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immaturityofthomasastruc · 1 year ago

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IOTA Reviews: Representation

Oh, so NOW child abuse is bad. Could have fooled me last episode!

Let's get into the twenty-fifth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Representation

We start off with an English news report recapping the ending of “Revolution”, stating that Ms. Bustier is going to run for mayor, conveniently ignoring her attempted coup in “Collusion”. We also see that Gabriel and Tomoe are still uncomfortably focused on making Adrien and Kagami appear to be a couple in public, much to their dismay. While Kagami is visited by Argos (who once again sneaks up on her, like he usually does), Adrien realizes he can transform into his space form and see Marinette whenever he wants and transforms into Cat Noir, planning to reveal his identity to Marinette. Hey, did he even tell Ladybug about his sudden departure? Because it didn't go well the last time he left Paris without telling her (New York Special).

We then cut to Marinette right after the events of “Revolution”, going to the end of the year dance... even though when we saw Adrien and Kagami in London, the sun was still setting, and France's time zone is only about an hour later, meaning Adrien and Kagami must have flown there at ludicrous speed.

Meanwile, Argos and Kagami somehow got from London to Paris offscreen, and watch Marinette from afar, with Kagami revealing she knows she's Ladybug. They decide to tell Marinette that Felix knows who Monarch is in order to ensure his downfall. Nah, I'm just kidding. Here's the real reason they're coming to Marinette for help.

Kagami: My mother and Gabriel Agreste will never allow us to love each other freely. Only Ladybug can help us.

Yep, rather than prioritize the fact that Gabriel is endangering the citizens of Paris on a daily basis, Kagami is seriously more concerned about her relationship with her boyfriend being tampered with. This is like saying Lex Luthor is evil because he cheats on his taxes. Argos transforms back into Felix, and... oh, for the love of God... he disguises himself as Adrien in order to get closer to Marinette. You can't keep portraying Felix as this master of disguise if he only has ONE disguise!

Marinette sees “Adrien” and assumes he came back from London from her, assuming her boyfriend is much more active that the writers actually believe he is, so she tries to follow him while avoiding the guests at the party. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Tomoe learn their children are gone, so he goes to talk with Nathalie and—why the hell is she like that?

Seriously, this has never been established as something that happens when someone uses the broken Peacock Miraculous. Why didn't this happen to Emilie? She looks pretty healthy in her little coffin, and I doubt Gabriel is an embalmer.

Anyway, after Nathalie once again reminds us that she hates Gabriel, but not enough to call the cops on him, Gabriel transforms into Monarch and immediately detransforms back in order to akumatize himself into Nightormentor.

Nightormentor is a pretty average recolor of the Collector's design, which kind of makes sense, considering that Gabriel himself intended the Akuma for himself. The star pattern is okay, but there's not much I can really say. As for his powers, he's just another Sandboy, being able to force people to hallucinate their worse nightmares, only instead of a pillow, his weapon is a staff created from a pen containing the Akuma, with the Horse Miraculous' Voyage to boot. Why he didn't just give himself the same powers he gave Truth when he's trying to find Adrien is anyone's guess.

Cat Noir arrives at the Eiffel Tower to talk with Marinette, just as Nightormentor appears. The two fight, and after a few civilians get caught in the crossfire, Nightormentor escapes through Voyage. As Cat Noir heads to the Dupain-Cheng bakery at the advising of Max, Alya and Nino decide that the totally not useless Resistance should get involved.

While Marinette gives chase, Felix leads her into the school's art classroom, where he transforms into Argos and creates a Sentimonster using Kagami's ring. Felix and Kagami use the Sentimonster's power to do... uh... whatever the hell this is.

Yeah, this is basically a flashback, but the animators probably blew their budget needed for the new models on Ms. Bustier's baby bump, so we're getting this instead, thanks to the Sentimonster Argos created. There are several scenes of Cat Noir and Nightormentor interspersed, but like what I did with Marinette's flashback in “Derision”, I'll give you the summary before I talk about my problems with this.

