#tom and sabine sugar

[comics-and-fanworks]

Idea for you class salt after the class is out of school and in the real world.

Marinette's phone gets broken so badly she needs a new number. She only tells a few her new number no one from her old class has it.

Some of her old class goes to bakery to ask why she hasn't called them back when they called her. They get told her phone got broken and all that.

The class member goes okay tell her to call me when it gets fixed or replaced it is important.

Only her parents forget and when said class member comes back later is told that but is also told Marinette has a new phone now. But not a new number.

Classmate rushes out to call her so she can fix their problems like always only it goes to voicemail as the person whom has her old number is like I don't know this person calling me. It goes on and on till it gets bad and the person with the new number goes to the police with worry over the threats they are getting.

Should I be worried for myself or the person they are trying to reach

It comes to a head when alya talks max into hacking the location of the phone and they go to have a talk with Marinette only it's not her

Thank you so much for the request! It's my first one so I went a bit overboard and wrote a lot! So sorry it took me so long to get to this! I'm taking organic chemistry over the winter so that has been kicking my ass. The first draft was deleted, so hopefully, this is a better version! Thank you for your patience with me!

TW: swearing, minor threats of violence

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"Well shit," Marinette's day was already bad, but this was just throwing salt into the wound. She had started her day with her phone blowing up with requests from her (former) classmates and friends. Ever since she returned from College they had gotten right back to their usual B.S. "Mari I need a new dress for a meeting with Prince Ali," "Marinette! I told my team you'd design some sick jackets for us and you'd have them done by our next swim meet!" "Girl! I need three new outfits! Adrien and Lila are taking me with them to a fashion show and this is my chance to interview some top designers! Oh sorry, you're not invited." She was up to her neck in demands and requests, to the point she was seriously considering closing her commissions, not like her former friends paid her anyways. THEN Hawkmoth decided that she hadn't suffered enough, she had to deal with Volpina, Frozer, AND Prime Queen and it was not even lunchtime. Volpina was easy enough to take down, why Lila was akumatized is anyone's guess. Frozer was a bit trickier, and since Chat had no plans of showing up she had to bring in Ryuko and Viperion. The trio ended up fighting Prime Queen, who was convinced that LadyNoir would still happen and the Cat Hero's absence was due to a lover's quarrel. Marinette was finally able to return to the alleyway she had transformed in... only to find her shattered phone. It must've fallen out of her suit's pocket (she had redesigned her costume since returning to Paris, she wanted a more mature, fashionable look) when she was rushing to get to the battle.

"Great! Just Perfect! This is just what I need now!" She sighed picking up the shattered phone. There was no way this was salvageable, the impact of hitting the ground had practically broken the thing in half. Tikki knew her chosen was stressed, between being Ladybug, being the Guardian of the Miraculous, building a blossoming fashion empire from scratch, and having to deal with her former friends' constant demands it was only a matter of time before she lost Marinette to Hawkmoth's akumatization. The goddess recognized that this was just the opportunity she needed to help her chosen, and she would start by helping Marinette cut off the people hurting her most. "Marinette! I have an idea! Why don't you get two phones? One can be your work phone, and the other can be your personal one. That way you won't have to worry about your work stuff getting lost in your personal stuff. You can get new numbers for both too!" Marinette looked at the Kwamii with some confusion, "Why would I need to change my number?" Tikki sighed, "Marinette, they haven't been very good friends to you, they haven't even been your friends for a while now. Think about it, your former classmates don't talk to you unless they want something, they expect you to use your connections to benefit them but won't return the favor, and they promise you and your time to other people without your consent.  That isn't right babybug, friends don't treat friends like that. They don't even pay you for your time, effort, and the cost of materials!" Marinette knew that Tikki was right, but she was still hesitant, "But..." "Would Kagami text you expecting you to make her something and refuse to pay? Would Luka text you telling you that he promised another musician you'd make their wardrobe by their next concert? Would Kagami and Luka use your work to get ahead, and then refuse to extend the favor? No, they wouldn't! Those are healthy friends babybug, you can give them your new number, I know they'll understand!" Marinette thought about it for a moment and decided that Tikki was right. With a renewed conviction she made her way to the nearest tech store to begin to take control of her life again.

Adrien was frustrated, he had been texting and calling Marinette all afternoon but she wasn't answering! That wasn't like his princess, so something had to be going on, but there wasn't an Akuma on the news, Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko defeated the three earlier today. He did feel a little guilty that he didn't go to help, but he was busy! He had modeling shoots all morning and then joined Lila and Alya for lunch discussing their upcoming trip. The topic eventually turned to the Wayne Gala that was approaching as well, with both models confirming they had been invited. Well, Lila had only been invited because she was an official Gabriel representative, but she didn't need to know that. The brunette was currently making a big show of bringing Alya as her plus one, which brings Adrien back to his current predicament. When he arrived home, his father told him that he had to invite Marinette Dupain-cheng as his plus one no matter what. Both Agrestes had been shocked when she had rejected Gabriel's offer to join his company, but her answer had been reassuring, "I greatly appreciate your offer but cannot accept it in good conscious. Adrien has been my friend for years and I would hate to potentially harm his, the company's, and my reputation by accepting. I am worried it could be misconstrued as me gaining the position, not by my own talent, skill, or merit but because I had a connection to someone with considerable sway." His father didn't seem to pick up that the last bit was about Lila, but seemed content. In fact, Gabriel had complimented Marinette's business savvy and remarked how good it would be if she followed in his footsteps by building a fashion house from scratch. He had mused that it would be even better to have the two great fashion houses merging together instead of just taking Marinette in as a designer. Now that Miracle Design Clothing (MDC) has risen to compete with the likes of Gabriel and Style Queen, his father had decided now was the time to begin winning Marinette over.

Adrien would never admit it to his father, but he had his own motivations for being so on board with the plan to invite Marinette to the Wayne Gala. They were now in their mid-20s, and everyone in Paris wanted to know everything about the Agreste Heir's love life. Lila had hinted multiple times that Adrien was dating her, so much so that the media was beginning to spin her narrative. However, Adrien wasn't entirely out of the running yet. He knew that the Wayne Galas were always a media frenzy so if he, a fashion empire heir, showed up to the Gala with Marinette, a rising star in the fashion world, on his arm the media would quickly assume they were dating. It was a brilliant plan, Marinette was charming, beautiful, intelligent, and incredibly talented. His father held her in high regard, and he knew that if Gabriel approved of him dating anyone, it would be Marinette. Besides Adrien had a trick up his sleeve, he knew Marinette was in love with him, or at least that was what Alya had told him. She told him about Marinette's crush right before the ravenette left for college, hoping to embarrass her former best friend. Their old class still believed what Lila had said about Marinette being a bully. In their get-togethers they would often mock the designer's success, reassuring Lila that the only reason they talked to her was to get stuff from Marinette. While it upset him a little to know Marinette was being taken advantage of, a larger part of him felt like she deserved it since she didn't listen to his advice about Lila. Oh well, it was her own fault. Adrien was brought out of his thoughts by Alya's shriek.

"OH MY GOSH! The Waynes just announced the Designer they got their Gala outfits from, and it's Marinette!" Adrien choked down a laugh at the sour expression Lila wore, as Alya continued to read, "The article says that Marinette and Timothy Drake Wayne met while they were in college, and he thought her designs were so incredible that he referred her to Bruce Wayne himself! She's considered a family friend and received their order along with an invitation to the Gala! Why didn't she tell me any of this??" 'Maybe because you only talk to her when you want something' Adrien thought as their former classmates began to text. Alya was trying to call Marinette, most likely to scream at her for not letting Alya in on such a big story, but she couldn't get through. "Ugh! Marinette is ignoring me! Who does that stupid bitch think she is?" Lila's eyes sparkled as she saw a chance to jump in and control the narrative, "I know right? You'd think she'd be more grateful after I introduced her to Timmy- oh I've said too much," She batted her eyelashes and made a show of covering her mouth. "YOU introduced Marinette to the Waynes? Girl you've gotta give me the details!" "Well, Marinette was going to college in Milan, and I happened to be there for a modeling shoot," That part was actually true, Adrien was sick and couldn't make that shoot, "We happened to bump into each other at a cafè, and Marinette apologized to me for how awful she was to me in our youth. She told me that the only reason she did what she did was that she was jealous and felt threatened by me, you were right Alya." That was how Lila worked, she mixed a little bit of the truth with what someone wanted to hear, which caused the lies she told to pass by noticed. "Anyways we had lunch and caught up, she was showing me some of her amazing designs," as much as it pained Lila to admit it, Marinette was truly talented. In fact one thing she regretted was not working harder to deceive Marinette back when they were still in school, if she had known Marinette would be so successful she would've fought like hell to take the spot of Marinette's Best Friend away from Alya. She would've been MDC's top model, instead of having a stagnating career as just another practically nameless model for Gabriel. "I remembered my dear friend Timmy, we met when my mother was stationed in Gotham, he had told me that the Wayne family needed suits and dresses for their upcoming Gala and that Gabriel was too busy." Another partial truth, Lila didn't know any Wayne, but she knew Gabriel was too busy being Hawkmoth to make their outfits. "I gave him Marinette's number as an olive branch because I had thought she changed, but I guess she was lying. Oh and Alya? Adrien? Please don't mention my friendship with the Waynes, I don't want people thinking they can get to them through me." Lila smirked as both Adrien and Alya promised her they wouldn't say anything.

When Marinette told them she was cutting off her former friends for good, Tom and Sabine were over the moon. They knew about the Lila situation and all its complexities after the faux fox tried to infiltrate the bakery and convince them their daughter had stolen her necklace. They almost fell for it, until Tom remembered that Marinette had been helping him in the bakery during the time Lila said their daughter took the necklace. He had sternly told Lila that there was no way Marinette could have done it, and even offered to show her security footage that proved Marinette was not the thief. Instead, the brunette stormed out of the bakery, and Tom and Sabine knew they had to talk to their daughter. After a bit of gentle prodding, Marinette broke down and told them everything. She told them about Lila, her classmates, and Adrien, and she told them about everything they were putting her through. They were horrified, and that feeling was solidified after Lila got Marinette expelled. After their daughter's name was cleared, that useless principal was trying to dodge removing it from her record, until Sabine threatened to contact the school board about how their daughter was expelled without an investigation. They did everything they could, but it seemed Lila had everyone else in her pocket, and it seemed to stay that way once Marinette returned from college. She had swung by the bakery and explained that her phone had been shattered while she avoided the akumas, and she was taking this opportunity to change her number and cut those leeches off. Sabine and Tom promised that they would say nothing because it was only a matter of time before her former friends wound up at the bakery because of the radio silence from Marinette.

The chiming of the doorbell confirmed their fears. In stormed Marinette's old class, with her former friend Alya leading the pack. They could see Lila hiding in the back, and decided it would be better to say nothing. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng! We have a problem and thought you could help us. We've been trying to get in contact with Marinette all day, but we can't reach her and we wanted to make sure she was okay." Sabine smiled as she tried to hold in her rage. They weren't here because they were concerned, those brats wanted something. It would appear that Alya and co didn't know that Marinette's parents knew Lila was lying or what they did, so Tom decided to answer in a way Lila couldn't twist. "Oh, she came by earlier today and let us know that her phone was broken. She dropped it during one of the Akuma attacks, and it was pretty smashed up. She told us to let you know if you came by since she would be off the grid until it was fixed. It might be a while though, it was almost as bad as the time it got caught in the bread mixer!" His answer seemed to calm the group down, typical clumsy Marinette strikes again. "Ok, well can you please let her know to reach out to us once her phone's fixed?" The two nodded and promised they would, and watched as the group of adults left. Sabine turned to the freezer, "They're gone! You can come out now!" The two chuckled as their daughter slowly poked her head out of the walk-in freezer, ready to dash back in at a moment's notice. Yeah, they're glad Marinette was finally cutting those people off and the bright glow in their girl's eyes confirmed it.

The Gala was in a few weeks, and Marinette was STILL radio silent. Adrien was pacing back and forth in his room, trying to figure out what to do. Her social media was most likely controlled by an assistant like his was so he couldn't message her there, he couldn't get into her studio without an invitation or employee badge, and he realized he had no idea where she lived so he couldn't even pay her a visit or send a letter! "I don't know what to do! No one has heard from Marinette and her parents promised they'd talk to her about it!" "Maybe she finally got tired of your bullshit and decided to cut you and the rest of those users off," Plagg snapped from somewhere in his room. After The Paint Incident, Plagg's attitude towards him seemed to change. He snapped at Adrien more, called Adrien out on his behavior, and started giving Adrien harsh (and desperately needed) advice. Other than that, Plagg was getting on his case about slacking off on his duties as Chat Noir, claiming that his behavior was a disgrace to the legacy of the Cat Miraculous. Adrien was getting fed up with him, hadn't the stupid cat heard the saying 'if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all?' "Marinette wouldn't do that! We're her friends!" "Some friends. And some friend YOU are. You knew Lila was lying and let her wreck Marinette's school life, get her expelled, and continue to lie to everyone. You told Marinette to shut up and take it, news flash kid, the high road does not mean stay quite and let people hurt you! YOU currently know that YOUR friends only care about what they can get from her and that Lila is planning to pull some bullshit at the Gala, but all you're concerned about is making sure karma doesn't bite you in the ass!" Plagg roared. It was hard to argue with the little god without sounding like a hypocrite, but Adrien was going to try. "Well... When Marinette agrees to go to the Gala with me I can fix everything! She likes me, so we can get together, and I can get Lila to apologize! Once everyone knows they're on good terms things will go back to how they should be!" Plagg was paying more attention to the cheese he was juggling, but he did glance back at Adrien, "One, IF she decides to go with you. Two, she may not even feel that way it's been years. Three, How are you going to get a narcissist to admit to wrongdoing? Four, How does Lila apologizing change how your ex-class treat Mari when that's how they treated her before Lila showed up?" Adrien chose to ignore Plagg and tried calling Marinette again.

Alya was STRESSED. The Gala was coming up and she needed a new dress that would wow everyone and make her stand out from other reporters. She had already secured her Press Pass, and because she was Lila's plus one she could actually get into the Gala. The only other reporters with that privilege were Clark Kent and Lois Lane, close friends of the Wayne Family. Lila offered to get her a Gabriel Original but she turned it down, both girls shared a sentiment that Gabriel's designs had really been declining. "I think it was the loss of his wife. She was his greatest inspiration, and especially with Hawkmoth on the loose, I can understand not wanting to leave your house. Maybe he's just out of touch," Lila had told her, and Alya agreed. What she needed was a Marinette Original, something to show she was in with both designers. She was thinking of something fox-inspired, to pay homage to her time as Rena Rouge. She'd talked to the other girls about why Marinette had never told her she would be designing for the Waynes, and they reassured her, "Well, maybe she thought you wouldn't be interested or were too busy?" Rose offered. "You didn't really report on fashion until Adrien and Lila took you to that fashion show. Maybe she thought you wouldn't be interested." Juleka suggested. "Als, you're overthinking it! Mari didn't tell you because she couldn't! A family like the Waynes has wicked good lawyers, they probably made her sign an NDA." Alix concluded. They were probably right, Marinette would have told her if she could have, and Alya needed that dress. So there she was at Tom and Sabine's bakery again, asking about Marinette. "Oh, she just called this morning! The damage was too severe, so she had to get a new phone." Sabine told the young reporter, who thanked her lucky stars. As she left the bakery, she sent a text 'Mari's back!'

Adrien nearly dropped his phone when he got the text from Alya, before excusing himself to run upstairs and call Marinette. The phone rang, and rang, and rang, before the call was answered, "Hello? Who is this?" A woman's voice answered, but certainly was not Marinette. Adrien was floored, he was sure he dialed the correct number. "Um hi. I'm looking for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm a friend of hers and was calling to speak to her." "Oh really? Well if you're her friend maybe you can explain to me why the second I had this number activated my phone was bombarded with calls and texts demanding things from dresses, to invitations to some Gala, and all kinds of other demands." Wait, had Marinette changed her number? No, she wouldn't have. "Listen, lady, I don't know if you find this funny but I KNOW Marinette wouldn't change her number. If you're her assistant you better give the phone to Marinette NOW or I'll see to it personally that you're fired!" Marinette should really have taken care to not hire such incompetent people. It was unfitting of an eventually-to-be Agreste. "I don't know who you think you are but I will make one thing clear: I DO NOT KNOW A MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!" The line went dead. Adrien pressed the redial button, and felt his stomach drop as the call didn't go through, he had been blocked. From the way the group chat was blowing up, he could guess the others were getting the same response. Lila was going on and on about how Marinette was abandoning them in their time of need, and adding fuel to the fire. Adrien decided he was going to do damage control. He had thought a bit about what Plagg had said and realized that he needed to show Marinette that he was still on her side, besides it would be tougher to get everyone to make up if they were mad at her for something her crappy assistant did. He sent the chat a message, 'Guys relax. The woman on the phone wasn't Marinette but has her number, so she's probably a new assistant! Miracle Design Clothing has really exploded since the Waynes announced she made their outfits for the Gala so Marinette probably hired some help and the lady didn't know who we were. We can try again later.'

Lea Dubois was having the roughest week in all of her fourty-three years. She had gotten a new phone, since she her old one was stolen, and decided to get a new number with it. Not even a couple of minutes after activating her phone it began blowing up with calls and demands for a Marinette Dupain-Cheng. After a particularly snobby boy threatened to get her fired from a job she didn't even have, Lea decided to do some snooping and figure out who this Marinette Dupain-Cheng was. Googling the girl's name directed her to a Miracle Design Clothing website, and after scrolling through she found a tab labeled, "Founder." Clicking on it, she saw a picture of a smiling young woman with shiny black (almost blue) hair and sapphires for her eyes. She was a truly gorgeous woman, and from what Lea read very talented. That explained the demand for clothing. She decided to check social media next, and quickly found articles about how the rising star had been personally invited to the Wayne Charity Gala! That explained all the calls from people claiming to be Marinette's friends and demanding to be taken to the Gala, to that one girl who demanded an interview and a dress for the Gala. Lea went through the messages that quickly went from demanding to insulting and toxic, and thought to herself, 'I see why that girl changed her number, I hope she knows these people aren't her friends.' She decided to look up the people who had called her, and see what she could find out about them. A girl named Alix and a boy named Kim were both athletes, although both played for the minor leagues of their respective sports, but it did explain the requests for jersey designs. A boy named Ivan and two girls named Juleka and Rose had been calling about outfits for their next concert, apparently they were in a band called Kitty Section. Lea vaguely remembered that it was a popular group, before their lead guitarist was kicked out and went solo. Two girls named Sabrina and Mylene had asked her to create costumes for a production in the Théâtre du Châtelet, a boy named Max called asking for a suit for his new tech reveal, and another boy named Nino asked her to design a couple of album covers!

A few other people called, but they seemed to be genuine friends. One standout was a boy named Nathaniel who had called twice, once to congratulate Marinette on her work with the Waynes and invite her to an event for his comic. The second time was to apologize to Lea when he found out Marinette had changed her number. He had also apologized for the harassment his (and apparently Marinette's) former friends had been throwing at her. He explained that when they were younger, Marinette didn't know how to stand up for herself, and was pressured by her teacher to constantly put her needs on the back burner to help her classmates. Nathaniel told her it had gotten better when Marinette left for college, but now that she was back in Paris, things had gone back to the way they were. Instead of their teacher, the role of pressuring her had fallen to three people, Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, and Adrien Agreste. That last name caught her attention, could that have been the bratty boy who threatened to fire her? "Sweetie I hate to do this to you, but if you have time could you meet me in person? We have a lot to discuss, and I'm beginning to worry for Marinette." Nathaniel had agreed and had said he was bringing a couple of Marinette's friends, her real friends. "They've been harassing us too, maybe we can look into getting a restraining order or something." And that was how she ended up in a cafe sitting at a table with some of the most impressive people she'd ever met. There were Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel, the power couple of comics. She hadn't read comics since she was a little girl, but her nephews talked nonstop about the Ladybug comic the two had started in collège. Olympian fencer Kagami Tsurugi, and hit rock artist Luka Couffaine. There was academy award winner Zoé Lee and fortune 500 company founder Chloé Bourgeois.

The group exchanged pleasantries and got right to business, "So we heard from Nathaniel that you got Marinette's old number and that your phone has been blowing up with all the shit she used to get," Luka said. Lea nodded, "Yes. They refused to believe that she'd changed her number and one man even threatened to get me fired! I don't know what job he thinks I have that he can influence, but I digress. " "Ugh. That sounds like Adrien alright. I swear it was like a switch flipped in his head during Collége, he's acting like I used to," Chloé had come to terms with the kind of person she was, and had taken the steps to apologize and change for the better. A part of that was she swore never to touch a Miraculous again, she had become aware enough to realize that when given that much power she would be tempted to fall back into her old ways. "It's telling that their first reaction to being cut off is to harass an innocent person instead of reflecting on their actions and what lead them to that point," Kagami said, "I think we owe you an explanation since you have unfortunately been dragged into this." Lea nodded, that sounded good. "They weren't always this bad, well they weren't always this blatant about it. For a long time, Marinette was happy and popular, hell even when I bullied her she didn't seem bothered. Then Lila Rossi transferred. That girl is the type to convince people that two plus two equals five, you know what I mean," Lea nodded, her ex had been like that. "Well anyways, Marinette saw through her bullshit and called her out for it, so Lila declared war. Before anyone could process what happened, Lila had convinced the class that Marinette was the Devil's spawn. She even managed to get Marinette falsely expelled, and while that was reversed, it was the moment Marinette realized she couldn't rely on her classmates. Alya was an up-and-coming journalist and her best friend, but if she couldn't bring herself to fact-check this girl's stories..." Chloé paused to take a sip of her drink, and Lea thought of something, "Maybe Alya did fact-check and knew Lila was lying. I did some research before I came here, and I know that Alya ran the Ladyblog. I also know that her videos featuring Lila are her most viewed videos, but when I looked at the comments I noticed that a ton had been deleted. Maybe she knew but saw how much attention her blog was getting, and chose to ignore Lila's lies, or maybe she believes them, I don't know." The group continued to chat about their situation and were snapped out of it when the door to the cafe was flung open.

