#homeless!marinette
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Unexpected Discoveries Lead to Unexpected Consequences
Chapter 2
Previous
This was not nor had it ever been part of any of his plans. Nope, he had never meant for this to happen at. All. Yet! Here he was. He can’t even believe himself.
“Talia, I have known this girl for two weeks, but I swear to G* that if anything happens to her while I am gone with my next trainer I will kill everyone in the stupid base and then myself.”
Jason immediately stated upon returning from France with Marinette in toe next to him. She gave Talia a shy smile and wave before moving back to hide behind Jason once again.
After their little heart to heart in the apartment upon their first meeting Jason knew he couldn’t leave this small, innocent child behind to survive on her own. He had let her sleep in the bed, as it was a single room apartment, and he slept on the couch. That same night he was woken by bloodcurdling, heart-clenching screams. The bond was being pulled incessantly in sharp, painful jolts, and it was filled with so much pain and anguish that it almost made him buckle over in pain. He raced over to the bedroom and found Mary (“My real name is Marinette”) struggling against the blankets, still obviously asleep. Racing over to the bed he tried his very best to wake her up gently, whispering that she needed to awaken. Unfortunately, it didn't work and Jason swore that his heart was going to be torn out of his chest. Running out of both strength and patience he began to shake her by the shoulders.
“Mary, you’re having a nightmare and you need to wake up!”
Nearly silent sobs left her lips. Jason's heart yearned to comfort this child as the tugs against his heart continued in their frantic manner as if the bond itself was begging for someone to soothe the pain. Now Jason knew this would be a terrible idea if this was to wake up to this, but well, it worked on his mom when she was too far gone trying to chase a high. And while this wasn’t the same thing, maybe it would still work.
Kneeling at the bedside Jason began to softly run his fingers through Mari’s now clean hair, easily removing any knots out of her still slightly damp hair. He did his best to send soothing tugs and ripples through the bond in hopes that it would calm her. Thankfully the movement seemed to do the trick as Mari began to relax into the covers and had soon stopped crying. He could feel her unconsciously leaning into his hand, and he refused to take away the obvious comfort she found in the contact. He stared at the girl’s gentle features, truly taking in her form. She was frail and thin, there were dark and heavy bags under her eyes, and her skin, while slightly tan from being in the sun for long amounts of time, was unnaturally pale. How was he supposed to leave her when Talia came to pick him up? The kid needed stability, someone to look after her, and he did not trust any foster care system in any way shape or form. Jason sighed to himself and desperately wanted to hit his head against a wall. Why was this his life?
So here he was now, at Nanda Parbat, with a small 13-year-old child standing behind him, threatening Talia al Ghul of all people to protect his new baby sister while he was gone. Because G* knew that if something happened to this angel of a child on his watch, all Hell would break loose.
“I see you’ve picked up a stray.”
She said flatly after his outburst, only giving Mari a small glance before staring at Jason once again. Her face was void of any emotion, but he could see the ever so slight glint of curiosity hidden behind the indifference in her eyes.
“Look,”
Jason sighed, pinching his nose between his gloved fingers.
“Trust me when I say that I had no planes on doing this.”
“But?”
Talia asked when he didn’t continue with a raised brow.
“But, the kid's been through some sh* and is honestly like a lost duckling. (“I am not.”) She wouldn’t stop following me around even when I told her that I’m bad news. (*huff*). And if this continued she was going to get herself killed, or worse.”
Jason shivered. He remembered how quickly and mysteriously kids would disappear. And IF they were ever found, well, they were never the same again. Always haunted, always on edge, always silent, eyes clouded over like they had seen the depths of Hell and were forced to come back to Earth. He would never be able to live with himself if he saw that same look on this kid in front of him.
Talia seemed to understand where he was coming from and simply nodded. Her expression gave none of her thoughts or feelings away though.
“I see. Well, I have arranged for you to go to Germany to learn how to put together and dismantle explosives. If this goes well Jason, this should be your last trainer. I will take your youth under my wing until you return. She will be protected and trained, so when it is time for you to complete your goal you will know she will be taken care of and will know how to properly take care of herself.”
Jason could hug her, but he refrained. He didn’t want to get stabbed, thank you very much. He smiled and nodded his head in thanks.
“Thank you Talia, I owe you one.”
“One of many.”
Talia said, a ghost of a smile somehow showing through her still emotionless face.
“Yea, yea.”
He replied flippantly before turning back to Marinette who had been basically strangling his shirt between her small boney hands. Gently he pulled her in front of him and kneeled so they were level with each other while sending warm calming ripples through their bond. He placed a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder and began to explain what was going to happen.
“Pix, please look at me.”
Marinette looked up from the ground and looked him in the eyes while she nervously chewed at her lip.
“You’re going to leave me?”
She asked sorrowfully. He could feel the tension and despair in the bond making Jason feel guilty. Jason softened slightly and shook his head, continuing to send his reassurance and care back.
“Yes, and no. I’ll be back soon, and Talia is going to keep you safe. I’ve got to go to this place to learn some stuff, and when I’m done I won’t leave ya again, I promise.”
“And I can’t come with you?”
She asked sorrowfully. Jason shook his head quickly,
“No Pixie. It’s way too dangerous for you. But Talia here is going to help you learn how to protect yourself here. It’ll be okay.”
“And you promise that you’ll come back?”
She asked, almost begged really. She was sending out so much hope and worry that his heart was starting to ache. He didn’t think he would ever get used to this strange bond, way of communicating really.
“I promise.”
Marinette nodded, her eyes hardening with conviction and complete trust that Jason knew he would rather die again than break.
“Okay. I’ll work hard till you come back, big brother Jay-Jay.”
Jason smiled and rolled his eyes before ruffling her hair.
“Yea, yea. How about you get to know Talia,”
He leaned into her ear and whispered just loud enough so that Talia would hear him.
“She may seem all scary and heartless, but she has a heart deep deep down. I promise.”
Marinette giggled softly and Talia rolled her eyes. Jason smirked at her before pushing himself up and standing next to Mari with a hand on her shoulder. He nodded to Talia and gave Marinette one last squeeze before he turned and left towards his room where his bag should be. He would have to leave soon, he had no doubt that there was a plane or helicopter waiting for him at this very moment. Besides, it would be good for Marinette to learn from Talia; and if she introduced the small girl to Damian so the kid would have a friend, it would be 10x better.
__________
When Jason returned to Nanda Parabat four months later he was definitely surprised at what he was witnessing. He had been searching for the small girl when he had heard fighting coming from one of the training rooms. While it made sense, he had still wanted to see what was happening and hadn’t been expecting what he was witnessing. He watched the battle unfold recognizing the two in an instant. Marinette was dressed in the traditional black League training robes with a light green bandana tied around her arm to signify that she was under the protection of Talia. He watched as Marinette, armed with two 12” daggers, fought against Talia confidently standing her ground far better than he would have thought possible. Talia obviously wasn’t going easy on her, but Marinette seemed to be dancing around her, her eyes narrowed with full concentration. Talia had definitely taken the training request very seriously, and so had Mari. She was starting to grow into a more lean and gymnast-like body, like Di-Nightwing’s. She held herself with much more confidence than she had before he had left and moved with grace that she definitely didn’t have before. He had seen the girl trip over literally nothing.
She had definitely grown a lot while he was gone, she was maybe two or three inches taller than the last time he had seen her. He didn’t see any signs of serious injury in the way she moved, so the League was safe for now…unfortunately.
He continued to watch the two fight and studied the different forms that Marinette used. She was using more offensive than defensive attacks, and it was obvious she was trying to redirect Talia’s strikes back to her. She was resourceful with how she used her daggers, none of her strikes were lethal(thank goodness), but sadly it wasn’t enough. Her stamina still wasn’t what it could be due to who knows how long of malnourishment, and it was obvious she was tiring out. And that was all Talia needed to finish the fight as she rounded one last kick that Marinette just couldn’t dodge in time causing her to fall flat on her back. Talia held her katana to her neck, and Jason sent a jolt of panic course through him. There may have been a decent amount of space from the blade and Mari’s throat as it was spar, but it still made his skin crawl to see that happen.
“You lasted longer this time. Good job, Marinette.”
Talia said calmly as she moved the sword back into the sheath at her side and held out a hand for Mari to take. With a bright smile Marinette accepted the gesture and quickly got back on her feet.
“Thank you Talia, I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
“I don’t know Pixie Pop, I think you could have done it at some point even without her.”
Jason called out casually from where he was leaning against the doorway. Marinette’s head snapped over to Jason in surprise, unlike Talia who had probably sensed his entry even during the fight.
“Big brother!”
Marinette practically screamed as she ran towards him. Jason was able to catch her right before she slammed into him, picking her up by the armpits and spinning her once before he set her down again. Her arms wrapped tightly around him; Jason was quick to reciprocate the gesture with a roll of his eyes.
“Jeesh kid, we’ve literally known each other for like three weeks. You get attached to people way too easily.”
He said in a joking yet serious voice. It was sweet if not slightly concerning.
“Not true, I’ve felt your emotions for the last five months. I know you better than you think.”
She mumbled into his chest. Jason sighed once more before just picking her up and holding her against his side. Even if she had grown a few inches, she was still small.
“So, nothing happened while I was gone?”
He asked Talia with a raised brow.
“No. She wore my colors, the others knew not to touch her without my express permission. She is a quick learner and a sharp student. I’m glad you found her, she could be an excellent asset.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but she’s not staying here. Thank you for training and protecting her Talia. We’ll be heading to Gotham soon.”
“Well then, I wish you luck with your goal Jason.”
Talia said calmly, resting her hands behind her back.
“And I’m thankful for all the training you’ve given me and her, Talia. I’m ready to take on the big Bat himself now.”
Talia gave a sharp nod and turned away. Jason finally set Marinette back down so she was standing in front of him and sighed,
“Come on Pix, I know you’re dying to tell me everything. You can chatter my ear off while we pack your things.”
And just like that Mari began telling him all that she had learned and all that she had experienced with the League. He was glad it wasn’t too terrible, and that she had really worked hard with her training and studies. Her eyes sparkled a bright happy blue and she practically danced around the room collecting the few things she had so that they could begin the flight to Gotham. Turns out that had met Damian, he even sparred with her. She didn’t win, little demon brat had said some rude things, but helped her with her form. His heart felt warm from all of the joy she was sending through the bond and it was infectious. He missed his little pixie.
When they arrived on the plane Marinette settled into the seat next to him and leaned against his side.
“Jay?”
She asked quietly.
“Yea Pix?”
There was a small pause but Jason just waited patiently for Marinette to continue.
“I’m ready to tell you what happened.”
Jason paused for a second. From what he had heard of her nightmares, and felt, something terrible must have happened for her to be on the streets.
“You sure? I don’t want you to rush into things.”
She nodded silently, with a firm and sure look on her face.
“I’m ready.”
She took in a deep breath and slowly blew it out, trying to calm her buzzing nerves. He tried to reach out through the bond, to understand what may be going through her mind, but he couldn’t feel anything. It was like there was a wall between the two of them, and that scared Jason more than he would ever admit.
“Mama and Papa ran into some financial trouble with their bakery. A liar, I’m pretty sure she was a meta, lied about it and said that it was infested with rodents and bugs. She said that she had seen a rat running through the kitchen, even though there was no way she could have been back there, and that she had found a fly baked into her peach tart! Of course everyone believed her, even though she had no definitive proof everyone. Still. Believed. Her! One of my old friends ran a popular blog with their mom, and she posted Lila’s lies on it a lot. Soon after, other news sponsors reported on this supposed incident as well. And soon after, few people ever came in again. Mama and Papa were so worried, I once walked in on them crying together and I didn’t know what to do, so I left.”
Her voice had taken on an almost airy lilt. Her eyes were glazed over as she talked, her breath hitching ever so often. But no tears fell, and no sobs came. Jason didn’t interrupt.
“Papa got a loan from the Akuma Gang because the banks refused to give one to my parents. In the end they were unable to pay back the money, and they burned down my home with everybody in it. I was at a small party with who I thought was my last friend, but it was a set up. When it happened, I-I was on my way home and they tried to-to…”
The dam broke and tears flowed down Marinette’s cheeks, sobs shaking her body. Jason pulled her closer to his side, whispering words of comfort into her ear, telling her that she didn’t have to finish if she wasn’t ready, while gently rubbing her back. Once she got her sobs under control she continued.
“They tried to kidnap and take advantage of me.”
The green began to overwhelm his vision as it screamed for blood and vengeance for the girl he considered his little sister. He hadn’t felt this Pit crazed, this angry in so long, it was almost frightening. But he was too angry to be frightened.
“I was able to escape them, but I had nowhere to go. I didn’t trust CPS because the Akuma’s could pay them off to have me basically delivered to them. I had no friends since the liar took them all away. I couldn’t go to school because the son of one of the members goes there and he definitely would have taken me. He does whatever his father wants, no matter what. I had to live on the streets and try to stay out of sight while still trying to survive.”
Another round of sobs left her mouth as she burrowed farther into Jason’s chest. She was shaking like a leaf and all Jason could do was listen to and hold her. He wanted to fly right back to Paris and burn it to the ground. Tear every person that even thought about hurting her limb from limb. Paint the streets in the blood of the revolting, abominable filth that dared to ever hurt this child. Our child the Pit hisses possessively as it continued to wrap around his brain and take control of his thoughts. He let out a small breath doing his best to clear it so he wouldn’t accidentally hurt Marinette.
“It’s going to be okay, Pixie. I promise, I won’t let that happen to you ever again. I’ll keep you safe, I won’t leave you alone to suffer ever again. I promise.”
Jason carefully pulled her atop his lap, slowly rocking her side to side gently as her cries petered out to sobs, to hiccups, and then silence as she fell asleep against his chest. He gently placed a kiss to the top of her forehead and sighed. Kid didn’t deserve any of that. He renewed his vow, the vow he had made only a few months ago. He would protect her, and he would make sure that she would never go through anything like this ever again. He’ll never let her feel powerless, afraid, or alone again. That’s what a big brother is for after all, right?
-END-
Taglist:
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#maribat#platonic maribat#platonic jasonette#jason todd#marinette dupain cheng#protective jason todd#the league of assassins#talia al ghul#pre red hood#training#tiny marinette#child!marinette#homeless!marinette#jason will protect this child at all costs#angst#fluff#mlb x batman#dc x mlb#hurt/comfort#bigbrother!jason#no miraculous au#cute#It’s an adventure
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A Miraculous Ladybug fic that I might or might not write someday:
Marinette centric, long multi-chap
During an Akuma attack, Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth figures out Ladybug’s secret identity (no one else discovers it). Marinette returns from school to Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth standing in front of her burned down bakery, with her parents dead inside.
Thinking fast, and running on adrenaline and hate, Marinette manages to dodge Hawkmoth’s attempts to catch her and she escapes with the Miracle Box, no Kwami lost.
Marinette is left without anywhere to go, too scared to try living with any of her other family members. She begins to spiral, sacrificing her life as ‘Marinette’ in favor of being Ladybug as much as humanly possible.
Regularly pulling all nighters and fueled by the energy boosts of having superpowers, Marinette and Ladybug both are messes. Chat Noir and all of Paris are concerned about Ladybug, and the entire class is worried about Marinette.
When she isn’t paranoidly patrolling the city for days on end, Marinette crashes with Alya, Luka and occasionally Kagami. Her excuses growing weaker and weaker until she just stops bothering trying to explain things, walking out of class whenever she needs to be Ladybug, and climbing through her friend’s windows to sleep on the cots that they don’t even bother taking down anymore.
Marinette’s constant fear and overprotectiveness of the Kwamis leads to her regularly sacrificing her own needs for them, often choosing to give them her meals while she just barely makes due with the scraps she keeps for herself.
