play weird passive aggressive games or have any hidden agenda, which makes her just a really chill person to be around. also, one of her longtime special interests is music and dance, so whether or not she’s nonverbal on a given day, there will always be some sort of beautiful sound when she’s around. she does have the singing voice of a dying crow unfortunately but that’s ok bc Simon’s is even worse and they’re both incredibly competitive so you’ll at least get free entertainment out of the affair.
my version of River does have psychosis and hallucinations because of the trauma of the experiments, and they are really troubling to her. she and Simon work together to find ways to cope and meds that help, and it’s a process, but there are some things that help.
the only thing she gained from the academy was the ability to hear people’s thoughts and sense the future a little bit. and yeah, that led to her picking up a few spooky secrets at the beginning, which, yikes. and for a while, it was hard to figure out which voices were real and which were hallucinations. but around her friends, she always feels safe to ask “did you just think about triple cheese burritos or was that just a me thing?”, and they’ll always tell her the truth no matter how embarrassing their thoughts are, bc it’s important to all of them to respect her and help her sort accurately through what’s reality and what’s not. and bit by bit, she gets better and better at figuring out what kinds of things tend to be telepathy and what kinds of things tend to be psychosis, and that each one feels a little different. and because of the trust and respect and support of her found family she’s able to do that in a safe environment!!!
trans man Simon rights
listen i wanted to keep him as just a side note on Kaylee’s list but he is my son and he’s important to my heart so here goes
out on the outer rim where Kaylee’s from, gender ain’t much of a big deal, there’s an individualistic quality to life out there, and so if the trail you blaze is the trail of a woman or a man or neither or both, that’s respected even in the rare cases where it’s not outright encouraged. but in the inner planets, where competition and connections and public faces and family names are everything, you have to be what’s expected of you to survive. you can’t change your brand, you can’t be anything other than what your family planned for you since before you were born, it’s incredibly hard to survive in such a hyper competitive environment, and so your very identity becomes just a tool in how to market yourself for better success.
needless to say Simon (just as autistic as his little sister and also very trans) fuckin hated it there. but he was very good at it. correction: he was very good at his very specific field of STEM, good enough to where people stopped talking about how cute he looked in bows and started talking about how impressive his work was from a very young age. and his work had no gender. he could be whatever he wanted to in equations. so that was where he could express himself, and gd, he got so much praise for it, he never wanted to stop.
not until he discovered that his sister needed him, and ran away, and needed a disguise, and realized... suddenly, every stifling rule and prying eye was a million miles away. he was freefloating, freefalling, with none of the charted paths he’d been following all his life... so you know what? fuck it. he’s always enjoyed the name Simon. and since it’s not on any legal records, it’ll make him just that much more untraceable.
and on Serenity, starting over with new people who never knew him before his transition feels like an unbelievable blessing that just dropped right into his lap. he has to keep up the secrecy, he has to make sure they never find out who he used to be, because gd, it’s so nice when they look at him and say his name right, and he doesn’t know if he can handle losing that, not when it’s so new and so important to the person he’s finally becoming. but then one day, the unthinkable happens, the wanted posters for his arrest have an old name on them, they’re looking for the Tam sisters, and... nothing changes. the crew of Serenity could not give even a tenth of a percent of a fuck, and it doesn’t seem like they even know they’re supposed to. huh. that’s new. Simon could get used to that, he thinks.
i’m sure there’s more i could add, but it’s 4:30 in the morning now, so if more occurs to me, ill simply add it in a reblog tomorrow. if you’ve read down this far, i am in love with you. please let me know your Better Firefly ideas, too, bc im always down to yell about this show!!!
#firefly#Serenity#in which i choke out joss whedon with my bare hands and rescue his characters and give them better homes#ollies fix it series#malcolm reynolds#ollies personal good firefly canon
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Chapter Three:
Once Kara had given the guys the all-clear to head into Clay’s room, they went in pairs, and Metal convinced Kara she needed to get some food. Jason had to marvel at the relationship between Metal and Kara. He’d never seen Metal act like he did with Kara, like he genuinely cared about her; and Kara seemed to let her walls down whenever Metal would ask her something or call her out on her selfcare.
Jason was headed down to the main entrance of the hospital with Ray, Metal, and Kara. As they walked into the waiting room of the Emergency Room, Hawkins called out to them from across the room. Kara smiled as he and Nic walked over. “Hey, how’s Clay doing?” Nic asked with a friendly smile.
“He’s doing okay,” Kara answered easily. “The guys are with him. I’m gonna head out with these guys for a few to get some food.”
Hawk tilted his head and looked at her. She stared right back him, clearly daring him to say something. “He’ll be fine,” Nic spoke up, looking between the two of them. “We’ll keep an eye on things.”
“Besides, Hawk,” Metal drawled, staring right at Hawkins. “Our girl here needs to take better care of herself, right?”
Hawkins nodded once but didn’t look away from Kara. “Right.”
As they were standing around in circle talking, Kara looked to the left and glanced at a dark-skinned man wearing a heavy jacket and talking on a cell phone. He was speaking a language Jason didn’t know. Her eyes darted back to Hawk as she tilted her head to listen better.
“What’s happening?” Hawk asked her, watching her intently.
“How’s your Swahili?” she questioned him.
“Not great,” Hawk narrowed his eyes on her. “You?”
“Fluent,” she shot back immediately.
“Alpha Seven, sit-rep,” Metal immediately demanded, voice low.
Kara snapped into action, her eyes stayed on Hawk as she spoke, a small smile graced her face. “Fighting age male, dark-skinned, wearing a heavy black coat, speaking Swahili on the phone. He specifically stated that he was wearing a vest and was ready. 2nddark-skinned, fighting aged male twelve o’clock, also wearing a heavy dark coat. It’s 85 degrees outside. There are 34 people in this room. 6 children, 15 women, including Nic and myself, and 9 men not including the four of you. Of the 15 women, 3 are geriatric.”
Jason was immediately on alert. The moment she started speaking and rattling off the statics of the room around them, Jason was able to zero in and see what she had seen in a moment’s notice. Sure enough, there was 2nd possible tango near the wall of windows that overlooked the parking lot beyond the hospital.
“You caught all that the moment we walked in here?” Ray asked.
“Kara can see the matrix,” Metal explained.
Jason turned to Metal and raised an eyebrow. Metal only nodded back at him. Jason looked down at Kara who was still looking at Hawk with a slight smile on her face, being completely inconspicuous. “Alright, how do we handle this?” Jason asked, differing to her and Metal for a plan.
“Hospital policy dictates in a potential hostage situation to immediately call 911 and avoid contact,” Hawkins stated and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“We need to go into lockdown,” Nic said. “Keep people from entering the building. We could pull the fire alarm,” she suggested.
“We do that, and every door closes and locks, and we’ll be trapped in this room with two true believers and roughly 40 victims. No, we alert the staff and do a compacity close,” Kara turned to Nic. “Nic, send out a code 8 alert. Close the hospital to all incoming ambos and patients. It’ll lock all exterior doors.”
Nic immediately pulled out her phone and started texting.
Kara turned back to Hawkins, ���Call 911, discreetly explain the situation,” Kara ordered.
Hawkins walked away, phone pressed to his ear and purposely going in the opposite direction.
“Won’t that draw suspicion?” Ray asked.
“Not if we play off the overcrowding,” Nic answered looking around.
“I’m gonna need you guys to blend in,” Kara said, and glanced at Metal.
He nodded once to her, clearly trusting her.
Kara glanced around the Emergency Department and sighed. They had gathered attention. Both men were watching them. Kara suddenly laughed and grabbed Nic’s hand in an exaggerated belly laugh as she doubled over. “Oh my god! You’re right!”
Nic immediately followed and laughed too, clutching Kara as they stumbled away from their little group over to the check in desk.
The girls finished what seemed to be a lively conversation in front of the reception desk before they both looked down at the check in sheet. Jason, Ray, and Metal headed dispersed amongst the crowded waiting room, looking for a seat that would allow for a clear line of sight in case they needed to do anything. Without weapons though, it was going to be hard.
Jason could see Nic talking to the check in girl who nodded once before she stood up and headed into the room behind the reception desk.
Kara picked up the sign in clipboard and looked it over before she then looked around the room. “Alright everyone, listen up!” she called out loudly over the noise of the waiting room. She waited briefly for the noise to die down before she continued. “Welcome to Chastain Memorial Hospital in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA,” Kara drawled, adopting her best gameshow host voice, and letting her eyes make a slow and casual sweep of the room. “My name is Dr. Kara Spenser. As you can see, we are quite busy here in the Emergency Department. Yes, Emergency department. It is no longer classified as just the Emergency Room; we are a whole department. A whole department dedicated to ensuring you get the absolute best care you so rightly deserve. So, I have one rule, and one rule only here in my E.D. and that is, ‘My way or the highway. My word is law.’ If you don’t like that rule, I don’t really care. I’m not here to be your friend, I’m here to ensure that you do not bleed out. And there will be no blood on my E.D floor,” she smirked at Hawkins, who had walked back in the room with his phone nowhere to be seen. “So, this how we’re going to things,” she turned toward Nic. “This is Dr. Nevin, she’s going to take our children directly up to pediatrics. Why wait here, when you can wait there?”
There was a bit of a grumbled from the parents of the children, but they slowly gathered their things and their children and followed after Nic, roughly clearing out a dozen people.
Ray’s throat tightened when he saw Naima walk out of the back room behind the reception desk and glance around.
Kara glanced over at her briefly before she launched into her next spiel, “Next we have our lovely elderly patients. You’ve done a lifetime of waiting now, so we’re gonna get you up and out of my E.D. The lovely nurses Naima and Brenda here, are gonna assist you lovely ladies on up to our geriatrics ward.” There was a shuffle as Naima and Brenda helped the three patients to their feet and they shuffled out.
Kara started to pace the room as she continued. “The rest of you, I apologize for the wait. Dr. Conrad Hawkins and I will be with you shortly. We have your check in information. We will go down the list according to who checked in first.”
Jason had to admit he was impressed with Kara’s quick thinking. She managed to clear half the people out of the room, including Naima and the front desk woman Brenda. All the children and elderly were evacuated. All that was left was the four trained Navy SEALS, Hawkins, Kara, two armed men, and roughly ten others that they could hopefully get out of harm’s way before the men decided they were done waiting.
As she finished speaking one of the men, the one that had been talking on the cell phone, had decided he was done waiting and stood up managed to grab Kara as she was walking by. He managed to get an arm around her neck and pull out a gun before Kara could even move. She froze and flashed her gaze to Metal, as the gun was waiving around in front of her.
The gunman started yelling and chaos erupted in the E.D.
“Hey, hey,” Jason tried to call over the yelling of the room, but the gunman yelled louder.
A hush finally settled over the crowd in the E.D while the gunman assessed the situation around him. He was flighty and waiving the gun in front of Kara. His other arm was locked in a headlock around Kara’s neck. She was clawing at his arm to no avail.
“Come on man, let her go,” Metal’s voice was soft and gentle in a commanding sort of way.
Kara’s eyes left Metal’s and landed on the other man in a coat in the room. The man stood up, pulled out a 9mm and turned his back on the crowd behind him. With his back turned, it took Jason all of a second’s decision making to tackle the man.
His gun went flying out of his hand and scattered across the floor at Kara’s feet.
She made a split-second decision and a tossed her head back into her assailant’s head, with a sickening crunch in her ear, his nose broke. He broke his hold on her and she dropped her weight and lunged for the 9mm lying at her feet.
In a trained and liquid move, she grabbed the 9mm, rolled onto her back and with both hands on the weapon, fired off two shots into the extremist’s chest in a tight pattern. His body hadn’t even hit the floor before she turned her body and eyed Jason struggling with the man in the vest. With the gun trained on them, she watched the extremist knock Jason off his back and reach for his torso.
Kara fired off a single shot, straight through the skull.
There was a moment of deafening quiet in the E.D before Kara got to her feet, holding the gun down and aimed at the ground as she assessed the situation around her. Both assailants were dead, everyone else in the room was crouched down, except for the SEALS that were on their feet also looking around for a threat.
Metal slowly walked over and pulled gun out of her hands and flipped the safety into place before he pulled her into a hug. She didn’t even hug him back, just rested her forehead against his chest and breathed in deep, taking in his familiar and comforting scent. “Good work, Alpha Seven,” he stated clearly as he pulled her against him.
Kara had to chuckle softly as she shook her head. “Fucking hell,” she grumbled and wrapped an arm around his waist.
#Seal Team#Seal Team Fan Fic#Clay Spenser#Clay Spenser Fan Fic#Clay Spenser x OC#Sonny Quinn#Ray Perry#Brock Reynolds#Full Metal#Scott Carter#Trent Sawyer#Conrad Hawkins#The Resident
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wtf is going on with rick I’m confused
He basically woke up this morning and was like 😎 🖕 to literally all native fans and anyone that’s ever called him out on anything lol
He made this blog post this morning, in an effort to justify everything anyone has ever said to him about Piper, and the very harmful stereotyping he contributes to regarding the feathers in her hair, and other issues, and openly admits that his primary source on it was another white dude. These are some great posts in regards to specific issues people have with this. I don’t feel it’s really my place to speak on it, as someone who’s not directly affected.
@charlesbeckendorf @kubo @blackjacktheboss @tsigililimclean @meclusa and @annabethchasy all have said quite a bit on the subject, and are really good resources for critiques on not just this particular issue, but the subject material in general.
The additional issue at hand, is his response to critiques in general.
Can’t really respect a middle aged multimillionaire claiming to be bullied by people half his age ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This and this are really good posts on the subject, and this is ultimately my feeling on the matter. If all you can do is make excuses as a middle aged multimillionaire, and not even apologize to the countless people who have been harmed from the stereotypes you are perpetuating and are from the populations you yourself are trying to represent, I got nothing for you. And ultimately, even his supposed “support” for #ownvoices stories is incredibly dismissive, as additionally pointed out here.
I myself am just really tired. Between good ol’ Rick and JKR trading off weeks to be horrendous, and SJM ignoring literally every critique, and the fanbase ignoring every problem for the most part, the world is exhausting.
But, at the same time, in a world that has a desperate need for more #ownvoices stories, as is the issue with SJM, plenty of white authors are also criticized for NOT including rep. And even if you do all the research in the world, plenty of people will always disagree with you. Even if you’re not a white person, even if you’re writing an #ownvoices story, I think it’s ridiculous to claim that that one person speaks for all people of that group. The most recent and relevant example of this is probably the current issue with Goya Foods.
Ultimately, I think being a public figure is difficult, and you have to do your best, and accept that fact that you’re never going to do everything right when you put content in the world, but you should listen and apologize when people tell you that you have harmed them. But also, I think ultimately you should just go to sleep on your piles of millions and shut your damn mouth; if you don’t have anything nice to say, Mr. Rich Man, don’t say anything at all. But that’s just me.
#hopefully this makes mad#suncities#***hopefully this doesn't make anyone mad#also of course my links dont work#im gonna fix it hang on#but also hopefully it makes sense#oh look it's me#answered
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Summary: Marinette gains a new ally in a student from Japan, although he’s not what he seems. Lila makes her move, proving to Marinette that her threat is real. But what she didn’t count on, was that Marinette would have a few friends that has her back. Although they are the most unexpected people. When Lila pushes too far by getting Marinette and her friends expelled, there is a certain hero that lends a hand. But wait? BECOME STUDENTS OF U.A.?
Chapter Eight: Ladybug, Choosing Sides
░❇┊Previous┊❇ ░ ❇┊Next┊❇ ░ ❇┊Masterlist┊❇ ┊AO3 ┊❇░
Chapter Warning: Mentions of blood and bodily harm to a minor.
A/n: This is it ya'll. The last chapter before The Battle of the Miraculous will begin. Not to mention a TON of changes than the original manuscript of the story. There is a chance I won't be posting the battle chapters until the first week of November since I'll be preparing to watch for My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission. But hopefully you enjoy this chapter until then~
Enjoy reading~!
“BWAHHHHH! IT’S YOU!”
Felix raised a brow at Alix screaming and pointing at him, while Nathaniel stood there with a surprised face next to her. Adrien was smiling happily as he stood with the two and Marc was at Felix’s side looking sheepish.
“I didn’t know you were going to school here,” Nathaniel breathed out, then glanced at Adrien, “You knew?”
“I wanted to surprise you guys!” The happy blond chirped as he was bouncing a bit in place.
Alix murmured, “You sure did surprise us.”
“How are you in Mlle. Mendeleiev’s class so far, Fe? And your other classes?” Adrien asked curiously, while Felix shrugged.
“Pretty easy. Although I must admit, Mendeleiev loves to challenge my intelligent at times.”
Marc smiled, “Felix i-is considered the smartest kid in our c-class! Making him the biggest competition against Aurore.”
“And I’ll take my number one spot back as soon as we get our test results back today, Graham de Vanily,”
The playful teasing voice of Aurore Beauréal sounded, the blonde was smiling brightly as she walked to the group with Mireille at her side.
“Just you wait~! I’m pretty sure I got the perfect score!”
“We shall see, Mlle. Class Rep.” Felix said coolly, and Adrien had to grin.
Even though Aunt Amelie and Felix had finally moved into their new house (which happens to be down the road, which meant that Adrien and Felix could ride to school together!), there were times that Adrien’s aunt tended to barge into his father’s work time randomly, asking for some time to talk. What they were meeting about, Adrien didn’t know. But this meant that Felix was also over quite often.
According to Felix, he hadn’t really gotten close to all of his classmates. They are all the same to me, he would say, but at least Felix was getting along with Marc. He was also on a friendly rivalry with Aurore, who had wanted to show Felix around the school as Class Rep but the two ended up trading words of sass and playful teasing. As Deputy Rep, Mireille Caquet also had the pleasure of meeting with Felix, although somehow Felix had asked if her hair was a natural color.
Marc leaned into Adrien with an amused smile, “I heard that Felix said that Aurore reminded him of someone, b-but they weren’t blonde. Said something about pigtails being way too common around here because when he saw Marinette, he looked stunned.”
Felix heard Marc’s whispering and ignored it, even if it sent a cold sickening feeling in his stomach.
The school bell rang, signalling that classes were starting. Waving goodbye to Felix, Marc, Aurore and Mireille as they headed to Ms. Mendeleiev’s class, Nathaniel, Alix and Adrien were heading into Ms. Bustier’s class together. Adrien and Nathaniel sat next to each other at the very back, while Alix sat in front of them.
Soon, the rest of their classmates were trickling in.
