#//(c: alya)

[mcdonise]

       ⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆      

         જ short f̲2̲u̲ usᥱrnames　⇩             ♡⃞ eunchise woniste  daisoule misopie miyeao        ♡⃞ ⠀lovecurie dolyule kyuvrse kazuiye puorine    ♡⃞⠀⠀purinelle dollocs wonytopia rukoire lovedisc　　　　 　              　୨ ૮ ₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა   ♡̩͙

[unfortunately-a-miraculous-fan]

Lila, after a lie didn't work out: Ugh. Time for Plan B.

Alya: What did you just say?!

Lila: Uhh... I said... time for...... Plan C?

Alya:

Alya: Oh, okay. ^_^

[charlietheepicwriter7]

A very merry Christmas to you, @2-depressed-4-u . It is I, your secret santa from @mlsecretsanta . I have had a wonderful time talking to you this year (even if I wasn't supposed to, oops), and hope you have a wonderful holiday.

And now, without further ado, your present.

I Don't Need Sleep, I Need Answers

If his father could see his room at that moment, Adrien was sure the man would faint with shock. Fortunately, Gabriel Agreste was needed in China to investigate one of his companies’ main manufacturers, so Adrien was in the clear… for now.

His room looked like his couch was almost pushed up against one wall, but he’d left a foot of space between it and the wall so he had full access to his masterpiece. Along the north-facing wall was a chaotic conspiracy board, with red string threading from picture to picture. Some of his pieces of evidence were printed out from his computer, like the article about Marinette designing for Jagged Stone or the picture of Ladybug kissing him from back during the Oblivo incident. Others were hand drawn to the best of his ability if he couldn’t find an appropriate image online.

But in the end, all the pictures led back to a center image: his limited edition poster of Ladybug.

Plagg hovered near one of the most important pieces of evidence, the feathered bolo hat Marinette had made. “Hey, kid… when’s the last time you got any sleep?” he asked, his eyes flickering between Adrien and his evidence wall.

“I don’t need any sleep,” Adrien spat, climbing over and onto the back of the couch so he could connect some string between a picture of Marinette and badly-drawn recreation of Multimouse. On the hand drawn page, he wrote no earrings????, with multiple question marks going off the page and onto the wall. “I need answers.”

“I thought you’d decided that you weren’t going to look for Ladybug’s identity anymore?”

The boy scoffed. “I thought so too, but you didn’t see what I saw! During that last akuma battle, Ladybug left, and then… Marinette was there! She always hides during akuma battles, she wouldn’t just run around during one, unless…” He pinned another picture to the wall, wrinkling the paper with his force. “She was Ladybug.”

Plagg sighed. “Or she was trapped in the area and took it as her chance to run. Or she was hiding but someone was in danger, so she rushed out to help. Or some other reason why she’d risk her life. Why don’t you just ask her, kid?”

“Because if she’s Ladybug, she’d just lie!” Adrien explained. “I know how this works, Plagg; we’re not supposed to know each other’s identities. Ladybug sticks to that rule better than me… and no matter how good of a person she is, or how much Marinette hates liars, she’d still be willing to lie to protect herself.”

“If she’s lying to protect herself, then wouldn’t she be safer if you didn’t discover who she is? If you stopped your investigation now, before someone gets hurt?”

Adrien shook his head, picking up another picture of Ladybug. “You don’t understand, Plagg. She shouldn’t have to look out for herself. I should be the one to do it for her.”

I Don't Need Sleep, I Need Answers

Adrien’s plan started the next day at school.

Keeping an eye on Marinette proved impossible when she sat directly behind him, but he kept a keen ear on her and Alya’s conversation. While he didn’t think his Lady would be so blasé to discuss her superheroine life where anyone could hear her, he was expecting at least some reference. Alya was her best friend after all; he’d certainly let things slip to Nino throughout his months as Chat Noir.

But no. There was nothing. When not distracted by classwork, all they talked about was the Ladyblog, and Marinette’s new commissions for Kitty Selection. So, it was onto plan B.

When Plagg was trying to talk him out of this—and really, wasn’t that evidence unto itself, that Plagg was trying to talk him out of investigating—he’d said that Adrien reminded him of Alya. Reminded him that Alya had once done the same thing to Chloe, and gotten akumatized for it. But Adrien wouldn’t get akumatized! For one thing, Marinette was in no way like Chloe. For another, Adrien, and Alya back then, had direct evidence that Chloe wasn’t Ladybug, since Chloe was often seen with or around Ladybug.

Outside of the Multimouse incident, had Adrien ever seen Ladybug save or even talk to Marinette?

No.

But Plagg’s words had reminded him that he wasn’t the only person who’d ever searched for Ladybug’s identity. And his best ally sat behind him and to the left.

Adrien pulled Alya to the side during lunch, with Marinette watching curiously and Nino shaking his head in amusement before engaging Marinette in a conversation. Adrien knew he could count on him. And when he found an abandoned classroom to talk to Alya, he swallowed and began to explain.

She’d looked nervous, when he began, but as he kept explaining all his evidence as to why Marinette could be Ladybug, a thoughtful expression bloomed on her face. But that didn’t mean she automatically believed him. And then she asked a damnable question. “What about Lila?”

Ah. He’d forgotten about Lila.

He preferred to forget about her rather than think about—

Alya continued. “Because she and Ladybug are best friends, you know? But I’m pretty sure Marinette hates Lila. Not that she’d ever say she hates Lila, but she refuses to go to girl’s day when Lila is invited, and she leaves sleep-overs early when she’s there, but Lila has no idea why—”

Oh, Adrien had a good idea why. And it was the same reason why Adrien had convinced his father to only allow single or boys-only shoots for him this spring, that it was more fashionable that way.

“Maybe it’s a ruse?” He offered instead. “Maybe Marinette’s only pretending to dislike Lila so she doesn’t find out her identity? It’s not like Lila has ever said she knew Ladybug’s identity.”

