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rosie-b · 28 days

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Your Lies (Tell the Truth)

Written for day 8 of @adrinetteapril - Soulmate Markers

Every child knew the legend. Many adults were lucky enough to have experienced the reality of soulmate marks for themselves. Even Alya and Nino had figured their bond out! This seemed like an open and shut case.

But as Marinette stopped to look closer at the black ink she didn’t remember putting on her skin, her mind raced as she tried to determine what else it could be, other than a soulmate mark. Because it just couldn’t be, right? She’d been the only one to confess her love. Adrien had rejected her.

(I promise it's not too angsty; there's some crack and fluff as well!)

You can read the fic below or on AO3!

It was here.

Marinette had spent months both dreaming of and fearing this moment; she’d tried both to finally reach and forever avoid it, but the time had finally come— today was the day she’d finally worked up the courage to tell Adrien she loved him.

She’d imagined all the best outcomes, the ones where Adrien smiled and said he loved her too, where they went out to get ice cream and then started dating and got married and had two or three or four kids (and a hamster). She’d spent hours trapped in nightmares of the worst ways it could go, where Adrien laughed at her and had his father ban her from ever working in fashion or talking to his son again and Chloe found out and then Lila, and Alya and her parents, and….

Suffice it to say that she’d imagined a variety of ways this moment could have gone.

But now that it was here, none of those scenarios matched what was happening in the moment. None of them had captured the pain like heartbreak in Adrien’s eyes that followed the shock of her confession. None of them had prepared her for the unsure, gentle way he tried to turn her down.

She didn’t know how to react to it. What do you do when you tell the nicest boy in the world that you love him, and all he can do is say no, he has to say no, and the ground doesn’t even have the decency to swallow you up with your shame?

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Adrien had finally said, his sad, green eyes hardly daring to meet hers, “I just don’t feel the same way. It wouldn’t be fair of me to date you while I’m still trying to move o— er, I don’t want to hurt you the way I hurt Kagami,” he stuttered out. “You’re an amazing girl, Marinette, and I like you a lot, but I don’t trust myself to be the partner you deserve to have. I don’t want to play with your feelings, or make you feel like a second choice. Besides,” he continued, rubbing the back of his neck, and looking at her tentatively, “Weren’t you and Luka…?”

Marinette tried to answer when Adrien’s voice trailed off, but she found that her throat had closed in on itself. She couldn’t speak through the lump sitting there. She just shook her head, looking up at Adrien bravely while she held back her tears. She’d known this was going to happen! She shouldn’t have bothered trying.

Adrien’s eyes widened as the silence grew longer. “Oh, no, please don’t cry, Marinette! I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you, really, but I did, and I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” she rasped out, hating how feeble, how broken her voice sounded. “You can’t help how you feel. I get it, Adrien. I, I’ll be—” I’ll be fine, she tried to say. But the words wouldn’t come out, and all she could do was be grateful she’d waited until the end of the school day for her confession. This way, she could offer Adrien a pitiful smile and wave and walk away from the scene of her heartbreak. This way, she could suffer in peace until she managed to put the shattered pieces of her heart back together.

It’s okay, she told herself as she waved to her friends (only friends) and barely managed to not run, but walk to her home. You’ll be fine. So he doesn’t like you back. So what? You’ll be fine. You’re a big girl; you’re Ladybug; you’ve got this.

She had trouble believing her own encouragement. And she still felt like something in her had died the moment Adrien’s smile had slipped off his face, the moment she knew he’d be turning her down.

Marinette started walking a bit faster.

__*__*__*__*__

Adrien watched Marinette turn away, feeling useless and helpless and more miserable than he could remember having been ever before.

Why did I have to turn her down? Why couldn’t I have just said yes and gone on a few pleasant dates and then accepted the breakup when she eventually realized what I’m like and dumped me?

Adrien wondered if he could still do something to salvage the situation; if he could run after Marinette and beg her to come back, to not hate him, to give him a new chance.

Before he could do anything, though, Alya grabbed his arm and yanked on it, pulling him closer to her before he could leave. “You better not be serious right now, Agreste! What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” he responded, wincing at the tight grip Alya had on him but knowing that he deserved this pain.

“Yes, you were. That response you gave her sounded practiced. Now, what was your reason for doing it?”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “I, uh, it’s Marinette; I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to hurt her, either, and— I’m in love with someone else, right now. She's just a friend. That’s all it is, honest!”

Alya frowned. “Okay, then, tell me who the lucky one is. Make me understand this faulty brain of yours. Who could you possibly prefer over Marinette?”

Adrien’s mind went blank as he tried to think of what to say. “Ladybug,” he blurted out, and slapped his free hand over his mouth as his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest.

Not the truth, not the truth, anything but the truth! Why didn’t I just lie?

Alya’s eyes narrowed. “You turned down Marinette for Ladybug?? Oh, no, sunshine, absolutely not. With an excuse like that, you’d better be Chat Noir,” she fumed. Her eyes, blazing red-hot with fury, added the silent warning, or else.

Adrien gulped. “I, no! I’m not Chat Noir! Why would you think that? I mean, no, I didn’t, I’m actually in love with–”

Alya scowled and let go of Adrien’s arm. “Forget it, Agreste. You have the evening to get this figured out. Don’t walk into school tomorrow unless you’re going to do it with a real excuse. I understand having celebrity crushes, but I can’t excuse turning down a real chance with a girl as sweet as Marinette for a woman who’s about a thousand percent unavailable! Get your act together, now.”

She stormed off, grabbing Nino’s hand and tugging him along after her as she went. Nino turned his head over his shoulder to shoot Adrien a glance, but he couldn’t tell if it was a sympathetic one or not. Adrien was pretty sure Nino didn’t know which type it was, either. But he, at least, was still willing to look at Adrien despite the rather large mistake he’d just made, and Adrien was very grateful for that. He wasn’t used to even that much affection.

Maybe that’s why he’d made his big mistake.

__*__*__*__*__

Marinette had never been more grateful for the comforting magic of warm showers. She let the water run hot, stepped into a cloud of warm steam, and let the water run over her face, washing away the last of the salty tears she’d cried into her pillow under Tikki’s watchful, caring gaze. She huddled under the shower head, shivered once as her body adjusted to the new temperature, and took a moment to just breathe and feel a little more alive.

After a while, Marinette moved on to the real part of the shower. As she reached out to grab the shampoo bottle, though, she noticed a large black squiggle on her forearm, and her heart stopped. Was it a spider?

No, it wasn’t. But it looked like writing… and Marinette knew she hadn’t gotten a tattoo or written on herself with a pen recently.

There was only one other explanation she could think of…

On the day when all bonded soulmates have confessed their love to each other, the lies they tell will show on the other’s body for twenty-four hours after the last confession.

And yet, her skin must not have gotten the message, because there, in thick black letters on her left wrist, was the sentence “I just don’t feel the same way.”

Suddenly, the warm shower didn’t feel so magical anymore. The afternoon’s messy confrontation had followed her inside the pure white stall, and she didn’t feel safe there anymore. But even though there was a pit in her stomach, she knew that if this was truly Adrien’s soulmark on her, then she still had a chance.

There was more black ink twisting around Marinette’s elbow. Hesitant, broken, and hopeful despite the rejection, she read it out loud.

“It wouldn’t be fair of me to date you…”

Marinette felt like either screaming or crying again. Maybe both. She and Adrien were soulmates, then? But how had his marks shown up on her skin, when she’d heard a rejection, not a confirmation of his love? Had he somehow confessed his love to her before today, and she’d either missed it or misheard it? Had he been disappointed and moved on and now, when she’d finally confessed, he wasn’t even in love with her anymore?

Or worse, were they the kind of soulmates where one person loved the other romantically but the other person held a platonic kind of love, instead? Had his oh-so friendly rejection been enough to trigger their soulbond, like some twisted blessing-turned-curse?

Marinette didn’t know how she’d survive that. She couldn’t handle knowing she’d made a fool out of herself by confessing to an unrequited love; she couldn’t fathom ever falling out of love with Adrien Agreste, either. Was she doomed to a one-sided love forever?

There were three last lines of ink, with the first two being on her right forearm. Marinette turned it over to read them apprehensively.

“She's just a friend." Ouch. "And... I’m in love with someone else, right now,” she mumbled aloud. Huh. She didn’t remember him saying that. It must have come out after she left. Okay, well his loving some other, more perfect girl was understandable, but it still stung.

But wait! If this was something Adrien had said today, and it was on her skin in his writing, it was a soulmark. And if it was a soulmark, then it was a lie, because the only things you can say that will appear on your soulmate’s skin are lies! So, Adrien didn’t love someone else!

“I must be dreaming,” Marinette muttered to herself. “Tikki!” she called as loudly as she dared, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around herself as she did so. “Tikki! Come look at this; help me out!”

Tikki zoomed over at high speed. “Marinette! What is it?”

“Tikki, look, look at the marks! We’re soulmates; Adrien and I are soulmates! How are we soulmates?? He said he doesn’t love me, but he was lying, but he still turned me down! So why are the marks here; how is this possible? Did he confess his love while I was walking away? Or why else do I have soulmarks now? I don’t remember him ever confessing to me in the past!”

Tikki stared at the marks for a moment while her holder panicked, and a slow grin spread across her face.

“Marinette, this is amazing! But I can’t actually tell you why your soulmarks showed up today,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

Marinette paused. “Wait, but you do know why they’re there, then?”

Tikki nodded, unashamed and still smiling. “Yes, but telling you the reason would be a serious breach of Adrien’s privacy. The only way I can tell you is after you’ve figured it out, yourself.”

Marinette frowned. “Fine. But, hold on, there was one more soulmark I haven’t read yet.”

Tikki’s eyes widened. “Oh? Where is it?”

Marinette twisted her arm around, straining to see the mark. “It’s just past my right elbow. Here! Look, it says, ‘I’m not Cha….’”

Tikki and Marinette both stared at the soulmark for a minute and then slowly turned and stared at each other, instead.

“I’m not Chat Noir,” they said in unison.

Marinette fell backwards, catching herself on the wall just in time. She propped herself as her mind raced, piecing together black skintight suits and white overshirts; sly smirks and kind smiles. They all belonged to the same boy, the quiet one in her class and the boisterous one always proclaiming his undying love.

“Well, that explains it, then,” she said dazedly, as memories of a candlelit picnic lovingly set up on a rooftop surfaced in her mind. They really were soulmates! Now, the soulmarks’ sudden appearance made sense.

Even if the first soulmate confesses years before the last, once they have all confessed, the marks of their bond shall appear as proof of their love for one another.

__*__*__*__*__

The next day, Adrien walked into school feeling more timid than a mouse and about as innocent as a flea during the Black Plague. Or maybe a certain cheese-loving cat.

His plan was to sneak into school, because Nathalie had given him a Look when he’d tentatively suggested that he was possibly not feeling all that well and asked what Father would think if he stayed home earlier that morning. So, he had to go to school, despite Alya’s warning yesterday. He’d sneak past Alya, sit in the back of the class, and only say something during roll call before falling silent for the rest of the day, so that Marinette (and Alya) could forget he existed.

Adrien had had an absolutely miserable night and made no progress on finding a cover for why he’d turned down Marinette, but he was sure that however bad he was feeling, she’d be feeling ten times worse. The least he could do to help was stay out of her hair.

But that turned out to be unnecessary. When he saw Marinette waiting by the top of the stairs at the main entrance, bouncing on her heels and barely suppressing what seemed to be a huge grin, Adrien wondered if he’d somehow teleported to a different universe. Was Marinette… happy? Not that she couldn’t be happy, of course! It was only that he’d expected her to be much less bubbly and much more stutter-y and shy and, well, sad.

It was cool that she’d moved on so easily, he admitted! But for some reason, the thought of it made his chest ache. He should be happy for her, so why was he feeling hurt by her smile?