Lila’s voice was the loudest as she was telling Alya some story of her hanging out with Ladybug while Alya was listening with rapt attention.
“That’s right~ Ladybug’s told me a lot about the Miraculous Heroes she’s working with~ I’ll be happy to talk about that in your Ladyblog this weekend, Al~” She said with a smile, and Alya was vibrating in her seat for a moment as she seemed to have a bunch of questions at the tip of her tongue.
Adrien raised a brow as he listened in, making Nathaniel and Alix stop talking and look where the blond was looking.
“Tch, doesn’t she ever stop to breathe? Where does all that air come from?” Alix said with a mocking tone as Nathaniel chided her sternly, Adrien’s eyes soon followed to Nino and Marinette coming in last.
Nino glanced up as Lila and Alya were laughing together while talking, then glanced over at Marinette worriedly, the said girl was looking at them sadly.
Now Alya was the one blowing off Marinette everytime to girl asked to hang. It hurt whenever Alya said she’s free to hang, she would add with “Could Lila come with us?” and sternly tell Marinette off about not giving Lila a chance to befriend her.
“You gotta stop being jealous over Adrien, girl! She doesn’t like him like that, she told me herself~!’
Oh how much Marinette wants to tell the truth.
And Nino has tried himself.
But Alya was stubborn. Stubborn as a mule.
Anything bad said about Lila? It would usually cause Alya to be defensive and look for a fight.
It almost costed Nino and Alya’s relationship.
“Let’s take a break. It’s not a breakup, just we need some space, you know? I can’t seem to trust you right now”
Alya had said to Nino one night as they were arguing about Lila again, and Nino felt his world crash down.
“Call me back when you’ve come to your senses and stop this Lila hate.”
Shinso ended up letting Nino sleep over his place and cry it out for two nights.
Speaking of Shinso, he was pretty worried about Nino. A few times the boy almost fell into akumatization. But thankfully Shinso had been capturing the akuma and keeping it locked, then calling Ladybug to purify it.
But that’s not the only thing he was worried about.
Today is the day.
“You nervous about the test results?” Rose chirped at his side as she peeked at his pale and tired face, “I’m sure you did great! After all, we studied really hard together!”
Shinso smiled wryly, nodding his head.
“You’re right.”
He had study dates with Rose and Juleka, the two also joining in at times with Marinette, Chloe, Sabrina and Nino. Although him and the other four had to excuse themselves at times to Rose and Juleka whenever Hawkmoth decided to get an akuma running around the city.
…However, that’s not why he was looking nervous.
"I've graded your mock exams papers. Most of you did quite well...some better than others," Ms. Bustier hummed with a serious look, then looked to a certain student in concern, “But before I hand them back, Marinette, could you bring your schoolbag to me please? I need to check something..."
Shinso closed his eyes as he was leaning his forehead on his joined hands as if praying, breathing out quietly. Rose noticed and looked at him questionably.
Marinette and Nino looked at each other in confusion, while Chloe and Sabrina also looked up, puzzled. Obeying, the baker girl was coming down from her seat to place her pink backpack onto the teacher's table, and then looked up at the teacher, who looked at her with a small tight smile before looking back to the class.
"Today someone placed an anonymous note in my mailbox, claiming that you'd stolen the exam answers," The woman unzipped the bag, rummaging through it until she pulled a piece of paper and had a look of disappointment, "And it looks like the anonymous person was right..."
Everyone gasped in shock, looking at Marinette as the said girl was horrified.
"But…But that's not true!" Marinette defended herself with wide eyes, "Someone must've planted that piece of paper in my bag!"
"But Marinette, you answered all of the questions correctly.” Ms. Bustier pointed out with a frown.
"I did?" Bluebell eyes shined for a moment in pride but snapped out of it, "Yes! B-but because I studied!"
Nino frowned and was standing up with a raised hand, “Mlle. Bustier, Marinette always score high on your tests!”
“That’s right! Besides, she was studying with me, Chloe, Rose, Juleka, Hitoshi and Nino for the exam! There's no way that Marinette could cheat!” Sabrina pointed out, as Chloe nodded her head.
“If you need proof, you can ask the security at my Daddy’s hotel~! The cameras have us coming in and out of my room to study.”
Ms. Bustier looked confused for a moment but slowly frowned, “Six of you also have the same perfect scores…now this is very serious.”
Marinette looked back to her friends with fearful eyes, before looking back at Ms. Bustier.
A soft voice carried around the room as a certain Italian girl portrayed a concerned classmate, misty eyes shining with worry.
“This is so terribly unlike you Marinette~! You're usually so well behaved~! And dragging our friends to cheat too~?”
Marinette's jaws dropped for a second, then slowly turned to the Italian girl, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
Shinso watched as Marinette slowly lost herself in protective anger.
“Of course...YOU put the answers in my bag! YOU'RE the anonymous informer!" She accused, pointing her finger at Lila.
Lila gasped, hand over her heart as lower lip wobbling, tearing up on command, "I'm coming to your defense and you're accusing me~?"
"You can't accuse someone without proof, Marinette.” Ms. Bustier chastised her gently yet disapprovingly.
Marinette turned around to face her teacher, eyes determined, "I'm sure it's her! She stole the test answers!"
Ms. Bustier didn't waver, "That's impossible, Marinette. Lila got the worst score in the class.”
Marinette faltered for a second, then looked down.
“T-then..." She looked back up and pointed out with desperation, "She flunked the exam on purpose!"
"Now why would she do that, Marinette?" The teacher asked once more, not understanding why her best student was being this way.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "There's no way that someone was goody-goody as Dupain-Cheng would dare cheat! And that's coming from me!"
Adrien looked surprised at Chloe. So did Nathaniel and Alix.
"Yeah! I've known Marinette for a long time!" Nino passionately claimed, defending his childhood friend, "She isn't the type to cheat!"
He looked over at Kim.
"You grew up with us, you'd know this!"
Kim frowned, looking away and baffling Nino.
"Guys, you know Marinette! Our everyday Ladybug! She always does the right things and everything!" Rose, the ever sweet girl she was, tried to see if anyone would back them up, but it seems that they didn't dare speak up, or they actually believed Marinette could cheat.
Not even Alya, who was her best friend.
In fact, Alya was looking at Marinette with disbelief and disappointment in her eyes.
Marinette's eyes watered, obviously heartbroken.
Shinso was shaking in his seat, wanting to speak up. He so badly wanted to.
‘I cannot interfere.’
Adrien looked to Nathaniel and Alix, as the two nodded their heads. He hardened his resolve and was about to open his mouth until Ms. Bustier had enough. She sent Marinette and Lila out to go to the Principal's office, and was trying to get the class to calm down again.
Nino narrowed is eyes, turning to his supposed classmates.
”How could you guys not believe her!?" He whirled to Alya as he huffed, clearly disappointed in her, “And you! Y-you’re her BFF! I thought you of all people would know Marinette by now!”
Alya narrowed her eyes as she hissed, “It’s always Marinette with you these days, isn’t it?!”
Nino felt like he was slapped in the face as he stared at her, “W-what?”
"With Marinette having an…infatuation to a certain person, it’s no surprise she’d act out for attention.“ Max pointed out, pushing his glasses up, "It sort of makes sense if you logically see it.”
“Max’s right. Marinette has known to be pretty weird around Adri—“ Kim felt his mouth covered by Max, who was shushing him.
Adrien tilted his head. What was Kim going to say?
"Besides, what does Lila gain from framing Marinette like that?" Mylene asked softly with a frown, "When poor Lila has been trying to make friends with Marinette since she arrived?"
Chloe huffed, "Ridiculous! You're all utterly ridiculous!"
"That's rich, coming from you Chloe!" Alya hissed with fury in her eyes, "Maybe you're rubbing off on Marinette, that's why she's changed so much!"
“Actually I agree with Chloe for once.” Alix stood up as Chloe looked back at her in surprise, “Don’t look at me like that, Precious. I’m just saying that there’s no way that Marinette would cheat!”
Nathaniel nodded in agreement and Adrien was about to speak his piece when Ms. Bustier’s voice sounded in the room.
"That's enough class," The red haired woman clapped her hands, getting everyone's attention, "I have noticed that there has been a lot of negativity in the class as of late, and that stops today. We should remember that we're all friends here, we're better than this! And I'll be sure to give Marinette a talking to when she returns. As Class Rep, she needs to set a good example and not be bringing the class down like this.”
Shinso was pursing his lips, gripping his hands together tightly with narrowed eyes.
Rose saw this and touched at his shaking hands, “Hito, what’s wrong?”
Suddenly, there was a scream outside and everyone looked to the door in surprise.
"AHHH OWW OWW~! OUCH! MY LEGGG~! MARINETTE PUSHED ME DOWN THE STAIRS OOWWW~"
"What?!" Everyone yelled in surprise, whispers going on all around.
Nino, Chloe and Sabrina looked at each other before they all raced out the door, despite Ms. Bustier’s protests. Adrien, Nathaniel and Alix also got up and ran out to follow them. Once they were all out the classroom, they looked down at the source of the cries and screams. Lo and behold, they saw Lila crying on the bottom of the steps while holding her leg, one of the janitors helping her up as many students from other classes were coming out to see what's going on.
“M-Marinette pushed me! She really pushed me down the stairs!” Lila sobbed as Mr. Damocles was coming out to see what the commotion was about.
Marinette just stood, shellshocked of what just happened.
Shinso was peeking out the door with Rose and Juleka, guilt swelling in his eyes.
"IN MY OFFICE! NOW!" Mr. Damocles yelled, grabbing Marinette's arm and pulling her to his office.
Alix growled as she watched Lila being carried to the nurse's office, gripping the railings, "That...that bit—!”
"Careful! You're gonna attract an akuma!" Nathaniel whispered as Adrien watched Marinette be dragged into the Principal’s office.
Nino was feeling anger swell around him, but then felt the hands of Chloe and Sabrina on each of his arm as the girls rushed Nino out of there to calm him down. Adrien saw this and soon followed after them.
Nathaniel was about to follow when he was stopped by Felix, Marc, Aurore and Mireille.
“Was it true? Did M-Marinette really push Lila down the stairs?” Mireille asked with concern, and a bit of confusion.
Alix looked aghast at the suggestion and glared, “Of course she didn’t! You know Marinette! She wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
“So Lila faked it right?” Aurore didn’t ask, she confirmed as she was tapping her chin, seeing the students getting back to their classes, “But it seems everyone believed that Lila was pushed.”
“A desperate diva, but even I can admit the girl staged it perfectly. This Marinette girl fell for her trap in just the right time.” Felix murmured then glanced around, “Where’s Adrien?”
“He followed Nino, Chloe and Sabrina. I was going to follow them,” Nathaniel answered as he was already walking to the locker rooms were, Alix, Marc, Felix, Aurore and Mireille soon followed after him.
They walked in just in time to see Nino and Adrien sort of arguing, Chloe and Sabrina stepping in between them in case they decided to get physical. Or in this case, stop Nino from decking the model in the face.
"I-I just...I didn't feel it was right exposing her and making it worse at the time!” Adrien tried to defend himself but kept his stance, “And I’m realising that now that it was wrong! I know now I shouldn’t have told Marinette to let go and take the high road—“
“You bet your ass you shouldn’t have told her that! And look where that’s getting her! IT'S GETTING MARINETTE INTO TROUBLE! AND PROBABLY GONNA GET HER EXPELLED!" Nino was shoving a finger at Adrien's chest, but let out a hard sighed, “And I'm sorry. You’re my bro. I really am sorry since I know you've been harassed a lot by Lila. But I won't be forgiving you if Marinette's gone. You knew, and you could've helped us!"
“Hey! He’s not at fault here!” Alix came to the rescue as Nathaniel was soon pulling Adrien back a bit protectively, “We knew as well!”
Nino blinked as he then looked to Nathaniel, who nodded.
“We-we all kinda knew,” Marc spoke up as he, Felix, Aurore and Mireille stepped up.
Chloe looked aghast when she spotted Felix, pointing at him, “YOU!”
“Yes, yes, nice to see you too, Chloe,” Felix rolled his eyes and folded his arms, “Hope you’re not the same spoilt little brat that I knew of when we were younger?”
“And I hope you aren’t still the pompous, snot-nosed dweeb that always hogged Adrien and fooled me with you two switching your clothes and confusing me!” Chloe stomped her foot on the ground, glaring daggers at the smirking Felix.
Nino coughed, ignoring the blonds before looking at Aurore and Mireille, “So how do you two and Marc know about her?”
“I never really liked her. Her tales are so farfetched that I stopped listening to her completely,” Aurore shrugged, “She’s been getting a lot of loyalists on her side from other classes lately, thanks to her fantastical life she paints and making fake promises for everyone. So if anyone tries to go against her, she sics them onto the person so she doesn’t have to get her hands dirty.”
“O-one time she spun a-a story t-that I was bullying her because I was “obsessed” with Adrien. And s-so Adrien’s f-fanclub t-tried to corner me,” Mireille sobbed at the memory and Aurore was hugging her close, “O-Oh gosh, i-if it wasn’t for Aurore and Marc calling a teacher, I…I dunno what would have happened to me…”
Adrien felt his stomach drop at hearing their testimonies, especially when Marc shared his own story with his encounter with Lila.
Nino was right.
“If this many people knew…” Nino murmured, looking away for a moment.
"No point on getting angry now, let's calm down for a second,” Nathaniel was raising a hand up as everyone looked to him, “What matters now is to make sure that Marinette isn't gonna be in bigger trouble that she is at the moment. Question is, how can we prove her innocence?"
“We’re gonna help Marinette?” Adrien asked dumbly as Alix nodded.
“Sure are! And once we get her out of trouble, we won’t hold back exposing Lila!”
Felix sighed, “I don’t know why you guys don’t report her or something?”
“A lot of students have tried, but it always backfires,” Aurore replied with a grim look, folding her arms, “I wanted to interview someone that knew of Lila’s misdeeds but he mysteriously transferred out of school the next day before I could ask.”
Chloe sighed, rubbing her temple, “If only I could call Daddy to fix this mess.”
“Well, we can’t always rely on your dad, Precious. So let’s all think here,” Alix said as she looked around the room, “How can we help Marinette?”
Everyone were looking thoughtful for a moment, until Nino snapped his fingers.
“Maybe the security cameras?" He pointed at the CCTV cameras that were posted on every corner, "If we could sneak into the security room, maybe it has a footage of Lila placing the test answers in Marinette's bag!"
“G-good thinking Nino...but how to get in? T-The school guard is the one that k-keeps the keys.” Marc asked as he looked at the cameras.
Chloe smirked confidently, "You can leave that to me~"
"How? No offense, but this is when you usually use Sabrina to do that kind of work.” Alix raised a brow.
"Even I know how to be sneaky about things.” Chloe huffed, offended a bit as Sabrina smiled.
Adrien looked around the room, realising that everyone was willing to go out of their way to help Marinette. And honestly? He should be too.
After all, Marinette was his most precious friend.
With determination, he breathed out, “So let’s get to it!”
Everyone looked at him as he gave a grin.
“Let’s save our Everyday Ladybug! She’s always helped us, now it’s our turn to help her! Just tell me what’s the plan and I’ll help the best I can!”
Nino stared at Adrien and slowly smiled, before he lifted his fist to bump into Adrien’s, who accepted it.
“Alright dude! My man!”
“So we cool, Nino?” Adrien asked tentatively as Nino nodded.
“Yeah. We cool dude.”
“We shouldn’t all go to the security room. It would be suspicious if many of us vanished,” Felix stated seriously.
“Felix is right. So maybe only three people should go. One to get the keys of the security room, one to handle the computer whizz stuff and one as a lookout.” Nathaniel spoke, knowing both Nino and Chloe were definitely going.
“I’ll go,” Sabrina raised her hand up as Chloe nodded.
“Me too. Lahiffe, you’re coming with.”
Nino nodded his head.
“Meanwhile, Nathaniel, Adrien and I could maybe look around for clues when break time happens. Like go back to the scene of the crime, which is Marinette’s locker. Get fingerprints and stuff.” Alix said, already liking this idea, “Man, this feels like we’re doing espionage! So cool!”
“I could ask around too. See if anyone has seen or heard anything,” Aurore smiled and glanced at her classmates, “Marc, Mireille and Felix could help me with gathering witnesses and testimonies.”
“Then it’s settled.” Nino tipped his hat up, “We do this when the time is right and save our girl!”
Before they could talk anymore, some other students were coming into the locker room, and were talking about what happened with Lila and Marinette.
"Can't believe Marinette would go so far as to hurt Lila! All because she's jealous of Lila hanging out with Adrien!"
Alya happened to be one of the students leading the charge, having Kim, Mylene, Ivan and Max behind her, along with some other students from Ms. Mendeleiev’s class. And it looks like they were already talking bad things about Marinette.
"She didn't hurt her! It's obvious that Lila was faking!" Nino turned to them with anger, already feeling his headache growing, "And she wasn't jealous!"
Adrien raised a brow at this, confused.
Alya turned to Nino, narrowing her eyes, “Of course you’d be defending her!”
“What’s that supposed to mean??”
“Oh, like you don’t know! Maybe Lila was right about you!”
Nino felt his head spin as he then breathed out, trying not to be even more pissed than he was, “What did Lila say?”
“You still having feelings for Marinette!”
Nino felt his face flush with humiliation as everyone looked to him, betrayal and hurt slowly morphing on his face.
Adrien, noticing his bro’s face, finally snapped.
“Nino loves you! Adores you and never stops talking about you!” Adrien defended, stepping forward as he narrowed his eyes, “He and Marinette are childhood friends! Just like Chloe and I! And you don’t see me fawning over Chloe in that way!”
Chloe pouted but sighed, “As much as that hurts, he has a point. Adrien is special to me. Because we’ve known each other for so long.”
“That’s not the same!” Alya breathed out then looked at Nino, “Then look me in the eye and tell me where you keep disappearing to with Marinette, huh?”
Nino looked to her and said sternly, “We. Are. Just. Hanging. Out. You can’t just assume that I’m doing something unfaithful just because I decide to spend time with other girls! You don’t have to know every second of where I go and what I do.”
Felix decided to intervene before things got ugly, judging by the reddening face Alya was sporting now.
“Besides, how do we know that Lila actually fell down the stairs?”
"Very true. If Lila really did fall, we would've heard the fall. The sounds of the metal of the stairs clanking and sounds of pain.” Nathaniel tried to be logical, not wanting to fight.
One of Mendeleiev’s students, a boy named Jean Duprac, looked unsure but somewhat taking Nathaniel’s words into account.