Eventually, things would catch up with Marinette, and the class (minus Lila) would realize the full extent of what she’s going through (they thought that she was staying with her grandfather, and she swore Alya and Luka to secrecy), obviously, this will not do, so the class and their parents all pitch in to help her out.
On the superhero side of things, Chat Noir, after figuring out Ladybug’s current situation, becomes even more determined to stop Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth from doing anything more, so that Ladybug won’t live in fear of visiting her own family.
Sooner or later, he and Ladybug take down Gabriel, revealing their secret identities in the process. Adrien is conflicted about his father being Hawkmoth, but after discovering that the man had killed the parents of one of his closest friends/love interest and completely destroyed her mental health, he can’t bring himself to have sympathy.
(On a side note, over the course of the fic, Marinette’s inner monolog slowly stops calling her “Marinette” more and more as she spirals and starts referring to herself only as “Ladybug” and “The Guardian”)
#miraculous ladybug#marinette dupain cheng#tales of ladybug and cat noir#ladybug and chat noir#hawkmoth#akuma#tw long post#tw long text#tw homelessness#fanfic#fanfiction#miraculous ladybug fanfic#au concept
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Taking Flight - Chapter 8 - Surviving
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“Marigold! Wakey, wakey!” Bridget called as she climbed into Marinette’s room.
Marinette groaned as she pulled her blanket down around her head.
“I seriously don’t know how your mother hasn’t just shoved you off your bed yet,” Bridget said as she came up the ladder.
“See us wells at ne,” Marinette’s face was muffled from the layers on her.
Bridget whacks Marinettes thigh, “Get up darling. Can’t understand you when you cover your face.”
“Oww!” Marinette jolted up. She glared at Bridget with gritted teeth, “I said she just yells at me.”
“Well she used to drag me out of bed without worry. I don’t know why she never drags you around the house. That was the highlight of her day,” Bridget climbed down the ladder. She looked at the windows, they had paper taped to them. Colorful pinks and purples, some blues in here and there.
Bridget couldn't help herself from touching the paper, it was like looking at evidence in the labs. It helped her to think, that if she got her own handle on it then maybe the pieces could come together easier. Or maybe it was just therapeutic for her, to help her overcome the pressures.
But this wasn't a case, this wasn't a mission. This was her niece, her fifteen-year-old niece who had grown after she left. And the saddest part was she didn't get to see her flourish, even if it was in this disgusting magic war.
This war was a disgrace to the city, magic, and at most to Diana. How could the city just close itself off from the world? Was it shame? Shame that they obviously had to rely on children to protect them. They knew they could get help from outside heroes, heroes that knew the ways with magic. So why did they restrict their doors to the path of progression?
“Āyi what are you doing?” Marinette snapped Bridget out of her web of possibly. Bridget turned to Marinette, she had that same nervous overly done smile plastered on her face. Her eyes looked between her and the paper as if she was on the verge of being made. But what would sweet Marinette need to worry about being made about? Perhaps it’s just her usual nerves, Marinette was always a bit jumpy.
“Just looking at the paper, it’s very pretty.” Bridget knew how to get information out of Marinette when she spun her words just right.
“Oh yeah!”-Still nervous-“I put it up 'cause I wanted to change my room up a bit”-Not a complete lie, but she’s still hiding something-“It gives a nice effect when the sun is in the right place. Also, Akumas flying around or heroes swinging by can see in. It gives me privacy, Ladybug and Chat Noir go around at night to see how likely an Akuma may or may not be, and to be already about in case.”
That last part was true but still had something else. It makes sense, you don’t want peeping toms; also it would be awkward if a hero was making their rounds and glanced by your window at the wrong moment.
“I really need some for myself,” Bridget touched the paper again. Marinette tensed again, Interesting. “Where did you get it?”
“My favorite crafts shop!” Marinette’s voice went chirper.
“Are you okay Mari?” Bridget asked turning back to her niece. Marinette’s eyes had been looking behind her before looking her in the eyes, with her smile a little too forced. Bridget turned around but found nothing there. When she faced her niece again she fought to narrow her eyes at the girl. Marinette let out an uncomfortable laugh, “Well thank you for waking me up so early, I can actually get to school on time! Wait what time is it?”
“Uhh,” Bridget looked down at her watch. “It’s 6:11 am.”
“What,” Marinette squeaked. Her eyes looked like they were bulging out of her head.
“06:11, sorry I forgot you guys use continental time.”
“No, no I understand your American 12-hour clock time. Just why?” Marinette looked so pained looking at Bridget.
“Because you should get up? You’re always late I thought I would help you get up.”
“School is right next door!” Marinettes hands gestured dramatically towards the school.
“And yet you always wake up late, meaning getting up late, which means you get ready late, so you’re out the door late. And then you arrive tardy, and that makes or breaks your future! You need to get yourself in a morning routine or a better night routine.” Bridget scolded the young girl. “Anyway I’m making breakfast, you’re parents are starting the Bakery.”
“Okay, thanks!” Bridget heard her call to her as she exited the room closing the trap door behind her.
Bridget opened the fridge door to an abundance of different foods and snacks.
“Marinette likes to eat in her room lately, she’s been getting all these different things and it’s been filling up. Leaving us without as much room as before, we’ve been considering buying her a mini-fridge.”
Sabines' words from their call a few weeks ago rang in her ears. Perhaps she could just leave the food up in her room. She could just hang out with her after she ate. Bridget was many things but unobservant was not one. Marinette had always liked a little privacy and she could respect that, and Marinette was a growing girl and they had their secrets. She knew that; it just kinda hurt is all, but she couldn’t change that.
Bridget grabbed the foods on the list stuck to the refrigerator. And complied them neatly on the tray, it was strange she ate so much. Yes, Marinette had always been one to eat more than she looked she could, but seriously all this for breakfast? Bridget left a few things out because obviously not all of these could be eaten for breakfast. Marinette could have the others at lunch, also today was a half day. She could eat these during the rest of the evening if she wanted to.
Bridget was about to knock on the door when she heard voices and Marinette squeal, or maybe squeak would be better. Some sounded like they were coming from a device but some sounded like there were others in Marinette’s room. She heard Marinette move things and tripping over things and possibly herself. Bridget fought the urge to flinch at the sounds.
Bridget finally knocked on the trap door, “Marinette are you okay up here? I have breakfast for you.”
“Āyi!” Marinette's leg snagged on part of her chair as Bridget turned to her. Marinette fell but brought her forearms up to break her fall, “Thank you! Um, let me just-” Marinette turned her sewing machine sideways for her aunt to set it down on the space.
“Marinette is that your aunt?” an orotund voice asked, it wasn’t the clearest due to it coming from Marinette’s speakers.
“Yes I am,” Bridget smirked as she turned to the screen to find Alya Césaire. Exactly the girl she had been wanting to talk to. Yes she had met Alya multiple times but Marinette or her were always dragging the other out the door. So there was never a formal meeting.
Bridget heard Marinette mutter an “oh no” under her breath.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve been wanting to meet you!” Alya said through the screen. “Mari is always dragging me off to do things or we’re already got plans.”
“Of course, you girls are busy. Also where are you from? Your accent isn’t thick like Marigold’s.”
“Oh, I’m from America. We moved here last year because my mom got an offer to be a cook at Le Grand Paris. And well here we are,” Alya said. “Also thank you for getting Marinette up so early, I never get to talk to her this early.”
Marinette groaned as she nibbled on some dragon fruit. She had taken bites from a bit of everything, but she didn’t seem to eat that much of them. But she was almost done with her cereal though.
“Of course, I’m surprised her mother hasn’t been doing it the way I did it.” Bridget joked.
“I hope she doesn’t take it to heart,” Marinette mumbled.
“Oh that depends on you getting your shit together,” Bridget said dryly.
“Can you leave so I can talk to my best friend please?” Marinette glared at Bridget. Huh.
“You wound me Mars! What happened to when I was your best friend?” Bridget dramatically flung herself on the chaise.
Marinette yanked Bridget up off of the chaise, which wow! Marinette didn’t look that strong. She knew Sabine had trained her in Martial Arts but not that she had put on some mussel. Then again maybe everyone had with what was happening in their city.
“Out!” Marinette cried, although she had let a laugh slip out Bridget could feel the annoyance in Marinette’s voice.
“Okay, okay. I’m outing, I’m outing!” Bridget said as she went down the stairs.
Okay while that had not gone as planned she did get to officially meet Alya. Kinda. And that means if she just happened to randomly see her while she was out it wouldn’t be so weird if she just walked up to her. Besides everyone had been overly nice in Paris, at least some people. It unnerved Bridget to ends meet. While it makes sense it’s annoying, cause how well had people gotten at pretending?
Now of course it was to be expected that the people would need to adapt. It was only natural, that’s what evolution was all about. An organism developing from acting one way to another as nature and its surroundings in order to survive. Such as how birds while in the same genus had many different species as they varied due to the area they lived. And those who did well moved on as natural selection or Darwinism. Sometimes though it was through perseverance and resilience that one made it through, and that was far more admirable.
Close to, if not, the perfect example of if you’re determined enough you can do anything. All Chengs knew that mentality well.
-•-
Marinette rested her head on Alya’s shoulder, she wanted to curl up in the sun and stay there until Bridget left. Perhaps she was spending more time with Chat than she thought, the dark hair haired girl thought with a sigh. Bridget just got on her nerves for some reason. It wasn't like this before, yes Bridget always had a tendency to get into people’s bubbles but she was respectful, she saw where she overstepped. But it didn't sit right with Marinette, it was like Bridget was looking for something.
But Bridget wasn't anything to worry about; she's just a civilian, a very personal bubble invading civilian.
Like she just barged into her room and smacked her leg! Yes it got her up but oh Kwami she could have been nicer! Bridget was so over the top and it was aggravating to no end. Marinette had to sneak the Kwami food while her aunt talked to Alya. Like yeah, she got her out but the Kwami didn't get their respective snacks to just be naturally fueled.
It was amazing to finally be up early though, not to mention some of the Kwami got to eat in the morning rather than waiting for her to return for lunch, or sneaking down. Marinette did leave some snacks accessible in her room but she couldn't leave much without getting in trouble.
Marinette sighed again much more tiredly as her eyes felt like they sagged down her face. At this point she was surprised her face hadn't slid off with how tired she was.
“Oh come on girl, I doubt your aunt is that bad. She seems great.” Alya smirked down at Marinette with her unblocked arm on her hip.
“Important note, never use “seem” around my aunt. That's like an automatic judgey auntie eyes for you,” Marinette said as she finally raised her head from Alya’s shoulder.
“Don't get what that means entirely but noted,” Alya said with a laugh. “Anyway, are you excited about French-American friendship week next month? I can't wait, I hope we get to see Majestia in person. You need to see her!”
Marinette smiled as Alya ranted about the heroes of New York City. Marinette had heard Alya go for hours upon hours of hundreds of heroes. From the most famous to little guys that didn't get the recognition they deserved. Alya talked the most about the United Heroes and the Justice League, usually the United Heroes as she had lived in what had consisted of their heroing jurisdiction for the majority of her life. A good chunk of that being the North Eastern of the States, along with bleeding into the Midwest. And the Justice League because we'll, it was the Justice League. What hero enthusiast wouldn't be obsessed with it?
Not to mention Alya was 1,000% confident that they were gonna be one of the classes to win the contest to participate in the week-long exchange. It was New York’s turn to host the event between the two countries, the previous year it had been in Lyon, France as Paris wasn’t available due to Hawkmoth and not wanting to risk the safety of some American students. Of course Marinette wouldn’t know that, but Ladybug would have played a part while discussing this with the mayor and President. Also the President loved the idea for it showed more than just Paris to the students, showed from reports it actually did very well and the students got to learn efficiently about the economics of France as Lyon was a major centre of banking, biotech, pharmaceuticals, and other things. The students even got to tour a decent amount of the universities that Lyon has to offer.
Marinette had been over the moon when she heard how well it went.
“Is that Chloé?” someone said.
Marinette snapped out of her thought train.
“Guess the greedy bitch decided to stop hiding in her daddy’s hotel,” another sneered.
“And to think she was turning over a new leaf.” another guy said quieter than the others.
“Pft as if. That leaf was made of fool's gold.” the first person said with disgust.
“How is the President even letting this slide?” An older classman asked before continuing, “She should be locked up at this point.”
“How does she let the Mayor abuse his power like this? Let alone to the whim of his daughter,” a fifth person piped up.
The comments went on, people glaring at the blonde. Marinette could easily pick her out of the crowd, with the way people seemed to avoid one section of the courtyard how could you not? But she looked…different.
Chloé was no longer having her signature fierce white with her yellow overcoat. Her white shirt with stripes no more, her sleek eye-catching yellow jacket all gone. Now she had dark brown pants and a beige shirt with a soft yellow cardigan. They were still undoubtedly high brands, but they were far more modest than anything the girl had worn. Chloé still had her hair in a ponytail but it was much looser than her high-strung one. It was freer, it certainly wasn't the straight I’m-better-than-you one she wore for the last few years.
All of it made Chloé look so much more real, she looked soft and not just for her new look. Her face was serene in a way; she still didn't give a crap what people thought of her, clearly, but there was something in the way she held herself that was different from the few times Marinette saw her while on Patrols last week.
It had been two weeks to the day, since Double Strike as everyone had started to call it. Marinette supposed they weren't wrong. But just that thought made Marinette’s insides twist. It had been two weeks since Master Fu had lost his memories and given her the responsibility of watching over the Miracle Box.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Alya asked finally, it brought Marinette back to the now.
“I'm sure she’s just been processing. It must have been horrible, having your parents Akumatized and not getting to help save them. And then that very emotion being what made you an accomplice in more pain,” Marinette replied. Though it wasn't really out of answering the question, more her internal guilt gnawing at her. While it wasn’t entirely her fault (the Kwami had been trying to tell it wasn’t her fault at all), she still played a major role in it.
Alya gave her a weird look in question, but didn't press Marinette. As much as she would love to, Marinette hadn't even turned to Alya, just kept watching Chloé as she scrolled through her phone. Alya would ask later.
-•-
“Chloé!” Sabrina ran over to Chloé excitedly to see her best friend again. Everyone in the courtyard seemed to hush, some tried to pretend they weren't watching but it was very obvious. Chloé could almost feel the eyes turning their way, the ears tunning in with that weird cartoony sound when a character remembered something.
“Chloé I’m so glad you're back! I’ve been doing your homework for you even while you were away. So you don't have to worry about that at all! Not to mention I’ve kept your seat clean for you, not even a fly has sat-” Sabrina’s loud ramblings were cut off.
“Sabrina stop.” While Chloé’s quiet voice still held its’ commanding air, but it had lost its annoyed tone. It sounded more like a plea to Chloé’s ears. The fact that she couldn't help her voice to come up a plea made her feel a bit dizzy, as it was very unusual; it felt unusual. Sabrina looked at Chloé with innocent waiting eyes, if Sabrina became an Akuma due to this Chloé didn’t know what she would do. Chloé looked at the redhead for a moment before sighing, “This isn't going to work anymore Sabrina.”
“What? Bu-But Chloé- I don’t-” Sabrina's stuttering stopped when Chloé interrupted again.
“It isn't going to work because this isn't okay. How I’ve treated you isn't good, and I knew that and continued to anyway for a good chunk of that time. I may have been raised in an environment where I was taught it was okay but it doesn't mean that it is okay.” Chloé took a deep breath, “We can't be friends Sabrina, we, uck. Really what was going on here wasn't even friendship, my friendship with Adrikins is just passing. But with you it’s barely even classifiable as that and you went along with it, and I, in a way, taught you that this was okay. It's ridiculous that no one sensible tried to tell me- Wait no- ugh! No sensible adult tried to tell me that, they just let me. Even before Hawkmoth.”