“Adrien!” Marinette called as soon as she saw him. Every nearby student heard her voice and fell silent or muttered quietly to each other in response to it. Had they all heard about what had happened yesterday? Was everyone in on what was going on now? Was this part of an elaborate plan by Marinette to get revenge?

Was that why she was happy? Because she knew soon, she could get back at Adrien for breaking her heart?

That just couldn’t be it, though. Adrien might be stupid sometimes, but he knew Marinette well enough to know she’d never do something so cruel to him, or anyone else, for that matter.

He walked up to her, shyly raising one hand in a wave. “Hello, Marinette,” he said. “You look happy! Um, are you feeling better? I’m so sorry about yesterday, I don’t know what I was thinking! I was so rude and I hurt you and I understand if you never forgive me but—”

“It’s okay,” Marinette said, flippantly waving one hand in a dismissive gesture.Then she stepped forward, her eyes glinting determinedly as she spoke to him in a very serious, confident manner. “I don’t love you. I’m in love with someone else right now. And one more thing: I’m not Ladybug,” she added, by now having stepped close enough that she whispered the last part into his ear while standing on her tip-toes.

Adrien’s heart plummeted all the way to the second circle of hell.

“What?” he gasped out, feeling unreasonably hurt, crushed, even, by the words Marinette had dropped on him like a heavy building he couldn’t crawl out from under. Was he this unloveable, that she’d moved on so easily?

Then again, if he was going to be alone forever, maybe he deserved it after what he’d done to her.

“I don’t love you,” Marinette repeated, smirking, and he flinched. Then her gaze softened, and a smile took the place of her cruel smirk. “Give me your arm,” she told him.

Adrien stared at her. “Why?” he asked in a cracking voice, feeling fearful and a little bit trapped. “What are you going to do with it?”

Marinette giggled. “I need to show you something, before it’s too late,” she said. “It’s probably under your shirt.”

“Under my—?” Adrien hadn’t finished his sentence before someone was pushing him forward, right into Marinette’s arms, and she reached down for his shirt sleeve and folded it up past his elbow.

“Look here,” she said authoritatively, presenting him with his own forearm.

What? Adrien thought, and he slowly processed what the sudden appearance of Marinette’s hurtful words on his arm in black ink meant.

“I don’t love you,” Marinette repeated, and the words appeared on his arm as she spoke them. “And I’m not Ladybug,” she whispered again, giving him just enough time to see the new words appear before she folded his sleeve down again to cover them.

“I— you— Marinette,” Adrien gasped out, feeling stunned and relieved and more than a little awestruck by this wonderful person that he already loved, who still returned his affection somehow, and who— “Oh, my goodness,” he breathed. “Marinette, we’re soulmates!”

Marinette grinned and nodded, doing her little wiggle-dance she always did when she was happy.

“Yes!” she agreed, cheering.

“Yes!” Adrien cheered right back, and picked her up and spun her around. “I love you! No, wait, I want to see your marks, too. I don’t love you,” he tried, and black ink peeked out of Marinette’s shirt and sprawled onto her wrist. “I don’t love you,” he repeated, and more ink appeared at her neck.

He knew what it meant, and Marinette knew, too, and that knowledge was temporarily theirs to play with. So they smiled at each other and stood marveling over the beautiful lies stamped on their skin.

“I don’t love you, either,” Marinette said with a giggle, and Adrien held his hand up in awe as more ink appeared there.

“I don’t love you,” he said one more time, loud and happy, and an ominous thud came from behind him.

“Adrien Agreste!” Alya boomed. “I told you not to come to school if you couldn’t do it without hurting Marinette!”

Marinette smirked. “It’s okay, Alya,” she said, holding up her left wrist, bare except for Adrien’s words. “I don’t love him.”

Adrien searched and searched for the words until Marinette pointed them out on his forehead.

Alya stared at the two of them, relieved and yet still visibly taught with nerves. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” she remarked, putting one hand on her hip. “Nino and I never did this. We just lied about favorite colors and future dreams. Like normal people. But, this is cute, too, once you get past how weird it is, I guess. You figured it out, then?” she asked, looking at Adrien.

He nodded, feeling one last guilty twinge that was wiped away by the black writing he could still see from the corner of his eye. “I’m sorry it took me this long. Wait,” she didn’t mean ‘did you find out each other’s identities,’ did she? “Wait, which part were you asking about?”

Alya smirked. “Well, the whole school knew you were in love with Marinette before you did, apparently. How does it feel to be the last to know?”

Marinette slipped her hand into his as Nino’s stifled laughs sounded from somewhere nearby. How long had he been watching them for?

“Be nice, Alya,” Marinette chided playfully. “It just took a while to get through his thick skull. I swear, his mind is a bag full of cats sometimes!”

Adrien stared down at Marinette with pink cheeks, feeling happily surprised by her pun.

“I love you so much,” he said seriously, and she giggled and leaned against his side.

“I love you, too,” she responded, and Alya nodded, smiling.

“Now that’s the way it’s done,” she said in a satisfied tone. “Agreste, you’re on my good side again. So, if you’ll let me do the honors, you may kiss the bride!”

Marinette shrieked as Alya grinned evilly and Nino laughed and cheered Adrien on.

So, he pulled Marinette into a quick, soft kiss. It wasn’t their first, he knew, but he was glad he’d finally be able to remember this one, so he dedicated the gentle brush of Marinette’s lips to his memory and grinned in what he knew was a dopey manner as he pulled away.

Then Marinette was yanking him back down for another kiss, and he could only imagine that this was the definition of bliss. Who cared about being on time to class? He had the best soulmate in the world, and he was content to just stay in her arms.

#soulmates #adrinetteapril2024 #ml fanfic #adrinette #ml au #rosie-b writing #miraculous ladybug

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snitchesnsneeds · 4 months

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First Half of Miraculous Season 2 Done. Here's my thoughts:

The Collector: A pretty good start! They made the teens smart while still being dumb teens!

Despair Bear: Chloe needs a therapist, arguably moreso than a redemption arc and especially a downward villainous spiral. Also Dangit Grandpa

Prime Queen: Wow, this was a lot more chill than expected. Even Cat Noir was left aghast at what Nadja was doing, Nadja seemed to be pressuring Ladybug and Cat Noir more for views than anything else, and I'm not entirely sure Akuma personalities can be trusted.

Befana: Fun fact: This was the episode that got me into Miraculous in the first place because of how shocking it was. And then I discovered even more. In hindsight from watching the other episodes, it was relatively darker, but mostly because it's Marinette's friends and family that are getting G-rated killed instead of random civilians like every other episode.

Riposte: Kagami is here! I don't see too much chemistry with her and Adrien yet, but she's cool and I like her and feel like I could be friends in real life. Also this feels like a relatively uncommon trope, but I wish "X is blatantly a woman but no one notices" was spedran through by someone with brains.

Robustus: Pretty good, all things considered. From what I've heard about Miraculous lore, creating sapient or at the very least semi-sapient AI isn't that uncommon for weirdness hotspots, and I'm putting Max in the list of characters I think should have figured out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identity. (There's four now!)

Gigantitan: It turns out my favorite parts of Miraculous are the slice-of-life bits instead of the superhero bits the show is about! We got to see more of Marinette's friends! Alix! Mylene! Julie! The Eeby Deeby herself! Also it was really sweet to see Adrien's bodyguard calm down just by looking at the kid. Adrien's true daddy.

Dark Owl: No wonder these two aren't allowed to know eachothers' identities, considering how much of a loose tongue Marinette has!

Glaciator: Alright, it's finally time to talk about the sins of Marinette and Cat Noir, considering the fan content I osmosed before watching the series was heavy salt stuff, and I wanna see how much it holds up. So far Cat Noir has acted as if he's already dating Ladybug previously, and in this episode he got mad at Ladybug for not showing up at a date when she herself said she might not come due to having other plans. Isn't he supposed to be used to not-showing-up disappointment as Adrien due to his dad? Is it different because he's Cat Noir? Is this a breaking point? No matter, he eventually calms down and is ultimately the less bad member of the relationship. Marinette, meanwhile, doesn't have as many misdemeanors to her name but they're a lot worse. She stole Adrien's phone to get rid of an embarrassing message and got away with it too, what the hell, and also owns the schedule. Although I don't believe she stalked Adrien and made it herself due to how busy she is as both Marinette and Ladybug, that's just weird and wrong. I'm reluctant to call her a stalker, but her actions are still wrong. Ultimately, this relationship is going to need a lot of therapy and counseling to not crash and burn. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. The ice cream episode. I think the ice cream guy can be wrong and he doesn't understand that.

Sapotis: Silly little fun episode, also it introduces the first new Miraculous holder! I'm honestly fine with it so far if it means more screentime for side characters. I honestly really like seeing Marinette's classmates. They're neat. Also I was this close to putting Alya on the list but she proves time and time again that she doesn't actually know Ladybug's identity.

Gorizilla: In this episode we are introduced to Adrien's deranged parasocial fanbase. I'm starting to understand some of his father's decisions at this point. This is what I was talking about with the schedule, by the way. These obsessive stalker creeps make Marinette look reasonable, and I wouldn't be surprised if the one guy who I'm pretty sure becomes Party Crasher discreetly stalked Adrien to get his schedule. Restraining orders need to be filed.

Captain Hardrock: One of the funniest episodes, up there with Dark Cupid. Also Luka is here! And he already has great chemistry with Marinette! And more Rosie and Julie content even if it's crumbs!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #nadja chamack #kagami tsurugi #max kante #alix kubdel #mylene haprele #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #alya cesaire #luka couffaine #lukanette

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graythegreyt · 15 days

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AU details now I am very interested (you don’t have to)

HI ILLY THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I AM GLAD TO OBLIGE. I'M ASSUMING THIS IS ABOUT MY BUG NOIRE AU LET ME KNOW IF IT'S NOT

So basically. Cracks knuckles. The set-up of the AU is based nearly entirely on two concepts: 1. In the show, Bug Noire cannot stop grinning when she first unifies the Miraculous which I have capitalized on completely and taken to be a consequence of a power rush, and 2. Marinette in this scenario is the only one given both Miraculous, as Master Fu (or perhaps another, more strict order of guardians?) thought that entrusting the two most powerful Miraculous to multiple people was too dangerous.

(GIF taken from the Wiki!)

So in this AU, Mari is Paris' only magic defender, and she is SCARY. She has all the same incredible forward thinking that Ladybug does in canon, but without anyone to support her or protect her, she's gotten used to absolutely tanking damage and pressing on regardless with a wild air of enthusiasm. The unity of the two Miraculous of creation and destruction in this AU are nearly unbearable for mortals to handle; because they, unified, are Gimmi, representation of all of existence, wielding both at one causes interesting consequences.

(Screenshot also from the Wiki :3)

For Mari, that means she's full of a powerful joy and elation to be participating as an active agent of Existence (or Balance) in the universe, but she also revels in destruction and chaos, and every time she transforms she finds it harder to adjust to the more limited understanding that mortals possess. Tikki and Plagg are very worried about her, and Marinette is too, but under careful watch Mari cannot part with the Miraculous and instead presses on-- to her own detriment.

Alya and Adrien, on the other hand, have never met Mari. They're both newcomers to the school, but Marinette as a full-time hero never makes an appearance there. Instead, both Alya and Adrien befriend Nino who is their guiding light. He mitigates Alya's relentless drive to investigate akumas and vouches for Adrien's goodness to the class when Chloe puts it into question. The three grow close, but something's missing.

Alya meets Bug Noire when she's put herself into the battlefield, eager to film the mystery of the akuma and record it to the public on her BugBlog, since Noire herself seldom interacts with the public. Adrien, on the other hand, meets Bug Noire when he's being targeted by the akuma, and his inner desire to help recognizes that Noire, as wild and energetic as she is, seems to be struggling in a way that others don't see.

