#lantern marinette

[adeva-eira]

Lantern! Mari: did you think of other colors that could fit mari? Or was it always blue? (Personally I think she fits: pink, green, blue, and red. Though some people have made some good agreements for yellow)

For me it was between the Star Sapphire or the Blue Lantern Ring.

I asked my friends and my Beta Reader for help on this one and later we all agreed that Marinette and Ladybug are Symbols of Hope, hence me giving her the Hope ring

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2023:30-Save Some for Me

Many people of the Justice League were summoned for a mission. Some were hiding in the shadows, others were stuck as civilians. Everything was going fine in the mission until Damian Wayne was suddenly thrown into building. That was the day he learned his two sunshine would go to hell for him.

Damian lay aginst the building. His vision was foggy, at best.

'Concussion. Labored breathing; likely a broken rib or two.'

He hadn't noticed people had started running away and were screaming. He hadn't even noticed Jon and Marinette calling his name until they got to his side.

'Hearing impairment.'

"Don't touch him!" Jon shouted, "He has some broken bones and some bad bruising."

"Concussion. Hearing impairment. Labored breathing." Damian whispered out, "Tired."

" Stay awake. I'll get a medic as fast as I can." Jon remarked, "I'm staying with you. I'll protect you from any more damage."

'That's good. His body can shield me from anymore debris or if there's any bullets.'

Damian felt wet drops fall on him.

'Rain?'

It wasn't until he heard the sob that he realized it was Marinette.

"Angel. I will be fine." he spoke.

He saw her hand turn into a fist and drop her precious earrings into her purse. She shoved it into Jon's arm.

"Marinette?" Jon asked.

He saw Marinette place a small ring on her hand.

"Claws out." she snarled.

Before his eyes, his angel looked like a small version of Selina in her CatWoman outfit. Her hair had turned jet black and was tied in a long braid down to her ankles. Her suit was now black. She was wearing thigh high heels with a green sash wrapped around her waist. Her hands had turned claws. She no wore a black domino mask the looked like his own robin mask and upon her head, were a pair of cat ear, trimmed with green. Then, she was gone.

"You might want to make sure Angel doesn’t kill anyone." Damian spoke, before passing out with a smile.

Jon turned to see Marinette lunging at people and blood splattering everywhere. It reminded him of watching his best friend train with his swords.

'Oh, shit! There's two of them!'

Jon quickly rushed away and grabbed ahold of her, locking her arms. She still managed to move with him holding her.

'I was wrong. She's scarier!'

The Bats quickly rounded everyone up as the rest of the Justice League avoided Ladybug, now turned Cat. She was hissing and clawing, trying to get away from Superboy. He had scratches on him from holding her back and was bleeding. Superman quickly rushed over and knocked her out. Superboy huffed and handed her over to Batman.

"Your son's girlfriend is just as deadly as he is." he huffed.

Plagg released himself from the ring.

"Do you have any cheese?" he questioned.

"What?" replied Superman.

"Another alien?" asked Green Lantern.

"Rude." Plagg answered, "I am the God of Destruction."

"Yep. That fits the bill." Red Hood responded, "Demon Spawn dating a person of destruction."

"Oh, you have it all wrong." Plagg declared "She only used me because she was pissed and you should be grateful, she did."

"She killed ten people." Batman spoke.

The kwami shrugged, "Could have been worse."

"How?" asked Nightwing.

"She could have been weilding her usual, my other half: Tikki, the Goddess of Creation. She created the universe." Plagg explained, enthusiastically, "When she gets pissed, she creates weapons of mass destruction. Instead of ten people, it could have been half the planet."

All the heroes looked at Marinette unconscious in Batman's arms.

"Who's the bad one now?" Plagg smirked, "At least she didn't used Kalki. Could have just teleported them over a volcano or a pit of death."

"So, do you have cheese?" Plagg asked again.

Jon was quick to warn the medical team about Damian's injuries and the extent of them, as he was placed on a stretcher.

"Ah, Loverboy." Plagg declared.

The Kwami of Destruction tapped on the downed Robin and let the green aura wash over him.

"Is that-?" Tim shouted.

"My magic." Plagg stated, absorbing it, "Seems he has a lot of it in him. Not as goo as cheese, but it helps. I'll talk to the bug and she can give my ring to him, for awhile. I should be able to absorb the rest. Same with Helmet Head."

"Really?" questioned Red Hood."

Plagg nodded, "Yep."

"Are you perhaps talking about the Lazarus Pits magic?" Batman asked.

"I don’t know what you people call it now, but that is our magic." Plagg explained, "Someone wished for it so we made it. It's why she works so hard to makes sure it doesn’t happen."

Red Hood shook his head, "They're a perfect match."

"Huh?" asked Wonder Woman.

"Demon Spawn and his 'Angel'. We all know if Batsy, here, wasn't around, he'd be leaving Gotham painted red. Hid girlfriend is the same way, if he gets hurt. You can't honestly tell me if she got hurt, he'd go back to being an assassin." he explained.

The Justice League loked between the unconcious couple.

"I say it's Batman's problem, now." Green Lantern stated, "His kid and future daughter-in-law."

TAGLIST: @maribat-calendar-events@animeweebgirl@a-star-with-a-human-name@meme991001@vixen-uchiha@abrx2002@alysrose-starchild@fandom-trapped-03@dood-space@moonlightstar64@saltymiraculer@marveldcedits20@09shell-sea09@icerosecrystal@animegirlweeb@insane-fangirl-of-everything@blueblossombliss@nickristus-dreamer@megawhitleycalderonpaganus@missmadwoman@meira-3919@princessdaisysolosyourfaves@blep-23@fangirlingfanatic@darkhinauniverse@ravenr22@im-a-satanic-ritual@ravennm84@bianca-hooks123@a-slytherinish-gryffindor@starling218

[artistzjay]

You know what I find really interesting, annoying, and frustrating all at the same time?

How people dumb down characters to make the other characters look good.

Or when they take away all of the bad traits from one character to make that character liked but amplify the other party’s bad qualities or add bad qualities that doesn’t exist.

As in basically making them OCs.

Like how they make a characters in Miraculous Ladybug worse than what they are and how they make Marinette the most amazing person on earth when she literally broke into Adrien’s house multiple times and stalked him on multiple occasions.

Yet the fandom is creating such fiction that will reconstruct the entirety of the show, especially the salt fanfiction, making the class to be such bullies because of Lila, like making Alya some kind of angry, irrational dog or Adrien some kind of really creepy dude, when, in reality, Marinette, actually the creep all because of the chameleon episode.

Is Alya not the best of friends? Yes.

Was Adrien’s advice to Marinette stupid? In my opinion, yes.

Did they make the characters dumb (dumber than usual) in chameleon? Yes.

Marinette is a kid but her classmates around e also children and her crimes are much bigger than their in the show and the fanfic is just making it seem like her crimes are not existent.

Or in DC fanfiction where they make characters like the Green Lantern or The Flash or Superman incredibly dumb or incredibly incompetence for the Bats.

Then, in reality, Hal graduated top of his class and has (what I believe are) a aviation degree and engineering degree, working on extremely complex projects of aircraft, Barry is a forensic chemist and literally works on crime scenes, or Clark who is literally a reporter who won two Pulitzers awards, works at one of the best newspapers in the industry/world, and does amazing work on his stories

And all of them have use their intelligence to defeat their enemies bigger than themselves, but writers just throw it all away to make them complete blundering idiots or just straight up a-holes for Batman and his family.

Just complete disregard for the characters quality in who they are and what they stand for.

[romancemedia]

The Passionate/Badass Cartoon Battle Couples (1)

[goggles-mcgee]

Ashes of Rage: Act 1 - Change is Painful, As is Growth

Chapter 7 of the story for: @miner249er

Ao3 Beginning Last Chapter

Summary: Two individuals are faced with change and though it scares them, they are both ready to face it...for Marinette.

