#mdc parting left

[mysteriouschar]

Bio dad Bruce Part 1

Wattpad , part~2 , part~3,...

Note-My characters may not be like the original dc universe as i haven't watched/read the dc universe .Everything i know is from many fanfics that i have read .hope y'all enjoy it.

Marinette had to go to Gotham. Now you would think why are we even talking about this well the thing is tom isn't her biological father he is her step dad. Well who is her biological father you ask none other than Bruce Wayne. And the problem you see is that till she was 5 she lived with her father but on her 6th birthday he dropped her at her mother's house and never returned.

6 year old Marinette thought her father hated her and that is why he didn't want her there. Marinette started living with her mother and found out that she liked it here in paris with her mother and step dad.

Now she is 22 a successful designer and singer known as MDC and Nettie and her dad (that is her legal guardian jagged stone)was doing a concert in gotham and wanted her to be there.Now you might ask how this happened. Well liela rossi happened,when she was in high school everyone liked her because of her personality and behaviour but then this liar came and started telling lies and her classmates the bunch of morons that they are believed the liar over their friend even though many of them knew her from childhood. they started ignoring her and calling her mean things. At first marinette was very hurt first her father and now her friends. The only one that knew that the liar was lying was her ex crush and he advised her to take the high road the coward that he was.

So after her ex moronic friends started ignoring her she had much free time and started her own bussiness at first she didn't have many customers as the website was started by a newbie but then jagged stone announced that his personal designer was MDC and thus her business started blowing/blossoming this was 4 years before.

Somehow her classmates got to her parents and worse they believed it and told her to leave their house as a bully and someone who had disgraced them wasn't their daughter . This was the last straw for Marinette as everyone she had loved had left her except her friend Luka, jagged stone and penny Jagged's assistance .Marinette packed her stuff there wasn't much as she had bought a studio after her business had skyrocketed so she took the few things she had and left as she was leaving Sabine and Tom looked at her and for the first time saw that Marinette wasn't showing any emotion and was wearing something which had no pink at all and her hair was in a french braid she left without saying anything.

her hair but in midnight blue colour.

her dress

After a month of leaving her home jagged returned to paris as he was doing a tour and when he asked mari where to come to collect his clothes she gave him a different address which wasn't the bakery now jagged didn't know about liela rossi as mari didn't want to burden him but as jagged care for marinette as a daughter he knew there was something amiss in her life and he was waiting for her to tell him what it was.

When he reached the address mari opened the door and let him in as he was looking around he saw there was a kitchen and a room and studio he asked her,"blueberry are you living here?"

"u-um yes i am" she replied looking nervous.

[heqvenlymoons]

The Chronicles of Links & Connections [1]

Hey, I'm working on getting this ongoing social media fic of mine posted onto tumblr as well. Hope y'all enjoy! <3

The Chronicles of Links & Connections Masterlist | AO3

Chapter 1: Felix Graham de Vanily

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March 3rd, 2023— Collège Françoise Dupont, Paris, France.

“Have you guys seen MDC’s latest post? I actually helped her with her latest designs!” The shrill voice of one Lila Rossi had Marinette Dupain-Cheng looking up from her sketchbook with a yawn. 

The majority of the class was gathered around the Italian girl, all looking eager as they listened, enraptured by Lila’s latest tale. 

Marinette rolled her eyes, dragging her gaze back to her sketchbook. She had long given up on trying to reason with her classmates. If they wanted to destroy their future by listening to the liar, it was their choice. She was on friendly terms with the class ever since she had left Lila alone, but took care in maintaining distance. 

While her classmates wasted time listening to the Italian girl filling their heads with nothing but air, Marinette focused all her energy on her schoolwork, and her hero duties as Ladybug and MDC. Without constantly trying to please her classmates by fulfilling their favours, she found herself with more time on her hands than before. 

Her eyes caught on Chloe who gave her a nod and she smiled back in acknowledgement. It had been unexpected when Chloe Bourgeois apologized to her. The mayor’s daughter had matured a lot throughout the years and even before Lila had come into the picture, the blonde had left Marinette alone for the most part. 

Chloe had been the one to help her launch her MDC website and has helped her a lot in working behind the scenes. It hadn’t been long after the launch of Marinette’s website that Chloe’s mother, Audrey Bourgeois— the renowned Style Queen— reached out and reconnected with her daughter. 

Marinette’s gaze caught on the Italian again who had moved on to telling the class about Felix Graham de Vanily. Lila’s green eyes met hers and there was a glint of challenge in the Italian’s eyes even as she continued to talk about the famous actor taking her on a date. Marinette gave a stiff nod before ducking her head to look down at her sketchbook. 

The quiet chatters in the room seemed to fade away as Marinette was lost in her own world of creativity. She felt a sense of calmness in the light sound of pencil scratching on paper as she let her mind guide her hand like water flowing in the direction it was meant to go. 

She had received a commission request from Clara Nightingale to design the concert outfit. Marinette was putting all her effort into ensuring the piece was the best it could be. After all, the works of MDC are nothing but exceptional. 

Marinette’s mind was once again straying away from the current task at hand and to the time when she and Lila had come to a truce. 

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A Few Months Ago— Collège Françoise Dupont, Paris, France. 

“Admit it, Marinette. You’ve lost,” Lila said, her eyes staring at the ravenette looking victorious. 

Marinette had been using the bathroom and upon walking out of the stall, she had been cornered by Lila yet again. 

Marinette went to wash her hands in the sink. It was silent save for the sound of water splashing. She could feel Lila staring daggers at her from the side. 

“Aren’t you going to say something?” The Italian asked, taken aback by her silence and unresponsive behaviour. 

Marinette turned to her with a bright smile, making Lila take a step back. “No. I’ve figured something out. Some people just don’t want to be saved. I should thank you, Lila, for showing me who my true friends are,” she said, watching in mild amusement as Lila gaped at her. “From now on, I stay out of your way and you stay out of mine. We have nothing more to say to each other.”

With that said, Marinette turned to leave. Lila, unsatisfied with not having the last word stopped her. “Really? After everything, you’re giving up on them? You won’t call me out anymore?” 

Without a glance back at the Italian, Marinette responded. “They gave up on me first. I’m only doing what I should’ve done a long time ago. I’ll leave you alone but only if you do the same for me.” 

She exited the bathroom, leaving Lila in the ashes of her empire. Lila Rossi might have won the battle, but she wouldn’t win the war. Retribution would come in due time. 

Marinette would take the high road and leave everything else behind her. Her classmates have chosen their path and she chose hers. She owed her former friends nothing. 

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March 3rd, 2023— Collège Françoise Dupont, Paris, France.

Marinette broke out of her musings when Ms. Bustier spoke, the chattering of the class stopping as the teacher grabbed their attention. “Class, we have a new student. Felix Graham de Vanily.”

The class broke into surprised hushed whispers. 

“Felix Graham de Vanily, the famous actor? The one who acted in The Vengeance?”

“You dimwit! Do you know any other Felix Graham de Vanily?”

“I love how his character was portrayed in The Vengeance, he plays cold characters really well.”

“According to my calculations, 75% of the time he wasn’t acting. He’s known for tearing apart the paparazzi with nothing but his words. He’s very reserved and he’s also known for his cold demeanour even when he’s not acting.”

Marinette looked at the stoic-faced boy beside her teacher, curious. The boy was well dressed like he had come from a family of money. He had neat blonde, lightly ruffled hair with pale skin and green eyes. With a start, Marinette realized except for his hair, the boy’s features were familiar. Almost like… Adrien Agreste. 

Marinette’s gaze flickered to the boy in question sitting near the front looking confused. 

“Felix? I didn’t know you were coming to Françoise Dupont!” Adrien exclaimed, smiling up at his cold-faced look alike. 

Felix looked back at the blonde, expressionless. “Not everything has to run by you before it happens, cousin.” His voice was sharp and held a bit of sarcasm. 

Marinette found herself drawn to him. He looked like someone who wouldn’t put up with nonsense. She didn’t know much about him, sans the news and reports of him she’d seen on social media but the media had a knack for blowing things out of proportion when painting people in negative light. 

While Adrien was all sunshine and daisies, Felix’s personality seemed to contrast with his cousin. He had a mysterious aura, even the media didn’t know much about his life beyond his acting career. 

“Hey girl, isn’t that your boyfriend? The one you were telling us about? Perhaps he transferred here so he could spend more time with you!” The excited voice of Alya— Marinette’s former best friend— speaking to Lila, drew the attention of Felix as he narrowed his eyes. 

Marinette could barely contain her amusement as Lila looked panicked when faced with the cold eyes of Felix. 

Lila tugged at Alya’s sleeve, looking nervous as she admitted, “Did I say Felix Graham de Vanily? I didn’t mean to say that. It’s… my lying disease acting up again.”

Alya looked disappointed, as did the rest of the class but they looked understanding. “It’s okay girl, you can’t control it. At least you do tell us when it does act up.” 

Marinette shook her head, refraining from scoffing. Chloe had no reservations and scoffed loudly enough for the both of them. They exchanged glances, looking amused. It was unbelievable how Lila avoided yet another crisis by backing up her lies with more lies. It was almost laughable. 

“And what, pray tell, is this lying disease you speak up?” Felix said flatly, staring daggers at Lila. 

Marinette set her pencil down on her desk. Someone else seeing through Lila’s lies within minutes of entering the class and calling them out? This was bound to be interesting. 

Lila widened her eyes, and to everyone else, she looked the epitome of innocence. “I’m diagnosed with a rare lying disease and because of this, sometimes I can’t control the things I say. I’m really sorry if I’ve offended you.”

Felix looked unimpressed by her confession. “A rare lying disease,” he deadpanned. “What you are doing is called pathological lying. Pathological lying can be a symptom of antisocial personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder. I suggest you get some accommodation from the school so it doesn’t affect the people around you.”

Alya glared at him, unhappy with his tone. “She already told you she can’t control it! What’s wrong with you?”

Before a screaming match could occur on Alya’s end, Ms. Bustier intervened. “Felix, would you introduce yourself to the class?” 

Felix’s gaze flickered from Alya and Lila, then he looked at the rest of the class with disdain. “Felix Graham de Vanily. I am here to learn, not to socialize. Do refrain yourselves from conversing with me,” he drawled, making most people freeze in their seats from his tone. 

He then turned to Ms. Bustier, who looked taken aback. 

“R-right.” Ms. Bustier said, trying to regain composure. “There’s a seat beside Marinette at the back. Marinette, please raise your hand.” 

Marinette raised a hand at the call of her name, watching as Felix’s cold gaze focused on her. She sent him a hesitant smile, one he did not return. He ignored her sunny smile and moved to the back of the classroom where she was sitting. 

Lila raised her hand. “Ms. Bustier! My tinnitus is acting up again. I would feel better if I swapped seats with Marinette. I’m sure Marinette won’t mind, she would want to sit with her best friend again.”

Marinette’s smile faded away as she narrowed her eyes at the Italian girl. Was she breaking their truce after months? It was just like Lila Rossi to go for the next big thing. Adrien Agreste wasn’t enough, she had to try for Felix Graham de Vanily as well. 

Ms. Bustier’s composure wavered as she looked hesitant. “Well—”

“How about instead of deciding for someone else, you should let Miss…” Felix trailed off, looking to Marinette questioningly for her last name. 

“Dupain-Cheng,” she supplied. 

He continued without missing a beat. “You should let Miss Dupain-Cheng decide if she would want to swap seats with you.” 

“Of course, Marinette would be okay with it.” Alya snapped at him. “She’s always willing to help people, and right now Lila’s tinnitus is acting up.”

Marinette stared at Alya in disbelief. Was she serious right now? Alya had missed his entire point. 

Felix set his bag on the floor beside the desk before he took his seat, unbothered by the unfolding conflict. “Well?” 

Alya frowned. “Well, what?”

“Ask Miss Dupain-Cheng for her opinion on the matter,” Felix said slowly as if speaking to a child. 

Alya bristled at the patronizing tone but turned to the ravenette. “Would you mind swapping seats with Lila? Her tinnitus is acting up and sitting at the back might help her.” 

Marinette blinked at the request, turning to Lila who was pouting at her and ever so looking pitiful. Marinette closed her eyes, preparing for the shouting match that was bound to happen at her response. “I do mind, actually.”

As predicted, Alya opened her mouth, ready to protest but Marinette went on. “You guys were the one who pushed me to the back months ago without asking me and now you were prepared to drag me back to the front without asking me, yet again.”

Chloe gave Marinette a thumbs up from where she was sitting. 

“But Lila—” Alya had started to protest when Felix cut her off. 

“You cannot expect every person to cater to Miss…” Felix trailed off, looking straight at Lila. 

“Rossi,” Chloe interjected while inspecting her nails. 

Felix continued without sparing the blonde a glance. “You cannot expect every person to cater to Miss Rossi’s every need. If Miss Rossi here has as many issues as she claims to have, perhaps she should speak with the school’s principal for accommodations. Or is the principal so incompetent at his job that he leaves these issues unchecked?”

Alya spluttered, not able to form a response. 

Felix ignored her, turning to Ms. Bustier. “We are learning, yes? I suggest you proceed with the lesson plans you have for today’s class before dismissal.” 

Ms. Bustier cleared her throat, looking flustered from losing control of the class. “Right, I’ll get the attendance before we start.”

