#do you know how much fun chat noir would have with these puns

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Perfection

This is another Lila episode, so get ready for dumb writing and lies only an infant would find convincing.

Let's get into the twelfth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Perfection

We start off with a sort of funny scene of Ladybug and Cat Noir doing heroic things while casually discussing the new relationships they're both in, unaware that they're talking about each other. It's less the irony that I like, but just the visuals showing how they're so experienced as superheroes at this point, they can casually chat while saving people.

Of course, even though the last scene confirmed that Marinette and Adrien are officially dating after four and a half seasons, the main conflict for the civilian plotline is that Marinette somehow isn't able to simply tell Adrien that she loves him. So basically, even though they're now in a relationship, the show is still going to rely on Marinette stuttering around Adrien like an idiot. Oh, thank God! I thought the writers were actually going to have Marinette and Adrien talk with each other like humans beings for a second there.

We then get a montage of Marinette struggling to get closer to Adrien, stumbling around and breaking stuff as if she was a character in an infomercial, culminating in a scene where Marinette attempts to confess to a picture of a cow, only to say “I love moo” instead. Get used to her saying this, because it's going to be a running gag.

During the aforementioned montage, we get a decent moment where Lila helps Chloe realize she needs to be more discreet when it comes to screwing with Marinette instead of her usual blunt attitude, which does a good job showing the one thing that sets Chloe and Lila apart: Their approaches to dealing with Marinette. It's not much, but it's something.

Meanwhile, the writers remembered Adrien is a musician, as he wrote a song for Marinette. A bunch of their friends come over to the Liberty, including Kagami.

Adrien: It's great to see you here, Kagami. You get to hear the song I wrote for Marinette.

Kagami: You made your feelings clear and you're dealing with them. That's good. I'm very proud of you.

Man, even the characters are glad the Love Square is finally going somewhere.

After another scene where Marinette once again tries to confess to the picture of a cow (the writers are really running with this gag, aren't they?), Adrien starts to perform the song he wrote for Marinette. Fun Fact: Adrien was originally going to sing a cover of that one song from Miami Connection, but Luka helped convince him that it would be better if he used his own song instead.

As for the song itself? Well, the music itself is nice, but the lyrics? They're decent, showing how Adrien doesn't want anything complex from his relationship with Marinette, but I'm just going to say it: I don't like the way Bryce Papenbrook sings. Like, I don't know how to describe it. It's not awful, but I just don't like the way he delivers the lyrics. He just sounds so monotone when he sings, which makes it hard to take this grand romantic gesture seriously.

Marinette once again struggles to tell Adrien she loves him, so we get even more of Marinette blaming other things for her hesitance, but not before we get more jokes about the cow picture.

Marinette: I'm just grabbing the cow to tell Adrien that I love him because I have the "I love" but not the “moo”. I know it's ridiculous. I'm ridiculous.

You know, at least C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, a show full of cow puns, actually did more with the jokes instead of just saying the words “cow” and “moo”.

Kagami tries to talk to Marinette, only for her to essentially be ignored. After Marinette transforms into Ladybug as an excuse to get out of there, Kagami then decides to call Lila about Marinette failing some kind of “friendship test”.

Kagami: You were right, Lila. I checked every box on your friendship test. Marinette doesn't consider me her best friend. I'm not even sure she ever considered me a friend.

Lila: Oh, no, Kagami... I'm so sorry she didn't see all the effort you've been making to get closer to her. Someone as amazing as you deserves a more considerate friend and... I'd be honored to be that friend.

I know I used this clip last time, but this is essentially the same problem I had there. Lila only had a single line in this episode before this scene, and it was her talking to Chloe, and I don't think Lila and Kagami have even shared a scene together before this episode, much less exchange numbers. Yeah, Kagami had been checking off things on a sheet of paper earlier in the episode, but we never got any explanation as to where and when Lila even gave her the friendship test. While we know that Lila's test was obviously fake, it seems out of character for Kagami to be this gullible, given that she was able to easily see through Adrien's lies last season (Lies).

Kagami then decides to just give up on having friends entirely, deleting all of her contacts except her mother's. I'm not sure if it was an animation error, or if the writers forgot, but for some reason, Adrien wasn't listed in there. We then cut to Lila, cutting Marinette's face out of some random pictures she got.

The scene's clearly supposed to be menacing, but I'd be more invested if I actually knew why Lila was so obsessed with Marinette outside of Marinette telling her to stop being a liar.

Kagami goes somewhere so she can be alone where she cries, where Monarch senses this and akumatizes her into Ryukomori through her ring.

Ryukomori's design is simple, but I think the concept behind it and use of Miraculous power makes it work. Monarch gives her the power to make it hard for her to see or hear anyone (insert your own Helen Keller joke here), and thanks to the Dragon Miraculous's Wind/Lightning/Water Dragon, Ryukomori is now a giant cloud person who can shoot lightning. Yeah, you have to wonder why Monarch gave her powers that would make it harder to see people, much less get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous, but this is the kind of stuff I wanted to see from the Miraculous powers used this season: Past heroes getting akumatized and having perverted versions of the powers they're familiar with.

Adrien sees this and transforms into Cat Noir, meeting up with Ladybug and showing her the friendship test he found earlier. Ladybug and Cat Noir try to talk with Ryukomori, but in her current state, it's hard to talk to her, so they'll need to find a different way to communicate. Ladybug and Cat Noir try arranging some cars into a kanji sign.

Hey, this is a French show! I'm supposed to be seeing french words I don't understand, not Japanese words I don't understand.

Ryukomori ignores the kanji, so now, the two have to come up with another plan while Monarch goads her into trying to kill them so she can finally be alone, whipping up a storm in anger.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a box of ironing beads, and gets an idea. Cat Noir goes to Socqueline's art shop (because I guess the animators really want to get their money's worth out of this character model and set) for supplies while Ladybug assembles a bunch of her friends and shows her a picture she made using the beads, wanting to make a bigger one for Ryukomori to see by holding up these panels to reveal it.

As simplistic as it is, it's a pretty cute visual, and it does the trick, causing Ryukomori to reject the Akuma. While I guess the Akuma was already de-evilized by Kagami, Ladybug hands her a Magical Charm as the students cheer for her.

Marinette apologizes to Kagami about how insensitive she was, but Kagami explains that she feels pressured to be perfect around others, which is meant to parallel Marinette's anxiety around Adrien. The two make up, and Marinette calls Kagami her best friend alongside Alya. Of course, Marinette somehow never asked about the friendship test, because that would actually clear everything up, and then we wouldn't have Kagami and Lila becoming friends again. Marinette and Alya talk about what exactly is keeping her from getting closer to Adrien, something that they'll figure out together. And so the episode ends with Tomoe storming into Gabriel's office that she endangered her daughter's life by akumatizing her... ignoring the last four times she's been akumatized (Riposte, Heroes' Day, Oni-Chan, Lies). In fact, if she's working with Gabriel, shouldn't she know Kagami was also Ryuko, and—okay, forget it, episode's over.

This episode was very hit or miss. The scenes with Ryukomori were well done. I like the way they called back to earlier episodes and how emotional the memories made Ryukomori, and the overall message of friendship was handled pretty well. But while I really like the way Ryukomori was handled, the road there was a pretty bumpy one. The subplot with Marinette wasn't funny, Adrien's song was really forgettable, and the writers just expect us to assume Kagami would fall for Lila's lies when earlier episodes have shown how perceptive she is. I get that the episode's probably setting up Kagami learning the truth in a later episode, it seems very out of character for her.

Overall, this episode just had a great Akuma fight, and a mediocre first half. Nothing too special, but it's still better than “Illusion” or “Determination”.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... KAGAMI

While Marinette came close thanks for her inability to say three basic words, Kagami ended up taking the award home. Not only did she fall for Lila's lies without even questioning her, she assumed that Marinette didn't care for her in the slightest, and after that, decided she had no other friends, not even Adrien, and after everything that happened, she still chose to believe Lila even though her test ended up being false when earlier episodes showed her being able to see through lies.

[mlwritersguild]

Get Back to Work!, by @ladybugs-and-black-cats

AO3 link; Chatting and Messaging, Puns, Identity Reveal

Summary:

The chat was set up for emergency purposes only. It was definitely not created so that Cat Noir could spend the entire school day messaging Ladybug…so why, then, does she have to keep reminding him to get back to work?

—

Cat’s Meow (8:58): Bugaboo...!

Lady Luck (9:00): What now, Cat?

Cat’s Meow (9:00): I’m bored.

Lady Luck: (9:01): Aren’t you supposed to be in school right now?

Cat’s Meow (9:01): I am in school right now, but I’m still bored.

Cat’s Meow (9:01): I already know what’s being taught so I’m bored.

Lady Luck (9:02): Oh, aren’t you just so smart!

Cat’s Meow (9:02): So glad you finally noticed! About time! ;)

Lady Luck (9:04): You can’t see it, but I am rolling my eyes at you right now.

Lady Luck (9:04): Seriously, though, Cat...this chat is supposed to be for emergency business only

Lady Luck (9:05): We agreed on that. Remember?

Cat’s Meow (9:05): Nope! I forgot!

Lady Luck (9:06): How convenient...

Lady Luck (9:06): Seriously, though, Cat, get back to work! I’m trying to focus on my class!

Cat’s Meow (9:06): Fine...but only because I don’t want you to fail...

Cat’s Meow (9:07): Not that I think you would because you’re smart! I love that about you! :)

***

Cat’s Meow (10:13): Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Lady Luck (10:13): ???

Cat’s Meow (10:14): Shakespeare! Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Lady Luck (10:15): Let me guess…literature class?

Cat’s Meow (10:15): Wow, how did you guess? ;)

Lady Luck (10:16): Luck.

Lady Luck (10:16): So you’re learning about sonnets?

Cat’s Meow (10:17): Nope!

Cat’s Meow (10:17): I already studied what my teacher is talking about today.

Cat’s Meow 10:17): thy eternal summer shall not fade

Lady Luck (10:18): Cute...But you really should pay attention.

Cat’s Meow (10:18): Why? I already know this story!

Lady Luck (10:20): Stop whining and just get back to work!

Cat’s Meow (10:20): You wound me, M’Lady! I’m not whining.

Cat’s Meow (10:21): Okay, maybe I’m whining, but you still love me, right, Bugaboo? ;)

Lady Luck (10:25): ...

***

Cat’s Meow (12:01): Bugaboo, I’m lonely! Please entertain me!

Cat’s Meow (12:05): Bugaboo?

Cat’s Meow (12:10): :music_note: All by myself... :music_note:

Cat’s Meow (12:11): That wasn’t nearly as fun as I thought it would be.

Lady Luck (12:45): Kitty... I was having lunch with friends and you were blowing up the EMERGENCY conversation!

Cat’s Meow (12:47): But it was an emergency, M’lady! I was lonely!

Lady Luck (12:50): That is not an emergency.

Lady Luck (12:51): Shouldn’t you be getting back to school anyway?

Cat’s Meow (12:52): Already on my way, Bugaboo!

***

Cat’s Meow (1:27): 1 + 1 = 2.

Lady Luck (1:35): Really, Cat?

Cat’s Meow (1:38): Of course, M’lady. One charming Cat and one beautiful Ladybug equals the best couple.

Cat’s Meow (1:39): Don’t you think? ;)

Lady Luck (1:43): Something tells me that you should be paying attention to your math class.

Cat’s Meow (1:45): I’m good. Math is one of my strong subjects.

Lady Luck (1:48): Really? That doesn’t add up.

Cat’s Meow (1:50): Whoa! Stop everything! Was that a pun I just read!?

Lady Luck (1:51): No.

Cat’s Meow (1:53): It definitely was! I could never have calculated this! M’lady puns!

Lady Luck (1:55): Ugh, this conversation is as much a prism as school! I should just delete this!

Cat’s Meow (1:58): So there’s acute girl that goes to my school. She’s a friend of mine and she’s in this class. I wish I was at the right angle to be able to see her during class.

Lady Luck (1:58): You are odd. You know that, right?

Cat’s Meow (1:59): Even so, you still associate yourself with me.

Lady Luck (1:59): Do I really have a choice…?

Cat’s Meow (1:59): :catsmirk:

Lady Luck (2:00): I can’t even deal width you right now.

Cat’s Meow (2:00): I wish you were width me, M’lady. At least I have your number .

Lady Luck (2:02): Get back to work, Cat! This is your last remainder…ugh, I meant reminder! This is all your fault!

Lady Luck (2:02): Also, I am probability deleting this conversation.

Lady Luck (2:03): Probably! Ugh, that was definitely an autocorrect!

Cat’s Meow (2:03): So mean , M’lady.

Cat’s Meow (2:05): I value you so much, you know? What if I bring pi the next time we meet up? I know a great bakery!

Cat’s Meow (2:12): Bugaboo? Give me a sine?

Cat’s Meow (2:14): Oh, nevermind. Math class is over now.

***

Lady Luck (2:45): What’s this? A whole thirty minutes since your last message. Kitty, did you finally listen to me and get back to work?

Cat’s Meow (2:47): Nah. I just really like this class.

Cat’s Meow (2:49): Oh, shoot…my teacher noticed me on my phone. I probably won’t be able to respond much.

Lady Luck (2:52): Yeah, I probably shouldn’t be on my phone either. A kid in my class just got called out for being on his phone too. My teacher is very strict about that.

***

Cat’s Meow (3:34): Sneaking in a reply…my teacher thinks I’m looking something up. I hope school is going well for you, M’lady.

Cat’s Meow (3:47): Oh no…there was an explosion. In my science lab class.

Cat’s Meow (3:48): It was one of my friends. I hope she’s okay. I’m going to walk her to the nurse’s office.

Lady Luck (4:04): I might be totally wrong about this, but…Adrien!?

Cat’s Meow (4:05): Adrien? Adrien who? What?

Lady Luck (4:06): Adrien Agreste, I know this is you.

Cat’s Meow (4:07): Wait, how did you…unless…Marinette!? You’re Ladybug!?

Lady Luck (4:09): I knew this chat thing was a bad idea.

Cat’s Meow (4:10): On the contrary, I think this is the best thing ever. I mean, you are the one I’ve always wanted to be Ladybug and you are and…I always told you that we have chemistry, M’lady.

Lady Luck (4:10): Cat…Adrien, you should go back and finish your lab. I’ll be okay.

Cat’s Meow (4:11): I don’t want to…I won’t be able to concentrate. I’ll be thinking of you the whole time.

Lady Luck (4:11): I’m fine. Get back to work. We’re literally just texting while sitting in the same room. It’d be more productive for you to go back to lab.

Cat’s Meow (4:12): I…can’t say no or convince you to change your mind about that, can I?

Lady Luck (4:12): No. Now, go. You’re wasting time.

Cat’s Meow (4:13): Okay, fine…I’ll be back in 15 minutes anyway.

***

Cat’s Meow (4:28): So…I guess we’re going to meet up to discuss what happened today. Are we doing that tonight?

Lady Luck (4:29): Better to do it sooner rather than later, I guess. Tonight should be fine. Let’s say…7:00. Will that work?

Cat’s Meow (4:30): Yeah. I’m walking down to the nurse’s office right now. See you in less than a minute.

***

Cat’s Meow (6:05): I can’t focus on my homework. I keep thinking about seeing you tonight.

Lady Luck (6:08): Well…our meet-up is in less than an hour.

Cat’s Meow (6:09): I…guess there’s no chance of making it sooner?

Lady Luck (6:11): No. It’ll come soon enough.

Lady Luck (6:12): Oh, and Cat Noir?

Cat’s Meow (6:13): Yeah, Marinette?

Lady Luck (6:15): Your homework better be done before you come to our meet-up. Get back to work!

Cat’s Meow (6:15): …

[purrincess-chat]

Fashion Faux Paw CH4

This chapter is where things start to change a little bit! The art was done by @insertchatnoirpunhere Thank you so much for working with me, Boots!! Please show them some love for their art, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Read on AO3

Chapter 4

The following morning, Marinette silenced her blog updates to prevent her phone from overheating. How did celebrities put up with it? Not to mention, her comments section threatened to burst with inquiries about Chat Noir’s identity, a detail she didn’t want to think about.

It was a quiet Saturday in Paris, the warm weather drawing Marinette out onto her balcony to design more outfits for Chat Noir to model. The options were endless now that he was detransformed, but Marinette couldn’t quite pin down a look she wanted to show off. What would people want to see more — a bomber jacket or a set of overalls? Which one complimented Chat Noir’s lanky limbs more? Should she design a hat to go with it? What about his cat ears? The cat ears were essential! Maybe she could incorporate the cat ears into the hat?

Marinette chewed her lip as she sketched a beret with cat ears sticking out of the top. Examining her work, she stifled a laugh at how funny the cat ears looked with the rest of the ensemble. Perhaps the outfit didn’t need a hat, but even though the ears didn’t match the outfit on the page, Marinette found them too amusing to erase. What if she designed a sweater to go with them? And little cat mittens!

Biting back a smirk, she sketched several cat-themed accessories as well as t-shirts, a dress, socks. After an hour, she had a whole page filled with silly cat designs fit for the silly cat king himself. They were a fun distraction, but Marinette couldn’t seriously make any of them. Unless…

She jumped up and crawled through her skylight. Chat Noir was always pranking Ladybug, so perhaps it was about time she pranked him back. Granted, no one would know it was revenge except her, but she was content being satisfied in secret. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face.

***

That evening, Marinette’s cheeks ached from the effort of containing her grin. She paced the floor of her bedroom, checking the time after every loop. Her prank outfit was already folded neatly behind the screen, ready for her goofy cat boy to wear them. Of course, she’d prepared a serious outfit as well. She didn’t want her blog to suffer just for a few laughs. The cat outfit would be a little bonus.

Footsteps squeaked on the stairs leading to her trapdoor, and Alya poked her head through with a mischievous beam.

“I brought some bargaining chips!” She sang, holding up a wooden board with an assortment of fancy cheeses. “I might have taken some of them from the Grand Paris kitchen where my mom works, but I figured that little kitten wouldn’t talk for just any old store bought cheese.”

“Alya-”

“What? You said I couldn’t speculate about Chat Noir’s identity, which I’m not, but I have some questions about how the Miraculous works. This is for my own personal research, not for the blog, I promise.” Alya held up her right hand. She crossed the room to set her cheese board on the desk. “So, what do you have for boy wonder to model today?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Marinette bit back a smirk.

Three taps sounded on her window as if on cue, and Marinette paced over to open it. Chat Noir leaned into her face with one of his boyish grins, perching precariously on the top of his baton.

“I’m ready for my close up,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Marinette stifled a giggle, stepping aside to let him in. “I’ve got the purrfect outfit for you today.”

“Nice pun! You really know how to make a cat feel at home, Marinette,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re both hilarious. Hurry up and get changed. I have questions for your kwami.” Alya ushered him behind the screen and pulled it closed.

Green light illuminated the room, and Plagg floated out from behind the screen, b-lining straight for the cheese. Alya slid the board out of the way and cocked a hip.

“You get cheese if you answer my questions,” she said.

“You drive a hard bargain, lady!” Plagg moaned. “But fine, what do you want to know?”

“What does it feel like when you fuse with the ring?” Alya asked, wasting no time.

Plagg crossed his arms over his chest, so Alya offered him a piece of cheese.

“It’s kind of like having one of those dreams where you can fly or do anything you want. You’ve got so much energy, at least, until your holder uses their power. Then it’s like you’re on the final stretch of a marathon, and you’re doing everything you can to keep going.” Plagg shoved the whole wedge of cheese in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before adding, “The best part of the whole ordeal is getting to eat a delicious wheel of Camembert afterward to recharge. I’ve never met a finer cheese.”

“Fascinating.”

