#chat noir and ladybug split up

[jennrypan]

The Chat goes rogue AU would heavily involve Adrien being mad at Marinette, Natalie and Felix specifically.

Cuz those three are who he considers close to him and of course in my AU. I'd make it that Felix wants to tell Adrien cuz he has no attachment to Marinette or Gabriel and he finds the lie of Gabriel being a 'hero' stupid as hell but hes not in a good standing with Adrien to ever drop a bomb like that on him and have Adrien believe him.

Adrien would only put up with Natalie until he can stay with Nino and only stays in the mansion cuz he doesnt want to go with either of his grandparents. (I know Gabriel's parents arent bad people but..he doesnt know them and when he finds out what Gabriel was..he wouldn't be too excited to be around anything to do with him, especially people he doesn't know.)

Just-- this is going to be self indulgent in a way that gives Adrien agency and the right to be pissed off.

[bugsandboos]

2021 miraculous era was arguably one of the best things to ever happen to me

[matinho]

Finally

I know, I know, looks like a pure mess (because it is), buut, it's done :)

This AU is more like a What If, basically how would be the series if in the first episode, Ladybug said her name to Chat Noir, and from the very beginning they didn't had the concept of secret identitys (between then only) neither the hurtful love square.

The parts with closes ups

Talking more about the AU, besides from Marinette splitting her name out by accident, there are no more big changes besides the consequences of that and their designs.

They would turn friends really quickly, because of hero things and their civilian self too, Marinette wouldn't be madly in love with Adrien nor a crazy stalkerish, but respects and likes him very much, considering him one of her best friends and being together a lot more.

Adrien might like her a little more, knowing her identity he's in love with her both civilian and hero selves (because they are the same person, lol) and is a lot more confident in general, he has his lady by his side most of the time.

And for the general plot in general, there are a lot of things that would be resolved quicker, in better or worse ways, like in episodes like Volpina/The Collector 👀. Sooo, I will try to draw doodles of the small changes and maybe complete comics of the more important ones? Either way, please be here and help by making asks, mini art requests, giving ideas or just being here 😊

Extras:

Thank you for reading!

[bunji-enthusiast]

hi Benji , hope you're doing well . I was wondering since you did a cat noir!reader are you willing to please do a ladybug!reader too for invincible . I really loved ur cat noir!reader . 💜

𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐠

Summary || you who wields the power of creation, but it seems to contradict your own belief and actions.

Note // hey thank you for reading it! I’m almost done with part 2 to the chat noir!reader too lol. But you know the deal, hope you like this one :))

The sky is cracked open with flame and smoke. Concrete crumbles beneath your feet as the battlefield in downtown Chicago erupts into chaos. You dodge a jet of energy—blue and sharp as a blade—rolling beneath it and vaulting into the air with your yo-yo slinging wide in a sharp arc. The villain—a warped fusion of cybernetics and cloned muscle, someone the G.D.A. was tracking for weeks—has Mark pinned.

He’s coughing blood.

You see him first, tangled beneath a chunk of collapsed parking garage. His iconic black-and-blue suit is scorched and split down one side, and one of his goggles is cracked. His arm is twisted unnaturally, blood gushing from a jagged wound in his side that you know came dangerously close to vital organs. Maybe even the heart. Viltrumite or not, Mark's bleeding too much.

The moment stretches thin.

You don’t hesitate.

Your yo-yo snaps open like a heartbeat—zip, crack, swing. The weapon spins like a blur of red fury, slamming into the cyborg villain’s jaw. You hurl yourself forward, flipping midair, tucking close before launching yourself off the edge of a shattered rooftop and slamming down between Mark and the towering threat.

“You don’t die today, Grayson,” you say through gritted teeth.

The villain growls, charging again, but you meet them head-on. Your body moves on instinct, calling on every fight, every loss, every moment of exhaustion you’ve carried. Creation floods your muscles—a golden light just beneath your skin—and with a twist of your hand, your yo-yo elongates into a hard-light construct, glowing red-hot as it wraps around the villain's legs like a lasso. You yank. Hard.

They go down.

Not out. But down.

You turn to Mark. He tries to sit up, but his hand slips in his own blood. His lip is busted. The pain in his eyes isn’t just from the injury—it’s frustration, guilt, helplessness. You’ve seen it before. You’ve felt it before.

“Hey,” you breathe, kneeling beside him. You pull a vial from your belt—an emergency clotting serum. You press it to his wound. “Stay with me, tough guy. You’re not invincible today.”

He laughs weakly. “You’re hilarious.”

And then, softer. “I should’ve been faster. Stronger. He nearly—”

“No,” you cut him off. “You don’t get to blame yourself for bleeding while saving people.”

He flinches at that. The weight of his Viltrumite pride coiled so tightly around his chest it’s a wonder he can breathe. You know that weight. Yours just comes in spots and red string.

The villain rises again.

You stand. Between them and Mark. You're breathing hard, arms aching, mind already racing through options—distraction, entrapment, maybe an overload burst. You don't have long.

But you don’t have to hold the line alone.

A green blur descends from the sky.

Debbie Grayson.

She’s not flying—no. She's in a helicopter, hanging onto the side, her eyes locked on the wreckage. The G.D.A. extraction team is just behind her, but she jumped ahead. Literally.

The moment her feet hit the ground and she sees her son, her whole expression breaks.

“Mark!”

She’s by his side before you can blink. You almost step back out of instinct—you’re used to people thanking you, panicking, then vanishing. But Debbie Grayson? She looks right at you, tears in her eyes and grief written in every line of her face.

“Thank you,” she says.

You blink. You expected... questions. Anger. Maybe even silence.

But she touches your arm. Firm. Present. “You saved my son’s life.”

You try to shake it off. “It’s my job.”

“No.” Her voice cuts through the noise around you. “Your job is surviving. What you did—that was human. That was heart. And I don’t care if you're spotted like a ladybug or armored like a tank, you’re still someone’s child. You get that?”

You freeze.

She sees it—how those words hit you. Like she peeled back the red and black and saw you. Really saw you.

And she leans in a little closer. “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Mark tries. I know that all too well. But so do you, don’t you? You wear yourself thin, don’t let yourself feel tired, because you think being tired means failing someone.”

You try to look away. She doesn’t let you.

“I told my son once: My responsibility will always be to my family first. And that’s never going to change. You may not have a son, or a daughter, or a spouse—but you’ve got a self. You’re part of a family too—found or blood, it doesn’t matter. And you can’t protect anyone if you forget how to protect her.”

Her. You.

Your knees nearly buckle—not from the battle, but from how much you needed to hear that.

You nod, slowly. Voice rough. “Thank you, Debbie.”

She smiles. “Now go. We’ve got him. You’ve got more people to save, don’t you?”

You glance down at Mark—already being lifted onto a G.D.A. gurney, his hand raised in a tired but grateful wave.

You smile back at him, and you rise.

And as you swing back into the sky, trailing a ribbon of red light, you feel lighter. Not because the city’s safe. Not because the villain is down. But because, for the first time in what feels like forever, someone reminded you:

You're not just Ladybug, the spotted bug hero who wields the power of creation.

You're you.

And that’s worth protecting too.

[maddascanbe-blog]

Nice to see you again Ma'am. This is the only redesign I'm going to both posting new for and not just update the original picture. Some of this was simple changes in style, and due to resizing issues Chloé's line art got really grainy. But more importantly I want to change Chloé in terms of my re-write, and I want to acknowledge my improvment.

Before we get to that lets talk small design changes. I likes my Anti-bug design originally but it waned on me over time. Recently I did a doodle of Chloé with the actual Ladybug miraculous (a hypothetical heroic) if you would. And translating that to Anti-bug made me much more satisfied with her.

I gave Queen Bee rounded stripes on her OG-redesign, but after looking at cannon again, she just is better suited for sharper shapes. So I changed her legs to something closer to her cannon design, the thigh-high boots feel much more Chloé.

Similar with Queen Wasp, just small changes, this time with her leg stripes just getting wider. I also decided to change her wings back to blue albeit a much darker color than Queen Bee's

Civilian Chloé and Zoé are the same, I already updated kid Zoé a bit for her page so I was able to just keep that asset and move it here.

Re-write. I've changed my opinion on Chloé a bit since I initially planned her re-write. Put simply, the only way I could think to redeem Chloé before was to make her an entirely different person.

Well not anymore. We're gonna rebuild her story from the ground up. First and foremost, Chloé is still a bully. She wants what she wants and doesn't care who gets hurt to help her get it. Now, she's not a full blown villain, because she doesn't need to be. But she does need to be selfish.

Chloé has a very short list of people she cares about. At the moment that includes Adrien, her Father, and Sabrina. Specifically she needs to care about Sabrina for the sake of her downfall and turn around, and later this list would include Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Zoé. She cares about them, and shows it, but everyone else isn't worth her time. This Chloé wouldn't insult Sabrina for not wanting to go through with a plot but she would still go and steal Marinette's diary.

But she also isn't oblivious, Chloé knows the class doesn't like her, he just doesn't care. She can still get what she wants, Marinette's seat, the Class Rep position, Ms. Bustier's favoritism, without the class liking her. Oh uh- small change her though, Chloé was bad at the student complaints and suggestions on day to day school stuff but I head cannon she was good at event organizing. As much of a pain as she was to work with, the school dances 'til now were spectacular. Mostly because I think Chloé needs to be good at something, and event planning is probable.

The first time she realizes her actions may have consequences (at least ones she cares about) is when she gets akumatized. She likes Ladybug, and Chat Noir if not as much. Her actions, her tantrum, not only didn't get her what she wanted but actively hurt two people she actually likes. This doesn't super change her behavior, but it does trigger the realization that she can't get everything she wants, and will in fact do things she doesnt want and cant fix in her wake.

The next is Lila showing up. Because she's spent her whole life around businessmen and politicians. She knows a liar when she sees one. But hey, if her class are idiots its not her business to educate them, its a little frustrating that Sabrina doesn't believe her. She just makes sure Adrien knows, and is surprised to know Marinette also already figured it out.

Then Zombizou happens, and everyone in the class are refusing to leave her alone and are protecting her. On one hand, no she doesn't want to be a zombie. But two, she thinks their idiots for sacrificing themselves over and over. They aren't friends, so why would they care? Then in a split second decision, Chloé gets between the zombies and the heroes. At this point she's acknowledged she's more a burden than a help, and that the heroes will be able to work better if she's out of their way. It's fine, they'll save her anyway. And they do.

This is where her character arc is actually going to start. Not with just with Bustier, but with her just gradually getting less antagonistic. She has her low moments of course. Since she hasn't exactly gotten better, just quieter the incident with the fire department causes Adrien to break off their friendship. And Lila successfully pulls Sabrina away from her. Now Chloé has no one.

And this is when she meets Pollen. Unintentional, but Chloé still loves Ladybug, so of course she wants to help. She doesn't give Pollen back at first, but she wasn't stupid enough to reveal her identity. Chloé is specifically not an idiot. She's actually one of the few who seems to regard Hawkmoth with as much fear as the heroes. She isn't expecting Marinette to turn down the opportunity and for the first time, Chloé see's her mother the way everyone else does. Flighty and Vicious, and uncapable of loving anyone but herself. And at the same moment she realizes that's the direction she's going.

Chloé realizes she's got to change. And she'd going to have to do it alone. Ladybug can support her, but not carry her. Marinette still doesn't trust her has far as she can throw her, and Adrien has his own stuff to worry about.

Then Zoé happens.

[chocostrwberry]

If yall have noticed, I often mention “seasons” when describing the timeline of my AU.

“Choco?? What are these seasons you are talking about? Why are there only three when the show has five??”

Sit down, little one, and let me tell you a story…

AHDKWHSJ JK JK

But anyways-

I have split the events that happen in my AU into seasons because then it’s easier for me to keep my facts and timeline in order! All episodes are in exact order/sequence of events!

Season 1: Gabriel can create sentimonsters.

In this season, it’s establishing the world of Miraculous. Marinette and Adrien is learning how to be miraculous holders while navigating their own lives.

Origins: Marinette becomes Ladybug for the first time alongside Chat Noir to defeat Stormy Weather.

Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat an Akumatized Mylène, Animelle. Together, they visit Master Fu for more information on their new duties.

Marinette has a hard time balancing being Ladybug and her civilian self. Ladybug and Chat Noir have to team up to defeat a game-themed teenage akuma.

Sweetpea: Marinette enters a design challenge with Alix, and Adrien is her model! Rose is akumatized into Sweetpea after a health scare makes her unable to help her team with their design.

To Be or Not to Be: There is a school play, and Chloe will stop at nothing to get the main lead. Ladybug struggles to win over Chat Noir, who seems oblivious to her attempts at flirting.

Boy meets Girl: Marinette develops a crush on the class’s most popular boy after defending Juleka against Chloe. LB and CN battle Reflekta.

Princess Justice: Marinette is chosen to submit a dress design to high-fashion company represented by Chloe’s mother. Jealous of her success, Chloe destroys her project, causing Marinette to be Akumatized.

Fish Food: Ladybug and Chat Noir have to defeat an akuma who goes by the name of Captain Kraken. For the Winter Ball, Marinette makes plans to ask Luka to be her date.

Winter Formal: The winter formal is here, but Marinette is worried about an akuma attack that might ruin her chances with Luka.

Be My Lover: Now that Marinette is officially dating Luka, Adrien’s jealousy becomes more apparent. Chloe’s repetitive and harsh rejections of Kim turns him into Dark Cupid.

Road Rage: Adrien has a fight with Chloe about her behavior towards others, and she acts out once again and Nino is akumatized into a foul-mouthed biker with a vendetta against her.

New Girl: A transfer student is introduced to the class, but Marinette is suspicious of her two-faced behavior.

Prophetica: Marinette’s constant lying and lack of trust makes her and Alya have a fight after she fails to bring cupcakes to her sisters’ birthday party.

Primadonna: After Chloe’s mother decides to take her half-sister to her movie premiere debut instead of her last-minute, Chloe becomes Primadonna and turns Paris into her own personal black-and-white film.

Sabrina seeks Marinette’s help to expose Lila after she comes between Sabrina and Chloe’s friendship.

King of Music: Jagged Stone is akumatized and it is revealed that Luka and Juleka are his children. Marinette’s duties as Ladybug become more demanding and her relationship with Luka strains.

Winter Wonderland: After Chloe misses one of Sabrina’s recitals, she is Akumatized into Ice Queen and turns Paris into an eternal winter.

Marinette misses one of Luka’s concerts, where he was going to debut a song he wrote for her. They break up and he is Akumatized into Heartrocker.

Liar, Liar: Marinette finally tells the class who Lila really is, but they have a hard time believing her. Lila is Akumatized into Miss Miracle and offers her services to Hawkmoth in order to take down Ladybug.

Lila strikes a deal with Gabriel when Adrien invites her over to his home out of pity. Hawkmoth’s identity and motives are revealed. Chat Noir takes Ladybug to see Master Fu for help because of Plagg’s warning against Lila.

A New Guardian: Master Fu makes Ladybug the new Guardian before Lila can get to the Miracle Box.

Goldbug: The peacock miraculous is fixed. Hawkmoth unifies the miraculous to become Shadowmoth. He creates Miss Miracle’s first sentimonster: Goldbug. Marinette becomes Firefly to defeat them both.

The time span for this season is about 4 months, starting in the beginning of Junior year.

Season 2: Emelie wakes up.

This season focuses on the lore of the miraculous. Ladybug unifies miraculous every other episode to defeat both akumas and sentimonsters. Lots of kwami-swaps and unified ladybug happen in this season! (Scarabella, Queen Bee, Carapace, Ladybee, etc.) Marinette is also warming up to Adrien.

Chat Noir is skeptical she’s the right pick to be guardian, and she takes that personally. She decides to unify against Reflekta and her sentimonster, Reflekdoll.

Mr. Midas: After rejecting an expensive present, Chloe’s father is Akumatized into Mr. Midas and wants to turn everything into gold for his beloved daughter. Tigerbug and Chat Noir try and defeat him and his sentimonster.

Sweet Dreams: Ladybug becomes Hercula after a sleepy akuma discreetly puts Paris into an eternal slumber.

A Spider’s Web: Ladybug becomes Mantigirl to defeat Arachnia, a kindergarten teacher who is Akumatized at the Paris Zoo and trapped Adrien and others.

Marinette comes down with a mysterious illness, and so it’s up to Scarabella and Chat Noir to save Paris from an Akumatized grandmother and her gang of angry sentidogs!

The Wailing Lady: Firefly and CN battle against a grieving widow and her sentimonster, a giant willow tree in the middle of Paris who she believes is her deceased spouse.

Sugar and Spice: Marinette faints while working at the bakery. This makes Sabine anxious, and she is Akumatized into Mother Desserts. Marinette and Chat Noir work together to save her.

Tikki suggests giving others different miraculous to help her fight the akumas and sentimonsters. Adrien tells Chloe about his crush on Marinette thanks to Plagg. Chat Noir visits Marinette and takes her on a trip around Paris.

Operation Ladybug: Luka suspects Marinette is Ladybug, and he recruits Alya to help him figure out the truth. Chloe starts treating Marinette with less disdain, much to everyone’s surprise. Firefly and Chat Noir fight another akuma and sentimonster.

Bon Appétit!: Alya’s mother becomes akumatized while working at the hotel. Ladybug and Alya work together while Chat Noir tries to keep Chloe and Sabrina. Alya’s suspicions are confirmed, but she tells Luka to stop digging.

Kwami Captor: After some mischevious kwami escape the miracle box with their jewels, Marinette becomes Multimouse to hunt them all down.

Queen Bee: Chloe decides to use the Bee miraculous she found to try and help Mantigirl and Chat Noir. Her need for attention makes the mission not go according to plan. Chat Noir and Marinette have an argument about his secret identity.

Protector of All: Nino and Adrien are in charge of elitist children for a day while Marinette and the class set up a school sponsor event. When an akuma attacks, it’s up to Nino to protect the kids while Tigerbug and Chat Noir defends them. Luka finally gives up his suspicions.

Miracle Team: The Miracle Team meet up for the first time to take down an akuma. But they struggle to actually work together! Chat Noir breaks up with Marinette, leaving them both devastated.

Soulmates: Marinette and Adrien spend the day together to find a gift for Chloe’s birthday. Nathalie finds out about Gabriel and Lila’s dark deeds with Hawkmoth.

Happy Birthday Chloe!: Chloe’s birthday party goes awry, thanks to Lila’s sabotage, and Chloe is Akumatized.

Sick Day: Marinette is too sick to go to school most days and struggles with night terrors. She is worried about her health, and talks to Tikki about it. Alya, Nino, Luka, and Sabrina try to clear Marinette’s name. Adrien visits Marinette at the bakery.

Marinette vs The World: Marinette’s friends finally has what they need to prove Lila is terrible once and for all. But Adrien isn’t sure it’s the best idea.

Cheer up, Marinette: After unifying once again to defeat an akuma, Marinette’s condition is so bad she is bedridden and cannot celebrate Chinese New Year with her family. The kwamis try to cheer her up. Adrien is growing worried about his father’s health and seeks comfort in Nathalie.

Like Mother, Like Daughter: Chloe’s influencer half-sister, Zoe, comes to Paris. Chloe humiliates her out of hurt and anger, and Zoe is Akumatized into Delightfulee.

Reign of Bourgeois: Chloe’s mother arrives in Paris after hearing about her outburst against Zoe. She is then promptly akumatized into Stylix and takes over the city. What’s worse, she has put a bounty on Chloe’s head.

A Sunny Day: The Miracle Team accepts Vesperia as the new Bee miraculous holder. Her outgoing positivity is welcomed, but her hesitation puts them in danger.

Never Trust a Fox: Trixx abandons Alya and runs away with the fox miraculous, pledging his loyalty to Lila instead. Volpina tricks LB and Chat Noir into thinking she’s on their side. Ladybug has to unify once again in order to defeat her and the akuma once she betrays them.

The Wish, Pt. 1: Because Marinette is out of commission, Scarabella, Vesperia, Carapace, and Chat Noir have to fight against Volpina, The Wailing Lady, and her sentimonster.

The Wish, Pt 2: Gabriel now has the Ladybug and Cat miraculous. Marinette and Adrien follow Volpina to the Agreste mansion, and Adrien learns the hard truth about his father.

By the end of the season, Shadowmoth has completed his mission and trades his life for Emelie’s. A part of Lila’s backstory is revealed.

This season ends at the end of Junior year, breaching into summer.

Season 3: Marinette’s Sacrifice

This is the final season of my AU!

Summer Break: Adrien’s doppelgänger cousin Felix attends the school after visiting with his aunt and uncle over the summer to help Emelie readjust. Lila now has a new name, Cerise Blanc, a woman sent by The Order. Emelie decides to give Cerise the butterfly and peacock miraculous in exchange for her having The Order keep an eye on Adrien. Cerise unifies the Peacock and Butterfly miraculous to become The Empress.

Return of the Butterfly: Rose is akumatized into Sweetpea once again after receiving devastating news about her condition. The Miracle Team return to take it down.

The Emperor’s Daughter: Adrien’s mother surprises him with his fiancé, Kagami, who he hasn’t seen in years. Her social class proves difficult for her to make friends.

Paper Flowers: Because of his shy nature, Felix makes an origami flower with a romantic poem written inside of it for Kagami. However, Kagami believes it was Adrien and becomes determined to make their relationship work.

Felix becomes depressed over Adrien and Kagami’s relationship while going out with them for the upcoming winter formal. Emelie grows jealous of how close Nathalie is with Adrien and sends her on a business trip abroad.

Boys’ Night: Emelie’s hovering nature makes Nino worried for Adrien. He starts to encourage Adrien to rebel a bit, but Nino didn’t expect Adrien to become so out of control when he’s off a leash. Meanwhile, the girls on the Miracle Team are having a sleepover to buy exclusive Jagged Stone tickets.

The Star: Adrien is akumatized into The Star after Emelie tells him she will unenroll him from school and return to homeschooling because of his recent behavior. She also fires Nathalie.

Tales of Scarabella and Kitty Noire: Adrien is under house arrest and Marinette’s sickness is coming back, so Scarabella and Kitty Noire have to keep Paris safe!

Hanabira: Kagami witnesses Adrien and Marinette together while waiting for their date at the Louvre, and is Akumatized and takes over the museum.

The Masked Lady and Me: When Cerise catches Felix looking for the peacock miraculous, Cerise later introduces herself as Madame Morphosis and makes a deal with him to avoid unification sickness. Felix’s backstory is revealed.

Our Frozen Hearts: Felix and Marinette find an unexpected common ground when they are forced to watch Adrien and Kagami dance together as Winter King and Queen.

Sentimaggedon: Madame Morphosis tests Felix to see whether or not she should let him keep the peacock miraculous she gave to him. In a desperate attempt to prove himself, Felix as Argos creates multiple sentimonsters that accidentally bring about the apocalypse. It’s up to the Miracle Team, with Dragonbug, to save the city.

Cat and Mouse: Marinette uses the Mouse miraculous once again to be undercover while dealing with akuma-related disappearances. But Chat Noir won’t take any chances and hunts her down to bring her miraculous to Ladybug.

The End of Us: Kagami breaks off the engagement with Adrien. Adrien then asks out Marinette, who delightfully says yes.

Motherbird: Emelie willingly becomes Akumatized by Madame Morphosis in order to keep her son Adrien under her watchful eye.

Sing a Little Song: Clara Nightingale, an American popstar and a close friend to Zoe, comes to Paris to shoot a music video. But her overbearing manager and strict schedule causes her to become akumatized into Frightingale.

Birds of Prey: While hanging out with Marinette, Kagami is kidnapped by Argos. The Miracle Team have to defeat Argos’s sentimonsters in order to rescue her.

Frenemies: Adrien is trying to get Chloe to warm up more to the idea of Marinette and him being together. Marinette helps Felix overcome his fears and talk to Kagami.

Bonded by Our Sins: After getting closer to Kagami, Felix tries to back away from Madame Morphosis’s control. However, she scares him into submission by threatening to hurt Kagami.

Who is Lila Rossi?: Argos is sent by Madame Morphosis to take Marinette’s miracle box after being informed by Trixx. But him and Marinette devise a plan to trick her.

True Love: Felix confesses his feelings to Kagami at the fashion show and shares his secret with her. Volpina hunts Marinette’s classmates one by one for the scattered miraculous, using extreme measures to get what she wants.

Let’s Do This, Together: The miracle team, along with Argos, has to defend Paris against Lila, who has unified most of the miraculous and become a magical hybrid monster.

Always and Forever: Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to take one last stand against Lila.

Happily Ever After: Marion, a 12 year old girl, discovers small magical creatures who live in her favorite music box!

Quick explanation for episodes 22-24:

Lila collects and unifies most of the miraculous, becoming a monster-animal hybrid and losing herself and all sense of rational. Marinette exposes her identity to all of Paris because of her, and Marinette is aware in a few hours everyone she’s ever known will forget her. Chat Noir reveals himself as Adrien to her before she takes his and the Ladybug miraculous, and unifies them to become Gimmi Marinette and destroy her for good!

Marinette feels Senti-Queen’s mixed emotions of betrayal and hate and loneliness, and her kindness shines through. She uses the Lucky Charm to rebirth Ah Lam as a child, giving her the opportunity to live a normal and love-filled life, the one she never had.

The time span is towards the end of Senior Year, when they were suppose to graduate.

AFTERMATH

So Marinette no longer exists, no one remembers her, and there’s a child version of Lila now.

Now what??

Child Lila is adopted by Marinette’s parents, who have always wanted to have a child. They rename her Marion. It means “wished for child” :,) But also “sea of sorrows”, symbolizing Lila’s life and the pain she caused!

After reading Marinette’s diary, the city knows she was Ladybug. They create a new park called “Ladybug Park” in memory of Marinette.

The Order of the Guardians come to reclaim the jewels unified by Lila, but the kwami refuse to be captured again and flee with their jewels. They all go back to the miracle box for safety. Marion finds the miracle box in Marinette’s old room, and unknowingly becomes the next Guardian.

Adrien only remembers Ladybug, and believes she was the one to unify the miraculous. He has no real recollection of Marinette, but subconsciously feels the loss.

Congrats for making it to the end heheh!

Have some cake! 🍰

Eat it under this rainbow for a break! You deserve it!

🌈

“BUT CHOCO!!”

“You still haven’t explained why there are only three seasons!”

Oh yeah! Sorry!

It’s because I feel like it took 5 seasons in canon to explain what happened in 3. I imagine my AU to be a Disney-owned show that was about to cancelled.

How can I sum up the plot of Miraculous Ladybug in 3 seasons, 12-15 episodes each?

LMAOSJW-

But yup! That’s it! Hope you had fun reading!!

[spittyfishy]

Considering the recent episode this seems like a great time to show off an au @circuscomics and I made way back in 2021!

When Chat Noir gave up his miraculous in Kuro Neko, instead of just letting Plagg go off and pick a new holder (or the same holder as in canon) Marinette is actually able to think about it and make an informed decision, and ends up deciding to give the ring to Ivan!

Since it was so long ago I don’t fully remember what we’d planned to be the catalyst for that, but after a bit of convincing, Ivan made a great partner for Ladybug. He was big and strong and was very good at protecting her and civilians, being a brick wall between them and akumas.

Chat Noir’s replacement was very controversial in the city, the public being very split since Chat Noir was one of the original heroes and very popular, but Mountain Lion was proving to be much better at the job.

Adrien was pissed of course, even though he was the one who threw the hissy fit and quit in the first place he didn’t think Ladybug would actually go through with replacing him! His friends at school all seemed to have different opinions on the matter, but with Adrien being upset with Ladybug he ended up getting a bit closer with Chloé.

Being a hero did put a little bit of strain on Ivan and Mylène’s relationship, it takes up more of his time and she’s more in the Chat Noir camp (thinking Mountain Lion is too big and scary) which is more then a little awkward.

I think that’s as far as we got back in the day but I always thought it was a really fun idea and wouldn’t mind doing something more with it!

[flightfoot]

Could you recommend good written rarepair fics?

Sure! I don't know what you qualify as rarepair, so I'll use my old standby of "everything that isn't Lovesquare". I've got a lot of these to recommend, so I'll split it up by ship, unless there's only one fic in the pairing, in which case I'll dump it at the end.

I've split this up by pairing. If I have multiple fics to rec for a pairing, I'll give it its own category, if not, then it goes into the "one-offs" category at then end.

I have categories for Adrino, Marigami, MarcNath, Lukadrien, Julerose, Chlobrina, DJWifi, Alyanette, and FeLuka, in that order.

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Adrino:

Within Your Heart by Inkyibis

It’s Valentine’s Day and Ladybug just wants to her superhero partner to find his love. And what she wants, the Lucky Charm will create. If only she could remember what it is she did last night.

Adrino fic here! Marinette’s drunk and feeling awful that her superhero partner is alone on Valentine’s (she’s in a loving and committed relationship with Alya), so she creates a Lucky Charm to help Chat find love! In this universe, Ladybug’s Lucky Charms have the power to create new rules for the universe to follow, such as making one that demands that if you have any magic in you, you have to tell the truth or else you’ll freeze. Or in Adrien’s case, that he has to wake up in the arms of his true love every day XD. It’s very sweet and I love both Adrien’s and Nino’s relationship, and the relationship between the rest of the Miracuteam members as well, even though that’s not the focus.

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I’ll give myself a name (something stupid and pretentious) by @bbutterflies

Nino looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. Usually he wouldn’t answer, but he had nothing better to do – and could still really use a distraction – so he did. “Hello?”

“Hey, Nino.”

Nino stood up quickly, chest tightening. He knew that voice. He’d been waiting to hear it again for over two years. “Adrien?” he whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me."

-

When Monarch is defeated (and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste), Chat Noir immediately goes missing. Adrien disappears not long after. When Adrien finally shows up in Paris again, Nino would do anything to make sure he doesn't disappear again.

Ah this is lovely, Adrien’s been in a lot of emotional turmoil since Monarch’s defeat, convinced that everyone would hate him, SHOULD hate him, for not realizing that his father was the villain, and should hate him even more for disappearing like he does. But slowly Marinette and Nino get through to him, convince him that they just want him back. 

And also Adrien and Nino smooch. Multiple times. So that’s a bonus XD.

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Would Trust You With Everything by @kasienda

Nino breaks off, tears streaking down his face. Adrien wishes he was here as himself instead of Chat so he could offer a hug.

“It’s not like I don’t think she deserved her privacy. It’s just it felt like I was her last priority. And if I knew why, then maybe we could overcome it. But when I don’t, I’m not willing to be her last thought. You know? I always put her first.”

“Yeah,” Chat agrees, able to relate too well. He always put Ladybug first too, and he’s not sure it has ever been the same for her. “I’m sorry you’ve been so alone through this."

“I haven’t been totally alone,” Nino disagrees, holding up his phone. “My best friend has been keeping me company virtually most of the day.”

“Yeah? It helped?”

“I don’t know if any of the stuff he sent helped, but like, given what I know he’s up to, he totally had to move heaven and earth to talk to me so much, and that really helped. You know, just knowing that someone was thinking of me.”

“I’m glad,” Chat Noir said. “I wish he could be there in person for you.”

Nino sighs. “Yeah, me too, but at least you’re here."

...

Season 4 au - canon divergent from Rocketear Rocketear led to DJWiFi breakup.

Ahh, Adrino my beloved XD. I love the identity shenanigans in this one with Adrien being around Nino as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and both of them vaguely describing their situations to each other. It takes Adrien a bit to figure out that he has a crush on Nino, but once he does...

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The moment I knew (I’d no choice but to love you) by @bbutterflies

“He’s dating me,” Nino said, taking Adrien’s hand in his own.

Adrien could only stare back at him in shock.

“How dare you all force him to come out?” Nino continued, glaring at the reporters. “That was disgusting.” He pulled Adrien over to the car, guided him in, and shut the door behind them.

In the relative quiet and privacy of the backseat, Adrien finally processed what had just happened. “So… when were you going to tell me we were dating?”

This Adrino fic is delicious XD. Reporters keep hounding Adrien about his love life, so Nino finally gets them off Adrien’s back by fake-dating him. Problem is, Adrien’s actually been madly in love with Nino for years but has never been able to tell him. And now as they’re spending more time together, Nino’s beginning to find that he’s enjoying all these “couple” activities more than maybe he ought to if it’s entirely platonic...

If you want to see Adrien and Nino PINING for each other while “fake” dating (is it really fake if both parties want it to be real?) then you’ve come to the right fic!

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Chemistry With Him by @bbutterflies

It kind of sucked Nino was taking chemistry, but classes had filled up fast and he needed to take something and his advisor had said the credits would, somehow, count towards his major. It really sucked he was taking it first thing on a Monday morning (and Wednesdays, and Fridays, unfortunately). But he could get through it. He knew he could.

So no more boys. No distractions. He could do this all on his own.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Nino looked up to find the source of the voice. A blond, green-eyed, absolutely beautiful someone.

Okay. Maybe one distraction.

Ah, adorable Adrino. This is a universe where Adrien never went to public school, so while Chat Noir, Ladybug, Carapace, and Rena Rouge all know each other (and Marinette, Alya, and Nino all know each other’s identities) they’re unaware that they are all already friends with Adrien. I loved seeing Chat and Carapace excitedly tell each other about their awesome crush/boyfriend, not knowing they were talking about each other XD.

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Awaken by InkyIbis

The previously white butterfly, now oozing black and purple as a conduit of the butterfly miraculous powers, flutters softly within the silvered-gloved hand.

It sits there for a long time.

"Go, my akuma," The soft sigh pushes the butterfly, the akuma, out towards the despair of a love not returned. The same ache within his chest. On a level so great that he's willing to sacrifice the city to mend it.

It's okay if he's the villain for now. He'll force the miraculous of creation and destruction to be revealed, and once he gets his hands on them, none of this pain, none of his loss, will ever happen.

This is essentially a canon rewrite for Miraculous (specifically seasons 1 and 2, with a bunch of the events mixed around) that focuses primarily on Adrien, with his relationship with Nino being the main driving relationship of the fic. (Don’t worry, Marinette’s still treated fine, she’s just not the focus). This is the best “rewrite Miraculous with more of a focus on Adrien” type fic I’ve seen, with it reworking the plots of the episodes so that they’re different enough to be their own distinct thing - it’s not trying to just rewrite the canon episodes but from Adrien’s POV, there’s a lot of lore changes going on as well, and things occur in different orders.

Like lorewise, Chat’s given a more important role in cleaning up the mess the akumas leave, with his power helping to cleanse akuma victims and he and Ladybug needing to use their powers in tandem in order to cast Miraculous Ladybug. There’s also no Miracle Box holding the kwamis. Instead, Chat sometimes surpasses his limits and ends up summoning kwamis, which is dangerous to him, but very useful.

What really makes this fic great though, is its focus on Adrien’s emotions. You really get a feel for Adrien’s insecurities, especially when it comes to not feeling like he’s good enough for Nino, with not wanting to bother him when he absolutely should, with feeling like he’s not a good enough friend to him, and then there’s dealing with all of Gabriel’s usual abuse on top of that.

Speaking of Nino, this is an Adrino fic (though several characters get crushes on Adrien, Nino’s the one who matters most for this), though a slowburn one. Nino’s clearly head-over-heels for Adrien, but Adrien has like, no context for what a romantic crush feels like and is basically viewing Nino the way he viewed Marinette in canon prior to season 5. He clearly cares for him a lot, including romantically, he just... doesn’t get it.

Anyway, if you want an interesting canon rewrite fic from Adrien’s perspective with Adrino as the main pairing, this is a good story to pick up!

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If I hold you too close by @bbutterflies

Paris didn’t come to a screeching halt for akumas anymore. They were so commonplace, so frequent, no one stopped their lives unless they were in danger. They trusted the heroes to fix everything if something did go wrong, save them if they got hurt. Adrien was still fighting the urge to find Plagg and go running into battle. Plagg wasn’t here, though. --- Post-season 5 where Adrien got sent to London sooner and gave up his Miraculous to keep Paris safe.

If you know this author, then you've probably already guessed that this is an Adrino fic (seriously if you like Adrino, check out bbutterflies fics, though honestly if you ARE an Adrino fan, you probably already have).

So in this scenario, Adrien was sent to London and didn't get to return, so he gave Plagg the ring so he could find another Holder. In this case, Nino. After a few years, once he's an adult, Adrien manages to come back from London, but he's in ROUGH shape. He drinks a lot, he has a reputation for partying hard and causing disruptions, and is really depressed and hates himself, and hates Felinoir (Nino's Black Cat form) even more, for having what he lost.

But even while Adrien's pushing everyone away to protect himself, his old friends refuse to give up on him, even though he's given up on himself.

While Adrien's problems are the primary focus of the fic, they're not the entire focus. Nino gets a POV, and he has personal issues and insecurities of his own. He has trouble holding down relationships, he doesn't have a lot of close friends these days, and he's struggling to keep up in school with all the akumas he's had to fight. He and Ladybug are fine coworkers, but they aren't much more than that - they aren't friends like Chat Noir and Ladybug were.

Oh, also, Nino's a transman. That's also caused some issues in making and keeping friends.

It's a beautiful story of one person hitting rock-bottom and gradually being pulled back out of it again, until they can stand on their own and push themselves up the rest of the way, and of a friend who discovers their childhood best friend (and crush) has changed enormously since they last saw them, and not in good ways - only to find that their friend is, at their core, still there. They just need help seeing it themselves.

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Marigami:

Plans Aren’t Everything by BeeRye

Feeling a bit fed up with constantly having her dates with Marinette cut short, Kagami sets aside some time in order to plan the perfect outing for the two of them. Despite being the holder of the Miraculous of the Black Cat, she believes one day of romance isn’t too much to ask for. As long as she treats it all like she does everything else in her life, the results she wants should come to pass. She doesn’t quite know what to do if that ends up not being the case.

This was adorable and captured Kagami’s mindset well, she decided, rather optimistically that she could just brute force the date into going well. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna stop Hawk Moth. Fortunately, Marinette has her own back-up plans…

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Anchor by @liiinerle

“Marinette. Please take that sabre out of your neck.” “Right. Thanks. I forgot it was there.” She grabbed hold of the guard and pulled; the blade slid out like it had only been run through butter. After dropping it on the floor, she picked up one of the teacups and picked up a biscuit from a tin she’d brought in; she placed the biscuit on the saucer plate and handed the whole thing to Kagami, who could only really resign herself to accepting it. —– Marinette has raised Kagami from the dead, and also happens to be dead herself. It turns out some bad choices were made in the past. But that doesn’t mean they’ll lead to bad outcomes for them now.

I love this, Marinette’s incredibly blase about being a zombie - which makes sense, given how long she’s had to get used to the idea. And she’s waited so long, tried so hard to bring Kagami back as well, though if she didn’t WANT to be back, she’d accede to that request. Luckily, Kagami doesn’t seem to mind as long as she’s with Marinette XD.

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Galaxy In Your Eyes by @liiinerle

Arriving in Paris, Kagami almost immediately finds herself assaulted by a dark, infectious butterfly. When she wakes up, a ladybug-themed superhero is standing over her, and her eyes are like holes into an empty, vast, and incredibly alluring universe… An AU where the two main Miraculous function differently from the norm.

Nice Marigami fic here! Or should I say, Ladygami - technically Marinette doesn’t exist, only Ladybug, who’s an immortal creation goddess, or something like that. But she still fights to protect Paris from Hawk Moth alongside Chat Noir, who is still a normal, squishy human underneath the suit.

Anyway, there’s a but of inspiration from Nimona here, with a lot of people being scared of Ladybug because she’s a bit… out there, especially when she shapeshifts to have like, 6 extra arms and a lobster tail. Kagami’s into it though XD

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Accidents Are Also Miracles by @liiinerle

After a few turbulent days where four new people discover her secret identity, Marinette loses faith in her ability to keep the secret hidden. Wracked with doubts and insecurities, she pleads with Alya to take over as Scarabella, but she still can't let those worries go. Especially not once Monarch starts taking a particular, and personal, interest in her.

Along the way, she also starts to date Kagami, and has to deal with changing feelings about herself, Adrien, Alya, Kagami, and the idea of being Ladybug. At the same time, Alya works to uncover Monarch's secret identity, while Kagami struggles against a controlling parent, and a girlfriend who seems bent on destroying herself - with or without Monarch's involvement.

Fantastic Marigami fic here! You’ve got three major POVs in this fic: Marinette, Kagami, and to my delight, Alya. I loved getting to see Alya cope with taking over as Scarabella especially.

But of course, this fic centers more around Marinette and Kagami, with Marinette struggling with Monarch targeting her, and Kagami struggling against her abusive parent, as well as both of them trying to navigate their relationship together when they know that not everyone will approve. 

There’s also some other plots going on in here, like Sabrina breaking away from Chloe and becoming more independent (and closer to Adrien in fact), as well as a Lila takedown plot, though thankfully not one that involves demonizing other characters. While there are conversations about people believing Lila and siding with her, no one’s actually attacked for it except for Lila herself.

Oh yeah, and while this fic may not have much focus on Adrien, he’s still treated fairly and with respect, even when he messes up. He can make mistakes, but people understand where he’s coming from, and are still kind to him and want things to be okay, and to help him escape his abusive circumstances.

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Marcnath:

Day 7: Book by Andromeda612

During one of his works, Marc comes across a rather interesting book.

MarcNath AU fic here! Basically Marc is a super powerful warlock, and is brought in to help with the case of a lying witch who apparently caused a lot of problems for people, using her magic to help fool everyone. She’s actually dead by the time the story starts, and everyone’s trying to go back through and figure out what she’s done and why memories surrounding her seem to be foggy. Meanwhile there’s a book she left behind which appears to be sentient, and which Marc’s taken a liking too...

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don't you worry child by @mexicancat-girl

Marc and Nathaniel have a good life, married and living together in a cottage in the woods. But they consider having children at some point. Marc in particular really wants to start a family with his husband. He knows the fey are real, so he goes searching in the woods to find one to strike a deal. He may get a bit more than he bargained for in the process.

This is based on a tumblr post that’s been going around, which I think a lot of people will recognize as they continue going through the story. That post is credited at the end of the fic, so as not to spoil the plot.

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Confession Plans of Questionable Sanity by yellow14

Nathanael Kurtzberg has a confession to make. He’s in love with his big classmate Ivan. With the help of Marc, Marinette, Adrien and Nino, he’s going to confess, using increasingly complicated schemes. Marc meanwhile, is busy coming up with even more complicated schemes to sabotage those schemes so he can confess HIS feelings for his redheaded friend. Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong with this, right? Written for the March 2023 gift exchange on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord forum for CassieTheweirdWolf.

This fic’s just really funny. These kids love to make things waaaaay harder than they need to be. But hey, everything ends up working out in the end, even if it’s not the way they planned!

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Evillustrator Reimagined by onewaywriteturn

A full, mostly-standalone rewrite of the episode "The Evillustrator".

Nathaniel never planned to tell anyone about his secret crush on his friend Marc, but his world changes when Chloe picks up his sketchbook and mocks his art in front of the whole class, inadvertently outing him as bisexual. Now as the Evillustrator, he has two objectives: to take vengeance on Chloe for what she did to him and to go on a date with Marc for his birthday.

At the same time, Marinette is already struggling to defend Sabrina from Chloe when she learns of the Evillustrator's crush on Marc, one of her good friends. And while getting Marc involved with an akuma fight is messy enough, the fact that Marc has secretly liked Nathaniel for a long time complicates the situation so much more.

If you ever wanted to see Evillustrator rewritten to focus around NathMarc, this is the fic for you! The two of them just PINE for each other so hard and are so convinced that the other person couldn’t possibly actually want to date them, even with Evillustrator making it uh. Exceedingly obvious XD.

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I'd Do Anything For $20 (To Feel More In Control) by Shroomifyiy

Bee!Nathaniel AU one shot (because I think he's silly teehee) Nathaniel hated keeping secrets, especially from someone he cared about. But unfortunately, it's not up to him to decide that. Marc feels hurt from Nathaniel's actions. He just wants his boyfriend to be honest with him. Hawkmoth is a bitch ass motherfucker. Enough said.

Fun Nathmarc fic here! I love seeing Nathaniel's interactions with Pollen, and him cope with the strain on his relationship with needing to run off all the time to go fight akumas with only the flimsiest of excuses. He loves Marc deeply, as deeply as Marc loves him. But Marc's getting suspicious and wondering what's going on, and Nathaniel doesn't think he can tell him.

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Handle With Care by @dragonchris

AU where soulmates can feel each other's emotions. But having a soulmate isn't always beautiful and romantic. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it hurts. Marc and Nath have to learn what that means for them.

This was cute, I loved seeing how Nathaniel and Marc both thought about their soulmate, and how they cope with the aftermath of Reverser in this AU. Helps that Alix is a platonic soulmate of Nathaniel's here (Nathaniel has two soulmates).

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Lukadrien:

When feelings are too big for words by ClockworkCaptain

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance. Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

One of the issues I tend to have with Luka shipfics, and with Lukadrien especially (though I think Lukanette actually has this problem worse) is how Luka tends to disappear within the fic and the pairing, feeling more like “The Love Interest” than his own person. Not so here! While most of the intrigue surrounds Adrien, I still got the sense of Luka being his own person, not just existing in the fic for Adrien.

I adored Adrien getting to display an aspect of himself through persona and performance - that does align well with how he approaches Chat Noir - and overall I just had a lot of fun with this fic!

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forever (and a little bit) by @rainbow-arrow

Now the world was out of tune. It was messy and blurry and Luka could not fathom waking up tomorrow and accepting his new life. He had less than nothing. How could he care about anything when the better half of his melody was replaced with silence. --- see also: Luka's villain origin story

This is a tragedy, don't go into it expecting a happy ending. Adrien breaks up with Marinette because he's upset over her lying to him about his father's fate and not telling him he's a sentimonster, and gradually becomes closer to Luka instead, first as a friend and later as a lover. There are fragments of story from the future that let you know this love story isn't going to last...

It's rated M, though I think that's mostly because of Adrien's injuries. I can see why it's M rated, but I think most teens should be fine reading this.

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Two is Company by Shadownoble

Adrien’s father wants him to play for an upcoming party. Only this time he won’t be doing it alone.

This Lukadrien fic's adorable! Luka's got selective mutism, which Adrien takes in stride. I love how their relationship develops, they're smitten with each other! Though of course while Gabriel brought the two of them together, he's an obstacle too. Because he's a dick.

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Julerose:

How Could I Not? by SorryJustAnotherPerson

In fairy tale books, Princesses were saved by nights from ferocious dragons. Those books were not their story, but Rose was happy to flip over a new page with her Juleka every single day. Many years ago, she was put to this tower by her parents and her kingdom, along with a fire breathing dragon, so she could find her prince charming one day. How foolish for them to not calculate her falling in love with the dragon. I mean seriously. How could she not?

I love fairy tale type stories, especially fractured fairy tales. And Juleka being a dragon is awesome. This is just a fun and adorable story.

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You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess by @mexicancat-girl

With Team Miraculous now full-time holders, Ladybug has them patrolling in pairs like her and Chat Noir. New partners Pigella and Purple Tigress get along phenomenally, their easy banter and similar wavelengths making working with each other a joy in and out of combat. But sometimes Tigress is surprised just how close she is with her partner. Sometimes she tries not to feel too guilty thinking about it.

There’s some nice Julerose here! I love them kinda getting into a lovesquare with each other, though it’s not as much of a problem as it is in canon since it’s reciprocal in every relationship and they’re both down for a poly. It’s fun, and I love the “Luka attempting to woo some of his love interests” plot going on in the background XD.

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Chlobrina:

Tides of Time by JayJoy3000

Chloe, to her disdain, attends a prestigious university in London where she happens to run into her traitorous, ex-best friend who left Paris years ago without an explanation. But Sabrina is not the shy pushover she once was... Or, the one where Chloe Bourgeois absolutely does NOT spend months pining after Sabrina Raincomprix. No, that would be ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

I love how this fic handles Chloe, this is a Chloe who's realized her parents are crap and decided to try to be better, and made some real friends with Juleka and Luka (and seems to be on decently friendly terms with the rest of the class, but they don't come up much), but still has a ways to go, with not really understanding why Sabrina ghosted her, that Sabrina wasn't as happy as she thought.

Also at the beginning of the story Chloe still believes she's straight. Chloe is the ONLY one who believes Chloe is straight XD.

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Hanahaki by @generalluxun

First fic: Late Bloomer

On what might very well be the last night of her life, Sabrina Raincomprix pulls out a very special scrapbook, pressed between the pages is the past, the past she has never shared with anyone. She relives how she got to this moment one page at a time, preparing herself for the end. A phone call interrupts her self-imposed exile and brings news that could change her life forever. Even if it does though the question looms... change it how?

I love this series, how it shows how both Sabrina and Chloe have changed, how bad Chloe's circumstances are, and how much she needs help. She's not in good shape when Sabrina reunites with her - she's got a pretty severe eating disorder, for one thing - and Sabrina can't just... leave things like they are.

I love the delving into of Chloe's and Sabrina's psychology and viewpoints, and them both growing as a result (this is solely from Sabrina's perspective, but Chloe's the focus of the plot, so you see a lot of her).

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DJWifi:

Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost. But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well. But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

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disconnected by just_an_ordinary_fan

Lady Wifi believes she might be the only one who does not want to obey Hawkmoth's orders. When she sees another akuma hesitate in the battle, she finds she might not be entirely alone.

I actually wrote my own fic, Nullius in Verba, based off of this one. It’s short but has an intriguing premise, with all the akumas being transported to this warehouse after the fight’s over, having been basically forced to do Hawkmoth’s bidding. The akumas also don’t seem to remember who they were before, or even that they WERE ordinary people before, which is an interesting twist.

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Alyanette:

is it chill that you're in my head? by bringthestorm

Alya stared at the picture plastered across the homepage of every single tabloid and news site, whispering every curse she could think of under her breath. SHOCKING SECRET ROMANCE BETWEEN LADYBLOGGER AND PARISIAN SUPERVILLAIN REVEALED!!! the headline announced, casually shouting the words she had been dreading for all of Paris to read. --- Alya had always assumed that someday Paris would discover that she had secretly been kissing their most wanted vigilante, but she had never thought it would happen so soon. As the domino effects of her relationship with Ladybug go spiraling through her life, Alya turns her sights towards the one responsible: the elusive superhero Hawkmoth. AKA Someone outs Alya and her girlfriend so she retaliates by deciding to take down Hawkmoth 

I recommend this to anyone who either A. Loves Alya and wants to see more of her in a starring role, or B., wants to see an AU where Parisians could feasibly believe that Hawkmoth is the good guy, and that Ladybug and Chat Noir are, if not villains, at least reckless.

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the best laid plans (of bugs and bakers) by @mexicancat-girl

Paris is buzzing with the appearance of a new ladybug-themed hero, Scarabella. Alya decides to use her second hero identity to help her best friend Marinette. A bit of her flirting with Marinette is bound to make Marinette’s crushes jealous and finally ask her out! Her plan is fool-proof…! Except when it’s not. Not enough people are talking about Scarabella flirting with Marinette. How can Alya properly help her best friend if the news can’t be bothered to cover Marinette’s budding romance with Scarabella and only posts things about Marinette with Chat Noir?! So Alya puts her all into her plan, upping up her flirting each time she appears as the newbie hero Scarabella. This totally does not backfire in any way.

I adore fics that center on Alya, I haven’t exactly been shy about that fact. This is a nice one for some Alyanette adorableness! (And some Scarabella and Chat banter, I really enjoyed reading that as well). “Fake” flirting to make crushes jealous tends to turn real very quickly, and this is no exception. It’s hilarious, Alya’s the last one to figure out that her romantic relationship with Marinette is very much real XD.

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Feluka:

Boomer!Luka: FeLuka Ending series by @19thsentry-blog

In the Shadows (the first fic in the series) summary:

On one side is Luka, 140-year-old Snake Miraculous holder and keeper of the Guardian's secrets, on the other is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a relatively newly minted hero of Paris and Guardian of the Miracle Box. Each is looking to fulfill their promises to their now gone mentors to reunite the Kwamis and keep them safe. Sounds simple--until you throw in a rocky start, the Atlantic Ocean, Félix Graham de Vanily, and a whole host of secrets…and suddenly simple becomes complicated (story of Marinette's life, right?).

So this is obviously way outside my normal wheelhouse. I don’t typically read Lukanette fics, even ones that turn into FeLuka later on in the series (though boy it becomes apparent quickly that the author’s fascinated with FeLuka’s dynamic.) But this one is really good, with the best Luka-centric fics I’ve ever read, and some of the best Felix-centric content as well. I love how Luka has his own baggage here, with all the pressure of wandering around for over a century, looking after the few Miraculous he found, trying to keep what’s left of the Order alive, unaware of Fu’s survival or of the Miraculous user’s re-emergence in Paris. There’s a lot of focus on Luka’s own feelings and thoughts and problems, not just on helping other people with them. 

The plot works even without the romantic aspect, so even if Lukanette isn’t a pairing that draws you in, I still recommend this fic, so long as you don’t actively dislike the pairing itself. And even though it’s a Lukanette fic, Adrien and Alya are treated fairly and with respect. Adrien may not end up with Marinette and is bummed about it, but the narrative is still kind to him overall, there’s clearly no ill well towards him, or Alya for that matter. (There are later fics in the series that focus more on Adrien just healing and coping and living after finding out that his father’s a villain and his mom’s been in the basement this whole time, and in the multiversal travel fic, Alya gets some standout appearances as Scarabella which are fun).

And FELIX - it’s clear that 19thsentry has this whole conception about Felix’s psychology. He’s wrapped in a ton of self-loathing until it started to consume him, made him lash out. Him being a sentimonster, wanting to get the Peacock Miraculous, actually gave him some direction for that at least. And he’s just in this pit of his own making, until he meets Luka, who can see through him when no one else can, who cares for him even though he doesn’t understand why, who’d been through so much over the years and yet kept himself kind. He’s attracted like a moth to a flame, infuriated that he cares, yet not able to stop himself from caring about this mysterious, infuriating musician. 

Yeah if you can’t tell this is the series that really sold me on FeLuka as a couple.

Oh yeah, one of the fics in here is M-rated, and it does earn the M rating for sexual content, though it’s nothing too major.

---

See This Chance by @19thsentry-blog

Luka died in 2016. Yep. Crushed by the Arc de Triumph when Mayura’s Robustus slammed into it. It was kind of a big deal, but once you’re dead, you’re dead—especially when there’s no Lucky Charm to bring you back. Luka’s been dealing with it in the typical ways. Written for FeLuka week 2023.

Yes, this is FeLuka. Not one of the typical ships I read, but I ain’t opposed to it, and this is a nice foray into the pairing. I love ghost AUs! Luka’s just fumbling around, unsure what to do with his incorporeal existence, until he starts haunting Felix. It’s an intriguing plot and I gotta admit, I wish it was longer so it could be fleshed out more, but what’s here is good.

---

One-offs:

Come Take My Hand by @carelisswriting

Luka heard his soulmate for the first time when he was ten. All he knows about her is that she likes fencing. It's just a coincidence that Kagami likes fencing, right? (Lukagami Soulmate AU, written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa Exchange!)

I’m a sucker for soulmate fics, and this had an interesting take on it, with your soulmate able to hear you thinking only about the thing you’re most passionate about. Loved Kagami’s way of showing Luka she’s his soulmate especially!

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Attack of the Crystal Zombies by @trainsinanime

Kagami had spent more and more time hanging out with Zoé, talking about things like families, expectations and crushes on Marinette. It was only natural, probably, that she would help Zoé practice flirting. That was definitely a great idea. Granted, the deadly Akuma battle around them was a bit of an issue…

Quality Zoegami fic here! I loved how Kagami kept thinking she was bad at flirting, but it was sure working on Zoe XD. The akuma attack going on around them, interweaving with their conversation, added a bit of spice to the whole affair!

---

All Of Them? Every Single One? by @liiinerle

It turns out that Marinette loves a lot more people than she’d initially thought.

This is hilarious and adorable. Tikki lays out how Marinette has a crush on basically every girl she’s met - and even girls she doesn’t know are girls yet XD. 

---

Emotional Mountain Ranges by @liiinerle

After Zoé’s attempted romantic confession to Marinette is interrupted by an incensed Chloé and Audrey Bourgeois, she’s left distraught and adrift, a crying mess in an alleyway far from home. Ladybug saves her from the incoming akuma, and tries to help her back on her feet - and Zoé wonders what she could possibly have done to earn this much attention from a superhero…

Lovely Zoenette fic here! I especially like how Marinette talks to Zoe, reassures her that she’s good enough, that she (as Ladybug) isn’t as perfect and composed as she thinks, and just… tries to get Zoe to have more confidence in herself. It’s mostly from Zoe’s perspective too, which I like since there aren’t a lot of Zoe POV fics.

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Swimming in Circles by @generalluxun

Life has moved on for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s not where she thought she would be seven years ago, but she’s still in a good place. Classes, hobbies, friends, her life is full despite the lingering shades of her faded yet sweet middle-school romance. Then just as quick at the first time, someone drops into her life and turns her into an absolute mess once more. Love and crushes might be her undoing, but she’s got a little more experience this time to weather the storm. This fateful stranger stirs memories as well as emotions inside of her, and with a forthrightness her old self would be jealous of, Marinette takes the plunge.

So this is a Trans fic, with Marinette’s new crush being a trans version of a certain classmate who she doesn’t recognize, who’s changed a lot, for the better. I like how it deals with the baggage she has with that person, has her think that through.

---

Three’s company by @torvalvt

Kagami has been doing her best for years to ignore her feelings for her friends. It doesn’t help that Adrien and Marinette insist on spending as much time as possible with her, even going so far as inviting her along on their dates together. If only the affection she felt for them wouldn’t get in the way of their relationship. Because it is growing harder and harder to tamp down her feelings with how close they are getting to her.

This is adorable. Adrien and Marinette really want Kagami to join their relationship and she just doesn’t dare hope for it. If you want some adorable Adrigaminette from Kagami’s perspective, I recommend checking this fic out!

---

Stone Streak by kingxuppu

Ladybug and Violet Tigress had been fighting the mysterious Duskwing for eight years now. Through the years, the two have grown stronger together and even gotten married, they are waiting until they finally beat Duskwing to start a family. At least, that was the plan. When Juleka gets confronted with the realization that her friends are starting families of their own, she realizes just how badly she wants to be a mother.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Juleka and Marinette get the chance to adopt Juleka's young modeling friend Adrien.

Maybe they aren't quite a traditional family, but with magic, rockstars, and fame, normal was never an option.

Via Discovery: There are actually two terms of venery for tigers, depending on the makeup of the group. The first is a streak of tigers and this refers to a female tiger and her cubs.

Now this is a rare pairing, there’s not a lot of Julenette fics! Adrien and Rose actually have some ship tease going on, the whole kid group in canon got broken up into two groups here, one that remained around canon age (so like 13) which notably consists of Chloe, Rose, and Adrien, and then I think everyone else are adults in their mid-twenties. It’s weird seeing Adrien as Marinette’s and Juleka’s son, but hey it works! I love how Juleka really showed Adrien the ropes on modeling and became a Mama tiger for him, the fic’s mostly just very sweet, though with a surprisingly dark final act. 

---

In Direct Opposition by @generalluxun

Alya Cesaire is a brand new student to Francis Dupont, to Paris even. The first student she meets is one Chloé Bourgeois, and Alya is determined to make a friend. Things advance Chaotically. Her new 'friend' is definitely a handful, and suddenly Paris has a supervillain and two brand new superheroes! Alya finds herself balancing a lot of things, trying to live up to her ideals and those of her icons.

And then reality seems to contradict itself.

As time progresses it seems to happen more often. Becoming a hero, battling villains, staying alive, working through friendships. Something is lurking, tweaking events at times, changing them, and no one seems aware. Alya will need all her wits to get to the bottom of this. Her investigative mind can only get her so far though, and then she needs to rely on her friends. This is not a foe you can beat head on.

I betaed this entire fic, it’s really good! I adore the focus on Alya’s philosophy here, her determination to be a hero, to help people and defeat evil - and that defeating evil means trying to reform the people doing bad things when possible, to try to save EVERYONE, even the “villain”. I thought it was really clever the ways Alya would redirect Chloe and subtly encourage her to be a better person, while also trying to get the people around her to give her a second chance and keep an open mind. 

Also Alya and Chloe are an adorable sapphic couple XD.

---

Herbs And Steam by @liiinerle

Juleka le Flor Blef, nature witch from near the forest of Couffaine, arrives at Eiffel Castle so she can partake in the Queen's Trials - a contest to determine the strongest witch in all of France. She wants to prove the strength of her magic, but when she arrives, her attention is quickly distracted by two very interesting women: Kagami, the princess, who seems to act nothing like a princess should; and Marinette, the blacksmith, who has created a magic all her own through metal, steam, and ingenuity. Juleka is immediately besotted with both of them, and needs to work extra hard to focus on her magic. Juleka also soon becomes aware that there is stronger magic at Eiffel castle than she had expected. For one thing, there's a tree in the courtyard put there years ago by a witch whose powers seem to surpass hers; for another, there's Alya la Pluvie Versaunt, who must be the most powerful mage Juleka has ever met...

Unusual poly here, there aren't a lot of Juleka/Kagami/Marinette fics! I love the world here, getting to see all these different witches honing their craft, and Juleka making friends with many of them - though especially the nonwitches Kagami and Marinette, of course XD. If you like some femslash or a good fantasy AU, this fic should scratch that itch!

---

Graveyard Love Series by @liiinerle

A brief two-parter series which chronicles what happens after Lila dies suddenly, and Marinette finds out that she's the one saved as Lila's emergency contact on her phone. In part one, Marinette seeks answers with Alya's help - and what she finds ends up testing their friendship. In part two, Alya seeks to rebuild their relationship - and perhaps build it into something more.

First fic in series: Absent Soul

Just for a moment, Alya seemed speechless, her eyes as wide as the hallway was long. “You’re really going to start to believe her now?” Marinette sighed. “It’s not her I believe. I just… I don’t think she could manage all… this if it was fake. And besides… me, her emergency contact? That’s too bizarre to be a lie.” Even more than that, it was too bizarre to be true. So what could Lila possibly hope to achieve? “I’m not sure I agree with you,” said Alya. “But I’m not gonna let you go this alone. And I’m pulling you away if I smell anything cooking.” The thing was, Marinette wasn’t sure she agreed with herself. Nothing made sense. Even just knowing more would help settle the tumult in her brain, which felt like it had been speeding up almost imperceptibly for every door she’d passed through since the balcony. --- Marinette suddenly learns that she's saved as Lila's emergency contact on her phone... the same day she learns that Lila has been in a fatal accident. She is then pulled through a week of responsibilities and discoveries she never imagined having before, and a growing fondness for someone she once hated.

So this is fascinating, I love how it explored the insanity of whatever bizarre situation Lila has going on. Marinette's great here, she doesn't understand why Lila did the things she did, or what her background truly was, but if she had no one else, then at least she has Marinette to make sure her remains are taken care of properly. Though perhaps to a worrying extent. Thankfully, Alya's here as well to give support, and perhaps an intervention if things go too far. The second fic in the series focuses around Alya giving that intervention, of a sort.

---

And Mark Ronson Can Get Stuffed by @liiinerle

Marinette gets a call from Vivica, Jagged Stone's guitarist, with a proposition. She wants a producer - and she's heard Marinette's the best one for the job. At least, that's what Jagged says, and well, the only real competition is Bob Roth... ... but Marinette still isn't prepared for the whirlwind of feelings she'll get spinning through her brain whenever she sees Vivica play. Or for the realisations she'll make about herself as she sits engulfed in a type of music that feels like it gets her, and gazes up at the angel who's holding the guitar.

So this is a RARE rare pair, I've never seen Vivinette before! Man though, is this a great first fic for the pairing! I love seeing Marinette's efforts to be the best producer she can be for Vivica, not totally realizing at first why she's so nervous and determined to be the best she can be for her... and then becoming all too aware of her feelings XD. I especially adore how enamored Marinette becomes with Vivica's songs, being deeply affected by them but unable to put her feelings into words well enough to give feedback.

---

Stop Time by @liiinerle

— she put her hand on the page, blocking it so the words wouldn’t scream so loudly at her. They had screamed more than enough already. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her fingers together, crumpling the paper slightly — just enough that it didn’t look so pristine and mocking. It needed to be full of despair, in every possible way. “Marinette —” started Mullo. “No! Never again. Marinette is… gone, forever.” She let go of the paper. Now it lay alone in the light, as the last thing she could ever tell them. That she loved them, that she’d miss them, that she would never talk to them again. A suicide note. Of sorts. ----- Fu accidentally names Marinette as the new guardian, and not Ladybug. She's forced to fake her own death and go into hiding in order to get away from Hawk Moth. She finds a hiding spot in the Louvre, but there she's forced to face the effects of her going away by a very unexpected source: her friend Alix.

Definitely mind the tags on this one! But if it ain't triggering to you, then I highly recommend reading it. You can really feel Marinette's struggles here, with basically making herself homeless, unable to reach out to her friends and family, needing to steal just to feed herself and the kwamis, and then dealing with everyone in her life grieving... and then moving on. Except for a few people who don't...

It's just... it's really good, really heart-wrenching.

---

The Only Love We Keep by @nemaliwrites

Zoé is used to wanting things she can’t have — loving people who do not love her back. She’s made peace with that. But as soon as she meets Scarabella, she’s a goner. Or, five times Zoé’s love wasn’t reciprocated, and one time it was.

I love this analysis of Zoe and her circumstances, her mindset, her philosophy based on how she's grown up. How she yearns for her mom to actually love her, but she just... doesn't. And how she finds friends who actually care for her, and someone who actually wants her.

---

The Black Cat of the Family by Anonymous

To Felix, Chat Noir is freedom. Pure freedom, unhindered by anything (well, except perhaps a little too much dedication to Ladybug). He goes where he pleases when he pleases. He acts so ridiculous, like no one was ever watching, even when everyone was watching. He chafes at orders and authority, even when the orders are coming from Ladybug herself. He's free to be whoever he wants, in a way Felix only wishes he could be. So of course he starts flirting with the catboy. It also doesn't hurt that the superhero is easy on the eyes. Chat Noir, meanwhile, is simply trying to figure out how to reject his cousin without revealing his own secret identity. But when has anything in his love life ever worked out for him? Or, in other words: Somehow the Fathom-Graham de Vanily-Agreste family becomes even more dysfunctional in brand new ways.

This was fun, I liked the natural way Chat caught Felix's attention with his kindness, wit, and hidden depths. It makes sense why Felix would slowly develop a crush on him, while Chat just thinks that he's having fun with his cousin.

Also Chat's reaction when he realizes that Felix is, in fact, confessing his crush on him, is just priceless XD.

[fluffykitteninabox]

I just saw someone say that because Nino told Adrien to be himself in order to make friends with Marinette, and then he gave her his umbrella "doing a kind gesture" as Adrien because of that, that means Chat Noir isn't his real self!!!

I'm sorry, are you insinuating that if he were transformed in that moment he wouldn't have given her the umbrella? That he can't do "kind gestures" while he's in costume???!

Because he literally did!!

TWICE!

And no it doesn't matter that the second one was erased from the timeline, or that he didn't know this was Marinette at the time

because the point here is Adrien IS being himself and doing this kind gesture as Chat Noir towards a friend

The Marichat and Ladynoir umbrella scenes don't inherently hold less value than the Adrinette umbrella scene just because Adrien isn't currently wearing a leather cat-suit. That's ridiculous (utterly ridiculous 🙃)

The biggest sin miraculous ever commited was convincing the fandom that Chat Noir is never sincere actually and all the sincerity belongs to Adrien

so now people, including the creator, will claim stupid shit, like that:

Adrien and Chat are two different people with different morality somehow, and whatever flaws Chat Noir has magically vanish the moment he detransforms and he's actually PeRfEcT (🤮) as Adrien, or that Adrien has a split personality or whatever!

I get the "he's a mix of both" take, I understand it. I even liked it for a while even, because at its surface it seemed more complex than saying: everything Adrien says and does is a mask and everything Chat Noir is his only real self. But flipping this the other way around to say that Chat is completely fake and Adrien is the real one is even more insane somehow.

Why would he put up an act when he is granted complete anonymity by the suit and has complete freedom over what he says and does? What would be the point, who would he be performing this for? There's no expectations he needs to meet here (at least not back when Ladybug wasn't his boss).

The logical and canon explanation (up until the senti-retcon) was that since Adrien doesn't need to conform to people's (and especially his father's) expectations when transformed, that would mean he expresses himself freely when he's Chat Noir. Sure he probably exaggerates some of these behaviours because he'd be overcompensating for all the time he doesn't get to do that as Adrien, but the point still stands that Chat is the most freely expressed side of Adrien we get to see.

And now the show is trying to present Adrien as a completely blank slate that knows nothing about himself, when that wasn't at all the portrayal we got before the senti-retcon stuff got added. Sure there was plenty of self discovery he still needed to make, but he at least was a character.

In season 6 they've smoothed him down so much that even as Chat Noir he acts very mellow and has lost most of his edge. There's not that many jokes, there's no snarky one liners and when he speaks his voice sounds less expressive than before. He just follows orders and says out loud how much he loves following orders in the flattest voice possible!

Even in Oblivio, where his whole memory was erased for most of the episode, and he becomes literally a blank slate then, he still jokes around. Because he likes joking around. But season 6 is really trying to forget (HA😁) that Oblivio happened, what with the new power up they gave to Chat purely so he can unknowingly be the reason all of the lies people are telling him don't actually reach him.

It's very clearly another retcon that can't even stay consistent between episodes of this season! Because in Revelator they claim that Ladybug can't destroy things, which we know has happened in previous seasons, I literally just mentioned Oblivio where the miraculous ladybug does the exact thing Revelator says it can't do. But even in Werepapas (a season 6 episode) the miraculous ladybug destroyed the fighting arena and the trophy that Adrien was stuck in. So I'm fairly certain this Chat Noir power up happened just because the fandom has been complaining about this power imbalance for years and it's going to be ignored 99% of the time, and only talked about if and whenever that scene in Revelator is brought up again.

Now I'm hoping this new smoothed out flat Adrien, is a symptom of his depressive state due to everything he's been through, and not a complete and utter erasure of his character, but I think you can see why I don't trust these writers, and until the rest of season 6 comes out and proves to be better than this I can't know for sure.

[tumblingxelian]

MLB AU - Headshot (Virus Timeline)

Summary:

The careless flick of a yoyo in anger leads to a death, which sets of a daisy-chain of chaos that no one could hope to predict let alone control.

Prologue

Lila, bedecked in a cleaning lady disguise in her apartment, was caught somewhere between giddy satisfaction and paranoid dread as she skimmed the results of her latest play.

Things had gone beyond well when Ladybug & Chat Noir decided to help an Akuma toss the mayor out of office. Ordering Chloe to burst in with the press and make them look bad had been an inspired adaptation on her part. Really she'd never expected things to go that well.

Then it went side-ways and Ladybug caved Chloe's head in with her yoyo.

A simple "That's enough" and suddenly the blonde bimbos supposedly empty head was splattered across everyone's TV screen before those stupid Tsurugi robots could do anything. Now Tsurugi stocks were falling almost as fast as Ladybug's reputation in the polls!

Lila should be ecstatic, but the reality Ladybug might turn that same violence on her was now a real and genuine concern and for all that Chloe was a vacuous and obnoxious tool. Lila couldn't deny seeing her skull split open, her blood flow and her brain splatter across the floor hadn't been horrifying to behold.

But Lila was a practical girl, & once Chloe was healed she calmed right down and tried to regain control of the situation. Unfortunately that proved harder than she'd have liked.

Chloe had seemingly dropped her ear piece or was just too panicked to listen because she had let out a hysterical half scream, half shout, then practically vaulted over the press and took off running. & for all Chloe lacked swift mental faculties she made up for it in legs because the press lost her almost instantly.

Still, Lila could work with this, she was adaptable after all and would play the hand she was dealt, and Chloe’s parents had certainly given her some fine cards to play.

Andre had swooped in to try and look like a grief stricken father, while somehow weaving in a reference to his plans to become a director again. Only to get counter swooped by Audrey tearing into him over divorcing herself and Chloe. Both wanted their newly sympathetic tragedy doll and fortunately for Lila neither made themselves look like remotely functional parents.

Slagging each other off even hours after the public meltdowns had started, with every scrap of dirty laundry from over a decade of marriage aired for all to see, and no real mention of their missing daughter. To say that their shameful display, compounded with Chloe’s public death had spun public sympathy towards the blonde would be an understatement.

Lila had been quick to set up an online funding campaign, for Chloe's benefit of course.

Now if she could just find the blonde she'd have her little cash cow back in its barn and could move on to trying to figure out Gabriel and Ladybug's next move -

There was a thumping on her door, followed by a tired but trill, "Let me in Lila, I have had a day."

"Chloe!" Lila cheered.

Leaping from her seat and throwing open the door she began fussing, keeping her words small, flattering and subtly guiding the blonde on exactly what to think.

"Oh my dear, exceptional, wonderfully brave friend! I saw what that monster did to you! I've been trying to reach you and find you but I knew if you would go to anyone it would be your closest and most loyal friend so I stayed here, waiting, hoping you'd come back!" Managing Chloe was easy but she required constant elaboration for understanding anything more complicated than, ‘want grab now’.

Seeing Chloe looking around the apartment hallway furtively, Lila pulled the blonde into the apartment and her embrace which the blonde slowly returned without any of her usual energy or clumsy attempts at haughtiness.

Burying her face into Lila's neck Chloe murmured, "It's nice that someone... Cares..."

"Of course I care, Chloe. Even if the world turns against you I'm here for you and I always will be." The fact Chloe's online following went from a respectable seventy two thousand to several million with donors to match certainly helped.

"The emancipation campaign, that was you right? I don't recall us sharing bank details."

Lila was used to having to swiftly reorient her deceptions but Chloe usually required so little effort to manage she maybe said too much. "I did, after the horrible things your father said I thought you deserved some resources all your own. I know you have your mother-"

"No I don't, she won't remember my name by tomorrow," Chloe's hug grew firmer, tighter. "I need that money Lila, transfer it to my private account."

Squirming, she answered, "I thought I could manage it for you, it'd be so heavy- uh, Chloe, I know you had a hard- day, ah- tight!"

Chloe's hug was like a viper constricting her upper arms to her chest and Lila could barely breath as the girl whispered.

"I need that money, you'll send it to my account. Won't you, friend?"

Panicking and unable to get away Lila accented, "Of course, of course my dear friend!" A few haphazard presses on her Alliance ring and a projected image showing her changing the fundraiser details to Chloe's account filled the otherwise dark room.

Chloe's hold slowly loosened and she pulled back enough to kiss Lila on the cheek, once, twice and then pulling away she looked her over with… Lila couldn't quite describe it.

She was used to Chloe having a sort of hazy, twitchiness about her, like one might expect of a drugged up horse. But this new expression was somehow both strangely misty and yet all too focused for the Chloe she knew.

Stepping back Chloe nodded to herself and said, "I will be staying here until I sort out a new living situation." With that declared like it was a fact the blonde made her way to Lila's bedroom.

"I, of course you can stay over Chloe, but I only have one bed."

Chloe held the door and looked at her with half lidded eyes, "Haven't you ever read fanfiction?"

'Since when can you read?' A part of her wanted to ask, but out loud Lila answered honestly for once, "I don't really read fanfiction."

The dour look Chloe sent her was usually directed at anyone but Lila & was followed with her bedroom door slamming shut.

"That was the sound of you missing your shot, but I suppose educating you will pass the time and be almost as entertaining. Order some room service, this will take awhile."

Clapping her hands she answered. "Oh I am sure you have such wisdom to share, but don't you want to get your beauty sleep?" What a relief Chloe was back to having the attention span of a goldfish.

"I am too wired to sleep, too hungry to scheme and in desperate need of a distraction." Chloe plopped down on the lounge and snatched up Lila's laptop. "So help me de-stress one way or another, or... Go clean something. You are dressed for it and the view would be more pleasant than the conversation."

'Something's changed, a lot has changed, what the hell changed!?' Lila mind was frantic even as she smiled gamely and ordered a platter of her and Chloe's favorites as the blonde poured over the laptop.

'Chloe was never that obvious with her interest, she barely ever spoke coherently for that long and normally she'd drop everything and re-shift focus if all I did was give her a compliment and promise something nice!'

Biting her tongue, Lila smiled at the delivery person before carting the food back to the plush lounge where Chloe sat cross-legged and sharp-eyed. Grabbing at her plate of sushi, Chloe turned the lap-top around to show some kind of archive website.

'Maybe Ladybug finally gave her a brain?' Lila wondered.

"Now to your education, the first trope, there was only one bed!"

Lila sighed, she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up.

Chapter 1

Lila liked to think she was a patient person.

She wouldn't be much of a plotter if she was impatient now would she?

But after a night in disguise because Ladybug might come and crack her skull open, hours fretting over trying to get her plan to rob Gabriel back on track but meeting nothing but road-blocks and now seemingly losing control over the once malleable Chloe.

Lila was more than a little stressed.

Made worse by sitting through a multi-hour long lecture on fanfiction tropes and conventions, which under other circumstances might have been useful for the insights into Chloe's psyche. But this late at night and with so many other things on her mind, the girl's penchant for enemies to lovers, redemption and childhood friendships were like droplets of water bouncing off clay.

Still, she could have bore it if not for the hour-long lecture on pseudo biology that Chloe evidently was just reading from the author notes of her 'fanfiction' like it was a legitimate text book!

So Lila lost her patience, just a smidgen when Chloe said: "It's all quite realistic really."

"Chloe, a well educated and intelligent girl like you must know this kind of thing is, as your mother would say. Utterly ridiculous."

Chloe's glare sharpened and flickered to the big billboard TV screen outside where reruns of Chloe's injury and her parents' nine hour long break up were being played side by side. "My mother would call the rising of the sun utterly ridiculous if it reflected off her martini at the wrong angle and while I'm no doctor, the author is. They know more of what they are speaking of than you do, Lila."

Her mother was a bad avenue, Lila needed to readjust, "Well I'm not sure about that, I know more than a thing or two about medicine. You remember the massage I gave you-"

"Yes, yes," Chloe said with an airy wave, "You have very talented hands, that does not give you a PHD in genetic science and viruses like the author has."

It was 1-AM and Lila had just been dismissed and talked over by someone she had previously needed to coach through pronouncing democracy and lectured as though she were the ignorant one!

‘I’ve started blood feuds over less!’

Then a voice boomed in her mind, or maybe it had been there longer than that, Lila couldn't say.

Her Alliance ring hummed and soon all she knew were the words of the Monarch, of Gabriel Agreste.

"Such vexation and venom, my Lila I promise you the power to prove yourself as wise and put this fool in their place by putting their little theory to the test!"

If Lila were more aware she'd realize Gabriel’s plan barely addressed her anger, only doing so in the most roundabout way, as though he was just using her as a vessel for some other scheme.

But Lila couldn’t think about that, could not see or sense it.

She'd never been good at resisting Akumatization after all.

So all she heard was the promise of power & vindication.

Thus she answered as she always did, "Yes, my monarch!" Lila didn't hear Chloe cursing as she flung herself off the lounge and scittered out of sight as the transformation took hold. A myriad of colors suffused Lila as her Alliance ring pulsed with arcane power.

She sent a single sharp gesture towards her laptop and the magic washed over it like locusts descending upon a field and drew from it the words that began to float drift around her right hand, slowly infusing themselves into an orb of magic and the helix within.

"I'll encode this fool's DNA-Virus into every Alliance Ring on Earth and when it fails, you will finally see that whether it's fact or fiction, lie or truth, I am your one and only authority!"

The orb engulfed Lila's hand and shrunk down into her Alliance ring, pulsing with eldritch light she raised it high and the virus was multiplied and unleashed across the world!

Then Chloe leapt onto her back, tore the Alliance ring from her finger and hurled it through the apartment window. Lila's instinctive cry of, "Noooo!" was cut off when they both hit the floor and some distant part of her registered a car driving over the ring and breaking the connection.

The heady feeling brought on by the Butterflies presence began fading with an echoing chuckle.

Chloe turned her over, all fangs and claws and growls. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She dragged Lila's face close to hers and snarled, "I just got my brain back, and I am not letting you throw it away over something so utterly ridiculous!"

Muddy thoughts becoming clearer pieces fell into place too fast for her lips to stop, "It was Gabriel who made you..." Lila's mouth snapped shut as Chloe's eyes widened, pupils turned to pin-pricks as she violently convulsed above her before letting out a choked rasp, almost a sob.

"Gabriel... Of course... Of course it was him, it makes too much sense. The movie, the rings and robots, that day on the roof. He knew, he's always known how to twist the knife!"

Rolling with the punches, Lila answered, "I assumed you’d already figured it out if he flambeed your brain," her words came with a sort of cavalier shrug but as the pieces locked into place there was a cold, churning horror in her guts at the thought of him doing the same to her. Lila's mind was her everything if she'd been rendered to barely above a toddler like Chloe she wouldn't-

Lila cut that thought off before it could form as Chloe tightened her grip and growled, "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, what I want to know is how you knew."

A lie, even now Chloe wasn't a natural liar, even her stone-walling when Lila had tried to divert her attention from stories was blunt. The blonde was not a deceiver, that much at least remained true.

Still, Lila was flying blind as to what this new or old version of Chloe could do and with her heart thumping against her chest she decided something like honesty was the best policy.

"He used me like he used you Chloe. Why do you think those Scarlet Akuma were ready and waiting when I tried to have Marinette expelled?" She glanced away, "Not that it stopped him from throwing me away either." The bitter resentment in her tone was real enough and Chloe seemed willing to accept that much at least.

Slowly the blonde loosened her grip and lolled back up to simple kneel over Lila staring at the ceiling of the dim apartment room. As seconds drifted by Lila wanted to speak or at least get the blonde off of her but she was still feeling strangely fuzzy and flushed, her heart was racing but she couldn't bring herself to move.

She felt too hot for the cool night air.

Finally, Chloe worked through whatever it was that was holding her back and with gnashed teeth she shot to her feet, pulling Lila up with her like a rag doll and began absently brushing invisible lint off her shoulders.

"I suppose I should thank you, now I don't need to keep going in circles on whether it's Adrien or Felix who has what I need."

Without another word she turned and began marching for the door.

Confused and slightly at odds with the sudden loss of the other girls presence, Lila pursued, "What are we after?"

Chloe glanced back over her shoulder, expression flickering for a moment before a vicious sort of smirk was forced onto her lips, "Follow me and you'll find out soon enough. If not, well, you'll see once I'm done tearing Gabriel to shreds!"

The subtle growl inflecting her tone sent shivers down Lila's spine and the prospect of seeing Gabriel pay for using her and throwing her away was already tempting. The prospect he could never do to her what he'd evidently done to Chloe only sweetened the deal and was all the temptation she needed.

"Then lead on, I can't wait to see what you have for us~" God she hoped it was worth it.

"Trust me, it'll be better than anything Lady-bum and Chat-Chump could come up with, but first, we need to see an old not friend of mine."

Lila let Chloe drag her out of the apartment without even a coat, she felt warm enough as it was.

Chapter 2

Felix was not one who liked being woken suddenly, least of all by Duusu prodding at his cheek, but he grudgingly acceded to the Kwami and groaned, "What is it Duusu?"

"I sense two new presence, distantly familiar to me, and rippling with emotional intensity, young master."

"It's not Ladybug & Chat Noir is it?"

"No young master, nor any other Miraculous wielder I could name."

That ruled out his uncle and his human pet Nathalie, so Felix hoisted himself out of bed just in time for mother to push open his door, "My treasure, it seems we have guests, Chloe and a little friend of hers forced their way passed our security."

Felix snorted, "How much screaming was involved?"

His mother chuckled, "Less than you'd think, but enough to make the beginnings of a scene. It seems Chloe’s injury hasn't quenched that fiery personality."

"It'd take more than than a bucket of ice to douse a raging house fire I suppose," Felix slipped Duusu's Miraculous into his pajamas front pocket and the Kwami de-materialized as he strode down into the foyer where Chloe awaited with a faintly familiar redhead at her side.

'Lila wasn't it? Kagami and Adrien couldn't make heads or tails of her until recently, I suppose she's latched onto the last wealthy fool who will tolerate her.' Latched on was a rather fitting term for how the brunette was leaning against Chloe, an arm snaking through the blonde's and head on her shoulder.

Chloe meanwhile stood stiff as a board, a forced and mildly manic grin stretched on her features like it had been forced there by Botox as she greeted, "Felix, my dear lady Amilie, so sorry to wake you."

"Not sorry enough to wait till morning though," Felix snarked.

His mother rested a hand on his shoulder, "Not that we blame you dear, I imagine you had quite the fright yesterday, how are you now?"

A mechanical shrug as she met his eyes intensely, "As well as can be, this isn't the first time someone with magic powers decided to knock me around for some petty reason" She capped that off with a wave of her fingers as though sprinkling fairy dust on a gaping wound.

"Still," Lila cut in, "We felt it was best to get somewhere safer until something could be done about that wreck-loose Ladybug!"

"Well how flattering," His mother intoned generously. "But did you get your parents permission?" Mother, clever mother was looking for a way out that wouldn't be their fault.

Chloe strode forward, more strutted really, with the Lila girl whispering in her ear as she answered. "My parents are still tearing each other apart on live TV to the delight of the masses. I came here because when looking for security against super powers there's only so many places one can turn, Felix."

The pieces clicked into place as the night Felix had tried to cast from his memory flared to the forefront of his mind, Chloe had seen him in his Adrien guise transform and snap her out of existence!

He tried to fall into a defensive stance, Duusu's name on his lips, but Chloe had started moving before she finished speaking and snagged his front pocket. The expensive fabric couldn't hold up to her nails and was ripped asunder.

Lila flung herself bodily at his mother when she tried to intervene and sent them both to the floor. The manors security sentinels flaring to life in time to see Felix land a sharp blow across Chloe's face, but in his haste to get passed her he didn't see her roll with the motion. Turning the momentum into a devastating roundhouse kick that sent him crashing to the floor.

Felix watched helplessly as his mother tried and failed to catch Chloe's feet as the blonde pounced.

"Kwami, tell me your name!" She called, rolling and vaulting to her feet as Duusu answered the order, despite Felix's hasty calls for silence. The manors' guns flared to life, but they were too late as Chloe cried, "Duusu, transform moi!"

In a flash of ocean blues, pinks and blinding white, Chloe was transformed, her skin a dark blue, her frame taller and broader with her hair taking on a nearly stark white color. She was adorned in form fitting leggings and a sharp open collared top with a vibrant and half cape of feathers draped over her shoulder.

Chloe flicked open the fan and in a blur launched herself from the floor and across the hall with a howling, "Yeees!"

She struck down the first turret with a kick, crying out, "I am strong!"

Launching herself from the rear wall she rocketed towards the door and ripped apart the second turret, "Strong!"

She flipped through the air and cut the chandelier loose, forcing Felix to retreat backwards towards mother, while Lila watched in wicked glee as Chloe obliterated the last turret. "Strong again!"

Chloe landed before them, marble shattering beneath her feet and the last remnants of the turrets crumbling in her fingers.

Lila launched herself at the blonde and Chloe didn't even budge as Lila swung around her and snuggled up against the blonde with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "That you are," she purred, "& so well dressed too, much better than the fop."

That drew a snort of amusement from the blonde as she came down from her high and locked her shining pink eyes on them; his mother stepped between Chloe and Felix hid the family signet ring behind his back.

"So," Chloe hummed, "That explains a lot," She held up her ring-ed hand and dread swallowed him whole even as his mother cried out, "Chloe, he's your friend!"

"My friend!?" She roared, "He snapped me out of existence, his friendship is as shiftless and unreliable as the rest of yours!"

"He saw the error of his ways, he undid it," his mother reasoned, desperately.

"Oh how convenient," Chloe rolled her eyes, "Because he was able to unbreak what he broke, all is forgiven apparently. Isn't that convenient Lila?"

The brunette giggled wickedly, "Convenient for some and not for others, a double standard one might say."

Chloe huffed, "I do say," the look she was sending them wasn't one of mere rage but one Felix recognized, seething jealousy, no doubt from the way his mother stood between him and death. He'd once relished in that distinction between them, now it might only be worsening his chances, but Felix couldn't bring himself to speak lest that dreaded snap ring out and be the last thing he heard.

Amilie fell to the floor, "Please, he's all I have," She continued despite the girl's scoff, "You aren't an evil person Chloe, there's no need for you to do this."

The blonde's fangs were gnashing, her fingers tightened, and then slackened with an aggrieved rolling of eyes. "You two really are pathetic, utterly pathetic," The scorn didn't ring true, her words sounding more aching than angered.

Lila nuzzled against Chloe, "They'd be more useful alive, so long as they keep their mouths shut."

"Hmm, I suppose," Chloe tilted her head and zeroed her gaze in on Felix again even as his mother hugged him close. "Keep this in mind going forward, if anyone finds out I have this," she motioned to the Miraculous on her lapel. "Then I will blame you.”

Her tone grew heavier, “I don't care if Kagami and Marinette somehow uncover and try to steal it, I will blame you. I don't care if Adrien figures it out I have it because his dad has almost all the others, I will blame you. I don't care if the magic stops working and everyone can see it's me. I. Will. Blame. You!"

She held her fingers up again, ready to snap, "& I promise, the fallout from that will hit your head Felix, long before it hits mine? Understood?"

He swallowed, but along with his mother nodded, "Understood."

She held a hand up to her ear, "Understood who-" She hummed. "Hmm, actually, what should I call myself? I need something beyond a queen, but Empress Peacock sounds stupid."

Lila was evidently quick on the up-take and suggested, "Imperatus, a term tying to the great emperors and empresses of Rome."

Chloe smirked and tapped the fan to her chin, "Oh I like that, Yes, Imperatus Peacock, that can work."

Finally, Felix found his voice and despite his mothers subtle beckoning said, "Chloe," he grimaced at the dual glare that met him and corrected,"… Imperatus, if you go to Gabriel with that he will just steal it."

Chloe let out a shriek of laughter, "Go to Gabriel!? Go to Hawk Moth who turned my brain into his personal playground until it was little better than play dough? No, I'm not going to give this to Gabriel. I am going to use it to make an army of Senitmonsters and have them rip that simpering, back-stabbing, wretch, limb from limb!"

Her voice echoed and resounded off the walls, the air around her suffused with energy before Chloe forcibly composed herself. With that she scooped Lila up in her arms and added, "but first, breakfast, I am famished!"

With that she leapt into the air and kicked her way through a window before leaping into the early morning light.

Felix flopped to the ground against his mother, his whole world turned upside down in mere moments, and only three words seemed fitting.

"What the hell?"

-

Duusu came back into being on a rooftop somewhere, the city was not yet awake even if their new holder was, stalking around both the Kwami and their newly minted manifestation.

Duusu looked over the new Sentimonster of rage and dread, it was a black and yellow creature, with red eyes, purple sclera, and a physical form akin to that of a gorilla but stretched too long and made too sharp. It was equipped with a massive jaw and subtle spikes along its hulking frame.

It was also barely thirty centimeters tall.

"Young Mistress," Duusu greeted politely, bringing the blonde to a stop as her jumbled emotions solidified behind several walls of pride and vexation.

"Ah yes, Duusu wasn't it? How do you take your meals?"

"I am partial to sweet and sour candies if it pleases you!"

The blonde nodded and pulled a small roll of sweet smelling breath mints from her purse, "I'll find you something higher quality later, Lila's apartment is swarming with reporters so we can't go back there and we need to work on making more Sentimonsters anyway."

That stopped Duusu from taking a second bite and gave time for the second mass of emotions to close the distance, bringing with her warm beverages and pre-wrapped snacks.

"Before you complain, the only thing open at this ungodly hour are vending machines," She passed a cringing Chloe her snacks and then leaned against the blonde. Breathing in her scent, Lila was sending waves of confusion and contentment in equal measure, along with a subtler mix of desire and greed.

"Where are your hands traveling?" Chloe intoned, not quite suspicious or amused but a secret third thing.

"Mine?" Lila crooned, letting them run over Chloe's chest, down her hips and snaking around her back, "Nowhere special, don't you trust me?"

Chloe scoffed, "No, I don't, it's what I like about you. I know what to expect."

There was a moment of stark shock running through Lila that was quickly engulfed as she nuzzled against the blonde’s neck, "Then this relationship might just last!" She purred.

Chloe's own emotions roiled, relief but not joy, control but not satisfaction, this was not love by any stretch. Duusu wanted to shake his head but held their tongue and let the little tit for tat continue.

"I recognize this one, it's... Smaller," Lila hummed, almost teasing as she refused to budge from where she had glued herself to Chloe's side.

"It is, but that can change, show her." Chloe's instructions were met with the Sentimonster letting out a tiny roar before slamming both fists against the roof, the force fed back into its frame and it swelled in size and strength.

"Oh it's a grower, not a shower, how clever!" Lila cheered.

"Ugh so vulgar, but yes, it's much better than that one Gabriel made me. I think you deserve a more fitting name no? Seeing as you'll be taking down a monarch, how about Recigider? Regina for short." The Sentimonster thumped fists against its chest and roared in approval. "Perfect, you'll be the one to lead my army on Gabriel's rancid little compound."

"Young Mistress," Duusu intoned gravely as they swallowed the last of their mint, "as much as I too wish to see the Monarch fall, I must warn you there are limits to this power."

"Limits? Since when?!" Chloe groused, rage and offense cloaked a bone deep fear.

"Since you do not have the Butterfly to help supply you with excess energies or trans-formative properties, the Sentimonsters will be purer and far more reliant on ‘us’ alone to work."

Chloe stared, blinking in a slow, uncomprehending manner before beckoning them to elaborate.

"Young Mistress, the variety and flexibility of my emotional manifestations was born from my union with the Butterfly. Without its powers, You will only create either weak Sentimonsters from minor emotions, or identical Senitmonsters, with perhaps slight variances based on your emotional state."

He could already see the wheels turning in her head and pressed on.

"What's more, a Sentimonster like this is akin to a familiar of myth, it directly connects to the Amok and to you. It draws a degree of vitality from you, that is what makes them such ideal protectors. But having too many can exhaust you. The strain can be lessened by using others as a basis for the Senitmonster but only if they keep the Amok and even then, there are limits..."

Chloe was gritting her teeth, rage bubbling inside her. Regicider began slamming its fists to the roof, roaring and swelling in size until Lila short-circuited Chloe's emotional episode with a kiss. Regina froze, as if Blue-Screening, Duusu had once heard it called. Chloe was not much better before shaking her head and taking several deep breaths, almost drinking in Lila's scent and... Not being soothed, but calmed at least.

Chloe pulled back, confused at her own actions even while Lila hung on equally confused but lost in her own hazy thoughts for the moment. ‘How queer,’ the Kwami mused.

Swallowing, Chloe looked to Duusu, "If that's true, how am I meant to take down Gabriel when he has all the other Miraculous? & don't tell me to team up with Ladybug and Chat Noir, that ship sailed!"

"Well Young Mistress, I believe the saying is, the right tool for the right job, You already have a fine war hammer-"

"But you need something sneakier first," Lila purred, "Think of it, something that could slip into Gabriel's little Parisian Palace and pilfer every power he has." A wicked smirk spread on her face, fear and revelry and ambition all mingling into a sordid soup. "Imagine making him as scared and confused as he must have made you and watching him twist in the wind, then finally crushing him."

Anger stoked and pride nettled, Chloe nodded, "Let's hope you're Akuma is as sneaky as you then." She reluctantly pulled away from Lila and marched over to her Sentimonster, the creature obediently handed back the Peacock Miraculous.

As Chloe fitted the jewelry to her jacket she added, “By the way, Duusu. Did Adrien know of his fathers schemes?”

“No, my former holders did not, as far as I know, inform him of their plans.”

Chloe frowned but nodded, “Very well then I guess I’ll leave him be, frankly he should be thanking me once all this is over. For now though. Duusu, transform moi!”

& Duusu was once again suffused with their new handler.

-

Even as magical power filled her form and enhanced her frame, Chloe felt tired.

She’d been sleeping terribly for weeks and since waking up from her untimely death hadn't slept at all.

A part of her was afraid to sleep, to relax enough to let go of even some of the simmering rage keeping her up. Afraid to wake up and see her mind returned to that hazy miasma from which fits of awareness had been all too brief. Maybe if she destroyed Gabriel she’d feel better, safer.

A quiet part of Chloe doubted it.

As the bursting light faded Lila was now visible to her again but in two layers, emotions and physically.

Technically three if the faint sense of cocoa powder on coffee was indeed Lila's scent but Chloe couldn't be sure she wasn't imagining that. & frankly she didn’t have the where with all to deal with the implications of that if it were true. The emotional spectrum was already too much to parse. A blend of desire and confusion, fear and hunger, cold withdrawal and almost primal intensity all at war with one another.

It was so different to how Aimilie’s love and Felix's fear registered so clearly and so strongly, almost overwhelming. In truth Chloe couldn't have killed them if she tried. 'Which just makes Gabriel being able to do what he's done even worse!' That righteous indignation clicked her mind back into gear and she sent her partner in crime a smirk, a single feather offered to her like a ring.

"Let's make a monster together~"

Lila faux giggled behind her hand, cheeks surprisingly vibrant as she revealed a fox-tail styled pendant, “So forward, but who could resist such a charming offer,” she purred.

With a sharp flick of her wrist, Chloe loosed the feather into the necklace. The amulet pulsed and shone, Chloe could feel it in real time as Lila's predatory hunger blended with cautious wariness sprung from her form and were shaped into the form of a looming fox.

Easily as large as a horse with one then several and then one again tails. Its colors were darker than Chloe thought foxes came in, a closer match to Lila's almost maroon hair and its features while vulpine had an unmistakably off lilt to them that belied an almost human structure and with it, intelligence.

"Oh you are beautiful, to be expected from our work," Lila cooed, stroking the beasts head which welcomed it with a pleased rumble.

"Refined looking certainly," Chloe squinted as she tried to interpret the waves of sensations as facts but Lila did the heavy lifting for her here as she tapped the necklace and the Senitmonsters began to blend into the surroundings until it was almost invisible, save if one knew where to look.

"Oh that's perfect, did you have a name in mind?" She asked as Lila trotted over to her, pleased as punch with herself.

"Vulpin-X, the hunter and thief of game in the king's forest."

"Very fitting," Chloe took Lila's hand and twirled the girl around, "And large enough to carry us wherever we want to go before we send them after our prey."

That peeked the other girl's interest, "What about Regina Regicider the first? She's rather... big," Lila leaned against her as she said that, appreciative hands running across Chloe's Miraculous enhanced shoulders.

"Regina, release," Chloe ordered and was obeyed.

The Sentimonster opened its mighty maw and unleashed a wave of golden energy into the sky, shrinking as they did so back to pocket sized where-upon it clambered up her arm to rest on her shoulder.

Lila chuckled devilishly, nuzzling Chloe's neck, "We make a perfect team, Gabriel won't know what hit him."

Chloe relished for a moment in the touch she had starved for from anyone for so long, even as a part of her tuned out how her own body felt like it should be responding more, differently. Her efforts to parse the blend of bafflement, lust, primal greed and genuine joy in Lila's mind was no simpler and she finally gave up as the Miraculous began to beep.

Regina obediently snatched it up and hid the magical item in its maw of steel.

Duusu reappeared and welcomed the remainder of Chloe's breath mints with a smile, while Chloe and Lila mounted up on Vulpin-X's back and Regina sat atop the foxes head alongside Duusu. As they took off across the roof-tops the pair discussed the beginnings of their plan.

"We can't go back to your apartment, it's been swarmed by my parents goons and reporters."

"Well we can't be too close to Agreste Manor, what if he senses the Peacock?"

"So we need somewhere to hide out."

"While Vulpin-X scopes things out."

Chloe smirked, "I know a place."

-

The fact that place was school and Lila was adorably huffy about it was icing on the cake, though it hardly stopped the brunette from leaning against Chloe as they both drifted off to sleep at their desk well before classes began.

Regina was safely hidden away out of sight in Chloe's bag and dozing like its master and Duusu, while Vulpin-X took to the streets of Paris, nothing more than a ghostly shimmer as it slowly made its way to Agreste manor as Paris began to wake on the dawn of a new day, in more ways than one.

Chapter 3

Caline Bustier arrived at work late, but she was hardly the only one feeling under the weather in the school alone. She’d arrived to find Olga fiddling with the keys and dabbing at her sweaty forehead along with several other exhausted looking staff members.

Caline could easily attribute her own symptoms to pregnancy and the utterly nightmarish day she’d had. For everyone else though… Well it was either a rapid and sudden flu on-set or maybe she was nott the only one miserably stressed by what happened the day before.

One of her students, yes one who had broken her heart a little, but still a child was struck down in a bloody display and Caline could, would never forget that horrific sight. But also the responsible one’s panicked and childish words, "I didn't- she was just- I thought- this was an accident!" said between sobs as her partner dragged away.

Chloe had never looked so terrified as when she was restored and Ladybug had never sounded so young and Caline... Caline didn't know what to do about any of it. Frankly it was all she could do to pull herself from her wife's cool and soothing presence because the kids might need her.

'If this sudden flu hasn't kept everyone at home,' she thought, passing by another teacher bundled up in three coats and shivering still.

Mind swirling as she tried to think about what to say about what transpired in the mayors office, everything came to a grinding halt as Caline opened the door to her classroom, "Chloe?" The name escaped her lips before she could stop herself at the spectacle before her.

Chloe and Lila of all people bundled up at one of the front desks and dozing atop one another.

Caline was frozen in place, genuine joy and dreadful uncertainty side by side inside her mind. Memories of trying to reach Chloe and failing, of what inspired her worry and the ensuing disappointment running wild. Let alone her own shame at being duped by the machinations of a fifteen year old in Lila and yet-

'They came here to hide, they are children, this is a classroom and... and I am their teacher.'

Resolve affirmed, Bustier stepped inside and despite her efforts to be quiet, Chloe shot up like a bullet, her bag rustling at her feet while Lila let out a keening whine and dragged herself up Chloe's body only half awake.

"Chloe I-" Bustier froze as Chloe's hand shot out.

The blonde stared her down intently, gaze strangely focused and familiar as she said, "Madame, I am glad to see you back," as if by wrote. "Yesterday's spectacle was... Unwarranted. I have not been myself for some time, and while it would have behooved you to notice, it was out of your hands." She swallowed, "I think it best that we try and run out the rest of this year in peace, no?"

Chloe offered Bustier her hand, with only a subtle sign of trepidation.

Bustier took it but did not shake, instead cradling Chloe's hands in her own.

"I appreciate you saying that Chloe and I just want to say how glad I am you're healed. I hope that we can both try for something better than merely passing the rest of this semester by, but any step forward we both take is a good one in my reckoning. Even if we stumble."

Chloe was watching her intently, her gaze flickered to her bag and back again before she squeezed back and nodded, "Well, let's see what the morning brings."

"Let's," Rising to her full height, Bustier added, "Now, can I fetch you girls something to drink?"

-

Adrien was exhausted, stressed and miserable, a far cry from radiant, carefree or dreamy.

He'd been lucky to have gotten any sleep the night before, not that it had lasted, anxiety and dreadful dreams of crimson red forcing him awake before even his father. Suffice to say, Adrien had opted against giving the man a pretext to keep him in and slipped out early.

Every day away from home might be his last after all.

Lingering anxieties about London, his fathers ever increasing ambitions and near mania were running in the back of his mind. But taking lead over them were the events of the day prior.

He knew, he finally knew Ladybug's true identity and it was Marinette, his girlfriend. He should be over the moon, it was everything he could ever want. To know that the person she’d been pining for so long had evidently been him? By all rights he should be ecstatic.

Save that he found out because a careless act of anger led to her accidentally killing someone. To that act being seen by millions. To her spiraling into a panicked tempest of guilt and dread, frantically trying to undo it and revealing herself to him in the process.

Adrien wasn't even sure Marinette realized she did it, he would have told her had he the presence of mind, would have confessed himself if he didn't fear it would only make things worse. Instead, after assuring himself Chloe survived he had to focus all his energy on keeping Marinette from fragmenting.

Hours spent cajoling, comforting and oh so carefully making sure she never had the chance to simply renounce guardianship to himself or Alya paid off with Marinette's memory still being intact if not her will. The Ladybug earrings now rested with Alya, convinced her friend had merely slipped up due to stress and sharing Chat’s view that Marinette should not, and frankly could not, surrender guardianship given how much knowledge would be lost.

He’d passed by the bakery as Chat Noir on the way into school and seen Marinette sluggishly being guided around by Alya. He could have gone in as Chat, but that would stress her. He could have gone by as Adrien, save he wouldn’t be able to explain himself.

So instead, he just left, and hoped he could see her soon.

Mind returning to the moment as Adrien walked up the schools steps, he remembered his first day, of all the expectations and hopes which had somehow both been fulfilled and others that had been left hollow as his mind drifted to Chloe.

His childhood friend turned... Not friend.

A girl who had been a constant companion until she wasn't, who his mental image of had shifted and broken over and over again across a single school year. Someone who he knew could be cruel, but also could never forget having stayed when his family fell apart and kept his head above water.

He had tried to find her, to call her, but it had amounted to nothing and if he had gotten through what would he have said, have done? He couldn't answer that question and a part of Adrien hoped he wouldn't need to find the answer just yet.

But it never rained when it could pour and as Adrien opened the door to class his feet felt like anvils as he saw Chloe and Lila of all people sitting on their desk. Lila practically snuggling up to a mildly perturbed looking Chloe as they both nursed warm drinks.

Both of them were also now staring at him intently, Lila’s expression one of mock amusement he was sure obscured annoyance. While Chloe’s expression fluttered wildly through an array of emotions he could barely place before she sculled her mug and returned it with a firm clink to the desk.

'Say something. There's nothing to say. Do something. There's nothing to do. I can't just do nothing!'

He tried to open his mouth but it tasted like bile and no sounds came out.

‘The girl I love killed her.’

It was an accident, he knew it was an accident, anyone with a brain could see it was an accident!

He looked at Chloe again, the image of her blonde hair matted and stained in crimson and gore-

Adrien looked away, a full body shudder overtaking him as he tried to quell the guilt and shame.

‘Did I cause it? I was upset with Chloe, I wanted her to just go away, to stop all this. Did my bad luck break the Ladybug’s good luck?’ Did he somehow will it to happen so he could consign his memory of her to a peaceful grave in his mind as he had done to his own mother?

Adrien tried to meet her gaze again, the memory of the day before, of the break, and the blood, and-

“Adrien,” Chloe finally said, her tone was… firm in the way cracking ice was hard and it forced him to look at her, as much as he could stand to.

“Chloe, I’m-”

She interrupted him, her words halting and stiff. “I apologize, for trying to get you thrown out of school, that was miss-spent effort at best.”

With that she met his gaze for a moment and then turned away, not huffy exactly, not even angry, not much of anything. Or more, too many things she barely seemed to be keeping under her skin as she glared a hole in the wall.

It was all so mundane and just… Strange that it actually buoyed him, for just a moment, long enough to finally gather his thoughts from the miasma of his mind.

“Consider it water under the bridge, things like that can come and go between us easily enough. I'm just glad you were healed after," he wanted to say accident, but settled on, "what happened yesterday."

She took his words and seemed to roll them around in her head before scoffing, "I seem to have a talent for drawing ire from powerful people."

The splatter of blood and brain was back, it all came rushing back to squash that small kernel of mundane relief. He wanted to say something, anything to quench the fire he could practically feel coming on, but he wasn’t Chat Noir right now. Who could ramble and amble and chatter through even the worst of circumstances.

He was just Adrien and he couldn’t find his voice.

So he retreated to his desk, faintly aware of Lila whispering In Chloe’s ear, lips trailing along tanned skin.

Chloe remained silent

-

Marinette kept her head down as she walked and tried to keep her ears closed. Alya, sweet, loyal Alya kept up a good amount of chatter on the most inane topics from their home-work, to the bakery’s goods. Even with her phone blowing up and doubtless endless drama and rage on the Ladyblog forums-

Alya bumped her hip against Marinette’s, “Don’t get lost in your own head now girl.”

Marinette swallowed, “Yeah, you’re right, I can’t lose focus for even a second, ow, ow, sorry!” Alya released her ear.

“Not what I said and going completely against what we discussed last night,” Alya pulled her into an over the shoulder hug. “You need to let yourself rest and re-calibrate.”

Marinette saw a flicker of bloody red out of the corner of her eyes and dug her hands deeper into her pockets leaning against Alya all the more, her words low.

“That’s easier said than done, especially with where we’re going, I mean, just imagine what everyone will be thinking and Chloe might be there! I mean I hope she’s OK, she is OK, I know she is but at the same time-”

“You’re not sure how to handle seeing her? I can’t say I get it like you did, but I get it. But hey she’s apparently still in the wind, so that’s… Something?” Alya ventured.

“Its worse!” She hissed. “At least when Chloe’s in front of me I’d know she was healed and could do something,” Maybe even say something but Marinette never got passed. I am sorry I killed you, I keep seeing it replay every time I close my eyes and feel really bad but it was an accident and you just make me so mad and I forgot I had super powers for a second and it was an accident but-

Alya gave her a companionable shake again and Marinette forced herself back into the moment as they marched up the steps and towards their classroom. Before they could go in however they were ambushed by Zoe and Sabrina, both girls looking as dreadful as Marinette felt.

Sabrina was flushed and pink and looked, frankly exhausted and like she’d been crying on and off. Ribs constricted against her chest in guilt. Zoe looked marginally better, her jacket was done up however and she looked pale and weary.

“Oh thank goodness you’re here,” Zoe murmured, “Are you OK? You look-” she caught herself and said “Under the weather,” while Sabrina fidgeted nervously at her side, be-speckled gaze drifting towards their class door and back again.

Alya spoke for her, “I don’t think a lot of us got much sleep last night, add in a cold and helping me cool down from ‘everything’ on the forums last night and we’re both kind of out of it.”

Marinette looked between the pair and filed in the blanks, “Chloe’s here isn’t she?”

Sabrina nodded, a choked sound escaping her lips, “She came here to hide even though she hates school. This is all my fault.”

Zoe wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her closer, “Its not your fault everything’s a mess.”

‘Its my fault and I need to fix it, I just don’t know how!’

Every time she had tried to fix Chloe it blew up in her face, her mother, the macaroons, Queen Bee, the party, the movie! Did some of those even count? Marinette didn’t know anymore!

Perhaps seeing her spiral, Alya cut in, “Hiding, did something else happen? I mean, we saw your parents meltdown, are you OK?”

Zoe shrugged, “Its been… Enlightening. I really thought Andre was different than my mother, that he was just a poor guy she brow-beat into following her every whim.”

The, ‘& Chloe was spoiled as a result’ went unsaid as Zoe continued.

“But after seeing them tear into each other last night…” she bit her lip and shook her head, “Andre can look after himself. It seems like he’s good at that,” bitterness practically wafted off her words. “Trying to get him to find his recently revived daughter though? That was a no go and I gave up,” she shrugged and otioned at the redhead to her side. “I found Sabrina when looking for Chloe and we decided to pool our resources.”

Sabrina was hugging herself even tighter at those words, murmuring, “We should have kept looking.”

“Hey, we didn’t know she’d go to her of all people-”

“Well we should have-”

Marinette needed to stop the fight, “Well you tried,” her voice was cracking. “That’s the important thing, the effort spent, I’m sure she will appreciate that, probably, maybe. Definitely!” She stressed with as much enthusiasm as she could manage.

Both girls were looking at her strangely now, but even then their minds seemed elsewhere.

Marinette had to see inside that room, now.

She ducked around the pair and peaked inside only to start slipping under under her own discombobulation save for Alya grabbing her backpack. She pulled her back but not before Marientte caught sight of Adrien who looked so sullen it made her ill with dread. & more, saw Chloe, a rictus glare on her lips as she glared a hole in the wall. While snuggled up at her side like a viper coiling around its prey was Lila.

“Lila’s back?!” She nearly shrieked but kept it low, just a little, almost silent scream. “Wasn’t she expelled? Was she involved in what happened yesterday with the robots?” Could this all somehow be Lila’s fault, that would be nice, but Marinette wasn’t that lucky.

Sabrina and Zoe shared a mutual shrug before the redhead answered, “I don’t know, maybe, she’s done nothing but make things worse since she showed up and she still has her claws in Chloe.”

“Not for nothing,” Alya intoned gently, “but they were working together.”

“You don’t get it!” Sabrina rasped out, only stilling when Zoe clasped her shoulders and murmured something to the flushed face girl, who took several deep breaths. “You don’t though, I know, I know how people see Chloe, I know how… Intense she can be. But she never used to be… That intense. Not until Lila showed up.”

Zoe rolled her shoulders, “Apparently the closet was a new arrangement?”

The Non sequitur threw Marinette but Sabrina was building steam again, “We used to hang out, watch shows, play games, we were friends and things were actually getting even better for awhile. But then everything started going wrong, and this year turned into a nightmare.” Sabrina started sobbing again and basically collapsed against Zoe who looked equal parts worried, oddly used to it and put out.

Patting her back, Zoe added, “Look, I know you two don’t have any reason to like her but… I got a second chance at this school and well. If Chloe’s not run back to our parents yet, I think she might see what I do now. That mom’s not worth fighting for, her father can’t be trusted and that neither of them are people to imitate.”

Alya hummed, arms folded, “Well they did make asses of themselves, still are last time I saw the news, even Chloe could see that. But I’m not sure what you want us to do about it, we aren’t exactly Chloe’s favorite people.”

“We know,” Zoe assured, “But you two are brilliant and we thought you could maybe help us come up with a plan? I want to just go up to her and say like. Things can change, you can change, we can actually be sisters and not just our mothers imitators.”

Sabrina let out a hiccup, “I just want to tell her I’m glad she’s OK, but I don’t know if she’ll want to see me and… And…”

“You’re scared she’ll reject you,” Marinette murmured, entirely lost on what to feel. Her mind working in a dozen different directions as she tried to process all that and somehow not keep circling back tot he bloody affair that inspired it.

Zoe nodded, “There is that and with Lila there….I knew girls like her back in New York, even if Chloe sees how empty our parents are that liar still has her claws in my sister and will try and keep Chloe all to herself.”

Thing clicked into place, a solution, a plan, a something to do that could make things better!

Marinette grabbed both girls wrists and pulled them close, “So what you need is to get Chloe alone where Lila can’t trick her is what I’m hearing.” Both nodded uncertainty while Alya tapped her on the shoulder.

“Girl were we not just discussing how overwhelmed you’ve been lately, plus you and Chloe... There’s history there,” she finished uncomfortably.

Yes, history, years of bullying, resentment and a murder, but that was the past and Ladybug and not Marinette and this was something she could do, could fix, that maybe could make things better!

“Don’t worry Alya, this is-”

Madame Bustiers cheery voice cut off her thought., “Good morning girls,” Their teacher intoned gently as she stepped out of the door tot heir class.

“Madame,” Marinette’s voice may have cracked, “You’re back! I mean of course you’re back, I just mean its very good you’re back, I should ave brought you a cupcake!” Was she rambling it felt like she was rambling.

Bustier gently dabbed at her flushed brow and smiled serenely, “That’s quite all right Marinette, your enthusiasm is more than enough.” She looked to Zoe, “Ms Lee, I believe your class will begin soon, I promise to look after everyone in class, so you can rest easy and focus on learning.”

Zoe’s anxious expression and manner bled away like it was never there, “Thank you Madame,” she rested a hand On Serena’s shoulder, “I’ll be back when lunch starts.” Accepting a second clingy hug from the girl that both seemed unhappy to break, Zoe raced down the halls.

Bustier looked over them and gently patted Sabrina’s hair, “Alya would you mind showing Sabrina to her chair? I need to speak with Marinette for a moment.”

‘I’ve been had! Done-so! She’s knows!’ Marinette’s anxious mind screamed as she went stiff as a board, electricity short-circuiting her brain matter.

“Sure thing Madame, I assume you want to talk to Marinette about our returning redhead and recently resurrected blonde?”

Madame Bustier merely smiled placidly, an ever so subtle nod indicating Alya’s accurate assessment as she let the two girls pass her by before resting a gentle hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

‘This is about Chloe, who you killed, by accident but-’

“Marrinete, given everything that’s happened over… Frankly too long of a time, I understand if you will be uncomfortable with some of your classmates.” She gave Marinette’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “I just want to assure you that Chloe insisted she intends to run out the rest of the school year in peace and that there should be no… Outside interference in our classes proper running and that. But if you have a problem bring it to me straight away, I will handle it, I promise.”

‘Oh, it was that kind of talk,’ Marinette’s anxious energy fled her body as swiftly as it arrived and she nearly felt like doubling over, her whole brain and body feeling fuzzy and tingly at the same time.

“Marinette are you feeling well?” Bustier asked urgently.

Perking up, Marinette grinned, “Just tired Madame and don’t worry I can handle Chloe,” Perhaps too well, or too terribly or not at all really.

Bustier squeezed her shoulder again, “You are a student its not your responsibility to handle these matters, leave it to me and just focus on yourself all right? You aren’t responsible for fixing every little thing.” She chuckled, “Leave some work for the rest of us OK?”

Marientte wasn’t sure if she could fix anything right now, but she did know that Bustier was wrong about one thing. It was Marinette’s job to fix things. She just needed to figure out how.

Still, she smiled warmly and answered, “Thank you Madam, I will keep that in mind.” -

Chloe’s sunglasses were a long time favored accessory.

Sturdy but stylish, they could be lowered strategically to protect from the bright lights obviously but also to convey everything from scorn to thoughtfulness if placed juuuust right. They also were large and dark enough that it was hard to tell exactly where she was looking.

An excellent way to avoid dealing with head-ache inducing eye contact, stare down a plunging neck-line but most of all, very helpful for eyeing Alya’s new accessories. The brunette gently guided Sabrina, Chloe felt her throat tighten at the sight but said nothing as Cesair led her towards one of the chairs at the back of the room. Chloe instead turned to the door, watching for Marinette’s arrival.

When the girl finally stepped through into class Chloe felt something dreadful un-clench in her chest at the sight of Marinette bereft her ear rings. Even as her nails dug into the desk as the flashing of a yoyo rolled through her memory, the last sound she heard before a crack and squelching of flesh and-

Chloe kept it bottled up and held back. Marinette and Ladybug could-

Lila was whispering in her ear.

“With your new power imagine all we can do to here,” she purred.

Chloe’s body vibrated at the other girls touch, sound and scent, but she kept herself still as ice, easy given her temperature felt like it was sinking with every moment even as something inside her roiled and ached.

Lila was still purring some seductive promise of petty revenge in her ear and Chloe stilled the brunette with a low rumble from her throat. Turning her attention ever so briefly to Lila she traced her fingers over her necklace and saw the Agreste Manor interior through her Sentimonster’s eyes.

“Don’t you think we have more important things to deal with than schoolyard feuds?” Lila pouted but quickly turned her attention back to the Amok with devilish glee.

Madame Bustier was beginning her lesson and Chloe forced herself to take a calming breath.

‘Her little cure did fix whatever Gabriel did to me, even if it was an accident that deserves a temporary reprieve from our little war.’ Once Gabriel was dealt with however Chloe knew there could only be a few ends to a war like theirs.

Treaty, surrender or mutually assured destruction.

It remained to be seen which they’d would pick.

NOTES:

I decided to finally say screw it and just publish it here and see what happens. There's a none virus version somewhere in my head too, but I kept bouncing between the cracky virus idea and the none virus version and didn't wanna write both and someone can use the framework from the virus AU for a none Virus one anyway.

[fayflutter]

Was this an excuse to use the Barbie Prison meme for this AU?…maybe. (Yes, I know I’m extremely late to the party for using this, shhhhhh)

VIGILANTES AU

-Over dinner, Officer Roger complains to Sabrina about the increase in criminal activity (breaking & entering, stealing, vandalizing, etc.) during akuma attacks and how the officers never seem to be able to catch it all or the perpetrators because of akumas constantly disrupting the normal lives of citizens.

-As Miss Hound, Sabrina has concerns, wanting to do more as a hero (especially for her father who’s drowning in paperwork). Hawkmoth is their biggest threat, but how could she be a hero if she lets the smaller crimes slide?

-After an akuma, Miss Hound brings it up to her leader, Ladybug. She thinks they can help the police with all of the crime that goes on during akuma attacks. She suggests that some holders are delegated to assisting with the police.

-Ladybug who’s under too much stress with Hawkmoth (and trauma, the girl desperately needs therapy) doesn’t want miraculous holders to involve or intervene themselves in ordinary police matters. Such powers should be used against Hawkmoth and the akumas, not normal human criminals. Sabrina’s idea is shut down by Ladybug.

-So Sabrina decides to go to the next best person for advice; Ladybug’s partner, Chat Noir.

-Meanwhile, Chat and Ladybug’s partnership has been deteriorating, Ladybug’s been keeping him at a distance and been leaving him in the middle of a fight then bringing in new miraculous holders. He’s starting to feel like she doesn’t trust him anymore. Chat begins to wonder if he’s even needed anymore.

-Miss Hound comes to Chat with her ‘helping out with the crime/assisting the police’ idea and he surprisingly agrees to it. Chat definitely thinks it’s a great way to help Paris and wasn’t even aware of the crime that goes unnoticed during akuma attacks.

-But they know Ladybug won’t agree just because Chat does. So they decide to go on their first mission (Cue the Stake Out!!). They’ll be sneaky and quick and Ladybug won’t even notice.

-Soooo, Ladybug may have noticed (the cataclysmed building didn’t help). But they caught the criminals and Sabrina’s father could finally get a night’s sleep for once!

-Miss Hound is ready for the scolding…except Ladybug directs all of her anger on Chat. At first she just freezes up, not sure what to do or what to say, while Chat just stays silent, just taking it. It hurts Sabrina to see him like this, to see the black cat hero look so much like her.

-The spotted heroine says something that’s hits too close to something Chloe once said to Sabrina and the girl just SNAPS.

-She calls Ladybug out on all of her crap and defends Chat (“This was all me, if you want to shout at someone, then shout at me, not Chat!”). Ladybug can’t even get a word in, just staring at her.

The heroine says how disappointed she is in Sabrina and asks her to meet her later to give her back the dog miraculous.

-Sabrina doesn’t give the dog miraculous back to her later, she just stays home and panics over how she shouted at Ladybug, THE Ladybug. She doesn’t regret it, but she’s still worried. 

-Sabrina anonymously contacts Chat (through the miraculous heroes’ group chat) and they meet in incognito (with help from miraculous magic).

-They immediately apologize to each other, both feeling guilty about dragging the other into this situation.

-But neither of them actually regrets it and want to do it again. Only they know they can’t do it again with Ladybug wanting Sabrina to give back the dog miraculous and watching over their every move.

-So they make a decision: They’re splitting from the Miraculous Team and forming their own duo.

-If Ladybug doesn’t want them, then what’s stopping them from leaving together? 

-So they split from the Miraculous Team and begin their own missions of combating crime across Paris! It’s not perfect, not like how Chat was with Ladybug, but it works! It’s awkward and they’re clumsy at times, but they communicate and keep each other in the loop. 

-Maybe they get their own rogues gallery of non akuma related criminals/gangsters, maybe they find other holders of new miraculouses who are using their powers secretly to commit crimes or elevate their status in the Parisian criminal underworld.

-Both of them may also be catching feelings with their new…partner? Friend? Neither of them haven’t quite figured out what exactly their relationship is.

-The only one not happy with this is Ladybug.

(That’s as far as I got in this for my notes, just a silly little AU idea)

[actually-factually-anonymous]

The unnecessary lack of personal stakes of Marinette Dupain-Cheng in the Agreste Arc

Inspired by a recent post by @starguardianniom, with half pinched again from my own reblog:

Marinette has zero personal stakes in the main conflict of her show, except that she happened to be the first girl who helped Fu across the road, and was thus chosen to wear the earrings. She doesn't even really seem to have any reason to be Ladybug aside from the basic "I can't sit back and do nothing" she stated in Origins. So a sense of responsibility conferred by being the bearer of the earrings, and an ostensible general desire to do good.

This would be fine, except that Adrien very much did have a reason to continue being Chat Noir. Plagg's Miraculous is the source of his freedom, and a new identity of his own making separate from the carefully curated child of Gabriel Agreste. Most importantly he had so much personal connection to the core plot that his narrative potential dwarfed Marinette's beyond compare.

His mere existence is the very axis of the plot, putting it in motion by the apparent desire for a designer child seeming being the very reason Gabriel and Emile sought the Miraculous all those years ago, and the consequences of his creation being the very reason that Gabriel devolves into magical terrorism. Hawkmoth being his father whom Adrien clearly cares for and whose goal of restoring his much mourned mother setup a truly impressive case for split loyalties for when Adrien (seemingly) inevitably learnt of his father's identity and true goal:

I made a comparison before between Avatar and Miraculous where Avatar won without question. Allow me to balance the scales here: the setup for Adrien potentially turning on Ladybug, or having to sacrifice his familial bonds for the sake of justice outweighed Zuko's own setup for choosing his ''honour"/loyalty to his family over his burgeoning sense of justice.

In potential at least. Rest assured that Zuko's character arc still far eclipses anything Adrien was ever allowed.

But the point I'm trying to make here is that in the very story that bears her name, Ladybug's only reason to be involved comes from the fact that she happens to have Tikki's Miraculous. She has no personal investment in the fate of Hawkmoth than other citizen of Paris, she certainly has no conflicting loyalties.

She doesn't even have a personal reason to continue being Ladybug. You can draw a parallel if you like with one of her ostensible inspirations Peter Parker, who learnt the price of personal inaction in a harsh and unforgiving manner that selflessly drives him to protect others. You can say that the Stoneheart incident fulfills a similar role.

But here's the thing: Peter Parker is Spiderman thanks to his radioactive blood. Ladybug is whoever wears Tikki's Miraculous. If Peter retires, he takes his powers away from the protection of New York. If Marinette gives up her Miraculous, a new Ladybug will arise in her place within a day. There's no need for her to be Ladybug, to take on that responsibility, and until the season three finale there's no personal stake for her to be the girl under the mask any more than any other Parisian citizen.

And that means that Marinette isn't the heart of her own story. In Avatar, it's Aang's quest to defeat the Fire Lord because it has to be him that restores balance. In Star Wars, it's Luke whose connection with Vader that has to restore Anakin's better nature. In just about any series there is a pressing need and personal stakes for the protagonist to be that The Protagonist of that story, that make that story their story.

But the setup here has all the pathos and personal stakes placed upon Adrien. Marinette is the centerpiece of the show, but Adrien's handed all of the narrative potential even as the writers let it go to waste.

It's like preparing a finely seasoned meal, then leaving it to rot as you serve plain vegetables. There's just no reason to have the vegetables when the fine meal is ready for consumption: and if that's a problem? If the plain vegetables were always meant to be the centrepiece? Then you should have seasoned the vegetables and made something delectable with them.

Because the saddest apart about Marinette having or actual ties or pathos to the Agreste Arc is that once upon a time that was not the case.

In previous Miraculous proposals, before the PV, Marinette Cheng was at least as part of the main story as Felix/Adrien was. There were various versions of how the story would go, with one echoing Cardcaptor's plot, and the later proposals looking more like what we got in the final product.

But all had Marinette having a personal stake in the story. In the Cardcaptor-esque plot, Marinette was Fu's granddaughter (or granddaughter figure), and Fu was the caretaker of the The Orb. A crystal that contained all the "fairies" (beings that served both the roles Kwamis and Akumas would later take). The story kicked off because Marinette brought her crush Felix into her Grandfather's store and accidentally broke The Orb, shattering it and allowing the Fairies to escape across Paris and empower countless people- heroes and villains both.

It was her mission to retrieve the Fairies, because she was the one who had released them. She was Fu's granddaughter and it was her responsibility to clean up her mess. It was her story, and Felix/Adrien was the one with less direct connection.

Later proposals ditched The Orb as the Kwamis were developed, but up until the most recent and final versions of the story Marinette retained Fu as either her blood Grandfather outright or at least a mentor so close from her childhood that she thought of him as a Grandfather. She also was usually being trained to be a Guardian or something like it herself from childhood.

She wasn't just a girl Fu found on the side of the road. She had as much connection to the Guardians and their world as Felix/Adrien did to Papillion. It even added a certain Montague-Capulet tragic element to the romance, since if Felix/Adrien and Marinette ever got together it would mean one having to choose between their partner and their family.

But for some reason, in the final product Marinette was stripped of all pre-series personal connections to the Miraculous.

The question is why? Was there really so great a need for Martinette to be "a girl like any other" that all of the plot relevance needed to be stripped out of her and added to Adrien, only to then completely ignore all that potential pathos by sidelining Adrien at every turn?

Because if you weren't going to do anything with Adrien, then all you've done is needlessly undermine Marinette's potential as a character.

Seriously, if you had given me the backstory of these two characters and asked which one was the main character: there would have been no chance I would have selected Marinette. Because all the writers have given her backstory is side-character material, whereas Adrien's very existence, as well as his relationship to his family and the Miraculous is at the heart of the story.

And I doubt there would be many others who would think otherwise.

[avizare]

Worth the Wait

 Marinette drew her knees up to her chin and let out a soft shudder as tears fell freely from her eyes. She sat on the rooftop of a building overlooking her school, the sky almost black with clouds as the rain hit her in hard sheets that lashed at her skin. 

 But she didn’t care. She wished that the rain would just swallow her whole and take her away with the wind. Marinette was sure that she had just single-handedly ruined her own life.

 Her problems started as they often did: with a poorly timed akuma attack. But that went well, all things considered. A janitor working at her school found herself the primary victim of some particularly sticky, toilet-paper-based vandalism, and it had been enough to send her over the edge.

 ‘TP-Queen’ might have been up there with the most ridiculous of her akuma encounters, but hanging kids from the rafters with nothing but flimsy toilet paper was still terrifying enough to warrant the rest of the school day being cancelled. 

 Teachers had been ushering students home before Ladybug and Chat Noir had even left the scene — it was almost perfect for covering her unexplained absence — but she got too reckless with her detransformation.

 She had chosen one of her usual spots, a block away from school. No one was ever there — a dark, sketchy looking alley — but she always made sure to thoroughly check her surroundings, regardless. Yet this time, she clearly didn’t check thoroughly enough, for when she reverted back to her civilian form, her heart jumped into her mouth at the sound of a shocked gasp from behind her.

 And for a split second, she had hoped that maybe it was a homeless person in the shadows or, if nothing else, a complete stranger.

 “Marinette?” he asked, as he took a step closer. As if on cue, thunder cracked in the distance. Her hopes were dashed away.

 Whoever they were, they knew her name. They knew who she was. Which meant that they knew who her parents were; where they worked; where they lived; where she probably went to school, if they didn’t know that outright, too. The Dupain-Chengs were often touted as the best bakers in all of Paris. That made them well known; her family name almost as synonymous with cuisine as the Agreste name is with fashion in her arrondissement.

 ‘My name. He knows my name.’ Panic-stricken, her brain didn’t allow for much in the way of calm, collected thought. ‘He knows who I am. He knows I’m Ladybug.’

 “Mari, it’s okay…” 

 ‘His hand’s on my shoulder.’ 

 “It’s just me—”

 Marinette had never attacked someone so spontaneously in her life. Never before had she spun so swiftly, nor had she ever made her fist meet someone’s face with so much aggression, as if she was fully prepared to put them in the ground to protect her identity.

 “Oh God…” she whispered, as she curled further into herself. “What was I thinking?”

 She had punched him so hard that his figure was left sprawled out on the ground.

 “How didn’t I recognise his voice? I would have never…” 

 Her phone buzzed next to her and the screen lit up with a light ping that she couldn’t hear above the storm. She tried to ignore it as it pinged another two times, before eventually going dark.

 The image of the beautiful blond boy looking up at her from the dirty ground, one hand covering his eye, was ingrained into her mind.

 ‘But it wasn’t enough that I punched Adrien in the face, was it?’ She didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or to curl up into a ball and sob for eternity. ‘No, then I had to go and run. Run away and just leave him there in the middle of a grubby alley.’

 She swore; something that she rarely did. Then, she gritted her teeth and lifted her head to feel the wind and rain whip at her face. And she yelled out against the elements, as if daring them to hit her harder. The raindrops could turn to ice and it still wouldn’t hurt like the sight of Adrien slumped on the ground did. 

 Her Adrien. 

 Her victim.

 ‘He probably hates me now,’ she thought, as she released what she was sure was the most ugly, guttural sob possible. ‘Worse, he hates Ladybug. What if… what if he told someone? That Ladybug’s real name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and that she assaulted him in the alley he’d been hiding in?! That she just turned around and punched him in the face and—’

 Her spiralling train of thought was interrupted when the rain suddenly ceased lashing at her body, though she could still feel the water spray chilling her skin and the noise remained near deafening. She opened her eyes.

 A black-clad figure was standing over her in an attempt to shield her from the onslaught; wide, worried cat eyes glowing down at her from behind a mop of raggedy blond hair as it was tossed about by the wind. In that brief moment they both said nothing — they wouldn’t have been able to understand each other over the storm — but she watched as his expression got a little sadder upon studying her.

 Chat Noir was her best friend, not just as Ladybug, but sometimes as Marinette, too. It seemed like whenever she needed him — needed anyone — he was there for her, sometimes literally tapping at her window. But she doubted that even he could offer her much help this time. 

 His optimism was infectious and — hidden behind his bravado and cat puns as it often was — he was one of the kindest people she’d ever known, and always honest and open in his love for the people in his life. Or, at least, the people she knew to be in his life, such as her and… well, the other her. So he was always honest and open in his love for her, whatever form that took, but she doubted that even that would be enough to heal the wound she’d dealt herself today.

 He slowly knelt down to her and picked up her phone — left defenceless against the elements, for all she cared — and placed it in her purse. Then, he put it on and proceeded to place an arm underneath her knees and another against her back, lifting her up gently and pressing her face against his chest, so as to shield her from the rain as much as possible. While, on the one hand, she had been sitting on that rooftop specifically to be alone and to suffer in peace, she also didn’t have the energy or the will to try and fight against him, so instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and sealed her eyes shut as he carried her home.

 Chat Noir jumped from rooftop to rooftop with a grace that shouldn’t have surprised her. Though, considering that he was jumping or dropping up to two stories at a time, in the middle of a storm, the ride was oddly, impossibly smooth. She supposed that those are the skills he had to develop to keep up with his Lady, who made a habit of swinging whole city blocks at a time.

 It was only moments before Chat set foot on Marinette’s balcony and awkwardly opened the trapdoor with his boot. She tensed as tight as possible as Chat made his way down the ladder with one arm and swung to the side to avoid her bed. Then he set her down.

 “Lemme just get you a towel, Princess,” he said as he entered her bathroom. He soon returned with her favourite one, which just so happened to be a cool black and just so happened to feature a bright green paw print pattern. In truth, it had only become her favourite after seeing the look on Chat’s face when she declared it as such. She was also partial to the little pink one. 

 He draped it on her shoulders and she pulled it tight against herself, shivering. 

 “Now, before anything else, I’m just going to step out and explain to your parents what we’re doing up here. Do you have anything I can tell them, or…?” He trailed off. Marinette looked down, trying to think of anything to say. “I’ll improvise. It’ll be fine, just try and warm up, okay?”

 With that, he crawled back up to the trap door above her bed and leapt out into the storm once more. Marinette listened intently for the small ‘ding’ of the bakery door being opened and sure enough, it was followed by the overjoyed greetings of her father. Her mum was away on a trip to see family in Shanghai, which meant that it was just her and her dad at home for a while. Though from the sound of it, Tom was attempting to adopt Chat Noir into the family.

 Suddenly, both their voices were reduced to whispers and she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, anymore. She supposed that he was making up some story of a minor trauma inflicted upon her by TP-Queen, or that he swatted away an approaching akuma or some such. Perhaps he'd say that Chloe pushed her too far after some humiliation at the hands of the day’s villain. She complained about Chloe to him a lot, to which he would nod and agree and sometimes even smile, almost knowingly.

 ‘She’s probably having a field day studying with Adrien, right now. That is, if I didn’t break his cheekbone and send him to the hospital.’ Now that Chat wasn’t there to distract her, she quickly found herself thinking back on what she’d done. ‘I’ve really lost him this time… there’s no way I can come back from this. And I was almost able to say a full sentence to him without stuttering… God, I’m so cold.’

 She walked into her bathroom and dropped her towel. All she really wanted right now was to collapse under a hot shower and mope her afternoon away - preferably until she ran out of hot water - but Chat was here now and she didn’t want to kick him back out into the storm after he had just carried her home in it. She looked down at her clothes and started taking off her shoes, deciding to meet the predicament half way. 

 She removed her overshirt and hair ties, briefly running her hands through her sodden hair before stepping into the shower and crawling back down into a similar fetal position that she had been in before on that rooftop. Her clothes were already soaked; a quick, hot shower to warm up wouldn’t do them any harm.

 She then focussed on trying to control her breathing. Marinette wanted to have pulled herself back together by the time Chat returned. She reached up numbly and turned the cold water on, inhaling sharply at the small shock to her system as she hurriedly tried to adjust it to a warmer temperature, only to find herself holding back a yell as boiling water assaulted her. Eventually, after working it for a minute, she would settle for a lukewarm shower. 

 She had intended to be in and out before he got back, but she quickly receded into herself, any hope of gathering her senses already down the drain as her breath hitched into a broken sob.

 Chat Noir pushed open the trapdoor to Marinette’s room with his head, deftly crawling up with a tray in one hand, piled high with all manner of cookies, pastries and other delicacies, savoury and sweet. He had a red and white chequered tea towel on his head in a desperate attempt to dry his tousled hair, and a half-eaten passionfruit macaron in his mouth. 

 He peered into the bathroom — the door wide open — and briefly studied Marinette, who was sitting under the shower (fully clothed, he registered, but only after giving himself whiplash from how quickly he looked away) with her face between her knees, hands clasped around the back of her head as she disassociated from the world. 

 He put the tray on her desk and, making sure to be as silent as he could, he tiptoed up to the bed, where he had left Marinette’s soaked purse. He held in his hand a cookie for Tikki. He opened the small bag and the kwami peered up at him.

 “Don’t mess this up,” she whispered to him, sweetly. “Reintroductions only happen once.” Chat smiled down at the little kwami. If he didn’t have his own Ladybug to take care of right now, he might have taken the time to fawn over this tiny little bundle of cuteness.

 “I, uh, I’m paying you in food to stay in the purse for a while.” He held up the cookie for Tikki to see.

 “I’m not Plagg. You didn’t even need to ask…” She floated up and took the cookie in her little arms. “But thanks.” She dropped the cookie into the purse, either unaware or uncaring of how long it would take to dislodge the crumbs from the bag. “Now, see to our girl.” And with that, the kwami closed the bag behind her, leaving him to take care of his Lady.

 Chat approached Marinette slowly, making a point of clicking the metal toes of his boots against the floor as he walked in an attempt to avoid spooking her. It was a mistake that didn’t bear repeating. He placed his hand in the water and — realising the stupidity in trying to judge the temperature through an impenetrable, magic glove — took a deep breath.

 “Hey, Princess,” he purred to her. She tilted her head to him slightly in recognition, but said nothing. Her breathing was rapid; she was sobbing. ‘You’ve really done it this time, haven’t you, Chat?’ 

 “Can you do me a little favour and not look up?” She didn’t respond. ‘Not like it matters, anyway,’ he thought to himself. He had to tell her now. She needed to know that her secret was safe.

 “Claws in.” 

 She flinched, but said nothing as the bathroom was suddenly bathed in light by the boy’s detransformation. Adrien removed his shoes and socks and dropped his jacket to the floor — waiting for her to object all the while — before he slowly stepped into the shower with her. Plagg floated out of the bathroom in uncharacteristic silence, seemingly more interested in seeing Tikki than in interrupting whatever was unfolding before him.

 Adrien held his hand under the water and slowly adjusted it to what he hoped was a comfortable temperature; nice and warm. Then he sat down next to her, keeping a little space between them as the water started to soak into his clothes.

 He desperately wanted to try and console her or hug her or… something, but he was afraid of overwhelming her more than he probably already was. So he stayed there with her, saying nothing. He’d just be with her, however long it would take until she was willing to talk. Adrien closed his eyes and leaned back against the tiled wall, sighing as he ran a finger slowly over the swollen bruise under his left eye.

 ‘Nathalie thinks I’m studying at the school library with my friends, but… how am I going to explain this?’ He looked over at Marinette, who’s posture was slowly relaxing over time. ‘And how am I going to ease her into this? Who…’ He paused. ‘Who even is she to me now? My Lady? My Princess?’ It was starting to sink in that he had four different relationships with this girl, each with their own different dynamic. What would they become when their superhero and civilian identities crashed together?

 “Chat?” Marinette spoke up, in barely a whisper. She leaned back next to him, but kept her eyes sealed shut. “Can you…?” She tried, her voice strangled.

 “Yeah?”

 She flicked her head away from him slightly, beckoning him to close the distance. Adrien complied, shifting nearer to her, and she leaned into him. Feeling a little braver, he slowly wrapped his arm around her, making sure that she had plenty of opportunity to shove him off before he squeezed her closer, ever so gently, and she rested her head in the crook of his neck in response. He could feel her shaking; her breath unsteady.

 Yet, despite this, his own concerns melted away.

 ‘We’ll be just fine,’ he thought to himself as he turned into her, hugging her close. ‘As long as we have each other.’ 

 But as much as he could have stayed in this position for all of eternity, he couldn’t see himself finding a better time to get her talking than this. And he couldn’t bear to see her so distraught. He had to put an end to this; to her misery. 

 “I hate ruining the silence, Princess, but…” he squeezed her a little tighter, “... you have me worried sick. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

 “Sorry…” she mumbled, turning into him and burying her face into his collarbone.

 “N-no, it’s okay,” he stuttered. “I just…” He had to choose his words carefully; he didn’t want to just drop a bombshell on her and have this whole situation blow up in their faces. “If you’re willing to talk about it, I might be able to… I don’t know, impart on you some of my renowned cat-wisdom.”

 “Cat-wisdom?” She asked with what was almost an amused huff. “I-I’ve never heard of this ‘cat-wisdom’ of yours,” she sniffed.

 “Really, Princess?” He reached around and pulled her even deeper into their hug. “I’m often told that I’m wise beyond my years.” She shook her head ruefully.

 “And who’s telling you this?”

 “Uhh… my ninja… master… err, sensei, of course. And I’m sure that Ladybug would agree with him.”

 “H-heh, I’m sure she would.” He could feel something from her in that last sentence; almost a chuckle.

 “Look, Princess…” he sighed. He had to choose his words carefully. “I know I don’t always come across as emotionally… mature. But I’ve dealt with my fair share of…” He stopped himself. “What I mean is… ugh…” She said nothing. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I just might have more to say than you’d probably expect of me. Either way, I’m here for you.”

 “I…” She paused. “Cover your face.” Adrien blinked.

 “O… kay.” He reluctantly pulled a hand away to cover his visage. “You’re safe now, mademoiselle,” he quipped. “My charms can’t affect…” She pulled away from him before he finished, and he quirked an eyebrow when he felt her grip under his knees. “... you?”

 She pulled him forwards a few inches, and before he could ask her what she was doing, he got his answer as she crawled into his lap, her legs crossing behind him as her cheek made itself comfortable on his sodden shoulder and her arms looped loosely around his neck.

 “Oh…” he breathed out.

 “I’ll think about it, Kitty.”

 Adrien suddenly felt very warm and couldn’t help but snuggle in closer as he drew his knees up behind her and pulled her into the deepest hug he’d ever given. Her arms went taut around him, and she mumbled something absently into the crook of his neck.

 “Okay, Mari,” he whispered into her ear. 

 They both went quiet after that. He could feel her heart beating steadily in her chest, and he was satisfied that she was calming down. His heart, however, was getting completely out of hand, and he made a point of taking deep, deliberate breaths in an attempt to slow its pace. No doubt she could feel it, too.

 He took to absentmindedly rubbing circles against her spine, enjoying having her so close. His Princess. His Lady. His absolutely astounding paradox of a girl, who could barely hold a conversation with him without losing her nerve, yet was armed with boundless confidence and conviction when the situation called for it.

 She was the strongest person he knew, by a long shot, and yet here she was, feeling so fragile in his arms, as if he was the only thing holding her together. He almost couldn’t reconcile it; the idea that she needed him to be strong for her, instead of the other way around.

 But then, that was their thing, wasn’t it? Ladybug playing the powerhouse superhero while Chat Noir offered her all the support he could give, physically and not. Maybe that was his part to play in all this. While Ladybug fights to hold the world together, he fights to hold her together.

 He shifted under her to place a subtle kiss on the top of her head, before nuzzling his cheek into that same spot.

 ‘It’s a pretty cushy position, all in all,’ he smiled. ‘I should have been more thankful for it.’

 “I did something bad, Chat…” she whispered, so lightly that he couldn’t quite hear her without his ‘chat ears’.

 “Hmm? Sorry, Princess?”

 “I-I punched someone!” Marinette blurted out, obliterating the peaceful atmosphere shared between them. “Someone very dear to me.” Adrien smiled fondly.

 “So, a friend of yours?”

 “I guess.” She released a short, forced laugh. “He’d say we were ‘very good friends’... but he was more than that to me.” Adrien’s heart threatened to soar out of his chest. He didn’t even want to think about how red his face was getting.

 “So… what happened? Why did you punch him? And… you know, do I need to go find him and punch him also?” He added a joking lilt to the last part.

 “He just…” She paused with what was either a huff or a short chuckle, though he couldn’t be sure which. “He just startled me. It, uh… was during the akuma attack. I thought I was alone and he came up behind me, and I was so high-strung that I-I didn’t recognise his voice…” She said, her own voice wavering.

 “Mari, if he knows you, then I’m sure he knows it was an accident.”

 “I ran away, Chat…” She reached up to rub at her eyes. “I just felt so… I don’t know. I thought I was alone, and then I wasn’t alone, and I just felt so e-exposed. And he touched me and-and before he knew it he was— and I just— I—”

 “Okay, Mari…” He shushed her gently as he moved an arm from her back and gently touched her cheek.

 “I-it’s not okay! He was calling out to me and I just l-left him in the dirt!” 

 Adrien carefully moved her head to rest against his chest as he leaned back against the shower wall — bringing her along with him — where he could comfortably spread out his legs and prop his chin up on her head. She quietened and adjusted accordingly, untangling her legs from around him and opting to instead curl into his lap completely.

 “If this guy knows you,” he began, “then he knows that there isn’t a malicious bone in your body. It isn’t as bad as you think. Trust me.”

 “It might be worse. There was… something else. Something that he found out about me that I really wanted to keep to myself. And if he tells people it could land me in a lot of trouble.”

 “Maybe you need to give him a little more faith?”

 “You don’t even know who I’m talking about!” She snapped, before burying her face into his chest. Adrien went silent as he tried to decide how to proceed while Marinette mumbled an apology into his shirt, prompting him to give her a little head kiss.

 “Now, I might be wrong, but I’m assuming that you’re talking about Adrien Agreste. The boy pinned all over your wall?” She said nothing. “Look, if I know Adrien—”

 “You know Adrien?” She sprang up suddenly, her hands planted firmly on his chest, and he tipped his head to the side so that his wet hair fell down to hide his face from her. “Sorry,” she said as she closed her eyes. “I forgot. My eyes are shut now.”

 “It’s fine. To be honest, I don’t mind if you know who I am, it just might be more of a shock than you are ready for.”

 “A shock?” He could hear the hesitation in her voice. 

 ‘C’mon, ask me a question. ANY question. Anything I can build off of.’

 “Why would it shock me?” He said nothing. “What? Do I know you? When you aren’t Chat Noir, I mean.”

 “Maybe.” ‘‘Maybe’? What kind of answer is that? Stupid cat.’ “Or, uh, maybe not. Maybe I’m actually a woman under the suit.”

 “Oh really?” She quirked an eyebrow as she squeezed his chest where she’d propped herself up with her hands.

 “Wha— what are you doing?!” She poked his breast sharply.

 “You seem pretty male to me.” He pushed her hand away, feeling a tinge of heat rise to his cheeks.

 “Yes, I— am male!” He said, his voice cracking. “The, uh,” he cleared his throat, “the manliest of males, in fact.” An involuntary smile rose to her lips.

 “For a cat, you squeak like a mouse.”

 “Shut up…” He nudged her gently and she giggled, collapsing back into their cuddle. He was glad to see that she had stopped crying. “You won’t be laughing when I end up with some super badass voice.”

 “I will be if you revert back to Mickey Mouse again.”

 “Yeah, yeah…” He shook his head. ‘Smooth, Chat. Real smooth.’ He looked down at her. ‘At least she’s looking a little cheerier, even if it did cost me my dignity.’ She sighed deeply as she crawled up to rest her head on his shoulder.

 “It’s okay. You don’t need to tell me… I mean, it’s probably too dangerous for me to know, anyway. But… Chat, if I know you — the real you — then it’s only a matter of time before I figure it out. I mean, I only know so many blon…" she trailed off. He looked down at her. Her lips were slightly parted, half way through an ‘n’ sound, and her eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead.

 ‘... so many blonds,’ he finished in his mind. 

 She knew. 

 She must know. 

 Surely it was all fitting together, at least a little bit. How they were both always late to class at the same time. How Adrien and Chat Noir were never seen together. How Chat ‘knew’ Adrien. And of course, how he just happened to find her in the middle of a torrential storm, right when she needed him most… as if he was looking for her.

 He reached up and turned off the taps, leaving them in silence.

 “Marinette, you know the real me better than anyone.”

 “No,” she finally spoke up. “You— you can’t be. I would have realised by now.” They sat in silence again as she studied him. His clothes, his hair, his jaw. His cheek was hidden by a mess of hair that fell down the side of his face, and his head was still turned away from her. He felt her hands on his chest as she spread out his shirt, looking at the simple design on it.

 “What’s my name, Mari?”

 “I…” She seemed to be choking on her words. One of her hands trembled its way up his neck and touched his cheek, while the other stayed at his chest. He winced as she traced her thumb across the swollen bruise that ran along his cheekbone and she inhaled sharply. He gently placed his hand over hers, keeping it pressed against his cheek.

 “Your secret is safe,” he whispered. He took her other hand in his and started moving his thumb in small circles in her palm, in an attempt to help calm her. Her mind was a hurricane of memories fitting together. Of everything that Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste had ever said. The similarities and differences in their personalities.

 “Chat…” Marinette started, pulling her arms away and climbing off of him. Adrien shifted himself into a cross legged position to give her a little room, where she rested on her knees before him. She shakily reached out to push away his hair, but he caught her hand, intertwining his fingers with her own.

 “Say my name, Bugaboo. My other name.” He finally turned his head back towards her and looked up at her through clumps of wet, blond hair, and she stared back down at him, looking deep into his eyes. It amazed her that even when detransformed his eyes remained such a bright green, like emeralds shining out of the shadows cast by the thick hair that kept his features hidden. She only knew one boy who had eyes that green, other than Chat Noir.

 Well, two boys, but Felix certainly didn’t fit the bill. He was a lot of things — he could mimic being a lot of things — but he couldn’t be Chat Noir. Felix didn’t have the strength of character. And that left only one person.

 “A… Adri—” She stuttered. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and shot her a small, mischievous smile.

 “Only one syllable to go, my Lady.”

 “D-don’t tease me!” She smacked his shoulder and he chuckled lightly, a playful grin spreading on his face. In that moment, it was like the air of the whole room had shifted; a reminder that this was still her Chat.

