#why does she not care that marinette just saw a man die

[nemaliwrites]

utterly UTTERLY fascinated by Nathalie in the london special (and I say this as someone who wasn’t all that compelled by her before)

I’ve changed, she says - and proves it. When both the miraculouses she’s been looking for are right in front of her, she doesn’t take them. Doesn’t even try to. As though it doesn’t occur to her.

I’m not a mother, she says - but when she sees a child in pain, her first instinct is to hug them.

I’ll go to jail, she says - once again, arguably, taking the easy way out. That way, she doesn’t have to keep looking in Adrien’s eyes every day. She can feel her own guilt in peace, with no one else’s to mingle in with it.

Adrien will be okay because he has you, she says - to a child with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Nathalie doesn’t even try to lessen that burden; instead, she makes it all the more heavier.

I’m here to kill Gabriel, she says - and then what?

[gale-gentlepenguin]

So I have been seeing interesting discussion on the endings of Gabriel. The miraculous movie vs The season 5 finale ending.

-And the criticisms for the movie ending are valid, Marinette/Ladybug’s conflict is a lot less personal (cause time constraints)

-Gabriel technically defeated himself

-There wasn’t enough build up for the climax to feel satisfying unless you knew the show.

-Marinette’s personal involvement felt minimal to nonexistent. (She never met Gabriel)

-The powers are inconsistent

The wrap up was too quick

And these are legitimate criticism, especially because we never have Marinette interact with Gabriel once. Something that should have happened.

I can understand how that ending could feel unsatisfying.

Then we have the season 5 finale, which has the opposite problem

-It involves Marinette so much that Adrien is completely sidelined as a response.

-Gabriel ‘Wins’ but according to the writers he lost. (I saw the commentary. I vehemently disagree with there interpretation)

-Adrien never finds out about any of this

-Lila feels shoehorned in as the season 6 badguy

So I thought about both sides more, rewatched the S5 finale and the ending with these new perspectives and… I still prefer the movie ending more than the finale.

But why is that? Objectively speaking The movie is much more flawed and has very littler personal investment of Ladybug vs Hawkmoth. Something that movies don’t often do.

While The show has built up this personal conflict between Gabriel/monarch and Marinette/ladybug

By all logic I Should prefer the show ending.

But I don’t, and it’s precisely BECAUSE of the reasons I listed.

Movie! Marinette’s lack of personal connection to fighting Gabriel allowed me to focus on Gabriel’s motive and his interaction with his son. His genuine care of his son being his downfall MADE sense. Marinette was focused on saving her partner than fighting a villain, which the movie showed to be more of the core of the movie. Even foreshadowing the “Save one Life, save the world” line. And it even fits the fairy tale theme ML tries to go for.

Meanwhile the Show’s ending had a really good fight at the core with Marinette and Gabriel clashing. The fight between Monarch and Bug noire is one of the best in the series… BUT it’s because of this conflict that the ending feels so GUT WRENCHINGLY awful. Because it’s just another case of Marinette failing to stop Gabriel from doing what he wanted. Gabriel may have changed his initial wish, but he still basically did what he always did, cease power and leave Marinette to clean up the mess.

Even taking Adrien out of the equation doesn’t help fix the ending. Because Gabriel still did what he wanted. Gabriel gets a statue, he gets to die seen as a hero that he never was. He is seen as a good man. And it leaves Marinette having to let Paris think that. We don’t see Marinette doubting this, we don’t see opposition or even a question on it. It’s Marinette once again doing what she always does, taking on the burden.

Ah but the difference is that ML still has more seasons. This could all be subject to change. People could find out the truth. The wish has consequences.

And that is correct. There are consequences. And do you know who will face those consequences? Marinette. Because she always does. That’s what the show Always does.

The movie ending also has a potential sequel, but at least there, Marinette and Adrien don’t have secrets, Fu is still there, and the weight of reality doesn’t hang on Movie Marinette’s shoulders only.

And I think that’s what it comes down to.

It’s because I love Marinette that I hate how she has to fail after all her efforts and would rather have an ending that has less personal stakes for her if it means she can be better off as opposed to this drama bomb that basically left her back as the one with the weight of reality on her shoulders.

[flightfoot]

One thing that has always bothered me about the Agreste family dynamic are the weird honorifics. The few times when Adrien speaks of Emilie, he never refers to her as Mere/Mother. Always Mom/Maman. This is most clear when he finds her in Chat Blanc or mistakes Amelie for her and refers to her informally as Mom/Maman.

Gabriel, on the other hand, he usually refers to formally as Father/Pere. I have to wonder what Emilie’s thoughts were about this. Why would she allow the difference? Similar dynamics in her childhood household? Gabriel’s insistence?

There’s also evidence that Gabriel used to allow Adrien to use Dad/Papa. It’s evident sometimes when Adrien refers to him as Dad/Papa when he is not around, but most evident in Stormy Weather 2 when Adrien strolls in without thinking, excited about his last photo shoot and speaks to him informally offhand. Gabriel glares at him and he immediately corrects himself, but the fact that he so easily called him Dad/Papa when he wasn’t thinking leads me to believe he must have been allowed to call him that before.

So what happened? Did Gabriel, after Emilie’s death, forbid him from using it and WHY? Was it a privilege that he took away one day because Adrien disappointed him somehow and he just never gave it back? Why would he distance himself from his own son to the point of not allowing him to refer to him casually? Is he really that much of a control freak that he is content to hold it over his head?

I just really have a hard time reconciling the kind man/father that Gabriel supposedly was prior with who he is now. It’s hard to believe he ever genuinely cared for Adrien in a healthy manner. I’m more inclined to believe he was faking being a decent father so Emilie would be happy, that he never actually felt the need to be compassionate toward his son. Especially after his thinly veiled blackmail in ‘Illusion’ but signs of this have been present since the Bubbler when he did not personally get or give Adrien a birthday present, couldn’t even spare him a birthday greeting and saw fit to target his best friend on that day of all days- his first birthday after his mothers death. Hell, even when Emilie was alive, it’s implied that Gabriel forgot his birthday multiple times. Sometimes I feel like the writers want him to be more humanized and sympathetic as a dad with these Marinette parallels, but he just heavily reads ‘sociopath’ to me. Instead of making me more sympathetic to him, the parallels make me nervous for Marinette. Like “so does this mean she’s going the sociopathic narcissist route too?”

I would love to know more about the Agreste family's dynamics when Adrien was younger, like you said there are some hints that they were once closer, but also that things have been... not great for a long time.

Personally I'm betting that Gabriel was a pretty decent father when Adrien was little, like the first 6 or 7 years of his life, when he had no idea that Emilie was in bad shape. Then from around when Adrien was 8 - 10, he probably was a bit antsier, a bit more worried, a bit more distant. And then after age 10, when Gabriel KNEW Emilie was gonna die unless something was done, I bet that's when he really started emotionally neglecting Adrien and putting up walls, insisting that Adrien call him "Father" instead of "Dad".

Emilie, on the other hand, I'm betting got even closer to Adrien in order to compensate, using what time she had left to be with her son. I doubt she'd ever want him to refer to her so formally, be kept at a distance.

As for parallels with Marinette, I'm not worried on that front. While Gabriel and Marinette have their similarities (it's no coincidence that they're both fashion designers for example), I can't see the show having Marinette go down the route Gabriel did. It's too dark, and I think Gabriel took a long time to fall this far, anyway.

[lily-drake]

Fantasy/Twin AU

Sorry for being late and not posting for a bit. Was a bit burnt out and had writer block. I will go back to write the other days soon though. Also, sorry, I suck at writing wing aus, this is my first time doing it.

Earth J-236, an earth full of mystical life.  An earth where everyone is born with wings.  Your wings represented who you are; well not really, but that’s what people believed.  If your wings were bright and colorful then you were obviously an amazing person, but if your wings were darker or had little color, then you have great evil in your soul.  Marinette was born seconds after her twin, Damian.  It takes a few years before your wings fully grow in, usually to about 6.  But with the accelerated growth serums used in their artificial wombs, it took them till they were three for their feathers to sprout.  Damian’s were black like their father’s with subtle hints of red like their mothers.  Marinette’s were pure black, devoid of any color, and her mother was so proud of that.  She was the League’s charm, for it’s believed that anyone with pure black wings was pure evil.  Her only purpose being to protect her brother, nothing else was more important than her brother’s safety.  She would die for him, because if he died she might as well have died as well as her only purpose for living would be gone.

Damian glared at his sister, his wings ruffling in annoyance.  She was hovering close to him again, and she never said anything to him ever unless she was completely sure they were alone.  He did not believe that his sister was or could ever be, “pure evil” just because of her wings.  In fact, her mannerisms are the exact opposite of what people believed.  She, in her own ways, is caring, sweet, and protective.  He had seen, and helped, her nurse a baby bird that had fallen from its nest back to health.  She would often place little things around the base for only him to find such as some extra baklava, a throwing knife, a drawing of someone, beads, or other random objects.  Grandfather had always been extra hard on her, making sure she wouldn’t betray them, she wouldn’t become “evil enough to lose herself”.  Sometimes she would sneak into his room at night, and it tore him apart to see silent tears run down his little sister's face as small black raven feathers fell onto the floor from her days worth of training.  He had been learning how to fly, her wings had been clipped every two or three months so she could not leave the base.  She had learned long ago to control her facial and wing expressions, but he could always see the droop in them and the sad shine in her eyes as she stood on the ground while he was in the air.

________

Marinette looked up and watched as the fiery Phoenix flew through the air setting Nada Parabat aflame.  She didn’t feel much as she watched her grandfather get blown up.  She only felt great anxiety and fear as she could not find her brother.  She loved her brother, and if her job was to cause chaos, she would make sure she could prevent it from hurting him.  Grandfather had told her about how cursed she was, it’s why they had to be extra tough on her, and she understood that.  They couldn’t have her hurting anyone they needed, only the people they wanted gone.  She was angry at grandfather yesterday for taking some of her feathers for failing a task, this must have been her fault.  She didn’t want to hurt her brother, her wings had only proven nothing but destruction.  She had to leave now, then she could go where no one else was, and she wouldn’t have to hurt anyone else.  So like a coward, like the disgrace she was, she ran.  She kept her wings tight against her back making sure that no one could grab them as she ran.  An arrow hit one of them, but she didn’t have time to think about the burning pain as she ran and ran and ran farther and farther and farther away.  Tears ran down her cheeks as she silently prayed that her brother would be okay.

She didn’t know how long she ran, but she knew it must have been a really long time as she had just collapsed from exhaustion in the woods.  She looked back at her wings and slowly and carefully spread them out and hissed in pain from where the arrow had pierced her left wing.  Drops of red slowly dripped down her feathers and dropped on the ground.  She quickly closed them and made sure they were as small and put away as possible.  She looked up at the trees made of brass with different colored jade leaves.  Pearl-like apples growing on a few.  She watched a baby griffon follow it’s mother in the distance, turtle ducks waddling to a pond somewhere nearby, deer nibbling on plants, she could hear the rustling of leaves and branches from unseen creatures and everything was getting more blurry and dark.  She was cold, it felt very cold.  She slowly unwound her wings from around herself and closed them tightly around her, but that didn’t stop the chill that went deep down to her bones.  She was a failure, a mistake, she would only cause harm.  Here she wouldn’t be able to do that, and if she died here, then no one would be hurt by her again, and wasn’t that such a nice thought.

________

Tom and Sabine had finally been able to hire some trusted employees and explore places in Tibet.  They had made lots of money over the years with their successful bakery, and they thought now was a better time than ever to go on a real honeymoon as they hadn’t been able to afford it before when the bakery had first started.  It was during one of these forest explorations when they saw a trail of little drops of blood and felt they needed to follow it.  What they discovered broke their hearts.  There lying on the cold forest floor was what appeared to be a child hugging their very black wings around them.  They knew of the rumors and myths of black winged people, but they did not care.  They believed that their wings were not what made them evil, but rather situations put into their lives.  Sabine quickly checked for a pulse, and though it was slow she sighed in relief when she felt it.  She quickly handed the small unconscious girl to Tom and they both quickly went to the nearest hospital.  How could someone leave such a small child all alone to die like that?  It looked as if she had been injured if the dried blood on the small fragile wings said anything.  And worst of all, upon closer examination, they had been clipped, recently too.

As soon as they arrived they carried the small girl to the front and demanded that they take her in.  They waited until the doctors were done and gave them permission to visit claiming to be the girl’s adopted parents.  It wasn’t technically a lie, they would be soon even if Sabine had to force it to happen.

When Marinette woke up she knew something was off.  She was under a blanket, she’s never been given a blanket before.  The sent of bleach and chemicals were everywhere and it hurt her nose.  There was a beeping noise next to her that was giving her a headache.  She didn’t know where she was, and that was bad.  She opened her eyes a small fraction so nobody could see she was awake and looked around as much as she could.  The entire room was white and there were bright lights.  There were two strange people waiting in chairs near where she was laying.  She wondered if they were the ones who brought her here.  Slowly she opened them up all the way and silently sat up.  It’s best to make no noise, then she wouldn’t disturb anyone.

“Oh sweety, I’m so glad you’re awake.”

The woman said in a cheery and relieved manner, but she just continued to watch and study them silently.  Her wings felt stiff against her back, though she made sure they didn’t move or give anything away.

“How are you feeling dear?”

Silence greeted them, and her face remained as impassive as ever.  They wanted something, why else would they save a freak like her?  What were they aiming for here?

“Did your parents hurt you?  If so, we can take you away from them.”

Marinette’s eyes widened only a fraction.  These were randoms, innocents if you will.  They obviously had no idea who she was, and they seemed unafraid of her and her wings.  Did they not know how dangerous she was, didn’t they know that black wings meant she was cursed?  The man and the woman looked at eachother and spread their wings.  Marinette was shocked, but she wouldn’t show it.

The large man had light brown eagle wings while the small woman had white and black woodpecker wings.  She wanted to reach out and touch the feathers, but then something bad would happen to them, so she held her hands together.

“We don’t care what your wing color is.  Your wings don’t define who you are, it’s what you do with your life that does.  Can we please help you?”

The woman said sincerely as she gripped the man’s hand in hers.  She felt a pull to them, something telling her to accept.  She didn’t want to hurt them though.  But maybe she could protect them?  Maybe she could find a way around her curse and make sure they don’t get hurt?  Slowly she nodded and they both looked so happy when she did.  She hoped that she wouldn’t hurt them, they didn’t deserve to be cursed.  Maybe if she didn’t touch them things would be ok.  If she didn’t let them touch her then it wouldn’t spread.  She could do this!

________

Apparently she couldn’t do it because this is a very affectionate family, and the first thing that happened before they let her sleep on their —super fluffy, pure Heaven— bed was give her a hug.  She had made sure that her wings were tucked under her clothes and tight against her back the entire time though.  So they didn’t touch her wings, so maybe that meant they wouldn’t be cursed.

It was strange, because the next morning they went to a courthouse, and she was adopted.  She hadn’t said anything throughout the entire event, she just watched and observed what people did.  They stayed in Tibet for another few days before they flew to Paris, France.  This was supposed to be her new home.  The city of light and love.  Maybe here, it would stop her curse.  It was so bright that it had to block out her darkness.  She still always carried one of her knives with her, she felt naked without one.  Tom and Sabine seemed to understand somehow, and said that it was her business and that was enough for them till she was ready to talk about it.  It was strange not to be interrogated for now wanting to tell someone something.

Marinette had lived with the Dupain-Chengs for about a year now.  It was strange really, they were honest business people and their joy was always sincere.  They didn’t question much of what she did even though it was probably weird to them.  They didn’t punish her for messing up like the league did, and they never went near her wings without permission.  They never plucked her feathers, and they would often ask if they could preen her wings.  She would refuse every time, but she would often wonder what it would be like to have someone else touch them.  Think of what it would be like if she weren’t cursed.  When it was time for school she would always wrap them around herself then tape them so no one would see or be able to touch them.  Things were finally going well, she couldn’t risk it now!

There was a blonde brat that liked to act like she was above her, and because her wings were always hidden with no explanation she made sure everyone knew that she was “wingless”.  She didn’t care though, being wingless was better than being evil winged.  She never really said anything in class or to other students, she never gave much reaction keeping her stoic face up.  The brat left her alone soon after for being a, “ridiculous!  Utterly ridiculous freak.”  And nobody was the wiser.