Notes: Sorry for the wait! I got a promotion at work and have been training! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :)

Change is Painful, As is Growth:

Everything had changed and Chloe was someone who hated change. Change scared her. She was five when the relationship between her mother and her father changed, next thing she knew, her mother had moved to New York and only came back to Paris when she deemed it worthwhile. She was seven when her dad changed, he was still affectionate with her, but he had become very paranoid about her safety and future. They had, by no means, been in need of money, what with the hotel and her father being mayor, but he seemed to believe they needed more. Chloe had never complained because she got anything and everything she wanted, but with her dad focusing more on the hotel and his work as mayor, he started spending less and less time with her. She was nine when she first got in trouble for bullying another student, it had been Marinette and Chloe had acted out of anger when she saw the girl and her parents when they got dropped off. She saw how Dupain-Cheng’s parents smiled at her, hugged her, kissed her, and walked off with their hands held together like some cheesy rom-com couple. It had made her heart hurt and she felt the indescribable urge to make the girl hurt. That was the day her father finally seemed involved in her life.

She was ten when she changed. If being bad is what caused her father to pay more attention to her then she decided she would be the worst she had ever been. At first she had felt bad for her behavior, but the more she didn’t get in trouble for it, the less bad she felt for her actions. There was still a small part of her that knew that what she was doing was wrong but she just did worse things in response to that small part. Every time her mother visited them, Chloe made sure to be her worst because she knew if she did, her mother had a higher chance of remembering her name. The first time her mother called her Clementine, her heart broke. It took Jean-Claude two days to cheer her up and convince her to come out of her room. Her dad hadn’t even noticed. In response to this she changed more, she decided she had to be every synonym of ‘bad’. 

Chloe had always known Adrien, and she had thought he would have had something to say about the changes to herself she made, but he never did. He made not one comment. She took it as a sign that the changes were for the better. Adrien had been the only friend that stayed by her side when she changed, so she thought the world of him. She thought he was her best friend. It hurt to think how wrong she was. He wasn’t her friend, maybe he never was, and it took him coming to her school for her to see it. He acted like he was her friend but then he would act as if they were merely acquaintances and the rest were his true friends. It took Sabrina quietly admitting she felt like Adrien was a bad friend because of how he played both sides, it was one of the few times that Sabrina had been honest with her feelings and it was probably one of the last given how Chloe had snapped at her and told her to leave her hotel. She hadn’t done it because she felt offended on her childhood best friend's behalf, no, she had done it because she could believe it.

Adrien had shown time and time again that he would stand with the majority, that he was willing to speak up or keep quiet if it meant the boat wasn’t rocked. It was as manipulative as it was unintentional, because Chloe knew Adrien and she knew his insecurities even if neither spoke about the subject. She saw it in the way he would agree with her on something but if Felix had a different opinion he would agree with him, and if both got mad at him for switching as easily as he did, he reasoned they both had good points. She used to accept that, but it was when they had had a talk about their classmates when they both thought they were alone in the locker room that changed her view on him. She had been complaining how she found it funny that everyone else could be disruptive in class and no one said anything, maybe Mlle Bustier would give a token scolding but nothing helpful. But if she was the one to disrupt it was taken like she had committed some great injustice. 

It had honestly, really annoyed her. Adrien had agreed and she had felt so validated as he spoke of how unfair it was. Then she had gone to the restroom and Adrien had agreed that they could walk out together but before she reached the bathroom, she realized she left her purse with him and she just knew she had to retouch her mascara and lipgloss. Obviously she couldn’t go to the bathroom without her purse, that was like a crime. So she had immediately turned around and sped walk back towards Adrien, it was when she had been about to call out to him to tell him to meet her halfway and hand her her purse so she wouldn't have to walk farther than she had to that she heard Lahiffe’s voice. He sounded angry and Adrien never did well with angry people. 

Chloe had been ready to jump out and protect him and tell Lahiffe to beat it but then she heard her name. Usually that made her more determined to confront a person, it was funny to see them squirm or turn angrier at her presence, but it was the fact that Adrien had said it that made her pause. “ Chloe….That’s just how Chloe is Nino. ”

“ Just because that’s how she is, doesn’t mean what she said is right dude .” Lahiffe had practically spat.

“ I know… ”

“ If you know then why did you agree with her? She was talking smack about all of us, man! Plus, she is the one who disrupts class most with complaints or dumb things, like the time she broke her nail! ” Chloe remembered what he was talking about and it wasn’t dumb, her nail had broken but it had also split and it had hurt a lot. She had just wanted to go to the nurse and of course Mlle Bustier allowed her to go, but she didn’t miss the eye rolls, scoffs, and snickers that followed her out the door. 

Adrien had done his little nervous laugh and she just knew he wasn’t going to defend her. “ It’s just easier to go along with her…otherwise she makes things more…difficult. It’s always been that way. ”

Her heart dropped.

Lahiffe had sighed and she saw him place a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “ Bro, I know she’s your friend and all, but you don’t have to put up with her. You got me! And the rest of the class! That’s definitely an upgrade .”

Adrien laughed again. “ Yeah dude, definitely an upgrade. ”

When she heard that she had been more than hurt and she had been prepared to confront him when Lahiffe had left, but then he had smiled at her and continued their conversation like he hadn’t just basically called her last year's spring collection behind her back. There was no look of guilt at all, no nervousness like he thought she might have heard, because he didn’t know she had. But it was the way he had carried on with no hesitation that made her pause, and sad to say, it was when she realized that Sabrina was right. Adrien was a bad friend.

He was a bad friend, and she also realized that he would never change. 

Chloe hated change, but for once she had wished for change.

Then she tried to become a better person and she knew it wouldn’t happen overnight but she was determined. She knew people noticed because her classmates gave her skeptical looks or faithless stares. Dupain-Cheng had been the only one who looked wary but not disbelieving. It was weird to realize that the biggest victim of her bullying believed she wanted to change and acknowledged it over her childhood best friend who didn’t acknowledge her change at all other than nodding his head when others commented on it. Or how he laughed and said, “ Chloe will be Chloe .” 

That was when her thoughts on change…er…changed. That and her dad's acknowledgement of her new behavior and the praise that followed. Adrien would never change, but Chloe was no longer afraid to change because Jean-Claude told her that change was growth and Chloe wanted to grow. It was painful to realize that in order to grow she had to break her longest friendship, but it was what she needed. Change was still scary, but sometimes it was needed for the betterment of someone's mental health and Chloe had just gotten so tired of how utterly awful she had felt over the years. She knew it was not an excuse for her behavior in the past, nor did it excuse her bullying towards others but her therapist said it was a step in the right direction that she acknowledged how she felt.

“Mlle Bourgeoise?” Oh yeah…she forgot she wasn’t alone.

“Yes?” She asked as she tore her eyes away from the famous original Ladybug and Chat Noir statue, the thing that had thrown her thoughts into a spiral.

“You were…suggesting that my statue needed…changes?” M Barnet said though it was more of a question. M Barnet or was it Baudu? Barbot? Whatever.

“Yes. I…I understand that this took a great amount of time, effort, and skill on your part, but given things that have happened and things that have come to light, this statue is way last season.” Chloe wrinkled her nose, it really was last season so to say and now that she knew certain things, she would even call it tacky with a capital T! 

“Last season?” The artist asked, whether it was from genuine curiosity or baffled fear, Chloe did not care. The statue needed to change so that Paris could change and if Paris itself could change…then maybe so could Chloe.

“Yes. Last season. Old news. Passé. Pick your synonym. The point is, this statue is due for an update and my daddy and I thought, with you being the original artist and all, that you would be up to the task.” Throughout her mini rant, Chloe focused on her nails, on the imaginary dirt under them that just absolutely required her attention rather than Balland? Whatever his name was, was frankly not hiding how intimidated he was and it was kind of annoying her. “Are we wrong Monsieur?”

“Yes!” He shouted, then looked horrified before he shouted out once more, “I mean no!”

Chloe just stood there and looked at the guy with poorly concealed annoyance. Look, yes she wanted to change and will change, but change happened gradually, not all at once. Well, that’s what the self-help books she hid in one of her many designer duffle bags said.