Alya was gonna kill Marinette when she found her. How dare she hire someone and not tell them who she was?! How dare she do that to her friends?! Doesn't she realize they need her? It didn't take much to convince the others, specifically Max, to ping the location off of Marinette's number and track it down. If she was going to be bitchy and ignore their calls and messages and hire some dumb assistant to annoy them, they were gonna make her pay! They had tracked her location to a cafe in the fashion district and were waiting for the last of the group to arrive. "I don't understand why she's being so petty," Lila whimpered, fighting back tears, "You all have been nothing but kind to her even when she's been such a nasty person!" "I don't understand it either," Sabrina said, "It's like a switch flipped in collège or something." Well whatever it was, they weren't gonna let her get out of this! Once Kitty Section had arrived, the group stormed into the cafe ready to give Marinette a piece of their minds! To their surprise, Marinette wasn't there. Their old friends turned enemies were there and sitting with them was a middle-aged woman, was she the one who had been answering from Marinette's number. "Where's Marinette?" Alya demanded. Chloé and Kagami lept to their feet. "She isn't here, and unless someone is dying you are not getting in contact with her!" Chloé was a lot less polite about it, "Wow, I'm surprised none of you got the memo. You've been cut off!" The older woman turned to face them, and Adrien snapped at her, "You! Are you Marinette's assistant or something? Get her here now!" Oh, that was it, Lea walked right up to him, ready for war. "I will do no such thing because I am not her assistant! I did not even know who Marinette was until you people began blowing up my phone with demands! I have never met more selfish people! And you," she pointed at Lila, "I've heard all about you and what you've done to that poor girl!" Lila began to sob, wailing about how she didn't do anything, and that she had been trying to mend bridges with Marinette by introducing her to the Waynes.

"Woah, Woah, hold on! You did NOT introduce her to the Wayne Family," Luka stood up and walked over, Lea noticed how Kitty Section seemed to shrink under his gaze. "Marinette met the Waynes at a fashion show in Gotham that Jagged Stone took us to. She met Selina and the two hit it off like a house on fire," Luka pulled out his phone and showed off pictures of a much younger Marinette with a woman who could have passed for her mother. "Notice the date? She was in high school when she met them. Here she is at Selina and Bruce's wedding. Know why she's there? She designed Selina's dress." The dress was a stunning white with elegant black lace. The top resembled the head of a cat, and if you looked close enough you could see little cats and bats hidden within the lace. "Marinette's been the Wayne Family's go-to designer for YEARS. Hell, the Waynes were at her graduation party, and the opening of Miracle Design Clothes Studio, and have been to every major life event she's had since she met them." Luka showed them More photos of Marinette and the Wayne family. "I don't know how you could introduce her to people she's known for years," Luka said, "Not to mention Stephanie tells me they're desperate to either adopt her into the family or have her marry into it," Marc added. All eyes were on Lila now, she had told them all that she'd introduced Marinette to Timothy Drake Wayne and that was how Marinette got the job, but with all this evidence it was clear her lie was dead in the water. Lea turned back to the group, watching as the realization crossed their faces that Lila had lied, and had most likely lied about various other things. Turning back to the people she had met she said, "It was very nice meeting you all. Please pass on my concerns to Marinette, and let her know if she ever needs friendly advice, she knows what number to call,"

The Wayne Gala was very... Awkward for Adrien. After their failed attempt to confront Marinette, Lila got exposed, and in the excitement, it came out that he knew about what she had been doing. Simply put he was excommunicated from the group. They figured that if they cut him, Lila, and Alya (who had doubled down on Marinette being the problem until it came out she knew Lila lied and had said nothing to protect her views) out that they could apologize to Marinette and she'd take them back. Their pleas on social media brought attention to the situation, and Marinette's friends and parents were more than happy to tell the world what happened to their favorite designer. When he, Lila, and Alya walked into the Wayne Gala, they turned heads but not for the reasons any of them had hoped for. People were polite to their faces and when speaking to them, but Adrien could hear them whispering behind his back. He needed to talk to Marinette, if he could smooth things over with her then maybe, just maybe this could be salvaged. However, the Wayne Family seemed to personally take offense to his plan, because whenever he saw Marinette (and she stood out in an absolutely jaw-dropping sparkling red mermaid cut dress) she was whisked away before he could say anything. First, it was Selina, who lead her over to some of his father's former clients and proudly told them the story of how she met the young designer. Then it was Bruce Wayne himself who came to introduce her to the Kents, who much to Alya's dismay didn't even glance her way. Finally, it was the Wayne Kids who were determined to dance with Marinette all night, Adrien swears Jason was smirking at him. Eventually, she broke off from the main party with Tim and the two were chatting on the balcony. This was as close of a chance as he would get.

Marinette was having an amazing night! She met so many amazing people and made so many new contacts! She even set up an interview with Lois Lane! She could feel Alya fuming on the other side of the room, and tried her best not to think about it. She knew Adrien, Lila, and Alya were at the Gala, and she knew what had happened a few weeks before. While she was happy Lila was finally exposed, she had moved on. She got to dance with each of the Wayne siblings, but her favorite dance had to be with Tim. When Selina had introduced her to him, their reaction to each other was to freak out. Tim was over the moon to meet the designer he'd followed for years, and Marinette was ecstatic to meet the young Wayne CEO (whom she may have had a bit of a crush on). The two had exchanged numbers and talked constantly, building up a close friendship. As time went on her crush on him grew as well, but she was too nervous to risk their friendship and say anything. Eventually, when she thought her feet were going to fall off, Tim led her over to the balcony. There they talked quietly about anything and everything when a cough interrupted them. There was Adrien, with a charming smile, but Marinette had learned not to be fooled. "Hello, Adrien. Enjoying the Gala?" Marinette asked, she knew he was up to something, and from the way Tim looked at him, he could sense it too. Marinette decided to take control of the conversation, "I heard what happened. With Lea Dubois and the phone number and everything. To put it lightly that certainly wasn't your best moment." "Well, I... I never thought you would change your number, so it kinda threw me for a loop. Anyways, I wanted to apologize for the part I played in all of this. I really dropped the ball and it lead to you getting hurt I never intended for that to happen," "Yet you continued to let Marinette's former friends use her for free things?" Tim butted in, holding up his phone and showing various text messages between Adrien and his friends. Adrien's face darkened, "How the hell did you get those?!" Tim just threw his head back and laughed. "I'm a tech prodigy. Finding texts is a piece of cake. I started looking after Nathaniel told me about what happened in the cafe. I also found the texts between you and your father, and no I won't let you use my girlfriend as a publicity stunt. We were gonna announce our relationship tonight-" Adrien turned around and stomped off before Tim could finish his sentence. Marinette sighed, he really hadn't changed. Turning back to Tim she asked, "Since when are we in a relationship?" The raven-haired boy blushed a little, "Well Unofficially since your graduation party, but neither of us knew it at the time. Officially now... If you want. If not that's cool and we can just pretend this never happened. Damn Adrien! I had a plan for this but he had to show up and ruin it!" Marinette chuckled and brought Tim's hand up to her cheek, smiling up at him fondly, "Officially now is fine with me."

#vixin-unchiha #adrien salt #lila salt #maribat #marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #class salt #timinette #tom and sabine sugar

[vintage-retro-queen]

Chapter Three-Too Brutal? Yeah, Right (DodgeBrawl)

It was just another ordinary day like any other in Camp Wawanawkwa.

All of the campers are in the main lodge, enjoying their breakfast. However, there was a slight difference between the two sides of the campers. The Screaming Gophers are just smiling and laughing. Meanwhile, the Killer Bass are sleeping instead of eating the questionable breakfast.

"Duncan." Duncan looks up to see Chris walking to their table. "You look like death, dude," he said. "Stick it," Duncan said before heading back to sleep. "Harold snored all night," Courtney explained. Chris laughed, "Wow, four nights with no sleep. How much are you hurting, dude?" "Wanna find out?" Duncan asked, causing his team to duck and cover to avoid what would happen. "No, no. It's cool. It's cool." Chris says, raising his hands with a smile. Just then, Harold walks in with a markered mustache on his face, not aware of the Screaming Gophers and Chris starting to snicker. When he sat down, he noticed his team looking at him oddly and then laughing. "Okay, what?" asked Harold. "Someone messed with your face, dude," said Geoff. Harold grabbed a spoon, seeing what they were laughing about. "Hey, sweet stache," he said. Then, Chris gets their attention. "Hey, everyone, it's Lucy and Marinette!" the Screaming Gophers cheer as Lucy and Marinette walk in, looking more tired than they were four days ago. When they both sat down, Marinette crossed her arms on the table, resting her head and closing her eyes. And Lucy rests her head on her hands.

CONFESSIONAL: MARY-LOUKRITIA CORLEONE

"Boy, even for the first time in the past two years at the ages of five and six, I stood up, not only just nights but days too. Man, I wish my friends were here to see it. But I still didn't think I would stay up for that long."

Confessional: COURTNEY

"We are so stinking right now! Okay, yes, Eva was a psycho, but at least she wasn't athletic psycho."

As the two were resting, Heather started talking aloud to the Killer Bass, getting their attention, saying, "Hey, fish-heads, way to kick out your strongest player. Why don't you just give up now?" Heather then moved over, making Courtney miss her, and threw the questionable food at Lucy's face. "Missed me," Heather said, causing Courtney to glare at her. Lucy then raises her hand to Courtney, telling her tiredly, "Don't worry about it. I had worse things thrown at me anyway." she then finishes her sentence, yawning, "Such as...a chained....kunai." Lucy's head then plops down on the table and falls asleep, snoring loudly, not even aware of the campers, sans a sleeping Marinette, looking at her with shocked and disbelief looks on their faces.

Confessional: COURTNEY

"Did...did Lucy just say what I think she said?"

Confessional: D.J.

"A chained kunai was thrown directly at her?!"

Confessional: HAROLD

"Lucky. I wish a chained kunai was thrown at my face."

CONFESSIONAL: MARY-LOUKRITIA CORLEONE

"I know what I just said. And sadly, yes. It's true. It happened in the second week of my first year of high school. Most of my former schoolmates, who by the way, were rivals to each other. They were labeled what my old school calls them 'The Sides'." Lucy says, air quoting the words The Sides. "They were all fighting about something that I don't know what, but frankly, I don't even want to know what and why they were even fighting about in the first place. But anyway, at that time they were arguing, and it then started a fight and a food fight at the same time. One of them then threw their chained kunai at one of their rivals, but it missed, and instead, aimed at me. But not directly aiming at my face, the chained kunai only missed me by an inch, and instead slapped my face." Lucy rubs the left side of her face, remembering that. "It really smarted, and it got me so mad that it caused me to snap and make a scene in front of everyone, angrily screaming and scolding them to knock it off and tell them that someone could've been hurt or injured or worse. When I finished giving a harsh scolding lecture, I left the cafeteria and ended up having the rest of my lunch break at the school library. When lunch was over, and we were heading to our next class, I was at my locker getting what I needed and saw the same chained kunai in there with a note saying they were sorry for throwing it at me. Even though I accepted the apology and appreciated the peace offering gift, I'm still mad at the betapunks with their rivalry and the one who threw it while they were fighting." Lucy glared daggers, facing directly at the camera. "Yeah, that's right." She then points at the camera while looking even more tired than before, letting out a couple of sleepy yawns, "I'm talking to you, Han...zo Scor...Ha....sa....shi." Then, Lucy fell face first, pushing the outhouse-confessional door open while she was asleep again.

"Okay, campers, listen up." Chris announced, "Your next challenge begins in ten minutes, and be prepared to bring it."

Ten minutes later, they arrived at their location for their next challenge, which looked like a gym. Marinette and Lucy are now both fully awake, with cups of Starchild's Coffee in their hands. "I'm surprised your family sent us some coffee, Lucy," Marinette said, sipping her coffee. "Yeah, well, sometimes my three uncles, auntie, and pop-pop always worry about my well-being. It's been that way since I was six," said Lucy.

Confessional: MARY-LOUKRITIA CORLEONE

Lucy sips her cup of coffee. "Not gonna lie, I didn't think my family would be watching me. Even though we're a traditional family. But not like that. It's just that we don't do technology. Well, except my three uncles, auntie, and pop-pop, maybe, but still. My family doesn't use technology like everyone else, such as watching television or having cell phones. Although we only have a telephone that we use now and then, but that's all we have in our household. Heck, we even have two computers for school and work. Just school and work only and nothing more. I don't use the computers, honestly. Personally, I prefer doing my work by hand. The only people who use those computers are my mother and her sister, who is my aunt on her side of the family. They are the only ones in my whole family tree who use them for their work. And whenever we're not at home, you have to go out to London and find a phone booth just to make a phone call or two." After sipping her coffee again, she continued talking and said, "But it was still nice of them to send Nettie and me some coffee." Lucy then looks directly at the camera, smiling, looking grateful. "Thanks, guys. I owe you one," she said, thanking her three uncles, aunt, and pop-pop.

They then heard a loud thump and turned to see Duncan on the benches, sleeping. "Wake me up, and it'll be the last thing you'll do," he warns. "I don't think we're even going to," Lucy said, making the Screaming Gophers and the Killer Bass look at her odd. "What? I was like that once," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Some people who I rather have nameless tried to force me to get up and join them on something I don't want to explain what, and I may have accidentally given each of them a black eye to leave me alone." They looked at her surprised but understood.

Confessional: MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG

"I can understand that. My dad told me once that my mom was like that since this one time back when she was a teenager, someone was forcing her to get up and join them to train on something. I guess it's true what they say. Some people will get cranky when they don't get their sleep." Marinette sips her coffee and says, "And it might be best to let them sleep, or else you will face the consequences."

After that, Courtney then started to scold Harold. "This is all your fault, you know?" she said, "You and your snoring face." "It's called a medical condition. Gosh!" said Harold. Suddenly, Lucy grabbed Courtney and Harold by the ear, glaring daggers at the two. "Less arguing, more focusing on what the challenge is." she snarled, with venom in her tone. Hearing her scolding Courtney and Harold caused most campers to shudder in fear of seeing an angry Lucy. All but Marinette, who seems to be used to it.

CONFESSIONAL: MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG

"I don't like to talk down on others, but with all due respect and in all honesty, Courtney should've kept the accusation to herself. Including Harold with his excuse. Even if it is true or not. Then they won't have to deal with an angry scolding from Lucy."

After Lucy lets go of Courtney and Harold, they hear a whistle blow and see that it is Chef, dressed as a referee. Chris then explains the challenge to the campers. "Today's challenge is the classic game of dodgeball." Lucy smiles, looking impressed. "Ah, a basic sports game. Nice, " she says.

Chris continues to talk to the campers, "The first rule of dodgeball is-" "Do not talk about dodgeball?" Noah asks, cutting off Chris's sentence and making Owen laugh at that smartmouth question. Chris continues, "If you get hit with the dodgeball..." Chris then throws the dodgeball at Courtney, hitting her. "You're out." "You can't just do that!" Courtney said, throwing the dodgeball at him. He then catches the dodgeball and continues, "If you catch the ball, the thrower gets sent out, and the catcher gets to bring another member out on the court." "Throwing balls. Gee, another mentally challenging test," said Noah. "I know, right?" Lindsay asked, butting in a bit. Noah and Owen look confused about that. "Okay, now, Geoff, try to hit Lucy," Chris said, throwing the dodgeball to Geoff while Chef tossed another to Lucy. "If you're holding a ball, you can use it to deflect a ball. But if it knocks the ball out of your hands, you're out." Chris explains. "So what do I do again when the ball comes at me?" asked Lindsay. "You dodge," Chris said. As Geoff threw the ball at Lucy, she used the dodgeball to deflect it, which headed over to Lindsay, hitting her on the head and making the others gasp. Chris and Lucy wince from that. "Ooh, you were supposed to dodge," said Chris. "Ow.. right," Lindsay said, rubbing her forehead, which showed a big bruise. "You have one minute until game time." Chris said, then turning to the Screaming Gophers, "Gophers, you'll have to sit one person out each game." After some campers sat out, D.J., Courtney, Katie, Tyler, and Harold were on the Killer Bass team. Meanwhile, Heather, Lindsay, Owen, Leshawna, and Cody are on the Screaming Gophers team.

"Bring it on, fishies," Heather said. "Otherwise winning three in a row just won't be as satisfying." "Oh, you're going down!" said Tyler. "We're gonna bring the dinner on the table, and then we're gonna eat it!" Courtney facepalms when Tyler finishes making that not-making-any-sense sentence. "Both teams ready? Best of five games wins." Chris says, "Now let's dodge some ball!" When Chef blew his whistle, the game of dodgeball was on, and the sitting campers cheered their teams on. Cody then throws the dodgeball first, aiming at Tyler, but misses. This causes Tyler to throw his dodgeball at him, but instead, the dodgeball accidentally hits Sadie. "That'll smear the makeup," Chris commented. "You're doing your best, Tyler! That's all that matters!" Marinette yelled from the Screaming Gophers side. Tyler gives her a thumbs up as a thanks until Courtney gets his attention. "Nice job. Now let's see if you can hit someone on THEIR team!" she scolded. Just then, Owen ran, heading over to them, and threw the dodgeball straight to Tyler, hitting him so far up to the wall. "Ow. Darn it." Tyler said, in pain from the hit. Chef blows his whistle, signaling that Tyler is out, while the seated Screaming Gophers cheer on their team, and Cody and Owen high-fived. Meanwhile, Tyler sits out in pain.

After that, Harold holds his dodgeball, looking confident. "Time to unleash my wicked skills," he said. "Yeah?" said Leshawna. "Then bring it, string bean! Let's see what you got!" As Harold tries to throw the dodgeball his way, it backfires. Leshawna then smirked after picking up the dodgeball, which got Harold running away screaming. Until Leshawna threw the dodgeball at him, making him slide on the floor to the glass wall and making Chris and Marinette wince from witnessing it. Chef then blew his whistle, signaling that Harold was out. "And that's how we roll!" said Leshawna. Lindsay then walks to her team, asking, "Can someone remind me what I'm supposed to do with this again?" Suddenly, Katie threw the dodgeball at Lindsay, which became a direct hit. The Killer Bass cheered while Chef blew his whistle, signaling Lindsay was out.

The Killer Bass cheered for Katie while Tyler waved to Lindsay, making Lindsay smile and Heather mad, which got her to throw a dodgeball at him again. Lucy then turned to glare deadly daggers at Heather, signaling she was done for when she gets a chance. Heather shuddered in fear, seeing the furious look on Lucy's face. "I'm with Lucy. What the heck was that?" Courtney complained. "Ref, he's not even on the court." "Oops! He slipped." Getting more furious hearing that, Lucy grabs a dodgeball and throws it at Heather, hitting her in the face. Chef blows his whistle, signaling Heather is out. "I'm sorry, Heather, but you made me do that. Even though we are on this team, it doesn't matter to me anymore," she said. Marinette nods in agreement. She then turns to Chris, saying to him, "Chris, I'm sorry, but we're going to be switching to the Killer Bass team." Lucy then turns, telling the Screaming Gophers, "And please, don't push us on this. If anyone is to blame for that, it's Heather." The two walk to the Killer Bass team. The Killer Bass cheered about Lucy and Marinette being on their team while the Screaming Gophers glared at Heather since she was now out and sitting on the bench.

Courtney throws her dodgeball at one of the Screaming Gophers, but Owen catches it. This causes Chef to blow his whistle, signaling Courtney is out, and Gwen gets into the game. When she tiredly gets up and gets in the paint, Owen throws one at D.J., which misses, and D.J. then throws one at Gwen, which gets her. "Oh, sorry." he said. "Oh, it's cool." Gwen said while Owen helped her get up. "Trust me." Chef then blows his whistle again, signaling Gwen is out.

After a while, it was then Cody and Leshawna for the Screaming Gophers and D.J. and Katie for the Killer Bass. D.J. and Katie throw theirs. Leshawna deflects one until another one of them hits her in the gut. Chef then blows his whistle, signaling to her that she's out. It was now Cody against the two Killer Bass. "Easy out, guys. Easy out." Courtney said to D.J. and Katie. Cody tosses one dodgeball up in the air and then tosses it at D.J. Even though it missed, the dodgeball took a U-turn and hit D.J. behind him. "That is one tough ball to dodge." said Chris. Katie threw her dodgeball at Cody, but it missed. Cody then grabs another ball and rubs it on his shirt. He then throws it at Katie. Katie then tried to run from it, but it chased after her. Katie then slammed into the wall, and the dodgeball hit her on the back. The Screaming Gophers then cheered for Cody for winning the round.

Before they can start the next round, the Killer Bass huddled up. "We can do this. We just have to believe in ourselves." "Oh, I believe. I believe you stink!" scolded Courtney. "Yeah, you throw like a wimp," Tyler said, causing Geoff to laugh and Sadie to nod in agreement. "You should talk," Courtney said, scolding Tyler. "It was a warm-up throw," Tyler explained. Before he could keep talking, a dodgeball hit Tyler, Courtney, Geoff, and Sadie. They looked to see that it was an angry Lucy, looking at them as if she was ready to pop a vein and beat the life out of them. They all looked scared, seeing her looking furious.

Confessional: MARY-LOUKRITIA CORLEONE

"And that, folks, is another one of my triggers. People accuse others. Talking down on them, calling them a girl, chicken, or coward, and making up some lame-cottontail excuses." Lucy crosses her arms, looking completely serious. "Yeah, that's right. I'm not afraid to say words close to the cursed ones. And we all know what I'm talking about."

"Okay, you guys focus on the game. I'm going to take Lucy out and get her to calm down," Marinette said, taking Lucy's hand and leading her out of the room. The rest of the Killer Bass continued on while the two were out. "Look, I can dominate this game," Tyler said, continuing what he would say before Lucy interrupted him by throwing the dodgeball at them. "Just give all the balls to me."

Meanwhile, in the Screaming Gophers cabin, Lucy takes a couple of heavy whiffs on her stress and anger management essential oils. "You shouldn't let this get to you, Lucy," Marinette said, helping Lucy calm down. "I know, Nettie. I'm trying to. But when it comes to those punks doing all that and talking like that, it's too difficult for me to handle. Believe it or not, I got all that from both my father and one of my friends." Marinette looked surprised to hear that. "I have my father's stress in my genes, and the anger thing is both from myself and my friend. Well, sometimes me, it was also him too, actually." Lucy admits.

"And believe it or not, people often mistook us for twins." "Because of the anger?" asked Marinette. "Nope. We just both talk at the same time." Lucy and Marinette both laugh at that. After that, Lucy gets two more stress and anger management essential oils. She opens them, revealing that they are roll-on essential oils, and rubs them on two of her wrists and behind her left and right ears. "There, hopefully, this will help me finish up the dodgeball challenge. And hopefully, I don't go overboard on this like the last one I did." "What happened?" "Oh, trust me. You don't wanna know." after that, they head out of the cabin and back to the challenge.

They saw their teammates on the bench when they returned to the challenge. All but Tyler. "Hey, where did Tyler go?" asked Marinette. "Long story." said Bridgette. Courtney then starts to talk. "Okay, this is really bad." she said. "One more game, and we lose the whole challenge, again! We can't let that happen, people. We need someone strong, someone mean, someone who'll crush those lame-o gophers into the dirt." "I think I know who we can have help us," Marinette said, motioning to someone on her right. Most of the Killer Bass then looked at Duncan, who was still sleeping like a log. They know that Marinette is saying he's now the only one who can help them. However, some of the Killer Bass looked a bit scared. "Unh-unh, if we wake him up, he'll kill us." D.J. protested. "He won't kill us, guys." Courtney said, "He wants to win too." "Courtney's right," Harold said, agreeing with Courtney. "We need Duncan's fierceness to win this." "That's the spirit, Harold." said Courtney. But before she can tell him to wake Duncan up, Lucy beats her to the punch.