“Well, she did imply it once…” When did that happen!? Adrien might be mostly ignoring Lila at this point, but how did he miss that? “But she backtracked when I asked some more questions, so I think she only suspects she knows who Ladybug is. But if Marinette is Ladybug, then we could talk to her and she doesn’t have to pretend to hate Lila anymore!”

Alya gave a blinding smile. Adrien didn’t have the heart to tell her that Marinette definitely would not change her opinion of Lila if they discovered her identity.

In fact, she might yell at them both.

I Don't Need Sleep, I Need Answers

With Alya on board to stalk Marinette for all the wrong reasons, Adrien had started to feel a little more secure in his plan to discover Ladybug’s identity. For the rest of lunch and the remainder of class, Alya used some leading questions on Marinette to try and get any information, but she was like a steel wall. Alya had even thought up a cool audience participation event where Ladyblog would post everyone’s fan heroes that sounded really interesting.

(Marinette said she’d want to be a black cat hero! She was so cute—)

But there was nothing that pointed towards Marinette being Ladybug. After school, once Alya had begged off girl squad duties and Adrien had lied about an extra long fencing meeting, the two met up to stalk Marinette.

First, she spent a few hours at Eiffel Tower, designing. Then, she spent an hour in a fabric store, picking out a few yards of champagne fabric, all of which looked the same to Adrien’s discerning eye, but were clearly different to her. And finally, she met her parents at a local Italian bistro for dinner. And despite spending their entire afternoon stalking her, they’d learned nothing.

Nothing except the fact that Marinette had an adorable habit of talking to herself when she was alone, but that wasn’t strictly evidence.

Alya sat back on the bench, pulling her disguise hat down to cover her eyes. Marinette and her family were clearly visible from the restaurant window. “Maybe she isn’t Ladybug?” Alya asked. “I mean, Ladybug usually patrols in the afternoon, and she hasn’t left our sight all day!”

That was more because Adrien had offered to talk Ladybug’s afternoon patrol that day, but Alya didn’t need to know that. He hiked the newspaper with holes cut out for eyes higher onto his face. “She could be having an off day?”

“No. Adrien, what was your real reason for—”

Suddenly, the ground shook and people screamed as an akuma, eye-screaming pink and cackling at the top of his lungs, whipped past. They shot to their feet. Alya begged off to chase after the akuma and Adrien let her, his eyes glued to the window. Her family was still there, but Marinette was gone. Was she in the restroom? Or…

“Adrien, what are you doing?”

“I’m just going to check,” he told his kwami, running to the backside of the bistro. If Marinette was Ladybug, she’d have to escape out the back, right?

“There’s an akuma! Come on, you have to—”

“I just need to check!” He scolded. He was almost there!”

“Damn it, kid!” Adrien froze. Was Plagg… mad at him? Plagg was never mad at him! “This has gone on long enough! Is your love life really worth other people’s lives!?”

No. No it wasn’t. And Ladybug would hate him if he even considered for a second skipping out on a battle just to look for her identity.

Really, there was only one choice left.

“Plagg, claws out.”

“Finally!”

He’d have to try again another day. Think of a new plan of attack. But for now, he was Chat Noir. And Chat Noir had a fight to win.

I Don't Need Sleep, I Need Answers

The next day, Plagg immediately wriggled his way into Marinette’s purse, where Tikki sat, contently eating a chocolate-chip cookie.

“Sugar Cube, you’ve got to make sure your user is more careful,” he said, rubbing his head with his paws. “Adrien almost found out her identity!”

“What!?”

[thosewhohunger]

@rubistella gets an Act 3 starter lol 'anything but act 1' ok lmao

The problem with being an elf amongst other races was how little time a trance took, compared to how much sleep they all needed. Four hours and she was up and ready to go. Not quite ready to face the day, still wanting to relax, but not willing to lie in bed with nothing but her thoughts. Especially in such close quarters. It hadn't been a problem when they were camping and everyone had their own area they'd claimed. After the freedom of the road, even the spaciousness of having an entire floor to themselves still felt cramped.

Quietly she slipped over to where Astarion was surely finished with his own trance. She wasn't quite sure how it worked for vampires, spawn or otherwise, and hadn't bothered to ask. All she knew is they had similar enough schedules that perhaps he'd be willing to keep her company.

Eyes like pools of blood stared at him quietly, like a silent wraith. She'd been told more than once this habit of waiting to be acknowledged was creepy but it was never enough to dissuade her.

"Do you want to get out of here for a bit?" she asked, once she had his attention. Quiet, to not disturb the others. "I...I guess I have been in Baldur's Gate before but I don't remember it and was thinking of wandering. It'd be nice to have someone who knows the area."

And maybe she just wanted to spend some time with just him. His glib tongue and praise when she let her more natural inclinations had quickly endeared him to her, even if she was sometimes starting to realize when she was being manipulated. It wasn't like she did anything to stop it, after all.

[griffin-wood]

home // leo turner x devon kang ( belongs to @yakov-vasilyev )

The final text was hours ago, before misfits in remedy played their final show for their first leg of the tour. The encore ends with a bang, as Louis and Justin ends it with a rendition of a guitar riff, and confetti. As the curtains fall, Leo smiles to himself before turning to the rest of the members pulling them into an embrace.

He wasn't much of a talker in expressing his love and gratitude to the boys, but the hug was enough. He quickly changes into a set of new outfit, his jacket following him along before he bids a farewell to them, where he receives wishes of luck and knowing smiles. Nobody truly knew where he's going except to them, and he smiles to himself at that taking the first car to the airport.

Timezones was the biggest barrier to them, but they made it work. Sometimes it's 9 hours, sometimes it's longer and shorter depending where the circuit would take her. He flicks through his phone, it's supposedly 9 in the morning the next day for her; as he rereads the text. A good luck and a heart, simple but it does make him warm inside, the crinkling look in his eye that Johnny mentions, even his daughter Lilah noticed it too.

