#i don’t like that it makes alya less special i’m sorry

[ladyofthenoodle]

now on to the thing i didn’t like in derision: socqueline. to me, that was the part that felt most like a retcon, because marinette’s reaction to alya in origins makes less sense if socqueline defended her before. why is she so amazed that alya can stand up to chloe? why would she give the ladybug earrings to alya, a girl she just met, and not to the girl who was her personal hero the year before? the girl who inspired the ladybug pigtails?

[mcheang]

Reality

As Nino lays out his plan for targeting Gabriel, Alya points out one thing. “Sure I know Ladybug can fix the mess an akuma causes. But Gabriel will still be mad. He already doesn’t like you, Nino. Don’t push it. For all we know, Gabriel might threaten to transfer Adrien to a different school. Remember, he totally lost it when Adrien lost his book?”

Nino: oh…right. I didn’t think of that. Then, who do we target?

Marinette grins sneakily. “I know someone who can get upset very easily.”

Adrien: really, who?

Marinette: i don’t want to spoil the surprise.

Later, as the parent-teacher meeting commenced, Marinette bursts in, “Oh, I’m so sorry to barge in like this. But I forgot I needed Mrs Rossi’s signature for Lila’s trip to Achu.”

Caline: Marinette, can’t this wait?

Mrs Rossi: what trip to Achu?

Caline and Marinette look at her. “You know, the trip she’s taking to join Prince Ali in teaching children for free. It’s such a shame that she won’t be able to attend the school’s weeklong camping trip but it’s for a good cause.

Mrs Rossi stands up. “My daughter is doing what?”

Caline: why are you so surprised, Mrs Rossi? Lila went to Achu for months less than a week after she joined Dupont.

Mrs Rossi: she told me the school was shut down from akuma attacks!

Marinette pretended to look faint. “Oh no, was it because of her special lying disease?”

Mr Cesaire looked skeptical. “A lying disease…? Do you mean compulsive lying?”

Gabriel almost regretted not being able to akumatize Mrs Rossi, if only to make up for losing Lila Rossi as a spy since clearly Alliance can no longer use her. Oh well, there’s always the fallout when her sheep find out.

Alya and Nino were recording this with open mouths. Adrien wasn’t so bothered by this after seeing more of Lila’s hateful personality.

Needless to say, the parent-teacher conference was delayed as Sabine then angrily wanted justice for her daughter if she was indeed framed by a liar. Gabriel had to admit the teaching faculty here was lousy to fall for Lila’s reception, but that’s what makes this place so prime for his akumas! Why did he send Adrien here again? Oh right, it’s the most prestigious school and he’ll never hear the end of it from Andre because Chloe would never accept his perfect son being in another school away from her.

Later, after Marinette received an apology from Mrs Rossi, she agreed to bring Lila up. Alya and Nino looked apologetic. “We’re so sorry we didn’t believe you.”

Marinette looked behind her. “It’s ok. Keep recording. If Mrs Rossi isn’t angry enough to attract an akuma, her daughter will be. Nothing akumatizes Lila like being caught.”

Lila was immediately suspicious when Marinette of all people came to get her, however it was subdued by Marinette’s poorly hidden dislike and the fact that it was Gabriel who asked her to come.

Certain that Mr Agreste wanted her help against a stupid boy’s resistance team, she agreed.

Boy was Lila surprised to see Sabine and her mother standing in front of the classroom instead of Mr Agreste, who looked disappointed in her.

Uh oh. Now Lila could see Marinette’s triumphant face and could see what had happened. Her one consolation was that the team’s plan to anger a parent into akumatization had failed. Though she was also irked she couldn’t get akumatized and make that loser suffer for exposing her like this. This is worse than Ladybug’s exposing her in front of Adrien!

As Lila was dragged by her mother to the principal’s office, Caline tried to resume the parent-teacher conference though it was clear all now felt disheartened by her incompetence.

The resistance was confused. Angry Rossis and disappointed parents were around. Where was the akuma?

Eventually they had to give up. What a waste of free period.

Not entirely a waste though since Lila was now exposed. Alya sent the recording to the whole class as the parents left.

Outraged gasps were heard everywhere.

Nino: why didn’t you wait till class was about to start? Then we could prepare to record the akumatization.

Adrien: if Monarch didn’t come out for Mrs Rossi and Lila, I doubt he’ll come for-

Reverser promptly swooped by, ready to turn Lila nice and honest.

Adrien: never mind.

Marc was deakumatized and the class apologized to Marinette for not believing her.

Lila returned to class, sulky in her forced apology, not really bothered by their angry reactions now that she was expelled. Only Marinette’s smug attitude infuriated her. Having been forced honest by Reverser, she had confessed to having duped two other women into being her mothers and had initially planned on running away to join one of them. Her mother now has their numbers. It was a nightmare.

Alya: who else can we akumatize for the greater good? Mayor Bourgeois?

Marinette: I don’t think our plan works if we our expected target isn’t even akumatized. We’ll have to think of something else.

Monarch is disappointed he won’t get to akumatize the akuma class again for a while. Ah well, it can be a favor to Adrien.

[crimsonmonsoon]

I am considering dropping Miracle Box as a project.

I am very sorry to say that, especially since recently it’s been gaining more attention now that the first book is complete. And especially since I just posted the first chapter of the New York special, but I feel like maybe it is not the best idea to peruse such a project that gives nothing in reward.

I wish I had just wrapped up the story in the first fic but I hadn’t planned on it and purposely left loose ends to branch into the future fics following it. But I didn’t.

Now for those of you who care I figure I ought to explain why this is a thought going through my head:

Miracle Box was something I was passionate about but it was always fueled by anger for the show and as it went on it started feeling less like an mlb rewrite and more like a angry pit of violence and conflict and angst because I was just putting EVERYTHING into it. It is a hefty project that would have four books if you count the New York special, and even an additional fifth one if I did the Shang Hai one too. But I am not getting paid to write this. Book one on its own was 40k words longer than the book I wrote that I’m supposed to actually make money for.

Fanfiction for me has always been about practicing my writing skills before I put them into something real. But the style of writing I had to use for miracle box followed a storyline as if being told by a TV series, as that would fit it. I am fully capable of doing that, in fact, that’s what I’m majoring in. But as a book? It just looks sloppy. And what I mean by this is having scenes told by characters who aren’t the main characters, perspectives switching in the middle or abruptly after a scene, pacing focusing strictly on one or two characters who aren’t the main protagonists (in this case my Alya arc), having flashbacks told by no one simply to just show them for the reader, etc. That works for building comics and TV series and movies. Not for a book written the way I write. It feels like I’m ripping myself apart when I do that and that was for a majority of Miracle Box.

MLB as a show is just a mess. I can’t even get through season five it is painful to watch. I’m cringing at everything and the scenes people fantasize over are giving me second hand embarrassment for some reason. I don’t connect to the fandom that well and it’s so much easier for me to talk about literally anything else. My blog is centered on miraculous but in reality, mlb is like… one of my least favorite pieces of media, I can’t stand it, I don’t understand it. I would rather be able to have my blog focus on marvel or Atla or anime or literally anything BUT miraculous.

And lastly, this is more private but I feel like I need to share it to justify wanting to skimp out on this project, I’m dealing with a considerable amount of physical pain right now. I don’t want to explain what’s going on but just know that doing things like sitting up for over 30 minutes causes me way too much physical distress. I power through it all the time anyways but if I’m going to be writing I don’t want to waist my efforts on a fanfiction but rather finish editing my second book so I can get it published.

Basically I’m depressed :’)

I don’t know what to do with Miracke Box it kinda feels like I’m abandoning a child on the street. So to serve it Justice I might make a series of videos talking about how the story was going to go and the lore of all the things I created because there is still SO MUCH to unpack with it.

Anyways. This post was only for my followers but I doubt many people will find it who isn’t a follower anyways but if you are that stranger, what’s up, you should buy my book, Land of Armonia, on Amazon.

[kagayakuseiza]

(About autistic character) there wasn't any confirmation but I'd like to hear your theory 🤔

Thank you for sending this, and I’m so sorry for taking several months to answer this! I’ve finally decided to scrap the draft I’ve had saved on my computer and finally answer it!

Being as it has been months since I last posted on this topic and I doubt most people who see this post will have seen the previous post this is referring to, so basically, at one point Astruc hinted that there was an autistic character in ML but didn’t say who it was. Someone asked him if he would ever consider creating a character with Asperger’s Syndrome, and his response was something like “if you look closely, you may find that there already is one.”

So, my theory is that it’s actually Marinette.

Now I ask that people please hear me out on this before jumping on me for having such a theory about the main character, and also keep in mind that a lot of this comes from my own experience, as I am #ActuallyAutistic myself.

So one of the first things people think of when they think of autism is the social awkwardness aspect. The degree of social awkwardness that Marinette displays may not be the degree of awkwardness that fits common conceptions of what an autistic person would look like, but that’s not uncommon for autistic females, as we are more likely to assimilate “normal” social behaviors through “masking” than our male counterparts. (This also would add an extra dash of irony, for Marinette to still have a figurative “mask” when she’s not in the Ladybug costume…) We do see however, that Marinette becomes flustered very easily (often with Adrien, but in enough other cases that we can safely say it’s a typical thing with her), and in these cases she struggles to find words, seeming almost as if she’s trying to find what she should say instead of what she actually wants to say. This could possibly be a case where an autistic person is able to mask enough to mostly seem “normal,” but still has awkward times when they struggle to do so. Rather than being recognized as autistic, such individuals are often just viewed as “quirky,” which Marinette has canonically been called.

Another thing about Marinette that I didn’t think a whole lot about until I started wondering about the autistic character, is the degree of dread she has for the first day of school in Origins 1, outright stating at one point “I hate first days.” Perhaps one of the reasons for this is because it’s an entirely new routine to get used to. She may not have the type of rigid daily routine that many autistic people do (neither do I, actually), but there does seem to be some need for sameness, so big overall changes like a new class schedule can be distressing. Other signs that she may like some degree of sameness can be seen in how she has always sat in the same spot in her homeroom class, and briefly noted routine activities such as how it is mentioned in Animaestro that she bakes a single passionfruit macaron every Sunday.

So now there’s stimming, which of course most autistic people do. We often see her waving her arms when she’s either excited or flustered, which other characters do in fact notice, as noted by Alya in the New York special. There are also times when we see her nervously tapping, a particularly visible instance of which can be seen near the beginning of Prime Queen. On more than one occasion when she’s intently thinking about something, we see her pacing back and forth (which also happens to be one of my stims). Also worth noting is that some people stim by doing repetitive crafts such as sewing and knitting, both of which Marinette canonically does.

Autism can affect motor function, resulting in many autistic people being extremely clumsy. I feel no need to further elaborate on this point.

Next I want to talk about special interests. This is another area where females on the spectrum can often differ from males. The special interests of some autistic girls are often overlooked as such because they can often be things that are considered normal and appropriate for girls their age, such as, for instance, fashion, which is shown to be important to Marinette. However, I want to point out that a special interest can be literally anything, including... a person. (I am so going to get hate for this...) If someone’s special interest were a person, then they might know things like that person���s schedule, likes and dislikes, multiple middle names and the days associated with each of said names, work habits... you get the picture. (Side note: I don’t think that Adrien possibly being a special interest would make her feelings for him any less valid, especially given that she often tries to use her knowledge about him in attempts to make him happy.)

And there are other little things like how she doesn’t always notice right away when called on, or occasional failure to control the volume of her voice.

Anyway, in all of the time I’ve spent thinking about this before finally managing to type it out, I’ve gone from thinking this might be it, to having fully convinced myself, so now, although I’m sure some people may not agree with this theory, you’ll have to pry my autistic!Marinette headcanon from my cold dead hands!

[angelofthequeers]

Free to Be You and Me: chapter 17

Chapter 16 | Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Look, I just re-used my Alya suit design from chapter 19 of ‘Hold Me By Both Hands’ with a few tweaks to suit the context of this story. Sue(it) me.

“So,” Alya says as she and Marinette push through the multitudes of people pouring out of the school gates, “when are you gonna tell him?”

“Huh?” Marinette says. “Tell who? What?”

Alya rolls her eyes. “Chat. About me. Duh.”

“What?” Marinette’s head whips around. Thankfully, everyone around them is too focused on their own lives and dramas, so no one seems to be listening or even able to hear their conversation. Though she wouldn’t put it past Lila to pop up out of nowhere. “Why would I –?”

“Marinette.” Alya facepalms. They happen to be crossing the road at this point, so it’s up to Marinette to guide her exasperated best friend across safely while Alya’s face is covered. “Don’t tell me you’re not going to tell Chat Noir that I’m a perm now.”

“Of course not! The fewer people who know, the better!” Marinette waves her hands around in a desperate attempt to make Alya understand. “Chat knows about you and then he takes another hit for me and gets brainwashed and spills to Shadowmoth that you’re a permanent hero and Shadowmoth will know there’s something special about you and target you and our identities will be revealed and I’ll lose Chat and –”

“Whoa. Whoa. Okay.” Alya suddenly stops, which almost makes Marinette trip over her own feet in surprise until Alya grasps her by the shoulders. “First of all, you really need a therapist.”

“Therapist? Pfft,” Marinette scoffs. Her eye twitches. “I’ve got tiny gods living in my room! I’m fine!”

Alya raises an eyebrow and resumes walking, pulling Marinette with her. “Right. Okay, let’s just skip over that and go back to the beginning. Why would Shadowmoth know about me?”

“Because I’d be telling Chat that you’re permanent –”

“Yeah. You’re telling him that there’s a new Fox hero who’s not a temp. Why on earth would he think it’s me?”

“Because…” Marinette’s shoulders slump. “I was under the impression that I’d be telling him everything. To keep him in the loop. So he didn’t end up akumatised like Nino. And if he knew Rena was permanent and then Shadowmoth found out…”

They make it to the bakery by then, so Marinette’s conversation with Alya is put on hold while they say their hellos to her parents on their way up to her room. Once the trapdoor is shut and the kwamis are flying around, with Trixx ducking out of Alya’s bag to join them, Marinette sighs and sinks down onto her chaise.

“Okay, back on-topic,” Alya says, sitting down next to her. “Why would you tell Chat that Rena’s the new perm hero? He only knows, like, a few of the other heroes and he’s cool with that. He doesn’t need to know anything apart from Rena being retired, especially since he doesn’t even know my identity.”

“But…I thought after the other day, with Nino…”

Alya laughs. “Marinette, there’s a difference between keeping someone in the loop while not telling them everything, and just outright keeping them in the dark. That’s what I learned after we saved Nino. I haven’t told him everything about –” She gestures to the two of them. “– this, you know, just like how you told Chat that someone knows your identity without actually telling him who I am.”

“Oh.” Well, now Marinette feels silly. “I just…want to protect him. The less I tell him, the less useful he is to Shadowmoth.”

“Until he gets so upset about being kept in the dark while you’re running off with me that he’s vulnerable to Shadowmoth’s influence. You know, like a certain person did when she knew her best friend was keeping secrets but wouldn’t share anything.”

Marinette’s blood freezes in her veins. Icy blue eyes flash before her – white, cold, broken, devastation – and she forces herself to take a deep breath and dig her nails into her forearms to ground herself.

“Oh,” she whispers. When she peeks up at Alya, her best friend’s face is soft and understanding.

“I’m sorry.” Alya holds out an arm and waits for Marinette to nod before pulling her into a hug. “I didn’t mean to –”

“No, you didn’t,” Marinette interrupts. “You didn’t mention anything about that. That’s…just where my mind keeps going.”

“Still, I should’ve realised.”

“Alya, if you try and nail every single thing that gets to me, even Mullo wouldn’t be able to help you.”

Alya snorts. “You are so messed-up, girl. When this is all over, you’re getting your boyfriend to pay for the best therapist around.”

“I’m not gold-digging for therapy!” Marinette splutters, her cheeks flaming at the reminder that yes, Adrien is her boyfriend. Adrien Agreste is her boyfriend. No one knows how hard it is to sit behind him every day, knowing that she’s the girl he’s in love with when he has no clue, and she can’t just go up and kiss his brains out! Alya just laughs long and loud.

“I love you, Marinette, I swear,” she chokes out, wiping her eyes. “The things you say.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Marinette grumbles, crossing her arms. “So, when do you want to tell him? Tonight?”

It takes another minute for the traitorous Alya to get herself under control. “Y-Yeah,” she finally manages to wheeze. “You have patrol tonight, right?”

“Yep. That’s why I figured tonight would be best. No time like the present, right?” Marinette pastes on a cheerful grin. Alya just rolls her eyes.

“You’re killing me,” she says and starts to rummage around in her bag. “Let’s just get as much homework as we can done before your patrol. It’s not like you’re far enough behind already.”

“Ouch,” Marinette says. “Rude.”

“But true.”

“Whatever. I’m taking Trixx back.”

“Like hell.”

Marinette had expected the time before patrol to creep by at a snail’s pace while she had a mini freakout an hour at the thought of telling Chat Noir that they’re no longer the only two permanent heroes around. But the prospect of getting relatively on top of her work for once is too tempting to pass up. If anything, it’s too soon before Marinette’s phone chimes to remind her of patrol.

“Time to face the music,” she sighs, pushing her book away.

“Oh, please,” Alya says. “He’ll love me. Trixx, let’s pounce!”

Marinette still can’t get over the fact that suits can change with personality. Rena Rouge’s had been light and airy and a typical tight superhero suit, just like Alya’s heroes before her. But Foxglove’s suit has volume. The only tight part of it is her black-collared white and orange torso. Now she has an actual jacket open over her chest, baggy and cropped and orange. Her legs are still orange with white inner thighs, but they actually tuck into her knee-high black boots like pants. Her fox tail is a wide strip of orange and white around her waist that falls behind her, and Marinette’s brain is already thinking of all the things she could do with that fabric in the middle of a battle, just like how she uses Chat Noir’s tail. Her ponytail, no longer big and bushy, now falls behind her in dozens of box braids. In fact, the only parts of Rena Rouge that she retains are her ears and mask.

Marinette’s glad about that part. She’s already feeling rotten enough as it is about pulling Alya into the pit with her; at least Alya’s not a completely different person because of it. At least Rena Rouge is still a part of her and always will be.

“Damn.” Foxglove brushes invisible dust off her suit, visibly preening. “I look so cool. I’ll miss my Rena suit but…damn.”

“Look,” Marinette says. “If you and I didn’t have boyfriends and if Chat didn’t exist, I’d be all over you. I think I was infatuated with you for the entire first week we were friends.”

“If Chat didn’t exist?” Foxglove says, arching an eyebrow. Marinette’s brain record-scratches and rewinds to what she’d just said.

“Well! Yeah! Because he’s in love with me and I’d hate to let him down and hurt him!” she splutters. “Even though I’m not in love with the best partner I could have! I love Adrien!”

Foxglove raises her hands in front of her face like she’s praying. “Okay,” she says. “Okay. Let’s just focus on the compliment. Thank you for reaffirming how hot I am, because I’ve had the biggest thing for Ladybug since forever and now I can tell myself that Ladybug thinks I’m gorgeous.”

Marinette groans and hangs her head. “You’re welcome,” she says pitifully.

“But I’m still getting you therapy after –”

“Tikki, spots on!”

Not even the cool night air can soothe the burning in Ladybug’s cheeks as she and Foxglove bound towards their rooftop rendezvous. Foxglove, bless her, doesn’t bring up her slip-up again, instead whooping as she takes a massive leap and handstands off a chimney. By the time they make it to the right street, where Chat Noir’s swinging his dangling legs and humming up at the clouded full moon, Ladybug’s cheeks are thankfully back to their normal temperature, and she doesn’t feel like she’s about to die of heatstroke anymore.

“Milady!” Chat Noir’s whole body perks up when Ladybug lands next to him. She instantly sits down, so close that their arms are practically glued side-to-side, and Chat Noir’s wide smile is just everything right with the world. But then that grin fades when Foxglove appears next to Ladybug. “Look out! It’s another Volpina!”

“See?” Foxglove crosses her arms. “What did I say? Right as usual.”

“Oh, shut up,” Ladybug scoffs. Foxglove sticks her tongue out.

“Ladybug? What’s going on?” Chat Noir no longer looks like he’s about to claw Foxglove’s eyes out. “Why’s there someone with the Fox who isn’t Rena?”

Ladybug and Foxglove share a look. Then Ladybug sighs and goes over her mental palm cards one more time before she explains the situation to Chat Noir.

“This is Sentinelle,” she says. “Foxglove, now.”

“Almost went with Vulpine,” Foxglove chimes in. “Just to annoy the hell out of Lila.”

Ladybug rolls her eyes at Foxglove, then looks back at Chat Noir. “I just…after Clueseau threatened you, I thought we could use someone to help us out. To have our backs. Especially since Shadowmoth’s hammering us with two Miraculouses at once.”

“So…what, Rena Rouge isn’t a thing anymore?” Chat Noir’s brow furrows.

“No. If I was drawing on someone for this kind of support, I didn’t want their identity to be known by Shadowmoth. This way, Rena’s family is safe and so is a new hero’s identity.”

“This kind of support?” Chat Noir’s eyes widen. He looks from Ladybug to Foxglove, then back at Ladybug. “She’s keeping her Miraculous?”

“Well…yes.” Ladybug holds her breath, waiting for Chat Noir to explode on her, to get angry at her making this decision unilaterally, maybe even to rage at her for lying about Rena Rouge’s identity even though he can’t possibly know that Rena Rouge and Foxglove are the same person. Instead, for a fraction of a second, he looks like a lost cat that Ladybug might walk past on the street, and then his features smooth into his trademark smirk.

“Well, then,” he says, taking Foxglove’s hand and kissing the back of it. “I’ll miss Rena, but if bugaboo thinks this is the best move, then I’m cool with it. Welcome to the best team in Paris.”

“You’re…not mad?” Ladybug says, sounding about as lost as Chat Noir had looked in that split second.

“Why would I be?” Chat Noir stretches, looking more like a cat than ever as his spine lengthens. “You’re the Guardian. You think this is the right thing. I’ll follow along with whatever you say.”

Ladybug’s stomach twists. No, she hadn’t been expecting it to go this way at all! Where’s the anger? The hurt at not being consulted; at their duo being stretched to a trio? A sick stone of realisation suddenly settles inside her as her mind flashes back, unbidden, to a time that seems so long ago.

“So, what's my role, then? The guy who's always left in the dark? What else are you hiding from me?”

Before Syren had attacked. Before Chat Noir had been allowed to even know of the existence of Master Fu.

“You’re not really replacing me with a turtle, are you?”

He can’t possibly think he’s just another teammate, can he? What about all the times it’s just been them? Ladybug and Chat Noir against the world? Heroes’ Day. Miracle Queen. The time Hawkmoth had held Chat Noir hostage on that rooftop, only letting him go in exchange for Mayura. So close to taking her kitty from her.

No. She can’t lose her kitty. She can’t lose him to the white. She can’t let Chat Noir think that he doesn’t matter.

“Well, how about we start our patrol?” Chat Noir climbs to his feet and helps Ladybug and Foxglove up. “Are we splitting it into three or are you two lovely ladies patrolling together?”

“You know you’re irreplaceable,” Ladybug blurts out in an echoing mockery of the line she’d given him after defeating Anansi. Chat Noir raises an eyebrow.

“I appreciate that, bugaboo,” he says. “Maybe Foxglove can take the Eiffel Tower route for her first time –”

“No, you don’t get it!” Ladybug stamps her foot. “You’re standing there being all understanding about me doing…this!”

“What do you want me to say?” Chat Noir spreads his hands. “You’re the Guardian. What you say goes.”

“But you’re my partner, you stupid cat!” Why is Ladybug even angry? Chat Noir didn’t blow up. He didn’t get upset. He just accepted it and moved on. Why is she continuing to poke that hornets’ nest? “Aren’t you gonna yell at me for keeping you in the dark?”

“Do you want me to?” Chat Noir says. He’s so infuriatingly calm and collected that Ladybug has to resist the urge to punch him in his pretty cat face. “Just give me a minute to channel my inner Psycomedian and put on my angry face and I can –”

“Ugh!” Ladybug shoves Chat Noir. He staggers back, almost right off the rooftop, but he still doesn’t look angry. “Why are you so – so – like this?”

“I’m just…gonna go over there,” Foxglove says in the background.

“What’s the point of getting angry?” Chat Noir says as Foxglove sidles away. “You’re the Guardian. What you say goes.”

“Stop saying that!”

“Why do you want me to get angry?”

“Because – because –” Because I want you to fight me. I want you to know your worth. I want you to not stand there and just take what you’re given. “Because you should be!”

“Because I should be.” Chat Noir crosses his arms. “What do you want me to say? Yeah, I’m upset you just up and made a new permanent hero without me? Yeah, I’m upset that it’s not you and me against the world?”

“Yeah, you’re upset that I’m with someone else?” Ladybug says, desperately fumbling for something to goad him into reacting. Chat Noir blinks.

“What? Where did that –”

“Just admit it!”

“What do you want from me?” Finally! Finally, Chat Noir actually looks angry as he advances on Ladybug, though she never once feels threatened. Not by her kitty. “I get upset, you remind me you don’t love me, I just walk away and sulk while you make out with someone who’s not Chat Noir? Can’t I just be happy that the girl I love is happy?”

“You’re supposed to be fighting for us!”

“What’s the point?” Chat Noir gives her a twisted smile. Immediately, Ladybug wishes she could take it all back; could grab the Snake and rewind so that she’d never spoken this into existence. “If you need more allies, you need more allies. If you need to lean on people outside the mask, that’s what you need. I’ll just show up and do my job like a good Chat Noir.”

“Don’t you get it?” Ladybug jabs him in the chest. “I don’t want you to just be a good Chat Noir! You’re irreplaceable! I wish you’d get it through your thick kitty head that I could never ask for a better partner!”

“Really?” Chat Noir’s twisted smile widens. “After all the mistakes I’ve made? I’m sure there’s someone out there who’d be better than me. Like Foxglove. I’m sure she’d do better with the ring than me. I almost killed someone in New York, remember?”

“I don’t care if I found the best wielder in the world who never made a single mistake.” Ladybug slips her arms around Chat Noir and hugs him, squeezes him to her tightly, drinking in his warmth like a cat on a sunny roof as the realisation of why she’d picked this fight hits her. “They wouldn’t be you. They could never be you. Re – Foxglove could never replace you. Carapace couldn’t. Vesperia, Viperion, Ryuuko, Roi Singe, Pegasus, Polymouse…none of them are you. You’re the one who keeps me going. You’re the one who lifts me up, who supports me, who looks me in the eye and knows exactly what to say when I doubt myself. That’s what I wish you’d understand.”

For a long while, Chat Noir says nothing. He just continues to stand there, in Ladybug’s embrace, holding her close in return while she closes her eyes and lets herself finally breathe.

“Thank you,” he finally murmurs. “That means more than you could ever know.”

“Do you get it now?” Ladybug says with a watery laugh. “That’s why I wanted you to be angry at me about Foxglove. About not getting a say. About feeling like I was replacing you. I wanted you to fight. I wanted you to know that you’re irreplaceable to me. The way you just accepted it…it terrified me.”

“Well, if you wanted a catfight, all you had to do was ask,” Chat Noir grins. Ladybug groans and punches him in the chest.

“Okay, are you two idiots done?” Foxglove pops up next to them. “I thought this was patrol, not group therapy. Not that Ladybug doesn’t need it.”

“Excuse me?” Ladybug splutters.

“What?” Foxglove shrugs. “I was looking forward to my first ever patrol and instead I get stuck with you crying over your cat.”

“You know what?” Ladybug crosses her arms. “You can patrol by yourself. See if I care. At least then I won’t be bullied.”

“Fine by me.” Foxglove salutes and bounds off in the vague direction of the park. Chat Noir chuckles, then turns and bows to Ladybug.

“Until we meet again in an hour, milady,” he says. He shakes his staff out and heads in the opposite direction to Foxglove.

“You’re such a dork!” Ladybug shouts after him. When all she gets in return is a light laugh, she rolls her eyes and swings off on her usual path, unable to wipe the smile that’s embedded in her face.

[linhlotustories]

Oops

Marinette trudged up to her room. It had been a terrible day and all she wanted to do was snuggle with Chat and go to sleep. Unfortunately, or, as Chat would say, Un-fur-tunately, there was one major problem with that. She couldn’t speak around him. Or move. Not without tripping over nothing. It was worse than when she’d had a crush on Adrien. It wasn’t even in the same class. She still got a little flustered around Adrien occasionally, but it wasn’t as bad as before.

As she set her bag down, she heard a tap on the window. Oh, no. Another opportunity to embarrass herself. As she opened the window, she turned to hide her flushed face and walked back to her desk. “C-come in, Ch-chat.”

“Hey, Purrincess,” he greeted as he settled himself on the chaise.

“Why d-don’t you get a m-movie set up wh-while I get some snacks?” She got up and tried to walk to the trapdoor only to trip over her feet. She held out her arms to catch herself, as, in her peripheral vision, she saw Chat leap to catch her. With a loud thump, they ended up on the floor, her hovering over Chat on her hands and knees. Their faces inches apart.

She heard feet pounding up the stairs and her papa burst in. He stopped. “Uh, am I interrupting something?”

Marinette felt her face heat up. “N-no! I-it’s not l-like that!”

“Just make sure you use protection.” His eyes twinkled and he disappeared down the stairs, closing the trapdoor behind him.

Marinette turned her head to look at Chat who’s face probably looked as red as hers “I’m so sorry!” she yelped as she launched herself off him. “I didn’t mean to do that!” She squeezed her eyes closed and kept spewing out apologies until Chat set his hand on her shoulder.

“Marinette, It’s okay. It was an accident. You didn’t mean to. Look at me, Marinette.” She opened her eyes and saw that his cheeks were still tinged with pink. “It’s fine.”

“But-”

“No. No buts. You didn’t do anything wrong. Although, don’t think I haven’t noticed how weird you’ve been acting. Did I do something wrong?” He furrowed his brows.

“N-no.” She was a deer in the headlights, unable to move, but knowing that she was doomed.

“Then what is it? Did someone hurt you?” His face morphed from concern to anger. “Who was it? I’ll-” he growled.

“Chat, wait. No one hurt me.” She was flattered that he cared about her that much, but he jumped to conclusions really fast.

“Then what’s going on? What happened?”

“W-well, um.” She rubbed her arm and looked down. This was where she’d gone wrong with Adrien so many times. Would she be able to confess? Or would she chicken out? “I’m in love with you,” she whispered.

“What?”

She closed her eyes and practically screamed, “I’m in love with you, okay! I realized it a few weeks ago. I just haven’t been able to tell you.” Fat tears squeezed out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

She stood and walked to the window, being careful not to look Chat in the eye.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped and flinched away. She hadn’t heard him come up behind her. He placed his hands back on her shoulders and gently turned her to face him. He cupped her face in his hands and wiped her tears. “I’m sorry I made you cry, Purrincess,” was the last thing he said before he pressed his lips against hers.

Electric.

If she could only use one word, that was how she would have described the kiss. Electricity crackled through her as their lips met and refused to fizzle out even after they had parted.

Beyond that, though, it was wet. Her tears had rolled onto the corners of her lips and that, coupled with the saliva from their mouths, made their lips slippery.

Her hands reached up and tangled themselves in his hair as he found her waist, pressing her body to his.

Chat was the first one to break away, gasping for air. Marinette was out of breath too, but she followed his lips, and he allowed her one more kiss before placing his finger on her lips.

“Wait,” he panted. “I need a moment.” He led her over to the chaise and they sat there, panting and clinging to each other.

After they had caught their breath, Chat turned to her, “I need to tell you something.” He sucked in a breath and started. “When you started getting nervous around me, I thought I did something wrong and you didn’t want to be around me anymore. And that made me realize that I can’t live without you. I need you, Marinette.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Those last three words stunned Marinette, but not as much as what he said next.

He folded his hands and looked down. “I understand if you don’t feel the same, but I had to tell you before it was too late.”

“Are you an idiot? I just confessed to you and made out with you! Of course I feel the same way! Wait, what do you mean ‘before it’s too late’?” She had a horrible thought. “Are you dying?”

“No! No! I just thought you and Luka . . .” He trailed off.

“What? No, there’s never been anything romantic between us.” She paused. “There was this other boy I liked, but he never returned my feelings so . . .” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore. No use in worrying about something that was never meant to be.”

“Wait. Who was this boy?”

“He’s one of my classmates. You probably wouldn’t know him.” She thought for a moment. His face was plastered on billboards all over Paris and he was the most popular bachelor in all of Europe. “Er, well, actually, you probably would.”

“Who? Nathaniel? Nino?” he growled.

“Nathaniel? Why would I like Nathaniel? I mean no offense to him, but he’s nowhere near my type. And Nino’s dating Alya.” She laughed.

“Then what is your type?”

“Blond-haired, green-eyed guys. Why? Don’t you know what you look like? Or were you referring to personality?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Well, you already know what looks I prefer, but I like guys who’re sweet, kind, have a healthy dose of humility.” She looked at him pointedly. “Um, helpful. I think those are the most important traits to me. Oh, and they can’t just be interested in me for my body or my connections.”

“Bold of you to assume that I can’t be humble, Purrincess. Now, I believe you were about to tell me who ‘Mystery Boy’ is.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Please, Purrincess?” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“Fine, but if I tell you, I get another kiss. And a real one, not just on the nose.” He nodded and she continued. “It was Adrien Agreste.”

“Wait the model?”

“Is there another one?”

He let out a peal of laughter.

“Hey, don’t laugh at me!” She crossed her arms and turned away.

“I’m such an idiot,” he laughed.

“What do you mean?” she grumbled. It still felt like he was making fun of her.

“I should have realized. It makes so much sense. The stuttering, the enhanced clumsiness. The constipation meds were an attempt to confess, wasn’t it? And what you said in the wax museum was true!” By the end of his epiphany, he was laughing gleefully.

“Wait.” Marinette narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about that?”

“Oops. I-I, um, he told me?”

Marinette jumped as she realized something, falling backward off the chaise. “Adrien!” she screeched.

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “The one and only.”

“I just! You’re! What?”

She was hyperventilating.

She couldn’t believe she had just confessed to Chat and told him about her crush on Adrien only for him to be Adrien.

“Are you . . . okay?” Chat -Adrien? No, he was still Chat right now- asked as he knelt next to her. How had gotten there? Was she so stunned that she didn’t notice him crouching next to her? No, it actually made a lot of sense. She’d never seen Adrien and Chat at the same time. His absence when she’d fought Gorizilla suddenly made sense. Wait! She had seen them at the same time! “But you were both there when we defeated Gorizilla. If you’re Adrien, how did you pull that off? And why didn’t you transform when you were falling off the tower?”

“I had Wayhem pretend to be Adrien while I was Chat Noir and I knew Ladybu-” He gaped at her. “Did you say we?” He grinned. “Of course you would be Ladybug! I’m surprised I didn’t figure it out sooner.” He threw his head back and- laughed. Not just a self-deprecating chuckle or a chortle, but a real, hearty laugh. Now it was her turn to gape. He had such a wonderful laugh, low and gleeful. Like music.

“What?” He must have seen her staring.

“Oh, nothing,” She shook her head, trying to shake herself out of the muddle her mind had become. “I’ve just never heard you laugh.”

“Yeah, you have.” He looked at her quizzically.

“No, I mean really laugh. I can tell when you’re faking it. That includes smiling.”

“What do you mean.” There was another one of those smiles again.

“See! That’s what I mean! You’re smiling to cover up your true feelings. That’s not healthy.”

“How’d you know?”

“I notice things,” she answered with feigned superiority.

“About everyone or am I special?” She blushed and he smirked at her. How dare he assume such a thing? He was right, of course, but she wasn’t going to admit that. His ego was already big enough as it was.

When she didn’t answer, he said, “That’s what I thought.”

“You still owe me that kiss,’ she said with as much spite as she could muster, which wasn’t much considering who she was talking to.

“I’m all for that, but one thing first.”

“What?”

“I want you to admit you’re Ladybug.”

“Fine, since you already figured it out, I’m Ladybug. Now can I please have that kiss?” She was still trying to act indignant, but it was really hard when all she wanted to do was kiss him.

“Yes.” He leaned in through hooded eyes and pressed his lips to hers.

This time, it was softer, sweeter. Still electric, but less frantic. She noticed more.

He smelled faintly of peppermint and his lips tasted of cinnamon, which was an intoxicating mixture.

She swirled her fingers around in his silky golden hair before pulling him closer and letting his hands glide to her waist.

Chat pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you,” he panted.

“And I you,” she replied before pulling him in again.

Oh, how she loved kissing him. Almost as much as she loved him.

This is way longer than I intended but think of it as a peace offering for me not doing all the prompts. This was inspired by Lyradaisical's Deja vu so go check that out. Thank you to my wonderful beta Moonlight of the moon!

[miraculouscontent]

(miraculous asks)

Anonymous said:

Oh My Gosh!!!! I was just thinking about Party Crasher and man I hate how they had Ladybug get captured for the men to save! It's a continuous thing you see in media: strong heroic woman gets put in peril so that the men can shine. I didn't even realize it until you said it! I get that it was probably meant to be a "role reversal" of Chat always getting kidnapped or brainwashed for Ladybug to save, but the fact that this is the "guys' episode" it read like "well damn, we can't have the guys be strong if a girl is in the way; let's have the girl get captured so the boys can prove their worth by rescuing her!".

At least in Sandboy, Ladybug was still competent and came up with the plans, but this?! It makes me sick, and it's all too easy to fall into these traps; even Kim Possible did it! In my magical girl story, the heroine does get put in a magical coma and require someone to bail her out, but it's her female friends AND her boyfriend who save her, so it's not just a girl being weakened so a boy can be powerful, especially since said boy actually does a minority of the work required to save her; the focus is on the female characters so it's her girl friends who do most of it. I still ended up scrapping that side plot anyway, and do you know why? Because regardless of who saved her, I still didn't want my female protagonist to be put in distress at all due to the unfortunate implications! Needing help in a fight? Sure. But outright being captured or kidnapped? Nah fam.

I was honestly thinking about that when the first episode came out. Like, they could’ve just had Marinette NOT SHOW UP in time so the guys take care of things, which at least gives more of a message that Paris wouldn’t go to hell just because Ladybug is a little late or something.

And yeah, the “boys squad episode so gotta toss the girl out” is... sigh.

Anonymous said:

I think the writers were trying to show Chat angsting to show his regret instead of an actual apology. Still doesn't explain why Aeon didn't bring up her death afterwards. Did Olympia delete that from her memory banks?

I guess? :|

I don’t know why Chat can’t just apologize without fishing or trying to earn sympathy. Like JUST SAY YOU’RE SORRY, DAMMIT.

Anonymous said:

If you haven't read Maribat, then you won't regret it. I am not in the DC universe but I started reading it and WOW. Literally every single time Marinette is a badass queen and gets her complete revenge and is actually happy! Even if you absolutely love Lukanette (which I have nothing against) you should totally try it.

Appreciate the comment, but I find it hard to ship other Marinette ships outside of Lukanette. Ivanette is a very loose exception and it’s not like I ship it hard or anything.

Anonymous said:

Despite not being a Lukanette shipper I love you. Why? Because you amazing, so right in literally everything and I love you <33

gkdfjgfdngjkfdg thank you

bat-anon said:

The NY Special made it so that Max is literally the only Black/Brown kid that doesn’t exist to make Love Square happen and that just makes me hate it even more.

I wish you didn’t make me have this realization because I hate it.

At least Delmar existed in the New York special???? I guess???? I dunno, I’m trying here, I don’t recall him doing anything love square centric.

Anonymous said:

I honestly don't mind Alix's outfit as Bunnix! I feel like it fits her, plus she's an adult so its not much of a problem, not saying it can't be improved however. I DO have issues with the designs for the underage girls outfits however....those are very sus

Yeah, the problem I take with Bunnyx’s is that it’s a bodysuit. If there was just more definition, like having actual boots, I wouldn’t complain as much.

Anonymous said:

I actually just really like the idea of the new bee being a genuinely nice person who becomes friends with Marinette. Not exactly close friends (since I like the idea of friendly working relationships without actual personal stakes in them). I also enjoy the idea of the new bee having some small animosity for Chat Noir- just because their personalities aren't the greatest mix. I also think that it would make sense for the miraculous of subjection to be at odds with the miraculous of destruction

Full agreement but we know how much the writers are resistant to have characters go against Chat.

Anonymous said:

Not gonna lie the scene where the girl squad gets akumatized almost makes it seem like they got akumatized on purpose, similar to Manon in Puppeteer 2(although she was a little kid who was probably just imagining she could enact revenge). And why can't they have a uniformed design, like they're a team but wear different colors, similar to the Sailor Senshi(like, Alya's the leader and wears orange, Rose wears pink, Alix wears green, Juleka wears purple, and Mylene wears yellow). It's so boring.

Mood.

Not to mention that WE ARE SO TIRED OF THEM GETTING AKUMATIZED INTO THE SAME AKUMA.

AT LEAST PALETTE SWAP THEM.

Anonymous said:

Relating to the Didn't Need Burrows and Treatment of Marinette bingo cards, have you considered making one for whenever the show fails at girl power? It could say things like "sexualized frames of teenage girls" "boy tells girl what to do" "girls don't get to keep Miraculouses", and "girls are forced to apologize whenever a situation goes wrong". And in the center, it could say "Don't show this to your daughter!"! Lol! What do you think?

lol I feel like I have enough cards, otherwise I would.

Anonymous said:

I saw another post that talked about Miraculous New York, and they theorized that it was rewritten to focus more on Marinette and Adrien in order to get viewers invested in the Love Square again after more people started to lose faith in the ship. Do you think that's a possibility?

I think so. The whole special comes off as trying to reassure love square shippers because of how hard it goes for him. I cut out Marinette’s crushing and it cuts like 18% from the episode, meaning it’s even worse than Season 3 (15%).

Anonymous said:

Maybe the point of the [break-up episodes] is meant to discourage people from shipping Lukanette and Adrigami too?

Spoiler alert: didn’t work.

Anonymous said:

Are we not gonna talk about how in one ask, somebody legit said "(long dreamy sigh) Viperion"? Like same.

RIGHT????

Same.

Anonymous said:

Ml fandom: I hate how Ladybug keeps secrets from Chat Noir! He sacrifices himself for her all the time and she never appreciates him for it! He has EVERY right to get mad at her!!

ML Fandom when Chat Noir does the same thing in the special: ....Wow Ladybug was way to harsh on Chat Noir!! She doesn’t appreciate him at all!! Shes so mean to him!

:|

i hate it

Anonymous said:

Idk if it's just me, but a majority of the fandom is split in two; it's never one or the other "MARINETTE SUCKS AND IS A HORRIBLE PERSON GUARDIAN MARY SUE WHO SEXUALLY HARRASSES" or "ADRIEN SUCKS HE WAS NEVER ON MARINETTES SIDE" but im personally on the latter, but not to that extreme. i hate videos bashing marinette and then never acknowledge adriens faults

Yeah, the fandom gets more divided as time goes on because of the writers trying to increase the drama/tension.

Anonymous said:

I am PERSONALLY offended they gave Luka the snake miraculous. Snakes have such a negative connotation. A lot of people insult Lila by calling her a SNAKE. And now those ML writers DARE insult the best character in ML?! HOW DARE THEY!?????

I adore Viperion but I agree that I first heard he was getting snake and was like, “BUT MY BOI???”

It gets awkward too because other animals like the pig have negative connotations, like how Daizzi basically means “idiot/stupid” and they’re giving it to the freaking blond character, really???

Anonymous said:

I think that Ivanette would be even better if Marinette was plus-sized character.

I see why you’d think that. I just disagree because then it turns the ship into “let’s pair the heavyset characters together because they heavyset.”

Anonymous asked:

On the topic of romance failures and general series salt, my main issue right now is how the series puts so much focus on romantic relationships while failing to consider other levels of relationship or what they affect.

On the L² front I can completely buy Marinette being in love with Adrien. Most of the time she genuinely wants him to be happy and is ready to take a step back for him, however much it hurts. But in terms of romantic love? It. Is. A. Crush! But if we step back from the formula, what is there left between them? Their civilian relationship is held together by a “comedy” of errors and without that there is surprisingly little left. Well, besides two “best friends” desperately trying to make it happen because somehow they lost their individual characters and instead of being friends became matchmakers?

I too like Luka and Marinette together. Their relationship is pretty nice to see and all. But sometimes it feels like it happens in a dimension of its own, like the writers want to make the endgame clear in that the “sideships” can be easily cut out of the big “how they got together”-recaps. I especially miss reactions from and interactions with Juleka. She is Luka’s sister, Marinette’s friend, and IIRC someone aware of if not even a bit player in the great shipping game. She is in a prime position to step up and bring progress on all fronts: She can talk with Luka. She can either give Marinette helpful pointers or go “All in or nothing”, i.e. trying to make Marinette get her Adrien-feelings in order as she does not want her brother to get less than Marinette’s full heart. Similarly, she can counteract “friendly acts” and stop humiliating situations from escalating, or she herself can escalate them in the “All or Nothing”-scenario. Yet she remains basically a background character who gets little attention from the camera and almost no “non-focus identity”

As for Kagami, I may be too biased. *Any* positive Kagami/Marinette relationship is to me what Lukanette is to you. So naturally I have lots of opinions when it comes to her role ;) But can I just say that Adrien/Kagami is the weirdest ship for me? They have a few cute scenes and I think if they’d spend a lot more time together, they’d do each other good but I don’t know how they work. “No Hesitation” Kagami would lob Adrien’s head straight off with all his…everything. If we are meant to take Adrien’s love for LB seriously (and I guess we have to because how in the name of sanity is any form of the stated endgame gonna work otherwise???), how does Kagami fit into that picture as a girl who can hardly express emotions while Adrien is the definition of a  guy who can not stop flirting or goes for all kinds of romantic gestures? Sometimes it feels more like a “social fit” and “Mommy/Daddy approves” kind of deal which is quite the shame! Normally I like these kind of relationships in fictions but they need a solid underlining or good development. One they haven’t and one the series has not been giving to anyone so far.

Yeah, the whole thing with the love square versus side ships ends up feeling extremely forced. Keeping Luka away and forcing Adrien into Lukanette episode are the biggest giveaways, basically a big fat sign that says, “We know Marinette would forget that Adrien exists if she hung around Luka for more than five minutes.”

AND YEAH, KAGAMI WOULDN’T PUT UP WITH ADRIEN’S GARBAGE. I liked Adrimi but it’s definitely more flawed than Lukanette.

Anonymous said:

Watched your opinion on the New York special and I agree with you. It was mediocre at best. It could have been something nice, like if they added Kagami and Luka, for example, so that we can get a bit of development from the new couples on season 4, so that it doesn’t feel rushed when they start dating on season 4. It could also be a good opportunity to see the other temporary heroes one last time, since Marinette technically has the miracle box.

They could have had an epic fight with the American Superheroes, maybe even giving the bee miraculous temporally to Aeon or Jess so that we didn’t need to see their awful and uncreative superheroes designs. It would have been nice if they made something more useful other than being characters that believe that Adrien and Marinette are “Meant to be”, like, we already got a ton of these already, couldn’t we get someone who didn’t feel something about this ship? It has so much wasted potential that I don’t even know how to start. Do you agree with anything I said?

I agree, yes. They could’ve easily thrown Luka/Kagami into the mix (or had Marinette/Adrien stay behind while flipping perspectives or something; flawed but they could make it work).

Anonymous said:

I'm rereading ladybugout and wow... the moment of silence after "chat deserves that kiss" gets me every time. Everyone stopping and just staring because wow he really just said that

Me whenever Chat Noir opens his mouth in the show.

Anonymous said:

I saw the Backwarder post you just talked about and yes, it is so totally ridiculous. They forgot another thing, though. Miraculous isn't just about comedy, action, and romance, it's about embarrassing Marinette. And the fact that almost everyone in the comments was acting like the medicine scene at the end was funny was just stupid and saddening to hear or read about, because it shows how people have been conditioned to hate and rally against Marinette without even realizing it. Granted, there was one lady who said it reminded her of her husband, so I guess that's okay(but all it means is that Adrien will be Marinette's--aka "his lady's"--husband like eeerrrgh!). And there was one person who said they liked that Juleka's advice because "If you're friend isn't willing to commit crimes for your happiness, is she even your friend?". But everyone else liked the ending. And I don't get the person who said we got "Subtle progression with Adrien and Marinette". We're right where we started.

Weeeeell, I understand the “comedy, action, romance” comment because all of those basically boil down to embarrassing Marinette or invalidating her. Comedy and romance goes without saying while action involves her dealing with Chat “Nice Guy” Noir.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me, or does Snow White's "Red Shoes" form look a lot like Marinette. I know, I know, Marinette is Chinese and Red Shoes is Korean, but they still look strikingly similar. They're bodies are really similar, too, but that might just be because animation tends to use eerily similar body types for its female characters on a whole. It's sad and it makes me think of how cute Marinette would be if she was fat. I also think Snow White was cuter than Red Shoes but that's kind of the point.

I think it’s the body type thing but that’s just a guess since I didn’t immediately make the connection.

I agree that Snow White is cuter.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one who's never liked "destined to fail" characters? Basically this is when characters aren't allowed to be good at/succeed at something or else the whole universe will somehow fall apart. Think of how in The Amazing World of Gumball, if Richard gets a job, the world will be in complete and utter chaos. So he's better off as a lazy, bumbling dad. In Phineas and Ferb, Candace is always trying to rat out her younger brothers but if she gives up or succeeds something bad will happen.

TV Tropes put it the best: "Not only is she not allowed to succeed, but she's also not allowed to stop trying!"(conveniently under the Cosmic Plaything trope). I just don't like it because it shows that the writers just want to lead them on with the promise of success then snatch it away at the last minute. And now we're back at Miraculous Ladybug, where Marinette is humiliated every time she doesn't sign a gift that's for Adrien, and yet when she does, everyone in Paris DIES. Except for...HIM.

you: *mentions Candace*

me: [a million awful flashbacks]

Also, yeah, it’s so hard to watch, especially in “Chat Blanc” because it’s like, “Oh, you want to give a gift to a boy and you dArEd to use your powers for it? Congrats, but everyone else is DEAD and you can hang out with him as much as you want! You’re welcome!”

Anonymous said:

I think it’d become a “faintest idea blackout card”rather than a bingo.

(referring to my “Faintest Idea” card)

We’re getting there.

darkmoonravewolf said:

I hate that everything on that list could happen and very likely will

(referring to “Didn’t Need Burrow”)

Yeah, and it makes me sad :’)

Anonymous said:

That’s be real here. Miraculous ladybug is not a show about Marinette; Miraculous Ladybug is a show about Adrien. Adrien is the real main character.

Notice that when they focused on Adrien in “Lies,” they only cut back to Marinette (IN A SCENE THAT CAN’T EXIST) to have her fawn over him.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me or are Lady Noire's eyes huge? Maybe it's just the green but they seem way bigger than Marinette's

I’m not sure, but considering Rena’s facial structure being different from Alya’s, it wouldn’t surprise me.

asexual-individual said:

With what you've said about Adrien lacking a reason to exist outside of development for Marinette and Gabriel, I have to wonder how different the show would be if Chat Noir's identity was also kept from the audience. Adrien would still be there as himself, but he only gets as much focus as Alya, and Chat Noir's identity is treated as a mystery (a Tuxedo Mask type mystery, but a mystery all the same).

I see what you mean but it might cause Adrien+Chat’s screentime to feel excessive once the reveal happens, because suddenly their screentime gets combined and it’s like, “oh wow so the combined screentime is his then.”

Anonymous said:

I know that the kwami's really only exist so we can hear our protagonists' thoughts outloud (like what the Coraline movie did with adding Wybie to the story). But honestly, what's the point in having magical gods in the jewelry if you're not going to do anything with them?

Marketing with “cute” side characters.

guisendisguise said:

It's funny, originally, I had shipped Marichat in the sense that Chat and Mari start hanging out and both fall in love with the other's supposedly less perfect, more real selves. Then Luka was introduced and I ended up putting both lukanette and marichat at the same level. Then S3 hit and killed any love I had for Marichat. The writers themselves killed the Love Square for me. At this point, it's very clear they are living in a delusion where the Love Square could ever work narratively without Deus ex Machina or Deus Lo Vult (God wills it). Basically, they've gone past scraping the bottom of the writing skills barrel and are now shoulder deep in the hole they dug thru the bottom of said barrel. I'd like to point out that the bottom of the barrel is writing poop and now they're digging thru the useless plastic landfill the barrel was sitting on top of

Uggggh, yeah. Any appreciation I could’ve had for Marichat died in “Weredad.” I already didn’t like Adrien/Chat and then “Weredad” just showed his complete lack of... well, ANYTHING.

cosmostellar said:

Honestly feels like MLBs writers are going based off the "JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE" instead of, yknow, fleshing them out while developing them also in the context of their cultures and giving them these little things that the audiences who belong to the same minority can identify with. I don't mean "have Marinette walk in qipao 24/7" bcs thats just... bad on its own but man, /some/ casual acknowledgments of her culture would be nice.

Reading the sentence “JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE” physically hurts me.

Anonymous said:

Ok, I've always thought that Chloe was robbed of redemption (they held it in front of us, but then jerked it away while Astruc says, "She's irredeemable! We thought she was redeemable, but she wasn't :)!" What are your thoughts! Also, I just recently found your blog and I really like it :)

Thank you!

But I have no sympathy for bully characters, so I didn’t want Chloe redeemed. Maybe I’m still bitter about my own bullying experience, but I just wasn’t here for Marinette being forced to forgive Chloe, which is basically what they did until they backpedaled.

The time spent on her was wasted though and that I can agree on.

Anonymous said:

Me: Writes a 1k rant about how the tweet makes no sense as the "mistake" is about motivation and not the critical plot. Also me: Remembers that in MLB the plot always comes back to the romance. Finally me: Wonders why he got involved with the series post-S3 when all the red flags were already everywhere.

Mistakes were made.

Anonymous said:

I'm semi-catching up on miraculous, and- is it my impression, or does Kagami rebel against her mother more in few episodes she's in (even though her mother's influences on her seem to be stronger in general), than Adrien in the entire show? I /know/ that I don't want to see Adrien free himself from his father w/ the desperation I want to see Kagami free herself from her mother and realize that the standards she's held up to are unhealthy and too strong.

Yeah, I’m way more invested in Kagami than Adrien.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one confused about whether the staff stopped caring and half-asses the series or cares too much and over-produces the hell out of it?

Nah. It really feels like they secretly hate the love square so they have to keep forcing it.

Anonymous said:

ngl I haven't watched any new episodes since Chameleon and I've been getting all that Miraculous News via tumblr to avoid that Marinette Brand Second Hand Embarrassment™

Understandable.

Anonymous said:

If they aired the 6th one first WHAT WHAT HAPPENED TO LEAD UP TO THIS???? WE ARE ON SEASON FOUR WITH TWO SPEICALS, GETTING A THIRD, AND ANY DEVELOPMENT WE HAD HAS GONE BACKWARDS, SUCKED, OR STATUS QUO YO-ED AWAY!!!!! HOW THE HECK DO WE GET ADRIENETTE FROM FOUR SEASONS OF NOTHING?????? I USED TO FANGIRL AT THIS NOW I AM TERRIFIED.

Answer: We don’t get Adrienette. We get forced love square and rushed/fake “development” of it while being constantly confused as episodes air out of order.

Anonymous said:

im sorry But adrienette has been suck in this limbo of one sidedness for 3 seasons. neither of them have become closer, neither of them have confided in one another, but somehow people still ship it? at least luka was able to make a move on marinette lol adrien still repeats the same boring “shes just a friend” line. adrienette is a really boring ship.

lol don’t apologize, you’re absolutely right.

nahte123456 said:

Very minor bit of salt to throw to the pile, but can this show just decide on how strong Miraculous holders are? Yes it's a cartoon and not the focus but in the Furious Fu episode we literally get Ladybug dodging lighting and then Su who seems mostly human and is at least slower then Fu was outspeeding her. It's distracting trying to figure out what is and isn't a serious threat in this show.

The deciding factor in the strength of the miraculous holders is “whatever works for the plot.”

Anonymous said:

At this point the only thing I'm excited for concerning Miraculous Ladybug is when it gets a reboot in like, a decade with actually competent writers

Best case scenario is that Zag goes bankrupt and Disney/Netflix picks up the series and gives it to competent people.

Problem is that the love square has been ruined so badly for me that even a “good” version of it wouldn’t be something I’d be into, but still.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the problem with having all of Marinette's mistakes result in huge disasters (ex. Feast), is that is gives off the impression that teenagers aren't allowed to make mistakes. This show clearly doesn't like giving second chances to the protagonist, so why would life give one to you? Am I right, kids?

Exactly.

Marinette makes mistakes and suddenly the world is ending.

Anonymous said:

If your gonna watch the show, at least pirate the episodes so the writers dont get your support

Don’t worry, I have no interest in financially supporting the show.

Anonymous said:

ml in a nutshell: wasted potential, then giving themselves more potential, only to turn the rest of it into a dumpster fire

Yup, that’s it.

Anonymous said:

u know, when My Little Pony, Sofia The First, and fanfiction carries out character development, respect, romance, and the main plot better than the original show, especially when the shows mentioned above are aimed more at little girls and the original show is aimed at slightly older audiences... somethings wrong

*sigh*

And then it’s like--people will excuse the show because “it’s a kids’ show” and then I’m just “okay then, why are there actually good kids’ show?”

If shows get a pass for being for children then all childrens’ shows should just not try and be garbage since the standard is so low.

Anonymous said:

ive seen some cool fic ideas/concepts/reviews that made me think: ml could use so much more looking into how a character thinks in some situations. one fic i read had alya in chameleon (i know its been forever since the ep came out but hey) not question lila cus she thought: "hey, lb wouldnt befriend a bad person" w and added a plot line of lila making her think lb was cobsidering replacing rena rougue. like, just a few lines to make them seem better pls?

YES. Like, show us characters’ perspectives and why they’re rolling with the facts that they’re rolling with, otherwise they just end up looking like jerks.

We sort of got it in “Ikari Gozen” with Kagami but of course it was just to make Marinette look bad.

Anonymous said:

You know I’m honestly considering making reviews of this show and if I do I could create hour long rants about the show just from that mans twitter.

Yeaaaaaah, once you had in the Twitter stuff, it just becomes, “okay so this is going to add another hour or two then.”

Anonymous said:

Okay one thing that bothers me is how plain marinette's suits are despite being a DESIGNER. Her multimouse suit it just blocks of color and her ladynoir suit is just grey with green lines. I think the lines are supposed to represent actually clothes. Like the limes on the calves are supposed to make it look like boots but why not actually GIVE her boots. (Right, because she has to have a skintight suit unlike the boys who get some layers.)

THE SHEER DISRESPECT OF HAVING THE FASHION DESIGNER WEAR SUCH A PLAIN SUIT.

It also goes to show who really designs here, like oh, interesting, the girls get skin-tight simplistic bodysuits and the boys gets all the cool stuff--

Anonymous said:

I heard some people in my class saying they watched Miraculous Ladybug for the first time, and they were saying how good it was, and I was like: 'Oh you poor fools. You have NO idea what it's truly like.'

You know what they say: ignorance is bliss.

bat-anon said:

Isn’t it INTERESTING how in Frozer, Luka understands that Marinette is torn between her crushes and continues to support her even though he knows she probably won’t chose him, and in the exact same episode Chat Noir refuses to help save the city because Ladybug told him AGAIN that she wasn’t romantically interested in him? HMMM 🤔😑

dbfgjbdfjkgf

I’M REMINDED OF “FELIX” WHERE IT’S LIKE--THEY WERE CLEARLY TRYING TO SHOW HOW MUCH “BETTER” CHAT NOIR IS THAN FELIX, BUT LUKA WAS THE RESPECTFUL ONE.

Anonymous said:

You know what I want to see? An evil kwami, like they just want to commit crimes. No moral high grounds, just chaotic evil.

That’d be amazing just because I wouldn’t be able to take them seriously.

Anonymous said:

Watching S1 and S3 episodes back to back, it feels like reading salt fics at times, especially in regards to the L². Like, Marinette was happy about weird plans, she both needed and wanted the final push, and most of the time there was at least something coming out of it. Nowadays it just makes her sad, Alya and the girls act *against* her, and we get shipping for shipping's sake.

That’s a good point. The shift from Seasons 1 to 2 to 3 is rather noticeable.

Anonymous said:

I hate how Adrien's busy schedule seems to only matter when it's used to make Marinette feel bad, but the second Marinette has a bit more to do, it somehow has a negative effect on not only her, but also everyone/everything she cares about, like, what's up with that??

I’m reminded of “Lies” here and I hate it. :|

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the way the show treats teenage girls is horse ass. The show treats the teenage girls of this show as if they're stupid, naive, emotional, clumsy, and need a boy to tell them what opinions to have. Marinette is always treated like the show's punching bag and blamed for everything that goes wrong because she's "emotional" or "obsessed with Adrien", Chloe could've been redeemed but the writers would rather keep her a brain-dead Alpha Bitch Valley Girl(even though Gabriel and Felix, the latter of whom is a teenage boy introduced in one episode, get to be treated as redeemable, despite the things they do being far, far worse), and Lila is a conniving, self-absorbed fox.

And even though Kagami seems better, she's still roped into the "girls catfight over an oblivious guy" cliche and so far, all of her akumatizations have been because of Adrien. Whenever Marinette tries to move on from Adrien the other characters tell her what's good for her and steer her in the "right" direction because she apparently can't think for herself, and the writers LOVE to use the girl squad to tell us who Marinette should be with, because they apparently know better than she does.

Plus the show loves to treat all the girls as the same, making them all either fight over Adrien or be obsessed with shipping, as if teenage girls are all one assimilating, homogenized group(also when they treat Marinette as if she's "just as bad as Chloe", rinse and repeat for the other ladies.). Honestly, the show feels like it was written by those types of people who think "teenage girls are the worst" so they make them all mood-swingy, obsessive, showoffs, emotional, and downright clingy.

Plus the way Thomas Astruc talks about the female characters on Twitter is even worse, and only serves to make this more evident: he claims Marinette "has poor control over her emotions"(all the while calling Adrien "perfect"), that Chloe was racist in Kung Food "because she's stupid"(so rather than having that scene serve as a lesson on respecting other's cultures, he just did it to pick on Chloe and make her look "stupid"), that she's incapable of being redeemed, that Lila's unlikable but Gabriel and Felix aren't(even though he claimed Felix was a terrible character and a "cliche", that's not what the show says my guy), and other such nonsense.

Other Twitter users have also called out Miraculous Ladybug and its stereotypical treatment of teenage girls. The only shows I've ever seen do this worse are those pretentious "darker" Magical Girl "deconstructions" aimed at grown men such as Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna, as well as most shonen/seinen shows such as Naruto and Death Note, which says a lot. Honestly, whenever I feel like watching a show with empowering and respectful depictions of teenage girls that treats them as bright and intelligent and actually unique from one another, I just watch Equestria Girls, Liv and Maddie, LoliRock, ANT Farm, Moesha, PreCure, or Sailor Moon. Because the way the show acts towards them is deplorable, absolutely deplorable.

Yes to all of the above. Almost all of the girls are involved in love affairs in some way, the two teenage girls are irredeemable while Felix got a sympathetic backstory right away (Chloe took forever to get hers which is a failure), and Marinette is flawed because she’s “too emotional” (a misogynistic stereotype).

Anonymous said:

Hi, I'm the anon who got upset at the lady who made the "Miraculous Ladybug is a Mess" rant, and yes, thank you zodiacspirit17 for liking and agreeing with my rant! I'm glad someone else saw that video! And ugh, Marinette learning to love Chat Noir? Really? I don't remember that line but I also don't want to go back and revisit it to make sure so I'll take your word for it. Ew. That was actually one of the things I hated about the Glaciator scene. Chat was supposedly comforting Marinette by taking her to the rooftop where he planned Ladybug's date, and yet only Marinette finds out about Chat's crush on Ladybug and comforts him on that(while rethinking her feelings), while all Chat knows is that Marinette's heart was also broken. He never asks who it is, or tries to help her get over her crush even if he doesn't know it's coincidentally him.

I know it's because of the "love square" but it's unfair that only Chat's love problems are directly addressed. Come to think of it, the reason Chat took Marinette to the rooftop...I know he was doing it in-universe to help her instead of intruding on her personal feelings(which might have also been why he didn't ask her who her crush was, he was probably thinking along the lines of "we don't have to talk about it right now, we can just have fun!"), but meta-wise, since we know she's Ladybug, the writers were probably trying to tell her "See? This is what you could've been doing, but you missed it. Shame on you!" That's a huge issue I have with the show: characters will do things in-universe to help Marinette, but the show has a different motive in mind. Compare to how Tikki gave actual advice to Marinette in Puppeteer 2, but the writers intended that for the statue scene so they could embarrass her in front of Adrien and the thousands of eyes watching the show(except we're not laughing.). Even if characters do support her, the writer is using them as props for her ritualized humiliation. And yet Luka is the problem somehow.

If Marinette needs to learn how to love Chat Noir, then it should at least be balanced out by Adrien learning to Marinette. I'm sick of this double standard that "girls need to learn to accept boys who like them but guys can do what they want". Another thing she said was that "Marinette needs to learn to define herself outside of who she's crushing on." NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. You see, unlike Adrien, Marinette HAS a life outside of who she's crushing on: she has school, she has Kitty Section, she has her "girl squad", she has her parents, she has her outside family, she babysits Alya's and Nino's siblings, and she has OH YEAH HER FASHION DESIGNING! I didn't even count being a superhero since Adrien does that, too. She has so many things to do outside of Adrien, and yet the fact that she makes gifts for Adrien or dreams about Adrien or wants to have kids with Adrien somehow makes her nothing but an "Adrien fangirl"?

First of all, she's the bloody protagonist?! That's such a "Real Women Don't Wear Dresses" argument, that she can't have her own life AND be in love at the same time! And somehow her crushing on Luka also means her life revolves around him, too! But Adrien's life doesn't revolve around Ladybug even though he doesn't really have anything going for him in his ordinary life? Outside of being rich, hot, white, and male, that is? What are his interests and hobbies, besides what Gabriel lets him do to pass the time? He doesn't even like modeling! And the Agreste plot is more about Gabriel, Emilie, and Nathalie than it is about him.

And what about his friendship with Nino? He didn't even care that Nino was getting strung along by Lila with the others! What about his friendship with Chloe that also waxes and wanes? Granted, Chloe's not a GOOD person, which that lady acknowledged, but she at least tried to change and has more development than him, the writers just won't let her change. I hate when people come for Marinette for doing literally anything when the show won't let her have agency and progress. It's so unfair of her and I wish they could see that. These double standards are driving me insane and they're sexist(maybe even a little bit racist, too), and it hurts even more when a woman's doing those things.

(I had to cut off some of this ask because I didn’t get all of it, so I cut it off at the point where it still seemed like a full ask.)

I FEEL THE “GLACIATOR” THING SO BAD. It hurts even worse when you realize that “Frozer” has to take place after “Glaciator,” so Chat Noir heard that Marinette has love problems and then ignored it to ask her for advice about his own love problems later on. The total lack of insensitivity???

Also, the idea that Marinette’s life would revolve around her crush on Luka is stupid. It’s the exact opposite, in fact.

Meanwhile, Adrien has so little going for him and the “interesting” parts of him involve who he’s connected to or what his father has forced him into.

[fenheart87]

Tall Cappuccino

Felt good to finish something and it started the ball rolling on other WIPs that I've been neglecting. Enjoy this humorous one shot based off my mom and her best friend creating a "coffee code" to talk to about cute guys and it backfiring. Did not work as well as it does for these two though.

“Girl, you need to get over Greg-” Alya started, opening the door to the coffee shop and holding it for Marinette and a few other customers.

“His name was Fillippe.”

“Or whatever his name was and get back out there! You are so sweet and beautiful and your parents have the best pastries in Paris-”

“Are you proposing marriage to me or my family?” Marinette frowned playfully when Alya reached out to pull her ponytail.

“Hush you, my point is we need to scout for potential dates for you. We can treat it like undercover research, a much better version than those schemes from our lycee days. Oh, we can have a codename for the hot guys we see so we’re not obvious about it. So where do we want to start looking?” The reporter stepped in line, glancing at the menu with half hearted interest.

“My dreams?” Marinette scooted forward so a barista could pass through, the balance of that many drinks was an amazing feat.

“I’m just saying you need to open your horizons and take a chance. You could get any guy’s number you so much as smile at and while I’m glad you don’t use your powers for evil, you need to use them to snag a boyfriend.” “All lies, do you think the caramel mocha will have caramel or just be a poor imitation?” Marinette pondered aloud, scanning the drink specials but not impressed by anything.

“You’re so coffee obsessed… Hold on a minute, what if we made a code using coffee to scope out some guys? Then maybe you obsession for coffee will lead you to true love instead of just a heart attack!” Alya grinned at her suggestion, not in the slightest put off by the dark glare coming from the shorter woman.

“Fine, since you’re so adamant about it, you buy me coffee every time we meet up to find my ‘perfect cup of coffee’ and you have a deal.”

“See, you’re already getting into it!”

The agreement took a couple weeks before they could actually start looking as both women had jobs that kept them busy and spare time didn’t match up often. A couple weeks later saw Marinette walking into the coffee shop named The Brew and savoring the rich smells of freshly crushed coffee beans. Alya had texted her that she made it first and had ordered a large cup of the newest creation for her and to not be late if she didn’t want cold coffee. Spotting her friend’s red hair, Marinette made her way over to the table and dropped herself into her chair.

“You are a zombie before coffee, it’s kind of creepy.” Her best friend pushed forward the cappuccino topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. “Drink up, I need your brain working to remember our code or we’ll never get anywhere.”

“I told you not to over plan it and you did anyways didn’t you?” Alya nudged the drink closer until she had to pick it up to keep it from falling in her lap. “Fine, three minutes.”

“I know girl, now you enjoy that and I’m going to get you a muffin and I want a scone.”

Marinette eyed the drink in suspicion but took a sip anyway, it was mocha with chocolate chips. Sighing in relief that the sprinkles were harmless decoration, until she would get to the part where she risked inhaling them with her coffee, the designer took a few more drinks. Slowly she could feel the warm feeling spread, her mind finally kicking in gear and half of it planning out her work for the day and the other half worrying about what insanity her best friend cooked up.

“Okay, so you like cappuccinos the best and you like chocolate chip muffins. Cappuccino is like an 8-10 and muffin is 5-8, hot chocolate can be a 3-5 and water is anything less. That’s how we can judge the drinks and get a better idea on what your perfect drink is.”

“You are terrible but okay, free coffee is hard to say no to.”

The first day was a total bust, no Alya I’m sure I’m not interested in girls, and they tried two coffee shops before they had to get back to their lives. Meeting up whenever they could was nice because it brought them closer instead of being too busy to talk longer than a few short calls or messages here and there. Although Alya enjoyed sending pictures and asking for a coffee rating of random guys, to which Marinette would reply with the matching emoji and sometimes even send some artfully taken pictures back.

A random Tuesday found them back at The Brew and for once Marinette beat Alya to the coffee shop. Deciding as it was midday and not early morning, she could wait for her coffee supplier to get there before ordering, Marinette found a table. Pulling out her phone to check for any updates from her best friend, and seeing none, she pulled out her current draft sketches and set to fixing or modifying the parts that didn’t blend with the look she was going for. Every so often the bell would ding and draw her attention, even going so far as to take a picture and send it with an emoji to Alya who was still stuck at work.

“Okay, this isn’t working but why?” The designer mumbled to herself, attention broken easily as she needed a distraction and turned her gaze to the door. A mistake because the man that walked in was stunning in the subtle smokey way, ripped jeans and well loved hoodie complete with steel toed boots. After her designer side was satisfied she skipped to his face and lost her breath. Blue, blue eyes brought out by the blue tipped hair and easy smile as he waved to the baristas in greeting. Quickly she opened her phone and texted Alya a hastily typed CAPPUCCINO. In perfect but dramatic timing her best friend loved so much, Alya walked in right as she sent that text.

“Hey girl, sorry to keep you waiting. There was an issue with the main story and printing and it was a nightmare! You didn’t have to wait to get a coffee, I would’ve paid you back.” She took off her jacket and hung it on the back of the chair along with her reporter messenger bag. “Oh well, I’m here now so what do you want today?”

“That tall cappuccino.”

“You and your obsession girl I swear. Should I surprise you with the flavor?”

“Nope, I want that tall blueberry cappuccino.” Marinette tried to hint towards the cute guy who was giving his order at the counter.

“Tall blueberry cappuccio?” Alya studied her for a moment, following her eyes to the blue haired stranger. “Oh, oh, got it! Good taste girl, you sure want the blueberry cappuccino? Different from your usual tastes.”

“Were you not the one who said I need to broaden my horizons and try new things with an open mind?”

“True, well then I’m hungry so I’ll be back.” Alya joined the line and left Marinette waiting anxiously. To distract herself, she focused on her sketch that was being stubborn. A ding from her phone had her admitting defeat and putting away her sketches in the folder she carried. Turning on her phone, the designer saw a picture message from Alya titled hot cappuccino. Clicking on it, the picture loaded to show a very fine rear encased in well loved black denim which happened to be the exact same pants her tall cappuccino happened to be wearing. She was going to kill her best friend.

"They don't have any muffins but you can share my scone if you want." Alya returned to her seat, offering the scone to Marinette who declined.

“Excuse me, I overheard you mention that you were interested in the tall cappuccino with blueberry so I thought I would bring you one.” Said tall blueberry cappuccino had stopped by Marinette’s side of the table and waited with a smile, with drink in hand. Alya pursed her lips in amusement, hiding her laughter by taking a sip of coffee. The designer’s desperate look of ‘oh god why me, help!’ was missed by the stranger as his name was called for the rest of his order.

“One scone and croissant roll for Luka, who had the order for the blue caps!”

“Ah, that’s me,” He smiled at the dazed woman, setting the drink down. “I hope you enjoy the drink. It’s a favorite of mine and Joel makes it the best if you want to order it again. Have a good day ladies.”

“Alya!”

“Mm, very nice cappuccino.”

“Alya, no! You just can’t leave me like that!”

“Babe,” Alya looked around and lifted her feet to look under them, “where exactly did I go?”

“You know what I mean!” Marinette groaned and hid her face behind her hands. “I totally had no response and I was not expecting that at all. He must think I’m lame.”

“There’s always the next cappuccino or you can always reorder the blueberry.” The reporter relished in the drawn out groan from her best friend, finishing off her scone.

The pair ran into Mr. Blueberry Cappuccino a few more times over their next several outings to scope out possible dates or let Marinette vent about her failed ones. The Brew was becoming a second home and the employees were starting to remember the woman and their orders. Today they even had their favorites prepared only to find out it all had been paid for.

"What?"

"Already paid for honey, someone must think you're cute." Joel winked in a flirty way, making Marinette laugh as his boyfriend smacked his shoulder on the way by.

"Uh-huh, what makes you say that exactly?"

"Well honey, not just any man buys a pretty lady a drink. And not just any man continues to do so when his lady of interest is missing a very big clue." Joel smiled and waved to an elderly couple as they left, turning to grab some muffins for the table of six for the kids. "He's not being very subtle and I feel like you don't know when someone is into you versus just likes what he sees. So, pay attention to your drink this time and please make or break his heart."

"Whatever you say Joel, whatever you say." The designer finally took her drink back to the table where Alya was already working.

"Sorry girl, I have to edit these and figure out the order by tomorrow. Any good drinks lately?"

"Bunch of water, glad to finally get a taste of my cappuccino again. Can you believe they won't let us have anything but water? Like I get it around the fabric and materials but not even in the break room." Marinette ranted waving her hands slightly until she knocked over her cup. "Oh! Geez I am such a klutz."

"Girl, when are you going to find a good luck charm to counter all that bad luck?"

"You know that's not it!" She hurried to clean up her mess, a barista dropped a rag on the table as they passed by with a tray full of muffins. Carefully she cleaned up her minor spill and waited off her cup only to notice there was a blue smudge on the outside. Taking a closer look, it seems like smeared numbers. A ten digit number. "I think it's good luck disguised as bad luck because I need to be more creative and get out of my own head. I'll be right back!"

"What? Marinette, what the heck?" The reporter watched in concern as her best friend went up to the counter and waved Joel down to ask him a question. Said barista laughed loudly and patted a disappointed Marinette on the head and gave her a refill.

"Someone has been trying to get my attention but since you always buy my drink per our agreement, he can't pay for it so he asks Joel to leave his number on the cup. Which I've been throwing away without noticing. And he won't tell me who it is!"

"Oh? Mysterious admirer vying for your attention using the thing you love the most in this world? Well do go on." The tanner of the duo teased, smiling at the half hearted smack to her arm.

"This just means I need to come here as much as I can and catch him. Or make Joel tell me."

"Marinette?" The new voice caused her to turn around to see Juleka whom she was partnering with for her latest project.

"Hey Juleka, did everything fit okay?"

"Yeah, just like always. I thought your coffee addiction was only an early morning thing?"

"Oh no, this girl could drink twice her weight in coffee and still accept another cup." Alya butted in, laughing as Marinette turned a bright shade of red.

"Why don't you go get us refills, you're not working on your project anyway."

"Fine." The reporter sighed playfully before heading to the counter.

"Sorry, best friends are always crazy."

"No worries… So what's your favorite drink so far?"

"Blueberry cappuccino, haven't really given it a fair try though since I only got a couple loo- sips before I had to leave."

"Uh-huh, a tall blueberry cappuccino huh?" Juleka glanced towards the counter where her brother was ordering, his stupid hat covering his signature hair and shot a quick text to change their order. "Ever going to try again?"

"Maybe? I seem to have attached an admirer, Joel has been writing his number on my coffee cups."

"Yeah he likes to play cupid. Kind of like how he helped me find my strawberry frappe." The dawning look of surprise turned to embarrassment very quickly. "Also, if he doesn't man up and give you his number directly, ask me and I'll straighten him out."

"Okay?" Marinette squeaked out but she was very confused as the up and coming model sashayed to the counter. A tall man moved to let her reach for a couple cups and left him with a stern glare.

"So any idea on how you're going to grill Joel as to who your mystery guy is?" Alya inquired, resting her hip against the table.

"I have no idea. I guess il just wait until my tall blueberry cappuccino shows up again." With a sigh, Marinette began packing up her papers only to be stopped by a cup sitting directly in the middle of her papers. A large drink, the blue swirls and aroma of their dark roast cappuccino tickled her senses.

"Hey so Joel told me I should uh man up so to speak and introduce myself." The designer's gaze followed the cup to the hand holding the cup, up an arm and right into the mystery guy's eyes. Who happened to be her tall cappuccino. "I uh must confess I knew about the whole code thing from the first day and I tried to have Joel help me out by putting my number on your cups but since I never got a text or call, I figured either you weren't interested or hadn't realized."

"Do you know how small he writes? It's impossible to read tiny alien chicken scratch."

"Yeah he did that on purpose. Sorry about that but I'd still like to get to know you, if you're still interested in a certain tall blueberry cappuccino?"

"Cappuccino is my favorite."

"Well Luka is your top favorite then."

"Good, Marinette is yours."

[thebooki3h]

Lukadamianette Au Part 2

First Here Next

We begin where we left off, with Luka and Marinette on one of the dates Luka Planned. Just because it makes sense in this, Luka and Mari arrive a week early

Because Mari is emancipated and excused herself for the first week of school before the trip during which the class is still in France bc they just ended summer and all that jazz. also I have decided that the trip has turned into a half semester exchange program even though this doesn’t make the most sense, but the French school thought the class could use a reward and tbh they just wanted to get the Akuma class out for awhile. Also this way they aren’t in Gotham for a whole semester of senior year. The trip is planned for the first half of the first semester of senior year. I know that this doesn't make a whole lot of sense but just stick with me.

They go sight seeing and basically on a week long date bc the following week begins the Wayne sponsored exchange program and when Luka has to work for Jagged. One day they go to museums, the next the go to famous parks around Gotham (which are thriving thanks to Poison Ivy), the next they see all of the famous villain spots (which are surprisingly popular tourist destinations bc for the most part they don’t get hit twice in short periods of time) which is a good cover for studying past bat battles. They take days in between to rest and use the inspiration they gained to make new songs or clothing designs. 

They share hotel room bc Mari’s parents stopped being her parents a long time ago and lost their say and bc Jagged says they are grown up enough to be responsible for their actions (which brings a blush to their cheeks every time bc “daaaaaddddd” “uncle jaggeeedddd”)

Mari also makes it her mission to visit all of the non chain coffee shops at least once while they are there bc coffee became her best friend when she was active as ladybug. She meets Tim in almost everyone because Tim also drinks coffee obsessively. Luka is more of a tea drinker because coffee interrupts his musical thought process and tea is less harsh. Marinette drinks tea when she wants to relax but coffee is the fuel of the gods. She expresses this to Tim and that's how they become acquainted bc finally someone understands his love for coffee. They exchange numbers after they run into each other for a fourth time. (Luka silently thinks that he might have to talk to Mari about her obsession of coffee again and if there is a rehab center for coffee drinkers) Tim learns that Mari is from the exchange class very quickly based off of Luka’s French accent as well as her light French accent that is mixed with a couple things he can’t quite place.

The class arrives, Lila ofc tried to pull something to leave Mari behind and she thought she was successful so she was gloating. She ofc took credit for the whole trip claiming that she was super close to the Waynes and that she helped Damian acclimate to his new school (she actually knows that Damian didn’t start living with his father until 10 bc why not). Mrs Bustier tries to check in under both her name and Lila’s name, both of which don’t work because they are A) an hour and a half early and B) all of the reservations are under the contest winners name (they have to ok their chaperones to use their name) C)Mrs Bustier told Mari to make all of the reservations under Mari’s name anyway and she totally forgot that. 

So the sit in the lobby for an hour, Lila has the whole class riled up bc Marinette isn't there and it is al her fault that they can’t get in to their rooms. Marinette shows up with Luka 15 mins before the class was supposed to show up (they had just gotten lunch at a cafe that jagged had recommended) and she is laughing and happy, which causes the class to BLOW UP in her face. She ignores them and checks everyone into their rooms. Kagami and Chloe share a suite bc they are rich in their own right and upgraded their shared room bc they are dating and signed up to be roommates. They got this okayed by Buister in writing JIC. Marinette as the contest winner also got a suite (the room she had been staying in with Luka that she just extended the booking for)

Lila and Alya obviously make a big fuss about them getting special treatment but bustier can’t do anything because Mari won’t let her. She secretly thinks Mari is a lost cause now but she tries her best to get her to see that she has to be a role model. Mari actually planned the whole trip and she did a fucking fantastic job bc its Mari and planning something is what she is great at. She has all of the bases covered including iternerary, bookings for food, emergency contact info, health info, info on Gotham, safety procedures and the whole shebang. All of which had to be approved by  Bustier and that Bustier has copies of but totally ignored.

The next day they try to pull the let’s leave an hour early to leave behind Marinette stunt. Not only does that fail because the tour can’t start until the contest winner is there, but they arrived before Wayne tower was even open to the public. Because jagged is extra he shipped Luka and Marinette motorcycles to Gotham bc they were going to be there for a couple months, they also got special permission from Wayne enterprises to park their bikes in the employee parking structures from Tim once he heard that they rode bikes as expensive as Jason’s. So she left early from the hotel with Luka(bc she knew that Bustier would leave her behind somehow) to go meet up with Tim at a new coffee place (one of his favorites). They end up riding on their respective bikes to WE together so they can hang out before the tour. Luka goes to a recording studio to meet up with Jagged, but not before a very passionate kiss goodbye, which makes Tim blush. (Tim may not seem like the biker type but he is a bat and he lives with Jason so he not only knows how to ride a motorcycle well has one, so it may not be his favorite mode of transportation but he’ll live)

So he and Marinette walk to WE about a half an hour before the class is supposed to be there in the middle of a debate on how best to brew coffee (Mari insists its French press) and low and behold they are there yelling at the receptionist. Mari gives Tim a look that says I’m so sorry you have to see this and yes I was not exaggerating walks up to the receptionist and apologizes for what she is about to do (not for the classes actions bc fuck them they can apologize for themselves she has learned to not take responsibility for others actions and she won’t let all that work go to waste). She then proceeds to yell, much louder than someone of her stature presumably should “SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I STG I WILL BREAK JOKER OUT OF ARKHAM AND LOCK HIM IN A ROOM WITH ALL OF YOU WITHOUT FLINCHING” this is shocking to everyone, especially mrs bustier who is  scandalized  that her role model student would do something like this.

Tim had a feeling that something video worthy would happen so as soon as she walked away he started recording, and he was NOT disappointed. The video gos straight to the batfam gc and Luka immediately. He powered off his phone then he proceeds to start laughing and applauding. Upon seeing the CEO’s reaction the rest of the employees start applauding as well bc damn those kids were rude. Tim then walks up to Mari talking at a speed no one but Mari, Chloe and Kagami could understand (bc the class is not fluent in English no matter what they would tell you). Mari proceeds to blush once he informs her that he sent a video to Luka (he does not tell her about the batfam gc)

Chloe and Kagami are immediate intrigued bc this is NOT what they picture when Mari said she met someone who loves coffee as much as she does. they may be hella gay for each other but damn that man is ripped. They join the convo while the class remains befuddled bc who knew Mari even swore. in the back of his mind Nino is reminded of a young blue-eyed girl who lost playground privileges for a week bc someone made fun of his glasses and proceed to punch said someone in the nose. But he shakes it of because Mari hasn’t been like that in years. 

Bustier eventually collects herself and gently, so as not to cause an Akuma (apparently she didn't get the memo), reminds Mari that they are here for a tour and she needs to get the class their passes.  So Mari leaves her friends to get acquainted and goes up to the receptionist, to whom she apologizes for her actions again, and the receptionist replies with a laugh and a “honey, you just made my week, there's no need to apologize I should be thanking you” (she does thank Mari). Mari gets a special pass bc she’s the contest winner to which Lila and Alya (then the rest of the class for the most part) proceed to throw a hissy fit over. The receptionist is so over them though and doesn’t even blink. 

Then their tour guide shows up. (its Dick and his assistant Damian). Damian proceeds to scold the class for a solid ten mins (which coincidentally leads up to their scheduled time to start the tour). Dick slides off to talk to the receptionist and his brother who isn't working and is talking to real people for once. Just for that they are his favorite out of the class. Tim unfortunately has to go to work so they talk to Dick to get acquainted until the tour has to officially start. 

Los tres amigos are the only ones who pay attention to Dick at all (he leads the tour bc he’s been there the longest but Damian throws in a comment here or there mostly related to shenanigans his family has gotten into but overall useful facts. for example these windows are reinforced because our CEO (Tim) leaned up against one, fell asleep and fell through the window to the office below.)

The rest of the class is focused on Lila who is talking a whole bunch of nonsense about the Wayne family and how she has helped them with their business. Some things actually sound kinda legit, but Mari and Co. know that it is BS. Dick tries to bet bustier involved but she makes an excuse for Lila and goes on her phone and doesn’t really pay attention. 

Eventually the class tour turns into Dick talking to Mari, Chloe and Kagami while the class vaguely follows them. Damian doesn’t really say anything because he generally doesn’t do well talking to strangers and these girls seem ok and he is still insecure (not that he would ever admit it to anyone ) about social interaction now that he has figured out how people who weren’t raised as assassins act. That is until Dick starts talking about shenanigans that his brothers get into, and Damian jumps in correcting him because  I did not try to tackle Todd, Grayson I did tackle Todd quite successful and also Alfred won’t let you into the kitchen anymore because you almost burned down the east wing of the manor not  because he is territorial over the kitchen. And Mari hadn’t really paid attention to Damian until now but OH MY KAWAMI he is hot, and how did she talk so long to notice that. 

She ends up taking a pic of Damian without him noticing (he really doesn’t notice which is a feat in itself but Dick does and he will  be teasing Damian about it later bc obviously) and she texts it to Luka bc if she is going to freak out over his hotness she wants Luka to do so too. ( he sees the pic in the middle of recording and he ends up needing a water break bc gay panic and he really is extremely handsome. Recording gets delayed even longer bc jagged cannot pass up the opportunity to tease him son and he does so mercilessly and Mari totally knew what she was doing when she sent that picture) Luka ends up demanding that she gets Damians number or he will because that man is fine.  

Mari now knows that the stuttering idolization that she had with Adrien wasn’t really healthy and Luka likes to remind her all the time that she can be smooth when she wants to be (sometimes unintentionally but she practices on Luka because she loves to see him blush). Mari then makes it her mission to compliment Damian as much as possible so that it is crystal clear and very obvious that she is flirting with him. If he even shows a little discomfort in a negative I don’t like this kind of way she will stop because she will not make someone go through what she went through with Chat Noir and unwanted advances.

Chloe, Kagami and Dick immediately notice that she is flirting with Damian. Chloe takes a video for Luka bc she knows that he would want to see this and Dick takes a video for the Batfam gc. 

Just to be clear Mari and Luka have talked about seeing other people and maybe adding a third person to their relationship as long as they talk about it. that line of communication was opened when Mari sent a pic of Damian to Luka and when Luka asked for his number that was his “go ahead” for her to flirt with Damian. Lila doesn’t understand how that works and neither do the rest of the class so that is a point of contention between the class and Mari. She would NEVER cheat on Luka, she loves him and he is the most important person to her in the world. Something that Juleka understands (she just doesn’t like Mari bc of Lila she knows how polyamory works this is why her and Luka aren't as close as they used to be)

Moving on... the batfam gc blows up for a second time that day and so when the class goes to the cafeteria Tim just has to see this for himself. Mari tries not to be obnoxious in her flirting so she compliments Damians intelligence by asking him questions that weren't included in the tour, and she asks him about his interests and is like that must have taken a lot of time to perfect you must be very dedicated. Damian isn’t used to genuine compliments especially from strangers so he is very flustered by it but he makes no indication for her to stop. 

The day winds down and the class has some free time before they have to go to dinner but the do have to leave the tower. Mari does actually get Damians number (he thinks she must be very well trained to get his number that quick bc he refuses to accept that he gave it to her because he likes her) Mari promises to ft him later bc he promised to let her meet his dog and she doesn’t want to wait until the class has dinner at the manor to see Titus.

First Here Next

Taglist

@dood-space

@toodaloo-kangaroo

Also I’m not very sure about how to go back and edit posts to link new parts so if anyone knows how to do that please comment or message me because I would love to learn!

[kasienda]

The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 3 - Best Laid Plans

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chat Noir was wearing the snake miraculous this evening as he always did now, but he hadn’t activated it. Tonight, he needed Alya to remember he had been there. He landed on the balcony of Alya’s bedroom and peered into the room cautiously. He had never actually been here before, and wanted to confirm he was in the right place. 

Sure enough, Alya was sitting at a computer across the room. 

He tapped on the glass. She looked up, and her amber eyes widened when they landed on him. He waved. She got up immediately, and slipped through the sliding glass door. 

“Sorry to drop in on you like this,” Chat said.

She smiled warmly. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Chat Noir?”

He couldn’t help the hand that went to the back of his neck. “Well, this might seem like it’s out of nowhere, but I was… kinda worried about Nino?”

Her eyes popped out of her head. Whatever she had been expecting, that had not been it. “What? Why?”

Read on Ao3

“Well, Hawkmoth has impersonated him twice now. Once as actual Nino and another as Bubbler. It seems like Nino has become a target. I just… if it was me, I would worry about my friends and family mistaking an imposter for me. And I would want to protect them.”

If anything, Alya’s eyes grew larger. “I don’t know if Nino was the target,” she whispered. “I think Hawkmoth is using him to get to me.”

Chat frowned. “Why would Hawkmoth be targeting you?”

“I… uh… I think he thinks I have a special connection with Ladybug… you know, because of the Ladyblog.”

Chat Noir nodded. “I suppose that makes sense.” 

She sighed and leaned against the railing next to him. 

“So what do we do?”

He stared out into the skyline. “I was thinking it would be fairly easy actually. You and him just need to set up some kind of call and response code. Something that only you and he know. You could tell him to do something similar with all the people he’s close to. And maybe you could do the same with people in your life… if you’re worried.” 

She nodded. “That sounds good.” And then she considered him for a moment. “Why did you come to me instead of going to him directly?”

He tensed at the question. He had been rather hoping she wouldn’t ask that. Honestly, he could have mentioned it to him as Adrien, but he felt that Adrien had less reason to notice something was up with Nino, and Adrien didn’t exactly have the background to be thinking about threats constantly. His father hired people for that. And Alya and Nino - they were just super close - and seemed to communicate well. He just thought Nino would be more receptive if the idea came from his girlfriend. But it’s not like he could explain all that. 

But maybe, he could explain some of it. 

“Well… uh… I don’t know him?” he lied.  “But I do sort’ve know you. And I’m sure he would take it better coming from someone he knows and cares about rather than a random superhero.”

She scoffed. “You’re hardly some random superhero, Chat Noir.” 

“Nice to know I have a fan,” he purred, waggling his eyebrows playfully. 

She shoved him back with an eyeroll and he grinned. “Stop,” she scolded. “You know I have a boyfriend.”

He smoothed out his face and gave her a genuine smile. “You are both very lucky to have each other.” 

She smiled. “I definitely think so. Thank you, Chat Noir. I appreciate you looking after my boyfriend this way.”

He gave her a two-fingered salute. “Of course! Just doing my job.” He was about to leave, but then he hesitated. “Do you have a pen and paper?” he asked. 

“Uh… sure. Give me a second.” She slipped inside and returned with his requested items. 

“If you run into any issues that need my attention, this is my username on the Ladyblog. You can DM me.”

She blinked at him, at the offered paper stupidly. “Oh my god!! You’re on my blog?!”

He grinned cheekily. “Of course! I am Ladybug’s biggest fan after all. And you seem to have the best scoops in that regard. I don’t know how you do it! Sometimes, it seems like you know her better than I do.”

She burst out laughing. “Well, a girl can’t give away all her secrets, now can she?” 

He smiled again. “I suppose not,” he said. “Thank you, Alya.”

“No, thank you, Chat Noir.” She stepped forward and he stepped easily into the offered embrace. He squeezed her tightly.

“For what?” He pulled away. 

She smiled sincerely. “For everything you do.” 

He blushed at the praise. “Like I said. All in a day’s work. See you around, Ladyblogger!” 

“See you, Chat Noir!” 

And he launched himself back into the sky. 

… 

He should have gone back home. It’s what he had planned on. He had a history exam coming up next week that he wasn’t entirely prepared for, but he was already so close by, he couldn’t help, but want to check in on Nino. He would set the time loop, check in on how Nino was doing, reset it, and head home without Nino ever knowing he was there.

He landed in a crouch in Nino’s bedroom.

His friend was sitting on his bed, swiping through his phone. His golden eyes snapped towards Snake Noir the second he had landed. His eyes narrowed. He did not so much as crack a smile. 

Something was wrong. 

“Is there an akuma?” Nino bit out, his voice hard and unwelcoming. 

Adrien shook his head. “No,” he said, and then frowned. “Dude, are you okay?” 

“What do you want?” Nino demanded, ignoring his question entirely.

Snake Noir took a step backwards. “Nino?”

“I think you should leave,” Nino said, and turned his gaze away from his unexpected guest. 

But Adrien didn’t want to leave. Not when Nino was so clearly upset. “Nino, it’s me. Adrien.” 

Adrien expected Nino to soften and pull him into a hug like he had every time Adrien had revealed himself, or at least explain why the hell he was so upset. But that’s not what happened. 

Nino eyes shot back towards him, wide with shock. “W-what?!” He took in a shaky breath. “Dude! How could you do this to me?!” Nino was screaming now. He had bolted to his feet. 

Adrien took another step back, raising his hands in surrender. “Nino! What are you talking about?” 

“Like you don’t know!” Nino snarled. 

“I don’t know!” Adrien insisted. 

“I think you should leave.” 

“What?! Nino! Please! Can we talk about whatever this is?” Adrien begged. 

“No! I don’t think we can.”  

“Second chance,” Adrien mumbled to himself, and he was outside Nino’s window. He glanced at Nino’s slumped form sitting on the bed for just a second before vaulting upwards to the roof of the building. 

He sat down on the tiled roof. What the hell had happened? Why did Nino hate him now? What had he done? Adrien’s hands were shaking even transformed. Nino was his rock, and now he felt adrift without that support. 

He lost the transformation and pulled out his phone, and immediately dialed his best friend. It wasn’t Adrien he was mad at - at least, not until he knew Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person. But why the hell would Nino be angry with Chat Noir? 

Nino immediately answered.  

“Hey dude,” Nino greeted, his voice sullen. 

“Nino, what’s wrong?” 

Nino sighed. “I think Alya is cheating on me.” 

“What?” The idea didn’t even compute, it was just too incomprehensible. 

“With Chat Noir.”

“What?!” Adrien said again, more in shock. 

“Dude, I don’t know what to do!” 

And Adrien could hear Nino’s pain. He had to fix this. It was clearly a misunderstanding.

“I’m here,” Adrien told him. “Now, explain this to me from the beginning. Why do you think Alya is cheating on with you? And with Chat Noir?” 

“She’s… been off for awhile now. I don’t know what’s going on, and I didn’t want to pry. She usually will tell me things when she’s ready. But she started missing a bunch of our dates, and her reasons… they don’t sound… right.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means… I think she’s lying.” 

“Could there be any other explanation?” 

“For the avoiding me and making weird excuses? Probably! But I saw her earlier today with Chat Noir.”

“Okay, did you see them kissing or something?” Adrien asked. He knew there hadn’t been anything to see. He had maybe flirted a tiny bit, but even then she had only rolled her eyes and chastised him. 

“Nothing like that, really. But she was laughing. She was so at ease, open, and lively. And I… I haven’t seen her like that in… weeks.”

“Nino…” Adrien trailed off, uncertain what to say. “I don’t claim to know what’s going on with Alya, or why she’s been distant. But she wouldn’t do this to you.” 

And neither would Chat Noir. 

“You didn’t see them together!” Nino shouted, and Adrien had to pull the phone away from his face. “I know what I saw!” 

Adrien’s phone buzzed. And he opens it to reveal a picture of Alya and Chat Noir in a hug. 

“Nino, this…” how did he explain this wasn’t what it looked like? “There’s no way Alya would cheat on you. Not even with a superhero.” 

Nino dissolved into tears. “I just don’t know anymore. She’s hiding something. And I don’t want to pry, but my mind just keeps going in these spirals and I don’t now how to get it to stop. I just can’t… help but wonder if she doesn’t love me anymore. And she’s always loved the heroes. It would be difficult to compete with a guy like that.”

“Nino, what are you talking about?!” Adrien asked, wanting to point out that Nino was a hero, too. “You’re a fantastic catch!”

“Sure, but he’s Chat Noir! Have you seen his butt in leather? And he’s funny! And… charming! And who even knows how many times he’s saved Paris!”

Adrien was grateful this wasn’t a video call, but he could still feel the heat from his cheeks to his ears. 

“He flirts with everyone!” Nino continued.

Adrien stiffened. He didn’t flirt with everyone. But he had flirted a tiny bit with Alya earlier, but he hadn’t meant anything by it. He was just being friendly. 

“He could totally steal away someone’s girlfriend!”

Whether or not that was true (and Adrien had his doubts), Adrien knew he would never do that. 

“Or even someone’s boyfriend!”

Seriously?! 

“Does Alya need to be worried about you coming on to Chat Noir?” Adrien interjected.

“What?! No! I would definitely put him in his place! I love Alya so much!”

“And she would do the same!” Adrien insisted.

Nino didn’t say anything. And a few seconds later, he realized Nino was crying. His visit to Alya had made Nino cry. He had only been trying to help. He had to fix this. 

“Nino, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean…” he trailed off sadly. He couldn’t truly say what he wanted to. Not without revealing himself. Which… he probably would have if Nino wasn’t so pissed specifically at Chat Noir.

“You don’t understand,” Nino sobbed. “Chat is not just some superhero to us.”

“He’s not?” Adrien asked cautiously. He really hoped this wasn’t going where he suspected it was going. 

“Alya and I know him.”

“He has saved you both more than once,” Adrien said. Please, take the excuse. Please take the excuse. 

“No!” 

Adrien could hear Nino pulling his own hair out in frustration.

“That’s not what I mean,” Nino said. “Dude, can I tell you something? I’m not supposed to, but I’m going to lose it! I don’t know who else to talk to about any of this!”

Adrien squeezed his eyes shut. It didn’t really matter if Nino told him what he already knew, was it? But he knew Ladybug might feel differently about it. 

Of course, he didn’t have to say anything to Ladybug. What was more thing he couldn’t talk about? 

“You can trust me, Nino,” Adrien assured. 

“Alya and I are superheroes, too.” 

“You and Alya?” Adrien repeated, covering his face with the palm of his hand. How did he not see this coming?! Ladybug was going to kill him. 

“She’s Rena Rouge. And I’m Carapace.”

Which made so much sense it wasn’t even funny. He was so close to losing it to hysterical laughter anyway. 

Seriously, was everyone he knew a superhero? Who was next? His father?

“Please say something,” Nino begged and Adrien shook himself out of his thoughts. 

“Wow,” Adrien said. “You’re a superhero! What’s that like?”

“Dude! I can’t even explain it. It’s exhilarating, and terrifying, and I don’t know how, out of everyone in all of Paris, Ladybug chose me to help her.”

Adrien smiled. Yeah, that was a pretty amazing feeling - the only fond memory he had as his time as Aspik. 

“I mean, Alya showed me some footage of Anansi. You were pretty badass even without a miraculous. It doesn’t surprise me that Ladybug would recognize that.” 

“Thanks, dude. That means a lot. I just… I don’t want to be mad at Chat Noir. He’s my friend.” 

Adrien found himself tearing up. 

“Or he was,” Nino added on. And Adrien sighed.  

“Nino, this isn’t really about Chat Noir. This is about your relationship with Alya. Do you trust her?” 

“I don’t want to be mad at Alya even more than I don’t want to be mad at Chat Noir.” 

“Have you talked to her about any of this?”

“Have you talked to her about any of this?” 

“No,” Nino admitted. 

“I’m telling you, Alya loves you. She wouldn’t do this. Not even a superhero who she happens to work with or be friends with. You’re her hero.”

“You really think so?” 

Adrien snorted. “Yeah man, I really do. Will you please go talk to her before you make assumptions.” 

“I don’t know where to start,” Nino said. 

Adrien thought for a second. “You could probably start with what you told me. Tell her that you feel like she’s been avoiding you. See what she says.”

Nino laughed. “You don’t think I should start with accusations?”

“I mean…” Adrien hedged. He wasn’t going to lie. He was definitely scared of Alya. Just a little bit. “I wouldn’t?” 

Nino laughed. He actually laughed, and Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright dude. Thanks for talking me off the cliff. I’ll call her now, and see if we can meet up.”

The call ended and Adrien stood up, hoping that Nino’s conversation with Alya went well. He knew that hug had been her thanking him. Surely, she would explain and everything would be fine. 

He transformed and ran across rooftops anyway. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if Nino hated half of his identity. He wouldn’t be able to visit anymore, even with the snake. 

 Adrien had to have faith in Alya. It would be okay. 

… 

Nino knocked on the door. Etta answered. Or maybe it was Ella. Honestly, Nino hasn’t learned to tell them apart yet, and today, it wasn’t his highest priority. 

“Alya! Your nerdy boyfriend is here!” 

“Hey! Be nice!” Alya chastised her younger sister. And then she pushed her back into the room as she came out on the patio, closing the door behind her.

The beaming smile she offered him went a long way toward soothing his tortured feelings. Adrien was probably right, but there was still an inkling if doubt that he couldn’t quite quash. He managed a weak smile back. She deserved more. 

“Nino! I was just about to call you!”

“You were?” 

“You won’t believe who paid me a visit earlier today?!” She told him, her voice literally oozed with excitement. 

“Chat Noir?” he guessed, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice. 

Her eyebrows furrowed together. “How’d you know?” 

He pulled out his phone, and flipped to the picture. “I was on my way to visit you.” He squeezed his shoulder, trying to reassure himself.

She took the device from him eagerly, her smile only widening. “This is such a good shot! I’m so happy you caught it!”

“You are?” And he might have sounded a little accusatory. He was trying to clamp down on it, and not start with accusations like Adrien said. 

She glanced at him, startled. And for the first time, she seemed to sense something was off. “Nino? What’s wrong?”

“Okay, so this might seem ridiculous, but what does Chat Noir mean to you?”

Her eyes narrowed for a second, and then went wife as she rapidly connected dots. “Oh my god! Are you serious right now?! You think that I would do that to you?” Her eyes had returned to hard narrow slits; she was pissed! 

But for the first time in his life, Nino was thrilled that she was furious with him. Her anger put to rest all her fears. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just you’ve been so… distracted lately. And you’ve bailed on several of our dates and it feels like when I ask you dodge the question.”

She softened. And he barreled forward. 

“I didn’t know what to think! I was actually coming over to talk to you about it when I saw you so... umm... friendly with Chat Noir. And I just… I haven’t seen you that open and happy in awhile. So I can’t help but wonder if I’ve done something wrong?” 

He was wringing his hands. He didn’t even realize how much he was hurting himself until she took both his hands in hers and rubbed soothing circles with her thumbs onto the back of his hands.

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” she murmured, her eyes staring straight at him. “I’m sorry. I have been distracted, but it wasn’t anything to do with us. It’s just a bunch of Marinette stuff. And… she didn’t want me to talk about it with anyone, and it’s all driving me crazy, so I just… am having a hard time being completely there the rest of the time.” 

“But… you looked so happy when… Chat Noir was there.” 

“Nino! He’s a superhero! And I run a superhero themed blog! I get a little fan girly, it’s true.”

She pulled him into a hug. And he melted into her arms. 

“The truth is,” she murmured into his ear, “I feel like I don’t have to pretend around you. I didn’t mean to push you away or out. I was feeling overwhelmed and crazy and around you, I thought I could just be low and it would still be okay.”

His arms tightened around her. His eyes were burning with threatened years. “I’m sorry I doubted you. Doubted us. I want to be able to be a place where you can be less than one hundred percent and still feel loved and supported. I’m sorry I didn’t live up to that.” And he was horrified that his voice cracked on his last word. 

She pulled away just a bit, and pressed her forehead to his. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel guilty. I told you that because I love you. And next time I’m feeling detached, I will try to tell you so you don’t have to worry or wonder.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, letting the last of his hurt roll off his shoulders. “I love you so much.”

She smiled, and kissed him again. “I love you, too.” 

They hugged, and Nino just let himself stay wrapped up in her familiar embrace. 

At least until she pulled away with furrowed eyebrows. “Chat Noir was here like… hours ago. I only didn’t call you immediately because I had to watch the twins. Have you been stewing in this that whole time?” 

Heat bloomed across his face, and he wanted to duck his head behind his hat, but this was Alya. He didn’t want to hide from her. “Yeah… I was really upset,” he admitted. “I assumed the worst, and kinda wanted to track down Chat Noir and start a fight!” 

“Nino!”

He held up his hands. “I know. I know. But Adrien called me at like the perfect time, and he kinda talked me down. He was insistent that you loved me and that you would never cheat on me.” 

“I’ll have to thank him,” she said, smiling. 

“You and me both,” he said. Then started fidgeting with the brim of his hat. “So… ummm… am I out of line if I ask what you and Chat Noir were talking about?”

“I was going to tell you anyway! Before you freaked out on me! But yes, if you must know, we were talking about you!” 

Nino blinked for a minute. “What? Me?” 

“He was worried about you.” 

His eyebrows scrunched together. Chat Noir was worried about him? And here Nino had been thinking the worst of the superhero. “But why?” 

Alya reached out for his hand, and their fingers were quickly threaded together. “He was worried at how much Hawkmoth has been targeting you, that he has been impersonating you. He thought that maybe it might happen again, and he was worried about how it might be affecting you mentally.. He suggested I get you to come up with some call and response passwords with the people in your life, so you could protect yourself and your loved ones.”

Nino’s eyes could not get wider. “Really?” How had he completely misjudged the whole situation that badly. Chat Noir wasn’t trying to steal his girl at all - the hero was trying to look out for him and her by extension. Instead, the hero was like, reading his mind, and coming up with ways for Nino to address his fears head on.  

“Really,” Alya said.

“Why did he go to you instead of me?” he asked. He felt so sheepish and embarrassed, and a tad bit guilty.

She shrugged. “Honestly, I think it’s just because he knew where I lived.” 

Nino laughed, and pulled her to him once again. His head rested on her shoulder. “Tell me that you love me.” 

“I love you,” she said, her tone smiling even if he couldn’t see her face.  

“How much?” 

“More than a superhero.” 

He grinned. “That should be our call and response code.”

She rolled her eyes. “If it makes you feel better.”

“But only if I ask you to tell me you love me, or vice versa. We don’t want other people to overhear it.” 

She nodded sagely in agreement. “Sounds good.” 

“I’m sorry I was an idiot.” “You’re my idiot.” 

And she lifted his head, and then she was kissing him. 

He smiled against her lips, his hands snaking around her waist. 

He really was a lucky guy.

…

Chat Noir sat across on a rooftop across the street from Nino’s empty bedroom. His legs were kicking back and forth in a way that would have seemed playful to anyone that didn’t know him well, but actually was a sign of how anxious he felt. 

He breathed in a deep sigh of relief when Nino returned to the room with a huge grin plastered on his face. As soon as Nino had closed his bedroom door, Chat launched himself across the street and into the room, landing with his trademark thud. 

Nino looked up at him in surprise. “Ch-Chat Noir! Uh… hey!” 

“Hi Nino,” Adrien said, his voice subdued. 

It was silent, and Adrien didn’t know what he was waiting for. He had come here with the intention of clearing the air. He hadn’t even transformed with the snake. He wanted to come clean. He spun the ring around his finger. This would be it. Nino was going to know who he was, and he wouldn’t be able to take it back. And he didn’t even know why he was nervous. He had told Nino dozens of times at this point, and his reaction had always been rock solid. 

Well, except for the last time. 

Maybe that was the problem. 

“So… uh… Alya, didn’t seem to think you knew where I lived. I’ll have to tell her that she was mistaken,” Nino said. 

Adrien nodded. “I may have led her to that conclusion. If it’s all the same to you, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t rat me out.”

Nino frowned. “Is there a reason you don’t want her to know?” 

“There is actually, but I can’t explain it yet. Maybe later?” 

“You’re being awfully cryptic tonight, dude.” 

Chat rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m just a bit nervous.” 

Nino stared at him, his eyes blinking in shock. “You’re nervous? Why?!” 

“You seemed pretty pissed at me earlier today.” 

Nino frowned. “How do you even know about that?” 

Chat’s gaze dropped again. “I may have cheated?”

“Huh?” 

“I’m wearing the snake miraculous.” 

“That’s the one that creates a time loop?” 

Chat Noir nodded. 

Nino eyed him up and down. “You don’t look any different than normal.”

“I haven’t activated it yet, but I’ve been using it to, well, cope, I guess would be the best word.” Chat Noir trailed off.

“Cope? Cope with being a superhero?” Nino guessed. 

“Yeah, it allows me to confide in someone without anyone remembering. And honestly, you’ve been really supportive the last few weeks. You have no idea.” 

Nino’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What? But I don’t…” 

“Remember? Yeah, I know you don’t. That’s what I’m saying.”

“But you’re not transformed now, so that means I’m going to remember this conversation.” 

Chat nodded.

“So, what’s different about today that I get to remember?” 

“I just… the last visit made me realize that I wanted you to know this was happening. I want you to remember giving me permission to do this.” 

“I’ve given you permission to do this before?” 

Chat nodded again. “I realize the why might not make sense to you, but you did.”

“Why me?” 

Chat Noir looked up with a small smile. “What? Don’t think you’re good enough?” 

“That’s not what I meant! It’s not everyday that you learn that you are the secret confidant of one of Paris’s superheroes and don’t even know it!” 

“Because you’re definitely good enough! You saved me from being akumatized like I don’t know how many times.” 

Nino frowned. “We’re not like having a secret affair or something are we?” 

Chat laughed. “Umm… no, but you know, I’m beginning to think you have a crush on me.” 

Nino blushed. “It’s a celebrity crush!” he defended. “Leave me alone! I didn’t know that we knew each other outside of akumas that well.” 

“Well, I’d like to explain everything to you if that’s okay. Clear the air so to speak.”

“On a timer? Or without?” 

Chat took in a deep breath. “You choose.”

“What do you want?” 

“I really want you to remember this time, but it might be dangerous.”

“Dude! As you totally already know, I’m already a target of Hawkmoth.” 

“Which is probably a reason I shouldn’t let you remember this. Which is part of the reason you let me erase your memory over and over again.” 

Nino frowned. “How often have we uh… done this?” 

Chat Noir winced. “Ummm… I don’t know?” 

“Shit dude. That’s…” Nino looked away. “Answer one question for me without giving away the thing you’re worried about?”

“Anything.” 

“Why did I agree to it the first time?” 

Adrien thought about it for a moment. What could he say? 

“You saw me have a breakdown where I was likely to be akumatized. I needed to talk to someone, but it wasn’t safe for me to talk about any of it without literally risking the world. You told me not to leave this room until I was okay.”

“And would you be risking the world by telling me now?”

Chat gripped the back of his neck. “Ummm… I don’t think so?”

“Dude! That’s not reassuring.”

Chat’s claws tore through his hair. “Yeah… you’re right. We can do it the other way. I’ll transform and set the timer, and explain everything. Then with context, you can make an informed decision about whether you want to remember or not. But either way, now you’ll at least remember that this is something that happens on the regular. You won’t bite my head off or assume that I’m trying to steal your girl when I’m talking to her.” 

“Thank you for that by the way.” Nino’s voice is small. And embarrassed. 

“For what?” 

“Talking to my girl? Apparently you were worried about me?”

“Yeah…”

“I’m sorry,” Nino said. “For assuming the worst.” 

Chat Noir shook his head. “It’s fine.” He wasn’t sure if it was, but he understood now why Nino had reacted the way he had. “I’m used to far worse.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better, dude,” Nino told him, his eyes staring at him with a concern that Adrien was far too familiar with.

He pasted on a bright smile. “Well, let’s get this show going, yeah?”

“Sure,” Nino said, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “What do I need to do?” 

Chat grinned. “Don’t worry about it, man. I got it covered. Sass, Plagg, unify!”

Nino put a hand over his eyes to block out the light. “Woah, dude. That’s quite the light show.” 

Snake Noir laughed. “Second chance.” 

“Alright mec, lay it on me,” Nino said. 

Snake Noir took in a deep breath, and then looked right at Nino. “I’m Adrien.” 

Nino paled. “What?”

“I’m Adrien,” he said again.

Nino’s eyes were as wide as the Seine. “Dude! You came here earlier when I was pissed at Chat Noir?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Please tell me I didn’t hit you,” Nino said, his eyes never leaving Adrien’s masked face.  

Adrien frowned. “You didn’t hit me. Were you worried that you might’ve?” 

“With where my head was at? I definitely wanted to punch you. Chat Noir, you, I mean.” Nino cringed. “I guess… that’s not much better.” 

Adrien tried to smile, but didn’t pull it off. “Your… umm… hostility toward me was a bit of a shock,” Adrien conceded. 

Nino snorted. 

“I just… I think I had gotten used to your… easy acceptance. I realize that I took it for granted.” 

“Dude! Stop! I was definitely in the wrong this time. And I’m sorry.” 

Adrien smiled. “It was just a misunderstanding.” 

“This is how you knew to call me?” 

Adrien nodded.

“I’m so sorry! I never meant to lay into you about… well, you! I just kept thinking about things being off with Alya, and obsessing over how I was supposed to compete with a superhero.”

Snake Noir bumped Nino’s shoulder. “But Nino, you are a superhero, too.” And then his head hung. “And we all have doubts.” 

“Dude, are you okay?” 

“Not really,” he admitted. “The whole reason Ladybug gave me the snake was so that I could confide in her, but I haven’t really done that. I keep using it to talk to you.” 

“Why can’t you talk to Ladybug.” 

“I can! And I can’t. So much of what I want to say is about her and that just makes it awkward. And every time I tell her who I am she starts crying.” 

Nino’s brow furrowed. “She has better not be disappointed!”

Chat shook his head. “No! I don’t think so. I think she’s sad that she has to forget.” 

“Why exactly does she have to forget?” Nino asked. 

“Us knowing each other’s identities apparently led to the end of the world.” It was getting easier to say.  

Nino starred at him flatly. “What. What do you mean, end of the world?” 

Chat threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t know! I didn’t see it. She did! But apparently, I was akumatized and had the power of unlimited destruction, and blew up not just the earth, but the moon as well!” 

And yeah, maybe it was getting easier to say, but Adrien was shaking in agitation. 

Nino considered him for several seconds before finding his voice. “Dude. That is… heavy.” 

Snake Noir slumped down on the floor. “You’re telling me.” 

“I’m glad you’ve been able to come here,” Nino finally said. “I cannot imagine going through this alone.”

“I don’t know how I can ever thank you,” Adrien admitted. 

Nino pulled him into a sideways hug. “You don’t have to. That’s what friends are for.” 

“Little did I know, you taking pity on me for having Chloé as my only friend was one of the luckiest days of my life.” 

“Ha! I’m glad you have more options now.” 

Adrien smiled. “So, what do you say? Is this something you want to remember?” 

Nino nodded. “If you want me to know, I want to know.” 

“Even if it puts you in more danger?” 

“Dude! Do you think it’s possible for me to be in more danger at this point?” 

“Nino, I destroyed the world. Not Hawkmoth.” 

Nino frowned. “Now, that’s where you’re wrong. You said you were akumatized. That’s all on Hawkmoth.” 

“I doubt Hawkmoth’s goal was to destroy the world,” Adrien said softly. 

“Which just means, you must have broken from his control or something.” 

“To destroy the world?” Adrien asked sarcastically. 

Nino placed a hand on either of Adrien’s shoulders. “Dude, look at me.” 

Adrien looked up. 

“I’m not going to lie. Seeing you transformed as Snake whatever with Adrien’s brooding face is majorly trippy.” 

Adrien laughed. “Sass, scales rest. Plagg, claws in.” And in a burst of light, he was just Adrien sitting on his best friend’s bed. 

“You were saying?” Adrien prompted when Nino continued to just stare at him in shock. 

Nino seemed to shake himself lose. “Right! I’m saying this once and I will say it as many times as you need to hear it. You don’t really know what happened in that timeline. Like you said, you didn’t see it. And, you haven’t destroyed the world. Just look outside, you can see it!” 

Adrien opened his mouth to argue, but Nino silenced him with a waggling finger. “No, dude! I know what you’re thinking, but I know you. You would never destroy the world if you were in control of yourself. You are too good. Too pure for this world. And you’re fucking Chat Noir! You literally throw yourself into death’s jaws like every week to protect everyone. I will not let you feel guilty for all of time for something you haven’t even done.” 

Adrien watched Nino through his monologue, unable to help the smile that stretched across his face. “Are you done?” 

“That depends. Are you still beating yourself up?” 

Adrien smirked. “I’m feeling better at the moment actually, but I don’t promise I never will again.”

“Well, you just have to promise to come back whenever you’re feeling that way.” 

Adrien offered an open hand at chest level, and Nino clapped his own hand into it, and they pulled each other into a hug. “Deal, as long as you promise to talk to your girlfriend whenever you’re having doubts.” 

“What? I can’t talk to you about my girlfriend?” 

“I mean, you can! You can talk to me about anything.” 

“Oh my god! You’re Chat Noir!” 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“And I’m Carapace.” 

“Yeah, you gave that away in like my second loop.”

“We can literally talk about anything,” Nino concluded. 

Adrien smiled again. “I guess we can now. I hope you don’t come to regret that.” 

“Dude!” Nino squealed. “This is going to be so cool!” 

…

Chapter 4: A Thank You

[silvia7272]

Miraculess Ladybug Salt AU: You Always Liked To Play With Fire ~ The Meeting

I have no idea how long I want this to be, but I doubt it will be too long, so maaaaybe 15 chapters? But I’m super glad that this has gotten more attention than I thought it would have.

Might need to point out that I only said there weren’t any Miraculous here, but heroes still exist, but they all hide their identities (from the public because I think it’s stupid for random civilians to know your identity) if they chose to or they only tell families.

This fanfic and its ideas were all made before season 4 came out, so if something doesn’t add up please don’t worry. That information wasn’t available then, and unless it fits into my story or I like it, I won’t include it in my story. Also, that new Miraculous wiki can get lost, I’m not putting any of that new information in here if they couldn’t even put it in the show.

Word Count: 7661

Tags: @vixen-uchiha​, if you wish to be tagged all you must do is say. Also, if you change your name please tell me, I don’t want to leave you out since you’ve asked to be tagged. I’m very sorry if I’ve missed anyone.

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Summary:

(Fire doesn't exactly have anything to do with this story I just really liked the title)

Note: This book contains OOC scenes of Miraculous Ladybug as well as a ton of salt, so if you don't like that stuff you may scroll past and have a nice day.

In a world with no Miraculous, no Hawkmoth and no Ladybug, how does our little heroine do?

Well, it usually would be hanging out with her friends, as any other teenager would do...

But, of course, this wasn't normal.

This was reality. It was cold, hard, and definitely not welcome.

So, when this girl wishes to have some kind of adventure in her boring, mundane life...

How long does it take for her to regret it?

Trigger Warning (If you believe there is absolutely anything in my works that can be classed as triggering please tell me and I will include it after the summery. All off my works are made with a keep reading so you should be able to see if there's anything in the warning before hand.)

Mentions of guns, poison and stitching flesh.

***

Beep… Beep…

Alarms were annoying. Why had someone decided to invent a device that makes you feel guilty for sleeping in? Why not just be a gentle reminder in the form of a lullaby? Or a small caress of a hand brushing some hair, as you simply start to close your eyes, drifting of-

“Marinette you’ll be late for school again!”

She groaned.

So that was why.

Getting dressed she sighed knowing what the day would hold. Glares, being alone, eat, hopefully become nothing but invisible and make sure to go unnoticed before rushing back home.

For the past three years, this is what would happen to her. This same boring, frighteningly normal routine.

And she hated it.

Not just for being alone, or all of the sadness she felt grow each day to a meter she wasn’t sure what level she was on now but whatever. It wasn’t going down any time soon.

No, what she hated the most…

Was the boredom.

Yes, her creativity streak could not be higher, she had been going through her sketchbooks so much she had to work longer hours at her bakery to afford them all, but her love for fashion just wasn’t the same, she didn’t feel any joy producing her work anymore. There wasn’t anyone new to show it with.

She was just alone in her room, mountains of book piles covering every surface.

But she was bored in general. She wouldn’t be able to place the feeling, or even be able to describe what it was. But for whatever reason, she craved for adventure, I mean sure she was safe here, and she didn’t want to worry her Parents with this silly idea of hers. But she just wanted a tiny little taste of some venture.

So why couldn’t she?

“Did you hear?” Marinette heard the whispers, walking up to her classroom door she could hear what they were talking about, over the years she had become silent, become part of the crowd, it was so much easier to eavesdrop, although it was a bad habit of hers, she couldn’t help it.

For example, she heard about Adrien’s relationships.

Now don’t start getting worried, she was 100% over the boy. She would under no circumstances ever fall for someone like him, or even make such a god-like illusion of someone ever again.

But she heard how, the first day Lila came, and their kiss they shared. He really had meant to pull away.

Because he was starting to see Kagami.

But, his feelings became conflicted.

And he didn’t want to hurt Kagami, so he simply never told her.

But then he never told Lila to stop with all of her advances, and Alya had tried numerous times to set them up.

Again, Adrien never said for them to stop, instead went along with it. He never told them he was with Kagami, and Marinette couldn’t help but feel so sorry for the girl.

She learnt from hearing Adrien’s conversation he was her first friend, and she wanted to keep hold of that fact.

Just like her.

Except, the bluenette was able to escape that motion before she was sucked in too far.

She would’ve warned Kagami, don’t get her wrong. But Marinette wouldn’t lie. She was intimidated by the girl.

Every time she saw her, she would glare all the time. It just reminded her of everyone else, and she couldn’t go through with it.

Pathetic she thought bitterly.

But still. If she had confessed to Adrien, and then Lila came. Would he have told her about that kiss?

.

Well, er- Besides that, she had a knack for hearing other things too, for example, footsteps, she was able to tell who’s were who’s just by the sound. Some were light like Rose’s and Juleka’s. Some were heavy like Ivan’s and Mr Damocles. Some were sneaky like Chloé’s and Lila’s.

And she had to learn to avoid interactions with anyone she knew would make a fuss.

It became easy after a while.

Opening the door, she quickly scanned the class, they were all there, usual spots an all.

Around Lila’s desk.

Oh well.

It would be less likely they would notice her.

She was, fortunately, able to get to her seat without any interruptions.

“A hero is coming to Paris, to help all of the Parisians out. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Really, that’s so cool. I wonder what they’ll be like?”

“Oh, I sure hope he’s strong. Hey, do you think it’ll be Eostrix Or Sparrow?”

“And why exactly do you think it’ll be Eostrix? What about Medusa. Or-” Alya gasps, excitement seeping out of her.

“What if it’s Nebula?!”

“Nu-uh, it’s definitely Eostrix”

“No way Nebula all the way”

“Eostrix”

“Nebula”

“Eostrix!”

“Nebula!”

“EOSTRIX!”

“NEBULA!”

“BATMAN!!” The once quiet Rose belted out, before covering her hands in astonishment.

“Sorry I wanted to join in.” She gave a sheepish smile as Juleka pattered her head.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, they would always get loud but today must’ve been special.

She looked out the window. A superhero Ey? Coming to Paris? How exciting. She knew she would never get the chance to meet them in person, what with her not so chaotic schedule. But she would love nothing more than to thank them for all they had done, for even volunteering to come here and help.

If she was brave enough, she would love to bake something for them, as a token of appreciation for their work. Maybe even make an outfit inspired by them-

Wait- that wouldn’t be considered creepy, right?

She tried to work on that, with her attachment issues. But she was trying, with no friends at least, she wasn’t sure if it had worked. No one could see her progress without any other remarks.

“You shouldn’t work yourself up so much, besides there’s going to be an announcement in 2 hours, we’ll just see it at break.” Alix laid back in her seat, Marinette couldn’t tell if she had finally realised the truth but was just drowning it out or just grew bored.

But she hadn’t made any type of engagement with her.

Oh well, I guess she was done with hoping.

But it wouldn’t matter, Mlle Bustier came in clapping her hands to gain the classes attention.

“Now now, please return to your seats, I have a very special announcement to say” Please don’t let it be another pop quiz. It was bad enough when someone would glance her way in general. Not when her test score would be one of the highest.

“As you know, this small, lovely class has been so pleasant these past few years. Our own tight little nest, and I couldn’t be prouder of… All of you” Marinette saw the little glance she made, whatever she thought. It was all lies anyway.

“But, we will have to make another new addition to this class” A laugh was heard.

“Well, I for one hope they’ll be better than the last bunch… Except for you Adrikins” The others glared at her as Adrien looked away, not wanting to get involved.

If there was one thing Marinette could commend Chloé for, it was the fact she saw through Lila’s lies with ease. Having Sabrina by her side did make it easier, but she saw through none the less.

She didn’t care that everyone else believed her little tales, Chloé thought it was funny, and loved the idea of their reactions when they would inevitably freak out and cry.

She just had to be patient.

Plus, there was no way she would feel pity for Marinette. In this world, its use or be used. And like hell she’ll be used. She just had to see for herself.

“Chloé please, that’s no way to make a first impression. Ahem, excuse me, you may come in now!”

“Ok~,” A singsong voice said.

If Marinette had been paying attention, she would’ve noticed the newcomer walk in. She wore a long-sleeved unbuttoned cardigan with a t-shirt underneath and a knee-high length skirt. A scarf was tied around her neck, matching her attire and small petite shoes.

She would’ve noticed the pretty little bows in her hair. The pigtailed braids, all going down to her waist, showing off how long it still was even tied up. Little earrings so small worn, a detail many wouldn’t have noticed.

She would’ve noticed the little introduction she did to the whole class, and how it seems she brightened up the whole room. Or the smile she sent their way, not for one but for all. And how a blond boy blushed from it.

But more importantly, she would’ve noticed, or at least heard her name being called out multiple times.

“Marinette, please pay attention for once, I swear your behaviour has gotten worse” She wanted to shrink, now she made a fool out of herself in front of the new girl.

“I’m very sorry about that, that was very rude of her, I do hope you’ll forgive the situation, the only available seat is at the back” Great, now she will hate her.

“That’s alright, I love sitting at the back, that way, I can see everyone and know they’re ok” Hearts stopped, and smiles grew, she really was just a sweet little child.

The bluenette, however, was dreading it. Now there would be another to hate her. And she seemed so innocent. It was only a matter of time before she would be corrupted as well.

Oh, the horror, she really didn’t deserve it, but Lila would have her way, she always di-

“You’re Marinette, right?” She jumped, forgetting she had just been in her own little world again, staring off into space. She really needed to stop that.

“Err y-yeah, and you are?” She cursed herself for not paying attention, now she may just think she was an ignorant stupid-

“My name is Rosaniline Keyne-Hill, but everyone calls me Rosann, it’s a pleasure to meet you Mari” She giggled as Marinette stared back.

Mari? No one had called her that before. But she liked it.

“Yeah, same”

And it felt like something else.

Maybe… Hope?

…

She shouldn’t be so optimistic.

***

Trying to eat in peace was a nightmare. There weren’t many places where she could go to without being in trouble. The library prohibited any foods due to not wanting any books to be damaged, you weren’t allowed to eat in a classroom without a teacher present, and considering all of the teachers chose to eat in the staff room she wouldn’t be able to sneak into any room. The art club, again didn’t want to damage any works, not after Chloé “accidentally” spilt her drink all over Nathaniel’s sketchbook four years ago. He refused to go to school for a week. And the roof was out of the question, too unsafe and a risk if anything were to happen.

But Marinette, since it’s lunch, couldn’t you go eat at home? Why yes, she could, at least two times a week she would just go back and stay at home to eat, but she felt as if she couldn’t always retreat home just for convenience, besides, Mlle Bustier would sometimes tell her to eat in the cafeteria with the others instead of hiding herself away. If she tried going to her Parents when told to stay, she’d be given warnings that soon turned to detentions.

Even if at times she wished to just sneak away, she couldn’t, she didn’t want her Parents to be called in and get wind of any other situations.

Marinette sighed as she played with her food, boredom crept on her face before she tuned into that hero announcement appearing on Face To Face.

Despite everyone trying to shove it down the school’s throat, she was ever so slightly curious about it. She may not have been able to voice her opinions to anyone in particular but she just wants to see who this mystery hero was.

Her pink earbuds at the ready and plugged in, she waited until Nadja Chamack’s report would come in, eerily, the whole cafeteria was quiet, the suspense was enough to put anyone silent.

Then, the logo came on, the sound resonated throughout the room since it was on the TV but Marinette stuck to her phone, she didn’t want anyone catching her watching it.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news. Now a new rumour has been circulating throughout Paris about a new superhero appearing to protect the civilians. I’m sure you’re all dying to know just how true it is. Well, I can assure you that only the best reporter in Paris would only speak of the truth, considering I have the key to answer all your questions.” Lights appeared behind her, all moving in different directions before centring on a doorway in the centre of the stage.

“I’m confident you’re very excited to find out who our mysterious hero is, so without further ado, let’s see who it is.” People began to hold their breaths, the excitement of who this bigshot would be, Nebula, Eostrix, or someone even bigger, they didn’t know, but you could hear a pin drop in that cafeteria with how silent it was.

From behind the curtain, there were ruffles, smoke emerged to give off a more dramatic flair as the crowds became excited.

.

.

*A turquoise and light emerald outfit came into view. Baggy clothing on her arms and legs appeared along with white high boots. Her main outfit seemed to reside a sweetheart neckline dress with a mini skirt, although Marinette noticed it gave the girl some mobility to move around instead of being restricting. She also noticed the slight cold colours centring around her skirt, since she always had a keen eye on different types of design patterns. Light blue overlayers obscured most of the skirts view with golden rims on the bottom.

She had a light blue neck jewel, although she couldn’t see much off it, she’d have to admit. Her mask was a gradient of turquoise to match her dress, her hair was tied up in two twin buns, two red hairpins also there she noticed, but the rest left down, Marinette had to wonder how long it would’ve been all down.

There were a lot of things Marinette noticed, however, one thing everyone could agree on…

Was that they had no idea who she was.

“Salutations everyone, why it’s a pleasure to be here.” Marinette had to admit, she looked… Kinda young to be a superhero. And maybe, just maybe, not what she’d envisioned when she’d heard about a hero coming to Paris. Why, she was making an assumption, and she should really know better than to do that since, y’know, but you couldn’t blame her right?

“WHAT? WHO THE HELL IS THAT?” She heard over the other side of the dining room. Of course, it was Alya, she never could control her voice volume. But she couldn’t tell if the ombre girl was upset over it not being Nebula or supposedly getting hyped up for a hero none of them had ever heard off.

Looking back at the screen, she could tell the news reporters seemed a bit taken back as well, Nadja never was good at concealing her emotions, even on air, maybe they had been promised someone else instead?

“O-Oh, I see. Well, I-’ Her recovery was the same, Nadja always fretted she had to rely on the people up in management to give her a line if she couldn’t think off one herself, she wasn’t very good at improv either.

The heroine smiled before walking down to sit beside Nadja.

“I understand the scepticism, my appearance deters most, but that is just a ploy, however, I’m here to make a promise to all off Paris. My name is Soliane Rin and I’m here to risk my life for everyone in Paris, with or without my mask on. All I ask is to be given a chance.” She bowed to the camera, to all off Paris, and Marinette was able to see her smile, her truthful words as the whole dining room stayed silent at her speech.

Marinette seemed to feel…

Hope?

“Ah- no it wasn’t that, it’s just we were given information you were appointed by both Eostrix and Nebula? How? I mean, how did you meet them, or more importantly how did you get to have this opportunity?” She smiled as Nadja had time to recover from her obvious disappointment.

“Oh that, well I had worked with them on a few cases in New York. I had trained for a few years to be just like that until I was finally able to convince them to train me fully. And well I guess they believed I was ready to protect this jurisdiction by myself over time.” Nadja nodded along, seemingly more at ease as the time passed by, more questions being asked and answered before everyone had noticed how much time had passed.

A beep emitted from the girl’s necklace, in turn making her stand up and bowing or at least curtsying once more.

“I’m sorry for the early interruption, but I must be going now, I have some business to attend too” She threw a peace sign as a puff of smoke surrounded her. When it had passed so had she disappeared. As the crew tried to cover from most of their unscripted events. Nadja headed to commercials.

The long-awaited announcement was over, what would the audience’s reactions be like?

“Really? We get a new hero like her? I’ve never even heard of Soliane Rin. Ugh, we might as well have gotten someone like Doorman” Kim flung his arms up into the air before sitting back into his chair.

Not good apparently.

“I know right, and to think I was excited for this” Alya dramatically fell back into her seat. And she was so looking forward to this news as well.

Marinette would admit to feeling more guilt, she may have… Possibly thought the same, but even still, we’re judging a book by its cover, surely, they all should’ve waited until maybe after she had proved herself.

Wait- making her have to prove herself was too judgemental still, she didn’t mean for it to sound that bad, she just- she was just wrestling with the thoughts in her mind.

Not noticing the annoyed looks from the class, the tiniest blush from a blond, or the tiny smirk residing from a brunette.

With a plan in action, she set to work ravelling a new story that was sure to captivate her ‘friends’. With a tremble of the lip and bowing her head, she waited until at least one person would notice her sudden change of expression.

Luckily, her plan went just as she thought.

“Lila? Are you ok, what’s wrong?” Rose, a sweet and naïve girl mind you, immediately took the bait.

And with that, the others finally took notice of her, a new record she thought, after so long she was used to this routine.

She knew how to work them.

“Oh- it’s nothing important, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to spoil the mood.”

Hook

“Hey c’mon girl, you can tell us. What’s on your mind?” Alya pats her shoulder to comfort the smaller girl.

Line

“Are you sure?” Lila asked again timidly, the other girl nodded, in fact, everyone did, and gave encouraging words to her, they couldn’t see the smirk inside her mind.

And sinker.

She fiddled with a piece off her skirt, a habit she formed when noticing they were always a lot more concerned when she fidgeted, it was a clever trick really. Being able to get anyone wrapped around her finger was a power she loved.

“Well, I just think it’s a bit sad really.”

“What was?” Someone asked, at times she didn’t really care who it was that responded, she just knew what the next response would be, she could always make them say what she wanted without them ever knowing…

Oh, she loved this life.

“It was meant to be a surprise.” She rambled on, waiting for someone to stop her, they had to.

“Lila, what are you talking about?” See, she knew how to play this game a thousand times over.

“Well… I wasn’t really meant to tell anyone. But since all of you are my friends, and I know I could trust you with this, so I guess it's fine to say.”

Everyone around the table leaned in, intrigued by what she had to say. Lila took a deep breath in, bracing herself for the aftereffect of her words she knew would come.

“I knew it would happen, that no one would like her, but I had hoped and prayed that you all would, I guess I should’ve asked for someone higher up” It took a few seconds for those words to tick in the aspiring journalists head, but when they were finally processed, she nearly erupted. It was better to make them think of what she said instead of just outright saying it, decent off her to help their brains.

“Wait- you- you were the one to suggest a hero to come to Paris!? OMG girl that is fantastic” Lila gave a small smile as everyone then shouted the usual praise at her, she nodded along before turning her head down.

“But- you all weren’t happy” They all felt guilty at that, maybe that was why Lila had been quiet the entire time while the news was on. She must’ve been checking for their expressions and yet they hurt her feelings instead.

“Sorry- we must’ve just presumed it was gonna be Eostrix or Nebula, that morning probably messed with our responses” Alya laughed as she draped an arm around Lila.

But the ‘lie’ wouldn’t end there.

“I see, I just thought she would’ve wanted more recognition while being here” Out of nowhere she started crying more, everyone tried to comfort her, but it was no use.

“She’s just such a nice person, and so kind. When I last met her, she was still in training and I promised I would promote her as much as I could” She sniffed as Rose handed her a tissue which she greedily took a hold of.

Before they could exclaim their surprise she immediately jumped right back into her story.

“I knew I should’ve tried harder; I should’ve gotten Nebula or Eostrix. I’m sorry I ruined everyone’s day. I- I should’ve left my big mouth shut. I’m sorry guys” Their guilt immediately intensified.

Lila had done all of that for them, and they had quite easily tossed it aside without realising, how could they? And to one-off their best friends? Despicable, absolutely despicable.

Wait, why did that sound vaguely familiar?

Oh well, Lila was more important.

“Lila no” Alya cooed in a soft voice, feeling mostly responsible, hyping everyone else up and being one of the first ones to dismiss the new hero entirely. She tries to comfort Lila was the least she could do.

“It’s not your fault Lila” Her plan came together.

“Of course, not. We shouldn’t have judged her so quickly” Just like all the others.

“We’re sorry, so sorry Lila.” And she knew how to do it so efficiently.

“We shouldn’t have judged so quickly” Lila’s smirk in her mind grew in size, they were so wrapped around her finger.

As Alya was happily explaining that she would be in fact honoured to create a blog about this new hero- she had forgotten her name, and would quite happily like to interview Lila as well to be able to learn anything else about the hero, a lone figure grew upset.

Lila had just created another lie, she was used to that, but for it to be about the new hero, couldn’t Lila tell just how dangerous that could be? I mean sure, it would be great to actually be able to meet a hero, let alone be friends with one. But to publicly announce that? Was she crazy? Did she want a massive target on her back?

She could only hope no one would buy into that blog, as mean as it was, but she didn’t want them to get physically hurt.

She could only hope that the new hero wouldn’t care about fake news or blatant lies.

She truly could only hope.

.

As shoes tapped against the floor along the dining room, a new figure turned her head.

She had been walking around her new school, looking around for entrances, exits and just in general any hidden secrets. She had previously asked for a school plan from a teacher, but had been informed that her students would be more than happy to help her instead, and she needn’t need some piece of paper. But that didn’t suit her, so when she wasn’t looking, she may have just acquired one anyway. She was quiet so she wouldn’t have been caught.

Now she was walking through the dining hall, she had wanted to take in the cafeteria, just in case there were any rooms she had missed, until she heard footsteps approaching her.

“Hey Rosaniline, come join us, we haven’t seen you all lunch.” She knew she’d have to concede, having analysed each person in her class, she knew, Alya, would not take no as an answer.

So, she flashed her innocent smile and nodded along, it may prove useful to study them further.

Her arm was grabbed before they walked over to a table full of people, so different from the other tables.

“So, newbie where were you? You totally missed the special hero announcement.” Alix asked her, the others looked over to see her answer, if Rosaniline hadn’t been used to having a crowd around her she believed she would’ve been nervous as hell.

“I had taken the liberty off looking around the school, I’m afraid I can get pretty lost in large places, I only wished to remember the layout beforehand.” She placed her hands together with a bright smile appearing. It was half a lie; she couldn’t exactly state her true reason, now could she?

The ombre haired girl pulled a large smile onto her face. She was just like Adrien, new, polite and a literal ball of sunshine, she thought before sneakily looking over at the blond-haired person who hadn’t said much, most probably due to his shy nature due to his upbringing.

She latched onto Adrien’s arm before practically flinging him towards Rosaniline.

She literally took falling for someone to a whole new level.

“Well looks like the two of you would get along swimmingly” Her new ship was bound to sail, she could see it now, their immediate attraction for each other, the dates and interactions they’ll have before proclaiming their love in the rain, a sentimental scene in which she’ll be gladly recording while hiding behind a tree.

I mean who wouldn’t just map out her new friends love life in a matter of minutes of knowing each other?

But… It may just become a crash course instead. They rubbed their heads simultaneously due to bumping into each other. However, one was ever so slightly overjoyed with being in such close proximity to her while the other would think that prank wasn’t funny in the least.

Before any of the duo could express their annoyance/apologise and maybe a get together sometime, someone of course just had to interrupt the moment.

“Oh, Rosaniline we need to apologise to you” Rosann had expected the apology to come from Alya but it appeared that girl didn’t know that she had done something wrong.

“We’re so sorry that you have to sit next to her” That caught Rosann’s attention, what did they mean by that? They must’ve noticed her confused face as the explained further.

“Oh, you poor thing, you really don’t know do you?” Well, no. That is what she wanted to say, she was new, of course she wouldn’t know, hell she hadn’t even been able to see the whole layout as she had planned to. She was sure there was a hidden basement somewhere, she just needed to locate it.

“That girl, the one you have to sit next to in class. The one with dark blue hair?” They all tried to provide as many details as they could without trying to make it too obvious, but Rosann was able to make out who exactly they were talking about.

She took a sneaky glance towards the person the group had started to talk about. She heard a few words of bullying, mean, lies and stalker before zoning it out, she needed to concentrate.

The girl, in a pink jacket and a grey skirt. Sitting alone on a table that seemed to be mocking her by how big it was. All of the tables were big, possibly to do with teachers wanting students to sit with their friends.

But she wasn’t with anyone, she just absentmindedly played with her food as nothing interesting happened.

Rosann stared, that girl, she hadn’t seen her smile once, or even display any kind of positive emotion. She was just lonely; couldn’t they see that?

That girl needed to be saved!

***

Midnight.

Or at least close to that time she thought.

She didn’t know, she had spent many a night out on her balcony just sketching in her book. One would think it would’ve been too cold but the bluenette didn’t mind, she had been used to it, the wind wasn’t particularly chilly out here, even if it was late September. This was part of her routine anyway. Staying up late was just something she was used to, her sleeping schedule was the worse. But she produced so many fantastic ideas when she was awake at night, it was a sacrifice she was willing to take.

With her earbuds plugged in, she was jolted out of her streak when she heard a different notification pop up, pulling out her phone she looked at what could’ve possibly caused it.

[BREAKING NEWS: New Hero Prevents Bank Robbery On First Day.]

Marinette smiled at that. Her first achievement, in Paris of course, she knew she had done a lot before, she had checked a few articles before, although she did have to rely on google translate on a few instances, but this hadn’t been the only thing she had prevented. There had been house fires to museum robberies to even outright terrorist attacks, and yet she was able to stop them all, she did have some help but from what Marinette could make out the other heroes got there after taking most of the civilians out of the buildings, and from what she could tell, she could’ve easily handled everything herself.

She could see Soliane didn’t need to prove herself to others if she was just given a chance for everyone to see what she could do.

To not be judged based on baseless accusations tossed her way. For people to look through and see the truth!

.

.

She didn’t know who that had been aimed at, but she knew she just wanted to get back to her sketching.

But… She couldn’t.

Not now.

Not when she heard a noise behind where she had been sitting!

She quickly dropped her belongings as she jumped up from her chair.

-

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but she knew she had heard something, it wasn’t just her hearing she knows that.

She knew something had happened; something was there. When she stayed put, trying to concentrate more- she heard slight breathing, slow and- hurting!?

She didn’t know who it was, she didn’t know their intentions or they alliance, but, if something was hurt, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t check it out.

So, she quietly approached the wall, having to stand on the bricks on the side of the wall since she wasn’t tall enough before pushing herself up.

!!!

‘That’s-!’

Even in the night she could see a prominent colour.

Turquoise!

“It- no it can’t be! Soliane Rin!” She whispered more to herself, but even still she couldn’t comprehend how this could have happened.

Noises of pain interrupt her train of thought. She- she was hurt!

Her mind had taken action, and immediately propelled her forward, she couldn’t leave someone out here in the middle of the night hurting, even if she was a hero, she was still human!

She ran towards her, instantly trying to ask if she was ok? Where was she hurt and if she can respond?

But nothing came, no answer, nada. She had to check if she was alright.

She came closer, forgetting about maybe not accidentally startling the young hero.

Her hand was caught midway to the hero, she gasped, her reflexes were still there. Her head was nonetheless limp and her left hand resting on her abdomen.

“W- who ar-” She grunted in pain again. Marinette shot forward to grab her before she could fall back.

“Hey, m-my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you’re on my roof right now. Please let me help you” Through her strength, she opened one eye to look at her. And through her eyes, she could only see one thing.

Sincerity.

“Right- leg… anti” Her breathing grew slower, as if she were falling unconscious, Marinette had no idea if it would’ve been eternal.

But Marinette was able to determine what she had meant. Looking her over, she looked at her leg, her baggy clothes were slightly torn but that didn’t matter now, slipping her hand inside, she hoped Soliane wouldn’t mind her hand being cold, she tried searching for it, for her antidote.

Her fingertips tried reaching out until she felt smooth glass. Wrapping her fingers around and pulling it out she pulled it up for further inspection.

The writing around the glass wasn’t in French unlucky for her, however, there were pictures, she had to quickly conclude this would’ve been used for situations just like this.

The picture appeared to show that it should be drunken not spread on the wound, so she quickly unscrewed the cap. Looking back at the hero she could tell she had indeed turned paler, she wasn’t faring so well, she knew she needed to do it quick.

Tilting her head back so she could pour it down her throat, she could only pray that she wasn’t too late.

.

.

One minute.

.

.

Two minutes!

Why wasn’t anything happening!?

Marinette had to take a deep breath, maybe it would need some time to take an effect.

In the meantime, maybe she could look her over to see if there were any other injuries. And then maybe go downstairs to collect some supplies. Living as a baker meant she knew her way around burns, scars and scratches, so they were always prepared with a medical box in the kitchen.

Looking at her over appeared to be the right choice in action. Her lower abdomen had been hit, Marinette reasoned with herself that must have been why she had yet taken her handoff.

But as Marinette covered her own mouth with her hand, she was a gasped at how much blood there was.

Now what? She couldn’t tell her Parents, she loved them, she really did, but she knew how loud her Dad would get whenever he got happy, angry, or frightened, she knew it wouldn’t be a smart choice, especially with how jumpy the hero was. Not like she couldn’t blame her.

Then that would mean calling an ambulance might be out of the equation as well, plus the Soliane Rin may not want the publicity of her going to the hospital after only one day of patrolling. She knew if she had gotten cold feet or even hurt like this on her first day heroing they’d be a high chance of her giving up.

Well… She was a seamstress.

She had been doing it for a very long time, so she knew the ins and outs of sewing.

But still… It could be extremely risky, and she’d need to get consent first… But if she didn’t wake up… And she knew how open wounds could be, how dangerous it could be if they didn’t get any treatment, and how much trouble she’d be in if she accidentally killed the hero when trying to help her.

.

Well…

She had dreamed of some adventure in her life…

And she got her wish.

***

Stitch… Stitch…

Flick-

“Ahh!-”

“So-sorry”

Her prayers off Soliane Rin waking up were answered, after she had collected a few blankets, medical supplies, and a needle & thread, she had come back up.

Only to find Soliane on her balcony, if it wasn’t for her shock, she knew she would’ve screamed out zombie.

How she had the strength to get there she would never know, but she had to guess, heroes have all sorts of endurance.

She quickly sped to catch her. She did reprehend her of course; it was in her caring nature, so she just had to.

But… The way she weakly smiled at her, she couldn’t help feeling guilty, she probably was in so much pain and here she was berating her for- for what exactly.

This was why they had all left her. She was too quick to jump the gun, to jump to conclusions, too fast to even see from anyone else’s perspective.

Which is why she was a perfect target.

She lowered her onto her bed, careful not to hurt her anymore. Setting her down so she would’ve been comfortable, lots of pillows to help as well, she was glad she brought so many in her childhood. Or whenever her Nonna would come, she’d always get a new toy from her travels.

And that was when she set to work, conversing with her about what she may have to do, and as hesitant as Soliane was, she also knew there was no choice.

“Fine, I’ll trust you Marinette” Those words felt like a gift, in any other situation she would have been jumping for joy, getting acknowledged by a hero? That was amazing.

But- she really couldn’t celebrate, the look in Soliane Rin’s eyes, the were… Fearful. She knew she wasn’t trusted, yet. But she would prove it.

Snip, snip.

The room was silent, no words had been muttered or mentioned, Marinette was concentrating on her stitching, just hoping she wouldn’t hurt her anymore. She must have regretted her decision now, of course, she had, anyone with the right of mind would’ve. No wait- she didn’t mean it like that! She just meant-

“It’s not your fault. I- shouldn’t have let my guard down” It became silent again, and this time Marinette had a lot more to think about. There had been one thing that was stuck on her mind and couldn’t leave her mind.

“H-How did it happen?” She saw Soliane grab a nearby pillow even tighter than she had.

She knew she should’ve kept her mouth shut! It wasn’t her place to ask anyway.

Before she could utter any type of apology, she was stopped when she heard her start to speak.

“It was right after one-off my patrol routes. I was surveying the city, just in case, I needed to report anything else. I guess- due to this being my first time alone, as well as having previously prevented some other crimes, I would have to say I wasn’t in the same mindset.” Marinette stayed quiet so she could continue without pressure, she knew from personal experience how frustrating it could be to start talking and get interrupted by someone else, it was always a pet peeve of hers, making her not wanting to finish her story out of pettiness.

“So… When I was too busy with moving around on my wire. I was shot!” Marinette jolted away, she knew something drastic had to have happened, and she had tried to brace herself. But she couldn’t, it sounded so surreal.

“I was careless, it was such a stupid mistake, no novice would’ve been hurt like me” Marinette jumped again, she was so serious, and so… Angry with herself. But, she had just saved a bank from robbers, of course, she could’ve been tired, she was human after all.

“And due to my shock, I wasn’t able to pinpoint who it had been. A poisoned bullet had just barely scared me, and I was still affected by it… Sir would be so disappointed in me.”

The last stitch had been completed. She was done, now she just had to bandage it. She noticed Soliane seemed physically more relaxed.

“I should be going now, I’ve troubled you too much” She was trying to get up, but even the bluenette knew she would still be in pain for a while, just until she would get herself checked out, probably as her civilian self.

“No, you’re still hurt. If you move too early the stitches might come undone” She laid a gentle hand on her, just enough to draw attention to herself.

“But I must, I need to report back, besides, don’t you need to go to sleep?” Yeah but- the words paused in her throat, why could she say anything?

“You’ve already helped me so much, surely you’d prefer me to leave, it would be unbefitting for a hero to be seen so helpless for so long?” She saw it, her face, it was just like her a complete replica, always so helpful, to never think about yourself even when it could be life or death.

…Ok maybe that last part was a bit extreme.

“Hey, don’t try to suggest that, I could never think that! You still need help, just because you’re a hero doesn’t mean you can’t rely on anyone else.”

…Maybe it was her stubborn side, or even her Mother’s. But she couldn’t even think of the hero going out in that condition.

Grabbing her hand, she was adamant about letting Soliane Rin stay. So, she just told her.

Told her that she can’t just go out in that condition.

Told her that she needed to get better, because if she was still hurt, how could she save other people. And how she also needs to look after herself.

Told her that… She shouldn’t have so many expectations of her, because it won’t do her any good, mentality wise… And if the expectations become broken, she’d be unrightfully angry at herself.

Told her that- oh god she was arguing with a hero in her bedroom and she wasn’t saying anything.

She wasn’t saying anything! She’s just standing there looking at her. Never had Marinette wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out?

“I-I’m sorry, I should have never shouted like that, you were just doing your job and here I come saying you need to stop- wait not to stop I meant maybe slow down, although if you wanted to carry on then that’s fine by me. What am I saying you don’t need my permission; you don’t need anyone's! Do you-?” Her hands had been waving in front of her frantically. She just couldn’t imagine all of this would’ve been happening to her, her emotions were spreading out of control. She really needed to compose herself.

-

Wait, why did she grab her hand?

“I -ahem- it's fine, I’m incredibly humbled by your generosity. You have a big heart, not many have such kindness like you” She brought her hand closer to her mouth, and the blue-haired girls’ heart was pounding more and more.

“I shall stay” She pressed the hand to her mouth, a small feeling off lips against her skin sent shivers down her back while she held her gaze.

“So long as mi Belle stays with me” It took her a moment to compose herself. It took another to realise to she was talking about her… It to yet another to compose herself from that.

“Sou yure- I mean you show- ah, I’m mean. Yes.” Marinette felt as if she couldn’t say no, and yet, she didn’t feel uncomfortable, she felt accommodated. She believed if she had said no, she wouldn’t have felt pressured by the hero to stay.

And she smiled at that.

They both had.

So sincere.

***

The morning had come.

And not a moment too soon.

Light poured through her drawn curtains, and her first reaction was to grab the closest thing to plummet it towards the sun.

Not like that would’ve done anything mind you. It would’ve just been to make her point.

Rising up and stretching her arms, she headed down her steps, it had been a weekend, after all, she was allowed a lie in occasionally.

Although, she felt oddly a lot more refreshed than she had remembered, what had change-

Soliane Rin!?

Her head zoomed around the room, where- where was she?

No one was in the room besides her.

So- was it just a dream? Did she really see just imagine it all?

But she couldn’t have, wouldn’t that have just been too cruel, even for her?

Did the gods really hate her as well?

Wait-

That piece of paper wasn’t there before?

Stepping over to her desk, she gently picks it up, almost afraid she’d rip it up.

As her eyes traced over the first words, her mind relaxed.

‘Dear mi Belle, apologise for “dropping in unannounced” and to cause you such trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine thanks to you, I’ll promise to be more careful next time, sincerely your local hero, Soliane Rin…’

Her heart fluttered in gratitude; those events were real. She really did meet her.

As her hands curled around the letter, she smiled. A true sincere smile.

Because after so long, she felt…

Hope.

***

*I absolutely suck at describing clothes, which is why I much prefer to draw instead, I literally have no idea what some clothes types are called so I always end up having to ask my Mum and even then, she doesn’t know half the time so I may end up not describing much clothing in the future so sorry.

Well, I hope you liked it, I do believe these chapters are gonna end up getting longer and longer. I know a few of them are but hopefully, you won’t mind that. It will just make my progress slow but hey I was always slow so it shouldn’t matter too much right? Anyway, well Marinette has met the hero and classmate, she’s definitely different to my other version. But I do hope you like both versions.

Oh, and I may need help with Jess/Jace. I know that she’s Native American, but I’m unsure if there’s any type of detail I must include for them, for example, I’m aware that they don’t cut their hair for symbolic reasons? I’m not even wholeheartedly sure about that. So, I would like to ask if there’s any information that I’m forgetting/missing and I would love to be informed, aka if I need to include a tribe, any type of clothing that would be appropriate to wear or activities they do. Sorry if it seems stupid, I just want to be informed and try my best to make an accurate representation. You can ask me questions, but I will apologise if I don’t understand them in advance. (Just so you know, I’m changing everyone’s design but I’m definitely changing her earrings, I just keep having images of someone pulling them out ugh, hence why I’ll never draw large earrings that people could grab)

Also, if you’re confused about anything feel free to ask any questions.

Cya next time.

Note: Please tell me if I should add anything else to the card, there will be one of these cards for all 15 chapters, however, because I have uni work all updates will be slower because I really need to focus on the uni stuff, then I might be able to upload quicker. They also may change in the future because I can never stop adding stuff.

[mrskodzuken]

ASK GAME! Drop your first impression of your close mutuals!

Oh no ahahaah i think this is the first time I’ve been asked about this, um... anon-san, please bear with me for i kinda suck at explaining things 😂😅🙈🤦🏻‍♀️

Hope you’re okay with some words being written in Filipino? But I’ll provide some rough? translations for other people and my followers to read as well^^ Let’s start! Also i’ll be doing some of my closest moots (so i’m sorry in advance for my other closest moots 😅😭🙈✌🏻)

@livshotel - my first impression of her was... ig a responsible but carefree woman? But when we + Kami/Matcha were talking about creating a Hoshino Protection Squad (based on one of her OCs from her old discontinued Itachiyama manager!au fic, “Itachiyama’s Affairs”), i’d found out she have a bit of crack energy also lol

@mxtcha-tea - an oddball with a sunny disposition? ✌🏻

@roe-sinning (special mention; I’m sorryyyyyyyy) - my first impression of her was “huh? Who’s this?? OwO;;;;” also I remembered her very first ask that she sent to me last year was about (sorry for calling you out like this but ily babycakes 😘✌🏻 )—

@ugh-tsumu - mukhang snobbish na crackhead (looks like a snob but also a crackhead) labyu lods ♥️

@kerokenma - you don’t wanna mess with her lol 🤷🏻‍♀️

@heyheysey - happy-go-lucky :< idk? She is one of a few Filo Haikyuu bloggers that became my moot a few weeks after creating @/doodleniella last year, along with Leia (ugh-tsumu, nee @/oikaw-ugh), Alya (kerokenma, nee @/iintemperiae), and Justine ( @applepienation and my very first moot iirc).

@nakizumie - a darling but more or less a brat? Idk i’m sorry Chuu babycakes-!!! *hugs*

@lovelytarou - hmmm... what's my first impression of you ba? hmm... i remembered you're kinda shy when i first sent an ask to you (via @/sparkykatsuki)? ^^;;

@lumpiang-toge - bubbly na may pagka-kalog (bubbly with a bit of craziness/crack)

@xxlightsaberxx - cute na maharot na di ko ma-explain (cute with seggsy vibes idk) sorry~ ; u ; (but good at doing some moves at me the first time she asked me ahahah)

@chibishae34 - adorbs af <3 (some random fact: i tried following her on my old side blog, but got overwhelmed seeing her posts about K-pop stuff from my dash so I unfollowed Shae; sorry babycakes > <;; )

@abuliawrites - i sensed some mother hen vibes on her the first time i sent an ask on her blog

@brazil-hina - has a somewhat snobbish personality imo but aware, if that makes sense...? sorry i really suck at explaining things ^^;;

@perphelia - private school, clique-ish kind of vibes (with some down-to-earth undertones)

@mjoork - so near yet so far... reachable but can't grasp

@starlightte - ughhhhhhhhh what'sthatwordagain... uhhhh... kind of cheerleader/it girl/rich pretty girl at school aura? sorry ^^;;

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M SO SORRY MY BABYCAKES!!!! also my memories are kind of vague and rusty so *shrugs* but i'm sorry~ here's some hugs, kisses, and headpats as compensation:

[neakco]

You're Not Alone Ch.4

Ao3 Prequel Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Masterlist

Marinette is back at school where she regrets past Marinette leaving so many problems for future her.

Marinette faceplates into her desk with a resounding thud that caused Adrien to turn around and pat her head in comfort. She was thankful for her friends, really she was. Nino had called her about an hour before she planned on waking up to warn her that Alya was on her way. So that was nice. And Alya, Alya could be a great friend, she just couldn’t do it while in reporter mode.

 

She finally sat up in order to pull out the homework from the break only to discover it was missing. Her head hit with another thud. Tikki had helped her pack her school stuff last night, if it was missing it either meant it was stolen, which was unlikely since the normal culprits didn’t appear to be here today, or she had somehow left it in Gotham.

 

She couldn’t even say she had left it at home since the run to the zeta tubes and through the manor would take a lot longer then the run to her home would.

 

She briefly registered a knock on the classroom door and figured it was probably Lila with some glorious fake story of why she was late. Instead she heard an accented and somewhat familiar voice.

 

“Is this Marinette Dupen-Cheng's class?”

 

She looked up, then looked up more to spot the white streak in the tall man's black hair. Then she glanced to his uncovered arms and spotted a few fresh looking scars. She missed her teacher's response as she was too focused trying to figure out how many shark bites she saw.

 

“Nette!” Jason was holding out a folder for her to take over Adrien's head. “You left your homework and Timber had me deliver it.”

 

“Thanks Jay Jay.” She smiled up at him. He hadn’t been in the manor last week so it was nice to see him.

 

He headed to the door, “I'll be around for a bit so I will catch you later “

 

“Sounds good.”

 

She checked to make sure nothing had been added to the folder before she looked up and realized everyone was staring at her. Right, more questions to answer. She was very lucky Alya hadn’t  spotted the painting of batcow or the ‘Paris Gun Registry’ forms that had somehow made it into her folder.

 

The day actually improved after the stressful morning. Lila showed up with her wonderous break tales. Then Adrien got to join her at the bakery for lunch. She caught him up on all the usual Wayne drama and he told her what she had missed in Paris. It wasn’t much, the biggest thing was Kagami negotiating him some more freedom from his father.

 

Now school was over and she was trying to leave quickly before Alya lost interest in Lila's stories. She tripped on the last step in her haste and was caught by a shark bitten arm. “Thanks Jay Jay.”

 

He let go once she had her balance back, “Anytime Nette.” He handed her a piece of paper. “Locations from Zatanna.”

 

She grinned, that's why Jay was in town. He was setting up the magic cameras that would hopefully be able to spot akuma. If they worked then her dragon would hopefully be able to pinpoint Hawkmoth's location.

 

She was about to thank him when she heard Lila's shrill stage whisper, “I don’t know Alya. I swear I saw someone near identical up to no good.”

 

Jason grinned and Marinette had to suppress the urge to bury her face in her hands. She needed to see in order to prevent chaos.

 

“To be fair, if you ask my brothers they will tell you that everything I do is shady.” Jason was using the ‘Dick special’ smile. The one that charmed everyone. At least it wasn’t his feral grin. The one that said people were about to die.

 

“Jason, going a little heavy on the charm today?” Adrien approached with his hand out for a fist bump.

 

Jason held out his own fist, “Hey Trouble, you off to do daddy's bidding.”

 

Adrien laughed. “Not today. I actually have a date with Kagami.”

 

“That's the girl that can give the Gremlin a good fight, yeah?”

 

“That's her.” Adrien smiled dreamily for a moment. “Nice seeing you, maybe we can catch up tonight?”

 

“Looking forward to it.” Jason waved as  Adrien left to get into the waiting vehicle.

 

Alya and Lila had just started getting their bearing back when Luka rode up on his bike.

 

“Sorry I'm late Melody. Jules said there was a delinquent in the area and I wanted to prepare.” Luka grinned as he pulled a flash drive out of his pocket.

 

“If it isn’t Blue Lightning.” Jay grinned.

 

“Speak of the devil and he will appear.” Luka tossed over the flash drive. “A mix of covers and a couple of originals as you requested Jay.”

 

“Mari!” Alya yelled as she walked into her space. “Does everyone know this hoodlum?”

 

“Hey.”

 

Maribette ignored Jason's protest, “Alya, Lila, may I introduce you to JasonTodd.-Wayne. Known lover of chaos and classic literature.”

 

“Pleasure.” Jason smiled charmingly before wincing when Luka poked his new scars. “Fucking ow.”

 

“You do know that you aren’t supposed to play with sharks? They aren’t like dolphins.”

 

The was a gasp from the growing crowd. Marinette assumed it was Kim based off the slight awe she heard. Though it could have been Alix too.

 

“Wasn’t that tough.” Jason shrugged. “If I don’t play with the sharks then how else do you suggest I show off how awesome I am?”

 

“Not by wrestling a shark.” Luka sighed, “At least your limbs are all still attached.”

 

Jason looked offended. “Excuse you Blueberry, I wrestled several sharks.” He grinned triumphantly, “And won.”

 

Jason looked like he was about to give more details when his phone started going off.

 

“Damn, looks like B figured out where I took off to. I will catch you later Blue, Nette.” Jason sent a wink to the stunned crowd before heading to his motorcycle and taking off well over the speed limits.

 

Marinette finally allowed her face to hit her palms.

 

“You okay Melody? Was the drama queen too much?” his hands hovered near her without actually making contact.

 

She looked up with a small smile. “yes. Today has just been a lot. And I live Jay but he likes the drama a bit too much.” She adjusted her bag over her shoulder and let Luka lead her through the crowd.

 

“Liberty or Park?”

 

“Liberty please, it is a little less chaotic right now.”

 

Luka laughed, “Don't let the Captain here you, she will do everything to prove you wrong.”

 

“I promise I will be careful.” She smiled as she climbed on the bike behind Luka. She could hear her friends shaking off their stupor. She was sure Alya was going to call after her, but she didn’t care.

That was a problem for future Marinette.

The end? Maybe. Depends if these characters demand attention again.

As always I am open for any requests for scenes you want to see.

Taglist: @novemberistired @novemberandmay @laurcad123 @certainmuffinbagelcalzone

[a-mirror-of-memories]

Warning: high sodium content

I'm starting to really hate the salt fics, specially the class salt. It's been mentioned already how for a while the ml salt tag more often than not has been used for bashing of a character one dislike instead of as a way of criticize and/or fix many of the show plot-holes, which was the salt original function. While that's a serious issue, that's not what this post it's about.

My problem right now with the salt fics (specifically the class salt) it's how they're so freaking repetitive.

I can think at least in a dozen of ways to give them a different twist, not all of them involving Lila (Here’s a list), and yet with a few exceptions most salt fics revolve around the same plot over and over again.

Before starting I would like to point out something for those fics in which Marinette change schools: I'm not an expert or anything but I think that in France "Ecole" is used for primary/elementary/grade school, "Collége" for middle school (this can be confusing) and "Lycée" for high school; just a small detail that's been bugging me for a while.

Ok, Let's start:

"Lila says that Marinette is a bully, class bully Marinette, Lila's revealed as a liar, class apologize to Marinette and ask her to be their friend again, Marinette doesn't want to" That's pretty much the plot of several class salt fics that I read, in which 'the class' acts as a single entity who shares a single brain cell (which Lila holds).

"Marinette how could you?!" practically always shouted by Alya, who's an abusive bitch who denounced her friendship with Mari and still expects the heroine to do everything they demand from her. Oh, and when the truth comes out the rest have to hold back so she wouldn't attack Lila for ruining her blog.

"Everyone abandoned Marinette except a select few" who get two lines if they're lucky, mentioning how stupid is the rest of the class for believing such easy lies and showing out how amazing their lives are now that they got rid of the extra weight.

"This is Chlo, she's my bestie" with no explanation of how that happened. What's worse, instead of making her a better person who tries to be nice with her new friends, Marinette fell to her level and now is the new HBIC.

"Marinette's such a bully" all while destroying her things, sending her hate messages and physically assaulting her.

Ms Mendeleiev class/the quantic kids are Marinette's new friends.

Adrien's a poor angel who can do no harm or an absolute piece of shit, no middle ground.

Nino (if he appears at all) is trapped in an abusive relationship with Alya.

"Crossovers with Marvel or Dc universe*" I haven't seen JL since I was little but I'm pretty sure the team has more than five members, including several magic users who would've stopped Hawk Moth by Origins. While the Avengers have a lot less members, S.H.I.E.LD. is still a thing and they would've send someone to investigate, like Phil Coulson undercover as Bustier replacement.

*Note: I don't read the comics nor I'm interested in them, so I'll admit that my only knowledge of this universe comes from the movies, cartoons, and this site.

"Class trip to Gotham, Metropolis, New York, etc" What kind of school would send their most mentally unstable class to another continent? Do the students even speak the language?

The love square, again unless Adrien's an ashole, are dating, knows each other identities and use pet names like 'kitty' or 'my lady' in the middle of class.

Marinette lost her crush on a rich kid and found the love of her life in *gasp* another rich kid. How shocking (I would've put "rich white kid" if not for Kagami and Prince Ali).

"Marinette's the biological daughter of..." or related to, or friends with this or that celebrity, normally used as a plot device to reveal Lila's lies.

“Lila lies are revealed at the end”.

I think that's all for now. This is just my personal opinion so I’m really sorry if I offended anyone.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

I reincarnated into the villainess of Miraculous Ladybug!

Part 2

WARNING 

kind of Max Salt

-

It had been only a day since Chloe became her new self, and things had been… interesting.

She had made amends with Sabrina, giving her a brooch as an apology for her behavior, even if she recognized that something material wasn’t enough to balance her bad attitude. Sabrina had just stared at Chloe, as did everyone else, even Miss Bustier when they heard Chloe, of all people, apologize and recognize she was in the wrong. Even Alya had stopped calling her “Antibug” after that.

With the help of Sabrina, her butler and the Ladyblog… and very little from her own memories, she had managed to create a timeline of the akumas that had already attacked. Her excuse was that now that they had been akumatized too, they had to become more concious of how it was happening.

And because she now knew who was behind the mask. Of course, she couldn’t tell this to them, but she was afraid that if she was akumatized again (was that even possible?) she could spill the beans about Marinette and Adrien and then all would be lost.

As she learned,s he had already been the cause of most of her classmates akumatizations, which hit her hard, especially Juleka’s as she always thought that had been one of Chloe’s cruelest actions… one of her cruelest actions, because she was Chloe, just with a new perspective of things.

And… well… Kim’s… because she always found him cute on the show. Nathaniel too. Well, all guys were kind of cute.

She didn’t know the specific dates of the rest of the classmates, but she knew Max’s had something to do with a game tournament, so she would have to be on the lookout for that, Mylene would be when they make a movie and Rose’s would be when Prince Ali visited.

…

At least Max’s was NOT her fault, even if basically everyone else was. She couldn’t believe how dumb she was. “A supervillain that can make people into murderous rage machines is on the loose and you make people hate you, you’re a genius Chloe. Might as well tattoo a bull’s eye on my forehead.”

“Please don’t do that Mademoiselle”

Chloe turned red. She had not realized Jean Phillipe had entered.  He immediately started apologizing, thinking she was mad at him.

“I’m only joking!... Maybe. Anyway, could you find that person?”

“There are several Asian old guys that give massages on Paris, it will take some more time to locate the specific one you want”

“That’s ok, thank you for your efforts”

“I… you’re welcome”

The butler scurried after that. Chloe could tell he was still a bit freaked out about her shift in personality. At least he had already gotten her the Ultimate Mecha Strike III game so she could participate on the tournament.

She was bad.

It’s not that she wasn’t familiar with games (She could totally kick some ass in Smash Bros before) but the controls didn’t make much sense, and the EXP and winning items meant that beginners had a clear disadvantage over more veteran players. Still, she could become a bit better about it.

She also couldn’t wait for Prince Ali’s visit! Of course, she was going to give him Rose’s letter, maybe introduce them if his bodyguard… assistant? That lady that accompanied him allowed it, but besides all of that… she would get to hold Tikki! The anthropomorphic representation of the concept of Creation would pretend to be a little toy. But hey, that was better than nothing.

-

The next day, Sabrina, loyal as ever, had told her about the Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament, which would happen that same friday… but there was still no word of it at her own school.

Then she remembers that in the series, Alya and Marinette learned it last minute, and only people of Miss Bustier class participated… and with how the principal was portrayed in the show, and her own experience in her old life… well.

“MR DAMOCLES!” She yelled in the most respecting way she could. After being given permission to enter his office, of course. Sabrina was with her holding some posters and leaflets

“Miss Bourgeois, what is the meaning of this?” He said, trying to assert his authority. Chloe and Sabrina could tell that was not working. “You can’t just barge in my office and expect…”

“I asked permission to enter, and you gave it.” Chloe reminded the principal. “ANYWAY” she took a seat, and Sabrina took the other. Both of them put the posters and leaflets on Mr. Damocles desk. “The reason of this meeting is that it came to my attention the fact that the UMS company is making a national tournament in which any school can send two representatives, the best they have that can play Ultimate Mecha Strike III, the current Ultima Mecha Strike and…”

“… Isn’t that a videogame?” asked Damocles, equally confused at Chloe apparently liking video games and how polite she was speaking about it.

“… yes. I know my good friend Adrien Agreste likes it and…” Chloe could see how both Damocles and Sabrina made a ‘there it is’ face, but decided to ignore it. “And I thought it could be beneficial to the school to participate. So I took the liberty to commission these posters and leaflets so the gaming community in school can participate.”

“I don’t think the school has the budget to participate in…”

“I already spoke with my father, and he will gladly sponsor our school.”

“…”

“…”

“Well then, what do you need, Miss Bourgeois?”

Chloe talked about the applications Mr. Damocles would need to send to the game company and how they would need to make their own tournament to chose their representatives, and it should be the next day at the latest, or they wouldn’t be able to enter Friday. Mr. Damocles thought they had more time, but decided to not comment and humour Chloe, even if only she participated.

Satisfied, Chloe and Sabrina went to put the posters and to give leaflets to anyone who could be interested (She was amazed at how many of the people at school looked like each other).

“I did not know you liked video games” Said Alya sarcastically after lunch break was over and they were returning to their class room. Chloe made sure to give a leaflet to Marinette

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me” Chloe said with a smile, which freaked out Alya a little. Marinette looked at her very confused.

The class started and Chloe asked Miss Bustier to give the announcement of the tournament, which took her by surprise. Chloe liking videogames AND politely asking to give an announcement instead of just starting talking… maybe Marinette’s good example was finally working.

“As you might have noticed, I have been putting some posters about a tournament. Unfortunately, the city-wide tournament will be this Friday… and today is Wednesday, so we don’t have time. I managed to convince Mr. Damocles to held a school wide tournament tomorrow to choose two representatives of our school”

“You like video games?” blurted out Alix. Everyone was thinking the same.

“… To be completely honest, I only started playing after I was akumatized and was told I needed to relax and let out my aggression in a less harmful way. And I know Adrien likes the game, so I decided to give it a chance. Sabrina noticed there’s a tournament of that same game… apparently it happens annually and we just didn’t know, which I think is a shame, because I bet there are people at this school that must be amazing at the game. Maybe in this very classroom too!”

Everyone was speechless. Marinette wondered if she had somehow brainwashed Chloe when she used the Miraculous cure on her (Tikki later assured her that that was not possible).

“THAT’S AWESOME!” Kim finally broke the awkward silence. Chloe smiled at him, but he gave her a look that meant he was not over her rejection. He turned to Max. “That’s your game, isn’t it? You will surely win!”

“Yeah, I have been training on the game for months! I actually knew of that tournament, but never thought our school would participate, thanks Chloe!” Max’s eyes opened wide and looked at Kim whispering a “sorry”. Chloe pretended not to notice.

“No biggie, if I hadn’t liked the game, I wouldn’t have done this, so if you think about it, I’m as self-centered as ever”

“… what”

“Anyway, remember that this is a tournament, so even if you have been training, other people have probably done the same, so there is no guarantee that you will win”

Marinette could swear Chloe had looked at her on purpose when she said that. She didn’t remember talking about playing with her dad before. Had she? Wait, Chloe also mentioned that Adrien liked the game too, so she was probably looking at him. Typical Chloe.

-

The next day, the tournament was a success! Well, at least more successful than what Chloe remembered from the episode, where she only remembered Kim, Nino, Adrien and Max participating before Marinette joining them. It was sad, really. But now there were lots of people (most people she didn’t recognize).  With herself and Marinette there were exactly 32 people for the tournament. The way the game worked, elimination matches would not be viable, but rather, they would pair up for the first round, and the people with the better scores would go to the next round, even if they lost their match, and this way they would guarantee that only the best got to represent the school.  

Marinette had of course arrived last minute, and thankfully no one had accused her of trying to enter the tournament because her crush on Adrien, or given her grief over “taking Max spot” … yet… but Chloe was 100% sure she would rip anyone who dared imply that a new one. She had long decided she could keep being an asshole if she used those powers for good.

And of course, her first match was against Max. She wondered if she still had to respond to some kind of writer god or if the irony was just a natural part of this world. Either way, she hated it, specially when Max kicked her ass without barely breaking a sweat.

Everyone was expecting for her to throw a tantrum, demand a rematch, or something equally bratty, but she just turned to Max and extended her hand.

“Good match Max, you totally destroy… what’s that in your glasses?”

“Uh?”

A judge from the company, someone who hasn’t been present in the original timeline but had been hired by the Mayor, along with other arrangements asked Max for his glasses and saw that the boy had somehow connected them to the console. And it was deemed as an unauthorized aid in the tournament, disqualifying Max immediately, erasing his score.

Chloe went pale.

Max left the building, with everyone from their class giving the stink eye to Chloe, accusing her of doing Max dirty and buying the judge, which made him request for their removal too. Luckily, Adrien and Marinette hadn’t made those kind of comments (they were in their own matches and hadn’t noticed the whole thing).

“You’re the worst Chloe!” She could hear Kim claiming before being escorted out by security. (Another one of her dad’s arrangements)

“Fuck!” thought Chloe. “Is everything conspiring against me?”

The announcement was made about who would pass to the next round. Of course Chloe wasn’t chosen, and neither was Max.

“Hey Chloe! You did good for being your third day of playing” Greeted Adrien after the results had been posted. Both him and Marinette had placed second and first place respectively.

“… I somehow managed to be 40st place out of 32 participants.”

“…”

“…”

“It could have been worse. Anyway, have you seen Max? And the others? Kim kept saying that Max had trained all year, but I didn’t see his name anywhere”

“Yeh… there was a bit of a problem and…”

“CHLOE!” Marinette appeared and she did not look happy. “Did you got Max disqualified from the tournament just because you lost?”

Marinette was taken aback when Chloe looked… ashamed? She was not expecting that.

“If I had that kind of power, I would have given myself a much better place than 40, you know”

“Is that true? Max was disqualified?”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know his modified glasses technically counted as cheating”

Ok, now Marinette AND Adrien were a bit freaked out. They had NEVER heard Chloe said sorry before, and they found it a bit jarring.

Chloe sighed.  “I’m like 99% sure that now Max will be akumatized and will target me. At least it’s not Marinette this time.”

Marinette and Adrien blinked in surprise and confusion.

“What”

“I mean… uh… your score is WAY higher than what his was, even with those glasses… HEY, I bet that’s where the akuma would be, I’ll make myself scarce and tell Ladybug that when she appears to save my butt again. ANYWAY, maybe I’m wrong and he will not be akumatized, either way I’ll go just in case so he doesn’t target the school. OH! Hey, if you both win you will be partners, how cool is that? Good Luck on your games guys!”

And she was gone before they could really react. After Marinette rage and confusion ended, she realized she was “alone” with Adrien. She ran to the bathroom to freak out properly. There, Tikki convinced her that Chloe was probably wrong and she should keep at the tournament, especially since her parents had been so happy for her participation. It would be less than an hour anyway.

Meanwhile, Chloe was outside her hotel, and of course, she had sent Sabrina inside for some refreshments, and had changed into comfortable clothes for running.

And lo and behold, the giant robot from the game was coming for her.

“OH, COME ON!” yelled Chloe, after the Gamer had tried his laser on her, and she had been pushed by Sabrina to safety.

“Chloe! Hahaha Do you still think I’m a cheater??” said the gamer in a deranged voice.

Chloe stood up. Dusted herself and looked the weird pyramid thing directly at the eye.

“You are attacking defenseless civilians that did absolutely nothing to you, while piloting a high-tech robot, giving you all the advantage, OF COURSE YOU’RE A FUCKING CHEATER YOU CHEATING CHEAT”

“what” The Gamer was expecting Chloe to be terrified, not to get sassy.

Chloe had not expected her own reaction either. But since it had stunned the Gamer, she decided to go for it.

“Your grudge is against me, isn’t it? And yet you transformed Sabrina into easy EXP for your unauthorized aid” she had chosen her words carefully. The same ones as his glasses had been described.

“That was meant for you and you know it! Sabrina was collateral damage because of you!” Another ray, which Chloe miraculously (heh) managed to dodge, thanks to her own athletism.

She made a mental note to thank her dad for the dance and gymnastic classes later.

“And all the other people? Uh? Besides, like in the game, it would be way too easy to defeat me with that thing… or is that the only way you can win against the Great and Powerful Chloe Bourgeois?”

The Gamer was about to get out of his robot, when it suddenly broke. Chat Noir had broken it with a Cataclysm.

“Quick, grab his stupid glassed before he cheats AGAIN!” yelled Chloe to the pair of heroes, hoping to also distract the Gamer. Ladybug seemed to have learn her lesson from last time and quickly threw her yoyo to the glasses, breaking them.

“No more evil doing for you!” yelled Ladybug, catching the butterfly and releasing it. “Bye-bye little butterfly! Mirac…” She looked awkwardly. She hadn’t called a Lucky Charm yet.

“Huh… Lucky Charm” she said in a deadpan. A Spray Can paint. She shrugged. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Sabrina and the rest of the population are restored, as is Max.

Chloe almost regrets ending the fight so quickly, as she would have loved to see the giant mecha fights. But she guessed traumatizing people for her amusement shouldn’t happen.

“I’m sorry, it was not my intention to get you disqualified. I also don’t think you were cheating. Not on purpose, anyway.” she apologized to Max, offering a hand so he could get up. He seemed confused, and still a bit annoyed at her, but accepted the hand. “I’ll vouch for you; you might need to fight again for a score and…”

“No, it was my mistake in the first place. I have been using these glasses for so long I completely forgot about them. I will use normal glasses for play and maybe next year I can be one of the contestants. I hope you get better for a rematch too.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll kick my arse glasses or not, but I accept the rematch.”

“Well, it seemed they’re keeping a clean score!” Chat Noir tried to pun. Ladybug rolled her eyes.

Now that she wasn’t in mortal peril, she looked at them. REALLY looked at them.

She knew those two were Marinette and Adrien but… they kind of looked like them, but at the same time, they didn’t? Like when you kind of recognize someone, but can’t place where do you remember them from? It was weird, the more she tried to recognize Adrien’s features on Chat Noir, the more different they looked. Same with Ladybug. It was giving her a headache, so she stopped trying.

The heroes said their good-byes, and Chloe, Sabrina and Max decided to return to school to see the rest of the tournament. Chloe noticed Sabrina was a bit weirded out, and decided to later ask her dad for therapist for her and anyone else that might need it from this attack… and all the others… it was probably not the first time someone had been… killed? Erased? attacked In an akuma attack.

She also remembered reading somewhere that Adrien and Marinette hadn’t been akumatized not because their Miraculous, but Marinette for having such a positive outlook in life, and Adrien for being a pessimist, so that might be worth looking for too.

Like she had thought, Adrien and Marinette ended up winning the school tournament, and were chosen to represent the school.

They had been a bit freaked out when Chloe acted all giddy about them having to train all afternoon together.

They did end up winning for the school.

Chloe and Max had played together a couple of times in friendly matches after that. Max won every time.

-

Yeah, I'm reading some popular timelines, I don't know if I'll write all the ones "missing", but at least the ones with the classmates will be done.

And yes, she ships the Love Square.

[bunnyinthestars]

Adrien is definitely gonna take Emilie’s place in a coma (A Theory)

Yeah so I mean the title of this is exactly what I’m pretty sure is gonna happen. This is because there has been a huge load of foreshadowing and some other subtler reasons I will be going over in this post. Of course, there’s always a chance it won’t happen, but if it didn’t I think I’d be pretty surprised considering just the amount of evidence thats going into this.

(Also sorry ahead of time for the structure of this, I tried to structure this based on my specific reasons for this theory but I kind of went off on tangents in some places and in others I use ideas that I assume come with the theory and don’t necessarily fit into any specific reason (like Emilie coming back to life and what would happen there, why Adrien and not Nathalie, and loosely how theyd get Adrien out of the coma), although I mosty stick to the structure I still want to add this disclaimer just so you’re aware that I wrote this in one go at midnight (also wait right now its 12:10am it is now ten minutes into my birthday??? ok ignoring that))

I dont know man. Just consider what I have to say. Or dont. I will be listing my reasons starting now.

1. Imagery of Adrien being in comatose state/ in a coffin-like thing.

This is surprisingly common??? Off the top of my head I can think of Style Queen and Riposte (I believe) which involve this. In Style Queen, Audrey in the form of her akumatized self had essentially kidnapped Adrien and put him in this gold/glass coffin thing that disintegrated the longer it remained untouched. The other one is Riposte, where Ladybug hides Adrien in that big sarcophogus in the Louvre (he didn’t stay in it but still the imagery is there.)

I also just remembered in Chameleon when Lila took Adrien’s form he was asleep/in a comatose state in that locker and Plagg was like “aw man am I gonna have to kiss him.....” but then Adrien wakes up because Lila stole someone else’s form

EDIT: another instance of Adrien/Chat Noir being shoved into a sarcophagus (besides Riposte) is in Pharaoh in season 1

So yes there is definitely a good number of foreshadowing for this. I might take this further and say if Adrien were to go comatose and be in the coffin Emilie was in then Felix might replace him for some amount of time?? Like impersonate him amd stuff?? Just because there’s lots of stuff in the show with impersonation I feel like it could work aNYWAY BACK TO THE EVIDENCE I KNOW ITS A TANGENT

2. Possible evidence foreshadowing Emilie *inadvertantly* killing (not killing but making comatose you get it) Adrien

This one is not as strong as the first but its worth considering. I was googling the word “mayura” just out of curiosity a while back and basically its a peacock in Hindu stories (like peacocks are a kinda revered animal) and I just initially found a couple websites that said that the mayura has been depicted eating a snake as a symbol of the cycle of time (you dont have to read this part in parenthesis, its just kind of a tangent: the cycle of time as known in Hinduism is another aspect of Hinduism directly referenced in the show: the horse/space miraculous kwami Kaalki’s name is a reference to the prophecied tenth avatar/reincarnation of the god Vishnu, and he is referenced in the Kalachakra tantra which is basically a Hindu book about the cycle of time. Keep in mind I got all this from wikipedia and other internet websites, I do not practice Hinduism and I dont directly know anybody who does, so if any of this is wrong pls lmk because there is surprisingly not a lot of information on the internet about it from what I could tell)

So anyways yes peacock (mayura) eating snake representing the cycle of time. Both Luka and Adrien are represented in the show as the snake, but ultimately I think the snake here represents Adrien just because it makes more sense (Snake Noir, future Alix’s tattoo depicts a snake to be Adrien and is meant to represent Adrinette, Adrien just has some shifty stuff going on with the snake in general etc) and thus, if Gabriel manages to actually get the ladybug and black cat miraculouses and make the wish to bring Emilie to life, then this “mayura” analogy (assuming Emilie as the mayura in this scenario) would make sense if her life brought upon Adrien losing his.

The reason I dont think it would refer to Nathalie even though her official name is Mayura is for pretty much two sub-reasons. The first is that I think she is going to die before this wish happens. I know, its a kids show, whatever, but consider it. The Agreste/Graham de Vanily family has a trend of having opposite names [I am so sorry I literally first heard this from a tumblr user but I cannot remember who I just remember they had made a string of theories on why Emilie Agreste will not be who she seems to be so credit to them I did not discover that] for example the name Gabriel means hero/angel, Felix means happy/fortunate, Adrien means dark, etc, and Nathalie Sancoeur means “birthday (of Christ)” and “heartless” respectively. We already know she is not heartless but rather full of heart because she has fallen in love with Gabriel. So then,,,,,,,,,, the opposite of birth is death. She’s already shown to be pretty sick too despite the peacock miraculous having been “fixed” (as of the New York special being the most recent piece of content). I’m sorry guys I do not make the rules

stop why his face look like that though

The second part of why I think this is a little stupid but. The original art released by Jeremy Zag for Mayura does not look like Nathalie. Plus this art was only released under the name of “the Peacock” (originally Le Paon in French) so it might not actually be the Mayura we know as of now. Now, theoretically, it could be that they had made this art before they knew they wanted Nathalie to be Mayura or just as art depicting what Emilie would have been like as the peacock miraculous holder, and it could literally just be Nathalie. When you compare the images, though, the original Mayura art looks far more like Emilie and a lot less like Nathalie. Yes I am aware this is stupid just know this is only a minor point

I dont know man those faces do not look the same to me and the original Mayura definitely had Emilie’s eye shape and face shape in mind. They might’ve changed it after making the concept art but my point still stands

Ok next reasoning

Again not a very strong point but sometimes dialogue just implies things in Miraculous and I can think of a very specific quote that would fit this happening, and there are probably more that I just dont know to look for since I dont have this whole show memorized

So the quote is from Startrain after Gabriel loses control of the akuma then learns about the Startrain having been akumatized with Adrien on board, and he says “hoping that my enemies will save my son..... how ironic.” When I first heard this quote I really, really felt like it was foreshadowing something just based on his tone and the way this new idea was being introduced of him having to be on the same side as Ladynug and Chat Noir for once, even if it was just temporary. This quote absolutely is indicative to me of a future event in which he’ll have to work with his “enemies” to save his son. A situation in which Adrien is in comatose would perfectly align with this. At least for how I would predict the show would make it, Gabriel would have to turn away from Emilie (who represents the past for him, and this action would therefore represent moving on) and join forces with Ladybug/Marinette, his “enemy”, to save Adrien.

Onto the last reason!

Emilie is probably definitely coming back. Which means someone’s going into a coma in her place.

I mean come on it would be so anticlimactic if they just caught Gabe before he fulfilled his wish. Plus with the way they are outlining Emilie to be this perfect golden being is definitely because its going to far contrast with how she will actually turn out. This doesnt really support the Adrien thing in particular but honestly it would also be anticlimactic of the coma was for anyone else. If it was Nathalie, then yeah itd suck for Adrien I guess but like???? Doesn’t really connect the plots as much. Whereas if its Adrien, that brings Marinette into it, that gives her a powerful as heck conflict. Im guessing they would also somehow resolve his coma with “the power of love” mentioned in the theme song, just because of the foreshadowing with like waking someone up with a true love’s kiss (think Plagg in Chameleon, I guess the rose in Style Queen, maybe Alya’s story to Manom in Stormy Weather if we’re strecthing it....)

TL;DR: Adrien is probably gonna go comatose (like Emilie did) at some point because its been pretty foreshadowed (think Style Queen, Riposte, and even Chameleon), because of the legend surrounding the Hindu “mayura” peacock eating a snake representing time (wow that was not a sentence ok then), because Gabriel has previously foreshadowed having to work with his enemies to save his son, and also just because it would be super awesome and allow each character involved to have a pretty fulfilling conflict and arc.

(all images from the miraculous ladybug wiki excluding the piece of art depicting the mayura which is from murugan.org)

I hope however took the time to read this post enjoyed this theory, sometimes I have really random yet detailed theories regarding this show and I wanted to share this one because if I’m right then this will be proof I had predicted it, also you guys could possibly elaborate on it. I’m all for friendly discussions folks fr

If this doesn’t end up happening the theory is still awesome and they should have done it, and if it does my ego will probably expand and hopefully they will make it as awesome as it seems like it would be. Sorry if the structure of this post is not great, but thank you for reading. I appreciate you, have a wonderful week :)