"Alright, stand back, folks. Leave the bear-awakening to the professionals." Lucy said as she walked up to Duncan. As the Killer Bass did so, Lucy grabbed an essential oil out of her pocket and let the scent go to Duncan's nose, waking him up entirely. After a couple of whiffs, he bolted up and looked up to see Marinette walking to him while Lucy put her essential oil back in her pocket. "Hey, Duncan. Sorry for waking you up like that." Marinette said, with a slight smile on her face, mentally scared of what he might do to her. Duncan smirked at her. "You better have a really good reason for waking me up, hot stuff," he said flirtatiously. Marinette was confused by that until Lucy walked up to him, saying, "Alright, Mister Juvenile, listen up. We're down two, nothing. As much as we respect that you need some well-deserved rest, but we could use some of your assistance on this." "Oh, and why should I help you, princess?" asked Duncan. "Because we can personally guarantee you that if we lose this game, you'll be the one going home, Sir Juvenile," Lucy said, with a renascence accent in the end. Courtney and Harold silently snicker at the funny nickname she gave Duncan.

Duncan lets out a sigh and then says, "Fine, I'll play...on one condition. You do what I say when I say it." Lucy nods. "Okay, here's a strategy I picked up during my first visit to Juvie. It's called Rush the New Guy."

After explaining the strategy, they were ready. And after trying it, they beat the Screaming Gophers. After using their Rush the New Guy trick, it became a success, and they won the round. After that, Courtney had a suggestion. "I think that we should do the same thing all over again. So Harold, sit this one out too." "But I sat the last one out." "We'll sit this one out with you, Harold." Marinette offered, with Lucy nodding in agreement. Before Courtney can protest, she shuts her mouth when Lucy stares at her with a death-threatening stare in her eyes. Harold nods to Lucy and Marinette as thanks and signals to them that he owes them one. Seeing that causes Duncan to feel jealous.

CONFESSIONAL: DUNCAN

"The next time we lose, he's the next one to go."

After the two sat out, they watched as their team used the Rush the New Guy strategy again, and they won the round. They cheered them on when they did win. After that, Tyler walked in and sat on the bench. "Tyler, where were you?" Marinette asked. "Nowhere," he said. "You were with Lindsay, were you?" Lucy teased, raising a brow, smiling. "No...maybe...so?" "Tyler, it's okay. There's nothing to be afraid or ashamed of." Marinette said. Lucy nodded, "Exactly. Just as long as you're calm and cool as a cucumber and don't expose your weaknesses to her." she said. Tyler smiles, happy to know that Lucy and Marinette are okay with him liking Lindsay.

Chris then announced to the campers, "Okay, this is it, the final tie-breaking game."

When they all huddle up, they start talking strategy. "Okay, who's going in?" Duncan asked. "I think it's either Marinette's turn, Lucy's turn, or my turn?" said Harold. "No way. we actually have a chance to win this." Courtney protested. Harold nodded and headed over to the bench to sit out.

"Gophers, Bass, let's send this sample to the lab and see what you're made of." said Chris. They started throwing and tagging in and out team members. Noah then cheers with full-on sarcasm in his tone of voice. "Knock 'em out. Throw 'em out. Rah, rah." then, a dodgeball was thrown and hit Noah straight in the face. "My bad. I meant to do that." Lucy called out with another dodgeball in her hands. Noah signals her it's fine since he knows that she deflected Marinette from the dodgeball almost thrown directly at her.

After a while, it was Owen against Marinette Harold. "Well, freak," Lucy said, while Marinette looked a bit scared. The Screaming Gophers cheered for Owen, while the Killer Bass looked shocked and worried for Harold and the girls. "Sorry, guys, but you gotta go down," said Owen. "Good night, Harold," said Duncan. Lucy elbowed him and cheered Harold and Marinette on. "You got this, guys!"

Seeing that it's a standoff between the two and Owen, Harold starts to get confident, getting into his stance. Marinette then swallows her pride and becomes confident as well. As the two motions for Owen to bring it, he does so, and the two dodge every single dodgeball Owen throws at him.

Courtney then tells them to time out, making Chef blow his whistle for it. "Man, those two got dodge," Duncan said. "Where'd you two learn to do that?" "Figure skating," Harold answers. Marinette looked a bit panicked but then thought of one excuse and said, "I've been training with my mom. I got the hang of it back then. I guess I still got it." "Harold, Marinette, that was awesome." Geoff said. "But dodging isn't enough." "He's right," said Courtney. "To win this, you two either have to throw him out--" "Which we all know Harold can't do--" Duncan added. "Or catch the ball." Lucy added as well. "Can you guys do it?" "Definitely," "I can try." "Awesome. Now go catch that ball." D.J. said, encouraging the two.

When they continued the standoff, the Screaming Gophers cheered for Owen while the Killer Bass cheered and chanted both Harold and Marinette's names. Owen then throws the two dodgeballs at the two, letting out a 'Cowabunga'. The dodgeballs then head to Harold and Marinette, slamming them both back at the wall. Duncan gasps, getting up, worried for Marinette. And the rest were worried for both her and Harold. But then, they see the two raise the dodgeballs up, signaling that they both caught them. The whistle was blown once again, signaling that Owen was out, and Harold and Marinette won the tie-breaker.

"The Killer Bass win!" Chris announced. The Killer Bass cheered for both winning, and Harold and Marinette won the challenge for them.

CONFESSIONAL: HAROLD

"I guess Marinette and I are kind of role models now that we won the dodgeball competition." he said, munching on a bag of chips. "People will probably all want my autograph when the show is over and stuff."

In the elimination ceremony, Chris started talking to the Screaming Gophers. "Campers, you've already placed your votes and made your decision. One of you will be going home and you can't come back...ever," he said. "When you hear me call out your name, come pick up a marshmallow. Owen. Gwen. Cody. Trent. Heather. Beth. Justin. Leshawna. Izzy. The final marshmallow goes to...Lindsay." 

Lindsay cheered and headed over to claim her marshmallow while Noah looked stunned. "What, are you kidding me? All right, see if I care. Good luck, because you just voted out the only one with any brains on this team." They then threw their marshmallows at him. "You need to learn a little thing called respect, turkey," Leshawna said. "Whatever, I'm out of here." With that, Noah headed over to the Dock of Shame. 

However, while he is walking to the Boat of Losers, he takes something out of his pocket and smiles, looking at the note that has Marinette's phone number. He is glad he has her contact information so he can talk to her. "At least there's one thing good that came out of all of this," he says to himself.

Desc Prologue Get to Know Her Chpt 1 Reactions Pt 1 Chpt 2 Reactions Pt 2 Reactions Pt 3 Chpt 4 Reactions Pt 4 Chpt 5 Reactions Pt 5

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous crossover #total drama #total drama crossover #total drama island #oc insert #class salt #lila salt #lila sucks #cerise bianca salt #iris verdi salt #who the freak is she?!!💢 #adrien salt #gabriel agreste redemption #gabriel is not a monster #nathalie sugar #good parents tom and sabine #tom and sabine sugar #caline bustier salt #damocles salt #marinette protection squad #marinette deserves better #totaldramamiraculousisland #total drama miraculous island

[flufflepuffle296]

The Perfect Day

Hello!!! I wrote this prompt post-(ish)-s3 pre-s4 era where there was a lot of salt so this is about 3 years old I wanna say? So that’s why it’s so outdated so HEAVY Alya/Lila/Adrien/Tom and Sabine salt with a lot of Chloe sugar and slight Marigami (best ship) because *this was the vibe at the time* (ayyyy Kendall Jenner) on this page SO if that is not for you fair enough love that for you now SCROLL ON you have had many warnings about how old this is.

Also because this was written before all of s4/a few s3 episodes the lore is very much not present here and outdated so tough luck!

⚠️trigger warning!⚠️

Talking about s*icide here. Please stay safe and do not read this if you think it may trigger you even the slightest bit. Look after yourself! (Also I’m not trying to romanticise sewerslide in any way here (if you want the trauma dump version of how we came up with this you’re welcome to it) but if there is something that shouldn’t be in a post please do let me know and I will remove it but HEAVY TRIGGER WARNING).

SALT FOR (almost) EVERYONE

The Perfect day:

Marinette alarm startled her eyes open at exactly 4am. She scrunched her face up at the prospect of consciousness, but her expression softened slightly when she remembered: today was going to be the perfect day.

The perfect day, to die.

She clambered out of bed, and went downstairs to make her favourite breakfast, with a hot chocolate on the side and mountains of whipped cream, just how she liked it. She had spent the last week trying to convince herself out of this, but it was the only solution.

She was numb.

She was always going to be numb.

Nothing made her feel (that being a full sentence in itself) truly, wholly happy in her being anymore.

She went back upstairs to her balcony and ate her breakfast as the sun rose, squinting at her city. As she finished the last bite, she realised a good swing around Paris was just what she needed, so effortlessly transformed and pulled out her yo-yo, setting out for the Eiffel Tower, the source of so much inspiration for her designs.

Or rather, her *old* designs. She hadn’t the energy or mental strength to do anything she loved recently, nothing sparked much happiness or felt worth it. Her last design was about 2 months ago, but all it did was make her sob at the realisation that she was a failure and a fraud; nothing matched or was cohesive in any way. But in a way, realising her lack of talent when it came to her recent designs was sort of a net positive she concluded.

It meant it stung less when Lila spilled juice all over them, when Alya said they looked better smudged and ruined, or when Adrien delivered his father’s disapproval.

So instead she just watched the rest out the sunrise from her favourite spot, not picking out the different angles in the monument for a ridiculous geometric gown, or whatever her most recent fantasy was.

After another half hour, she sprung back home and got into her favourite Sunday dress, twirling her hair into her cutest hairstyle that the night before she had meticulously studied for hours on Pinterest, that she had always wanted to try. She packed her bag, three letters included, and ran out to catch up with her only real friend at a Francois DuPont.

Alya had left her a long time ago. After all, Lila had “no reason to lie”. She was “perfect”. Marinette was “just jealous” and “refused to cooperate”.

Because after all, it was always Marinette’s fault.

Marinette wished Alya the best in life, but she wasn’t going to waste much more energy on her. She was drained enough as it was.

Chloé was waiting for her, grinning ear-to-ear as she held up her first try at macarons for Marinette to critique. Marinette bit into the surprisingly good attempt at the cookie as they walked up to school together, laughing at Chloe’s sudden inability to swallow a cookie without choking. They walked to the back of the class and sat in their seats, ignoring their classmates.

It’ll all be over tonight anyways.

She spent the lessons talking with Chloé, as it wasn’t like she’d ever need the information after tonight. She encouraged Chloé to reminisce on their favourite times together, such as the day they realised they were different enough to be the same, or the day they realised that they (platonically) loved one another, and were the closest thing each other had to a soulmate.

That was also what Marinette considered a “perfect day”…

…Was Chloé going to be alright tomorrow?

At lunch, the pair met up with Luka and Kagami and went out to a cafe for food and orange juice, before sprinting after André the ice cream man and getting sweetheart ice cream together, Chloé paired with Luka, and Kagami with Marinette (“platonically” of course!). They parted ways once the hour was over, as they had to return to school, where Marinette spent the time daydreaming, recalling childhood memories from before Francois DuPont. This was going to be the last time she would ever remember them, after all.

They were let out of school at their usual time, thankfully no akuma that day, and Marinette, Chloé, Luka, and Kagami briefly chatted outside the gates, before parting ways. Marinette hugged them all tight as she left, handing them her letters and telling them not to open them until midnight AT LEAST.

She returned home, and watched her favourite films, favourite shows, and had her favourite meal for the very last time.

She kissed her parents on the cheeks, which was the most contact she’d had with them in a while, after Lila decided the bakery was her favourite Boulangerie, and she went upstairs to peacefully watch the sunset.

She would never have to deal with Chat Noir again and his flirting sexual harassment, so she decided to enjoy being Ladybug one last time. She transformed and went her usual route, ending up at the Eiffel Tower to finish watching the sun go down, swinging back home whilst it was still just barely light, taking notice of the cool air stinging her cheeks; the first real feeling she’d had in months.

Tikki begged her not to go through with it, but Marinette had made her decision, and renounced Tikki, telling her to find a new Ladybug; her only real plea being to warn them about Chat Noir prior.

Tikki was distraught, but Marinette used her guardianship to send her off and push her away — she needed to be alone for this, she wouldn’t let Tikki under any circumstance.

But Marinette didn’t want everything to be over quite yet, the air was too still, so she turned to her dust covered mannequin, and slowly stitched the zipper onto her old project that she never had the creativity or energy to finish. She tied a figure of 8, and snapped off the thread, taking notice of how it frayed.

Looking at it finally finished, it wasn’t as horrific as she made it out to be in her head a couple months ago, but still, not good enough to convince herself she had any worth.

She looked over at her clock.

10:30

I guess it’s time…

Marinette climbed up to her balcony and stepped over the railing, peering down. She took a deep breath…

And jumped.

She lay in the air, feeling as if she was floating for a second, waiting to to hit the ground. She thought she heard her name, but knew no one was around…

“MARINETTE!”

She felt a clawed hand grab her waist, knocking the air out of her as the two beings shot into the sky, the black figure clutching her tight.

She opened her blue eyes, and stared into Chat Noir’s brown ones.

…Brown?

…This wasn’t Chat Noir?

The black cat landed on a roof, hurriedly demanding to know if she was okay, in a voice that Marinette recognised must be —

“Kagami?!”

The black cat set her down on her balcony and explained that when Tikki was renounced, she was so distraught and furious she renounced Chat Noir of Plagg, revealing Adrien Agreste. The two Kwamis sailed around trying to find someone when they came across Kagami coming back from late night fencing. They quickly told her to read her letter as they were near incomprehensible from stress. Kagami briefly skimmed the letter before immediately snatching the nearest miraculous - the ring - and transforming into the black cat before sprinting across the rooftops as fast as she could, rushing to Marinette’s aid still clutching her letter. She arrived just in time to see her topple over, and saved her just before she hit the ground.

Marinette started sobbing in Kagami’s arms. Kagami sobbed with her a few minutes, promising to never let her go. She eventually picked her up once again and carried her to Le Grand Paris, where she banged on Chloé’s window. Chloé opened it and let the two crying girls in, announcing Luka’s presence as he happened to be in the room teaching Chloé guitar. He rushed to the girls when he saw them collapsed in each other’s arms. Marinette was feeling the first emotions she had felt in months, refusing to leave her saviour’s side, clutching to Kagami. Luka and Chloé listened as Marinette vented how she had been feeling, or rather the fact that she hadn’t been feeling anything, whilst Kagami stroked her hair and wiped her face, kissing her forehead every so often to remind her she was safe.

Chloé had a room prepared and the four of them off school the next day, booking Marinette in for a highly rated therapy appointment. The four friends snuggled in each other’s arms, Marinette in the middle. They fell asleep immediately, crashing from the excitements of the past hour, except for Marinette, who lay awake just a few more moments to make a promise to herself.

Every day, from today, I will make into the *perfect* day.

—————————————————————————

Hello me again!!!! I had a few other endings in case we weren’t feeling this one so just quickly:

Alternate ending 1) She jumps. When midnight comes around her friends open her letters and rush to her place, only to find police and an ambulance declaring her dead, and if you want some more angst, Chloé and Kagami storm into the school the next day scream-crying at their classmates whilst Luka repeatedly whispers “I couldn’t save her” crying in his mum’s arms. (Very depressing)

Alternate ending 2) Marinette realises that she doesn’t want to die. Why should she? She’s just spent today just doing what makes her happy? She should live like this everyday! She has so much to live for! Sure therapy is needed and some communication too, but she can do it. (Yayyy happyyy)

This was for the most part written when I was around 14/15 so if the sentence structure is a bit shit I’m gonna blame it on that (and not my lack of progress in writing in the past 3 years!)

#Alya salt #Lila Salt #Adrien salt #Marigami #marinette deserves better #mlb salt #Chloe sugar #cat noir salt #mlb salt fic #chat noir salt #tom and sabine salt #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #kagaminette #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain cheng #kagami tsurugi

[stormiclown]

Trust is Lost (I Shouldn’t Have Given it Out)

Looking back at the series and taking multiple characters into consideration, I don’t think Marinette should have put so much trust into her classmates nor the adults around her. There’s a mountain of proof that the adults cannot be relied upon by anyone. I believe that realistically, she should have developed trust issues because none of the characters respect, trust, or know her as a person and her unwarranted expulsion should have been the last straw. Especially since they don’t take the feelings of others into consideration. And I won’t even get into the issue with how the narrative always blames her for things that aren’t even her fault. This is my take on male Marinette with trust issues and emotionally guarded with those around him. This is my first angst one shot. Enjoy!

Despite the glowing silhouette of the crimson butterfly out line on his face, Marion was still very much aware of what was going on around him.

The recollection of his mother in his father’s embrace, along with their looks of distress and disappointment when that damned fox pendant landed in slow motion onto the ground below.

He knew his classmates were akumatized; not because Lila dared to make these accusations without letting him have a word in to defend himself, but because of their belief that their ‘Everyday Red Beetle’ was capable of cheating, theft, and bullying.

It made his stomach roll in nauseating somersaults and left a bitter taste in his mouth. He deliberately choose to bury the hurt of their betrayal by focusing on the sliver of hope that burst into him when he registered that Alya was the only one of his friends(?) that hadn’t fallen prey to Scarletmoth’s mind control.

”King Justice, cast aside by the words of a liar. I give you the power to reveal the truth. In return, you’ll give me Red Beetle and Feline Noir’s miraculous,” the terrorist’s tempting voice purred in the dark recesses of his mind.

Marion’s hands flew to his earrings as he wanted nothing more than vengeance. And not just because of Lila.

Because of the stress, anxiety, and bitterness he had accumulated over time. The designer knew that he would snap eventually, though he never perceived it would be so soon.

Before he could dwell on his negative emotions further, the magical line of Hawkmoth’s control suddenly stuttered and was abruptly cancelled.

Marion actively ignored how dark his thoughts became on the way to the bakery with his parents. The ones that should’ve been there for him. Who should’ve at least heard him out.

But what really stung was that it didn’t seem that unbelievable to the bluenette. Anyone who met him would think he was an independent kid, but it wasn’t really his choice. Sure, Tom and Sabine did love him, but they mainly left him to his own devices, the work at the bakery consuming most of their focus and energy. Even though they were aware of Chloe’s bullying, they never really did anything about it.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but it became clear to Marion that his parents were unreliable at best and not worthy of his trust at worst. They weren’t the first and wouldn’t be the last.

He had a feeling.

#marinette deserves better #class salt #tom and sabine salt #lila salt #mlb salt #fix it of sorts #kagami sugar #trust issues #Ladybug (the episode) salt #angst #male!marinette

[iwasbored777]

I just don't understand why Saltnette writers sometimes salt on Tom and Sabine too. Y'all they are one of the best fictional parents especially Sabine in Qilin. At least leave these two alone cuz they are people who raised your beloved Marinette, give them some credit not hate 😭😭😭😭😭

#miraculous ladybug #Tom dupain #sabine cheng #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Tom sugar #Sabine sugar

[character-fan19]

MLB Season 4 Character Analysis: "Dearest Family"

Introduction

Hey everyone, I'm back with another season 4 character analysis and this time it's "Dearest Family". You may be wondering where my analysis for "Qilin" is so the answer is that it got removed for some reason and I have no idea why because I made it just like my other posts so far so until I get the answer and understand what's going on we're going to be moving on with episode 21. If you're new to this series then here I look at our favourite MLB characters in depth in every individual episode of season 4 in order to give an overall picture of the characters' journey throughout the season.

Yeah, so "Dearest Family", good episode. We see for the first time that our perfect little kwami, Tikki is not as perfect as she seems due to her obsession over sweets, Marinette trying to figure out what it all means, and her family members arguing over what's best for her. So this analysis is probably going to have the most characters POVs we've had since "Crocoduel". So let's get started.

Character POVs

Tikki

"I was afraid you would thing less of me. Because of my cravings"

For the very first time, we see Tikki have some weaknesses and some characterization. Ever since the beginning, Tikki has always just been Marinette's guide and bright-side-up to help her through difficult times but never had any character of her own. But here, we see that she has cravings for new and unique sweets that happens every few hundred years and according to Plagg, the last time it happened was when chocolate was invented and she made it rain chocolate for eight weeks.

The reason for Tikki's abnormal food cravings compared to other kwamis is due to her being the kwami of creation which makes a lot of sense. Tikki's sweet cravings seem to be so dangerous that all the other kwamis in the Miracle Box are afraid of her and that says a lot. These cravings went to the extent that she even used her power without having a holder which caused a giant galette bigger than the Earth to be made and affected the Earth's gravity but thankfully it was destroyed by Cat Noir as Astro Cat.

When Tikki saw that her cravings were taking her away from Marinette, she stopped as her worst fear, as she stated to Marinette, being afraid that her cravings would make her think less of her, came to reality which really shows how much she cares about her relationship with Marinette and shows the strength of her bond with her. When Marinette tell her that she can help her overcome her weaknesses, this is what gives her strength to try to overcome her cravings.

2. Marinette/Ladybug

"Of course not! I'll always like you, Tikki. Everyone has weaknesses, you know. Let me help you overcome yours. Just like you helped me overcome mine."

This episode is seems that the roles of Marinette and Tikki have been reversed. Tikki has always been the one to help Marinette with her problems and share wisdom on what she should do and encourage her to be better. But now Marinette is making it up to Tikki by helping her overcome her weaknesses.

When Marinette first discovered that Tikki's craving, she was in denial that Tikki had some sort of problem as she believes that she knows Tikki best even when the other kwamis warned her about Tikki's cravings. She tried to control the situation by stopping her from eating their family's galette and transforming into Ladybug to prevent her from eating more which backfired as she got the craving as well when she was transformed.

When Marinette saw that Tikki was going as far as using her power without a holder to appease her cravings, she realized her mistake and admitted that Sass was right about Tikki and she didn't know her as well as she thought and when Tikki revealed to her that the reason why she never told her about her cravings was because she believed that she would think less of her, Marinette assured her that they would work to overcome her weaknesses together just like Tikki has always helped Marinette with her weaknesses.

3. Sabine

"The person who knows best what Marinette needs is Marinette herself!"

Moving onto the family argument on what is best for Marinette, we'll start with Sabine. From her perspective, Marinette is the only person who knows what's best for her and she's old enough to do so and she is the one I most agree with.

We've seen how Marinette is good with planning and is always helping other people and coming up with great ideas, both as a civilian and as Ladybug. It's best to treat her as someone with her own individuality and her own mind and let her to make her own choices. And by the end of the episode too this is what we see them go with: letting Marinette decide what she thinks about getting a motorbike as a gift from her grandmother and decide whether she is old enough for a gift like that.