Noire, drunk on power but still fighting tooth and nail to retain a sense of her identity and her desire for companionship, is ecstatic to speak with Adrien and Alya but tries to keep them away from the fights as much as possible. Adrien and Alya, being themselves, of course don't let this stand and repeatedly put themselves in positions where Bug Noire would be a fool not to rely on them to help wear down an akuma, or evacuate the area, or break an object, or make shaky banter to. This grounds Bug Noire in a way she clings to, and she begins visiting Alya and Adrien not as a Miraculous user but as their friend.

In my head I feel like Alya and Adrien would convince Bug in the end to give them her Miraculous "to inspect" (can we see them!! They're so cool and you can use a break), and Marinette, Tikki, and Plagg would finally be able to speak to Alya and Adrien (and Nathalie and Alya's parents and Nino, presumably) to try to seek out the support they've been lacking after being out in this position. Perhaps this would be the catalyst for convincing the guardians that having multiple Miraculous active is a blessing rather than a needless risk?

Anyways that's all I've got for now!! Thank you for the ask Illy I am giving you a hug

#gray's soapbox #asks #illy 🌠#star emoji for you!!#solitary hero au #miraculous ladybug #bug noire #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #ml tikki #ml plagg #ml gimmi #So many image IDs dies to death #gray draws #long post

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phantomrose96 · 1 year

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The Art of Keeping Secrets

(Back at it with writing fic for a show I've seen like 3 episodes of. I saw this comic by @cadenzarose and my brain took things in a very different direction. 1.3k words. Enjoy!)

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Marinette has two secrets.

The first comes as naturally as breathing. She’s coddled it long enough, held it close enough to her heart so that it’s become part of her identity. Ladybug is her identity, and so is the fact that she may never reveal that it is. Marinette knows how to lie easily now. Deflect, deny, “Oh I don’t recall”, “No, I was walking home”, breathe in, breathe out, easy. There’s something even easier than lying, and that’s never having to lie in the first place. Marinette has learned most people aren’t so observant. Most people would never suspect her. And if they never ask, then she never has to lie.

Marinette’s second secret is so much harder to keep.

It’s new, and it squirms the way new and uncomfortable secrets do. It twists her gut and pushes sweat into her palms. It feels like lying every moment she does not say it. It feels like lying every time Adrien catches the discomfort on her face (He’s observant—at least observant enough to notice this) and asks what’s wrong. “Oh, nothing! Why do you ask?” Does he believe her? Marinette had thought she’d gotten good at lying.

Marinette’s second secret eats her. She thinks of telling someone. Luka, maybe. He would at least understand the weight of it. But she can’t. She knows Luka would do the right thing, and the right thing would ruin so many things.

“Bye, Dad! Marinette and I are heading out to see a movie. I’ll be home before 9.”

Gabriel Agreste stares at them from the heights of his beautiful staircase, stern face set to the glower of a father who doesn’t approve of anything that brings his son happiness. Least of all friends. Least of all a girlfriend.

Marinette sees so much more in that stone face.

Marinette cannot tell Adrien that his father is Hawkmoth.

It eats her all over again.

…

“I think my dad is warming up to you,” Adrien says in a courtesy whisper, even though the previews have not started yet and the theater is empty save for them and an old man nodding off 10 rows ahead. His words are full of hope so deeply misplaced Marinette wonders if he’s lying to himself. “He’s been acting way less—Marinette?”

Oh. Adrien’s looking at her. It should be wonderful to have him look at her like that. But concern creases his brow. Marinette freezes. She feels it’s written all over her face. As if Adrien only stares close enough, he’d know the words playing in her head.

Your father is Hawkmoth, Adrien.

“You okay, Marinette?”

“Oh! Yeah. It’s—I just—it’s just I just have a headache, is all.” That part isn’t a lie. Marinette is bad at lying these days.

Would it have been better if it weren’t a solo mission? If Marinette knew she’d been heading directly into the bowels of Hawkmoth’s lair, she would have called for back-up. She hadn’t known it would be Hawkmoth’s lair. It was only supposed to be the Agreste family manor. She didn’t know until it was too late. She ran before she could think to call for back-up. What would Chat Noir have thought? What would he have done? She hasn’t seen him lately. She can’t ask him. She can’t tell him this secret, anyway.

“--Marinette?”

Oh. Adrien is still talking.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I can walk you back home if you’re—”

“I’m fine!” Lies. And Marinette is a bad liar these days. “Really. Just a headache. I was up too late studying. I have some Advil. I’ll just take some and—” Marinette reaches for a backpack strap which isn’t there. Right. She’s not at school.

“Here.” Adrien hands her his bag. “I’ve got some Advil in the front pocket. Have you eaten yet?”

“Um, no—”

“Then I’ll get some water and popcorn for us. That’ll help.” Adrien stands. The worry is still on his face. “Or, really we can just head home. If you’re not feeling well—”

“I’m fine, really! Popcorn, yes—popcorn would be good!”

He smiles at her. Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth. Adrien is smiling at her and he’s concerned for her. He has no idea how much he should be concerned for himself.

“I’ll be right back.” He leans down and plants a gentle kiss on her forehead. Marinette’s nerves buzz.

He can’t ever know.

And suddenly she’s alone. Holding Adrien’s bag. And it smells like him.

The previews kick on, stuttering and sudden. Marinette startles. The man 10 rows in front jolts awake. Marinette is out of her own mind for the few moments that the first preview holds her attention. She tries to follow it, tries to absorb its distraction, but her mind always pulls her back.

Hawkmoth.

Her head hurts.

Right… the Advil. In Adrien’s bag. Adrien her boyfriend and his dad is Hawkmoth—

Breathe.

Calm down. Come down.

Adrien said it was in the middle pocket, right?

Marinette unzips the middle zipper.

Two beetle-green cat slitted eyes blink up at her. Surprised, then scared, then vanishing all together, with just the remnants of a half-nibbled wedge of cheese to confirm Marinette had seen what she’d seen.

Marinette is good at not saying the words which only Ladybug should know.

Plagg?

She stares into the after-image. The previews fall quiet, and kick into the next film. Marinette isn’t breathing right, but her heart is racing. That was Chat Noir’s kwami. She knows she didn’t imagine it. And Plagg hid himself from her, because she is Marinette, and not Ladybug.

In Adrien’s bag.

Why in Adrien’s bag?

Marinette’s breathing gets shallower. She digs her fingers deeper into the pocket, pressing against the sickly sweaty sides of cheese wedges, until she hits something smooth, something hard, something small. She clasps her fingers around it and raises a single silver ring from the bag’s depths.

Marinette isn’t breathing.

When was the last time she saw Chat Noir?

“Marinette?”

She stows the ring, and snaps to attention. Adrien’s footsteps had always been quiet. She hadn’t noticed him return. He hands her a water bottle, and she takes it with her unoccupied hand.

“Here, for the Advil,” Adrien says, and he offers the popcorn in turn, though he hesitates at the new look on Marinette’s face. “Marinette, are you—?”

“I’m—NOT feeling well, actually…” Marinette says along a shaky exhale. “I’m just gonna go home.”

“Oh. Here, I can walk you—”

“I’ll just call my dad! Really. I don’t want to get you sick.”

“Oh… Okay, well—”

Marinette shoves his bag back at him, and she tries for a nod to temper the look on Adrien’s face before she pivots and stumbles through the row of theater seats.

She presses her fingers against the ring in her pocket as she pushes out of the theater.

She has to get this back to Chat Noir.

(If he’s still alive.)

She has to protect her own Miraculous.

(Assuming Adrien doesn’t already know.)

She has to protect all the others too.

From Hawkmoth.

From Gabriel Agreste.

(From his son.)

Was it foolish of her? To assume she knew something Gabriel’s own son didn’t?

To assume she was protecting Adrien from this?

Was it because Adrien never seemed anything like Hawkmoth?

(Marinette doesn’t seem anything like Ladybug.)

Why did she assume that she and the other Miraculous carriers were the only ones good at it?

The night air feels so much colder now. It’s the sweat on her face.

The son of Hawkmoth had kidnapped Chat Noir’s Miraculous.

A car narrowly avoids her, blaring its horn as it sweeps around. Marinette only touches her fingertips to her pocket, ensuring the ring is still there. Her ears, touching the earrings in place. The ghost of Adrien’s kiss lingers on her forehead.

(Why should only one Agreste be Hawkmoth?)

Marinette has three secrets.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction #ml #mlb #if any of this isnt canon compliant then um. its an au :)#:)))))

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character-fan19 · 2 months

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Love Square Screen Time Records

Hey, everyone! As some of you may know, I've recently completed calculating the exact screen time for all the love square ships for all the episodes we have up until now, including the Miraculous World Specials. Now I've decided to list all the noteworthy moments in love square screen time based on the data I've collected.

We're going to start with doing some general overall records, then we're going to see the noteworthy moments of love square screen time for all the love square ships individually. so let's begin, shall we?

General Records

First episode to include all of the love square ships: Cat Blanc

Of course it's "Cat Blanc' of all episodes to not only be the first episode to have screen time for all the love square ships, but also the only episode by far to have screen time for all the love square ships. It's already one of the greatest episodes of all time, so why not add some screen time for all the love square ships with it too?

We have the Adrienette dating montage, the battle between Ladybug and Cat Blanc, Adrien saving Marinette from akumatization as Cat Noir and revealing his identity along with it too, and finally Ladybug starting this mess by coming in to deliver her gift to Adrien, allowing him to catch her and piece together her identity.

2. First episode to include none of the love square ships: Representation

Closely followed by "Conformation" as the second. Who does this episode have to thank for to having this record? Gabriel, of course. Since Gabriel sent his his son to London specifically so that he can't spend time with his girlfriend anymore, this was the result. Adrien and Marinette weren't able to get together again until the end of "Re-Creation".

3. Love square ship with the most screen time in an episode: Adrienette in "Oblivio"

Not that surprising since a lot of the episode was spent in Adrien and Marinette running from the titular villain and re-learning who they are. It was only towards the end that they were able to figure out how to activate their powers again, thanks to Master Fu, giving Adrienette a total of 9 min 3 sec of screen time in this episode.

Adrienette Records

Episode with the most Adrienette screen time: Oblivio

Since this episode already has the title for ship with most screen time in an episode, it will obviously also have the the title for episode with with the most Adrienette screen time. No need to repeat what I said earlier.

2. Season with most Adrienette screen time: season 5

No surprise here. We don't need to know the exact screen time to know that this season was full of Adrienette. First third of the season had a few patches of Adrienette here and there but from "Transmission" onwards we had a continuous stream of Adrienette content up until "Revolution" where Gabriel separated them by sending Adrien to London, after which the only got back together at the end of "Re-Creation".

Even though Adrienette didn't dominate this season like Ladynoir does every season, it still had over a third of the love square screen time and had 45 min 57 sec of screen time this season which a lot more than it usually has.

3. Season with least Adrienette screen time: season 4

Just like the other love square ships this season, Adrienette took a significant hit, having been reduced to having 12 min 38 sec of screen time as opposed to its usual half hour of screen time per season (roughly). It makes sense though considering that this season is more focused on the plot than past seasons have been and this is supposedly the season of Ladynoir.

4. Miraculous World Special with most Adrienette: New York Special

Makes sense for this to be the special with the most Adrienette as this special had the plotline of Marinette trying to be nothing more than a friend to Adrien, giving us a total of 7 min 40 sec of Adrienette in this 1-hour special, even surpassing Ladynoir in screen time.

5. First episode Adrienette surpasses Ladynoir in screen time: Gamer

Yes, this is an actual category since it's usually the norm for Ladynoir to have the most screen time in an episode. Not only was this the first episode where Adrienette surpasses Ladynoir in screen time, it's the first episode where any ship surpasses Ladynoir in screen time, and also the sole episode in season 1 where an episode surpasses Ladynoir in screen time. Adrien and Marinette being partners in the Mecha Strike tournament really did well to increase the Adrienette screen time.

