#lukanette forever

[aespades]

So, two in one day. This will probably never happen again. But I love making comics. Let me know if you'd want to see more.

[airi-p4]

He’ll keep playing for her forever 💙

[mystic-myrtille]

I wanna take a quick moment to talk more about this one scene where Marinette freaks out because of the date and Luka comforts her because this scene of course is more than just ✨️shoulder touch✨️ and The Look™

Basically, Marinette confesses that she is scared of dating Adrien because her feelings for him has caused her to loose very important things (which is still not her fault, but since that's what she believes we'll go with that). Of course she doesn't directly mention the miraculous, but Luka knows that she is Ladybug, so he probably figured out what she's really talking about here. So he listens to her, blaming herself for loosing all the magical jewels, and he tells her something pretty important:

"The past is in the past. You need to focus on your inner melody" (or something like that, my french is a little rusty)

They then go on to talk about Adrien, how she's confused and all that stuff, but essentially what Luka is implying here is that Marinette should forgive herself, move on from her past mistakes, focus on the now and just allow herself to be happy again.

That's a pretty important thing she needed to hear!

It had left deep scars and Marinette has kept scolding herself the last few episodes for what happened, not allowing herself to be happy. But obviously she can't go on like this forever, it's not good for her or anyone.

Luka gives her the most important advice that he has ever given her. He truly does know the right words at the right time to help Marinette build herself up again, to be less hard on herself and grow. Now of course her problems are not going to be fixed after one conversation, but it's a start.

It just shows how well Luka fully understands Marinette, fully supports her and wants nothing more than for her to be happy. After everything she went through, in this scene, Luka gives her the kind of support she needs and deserves.

Really shows just how strong their bond is❤️

[quickspinner]

Six Seven Sentence Sunday 6/25/2023

I feel like I am going to need to go witness writers protection by the end of the week

He missed Marinette. She would have been so excited for his first apartment alone, no matter how small it might be. She would have made him floor pillows and curtains while he pretended to protest through his laughter. She would have filled the room with her larger than life personality and even after she left, her energy would linger in him, spurring him to at least tack up some pictures of his loved ones, and he’d be smiling as he tried to work out his plan for the new album, even if it frustrated him.

She wasn’t answering his calls at all, now. Not since Kagami had gone to see her. Luka had finally called Kagami, and when he finally got through her layers of assistants, the flat way she had answered the phone made him change his question to, “Are you okay?”

[ofsavior]

me trying to choose between writing Marinette and Adrien as if I can ever make decisions —

[rainbow-arrow]

i have. so many thoughts. about how all five seasons of miraculous have taken place within nine months.

mostly about how fucked over lukanette and adrigami was but wHATEVER

[verfound]

FIC: "That Time Xuppu Broke the Chair" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list?  We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?

Read on Ao3

02 September 2024

Prompt 11: Broken Chair

“I’m bored,” Xuppu whined from his spot in Marinette’s window.  Tikki looked up from the desk, where she had been watching a video on Marinette’s computer with some of the other kwamis.

“Come watch with us, then,” she said.  Xuppu huffed and rolled onto his back, throwing a paw over his eyes dramatically as his head lolled towards the desk.

“But I’m bored!” he whined again.  “Mistress hasn’t let us out in forever!  I miss my doofus!”

“Yeah,” Barkk sighed, nudging the ball with her nose to roll it back towards the wall.  She sighed as it bounced back towards her.  “Me, too.”

“I do miss Rose,” Daizzi piped up.  Tikki frowned as she looked around at her fellow kwamis.

“You all know why we have to lay low,” she said.  Beside her, Sass hissed out a sigh.

“Yesss, yesss,” he said.  “We all know why.  That does not make it any easier, Tikki.”

“Yeah,” Xuppu said.  “At least you and egg-breath get out sometimes.”

“It’ssss not my fault my power is more ussseful than yours,” Sass bit.  Xuppu sat up, ready for a fight, but Tikki called them to order before they could get out of hand.

“Enough, enough!” she called.  “Xuppu, you know it’s not personal!”

“Feels personal,” he grumbled, thinking of how often Sass’s holder had been around lately.  Of course he would get out more – their Guardian liked the musician.  He never got to see Kim anymore.

“It is not,” Tikki huffed.  “Just…find some way to entertain yourself, ok?  You’ll be back in the field soon enough, I’m sure of it!”

Xuppu grumped and flopped back onto the windowsill, pouting as he looked around the room.  Something shiny under Marinette’s chair caught his eye, and he grinned as he sat back up.

“Ok, Tikki,” he said, hopping up to float over to the desk.  “I think I will.”

. : .

“It’s just up here – you don’t have to follow me up,” Marinette laughed, rolling her eyes as Luka stepped into the room behind her.  “I’ll only be a minute.  Promise.”

“It’s fine,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he looked around.  She had a new dress partially completed on the dress form in the corner – something black, from the looks of it, but he wasn’t sure how far along in the process she was.  The black fabric could always be a template or something.  “I’d…rather avoid Tom’s interrogation, if its all the same.”

“…interrogation?” she laughed, looking back at him.  “What interro…”

It all happened so fast.

One minute Marinette was sitting down on her chair, intent on rolling over to her desk to look for the folder she had forgotten that morning.  The next thing she knew, the chair tilted and wobbled as the wheels went one way and the seat went another, and she was hit by the sudden feeling of weightlessness as she crashed to the floor.  For his part, Luka realized what was happening the second her eyes widened and had reached for her hand, but it was already too late.  He grabbed onto her wrist, trying to stop her, but all that managed to do was pull him down after her.

There was a loud crash, and a rattle from the desk, and maybe even a shout.  The next thing she knew, Marinette was on her back on the floor, Luka sprawled on top of her and staring down into her wide eyes with his own.  They were both panting and slightly rattled.

What the hell…?

“…are you ok?” he asked, his eyes searching her face.  She swallowed, her mouth snapping shut, and nodded.  He frowned, his brow pinching as his eyes darted down to her lips.  “You sure?”

“Y-yeah,” she mumbled, her fingers twitching at her side.  “Nothing.  Um.  Nothing feels broken.  You?”

“Yeah,” he said absently, nodding.  Her brow pinched, and he shook his head as he realized what he had said.  “I-I mean no.  Nothing…nothing broken.”

“…we should get up now,” she said.

“Probably should,” he agreed, nodding.  She swallowed again, and his eyes dropped to her throat.

“Can’t…um.  Can’t do that if you don’t,” she said, tapping her fingers again.  “You know.  Move.  First.”

“…yeah,” he said, but he made no effort to actually get up.  She lifted an eyebrow, and he shook his head.  “Is it…ok if I kind of don’t want to?”

“Luka…” she said.  His hand was by her face, and her eyes fluttered shut as he brushed his fingers against her temple.  “I-if you thought the interrogation from just standing around downstairs was going to be bad, don’t you think Papa finding us like this will be worse?”

“Kind of don’t care,” he chuckled.  He sounded dazed.  She couldn’t blame him – she felt a little dazed, too.  “Mari.  Can I…”

“Can I?” she asked, and when had her hands lifted from the floor to his sides?  Her fingers were still nervously tapping, and he chuckled again as he leaned in closer.

“We should probably pick you up a new chair when we go out,” he said, brushing his nose against hers.  She liked how that sounded.  Them.  Going out – though staying in was starting to sound pretty good, too.  “What even happened there, anyway?”

Marinette had her theories, but with a whole Luka on top of her and his face that close to hers…she didn’t really care.  She probably owed someone a treat, though, if…

“It’s on old chair,” she said softly.

“It was a cool chair,” he said.  Her fingers tapped against his sides again, and he smiled at her.

“Luka?” she asked, making him hum.  “Shut up and kiss me.”

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Episode 14

Hello all, today, I review the episode I dislike the most out of Season 5. It isn't the one that upsets me the most, but it is the one I personally dislike the most, both on a moral principle, and a writing principle. I hope I do it justice in outlining how bad it is.

Now, there are a LOT of things I could say about this episode in hindsight, but the long and short of it is that this entire episode doesn't make even the slightest bit of sense in terms of continuity. Trauma is not something you just "get over" by having a revelation about what caused it, not even slightly. More over, the show acting as if Marinette having trauma absolves her of the ethical lines she's crossed in her obsession with Adrien... even ignoring how it tries to retcon Chloe's missing mom being this known thing now doesn't work because the show acting as if people IRL think "Chloe's mom not being around" is why she's the way she is and mocking them for it... does not work.

It just does not WORK, especially not when they have Mylene, one of the characters they had profess the idea that they believed Chloe could grow to become better, as the one to shoot that idea down, all while ignoring how Mylene's situation is NOTHING like Chloe's and I don't mean financially. Mylene is the last character that should be used to criticize Chloe; it's not ABOUT that Chloe's mom wasn't around when she grew up, it's that not only does Mylene have a father who loves her so much he uses a photo of her as a good luck charm he keeps in his hat, she doesn't have to live with the knowledge that her mom is a famous celebrity that she can hear about every time she turns on the news or tries to hear about what is going on in the fashion industry, living with the knowledge that her mother could literally come over whenever she wants... and is CHOOSING not to do so.