4. Tom

"I know my little girl better than anyone else and I think that bike is way too dangerous for her"

Next we have Tom, who believes that Marinette needs some like him to protect her and he believes that the motorbike that Gina got for Marinette is too dangerous for her which makes sense for his character considering the events of "Weredad", where he gets akumatized because he wants to protect her little girl, Marinette from heartbreak.

Tom cares about his daughter a lot and would go to great lengths to protect her, he even stated in "Stoneheart (Origins Part 2)" that he would protect her if Ladybug and Cat Noir failed to do so which at the time seemed like it was just a lighthearted joke but we know from "Weredad" now that it's true. By the end of this episode though, he realizes that he should let Marinette decide if the gift is best for her and their conflict is resolved.

5. Gina

"Happy Birthday, Marinetta!"

Next we have Gina, who was the one got Marinette the motorbike for her birthday which she didn't realize was just months ago due to her not spending much time with them as she travels the world on her motorbike.

The last time when she arrived to visit Marinette, she believed that Marinette was younger than she actually is due to the same problem that cause her to not realize that Marinette's birthday was months ago in this episode and it was in that episode that she realized that Marinette was no longer a little girl who ate candies and liked doing things like going to the petting zoo and going on the merry-go-round and was now a young woman who liked hanging out with her friends. So it makes sense for her now to get her a big girl gift like a motorbike and believing that Marinette is old enough for something like that. By the end of the episode though, she lets Marinette decide what she thinks and when Marinette decided that she was still to young for the bike, Gina was OK with it.

6. Rolland

"How can anyone have their head so far up in the clouds? A birthday is a birthday and a Galette's Day is a Galette's Day!"

Lastly, we have Rolland who still seems to be a little old-fashioned from "Simpleman". When Gina brings the motorbike as a gift for Marinette he believes that Marinette is not old enough to have one yet similar to Tom and believes that Marinette still requires discipline to be able to ride the bike.

This makes sense for Rolland's character as it's traditional for someone only to be able to have a motorbike when they are around 21 and before that they can't drive at all. Unlike, Tom he believes that Marinette needs someone to teach her about order and discipline before she can ride a motorbike and not someone to protect her. By the end of the episode, he realizes that he should take Marinette's choice into account and when Marinette decides that she's not old enough for the bike but instead should have a mini-scooter, he is OK with it

Conclusion

Well, that's the end of this analysis. Hope you enjoyed reading. This took a while to do with all the characters but I'm finally done. As always, let me know your thoughts on this analysis and let me know if I missed anything for any of the characters this episode. Until next time!

#ml character analysis #mlb characterization #ml season 4 #ml dearest family #ml tikki #marinette sugar #marinette dupain cheng #sabine cheng #tom dupain #gina dupain #rolland dupain

[mae-dwrites]

A Bundle of Heliotropes - Chapter 3 - Lull

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| Ao3 | Wattpad |

When Marinette woke up her room was quiet. It was quiet?

Marinette sat up in alarm and scrabbled to get out of bed, “Tikki?”

No response. Her panic started to grow, “Tikki.”

“Guardian, do not panic,” Sass floated to her, making the girl slip and hit her head on the ladder. Sass winced while Marinette rubbed her head, hanging upside down on the ladder. Sass floated down to her face, “The ressst of the Kwami are down stairss with your parents.”

Marinette blinked as she took in the words she noticeably relaxed before pulling herself up to get on the ground. She rubbed the back of her head with a small frown, she felt almost as embarrassed as she was irritated with the injury.

Marinette looked to the snake kwami with mild confusion, “Why are they down there?”

“I don’t know everything, I do know Tikki sssaid that she would talk to them in the morning if they would like,” Sass explained, “eventually otherss joined her asss they got bored up here. None of usss wished to wake you, but there wasn’t much to do that would keep usss quiet. Ssso we joined Tikki, and I stayed ssso that you would be lessss likely to panic.”

Marinette nodded, “Thank you Sass, I appreciate it a lot.”

“Of courssse Guardian,” Sass bowed his head.

“You can join everyone else if you’d like,” Marinette said smiling at the snake. Sass nodded before phasing through her floor to downstairs. Now that Marinette was more awake when she strained her ears to listen she could barely hear the sound of voices from downstairs.

Marinette yawned despite herself and stretched. She pulled on a sweater before having another stretch and rubbed her face. Marinette came down to see the island covered in foods prepared, all things the Kwami enjoyed or favored. Usually the Kwami would be rambunctious when they didn’t have to be careful, but all the Kwami were relaxing, eating, or talking to her parents.

Marinette blinked as she took in the scene before her.

Tikki, Sass, and Longg sat on the coffee table munching on their respective snacks while Trixx and Pollen sat on Sabine’s head; they were listening just as intently to the conversation as some of the other Kwami. Mullo sat in the mother’s hand. Stompp, Daizzi, Barkk, Ziggy, and Orikko all rested contently at various levels of her father.

Lastly Xuppu, Kalkki, and Roarr sat on the island, Xuppu playing around the food but careful to not make a mess. Kalkki made an annoyed but amused neigh as she munched on a sugar cube.

Marinette looked around the room searching for Fluff, she found the time bunny on the shelf observing the scene. A small smile on their face as they munched on carrots, her piercing eyes flicked to Marinette.

Marinette was used to the Kwami after all the months of the group residing in her home, especially with spending most of her time with them. Fluff was chaotic in nature, but time also held order in her delicate chaos.

“Good Morning Fluff,” Marinette smiled and nodded.

“Is it morning? May it be noon? Or tea time? Why is it not dawn,” Fluff sprouted out what would seem incoherent. It was best not to overthink her maze of words.

Marinette’s smile softened, “Sun high, clear sky.”

Fluff beamed at the response and floated over to the Guardian, she nuzzled and rubbed the top of her head on Marinette’s forehead. Marinette giggled the bunny’s fur and whiskers tickled her with affection.

“Good morning sweetie.” Tom and Sabine said in unison.

Marinette looked over to see her parents now facing her. Her father radiated pride and his eyes were glassy, it made Marinette swallow. Her father always wore his heart on his sleeve but very rarely did she see him cry. Seeing her father look at her like this made her heart tight and want to fall on the floor and let it all wash over her, but of course, she didn’t do that.

She looked over to her mother, a woman who always kept cool but was a gamut of raging and unfiltered emotions. A woman who felt everything so wholly under the surface. A small understanding smile was set and Sabine’s eyes crinkled as she took in her daughter.

A strong and confident young woman, her heart ached looking at her now. Her heart had hurt before looking at her, but that was when she was worrying, scared of what would happen to her baby. Now she knew it was far worse than she’d allowed herself to even entertain.

“Good morning,” Marinette smiled back feeling nervous as she looked at Tikki. Her Kwami hadn’t said anything about speaking to her parents. While she believes there was a reason, Marinette feels like she should’ve been there.

Many Kwami sprouted shouts of Guardian and Marinette excitedly, some even coming to her and flying around her talking in rapid succession. The bakers laughed at the magic beings.

Sabine motioned for Marinette to join them. Marinette couldn’t help that her insides swirled as they usually did, although this time was certainly different in multiple aspects.

“Marinette,” Sabine started making said girl straighten up, “we have been speaking to Tikki to better understand what we can and where she can speak of.” Sabine nodded to the Kwami as she floated happily to Marinette.

“While we don’t like it we understand the need to keep secrets surrounding all of this, and that you even telling us is breaking the rules. We,” Sabine stopped for a moment to clear her throat; she took one of her daughter’s hands, “appreciate you for telling us. Even if it’s rather unconventional.”

Sabine chuckled while Tom brought his daughter into a comforting side hug.

“But we do think we need to figure out our own system or set of rules,” Tom spoke up.

Marinette looked at her father taking in their words carefully, she nodded.

“I understand and I agree,” she said thoughtfully, her brows down as her mind went miles a minute thinking over possible ways they could go about this. Marinette soon grabbed out a piece of paper to help sort her thoughts out.

The family and minigods spent the morning discussing her leaving classes, the bakery, her friends, and more. She had permission to say her parents needed for an emergency, or to just straight up leave the class no questions asked.

As they spoke the more they relaxed, joked and simply enjoyed their time together. Marinette was far more relaxed than she had in years.

“It’s not like they can just chase me,” Marinette joked to her parents as a knock sounded on their door. Marinette gasped and leaped across the room as Kwamis hid, “Nino’s birthday.”

Marinette looked back and didn’t see a single Kwami, her parents gave small reassuring smiles. A rapid knock sounded followed by an impatient voice. Marinette finally opened the door revealing Alya and Nino, their eyes were red and puff but they held the biggest smiles on their faces.

The dread that had been previously there faded away, Marinette looked between the two, “Did-”

She was cut off by Alya yanking hers and Nino’s intertwined hands in her face, “Yes.”

Green turtles with black lotus flowers resting on top of the shells sat between their thumb and pointer fingers. Marinette noticed Alya’s turtle was darker in shade but aside from that they were just mirrors of the others.

Marinette pulled them into a tight hug telling them how happy she was for them.

---

“Here dear, eat something,” Ma Kent said sliding a slice of pie to Damian.

“Thank you Ma Kent,” Damian nodded taking the fork from the older woman.

“Of course, dear,” Ma said with a sweet smile. She turned to cut a slice for herself, “I remember when I got my mark.”

Damian took a breath; of course, Jon had mentioned it to his family. Well, his father must have talked to Clark of course, and Tim to Kon. Damian hadn’t gone out of his way to find out if Tim had told Kon, but Damian did not doubt his reasoning for it was sound.

Ma continued to recount fondly how her sister had teased her and her friends had thrown a party, and when she had met her dear Jonathan.

Damian could not hold malice toward the woman, she only knew so much, but she knew enough. He was sure Ma was just trying to ease any “nerves” or “fears” he had about meeting his soulmate.

And he was not “nervous” or “scared.” That is simply prosperous. He had concerns about meeting them.

What if they were a civilian?

A beat.

What if they weren’t a civilian?

Damian paused for half a second, but that was enough.

“Damian?” Jon who had been doing chores around the farm was now next to him.

Damian blinked. What was worse, he hadn’t actually thought about it. He hadn’t wanted to think about any of it. He never let himself entertain anything related to soulmates, his soulmate. He should have, he should have been planning.

“Dear,” Ma Kent spoke softly in a question.

Damian stared at his half-eaten pie, his brows barely drawn together.

The young vigilante cleared his throat, “I am fine. Just had a thought.”

Ma Kent smiled and gently rested a hand on the boy’s, “It won’t be easy will it?”

Damian looked up to her, sometimes he forgot how similar the woman was to Alfred at times. All observing and knowing.

Ma gave a light squeeze, “I’m sure they’ll be just fine.” Her eyes flickered between Damian and Jon, “Clark was worried too when he got his, no matter what we said.” She fondly shook her head recounting the days of her son.

“Whoever it is, they’ll fit right in,” she stated as a matter of fact.

Damian ever so barely pursed his lips as he looked away for a moment, when he looked back at the woman and nodded with gratitude, “Thank you Ma Kent.”

-

Robin’s cape flittered behind him in the slight breeze, the smog-filled sky hiding the moon from the beautiful chaos of the city. His family was spread across the city, Robin was awaiting instructions from Oracle for the area he had already run through twice that night. A few muggings around, so simple for him to handle.

For as much as he would like to rest after being up for so long he wasn’t ready to go yet, but he would be called home for the night soon.

The sound of heels made him turn around, not even five meters away from him stood Talia al Ghul.

“Darling you need to be more aware of your surroundings,” Talia chastised with an unsatisfied smile. She looked to her son’s hand where it lay on his katana. Talia straightened in realization, she held a small frown and her eyes softened, “Oh Dami. I promise I’m not here to fight.”

The mask did not hide how Robin looked her over before slowly removing his hand from his weapon. He straightened and raised his chin as he looked at his mother.

“What is it you want,” Robin stayed put, not wanting to let his guard down.

“My blessing,” Talia took a small step forward. “Not that you need it of course, and Nyssa would not approve,” she waved her hand as though to dismiss her sister from the conversation, her disdain bleeding into the words.

Damian looked his mother over again, trying to find the deceit or hidden agenda. There was none to be found.

“Blessing for what exactly Mother,” Damian asked, adding the title hesitantly. He knew what she meant, but he wanted to hear her say it.

Talia smiled amused, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.” She knew he hadn’t, but she knew what he wanted. What she had wanted so long ago. “Blessing to let them live.”

She could see him relax, her smile became fond as she looked at her son-

An “oof” came out of Talia, a sound she never made, as her son’s arms hugged her. She reached her arms up holding her precious son close. When he pulled away she held his face, a near pout on her face as she looked up at him,

“When did you get so tall dear?”

Not that his mother could see it, he looked away.

“Robin, there looks to be a kidnapping in process a block away from your current location,” Oracle stated through his comm.

“On it,” Damian stated. He turned to leave but looked back at his mother, “Thank you.”

Talia only nodded before leaving him, her heels not making a sound as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

---

Ladybug’s leg hung off the Eiffel Tower between the bars, laying on her back she watched what stars she could make out with the monument lit for the night. Her hand absentmindedly rubbed her collarbone, her breathing was long and slow.

She was used to her suit changing little bits as she grew up, almost every few months something new changed. She remembers when Chat and her would freak out about it, making jokes about growing into the suits.

Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly.

Alya would rant for hours about the suit changes and chase her during Akumas just to get photos to show every little change she noticed.

She now sported a short cape garment over her shoulders down to her elbows; black on the outside and red on the inside keeping the famous ladybug colors prominent. When it separated it mimicked the way a ladybug’s wings spread when they would take flight. Tikki had been ecstatic over that; loving how much more her lovely insects were represented than just colors; while Alya had deep-dived into ladybugs and other beetles.

Her suit had inverted from her abdomen to her thighs, it helped to work with her hiding from Akumas in dark places. Her suit had become thicker and adjusted to give her proper traction on her soles and heels.

A quiet thump sounded near her, she stayed where she was at ease knowing who was there. Alya usually went home after patrol so she could be there in case her sisters bargained into her room, they did so often; the littles when they had a nightmare or Nora to ambush Alya. All out of trust and love.

A mischievous smile came into her view blocking the sky. His wild hair whipped in every which direction it could. His mask had slowly grown to look more like a second skin on his cheekbones, temples, and lower forehead.

Ladybug believed it was him growing to keep his identity a secret more over time.

“Why hello m’lady, a fine evening is it not?” Chat grinned, his cat ears twitched making his dangling earrings swing.

Ladybug smiled contently, “It is.”

Chat Noir brought himself down with his legs crossed, Ladybug lifted her head and he scooted forward so her head was on his lap. Chat brushed her bangs back gently, careful not to nick her with his sharp nails. Ladybug let her eyes close, the slight breeze brushed over her face.

“Is something wrong,” Chat asked. Her eyes snapped open, Chat frowned, she blinked a few times before replying with a light nervous laugh, “No, no, of course not.”

He obviously didn’t believe her but decided to let her have this, “While I’d hope not, especially since I found this present on patrol.” Chat said back to his puckish attitude.

“A present,” she restated surprised, she shouldn’t be really.

While he didn’t know when her birthday was he did know it was close to the beginning of May, and that seemed to be enough. The first year he had scrambled to get her a present, it had been a very simple one a keychain with a paw pad. Small and cute, easy to hide, also was so basic he wouldn’t figure out her identity if he saw someone with one.

The previous year he had bought her a paw print plush (he had a theme so far) and a bouquet of yellow roses when he had been much more bent on the just friends train. But he had also bought her four bolts of velvet after she had talked about how much she wanted to use it and experiment with it. Marinette hadn’t touched it for months too scared to make the wrong thing or ruin the expensive material; she hadn’t made anything with it till this last Christmas, and that was only with two of them.

She was almost dreading what he’d gotten her thing year with the drastic change between the two years.

Chat Noir nodded eagerly, he took out a moderately sized bag. Ladybug relaxed a bit as she sat up, seeing that he hadn’t gotten so big this time around.

“You want to take a guess,” He asked as she sat up.

“Not really,” she said offhandly.

“You sure,” he pressed, leaning forward.

Ladybug giggled, “Yes I’m sure chaton.”

His ears flattened as he handed the bag over to her, “Fine.”

Ladybug smiled at the feline hero as she took the bag from him.

She took tissues out tossing them playfully at her partner; he glared at her which only made her smile wider. Ladybug looked in the bag to pull out a yellow bouquet of roses, she looked at him exasperated.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop giving me flowers?”

“And yellow roses mean friendship,” he said pleading, “I double-checked this time, you’re not making me second guess this time.”

Ladybug gave him a “seriously” look before lightly whacking him with the bouquet. He hissed at her making her whack him again.

“Rude,” he squinted at her.

“You’re rude,” she stuck her tongue out at him. She grabbed out a small baggy with two little paw charms on hair ties. She smiled at the simple gift, “I love them.”

She reached back in while Chat beamed. She pulled out two envelopes, one white and one purple. She raised an eyebrow at her partner.

“It doesn’t matter which one you open,” he waved, his voice revealing his nervousness.

Ladybug set the purple one down before opening the white one. She noticed Chat tap his fingers on his knee as he watched her.

She took out the pink page that was written in his neat handwriting.

You didn’t happen to get your mark?

There was a box for yes and no.

Ladybug frowned, she knew her kitty’s birthday was coming later in the year. She swallowed as she looked up at him.

“Chat,” She started. He looked at her, his cat eyes piercing her heart. Full of fear and hope, she knew she was about to break his heart. She swallowed again and opened her mouth but no words came out.

She nodded with tightly sealed lips. She blinked tears away rapidly in a poor attempt to not cry. She watched as he made an inaudible, “Oh.”

He covered his mouth as the tears ran down his face.

She quickly put everything back in the bag and setting it aside she pulled Chat into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” She murmured into his hair and rubbing circles on his back.

“I just wanted one of my best friends,” he hiccuped out. “Just a friend was all.”

“I know,” Ladybug gave a squeeze. “I’m sure whoever it is will be your friend first.”

And if they stayed there longer than normal, it wasn’t like Paris would know.

•

Taglist:

@stainedglassm

@angie500

#a bundle of heliotropes #soulmate au #maribat alya #maribat damian wayne #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat soulmate au #maribat chat noir #maribat sabine cheng #maribat tom dupain #maribat talia al ghul #maribat #maribat fic #maribat fanfic #daminette soulmates #daminette #maribat daminette

[aliensunflower-fics]

CHANGING FACES Chapter 3: Where Are We Going

[ Prefer to Read on Archive of Our Own? Link HERE! ]

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After years of dealing with each other Lila Rossi win's when she  convinces Hawkmoth that Marinette is Ladybug. In order to throw off  suspicion and keep the Miracle Box safe Marinette and her supportive  parents leave Paris and head to Gotham of all places. In this new place  away from her friends and her unhealthy routines Marinette is forced to  confront herself and change for the better. Helping her on her journey  is a surprising new friend and potential ally. When Alya missing her  friend learns about the chance to win a free trip to Gotham she  convinces the class to work hard to qualify. When her new life clashes  with her old one will Marinette be able to hold on strong to her new  confidence or will she crumble under the pressure?

( This fic will be for the most part comedic, fluffy, and sweet, with  only a bit of seriousness to tie it together. With only the mildest salt  because I don't think the class or Adrien are bad people just that they  can be naive and selfish thanks to the canon writing. I hope you enjoy  reading this work and have fun with me on this journey. )

CHAPTER 3:

Where Are We Going

Marinette felt tired. Not the kind or tired that could be slept off but something DEEPER. It was an exhaustion that seeped deep into her bones and left her feeling heavy. Her limbs felt like rocks and her fingers ached. Her mind begged for the sweet escape of dreamless sleep. Yet voices tickled the edge of her conscious mind slowly leading her back to the waking world. Whoever was talking was trying to be considerate of her, speaking in hushed tones with all the lights but a small table lamp off. 

 Blinking slowly, Marinette’s groggy mind took in the hideous pattern on the hotel's cheap curtains and the smell of cheap greasy takeout pizza somewhere in the room. Finally her ears seemed to pop and the whispered voices of her mother and father hit her brain causing her muscles to relax. They were here, they were all safe, as Marinette’s eyes drooped she smiled contently ready to let her mind drift away to the black seas of sleep once more. That is until she heard Tikki’s signature squeaky voice thanking ‘Tom’ for the sugar cookies. All at once Marinette felt wide awake and bolted upright, shocking everyone in the room into silence. 

 There on the other side of the hotel room sitting in the too small, too cheap wooden chairs eating cheap pizza and terrible store bought sugar cookies and holding a conversation like old friends was Marinette’s dear parents, her kwami and Trixx who looked like they were delighted by everything. 

 The silence stretched for a moment or two before Sabine sighed, shook her head and smiled warmly at her daughter. 

  “I think we have some things to talk about mon petite choux, but first why don’t you grab a bite to eat you must be hungry and its going to be a bit of a late night.” 

 At her mothers words Marinette felt her breath hitch as she swallowed down her panic, with a small nod she inched closer to the end of the bed nervously taking the offered slice of pepperoni pizza. It was lukewarm and greasy but biting into it felt like heaven as her body finally registered just how hungry she was, as usual her mother was right. For a while Marinette just ate her pizza with her parents while the Kwami nibbled on their provided cookies. It was strange and peaceful. As Marinette finished up her second slice and reached for her third the silence was finally broken again by her mother who seemed to know what she said while her father still languished in uncertainty.

  “Marinette… We… We just want you to know. How proud of you we are.” 

 Marinette swallowed hard and looked away, unable to make eye contact with her family.

 “H-How did you figure it out? Kwami can’t tell others who there chosen are a-and… I thought- at least Fu told me that magic was protecting my identity?” Marinette heard her father’s nervous throat clearing as Tikki swallowed down her cookie and hovered up to Marinette eye level.

  “They figured it out earlier after you fell asleep, Marinette. I let them see me and told them who I was. It all seemed to fall into place after that.”

  “But…Tikki WHY? T-The rules w-we cant just… Have… Have I not been a good enough Ladybug? Are you leaving?”

 Tikki gasped in horror and flew over quickly soothing Marinette by hugging her face.

  “No, no! My little bug it's nothing like that I… I decided you needed some help. Marinette you have been doing such a good job and you have been doing it all alone for so long. Master Fu was foolish to think anyone could or should carry such a heavy burden without support and we should have broken the rules a long time ago!”

 Marinette nodded numbly trying to process Tikki’s words. She did not want to admit it but she’d been drowning for so long that as horrible as it felt to have her identity exposed as terrifying as it was to go against the rules she felt relief flooding her system as she exhaled a shaky breath. 

 “How much did you tell them?” At this her father let out an awkward cough and shifted in his far too small hotel chair trying to get comfortable. 

  “She told us a lot. Marinette sweetie… We're not mad. We could never be mad, you’ve been so strong and so brave, your mother is right, we are so proud of you.”