“Best entertainment I’ve had in weeks,” Marinette muttered, a grin on her lips as she watched Lila turn on the waterworks and Alya take on the role of comforting the Italian girl.

“I am glad my verbal assault does not always elicit negative responses,” Felix said dryly, making Marinette startle, not having expected him to hear her. 

She looked sheepish. “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you with my comment.” 

he waved her apology off. “I was jesting. Is the class always this…”

“Chaotic?” Marinette offered. At his nod, she sighed. “It hadn’t always been this way. Lila Rossi has a way with words.” 

Felix scoffed. “So I have noticed. She attempted to manipulate me within two minutes of me setting foot in the class. It is pathetic, honestly.” 

“As the class representative, I’m obligated to warn you. This will not be her only attempt at manipulating you,” she warned, making him look at her with a grimace. 

“I am offended you think I am dim-witted enough to fall under her spell,” Felix said, before eyeing her, contemplating something. “Compared to the rest of the class, you seem to be of suitable company. And that Bourgeois girl. I would not be opposed to making you an acquaintance.” 

At Marinette’s raised eyebrows he nodded to her sketchbook. “Your designs look familiar. They seem to be of MDC’s style.”

She looked like a deer caught in headlights and she moved to close her sketchbook, looking wary. Felix was more observant than she had given credit for if he had already figured out she was MDC just by her art style. She would have to be more careful around him if she didn’t want him to figure out her heroine identity as Ladybug. 

Taking note of her sudden reserved nature, he backpedalled. “I did not mean for that to come out as a threat. I know how vicious the press is and I will not give your identity away to anyone. You have my word.”

Marinette relaxed a little at his words. Felix did seem like someone who would honour his words. Still looking hesitant, Marinette nodded. “Thank you. Not just for agreeing to keep my identity as MDC a secret, but also for defending me back there.” 

He returned the nod, then faced the front as Ms. Bustier started calling names for attendance. 

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Trending

1 • Trending Worldwide #FelixGrahamdeVanilygirlfriend 1.2M Tweets

2 • Trending Worldwide #MDC 957k Tweets

3 • Trending Worldwide #MDCboyfriend 875k Tweets

4 • Trending in Paris #LatestAkuma 823k Tweets

5 • Trending in Paris #ShadowStinger 789k Tweets

What’s Happening

news • 25 minutes ago MDC and Felix Graham de Vanily Followed Each Other’s Social Media?

news • 41 minutes ago MDC and Felix Graham de Vanily Dating?

news • 56 minutes ago The Ice King’s Heart Is Thawed By His Girlfriend

news • 1 hour ago The Latest Akuma On AkumaWatch: Shadow Stinger

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Next Ch 2

[verfound]

FIC: "An End of Days" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list?  We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?

Oh look it's a whole-ass AU now I guess

Read on Ao3

10 September 2024

Prompt 67: Promises

He doesn’t tell anyone.

Not at first.

He doesn’t really know how.

That first day, when the doctor tells him, he sits in his car outside their offices and just…processes.  The nurse had asked if there was anyone she could call, and he knows there is.  His daughter.  His sister.  His best friend.  An entire crew of family and friends who will be devastated by this news, despite how poorly he’s treated them as of late.

…but the one person he wants to tell most – the one person it will affect most, while making no difference at all…he can’t tell her.  He doesn’t know how to tell her.

It wasn’t supposed to be him.

It was never supposed to be him.

…it was never supposed to be her, either, but when it was…how can he be the one going first?  Who will take care of her when he’s gone?  The hospital staff, obviously, but who will care?

The rest of the world moved on.  They all left her behind, too busy with the process of living to bother with someone who couldn’t.  Harmony never knew her.  Resents her most days, he fears, as much as she resents him for getting stuck.  Her own parents had long since passed.  Her friends, her family, had all grown older and had families of their own.

…who was going to love her, when he no longer could?

He had promised for better or worse.  Til death do they part.

He wasn’t supposed to go first.

He wasn’t supposed to abandon her like this.

He had kept his promise, hadn’t he?

…how can he break it now?

So he sits in his car, numb to the world.  He cries.  He thinks of his daughter, old enough now but still too young to be an orphan.  He thinks of his sister and wonders if maybe she’ll be relieved.  He thinks of his gnarled old ma, still raging against the world like its rules had never applied to her.  And then he thinks of Marinette, and then he turns the key.

She’s sleeping when he gets there.  He’s almost grateful for it.  It won’t matter, in the end, because he doubts she’ll understand when he finally does tell her, but he’s not sure he can tell her just yet.  He doesn’t know if he can tell himself just yet.

He knows he shouldn’t, but he still crawls into the bed behind her.  His arms find their way around her, the path familiar even if it hadn’t been walked in too many years.  He holds her close, his face tucked against her hair.  She doesn’t smell right – she hasn’t for years.  There’s a clinical, sterile scent that clings to her these days, but he’s still able to supply her shampoo.  They must have bathed her recently, he thinks absently, because the scent is stronger than it normally is when he presses his face there.  She moves, just slightly, and he stills.

“Lu…” she murmurs, and his heart twists in his chest as she rolls towards him.  Her hands fist in his shirt, one she’s never seen and the old her would probably balk at (he hasn’t worn anything custom – an MDC original – in longer than he can remember), as she presses her forehead against his chest.  Her nose digs almost uncomfortably into his sternum, but there’s something grounding about that.

Familiar.

From the better times.

…who will remember the better times, when he’s gone and she can’t?

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

They were supposed to grow old together.  They were supposed to have an entire house full of little ones – she had always wanted three, but a part of him had wanted more.  She was going to take the fashion world by storm, and his music was going to change the world, and their home would always be full of creativity and passion and…

…who would play for her, when he was gone?

Who would sing her silly little love songs?

Who would sing her her song?

He falls asleep there, holding her close and worrying about a future he never had any control over.  His purview had always been the past, anyway, but there’s no longer anything he can do about that.  There hadn’t been in a long time.  He doesn’t know how long he stays there, but she’s still sleeping when a nurse comes in to check on her later and finds him there.  She gently shakes him awake, her face sympathetic as she reminds him he shouldn’t do that.

“It’ll be worse, M. Couffaine,” she reminds him gently.  “If she woke up before you.  You know…”

“I know,” he says, but he lays there just a moment longer.  Just one more.

Because now he knows he doesn’t have many more left, and he’ll take what little he can get these days.

…who will love her?  Once he’s gone?

[abyssal-ali]

Enchanted

A/N: Jasonette one-shot inspired by Taylor Swift's "Enchanted". Thanks to @forgottenfriends for inspiring me to adapt it to a Royal AU💜

If anyone wants to be part of a permanent or Maribat-specific tag list DM me or leave a comment. Constructive criticism or any feedback is appreciated!

~1.2k words

Marinette was tired of being at the royal family of Gotham's ball. Even the Wayne children, who usually livened up their father's dull parties, were being abnormally well-behaved.

She excused herself from the vapid conversation and found what appeared to be a good hiding spot. Escaping, she scanned the room for anyone who noticed her disappearing and accidentally locked eyes with someone. They were such a gorgeous colour; she almost wanted to talk to their owner just so she could examine them up close. A vision of a suit for next season incorporating the colour floated in front of her and she wished again to have her sketchbook. If she'd met the person before her hasty appointment as the royals' official seamstress, maybe she could have livened up this ball's outfits (her predecessor had very little vision and left to her half-finished outfits that she despaired over)...

The crowd parted and the owner of the hypnotizing eyes stepped in front of her. Marinette was torn from her half-finished design and realized she was staring, blushing profusely.

He gave a quick nod of his head. “Have we met before?” he asked charmingly. “I'm sure I would remember meeting someone with such good style as yourself before.”

“No, we haven't. I thank you for your compliment; I'm MDC.”

“Jason Todd-Wayne, at your service.” His lips just brushed the back of her hand as he bowed over it.

“Enc-delighted to make your acquaintance.”

“So, why do you look so bored?”

“Socializing with the elites is exhausting and your siblings are being remarkably polite for once.” Marinette clapped her hand over her mouth. Dang sleep deprivation. “I'm so sorry! I've just heard about previous galas and your family's antics, that wasn't meant...”

Jason laughed. “It's fine! When they're quiet like this, they're usually planning something, so keep an eye out if you want your dress to remain unscathed. Do you have a name or shall I call you M?”

“You haven't earned my name yet, monsieur, so M will have to do.”

“What does earning it involve?”

“Mmm, normally you'd have to be family or a close friend, or a loyal patron for over two years.”

“Would a waltz make us close enough friends?” He extended his hand with a flourish, which she took.

“Perhaps. No stepping on my toes, though,” she warned.

“I'll have you know I never step on people's toes unless they deserve it,” he said in mock offence as they move onto the dancefloor.

Although Marinette was a good dancer (thanks to several years of ballet when she was younger, which kept her light on her feet), she did not particularly enjoy it, but Jason was an excellent partner and kept her entertained with gossip and 'secrets' about fellow dancers and the royal family, so the time flew by faster than they did around the ballroom.

When Jason led her to the refreshments table for a cup of punch, a pretty blonde in a layered purple tulle dress approached the duo and cheerfully asked, “who's your new friend, Jay?” as she looped her arm through Jason's.

“None of your business,” he shot back.

Marinette noticed the girl tapping Jason's arm possessively. She'd given him her calling card and had considered inviting him for a free consultation (yes, she just wanted to use his eyes for her new ideas, she shamelessly admitted it, but she also wanted to spend more time with him) but now those thoughts vanished. Far be it from her to get tangled up in court relationships.

Swallowing, she excused herself and retrieved her wrap, heading out to her transportation home. She looked back once at the lights and glamour—sorry, clamour. The chandeliers had begun raining glitter and the unsuspecting crowd was soon covered in it, minus the royal family, of course, who had stepped away in time.

Replaying the evening in her mind as she was driven home, she found herself blushing as she recalled Jason's smooth lines and interested countenance. She'd thought he was flirting with her, interested in her, but obviously, the blonde had other ideas, whether Jason agreed or not. Marinette refused to be part of another love triangle, even if she'd also been the other girl in the previous one.

She stepped inside and found herself humming one of the pieces the 4-piece orchestra had played as she danced with Jason, her feet following the steps as she prepared for bed, finally. She'd moved to Gotham, been instated as the royal seamstress, gone over her predecessor's things and organized her workrooms to suit herself, gone over the royals' designs for tonight's ball (thankfully half were done and she only needed to add her signature touches and glam to the remaining four outfits), and then had to work on said clothing with her new crew of fellow textile workers.

This left very little time for sleep, and Marinette had been counting the minutes until she could politely leave her first Gotham ball for her bed. She was grateful that King Bruce has given her an invitation so she could see her designs in action and get a sense of what would be required for future events, but that was mostly overshadowed by her wish for sleep.

The clock struck two as she crawled between her sheets. Ah, blessed, comfy bed.

A knock on her door made her sit up angrily. Could she not get one peaceful, complete, uninterrupted night of sleep?!

She yanked her fluffy robe closed and flung the door open to see Jason on her step, still in his suit.

“Jason?”

He smiled, a little nervously. “Hey, M. I never got your full name; your card just has your initials and your address. Isn't that a bit backward? Anyways, you left before I could tell you I was enchanted to meet you.”

“Would you like to come in? Unless you have someone waiting for you?” Please don't.

“Nah, I don't. You're sure?”

“Of course...it was enchanting to meet you too. I wanted to tell you...”

He chuckled as he stepped in. “That was the doing of my older brother Dick and my younger brother's girlfriend, Stephanie. She's the one you met with me—she was warning me to move out of the way. I was going to sweep you off your feet and play your knight-in-not-shiny-armour, but you left. Did you read the Morse code?”

Marinette's eyes widened. “That's what that tapping was! Oh, I thought she was your girlfriend. So you're not in love with someone else, then...?”

“Nope. Were you worried?” he smirked.

“...maybe,” she drawled. “Well, you came out this late so I suppose I should reward your efforts. My name is Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Beautiful like you.”

Her cheeks flushed at the compliment. “So...this is just the first page?”

“Of our relationship? I hope it's not the end, I just got ypur name!” Jason joked. “I suppose I should leave you to your rest, mademoiselle. Enchanté.”

“Enchanté. Good night, Jason!” Marinette waved him off and went back to bed, dreaming of dancing with Jason, staring into his gorgeous eyes. He really was enchanting.

[yourlegacysnotyourstosee]

Part 3 of my Green Day themed vest that I’m going to wear to The Saviors Tour! (Part 2 here)

I finished the album themed patches in my last post, so this is everything else!

Money Money 2020- Popular song by a band called The Network that’s totally definitely not a side project of Green Day. I had another patch with the logo on it, but I’m waiting to put in on since 2 patches for the Network on a Green Day themed vest might be excessive. 2020 is written vertically in yellow on the right side of the patch, on the left side of the patch, 2 dollar signs are painted in green, each one lining up with one of the “20”s. On black fabric.

Foxboro Hottubs- Another side project of Green Day’s. Recommended to make this patch by @pinterestbbg. Call me lazy, but this ones also screen printed onto black fabric. When I took these photos, I hadn’t sewn this patch or the Father of All patch yet.

