#chapt 3

[Transcript]

Image 1: J. Finch: [giggling] / R. Mullin: no no no, NO, Jesse! no!

Image 2: R. Mullin: ...oh come on, Jesse... / J. Finch: [sobbing]

Image 3: J. Finch: no! no no! / R. Mullin: ...c’mon buddy... just one bite... for uncle Ronnie...

“If anything, I’d say feel free to sneak out MORE.”

“That’s SO not the responsible thing to tell a fourteen-year-old boy.”

His future-self let out a loud genuine laugh at that.

It was hard to picture ANYONE looking quite that happy with a face that looked like someone had made a go at cutting out an eye. It was ESPECIALLY hard to picture himself being that strong and confident. Up until now, his appearance had been EVERYTHING. His father’s main concern, his job, his source of fame. Take that away and what could he possibly have left?

"So... I’ve gotta ask."

Future Adrien’s expression reluctantly sobered. "The scars right?"

"Y-yeah."

He sighed and propped up his chin on a fist, looking at his counterpart with some degree of solemn consideration. "Why do you need to know?" His voice was no longer amused. He sounded like an impartial interviewer.

Adrien squirmed in his seat at the shift in tone. "Well I mean..." he started off uncertainly. "I guess I don't NEED to but... It does sort of mean an end to modeling huh?"

The corner of his mouth twitched up in a tiny smile. "Yes, thank goodness."

Adrien looked at him surprised. "So... you don't work for Father? Then what are you doing now?"

“Better for you to figure that out on your own,” he shrugged. “Don't worry about it, everything works out fine.”

The teen reluctantly nodded but his eyes still returned to his older version’s left eye.

The man sighed again.  "Look. It’s not a fun story, and it's going to happen whether I tell you or not. It's honestly better if you don't have to spend the next however many years dreading it."

“...I think even If you don't tell me i'll already be dreading it.”

“...Right,” he sighed. “Well, I guess sparing myself the worry was never really in the cards anyway. BUT I'll only tell you if you promise to not to feel sorry for yourself when it happens OR let Ladybug blame herself. And you can't warn ANYONE ahead of time either. That'll just mess up the timeline.”

The teenager reluctantly nodded.

“Well, sometime within the next few years there's... A rough Akuma attack. Afterward, Ladybug ends up detransforming down an alley in a bad part of town. She's unarmed,  exhausted and her Kwamii has no food. You end up in losing your own transformation about a block and a half away.”

Adrien watched his future self's eyes harden to glinting emeralds as he stared off to the side, lost to the memory. "Three men stumble on her there and corner her."  

The eyes that settled back on Adrien's were solemn burning green.

"You won't get a chance to recharge beforehand," he warned softly. "By the time you hear her screaming they've already started cutting her shirt off."

Adrien's heart leapt into his throat as the image lept unbidden into his mind. His normally fearless partner helpless and scared, fighting, screaming in some dark alley while strange men grabbed at her. His hand locked on his side of the table with a vice grip as bile fought its way up at the horrifying idea.

"You end up taking on three, armed, full grown men all by yourself with no powers. If you fight hard enough you’ll win, but there's no walking out of that alley in one piece.”

“Does she get hurt?!”

“A few scratches from her belly button to her collarbone where they tried to cut off her clothes and she fought. Otherwise, she’ll be fine.” He winced and backtracked a bit. “Well, Ya know, except for seeing you get hurt. She still has nightmares about that.”

“...And I can't warn her at all?”

“You can take self-defense classes and insist she find safer places to detransform and to carry hidden weapons like I did. And that might have helped prevent it from happening more than the one time, but... sooner or later she hits a choice of transforming in that alley or out in the open and its… it's just not a choice. Not with as ruthless as Hawkmoth becomes. If she'd compromised her identity to him then he would have killed her.  I could never risk that. Not over a few dumb scars. Heaven knows  I’d have given a lot more than that to make sure she came out of that alley okay.”

Adrien nodded.

[second image is from book 2] LUCY QUOTING THAT PRE-KMAILH???:!: I NEVER NOTICED BEFORE OH MY GODHS

lmao why does adrian want lucy to look away from the numpad…. as they are heading to erase her memory😭😭 i still pick to look away bc it has no effect and never comes back lmao

bitch U NAMED IT THE BLOOD LIBRARY……?:!: WDYM “suppose you could say”

assuming serafine is the main psychic vampire they know , THIS IS SO FUNNY bcz it implies serafine like zaps you or something

this moment:((

vampirism paralleling sexual acts (either voluntary or involuntary). adrian making a point to ask for consent after what gaius took from him.

[Transcript]

Image 1: M. Finch: ...and Mr. Gordon says i’m the best secretary he’s had yet, and there’s this great girl Julie who works in the office upstairs, we went out for lunch today... / R. Mullin: ...uh-huh, uh-huh...

Image 2: M. Finch: oh, Jesse, come here... / J. Finch: [babbling] / M. Finch: he wasn’t any trouble today, was he? / R. Mullin: uh...

Image 3: R. Mullin: ...nah, he’s a good kid. see you tomorrow, Finch. / M. Finch: oh, good job Jesse...

[Transcript]

Image 1: R. Mullin: ...heh, be careful Jesse. / M. Finch: [distant] Ronnie!

Image 2: M. Finch: i found one! i found a job!

Image 3: R. Mullin: knew you could.

[Transcript]

Image 1: M. Finch: what do you think? / R. Mullin: not bad, Finch. you clean up nice. / J. Finch: mama?

Image 2: R. Mullin: c’mon buddy... / M. Finch: Jesse, you’re gonna stay with uncle Ronnie, mama’s only going away for a bit... / J. Finch: no! no, no, no, no! / M. Finch: (...oh god...)

Image 3: M. Finch eventually managed to pry her toddler off her and make an escape. / despite his protests, J. Finch stopped fussing as soon as his mother left.