“B-But what? Do you mean Lila just...walked down and faked falling down the stairs? But why?" He asked as Chloe was breathing through her nose.
"Because Lie-la loves to stir up drama and has it out for Dupain-Cheng!" The Mayor's daughter screeched, making the boy squeak out with a flinch.
“I’ve just had it with you Chloe! All you seem to do is cause trouble!” Alya stepped up as she went toe to toe with Chloe, “You’re worse than Hawkmoth! You’re the reason that akumas happen! Changing Marinette and always hanging around her, then Nino, and even the new student, Rose and Juleka! I bet you have something on them, huh?! Bribery? Blackmail?”
Chloe growled as she was giving a cruel smirk, itching for a fight.
It was a long time coming.
“As if I’d stoop that low, Cesaire. At least I can be trusted and be given a second chance to have real friends and not liars.”
“You? Change? HA!” Alya laughed, making the people behind her laugh, before she turned furious, “You’ll never change! Once a villain, always a villain! You couldn’t even be Queen Bee properly! No wonder Ladybug renounced you when she did!”
Sabrina stepped up angrily as she shouted at Alya, “Don’t you dare insult Chloe like that! She has changed!”
“Of course you’d say that! You’re Chloe’s number one slave!” Kim argued, making Nino step up as well.
“Back off!” The DJ stated as he glared at his old friend.
“What are you gonna do? Bubble me?” Kim mocked as Nino was itching to punch him.
"Guys, please!" Adrien stepped in between them, trying to placate everyone.
Shinso was rushing in along with Rose and Juleka, helping Adrien hold Nino back from attacking the sporty boy. Rose and Juleka stayed back, looking at everyone in worry.
Alix was already being held back from punching Max herself when he stated of Alix possibly turning to an akuma for her “famous temper”, Nathaniel and Marc trying to hold the skater by the waist.
Mylene was crying from Aurore’s stern words, and Ivan holding his girlfriend with a threatening glare.
Rose gasped as she was seeing Alya all up on Chloe’s face and stepped between them, “E-everyone! Please calm down, w-we might attract Hawkmoth’s akumas!”
Another student from Mendeleiev’s class spoke up, “She’s right! Chloe Bourgeois might turn into Queen Wasp again and doom us all!”
More murmurs and fearful whispers were talking about the rich girl, and Rose looked panicked.
“No! She wouldn’t! Chloe isn’t bad!” She defended, as Juleka was trying to pull Rose back, “Believe me, I’ve seen it with my own two eyes that Chloe is nicer than she seems!”
“You too Rose?!” Alya looked at the tiny girl in surprise before her expression morphed into concern, “I knew it, Chloe is holding something against you isn’t she?! Tell me! She can’t keep making people her slaves!”
Juleka stepped up before Alya could grab and shake the scared Rose, glaring at the reporter.
Shinso looked around the room as everyone seemed to be divided.
What a mess.
Before a war could break out, the doors open to reveal Marinette coming in with her parents, Lila, Mr. Damocles and Ms. Bustier. Everyone turned silent as they watched, almost as if witnessing an execution.
"What's going on?" Nino whispered as they watched when they stopped at Marinette's locker.
"Open your locker, please.” Mr. Damocles asked calmly.
Marinette was opening her locker, then gasped as something fell out. A white box that had...a fox pendant.
"My grandma's pendent~" Lila picked up the necklace, placing it over her heart as Marinette's parents, Damocles and Busiter looked at Marinette in disbelief.
Marinette felt her stomach dropped, as she looked around the room. With the exception of the concerned looks from the people that want to help clear her name and believe in her, everyone else was judging her with harsh glares. This included Alya, who was folding her arms, shaking her head. Looking at her like she’s some criminal.
This caused Marinette's heart to break even more than before.
Shinso’s eyes closed as he turned his head away, knowing what’s going to happen now.
"She's making up this whole thing! It wasn't me! I didn't steal anything, I swear!" Marinette tried to defend with tears, looking around even at her disappointed parents then right at a guilty looking Adrien, "Y-You know Lila's lying, d-don't you Adrien?"
Adrien bit his lower lip, looking down. He wanted to speak up, of course he wanted to! Marinette was his friend.
But...if everyone was easily turning their backs on Marinette and the rest that are on her side…who's to say they won't with Adrien? He felt scared of being yelled at just like Nino, Chloe and the others had gone through just moments ago. He didn't want to lose any friends.
No wait…
Adrien looked over to Nathaniel and Alix, who wanted to step in and beg Mr. Damocles to change his mind, tell him that Marinette was innocent.
He did have friends. Friends who believed in him. Friends that knew the truth.
Alix was right.
They should expose Lila right here, right now!
Feeling brave, he soon stepped forward.
"Mr. Damocles, Marinette didn't—"
But the principal wouldn't hear of it, as he held his hands up and bellowed in finality.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! YOU ARE EXPELLED FROM THIS SCHOOL!”
Everyone in the room were in shock, as Damocles was telling her to pack her things and leave the school grounds. At this time, Nino and Sabrina were stepping forward, begging Mr. Damocles to give them time to prove that Marinette wasn't the culprit while Chloe was trying to dial her father once more to help.
Shinso opened his eyes and looked to Marinette, his facial features softened with pity. She looked like she was going to cry.
Honestly he wanted to reach out. Just to comfort her.
But he held his hand back from lifting up to touch at her shoulder. He bit his tongue, and stayed quiet.
Tom and Sabine sighed, pushing their daughter gently out the door...until red butterflies were flying in and attacking everyone.
"Marinette!" Nino yelled as one of the butterflies aimed at her purse, but soon calmed his heart when one butterfly was about to touch him.
Chloe and Sabrina calmed themselves down as well, the blonde standing in front of Sabrina protectively as the two watched carefully with the butterflies hovering over them. Shinso had grabbed Rose close to him and protectively held her, Juleka at his side and looking out for the crimson butterflies. Marc, Aurore, Mireille and Felix also stood still, not looking a bit afraid. Sadly, this meant that everyone else was akumatized under Scarlett Moth's control.
"What now?" Nino hissed as he looked around, then blinked noticing that Adrien, Nathaniel and Alix have vanished.
Where did they go?
"Dupain-Ch—MARINETTE—NO!” Chloe yelled, noticing the controlled Marinette was about to remove her earrings.
The blonde covered her mouth with her eyes widening, making both Nino and Sabrina pale in fear.
Shinso was moving forward quickly as he was reaching to stop Marinette’s hands and pulled her into his arms.
That was when the red butterflies flew out from the people, turning back to white butterflies and breaking the control. Marinette gasped, falling into Shinso’s arms freely and holding onto him, tears welling in her eyes as she sobbed into his chest, scared and shaking. Nino, Sabrina and Chloe sighed in relief, but looked at each other with major amount of fear from just seconds ago.
If Marinette took off her earrings...they would've been doomed.
Once Marinette was taken home by her parents and everyone dispersed back to their classrooms, Shinso took this time to escape using the Rabbit Miraculous, appearing by Master Fu’s new apartment.
The man himself was looking back at the young man with a knowing smile, “The time has come?”
“Yes…” Shinso nodded once he had de-transformed, stepping forward with his hand out, “I’m going to need the Horse once last time, Master.”
Fu let out a hum, already walking to his old record player and keyed in the password, “It would seem that things are moving too fast, my young friend.”
“Which is why we need to speed up this plan now. Especially when Hawkmoth will be on the move in a few weeks and try to recruit Lila and possibly Chloe.” The purple haired male murmured as he fed Fluff, then glanced at the man taking out the Miracle Box, “This is the right decision, Master Fu. I know you have your heart set on making Marinette especially the next Guardian but trust me—“
“I am aware that I am pushing a huge responsibility on her. I was even thinking Chat Noir would join her and share in the role of Guardian to ease the burden. But if you say that it would cause dire consequences, then I shall trust you.”
Holding the Horse Miraculous to Shinso, Fu looked at the young man in warning.
“I hope you are right about this.”
“You and me both,” Shinso murmured as he placed the glasses on, feeling it switch to goggles as Kaalki appeared at his side, “I only have one chance at this. Kaalki, Full Gallop!”
"Marinette, could you come down for a moment?"
The pigtailed girl looked from her phone to see her calm yet upset mother at the open hatch.
"B-Be right down, Mamon," Marinette whispered, her mother nodding her head before she went back down.
The girl looked at the phone with Nino, Rose, Juleka, Sabrina and Chloe on screen.
"I'll call you guys later.”
"Don't worry dudette! We're gonna get to the bottom of this, expose Lila and get you back in school. I promise," Nino assured with a small smile, tipping his hat up.
"Mom and Daddy aren't helping right now, but I'll be sure to get some way to clear your name, Dupain-Cheng," Chloe huffed, hanging up first.
Sabrina was smiling on screen, “We have your back, Marinette!“
Rose nodded as Juleka was giving a thumbs up as her best friend spoke up, “We are on your side, Marinette! Even Adrien and some others are willing to help you out too!”
If this was a month ago, Marinette would’ve swoon at the thought of Adrien coming in as Prince Charming.
But she was glad that she wasn’t alone at least.
"Thanks guys, you're the best friends a girl could ask for. Even Chloe," Marinette smiled gratefully, waving as everyone signed off.
Sighing, she then glanced over when Tikki floated to her, nuzzling against her cheek.
"You've got good friends there, Marinette.” The kwami cooed, as Marinette nodded.
"Yeah, I do...but I feel bad that I'm involving them," She said, feeling touched that she knew who were true friends.
Although, where was Shinso in all of this?
He had made sure she was okay, sure, but he vanished once Marinette was walking back home with her parents. Did something happen?
Pushing that thought back for now, she was making her way downstairs where her parents were waiting for her with troubled looks.
"Listen honey, we love you but this whole thing has gotten very complicated," Sabine started as she looked at her daughter with a sad look, sighing, "I've made a few calls to our relatives on my side of the family, but your Godfather has suggested maybe you going off to the school he works at in Japan might be the best course of action right now.”
Marinette's eyes widened, "W-what?"
U.A. High School…the school that Aizawa had told her about.
That can’t be a coincidence…right?
"But until then," Sabine glanced at her husband, who nodded, and the woman looked back at her daughter, “We've decided that you should help around the bakery.”
Marinette felt herself flail for excuses, her eyes panicked since her parents seemed so…defeated and don’t look like they will change their minds.
“But I'm telling you! I didn't do anything! If I had to spend all my time in here, how am I gonna be able to prove that I’m innocence?!"
The Dupain-Cheng couple looked at each other, and Tom tried to smile in reassurance.
"It's...fun here at the bakery. You'll see sweetie.”
Marinette took the apron her father offered, sighing softly as she knew Tikki was getting frantic inside her jacket.
There was no way Ladybug could leave Paris!
Meanwhile back in school, Sabrina was leaning against the wall and waiting by the security door, looking around in case someone was coming back.
"Hey, psst!" She leaned against the door, knocking on it gently as she whispered, “How much longer are you guys gonna need?"
The door opened as Chloe's head popped out, narrowing her eyes, “Sabrina. This requires some time and patience. So be a good look out and LOOK OUT for anyone coming our way, clear?” She closed the door, making Sabrina sigh in boredom.
“Crystal…”
Sighing, Chloe turned back to Nino, who was busily typing on the computers.
"What's taking so long?"
Nino huffed, turning his head to look at the rich blonde, "Like you told Sabrina, this kinda takes some working. So keep your mouth shut while I work!"
Chloe harrumphed, as she sat down next to him with her arms folded, pouting.
Since Marinette had left, the trio were hard at work trying to prove Marinette's innocence. Adrien, Nathaniel and Alix were working on looking for some clues to help with the case while Aurore, Marc, Mireille and Felix were asking around the school. Chloe tried again with coaxing her Daddy's help, but to no avail.
But at least they were getting things done.
Nino leaned back, watching the screen that showed the download bar once finding what they were looking for, and waited along with Chloe in silence.
"Hey, can I ask a question?" Nino suddenly spoke up to break the quiet and Chloe turned to him, raising a brow as if to urge him to continue.
"What is it?" She asked.
Nino fixed his cap, looking thoughtful, "...Why did you stop being friends with me and Marinette back in école?” He asked quietly, as Chloe froze.
The blonde was silent for a moment, before she sighed.
"It's...because you guys left me behind first.”
Nino whipped his head around in shock.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Don't be surprised. Kim came along and it was you three always together. You guys always tended to forget about me. It hurts. I already get ignored by my cheater of a mother—“
“You’re mom’s cheating?!”
“Not the point right now,” Chloe waved as Nino stared at her, but breathed out softly, “I thought maybe to get your attention again I...decided maybe being mean would get you guys back. Mom always said that strike fear to get people to notice you. Show them you're in charge, don't show weakness and be the boss to get everyone to look at you and keep the spotlight on you. Respect was better than friendships…and I took those words to heart.”
"I'm sorry," Nino turned fully to face Chloe, "If we would've known—"
"But you didn't," Chole shrugged, trying not to look hurt, “I didn’t expect you to once we reached collège. By then it was too late as we reached lycée.”
Nino's eyes softened, pushing his glasses up as guilt welled up inside him, "Damn..."
"Plus...Adrien was there when you guys weren't so...I thought maybe he's all I ever needed. Then there’s Sabrina…I know I didn’t treat her right a few times, but I was scared to get close again. I didn’t want Sabrina or Adrien to end up like you and Marinette. Leaving me behind.”
Nino patted at Chloe's shoulder as she looked down with sad eyes.
"Well...you've got me and Marinette back. And Sabrina is a loyal one, she’s never going to leave you. She always tells us you’re her BFF, someone that was there for her when others wouldn’t be.” He smiled, but then rubbed the side of his neck, "And...I'm real sorry we drifted apart. Me and Marinette should've tried harder to get you included in our friendship. We were bad friends. We...we shouldn't have left you behind and hurting like that and turning you into a bully. I'm real sorry.”
Chloe looked back up at Nino, then scoffed, hiding the smile, "This doesn't mean that I'm not gonna change and be nice.”
Nino laughed, "Wouldn't have it any other way. You being bossy is your trademark now~" He joked, feeling Chloe slap his arm playfully.
Sabrina peeked her head in panic, "Guys! Hurry up, someone's com—"
A cough was heard as Sabrina was pulled back, the door swinging open to reveal a disappointed looking Ms. Bustier having her hands onto Sabrina’s shoulders, along with a smirking looking Lila.
Nino gulped as Chloe glared back at the weasel behind their teacher.
"Stealing the security keys and playing around with the school cameras? C-Could it be you're erasing evidence of Marinette bullying on me?" Lila’s lower lip wobbled and pretended to look sad, "W-why are you guys being so mean and helping her? I'm sorry Marinette's gone but—"
“That’s a lie! Why I oughta—” Chloe shouted but Ms. Bustier raised her hand, “Mlle. Bustier!”
“Into the Principal’s office, the three of you!”
As Nino, Sabrina and Chloe trudged off with their teacher behind them, Lila smirked as she was backing away for a moment and turned to the security footages, pressing delete at the download bar.
“Whoops~ There goes the evidence~” She giggled but then glanced to the screen currently running the cameras at this moment and saw a familiar trio snooping around the lockers, “Ciao ladri…what do we have here~?”
“Maaaaan, no finger prints!”
Alix puffed her cheeks out as she stared at Marinette’s locker, then looked at the clear cello-tape in hand that she used along with some dark powder she had gotten from her brother.
Nathaniel sighed, rolling his eyes, “Did you actually think that CSI bullshit would work? Besides, you know the janitors clean the lockers every few hours, so the finger prints would be gone by then.”
Adrien sat on the bench as he watched the two, humming a bit, “Well, the finger prints are a dud. Maybe now we should try something else.”
“Oh! Let’s break into Lila’s locker!” Alix clicked her fingers as she smiled, “Maybe she has hidden evidence that she’s keeping!”
“Why would she be dumb enough to keep anything that might incriminate her in her locker?” Nathaniel asked but then saw Alix tip toeing dramatically to the Italian girl’s locker, “…Aaaand you weren’t listening.”
Adrien stood up as he and Nathaniel followed Alix, who was already fiddling with the dial of the lock, “Alix, I-I don’t think we should do that? Maybe we should—“
“Hey, how about Cataclysm the locker?” Alix asked as a joke, then she heard Plagg snickering in his shirt.
Adrien looked at her, deadpanned.
Alix sighed, “Fine, I’ll do this the old fashion way—“
"Just what do you think you three are doing~?"
The door opened as Lila appeared with a shocked looking Max and Kim.
"This is highly against the rules! What did you think you were doing in here without permission—?” Max wondered, as Lila gasped, hand over her mouth.
“W-why are you three breaking into my locker!?”
Alix looked confused before she felt something click in her hand. She looked down and saw that the lock she was about to crack open was already broken. Her eyes sharpened with a growl, realising she was played. The skater was already throwing the lock down on the ground and soon was racing to tackle Lila, but Kim caught her by the waist and held her up. Kicking her legs up in a struggle, Alix was snarling like a rabid dog, almost swiping to slap at Kim’s face. Nathaniel was reaching to get Kim to put her down but was stopped by Max.
Lila was walking towards Adrien as the chaos was happening, placing the innocent act, “Oh Adrien~! What would your Father think, having such bad influence as friends~?”
Adrien wasn’t fooled as he stared down at her, “Don’t do this, Lila! It’s not too late to fix this. Let my friends go and tell the truth to everyone about Marinette!”
Lila’s facial expression changed as she heard Nathaniel and Max screaming at each other while Alix was growling out loud while Kim wailed under her hits. Knowing they can’t hear anything, she then raised a brow at Adrien coolly.
“And why would I do that~?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.” Adrien said in a low tone, green eyes sharp, “Last chance Lila. I won’t let you get away with any of this.”
Lila stared at her as Adrien was placing a hand out to shake, a sign of a second chance and friendship.
What a fool he was.
“Won’t let me get away with it? Oh Adrien~ I already have~”
The girl took this as a chance and stepped forward. Adrien was confused as she made his hand touch her stomach, before she crumbled to the ground in a pained cry. Adrien’s eyes widened as he stepped back in shock, before everyone turned to them with confusion as Lila clutched her stomach and sobbed.
“AH! A-Adrien, please! Don't hurt m-me please! OW OHhhhH~”
The model’s eyes widened, raising his hands up and stepping back more, "I-I didn't touch her! She fell on her own!"
Kim and Max glared at him as they rushed to help the shivering, scared Lila up while Nathaniel and Alix rushed to the paling Adrien’s side.