Ladynoir Records

Episode with most Ladynoir screen time: Mayura (Heroes' Day- part 2)

Kind of an interesting episode to have as the one with the most Ladynoir but OK. This part had the secondary heroes up until now put out of commission by scarlet akumatization in the first few minutes of the episode, leaving Ladynoir to fend for themselves, them against the world just as always.

2. Season with most Ladynoir screen time: season 1

Of course it's season 1 with the most Ladynoir screen time, with this being the show being at its most formulaic at this time, leading the focus to be more on the usual battle with the akumatized villains than with progressing the plot, gives us a total of 1 hr 53 min 26 sec of screen time that season which is nearly 2 hours.

3. Season with the least Ladynoir screen time: season 4

Ironically, the supposed Ladynoir season had the least Ladynoir screen time out of all the seasons. Despite it having the most screen time in terms of percentage, it still had the least screen time in terms of actual value, having a total of 59 min 24 sec of screen time this season, which isn't even an entire hour, although it's pretty close. But since this season focused more on the plot progression than any season we had before, it makes sense.

4. Miraculous World Special with most Ladynoir screen time: New York

Similar to Adrienette, Ladynoir also gets the most screen time it's ever gotten in the New York Special, and just like Adrienette it makes sense given that this special had a lot of focus on their relationship and how Cat Noir broke Ladybug's trust by coming to New York, giving us a total of 6 min 29 sec of screen time.

Maricat Records

Episode with most Maricat screen time: Glaciator 2

Out of all the designated Maricat episodes, this was the one that got the most screen time for Maricat having a total of 8 min 14 sec of screen time. Makes sense, given that the whole episode was them practicing Marinette being able to confess her love to Adrien and going on a "date". "Elation" would be a worthy contender but as it turns out it didn't have nearly as much screen time as we thought though it was still a fair five and a half minutes.

2. Season with most Maricat screen time: Season 4

While season 4 had the least amount of screen time for Adrienette and Ladynoir, it had the most amount of screen time for Maricat, although it was only featured in 3 episodes of season 4 and most of the screen time was concentrated in "Sentibubbler" and "Glaciator 2". This gives it a total of 9 min 44 sec.

3. Season with least Maricat screen time: Season 2

Season 2 had Maricat take a huge hit due to which it became the ship with least screen time in a season for the first time. It only really got to shine a little bit in the designated Maricat episode of the season "Glaciator" and other than that had small moments in "Befana" and "Anansi", leaving it with 4 min 7 sec of screen time in the entire season.

4. First episode Maricat surpasses Ladynoir in screen time: Weredad

After 2 seasons of Ladynoir taking away their designated episode of the season, Maricat was finally able to surpass Ladynoir in screen time with 3 min 57 sec of screen time. Considering that the episode revolves around Marinette getting herself into the mess of Cat Noir thinking she has feelings for him and the awkward date between them set up by Tom and Ladynoir was only present at the beginning and towards the end of the episode, you can see why.

Ladrien Records

Episode with most Ladrien screen time: Desparada

The episode where Ladybug entrusts Adrien with the Snake Miraculous gets the title of the episode with the most Ladrien screen time. It's obvious why since a good portion of the episode is Adrien as Aspik trying to woo Ladybug and failing terribly because he's focused more on that rather than defeating the titular villain.

2. Season with most Ladrien screen time: Season 2

After only having most of its screen time concentrated towards the end of the season aside from "The Bubbler" and "The Mime" in season 1, Ladrien was finally able to get its moment to shine in season 2 with there being several episodes focuses extensively on Ladrien, some even surpassing Ladynoir in screen time, giving it a total of 8 min 46 sec in the entire season which is the most it will ever get as from here on out it, its screen time decreases with ever season.

3. Season with least Ladrien screen time: season 5

Ladrien already usually gets the short end of the stick in Miraculous due to it's lack of a requirement for any development, so naturally, season 5 ends up being the season with the least Ladrien screen time, with us only getting Ladrien in "Passion" with detransformed Adrien holding a Venomed Ladybug and the small scene in "Deflagration" of Adrien handing Ladybug's Miraculous to her. Hopefully, future seasons will give us more Ladrien, but I doubt it.

4. First episode Ladrien surpasses Ladynoir in screen time: Riposte

Since season 2 was the first time Ladrien ever got to shine, it also contains the episode where Ladrien surpasses Ladynoir in screen time, that being the first Ladrien-focused episode of the season, "Riposte" involving the titular villain going after Adrien, hence Ladybug having to protect him and Adrien being unable to go off somewhere to transform.

Conclusion

Well, that's it for all the love square screen time records. Let me know what you think about them and feel free to find any other notable records in love square screen time history by checking my work here. Until next time!

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theerurishipper · 7 months

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Hey I have a question I read some takes that Adrien is a supposedly good liar? How though are there any examples..I always just assumed people never put two and two together with his identity is because he doesn't connect much with the class nor does Gabriel so it made sense in my head. I'm sorry if I don't actually make sense I just assumed that if even one of the classmates kept getting closer with him maybe he'll open up. I thought that'd be Nino but like I feel that he's so much more closer to his girlfriend and with Kagami that scene where she backed him into the wall and she said that wasn't the real him when he did goofy poses made me uncomfortable and sad for him. Marinette kind of disappoints me as a love interest like that time he was in the park on the bench and she decided that this was the perfect time to give him a present made me annoyed like I understood she has such a huge admiration for the guy and will climb mountains for him but I thought she'd get past that and they'd have like a one on one you know a talk. Usually the love interest would start to bond and grow closer but like I feel she's more into the relationship for herself because of this whole fantasy she builds up in her head it's why their relationship kind of a bummer.

I don't think Adrien that hard to get him to open up to but again this is my own opinion. I don't know really I just feel if someone like a teacher, classmate or even Master Fu get him to open up more and more and they start to bond. I feel like all he wants is a relationship to not be so conditional if someone kind enough allowed him a shoulder to cry on or even acknowlege his habits or when he's in a bad mood I think it'd work I ain't sure though. I wish the dude had more male friends.

I don't really get why the classmates just think Gabriel a strict dude when he seems pretty abusive. Marinette especially she knows how strict he is especially in season 5 and the whole adrigami thing and even with Chloe mom lol I think abuse or parental abuse just doesn't register an actual thing in her mind which is weird lol.

I don't watch Miraculous religiously lol I just watch it sometimes so if my takes and memories are wrong please forgive me. I am so sorry for this being a long ask I ramble way to much.

No need to apologize anon! Feel free to ask me anything.

Personally, when I say that Adrien is a good liar, I don't mean lying in the traditional sense. He doesn't do a lot of actual lying (except when it comes to his secret identity), but it's more than he doesn't really reveal his true self to anybody. He doesn't fake his personality per se, but he only shows people the parts of himself that he thinks they will like because he's been conditioned to believe that he has to conform to everybody's expectations of him and be perfect for them. It's why Chat Noir is so different from Adrien Agreste™, because he's always performing in every part of his life. And putting on a mask at all times isn't the best way to connect on a deeper and intimate level with the people around him. I think Adrien's friendships with Nino and Kagami and everyone else is real, and whatever he shows them is genuine, but it's still not all of him, and he still feels the need to hide the parts of him that he feels they won't like. His relationship with Ladybug is an exception (obligatory until Season 4 disclaimer) because while he's still putting on a performance, it's not for the sake of pleasing her.

You mentioned his closeness with Nino, and I always felt that Adrien was more at ease with Nino than anyone save Plagg. He was more relaxed and at ease with Nino in like, Seasons 1 and 2, enough to show a little more of himself, and I got the sense that he was a little more open with Nino. Then Rocketear happened and Adrien pretty much shut down on that front and started to put on the mask even more, and their friendship never was the same after that.

The thing with Kagami is that she was right about Adrien. Chat Noir isn't his "true self," it's a persona based on him acting out in the way he's never allowed to as Adrien. And the model Adrien is a persona crafted based on the demands from his abusive father who expects him to be perfect. Kagami isn't able to see under Adrien's mask, but she's able to understand that he's putting on a front, and she wants him to quit it.

Marinette kind of disappoints me as a love interest like that time he was in the park on the bench and she decided that this was the perfect time to give him a present made me annoyed like I understood she has such a huge admiration for the guy and will climb mountains for him but I thought she'd get past that and they'd have like a one on one you know a talk. Usually the love interest would start to bond and grow closer but like I feel she's more into the relationship for herself because of this whole fantasy she builds up in her head it's why their relationship kind of a bummer.

This is exactly the problem I have with canon Adrienette. Marinette literally doesn't even know that Adrien is putting on an act, and she literally thinks he's perfect. It was so funny to me when Pretension made Gabe out to be so wrong and evil when he accused Marinette of falling wholesale for Adrien's performance, because Gabe was fucking right, damn it.

The problem is that the show never challenges Marinette's view of Adrien. She doesn't have to learn to look past his masks and see him for who he really is, he just up and tells her thanks to an Akuma's influence, and then he spends the rest of the time in Season 5 pursuing her, so she just gets handed her trophy boyfriend without having to put in the effort of getting to know him as a person. The show never wants Marinette to be inconvenienced by *checks notes* learning to see Adrien as a person, and it just wants her to get her dream relationship without an effort on her part to truly understand him. She's not much different from the rest of her class or any of Adrien's fans, because they all just see what they want to see and what he shows them. By virtue of them being the endgame, Marinette should have been special in that she tried to look past the masks to understand the real Adrien once she realized his "perfection" was a front and an act, but she didn't. She remained as delusional about him as she always was and got the relationship dropped in her lap. Thanks, I hate it.

I don't think it's that simple for him to break out years of being conditioned to conform to other people's needs, but the fact remains that, you know, no one even cares. Kagami was literally the only one who cared enough to try and understand him, and even she was made to spend Season 4 as Adrien's bitter ex (not Kagami salt, I love Kagami, this is just writing salt). The rest of the class admits in Felix that they don't really know him, and they never really seem to try to get to know him either. They do care about him, but not that much, you know? Everyone is honestly content to keep seeing him as the perfect guy, and no one tries to see the real him. Like I said, I feel like he was a little more open with Nino in the earlier seasons, and he's more open with Plagg, but that's about it. He was a little more open with Ladybug, but that also went down the drain in Season 4 because of the Ladynoir conflict. It took an Akuma for him to open up to Marinette. I don't blame anyone for falling for his act, but they clearly don't really care to get to know him either. I think you're right in a way, that he would be a little more willing to drop the act if someone tried to understand him, like Nino and Plagg. But no one cares, unfortunately.

Tbf they don't know much about what goes on inside the Agreste household, and they are just kids, so I understand that they wouldn't be able to completely recognize what's going on with Adrien. But the show itself doesn't think Audrey and Gabriel are abusive, and Marinette is basically the mouthpiece for all that, hence the solution is that apparently Chloe and Audrey should just bond, and Adrien should be fed a lie that Gabriel is not a bad guy actually. Marinette seems to have a pretty black and white view of the matter, and since she comes from a loving home, it doesn't really register to her that parents can be so awful. But the show frames Marinette as in the right to push Chloe and Audrey together when what Chloe needs is to get the hell away from that abusive person. It tries to frame her as right for gaslighting Adrien into loving his abuser. It's pretty nasty stuff.

But that's just my opinion. Honestly, I think the best meta on this subject is this excellent post by @fearlessinger. It's a wonderful analysis, I highly recommend it.

Thank you for your ask!