Marinette’s leg bounced while Chat Noir changed, heart racing. She could already picture the memes she was gonna tease him with on their next patrol. Maybe she’d bombard his cat phone with them as payback for all of the memes he sent her on a daily basis. And for all the LadyNoir forums she was sure he started.

Chat Noir burst out from behind the screen, landing in his signature pose with a wide grin. Green pawprints adorned the buttons of his black overalls, a long-sleeved green sweater with black cat heads trailing up the arms underneath. Surprisingly silky blond hair peeked out from under a black cat-eared beret — he wasn’t kidding about the conditioner.

Marinette threw her head back with a laugh.

“Okay, now this is the best thing you’ve ever designed!” he said.

“Wait, you like it?” Marinette sobered.

“Yeah! It’s awesome. You really captured my sweet sense of style.” He turned to admire his outfit from all angles in the mirror.

“It is pretty cute.” Alya concurred.

“You can’t be serious.” Marinette giggled. “The cat outfit was supposed to be a joke.”

“I dunno, Marinette. Making Chat Noir merch might actually be good for you. You could even set up a shop to sell some stuff and bring in some cash on the side. With as much attention as your Chat Noir photos are getting, I think people would be more than willing to buy some things to match their favorite superhero,” Alya said.

“Alya’s right. The people of Paris love showing their support for me and Ladybug. I’d be happy to give your designs the official Chat Noir seal of approval.” He winked.

Marinette blinked a few times to ensure she wasn’t dreaming. They couldn’t be serious, could they?

“I guess I can put the idea out there and see what people think…” She pursed her lips.

“Totally, it can’t hurt to- ahh!” Alya’s hands flew to her cheeks. She crouched beside Marinette’s desk where Plagg laid on the empty cheese tray, patting his swollen belly with a belch, all of her ammunition consumed in mere minutes.

“Hey, you were supposed to answer questions to get those!” She chided, but Plagg paid her no mind.

Chat Noir placed his hands on his hips with a sigh. “Told you. He’s a pig.”

“This isn’t over.” Alya crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. She stood up and retrieved her phone, swiping open her camera. “Let’s get some pics of your merch. I’m telling you people are going to go crazy for this stuff.”

“Your prank was actually a genius idea, Marinette. I can’t wait to wear your designs openly around Paris with everyone,” Chat Noir said.

Marinette smiled. It wouldn’t hurt to put the idea out. Who knew? Maybe people would be interested in buying her designs, even if she found them silly herself.

The next day, her blogs comments were full of inquiries on where to buy the Chat Noir merch, just like Alya predicted. Marinette didn’t really get it, but she supposed Chat Noir was a symbol of hope among Parisians. Wearing their support wasn’t a bad idea, so Marinette spent every free moment at school coming up with more designs.

“Are those for your Chat Noir collection?”

Marinette jumped at Adrien’s voice over her shoulder. She’d been so lost in her work she hadn’t noticed him leaning against the table watching her. He offered her an apologetic smile and turned his attention back to her sketchbook.

“I think selling hero merch is a great idea. More people will see your clothes and ask where they came from. Pretty soon everyone in Paris will know your name,” he said.

“You don’t think it’s too silly? I want people to take my brand seriously.” Marinette sat back, examining the cat-eared headband she’d just finished shading.

Adrien shook his head, perfect blond strands shaking side to side. “Not at all. I think it’s a smart way to get your name out there.”

Marinette sat up straighter, her cheeks warming with delight. If Adrien was on board, then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. He’d look so cute in a set of cat ears! And a little cat sweater. Maybe with a pawprint belt to match… Oh, she had so many more ideas! She couldn’t wait to see Adrien in her clothes. She’d have to stitch his herself, then she could gift them to him in person and tell him she made them special for him because he’s so special to her. He'd see how lovingly she’d crafted each piece just for him and fall madly in love with her. They’d go on a date, eat Andre’s soulmate ice cream and be bound together forever!

“Marinette?” Alya snapped her fingers in front of Marinette’s face. “The bell rang, girl.”

“Oh, sorry!” Marinette scrambled to shove her sketchbook into her schoolbag.

“Got any designs we can sell?” Alya asked as they walked.

“A few.” She nodded. “I kinda wish people cared this much about my other designs, but if this gets my name out there, then maybe I can introduce other stuff in the future.”

“That’s the spirit!” Alya draped an arm over her shoulders. “I’ll totally help you set up shop and keep track of orders. This cat merch is gonna sell like your dad’s hot croissants.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Marinette pursed her lips.

Everyone was right. Merch would be good for her, but deep down, Marinette didn’t want her name to be associated with Chat Noir forever. The whole reason she agreed to let him model was to get her name out there, but it felt like she was making Chat Noir more popular every time she posted. Sure, her blog got a lot of hits, but most of the comments were about Chat Noir looking cute instead of her designs. Maybe she was being paranoid. People were complimenting the cat clothes, and they’d get the word out about her brand, like Adrien said. It irked her, but building a reputation took time. At the very least, goofy cat-ears were a start. So she told herself.

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

I posted 552 times in 2022

That's 488 more posts than 2021!

106 posts created (19%)

446 posts reblogged (81%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mindfulmagics

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I tagged 173 of my posts in 2022

#castles - 10 posts

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Longest Tag: 139 characters

#the idea that wallflowers are wallflowers because they're too shy to talk to/approach anyone and will therefore gladly accept their company

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Ghost Chat ship stuff

Because I’ve never seen a Miraculous Phantom crossover were it’s Adrien x Danny, and not Adrien x Marinette, or Marinette x Danny. Even though those two boys are kind of a little bit perfect for each other.

Let me explain.

Danny and Adrien both love stupid puns, so they’d almost certainly be friends even if they didn’t end up together. The only way I don’t see them as ending up as at least good friends is if they both think the other is their enemy. Like Adrien thinks Danny is an akuma, and Danny thinks Chat Noir is some type of ghost.

Danny and Adrien both have to deal with super rich father figures trying to control their lives, even though Vlad isn’t actually related to Danny. Both have to deal with superhero double life. Both have the justifiable fear/trauma of being mind controlled. Both have ended the world in an alternate timeline. [Lots of things in common, these boys. Even if they don’t know it themselves.]

Danny would 110% fight Gabriel, or at the very least prank the absolute crap out of him and leave no evidence behind. Mostly due to how he treats Adrien, but also just a little because he gives off the same vibes as Vlad, and Danny’s a bit pavlov’d into hating anyone who gives off that vibe. I could totally see Adrien at least wanting to do the same with Vlad (and maybe Danny’s actual parents depending on how they are in this AU). At least after he found out how much Vlad’s done to Danny. I don’t know if Adrien would be able to recognize the more subtle mistreatment from Vlad towards Danny, just because Adrien’s own father is abusive but Adrien himself hasn’t recognized that yet.

Adrien’s powers come with a built in space suit. Which Danny would be ecstatic about, because he’s got no one who wants to go casually explore the moon on random week nights with him. Adrien’s a disney princess who desperately wants excitement and adventure in the great wide somewhere. Danny could most certainly give him that. Danny travels all over due to ghost nonsense, including outer space and the Ghost Zone. And also sometimes through time. You can’t tell me Adrien wouldn’t be hyped to tag along.

Black cats and their association with death also makes the pairing thematically appropriate. Which is pretty fun.

Things get even more fun when you add different AUs into the mix. Danny being the prince/king of the ghost zone adds in some fun Hades/Persephone parallels into the relationship. Though who’s Hades and who’s Persephone is up in the air. Which is always more fun than it being obvious.

107 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

#4

Halfa Jazz AU

Except it’s not 16 year old Jazz. No. It’s 14 year old Jazz who gets shocked by the portal.

You see the day after their parents failed to make the portal work, and left 14 year old Jazz to look after 12 year old Danny (and the two friends he’d invited over). Jazz got shocked by the portal and turned into a half-ghost. With Danny, Sam and Tucker as witnesses.

How’d this happen?

Easy. Sam wanted to see the creepy ghost lab she’d heard Tucker talk about at school when talking about going to Danny’s house. She thinks Tucker is exaggerating about how scary it is. Danny, wanting to impress the new friend he’d only had for a bit longer than a month, agrees to sneak her and Tucker down into the basement too look around when his parents were out of the house.

So after the Fenton parents are gone, and Jazz goes to her room to do her homework leaving Danny, Sam, and Tucker alone in the living room to watch cartoons (or so she thought). The three 12 year olds sneak down into the lab to start poking around, as nosy 12 year olds without supervision are wont to do.

While at first the two non-Fenton kids were enthralled by the strange inventions and mysterious substances in tubes, they eventually got bored and less careful. And started messing around. Sam fishes a hacky sack out of her backpack, and starts doing tricks, Tucker makes a bet he can do more tricks than her.

Which escalates to a said hacky sack ending up at the back of the non-functional Fenton portal. And Jazz coming down to check on them and to get a snack, see they’re not in the living room, search the rest of the house, and walk into the basement to see Danny start putting on his hazmat suit to go and fetch a hacky sack.

Which Jazz puts a stop to immediately. Danny is far too young to be climbing around inside their parents’ dangerous inventions, even if they seemingly don’t work. Jazz also knows she can’t leave the hacky sack in the portal because more likely than not her parents will get home, return to their obsession with the portal, try to turn it on, and the hacky sack will catch fire and burn the house down. [Can you tell she’s catastophizing? Cause she is. She lives in the Fenton house, this is her normal setting, and it tends to work out pretty well for her 90% of the time. Things that can go wrong tend to in that house.]

She can’t leave the hacky sack in there, it will inevitably end with them being homeless due to a house fire. She can’t trust her parents to fish it out before they try to start tinkering with the portal again, she knows them too well, so the end result is the same. So the only option is to go in and get it out herself, and then give Danny and his friends a stern talking to about messing around in the lab, and even bringing his friends into the lab in the first place in Danny’s case.

So she puts on her hazmat suit, firmly telling Danny and his friends to stay well away from the portal. And well...

Jazz Fenton was just 14 when she’d entered her parent’s very strange machine and unintentionally opened the door to a world unseen.

Jazz’s ghost hero name is Psyche. Jazz doesn’t intend to become a ghostly superhero, but finds she can’t sit back and do nothing, when the news comes on to tell her that her little brother’s middle school is getting attacked by a giant meat monster.

Psyche has different relationships to the ghostly rogues than Canon!Phantom does.

She’s got a bitter nemesis-ship with Spectra for example. Jazz might have called the ghost psychiatrist an “Unethical Hack” who “Was licenced in the 1800s” and “Thinks the lobotomy is the pinnacle of psychiatric treatment”.

Nocturne is her Ancient/ghostly guardian (in place of how a lot of the phandom sees Clockwork as that for Danny) correlation, due to the connection between dreams and psychology.

Psyche vs Plasmius is truly wild. Because after getting his offer of fatherhood/evil mentor is rejected too many times, Vlad doesn’t try to clone Jazz. No, he kidnaps Danny and attempts to turn him into a halfa.

With the idea being that due to Danny being younger, he’d be more easily influenced. Along with the fact that if Vlad was the first strongest presence Danny’s newly formed ghost core sensed, if Vlad played his cards right, there’s a serious chance Danny’s newly formed child ghost core would imprint on Vlad’s ghostly signature like a baby duckling. Making Vlad his ghostly parent, and giving him significant influence over Danny’s mental state.

I haven’t decided if Jazz manages to stop Vlad in time and rescue Danny. At least, not quick enough to leave him completely human that is.

110 notes - Posted August 20, 2022

#3

BNHA x DP crossover

Why do I feel like in every BNHA/DP crossover fic that I’ve read no one seems to be inclined to give Danny a believable cover story for his powers, when a really easy one popped into my head the first time I ever thought of it.

Quirk: Archetypal Ghost

This Quirk gives the individual the potential to develop any ability that is/was correlated to Ghosts in mythology, folklore, and pop culture (with in the human collective conscious).

Why can Danny produce ice? Because ghosts cause cold spots everyone knows that. Why can Danny affect radio waves and cause tech to glitch out? Because ghosts can affect radio waves and cause tech to glitch out. Why can Danny be invisible, intangible, and fly? Because ghosts do those things.

And just on and on for every single one of his powers.

There’s not a single one of of his innumerable abilities that doesn’t fall under the category of “It happened at one point in mythology/folklore/pop culture and has since been adopted as a Ghost thing by the collective conscious”.

Even his more unique and obscure powers like Ghostly Wail, Dream Walking, and Entering forms of media, fall under this explanation. Because Banshees, the idea of spirits of the dead communicating via dream, and the movie The Ring, are all ideas that have existed for more than 200 years by the time BNHA starts, and are firmly entrenched in the collective conscious by the time the story starts.

So yeah, don’t know if writers are intentionally going with “Danny doesn’t know how to explain how all of his many superpowers are just one highly versatile super power (even though the boy is the most generic ghost to ever ghost when it comes to powers)” on purpose. Or if they just don’t want to come up with a proper Quirk name and description for Danny’s halfa status.

Using this method you could even write a fully blown “Danny was Reincarnated into the BNHA world, and his Quirk ended up just being his powers from his previous life in the form of a Quirk” story. Instead of just, “Danny ends up in BNHA world due to Ghost Zone shenanigans and/or ghostly meddling of some sort, but ends up going back to his original world at the end” type of stories.

Danny would actually have to stay in BNHA world and deal with their form of crazy. Instead of just getting mentored for a while, getting to build a support structure of adults who somewhat understand what he’s going through, and then dip before the absolutely mental shit starts to happen.

Also in the Reincarnation stories, at least there’d be a reason as to why and how Quirk-effecting-Quirks would work on Danny’s ghost powers. Because it doesn’t make any sense at all in cross-dimension Danny stories for Aizawa’s Eraser Quirk, or Monoma’s Copy Quirk to work on Danny’s powers at all.

He doesn’t have a Quirk in those types of stories, so there shouldn’t be anything for Aizawa to erase, or for Monoma to copy. He’s half ghost in those stories. No Quirk/quirk factor for them to interface with.

Aizawa and Monoma (and AFO) being able to mess with Danny’s powers when he’s from another dimension and doesn’t have a Quirk, is like if Superman was dumped into BNHA and they were able to affect his powers. Really lazy writing.

And when fic writers make Aizawa/Monoma/AFO able to mess with Danny’s powers, they don’t even bother to try and make it make sense. They don’t make Quirks be caused by this entire dimension having a much higher concentration of ectoplasm and the result of extremely high numbers of human/animal liminality. Which would be an extremely easy way to make it make sense, and it’s right there.

Also in reincarnated Danny fics, you could actually just make Danny AFO’s literal son, instead of just being mistaken for his son by the people who know about AFO. Which would be hilarious. Because Danny’s got an entire past life of dunking on villains who think they have the right to be his father due to power set similarity.

117 notes - Posted August 19, 2022

#2

Sometimes I get really confused when people don’t know Legoshi from Beastars is neurodivergent coded, and I just have to be like:

“The guy’s favorite things are anything to do with insects, and watching weather reports.

He eats the exact same thing everyday for lunch, egg sandwiches, and is so familiar with them that he can tell that they switched which day the egg shipment came in.

He’s obviously intelligent, but has an odd way of thinking compared to others, and struggles in school in spite of said clear intelligence.

He struggles with social interaction and thinks that getting into drag in order to fight on equal footing with a woman is a completely logical conclusion. He’s noted as being weirdly quiet/reserved for a canine.”

What’s not clicking here? The only way it could have been more obvious is if he actually got diagnosed in canon.

Which would never happen because any of his neurodivergent behaviors would more likely than not be brushed off as “consequence for his hybrid heritage” and not Legoshi actually being neurodivergent.

198 notes - Posted October 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

An A:TLA story idea I’ve never seen written

A story where Azulon is so pissed by Ozai asking for Iroh’s birthright that he goes out of his way to make Ozai and Ozai alone miserable.

Like I have seen stories where he gives Zuko to Iroh to raise and make his heir, it’s how most of them go, with the rest of Zuko’s non-Iroh and Azulon family members on the chopping block to various degrees.

But those stories don’t take it far enough in my opinion. I want Ozai to be truly miserable at his own father’s behest, like how Zuko was in canon.

I want Azulon to annul Ozai’s marriage to Ursa. I want him to put both Zuko and Azula into Iroh’s custody (or Azula into Li and Lo’s custody if they’re royal family in the story, either as Azulon’s sisters or nieces). I want him to send Ozai off on a tiny no-name ship with a bare bones crew to search for the Avatar. For the glory of the Fire Nation.

People go hard in the stories where Azulon gives Zuko to Iroh, but in my opinion they go hard in the wrong way. They kill off Ursa and Azula along with Ozai, even though even in most of these stories Ursa is also an abuse victim and Azula is a literal 9 year old.

I want a story where good granddad Azulon mourning the loss of his oldest grandchild hones in on Ozai like heat seeking missile for having the audacity to try and overtake his own brother in the race for the throne when they’d just lost a family member. Like one part is genuine anger that Ozai would dare attempt to steal Iroh’s birthright at all, but another is just grief fueled rage that Ozai would have the guts to do it when Iroh (and Azulon even if he doesn’t show it as much) are still actively mourning Lu Ten.

Also I know canon!Azulon is a bastard, don’t bother putting any comments/replies about that. I’m not talking about him. I just want a story where Ozai is put into canon!Zuko’s position of a hopeless quest in the hopes of someday going home and becoming Fire Lord.

902 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[guardiankarenterrier]

for the ask meme: S. Ready to Call This Love by MIKA, Chat Noir and Nonbinary!Ladybug

(for this ask game)

(my ao3)

She- They come out to Chat Noir first. 

He listens to them intently, not interrupting even when they start to wish he would, and when they’ve run out of breath and explanation both he asks tentatively whether they mind if he cuts his patrol short. 

The tight, wound feeling in the pit of their stomach gets worse, but they agree anyway even as their spirits plummet. 

Chat Noir is their safety net.  He’s the one they thought it would be safest to talk to first.  For him to listen so attentively only to leave feels like glass shards in their lungs.  It feels so much worse than they’d expected that they consider taking it back, laughing it off when they meet up again the next night for patrol. 

Chat calls them back that same night, before the sun’s more than a hazy idea on the horizon, and asks to meet up again.

He shows up with a clumsily-made pronoun bracelet. 

“I don’t think our suits will let us do pins,” he says sheepishly, eyes darting to them and away before they can get a good look at the emotion in them. 

They kind of want to do the same, because they can feel themself beginning to tear up. 

Chat Noir notices.  His eyes catch and hold this time, going wide with alarm.  “My-” He hesitates, then offers almost shyly, “M'theydy?" 

That does it.  Marinette can’t keep the tears back, but at the alarmed flicker of Chat Noir’s ears they dart towards him and throw their arms around him in a hug. 

It takes him a minute to unfreeze and hug them back.  It always does- it’s always concerned them that it does, but by their own rules they can’t ask.  They can hug him until he seems more used to it, though.  "Thank you, kitty." 

"Is it too early to tell you I’m enbious of you?” he wonders aloud, and Marinette snorts and hits his chest lightly. 

“You dumb cat,” they laugh through their tears, hugging him harder so that he doesn’t think they mean it. “I can’t believe you.  I can’t believe I was worried, how did I not know you were going to take this another reason to pun?”

“I looked them up,” Chat Noir admits.  “There’s so many."  He tilts his head down, his eyes catching theirs as he grins and repeats, "M'theydy.”

They have to let go of him before they find themself squeezing the breath out of him.  “I can’t believe you."  You’re too good to be true, they finish in the privacy of their own head.  They’re not quite ready to say that to him.  They might be trying to let go of Adrien now, in bits and pieces and broken hopes, but it’s a slow process. 

They suspect they already know how they feel about Chat Noir, but they’re not ready to call it that just yet.   

