Renne0
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Summary
What do the citizens of Paris do, when they realize that their heroes are literally growing up before their eyes? They freak the fuck out.
Or everybody realizes that the heroes of Paris are young teenagers and are a little (extremely) worried about children fighting a terrorist.Series
- Part 1 of Growing Pains
- Language:
- English
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- 82,160
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- 11/11
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Bookmarked by Renne0
29 Nov 2025
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Bookmarker's Notes
‘I’m sorry for yesterday. I’m sorry for pushing you. I’m sorry I’m Ladybug, and that would probably break your heart. I’m sorry that most of the part-time heroes are your students. I’m sorry that I chose them. I’m sorry I haven’t stopped Hawk Moth and Mayura. I’m sorry that I still have no idea how to do it. I’m sorry that I can never be honest about it. I am so sorry about everything.’
She doesn’t say any of it. She violently chokes on her guilt and tries to swallow it down. Marinette smiles and gives her teacher the box, with the note.---------
Marinette’s heart is hurting again. She doesn’t understand why. Her parents aren’t really saying anything that different from her friends. So why does it hurt hearing this so much more? Is it because she is lying to them? Is it because if they knew they would be heartbroken? As usual the answer doesn’t come to her.
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‘You choose to do this now, but after the first Stoneheart attack you wanted to quit. You knew you were over your head and someone else should be Ladybug. You were a child who gained responsibilities she never asked for and then had no choice but do the job. Quit or let Paris be overrun by stone man…yeah, great choice.’ The twisted voice whispers.
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Marinette wonders if he remembers anything from the attack. Did he survive? Only to watch the rivers of dead people in Paris. Does he remember Dark Blade the akuma that killed almost everyone in Paris? Remember what he was doing before ‘waking’ up with the akuma already defeated?
Does he remember the millions of people she has brought back to life over and over again? No, he doesn’t and that’s the point of the magic. The innocents are always spared and she and Chat always take the hit.
She wonders if Hawk Moth remembers dying. If he knows that the only reason his precious akumas haven’t killed them all is because she keeps saving them. A part of her wishes that Hawk Moth feels the damage he causes people on a daily basis. The other part of her is just tired from fighting and just wants this to end once and for all.
If they die, who is going to fight? If Hawk Moth asks his wish will anyone even remember them? Will that even matter? They’ll be dead. A peaceful finish for a bad ending.
“-bug?” She comes back when she feels Chat shake her arm. She looks up and all eyes are on her. The level of worry is a lot bigger.
“Sorry. I spaced out.” She smiles the fakest smile possible.
Lieutenant Roger looks like he is ready to start crying, so do all the cops behind him. Captain Proust has his hands covering his face.
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That’s only the things she knows for sure she needs to do. It’s not counting akumas or surprise visitors. She really wants to hide in her bed and ignore the world.
‘15 years old and you have the responsibility of the world on your shoulders.’ The dark voice laughs sadistically at her. ‘The last few weeks have been torture to the point you have become a paranoid mess that spent her birthday party jumping at noises. Your parents, your friends, and Chat Noir can see that something is wrong. You can try to hide and ignore your feelings, but the truth will always come out.’
Shut up. Shut up.
‘Why? Aren’t you the one that hates liars? You’ve been lying to yourself for weeks, trying to prove that everything is alright, while you get more and more paranoid, get stuck in your head and lose all hope that things will get better. You refuse to acknowledge your problems and then tell yourself to shut up.’
The voice laughs at her. She has no energy left to tell it to shut up. It’s not lost on Marinette how she has never told the voice it’s wrong. She either ignores it or tells it to shut up. She can’t accept what is being whispered, because if she does how will she deal with it?
How will she deal with being tired and broken? How will she deal with fighting Hawk Moth? How will she deal with the pressure she feels? How will she deal with her feelings? Or worst…how she will deal with the fact that this is it, the thing that sticks with her. What if defeating the villains and winning won’t fix her?
Is she just destiny to break?
“Marinette, are you okay?” Tikki asks, breaking her out of her mental meltdown.
“Yes, of course, the miraculous cure healed me. No pain at all.” She does some circles with her right arm to prove her point.