When Adrien's mother and aunt, Emilie and Amelie, were born, Emilie (who was born seven seconds early) was trusted with the family heirlooms, the two rings we first saw all the way back in “Felix”. Even though this meant she would inherit the family name, Emilie didn't really like doing... whatever the Graham de Vanily family wanted her to do, but Amelie did. Eventually, while studying abroad, Emilie met Gabriel, and the two fell in love. Before marrying Gabriel, Emilie gave up her role as the sole inheritor of the Graham de Vanily family's vague legacy, while Amelie married a man named Colt to please her parents. Both couples wanted children, but it's heavily implied that Emilie and Amelie were infertile, so their wishes weren't able to come true. Emilie finally managed to get a bun in the oven thanks to the Peacock Miraculous, but this made Colt jealous that he couldn't have a child. Out of the goodness of her heart, Emilie asked Gabriel to give the Peacock Miraculous to Colt, in exchange for letting the Gorilla guard Adrien in the future. Using his own jealousy as a source of power, Colt got Amelie pregnant, though at the cost of his health. Colt figured this was the price he had to pay for using “sorcery”, and used this as an excuse to treat Felix like a monster and ordered him around using the ring containing his Amok. Felix himself was unaware that he wasn't human until Colt accidentally broke the ring (which wasn't one of the two wedding rings used to control Adrien and was an entirely different ring containing Felix's Amok), which he stole as soon as Colt died. This is meant to explain why Felix decided to steal back the Peacock Miraculous, in order to save his life. Felix later met Kagami, and the two explain that they need “Someone like Ladybug” to help them.

Now if your only information about this episode is through my summary, it seems simple enough. For everyone else who actually saw this sequence in the episode itself, I'm guessing your thoughts were about the same as mine.

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Let's go over every problem I have with this scene, starting with...

#1: The Way Kagami and Felix Explain This

Let me just ask something: Why can't Felix just talk to Marinette about what he knows since he now knows she's Ladybug instead of telling her everything through this weird play? You can still tell Marinette all of this without your two-man show. In fact, why did Felix have to wait until he knew Marinette was Ladybug instead of just talking to her the next time he saw her? Yeah, you could argue it's easier this way, but like I've been saying since Season 4, Felix has had no excuse to wait this long to tell Ladybug about the fact that he knows who her greatest enemy is.

And why the hell is it presented this way? Why does Felix have to recontextualize the story of his family's history in the form of a play? Why turn it into a stereotypical fairy tale that leaves out the names of all the important people, like Emilie, Amelie, Colt (whose name I only learned through the transcript of this episode), and Gabriel? If it was like a hidden message Felix and Kagami wanted to convey to Marinette, that would make sense, but why do they have to be so cryptic when they're only putting this show on for one person? You could easily avoid a good chunk of the questions this raises if this was a show Felix and Kagami put on for the public that Marinette was able to learn the information from. Yeah, it still wouldn't explain why Felix can't just tell Marinette about who Gabriel really is, but at least it's something.

The way it all happens kind of reminds me of this scene from this old Halloween special I saw a lot as a kid, Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktacular. In that scene, some of the kids act out a scene of this little girl's parents entrusting her with a flashlight to explain why she carries it around, in order to scare off any monsters she runs into, using the graveyard they were in as a makeshift set. This scene works a lot more because it's done in more of a tongue-in-cheek way, with some of the kids breaking character to boost their own egos (for example, the kid playing the mom comments about how responsible she is), and how one kid in particular gradually gets fed up with the whole thing. The scene does its job at delivering exposition in a way that isn't meant to be taken too seriously, and it's clear this is being done by some kids goofing around in-universe.

With this episode, it's clear that the writers want the audience to take this whole backstory seriously in spite of how absurd it all is. Seriously look at this.

We are seriously expected to take this backstory seriously when it looks like some theater major's midterm project. The animators want it to look artsy and unique for the sake of making it look artsy and unique. Why does it look like a play these two put together themselves if they're supposedly using a Sentimonster's power to do it? If the unnamed Sentimonster's powers is how Marinette is seeing all this, why can't it actually be seen as a flashback? Was it always intended to be a handmade play that was changed to the product of a Sentimonster at the last minute?