He chuckles quietly to himself in his seat, the plane about to lift off as he ponders on how his life changed somehow with her. He recalls the first time his heart somehow did palpations around her, made him worried that if he would die there and then, somehow of an exaggeration alone. But, he can't deny what he felt. It's new, scary, insanity and yet..when he learns to accept it the hardness of it softens into something much better.

He tosses and turn in his sleep, he missed the qualifying round but the channel was up and running, she managed to get a P3. And he couldn't even be more proud, and he is hoping to arrived and touch down just in time before the race. He slips in a quick text her way, 'touching down in a few hours.'

Time moves both slow and fast for him, but he finally lands.. after almost 12 hours. His jet lag would be lethal, but he's excited. He stops by the hotel before changing into a proper fit. He made it into the car, and manage to makes his way to the circuit just an hour before the race begun, his paddock pass ready around his neck as he enters. His eyes deemed dead at this point, but when he saw her from a distance it's like he swallowed an energy drink, when they made the eye contact.

He notices how she excuses herself already in her red fox fit, as he opens his arm to her. And when the distance close between them, he knows that the definition of home he kept on hearing when it was written by singers before. He understands it now, he understands that the home he has was imperfect, but the home he found within the person in his arms was enough to cure every homesickness that he ever had.

He chuckles when their embrace stayed a bit longer than usual, as he pulls Dev's hat away and puts it on his head. His gaze met with hers smiling, "hopefully I'm not too late."

Dev finds his tone somehow endearing but she shakes her head. "A close call, actually."

Leo grins at that, "see, I told you I'll be here.” which earns an eye roll from her. He leans forward and places a kiss on top of her head, the action alone was unfamiliar to him a year ago, yet now it was the closest kind of heaven he's ever known.

They stayed there together, away from prying eyes somehow due to them haven't made their appearance as a couple yet. But, it's nice to not be displayed to prying eyes and have this moment on their own. And when the time has come, he waits by the garage as she goes being the best driver she could be and drive her heart out. He sits by the garage with the headphones over his ear, being there as he promised to be.

And when it's all over again, the thrill have died down. They stayed together for the night with Gertrude barking his way in a some sort of an affectionate tone he grown to miss when they are apart. He lays there by the bed, with her by his side. He hums quietly an unknown melody as his finger traced her arms, the yearn to be close after being a thousand miles apart that's finally been fulfilled.

Leo Turner now understand and agree that it's true when the poets say, home is where the heart is. And this time, his heart is wherever she is, wherever Devon Kang will be.

[waywardsculs-a2]

i feel so overwhelmingly lucky to know you and to have you. -ozzie to alya <3

STARRY - EYED SOULMATES // ACCEPTING

There was silence at first from the recently fallen angel. Was she hearing him right? There was someone ... Who genuinely felt such a way about her? It felt surreal, as if perhaps she were lost amidst a dream, but the sensation of his large, warm arms wrapped around her ...

Crimson crossed irises lifted to look toward the Sin whose lap she'd been occupying for the past short while, wings giving a faint twitch as Alya moved within his grasp - only to face Asmodeus and bury her face against the fluff of his chest.

" ... Promise me you won't say these things to anyone else ... " Her voice was surprisingly soft, quivering ever so slightly with a hint of fear. Fear that one day, he might grow tired of her like so many others had.

" Please , Asmodeus ... "

[fandomsforpali]

Average Marinette & Alya morning…

Contributor applications for our Miraculers for Palestine campaign open tomorrow! Artists and writers, we’ll be looking for you to provide commission slots people can donate to Palestine for to buy! 🍉

C R E D I T S:

Comic by @anna-scribbles

— Voices —

Marinette - Alex Fordy / Alexdrienette

Alya - Queenie / trauma.queen.ie

Adrien/Plagg - Carter / plaggs_bf

—

Video edit by @cheesyakumas

[thosewhohunger]

"It's not about the taste," she murmured quietly, as if what he'd said was utter nonsense. Not quite willing to speak out or disagree, too unsure of herself and others who seemed incomprehensible. The ingredients in the stew didn't matter, it was the brutality of it all. The way flesh reddened and swelled, blisters popping and skin hardening as nerves sang. Screamed before dying, serving as but a toy towards the ecstasy of murder.

Brightening up with the clear goal and something she actually could answer. Shaky fingers fumbled with her pack, extracting a map pressed carefully between the pages of an empty book she'd been using as a journal. Keeping track of things was difficult enough as it was, and writing it down helped.

"Here, at the edge of the forest. She marked it for me," There was a heart lovingly marked onto the map where they'd find Ethel's teahouse. The old woman had been a flirt, leaving Alya's cheeks burning. "Can we go there first?" We. Already she was including him, familiar in his unfamiliarity. Everyone else seemed content to let her pick and choose where they went next. It was a relief to find someone else to make the final choice.

A question lingered in his thoughts. The feral hound developed into a puppy with eyes that pleaded for a belly scratch. It would take him off guard for a few seconds when she was alongside him, his gaze fixed on her as he listened to her talk. Prioritizing her remarks above others' suggestions—but not in the sense of leadership, but rather of attention. Sure, he elevated the feminine, but he still felt as if he had more power deep within the swamp of thinking.

Names were simple to learn. Playing kind was a norm, despite the fact that he lacked the desire to push it ahead. He wondered whether anyone else was alive—perhaps Cyrillus, who was like a bug and could withstand anything thrown at him despite his foolish behavior. Alya seems to have bombarded him with inquiries, leaving him hungry for the answers.