“Chloé, it's fine!” Sabrina cried. Chloé’s heart twisted, God please don’t let her get Akumatized. Because despite how their relationship was she had grown to care about Sabrina. She had disregarded all the red flags they both gave for years, and it needed to stop before there was no turning back.
“No, it’s not and you should know that. But you don’t, because of me. I’ve done some reflecting,” Chloé said the word like she was trying dragon fruit for the time again. The texture of the jelly-like interior paired with seeds taking up the area like a strawberry. The word left her off-set like the fruit. “And I’ve realized that I can't really become a better person if you’re still acting as some servant of mine. We can’t continue like this.”
“But we can still be friends right? We can still be friends!” Sabrina grabbed Chloé’s hand with desperation. Her eyes bore into the blond’s, as if this would save them.
“No, we can’t Sabrina,” Chloé took her hand away. “I have switched seats with Krutzberg, he will be your new seatmate.” Some of the words came out with clear disgust but it was necessary. She was just glad she was able to get them to move the Italian lair across the aisle without much argument. When they first tried to say that it was unnecessary as she was already asking for a disruption in the class. All it took was threatening to bring her father into the equation for them to comply.
“Wha-What?” Sabrina sounded so heartbroken, her eyes widening at the blond. But Chloé was right, she knew it. She had thought long and hard, and Sabrina and Chloé enabled the other in the worst ways possible. They both needed to become their own persons, and that couldn't happen if Chloé still allowed Sabrina to do everything she made her do for her.
Chloé walked away from Sabrina feeling a little lighter, this is the right thing to do. That's what she kept telling herself, there were better ways but Chloé just wanted to rip the bandaid off. She had never liked to drag things out, which was one of the reasons she had taken the habit of using her father to get her way.
The whispers followed her throughout the day, not that it was a new thing. Her mother’s scandal had latched itself onto her and her father long ago before she was aware. And for once none of it bothered her, it didn’t get under her skin. And Chloé felt all the more stronger for it.
☾•☽
Makzenie stared at the door, she had been doing this for who knows how long. She really didn’t want to do this but she knew the hero wouldn’t stop bothering her or giving her things unless she did something. Sure she could have skipped town, but how? She had no money; most of the ways out were turned into fortresses after Hawkmoth started. They made it difficult for people to get in, and in turn, made the same for the opposite.
Even then she wouldn’t know her way around like she knew Paris, she wouldn’t have the same equivalent of knowledge she did here. She knew Roger’s chase limit; she knew the best spots to crash; she’d made safe-havens. If she left she would be left worse off than she was here.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad an idea to reach out…
She finally took a deep breath and brought her hand up to knock on the door only for it open in front of her. Makzenie blinked once before looking up at the giant teddy bear man that was Tom Dupain. The girl blinked again suddenly feeling extremely short when she was quite tall her age really. She watched as the man seemed to brighten up at the sight of her, even in her dirty clothes and semi-tangled hair. She started to feel dirtier than she had a few seconds ago, becoming very self-conscious. She felt the dirt and grime that stuck to her hands; the too-thin fabric of her shoes; the heaviness of her eyebags; the weight of her backpack while it didn’t hold much suddenly became kilograms, the straps becoming more apparent to her nerves.
“Makkie listen to me. Respirer,” Tom’s voice broke through. Makzenie’s eyes looked up to the baker, “There you are. Take another breath with me.” Makzenie complied and took breaths along with Tom.
Tom helped her sit down on the stair step, “I just need to deliver this box across the street. Do you think you’ll be okay if I leave you here for a few minutes?”
Makzenie nodded, but Tom raised his eyebrows at her. While the face was supposed to be stern it made Makzenie smile, because as sweet as the baker was he could never threaten anyone who knew him. She nodded again, “Really I’ll be fine while you do that.”
Tom seemed to hesitate before nodding and mumbling to himself as he picked up the box to make his delivery. It didn’t take that long but it felt as though he was gone for way longer; it didn’t help that she couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing while she waited. Usually, she was better at hiding her nervousness, she prided herself on it. But then again, it wasn’t like this was something she did every day. In fact, being in situations like this were one she actively avoided.
“Makkie?” Makzenie looked up to see Sabine looking at her confused. “I didn’t know you were here. I would have welcomed you in if I had.”
“Oh it’s fine Mme. Cheng. M. Dupain let me in. He said he’d be back after a delivery.” The girl tried her best to smile at Sabine with confidence. Confidence she didn’t really have at the moment.
“Let me get you something to eat dear.”
Makzenie's eyes widened in panic, “No, it’s fine really. You don’t need to!”
Makzenie’s words fell on deaf ears as Sabine blatantly ignored everything that came out of the girl’s mouth. Sabine left her to retrieve something for Makzenie. Makzenie sighed and pulled her hair back with a groan. It’s not like she didn’t appreciate the Dupain-Chengs, they offered help to anyone. They didn’t try to force her to meet social workers or to go to homeless shelters, they didn’t hide how they felt, and while they didn’t try to push her into things they also didn’t directly ask her questions. It was strange how sometimes they seemed so direct and then when Mak took a closer look that they were asking around the bigger questions they want to ask.
Sabine reemerged with a box, “We don’t have much for regular nutritional food but if you stayed around you could stay for dinner.”
Makzenie opened her mouth but closed it. It’s okay, they were good people. Genuine good people unlike most of Paris, everyone had to put on a face and be nice if you didn’t want to cause an Akuma.
“That would be nice,” Makzenie finally said. “I uh, I wanted to talk to you two about something. Not right now though, it can wait.”
“Of course,” Sabine gave her a smile. “If you’d like you can just hang out down here, or upstairs. I can’t let you just sit around in the bakery or the kitchen.”
“You don’t have to,” Makzenie started to say. Sabine suddenly rose and shook her head, “No come upstairs dear. I trust you not to get into anything we haven’t allowed you into before.”
Makzenie reluctantly followed the older woman. It wasn’t her first time with them, but this time she was very nervous. She had nothing to worry about, this was M. Dupain and Mme. Cheng.
“Right now not many people come in. I only have a few minutes tops, I’ll let Tom know you’re up here when he gets back.” Sabine explained as she unlocked the door, “You can watch anything we have while you wait. Marinette is coming home soon, and if the door opens before then it’s either Tom and myself or possibly my sister.”
Makzenie’s eyebrows rose and she looked at the short woman. It never crossed her mind that Mme. Cheng would have siblings, but then again her kind and defensive nature seemed to make more sense.
“Her name is Bai- I mean Bridget,” Sabine let out a chuckle mainly to herself. “I forget not to call her by her birth name. But if isn’t one of us, it’s most likely her.”
Makzenie stood awkwardly near the door as she took in the area. It wasn’t her first time in here but it always made her feel out of place. The place was so clean, the thinnest layer of dust on the shelves and coats or shoes just laying mostly out of the way. It was so simple, just purely mundane.
“Come on sweetheart come sit down.” Sabine gestured to the couch. She showed her a reassuring smile before opening the cabinet that the tv sat a top of, “Pick anything you like. I'll just be down in the bakery.”
Makzenie mumbled a thank you as Sabine went to reattend the bakery. The girl decided it wouldn’t hurt to put something on, she went through the cases reading the backs trying to find something that piqued her interest. She must have been doing this for a while because she heard a knock on the door, which made her jump, before it opened. She turned back to see the baker's daughter enter with a smile.
“It’s just me,” the girl sent Makzenie a reassuring smile. Makzenie couldn’t help but smile back.
Makzenie lifted her arm, “Still got the coat. It’s a bit dirty now though.”
“That’s okay,” Marinette said with a laugh. “Clothes aren’t meant to keep the wearer warm and comfortable. And that includes getting dirty, no one likes to be dirty.” Marinette’s eyes seemed to scan the girl over before looking her in the eyes again, “Do you want to take a shower? I have some clothes you can borrow. You’re slightly taller than me but I think you’ll fit something.”
Makzenie even if didn’t mean to had leaned away as the girl said this. She didn’t want to intrude, but as Marinette looked at her with her wide eyes she thought, I’m already going to be asking something that does have me practically intruding.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Makzenie finally said getting up.
“Okay just give me a moment,” Marinette ran up to her room. After hearing the teen make her way through her room for a few seconds a very loud thump sounded. Makzenie cringed away from the ladder. How the girl always seemed to be falling or bumping into things made many worry, that did not exclude Makzenie.
“Here!” Marinette cried when she came back down. “These should fit you. If not I can always adjust them. Here’s a towel, feel free to use mine,” Marinette had grabbed Makzenie’s hand and brought her toward the bathroom. She pointed at the bottle, “That one, don’t worry about the water just enjoy it for a moment.”
Marinette smiled at Makzenie, the younger girl gave a small one back. Marinette turned to leave before turning back, “And you can lock the door. So you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Oh, um. Thank you.” the girl said before Marinette left. Makzenie shut the door behind her and locked it. She took a deep breath as she looked around the bathroom and started the water. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, if Chat was right.
-•-
“And then,” Marinette said with a mouth full of spaghetti before swallowing it down. “And then! Kim chanced Alix out of the classroom for the bracelet.”
Mackenzie laughed with the Dupain-Chengs and Mme. Cheng’s sister. The woman, Bridget, was quite strange, while she had a bubbly personality of sorts she wasn’t truly all smiles and fake positivities or someone trying their hardest to hold on to her positive emotions. It was refreshing if Makzenie was being honest, as that’s what most of Paris was. Positive emotions had become things that had to linger, people going out of their way to make happy and perfect events. Not a thing could go wrong, some people did well enough despite it all. Others though, Makzenie didn’t want to remember them.
“So Makzenie what did you want to talk about?” Sabine asked gently and quietly. Makzenie swallowed down some noodles, she suddenly didn’t want to go through with it. She wasn’t the only one out there, but it felt selfish of her to leave them.
But like them, she just wanted a home.
When she looked up to finally say something Bridget’s calculating eyes made her stop. She shifted in her seat under her gaze. It felt like she wasn’t seeing her but through into her, analyzing every part of her.
Bridget reached for her hand but Makzenie brought her hands under the table.
“From a bad home?” The Asian American asked in her rusty French. Makzenie pursed her lips before nodding.
“I, um, I was hoping I could stay with you,” Makzenie stared at the plate in front of her.
“Oh dear,” Sabine took the young girl’s hand. “Of course, you can. We know the shelters aren’t the best, and that process can be messy.”
“I can help you get out,” Bridget said moving her head so Makzenie could look at her. “I know people, um, that can make it go easy. Did I say that right?” Bridget glanced over to Sabine who chuclked and nodded.
They started talking about what they could do. Bridget slipping into English as she spoke to Sabine and Tom.
Marinette nudged Makzenie to give her a smile.
-
September 25, 2019 ☾•☽ September 25, 2019
—
So I did research on homelessness in Paris before I finished this chapter, and by that I mean this morning, it’s actually surprisingly high. But also I suppose it shouldn't be surprised as it's a big city and a capital. It became worse after Covid as their system was taken from them.
Their shelters aren't very hygienic is what I remember from reading from one of the four articles I will be linking. So that's something I decided I want to make it apart of my story.
Disclaimer: I am not from France or fully aware of their political culture and problems. I am simply using them for a story element and also thought it would be good to bring up.
Homelessness in Paris: The Darker Side of the City of Light by Paul McQueen
Homelessness and the pandemic: Paris by REBECCA ROSMAN
Housing shortage blamed for tripled homeless population in France by Mario Fernadaz
Homelessness and poor quality of living is on the rise in France | Euronews
#maribat#maribat fic#maribat fanfic#maribat marinette dupain cheng#sabine cheng#taking flight#bridget cheng#maribat adrien agreste#chloe bourgeois#chloe redemption#paris homeless#real problems in fic
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Pre-reveal Adrien moves in with Marinette, and he starts to feel like he has a proper home for the first time ever. As a result, now that he’s not craving it so much, the bell disappears from his costume.
Marinette sees this during patrol and comes to the panicked conclusion that Chat Noir is now homeless.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous#adrien agreste#marinette dupain cheng#chat noir#original content#adrienette#adrinette
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MC-Lukanette’s “No Context November” 2023 Masterpost
` = ficlet
* = one-shot (or close to being a one-shot if a few paragraphs/a little more context were added)
^ = part of a larger AU/hypothetical story
{AO3 link for No Context November}
(Halloween bonus) * (3867 words) - A Horror-ble Idea {Lukanette} [Horror Movies] [Fluff] [Childhood Friends] [Confession] [Kiss]
Marinette had been friends with Luka for years, having shared just about everything except for her crush on him. Deciding it's time to change that, she tries to come up with the ultimate plan to prove her love for him.
It has varying results.
Day 1 ^ (1597 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Meeting Again]
Luka meets Marinette again after years and realizes that he wasn't the only one pining.
Day 2 ^ (2223 words) - {Lukanette} [Drama] [Confession] [post-"Silencer"]
Marinette makes a decision regarding Luka's confession in "Silencer," as much as she doesn't want to.
Day 3 ^ (2971 words) - {Lukanette} [Sleeping Problems] [Trauma] [post-"Chat Blanc"] [Light Girl Squad Salt]
Luka approaches an exhausted Marinette, unaware of her terrifying experience in an alternate timeline of Paris.
Day 4 * (1648 words) - {Lukanette} ["Silencer"] [Canon Divergence] [Marinette and Luka are Confident and In Love] [Love Square Salt]
"Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody." Those words kept echoing in Marinette's head, not unlike a chorus on replay.
And perhaps she was the song in his head simply because she'd wanted to be there in the first place.
Day 5 ^ (1086 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Charity Auction] [Silly] [Flirting] [(implied) Adrino]
A charity auction is held, selling off dates with famous men to any woman with enough cash to throw at them for it.
Marinette just didn't know the list would include a rock star's son.
Day 6 ^ (1431 words) - {Lukanette} [Silly] [Confession]
Two fools in love stop being as foolish as before.
Day 7 ^ (1707 words) - {Lukanette} [Luka Hears Heart Songs] [Rock Star Anarka Couffaine] [Luka's Father is Not Jagged Stone]
Luka senses music in most things he experiences, yet somehow Marinette is still a unique one.
Day 8 * (1963 words) - {Lukanette} [Post-Dating] [Gift Giving] [(Adrimi But Only Mentioned)]
Marinette had been dating Luka for a while now and she couldn't have been happier. He was everything she could've wanted in a boyfriend: attentive, mature, and incredibly loving.
But maybe there was also such a thing as too loving?
Day 9 ^ (3854 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Homeless Luka Couffaine]
Marinette worries about her homeless friend when cold washes over her town.
Day 10 ^ (3431 words) - {Lukanette} [Fantasy] [Witch Marinette Dupain-Cheng] [Naga Luka Couffaine]
Marinette meets a musical naga boy while she's working on new ideas for her magic.
Day 11 ^ (1523 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Baker Marinette Dupain-Cheng] [Childhood Friends]
Luka stops by a bakery in town and sees a familiar face. He has mixed feelings about it.
Day 12 * (2678 words) - {Viperbug} [Sparring] [Introspection]
For Ladybug, going on patrol just isn't good enough. Akuma battles aren't the time to be improving her skills, so she uses her nights to train whenever she can.
She knows just the partner to help her with that.
Day 13 ^ (4945 words) - {Lukanette} [Childhood] [Fluff] [Sleepovers]
Luka meets a new face during one of Juleka's "girls only" sleepovers.
Day 14 ^ (1974 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Florist Marinette Dupain-Cheng] [Luka Has Flower Nymph Genes]
Marinette gets an interesting customer in her flower shop.
Day 15 ^ (1636 words) - {Lukanette} [Fluff] [Introspection] [Outsider POV] [Possibly Post-Dating]
Juleka reflects on three separate instances of her brother and friend hanging out together.