Being Lady Chaos was….the best thing that ever happened to her if she was being honest.  Even with pure black wings, people still thought she was a hero.  She never flew, she was scared she’d fall and die.  She was never allowed to fly before, and even if she technically can do so now, it’s not worth the risk.  Her partner though, Mr. Bug has gold, red, and black wings.  He can fly through the air with ease she wished she desperately had.  Sometimes after patrol she would go to the very top of the Eiffel Tower and just stretch her wings out as far out as she could.  She would close her eyes as the wind blew past her and ruffled her feathers and pretend that she was soaring through the air.

________

Year three of living with Tom and Sabine she was comfortable talking to them more, and with Plagg there to control her chaos she finally let them touch her wings.  It was strange really, she never took care of her wings, never cared enough to.  When she first felt the hands on her feathers she had to will herself not to draw them back for fear of them plucking or ripped out.  But Sabine’s hands were so gentle and smooth that they seemed to move on their own and go closer to her touch.  Sabine would smile and hum as she gently preened the dark raven feathers that were soft and smooth.  Maybe she could finally tell the class that she wasn’t wingless soon, and maybe they would be okay with it.

No, they would not as she learned from listening to her classmates talk to the new student, Lila Rossi.  To them Lady Chaos was the only good black winged person because she was chasing after Mr. Bug to earn his affections.  Lady Chaos was obviously evil before she met Mr. Bug and she would always be evil no matter what she did.  Marinette felt nauseous that she ever thought about telling them the truth.  She had never felt more betrayed than she felt now, because she had given them her trust, and they broke it without even knowing it.  After that day, she made extra sure that her wings were hidden and wore a bit thicker clothing just in case.  Tom and Sabine are a little worried about it, but she calmed them pretty quickly.  She was fine, it wasn’t like they were all great friends to begin with.  That’s probably why everyone sides with Lila and decides that she’s a terrible person.

She had tried leaving her past behind, pretending that she didn’t hurt and kill people.  Pretend that she wasn’t a weapon.  She tried to push it far away, but it wasn’t enough.  It was never enough.  She had abandoned her brother.  She betrayed the league.  She did unspeakable things to please someone who would never care about her, just her use.  The city of lights seems duller than usual, it was probably her fault Hawkmoth came to be in the first place, afterall she was cursed to bring ruin everywhere she went.

________

Lila and Chloe thought it would be a great idea to bring everybody to the Crime Capital of the World for their senior trip.  Probably to watch people flounder and worry when things go wrong, which they definitely would.  She had stopped Hawkmoth a month before the trip, but Mr. Bug took all the credit for it. The arrogant self centered bas*.  Adrien kept giving her side glances that always made her feel uncomfortable and slightly disgusted.  During school he would try to touch her with every chance he’d get.  He almost discovered her wings at one point.  She couldn’t do anything about it before because of the stupid your-rich-so-do-whatever-the-heck-you-want treatment.  Now that Adrien’s family fortune is gone, and people don’t trust him because of what his dad did, so he has to be more careful.  He now kept some distance, which she was extremely grateful for.

She would have broken his hand, she had imagined it plus other things more than once.  But then Tom and Sabine would get in trouble by Gabriel for her actions.  They didn’t deserve that, they had been nothing but good to her since they found her abandoned in that forest.

She would be fine though, as long as Lila had a grip on his arm and she was in the back, away from him.  She listened to their tour guide, Richard Grayson, talk about the history and importance of WE.  The architecture was brilliant really, and you couldn’t blame her for having to draw and sketch it.  She often thought of Damian when she sketched.  She used to leave drawings for him around the base, little things that expressed her adoration for him without getting too close.  She wondered if he was still with the league, had he escaped, did he die?  She hoped that wasn’t the case, she hoped that he would be alive and well.  Bright orange and white wings nearly slapped her in the face if she hadn’t stopped right before the movement had occurred.

“Oh my gosh!  I’m so sorry Marinette!  Sometimes my wings just spasm out of control like that!  I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Marinette just silently rolled her eyes and took a few steps backward and watched the class glare at her waiting for her to comfort the liar.  She would never lower herself to do that.  She was still an Al Ghul afterall, even if she did leave it behind when she fled.  She was thankful when lunch came, she waited far away from the line and watched silently from a dark corner to make sure no one would hurt her.  Then she felt it, a hand touching her back feeling for something.  She quickly and instinctively grabbed the arm and twisted it behind them pinning it behind their back at a painful angle.

“Ukhti, let go.”

Marinette knew that voice.  She remembered that name and she could feel her heart stop.  The lunchroom was silent as they watched the small bluenette silently and quickly release the “Ice Prince”. Everyone watched with bated breaths to see what would happen next.  The boy’s wings were ruffled in agitation and fear.

“Where are they?”

He demanded.  Marinette knew what he was talking about, she simply wrapped her arms around herself and turned her head away definitely.

“Why are you hiding them, Malak?  Please.”

Marinette could feel her wings moving in defiance to what her brain was saying.  They wanted to be shown, they wanted to be touched by her brother again.  She looked down and slowly uncrossed her arms from her body.  Damian gently took her hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.

“Everything will be ok, Taw'ami.”

She slowly nodded and with shaky fingers reached under her hoodie and began to slowly unwrap the tape that kept her wings confined.  When all the tape was in her hands she hesitantly removed her hoodie and let her wings unfold from around herself and into the open.  She had made shirts that let her wings slip through slits in the back that were tailored to her wings specifically and were most comfortable.  Damian marveled at how big her raven wings had grown and how shiny they were.  He reached out a hand slowly and gently ran his fingers down the inky black that was her wings.

Shouts of fear and accusations were thrown at her, mostly from her class.  She didn’t listen though, she just observed.  The tour guide was coming over now, probably to kick her out.  He had such lovely wings though,  they were a deep navy blue that looked similar to black with dark red and light blue running through them.  They looked so well kept and soft.

“Damian, what’s happening?  Who is this?”

“Grayson, meet my twin sister, Marinette.”

“You have a twin?!”

Richard exclaimed loudly, drawing even more attention.  The insults and jeers stopped after that.  She looked over at the class and smirked when she saw their shock and confusion.

“Yes, keep up.”

Damian said brusquely.  They must know each other well then.

“Come, we must take her away from these imbeciles and take her to father.”

Damian grabbed her wrist and tugged, her quickly falling into line like she used to when he did this.

“Now tell me Ukhti, have you been taking care of yourself?”

She nodded as they came to an elevator and walked into it with Richard right behind them.  Marinette felt her feathers fluff up nervously.  She wasn’t in control of them right now, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Damian ran a hand gently down her right wing trying to smooth it down.

“Things will be fine Marinette.  Just watch, father will be glad to meet you.”

She looked him in the eyes and squeezed her hands together.

“No, I have not told him about you.  Things will be fine though.”

He seemed to understand her weird way of communicating, she still didn’t understand how he did.  Richard cleared his throat and both turned to look at him.

“Sorry to interrupt, but um…I’m Dick, I’m Damian’s, and yours I guess, oldest brother.  It’s nice to meet you.”

He spread his wings in a welcoming way that meant and showed safety and peace. Her wings involuntarily rose up as well to reciprocate his greeting.  When the door to the elevator opened again she quickly forced her wings to hide on her back trying desperately to keep them from sight.  Damian didn’t seem to like it, but he just grabbed her wrist and dragged her to a large office room.  The plaque on the door read “CEO Bruce Wayne”.  Their father was Bruce Wayne?!  She couldn’t go in there, she couldn’t curse him and ruin his life.  No, she had already messed up at the league, and she was just barely not messing up with Tom and Sabine, she would definitely ruin Bruce Wayne’s life, and she would not allow that to happen.  She tugged at his grip desperately trying to get away.

“Marinette, stop.  Your wings are not cursed, that was a lie.”

Marinette shook her head and kept trying to escape the iron-like grip.

“Do you not trust me anymore?”

She froze at that and quickly shook her head.  Of course she trusted him, it was her that shouldn’t be trusted.

“Good, because we’re going in now.”

And that was that, because the door was now open and she was being dragged into the office room where their father and another boy with large bags under his eyes stared at them.  Damian puffed up his chest and feathers letting his strong, big, and brilliant wings rise into the air.

“Father, this is your daughter, my twin, Marinette Erebus Al Ghul-Wayne.”

They both stared at her in shock and Marinette slowly and cautiously raised her despicable black wings into the air.  Both stared at them in awe before looking back at her, but she didn’t meet their eyes.  She didn’t want to see the disgust and hatred in their eyes.

After a few moments she looked up and saw their wings greeting hers like Dick’s had.  Their father’s wings were a mix of black and dark grey alternating the color in each row of feathers.  The other boy’s were black at the top and slowly turned to red at the bottom.  But they were welcoming her openly, so that must mean something!  Well, it was time to get to know her father, she guessed.

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Canary, Part 6

First

Previous

Tim had been watching her out of the corner of his eyes for a long time. It wasn’t that he was trying to be creepy or anything, he just… didn’t know why she was there. It didn’t make sense. She was relatively low on funds according to what he and Oracle had dredged up, and even Tim in all his billionaire-ness recognized that this place was more expensive than average…

So, why had she come? It wasn’t even close to the motel she was staying at.

The vaguely paranoid -- cautious, he was cautious -- part of him worried that she had somehow known he was there, but there was no way she should have been able to know that. Hell, he hadn’t known he was going to this particular cafe until he’d gotten to work and realized that there were now cameras in the breakroom and his office to make sure he didn’t drink too much.

But, really, it seemed like she was just using the free wifi that the cafe provided to write up a resume.

He relaxed and sunk back in his chair with his laptop while he did his work.

… he didn’t get to work for long.

He picked up on the slight gravel of someone putting on a voice with ease. It was high and sweet, a voice he commonly heard from customer service workers. He chanced a look back at the barista and frowned when he saw her on her phone. Not her, then.

He looked around the tiny coffee shop and cringed a little when he realized what was going on. Shady guy approaches a woman who’s drinking coffee alone? Yeah, that’s never a good thing.

He pushed his laptop into his bag quickly, slung it over his shoulders, put the cap back on his coffee cup so the guy wouldn’t be able to tell that Tim had been there for a while, and rushed over.

He rested his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Hey, bud, she said no.”

Tim watched both of them tense and their gazes were pulled to him in an instant.

Marinette glanced him up and down once. He watched her eyes lock onto his coffee cup for a second and he carefully turned his hand a little so she could see the name.

She smiled. “You’re late, Timmy. Don’t tell me you got caught up in another meeting?”

He shrugged innocently. “You know how it is.” Then, he split into a grin. “Maybe I should be the one that’s upset, though. Can’t believe you didn’t save me a spot.”

“I tried!” She whined. “He insisted!”

The man chuckled awkwardly. “I see. I’m sorry, I thought you were alone.”

She rolled her eyes. “I told you I wasn’t. Can you move, though?”

“Actually,” Tim said, because he didn’t want to sit in the window where Duke might happen to see him while on patrols. “There’s a free table back this way.”

Marinette tipped her head to the side a little before nodding. “Sure.”

She closed her laptop with a snap, gathered her things into her bag, and followed him back to his table.

That should have been the end of it. Unfortunately, the guy was still watching them. It looked like they weren’t going to be able to do work for a while if they wanted to keep up the pretense that they were friends.

She seemed to know it, too, because she sighed and rested her head on her hand with a small frown. “Guess we have to talk.”

He huffed. “Don’t have to sound so upset about it.”

“Alright. Fine.”

“Not sounding much more excited.”

She rolled her eyes and then brought a bright smile to her face. “Sure, Timmy, sounds great! Can’t wait to have a super fun conversation with you!”

“... nevermind. That’s weird. Why did that almost convince me? I knew it was fake.”

She let herself lean back in her chair, her face falling back to a slightly smug grin. “I’m Parisian,” she said simply.

Yeah. That made sense. Every Parisian Tim had had the (dis?)pleasure of meeting had had an almost unnerving amount of control over the way they presented their emotions.

He snickered. “Why the hell would you move here, then?”

She rolled her eyes. “Our psychopath was so boring. Like, dude, we get it, your wife died or whatever, that sounds like a you problem. Now, a guy deciding to become a jewel thief purely for the gimmick? Way more interesting.”

“Moral grayness is so twenty years ago,” Tim joked.

“Exactly! Give me dumbasses who are evil purely to be evil and good to be good!”

He grinned. “I can see why you like Harry Potter.”

She blinked.

He motioned to her cup. Scrawled across it in the barista’s messy handwriting was ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’.

She relaxed a little, grinning. “I just finished the books so I’m a bit obsessed. Also, every time I tell them that my name is Marinette they misspell it.”

“Don’t feel too bad, baristas are just like that. Heck, they’ve misspelled my name before.”

“... your name is Tim.”

“They spelled it with a y.”

“... why?”

“Yes. Exactly. A y.”

She giggled a little. “No, I mean why would they do that?”

“Oh. No clue. I hope they were just messing with me.”

~

The barista was wiping down the tables. It was nearing closing time and Marinette was feeling more and more sorry for the poor workers the longer they stayed. She knew that, when she had used to work at the bakery, she had always especially hated customers that were there around closing time.

Only two tables remained occupied.

She sighed when she glanced over and saw the guy was still there.

Oh well.

She looked over at Tim. “Care to walk me a few blocks in a random direction to see if we can get rid of him?”

“Certainly,” he said.

“‘Certainly’? I may not be super great with American customs yet but even I know that’s weird,” she teased.

He huffed a little. “Listen.”

“I’m listening.”

His nose scrunched. “No, wait, you weren’t supposed to call me out on the fact that I didn’t have an excuse.”

“Oh. Okay, we can try again.”

“Alright.” He cleared his throat. “Listen,” he said again, this time in a tone that mocked the one he’d said it in the first time.

Convenient. She was intent on mocking him, too: “I’m listening.”

“You’re the worst,” he complained.

She laughed. “I am so not. Joker exists.”

“You’re worse than him,” he said in his most serious voice.

She laughed harder. “No one is worse than him.”

He grinned. “I thought you liked people that were evil purely for being evil.”

“But he’s not,” she argued. “The man just decided one day that he liked the weird guy who dressed like a bat and figured that the best way to get that guy’s attention was to murder people.”

“Gotta admit, it works,” said Tim.

She shrugged, grinning. “Yeah, it does. Makes me wonder what would happen if the Big Bad Bat didn’t come, though.”

He tipped his head to the side slightly and then shrugged. “I don’t know, actually. He usually stops it in time.”

“I think he’d freak out.”

“Absolutely.”

She grinned and stretched lazily, head tipping back.

“He’s still following us, isn’t he?” Asked Tim.

“Yep,” she said, popping the ‘p’.

He groaned a little. “Great. Looks like we’re heading to the library.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You go to libraries? You could probably buy every ebook in existence and have a few billion left over.”

“One of my sisters works there, I can ask her to get rid of the guy,” he explained. “But I like libraries. There’s something quaint about them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s nice to see how the common folk live sometimes.”

He returned her eye roll. “Not like that. I spend a lot of time staring at screens, I have a special appreciation for regular old books.”

“That’s nice. I wish I had time to sit down with a physical copy like that.”

“You see, I have this genius strategy for making time: not taking care of myself.”

“Go on, this is intriguing.”

“Well, eating and sleeping, right? Everyone thinks they’re totally necessary things otherwise you’d die or whatever. But, listen, that’s just a hoax made up by the government to perpetuate capitalism.”

She nodded eagerly. “Totally totally totally. What’s your solution?”

“Coffee communism.”

“Yes, you should use your rich boy money to lobby Congress.”

He grinned. “I totally should. But I can’t run it by my family.”

“No way! You never know who's capitalist anymore, they could be plants placed by the sleep industry to ensure that you don’t go through with it.”

He gasped. “No! You think? My own family?!”

She nodded grimly. “It’s always the ones closest to you that betray you.”

And then he broke character, snickering behind his hand. She beamed.

They reached the library and he smiled as he held the door open for her. He asked her to wait while he talked to his sister and she waved him off casually, telling him to take his time.

She pulled out her phone and pressed her lips together thinly as she made a note to head over later that night to give the man -- Henry -- his money. She’d give him a little tip because, for a moment there, she’d almost forgotten that they were just acting. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to purposely trigger herself for the sake of believability but, hey, if she was going to try and dupe one of the smartest businessmen alive into talking to her, she needed to go all out.

Speaking of Tim, she updated the file of Tim’s favorite cafes plus the probabilities of him visiting each one. It was for his oldest brother, Richie Wayne. She didn’t know why Richie was the one to ask for it seeing as he spent most of his time in Bludhaven and therefore likely wouldn’t find much use in it, but no one ever really knew why Richie Wayne did anything. The man famously had almost as much cotton between his ears as his father.

But, Richie Wayne was also just as rich as his father, so… she’d give him his file later that night after checking her math with her favorite graphing calculator.