Chat Noir straightens proudly.  His tail gives a happy little flick as he grins at them, tentatively.  "You don’t mind?" 

"From you, Chat?” Marinette says, too relieved that he doesn’t mind to watch what they’re saying too closely.  “Never." 

They’d thought he’d already looked pleased with himself, but he’s near preening now. 

"You did good, kitty,” Marinette assures him, just to be rewarded with the bright flash of his eyes and the quirk to his grin that he only displays when they’re alone.  “I’ve just been so nervous about this."  They look down at the bracelet he’s given them, turning it over thoughtfully.  It’s the kind of beaded bracelet they associate with summer camps but the beads are a kind they’ve never seen before.  They look fancier, somehow, than they really ought to.   

"You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to." 

They look up swiftly.  Chat Noir didn’t- didn’t sound right.

He’s not looking back at them.  He’s looking down at the roof, one hand rubbing the back of his head.  His ears are swivelled towards them, but his tail’s fallen still.

"Why wouldn’t I?"  Marinette asks softly, watching as his head jerks up at their tone.  "I’d love to show it off." 

There’s definitely a blush under his mask. 

"I didn’t know if you wanted to be out as Ladybug."  His voice has gone very quiet.  "I didn’t want to assume anything.  I just wanted you to know that it doesn't change anything for me." 

Marinette turns the bracelet over again, running their fingers across the letters, before slipping it on and smiling at Chat Noir.  It fits perfectly.  "I wanted to tell you before anyone else, but I do want to come out as Ladybug."  They look away, across the rooftops.  They’re well hidden in this part of the city but this is still something they’d prefer to keep private a little longer.  "I want to say it’s because I want people to have a nonbinary hero, but it’s not really that.  Or not just that, anyway." 

"What else is it?” Chat asks, taking a seat on the edge of the roof and looking up at them attentively. 

It throws them for a moment.  He’s looked at them like this before, but it’s never hit them quite like this. 

“LB?” he says, when they don’t respond.  “You okay?" 

They sigh, slipping down to sit next to him.  "I think so."  The smile they give him feels weak, but it strengthens in response to the bright look he returns it with.  "First step’s the hardest part, right?" 

"It’s okay if it’s not."  Chat Noir’s voice is soft, more serious than they’re used to hearing him.  "Take your time if you need it." 

Marinette flounders for a second and then hopes he doesn’t notice. "I don’t want to, really.  I’m just-” They sigh, hand returning to their bracelet and fidgeting with it.  The beads click together satisfyingly.  Knowing Chat, there’s a decent chance that was unintentional, but it’s soothing anyway.  “Scared.  I’m scared.  Coming out as Ladybug feels safer."  Their hands drop away again.  "Like sleeping with a light on.  At least this way I’ll have my mask.  You know?" 

Chat Noir’s quiet again, but he has his tail in his lap and is running his thumb over the buckle, so Marinette waits for him to speak up. 

"Sort of,” he says slowly, and they’re glad they waited.  “Transforming is taking the mask off, for me." 

Marinette’s always suspected that, but it still saddens them to hear it. 

They take a deep breath.  "Not for me." 

"I know."  Chat’s hand finds theirs, twining their fingers together.  "Whenever you’re ready."  He leans his head against their shoulder, and another smile lights his words.  "M'theydy." 

[soulmate-game]

Daughter of wonderwoman au where marinette finds out her mother is actually Diana and somehow it ends up with her meeting/being introduced to the batfam maybe because she has super strength and is seen yeeting some bad guys who tried to mug her... Or something.

“... you are running from your problems, Mari,” Adrien’s exasperated voice reminded his best friend. Again. She ignored him, and he threw his hands up in exasperation. “Look, you don’t have to do anything about it! Nobody would hold it against you if you decided to just, ignore that you found anything out at all. But you need to actually think about what we just found out and decide whether or not you’re gonna do anything—“ he side-stepped a piece of trash that went flying in his direction. “—or if you’re gonna move on and pretend nothing happened.”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing?” Marinette shot back, pushing her bangs out of her face and tying her hair back with one hand.

“No, you’re currently hiding away in Gotham to avoid your parents while you beat up every random group of idiots who thinks you’re an easy mark,” he retorted. Another wannabe kidnapper went flying in his direction, making him sigh and side step again. She had thrown that one with only her one free hand, showing just how upset she was. “You’re ignoring everything in your life, which is not what we meant we said you should get a little space.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Marinette dropkicked the last criminal into unconsciousness before stepping back and putting her hands on her hips. She looked over at the now seven passed out men in the alleyway, and the one very frustrated ex-model pinching the bride of his nose. “I think I’m coping just fine.”

“It’s better than being forced to suppress all of your emotions, sure,” Adrien reluctantly agreed. “But not by much. Your angry rampage through Gotham has already attracted more attention,” he raised his hand to point at a nearby rooftop. Several shadows lurked there, looming over the building’s edge. “Which, might I add, is exactly why I told you not to come to Gotham.”

“You’re the one who followed me here,” she shot back before turning to the shadowy figures above them. “Go ahead and come down! But it was self defense, and you can’t arrest or beat me up for defending myself!”

The first figure to drop down straightened your just as quickly, revealing the imposing figure of none other than Batman himself. The little white eyes on his cowl seemed to narrow on their own as he looked down at her.

“That might be true, but I’m sure you know my policy on metas in my city,” he grumbled back at her. He wasn’t necessarily threatening, but he definitely wasn’t welcoming either. With all of his limbs hidden behind the cocoon that was his cape, Marinette would never be able to predict his next move if he did decide to fight. Not that she seemed particularly worried about that as she crossed her arms over her chest and met his glare evenly.

“Oh, do you own this city now? I wasn’t given the memo,” she retorted. “And considering I didn’t even know I was a meta until last week? I think I deserve a little slack. I’m angry and if people think the tiny little girl in pink is an easy kidnapping target, then it’s their fault for making themselves into the perfect practice dummies for me to try out my newly discovered strength on.”

Adrien saw the eyes on Batman’s mask narrow even further. Marinette wasn’t exactly at her most charismatic at the moment, and Adrien didn’t wanna get the both of them into a bad relationship with the experienced superhero who always seemed to know things he shouldn’t know. So he stepped up quickly, getting in between Marinette and the Bat and holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Okay, Monsieur Batman,” Adrien started slowly, making sure his posture was impeccable and his smile bright. “She’s telling the truth, even if she’s not... the most tactful about it right now. She just found out some very concerning things about her origin and Gotham is the best place for her to hide from her problems and let loose a little pent up aggression. But— well,” he grimaced. “We didn’t intend to run into you guys, but maybe it’s a good thing we did.”

“How so?” Batman was clearly still incredibly suspicious of the both of them and wasn’t giving an inch. So Marinette rolled her eyes (she was still very moody) and leaned around Adrien so she could get a good look at the monochromatic hero.

“I thank my lucky spots that we ran into you, Batman!” She said monotonously. “Me and Adrien are paw-sitively excited at this opportunity.”

Batman. Froze.

Not only were those two lines the very first lines ever spoken to him by two foreign heroes a few years ago (with a few key words changed to protect identities), but they had become their code phrase for whenever they made calls to one another outside of their costumes. All at once it seemed to hit him— the golden hair and bright green eyes on the boy, the blue-black hair and normally super-focused bluebell eyes on the girl that were currently sporting very uncharacteristic frustration. Their heights. Their builds. All of this info flowed through his mind and compared to the information stored in his memory, and it only took the span of two seconds for everything to click.

Suddenly Batman was at full attention, back straight instead of looming over them and eyebrows clearly raised high under his cowl.

He knew Chat Noir and Ladybug would never take a random vacation to Gotham. Ladybug herself had nearly waxed poetic about how much the city depressed her just from the pictures she saw online. If she had willingly come to visit, it was more than to just blow off some steam.

“Batcave?” He asked, earning a relieved look from Adrien and a moody silence from Marinette.

“Please,” Adrien agreed. “You can probably help us, actually.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette leaned back in the metal debriefing chair, legs up on the table and looking for all the world as the picture of pure teenage rebellion and angst. Coincidentally, Red Hood was in the exact same position in the chair next to her.

Batman and all of his other bats and birds were in the cave with the two off-duty Parisian heroes. Everyone except Adrien and Marinette still had their masks on, since the two Parisians were still not privy to their identities. Yet.

To be fair, the bats hadn’t known the identities of the two miraculous users either before today.

“Cha Noir,” Batman started, only to get a head shake from the blond boy.

“Just call me Adrien. Chat’s out of the bag—“ he ignored the groans at the pun and soldiered on, “—so might as well use my real name.”

Batman nodded. “Adrien, then,” he amended. “Why are you and Ladybug really in Gotham?”

Adrien sighed. “I wasn’t lying, before. Marinette,” he gestured to his hero partner. “Just found out some distressing family news. Since HawkMoth is gone, she doesn’t need to repress her negative emotions anymore. But she also didn’t want to be around her parents while she processed everything. I told her to choose any other city— really, I begged— but she insisted on coming to Gotham.”

“The never ending cloud cover and constant rain seem thematic,” she finally spoke up, reaching into her big over-the-shoulder bag and pulling out a large envelope. She threw it to Batman, making the thin package slice through the air like a knife. To nobody’s surprise the seasoned hero easily caught the projectile between two fingers. He looked at the envelope and back to Marinette, silent questions floating in the air between them. Marinette decided to answer at her own pace.

“That’s what we found out. You see, one of my friends is a huge science nerd. A genius. And he wanted to compare DNA samples between us to see if there were any genetic components that determined a person’s suitability towards certain Miraculous or other magical artifacts over others. It was supposed to just be a fun side project that he didn’t expect any breakthroughs on. He mostly just wanted to satisfy his own curiosity. But instead of finding out if our DNA was linked to the miraculous, he found out that my parents are not biologically my parents.”

“Hence the whole just finding out that you’re a meta thing, right?” Nightwing spoke up, fully invested in the story. “Did they never say you were adopted before?”

“It’s not in the system,” she replied easily. “My parents have all the documentation to prove that I’m their biological child, except I’m not. When I confronted them about it, they caved and admitted that they had adopted me in secret and covered it up. Apparently a friend of theirs was involved in something illegal, and,” she waved at the envelope that Batman was now opening. “The details of what we were able to dig up are in there. The summary is this; their friend was part of a secret, illegal experimentation to create clones that could defeat the Justice League—“ the air seemed to get sucked out of the room as soon as those words left Marinette’s mouth. Everyone seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. “—a group called CADMUS. They made me, as apparently one of their early attempts. But I didn’t exhibit any of the powers they were looking for, or any meta traits at all, and my body refused to mature at the rate they wanted. They had no use for a seemingly normal human baby that they managed to clone, so they were preparing to kill me and start over. That’s when my parent’s friend stole me, not wanting to kill an infant, and begged my parents to take me in and pretend I was theirs. Low and behold, it turns out that my DNA just needed a very specific series of emotions to unlock it’s latent abilities.”

“Those emotions being..?” Red hood trailed off, earning a wolfish smile from Marinette.

“Intense anger, betrayal, and confused frustration closely followed by the desire to punch other people’s faces in.”

“That last one is just an assumption,” Adrien chimed in. “And maybe not accurate. But the first three, our scientist friend was able to confirm. The rapid experience of a lot of negative but action-oriented emotions released whatever had been holding back the powers in her DNA from expressing themselves,” he had switched to French so that he could explain everything exactly as Max had told it to them, but he knew all of them were fluent anyway so it was fine. They nodded along, processing the information.

The crinkling of paper drew everyone’s attention back to Batman, who had been flipping through the detailed break down of everything they had found about Marinette’s situation and how she was made by CADMUS.

“Uh,” Red Robin nervously spoke up. “What’s up, Batman?”

“Your genetic donors...” Batman breathed, getting a wink and finger guns from Marinette.

“Yup. Isn’t that just the most fucked up thing you’ve ever seen? They were clearly trying to make someone who could destroy the world.”

“That makes me nervous,” Nightwing admitted, getting up and going to get a look at the papers himself. “It can’t be that ba—“

When even Nightwing was left agape, everyone else who wasn’t in on it found themselves squirming.

“Just tell the rest of us, already!” Robin demanded after the silence stretched just a bit too long.

“The unknowing genetic donors that CADMUS used to make me,” Marinette spoke up, still with her legs up on the table. “Are a very mad-scientist’s-wet-dream combination of Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, and Wonder Woman.”

“We don’t even know why they added Bruce Wayne’s DNA,” Adrien admitted. “Although our scientist friend thinks it’s because of physique. His hypothesis is that, in order to support the genes of Wonder Woman, they had to add male genetics that could support the production of a very high muscle mass and would lean towards easy development of a very athletic body. Lex might be evil-scientist smart, but he’s a string bean. But if he added the DNA of another multi millionaire who just so happens to maintain a ridiculously fit body without putting any obvious work into it,” Adrien shrugged. “Then maybe the clone would be able to support Wonder Woman’s genetics and that of two human donors without falling apart.”

“So I’m ‘the clone’ now, huh?” Marinette snarked, earning an exasperated eye roll from her friend.

Batman just stared at the both of them for a moment. He walked away without a word, and came back with a fresh needle and a box. He placed it on the debriefing table.

“Can I do a paternity test myself?” He asked, his voice suspiciously less gruff than normal. “I trust the both of you, but I rather be safe than sorry with something like this.”

The both of them just stared at him in confusion. They traded a glance, and finally Marinette shrugged and moved to sit in her chair properly. Her shirt was already short sleeved, so she just held her arm out so Batman could easily get a blood sample.

“Sure, why not. But do you just have Lex Luthor or Bruce Wayne’s DNA sitting around to compare, or—“ she shut up when she watched Batman take off his glove and roll his own sleeve up. Realization slowly sunk in as he asked Nightwing to take a blood sample from him.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, eyes wide. “You’re— and Luthor doesn’t know— holy shit this is even worse than I thought,” Marinette rambled, not even noticing as Red Hood moved forward and took a small blood sample from her.

Adrien put a hand over his face and just laughed for a moment hysterically. “Oh my god,” he looked over at Marinette. “You could take over the world.”

“I have the blood of Batman AND Wonder Woman on MY side,” Marinette joked back, also hysterical.

When the bat’s high tech equipment was able to come back with a positive result only a few minutes later, Marinette and Adrien had to sit on the floor and just let it all sink in. Which Batman did not at all help by immediately unmasking himself and trying to make a proper introduction.

“I wanna go beat up random thugs again,” Marinette whined, pulling at her hair. “I’ll put on a mask, whatever, but just please let me punch people. I need to punch people right now.”

[sariahsue]

Confession

Part two of this (but can be read on its own)

It was barely 9:00 a.m. and Adrien Agreste was already sweating. After an hour of pep talking and encouragement during patrol last night, Ladybug had declared that she wasn’t ready to ask Adrien out yet, but she never would be, so why keep waiting?

And Ladybug was Marinette.

And Marinette wouldn’t stop looking at him.

He hadn’t even gotten through his first class and it was already the longest school day of his life.

(Adrien peeked over his shoulder for the eighth time, just as Marinette turned her face away again and blushed. He whipped around to the front. She was going to get suspicious if he kept doing that, but he couldn’t seem to stop.)

It had been a whole week since Chat Noir had found out Ladybug’s identity, and four days since she’d told him the name of the lucky boy who’d caught her heart. And Adrien still couldn’t believe it was him.

And now she was going to ask him out. When? That was the question floating through his mind as his teachers droned on about algebra. When? Maybe something about the Revolution in history class, but he wasn’t entirely sure. When? Science possibly?

When? 

When was she going to talk to him? Today? Tomorrow? Did he smell nice? Had he misunderstood and she meant a different Adrien Agreste? Should he wait for her to approach him or start a conversation to give her an opening? He should have asked her last night! Why didn’t he ask her that?!

One advantage to peeking at her so often was that he could tell he felt more nervous than she looked, which was probably a good thing. Maybe something he said to her last night had helped. He felt scattered and on edge. Marinette’s nervousness was subtle. A tap tap tap of her pencil. The squeak of her shoe as she bounced her knee. Meanwhile, his mind was going in a hundred directions at once, wondering how she would confess.

And that thought sent anticipation swooping through his stomach.

Maybe it would have been better if he’d just told her his identity last night, make sure she knew how crazy he was about her so she could stop worrying.

But Ladybug had made it clear how much she wanted to ask Adrien, and how much effort she had already put in for him, and he didn’t want to minimize her struggle. Plus - and he felt a little guilty for it - he really wanted to hear what she would say. Wanted her to ask him. Wanted to be wanted by her.

Behind him, Marinette let out a breathy sigh. This was going to be a very, very long day.

***

A few hours later, Adrien stood at the top of school stairs, looking down at the waiting limo with its door already open for him, waiting to take him home for the weekend.

His pep talks hadn’t been enough. Even though she’d had plenty of opportunities, Marinette hadn’t asked him. His footsteps were heavy as he walked away from the school doors and waved a limp hello to his driver.

“Adrien, wait!”

He turned back so fast that the world blurred. Marinette ran toward him and then stopped a few inches in front of him, stone still, hands clenched to her sides.

His heart pounded in his mouth. “Yeah?”

“I-” That was as far as she got before her eyes fell to her feet.

“Yes?” Adrien prompted, hoping he was keeping the desperation out of his voice. He was not going to let her get out of talking now. Not if she was finally going to tell him how she really felt about him. “Was there something you wanted?”

“N-no, I don’t want anything,” she said, eyes flicking back up to his. “Just, um.” Paper rustled as she reached in her pocket and held out a small piece of notebook scrap to him. This wasn’t in any of the plans that they’d made together.

“What’s this?” He took it quickly, careful not to let their fingers brush (even though he wanted them to) because it might make her more nervous. On it was a little doodle of a cat face.

“What’s this about?” he whispered, even though he knew exactly what was going to happen next.

“So I have a purr-fect idea.”

This was it. This was it! She was making puns! She was going to ask him out! This excitement and joy were expected. Every single wish he’d ever made was about to come true.

And all of it was almost overshadowed by the single revelation that his Lady trusted him this much, to take his advice on something so important to her, something that was literally keeping her up at night with worry. It wasn’t trust out of necessity. It was trusting him with her vulnerabilities. He hadn’t realized that was going to hit as hard as it did.

“Cat got your tongue?” Marinette asked.

A second cat pun? Adrien leaned against the open car door for support. It swung farther open under his weight and nearly took him off his feet.

Marinette’s face went white.

“Sorry,” he said, standing back up. (He leaned against the frame of the car this time.)  He had to pull himself together and not make this harder for her than it already was. “Sun was in my--” The sun beat down on the back of his neck. “Never mind. What’s your idea?”

“Uh.” She pointed to the paper. “Flip it over?”

On the back was a hastily-drawn ice cream cone. One of the many date ideas they had discussed. That had been his favorite one. Low pressure, but still enough to get the point across that it was a date and not just hanging out. She trusted his opinion and went with his idea.

“If you’re free sometime, would you want to get ice cream with me?” Its job complete, Marinette’s mouth clicked shut. Her lips screwed up tight as she politely waited for his answer.

Adrien was having none of it.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you asking me for ice cream?”

“Oh.” Marinette folded her hands in front of her chest, eyes looking everywhere but at him. “I just, you know, thought that you might like some ice cream. Some time. And I like it too, and we know each other, so we could get some at the same time.”

“Is that the only reason? Because you thought we both liked it? Or is there something else?”

She sighed, shoulders dropping suddenly. “Listen, I really like you. A lot.”

“Yeah?” he prompted.

She finally looked at him, searching his face for any sign of impending rejection. Adrien smiled softly to let her know she wasn’t ever going to find any there.

“I think you’re great,” she said. “You’re very kind and you’re fun to be around, and I was hoping you’d want to go on a date with me sometime?”

“Yes. I’d love to.”

“Wait.” Marinette took a step back. “Yes? Did you just say yes?!”

“I’m really glad you asked me,” he said. “I’ve had a huge crush on you forever.”

It was Marinette’s turn to be speechless, but she recovered enough to squeak, “How about Monday after school? Do you have time then?”

“Sundaes on Monday? That sounds great!”

Marinette beamed, beautiful and wide and just for him. She liked him! She’d asked him! She trusted him!

She trusted him.

And he couldn’t start a relationship with her when he was keeping a huge secret from her.

“I have something to tell you first though, before our first date, and then you can decide if you still want to go out with me.”

Marinette cocked her head. “Of course I will. What is it?”

Adrien took a deep breath. Would she? He’d effectively tricked her into asking him out.

The Gorilla cleared his throat. A line of cars was forming behind them.

Feeling a little like a coward, Adrien started climbing into the limo. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“But it’s Saturday. We don’t have school tomorrow. And don’t you usually have shoots and fencing?”

He leaned out of the door and grabbed her hand. It would be too much of a hint for him to kiss it, so he squeezed it instead. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll find you.”

***

Author’s note: There will be one more part! Update: Here it is!

[lucky-cataclysm]

I've had an AU idea kicking around in my head for a while now, so I decided to share: Adrien with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder). (This is a No Miraculous AU, so there's no superhero stuff going on.)

The different alters would be as follows:

Adrien: Our smol blind son! He's the host of the system and is usually the one fronting. He's just regular old Adrien - fun, easygoing, and friendly. Yes, he's dating Marinette, as are most of the other alters (except Felix).

Noir: Noir is sassy, sarcastic, and flirtatious. He's impulsive and doesn't really think before he does stuff, and he relies on others (usually Nino, Alya, or Marinette) to keep him from doing stuff he might regret later. He's lowkey obsessed with puns and pickup lines, and he feels no shame in admitting his love for his Bugaboo. He's also very clingy and needs constant physical touch. (He absolutely loves it when Marinette scratches his head.) He doesn't really have a trigger that causes him to front - he just starts fronting randomly and without warning.

Felix: (Since Felix was supposed to be the original Chat Noir, I made him one of Adrien's alters.) Felix is serious, smart, and the only one without a romantic relationship with Marinette. However, he still has a good relationship with her, and is usually okay with giving her hugs and cuddles when she needs them. (They are absolutely in a QPR and I will die on this hill.) He fronts when Adrien is stressed or needs to stop goofing off and get work done.

Chat (Reversed!Chat Noir from the Reverser episode): The poor kitty is scared of everything and everyone, and he can't function without Marinette on hand to comfort him and reassure him that everything's going to be okay. He fronts when Adrien is scared or upset, and none of the other alters can take control from him and front until Marinette has calmed him down.

I don't know much about DID, but if I were to expand more on this AU, I would definitely do a lot more research on things like DID as a whole, alters, different triggers, how fronting works, and how DID affects the host's relationships with other people.

If anyone with DID sees this post, would you do me a favor and correct anything I might have gotten wrong about DID or alters? Thank you!

XOX Lucky

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 36

Sorry about the delay. But now its here and its ready for consumption.

Also, Shout to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.

Check her writing out on AO3 as ShamelesslyRomantic,

(Master post)

(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)

_____________________________________________________________

“Finished,” the artist akuma stated as he addressed his master.

Masquerade got up from her throne to look at the room. The classroom had been transformed into a rather spacious throne room. The artist had erased and redrawn walls to ensure the room was much larger. This new space also had several large windows adorned with elegant black and white curtains hanging from the top. Reflekta servants decked out in masquerade themed armor stood at attention on each step leading to her throne. Beautiful artwork of her decorated the walls, including an imposing portrait of her behind her throne that made it look as if she was looking down at everyone looking up at it. To her that came off as self-interested yet tasteful. The masked akuma even loved the addition of a red carpet that led up to her throne.

“This is quite satisfactory, Evillustrator. Just be sure to reinforce the walls of the room then head to the roof and locate Simularé. I want this place to be a fortress,” Masquerade ordered

“Understood,” the akuma nodded, his expression unreadable from the white face mask. He quickly headed to the door out of the room and Stone heart was guarding the door with his large frame and had to let the artist out.

“Gamer! Robostus! Status report!”

“We have made it so we could hack into every screen in Paris that is connected to the internet, as per your request,” the Gamer responded in monotone.

Masquerade smiled at that.

“Excellent. Do we have the cameras ready?”

The Reflekta copies near the robot akuma were being outfitted with recording gear.

“Affirmative, we will be ready to go live at your request.”

The masked akuma smiled at that news, she turned her attention to Princess Fragrance and the original Reflekta, who had just finished turning the last of the captured individuals into obedient copies of her.

“Has everyone in the school been rounded up and handled?”

“Dark Cupid and Reverser are doing a final sweep of any runaway stragglers. Stormy weather is going around flooding and freezing any empty hallways to flush out any that are hiding. There are Reflekta copies guarding the blocked off exits should anyone try and escape. But over 96% of the student body has been accounted for and 99% of all Faculty.” Princess Fragrance answered.

‘The missing ones are likely Marinette and Adrien. Those two never did make anything easy for me, did they? But it didn’t matter, their luck would run out soon enough. Once Ladybug and Chat noir were handled, then I could focus on making them pay,’ Masquerade grinned to herself.

She could picture how it would be, finding them and seeing their desperate faces as they realized that no hero would be able to save them. The first thing she would do was show them both her little empire. They thought she was bad when she had the school wrapped around her finger, they will be mortified when they see Paris. She would have all their friends and family captured, their best friends leading the cruel treatment of the rest. This would have them in tears and begging for mercy.

She did once consider letting Adrien be her boyfriend, with some perfume to sway him. He would have been a perfect boytoy to taunt Marinette with, but Masquerade realized how far above him she was now. She didn’t need him anymore, and truthfully, he was just as bad as Marinette, if not worse. Marinette had the audacity to dislike her and challenge her, but Adrien, he was so condescending, acting like she should be better than her actions. She could swear she saw pity in his eyes, and that was so much worse.

Though she wasn’t completely heartless, if they begged to be her personal servants and apologized for standing against her, then maybe she would let them have some mercy. Having Marinette clean up after her and make those admittedly delicious baked goods would be nice and having Adrien wait on her hand and foot like a personal butler would be quite fun. Maybe they would think if they did a good enough job their families would suffer less.

She did want to daydream about that idea more but she knew that she needed to focus on the present.

“Alright, Let’s start moving to stage 2. Gamer! I want a comprehensive list of every akuma victim outside of the school. Robostus! Make sure the cameras and broadcast are ready when I tell you. I want everything to go off without a hitch.”

“Affirmative!” Gamer and Robostus responded in equal robotic unison.

“Reflekta! Princess Fragrance! After all of the copies pick up the stragglers, I want you scanning the area for Ladybug and Chat noir. Bubbler and Lady Wifi… wait. I think I remember something.”

She paused to check her charm, she noticed the question mark charm and touched it, allowing her to focus and see what akuma it was.

“Cancel that order, remain on standby unless we get approached.”

“Yes… so this is what that voice meant by merging. How very interesting. I think I will let that new akuma keep its directive. Ladybug and Chat noir will have no chance of beating...”

An akuma merged with Lady Wifi, Bubbler and Oblivio. Combined to make something new. Something that she knew even the heroes would have trouble fighting.

“Deadzone.” Masquerade said with a devilish grin.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ladybug and Chat Noir made their way down the hall. They easily dealt with a few Reflekta clones without much effort and continued moving.

They were expecting to see more akuma lurking about, but strangely, the halls they were walking down were all either empty or only covered by Reflekta duplicates.

“Masquerade likely has her stronger forces consolidating after bringing in as many people to her as they could. Those that didn’t hit the mark likely got turned into the copies we bumped into.” Ladybug answered.

“That does explain why they were singing, like when Princess Fragrance made servants,” the cat hero added.

“This might be our only time to catch a break before confronting her.”

“So, since we have time, do you mind if I ask if you're free to go on Patrol tonight?” the cat hero casually inquired.

Ladybug stopped.

“Tonight? That is quite sudden. Plus, we still don’t know how this will play out.” Ladybug gestured to the school.

“Well I am going to assume we stop the akuma and save the day like always.” Chat noir commented. “Call it a safe bet, but we usually win.”

“Always the positive outlook, Chaton. I’m glad you have so much faith in us despite our numbers disadvantage.”

“You said it yourself, most of the servants are pushovers or just puppets. The only real threat is Lila. And we have faced worse."

“True, but not anything this sinister,” Ladybug tacked on.

“Didn’t we fight Hawkmoth a couple of months back?” Chat noir asked with a twinge of confusion. Was Ladybug implying what he thought she was?

Ladybug held her tongue.

“You’re kidding right? You think Lila is eviler than Hawkmoth!” Chat Noir exclaimed in shock.

“No no no! Not eviler … just a bit cleverer than him,” Ladybug confessed.

Chat noir looked at his partner skeptically, but then considered her words.

“She is manipulative. Considering even without being akumatized she has done some rather twisted stuff. But thinking she is evil is a bit much. Especially when there is someone responsible for forcing emotionally vulnerable people to do his bidding,” Chat noir pointed out.

“Isn’t that what she is doing right now?”

“Yes, but she was akumatized. If we started blaming people for their actions as akuma we would have to throw innocent people in jail.”

“Right… but you read that article on the Ladyblog right? She could be more than just a victim of Hawkmoth, she could be an ally.”

The Cat hero thought about it more but was still not entirely convinced.

“I guess underestimating her would be dumb, but maybe she isn’t completely evil. I mean Chloé ended up showing a bit of humanity and did some good, maybe Lila is capable of it too.”

The crimson clad heroine smiled a bit.

“That’s what I like about you, Chat, you always focus on the good in others.”

The black clad hero gave a Cheshire grin.

“When it comes to the team, you’re the brains, and I’m the sidekick who brings the smiles and the heartfelt speeches.”

“You aren’t my sidekick, Chat Noir, we are partners. And you could be the brains too, if you would use yours outside of pun making.” Ladybug playfully bonked his noggin.

The cat chuckled at the playful teasing.

“Fair enough, but I can’t help it if I FELINE making a quip.”

Ladybug could feel herself groan at the lame joke.

“I take it back… you are the sidekick,” Ladybug deadpanned, her tone of mock annoyance causing the cat to chuckle.

“Alright I’ll…” He stopped speaking as he noticed something was amiss.

Chat Noir’s left ear twitched. He heard approaching footsteps.

“We better get moving, this abandoned hallway isn’t going to be so abandoned in a minute.”

“More Reflekta clones?”

Chat Noir extended the staff to the ground, his face showing a sudden sternness.

“No… Winter is coming.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Viperion peered through the door of the locker room.

“Clear.”

The snake and dragon heroes entered with their akuma prisoner.

“Pick a locker and let’s toss her in,” Ryuuko commented as she held the squirming akuma.

The two paused their movement when they heard a rustling in the lockers.

“Do you hear that?” Viperion questioned.

“How could I not?” Ryuuko replied.

Just as the two stared at the rustling lockers. The two shaking lockers doors flew off their hinges.

And stepped out an akuma that neither hero recognized.

“I don’t remember seeing that akuma before,” Ryuuko stated.

“Neither do I, but it seems vaguely familiar,”  Viperion responded.

As the Akuma was gathering its bearings, the heroes tried to gauge its powers. It had broad shoulders that had spherical, dark purple balls around them, which were connected to tight black sleeves with 3 white circular stripes at the end that ended at his wrists. Its left hand had a fingerless black glove which showed its skin akin to a purple silhouette. The other hand was what appeared to be a black laser canon with a phone attached to it. On its back was a large red, purple and black pipe which seemed to act as a holster to a blue bubble wand.  Its face was obscured by a large white theater mask much like all the other akuma. But there was the impression that it had distinct features. Its chest had a rounded purple bubble on the top half of its body akin to round armor and it had a logo that appeared to be a WiFi signal within an eye in a cage. The lower half appeared more akin to a skintight jumpsuit that was black with white stripes at the feet.

The akuma turned its attention to the two heroes.

“So umm… what are you doing in the locker room?”

“Merge complete, Deadzone is active. Mission objective, Capture Ladybug and Chat Noir,” The akuma answered in a robotic tone less as a response to the question and more as a statement, their voice sounded like the mix of two people.

“Well, Deadzone, we can’t let you do that!”  Ryuuko exclaimed as she glared at the akuma.

The akuma pointed its blaster at her.

“Your opinion on that really doesn’t have an impact on us.”

Deadzone’s left hand touched the phone on their blaster, and a purple bubble with a pause insignia shot out. Ryuuko and Viperion both jumped back as the bubble had direct contact with their akuma prisoner, causing her to be motionless as the bubble turned green and floated to the roof of the room.

“Okay, so don’t touch the bubbles,” Viperion noted.

“Positive side, we don’t need to worry about that one akuma,” Ryuuko commented.

Viperion and Ryuuko knew this akuma would be trouble if it got to Ladybug and Chat noir. They were going to need to find a way to stop it.

______________________________________________________________________

Fu had been observing the spoiled Mayor’s daughter after her confrontation with the Reflekta replicas. Using it as a means to help him find Ladybug and Chat Noir. He was aware that this girl had a knack for getting into trouble and making akuma target her, so it would not be too far off to assume she would be useful in locating his chosen. He would have called her, but communication was down, so he would need to adapt. But now he had a rather interesting quandary.

“Should I lend her the miraculous or not?” Fu spoke quietly as he pondered.

It was a tougher question he had initially thought. If he was asked if she was worthy of being a miraculous user, the answer would undoubtedly be negative. She was clearly a spoiled brat who saw herself above others. But after the events when the bee miraculous temporarily fell into her hands, he had started observing her. He did this with all of the chosen ones that Marinette had picked. Not because he didn’t trust his student, but more out of curiosity of why Marinette picked these individuals.

With the one she picked for the fox miraculous, Fu could see that the girl valued justice, but was cunning and saw the importance of distinguishing truth from illusion, an ideal pick for the fox miraculous. As for the Turtle miraculous wielder, Wayzz spoke highly of Nino, which really made him curious about the young lad. That boy showed a willingness to protect those close to him even if it meant getting hurt, and the calm to be ready to wait and roll with things. The miraculous of protection required someone that can keep a cool head and be ready to defend at the drop of a hat.

The other temporary heroes matched pretty well with the traits of the Kwami and were all good people deep down. Fu had no doubts that Marinette had the instincts of a guardian. The only one that brought doubt was Chloé. After the incident where she found the miraculous and got akumatized, Chloé was trusted with the bee miraculous 3 times. And her record had been mixed but overall she was decent when she fell in line and worked with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Marinette mentioned that she didn’t want to trust Chloé with the miraculous after the last time. But has admitted to Fu that if needed she was a decent Bee heroine.

But if he was wrong and she decided to use this chance to stay being a miraculous wielder, he would have to deal with her as a rogue. Though, considering the circumstances, that would honestly not be the worst situation, as her identity was public and Ladybug and Chat Noir would deal with her like before.

“Wayzz, what do you think?”

His kwami companion popped out of his shirt pocket.

“This is quite a dilemma, Master. The situation is dire, but putting the miraculous in the wrong hands would also make things worse. Perhaps Pollen would be able to give better insight.”

“Very true, my friend.” Fu patted the kwami.

Fu cautiously went into the cleaning cart and pulled out the Bee Miraculous. The bee kwami popped out.

“Good morning, Master,” Pollen greeted the guardian with respect.

“Good afternoon, Pollen. We have a situation and I would like to know your opinion.”

“Very well, I am happy to serve,” The bee kwami replied.

“What do you think of Chloé Bourgeois? The one that used your miraculous recently.”

The kwami put her little hand to her face as she compiled her thoughts.

“She is complicated, Master. She didn’t talk to me much but I kind of got to feel a lot about who she was as a person. She is brash, she is confident, yet she is insecure. She is blunt, stubborn, and set in her ways. But I can tell that she is at a crossroads in her life. There is some small part of her that wants to be good and do good for others outside of herself, but her upbringing has made such a mindset seem like weakness, and she is scared of letting herself be vulnerable. Ladybug has been a good influence on her, but she is still immature in several aspects. She has the potential to be a good queen. If she could break through that self-imposed selfish mentality, she could be something extraordinary,” Pollen explained, finally.

“I see, well that is quite informative. Thank you,” Fu responded, nodding thoughtfully.

He put the Bee Miraculous back in a tiny box, causing her to go dormant.

“So, she is at a crossroad.”  Fu repeated as he stroked his chin

He turned his attention back to Chloé, who had continued walking towards another dead end. When he caught the eye of approaching Reflekta clones. And with that, Fu figured out a way to know.

“I think I just found a way to know the correct answer.”

______________________________________________________________________

“I swear this place is a maze.” Mayura grumbled to herself as she walked the halls.

She noticed her fan shake, notifying her of someone calling. It was Hawkmoth

“Yes?”

“Mayura what are you doing?! You were supposed to find the target and get out!” Hawkmoth exclaimed angrily. “And why did you transform? You knowutilizing the Peacock Miraculous is dangerous.”

Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was somewhat touched by the concern in his voice. Unfortunately, she did not have time to dwell on that so she was going to ignore it, as she had a task at hand

“Some unforeseen circumstances have caused some rather unfortunate delays. I am going to locate the sentimonster and gather information regarding the target. Afterwards, I will assist in getting Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.” Mayura responded.

As she was speaking, an akuma with black wings flew into view along with an akuma riding a paper airplane.

“Seems the akuma servants have located me.”

She notices the akuma began preparing to attack her. They were practically mindless puppets that saw anyone who wasn’t their master as an enemy. This was quite an oversight, but it fit with the motif of the akuma villain. She felt the emotions of that girl, she knew exactly the type of insecurities Lila held. Thankfully for her, it meant they could easily be exploited.

“Get out of there this instant it is too dangerous. You are in no shape to…”

The akumas aimed at the unidentified villainess and fired off paper airplanes and arrows.

“We will discuss this later.” Mayura hung up before turning her attention to the two servants of Masquerade.

Mayura dashed through the hall, expertly avoiding projectiles and blocking with her fan those she couldn’t dodge. She jumped onto Reverser’s glider, grabbed the akuma and threw him at the flying Dark Cupid, leaving the two dazed and tangled together.

“I’m weakened, not helpless,” Mayura commented as she dusted herself off and hopped off the floating paper airplane.

She noticed that the two akuma that attacked her were slow in getting up.

‘Seems the akuma created by Masquerade aren’t just mindless, they are also rather slow in reacting. Ladybug and Chat Noir can exploit that. I suppose with the number of servants she made, this was to be expected. I should locate Simularé and get some details on our akuma’s little plan. I should step in and seize control if she gets too distracted like the last one. Gabriel has always been far too cautious when it comes to his plans, it’s time we were more active.’ Mayura mentally concluded.

She closed her eyes and focused on locating the sentimonster.

“She is on the roof. Odd placement for her most powerful ally, but I suppose there must be some sort of logical reason for what she is planning,” Mayura rationalized.

The peacock themed villainess noticed that the akuma that attacked her were starting to move again, and she decided to pick up her pace a bit.

______________________________________________________________________________

“This is super ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” she exclaimed with anger. “Not a single exit in this place! Why is every exit coated in icky slime?”

She checked her phone.

“And still no signal.”

She ended up chucking her phone out of frustration.

“I wish Ladybug would just get here and beat the akuma, or better yet, come here and give me the bee miraculous so I can help kick butt,” she grumbled as she went to go see where she threw her phone. She'd remembered she actually liked the case she just bought for it and losing that would be a waste.

“H-help me please!” The wails of a person in danger caught Chloé’s attention.

“That sounds like a non-me issue,” the blonde told herself. As she continued walking to her phone.

“If only there was someone here to save me!” the voice called out again.

Chloé stopped moving for a moment.

“Well I am not a hero without the Bee, so I guess he better hope Ladybug and Chat Noir are nearby, or maybe those other two costumed nobodies that I saw earlier,” she said, clearly trying to convince herself not to do anything.

“Please! Ladybug! Chat Noir…. “

"The heroes will handle it." Chloé reasoned with herself as she picked up her phone. Now getting ready to go somewhere else and likely away from the screaming.

“ And a…Queen Bee.”

Chloé’s eyes went wide. Did someone call out for… Queen Bee?!

Chloé started dashing down the halls to the sound of the voice.

“Did someone call for a hero!” Chloé called out, looking confident.

She arrived to see an old man in an ugly Hawaiian shirt being cornered by 3 Reflekta copies. The akuma copies turn to Chloé.

“Surrender,” they sing-songed as they began to approach.

Chloé ran right at them, and proceeded to push them into each other, and let the impractical heels make it hard for them to get back up.

She rushed to the old man.

“Don’t worry, old man with good taste in heroes and nothing else. I, Queen Bee, am here to save you,” Chloé blustered.

“Thank you.” Fu said with a forced smile. She clearly only came when he mentioned her name. But she did show up. In hindsight, maybe his test was not as conclusive as he thought. But then again, he actually planned those out more.

Chloé looked around.

“Alright old man, normally I would have just left you to get saved by Ladybug, but you have good taste in heroes, so I am going to help you out. We need to move before those creepy akumas get back up. So follow me, I know a place you can hide out.” Her tone tried to come off as abrasive, but it did show an inkling of care.

Chloé began moving away from the cluster of Reflektas. The old man shrugged and followed behind. He supposed that this would be another good test for her. Maybe he will get a more definitive answer by keeping an eye on her. And if worse comes to worse, he had a feeling she would make a good distraction should he need to escape a band of akuma.

______________________________________________________________________

“Did you just make a...”

Ladybug was able to pick up on the sound of harsh wind heading their way and decided her scolding of lame references could wait for later. She grabbed her partner's arm and pulled him into the nearby science lab.

She quickly closed the door just as a cold front blasted right past them. The window on the door was covered in ice.

“Stormy Weather?”

“Stormy Weather.”

The two both look at each other with a bit of worry. The storm akuma was one of their more powerful foes, and with complete control of the weather in such a tight space, things were going to get tough.

“Any ideas?”

Ladybug weighed her options. Would now be the time to use her lucky charm? or should she save it for when they are in front of Masquerade? It was starting to get harder to make that call.

“We can’t have her roaming the halls, we will need to incapacitate her. So I say have your ice power up ready, and be ready to swap power ups at the drop of a hat. Stormy Weather may be tough, but we still have tricks up our sleeve.”

Chat Noir nodded.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both popped their Ice blue power ups and shift into their Ice forms. The two watched as the other’s suit gained ice skates, ice crystal and snowflake accents, becoming Ladyice and Icecat.

(AN: Yes, according to the Wiki, that’s what they are calling them. Personally, I would have called them Ladyfrost and Cold noir/ Cool Cat but that’s just me. This isn’t relevant to the story, I just wanted you all to know that.)

“You know, Ladybug, you really give off the ice skater vibe. Would you say you have experience ice skating outside of this form?” Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug felt her mind flash to her date with Adrien and her cheeks turned red.

“I- I may have some experience. And how about you, Kitty?” she deflected.

“Well, now that you mention it, I…”

They heard a loud bang on the door, cracking the ice that covered the window to reveal the white theater mask that Stormy Weather had covering her face.

“I’m gonna give it to her, she really knows how to break the Ice,” Chat Noir joked.

“Chaton, cool it with all of the ice puns,” she stated.

“Wait, was that a pun? My Lady I... OH SHI…”

A large ice stalactite burst through the door interrupting their banter and almost skewering them.

Chat Noir was about to say something when Ladybug cut in.

“Chat Noir, you are my partner and I respect you greatly. But so help me, if you say we should put this conversation on ‘Freeze’, I will not save you if you get impaled.” Ladybug stated.

Chat Noir paused.

“You know me so well,” he said with a smile.

The two watched as Stormy Weather entered the room through the stalactite hole.

______________________________________________________________________

“Hey Viperion?”

“Yea Ryuuko?”

“We both agree that we need to stop that crazy akuma right?”

“That is correct.”

“Then why are you carrying me away from it!?” Ryuuko exclaimed.

Viperion had picked up the dragon heroine fireman style in order to pull her away from the pursuing akuma.

“Do you want the reasons in alphabetical order?” the snake hero sassed.

“We can take it,” Ryuuko asserted. “We can’t retreat! There is no honor in it!”

“Well considering neither of our weapons can touch them, the concept of honor has flown out the window. Not to mention, I seriously doubt that we can take them on without a plan, and don’t say ‘try to hit them harder’ is a plan. It isn’t.”

Viperion had a smug look as he noticed Ryuuko look away.

“You’re right, but I'm mad about it,” the dragon heroine huffed.

“I can live with that.”

Viperion took a sharp left and noticed a dozen Reflekta duplicates.

“Juleka?”

“Come with us,” the clones sang.

“I’m going to assume they aren’t her,” Ryuuko said as she got off Viperion’s shoulders.

She punched his arm.

“Ow.”

“Your shoulder was bumpy.”

Ryuuko drew her weapon and dashed past the group of Reflekta clones. After a second, she holstered her weapon and all of the clones dropped to the floor groaning.

“Wow.” Viperion was impressed. He had to admit that it was super cool.

“Don’t worry, I used the flat end of the sword. They will be fine, and hopefully they will slow down the akuma.”

The two continued running, but glanced back as Deadzone arrived. He looked at the clones getting up and blasted each one into a green bubble in which they remained motionless and floated to the ceiling of the hall.

“It can’t distinguish between friend or foe,” Viperion commented.

“What?”

Viperion turned to his comrade.

“I think I just got an idea.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“This way,” the bossy blond teen motioned.

Fu pushed his janitor cart as they moved in the hallway.

“Do you really need to move that hideous thing with us?” Chloé questioned with clear aggravation.

“It's very important,” Fu responded.

“Ugh, whatever. Just move faster, then.”

Fu nodded and picked up the pace.

The mayor’s daughter led them down the hall and they had managed to avoid attracting attention.

“Okay, we are here.”

Fu looked at the door and realized that it was the nurse’s office.

“Hopefully the nurse didn’t get herself captured while I was gone.”

Chloé went to open the door and noticed it was locked.

“What the…”

“Let me try.” Fu interjected.

“Fine, just hurry up.”

He pulls out a jingling set of keys. Chloé shrugged as she turned around to keep watch.

Fu let his kwami companion out to open the door. Wayzz quickly undid the lock and opened the door before sliding back out of view.

“All done,” Fu said.

Chloé turned around as Fu opened the door.

The two quickly ran inside and locked the door behind them.

“Nurse Arugula!” Chloé called out. “I have a guest for you!”

“Arugala?”

“It was something with an A.” Chloé commented.

The two waited a few seconds, but there was no response.

They moved deeper into the office.

“Are you here?” Chloé questioned.

They flicked on the light switch to see the nurse in the cot.

“Oh, that’s great, I leave to go get help and be a hero and she goes off napping!” Chloé fumed.

Fu moved to the nurse and noticed she had a bruise on her neck, indicating that she was clearly forced into this state. He jabbed a pressure point and the nurse jolted awake.

“HUAGH!”

She nearly fell out of the cot.

“Glad you can join us from your nap,” Chloé hissed.

“Chloé? Did you call for help?” The nurse inquired as she gathered her bearings.

“No, the school is a total dead zone, and I couldn’t find a way out because they are all blocked by slime. Side note, I found this old guy.”

The nurse turned to the old man.

“Hello. I’m Angela.” She politely introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you. I am… Fung,” Fu lied. He couldn’t be too careful.

“Nice to meet you Fung, despite the circumstances,” she tried to make light of the situation.

“Every meeting can have a positive circumstance if one is looking for it.”

The calm in the air died when Angela realized that someone was missing.

“Oh no! The women you left in my care! She knocked me out and stormed out of here.” Angela exclaimed.

“Welp, she is probably captured,” Chloé shrugged.

“We have to find her, she has some sort of strange illness. Leaving her out there might be dangerous, akuma or not.”

Angela prepared to move to the door but was stopped by Chloé.

“Oh no you don’t! I brought this old man here for safety. You stay here with him.”

“But my patient!”

The woman was clearly shaking, but she was determined, she wanted to help her patient even if it meant going into danger. But much to Fu’s surprise, Chloé stepped up.

“I will bring your patient back. Mostly because being stuck in here seems much worse than dealing with a bunch of dumb akuma.”

Angela hugged Chloé.

“Thank you.”

Chloé tried to look annoyed, but a ghost of a smile appeared on the mayor’s daughter’s face. She accepted the hug for a moment.

Fu took notice. He had made his decision.

“Alright, enough touching! You deal with sick people all day. I don’t want germs,” Chloé stated as she tried to give off her usual air.

“That is very brave of you, young one.” Fu spoke.

“Pff, this is nothing. It’s what heroes do.”

As Chloé began making her way out of the nurse’s office, Fu quietly slipped the tiny miracle box into her bag.

‘I hope this was worth the risk.’

_____________________________________________________________

(END OF CHAPTER)

Well things are really heating up.

Will Ladyice and Icenoir be able to deal with stormy weather? Will Deadzone be the dead end for Ryuuko and Viperion? What is Masquerade's villainous plan? Will I update faster than every 40 or so days?

Let me know your thoughts and if you did enjoy the story.

REBLOG it and comment. Likes are nice but they don't really help content creators like they should.

[inwhichiramble]

Why Gabriel Agreste Should Have His Kneecaps Stolen

Good grief this dude ~Has *repeatedly* said he wants to rule the world ((in addition to his wish to resurrect Emilie; in fact, it was the first thing he ever said he wanted (Origins) and I really don’t think it was a red herring considering the actions that followed)) ~tried to pawn Ladybug's earrings AND Chat’s ring AS GABRIEL. How did he think that would go??? ~Uses as many as, if not more puns than his son (but they’re much worse) ~Akumatized himself?? Bro is dumb but not an idiot ~BATTED HIS SON OUT OF THE AIR LIKE SOME KIND OF DESPICABLE BABE RUTH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ~Does not like being around people (fair) ~Thought that he could make an akumatized baby work ~Knows very well that LB and CN are teens but he's very determined to obliterate them so that's fun ~Wanted to start WORLD WAR 3?? Like come on dude what on earth were you thinking??? ~When he thought Adrien was Chat Noir his response was to DROP HIS SON OFF A BUILDING ~Is extremely abusive like dude honestly ~Isolates and neglects his son for his whole life and then is like "kids should be able to do whatever and yadda yadda yadda" ~The only times he allows Adrien to do something he always has an ulterior motive and it's almost never in Adrien's best interest. Several time Nathalie has to remind him that he has a son.  ~Canonically threw a mini temper tantrum when Gigantitan completely ignored him (that was hilarious though) ~Has been saved by LB and CN TWICE as Gabriel, and was literally shown mercy as Hawkmoth despite being their mortal enemy and still did not care ~Has used the pun "revenge is a dish best served cold" at least THREE TIMES. Dude, plz think of something new ~This boi really said "feel the burn" ~Okay but how many times does he go in and out of his lair? I feel like people would start to notice his window opening and closing all the time lol. ~Gabe really backfired with his "let's akumatize a robot" plan, like that was an all time low ~Hawkmoth knows that akumatizing Marienette would be just about the smartest thing he could do as a villain. Obviously he doesn't know the biggest reason that this will work in his favor, but he knows that she would make a very strong supervillain. I'm very worried about this as A) he's right and B) it's probably foreshadowing ~Was about to let Feast eat every single miraculous known to France if he succeeded?? I mean, dude has nerve. ~HE HAS AN AGREEMENT WITH KAGAMI'S MOTHER??? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT??????? ~PRIORITIZES BEING HAWKMOTH OVER BEING A DECENT FATHER AND HUMAN BEING ~Like he says "this is so Adrien can be happy" and blah blah blah but doesn't even tell his son or ask him what he thinks or anything UGH ~Has literally no qualms about any destruction that might be caused by his or his akumas' actions. "no matter the cost" he says ~AS OF THE NEW YORK SPECIAL HE HAS AKUMATIZED MR. RAMIER FIFTY-ONE TIMES ~FIFTY-ONE TIMES ~Honestly dude give the guy a break, how desperate are you??? ~side note was the secret basement and akuma headquarters always in the Agreste Mansion or did he have them installed? How were the builders not suspicious? Who decorated these places? How does he cover up however he got all his butterflies? ~THIS MAN IS LITERALLY STUNTING THE GROWTH OF EVERYONE IN PARIS BECAUSE THEY DON'T LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH THEIR EMOTIONS Obviously the game is changing as people are more used to akumas and LB's lucky charms are going into circulation, but some people aren't strong enough to fight off akumas! Only THREE PEOPLE have done it (Chloe, Alya, and Nino). Mr. Ramier was akumatized SEVENTY-TWO times and what do you think he learned from that??? NOTHING THAT'S WHAT. Because rather than having the ability to work out their emotions and deal with them accordingly, Parisians get akumatized and then forget everything that happened. They are very emotionally unstable, and we can very clearly see why! And them being weakened works in Hawky's favor. It's disgusting and I really hope everyone in Paris gets therapy or something. ~He flung a random teenager (Fei) by the arm through a waterfall and into a very deep well like some kind of despicable frisbee ~More evidence that he quite literally does not care about his son's needs if they get in the way of his villainism. The only time during Shanghai that he is concerned about Adrien is when the monster HE CREATED is about to destroy the whole city ~Since when has he called Marinette by her full name and HOW ON EARTH DOES HE NOT KNOW SHE'S LADYBUG ~Maybe he'll figure it out now, idk ~Also whatever this Prodigious is it has been made quite clear that Hawkmoth has been in the works long before Gabriel started sending out akumas. I strongly strongly suspect that there's something about Adrien we don't know yet because if this villainism has been in the works for 15 YEARS?? Yeah something is up. And, as has been stated by another fandom member... Mama Agreste might not be as great as we were led to believe. ~Gabe may have diverted his attention from Adrien being Chat but he is definitely, definitely suspicious of Marinette, I'm telling you ~His voice got more evil over time I swear ~Also again he was only worried about Adrien (before his plan backfired severely, AGAIN LOL) and not that the akuma might kill literally thousands of people in Shanghai, haha way to go Gabe ~Yeah sorry Mari but Hawky takes no vacations ~HE WENT AFTER NEW MAGIC AND THEN BECAME SHADOW MOTH?? W H A T ~Kay so apparently Shadowmoth is much smarter than Hawky. At least... more tactical.  And he accepts help from Nathalie. But he still ain't winning lol, even if he's getting closer. ~And even though he was *this close* to getting the turtle miraculous, he was even closer to getting HIS TWO MIRACULOUS STOLEN ~STOP REAKUMATIZING PEOPLE, IT'S NOT GONNA WORK ANYMORE ~On Mr. Pigeon's 24th akumatization Hawky was really like "this man is hopeless" and proceeds to akumatize him 48 more times ~I love how he assumes he's still gonna be Hawkmoth by the time LB  and CN are adults XD like he'd literally be in his 70s ~the fact that he had every single miraculous holder in one place and didn't realize it ~I love how he has no problem letting Alec watch his whole villain spiel ~mans really said that negative emotions turn him on ~the fact that one of his smarter villains was a five year old -_-

[jennagrinsoverml]

ML Fic Recs - Ladynoir

I think most readers can appreciate a good rec list, but it’s often the same fics that I see recced again and again. I get why they’re recced - they’re amazing! But I want help finding fic I haven’t already read. So I decided to be the change I want to see in the world. The rule: the fic must have less than a thousand kudos on AO3 (but I’m trying to limit to fics that have less than 500.) Obviously this means a lot of my favourites are not included here, but you’ve probably read all of those already anyway. 

If you enjoy these, please reblog so more readers can find these awesome fics!

To get things started and in honour of the quality ladynoir content we just got (which I’m hoping will inspire even more quality fan content!), let’s have some ladynoir recs. Fics are in no particular order.

Amnesiac? More like Amnesi-Chat by therealjanebingley

Oblivio's back, and this time only Chat Noir gets hit. Based on his limited knowledge and the way Ladybug acts towards him, he makes some assumptions.

One-shot. This is hilarious. From Chat’s genuine glee about his superheroes to Ladybug’s affectionate indulgence to having Chat provide an “outside perspective” on Ladybug’s non-platonic behaviour towards him to the teasing... I could see this actually happening in an Oblivio 2.0 episode.

Experimental Kisses by @komorebirei

Ladybug watched him. Maybe it was guilt, maybe sympathy, maybe a streak of playfulness. Maybe the traumatic akuma experience had softened her up. Whatever the reason, a thought wafted lazily through her mind and out of her mouth. “You know… you’re right. It isn’t fair, is it?”

Chat Noir looked up.

“I remember my first kiss, but you don’t.” She hummed and tapped her chin, making a show of remembering. “It wasn’t a bad kiss, but we were in the middle of fighting an akuma, so I didn’t get to enjoy it much, either.”

Oops—that came out sounding a little, no, a lot more flirty than she had intended. Anyway, if she was going to commit to this idea, she may as well go all in.

One-shot. Ladybug offers to kiss Chat since he doesn’t remember their kiss and the way she reacts to the kiss...it lives in my mind rent-free. I have fallen asleep many a night fantasizing about what the repercussions of the kiss might look like. 

What's your favourite colour? by @hermionemonica

Ladybug and Chat Noir sit on a rooftop, watching the sunset.

One-shot. This fic is short and sweet and absolutely lovely. It’s set post-reveal and despite only being 566 words it’s full of sweetness and feeling.

Margins of Error by orphan_account

“Do you…” Ladybug's voice is at an almost-whisper. He can feel her breath fire-hot against his face. “Do you want me to show you how I think they should write our kiss?”

Adrien isn’t here anymore, leave a message after the tone.

--

Adrien was raised on order. His life is meticulously planned, each day as reliable as the equations he studies in physics and calculus. But Ladybug- Ladybug always has him at a loss.

One-shot. Okay, so I know the author of this one since I download all my favourite fics, but since they’ve orphaned it I’m going to respect that. However, since the author was kind enough to leave the work up so people can continue to enjoy it, I’m going to suggest that people do so! Ladynoir kisses featuring my absolute favourite dynamic: sexually assertive Ladybug and receptive Chat Noir. (Don’t take this to mean the fic has sexual content - it’s just kissing.) AMAZING.

Liquid Luck by @somethingvaguetodo

Ladybug enlists Chat Noir's help in decoding the remaining ingredients for the power-up transformation potions. Together, they work on creating them, and possibly destroying the barriers between them.

Multi-chapter. The riddles of the secret potion ingredients are fun to think about, Ladybug and Chat Noir both get to show off their smarts, and the trust and support between the two of them is showcased. Perfect ladynoir.

when you weren't mine to lose by @bugsandchatons

Change is a scary thing, especially when it feels like nothing has stayed the same.

It's been a year since Marinette became the Guardian of the Miracle Box - a year of struggling beneath a burden she never asked for, a weight that has her leaning on her partner more and more as the hours fly by, of letting him come to her, too, when he needs a soft place to land. A year of falling for the boy who takes on the world by her side with a smile made of sunlight, and fighting the growing urge to tell him what he means to her.

After all, they'll have time enough for that when Paris is safe.

But when the unthinkable happens, Marinette learns the tragedy of loving someone quietly, and the lines she'll cross to save him.

Multi-chapter. This is what happens when Ladybug loses Chat Noir. It hurts in all the best ways and the writing is absolutely gorgeous and somehow we still get a happy ending!

well if i'm beautiful and you're beautiful then who's saving paris? by celebreultimaverba

Chat flirts. Surprisingly, it works.

And then it backfires.

One-shot. This one is so cute and sweet! It’s a quick read but you’ll be smiling by the end of it.

sometimes the dreamers finally wake up by magesamell

"Four days ago a mermaid flooded Paris and an ancient guardian introduced himself to his father as a substitute Chinese tutor. He had thought that would be the end of it."

Ladybug tells Chat Noir all of her secrets.

One-shot. Post-Syren. The fic we all desperately need about Ladybug actively working to restore the balance of her and Chat’s relationship after Fu messes with that. It’s not overly romantic, but it’s absolutely perfect.

i fall in love just a little, oh, just a little by @mlady-noir

If she was asked, Ladybug wouldn't be able to give a specific date when her heart decided to fall for her pun loving partner, but she could point out the night she realized it.

One-shot. Sofffffttttttt. This is just a beautiful narrative of Ladybug’s fall for Chat with a sweet, sweet ending.

Someone I Can’t Fall In Love With by @yslen54

Ladybug agreed with Chat Noir when he suggested that they should finally share their identities with each other, but she’s been dreading it ever since.

One-shot. This is short and sweet. An identity reveal that explores Ladybug’s feelings for Chat Noir and then plays with the divided heart trope.

The following fics are amazing and absolutely worth reading, but do feature sexual content, so minors beware.

You can’t stay away from me by plikki

When Adrien sides with his father, he expects to protect Ladybug and buy some time. He doesn't expect that his emotional state will make it so much harder to resist the girl that he loves, until he just gives in.

Multi-chapter. Rated M. Not-quite an enemies AU, but with all the beautiful angst and tension of one. There’s a fair amount of sex, so be warned but it’s SO SO GOOD. And all of the pain and angst is followed by a sweet happy ending.

baby, we don't have time to be coy by Molebear

"What are we doing?" Chat breathes, the words sending a tendril of lucidity back into Ladybug's hormone-addled brain.

It's a fair question.

The origins of this tryst are a little hazy in her mind at this point. Something about a lovesick akuma, maybe? Ladybug vaguely remembers Chat Noir getting struck by something, only seconds before it hit her too. There was a fight, or... there was something she and Chat Noir had been in the middle of doing - something important, like.... save-the-world important - before she'd dragged him underground with the sole intention of climbing him like a tree.

A scorned lover gets akumatized and gains the power to cast Lust. When it comes to distracting Paris' beloved superhero team, this power turns out to be... rather effective.

One-shot. Rated M. The UST of this one damn near killed me. It’s hot AF and I would commit homicide to read the conversation these two have after that lmaoooo

Charmed, I'm Sure by @chatonne-rousse

Friends with benefits. It's right there in the name, and it's what they are - friends. Best friends. This is just a way for two consenting adults to relieve stress after akuma fights, with the only person they'd trust with this level of intimacy. Really, what could go wrong? (The real question is, what could go right?)

Multi-chapter. Rated E. The sex is really, really hot. It’s in character and full of emotion. And there’s an amazing identity reveal followed by “I’m so happy it’s you!” sex. 

A Little Too Far by imploder

Ladybug gets handsy, and Chat Noir lacks self-control. Alternitavely: "Plagg's Worst Nightmare".

One-shot. Rated E. This one is hot and in character and just absolutely amazing steamy ladynoir content. Features my favourite: sexually assertive Ladybug. Because who doesn’t love playing with gender role stereotypes?

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

Analyzing Marinette’s hairstyles

So, I’ve actually seen a bunch of different posts and takes of what Marinette’s hairstyles represent and symbolize especially in regard to the episode “Heart Hunter”, but I wanted to go through all the different styles of hair instead of solely focusing on the pigtails/hair down of that particular episode.

With that being said, in no particular order, here we go:

The Bun

This hairstyle is almost exclusively seen in the episode “Animaestro”. However if you’re paying close attention, you will see Marinette wearing this hairstyle, in the old class picture, featured in “Reflekta”. I find the fact that the show made this connection between these two (scenes? examples?) incredibly interesting and very telling. Putting the class picture aside for a moment, one must analyze Marinette’s behavior in the episode “Animaestro”. To be sure, it isn’t great. For the most part, Marinette acts foolishly and immaturely and her actions in this episode, indirectly lead to the akumatization. Marinette, in her jealous state, goes so far as to join up with Chloe (a person she despises), and attempt childish pranks on Kagami. In short, I think that the bun hairstyle symbolizes a sort of immaturity for Marinette. The fact that she wore this hairstyle when she was younger only goes to prove my point. Marinette is not a perfect character, but her actions in “Animaestro” are arguably some of her worst, and naturally when she has hit a low in her maturity level, she reverts back to a hairstyle of her youth.

The Braid

The braid can be easily shoved aside as not holding any symbolism, as just a way the design team chose to incorporate the tail in her costume. However, there were a number of ways the tail could have been incorporated into the Ladynoir costume, and as such the braid must be analyzed. Now, a braid can be considered an almost restricting thing, it carefully tucks back locks of hair and traps them better than an ordinary ponytail can. However, the Ladynoir braid almost has a ‘fun’ twist to it (pun not intended but appreciated). It is long (like really long), and we even see her flick it playfully over her shoulder. I think that the braid is supposed to represent that dualism between responsibility and fun that the job of superhero can have. I have heard a lot of people criticize “Reflekdoll” for its lack of parallels. In other words, Chat Noir learns something and better appreciates Ladybug, but the reverse isn’t true, and I would say that in many ways this is true, Ladybug is not privy to the lesson that Chat Noir is. However, I would argue that she did learn something. Ladybug learned that it’s okay for her to have fun and to joke around. Towards the beginning of the episode we see Ladybug chastising Chat Noir for his joking around, however by the end we see Ladybug embrace this approach and even make some jokes herself. The braid shows Marinette acceptance of balance, of the combination of enjoyment and responsibility within her life.

The Space Buns

This design as well can be attributed to the design team finding a way to show mouse ears, but I’m still going to try to analyze this. I have two different ways to possibly explain this hairstyle. The first being to draw parallels to the bun hairstyle as this is essentially the same thing but two instead of one. The correspondence between the two hairstyles could be seen through Marinette’s feigned naivety in front of Chat Noir. She “accidentally” reveals herself as Marinette and pretends to be less informed than she really is. The other way to translate this hairstyle is as a security blanket so to speak. I haven’t gotten into the metaphorical interpretation of Marinette’s pigtails yet, but I will briefly explain a part of it now (and go into depth a little later). The pigtails serve as a sense of security for Marinette, as a source of status quo. The space buns are that, but elevated. In the episode this hairstyle is featured, “Kwamibuster” (I don’t think I mentioned this before), Marinette is desperate to keep her identity a secret from Chat Noir and develops a convoluted plan (including Multi-mouse) to accomplish this. She wants the security of her identity and wants to use her comfort style at this moment. However, Marinette is trying to distance herself from Ladybug and as such she uses a slight variation of her pigtails in her alternate hero form.

The Ponytail

I’m gonna be honest and say that I can’t fully analyze this hairstyle as we have not yet seen the episode where this hairstyle makes its second appearance. So I’m just focusing here on the ponytail from “Optigami”. I might make another analysis on the ponytail after “Sentibubbler” comes out but it might make more sense to wait until after the whole season comes out, in case there are new examples of ponytails (or other hairstyles for that matter). I don’t want to say anything about Pegabug’s ponytail, because as I’m sure you know, Miraculous trailers can be very misleading. Anyways, after that ramble, I now focus on Ladybee’s ponytail. To be frank “Optigami” was a bit of a doozy. I watched that episode with a sense of dread that did not lighten by the end of the episode. This isn’t a bad thing, but it was intense for a typical episode of Miraculous, a show where my usual reaction is a mix of “oh this is cute” and cringe (to be fair I cringe easily). But what I like so much about season 4 is that we get more than that (I won’t go into this now because I’m straying from the topic too much). Ladybee comes at a time of great stress for Marinette, she gets stuck in an elevator with someone and is thus unable to transform (let alone the fact that that “someone” is Adrien), she is without the help of Chat Noir and most of the other heroes, and (unbeknownst to her for a majority of the episode) her friend has been replaced with a sentimonster. Yet, despite all of this, Marinette remains cool, calm, and collected. She, unlike Alya, does not fall apart and despair when Senti-Nino is revealed, she knows she has to get the job done. A ponytail gives an image of “getting the job done” of focus. Although the situation is dire and dangerous, Marinette displays her competence in crisis and the ponytail magnifies that trait. I have a feeling that the same will be true for Pegabug, but only time (and the episode coming out) will tell.

Hair Down

In the two episodes that we have seen Marinette wearing her hair down, they were both in connection with Adrien and her relationship with her. I want to separate the two examples because though they both wind up achieving similar goals in regard to their symbolism, they do it in different ways. Focusing first on “Chat Blanc” Marinette wears her hair down in part to distinguish to the audience the difference between the two timelines. Though the surface level explanation of her hair would be sufficient explanation, this choice of hairstyle also has a deeper interpretation. This being as a metaphor for Marinette’s vulnerability. She is allowing her feelings to be known to Adrien, she is allowing herself to be open and honest about her emotions and with that freedom she lets her hair free as well. It is also significant that she is free from her secret identity (albeit unknowingly) and as she allows Adrien to see the full spectrum of her personality, she frees her hair from its restraint. In “Heart Hunter” too, this hairstyle signifies vulnerability and freedom. In this episode we see Marinette having fun with Adrien and Kagami, without the worry of how she is being perceived by Adrien, without the stress about her feelings for him. It is of great significance that when she lets her guard down, when she “lets her hair down” (both literally and metaphorically), Adrien comments on her beauty. We already know, as viewers, that Adrien has fallen in love with Marinette’s personality as Ladybug. But as Marinette, Adrien has not been privy to her full personality. He has only been given glimpses, as in this episode, to the full extent of her persona. Marinette is seen later on in the episode to revert back to her old hairstyle once she is no longer comfortable, when she feels inadequate compared to Kagami. She puts back on her guise when she feels she needs the security. Which leads us to that source of security.

Pigtails

I feel a bit bad as I have simplified this hairstyle in earlier paragraphs to a symbol for security. While this definition is a correct one, this hairstyle has more than one explanation. As Marinette’s primary hairstyle, in both her every day and hero outfits, we see this hairstyle A LOT. Because of this, there is an array of interpretation as to what this hairstyle could mean. Starting with the aforementioned, this hairstyle works as a form of security for Marinette. The style required her to hold her hair back, to keep it in check, away from possible disasters and viewers (wind can tangle hair very easily). The pigtails are the antithesis of letting her hair down, a common symbol for freedom and relaxation. The pigtails therefore show that she is on her guard and is protecting herself. The pigtails also represent her quality of being a do-er. She likes to do things, she is an active person, she doesn’t stand aside or wait for things to happen, she works to make them happen. As a do-er she needs focus, she needs a restraint for her hair that could get in her line of sight, and the pigtails do that well. As Ladybug, the same is true. She is focused and determined to accomplish her goals, to succeed in her battles and she needs to tie her hair back to best accomplish this. There is importance in the fact that she chooses to focus herself with pigtails rather than the equally practical ponytail. This can be attributed to the child-like quality that pigtails have. Marinette, simply put, is still a child. Though as a whole she is particularly mature for her age, at times she can show a bit of immaturity. It is interesting to note that as the seasons progress, the more we see her with other hairstyles. As she matures she wears the pigtails less. The pigtails are also a girly hairstyle and show how Marinette is a girly-girl in a plain and easy way. Additionally, the pigtails give her the approachable, girl-next-door look. In simply looking at Marinette one gets the image of her sweetness and good nature. In visual media, it is important to make a connection between personality and visage. In cartoons especially, a character’s design should fit with how they interact with their world, and the pigtails are an immediate signifier as to Marinette’s character. This about sums up my analysis of her pigtails. I know that there are more ways to interpret them, and feel free to comment if you think of any other interpretations!

[mlwritersguild]

Catwalker/Marino fic. You know why <3

cut and color, carat and stick, by @alexseanchai

(originally posted to the Fan_Flashworks Dreamwidth, for the "Clear" challenge)

AO3 link; Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir as Catwalker, Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug as Marino, Trans Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir, Genderfluid Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Puns and Word Play, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Strangers to Lovers, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Because Identity Shenanigans, Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff, Identity Reveal, but whose? which one? to whom?, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting

Summary:

The fun thing about masquerades is it's unclear who isn't a stranger.

-------------------------

"Hey Marinette, are you planning on entering the Heroes' Day masquerade gala costume contest?"

"I thought about it, and then I thought about how much Le Monarque likes dramatic gestures, and I decided I'm only going if the plan is to guillotine him."

"…Oh. Yeah. Yeah, good plan. Okay."

"You sound disappointed?"

"Have you seen what the prize for the winner of the lycée bracket is?"

"I haven't looked. Alya told me it was a kiss from Rayonnant-Aérien-Envoûtant Adrien, but—oh. Oh she was not messing with me."

"I wouldn't mind if it was you."

"—You wouldn't mind. You wouldn't mind, if. Did your father even ask if you were okay with this?"

"Does he ever?"

"…You know what, he caused this problem for himself, he can solve it without you. All the costumes have to have masks, it says. So if you enter, he'll have to either make the hologram you do the kissing or come up with a real prize."

"You're a genius. I love—that. I love that idea."

-----

"Marinette, help, I don't think I can buy all the base pieces for my costume, I don't think what I want even exists!"

"What are you picturing?"

"Two columns of buttons on the torso, and the closure is either one of those columns or an invisible zipper right next to one of those columns."

"So a double-breasted waistcoat?"

"…Now I have a better idea!"

-----

"Help me, Marinette, these instructions are clear as mud, you're my only hope!"

"What are you trying to do?"

"Magnetic snaps, so I can change out the decorations if I want to, or have one that's attached on both sides when this is buttoned up but only one side when I'm getting dressed. But how am I supposed to sew these on?"

"Let me see? —Oh. That kit is for leatherworking. You're supposed to use a hole punch and a mallet. If you're working with fabric, you want snaps like these. Two pieces per snap instead of four, and with the holes for the thread. Here, I've got plenty, I'll bring you some."

-----

"You don't have to go through with that dare."

"Alix isn't here for Kim to work off his chaos gremlin energy with. It's fine."

"It's not fine. You don't have to kiss anyone you don't want to."

"Maybe I want to kiss a stranger."

"…oh. Okay. If that's what will make you happy then you should definitely…do that."

"Don't worry, if he gets handsy, I'll punch him."

"No, tell me and I'll punch him. Uh. Speaking of Kim's dares."

"Why, what did he dare you?"

"Well, first he dared me to kiss a stranger…"

-----

"I hate lace. Lace is the worst."

"Persuading the convinced there. It's pretty enough, but the texture is just. No thank you! I don't know how anyone works with it, I really don't know how anyone wears it—I mean, I know why people want to wear it, the whole peekaboo skin effect, but I couldn't without an underlayer, which I guess would have to be a contrasting color or there wouldn't be any point to the lace at all—are you okay? You're breathing different."

"I'm. I'm fine. It must just be hot in here."

-----

"Hey, for purposes of Kim's dare, would Chat Noir count as a stranger?"

"No. Absolutely not. Tomorrow you get to either bring me coffee or be my pillow, because I'm not sleeping tonight now you've reminded me of that nightmare."

"…sorry, I didn't think you'd think the idea's horrifying…"

"No no no! It's not! He's not! That's the problem! I'm not going to kiss him, he's not going to fall in love with me, he's not going to be akumatized, it will not be a problem! There will be no chat-astrophe!"

"But you'd like to."

"…yes. Yes, okay? If he asks after Le Monarque's been deposed, yes."

"May I tell him that?

"Please no."

-----

"Father is insisting on photographs of me on the way into the gala. With my date. My choices are Chloé and Lila."

"—what."

"He said it has to be someone already affiliated with the brand. Which, you are more than Chloé is, which I told him and he ignored me. And there's no point asking Kagami to take pity on me, she apparently doesn't count either, never mind how closely Tsurugi-san has been working with him. Oh, and there is absolutely no way I will be able to wear clothes of my choosing."

"…I could bring it to the venue for you? And arrange a distraction so you can sneak away?"

"I thought you weren't going unless the plan was Le Monarque's public execution?"

"If he shows up, I will be happy to arrange that."

"Marry me."

"What?"

"What? —Oh. Marinette, for me?"

"Excuse me, I'm going to die of embarrassment now."

"I'll join you…"

-----

Cameras flash at the entrance to the gala. Adrien and Lila, both wearing bone white—Oh, how chat-grined I was that you weren't there!—breathe. Breathe.

Lila's smile is too innocent and Adrien's too polite to be real. Not that anyone else would notice, Marinette is certain.

Five… four…

"Lila Rossi! Nadja Chamack. Don't be bemused, it's just the news! Aren't you concerned that being seen with the son of Gabriel Agreste will make it seem as though your success is because of his connections, not your own talent?"

(Clearly, coupons for free babysitting are a very effective bribe.)

Thankfully for Marinette's heart rate, Adrien has taken off the white domino mask by the time he finds her outside the restrooms. "How did you get in?" he wonders, glancing over the same jeans and T-shirt she was wearing when Adrien gave her both these shoeboxes and this garment bag this morning.

"Natural talent," Marinette lies.

(Ladybug strolled right in, empty-handed. Ladybug is now going to stash her regular clothes in her yo-yo and stroll right back out again, and then detransform and line up as a costume contest entrant. Adrien assured her he wouldn't need Marinette's help to get his costume home again.)

Jaime Bonheur, Marinette Marino writes on the sign-in sheet under Entrant Name, and under Costume Title, 007, drawing each zero as a circle with a five-pointed star inside—if tarot cards can call that a coin, so can she—and the seven like on a slot machine. If she's lucky, Chat Noir will think it's hilarious. Adrien might too, maybe, but he has to find him first, or vice versa—he told her not to peek at his costume, though, so she has no idea what to look for, and all he knows is this was a very last-minute costume—

Black crushed-velvet knee-high boots. Dark gray wool miniskirt with silver lace edging. Dark gray wool waistcoat, similarly silver-edged and falling just past the hips, six-on-two buttons painted metallic silver with four dots of silver fabric paint beside each; two rows of draped silver chain, anchored at the front and back of each shoulder. Dark gray domino mask with an uneven silver line painted just under the top edge. So many silver and dark green highlights through the long low ponytail it's hard to tell there's light brown hair underneath. Stud earrings, green gemstones arranged in heart shapes, matching bright green eyes. Black lace sash. Black crushed-velvet opera gloves. Marino would like to lick the little triangle of breastbone bared between the V of the waistcoat and the curve of the silver chains, or the couple of centimeters of bare thigh—

Reel it in there.

Has Catwalker lost his mind?

—Her mind? Catwalker has more of a chest than Marino himself does, what with the doubled sports bras under Marino's tuxedo. But the Miraculous armor shapes itself to the wearer's wants—

Decelerate.

"May I have this dance?"

Even his voice is velveted.

"…Are you feeling okay?" His brow wrinkles the same way Adrien's sometimes does—

Marino shakes himself. "Yeah. I'm. Dance. Let's. Let's do dance."

-----

Okay, so Adrien came over here because he recognized one of the Grand Paris employees who's been seconded to working a house party of Father's, and therefore someone Adrien has spoken with before and liked, even if he's still a stranger by the standards of Kim's dare. But the wirework cocktail-glass lapel pin on his tuxedo jacket contains two red dice with black pips, and he looks very interested in Adrien.

(Well. Not Adrien. Jeanne-Françoise Dupont, if anyone asks. He thought about using one of the middle names from Adrienne Aline Andréa Adèle Angélique Agreste, but… no.)

You're a shooting star I see, sings Rihanna, putting a tiny furrow above the nose of his black domino mask—Adrien is not going to compare him to Ladybug, that would be entirely missing the point—that smooths out almost instantly with a grin up at Adrien and relaxing into the rhythm of the music.

"So," says Adrien, smiling back. "Are you being anyone in particular?"

"Jaime Bonheur," he says at once, with extra wiggle to his shoulders. "Dice shaken, not stirred."

Adrien can't help but laugh. I love good luck—that's brilliant. "I wouldn't bet on the contest judges knowing James Bond from James and the Giant Peach," he answers, leaning just a little on the word 'bet'.

Jaime does a double-take. Then shakes himself again and tries to match Adrien's movements. (Adrien is not going to compare him to Marinette either.) "Maybe not, but Adrien doesn't really want to kiss me, so I'm not really here to win, you know?" (Okay, now Adrien needs his contact info. More friends is always good.) "And you?"

"Mistress 9 from Sailor Moon meets the Gray Cat Miraculous." Adrien tries not to look at one of the spots where the sewing machine didn't quite pin the lace down right. "Except starting with off-the-rack garments."

"Gray Cat Miraculous?" Jaime raises an eyebrow and tugs at one tail of the bow on his sash, close enough they could dance arm in arm. "Isn't Mistress 9 the villain version of the hero who could destroy everything if she needed to?"

No comment.

"I want to learn how to use a glaive like Sailor Saturn's," Adrien says instead. He dares to put one hand on Jaime's shoulder. (Much shorter, dark-haired, confident, makes him laugh—Adrien has a type and is not ashamed to admit it. Even if Kim probably will think Adrien's bi crisis is hilarious. Not that it's a crisis.) "It's got more reach than that cane of Le Monarque's."

Adrien can almost watch the fantasy play out in Jaime's eyes: Adrien as Mistress Patte de velours, swinging the polearm in a way powered by the muscles of the bared upper arms Jaime hardly seems to notice he's touching—both of them in real life still as the eye of a storm—and Le Monarque's head departing his shoulders to arc into a basket Jaime's holding.

Jaime stretches up on his tiptoes to whisper in Adrien's ear: "I don't know if I want to kiss you or keep you."

"Why not both?"

(—That was definitely the snap of someone's photo app, but Adrien will worry about that later.)

-----

"…I guess you won the costume contest."

"I won something, all right…"

[avatarmerida]

Walking Home

This is inspired by @buggachat’s Bakery AU. I hope this is okay because I love this idea so much and I loved the winery arc. I wrote this assuming Adrien also lives at the bakery, though I don’t know.

——————————————————————————

“Okay no, no first of all they did NOT kick us out because I spilled. But IF did they did then that’s your fault!” Marinette exclaimed as the four of them left the restaurant.

“I didn’t mean that time,” clarified a bubbly Adrien as he ran ahead. “I meant when you kept turning the glasses into microphones and trying to get everyone to sing when they were still pretty full.”

“No! No! No!” she insisted, running up to him and giving him a gently tap on shoulder. “It was because you kept making chicken noises and they were awful!”

“They were amazing.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever heard a chicken,” she said smugly as she attempted to suppress her laughter at the memory. “It was so high pitched.”

“Bawk bawk bawk,” said Adrien quietly. Seeing Marinette suppress more laughter, he kept going and got louder. She couldn’t stand still, the laughter causing her to bend in half unable to catch her breath. Making her laugh was somehow so addicting and so he kept doing the awful chicken noise, getting higher and louder and faster. Passerbys gave them strange looks and rolled their eyes. Alya couldn’t help but smile at the thought that everyone who saw them must assume they were lifelong friends. Maybe even more than that.

“Oh wow I didn’t realize how late it was,” announced Alya, pretending to check her phone. She was fairly certain the two forgot her and Nino were there. “Ugh, I’ve got an interview scheduled for the blog at 8am.”

“Yeah and I’ve got to wake her up otherwise she’ll never get there on time,” added Nino with a laugh, catching on quickly. Adrien and Marinette snapped out of their bubble, seeing suddenly how ridiculous they must seem.

“We should do this again soon though,” said Alya. “All of us,” she added, looking at Adrien.

“Yeah, this was fun,” said Marinette, sneaking a glance at Adrien (though he didn’t notice) before turning back to Alya. “Are you okay to get home?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna grab a taxi,” said Alya. “What about you two? Are you okay? You didn’t switch to water when Nino and I did.”

“That was water? I thought you guys just switched to white wine,” asked Adrien. Nino chuckled and handed Adrien his phone so the two could make plans to hang out later in the week.

While the boys talked, Alya pullled Marinette into a hug to supposedly say goodbye.

“No girl, for real are you okay to get home? We can drop you off,” she whispered.

“No it’s okay you guys live the opposite way and you need to get up early,” whispered Marinette back. “The bakery isn’t that far and It’s not like I’m walking alone.”

“Exactly,” said Alya, pulling away but making sure the boys were too distracted by their conversation to hear theirs. “I know tonight was fun but you didn’t start the day being Adrien’s biggest fan. You’re okay walking home with him?”

“Yes Alya I’m fine,” she hiccuped. “I’m not even that drunk.”

“Marinette!” Adrien called suddenly, very excited. “Can we make pizza at the bakery?!”

“Oh my god pizzaaaaaa!” She exclaimed far too loudly, throwing her hands in the air. “Yes, yes let’s go! Bye Alya!”

She ran ahead and Adrien excitedly and instinctively followed her, the two a collection of giggle and hiccups stumbling between the street lights.

“Text me when you get home!” Alya called after the pair. They were quite a sight. She couldn’t help but smile at the fact that this morning Marinette couldn’t say his name without grimacing and now they were rushing off into the night. She wondered how Marinette would feel about the blonde boy tomorrow.

“Pizza, pizza, pizza!” The two exclaimed as they trudged down the sidewalk.

“Okay I know we have dough and cheese I don’t know if we have any pizza sauce,” said Marinette raking her brain. “Do we want toppings? Because I think we just have sprinkles, maybe we-ahhh!” Suddenly the ground came rushing at her, but before she had time to process what was happening she was stopped inches from the pavement. She looked up and saw Adrien had caught her in the knick of time. His hands were on her waist as if he was dipping her in a some eleaborate dance. The streetlight above him reflected on his golden hair like a halo.

He really was a good model, she couldn’t help but think as she found herself drawn to his light like an innocent moth.

“Sorry,” he said realizing the position they were in. “Force of habit, I guess. I didn’t mean, I mean I-.”

���Don’t apologize,” she breathed, not attempting to remove herself from his grip. “You’ve just got like catlike reflexes.”

“Yeah, I maybe??” He laughed. He couldn’t even explain her own pun to her as he pulled her to her feet. “Hehe, uh sorry if I distracted you again.”

“No, no it’s my own fault, I’m extra clumsy when I’m drunk,” she explained, bashful suddenly for some reason. “I’m a regular public menace. But thanks for not letting me fall on my face.”

He smiled. “Anytime,” he stood up straight and offered her his arm. “To ensure you don’t fall again,” he explained.

The logic of his reasoning negated any objections her former view of him held at the ready. He didn’t have to be kind to her when it was just them, and this must be why she held onto his arm so firmly and allowed herself to be so close as they walked. She suddenly felt guilty for her ulterior motives in inviting him out. The skeptic in her wanted to point out that maybe he was faking being drunk, or was so well versed at deception that alcohol had no affect on his ability to lie. But a larger part of her just wanted to rest her head on his shoulder as he led her home, contently listening to him ramble.

“Okay but why isn’t pizza a pastry?” he continued. “Like a lot of baked goods have cheese, they all have dough. Is it the sauce? But donuts have filling and the tomato is a fruit, I think-?”

“Maybe pizza can be your menu speciality,” she murmured, following the voice that told her to rest her head. “But you can give it a fun name and make it look different so they won’t know it’s pizza until they taste it. You’d think of a good name, you’re funny.”

“I’m funny?” he asked, genuinely surprised and flattered.

“I’m drunk, who knows what I’m saying,” she joked. “I’ll deny it but yes you are funny. I like when you write puns on the specials board.”

“Really?” He chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d be a fan of bad puns.”

“I’ve heard worse,” she murmured, her mouth moving faster than her mind. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Like what?” he tried, trying to careful in this new territory, but fighting his catlike curiosity . “Are you a secret comedian?”

“No, no but I was in love with a boy who made puns a lot,” she said quietly, almost just to herself. “It seems so silly but now whenever I hear a good one I write it down so I don’t forget. So I can tell it to him. But I’m never gonna see him again. That’s so stupid isn’t it?”

He saw tears forming in her eyes. “I think it’s sweet,” he said. “Is he someone you meet in New York? On your internship?”

She stopped, her mind had brought up another similarly between him and Chat Noir and that was extra confusing right now. But she hadn’t had anyone to talk to about Chat and it felt nice to share something about him aloud. She had to tread carefully though.

“I’m sorry if you don’t wanna talk about it,” said Adrien before she could find the words. “It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” he continued, gently removing his arm from her. “You’ve already done so much for me, helping me at the bakery, letting me into your home, inviting me out tonight . You’re a very kind person Marinette and I’ve invaded so much of your space already, I shouldn’t be invading your privacy.”

“No, Adrien please it is okay,” she insisted. “I brought it up. And I... I’ve never brought it up to anyone before, to be honest. And it must be because... I like talking to you. Because-.”

“-of the wine?” He offered.

“-because we’re friends,” she finished, looking up at him with soft, truthful eyes.

“I think it is the wine,” he joked, only half certain.

“Here, I’ll prove it,” she said, keeping her purse and rummaging through its contents. Finally she found what she was searching for. “Here,” she said, placing something in his hand.

“What is this?”

“My lucky charm,” she said proudly, as he opened his hand to reveal a simple keychain composed of colorful beads. “I made it during my internship, it helped me when I had deadlines or a creativity block. I take it everywhere.”

“And you’re giving this to me?”

“Well I still plan on needing it and having it close by, so I wouldn’t just entrust it to someone I don’t want in my space would I? It’s probably not as flashy as the friendship bracelets Chloe made you but-.”

She was cut off as Adrien pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

She hesitated, but returned the gesture. “You’re welcome,” she said as the two stood in the middle of the sidewalk, embracing for probably a little too long. “Adrien, since we’re friends, I think I should be honest with you.”

He pulled back to face her, his face still holding a smile despite her dismal tone. “What is it?”

“Today, when I invited you...” she began, her pride almost too big a pill to swallow. “Well, I had ulterior motives for inviting you.”

“Really?”

“I thought, oh god I’m so embarrassed,” she pushed through. “I though you had ... a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Yes,” she buried her face in her hands, utterly embarrassed. “Ugh, and I thought it you got drunk enough you would blurt it out. And that’s so awful of me and I know it’s dishonest, but I promise you it’s not like that anymore. I was paranoid, I guess. I don’t know. But I’m so sorry. really do enjoy spending time with you-.”

“What kind of secret?”

“Huh?” She said, surprised he wasn’t mad. “Oh, i-it doesn’t matter. It was still wrong of me.”

“Well why couldn’t you ask me about it before?”

“I didn’t have any sort of proof,” she admitted. “Only a hunch.”

“Why?” He asked. He wasn’t mad but she couldn’t place his tone. People must have accused him of this before. She knew now he wasn’t his father, he was more than whatever his past held, and he didn’t deserve another faker. She knew he’d ask what she suspected and it would ruin everything but maybe she could make it less awful if she kept apologizing?

“Nothing major, just because of how you acted around me-.”

“I see.”

“-but I know now I was completely wrong,” she quickly went on. “Getting to know you tonight and spending more time with you at the bakery, I know I was wrong.”

“Oh,” was that all he could say? Oh?!

“Because you’re just so nice!” She went on, her drunk brain turning to rambling. “You’re actually a really great guy, and you’re just quiet at first, you’re ... a friend...”

“Just a friend?” He asked, the word holding his attention tight.

“Yes,” she said, hoping he was considering accepting her apology. “And I- oh darn it.” Suddenly, a raindrop fell onto Marinette’s cheek. Then another. Without warning the sky began to pour, and the pair sought shelter. Adrien took off his jacket and placed it over Marinette’s head to attempt and shield her from the rain, a fruitless attempt as the jacket immediately became soaked and heavy and helpful to no one.

As they made their way through the waterfall that claimed the sidewalk, an abandoned umbrella leaning against a building caught Adrien’s eye. He swooped in to grab and quickly opened it over Marinette’s head. “Ugh, I can’t see,” she cried, the rain causing her eye makeup to run and sting her eyes. She wiped it away, only to smudge it and give cover her face with a charcoal color. Adrien laughed.

“Mademoiselle Hamster, you look more like a raccoon now,” he wheezed. Before Marinette could offer a clever response, she saw the rain continued to fall on him as she was safely covered.

“You’re going to catch pneumonia,” she stated angrily.

“It’s not a very big umbrella,” he said, still laughing.

“Nonsense,” she said, yanking the umbrella handle to spin him in. “I’m not about to let you get sick and stick me with all the work at the bakery.”

But the umbrella was very small. And in order for them both to be covered, they had to stand very close together.

“Fine by me,” breathed Adrien, looking down at Marinette. She stood in front of him, her hands landing instinctively on his chest as if they were slow dancing. She was aware of this, but did not remove them. Her eyes went to the ground, not being about to handle the closeness with eye contact. In one hand Adrien held the umbrella, the other one slowly went to removed a strand of wet hair from her face. A bolt of lighting graced the sky.

“You were right you know,” he said quietly, the rain almost drowning him out.

“About what?”

“About my secret,” he said with a chuckle. “I thought I hid it well, but I guess I made it really obvious.”

“What?” Said Marinette, looking up at him is disbelief, her hands trembled. “No, no you’re still drunk, you don’t know what you’re saying. No, no I know now... after everything that happened it can’t be true.”

“Do you... not want it to be true?”

“I guess it doesn’t really matter what I want,” she admitted, bowing her head again. “Either it’s true or it’s not.”

“I promise you, it’s very true,” said Adrien, his voice softer than she had ever heard but somehow insanely familiar. He placed his free hand under her chin and lead her to meet his gaze.

“Wait, what did you think I-.”

“Marinette, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more direct with you,” he began. “But I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way again since... you’re so amazing and I- I’m done keeping secrets; I do have feelings for you.”

“W-what kind of feelings?” she asked, a tiny portion of her intoxicated little mind convinced he was angry with her.

Adrien closed his eyes and leaned in close to her and his lips stopped mere inches from her own. Hesitating. Waiting. Silence. She looked at him, no streetlight caught his hair now but the shine remained. The glow was just him. He wasn’t a spy, he wasn’t a traitor, he wasn’t a villain. Her mind ran with things he was not until suddenly she realized what he was. Kind. Handsome. Funny. Charming. She had taken these things for granted before and thought they were lost and locked away forever. It was like they were reincarnated, her heart fluttered in an nearly forgotten familiar way as if to say she had been here before. As if to say this is exactly where she was meant to be.

Lighting crashed in the distance.

She chased the feeling and eliminated the space between them, drawn to him like he was magnetic. She could could blame it on the wine. She could blame it on the rain. She could blame it on the way his eyes were so gentle and vibrant at the same time like a lush green forest she wanted to explore until she was hopelessly lost. But she crashed into him like a she was a tidal wave, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled herself up to kiss him. He stepped back, surprised but pleased and tossed aside the umbrella in favor of having both his arms around her as he eagerly kissed her back. He lifted her off the ground, perhaps a little too overzealous, and the pair found themselves on the ground in the middle of a puddle. Only then did they break apart, like a dream they were rudely awakened from, and Marinette found herself laying on top of him.

Adrien looked at her, eyes wide and curious, awaiting a sign of how she felt. Even now, with her eyeliner smudged and her hair soaking wet, his heart skipped a beat in way it hadn’t done in years. What was she thinking? Should he say something? His mind raced with what to say next, he had imagined this confession thousands of times since he realized his feelings, but none of his scenarios went quite like this. He didn’t want to risk ruining anything, if there was even something to ruin. He played the last minute over and over in his head like a romantic film scene. He smiled a wide smile and if Marintee didn’t know any better, she could have sworn he was purring.

Marinette took that as her signal to lean forward, slower and more graceful than the first attempt and kissed him again. It was less rushed and more gentle, but also more certain. The umbrella was carried away by the wind, the two seemed to have forgotten about the rain or any storms between them.

The next day, Marinette awoke feeling sicker than she had ever felt in her life. Not only did she have a massive hangover, but being stuck in the rain had given her a terrible cold as well. Her body couldn’t decide which unpleasant feeling to focus on so she remained in bed, cursing the world.

“Hey girl,” came Alya’s voice from the doorway. “Heard you weren’t feeling too good.”

“Alya I’m dying,” moaned Marinette.

“Were you so busy dying that you couldn’t text me that you go home safely?” laughed Alya, removing the pillow from her face. “Omigosh you didn’t even wash your face last night. You really were trashed.”

“Ugh I don’t even remember it raining last night, but I woke up soaked,” complained Marinette.

“Wait, you don’t remember it raining?”

“No, after we said goodbye to you and Nino the night it a total blur.”

“Oh, does Adrien remember the rain?”

“I don’t know, we don’t talk,” Marinette reminded her, covering her head with a blanket. “I don’t know what I said to him on the walk home, but my throat is killing me so it feels like I was yelling.

“Wait, you don’t remember anything from the walk home?”

“No,” repeated Marinette. “Why? Did I drunk dial you or something?”

“Uh, no,” said Alya with a mischievous smile. “But when it started to rain I told the cab driver to drive by your place to see if you guys got caught in the rain and I’m so glad I did because I saw something very interesting.”

“What?”

Alya simply handed Marinette her phone and braced herself for the reaction she knew was coming. Marinettte had to do a double take at first. But there was no mistaking this was a picture of her. And Adrien. Kissing.

“WHAT?!” She exclaimed, giving herself a worse headache. “Ouch. Ugh, Alya please tell me this is photoshopped, this is a joke right?”

“Not this time, I am an eyewitness,” assured her friend. “I saw everything.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe he kissed me,”

“Well you shouldn’t because if you go back a little bit you see it’s clear as day who kissed whom,”

“What?” But it was true. She swiped back and forth and there was no arguing that she pulled him in, she reached up, she kissed him. Twice. “Oh no.”

“Oh, don’t be embarrassed,” said Alya taking back her phone. “If kissing a former model in the rain is the worst thing you’ve done after drinking, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t see why you don’t like him anyway, you two got along so well yesterday.”

“Oh no no no I just thought it was another dream!”panicked Marinette.

“Another?” Teased Alya. “So you often dream about kissing Adrien?”

Only when he’s working with his supervillain father “I’m never drinking again,” vowed Marinette, burying her head in her hands. “Please tell me no one else saw those photos.”

“Just me and Nino, but I’m keeping them for blackmail,” confirmed Alya as she headed for the door. “Or to show at your wedding.”

Marinette threw a pillow at the door, just missing her friend as she took her leave. What had gotten into her? Besides copious amounts of wine, that is. She prayed that Adrien’s memory of last night was even foggier than hers. She wished she had Tikki with her to talk her through this without any judgment but she just had her. And all she could do was panic.

“Hey, are you up?” Came a small voice accompanied by a knock on her door. “I just saw Alya leave and I wanted to check on you if that’s okay.”

It was Adrien. “Um yeah, I’m fine. Just tired, I guess,” she replied. He didn’t come in, she didn’t invite him. He was still wary of her. That must be as good sign, right?