Thankfully Barbot? That one kept jumping to the front of her mind so she decided to just stick with it whether it was right or not. Anyway, Barbot took in a deep breath before he responded once more, “Sorry. What I meant is, yes, I agree with you about changing the statue and no that you and your father are not wrong. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.”

Chloe hummed in acknowledgment given the boy looked like he had more to say, plus he took out a ratty little notebook.

“Now change wise, do I have creative freedom to change how I see fit? Do you recommend starting over and building a completely new statue? And finally, given your father is paying for this, is there anything he or you would like me to incorporate in the changed design?” 

“Creative freedom is yours. Just don’t ruin it.” She punctuated her words by flipping her ponytail over her shoulder before she stared up at the statue once more. “I don’t know about the starting over, I mean, the pose Ladybug has is iconic and so many people take pictures doing the pose next to the statue. But if you want to start over? Start over.”

“As for incorporations…” Chloe closed her eyes and tried not to cry at the flashes of pink polka-dots, childish pigtails, and the scent of fresh baked bread that threatened to consume her. “Per-Perhaps adding little things, they could even be on the base…but maybe…Maybe something that would remind everyone of not just Ladybug but also the girl behind the mask.”

“Mlle Dupain-Cheng?”

The blond nearly snapped at the man for even uttering her surname. It somehow felt taboo in a way, which was ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous. “Yes. A plate of macarons, her silly little ‘M’ purse, those stupid blossoms she always had on her designs, her shoes, a sketchbook!”

With each listed thing, Chloe’s voice rose until it broke on the last word and she could no longer keep her tears at bay. “Just something! She deserves to be remembered! Doesn’t she?”

Barbot didn’t say anything for a while and Chloe was grateful that he didn’t try to touch her or comfort her, she wouldn’t have been able to handle that. She didn’t deserve comforting. But his small but no less determined, “Yes, she does.” brought comfort all the same. 

_______________________________

Marc couldn’t really describe how he had been feeling since the ‘Sacrifice’, as the people had taken to calling it, among other things. He felt numb yet at the same time like he would burst into a never ending flow of grief big enough to engulf the Seine at any moment. He had tried his best not to fall into a pit of depression too big to climb out of but to him, it was inevitable. Marinette had always been this whirlwind of energy and charisma that he had always envied. But that envy never made him dislike or hate Marinette, quite the opposite in fact. He looked up to her, he loved her, not romantically but in a familial way. They had once been in the same class when they were younger and people used to mistake them as siblings or cousins. They had played into every time, and every time Marc would feel warm as he thought Marinette would be an amazing sister or cousin. Sometimes he even begged for it to be true, but then their moms became friends and then their dads and then it just clicked. 

Auntie Sabine and Uncle Tom had declared they were as good as family and he and Marinette became unofficially “official” cousins. It was a very sad day indeed when they found out they weren’t in the same class anymore because it had felt like it had been them against the world. Chloe picked on them both and nobody ever tried to help, so it truly felt like they only had each other. Oh he knew many people from Mlle Bustier’s class would argue and say something like, “We were always her friends!” but Marc knew better. They only became friends when Marinette stood up to Chloe, that was when the others deemed Marinette worthy of their attention and friendship and Marc burned with that knowledge. Though there were some who truly had been her friends but had been too scared to do anything about Chloe and though it angered him, he understood. Chloe was formidable and if this had been a game or comic or movie, she would be one of the Big Bads that took pleasure in other’s suffering. 

So no, he could not fault the few who hid from Chloe’s eye. Then a new Big Bad showed up and it all went downhill. Thankfully a small bit of the class stuck by Marinette’s side and didn’t hide from the danger, but a lot more believed the honeyed lies of the silver-tongued fox. They scolded, they yelled, they condemned without ever a thought to seek the truth themselves. This time it wasn’t fear that controlled their actions but willful blindness and greed. He understood fear and anxiety all too well, but even then he just could not fathom the way the class treated Marinette if it had indeed been done with fear like Marinette naively hoped for. Sure they hadn’t been close friends before the Chloe incident, but he thought they had gotten to know her more and know her well enough to know she would never call someone a liar without reason. Again, there was a small group that stood by her but even Marc knew it had not been enough for his tenderhearted cousin. Though he knew she wouldn’t want him to fester in anger, he couldn’t find it in himself to forgive the people in her class who didn’t see the truth about Lila Rossi. 

Marc was grateful that Nathaniel believed Marinette and in turn stayed her friend. His comic partner helped soothe the anger that broiled and burned within the writer. Just with an understanding, bitter smile, Marc felt his fury dim to a simmer. It was like the redhead understood his thoughts before he even had a chance to turn them into spoken words. Which is how they had become a part of the art club’s newest project of painting a mural on one of the walls of the school. Currently the two of them were taking a break and having a snack since they had been painting for a good while now. Though Marc was not the best artist out there, he wanted to be a part of this project as a way to remember and honor his cousin. He knew it wasn't necessary for him to do and he knew Marinette wouldn’t think less of him if he hadn’t participated but a part of him felt like he had to do this. 

“It’s coming out good.” Nathaniel mumbled as he stared at the wall the mural was being painted on.

Marc hummed as he also took in the sight of the wall, it was far from done but even just the sketch and little painting they had done he knew it was going to be beautiful. It was a painting of Ladybug fighting side by side with Joan d’Arc and it was shaping up to be breathtaking, but Marc’s favorite part was the reflections in armor, in water, in any reflective surface that showed Marinette in her signature outfit in place of Ladybug. To him it showed that people respected not only Ladybug and her effort to protect them but also Marinette the girl behind the famous spotted mask and all she did without said mask. “It is.”

“Did you hear there is a group considering starting a petition to change the school’s name?”

“Oh?” Marc asked as he truly had no idea about that but then again he wasn’t on social media as of late and the only people he had interacted with were his family, Nathaniel, and Aurore and Mireille. 

Nathaniel let out a breathy chuckle and nodded. “Yeah…they uh, they want to change it to Collège Dupain-Cheng or something similar like Collège Marinette .”

Marc couldn’t help but snort. “She would hate that.” 

Nathaniel chuckled again though it sounded pained, “Yeah…she would.”

Marc felt the familiar feeling of tears pooling in his eyes. “I miss her.”

“Me too.”

“I wish she was here.” Marc admitted as the tears now fell.

“Me too.”

“I wish I had done more!” He sobbed.

“Me too.”

“I want her back.” 

Nathaniel started sobbing too. “Me too. I wish I could bring her back, I wish there was something I could have done to help her more, and I wish I could take away the pain of missing her from not only you but everyone. But I don't have that power. I do, however, have the power to help in other ways and continue to remember her and I truly do think this mural is a step to that.”

“Even if she would be embarrassed by it like I know she would.” Nathaniel added with a wet chuckle. It made Marc chuckle in response. “So, we are going to dry our tears and pick up our paint brushes once more and after we finish…we are going to take this one day at a time. But we will do this at your pace so you tell me when you’re ready and I’ll be here.”

Marc smiled and did his best to wipe his tears away. “I’m ready.”

Nathaniel smiled back. “Me too.”

So with his numbness and anger gone, and his sadness being held at bay with a smile, Marc was ready to be filled with hope and determination. He still fiercely missed his cousin, but with Nathaniel at his side he was ready to remember her and show others how wonderful she was. Instead of feeling hopeless and downtrodden, he was prepared to take a page out of Marinette’s book and continue forward with all the hope, determination, and kindness he could. Marc was ready to be a protector, nothing big or grand like the protector of Paris like Ladybug, no he was content to be the protector of his friends and family…like Marinette.

Next Chapter

[pulim-v]

Decided to hop on this trend (back in June) and finally finished it! Characters picked by my irl friends (apart from Susie), Marinette and Ben's partial redesigns by me.