"Not cool dude! You don’t hit girls!” Kim yelled as he carried Lila in his arms.
"We're gonna tell Mlle. Bustier what you miscreants did to Lila! I expected better from you three! This is bullying and harassment and we’re going to report you!” Max pointed his finger at the three of them, as the trio looked panicked.
Lila covered her face as she smirked behind her hands, wanting to giggle.
Too easy~
Aurore felt a headache coming on as she watched two of the girls she was talking with scurry away from her, hands on her hips in slight defeat.
She just didn’t understand.
Why was it that anyone she talked to were either afraid or shrug her off as crazy?
And Jean Duprac.
When she was trying to find and question him, somehow he magically disappeared. Her classmates told her that Jean had suddenly fallen ill, and was picked up by his Uncle to go home for the day.
Sighing, she was about to go and find Mireille, Marc and Felix to compare notes when she was stopped in her tracks. Standing before her was Alya, who had her hands on her hips with a look of suspicion.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The Ladyblogger asked as Aurore kept her strong stance.
As if she was going to be scared off by her.
“If you must know, I’m doing the very job that you should be doing. Finding a way to prove Marinette’s innocence because she’s my friend and I believe in her. Because I know she wouldn’t do anything horrible.” The blonde weather girl said coolly, jutting her hips a bit as she placed her hands on each side of them.
“Oh please! Marinette isn’t innocent! You know how the girl’s Adrien crazy!” Alya was waving her hand as she scoffed, “The girl was mad jealous and obsessed on hating Lila for no reason! All Lila has been doing is trying to make friends and fit in, like any new kid would.”
“So as a new kid yourself once, have you ever lied about yourself? Made promises you can’t keep? Or say, use people to your advantage and make them do your dirty work by bullying and harassing people that you don’t like?” Aurore argued angrily.
There was a dark look swirling in Alya’s eyes and the blonde frowned.
“There’s something else isn’t there?”
Alya raised a brow as Aurore continued.
“I think you’re using Lila as an excuse. Why are you really angry at Marinette, Alya?”
Alya blinked in surprise for a moment, but then huffed, “You wanna know? Fine. My so called BFF has been backstabbing me by stealing my boyfriend from me!”
Aurore blinked for a second but then started laughing, loud and boisterous before she stopped, no really amused.
“Are you kidding me? Nino would pull the sun and moon down for you! The boy has always been nuts about you and we all see it! Plus, he and Marinette are obviously like brother and sister if you look closely.”
Aurore had a feeling that Lila had something to do with Alya’s wild accusation.
“I thought so too! Until I saw with my own two eyes how close they have become! And with Marinette always choosing to hang with Chloe and Sabrina, I could tell that she was slowly changing,” Alya murmured as hurt was shown on her face, “She…she was leaving me out on everything. Always disappearing and not inviting me to things anymore…it hurt. I was being left behind…not to mention Marinette seems to be totally fine without me, not thinking of me once with that smile on her face.”
Aurore scoffed, not feeling pity at all.
“Then talk to Marinette. Tell her what you’re feeling, but don’t make up stories that aren’t true or listen to some liar and be delusional!”
“Lila isn’t a liar!”
“She is! You’re just so blind to see it!”
Sighing, Aurore closed her eyes, then opened them with a soft look.
“What happened to you, Alya? You used to be so cool. You were all about justice and so passionate about your Ladyblog, giving the news about Ladybug and Chat Noir and bringing people together for the love of our heroes. You gave information so precise and told the truth. You inspired me to make my own blog. Now?”
Aurore’s smile fell as her eyes looked disappointed.
“It’s full of nothing but garbage about Lila. Just another trash tabloid that does nothing good for anyone. And for what? The promise to be the next “Lois Lane” and make it big? Lila won’t bring you up, she’ll make you crash and burn…”
Alya’s eyes looked conflicted for a moment, and Aurore thought she had gotten through to her.
But Alya shook her head.
“You’re just trying to psyche me out so you’ll be the top blogger in this school, or the whole of Paris! Well you won’t fool me!”
Aurore held back a sigh. Alya was long gone.
“Whatever. I tried to warn you.” Aurore murmured as she was soon walking off.
Aurore was about to make her way downstairs, but felt hands at her back and suddenly, Aurore’s world was spinning around her. Pain battered her body as she was soon landing at the bottom of the stairs. Groaning, Aurore struggled to look up at the top of the steps, seeing a blurry figure running off, leaving the blonde sprawled onto the ground as she fell unconscious.
Just in time for Felix to come out from a classroom with Marc.
The two were questioning some kids when the spotted Aurore’s body.
“Aurore!” Marc shouted as he rushed over to her, seeing there was already blood pooling under her head.
Felix was quick to call an ambulance as Mireille was coming from another classroom, rushing over to see what’s going on.
"Well this didn't go well.”
Nino and Sabrina were sitting on the stairs in front of Françoise Dupont, Chloe also sitting with them in sympathy.
After being called to the Principal's office for being caught in the security room and "hurting" Lila, Nino and Sabrina were expelled and their parents were called to pick them up.
Sabrina knew her father was going to be furious, especially since it was against the law to break and enter a security room. She knew she was going to be shipped into a police academy for young girls for sure!
Nino’s parents weren’t exactly strict, but they would probably just either let Nino travel with his father on his job or just go to another school.
Chloe got off with a warning thanks to her father's intervention, but it didn't mean the blonde was out of the clear yet.
The three let out a sigh in defeat after Lila had gotten them in trouble, but soon were joined by a sad look trio consisting of Adrien, Nathaniel and Alix.
Looking over at the three hunched over and upset, Nino had to guess they were on the same boat.
“What happened?” He asked.
“Alix and I are expelled. Apparently for violence against other students and being a bad influence,” Nathaniel murmured, gripping at his bag as Alix kicked the ground.
“At least Adrien got off with a warning. But still! This totally sucks! My old man’s gonna kill me!” She said, punching her fist in hand, “All thanks to that Lila brat!”
“What about you guys?” Adrien asked Nino worriedly, wondering how their thing went.
“Me and Sabrina got expelled too. Chloe got off easy with a warning like you cuz of her dad.” Nino replied, sighing, “But this does suck…”
“I wouldn’t say I got off easy. There’s a high chance that my father will pull me out of school if he hears I got into trouble,” Adrien murmured as he folded his arms, sitting down next to Nino, “I…I really thought I could get Lila to turn around…”
“She’s not a tiger that could change her stripes, Adrikins. She’s going to be a queen bitch through and through until her greed makes her head swell like a balloon,” Chloe huffed, flipping her hair, “And you guys call me egotistical.”
“Either way, I don’t think things can get any worse.” Sabrina said softly, but everyone soon perked up as the sirens of an ambulance was heard coming their way.
It stopped right in front of the school, paramedics grabbing a gurney. rolling it over and bringing it into the school frantically, the kids moving out of the way.
“What do you think is going on?” Adrien asked as Sabrina and Chloe stayed at his side and Nino, Nathaniel and Alix were opposite them.
They soon saw the paramedics coming back, rolling the gurney down back to the ambulance and the teens gasped seeing an unconscious Aurore on it. There were towels under her head as it was bandaged, her body looked like a broken doll.
Marc, Felix and Mireille were rushing out to follow, but the head Parademic told them to stay put as they were readying to leave.
“W-what happened to Aurore?!” Nathaniel breathed out once the shock was out of his system.
Marc was crying, being held back by a grim looking Felix.
“A-aurore fell down the stairs! W-we heard a cry and something falling when me a-and Felix were interrogating some students a-and when we came out their classroom, s-she was at the bottom of the stairs and bleeding out—there was so much blood—“
Marc looked green as he almost threw up at the memory of seeing how broken Aurore looked, and Felix was ready with a brown paper bag provided by Mireille.
“…I think Aurore was pushed down actually,” Felix theorised as everyone looked to him, “I don’t think Class Rep would be that clumsy to miss any steps. Someone had intentionally shoved her down from the very top.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Adrien exclaimed in horror, “It can’t be Lila. She’s in the nurse’s office before me, Nath and Alix were sent to the Principal’s office.”
“Maybe one of Lila’s followers?” Alix suggested, “They’re rabid enough to do so?“
“Can’t be one of our classmates. They can’t be capable of hurting anyone like that.” Nathaniel shook his head.
“I-I’m going to call my parents and see Aurore at the hospital.” Mireille said quietly as she was grabbing for her phone and dialling the number, walking off to talk to either one of her parents.
Felix hummed as he watched her go, “She had quite the fright. I believe her and Class Rep were close.”
“They’re best friends since the Weather Girl Competition. So I guess it’s understandable if one of them gets hurt, the other would be panicked,” Nino explained as he tipped his hat up, “Oh, I don’t we’ve been introduced properly and officially dude…I’m Nino.”
“Charmed. Felix,” The blond murmured, nodding his head in greeting.
“But what should we do now?” Marc murmured, “T-this is all getting out of hand…”
Sabrina hummed as she stood, “I’m going to talk to my Dad about maybe helping us out this time around. With what’s going on, this is becoming a serious and dangerous situation.”
Adrien winced, “You sure we should involve the police?”
Sabrina nodded, “My dad and his brigade are good people. If we just explain everything then—“
Suddenly, there was buzzing in everyone’s phones and they all pulled them out. News of Ladybug fighting Mayura was shown, and a few people looked confused.
Adrien was quickly standing up as he then was gripping his stomach, “Ahhhhhh…I-I think I ate something f-funny…” He fake gagged, covering his mouth with wide eyes as Nathaniel and Alix got the signal.
“We-we’ll take you somewhere to throw up!” Alix was quick to appear at Adrien’s side while Nathaniel was at the other side, and the three were soon running off.
Everyone blinked at the weird exit the trio made but soon Chloe’s car sped in front of them and the blonde was quickly grabbing Sabrina and Nino.
“I gotta take these two with me to see my Daddy about getting us back in school!” Chloe quickly excused, comically throwing the two in the car before slipping in, shutting the car door as they sped off.
Felix frowned, glancing at Marc and Mireille; both look equally confused at what just happened.
"Isn't Marinette grounded? How is she out?" Nino asked, looking confused as he looked down at his phone as Chloe was driving them to Master Fu’s new place.
Chloe obviously smelled something off.
"She would've called us if she was facing Mayura of all people. Which is why we’re gonna go to Master Fu and find out what’s going on!”
The trio arrived at the very outskirt of the city, Chloe twitching her nose since the streets weren’t…exactly safe. Sabrina had suggested maybe they should walk the rest of the way so as to not draw attention to themselves. Chloe told her driver to pick them up later when she calls him, and soon she and the other two were making their way to the apartment buildings. They reached their destination, Nino being trusted to have Master Fu’s spare keys (thanks to Wyatt) and were surprised to see Kirin sitting alone in the room.
“W-where is Master Fu?” Nino asked, looking around the room.
The Horse Hero looked over at him as he was sitting cross legged on the floor, raising a brow.
“He’s…busy with a guest.”
Nino raised a brow, “Ladybug is currently fighting Mayura and—“
“I know.”
Nino, Chloe and Sabrina looked at Kazesagi, mystified.
The hero looked over to them and hummed, “Nino, transform into Carapace and go to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Chloe and Sabrina, stay. I’ll need you two here.”
Nino breathed out, “Wha—?”
“The Ladybug fighting Mayura is a Sentimonster.” Kazesagi explained as he hummed a little, “Marinette is still at home, grounded. Go retrieve her and stop Mayura.”
“I knew it!” Chloe clicked her fingers but then frowned, “Wait, why only Carapace go to Marinette? Where’s Chat Noir?”
As she said this, Nino’s phone still sounded with the news going on, saying Chat Noir had arrived at the scene.
“Better hurry.” Kirin murmured while calling his voyage to create a portal near the Dupain-Cheng’s residence.
Nino yelled a ‘Shell On!’ and transforming into Carapace, then jumped into the portal as Kirin was closing it.
Chloe raised a brow as she looked at the hero, “SO why are you in the horse costume today? Why aren’t you using Fluff?”
“Someone is using it currently. Master Fu is with them in their “burrow” training.” Kirin explained as Sabrina looked puzzled.
“Another Rabbit Hero? Who is it?” Sabrina asked softly as Kirin sighed.
“You’ll find out in a while. But for now, be prepared since Master Fu is gonna give you two your final exams in preparation for your Miraculous.”
“Today?” Chloe’s eyes sparkled, “So I can test out my new Bee Form with Pollen?”
“Yes. And Sabrina is going to be tested which Kwami will have true synergy with her.” Kirin murmured, although he looked conflicted, “I am sure you feel impatient, Sabrina.”
“I-I’m just happy I’m included, is all. I never thought someone like me would be a Miraculous Hero, you know?” Sabrina said shyly as she fiddled with her fingers, “But I’m prepared for anything! I’ve studied so hard this past few weeks with the Master….I-I’m ready!”
Kirin’s eyes softened, nodding his head.
Suddenly the burrow opened in a bright flash of blue as Master Fu calmly stepped out, hands behind his back as he smiled.
“Hello Chloe. Sabrina. Are you ready for today?”
Kirin was getting up as the girls nodded, and the young man looked to Fu.
“I’ll get going with the newbie. You think you’ll alright?”
“I shall be fine, Young Kirin,” Fu nodded to the Horse Hero before turning back to the figure now stepping out from the portal, “What says you, Young Usadori?“
A forest haired Rabbit Hero with bright emerald smiled brightly, resting his umbrella on his shoulder with a chuckle.
“I’ve only studied being a Rabbit Hero for five hours, but it feels like five years in my burrow. Ah, I’m Usadori, nice to meet you two! I hope we can get along!”
Chloe and Sabrina tilted their heads staring at the young masked man, who was flustering under their gaze.
Kirin was rolling his eyes as he reached to grab the Rabbit Hero’s ear and started pulling, dragging him to the door and ignoring his whining.
“C’mon you idiot, let’s get going.”
“Ow! Oh! OW! Shi—A-ahhhh—Kirin-san, please!”
The two vanished into Kirin’s portal, closing behind them.
The blonde and red head looked at each other for a moment then looked to Master Fu, who just smiled with a shrug.
“At any case, you two shall be joined by two other people in your tests. Although they are new, they are quick on the uptake.” Master Fu said, making his way to his study table.
“Two other people? Who are they other two?” Chloe asked.
“Are they people we know?” Sabrina wondered out loud, making Fu smile.
There was a knock on the door, and Fu was making his way towards it to answer. As he opened the door, Chloe and Sabrina’s jaws dropped, both shouting in surprise.
“IT’S THEM??!”
Chat Noir was jumping from building to building, making his way to the Arc de Triomphe, where he knew Ladybug and Mayura were fighting. He took a big leap, using his bo-staff as a propeller to fly himself there, landing gracefully with a wild grin.
“Chat Noir to the rescue, Ladybug!”
Mayura smirked as she whispered something to Ladybug, then suddenly landing a hard punch onto the heroine’s stomach, making Ladybug yelled out in pain. Chat’s eyes widened as he watched his partner crumble to the ground, rushing to her side.
“Ladybug, no!” He was struggling to help her up, his eyes worried, “Y-You okay?”
Ladybug panted as she held her stomach, her teary eyes looking up at him as she struggled to stand.
“D-don’t worry about me…g-go after Mayura—oh, ow, owww—“
Chat managed to catch her before she fell back down again. She looked up at him with pained eyes, telling him she wasn’t feeling too good.
“There’s something wrong. Our suits are supposed to be invulnerable…” The feline hero was murmuring to himself, wishing that he had a healing power instead of destruction right now.
“Chat Noir…”
Chat blinked as he felt a soft hand over his chest, the young hero looking down at his partner, who was giving a soft look. A look that was unfamiliar to Chat. For as long as he has known her, that kinda look she’s never given him before.
“Don’t leave me.”
Chat looked confused, “W-what? Why, what’s going on, Ladybug?”
“I’ve always gone out of my way to hide my true feelings for you,” She started solemnly, “B-But I just can’t do it anymore…”
Now the blond feline hero looked even more dumbfounded. Frowning almost at her words.
“But…didn’t you say you loved somebody else?”
He didn’t miss how she looked surprised for a second, but continued on with a shaky sigh.
“It’s…it’s over. After all this time…I’ve realized…” She slowly let her hands grab to his own, gently placed it over her heart, both her hands resting on top of his with a small loving smile, “You’re always here for me, even when I keep rejecting you. Your feelings for me haven’t changed, but mine? They’re growing stronger everyday~ I can’t keep pretending anymore…”
If this was happening to Chat Noir a week ago, maybe he’d be over the moon at this kind of confession. Finally, the girl of his dreams actually reciprocating his feelings?
But now?
The butterflies that he used to get whenever she smiled at him like that were gone.
And as she was leaning in for a kiss, Chat Noir had turn his head away and move back, letting his hand slip from her grasp as he shook his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Ladybug looked confused, almost annoyed, but Chat didn’t notice.
“I…I can’t do it.” Chat Noir murmured as he was closing his eyes, “I can’t accept your feelings.”
“WHAT?!” Ladybug yelled, but then groaned and held her stomach as Chat Noir reached to hold her, “W-why…?”
“You were right. I mean, I confused our friendship, our partnership, as something romantic. I was too blind to see that we cannot be more than that. And I did promise that I was going to treat you as just that. My friend. Someone that means so much more than some fantasy. I think…” Chat smiled a little as he looked like he confirmed something in his heart, “I don’t want to ruin what we have into something that I think I wish for. I want love…But I know now that our kind of love is something precious, not forced like a movie or fairytale…I’ll find my special lady one day, but I’d rather much be just your best friend and partner in crime.”
Ladybug stared at him and growled, trying to take Chat’s hand again.
“How can you betray me like this, Chat Noir?! I hate you! Maybe I should take your ring back!”
Chat’s eyes narrowed and soon was leaping back away from her.
“….You’re not Ladybug!”
“Good thing you’re using your head today, kitty~”
Chat Noir brightened as he looked over to see Ladybug and Carapace landing behind him, already ready for a fight.
“As if I could be fooled by a fake~” Chat Noir chuckled as he smiled, “There’s only one Ladybug, and she tends to smack me if I try to woo her~”
Ladybug smiled back at him but focused on Mayura, who was hiding from them.
“Gotcha, little birdie~!” Carapace grinned as he appeared beside Mayura, kicking her out of her hiding spot and was ready to attack when Mayura blocked his hit.
"Hello Mayura~!" Ladybug smirked as Chat Noir narrowed his eyes, Carapace landing back to their side.
“So this Ladybug here…”
“Is a Senti-Monster, yes.” Ladybug nodded as she looked back at her double, “Things are not always what they seem at first sight.”