Day 16 * (2765 words) - {Lukanette} ["Glaciator" Fix-It] [Adrien Salt] [Love Square Salt] [Introspection]
Marinette's first instinct had been to run away as she watched the culmination of her efforts end with her ice cream cone falling from her hands. After all, none of her efforts - no matter how strong - had gone anywhere or done anything substantial for her relationship with Adrien.
But if she ran, the cycle would only continue. She would do the same thing over and over for little to no return and it would continue to be that way for potentially forever.
So instead, she reflects, in part with the help of the new friend she'd made just recently.
Day 17 ^ (1150 words) - {Lukanette} [Luka Knows] [Nutrition]
Marinette shares a previously-unknown fact about being Ladybug with Luka.
Day 18 ^ (1797 words) - {Lukanette} [post-"Silencer"] [Music]
Marinette calls Luka about a particular location for their next music lesson.
Day 19 ^ (2281 words) - {Lukamouse} [Post-Dating] [Luka Knows] [Multimouse] [No Miraculous Timers]
Luka gets a tiny visitor during class one day.
Day 20 * (3070 words) - {Lukanette} ["Desperada" Fix-It] [Reincarnation] [Canon Divergence]
Luka wasn't self-conscious about his role in life. He was perfectly happy where he was as his mother's son, as Kitty Section's guitarist, as Juleka's brother. To him, his life had enough meaning as it was.
He just couldn't help feeling like there was something more to it.
Day 21 ^ (1699 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Merman Luka Couffaine]
Ladybug comes across someone interesting and her own heroism gets the better of her.
Day 22 ` (925 words) - {Lukanette} [Silly]
Marinette prepares a little something for Luka, but nothing ever truly goes according to her plans.
Day 23 ` (1194 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Post-Dating] [Trauma]
Luka helps Marinette work through the thoughts in her head.
Day 24 * (2808 words) - {Lukanette} [Jealousy]
As the months went on, Marinette found it harder and harder to keep up with her growing circle of friends and responsibilities. There were too many things to do and she wasn't "good or efficient enough" to do them. Other people had it easier, and she imagined they could replace her if needed.
Luka disagreed.
Day 25 ` (1386 words) - {Lukanette} [Post-Dating] [Gifts] [Fluff]
Luka goes to Marinette's house and catches her in the middle of one of her bad habits.
Day 26 ^ (2837 words) - {Vipernette} [Fluff]
Viperion goes out for patrol and gets appreciated by the only person he would seek appreciation from in the first place.
Day 27 * (3320 words) - {LukaFairy} [Adulthood] [Fantasy Elements] [Fairynette] [Introspection] [Love Square Salt] [Moments in Time] [No Dialog]
A tale of a fairy seamstress as she meets a model, a musician, and experiences love for the very first time with one of them.
Day 28 ^ (1703 words) - {Lukanette} [The Wish] [Silly]
Luka meets Marinette for the first time… sort of.
Day 29 ^ (1809 words) - {Lukanette} ["Chameleon" Fix-It] [Canon Divergence] [Luka and Marinette Are the Same Age] [Post-Dating] [Brief Class Salt]
Marinette gains an ally in her metaphorical battle with Lila.
Day 30 * (3381 words) - {Lukanette} [Cold Weather] [Silly] [Fluff]
Marinette hates the cold, and it's looking as though she's about to have a lonely day far removed from anything enjoyable.
Until, of course, Luka arrives at her home and they can't seem to part from each other for even a moment.
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Paris and the World under The Supreme’s Rule Headcannons
Back during WW2, when Marianne suggested to Wang Fu they should use the Miraculous, she of course meant using them to fight.
Wang Fu decided to use them to make a wish;
World Peace.
The price?
World freedom.
So there are SOME good things… No war in Vietnam, no war in Isreal, and good news Americans; 9/11 never happened and school shootings do not exist because it is impossible for anyone to get a gun, not even hunters!
On the downside, no guns for hunting means wildlife conservation is a thing of the past.
Animal overpopulation in addition to human deforestation has led to a significant decrease in food sources for wildlife, many of which have gone extinct due to starvation.
Another plus side is there are no “slap on the wrist” punishments for criminals who assault women and children. Death penalty is a very effective way to prevent recurring crimes.
Prisons are also no longer a multi-million dollar drain on tax-paying citizens; no free room and board for criminals. They all have to work in labor camps to earn every morsel of food and live in 15 square foot cells.
(Marinette’s Grandmother is currently serving time in a labor camp)
There aren’t really much in the way of trials either… You are arrested for a crime, presented with the facts/evidence, then sentenced.
There are no homeless wandering streets, begging for hand-outs. There are special labor camps for the impoverished where they are assigned tasks that meet their physical and mental abilities, snd are paid enough to afford them cheap living quarters, approximately 130 square feet in size, and the most basic of food stuffs and hygiene products to keep them alive. No, they cannot refuse.
Remember, the Supreme knows best.
Project Oxygen is a go- several small parks have been “re-habilitated” into giant filters and fresh air is beginning to be sold in fancy plastic bottles thanks to Bertrand King.
He’s been trying for a while to convince Gabriel that Adrien should do commercials for Project Oxygen, as it would be great for the boy’s career…. But Gabriel always comes up with an excuse to get out of it. The latest being that it wouldn’t match with Adrien’s new look.
Audrey Bourgeois ADORES Adrien’s new look! It’s so much more bold and edgy!
Also, the latest fashion trend is not glitter, it’s metal studs- industry and progress in a sleek, metallic form.
Audrey is home more often than Andre, who could be gone for months at a time working on one of his movies. But of course he still handles important paperwork and does video calls to check on hotel and sends lots of very expensive gifts to his little Princess.
Chloe is even more abusive and demanding of Sabrina, and poor Sabrina puts up with it for her father’s sake-
There has been a lot of vandalism lately (thanks to Shadybug and ClawNoir) and talk that Enforcers just aren’t as effective at keeping the order as they used to be. Word is that tech Giant Tsurugi is in the process of designing new automatons that will be more efficient (and less costly) than human Enforcers. Who knows? There may even be a surge of Enforcer lay-offs if the project becomes successful.
Chloe has hinted that she MIGHT be willing to put in a good word with Daddy, should Mr. Raincomprix be one of the many Enforcers who finds himself out of a job. The Hotel could always use more security guards/bouncers. But since Daddy ONLY hires the most DEDICATED employees… Well, how can Chloe possibly make a recommendation if she’s not sure Sabrina’s dad would REALLY give it his all?
So Sabrina bends over backwards until she breaks and then some to keep Chloe happy.
Officer Raincomprix is also uneasy about talks of future layoffs, and as such, has become harsh in Enforcing law and order. No little wrong doing goes unnoticed or forgiven. No leniency. (Think Roger-cop without the Akuma).
Rose is not that perky.
Under the Supreme, there is no socialist nonsense like Universal Healthcare, so medicines, doctor visits, prescriptions, hospitals… it’s all crazy expensive just like in the USA.
This means, in order for Rose to be able to attend a private school like Francois Dupont; her parents work a LOT of overtime and pinch pennies whenever they can. So it’s very lonely at home and in this universe, Rose has not (yet) met Juleka (as stated in previous headcannon).
Instead of Unicorns, Rose’s favorite animal is the Caladrius, (a mythological bird that can heal any illness).
Though unicorns and kittens are still in her top five favs.
Rose doesn’t see the word through rose-colored glasses. She can’t see the silver-lining in ever raincloud… Instead, she tries to make it herself; if there is no positive, she will just have to invent one! It’s more work, and exhausting, but she HAS to, otherwise she’d drown in depression.
Rose’s illness is kept a secret, not because she fears people will treat her with pity, but that she fears people will look down on her; like she’s a burden on her parents, like it’s annoying to have to put up with her weakness.
(I’ve actually been sick myself, since xmas day in fact- perhaps as punishment from the universe for making ClawNoir cataclysm Santa Claus)
Penny is Bob Roth’s personal servant- er, I mean, assistant… which means she’s also gopher for XY. (There is no woman in Paris more miserable than Penny).
Jean-Pierre Monlataing is still an Art teacher at Francois Dupont… and he teaches traditional art styles. Helping students practice time-honored techniques through repetition and standardization. Graffiti is not art, so no spray-paint cans in his classroom!
Alix Kubdel is his most troubled student.
Marinette does not attend art club.
Nathaniel shows great talent for portraits.
Jalil strives to be better than his father; he admire Nathalie Sancoeur and hopes to rise to her position of Director of the Louvre someday.
Directors of Museums are prestigious positions you have to work hard your whole life to even be considered for, as The Supreme appoints them.
As far as the public knows, this is for the sake of preserving history as well as ensuring that dangerous ideas from the past do not repeat themselves and inspire anarchy in young, impressionable minds.
The reality is that they are searching for clues to missing Miraculous.
The Supreme has already taken steps to ensure the Prodigious will never pose a threat to his power (Temple and access to cave have been destroyed and the bracelet has been confiscated and placed in a secure location).
But there are still most likely Miraculous scattered across the earth. Gems that, if fallen into the “wrong hands” could disrupt the peace and order that the Supreme has worked hard to maintain.
Marianne intends to find these Miraculous first… if only she had the help of someone younger and more physically up to the challenge.
When Gabriel/Betterfly/Hesperia forms “The Resistance” and Marianne is introduced to their ranks, this is exactly the plan she suggests in order to take down The Supreme and give power back to all the people.
She only has a few clues on where to start searching though.
…Fun fact, if you were to unify the Ladybug miraculous of creation with the Eagle miraculous of freedom, you would get Ladybird- determined to create a new, free world.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous paris#miraculous world#miraculous fandom#toxinelle#shadybug#claw noir#griffe noire#adrien agreste#mlb s5#miraculous shanghai#miraculous new york#Prodigious#Lady Dragon#marinette dupain cheng#rose lavillant#alix kubdel#chloe bourgeois#nathalie sancoeur#Supreme#gabriel agreste#Betterfly#Hesperia#miraculous special#shadybug and claw noir#sabrina raincomprix
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The Lost Wayne: Chapter 4
Synopsis: On the night of her parents’ anniversary, Marinette was shocked to learn that all this time, she had been the long forgotten daughter of an American businessman named Bruce. When she is given the chance to visit him that summer, she learns that she’ll also be spending the summer with his many other children.
Rated T: Language
Ships: Gen
Author’s Note: Hi everyone! It has been a while, and not helped by the fact that I’ve been busy with life stuff. DC Boy and I take time to brainstorm, edit, proofread, and we do it together. We’ve got continuations of ongoing stories coming, plus some other ideas that have been sitting in notes apps and Google Docs for a while now. This community of people who enjoy this crossover have been nothing but kind and supportive, and we appreciate your patience as we return to trying to post fanfic chapters more regularly. - Maribat Girl
Taglist: @laurcad123, @k8s-things, @miyatalksshit, @raeuberprinzessin, @jeminiikrystal, @jjmjjktth, @tinybrie, @angelwreckedd, @talia-scar123, @maybeanalien0-0, @depressed-bitchy-demon, @timetravelassasin, @its-maemain, @lex-am, @iloontjeboontje,
Chapter 3 - Chapter 5
Chapter 4
Next morning, Marinette walked down to an empty dining room. She awkwardly took a random seat and sat quietly for a few moments; she hoped that the family would join her for breakfast. After about 10 minutes she gave up waiting for them, “Um, Alfred?” she asked in what she assumed to be an empty room. Alfred, almost by magic, appeared before her with breakfast.
“Good morning, Miss Marinette,” he greeted, “Today’s breakfast is an assortment of pastries and a cup of chocolat chaud.”
“Thank you, Alfred, where is everyone?” Marinette asked as she gestured to the empty table.
“Ahem, Master Bruce is a late riser as he is usually up late. Master Dick returned late last night, so he won’t be up until later. Master Jason stayed up into the night reading, so he won’t be down for breakfast either. Master Tim has been awake for over 48 hours and I've made him rest. Miss Cassandra has left early for ballet practice, and Master Damian has fencing practice and would rather not be disturbed,” Alfred recited, his explanations prepared long beforehand.
“Oh,” Marinette muttered, “All right then.”
“You know, every month, we all gather and chip in to help the people of Gotham. Master Dick will be going to local orphanages tomorrow. Why, Master Damian goes to the animal shelters every week. Would you like to follow me to help give food to the homeless?” Alfred offered. Marinette blinked for a moment as she tried to picture Damian, with his usual sour scowl, being surrounded by cute animals.
“That sounds great Alfred, would…would anyone mind?” Marinette asked.
“Not at all,” Alfred said before leaving.
Later, Marinette sat in the back of the limousine with a few baskets beside her, all filled to the brim with sandwiches made by Alfred. Her heart sank the deeper she went into Gotham City. She could never truly get used to the state of the city. “Where are we?” Marinette asked.
“Gotham City’s East End,” Alfred answered, “where most of the unfortunate souls reside.”
The car slowly came to a stop in front of a small alleyway. The entire street grew silent as everyone focused on the car. It wasn’t everyday a luxury car came to this part of Gotham, it attracted all sorts of attention. Alfred got out first and locked the car, and as he walked towards the side to open the door for Marinette, he was accosted by a man.
“Nice ride old man, wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to it.” The man spoke with a malicious glint in his eye.
“Let’s keep this amicable, Gentlemen. Please go away.” Alfred answered monotonously.
One man drew his arm back for a punch, only for Alfred to deliver a swift kick to the groin. The man instantly collapsed and writhed on the floor. Alfred opened the door and Marinette nervously stepped out and watched the man on the floor in worry and pity. She whispered a quick apology to the man. People on the street began to gossip, was this girl the heiress to a crime family? Gossip began to die down as Alfred gave them a stern glare, and people began going about their business.
Alfred quickly collected the baskets, “Miss Marinette, please stay close.” Marinette followed Alfred through the streets until they reached a shanty town filled with children.
Marinette gasped at the ragged children living on the streets and took an unconscious step back. Tears pricked her eyes for a moment as she saw the conditions they lived in, but this was replaced with a determination as she walked up to them and offered a sandwich. The children eyed her suspiciously, the closest one slapped her hand aside. “How stupid do you think we are?!”
Marinette froze at the hostility coming from the children, “But…I…” she stammered.
Another child shouted, “That's how they kidnapped Bob and Bill last week, two people came in dressed as the Mayor's Homeless Outreach Project. They threw Mackey through a window and even killed old man Steve.”
Marinette began to panic as the children of Alleytown began to yell at her. "All right, that's enough," a voice behind her boomed and all the children were silent. Marinette looked back to see Jason standing behind her.
“Jason?” Marinette said in shock, “What are you doing here?”
“I just happen to be around," he said unconvincingly. He turned to the children, “She’s with me,"
“Well well, if it isn’t Jason Todd, what brings you and your friend to Alleytown?” a voice came from nearby. Marinette turned around to see a blonde woman perched on the sill of an open window with one leg crossed over the other.
"Holly," Jason greeted plainly, "Marinette's a friend visiting from Paris. She just wants help out while she's in town." Marinette felt a twinge of shame, did Jason not refer to her as family out of contempt? She looked down at the floor, unable to meet Jason's eyes. "She's one of the good few, trust me."
Marinette looked up tentatively at Jason. She wasn't sure how to react, but here he was vouching for her to strangers. "I brought some food…" she said as she held out a sandwich.
Holly leaped off the window sill and landed in a roll, she strolled towards Marinette and picked up the sandwich offered to her. Marinette seemed a little startled by the ease with which Holly managed to do that. "Well, don't mind if I do," she said as she took a bite. Marinette nervously looked at Holly chewing, all the Alleytown kids stared too, suspicion still in their glares. "Hey, this is good. Come on and have some," she told the kids. In a split second their suspicious glares disappeared and the kids crowded around Marinette for free food.
The children swarmed and overwhelmed Marinette, she frantically gave everyone sandwiches.
They then quickly dispersed back into hiding after taking their portion, Marinette, Jason and Alfred were then left alone. Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Would you like a lift home, Master Jason?” Alfred asked as he gestured to the limousine.