Combined with it making a mockery of trauma and PTSD by saying NOW of all times that Marinette was secretly traumatized by a bad prank Chloe and Sabrina pulled on her last school year (not even a full year before the series starts, less then three months), and it's the reason she has such a bad time talking with Adrien, it doesn't work when we know that she has NEVER had those problems when she was with Luka. I don't even like Lukanette (Chloenette fan forever, here), and even I can tell you point blank that they were a couple, had decent chemistry, and had NONE of the baggage she does with Adrien. It's not good writing at all.

With that wordy rant done, onto the review! Please, forgive me for any profanity on my part.

Episode 14: Derision 

And... here's Derision. Sigh... 

Okay, we start off with Marinette answering a call from Adrien, nothing going wrong... and then she starts trembling and her vision goes wonky. ALREADY HATING THIS!! 

Just... THERE IS NO FUCKING REASON FOR THIS TO BE HAPPENING!!! If this is because she's dating someone, WHY DIDN'T THIS HAPPEN WITH LUKA!? The literal episode immediately preceding this one called attention to the fact that they dated, yet THIS was never a part of it!! 

Oh, and THOSE KINDS OF SYMPTOMS DO NOT JUST FUCKING PASS WHEN SOMEONE ASKS YOU WHAT IS WRONG!! You can certainly FAKE IT, but it's like telling someone you're fine when you're obviously NOT fine; it's an act, not really being okay. 

And the tremors start up the second they bring up she has a date... (Hits head against a wall) Fuck this. Fuck this nonsense. 

...Okay, she's getting those symptoms over a picture of Kim. At the pool. Kim, who she shares classes with. Kim, who she sees BASICALLY EVERY FUCKING DAY. I'm hating this more and more with each passing moment. 

And now the hallucination-esque flashbacks are getting worse... ugh. Just... just so much of this is wrong to me. It makes me feel nauseous watching this. I may not have flashbacks like this, but I DO get trauma impacting one's actions and behavior, and I have HAD minor panic attacks due to people throwing me off balance or pressuring me on something I am not qualified to answer. Seeing THIS is honestly really upsetting, because ALL OF THIS CAME OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE!! EVERYTHING THEY ARE TRYING TO TREAT AS SOME TRAUMATIC EPISODE IS STUFF THEY PULLED OUT OF THEIR ASSES!!! 

...Her needing to be alone. THAT is the one thing I can get behind in this nonsense.

I am currently breathing very, VERY hard to remind myself that Kim is not normally this much of a fucking idiot. I am trying very, VERY hard not to get mad. Kim, from the very beginning of Origins, is a weirdo that has issues with being insensitive, who is overcompetitive and tends to bite off more than he can chew by dragging people into dumb dares that he usually loses anyway. Him treating what amounts TO A FUCKING PANIC ATTACK as "reacting to a prank" is so stupid, so idiotic, I WANT TO FUCKING SCREAM RIGHT NOW!!! Even during Origins, when he honestly CAUSED the problem, he was largely just trying to help in his own dumb way. THIS!? THIS IS HIM BEING AN ASSHOLE!!! 

They just... they had Marinette get Akumatized over a Panic Attack. Well, nearly get Akumatized, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW IT ISN'T GONNA HAPPEN FOR REAL!! I am just... so much hate right now. SO MUCH HATE. Oh, and this calls a little bit of continuity into suspect because Marinette KNOWS she's Ladybug, so why the hell isn't Hawkmoth starting to pick up on the fact that she knows this and has the Miraculous!? After all, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED WITH LUKA YOU FUCKING HACK WRITERS!!! 

Also, apparently Ondine has known Kim since the time the "prank" took place, so him saying she wouldn't know makes jack all sense. 

My eyebrow is twitching. My brow is literally twitching at my sheer ANGER over this bullshit right now. 

And here comes the character butchering!! Let's see how much this pisses me off, SHALL WE!?

First off: Sabine spots right away that Marinette is trying to avoid going to school, and the dialogue makes it PRETTY DAMN OBVIOUS WHO THE FUCK THEY MEAN in the form of Chloe. They haven't said it yet, but when you phrase it as 'only two weeks left of school with her' IT DOES NOT TAKE A GENIUS TO FIGURE IT OUT!!!! What makes this absolutely fucking STUPID is that Sabine IS A BETTER FUCKING PARENT THAN THIS!!! If she knows that Chloe is bad enough that Marinette would rather avoid going to school than be around her, THEN SHE WOULD EITHER BRING IT UP WITH FACULTY, PULL HER OUT OF SCHOOL, OR JUST DO SOMETHING OTHER THEN TELL HER TO KEEP HER FUCKING CHIN UP!! IT'S NONSENSE LIKE THIS THAT MADE PEOPLE ANGRY AT CALINE IN ZOMBIZOU!!!!

Oh, and let's get into the next part of why this is nonsense to me. First off, what the absolute FUCK happened that made Marinette go from "ugh, it's Chloe, best to ignore her, she's not worth it" to "literally running and hiding and cowering behind doors over Chloe"? THAT IS NOT A NATURAL CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR!! It's Summer Break, not an entire year, there is no realistic reason for their dynamic to change like that!!! 

Okay, Marinette somehow had a bunch of bugs hiding under her books. HOW? If there were any bugs in her locker, they would've been ON THE BOOKS, because textbooks are way too heavy for a significant number of books to be capable of moving around beneath them. If you tried to put her books on top of them, they would just squash them. 

Moving on from the inconsistency I was fixating on to distract myself from RAGE, we get Damocles appearing at just the right time to cause trouble and yelling at Marinette for not being in class apparently for the eighth time in a week. And "good thing an anonymous student warns me when your about to break the rules" WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING HELL IS THIS SHIT!? Seriously, an "anonymous tip" every fucking time!? Does this idiot not seem to understand the concept of a fucking SET UP?!? 

...The "anonymous tip" is literally using Chloe's name. This isn't just contrived, THIS IS FUCKING MORONIC!!! 

HOW MUCH OF AN IDIOT IS THIS GUY SUPPOSED TO BE!? 

...And they made Mendeleiev an idiot, dismiss Marinette's distress as "clowning around" I AM GOING TO BURN THIS VIDEO TO THE GROUND!!! I CANNOT STAND THIS SHIT!! 

And they've got Chloe making fun of Juleka's stutter, which she never had in any of the first three seasons. Ugh. 

...Uuuhhh... they had Rose saying Chloe's mother left her... WHEN NONE OF THEIR CLASS EVEN KNEW ABOUT THAT UNTIL SEASON TWO!!! Rose also got threatened by Chloe to, so this is just idiotic.

If this is meant to be an attack on the idea of people using Chloe's missing mom to excuse her behavior, THIS NEVER ONCE OCCURRED ANYWHERE IN THE SERIES PRIOR TO THIS MOMENT UNLESS IT WAS LILA!! Heck, the only person who has EVER unironically attempted to justify something Chloe had done (or rather, hadn't done) was Sabrina on Chloe's behalf by claiming Chloe forgot birthdays a lot because her mom forgot hers all the time... and Chloe got PISSED at her over this because she doesn't like her mom being brought the fuck UP!! And what makes this nonsense so utterly stupid is that EVERYONE seems to know that Chloe is the culprit, and could easily expose her, and they aren't doing so!! I AM PISSED OFF!! I AM ANNOYED!!! I WANT TO WRITE A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER!!! 

Honestly, Kim offering swimming trunks to replace someone's ruined pants is the closest to being in character he’s in this entire episode. 

I am not even going to comment on this show acting as if just one school year ago Chloe ruled the school with an iron fist and could dictate who Marinette could and could not talk to, BECAUSE IT IS UTTER FUCKING NONSENSE!! Chloe did NOT flagrantly break the rules and get away with it due to teachers dismissing her actions as being "wild accusations" she genuinely TRIED to avoid getting caught when she acted out, and she didn't target Marinette in specific more than anyone else!! NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE!!! THIS IS LITERALLY JUST CHARACTER ASSASSINATION!! 

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT THE FUCK UP WITH THIS NONSENSE ABOUT THERE BEING "NO REST" FOR MARINETTE!! I DO NOT WANT TO HERE THIS BULLSHIT BEING SPOKEN BECAUSE THIS IS SO WILDLY AND SEVERELY OUT OF CHARACTER FOR CHLOE!! SHE DOES NOT GO OUT OF HER WAY TO TORMENT PEOPLE FOR HER AMUSEMENT!! SHE RARELY TORMENTS PEOPLE AT ALL, SHE IS JUST AN OBNOXIOUS BRAT!!! I WANT THIS STUPIDITY TO FUCKING END!!! 

IF IT ISN'T CLEAR!! I AM BEYOND PISSED OFF AT THE MOMENT!!! WHY THE ABSOLUTE FUCK WOULD ANY OF THE TEACHERS BE AFRAID OF A TEENAGE GIRL!?! THEY LITERALLY HAVE ALL THE POWER IN THE DYNAMIC!! WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO MAKE SOCQUELINE INTO THIS BRAVE PROTECTOR FOR MARINETTE WHEN THIS COMPLETELY FUCKING UNDERMINES THE FACT THAT ALYA WAS APPARENTLY THE FIRST ONE TO CONVINCE HER TO STAND UP FOR HERSELF!?? YOU CANNOT FUCKING SAY IT IS BECAUSE IT DIDN'T SINK IN UNTIL NOW OR SOME BULLSHIT LIKE THAT BECAUSE SOCQUELINE APPARENTLY WENT SO FAR AS TO PHYSICALLY THREATEN CHLOE, WHEN ALL ALYA DID WAS PULL MARINETTE AWAY FROM CHLOE AND BARELY DID ANYTHING DIRECTLY AT ALL!! GET THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT OUT OF MY FACE!!!

I am not eveN GOING TO FUCKING PRETEND TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE BARE MINIMUM REASON THEY ARE GIVING FOR MARINETTE TO PURSUE KIM BECAUSE IT BRINGS BACK ALL OF THE BULLSHIT FROM KURO NEKO IN THAT IT ACCIDENTALLY FRAMES MARINETTE'S CRUSHES IN THE MOST SHALLOW AS FUCK WAY IMAGINABLE!!! 

ALSO, WHY IN THE FUCK ARE KIM AND MAX GOOD ENOUGH FRIENDS IN THE PRESENT WHEN WE ARE LITERALLY GIVEN A SCENE OF KIM BEING SUCH AN INSENSITIVE JACKASS TO TAUNT MAX OVER NEEDING CLASSES!? 

THEY EXPLICITLY HAD HIM SCREAM AT KIM IN ANGER FOR HIM TO STOP AND HIM TO JUST SHRUG IT OFF BY ASKING MAX TO LAUGH A LITTLE!!! HOW DID THESE TWO SOMEHOW BECOME CLOSE ENOUGH FRIENDS FOR MAX TO AGREE TO WORK WITH KIM ON CONFESSING TO CHLOE IN DARK CUPID!? SINCE WHEN WAS HAVING A LAUGH THIS FUCKING IMPORTANT TO KIM AT ALL!?!?! 

I am literally too fucking angry to even go for all caps. This is nonsense taken to the NTH degree. Making Chloe cartoonishly evil does not make her more unlikable, it is bad writing. Making Kim so fucking stupid he doesn't get what "confessing feelings to him" means and being convinced to go along with a prank because he's too fucking stupid to understand what's going on is bad writing. THIS ENTIRE EPISODE is bad writing. I just... I am not even gonna pretend to tolerate this. 

Trying to be FUCKING self aware about Marinette's future obsession about confessing DOES NOT FUCKING WORK WHEN SHE LITERALLY NEVER HAS HAD THAT FUCKING PROBLEM WITH LUKA!!!

See, what makes all this bullshit utter nonsense is that, by all rights, if ANY OF THIS, the backstory in general, took place... then MARINETTE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO COME WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET OF EITHER KIM OR CHLOE!! WHY IN THE WORLD IS SHE WILLING TO EVEN BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS THE TWO OF THEM IF THEY HURT HER LIKE THIS!? WHY IS SHE ABLE TO BE CIVIL WITH KIM WHEN HE HAS NOT APOLOGIZED OR EVEN REALIZED WHAT THE FUCK HE DID WAS WRONG IN NEARLY A FUCKING YEAR!? WHY WAS MARINETTE ABLE TO WORK WITH SOMEONE WHO FUCKING TRAUMATIZED HER DURING ANIMAESTRO, OR ANY OF THE TIMES SHE CALLED ON QUEEN BEE!? WHY WOULD SHE SAY SHE THINKS CHLOE IS ABLE TO CHANGE IN SEASON TWO IF THEY HAD A PAST LIKE THIS!? FUCK THIS NOISE!! FUCK IT WITH A RUSTY CHAINSAW!!! 

IF ANYONE TRIED TO TELL ME THAT THE WRITERS PLANNED THIS OUT AHEAD OF TIME, I WOULD BELIEVE THEM BECAUSE THE WRITERS ARE SUCH FUCKING HACKS THAT I WOULDN'T TRUST THEM NOT TO CHOP DOWN A TREE BY LEANING ON IT!!! 

THESE IDIOTS WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND CONTINUITY IF IT HIT THEM OVER THE HEAD WITH A HISTORY TEXTBOOK!! 

HERE’S ANOTHER BIG ISSUE WITH THIS FUCKING FIASCO OF AN EPISODE, APPARENTLY CHLOE VIDEO TAPED THE ENTIRE INCIDENT AND POSTED IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA!! HOW IS ANYONE UNAWARE OF THIS NONSENSE!? 

Okay, never mind, they had Mary Socqueline kick the phone out of midair. WHY!? 

DO NOT EVEN TRY AND PRETEND THAT MAKING MARINETTE INTO A FUCKING STALKER WAS ALL MEANT TO BE PART OF SOME TRAUMATIC BACKSTORY, THAT THIS IS SOMETHING SHE WOULD DO WITH ANY GUY SHE LIKES, NOT WHEN LITERALLY NONE OF THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT EVER APPLIED DURING HER RELATIONSHIP WITH LUKA!!! GET THIS NONSENSICAL BULLSHIT OUT OF MY SIGHT!!! 

DO NOT EVEN TRY AND DO A TONAL WHIPLASH BY SWITCHING FROM MARINETTE BAWLING HER EYES OUT IN THE BATHROOM WITH CHLOE COMPLAINING TO THE PRINCIPAL ABOUT SOCQUELINE!!! DO NOT EVEN BEGIN TO FUCKING GO THERE!!!

GET THIS NONSENSICAL SHIT OUT OF MY SIGHT WITH SOCQUELINE GETTING SUSPENDED!! I DON'T EVEN LIKE HER AND I KNOW THIS EVENT IS CHARACTER ASSASSINATING BULLSHIT!! EVEN WHEN CHLOE LEANED ON ALYA TO BE PUNISHED IN LADY WIFI, SHE ACTUALLY HAD A FUCKING LEG TO STAND ON, AND ONLY GOT THE SEVERITY OF HER PUNISHMENT INCREASED!! THE MAYOR DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO REPLACE THE PRINCIPAL!! IT WAS EXPLICITLY A FUCKING PLOT POINT DURING THE BATTLE OF THE QUEENS TRILOGY THAT HE HAS EXTREMELY LIMITED POWER OVER THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND THE MOST HE COULD DO WAS GET THE SCHOOL CLOSED FOR A FUCKING DAY!! HE IS NOT EVEN ON THE FUCKING SCHOOL BOARD!!! 

THEY FUCKING MADE SOCQUELINE RIP OFF ALYA'S MAJESTIA SPEECH FUCK THIS NOISE!!! 

OH GREAT ANOTHER FUCKING CASE OF A CHARACTER RESISTING A FUCKING AKUMATIZATION, LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING SPECIAL THESE DAYS!! 

WHY IS THIS IDIOT SAYING THAT CHLOE IS THE PRETTIEST GIRL TO HIS GIRLFRIEND!? WHERE DID THIS MORON'S BRAIN DISAPPEAR TOO!? 

MARINETTE, DO NOT EVEN GO THERE WITH FUCKING SAYING IT'S ALL CHLOE'S FAULT, NO ONE FORCED YOU TO DECIDE TO PROMISE TO FUCKING STALK PEOPLE, OR TEAM UP WITH THE PERSON WHO ALLEGEDLY TRAUMATIZED YOU, ESPECIALLY NOT WHEN YOUR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP WITH LUKA MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT YOUR VOW IS TOTAL BS!!! 

THIS ALSO IS NOT HOW TRAUMA WORKS!! IT DOES NOT FUCKING MATTER IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES TRAUMA, OR WHERE IT CAME FROM, THE TRAUMA WILL STILL FUCKING EXIST!! YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE FUCKING WORK TO OVERCOME IT AND LEARN TO ADAPT IN YOUR DAY TO DAY LIFE!! THERE IS NO HAVING A MAGICAL EPIPHANY THAT'LL MAKE IT ALL GO THE FUCK AWAY!!!

AFTER ALL, IF ANY OF THAT SHIT WERE TRUE, I WOULDN'T BE HALF AS FUCKED UP AS I AM BY ALL THE BULLSHIT MY GRANDFATHER HAS PUT ME THROUGH!! DO YOU EVEN COMPREHEND HOW UTTERLY TONE DEAF, OFFENSIVE, AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSLY HYPOCRITICAL THIS ENTIRE FIASCO OF AN EPISODE IS SUPPOSED TO BE!? ANY POSSIBLE UPSIDE OF MARINETTE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT SHE'S A FUCKING STALKER WAS TAKEN AWAY BY MAKING IT "ALL CHLOE'S FAULT" AND I AM NEVER GOING TO LET THIS FUCKING GO!!! 

DO NOT EVEN GO THERE WITH THE "HE DESERVES TO GET HURT!!" THIS IS NOT WHAT ADRIEN AGRESTE IS LIKE, I DO NOT GIVE A DAMN IF MARINETTE IS HIS GIRLFRIEND, HE IS NOT THAT KIND OF PERSON!!! AND NO, THE BIG MOMENT HASN'T HAPPENED YET, BUT I CAN TELL IT'S GONNA BE SOON!!! 

And it happened GET THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT OUT OF MY SIGHT!! WHAT THE HELL EVER HAPPENED TO "THERE'S AN ACTUAL LIVING PERSON UNDER THERE" SPEECH WHEN HE ACTUALLY CATACLYSMED MONARCH!? STOP FUCKING TREATING ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS AND HORRIFIC THINGS IN THE SERIES AS SOMETHING ADRIEN JUMPS TO WHEN HE IS PISSED THE FUCK OFF, BECAUSE IT IS PISSING ME THE FUCK OFF!!! WHY IS HE GIVING MORE CONSIDERATION TO A GUY WHO HAS ACTIVELY TRIED TO GET HIM AND HIS GIRLFRIEND KILLED MORE THAN FUCKING ONCE THEN A FELLOW TEENAGER WHOSE WORST CRIME IS BEING A FUCKING MORON!?!? I'M DONE!! I AM DONE WITH THIS BULLSHIT!! NOTHING CAN MAKE THE WRITING COME BACK FROM THIS, NOTHING!!! 

FUCK OFF WITH THIS "YOU'RE GOING TO GO APOLOGIZE TO HER" BULLSHIT!! YOU HAVE BEEN FUCKING ENABLING HER FOR MONTHS, YOU HAD ONE SHOT TO MAKE HER CHANGE FOR THE BETTER AND YOU FUCKING BLEW IT!!! FUCK IT ALL!! FUCK THIS!! FUCK YOU!! FUCK THE WRITERS!!! I'm done. I'm just... I'm done. I'm gonna keep doing my reviews, but this dug up some nasty wounds.

[amimons]

Remember the season 3 finale ending with Lukanette and Adrigami and half of the fandom was like “I can’t believe the lovesquare is dead forever now 💔” only for them to break up immediately at beginning of season 4…

…its almost like…events that happen in a finale are not always permanent…

[flightfoot]

Hey hey, do you have any recs for Lukadrien fics? Preferably ones that 1. acknowledge and utilize the fact that Juleka is Luka's sister, and 2. analyze Marinette's actions to show that Adrienette would be unhealthy?

I'll just stick to Lukadrien fics, since I only have a few of those to rec in the first place. Plus I tend to shy away from the ones that get too negative towards Marinette or Adrienette, so the amount that's gonna show up is limited, that really only surfaces in the last fic I have to rec. I'd love more of Juleka showing up, but I just don't have that all that often in the fics I have to rec.

---

when feelings are too big for words by ClockworkCaptain

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance. Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

One of the issues I tend to have with Luka shipfics, and with Lukadrien especially (though I think Lukanette actually has this problem worse) is how Luka tends to disappear within the fic and the pairing, feeling more like “The Love Interest” than his own person. Not so here! While most of the intrigue surrounds Adrien, I still got the sense of Luka being his own person, not just existing in the fic for Adrien.

I adored Adrien getting to display an aspect of himself through persona and performance - that does align well with how he approaches Chat Noir - and overall I just had a lot of fun with this fic!

---

Two is Company by Shadownoble

Adrien’s father wants him to play for an upcoming party. Only this time he won’t be doing it alone.

This Lukadrien fic's adorable! Luka's got selective mutism, which Adrien takes in stride. I love how their relationship develops, they're smitten with each other! Though of course while Gabriel brought the two of them together, he's an obstacle too. Because he's a dick.

---

forever (and a little bit) by @rainbow-arrow

Now the world was out of tune. It was messy and blurry and Luka could not fathom waking up tomorrow and accepting his new life. He had less than nothing. How could he care about anything when the better half of his melody was replaced with silence. --- see also: Luka's villain origin story

This is a tragedy, don't go into it expecting a happy ending. Adrien breaks up with Marinette because he's upset over her lying to him about his father's fate and not telling him he's a sentimonster, and gradually becomes closer to Luka instead, first as a friend and later as a lover. There are fragments of story from the future that let you know this love story isn't going to last...

It's rated M, though I think that's mostly because of Adrien's injuries. I can see why it's M rated, but I think most teens should be fine reading this.

[ladyofthenoodle]

why alya's s5 position on ladynoir makes sense

even though she's wrong

many people (me) were initially taken aback by alya's insistence that marinette is in love with adrien and not chat noir, when previous seasons had repeatedly shown us that she is an avid ladynoir shipper

however, upon reflection, season 4 actually set this up perfectly

we start with the aftermath of gang of secrets, when a post-lukanette breakup marinette insists she must be alone forever and that she's over adrien, despite evidence to the contrary - a pattern marinette will repeat at the beginning of season 5. alya has seen this behavior before.

she has a front row seat to the adrinette show every single weekday whether she likes it or not (luckily she does). she ended up being right about marinette not being over adrien in mister pigeon 72, so naturally she's not going to believe marinette this time either.

however, despite her supporting adrinette, we season that alya is still on team ladynoir as late as glaciator 2. i don't know that it really occurred to her until that moment that adrinette and ladynoir were competing ships. she knew marinette was ladybug, yes, but i don't know that it really hit her until then that it meant ladynoir and adrinette couldn't both happen. of course, she chooses to support what marinette wants, and commits to team adrinette.

the other crucial development here is rocketear, when alya realizes that secrets aren't sustainable in her own relationship and tells nino the truth. this is called back in her argument with marinette, so we know this is definitely influencing her opinion. marinette insists that she's not alya and she can be with chat noir and not want to reveal their identities, but alya is not convinced (rightly so, if we consider ephemeral, where marinette does eventually reveal herself, and also the fact that marinette told alya in the first place).

alya likely also was witness to several lectures about secret identities from tikki and marinette herself throughout season 4. we don't see every conversation they have on screen, but it's pretty clear alya has taken it to heart by elation

and i think this is why alya remains team adrinette even post-passion when marinette switches to team ladynoir. in season 4, alya had been willing to accept marinette's wishes in terms of who she ended up with, but in the process, she internalized all the reasons marinette gave for why ladynoir couldn't happen. she also experienced first hand the problems with keeping identities from your boyfriend. so by the time marinette is ready to acknowledge her feelings for chat noir, alya's already fully accepted ladynoir cannot happen.

and, well, she still has to witness this nonsense every day

[marinette-sky]

Felix and Kagami is such a cheap romance subplot. I get the idea I guess but like its stupid. Ik its him as the peacock miraculous but what happens she finds out? Isn't that weird??? I miss adrigami so much they were cute. (And lukanette supremacy forever!)

[instantn00ds]

haven’t been active in forever and not sure if I’m screaming into the void 💀. GUYS so I’m reworking my POTOxMiraculous AU and I need help. Do I do lukanette or felinette????

My original was felinette and that worked out for a lot of reasons, but lukanette is lowkey my baby and they’d be so perfect for the role too????

help????

[mystic-myrtille]

Anyway here’s a little Migration fix-it with Lukanette I wrote for @airi-p4 based on this post ☺️💙 (Airi I‘m sorry this took so long kdhskahshs)

Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes!

Enjoy!

Gold record stepped through the portal on the Eiffel tower, ready to capture Luka. As he threw his golden record at the guitarist, Ladybug got herself into position, ready to strike as soon as the akumatized villain would be off guard. All according to plan.

The golden record touched Luka and he immediately turned into a light blue record floating in the air.

Now's the tim-

„I love Marinette~“

Ladybug froze.

„You know, I'll tell you who I love~ The most amazing, talented and smartest girl I know~ Funny and brave as well, the most extraordinary girl~ It's Marinette, you know, I love Marinette, you know~“

Ladybug watched the record wide eyes as Luka sang... about his feelings? For her?

Luka still had feelings for her??

„Her eyes are the prettiest blue, you know, like have you seen them?“

Ladybug blinked a few times, the mission completely forgotten as her attention was now entirely on Luka's song. A song she definitely hadn‘t expected at all.

She had been sure that after their break-up, it was over between them.

They were buddies now. Really good buddies. Especially considering how he had seemingly doubled down on his support of the, as Alya had called it, „Adrinette train“, she had assumed that any sort of romantic attraction, at least on his part, must've eventually worn off. Which she would understand, honestly. She had been a complete disaster as a girlfriend, of course Luka would move on quickly, and she knew that such a pure soul deserved better. So so much better.

„M'lady?“, Chat's voice spoke through the little ear piece. „Is everything okay? What about the plan?“

„Hold on,“ Ladybug replied. Even though she was still aware that letting Vinyl Luka sing could end with their identites being exposed, but then again, his heart seemed to have other priorities she was very interested in listening to.

„She'd the sweetest and I hope she's happy forever,“ the song went on, „from the bottom of my heart, you know. She's wonderful and and hot, I hope she knows~“

Ladybug slapped a hand over he mouth to keep herself from squealing. Luka wanted nothing but for her to be happy? And to know that she's wonderful? And hot!? Nobody has ever called her hot before! The thought of Luka thinking of her as hot… yeah that definitely did things to her…

Wait, what was she thinking??

„The most extraordinary girl, clear like a musical note, you know~“

Ok, now that was just entirely unfair! As if the entire thing hadn't already caught her completely off guard, this line gave her full on deja-vu, how Luka rested his hand on her shoulder to look deep into her eyes, smiling like she was the most precious thing he had ever seen to just casually drop the most beautiful love confession she had ever heard in her life, something even Adrien couldn‘t top.

„I love her more than my guitars, you know~“

Ladybug was too captivated to register anything that wasn't Vinyl Lukas singing, that she didn't realize her partner standing next to her until he poked her. She jumped with a loud „Agh!“

„M‘lady, what‘s going on?“, he asked confused.

„What are you doing here?,“ she scuffed, „didn‘t I tell you to stay put?“

„You weren‘t reacting and I got worried, so I came to look if everything‘s okay,“ he explained in a defensive tone, „What are you doing, what happened to ‘needing to do this quick, otherwise he tells Monarch out secret identities?‘ “

Ladybug fumbled with the needle. „Uhh… oh that. Well, he hasn‘t done that yet, so… uh…“

Shit, was she still blushing? God, hopefully Chat won‘t notice…

„So what, you wanna- wait a sec…“

Chat's ears pointed to the vinyl. „Is he singins about… Marinette?“, he muttered more to himself than anyone else, his tail flipping seemingly irritated. Ladybug swallowed. Chat sounded as if he was jealous. If he got jealous and threw a tantrum in any way, they were screwed…

Then again, didn’t he reject Marinette himself not too long ago? He had no reason to care…

Expect judging by the way he narrowed his eyes at the Luka record (which was now singing about getting lost in the bluest eyes, making Ladybug‘s mind go „same“ followed by a panicked „wait what am I thinking??“), maybe he wasn‘t so unbothered by that after all.

… What was his problem with Luka's love confession?

… and more importantly why was she the complete unbothered, quite thrilled even, by Luka's love song?

„Okay, let's end this,“ Chat said, then ran.

---

Golden record inspected the Luka record with a confused look.

„Wow, that's lame,“ he noted. „Nobody in this family has any talent. I'll teleport you to spa-“

The butterfly mask appeared over his face. „No! He knows their identites, he‘ll sing them any minute now…“

„Monarch, he's been going on non-stop with compliments and love confessions for 10 minutes, I don't think-“

The mask popped up again. „He‘ll sing!“

„Oh, just give it up already, this is getting pathetic. You'll find another way!“

He was about to open the portal to space, when suddenly, he was struck to the ground, his golden record flying in the air, only for Chat Noir to yell „Cataclysm!“ and turn it into dust.

Then a swarm of small ladybugs washed over him.

---

Luka sat up on the floor, looking around confused before the events of ten minutes ago came back to him, when he had lured the akuma to the Eiffel tower. And... oh god!

Had the plan worked? He hopefully hadn‘t said anything, right? Right??

Chat Noir walked up to him, offering a hand to help the musician stand up.

„Thank you,“ Luka muttered, still feeling a little dizzy, „Did the plan work?“

„Sort of,“ Chat said with a netral expression, „We had to improvise, but we won. It's all good now.“

„So I didn‘t blabber your identities?“

„No, you did not,“ Chat replied, rolling his eyes.

Luka smiled relieved. „Ok, good.“

He turned around to Ladybug, standing a few feet away. As soon as his gaze met hers, her cheeks became as red as her superhero suit and she looked away.

„Uuhh, yeah,“ she stammered, „Y-you didn't do anything wrong, you were hot- I mean perfect. Perfect.... bait. For the akuma. Akuma bait. Yeah.“

She rubbed her neck with her hand, looking entirely too flustered. Luka found that awfully cute.

„M'Lady, are you not feeling well? Your face is red,“ Chat noted sounding a little bitter.

Ladybug fumbled with her hands. „Uh, what? But of course not, I'm perfectly fine. I've never felt better my entire life! Don't worry about me, Luka was the one who got hit by golden record!“

She slowly looked at Luka again. „How do you feel? Are you okay?“

Luka smiled. „I'm okay, thanks to you.“

She gave him a shy smile back.

„Oh you little…!“

A voice caught their attention. Oh right, they‘ve completely forgotten about Mr. Roth, who was just getting up again, looking angry. „You take right after your father, Jagged Junior. You‘re just as talentless as the rest of this talentless family!“

„Wha- you take that back!“, Ladybug exclaimed, „You wish you had just an ounce of his musical abilities, you-“

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turn around to see Luka was now standing next to her, a calm smile on his face. „Even though I appreicate you standing up for me, don‘t bother with him, it‘s no use. Really, his words don‘t hurt me.“

Ladybug met his eyes and the way he smiled at her made her lips form into a smile as she was hit by another deja-vu. From when they had stood up to him together after he had stolen their work. They did make a pretty good team, huh?

„Ahem,“ Chat brought the attention back to him. He seemed even more annoyed than before. „So yeah, the day is saved and everything's wonderful, I’ll just take care of of more thing.“

Then he walked right over to Bob Roth, grabbed the man and threw him off the plattform.

Ladybug and Luka gasped. „Chat!“

„Don‘t worry, I‘ll catch him,“ Chat said as he casually walked over to the egde of the platform, then turned around again.

„Before I go,“ he turned around one last time looking at Luka, sounding a little cocky, „cute song, but I‘m afraid that it’s not going to work out between you two. Marinette's already taken.“

Luka furrowed his brows in surprise, but before he could ask any follow-up questions, the cat hero leaped off. He hurried over to the edge of the platform, Ladybug following him, to see Chat indeed catching Bob just in time.

„What the… I can‘t believe he just threw a man off the Eiffel tower!“, Ladybug uttered in disbelief. „What is with this guy?“

„Well, at least he caught him,“ Luka said, not sure what to make of that strange situation.

He looked over to Ladybug and met her eyes. „You okay?“

Ladybug clung to the railing, opening her mouth only to close it again and advert her gaze, blushing again. Luka blinked confused. After telling her he knew her identity, he expected her to act more upset. He wasn‘t entirely sure how to interpret this reaction.

„Ladybug, I-“

„Did you mean what you just sang?“, Ladybug blurted out, immediately slapping a hand over her mouth. „S-Sorry, didn‘t mean to yell… I-I mean... uhm...“

Luka tilted his head. „Is everything okay? Did I say… or sing something weird...?“

„Not at all,“ Ladybug reassured him, still blushing, „It's just that... you said something about… well…“

Luka took a few steps in her direction, closing the distance between them and put his hand on her shoulder. „Okay, let‘s try to calm down first, shall we? So deep breaths in-“

„Oh my god, Luka,“ Ladybug exclaimed irritated, „you just casually sing a song about how I‘m hot and you love me more than you love your guitars and expect me to pretend like I‘m fine?!“

Ladybug slapped a hand over her mouth. God, why did she never think before speaking??

Luka didn‘t move. He just blinked at her, processing what she had just said, until his eyes went wide and his furious blush matched hers.

„Wha- I mean, uhm… oh, I sang that?“ he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. „Wow… huh, so that‘s what Chat meant earlier. Well, glad we have this mystery uncovered.“

„It doesn‘t matter what he said,“ Ladybug rolled her eyes, thinking back to Chat’s unnecessarily rude attitude from earlier. „But… Luka, is it true? Do you love me?“

There was a hopeful glimmer in her eyes and she found herself wishing that he‘d say yes. Please say yes.

Luka held her gaze for a few seconds before looking down to his shoes. „Well, the akuma did make us share what‘s in our hearts, so…“

There was a moment fo silence between them, Ladybug taking a few seconds to fully process what Luka had just admitted to. But once she did, she felt her heart beating faster. Just like back then, when he had told her how he felt for the first time. Only that this time, he didn‘t walk away right after.

„B-but that shouldn‘t matter… you‘re taken, like Chat said, and I‘m not getting in the way. You‘re happy this way and that‘s all that-“

„But am I really?“

Luka finally looked up again.

„I mean,“ she continued, „if I really was so sure, wouldn‘t I be with the supposed boy of my dreams already? Instead of constantly feeling insecure about myself and actively avoiding him? And what does it mean that me learning about another boy loving me doesn‘t make me feel upset? And instead made me doubt a decision that… actually was mostly made for me?“

Luka tilted his head. „W-what do you mean?“

Ladybug shrugged.

„Maybe I‘m not so sure after all. I was happy when you were my boyfriend back then. A different kind of happy. A… less stressful happy?“

Luka chewed on his lips. „But that didn‘t work out because I was noisy and couldn‘t handle you having secrets you didn‘t want to share. So… I don‘t know…“

Ladybug stepped closer and looked deep into his eyes. He was thrown off guard by how close she was standing to him all of a sudden and swallowed.

„You being upset about somebody lying to you doesn‘t make you a bad person, you know?“

„But I shouldn‘t have tried to reveal it either!“

„You were akumatized, Luka.“

„But I could‘ve resisted,“ he said, „and I didn‘t. And then I found out on accident and kept it from you. I messed up big time and honestly, I‘m not sure I even deserve yout trust ever again. I just… I‘m so sorry for keeping quiet about this for so long. If I just had said something sooner, I could‘ve avoided this whole thing and…“

Ladybug didn‘t reply. She‘d lie if she said she didn‘t mind at all, it did hurt a little, knowing he hasn‘t been honest with her. But…

„You had good intentions,“ she said, „and I know we both didn‘t handle the situation perfectly, but that‘s really because of reasons we had no control over. I know keeping secrets this big in a relationship can hardly work out but…“

She took his hand in hers.

„But now we know our secrets, right?“

Luka blinked a few times, then smiled a little relieved. „Y-yes, I guess we do…“

Ladybug smiled. „I want to make a confession. I‘m actually a little happy you know. And understand why we had to end things. It was never because I didn‘t like you, I did. I really did…. And I think I still do.“

Now Luka was the speechless one.

„But… Adrien…?“

Ladybug shrugged. „I don‘t know. He still holds a special place in my heart, but… I feel so stressed out all the time. He sang a song for me few days ago and I completely freaked out and maybe that‘s a sign that… we‘re not meant to be romantic with each other. With you, it‘s different. With you, I feel like… it‘s okay to be myself.“

She squeezed his hand and smiled even wider. „Just myself.“

Luka chuckled and looked away for a moment, trying to hide his blush before realizing there‘s no use and looking back at Ladybug.

„So… what now?“

„Well… if you want, we could maybe… go out sometime?“, said Ladybug, „I mean, there‘s a chance I might have to do superhero but, but…“

„We can do something spontaneous,“ Luka suggested. „And if you have to go, I‘ll wait for you. Since I know you’ll come back.“

Ladybug smiled. „That sounds lovely.“

[starlit-dreaming]

[ch4] élémentaire

Fandom: MLB Ship: Eventual Felinette, MarcNath & Chlogami, Past Lukanette TL;DR: HBIC Marinette + Rich Marinette + ML Salt Fic + Canon Divergence

0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | [4] | 5

Note: ngl, this chapter kinda took my ideas and ran it through before i even realized it. i had only 2 main ideas and it ended up getting better than expected -- it even fit the theme of the chapter LMAO

4 words: karma is a bitch

ALSO I DIDNT FORGET THE TAGS THIS TIME!!!!!!!

Tags: @jjmjjktth @smolplantmum @always-on-a-sugar-high @fan-written @vixen-uchiha @fanfics-and-fangirling @marvel--unsolved @starlightshield @lady-bee-fechin @draco-kasai @weirdo-with-no-beardo @idontwannaexistsopleasekillme @blep-23

————————————————————

iv. jacinthes bleues

————————————————————

Even though they’ve been classmates for years at Dupont, Nino couldn’t really consider himself to be friends with all of them. Maybe the guys, but certainly not the girls.

So, despite how friendly Rose has always been even when they were attending Notre Dame, he didn’t actually know her well enough to feel comfortable calling her a close friend despite their shared circles. He knew nothing of her involvement in any of Marinette’s plans unless Marinette or Alix talked to him, and apart from info gathering, he couldn’t think of any other reasons on how she factored into Marinette’s plans. An insider job, perhaps?

Rose still wore a pink ribbon, her unspoken sign of her allegiance to Marinette, so… they were in the same boat. They both fell for Lila’s lies and were trying to make it up to Marinette. Rose was a much better actress than he ever realized.

“What a screwed up situation we’re in, huh?” Nino asked wryly, leaning back into his seat. They were both in the library, working on their assigned project for their history class in the peace and quiet.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Rose said with a smile, though her eyes narrowed at him. “If anything, it’s a minor setback.”

“If that’s how you wanna call it…” he frowned, trailing off as he looked at the textbook. “Y’know, there’s no shame in admitting—”

“We are both in very different situations, Nino,” Rose sharply stated in a sweet tone of voice. “You let yourself be fooled. I let myself be complacent. There’s a difference.”

He didn’t get why Rose seemed so on edge, but it was probably for the best if he let the conversation drop. Out of everyone, Rose was the worst person to be stuck in an argument with, especially because she had that effect on people in making them feel as if they kicked a puppy.

It didn’t seem all that different to him, though. They were both in the same situations, just different end results.

Still, Rose was also the most observant person in their group who could easily pick up on a wide range of information, and her grudges were long-lasting. He’s not gonna argue about technicalities.

“You’re slouching,” Rose started frowning.

“I know,” he awkwardly admits.

“You can’t avoid it forever,” she gently said.

“I know, Rose.”

At this, she sighed, “If you don’t do anything about it, I will.”

It wasn’t a threat; it was a promise.

He doesn’t say anything in response to that, because he knows. Everyone is doing their part, no matter how hard it might be, and he’s been stalling.

But what he’s about to do is going to hurt either way.

His relationship with Alya is on the line — if she doesn’t believe him then… they might break up. He knows that the likelihood of their relationship surviving into adulthood is pretty slim, but he doesn’t want to lose her over a liar, he knows that much. If he says nothing, he’s letting her be manipulated; if he says something, it’s over even if he doesn’t want them to be. The only possibility of it going great is if Alya hears him out, which is definitely going to be a 50-50 chance.

And if Adrien doesn’t believe him, he might go crazy, but it’d be bearable — Adrien and Lila kinda have a thing going on. Adrien’s already pretty clueless about a ton of stuff, even more so when it comes to girls flirting with him, but with how he lets Lila hang off of him all the time, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was blinded from infatuation.

“If I were you, I would talk to Alya first,” Rose smiled sweetly. He’s not sure if it’s genuine kindness or if it’s part of her own plans, because it’s Nino’s problem to begin with, but it’s good advice nevertheless. “It’ll be easier to convince Adrien, but harder with Alya. If you do end up arguing or breaking up over this, then she’ll have time to come around and apologize.”

Adrien would be easier to convince.

As much as he thinks his feelings for Alya might be tipping into love, his girlfriend’s got a short temper and he can’t deny it. She was easy to rile up, and it does get hard to communicate with her when she’s adamant about being right.

“…yeah, you’re right. Thanks, dudette.”

—————————— 

“For the record, this is a terrible idea.”

Alix knew that her words would do nothing to deter Marinette from seeing this meeting through to the end, but she has always been her right-hand man and stating the obvious is her job. Honest to a fault, some might say, but frankly that’s the way Marinette prefers it. Despite their past disagreements, it will always remain the same.

Despite what happens, Marinette leads, and Alix follows.

“Oh, believe me,” she dryly chuckles, shooting Alix an amused look. Alix didn’t see why this was so amusing to Marinette, but maybe her suffering was the funny thing here. “I know it is.”

Standing tall before them was a very familiar building — a rather sizable hotel. It was overly fancy and had long since lost its charm, and yet it was the only place that Dupont could get a free field trip at on short notice: Le Grand Paris.

Despite knowing that it’ll be far from pleasant, it was necessary. There was no set precedent when it came to disbanding a faction and rebuilding it in later years, but this felt like a matter of formalities.

It was during the faction meeting that Marinette disbanded Méticuleuse, and so she herself needed to correct her past action — even if it never really stopped her followers from still following her unofficial guidelines.

The first step of doing so was holding a faction meeting, and that required a proper apology to Chloé Bourgeois (yeah, the irony of this fact wasn’t lost on Alix — Mme Bustier has consistently been badgering Marinette to apologize to Chloé despite being innocent, and here she was, doing exactly what Mme Bustier would be ecstatic to hear). Before they could move forward, they all probably need to air out their grievances, which was going to be the worst.

At least it was only Chloé who was going to be complaining.

(Félix technically needed to be there as well, but he was a special case considering that he isn’t attending Dupont and wasn’t even in France to begin with.)

So, apart from Marinette and Alix, it was just Chloé and Sabrina, and Claude Sainté-Pierre who was acting as Félix’s proxy (as he always did) who would be in attendance.

‘She’s going to be insufferable,’ Alix sighed, already feeling slightly irritated at the thought. “Would it be too late to ask you to swap me out with Rose for the meeting?”

“Absolutely,” Marinette smiled serenely, looking at Alix with a clear statement of “you’re not getting out of this that easily” — which, fair. Alix knew what she was getting into when she agreed to remain as her second. “Besides, Rose has more pressing matters to attend to from what I’m aware of, while you just have your daily bets and competitions with Kim. Ondine can easily help you get out of that by asking to spend more time with him.”

Ah. An unexpected bonus. That was also the reason why Kim didn’t seem to complain too much when Alix told him she had to bail on their race for the day, if Alix put two and two together.

Alix knew that Ondine was popular and reliable, and they both get along well enough (and Alix can say for certain that Ondine’s too good for Kim), but she never really stopped to think of her beyond that. Kim and Ondine were still in that phase of figuring out their maybe-relationship, so Alix did actively try to avoid thinking of Ondine more often than not purely because she wanted nothing to do with that.

‘It sure is convenient that Kim’s definite-girlfriend is in our group,’ Alix nodded. ‘I’m tired of all his demands for a rematch.’

“We should probably go in now,” Marinette sighed, sealing Alix’s fate for the next few hours.

‘On second thought… never mind.’

—————————— 

‘I would do anything to get out of this,’ Claude Sainté-Pierre thought, a fake smile plastered on his face as takes a sip of water.

They were sitting at one of the private tables of Le Grand Paris — something normally offered to celebrities and VIP guests. Chloé’s butler had assured them at the start that no classmates of theirs will be allowed to take a foot into the building before bowing and taking his leave.

The butler and the whole secret meeting was a bit much, but Claude was somewhat used to it. His parents were on the wealthy side, yet his family didn’t have a butler or anything — a regular cleaning service and security system, yes, but not their own wait staff. Allegra’s family had no qualms about employing maids and their own personal chef, and Allan’s family may have been similar to his, but Allan’s family had their own home studio and an indoor cinema.

Marinette’s probably the only one who would get it — Félix had the chance to go to her house when they were younger, and they didn’t have any hired help. At the bakery, yeah, but not within the house.

The sound of a glass cup thumping against the table brought him back to the conversation at hand.

Or rather… the lack of conversation.

They were seated at a table for six, with Claude kinda sitting across from Alix. Chloé was unfortunately next to him, while an empty chair remained on his other side. Empty seat, Claude, Chloé, Sabrina, Marinette, and Alix — the typical setup to prevent a faction leader from sitting next to another leader. It was mostly to prevent them from being fixated on the other person, since it often led to distractions.

Marinette and Chloé argued, Chloé and Félix would make snide comments against each other, while Marinette and Félix would, well… Claude’s not sure what to call it, exactly. It wasn’t flirting, but it also wasn’t really arguing or getting along.

Just talking, he supposes, which would make this meeting far less awkward.

“I believe you have something to say to me, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé stated with sharp narrowed eyes, smiling.

Everyone knew that Chloé only stopped referring to Marinette by her first name ever since she stepped down from her position. Claude was under the impression that it would’ve changed once he heard from Félix that Chloé finally won.

Marinette maintained her smile, her lips twitching just the slightest bit as she relaxed her shoulders and fixed her stare on Chloé.

“Congratulations, Bourgeois,” Marinette stated. “You were right; I was wrong. You won.”

He expected as much.

For reasons beyond his comprehension, the Akuma Class believed the liar girl over Marinette for the better part of the year or two — he wasn’t paying too much attention to them, just Marinette given how haggard she was from overwork. It was even more noticeable with how their peers on the student council would always talk about her worriedly.

“I know I am,” Chloé had scoffed, leaning back into her seat as she regarded Marinette with a rather cold look. “That’s not what I was talking about.”

“And what exactly do you want to hear?” Marinette asked incredulously.

Looks like he wasn’t the only one who was confused — even Sabrina and Alix seemed surprised over the statement. Sabrina should’ve known everything about Chloé, and for her to be thrown off by this just goes to show that Claude really was wrong about the Charmante Faction Leader.

“What I want,” Chloé seemed to glare, “is an apology.”

“For what?” Marinette’s brows knit, clear confusion on her face. “For being naïve by not believing you?”

“That, and for your deplorable behaviour,” Chloé practically sneered. “It was disgusting, watching you act beneath your station.”

Alright… now she was definitely matching Claude’s memories of her. Claude was starting to think that maybe Ladybug was actually making a bigger and better positive impact than Adrien Agreste, but he stands corrected.

“Right,” Marinette dryly stated. “You’ve always been the type for extravagance like all the others who prefer to indulge in their wealth. How dare I show such a shameful side of me, for preferring to disregard status. I’d prefer to call it moderation, however. Ah, what was it again? Moderation is key, isn’t it?”

“Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous,” Chloé wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Moderation,” she scoffed, looking at her nails as if to ignore Marinette. “Well, look where moderation brought you. Acting like a mere commoner, lowering yourself as if you were a feeble servant to our peers, becoming not only a doormat, but also becoming a stalker!”

Oh… oh.

Claude suddenly had a feeling that maybe, just maybe, this was becoming personal. It was no wonder why Chloé wasn’t finding delight in Marinette’s defeat right from the get go — something that all of them had been expecting — she was pissed because of Marinette’s former fangirl crush on her friend.

Judging from the look of dawning realization on Marinette’s face, she got the memo.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette stated, looking away from Chloé. She was ashamed, he could tell that much. “I shouldn’t have let myself get so obsessed with the idea of Prince Charming. For what it’s worth, I have made strides to improve myself for the better.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” came Chloé’s clipped reply. “Adrikins is innocent and naïve — he needs someone to snap him out of it like I tried to do for you. I’m waiting until he finally opens his eyes on this whole Liar Rossi thing, because with how much he cares for the simpletons of our class, he’s going to realize that she’s the worst type of person to associate with. What he doesn’t need is to get dragged into your fantasy and unresolved issues — despite the distance, he is still my childhood friend.”

“I get it,” Marinette stated with gritted teeth. “When I realized how kind he was, he…” she sighed, shoulders slumping. “He matched my idea of a perfect prince.”

At this, Chloé leaned back into her seat once more, giving Marinette a glare. “You weren’t using him to get back at Félix for leaving, were you? Considering how similar they look.”

Oh, jeez… Claude didn’t want to hear any of this conversation for plausible deniability, but now he has no choice. This was definitely going to bite him in the ass later, because, well, for starters he’s the only guy here and if Félix says anything, it’ll get traced back to him. Sure, Alix was nonbinary and didn’t care about pronouns, but she was loyal to Marinette to begin with so no worries about breach of privacy there. Félix was unaware of the Marinette’s crush on him from back then, but there’s no doubt he knows now.

(It didn’t help much that Claude was probably the only one in the Quantic Kids who picked up on this whole crush situation. He never said anything to avoid getting on Marinette’s bad side, besides, he thought Félix was only nice to Marinette due to being all businessman-like.)

“Of course not,” Marinette huffed. “Yeah, I wanted to forget Félix, but I didn’t even realize that they were cousins until he came back. Félix is a common name, and I didn’t remember his last name beyond Graham until I saw the film with Adrien’s mother.”

“Hmph. Fine. I’ll accept that for now,” Chloé said, pursing her lips. “I won’t apologize for my words and actions. I’m still far too upset at what you’ve done to him under the guise of friendship to even want to.”

“As long as we’re done airing out our grievances, that’s fine with me,” Marinette smiled. “Now, can we finally move onto what we’re really here for?”

“Hold it,” Chloé cut in. “Sabrina, call our guest.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sabrina complied to the command, pulling out her phone.

“A guest?” Marinette blinked. “You never mentioned that another person was joining us.”

“Why would I waste my time on that when you’re going to be meeting them anyway, Marinette?” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Just wait.”

Claude, who left one of his hands in his hoodie’s pocket with his phone, finally ended the call with Félix before Sabrina could call him herself.

——————————

Nino’s not sure if it’s because he knew, deep down inside, that this was going to happen, but it’s a strange feeling nevertheless. He thinks that maybe he’s heartbroken, maybe numb, but he knows that he’s upset because he did cry in the restroom for several minutes after it happened.

Like ripping off a band-aid — hurts and then it’s fine for a while. Not great, not terrible, but fine.

As much as he didn’t want to, it’s either stick with the herd, or save the rest of his class from further manipulation.

It does hurt, though, knowing that he and Alya won’t be spending time together any more, that she’ll give him back his stuff and he’ll give hers back as well. He’s going to get bombarded with questions from the guys, and he’s not sure if that’s something he’s capable of handling emotionally at the moment.

“Nino…?” Adrien hesitantly called out, frowning with his brows pinched in concern. “Are you okay?”

He doesn’t think he is. On the bright side, he won’t be akumatized until maybe later. Can’t really say the same for Alya who just stomped off, but he expected that.

“Alya and I broke up.”

It was a quiet statement, simple, straight to the point. For the past several minutes, he’s been staring at his phone, trying to decide whether to actually drop Alya’s number like she yelled at him to do.

Huh. How long did he keep Adrien waiting? He hopes it wasn’t too long.

“What?!” Adrien shouted, eyes blown wide as he was very obviously taken aback by the news. “Why?! Don’t you two love each other?”

“We… had a fight,” Nino admits, not really wanting to rehash the last 15 minutes of his study period. But Adrien was his best friend, and he was also Alya’s friend, and Nino wasn’t gonna blind side him by making him feel awkward about hanging out with one over the other. “Rose and I finished our project early during our study period, so I went to go look for Alya.”

He should probably thank Rose for pushing him into doing it, otherwise he wouldn’t have, and then it’d be too late to do anything. She did look worried about him, when she caught sight of him heading towards the restroom, but she was with Juleka who’s been looking really pale lately.

Rose definitely knew how the conversation with Alya was going to turn out, and while he is upset at her for that fact, he knows that it’s not actually her fault.

“Uh huh…” Adrien nodded, looking increasingly worried. “What’d you two talk about?”

“It was about Lila,” he breathed, and he could see Adrien perking up at the mention of the girl. It made him feel terrible, having to break the news that Adrien’s crush isn’t as great as everyone thinks she is.

“What… uh, what about her?”

Like ripping off a band-aid, he had to remind himself. Taking in a deep breath, then letting it go as he steeled his resolve.

“I told her that Lila’s been lying to us. To all of us,” he looked away, not wanting to see Adrien’s heartbroken face. “And Alya… she didn’t believe me. She accused me of still liking Marinette and that’s why I’m siding with her. Stuff about how…” his eyes burned with unshed tears. “Lila’s been telling her a bunch of lies. About how I’m always looking at Marinette when Alya wasn’t looking, that she thought she saw me talking to Marinette after school the other day, that I was standing really close to her, like we were gonna…”

Nino took in another breath, letting it out with a sigh, willing to keep the weight of the heartbreak off his shoulders. He didn’t want to deal with getting akumatized for the day — it always made him feel worse in the aftermath.

It’s already been a bad day.

“What…?” he regrets looking back at Adrien, seeing a look of horror crossing his friend’s face. He hopes it’s for the situation that Nino’s in and not because of Lila’s lies. He didn’t know if he could handle something like that so soon after the breakup with Alya.

“I didn’t expect it either,” he smiled wryly, feeling all the bitterness bubbling up in his chest before suppressing it with a tired chuckle. “I thought that maybe…” he shook his head, his vision blurring. “Well, I guess Lila’s lies were stronger than our relationship, stronger than everything we’ve been through together, apparently.”

And oh, did that admittance hurt. Alya chose to doubt him over Lila, choosing a liar over her own boy—ex-boyfriend. She didn’t want to hear him out, claiming that he wanted to cover his unfaithfulness by throwing Lila under the bus.

“Nino, I’m… I… I know that’s not true—”

“Thanks for believing in me,” Nino gave his best friend a pat on the shoulder. “But I kinda expected this would happen if I talked to Alya about it,” he shot Adrien a weak smile. “I know you like Lila, just… be careful, yeah? I just… I don’t want you getting hurt like I did.”

Adrien said nothing. Nino didn’t blame him. Poor guy was still in a state of shock from what Nino could tell. It did make him feel better, knowing that he still had Adrien on his side if not Alya.

“Thanks for not calling me delusional. I… I know I said that I’d come hang out with you and Kitty Section today, but uh… I’m… not really up for it right now,” he gave Adrien a side hug. “Kinda don’t want to be around anyone from school.”

Maybe he’ll stop by the Dupain-Cheng Bakery on his way home. He could really use the warm hugs he’d always get from Sabine and Tom, and maybe a warm, freshly baked chocolate croissant. They always knew how to make him feel safe and at home whenever he’s had a bad day, and maybe they might have some advice for the heartbreak and—

Ah shit, Nino was definitely crying now.

“See ya tomorrow, dude,” he tugged his cap down and headed off.

Breakups are the worst.

[mc-lukanette]

MC-Lukanette’s “No Context November” 2022 Masterpost

` = ficlet

* = one-shot (or close to being a one-shot if a few paragraphs/a little more context were added)

^ = part of a larger AU/hypothetical story

{AO3 link for No Context November}

(Halloween bonus) * (3003 words) - Fit Like a Lover {Lukanette} [Halloween] [Costumes] [Confession] [Kiss]

Luka already feels lucky to be the first to see Marinette's costume for Halloween. Unbeknownst to him, however, there's just one thing she's missing...

Day 1 ` (624 words) - {Lukanette} [Sleepiness] [Cuddles]

Marinette tries to get home whilst the urge to sleep starts setting in. Luckily for her, she has someone looking out for her.

Day 2 ^ (1661 words) - {Lukanette} ["Silencer" divergence] [Drawing] [Confession]

Luka is having a creative session with Marinette when he notices something.

Day 3 ^ (1404 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Naga Luka Couffaine] [Courting] [Cuddling]

Marinette admires her naga friend Luka and reflects on the nature of their potential relationship.

Day 4 * (2604 words) - {Lukanette} [Light Fantasy Elements] [No Dialog] [Confession] [Kiss]

It takes a lot to put one's heart into a gift they make for another. How far would you go though, knowing that if it doesn't work out, that part of you is lost forever?

Day 5 ^ (1851 words) - {Lukanette} [Post-Dating] [Babysitting] ["Sandboy" kid]

Marinette and Luka babysit, and the child unintentionally brings another discussion to the forefront.

Day 6 ^ (2140 words) - {Coccaenette} [Ladybug Luka Couffaine (Coccaerus)] [Fluff] [First Meeting]

Coccaerus goes out at night to patrol and is reminded of why he does what he does.

Day 7 ^ (1507 words) - {Lukanette} ["Miraculous New York" divergence] [Confession] [Love Square Salt]

Luka meets up with Marinette after her brief trip to New York and notices immediately that something's different.

Day 8 * (4120 words) - {Lukanette} [Delivery AU] [Moments in Time] [Whirlwind Romance] [Roundabout Confession]

A bakery's delivery girl meets a pizza delivery boy.

Day 9 ^ (1168 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Rock Star Luka Couffaine] [Introvert Luka Couffaine] [Overstimulation]

Luka struggles after a concert and Marinette takes notice.

Day 10 ^ (1605 words) - {Lukanette} [Fantasy Elements] [Nonverbal Confession]

Marinette talks to Luka about a problem concerning her relationships as they stand, at least as her kwami has dictated them to be.

Day 11 ^ (1101 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Tension]

Marinette gets into a desperate situation and receives the best help she could've asked for.

Day 12 * (1885 words) - {Lukanette} [Long Distance Communication] [Realization of Feelings]

Luka departs from Paris. Marinette reflects on the physical distance between them compared to the emotional one, as well as how different both things really are.

Day 13 ^ (1219 words) - {LukaFairy} [Late Teens] [Fantasy] [First Meeting] [Fairy Marinette Dupain-Cheng]

Luka goes looking for flowers and finds something better.

Day 14 ^ (2271 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Performer Luka] [Remeeting] [Gifts]

Marinette tries to give Luka a surprise and Luka surprises her back.

Day 15 ^ (1845 words) - {Lukanette} [Childhood] [First Meeting] [Drawing]

Marinette is idling in the park when she spots a boy around her age.

Day 16 * (1520 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Talks of Marriage] [Love Square Salt]

Marinette pops a question to Luka before he can ask his own. He's just not expecting this particular question.

Day 17 ^ (1508 words) - {Lukanette} [Season 4 Divergence] [Bittersweet]

Luka tries to piece together the events that occur after his break-up with Marinette.

Day 18 ^ (1181 words) - {Vipernette/Viperbug Vibes} [Adulthood] [Vigilantes] [Identity Reveal]

Viperion awakens in a new location and at a new point in his relationship with Ladybug.

Day 19 * (1333 words) - {Lukanette} [Sickfic] [Silly] [Confession]

When Luka falls ill, Marinette does her best to ensure that he's at least in high spirits while recovering.

She succeeds, but not in the way she'd planned.

Day 20 ^ (870 words) - {Vipernette} [Fluff]

Viperion, who has visited Marinette multiple times over ever since she'd given him a gift, visits her with an emergency.

Day 21 ^ (2463 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Fantasy]

Luka and Marinette are hanging out when Marinette notices something concerning about his legs.

Day 22 * (2525 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Interviews] [Brief Love Square Salt] [Confession] [Kiss]

Luka had been determined to and had successfully kept his knowledge of Ladybug's identity a secret for years.

However, he catches sight of Ladybug on television one day and second-guesses whether he's been doing things right.

Day 23 ^ (2109 words) - {Lukanette} [Season 4 Divergence] [Lore Divergence] [Confession(s)]

Luka notices a recurring pattern when he's dreaming.

Day 24 ^ (2101 words) - {Lukanette} [Fantasy] [Voyager Couffaines] [Siren Marinette Dupain Cheng] [First Meeting]

After the Couffaines get into a bad situation, Luka wonders how they could've made it out without issue.

Day 25 * (4180 words) - {Lukanette} [Silly] [Confession] [Kiss]

Luka receives a call from Marinette about something that she needs helps with.

Being Luka, he goes without question and has no idea what shenanigans are in store for him.

Day 26 ^ (1445 words) - {Lukanette} [Adulthood] [Introspection] [Love Square Salt]

Luka and Marinette talk about the finer details of love and being in love, along with where it's brought them.

Day 27 ^ (1024 words) - {Lukanette} [Fluff] [Cooking]

Marinette has an enlightening conversation with Luka about cooking.

Day 28 * (1708 words) - {Lukanette} [Processing Emotions] [Confession] [Kisses]

Most people would focus on specific things after hearing that Paris was no longer in danger of akumatizations. They'd be glad that the unwelcome interruptions to their daily lives would cease, or that they'd no longer be at risk of having their emotions be taken advantage of (by a supervillain, at least), or that they wouldn't have to walk on eggshells due to the risk of being chased down by an evil, superpowered version of the person they offended.

Luka, however, just wants to know how Marinette is doing.

Day 29 ^ (1827 words) - {Lukanette} [Fate Seer Luka Couffaine] [Red String(s) of Fate] [First Meeting] [No Miraculouses AU]

Luka meets a cute girl who seeks his ability, and she might need all the help she can get.

Day 30 ^ (1868 words) - {Lukanette} [Rock Star Luka Couffaine] [Love Square Salt]

Luka receives a impromptu call from Marinette and they try to make up for lost time.