A redhead in a wheelchair rolled past Marinette and she absently held the door open for her, only to be surprised when she cursed out Henry.

She watched as Henry held his hands up and started backing away from the woman in the wheelchair, and then he ran down the nearest alley.

(… she’d give Henry a bigger tip. The man had just wanted a tiny side job to help pay for his wife and kids that wasn’t being a henchman, he didn’t deserve this.)

She opened the door for the woman on her way back inside and mumbled her thanks. The woman nodded once and continued on her way.

Marinette leaned back against the wall again and scrolled through Twitter as she waited for Tim to reappear. Apparently, Poison Ivy was already back in Arkham. Something about an intern at the botanical gardens watering plants wrong. Wild.

Marinette felt someone sidle up beside her and, after a quick glance confirmed that it was Tim, pocketed her phone.

He smiled at her, a tote bag over his shoulder.

“Did you go grocery shopping while I wasn’t looking, somehow?”

He hesitated before holding it out to her. “It’s the French dubs of the Harry Potter movies.”

She blinked as the bag was thrust into her hands and looked down at it. Yep, that was Harry Potter in French. She also, vaguely, noted the tiny slip of paper his phone number scrawled across it.

She slung the bag over her shoulder.

“I’m never going to return these. You’re going to rack up so much debt.”

~~~

NightwingsAss9384: does anyone know why nightwing and canary hate each other?

ScareCrane: She stabbed Batman once on accident and somehow got away with blaming it on him

Daylightwing: She refuses to let B adopt her.

RiddleMeThis: They think it’s funny when their stans fight.

SignalOfficial: They said ‘I’m the only flippy bitch allowed in New Jersey’ and have been fighting ever since

Yummmmmm: He has to or else Robin will get jealous because he’s the only stabby sibling allowed

Oracle: They’re fighting over who gets to change their name to ‘The Dodo’ first.

DeadHood: Nightwing is jealous that Canary was the first one of us to think to have a full-on bird mask.

TheBetterCanary: every time i go into the batfam tag to try and avoid them all i see is his fancams

SpoilerAlert: they’re both convinced that they’re the hottest bachelor/bachelorette in gotham

NightwingsAss9384: im beginning to think no ones going to tell me.

BlackBat: :)

~~~~~

Next

Perma taglist: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Canary taglist: @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @miraculousfanfic127 @probably-a-hologram @iloontjeboontje

[the-alice-of-hearts]

Kids again Ch 1

AO3 Next>

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

Summary:

Soulmates come in twos; At least they usually did

98% of the world's population has a soulmate bond. Of those, 80% have platonic bonds. Only .2% of all soul bonds connected more than two people.

Having three soulmates is exactly the kind of cosmic joke the universe would play on a True Wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous. If it gives a boy who still had a lot of life to live a second chance, well that is still in Creation's domain, now isn't it?

Marinette loved the boy in her heart, and the other two links were twisted around each other in a way only romantic pairs could be. If only she could have loved him enough to save him /||\ Jason wanted, more than anything, to protect the girl who his heart belonged to; protect her from the harness of the world, and then from what he had become.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, let's start at the beginning.

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

The first time Jason looked into his Soulmate’s life she was happy. Whoever she was, she seemed happy. The first strong emotion that he got from her was pure bliss and a sense of major accomplishment. The first time he got to see through her eyes he was eight years old. She was rushing out the door waving goodbye to smiling parents, a thermos in one hand and a cute pink backpack in the other. He cherished this memory like no other. There were other strong emotions from the bond, most of them were similar. She was happy and seemed strong. After that, Jason tried not to let his emotions overwhelm him; he didn’t want the girl with the happy laugh and the pink backpack to see where he was.

He knew he didn’t do as good a job as he tried. The feeling of worry in his heart that he knew came from her told him so. He could feel when she worried about him not eating enough, so he tried not to go to bed hungry too often. He could feel when she would panic because she hadn’t felt anything from him for too long. He would go and listen to the musicians playing on the streets; trying desperately to feel as happy as he could for her.

When he had gotten stabbed defending another kid from a man with a knife, he wasn’t sure if his panic was his own or hers. He felt like he was watching someone die though, so he was pretty sure it was her panic feeding into his own pain. He made sure to take care of himself so that she didn’t think he had died.

This went on for a long time; him looking in and seeing small bits of her life and later try to send good things back as much as he could. He figured out she was from Paris when the Eiffel Tower was in so many of the small glimpses he saw. So, he stole an English to French dictionary. He then found a bookstore, he could steal from it pretty easily, that had a copy of a book filled with his favourite fairy tales in French. He learned French, then he took it as his language elective. Slowly, he started to understand what she was saying in his visions of her. She had a small number of friends, but they were pretty close. She still worried about him far too often, but he noticed that on days where she was worried she would go out of her way to be as happy as possible. It was like she was trying to make him warm from the inside. And on those days, when was cold and hungry and desperate for a safe place to sleep, he would hold on to her happiness and promise himself that he would be happy for her tomorrow.

When he became Robin he was worried about her finding out. What if Bruce made him stop being Robin? For this reason, he stayed quiet about his Soulmate. Most bonds were platonic anyways, so he just didn’t mention that his bond was romantic.

He hoped she would at least get to see happier emotions from him. He knew that she had to have seen some of where he grew up, but he wanted to believe that maybe she would now get to see these happier moments. Jason vowed to live every happy moment to its fullest.

He hoped she got to see Alfred teaching him to cook, and him learning how to bake all her favourite pastries. He hoped she saw Dick teaching him gymnastics, seeing all the times he fell but got back up. He wanted her to see him and Dick goofing off and the times they would go sneak off behind Bruce’s back when he told them not to skip patrol to do just that and get ice cream in the suits. He hoped she saw him and Bruce sitting in the library reading, the two of them watching movies together when he was too sick to patrol. He wanted her to see that he had a family that loved him now. He hoped that she wouldn’t worry about him so much anymore; that he wouldn’t be a burden on her anymore.

He thought he had hidden this from his new family, but somehow Alfred always knew everything. Jason almost panicked when Alfred broached the conversation while he was teaching Jason to make macarons

“Does your Soulmate have a favourite flavor, Master Jason?”

“I- uh,” he tried to come up with a way to deny it, but knew that he would never get something past Alfred. Still he tried, “What do you mean?”

Alfred smiled, not looking away from measuring the ingredients. “Growing up, my best friend had a Soulmate that grew up in a troubled home. He told me he knew when she was in a better place because she started pouring emotions into everything she did so that he could feel, as well as see, that she was safe.” Alfred turned back to the cabinet looking at their ingredients. “I just thought that you seemed to be doing something similar. I apologize if I misread the situation.”

Jason stood there thinking for a moment. He looked around and listened to make sure Bruce wasn’t about to walk into the kitchen. He moved closer to Alfred so he could whisper, ”Her name is Marinette. I heard one of her friends call her Netté, though.” When Alfred didn’t stop him from talking he kept going. “She likes matcha ones best, but she always tells her mom that she likes strawberry ones because they're less work.”

That was all that was said. They finished making the cookies and Alfred packaged them up for him to have in his room. Jason was pretty sure that Alfred knew he was hoarding food, but so long as no one stopped him and probably even if they did he would keep doing it. Living on the streets taught him that a next meal isn’t guaranteed, and even if it was unlikely he would ever go hungry under Alfred’s watchful eyes, he still wanted a back up plan if he needed to make a break for it.

The next time someone asked about her was about a year later on a stakeout in Blüdhaven with Dick. Bruce had gotten scared when Jason got hurt and wouldn’t let him patrol in Gotham until his injuries had completely healed. Jason got antsy and ran away to crash on Dick’s couch until Bruce let up on the restriction.

Dick had just sat down next to him on the building they were on. “Hey, Little Wing”

Jason turned to him. “Yeah?”

“Do you ever try to send your soulmate messages?”

Jason’s throat closed up in terror. Dick kept talking as though he hadn’t noticed Jason tensing up and planning an escape route. “It’s just, sometimes I see what he’s seeing and I don’t know how to tell him that I want to look out for him, ya know? And his dad is kinda distant, but his mom loves him a lot. I don’t know though, because sometimes I can feel dread coming from my soul link but without any glimpses into what he’s seeing. Alfred thought maybe I have a platonic soulmate that is experiencing dread. Lately I’ve only had happy and joyful feelings so I’m worried that if I do have a platonic soulmate that maybe something bad happened to them. I have no idea how I would be able to send a message to a platonic soulmate though, so I wondered if maybe you knew?”

Jason had slowly gotten more confused while listening to his brother. He hadn’t considered the possibility of having more than one soulmate. “Wait, you mean you can have more than one Soulmate? I thought Soulmates were pairs?”

Dick shrugged. “My parents explained it being more like pieces of the same picture. Most bonds are platonic and platonic bonds are more likely to be someone who you grew up near, so you would have similar experiences with similar emotional responses. That’s why people don’t always notice them, but when you have a romantic bond that you can actually see through each other's eyes, you notice, yeah?”

Jason nodded. “So you have a romantic Soulmate, but think you also have a platonic bond?”

Dick ran a hand through his hair staring out at the windows they were watching, “Yeah, I don’t know how to describe it though. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I have three soulmates. The third is a lot quieter though. My mom laughed once and told me maybe it wasn’t that I had three soulmates, but that my soulmates had another link to each other.”

“Does that happen?”

“I don’t think so, but the stories about that happening are more fairy tale than concrete evidence. I like to think I have three though. I hope that, whoever my platonic bond is, they have their own romantic bond they can lean on. I don’t know if there is anything I can do for them unless I figure out who they are.”

Jason scoffed and then went on the alert seeing movement in the room. “We’ve finally got company.”

Dick smiled and ran back a few steps. “Wanna see me do a flip into the window?”

“Ten bucks says you don’t break the glass and fall on the ground.”

He laughed at that. “Be ready to pay up, Little Wing. I’ll get the two gunmen, then you swing in and help me with the others.”

He took a running start and jumped off the roof they had been on, doing a flip to keep his momentum up. He crashed through the glass rolling into a handspring, kicking the guns out of the two goons' hands. Jason followed using his grappling hook to get across to the now-broken window.

A short fight later and they had the men all tied up. Dick called the police with the info and then they were grappling away from the scene.

“Hey, Dick?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier you said that you wanted to figure out who your platonic soulmate was.”

Dick landed on top of the building his apartment was in, then looked at him. “Yeah. I just want to know if I can help them.”

Jason followed him down the fire escape, “I thought that soulmates knew when they found each other; you make it seem like that’s not how it works?”

Dick walked into his room to grab clothes. “When you only have one soulmate, there is a glow when you touch each other the first time. It’s your soul telling you it’s complete, but if you have more than one you only get that if you find all the pieces of your soul.”

“Oh.” He caught the pants Dick threw at him. “Thanks for talking to me about this. I guess there was a lot I didn’t know.”

They crashed on the couch to play video games and eat leftovers. The conversation hung heavy in the air, though. Jason felt like, if he talked first, he would tell Dick everything, but, if Dick had had a romantic Soulmate this whole time, then Bruce had to know about it.

He looked up at his brother from where he was laying with his legs over the side of the couch. “Does Bruce know you have a romantic Soulmate?”

Dick looked down at him from where he was perched on the back of the couch. “Yeah? Why?”

Jason shot Dick's character while he wasn’t paying attention, trying to make him stop looking at him like that. He mulled over the question while avoiding the looks Dick was still giving him during his respawn times. In a small voice he finally answered, “He didn’t make you stop being Robin?”

That made Dick pause the game. He dropped down to sit on the cushion of the couch, leaning his head over Jason to look him in the eyes. “Jason, Alfred would never let Bruce use one of us having a Soulmate as a reason to kick us out of the suit.”

Jason pushed him back so he could sit up. Turning to look at him, he took a deep breath. “He kicked me out of the suit for being hurt. He fired you and sent you here. Why would having a Soulmate be any different?”

Dick reached out and hugged Jason. He felt Dick’s shirt becoming wet from tears he hadn’t realized he was crying. “Oh, baby bird, no, that’s not gonna happen, and if Bruce tries it, then you have a place here. You did really good back there, I would love to have your help anytime.”

Jason sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dick. “What if he tries to make you send me back?”

Dick was still rubbing circles on his back, talking soothingly. “Bruce can’t make me do anything. My bank account has Alfred as my responsible party, and Clark is the name on the lease. If you want to stay here you can, and no one gets to take my brother away from me okay?” Jason nodded, still sniffling but getting his tears under control. “Now enough sad talk. How about I kick your ass in this game and tomorrow I’ll take you to the gym I use and help you with your flips.”

Jason laughed wholeheartedly at that. Sitting up and discreetly wiping his tears, he grabbed his controller again. “Don’t know why you keep trying. You’re not gonna win at this any more than I’m gonna be able to do a backhandspring tomorrow.”

And that was it.

Bruce either didn’t know about his romantic Soulmate, or he really didn’t care. Jason started keeping a journal of written notes about her. He wanted to be able to find her one day, so he needed to know everything he could.

An incomplete list of things I know about my soulmate

Her name is Marinette

Her friends also call her Netté or Mari

She drinks a lot of coffee, usually black. She grabs it on the way to class. Is that a french thing? I feel like I only ever see her with coffee? That can’t be right, maybe it’s from the all-nighters? Her friends have teased her about not sleeping before. Is that more often than I think?

She ignores her own needs to help her friends

She’s like a year younger than me I think.

Her nonna (grandmother?) calls her Marinetta or Little Fairy (could I call her Pixie?)

Lives in Paris

She has an Asian mother; Chinese?

She has an Asian name, but I don’t remember it. Her parents use it but not often enough for me to write it down

Her father is French-Italian

She is in gymnastics, but can be clumsy

Kim, Nino, and Alix are her friends.

Chloe used to be her friend. She doesn’t know what changed things

She likes to draw

She wants to be a clothing designer

She made me something? I couldn’t see what it was, but her mom was really proud of her accomplishment.

She is a really good baker

She likes matcha macarons best; but she never asks for them. She feels guilty about her parents making them just for her

She can lift a giant bag of sugar like it weighs nothing

She likes to help people

She likes pink

She is nice and good. At least I think so.

The list was in a small red notebook. It stayed with him all the time; that way whenever something happened, he could write down any details. He filled the other pages of the book with things he wanted to tell his Soulmate, small bits of his life that he wanted to share with her. He had a spot in his utility belt for it to be, and a pocket in his jacket that he kept it in. He had once shown Dick the list and the pages that he had written about him and Alfred. He smiled when Dick showed him his own similar notebook. Dick’s romantic Soulmate was also from Paris; they both wondered if their Soulmates knew each other.

Jason liked to think so

[coffeecaffineandeverythinginbtwn]

Here is my @maribat-secret-santa-2020 gift for @liquid-luck-00

I’m really sorry It’s not finished (i had trouble finishing it due to school and some rough mental health problems) but I will be posting the outline so you can know the rest of what I had planned!

again i’m so so so sorry it’s not done. happy new year! please enjoy!

:readmore:

Marinette and the Runaway Assassin

~

Marinette Grason and the Runaway Assassin

The first thing they could remember was always flying.

Their parents always told them that the first thing a Grayson ever did was fly.

Whether it be him tossing his sister in the air as she did flips, or flying on the low swing trapeze with his mother and father. they were born soaring.

Their family was the best of the best. Humans with the agility and grace of birds. Their family never stayed on the ground for long. Nothing could keep a Grayson on the ground.

Until they fell.

Their wonderful parents never flew again.

~

Dick was trying his best to keep it together, for his sister, but the pain was almost too much. He was just 16. What was he supposed to do now? He wasn’t of age to care for Marinette and he certainly didn't have much money at all.

It was two days after the fall that killed their parents. Dick had cried himself to sleep, so full of grief, stress and uncertainty the night before. He wanted, no, needed to keep his sister safe, but what were they supposed to do? Live on the street? Marinette deserved better than that. Not to mention her schooling. There was just so many things he needed to think about he had no idea if they’d ever even survive -

A knock sounded at the door, startling Dick from his thoughts.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice came from behind the door, “I would like to speak to a mister Dick Grayson.” With those words the pit inside his stomach grew. It was probably some social worker coming to separate him from the only family he had left.

Dick opened the door and saw a large man with dark hair and blue eyes in a suit, “If you’re here to take me and my sister to some orphanage, leave now. It’s not going to happen. Get lost.” Dick, the normally polite boy, ended his statement by quickly closing the door.

“Wait!” The man jumped in, using his foot to jam the door. “I’m not a social worker. Mister Grayson I presume?” Dick just narrowed his eyes and nodded his head, “My name is Bruce Wayne. I was hoping to come to an arrangement that would greatly help you and your sister.