“Sure, why not?” Jason shrugged. Alfred got into the driver’s seat and Jason joined Marinette in the back. Marinette sat quietly beside Jason, refusing to make eye contact with him. Instead she preferred to stare at her feet the entire ride home. As the car made its way back to Wayne Manor, there was a deafening silence in the back seat. Marinette felt like her siblings simultaneously wanted nothing to do with her, and yet one of them was nice enough to vouch for her back there.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked bluntly.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” Marinette snapped back.
Jason sighed and crossed his arms, “For the last two days, you looked as if someone kicked your puppy. Didn't think Gotham would make you miserable that quickly.”
“What's it to you?” Marinette asked, almost grumpily.
“Because there's only room in that manor for one miserable person and that's usually Bruce. And it seems like you inherited Bruce’s ability to brood for days too. Now are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"Did I do something wrong?" Marinette whispered, her voice slightly cracked.
Jason looked at her in confusion. "Do you even think of me as family at all?"
"Is it because I called you a friend back in Alleytown?" Jason asked, Marinette nodded.
"It's something the public isn't ready for yet, it's to protect you. The moment someone finds out, you can kiss goodbye any privacy you have." Marinette nodded slowly as she processed Jason's words. "If it makes you feel any better, you're probably the only normal kid Bruce has," Jason said offhandedly, only to suddenly grimace. He swore internally at the careless remark. Marinette perked up at Jason's comment and looked towards him curiously. "Dick, Tim and I are all orphans. Unlike those two, I grew up on the streets similar to the kids you helped back there. Eventually we were all adopted by Bruce, one way or another. Cass ran away from an abusive home, and Damian’s mom travels around a lot.” he recounted, carefully wording it with half-truths. “And even though Steph has her mom and isn’t adopted, her dad was always in and out of jail."
Tears began to form around Marinette's eyes as she listened closely to her siblings' life stories. By comparison, her mother and father cared for her all her life, she couldn't even begin to comprehend what they have all been through.
Jason sighed and pondered what he could do to calm Marinette down. After a few moments of tolerating Marinette’s crying, he tentatively placed a hand on her head. “Still, you did good. Not many people would reach out to help the children of Alleytown. I’m sure it meant a lot to them.”
“Thanks…”Marinette sniffed. “I just did what I felt was right.”
Jason’s face changed to one of annoyance, though he turned to look outside the window. He groaned internally, at the very least Marinette wasn’t a Robin or a superhero of any kind. He was sure the very first thing she would do would be to jump in front of a bullet out of pure selflessness.
Early the next morning, not long before sunrise, the family sat around Batman. "I have bad news…"
"Well, that's ominous," Nightwing quipped.
"Just get on with it," said Red Robin.
"Marinette has caught the attention of Vicki Vale," Batman admitted, the entire room erupted in groans. "Quiet." Batman ordered. "Alfred and I have discussed it and we decided we should take the initiative. We have agreed to reveal Marinette but on our own terms."
Alfred spoke up, "We hope to cultivate a positive reputation for Miss Marinette and her family in Paris. Who knows what nonsense these tabloids can spew."
"So that's why you suggested to her to give food out yesterday," Red Hood summarised.
Alfred nodded, "Yes, I took photos too.”
“Any suggestions?” Batman asked.
Spoiler rubbed her chin for a few moments, being the only person in the group who actually reads tabloids of her own free will. “Why not a photo shoot? Have her look her best.”
Alfred took out his notebook and began writing. “Not a bad idea. I was considering a debutante ball or a formal introduction at the next gala. Though, she will require etiquette lessons.”
Red Robin raised his hand stiffly, “Will there be an interview?” he asked.
Batman nodded in response, “Yes, Ms. Vale is asking for one.”
“Then I suggest it be pre-recorded then broadcasted, or at the very least a strict script for both Marinette and Vicki to follow,” Alfred suggested.
Nightwing sighed and facepalmed, “I hate the paparazzi,” he groaned. “This is our fault for not being careful. We need to make sure her and her family’s reputation stays intact.”
Red Hood laughed, he grabbed Nightwing by the shoulder and with his free arm waved across the space in front of them “I can see the headlines ‘Gotham's Homewrecker!’” Nightwing elbowed Red Hood in the ribs. “Come on, this is exactly the kind of shit to expect.”
“He’s got a point,” Oracle chimed from the screen, “The Gotham Gazette can be ruthless.”
"Then it's settled, I'll break the news to her later," said Batman.
After another quiet breakfast alone, Marinette quickly went back to her room. She curled up and sat on her bed, her knees against her chest.
"Are you okay?" Tikki asked.
"I want to trust my family, to trust my father and siblings. I want to believe in Dick, Steph and the others. It's just…been hard, especially with what we saw out there."
"Hmm, I understand how you feel. Maybe it is just your father, after all, he did mention most of the others were adopted,” Tikki remarked, “Besides, Dick, Cass and Steph seem nice."
"You might be right Tikki. Who knows, maybe the adoptions were publicity stunts," Marinette said.
There was a knock on her door, Tikki quickly flew into Marinette's sleeve. "May I come in?" asked Bruce from outside. Marinette slapped her hand over her mouth, worried that he heard what she just said. She shakily opened the door slightly to peer out.
Bruce gave her a polite smile, "Good morning, how are you?"
"I'm g-good" she stammered as she opened her door to let him in. Bruce stood inside for a few quiet moments, he ran his hand through his hair nervously. This in turn made Marinette more nervous.
Bruce broke the uncomfortable silence, "It seems, the paparazzi found out about you," Marinette's eyes widened and was about to speak before Bruce interrupted her.
"I've decided that, if we don't have a choice, we need to make sure your introduction is flawless." Marinette quietly nodded as she listened to her father. "Alfred will provide you the details, and he will give you lessons on etiquette. We have a photo shoot planned and you'll be formally introduced during the next gala."
Marinette continued to nod, an awkward silence enveloped the room again. "Just be careful, gossip magazines can be ruthless. This may also affect your family," Burce said ominously.
Marinette didn't respond, she just looked down at the floor. Bruce checked his watch, "I'm sorry, I have an appointment soon. See you later,” Bruce then quickly left the room. He had hoped he conveyed the message to Marinette that all this was for her sake.
Once he was out of earshot, Marinette slumped onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. Tikki flew out and tried to console her. "I can't believe it, that jerk! Now that his secret love child has been revealed he expects me to be the perfect child? All for what? To protect his reputation?!"
She sighed deeply, before turning on her TV, she flipped through the channels, and froze as the news came on screen. “Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne!” the reporter yelled as she pushed through the crowd. The cameraman followed the best he could, the camera shook as he pushed past the large group of people gathering. The view slowly came into focus and she saw her father in a fancy suit, scantily clad models on either side, his arms over their shoulders. She didn’t have the energy to be any more shocked, she could only stare at the screen blankly. Watching billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne appear before a large crowd at some party. He was chatty, sociable, flirty, he winked towards the camera with a bright smile. It was as if he was a completely different person in public. Frankly, it made Marinette feel uneasy and reaffirmed her earlier beliefs, Bruce Wayne was someone who valued his reputation above all else. And it made her sick. The interview that followed was vapid and uninteresting, though she was amazed to see her father acting like an absolute airhead. She stared in shock as she watched her father act like a loveable fool for the cameras, she was almost impressed by his acting.
"Why don't you go for a walk, try to clear your mind?" Tikki suggested. Marinette signed and nodded, she got up and left her room.
She wandered the empty halls of Wayne Manor aimlessly. She spent much of her time staring at the floor instead of its architecture. Fear began to slowly creep up as she thought what would happen when word got out, what would happen to her? Her friends? Her parents? Would an angry mob try to burn down the bakery? Just as her anxiety began to spiral she noticed a familiar pair of shiny shoes in front of her. She looked up to see Alfred in a frilly apron dusting a few portraits.
"Ah, what brings you here Miss Marinette?" asked Alfred as he worked.
Marinette took a closer look at the portrait, some man who, from what she gathered, passed centuries ago. The entire length of the hall was decorated with portraits of serious looking men. Their stares felt judgmental, as if all her ancestors deemed her unworthy. "Uh, I just wanted to know who the people in all of these portraits are," she said.
"These are portraits of all the heads of the House of Wayne, starting all the way back to 1640 with Nathaniel Wayne," Alfred explained as he walked to the corresponding portrait.
"The Waynes have been here for that long?"
"Indeed, the Waynes have been around since the founding of the old Gotham Town. By the way, has your father told you about your predicament?" Marinette nodded. "Good, first we should focus on your photoshoot and interview. I've arranged an appointment at the tailor's later and asked Miss Cassandra and Miss Stephanie to join us."
"Actually," Marinette interrupted, "I was wondering if maybe I could design my own dress for the event? In fact I did design something for Gabriel Agreste." Marinette thought this might save her from being poked and prodded by a seamstress while everyone argued over what would look best on her.
"Why, that's wonderful" Alfred said with a smile, "we can just get the fabric as well as any tools you may need. Why don't you wait for Miss Cassandra and Miss Stephanie in the living room?"
Alfred opened the door and ushered Marinette into the living room, she froze slightly as she saw Tim sitting on a sofa. He seemed busy as he worked on his laptop. Marinette awkwardly walked in and sat across Tim, on a different sofa. The two sat in silence until Cass and Steph walked in.
"Hiya Marinette," said Steph as she entered while Cass gave her a wave. "Ready to go shopping with us?"
Marinette glanced over at Alfred, who gave her an encouraging nod, before walking towards them. The two girls ushered her out of the room, waving back at Alfred behind them.
Before they walked out, Marinette said, "I was hoping to make my own clothes, I want to be a fashion designer. I even designed something for Agreste Fashion."
"What? no way, what did you design for Gabriel Agreste?" Steph asked excitedly as she sat beside Marinette.
"Sorry, wait, you designed something for Agreste Fashion?" Tim said as he looked up from his laptop.
Marinette nodded, "Yeah, it was for a competition at school. My design was featured on the front page of a magazine," She took out her phone and showed them the photos of her hat in various stages of production along with the front page with Adrien as the model. Everyone crowded around Marinette's phone to take a look at the hat she designed. "I also embroidery my signature into it, as proof of authenticity." She turned her phone upside down and lo and behold the golden etching spelled her name.
Everyone's jaws dropped, as Marinette's name was spelled clearly in the hat. The three of them crowded around her phone screen to get a better look. Marinette was starting to get overwhelmed from their excitement, she took a step back to try to compose herself. Lucky for her, Alfred had stepped in just in time. "Ahem, shall we make our way to the tailor's?"
Tim had decided to join their shopping trip at the last minute, Marinette sat quietly unsure as she hadn't really interacted with him other than mealtimes. Steph and Cass conversed with each other, it was more like Steph doing the talking for both of them.
"So other than fabrics, what else do you need?" Tim asked.
"Um, let's see…" Marinette thought of what she may need, she considered her budget based on the pocket money she brought with her. "Some pencils, a ruler, thread, needle…" she listed.
Tim listened intently, before turning to Alfred. "Alfred, do we have any empty rooms near Marinette's for her to work her dress?"
"Yes, Master Timothy, there is an old unused study near her bedroom," Alfred responded quickly without even taking his eyes off the road.
Shopping at the tailor's became a blur for Marinette, she was introduced to many materials, each with their own pattern. She struggled to decide which to pick as she didn't have inspiration just yet, she was a very long way away from the place in Paris where she used to sit and sketch out her best ideas. Normally her work would be based on the materials available to her, yet this new found freedom of choice made it hard to pick a specific fabric. At Tim's suggestion, they purchased almost all the fabric available at the shop. Tim even offered to pay for it all, much to Marinette's surprise, she tried to stammer a protest that this was too much but she was cut off by the others.
Next came the tools, she asked for a simple set much like hers back home. A needle and some thread, with some basics like pencils and rulers. Just like earlier, Tim had again purchased all the tools needed, an entire sewing machine, a mannequin, tables, chairs, racks and shelves for all the fabric.
After a long and hectic day of selecting everything she needed to make her dress, that and so much more, she sat in her new workshop in awe. Her workshop looked like a professional tailor, in fact even better equipped than the tailor she went to earlier that day. She slowly walked around, examining each and everything in the room, Tikki quietly followed behind her. Marinette reached out to touch a piece of the fabric, vicuña wool, the world’s most expensive fabric. Beside it, a large roll of guanaco, she ran her hands through the roll of the finest wool she had ever seen. But at what cost? Perhaps this was their way of showing their support and helping her, at the same time, it felt like she was cheating her way to the top. It felt like a dream come true, she now had a studio beyond her wildest dreams. But at what cost? She now had to make a dress like her life depended on it.
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When Gabriel Agreste died, it wasn't pretty.
It was the desperate final attempt of a mad man. Lunging at Chat Noir, whose hand oozed with pure destruction, in hopes of retrieving the butterfly miraculous once more.
Chat Noir had tried to pull away, but he was already distraught. Knowing your father was a terrorist doesn't prepare you for seeing it yourself.
Knowing didn't prepare Adrien for the utter betrayal and shock that completely wrecked his very being to the core when he saw it for himself.
Before Adrien knew what had happened, Hawkmoth, his father - magicless, powerless, pathetic - was writhing on the floor. His eyes clouded and mouth carved into a silent scream as he tore at his chest.
When Gabriel Agreste died, it was agonizing.
He decayed slowly, feeling as every particle of his being disintegrated away to be left as nothing but a pile of dust.
Chat Noir cried out, tried to stop it - to slow it - to do something. It didn't work.
Ladybug tried to fix it, fumbling to create one more lucky charm after Hawkmoth destroyed the previous one. She tried to bring him back. It didn't work.
When Gabriel Agreste died, it was traumatizing.
The two heroes (children. They were children. Sixteen years old with the weight of the world on their shoulders, only able to lean on each other to bear it.) were left clinging to one another; trembling and sobbing and absolutely broken.
It was over. It was finally over.
But they'd never get back what they had lost. Their childhoods were in the past. Their innocence went with the first death they'd witnessed when they were thirteen. Their hands would never be clean of Gabriel Agrestes blood.
When Gabriel Agreste died, Paris' Heroes retired.
They had shown up long enough to tell Paris that they were safe, Hawkmoth was no more. As such, Ladybug and Chat Noir were as well.
Paris had always been protective of their heroes. The support Ladybug and Chat Noir received in favor of their retirement as heroes was unsurprising.
When Gabriel Agreste died, Adrien got everything.
As the sole beneficiary, Adrien Agreste received the company, the stocks, the homes, and the fortune.
The company was the first to go, gifted from Adrien to Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgeois, who had already been running MDC together.
The homes went next, all being turned into shelters for abused, orphaned, and homeless children.
The fortune went next, almost all of it being donated to help Paris recover from Hawkmoths Reign.
When Gabriel Agreste died, the world got a little brighter.
People in Paris moved on, aided by free therapy and the ever-increasing healthy enviroments, funded by one Adrien Agreste.
Gabriel the Brand went through a complete upheaval. Gaining completely new standards, new policies, new benefits, new aesthetics, and a new name: Miraculous Designs & Co.
The first line was inspired entirely by Paris' superhero team, and Marinette couldn't have been prouder. (She did feel rather vain, making clothes based on her alter-ego.)
When Gabriel Agreste died, the world kept spinning.
The Sun rose, and it set. Flowers continued to bloom and wilt. Snow fell, and snow melted. Rain came and went.
When Gabriel Agreste died, Paris' heroes thought they would never recover.
