#i'm...so tired

- after the fab four fade into the static, The Girl is alone. no more glitter bombs with Fun Ghoul. no more fashion shows with Party Poison. no more friendship bracelets with The Kobra Kid. no more midnight rides in the ‘Am with Jet Star to get her racing mind to fall asleep. she is simply alone.

- she survives, not thrives, because, what does that matter anymore? she lives in the distant outskirts of Zone Three, just far enough from Tommy Chow Mein’s to make the walk there feel like hell. just enough for her to test herself.

- sometimes, walking down route guano, or in the four walls of Tommy’s, she’ll see others. other killjoys, other grave-heads or ravens, lonely eyes drifting from place to place, but she doesn’t feel sorry. she knows them, knows their struggle, but she isn’t sorry. she would trade her life for theirs any day. quite ignorantly, she doesn’t think it’d be as hard.

- in some cases, it’s harder, but she’s thirteen and ignorant, and she doesn’t know much.

- it’s one day in the shop that she sees one. someone like herself, looking lost and afraid. looking for a cause to fight for when there’s no one to lead anymore. someone who’s just a kid, like her.

- she can feel his eyes on her frame as she picks through the shelves of trash. she’s just looking around today, just scavenging. doesn’t need much aside from things she can’t have. the boy’s eyes burn into her, and the searing heat makes her finally turn around. she walks over.

- “why are you staring at me? what do you need?”. she looks him up and down. taller. lanky. pants too big and jacket not big enough. his hair is white and he’s holding something behind his back.

- “are you The Girl? who ran with the Fab Four?” he asks, though he’s aware of already knowing the answer. The Girl’s hands ball into fists. “i, uhm, i just noticed you over there, and i just wanted to ask- what was it like?”

- the boy doesn’t ask with conviction. he doesn’t press as if he wants some deep and philosophical answer. he just wants to know. The Girl sees the sort of glimmer of hope in his eyes that she hasn't seen in years. hasn’t seen since her family, and since, hasn’t seen in herself. she can see right through him- she knows he wants to change the world, she knows he has the answer. 

- a party poison mask and logo are drawn onto his hand. she notices this as she speaks, speaks in Cherri-Cola-code, as to not reveal too much. 

- “it wasn’t like what you think it was. it was a road trip with your family that you never wanted to end, but you knew it always would. i was only a kid. i didn't know that cars broke down, or that buses ran out of gas. i thought they drove forever. i thought the music kept playing. but it doesn’t. it leaves until you make it. you won’t go boom unless you light the match.”

- she doesn’t explain to him why they believed in her. maybe that’s because she doesn’t know. maybe it’s because he doesn’t need to know it himself. on the way out, she hears his voice, faint in the distance, but in a tone that breaks through all other waves of sound. she will never forget this.

O U C H

YOU’RE SUPER RIGHT, BUT OUCH

A cover image for the intro chapter to Elie. I posted the first page a few days ago and if you want to take a look at that mess you can heere. I did this shit all backwards, so uh, let me tell y’all what Elie’s vaguely about >__>;;

eyyyy, chat noir has a spotlight once ladybug gets hit with a sand puff, which puts her at a steep disadvantage! anyway, mari's number one nightmare as ladybug is being powerless, sooo, it's up to chat noir to help save the day!

what went right:

chat was both emotional and physical support, which was great. they helped each other overcome their fears and reassure one another. no matter what, chat places his trust solely in ladybug, despite her condition, and that's what's makes them an effortless team.

what went wrong:

THE ENDING. OH MY GOD.

it wasn't explicitly stated that plagg told adrien where he went that night. it was handwaved to say that adrien understands what's it's like to be cooped up and without freedom, so it's fine. plagg's nature from the very beginning reeks of being stubborn with unfocused ignorance, which means this could happen again. without telling adrien. when the stakes are that much higher. so much for being "in the loop", eh adrien?

TL;DR:

adrien's inadvertently being locked out the loop yet again, while marinette, as the protag with a much better kwami, gets the 411 every time. so much for that.