Characters (listed clockwise starting from red) under the cut:

Ladybug / Marinette Dupain-Cheng (MLB)

Orange Lantern / Larfleeze (DC)

Laa-Laa (Teletubbies)

Ben 10 / Benjamin Tennyson (Ben 10)

Gumball Watterson (TAWoG)

Mega Man (Megaman)

Susie Deltarune (Deltarune)

Pinky / Mina Ashido (MHA)

[verfound]

MINIFIC: October 2022: 25: Jack-o-Lanterns (MLB/Lukanette)

Read on Ao3

She bit down on her lip as she stared at the misshapen, wrinkled face.  He was trying, she had to give him that, he was…

“Luka…” she said, as calmly as she could.  The way he was grinning so proudly at it – that stupid grin she loved so much spreading ear to ear – and practically wiggling as he bounced between his feet…he saw it, right?  Surely he had to know what he had done here?  “Babe…”

“It’s great, right?” he asked, holding the turnip out for her like Kitty Section had just won a Battle of the Bands and it was the trophy.  “Tom told me to make one.  To go with the others.  Because I’m family.”

He leaned in, his grin growing impossibly wider.

“Family, Marinette,” he whispered.  She rolled her eyes and tugged him closer, smooshing her mouth against his.

“Of course you’re family, dummy,” she said, “but that’s not a Jack-o-Lantern.  Luka.  That’s…that’s a turnip.”

His grin never wavered.

“It’s an original Jack-o-Lantern.  A Scottish one,” he said.  “The original Celts didn’t have pumpkins, so they used turnips.  It’s…Ma always has us carve turnips instead.”

“Oh…” she said, biting her lip again.  Well, now she just felt like a jerk…she leaned up to kiss his cheek as she took his tur…Jack-o-Lantern.  “I love it, Luka.  It’s perfect.”

She nestled it next to hers, tucked between the pumpkins her parents had carved, where it belonged.  When she flicked the lights off and stuck a candle inside, the smiling face fit right in.

[wisteriasymphony]

(i wrote our boy being overdramatic @mostmagical @xhanisai @graythegreyt)

---

"Okay, and if everything developed as it was supposed to..." Adrien muttered to himself, slowly taking off the plastic bag he'd wrapped around his hair, "...It should look..."

Adrien studied his reflection in the mirror. He was right; It did look. BAD.

He went to fish the box the hair dye came in out of the trash, just to check for sure. Indeed, they looked nothing similar: The box showed what looked like a subdued strawberry blonde, and the mirror showed an orange that wouldn't be out of place in a construction zone.

"This is fine," he said to himself, gritting his teeth. "...Nothing washing some of the dye out can't fix."

So, Adrien bent over his bathroom sink and began to scrub at his roots like his life depended on it, because in that moment it felt like it very much did. Buckets and buckets worth of bright, kindergarden-crayon-orange seeped into the sink's drain, until it finally gave way to an only slightly better highlighter-orange shade of runoff dye.

After that good 5 minutes of "fixing it", Adrien looked back to his reflection in the mirror. No change, aside from his mouth falling open in abject horror.

"Oh god, no no no no—"

Looking to his hands brought him no comfort, as they now were stained just as orange, like he was the Lady Macbeth of shoving his hands up a jack-o-lantern's ass. And just as Lady Macbeth experienced, no amount of scrubbing would rid his hands of the "damned spot"—one which covered the entirety of his palms and fingers.

A squeaky voice echoed from behind him—One who'd clearly been watching this spectacle the entire time. "Looks like you missed auburn big ti—"

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Adrien shouted back, letting the sink still run—the dye wasn't even willing to part from its ring around the drain, it seemed. Adrien nearly buried his face in his hands, before he stopped himself from spreading the horrid disease further. "God, my father's going to come back from the dead just to kill me for this. —I can't go out looking like this!"

"Luka Couffaine goes out with dyed hair all the time."

"Luka Couffaine does not look like a fucking papaya, Plagg!" Adrien collapsed over his sink, debating whether or not this mistake was worth taking up teenage alcoholism. "I can hear it already.... I'll be called 'Orange Boy' for the rest of my life..... I just wanted to not be blonde anymore, and look at me," he whined, "I'm a disgrace!"

"At worst you look like a fruit!" Plagg replied. "And everybody already knew that about you."

If Plagg had shoulders to grab, Adrien would have done so, just to violently shake him. Maybe rub off some horrible mango-colored hue on his body too, just to impart upon the kwami some of his misery.

"...God," he lamented. "I have to tell Marinette... Warn her about what I've done to myself."

[liquid-luck-00]

Red Binding 1

Maribat March Day 1: Origins

@maribat-calendar-events @maribatserver

Next

Trigger for implied neglect, blood, and violence towards a minor

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette was, what most would consider a normal, happy, child. But that was far from the truth.

She was ten when she finally noticed something was off.

Her parents as much as she loved them and they said that they loved her. Never made time for her. Never asked more than how was her day, so she would ramble about anything and everything. She never had a curfew and her parents never seemed to worry. That's when the bullying began.

She was eleven when she recognized that the bakery was the top priority and not her.

Her school life was in shambles. Her friendships were strung by a thread, with even a whisper from Chloé, they would abandon her.

So when a small box appeared in her room, at the age of twelve, and from it a small red creature asked her to leave with them she agreed. They talked for hours, extending for days (a bit over a week in total), before she was truly good and ready to leave Paris. They spoke about their lives (existence in Tikki’s case), the powers and responsibilities that would be placed upon Marinette, but most of that time they enjoyed one another’s presence.

The creature listened to her, actually listened to what she had to say, gave her a choice, so she agreed to follow the creature.

In the middle of the night she packed a small bag and stood in the center of her room. "Are you ready, Marinette?" The creature, Tikki they called themselves, chirped. "As much as I can be." She looked the creature in the eyes and everything spun. It felt as if she was floating, or not, as she slammed onto the stone floor.

When she stood up, she dusted herself off and looked around. She was in a well kept garden, the air was thin, but the moon was bright over head.

"ལགས་སོ། ཁྱེད་རང་ཕེབས་བྱུང་།" A voice startled her as she jumped from the sound.

"Who are you?" She questioned. "Where am I?"

The man was still, he didn't seem to hear her, or maybe he didn't understand.

"ང་དང་མཉམ་དུ་ཤོག" The man turned and walked into a building that looked like some sort of temple. She stood there staring where the man used to be before he turned back. His even strides carried him right to her. "ངས་རང་ཉིད་ལ་བསྐྱར་ཟློས་མི་བྱེད།" The man's tone surprised her, she jumped to her feet, following him at a brisk pace.

Lanterns lit the walls of the hall, no doors or even windows could be seen. The two of them walked in silence for what seemed a half hour, but she couldn't tell. She tried to remember the path, but there were too many turns and steps to remember.

They stopped at an ornate circular red door, that was roughly twelve meters in diameter. Golden knots were carved expertly into the wood.

He stepped aside as if she was supposed to do something, but she didn't know what. So Marinette stepped forward and placed a hand on a golden vein.

A flash of golden light erupted from where her hand touched the wood, as it swung open on silent hinges.

She had turned away, in an attempt to shield her eyes.

"Welcome, child." A voice from inside was warm and she stepped forward.

She wanted to say something but thought better. Yes she understood this new voice, but the man before she still has no idea what he said. She just followed him and he led her here.

"Do not fear to speak child." The voice came from everywhere, echoing through the large cavern. What looked like an island garden sat in the middle. A giant oak tree with flowers blooming in complete darkness sat at this center. Chimes rang thought the branches without any wind.

"Who are you?" She finally asked, voice small, as she looked around. "Where am I?"

Chimes rang almost resembling laughter. "I am known as the supreme. As to where you are, you are with the Order of Miraculii, my child of creation."

"Order? Creation? Where is Tikki?" She started rambling questions in the hopes of at least one being answered.

"All will be answered in time." Chimes once again filled the cavern.

"སུའུ་晗་ང་ཚོའི་ན་གཞོན་སྲུང་མཁན་ལ་བཀའ་སློབ་གནང་རོགས།"

"ཁྱོད་ཀྱིས་བཀའ་གསུང་གནང་བ་བཞིན་དུ་ངའི་བླ་ན་མེད་" The man spoke with a bow, before placing a hand on her shoulder and leading her out of the cavern.

He led her to a room that was somewhere deep in the temple, at least she assumes it is. The room was simple, a four poster bed sat against the far wall. A desk was set next to it with a bookshelf that was carved into the wall above it. A dresser was next to the door, and a thick rug was spread underfoot.

"Tikki."

"Yes." The little god appeared in front of her with a poof.

"What’s going to happen now?"

"There is a lot for you to learn, but for now rest. The morning will come soon."

•••

Jason didn’t know why he left that night.

Scratch that he knew exactly why.

Bruce and Dick were arguing again, and no matter where he was at the manor he still heard them. But it wasn’t them it was Cathrine and Willis fighting for the uptenth time. So he did what he always did, he snuck out.

He was running roof tops trying and failing to get the voices out of his head. The weather was starting to change and a sludge of rain and snow fell around him. If only…

He shot out to grapple to the next building but with the semi frozen and slick exteriors the hook slipped. He began to free fall, as the line retracted, and everything was quiet. He heard his heart flutter then a sharp click. The line was back and he shot it again, this time it landed. He was yanked and thrown into a graceful arc before landing on another roof.

He stood in the middle of the high rise roof. Completely soaked but he didn’t care, he just wanted to stay in this quiet for a little while longer. He sneezed, breaking him from his stupor, sure the suit helped keep him relatively dry, but it didn’t do much for the cold, less still for his head that was completely out to the elements.

He kicked a few rocks that were strewn in the roof in an attempt to warm up, but stopped when some sort of metal glinted underfoot.

He reached down and found a ring, and when his fingers wrapped around the metal a flash of green illuminated the rooftop.

"Finally!" A nasally voice echoed around him. "I thought you were never going to notice it."

"Who are you?" He half whispered half yelped. "Show yourself." He reached for a batarang.

"No need kitten." A tiny cat like creature floated up to his eye level. "Names Plagg, and you are?"

He didn’t answer, he’ll he didn’t know if this was real or if he might actually be asleep. He gripped the batarang, feeling as it sliced through his glove straight to his hand.

"Not asleep." He whispered to himself. "So what are you?" He attempted to poke the creature with his finger, but it easily evaded him. It took hold of the ring and dropped it on to his finger.

"I am a kwamii, specifically of chaos and destruction." They puffed their chest, watching as the ring emanated a soft glow before it stopped. "And you are my kitten."

"I’m not your anything." He didn’t want to be involved with magic, it only seemed to cause problems, if the reports Bruce had was anything. "It started with that ring, right?"

"Yes an…" He didn’t let him finish speaking, he tried to pull the ring off, but it was gone.

"What did you do?" His attention snapped to the supposed god, or whatever it was.

It was about to say something when his vision started to blur. Something heavy slammed into his head. He felt himself starting to crumple forward, laughter ringing behind him.

When he woke up, Jason was tied and laying face first in a dingy old storeroom or maybe a warehouse. There wasn’t much light except for three industrial lights towards the center of the room. And under the furthest one was the silhouette of a person.

"Is the birdie awake?" The voice was tinged with laughter, it sent chills down his spine. He knows who that voice belongs to.

I’m sorry.

"Let’s have some fun now!" Joker came into his view and then he noticed the item in his hand, but he couldn’t stop him. The crowbar swung down and it connected with his upper arm. He was thrown into a box to his right. The next hit was to his stomach, as he coughed up blood.

I’m sorry. He heard again, but Joker didn’t react to it. So he knows Plagg is in his mind.

Stop apologizing and talk. He thought, and he did.

Plagg told him a story. He tuned out best he could, but it was difficult whenever he would be thrown around. It even felt like Plagg was holding his breath at times, waiting for his attention to continue.

"Well it’s been fun, Boy Blunder, but you should go to bed. Don’t forget to brush your teeth and say hello to the Big Bad Bat." He left him there in a heap on the floor, a ringing his ears silenced everything except for Plagg.

"Come on, get up! Please!" He saw Plagg flying in frantic circles over a box.

"There is a bomb, and…" Plagg placed two paws on his forehead before flying back, to where the bomb must be. "You will live, Kitten, I swear it."

A flash of green and black rolled over him, yet the blast of air did however destroy the building they were in. But he saw Plagg fly back to him. He felt him curl into his hair, his purring rhythmic, as he began to loose consciousness.

"What a waste." He felt someone turn him over. Changing the path of the blood on his face to stream into his mouth. It tasted like iron, and dirt, and it burned his throat. "I will see you when you awaken."

His world went black, Plagg’s put was a constant rumble. The next time he opened his eyes it was dark, Plagg was on his chest staring at him, his green eyes glowing in the dark.

Steady breaths kitten. Plagg’s voice echoed in his mind, as he tried to explain what was happening. You’re in a coffin.

"How!?" He began to panic, but Plagg began purring which calmed him.

You need to stay calm, you can get out. Focus my power.

I don’t know how. He thought, not risking wasting the little air he had.

The ring on your finger is a focus for power. Do you feel the space my presence takes up within your mind?

He searched concentrating on Plagg’s voice and presence in his mind. Yes.

Good. Now pull that towards the ring. He pulled at it but there was a resistance, like a rubber band being stretched too far.

Slowly. He made the connection and his palm glowed with a faint black and green light. Now touch the area in front of you.

He did and as soon as he did the rubber band snapped back. But a hole big enough for him to pass though was above him, along with a foot of dirt above it. He was tired but he tried again. It was harder this time, but he managed. He touched the top of the dome, but only a few inches disappeared this time. He was about to try again when Plagg stopped him.

Don’t kid! You’re exhausted. Channeling magic requires energy along with training it, like any other muscle. We have to dig the rest of the way.

Fine. He huffed.

The ground was wet and soft from all the rain. But he knew if he didn’t hurry that would be an obstacle. It was starting to freeze. That’s how he knew he was getting close to the surface. Plagg had been moving the dirt into the casket, allowing him to stand. Yet he flew up to him this time with a broken piece of wood, and he knew just what he needed it for. He finally broke through the surface and pulled himself up. He laid back, legs still in the hole, but he stared at the cloudy sky, taking giant gulps of air.

"I knew you could do it, Kitten." Plagg stiffened and his hackles rose before disappearing. Guard yourself.

What do you mean?

"You were quicker than I thought." A feminine voice carried through the cemetery. He stiffened, knowing what Plagg was warning him of. "Now let us be off."

Someone grabbed him and he tried to fight them, but he was exhausted and they weren’t.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist:

@jennifer-rose123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @joydone07 @mizzy-pop @starling218 @crystalqueertea

[xxdjsunsetxdxx-blog]

Random Ships I Like In No Particular Order:

-

* Loubbie- Lou Miller x Debbie Ocean- Ocean’s 8

* Sabina x Elena- Charlie’s Angels (2019)

* Macgyver x Riley- MacGyver (2016)

* Magnum x Higgins- Magnum PI (2018)

* Shoot- Shaw x Root- Person of Interest

* Rizzles- Rizzoli x Isles- Rizzoli & Isles

* Wondercheetah- Wonder Woman x Cheetah- DC

* Camren- Camila x Lauren- Fifth Harmony

* Blackhill- Natasha Romanoff x Maria Hill- Marvel

* Xialing x Katy- Shang-Chi

* Peggy Carter x Dottie Underwood- Agent Carter

* Supercorp- Kara Danvers x Lena Luthor- Supergirl

* Daniela x Carla- In The Heights

* Mira Harberg x Laurie- Irma Vep

* Judy Hale x Jen Harding- Dead To Me

* Florence x Madeleine- Gunpowder Milkshake

* Ronance- Robin Buckley x Nancy Wheeler- Stranger Things

* Eleanor x Drea- Do Revenge

* Harlivy- Harley Quinn x Poison Ivy- DC

* Wenclair- Wednesday Addams x Enid Sinclair- Wednesday

* Meddison- Meredith x Addison- Grey’s Anatomy

* Emily x Stephanie- A Simple Favor

* Mercymaker- Mercy x Widowmaker- Overwatch

* Akko x Diana- Little Witch Academia

* Dovesso- Professor Dovey x Lady Lesso- The School for Good and Evil

* Cassie Lang x Jentorra - Quantumania

* Spideypool- Spider-Man x Deadpool- Marvel

* Superbat- Superman x Batman- DC

* Batman x Catwoman- DC

* Princess Audrey x Wonder Woman- DCAU

* Jon Stewart (Green Lantern) x Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol)- DCAU