They were wrong.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous#ml#mlb#i hate this so much#but i dont wanna scrap it so here ya go#adrien agreste#marinette dupain cheng#chat noir#ladybug#i dont think this is angst#but its not exactly happy either#its sorta neutral territory tbh#i was bored#its 3am#this wasnt what i wanted to write#this was supposed to be about what marinette did with gabriels company#that is not what this is#idk where i went wrong#theres literally only like two paragraphs about gabriel the brand#its fine#idec anymore#i wanted to go somewhere with this#it went nowhere
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Well, the new ecological miracle episode has just been released, you know what that means~
Today we will be reviewing the shortest miraculous special until now, Miraculous season 5 episode Action.
Let’s see what they did with the episode with the concept of one of the few kwamis I still like.
We start the episode with Marinette and Adrien driving to Luka’s boat house, and we know the episode is good when the animation looks like this
They didn’t even try.
Nino calls them in because he has some important news which is that people were throwing trash in the sena river and it was going to the ocean.
Nino: if no one handle the plastic problem, who will?
the show spent 1:14 minutes without throwing the lesson in our face, that’s a record!
And really, I really don't like it when people have an eco episode and just have the main characters, I think it's much better to have the main characters help the background characters protest, clean up, plant a fucking tree, or whatever whatever they're doing, it helps the scene feel more organic, when it's just a bunch of teenagers doing something, it looks like the characters are just Mary Sues because, you know how many environmental groups? Very little, so yeah, a bunch of kids would be able to get the whole fucking town to participate.
Well, anyways let's give a look at the group's plan.
WTF-
THEY CONVERTED THE HOUSE BOAT INTO AN ECOLOGICAL WATER TREATMENT PLAN? HOW? WHERE DID THEY GET THE MONEY TO DO IT? AND WHAT ABOUT THAT THERES PEOPLE LIVING THERE? THOSE THINGS ARE NOISY, HOW IS ANYONE GOING TO SLEEP? AND WHAT IF IT IS TOO HEAVY FOR THE BOAT? IT WILL SINK AND YOUR FRIEND JULEKA WILL BE HOMELESS, actually, DID LUKA’S MOM AGREED WITH IT? IS THIS EVEN LEGAL
AND I’M NOT EVEN GONNA MENSION HOW THE FUCK DID THEY BUILD THIS.
Well, they teach the little kids that plastic doesn’t decompose easily and there I already saw the thing was for little babies that don’t know the basic and I lost all hope this episode would be at least decent.
the boat starts to shake and they go to check what is happening and we find out that a large increase of plastic coming from… fans vending machines….. so, people can cool off…. Ugh, first of all, who buys fans that aren’t for decoration? people to buy AIR CONDITIONERS OR FANS (the not Chinese one) did Astruc ever used a Chinese fan? Those things the more you shake it, the more your arm hurts, second, really? Vending machines? The problem isn’t people putting plastic on everything even if they don’t need to, and after that not discarding it properly, the biggest problem with plastic in the ocean is fans? And third aren’t fans made out of like paper? Or like this super light material? There are some fans made out of plastic but this looks like a paper fan.
How much do you bet they just put that the biggest treat is vending machines so they cannot work at all on how to resolve the conflict and make an ending that doesn’t make sense?
Well because there was too much plastic everyone evacuates and the ship explodes… yes. the ship fucking exploded.
So Juleka IS homeless now, all plastic does to a ship is making it get stuck, and showed to us What overheated was the engine, so what caused the boat to explode and what caused it to clog, SO WHO'S FAULT IS THAT? WHO’S FAULT IS IT THAT JULEKA IS NOW HOMELESS HUH? WHO’S FAULT IS THAT?
Juleka and Anarka just accept they don’t have a home now and Nino tells Adrien to talk tp his dad.
Adrien: you know how my father is, he won’t listen!
Marinette: what if we try to resolve this another way? By going to the root of the problem,
Ok that was kinda creepy, Marinette what are you doing to do? MARINETTE WHAT WILL YOU DO TO THE VENDING MACHINES? MARINETTE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
All joke’s aside, Marinette asks her dad if she and her friends can pick up the bakery supplements which he says yes so, they rush their way to there.
They get the boxes and Marinette asks if they can see the new character they made for the special only and after that will be forgotten even if he could be important, you know? As always, his name is plastic king but I’ll just call him “the boss”
The guy then shows they were the boss lives and- Marinette is gonna break into his house huh? At this point I’m not even surprised.
Nino makes everyone disguise themselves but they are immediately discovered, but Marinette uses her main protagonist powers and they’re able to pass the staff.
So, they reach the boss
Bro looks like that one villain from the Gnomeu & Julieta movie
Well, they make a little presentation about plastic which really, it's short but I really liked it they didn't demonize plastic, but instead said that plastic IS important for our society and that we shouldn't just stop producing it, instead they say that people buy thing and throw them away right after, putting the blame not in the company but in the people, which surprised me, EXPECIALY for a miraculous, I actually think that's the better portrait of taking care of our planet In a kids show I've ever seen.
The boss explains that this of people buying and throwing it away so they can buy more is design like that and nothings gonna change, RIGHT BEFORE SHOWING ALL WE HAVE IS MADE OF PLASTIC DEMONIZING IT AGAIN AND MAKE MY COMPLIMENT USELESS, CONGLATULATIONS SHOW
The group then fuck off out of the guy’s office and Marinette has the idea to go talk to the mayor, how did Marinette without Zoe’s help was able to have a face to face with the mayor I don’t know but oh well.
Andre: But Parisians love the fans my young friend, remove the vending machines installed by the hall across Paris
Marinette: Would make it possible to reduce pollution
Andre: But it would be very damaging to my image
That’s the character that in the end of season 5 we were supposed to be rutting for, and being happy he was able to stay with the nice daughter and his dream job, THIS GUY.
Adrien demonizes plastic to his dad but without success he fucks off.
Marinette then tries to ask Nadja to talk about it in her program but apparently the boss controls the tv channel, and it’s kinda of a bad choice to make a character you’re gonna throw away later such an important person.
We than have a time skip where everyone is now in…. Luka’s boat house….
For the miraculous theorist, I think we can safely conclude, Anarka is fucking rich.
Anyways the group + the people from the around the world special proceed to help max HACK NADJA TV PROGRAM.
WTF? WHY? ARE IN THAT “Just Stop Oil” ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST GROUP? Is the show really influencing that these crazy people are doing the right thing? THEY HACKED A GOD DAMMIT TV SHOW, JUST MAKE THE CHARACTERS THINK THERE’S NO HOPE LEFT, BUT THEM THEY ENTER IN A NOT CRAZY ACTIVIST GROUP AND THE MESANGE WOULD BE DELIVERDED, DON’T GIVE FUEL TO THESE PEOPLE!
We than have one of the most nonsensical scenes of this show. Don’t believe in me? Let me show you.
Firstly, Nino is pointing a camera at the group which means he is doing a live
But we have video of the boat they’re in, underwater shot (which is just the most beautiful water I've ever seen) UK (probably) shot. Japan and NY shots.
Throwing away a perfectly good fan that could be reused when the whole special is LITTEREALY ABOUT RECYCLING
This thing being a worldwide thing but Marinette and Adrien don’t know about them.
The fact that even after being haked the tv show the executives said to Nadja say good things about those idiots.
“nAtUrAlLy I WaS nOt aWaRe oF tHiS, BuT aS sOoN aS i WaS InFoRmEd I hAd EvErY MoRtAl FaN mAcHinE ReMoVeD fRoM PaRiS”
DO YOU SEE MY POINT?
Anyways we see a scene of the boss screaming to Gabriel on his alliance ring that he lied and that Gabriel knew the fans were polluted, again, Gabriel is a character we were supposed to like in the end of season 5.
Well, the boss gets mad and monarch Akumatizes him into king of plastic.
First of all, this doesn't look like plastic, it looks like he's made of candy, THOSE THINGS ON HIS SHOULDERS ARE JELLY BEANS AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE, I can understand why his skin is pink, his logo is basically just pink, but why black? It doesn't feel like plastic either, and what's with his feet? He has these blisters that look like he's having an allergic reaction or something, and why is his weapon a sword? I understood that when Karami and Tomoe's weapons were a sword, they were linked to swordsmanship, but why is his weapon a sword? Let's be real, the producers just gave him a sword to make him look cool, ok for the things I liked, I liked his crown. It's shaped like a king's chess crown, the design is creative and I liked the look of its lower parts like the lower parts of a doll.
Well, I think I will give him A 5.8/10 I don't know if just making him a gigant version of his logo would be better, no I was just kidding- it's just a joke- please don't do that PLEASE NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Monarch gives him the bee powers and KOP (plastic king) rushes to paralyze the mayor and we see what his powers are about, he turns people into plastic, ok that's actually a good power, it kind of reminds me of the villains from season 2, do you remember season two? When was the show good? And did we have character development? I miss that too.
He transforms the police in plastic and decides to go to the Agreste mansion.
Marinette and Adrien while Adrien was teaching Marinette how to say hi in mandarin, like the language her mom is fluent, and that Sabrine would teach her how to say at least a “Hello”? anyways they both see the Akuma so Adrien leaves her house and they both transform.
KOP transforms the gorilla in plastic so the writers can have the heroes know his powers and that he’s dangerous just for the heroes to not care about that and attack him without thinking twice, but relax guys he just throws them, phew for a moment I thought they wouldn’t do it.
He transforms chat’s staff and well-done king. He doesn’t deserve his staff, or his powers, OR HIS STANS, THAT REFERENCE WAS HORRIBLE I SHOULD JUST SHUT UP.
Ladybug: you’re the tycoon who makes all these polluting fans! The king of plastic, aren’t you?
Chat: the king of pollution you mean.
KOP: miss information, plastic is fantastic!
Ladybug: fantastic would be you ending your reign and all the pollution you’re causing!
Ugh, another show to demonize plastic, actually I think I didn’t said what demonizing plastic is, demonize plastic is put all the fault of plastic pollution in the plastic bottle or the company that made it, and say that the companies should be ashamed of that and they should stop producing plastic, first, we NEED plastic, it became an essential part of our lives, the computer the miraculous teem made this episode is made of plastic, the tv the mlb fans watch It is made out of plastic, everyone has multiple things made out of plastic, the problem isn’t making plastic, the problem is and not recycling it, and not re-using it. and is it the company fault? Me and my family used to travel a lot, and every time we got thirsty, we would buy a water bottle just so when runned out, they threw it away and buy another one, and then I ask you, who fault? The companies or my family’s? but shows tend to just throw all the blame at the companies and forget that we are the ones using it once and throwing it away, but really, I knew since the beginning of the episode they would demonize plastic.
Well KOP go to Luka’s boat house to take revenge on the kids, but ladyboob and cat noar show up to stop him, ladybug then activates her lucky charm which is a plastic bag.
They realize that the plastic bag can’t be turned into plastic because it is already made of plastic so ladybug comes up with a plan.
Alya tells the group to turn on the boat plastic collector system, so chat noir cataclysms the engine, which makes the boat explode in trash again, how many times is Juleka gonna get homeless in one episode?
Well, KOP Drowns in the most beautiful trash I've ever seen and that the MLB producers totally didn't just download from the internet.
Ladybug breaks the sword and purify the Akuma.
The boss: what am I doing here? This is disgusting, aren’t you gonna help me?
Ladybug: this is exactually what millions of sea animals are going through around the world.
Chat noir: and they don’t always have a super hero to offer a helping hand and save them.
The boss: you just covered me in a pile of trash woman, its not my fucking fault people are throwing trash at the sea I just sell plastic, Jesus Christ could you help me I can’t fucking move.
I wish he said it, ok here’s what he actually said.
The boss: ok maybe plastic isn’t always so fantastic.
Aaaaand they rushed the conclusion so that everything would end up in a happy ending, I warned ya.
Ladybug gives him a magical charm so he can remember he got one of the most rushed character developments in history.
We have a scene showing that now everything’s ok, everyone is using the kids’ ideas and tomorrow everyone will forget about recycling and everything will go back to how it was. And that’s where the episode ends.
Ok this episode is not very good.. it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen still it isn’t good, there’s a lot of conveniences, the animation is worst than usual, even if I liked the villain, I must say his powers were used billions of times, I liked they give more screen time to the fight though.
The episode was generic and I’m almost sure they made the episode just for 1: people go “oh they are so nice!” so they can cover up the racist (intentional or not) in the show. and 2: for sell merch of Marinette’s water bottle for 65 bucks each.
The message was very over the top, and they didn’t do much to try make something original out of it, they just made a check list with every single trope they use in cartoons ecological episodes and made it, and it looks like they didn’t care to much about logic, that thing in Lukas’s boat house was totally illegal and dangerous, the group just found the boss office because a random dude that worked for him showed them without thinking twice, they can just get into places they shouldn’t be able to and it doesn’t even make sense, they resolve all their problems via hacking a channel network, which doesn’t make sense and even if they were able to do it there are billions of tv ads about recycling and they never get attention, I know it’s a kid show but couldn’t they make the characters say “this fight won’t be easy, but we are gonna fight for a better world, are you with us?” it would be better in my opinion.
The characters literally hacked a network, break into a dude’s office and there’s just no consequences, I know it was for a good cause but still. it looks like the writers knew it was a filler episode and didn’t care about researching any of it, if they did, they would know that MOST BAKERIES USE PAPER BAGS, OR THAT FANS AREN’T MADE OF PLASTIC, OR THAT YOU CAN’T DO A LIVE SHOWING ANOTHER CONTRY IN REAL TIME.
Over all if you enter in this side this episode because a mess, but if you just watch the episode, it isn’t too bad.
And a fun fact this episode was made without Astruc, “but AC, if you think the episode was shitty why does it matter to you?” well my dear summer child, let me tell you, first of, I always thought if the miraculous team could do an episode without Astruc telling them what to do it would be just the best episode of mlb, and after the awakening movie that theory just confirmed itself from me, but no, it wasn’t, not even close.
And because I loved that they didn’t use Chloe in the episode, I bet all my life savings that if Astruc worked on the production Chloe would appear and say something like “ WhO EvEn cArEs AbOuT nAtUrE?” or make Andre seem a nice guy who just wants the best for his city and that totally wasn’t corrupt, so at least that a good thing about this episode.
Anyways I’ll give this episode a 6/10. Thank you for reading until the end, hope I’ll see you in the next post.
#miraculous ladybug#mlb#miraculous#ml#miraculous salt#mlb salt#mlb sucks#miraculous ladybug salt#ml salt#miraculous season 5#mlb s5 spoilers#mlb season 5 spoilers#mlb season 5#miraculous spoilers#action special#action spoilers
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Agreste-Wayne 16
Alya sat nervously on the opposite side of the Parisian reporter. Nadja Chamack had long since passed down the role so she had no idea how this person would act.
"We are live on Tvi with Alya Cesaire!" they announced, "She has gained quite a bit of a reputation recently. Many of you may remember she worked for Parisian Abroad and wrote the retracted story of Adrien Agreste and Marinette Wayne's supposed love affair. Today, she is here to talk about her new blog and what led to her creating it."
Alya smiled nervously at the camera and waved.
"Um, I pretty much stated in my blog what led up to all of this. I believed in the wrong person and that person was Layla Rossi. She was a new student, in college, and quickly wowed us with stories of all these amazing things she did. I lost touch with a lot of classmates over the years. I can't say she was the reason or not. I know a few people know she was liar and I don't blame them in the slightest. I was-am, I am stubborn." Alya began.
"You posted a link with a list of lies she told in school." they declared, "Can you elaborate on those?"
"Yes. Of course." Alya answered, "Lila, um, Layla missed a lot of school. She was always saying how she was going on trips with her mother, an ambassador. She would even zoom call the teacher to tell us about her 'trips'."
"And you are sure she wasn't on these trips?" they asked.
"I didn't see it then, but she would never leave the hotel room." Alya explained, "Someone brought it up that every hotel room looked the same. She began to tear up and said that her mother's company only used the same hotel brand so all rooms should look the same. We believed her. Later, they pointed out how Lila never showed us pictures of her on any of these trips. She would go to exotic places: the Kingdom of Achu, Hawaii, the Amazon rainforest. I wish I had listened more when they said that there was no proof she was doing these things."