" Auntie's? She's probably wearing a glamour, you know that, right? I don't typically trust potion makers, but if you insist....If there's any blood shed along the way, I don't mind getting my hands dirty. "

Oh, he knew as soon as he saw the elderly woman. It was written all over her face, smelling like sour milk and growing like mildew. Bad people and things were always the same, and Dhaunafein took delight in being the blackest sheep in the flock. Self-righteousness sprang from the fact that certain things had lost their purity. He wouldn't be shocked if 'Auntie' had the same desire for chaotic devastation as the others.

𓆩♱𓆪

Flicking back out of his thought process, he'd listen to her next hushed words. He let out a short snicker of delight at the slide of old personality qualities he had always appreciated. " Yeah? How strongly do you feel that way? Something tells me she might not make the stew taste the best. But we all have our special ingredients, you cheeky pup. " He'd mock the extras, playing around with it whether she realised or not.

Clearly, he was not rejecting her because of her idealistic beliefs. Softer with her, even in his monotone-drenched voice, as if he did not care or did not want to cope with anything.

" Did she give you directions? " Posing a query. He was brilliant at tracing down people and understanding the ins and outs of unfamiliar locales because of his line of work.

[bukashki]

I was thinking about different cases of akuma rejections (seasons 1-5) and thought, why not make a poll out of it too? I'd be happy to read which ones are your favorite and why!

It's interesting to see how themes of trust and deception connect all of them.

Chloe, S3 E9 "Miraculer"

"I'm a superheroine! I am Queen Bee! Ladybug will come and get me when she needs me. I will never join you!"

Alya, S4 E3 "Gang of Secrets"

"I trust you completely, Alya. And I need you. I need Rena Rouge."

Felix, S4 E9 "Gabriel Agreste"

"I'm not afraid of your threats and I don't need your power!"

Nino, S4 E17 "Rocketear"

"I can't believe I ever doubted you."

Sabine, S4 E20 "Qilin"

"Qilin, here are the keys! See? I keep my promises!"

Gabriel, S5 E5 "Illusion" *

"I wanted to change out of love for my son, but I only continue to disappoint him."

Kagami, S5 E12 "Perfection"

"I don't want to be alone anymore. These people... I want to see them. I want to see them!"

Luka, S5 E13 "Migration"

"You know the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"No, I'll never tell you!"

Marinette, S5 E14 "Derision" **

"Adrien, I know what's wrong with me! It's not my fault, and it's not your fault either!"

Lila, S5 E20 "Revelation"

"I was desperate, but the fact that you're giving me another chance gives me hope!" :'c >:)

*- Gabriel has akumatized and deakumatized himself multiple times, but I chose the scene where he acts it out in front of Ladybug.

fun fact that I only just noticed: in every other case, akuma has to be caught and freed after rejection, but this one clears by itself, being a part of the illusion. (Ladybug doesn't notice, probably being distracted by Gabriel throwing himself into wastewater)

**- Marinette has been under risk of akumatization multiple times, but I chose the one where she rejects it with her own willpower (Elation kiss was great, but a different case in my opinion)

I also only included successful rejections, so... sorry, Adrien! I hope I didn't forget anyone else.

[yourlocalchronicdaydreamer]

Miraculous fic recs

Literally nobody asked, but I’m bored, so here are my favourite miraculous fics (all on ao3)

If anyone knows of any other good ones, please comment :)

Adrienette:

When Bunnyx brings a baby

Dearly despised (I love you)

Seven is my lucky number

Fruitful

Chasing the c/h/atwalk

How to fake a marriage

Two hundred and seventeen days

Under lock and key

Not a chance, sunshine

Tangled ribbons

Truthful scars

Marichat:

A lie for a lie

The Marinette project

A bride for the prince

Tell me something I don’t know

Lila salt:

With time

Fashion upgrade

Brace yourselves, Lila just joined the server

Funny/Mari and Adrien are so dumb it’s ridiculous:

Kwami chat

Two idiots and a hamster

Pick up and chase

I’ll handle this

Maintaining a professional distance

Alya being confused at post-reveal Adrienette:

The investigation

Trolling Alya

Adrien-centric/Agreste family/senti Adrien stuff:

Drowning (in plain sight)

Thirteen

One shots/short fics:

11JJ11 has a lot of good ones, some of my favourites are: a good actor, shipping, the dare, are you kidding me, ladybird, operation knitting fairy, the little things, wanderlust, cheaters, chat got your back

Umbrellas and bracelets (especially chapter 4: the deadliest weapon)

My last thoughts are of you

Brick walls

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for Completed Fics 4K - 7K Words

I've got 20 fics for y'all this time! Several Lovesquare fics, unsurprisingly, but also some nice character studies, AUs, and a handful of less common ships, such a Lukadrien and Kittybella.

All of these fics will be in my Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2024 Collection, and if you like that, please consider checking out my other collections, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2023, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2022, and Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics - Misc. Years.

---

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.

---

memtempsychosis by @bittersweetresilience

Félix is always watching Adrien die.

I love time loop fics, and this is no exception. Felix somehow gets trapped in a time loop with Adrien where no matter what he does, Adrien always dies by the end of the day by some manner, and then everything resets. I love how inevitable it all feels, the strange beauty to the prose when going over his deaths, and how you can feel Felix's increasing desperation throughout it all.

---

Consequences of Dating Blindly by @mostmagical

Marinette knew she tended to get tunnel vision when she was focused, but luckily her boyfriend Chat Noir was always there to watch her back as they fought Monarch. With their enemy having disappeared, however, they decided together that it was finally time to reveal themselves. In public. Face to face. It's a little silly to have to introduce yourself to your own boyfriend, but after all, it wasn’t Marinette’s fault that she never knew her boyfriend’s name. (Adrien has never been to school, and Marinette doesn't know him.)

This is adorable! The two of them are so smitten with each other, and Adrien's not used to people not recognizing him as Adrien AGRESTE on sight. Marinette's got quite a few surprises coming her way, she didn't expect her kitty to come from this kind of background.