* StephCass- Stephanie Brown x Cassandra Cain- DC

* DinahBabs- Black Canary (Dinah Lance) x Oracle (Barbara Gordon)- DC

* DicKory- Nightwing (Dick Grayson) x Starfire (Koriand’r)- DC

* Wondermagic- Wonder Woman x Zatanna- DC

* Daphne x Velma- Scooby-Doo

* Cassie Dewell x Jenny Hoyt- Big Sky

* Choni- Cheryl Blossom x Toni Topaz- Riverdale

* Bechloe- Beca Mitchell x Chloe Beale-Pitch Perfect

* Khalopatra- Kleopatra x Frida Khalo- Clone High

* Talia Burns x Margot Fairmont- First Kill

* Question x Huntress- DCAU

* SuperWonderBat- Superman x Wonder Woman x Batman- DCAU

* Wonderhawk- Wonder Woman x Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol)- DCAU

* Dana Scully x Monica Reyes- X-Files

* Barbara (Barbie) Handler x Gloria- Barbie

* Julethief- Carmen Sandiego x Julia (Jules) Argent- Carmen Sandiego

* Seven Of Nine x Raffi Musiker- Star Trek

* Larissa Weems x Morticia Addams- The Addams Family

* Swanqueen- Emma Swan x Regina Mills- Once Upon A Time

* Alicia Florrick x Kalinda Sharma- The Good Wife

* Danny James x Cable McCrory- Bull

* Kim Possible x Shego- Kim Possible

* Peachline-Princess Peach x Mayor Pauline- Mario

* Gelphie- Elphaba Thropp x Glinda Upland- Wicked

* SamBucky- Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes- Marvel

* PeggyNat- Peggy Carter (Captain Carter) x Natasha Romanoff- What if?

* Maxine “Max” Baker x Abby Littman- Ginny & Georgia

* Ashrah x Nitara- Mortal Kombat

* Johnshi- Johnny Cage x Kenshi Takahashi- MK

* Barlissa- Barbara Howard x Melissa Shimmenti- Abbot Elementary

* Cabenson- Olivia Benson x Alex Cabot- Law & Order SVU

* Caroljess- Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) x Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman)- Marvel Comics

* Bishlova- Kate Bishop x Yelena Belova- Hawkeye

* Chlonette- Chloe Burgeois x Marinette Dupain-Cheng- Miraculous Ladybug (in theory)

* Clawdeen x Draculaura- MH (Gen 1)

* Teleanor- Tahani Al Jamil x Eleanor Shellstrop- The Good Place

* Hanamusa- Jessie x Delia Ketchum- Pokémon

* Jemily- Emily Prentiss x Jennifer “JJ” Jareau- Criminal Minds

* Mellivia- Olive Pope x Melody “Mellie” Grant- Scandal

* Malvie- Mal x Evie- Descendants

* Mileena x Tanya- Mortal Kombat

-

talk to me abt them if you want :)

couldn’t fit all the tags lol

[adeva-eira]

Soooo...we all know Marinette as a Bat. But I was thinking...what if we make Marinette as...any other JL Team member?

We have Super!Mari, Wonder!Mari, Shazam!Mari, Flash!Mari and Lantern!Mari. If you see any differences between Super and WonderMari and the others, that's because I made these like...this week...and the others over the span of a few weeks/months even.

I have headcanons for All of them. Are you interested in that? Might do more for some of them in the near future.

[raeuberprinzessin]

I love the "Bruce adopts Marinette" trope as much as everyone else, but I want you to consider this:

Bruce learns that (for whatever reason) Marinette is in need for a guardian/parental unit/up for adoption and he has the papers ready - but he's still too late. Queen Hippolyta wanted to take the newest baby Ladybug under her wing at least as badly as Bruce. And since he already has so many kids and this is her chance to get a lovely little sister, Diana bribed everyone in the Justice League as well as Alfred, Oracle and the bat kids to keep Bruce in the dark long enough.

Bruce only stops pouting when Alfreds scolds him, but he's still extra broody, Cass stays away for a while because he's so clingy and he sighs loudly and theatrically whenever he sees something pink or anything about Ladybug.

Diana wonders whether she should convince her mother to share custody, just to get Batman to behave normal. He didn't even reprimand Hal after his stunt during the last mission! The Green Lantern expects said reprimand at any moment which makes him unbearably skittish.

Feel free to add 😂

[romancemedia]

Cartoon Romances + Bridal Carry Style

[goggles-mcgee]

Ashes of Rage: Act 1 - (Heart)Breaking News

Chapter 6 of the story for @miner249er

A03 Beginnning Last Chapter

Summary: It was supposed to be a nice day, a nice picnic, a nice distraction...but it didn't happen like that and Rose didn't know how to process it.

Notes: Hope you enjoy the read! Also, sorry for the late update but my job, idk if I told y'all, I got a new job! I work for my state's child support services division and can't really work on personal things while in the office so this did take some time.

Also like small disclosure, I did do research but I in no way think what I got was 100% so take the actions of the police with a grain of salt. ^u^

(Heart)Breaking News:

Confused. Betrayed. Angry. These were all words that described how Rose had been feeling lately and yet she pushed herself to attend the class picnic with Juleka. It hardly even compared to past picnics they had had in the past. The usual soft, pillow-y blanket was replaced by a blanket so thin that the still present morning dew that draped over the prickly blades of grass stabbed through the fabric easily and brought a chill to her legs and an itchiness that seemed never ending. It was irritating but Rose didn’t want to say anything and make Kim feel bad since he was the one to bring said blanket. Plus it would have most likely broken the tentative good mood everyone was in. She was doing her best to stay the happy-go-lucky Rose that everyone expected her to be but it was getting harder and harder to do so as the days went by. Even her appetite had been affected by her mood, she just simply wasn’t hungry which made her want to cry. She tried her best to eat because when she was sick she hadn’t gotten to eat a lot of food like she was able to do now but looking around at the food that laid on the blanket there just wasn’t anything that looked nor sounded good. 

The food from her memories of past picnics danced around her thoughts and mocked her. The food from those times had been homemade and filled her with such warmth and joy even if something hadn’t been the best tasting. But today everything was store bought, not that there was anything wrong with that! There was just something about everyone bringing something homemade to past picnics that made this one feel lacking. Rose simply couldn’t help the way her stomach clenched and mouth watered remembering the food from the past but it would quickly die when she remembered that was when Marinette had been part of the group. She always encouraged everyone to bring something homemade without even outright asking for it. It was like knowing that she herself would make something for the picnic and not just ask her parents to give her something, motivated everyone else to do the same. And the smile she had given to everyone when she saw what they brought seemed to make the sun shine brighter those days. Then things changed abruptly and Rose had questioned whether those smiles were real or an illusion as Lila had mused aloud about. It scared her to think someone could be so manipulative. Her views changed once more when she watched Nadja’s broadcast.

 The speculation that Marinette had…that she had died that night…hit particularly hard. All Rose could think about was every instance that the pig-tailed girl had been there for her and the rest of the class. She thought of all the laughs they shared and even tears. Marinette was always there and hearing the news was like a slap to the face. How could Rose ever think that Marinette was anything but genuine? How could the class think that? But then that would mean Lila had lied or just severely misunderstood something and everyone just believed it and turned on their friend. Rose couldn’t even remember the last thing she had ever said to Marinette but it was more than likely nothing nice since she had believed the girl to be a bully. That thought made her appetite really disappear and her stomach clench. She was sure everyone else was thinking similar things so really it would be cruel to expect homemade food at a time like this. The weather that had once been predicted to be sunny and cloud free was still sunny but a biting wind had plagued the day every now and then. So things looked well and good but it hid small disappointments all throughout.

 It reminded Rose of those true crime documentaries that Juleka loved to binge. The families tended to have a pattern in the one's she watched, where on the outside they seemed like the perfect family with the perfect life but behind closed doors they were anything but. It reminded her of the situation the class was in. Except most had well and truly believed in the perfection others perceived them to have. It would have been extremely ignorant of Rose to say she didn't notice how the rest of the school looked at her class in envy, because she did and she tried her best not to show how pleased that made her. She never wanted to come across as entitled or anything of the like, she knew their situation had been a rare one. Where everyone in class got along, with the exception of Chloe and Sabrina in the beginning, and their teacher was nice and kind. They had the picture perfect class. 

Until they didn’t. 

Oh they still acted like it was, Rose was mature enough to admit that, because everyone wanted that envy and that admiration their class was accustomed to. She recalled how Lila wanted to warn the other students in different classes about Marinette’s ‘true’ self but somehow Alya and Max had talked her out of it. She knew Lila hadn’t been happy about that so the girl group decided to take her out for lunch as what could only be described as a bribe the more Rose thought about it. It made her throat dry in guilt and shame. She hastily grabbed her cup of lemonade and took a big drink and nearly choked at the speed she did so. She managed to refrain from coughing and hoped no one noticed her little slip up. Thankfully it seemed like no one had so she took the time to look over at her friends. Alya and Nino were setting up her tablet as the police were going to be giving a statement on everything, Max and Alix were playing some kind of switch game together with Markov giving advice. Mylène, Ivan and Sabrina were snacking on the food and talking about something. Kim was laid out next to the blanket staring at his phone, and Juleka was listening to music in one ear.

It was then that Rose remembered she was also listening to music and it was like the realization broke the dam on her hearing and everything came alive around her. She did her best not to wince at the guitar solo that started off in a high pitch since she didn’t want Juleka to think she didn’t like the song. She did her best to be as nonchalant as possible as she took the earphone she had in out, she was more of a headphone person since earphones tended to hurt the inside of her ears if she wore them too long. Juleka knew that which is why she didn’t look upset when she noticed Rose taking out the earphone. “How’s your ear? The song wasn’t that long was it?” 

“Don’t worry Jules, the song was great. I’m just a little thirsty. I finished my lemonade so fast…” Rose lied and was grateful that Juleka seemed to buy it. 

“That’s a quick fix.” Juleka mumbled with a small smile as she stood up and went to get Rose a refill of lemonade. Rose tried her best not to think of how Marinette would bring the customized cups she made for everyone to a picnic. They were paper cups that she printed designs on and bought each one in bulk. It always made Rose feel special when she would get her pink and purple kittens printed cup with her name in a beautiful cursive old font. Today’s cups were plastic with their names written on them in permanent marker. It was still cursive, Juleka had wonderful cursive and did her very best to make it look nice so Rose felt bad about the disappointment that swelled in her every time she saw the cups. She did her best to not let it show when Juleka turned with a smile to give her her drink. 

“Thank you.” 

“No problem.”

The lemonade Juleka got her was the perfect blend of sour and sweet and yet she couldn’t enjoy it. Even though it was her favorite lemonade, one that Alix made sure to bring because her friend knew it was her favorite. Rose wanted to cry. But she couldn’t, not now, she felt like she didn’t deserve to. All of them, everyone here was trying to be as normal as possible in the light of their revelations. No one said it out loud but Rose was sure that they all came to the realization that they had made a big mistake. More than a big mistake but none of them knew how to voice it nor accept it nor move past it. They were stuck in some messed up limbo. Marinette was…dead. There was no other reality, a person they had been good friends with then broke that friendship was dead. Rose didn’t know if they all felt like her though, like they didn’t deserve to cry over Marinette being gone because they weren’t friends with the girl when she died. It was depressing. 

Worst of all no one could get a hold of Lila. Maybe she felt bad for the misunderstanding that drove the class, minus Nathaniel and Chloe, away from Marinette. Lila was so kind and thoughtful that Rose had no doubt that the girl was probably drowning herself in some kind of misplaced guilt and Rose’s heart broke more at the image her mind conjured of an alone Lila crying nonstop and apologizing to a photo of Marinette. Though, thinking of it, Lila probably only had a photo of their latest class picture that had Marinette in it. The thought was sad all the same and Rose wished once more that the class had been able to get ahold of Lila. She felt like the girl could have used a picnic like today to unwind and see how everyone supported her and were there for her. Even if the picnic felt off to Rose, maybe it would have been the thing that helped Lila feel better and come back to school. 

“What seems to be the matter Kim?” Max’s question got Rose and almost everyone’s attention. It was then that Rose realized just how quiet the usually boisterous boy had been all day. It made her somehow feel worse. 

Kim sighed loudly and rolled onto his back, “Ondine hasn’t been answering my texts, calls, ChatSnaps, Rapidgrams, basically anything and everything that I thought I could use to try and talk to her. She’s been mad for a while now and I don’t know why.” 

“Did you guys fight recently?” Rose asked. 

A sigh once again. “That seems to be the only time we talked but that was like two months ago! She said she wanted a break and wanted, no needed, time away from me.” 

“...Well, if she said she needs time, Kim. then…” Nino awkwardly pointed out. 

“But how much time? It’s been ages!” Kim whined and while a part of Rose felt sorry for him, another part felt for Ondine. Maybe it was like some weird female sense or something but Rose understood that when a girl says she needs time, she needs more than a few days. Kim had always been impatient but he clearly needed his friends’ comfort. 

“Well,” Juleka hedged, “how bad was the fight?” 

By the wince Kim gave, it was bad and all the girls in the group looked at each other. It seemed like they all came to a consensus because they all gave Kim sad looks. “Did you maybe misunderstand her? Did she really say she wanted a break or did she say you guys were broken up?” Alya asked carefully. 

“No! I mean, I don’t think she really meant broken up. I know we have been fighting and everything but Ondine and I always make up.” Even though he said that, Kim didn’t look too sure. 

“What were you guys fighting about anyways?” Alix asked lazily from where she laid out across the blanket. Rose wished the skater had been looking at her because she would have at least seen Rose’s glare to pipe down. She had done her absolute best not to ruin the peace, even when she hadn’t been paying all that much attention, then Alix went and ruined it! 

Wait. 

No.

No. Rose couldn’t think like that. They were all in this together so they had to stick together. She sent a silent apology towards Alix for her somewhat unkind thoughts. It did truly feel like they were only in this weird situation together. Rose had kind of thought that they would be getting some sympathy from the other classes or at the very least, Mme Mendeleiev’s seeing as Kim and Ondine were dating. Plus Marc was in that class and Nathaniel and him were friends, but that class had been sending them looks… Rose didn’t know why and she hoped it had nothing to do with Kim and Ondine’s fight, but a part of her felt like that had nothing to do with it. The rest of the school also sent them looks, but there were also the constant whispers that went on around them and were more than likely about them, but no one had come up to them to say anything. It felt like everyone was mad at them, but Rose couldn’t understand why. Though she knew it would come to a head one day, she dreaded that. 

“We were just fighting about-” Kim had started but abruptly stopped before Alya and Nino shushed him and waved everyone towards them. The volume of Alya’s tablet increased dramatically so they could all hear presumably the police statement that the reporter had been impatiently waiting for. They didn’t get to hear the introduction but that was fine, Alya had probably started screen-recording already. They all tried to catch a view of the live broadcast on the screen, it seemed like they were filming in front of City Hall. 