Dick had the urge to scoff, but he let the man, Bruce, continue.

“You see, I lost my parents at a young age as well. I want to make you and Miss Marinette my wards. You two would both get to live in my manor with your own room and have all the things you two would need to live a happy life. And you would not be separated. This can all happen effective immediately, as soon as you say the word. So, What do you say?”

This was insane. It was everything he and Mari could need. They could lead a normal, safe, and good life. There were so many goods that could come of this and yet…

Graysons are never tied to the ground my little robin. We must never be afraid to spread our own wings and soar. We are free spirits and we fly our own way.

With only that thought in his head, his ressove hardened.

“While I appreciate the offer Mister Wayne, I’m afraid I have to decline.” He began, “My parents used to say that we should never let ourselves be tied down. They were free-spirited and loved to travel. I want my sister and I to continue their legacy.”

Bruce looked a little shocked at this, and also a bit put out., but he quickly covered it with a determined look of his own.

“I see. If I cannot assist with housing, please let me help in any other way possible. Money is no issue, I can promise you that.” Bruce looked so ready to help them. And hell, if they couldn't use the help.

Dick was at a loss for words, “I- Mister Wayne- I can’t thank you enough!” Marinette would get to have the life their parents would have wanted for her. He didn’t have to worry about money any more. They could be free and go where the wind would take them. This flood of relief he felt did ease his grief a little for only a moment. It was one weight lifted off his shoulders.

“It’s the least I could do Mister Grayson.” He nodded, looking a bit relieved himself.

“Please, call me Dick Mister Wayne.” At that Bruce’s mouth quirked upwards the tiniest bit.

“Only if you call me Bruce.”

~

Over the next few years, Dick and Marinette went everywhere imaginable, traveling with the circus.

Eventually they decided to travel at their own pace. Marinette instided they spend more time in their favorite countries. They spent a few months in each, both gathering a love for each culture and language. Marinette especially took a bit of every country with her, absorbing each like a sponge.

Without the circus to keep them active in their travels and with barely any means to keep themselves protected, Dick and Marinette accumulated a mesh of different fighting styles. Neither ever truly mastered one, but both fought in a way very specific to them.

~

Currently somewhere in Italy, the two were waiting for one of their mentors to arrive for a meeting.

“Duckie!!” Marinette, now nine, ran to her brother with that particular spark in her eye, “Duckie! Guess what!”

Dick, smiled a little at the familiar nickname, “What’s up Nettie?”

Marinette jumped up and down excitedly. “Look what I can do!”

The small girl smiled and ran a little ways into the field nearby and did three handsprings to the shock, and pride of her brother.

“Good job Marinette,“ A voice that was not Dick‘s called from behind them, “I’m glad to see that you are improving well.”

An overall average looking man in his late 30’s wearing a firm, yet warm expression walked towards them.

Their mentor, Malachi Dobraski.

“Uncle Chi!” The Marinettw siblings voiced, running to him.

Malachi’s mouth turned upwards at the sibling’s outburst. “Yes, yes I have finally arrived. You two are, of course, ever so humbled to be in my presence.” There was a stretch of silence before the three burst out in laughter.

“Wonderful to see you two as always.” He said as he bent down to give Marinette a hug.

“So what did you need Malachi? You never call meetings so early in the month.” Dick said as he turned to face him.

Malachi hummed in an impressed manner, “Very astute Richard. I asked you here today because I wanted you to meet a friend of mine I had mentioned earlier. Gina, If you remember.”

At the mention of the woman Marinette perked up, The one who travels all around the world like us? We really get to meet her?” She topped off her questions with a wiggle of excitement.

“We’ll have to see about that Nettie.” Dick spoke fondly as he smiled at his sister’s antics. He then turned his attention to Malachi, “Will she be in town soon? You’re rarely one to throw out praise for no reason and you’ve spoken highly of her in the past.”

“She is a lady well deserving of my praise, Richard. To answer your question, yes. Ms. Gina will be in town Thursday evening.” their mentor said with another small grin.

Dick hummed while tapping his chin, “That’s about two days from now. Unfortunately me and Mari probably won’t be able to meet with her right away. We’re tied up until Saturday I believe. Will she be in town for long?”

“Gina is a free spirit, so it’s hard to say. However she has been interested in you two since I mentioned I was taking students again. I expect she’ll stay long enough to meet you.”

“That’s great!” Dick said, as cheerful as ever, “That settles it then.”

“Yay! We get to meet aunt Gina!” Marinette exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Instead of correcting his sister, Dick just shook his head with a laugh. Why does everyone we hear of instantly become family?

~

Marinette sat at a tall table in a quiet cafe. Her tiny legs swung eagerly underneath her as she hummed to herself. Her brother was up at the counter ordering their drinks. She was sketching, or trying to. It was really hard to focus when she was so full of jitters.

Today was the day they were supposed to meet Ms. Gina and while Marinette was excited, she was just as, if not more, nervous. She has always been this way with new people.

————————

That is the end of what i have written BUT NOW the outline:

Section One

Dick is older in this 16/17

Mari is 5 or 6

They grow up with their parents, until they die, again.

Dick is old enough to be emancipated/take custody of Mari

(Bruce didn’t adopt them but he helped Dick get emancipated and gave them loads of money)

Their parents were free spirits and loved to travel

Dick decides they should keep that alive.

The two stay with the circus traveling for around a year

And they continue to travel for 1 or 2 years

They meet Gina

Dick kinda wants to settle down Gina recommends Paris

They go to Paris

They get an apartment (thank you plot convenient Bruce money)

(she’s around 10 or 11 now. He’s 19 or 20 now)

Dick wants Mari to make friends or get a feel for regular school so she goes to FD

Section Two

Separately, Damian and the league are in turmoil (the coup happens)

Thalia might die Idk

Damian, not knowing what else to do, flees to Paris?

Tom and Sabine have always wanted children but were never successful

They find this aggressive child on the streets of course they take him in

Damian would grumble about their ‘lower status’ but would of course be secretly grateful and surprised at the unconditional love and care he receives from T and S

Section THree

Back to Mari

Being raised by Dick, she learned to be true to herself and also headstrong

She takes no crap from Chloé

(She eventually learns of her situation with her mother and they become less aggressive towards each other)

(she also learns a lot of different skills and fashion things)

Section Four

Damian arrives at FD

(He’s like 10 or 11 Mari is like 11)

Damian and Mari are both ahead of the curriculum (Both home schooled) same class

She is her kind self, doesn't know anyone else well and Dami is another new kid.

They stick together out of a sort of necessity

He’s cold at first but (go figure) he softens for her eventually

They slowly grow closer as friends

Dick becomes another behaviour mentor and Brother esq figure to Dami

Dick also sees Daminette’s in love right away

He teases Mari about it

Bada Boom they're 13 now

Section Five

Miraculos canon GO

Mari gets ladybug Dami gets cat

Mari doesn't get a crush on Adrien (the gum incident doesn’t happen because Chlo and Mari are on better terms)

Mari and Dami both immediately recognize each other in costume

Mari’s outfit is black with red detailing sans her cape/glider that’s full red with the five black spots. Has deep red boots that go up to the knee. Her ribbons are longer and can detach to use as a makeshift ribbon dance things (she also goes by Ladybird instead of Ladybug)

Damian’s outfit is his assassin outfit but black and tan undertones with cat ears (his pupils don’t change to slits) Damian goes by Leopard

Dick notices a change immediately He confronts Mari, She caves and tells him too

(She consequently reveals Damian’s Identity as well. No one could have that kind of chemistry with Mari that quickly)

He signs her up for many martial arts classes (She already had training in a few, picking up a lot from her travels)

Damian also helps train Mari in some ~Assassin Skills~

Basically, they’re bad asses.

The only thing stopping them from defeating Hawkey boy quickly is the fact that they can’t find where he is

Section Six

Moving on, Salt

Lila happens

Lila still sets her sights on Adrian (he’s got money at this point Damian is just a baker's boy to Lila.

Lila isolates the two from the rest of the class, even more so than they already were

Damian thinks the class are even bigger idiots

Lila is still an awful person and wants to make both Dami and Mari’s live miserable

Lila tries to go to Dick about Mari “bullying” her

He laughs in her face (he choses laughter instead of seething anger. thanks Hawky)

Lila then tries to get through to Tom and Sabine about Damian

This time it works, they have less reason to trust Damian (and he was also a major prick when they first took him in

(this happens over a year or so. Lila slowly gaining the trust of the class and Tom and Sabine)

The environment gets very toxic Dami and Mari decide to leave the school and go to online schooling (like at college level)

Section Seven

Time skip. They are 16 now

The two have had feelings for a while, they now realize them

Dami is less emotionally stunted, having both Dick and Mari around (Tom and Sabine too but they kinda suck now) so he doesn’t panic much

Mari is full panic mode

Dick is just in the corner all smug-like. (“you didn’t know you loved him? I’ve known this for years”)

Que pining

Lots of pining

There’s some angst, Tom and Sabine are negligent towards Damian (not mean but still neglectful)

He ends up staying with Dick and Mari more often than not

Eventually they both confess after a particularly rough akuma battle (the one where mari becomes the guardian?)

Both of them almost watched the other die. That was too heartbreaking for either of them to not confess

So they are together now.

It was an easy transition, they were already married pretty much

They’ve already figured out who Hawky boy is. They just need evidence

They get evidence. They also discover Lila was working with him

They take care of the Hawkmoth situation

Section Eight

Everything is good now right? Wrong

Batman Finally goes to Paris once Hawky is defeated,

(he kept in touch with Dick all these years and knew what was going on, {He practically became their “uncle Bruce”} He only stayed away cuz Hawkmoth)

When Damian sees Bruce visiting Mari’s House he freezes,

Mari: “what's wrong Dami?”

Dami: *whispers in her ear*

M: “He’s your WHAT???”

D; *whispers more*

M: “I- You- Um- WHAT”

D: *walks up to Bruce* “Hello, I know this is an odd way to meet but I am sure you know of Thalia Al’ Ghoul.” *B nods wairily* “Yes, well, I am your son. And unfortunately hers as well.”

“Yes, I’d be perfectly happy to do a blood test.”

Dick and Mari are shook

“Damian, You must come to live with me in Gotham”

Dun

Dun

Dunnnnnn!!!!!

End Part One

Again I am sincerely sorry I was not able to complete this story in time. Like I said before, I will (maybe/probably) be finishing this and planning a part two! I hope you enjoyed! (even though it’s the first fanfic i’ve written)

[miraculous-anna]

ML Writing Prompt: Confidence, Man

would anyone read a fanfic where like say,, Marinette is just on patrol as Ladybug, Chat Noir isn’t there for whatever reason, and she stumbles upon a like an archaeological  building. One of the men working there wave her down, and ask her to come in, they have something to show her. She goes in, asks what they need, and they show her a necklace they found that seems to be magical. They think the necklace is possessed or something, and who else to take care of it then the magical super heroin saving their city, right? 

Ladybug takes the necklace, goes home, and shows it to Tikki. Tikki says there is magic there, and it does seem to have certain miraculous (ha) properties. As the guardian, Tikki thinks Marinette should keep it on her person to ensure nothing happens to it. The necklace itself has a mix of Tikki’s magic and Plagg’s magic mixed into it, but Tikki can’t remember ever seeing it before. She thinks having it close may help decipher where she saw it before, or at least remember ever enchanting a necklace, of all things.

So, Marinette decides to just keep it on her person, for example, at first she keeps it in her purse with Tikki, so if something does happen, Tikki can use what powers she has as a kwami to contain it. (Tikki assures her its a good plan, as Marinette spent a good two minutes spiraling over it.) 

Later, she starts wearing it as a necklace, and that’s where things get interesting. She starts hearing this voice in the back of her head, it starts out super quiet. It only pops up when she needs to make certain decisions. The first time she was stuck between deciding on either making Alya a dress for a dance, or taking Jagged Stone’s offer to introduce her to a fashion magazine known for promoting up and coming designers. The voice says things like, “be selfish, take the offer.”, “Alya has other dresses, you don’t have to make her the 10th one this year.”, or “do the interview, it’s a one time chance. Alya wont die over this. She’s your friend, she’ll understand.”

Marinette compromised and gave Alya a dress she already made, only needing to loosen a few straps. 

The voice keeps speaking, sometimes more louder then others. She explains this to Tikki, who claims she can hear the voice as well. Tikki suggests sometimes listening to it, it offers good advice. Tikki says, yes she needs to be selfless, but Marinette takes it too literally.

Eventually, Something happens. Marinette does listen to the voice, and in the middle of the night, she’s back from patrol and there’s a light coming from the necklace. She left it behind in a hurry to face an akuma earlier that day, not thinking to bring it with her once she returned home. She’s suspicious, cautious, and scared. What’s wrong with the necklace? 

She’s answered when it floats, and with a blinding light, her and Tikki are met with a girl her age (yes, she’s assuming on that part, she looks the same age as her. NOT her fault.) standing in front of her, holding the necklace in her hand. 

The girl has chest length curly brown hair with blonde highlights, wearing a uniform that looks similar to Kagami’s, but with black leggings going up to her knees. She wears a choker with a crescent moon, and she’s smirking when her eyes settle on Marinette.

She was on the floor, the mysterious girl probably thought it was funny. The girl introduces herself as Anna. She’s tied to the necklace. The voice Marinette heard? That was her. She explains she’s a voice of balance. One of many results of creation and destruction combining. If the wearer is too hard on themselves, or has no confidence, she lifts them up, fills that void. If they’re too cocky, too unhinged, thinks the best of themselves a little much for it to be healthy, she pegs them. It’s harsh, but it creates balance. Her purpose, if you will. Tikki remembers, finally. It was a result of her and Plagg first falling in love after being materialized with the miraculous. There were many, though almost none survived for long. 

Marinette decides to let Anna stay, but she says only Marinette and other Miraculous’ can see her. (Others, only while suited up. Her, and other kwami, at all times.) 

She helps with Mari’s confidence.  

She definitely helps with Lila, and her class. She convinces Marinette to focus on herself, not Adrien, Alya, or her class. Anna wants Marinette to be the best person she can be, and there are things holding her back. Anna’s job is to get rid of them. 

IF you wanna take a more.. bad, route. Maybe Anna’s a bit more manipulative then she lets on. Maybe she has alternative motives, maybe she has feelings for our heroine, so she convinces her to rid herself of her selfish, and rude classmates, I mean, Mari can do better than them! That’s why Anna was there, right?

_______

This is just a little self indulgence Marinette prompt lol. I’m tired of her being put down and hurt all the time. Yes, she has her flaws, but the show pretty much bullies her. She really doesn't deserve it, I made Anna up to help with that. This can be a ship fic, or not. Just,, no Adrien ships on this. Her crush on him isn’t very healthy, and i’d rather she end up with someone who loves Marinette, not her alter ego. But otherwise have fun with this!! I wanna see what people come up with! But please, please credit me if you write a fic for this :)

Happy Writing!! 

EDIT: I changed the name for the prompt, probably so it’d be easier to find. And i added another tag called, “mlb confidence man au” so it’s easier to find in the search 

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 5 episode 25 and 26: Confrontation and Re-creation

Since both episodes are out, I will review them both. Time to find out if the finale can bring it home

Spoilers below

-Gabriel and Tomoe think they are doing this for their own good. Should have called this episode Delusion.

-So they giving everyone nightmares, at least Adrien isn’t alone in suffering

-Ladrien dream was actually Marinette in ladybug armor. It looked cool but I wanted Ladrien

-Gabriel died in the dream, still don’t get how that’s a nightmare. (Marinette really forgot chat blanc existed

- okay Marinette’s parents dreams are adorable. Tom you sweet man, and Sabine care about their children and eachother.

-oh snap, Alya’s nightmare. Actually realistic and terrifying. For her at least.

-Tikki saw the food. Get it girl.

-Adrien technically been dealing with it the longest… but now it’s not special. Everyone be suffering

-they have a tech antidote for nightmares

-Damn, that is disturbing. And Adrien will probably use it… baby no.

-Okay he resisted. Good for him. Well it wasn’t an order, but still. Adrien is trying.

-Plagg mocking Gabriel.

-Plagg gonna be a menace today

-how many rings does that robot have

-Adrien giving up his miraculous out of despair. What a surprise, he’s gonna be out of the final fight. At least for now. Plagg gotta go get ladybug.

-Tikki ate all them bread. Respect

-“it’s not personal, it’s for Adrien.” That’s PRETTY FUCKING PERSONAL

-Nathalie’s nightmare is basically Gabriel winning. Glad she realized the truth on that… even if it was too little too late.