“A headache?” He chuckled knowingly. “I had one too. I made a smoothie and that kind of helped. I can bring you one. Or leave it in the kitchen for you.”

“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. Silence stood between them for what felt like hours.

“Listen, about last night,” Adrien said at last. Marinette braced herself for the worst.

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to say thank you,” he said outside the door. “It meant a lot, you guys inviting me out. I had a lot of fun, well the parts I remember anyway.”

“Do you... remember walking home?”

“Hardly,” he admitted. “Apparently it rained?”

She laughed. “Go figure,” she said. She cousins sent he was right: she did enjoy the parts she remembered. “But um thank you too for helping me get home safely. You’re a good friend.”

The sound of the word made him blush, he was grateful she couldn’t see his face. “Anytime,” he said. “Feel better, I guess I’ll see you later?”

“See ya,” she said, as she heard him walk away from the door and flopped on her bed in relief. Crisis averted.

Adrien made his way down the stairs, Marinette’s keychain in hand. The moments of last night replayed in his head. It was blurry to him as well, but a few moments stood out to him. Mostly, the way she said ‘lucky charm’ and the way her smudged makeup resembled a mask.

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

Ghost Chat ship stuff

Because I’ve never seen a Miraculous Phantom crossover were it’s Adrien x Danny, and not Adrien x Marinette, or Marinette x Danny. Even though those two boys are kind of a little bit perfect for each other.

Let me explain.

Danny and Adrien both love stupid puns, so they’d almost certainly be friends even if they didn’t end up together. The only way I don’t see them as ending up as at least good friends is if they both think the other is their enemy. Like Adrien thinks Danny is an akuma, and Danny thinks Chat Noir is some type of ghost.

Danny and Adrien both have to deal with super rich father figures trying to control their lives, even though Vlad isn’t actually related to Danny. Both have to deal with superhero double life. Both have the justifiable fear/trauma of being mind controlled. Both have ended the world in an alternate timeline. [Lots of things in common, these boys. Even if they don’t know it themselves.]

Danny would 110% fight Gabriel, or at the very least prank the absolute crap out of him and leave no evidence behind. Mostly due to how he treats Adrien, but also just a little because he gives off the same vibes as Vlad, and Danny’s a bit pavlov’d into hating anyone who gives off that vibe. I could totally see Adrien at least wanting to do the same with Vlad (and maybe Danny’s actual parents depending on how they are in this AU). At least after he found out how much Vlad’s done to Danny. I don’t know if Adrien would be able to recognize the more subtle mistreatment from Vlad towards Danny, just because Adrien’s own father is abusive but Adrien himself hasn’t recognized that yet.

Adrien’s powers come with a built in space suit. Which Danny would be ecstatic about, because he’s got no one who wants to go casually explore the moon on random week nights with him. Adrien’s a disney princess who desperately wants excitement and adventure in the great wide somewhere. Danny could most certainly give him that. Danny travels all over due to ghost nonsense, including outer space and the Ghost Zone. And also sometimes through time. You can’t tell me Adrien wouldn’t be hyped to tag along.

Black cats and their association with death also makes the pairing thematically appropriate. Which is pretty fun.

Things get even more fun when you add different AUs into the mix. Danny being the prince/king of the ghost zone adds in some fun Hades/Persephone parallels into the relationship. Though who’s Hades and who’s Persephone is up in the air. Which is always more fun than it being obvious.

[thatasianstereotype]

Fuck. I’m Gay.

I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 

Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 

.

.

.

Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 

Yeah. It was a small number. 

But Lila is still a bitch. 

Anyway, Lila’s lies and manipulations have disturbed the status quo and not in a good way. She ended up making the majority of the class fawn over her like she was a perfect goddess and not a pompous-temperamental-hormonal teenager. Teenagers were prone to be gullible; he can understand his classmates being inclined to believe her. But this was utterly ridiculous (man, Chloe is rubbing off on him). No. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Ms. Bustier letting Lila get away with it. She doesn’t even stop the class mistreating Marinette who claimed she was a bully just because of you know who - Fucking Lila Rossi. The audacity of that bitch and her bitchy followers, am I right? 

Growing up he watched the tv shows and the animes. High schools always had their drama but he thought that was to get some plot going on. He didn’t think it was an actual thing that happens in real life. But he was proven wrong. Françoise Dupont High School had their drama and it was way worse than what he watched on screen. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t get away from Lila. Or he’ll be pulled from school (Fuck you Dad). He had to sit next to that bitch and listen to her drone on and on about things they both knew she didn’t do, about things she promised to do for her ever gullible followers friends. And couldn’t say anything against it if he wanted to stay in school. But even his discreet questioning didn’t do that much. It got some of the class to think something’s possibly fishy with her stories but not enough to think Lila was evil. So he just gave up. Because what was even the point? 

He was distancing himself from Alya and Nino. He couldn’t really be friends with people who thought Lila held the sun and moon. They didn’t hang out as much as they used to and he made excuses when they did invite him to stuff. Lately, he was making outrageous excuses - like he had to take his cat to the vet even though he didn’t have a cat - to see if they caught on. They didn’t. It was fun but he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that. But feeling sad-depressed-pain over it was a bitch so he decided to take his victories as they come. 

Chloe had left the school earlier on. Her mom wanted to spend one-on-one time with her daughter (Yeah, Audrey is better at being a mother here). She was completely out of this drama mess. And Nathaniel kept his head down to not paint a target on himself. 

His only consolation and ally in this whole mess was Marinette. His darling angel. His sunshine incarnate. His own goddess (not like that bitch Lila let’s get one thing straight). 

When he was feeling overwhelmed (which was a lot), he spent it at her house. They spent it discussing fashion, trash talking Liar-la and the sheep class, playing video games, and making/eating the best baked goods in all of Paris. If he wasn’t at his photo shoots or at school, he was at her house. And with how often they spent time with each other, it wasn’t long before they accidentally revealed their alter egos to each other. 

(The class’ Everyday Ladybug was actually Ladybug. How amazing is that! Isn’t Marinette the absolute coolest?!) 

Since they outed themselves to each other, they had to give up their miraculous. And new heroes had to be chosen. As the guardian, Marinette decided to give the Ladybug miraculous to herself and the Cat one to Adrien. And make them the superheros of Paris. 

(Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t get any cooler) 

They both collectively decided that being friends were for the best and put away their obsession crush over the other far far away. Now they were best friends-almost siblings. Oh who was he kidding? He was an honorary Dupain-Cheng. Marinette and her parents said so. And who was he to deny the goddess? 

All was well. 

Until he met this gorgeous boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes that made him question everything in life. 

Like fuck. His life wasn’t hard enough already? 

.

It was a slow patrol. Just stopped a few petty crimes. No akuma tonight. He wasn’t really expecting much to happen.

Mari said patrolling regularly gives citizens a sense of security and it helps if one of them were on scene if an akuma does appear. 

He didn’t mind. He loved running on the rooftops and feeling the wind in his face. After some time, he stopped and stood on top of one of the tallest buildings. Just soaking the view. The peace and serenity of it all. Seeing the glowing lights of his beloved city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower standing tall and proud. 

(Forget school. Forget Liar-la and her hoard of bitches) 

This was his city. This was why he fights Hawk Moth with Ladybug. They had something precious to protect. 

He was done patrolling the regular routes and all his schoolwork was already finished. He could go to sleep but he didn’t feel that tired. And he really didn’t want to go back home. Mari shared her theory on his dad being Hawk Moth. She had really good reasons and a plethora of proof. If they could switch miraculous, why couldn’t he and Mayura - most likely Nathalie? Which would explain how Gabriel got akumatized.

After all her support with dealing with Lila, he was way more inclined to believe her even without the evidence. But those things just made him more wary of his dad. And he wasn’t too stoked on spending more time than what he can get away with with the guy. Because his dad being Hawk Moth explains why he wants Lila (his strongest supporter - Chameleon and Oni-chan, anyone?) close and makes Adrien play nice with her. And anyone who enables Lila’s bitchiness is on his enemy list. 

Anyway, he was out here to enjoy the good mood not think about evil bitches and evil dads. So he sat himself down and enjoyed the sights. It was more calming than you would think. 

He heard cars blaring and even a dog barking. The slight breeze felt nice. The moon was pretty bright tonight. The stars too. There was a lone couple walking through the park. There was also another teen in black running on rooftops a few buildings away. 

Wait. 

What? 

He blinked and looked again. Huh, there was another teen in black running on rooftops. And it was not a hallucination. 

What the actual fuck?

He was instantly on his feet, baton already in hand as he raced across the roof to reach said stranger. 

“Hey!” 

But because he was the lucky owner of the unlucky miraculous, the moment he said that, the guy was about to jump off a building to presumably roll onto the next one like Chat was watching him do beforehand. But his call made him lose focus and Chat watched horrified as the guy slipped and started falling into the alley. 

Oh fuck! Mari was going to fucking kill this dumbass kitty!

He hoped to everything that Mari thinks is holy that he makes it in time. Extending his baton, he used it as a huge Pogo stick to basically catapult himself towards the stranger and wrapped his arms around him as he braced himself for the full weight of hitting the gravel at this height and speed. But he wasn’t that that concerned. His suit protected him from the majority of the injuries that would’ve occurred if he wasn’t wearing it. It hurt but it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Remember earlier? He takes his victories as they come. 

This was not the smartest of ideas, he’ll admit. Mari had the brains to be honest. But it wasn’t bad if he say so. And he does say so. 

He rolled over and immediately looked over the stranger that was remarkably unharmed in this whole mess. 

And oh.

Oh.

The stranger was taller than he was with a lithe and lean frame. He had raven black hair that complimented his tanned skin and gorgeous green eyes that pierced through him, making his heart do funny things. 

He was not expecting him to look as hot as he did. He wore a simply black t-shirt and jeans but he looked like a fucking Adonis, what the fuck.  Even the moon shone down on him, highlighting his handsome features even more.  

He shook himself of those thoughts and focused on what was more important. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” 

He was rudely pushed away, but he didn’t take offense. He did cause the guy to fall after all. 

“Do not touch me.” (What kind of accent is that?) “I’m fine. You are truly a moronic imbecile of the highest accord to yell like that. And what are you even supposed to be? Some kind of knock-off Catwoman?” 

At that, Chat looked at Hot-And-Sexy weird. “Are you new here? I’m the superhero Chat Noir. I protect Paris with Ladybug.”

“You’re joking.”

“I know I come off as the goofy hero because I make purr-fect puns all the time but I’m not joking about this.” 

He took out his phone to show the foreign (since he’s obviously not a Parisian) stranger the akuma attacks and Ladybug and Chat Noir being a dynamic duo, saving Paris and beating Hawk Moth. Ok, he showed the stranger a lot of stuff. Sue him. He gets to brag about his Princess. And himself too.

“I never heard about this before.” Hot-And-Sexy (he has got to come up with a better name) said afterward. “3 years this has been going on? Why didn’t you ask for help from the Justice League or other superheros?” 

Chat shrugged. “We tried. But they said we’re obviously pulling a prank and making this all up. So we stopped asking for help.”

For some reason this made Hot-And-Sexy angry. “They ignored your plea for help and left you to fight for yourselves?”

“Pretty much, yea.” 

“You and Ladybug are children.” 

“Excuse me? Are you doubting our ability to protect our city?" He was not apologetic at the sharp edge his voice took. Forget looking hot. How dare he? The audacity really. 

Hot-And-Sexy shook his head. “I’m not. I know some child superheroes who are adequate at their jobs and a few who are remarkable like Robin in Gotham. But the majority of them had adult mentors to guide them. From what you’ve shown me, you and Ladybug had no one. You were left alone to fend for yourself with essentially no help.” 

He never thought of it that way. But hearing it like that made him think: Fuck Adults Who Chose Children to Fight Their War For Them and Fuck Hawk Moth For Putting Them In This Position In The First Place. 

You know what. Just to clear all his bases - Fuck Everyone But The Dupain-Chengs. 

Chat couldn’t help but shrug, not quite knowing what to say to that. “Life is a bitch, I’ve come to find out. But enough of that. Why were you running on rooftops anyway?”

“It calms me down.”

Relatable. 

“Is...Is your tail moving?” 

“Huh?” He looked behind him to see his tail was indeed moving lazily. “Yeah. I’m called Chat Noir for a reason.”

“May I touch them?” Chat was used to people (usually kids) pulling on his tail to see if it was real (It was). And it really hurts because they usually rough. Not that he blames them. Kids don’t know any better. Still, he usually says no when people ask. 

But Hot-And-Sexy had such a sincere expression that he said yes. To his surprise and delight, Hot-And-Sexy was extremely gentle (Can this guy be anymore perfect?) and it felt nice to be petted like that. Curse his touch-starvation (again Fuck you Dad).

Hot-And-Sexy was apparently fascinated by his ears and tail. 

“Are you a meta?” He noticed how Hot-And-Sexy’s voice turned softer and fonder (or was he imagining that?).

“Nah. I’m fully human. I just got powers to transform into this.” He looked down at his phone seeing that the time was nearing 2 am.

“Have you suffered any injuries from your stupid stunt?” 

“Hmm?” Chat looked back at him before gesturing to his body. “Don’t worry. I may not look like it but I can take it.”

He can practically feel Hot-And-Sexy rolling his eyes. “What an utter dolt.” 

But there wasn’t any heat behind it so he didn’t take it to heart. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

“That was an insult.”

“And I’m taking it like a compliment.”

Chat stood up and stretched his limbs. Hot-And-Sexy doing the same but dusting off his clothes instead.

“So, uh, need any help getting home?”

“I am perfectly capable of finding my own way, thanks.” 

“Ok. Have a nice night.” He was about to leave when he was caught off guard by Hot-And-Sexy staring at him for a good few seconds, making his limbs freeze in place at the heavy attention.

Before he said. “You should try contacting the Batfamily in Gotham about Hawk Moth. They’re used to dealing with weird things. I’m sure they won’t turn you or Ladybug away.” 

Chat was a bit distracted by how intensely those green eyes focused on him, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a vibrant red. 

He was so screwed. 

He used his baton to shoot himself up so he can run on rooftops, hurrying to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

.

“Mari! I think I’m gay!”

“It’s 2 in the morning, Chaton. Go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

.

After a good night’s rest (and thank everything that was right in the world that today was a weekend), Adrien told Mari all about Hot-And-Sexy. And yes, he did call the stranger that out loud. His everything-that-actually-matters sister simply took it in stride after giggling a bit. They spent the majority of the day discussing emotions and everything that came with that bundle. 

Before he finally came to a conclusion. 

He is definitely gay (He liked girls but not like like them). And most definitely had a crush on Hot-And-Sexy with the pretty green eyes. 

Good news: He is no longer having a sexuality crisis. 

Bad news: He is going through an emotional crisis. 

Like dealing with these feelings that is making his stomach flip flop over and over again? The only one he ever had to deal with was the one he had on Ladybug and that (he talked with Mari about it months before. She was amazing with these emotional matters) was more of a hero-worship crush than anything really romantic. 

And his crush on Hot-And-Sexy was so much more. 

.

So it’s been about 2 weeks since he encountered Hot-And-Sexy. And he still haven’t figured out what else to call him. But the nickname was growing on him. 

(He also told Mari about asking the Batfam for help but she was a bit apprehensive after the disastrous attempts of convincing the Justice League. He shrugged, trusting her opinion and left it at that) 

Anyway, Lila was being her usual bitchy self. Father was being non-existent like always. Mari was his only source of sanity at school. And Hawk Moth was being a bitch. 

Because of course, the day before they have a huge test, he decides to akumatize someone (in this case, a businessman who was really unhappy with getting fired) and cut in on study time. And this akuma took a while to defeat. Guess he drew a lot of strength from his burning hatred of the failings of the corporate world. 

And just yesterday, a teenager who was upset at being grounded got akumatized and terrorized the city for 3 hours before Ladybug could purify her. It did however confirmed her fears. Hawk Moth was getting stronger. It took longer to defeat his monsters. They needed to find him and ended this fast. 

Adrien landed on Mari’s balcony and slipped in her room, crashing on her big comfy bed, de-transforming on the spot. Plagg sleepily floating and laying next to him on the pillow. He was so tired. And photo shoots and school drama were not helping things.

.

For the record, he was not at all expecting to see Hot-And-Sexy in a bookstore of all places. 

He was so engrossed in looking through the latest Boku no Hero Academia manga (can’t wait until Season 5 comes out) that when someone touched his shoulder, he was not proud to admit he squeaked a bit.

He turned around and his eyes widened his surprise. 

“Hot-And-Sexy!” 

It was indeed the Adonis Adrien had a huge crush on. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt paired with a blue denim jacket and black ripped jeans. Wow. He really can make anything look hot.

No. Bad Adrien. Don’t let him know you actually have a crush on him.

And oh fuck. Hot-And-Sexy was staring at the blonde and Adrien tried not to let himself get flustered. He has a very intense stare. For all he knew, Hot-And-Sexy stares at everyone like that.

Calm the fuck down, heart. You too brain.

He raised a handsome eyebrow in amusement. “Excuse me?”

Adrien felt himself burn with embarrassment, his face turning bright scarlet. No wonder he was fit for the unlucky miraculous or was this just a side-effect? Note to self, ask Mari about this later. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your name last time. And I just started calling you that in my head. Cause you’re really hot and you have pretty eyes.”

Fuck mouth! Why won’t you stop talking! Please for the love of everything that makes Mari a BAMF stop. Stop digging further into the hole of embarrassment! Abort mission! Abort!

“When did we meet?”

At that, he blink a few times. Oh fuck. He was not Superhero Chat Noir. He was Civilian Adrien Agreste. Mari was definitely murdering his dumbass tonight. Lightning please strike him down right now. Where was an unlucky lightning strike when you need it?

After a few seconds of his horrified silence, Hot-And-Sexy chuckled (he had such a nice laugh). “You are extremely lucky I already figured out your alter ego beforehand, Chaton.”

Before Adrien could even unwrap that statement, he held out a hand and had a dangerously sexy smirk on his face. “My name is Damian Wayne. Would you care to get a cup of coffee with me?”

And Adrien nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. He can deal with the superhero thing later when he can think straight (hah!) and is not distracted by Damian’s beautiful smile and alluring green eyes and perfect everything.

.

Guess what?

Ya Boi got game.

(At least, he likes to think he does)

After a successful coffee date (was it a date? Please let it be a date), they exchanged numbers (cue internal squealing) and met up a few times afterward to hang out.

Apparently, Dami was here on business to deal with something for Wayne Enterprises.

“Aren’t you 17?”

“Father believes in preparing us when we’re young.”

Dami was amazingly sweet. Arrogant and pretentious with a stick up his ass but sweet. He treats stray animals with such reverence that Adrien’s heart melt every time he sees it.

It was an added bonus when Damian scorned Lila with cruel words and disgusted looks when she tried to cut in Adrien and Dami’s date(?)/meetup(?)/spending-time-together event.

She cried and whined afterwards and Adrien has to endure his father’s lecture. But it was totally worth it.

Oh yeah. Mari was not pleased that he accidentally outed himself to a civilian. But nothing that a couple of sad kitty eyes can’t fix.

“You are so lucky you’re cute, kitty-cat.” Mari grumbled but she was smiling. “I just need to have a good talk with him on the importance of secrecy.”

.

That day Damian Wayne learned to fear a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

.

It was 2 weeks later when Adrien woke up to a package next to his futon in Mari’s room. When he opened it, he saw the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous inside.

There was a card beneath it. And in beautiful cursive script read: 

I dearly hope you enjoy my courting gift, mon amour. Allow me the honor to formally ask you out on a date. I look forward to hearing favorably from you soon.

- Damian Wayne

He couldn’t believe it.

“Mari! Damian likes me back!”

“Chaton, I swear. It is 2 in the morning.”

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