I get that the animators probably wanted kids to pick up on the visuals of the play, but even then, it makes it hard to really stomach the serious themes this backstory brings up, like infertility and child abuse, with the way they're presented. Not only do Felix and Kagami all play the characters using these white jumpsuits and masks, they also do all the voices, meaning that the only “dialogue” we hear from Colt is delivered by Kagami putting on a deeper voice. Let me repeat that: the only times we hear Colt, the abusive parent and all around garbage human being, talk, it's done by a teenage girl trying to make her voice sound deeper.

But hey, maybe the goofy voice will be overshadowed by the nuanced depiction of child abuse, right? Right?

#2: The Portrayal of Colt and the Double Standards Regarding His Treatment of Felix

I have never seen a single show struggle this much to convey a lesson as simple as “Child abuse is bad”.

When it comes to the parents in this show, terrible parents like Gabriel, Audrey, and Tomoe are almost never held accountable for the way they treated their children. If the writers aren't claiming they really love their children deep down, they're either downplaying how cruel they are at best or playing their behavior for laughs at worst. But here we are, the penultimate episode of the fifth season, and we finally have a parent who is unambiguously treated as a terrible human being with no redeeming qualities... and I still have problems with this.

This flashback really goes out of its way to let the audience that Colt was a real piece of scum in life. He only wanted a child out of jealousy, used his Amok to force Felix to do whatever he wanted, was heavily implied to have physically beat him at times, and blamed him for his poor health on his deathbed when he was the one who wanted to use the Peacock in the first place. Now that I think about it, why did Colt even use the Peacock to create Felix instead of Emelie? Was the episode so determined to paint Colt as a bastard that he wanted to be the one to create Felix himself?

The point I'm trying to make is that the show doesn't really explain why Colt was like this. Why was he such an angry man who treated his only child like crap? I don't know, because all the show's telling me is that he was just a dick. He honestly feels more like a caricature than anything else. He's only as terrible of a person he is in order to make the audience sympathize with Felix. I'm not saying that what Felix went through was okay, but it has the same energy as scenes of Gabriel talking to Emilie's body. It's mostly there to make the audience sympathize with an antagonistic character in spite of all the things they've done.

What's really weird is that even though the whole point of this play is so Felix can tell Marinette Gabriel is Monarch, so what does Colt have to do with this? I'm not saying he's not worth mentioning, but it makes no sense for Felix to tell Marinette about his abusive father before he tells her about Gabriel. It feels more like Felix wants to find a way to excuse his actions before telling Marinette about Gabriel being Monarch. And remember when “Derision” made a big deal about Chloe's terrible parents not excusing her actions? Funny how that conveniently doesn't apply to Felix in this episode.

In fact, let's talk about the elephant in the room: The fact that this episode aired right after “Revolution”, an episode that literally said a character living under an abusive and controlling parent was a fitting punishment for her. HOW THE HELL IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT FROM THAT? If anything, this episode really shows the double standards this show has about child abuse, how the only way your situation can be taken seriously is if you're a “good victim”. Chloe's a “bad victim”, so she doesn't get any sympathy when her mother outright says she's going to take control of her life, yet when Colt actually takes control of Felix's life, we're supposed to sympathize with him now. Why am I supposed to feel bad for Felix now when you just told me I shouldn't feel bad for someone in a similar situation last episode?

In fact, one theory I have about this backstory is that it was intended to kill two birds with one stone, no pun intended. I believe that this episode wasn't just written to give us more insight into who Felix is as a character, but also to show the audience what “real” child abuse is like. As far as the show is concerned with Gabriel, Audrey, and Tomoe? They're not actually abusive parents, Colt is, so you should condemn his actions, and not those three. It's blatant double standards, which is nothing new for this show.

#3: The Way Amelie Just... Lets This All Happen

In my “Derision” review, I discussed how strange it was that so many people in Marinette's life did nothing to help her against Chloe, and the same thing applies here with Amelie.