 Yes, he was Adrien Agreste; the boy of her dreams; the kind, caring and charming — if also reserved — fashion model. But he was also her best friend; her partner. Her Black Cat. How many times had they saved each other’s lives over the years? How many times have they helped one another through injuries and traumas and even just bad days? How many times did he come to Marinette’s aid? And how many years did he stick by ‘his Lady’, no matter the challenges they faced? No matter the danger they were in?

 She would know better than anyone; he trusted her with his life. And he has left it in her hands more times than she could count. Whatever form it took, they had a connection. A trust; a bond. The revelation of his identity couldn't jeopardise that, even if he was Adrien Agreste.

 The Adrien Agreste. 

 Her Adrien Agreste.

 He touched her cheek. His fingers were electric against her skin and she looked up at him, hoping against hope that she wasn’t cherry red already.

 “You okay, Purr-incess? I know that this is a little… overwhelming.”

 “Really, Chat?” She scoffed. “‘Purrincess’? Right now?”

 “Just trying to lighten the mood, Buginette. Is it working?” She hung her head.

 “Maybe a little.”

 “Should I keep going? You know I have an expansive repertoire of—”

 “Adrien?” The word hung in the air. He raised his head to be level with hers and she reached out and pushed his hair to the side, but some of it fell back over his eyes. He smiled as he ran his hands through his hair, messing it and then pushing it back up, where it stayed. He clearly had some sort of method to how he manipulated it.

 “Yes, my Lady?”

 “I-I’m sorry about…” She gestured to his face. There was a large, purple-red mark under his eye that ran over his entire cheekbone, from just under one corner of his eye to another.

 “It’s okay, Mari.” He grinned. “I’ve been living with this face for so long that I don’t even pay attention to it anymore.”

 “Oh shut up.” A smile touched her lips. “I’m sorry I hit you.”

 “Oh, that was you? I thought that a feather had dropped onto my face. Gave me a little tickle.”

 “Careful; I might hit harder next time.”

 “... Or, you know, that a brick came free from the wall.” There was silence between them. “Okay, I admit it: you may have winded me. Just a little.”

 “Or I may have concussed you. Or broken your face.” She gently took his jaw in her hand and tilted his head to get a better look at the bruise. He covered her hand with his.

 “That would probably explain the headache,” he said with a small laugh. She narrowed her eyes.

 “Really?”

 “I’m fine, Mari.” She let go of his hand and went to lightly touch the bruise, but he reached up and captured it again. “I’ll be less fine if you touch it.”

 “Right. Sorry.” She removed her other hand from his jaw and he took that one too.

 “Don’t worry about it.” He smiled. “I mean, I think that all in all, things have turned out pretty well.”

 “I punched you in the face.”

 “Yeah, but on the bright side, my two favourite people turned out to be one. And apart from you punching me in the face…” He rested his hands upturned on his knees and proceeded to gently massage her palms “... I’d say that it went rather smoothly.” 

 She stared down at their hands, marvelling at how well hers fit into his.

 “You have very soft hands…” She mumbled. He looked back up at her face, having seemingly been distracted with what he was doing.

 “What was that, Mari?”

 “Uh… So, I’m your two favourite people, huh?” She made an attempt at a flirtatious smile but was almost certain that it didn’t come out looking right.

 “Don’t let it get to your head, Princess. Besides, you’ve been demoted down to my top favourite person, now that I know you’ve been cheating the system.”

 “Okay, but who held first before? Ladybug or Marinette?” He leaned back against the wall, thinking. She wasn’t sure why it mattered — she didn’t exactly make an effort to change her personality when becoming Ladybug — but for some reason, it just did.

 “Marinette… but… especially when with Chat Noir.” She blinked. “It was nice getting to know you so casually, you know?”

 “You mean when I’m not incoherent?”

 “Your words, not mine.”

 “It’s not my fault you’re so… so…” She gestured to all of him. “... so... damn—”

 “Sexy?” He asked as he tilted his head back and slightly to the side, hiding the bruise from view and parting his lips in a slight pout. He ran a hand through his hair to add in some over-dramatic flair. She looked down and shaded her eyes.

 “D-don’t do that. You’re a model. Every teenager in Paris knows you’re h-hot; you have nothing to prove.” 

 He couldn’t help but grin at her flustered response to his little pose. When Chat Noir had asked her about the collage of Adrien pictures in her room, she had simply said that she ‘admires Gabriel’s designs’. He now, finally, understood why she was always so awkward with him at school, and it only served to boost his confidence. He knew exactly what she admired and it certainly wasn’t his father’s designs. Or at least, not his fashion designs.

 It was a funny feeling; to be considered attractive. Of course, he knew that he was considered handsome, or pretty — after all, it was the very basis for his internment at Gabriel Penitentiary — but for her to see him — really see him, for all that he was — and still be so… allured… it made it feel real in a way that it never did with anyone else.

 No ulterior motives. No starry-eyed fangirl-ism. Just… attraction. Maybe a tad bit too much attraction — if he walked into anyone else’s room and found a wall-length shrine to his visage, he had no doubt that he’d be significantly more creeped out than is right now — but attraction, nonetheless. And it no-doubt helped that the attraction was mutual.

 “I’m sorry, m’lady.” He quit his little pose. “I’ll try to downplay my natural suave from now on.” He started to get up. “You should probably dry up before you catch a chill.”

 After all, the moment would be ruined if they both caught a cold.

 “And what about you? You don’t have any other clothes...” She trailed off as Adrien held up his right hand, drawing attention to the silver ring that adorned his finger.

 “I brought a spare pair,” he said with a smile. “And if your father comes up to check on us, I’d much rather he find Chat Noir up here than Adrien Agreste.”

 “Right.” She berated herself internally for forgetting that small detail.

 “Besides, I need to pick up my bag from that alley.” He stepped out of the shower and helped her to her feet, steadying her on the slippery tiles. “I forgot to grab it after… well…” He mock-punched the air with his off-hand. “Maybe you did give me brain damage.”

 “That’s not funny, Adrien,” she whined.

 ‘God, she’s just too cute…’

 He pulled her in close, the two of them finding their footing on the off-brand Chat Noir towel that was discarded on the ground.

 “You know I’m just kidding, Bugaboo. I was like this before that little… incident occurred.”

 “Oh, ha ha,” she groaned, as she leaned in and rested her forehead on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her in response. “Still...” She gulped as she looked up at him, his face inches from hers. “... I’m sorry I ruined that pretty face of yours.” He smiled a small, sweet smile, a light blush tinging his cheeks, and to Marinette, he looked like heaven.

 “It’s okay, Princess,” he said as he rested his brow against hers and her eyes fluttered shut, as if in anticipation of… something. “You were always the prettiest person at school, anyway.” There was a small silence. “All you’ve really done is hinder your closest competitor.” Her eyes were closed but she was sure that he was smiling; grinning like an idiot, in fact. “Okay, I’m up there in the top five.”

 “Just stop talking,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re ruining the moment.”

 “You love it.”

 “No I don’t.” Yes she did — she loved him — and he was so, so close that in the heat of the moment, she found herself fighting the temptation to kiss him.

 “Yes you do…” He lifted her chin. “And you love this, too.” Her heart was beating a million times a minute.

 “Tha— that’s a little pre— presumpt-t-tuous, isn’t it?”

 “I can stop if you want.” He leaned into her, his nose next to hers, their lips so close; they were almost touching.

 ‘Please don’t stop’, she thought to herself, mainly because she was now incapable of words. He touched her face, gently running his thumb along her cheekbone. And they looked into each other’s eyes; reading each other.

 He had been wanting her for so long. He’d been fantasizing about Ladybug and Chat Noir, ‘the ultimate power couple’, since the day he’d met her. Ladybug was strong and brave and pretty, and she was patient with him when he annoyed her, which was quite often.

 But Marinette? That one took a while, mostly because he was always so focussed on trying to woo his Lady as Chat Noir. But all it took was one look. One long, long look, when he wasn’t thinking about Ladybug. When he noticed how cute her laugh was. And then, how pretty she was. How amazing she looked with her hair down. Qualities he had somehow missed or not paid any mind to for all this time. 

 Then he started seeing sides of her he never saw at school, when he decided that it might not hurt for a cool cat to pop his head in the ol’ trap door every once in a while. And the person he discovered — this sweet, funny, creative girl, who was more headstrong than anyone he’d ever met and who had confidence in such droves that she seemed to dwarf her masked counterpart — would no doubt capture his heart forever. It didn’t take long for his focus to shift off of Ladybug after that, which was fine with him. It was time for him to stop chasing masks.

 And now, she needed him; really needed him. He could see it on her face and in the slivers of the pretty blues that were otherwise hidden by half-lidded eyes. He ran his hands down her back — her shirt clinging to her skin — and her breath faltered. It had been taking every ounce of gentlemanly-conduct that had been instilled in him to keep his eyes up from the shirt that had taken on more… translucent properties once soaked through, but as soon as Marinette felt his hands on her back, she had no qualms about exploring him, her hands roaming his collar, his chest, his stomach, and thankfully stopping short to wrap around his waist and make their way back up.

 He wasn’t quite there yet, though at the pace they were moving, he was almost ready to consider slowing down…

 Adrien leaned into her and lightly kissed just under her ear, and she froze up with a shaky breath, her hands stopping at his shoulder blades.

 The operative word was ‘almost’.

 He kissed her again, this time on her cheek, below her eye. Then again, at the corner of her mouth. And he lingered there for a moment as their breaths intermingled, waiting for any sign of resistance. He was too afraid to open his mouth and ruin the moment by asking first, but he had to be sure that this was okay.

 What tiny, hair’s breadth of distance left between them was closed suddenly when Marinette tightened her hold on him, her arms reaching up behind him to grasp his shoulders and pulling him in so close that he no longer needed eyes to picture the shape of her.

 And he no longer needed his imagination to picture the taste of her, either. He’d expected her to taste… sweet, perhaps? Like how she always seemed to smell; like baked goods. Like breads and tarts and all manner of niceties. That wasn’t quite the case.

 Adrien closed his eyes as he moved his hands to her hips as tenderly as he could, breaking the kiss only to take a short breath before diving back into her.

 There was… maybe a hint of chocolate there; something she’d had for breakfast, perhaps. A touch of mint; most likely her toothpaste. A slight hint of what he was pretty sure to be jasmine; probably her toothpaste again. He had noticed that the tube sitting by her sink had a floral design.

 In their feverish embrace, he found that they were parting ways more often than he’d expected. In everything he’d ever read about romance and… related activities, he’d been led to believe that kisses — real kisses — were long, drawn out, intoxicating things. 

 The tips of their tongues slipped by and he found that the third part of that belief was quite true.

 They were moving too fast. He could feel it; something building within him — or, perhaps, between the both of them — that had been such a long time coming, and yet, was much too early. Were they old enough for this? To go this far? Did they truly know each other well enough? Sure, they’d known each other for years, but now that they truly—

 Marinette let out a satisfied little moan that reverberated through him, from his lips to the core of his very being, and that alone was enough to galvanise Adrien onward, and he stepped into her, bracing her head with his hand as he pressed her against the bathroom wall, and their tongues clashed, this time intentionally.

 She was so soft; softer than he’d expected. Weren’t first kisses supposed to be bad breath and the clattering of teeth? Wasn’t there supposed to be a layer of awkwardness to this whole thing? It only felt… right. Like nature was taking over. Like they’d both been waiting for this. Like thousands of tiny little choices had pushed them to this moment.

 Every post-akuma flirt.

 Every sweet interaction at school.

 Every stolen glance that would give them pause, whenever Marinette saw fit to host her Kitty for the evening.

 Every moment of rejection. Every second that they delayed this in an attempt to protect their identities from Hawkmoth.

 There was no doubt in either of their minds…

 They broke away the kiss, desperate for air, but they didn’t dare part by more than a few inches. In this moment, their closeness was the most important thing in the world.

 … it was worth the wait.

[drtwit]

Miraculous Ladybug - Miraculous Menaces AU: Birds of a Feather

Miraculous Menaces AU

Chapter Summary:

Ladybug faces justice for her bird racism, Chat Noir does not have a good day, but Alix and Kim have an amazing day.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58557754/chapters/174910676

An AU where Chat becomes Hawkmoth's partner in crime. "I'm Adrien Agreste. I thought I was a normal boy with a normal life, but my father has a secret that I must protect at all cost, because it just might save my family's future." At first, Adrien thought that the day he found out that his father was the supervillain terrorizing the people of Paris was the worst day of his life, but in retrospect, it might have been the one change needed to save his family. Because it was also the day that both of them realized that, when they don't need to be Adrien and Gabriel Agreste, they're both goofier than they realized. Follow the adventures of Hawkmoth, Chat Noir, and their reluctant assistant who doesn't get paid enough, Nathalie, as they try to navigate life as a supervillain family. And pray for Ladybug's, and her new partner's, sanity as she suffers their antics.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58557754/chapters/174910676

Preview:

Hawkmoth was relentless with his cane, slamming it down again and again with only enough control over himself to stop his enhanced strength from making his ‘instrument’ crumble too soon. The banging reached a frantic beat, causing the glass bottles propped up against the metal drum to rattle even louder, shivering with every hit.

“Ladybug… come out to play,” he coo’d, almost soft like a gentle lullaby.

Still, the rapid pounding betrayed any façade of innocence, violently smacking the drum. His hits were getting so hard that even the ground started to react in kind, the stone flesh of the street cracking, splitting apart and bleeding dust.

“Laaaaadyyyyybug.” His volume picked up with his breathy pitch, but the same song still stuck underneath. “Come out to pla-ey-ay!” The birds all joined in, syncing up to beat their wings with his deadly rhythm. They were poised, always ready, always able, always there to dive in for the kill at the first sight of red and black spots.

“Ladybug… come out to play-ee-ee-ay!”

Wind rumbled, roaring as loud as thunder for the storm soon to strike. It passed between the army of wings, growing louder, stronger with every passing second. First the rubbish bins were knocked over, then glass windows started to crack, then cars and rubble were picked up. For a moment, they were all int eh eye of the storm, a dome of wind, almost like a tornado, swirling around their arena.

“Ladybug.”

Bang.

“Come.”

Bang.

“Out.”

BANG.

“To.”

CRASH.

One final hit, the strongest Hawkmoth could manage, shattered the drum into pieces. These pieces, still sizeable chunks in of themselves, all converged on the entrance to the mall, tearing the doors off their hinges and breaking down the walls in streams of heated metal.

“PLAY-EE-EE-EE-EE-AAAAAAAY!”

Through the mist of the destruction, all those greys and blacks and browns, there was no mistaking the red blur that materialized through it all.

“You want me Hawky?” Ladybug asked, throwing her hands up. “You got me.”

[carpisuns]

chapters: 20/21

Summary: Adrien’s favorite color used to be orange. Until Marinette.

An Adrinette fic with short, drabble-y chapters all involving the color pink

20. magic

It’s always the sewers, somehow.

Adrien drops through the manhole and reaches up to help Ladybug down.

“Home sweet home, right?” He wrinkles his nose. “We should bring some scented candles down here next time.”

She shoves him lightly while their miraculous chime together, a beat off from perfect unison. “No time for jokes. Go.”

They hurry toward a split in the tunnel, where a wall can stand safely between them as their transformations fall.

Adrien’s eyes slip closed while the tingling rush of magic travels from his toes to his head, stripping the protective layer of his suit away. The air on his skin feels cold and damp.

“That was close,” Ladybug says breathlessly. Her voice echoes slightly against the stone. “I’m not sure we can beat Renaissance Man on our own.”

“Do you need to call in reinforcements?” Adrien asks. “I think I can distract him for at least a few minutes.”

Plagg dives into his pocket for a wedge of cheese. On the other side of the wall, Ladybug is silent for a moment.

“I—maybe. But I don’t like the idea of leaving you out there alone.”

“You don’t think I can handle it?” He leans against the wall with an easy smile. “Milady, I’m wounded. I thought you trusted me.”

“Of course I do.”

“Well—”

Plagg flits in front of his face. “We’re out of camembert.”

Adrien blinks. “What?”

“We’re out.”

He scoffs. “What do you mean, ‘we’re out’? I know I had some earlier today. It got squished all over my phone screen during algebra class.”

“But then I very nicely cleaned it off for you,” Plagg says. “And then I very nicely cleaned up the rest of your pocket.”

“You mean we don’t have any?” He desperately pats down his pockets. “What were you thinking? You know it’s for emergencies. Like this one, for example!”

“It’s not my fault!” Plagg protests. “Math makes me snack-y.”

“Everything makes you snack-y.”

“Uh, Chat Noir?” comes Ladybug’s voice. “I have extra. Do you need it?”

Adrien sighs. “Yes. Thank you. And I apologize that my kwami is such a pig.”

“Ha! Daizzi wishes he were me.”

“Shut up, Plagg.” Adrien edges around the wall, keeping his eyes squeezed shut. “Milady?”

“Here. Reach out your hand.”

Fingers brush his, and something smooth and round nestles into his palm.

He turns around and looks down at it. A macaron, pink with white polka dots.

Everything in him freezes.

“Kid, I’m starving!” Plagg whines. “Give it here.”

“Wait,” he says absently. He stares down at the macaron, at the careful arrangement of white dots stamped against the blushing pink.

He knows this pattern. He’s seen it before.

Behind glass, standing in neat rows, while the rain tapped against the bakery window.

On a plate on his desk at school, surrounded by balloons and streamers and stars.

In his own hands, catching the crumbs before they scatter on the bedspread.

“Come on!” Plagg darts toward the macaron, but Adrien holds it out of reach.

It’s the same pattern she always uses. Her signature.

The lining of her favorite jacket.

The cuffs of her favorite jeans.

“Chat Noir?” Ladybug asks.

Her backpack. Her handbag. The skirt she made herself two weeks ago.

Polka dots.

Spots.

“What flavor is it?” he asks softly.

“Wha—why?” Ladybug’s voice is a thin sort of red, the kind that goes pink in the middle when the light shines through. It cracks like bubble gum, urgent and sharp. “Chat Noir, we need to hurry.”

“Is it strawberry?” he insists.

“I could tell you if you’d let me eat it.” Plagg dives again toward the macaron, and this time, Adrien isn’t fast enough. It’s gone in a single bite.

“Tikki, are you ready?” Ladybug asks.

Her arm brushes against his. Soft. Like cotton candy.

“Ready!” says a small, high-pitched voice.

“What about you, Chat Noir?”

She smells like cherry blossoms.

“Yeah,” he whispers.

“Spots on.”

He squeezes his eyes shut, but he can see the light through his eyelids.

Sparkling, dazzling pink.

_____

They don’t need reinforcements. Within minutes, Ladybug is armed with another lucky charm and one of her signature crazy-but-brilliant plans. Then, just like that, Renaissance Man has surrendered his magical paintbrush into Adrien’s crackling glove.

Adrien helps the man to his feet. Across the street, Ladybug raises her lucky charm—a spotted pencil, shaped just like the orange one tucked into his book bag. The one Marinette saved for him on that day at school, months ago.

She throws the pencil into the air, and magic swirls around them.

It’s pink.

Her favorite color.

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug calls. Her arm is extended for their ritual fist bump, but he can’t look away from her face.

She’s pink. Just like her magic. Her cheeks are pink and her smile is pink and underneath her raspberry-colored suit, he knows her heart is pink too.

His own heart resounds inside his chest. He can feel it through his whole body, every beat drawing him closer to her. She blinks as he steps into her space without raising a fist in return.

“True or false,” he whispers. “You get those macarons from the Dupain-Cheng bakery.”

Her mask scrunches in confusion, gaze flickering over his face.

(Her eyes. They’re exactly the same. How did he never see?)

“Um … true,” she replies carefully. “Why?”

Adrien nods nonchalantly. “Good choice. They’re the best in the city.”

“Yeah …” She shakes her slightly. “Why—”

“And those are the best macarons too,” he goes on, leaning in a little. “They’re called Marinette macarons—did you know that?”

Her eyes (the same eyes—star bright, ocean blue) go wide. “W-what?”

He straightens. “You know, next time you’re there, you should try the raspberry mousse cake. I got a professional recommendation for it, and it’s really good. In fact—”

She grabs him by the wrists.

“True or false,” she breathes. “You’re Adrien.”

He smiles and whispers her name, soft and pink.

[chaothewise]

a miraculous civil war

If revelator taught us anything it's that when the truth about Gabemoth comes out shits gonna hit the fan.

So here's my theory on what will happen

Chat Noir and Ladybug will split up Ironman and Captain America style and split the team into two (maybe three?) parts. The two teams would be the Chat supporters and the Ladybug supporters.

So who goes on which side?

Kagami goes with Chat Noir, she hates lying and thinks Marinette should've told the truth

Sabrina is with Ladybug, I think this because Ladybug helped encourage her to be her true self and we've seen the undying loyalty she held towards Chloe despite having to bend her morals so there might be some of that directed toward Ladybug

Nino would be conflicted because he's always trusted ladybug but ultimately goes with Chat Noir in support of Adrien (he doesn't know Adrien IS Chat noir though) I think he'd end up telling Adrien, as carapace or as Nino I'm unsure

Im introducing the idea of a third neutral party because of Luka. He knows both identities and could see both sides so I think he'd go out of his way to support both of them while avoiding antagonizing either

Alya. Okay let's look at this. PRE REVELATOR Alya would go with Chat Noir, HOWEVER I think post revelator Alya would be more complicated, she knows Marinette has a secret and wants to support her friend in any way she can, so while it would bend her morals I think she'd stick with Marinette

Kim goes with Chat Noir, I don't really have a good reason for this one, it just makes sense to me

Same with Max sticking with Ladybug, I feel like he wouldn't approve but would think it over and understand why Ladybug lied based on her mental state post Gabriel death, this might make him more neutral but whatever

Vesperia is with Ladybug, she understands making mistakes and wants to support her in trying to be better

Alix is neutral

I'm unsure about everyone else tbh

I also think it'd be funny if (while dating Marinette) Adrien just became the biggest Ladybug hater.

Anyways, let me know your thoughts!