#MLB #Adrien Agreste #Kagami Tsurugi #Nino Lahiffe #Gabriel Agreste #Chloe Bourgeois #Audrey Bourgeois #ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt #Marinette Salt #Not really but tagging to be safe #Ladybug Salt #Meta #My meta #Asks

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fleursroses · 1 year

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Of boys and boxes

Holy shit I reached 250 followers yesterday!! Genuinely I want to thank you so much. So, in honour of that here's finally the fic I said I'd write back in like October (whoops). It's inspired by this post by @ggomos-maribat, so if you're wondering why you got tagged in this, it's because you asked to in case anyone wrote something for it. I hope it lives up to your expectations!!! I will also post this on AO3 and reblog with the link. But for now, enjoy <333

However Marinette thought it would be to be the Guardian of the Miracle Box, she couldn't exactly say it would even come close to reality. Sure, the whole thing surrounding Hawkmoth that got her in the situation in the first place generally sucked a lot, but in a way she knew what she could expect. Then Shadowmoth happened, and Monarch, who eventually all turned out to be Gabriel Agreste, the fucking dad of her longtime crush and partner Chat Noir. Yeah, talk about killing the mood.

Okay, if she was being honest, at that point the feelings for either had been fading for a while, mainly due to all the stress being Guardian put on her life. Sometimes she couldn't help but resent Fu for all that he, although not necessarily on purpose, had forced her to go through, from losing her childhood so early without any guidance, to making her feel like she wasn't allowed to have feelings without putting the world that was laid upon her thin shoulders at risk. It never felt fair though, because she knew Fu had had to go through the same thing. At least she still had some sort of support network.

Still, the whole thing left her too traumatised to really want to pursue Adrien any further, or anyone else for that matter. This was fine by her, and although he was a bit disappointed, Adrien understood and respected her feelings on this matter. She was glad she could still have him by her side, despite it not being the future they had both dreamed of.

However, being left with a bit too much time on her hands, Marinette had decided to focus more on her duties as guardian, wanting to fully uncover its secrets without the threat of having all the kwamis being stolen from her again hanging over her head. And as much as she wished Fu had trained her more, she didn't think he had known about... certain connections the miracle box had to various organisations either. Wasn't that just her luck?

It had been 3 years since Hawkmoth had been defeated, and Marinette had spent most of that time travelling all over the world. Every so often she would return to Paris again though, to meet up with her old friends. They would go out for drinks and Marinette would tell all about the classes she followed online to get a business degree, as well as tell about where she had been and what she had done as Guardian. She had to admit, it was nice to finally be able to talk about being Ladybug, even if the group who knew was still only really small. Or rather, it was nice to have the possibility. In reality, she was so used to being secretive, out of sheer habit she sometimes forgot to mention things other people would undoubtedly have told their friends.

It would go like this: One of the times she was back after a particularly long 5 months away, Marinette invited Adrien, Alya, Nino, Kagami and Chloé to hang out at the bakery with her. Just as she was telling a story about the crazy commission she had gotten from one of Jagged's friends, something she occasionally did to help keep her afloat while she was abroad, she got a call from an, to her friends, unfamiliar name. Apologizing to the group, who assured her it was fine, she answered. Her and the guy on the other end held a short civil conversation, ending with Marinette promising she would drop something of his by his place at her earliest convenience and then ended it just as quickly. When asked about the other guy, she just said "Oh that's just Damian, I met him in Tunisia," and then immediately went back to her story again, as if nothing had really happened.

Yet, this Damian continued to show up in conversations after that. Over time her friends gathered that although they had met in Tunisia, he was apparently American, had a big family and a preference for the same martial arts Marinette did. She didn't talk about him all that much, mostly just mentioned him every so often, like when Alya accompanied her to her favourite fabric store while she was still in the neighbourhood.

"And so this creep comes up to me all macho like I didn't just pepperspray one of his friends right in front of him- Wait Mari check this green satin out, don't you think it would look nice on Adrien?"

Marinette came over and inspected the fabric, and while picking up the roll noted "I think it's a bit too dark for him, but I think it would look really good on Damian instead. He has this weird thing about green as a family colour or whatever, maybe I can make him something?"

Alya looked curiously as Marinette whipped out her sketchpad and sketched out a whole suit while lost in thought. She didn't take it personally, she knew this was just how the other girl could sometimes get when particularly inspired. Interested, she noted that it had been the thought of Damian that did it this time. But then again, Marinette's mind sometimes worked in the strangest ways, and Alya knew better than to pry or interrupt her. So, she just picked up the story where she had left it, knowing it would eventually find its way into Marinette's brain.

"Anyway, at the end the dude was totally crying and I hadn't even done much yet, you'd totally be proud of me girl-"

In the end, Alya couldn't shake her curiosity. Trying to google the guy didn't help much when she didn't have a surname, and look, she just wanted to know the guy was alright. Not that she didn't trust Marinette's judgement, on the contrary, but it would be nice to have a bit more to go off on. Asking Marinette straight up didn't help much either, only getting her vague answers. But as she offhandedly mentioned it to her friends when Marinette was away again, she found they were also eager to bring up their curiosity.

"We don't even know what he looks like! But she likes him enough that she makes him fancy clothes of her own volition!" Chloé lamented dramatically. Although she would never admit it, she was a bit miffed she couldn't find out anything about Damian either. Even her sources couldn't tell her anything, and they usually never failed her.

"I think we should just be happy she is designing again, no matter the reason."

They all fell silent at Kagami's words, remembering how bad the period after Hawkmoth's defeat had been. It was only then Marinete's cracks had visibly begun to show to all of them, partly through several months void of the usual creative outlets and other emotions in general. It had been... rough, to say at the least.

"Still though. I don't think she has designed this much for one person since, disregarding Jagged's commissions. And she doesn't even talk about him! I mean, when I'm alone with her she always talks about all of you like you hung up the moon. I don't think she has talked about one person she likes as little as... as Luka."

Nino looked at his girlfriend incredulously. "Are you seriously suggesting Marinette has a crush on Damian? She barely ever even sees him."

Alya simply shrugs. "I mean, probably not, but it can't hurt to think of all bases, right? But okay, what do you think about this: he is a secret assassin and Marinette made him normal by the power of friendship and now she has to constantly like, check up on him to make sure he doesn't go back to the darkside. No, listen, hear me out-"

Somehow, although they didn't know it, reality had been even stranger. Or well, if they had met years ago Alya could maybe even have been right, but as it was Damian hadn't been part of the "dark side" for a very long time, nor was he in danger of going back. Maybe that would have been sort of preferable to Marinette, but she still supposed her situation wasn't that bad, even though, yes, she was technically speaking kind of stuck. Trying to explain this to her friends was... a feat.

This is all to say they had found out. It happened when she had invited all her friends over to New York to attend a fashion show she had been allowed to design a small piece for when accidentally gaining attention from yet another designer. When afterwards they were just taking a stroll through the city, all talking excitedly, a beautiful woman had come up to Marinette and taken her aside to talk without paying any heed to her friends. For some reason, they started talking in Mandarin. It wasn't a very long conversation, which ended by the woman patting Marinette on the head and walking away again.

When she turned around, she found all her friends staring at her, dumbfounded.

"What?"

"How the hell do you know Talia Head?" Chloé demanded.

Somehow, Marinette only looked at them blankly, like she had never heard that name in her life. Like she hadn't literally just been talking to the actual CEO of LexCorps. When Chloé told her this, recognition slowly dawned on the other girl.

"Right, Talia. I forgot she's doing that now. Hm. I wonder who she has designing for her, I should ask her..."

This time, she pulled out a notebook the others hadn't ever seen before, filling it with the strangest characters. There seemed to be some structure to it, possibly making it a language, but it wasn't one any of them had ever seen before.

Later, Marinette would chalk it up to her unfortunately being distracted, but when Alya asked her how she knew Talia then, if it apparently wasn't for her currently being one of the most well known business persons in the world, she just replied "She's my mother-in-law?" like this was a known fact.

As several voices shrieked "YOU'RE MARRIED??" Marinette suddenly remembered she had not, in fact, told her friends about her marriage yet.

"I mean, yes, more or less? It happened when I went to China again, and I met this League of uh. League of Assassins. But their leader knew a lot about the Miracle Box and he told me he would share everything with me if I married his grandson. Also that I would probably die if I didn't, but honestly I had hit a dead end so I really needed his knowledge, you know? It's fine though, I don't even know if it's like, legally binding. Also we didn't have to do anything besides be married, so. Pretty good deal actually!"

"HE WHAT-" "ASSASSINS?" "MARINETTE"

It took a lot of time for her friends to settle down, and to accept that she was fine and not under constant threat of being assassinated. It was a whole ordeal. Eventually though, it was Adrien who settled it by quietly asking her whether her husband at least treated her well.

"I mean, sure, I guess? He's chill. Also, I am provided with so much more knowledge now, I feel like you're not properly considering that pa-."

She was interrupted by a strange noise coming from her phone. She glanced down, fully prepared to ignore it for the more pressing matters at hand, but upon seeing who had texted her she decided to reply anyway.

"Hang on, he's texting me, I need to answer this."

Random American dude???

My family just found out that I got married. They're being really annoying about it.

Snorting, she texted back, knowing her friends were still watching her every move.

Vous

Funny how that works, my friends did too just now

I blame your mother tho

She then showed her phone to her friends. "See? Damian and I are fine."

It was Alya who made the connection first.

"Wait, if you've actually been married to Damian all along, and your mother in law is Talia Head…"

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG DID YOU MARRY DAMIAN FUCKING WAYNE?"

Taglist:

@nerd-nowandforever @prettykittytanjiro @toughluna @meira-3919 @taewinterbear95 @maanae @hammalammadamdam @swaggermcjagger @countessdragon @starscreamlover @snorlaxly-tired @illusionwolfwriter24r8 @kaitense1 @wildcardjoey @dramatic-squirrel @leftguard66 @mimblizzy @mikami1992 @tinybrie @theg0ddesspersephone @psychicdelusionwerewolf @folk-ever-lore

#maribat #daminette #maridami #mlb x dc #maribat fic #fleur writes

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mc-lukanette · 6 months

Text

Luka had always felt like there was something missing from his life. It wasn't something he could put into words, but it was undeniably there. As if he were a guitar without strings, he grew into a teenager without being able to express it to anyone.

When the news of Hawk Moth attacking Paris came, Luka wanted to do... something. It was like an instinct stirring inside him telling him to go, to go do it, but he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He stood up when he heard the news of danger and looked for someone who wasn't around, or he'd rub at his wrist as if there was something meant to be there.

Things became better yet more confusing when he finally met Marinette. He'd seen her in pictures before but never in person, and he felt a little more whole just at the sight of her. Ladybug added a bit more as well when he got to meet her up close. It felt right and he couldn't help seeing the similarities between her and Marinette.

There was even something deeper - something sad that made his chest feel tight - but he couldn't place it.

Then, the day came when Hawk Moth's latest akuma, Desperada, arrived on the Liberty. It was also the day where everything finally clicked into place.

——

Luka was wandering the sewers, looking out for any sign of Adrien when he heard voices. Following them to their source, he walked until he spotted them from around a corner, though he stood back just in case he was interrupting something important.

Ladybug and Adrien stood there, still mid-discussion. While Luka couldn't see Ladybug's face nor what she was holding in her hands, he could tell that neither seemed particularly happy.

"And..." Ladybug began, "you really don't remember anything?"

Adrien shook his head, desperate to cheer her back up. "No, I do! I remember all the timelines I reset!"

"That's not—" She sighed heavily. "Never mind. Thanks for trying, Adrien."

He looked a mix between utterly dejected and confused, but she didn't clarify and turned around instead.

"...Oh—" She stopped in surprise. "Luka?"

Luka took that as his cue to step out fully, rubbing at the spot his guitar strap would be if he had it on. "Sorry. I didn't want to intrude."

Her reassuring smile was bittersweet. "It's okay. I'm glad you came along, and we were just—" She turned her head to gesture at Adrien, but he'd already run off somewhere. Looking back at Luka, she insisted, "Anyway, it was nothing important."

He decided not to pry, noting how disappointed she looked as if her world had come crashing down. There was still an akuma on the loose and he opted to focus on that instead. "You said you're glad I'm here?"

"Mhm." She held something to her chest, hidden in her fist, and closed her eyes. "I... I need a temporary hero to help me against Desperada."

He eagerly stepped forward, putting a hand to his heart. "Whatever you need, Ladybug, I'm here to help. Anything to protect my family and friends."

She nodded approvingly, perking up. "That's what I like to hear."

Then, she presented the object in her hand to him, and all of Luka's other thoughts ceased. He was certain she was still talking to him - his mind faintly registering what sounded like a rehearsed speech she might give to any temporary hero - but his focus was locked on the bangle in her hand.

Marinette, Ladybug, and now the bangle: the snake miraculous. It felt like everything had been building to that very moment, like the "something missing" in his life was finally about to be filled in.

He didn't hesitate to accept her offer, the bangle feeling smooth and natural in his grip. Taking a breath to steel himself up, he raised his other hand and slipped it through the bangle.

Almost instantly, he was hit with an intense way of dizziness. His vision blurred as he staggered, but he could still make out Ladybug's concerned face.

"Luka?!" she called in alarm, gripping his shoulders to help keep him upright.

Memories flashed in his mind, ones that weren't his own and yet were. Fighting evil, donning the snake miraculous, and the partner who was always by his side all replayed in his mind like a movie set to fast-forward, yet he somehow comprehended all of it.

He'd live a different life, and not just one life but many before his current one. While Sass was known as the kwami of Intuition, the snake represented so much more than that and the miraculous's design showed as much.

Renewal - a cycle that never ends - and with help from Tikki it was all complete: the creation of lives and a cycle of reincarnation. It was an arrangement that he'd had with his ladybug partner with the express permission of their kwami, to essentially go on forever with their undefined but undeniably strong relationship.

It hadn't been perfect. Things weren't nearly as nice in the past before the world had truly advanced, and the most heartbreaking part about it was that they didn't always make it through together. He'd die, or she'd die and then it was just a matter of waiting until they reincarnated again. Luka vividly remembered times where he'd won the battle but wished he'd lost if it meant they could've gone together, even if they would've inevitably seen each other again anyway.

Yet, even that was far preferable to what had happened in his last life, because the biggest difference between his last life and this one compared to all others was time. It was far too long of a distance even though he knew it wasn't the same for Ladybug.

She'd cut him off from the cycle. He recalled his last moments of laying on her lap as she stared down at him with tears in her eyes. She'd grabbed his wrist, hand wrapping around the bangle as she told him not to reincarnate again, or at least not until the world was safer for them to live together freely in. It would have sounded like an order too if her voice hadn't been so faint and sad.

However, he knew it would be enough to make a dent in their agreement. He opened his mouth to beg her to take it back or let him plead his case, but it was too late. His consciousness had been failing him and he closed his eyes for the last time.

And now, in the present, he opened them back up again to see her once more, different yet the same person he'd loved through multiple lifetimes. At some point, she had moved him to sit while he recovered, but he hadn't been able to pay attention due to the sheer rush the return of his memories caused.

"Are you okay?" she asked, cupping his cheek worriedly.

"I—" Luka took a deep, shaky breath, trying to gather his bearings after the intensity he'd been through. There were too many mixed emotions and he still knew better than to throw all of that on Ladybug when there was still an akuma going around. Instead, he told her simply, "I remember."

"You..." Her eyes lit up in recognition, then became glossy with unshed tears. "Y-you remember? You remember!"

She threw her arms around him, pulling Luka into a tight hug while she buried her face into his shoulder. She kept mumbling incoherently against him, but he still picked up a few "I missed you"s and comments about how glad she was to have him back. He felt torn, finding it hard to resist his partner's hug but unable to help thinking about all the time he'd lost with her because of what she did.

After a moment, he relented to his body's almost instinctive reaction to her, placing his hands on her back and focusing on the tightness of her hug. Gently but urgently, he said, "We should take care of the akuma. It's not safe here."

She slowly pulled back, sniffling but nodded in agreement with him. As conflicted as he was about things, he couldn't sit still at her tears either and reached out to wipe a trail of tears away.

The knowledge that they could talk later kept him going.

——

Ladybug had let him keep the miraculous even after the battle was over, agreeing with Sass that the snake miraculous was "back where it was meant to be." Once they'd safely recharged, they took off for Marinette's house to recuperate.

She hadn't even pretended to hide her identity from him anymore. Not only did she already know his, but they knew from multiple reincarnations that trying to keep their identities secret from each other was a losing game.

While Luka laid back on Marinette's chaise lounge, she fled the room to get them drinks and give him and Sass a moment to themselves.

"I've already talked to her," Sass spoke up from Luka's shoulder, having not left it since the detransformation.

"What?"

"About what she did." His tail flicked back and forth almost anxiously and it was difficult to place the exact expression on his face. "A long time ago, over multiple lifetimes, but it's your own choice for how to handle it."

Luka could only nod, though he was more than happy to be filled in on anything that happened while he was gone.

Roughly a minute later, Marinette returned with two ice cold cups of water in hand. She passed one to him and kept one for herself, pulling her computer chair near the chaise lounge to sit close to him.

Even though he'd thought over exactly what he wanted to say ever since he got the memories of his past lives back, Luka's mind was drawing a blank. Undeniably, it was a complicated situation, because although they were still themselves whenever they reincarnated, it didn't stop them from changing as time went on.

Marinette had changed. She was more fidget-y - more anxious - than he remembered in any of his past lives, and he wondered if it was due to not having him around for so many of her own. He didn't want to assume, but he knew that he at least would've grown restless as well had her cycle been cut off and he'd been left without her. They might not have needed each other to win battles or be heroes, but they wanted each other.

"...I'm sorry about Adrien," Marinette suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Luka stared, both surprised to hear that be the first thing addressed and confused because he'd already forgotten about Adrien's involvement in all of this.

She continued, looking away and elaborating, "I-I didn't think we'd be apart for so long, and I wanted you back so badly. I thought that he was the snake." She paused, then shook her head, smiling bitterly. "That's not true. I didn't really think it, I just wanted to believe it. I fooled myself with the idea that having your cycle broken for so long might've changed you, and since you have green eyes as Viperion..." She shrugged for lack of any excuse for herself. "I almost gave up hope before you remembered."

The reasoning sounded crazy even to her, only further showing her desperation on the matter. He looked down at his drink, taking a long sip while he attempted to collect his thoughts.

"Then why'd you do it?" he asked. It was the only thing he could ask. "Why'd you break my cycle?"

She squinted at him like the answer was obvious. It didn't matter if it was or not, he just wanted to hear her tell him in her own words.

"B-because I didn't want to see you get killed anymore?" she replied. The hold on her glass of water shook and she threw her other hand outwards. "And you didn't like seeing me killed!"

"So you thought you should suffer alone," he finished disapprovingly. Already anticipating her potential replies, he added, "I never blamed you, Marinette, or thought it was your fault when something bad happened."

She hunched in her chair with a wobbly frown, staring silently at her cup. Luka felt Sass's weight leave his chest and looked to see that his kwami had flown off, just barely catching the teal and red lights phasing through the floor to give them privacy. Marinette didn't even notice.

"...Maybe some of them were my fault—"

"Marinette," he sighed, not in exasperation at her but at the kind of people who gave her that kind of mindset. He sat up straighter on the chaise lounge, reaching out to take her hand. "You're so smart, but you can't be perfect. I never expected you to predict everything, and I never wanted either of us to stop reincarnating either."

He was sure that Sass had given her an earful of that already, but still felt it important to say it himself.

"Even when we...?" Marinette pressed, still determined to make her point.

The answer came easily to him. "Yeah, unless you didn't want to keep going. Whenever I died, I knew I'd get to see you again next time." He tried to smile despite the heavy topic. "I always got to look forward to seeing how you'd change."

She blushed, her free hand tightly gripping the fabric of her pants. She opened her mouth, stopped, then stood up from her seat without another word. Seeing what she was doing, Luka offered his cup of water and let her take both glasses away to set them on the table, giving them both an excuse to take a breather in the conversation.

Marinette paused at the table, idly moving the glasses back and forth without any real intent to put them in a particular position. There was the small sound of the glass rubbing against the table as she did so, filling the silence.

Finally, she said, "I'm sorry. I figured it'd be worth it to just—scrape by; that knowing you were safe would let me keep going until we met again." She whimpered, her hands resting on the table to support her and curling into fists. "B-but I kept thinking about you. I kept missing you. I kept wishing I didn't do what I did so you'd still be with me, and then I'd feel guilty about it because I was so sure I did the right thing."

Luka pushed himself up, hurriedly crossing the room to be near her. "You're not selfish for wanting me, Marinette, not when I wanted to be with you just as badly." He reached out to grab her shoulder in a gesture all too familiar to them, when—

"I-I was going to confess."

He froze, his hand moving no closer to her as he repeated her words in his head, making sure he'd heard correctly.

She continued, unaware of his struggle, "That day you died - your last reincarnation - I was gonna do it, but everything went wrong." She bent down, shaking at the memory that was so long ago for her yet so recent to him. "I thought... i-it must've been telling me something, like I was bad luck, o-or that it was horrible for you to be around me."

Luka could hear his heart pounding in his head, slotting in her confession with the context of his last reincarnation's final moments. It took all he had to not stand in shock, forcing his body forward so he could touch her. She flinched when he covered the hand closest to him with his own, her teary eyes darting up to his as his other hand found its home on her cheek.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice pained. His chest ached despite the requited feelings.

"W-why are you sorry?" She blinked rapidly from the tears in her eyes. "I thought y-you were upset."

"I am," he began, gripping her hand tighter, "that you were alone for so long, that I missed so many of your lives—" He breathed up, finally saying what he hadn't for multiple lifetimes. "—and that I never told you how much you meant to me."

She gasped inaudibly. "L-Luka?"

"Your pain's my pain." He caressed her cheek, then leaned in to press their foreheads together. "I love you so much, and that won't change no matter how many lives we go through."

Marinette's tears flowed faster, though he knew they were a different variety this time. She tried to reply with what he was sure was an, "I love you too," but it was more noises than coherent words. When that failed, her brows furrowed in determination and she launched herself at him, pressing her lips against his.

Luka staggered backwards, just barely managing to grasp the edge of the table to keep himself from falling over. Marinette's warmth was overwhelming him and all he could do was kiss her back to make up for all the lost time.

He'd never dared to imagine what kissing her could actually be like. There was so much at stake and he didn't want to push her boundaries, so he'd loved her silently. Now, in addition to being her best friend and eternal partner, he was also her boyfriend.

He didn't have the words to describe it, but maybe one day the world would come up with them.

Even when she broke the kiss to breathe again, Marinette clung to him tighter to keep him against her. She inhaled his scent, muttering into his shoulder, "Y-you're back. You're really here. Luka..."

Feeling his own eyes get misty, he ran his hand through her hair to soothe the both of them from the sheer intensity of emotions. "You've always had me, Marinette."

He meant it. His heart had been hers from their first life, their current life, everything in between, and everything that would come in the future. The only thing he hadn't known until this very moment was that it was mutual.

#queuekanette #lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

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flightfoot · 2 months

Note

Do you have recommendation for Adrien centric fic that doesn't revolve around love square?

Yeah sure! Love Square still exists in some of these, but it ain't the focus.

---

Slowly Fading (from my misery) by @wehadabondingmoment

“You’re looking awfully deep in thought today, minou.” Ladybug’s gloved hand stroked over his hair and Chat Noir closed his eyes with an unstable breath. He got like this sometimes. Lately, it had been getting worse. Or: Gabriel likes using the rings to order his son around. After a while, it starts having effects on Chat Noir as well. (The more often Gabriel commands Adrien to act a certain way, the more it gets ingrained in his mentality. He suffers because of it.)