-Nathalie got a crossbow. KILL GABRIEL WITH IT

-oh damn, I knew all meditation apps were evil!

-Plagg flying across the ocean to get to Ladybug. Plagg will always be the light of my life

-Ladybug finding out Nathalie was A Lara croft

-Plagg gonna be smart about this

-Alliance showing why tech companies are all evil

-THEY ALL DOWNLOADED THE APP! NOT THE RESISTANCE. NOW NO ONE CAN RESISTANCE

-MYLENE THE GOAT! Mylene has shot up so much in my favorite classmate rankings

-Ivan's nightmare sounds adorable

-Mylene start slapping them please. NINO MUST BE DEEP HYPNOTIZED

-NO MYLENE DONT DO IT! And she dropped down in my rankings again

-Damn it, she was tricked by her friends

-Gabriel's cliche speech to Emilie. Blah blah blah. WHAT MORALITY?! YOU WERE ONCE A BRITISH CHIP MAKER?!

-NATHALIE GONNA SHOOT HIM! DO IT! END THIS MAN NATHALIE

-Gabriel really did the 'Appeal to her humanity' then betray her. Dude said he threw away his morality.

-Imagine the last thing you see is that ugly ass costume

-Ladybug learns Nathalie had all of the stuff

-Ladybug just saw that Monarch was Gabriel. Damn. I think thats a first

-Gabriel really just out here slandering and then leaving her with the poison app.

-DID NATHALIE JUST FUCKING DIE?! SHE GAVE EXPOSITION AND DIED

-Okay this is silly how they are turning everyone against Ladybug and Chat noir

-WAIT IS THAT FEI!

-Im convinced every adult in this show is an idiot.

-Oh good, alya is being logical.

-Oh wow, okay so the charm and Cataclysm that gabriel got actually are useful to his plan. Well played. Now die

-OH That is evil. Miraculize me.

-Damn it, i wanted cat alya.

-They tracking her.

-Well I gotta admit, the Alliance minion making is probably Gabriel's most effective plan. But like all plans, the women involved did the heavy lifting

-Ladybug hid by detransforming

-Gabriel is a little TOO enthusiastic about going to find a vulnerable teenage girl in his house

-Plagg finding out that Monarch was in his house the whole time.

-LADYBUG CAT NOIR UNIFICATION!

-KICKED IN THE FACE!

-BUG NOIR!. Okay so I am very mixed on the outfit, but the entrance and that confidence is stunning.

______________________________________________________________

(This is my reaction before watching part 2, so here is my quick thoughts)

For all the stakes and reveals. If I were to rate this by itself I would say... 7/10. I dont like how Adrien is absent for this whole thing. I really hope that this changes and Adrien somehow gets pulled in. Because quite frankly... THIS IS A BIG THING

______________________________________________________________

Okay now for part 2, recreation

-Oh its Lila or Cerise or... WHOMEVER THE F*** SHE IS.

-Seems Alec also had a s*** father.

-What is Lila even doing?

-SHE DROPPED A PIANO ON HIS HEAD! Beautiful

-She's beating his ass!

-Meanwhile back on the boat.

-Rose showing why she has CRAZY ASS STRENGTH

-WANG BE SMACKING BITCHES WITH HIS WOK!

-OMG, SU HAN TRAINED JAGGED STONE AND PENNY IN KUNG FU. Which means luka too.

-hold on, so NO FERNANDO!? 0/10. Needs more fernando.

-BUNNYX! Taking Luka to Paris.

-"I cant interfere, but YOU can."

-Please tell me Fang also knows mirakungfu

-HOT DOG DAN!!!!! THE GREATEST HERO OF ALL TIME! 10/10

-Oh right, Majestia too. To a lesser extent.

-Majestia makes a point.

-Yo, they gave Knight owl an upgrade.

-So basically Majestia and Knight owl are if Super man and Batman were lesbians.

-Monarch does have a point. He has 15 miraculous.

-I do enjoy Monarch getting flipped and kicked

-Did he just cough up Dust? Oh he is dying in real time

-Doesnt he look so redeemable (Sarcasm)

-BEAT HIS ASS WITH A SHOVEL!

-Darkowl was saved

-YO! I just realized that Eagle is the perfect counter for this power.

-Alya's sister split a building in half

-Power of the buffalo. I think the sub meant bull

-Bug noir brings the house down

-FANG!!!!!!!!!!! MVP MVP

-Luka has a cute name for his sister, thats adorable. Okay only 2/10 now

-Also this proves Mirakung fu is easy as hell to learn. so WHY DIDNT SU HAN TEACH LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR!

-Su han, "How can you resist the nightmare."

-Knight owl: "I am the nightmare." That is so batman its hilarious

-FEI COMES IN LIKE A F***ING BEAST!

-Why even use any other transformation, the Dragon is so OP.

-Okay so The typical back and forth between hero and villain. Yea this was expected.

-Adrien wouldnt want this. Adrien wants that. You know who should have a say here? ADRIEN! That would be nice.

-Marinette is clearly more right, obviously. but I still wish Adrien could speak for himself.

-Okay so the heroes are getting widdled down, lila is hacking into the mansion

-Yo! she got a ton of rings with glue and a boomerang. Nice

-She knocked the butterfly off. (which is my bet on how Lila got it)

-So bugnoir won. Nice!

"Check mate." DAMN That was a hard line drop

-And then its ruined because Ladybug sees this guy only has a few hours left to live.

-What is she doing?

-Marinette what the hell are you doing?

-You mean to tell me that Nathalie could have just tied his ass up earlier and made him watch it and that probably could have prevented the whole events.

-But lets be honest, the only reason Gabriel feels the way he does right now is because his plan failed and he is dying

-IT TOOK A 30 SECOND CLIP. 30 F***ING SECONDS

-Yes, you did ruin everything. Now die sad.

-Gabriel is like "You make the wish"

-AND Marinette gets betrayed. She tried to Steven Universe this bit but ended up Venomed.

-Well at least Gabriel is still a dick.

-Reveal yourselves?

OH DAMN! THEY LOOK SO FUCKING COOL!!!

-I can see a certain group of fans being happy with these designs.

-GIMMI. THE KWAMI OF REALITY?!

-Oh damn so thats their fused form.

-Wait, why didnt Ladybug and Chat noir just summon their kwami's god forms to fight?

-Gimmi is a whole ass mood

-Gabriel, you dont deserve to be remembered as a good father. You were s***

-So Gabriel wins. yea this f***ing sucks

-Universe gets wiped

-WTF. Its a utopia?!

-Adrien gets two moms

-Glad everyone is having a grand old time but... wtf

-Oh look a NORMAL BABY!

-There are so many jokes I can make here but I will abstain.

-THEY GAVE GABRIEL A F***ING STATUE

-A world without Gabriel agreste meme here

-I really want to see this utopia completely uprooted and turned into chaos more than anything

-It sucks because there is some PRIME adrinette moment right in front of me, but it just feels like Adrien is left in the dark and gaslit.

-A cute kiss. But something seems wrong

-So they fixed the miraculous but the butterfly is missing (called it)

-Wait, Everyone gets a miraculous now?!

ALSO NO REVEAL WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!

-Even Sabrina?!

-Wait, so Argos is allowed?! but how though?!

-Wait, how many endings does this episode have?

-Lila back at it again

-Wait... What the f*** happened?!

_________________________________________________________

Okay so this was a b**** and a half to finally watch

But yea. I do NOT like how this basically gave Gabriel his win.

Yea he's dead but he won.

Adrien has no idea that his father basically did that, and it makes the whole fight seem pointless.

Then there is all that utopia crap. (DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THIS. )

The adrinette is sweet and all that.

But ADRIEN IS BEING GASLIT. Its some bulls***

Also how does Marinette remember the wish? Wasnt it supposed to be some cosmic rewrite?

All I know is... I need some time to think. Do I even want to continue watching ML. Knowing that Gabriel wins and gets treated like a martyr.

Season 6 needs to start with some sort of Upheaval. Consequences need to be had.

As for my rating.

I cant give it an honest rating right now. I need to cool off.

Is it the worst written? No. But the ending has pissed me off

it feels tainted.

[neakco]

You're Not Alone Ch.4

Ao3 Prequel Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Masterlist

Marinette is back at school where she regrets past Marinette leaving so many problems for future her.

Marinette faceplates into her desk with a resounding thud that caused Adrien to turn around and pat her head in comfort. She was thankful for her friends, really she was. Nino had called her about an hour before she planned on waking up to warn her that Alya was on her way. So that was nice. And Alya, Alya could be a great friend, she just couldn’t do it while in reporter mode.

 

She finally sat up in order to pull out the homework from the break only to discover it was missing. Her head hit with another thud. Tikki had helped her pack her school stuff last night, if it was missing it either meant it was stolen, which was unlikely since the normal culprits didn’t appear to be here today, or she had somehow left it in Gotham.

 

She couldn’t even say she had left it at home since the run to the zeta tubes and through the manor would take a lot longer then the run to her home would.

 

She briefly registered a knock on the classroom door and figured it was probably Lila with some glorious fake story of why she was late. Instead she heard an accented and somewhat familiar voice.

 

“Is this Marinette Dupen-Cheng's class?”

 

She looked up, then looked up more to spot the white streak in the tall man's black hair. Then she glanced to his uncovered arms and spotted a few fresh looking scars. She missed her teacher's response as she was too focused trying to figure out how many shark bites she saw.

 

“Nette!” Jason was holding out a folder for her to take over Adrien's head. “You left your homework and Timber had me deliver it.”

 

“Thanks Jay Jay.” She smiled up at him. He hadn’t been in the manor last week so it was nice to see him.

 

He headed to the door, “I'll be around for a bit so I will catch you later “

 

“Sounds good.”

 

She checked to make sure nothing had been added to the folder before she looked up and realized everyone was staring at her. Right, more questions to answer. She was very lucky Alya hadn’t  spotted the painting of batcow or the ‘Paris Gun Registry’ forms that had somehow made it into her folder.

 

The day actually improved after the stressful morning. Lila showed up with her wonderous break tales. Then Adrien got to join her at the bakery for lunch. She caught him up on all the usual Wayne drama and he told her what she had missed in Paris. It wasn’t much, the biggest thing was Kagami negotiating him some more freedom from his father.

 

Now school was over and she was trying to leave quickly before Alya lost interest in Lila's stories. She tripped on the last step in her haste and was caught by a shark bitten arm. “Thanks Jay Jay.”

 

He let go once she had her balance back, “Anytime Nette.” He handed her a piece of paper. “Locations from Zatanna.”

 

She grinned, that's why Jay was in town. He was setting up the magic cameras that would hopefully be able to spot akuma. If they worked then her dragon would hopefully be able to pinpoint Hawkmoth's location.

 

She was about to thank him when she heard Lila's shrill stage whisper, “I don’t know Alya. I swear I saw someone near identical up to no good.”

 

Jason grinned and Marinette had to suppress the urge to bury her face in her hands. She needed to see in order to prevent chaos.

 

“To be fair, if you ask my brothers they will tell you that everything I do is shady.” Jason was using the ‘Dick special’ smile. The one that charmed everyone. At least it wasn’t his feral grin. The one that said people were about to die.

 

“Jason, going a little heavy on the charm today?” Adrien approached with his hand out for a fist bump.

 

Jason held out his own fist, “Hey Trouble, you off to do daddy's bidding.”

 

Adrien laughed. “Not today. I actually have a date with Kagami.”

 

“That's the girl that can give the Gremlin a good fight, yeah?”

 

“That's her.” Adrien smiled dreamily for a moment. “Nice seeing you, maybe we can catch up tonight?”

 

“Looking forward to it.” Jason waved as  Adrien left to get into the waiting vehicle.

 

Alya and Lila had just started getting their bearing back when Luka rode up on his bike.

 

“Sorry I'm late Melody. Jules said there was a delinquent in the area and I wanted to prepare.” Luka grinned as he pulled a flash drive out of his pocket.

 

“If it isn’t Blue Lightning.” Jay grinned.

 

“Speak of the devil and he will appear.” Luka tossed over the flash drive. “A mix of covers and a couple of originals as you requested Jay.”

 

“Mari!” Alya yelled as she walked into her space. “Does everyone know this hoodlum?”

 

“Hey.”

 

Maribette ignored Jason's protest, “Alya, Lila, may I introduce you to JasonTodd.-Wayne. Known lover of chaos and classic literature.”

 

“Pleasure.” Jason smiled charmingly before wincing when Luka poked his new scars. “Fucking ow.”

 

“You do know that you aren’t supposed to play with sharks? They aren’t like dolphins.”

 

The was a gasp from the growing crowd. Marinette assumed it was Kim based off the slight awe she heard. Though it could have been Alix too.

 

“Wasn’t that tough.” Jason shrugged. “If I don’t play with the sharks then how else do you suggest I show off how awesome I am?”

 

“Not by wrestling a shark.” Luka sighed, “At least your limbs are all still attached.”

 

Jason looked offended. “Excuse you Blueberry, I wrestled several sharks.” He grinned triumphantly, “And won.”

 

Jason looked like he was about to give more details when his phone started going off.

 

“Damn, looks like B figured out where I took off to. I will catch you later Blue, Nette.” Jason sent a wink to the stunned crowd before heading to his motorcycle and taking off well over the speed limits.

 

Marinette finally allowed her face to hit her palms.

 

“You okay Melody? Was the drama queen too much?” his hands hovered near her without actually making contact.

 

She looked up with a small smile. “yes. Today has just been a lot. And I live Jay but he likes the drama a bit too much.” She adjusted her bag over her shoulder and let Luka lead her through the crowd.

 

“Liberty or Park?”

 

“Liberty please, it is a little less chaotic right now.”

 

Luka laughed, “Don't let the Captain here you, she will do everything to prove you wrong.”

 

“I promise I will be careful.” She smiled as she climbed on the bike behind Luka. She could hear her friends shaking off their stupor. She was sure Alya was going to call after her, but she didn’t care.

That was a problem for future Marinette.

The end? Maybe. Depends if these characters demand attention again.

As always I am open for any requests for scenes you want to see.

Taglist: @novemberistired @novemberandmay @laurcad123 @certainmuffinbagelcalzone

[unmaskedagain]

Gabriel Agreste Must Die

I have no idea what inspired this but I just thought this would be funny. It Salt towards Gabriel. So enjoy. Warning Gaslighting ahead

Nino never thought that, out of everyone in the entire world, he would be the one to figure out Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth. Granted, it wasn’t like he had done he any searched or used any expert detective or journalism skills. No, instead he had been hanging out at Marinette’s; getting his butt handed to him in Ultimate Mecha Strike III. Alya chilling as she scrolled through her phone. Chloe, who they somehow managed to become friends with, was taking selfies in Marinette’s newest design outfits.

Nino knew it was because the blonde had proven herself to be a good hero and loyal ally. So when Marinette, the new Guardian now that Fu was gone, that more permanent heroes were needed, she brought in Chloe, along with Nino and Alya. It was then that Ladybug and Chat Noir revealed their identities to them and to each other.

It had been one hell of a shock. But they all became really good friends. Though any crushes the original heroes had died. It turned out Marinette thought of Chat Noir as a brother. And Adrien just couldn’t see Marinette in that light. It was for the best. Alya had been pissed about the love square thing.

That had been over a year ago, and the heroes had all become really good friends; banding together against anyone (Lila or Gabriel) who tried to tear them apart.

They had been talking about the recent akuma attacks, when Nino got a text from Adrien apologizing for not being able to hang out.

“Adrien can’t come,” Nino glared at the screen. “His dad’s got him working late.”

“Again?” Alya asked. “He does know what child labor laws are right?”

           Chloe scoffed, “Like he cares.”

“Still, we should do something,” Marinette frowned as she rapidly pressed buttons on her controller. “This isn’t right.”

“Like what?” Nino asked, already gracefully accepting yet another defeat. “He’s Gabriel Agreste. He’s as big of an asshole as Hawkmoth; and I didn’t think that was possible.”

           As soon as he said those words, something just clicked. Everyone in the room suddenly paused as they processed the words in their minds.

           Nino slowly put down her controller, “It’s not possible, is it? That level of asshole-dom can’t possibly be reached by two different people in the same city, at the same time, in the same universe. There’s no way.”

“Even my mom left once Gabriel took power,” Chloe added. “And she’s a total bitch but she knew that Paris couldn’t handle both a Queen Bitch and the King of the Assholes fighting it out.”

           Marinette’s eyes narrowed as she considered everything they knew about hawkmoth and Gabriel Agreste, “When did Adrien say he last saw mom.”