“...Before we get into the details we would like to warn that the details and evidence we bring forth is not for the faint-hearted. As everyone knows we have been investigating the destruction of the Agreste Mansion, and whether it was a planned attack or an akuma. We have ruled out the involvement of an akuma, but it was also not a planned attack.” Everyone could hear the deep breath the officer took. “Again, it was not a planned attack. We don’t know exactly what happened but with evidence we have gathered, we can make a pretty good guess.”

“We were working under the assumption that this was an attack on the Agreste family and thus were doing everything we possibly could to bring them justice. During our investigation, we happened upon the security cameras that had their footage backed up, thankfully. It was as we were reviewing the footage that we found…the disturbing truth. This will shock many and maybe many won’t believe us but we have provided some of the footage for this announcement and will be shared with the media.” Everyone waited with bated breaths. Rose felt like she had stopped breathing all together.

“Gabriel Agreste…Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth.” The officer stuttered out and by the roar of sound by all her friends and fellow park goers they hadn’t missed a word he said. 

“No…No he couldn’t…I know the dude was a dick and a half but there’s no way he was Hawkmoth.” Nino said in disbelief. 

“I know this is upsetting and … shocking but I promise you will get your proof afterward. Nathalie Sancoeur was his accomplice. She was Mayura.”

“I mean if Mister Agreste was Hawkmoth then that would kind of make sense.” Alix muttered. 

“And Adrien Agreste…”

“No. There’s no way my bro was involved! If that’s what he’s implying then we know it’s bogus!” Nino yelled out as he stood up and paced.

Rose silently agreed. There was no way Adrien could be involved, he was a shy boy but overall very nice. They never hung out one on one but he was always very kind to Rose and she had seen him try and talk some sense into Marinette in the beginning of the whole ‘Lila is a liar’ thing. She admired his determination to try and get Marinette to see reason and his unwavering faith in Lila. It was one of the many reasons why she thought they’d be a good couple. At least Lila could talk to Adrien and be around him without becoming a mess. She felt bad thinking that but it was the truth and it had been so frustrating that everyone of the girl group’s plan to make Adrienette happen crashed and burned because Marinette couldn’t do something. But Adrien always handled the situations with grace and a lot of patience so again, there was no way that Adrien knew or had anything to do with his father’s crimes. No way at all. 

“Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir. Before you cheer or sigh in relief, let me be frank. Chat Noir is now believed to have been a ruse to lure Ladybug into a false sense of security and give her trust to who she believed to be her partner.” 

The roar of denial and betrayal shook Rose and she couldn’t even be sure if she had joined in. It felt like she was in daze, in a haze, just completely adrift in what they were hearing. She both wanted to and didn’t want to listen anymore. She didn’t want to believe what she had heard but at the same time she felt a burning need to know everything.

“He lured her to the Agreste Mansion, it seems, in a false drop on Gabriel Agreste, who, as we said, was operating as Hawkmoth. The tables turned quickly and…” The officer’s eyes looked glossy but his face was red in what could only be, barely contained anger. “Ladybug’s earrings were taken. She was…she was struck by Chat Noir and taunted from the looks of it as we were not able to get audio from the security videos. Then…then something happened.”

He paused. “If any children are watching this I beg the parents to either turn it off or make sure the children do not hear.” 

For a city as noisy and chaotic as Paris tended to be, it seemed like everyone was quiet and holding their breath like Rose was. 

“What we believe happened, is that Ladybug, in a last ditch effort to save us all…sa-sacrificed herself in a way we can not explain. With a scream of rage the screen turned red and then nothing, but at the scene we found evidence of this sacrifice. A sizeable puddle of charred blood and pieces of burnt clothing. Furthermore, we now have an identification of Ladybug and it is with a reluctant and heavy heart that we share this with you all. But we have been given permission by her family to share.”

Rose tasted blood, she hadn’t even noticed she had been biting her lip in anticipation. 

“Ladybug was a child, a child who without hesitation protected us time and time again, up until her last moments. Her parents felt like it would disrespect everything he had done for us to not share her name. This girl was none other than our very own, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Marinette…Dupain-Cheng.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!

Rose missed probably the rest of the announcement but the ending…the ending had her snapping back to focus so fast that if mental whiplash was a thing, she knew she would have it. 

“..And it seems like Gabriel had more help than previously thought. One guaranteed individual we know of is a minor so we will not be giving her name. With that being said, if anyone has any information of the whereabouts of Giada Rossi and her daughter, please contact us. Thank you.”

Rose was…everything at once yet numb somehow. She didn’t know how to react or if she even should react. But it seemed like someone did as she heard angry footsteps approaching their group, they were purposeful so there was no mistaking where they were heading. Rose turned to see who it was, partially hoping it was Lila to tell them it was a misunderstanding and she had an explanation that would somehow magically fix everything, but no, it was Ondine. Ondine and Mireille and Aurore and what looked to be all of Mendeleiev’s class plus a couple others from other classes. Rose distantly watched as Kim scrambled to get up and run towards Ondine with a teary smile on his face but something was wrong. Wrong, wrong , wrong. 

The resounding slap that came next confirmed her thoughts and with the way it snapped her out of said thoughts, you would think she had been the one who had been slapped. 

Everyone was still. All they could do was stand and stare at the sight of Kim’s cheek turning red from the harsh slap he had received from Ondine. Then it was like a dam burst and everyone started shouting at one another, some were even getting into the faces of those who had just arrived. It was awful and scary and Rose hated every second of it. Rose would bet things would have turned physical if it weren’t for Markov being present, it was well known he recorded whenever he felt like Max was in trouble. It had caused some issues with the school. Rose had never been more grateful for Markov’s presence than that moment as it provided a distraction for Rose to grab Juleka’s hand and run away. It was cowardly perhaps, maybe she should have stayed and defended Kim. Maybe she should have been a silent support for those trying to get answers from an angry Ondine and the rest of those who arrived with her. Maybe she should have asked why they were mad. 

There were so many ‘maybes’ that it was overwhelming and that was a big part of why she ran. Rose simply was overwhelmed and her brain felt fried with all the information they heard from the conference and the events that followed. She needed a safe space to digest it all and calm down. Luckily for her, the Liberty was parked close by and it was somewhere she wholeheartedly considered a safe space, plus she thought it would help Juleka, who’s rapid heartbeat she could feel beneath her fingers wrapped around the goth girl’s wrist. She only stopped her run once they were aboard and then she was finally able to stop and breathe. She had just caught her breath when she heard footsteps and noticed Luka making his way towards them. 

She sighed in relief at the sight of him, knowing he could provide comfort to Juleka and herself. She smiled at him but that smile quickly fell once she saw the look on his face. Luka was a chill guy through and through so it was pretty rare to see him mad. The boy marched towards them with purpose and it startled Rose so much that she instinctively took a step back. Then the yelling started and Rose couldn’t handle everything anymore. She felt bad for just letting Luka yell at Juleka but she could feel herself zoning out as she tended to do when she heard fighting. 

It was an old coping mechanism of hers.

At first the yelling was all she heard, then it dulled to an unpleasant buzzing. 

She hated the buzzing.

But she hated the sound of yelling and fighting more.

Her last coherent thought before she drifted too far was, ‘ Why was this happening? ’

Next Chapter

[awholelotofladybug]

For anyone wondering, yes, Chloe will be reformed in my DC Universe AU, and I have already chosen what she will be. Here’s a scene to give you an idea:

Chloe: *standing between Adrien, Marinette, and Sinestro*

Sinestro: *sarcastic* Oh, how precious. Another little earthling playing “hero.”

Chloe: Sinestro, for crimes committed on this planet and countless others, you are under arrest.

Sinestro: *laughs* And what authority do you have to arrest me?

Chloe: I’ll give you a hint. *puts on a ring* In brightest day in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight…

Sinestro: WHAT?! ANOTHER ONE?!

Chloe: *slowly suiting up* Let those who worship evil’s might…

Sinestro: *tries to blast them but is shocked to see a blonde Green Lantern girl shielding them*

Chloe : *takes the shield down* Beware my power… *blasts him, sending him flying* Green Lantern’s Light.