"Was that all there was too it?" they inquired, "No proof?"
"No." she replied, "Layla claimed to be doing these 'inspirational' acts, like feeding the homeless, building homes in Africa, helping Prince Ali with an environmental project, making clothes by hand for orphaned children and a lot more. If you're curious, you can look at the blog; most of these I did disprove. For one, the Prince Ali of Achu doesn't do environmental projects. He has charities for pediatric hospitals. Many of us donated money to the 'environmental project'. Anytime we asked her to help with something she claimed to have done, she would have an excuse. She also told us she had all these disabilities: tinnitus, arthritis, weak ankles, fractured lymph nodes, and so on. All of which sounds really stupid to say outloud, especially if she was out building homes. In fact, we've never met her parents so there's no guarantee she even was an ambassador's daughter."
"That does sound pretty....hard to believe." the reporter declared.
Alya nodded, "We were fourteen and thought we all had this amazing friend who did all these amazing things! At twenty-two, it doesn't sound plausible. There's so many mistakes, so many inconsistencies. They saw right through her. They were smarter than all of us."
"Alya, I know we asked you here to talk about you're blog." the reporter began, "We also asked some other people to talk about their experiences with Layla Rossi."
Alya looked off to the side to see who would be walking out.
'Is it Nino? It could be anyone from Bustier's class.'
Alya quickly turned when she heard a noise and saw the giant screen was trying to connect to a video.
'Did they not want to be here in person? How horrible did Lila treat this person that they're possibly going to disguise their identity?'
Alya froze in her seat. She never expected it would be them.
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Unexpected Discoveries Lead to Unexpected Consequences
In which Marinette is homeless and breaks into people’s apartments and steals to survive. Jason wasn’t expecting to see a small blue eyed black haired child in his Paris, France safe house. And he definitely didn’t intend to basically adopt her, but what can you do?
Chapter 1
Jason had a plan, and even Talia seemed to approve of his plan which meant it had to be good. But first, she said that he had to train with different handlers all around the world to learn different skills that would help him reach his end goal. And what was this plan exactly? He was going to take over and run the drug trade in Crime Alley, kill Joker, mess with the Bat and his replacement, and finally he’ll end the big Bat with his own hands. His plan changed a bit every so often, currently he was toying with the idea of letting Batman decide to kill the Joker himself; see how much he really loved Jason.
He was currently waiting for reassignment in Paris, France as his last handler said his training with them was complete. His body was cooling on the floor only a few moments after the words left their mouth.
He was currently squatting in a run down apartment building that he felt he had sufficiently boobytraped. That was until he entered his apartment through the fire escape window one night and saw a small person rifling through the duffel bag he had left sitting on the crappy coffee table. He cleared his throat loudly and watched as the small person froze and stiffened in their spot.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
He watched as the figure slowly raised their hands into the air, lifted their head, and turned towards him. His eyes widened slightly at what he saw, he….hadn’t been expecting this. The person was a small girl with wide bluebell eyes who couldn’t be older than maybe 12. Her clothes were torn, dirty, and ragged; hair pulled back into neat twin tails but was obviously matted and dirty from being unable to find a proper place to bathe.
Memories of his past, before he has been abducted by Batman, resurfaced from some place deep within the recesses of his pit crazed mind. Memories of being in the same predicament. The feeling of never being safe no matter where you are or what you do. The horrid hunger that would make anyone desperate enough to do anything for even the hope of a scrap. Fearing that one day you’ll go missing and no one will ever know or care where you are or what happened to you ever again. He could see fear in the small girl’s eyes, and what appeared to be tears brimming in them. Normally he would cherish and feast on that fear, but this wasn’t a normal circumstance.
“I-I’m sorry sir! I’ll leave right now and never come back! I swear I haven’t taken anything yet, nor will I again.”
“Maybe not from me, but from someone else, yea?”
He said calmly, softly. Slowly he raises his hands up in front of him, exaggerating and telegraphing every movement so the kid would know he was no threat or danger. When he was a few feet away from the girl he squatted down, still keeping his hands in front of him, but away from her. The girl took a small step away, moving into more of a defensive stance, a glare forming on her face. He gave her a small smile, letting her keep her distance.
“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you, I’ve been in the same spot as you.”
He started with a tender note in his voice. His French was a bit rusty, but it was still understandable, and that’s all that mattered at the moment.
“And what spot is that?”
She asked skeptically, eyes darting around the room as she looked for anything she could use to help her escape.
“On the run, homeless, stealing to survive, doing whatever is necessary to just live another day. I know exactly what that was like.”
The girl's eyes widened in shock, her shoulders and stance loosening ever so slightly. She stared at him for a long time, but he never moved as he let her evaluate him. When she seemed satisfied she discouragingly asked,
“So what are you gonna do? Call CPS?”
“F* those guys. They never helped anyone in the system, and there’s no way I’m gonna let you go through that.”
Silence hung in the air, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one, more unsure and inquisitive.
“How would you like to go get some food? I’m hungry, and I have no doubt that you are too. If you’d rather just leave, then I won’t stop you. No catch, you don’t even have to talk to me. I get it. I’m Jason by the way.”
The girl bit her lip as if she were contemplating his offer. She looked all around the dark room one last time before she muttered.
“Mary.”
Jason smiled gently,
“Nice to meet you, Mary. I’ll go ahead and lead us to a diner. Again, you don’t have to follow, but I was going to head there for food anyways so you don’t have to worry about a trap or anything.”
Jason slowly stood up, keeping his hands in front of his palms facing forward the entire time. Cautiously, he walked towards the front door, and walked out. He never turned back to see if Mary followed him as it would probably send the wrong message. He was honestly a bit surprised when she sat across from him at the booth.
She pressed herself as far into the bench as she could with all her limbs curled up in front of her, letting her eyes focus solely on the table. He was grateful when the waiter dropped off the menus as it lessened the tension around them, letting both of them focus on something other than each other.
“Would you like anything to drink while you look for what you want?”
The waitress asked with a polite smile.
“I’ll have some white milk.”
Jason replied smoothly, nodding his appreciation before turning to look at the menu.
“Alright, and what would the young lady like?”
“Ummm,”
Mary hesitantly glanced up at Jason, but all he did was shrug in reply.
“Chocolate milk, please?”
“Alrighty then, I’ll have that out for you in just a moment.”
Jason turned his head slightly and watched the other patrons in the diner. It was odd to him that none of them seemed to know any of the great terrors this world held, and if they did they were good at ignoring them. They were so carefree and happy, and it just felt …off to him with everything he knows and has been through. He glanced at the kid and noticed her drawing on her paper kids menu with the provided crayons. She seemed to be making some kind of dress, and she was really good at it. If the crayons were better quality, or maybe just a pencil, he bet that it would look even better.
“You’re really good at that.”
He praised. Mary’s head shot up in surprise, and she quickly held the paper close to her chest. Jason raised his hands up in surrender.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I’m not going to stop you, I’m not going to take it from you, and if you’re not comfortable with it, I won’t even look at you or your work anymore.”
Mary bit her lip, her eyes never leaving his hands, suspicion never leaving her eyes for a second.
“I promise Mary.”
He whispered, making direct eye contact to show her the seriousness—and hopefully honesty—he was trying to convey through his body-language and voice. After another minute of silent staring at the other she nodded. Hesitantly, she cautiously set the paper back down and continued working while occasionally glancing up to make sure he hadn’t moved closer or started staring. Slowly, Mary felt herself to relax just a little for the first time in years. He wasn’t staring at her or her work and always kept his distance. He kept his part of the deal as he just stared out of the booth and watched the people around them.
“Alright, here are your drinks. Are you ready to order?”
“Yes, I’ll have a Croque Monsieur, French Onion soup, French ratatouille, two slices of your Traditional Quiche, and two slices of Hazelnut Dacquoise please.”
He said politely as he handed his menu back to the server.
“Alright, and for the young miss?”
Mary stared at the page, refusing to make any eye contact.
“Ummm, I-I’ll have Croque Monsieur.”
She said nervously before quickly sipping from her drink to avoid saying anything else. She hoped that what she ordered wouldn’t cost much. But if he was ordering that must mean he isn’t afraid of spending money, right? But he may not want to spend much on her. Even if this is him being nice and not wanting anything in return, it’s best not to test him.
“Alright, will that be all then?”
“Yes please, thank you.”
“Of course, we’ll have it out for you soon.”
And with that the waitress turned and left back towards the counter. Jason turned back to his people watching, taking small sips from his drink.
“Thank you.”
Mary whispered. Jason smiled, but didn’t look at her as he replied,
“Yea, no problem kid. I’d be a hypocrite and a g*d* a*hole to not help you out when I’ve been where you are too.”
Once the food came Jason took all of the plates, including hers, much to her dismay. Instead of eating it all like she had thought, he started to split everything in half. He put some of the food onto his plate that held Croque Monsieur before pushing the rest of the food onto her own.
“Don’t worry kid, I’m not gonna steal your food. In fact you’re going to need more than what you ordered, and I know this place uses good and fresh ingredients to make their food. You’re gonna need the nutrients, so eat as much as you can. And if you want more, I honestly don’t mind giving you mine or ordering more. Okay?”
He asked, making eye contact with her once more as he slowly scooted her dish toward her. She nodded slowly, still trying to process what had just happened. Jason nodded, giving her a small encouraging smile before he started to eat his own food. Marinette watched him take a bite of a little of everything on his dish, once he had done that, and showed no sign of anything she tucked in.
It was obvious that she was born into a good family. He observed the way she ate, because while she was eating it fairly quickly, it was obvious that she was taught proper table manners. But while he couldn’t see signs of parental abuse, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any. He had her glass refilled a few times, much to her horror the first time, but he just smiled and waved off her attempts of “you don’t have too, I’m fine”, with “just drink your milk kid. You’re gonna need it if you don’t want to stay that size forever”. She had scowled at him for that comment, but sipped her milk in silence, a small smile creeping into her lips. He pretended that he didn’t notice it.
He had given Marinette both slices of the small cake, and was surprised when she scooted the last piece toward him. She didn’t look at him, didn’t even say a word. Just let the cake sit in the middle of the table, it was a silent offering of sorts. A show of trust that made Jason’s heart swell a little in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. Slowly Jason reached out and pulled the slice closer to him.
________
“I’ve got another place you can stay the night at if you’d like. You could have a nice shower, I could find you some new clothes or something. If that isn’t for you, I’ve got some money that you can use. It should keep you off the streets and keep you fed for a little while.”
Jason said calmly as they stood outside the diner with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his leather jacket. He desperately wanted to help the kid (more desperately than he wanted anything, and that was frightening), but he knew there was only so much he could do. He would have to leave soon to his next instructor wherever Talia thought he should be shipped off to next. He can’t, in good conscience, take the kid with him. He would only do more harm than good, and she doesn’t deserve that. She has so much potential, an entire future ahead of her! He would never forgive himself if he ruined that for her.
Mary twiddled her thumbs and bit her lip, a nervous tick he noticed, as she thought through the options.
“Can I stay the night with you?”
That wasn’t really one of the options, and it showed that she really hadn’t been on the streets for as long as he had originally thought. No street kid with longtime experience would be this trusting, not even in Paris.
“That’s not the best idea, kid. I’m not a good person, you really don’t want to be near me.”
He said coolly, staring at some far off point in the distance.
“But you helped me today, and are still offering to help me. Doesn’t that make you a good person?”
She asked curiously. Goodness this kid was so innocent, and he knew that if he looked at her he would see her doe-like eyes silently begging him. How has she survived this long, how did she even end up in this predicament?
“This could all be a trap kid. I could just be putting you into a false sense of security before I kidnap or sell you.”
He said gruffly, rolling his eyes. Kid was going to get herself into some deep sh* if she wasn’t more paranoid and aware.
“Then why reveal your plan now? Why wait so long to do anything?”
Jason sighed in annoyance and rubbed his eyes.
“It’s called the long game kid. Ever hear of it?”
“I have, but you aren’t doing that. If you were doing that you’d look more smug and triumphant. You’d probably be thinking that “you’ve won now”,”
She rambled, using her fingers as air quotes.
“But you're not. You’re more annoyed and seemingly worried about me than anything else. You said you’ve been through what I have, far too sincerely to be fake. And-“
“Fine!”
Jason said with exaggerated frustrated annoyance,
“Just follow me kid, and keep up. I’m not gonna slow down for some curious little pixie.”
He ended gruffly as he began to walk towards one of his nicer safe houses that Talia had provided.
“Hey! I’m not little, and you offered!”
Mary said indignantly as she ran to keep up with his long strides.
“Sure Pix, let’s go with that.”
He said briskly, but smirked as he saw her trying to keep up with him. Sighing, mostly annoyed with himself, he slowed down and let her keep up with him, never removing his hands from his pockets and stared at the city of lights around them. The burning in his heart never really faded, it felt almost tangible, and that made him pause. He focused on the strange new feeling in his chest, and almost stopped breathing when he subconsciously was able to actually interact with this strange feeling. Mary froze, fear and uncertainty bleeding through her eyes. It was as if she felt the interaction, the small strange sensation, the burning that was occurring in his own heart.
“Not again.”
She whispered to herself. The feeling now attached to his heart felt like someone had a sharp vice grip on it. Like they were trying to yank Jason’s heart out.
“I’m so sorry Jason, I’ll get rid of it. I never meant for this to happen!”
She said panickedly. Her rates were shut like she was trying to focus on something, and while she focused the sharp tugging became excruciating. So he did what felt right and tugged back, relieving only a bit of the pain. Mary gasped.
“What is going on Mary? What on Earth are you trying to “get rid of”?”
She was silent and there was finally a reprieve from the painful yanking.
“I-I’m a meta.”
She whispered. Her face was pale and her eyes glassy and distended as she spoke.
“I can create physical and tangible bonds with others that I feel close to or safe with. I can also take those bonds away though it can be painful for both parties involved. It depends on how strong the bond is on both sides. I can’t control it, and now I’ve gone and bonded with you without your permission. I’m so sorry.”
A small tear fell down her cheek as she slowly shrunk into herself throughout her story. Jason could feel the l pain and fear, he didn’t know how she held all this in? Slowly Jason breathed in the chill Autumn evening air, before kneeling before the small child.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to be mad at you okay. It makes sense to me why you bonded with me. I doubt you’ve had a lot of people caring about or helping you out. You’ve been on your own for a while now, huh?”
Mary nodded stiffly, holding back more tears but unable to hold back a sniffle.
“How about we head to the apartment I was telling you about earlier and we can settle this out more there. Okay?”
Another nod. Jason gave her a small smile and slowly stood up. Hesitantly he offered her his hand, but to his surprise she took it while wiping at her eyes with her free arm. Jason smiled again, when was the last time he smiled like this so much? He honestly had no idea if he ever had, except he did. His first day out as-Jason shook his head. He couldn’t focus on that, right now he had a little kid to take care of.
________
“So just to make sure I’ve got everything straight.”
Jason began once Mary had finished explaining how her power worked after he had made sure she was able to take a hot shower and change clothes. He had given her one of his hoodies and a pair of sweatpants—she was absolutely drowning in his clothes.
“So both of us can interact with the other through this bond as it transfers one’s feelings and emotions. Is that about right?”
“That about sums it up, yea.”
She replied meekly, wrapping the blanket he had also given her more tightly around herself.
“I also learned a way to shield my bond, which means I can block it so no one I’m bonded to can feel what I’m feeling through the bond. But it’s been so long since I’ve had one that I don’t fully remember how to do it again.”
Jason hummed, tapping his fingers against his knee in thought. He had been around magic and metas before sure, but nothing quite like this had ever happened to him before. It was strange, intimate, and seemingly out of his control. But strangely enough, he didn’t really seem to mind like he thought he would. The connection actually made him feel…calm, grounded even. It seemed that it even helped to lessen the corrupted voice of the Lazarus Pit in his mind.