 Marinette felt her face flush and her eyes burn as hot tears gathered in her burning tired eyes. She had never once become Ladybug for the praise or fame she had never expected or wanted it, and in fact she had many times resented being Ladybug hated the lies and the act she had to put on each and every day to keep others safe and to keep them out. But hearing her parents tell her how proud they were felt like a weight being lifted off her heart. A broken hiccup left her body and Marinette realized she was crying.

  “M-Mom Dad… I’m- I'm so sorry! I n-never wanted to lie I-I had to I-I’m sorry im so so sorry.”

 “Oh non! No no no my little one my sweet pastry!” Marinette felt the warm heavy arms of her father envelop her as he moved to the bed, the cheap mattress dipping under his weight causing her to fall into him. “You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

  “Your friend Tikki told us about the rules the previous master put in place. She told us about everything you have been through. Our big strong girl. If anyone should be sorry it's us. We should have known it was you, even with magic guarding your identity how could we be so blind.”

 Marinette sobbed harder at her mothers words, opening her arms to accept her mothers embrace as she cried harder.

  “B-But I’m the reason Hawkmoth burned down our home! I’m the reason the bakery is gone! I-Its all my fault!” 

 Marinette felt her mother stiffen at her words and was shocked when her mother pulled back and grabbed her face firmly into her calloused hands forcing Marinette to stare into the fiery eyes of her mother. 

  “Marinette Dupain-Cheng none of this is your fault! That reject Disney villain has been tormenting Paris for years! He has killed people with his akumas and never once shown remorse or guilt for using even babies to achieve his goals! And you, our brave beautiful girl, you have saved people's lives over and over, you have given up hobbies, concerts, and your own peace of mind to be a hero. Your father and I are scared for you, were angry at Hawkmoth, we wish we knew sooner but angry? Never, not with you my beautiful little peanut.”

 As her mothers words sunk in, Marinette felt a fresh wave of tears fill her eyes and she threw herself into her mothers arms while her fathers large warm hand rubbed circles into her back. 

 They let Marinette cry until she was done and had her breathing back under control at which point they gave her water and more food. While she drank and ate, a sudden thought hit Marinette.

  “What are we going to do now?” 

 Tom and Sabine exchanged a look before nodding and smiling at each other. As Sabine got up to retrieve something from there meager belongings Tom beamed warmly at his daughter though Marinette did not miss the tired bags that hung under his eyes.

  “Did we ever tell you about how we met my little choux bun?” 

 Marinette’s eyebrows creased together as she thought about it. 

  “You met… At college right? Dad was doing a baking course and mom was studying business. Mom had been working herself too hard and not eating so her blood sugar totally crashed and you found her half collapsed on a bench and offered her pastries right?” 

 Tom chuckled fondly at the memory and nodded. 

  “Yes, that's right. But do you know WHERE we met?”

  “Where? … Dad, what do you mean? Wait… You didn’t meet in Paris?” 

 Sabine giggled at her daughter's shocked expression and sat next to her once more, opening the old family album that had been lucky to survive the fire in a fireproof safe. As she flipped through the pages Marinette took in all the familiar pictures of herself and her family, the bakery, and her childhood from her first time making cookies to her first tooth, but as they flipped to older pictures Marinette began to see more things she did not recognize. Her parents' marriage, a small private affair in some miscellaneous park. But then they flipped past even those going back to even younger images and Marinette realized quickly what her father was hinting at.

  “These pictures… You guys met in… America?”

 Sabine smiled warmly as she touched a picture of her and Tom’s first cake together. “We met in Gotham.” 

 Marinette sucked in a breath of air as her eyes widened. She looked between her parents' confusion and questions evident on her face. After a brief silence Sabine cleared her throat and flipped back to some older photos and began her tale.

  “When I was little, your grandma had very big dreams for me. She wanted me to become a big shot business woman, make lots of money and take care of the whole family. She made me study endlessly and never cared about my own dreams and passions. Just like your great uncle I liked to cook but your grandma did not care. I worked hard and got accepted into an American college. I knew how dangerous Gotham was but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get far away from your grandma and your great uncle encouraged me. He told me I needed to free myself and learn what I wanted to do. The rest you know, I was studying so hard I never ate and then your dad found me.”

 Marinette nodded slowly then looked at her dad curiously. He smiled and leaned over to flip the albums pages before pointing at a beautiful old building with a much younger Grandma Gina and Tom in front of it.

  “As you know your Grandma Gina and Granpa Roland had a rocky marriage. Your grandma liked to go fast, and she liked to see the world and everything in it. Your grandpa thought moving that often wasn’t good for me so he refused to go, this made their relationship rocky, they were always fighting. Finally your god-father Alfred got in the middle, he suggested a compromise. A second home somewhere fun and exciting for Gina and we could spend our summers there. Grandma chose Gotham the same place Alfred lived and I spent my summers there growing up even after the divorce. So when it was time for me to go to college I decided I wanted to live in Gotham and attend the college baking course. And then I met your mother.”

 Marinette mulled over the new information carefully taking in the photos carefully. 

  “How long did you and mom live there?”

 Tom chuckled slightly and flipped through several pages until they landed on a photo Marinette had never seen before. She was a newborn baby in her mothers arms as her parents were posed in front of an old bakery. Marinette realized that it was the same building as the earlier picture with her grandma and her dad.

 “I was… BORN THERE?” Marinette touched the image in awe and then felt a sting in her heart, “Why didn't you ever tell me? Why not talk about it? H-How did it never come up once when grandpa Alfred came to visit!?”

 Sabine exchanged a look with Tom before she cleared her throat. 

  “We… Your father and I… We loved Gotham. It is a gloomy place with a lot of crime and problems but the people there are GOOD people. They protect their own, and they work hard to try and make their city better. It was the place where we met, the place we got married, and the place where we had you, our beautiful little girl. But…”

 Marinette felt her stomach drop. “But?”

  “It is dangerous there Marinette. And when you were still just a baby you and your mother got pulled into a bad attack, you both came out okay thanks to Batman but we realized then that our life wasn’t a safe one to raise a baby in.”

 Sabine nodded gravely to her husband's words. 

  “Your father and I both knew how to defend ourselves. We even taught other people self defense on weekends at the local gym as volunteer work. But you were just a baby and we got scared about losing you. So we made the decision to abandon our lives in Gotham and come to Paris. We always told ourselves we’d go back to Gotham someday when you were older and until then we didn’t talk about it, not because we didn’t want to but because I wasn’t ready yet I got so scared remembering almost losing you and when we were finally ready to tell you and move back to Gotham you… Met Alya.”

 Marinette blinked confused and furrowed her brows. “What does Alya have to do with this?”

 “Well…” Sabine looked over at Tom who took over the conversation.

  “You had been getting bullied by Chloe all those years. We were doing everything to get you out without pulling you from Dupont because we knew it was one of the best schools, but it wasn’t working. We saw how your confidence was dipping and how you were so unhappy so we thought that maybe it was time to make the move. You were 12 and knew how to defend yourself thanks to all your lessons with your mom and me. But then you came home from your first day of school and you were so happy.”

 Sabine smiled fondly. “You had made a friend and you were talking about how excited you were, then you ran for your class president position and won and we saw how you were blooming and we could not take that away from you so we pushed Gotham aside.”

  “But… But you both love it there?! Why would you do that why didn’t you tell me at least I-I don't understand-”

  “We didn’t want you to make a decision for our sake.” 

 Marinette snapped her mouth shut, denial dying on her lips. She knew exactly what her parents were talking about. Since Lila had begun manipulating the class and having them ask more and more of her, Marinette had learned that she had a serious problem standing up for herself. If her parents had approached her wanting to move to Gotham when she was younger even with her Ladybug responsibilities she would have folded like a deck of cards and likely stretched herself thin trying to make everyone happy and do everything. 

 “We wanted you to have a choice about the move. And you have always been so caring and considerate of others and if you had known how much me and your father loved Gotham we knew you’d agree to move even if you didn’t want to. So we held off saying anything and we were just happy to see you become so confident and happy.” Sabine bit her lip and chewed at the loose skin. “Recently… We had seen how stressed you were becoming, and how your friends were treating you. Before all this happened we were planning on telling you again and asking you if maybe you’d like to move to Gotham, but now with everything… Well the conversation happened a bit sooner than we had planned. But what do you say Peanut? Wanna go on a new adventure and move to Gotham?”

 Marinette nodded slowly and looked at Tikki and Trixx on the table who had been enjoying there cookies in relative silence the whole time.

 “Tikki, what do YOU think?” At the name the small god blinked her antenna twitching.

  “I think you need to be the one to decide Marinette this is your life, and you are our guardian. We trust you because you have always taken such good care of us all these years.” 

 Marinette flinched at Tikki’s words and dug her nails into her skin. She wanted to deny Tikki’s words but she knew the tiny god was speaking from the heart. Marinette often gave the kwami freedom, she talked with them, she was their friend and guardian and she valued them as people, something Tikki and the others had told her was rare so even though Marinette did not believe in herself she believed in the honesty behind Tikki’s words.

  “I… I’ll need to use the horse Kwami Kaalki to travel back to Paris whenever an akuma happens.”

  “That's not a problem, you have the same blood sugar problem as your mom so we can inform whatever new school you go to that you might need to leave class at times to take care of that.” 

 Marinette blinked, shocked at her dad's willingness to lie but then she snorted and smiled. It felt nice having someone to help her guard her secret identity.

  “If Marinette leaves Paris Hawkmoth will stop suspecting me as Ladybug so that's a bonus, I’d be able to decompress after fights and let myself feel emotions without worrying about akumatization. I also won't have to worry about the bakery getting crushed by another toddler akuma.”

 Tikki and her parents watched her in silence letting her talk herself through her thoughts and plan as she often did when processing her stress and fear.

  “Gotham has some of the best schools, and I’d be living in Uncle Jagged city AND in grandpa Alfred’s city… But… But where will we live, how will we make money, and what about school and then there's Alya and everyone back home and what if Ladybug gets to Paris too late??”

 Before Marinette could spiral further her mother took her hands and squeezed hard pulling Marinette out of her downward fall as she tools several deep breaths and focused on her mother who was guiding her through the breathing slowly.

  “You don’t need to worry about all the details, Marinette. We still own the old bakery from the pictures, your father and I could never bring ourselves to sell it so we kept it. It will need a bit of paint and the Marinette touch but it's got good bones and it's a bigger building.” 

  “As for school, well… You may not know this but your godfather Alfred is the butler and in many ways the father and grandfather to a very rich and influential family He’s told us all about Gotham Academy and I know my beautiful incredible daughter will be a perfect fit.”

  “Gotham Academy? Are you sure we can afford it? And don’t tell me your gonna have grandpa Alfred ask his employers for a favor! I don’t need or want the help of some rich people we don't know.”

 Sabine laughed openly at Marinette's pouty face. “My daughter? Need a hand out? No, but Alfred has told us all about the scholarships there. You are as brilliant as you are talented even if it is a bit past the start of the school year I’m sure we can get you one and if not we will find another school that recognizes what a talent you are.”

 Marinette’s cheeks flushed red at her mothers teasing proud words and she pulled nervously on her long dark hair as she bit her cheek and thought about it.

  “What about… Alya and my friends? Moving it sounds so amazing, a fresh start, somewhere new, the ability to let myself feel, and the distance from Hawkmoth it all sounds incredible but… What if I lose everyone here?”

 Tom squeezed his daughter's leg comfortingly and smiled at her warmly. “Do you think Alya and the others are the type of people who will just forget you?”

  “... No… I trust Alya. It's… Someone else I don’t trust and I’m worried what that person will do.”

 “You're talking about that Lila girl again aren't you?” Marinette nodded stiffly, leaning into her mother for comfort.

  “If she hasn’t succeeded yet, then I don’t think you need to worry. BUT if she does succeed then painful as it may be you will learn who your real friends are, but what you need to decide now is where you trust Alya to be your friend even if you're across an ocean.”

 Marinette took a moment to think, letting her mothers words hit her fully. Alya was her friend and despite all the damage Lila had done and all the problems shed created Marinette still cared about Alya and valued her friendship and she knew despite everything that Alya felt the same. They were bffs and for now Marinette was willing to trust in the bonds she’d made and believe that Alya would be there for her ocean or not. 

 Marinette took a deep breath and felt her heart and mind settle. She knew what was best now, for ladybug, for the kwami, for her family, for paris, but most importantly what would be best for herself and who she wanted to become moving forward. 

 Looking at her family, Marinette smiled warmly.

  “Gotham, sounds perfect.”

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( I hope I’m releasing the chapters at a good steady pace and that you guys like it so far feedback and comments are always appreciated and thank you for your patience with my spelling and grammar english is not my first language! )

#daminette #salt fic #class salt #alya salt #alya sugar #alya redemption #adrien salt #lila rossi gets exposed #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #Marinette deserves better #BAMF Marinette #miraculous fanfic #marinette x damian #maribat #my fic #Changing Faces Fic

[nedjsmlfavs]

So my suggestion on Derision? Ignore it. Declare it bullshit in author notes. Openly mock it and declare it non-canon. It conflicts with or ruins so many episodes (rewatch animaestro) it is the obvious weak link. It was written from a place of hate and anger at some members of the audience, not one of love for the characters and the show. And so: excise it and retain your love.

It trashes so many more prople than just marinette too.

Like her parents for ignoring multiple years of bullying so bad she made up fake excuses to avoid school? This is the same Tom who went akuma because a boy broke her heart. This is the same caring and wonderful Sabine saying 'its only three more weeks then *maybe* it will be okay*

The hand of the author is just so blatant too. Your example with Mylene is one I hate on a different level, because this *is* a kids show and Mylene just told kids 'every situation is the same. Its your fault if you react differently. André the power-abusing, neglectful, pushover is *exactly* the same as Mylene's supportive, involved, father. If you as a child end up differently in these environments, you are the problem.

Ugh, yeah. So just nuke Derision and don't apologize. It doesn't respect canon, so why should your canon respect it?

Oh, yeah, Derision ruins pretty much every character who has lines in it. It's also hardly the first episode to introduce a poorly thought-out plot point or characterization. I'm normally very happy to take the Nick Fury approach to canon where I recognize the show's decision and then elect to ignore it.

The reason I'm able to do that so easily is that the writing choices I don't agree with usually just disappoint me. They don't bother me on an emotional level. And, sure, I could do deep explanations of why certain plot/character choices are terrible and should never have been made, but I prefer to express my disappointment by just writing fanfiction that does the thing that I wish that the show would've done. It's actually part of why I have so many fics featuring Nino and Alya being great friends to Adrien and Marinette. Because I don't like how the show has treated those relationship so I just say "Fine, I'll write the version that I want." The opposite of a salt fic, if you will? A writing salt, character sugar fic?

Derision hit different. It upset me on an emotional level, which is why I actually wrote up an analysis of what was bad with just one element the episode and tossed it into the ether. Doing that actually did help as have all of the responses to that post. Knowing that I'm not alone in finding this episode upsetting and poorly thought out is helping me move past it. So thank you for this message and for all the replies to that post. I'm starting to turn my emotions from sadness to drive to get back to my reverse crush canon rewrite, which was the whole reason I made the post in the first place! I want to finish that and give the characters the arcs I wish that we'd gotten in the show.

As for posts that go over why certain episodes or characterizations are bad, well, you're always welcome to ask me for my thoughts on stuff and I'll write it up, but unless something about canon deeply bothers me, I'll mostly keep my thoughts to myself and continue to channel them into fanfiction fuel.

#ask answered #ml derision #ml derision spoilers #ml salt #ml season 5 #ml season 5 salt #thank you this was very nice to read because I agree with everything you said #I just didn't want to get into the list of all the things Derision reconed and broke #I wanted to focus on the part that was really bothering me #ml writing salt

[comics-and-fanworks]

ML Career Choice AU

Disclaimer: My problem with ML is with the writers and their decisions, not really any one specific character. Am I salty towards some characters? Yes, but it’s mostly due to how they’re written. Also I am not an Engineer, I don’t know all of the proper terms.

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Marinette is prepared for almost everything, but she was not expecting this. Lila had decided to rub salt into the wound and began lying about her to Gabriel. Adrien (who was frustrated with Marinette’s refusal to take his “high road” advice and upset she’s discovered her backbone) was easily convinced to back up Lila’s claims. He thought that once Marinette learned her lesson, he could convince his father that it was all just a big misunderstanding. What he did not account for was that Gabriel would blacklist Marinette from the fashion industry! Lila of course, bragged to anyone who would listen, but Adrien was going through some mixed emotions. On one hand he was horrified at his father’s over reaction, on the other hand he thought this was surely the thing that would finally convince Marinette to listen to him and go back to being a doormat! He couldn’t understand why Plagg was so upset at him though, everything would work out in the end. 

Needless to say Marinette was devastated, and ended up missing a few days of school. Everything she had worked for was gone, and there was nothing she could do to get it back. Her parents tried everything to comfort their daughter, and one day while bringing her something to eat, Tom stepped into one of the traps she’d rigged to protect the Miracle Box. Instead of being angry, Tom and Sabine were amazed. They assumed the trap was meant to keep her classmates out of her room (who had been rejoicing over their daughter’s misery. They saw texts between the kids suggesting they were going to destroy her work), and praised Marinette’s skill and creativity. Tom made a comment as he was being removed from the trap, “You know Mari, you could be an engineer. With your creativity, the sky’s the limit!”

Turns out those were the magic words. Tom and Sabine saw the fire slowly begin to ignite in their daughter’s eyes again, and made a silent promise to do everything they could to make sure at least one of her dreams came true. As time went on they happily bought her books, sent her to talks, and did everything they could to help her learn as much as she could. Coincidentally Ladybug happened to reach out to her about finding ways to akuma-proof structures. Marinette was determined to succeed, and her classmates, Lila, and Adrien would not stop her.

Many years had passed, and Marinette was a highly sought after engineer. She was 25 and had practically redesigned all of Paris by now. She was credited with creating the first akuma-proof buildings, which made dealing with Hawkmoth and his akumas much easier to deal with. Considering Chat Noir would only show up to flirt, and most of the time he didn’t show up at all. Occasionally she still had to deal with Adrien trying to convince her to apologize to Lila for being such a ‘cruel bully.’ He promised that if she did he’d convince his father to either remove her from the blacklist, or secretly hire her. While she still designed for a few loyal clients (like Jagged and Clara) she had no desire to enter fashion. If they’d believe she was the devil based on lies from Adrien, Gabriel, and Lila, then they weren’t worth her time.

One day she gets an angry text from Adrien’s newest number of the week accusing her of exposing Lila. She asks, “What do you mean? I’m in America helping design a new Wayne Enterprises building.” Turns out someone else put two and two together and called out Lila, and everything spiraled from there. What Lila, Adrien, and Gabriel did to her was exposed too, and Gabriel quickly sent Adrien to America to smooth things over with Marinette (he was banking on the fact she used to have a crush on his son). Adrien arrives in Gotham and barges into a café Marinette was spotted at, shouting something along the lines of “Come back Mari I know you love me! Surely you’ll forgive us and come back and help save the company. Engineering isn’t what you’re supposed to do, fashion is!” 

What he was not expecting was the confused looks he got from Marinette and the man she was with. While the various Gothamites were recording the drama and announcing to the world that their talented engineer could also design clothes, Marinette just sighed and said, 

“Used to love you Adrien. Past tense. I’ve moved onto bigger and better things. I rebuilt most of Paris, I invented akuma-proof materials for building. Gabriel, the man and the company, are the least of my concerns. I won’t forgive you, because I don’t have to, and you’re actions prove to me that I shouldn’t because it shows you haven’t changed.”

The man sitting with her got up to approach Adrien, who proceeded to try and intimidate the dark haired stranger. “Who the hell do you think you are and what have you been telling her?” Adrien yelled at the man. The man with the midnight black hair and blue eyes just smirked at the disgraced model.

“I didn’t tell Little Ms. Magic anything, she’s got a brilliant mind and enough confidence to last two lifetimes, I’m just here to keep her company. Oh by the way, my name’s Jason, Jason Todd Wayne, and I’m her Fiancé.”

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Let me know if there are any problems and feel free use this if you’d like!

#marinette deserves better #marinette dupen chang #minor class salt #lila salt #adrien salt #gabriel salt #tom and sabine sugar #maribat #jasonette

[vintage-retro-queen]

Paris Reacts to Too Bad the Sandman Isn't Here

Akuma Class

It was the weekend again, and every student from Bustier's class was all together, ready to watch another episode of Total Drama Island and see what Marinette was going to do in the show.

They were all looking forward to seeing it. Everyone except Adrien and Lila.

Adrien can never forget what his father told him that Sunday morning.

"Reach out to her. With Miss Dupain-Cheng befriending the Corleone's daughter, a connection with the Corleones will take us farther."

He couldn't get the words out of his head. And he doesn't know how to explain it to him either. 'How do I even tell him that she changed her number? If only Plagg was here, he'd know what to do.' he thought to himself.

Lila on the other hand was beyond furious. Ever since she came up with that one little lie of saying that there was a summer camp that she wanted to recommend to Marinette but was scared to, the tables have turned on her in a blink of an eye. She didn't even know that it was actually a reality show. If she had known, she would have been on it and befriended a very popular idol and not the goody-two-shoes. However, she could've sworn that she had seen her somewhere before, but just couldn't put a finger on how, what, and why.

However, before she could think, Alya started to yell. "It's starting!" Everyone started to pay attention to the show that is now starting. When they started to watch, they saw the host, Chris McLean start talking.

"Last time on Total Drama Island, twenty-four campers arrived and learned that they'll be spending the next eight weeks at a crusty old summer camp. The campers were faced with their first challenge, jumping off a cliff into a shark-infested waters, and while most campers took the plunge, a few were forced to wear the dreaded chicken hat. At the Campfire Ceremony, it all came down to two campers, Courtney has experience as a C.I.T. in summer camp but refused to jump, and Ezekiel managed to tick off every female contestant at the camp, including one of the popular idols, with his sexist comments about women. In the end, the first camper voted off Total Drama Island, was Ezekiel. Proving that homeschooling and reality TV don't really mix." "Still serves him right," Alya said, crossing her arms, glaring at the scene where the Boat of Losers arrived for Ezekiel to hop on. As much as Adrien sympathizes with Ezekiel, he is also offended by Chris saying that homeschooling and reality TV don't mix. 'Then how do you explain me in that music video with all of my friends?' he thought, still offended. "Who will be voted off this week in the most dramatic Campfire Ceremony yet? Find out tonight, on Total Drama Island."

After the theme, the scene shows Chris walking into the said scene and holding up an airhorn and megaphone and has it go off, waking up every camper. "Ow! It's seven in the morning!" Leshawna exclaimed and glared in anger outside, "Do I look like a farmer to you?!"

"I guess they're in different timelines from us." Alix guessed, raising a brow.

After most of the campers were all outside, still looking tired and yawning, Chris spoke up to them. "Morning! Hope you slept well." "Hi, Chris. You look really buff in those shorts." Heather said, making Chris wink and say, "I know." Alya scoffs. "Wannabe flatterer. And here I thought Chloe was the flattering type." she says with almost everyone agreeing with her. "Look! There's Marinette!" Rose exclaimed, pointing to Marinette and Lucy walking out of the cabin.

"Glad you two can join us, girls," Chris said. He then continues talking to the rest of the still, tired campers. "Okay, now that everyone's here, I hope you're all ready because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute." "Oh, excuse me, I don't know if that's enough time to eat breakfast," said Owen. "Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen." Chris said, "Right after you complete your twenty-kilometer run, around the lake."

"A twenty-k run around a lake at seven in the morning? What is he trying to do to them?" Alya asked, making Nino shrug. "Big whoop. I can do a fifty-k run around the city block at five in the morning." Kim brags, causing Alix to roll her eyes. After that, she and the rest of them continued watching the show and surprisingly ignored Lila before she was about to say something.

"Oh, so you're funny now?" Eva questioned, not liking Chris's motives, and started marching towards him with her left hand formed into a fist, ready to punch a man to a bloody pulp. "You know what I think would be funny-" the class looked shocked and surprised seeing Eva like that. However, before Eva can do anything to Chris, she gets pulled back by Geoff and Duncan. "Eva, try to control your temper?" Courtney whispered to her. Eva then turns to Chris again. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked. "A little," Chris admits. "You have thirty seconds." they then watched and listened to Courtney's confessional. "Okay, that girl, Eva, has got to get a handle on her temper. She's only been here one day, and she's already thrown her suitcase out a window and broken the lock on one of the bathroom doors." "That's terrible," Mylene says, shocked to know that about Eva. "Yeah, if she does have a temper like that, and if there was a competition for that between her and Nora, she would probably win it." Alya said, remembering the time Nora let her temper get the better of her once.

After that, they continued to watch the campers as they started to prepare for their kilometer run. "Okay, runners! On your marks, get set, go!" with that, they all started running. All but Marinette and Lucy. "Girl! What are you doing?! Get to running!" Alya yelled as she and her friends watched Marinette not picking up the pace. That was until they started to see her and Lucy's confessionals come up. "Nettie and I were a bit suspicious about us awake so early and are told to do a run around a lake." "Nettie?" Alya questions. 'What? Did she give Mari a nickname? They only just started to become friends in just the first day.' she thought. "As a result, Lucy and I decided to walk instead. That way, we can see what this challenge really is." "That's very smart of the two trying to see what the challenge is," Adrien says, impressed with the girls' ideas. "Yeah, that way we'll see what Chris is planning," Nino said, agreeing with Adrien about the girls trying to figure out what the challenge is.

As they watched Lucy and Marinette walk to the table where the rest of the Screaming Gophers were, Gwen started to talk, "Hey, wait a minute, if they lost, that means we won the challenge." she said. As the Screaming Gophers sans Marinette and Lucy cheer for their victory, Chris stops them. "Whoa there! Hold your horses, guys. That wasn't the challenge." he said. "What did you just say?" asked Gwen.

"Who's hungry?" there, they all see a table full of home-cooked food. The class looked amazed as they saw the table full of delicious food. Just then, the confessionals started rolling in of Gwen and Owen and then showed Marinette and Lucy's confessionals. "I must admit, the buffet table looked amazing. However, since there were still suspicions about the running and the buffet, I decided to stick with something light. Such as a bread roll and maybe some of the salad." "As much as I want to enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal as if it was home if my hunch is correct, I'm just going to do the right thing and stick to the salad." 'That seems smart for the two.' Adrien thought, smiling. After seeing their confessionals, they all see that most of the campers were stuffed after devouring the buffet. Some of them noticed Lucy quietly snickering to herself. 'What is she laughing about?' Alya thought suspiciously. But both her curiosity was cut off when Chris got on the messy table with a megaphone in hand and announced, "Okay, campers! Time for part two of your challenge,"

"I thought eating was the second part," said Owen. "What more do you want from us?" "Weird goth girl is right. Haven't we been through enough?" asked Heather. "Um, let me think about that. No! It's time for the Awake-a-thon!" Chris announced. "The what-a-thon?" Owen asked. "Awake-a-thon?" Mylene questioned. "Don't worry, this is an easy one. The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility." "So what you're saying is the 20k run and the turkey-eating frenzy were part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?" asked Gwen. "That's right, Gwen." "Man, that dude's good." Nino said in disbelief.

They watched and saw that twelve hours later in the show, everyone was already too tired, had bags under their eyes, yawning away, and looked as if they were about to pass out at any minute or any second. All but the last two, Marinette and Lucy. Who are apparently just sitting there. "Wow, that was very smart of Marinette to avoid being out of the challenge," Adrien said, amazed that Marinette was still awake. "Yeah, I wonder if there's a way to actually join her to win the money?" Kim said, curiously thinking of how to join in the show. Just then, they see the confessionals from Gwen, Marinette, and Lucy. "The Awake-a-thon was definitely the most brutal thing I've ever done in my life," Gwen said in her confessional. They then see Lucy's confessional. "Just as Nettie and I suspected. But then again, I feel like this challenge will be a walk in the park. This brings back some memories of when I was with some old friends of mine when I was five and six years old." the kids' eyes widened hearing that Lucy had done this before. Even at a young age. "I know I was too young to do any of that at night, but still. It's pretty much an easy task for me. I got this one in the bag." "So she got to stay up all night with her friends? So cool!" Alix complimented, thinking that it was awesome that Lucy stayed up all night with some friends. "She's so lucky. My parents wouldn't let me do that because of those school nights and curfews." Kim said, feeling a little jealous of what Lucy did when she was little. 'That doesn't make sense. She's a world-known idol. How does she do everything and not get tired even after as a kid? I mean, I do it all the time when I'm Chat Noir, but I don't think that's healthy for a celebrity.' Adrien thought in disbelief, feeling doubts about Lucy staying up every night. They then pay attention to Marinette's confessional. "This won't be too bad. I always take all-nighters whenever I have to do homework, work on design ideas, and work on commissions for my clients. So this won't be so hard." Adrien smiles happily for Marinette. He knows she works really hard on her designs all day and night. Even though he does worry for her well-being, he knows Marinette can win this challenge.

As they watch them and the rest of the campers continue on with the Awake-a-thon, Owen is already down and out. "This is the most boring thing I've ever done in my life." "Tell me about it. I can't read any of my Stephanie Queen books during this whole ordeal." Lucy said, upset she couldn't read her Stephanie Queen books for the challenge. "Bummer. That's not cool of Chris not letting her read through the whole challenge." Nino said, feeling sympathy for Lucy. Juleka nods in agreement since she doesn't blame Lucy for wanting to read some good horror books. That was until they heard them talking still. "Could be way worse," said Trent. "How?" asked Marinette. "I could be stuck here without you to talk to," Trent said to Marinette, making her smile. Gwen smiles as she sees Trent talk to Marinette. They all then see her confessional. "Not gonna lie, but for some reason, I can actually see the two being together when this whole crazed-storm of a show is over. Those two, totally deserve each other." "That's one way to put it, Gwen," Juleka said, smiling and liking Gwen's idea. Adrien on the other hand, felt like his heart was stabbed twice by Gwen and Trent's words to and about Marinette. He was about to say something until they all watched Heather's confessional. "So, my strategy is to get two other campers to form an alliance with me and take to the Final Three. The only question is, who can I find that is either desperate or dumb enough to do whatever I say?" "Uh, probably nobody?" Alix said. Just then, they all see Lindsay in a mid-handstand. "Um, Lindsay? What are you doing there, Bambina?" Lucy asked. "I'm trying to get the blood to rush to my head. I think it's working." "Can I try?" Beth asked her. And Lindsay told her sure. "I wouldn't do that if I were you two," Lucy said worriedly. "Yeah, I'm with Lucy. That doesn't seem so safe." Mylene said, looking at Beth and Lindsay worried. "Lindsay, Beth, can I talk to you for a second?" Heather called. As they head over to her, they are shocked and in disbelief to see Heather talking Beth and Lindsay into forming an alliance with her by telling them that she can take them to the final three. Not to mention Heather telling Lindsay that she can't date Tyler since he's in the Killer Bass team and she's in the Screaming Gophers team. That was until they watched Lindsay's confessional. "Heather said I couldn't date him. She never said I couldn't like him," she said. "That is very true," Rose said, agreeing with Lindsay's opinion. As they continued watching it, they watched as Eva told them she was going to the restroom. And when she walked, her MP3 player dropped from her pocket and onto the ground. That was when the students watched Heather taking it. They looked shocked as she took it with an evil-looking smile while walking back to Beth and Lindsay. "Isn't that Eva's MP3 player?" asked Lindsay. "Yep," Heather replied. "Isn't she gonna get really mad when she realizes it's gone?" "That's what I'm hoping for," Heather said, smirking evilly. The students looked shocked after watching that part of the show. "I can't believe Heather would do that! That girl could be like Chloe and a supervillain both combined with no mask!" Alya said in disbelief with most of her friends agreeing with her.

They continued watching the show, still in disbelief at what Heather did. They see that the sun has gone down and some of the campers are already falling asleep, but are trying their best to stay awake for the whole challenge. Which leaves eleven Screaming Gophers and Seven Killer Bass still awake. "Congratulations, campers. You've made it to the twenty-four-hour mark. Time to take things up a notch. Fairy Tales." "Lucky!" Rose gasped, feeling a little jealous. "Oh, he's not serious!" Gwen exclaimed. "I know, out of all things, he has to choose fairytales? I could be reading Stephanie Queen's Critter Crematory by now!" Lucy complained. "Talk about irony." Juleka murmured, taking pity on Lucy for wanting to read Stephanie Queen's books. As Chris read, more and more of the campers started to fall asleep while the rest were trying to stay awake.

Now there are six Screaming Gophers and four Killer Bass. Meanwhile, they see Gwen, Trent, Lucy, and Marinette having a small talk. "Okay, favorite song?" "Jagged's song tribute to the Parisian heroine Ladybug," Marinette said. 'I guess Marinette is a fan of Ladybug.' Adrien thought to himself. "Too Cool for School by my favorite late Drummer of KISS himself, the Fox, Eric Carr," Lucy said, crossing her heart for the late drummer. Most of the girls awwed when Lucy told them her favorite song from the said late drummer. "I did hear my father explaining that Eric Carr was his and my mother's favorite drummer back in the day. Even Nathalie hummed some of his songs from time to time. Although father did explain that he, mother, and Nathalie were both upset that Eric Carr passed on from heart cancer on November 24th, 1991." Adrien explained, remembering the times his father and Nathalie reminisced the times they listened to Eric Carr's music. His friends looked sad hearing that from him. "That's terrible," Rose said, feeling sad that a good drummer passed on years ago, right before they were born. Lila growled, knowing that there goes her chances of coming up with lies with 'Knowing Eric Carr and how he wrote a song about her as well as a way to express his admiration of her.' They then continued to watch the show after Trent told the girls his favorite song, 'She Will be Loved' and asked them about their favorite colors. Marinette says her two favorite colors are pink and red. "All colors from the 50s to the millennial 2000s. Oh, and black and Navy blue, of course," Lucy said. 'I bet father is going to find some design ideas now that Lucy said what her favorite colors are.' Adrien thought to himself, not aware of hearing Gwen's favorite color. Lucy then asked them for their favorite video game. "Death Arise," said Gwen. "Oh yeah, that action, adventure, and horror game that has you fighting off zombies," Juleka said, knowing what game Gwen was talking about. Lila was about to say something, but they raised their hands at her as a way of saying, 'Not now, maybe later.' which made Lila growl and cross her arms.  "Music Gods," Trent said. "Oh, That video game where you play a game guitar, game bass, game drums, and game turntables and play your favorite songs with them. Trent has good music taste," said Nino. They then hear Marinette say hers is Ultimate Mecha Strike III. It was pretty obvious to most of them since they always remembered Marinette playing it sometimes and teaming up with Max in the tournament. They then hear Marinette asking Lucy what her favorite video game is, "Victorian Servant: The Truth for the Vixen's Secret." "Isn't that the game with almost the same storyline as its manga series Victorian Servant itself?" "Yeah, it's kinda like a gender-bent version of that other manga series but with strong female characters and promotes both feminism and the pride community." they all talk about the video game that Lucy said, Lila growled as they all kept on talking and not paying any attention to what she has to say about the Victorian Servant video game.

After talking, they all continued watching the show. It was already fifty-one hours and still counting, and they all see that Justin is still standing there, and doesn't look to be tired at all. That was until Marinette tapped on his face which caused him to open his eyes, startling her and shocking them (the Akuma Class) and the campers. "His eyelids are painted! I saw it!" Eva yelled, pointing it out and getting Chris's attention. "Get out," he said in disbelief. "Oh, I got to see this." Chris then runs over to Justin and sees that they were right that he did paint his eyelids. "That is so crazy incredible! But you're still out, dude," he said. With that being said, that leaves five Screaming Gophers still awake for the challenge. "Is crazy incredible even a word?" "I don't know, but I still don't get why Justin has to paint his eyelids. That doesn't make any sense." As they all continued watching, they saw that it was two days later and on the morning of the show. They all were surprised to see that Marinette was still awake, yet she still had bags in their eyes telling them another story. That was until Adrien noticed that Marinette was looking at something. That was until they watched as Duncan put Harold's hand in a cup of water. "Oh, gross, it works! Dude peed his pants!" Duncan exclaimed, waking Harold up. As Harold wakes up, he realizes that he did and tries to cover himself in embarrassment while they all look in shock, disbelief, and disgust, while Kim is quietly snickering and trying to hold his laughter from seeing that happening on TV, wishing he was actually there to see it in real life. "Duncan! Why did you do that?!" Marinette said, running towards the scene. "Ah, come on, dollface. You gotta admit that was hilarious." said Duncan. Marinette glares at him. "Maybe for you, but that is still wrong." she said. "How immature can you be?" "Yeah, you tell him, girl!" Alya said. They then see the confessionals, starting with Duncan who looks like he's won the lottery after Cupid shot an arrow at him before that. "Feisty. I like that in a chick. And with this one, I think I might have found the one." Adrien's eye started to twitch at the same time with his eye twitching jealously. But he calms down a bit around the same time they start watching Lucy's confessional. "I saw that too, and believe it or not, but I've been through a lot of weird stuff back at my old high school, but that, that was just the lowest of low, even for Mr. Juvie Boy. That was just wrong. But aside from all of that, I got to get the bright side of things." Lucy then grabs a vintage-looking camera, takes a finished photograph out of it, and reveals the photograph to be Noah kissing Cody's ear. "Ha! We've been here for a week, and we're already getting a first ship. How fun is this in our second challenge?" Most of them started snickering and laughing. Most of them except Adrien, who is now watching Noah's confessional. "I didn't know it was Cody! I thought I was kissing Marinette!" Noah then realized what he said five seconds later. "No! I mean-AGH!" Adrien doesn't know why, but for some reason, hearing the guys' comments about and mentioning Marinette like that makes his blood boil.

After that, the rest of them continued watching them, seeing Gwen yawn saying, "I'd kill for a coffee right now," she said. Lucy was taking a couple of whiffs of an essential oil. Lucy then opened her eyes widely and turned her head to Gwen. "Sorry, Gwen. Did you say something?" Before Gwen can ask what she is sniffing, Chris walks in with a cup of coffee in his hand. "What is the matter with you people?" he asks, sipping his coffee. "Come on, fall asleep already." Gwen grabs Chris by the leg. "You got to hook me up, man." She said. "I'll even eat the grinds. Anything!" 'Boy, I would've been the same way as Gwen is if I went through a challenge like this.' Alya thought to herself as she watched Gwen desperately trying to grab the coffee out of Chris's hand. "Alright, you seven stay with me. The rest of you go and get a shower, for heaven's sake. You stink!" Chris said, sipping more of his coffee. "Well, what did you expect, McLean?! You're the one who made them do this dumb challenge!" Alix yells at the T.V. They watch as they see Lucy and Marinette are still awake, and Chris starts talking. "I didn't want it to come to this." he said. "I said that to Chef Hatchet last night. I said, "Chef, I don't want it to come to this." But darn it, these campers are tough. And so, I've come up with the most boring, sleep-inducing activity I can find." 'Great. Now what?' most of the students thought. Just then, Chris opens a book, which they all realize that it was a...

"The History of Canada. A pop-up book. Chapter One."

The class and the campers groaned as Chris read away in the pop-up history book. As Chris goes on in the book, it brung Eva, Heather, Gwen, and Trent to sleep. The class looked worriedly at Marinette. All of them except Lila. Lila was still mad that the new episode of the reality show she and her friends were all watching was taking all the attention away from her. But she then gets an idea in her head. When the time comes, she's going to tell them that she found the show and she's making all these challenges. She smiles, already thinking more of these brilliant ideas in her head. A little while later, Chris announced to the still awake three campers, "Time for a bathroom break. Any takers?" he asked. "I've held it this long, sweetheart," said Duncan. "I can go all day." Lucy scoffs. "Yeah, but I doubt you can hold it for another ten chapters." the class snickered from that and saw the look on Duncan's face. After that, Lucy's saying made Duncan change his mind, and head to the bathroom. "You've got five minutes." Chris said. "Long as you don't mind a little company." "Fine, but stay out of the stall." Duncan warns. After a little while, the class watched and saw Lucy and Marinette, who were starting to feel extremely tired, making them feel worried. That was until Chris received some intel from an intern. "And we have news. It looks like Duncan's taken a dive on the can, which means there is not one, but two official winners of the Awake-a-thon. And those two winners are...." they all watched as they saw Lucy and Marinette murmur something that they couldn't describe what they were saying, and the two girls fell back first, fast asleep, knocked out cold.

"Lucy and Marinette! The Screaming Gophers win!" most of the class cheered for Marinette to win the second challenge. Lila scoffs and rolls her eyes, not impressed about Marinette winning the second challenge. She hopes that by the next episode, she will lose and everyone will vote her off. After watching Heather's trick making Eva mad worked, they all watched the Elimination Ceremony, and to no one's shock nor surprise, Eva was voted off the team. And she was ticked. "Nice. Really nice." Eva said to the other campers, looking as mad as a raging bull. "Who needs this lame-o T.V. show, anyway?" as she stomps off to the Dock of Shame, she ragingly kicks Chris in the shin. As he lets out an 'ow' and holds his possibly bruised leg, he turns to the Killer Bass, telling them, "Have a good night's sleep tonight. You're all safe." they all then saw Courtney's confessional. "See? I told you. You can't act like a total raging psychopath and then expect people to just forgive you, no matter how tough and strong and fast you are." Courtney explains and crosses her arms, "She's never gonna have a career if she doesn't get her act together." "Yeah, but it wasn't even Eva's fault! Heather was the one who started it!" Alya yelled with the rest of her classmates yelling and complaining in agreement.

After that, they turned off the TV, finished it, and headed home. As Adrien heads home, he heads into his bedroom, and turns on his computer, seeing that the same episode is playing live as well. He then realized that he hadn't finished watching the rest of the ending. As he watches Eva in the Boat of Losers, she starts to talk, "I guess my temper got the better of me. Again. But whatever, they just lost their fiercest competitor. I hope they realize that." Just then, she feels something in her pocket. She checks to see that it is a little charm that has Rosie the Riveter that has words that say, 'Stay Strong, Eva! You Can Do It!', an essential oil that is labeled 'Anger Management', and a note that says, "To the strongest gal we know, M & L" Eva smiles, "But then again, there are some people that are actually understanding." she said. Adrien smiles, knowing that it must've been Marinette, feeling that there is hope that Marinette will be turning a new leaf, and hoping that she will keep it up when the show is over. After hearing a knock from Nathalie, telling him that his father wants to talk to him, he turns off his computer and heads off, still hoping that Marinette will be the same 'Everyday Ladybug' like she was supposed to be.

Celebrities

It was the weekend for all of the celebrities of Paris, France. And they are all getting together, getting ready to watch the new episode of Total Drama. Luka smiles as he looks through his chat history with Marinette on the new distance chat app, WhatsAppening. He was glad to see that she was having a blast at Wawanawkwa and making some new friends. He even called and talked to her and her new friends, and they were really nice to them. Even though Heather and Duncan were a little cold-shouldered, they were still pretty chill people in his book. Chris and Chef were even good people after he and his father met the two on the call. Even though the spots were full for the first season, Chris explains if possible, he would be happy to put Luka in the show for the second season if the show gets good ratings and views. Jagged thought it was a brilliant idea for his son to be on the show when they have a second season. His mother was also saying that it was a great idea. Since then, Jagged has started promoting Total Drama on his social media pages. A lot of other celebrities followed along in the blink of an eye. Luka can never forget how many followers he got from Paris to Canada in a millisecond when Jagged started promoting the show.

He then snaps out of it as he starts to hear his dad calling him over. "Luka! Come on! The show is about to start!" Luka runs over to the room and joins the rest of the celebrities on time when the show starts. After watching the recap and theme, the show began with Chris walking into the scene using an airhorn and a megaphone, all of the campers. After seeing most of the campers there, they see Marinette and Lucy exit their side of the cabin and walk over to join the rest of their team. "Glad you two can join us, girls," Chris said. He then starts talking to the rest of the still, tired campers. "Okay, now that everyone's here, I hope you're all ready because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute." "Oh, excuse me, I don't know if that's enough time to eat breakfast," said Owen. "Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen." Chris said, "Right after you complete your twenty-kilometer run, around the lake." "Oh, so you're funny now?" Eva questioned, not liking Chris's motives, and started marching towards him with her left hand formed into a fist, ready to punch a man to a bloody pulp. "You know what I think would be funny-" Luka and the celebrities looked shocked and surprised seeing Eva like that. However, before Eva can do anything to Chris, she gets pulled back by Geoff and Duncan. "Eva, try to control your temper?" Courtney whispered to her. Eva then turns to Chris again. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked. "A little," Chris admits. "You have thirty seconds." they then watched and listened to Courtney's confessional. "Okay, that girl, Eva, has got to get a handle on her temper. She's only been here one day, and she's already thrown her suitcase out a window and broken the lock on one of the bathroom doors." "Yikes. I can't imagine seeing what Eva would be like when she's here in Paris." one of the celebrities said, shuddering at the thought of Eva being here in Paris.

After that, they continued to watch the campers as they started to prepare for their kilometer run. "Okay, runners! On your marks, get set, go!" with that, they all started running. All but Marinette and Lucy. Some of the celebrities started yelling, telling Marinette to hurry and pick up the pace. However, she was not catching up with the rest of the campers. That was until they watched both hers and Lucy's confessionals. "Nettie and I were a bit suspicious about us awake so early and are told to do a run around a lake." "As a result, Lucy and I decided to walk instead. That way, we can see what this challenge really is." "Hey, Rock and Roll! That's very smart of you and Lucy, Marinette." Jagged said, raising his soda cup for Marinette and her friend with their way of doing the challenge. After seeing the campers make it to the main lodge, they see most of the Screaming Gophers cheer, knowing they beat the Killer Bass on the run. But before most of the celebrities can react, Chris spoke up. "Whoa there! Hold your horses, guys. That wasn't the challenge." he said. "What did you just say?" asked Gwen. "Yeah, I second what Gwen asked. What did Chris just say?" another one of the celebrities, Chanel Watson asked, agreeing with Gwen.

"Who's hungry?" there, they all see a table full of home-cooked food. Luka and the celebrities looked amazed as they saw the table full of delicious food. Just then, the confessionals started rolling in of Gwen and Owen and then showed Marinette and Lucy's confessionals. "I must admit, the buffet table looked amazing. However, since there were still suspicions about the running and the buffet, I decided to stick with something light. Such as a bread roll and maybe some of the salad." "As much as I want to enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal as if it was home if my hunch is correct, I'm just going to do the right thing and stick to the salad." "Hey, another smart way from my favorite little lady and her friend!" Jagged says as he raises his soda cup again and then sips on it. After seeing their confessionals, all the celebrities saw that most campers were stuffed after devouring the buffet. And only Luka noticed Lucy quietly snickering to herself. Luka was already wanting to know what Lucy was snickering about. Either it was seeing the campers stuffed after devouring the whole buffet, or it was something else in her mind.

He then snaps out of his train of thought when Chris starts talking. "Okay, campers! Time for part two of your challenge," "I thought eating was the second part," said Owen. "What more do you want from us?" "Weird goth girl is right. Haven't we been through enough?" asked Heather. "Um, let me think about that. No! It's time for the Awake-a-thon!" Chris announced. "The what-a-thon?" Owen asked. "What in the world is an Awake-a-thon?" the third celebrity questions, already as confused as the other campers. "Don't worry, this is an easy one. The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility." "So what you're saying is the 20k run and the turkey-eating frenzy were part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?" asked Gwen. "That's right, Gwen." "Man, Chris is good." a wunderkind celebrity said.

All the celebrities watched and saw that twelve hours later in the show, everyone was already too tired, had bags under their eyes, yawning away, and looked as if they were about to pass out at any minute or any second. All but the last two, Marinette and Lucy, since the two are both just sitting there. "Those two really dodged a bullet." "Yeah, but exactly how long is that even going to take?" As they question how long the challenge will be for the campers, they see Gwen, Lucy, and Marinette's confessionals. "The Awake-a-thon was definitely the most brutal thing I've ever done in my life," Gwen said in her confessional. They then see Lucy's confessional. "Just as Nettie and I suspected. But then again, I feel like this challenge will be a walk in the park. This brings back some memories of when I was with some old friends of mine when I was five and six years old." every celebrity in the room looked shocked, surprised, and in disbelief hearing that. "I know I was too young to do any of that at night, but still. It's pretty much an easy task for me. I got this one in the bag." "Wow, I didn't know Lucy did that as a kid." another wunderkind said, still surprised knowing Lucy had done that as a child. "I wonder when it started?" another celebrity questioned, curious to know how she did that as a kid. While some celebrities in the room were all questioning the new fact about Lucy, Luka, Jagged, Penny, Ali, and Clara were more focused on listening to Marinette's confessional. "This won't be too bad. I always take all-nighters whenever I have to do homework, work on design ideas, and work on commissions for my clients. So this won't be so hard." "Rock and Roll, Marinette!" Jagged praised. Penny and Clara both nod in agreement. Luka smiles happily for Marinette. He knows she works really hard on her designs all day and night. Even though he does worry for her well-being.

As the celebrities watch them and the rest of the campers continue on with the Awake-a-thon, Owen is already down and out. "This is the most boring thing I've ever done in my life." "Tell me about it. I can't read any of my Stephanie Queen books during this whole ordeal." Lucy said, upset she couldn't read her Stephanie Queen books for the challenge. They then hear them talking still. "Could be way worse," said Trent. "How?" asked Marinette. "I could be stuck here without you to talk to," Trent said to Marinette, making her smile. Gwen smiles as she sees Trent talk to Marinette. They all then see her confessional. "Not gonna lie, but for some reason, I can actually see the two being together when this whole crazed-storm of a show is over. Those two, totally deserve each other." Luka smiles, thinking that is a good idea. Even though his heart started to break a bit, he still thought it was a good idea. He and the rest weren't aware of Heather's confessional, her having Beth and Lindsay in her alliance, and secretly stealing Eva's MP3 player. They continued watching the show and watched the sun go down, and some campers were already falling asleep. But are trying their best to stay awake for the whole challenge. Which leaves eleven Screaming Gophers and Seven Killer Bass still awake. "Congratulations, campers. You've made it to the twenty-four-hour mark. Time to take things up a notch. Fairy Tales." "Oh, he's not serious!" Gwen exclaimed. "I know, out of all things, he has to choose fairytales? I could be reading Stephanie Queen's Critter Crematory by now!" Lucy complained. As Chris read, more and more campers started to fall asleep while the rest were trying to stay awake.

Now there are six Screaming Gophers and four Killer Bass. Meanwhile, they see Gwen, Trent, Lucy, and Marinette having a small talk. "Okay, favorite song?" "Jagged's song tribute to the Parisian heroine Ladybug," Marinette said. Jagged smiled happily, hearing that. "Too Cool for School by my favorite late Drummer of KISS himself, the Fox, Eric Carr," Lucy said, crossing her heart for the late drummer. Some celebrity girls awwed when Lucy told them her favorite song from the late drummer. Luka smiled and raised his cup, saying, "We all miss you, Eric Carr." "To Eric Carr." all the celebrities said in unison, raising their cups for the late drummer. They then continued to watch the show after Trent told the girls his favorite song, 'She Will be Loved' and asked them about their favorite colors. Marinette says her two favorite colors are pink and red. "All colors from the 50s to the millennial 2000s. Oh, and black and Navy blue, of course," Lucy said. "I say that there are some fashion designers around the world starting to work on some designer outfit ideas with the colors Marinette and Lucy already said on the show as we speak." one of the celebrities said as another one nodded in agreement along with more celebrities agreeing. Lucy then asked them for their favorite video game. "Death Arise," said Gwen. "Music Gods," Trent said. Marinette says hers is Ultimate Mecha Strike III. Marinette then asks Lucy what was her favorite video game, "Victorian Servant: The Truth for the Vixen's Secret."

They all continued watching the show. It was already fifty-one hours and still counting, and they all see that Justin is still standing there, and doesn't look to be tired at all. That was until Marinette tapped on his face which caused him to open his eyes, startling her and shocking them (Luka and the celebrities) and the campers. "His eyelids are painted! I saw it!" Eva yelled, pointing it out and getting Chris's attention. "Get out," he said in disbelief. "Oh, I got to see this." Chris then runs over to Justin and sees that they were right that he did paint his eyelids. "That is so crazy incredible! But you're still out, dude," he said. With that being said, that leaves five Screaming Gophers still awake for the challenge. "I don't think there's such word as crazy incredible." Penny said, sipping on her iced tea. 

As they all continued watching, they saw that it was two days later and on the morning of the show. They all were surprised to see that Marinette and Lucy were still awake. Yet, they still had bags in their eyes telling them another story. That was until Luka noticed that Marinette was looking at something. That was until they watched as Duncan put Harold's hand in a cup of water. "Oh, gross, it works! Dude peed his pants!" Duncan exclaimed, waking Harold up. As Harold wakes up, he realizes that he did and tries to cover himself in embarrassment while they all look in shock, disbelief, and disgust. "Duncan! Why did you do that?!" Marinette said, running towards the scene. "Ah, come on, dollface. You gotta admit that was hilarious." said Duncan. Marinette glares at him. "Maybe for you, but that is still wrong," she said. "How immature can you be?" "You tell him, Marinette! Duncan must've done that to get your attention on purpose I bet!" Clara said. Luka nods, with all the celebrities agreeing with Clara, all not aware of Duncan's, Lucy's, and Noah's confessionals.

After that, the rest of them continued watching them, seeing Gwen yawn saying, "I'd kill for a coffee right now," she said. Lucy was taking a couple of whiffs of an essential oil. Lucy then opened her eyes widely and turned her head to Gwen. "Sorry, Gwen. Did you say something?" Chris then walks in with a cup of coffee in his hand. "What is the matter with you people?" he asks, sipping his coffee. "Come on, fall asleep already." Gwen grabs Chris by the leg. "You got to hook me up, man." She said. "I'll even eat the grinds. Anything!" "Alright, you seven stay with me. The rest of you go and get a shower, for heaven's sake. You stink!" Chris said, sipping more of his coffee. "Well, what did you expect, McLean?! You're the one who made them do this dumb challenge!" yelled the wunderkind celebrity. They watch as they see Lucy and Marinette are still awake, and Chris starts talking. "I didn't want it to come to this." he said. "I said that to Chef Hatchet last night. I said, "Chef, I don't want it to come to this." But darn it, these campers are tough. And so, I've come up with the most boring, sleep-inducing activity I can find." Chris opens a book, which they all realize that it was a...

"The History of Canada. A pop-up book. Chapter One." The campers groaned as Chris read away in the pop-up history book. As Chris goes on in the book, it brung Eva, Heather, Gwen, and Trent to sleep. Luka and the celebrities looked worriedly at Marinette and Lucy. A little while later, Chris announced to the still awake three campers, "Time for a bathroom break. Any takers?" he asked. "I've held it this long, sweetheart," said Duncan. "I can go all day." Lucy scoffs. "Yeah, but I doubt you can hold it for another ten chapters." some celebrities snickered from that and saw the look on Duncan's face. After that, Lucy's saying made Duncan change his mind, and head to the bathroom. "You've got five minutes." Chris said. "Long as you don't mind a little company." "Fine, but stay out of the stall." Duncan warns. After a little while, the celebrities watched and saw Lucy and Marinette, who were starting to feel extremely tired, making them feel worried. That was until Chris received some intel from an intern. "And we have news. It looks like Duncan's taken a dive on the can, which means there is not one, but two official winners of the Awake-a-thon. And those two winners are...." they all watched as they saw Lucy and Marinette murmur something that they couldn't describe what they were saying, and the two girls fell back first, fast asleep, knocked out cold.

"Lucy and Marinette! The Screaming Gophers win!" All the celebrities cheered for Marinette to win the second challenge. Even though they never had enough time to finish the rest of the show, they were happy that Marinette won the second challenge, and are looking forward to watching the next one next weekend. When Luka headed home, he headed to his room and saw that the show was still going. He watches on his T.V. seeing that Eva was eliminated. He watches Eva in the Boat of Losers, and she starts to talk, "I guess my temper got the better of me. Again. But whatever, they just lost their fiercest competitor. I hope they realize that." Just then, she feels something in her pocket. She checks to see that it is a little charm that has Rosie the Riveter that has words that say, 'Stay Strong, Eva! You Can Do It!', an essential oil that is labeled 'Anger Management', and a note that says, "To the strongest gal we know, M & L" Eva smiles, "But then again, there are some people that are actually understanding." she said. Luka smiles, knowing that it is both Marinette and Lucy. Luka then turns his T.V. off and starts to get ready for bed. 'I hope you're doing great in Wawanawkwa, Marinette.' he thought.

Friends and Family

Everyone was already sitting down and getting ready to watch the new episode of Total Drama Island. Tom and Sabine were glad that their daughter was doing well in Wawanawkwa. After talking to her on WhatsAppening, they see that Marinette is happy being there. Even Marinette's friends from Paris, New York, and Shanghai were glad to see her happy there. They all even got to meet her new friends there. They were all nice, even though Duncan and Heather were a little cold-shouldered, they were still nice. To them, that is. And when they met Chris and Chef, they were nice to talk to. Tom and Sabine even shared some recipes with Chef and D.J.. And Chris said to Marinette's friends that if it was possible, he would be happy to have them on the show. When Audrey heard it from Zoe's phone the one time she visited Paris for a day, she agreed with the idea and started promoting the show on her social media. And Chloe, wanting her mother's attention, as usual, she followed her mother's golden footsteps and promoted the show on her social media as well. Tom and Sabine were surprised to see millions of people standing in a very long line at their bakery the next day. When they finished their shift for the day, they figured out how when they saw that Chris sponsored their bakery. Overnight, their bakery became one of the top ten most popular bakeries. Even Soqueline's family arts and crafts supply shop became popular overnight thanks to Chris sponsoring it. 

When they all got ready and turned on the T.V., the reality show was on. After watching the recap, they watched and saw Chris walking into the scene with an air horn and a megaphone in both hands. Using them both to wake up all the campers in the cabins. They then cheered as they saw Marinette walking out of the cabin with Lucy. Chris then starts talking to the rest of the still-tired campers. "Okay, now that everyone's here, I hope you're all ready because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute." "Oh, excuse me, I don't know if that's enough time to eat breakfast," said Owen. "Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen." Chris said, "Right after you complete your twenty-kilometer run, around the lake." "Oh, so you're funny now?" Eva questioned, not liking Chris's motives, and started marching towards him with her left hand formed into a fist, ready to punch a man to a bloody pulp. "You know what I think would be funny-" they looked shocked and surprised seeing Eva like that. However, before Eva can do anything to Chris, she gets pulled back by Geoff and Duncan. "Eva, try to control your temper?" Courtney whispered to her. Eva then turns to Chris again. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked. "A little," Chris admits. "You have thirty seconds."

After that, they continued to watch the campers as they started to prepare for their kilometer run. "Okay, runners! On your marks, get set, go!" with that, they all started running. All but Marinette and Lucy. They looked confused seeing the two just walking. That was until they saw their confessionals. "Nettie and I were a bit suspicious about us awake so early and are told to do a run around a lake." "As a result, Lucy and I decided to walk instead. That way, we can see what this challenge really is." "That is a good plan from the two." Tomoe says, impressed with the girls' idea. Kagami nods in agreement with her mother. Socquelle smiles seeing that Marinette has a plan with her camp friend. After a little bit, they see that the Screaming Gophers beat the Killer Bass. But then Chris tells them, "Whoa there! Hold your horses, guys. That wasn't the challenge." he said. "What did you just say?" asked Gwen.

"Who's hungry?" there, they all see a table full of home-cooked food. All the families and friends looked amazed as they saw the table full of delicious food. Just then, the confessionals started rolling in of Gwen and Owen and then showed Marinette and Lucy's confessionals. "I must admit, the buffet table looked amazing. However, since there were still suspicions about the running and the buffet, I decided to stick with something light. Such as a bread roll and maybe some of the salad." "As much as I want to enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal as if it was home if my hunch is correct, I'm just going to do the right thing and stick to the salad." "That's my Marinetta!" Marinette's grandmother, Gina cheered, impressed with her and Lucy's idea. After the confessionals, they see that all of the campers got full after eating the whole buffet, while Marinette finishes eating her bread roll and Lucy is snickering to herself about something. Chris then gets up on the table and announces to the campers, "Okay, campers! Time for part two of your challenge," "I thought eating was the second part," said Owen. "What more do you want from us?" "Weird goth girl is right. Haven't we been through enough?" asked Heather. "Um, let me think about that. No! It's time for the Awake-a-thon!" Chris announced. "The what-a-thon?" Owen asked. 'Oh, so that's what he's doing.' the friends and families thought to themselves, now understanding what Chris was doing. 'That would explain why the food would be mostly turkey. That was very smart of Marinette and Lucy to stick to the salad and bread roll.' the friends thought. They continue watching the show. "Don't worry, this is an easy one. The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility." "So what you're saying is the 20k run and the turkey-eating frenzy were part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?" asked Gwen. "That's right, Gwen." "Man, he's good." After Chris told them to move, the friends and family watched as everyone started to head out of the main lodge to the campsite to start the Awake-a-thon. "So, how long do you think it'll be before everyone's out cold?" Trent asked Gwen, Lucy, and Marinette. "About an hour, give or take," Gwen said, giving Trent her answer. As they see Owen walking past them, looking as if he is going to pass out at any second, Gwen added, "Maybe less."

watched and saw that twelve hours later in the show, everyone was already too tired, had bags under their eyes, yawning away, and looked as if they were about to pass out at any minute or any second. All but the last two, Marinette and Lucy, since the two are both just sitting there. "I'm glad Marinette didn't run and eat the other stuff in the buffet," Mirelle said, with the rest of the friends nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that would've been bad." They then stopped talking when the confessionals came on. There, they watch that it was Gwen, Lucy, and Marinette's confessionals. "The Awake-a-thon was definitely the most brutal thing I've ever done in my life," Gwen said in her confessional. They then see Lucy's confessional. "Just as Nettie and I suspected. But then again, I feel like this challenge will be a walk in the park. This brings back some memories of when I was with some old friends of mine when I was five and six years old." all the family members and Marinette's friends looked shocked, hearing that from Lucy herself. "Lucy actually stayed up that young?!" Aurore gasped with her jaw dropped to the floor. "How was that even possible?" Kagami questioned, with Marc asking, "And since when did that happen?" They then continue to hear her confessional. "I know I was too young to do any of that at night, but still. It's pretty much an easy task for me. I got this one in the bag." "Well, I guess that's good if she says so," said Zoe. They then see Marinette's confessional. "This won't be too bad. I always take all-nighters whenever I have to do homework, work on design ideas, and work on commissions for my clients. So this won't be so hard." Tom and Sabine smiled happy for their daughter. They know that Marinette actually does have some all nighters to work up on some schoolwork and her designs. They're all very happy for Marinette. Even though, they do worry about her well-being.

watch them and the rest of the campers continue on with the Awake-a-thon, Owen is already down and out. "This is the most boring thing I've ever done in my life." "Tell me about it. I can't read any of my Stephanie Queen books during this whole ordeal." Lucy said, upset she couldn't read her Stephanie Queen books for the challenge. "That's a shame, really," Marc says, feeling sorry for Lucy. They then hear them talking still. "Could be way worse," said Trent. "How?" asked Marinette. "I could be stuck here without you to talk to," Trent said to Marinette, making her smile. Gwen smiles as she sees Trent talk to Marinette. They all then see her confessional. "Not gonna lie, but for some reason, I can actually see the two being together when this whole crazed-storm of a show is over. Those two, totally deserve each other." they all smiled at that. Even though their smiling faces faded after watching Heather getting Beth and Lindsay in her little "alliance", and taking Eva's MP3 player without anybody knowing, they were still watching the show and watched the sun go down, and some campers were already falling asleep. But are trying their best to stay awake for the whole challenge. Which leaves eleven Screaming Gophers and Seven Killer Bass still awake. "Congratulations, campers. You've made it to the twenty-four-hour mark. Time to take things up a notch. Fairy Tales." "Oh, he's not serious!" Gwen exclaimed. "I know, out of all things, he has to choose fairytales? I could be reading Stephanie Queen's Critter Crematory by now!" Lucy complained, with Marc giving her a sympathetic look on his face. As Chris read, more and more campers started to fall asleep while the rest were trying to stay awake.

Now there are six Screaming Gophers and four Killer Bass. Meanwhile, they see Gwen, Trent, Lucy, and Marinette having a small talk. "Okay, favorite song?" "Jagged's song tribute to the Parisian heroine Ladybug," Marinette said. Tom and Sabine smiled since it was obvious that she kept playing the song nonstop in her room. "Too Cool for School by my favorite late Drummer of KISS himself, the Fox, Eric Carr," Lucy said, crossing her heart for the late drummer. The family and friends smiled and raised their cups in honor for the late drummer. They then heard that Trent's favorite song was She Will Be Loved and then asked the girls their favorite colors. Marinette says that hers is pink and red. "All colors from the 50s to the millennial 2000s. Oh, and black and Navy blue, of course," Lucy said. 'I don't know why, but I feel like mom is going to make some designer outfits for her in those colors after she said that on live television.' Zoe thought to herself. Gwen then says hers is midnight blue. Lucy then asks what their video games are. Gwen says hers is Death Arise and Trent says his is Music Gods. Marinette then says hers is Ultimate Mecha Strike III. "It's true. She's been beating me on every level every time." Tom said, approving it. They laugh and continue watching the show. Marinette then asks Lucy what was her favorite video game, "Victorian Servant: The Truth for the Vixen's Secret." "Oh, I like that series!" Marc says, happily. "I hear it's good." Kagami said, with her mother nodding in agreement. They all continued watching the show. It was already fifty-one hours and still counting, and they all see that Justin is still standing there, and doesn't look to be tired at all. That was until Marinette tapped on his face which caused him to open his eyes, startling her and shocking them (the family and Marinette's friends) and the campers. "His eyelids are painted! I saw it!" Eva yelled, pointing it out and getting Chris's attention. "Get out," he said in disbelief. "Oh, I got to see this." Chris then runs over to Justin and sees that they were right that he did paint his eyelids. "That is so crazy incredible! But you're still out, dude," he said. With that being said, that leaves five Screaming Gophers still awake for the challenge. "There is no such word as crazy incredible." Tomoe mumbled.

As they all continued watching, they saw that it was two days later and on the morning of the show. They all were surprised to see that Marinette and Lucy were still awake. Yet, they still had bags in their eyes telling them another story. That was until Luka noticed that Marinette was looking at something. That was until they watched as Duncan put Harold's hand in a cup of water. "Oh, gross, it works! Dude peed his pants!" Duncan exclaimed, waking Harold up. As Harold wakes up, he realizes that he did and tries to cover himself in embarrassment while they all look in shock, disbelief, and disgust. "Duncan! Why did you do that?!" Marinette said, running towards the scene. "Ah, come on, dollface. You gotta admit that was hilarious." said Duncan. Marinette glares at him. "Maybe for you, but that is still wrong," she said. "How immature can you be?" Marinette's friends all talked in agreement, getting the family's attention, and they were not paying attention to Duncan, Lucy, and Noah's confessionals.

After that, they all continued watching them, seeing Gwen yawn saying, "I'd kill for a coffee right now," she said. Lucy was taking a couple of whiffs of an essential oil. Lucy then opened her eyes widely and turned her head to Gwen. "Sorry, Gwen. Did you say something?" Chris then walks in with a cup of coffee in his hand. "What is the matter with you people?" he asks, sipping his coffee. "Come on, fall asleep already." Gwen grabs Chris by the leg. "You got to hook me up, man." She said. "I'll even eat the grinds. Anything!" "Alright, you seven stay with me. The rest of you go and get a shower, for heaven's sake. You stink!" Chris said, sipping more of his coffee. "Well, what did he expect? He is the one who made them do this challenge." Jessica said, crossing her arms. They watch as they see Lucy and Marinette are still awake, and Chris starts talking. "I didn't want it to come to this." he said. "I said that to Chef Hatchet last night. I said, "Chef, I don't want it to come to this." But darn it, these campers are tough. And so, I've come up with the most boring, sleep-inducing activity I can find." Chris opens a book, which they all realize that it was a...