This episode never really explains where Amelie was when Colt was abusing Felix, much less if she was even aware of it. At least with Marinette's parents, they didn't know because most of Marinette's suffering was at school. Amelie lives with Felix and Colt, so what's her excuse? She seriously didn't overhear Colt yelling at Felix or notice the orders Colt gave Felix? Was she just that ignorant to her child's suffering? Remember, this is supposed to be Felix's good parent.

In fact, does Amelie even know Felix is a Sentimonster? Yeah, “Emotion” established that Amelie knows Felix is Argos, but this episode doesn't really make it clear if she knows Felix is a Sentimonster or not. If it was clear Amelie knew nothing about what Felix really was, it would arguably make things easier to stomach, as she wouldn't know the power Colt had over him.

Instead, even though she's Felix's mother, the show doesn't really explain what she actually did when Colt was making Felix's life a living hell, especially since the flashback says that Amelie was forced to marry Colt, so you can't even say she was blinded by love here. Hell, I'm not even sure if Amelie knew the cause of Colt's untimely passing.

#4:This Doesn’t Really Do Much to Explain Felix’s Actions

Now before you say I'm being insensitive, let me make one thing clear: My issue isn't with the fact that this was done to get the audience to sympathize with Felix. The problem I have is that the backstory doesn't do enough to explain why Felix did the things he did.

Okay, Felix wants the Peacock Miraculous. Understandable, he doesn't want to die, so he has to do morally questionable things to preserve his life like betraying the only person capable of stopping the man who can kill him. What's less understandable is his plan to get the Peacock Miraculous from Gabriel. You'll notice that the backstory didn't mention Felix's first appearance, where he only stole the rings belonging to Amelie's family, and he didn't even think to look for the Peacock. Instead, it cuts from Felix realizing he's a Sentimonster to him striking a deal with Gabriel, not even mentioning that he gave Gabriel back one of the rings as part of the deal, which still makes no sense.

If Felix's goal from the start was to get the Peacock Miraculous, why did he bother stealing all of Marinette's Miraculous as a bargaining chip for the deal instead of the family ring? In fact, why did Felix even steal the ring and wait an entire season to trade it back to Gabriel for the Peacock a season later? And for someone who claims to care about Adrien, he really didn't see anything wrong with giving Gabriel one of the two rings capable of overriding his free will.

As a matter of fact, why the hell is Felix even so hostile towards Adrien? Why did he go out of his way to smear his reputation in his debut episode if all he wanted to do was make a bargain with Hawkmoth? In “Risk”, he mocked Adrien for how he talked, while Adrien himself was aware of how he made him look bad in front of his friends, and that's not even getting into how he made himself look like Adrien as part of his plan to betray Ladybug, which would have screwed him even more if Adrien wasn't already Cat Noir. For someone who claims he wants to protect him from Gabriel, Felix really doesn't care about his cousin all that much.

In fact, why does Felix even hate Gabriel at all? The show hinted that the two had a history, yet during the backstory, which I need to remind you, was told from Felix's perspective on the events, has a surprisingly generous portrayal of Gabriel. Did Felix know Gabriel was Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth/Monarch during his first appearance? Does Felix blame Gabriel for how Colt treated him growing up? Does Felix hate Gabriel for how he treats Adrien? Did Gabriel intend to get Colt sick in the first place? Seriously, what is Felix's deal with Gabriel?!

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How does a flashback organized by Felix himself do nothing to really explain why he did the things he did?

#5: The Fact That There Are STILL Several Unanswered Questions Here

For something meant to fill the audience in on several important topics, there are still so many questions about the history of the Agreste and Graham de Vanily families.

Other than the vague backstory about them being rich, we still know nothing about Emilie and Amelie other than them being rich and possibly infertile. We don't know if Amelie ever loved Colt, if she knew he was abusing Felix, or if she even knew if he used the Peacock to play god.