No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA- Something Green Day chanted during the 2016 AMAs. It’s a reference to MDC’s song “Born to Die” (the original lyric was “no war, no kkk no fascist usa”). The line was adopted by a lot of protesters in 2016 and later changed to “no Trump”.

Compilation?- I made this patch before Saviors came out, for the Hella Mega Tour. It’s meant to look like fragments of each Green Day album that fit together like a puzzle. I do not consider myself an artist, and especially not a painter, so it doesn’t look realistic to each album, but I’m still pretty proud of it, even if I made it 3 years ago or so.

If you made it this far, congratulations! You get to vote on the next patch I add to this vest!

[ali-annals]

Is this Hope just a Mystical Dream? (i)

Pairing: Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Rating: T+ | WC: 2.7k | CW: Discussions of death/murder, dark humour, temporary character death, mentioned permanent offscreen character death (it's the villains it's fine/hj), morally grey MDC >:) | A/N: For the loml @sarcasticbambi <3 | ao3 | PART TWO (final) |

Did you know that some soulmates' souls are literally connected, meaning that when one half dies, the other follows them soon after to a personalized deathscape? Marinette and Jason sure did.

3…2…

Bruce wasn’t coming. Jason squeezed his eyes shut.

...1… 

“Dad.”

Kaboom!

~~~

A soft white light surrounded the cloudlike bed he lay on, surprisingly not hurting his eyes when he opened them.

This was clearly not his room and he was not dressed as Robin. Maybe someone got him out of there in time after all? Maybe Sheila came back for him?

He didn’t feel hurt and wrapped in bandages or high on painkillers like the beating he’d received warranted. Had he been in a coma and was fully healed now?

“Bruce? Alfred? Dick? B?”

When no one answered his calls for his family, he edged out of bed, feeling as spry as ever, and cautiously stepped into a hallway. 

This was definitely not the Manor, but it had a similar appearance. He wandered around, taking in the kitchen, living room, and a few other rooms eerily similar to the Manor’s. Then he saw the library.

Shelves full of his favourite volumes, plus his ever-growing list of books he wanted to read. A couch that looked like he could stay there for days, getting immersed in a thousand fictional worlds. Steaming tea just the way he liked on a table next to the fire, a bookmark in place at Chapter 34, where he’d paused his reading to disembark the plane in Ethopia. 

A scuff drew his attention away from the setup of his dreams. He looked up, expecting Bruce or maybe Alfred or Dick, but it was a stranger. A girl with black hair and blue-grey eyes and a worried smile, around his height. 

“Bonjour. J’mapelle Marinette.”

He eyed her carefully before deciding she wasn’t an immediate threat and relaxing from his defensive stance. “Hi, I’m Jason. Where am I? What is this place? What happened?”

The girl–Marinette–sighed and plopped onto the far end of the couch he was standing beside. “What’s the last thing you remember? Before you woke up here?”

“Um…I was in a warehouse, a bomb was about to go off. Joker beat me and left, but I managed to free m–my mother.--Do you know who saved me? Where B is?”

She smiled sadly, placing her hand on his knee in a confusing gesture of comfort. “I’m sorry, Jason…you’re dead.”

He gaped at her. “What?! Why are you here, then?”

“I’m your soulmate. We meet here, in this deathscape of ours. You know how some soulbonds manifest through dreams?”

“How do you know so much about this? How…long have you been here?”

“I just arrived, but I’ll be leaving soon, I think. I’m Ladybug, one of Paris’s heroes. Our team is powered by magical jewellery, which house tiny gods that lend us their powers to fight. Mine, the Ladybug Kwami of Creation, Order, and Good Luck, is one of the oldest kwami, and she explained the deathscape concept to me after the first time I died and ended up here.”

Jason shook his head. “That’s a lot to take in. Paris has heroes? And magical jewellery? The Justice League has seen weirder, though, so I guess you make sense. But you shouldn’t go around telling people your secret identity like that!” he scolded suddenly, straightening. “You could end up…”

Like me. Apparently, dead. 

Ah wait, she is already.

She smiled sadly as he trailed off. “You’re my soulmate, if I can’t trust you, who can I?”

Jason sputtered, unused to such easy reassurance. “Still, you only just met me. Why did you say you’ll be leaving soon? Scratch that, why did you say ‘the first time I died’?!”

She grimaced. “My kwami has the ability to restore any damage that happens during a fight. Now that I’m dead, my teammates will pass my Miraculous on to one of them and continue the fight. Once it’s over, Miraculous Ladybug will cover the city and reverse any side effects of the fight, which includes my death. I’ve been in and out of this deathscape several times.

“I must say, this is a new look for it, though. It usually looks like a mix of my favourite places and my home, but this time it’s quite changed. I guess you influenced it since you’ll be here a while longer than me.”

“What?”

“Deathscapes are tailored to the soulmates’ lives, or so my kwami tells me. You must be well off, huh?” she glanced around the poshly furnished room.

“My dad is pretty rich, yeah,” he shrugged. “Er…how many times have …”

“Have I died? Mmm…28,379 I think. Will you throw me a party if I hit 30,000?” she blinked innocently at him.

He stared at her incredulously. “How are you so blasé about it?”

She shrugged. “Dark humour helps…and it makes others uncomfortable, so it’s not just me. And death is a social construct, y’know? So far, it hasn’t stuck. I’m sure you’ll un-unalive too. But a lot of these deaths, like 27,000, were in a now-erased timeline. So only 1,379 belong to other timelines.”

Taking pity on his confused look, she explained. “Two of the Miraculous have time abilities. We often spend hundreds of loops on one akuma, and until we figure out the correct sequence of events to take it down, we have to keep replaying the fight. Sometimes the collateral is a little higher than we’d like. But don’t worry, only a couple of us team members remember the timelines. The civilians are blissfully unaware.”

“That’s great for them but it must be tough for you, not being able to talk about it or get sympathy for it, Marinette.” Jason could feel his heart squeezing in sympathy for his new-found soulmate.

Taking a leap of faith (he was dead, what more could happen?) he told her his biggest secret. “I’m a hero too, so I understand how that feels, though I don’t have powers.” Being Robin gives me magic! “I’m Robin. From Gotham.”

“My ex-best friend loves superheroes; I think I heard her talk about you before. You work with Batman, right?”

“Yep. Can...I ask how you died?”

“The battle’s been going on for 24 hours. I was slow. I missed a piece of metal and got impaled. Can’t say it was the nicest way I’ve gone. You?”

Crowbar. Which hurts more? A or– ”I went looking for my biomom. Found her working as a doctor in Ethopia. Joker, one of B’s Rogues,  was blackmailing her. I offered to help her and she sold me out to him. He…beat me with a crowbar, then turned on Sheila and left us in the warehouse with a bomb. I untied her and she escaped but I couldn’t…B didn’t…didn’t make it.” I hope he kills the clown.

Marinette winced. “I’m sorry.” After a pause, she added, “the piece of metal that impaled me was a crowbar, too. Kinda poetic, both of us dying by crowbar, huh?”

He snorted. “Crowbar buddies. Cool. When you get resurrected, do you think we can stay in contact somehow? Phone, ghostly apparition or haunting, telepathy, something?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll ask my kwami, Tikki. Try anything you can think of, I’ll be listening. While we’re waiting, do you wanna play 20 Questions?”

“Sure, but we have to answer our questions too, to get more mileage out of them.”

“Sounds good to me! Okay, when is your birthday? Mine is July 9–I’m fifteen.”

“August 16 and I’m fifteen, too. Oh–I can’t answer this one. What day is it?”

“April 27th, why?”

“I thought I lost time. Still the day I died. Do you like to read? I do.”

She looked around the well-filled library in surprise. “You mean these books aren’t mine?” she gasped sarcastically. “It’s not my favourite hobby, but I like classics and well written books.”

The game continued, the two traumatized teenagers bonding over mutual interests and mocking the other when they disagreed. 

Finally Marinette looked at Jason. “I’m leaving now. I’m sure I’ll be back–hopefully not too soon. Is there anything you want me to look up to tell you when I return?”

“If Bruce killed Joker yet. Where I’m buried. Don’t come back for 80 years!”

“No promises! I’ll see what I can find. Au revoir, soulmate!” With a shimmer, she disappeared.

Jason collapsed lengthwise on the couch, suddenly feeling incredibly lonely. “Now what?”

~~~

The first time Marinette died, she’d woken up in a strange bed in a huge fancy house that was much nicer than Adrien’s. It definitely had a more lived-in, home-like feel, for one. She’d just finished exploring its vast premises when she woke up again in Paris, to her teammates’ relief. 

Later, she’d asked Tikki about it. “You must have a soulmate, Marinette,” the kwami decided. “Some have dreamscapes, and a very few have deathscapes. They’re usually involved with the Miraculous or magic or supernatural forces of some kind. Both sides of the soulbond end up in the shared ‘scape when they die. They tend to join one another fairly soon…the Miraculous must affect it some. Your deaths are temporary because of the cure, so I do not know how that will affect your ‘mate’s bond and life. Your death must not be long enough for your soulmate to join you.”

The next several times she ended up there, Marinette took note of the things familiar to her from her life, such as the extensive sewing room. Other things hinted at aspects of her ‘mate’s personality, such as the large tea collection, the vast library, the well-equipped gym that has many types of equipment she wasn’t familiar with. 

The deathscape appeared to have been shaped around more of their life than hers, leading her to suspect that they would be in the ‘scape longer than her. 

And then she was fighting a metallokinetic akuma, and got impaled by a shiny crowbar. And there was someone else in the ‘scape with her–a boy with blue eyes and black hair, a little taller than her (but still pretty short) and scrawny but muscled, sipping tea and reading Pride and Prejudice. 

“Bonjour, J’mapelle Marinette.” Does he know he’s dead, he’s my soulmate, this is our deathscape? That it’s my fault we’re here right now?

He took the news fairly calmly, all things considered, and appeared to tolerate her, though it could just be loneliness and shock keeping him so subdued. She liked him, like she knew she would–he was funny and smart and well-read and had a nice smile. It was relaxing to get to know him, knowing he was her soulmate for a reason and she could trust him. Besides, they were dead, who was he gonna tell she was Ladybug? 

She was a little sad to feel the now-familiar tingling signalling her return to the land of the living. She only hoped that her return would somehow work through the bond to revive Jason as well, so he wouldn’t be stuck in their ‘scape alone for who knew how long. He knew enough he could look her up if he revived, she was pretty sure. 

Once she’d reassured her team that she was fine, she zipped home as fast as she could, desperate to talk to Tikki alone about her soulmate. 

Tikki hummed thoughtfully when Marinette asked if there was any way for her to contact Jason. The kwami told her to contact Adrien and get him to bring Plagg over so they could discuss a possible solution. 

While the miniature beings confabbed, Marinette told Adrien about Jason. 

Finally, Tikki turned to Marinette. “You should be able to communicate in a manner similar to telepathy.” The two kwami placed their paws on her forehead. “You can try to contact ~Jason~ now.”

“Jason? Can you hear me? It’s Marinette, your soulmate.”

“I can hear you loud and clear, Marinette. Can we contact each other? Is it telepathy?”

“Sort of…it’s like souls talking instead of our minds talking, because we’re uniquely linked?”

“Cool. Are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m alive now. The cure heals everything.”

~~~

Jason and Marinette talked to each other often, especially during school and fights, where he would coach or distract her as she wished (he was an invaluable help during her English and literature classes).

But even with his help during akuma fights, Marinette started dying more. Tikki said it was their bond trying to balance each other out, bringing them together once again. 

In October, Marinette appeared beside Jason yet another time. “Hi.”

“Hey. What happened this time?”

She flopped on the couch beside him, tilting his wrist so she could see the title of the book he was reading. “I have the Miraculous.”

The non sequitur made him blink until he remembered her telling him her plans to retrieve the two abused Miraculous from Hawkmoth.”Really? That’s great! Wait, why are you here then?”

She sighed. “Our bond. I think I’m gonna be here for a while. Anyways, I was with Adrien at his dad’s–’cause he’s Hawkmoth and that’s why Nathalie had a heart attack so young, she was using the broken peacock Miraculous–and we were all transformed. We fought and I got the Grimoire and Miraculous. Then Adrien and I switched and I cataclysmed Gabriel. Then we detransformed after we said Hawkmoth and Mayura were gone for good. I went home and apparently died again.”

“You cataclysmed Gabriel?!” Jason’s voice went up an octave.

“Yep. He deserved it. He ruined Adrien’s, my, my team’s lives, terrorised Paris for years, abused Nooroo and his powers…he absolutely had it coming.”

“I just can’t see my sweet pixie Marinette cataclysming someone,” Jason shook his head in disbelief. “You’re so longsuffering. Everyone has a limit, I guess–and I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it, I’m just surprised you did it.”

Marinette gave him a shaky smile. “I hold one of the two kwami of balance. I’m perfectly capable of balancing the scales where I need to.” She promptly burst into tears.

Jason panicked for a second, bewildered, but recovered quickly, scooting closer and wrapped his arms around her, letting her sob on his shoulder. 

“I’m so confused, Jay,” she wailed. “I’m glad he’s gone, but he was Adrien’s dad. I just killed one of my best friends’ parents! How can I feel so relieved to know everything is over? It’s not over for Adrien, I just made him an orphan! Yeah, he’ll be better off with his aunt, but that was still his father-”

Jason patted her back soothingly, understanding the sudden outpour of emotions coming from his soulmate as she was coming down from quite an adrenaline rush, being in a safe place to feel freely for the first time in years. He wouldn’t be surprised if she acted erratic and was extremely emotional for the next little while. He didn’t mind–he much preferred her to be her entire self, emotions and tears and all. 

“It’s okay to feel relieved, Marinette. It’s okay to feel sad, too, or angry, or guilty. Feel it all. You’re safe now.”

She breathed out a shuddering sob, squeezing her arms even tighter around him.

They sat there for a good while, Jason’s shirt absorbing all of Marinette’s emotions. Finally she wiped at her face, scrubbing the sleeve of her shirt over the tear and snot tracks. 

“Thank you, Jason,” she said hoarsely. 

“You’re welcome. Anytime, okay?”

She shot him a watery smile. “I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you that I portalled over to Gotham before the fight and cataclysmed Joker.”

His jaw dropped. “You what?!”

“He definitely deserved it.”

“You’ve got no arguments from me, believe me, I just–you killed him? Why?”

“It was about time. He killed and hurt hundreds of others and he killed you.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m thrilled I got to meet you and know you, but I’d far rather you alive than with me right now, if it meant Joker never killed you.”

“Thank you, Marinette,” he whispered, leaning his head against her shoulder. 

“You’re welcome. Anytime.” She repeated.

After a while he laced their fingers together, staring at their entwined hands. He looked at her. “I’m glad you’re my soulmate.”

“I am too. That you’re mine, I mean.”

“I know,” he snickered. “I…really like you.”

“Like, like-like?” she frowned. “That was too confusing. I like-like you as well, Jay.” Her gaze met his as they slowly leaned in.

Her eyes fluttered shut as his lips brushed over hers, so soft she barely felt them, and disappeared. She cracked one eye open.

Jason…wasn’t there.

“When I said I’d rather him alive than with me, I didn’t mean for him to resurrect before we even properly kissed for the first time!”

Taglist (open): @jennifer-rose123 @questioning-blob-of-fog

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] Left: Sanjay Manjrekar, Right: Gautam Gambhir. SOurce: Instagram I have known Sanjay (Manjrekar) for years. And may I say, I enjoy speaking to him. Having said that, I have never understood his urge of being different. His latest tweet on Gautam Gambhir, may I say, wasn’t necessary. In fact, it is unbecoming of a senior professional like Sanjay. It comes across as bitter and unnecessary. First, I did not find anything objectionable with the Gautam Gambhir press conference in Mumbai on Monday. Second, I have been part of press meets which are far more mundane than the Gautam one. Or far more volatile. For Sanjay to say what he has, in my opinion, made little sense. This is where I need to go back to Sachin Tendulkar and ‘Playing it My Way.’ Sample this from Tendulkar: “(On the night of the 194 declaration) Sanjay Manjrekar, who was in Pakistan as a commentator, turned up in my room. Sanjay said that it had been a brave decision to declare and that it was a good sign for Indian cricket. He carried on in that vein until I very politely asked him if he knew what he was talking about. I explained to him that he was not aware of what had transpired in the dressing room and had arrived at his judgment without knowing the real facts of the matter. I made it clear that I did not appreciate his opinion, which I thought was a deliberate attempt to be different.” The tweet about Gautam is clearly not a case in isolation. The tweet about Ravindra Jadeja, about Sania Mirza, about Virat Kohli, over the years Sanjay has been known for such tweets, which aren’t really becoming of someone of his stature. While some say this is yet again Delhi versus Mumbai playing out, I think it is an example of the social media curse that is now a constant in our lives. Sanjay isn’t commentating at the moment and perhaps it is his way of staying relevant. I haven’t spoken to him, so one really doesn’t know why he did and what he did. But what one does know is that the timing and content are both unnecessary. There was nothing in the press conference that merited the tweet. At a time when the team was flying out to Australia for a very important series, the controversy was unwarranted. Sanjay has also suggested that Gautam doesn’t really know how to handle the media, a comment that casts doubts on his communication skills. Gautam and Sanjay have both been in commentary for years and am sure have worked for the same broadcaster. In fact, Gautam was quite a celebrated commentator and was paid top dollar by leading broadcasters of the country. So where is this comment coming from? Jealousy? Regionalism? With social media, abuse is now par. People don’t think twice before calling someone MDC. What Sanjay has done is added fuel to the fire. Gautam is already under the pump for the India New Zealand series. Social media revolutionaries are always on the lookout for such opportunities to nail people. They love to heap abuse when someone is not at his best. Sanjay played into their hands. And that’s where one expects better from someone like him. Someone said to me yesterday, “We are our worst enemies and don’t need outsiders to inflict damage”. Sadly, this sounds true. Also Read: What Ricky Ponting says about Virat Kohli is irrelevant, no point highlighting it The post Sanjay Manjrekar and the urge of being different. appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

[news365times]

[ad_1] Left: Sanjay Manjrekar, Right: Gautam Gambhir. SOurce: Instagram I have known Sanjay (Manjrekar) for years. And may I say, I enjoy speaking to him. Having said that, I have never understood his urge of being different. His latest tweet on Gautam Gambhir, may I say, wasn’t necessary. In fact, it is unbecoming of a senior professional like Sanjay. It comes across as bitter and unnecessary. First, I did not find anything objectionable with the Gautam Gambhir press conference in Mumbai on Monday. Second, I have been part of press meets which are far more mundane than the Gautam one. Or far more volatile. For Sanjay to say what he has, in my opinion, made little sense. This is where I need to go back to Sachin Tendulkar and ‘Playing it My Way.’ Sample this from Tendulkar: “(On the night of the 194 declaration) Sanjay Manjrekar, who was in Pakistan as a commentator, turned up in my room. Sanjay said that it had been a brave decision to declare and that it was a good sign for Indian cricket. He carried on in that vein until I very politely asked him if he knew what he was talking about. I explained to him that he was not aware of what had transpired in the dressing room and had arrived at his judgment without knowing the real facts of the matter. I made it clear that I did not appreciate his opinion, which I thought was a deliberate attempt to be different.” The tweet about Gautam is clearly not a case in isolation. The tweet about Ravindra Jadeja, about Sania Mirza, about Virat Kohli, over the years Sanjay has been known for such tweets, which aren’t really becoming of someone of his stature. While some say this is yet again Delhi versus Mumbai playing out, I think it is an example of the social media curse that is now a constant in our lives. Sanjay isn’t commentating at the moment and perhaps it is his way of staying relevant. I haven’t spoken to him, so one really doesn’t know why he did and what he did. But what one does know is that the timing and content are both unnecessary. There was nothing in the press conference that merited the tweet. At a time when the team was flying out to Australia for a very important series, the controversy was unwarranted. Sanjay has also suggested that Gautam doesn’t really know how to handle the media, a comment that casts doubts on his communication skills. Gautam and Sanjay have both been in commentary for years and am sure have worked for the same broadcaster. In fact, Gautam was quite a celebrated commentator and was paid top dollar by leading broadcasters of the country. So where is this comment coming from? Jealousy? Regionalism? With social media, abuse is now par. People don’t think twice before calling someone MDC. What Sanjay has done is added fuel to the fire. Gautam is already under the pump for the India New Zealand series. Social media revolutionaries are always on the lookout for such opportunities to nail people. They love to heap abuse when someone is not at his best. Sanjay played into their hands. And that’s where one expects better from someone like him. Someone said to me yesterday, “We are our worst enemies and don’t need outsiders to inflict damage”. Sadly, this sounds true. Also Read: What Ricky Ponting says about Virat Kohli is irrelevant, no point highlighting it The post Sanjay Manjrekar and the urge of being different. appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Here for Business

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/BZHKt6j by Miss_Salt Returning the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous to the Miracle Box signaled the anti-climatic end of an era for Marinett. However, no longer having a reason to moonlight as Ladybug didn’t mean Marinett was without a secret identity. Marinett’s fashion design alter ego, MDC, allowed her to preserve her freedom in her everyday life. Marinett had learned more in her apprenticeship with Aubrey Bourgeois than she ever could have hoped to learn had she stayed in fashion school. In the past year Marinett spent working at Style Queen Headquarters in New York, she has grown in both skill and confidence as a designer. So, Marinett was shocked when Aubrey presented her with yet another opportunity of a lifetime. A gala hosted by the infamous Wayne family sounded like the perfect occasion to make her debut as MDC. There was only one problem. The event was to be in Gotham City. Having fought a magical terrorist for the better part of her teenage years had left Marinett with a diluted sense of danger. So, as Marinett stood armed with the pastel-yellow taser Chloe had gotten her, she felt as though she could handle anything Gotham had to throw at her. Words: 20133, Chapters: 5/?, Language: English Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Damian Wayne, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Chloé Bourgeois, Audrey Bourgeois, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Alfred Pennyworth, Kwami(s) (Miraculous Ladybug) Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kwami(s) Additional Tags: POV Multiple, Fashion Designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, How Do I Tag read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/BZHKt6j

[maritimedocumentation]

Where to Get a Transfer of Ownership Form

It is estimated that around 100 million US citizens go boating each year, and about 15 million American households own recreational boats. Given that the market is so large, it comes as no surprise that at some point in your life you may need to part ways with your ship (and start another with a different one). If that happens to be your case, you will probably need a transfer of ownership form to pass the rights over the watercraft to a new owner. Let us show you some considerations you will need to make before selling your vessel.

Proving the Ownership of your Boat

There are a few ways to prove your ownership over a vessel: with a state title, with a bill of sale, and with USCG documentation. Let us explain the three of them. When your boat is not registered, and you are selling “as is” you still can show that you own the vessel with a bill of sale that must have been given to you when you first purchased the vessel. When your vessel is registered locally, the transfer of the title method varies from state to state.

What we are interested in in this article, is those boats that are registered with the United States Coast Guard. Recreational vessels longer than 26 feet (in reality, those that exceed 5 net tons) can choose to be documented with the governmental agency. And if that is the case, they have the option of using a transfer of ownership form to pass on the possession of a vessel. Let us show you how:

Other Changes You Can Make to your Boat Documentation

On the left side of our site, you may have noticed that there is a list of the different types of boating documents that you can obtain from us, the Maritime Documentation Center (MDC). The transfer of ownership form can be found on the transfer/exchange tab. You will have to complete the application with your vessel name and hailing port, and official HIN number. Later on, you will need to complete some personal details about yourself like name and surname, address, and contact information. To finalize the document application, you will have to check a few boxes about the purpose of the request and sign the form. Once you have paid, the MDC will finalize the deal.

You may have noticed, however, that the tab is called “Transfer/Exchange”. This is because the application covers other types of changes you can make to a document as well. You can also use this form to add or remove owners, when you want to change the name or hailing port of a vessel or when a different business is incorporated.

Simple Boat Documentation Processing

As we said, all of these certificates of documentation changes, whether it is a transfer of ownership form or not, can be done at the Maritime Documentation Center. Contact us today for any other information that you need. Our experienced staff will be happy to help you and clear all of your doubts.

[sailingsoo]

July Overview

Monthly Drama Review: July 2018 Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun -

warning spoilers!

Completed:

Lawless Lawyer: The chemistry was beyond great, I could not have asked for a better cast. By the time we got to the last two episodes, I did not even realize it was about to end. It really was great from beginning to the end. Every character got what they deserved in the end.

Secret Mother: This drama really pulled through by the end. While it was boring the first half, all the mystery just made the ending better. I am so glad that Eun Young ended up being alive and Yoon Jin did not betray her. Like Lawless Lawyer, everyone got what they deserved in the end. On a side-note, the three mothers redeeming themselves was a great addition. Usually in kdramas those type of people never change, but it was nice to see them help Eun Young out in the very end. 

Miss Hammurabi: Every episode left me as an emotional wreck. Maybe because the show was written by an actual judge that I was able to experience a variety of emotions. This is possibly Go Ara’s best role as her character remains passionate throughout the whole show. Having 3 different judges gave us different perspectives and showed us that not everything is black and white. Overall, a well-rounded series that hit different problems ranging from drug abuse, sexual harassment, and hierarchy in the workforce and society. 

The Undateables:  Adding the typical tropes like the bet and the love triangle kind of ruined the drama from what it had in the beginning where Hoon Nam and Jung Eum would work together to solve the undateables love life. Still a very cute drama thanks to the wonderful cast. Joon Soo is the definition of perfection by the way. I’m starting a petition to finally give Tae Joon the main role he deserves. Anyways disregarding all the other unnecessary stuff that happened during the drama, remember no matter age, appearance, and quirky habits you will always be able to find love. <3 

What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?: I actually dropped this drama midway but picked it back up because my best friend told me too. Although it does have lots of scenes that I find cringe-worthy, this was still a fun and loving drama. It also got dark too midway, but I love how they were still able to balance the comedy and lightness alongside with their traumatic past. I still can’t get over Lee Min Ki’s and Jung So Min’s cameo appearance. I wish there were more on Ji Ah and Gwi Nam’s relationship they were really cute together too! Nonetheless, a cute drama that kept me laughing and crying.

Age of Youth: I’m starting college soon, so I thought I would finally start this drama. The reason why I avoided this drama was because I do not like Hwayoung. I think what was revealed in 2017 after five years serves as justification as to why lol sips tea. BUT I think this is my favorite drama ever??? It’s just so good and I feel like I can relate to all the girls. It kind of opened my eyes a little bit about everyone’s circumstances. You really learn life lessons when you watch this show. 

Ongoing:

Goodbye to Goodbye: I’m kind of wary on Min Soo’s quick character change. Why did it take him so long to show that he actually loved his girlfriend? I don’t really know how this show is going to end, so I’m gonna save my thoughts for next month.

Are You Human Too?: Am I the only one who doesn’t really care about the romance between Kang So Bong and robo Nam Shin. I still can’t really get behind it. He’s a robot and she’s a human, how will the writers logically end this so it doesn’t end up tragically (unless they want it to end like that). I’m more interested on human Nam Shin’s future actions. I don’t really get the people saying they want him dead though. Imagine being taken away from your mom because your dad is dead and being treated like shit for 20 years with only one friend that is siding with a robot now and also finding out that robot was made by your mom to replace you. I’m not excusing his actions of being a total dick mostly to Kang So Bong who has nothing to do with him. But man, I just feel so bad for this kid, he’s being compared to a robot that can never make mistakes. This is quite lengthy, but I’ll add on more for next month’s review.

Your House Helper: I’m so in love with this drama??? It looks so boring on the outside, but it just gets better each episode. They have a wide variety of characters all going through different situations and just creates a connection with the audience

Time: I liked Kim Jung Hyun during School 2017 and loved him in Eulachacha Waikiki but after seeing the press conference and a few interviews I became really really disappointed. However, after seeing the first two episodes I think his character did have a toll on him. Nonetheless he could of been more professional. Anyways, I would have dropped this drama if it wasn’t for Seohyun. Her acting improved so much from when I first saw her in Scarlet Heart <3 I don’t how they’re going to form a romance between the two, I would rather they do not. The drama itself feels like Uncontrollably Fond except with murder.

Your Honor: I don’t really have much to say about this yet, but I’m really excited on how this show will turn out. 

Kimi ga Kokoro ni Sumishita: I actually started this literally right now, but I think I can relate to the main character in some aspect. Also, the psychological part has me hooked.

Dropping:

Wok of Love: Yeah I was really close to finishing it, I know but I already have too much dramas on my plate and it’s not as interesting as the other ones I’m watching. The chemistry between the main leads are just meh. The revenge plot isn’t that gripping either. 

Hana Nochi Hare: I ended up rewatching Hana Yori Dango with Matsu Jun, so I’m not that interested in this one anymore. I even tried watching Meteor Garden, but my mind just keeps floating back to the Japanese version whoops. 

Risky Romance: I want to watch this, but I already have a lot of stuff on my plate. I’ll save it for later ):

30 But 17: ^

Let Me Introduce Her: ^^

Mr. Sunshine: Wasn’t interested in this drama in the first place

Upcoming:

The Ghost Detective: A spooky drama with Park Eun Bin yeet.

Familiar Wife: I don’t know why but I got Go Back Couple feels while watching the teasers (which is a great drama that everyone should watch!). Definitely watching this one.

Lovely Horribly: Rom-com horror, an interesting drama I bet. 

Someday Until This Rain Stops: J-dramas usually take a longer time getting subbed, but I’m definitely going to try and watch this one. 

Hide & Seek: Probably not going to watch. The synopsis is really lacking to me. 

I’m starting school next month and I really want to do well this year so I’m probably gonna cut down my drama watching and my activity on tumblr in general.

[lovysmtalks]

He Only Has Himself To Blame

Summary: Felix joins the akuma class, he's seeking revenge and wants to demask the sunshine persona Adrien has put on

OR

Marinette is lost after getting her heart broken, bullied and dehumanised by her old friends, so she finds comfort in a certain blonde boy who joins her class

This will be a short series that I decided to make after reading soap_lady's "he can only blame himself" fanfic on ao3

The characters are in 11th grade meaning most of them are 17-18

Marinette has been MDC ever since she was 14 and Gabriel's business is going down due to him getting too into the villain act, I'm trying really hard to not make Mari seem too ooc or a Mary Sue

Chapter One.

To say Felix hated school, it would be an understatement.

He DESPISED school. The place is full of gold diggers left and right, people who would throw you out in a split second

Felix transferred to Françoise DuPont during his third year of high school. His mother was having a business trip to Paris for some time and since Felix didn’t have friends in New York, she signed him up for this school until he finishes his lycée

Once he set foot on the school, people looked at him weirdly, well...maybe it was his questionable clothes, they clearly showed rich boy and that he wasn’t from this school.

He could hear the annoyingly loud “whispers” as he walked to the principal’s office

‘He looks like a model, do you think he is one?’

‘He looks like he has money, maybe we should try and befriend him!’

‘He looks like Adrien, oh my gosh I’m going to faint if we have two handsome models at our school, it’s like we hit jackpot!’

He sighed as he finally reached the school’s principal’s office.

Around 45 minutes of not important information later

Felix finally walked upstairs to his class, his head hurting from the goody-two-shoes principal, his way of lecturing teen-agers was in such a way it felt like he was in kindergarten again. To be fair it kinda was the same, he was in a strange place full of people he could sense had bad intentions, so he just rubbed his temples and opened the door to see a very loud class split in two parts.

The front side, he spotted the other blonde guy the whispers were about, Adrien Agreste, his cousin.

Oh boy, did that not just make this whole thing even more irritating.

The front side had much more people in comparison with the back side, the back side was formed of five people.

A girl with a strong pink hair in some loose pig tails who was making a hand gesture to what the front side was listening to

Felix wanted to laugh at that, as he caught a split second of what the girl with brown hair on the front side was rambling about, it was something about how she’s his uncle’s muse or some crap like that, nothing more than a fairy tale she could only dream of.

He remained silent and analysed the other people in the small group

There was a guy with bright red hair who looked like he was barely containing himself from bursting out laughing at what the pink haired girl was doing

The second guy in the group wore a red sweater and had a washed out kinda blonde hair that was spiked up, he was giggling at what the pink haired girl was doing, while having a hand on her shoulder.

The third guy, wore a cap with some black glasses, he looked kind of sad at the front group but his sad frown moved to a half smile as he sat down next to the second girl-

‘What the actual – NO WAY THAT’S HER’ Felix panicked as he remembered who the second girl was.

‘The “I-love-you” girl, what a coincidence to be in the same class as you’ he thought, not noticing the fact that he was staring

But someone did notice him stare, it was the actual girl herself.

She had the same shock on her face as Felix did, probably was not expecting to see him ever again after the stunt at his cousin’s house two years ago.

‘Great, this couldn’t be more awkward’ he sighed as he moved to step in the class, hearing someone was close to the door.

“Oh! You must be the transferred student, come on! My class is probably dying to meet you.” The ginger teacher said loud enough for Felix to shiver at how loud she was

Oh, he was sure the class of idiots was dying to meet him.

He could practically see the hearts sparkling in the sausage haired girl's eyes who moved to the second line of seats, behind his cousin.

The girl with two shades of colours in her hair was staring at him as she was whispering something to her seatmate’s ear.

Him and the teacher walked in the class as she was basically dragging him to the front desk.

"Good morning class! This is Felix, Felix uh…-" the teacher looked at him for an answer about his last name

He sighed and said "Graham de Vanily. Felix Graham de Vanily."

"Ah, yes! Class, he is a transferred student from New York, treat him kindly and make him feel at home. You can go sit uhm…in the back! With Marinette." She put a hand on his shoulder, making him shiver at the contact

'Oh great.' he caught a glimpse at his cousin's face, it was priceless

He looked angry then disappointed then it went back to normal.

'Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all' Felix thought trying to retain the smirk his face desperately wanted to make.

He reached Marrinete's and his seat.

He could see that she was avoiding his gaze, so he had the genius idea to put his hand on hers

She shot him a deadly glare, in which Felix responded by "smiling" warmingly at her

"What are you doing?" she whispered angrily

"I wanted to get your attention since you were clearly avoiding my gaze. I know you most definitely think of me as a son of a bitch, but i want to get revenge on my cousin, I know you won't help me since I saw your confession on his phone back to a year ago, but it was worth a shot for me to ask for your help." He whispered, it wasn't exactly a lie, it was mostly to make his cousin jealous. But what he didn't think of nor plan, was his heart skipping a beat once her gaze finally met his.

Marinette's face had a confused look on it, probably processing what he just said

What he did not expect, was for her to giggle.

"Let me get this straight, angel, you want to hang out with me to piss lil' ol' Agreste off, because you want revenge, you still want revenge after two years ago, you pretended to be him, try and kiss a superhero, then blame it on getting akumatized." She covered her giggles with her hand to hide the snorts begging to come out.

Felix thought she looked so pretty for whatever reason. He bit back a smile, then it clicked.

'Kiss a hero? How does she know about that?!' he thought. Felix was 100+% sure that no one saw when he tried to do that.

Oh.

OH.

'What a silly mistake you just did Mlle. Dupain-Cheng' he looked back at her to see she closed her eyes while trying not to laugh out loud.

He smiled. (Not gonna say someone's dying, but the world's at it's end if he smiles)

'You're such an idiot to not realize what you could have had, Agreste.' Assuming she was laughing was a sign her and Adrien weren't together, maybe if he was lucky, not on good terms either, seeing that she did call Adrien Agreste and not just Adrien

"Well yes. He's not the person who everyone sees him to be, that's the reason I did what I did last time. I tried to show everyone how he really was, he called it a prank, I call it wanting the truth to get out, I do however realize that there were other things I could have done to show that but can't change the past now, can't I?" He whispered

Marinette opened her eyes with a thoughtful look on her face

"I know Agreste isn't who he stands to be, I'm more than aware he isn't this sunshine price in shinning armour mostly everyone belives him to be." She said in a serious tone, with a blank expression on her face

Felix was in deep thought, millions of questions running through his mind.

He decided not to press forward and just nod at her statement.

After some minutes of pretty awkward silence for Felix at least, Marinette finally looked at their hands who were still connected, with her hand being underneath his

Her smile passed Felix's eyes as he was looking through some papers on his part of the table

Marinette put her other hand on his, getting closer to his ear then whispered

"I'm in, I'll help you get your revenge." She backed down from his personal space then dragged their hands Infront of her

Felix was processing what she just told him, he was about to say something but then noticed she was holding his hand tightly between hers as she had a petty smirk on her face

The boy's cheeks got warm, to a concerning state, he just took his hand and turned the other way, covering his mouth and cheeks with the other hand as he avoided Marinette's gaze

In response to the sudden outburst, Marinette just laughed and went back to paying attention to the class

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What neither of the teens knew, was that Marinette's out of character (for most people) affection was caught on by Lila, who looked like she was fuming as she looked back at the two.

"Girl, you ok? Your face looks red and swallowed, are you having an allergic reaction?" A concerned Alya asked looking as her bestie

Lila swallowed HARD as she realized she was staring at the pair behind them

"A-ah…y-yes I am alright, just, don't you think Marinette would bully Felix too right?... She's been invalidating his personal space ever since he got to the back…" Lila said in a shaky tone, trying to make it sound as real as possible

'No way I'm letting Mari-brat take my key to success, Gabriel's business has been going down in fame since people are boycotting the brand for whatever reason. The Graham de Vanily family has a better reputation than the Agrestes ever could even dream of!' she thought angrily

"Lila, girl, you don't think she would, would she? I told you what Felix did last time he was here. If something he would be the one making fun of her, he's a bigger jerk than Marinette!" Alya whispered

'Oh, now you're taking her side?' Lila thought unfazed at her "friend's" stupidity

"Felix looks like a sweetheart! (Yea right) time changes people Alya, Marinette is a perfect example of that!" Lila whispered, trying to get her friend to understand what she meant.

"Hmm… you're right, after class we're confronting Marinette on her bullying, the poor boy just got here! How could she be so cruel…" Alya said angrily

"Oh Alya, I don't know…" Lila said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder comfortingly

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (7)

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 6)

Gina found out about Marinette about a year later.

Jason and Marinette were chilling and binging shows. Gina showed up unannounced to surprise Jason.

She nearly had a heart attack when she saw her supposedly dead ‘Little Fairy’ in the middle of a pillow fight with Jason.

“Uh...Surprise?”

Needless to say, Jason and Marinette had the lecture of their life after they sat her down and told her about Ladybug. (She already knew about Red Hood.)

“I am not mad at you, My Little Fairy. But why didn’t you tell me you were alive?”

“I.. er..forgot?” Maria tried hard not to wince.

“Well, at least I am the only one else who knows about you.”

“Yeah, About that…”

Good thing that they were in Gotham and Hawkmoth was out of commission.

Gina agreed to not let Tom and Sabine know about Marinette although she was mad that Marinette was actually killed and it was framed as suicide.

“It’s okay, Nonna. There are magic laws to deal out suitable punishments. They are paying for it.”

Jason looked at Maria with an incredulous look. Magic laws, my ass. (Technically, there are Miraculous laws and curses to deal out divine punishment on those who abuse the Miraculouses. Maria was just taking more creative liberties with Hawkmoth and everyone else involved.)

------

Never Have I Ever (Takes place a few weeks after Jason’s and Marinette’s trip from Paris)

“Never have I ever had to dig out of my own grave.” Tim said, pointedly looking at Jason.

“Damn you.” Jason took a shot nonetheless. He shot a look at Marinette. “You too.”

Marinette grumbled a bit but also took a shot.(I know that the American age limit is 21.)

“Wait, I thought you faked your death.”

“No. Not really. I actually did die. I went into that mansion, knowing it was a trap and that it was my one chance to get close to Hawkmoth and cast a spell that took away his miraculous. I am only here because there was a resurrection spell in the grimoire which I used as a back-up plan. Jason kidnapping me after I dug out of my own grave derailed it a bit.”

“The moment she crawled out of the dirt, I knew that I had to adopt her like B did for me. Best decision of my life.”

“That’s not what you said last week.”

“That was because you ate the last cookie.” “Well, I made them so I have the right to have the last cookie.”

Duke cut in, “Okay, okay. Stop, it’s my turn. Never have I ever met a rockstar.”

A few of them took a shot.

Marinette took a shot too, “I swear you guys are trying to get me drunk.”

“How?!”

“School stuff and we had jobs working at Chloe’s hotel. I was Jagged Stone’s gopher. I made him glasses shaped like the Eiffel Tower. Later, an album cover. Long story short, I became his personal designer/ honorary niece. Oh shit. I forgot to tell him. I knew I forgot something.”

TIm shouted in excitement after getting over his shock “Jagged Stone?! The rockstar, Jagged Stone?! The one with a pet crocodile, Jagged Stone?!. Oh Please, please, I have to meet him. So wait. Wait. That means that you are MDC. I mean was, since technically MDC is dead now. But it’s you. Wow.”

Tim had stars in his eyes or maybe it’s the alcohol.

“I am thinking of starting over with a new name. How does MT sound?”

“I will help. I mean, can I help? Your designs for his tours were amazing. Can I commission you? Then, I will be your first customer.” “Sure. But I will need some equipment. My parents took mine away and I will also need some materials and your measurements. Oh, where can I get some paper and a pencil?” Marinette rambled as she got up. The alcohol kicked in and she fell down.

Jason hugged her. “Easy. Easy. You can do it in the morning.”

“But I have some ideas. And I need to shop for stuff tomorrow. Can you drive me to the shopping district tomorrow?”

“Sure, Pixie. Come on. Let’s get you to bed.” Jason carried the now sleepy Marinette to her room.

“But what about the game?”

“You guys finish without us.” Jason replied as he left the living room they were playing in.

“She was a designer?”

“Yup. MDC. A pretty good one too. The jacket for Jagged’s last tour was awesome. He claims her as his honorary ‘niece’. They were pretty close too by the looks of it. Jagged even went on a break due to personal reasons. I bet that’s why.”

“Rockstar designer and superhero. Our new sister keeps surprising us more and more everyday.”

-----

There is of course temptation to use the Miraculous to help with crime and cases.

Bruce shut down the idea pretty early on and Maria agreed with his decision, stating that Miraculous are dangerous to be out in the open. Especially in a crime-ridden city and it would be best if no one knew that they were in Gotham.

The Kwamis were free to roam the manor and allowed to go with any of the Batfam as long as they informed Maria who they were going with. Alfred was happy to have some being as company and occasional help while the Waynes go about their day.

The Miraculous were used a total of 16 times in the past 3 years under special circumstances, including the Joker incident and rules were established after one memorable Easter.

They can only be used in life and death situations, mostly when facing new adversaries and threats.

Must have special approval of both Bruce and Maria to use one. (Behind Bruce’s back, the Miraculous are handed out like candy when the Bats want to play pranks on their fellow heroes. Bruce did use the Fox one time when Clark pissed him off and made the reporter think he had gone batty. And no one, except the Bats and maybe John Constantine, figured out the identity of the Tiger-themed costumed person who punched Superman out of the Solar System which took weeks for the Man of Steel to fly back and never to be seen again and why Batman looked too pleased with himself afterwards.)

Maria had threatened everyone to not lose them when the Miraculous were in their care and they know she has every intention of following through. Family or not.

Damian once went through every single trap Maria had set for the Miracle Box so he could wear every Miraculous after Maria told him about Kwami Buster.

He managed to wear 14 of them before he passed out and was later found by Dick, who was alerted by Wyazz about what Robin was up to.

Needless to say, Maria was not happy.

She and Lucius set better security for the Box and asked other magic users for help with the magic side of the security. The Batfam had a few fun attempts breaking into it. (Tim did not use the blueprints to the safe the Miracle box is in to better hide his coffee. And definitely not because Maria had given Alfred the key to originally hers his coffee box and he had been using it to empty out Tim’s stash every week.)

Bruce didn’t give any punishment to Damian, seeing as the boy wonder was sore and in pain all over from trying to wield all of the Miraculous was punishment enough and effectively benched until he recovered.

-----

(Possible OOC Bruce ahead. I hope I did him justice as fanon Bruce. This is set a few months after Maria starts living in the Manor. P.S: It’s a little angsty with some Tom and Sabine salt.)

Despite what everyone thinks, Bruce doesn’t hate magic. He just didn’t like magic. Like he keeps telling everyone, there’s a difference. He found its lack of logic and own set of warped rules unsettling. He knows when it is beyond his capabilities and calls in experts like John Constantine or Zatanna for help to deal with the arcane. But mostly, he didn’t want to deal with it.

The newest addition to the family, courtesy of Jason, was heavily involved in it which prompted everyone else, mostly Jason, to make sure he doesn’t drive the girl away. It did annoy him a little bit. Honestly, Duke was proof that he can make exceptions to his rules and he tolerates the other magic users of the Justice League. That however doesn’t satisfy his second son enough who had pulled his guns out and threatened him to not kick his ‘baby sister’ out of Gotham.

But that’s not what is important right now. He had gotten a not very severe injury with his last bout with Bane and it was thanks to Nightwing and Red Robin that he didn’t get anything worse. However, he was benched by Alfred and everyone else agreed so he was providing support and solving cases in the Batcave while Dick went out as Batman for the night. Babara was out with her father tonight so for the first time since her arrival, he was alone with Delphi aka Maria in the Batcave with Alfred periodically checking on him.

She was quiet, occasionally humming songs or muttering curses under her breath as she hacked into corporations to relay needed information. He has to admit that she was a fast learner, managing to decently hack past firewalls after a few months of tutoring from Oracle and Red Robin. He did have to help out a few times on particularly difficult companies with high security. It was a normal night in Gotham with a few lulls in activity. It was during one of those lulls that he first broke their comfortable silence.

“Are those your parents?” he asked, when he saw CCTV footage of a bakery she pulled up on one of the monitors. It was morning already in Paris with a couple bustling about and serving customers.

“Not anymore.” Her voice was thick as they watched the Asian woman at the register give a bright smile to the customer. A man as big as Bane carried a new batch of macarons to the front, cheer on his face. Perhaps it was looking at the happy couple that it struck him that the battle-hardened girl in front of him, had lived a normal life. An innocent bystander, painfully normal being a daughter of bakers, oblivious to a world of monsters, aliens and magic before being dragged into it by some madman hungry for power.

“You know, I thought that they would have cared more... After I...died. I mean they did raise me for 15 years and they should have... known me better. It hurts that...they had so little...faith in me.” Her voice was soft, nearly inaudible. Bruce wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or to herself.

She didn’t look away from the footage but he saw a tear made its way down her cheek.

“They did support me at first,.... did their best to help me but the…. rumours and the lies got too much and they started to doubt me. It didn’t help that I kept disappearing a lot and I was never where I said I was. I supposed that it was a little bit my fault that I was...too scared of the consequences of telling them that I was Ladybug. Soon, they saw me as the villain that Lila painted me as.”

Bruce was surprised at the amount of hatred at the name. He mentally noted the name to find out if it was related to what caused Maria to be this jaded. He had turned off the comms, in case she didn’t want the others, especially Jason being an overprotective big brother who would kill Bruce if he thought he made her cry, hear her long-overdue breakdown.

“I didn’t believe it when Chloe said that they didn’t even come to…. my funeral…. or visit my grave. Jason told me…. that they were going to…. sell all of my things…. if Nonna ….didn’t take them…. and put them…. in storage. The….worst thing... is that…. I still love them.... After all…. the terrible things….they said to me, I…. still love them and…. it... hurts so much to see… their looks towards me ….before I...left.”

She tried to hold in her tears and control her sobs but they escaped. Bruce felt awkward with what to do. He put his hand on her back and rubbed in gentle circles.

“Hey, it’s okay. You can let it all out. It’s okay to be sad. Um…Shoot. Dick is usually the one doing the comforting.” She lets out a small laugh.

He turned her chair around so their eyes met, her blue eyes gleaming from unshed tears. He put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it, trying to give some sort of comfort.

“You did what you thought was best with a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. You did your best to protect them. Sometimes, trying to protect the people you love can end up hurting them whether you meant to or not.”

She leaned towards him, careful of his wound and cried. It was like a dam had broken down. All the emotions that she had repressed for so long bursted out of her. Bruce hugged her and whispered words of comfort, things Alfred had told him after another nightmare as a child, until her sobs calmed down. He wasn’t an entirely emotionless man like so many had believed. He was just bad at showing them.

Comfortable silence settled between them, the bats above them squeaking and the sounds of the others talking over the comms, coming from the Bat-computer.

After a while, Bruce spoke.

“I lost my parents to a man desperate for money. I spent a lot of time raging at the world. I felt the same thing again when I lost Jason. I became Batman to fight against crime so no one else can feel what I felt that night in the alley, so no one has to hold their child in their arms, bloody and broken. It’s okay to feel mad at the world after you lost everything you love and care about. And I can promise you that it will get better. It might take a long time before the pain is gone. Some days, it’s a dull ache. Some days, it would be so hard to breathe. Just remember that it will get better and we will be here to help you get there. Jason definitely will. Dick too. The others will probably be as bad as comforting as me but they will still do it. Except maybe Damian. But the point is, we are here for you. Okay?”

He felt her nod. They stayed like that with Bruce occasionally reporting to the others when something was happening. Maria later joined in and thankfully, they didn’t comment on the occasional crack in her voice although Jason sounded like he wanted to know what had happened.

“So...It’s okay if you don’t want to answer now but why couldn’t you tell anyone about your identity? Wouldn’t it have been better if someone knew your identity and provided support? I had Alfred when I started out and the kids had me.” Bruce asked as he looked through CCTV footage of a break-in.

She lets out a small tired sigh, a sound not meant to come from a teenage girl, “It started with the previous Guardian, Master Fu. He made the rule of not telling anyone. It was later because Hawkmoth could akumatized anyone and anyone who knew could lead him to us directly and he might threaten our friends and family for the Miraculous. He already did it to someone who ‘claimed’ to be Ladybug. Then, there was an alternate timeline where Chat Noir, my partner, found out my identity and dated my civilian self to get close to me. It nearly ended in the destruction of the entire world.”

Bruce scowled at what Maria had been through. Jason had told them about Hawkmoth, the betrayal of her partner and how she died. But today proved that they had barely scratched the surface of her tragic past.

“Why did Hawkmoth want the Miraculous so bad?” He said it, partly to change the subject and partly to get more information on what happened in Paris.

“He wanted the Ladybug and the Black Cat. Combining the two of them would grant him a wish, one that could alter reality as he sees fit. There is a catch though because the universe demands balance, something equally devastating would occur to counteract it. From what the Kwamis told me, Atlantis sinking was one of the results of a wish made by the Miraculous.”

“It doesn’t look like he is paying for it.”

“Oh he will.” Her tone made it sound like a fact.

“How are you so certain?” “Because the universe is all about balance and I have been tasked to right the scales.” The sharp grin she wore mildly worried Bruce. Her previous statements of not killing anyone echoed in his head and he wondered if she was going to hold to that promise.

-----

(I actually suck at writing angst.)

(Part 8)

Taglist: @local-witch-of-mn, @ladyqnoirr, @lolieg, @istoleyourcookies, @pale-lady-dreamer, @ichigorose,

[abyssal-ali]

Marinette "Valkyrie" Wayne

Masterlist Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 ao3 link (completed) Valkyrie’s suit

Pairing: Marijon

Rating: G

WC: 0.9k

Delphi joined Robin at the closest Batburger after patrol, having a hankering for fries and a shake.

When she pulled up beside his Robin motorcycle on her own bike, she noticed Superboy beside Robin, who was already in a booth.

She slid in beside Robin and fist-bumped Superboy. Damian was already chowing down on a veggie burger, so she headed to the counter to order her cravings. Superboy was right behind her, ordering a stack of food to compensate for his Super metabolism.

They slid back into the booth and began to eat. Marinette quickly finished her large fries but had a bit of strawberry shake left, eyeing Jon’s stack of food as he finished his burger.

He put his arm around his stack of food protectively. “You just ate, Delphi, sheesh.”

She gave him her most pitiful Plagg-wants-more-Camembert eyes and he quickly softened, sliding his fries over to her.

“Here, just eat the rest of my food, why don’t you?”

“Well, if you’re offering… ”

“No . Only fries.” Jon’s superspeed came in handy as he polished off his food before Mari finished dipping her fries in the dregs of her shake.

Damian tsked, having completed his snack with dignity and at a reasonable speed so as not to get indigestion.

(Mari would like to remind him of the times he stuffed entire snacks in his mouth just so his siblings couldn’t get them.)

~~

Chloe came to Wayne Manor a couple weeks later. Alfred showed her to Marinette’s room.

“How have you been? I brought you the advance copies you asked for.”

“Thanks, Chlobee. I’ve been good– I’m actually starting out tomorrow night as backup on patrol as Valkyrie!”

“Wow, backup. And just yesterday you were running the comms,” Chloe wiped a fake tear away.

Marinette shoved her playfully. “I was on comms yesterday. Anyways, y’know the JL meeting? Well, they tried to find Ladybug and thus the vessel, so I really had to concentrate. Then I was sparring with Diana, and I touched the lasso and fainted because the power was starting to be exposed. Thank goodness for Trixx and Tikki and Duusu. Oh, do you want to see Pollen?”

“Of course! Did they find out?”

“No, no suspicion yet, I think.”

Pollen flew out of hiding. “My queen!”

“Pollen!”The bee Kwami of subjection hugged her former holder’s face.

When Marinette talked to the kwami about her plan, they agreed, although they’d miss their holders. Pollen at least got to see Chloe, the only one who knew Marinette herself was the vessel, Ladybug, and Grand Guardian.

The Guardian part didn’t really matter since the Miraculous were turned into a tattoo and the kwami were freed, nulling the Miraculous, but they still called her that, since her body was now the Miraculous.

Marinette could use their powers without transforming now, which made it easier to keep her secret as there were no obvious signs of the usage.

A knock on the door sent the Kwami scattering as Alfred announced supper.

Chloe was introduced to the family and it went as Marinette expected.

“You’re Audrey’s daughter? Do you know MDC? What's she like?”

“I know MDC, she's amazing and very fashionable and beautiful. She’s great to work with, Mom loves her. Everyone does, actually.”

After dinner, Marinette handed everyone a parcel. Inside was an autographed copy of Effortless Style.

“Chloe brought these for me. I hope you like them.”

“We love them,” they gushed, poring over the pictures, making guesses on who MDC was.

She didn’t make it easy for them, though. In almost every picture with Jagged was a different model, but none with her.

“Marinette! You met Jagged Stone!”

“Yeah, I’ve done a bit of modeling, and when I was in NYC Audrey asked if I would…when I came back Adrien happened and then it just slipped my mind,” she shrugged.

“Fine, you’re excused,” sniffed Tim.

~~

"I’m inviting an old friend for dinner. You’ll all be on your best behaviour, I hope.” Bruce warned the next morning.

“Of course. Who?” asked Mari.

“It’s a surprise,” he winked.

At five, the friend arrived.

“Brucie! How have you been? I hear you’ve adopted my niece!”

“Jagged, good to see you again. It’s just fostering right now, though I’m working on the adoption papers.”

“Uncle Jagged!” Marinette came flying down the stairs. “Where’s Penny?”

“In the car, finishing a phone call. How's my rockin’ designer?”

“I’m great! With the book done, all I have to work on now is my psychiatry courses. I’ve got a couple new ideas for your next album and tour, too– I’ll show you later. Hi, Penny!”

“Hey, Mari!”

The Batfamily stopped in surprise as Marinette hugged Jagged and Penny Stone. Chloe strolled forward, greeting the couple in French.

“Oh, Uncle Jagged, these are the Wayne kids, whose ranks I am soon to join. From your left to right: Cass, Tim, Dick, Steph, Jason, and Babs. They’re all huge fans so they might act a little weirder than normal.”

“Wait, Uncle Jagged? I thought MDC was his only niece?”

Mari leveled a longsuffering look at Tim. “Why yes, I am his only niece.”

“YoU’rE mDc?!”

“Yes, yes I am. Congratulations, Coffee Zombie.”

Damian appeared with Titus, Jerry, and Kismet.

“Demon spawn! Nettie is MDC!”

“Congratulations,” he nodded at her. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Stone. I am Damian Wayne. The turkey is Jerry and Titus is the Great Dane. Kismet is Dupain-Cheng’s Beauceron puppy.”

“It’s a good thing we left Fang in New York or he’d be after Jerry,” Jagged joked.

Damian frowned. Crocodile eat turkey? No, thank you.

[mae-dwrites]

Jasonette July 2022

Day 2 - Target

@maribat-calendar-events

[continuation of previous prompt]

day 1 | day 3

←•→

“So wait she shot him?”

“That’s what Grayson relaid to me, yes. If you would like I could show you, I am headed to the Cave now.” Damian walked ahead of Tim, going to as he said the Batcave. Tim followed him, being curious about Jason’s roommate, he hadn’t shared much about her. They only knew as much from when they did a background check on her months ago. She was from Paris, France, a city that was under the thumb of an emotional terrorist; had been involved in her fair share of Akuma attacks. She was a designer that got some of her early works worn by celebrities, not to mention the Rockstar, Jagged Stone, dubbing her his honorary niece. (He still does she just goes by and owns MDC) They had left that part out when they told Dick about her designing, he was a huge fan of Jagged and the clothes made by most of his designers, especially MDC.

“He said they were at the back of the museum so cameras twenty-five through thirty-one is what we should pull up,” Damian stated, not letting Tim get to the computer. Damian pulled up video feed and blew it up a bit to see them better. Two of them were pointless so he dragged them away and blew the other four and then reround them to a few hours earlier.

A ravenette girl entered the room backward with Jason following, her movements and expressions were very animated; whenever the light caught in her hair it would look to be blue. With the volume up you could hear her complaining about the costumes of heroes and villains alike, much about pockets and colors clashing. Also a lot about the impracticalities of most suits, which both the Wayne boys had to agree on; the suits would look good but sometimes the wearer would be limited, and you want all the mobility.

After talking for a bit the Rouge came in, her immediate response was getting into a defense position(that was off and she could lose her balance Damian scoffed at her stance), she looked around the room but kept coming back to the Rouge. She smirked and grabbed a purse that someone left, she unclipped the strap from one side. Jason had already knocked out one of the guns from his hands, he was more focused on disarming currently. The young woman called to Jason in warning and swung the purse across towards the Rouge, letting the strap leave her hand. It hit him square in the face, he shot a fire up into the roof from the impact. She ducked and rolled under a bench which was coincidentally by the gun Jason had knocked out of the guy’s hand. Jason was yanked by his hair up and then with the same hand the guy squeezed his neck and pointed his gun at the girl. You could be blind and still know Jason was clearly fuming with anger.

“Make a move Wayne and your pretty little friend is gonna meet an old friend of yours.” The Rouge sneered at Jason, and for one of the few times it looked like Jason was getting tunnel vision. He was only looking at her, the girl now up was pointing the gun at the crook.

“Mar, go,” Jason grunted.

“I’d listen to your friend little pretty,” he smiled, his crooked nasty stained teeth at her. “Otherwise I’ll have to resort to other methods.” He tightened his grip on Jason’s neck.

“I don’t think I will,” she stated simply. And just seconds after she lined the gun with his leg and pulled the trigger, the bullet lodged itself just below his knee. He fell screaming in agony with Jason giving him a complementary elbow on his way down. She held the gun and stared at it while Jason grabbed some zip ties out of his pocket for the Rogue. Jason was smiling and turned around to say something but saw her breathing gradually increasing and he rushed to her.

At that Tim paused it. They sat there for a moment, going through what they had just saw. When finally they said at the same time,

“She has PTSD.”

“How can she fight so well?”

Tim and Damian looked at each other for a moment.

“That’s what your takeaway was?” Tim pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Well she is a civilian, she has skill. I understand one can have skills and be well at things they have little experience with but fighting a Rouge, even a low-life minion. No one would try to, not to mention she was almost as small as you were when you became Robin.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” Tim deadpanned. “Now first off civilians do learn self-defense sometimes at the very least, also in Paris the civilians would sometimes fight the heroes or the actual Akuma. Even if most of the time they were turned into brain-dead zombies that listened to the Akuma they could have gotten some muscle memory. Like that knight one from the earlier days. Also it was just a small minion, she assessed the situation well.”

Damian huffed, “I am going to be doing another background check.”

“Suit yourself.” He paused, “Everyone’s gonna wanna see her, especially Cass and Steph. They’ve been begging for him to bring her over.”

“Would you like to use the Batcomputer before I start my next search,” Damian turned to Tim.

“Yeah, just to put it into a video for them.”

“Fine but I‘ll be back soon Drake,” Damian hopped off the chair and made his way towards the exit.

—

Jason woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, he simply pressed the lower volume button to silence it. But a few minutes passed and his phone started ringing again. This went on a few more times before he looked to see who it was, it was Stephanie. He ignored it again, but after the ID and answering option was gone his phone showed Steph wasn’t the only one he missed. Dick had also been spamming him before and called him a few times. He cleared the messages away, before setting his phone back down. He only got two seconds of silence before it rang again, this time he chucked his phone across the room.

“How about you just answer it and get it over with,” Marinette was leaning against his doorway with an amused look while brushing her teeth. She took the toothbrush out for a moment, “I mean they can’t be that bad.”

“Oh they’re bad,” Jason said getting up when Mari walked away, he pulled up a pair of jeans while he kept talking. “Oldest is literally from the circus, likes to hang from shit, Tim is coffee run and a workaholic-“

“Sounds like we’d get along,” Mari shouted from the bathroom.

“Demon Spawn is a jackass and likes to act like he’s above us all and only refers to us by last name, Cass and Steph are partners in crime, and not even to help me with my crimes!”

“Well that’s what I’m here for. To be your partner in crime. I’ll be the distraction while you get away with the jewels on our next heist, Batman will never get us.” Mari laughed, “But I would be grateful if I had as many siblings as you do. I begged my parents to have another kid when I was like fourteen right before the Akumas I tried so hard to convince them to adopt.”

“You would not be saying that if you had any, especially mine!”

Mari walked towards the kitchen, “How about we trade families, heck even get your dad to pull out the adoption papers. I mean don’t I fit most of the boxes the news articles have come up with? Dark hair, blue eyes, has been the target of a villain, not to mention my unique personality the public would love?”

“Please don’t make the adoption jokes, they make enough of them as is.” Jason groaned while Marinette just laughed as she made breakfast. “Not to mention I think Bruce actually would consider it.”

“Who wouldn’t? He can brag about everything I’ve done. I know my worth and it’s going to be worth more than his company when he hits the ground.” Jason shook his head.

Marinette had always, as he had seen, was confident herself no matter what though more so in others. She put others before herself, even strangers(She’d almost gotten her items stolen several times in Gotham). When she did things for herself she was much more self-conscious and unsure like she didn’t deserve it or that it would be taken away. But considering the lying bitch she had mentioned and the rich bully who had ruined her things it made sense she would be scared to do things for herself when the universe seemed to have practically set the pieces to corner her every move.

An ear-ruining screech sounded from Jason’s room, he banged his head on the counter table and groaned. Marinette whined and muttered ‘ow’ as she moved waffles to the plate.

“Jason, your siblings must really want to talk to you if they're using the beeper thing now. You should just get it over with now.” It wasn’t actually a beeper it was an emergency message signal that they all had, Jason had told Mari that Tim made a homemade beeper for everyone. Which wasn’t fully a lie, Tim did make it but that’s what he came up with. And from what little he told Marinette it made sense. But Jason had messed up the sound output on a mission one time and it didn’t help that he would chuck his jackets on the floor with it in them. And everyone knew his speakers on it were now shit.

Jason went to his room and shut the thing up, it had a message from the bat cave computer saying: [CHECK YOUR MESSAGES RED HIDER]

Jason sighed, he was gonna beat their asses next time he came over. He grabbed his phone Dick had sent him a video and sent several messages along with Steph. He played the video it was from when the crook came till Jason tied him up. After finishing the video Dick called again, this time he answered.

“Finally!”

“Please don’t tell me you sent this to everyone.”

“No hello?”

“I didn’t get one either Dickhead but that’s besides the point. You made and sent the video to everyone, didn't you?”

“Well that’s no. I didn’t make it Tim did actually, he sent it to me and Steph. Steph showed it to Cass, I showed it to Alfred and Bruce. And I’m confident that Damian saved it for himself. Though he is doing another background check because of it.”

Jason took a breath, “I’m going to regret this later but I’m coming over tomorrow to talk about Mar.”

“Her name is Mar?”

“Dick how do you not know her name? You were there when we went over interviews and background checks for each of them.”

“I never actually caught her name and we’ve mostly been referring to her as your roommate.”

Jason pinched his nose and pressed the end call button.

“How it go?” Marinette asked from her seat.

“Just hand over the waffles.”

—

“Hmm, she’d be fun to bring my favorite to play.” He clutched the newspaper with an abnormally wide grin.

“Would you like us to get her sir?”

“No I would much rather get her myself, it’ll get Batsy on his way quicker. Start preparations on that one warehouse, the one by City Hall,” smiled as he got a pair of scissors out.

“We’ll start now.”

“Be quick,” he sang as he cut the photo out from the paper. “I want to get her while the sun is still around.” The man left the room leaving the green-haired man to add the photo to his wall. The Joker took a marker to the photo, scribbling out Jason Todd while he circled the dark-haired girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. “Can’t wait for all the games we can play sea girl.”

—

Marinette had prayed to the universe that whatever villain wanted to rob a bank that it wasn’t today, or the one she was currently at. But of course, she does not get such wishes granted. She just needed to do a withdrawal to buy a couple yards of fabric to make new outfits for Chloé. But noooooooo, the universe can’t let her have a peaceful afternoon for one simple thing.

Joker and his goons came in literally crashing in, made her groan internally. It seriously felt like the universe wanted to spend this week tormenting her, each day worse than the last. So maybe Tikki had been right, she should go visit Paris for a bit after her current classes were over for the break.

“Alright boys fill your bags!” Joker shrilled as he jumped down and spun around as he made his way farther into the building. “Now where is she? I wanna play a game with the Bat.”

Marinette was crouching by a large window, there were some people across. Marinette considered breaking the window to jump out and transform into her Gotham herosona, Lady Chance, she had only been her a few times for rooftop runs and for the few times she had been running late.

“Ahhhh there you are,” Marinette turned back to see the Joker right behind her. He grabbed her dragging her up by her arm, “I need you for a game.”

[thr-333]

Just Another Class Trip :)

Part 1

No, no ignore the smily face i assure you it means nothing foreboding, nothing foreboding at all.

Next >

---------

“It’s suspicious,” Marinette glares as they leave customs.

“What would that be, Mari?” Chloe yawns, not bothering to dedicate her limited remaining brain power apparently.

“Lila,” She whispers back, “She’s been so quiet all the way here,”

“What about how she weaseled her way into first class?” Chloe yawns again, sleep mask resting on her head.

“Or tried to steal your bag,” Kagami says with venom, her having saved Marinette from that disaster.

“Accused you of giving her the wrong flight time,” Adrien adds, somehow being full awake even after their long flight.

“Slipped metal into your pocket so security would go off,” Chloe downright glares at Adrien, but would never admit to the bags under her eyes.

“Came by and woke you up every time you fell asleep,” Kagami looks at her pointedly, shadows under her eyes being her only give away.

“Too quite,” Marinette whispers, the list going largely ignored as they approach the security scan.

“Just relax Mari,”  Adrien pats her shoulder, not enough to break her concentration, “Lila will be so distracted by being in Gotham she won't have time for you,”

Adrien was wrong.

Of course he was wrong.

This is Lila they're talking about.

“Oh Marinette!” Lila all but yells as Marinette is placing her bag in a tray, “I’m so glad you didn’t go through with it,”

Marinette cringes, the security guards all looking her way as Lila dances off. She just sighs as she is escorted away by the airport security, to the protest of her friends and not much else.

“No sir I am not holding any firearms or weapons,” Marinette answers as monotone as possible, the security guard didn’t deserve her ire not matter how tiresome this was getting.

“We interview the source,” Oh no “Apparently you were discussing terrorist activities,”

“I was not sir, Lila must be mistaken,” Yep big mistake, I’m sure that's all it is , “I’m simply here for a class trip,”

“You’re wearing a bulletproof vest,”

Yeah probably should have left that one at home

“My parents are protective, they know how dangerous Gotham can be,” They were not fans of the horror stories Aunt Selina used to tell her from this city, “They insisted I have it as protection,”

While they most certainly wanted her to be safe the vest was more her idea. It was also more for enabling trouble than avoiding it. At least she was trying to be safe about secret crime fighting.

“Makes sense,” He sighs from across the table, checking through some paperwork, “You’re seventeen, here on a class trip right?”

“Yes sir,”

“Well if you’re here on a Wayne funded trip they probably did and extensive background check,” He pauses for a minute looking deep in thought, “Alright then, you can go,”

That seems kind of lax

“Are you sure?”

“We literally have super villains walking through here every other day,” True that, “You’re holding no weapons and have been endorsed by the Wayne's that's better than most people that have been in here,”

“Well if you’re sure,” Marinette stands awkwardly walking to the door as he waves her off, “Is there anything I need to sign, or…”

“Unless I want to fill out extra paperwork, no,” He seems so tired, Marinette wished she could get back at Lila for making his job harder.

“Have a good day then!” She smiles brightly, getting a small one in return.

She leaves, the security guards handing back her bag, fortunately not mentioning the miracle box or her Kwamis. She smiles brightly, even with Lila trying to ruin her trip she could still enjoy her time here in Gotham- and her phone buzzes with an Akuma alert.

With a sigh, Marinette ducks into the nearest bathroom, locking a stall behind her.

“Kaalki,” The Kwami zips out of her bag, “Tikki, Combine,”

With a flash of light followed by another she appears in Paris dropping Kaalki’s transformation.

She looks over the city, some Akuma attacking the Eiffel tower. At least they didn't seem to be the brainwashing type, she didn’t have Chat Noir there to help with crowd control.

With a flip she jumps, planning to kick the Akuma on the way down. They dodge and she lands in front of them instead.

“Well, well if it isn’t the bug,” The Akuma, in a horrible patch work costume mocks, a purple mask appearing over their face, “Hand over your miraculous!”

How about you come and make me Hawkmoth? I promise to stick that cane up your ass

Oh how she wishes she could say just that, but it wouldn't be very Ladybug of her. Why did the younger her have to have a stick up her butt?

“Not today Hawkmoth,” She says instead, making sure to put the practiced amount of enthusiasm into it, “Or any other day for that matter,”

“How are you going to save Paris without your little kitty cat?”

How are you going to beat me with that terrible fashion sense

Besides Chat Noir deserved a break. At least she hoped he was taking a break, he couldn’t tell because of secret identity reasons. It wasn't like she had any right to stop him, she was having a vacation in Gotham right now, and she was out all the time for work. She could manage without Chat for a while, he deserved that much.

“I will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Paris,” Ladybug remembers to answer the question.

“Hand over your miraculous now!” The Akuma lunges at her

I should have chosen a different persona

She dodges the beam of light that can’t mean anything good. Jumping back to get some distance.

Chat Noir had the right idea

She bites back the cutting remark on the tip of her tongue. Instead throw out her yo to wrap around their arm. The Akuma pulls it forward, sending her through the air. She leans into it swinging around to get a better vantage point, studying the monologuing Akuma below.

Maybe I can for Starling

She has created Starling as a vigilante identity to use in Gotham, if the class was ever in trouble. No not if, when . With a sigh she summons her lucky charm getting a table tennis paddle.

Although I’m only meant to use that identity as a disguise to protect the class

The only thing that stood out was the Akuma's hand, she'd have to gather more information before striking.

Maybe Starling can have a word or two with Lila, that could be fun

She drops down in front of the Akuma. They seemed to like monologuing, maybe all she had to do was probe a little bit.

“Why would you want to side with Hawkmoth?”

“This is my family's greatest heirloom it has been passed from generation to generation for centuries, some fool broke it and I was crushed having disappointed all my ancestors!” The Akuma holds up a broach type jewel, “But Hawkmoth- Hawkmoth brought it back and now my greatest and dearest treasure will forever be-”

Ladybug smacks it to the ground, crushing it underfoot.

The Akuma looks at her shocked, letting out a long drawn out gasp. Marinette does not meet their eye as she catches the Akuma. She throws the paddle she used to smack it out of their hand into the air to cast the cure.

I must be really jet lagged, I’m usually at least a little more creative than that, but it worked

She pretends not to see the reporters coming in for interviews, seeing the victim and their broach in one piece. She makes a speedy exit, needing to transport back to Gotham before the class get too ancy.

“I’m sorry the rented bus left a long time ago,” The attendant informed her, looking sorry for the dishevelled teen.

Marinette groaned, so much for running around the airport for thirty minutes with a dead phone. Thanking the attendant she sulks off to collect her bag instead, she’d have to figure another way to the hotel.

She spends another hour hunting down her bag. Chasing after leads of people who might have mistook it. Checking again with Airport security, who again pulled her aside for having a suspicious missing bag. Luckily the security guard before defended her, she brought him a coffee and two for herself.

“Maybe someone will return it?” Tikki whispers, her and Kaalki hidden in the folds of her scarf.

“It’s fine Tikki,” Marinette sighs, halfway through her first cup in under a minute, “I have replicas of all of them anyway, I’ll just grab some samples from the MDC fashion show,”

She’d have to stop by later, the outfits should have been transported last week along with most of her recent catalogue. The only problem was all the other necessities she lost. But that wasn’t a problem, she carried the miracle box in her backpack and that's all that really matters.

“And some of my… special outfits when we go back home,”

She had altered her current outfit to transform into her vigilante disguise. Her scarf pulled up and could be turned inside out into a mask. Her skirt could be transformed into a cape and hood combo. A zip down the middle of the skirt to split it for the cape and a zip up hood that lay flat along her skirt. She simply turned it inside out and wore it around her shoulders. Combined with a bullet proof vest it wasn't half bad, her belt full of weapons could always be hid under her skirt which was a big plus.

She sighs waiting for a taxi in the cold Gotham air, hating it more than most. Although she supposed superhuman strength was a fair exchange for extra cold fingers. Marinette fought to stay awake, she had also been holding Kaalki for so long she was starting to develop the ability to sleep standing up and would doze off randomly. Certainly helpful at times, but not right now.

“Hello,” Marinette is startled out of her drowsiness.

She looks at the hesitant young man before her, looking just as tired as she is.

“Hello?”

“Is something the matter?” Something sparks at the back of her mind, a feeling she often gets from Chloe whenever she is helpful.

Do I look that bad?

“Just a mix up with transportation,” She smiles, he clearly knows it’s fake.

“Do you need a ride?”

“No I’m-” She sighs, what could go wrong getting in the car of a random person in Gotham, “Yes, I do thank you,”

“Over here, I’m Tim by the way” He stifles a yawn, leading her towards a limousine, the door being opened by a driver.

“Marinette, here,” She hands over the extra coffee, “You look like you need it just as much as me,”

Tim looks at her like a god sent, taking the coffee as they reach the limo.

“Good call Alfred,” Tim whispers to the driver, slipping into the car.

“Hello miss, I am Alfred Pennyworth,” She shakes his hand, something stronger fires at the back of her mind, a true holder perhaps? But Chloe was a true holder right?

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” She smiles, trying to assess what miraculous would suit him.

“Best get inside Miss Dupain-Cheng,” She climbs inside at Alfred's behest, “Gotham is awfully cold for a Lady,”

She gets the feeling that is not chivalry.

“Where to Miss Dupain-Cheng?” Alfred asks, already in the driver's seat.

“Wayne hotel please,” She pulls her backpack onto her lap, still regarding Alfred suspiciously.

“Traveling alone?” Tim asks absentmindedly, still nursing his coffee cup.

“I’m here with my class, they left without-” No that's no good , “I got held up they went ahead,”

“Class… staying at the Wayne hotel…” Tim mumbles to himself.

“I believe what Master Tim is trying to ask is if you are part of the Martha Wayne foundation trip,” Alfred informs from the front seat.

“Yeah that,” Tim takes another scalding gulp of coffee.

“Yes I sent in the submission, I’m still surprised we got it,” Marinette had been thrilled at a trip to Gotham, it is where her Aunt Selina lives after all.

“You seem very responsibility Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Alfred complements, “Almost as if you could shoulder the weight of Paris,”

“I didn’t say where I was from,” Marinette tenses getting more than a little unsettled, he seemed to know something more.

“Not to worry, I have close connections with the Wayne's and was aware this years class was from Paris is all,”

“I see,” Marinette nods along, the possible meaning behind the comment still being concerning.

“We forgot your bags!!!” Tim suddenly yells, jumping up and making Marinette jump, they both curse in sync as they spill coffee on themselves.

“It’s alright!” luckily the coffee landed on her black tights, so no noticeable stains, “My bags were stolen,”

“Oh…” Tim relaxes back, “Wait… that's not alright at all!”

“It’s fine, I already have a plan to get some spare clothes and I just need to run to the store,”

“Right… to the Wayne hotel was it?” Marinette nods and Tim starts tapping away at his phone.

She fishes out some wet wipes from her bag, passing them to Tim, who looks confused until she points out the growing coffee stain. With a smile and a few more taps at the phone he takes them off her.

“Left behind and bags stolen, doesn't sound like your Lucky day,” Alfred presses, and he needs to stop, it could be chance, surely its just chance.

“I guess not,”

You don’t know the half of it.

“Well I hope the rest of your day is much better,” Tim bids as they pull up to the hotel.

“Thank you, and thank you so much for the ride,” Alfred opens the door for her to get out.

“Not a problem,” She waves them off, watching them disappear down the street.

They’re nice, probably wont ever get to see them again, thats a shame

“Dick! Holy fuck!” Tim kicks down the door of his brothers room, “I just met the nicest girl who's had the shittest day on earth,”

“First of all welcome back, how was your trip?” Dick greets hanging from the ceiling as Tim takes his desk chair, “Second, what are you talking about?”

“Met a girl at the Airport who didn’t have a ride, she gave me coffee,”

“That's enough to buy your loyalty,” Dick grins, Tim flips him off.

“Listen, she's part of that Martha Wayne Foundation trip and her class left her at the Airport!”

“What?!” Dick drops from the ceiling onto his bed, “Thats so dangerous, especially in Gotham,”

“Right?! She even had her luggage stolen!” Tim pushes the chair over to Dick, “And she was still so nice, even after an eight hour flight!”

“You said she was part of the Wayne foundation trip?” Dick asks, getting a nod from Tim, “Yeah, we are definitely seeing her again,”