This is a gorgeous fic. Adrien’s been puppeted around, forced to obey orders for reasons he doesn’t understand, for so long, so often that a lot of times his own body doesn’t even feel like his. A lot of residual orders keep on bubbling up and stopping him from doing what he wants to do, and he just… doesn’t understand why. Considering how Adrien looked in Pretension when Gabriel forced him to go to his room so he could talk to Marinette alone, and how desperately Adrien tried to head back there but couldn’t make himself open the door, how terrified and confused he’d seemed, I think his feelings here, his mindset, is pretty close to canon.

---

adrien agreste and the consequences of tweets making fun of yourself by Anonymous

Well, Adrien thinks, what’s the worst that could come from a few poorly thought-out tweets lightly ribbing his own civilian identity?

I love the focus here on how people just assume what Adrien’s thinking and feeling and act on his behalf, without actually waiting to see what HE wants, and Adrien’s growing frustration. How they create a version of him in their heads, but don’t care to check with reality to see whether he actually wants their “defense”.

---

The Parable of the Caller by @nemaliwrites

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest.

But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

I absolutely adore this fic, it’s a fantastic character study for Adrien! Basically in this universe, Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about who should be Guardian, with Chat eventually convincing her that he should be the one to take it on, primarily due to the whole “the Guardian gets amnesia about Miraculous-related matters” situation, and wanting to protect Ladybug from that. Then he finds out Gabriel is Hawk Moth, they take him down, and he relinquishes the Miracle Box and his guardianship to Su Han - all without having a Reveal with Ladybug, since well, he’s not in the greatest shape mentally at the time.

It’s a real treat to see Adrien’s thoughts and feelings about one of the Heroes of Paris leaving him all these voicemails, treating him like this close friend for reasons he doesn’t understand, and just seeing Chat Noir as this outside person. He’s got a very different viewpoint on Chat when looking from the outside than he would from the inside, with being able to see his heroic and good qualities far more easily when he doesn’t know that he is Chat.

Also Marinette’s struggling in the background of the fic with the loss of her partner and guilt over sending Adrien’s father to prison. It gets touched on at various points, and you can tell that she’s having her own story off to the side that we’re just not entirely privy to, what with this tale being told entirely from Adrien’s perspective.

---

Eventually by @lucid-ao3

Adrien’s life has been dictated by rules, monitored, and controlled for years. He has learned to compartmentalize. It’s not that bad. It always gets better, eventually. Doesn’t it?

Recovery can be an unexpected obstacle when you didn’t realize you were being hurt in the first place.

OR: How Adrien lives and copes with the emotional abuse inflicted on him over the years, and how he ultimately could overcome it.

If you want a good “Adrien doesn’t realize how abusive his father is but slowly buckles more and more under his tyranny, until things come to a head, and he actually gets the HELP HE NEEDS” fic, this is a good one!

---

Awaken by InkyIbis

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

It sits there for a long time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Dr. Walker & Kitty Hyde series by @pearl484-blog

Summary of the first fic, Rain Falls, Everybody Lies:

Chat Noir loves the rain. He loves the danger. He loves the excitement, and he especially loves how much Catwalker hates it.

Jekyll and Hyde AU

Adrien AUGreste Entry 3: Rain

So like the summary says, and the title indicates, this series is inspired by the popular conception of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - not how the book actually goes, but how it’s portrayed in popular media, with Jekyll splitting himself in two, with a “good” side and a “bad” side.

During Kuro Neko, instead of just changing his appearance through changing his mindset, Adrien took more extreme measures, sealing off his “undesirable” characteristics, his anger and sadness and all his sharp edges, into the ring so he could assume a more placid, genial persona that’d be more accepted - Cat Walker.

But Chat Noir’s still there, taking over whenever Adrien gets too testy, and desperately trying not to be pressed out of existence entirely. With embodying Adrien’s sealed anger and snappishness and rebelliousness, he’s not too kind to the other heroes - he already felt looked down upon and ignored before this, and seeing them accept Cat Walker while he’s fighting for his life doesn’t endear them to him either.

The series isn’t unfair to them - this isn’t a case where one party is entirely in the wrong and another’s entirely in the right. Marinette, Zoe, Nino, and all the others - they did wonder about what was going on with Chat, but he wasn’t in a position where he could see it, and he did have legitimate questions about how much Ladybug would budge on things, if he’d told her what he was going through. It’s a series that emphasizes characters hurting and lashing out in some terrible ways, but that hurt still being respected, and working things out, trying to get everything to a better place.

---

Shadow of the Chat by @pearl484-blog

Chat Noir discovers that he has a living Shadow. Unfortunately for him, it is not fond of Ladybug. Inspired by the prompt: 5 times Character A and B thought they didn’t have anything in common and 1 time they realized how similar they are.

I wrote a fic based on this one and @wackus-bonkus-maximus fic “One Does Not Love Breathing”, basically importing Shadow into odnlb in order to help take down Monarch. It’s called “One Does Not Love Shadows”, btw.

Anyway, I love how this one-shot uses some of Carl Jung’s ideas about everyone having “shadows”; parts of ourselves that we consciously reject or suppress, and using that to get Chat some help. If you’ve ever played a Persona game, this will be familiar to you, as those games are based off of Jung’s ideas as well.

#ask #adrien agreste #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec

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sariahsue · 7 months

Text

Let Me Count the Ways

Chapter Nineteen - Epilogue

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [Ch 8] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11] [Ch 12] [Ch 13] [Ch 14] [Ch 15] [Ch 16] [Ch 17] [Ch 18]

“So who was he? The boy you loved so much.”

It was evening at the Eiffel Tower, and Chat Noir sat and leaned against a beam. The weather was clear, the sunset was golden, and Ladybug was curled up in his lap, lazing against his chest as he traced his claws across her stomach.

They’d gone on several dates in the last few weeks, and he thought it might be safe enough to finally satisfy his curiosity.

She didn’t answer immediately, just hummed absently while she considered. “I finally got over him enough to see what was right in front of me this whole time.”

Chat Noir felt his face flush. It might have embarrassed him a few weeks ago to display how easily she made him swoon, but he didn’t bother to hide it now.

“It would compromise my identity,” she said, “but I don’t really care anymore.”

He nodded, and his hold on her tightened. That was so much more than he had ever expected and wished for.

Ladybug launched into an explanation. “Okay, so do you remember that first year we fought together? How Chloe’s class got akumatized a lot?”

“Almost everyone in the class got it at least once.”

“Right. I was in that class. And so was the boy I was crushing on.”

Chat was intensely interested, leaning forward and shifting her in his lap.

“I’m explaining this to you,” she continued, “so you don’t make fun of me.”

“Why would I?”

“Because.” She let go of him to hug herself. “I’m not like all the other thousands of girls who had a crush on Adrien Agreste. I personally knew him. We were close friends back then.”

His breath caught at his own name, and it took several seconds for it to return to a normal pace. He wasn’t sure his heart would ever calm down. Not only did she love him now, but she had loved him the entire time.

That also narrowed down the list of people she could be. It had been several years, but he still remembered the roster. Chloe, Lila, Alya, Rose… all those girls he knew couldn’t have been Ladybug. They’d been heroes and villains he and Ladybug had fought either with or against. Their looks were didn’t match, their personalities were too different, and he ruled them all out one by one, until–

“I hate to give you bad news,” he said after several seconds of recovery, “but I know who you are.”

She shrugged, leaning against him again. “I figured you would. You got to know my class well after a year of fighting them.”

“More bad news.” He swallowed around the heart beating in his throat. “You didn’t get over Adrien.”

“I did!” she said, jerking backward. “I love you! More than anything.” Her eyes were wide and insistent, begging him to believe. “I love you with my whole heart. You’re the only person for me. I love only you, I mean it. Why– Why are you smiling?”

“Because you’re lying.”

Her face flooded red, like she’d just cast her Miraculous Cure. And just like the real Cure, Chat Noir was left with the feeling that everything was right where it should be, and safe, and whole. When he cupped her face, she grabbed his wrists to steady herself.

“You love Adrien,” he said, a smile coloring his words. “More than anything.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off with a kiss to the cheek. When he pulled away, her face was scrunched in confusion.

“You love Adrien with your whole heart.” A kiss on the opposite cheek.

Her expression was unwinding, growing loose with what he hoped was comprehension. He waited, holding her. This time, he was the one silently begging the other to believe.

“Adrien is the only person for you.” He kissed her on the nose.

Ladybug - Marinette - didn’t let him get far, holding onto his neck to keep him in place. Are you serious? her expression asked him. You’re not making fun of me right now?

He let his wide smile answer, and one more repeated line. “You love only Adrien, I mean it.”

Chat Noir leaned in one more time, kissing her smiling lips. When he pulled away, he found himself wrapped tightly around her and encircled in her arms. Just where he’d always wanted to be.

“That’s what I said,” she replied. “I love you, Adrien.”

THE END

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Tag list: @clawsout83 @trippingovermyfeet @tbehartoo @yoonjae20 @random-cartoon-fangirl

Author’s note: Thank you for reading! I loved working on this story. When I started, I literally asked myself the question, “How obvious can I make it before he catches on?” and it was so fun to write him being super dumb about everything!

Special thanks to my betas, @jennagrinsoverml, @h-sunnywet-d, and @ladyofthenoodle. You made the story stronger, and I’m grateful!

(Self promo warning) Click here to see my other stories. (Lots of one-shots and a handful of longer stories.) Be on the lookout for my Square Dance fic in Nov. and my Big Bang in Jan. I’ve also got a ton of drabbles that I have ideas for, plus a few one-shots and longer fics that I’m excited to work on!

#ml #ladynoir #fanfic #miracuous ladybug #miraculous

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mcheang · 7 months

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Do you really love me?

Just finished watching Adoration and cannot believe how everyone believed Chloe of all people over Marinette! I mean come on!

Marinette could not forget how easily everyone believed Chloe over her. Chloe!

I mean, she gets Damocles. He won’t stand up to the mayor’s daughter.

But her own parents? (I was angry at Anarka too but at least she didn’t sound angry or that disappointed. More like a confused disappointment)

Going back home, Tom and Sabine sighed in relief about how glad they were things went alright in the end.

Marinette fidgeted. “Mum, dad. How could you believe Chloe, the school bully, over me?”

Time froze.

Tom: we were caught up in the moment, that’s all…

His excuse was weak and they all knew it.

Marinette: really? I remember you coming to my defense when Lila framed me. I remember dad defending me when it was Chloe who accused me of stealing her bracelet.

Sabine: Marinette is right, Tom. We failed you. And we’re deeply sorry, we hope to be able to prove ourselves to you again.

Marinette said in a quiet voice. “Then maybe try not believing every thing you hear from questionable sources.”

That night, Sabine and Tom tried to keep themselves calm as they mourned their grave mistake.

Tom: there must be something we can do. Perhaps we can get back at that Chloe girl

Sabine: her father’s the mayor, the principal won’t even punish her. I was thinking about someone else. Lila.

Tom: that poor girl with the lying disease?

Sabine: yes, her. She’s in my class, and while she is very sweet, now that I think about it, the comments she makes about Marinette aren’t that nice, once you think about them. She was trying to turn me against my own daughter.

Tom: uh, are you sure you’re not letting your guilt try to imagine scenarios where you can make things up to Marinette?

Sabine: here are some of the things she said to me.

“I’m surprised Marinette didn’t tell me you had a class. Oh, I do hope she isn’t holding a grudge against me.”

“I’m not going on the girls’ night out, I think I still make Marinette uncomfortable.”

“Have you heard the news about Adrien and Marinette, Sabine? Isn’t it romantic? And Marinette has finally given up on her extensive planning, which is a relief, because some of them were kind of alarming. Can you believe she once stole his phone to delete her voice message?”

Sabine: That last one was just yesterday, how coincidental to remind me of Marinette’s…strange phone thievery just when Chloe should frame her for it. Tom thought back through these quotes. “Upon first impression, it all sounds innocent and sweet. But if we really think about it, it sounds like Lila is trying to make Marinette look bad.”

Sabine: Right? If Lila is not so innocent as we believed at first, perhaps this is a chance to make amends to Marinette.

Tom: And…how do we do that?

Sabine: I still have Isabella’s number after the parent-teacher conference. How coincidental that Lila told me in our following class how her mother prefers solitude and prefers relaxing at home to making new friends.

Tom: and if Isabella says no anyway?

Sabine: then we find another way to see if Lila is a liar. But first things first, Alliance! Message Isabella asking if she would like to join me for an afternoon tea.

Ten minutes later, Isabella sent her reply: yes. It would be a delight to sightsee in Paris, I haven’t done much of that because of all the akumas.

Tom raised an eyebrow. “She sure doesn’t sound like someone who likes to stay at home, but maybe it’s a reaction to the akumas.”

Sabine: that’s what I’m going to find out

And boy was that afternoon tea something!

From Isabella, Sabine was shocked to hear the woman dismiss Ladybug and Chat Noir as incompetent for not defeating Hawkmoth sooner, even asking how Sabine can support them when it was all those akumatizations that got the school closed down.

Sabine: closed down? I admit, whenever the akuma attacks, the school will end for the day, but the students are always given their assignments and lessons online instead. And they always go back to school the next day.

Mrs Rossi: I’m sorry, what? Maybe Lila is a special case. My poor bella, she’s been unable to attend class all semester, probably terrified she will be akumatized again.

Sabine smiled understandingly, her mind working furiously. How interesting. Lila missed so much school and instead took online classes. And yet, Sabine distinctly recalled Lila bragging about how the reason Sabine didn’t see her before was because she was visiting Achu with her mother.

Sabine: it’s so good that you’ve been getting her out of Paris then. I’ve never been to Achu but I know someone who just adores the prince for his charity work.

Isabella blinked again. “Achu? No, I’ve never been there. Perhaps it was one of the places Lila told me she wanted to visit. Not that I can help there,” Isabelle sighed. “Work keeps me busy, so I don’t really have time for an extended vacation to take her there.”

Sabine kept her expression controlled. So Lila had been lying after all.

After some more scones and tea, Isabella left Sabine with her thanks for showing her such an amazing cafe, and some unintentionally given information about her daughter.

Later at night, as Sabine told Tom what she found out, Tom frowned. “What if this can all be traced back to her lying disease? And Isabella is trying to protect her daughter?”

Sabine: I considered that but I think Isabelle really is that sheltered. She doesn’t know how akumas work if she thinks a school is shut down for months!

Tom: so what do we do now then? We don’t actually have proof and we can’t record someone without their permission.

Sabine: no, but we can force the principal to expose Lila’s lying disease after he tried to expel Marinette.

Tom: have you met Damocles? He won’t take kindly to our demands, and even he was moved by Lila’s story

Sabine: no, but I know where the Owl likes to hang out. And in front of so many people, I’m sure the Owl will promise to expose Lila’s disease if only to stop everyone from doubting Marinette!

Sabine’s plan worked. With the right wording and fake tears, the sympathy of everyone and feeling the crowd pressure that Sabine might be akumatized, Damocles quickly agreed to announce Lila’s disease, if only so no one gets akumatized by her false promises. To make matters more satisfactory, some students from Marinette’s class were there to witness their own principal admit to knowing about Lila’s lying disease and that he kept it a secret out of fear that everyone would treat Lila differently. He sees now that he is wrong. Lila’s friends are good people, they won’t isolate her because she can’t stop lying.

The next day, Marinette came home with a spring in her step. Sabine smiled happily.

“Good news, dear?”

“Principal Damocles finally exposed Lila’s lying habit. Now everyone is taking her words with a grain of salt.” Marinette turned to her mother, “And I have you to thank for that mom.”

Sabine was surprised. “Me. What do you mean?”

Marinette: Alix told me about the incident with the Owl yesterday. You were totally faking weren’t you?

Sabine: your father and I realized we were wrong and wanted to make it up to you. We thought about what you said, and while we couldn’t get the principal to punish Chloe, we could make him expose Lila. What you said about blind belief made me question everyone you might have a conflict with. Chloe, Sabrina, Felix, Lila, just to name a few. Chloe protects Sabrina. Felix is awol. That just made me think of Lila, and how you two are still at odds with each other. And as I tried to think about what makes you unwilling to forgive Lila, I thought over my own interactions with her, and I saw how subtle her words were against you. I am sorry, Marinette, for not believing you about her either.

Tom stepped up. “So am I”

Marinette got teary eyed. “You guys…” she ran to gave them a hug.

Lila was not akumatized that day, but she found out why the principal was suddenly exposing her supposed disease. She doesn’t entirely suspect Sabine of intentionally antagonizing her, but it doesn’t matter. The whole Dupain-Cheng family is now on Lila’s hit list.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #post adoration #ml salt fic

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a-flaming-idiot · 4 months

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A list of Miraculous headcanons a friend and I have collected over time of indecently chattering about Miraculous Ladybug. Despite the fact, we both hate it and haven't seen most of the series.

Nathalie is the daughter of an Italian crime family

She left to work for her friends Gabriel and Emilie but still keeps close contacts with her family(For "Emergencies")

Nathalie has made a few people "disappear" as needed over the years

Both by her own hands and by calling in a favor from one of her brothers or cousins

Gorilla is Russian which is why he never speaks since he barely understands a word of French

Gorilla got into some big trouble as a young man and ended up having to get saved by Nathalie's family which landed him in debt to them and working for the family

Gorilla has known Nathalie since she was a little girl

Gorilla has nicknames for a lot of the other characters

Little Bird - Nathalie, Little Red - Marinette, Candy Cane Fashion Man - Gabriel, Little Cat Boy - Adrien

Nathalie dragged Gorilla with her to Paris when she went to work for the Agrestes, against Gorilla's wishes

Gorilla didn't like the French, calling them "Baggette munching surrender monkeys"

That was until he walked into the Dupain-Cheng bakery and met the most imposing Frenchman he'd ever seen in Tom

Then immediately followed by getting hit in the face with a baker's peel by Sabine who saw a giant silent man rushing at her husband and the register and reacted as so(Gorilla wanted to greet Tom but was too intimidating for his own good)

Marinette has only recently come to Paris and so still speaks very little French

She is adorable and struggling but getting along, especially after befriending Adrien

Adrien is helping Marinette to get better at French since he also speaks Mandarin Chinese and is pretty familiar with being surrounded by other languages he doesn't know

Adrien speaks French, not-perfect Mandarin, and a bit of Italian and Russian

So Adrien has regularly had the experience since of catching only a few words as Nathalie yells at Gorilla in Italian, Gorilla argues back in Russian, Marinette asks a million questions in Mandarin, and Gabriel is loudly bewildered in French

Gorilla respects Marinette since her parents are awesome and she also is a confused foreigner who cannot speak French

They sometimes just nonverbally communicate at each other

Think random finger guns and knowing nods

Gorilla and Nathalie chauffeur Adrien and Marinette on their silliness both as a part of their job and to escape Gabriel

This is less of a headcanon and more of just a shared fact that neither of us trusts Emilie. That bitch is up to something in her casket

Gorilla has given the kids alcohol before since in Russia, they would be able to drink.

"A little part of Russia, come with me~," he says, as he's about to give two teenagers vodka.

Gorilla once got akumatized into a Russian themed villain. But all he did was take over the Agreste mansion, make it look like the St Basil's Cathedral, throw Gabriel into the basement with a note on the door that just says "Makeshift Gulag", and make sure Adrien has a good day.

Ladybug was very hesitant to let Gabriel out of the basement

Especially after Akumatized Gorilla kindly invited Marinette's family over for dinner

It was a very interesting day

Really It's more of an AU at this point but most of them are applicable to canon.

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #miraculous ladybug headcanons #marinette dupain cheng #nathalie sancoeur #gabriel agreste #miraculous gorilla #Placide I.T.#miraculous au #none of this makes sense #But it gives me a reason to do a bad Russian accent and make my friend laugh #So we make do

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another-miraculous-ladyblog · 2 months

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I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON LUKA AS A CHARACTER AFTER WISHMAKER AND I’M GONNA DUMP THEM HERE

Luka is such a cool character and he has been a rock for marinette when things got rough for her, but beyond just being a really good and supportive friend I’ve gotta say that if anyone was going to find out both ladybug and chat noir’s identities, luka was definitely the best person for the job. like Marinette better be happy she was basically stuck giving that boy the miraculous of the snake because he might actually be the only one who can handle that level of responsibility.

First of all, he’s ridiculously level-headed until it’s his friends or family who are threatened. I don’t think he’d be akumatized unless someone came directly after his family or friends instead of him- the dude’s ridiculously patient and even-keeled, and as we know from Silencer, a gentle soul. Still though, this guy handles the information of who ladybug and chat noir are ridiculously well.

Like ignoring the weight of the responsibility for a second, just look at how hard it’s got to be to keep his mouth shut on a frustration level- he’s got so much on his plate already and now he’s got to watch these two knuckleheads be the level of oblivious and awkward that they are as civilians knowing full well how close they are as superheroes and how in love both of them are with each other (without knowing it) with a patient smile? The frustration we feel from watching the love square? This boy is living it.

Plus we know from Truth just how important that honesty is to Luka- he values it so so highly and holds himself to such a high standard, but when ladybug asks him point blank to his face whether or not he found out their identities, he lies without hesitation. He literally says that they were never hit (side note: why would he have used second chance then? idk ladybug didn’t ask so she probably assumed something else went wrong or they got stuck since he did seem to let her know that they had used multiple chances so whatever).

He lied to this girl who he cares about so much and compromised his own principles so soon after them being emphasized in Truth without questioning it because he

1. obviously cares about marinette/ladybug and chat noir/adrien and wants to protect them but also

2. because he understands that the responsibility that has been given to him as Viperion has to come before his own principles for the greater good.

He takes his hero-ing seriously, which is what you need from someone who’s going to be given the ability to play with time and potentially be your last resort if everything else fails. He’s known this, but I think after having that responsibility really play out in this episode at the expense of his own principles, he probably understands Marinette and the pressure she was facing and the weight that comes with being a miraculous holder even better than before. He probably went home and rethought everything, especially what happened in Truth with Marinette.

And speaking of the RESPONSIBILITY? All that while trying to not get akumatized and not hint EVEN TO LADYBUG/MARINETTE HERSELF (his friend and the guardian who trusted him with that miraculous) that he knows her identity or chat noir’s? And not hint that they really know each other in real life? And not slip at all even though he hangs out with both of them as civilians all the time?

Like he’s just gonna sit on that information and that responsibility of being the only person in Paris who knows both of their identities and not physically implode from the stress or tell anyone? Knowing that if anyone finds out he will become Shadow Moth’s number 1 target? But he won’t jeopardize his friends by even letting marinette know that he knows so he can talk to someone about it? Like I know he isn’t getting paid but someone get this boy a raise 😭

#he’s not paid enough for this shit #all these children have too much responsibility but this child is insane #I’d start twitching having to watch Marinette fall all over Adrien and then be cool and confident as she rejects chat noir #same for if I had to watch adrien’s oblivious ass ignore marinette as he makes heart eyes at ladybug #the patience on this child #too much responsibility I might implode #I’d have to tell her because I wouldn’t trust myself to know how to handle that without discussing it #it was a bold move on his part really to not tell her he knew #luka couffaine #mlb luka #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #mlb marinette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #mlb adrien #chat noir #mlb spoilers season 4 #mlb season 4 #mlb season four #wishmaker #mlb wishmaker #lukanette #character analysis #mlb character analysis #Luka character analysis #my thoughts

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