---

Chat Noir Cataclyms Hawk Moth's Balls by @a-flaming-idiot

It's what it says on the tin; Chat Noir castrates his unaware father. And at the same time, Gabriel hits a high C to shatter glass, Nathalie realizes she wasted her life, Chloe accidentally outs herself, Adrien becomes homeless, there are no more secret identities, Tikki thinks she's funny, Nino and Alya take what's their's, and Chloe finally respects another human being. And a partridge in a pear tree~

So this is a fun little crackfic! Lots of jokes and absurd scenarios, you're likely to giggle at least a few times (and hopefully several times) while reading this.

---

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.

---

A Body Without Spirit by @nemaliwrites

“Look, I don’t know much about you guys, but I always hear other humans whining about how they have to listen to their parents or their teachers or bosses or whatever.” “Yes,” says Marinette, “but that’s…that’s different. Usually, when someone tells me to do something, I only do it if I want to. I can think about it, make a real decision. But this…it was like I didn’t even have time to think about it. Like I couldn’t resist, even if I wanted to. And if I did, it would have killed me.” -- Adrien and Marinette swap bodies. Marinette does not have a good time.

I love how this examined how it feels to be controlled by an Amok, especially by someone who's never felt it before, who knows something's not right, that this isn't just psychological, but doesn't know what's causing the inability to disobey orders. And it means that Marinette really, truly understands why Adrien can't disobey now, not just on a mental level, but through experience.

---

Blueberry Passion Fruit by @ninadove and @paracosmicat

He walked up to the counter, because he could not think of anything else to do. For all those times he had rehearsed their reunion, he had failed to consider the most obvious scenario: Adrien might want to run away once more.

I love Adrien just having run away, used a fake name, and then start working at a random cafe. Of course Felix still manages to track him down eventually. I loved seeing them talk things out!

---

The Music Of His Soul by @rosie-b

Ever since she was born, Marinette could hear piano music in her head. It wasn’t any song that was playing in the world immediately around her; instead, what she heard were the songs that her soulmate was listening to. They came to her as her soulmate heard them, at seemingly random times from early morning to late afternoon, when the golden rays of sunset began to stream throughout Paris. Marinette enjoyed hearing the piano; it was proof that her other half was out there, alive and waiting to meet her. Written for Ladrien June Day 1: Hiding in Plain Sight

If you like soulmate fics and Ladrien, then this is a real treat! I liked this particular take on the soulmate mythos, and the way Adrien and Ladybug had looked for their soulmate, had thought of them, was really sweet!

---

i love you to death by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

When Toxinelle vanishes after a battle with Hesperia, Loveybug takes her place.

So this fic takes place from Griffe Noir's perspective, showing his thought process and feelings towards Toxinelle, and his reaction when she just... vanishes and is replaced. I like how, as much as he'd convinced himself before her disappearance that he hated Toxinelle, he finds that he can't stand her being gone.

---

love's constant shield kept you safe while you healed by katrinette

When Chat asks Marinette to keep his tree safe for him, of course Marinette says yes. Marinette's got ten green thumbs. She can keep any plant alive, healthy, and blooming. But Chat's tree has hidden damage, and extraordinary actions might be necessary to keep him alive.

I've never seen a tree used as a sort of daemon, as a piece of a person's soul that reflects their physical and mental state, it's very creative! I loved seeing how Adrien's and Marinette's trees acted and what they looked like, and how Adrien's tree reacted to bad circumstances.

---

To Have Loved by @trishacollins

Adrien struggles with the loss of children he never had, with a life he remembers living but that wasn't real. The only person who understands him is Ladybug, his wife and his children's mother. Sleeping alone is such an empty feeling. Together, they might make a start at healing. Or they might just make a new disaster.

I love Jubilation angst. Depending on how "real" that timeline felt, waking up could be devastating - and Chat WAS certainly devastated in that episode. It's akin to the Pevensie kids in Narnia growing up, becoming rulers, and then tumbling out of the wardrobe a couple decades later, the same age at which they left. Of course Ladybug and Chat Noir would cling to each other afterwards, the only other person who remembers that imaginary timeline.

That's not all this story entails, however. Gabriel isn't too happy about Adrien sneaking out as much as he has been, and he WILL get answers, one way or another...

---

If I'd Met You First by @geek-fashionista

According to Tikki, Chat Noir has always been Ladybug’s partner. “Maybe someone ought to tell him that,” Marinette says bitterly. [An Enemies AU]

So apparently this was one of the earliest enemies AU in existence, with originally being written in early 2016, but it was only just now uploaded to AO3 so I'm still counting it for this list. Despite its age, it holds up remarkably well, the author guessed a lot of things correctly, like Gabriel being Hawk Moth, it being possible to akumatize multiple people at once so long as the same feeling is being used for all of them, and it being possible to reject akumas. Considering that none of that was confirmed in season 1 (granted, most people had guessed that Gabriel was Hawk Moth, even that early), it's pretty remarkable!

---

Happily Ever After by 3ggroll

Gabriel Agreste was a hero. Of that, Marinette is sure. So what's with the bitter taste in her mouth whenever she sees his statue?

This is an alternate universe version of Re-creation's epilogue, with Gabriel's Wish actually altering people's memories - Marinette's, most notably - to forget that he was Monarch, and to erase the memory of that knowledge whenever she figures it out. And she keeps ON figuring it out, over and over, but the knowledge is never allowed to stick.

---

honesty can only be if there is a lie by katrinette

Ladybug always tells the truth. Chat Noir always lies.

So this is an interesting concept. While transformed, Ladybug physically cannot say anything untrue, while Chat can only speak in untruths. As a consequence, Chat gets good at figuring out how he can lie in such a way as to convey truthful information to Ladybug, and Ladybug learns how to speak deceptively without actually saying anything false.