"The History of Canada. A pop-up book. Chapter One." The campers groaned as Chris read away in the pop-up history book. As Chris goes on in the book, it brung Eva, Heather, Gwen, and Trent to sleep. The family and Marinette's friends looked worriedly at Marinette. A little while later, Chris announced to the still awake three campers, "Time for a bathroom break. Any takers?" he asked. "I've held it this long, sweetheart," said Duncan. "I can go all day." Lucy scoffs. "Yeah, but I doubt you can hold it for another ten chapters." some of Marinette's friends snickered from that and saw the look on Duncan's face. After that, Lucy's saying made Duncan change his mind, and head to the bathroom. "You've got five minutes." Chris said. "Long as you don't mind a little company." "Fine, but stay out of the stall." Duncan warns. After a little while, they watched and saw Lucy and Marinette, who were starting to feel extremely tired, making them feel worried. That was until Chris received some intel from an intern. "And we have news. It looks like Duncan's taken a dive on the can, which means there is not one, but two official winners of the Awake-a-thon. And those two winners are...." they all watched as they saw Lucy and Marinette murmur something that they couldn't describe what they were saying, and the two girls fell back first, fast asleep, knocked out cold.

"Lucy and Marinette! The Screaming Gophers win!" They all cheered for Marinette to win the second challenge. After watching the elimination ceremony, Eva was out of the show. When she rode off on the Boat of Losers, she started to talk, "I guess my temper got the better of me. Again. But whatever, they just lost their fiercest competitor. I hope they realize that." Just then, she feels something in her pocket. She checks to see that it is a little charm that has Rosie the Riveter that has words that say, 'Stay Strong, Eva! You Can Do It!', an essential oil that is labeled 'Anger Management', and a note that says, "To the strongest gal we know, M & L" Eva smiles, "But then again, there are some people that are actually understanding." she said. They all smile, knowing that it is Marinette and her friend Lucy. After that, they all agreed that they would meet again next week, and watch the next episode. And of course, they're going to give Marinette time since she's now getting her well-deserved sleep after winning the challenge for her team. 

??? & ???

They both looked in worry as they watched and saw Lucy looking extremely tired. But that all changed when Chris got information from one of his interns. "And we have news. It looks like Duncan's taken a dive on the can, which means there is not one, but two official winners of the Awake-a-thon. And those two winners are...." They then hear Lucy mumbling something that they can hear clearly. "Is it just me? Or is that a sorcerer from a different realm with an evil smirk heading our way?" they both looked shocked as they heard that and ignored Marinette's mumbling. "She remembers." one of them said, holding their clipboard tightly in their arms. Even though they were glad that Lucy and Marinette won the Awake-a-thon, they were more focused on their old friend. "Adrien needs to hurry it up contacting Marinette." the other one growled, gritting their teeth.

Desc Prologue Get to Know My OC Chpt 1 Reactions Pt 1 Chpt 2 Chpt 3 Reactions Pt 3 Chpt 4 Reactions Pt 4 Chpt 5 Reactions Pt 5

#totaldramamiraculousisland #total drama miraculous island #miraculous crossover #total drama crossover #oc insert #miraculous ladybug #total drama #total drama island #class salt #lila salt #lila sucks #cerise bianca salt #iris verdi salt #who the freak is she?!!💢 #adrien salt #gabriel agreste redemption #gabriel is not a monster #good parents tom and sabine #tom and sabine sugar #caline bustier salt #damocles salt #marinette protection squad #marinette defense squad #marinette deserves better #marinette needs a hug

[trashyangelic]

MLB Request #12

I've seen alot of Lila x Felix on Gacha Youtube but never on fanfics here in Wattpad or AO3. So I want this to happen if anyone is interested to make this.

SALT: Alya Cesaire, Caline Bustier, Adrien Agreste SUGAR: Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng, Gabriel Agreste, Nathalie Sanceour REDEMPTION: Lila Rossi, Nino Lahiffe, Chloe Bourgeois, Juleka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Le Chien Kim, Alix Kubdel, Sabrina Raincomprix PAIRING: Lila x Felix / Marinette x Damian / Chloe x Jon / Juleka x Rose / Kim x Alix / Nino x Cass / Sabrina x Delmar

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒 !

Lila's mother decided to take her daughter away from the toxic school she been hearing about from mainly Tom & Sabine Patissiere Bakery she always goes to. She wanted her daughter to stop with her lies for once too so they move to London for her daughter to attend a new school. Where Lila meet Felix Graham de Vanily they got on a good start. Lila was shock that Felix is Adrien's cousin now thinking that she should change her attitude to Felix to gain and stay on his good side.

But what Lila didn't know that Marinette, Nino, and Chloe moved to a different new school in New Jersey so she didn't even think about it until Felix mention about Chloe's name and Marinette. Lila did feel bad for bullying Marinette she still wonder whatever happen back in her old school back in Paris.

News spread wild fire on international and social media about Lila Rossi is now dating Felix Graham de Vanily, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is dating Damian Wayne, Chloe Bourgeois is dating Jon Kent, and lastly Nino Lahiffe is dating Cassandra Cain. It appears that Sabine was a former assassin from League of Assassin with her friend Talia Al Ghul yet they stand as rivals.

As for Alya she seems to be on clutched with Lila Rossi's tales but never check her sources properly but what she doesn't know that she had a restraining order from Marinette, Lila, and Nino.

As for Adrien well he is no longer a sunshine after giving the advice to Marinette about 'high road'. He also got a restraining order from Marinette and Chloe.

Yet Marinette and Chloe still visits Paris as their alter ego to defeat Hawkmoth and Mayura with a help by Nino as well. Marinette told Nadja that Rena Rogue is no longer to be trusted with miraculos if she doesn't fact-check her sources. She does not tolerate people who are tabloids.

Marinette is the guardian of the Miraculous which means that she took the Black Cat miraculous from Chat Noir last night before leaving for her new school that her parents and Chloe's dad set up for her, Chloe, and Nino to leave Paris. She gave the Black Cat Miraculous to Damien...

But the rest is up to you!

#lila x felix #nice lila rossi #alya salt #class salt #bustier salt #mlb x dc #daminette #adrien salt #kim x alix #juleka x rose #nino x cass #lila rossi redemption #chloe x jon #sabrina x delmar #miraculous ladybug fic

[misty79]

👻 Miraculous Flufftober 🎃

Day 2: Family, Friends, Loved ones

Autumn leaves are falling outside and the du-pan cheng’s are relaxing, playing games with a guest, “Thanks again for letting me hang out here.” Sabine and Tom both give him a warm smile “Anything for one of Paris’s hero’s.” Sabine sets a plate of fall themed sugar cookies in front of Marinette and Chat Noir, “Your always welcome here!”

Chat grabs a cookie and Marinette pulls out the clue envelope from under the board, “Mr. Green with candlestick in the courtyard!” She confidently makes her accusation and out of the envelope comes the cards, candlestick, Mr. Green, and courtyard. “I win again!” Chat Noir looks in shock at her fourth win in a row, “Wow Marinette, how are you so good at this?” She shows him her hand, “I got lucky. When dad made his last guess I knew you had to have shown him the dagger because I had Mrs white and the kitchen. It just happened to be the last weapon that could’ve been in the envelope.”

Sabine pulls a chair around and sits down next to Tom, “should we play another game?” Marinette’s eyes widen, “Let’s play Risk!” Chat Noir furrows his brow, “I’ve never heard of it, how do you play?” Marinette’s eyes widen as she gets up to pull it out while the others put clue away. Chat can’t help but smile at her as she enthusiastically explains the game. This was nice weekly game night at the du-pan cheng’s, if he could get away that often.

@flufftober

#flufftober #flufftober 2023 #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous fandom #miraculous ladybug #flufftober2023 #miraculous fanfic #miraculousflufftober

[writer-rider-flirty-thirties]

The Perfect Opportunity

An excerpt from Day 1: Road Trip for LBSC’s Lukanette Week 2022:

Marinette stopped by her room first, changing into an outfit that featured less flour and sugar and telling the kwamis to behave while she was gone, before saying goodbye to her parents.

“Have a fun time!” Tom smiled as he squeezed her.

“But not too much fun.” Sabine amended, kissing Marinette’s cheeks. “It’ll be better if you finish university before giving us grandchildren.”

A surprised cough exploded from Marinette as she found herself choking at her mom’s words. “Maman!”

Tom's eyes clouded over as he smiled. “I don’t know, Sabine. I can’t wait for the sounds of tiny footsteps to fill our home again.”

Marinette's eyes bugged. “Papa! Stop! Luka and I- We’re not-!”

“Not yet.” Tom agreed, hands clasping over his chest as his eyes got that faraway look again. “But when you do finally get together, I can’t wait to see how cute our grandbabies will be!”

At a loss for words, Marinette decided to just hug her parents one last time and escape the room before they could embarrass her any further… or plant any more ideas in her head.

Not that she needed their help when Luka did a good job of that all by himself.

Especially when he looked at her the way he was the moment she stepped out of the bakery, eyes twinkling and arms crossed over his chest to where it pulled up his shirt to reveal a small strip of beautifully toned abs.

God! Marinette really wanted to lick him!

Unaware of the less than innocent thoughts playing through her mind, Luka smiled at her as he patted the hood of the car. “Ready to go?”

“Ready!” She squeaked before slapping her cheeks- hoping to expel any lingering naughty thoughts- and moving closer.

Piling into the two-seater that Jagged was letting Luka borrow, Marinette vibrated with joy as they set off.

Feel free to follow the link and read the rest! 

#lukanette #lukanette week #event: lbsc lukanette week #lukanette event #pro lukamari #lukanette endgame #I love them

[gameguy20100]

For my love @ogre-marama You're the best.❤️💕

Marinette hummed to herself happily as she got the last minute Christmas shopping done. Tom and Sabine had already got all the food bought and the majority of the decorations but a few replacements in case Tom broke some never hurt.

While she was buying icing sugar for the bakeries festive goods she ran into Kagami of all people and gave her a hug as tight as the bump would allow.

At roughly six months into it now Kagami’s belly was rather prominent and the fabric of her dark red jumper was strained against the swell.

Kagami sighed and rolled her eyes "Hello Marinette, yes you can touch it."

Marinette laughed “Wasn't going to. But thanks for the permission."

"You’re welcome. What are you doing here? I figured you'd have finished preparations in November." Kagami said as she felt a tingling in her abdomen and felt the urge to rub it.

"Just making sure. With the Dupain Cheng clan, you never know what can go wrong. Especially when Dad does the bread sauce and grandpa Rolland starts going "That's not how its done!"

Kagami sighed after the two were done laughing, then felt her eyes go damp. Stupid hormones! Marinette noticed this and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing, just mood swings. The fetus is affecting my brain chemistry. I'll be fine."

"Kagami, I've been pregnant. I know when it's baby brain crying and upset crying. What are.." Marinette didn't even need to finish the question before gasping.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, here I am going on about my family and you're all alone!"

"I've got Dustin." Kagami replied.

"That's so much worse!" Marinette said with a flail of her arms. "He's got his parents, who neglected him, his sister who hates you because of your race, and a brother who is too young to do anything. So he can't visit them! He must feel awful! This is unacceptable. I insist you two have Christmas Dinner with us."

"I would argue. But I know trying to talk you out of things never works." Kagami huffed with a smirk. "Very well. I'll see you then.

When Kagami got home, she smirked at Dustin having fallen asleep with a book over his face. "That's not how you read them." She insisted and shook him awake before sitting next to him.

"No, but it is a sign of 'leave me alone, I'm tired."' He retorted with a smirk.

"You gave up your right to sleep when you put this thing inside me." Kagami said as she patted her bump. It still felt weird to her. Especially when the baby moved around.

"Well you weren't complaining at the time." Dustin joked which earned him a playful smack on the head.

"If you're done being crass, I have news. We're spending Christmas at Marinette’s since I have no family, and yours are awful."

"Don't dress it up or anything." Dustin replied sarcastically.

"I could, but then I wouldn't be the woman you fell in love with." Kagami insisted and kissed him softly on the lips to emphasise her point. Then she broke off as she felt a dull pain in her abdomen, like something very small was kicking her. Or someone.

"You are such a moment killer!" Kagami snapped as she rubbed her stomach in an attempt to calm it down. If anything it just got worse. "You’re such a pain! Why do you never listen?!"

"Maybe because she's incapable of rational thoughts? I feel like that could be a contributing factor." Dustin replied with a sarcastic expression.

"She seems to know the perfect time to piss me off!" Kagami snapped. "You are grounded for a week young lady!"

"Yeah, go to your room." Dustin smirked. " And no tv, I'm amazed you even have electricity in there. Your mother's got lighting in her blood I swear."

Kagami laughed and clamped her lips on his again, running her hands through his long brown hair. And taking his hand and placing it on her stomach.

"See what I mean? She's a nightmare!" Kagami said as Dustin reacted to the kicks with a bewildered expression.

"Probably gets that from you." He teased, and kissed her again. The Couple kept it up until they had to take a breath.

About two weeks later, Kagami was woken up by her alarm and angrily threw her clock at the wall.

“Infernal contraption!” Kagami snapped. “Who’s the idiot who set it for seven thirty on Christmas day!?”

“That would be you dear.” Dustin replied as he stretched out the sleep from his limbs. “Now you want the shower first? Or can I use it?”

“With your hair filling the drain? No way! I’m going first!” She snapped as she grunted with effort getting to her feet and slamming the bathroom door.

“I’ll be calmest pregnant woman ever.” Dustin sneered in an imitation of Kagami’s voice. “I knew that was rubbish.”  

“I HEARD THAT!!” Kagami yelled from the bath room.

( Marinette’s house.)

“Alright, men.” Tom Dupain said with a snort. “This is our time, lets do this. Dad, Make the damn bread sauce since you hate mine so much!”

“You’re using that crap with rice flour! That’s not how it’s done!” Rolland insisted with a hateful sneer.

“Whatever. Adrien, you’re on Veg and potatoes. Get peeling!” Tom ordered, pointing at him sternly.

“Yes sir!” Adrien replied with a salute, 

“And I’m on meat!” Tom said proudly. “Lets make this right!”

“Uh, dad.” Marinette said, with a nervous expression. “Aren't you forgetting someone?”

“You know the rules honey. Men on food, women on activities, that’s how we do it.”

“I mean, what’s Dustin going to do when he gets here?” Marinette said sternly. “I told you he was coming.”

“Guests don’t cook, that’s not how it’s done!” Rolland retorted. 

“If I had a Euro for every time he said that.” Adrien sighed as he began peeling carrots. 

Suddenly Marinette’s phone went off and she shrieked and nearly dropped it, before answering it. “Hello. Marinette Dupain Cheng here. Well obviously you knew that because you called my phone, and saw the ID, But always nice to confirm your suspicions right?

“We’re outside your house. Please let us in, it’s cold.” Kagami’s voice came from the phone with a slight shiver.

Marinette gulped and ran down stairs and let the two inside. 

“Chirssy merry, I mean Merry Christmas guys! Come on in!” She babbled and grinned then immediately regretted the fact she hadn’t worn shoes. The floor of the bakery was ice cold. causing Kagami and Dustin to laugh and walk in.

Back in the lounge, Dustin threw their coats in the wardrobe, and Marinette was surprised that his jumper was Christmas themed, Dark blue with a large white skull wearing a Santa hat. His dark Jeans and boots were expected though.

Kagami was just wearing Jeans and a red Sweater dress. “Sorry for not being in season. They didn’t have anything in my size.” Kagami said as she rubbed her stomach to further the point. 

“Oh, it’s fine. You should wear whatever you’re comfortable in. I spent my entire third trimester in my gym clothes.” Marinette giggled. “Is it hot in here? I feel hot! Is that Hugo calling me? Bye!” Then she sped off.

“Is it that bad?” Dustin asked plucking at his jumper.

“No. She’s just nervous because you and I are new to her plan and she reacts poorly to change.”

Kagami followed Marinette into Hugo’s room, and she smirked at Marinette pacing around and babbling towards the sleeping toddler. 

“I think he’ll make for a better discussion when he’s awake, and can talk.” Kagami interrupted as Marinette said something about her and Dustin resenting her.

“Sorry, It’s just. I wanted this to be perfect. No, not perfect! Flaws are good, I mean everyone has them, and you’re great! I mean, if you want to improve things that’s fine, but don’t let me influence you..”

“Stop, breathe, count.” Kagami said sharply as Marinette’s anxiety started to flare up again. After a count to ten, Marinette calmed down and thanked her. 

“Right, who’s up for Trivial pursuit? Nothing like a good brain game to work up an appetite.” 

Kagami smirked and leaned over Hugo’s crib. “Be patient with your mother. She’s a mess, but she’s the best parent you could ask for.” Then her hand went to her stomach as the baby kicked again. “I know it’s getting cramped in there! Sorry for not having a pocket dimension in my uterus!” She hissed, then walked out.

The family all sat around the table and played the game they’d split the teams by couples, or former couples in Rolland and Gina’s case. 

“Who is the current monarch of the United Kingdom?” Adrien asked.

“Charles the third.” Marinette replied. 

“Says, Elizabeth the second here.” Adrien said confused. .

“I told you to update the games Tom.” Sabine sighed, and put her head in her hands.

“Oh, darn, I knew I forgot something.” Tom said with a guilty look. “I’ll do it first thing when the shops open, promise!”

“Which helps us out in the current time and place how exactly?” Rolland asked. “I’m not playing an outdated Trivia game.”

“How about Charades?” Marinette suggested.

“I’m not getting out of this chair!” Rolland insisted. “I’m old, I’m allowed to be lazy. Same with Gina, and the pregnant one.”

“It’s Kagami!” Kagami snapped. “Refer to me with my name, not my condition.”

“Now it feels like like Christmas.” Dustin said with a grin. “Just throw in a few racial slurs and lecturing me about my career and I'll feel right at home.”

“Your family sound like they suck.” Gina said, as she packed away the game. “What is it you do anyway? Bookkeeper?”

“Librarian.” Dustin corrected.

“What’s the difference?”

“Everything!”

The argument was stopped by an alarm going off, and Tom Jumping to his feet. “Right, breaks over. Men, too the kitchen!”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Dustin smirked.

“Why don’t you do the stuffing and cranberry sauce?” Adrien suggested. “It’s pretty fun.” 

Dustin shrugged and joined in, washing cranberries and then dumping them into a pan with sugar and orange juice.

“Did you never do this with your father?” Tom asked as he put Dustin's prepared Stuffing into the oven. 

“Mum ran the kitchen like a dictator. Nobodies allowed to help, but she always complained about doing alone.” Dustin replied, building up a decent rant speed. “So, no. No I didn’t.”

Tom looked horrified. And Adrien gave a sympathetic sigh, and put his and on Dustin’s shoulder. “I know how you feel.”

After a few minutes of Pictionary, where Kagami’s art talents let her team take a considerable lead, it was time to eat. 

“Not exactly the feasts of Valhalla.” Tom laughed. “But I think we did good. Right men?!” 

“Right!” Adrien replied, holding up his wine glass with a smug grin.

“I really regret getting you that book on Norse Mythology.” Sabine said as she rolled her eyes at her husband, then winked to show she didn’t mean it.

“Well, dig in!” Tom demanded, after Marinette had came back in and put Hugo in his high chair with a plate of his own. 

“Hope, you like the fried chicken.” Marinette said to Kagami as she smeared cranberry sauce on it. “I made sure to get it special.”

“Pregnancy cravings?” Sabine asked sympathetically. 

“No, It’s a Japanese thing.” Kagami clarified. “It’s a tradition born from turkey shortages. So we made due with this.” 

“But we’ve got plenty of turkey!” Rolland pointed out. “Look at that thing, it’s the size of a new-born!”

“Well this way we can enjoy both.” Dustin said. “Happy capitalist excuse to spend money everyone” He joked in English, then translated for Rolland's sake. After they were done, and let the food go down, they all washed up, and Dustin and Kagami gave a thanks, and left them to enjoy their presents.

(Kagami and Dustin’s flat.)

“Uh, I feel like I hate enough for three.” Kagami sighed as she slumped onto the sofa, and rubbed at her stomach. 

“Well you’re eating for two.” Dustin joked, and joined her. 

“That’s a misconception. I only require an additional three hundred calories.” she said, then sighed again. 

“Something wrong?” Dustin asked. 

“I was just thinking, are we going to have that? They’re happy, and despite the drama they look forward to it every year. And next time, we’ll have our daughter. And..”

“Kagami, just stop.” Dustin chuckled. “Remember what we agreed when we decided to keep her? Our families suck, and we can make a better one from just the three of us. Quality, not Quantity.”

“And we’ll figure it out together. It’s our thing.” Kagami said, and started to tear up.

“Hormones?

“No.” Kagami replied as she cuddled up to him on the sofa. “I’m just happy. Now lets watch some cliché special and mock it.”

“Now there’s a Daniel's tradition I approve of.” He laughed, and began scrolling though Netflix for their victim.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #Purple wings of Deception #kagami tsurugi #Dustgami #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette family #Xmas #original character

[flightfoot]

Imagine this, an AU where Saltinette is just an entity that took over Marinette's mind... and the people that Saltinette is normally against in salt fics are the people working their hardest to free her. So sugar for Adrien, Alya, Nino, Tom, Sabine, the rest of her friends in the Miracu-class, etc... (oh and they win against Saltinette because I said so) . No salt on anyone except for Saltinette and those who actually deserve it, such as Gabriel Trash Agreste 😎... thank you.

Oooh you know, I could really see that working! Could result in a great "I Know You're In There Somewhere" fight. Probably not a complete takeover because that'd be kind of dull, but a sort of corruption via More Than Mind Control would be interesting. Like, I could see an entity getting into the initial cracks in her psyche by exploiting her insecurities, her belief that she isn't good enough, by telling her that it can make her more confident, more able to stand up for herself. Maybe pulling a Spiderman 3 and making the other entity kind of like the symbiote? At least initially. Giving her more confidence and more swagger, but slowly chipping away at her morality.

And then, with its newfound strength, feeding her hallucinations of her friends turning on her, exaggerating the stuff that happened with Lila based on her own fears, and nursing some righteous anger and the desire to stand up for herself into rage and vengeance, and feeding on those emotions and the increased control she'd hand over to the entity.

Of course by this point her friends and family would realize something is terribly wrong, especially with Marinette accusing them of things that never happened, and would try to help her. But it wouldn't be easy to get through to her. I'm betting the Pig Miraculous would stand the best chance, since it seems like it acts on the mind directly. Maybe someone could join her in this illusion and help her recognize the truth and fight back against the entity? Probably Adrien and/or Alya, with her starting to hear everyone else rooting for her to break free once she starts resisting. And then giving a "The Reason You Suck" Speech that helps with breaking out... though a creative battle based on the fact that this is taking place in a mindscape could be cool.

Of course when she breaks out everyone would hug her and cry, including Marinette, and everyone else would forgive her... but I doubt she'd forgive herself. The emotional scars from that would last awhile, especially with how down on herself Marinette gets. She'd have a ton of nightmares at the bare minimum.

#ask #ml fandom salt #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng