#like at least asking marinette not to tell adrien would have been about adrien instead of about protecting his own legacy

[ladyofthenoodle]

ironic that the kindest thing gabriel did for adrien was to sacrifice himself rather than die by adrien’s cataclysm, and he not only doesn't know he did that but he also would not have done so on purpose

[aidanchaser]

Regardless of Perfection: An Adrinette Fic, featuring Félix 4.5K Words; Rated G for General Audiences

Adrien is dumbfounded. His knee is glued to the floor and his hands poised in front of him, as still and unmoving as his heart, stopped in his chest and aching as it fails to function. He can feel the eyes of every patron in the restaurant, staring with the same shock and confusion he feels.

“No?” he manages to squeak out, not even believing the word as it leaves his lips.

But Marinette has aggressively slammed the velvet box closed. Her face is already pink, hastily turning red, and Adrien can see tears in her eyes as she shoves his hands away with so much aggression that she near topples him over.

“Don’t—” she manages to say, and, “You can’t—” but she can’t seem to find words anymore easily than he can. She stands up and runs from the restaurant, linen napkin falling to the floor.

Adrien is only vaguely aware of the waiter helping him stand, a murmured apology as he’s settled back into his seat. A bottle of wine is placed in front of him, “Condolences from the guests over there,” but Adrien doesn’t even see the gesture, doesn’t know who to thank for the wine he’s meant to drown his heartbreak in. The waiter clears Marinette’s plate and glass without a word.

Adrien had planned tonight perfectly—at least, he thought he had. Everything about today had gone so right, like Ladybug’s own Lucky Charm had made it happen. He and Marinette had seen a movie together that afternoon, had a lovely walk along the Seine, and then she’d gone home to put on a brand new dress for their dinner on the Eiffel Tower. Adrien Agreste, even famous as he was, had waited months for this reservation to come up. Even though he’d carried the ring on him for the last several weeks—just in case the moment felt right—he’d known that this was the plan. That tonight was going to be the night. It was truly perfect.

He’d carefully steered the conversation over dinner to their future together, to the plans they’d talked about over the years amidst dreamy sighs and giggles. She’d seemed excited—had he misread her entirely? He didn’t think so. He’d known Marinette for nearly a decade. Surely he knew the difference between excitement and panic and he was sure that she had been excited—nervous, maybe, because of course she must have guessed how special today was—but he hadn’t seen any panic in her, not until the moment he had opened the ring box.

Her face had dropped. True horror had filled her eyes. And she had said, “No.”

Actually, she had practically shrieked it as she shoved the ring box away.

Adrien still didn’t understand it. Marinette certainly wasn’t the sort of person to be upset about a diamond being too small or a ring being inexpensive. So the rejection had to be about him, and Adrien couldn’t fathom why, couldn’t identify what clue he had missed along the way.

He’d been nervous to propose, naturally, but he had never thought that Marinette would reject him, certainly not so dramatically. He didn’t think anyone had expected it. Even her parents and their friends were all waiting back at the bakery, ready to celebrate, convinced she would have said yes.

A new panic climbed Adrien’s throat as he imagined Marinette arriving back at her parents’ place, greeted with a congratulatory cake and champagne. He needs to call them, tell them the devastating news before Marinette reaches them.

But as his fingers alight on his phone, it begins to buzz. Adrien swallows and draws it out, unable to tamp down the desperate hope that it’s Marinette telling him she’s changed her mind—but instead it’s Nino.

Adrien answers and says nothing.

“Adrien, where are you?” Nino asks, voice thick with concern.

Adrien tips his head back against the chair and stares up at the ceiling. The warm yellow rings of lights glare down at him and he swallows down the mixture of shame and despair that begin to coil in his chest, familiar friends that have known him far longer than Nino has.

“Adrien?” Nino asks.

“I’m still here,” Adrien says, but with no more strength than he had managed to repeat Marinette’s rejection with.

“Where are you?” Nino asks again.

“I’m still at the restaurant,” Adrien clarifies. He doesn’t know where he’s going to go after this. Certainly not home. He considers the possibility of transforming into Astro Chat and disappearing into space.

“Listen, Marinette just called Alya, and Alya called me, and I really think you should—”

“It’s fine, Nino,” Adrien says.

“I know that’s not true. Do you want me to meet you somewhere?”

Adrien considers the prospect of company. He knows even if he does go home alone, Plagg will still be with him. He can’t truly be alone, unless he does decide to transform. Maybe he does need to spend some time on top of the Eiffel Tower, cloaked in Chat Noir’s magic and the silence of being so far above the world. Maybe he needs to spend a few days on top of the Eiffel Tower.

“I just want to be alone,” he says, fidgeting with the miraculous around his finger.

“If you need anything—”

But his phone buzzes against his ear, and Adrien loses the rest of Nino’s offer as he checks to see his cousin is calling him.

Adrien wonders how many phone calls he’s going to receive tonight. He wonders how many of them he’ll take and how many he’ll ignore.

He doesn’t think he should ignore this one.

“I’ll talk to you later,” he says to Nino, unsure exactly when later will be, and switches to the incoming call.

���Félix,” Adrien manages dismally. He wonders how fast word is spreading amongst their friends. He wonders if the news has already gone viral through a restaurant patron’s video footage.

“Kagami says I can’t kill her,” is all Félix says for a greeting, “but I will if you give me the okay.”

Adrien isn’t in the mood for Félix’s sense of humor. “Félix, I don’t—”

“I’m not joking,” Félix says.

Adrien rubs his eyes and runs his hand through his hair. “I’m going to hang up,” he says, wholly uninterested in Félix’s brand of comfort.

But Félix ignores this threat, and Adrien makes no move to follow through it it.

“Is there a possibility that she didn’t mean it?” Félix asks, voice turning from cold to cautious.

But Adrien doesn’t know how he could have misunderstood a loud, desperate shriek of, “No!” that seems to grow more violent as he turns the memory over and over again.

“She shoved me away and stormed out. I don’t think she could have communicated her feelings any clearer than that.”

Félix is quiet for a moment, and Adrien can picture him evaluating the evidence and trying to draw a picture of the event.

“Where are you?” Félix asks.

Adrien doesn’t answer.

He doesn’t consider himself a liar or even duplicitous in any way. He’s always genuine with his feelings—except when he isn’t.

Anger and heartbreak are too much for him, and he buries them deep, terrified that he’ll use them as weapons against others. He’s glimpsed, as much as the rest of Paris has, how hurt can be weaponized. He knows, too, the way that grief and heartbreak can make someone undesirable. He grew up in a home that treated sadness like a sickness, like rot that needed to be carved out. The last thing Adrien wants is for his friends and loved ones to see him at a low like this.

“I’ll be home soon,” Adrien finally says, avoiding Félix’s question.

“I’ll meet you there,” Félix says.

“Please don’t,” he says.

“You don’t enjoy being alone.”

And how could Adrien not cry at that? He’s been in shock—the rejection hurts, but he hasn’t truly felt it yet—until Félix trods on the roots of Adrien’s aching heart. He doesn’t enjoy being alone, and he wasn’t supposed to ever be alone again. He was supposed to have Marinette with him forever, but now…

He tries desperately to bite down the tears, but they swell up regardless. “I don’t understand,” Adrien chokes out, and his tears drip down his cheeks, like water through a crack in a levy. “I don’t understand what went wrong or why—” But his words fail him as his throat is suddenly consumed with a gasping sob.

He doubles over, one hand still clinging to Félix on the other end of the line and the other tightening in his hair like he can tear it out and his heartache with it. He leans against the table, unable to hold up his own weight as the burden of Marinette’s rejection bears down on him and an empty, lonely future spirals out before him.

“Tell me where you are,” Félix says, voice strangely tender.

Adrien screws his eyes shut, like he might be able to seal up his mess of tears or keep out Félix’s uncharacteristic kindness.

He knows the other restaurant patrons have to be watching, and all Adrien can think is how nice it would be to disappear. He thinks of how Marinette managed to flee the restaurant in her panic, and he wishes his legs would work and carry him out, too. He thinks if he hangs up the phone, he’ll be able to gather himself together just long enough to get out of here and find a place to become Chat Noir.

“Ah,” Félix says, “Nino just texted back. I’ll be right there.”

And Adrien can’t even protest, can’t warn him not to. Adrien certainly doesn’t want Félix to see him like this, doesn’t want anyone he loves to glimpse how utterly broken and devastated he is, but the words stick in his throat, drowned by the sobs he can’t fight down.

Adrien drops his phone onto the table, aware the call has gone dead and presses the heels of his hands against his eyes in an effort to stem his tears. He wonders how long he has until Félix arrives. Perhaps he can leave before his cousin gets here—

But there’s a gasp from the guests of the restaurant, a sudden rise of tension and fear that swells around him. Adrien’s skin prickles, familiar with the way a crowd’s mood changes before an akuma attack, but when he opens his eyes he sees no monster nor black butterfly searching for a victim. Instead, it is his cousin, dressed in the purple and blue hooded uniform of Argos.

Adrien should have guessed that Félix would manage to make a bigger scene than Marinette had.

As he reaches the table, his hand goes for Adrien’s shoulder, but Adrien shrugs him off.

“Please don’t,” he begs, unsure how he can bear Félix’s offer of comfort—unsure how Félix can bear his misery. Already, he can feel another swell of tears burgeoning. He curls into himself, burying his head in his hands, hiding what he can of his heartbreak.

Argos drops into the chair that Marinette had sat in not thirty minutes ago, and as he does, drops his transformation.

“I’ll stay until you’re ready to leave,” Félix says, voice still tinged with tenderness, and it only makes Adrien’s chest ache more.

Adrien is not used to people standing with him when he makes a mistake. He’s used to sharp critique and deathly silent meals. Marinette and Nino alike have been so gentle in their attempts to draw him out, to allow him to misstep without flinching, but this particular misstep feels so monumental. He doesn’t know how he could have read Marinette so wrong; he doesn’t know how anyone would want to sit with him through this.

Félix, at least, knows what it’s like to bury heartbreak and mistakes well out of sight and well out of reach. Félix knows the way perfection is not an achievement but an expectation, and he understands that something as ugly as grief is not fit for public consumption nor private indulgence.

Adrien draws in two shaky breaths, but they’re whole and uninterrupted by wild sobs. He thinks he has enough composure to speak again and asks, “Do you know where I went wrong?” He doesn’t care for how raw and ragged his voice sounds, and he reaches for his glass of water.

Félix picks up the wine that Adrien has left untouched and sniffs the uncorked bottle curious. He pours a little, swirls and sips it, then wrinkles his nose, and checks the bottle. His upper lip curls in disgust and finally, he turns his eyes back to Adrien. “Have you considered that you may have made no mistakes at all?”

Adrien shakes his head. “No—I must have done something—or said something—” he feels the tears threaten to crawl out of his chest again, and he presses his thumb and forefinger against his eyes to hold them back. “Alya might know. I can text her.” But when he reaches for his phone, he finds that Félix has already snatched it out of reach.

“Adrien,” Félix murmurs, “you cannot charm the world to your will by following a dance step diagram. There is no pattern to unlock, no measure of perfection that will make everything turn out right.”

Adrien grits his teeth, certain that what Félix says is true, but unable to accept it. If he could just be better, then things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

“I’m sure you did everything right,” Félix continues. “The date, the dinner, the tie, the ring…” Félix’s hand closes over the blue velvet box. “But sometimes, Adrien, things simply—” He stops as he flicks the box open.

Adrien’s heart sinks. The ring was the problem after all, wasn’t it? He should have bought something expensive, something that glittered. He had just thought that Marinette would have preferred something sentimental, so he had chosen to propose with his mother’s wedding band. Apparently it had ben the wrong choice.

Félix snaps the box closed and slides it back to Adrien. “I’m going to find Ladybug,” he says, and Adrien’s heart pounds with new concern.

“Ladybug?” he asks weakly.

Félix gets to his feet, but he hesitates as he eyes Adrien and his disheveled hair and tear-stained cheeks. Something in his tight shoulders sags ever so slightly.

“No, not Ladybug,” he says. “Adrien, I’m going to take you to Marinette.”

“Félix, I can’t—”

“I don’t think she meant to turn you down.”

Though Adrien is reluctant to believe Félix, his heart pounds with hope. “What’s wrong with proposing with my mother’s ring? I thought she’d think it was romantic.”

Félix scrubs a hand over his face. “Well, she didn’t.” His voice is once again flat and cold, void of the care he’d been displaying moments ago. His words, at least, show an awareness of feeling. “I’m going to take you to Marinette, and the three of us are going to have a very difficult conversation, and it is going to hurt, but it will be all right. Can you trust me on that?”

Adrien isn’t sure how he can, but Félix doesn’t make it sound like he has any choice in the matter. “How do you know it will be okay?”

Félix draws his mouth into a tight line. When he does speak again, it’s painstaking and slow, like poison being drawn from a wound. “Because you have people who will love you regardless.”

There is not much more room for discussion. Félix pauses only to call Alya—on Adrien’s phone, certain it’s the only way she’ll answer—and merely says, “Where’s Marinette?” before engaging in tense negotiations with Alya for Marinette’s whereabouts. He wins the interrogation, or at least Adrien thinks he must have, because as soon as he ends the call, he transforms back into Argos and scoops Adrien up in his arms.

Adrien decides that he prefers when Ladybug carries him, but he doesn’t have much choice in the matter, unless he were to suddenly tell his cousin the truth about the ring he wears on his middle finger. But Félix is clearly in a hurry to reach Marinette, and is uninterested in mortal means of travel. Leaping across rooftops with the power of the Peacock Miraculous is the best the two of them can manage.

He lands on Marinette’s rooftop, and Adrien stumbles out of his cousin’s arms, unsure he has ever dropped onto this rooftop as himself.

He does his best to scrub his cheeks free of any tearstains. His hair, he’s sure, is unsalvageable after their flight across the rooftops, and he does not even want to know the state of his suit.

Argos lifts the trap door without knocking and drops down inside. Adrien, suddenly aware that he has this brief moment alone, considers the risk of simply leaving.

But before he can quite manage a whispered, “Plagg, claws out,” Alya’s head appears from below. She gives him a sad smile and climbs out to meet him.

Adrien backs into the balcony railing, but Alya approaches anyway. She puts a tender hand on his shoulder and ignores the way he flinches. Even as he tries to shrug her off, she squeezes tighter.

“I’m really sorry,” she says.

Adrien refuses to meet her eyes. He can’t let her see the tears that are springing up all of a sudden. He doesn’t know why his cousin has insisted on this.

“For what it’s worth,” Alya says, “I don’t think she meant to turn you down. She’s… she’s really embarrassed, but she won’t say anything more to me than just that she panicked.”

Adrien doesn’t think that quite matches with his memory of the event, but his heart is racing again, brought back to life by the hope Alya is offering him.

“You should go talk to her. Félix won’t let me in there for whatever it is he wants to say, and I don’t know that I trust the two of them alone together for very long.”

Adrien isn’t entirely sure if that Alya’s fears are about mistrusting Félix—distantly, he remembers Félix’s offer of murder—or if they’re about mistrusting Marinette and her own scheming.

“I’ll go down there,” Adrien concedes, “but I’m not sure I’ll have much more to say.”

“Then just listen. And, hey, you know that no matter what happens, you and I are still friends, right?”

His chest swells and Adrien thinks this alone might break him. He isn’t sure how to accept this offer of kindness, of unconditional trust.

“Okay,” he manages, voice strangled with a whirl of emotions he can’t begin to name.

Adrien climbs down the ladder into Marinette’s bedroom and finds that Félix is once again without his magical costume. He has settled into Marinette’s desk chair as easily as if it was his own, while Marinette sits on the edge of her bed, head between her knees and hands locked behind her neck as if she is preparing for an earthquake or a tornado. Adrien considers mirroring her posture, but chooses not to, only because he is unsure where he would sit. So he stands, leaning against her windowsill, unsure how to begin this conversation.

“If you don’t tell him, Marinette,” Félix says, “then I will.”

Marinette’s whine is muffled by her knees and whatever she murmurs into her leg is fully unintelligible.

Félix sighs in exasperation. He takes his own ring—his father’s ring—between his thumb and finger and yanks it off. He turns it over between his fingers. “Adrien, have you ever wondered how you and I are so terribly alike in appearance even though we are only cousins?”

“Our mothers are twins,” Adrien says, almost automatically. He distantly remembers asking his mother about it once, and she’d said the same. She had said to never bring it up again, so he had done as she asked and never questioned her answer. Even now, it seems impossible to think otherwise.

“My mother can’t have children,” Félix says, and there is nothing in his tone nor expression that indicates how absurd the statement is.

Adrien glances to Marinette for some sort of clue or help, but she is still in a panic. His heart aches to see her like this, and all he wants is to sit down next to her and hold her. But he remembers how she pushed him away just an hour ago, and he remains by the window.

“Félix, that doesn’t make sense.”

“My mother can’t have children and neither could her twin sister.”

Adrien does not have the patience for this conversation. He rubs his eyes, aching and tired from the tears they have spilled. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“My father created me, and your mother created you, using the Peacock Miraculous.”

Marinette moans like a seasick sailor whose ship has made a sudden lurch beneath her feet. Adrien can only stare at Félix, stunned.

“Why would you say something like that?”

“Because it’s the truth,” Félix says, “and because I told Marinette.”

Adrien’s gut twists. He isn’t sure which part is harder to swallow: the idea that he’s a Sentimonster or the idea that Marinette rejected him because of it. His entire reality shifts before him, and he clings to the window’s ledge to make sure he stays on his feet.

“But you… you can’t be serious.” But even as Adrien says it, he can’t imagine Félix would be anything less than serious. His next concern, then, is that Félix has simply been horribly misinformed.

He looks to Marinette again, and he knows by the white in her knuckles and the half-formed sob that bursts out of her chest that she believes it.

“My father used this ring as the object to bind me to life,” Félix says. “Your mother chose hers and your fathers’ wedding rings.”

Adrien shakes his head, still unable to see truth in Félix’s words, but finally—finally—Marinette says something intelligible.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and hiccups on another sob. She lifts her head and looks at Adrien. Her face is flushed, cheeks tear-streaked and eyes puffy, red, and streaked with mascara. Though she’s still wearing the dress she had put on for their formal dinner date, the satin is wrinkled like she’s the one who took a journey across Paris’ rooftops in a superhero’s arms. “I didn’t mean it, Adrien, I swear.”

Adrien pulls the velvet box out from his jacket and looks at the ring inside. He still can’t wrap his head around the idea that this ring and his father’s ring, still attached to the necklace fastened beneath his shirt, are tethers that hold him to this world. He still can’t believe that he isn’t human. He feels human. He imagines that this night wouldn’t hurt so much if he were otherwise.

But more urgent than this absurdity that Félix has laid at his feet is Marinette’s apology. He stumbles over to Marinette and collapses onto the bed beside her. “Which part didn’t you mean?” he whispers.

Marinette hiccups again and tries to rub her eyes dry, but she only succeeds in smearing her mascara. The black streak bleeds into her hairline and her tears continue to fall regardless.

“The part where I pushed you,” she says, and chokes on another sob. “The part where I said no.”

Adrien plucks the ring out from the velvet box. “Marinette—”

“No!” she yelps again, and closes her hands over his. She falls off the bed, knees hitting the hardwood floor with a thud and she winces, but does not lose her grip on Adrien’s hand. He’s afraid she’s going to break his fingers

“Adrien, don’t,” she says. “I can’t take this.”

“But Marinette—”

“Please,” she sobs. She buries her face into his knees, tears and makeup soaking into his suit. Without looking up at him, she pries the ring out of his hand and slides it onto his own finger. “Adrien, I love you,” she chokes on another gasping sob, “and I cannot love you and wear this ring.”

Something new inside Adrien breaks, something he can’t name. He stares down at the top of Marinette’s head, and her hands holding onto his like he’s the only tether she has to this world. New tears fall from his cheeks, unattached to sobs. They aren’t sad tears, not at all.

Human or not, Marinette loves him. He’s not sure anything else matters.

He sinks to the floor beside Marinette, takes her face in his hands, and kisses her.

She doesn’t push him away. She doesn’t shriek and reject him. It’s the kiss he had expected, long and deep and perhaps a bit more wet than he had been prepared for. Even her hiccups, he thinks, ought to have been expected.

The chair beneath Félix creaks as he stands, and he coughs.

Marinette and Adrien politely pause their kiss, but they keep their hands intertwined and their foreheads pressed together.

“I’ll let Alya know we’re finished, then.”

Marinette tries again to wipe her eyes dry. “I’ll go—” She pauses for a sniff and a hiccup. “I’ll go tell my parents the good news.”

Adrien squeezes her hand. “Wait, one more thing.” He turns to his cousin, already halfway up the ladder steps. He supposes that Félix has given a lot of emotion today, and he shouldn’t be surprised his cousin is trying to slip away. “Why did you tell Marinette about the rings before you told me.”

Marinette sucks in a sharp, sudden breath of air and her hiccups vanish. Félix freezes on the ladder, but it’s brief. He shrugs and says, “I’ll let Marinette tell you that one.” And he leaves.

Adrien looks at Marinette, watches her worry her bottom lip and flick her eyes between her sewing machine, the box that he knows her diary is hidden in, and the dollhouse perched on her desk.

“Marinette?” he asks.

“Well—I—I mean—I can’t—I mean you can’t—” Marinette fumbles for the right words, but Adrien is used to this. He waits patiently.

“I’m Buglady,” she finally spits out, “I mean Luggybady. I mean—”

Adrien’s eyebrows lift. “You’re Ladybug?”

She swallows and nods.

He glances at the plain black earrings fastened in her ears. He thinks about the last several years of interrupted dates and how he hadn’t even noticed her terrible excuses for lateness because he was too busy thinking about his own.

Adrien works his ring off of his finger. He never removes it, and it requires a bit of doing, but once its off, he slides it onto Marinette’s finger.

“Adrien, I said I can’t—”

He leans in close, whispers, “It’s just my miraculous,” and kisses her cheek.

She swallows and looks down at the band, clearly thicker than the wedding band and with an unadorned place for a stone setting—a space perfectly sized for a glowing pawprint—and begins to hyperventilate all over again.

“But you can’t—I can’t—but Adrien—Chat—”

Adrien kisses her, and she sinks into it, panicked words and breath forgotten. There’s nothing more to be said between them.

Nothing about today went perfectly; nothing about this kiss is picturesque or even truly romantic. But Adrien wouldn’t trade today and all of its mess for anything in the world. He loves his lady, panic and stuttering and all, and he’s willing to admit that maybe it’s okay if she loves his mistakes and his secrets too.

[ilikekidsshows]

Gosh, I just remembered Destruction. That Marinette seriously let Cat Noir run around with the word Dimwit in his bell for all of season 4, never once spared it a single thought, never apologized for it either despite allegedly having "realized" how awfully she treated him, and then smiled proudly when Alya laughed over him behind his back after the Cataclysm incident Marinette just abandoned Cat Noir afterwards too and only cared about herself getting support.

Dude, Marinette is so awful to him at times. Who DOES that to a friend? I would be downright ashamed of myself if I treated a friend like that and the show's telling me to CELEBRATE her for that??

Let's not forget that she also didn't think for months that Cat needs to know beforehand that her secret plan includes him having to run the risk of cataclysming Hawkmoth, or that he's once again reduced to a literal object in her plan who can't even breath with the villain's hand at his throat because all she deemed important was HERSELF being fine and safe and getting the Kwamis back.

Sure, just demand that of him on a whim. It's fine, girl, as long as it isn't you, right?

She also put every single civilian at Hawkmoth’s mercy in her plan, apparently just counties on him to be decent to the helpless civilians in his path who are even BOTHERING HIM with photos for her plan to work. That makes her such an awful hero. Humanity really was non existent in her plan, huh? Only she herself and the Kwamis mattered and she even monologued that into a full-blown failure. Not even getting a single Kwami because she had to brag about how much smarter and better she is than him. Such heroism. Much inspirational.

I seriously forgot how awful Destruction was for Marinette’s character. What the shit was that??

---

The group chat and I have been thinking that Marinette really is the least heroic “superhero” we’ve seen that wasn't a purposeful attempt at deconstructing superheroes. She very rarely goes out of her way to help people except when it's her way of forcing her views on what people need on others (think Guilt Trip), and a lot of the time she only fights Akumas and Sentimonsters because they're getting in the way of her plans for the day.

Marinette is only a hero technically, because, technically, he does stop the bad guys from getting what they want. But she also does the bare minimum needed. She magicked together a charm to try to prevent Akumatizations four seasons in, and it was basically because Alya told her to. She is also completely disinterested in finding out who Hawk Moth is. Félix spelled it out for her and she couldn't be arsed to do anything about it. The only time she's confronted Gabriel about anything was when she wanted to get his permission to date Adrien. I repeat: the only reason Marinette ever “goes after” Gabriel is to get his permission to date Adrien. The finale confrontation was an accident on her part. Marinette's motives are so often about herself over everything else. It's not just that there's a benefit to her in helping others, it's that she actually thinks about herself first in every single situation and anyone else is barely ever a consideration.

Marinette is the most passive hero I’ve seen. Even early series Usagi from Sailor Moon, who cried at the thought of fighting monsters, actively followed rumors around town to uncover the villains’ schemes and more often than not got involved in the plot of the episode because she met a random stranger she wanted to help when they explained their problems to her and/or asked for her assistance with something. Marinette has helped a random stranger only once, despite her supposedly having this trait being why Fu chose her in Origins.

She really has no idea what a hero is, considering her idea for doing a heroic act to celebrate “heroes’ day” was promising her parents would make a bunch of treats for her classmates instead of herself doing anything to help anyone. She only ended up making the treats herself because her parents didn't have the time, and even then, the classmates also pitched in to make her idea/heroic act happen. Despite Hawk Moth being a consistent threat, she's not proactive in trying to stop him, only patrolling for personal reasons, like keeping the principal from making “real heroes” (her words, not mine) look bad and going on “not dates” with Cat Noir.

She also far more frequently uses her powers for personal gain than any other character that gets a Miraculous, even when taking their time using one into account. Marinette uses her powers to sabotage people who have a crush on the guy she likes, embarrass people she doesn't like and manufacture situations where she can get closer to her crush. Meanwhile Adrien and Alya *flips through notes* genuinely enjoy being a hero and helping people, so much so they joke on the job. And people tell me the latter two are less heroic, because of some twisted idea that real heroes are the ones for whom the job is a burden. In actuality, Marinette viewing her heroics as such a burden makes her unmotivated and a worse hero for it. Her disregard towards civilians and her allies when she actually bothers to do the job is just another sign of how utterly unsuited to be a hero Marinette is.

Frankly, if Marinette’s hijinks didn't stop the Akumas and Sentimonsters, she'd be a villain protagonist. Because of the retooled show enforcing Marinette’s unheroic traits, her lack of motivation, her lack of sympathy for others, her selfishness and her self-aggrandizing, I personally feel that she still is a villain protagonist but the show just celebrates her instead of condemning her.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Adrien is Marinette's Therapist, NOT her Boyfriend and it's Gross

Mental health struggles are no joke and, if you have those struggles, then you absolutely need a partner who will support you through them. That's why, at face value, Adrien supporting Marinette with her PTSD and anxiety is very sweet. It's what a good boyfriend should do. The problem is that Adrien is being written like her therapist, not her boyfriend.

Adrien has his own struggles with depression, loss, and paternal neglect. Yet none of these struggles are brought up once Adrien and Marinette get together. Instead, the relationship is all about her needs and struggles even though this season ends with Gabriel's take down, meaning that focusing on Adrien's issues would have made more sense from a narrative perspective. How much more powerful would the final have been if Marinette really understood Adrien, Emilie, and Gabriel's relationship?

But why do that when we can make everything about Adrienette instead? Why bother to mention Emilie when Marinette is a much better point of conflict between Adrien and Gabriel? After all, if we did that, then Adrien would have a life outside of Marinette and that would be, well, sigh, let's get into it, shall we?

In Derision, we learn that Marinette apparently doesn't have some form of anxiety or ADHD or any of the other things that people have theorized over the years. No, vanilla-Marinette is a totally relaxed, go-with-the-flow non-planner who only started planning after Chloe, Sabrina, and Kim gave her PTSD. Does this insult her character and make no sense? Yes, but let's not get into that. Let's just accept the retcon and look at the fallout of Adrien knowing that his new girlfriend has massive trauma that's mainly focused on romance and controlling situations.

The very next episode is Intuition. In it we see Marinette calling Adrien to show off her ability to do things without planning (or, at least, with less planning) and it's clear from context that this is an exercise that they're doing:

Adrien: Well... (his phone rings) Fancy that! Marinette! I like spending time with Marinette. (picks up his phone) Marinette: (on-call) Guess what I'm calling for: nothing! Can you believe it? I'm calling you randomly, totally out of the blue, for no reason at all! Adrien: So you didn't write down everything you might need to say to me based on everything I might say to you? Marinette: Not at all! Well... I did. I really tried not to, you know, but it was too hard! Anyhow, I limited myself to fourteen possible conversations, including this one! Adrien: Congratulations! Marinette: (on-call) Thank you! Adrien: And did you prepare questions for science class? Marinette: (on-call) Not-a-one! Not even for the live video conference we're doing with Max's mom on the super awesome Tsurugi space jet! I, Marinette, will improvise questions, unpredictably, without planning anything!

In the context of the show, this conversation is deeply concerning and I don't know wtf the writers think they're doing. There is no way in hell that a 14-year-old should be guiding his girlfriend through a therapy session or therapy exercise unless he has the guidance and approval of a trained mental health professional.

Seriously look at what Adrien is doing in this dialogue: Marinette tells him that she's called him without planning and he doesn't just say "that's great!" Instead, he asks if that's true, congratulates her for her mild improvement, and then prompts her to talk about another situation where she would plan things out. In other words, he's asking about the therapy homework that he's clearly given her or that they've decided on together. It's also clear that this isn't their first discussion on the topic because he's very comfortable knowing what to ask about to see if she's done her homework right.

Why was this homework chosen? Who knows! It certainly wasn't picked by someone with training! A therapist wouldn't tell you to avoid planning for a school assignment (something that we've never seen Marinette overplan before, but once again, we're ignoring the retcon). This scene would arguably be inappropriate for an established adult relationship, but a nascent teenage one? Absolutely not.

My SO and I have both done therapy and seen wildly unbalanced relationships. This conversation threw massive red flags for us on both fronts. This is not what a healthy relationship looks like. This is not a give and take. This is why you need a therapist to at least guide you through this type of situation or you will set yourself up in roles where person A is not getting their needs met because the relationship has an established dynamic where person A is the giver and person B is the taker.

This is especially true for a young relationship that's just getting its feet off of the ground. They're supposed to be in the honeymoon phase! More established relationships are better able to handle phases where one person needs more support than the other which absolutely happens and is totally normal. However, when those things happen, it's vital for the supporting partner to have their own support since they can't get it from their partner.

Miraculous denies Adrien this suport. In the very next episode, we get this:

Adrien: I've always seen Marinette acting funny in my presence. I thought that was just the way she was. I thought it was sweet. I thought it was just her charm. But now that I know it's because she loves me and she freaks out about telling me, I feel bad. Because it means that this whole time she's been uncomfortable around me, and I haven't done anything to help her. Kagami: But you didn't know. Adrien: It doesn't take away from her suffering. I just wish she could feel more at ease when she's with me. Otherwise, one day, it'll be too late and she'll give up. Kagami: What can I do to help, Adrien? Adrien: Thanks, but it's not up to you or anyone else to help. I'm the one who's gotta do something.

No! Adrien, you are not equipped to deal with this solo. Ask Kagami to help! Ask Alya to help! Ask Marinette's parents to help! There are times when it's okay to involve others in your relationship and this is one of those times! This isn't even a relationship issue! It's a mental health issue! I know we're flipping gender roles here, but it's not somehow cute or healthy just because a guy is trying to "fix" the girl for once. No one should try to take on that task. This is what therapy is for.

If therapy is not an option for financial or other reasons, then yes, sometimes you have to struggle through and loved ones can help, but in TV land? Especially aimed-at-kids TV land? Show the ideal scenario! At the very least, show a support network! And I mean actual support, not Kagami asking to help and Adrien shooting her down! Writers, you are making Gabriel's dislike of Marinette valid! You are making it so that she is dragging Adrien down! Stop doing that!

Adrien deserves love and support, too. Adrien deserves to be romanced. Adrien deserves more than a kiss and an "I love you" that he had to fight to hear! He never even gets one of the presents from Marinette's chest. She did more to woo him before they got together and it's such pathetic writing.

The fun of getting these two together is letting them do all the stuff they've always wanted to do! Let Marinette bring him macrons! Let him bring her roses! Let her enhance his wardrobe! Let him write her poems! Let them be a healthy, balanced, sickeningly-cute couple! It's fine if she's nervous at the start and takes a while to act normal, but this show takes it to a level beyond teenage jitters and it's not funny or cute. It's concerning.

All of these issues start with Derision's romance-based-PTSD retcon and it was the worst thing they could have done for the Love Square. It poisons the rest of the season and is why I just can't ship these two in canon even though I love what they could have been. They have established such a horrifically unhealthy dynamic that I can't see this ending well unless they get couple's therapy in the very near future and that's not even touching on the baggage that will come from the lies and still unresolved Ladynoir trauma.

As soon as Marinette has romance-based PTSD, she was incapable of being in a relationship until after she'd learned to manage her PTSD. (PTSD cannot be cured, btw, you just learn how to manage it and the symptoms can lessen.) The writers apparently knew that. It's why they gave her a therapist to support her as she worked through her issues and got to the point where she can say "I love you". His name is Adrien. Isn't he cute?

[dessarious]

This was not the Plan

New Years one shot (please let it stay a one shot)

Marinette could not for the life of her figure out how she'd ended up here. She was supposed to be at home, in her pajamas, asleep before the ball dropped. She had a plan, damn it.

That plan did not include Alya showing up at her apartment in London. Especially since she was supposed to be covering the ball drop in New York. It didn't involve said friend dragging her to an upscale party where Adrien and Felix just happened to be in attendance. And it damn sure didn't involve listening to Alya try to give her a pep talk (read lecture) about asking Adrien to kiss at midnight. No, this was definitely not the plan.

—————————————————-

Cass and Steph were supposed to be on a plane to Gotham. Unfortunately, some asshole (read Scarecrow) gassed the airport, and it was in lockdown until a HazMat team gave the all clear. Instead, they were stuck in an upscale London hotel. Which wouldn't be bad except there was a fancy New Year's party going on and the host had cornered them as they were checking in to invite them. Cass hated having to keep up a public image. But at least she had Steph to make things bearable.

They were standing along one of the walls, Steph making highly inappropriate comments at other people's expense, when Cass noticed two women. One obviously excited to be there and the other... not so much. As they wandered closer, Cass could hear their conversation.

"I feel I've been very clear on this." The one who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else sounded frustrated and annoyed.

"I know you think he's out of your league, but you'll regret it if you don't shoot your shot, girl!" Her tone was exasperated, if fond. Given the reaction from the other woman, this was a recurring debate. Cass didn't think she'd ever seen anyone roll their eyes so hard.

"I don't think he's out of my league. I'm just not interested in him. I really wish you would stop acting like we're still teenagers. It was an adolescent crush, and it wasn't healthy on top of that." Her friend didn't seem to hear her.

"Look! There he is. Now's your chance."

"Alya, you're not listening to me. Besides, that's Felix, not Adrien."

"Oh? You can tell that just by looking, huh?" Her tone seemed to imply that meant something but her friend just gave her a dry look.

"Anyone who's met them should be able to tell that." She gestured to the man Alya had pointed out. "Grumpy cat." Then she scanned the crowd before pointing to another man identical to the first. "Excited puppy."

Cass observed the two and had to admit the other woman was right. It kind of reminded her of the difference in Damian and Jon's personalities. The first man was comfortable in the setting, but was extremely standoffish and full of himself. The other was happy and friendly, talking to anyone who got close to him.

"Quit stalling. It's almost midnight."

"Alya, I'm not-"

"You can't bail on me this time. Do you have any idea what it took for me to get tickets to this party? Give me one good reason why you can't go ask him to kiss you for New Years."

Given how red the other woman's face had gotten during her friend's rant, Cass expected an explosion. What she wasn't expecting was for the woman to turn and pull her down into an angry, almost desperate kiss. She didn't know how to react, so she just let it happen. Honestly, she felt bad for her... it was also kind of nice if she was being honest with herself. When the woman pulled back, Cass was a bit dazed. She turned on her friend.

"That's why!" And promptly stormed out to the balcony. Cass was startled out of watching her when Steph let out a laugh.

"I'd say that's a pretty good reason." Steph's amused tone caused Alya to flush red before storming off in the opposite direction from her friend. "You should go check on her." Cass raised an eyebrow at her and Steph gestured to the balcony with a knowing smirk.

"Do you really think she wants to see me? That had to have been embarrassing." Cass signed at her in confusion, but Steph just turned her and gave her a push towards the balcony. Cass still wasn't certain it was a good idea, but Steph had a better understanding of such emotions, so she went. She found the other woman leaning over the balcony, muttering into her crossed arms. "Are you okay?" She spoke in English even though they'd been talking in French before hoping she understood since they were in London. She could understand French well enough, but speaking it was trickier.

"I'm fine." She said it in English, barely audible. When she looked up Cass watched her go through a variety of emotions. First was exhaustion, then confusion, recognition, embarrassment, and ending with horror. "Oh dear Kwami, I can't believe I sexually assaulted a complete stranger. I am so sorry!"

"It's okay." Cass hadn't thought of it that way, but she supposed it was technically true.

"It's not okay! It's the complete opposite of okay. I can't believe I did that. I'm such a terrible person. I understand if you want to call the authorities. Or I can do something to make it up to you. I'm a fashion designer, not that you need new or better clothes, you look amazing in that dress, but if you wanted something, or I can tailor some things if you need it. Nothing will make up for-" The woman wasn't stopping to breathe and Cass had been trying to get her attention, but ended up latching onto her forearms to get her to stop. The guilt in the woman's eyes was painful to watch.

"I'm Cass." It wasn't what she really wanted to say, but it did stop her, well for a second anyway. Then she looked embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She started going through her handbag and pulled out a business card. She wrote on the back before handing it over. "That's my work phone on the front. I put my real name on the back and my personal phone number so you can get a hold of me for whatever you decide. I really am sorry." Cass frowned at the card for a moment. "Is something wrong?"

"You're the designer for Foundational Fashions?" She couldn't help her surprise. It was an innovative brand that Jason had actually introduced her to.

"Oh, um, yes, but I'd appreciate it if you would keep that to yourself. I try to stay below the radar."

"I know." That got a confused blink. "My brother and I have been trying to find a way to commission you for a couple of years."

"Then I can make you something, both of you, to apologize." She sounded almost excited at the idea, and Cass had to force herself not to frown. No way was this worth whatever her prices were.

"I wouldn't feel right not paying you. Just getting a slot for a commission is more than enough." The woman's expression fell and Cass would blame that for what happened next. She really didn't like seeing her unhappy. "There is something else."

"Of course. Anything."

"Let me kiss you at midnight."

"Sure, no problem... wait what?" Cass looked for any sign she'd made Marinette uncomfortable, but all she saw was confusion. "After what I did, why..." She didn't seem to be able to finish the thought. "I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would love to... why would you pick me?"

She seemed genuinely confused, and Cass didn't really know how to respond. The longer she stayed silent, the more Marinette drew in on herself and she had no idea why. She didn't seem to object to the actual kissing part though, so Cass felt a bit less creepy about asking.

"I don't want to kiss anyone else." Marinette's cheeks turned bright red and Cass was worried she'd said the wrong thing. "Earlier I felt... I would like to try it again." It was times like this she wished she was better with words. When she looked back at Marinette, the woman was studying her. She seems less embarrassed and more thoughtful.

"There's still half an hour until midnight. Why don't we sit and talk? Maybe start on you commissions."

————————————————--

Cass looked relieved at the suggestion, and Mari realized she wasn't the only one floundering. She still couldn't believe she'd done something so stupid and could only be glad that Cass didn't want her arrested. Once they were settled at the table that happened to be on the balcony, Mari wasn't certain where to start.

"So, what are your hobbies?" That was a good starting place, right?

"Ballet, and I do martial arts."

"Well, that certainly explains the physique." Yes Mari, let's be even more creepy. She absolutely should not be flirting.

"What explains yours?" She could practically feel Cass' eyes running down her figure. Okay, maybe she should be flirting.

"I grew up in a bakery. When it comes in bulk, everything is heavy. And once I got into design, bolts of fabric aren't light either. Then, Hawkmoth showed up, and I ended up in self-defence and parkour classes with a lot of my friends. Nothing anywhere near as structured as what you've done, though." And the whole superhero thing, but that was definitely not a conversation for a first... whatever this was.

"What happened to him?" Marinette fought not to wince. That was the million dollar question that only she knew the answer to. It was an extremely messy take down, and she'd had to wipe the memories of everyone involved. Including Adrien because of how badly he'd reacted to finding out Gabriel was Hawkmoth.

"All we know is that Ladybug said he'd been taken care of and she and Chat were retiring. Most people were just grateful it was over, to be honest." Granted, that attitude was helped along by the fact that no one could find her to question the official story. "Where are you from? Your accent sounds American."

"I live in Gotham." Cass' tone was odd but Mari couldn't place why.

"Oh, then you're used to worse. At least most of the damage Hawkmoth did could be reversed. The emotional toll was bad enough, but I can't even imagine constantly being afraid that anyone around you could end up dead in the next attack." Cass gave a hum, and Mari was worried she'd offended her.

"It is... difficult." Mari noticed Cass moving her hands as she spoke and realized she'd been doing it since they started talking. "I think most people have developed a sense of apathy, or maybe just put on blinders to the danger until it actually happens, since there's not much they can do if one of the major rogues decides to attack. At the same time, more and more people and organizations are coming together to try and help each other. It is still hopeful, and Gothamites are stubborn."

"Yes, people seem to be able to get used to just about anything if they have to." Humans were extremely adaptable, and that wasn't always a good thing. "Oh! You're signing, aren't you?" Mari hadn't meant to say that out loud and given the embarrassed look on Cass' face, she shouldn't have. "Sorry, I just noticed the movements."

"It's how I first learned to communicate. My childhood was... unorthodox." Given her tone, Mari had a feeling that was an understatement. "I can stop if you-"

"No! I mean it's fine. I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable." Mari really, really wished she could stop making an idiot of herself in front of the woman. She'd like to blame the sleep deprivation from her per Christmas dash to get everything done, but this was just how she was. She always turned into a disaster around pretty people. It's why she was so nervous around Adrien originally, because he had always been extremely pretty. Other people had called him handsome, but his features had always been too delicate for that. It took Mari three years to understand why she thought she liked him. And wasn't that a fun week long mental breakdown?

"It's fine. Some people just seem to think I'm trash talking them instead of going through the motions to help find the right words." Mari could only blink at her for a moment.

"I feel like those are the same people who are constantly trash talking people in their head and projecting that on to you." Cass let out an amused snort.

"Probably." They settled into a comfortable silence. It was nice, if Mari was being honest. Too many people she knew felt like they had to fill the silence, even when they had nothing to say. As the minutes ticked by though, she started to get nervous. Cass obviously noticed.

"We don't have to, if you don't want to." Mari started at her voice. God, she needed to not be so high strung.

"It's not that... honestly, this whole thing is just a bit bizarre. It would have made more sense for you to have slapped me. I'm just... trying to make sense of things." Mainly because, in her personal life, she wasn't this lucky. Then again, Cass was from America, so this probably wouldn't lead anywhere. And that thought made her realize that so far, she did want this to go somewhere. Great.

"I don't think there's a lot of people here that would slap a beautiful woman for kissing them." Mari felt like her face was on fire. This woman, her seriously could be a model, thought she was beautiful? Yep, crush officially formed. Shit.

"That still doesn't excuse my bad behavior. I shouldn't have taken out my frustration with Alya on other people. My being pissed off that she never actually listens to me is no reason to do what I did."

"I don't know. She seemed to get the message." Mari just sighed.

"Maybe. That or I'll be getting an extremely long lecture about embarrassing her tomorrow." Probably the second. Might be a good idea to find somewhere else to crash after the party. And figure out when Alya was set to leave London so she could avoid her until then. She loved her, but she was beyond sick of the whole Adrien thing.

"She should stop talking and start listening." Mari let out a giggle.

"Can't say I disagree, but I don't see it happening. Alya's extremely stubborn about certain things."

"If you're not willing to make excuses for your bad behavior, you shouldn't make them for hers, either." Mari blinked at her before letting out a huff.

"In theory that's true. But I can't control her actions, only mine." Cass let out another hum. Before she could say anything, people inside started counting down.

10

Oh dear Kwami, this was really happening, wasn't it?

9

Maybe it was a trick. Cass' way of getting back at her for what she did.

8

No. The way she was looking at Mari... she was actually going to do this.

7

Come on, Mari. It's just a kiss.

6

A kiss from someone with the softest lips she'd ever felt, but just a kiss.

5

Okay. Her heart felt like it was about to explode. She might actually pass out.

4

No. She is not going to create another scene tonight. She just needed to breath.

3

When did Cass get so close?

2

What if she was disappointed in the kiss? Mari was pretty confident in her abilities, but she had no idea what kind of experience Cass had.

1

What if she wasn't disappointed? What were they going to do then?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Cass closed the distance, and Mari just closed her eyes. Yep, definitely the softest lips ever. She was going to have to ask how she managed that. When Cass deepened the kiss, Mari's brain completely short-circuited. This. This is what home was supposed to feel like. She was so screwed.

When Cass pulled back, it took her a minute to remember to breathe. When she finally opened her eyes, she was on the receiving end of the softest look she'd ever seen. Suddenly, Gotham was looking like a better idea. Surely she could do some good there. She forgot how to breathe again when Cass cupped her cheek and ran her thumb over Mari's bottom lip.

"Happy New Year." The words were as soft as her look and Mari, for once, thought that for once, it actually was a good start to what was looking to be the best year she'd had in a long time. Even if it hadn't been her plan.

[ggomos-maribat]

6 | lost

Part 6 of Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Dead | Masterlist

CW: Depressive thoughts

After Alfred's badgering, Bruce finally retreated from the dark confines of the Batcave and brought his work up to the manor's dining room. The stack of papers rustled as he spread them on the wooden surface, and his laptop lit up again with the dust on the screen more evident in the light. Bruce rolled up his sleeves and began to read again.

In entered Duke.

"Hey B. Coffee?" His second youngest offered.

"A cup please, Duke. Thank you," said Bruce without looking up.

"What's that?"

Bruce let himself lean back a little. Perhaps Duke could give his thoughts on his search? "Remember the akumas from Paris?" He stretched his arms. "After Hawkmoth's defeat, the two heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir disappeared from the public's eye without prior notice. The League tried to track them down for a short while, but we came up with nothing."

"Why do you need to find them?" Duke quizzed.

Bruce stared at the photos of two blurs: one in red, one in black. It was no mistake that the two heroes had been on the younger side when they first started, and yet they lasted through the long battle with a terrorist. "Firstly, we barely know anything about the Miraculous and Hawkmoth's actual motives. Ladybug did announce that Hawkmoth had been caught and promised that he would be facing consequences, but she denied everyone of any other information. Secondly, we want to be allies with them, or associates at least."

Bruce heard the clinking of metal to ceramic as Duke stirred the drinks. "It's not the first time a set of magical powers are hidden away to protect those powers, right?"

"Right." Bruce nodded. "Our problem with the Paris situation is that it happened under our noses for years, and we hadn't caught on until it was over. We want to keep the same thing from happening again."

It's mostly regret. Guilt, Bruce wanted to say. It was too late when we noticed an entire city suffering. The things they dealt with were in the levels of world threats. He remembered waking up to the news that shook the entire world, not having time to register it since the Justice League needed to take immediate action.

"Is that the same thing Dick's going crazy about since he came back here?" Duke set down the cups on the table, pulling a seat for himself beside Bruce.

"It's a different but not completely unrelated issue," Bruce replied. He was also hoping some clue from the case would turn up for the benefit of his search. It was partly the reason he let Tim and Jason go to Paris.

"Hm. Any leads from Constantine?"

"Only chunks of indecipherable texts related to the Miraculi." Bruce showed him a picture of the strange symbols from a book called 'the Grimoire'. "He's convinced that the current Guardian of the Miraculous is Ladybug herself."

"What about Aunt Diana?"

"Her mother has had prior connections with the Ladybug Miraculous before, but they lost contact a long time ago. Diana's helping with my search as well."

"Sounds like a dead end." Duke sipped on his drink.

"It's not strictly an urgent case, but it's important nonetheless." Bruce skimmed over his notes. "Even with the thousands of photos of Ladybug and Chat Noir, the Miraculous Magic is able to hide their real identities very well and no existing accounts of a civilian contact exist. Well, briefly there was one about Lilia Ross, but she denied it after a while."

"What if you retrace the heroes' steps and try to figure out Hawkmoth's identity instead? If the heroes found him out, maybe that's an easier angle," Duke suggested.

It's a good strategy. But how far will it actually take the search?

"Thank you, Duke," Bruce cleared his throat. "I'll give Tim a call."

***

Meanwhile, deep under the manor, Damian strolled into the cave to find Dick finishing the call with their brother. The youngest Wayne took a seat in front of him. "What did you tell Drake?"

"I asked them to ask Adrien Agreste about his cousin, Felix Fathom," Dick answered. "He was in Paris on the day Marinette was found."

"Are you suspecting him for murder?"

"What? No," Dick said, "I'm just considering him to be someone with information, since he has been involved with Hawkmoth and akumas before."

". . . And what does that have to do with her death?"

"It's all part of Tim's theory, that maybe Hawkmoth was targeting Marinette. Felix had a lot of trips to Paris at the time with unclear purposes. Sure, we can say he's just there to visit Adrien but the timing is off."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "Would he not be comforting his cousin because Adrien lost a friend?"

"Call it a hunch, okay? It's a lead . . . aha!"

Dick held his breath—he'd just received a response from Barbara, from a request he made for the investigation. She was able to dig up the lost evidence and compile the translated file and send it to him. Oracle, you're a godsend, Dick praised.

"What's that?" Damian asked.

"I snooped around in the digital archives of the investigation team at that time." He anxiously tapped on the tablet, and sent the file to the Batcomputer for viewing. "Turns out they lost file of a key evidence to Marinette's death: her diary. The original copy went missing from the office some time ago."

The screen showed scanned pages of the diary—the words were written on lined pages in Marinette's neat handwriting, and the shape of the paper was somewhat curved. On the side of the photo was the re-typed French text, and then the translated English. The first entry was dated about three years before her death. Dick scrolled down to the last page and found that the last entry was on April fifteenth, just before her body was found by the bridge.

"Why didn't you tell Todd and Drake about this?" Damian leaned on the table to get a good look at the entry.

"I want to put together my findings here before I tell them." Dick sighed in frustration. "I really should've went to Paris too."

I have no choice but to help with the investigation from afar. He slowly and carefully read through the last entry, guessing that it should give them the most clues about her death.

15 April

These days I've been feeling 'free'. T says it's because I've been liberated at last and I've only begun feeling it now. I don't know if it's supposed to be like this. Maybe it's my way of adjusting to something new. Yes, it's a big leap, I know, but T will be there for me. T's strangely very optimistic about it. Years ago I wouldn't have thought that this will be the person I'll be. I guess time passes faster when you're older?

Dick stopped reading. Her writing is unexpectedly . . . heavy. It was like she'd already seen so much horrors in her life. He almost felt like an intruder in her thoughts.

He forced himself to keep reading.

'Freedom' feels a bit empty? Or lonely? T says it's the trauma. Adrien says that emptiness will get filled in soon. Apparently, it's the same thing he felt when his mother disappeared. If this is exactly it, I want to go back in time and comfort the younger Adrien. Maybe if you stay too long in chaos, you get used to it and find the calm strange. I hope that turns around for me soon.

The words cut off at that part.

"That's it?" Dick blinked a few times. "That's the end of it?"

"T . . . This 'T' person," Damian thought out loud. "There isn't anyone close to Marinette whose name starts with 'T', except for her father." He took over briefly and scrolled through the other pages. "But in other entries she only refers to her father as 'papa'."

"It could be 'T' for Kagami Tsurugi but the entries started way before they met," Dick added, "Also, she refers to Kagami as just 'Kagami' here, it looks like."

"So this person is another confidant of Marinette's that her friends and family likely had no idea about, and could be involved in her death."

"Assisted suicide? Is this why the police declared it a suicide?"

"It's not exactly a suicide note," Damian crossed his arms. "No farewell, or mentions of leaving possessions behind . . . If anything, it seems like she was actually hopeful for recovery, maybe from the emotional distress caused by Hawkmoth's actions in Paris."

Did we actually end up with more questions than answers? Dick wondered.

"Tim said something about Lilia Ross' transfer to their school having an effect on her that time. Let's see . . . " Dick skimmed through the entries to find a handful written a few years back:

8 November

They left me alone  in downtown Gotham.

I can't believe they'd do that. I told them I had to fill out some forms in the museum and...they got on the bus without me. I wish Adrien were here. I had to ask help from the front desk and they kindly got a taxi for me back to the hotel. What is Bustier thinking? Will anyone be on my side if I speak up about it?

No.

Probably not.

It will be more of a burden if I do. I keep telling T I'll be fine. I just have to get through one more day and we'll be back in Paris soon. Someday I'll visit Gotham on my own again and dispel these bad memories.

"What the fuck?" Dick whispered. Even if the class or Lilia Ross had nothing to do with her death, this proved that they weren't faultless either. How could this have happened without anyone from WE noticing? Who the hell leaves a teenager alone in an unfamiliar crime-ridden city?

"Grayson," Damian snapped him back to reality.

He sighed and switched to another entry.

13 May

T says I have to go to bed but I almost forgot to write here. Nothing new happened today but my body feels so heavy. If I try to rest I either can't fall asleep or I end up dreading the days to come in my dreams  nightmares. Hawkmoth has been getting ruthless each week, it's crazy. Why can't he just stop? How much do we have to give him? Yesterday I had to fend off a butterfly. Then the day before that. Then the day before that. Then the month before. I don't know what to do.

Is being brave something inherent or does it come after I face my fears? T says I look brave. I don't feel like it though. Each risk I take, I actually get very scared. I'm not actually sure what would happen. I might look confident but I'm not. I wonder what everyone would think if they found that out about me. What would they say? Will they sympathize with me or will they refuse to believe it?

21 July

I'm happy to have Adrien to talk to now. I know he still has his hands tied, but it's getting easier to talk to him since last week. We both told each other that it had been a huge weight off our backs. This feels too good to be true. The younger me would've been ecstatic. I'm ecstatic now too, but for different reasons. I hugged Adrien very tightly this morning and told him 'thank you'. He hugged me back and whispered more 'thank yous'. It was sudden but we both knew what it was for. T helped me wipe my tears after.

Things are going to change from now on. Is it bad that I feel ready to face those changes because I have Adrien on my side now? I used to think he put too much faith in me before. No, even now. I used to be scared I won't live up to his perfect image of me. But now his trust is something I really need. I'll put my faith in him too.

How can her words be so vulnerable but so secretive at the same time? Marinette didn't seem to be straightforward in her writing, and yet she completely conveyed her thoughts and feelings. How much more do we have to read to get a clearer picture?

"This mystery person is strange," Damian concluded, "Our best chance at figuring their identity is to ask Agreste."

Dick nodded in agreement. "Looks like he has the most answers right now. It says she was almost akumatized multiple times too, which supports Tim's theory."

"Wasn't Hawkmoth caught before her death?"

"He might still have other ways," Dick considered. "Ladybug never clarified what exactly happened to him. How was he punished? Imprisonment? Weird magic ritual? Death? We don't know."

His phone suddenly buzzed at the same time that a notification appeared on the computer.

Another Lilia Ross scandal has blown up.

***

The first few rumors were matches being lit, and the one that assumed Lilia Ross to be a killer started a forest fire. This one was gasoline, Tim thought. Just as the internet was getting quiet, posts showed up again, this time attacking Lilia's company.

"So, someone saw pictures of Marinette's old clothes designs that she submitted for competitions," Tim recapped, while Jason listened beside him and Dick and Damian watched from the screen. "And compared them to Lilia Ross' current brand's designs. They look like carbon copies, but with just a few tweaks. Now Lilia's being accused as a thief. Others are saying more of the designs were stolen by Lilia, based on the accounts of their old schoolmates."

"It should be recounted in her diary if there was theft," Damian chimed in.

"Diary, what diary?" Jason asked.

The screen pinged, receiving an encrypted file from Dick. "Babs found a digital copy of her diary that the police used to keep, but the original one went missing. There's a lot of things here, including accounts of what Lila did and said in their class."

"There. February first," Dick pointed out as soon as Jason scrolled to it on their screen.

1 February

My missing sketchbook returned to me in my locker. There were tears on the paper and burn marks and liquid stains and pages ripped out and pages crossed over with a black marker. It was one of the first sketchbooks I've ever completed and it's full of draft designs. How do I prove it's Lila's fault? I knew I shouldn't have left my bag in the room for that short while. I knew I shouldn't have brought it to school.

I want to throw it out.

T says I should keep it, and use it to finally shed the truth on her.

But what evidence do I have? Is this enough to make her face the consequences?

I locked it away under my bed. Whatever. I'll fill up another sketchbook. I'll remake the designs. If Lila sees me crying over it, she wins. If the world sees me crying, Hawkmoth wins. If I fight back, they get the upper hand anyway. I just have to be more careful next time. It was just hard not to let my emotions spill when I found it. Lila was nearby waiting for my reaction earlier, I know it. She seemed proud of what she had done.

"What the fuck?" Jason seethed, "She stole her designs!"

Tim's lips drew into a thin line. Was this what Marinette had been feeling the whole time? He couldn't imagine it . . . the suppressed emotions, the feelings of helplessness, the manipulation. She readily gave up.

"Who's 'T'?" Tim brought up the other point about the diary entry nagging at him.

"Some friend of Marinette's who's always mentioned in this diary," Damian replied, "They seem to be very close."

"Does that ring a bell for you?" Dick leaned in.

"No, not at all. Is it a codename? An online friend maybe?"

"Based on this diary, T is always close to her, like, physically."

"Is it . . . a psychological thing?" Jason said softly.

"I wouldn't immediately conclude that." It was already in Tim's jumbled thoughts—a guess. A wild guess. "With the Miraculi in Paris . . . " He sucked in a breath. "Fuck. Ladybug's kwami's name was . . ."

The others seemed to realize it too at that second.

A muffled buzz rang out.

"I got a message," Dick suddenly said, frowning. "It's Babs. She says she found who ordered the investigation to be closed."

"Who?"

"Adrien . . . it was Adrien Agreste." 

Taglist: @hammalammadamdam @toodaloo-kangaroo@missmadwoman@afanofmanyships@atomicherringpersonjudge-blog@wheredostarsgowhenyoudie

[flightfoot]

Ur a pretty fair voice in my opinion when it comes to the whole mess in miraculous. Would you mind telling me what your favorite things are about Marinettes appreciation of Chat Noir in Canon? Not fanon, CANON.

I'm still grieving LadyNoir and recently I'm feelin very down in life in general and now I don't have my comfort show and ship anymore the way I used to love them for.

The way Marinette treats Chat Noir in and outta her transformation never stops hurting my poor broken LadyNoir heart n as much as I wished I could love the potential of her love for him as I once did, it just feels so paper thin and shallow to me now after everythin this show did.

The show is clearly trying to have her feelings for him be smth now, but for me it never seems to go beyond her infamous vague heart eyes the show likes to hav her throw around for damage control & surface level appreciation of his presence when she has to. But if you'd tell me that she still has no real feelings for him, I would believe u, cause he as a person doesn't truly matter at any given moment her words have to MEAN something more than a vague "<3" she's never asked to back up with anything worthwhile (srry, I know you've heard that complaint a million times before. It's at least comforting to know that others feel the same)

Wasn even her taking any interest in Chat for his person in the first quarter of season 5 only caused by Marinette wantin to proof Alya wrong and that her love for him instead of Adrien is real and valid? That's so disheartening...

Going through the tags isnt helping either, cuz most i find it is either much more fanon than Canon, or it's in line with Chat prrty much being her servant now instead of her finally giving care back

Idk, I hope I'm not bein too much of a downer. So imma get back to my question now. Maybe u can help me see Canon in better light again.

Could you tell me what you like most bout Marinettes and Ladybug's connection with Chat Noir? Things she does for him, what she values in him and so on and so forth?

I like the times we see her getting upset when Chat's hurt, or when she comforts him when he's clearly not feeling good. I adored how angry and upset she got in Timebreaker when Chat was "killed" in front of her for the first time, how she suddenly became more vicious. She doesn't want to lose him.

Or like, for times when she's comforted Chat, I adore how calmly and patiently she spoke to Chat in Reverser, after his courage was taken away, how she gently coaxed him where he needed to go. I took great solace in that, the first time I rewatched that episode, since I'd been exposed to a lot of Saltinette at the time, and I needed the reminder that Marinette does, in fact, care about people, even when it's inconvenient.

While I wish that Marinette had really thought through Chat's potential reaction to someone new showing up with her Miraculous without warning, I DID love that Marinette had this long list of protips. I especially liked this one:

Marinette: (v.o) Protip 33: When Cat Noir tells a joke, try to laugh at it even if it isn't funny. It makes him happy.

Even in episodes where I have a problem with the way Marinette conceives of Chat Noir, I generally still like elements of it. Like even in Ephemeral, while I think it was very, very wrong for her to try to trick Chat the way she did, she WAS doing it because she didn't want to risk Su-Han taking Chat's Miraculous from him. Or in Kuro Neko, when she didn't want to give the miraculous back to Plagg to give to Chat Noir, because she was afraid they'd end up back in this same situation, and she didn't want to keep hurting him.

At her core, Marinette cares about Chat's feelings and wants him to feel good, to be happy. The issue comes from her not seeing things from his perspective, from being terrible at reading him. Marinette has a lot of compassion towards Chat Noir, she just doesn't understand him.

[sariahsue]

Jealousy Ch 2

Adrien's point of view

(Chapter one (Marinette's pov) here. Please note that I started this story in the ancient days of May 2021.)

---

Chat Noir almost always felt at home in Marinette's room. It was cozy and warm, lined with layers of fabric, like she was building a soft den. It was so different from his own old and sterile room. His windows let him see outside at the same time they reminded him he would always be disconnected from it. Marinette leaned against him, but tonight, no matter how close he physically was to her, he felt like they were on opposite sides of glass.

Their playing cards had been knocked out of their piles by Marinette's victory dance. A container of leftover noodles lay empty on its side. And Chat Noir held steady against Marinette's weight as she relaxed into his side.

There were so many things he couldn't tell her. So many things he wanted her to understand. "Hey, Bug?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Aren't you asking something now?" she joked. "Sure."

He hesitated. Asking was only a few steps removed from the forbidden act of telling. (Not his name. Not how many days it had been since he'd last had dinner with his father, or been given a hug.) He wanted to ask why she'd taken down all her pictures of Adrien. What had he done as his civilian self that had upset her so much? She stayed perfectly polite to him at school.

Instead he asked, "If it weren't for that other guy, do you think you would have fallen for me?"

Marinette leaned away. It wasn't the first time he'd asked a variation of this question. It was almost always on his mind. His rival.

"Um... do you want to play another round of Uno," she deflected, "or should we do something else?"

"Marinette, I'm serious. Would you have?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, I guess. Video games? I have UMS 4."

"Really, that's it? You guess? That's not a real answer."

"Please, chaton. Don't do this to yourself."

He selfishly slid closer to her. Not many people allowed him to be in their space like this, and the need to touch her was too much. If she felt like he was chasing her, she didn't complain. A reminder that at least someone wanted him around.

He didn't stop until he could feel her comfortable body heat against his side again. "I just want to know."

He'd expected a simple yes or no.

"You're kind and compassionate. You're reliable. You're funny." She stopped, taking care to find her next words. He thought she would just tell him no. "We have such a strong connection, and I trust you with my life. You're brave. You're my best friend."

Marinette's voice dropped for the devastating truth. "It would have been so easy. That's the real answer."

Chat Noir struggled to stay still, focusing on not hugging her, not crying, not moving. Even if she didn't love him back, she did in some way love him. She just… loved someone else more. Differently. Who was it? Adrien watched her at school. He knew Alya teased her constantly about her love life and Marinette's inability to talk to the mysterious boy who'd so effortlessly caught her attention. Adrien never overheard his name, though he'd tried.

"So why haven't you talked to him yet?" Chat Noir asked.

"What?"

"If you'd pick him over all that, then you must like him a lot, but you aren't together."

Marinette shifted, looking at him for the first time since gifting him a list of her favorite things about him (a gift he didn't deserve). "And I can't imagine anyone rejecting you, so you must not have asked him out yet."

"I'm... very awkward around him. I'm pretty sure I make him uncomfortable sometimes."

"I doubt it," he said. "So who is he?" Another question he hadn't been able to ask before. But he was tired of the glass in between them. If he couldn't be with her, maybe knowing more about her would help. This nameless boy was such a huge part of her life.

And one of the biggest obstacles in his.

Marinette got up and walked away, her back to him. "We shouldn't be talking about this."

"Why not?"

"Because I hate this!" Her face was pained as she turned to him. "I hate hurting you every time you bring it up."

The headless mannequin was suddenly very interesting. Father didn't have his own mannequin until he was nearly 18. Marinette was more passionate and more talented.

"I'm only curious," he lied. He felt like a bad friend for pushing, but there was only so much he could learn about her from studying the decor in her room. "I just want to know what type of person attracts Ladybug. That's all." And find out what he still lacked.

"I'll tell you under two conditions. One, you stop asking about it. Two, you don't laugh at me."

"Laugh?" he asked. "Why would I laugh?"

"Because you're going to think it's a celebrity crush, and it's not."

He waved to distract her from his face. He hoped it was neutral, but he couldn't be sure. A celebrity? She had a crush on some random celebrity? That's who his competition was?

Marinette groaned. "Adrien Agreste."

He didn't think. Didn't realize he'd stood up until he was walking toward her. The glass was shattering. "Plagg, claws in!"

"NO!" she shrieked, snapping her eyes shut. Had she seen? "What are you doing? Put your suit back on!"

"No."

"I'm not going to look at you."

Plagg bobbed back and forth between the two of them, then flew off to find Tikki. That was as close to permission as he was going to give.

"You have to retransform." Her commanding tone was at odds with the way she backed up, flinching away from him until she hit her desk, hiding her face in an effort to protect him. Or maybe herself.

"No," he repeated, "not until you look."

"You'll have to," she said. "You can't walk out my front door and let people see you. You'll have to leave the way you came in."

"You're just going to keep your eyes closed for the rest of the night?"

She nodded.

Adrien walked over to her, his socked feet stepping lightly over the remains of their time together. He wrapped her in a loose hug, and then waited. After a few seconds, Marinette dropped her hands from her face and sunk into him. He took that as permission to hug her the way he'd always wanted, like he was never going to let her go.

Maybe he didn't have to.

He was the boy. The rival. The obstacle. She could know all of him, and he wouldn't have to feel so fragmented and broken. There would be nothing left to come between them, if only she would open her eyes.

Marinette shivered in his arms. His fire dimmed, replaced with softness at her worry. It was so much better to hold her without thick armor in the way, just a few layers of fabric.

He wouldn't force her to look, but he wasn't above leading her for once. He could tell himself that it would be an advantage, tactically, for her to know who he was. It would strengthen their partnership, but really, he just needed her to know him.

"I'm not opening my eyes," she said.

"Then please just listen to my voice. I won't tell you my name, but please just listen?"

She pushed her face into his neck, skin to skin, and breathed deeply, nodding. Adrien wanted to drop his head on top of hers, but instead only leaned down, letting her hair brush his cheek. Almost nothing in between them.

"When I'm not transformed, I'm much quieter."

"A quiet Chat Noir?" Marinette teased. "What must that be like?"

"I don't show off either. I try to avoid attention, actually. I get too much of it."

Marinette didn't ask him why, though he'd expected it. He hoped it was because she was trying to figure it out despite herself.

"Did you know that we know each other outside the masks? We go to the same school."

He stopped, letting her come to the truth if she was ready. Despite what he wanted, and how desperately he needed to be seen by her, this ultimately had to be her choice. If she wanted to understand, she would.

Marinette's fingers started to roam, first to his ungloved hand, maybe testing to see if he really was detransformed. The hairs on his forearms raised as she drew a line from his wrist to the edges of his rolled up sleeves. Over and across, to his shoulders, a breathless slide along his collarbone, then down the buttons of his shirt, then back up to his shoulders as she breathed into his neck, and her eyelashes tickled him as she opened her eyes.

She wouldn't be able to see his face, but she knew. He rested his head on hers, strengthening his hold on her.

"You're kind and compassionate," he said. "You're brave and creative and amazing. It was so easy to fall in love with you, Marinette."

Her hands slid from his shoulders and wrapped around his neck, holding him just as tightly as he held her. "I love you too, Adrien."

[rosie-b]

Centuries Overdue

Chapter 8

Marinette sighed in relief.

There, a little black cat was floating in the air near Adrien, who was still alive and okay! Beside the cat, there was a ladybug of equal size with sparkling blue eyes. As it hovered near the other kwami, it looked over at Marinette and smiled.

“Hello, Marinette! It’s good to see one of my own Mages,” the kwami gushed, flying over to her. “That hasn’t happened in a while. I’m Tikki. Nice to meet you!”

Marinette was lost for words. “Where’s Gimmi?”

Tikki looked confused at first, but then understanding flooded her face. “You met them, didn’t you? I’m so glad you’re all right! What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Marinette swallowed. “It’s a long story.”

“Then it’s all the more important to tell, don’t you think?” Tikki asked. She gazed up at Marinette with innocent blue eyes.

Marinette looked at Adrien, who sighed.

“Tell her the abridged version, Marinette. She and Plagg deserve to know.”

Marinette looked back at Tikki. “It started when I  decided to visit the catacombs and Alya told me there were zombies,” she began. She spent the next few minutes quickly recapping what had happened next, and noticed how sad and remorseful Tikki looked when she heard about the Mages and Talents who’d been trapped by Gimmi’s magic.

“I am so sorry you had to go through that, Marinette! Thank you for telling us about it, though. It’s good that we know.”

The other kwami, who must be Plagg, looked horrified. “I wish I didn’t,” he said.

Adrien reached out to cup him in his hands. “I know how you feel. But it will be okay, right?”

Plagg nodded uneasily. “They would have had to be released,” he told Adrien. “All the Talents. They’re all gone now, Adrien.”

“I think they already were,” Adrien said sadly. “I’m glad they can rest now, at least. They had to wait for release too long.”

Plagg nodded, curling up in his Chosen’s palm. “It’s a good thing you’re safe, Adrien.”

“Well,” Marinette said, “I hate to bring it up, but I have a huge question that’s still unanswered. How do we get out of the catacombs? We’re still in a locked-off, uncharted section of them. No one can find us here, which means either we rescue ourselves, we get lucky and some cataphiles find us, or we die. And I’d rather not die!”

“You can use your powers to escape!” Tikki said excitedly. “Create a map of the catacombs, and Plagg and I will help you get out, even if the entrance is blocked.”

Oh, man, things had changed since just a few hours ago. Back then, Marinette had accepted that she just wouldn’t be able to escape, but now, she had gained a— a partner? Magic sort-of soulmate? Friend? 

She had Adrien with her now, and her own magic to boot. Plus two helpful kwamis who’d recently been part of one big, scary kwami who’d almost killed her.

“Okay,” Marinette said dubiously. “I guess that could work, even if I’m still new to magic. But what spell do I use, Tikki?”

“Since I’m with you right now, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Just say, ‘Tikki, spots on!’ and I’ll give you a map instead of a yo-yo this time.”

“Is that how that works,” Marinette muttered. “Okay, Tikki, spots on!”

Sure enough, a map fell into her hands.

“Better than a teapot, right, Marinette?” Adrien asked. 

She snorted. “Very. Okay,” she said, twisting the map around. “It looks like we should go that way!”

“We’ll need some light,” Adrien said. “And you may be powerful, but you’re still new to magic, so you can only do one spell at a time.”

“Let me do it!” Tikki offered. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to help one of my Mages. Without the Talents, it’s been nearly a decade since the last one made it to my castle.”

“Your castle?”

“Mm-hm, in Italy. Adrien’s visited it before; you can ask him to tell you all about it if you want!” Tikki studied the map and darted ahead, creating a series of little lanterns to show the way. The rest of the group followed after her.

“Oh, right! He wrote about it in the third and ninth journals. I remember now,” Marinette said.

Adrien looked amused. “Wait, did you read the rest of my journals, too? Not just the one you found me with?”

“Uh—” Marinette gulped as her face heated up. “Maybe? They were in a library I was working at for my summer job. They were kind of falling apart, but they were intriguing, so I read them anyway. They’re how I found out about magic.”

“Yeah, that would be why Gimmi was targeting my kitten,” Plagg grumbled. “He’s too good at his job. Gimmi didn’t want him to keep writing and risk the Ungifted finding out about magic again, or the Mages figuring out who was behind the Darkness.”

“I didn’t even know about Wishes while I was writing,” Adrien groaned. “Honestly, Gimmi needs to talk to other people before murdering them! And you should talk to other people more often, too, Plagg. And not just about cheese.”

“You spent how many centuries maturing in the catacombs, and you still can’t appreciate my gooey cheeses? Adrien, I’m offended!” Plagg let out a loud, indignant sniff.

Although, Marinette noticed that he didn’t move from Adrien’s shoulder, where he had moved to rest.

“Well, at least you feel comfortable telling me when you feel bad,” Adrien said. “Now, do it more often; tell someone when something is hurting you. Maybe if you and Tikki don’t store up negative emotions, that will help Gimmi be less angry all the time, since you two are what they’re made of.”

“Sure thing, kid,” Plagg said. “I’ll talk your ear off if you want me to.”

“We should probably talk, too, Marinette,” Tikki said, coming back from lighting the rest of the lanterns. Behind them, the ones they’d already passed winked out of existence. “I bet you have a lot of questions for me!”

Marinette smiled, feeling very weary and no small amount overwhelmed. “Maybe once we get out of the catacombs,” she promised. “We still have a long way to go. And hey, it’s pretty cool that we’re here, now that I think about it,” she mused. “No one else has been where we are since probably before you died, Adrien! A positive outlook—and knowing we’re not about to die—makes this trip a lot better.”

He winced. “Yeah. It’s pretty cool,” he repeated cautiously. “However, you’re going to have to teach me everything I missed in the last two centuries, or I fear I’ll never blend in once we’re out of here. I’m still surprised I was able to come back at all.”

“Yeah, thank you for that, Ponytail,” Plagg said. 

On realizing who he was speaking to, Marinette reached back for her hair, feeling offended. “Hey! I needed to keep it out of my eyes, that’s all.”

“Plagg, be nice! Besides, milady, I think you look beautiful like this,” Adrien said. 

Plagg peeked one eye open to stare at him. “Oh boy, here we go,” he groaned.

Marinette’s face felt like someone had turned into a furnace. “O-oh, hanks, Madrien! I mean, thanks, Adrien! It isn’t my usual style, though.”

“Oh! Well, I’m sure you’re beautiful no matter how you wear it.” Adrien smiled at her, but when she kept staring at him, he coughed and schooled his face. “Okay, I have a joke to share while we’re all still trying to keep distracted. Here it goes— what do libraries and catacombs have in common?”

Marinette blinked. Libraries and catacombs?  “I don’t know. What?”

Adrien grinned and leaned closer to her. “They both have a lot of spines! Get it?”

Marinette looked sideways at Adrien, whose smile began to slip.

“Book spines, human spines? No?”

Marinette closed her eyes. “Adrien, I just almost died and you just came back from being dead. How can you joke about bones already? I think if I look at the walls we’re walking past for too long, I’ll throw up.”

Adrien winced. “Sorry! I’m so sorry. I forgot, it’s rude to speak that way in front of—"

“Girls aren’t the issue, Adrien,” Plagg interrupted. “The Un-Gifted moved past that, mostly.”

Adrien relaxed. “Oh. That’s good. I mean, the Mages were always a bit different, but it’s good to know the rest of the world has changed, too.”

“It definitely has,” Marinette agreed. “It was refreshing, to read your journals and know that at least for some women, the 1800s weren’t as bad as they were for most. You know, thinking back to the joke, I think the issue is that you grew up basically surrounded by war and death, but I didn’t. France is mostly at peace in the modern world; democracy is back, and so it was really hard to suddenly be thrust into a battle and confronted with so much death. I’m sure we’ll both need therapy when we get back.”

“Therapy?” Adrien questioned, raising one eyebrow. “You’re sure we can get that? What we went through is pretty specific, you know.”

“Modern therapy, yes. Alya told me the Mages have their own therapists, so you don’t need to worry about revealing magic’s existence in order to get some closure.  

“I’ll talk you through the basics later, because we’re getting close to the exit. We need to figure out some other things first, before we get back on the main path and the guards hopefully find us. Like, how do we explain your sudden presence? We can tell Alya and the Mages, of course, but what about the guards and the rest of the world?”

“You should work together with Alya,” Tikki said, excitedly zooming in front of Marinette so she could face her. “I can go see her now and ask her to cast a spell! It will be hard for her to do, but very much worth the effort. With the help of her illusions, Adrien will be ‘recognized’ as another missing visitor to the catacombs, and once you’re both out, you can go to Alya and create a fake ID and whatever else you need to fit in.”

“An ID,” Adrien repeated. He looked adorable when he was confused, Marinette thought.

“It’s basically a card that tells the government who you are. It’s not that bad, I promise!”

Adrien scrunched his eyebrows together. “If you say that it isn’t, milady, then I trust you.”

Tikki smiled. “Great! I’ll go tell Alya, then.” She phased through the catacomb walls and vanished.

“Aww, why can’t we do that?” Marinette asked.

“You could, if you were less mortal and more awesome,” Plagg said with a smirk.

Adrien shot him a glare. “So, I need to pretend to have an ID. What else do I need to know right now?”

Marinette thought for a moment. “Cars! Okay, we’ve made these vehicles that run on gas or electricity and they’re basically mini rooms with seats on wheels, and they move really fast. There are also airplanes, faster ships, and subways and trains. Um, and lightbulbs? Did you have those?”

Adrien shook his head. Marinette sighed.

“They’re like lanterns, but they run on electricity. No big deal.”

“No big deal,” Adrien repeated in disbelief. “Really? It sounds like the Un-Gifted found a way to make their own magic! That’s incredible!” 

Marinette blushed. “I guess it is. Um, other things run on electricity, too; a lot, actually.  I showed you my phone; basically everybody has one now and they do a lot of cool stuff I’ll need more than ten minutes to explain, haha. There are bigger versions called tablets, and then there are laptops and computers, which are even bigger but still similar to phones, and TVs, which are even bigger and mostly show the weather or recorded, uh, plays and musicals. Oh, when we get to the entrance, there will probably be a ton of cameras, which are these devices that basically flash a light at you and take a picture of you, exactly as you are. Like an instant painting!”

“That sounds terrifying,” Adrien said, grabbing her hand. “I didn’t think things would change that much, even if it’s been a couple centuries! Next you’ll tell me they found a way to go into outer space,” he chuckled.

Marinette looked at him with a smirk growing on her face.

“Oh, you have to be joking,” he breathed.

She giggled. “Nope, I’m not! Aaand we’re at the entrance to the main paths, now. Are you ready?”

Adrien squeezed her hand tight. “If you are, milady.”

“Hey, lover-boy,” Plagg said, still not moving from his spot on Adrien’s shoulders, “If you want to get through that nice metal gate facing you, you’re gonna have to let go of her hand.”

“Oh! Right. Plagg, claws out!” Adrien said, dropping her hand with a bashful smile. “Cataclysm.” He touched the gate and it rusted, falling open and letting them pass through it.

“Is that how you got in, the first time?” Marinette asked. “I know you didn’t wait to go in like a normal person.”

Adrien flushed. “Oh, right, the journals. Um. Yes. Why did I ever write that down?” He muttered the last bit to himself, just barely audible.

“Well, it helped you out in the end,” Marinette said. “If it weren’t for your journals, I never would have been able to rescue you.”

“Which I am so grateful for,” Adrien said assuringly. “Have I said that enough times? I don’t think I have. Should I write you a song to say thank you?”

Marinette blushed and tried to distract herself from the romantic implications of writing songs. He’s from the past, it was different back then! “Ooh, you can write songs, too, not just write?”

“I’m a man of many talents,” Adrien smiled. “You could call it a gift.”

Marinette smacked his arm.

He grinned at her and kept walking forward through the tunnels. 

A few meters later, a guard finally spotted them, and they were rushed up to the main building. 

Predictably, the press was there waiting, and Alya was right beside them. Once they got some initial footage, she waved a hand, muttering something under her breath, and the reporters busied themselves with her illusions of interviewing the two rescuees. Adrien watched in awe as Alya stepped out to lead them away from the scene.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all handled. They’ll think you just fell behind, got lost for a while, but turned around and came back without any real issues,” she told them. “Now. Are you both okay? You’re not hurt?”

Marinette nodded. Now that they were finally out, she felt completely exhausted. “I think we’re fine; no injuries here. Alya, that was so scary,” she cried, throwing her arms around her friend in a tight hug.

“I told you it was dangerous,” Alya said sadly. “I am so glad you’re okay. Tikki told me you found your magic, and defeated the zombies? You found Adrien, too, and resurrected him? Like, that’s insane! Girl, you are something else entirely!” she exclaimed excitedly.

“She is quite amazing,” Adrien agreed, wide-eyed. “If that’s what that means.”

Alya’s lips twitched. “Oh, it’s a good thing Tikki told me to start that illusion,” she said, barely restraining a laugh. “Your clothes would have given you away instantly if I hadn’t been there!”

Adrien frowned and pulled at his suit’s collar. “Yes, after seeing those other men, I can see why. What is the modern fashion these days?”

“It’s a lot comfier, for one thing,” Alya said. “I think you’ll like it.”

Relaxing, Adrien smiled at her. “That’s good to hear. By the way, it seems you both know my name, but I don’t think I know yours,” he said, gesturing at her.

Marinette smiled. “This is Alya, my best friend and head Mage of Trixx. She taught me about the modern Mage community and the finer details of how magic works.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Adrien,” Alya said, offering her hand. “Now, let’s get you up to speed!”

Written for @mlbigbang

[howhow326]

Nino salt prompt: What if Rocketear had consequences

Basically, everything that happens in Rocketear happens the exact same way (Nino assuming the worst of Alya, Nino assuming Chat Noir is Ariana Grande, Nino breaking Ladybug's AND Alya's trust at the same time by revealing his/Alya's identity to Adrien, Nino slut shaming Adrien to his face on accident) except the very end of the episode, where Alya tells Nino she is now Rena Furtive.

Instead, Alya tries to reassure Nino that she will always love him no matter what, while lightly asking him "hey, you followed me to my house without permission and took a video of me without my knowledge, wtf?!"

Nino then proceeds to show his ass like usual ("I needed to protect you from that homewreaker!" "I'm your boyfriend so it's perfectly okay for me to stalk you!!").

Alya really dosen't like this side of Nino, so she asks if their relationship can go on break for a bit (and Nino tries to manipulate her more with his "you don't love me!!!" Shtick)

The next day at school, Adrien pulls Alya aside and jokingly asks her "hey, are you Rena Rouge haha lol".

Alya is horrified.

Adrien then gives Alya the full story: Nino wanted to convince Adrien that Chat Nior had seduced Alya and revealed their identities as proof that Alya was only now kerping secrets. Adrien wanted to forget he heard anything, but he decided to ask Alya anyway because he knew what Nino had done wasn't right.

Alya is now infuriated. She can't believe Nino had the gall to be upset about her secrets only for him to go behind her back and violate her privacy this way. Especially since what Nino just did puts his identity at risk!

Alya thanks Adrien for being honest with her. After school, she marches straight to Marinette's house and tells her everything. Alya thought her best friend would be even angrier than she had been.

Marinette is heartbroken when she hears the scoop. How could someone she trusts do that, especially after what happened with Chloe. Marinette decides that Nino news a new secret identity since Carapace has been compromised, but Alya orders her to cut him loose. Nino can't be trusted.

When Ladybug pulls Nino aside and tells him he can't be Carapace anymore because he revealed his identity, the only thing he feels is surpise. The boy really didn't think this was a possibility.

The realization eventually sets in and he gets akumatized. He becomes Shell Shocker and goes after Adrien for "ruining his relationships!" Adrien tries to encourage Nino to give up the akuma, but then Nino reveals he willingly accepted Hawkmoths deal... this is who he really is.

Ladybug, whith some assistance from Rena Furtive, takes him down. Nino tries to play it off, "oh uh, i was akumatized??? Thanks for saving me Ladybug!" But Adrien shuts him down right quick, "He's lying! He willingly accepted the akuma just to get back at his girlfriend!" Adrien calling him out like that takes Nino by surpise, but it's the least of his worries.

Alya secretly recorded the whole fight and posted it onto the Ladyblog. Everybody in Paris now knows who Nino truly is. All of his friendships are destroyed; Marinette and Adrien cut him off for good; and Alya finnaly dumps him. His family decides to leave Paris for his own good.

At the airport, Nino has a chance encounter with Chloe. "Well well well, if it isn't the loser who got exposed for working with Hawkmoth! Even when I did that fashion victim a favor, I made sure that nobody in Paris could see I made a deal with him. You're ridiculous, Lahiffe, utterly ridiculous!"

"Sh-shut up Chloe!" Nino stutters out.

"Waaa, shut up! God, even your insults are basic, bitch. Well, before you go, I have a new scoop for you Nino... News flash! Alya dosen't love you anymore, and it's all your fault!!! It's hilarious, utterly hilarious!"

When Nino finnaly gets to his new bedroom, he cries himself to sleep realizing that he ruined his own life because didn't think there would be consequences...

Edit: optional shipping: Nino x Lila, Alya x Marinette, Alya x Adrien, Marinette x Alya x Adrien

[intercoursefluids]

WDIB Chapter 20

Adrien froze, staring at Damian in the light of what was just revealed.

On one hand, he was very happy to know that he had a family. Like, a real one. With siblings and, from what he could tell, a present dad who actually cared about his kids.

On the other hand, wow. He had a family. One that he could have been with the whole time if things had gone differently.

But things hadn’t gone differently. He’d been raised by Gabriel (at least on paper), not this man who was supposedly his real father. He’d been neglected, emotionally and now physically abused.

He’d nearly been killed.

And now he was being told that all of that could have been avoided if the man who was supposed to be his father had known about him.

Adrien wasn’t sure how much better it would have been living with Bruce, but he was sure it would have been at least a little bit better than Gabriel.

Then again, if Adrien had lived with Bruce, he never would have met his friends…

He was going to need… so much therapy.

And even then, he wasn’t sure he would want to change it, if he had the choice.

Well, he would probably try to get away much sooner. But after he met his friends.

Well, going that route, assuming he knew what was going to happen and he had the same amount of information he did now. He could, theoretically, go to Bruce (as soon as possible) and stage a meeting with his friends.

…

He might be over thinking this.

“Look what you did. He’s spiraling.” Marinette’s brother said, gesturing helplessly to Adrien.

Adrien blinked at him.

“I mean… I pulled myself out of it? At least?” He said hesitantly.

Marinette giggled.

“Helping me get out of mine give you some practice?” She asked, one hand rubbing his back.

Adrien leaned into the touch.

“Yep. Very useful. Also, Damian, my brother, apparently.” Adrien said, pulling Damian’s attention to himself.

“Yes?” Damian asked, like he didn’t just drop another piece of world flipping information on him.

“You have got to get better at sharing information.” Adrien said, rubbing his face.

“Its effective.” Damian defended.

“It’s shocking.” Adrien argued.

Damian frowned.

“Fine, I will try to be more tactful. But my questions still stands, what do you want Father to do?” Damian asked.

Adrien sighed.

“I- Nino? What did you get?” Adrien asked.

“Uh, orange chicken and noodles?” Nino replied.

“That, ask him to get me that instead.” Adrien said, flopping backwards and into Marinette's lap.

He’d never had it before, wasn’t allowed to because of the diet Gabriel had given him.

Gabriel wasn’t his dad though.

He couldn’t tell him what to do anymore.

 

 

Come Find Me In The Maribat Discord!<3

[wisteriasymphony]

Nicknames - Reverse (tweos) AU Drabble

Reverse!Mister Bug/Reverse!Claudia Perreault, implied Reverse!Marinette/Reverse!Adrien

Crimson Ichor walked out into the general meeting room of Resistance Headquarters, the only thing more Adrien about him than his cropped jacket being the scowl carved into his face. He adjusted the studded cuffs on his hands, noting how the spikes he's used to adorning his outfit have been swapped for rounded studs.

Claudia looks up from her laptop, her attention stolen away from her online sociology course for just long enough to check him out. She isn't very shy about it, too, but Ichor begrudgingly supposes she has no reason to be. It doesn't fluster him. …It doesn't.

"Not going for a heroic look this time?" she remarked snidely, the corners of her lips turning up in a smile. "Or is that too cliche for you?"

Ichor scoffs, sauntering over to the nearest chair before setting himself down on it, kicking one leg up to rest his foot against his arm.

"I wouldn't be seen dead in a getup like his. That old man can sooner lick shit off the ground than tell me how to dress."

"…You just want to look cool, don't you?"

He crosses his arms, unsure if the mask stretches far enough down his cheeks to hide the embarrased blush they just gained.

"I have a fuckin' reputation to uphold."

"I know you do," she smiles, going back to focus on her schoolwork. Ichor can't catch himself pouting over not being looked at—Not just because Marinette could walk in any minute, but because Claudia would never let him live it down. Being teased by Shadybug is relatively straightforward, but she doesn't know what makes him tick in the same way. Claudia toys with her prey psychologically, and he knows very well what it's like. No, it's not hot, shut up. Instead, he just settles further into the chair, staring off at the wall.

Finally, a trap is set. Claudia says something she knows he can't resist responding to.

"That's really all you're going to do with it? Do you know how to work it at all?"

The worst part is she doesn't even look up from her screen. Doesn't she know he's right there?

Offended, Crimson Ichor unhooks the yo-yo from his belt and starts to toss it into the air. The pattern on it is different than Shady's—A single black dot on a red base, the same on the other side. His whole suit is rather sparing with dots, frankly: He can only see the large one right on his chest for now. It'll take looking in the mirror later to notice the one on his mask and the one on his back. The yo-yo has a peculiar lightness to it, spinning in the air as he throws it upwards in a way it shouldn't physically be able to without catching on the string. A perpetual motion until he tugs it back down.

"Of course I fucking do," he blatantly lies. "…I'll figure it out."

Claudia has the audacity to just hum and nod—He's not even worth a single word anymore! Crimson Ichor sighs rather loudly, rolling his eyes as he's forced to endure the agonizing silence. Sure, having Alya or Nino in the room would at least be better than essentially being alone, but they're not any help if they're off doing…whatever it is with his father. Ichor hadn't been paying attention, nor did he really care enough to regret it.

Another flurry of keystrokes chattered out from Claudia's keyboard.

Ichor sighs even louder and longer.

Claudia looks up again, her warm brown eyes catching his. She caught him in that trap—He's willing to play the game, get eviscerated with her stupid therapy talk and amateur psychoanalysis. It just has to be something. Anything. He'd beg for i—Uhm. Nevermind.

Ichor gets up and walks over to where Claudia is sitting, making sure he's somewhere she can see him. His hand rests on the very top of her laptop screen, fingers drumming against the glass.

"So…." he asks, "Got anything in mind for what my new outfit choice says about me?" Ichor thinks back to how Claudia suggested Claw Noir's costume was indicative of fears of emotional vulnerability and aggressive tendencies when it came to interpersonal interactions. "Come on, you have to have something."

It seems for a long and kind of awful moment that Claudia ignores him entirely, before she says:

"I'm not sure yet. Thinking of nicknames instead."

Ichor's heart skips a beat and it makes him want to rip the thing out and grind it into the floor with his heel. Fucking shit, of course that's where it was going.

"How does Bugaboo sound?"

Ichor audibly retches, recoiling at the sound of it. Claudia seems to take a sick sort of pleasure in his embarrassment.

"Buggabeau?"

"God, stop it! That's even worse!"

"Buggybug?"

"I said stop it!"

Claudia shuts her laptop and set it to the side, crossing her legs as best she could on the seat of the chair. To Ichor's increasing horror, she was only just getting started.

"Bugs Bunny."

"Absolutely fucking not."

"Sir Bugsalot?'

"NO."

"The Notorius B.U.G.?"

Her smile grew even wider, every new answer coming out even more like a laugh. Trying to lunge at Claudia in an attempt to scare her into silence wasn't much help either (which only made sense considering the idea was fucking stupid), so Ichor started to throw out verbal threats instead.

"I swear to god, I'm going to charm in a fucking roll of duct tape so I can put a piece over your goddamn mouth."

Claudia's hands were intertwined with Ichor's as she continued to force him to keep a comfortable distance from her: Something she was doing suprisingly well, actually.

"Go ahead. I want to hear what alibi you'll give the others when they ask why I'm gagged. ...Oh!"

The grin that crossed Claudia's face turned Ichor's blood to ice. Once she gave up on resisting him, the force he'd previously been using to push against her hands was now pinning them to the back of the chair, Ichor's whole upper body lurching at the sudden movement. ...Still. even as he froze, the warm breath against his ear seemed to thaw him in seconds.

"Lovebug."

HE WAS GOING TO KILL HER, HE WAS FUCKING GOING TO—Was he? Probably not actually—PAINT HER BRAINS ALL OVER THE WALL FUCKING STUPID SMART MOUTH MAKING HIS STUPID SHITTY FUCKING EARS RED SON OF A BITCH WHORE GODDAMNIT—It was kind of a cute name in all honesty—STUPID BITCH IDIOT FUCK!!!! DAMNIT!!!!!!!

Ichor let out an indignant laugh, ignoring the fact that he'd used his strength in a fit of undisclosed and unimportant emotions to topple the chair backwards, both people included.

"You call me that one more time– C.... call me that one more time- Swear to god, I'm gonna... You.."

Claudia had been a little startled by her chair falling backwards, but that outburst was simply another symptom of an ongoing issue with Adrien's emotional incontinence in and out of costume. She knew him too well to be scared, even as he yanked her closer by her shirt.

"Y-you really think you can just call me something... Something stupid like 'Lovebug', and– G-get away with it?"

Ichor could still hear it echoing in his ears. Lovebug, Lovebug, Lovebug.

"You remember how we practiced our deep breaths, Adrien?"

Her voice was so soft and it ran off her stupid lips like honey and she smelled like vanilla sugar cookies and warm hugs and... and...

Marinette stood in the doorway, thoroughly unimpressed.

"I spent thirty minutes making sure I look okay and this is what I walk in on?" She balks, crossing her arms.

"Tch- Like you haven't—"

She hadn't.

"—It's not what it—"

It was exactly what it looked like.

"—You look like shit! Maybe next time transform in front of a mirror!"

Yep. Great fucking job, high fives all around. Totally didn't just blow it absolutely horribly in front of the girl of your dreams. It was a miracle people weren't lining up at the door to the Agreste manor asking Adrien just how to be even half as cool and witty as he was.

Ichor stood up, leaving Claudia and her chair on the floor.

"Whatever. I'm outta here."

[mc-lukanette]

Luka groaned into his pillow as his phone started to ring. Most rock stars would probably be up by now, but Luka was not one of them. He appreciated the sound of nighttime but not quite that much.

Blindly reaching for his phone, his fingers came across the familiar shape and tightened around it. He managed to just barely lift his face from the pillow so his voice wouldn’t be muffled, then tapped the 'accept call' button and brought the phone to his ear.

"H'llo?" he mumbled.

"Luka?" the female voice on the other end called in reply. "Wha—were you napping?"

"'M in America," he responded, only semi-coherent at the moment.

"Huh? Then—wait, I woke you up!" the voice panicked. "I'm so sorry! I wanted to call to see how you were doing, but I didn't realize that you'd be in another timezone! This is a disaster, I should go, I—!"

Something clicked in his head, triggering him more awake as he registered the familiar way of rambling. "Marinette?"

She stopped, confused even as she confirmed, "...Y-yes?"

His body protested, but he pressed his hand into the mattress to push himself up. "It's alright. I'm up now anyway, and I always have time to talk to you."

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

He pulled the phone away, staring at the giant 2 AM on-screen in big white letters. Throwing care to the wind, he threw the covers off of himself and got up out of the bed, assuring, "Let me just get something to drink."

"Oh... okay, I'll wait."

She stayed on the call as he headed into the kitchen to start up the coffee machine. It was a minute after the fact when he realized that it wasn't fast enough, so he opted for a glass of cold water instead, hoping that it might hold him over until the coffee was brewed.

"Marinette?" he called into the phone, checking if she’d hung up or not.

"Mm?"

"Okay, I'm not dreaming then. I had to make sure." He was only half-joking.

She giggled. "Yeah, I’m here. Still, I feel a little bad. If I knew it was so early for you..."

"Don't worry about it, really. It's just—it's been so long. I'm happy to hear your voice again." He paused, considering, "Sorry, is that weird to sa—"

"No, not at all! I mean, if it's weird, then at least I'm also weird? Because I'm happy too!" She took a breath to calm herself down. "It's... nice to be on the same page. I don't really have anyone else like that."

He almost blurted out 'what about Adrien' but bit his tongue to stop himself. He knew better than to so randomly bring up Marinette's husband at a time like this, as well as question what she says. He could understand and acknowledge the idea that she could have a stronger wavelength with someone she was friends with rather than her spouse.

"Me neither," he admitted, leaning against the counter and pulling the phone away briefly to hide his yawn from her. "So, how have you been?"

"Better than I have been in a long time, but I'm still tired. I only just got a moment to call you after all the chaos settled down." She sighed, but he could tell that she was smiling. "What about you? How has music been?"

He chuckled. It was adorable that she referred to "music" as if it was a good friend of his. "Do you mean the tour?"

"Not exactly? Just—" She whined. "Never mind. It's a silly question."

"No, please. Go on," he urged gently. He really wanted to know.

He could almost sense the pout on her face.

"I guess... is it still as important to you as it was before? You used to play music for the sake of music, but now it's your job. It—it's not like I'm doubting your choices or anything, of course! I just... I worry about you."

That coffee really needed to get done. He wasn't awake enough for this.

Face flushed pink, he turned away from the counter and paced, trying to focus on the rhythmic sound of his footsteps.

Marinette continued, "I never said anything because it didn't seem like my business, but music's such a big part of you—" She halted. "...Luka?"

She must've heard him.

"I'm okay, sorry." He cleared his throat. "It's... different. I like it enough, but there are deadlines and contracts, so there's pressure that wasn't there before."

And I wish I was there with you, he didn't say.

"I know what you mean," she said sympathetically. "Things change."

"Yeah. What about you?" he questioned in return.

"Me?"

"Your career was really taking off around the time I left," he recalled. "I remember it being a lot too. Did you get used to it?"

"Oh, yeah! I got used to... it."

There was something unspoken there, but Luka could sense that it wasn't something that should be explained in a call at such an early hour.

"Honestly, compared to that, the move was nothing," she said idly, "but I had other things to deal with so I still couldn't call you until now."

"You moved?" That was news to him, though not in a surprising way. They hadn't caught up in so long, after all. "When?"

"A while ago? I mean, I realized that the house I used to be in was still too close to everything after the divorce, so I wanted more distance."

Luka stilled. He ran that sentence over in his head, then again, then once more for good measure. The coffee had finally finished brewing, so he took a large sip whilst ignoring the way it tried to burn him.

Nevertheless, his comprehension of the word - divorce - remained the same, and it was only when he realized how long he'd been quiet that he managed a weak, "W-whose divorce?"

"Mine, of course." There was a pause, after which she said, "Wait, Luka, you—you didn't hear?"

"No." He'd heard nothing of the sort. He didn't have a lot of friends back in Paris, much less ones who would talk about something like this, and the news hadn't reached America. "When did you...?"

"A couple months ago," Marinette replied casually.

Months. Luka gulped down the rest of his coffee in sheer disbelief, making a hissing sound when the heat was still a little much. Setting the cup aside, he admitted again, "I really had no idea."

"Good to know that you're not perfect and not as observant as you thought," she said with a chuckle. "Anyway, it was a long time coming. I had to get out."

He was silent, waiting for her to elaborate while his brain was rebooting.

"It was... stifling. Suffocating. I couldn't handle the paparazzi and everyone just seeing me as Adrien's girlfriend while he was practically basking in it. Maybe it seems weird that I didn't notice for a long time, but when I really thought about it, it made sense. Back when I was a teenager, everyone was pushing for me to get together with him, and after that, everyone started pushing for us to get married. Then, after that, there was no next step, which is what being with Adrien had always been about. We were married, we were living together, but then I finally got to take a look around and realized that I wasn't happy."

"I—" His throat felt dry. He had no idea she'd been feeling like that, and he hadn't heard about it or been there either. "I'm sorry that happened, Marinette."

"No, I needed it. Now I can focus on myself and..." She swallowed audibly, adding in a softer tone, "the people I hold the closest to me."

He was torn, happy to hear her again yet upset at everything she'd been through to make such a heavy decision. He'd never imagined the actual pressure in such a relationship, having the eyes of everyone on her and knowing that breaking it apart would mean “wasting the efforts” of all who tried to make it work.

He tried to find comfort in the knowledge that she was at least alright now, not wanting to drag down the mood further.

"...Luka," Marinette uttered, as if she’d been mulling something over, "maybe it's weird to say it now, but—"

Though still recovering from their previous topic, Luka put on a smile even if she couldn't see it. "Now I'm curious. You can't leave a string unplucked when your hand's already on it."

She snorted in amusement. Good, he'd brightened the mood. "Just... I missed you."

Ah. Luka almost criticized her, wondering how it was fair to call him in the middle of the night, tell her that she was single, and casually throw out an 'I missed you' like it was nothing.

"I missed you too," he said instead.

"I'm glad. Not that I'm glad you've been missing me, because that would mean you've been sad, but—" She groaned and it became clear that she'd been trying to lead into something. "What I meant to say was... do you think—or, I don't know how busy you are, but..."

"What is it?"

"Would it be okay if I called more...?" she asked hesitantly. "You'd have to let me know whenever you change timezones, but—"

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" He spoke perhaps a bit too quickly to be casual, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He'd blame it on the coffee (that clearly wasn't doing its job anyway) if he had to. "I'd love to talk to you more."

"I'd be keeping you," she said as if it was a bad thing.

You can keep me forever. "I'm not busy enough where I can't talk to you, and I don't get that many calls from anyone else."

"But what if they were frequent? So I called you all the time?"

"What do you mean all the time?" he wondered, still not understanding the problem.

"...D-daily?"

He nearly laughed, stifling the noise he made with a hand and being glad that he’d set his cup down earlier. He might’ve dropped it otherwise. "Daily sounds great. I can even call you instead if you want."

"Oh. Oh!" She gasped excitedly. "Yes! Yeah, that'd—that'd be great!"

Conversation from there went smoothly, Luka's brain constantly buzzing from the sheer joy of what was happening. There was music coursing throughout his entire body, but he settled for jotting down notes over playing his guitar, not wanting to risk waking the whole city up. He didn't consider himself a needy person, but he was already craving those future calls with her.

And if they went on talking for over an hour, neither minded.

[celestiall0tus]

Tales of Bloody Bug - Chapter 5 - Wish

Beginning || Previous

            Bloody Bug landed atop a ruined building close enough to the city and its lights. She took off her night vision goggles and grinned.

            “Miraculous Bloody Bug!” Bloody Bug yelled as she tossed the goggles up.

            Bloody Bug watched as the goggles erupted into a swarm of ladybugs that moved around the city. They didn’t fix anything, but it was her signal to everyone. Chat Blanc was dealt with, and everything would change.

            “Tikki, spots off.”

            Tikki emerged from the earrings. Bloody Bug transformed back to Alix as she took a seat on the rubble. Plagg hovered beside Tikki as they looked at Alix.

            “Before I do this, I want to know something. How did this happen?” Alix asked.

            “Does it matter?” Plagg asked.

            “I want to avoid this. If I know, I can ensure it.”

            “Oh, come on. We do that with the wish.”

            “I’m no fool. You don’t run in blindly, making vague wishes. Only fools rush in where angels dare not tread.”

            “Plagg, please, tell us,” Tikki implored.

            Plagg sighed. “Alright, fine. Look, I don’t know the full details myself, but I know enough. My holder was in love with the Ladybug. He discovered who she was, they started dating, and out of nowhere, she dumped in. She was about to be akumatized, he rushes in, transforms in broad daylight, and yeah.”

            Alix’s eye twitched. “Seriously? All because of love?”

            “Kinda? Well, my holder discovered his father was Hawkmoth and doing everything to resurrect my holder’s mother. Anyway, my holder didn’t like that, tried to attack his father, but got thrown out to the Eiffel Tower. Then there was the Akuma, and everything got messy. Almost like he was a senti-monster.”

            “What’s a senti-monster?”

            “Oh. Uh, well, a person made of magic.”

            “So, hold up. Chat Noir was born through magic, a monster. His mother died, his father becomes Hawkmoth to resurrect his dead wife, Chat Noir is then akumatized, which makes him go feral as he did. Is that all correct?”

            Tikki and Plagg nodded.

            “And this was all the result of… of Marinette breaking up with… Adrien? How? What happened? Marinette was crazy in love with Adrien. She wouldn’t… at least I didn’t think she would. I don’t understand.”

            “Well, that’s the truth of it. See how pointless it was?” Plagg boasted.

            Alix furrowed her brow. Plagg was wrong. She knew that Marinette was Ladybug and now that Adrien was Chat Noir. This all started because of their relationship and them being blinded by love. She grimaced as she felt sick at the idea. How could they have been so reckless? She knew that kind of love could make people do crazy stuff, but to break up with Adrien and for Adrien to reveal to their unknown enemy his secret. There was a fine line of being in love and just being completely stupid.

            Alix looked down at the black cat ring as she weighed her options. She intended to have things reset, but the question now was how far. Initially she was going to go back to the moment before disaster struck, but what if she went back further? What if she was either the ladybug or the black cat instead of Marinette or Adrien? Would that help to mitigate the damage? Could she prevent this disaster in that case?

            Alix glanced up between Tikki and Plagg. She wanted to believe that with her younger self, she’d be smart enough to avoid such disasters. Could she do it? Could she trust her younger self who had no knowledge of this to make the right decisions? Furthermore, which would she trust herself with more? Plagg was tempting to keep him out of Adrien’s hands in case something like that happened again. Even then, Plagg didn’t feel like a good match for her. Between the two, she preferred Tikki, though she hated the idea of taking Tikki away from Marinette, but something had to be done. Something had to give.

            Alix nodded and stood. She took several deep breaths and steeled herself.

            “Plagg, Tikki, reveal yourselves.”

            Tikki and Plagg transformed into gigantic eldritch creatures. Chills ran down Alix’s spine as she faced them.

            “Gimmi, reveal yourself.”

            Tikki and Plagg took each other’s hands and fused. The ruined city faded as Alix stood in an ethereal void before a massive pink eldritch god.

            “I am Gimmi, Kwami of Reality. I am everything that was, is, and will be.”

            “Gimmi, I want to make a wish.”

            “Very well. What do you want?”

            “I want to sacrifice this timeline for things to be returned to before Marinette was proven worthy of the miraculous of the ladybug, and instead I want to be the ladybug in her place. To fight alongside Chat Noir against Hawkmoth.”

            “Is this what you wish?”

            “It is.”

            Gimmi nodded and closed its eyes.

            Alix watched as everything broke apart and faded into particles of light. She looked down at herself as she dissolved into light. Fear shot through her as a tear fell down her face. She sent a silent prayer for a different outcome before everything vanished into the void.

[kasienda]

tell us about Adrino fake-dating? 👀👀👀

Adrino lends itself to this trope so well in my opinion in that they are super comfortable in each other's spaces, and Nino is generally on board to do anything and everything to 1) earn Adrien more freedom, and 2) piss off Gabriel.

My personal beef with fake-dating is that it's often written where two characters are already in love and already KNOW they're in love, but are too nervous to say anything yet. And I struggle with the whole thing being able to solved at any point with one conversation. (Though it doesn't stop me from reading or enjoying them. Just makes me want to tear my hair out when reading! Haha!)

BUT! If I'm writing my own, I wanted to explore them both not having feelings yet (or at least not being aware of said feelings), and that they figure it out through the process of pretending! And when it's time for it to end, they both realize they really really don't want it to.

So I started writing one. And I'm not sure if I will every finish or post it because it kinda feels like a generic romantic dramedy to me? I feel like I just am making the dolls kiss! Haha! Like, it's an aged up no-powers AU. I don't usually write things without identity shenanigans! And I don't have anything unique to add to this trope at the moment, BUT I've been having fun with it this week especially since I've been home sick. So maybe!!

...

Here! Take my whole opening scene:

“Tomorrow's photoshoot was rescheduled to Thursday morning, your father canceled dinner tonight, but promises he’ll be available tomorrow—“

Adrien snorted. 

“And you’re to escort Lila Rossi to the gala this Saturday as her date.” 

Adrien dropped his spoon. “That will not be happening. I will go to the gala, but Lila Rossi will not be my date.” 

“Your father agreed to—“ 

“Any agreements my father made on my behalf are null and void if he didn’t get me to sign the contract.” 

One of the benefits of reaching his majority. Now, if only he didn’t need his father to keep paying for university.

“Adrien, I know you don’t like Lila—“

That was an understatement if ever there was one.

“—but your father is not going to take your refusal lightly without any repercussions. Especially if you offer no explanation.” 

He had offered an explanation. Lila Rossi was a snake and Adrien knew better than to let her anywhere close to him.

“It’s only one evening,” Nathalie continued. 

One evening that would turn into many. But he could read between the lines. Nathalie needed a reason. His father wanted him to date someone now that he was old enough for it to garner media attention instead of generate a scandal. 

“You don’t understand, Nathalie. I can’t bring Lila because I already have a date.” 

It wasn’t true, but it could be.

Nathalie sighed. “And does this date have a name?” 

Adrien contemplated dodging the question. He would have preferred to ask before he dragged any of his friends into the spotlight that might include his father’s ire, but Nathalie would argue on his behalf better if she didn’t think he was lying.

He wished he could ask Kagami, but she and Felix had gone public two months prior. He couldn’t throw Marinette under this bus because her career in fashion was only just beginning and getting tangled with his name would only make things more complicated for her. He was already providing her with all the connections and contacts she would let him, and he didn’t want to bring attention to that special attention by bringing her in as a date. Alya was attending university in the UK, and Luka was on tour with his father in the US. 

Which only left him one option anyway. And in many ways it was the best option because Nino was the most willing to do whatever was needed to get Adrien out from under the thumb of his father. 

Adrien glanced down into his hands, trying to sell nervousness that he absolutely did not feel. “I can tell you since you’ll know on Saturday anyway, but Nathalie, I’m hoping I can count on you for support.” 

She actually looked up from her tablet. A good sign. 

“It’s Nino,” he said softly. 

“Nino Lahiffe?”

Adrien nodded. 

“Doesn’t M. Lahiffe have a girlfriend?” 

Adrien shook his head. “Not since Alya left to go abroad. They decided they didn’t want to do a long distance relationship.” 

That much was true. The break up had been amicable. 

“And how serious is this relationship?” 

Fuck. It needed to be serious for Nathalie to pull out all the stops, but how long would Nino put up with the song and dance of it. 

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, I hope we last, but we haven’t been dating that long. So far though, it’s been amazing! Nino and I have always just… clicked, you know?” 

“I will do everything in my power to see that you get a fair chance.”

He swallowed at the sincerity in her voice. 

“Thank you, Nathalie.” 

She nodded and left. 

He whipped out his phone and pulled up Nino’s contact. Nino wouldn’t likely be awake for another few hours so Adrien wasn’t going to call him, but Adrien could at least warn him. 

…

Nino’s phone buzzed on the table beside his head. Nino groaned and rolled over - away from his phone. He really should have kept up his maman’s policy of charging his phone in the other room. 

But an alarm clock was yet another thing Nino really couldn’t afford since he had moved out on his own. He was barely breaking even as it was. 

The phone buzzed again and he sighed, fumbling blindly for both it and his glasses. 

He blinked dumbly at the text on his screen, and then read it again. 

Adrien: 

I had to tell my father that we’ve been dating. That we’re going to the gala together this Saturday. I’m sorry. I know you wanted to surprise everyone the  day of. Please forgive me. Call me when you’re awake. 

The implications were concerning in more than one way. 

Nino tapped out a response immediately. 

Nino: 

there’s nothing to forgive, love. It was bound to happen eventually.  I still need help with my suit though if you’ve forgotten.  Can we talk in person? I miss you.

Adrien:

I’ll be by in a few hours.  Can’t wait to see you. ❤️ 

Adrien was laying it on thick. Definitely not a good sign.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Kinda curious now, what are your thoughts on Adrichat asking Maribug out instead of coming clean about figuring out her identity. I searched on your blog but if you've talked about it before the search function won't bring it up

I kinda wish we would have gotten something like that in the show properly. At the very least it would make their issues in S4 less one sided

It's.... complicated.

While I don't think I've made a post about it, I think I addressed it decently both through my writing of their romance in Lady Luck(where Adrien is the only one with a secret identity in the first place and Mari is in love with Chat), and through that one idea I had for a 'toxic ladrien dating' thing.

I understand Adrien's hesitance to tell Marinette that he knows her identity. I do 100% think he should have told her! But LB was always the much more hesitant one when it came to the identities, and she's rejected 'Chat' many times in favor of 'Adrien'.

Not only is he worried that she's going to have a huge panic and maybe try to get them to stop being partners because of the danger, but he fears that she might like him better as 'Adrien' than 'Chat'. (not in a 'true selves' way, but both are a persona and the real Adrien is a mix. Would she like the real Adrien though?)

Bonus points for the fact that while he's sure of his own feelings, she might take this revelation in a similar way of him loving 'Ladybug' and not 'Marinette'.

So he's hesitant to tell her, but very much in love with her, so he goes for the romance. And is probably trying to figure out a good way to tell her, but he hesitates. And the longer he hesitates, the harder it gets to tell her.

Adrien has also grown up in a household where, if he wants to have any sort of happiness, then a lot of times it's an 'ask forgiveness rather than permission' type of situation. Not justified either, but again a reason.

I still do think this is a bit sketchy, as he should have told her. Both so she knows and they're on equal ground, but also so that she's aware of the new layer of danger. That was a Bad Move™.

Now, my main problem with the hypothetical presented in Chat Blanc, of Adrien knowing Mari is Ladybug and dating her without telling her he knows and that he's Chat.

Is that there's a lot of room for potential manipulation.

We don't get to see where this goes! Because their dates in Chat Blanc are all just a montage of 'everything's perfect until Gabriel decides to be a big old bag of dicks'.

But there's a lot of things that he could do. Maybe it's something small and innocent, like Chat knows that Maribug had a bad day so Adrien shows up at the perfect time to give comfort. Maybe Ladybug spies a dress in the window she adores and the next day Adrien buys it for Marinette.

And that doesn't seem too bad. But there are things that she would vent to a friend like Chat rather than Adrien. Sometimes about Adrien. What happens when they have a fight, as all couples do, and she asks Chat for advice? Would he try to abstain knowing that he's biased, or would he tell her that her boyfriend is right and that she should feel bad for not listening to him?

Now, again: We never get to see this in the show. We never grapple with it. But it could have been interesting if we did, and that I'd have more of a 'hey that's FUCKED' stance on. Ofc Adrien can step back, learn from it, and fix it. But I think Marinette would have a right to be hurt.

Which is another thing that Chat Blanc didn't show us: Marinette's reaction to finding out how long he's known her identity.

I think she should have had every right to be mad at him. To yell and scream and call him out on that move. Maybe even break up with him and hell possibly even step back for a minute and let Scarabella handle things for a while because this has thrown off their whole partnership.

Ultimately he'd apologize, admit it was kinda fucked, promise to do better, and she'd forgive him and they'd start dating again on equal terms this time.