Unfortunately for them, while they aren't bound by these conditions as civilians, it seeps into their civilian lives. Adrien learns to lie freely, easily, and convincingly, which is empowering at first, but leads to the class avoiding him when he starts being caught in them. Marinette doesn't outright lie, but her tendency to dance around subjects gets on people's nerves and similarly leads to others running out of patience with her or avoiding her. Basically, neither of their social lives fares well.

---

No Names In The Stars by @nemaliwrites

Shadybug knows how her story ends: people like her don't get happy endings. She's made her peace with that. Her name on Claw Noir's wrist changes things.

I love Shadybug and Claw Noir talking like this, getting more emotionally sincere than they usually are. I especially liked how Shadybug kept thinking about how her soulmate wouldn't want her, that she's a nobody. It fits what we see of her in the special.

I also really like the reveal of who hers and Claw's enemy is. It's not unexpected, but it's still good.

---

in which chat noir comes up with an awesome gift for ladybug by @mixelation

If his Lady wants ultra rare Adrien Agreste merch, then that’s what his Lady will get! Written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa exchange.

This was really sweet and I love how mixelation wrote Adrien's internal narration! You really viscerally understood his thoughts and feelings. It had some of the intimacy of a first person perspective, but well, in third person.

---

Crossed Wires by @torvalvtt

Marinette has taken Adrien up on his suggestion that they share an apartment in university to help cut costs and be closer to school. This would be fine, except they both seem to have a problem with keeping their suits off around the apartment.

This was fun and hilarious. I loved seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir hurriedly try to come up with excuses for why they were in their own apartment, while Marinette and Adrien weren't XD.

---

Here is Your Chance (to Understand) by Neonlite

And when he turned back to Adrien, tired in a way he always was when he thought about Belos, at the concern in Adrien’s eyes, and he knew what really unsettled him about the boy. It was like looking in a mirror, at a younger version of himself. A version of him with a responsibility he shouldn’t have had, a version of him with a power different from everyone else. Cat Noir seemed to settle atop Adrien, like a skin he was more comfortable in. (And the Golden Guard’s mask was safe because he wasn’t Hunter in it, he was the strongest witch on the Isles.) -- Where Adrien gets plopped at Hunter's house and he has many feelings about it. (Maybe too much for someone who wasn't stranded in a different dimension.)

I love Adrien and Hunter talking. They don't know exactly how similar they are - Adrien is from the season 5 ending, so Gabriel's regarded as a hero and he doesn't know that he's a sentimonster - but even still, Hunter can see the similarities between his younger self and Adrien in the ways they act, can tell something's wrong, even without Adrien realizing it.

---

Blanc Space by @11jj11

Nino awakes to find himself in a strange flooded world...

So this is an interesting concept. Nino wakes up to suddenly find himself in Chat Blanc's timeline, with no idea of what just happened aside from it probably being due to an akuma attack, as most strange happenings are. Of course, he meets Chat Blanc, though the cat doesn't know he's real.

I love how Nino realizes what's going on and empathizes with Chat. He needs company so badly.

---

Miraculous: A Lovesquare Dating Sim by @nagisachan1

“Did you hear that, Tikki? A ‘choose your own adventure’ about a romance with Paris’ superheroes. Do you really think there’s people who’d be interested in that sort of thing?” Tikki giggled. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more than you think, Marinette.” What will Marinette do tonight? YOU decide, in this CYOA lovesquare adventure!

This isn't very long, but I really like the way it's set-up, I played through so many CYOA books as a kid. Playing through this simple little Lovesquare fic whets my appetite for something more involved, it seems like it'd be easy to do a multi-writer collaboration for some sort of CYOA fic, and if that happened, I'd like to use this fic as a guide for how to format it. I especially love that at the top of each chapter, there's a link to go back to the previous chapter so you can easily try out the other branches.

[into-september]

The textbook on ethics in journalism gave me the MLB plotbunnies nobody wanted, but listen:

a) Alya aspires towards journalism

b) Blogging Is A Questionable Form Of Journalism, particularly as it stands in opposition to what we call "editorial media" around here, particularly in its proximity to social media and that smörgåsbord for doing the opposite of the journalistic ideal

c) As of "Gang of Secrets", The Ladyblog went from unofficial fan channel to secret PR agency. This might have been the case already from "Sapotis", but we never see Ladybug instruct Alya in what goes on the blog until she reveals her identity. In "Oblivio" it certainly doesn't seem like Alya pays any regard to Ladybug's opinions on what she publishes, but when the same photo resurfaces in "Glaciator 2", she carries out Marinette's cencorship with only a token protest

d) There are some transparency issues here

e) verily, there were conflicts of interest before, but the main weight of them were not on Alya. She didn't know that Ladybug never was a neutral third party, and her occasional stint as Rena Rouge hardly brought her any closer to Ladybug, at least not by the action deemed important enough to put it on screen

f) but at this point? Alya is deceiving her audience into believing that she is an independent reporter when in reality she is a personal friend of Ladybug and her only confidant in superhero business, is a hero herself, lets Ladybug dictate the content of The Ladyblog while she herself is regularly strategising with Ladybug

g) and I haven't even touched onto the fact that Alya's place in Ladybug's life means that any critical reporting she might've done about Ladybug is suddenly a lot harder to do because Alya knows exactly whoes feelings she'd be hurting

h) Alya's journalistic integrity is nil

i) So how about the miraculous of illusions and deception, huh

[mytalemyworld]

Alya: If he has a legal right over the land, you did good by giving it to him. Cihan: Tell this to my mother. Alya: I'm gonna ask you something. Just like Ms. Sadakat said, will you get weaker because you gave Şahin land? Cihan: If he gets stronger, then, yes. Alya: But you still gave it. Is it because he saved Kaya's life?