“Three years ago,” Chloe answered. “Sometime near the end of January, I remember. It was before Valentine’s day as I had been planning yet another amazing party.”

“Alya, when was the first akuma attack?” Marinette asked.

“One sec, I’ll look,” The glasses-wearing girl said and as she frantically researched. When Alya was done, she looked up at them with a dark expression on her face. “February 4th, three years ago.”

“Gabriel has a book on Kwami,” Marinette told them. “He uses it for ‘inspiration.’”

           After that, suddenly they were recalling all the little ‘coincidences’ they overlooked involving anything Agreste related and Hawkmoth; it all added up to something no one could deny.

“Gabriel is Hawkmoth,” Alya whispered stunned. “Adrien’s dad is Hawkmoth. We always said Gabriel was a monster but damn, really?”

“What do we do?” Chloe asked. “What can we do? Hawkmoth is too powerful; especially with Mayura on his side.”

           Marinette nodded but there was a thoughtful look on his face, “Hawkmoth is strong but Gabriel is human like the rest of us. He has his flaws, his weaknesses; cracks in his facade.”

“Mom always said Gabriel was nuts,” Chloe said. “On the edge of his sanity. One good push…”

           Marinette shrugged, “If we can’t defeat the villain…”

“…Then we break the man behind the mask,” Alya smirked,

           Nino growled, “Gabriel Agreste Must Die.”

…

…

           The next day after school; the heroes met up again at Marinette and sat Adrien down to talk.

It turned getting Adrien on board with the plan was difficult. He wasn’t hard to convince him that Gabriel was Hawkmoth, though it did take a while for him to stop throwing up. However, there was thing the blond boy wouldn’t budge on…

“You’re not killing my dad!” Adrien told them.

           Nino nodded calmly and folded his hands on his lap, “I get where you’re coming from, dude. I totally do,” He told his best friend. “But hear me out. Your dad? He really sucks.”

           Adrien shot his friends an incredulous look, “And you think that’s a good enough reason to kill him?”

“Well, yeah,” Nino shrugged. “I mean we talked about this before.”

           Alya pushed her ex-boyfriend turned one of her bestie out of the way, “You’re dad is a megalomaniac magical terrorist that’s been destroying Paris, turning people into monsters, and killing innocents. Sure the damaged gets reversed but the victims, who aren’t Akumatized, still have to deal with the freaking trauma.”

“There are support groups for it,” Marinette said. “People remember dying; drowning, burning, crashing; it’s terrible.” She sighed, “However, we can’t just murder someone. It’s wrong.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It would be wrong not kill him,” Chloe told them. “The amount of time and effort it would save us is nearly too much to count. And the amount of relief all of Paris would feel knowing he was gone is out of this world.  We can stop SO many people from getting hurt if I call my mom’s guy Fredro, and Gabriel has a little ‘accident’.”

           Nino shot up, “See! Chloe agrees,” He shot a victorious look at Alya and Marinette.

           Alya snorted, “Chloe thought burning Gabriel at the stake was good idea.”

“What?!!” Adrien looked at his oldest friend, shock on his face. “What?!!”

           Chloe shrugged, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea. And It was a suggestion..”

“A good one,” Nino added. “And why does it sound like your mom has a hitman on speed dial?”

           Chloe scoffed, “Hitman? Don’t be so crass. Fredro is former MI6. My mom used to work with him. He’s so good even Shield only had the slightest idea he exists.” She looked at her childhood friend with a softest expression anyone had ever seen on her face. “No one would ever know. If you want, he doesn’t even have to feel like a thing. Gabriel goes to sleep one night, and doesn’t wake up in the morning. It’ll look like a heart attack. Trust me, my mother only works with the best.”

“I have a lot of questions about your mother,” Alya said. “And what type of work she did with a former MI6 agent. But we’re gonna circle back to that. That fact is, Adrien, it’s up to you.”

“He’s your dad,” Marinette agreed. “Plus; its two to two. Me and Alya who don’t want to go to prison. And the two psychos who are more than willing to.”

           Nino huffed and moved to stand next to Chloe, “Well, I’m feeling a little called out right now.”

“I told you we should’ve just handled this last night,” Chloe crossed her arms. “Just the two us. Ditch the Halos at home,” She motioned to Marinette, who didn’t like the idea of killing, and Alya, who didn’t want to make the choice with Adrien’s approval. “Bury that asshole alive.”

“Nah, they’d have known it was us,” Nino shook his head. “The second Gabriel doesn’t show up for something he’s supposed to, Marinette’s knocking on my door. I’m always a suspect. Gabriel nearly got killed by a falling headlight during a fashion show in New York, and Alya still gave me suspicious looks for days. Jerk’s literally on the other side of the world, and I’m still the primary suspect.”

           Chloe looked contemplative, “…Didn’t you say you had a cousin in New York?”

“You a cop?” Nino asked. “No? Then stop asking so many questions.”

           Adrien sighed, “I’m sorry, guys; we can’t kill my dad.”

           Alya nodded firmly, “Then option two. We’re rip apart his sanity, destroy his reputation; tear apart everything that makes Gabriel Agreste, Gabriel Agreste until there’s nothing left except the miserable, sorry excuse for man and father, that he really is.”

“Oh but I’m inhumane?” Nino glared. “I was just gonna cut the breaks in Gabriel’s ride. Take him and Nathalie out at the same time. But, yeah, sure, breaking him to the point where he’s ripping out his own hair and locked away in a padded room is a noble cause as any.”

“And yet we’re the evil ones? Really?” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s gaslight the bitch.”

           Adrien looked up at the ceiling just so freaking done with world. “What we do first?”

“Your dad’s a total control freak,” Alya said. “We got to make him feel like he’s losing control.”

           Marinette looked over Adrien, “You’re gonna need tight leather pants, chapstick… And how do feel about piercings?”

“That they look like they hurt!” Adrien protested.

           Chloe shoved his shoulder, “Beauty’s pain, woman up!”

“Why do I need chapstick?” Adrien whined.

“You can’t make out with Scott with dry lips!”

“Make out?” Adrien’s face turned bright red. “And who’s Scott?”

           Nino shook his head, “You’re asking a lot of questions for someone who was against the Murder plan.”

           It turned out Scott was Marinette’s cousin. His mom Melissa was Tom’s half-sister. He was handsome tall sixteen-year-old with olive brown skin, curly dark brown hair, and a crooked jaw. When Adrien met him he was wearing a leather jacket and big happy smile on his face.  Adrien couldn’t stop looking at him.

           He had come out as bisexual to his friends months ago but had only briefly experimented with Luka in the kissing department. Marinette had stumbled upon and quickly squeaked, turned red, and scampered off. Though Adrien did have to deal with her grumbles about having dips. To which Adrien replied, “You snooze, you lose.”

Scott was with a brown haired, pale skinned, gangly guy, with lots moles and a rather pretty redhead.

“Oh come on!” The pale guy complained when he saw Adrien. He looked at Scott. “What leprechaun did you sacrifice so that you got the fucking luck in the world? First the Disney princess Alison, then badass ‘she could stab me and I’d thank her’ Kira, and now Apollo’s freaking love child. No! It’s not fair.”

“Dude!” Scott complained. “Stiles, you’re dating Derek.”

           Stiles suddenly looked really smug, “Yeah I know,” He smirked. “But this isn’t about us. This is about all the other Scotts and Stiles’ of the world who are still growing out of their loser stage. Give them a chance, bro.”

           The redhead rolled her eyes, “Hi I’m Lydia!” She introduced to the young heroes. “The loud moron is Stiles. The moron who’s been drooling since he saw you is Scott.”

           Scott reared back, and started to quick wipe his mouth, “Man, am I drooling?”

“A little,” Stiles shrugged. “I just thought it was moon thing, you know?”

           Lydia ignored them, “I love your dress. It’s an MDC, yes? Up in coming designer, so chic!”      

           Marinette smiled, “Thanks. It took forever to design this.”

           The redhead paused, “You designed?” She looked stunned for a moment before glaring at Scott. “Is your cousin MDC? Did you not tell me your cousin was MDC?”

           It was a little hilarious how quickly Scott stepped back in fear of girl a foot shorter than him.

“About why we’re here,” Alya decided to intervene before blood was drawn. “Adrien, this is Scott. He’ll be your boyfriend for as long as he’s Paris.” She looked between Scott and Adrien and smirked. “And I have no idea who I should congratulate.”

“Me,” Scott let slip as he stared at Adrien in a daze.

           Pictures of Adrien Agreste making out with Scott were everywhere an hour later. Adrien tweeted his response, “I’m Bisexual. So what? To quote Taylor Swift: You need to Calm down.”

           The tweet was the first thing that made Gabriel realize something was very, very wrong.

           Adrien went home and was met the angry expressions of his father and Nathalie. It was time for step to.

           Before either could yell at him. “I quit,” Adrien said. “No more modeling. No more anything I don’t want to do. This is not up for debate. I’m not asking. You can’t make me. And if you try to take me out of school; my friends will public with all the evidence of all times you broke child labors. And if you think I’m bluffing, a copy of the evidence was sent to Nathalie’s email.” He gave them hard looks. “You will go to prison. Try me. It’s over,” Adrien told them but didn’t add that it was in more ways that one.

           He walked passed them; only sparing a glance to see the stunned looks on their faces.

           Adrien knew his father wouldn’t back down. This was only the beginning.

           Unfortunately for Gabriel, he would be far too busy putting out the fires of his burning empire to have any time to rein back in his son.

           During the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, an anonymous user *cough Alya* released videos of Gabriel verbally berating his employees for the smallest things, and firing them. It was not a good look.

           The Gabriel brand took a hit. The first of many.

           Over the next few weeks; Gabriel found himself forgetting things. First he found a box of imported silk that Nathalie swore he called her himself to have her order, and he saw the call logged in his phone but for the life of him he couldn’t remember making the call. Then it was scheduling meetings, ordering lunches or coffee that he couldn’t remember doing. Then he forgot where put things.

           For example, one time Gabriel swore he took out his sketchbook from his briefcase and sat it on his desk and left for a meeting. However, when he returned, it wasn’t there. And He nearly went raving mad trying to find it. Only for Nathalie to take it out of his brief case.

           The suit he had laid out for him the night before would be an entirely different color than the one he remembered putting out but then Nathalie would tell him that he ordered her himself to have it pressed.

           It was little thing and big little just slightly out of place that started to grate on his nerves.

“The stress,” Nathalie told him. “It’s getting to you. Perhaps a vacation is in order”

“I’m fine,” He waved her off. “How is the plan to pull Adrien back in?

           Nathalie frowned, “Nothing. He’s still going strong with his boyfriend, a young Scott McCall. Every time we try anything, a new video of Adrien, uh, at work, is released to the media. CPS and the police knocked on our doors three times already. Next time, I fear, they may take him. Amelie Graham de Vanily has been spotted in town, speaking with several lawyers. My sources say she will attempt for custody if CPS deems you unfit.”

“Nothing of the sort will happen,” Gabriel sneered. “I will not lose my son; not to my sister in law, and not to some American boy. Tell Adrien, we will have dinner together. I will talk some sense into him myself.”

           That was his plan at least.

           However, Gabriel found himself waking up in the morning, in his pajamas, utterly confused. “Nathalie, when did I go sleep?”

           She looked confused, “Around midnight, sir. You had dinner with Adrien, and then had to rush off to take a call from Audrey.”

“I… had dinner with Adrien?” Gabriel asked. “Are you sure? I don’t remember. And I didn’t talk with Audrey, did i?”

           Nathalie suddenly looked very concerned. “Sir, I was there. Adrien and you had a lovely conversation about his school and him going back to modeling. Adrien decline. You tried to protest but Audrey called. You two argued for an hour. I was there the entire time. You really don’t remember?”

           No, Gabriel didn’t.

           A week later, after a series of incidents. One of which apparently he had ordered Nathalie to take him to a salon and walked out with blue hair, but couldn’t remember when he woke up the next day. And swore he hadn’t.

“I’ve scheduled a meeting with doctor,” Nathalie told him. “We’re going to get you looked at, okay.”

           It was the first of many, many doctor visits. Until one day Adrien came home and His aunt was there with Nathalie. They told him that his father went on a little “vacation” for a while.

           It turned out the vacation was a very luxurious mental institution.

[marshmallowprotection]

I've been wondering about it for a while. How would saeyoung react (and if he wasn't kidnapped by the pm) if he saw what happened to saeran in be3?

I suppose it would be a mess of a situation. Rika and MC canonically work together to build Mint Eye up into a stronger cult. So we would have to think about how that is going and then how he would find out.

She stops fixating on the RFA members as she has MC right by her side. It turns into a situation where they are just trying to build the cult into something greater and much stronger. There's more of a focus on the message of darkness that they're trying to spread to people.

They turn all their attention onto a long process of grooming Saeran to be the marinette king. He doesn't fight back because he bows his head and does anything that we want him to do.

If you do not want to escape, if you close off all of the avenues that he could follow to help himself, if you break him down when he's just reaching the point where he wants to change, and he's going to give up on everything and just accept hell. If it makes you happy then he might as well suffer. If he can't escape then what's the point? If this is the only place that he is allowed to be then what can he do? There's no choice.

So he stares ahead with the dead eyes at the crowd as he simply becomes a figurehead and a puppet. If something goes wrong, he is the one that is going to burn and take the blame. You and Rika won't burn. When it all inevitably crashes down and goes wrong, he's going to be the one that's going to die or go to jail or whatever. It is not a matter of if it will happen, it's a matter of when it will happen.

You are queens that hide in the dark and rule together. More or less, it's like he doesn't even matter anymore to you because all you care about is the goal of achieving this paradise that isn't real. It's hard to say because they don't really go into the semantics of it and you have to kind of gauge for yourself what the relationship will be like.

So, knowing that, as the group spreads, so will his face. More and more people are going to become aware of his existence and you know that's not a good thing. It doesn't matter how many subtle changes there are. His father is going to figure it out sooner or later. Since he is a man that wants power more than anything, it's possible that he wouldn't kill Saeran right away.

If there is a way that he could use him and Mint Eye? He'd likely make a deal with you and Rika to achieve both of your goals. That would be likely when it would become a problem for the RFA as Saeyoung would still be a sitting target and Rika may want to get them now that she won't be able to be stopped with Saejoong on her side.

It may be too late for Saeyoung to do anything at that point. Can you imagine the horror if he saw his twin with Saejoong, willfully doing harm and causing destruction? Or, just seeing those eyes without life and meaning as he preaches things he doesn't believe. That's true terror right there and it pains me.

If we want to not consider the implication of their father, then it would be the same thing. Sooner or later, his existence and the existence of the group is going to be something that cannot be avoided. It's only a matter of time until they are able to locate the group. They never would have stopped looking for you. So, there would have been this hunt going on to try and locate you and understand what was going on. Because it would stop all of a sudden in this ending.

So, you can imagine them watching this on TV as it plays out and it completely destroys the man that Saeyoung is. You can imagine him at that moment utterly losing himself because the truth cannot be spoken but at the same time his brother is obviously being forced to do something that he doesn't want to do.

He would turn out his anger at the rest of the world.

He would hunt Jihyun down. The cult down. All of it. Hell hath no fury like Saeyoung Choi. You won't be spared, either. If you hurt Saeran, you're done. You are done and he will not stop fighting until Saeran is safe. It won't be a pretty sight and that's why I don't want to really elaborate. He will inevitably break down but he's going to lash out as soon as he makes sense of that.

It would cause a similar storm if he were to infiltrate the building and realize just how bad things are. It would have the same ending. He would not stop. He would not rest. He would not do a thing without knowing that his brother was safe and the people that caused the hurt to happen were punished.

His goal would be to get his brother out of there and then leave. He would likely leave the country for good. He wouldn't look back. As long as he can get his brother out of there that's all that matters. It just depends on how he finds out but it has the same ending in the matter what. Unless they use his brother against him and destroy him before he can make things right.

[novemberandmay]

Fireworks

Warning: Mentions Character death, mourning, and I insult the world for a second or two. If you do not like any of the topics above or would prefer avoiding said topics, please scroll past this. You have been warned.

@daminette-december2019-2020

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

A daughter, a leader, a lover

The sweetest rose, the kindest hand

May she rest in piece, because god does she deserve it.

Damian met the girl who would haunt his dreams for eternity on January 1st, XXXX. For a year, she would never leave his mind.

For a year she would stay right beside him.

For a year, he would learn to smile.

For a year, he would know only happiness.

But only for a year...

“Hi! My name’s Marinette, what’s yours?”