On a related note, why did Emilie and Gabriel decide to use the Peacock Miraculous to create a son instead of adopting? Scratch that, why did she specifically create a Sentimonster to give birth to like a normal baby? Was there some kind of Macbeth-esque guideline that Emilie had to give birth to a child in order for said child to get the inheritance? Did she use the ring to control Adrien like Gabriel does now? Seriously, this is the character the show's conflict is all based around, and we still know nothing about her other than the fact that she was nice.

This flashback just makes no sense, and is such a stupid and confusing way to deliver exposition.

Anyway, during all this, Cat Noir and Nightormentor are fighting, and for the third time this season, Cat Noir attempts to Cataclysm him someone, even when he had Nightormentor pinned down. Nightormentor breaks free and hits Cat Noir with his magic dust, causing him to hallucinate... Cat Blanc?

Yeah, the script calls this form “Anticat”, but given how it looks like a reused Cat Blanc model coupled with the petrified people of Paris, this is clearly meant to bring Cat Blanc to mind. The problem is that NEITHER CAT NOIR OR NIGHTORMENTOR KNOW ABOUT THAT. Why would you remind audiences about an Akuma that technically never existed?

Better yet, is this what Cat Noir trying to his Cataclysm on people this past season (Destruction, Jubilation, Derision) has been building up to? The fear that he'll lose control? You could have fooled me, as he never really showed that much remorse for almost hurting people other than Monarch. Yeah, you could argue that because Nightormentor based his hallucinations off his victims' worst fears, but again, this fear had little to no buildup this season because Cat Noir never felt any guilt for Cataclysming Monarch after “Destruction”, and whenever tried to use his Cataclysm on other people, Cat Noir never really realized the weight of his actions. If you want to make a character arc about Cat Noir worrying about hurting people with his powers, go more into the guilt he feels for hurting Monarch and using that guilt to affect his actions. Don't just use some “Cat Blanc” nostalgia bait to convince the audience that there's been a character arc.

Nightormentor takes advantage of Cat Noir's emotional state to get his Miraculous, only for the Resistance to save Cat Noir by... throwing stuff at him. And this is how they defeat him. While Nino, Alya, Ivan, and Zoe distract Nightormentor, Kim and Max help Cat Noir focus, Cat Noir Cataclysms Nightormentor's baton.

Zoe traps the Akuma in a jar, Cat Noir doesn't take it, he heads off to detransform and confess to Marinette, only for the hallucination to still affect him since Ladybug didn't use Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, and even though he knows it's just a hallucination, he still uses it as a reason to not reveal his identity to Marinette, even after Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma herself.

The episode ends with Gabriel and Tomoe locking Adrien and Kagami in these white rooms while under heavy surveillance to ensure they won't escape, vowing to start “Operation: Perfect Alliance”. Because these two like using the word “perfect” more than they like subjecting their children to what one of my anons referred to as “white torture”.

Because that's a good way to keep your children under control: psychological torment.

Other than the stuff with Felix and Kagami, this episode was pretty dull.

There's just not much I can really say here. The plot was barebones, all Marinette did was listen to Felix and Kagami's story so the writers didn't have to involve any of them in the main conflict, and even Cat Noir confronting his akumatized father doesn't have a lot of weight to it because towards the end, it focuses more on Adrien's nightmare instead of his relationship with his father.

This episode is nothing more than a prologue for the final battle. It's only here to establish Adrien and Kagami's presence in London, Marinette learning Gabriel is Monarch, and even more setup for Gabriel and Tomoe's final plan. And trust me, the buildup will be far from worth it.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... FELIX

It's amazing. The only time this season Felix goes out of his way to actually help Ladybug, and he still screws it up. He abducted Kagami from her hotel in London without thinking of Tomoe hunting him down again when that was the entire plot of “Pretension”, only decided to tell Marinette he knows who Monarch is because he's getting in the way of his relationship with his girlfriend, did so in an unnecessarily convoluted way, and even though he made a big deal about not wanting to use Sentimonsters in his last appearance, he still used one to tell Marinette his life story instead of just saying “My uncle is Monarch”.

And if you think Felix will get a chance to truly redeem himself in the finale, think again, bucko. Other than a brief cameo, this is the last thing he'll do this season. Aren't you glad the writers made this character prominent for seven episodes over three seasons and did nothing else with him?

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marinettesaltprompts · 2 months ago

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Here's an idea for a salt prompt:

When CatWalker replaces Chat Noir, Ladybug is initially ecstatic. He seems perfect. A total upgrade from Chat Noir.

The only problem is...

Well, she's on the other side of the unrequited love barrier now.

CatWalker is polite, but professional. He doesn't joke around. He doesn't make friends with anyone on the team. He does his job as efficiently and effectively as possible and goes home. He's not rude and he is an attentive partner workwise but he's not someone to do more than provide token comfort when needed or to hang out for the sake of it like Chat Noir once did.

Even when Ladybug carefully probes for the possibility Catwalker is quick to shut any possibility of a closer relationship down. Even Viperion can't get through the model-professional mask.

Meanwhile at school Adrien seems to be quietly withdrawing as well. In truth it took them a while to notice, but lately Adrien's always had a thing he had to do at home or for his Father when Nino asked. He hasn't even really been going to band with Luka and his group anymore either. There's no sign of sadness or stress though. Just that same model smile as always.

Finally the story goes to Adrien's perspective and the truth is revealed. The day that Plagg came back with the ring they had a hard conversation about why Adrien really gave it up: the disregard. The double standards about the identity rules that apparently on he had to follow. More importantly they discussed how the increasingly one-way affection and care in the relationship between him and Ladybug was hurting him. Once upon a time Ladybug had been his first friend outside of the house. Now he felt like her pet or worse.

He *knows* that whatever she called him to talk about before time was broken had been important. And he's pretty sure there was no good reason for Viperion to have been down there having *activated second chance* when he and Ladybug were supposed to have just been talking.

Plagg then spilled something that poisoned any chance of Adrien returning as Chat Noir. During the night that Ladybug had spent trying to figure out how to get a new Black Cat, Plagg had spoken with the other Kwamis and Sass let slip the truth about why Ladybug had called Chat Noir to the tower that night.

About her scummy plan. About how she'd chosen to manipulate him over trusting him in the slightest. About how in the end all Ladybug had to do was just yell at Su-Han to make him cave.

About how Viperion hadn't even said a word to try and convince her to stop but just when along with everything. Sure the other Kwamis aren't that bothered about it- human things aren't their specialty so it's not like they care that much when it's not a holder they like getting hurt- but the implications are clear.

And just like that something in Adrien finally breaks. The scales fall from his eyes and the desire for a bond between him and Ladybug withers away. The same for any idea of a friendship between him and Luka.

And from there so to do the other threads connecting him to others. Nino had *hated* Chat Noir. Sure a lot of it had been grief, but the contempt towards Chat Noir was real. Would they really still be friends if Nino knew who he really was?

Probably not.

Alya and him were only friends by association of Nino. And no one else in class was closer to him than that. Even the others in the band were people he'd gotten closer through Luka.

Marinette... well. He'd *thought* they were getting closer, but any time it seemed like they were making progress she'd act out and... well. He'd been trying to ignore it for a while but if he was honest he knew what a fangirl looked like. He just didn't want to admit what he saw in Marinette.

Even Chloe and Felix had fallen away in their own ways.

Maybe it was time to let them all go. It hurts to accept but less than he expected. It's kind of a sad relief. He'd dreamed of making friends and a life outside of the manor but much like being a superhero, things were harder in real life than in his fantasies.

But Plagg was different. Sure he wasn't perfect. He'd kept things from him, but they'd bonded. Adrien honestly couldn't say there was anyone closer to his heart than the little Kwami, not since Mom had "disappeared".

But he lose Plagg forever if he stopped being Ladybug's partner. And Plagg doesn't want to say goodbye to Adrien either- but he has responsibilities as well. He can't just stay with Adrien and ignore the fight in Paris- even if he didn't care much about humans he cared about poor Nooroo and Duusu!