Jason carefully focused his thoughts on this strange new connection, letting his mind and heart take hold of the bond as gently as he could. He hesitated, but only for a second before he let a gentle tug of joy and calm flow through the bond. He watched as she stilled, looking at him with wide hopeful eyes before she replied with her own happy little ripples. The feelings almost overwhelmed him with how genuine they were, but he knew that he was doing the right thing. He knew at that moment that he would do anything to protect this kid.
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YES MAKE THAT BOY A SMOKING ADDICT . After Nathalie leaves with her now wife to London and decides to leave him on his own ( it makes sense ! ) he doesn’t feel right about keeping all the money because it’s dirty money to him so he donates most of it to several charities ( and some people would think he’s stupid for doing so but ..the trauma ) and he has just enough to buy a little apartment and he has to find a job to make it through the week ( he almost went homeless at some point ) and his hair has grown longer and it fits him and he’s so stressed he just needs some cigarettes you know ! A lot of his money goes to Plagg’s camembert because he feels bad about starving him with plain old cheese and the rent is though . He’s still traumatized from the death of his two abusive parents ( amongst other things ) and he wishes he could’ve been more loved and now he never will because they’re dead :(
Anyways he has his friends and things changed after all the lies and stuff but he still loves them very much and they grow closer somehow and Mari and my son get back together eventually ( it won’t be until they’re on the last year of high school- SPECIFICALLY)
Yeah I got a whole scenario from that
ok u know what if Natalie left him after ALL THAT i do think his life would get fucked up 😭😭 idt she would but hey stranger things have happened. idk if he would wind up homeless tho bc his friends are too loving and generous to keep that from happening. unless like. he insisted on it. but also it’d be dangerous bc he’s a celebrity. i do agree that he would try and give as much of his money away. i feel like marinette and nino would be desperately trying to open their homes to adrien if he had no form of accommodation, or if he had to live ALONE i swear nino would get his family to adopt adrien somehow. btw why have we never seen nino’s house. where are nino’s parents. why do i know who mylene’s dad is and know her fucking mom abandoned her but I don’t know who the fuck ninos parents are. it’s not just me fforgoeting right. this is canon information we lack? where does he live. is he rich? is his family working class? do they live in a tree house? why don’t I know these things. why don’t we know more about nino. god fucking damn it sorry to derail but Jesus Christ who is that boy. who made him
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Dark Cupid--Happy Valentines' Day!
I know I'm a bit late, but suffice it to say that I had a lot going on. Just wanted to pop in, say hi, and give you a mini-recap on one of my favorite episodes in Season 1 of Miraculous, Dark Cupid!
Because most of you Miraculers who follow me are in season 5 by now, and have probably watched this episode as many times as I have, I'll make this quick.
So basically, we start with Miss Bustier's class, talking about fairytales. Adrien is writing a love poem, and when called out, gets savage toward his teacher, yadda yadda yadda...
Adrien then throws out his poem, thinking it not good enough for Ladybug. Sabrina and Chloe make him sign his autograph, even though he hates it, by telling him it's for a good cause.
After class, Marinette goes digging in the trash to see what it is that Adrien was writing. She finds what she was looking for, but not before Chloe and Sabrina imply that she's poor and homeless. (I guess they were feeling good about themselves after getting Adrien to sign that poster)
Marinette reads Adrien's poem, assumes it was about her (thanks to Tikki), and celebrates.
Marinette meets up with Alya, and they see Max and Kim talking about a ~mystery girl~ Kim wants to ask to be his Valentine. Like the great friends they are, they encourage and support him. Then Kim becomes a runner and a trackstar.
And can I say that the look Max gives as Kim leaves? Like a proud dad. This was definitely one of Max's best episodes.
So Marinette is encouraged by Kim's situation (and Alya) and decides to write Adrien a poem. We then see an amazing BFF handshake we NEVER. SEE. AGAIN.
We skip to Chloe and her lackey torturing Adrien's fanclub with the signed poster of Adrien. We get the infamous "she's not crying hard enough" scene, and that's that.
Marinette is working hard to write a poem for Adrien, and Alya nags. She finally gains inspiration, and they head to mail it off.
Meanwhile, Kim catches up with Chloe. Of course he would like Chloe. Man, I am so glad he gets Ondine later. Anyway, Chloe acts like a total jerk, so nothing new there. He gets akumatized, surprise, surprise, and turns into *GASP* Dark Cupid!
Dark Cupid makes people hate each other. So yeah. If you needed a comic relief, there's this guy shouting, "STUPID FLOWERS!"
Chloe gets what's coming to her, as Sabrina gets hit and does to her exactly what she did to Kim. So yay.
Chat Noir tries to confess his love to Ladybug, but instead protects her from getting hit by Dark Cupid, where we get this famous sequence:
(Funny how even then, he would sacrifice himself to save her) So anyway, a whole battle goes down and Ladybug realizes that she has to kiss Chat. Obviously, the "Get back, you savage!" had to be put in here.
So Chat Noir (even more Noir than before!) and Dark Cupid are working together, and can I say that they become bros so quick?!
Anyway, you all know what happens next: Chat foreshadows Chat Blanc, as well as Destruction by saying that he wanted to cataclysm a person. Then, Ladynoir's famous first kiss. And Evil Chat is enjoying EVERY SECOND of it.
And then Ladybug yeets Chat at Dark Cupid.
And then the good guys win, as per usual. Chloe gets what she deserved; her poster of Adrien is ruined by Sabrina (even though it should've been reversed by the magical ladybugs).
Adrien gets Marinette's Valentines card, but it isn't signed, so he thinks it's from Ladybug for some reason. Like, what?! And then he doesn't put two and two together until Season 3, episode: Stormy Weather 2. Um, excuse you?!
Calm down, simpy boy.
Personally, I think because we've had a couple of Christmas episodes, we can probably have another Valentines' episode. There is so much you can do with Valentine's day, and I feel like they cramped a lot of really good ideas into one episode. Oh, well...
So yeah, that's my recap of one of the best episodes in Season 1. I love this episode, and it mostly serves as a comfort episode when things are too serious.
Any commentary I made in this post is purely opinion, and it's not meant to be taken seriously. Love you guys, byeeeeee
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous#tales of ladybug and cat noir#ladybug and chat noir#ladybug#chat noir#cat noir#dark cupid#ml season 1#valentines#valentines day#adrien agreste#adrienette#alya cesaire#le chien kim#max kante#geekerella reviews
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Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt104
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The entire way back to the bakery, Jon was shooting not so subtle looks at Marinette. She wasn’t certain what it meant, but it was getting Chloe worked up.
"Eyes front and off my girlfriend, superdork." The words came out in a growl and Marinette could only roll her eyes. Jon went red while Damian just had an amused smirk on his face.
"I didn’t… I’m not… it’s not what you’re implying!" Chloe just sneered at him.
"I’m not implying anything. I’m telling you to keep your distance. It doesn’t matter what your intentions are." Well, this was going swimmingly. She stopped and motioned for the boys to keep walking. Jon hesitated, but Damian grabbed his arm to keep him moving. Chloe just continued to glare at them.
"Chloe, you need to calm down. Jon really doesn't seem like a threat to me. He doesn't have a clue what's been going on either, so apparently Superman's hubris extends to not warning his family when he pisses off beings that can unmake the universe." She spoke as softly as possible to try and stay out of Jon's hearing, but Chloe was far too irate to think of that.
"After what has happened, I'm not about to let my guard down, and not just because of who his father is either. Your entire life has been changed so many times in the last year, it's insane. I'm not just going to sit back and watch it happen again because I didn't see the right threat."
"Oh, Chloe." Mari pulled her down into a hug. "You should have said something. Nothing that happened to me is your fault and you shouldn't stress yourself out being hypervigilant all the time. Not to mention, not all change is bad. I got you, didn't I?" That got a tiny laugh before Chloe pulled back enough to look at her.
"Pretty sure I'm the one who got the better end of that deal. I can't just stop worrying, though. It's not altruistic either. You're all I have. I can't lose you."
"I'm not going anywhere." Chloe tried to pull away, but Mari hung onto her shoulders. "Hey, I'm not just saying that as some insincere platitude. You have no idea what kind of protections Tikki and the other Kwami have put on me. At this point I'm pretty sure you're not getting rid of me short of a world ending event. If then." Chloe's posture relaxed slightly, and she leaned in to kiss her. There was an urgency to it though, like she was still afraid Mari would just suddenly be gone.
"What the hell?" Chloe stood up to glare at the interruption and Mari just groaned and buried her head in the girl's stomach. This was not going to go well.
"Any chance it's just going to go away?" She spoke softly so only Chloe would hear her and got an amused snort in return.
"Given the slack jaw and stunned expression, probably not." One more thing she had hoped to put off coming back to bite her in the ass. She lifted her head to look at the boy.
"Hi Nino. How have you been?" She tried to keep her voice upbeat. The last thing she needed was a lecture on her attitude, or rather Chloe beating the shit out of him for trying. He didn't seem to hear her at first, but finally blinked.
"What happened?" She just frowned at him for a moment before she realized what she meant.
"Oh, I was attacked and my legs ended up paralyzed. I suppose you can all celebrate that I'm not walking the streets anymore." He flinched, but she ignored it. One of their favorite things to do in her last few weeks was accuse her of being a prostitute because Lila said she'd seen her in a bad part of town while she was doing charity work with the homeless. "Now, if you don't mind, my parents are waiting."
They turned to go and actually made it half a block before she heard sobbing. She looked back to see Nino on his knees, crying into his hat. Um... Chloe looked as dumbfounded as she felt. The smart thing to do would be to keep going, so of course she turned around and went back.
"Nino? Are you okay?" The boy just cried harder and Mari was at a loss. "Just try to breathe. Whatever it is, it'll be okay."
"No, it won't." He was still sobbing and talking caused him to start hiccuping as well. "I want to apologize, but I can't. Luka said we needed to know why we were so willing to believe Lila first, but I don't know! Every time I try to figure it out, I can't. I was just so upset and angry all the time. I don't know why I believed it. I don't know why I was so angry at you. None of it makes sense." Well, that was an unexpected development.
"When did you stop being angry at me, exactly?" Nino looked confused for a moment.
"After the school closed, I think? I was... I talked to Kim and Alix, and they said they stopped being angry at you after the class was separated. They seemed just as confused as I was." That made absolutely no sense. The people who were the worst to her regretted it faster? Why would... oh. She looked at Chloe.
"Well, that throws a wrench in things." Chloe blinked at her. "Think about it. Who was pissed off at me and stayed with the less violent ones? Who wouldn't have as much influence over you due to exposure?"
"You think Adrien did this?" The pure rage in her tone made Mari grab onto her so she would try to go kill him.
"His mother is an empath. It's not a leap to think he might be able to project his feelings on others. At the same time, it's entirely possible he doesn't know that he's doing it." She'd have to talk to Plagg and see if it was possible that it was something they missed. It really was the only thing that made sense, though.
"What about Sabrina?" Mari blinked at her before frowning. That was a good point.
"You two stayed separate from the class a lot, and she did keep acting the same towards me even when you stopped bullying me, so it's possible she was effected just not as much. Or your influence over her was just stronger. There's a lot to look into." One more headache she didn't need.
"So, it might not have been my fault?" Nino's soft question got a glare from Chloe. "I'm still sorry." He sounded a bit panicked.
"It's possible that you all let Adrien influence you. It makes a lot more sense than Lila doing it, since he already had a good connection with you all. But nothing is ever that simple. In order for it to work, you had to trust his judgement more than your own, or just be willing to let someone else think for you. It doesn't mean that you wouldn't have done the same on your own, just that you were willing to be nudged in that direction. I wonder if Mme. Agreste knows. It would explain why they wanted to keep him homeschooled so badly."
"I really am sorry." She blinked at Nino. Honestly, she couldn't bring herself to care right now. "I know that it doesn't mean anything. Words don't fix anything, but I wanted to say it. I'll try not to be so suggestible." He frowned as he said it, obviously having no clue how to accomplish that.
"Maybe try verifying things. Try looking at past behavior to figure out the likelihood of things. Don't take people's words at face value if they haven't earned your trust." He flinched, and she realized how annoyed she sounded. She knew she should just forgive him, all of them, and move on. But... they wouldn't have been influenced if some part of them didn't want to be, and that hurt. "Just always think about why you're doing something. If you can't find a good answer, that's a big reason not to do it."
He looked like he was going to say something else, but thought better of it. Instead, he got up and fiddled with his hat before slinking away. Mari couldn't believe how stupid she'd been. She'd been so focused on Lila that it had never occurred to her to look for a different source.
"I'm proud of you." Mari could only give Chloe a confused frown. "You didn't just forgive him and tell him everything was fine. You didn't let him off the hook just because someone might have been messing with his head." Well, didn't that make her sound like an asshole?
"I don't know that it's something to be proud of."
"Given the way you used to just roll over and take the blame for everything, it is. You don't have to forgive the people who hurt you. You can just walk away. Even if you do forgive them, you can just walk away. It's not your job to make them feel better." No, it wasn't, but she didn't think she should feel so apathetic about it either. She was so tired.
"We should go. Who knows what my parents are doing to Jon." The poor boy was probably getting stuffed with pastries, that or being interrogated. Chloe just hummed, but was giving her a concerned look as they went. When they got to the bakery, they found Jon and Damian in a corner. Jon looked extremely shellshocked. "What happened?"
"Sabine." Mari blinked and look over at her mother. She was having what looked like an animated phone conversation. "I don't know how much you told her about the Justice League meetings, but Selina must have filled in the blanks because she's on the phone with Kent's mother telling her all about his father's behavior." Jon wasn't even paying attention to them, just kept flinching every once in a while, she assumed from something one of their mothers said. This was a shitty time to have superpowered hearing. "What took you two so long?"
"We ran into Nino." She didn't elaborate, and Damian didn't ask. She was grateful for that, since she still didn't know what to make of what happened. He at least sounded like he was going to try and do better, and before that would have been enough. Now though... she just couldn't work up the energy to forgive or help him, or the others, for that matter. She didn't know if she liked it or not. Maybe it was just because Nino was right. Words didn't mean shit. If she saw him or the other actively trying to change, it might be different. She hoped so, anyway.
"So, Jon, will you be staying in Paris long?" Her Maman's too cheerful voice pulled her out of her head, and she could see Jon starting to panic.
"Um, no ma'am. It doesn't seem like I'm wanted, but I wanted to talk to Damian. I didn't mean to intrude."
"Nonsense. It's always good to meet new people. Your mother said she gave you permission to stay for a week." Jon was eyeing the front doors.
"Well, yes ma'am, she did, but Damian doesn't want me to stay unless I'm willing to keep secrets, and Bruce just told me to go home so-"
"Damian's right, and you should be getting a message from your mother about that. As for Bruce, you can ignore him. He doesn't get to ban people from Paris. And enough with the 'ma'am'. Call me Sabine." Mari wasn't certain what to make of the fact that her Maman wanted the boy to stay. Yes, it would annoy Bruce and that seemed to be her main source of entertainment at the moment, but he was also a liability if he couldn't or wouldn't keep his mouth shut. Something in her talk with his mother must have made her think he would. "You should stay and get to know everyone. That way, when rumors start flying, you'll know what to believe."
Well that was an interesting strategy. Get the younger heroes on their side so at least the next generation wouldn't be a headache. It wasn't an immediate solution, but it was something. Mari still felt the urge to run away, though. Just go somewhere and start a new life where none of these problems could find her. Even knowing it wasn't possible doesn't lessen the desire. She was really, really tired.
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Young adult Luka is broke and homeless half of the time and will regularly sleep on Marinette’s couch when between rentals
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