Is this a foreshadowing? I mean, anything is possible in this show, so I am not making a guess or anything but I just love seeing how well she knows him. He doesn't say what's going on his mind, what he is planning but she can see through him. Mind you, she doesn't even have a knowledge of the conversation Nare and Cihan made in the morning but she still made a right guess: It's because Şahin saved Kaya's life.

Also thanks to him, Cihan could also save Alya from Sedat's grip. So he might feel indebted for that as well. She's so dear to this broody looking man.

They are just so adorable.

Alya: Weren't you watching a movie with Pakize? C. Deniz: Pakize fell asleep. Cihan: Did she? I can talk to her? Alya: No need. She's been taking care of Deniz since morning, it isn't an easy job. Poor girl must be tired.

I loved this tiny little moment. Cihan is such a boss, he just wants everyone to do their jobs properly.

But Alya is like, "noooo, don't. They are human too, she must be tired and she isn't even a nanny, I mean, this isn't her main job. We're increasing her workload unfairly."

He has a very long way to go to learn such things. Lol. Alya is good at managing house matters actually.

C. Deniz: Let's watch it together. Alya: Deniz, your uncle must be tired, dear. Come, let two of us watch it together on the bed. C. Deniz: No. Let's watch it here. Cihan: Okay, whatever he wants to watch, just watch it here. I have something to take care of, after I handle it, I'll come back and join you, okay?

He is tired actually, Alya sees it too but he just wants to do whatever Deniz wants from him.

Such a father material.

When he imitates how Deniz looks. Lol.

I know she is an obstetrician, she must know all birth control methods but this very telling look says that she wants to make babies with him. I don't know, I am just saying what I feel.

Jokings aside, yes, she sees too that he is such a father material.

Whatever happened between them is forgotten when Deniz is with them. He changes the atmosphere, the mood. They can smile at each other, they act like a family. Actually, I think we must get rid of that "act like". Because they became a family already.

This screenshot is too beautiful to look at.

[ilikekidsshows]

Marinette and Adrienette discourse aside, what I find very off-putting about Miraculous since season 3 is the inability to differentiate between secundary characters and background characters. It’s very contradictory because none of the Miracuclass aside from Alya, Chloé and Nino are compelling enough to warrant any meaningful interest. I distinctly remember people giving Nathaniel a bigger role during season 1, putting him in situations and even shipping him with Chloé, but that doesn’t really contradict my statement because it showed people’s willingness to latch onto a narrow scope of characters and expanding on them. Realistically no one is interested in a wide set of characters that account to what, fifteen people? I didn’t even count them all because I can’t remember them. Are the miraculous all interesting to watch? Yeah. But why give them to every single person who ever breathed in the same room as Marinette? There is a reason why the cool stuff happens to the MC and their crew. People don’t have the time to invest in a dozen different characters who aren’t even flashed out properly past one or two quirks (if we’re lucky). 

I remember when Ladybug started giving away the miraculous like they were candies, some people said you don’t have to give a character a miraculous to flash them out. I agree, but this isn’t even about that. I think you don’t need to flash them all out, period. At least not all of them. Also because the flash out part in question boils down to “Oh no my partner/sibling/friend is in danger and for some reason two perfectly capable superheroes need my help.” I’m like, why. Who cares about Kim or Max or Mylène getting a power-up. Genuinely, I’ve never seen a single fanart of them dressed up as superheroes. I’m sure some of them exist, but the fandom at large does not care.

If you want to compare ML to MHA, while MHA is not perfect, there are undoubtedly some characters that are more important than the rest of the class and the story focuses on them. But the thing is, it is *required* that they all be the heroes because that’s the plot. It’s a school designed for that purpose, the very best in fact. But Miraculous? Just let this class be normal. Let us see Marinette hang out with her girlfriends and Adrien play with the Kitty Section and Adrien and Nino actually being bffs (remember when Nino was still worth something?) and have Adrien and Chloé’s supposed friendship actually hold value (whether or not you like her it’s up to you, but to show had Adrien keep insisting she was his only friend growing up only for that to go absolutely nowhere). 

Also they could’ve just showed the powers by having Marinette and Adrien use them. Hell even the Alya-Nino-Chloé trio. We actually have that! But then we also have… ten different heroes. For whatever reason. 

---

Another scorching hot take: giving a character a Miraculous isn't even fleshing them out. Almost any one of these episodes could be written without the side character being focused on getting a Miraculous. All the tertiary heroes do in any episode after transforming is blindly follow Ladybug’s orders without question. They jump when she tells them to jump and use their special power when she tells them to. They're merely extensions of Marinette's plan to make her look smarter and not characters in their own right. The same effect could be gotten with Marinette or Adrien (but let's not kid ourselves, Marinette will only ever share power with her partner once to appease him after treating him like crap for weeks) used the Miraculous instead. It really shows how bad the writers are at long term planning when they had Unification have no actual setbacks in practice.

I actually think Miraculous' wide and varied cast used to be more of a strength. The world feels so much more real when our protagonists’ classmates all have their own things going on, even if it's just one or two things per character. It makes sure a wide variety of interests kids might be into can be included in the stories. The Kitty Section episode, ‘Silencer’, worked the best for this, tackling topics to do with the entertainment industry while Marinette was along for the ride because she was helping them out. Similarly, we have two episodes where the cast is filming a movie, although I only like the first one, ‘Horrificator’, because the latter is just Chloé being annoying. But it's a fun excuse to get the large cast together for an episode.

In an ideal show with Miraculous’s format, the classmates would be the vehicles to introduce Marinette and/or Adrien to the Problem of the Episode, which will have our heroes there when the conflict causes an Akuma to pop up, giving them an understanding of what’s going on, and making them able to have some dialogue at the end about what just went down, the “what did we learn today?” discussion or some other self-reflection moment. Like, with Kim you could tackle competition topics, sore losers, cheating and even throwing a contest for some reason. With Nathaniel you could tackle worries about not being original or eye-catching enough, of wanting to chase trends in order to get noticed and how to deal with the frustration of putting so much effort into your craft and not being appreciated. The fact that we have actually gotten a few episodes like that makes it so annoying when the writers insist on their lazy options of “Chloé is a jerk” and “Marinette concocts a crazy scheme around Adrien, casualties ensue” for most of the series.