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She and Chat aren’t even sure they will keep their miraculous after the defeat, even if it’s one of the most painful things that Marinette can think about.
Her mocking voice is back. ‘A great reward after years of trauma and hard work, take one of your rocks away, take Tikki away. Paris and Good will win, but somehow you’ll still lose. You’ll lose if you defeat Hawk Moth, you’ll lose if Hawk Moth defeats you.’
As usual Marinette chooses to ignore that voice. -
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Summary
The aftermath of Strikeback is not something Marinette can handle alone, because it was never something she should have had to handle in the first place. The kids aren’t alright.
AKA the final part of Growing Pains, how the heroes learn to speak their trauma while the world burns around them.
Series
- Part 3 of Growing Pains
Bookmarked by Renne0
29 Nov 2025
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Bookmarker's Notes
Marinette doesn’t dare to utter a single sound. She had confessed to Alya about her doubts during her first outing, but she never told her or anyone about the doubts that came later, much later. Right now, she doesn’t feel like it’s the right time.
‘It’s the right time, you just can’t open your mouth and risk disappointing Alya or Tikki. So, you stay in your empire of miserable lies to keep going.’ She ignores her insecurities with an old time practice, not even allowing to skip a moment from the conversation.
“It sucks she had to leave and…she is losing time with us, but she’ll come back.” Alya sounds so confident while Marinette just prays for Alix to come back while she is still a teen. Not as the adult they last saw, one of her greatest fears right now is realizing she might have taken years out of Alix’s life due to her mistakes. “I understand your frustration and pain, but Marinette this situation has never been fair. Even knowing she’ll be alright doesn’t cure the worry.”
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“It’s not about them turning on me. I don’t even believe they would, right now we are the only people capable of defeating Hawk Moth, even giving our miraculous away to someone trained, like the suggestions a few years ago wouldn’t work anymore. Chat and I have to do this, for better or worse we’re the only ones.” Marinette says somewhat resigned to being the best option even if she doesn’t feel worthy.“You are the best options,” Tikki interjects, “You’re the best ladybug and guardian I ever had.”
Marinette knows Tikki is only trying to cheer her up and get her going for the future, but she almost screams: ‘I’m the only guardian who lost a box of miraculous due to being tricked by an evil miraculous user. Tikki, I’m the worse one.’
Yet, she knows that won’t help. Not only would it hurt Tikki it would also discourage her and Alya. Neither deserve to hear that, so she accepts the undeserved praise with a fake smile, which fools no one, and changes direction. “What I’m more worried about is this stuff about therapy coming up again.”
Alya and Tikki share a look, annoying Marinette. Seriously? If they agree with the damn post, Marinette will throw a fit. It’s not a feasible idea.
“Girl…” Alya starts.
“Do not tell me it’s a good idea,” Marinette warns, “I’m not in the mood to hear about finding another person to put on the line. Alix just got her life put on hold indefinitely because of being close to me. Close to this entire situation. Hawk Moth has targeted you because you were Rena Rogue and…”
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Summary
An advice given to a child can help them, other times it can hurt them. When stress mounts on Adrien will he hold on to his mother’s advice? Or will he need to accept that sometimes you outgrow certain things.
Series
- Part 2 of Growing Pains
Bookmarked by Renne0
29 Nov 2025
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Summary
Everyone knows that Pets are helpless. After being rebuilt by chemicals and nanobots in the process of Petification, as far as physical abilities go, most Pets might as well be children, with delicate builds and minimal muscle mass, on top of often being just generally smaller than the average person. Mentally, Pets fare even worse in a comparison to a normal, unaltered human.
However, among the criminal element, there’s another fact that is well known: Don’t try your luck at kidnapping a Pet, no matter how much you think you could make off of it.
Bookmarked by Renne0
29 Nov 2025
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Summary
There were Phyrexians on Kamigawa long before the portals opened. A careful, invisible infiltration, kept secret from even most of its perpetrators. And then the sky tore open, and they Knew.
And among others, two unsuspecting Kamigawan girls are about to get a hell of a surprise, when all they wanted was an evening of fun.