“It’s true…but…” Chat Noir’s face softened as he titled his head, “She seems more elaborate than the ones we’ve faced before. There’s nothing monstrous about her…”
“It’s because she’s not.”
The three heroes looked back as Kirin and a new Rabbit Hero appeared before them, making all of them shocked. Including Mayura.
“Who…?” Ladybug breathed out as the bunny like hero smiled.
“I-I’m Usadori! Just a temp trained by Master Fu. Er, I-I’m a huge fan of you and Chat Noir!”
“Focus Usa…” Kirin drawled before the new hero snapped out of it.
“Right! Sorry!” Usadori nodded as he was twirling his umbrella in hand.
“A new hero?” Mayura murmured, interested.
Kirin was soon using voyage, suddenly appearing behind her, taking the Eiffel Tower keychain she was holding and disappeared.
“NO!” Mayura screamed but coughed as she held her chest, crumbling down on the ground.
The Senti-Bug froze for a second, almost slumping like a puppet without her strings. Kirin appeared back near the real Ladybug, handing the object to Usadori. Mayura growled, raising her hand to snap her fingers but real Ladybug quickly tied her up with her yo-yo to stop her. Usadori called for his burrow as he rushed to grab for Senti-bug and the two jumped into the portal together, the said portal vanishing.
“Wha—?!” Mayura gaped at where her Senti-monster and the Rabbit Hero were gone just as Ladybug, Chat Noir, Carapace and Kirin surrounded her.
“It’s over, Mayura. I don’t know where Usadori went off with our Bug-gette, but you’re dealing with us now.” Chat Noir murmured as Ladybug was reaching to take the Peacock Miraculous.
Finally, it’s theirs.
That was until Carapace yelled Shell-ter, his shield surrounded himself and the team as a barrage of blue fire almost rushed in between them and Mayura, like some sort of high firewall. When the fire died down, Mayura was gone.
Kirin’s eyes widened as he looked at the scorch marks before them, his eyes hardening while his teammates wondered where the fire came from.
‘He’s already here. Way earlier than I expected…’
“Man, we were so close!" Carapace sighed as he was placing his shield down.
“We’ll get her next time. But I suppose I should summon a lucky charm and use Miraculous Ladybug to clean this up,” Ladybug pointed to the burnt markings on the Arc de Triomphe, and soon got to work.
“Well if that’s all, I suppose I should head back,” Chat Noir was about to leave but Kirin stopped his arm, “What—“
“Master wants to see you. Actually, he wants to see all of us, together.” He looked to Ladybug, giving her a look, “It’s time.“
Ladybug’s eyes widened as she glanced at Chat Noir, then back at Kirin’s serious look. But she knew deep down, Kirin was right. The time came and…she was nervous.
‘What if something went wrong?’
#quirks and miracles#boku no hero academia#bnha#my hero academia#mha#miraculous ladybug#mlb#miraculous#bnha x mlb#mlb x bnha#fanfic#fanfiction#miraculous crossover#bnha crossover#mha crossover#miraculous ladybug crossover#crossover#fan fic#fan fiction#marinette dupain chang#adrien agreste#izuku midoriya#hitoshi shinsou#nino lahiffe#chloe bourgeois#sabrina raincomprix#alix kubdel#nathaniel kurtzberg#rose lavillant#juleka couffaine
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We’re not calling them an embarrassment to black women we’re just saying it’s fucking embarrassing and gives us a bad rep. If you see the comment section to half of these mediocre looking men it is FILLED with mainly black girls specifically asking if they like “chocolate” or calling themselves white man’s whore. It’s gross and it makes people lump us all into one group of just being desperate for black and mostly non black men’s attention. They don’t think of how it affects black women as a whole when they say stuff like that so why shouldn’t BW be able to say when something is embarrassing or cringe to them? Everyone’s feelings are valid and some of the women doing this pick me shit aren’t apologetic about it either. I’ve literally had someone curse me out after I kindly tried to explain why the term white mans whore is so damaging. I understand that some stem from insecurity and stuff but some are just downright disrespectful and not willing to learn in anyway.
But you are and yes we should/are able to say hey this behavior is more damaging than you may realize to people within our community and outside it as well and it’s cringe to see it happening, I’m not disputing that nor saying we shouldn’t express that, I’m saying I want to be intentional and careful about the way that is expressed
If you wanna talk about embarrassing specify the pick me’s, make sure it’s about the pick me’s, don’t lump the rest into that, it gives insecure or sensitive black girls a bad name too
There’s of course a whole heap of pick me’s who deliberately do these things and exhibit that behavior and don’t care about the harm is causes and that’s dangerous and pick me’s are not interested in nor do they care about being seen as cringe they just care about being chosen by whomever the fuck. My personal view is that when we talk about those behaviors I don’t wanna prioritize pick me’s, I am more interested in speaking to those who actually have a listening ear and where it stems from pain and insecurity before it’s internalized to the level of a pick me
The ones that aren’t willing to learn ain’t give a fuck to care so I’m not wasting my energy on them when I can actually help another black woman who’s gonna understand it better without shaming her in the process
I’m just tired of shame. Pick me’s don’t care that we shame their behavior and the rest are only hurt by being blanketed into “if you have ever felt this way or done this you’re an embarrassment” so in my eyes I’m going to approach it differently, you don’t have to by all means but for me that’s what I’m gonna do bc as someone who found it so funny at one point to say I was this or that’s white man’s whore, what didn’t help me open my eyes and realize I was wrong and harming myself and others with that kind of behavior even as a joke which wasn’t a joke was feeling like I was personally setting my people back and a bad person when really I just struggle with self worth and needed to do a little better and have, that only made me shut down and sink deeper into that original feeling and thus we have a cycle, I’ve been that person, we all have
Because the reality is, at a human level we have all and will all feel insecure and unloveable as black women at some point or another and I want to be careful about saying that those who have made missteps because of those feelings (not talking about pick me’s) are the cause of others thinking we are desperate for attention, even if that’s not the intention and you’re just calling out the behavior, it can feel that way and I don’t want another already vulnerable black woman feeling like it’s her fault that she feels insecure or her insecurity just by itself is causing others to give us a bad name or has asked or pined for attention before when there is a bigger tide that is at fault
Again, excluding pick me’s that do this deliberately (although that same behavior still all goes back to insecurity, they just internalized it so much they think it’s empowering when it’s not) something just doesn’t sit right with me to approach this conversation in a way that starts with “you or this thing you might have done before is the reason why people think we’re this and that, it’s your fault” is what that sounds like when even if you take all that away and have us all rid of insecurity, there’s a societal message being hammered into our heads every which way built to tear us down while simultaneously taking our style and features, the shame and embarrassment needs to go to that
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My Problems with Fandom
It’s been a while since I’ve kinda just let out my thoughts and feelings on this stale hell site. It’s just now more than ever I’m having the weirdest realizations while I’m participating in any Fanbase. This topic may piss ppl off. But to that, I say fuck it, I’m gonna do it.
Around 2 years ago I took a backseat to actively participating in fandom. So I’d be more of an onlooker rather than someone who contributed. Just reblogging stuff rather than making my own content. Usually in fandom, things are said in the heat of the moment, with little thought and more emotions. Taking a step back I started to realize that while that’s fine in and of itself, You’re entitled to what you like and what’s interesting to you, but I’ve realized that people kinda settle for the bare minimum. Especially now that representation for marginalized groups is becoming the norm. Which is great, but there are still problems that plague us as a community.
I just finished watching Unicorn of War’s video on RWBY, and they delved into the absolutely garbage writing that surrounded The White Fang subplot. I highly recommend you watch the video, it’s about the bad representation of minority oppression and how it relates to RWBY as a whole. While this post doesn’t stem from that in particular. what did was though is how UoW confessed that they were guilty of completely ignoring how harmful the writing was for pocs, as well as downright silencing and downplaying poc that had a problem with the writing. Unicorn of War is not racist, the fact that they realized the type of systemic racism they’ve been inadvertently spreading is so harmful is a a step in the right direction. Here is where the problem lies. UoW said that they were a perpetrator of this because they were to focused on the representation the show did give the fans. They said that they lumped all of the genuine criticism of the problems with homophobes and bigots because they didn’t want to hear any of the criticism at all. RWBY has some pretty shit representation in ever field. UoW said that they were settling for the stuff they did get because they get so little, and their whiteness blinded them to listening and trying to understand why so man poc had an issue with the show.
Basically what I’m trying to say is that, a lot of the time In Fandom, ppl would rather settle for what they do have and what caters to them, rather than criticize a product of its faults and ask for more.
I’ve been scared to talk about She-Ra because the fandom is pretty scary. I liked the show. To me it wasn’t anything special. But it was a fine show, and I can’t wait for what the crew does next. But here’s where a lot of the issues come from for me. There are some problems both w/ the show, and the representation. Catra and Adora have been queercoded up until the very end where it does get revealed that they are in fact lesbians. Which is great and all but at the end of the day. They kiss at the very end of the last episode, nothing was explicit before then. But the thing is that Catra is an abusive manipulative person, that kinda just gets a pat on the back, and all is forgiven when she realizes she’s alone(both in the fandom and the show). I mean glimmer got more hate than Catra. The point I’m trying to make is that I’ve seen way to many ppl ignore the fact that they side stepped the development of Catra and Adora, and kinda get mad at the ppl that criticize that we could have gotten better rep. For a lot of the fans, at least from what I’ve seen, yall are okay with the problems the show has as long as you get some form of rep. Which is valid, but when that complacency spills over into silencing ppl with criticisms. This usually happens when someone has had another experience with the show where the thing that represents them isnt done as well. it rubs me the wrong way. Someone could see Catra’s behavior, liken her to a toxic person they knew, criticize how the show kinda ignores that. I can bet that some ppl would tell this person that they’re wrong, because she ended up where she did at the end.
This brings me to my last example, during my watch of Infinity Train, I started getting a little bit more involved in the fandom; reblogging, commenting. During the show I noticed a small amount (larger than I would have liked) making passive aggressive remarks toward Grace (the only black girl and protagonist of the season). They were all in regard to her having a redmeption arc. At first I was kinda in denial. Like most ppl are immediately after suffering an injustice, cuz despite her being an awful person at first. She gets better. And there are so little black women that are protagonists. I felt represented. But then I’d see ppl demeaning her in order to make her friend Simon (basically the antagonist) more sympathetic. Mind you he’s white. And after the show ended I had a weird encounter. There were many posts about how enthralling it was that Grace, a black women, telling Simon, a white man, that his problems were his own, and she doesn’t have to be the one to fix them. Most of the ppl that made these posts were woc. The show isn’t about race, but the fact that the character is black resonated with a lot of ppl.
Under ever single one of these posts, I saw multiple people, getting weirdly angry at them. Like “this has nothing to do with race, why are you bringing it up here.” Which I guess is fair, but no one says it as much to ppl when the post is about sexuality. So getting fed up, I responded to one of these ppl explaining how odd it is that the characters that get really popular are always of the same archetype. White Sad Boys, it’s the same with ships. Instead of critiquing the show or anything I wanted to call attention to subconscious biases in fandom. The person accuses me of calling them racist, tells me that race isn’t an issue in fandom, and tried to gaslight me into thinking that what I was talking about doesnt apply to how ppl choose who their favorite character is.
This issue here isn’t about the race, or the actual content in the show. It was about the person telling me that the empowerment I and other woc experienced while watching infinity train s3, doesn’t exist and we shouldn’t criticize ppl putting her down in order to uplift the antagonist.
Which leads back to the point I’m trying to make. So many ppl in fandom settle for whats there instead of trying to make things more representative of everyone. Representation can always get better, we just have to stop fighting ppl that give constructive criticism to the things we like.
And I’m completely guilty of this too, that’s why I took a step back. I don’t like silencing ppl when they try to criticize something that resonates with me. So I try to sit back and let them tell me what can be done better based on their experiences. I’m still struggling. I’m pretty sure I was ultra defensive with the person telling me that race doesn’t matter.
This happens a lot more with white ppl than it does with people of color. And this isn’t a dig on any white person at all. It’s just that white have a vastly different experience than a poc. A white LGBT person is going to have a completely different experience than a black lgbt person. Just like a cishet white person is going to have from a poc cishet person. And since we have different experiences, there are aspects of my life you won’t understand and vice versa. An abuse survivor is going to be more equip to tell us what works better than other things in a story that tackles those subjects. You see what I mean.
I just want everyone to take a step back and consider the criticism that is being made. And try to understand why this person may see it that way.
TLDR; We need to stop silencing marginalized ppl just because they criticize things we relate to, especially when it pertains to their experiences. It’s settling for the bare minimum when we deserve better. Just because we’ve got a gay character doesnt mean the show is perfect. It happens way more than we think. Especially now more than ever.
Sorry this is so long, and full of typos. I just needed to rant.
#she ra spop#spop spoilers#she ra princess of power#infinity train#infinty train spoilers#rwby v7#rwby volume 8#rwby#queen of typos#just getting my thoughts out
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Wonderland by GleefullyCaptainSwan
Read on AO3: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Or on FF
Tagging: @kmomof4 @lfh1226-linda @teamhook
Chapter 2: Emma Swan
Emma sat on the plane with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She had never felt so trapped in her entire life. She bit the inside of her cheek and her knee began to bounce nervously.
“Emma, everything is going to be alright.”
Emma glared at her mother. “Easy for you to say, you aren’t about to be a prisoner in the middle of the fucking ocean.”
“Don’t you dare talk to your mother with that language.”
Emma narrowed her eyes in her father’s direction. “Apologizes Mother.” The woman smiled sadly. “Happy now, Dave?” She added icily.
“Emma Grace Nolan!” She smirked; her father hated that she had begun calling him by his first name. A fact she took great pleasure in.
The pilot announced that they would be landing, and she turned toward the window, avoiding further conversation with her parents.
Growing up the heiress to the Nolan empire would have been a gift to anyone else, but Emma had always considered it a curse. Her entire life she had been expected to dress to perfection, act like royalty, and most importantly, never soil the family name.
“What’s your name?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know!”
“Girl, you are in a lot of trouble right now. You can tell me your name or not, either way I’m going to find out.”
“Go to hell, officer.”
“Have it your way.”
The jolt of the wheels touching down tore her from her thoughts. She closed her eyes, wishing she were anywhere but here.
“I can do this on my own.” She said defiantly as her parents followed her to the waiting limo.
“Not happening.” Her father nodded at the driver and opened the door, waiting for Emma to enter the car before sitting down beside her.
“This is ridiculous, I’m not a child.”
“Then stop acting like one.”
“David.” Her mother scolded.
They rode the rest of the way in awkward silence. When Emma stepped out of the limo, she grabbed her mother by the arm. “If I have to do this the least you can do is let me go in alone.”
Her mother stared at her, and her face softened.
“Emma we just want you to get better. You’re sick.”
“Yeah, well I’m here right? I’m on an island I can’t escape from. What is the harm in letting me walk in there on my own?”
Her father grabbed her bags and started walking up the path to the center. “David.” He turned around, making his annoyance clear. “I think Emma can do the rest on her own.” He paused, looking between them both and then setting her bag down.
“Fine.”
She bent down and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Well, I’m off to prison.”
“Don’t think of it that way, Emma.” Her mother pleaded.
“Whatever.” She turned and walked away, not bothering to look back, choosing to ignore the pain on her mother’s face or the anger on her father’s that she knew was the mask he used to hide his concern.
She swung open the door to the center and walked up to the front desk. The man dressed in a security uniform looked up at her. He was gorgeous, but not the type of gorgeous she was used to seeing. Men in her circle knew they were good looking and with that brought the attitude and money to get any woman they wanted. He had a more down to earth sexy look that she didn’t see in the men she knew.
“Name, please.” He didn’t even bother to hold her gaze, he looked away and frowned.
“Emma Swan.”
“Say’s Nolan in my logbook.” He glanced at her and shrugged.
Emma groaned, ok gorgeous but annoying.
“Listen asshole, it’s Emma Swan. Update your damn records.”
She looked around anxiously as the man typed into his computer. Across the hall her gaze landed on the bluest eyes she had ever seen, staring holes into her. The corner of his lip turned upward into a cocky smirk. “Take a picture, it will last longer.” She cursed under her breath.
He strolled across the room toward her, her breath catching in her throat at the intensity of his stare. “Haven’t met Regina yet, have you lass? No phones allowed; thus, I am forced to burn every naughty detail of you into my brain so that I may use it later...” He leaned closer to her ear; his breath hot against her skin. “for personal reasons.”
The guard at the desk cleared his throat. “Jones, I know it’s your first day, but rule #3 makes this entire exchange completely pointless.”
“Aye, but I still have one hand left to take care of matters myself.” He held up his hand, gesturing with his middle finger toward the guard. Only then did Emma notice the missing appendage on his left side, forcing her eyes to return to man who was drawing her ire.
“What’s rule #3?”
The man smirked and walked away from her. “Good luck, Miss Swan.”
The guard stood, “Ignore him, he’s still adjusting to his first day.” He walked out from behind the desk, Emma was quick to notice that this man obviously worked out. Wonderland certainly didn’t seem to be short on attractive men, no matter how aggravating they were, at least it had great scenery. “Let me take you to Regina, this way.”
“Regina?”
“She’s the manager of WRC. She’ll go over the rules with you.”
“Like rule #3?”
“Ah yes, the no sex rule.”
Emma’s eyes widened, before she was ushered into the large office.
“Regina, I have a new patient. Emma Nolan.”
“Swan. Emma Swan.” She corrected. At least the annoying jerk with the amazing blue eyes and sexy swagger got her name right, even if he was mocking her while using it correctly.
“Please sit.” The woman spoke, gesturing her to the seat across from her. “Thank you, Graham.” The guard left the room and closed the door behind him.
“Miss Nolan, welcome to Wonderland.”
“Look, I prefer Swan, but just call me Emma, since no one seems to listen to my requests around here.”
“I don’t care what you want to be called. Honestly, my job is to ensure your recovery, Emma. That’s all.” She opened her file and began reading. “Born Emma Nolan.” She looked up at her and smiled. “Daughter of David and Mary Margaret Nolan of the Nolan Empire.” She sat down the binder. “Your father owns all those hotels across the world, is that correct?”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, boring.”
“Ah, not impressed with daddy’s money but more than happy to spend it, I’m sure.”
“Don’t pretend you know me.”
“Oh Emma, I don’t have to know you, I know your type. Born with more luxury than most people could ever dream to afford yet so deeply afflicted that you are afraid you’ll never get the one thing you desire the most.”
“And what would that be?”
“Being worthy of the family name.”
“I already told you, I don’t even want that name. I don’t give a fuck about being a Nolan.” The woman smiled and Emma looked away angrily. “Aren’t you supposed to give me the rules or some bullshit, or are we done now?”
“Of course, lets talk rules. You will have individual sessions with Dr. Hopper three times a week as well as group therapy once a week.”
“Can’t wait.” She mumbled and the woman grunted angrily before continuing.
“You’re to be in you room with lights out at 10pm each night.”
“I’m 20, not 12”
“You’re also not in a hotel and you will obey my rules or there will be consequences. There will also be no sex on these grounds.”
“So, I’ve heard. This place is a real downer.”
“Dr. Whale will provide you all of your mediation.” She picked up her file again and glanced through it until she found the information she needed. “Anxiety medication, as needed, as well as Birth Control medication, it appears.”
“Not sure why I need that here.” She scoffed.
“We allow our female patients to continue with their usual regimen since most have plans to leave and return to their lives. If you have plans to stay longer, I can let your Dr. know you won’t be needing it.”
“I never said that.”
“In that case, let me continue, there is a gym on site, as well as a registered dietician to use as needed. So now that we got that out of the way, we just need to sign the paperwork and I’ll need your cell phone.”
Emma yanked her phone out of her pocket and tossed it on the table. “Just give me the papers.”
She passed them toward her, “Please sign, Emma Nolan, that is your legal name.”
Emma grumbled as she took pen to paper, signing her name.
“You can make a phone call to mom and dad after you complete the first 14 days of your treatment.”
“Yeah right.”
“In any case, it will be available if you have changed your mind by then. Now let’s go meet your roommate before your first session with Dr. Hopper.”
“So much excitement, I can hardly contain myself.”
The woman did not hide her contempt toward her as they walked out of the office. Emma knew Regina’s type. She had seen it plenty of times before from the women who looked down their noses at Emma even as they attended her parent’s fancy parties. Those were the women who thought Emma was undeserving of her life. She hated women like Regina Mills. Eventually she would have to find a way to convince this lady to let her go home. She studied her cautiously as they walked. She would do what she always did, find a crack, and expose it.
“Ruby, I have your new roommate, Emma.”
Emma eyed the girl lying on her bed, engrossed in a magazine. “Bed’s over there.” The girl pointed to the other side of the room and the empty bed.
“Dr. Hopper should be ready to see you as soon as you unpack.” Regina nodded to the women and exited quickly.
“She’s a real piece of work.” Emma whispered under her breath.
“The word you’re looking for is bitch.” The tall dark-haired girl added.
“Glad it wasn’t just me thinking that.”
“You won’t have to deal with her much unless you break the rules, so obviously I see her at least once or twice a week.” She grinned.
Maybe she might actually like her roommate.
“I don’t know how you could even walk around here without breaking rule #3 at least once or twice a day.”
“You mean the eye candy?” Ruby mused. “It’s like they’re asking us to break that rule.”
Emma laughed heartily. “That security guard sure is nice to look at.”
“Graham, yeah he’s a bit of a straight arrow. He’ll flirt but I’ve never so much as even been able to convince him of a blow job. And he reports everything back to Regina, so I would tread lightly there.”
“Shame, he’s easy on the eyes.”
“Trust me, wait til you meet the men in our group session. They’ll have you wet and ready before you even leave your seat, I spend most of the session squirming in my chair, but then I’m also a sex addict so maybe it’s just me.”
“You can actually be addicted to sex?”
Ruby shrugged, “Yeah it’s a thing. Hop says I spend too much time worrying about my other vices and not enough looking at the reasons behind why I feel like I need sex all the time.”
Emma had never really enjoyed sex. But then she’d only ever been with Neal, so she didn’t have a lot of experience to compare it to. “So, what’s this Dr. Hopper like? Anything I should know?”
“He’s a nice guy, but not much gets by him. He asks more questions than you’ll be ready for. Best just to answer and move on.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Twenty minutes later, seated across from the curly haired doc and Emma understood what Ruby meant about his number of intrusive questions.
“So why do you think you are here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? My dad is pissed at me and sent me here for punishment.”
“Why do you think your dad is mad at you?”
“Embarrassment, not obeying him, and three thousand other stupid reasons he gets mad at me every day.”
“Why do you think he would be embarrassed?
“Why would you do this Emma?”
“Why do you care?”
“Emma, I’m your father, I just want to understand why you would get involved in any of this? You knew how bad this would look if you got caught.”
“Ah yes, what you actually mean is how bad it would look for you.”
“Drugs, breaking and entering, stealing…Emma? Why? Why didn’t you talk to us?”
“Don’t start acting like you give a damn now. This is the first time I’ve seen you in three months.”
“He’s David fucking Nolan. Do you know how much money he paid just to keep my arrest out of the news?”
“Do you think he might have been protecting you?”
She laughed loudly, thinking about how absurd it sounded to her. “His business is his number one priority. Trust me, he doesn’t want anyone to find out about my…” She stiffened. “My uh, arrest.”
“You were arrested for breaking and entering, as well as possession of a schedule 2 substance, is that correct?”
She laughed. “It was a joke. We broke into a hotel of one of my dad’s competitors. Stole some cash.”
“We?”
“Um, a friend.”
“Were you also doing drugs with this friend?”
“Well, he wouldn’t be a friend if he didn’t share his drugs.” The joke fell flat as the man stared at her, making a note in his book. “Look it wasn’t a big deal.”
He flipped through the pages of her file. “You were high on cocaine the night you were arrested, is that correct?”
“I know, what a cliché, rich kid arrested doing coke.”
“It says in the report that you were the only one arrested. Where was your friend?”
“Took off. Gotta look out for yourself, right?” Emma chewed on her nails uncomfortably.
He paused and she braced for more questions about her friend but was surprised when he moved on. “How long had you been doing cocaine?”
“I dunno, a few years. Everyone was doing it at parties, its not a big deal.”
“You spent 11 months in jail, isn’t that correct?”
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Did something bad happen in jail?”
Emma flinched.
“Emma you can do it. One more push.”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” She yelled, crossing her arms, and staring out the window. “Actually, I’m done talking at all today.”
When he became resigned to the fact that she had no intention of answering any more of his questions, he released her from the session. She stormed back to her room, unsure how she was going to survive this place. She hated being drilled and questioned by someone she didn’t even know.
God, she needed a drink.
She threw herself on her bed and groaned loudly.
“Told you the questions were brutal.”
Emma looked over at her new roommate. “What do you do around here for fun?”
The girl grinned. “Wanna get your heart rate up?”
She leaned onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, her head cradling into her hand. “Somehow I don’t think you mean that in a way that is actually interesting or fun.”
“Come on. Trust me.”
She begrudgingly followed the girl through the hallways until she yanked open the double doors and paraded into the large gym.
“Ok you definitely lost me at physical exertion.”
“I said to trust me.”
She grumbled as they both walked over to the treadmills. “I don’t understand how exercise equates to…”
She gestured toward the opposite corner of the gym. “Nothing beats a good work out when you have something like that to look at.”
Emma watched the man remove his shirt and she grinned in the direction of her roommate. “Ok I’ve learned to trust you. You do know where all the fun is around here.”
“That’s Jefferson. Hot as hell, great in bed.” Emma stared at her, mouth standing open.
“You’ve had sex with him? Here?”
“Oh yeah, got a week of solitary for it but it was worth it.”
Emma increased the speed on her treadmill when two other men entered the room. The one Graham had called Jones with the blue eyes and smug attitude and a shorter man striding beside him.
“Oh, he’s new.” The girl sang beside her.
“Apparently it’s his first day. Graham called him Jones. Real asshole though.”
“Oh, even better, those are the best ones in bed.” She pointed to the guy next to him. “That’s Will. He’s hilarious, only got him to kiss me once, he has a fiancé waiting for him at home. Boring. Just don’t listen to a thing he says.” She laughs. “Compulsive liar.”
Emma watched as Jefferson greeted the two men. He lifted his shirt above his head and Emma felt her mouth go dry staring at his chest, a patch of dark hair trailing down into the waistband of his sweats.
“One hand, never done anyone in that situation before.” Ruby whispered.
The man stood in the corner, lifting one of the weights with his right arm, glancing in their direction. Emma increased the speed on her bike again, feeling the sweat starting to roll down her back. She swore she saw him smirk in her direction and she felt the fire between her legs start to burn. She broke eye contact with him, focusing on the numbers moving in front of her.
“Hello ladies.” She turned to see the one Ruby called Will approaching them.
“William. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Ruby Red, baby, glad to see you are back in general. Who’s your friend?”
“Will, Emma. Emma, Will.” Ruby introduced them, her voice coming out in strained breathes as she ran next to her.
“Lovely to meet you, I’m Will. Though you may have seen me on television.”
“Sorry, don’t watch a lot of television.”
He frowned and Jones approached them. “We meet again, Swan.”
“How unlucky for me.” She punched the stop button on her treadmill and slowed her pace as the machine came to a crawl.
“Was it something I said?” He laughed as she grabbed a towel and slung it over her neck.
“You breathed.” She groaned.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Her roommate stepped off her treadmill and held out her hand to Jones. “Ruby.”
“Pleasure is all mine, lass. Killian Jones.” He greeted.
“Aren’t you that pirate?”
“Aye, busted.”
“I knew it! Did you know that was him, Emma?” She squealed.
Emma stared at the two of them. Pirate? She squinted her eyes, staring at the man. She had no idea who he was. “Sorry, no idea, don’t care, honestly.”
He sauntered up beside her, dropping an arm around her shoulder. “Perhaps you know me by my more colorful moniker, Hook. Captain Hook?”
She grabbed his hand and plucked it off her shoulder. “Delightful and also ridiculous, but Sorry haven’t a clue who you are, don’t care for fairytales.”
“Never wanted to be a princess then, love?” His arm now sliding down around her waist.
She grabbed him by the hand, twisted in his grasp and pushed him to the ground, whipping his wrist behind his back. “I told you, I’m not interested.”
He laughed. “You sure about that, love.”
She leaned closer to his ear. “You couldn’t handle it.” With one sweep he wrapped his leg around her and flipped them over, his body pressing into hers.
“Perhaps you’re the one who couldn’t handle it.” His tongue clicking in her ear. In an instant her body caught fire at the tone of his voice, and the feel of his body on hers.
Asshole.
Her knee met his groin in a fury, and she felt him tense above her, rolling to his side with a loud groan. “Bloody minx.”
She stood up and peered down at him. “You deserved that.” She looked back at Ruby who was in the midst of a giggling fit. “Let’s get out of here.”
The girl wrapped her arm around Emma’s waist. “You are going to be so fun to hang around.” She laughed. “I bet you are amazing in bed.” Emma glanced sideways at her, not sure if she was hitting on her or just making a remark. “Would be worth a week in solitary to find out.”
Yep, definitely flirting with her. This place was going to be interesting.
#wonderland#my fics#stacy's fics#emma x killian#killian jones#emma x hook#emma swan#captainswan#captain swan#captain swan au#captain swan fics#captain swan modern au
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Representation in Media and How It Can Be Harmful (Basically Why It’s Important to Acknowledge the Faults in Media, Specifically When Dealing With Minority Groups)
Note: The following essay is not meant to harm anyone, and if it does, please inform me, so I can edit it immediately. I only want to inform you why people are pointing out these issues in representation, and help you understand why. If you still don’t understand after reading this, feel free to message me, I’ll be happy to help.
I’ve seen a bunch posts criticizing posts pointing out flaws in the representation of POC in TSC and YA in general, and I know none of you probably care about my opinion, but I just want to ask you to be mindful. I’m not going to argue for or against this topic, if you want to know my opinion on the matter, feel free to look under the ‘ash ranting time’ tag. What I am going to do, is address those who are ignoring or refusing to understand where these posters are coming from.
To be clear here, I am not against Cassie Clare as a writer, and love her books as much as the rest of you, but it’s extremely disheartening to see people bash or counteract someone’s claim that her writing has flaws as well. By someone, it usually tends to be a POC, so please keep that in mind for the remaining of this essay. What these posters are generally pointing out are flaws and stereotypes in characters of color, flaws and stereotypes that are extremely harmful, toward the culture the character represents.
Now you might be wondering at this point, how is this representation harmful? First I’d like to preface this by saying use of stereotypes in representation cannot be completely avoided. There will always be stereotypes that are accidental, and those are not the ones I’m speaking of. Flawed and well rounded characters always have the potential to fall into some stereotypes, and that is okay, but there is a moment in writing where the sheer amount of stereotypes on a POC gets difficult to ignore, a point where it cannot be ignored any longer without harming the community as a whole. And how is this harmful? By using many stereotypes in writing, specifically in minority groups, you can unintentionally strengthen prejudices and judgements against and towards entire cultures, all because of a phenomenon called the Availability Heuristic.
Per the American Psychology Association, the definition of the availability heuristic is, “a common strategy for making judgments about likelihood of occurrence in which the individual bases such judgments on the salience of the information held in his or her memory about the particular type of event: The more available and relevant information there is, the more likely the event is judged to be.” In laymen’s terms, this roughly translated to your brain using the information most available to them to make quick judgments, or swapping out the best solution for one that is the most available.
Why is this important for POC rep? By constantly using the same stereotypes to represent a specific group of people, thereby making it more available, authors are further reinforcing that a certain minority is a specific way, leading to strengthening prejudices against them. It is a very dangerous phenomenon and has the possibility to be extremely harmful for the group in question.
(The following scenario is extremely generalized.) Let’s take this scenario into mind. Say there’s an Asian main in a novel and they’re constantly depicted as shy and intelligent. Except let’s make it worse by saying almost all of the Asian representation in media is of shy and intelligent people. Because a ‘shy and intelligent’ Asian is the only representation you get of them, you will, unfortunately, begin to think Asians can only be shy and intelligent, and that there’s no in between. While that may seem extreme, it has already happened before. Think about what you thought when you heard Asian. I bet most of you though of East Asians because that tends to be what is represented when most people say Asia. Now think about how large Asia actually is, and how, by jumping to the nearest stereotype, you immediately excluded the entirety of South Asia, South East Asia, and many many more countries all because of the stereotypes presented in media, essentially alienating entire groups from their continent.
Now that you understand how harmful stereotypes and repeated use of it can be, let’s move on to a separate topic. Admitting someone did something wrong, whether it be in writing a minority or anything else, does not harm anyone in any way. Just because something is problematic does not mean that you can’t still enjoy its content. You can still enjoy the books and understand that some parts are harmful, it doesn’t lessen your joy of the book, only makes them more aware and knowledgeable.
All these people ask is for you to understand that there are issues within your favorite novels, and to accept that. Remember, these can be some of their favorite books too, and they don’t intend to hate on it, only to help spread awareness so it doesn’t happen again. History has the potential of being a viscous cycle if no one learns from the mistakes of themselves and others. So, I only ask you to please keep yourself educated, and listen to when someone tells you something is harmful, especially when that person belongs to that minority group. Thank you for listening.
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Hello! Just found your account and thought this is a good place for this: For someone who is not from America nor European countries, Tumblr is... an experience. The obsession over race, gender, sexual orientation and how far things are strecthed through is just bizarre.
I have seen stuff about Hama and Jet, how they are portrayed in the show is apparently racist. It's just... Honey, if you look at a character and only see their skin color to excuse their actions; other than seeing them as actual characters, WHY they turned out like that from their own traumas, their personality, then I am not sure if you are looking at the right place for the problem.
I understand people are hungry for good, accurate representation (and as a Muslim, I feel the same too) or that actual real people go through awful stuff and are affected greatly (the LGBTQ+ rep in my country varies from non-existent to hate speech. While the experiences are not, cannot be the same with someone in America or other countries dealing with different stuff, I'm trying to empathize. We do not NEED to belong to a certain group to have opinions on a matter or to have a say as long as we also listen to other people too.
What we need: education. What we have: *screams*
There is a nice saying in my mother tongue: There is no shame in not knowing, but not to learn, there is. The more we exclude majority of people from certain things, more harm we do. I am not saying to tolerate, but you know... Nobody is perfect and instead of attacking when you see something ACTUALLY wrong, you can POLITELY have a conversation about it, or direct to an accurate source on that matter, you are not obligated to teach. If the person is a scum, well, bad for them but if they are not, they can actually learn something.)
Another mind boggling thing is how apparently being a community can't coexist with respecting others. It sure can, and it does. Just bound with people who share your ideas, you don't have to attack others because they have different interests and opinions which *apparently* makes them inherently [insert racist/sexist/internal misogny/homophobic]. You don't have to prove that you are on a higher morality to justify why you like it, you can just like it.
Same shit goes for woman who WANT to be traditionally feminine things, no, they do not have internal misogny, they are CHOOSING what THEY want and I thought that was the whole fucking point. While I personally did not like some aspects of LoK's portrayal of Katara, what I didn't like more was what some fans said: as if being a mother, a wife, a healer is somehow makes her less and Katara obviously wouldn't want to have the peace and family enviorement she lost in a war torn world, her wants matching with traditional stuff: misogny!!! Because apparently women has to kick asses 7/24 to be powerful, because apparently they HAVE to prove themselves to others constantly, instead of following what they want.
There is also another side of the fandom that does only portray -especially females- within their love interest and reduce the rich characters when their work is about those characters (you don't, can't portray everything in one single piece. not including if the focus is not on that character =/ *insert internal stuff*) If someone points this out and they listen, than yay, someone learnt something! I sure did learn a lot from my internet experience and still do. I am a minor, but adults are not know it all either, no one is. Screaming doesn't solve one single problem, nor changes other's views. You can just scroll through or have a civil conversation. If they did not listen, are a jerk and continue their ways, well then, time to move on, we have nothing but to hope that they'll change.
So many extremes exist and they crash with each other, it's crazy. People get offended over nothing and treat a world where people shoot fire out of their mouths as if it's the real world. Everyone needs to chill a little and enjoy the fandom.
Lol this turned out longer than I expected. Thank you for coming to my Ted-Talk.
Just gonna leave this here untouched. Excellent take anon!
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#70-61
70. Wonderland (7.441)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 3
This is the only song to not receive a regular placing on the 1989 tour setlist! AYHTDWS, This Love and YAIL both rotated on and off depending on the night, but according to setlist.fm those 3 all at least got a good number of performances, while poor Wonderland only got a whopping 4 times in the spotlight. Wonderland used to be a favourite of mine on 1989, but unfortunately for me I think it has aged a bit poorly.
Highlighted comments:
@corneliaavenue: “can someone please tell me what you hear in this song?”
@yourivysgrows: “This didn't deserve to be a bonus track”
69. False God (7.447)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 3.9
Haha, nice.
Highlighted comments:
@corneliaavenue: “PUSSY IS GOD”
@yourivysgrows: “This murdered me”
68. mad woman (7.459)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 4.5
The first time we heard the fuck word from Taylor! And what a great fuck word it was. mad woman is, in my opinion, by far the greatest song about sexism that Taylor has ever written. The simmering rage that lingers beneath the whole thing, the way she drags Scooter through the mud... *chefs kiss*
Highlighted comments:
@yourivysgrows: “fuck you forever”
67. The Way I Loved You (7.488)
Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 5.9
We need to start a support group for people who took way too long to realise this song was about two different guys. By people I mean me, but also please tell me I’m not the only one. I was so confused for so long with this song.
Highlighted comments:
@corneliaavenue: “banger of a song but -2 for promoting toxic relationships :/”
66. Back to December (7.494)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 3
This is a great song, but honestly after hearing the mashup with Apologise and You’re Not Sorry from the Speak Now tour, I cannot listen to any other version. I also remember some weird story about how Taylor Lautner attended a Speak Now Tour date and was witnessed muttering “it’s too late” under his breath during the performance, which now that I’m repeating it sounds so obviously like fanfiction but 12 year old me bought into it back when Taylor Squared was THE ship.
Highlighted comments:
@corneliaavenue: “rip tay²”
@yourivysgrows: “Track 5 energy (a yes)”
65. Come Back... Be Here (7.519)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 3
Remember when we begged and begged and got Taylor to relearn the lyrics to this song so she could perform it on Rep Tour? Good times.
Highlighted comments:
@yourivysgrows: “Due to my long distance relationship this one hit home”
@everfolk: “God tier song”
@liabilitys: “one of my fav songs but v underrated”
64. New Year’s Day (7.544)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 1
I think the perception of this song is harmed by how the sessioners hyped it up as “the new All Too Well”. Which I mean, is just wrong, but I can’t blame them - if I had heard “hold on to the memories they will hold onto you” in Taylor Swift’s house I would probably burst into tears every time I heard it afterwards too. In all seriousness, I think this is a great end to reputation, its calm and understatedness is perfect alongside the aggressive cacaphony that makes up most of the rest of the album.
Highlighted comments:
@yourivysgrows: “The most beautiful closer”
@corneliaavenue: “it is a little boring, but i like the lyrics”
63. Christmas Tree Farm (7.559)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 5.15
This is so fun and wholesome, it almost inspired me to make myself a Christmas playlist. I don’t even listen to 99% of Christmas music, so the playlist would pretty much just consist of this, All I Want For Christmas Is You and Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande.
Highlighted comments:
@itspeterlosingwendy: “the only song I listen to at christmas”
@treacherousdemo: “that intro is the best thing she's ever done.. i stand by this”
@leadinmeon: “i don't even celebrate xmas. but this song is so cute”
62. Sad Beautiful Tragic (7.572)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 4.6
I used to be attacked for saying I didn’t like this song, to the point where I was bullied into liking it </3 Half joking, this song has actually grown on me a lot! But can we just admit it is a tad too slow and dare I say... verges on being boring?
Highlighted comments:
@leadinmeon: “same as last kiss: lyrically iconic, musically boring to listen to”
@liabilitys: “another fav”
61. Dancing with Our Hands Tied (7.581)
Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 5
If the album version was the acoustic version, I would’ve given this a much higher score. But the production... after listening to 10 previous songs full of heavy synths and drops, I frankly just get tired of that by this point in the album, and DWOHT does that style a lot worse than the other songs, in my opinion. The acoustic version is very nice though.
Highlighted comments:
@yourivysgrows: “I would die for this song I think”
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Their Hero Academia - Chapter 83: Of Sound and Wings
Continuing my nextgen MHA fic!
Earlier chapters can be found here
To say Toshi was worried was an understatement. While no one had said anything bad would happen if they lost the relay, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give it his all. Which meant he had to make sure he wasn’t going to let anyone else down either. And he was more than certain that, however the relay worked out, Aizawa and Uncle Kacchan would be using whatever he saw to help format their lessons going forward. Their teacher would just use any failings to push them all the harder.
He couldn’t allow his differences with Tatsuma to be the reason they failed. While there hadn’t been any more violence or any scuffles between the U.A. and Shiketsu students (Not even from Katsumi, which seemed to be a minor miracle in and of itself), there was still a strained feeling when some members of the two groups interacted. And Tatsuma had made a point of avoiding him.
He needed to be able to clear the air with the Shiketsu girl. Even if there was still bad blood afterwards, he needed to apologize and he needed to make sure that they’d be able to work together. Plenty of Heroes didn’t get along off the field but could put their differences aside enough to fight alongside each other. He would have liked to at least get to that point.
They had a few minutes before they had to start getting ready, so he sought her out, finding her standing alone. The other Shiketsu students looked to have already peeled off to find their respective U.A. partners.
“Ah, hey, Tatsuma,” he began. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
Tatsuma didn’t budge an inch. When she spoke she didn’t even turn around. “Later than I expected this to happen. The instructors have forced your hand.”
Toshi frowned and swallowed nervously. “You’re right,” he said. “I have been putting this off.” Not very heroic of him, really. “And the timing makes it look even less great than it already is.”
Best to just get it out there.
“I owe you an apology.”
She turned to look at him now. With her arms crossed and her stoic stance, it made her already tall figure even more imposing.
“For what?” The question is not one of confusion or lack of knowledge, but rather did he understand what he should be sorry about.
Toshi was of average height for his age, with maybe a few more inches to go, but the way Tatsuma simply towered over most people did nothing to ease the situation. “I was pretty insensitive when we talked near the beginning of the camp,” he began. “And didn’t do a good job of listening to what you were actually saying. It’s been pointed out that I don’t always see the privileged position my family gives me and I trivialized something very important to you.”
He looked up. “And for that, I’m sorry.”
Tatsuma listened, looking at him carefully before speaking. “Well I can’t find a realistic problem with your apology. So..thank you.” Her eyes narrowed a bit. “I’d argue it’s something many Heroes should see as important, but now is a pointless time to argue it.”
Toshi nodded. It was about as good a reaction as he could have hoped for. Tatsuma didn’t seem like the type to lash out violently, the way Katsumi might (Though in truth, Katsumi was always more bark than bite), but he’d been deeply afraid of making things worse. He was a Class Representative. He was supposed to be a leader, someone others looked to and who helped make things right, not someone who caused trouble with other schools.
“You’re not wrong,” he agreed. “I’ve grown up around enough Heroes, not just my family…” He winced slightly. A reminder of all that probably wasn’t the best choice of words. “But a lot of them question if they’re not good enough, if they’re not doing enough. And their failures stay with them too.”
Dad didn’t talk about it much. He wanted to keep a smiling face, especially for this family. But as Toshi had gotten older, he’d been more willing to talk about the lives he couldn’t save, the times he was too slow or too late. He’d wanted to impress upon Toshi that being a Hero could bring great joy, but that it would weigh you down too.
“I don’t know why the press or the public treated your mother differently. But she didn’t deserve that.”
For a time, he had had her attention. Maybe he’d gotten this right. Tatsuma was also a Class Rep. and as such she represented her school. As much as she may have wanted to show up UA, she had to know holding grudges like that weren’t good for anybody. And it was true that in the past, the rankings had led to a lot of damaging and toxic behavior. You just had to look at Izzy’s grandfather for that. But things were different now, right? But when he mentioned her mother, he suddenly felt the situation change, the hairs on the back of his next standing up.
Human life had started long after the dinosaurs had died out, despite what a lot of science fiction would have people believe. But if a man had been threatened by a t-rex, he was certain it would felt like what he was feeling now.
Toshi would later swear that he saw Tatsuma’s eyes go red. “Because of the damn rankings!” Smoke started to unfurl from her nostrils. “She fell from the all-mighty Top Ten! The heroes of all heroes! You think anyone says anything if someone drops a rank in the 20’s or 30’s? No, no one cares about their efforts. But if someone can’t cut being in the Top Ten-!” Her skin looked like a very thin layer of scales was forming.
“That's all my mother ever heard! ‘You couldn’t cut it.’ ‘Leave it to the men!’ ‘You weren’t meant to be among the elite!” All because of how the rankings portray what Heroes are supposed to be!”
She was now towering over Toshi now. “I won’t dismiss what your father has done for this country, or any of the others in the Ten, but if you can’t see how it has also harmed those who have done nothing but sacrificed-!” Her hands clenched. She was very, VERY close, then snarled and turned away.
“Seung’s worked too hard to keep her emotions in control. I can’t disgrace that effort.” Tatsuma let out a breath, a steaming hot one. “You’ll never get it. You’re too ingrained. I should probably just accept that.” She was quiet for a moment, before finally speaking up again. “What else did you want?”
To his credit, Toshi had managed to stand his ground during Tatsuma’s tirade, only taking a slight step backwards once. As it was, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. “I’m sorry,” he began. “This is important to you, I can tell. And I’m sorry for the pain it’s caused you and your mom. What happened to her wasn’t right and wasn’t fair.”
He straightened up a little. Maybe this was too much meddling. But wasn’t meddling the job of a Hero? Tatsuma had so much anger in her, it was going to consume if she didn’t find a way to break it.
“And maybe I am too close to see some things. But I’m also close enough to a lot of things to see some of the details. When your mother started dropping in rankings, it was a different time. The world was still hurting from the loss of All Might and wanted its Heroes to be more perfect than they were, than they could actually be. I don’t know, can’t know, if that was the cause, but I’d be surprised if that didn’t have something to do with it. And none of that would make it right or fair if it did.
“But while I can’t quote you chapter and verse like Shota could, I can tell you that plenty of people have risen and fallen out of the Top Ten in the last decade or more, and only the trashiest and least reputable ‘news’ sources and commentators are bad mouthing them. Creati dropped down to Number Eleven a while back. And you know what she did? She congratulated Rodeo, who jumped up to Seven and knocked her ranking down.”
He frowned. “What happened to Ryukyu wasn’t right. I agree with you on that. And you’ve every right to be angry about it. But I don’t think it’s like that anymore.”
He shook his head. Maybe there was still something he was missing. But he had to try and bridge that gap. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe this is something we can’t agree on. But can we work together?”
She looked back at him. “If Ground Zero and Deku could learn to work together, it would be embarrassing and shameful if we couldn’t.” There is the vaguest hint of a smile. Maybe he’d said some of the right things. At least, he hadn’t made it any worse.
Toshi gave her a small smile of his own. “Oh, the stories I could tell you about that…”
***
The Rookies’ relay course was set up in the woodlands around their compound, virtually invisible from the treetops, but complicated once you got to it. There were bridges and swings, with complex structures built into the trees. The tree line itself was thick with trees and other vegetation, making it difficult to see where any attack might be coming from. Fortunately, their path was pretty straightforward.
“You got Tomodachi okay?” Inuzaki asked. He was ahead of Shota, in dog form, pausing every so often to sniff the air.
“Good enough,” Shota told him. The “civilian” they were rescuing was a training dummy, like the kind they used at U.A. It was about the size of an adult man and loaded with sensors that would tally up injuries and damage. They had immediately decided that he’d needed a name. Shota had him over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He didn’t need his arms free to use his Quirk, after all.
“He’s pretty heavy though!” Shota said. “Maybe he should run the course too!” He was in good shape—you couldn’t be in the Hero course and not be—but he wasn’t anywhere near as fit as Toshi, Kirishima-Bakugo, or Shoji. Even Inuzaki was in better shape than him when he was in human form. Still, his joke did get a laugh out of Inuzaki, so it was worth it.
Dad always said you had to take care of your body as much as your Quirk. Maybe he needed to start working out more. Toshi was always working out. But he got up so early to do it!
“Smell anything?” Shota asked.
Inuzaki stopped and shook his head. “Maybe. Lots of smells. I can smell people. Mostly the Rookies. They’ve been through here a lot. Might be trying to make it confusing.”
“Let me try,” Shota said. He took in a breath then started to unleash one of his sonar-screams, but stopped when Inuzaki started whining.
He cut the scream immediately. “What, what is it?” Shota asked.
Inuzaki winced. “Your scream hurt my ears,” he said, quietly. “It was like a knife through my skull!”
Crap! His Quirk and Inuzaki’s weren’t compatible? How were they going to do this? He had to scream to use his Quirk! When they got attacked, he’d have to use it! But if it hurt his friend, then what could he do? Maybe it was only certain frequencies?
“That’s only when you’re a dog, right?” Shota asked. “Change back for a second. I’ll get a quick look and then we can keep going.”
“Okay,” Inuzaki agreed. He stopped though, his back leg scratching at his ear. “Hang on, gotta scratch first.”
“Oh! How cute!”
The girlish voice seemed to come from nowhere. It could only be Ojiro! But where was she?!
Inuzaki sniffed. “Ah ha! Got you!” He jumped up and seemed to collide with something in mid-air. Ojiro reappeared as they hit the ground.
“Oh, dang it!” Ojiro cried out. She tried to get up, but Inuzaki’s weight was keeping her down. “I got distracted!
“Hold her still!” Shota said. They’d been given ‘capture cuffs’ so that they could harmlessly take their classmates out of the fight, though there was a good chance they’d have to do at least a little damage. He had some in his pocket, but he also had the dummy! Crap! What were they going to… Inuzaki changed back to his human form in a puff of smoke. He had capture cuffs too! Right. Why was he worried?
Ojiro was quick though, using that moment of transition to act. She brought her legs up, flipping Inuzaki over her, then sprang up to her feet. “So close!” she said. “But not quick enough!” Meanwhile, Inuzaki changed back to dog form in midair, landing easily. He and Ojiro circled each other warily.
Before he could help, the ground started shaking. Shota swallowed hard. He remembered now, one of Class 1-B had a vibration-based Quirk, didn’t she? Mio Yamaguchi, a dark haired girl.
The vibrations picked up intensely, knocking Shota off his feet. He hit the ground, twisting to minimize the damage to Tomodachi, but he knew he took at least a small hit. “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Shota told the dummy. Carefully getting back to his feet, he looked around for any sign of Yamaguchi or anyone else. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of Ojiro and Inuzaki fighting.
He wanted to help. He really did. But if there was more trouble coming, somebody had to watch.
Doing the right thing sucked sometimes. But he had to trust that Inuzaki was going to be able to handle it. “Better hold your ears, Tomodachi,” he told the dummy. “It might get loud!” If he kept his powers really focused, hopefully he’d wouldn’t hurt Inuzaki either.
There. Yamaguchi stepped into view, looking beyond Shota. “Can’t you catch one dog, Ojiro?” she asked, sounding annoyed.
From behind him, Ojiro called out. “It’s really hard! He’s really fast!”
Yamaguchi rolled her eyes. “Okay, let me just take care of the kid and I’ll help.” She brought up both of her hands, unleashing vibrational waves that seemed to blur the air in front of her.
Dang it! Just because he was short and a few months younger, it didn’t mean he was a baby! Why did everybody treat him like he was a little kid!
“YOU’RE NOT GONNA STOP ME!” he shouted, clenching his fists. He unleashed his Quirk, turning a shout into a broad sonic wave. His wave met Yamaguchi’s vibrational blast in mid-air, where there was a small explosion of air as the two different waves hit each other, before his own caused hers to dispense. Somewhere behind him, he heard Inuzaki yelp. He just prayed his new friend could hold on.
“What?” Yamaguchi said. “How’d you do that?”
Shota grinned. “I canceled out your vibrations with my own!” Maybe not as good as Uncle Shota’s Erasure, but his sonic vibrations could stop hers well enough.
Again and again, Yamaguchi threw her vibrational blasts at him, but Shota kept canceling them out. Her vibrations were at least as strong as his sonics. Keepings up that kind of pace, matching vibration with vibration, was making his skull rattle. Even without the blasts hitting him, he could practically feel the vibrations in his bones. Even though he wasn’t used to fighting someone with powers even a little bit like his own, he was holding his ground, but if he didn’t do something, he was sure to lose!
“Okay, that’s it…” Yamaguchi said. A look of annoyance crossed her face. “Guess it’s time to bring down the house!” Her eyes narrowed and she brought both hands together and pointed them down, ready to unleash another vibrational blast. The air was practically humming as she charged up her power. He had to do something… now!
Shota took in another breath and screamed, hitting the ground under Yamaguchi with a carefully modulated sonic pulse. While he mostly used his Quirk for purely destructive sonic screams, he could do so much more than that depending on the frequencies he hit. Everything from sonar to force fields to all kinds of other effects. In this case, he could hyper-agitate molecules causing…
An explosion! It wasn’t a big one, but the ground underneath Yamaguchi exploded, knocking her off her feet and several feet back. As she landed, Shota rushed over, unclipping one of the capture cuffs from his belt. Yamaguchi was still trying to get her bearings when he slapped one end on her wrist and then the other.
“All right!” he cheered. “Got you!”
Yamaguchi just stared at him, then rolled her eyes. “Monoma’s never going to let me hear the end of this.”
Shota wondered why Monoma would give her a hard time. She tried her best!
“Oh, dang it! This is so unfair! How you can you be this cute and this tough?! IF YOU WERE CLOSER, I’D GIVE YOU SUCH A SMACK!”
Shota’s attention was instantly drawn to where Inuzaki had managed to corner Ojiro. She’d climbed up into a tree, and Inuzaki was back in dog form, circling the bottom of it.
Inuzaki transformed back to his human shape. “Can you get her down? I’m not so good with climbing.”
Shota nodded. “Let me try this one…” He let lose another scream, shifting the pitch a bit. This time, when his sonic attack hit the tree, it began to shake and vibrate violently, but it didn’t explode.
“Nnnnnnnoooo fffffaaaaiiiirrrrr,” Ojiro wailed. She was struggling to hang on and ultimately lost the fight. She fell, landing flat on the ground. “Ouch…” She held her up arms. “Just cuff me already.”
***
They’d probably gone another two kilometers, easy. Shota wasn’t really good with eyeballing distances. Every now and then, they’d trade off, with Inuzaki resuming his human form so he could carry Tomodachi and so Shota could scan the area with sonar. But the forest was so thick with trees and everything else, it was hard to see anything that way. Buildings were a lot easier.
“How much further?” he asked. He was pretty sure they’d been told how far they had to travel for the hand-off, but he may not have been paying the best attention.
“About another couple kilometers,” Inuzaki said. “I think. Everything looks bigger from down here.”
Not too much farther then. But there were definitely more of his classmates or schoolmates out there, waiting for them. Unless they were really dogpiling the other teams, there had to be at least one, maybe two more coming after them. Even Shota could do that kind of math.
“Do you smell anything?” Shota asked. It hadn’t worked so well last time, not with all the other smells in the forest, but maybe they’d get lucky.
Inuzaki made a weird face, one which looked even stranger on a dog. “I smell something,” he said. “Like ink, maybe?”
“Oh!” Shota said. He knew who that was! “Fukidashi!”
“The cartoon girl?” Inuzaki asked. He sounded a little annoyed, which was surprising, given how well he got on with everyone. “I tried talking to her a few times, but every time I did, she just kept going on about how cute I was. Just like the invisible girl. It got old really fast.”
Shota frowned, looking around. Where could she be? His eyes fell on a strange looking patch of ground. “Do you see that?” he asked, pointing.
“Is that patch of ground a different color?” Inuzaki asked, curiously.
Shota bent down and grabbed a stick from the ground. Getting back up with Tomodachi on his shoulders was tricky, but he managed it. He gave the stick a toss towards the patch of ground.
The stick hit something, making a small thunk sound. Instantly, Anime Fukidashi sprang from the patch on the ground, partially covered in leaves and dirt. “Aw,” Fukidashi said as she landed. “How did you know?!”
“The ground was a different color,” Inuzaki said. He bent down low, ready to pounce.
“Dammit!” Fukidashi yelled. Her head somehow got larger as she yelled, becoming larger than the rest of her body. “Betrayed by the drawing on the animation cell!”
Inuzaki looked over at Shota. “Is she all right?” he asked. Shota just shrugged. Even he and Toshi had no real idea how her Quirk worked or how it affected her.
Before any of them could act, suddenly, something snaked around Tomodachi, yanking him off Shota’s shoulders! There was Kaminari, coming out of the bushes behind Fukidashi, her Cords wrapped around the dummy and dragging it towards her. He could even see a few sparks dancing across her Cords and areas of the dummy lighting up as it registered damage.
“Nice job being the distraction, Fukidashi,” Kaminari said. Her expression turned slightly apologetic. “Sorry Shinso, but you’re not winning this one.”
He couldn’t get in a good sonic blast with her holding Tomodachi like that. He was in the way and she could still shock him either way. “Aw, c’mon, Kaminari,” he said sadly. “We gotta win this one! Everybody’s counting on us! I don’t want to disappoint everybody! I just… I just gotta…”
Her face fell as he talked. There. There was his moment. “Aaaaah!” Shota let out a shout, a regular one, and charged, tackling Kaminari about the middle and knocking her to the ground. He hated tricking her like that, but if everybody was going treat him like a little kid, then maybe he should take advantage of that. He landed on top of her, with his head on her… He jerked his head up quickly!
Kaminari’s Cords reflexively reeled in when he tackled her, but as she soon as she was able, her Cords poked into his back and unleashed a jolt of electricity. It wasn’t a strong shock, just enough to make him release his grip, but it still hurt. Shota let out a cry of pain and let go, as Kaminari shoved him off her. As he hit the ground, he could see Fukidashi trying to hit Inuzaki with a comically oversized hammer.
“Dang it!” Fukidashi yelled when her latest hammer strike failed to hit Inuzaki. “Why won’t the music change? Isn’t he a comedy character?!”
Kaminari, meanwhile, was back on her feet, heading for Tomodachi again. She was too close! If he missed with a sonic blast, he’d hit the dummy. But he’d been working hard on his Quirk all through the camp. And Bioshock helped him figure out some other pitches he could use. If he could go high, Bioshock had said, he could go low.
Infrasound.
He opened his mouth and pitched his sonic power low, buffeting Kaminari with waves of low-frequency sound. She stopped in her tracks, suddenly clutching her stomach. She wobbled on her feet, before falling to her knees, throwing up. Shota was already on his feet, running past her. “Sorry!” he called out. “It won’t last long, I promise! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”
As quick as he could, he hoisted Tomodachi over his shoulders again.
Inuzaki had Fukidashi cornered now, growling. She let the hammer fall from her hands and it vanished as soon as it let her fingers. “Sure, now the dramatic music plays.”
Inzuki reared up and hit Fukidashi hard with both front paws, knocking her to the ground. She hit her head on the ground and laid there, stunned, with little cartoon birds floating around her head.
Shota definitely didn’t understand how her Quirk worked.
“C’mon,” he said, moving as fast as he could. “They won’t be down for long!”
He and Inuzaki ran. Soon enough, he could see Kocho and Shida waiting up ahead, standing next to a small sign that clearly marked the second leg of the relay.
They’d done it!
***
Shinso and Inuzaki had definitely looked worse for wear by the time they’d arrived and handed off the training dummy (Which they’d named, for some reason.) to Koharu and Shida. The two had spun a tale of being ambushed twice, but had managed to successfully fight their way through. It gave her a good idea of what to expect. There would probably be at least four attackers then, though there might be more. She’d done the math. There weren’t quite enough students for a totally even split.
At least for now, Shida was carrying the dummy. With her spider-legs carrying her in a way that reminded Koharu a lot of how Shoji traveled with his own Quirk, she was able to hold the dummy in her arms and remain mobile. Koharu herself was flapping her wings, floating just a bit above ground level. That way, if they needed to engage, she wouldn’t waste any time on a takeoff. The forest canopy, for now, meant moments to fly really high were going to be few and far between, but there was enough space between the trees that someone could still fly under it.
And flying above the canopy had been strictly prohibited. Even if it wasn’t against the rules, there were several other students with flight Quirks and it was likely at least one of them would be playing the Villain for their leg of the relay. And she’d be leaving Shida behind if she did that, which seemed like it would defeat the purpose of the exercise.
None of which did anything to quell her body’s primary panic at the spider-like aspects of the Shiketsu girl. Given there were spiders that ate moths, it was a natural reaction for animal-type Quirks like theirs. She was getting better at it than when the camp had started, though. It helped that the other girl was incredibly nice (and, she admitted with a blush, rather cute), but her instinctive reaction was still just below the surface.
On the plus side, the two of them were going to be incredibly hard to sneak up on. Between Shida’s multiple-eyes and her own antenna, they had a range of extra-sensory perception.
“See anything?” Koharu asked quietly. Her antennae weren’t giving her any good information, unless you counted knowing where several squirrels and more than a few birds were.
“Not yet.” Shida said. If she’d noticed that Koharu tended to keep her distance from her, she didn’t let on but she seemed happy enough to be working with her. Her six eyes glanced about in multiple directions. “I doubt that will be the case much longer.” It didn’t help that she wasn’t sure where exactly to look. Knowing who the “Villains” were would have helped, but Heroes seldom had a heads-up.
“Me neither,” she replied. But Shida was right. Sooner than later was to be expected.
It didn’t take long for that sooner to become now. There was a great cracking sound and one of the trees fell, blocking the way forward for a moment. Someone strong then, or maybe Kaniyashiki from 1-B with her scissor Quirk? But even then, between her ability to fly and Shida’s legs, it would only slow them down for a minute. So what was their enemy’s plan?
A sound like jet engines told her what it was: a distraction!
Faster than a bullet, one of the Iida twins--Sora, she realized--blasted through the air right towards them. She was fast enough that Koharu couldn’t react in time to stop her, only to get out of the way. Iida stuck an arm out as she flew past, grabbing the arm of the dummy Shida was carrying as she tried to rocket away.
Like Koharu, Shida hadn’t seen Sora coming. She’d told Koharu before they’d set out that, while spiders had six eyes, their sense of sight actually wasn’t all that strong. She could see more than most people, but only by volume, not by magnification. There was no way either of them should have been able to see her coming in time. But somehow, Akira’s second-from-the back left spider-leg to shot out in a reflexive strike.
It was a solid strike, enough to send the Iida girl flying off course, slamming head first into a tree trunk. She still had the dummy though, which made things complicated. Already, she was scrambling back to her feet, although quite unsteadily. Koharu spat a blob of String Shot at her, pinning her to the tree with a mass of sticky strands stronger than steel.
“How did you do that?” Koharu asked, unable to keep the amazement out of her voice.
Shida bowed her head slightly and smiled. “My leg hairs. They’re very sensitive to vibrations. It’s a bit of an instinctive reaction to danger like that.”
“This is excellent tensile strength,” Iida said, as she struggled to break free. She sounded impressed. Koharu could hear the other girl’s Jetpack engines firing, but for the moment, her String Shot held. “I would love an opportunity to examine this at a later date! The uses are practically unlimited!”
“Sister!” a voice called out. It had to be Tensei Iida. “As much as I am in agreement with you, now is hardly the time for scientific curiosity!”
“It is always the time for curiosity, little brother!”
“I have asked you to stop calling me that!”
“Maybe you two could have this discussion another time?” Another voice asked. It was Shoji. He sounded very, very tired. Koharu didn’t blame him. The Iidas were very nice, but they could also be exhausting.
Shoji dropped down from between two trees, using his extra arms like spider-legs, free-falling the last few feet to land with a slight thud. Tensei Iida, meanwhile, dropped down with a series of shot Jetpack bursts to slow his fall. Both of them were between Koharu and Shida and the dummy.
She shot Shida a quick glance. “How long can you hold your breath?” she whispered. Iida and Shoji were playing defense for the moment, watching them.
“That’s a complicated answer with my mixed body. But I can “hold it” long enough. What are you planning?” Koharu remembered, vaguely, that spiders didn’t breathe in the same way as some animals, but she didn’t know how that applied to the spider-girl.
“I can drop a sleeping powder from my wing scales,” Koharu said quickly and quietly. Shoji was eying them warily, all six of his arms up in a fighting stance, while Tensei Iida attempted to free his sister and the dummy without success. “If I can cover a wide enough area, I can knock them out. Iida’s crazy fast and Shoji’s crazy strong. Probably the best chance we’ve got.”
“Hmm, I could use my legs to lift my body above the powder. Plus I should be able to use my leg hairs to feel the vibrations of where they might move even if I can’t see them,” Shida suggested.
Koharu nodded. These were all Hero students with months of training that she simply didn’t have. And many of them had even more than that, coming from Hero families. Neither side here had a full understanding of what the other could do, so evening out to neutral was the closest they had to an advantage. “Let’s do it.”
She flapped hard, gaining height and propelling herself forward towards the boys, already releasing her Sleep Powder from her wings. Down below, Tensei Iida looked up and let out a cry of alarm, while Shoji moved towards Shida, his top pair of extra arms stretching out to grab at her.
Shida saw Shoji heading for her, scanning above herself with her uppermost eyes. Staying on the ground was a bad idea as she had no idea how strong Shoji really was. She bent her legs, took a moment to look Shoji in the eyes, and gave the six-armed boy a wink that Koharu would have called flirtatious, before her legs suddenly unbent and sent her flying up into the air. Shooting well up past the smaller trees, Shida extended several of her legs to pierce and grab onto the nearest larger specimen. Others of her legs lashed out at Shoji.
Shoji dodged out of the way of the initial strike, pushing himself to the side with his lower set of arms. “Good reflexes,” he said, his voice smooth, like silk. He craned his neck to follow Shida, top arms extending out at her, but his maximum extension wasn’t enough to get him close.
Meanwhile, having recovered from his initial shock, Tensei Iida was rocketing into the air. He was a major threat, though without the armor and support equipment Koharu had seen him use during the final exam, possibly slightly less of one. And she had the advantage in maneuverability.
She flapped hard as she flew, releasing her Sleep Powder from her wings until the air was filled with the orange powder. Iida got the worst of it, flying directly into the cloud of it. He coughed and sputtered and was out almost immediately. Which meant that his Jetpack cut out and he started falling like a stone. Koharu cursed and went into into a dive, catching him in midair by grabbing his wrists. She let loose a cry of pain as her jerked to a stop. It felt like her arms were being torn from their sockets!
“Dammit,” she hissed. Iida was heavy, muscular and compact. She could just about manage to carry her own bodyweight when flying, but he was definitely heavier than she was. She dropped down low and released him, letting him hit the ground. He’d gotten more than enough powder that he didn’t wake up.
Shoji, meanwhile, was still standing. She’d had to stop spreading her powder to keep Tensei from dropping and he hadn’t gotten nearly as big a dose. His arms lashed out again, grabbing her wrists!
It had been a gamble that she’d be able to drop Shoji, especially as big as he was and as little powder as she’d been able to release. She was glad Shida had her back. As soon as she’d seen Koharu drop down to save Iida, the spider-girl had already been making her way down the tree when Shoji extended his arms to grab Koharu.
She watched as Shida did her best to land from an angle that she hoped was in Shoji’s blind spot. Her legs made surprisingly little noise when they were in motion, and she sped toward the big, six-armed boy. When close enough she extended her two front legs and brought them in a scything motion toward the back of Shoji’s knees.
Shoji was a big guy, which made him a pretty big target. The blow from Shida knocked him down, bringing him to his knees and making him release Koharu. Looking over his shoulder, he tried to swat at Shida with his Extendo-Arms, but the move was awkward and uncoordinated. Koharu used the moment to escape, taking to the air again. She swung out with her legs, striking Shoji upside the head. The blow wasn’t enough to put him down, but it did spin his head around. He looked back and forth rapidly, now caught between her and Shida.
Shida dodged Shoji’s clumsy blows easily, her eyes and leg hairs giving her incredibly reaction time to his attack. She used her four back legs as a brace as she used them to hold herself in an almost standing position. She launched her remaining arms at Shoji, each attempting to strike at the arm joints of his extended arms.
When it came to extra-appendages, Shoji was definitely unarmed by comparison to Shida. Even as he’d been able to turn to face her, her spider-legs struck home, nailing him in each of his Extendo-Arms. The silver-haired boy let out a cry of pain as his arms retracted, snapping back with a strange, stretching sound that was more than a little nauseating.
He’d done a remarkable job of staying upright, but between the pain from Shida’s attack, the blow to the head, and the whiff of sleep powder he’d gotten earlier finally making its way through his system, Shoji went down, slowly sliding to his knees and then to the ground.
They’d done it! Three hero students, and they’d managed to beat all of them! She’d even managed to take out two! Of course, Shida was also a Hero student, so that evened the playing field a little, but still!
“Let’s get the dummy,” Koharu said. It should still be where they left it, next to Sora Iida. She quickly glanced in that direction. The other girl was asleep. She must have gotten enough Sleep Powder too. Koharu stopped, her antennae moving rapidly. There was something stirring up a lot of air.
Anything Shida might have said was cut off as something swooped down and slammed into her. Rough, clawed feet grabbed her shoulders and she felt herself being carried into the air. It had to be Hizashi Koumori, the bat-like member of Class 1-B.
“Sorry, Kocho,” he said. “Totally most heinous to do the sneak attack, I know, but we gotta win this one!”
Just before Koumori had grabbed her, Koharu had seen Shida briefly give herself a smile of triumph. That had abruptly ended when Koumori struck. Koharu could see Shida move on instinct to try and help, but she stopped, as though remembering what Koharu had told her. They needed to get the dummy. Shida cursed quietly before heading over to Sora to grab it. With any luck she’d be able to secure it and get back quick enough to help.
But Koharu couldn’t count on that. She needed to do whatever she could to try and free herself.
It was the element of surprise that had let Koumori grab her. He was bigger and stronger than her, to be sure, but all he had was his feet around her shoulders. Her wings were still free. And he wasn’t rocket-powered like the Iidas. He was as dependent on muscle power and flapping for flight as she was, which meant his flight was a lot easier to disrupt. She flared her own wings out, spreading them wide. It attacked like an immediate drag chute, jerking Koumori back.
“Whoa!” he cried out. Reflexively, he released his grip on her as he sailed back. That was all she needed. For just a moment Koharu let gravity grab hold, then flapped her own wings, diving back toward the ground.
Just as suddenly, however, she was hit by what felt like a solid wall of force that set her bones rattling and seemed to echo through her skull. Flailing, she started falling again. It was hard to think clearly, everything was spinning…
Clawed feet grabbed her again, this time grabbing her legs. “Sorry about the sonar, dudette,” Koumori said. He did sound genuinely apologetic. She knew he was pretty mellow guy most of the time, though how mellow tended to change with how awake he was. “I’ll have you down in a second.”
No! She had to prove herself! She couldn’t lose now! “No,” she said, “I’m sorry… for this!” With his grip on her legs, she flapped her wings just once, giving herself just enough ot a push to swing upward, slamming both of her fists into his snout! Koumori let out a cry of pain and released her again. This time, she flapped and kept herself into the air, but hit him with a blast of String-Shot, pinning his arms--and more importantly, his wings--to his sides. A pang of regret shot through her as he dropped like a stone. Koumori was even bigger and heavier then Iida. There was no way she could keep him from falling…
Koumori, at least, was awake. He twisted in the air, trying to break free from her String-Shot, but hit the ground hard, letting out a soft moan, his eyes fluttering. That looked like it had hurt. Maybe she’d make it up to him back at U.A. with a fruit smoothie from her stash of exotic fruits.
Koharu landed next to him, bending down to make sure he was okay. Kuomori was still breathing and it didn’t look like he had any major injuries. Didn’t look like that had felt good, but it looked like he’d be fine.
It wasn’t the first time she’d had to hurt someone. She’d sparred with friends and fought in the Sports Festival and trained against others here at the camp.
It didn’t mean it felt good. Maybe Park had been onto something about children fighting like this…
Shida skittered to a stop next to her, the dummy safely in her hands. “That was amazing, Koharu! I came as quickly as I could, but it turns out you didn’t need it.” Skida smiled, but frowned slightly; she must have noticed the disturbed look on Koharu’s face. She frowned, all her eyes narrowing in concern. “Are you okay?” She didn’t specify if what troubled her was physical or mental, but there was something in her voice that suggested this wasn’t the first time she’d seen someone react like this.
Koharu shook her head. She had plenty of options that didn’t involve hurting people when it came to takedowns. Maybe she could learn to focus on that. But she’d have to fight anyway if she followed her dream and became a Hero. But what did that mean for now?
Maybe those were questions for another day.
“Just thinking about something your friend said,” she told Shida. “But c’mon. We can talk about that later. Let’s get this thing to the next marker.”
These were definitely questions that needed answers. But for now, she’d faced one of the first major challenges of her Hero training and she’d come out on top.
For now, that was good enough.
#my hero academia#their hero academia#fan fiction#fan fic#shota shinso#koharu kocho#toshi midoriya#my writing
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