She was the sweetest little thing, always bearing the brightest smile. She changed everyone’s hearts for the better, leaving the town with a small bit of light. But...

“WHY HER? OF EVERYONE HERE? WHY TAKE HER?! If there’s a god out there, please... please give her back...Give me my happiness back...give me Marinette back.”

The girl helped everyone she could, never leaving a mouth unfed. She baked for animal rights protests and made full blown meals for the homeless. She saw a problem and she resolved it. When a kid came to her saying his ma’ kept hittin’ his lil’ sis for na’ reason, she got the kids out of her care. She did everything she could for everyone that would let her. She solved any problem in anyone’s way. So god, let me ask you.. Why her? Why did you let her die? OUT OF EVERYONE ON THIS SICKENING PLANET, WHY DID YOU KILL HER?!?! Because you wanted your Angel back? Because it was her time? Because SHE LIVED THROUGH IT ALL?!

Why...

WHY

WHY?!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng died on January 1st, 12:00, as the last firework went off. She watched it all out the window of her hospital room, giving the world one last smile. Her muscles could barely move under the strain, almost shutting down immediately, but she still did it. She still gave the stupid world around her, the ignorant pieces of trash around her, a small, sad smile. And when she did so, the man next to her felt his heart break. He felt his world collapse. He felt every bad emotion in the book. He cursed the sky, and groveled next to her body. Damian held her hand, her small, frail hand, and cried. He sobbed, his knees collapsing onto the ground.

While others were celebrating the new year, Damian was mourning his first and only love.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl who flew without wings-

The one who was let go too soon.

May she forever rest in piece.

Taglist: 

@neakco

@dood-space

@jjmjjktth

@animeweebgirl

@nickristus-dreamer

@talushi2002

@miraculouslydumb

Notes: Hi! Sorry it’s so short! I tried to put a bit of raw emotion in there, but I’m not sure it turned out well! Haha! But anyways, I wrote this while listening to “Sad Song” by We The Kings. I thought that since I missed a lot of the days, I should atleast do the last one on time. Should I finish off the days (I missed a lot of them) still? If so, i’ll be posting them in November, and might try to just write them all (when I can) and post them all at once or something? If I do, I’ll prolly just try to make master list and post all the days there so you can access them! Anyways, have a good day/night y’all! ‘Cus you definitely deserve it! Till Next time!

It is unedited for the most part.

-November

[amaya-james]

Bio! Dad Peter

next

Hi Guys!! It’s finally here. Just some warnings that is up ahead. In this I made it so that Adrien was always attended school but is still just as obsessed with Marinette. He is, unfortunately, still ‘A superhero’. I hope you enjoy this story. I have made up my mind about the ships. And since we don’t have enough of Marikon, Garmari, or even Marijon, without making Damian salty, those will be the options.

“There’s something that I’ve been wanting to tell you” MJ sighed. “When I was up there, and I thought that I was going to die. There was always one person I was thinking of, and it wasn’t who I thought I’d be. It was you Pete. I kept thinking; I hope I make it through this, So I can see Peter Parker’s face one more time.” MJ says while she strokes his cheeks gently as Peter Smiles. “Really?” Peter whispered.

“There’s only one man, who’s always been there for me. Who makes me feel like I’m more then I’d ever thought I could be. That I’m just, me. And that’s okay. The truth is, I love you.” MJ says, not realizing the small frown that is now on peter’s face. MJ sighs lovingly, “I love you so much Peter.” MJ leans in, and kisses him, Peter couldn’t do this to her, he couldn’t put her in danger. So, Peter pushed her away, gently.

All he wanted, is to tell her how much he loved her. “I can’t” Peter whispered, “You can’t what?” MJ asked, desperately hoping that the answer is not what she thinks it is. “Tell you, everything. I mean there’s so much to tell.” Peter says. “Yeah, there’s so much to tell” MJ laughs nervously.

“I want you to know that I will always be there for you. I will always be there to take care of you. I promise you that. I will always be your FRIEND.” Peter says. MJ sighs sadly, “Only your friend? Peter Parker.” MJ asked. “That’s all I have to give” Peter says. MJ starts crying, while Peter walks away. Peter doesn’t notice how MJ subconsciously places her hand on her stomach. 

x___________________________________________________________x

Marinette always felt like she was different. Like she didn’t fit the character of a “normal” person. From a young age, she could remember whispered conversations in the background, adults talking about how worried they are about her, how she wasn’t like other kids. She didn’t want to be like other kids, not one bit. she liked to sit back and observe. She liked to be herself. Unfortunately, no one quite understood this, and she often found herself being forced into uncomfortable situations: “Try to talk to Lila, she’s new and needs friends,” “Go play with the other kids, being a kid means freedom. When your older you won’t have what you have now.” But is it really freedom when you don’t even get a choice as a kid?

Marinette would go on long walks to clear her head; she would look around and compare herself to everyone else. She knew she wasn’t normal, but she didn’t know what made her different. Marinette is 12 when she finally got her answer. She was walking home from school after completing a school project. As she was walking past an alley, she felt a tingling feeling in the back of her skull. Before she could ignore the feeling, she felt her legs move on their own. Marinette dodged, turned around, kicked the person in the groin, and when the person bent down in pain, Marinette hit his pressure points causing him to pass out. Marinette didn’t think much of it and thought that it was just her instincts, and in a way. It was.

Marinette always liked science; it was her favorite subject in school. Marinette always thought that was what make her different. That was also why she had clicked so well with one of her classmates. Marinette was walking to school when she saw an old man cross the street while a car is speeding. So Marinette started running as fast as she could, and honestly Marinette thought that she was going as fast as the Flash, and pushed the older man onto the sidewalk. Marinette saw the car and thought that it was to late to move. Then she got the tingling feeling in the back of her skull and did a flip onto the car and a triple flip into the air and landed safely onto the sidewalk. Then she heard clapping, Marinette felt a little proud of herself, until she heard the school bell and started running to school. 

Marinette is 13 when she Becomes Spider-Bug. 

“Come back, Mari! We belong together! It will be easier once you admit it!” Adrien shouts while chasing her. Marinette is running, trying to lose him when she turns into an alley. She could hear Adrien’s footsteps coming closer. Marinette closes her eyes, following her instincts that hasn’t failed yet, and starts walking. She finally heard Adrien stop and walk into the alley. Marinette is scared to open her eyes, so she keeps it closed. She hears Adrien mumble curse words and walks out. This confused Marinette as to why he didn’t do anything, not that she isn’t thankful, but she knew that if Adrien did see her he would have tried something. Marinette finally opened her eyes, and gasped. 

Marinette is 14 when she developed the ability to climb walls.

Marinette now knew that she wasn’t normal. But she’s still confused on how she got these powers. She doesn’t know who to ask. Does she tell someone about these abilities that she now has? Marinette decides that she won’t tell anyone about these abilities, just like she won’t be able to tell anyone that she is now Paris’s new superheroine named Spider-Bug. 

Marinette always felt like she was different and now she will finally get her answers.

If you have any ideas on the ship that wasn’t an option that I suggested, please tell me. This Bio! Dad will have many parts, I'm just not sure when I will be updating the next part. Hopefully soon. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Tag list: @ultimatetornshipper @zorua-adorable @nyx-in-line @ricebullet @pawsitivelymiraculous 

[giuliafc]

When Magic Fails - chapter 2

Read on A03 || FFN || Wattpad (links to chapter 1)

Summary: The Miraculous Cure can fix the damage caused by a specific akuma. But what happens when said damage comes after the Miraculous Cure? When the damage isn't caused by an akuma? Follow Marinette through the worst day of her life. The day where her identity, or Chat's, won't matter any more. The day when she will discover what's really important. But at what price? Lovesquare story.

Warning: VERY intense! Read previous chapter here on Tumblr

Betas: KhanOfAllOrcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama, Speckleflower, AmberLambda, Anonymousfriend27 and MiniNoire

Big thanks to: Momo|MarinetteAgresteBrand and Genxha

Cover art and chapter art credit: Rosehealer02 on Deviantart.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc; TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

oOo

Chapter 2 - Code Polkadot

It was a race against time. His ring beeped when she passed the Ministère de la Santé, and her own Miraculous beeped in front of the ambassade des Pays-Bas. People watched in horror as she jumped and zipped across the road. She could see their stares, could hear their whispers. They were probably wondering what Ladybug was doing, holding Chat Noir and running madly across the road, both covered in blood, dust and rubble. She glared at anybody that came within a glaring distance.

“WHERE’S THE HOSPITAL?” she shouted at someone who had just stopped on a bike next to her. A familiar face, but her vision was so blurred by tears and sweat that she couldn’t quite make out who the person was. She shrugged off the idea. Four different hands pointed in the same direction, immediately followed by another dozen. She attempted a grateful smile, but was certain, from the frightened reactions of the people on the road, that she had barely managed to put up a painful grimace.

She jumped across in the direction shown and immediately saw her reflection glaring at her from the windows of the building in front of her. She didn’t even stop to consider what she looked like. The words on the building's windows said Hôpital Necker, but they also mentioned "University". She looked around to find the blue "H" that clearly marked a public hospital and saw it just a few metres away, at the side of a small marble arched gate, which led into a courtyard.

She landed in front of it and burst inside; her eyes scanned the courtyard until she saw at her left a door manning the sign “Accueil”. As she walked inside and looked around, she saw lines of metallic black seats. Mothers and children moved to give her space, as well as the people queuing and standing in front of the reception check in. She heard whispers around the room, mothers consoling their children who were asking what happened to Chat Noir. Why were there so many kids? All the patients had children with them; that was weird.

“I need a doctor, quickly!” she said bluntly at the woman sitting at the check in desk. To her disappointment the receptionist was on the phone, so taken with looking at the screen in front of her that she hadn’t even glanced in her direction. Marinette’s gaze quickly ran to Chat Noir’s face. The side of his head was covered in blood, which had mixed together with the dirt and the pieces of mortar in his hair and had made a sort of paste that had glued to his and even to her own suit. Her heart raced faster in her chest. She needed to hurry.

“Have you got your child’s carnet de santé and carte mutuelle, and your carte vitale please?” came from behind the green desk the voice of said receptionist, who stretched her left hand out to her, her eyes still focused on the screen in front of her, her ear still glued to the phone receiver.

Marinette gulped. Child? She looked around again. There were plenty of colourful drawings and cartoon characters embossed on the walls of the reception desk and pictures of children with many different types of illnesses.

Oh yes. Hôpital Necker, the child hospital. That’s right. She had heard of it in the news so many times, looking for donations for their research.

“He’s not my child…” she said. If the situation hadn’t been so serious she was sure Chat would have found it funny.

The middle aged brunette in front of her took her eyes off her screen, put a thick pair of glasses on and gave her a practised look of pure boredom before her brown eyes widened. “Excuse me ma’am,” she said to the person she was talking to on the phone. “I have an emergency here. You will need to redial.” She hung up and dropped the phone receiver.

“La… Ladybug? Oh Jesus… Chat Noir? What… This is a child’s hospital Ladybug… we have adult patients, but they...they’re not our speciality...” She started stammering and paled considerably.

Marinette felt a gush of anger spreading all over her gut as she admitted it, hastily, “I’m fifteen… and I expect him to be around my age. I don’t care if it’s a hospital for children, for aliens or for wild animals. He could die if we don’t act fast. He needs help. NOW.”

People all around started whispering.

“Fifteen?”

“Oh my God.”

“They are kids.”

“Only kids.”

“Maman is Chat Noir really younger than my big brother?”

“Sure.” The woman at the desk picked up the phone and pushed a couple of buttons on it. “Dr. Richter? Yes, Sylvie here at reception. We have an emergency. Oh you know already? Good… code polkadot you say? What is it, I’ve never heard of it. Ah okay... Cool. Yes, they know. They’re 15! Yes. I hear you, yes. Crazy! I’ll tell her. Leave it to me.” She stood and ran out of the accueil’s room; Marinette could only follow. “They’re already waiting for you in front of the SUSI (2).”

Marinette paled. “But I thought this was…” she muttered, but the woman interrupted her.

“Ladybug, you’re in the wrong place. This is the reception for booked appointments and routine visits. The SUSI is over there.” She pointed to the left. “You’re probably going to be faster than the bed. It’s the other side of that rooftop.”

Marinette gave her a grateful look and a nod. “Thank you… Sylvie?”

“Good luck, Ladybug,” she said smiling warmly. “You saved my boyfriend when he was akumatised. This is the least I can do.”

Marinette nodded again and held Chat firmly, jumping on the rooftop as fast as her legs could take her. She immediately saw that three men dressed in blue were waiting at the back entrance of the next building, near what looked like a gurney and an ambulance. She jumped off right beside them.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Ladybug. Nadja Chamack rang the hospital to warn us of your arrival. Please allow me to take him,” one of the nurses said, as he tried to take Chat from her arms.

She initially resisted, but then heard Chat’s ring giving a louder beep, so she gave in. “Please, we need to hurry. One minute and our transformations will fall,” she pleaded. The man’s gaze became stern. He held Chat firmly and moved steadily towards the gurney next to him. He carefully put Chat on it and quickly pushed the gurney inside the building, trying to move it hastily to the corridor leading to a door labelled ‘PU - Urgences’ (1).

A loud beep came from her earrings, and in a flash of pink, Marinette’s transformation fell as she sped next to the nurses, not even trying to hide her face from the crowd that had gathered all around her. Her gaze stayed firmly focused on Chat and on the nurses who were putting what she thought could be an oxygen mask on his mouth and nose, taking advantage of a moment when the gurney stopped because of the crowd. She didn’t even pay any attention to Tikki, who had come out of the earrings and had looked at her worryingly before flying into her purse.

“Ew, what’s that?”

“A giant bug maman!”

“Does Ladybug keep bugs in her purse?”

“WILL YOU ALL PLEASE GO FASTER? HIS SUIT HELPS HIM, BUT THIS COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS LIFE OR HIS DEATH! HE’S ONLY GOT A FEW MORE SECONDS TO SPARE!” She could swear that she saw a few flashes and tried to cover her face as best she could. Suddenly she felt someone’s arms wrap around her as a jacket was thrown over her head.

“There’s nothing else to see people, let the gurney pass!” a male voice said. She knew that voice… where had she heard that voice before?

They went through the doors of the PU and walked hastily a little longer until the gurney stopped and moved ninety degrees. The jacket was removed from her head as she heard the zipping sound of curtains being pulled all around them. A quick glance to her surroundings made her realise that they were in a sort of cubicle, protected from the view by a set of blue paper curtains, and the doctors and nurses were surrounding Chat, plugging different cables and machines all around him.

“Where do I plug the oximeter?” one of the nurses asked. She looked very young and a bit pale. She held a sort of peg in her hands, plugged into a machine and tried to attach it to one of Chat’s cat ears. “Nope. Does he have human ears?” She moved his hair at the side of his head and Marinette heard her sighing in relief as she attached the peg to something.

“What happened to him, how did he get hurt, Miss Ladybug?” she heard a doctor ask and she suddenly looked up, realising that the man was talking to her.

“Oh… he fell off the Eiffel Tower…” she started to say. Then she heard the last beep of her partner’s ring and in a flash of green his transformation fell. As Plagg twirled out of the ring and fell with a loud sob on top of Chat’s head, Marinette couldn’t stop her gaze from following the black kwami and running straight to the blond boy laying on the bed.

The plastic mask covered almost all his face, but even with that on, there was not a chance in hell that Marinette wouldn’t recognise his blond mane, now combed neatly to the side of his head and clean from the dirt, but not from the blood that plastered the side of his face. Pale; he was as pale as a ghost. She only caught a glimpse of his face before someone’s arms wrapped around her and held her tight. But that glimpse was enough.

No.

NO!

NOO! It couldn’t be...

“Gamin? Talk to me! Are you okay?” she heard Plagg say. Then, she saw something red dashing around the room, grabbing Plagg, oblivious of his objections, and disappearing behind the curtain. “Tikki, you don’t understand! I need to tell Pigtails! He’s been poi—” the little God of destruction whimpered as he was dragged away. She wasn't sure, but she thought she had seen tears at the corner of Plagg’s electric green eyes. Even her own eyes filled with tears, her chest shaken by loud sobs.

“Mar-Ladybug, it’s okay. He will be safe,” someone said, hugging her tight, but it sounded far away, like a whisper from a different time. "Marinette can you hear me? It's me, Luka," he added in a lower tone of voice. But all Marinette could hear were the sudden angry beeps of the machines in front of her, having gone mad the second Chat's transformation fell. A horde of doctors and nurses rushed to the gurney, busying themselves with plugging in more cables and hooking up strange machines to Chat's body and face.