The issue, I feel, is that the writers are constantly failing to utilize their large cast for storytelling, mostly due to their laziness and lack of ambition. As of the retool, we almost never see the characters taking part in their established hobbies, instead obsessing over the main couple even more than Marinette does. It’s just like how the hero selves exist merely as tools to be used for Marinette’s schemes, their civilian selves exist merely to tell the audience that Marinette and Adrien are meant to be. They’re pure utility with no character, and the utility is the same for every single character.

That last bit is how this relates to what you said; how Miraculous doesn’t differentiate between secondary characters and background characters, because the writers refuse to elevate any character to secondary status and actually keep them there / commit to it. The best any character not named Marinette can hope for is being a recurring supportive character, and those are barely distinct from background characters. There are some bits that make us think Alya in the retool or Adrien in the earlier seasons are supposed to be secondary characters, but they just don’t get the focus necessary to make them pop from the rest of the cast. These characters have gone through some big life changes, but we barely know how they feel about any of that. Despite their plot importance they have the emotional depth of a spilled glass of water. It’s annoying.

The main reason that Miraculous’ cast feels bloated is that the writers can’t use a variety of characters imaginatively to justify needing a cast that big, and they have no concept of a character tier list or how to signal character importance to the audience. Giving all the classmates Miraculouses makes them seem equally important, or just more important than Recurring Akuma Victim Number 72, when they just blatantly aren’t. Freaking Mr. Pigeon has more emotional depth than Minotaurox. Freaking Rooster Bold is nothing more than a punny reference to an actually entertaining superhero.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I had too much fun with the life swap and extended it to other characters XD Ignore Miraculous and Amoks for the moment, this is about dynamics!

Nino swaps with Sabrina, IE, glasses childhood best friend who is haplessly crushing on their other half.

For Sabrina his is actually pretty straight forward as its both a crush but also admiration. Chloe is bold, aggressive, passionate, not at all like her who is a shrinking violet. But the thing is if they started dating, she'd be so stressed out all the time because "What do you mean you got in a fist fight with Kim? Why are you skateboarding with Alix down a cliff, did you seriously spit in that Akuma's face!?"

Basically they are friends, but also the embodiment of "This is fun!" - "Stressful is what it is!"

Nino meanwhile has had his interest in film backed and sponsored by Dupain-Cheng money since forever. And he's also been making Marinette the star of said films since forever. To the point where all the films and ideas he comes up with are built around her interests rather than his. This can be fine but can lead to tension if someone encourages him to finally make that horror film he always wanted.

They are friends, but the toxic, transactional nature of it all is an ever-growing undercurrent.

Now for the transfer student swap!

Alya's mother is a famous TV chef, her father is a famous TV personality for his animal program, (Basically Steve Erwin but more aloof) While her sister is a world champion kick boxer and MMA fighter. Alya meanwhile is a social media personality, it wasn't planned, it just kind of happened but once she got some attention for a "Day in my life" video, suddenly her parents are throwing money and resources and pressure behind it in the extreme.

Rather than pure childhood friends, Alya & Marinette are more social media friends meeting for the first time. Marinette's Velvet glove is harder to notice than canon Chloe's iron fist but it will cause tension.

Meanwhile Adrien is returning to Paris after nearly a decade away. His parents both work in television, his mother is basically a C list celebrity in long running daytime dramas and is father work in costuming, they were also meant to help Andre with his new "Perfect families in Paris" campaign but then a super villain showed up.

Adrien and Chloe are very much childhood friends reconnecting, but thanks to Adrien being "Down for anything" after a decade with over protective parents, they click!

-

As an aside, I imagine Chloe & Marinette's dynamic is also different, but definitely tense. I basically imagine Marinette might still be into fashion and she wants to be a "Self made millionaire" type. So she doesn't just want her parents advocating for her, or buying her stuff. So she instead uses money, resources and clot provided by being their daughter to try and crow-bar her way into the industry.

See its different because she's using their influence, rather than them using their influence ;)

Anyway, because of this, she wanted Audrey to review one of her pieces, waiting till Chloe desperately needed something and struck. Then one of the following happened:

1: Audrey refused to review it because she's a grown up with contractual obligations who can't just run some random teenagers designs on a whim when she has people scheduled.

2: Marinette found someone "better" and so carelessly withdrew her support for Chloe before realizing the implications.

3: Audrey reviewed it but was not breathless with her praise, basically: You clearly have talent, but could improve on X Y, and you should ask yourself who you are designing for, or else you may struggle to find an audience, good luck." & oh boy was that not good enough!

Whatever the case, Marinette withdrew her support from Chloe right when she needed it most and it led to a huge row and basically demonstrated how Fairweather Marinette's friendship was.

No they hadn't been super close, but Chloe had thought they were friends to one degree or another and getting closer, this was a blow.

Marinette meanwhile, well, she dislikes that Chloe saw that side of her with such clarity because its a side of her she doesn't like, but doesn't want to face. So instead it has to be Chloe's fault somehow.

Thus the two have tension.

Ohohoho I love it!

Okay but what are we doing with the Heroes and Villains angle? Would it still be Gabe as Hawkmoth trying to resurrect Emilie? Or do the Cesaires get to be Villains? Would Mari and Adrien still be LB and CN, or are different people getting the Miraculous? Should we limit it to the full swap for Chloé and Alya, or is it open to anyone?

[celestiall0tus]

Free to Use Designs A-C

I didn't like how the previous ones were organized, so we doing them again. This time by character.

Adrien:

Alix:

Alya:

Anarka:

Audrey

Aurore:

Bridgette:

Chloe: