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plantsarefun06 · 4 years ago

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The Particular Abilities of Marinette, and Her Discovery of Them Chapter 1: How Marinette Became Alone in the World

MasterPost

Marinette al Ghul was not a wanted child, that was no secret to anyone including herself. She felt the scorn of her Grandfather, and the disapproval of her Mother constantly. But she never thought they would do this. Never thought they would go this far.

Marinette al Ghul is not an al Ghul anymore, and now has to navigate the world with her newfound blindness alone. Well… with the help of a little something she wasn’t expecting.

---

Marinette

mar-in-ette /mar-uh-net/ name-meaning failure, nuisance, waster-of-space, insurance

Or at least that is what her name meant to most. Most being her mother and grandfather.

Her life, or rather sex, was not exactly what either of them wanted. They wanted an heir, with strong blood…

...they wanted a male…

Marinette knew that something was inherently wrong with her. Something that despite her greatest efforts she could not control. But it was a bit sad in a way, how at three years old Marinette was scorned upon by nearly everyone she knew.

Despite this, at three years old Marinette knew many things. She knew the theory behind moth martial arts (very little physical practice, most physical training started at the age of five), she knew that the best way to get information was to keep quiet and spy on the maids (most everyone completely ignored the existence of the handmaids. To the higher ups of the League, they were not even acknowledged above an order, they were often forgotten. Because of this many spoke things in front of handmaidens and servants that would be better kept secret. (it didn’t help that the servants loved to gossip)), and what she knew, better than anyone, was that she was worthless. Or at least worthless to Ra’s.

Despite being his blood, and of the blood of some man he had hoped to be his heir, she was not treated as such. The man who fathered her was apparently a powerful man her grandfather thought highly of, and upon declining such an offer to be his heir, decided that he would have his child. Talia getting pregnant with his child for an heir would be the best option in his eyes.

And it was surprisingly easy. Within three months Talia had announced her pregnancy to Ra’s and the high-ranking generals of the League. Ra’s had never been more pleased.

His plan was going perfectly.

They had gone through all the traditional and ceremonial procedures that had been followed by any women who were pregnant and a part of the League. One of which being, a natural birth, and a blind pregnancy. Blind pregnancy meaning not using any form of technology to observe the baby before the due date.

When Marinette learned that her mother’s pregnancy was blind, she knew that this was the only reason she even existed. And she thanked every single weird old person, and their strange traditions and ceremonies that it was this way.

She saw the way Ra’s looked at her. Lips always curled down, and eyebrows always furrowed in disgust. And he wasn’t subtle with his thoughts of Marinette either. He regularly berated her-publicly-on any and all mistakes she made. Everything from doing a stance incorrectly too not getting sufficient-perfect-marks on her arithmetic tests. She felt the scorn of his voice as he would yell at her for disrespecting him when she looked in his eyes when. Or look at the ground while speaking to him. Or not arrive at certain places on time due to her tutors holding her longer than designated. Or ignoring her tutors and leaving when the official period ends.

She couldn’t do anything right. She physically could not do anything right.

It was constant. It was unforgiving.

She knew that had her mother’s pregnancy not been blind. Had they done an ultrasound and seen her gender.

Ra’s would have ordered an abortion on the spot.

She also knew that Grandfather was very tempted to kill her, regardless of her status as: living, breathing, actively conscious human being.

In addition to the old people and all their weird traditions, Marinette also thanked all of her Grandfather’s associates. While they were labelled ‘Supervillains’ (and rightfully so) they did frown upon killing one’s own blood, and Ra’s couldn’t simply kill her and because some were present at her birth and were aware of her existence.

She, again, thanked every weird old person and their strange transitions that insured she lived past the right old age of one day.

So, Marinette simply existed for one purpose.

Insurance.

She didn’t know who her father was. That was a strictly kept secret that only a few of the higher-up general and close allies knew.

She certainly didn’t. Because what child needs to know who their father was.

In all honesty she really didn’t think about who her father was too often. Only when her Grandfather would curse her existence because ‘You were given great opportunity. Your blood of two powerful lines, and you still fail at the simplest of tasks.’ (She dropped the five-pound katana they placed in her hand. She was two.)

So, she would wonder who this ‘second bloodline’ was. She kind of got the idea her father was probably Caucasian. She had a lot of features that resembled that of a Caucasian child. Then again, her father could be of mixed race considering that mother was Chinese-Arab, and she had many leaning Chinese features and very few Arab at all. So maybe, like mother, he was mixed race and she just ended up getting nearly exclusive Caucasian features.

And apparently whoever was her father didn’t stay with the League because he didn’t like her Grandfather (good judgement. Marinette didn’t really like her Grandfather either. He was mean.), but apparently, Grandfather and Mother’s ‘all else has failed’ plan was for them to use her to manipulate her father.

So yes. Insurance. A pawn in her Mother and Grandfather’s game of chess.

So, Marinette just spent her life as any of the League’s high-ranking member’s children would. Constant training, and education. From five in the morning to nine at night it was an incredibly detailed schedule. One that she abided by every day. No breaks.

Attended basic survival theory and espionage classes, her foreign language lessons (those were her favorite), her basic acrobatics classes (her second favorite classes. She liked to do cartwheels), her academics, and her basic martials arts classes.

The martial arts classes were mostly just stances and ‘the theory behind it all’ and maybe a few punches. The league had a running theme of rather than teaching a person a particular thing- whether it be math, acrobatics, or martial arts- a person would be taught the theory of it and have them understand what it was, then they would build on to that. Effective in teaching those who did understand, and those who didn’t ended up in the fire that burnt all the bodies at the end of the month. It was Marinette’s least favorite day because she was forced to watch it and it always stunk really bad.

She never complained though. Her mother would always stand there too. She didn’t see her mother often. (She didn’t really think her mother liked her.) And her mother would stand stock straight with her hands folded together in front of her, staring at the fire (Marinette didn’t even think her mother blinked! Even when the fire would flash really close and make her face go hot. Mother wouldn’t even flinch. She was kind of scary.)

And so, when her mother would stand stock straight, eyes unmoving on the flames, Marinette would too. She would stand there, stock still, even when the fire would flash up really close to her and burn her face, she would tense up and make herself stand really still.

Just like Mother.

---

Marinette was really happy. Practically bouncing as she walked to the south wing of Nanda Parbat for her mathematics class.

She had just finished with her foreign language professor and had been able to read a Mandarin book aloud in English with perfect accuracy without stuttering once. Once!

Marinette was really proud of herself. After finishing English, the professor said they would move on to French! French! She loved the way French would pronunciate their vowels. How they would roll their tongue whe-

She was immediately snapped out of her thoughts when two large arms wrapped around herself and secured her arms down by her sides. Before she could kick the person, or swivel around to see who grabbed her, or scream, she felt it.