“Sorry, Mlle. Ladybug, can you please wait over there? We need space!” Marinette heard the voice of one of the doctors say, and she felt Luka’s arms wrapping tighter around her as he tried to move her backwards.

She resisted sternly. That face. She had just given one quick glance to that face. She had to see it again, to see that it wasn’t the face she thought. She wriggled out of Luka’s hold and jerked towards the gurney, peeking around the doctors at work and trying to give another quick look, earning quite a few glares from a couple of nurses.

The neatly combed blond mane framed the handsome face of the boy she would recognise among thousands. As pale as a ghost. His once peachy lips now dry and blue under the transparent plastic mask. His beautiful green eyes closed. Why of all people did it have to be him?

She screamed.

"It's okay, Mar-Ladybug! He will be alright!" Luka's voice said again, his arms firmly wrapped around her shoulders to stop her from lunging straight to the bedside.

"ADRIEEEEN!!!" Her heart-wrenching screams came loud and clear in between the sobs that rocked her chest and lungs.

"Marinette? What… Adrien? Oh girl you must be kidding me! Mar… La-Ladybug?" This was Alya's voice. She heard Luka shushing her, and Alya’s eyes widened, as she corrected herself. What was Alya doing here?

Suddenly, a pair of extra arms wrapped around her from her left side. Another pair from the right, in a vice grip that kept her from going to him, that kept pushing her backwards.

A female voice spoke, the masked emotions trickling in through the tremble in her voice. “You can't go over there! You'll only get in the way of the doctors working on him! Stay here!”

“ADRIE—” A hand cupped over her mouth, barely able to muffle the sounds of heartbreak seeping out of her.

"Shhhhh! Do you want everyone to know, Ma-Ladybug?" It was Kagami's voice. She nearly didn’t recognise it, as the usually confident and blunt tone of the Japanese girl was missing completely. She sounded shaken and emotionally drained. Marinette darted her gaze around to notice that Alya was standing at her right and Kagami at her left, and they were both holding her tight, supporting Luka who held her from behind.

They were all there with her. She wondered when they arrived and how they knew where they were. Nadja probably had told them where she was heading, and they were allowed through the door of the PU before detransforming, Marinette thought, but the sight of Adrien being picked up carefully by one of the nurses and transferred into a hospital bed stopped the last of her rational thoughts from coming through. New sobs shook her chest, as new tears rolled off her cheeks. She buried her face in Alya's chest not even attempting to stop sobbing desperately.

Because Chat was Adrien. And Adrien could die. And it was her fault…

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

Notes:

(1) PU - Pavillon des Urgences (A&E/ER)

(2) SUSI - Service d'Urgences et de Soins Intensifs (A&E/ER, Emergency and Intensive Care department)

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

Author's Note:

Hi! *Keeps hiding*

I know, I know, this is probably the most catastrophic reveal ever. Please don't hate me!

I'll cut the fluff and get straight to the point. In the next instalment of "When Magic fails", “Secrets in the Open”:

— “We will need to put stitches on this cut at the side of his head.”

— “He has the right to choose how to live his own life!”

— “Chat Noir hasn’t just been injured. He’s been poisoned. And it’s not just an average poison. It’s extremely dangerous.”

I know, I'm cruel. If you want to kill m—, I mean, if you read this and you’re not part of our wonderful Discord server already, but you enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join our Discord server, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks). See you there soon, and see you soon here with the next chapters of this story. Won’t be too long. Promise!

[p-artsypants]

I’ll Handle This (4)

In Which Gabriel and Plagg Argue

“I’ll solve all your problems,” Plagg had said. “You just have to agree to it.” A fixed relationship with his father, Lila to stop bothering him, and Ladybug to fall in love with him? Who wouldn’t agree to that?

Except Plagg was the God of Destruction and Chaos and had a more…hands-on approach. Adrien just wants his body back.

Ao3 | FF.net

After the shopping trip, the teens walked back to the school together, and then separated. 

“Ugh, walking is exhausting.” Plagg groaned. 

“You’re using my muscles, you know.” Adrien spoke, poking out of the pocket. “I don’t usually walk this much, since my bodyguard drives me everywhere.” 

“Well, then I’m sure this is good for you.” Plagg stomped in big steps. “But I haven’t used legs since the last time I switched with a wielder, so I get to complain.” 

“I think by that logic, you don’t get to complain, because you usually get to float. And not going to lie…it’s pretty sweet.” 

“Just wait until you start floating in your sleep, and then you phase through the ceiling and then keep going and end up in space.” 

Adrien froze, staring up at his own face from the pocket. “That can happen?” 

“Oh yes. Good luck sleeping tonight!”

Not too much longer, Plagg arrived back at the Agreste manor. 

He could feel Adrien shaking in his pocket. “What’s up, Bub?” 

“My father is going to be waiting for you. I just know it. He’s going to yell and threaten to pull you out of school—“ 

“What, like he did this morning? Relax. There’s plenty of windows in the mansion.” 

But Adrien came spiraling out of the shirt to look Plagg in the eyes. “But I don’t want you to break anymore windows! I don’t want you to make my father angry anymore! You’re hurting him!” 

Plagg gave him a hard look. “Is that what you think, Adrien? That your disobedience hurts him?” 

“Why else would he be mean? He loves me...” 

Plagg reached up and scratched his ears. “Of course he does, kid. But...sometimes, in people like your dad, love isn’t the strongest motivator. I know it is with you. Love is about the only thing that controls you. Your love for your friends, for your family, your city, for Ladybug...that all drives your decisions.” 

Adrien was quiet as he agreed. 

“But for people like your father, they’re driven by power. They base decisions on what will make them look good and get more respect. He does love you, Adrien, but he wants your unconditional loyalty. He doesn’t want you to question him, or to disagree with him, because you’re his son. He made you, and you’re half of him. So if anyone is to be completely submitted to his will, it’s you.” 

Adrien frowned. “I don’t believe that. I think...I think he’s just scared. Of losing me, that is. Like we lost mom. So he keeps me restricted.” 

“But he’s always treated you like this, even before you lost your mom.” 

Adrien had no argument to that, and just slowly lowered himself into Plagg’s hands. 

“Just think about it. I’ll do all the talking, you just listen and see.” 

“Okay.” 

Plagg tucked him back into the pocket, before approaching the gate and ringing the doorbell. 

The camera didn’t even come out, the gate just opened. 

It felt like walking into a hell mouth. 

Inside, Gabriel stood at the bottom of the stairs, with his arms crossed. Next to him, Nathalie stood with her own arms crossed. And next to her stood Lila, with her arms also crossed. 

Plagg couldn’t help but snicker. They looked like three Russian puzzle dolls. Would Lila pop open and show another smaller, angrier creature? 

“What’s so funny?” Demanded Gabriel. “Where have you been?” 

“Chill man, I was out with my friends.” 

“And spending my money?” 

“You literally let me spend whatever money I want. I just usually never have anything I want to buy. I treat my friends to a nice lunch and it’s the end of the world?”

Gabriel sniffed, “you obviously can’t see that your so-called ‘friends’ are only hanging around you because of our wealth. I disprove of the company you keep, especially Mr. Lahiffe—“ 

“Why?” 

“You don’t get to question my authority.” 

“I’m just honestly curious as to why you don’t like them. I don’t buy stuff for my friends, despite what you think. Nino is a really good friend and a nice person. He doesn’t get in trouble, and his grades are pretty good. So what’s up?” 

“I simply don’t care for his plebeian attitude.” 

Plagg scoffed. “Plebeian?! Excuse me, what century is this again? Are we nobles or something I didn’t know about?” He pitched his voice high to have a ‘proper’ voice. “Oh yes Martha, we shan’t have our child run around with the rift raft in the fields. He must get a proper education so he may marry his cousin, have a child with three eyes, and die at the ripe old age at 26!” 

“Adrien!” Gabriel yelled. “How dare you mock me!” 

“Then stop talking like a 17th century noble! We have money, but high society never did anyone favors! You just sound like an old idiot! An old, out of touch, insensitive idiot!” Then he pointed at Lila. “And if you want to talk about people taking advantage of us, why don’t you turn yourself 90 degrees that-a-way to grill this blood sucking parasite.” 

“On the contrary,” Gabriel interrupted. “Miss Rossi only has your best interests at heart, which is why she came here and told me all about your little charade you put on during school today. You assaulted your bodyguard!” 

“He’s fine.” 

“Whether or not he’s fine is beside the point, Adrien. I hired him to protect you, and you attack him?” 

“He wasn’t protecting me. He was trying to kidnap me! I wanted to be at school!” 

“Well naughty children don’t get to do what they want to do!” 

“Do you want me to be happy or stupid?!” 

“No! Wait—“ 

“Ah ha!” Plagg pointed. “You just want me to be miserable!”

Gabriel flared his nostrils. “Stop trying to twist my words. The fact remains that you have been completely out of control these last few days, and I have no choice but to discipline you accordingly. From now on, you will have no contact with these teenagers that are encouraging you to behave like this monster. Instead, you will only be allowed to interact with Miss Rossi at photo shoots.” 

Plagg saw the corner of the man’s mouth curve up. Check mate, the gesture said. 

Time to take it up a notch.  

“I’m not sure the best way to handle this situation, so I’ll handle it the way Chloe would.” He laid down on the floor and began to kick and scream. “DADDY! DADDY I HATE HER! FIRE HER AT ONCE!!” 

“If you don’t stop this tantrum this instant, you’re being pulled out of school.” 

“Ha!” He laughed, still from the floor. “I’ll just reenroll! I broke one window getting out the first time, there’s not a lock in this earth that can hold me, old man.” 

“Adrien, go to your room.” 

“Make me.” 

“You’re angering me, and you won’t like me when I’m angry.” 

“I don’t like you now.” 

“This attitude of yours is disrespectful, disgusting, immature, and embarrassing. I raised you better than—“ 

“Are you done?” Plagg asked, scratching his ear. “Because you just keep talking. That’s all you do. This gaslighting is getting really old. I know I’m acting immature, that’s the whole thing. Pointing it out just makes you look stupid. Are you going to hit me or something?” 

“I’m not going to hit you, Adrien.” 

“Huh. Didn’t know you had it in you.” 

Gabriel frowned. “You really think I would hit you?” 

“You’ve already hit emotional and verbal abuse, I assumed that was the next step.” 

“I am not abusive! I am strict, but I only have your best interests at heart.” 

“Right, like making me schmooze with Miss Sausage Hair here?” 

“Hey!” Lila cried. 

“Oh shut up, you’re plenty at fault here too.” 

“That’s it. Adrien, you’re grounded. No phone, no computer, no tv, no video games, and no school.” 

“So you want me to just sit in my room and stare out the window? Or are you going to board those up too?” 

“There’s plenty of books for you to read. Books that will hopefully change your mind about this rebellious streak.” 

“Until when?” 

“Until I say so!” 

“Cool. I quit modeling.” 

“WHAT!?” 

“You heard me. I quit modeling. Or you can fire Lila and unground me. Your choice, Gabe.”

Gabriel ground his teeth as Lila just stood there in shock. 

“I’ll give you some time to think about it.” Plagg cracked his neck. “I’ve got homework to do.” 

“But—“ 

“Ah ah ah,” Plagg held up a hand. “Talk to the hand, cause the face ain’t listening.” He skipped up the stairs, and out of the lobby. 

Gabriel simmered in rage, feeling the control which had been so firmly in his hands slip away. 

“Mr. Agreste—“ Lila began. 

“No.” He interrupted. “I need some time to think. Keep your eye on Adrien and let me know exactly what he’s up to, who he’s with, what he’s doing. You do this, and I will reward you greatly.” 

“Of course, Mr. Agreste.” 

—

As soon as Plagg closed the bedroom door, Adrien spiraled out of his pocket. 

“Hey kid, I know that was rough...” 

“Rough?! No kidding! You’re a monster! How could you talk to my father like that!? How could you insinuate that he would hit me? And you got me grounded and pulled from school! You quit modeling!” 

“Honestly Adrien, I thought he might hit me. His anger reflects violence. You see it too.” 

Adrien rubbed his paws over his cheeks, trying to stop the tears. 

“Come on kid, it’s for the best.” And he reached out for him. 

But Adrien darted away. “I’m going to see Tikki! I need comfort from someone that’s not trying to ruin my life!” 

Before Plagg could protest, Adrien had flitted out the window and into the streets. 

The sun was setting, and traffic was dwindling, as working folks made their way home. 

Finding Marinette’s house was a matter of finding the school, and then going from there, while sticking to the shadows and staying high enough away from straying eyes. 

When he reached her balcony, he loitered at the window, trying to figure out how to phase in. Then he wondered if he should even bother. Tikki might scold him for leaving Plagg. Or maybe she’d laugh at him for being upset. She was millennia old too. His problems probably would sound trivial to her as well.

Eventually, he just knocked. 

Marinette answered, a grave look on her face. “Plagg? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Is Chat okay?” 

“He’s fine.” Adrien sniffed. “Can I talk to Tikki please?” 

Shocked by his politeness and shy demeanor, she blinked twice and answered, “Uh, sure.” 

Tikki appeared then, looking at him with concerned eyes. 

“I’ll just leave you two alone then,” Marinette stated, closing the window. 

“Adrien? What’s wrong?” 

It all came out of him then. “He’s a monster!” Adrien blubbered. “He’s ruining everything and making it all worse! I don’t know how to stop him! But my father is done with me and is going to pull me out of school! Plagg keeps acting like it’s no big deal, but he doesn’t understand! He’s just treating this like a big game!”

To his relief, Tikki hugged him tightly. “Oh Adrien. Plagg means well, I promise. His methods don’t make much sense, but they do produce results. It’ll be alright.” 

Adrien just sniffed, taking comfort from the hug. “I feel so helpless. I can’t do anything without outing myself as Chat Noir, and that’s the last thing I need...unless Plagg beats me to it. I know everyone is suspicious of him. This is a nightmare.” 

“I’ll talk to him when I get a chance,” promised Tikki. “He does mean well, I promise. But this is your life, and making you watch him work is torture.” 

“Exactly! Tikki you understand! If he does pull this off, I will thank him, but like...what if it doesn’t work? He acts like humans are so predictable and easy to manipulate, but even with all his life and experiences, he can’t account for everything. I’m worried he’s being too cocky.” 

Tikki petted his head. “Plagg can get over his head sometimes. He’s lazy and stubborn, but that just makes him ridiculously creative. Some of his attempts may fail, but I really think you just have to trust that he’s in control.” 

“I know, I know, and in my head, I know he’s doing this for me. I know he doesn’t want to be in my body, and I know he’s crazy smart…but I feel…betrayed? Scared? I don’t know what I’m feeling.” 

“Unstable.” Tikki provided. “Because you have no control over your life.” 

He frowned, holding onto his tail. 

“But, from what Plagg has told me, you didn’t have much control of it before either.” 

He rubbed a paw against his cheek. “Sadly, no. I didn’t.” 

The trap door opened again, and Marinette peeked her head out. She placed a plate with a cheese danish on it on the ground nearby. “Anything I can do?” 

Tikki answered for him, only slightly lying, “sometimes Plagg gets emotional when he thinks about past holders that we lost tragically. He said Chat was busy and he didn’t want to bother him.” 

“Oh Plagg, I’m so sorry.” 

Adrien rubbed his eyes with his paws again. He may not be in his body, but he did feel a little embarrassed to be crying in front of his crush. 

“Say Marinette, now that you’re the guardian, it would be really helpful if you could comfort him.” 

“Me? I...I guess. What do I do?”

“Just do what feels right.” 

Adrien floated a little closer to her, desperate for her affection, but hesitant to take it for himself. 

She cupped him in her hands, cradling him, holding him, cocooning him with her skin. She brought him up to her face, leaving a lingering kiss right between his ears, then caressed him to her cheek, her fingers encircling him in a hug. 

A stray finger itched the back of his head, sending tingles all the way down to his tail and making him purr. 

This was heavenly. Her scent surrounded him, dulling his senses and calming his tears. 

“It’s okay.” She said softly. “It’s alright to be sad. Things will get better.” 

Her words soothed the day's pain, and he really did feel more optimistic. He could do anything with Ladybug’s support. 

Finally, he pressed a little kiss to her cheek and allowed her to pull away. “Thank you Marinette. I do feel a lot better now.” 

Her smile was so warm and so wonderful, he could stare at her all day. 

But an Akuma alert had to go and ruin the whole thing. 

“You better get back to Chat! If you need more comfort, come back tonight after patrol!” 

“Thanks Marinette! Save that Danish for me!” And he rushed off back to the mansion.