Heat.

Across her eyes, her face.

Hot.

And then she felt it. The most agonizing pain she had ever experienced. Her face felt like it was melting. This wasn’t like the fire. Where it would burst out in little bouts and lick her face. It felt as if someone was taking her face and forcing it in the fire.

And now she screamed.

The weight holding her arms down disappeared and she immediately raised her hands to her face to claw at her eyes where she had felt the heat, and the pain. Her mind was screaming at her a multitude of things. She couldn’t decipher any of them past the pain.

She couldn’t think of anything past the pain.

Her screaming continued and the involuntary clawing never ceased. Even when she felt a hand on her back, and more grabbing at her wrists. Had she been in the right state of mind, she would have realized that the hands were small and frail. She would have been able to figure out that these were most likely handmaidens, or some sort of servant, and not attempted to kick them away from her while she continued to paw at herself.

She felt two arms wrap around her again and force her arms down. She only fought harder. Only kicked more violently, only screeched louder, only clawed more viciously. And in doing so, she completely missed the small pinch in her thigh. Only registered her muscles slowly getting heavier, and the slow progression of it getting harder to fight, and her voice becoming more and more sluggish by the moment.

All until eventually her thoughts slowed, and eventually ceased, and she fell unconscious.

---

The first thing Marinette would perceive was the weight across her chest, holding her down to whatever she was on. The weight was soft. A blanket. The thing she was on was comfortable. A bed.

She was tucked in very tight, and the blanket was secure along her collarbones and chest making it near impossible to wiggle out of, and the only achievable movement being her neck so she could look around the room.

And when she went to do just that. When she went to open her eyes, she… couldn’t? She tried to but she still couldn’t see. So, she tried to open them again. And she… she did? Because she was pretty sure she just blinked, but she still couldn’t see anything.

She kept blinking and blinking and blinking, until Marinette managed to pull one of her arms out from under the covers to touch her face.

Wrinkles.

Like old people.

But Marinette wasn’t old, she was three.

Only old people had wrinkles. Some of her Grandfather’s generals, and some of Mother’s handmaidens had wrinkles, but they were all old. Like fifty.

So really old.

But Marinette still felt the creases and folds around her eyes.

...around the eyes that weren’t working.

Because they were open! She was touching the lid. She was feeling herself blink.

They were open!

She kept blinking and blinking until she could feel with her finger tears running down her face and gathering in the wrinkles.

Wrinkles!

Why were there wrinkles!

Why weren’t her eyes working!

Where was she!

What was the heat!

What was that heat!

She wanted to cry. She kept blinking. A few stray tears. But she really wanted to cry.

She had never cried before, well she supposed at some point she did. A baby’s instinct was to cry, and at some point, everyone was a baby, but she knew that if a baby cried in the League, they were left alone. They would have to learn quickly that if they cried, they would only be ignored. It was the first level of training in the League.

But never in her life had the urge to cry been so intense.

That’s when Marinette let out a shrill scream similar to the one, she let out when she felt the heat, an unknown amount of time ago. And had more and more tears fall as she screamed and started to paw at her eyes again.

---

If you want to know something, you listen to the handmaidens. She knew this. That’s why when the handmaidens came into the room, after Marinette's four-and-a-half-hour breakdown, she pretended to be asleep.

They picked up all the things she had thrown around the room.

Marinette had tried to feel around and find the door after what she could guess was an hour of screaming and crying on her bed, which just turned into screaming and crying while knocking stuff over trying to find the door. And screaming and crying when finding there was no way she could open the door and screaming and crying as she gave up and got back on her bed.

And at some point, the screaming and crying ceased entirely, not a single sniffle not a single sob, and she simply laid in her bed. Eyes closed, just laid there completely limp.

She wasn’t surprised the servants thought her asleep. She didn’t think she would be able to get up if she tried. Didn’t think she would be able to speak. Didn’t think she would be able to even blink.

Her heart rate was slow, and the rising and falling of her chest reflected that, her muscles completely relaxed, and her mind… she didn’t really know where her mind was. It was in this weird limbo of complete dissociation and complete awareness of her surroundings.

It proved to be useful because with the handmaidens believing her asleep, they felt free to gossip. And a handmaiden’s gossip was the gateway to all the secrets of Nanda Parbat.

And that it was.

The more she heard, the more she felt like crying again. Like screaming again. Though she couldn’t. Her eyes stung too much to cry. Her throat throbbed too much to scream. Their words swimming around in her mind, not really piecing together.

Acid attack.

Ordered by the Head of Demon.

An heir had been conceived.

Confirmed male.

Mother had managed to seduce the same man that fathered her again. And to avoid another ‘incident’ they forgoed a blind pregnancy and all the traditions that were performed during her gestation and discovered the baby's gender as soon as it was possible.

Apparently, the baby was in an incubator in an unknown, secure location. (Marinette was confused when she heard that. Weren’t incubators for eggs?)

And with the male child, he was obviously the heir.

But the thing was… he wasn’t.

The only difference between Marinette and the boy was their gender, and many other organizations, like the League of Shadows, had forgone the tradition of male heirs being placed before their female counterparts. Meaning that in the eyes of many of Grandfather’s allies, she had a larger claim to the title of ‘Head of Demon’ than the boy.

Ra’s did not like that. So, Ra’s chose the obvious solution to the predicament…

… he blinded the first born so that they would be seen as ‘unfit’ for the title.

So now Marinette laid still on the bed, as the handmaidens walked around her, cleaning the room and continuing their gossip, a lone tear… the first tear… went down Marinette's face, running over the freshly scarred skin, and falling onto the sheets below.

---

She didn’t know how long she sat in that room. It did not take long to realize she was in one of the quarantine rooms of the medical wings of Nanda Parbat.

It became really evident when she heard footsteps getting closer to her and the people who the footsteps belonged to started prodding at her face, listing off her features:

-the area around the eye is scarred, scars will likely be permanent without immediate intervention

-iris and pupil have lost color, and have remained a ‘cloudy white’ since first procedure

-eye is unresponsive to light stimulation

-irreparable damage to cornea

-optic nerve is seared

Marinette had only started her anatomy classes a couple weeks ago. She didn’t know the words ‘cornea’ or ‘iris’ or ‘optic’ but she did understand the words ‘pupil’ and ‘nerve’, so it took a skip and a hop to come to the conclusion that the other words probably were other parts of her eyes, and she knew that nerve where the parts of her body that had to do with feeling and sensing things.

She also understood what the phrase ‘irreparable damage’ meant.

Her eyes were broken forever, and she couldn’t fix them.

---

The only thing that Marinette knew was that there were the two hands on her shoulders, guiding her through the compound.

They kind of hurt, their fingers were digging into her shoulder blades and the pain was awful, but she wasn’t going to say anything. Even if they would move their hands-which they wouldn’t-their hands on her shoulders were the only thing she knew. The only thing that was grounding her.

She knew most of the compound, but the medical wing was not one of those things. Most of the time if she did get hurt during a training exercise or lesson, she would have to deal with it on her own. The only time she remembered going to the medical wing was when she walked over hot coals and her feet needed to be wrapped for a whole week.

And besides that incident, she had never been in the medical wing before. She didn’t know all the entrances or exits, and unlike the rest of the base, she didn’t know any of the secret passageways that laid in the walls.

She had no idea how to navigate through the wing, and when people started to guide her around, she didn’t know where they were taking her.

I wasn’t until she was stopped and heard the distinct sound of something heavy swinging did, she knew where she was.

She was in her Grandfather’s ‘throne room’.

She didn’t think it would be possible for her to not recognize the sound of the heavy iron doors opening. She absolutely loathed it. Being in this room meant that she was in the presence of her Grandfather. Being in the presence of her Grandfather meant she would get a reminder that ‘she was unworthy of the blood running through her veins’.

And the ‘reminder’ basically just meant that she had to take his scolding while looking down at the ground, because god forbid, she looks in his eyes. (Last time she looked him in the eyes he ordered the guards to take her to the mean doctor. She really didn’t like the mean doctor.)

She felt the hands leave her shoulders and heard the thud of their knees hitting the ground in a bow before Marinette followed suit.

If this time being in the throne room was like her previous times there would be guards lining the wall behind Grandfather, while Mother stood slightly to the right, staring straight ahead devoid of emotion.

And Grandfather would stand front and center, glaring down at her while he condemned her for whatever she did wrong. It was really easy to do things wrong. She often ended up right here, kneeling before him while he berated her, at least once a week.

Despite her eyes not working so she couldn’t see his glare, she could feel it.

She could hear his cape do the little shwoopy thing indicating it was time for him to tell her exactly why she was here. (She was pretty sure it was because her eyes were now broken, but she never really knew with Grandfather.)

His voice boomed across the room and made herself, and everyone else in the room want to shudder, “You have proved yourself time and time again to be unequal to your peers.”

That was true. She knew she was constantly outmatching them, but Grandfather meant that she was doing worse than them. She didn’t know how, but Grandfather always said that she was lacking.

“You have constantly made a mockery of the blood that has flown in your veins.”

She knew that ‘mockery’ meant ‘to misrepresent or imitate something in an absurd manner’, (When she woke up from a nightmare, she would read a part of the dictionary to help calm herself down. It worked really well.) but Marinette wasn’t making fun of being an al Ghul? Grandfather didn’t make sense sometimes.

“And now you have proven your unworthiness by becoming disfigured.”

But Grandfather ordered it? Isn’t that what he wanted?

“And because of that…”

And she could hear the finality in his tone. The kind he used when he decided that going to the mean doctor would be a just punishment. She hated going to him, everything hurt when she was with the mean doctor. Marinette simply started to prepare herself mentally for however long she was ordered to stay with him.

She was hoping it was less than a day. Last time she messed up on her World History exam, and got a subpar score, she stayed with him for a full 24 hours.

It was the longest twenty-four hours of her life.

“...you are hereby expelled from the League of Shadows, and are to be banished from its ranks, and are stripped of your title as an ‘al Ghul’.”

Marinette, despite knowing what happened last time, rose her head in shock. She was processing what he said, and not at all understanding what was happening.

Expelled.

Banished.

Stripped.

She wasn’t understanding why there were suddenly hands on her shoulders. Why those hands were digging into her skin even harder than before.

Those hands were no longer grounding.

Expelled.

Banished.

Stripped.

She didn’t understand why they were dragging her back towards the door.

Expelled.

Banished.

Stripped.

She didn’t understand why they turned left down the corridor rather than right, the way toward the staircases that lead to the mean doctor’s office and the classrooms.

Expelled.

Banished.

Stripp-.

It wasn’t until she felt the cool air of the doors of the courtyard opening that she understood what was happening and started to scream and beg.

“Al Ghuls do not beg! Al Ghuls do not scream!” Her mother’s voice was ringing in her ears of one of her times with the mean doctor. Mother had come down specifically because she could hear her screaming and begging for the doctor to stop.

But right now, those words meant nothing, she was trying anything to get her Grandfather to stop this, to get anyone to stop this.

She tried to dig the heel of her boots into the concrete floors, tried to gain leverage and stop the guards from dragging her away, try and find a way to get away from the men and go back to her room (she wasn’t sure how she would get there; she knew the compound well but not well enough to find her way around without visual aids, but she would find a way).

When she heard the lock mechanism of the gates moving-opening- she stopped fighting.

Maybe it was the snow that was falling on her face, feeling like little pricks against her skin, or maybe it was the crushing realization of what had just happened, or maybe it was both, but she realized then…

...begging would do nothing.

That regardless of her screams and pleads for mercy, she would still be thrown out by her grandfather.

Disowned for something he ordered.

Left to die.

As she laid in the snow outside the gates after being thrown like a rag doll, as the guards who had dragged her out closed them, both guards being on the inside of those gates, leaving her on the other side.

She realized one thing…

… for the first time ever…

… she was truly alone.

[Next]

---

Notes: Updates posted every Wednesday.

Cross posted on AO3.

#maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #blind marinette #bio mom talia #marinette al ghul #league of assassins #ml x dc #mlb x dc #the particular abilities of marinette and her discovery of them #the blindness of marinette

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soulmate-game · 3 years ago

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I've been looking through your archive for 2 hours trying to find that list of your new favorite ongoing fic now that The Great IKEA Game is over and I can't find it 😭😭 would you mind listing it again please??

yeah! in fact, let me make a new list since some of the fics that might have been on last list are on hiatus indefinitely.

First, another completed fic that can be hard to find, but is absolutely wonderful. It's not quite maribat, it's a Miraculous x Marvel crossover, but I figured it was close enough to include.

https://href.li/?https://archiveofourown.org/works/7556938/chapters/17188444

There is also A Bug's Way Home by CocoaKat on A03. It hasn't been updated in a little over a month, but it is still ongoing. Just a hiatus as the author is busy with life rn.

and omg, by far Tiny Tim by LeoLeonte on A03 is my favorite ongoing, regularly updated maribat fic right now. And But Think of the Content! by you_wish_you_knew_8755 on A03 just finished up not too long ago, it's 20 chapters and a real good read.

I haven't been keeping up with reading it, but I know that Look What You Made Me Do by Kiatana6 on A03 is ongoing and I remember liking it. It's just slightly too long for me to justify rereading it right now with all the stuff I have going on in my life, but it is worth a shot if you're looking for a longer story.

And actually, I lied. Tied for first place on my list of favorite ongoing fics right now is actually Bug Bites by thatwritersdream on A03. It's a Mlb x Marvel crossover, not Maribat, but it is sooooo good. I love it so much.

Also The Forgotten One by Alyssa_deliv on A03 is also good, and another huge fave of mine right now is The Particular Abilities of Marinette, and Her Discovery of Them by plantsarefun06 on A03.

Other honorable mentions go to the Resilience in the Face of Adversity series by AboutTheMountains on A03, and Mistakes by Tress_Are_The_Answer on A03.

#ml x marvel #maribat fanfic #maribat #not my fics #fic rec #fic recs #my fic rec list #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #dc x miraculous #ml x dc

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meme991001 · 4 years ago

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Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types, DCU Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Ra's al Ghul, Sabine Cheng & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tom Dupain, Adrien Agreste & Chloé Bourgeois & Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Nino Lahiffe, Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Parents, Nino Lahiffe, Lê Chiến Kim, Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Chloé Bourgeois, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Justice League (DCU) Additional Tags: Maribat Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month, Biological Parent Bruce Wayne, Blind Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Child Abuse, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Toph Beifong, I literally based her off Toph, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, The League of Assassins (DCU), Updates on Wednesday Series: Part 1 of The Blindness of Marinette Summary:

Marinette al Ghul is not an al Ghul anymore, and now has to navigate the world with her newfound blindness alone. Well… with the help of a little something she wasn’t expecting.

#maribat #bio dad bruce #bio!dad bruce wayne #bio!parent

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arlakos · 5 years ago

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Discovery, an Anti-Hero Queen Bee story.

Marinette groaned as she again arrived just in the nick of time into class. With the Bee Miraculous still presumed missing, Hawkmoths Akumas and the rumors of an unknown hero stopping crime gangs, the scarlet heroine in disguise was really tired as of late, to the point where she had little time to do any sketches for new clothing ideas. It honestly felt a bit miserable.

Surprisingly though, being a Guardian was ok, at least for the time being. Fu had left an email and a password for her, revealing a digital copy of the Miraculous book but completely decoded, allowing her to read the book and learn about the Miraculi and the Guardians. Fu also left some videos explaining some important tibits about the order and the Miraculous in the event he could not explain it himself. While she hadn’t got the chance to read the entirety of the book, she hoped that it would help her in stopping Hawkmoth. And hiding the Miracle Box had also been easy as well for the time being.

Still, her easy Guardian Life didn’t help with her considerably more difficult normal and hero lives, as she came into class with an extra-strong coffee and a loud yawn.

“Marinette. I am glad you got here on time, but I do recommend that you set your alarm early.” Ms. Bustier said, with a small frown on her face.

“(Yawn) Sorry Miss Bustier,” Marinette replied sleepily.

Ms. Bustiers face shifted from disappointment to concern. “I also recommend that you take the opportunity to get some proper sleep. While I understand that you have responsibilities outside of school, it should never impact your ability to function. Please do take the time to get some proper sleep. I can call your family to recommend they put you off work for a while if you wish. I understand it can be busy at times at your family bakery.”

“Wha-Nono, it's fine! My family doesn't make me work all the time. I have just been... spending too much time working on some designs! My imagination leaves me up all the time” Marinette lied, hoping she sounded convincing enough. “It’s not an issue, I’ll just stop working on the designs for a while to sleep. Besides, I’m fine now! I’ve got a cup of coffee. See?” she said as she raised her latte.

Ms. Bustier frowned in worry. “Very well. But if you keep coming to school tired, I will have to call your parents.”

“Got it.”

“And drinking a coffee doesn't count as resting. It’s not healthy.”

“Yes Ms. Bustier,” Marinette said as she sat down next to Alya. The bell rings, and everyone gets their books out.

Later on, as they get into some course work, Alya leans into Marinette. “Girl, are you alright? You have been coming into class tired as of late. And coffee? Since when did you like coffee?”

Marinette raised her cup in response “It’s an acquired taste.” she replied as she took another sip, “Besides, like your one to talk.” Marinette said as she points towards Alya’s own.

Alya smiles. “Touche Marinette. Anyway, have I got news for you...”

“What, another Akuma fight? If I had a euro for every time you sent me another video-”

“It’s even better!” She leans into Marinette’s ear “I managed to get a video of the unknown hero!”

“What?!” Marinette refrained herself from yelling as she whisper-yelled to Alya.

“It’s true, I managed to get a video as I went out with my family the other night. Apparently, they managed to stop another drug deal as it was going down. The cops had shown up when I saw the hero leave. I managed to get a recording of the hero leaving, but I couldn't really tell much of it-”

“Ahem! Alya, what did I say about talking in class?” Ms. Bustier said from the front of the class.

Alya sheepishly grinned “Sorry Ms. Bustier. I’ll stop.”

“Please see to it that you do. You have your midterm exams soon, and I want you all to be prepared.” Ms bustier says as she turns to the board, saying the last part to the whole class.

As Bustier is writing on the board, Alya slips a note to Marinette.

“Talk after class.”

Marinette nods and looks at the board...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After class finishes, the two friends sit outside at one of the tables.

“So... the video?” Marinette asks.

Alya nods, and shows the video of the hero leaving the crime scene, Alya pauses on a part where the details are much more clearer.

“Sorry, this was all I could get. They were really far, and the quality started to drop. Isn’t it exciting?!”

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.” Marinette says as she squints her eyes at the picture.

“Girl? You ok?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Hey, could you send me a copy?”

“Sure! No problem! Normally you don’t really tend to like these kinda things but that new hero does seem interesting huh?”

“Yeah. They are.” Marinette says as the looks the image on her own phone.

Based on the look of the hero, it was clear from the get-go that the hero was female, given the particular body shape. So with that far being known, that narrows the search down by half, which was still a lot.

What was interesting about the hero was that the suit had none of the key characteristics that most of the other heroes had about their costumes. Even from the glimpse in the book about the Miraculi, it had little to no identifiable markings of what animal it represented. The suit seemed to be mostly a black or very dark color, and despite it seeming to have a few bright-colored stripes, it was impossible to tell what color they were as there was very little lighting.

Worse still, the hero was wearing a helmet, so it was impossible to tell if the hero was wearing a miraculous on their head.

So this left Marinette with some details

1.The hero was a female.

2.The suit had no identifiable markings, color scheme, or miraculous, so its possible that the wielder wasn’t a miraculous wielder.

3. Another possible idea was that Hawkmoth kept the Bee Miraculous and that he akumatised someone with it to be his agent to infiltrate the team. Although considering that the hero made no move to get close to the miraculous team, it was very unlikely. Though it could just also be possible that Hawkmoth hated drugs. That would be a shocker.

“So, what do you think?” Alya asked.

“It’s cool Alya. I just think there isn’t much info for you to go by with anything.”

“But still! Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a new hero?! Fighting alongside the forces of Ladybug and Cat Noir and Rena...” Alya trailed off, as her smile shifted into a frown.

Marinette reacted normally, but inside she grimaced. After Lila joined Hawkmoth, she had to tell the heroes what had happened to them after the battle, and how it was likely none of them could become heroes again due to the risk of Hawkmoth knowing who they were. Alya had taken it the worst, with her crying on Nino’s shoulder after the explanation. Alya had ended up taking out her anger on the now-abandoned Lila after the events. Marinette wasn’t sure what had happened, but after Alya left the bathroom after she had confronted Lila, the latter came out later with tears on her face and a look of fear. She had ended up leaving school a week later and moving to another one nearby, which she assumed was because of Alya threatening Lila with something, likely threatening to reveal her as a willing accomplice working with Hawkmoth.

Marinette however, waited normally and waited for her to recover.

“S-So! Still. A new hero huh?” Alya said although Marinette could tell she was not in the mood like before.

“Are you ok Alya?”

“N-nothing! I-I’m fine. I-I...I have to go.” Alya said as she ran off to the bathroom.

Marinette looked at the retreating Alya with worry, before looking at the photo containing the masked hero...

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“Tikki?”

“Yes, Marinette?”

Marinette finally returned home after the long day of studying.

“Is it possible for a miraculous wielder to change their outfit’s colors?”

“Well yes, Marinette. Any wielder can change the design of the outfit to fit their-”

“I’m not talking about the design, I’m talking about the colors. Can they change those?”

“Huh, why do you ask?” Tikki says as she munched on a macaron.

“This new hero that has come out... she started to appear after Hawkmoth akumatised Miracle Queen, but she doesn’t seem to be anyone I know of... the suit she has also had stripes.” Marinette says as she shows Tikki the photo.

Tikki glances at the photo, then back at Marinette. “Why is that important?”

“Because only Queen Bee has stripes Tikki, or at least stripes of those type.”

“They didn't look yellow though. Are you sure its Chloe? It could just be some other person. Besides, I don’t think they were wearing a miraculous.”

“I dunno. I mean, I never saw her wear a miraculous to school, but that doesn’t mean that she couldn’t have worn it. So Tikki, is it possible that a suit can change colors?”

“Hmm... I don’t know?”

“You... don’t?”

“Nobody has ever tried it. For the most part, all wielders have chosen their designs based on what they are comfortable with, but none of them have ever attempted to change the color of their suit. It might be possible, but nobody has ever tried to do so.

“Well, if we are going to find out, there’s only one way to do so. Tikki, spots on!”

As Tikki entered the miraculous, Marinette focused.

‘Ok Miraculous. Please make my suit to be as stealthy as possible. I don't care how you do it, just make sure it works and that it has little of my color as possible As far as I’m concerned, I want no one to be able to recognize me as Ladybug!’

A bright flash emanated the room, and as the light fell, Marinette looked at herself in the mirror... and shock filled her body.

If Ladybug's bright, spandex covered body was the most detectable outfit she could have made, then this outfit was the complete opposite. The suit’s color was almost completely gone, leaving a black suit with dark red rings, but unlike the other suit, weren’t completely filled.

Her face, however, was also indistinguishable from her normal Ladybug self. She wore a hood over the top of her head, and her mouth was covered by a face mask, though it did not impact her breathing. Her mask was still there, but the red was extremely darker than usual.

To sum it all up, she looked nothing like her usual self.

“Tikki...Spots off.” Marinette said though it was a surprise when the mask changed her voice somewhat to sound different. As the suit fell, Tikki came out in shock.

“Oh my... you really can change the color of the outfit.”

“Yeah Tikki... but now this just makes the situation worse. It’s likely that whoever is the hero is using the bee miraculous, as we now know it can be disguised.”

“But that still doesn’t answer the question of who the person is. For all we know, it could be someone else.”

“Hmm... maybe,” Marinette said to herself. She suddenly ran off and grabbed her phone, along with photo book

“But I know someone who can help. Tikki, spots On!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max Kante smiled to himself as he finished making the final adjustments to Markov’s power container. As he closed the panel and replaced the rechargeable power back, Markov came back online.

“So... how do you feel?” Max asked.

“Quite efficient!” Markov declared making a spin in the air. “Thanks to the modifications you made, I know consume power at a rate of 20 percent less than the previous design. According to my calculations, I should be able to remain functional for up to an additional hour!”

“I’m glad! But it shouldn’t be a major problem for now! Let's go and recover Markov, I have to be ready tomorrow for another day of test revision.”

Max went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, afterward he slipped into a pair of pajamas as he felt the air from the open window on his body-

Wait a second, Max didn’t open his window-

“Max!”

Max yelled as a person dressed in black appeared in his hindsight. Max fell backward in shock

“Ah! Who are you? What do you want?! Please don’t take my stuff, I have been working on a new gadget for too long to lose it! Max, activate the-”

“Nono, please stop! I’m- goddamn this stupid mask and its voice change!” The intruder said before they pulled it down, revealing a familiar face to Max. “I’m Ladybug.”

“Ladybug? Oh thank god you’re not here to steal my stuff. Speaking of which, why are you here and what is with the change in the outfit? According to my calculations, there is a 95% chance that people would mistake you for a criminal-” Max said before being interrupted.

“Yeah I know, I was trying something different with the outfit and I forgot to change it back. But that’s not the problem. I need your help.”

“Oh sure,” Max said as he stood back up “What is the issue.”

“I found from an anonymous source a picture of the hero that has been working at night. It’s pretty low rez, but I was hoping you could help me find out who it was?”

“That is possible, but what’s with the worry.”

“I have a feeling that the person is the wearer of the Bee Miraculous. That Miraculous was lost when Hawkmoth akumatised Lila into Miracle Queen”

“...That is a good point.” Max said after a brief pause. “Alright, send me the photo.”

Ladybug used her yoyo to send the picture to Max, having gotten the photo from her own phone. Max plugged his phone into the computer, and the image showed up.

“Normally, such photos would be impossible to be recognized from a distance. But thankfully as it is still digital, I can use my enhancement application to clear up the photo and make it more visible. Also, it's really good for photoshop.”

As Max got to work with the app, a minute later, the image started to finally become clearer. Ladybug could see the stripes on the outfit, and although they were positioned differently, she could clearly see they were yellow, a trait shared only with the Bee Miraculous. Though the person wasn’t wearing a miraculous

“There, does this help in your goals?” Max, asked.

“Not yet,” Ladybug replied.

Marinette gave Max a photo.

“I got this from a girl named Marinette, who takes a lot of photos of your class.”

Max took the photo in confusion. “This is a picture of Chloe. Why would you-” realization crossed his face. “Oh. So you think this new hero is Chloe.”

Ladybug nodded. “Not entirely, but I have to be sure. Do you or Markov have an app that can match body types.”

“Uh... W-Well not at the moment but-”

“Not to worry!” Markov exclaimed to Ladybug. “We should be able to come up with an app with that function pretty soon. If you give us at least 16.5 hours and 10 minutes, not only will the app be done, but we should have the results for you as well. Since we already have your hero contact number, we’ll send you the results as soon as possible.

Ladybug smiled. “Thank you Markov. And thank you Max, for helping with the image.”

“Not a problem, we’ll have the results after school for you.”

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The next day Marinette had class as usual with Alya, who for the most part recovered from yesterday, but still seemed melancholic. Still, it didn't stop them from spending the rest of the day as normal.

For lunch, however, Alya was busy doing something, so Marinette was left alone to eat by herself.

As Marinette was finishing off her sandwich, she saw Chloe sitting by herself on another table, probably deciding for once to eat at school instead of the hotel. Marinette decided to take an opportunity. Marinette walked up to her at the table.

“Hi Chloe.”

Chloe turned to Marinette. “Dupain-Cheng” she replied rather cordially, although a little surprised.

Marinette was a little shock expected a sneering voice instead of a non-insulting tone, but it either Chloe wasn’t in the mood today, or she actually was trying to be nice. ‘Though to be fair, it was probably the former,’ Marinette thought as she looked at Chloe.

“I’m sorry, is there something on my face? Spit it out, I’m in the middle of having lunch.”

‘And there it is,’ Marinette though. Sighing, she pulled out her phone. “Sorry Chloe, I just wanted to show you something. I got this photo a couple of days ago. I just wanted to see if you recognized the person in the photo.”

With a raised eyebrow, Chloe carefully took the phone from Marinette and had a look at the image. While she was looking, Marinette was noting if Chloe seemed to recognize the person in the photo or anything else that could give her away.

Chloe however, seemed just as confused by it as she was because she showed no signs of recognition. ‘Either that or she is really good at hiding it,’ a doubtful part of her mind though.

“It’s a person wearing a suit and a helmet. What am I supposed to know about it?”

“Me and Alya were talking the other day.” Marinette said “We were having a look at the image, and the suit, while mostly black, happened to have some bright colored stripes. Naturally, the image was taken in the dark, so we couldn’t be sure. But they did seem to be… yellow.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Look. I’m going, to be frank. We think the person was using the Bee Miraculous.”

That seemed to get a reaction out of Chloe. Her eyebrows frowned, she was gritting her teeth as she stared down angrily, and her fist was trembling, as well as the rest of her body. For a second, Marinette was worried she pressed the wrong button.

Instead, however, Chloe let out and angry puff and slumped. “So I got replaced, huh?”

“What?” Marinette asked.

Chloe looked at Marinette. She recomposed herself, but it was obvious she was still angry. “I don’t know who that person is, Marinette. Ladybug hadn’t given me the miraculous since that day with Sabrina. I had hoped that after that day, that Ladybug would have called me again to help her. It wasn’t like I was the only one with their identity revealed, Kagami was as well! But I’m guessing this pic made it final huh?”

“Well, it doesn’t make sense. Why would Ladybug give a person a miraculous if they don't even help with the akuma-”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!” Chloe yelled. Seeing the outburst attracted some attention, Chloe calmed down again, though she was clearly at her limit. “I thought I knew Ladybug. That she was kind and amazing, and that she thought of me as a friend. But it seems like I don’t. Not with this new ‘hero’ running around with my miraculous.” Chloe said angrily, as though expecting it belonged to her. “It seems Ladybug has her own secrets. Perhaps she is not as trustworthy as people think if she can just leave people like her name is Audrey-” Chloe stopped as if realizing what she was about to say. Marinette grimaced as she realized what she had done to Chloe

“Chloe-” Marinette started to speak, only to be cut off by Chloe’s raise of a hand.

“I really don’t want to talk about it. Thank you Marinette, thanks to you, I learned that i was unceremoniously replaced, abandoned by Ladybug just like my Mom and that Ladybug seems to have her own secrets to keep, and I also lost my appetite.” Chloe started to pack away the remains of her lunch. “I think I’ll go for a walk now. Have a good day Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Chloe I am so sorry-”

“Just. Go.”

Chloe walked off, and Marinette stood there feeling more confused and sad than ever, and with more questions than answers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Marinette was walking home when Tikki popped up from the bag.

“Max has sent a message! I think he’s got the results ready!”

So this was the moment of truth.

Marinette slipped into a nearby alleyway, and with a flash of light, Ladybug jumped from the top of the alleyway onto the nearest rooftop. Opening the yoyo, Ladybug looked at the screen that popped up and hesitated.

Ladybug hoped that she was wrong, that she was wrong with the belief that Chloe was this masked assailant. Chloe didn’t seem to carry around a miraculous around with her in school, else she probably would have bragged about having it with her or try to keep it close to her. Plus Chloe seemed genuinely torn apart when Marinette presented the knowledge that the person was wearing the Bee miraculous instead of her and believing that Ladybug had abandoned her, which had left Marinette with a sore feeling for the rest of the day. Sure, it was still a big issue on who the masked hero was and where the Bee miraculous was, but at least it meant that Chloe was being honest.

Still, one way or another, Ladybug had to know the truth. Ladybug opened the message and began reading.

HELLO THERE. MAX HERE.

LIKE I PROMISED, MARKOV WAS ABLE TO DEVELOP A PROGRAM TO ANALYSE THE BODY SHAPES OF THE MASKED ASSAILANT AND CHLOE TO SEE IF THEY MATCHED. IT UNFORTUNATELY TOOK A WHILE TO DO SO, AS WHEN ANALYSING THE IMAGES, THE WAS SOME SORT OF ERROR IN THE SYSTEMS THAT KEPT PREVENTING US FROM LOOKING AT THE IMAGES.

LUCKILY MARKOV HAD IDENTIFIED THE EFFECTS OF THE ERROR AND CONCLUDED WITH A 99% CONFIDENCE IT WAS SOME SORT OF MAGICAL GLAMOUR THAT IS GENERATED TO PROTECT THE MIRACULOUS WIELDERS, WHICH LIKELY CONFIRMS THE THEORY THAT THE MASKED INDIVIDUAL IS EQUIPPED WITH A MIRACULOUS.

UNFORTUNATELY, THIS MEANT WE HAD TO DEVELOP A SUBPROGRAM TO HELP REMOVE THE DISTORTION ERRORS, BUT EVEN THEN I HAVE NO CLUE IF THE PROGRAM HAS DONE ITS JOB SUCCESSFULLY, AS THERE WERE A LOT OF GLITCHES BEING CAUSED BY THE GLAMOU, AND IT COULD ALSO HAVE BEEN FABRICATED BY THE MAGIC.

IN ANY CASE, HERE ARE THE RESULTS

CHEERS

MAX AND MARKOV

RESULTS

ANALYSIS

UNKNOWN INDIVIDUAL=CHLOE BOURGEOIS - 95% SIMILAR BODY TYPES

P<0.05 -STATISTICALLY VIABLE

….

Ladybug almost wanted to throw the yoyo onto the ground.

Ladybug sent the results to her actual phone, put the yoyo away, and zipped back home, all the while ignoring the feelings of anger, betrayal, and sadness that welled up within her.

Ladybug stopped by the bakery and dropped into the alleyway. Ladybug transformed back into Marinette and entered the side bakery door.

“Hello my little flower? How was you da-” Tom said with a smile, but was quickly brushed aside by Marinette.

“Not right now papa!” Marinette said as she stormed past him.

“Marinette!” Sabine said in shock and anger. “What is the matter with you-” Upon seeing Marinette’s face filled with tears, Sabine's face softened into worry and concern. “Marinette did something happen at school today?”

Marinette shook her head, although with the tears in her face it didn’t give much satisfaction to her parents worried. “No there wasn’t. I-I just can't talk about this! I’m sorry!”

Marinette quickly marched up to her room, opening and closing the hatch to her room hurriedly.

Marinette threw her bag onto her bed, sat in her chair and started sobbing. Tikki flew out of the bag a moment later, with worry visible on her face.

“Marinette-”

“She lied to me Tikki. She looked at me and lied straight to my face! Both as Ladybug and as Marinette!”

“Marinette, calm down, you need to think about this rationally-”

“Calm Down? Calm Down?!” Marinette angrily said as she stood up from her chair “You saw the results! I had been entrusted by Master Fu to keep the box of the Miraculi safe! Just one miraculous being lost was enough for someone like Hawkmoth to grip the city with fear! With Mayura helping him, we almost lost had Fu not given up his memories to prevent Hawkmoth from finding out who we were! What would happen if there was a third one missing and used in bad hands, without me knowing where it was?!”

“Marinette, nothing has happened for you to warrant acting this way! Chloe may have taken the miraculous, but there haven’t been reports of her doing anything bad! Even if she did deceive you, there’s no excuse for you to act like she could go bad at any moment.”

“But what if she does?! What if Hawkmoth akumatises her and takes the miraculous from her?! What if she decides to use her powers for her own gain, or Mayura persuades her to join them when I have no idea where the Miraculous is! She stole the Miraculous Tikki, without my knowledge! And I’m not going to let her get away with it.”

“Then, what are you going to do?!” Tikki said frustratingly.

“I’m going to go to that hotel and take back the miraculous, that’s what!”

“You can’t! If you go to the hotel with the way you are now, they’ll assume you have gone rogue. And if you attack Chloe while she is surrounded by hotel staff, you could risk someone being akumatised!”

Marinette paused for a moment. “You’re right,” she said calmly, though tense. “I can’t do that.”

Tikki sighed. “Thank you, Marinette. Now, let's take some time to calm down. Let’s draw a couple of things, listen to some music, and tonight we can talk to Chat Noir and discuss this- Wait.” Tikki turned to see Marinette walk away. “Where are you going?!”

Marinette walked to the other side of the room and grabbed a chest, opening it to reveal the miracle (egg) box. Tikki watched as she pressed the spots on the egg, which opened to reveal the miraculi inside. Marinette took a nearby bag and started taking the Miraculi out. The Fox, turtle, dragon, monkey, snake, and Horse miraculous all went into the bag. Marinette almost reached for the bunny miraculous, but instead left it there.

“Marinette, what are you doing?”

“Chloe has been making appearances at night. One the same days we don’t have patrol. Tonight is one of those nights. I’ll sneak off to give everyone their respective miraculi, and with everyone there, we’ll sneak up and take back the Bee! Then everything will go back to normal. As it should be.” Marinette said confidently as she zipped up the bag.

“Wait Marinette, don’t do this. We should talk about this-”

“Not this time! I lost my mentor, my team, and almost my partner because of everything. I won’t hesitate! Tikki , Spots on!”

Tikki was reluctantly sucked into the miraculous, and Ladybug stood in Marinette’s place, this time wearing the stealth suit.

As it was now the afternoon, and very dark, Ladybug zipped out of her room into the night. Going to where Alya (and by extension Nino, who was with her tonight) should be, Ladybug resolved never to let anything like this happen again. She would take down Queen Bee, take the Bee Miraculous back, and everything would be back to normal, everything safe and sound. And she would never let Chloe touch the Bee miraculous again.

For the first time since losing her Master and friend, Ladybug was angry

And she was out for blood.

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That was the first part of a two-part story. Confrontation (the second chapter) should be done sometime later! If anyone has any questions about the AU, feel free to send an ask about the AU and I’ll try to reply as soon as I can! No spoilers about the next part though (even if I did point it out in my first AU post).

Also many thanks (as always!) to @twin-books, who helped me polish the ideas about my AU and has always been there to help!

#Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug AU #Season 4 AU #long-fic #Anti-Hero Queen Bee AU #A fair bit of Angst #Chloe redemption

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maribat-calendar-events · 3 years ago

Text

Maribat Awards: Best Maribat Multi-Chapter Fic 2021

Winner:

The Particular Abilities of Marinette, and Her Discovery of Them by plantsarefun06

Runner Ups:

How A Demon Commissions An Angel by @alixanonymous

Even the Losers by @mochegato

Teleporting Into Your Life by @izanae

Hoodwinked by @izanae

A Welcoming Change by Brinxiethebear

Tiny Tim by LeoLeonte

Nominations List:

https://maribat-calendar-events.tumblr.com/post/673549205008236545/maribat-awards-2021-best-multi-chapter-fic

#maribat #dc x mlb #maribat event #mlb x dc #maribat community #maribat au #damian x marinette #jason x marinette #dick x marinette #tim x marinette #maribat awards #maribat awards 2021 #maribat creator spotlight #maribat creation spotlight #maribat highlights #maribat news #marinette x batfam #maribat calendar events

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maribat-calendar-events · 3 years ago

Text

Maribat Awards 2021 Best Multi-Chapter Fic

Teleporting Into Your Life by @izanae

Neighbours Before The House by MorganMacCallum

#NewestWayne is trending folks by FanFiction_Artist_Prototype

Hoodwinked by @izanae

A Welcoming Change by Brinxiethebear

Swipe Right? by @boldlyanxious

How A Demon Commissions An Angel by @alixanonymous

Stalker X Stalker by Oliviaandersonisntmyrealnamelol (@olivia-anderson-fanfic)

The Particular Abilities of Marinette, and Her Discovery of Them by plantsarefun06

Harley's Plea for Help by @catthhay

Tiny Tim by LeoLeonte

I Would Like One Family Please by @celestial-void-the-3rd

MDC Sings by you_wish_you_knew_8755

Even the Losers by @mochegato

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plantsarefun06 · 3 years ago

Text

MasterPost

The Blindness of Marinette-Series

[INCOMPLETE]

Maribat, Biological Dad Bruce Wayne

The Particular Abilities of Marinette, and Her Discovery of Them ~ AO3

Main Story [Complete, Sequel in the works]

1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9 ~ 10 ~ 11 ~ 12 ~ 13 ~ 14 ~ 15 ~ 16 ~ 17 ~ 18 ~ 19 ~ 20 ~ 21 ~ 22 ~ 23 ~ 24 ~ 25 ~ 26 ~ 27 ~ 28 ~ 29 ~ 30

The Creation of Lazarus ~ AO3

[Prequel to ‘The Particular Abilities of Marinette’, but both works can be read independently]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

One-Shots

They Were Wrong ~ AO3

Maribat, Daminette [TW: Suicide, Self-harm]

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plantsarefun06 · 3 years ago

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The Particular Abilities of Marinette, and Her Discovery of Them Chapter 12: [Bonus Chapter] Dreams

[Inspired By]

[First] [MasterPost] [AO3]

Lewis Carroll had always had strange dreams. They were always a bit… funny?

He’d have what he could guess would be considered ‘normal’ dreams. Ones where he would go about his day, or maybe he would be in some scary situation, or strange abnormal situations he found himself in. Once he dreamed he went the entire day only wearing an overcoat! Little absurd things.

But he had always had those… other dreams. The ones a bit more… wonky?

They had been recurring since his early childhood, really they’d be happening as long as Lewis could remember. While all his other dreams consisted of him as himself, these dreams were always in the body of another person. Or more, he was another person. He was never ‘Lewis’, though he didn’t know who he was.

He had been perplexed and fascinated by his dreams since he was a child, but they always seemed to disappear from his mind a few hours after his awakening. So he had made a habit of writing his dreams down on sheets of parchment and keeping them all together. No one knew where dreams came from, what caused them, only theories. Most people just thought it was your own mind coming up with the things you saw.

But Lewis had no clue how his mind could come up with something so nonsensical.

He quite enjoyed going back and reading what he had written, most of the time it would dredge up the forgotten memory of the strange dream. Though he found the dreams never became clearer. Always… whimsical if you may. Always quite odd, voices were always high, colors too vivid, shapes never uniform, the moon would even sometimes become a smile! There was even a rabbit with a pocket watch! In fact, there was always a rabbit with a pocket watch!

Where did his mind get the idea of a rabbit with a pocket watch? It was absolutely absurd!

His dreams were sometimes filled with incredibly old things, and sometimes incredibly new! Astonishingly strange as well! Lewis sometimes questioned if his dreams were him possibly seeing through time with some of the things he witnessed.

Everything, every absurd, every nonsensical thing he wrote down on a sheet of parchment and stuck into a box under his bed.

When asked to do so, he would tell stories of his recorded dreams to his friend, the Dean of Oxford’s, daughter on boating trips. He could never remember the names of the individuals he was in the dreams, so he simply used hers.

She enjoyed the tales so much she requested him to write them all down into a book.

So, he simply did. He pulled out the box from beneath his bed and got to writing them into a complete story.

It was truly a hodge-podge of all the different dreams put together. Made absolutely no sense and could drive a man mad reading if he truly attempted to understand.

He started with the dream of a girl who fell down a hole in the woods while following the rabbit with a pocket watch! Oh, and in the dream he was always wearing pale blue and white, she’d have to wear blue and white as well!

Oh and he had to add the cat! He had to add the cat. The one that was extremely chaotic. Loved to make riddles, and poke fun. But black wasn’t nearly as whimsical… purple and pink! He’d make the cat vibrant purple and pink striped.

He’d include the singing flowers! he'd have her walk into a garden and sing with the flowers, just like in his dream.

Oh! And there was once a person who turned as small as a mouse! He had only dreamed of it once but had written it down in detail. She could become minuscule as well! He could also make her as big as a house! Oh, yes he’d have to write that.

And the tea party! He’d write about the tea party! The one with the hat maker, who was more than a little odd. And the tea set that moved on its own accord!

Oh and he’d have to add the Queen. He’d have to add the Queen with a big dress, and who hated everyone. That dream in particular was very unclear, but he did recall bits and pieces!

He’d have to write it all just as bright, as strange, and as whimsical as his dreams truly were!

And then, in the end. She’d wake up, and discover it was just a dream.

Just as he always had.

He packed up the book, along with all the absurd illustrations he had made. He wanted to show this to her right away! A truly absurd book he had made at her request. But first, a title. What could he name it? Dreams? Didn’t make sense with the book. An Absurd Tale? No, the name should be as questionable and curious as the book.

Ah, he had the perfect idea for the name.

Alice in Wonderland.

[Next]

---

[Notes:]

I wanted to give a little look into what it’s like for an unawakened Huashen to exist. I wanted to show how they see their dreams. I wanted to show how they see their ‘dreams’ compared to an awakened one. Hoe Lewis sees his dreams in distorted shapes, sounds, and colors. More like an acid trip. How they see what they are and are completely oblivious to it, and how they go about completely normal lives! But there was no way I could really fit it in without being awkward, so here’s a lovely little bonus chapter!

BTW: I did research on this when I was writing this short blurb. Lewis Carroll has pedo vibes. I’m aware. I always wanted to write Lewis Carroll as a Huashen, that is simply unawaken, and I kind of got a chance here. But I did just want to say, this man is creepy. I was a bit hesitant before posting because I don’t like pedos, but I really like this idea, and really wanted to write it!

---

Tag List:

@frieddonutsweets @moon5608 @ihatecomingupwithusernameswtf @adrestar @galla02006 @bygge00 @alyssadeliv

#maribat #ml x dc #mlb x batman

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