So they concocted a way for them to stay together. Being Chat Noir had been freedom once, but it had been becoming more of an obligation to Ladybug anyway. Besides, he was decent at escaping now anyway and he could only really have fun with Plagg in the privacy of his room anyway. The relationship between him and Ladybug was a source of more pain and trouble than it was worth at this point, Adrien just couldn't be her emotional support anymore. So the new Cat would be strictly polite and distant with her to avoid even the possibility of that happening again. Chat Noir had been widely mocked and devalued for his approach, so his replacement would be a calm professional who never let his personal feelings touch his work.

And so Catwalker was born.

He's easy for Adrien to slip into. He's just the same model personality he practices every day after all, only now the distance between him and others is enforced. He's the perfect fighter. The perfect soldier. No one can fault him, and no one can say that he doesn't fit on the team even if he's not part of their friend group. Adrien's heart is protected, Ladybug the partner she wanted and Plagg gets to keep his favored holder.

Catwalker is perfect.

Too perfect really. He knows what a fangirl looks like after all, and the "subtle" looks Ladybug gives him when she thinks he won't notice tug at him with a mix of bitter longing and disappointment that she's infatuation by the same hollow mask as the rest of Paris. But Catwalker also doesn't owe Ladybug his shoulder like her 'friend' Chat Noir felt like he did when she's down, she has an entire team for that- when the job's done he can just go home instead.

And Adrien? It's all too easy to slip back into a comfortable loneliness. In hindsight, a lot of his relationships at school were shallower than he thought. Nino was nice enough guy, but they'd never been able to fully bond in the way he'd wanted- and Nino's priority had been Alya for nearly as long as they'd known each other anyway. Luka and the band were circumstantial friends and the others were less than that really.

But was comfortable. Familiar to be alone in a crowd. To put on a mask of friendliness and have nothing deeper than passing acquaintances. He'd been on sports teams growing up, fencing, basketball, Karate and yet he'd never been allowed to get close to anyone but Chloe and Felix. It was normal for him to be in solitude, it hurt less than he expected to let the others go.

But maybe that was because he still had a true friend now. A little, rambunctious Kwami who would deceive his own Guardian to stay with him. Someone who actually, fully accepted him in his entirely and who he could actually trust. The very kind of friendship he'd always dreamed of.

And that'd why he's able to live like this.

It wasn't the life he'd imagined or wanted as Chat Noir. But both Adrien and Catwalker found themselves content.

I love this Idea, but I also wanted to that it's perfectly ironic. Everyone in his class and life, from Marinette to Kagami, always did say that Adrien the Model is perfect, so he gives them exactly what they wanted. A flawless model that stands alone, away from them all.

Thank you for the prompt! New post should be coming soon!

#marinette salt #miraculous ladybug #marinette salt prompts #miraculous ladybug salt #adrien sugar #miraculous ladybug salt prompts #Honestly this is perfect #Technically Cat-Walker is what Ladybug wanted Chat Noir to be.#This is also what some fans of the show (as well as Adrien salters) wanted him to be #So he gives her exactly that #So that also means no more lovesquare.#Ladybug gets exactly what she wanted #Miraculous Ladybug

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pisoprano · 3 months ago

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Another Loveybug AU concept, this time with amnesia!

Ladybug’s identity gets exposed to Monarch. She manages to get away, but she knows that she can’t remain as Ladybug or the Guardian anymore. She contacts Su-Han and tells him she has to give up the miracle box.

But before relinquishing anything, Marinette starts playing with her transformation. She finds out that if she focuses on her romantic feelings, it manifests as a different suit, one that she is completely unrecognizable in.

Marinette convinces Su-Han that they can’t afford to get someone else to be the new ladybug, not when Scarabella and Kitty Noire were so easily discovered. She’ll keep the earrings. She just won’t be able to remember her time as Ladybug.

Ladybug goes out in public to face Monarch one last time, this time following in Master Fu’s footsteps to sacrifice her memories to pass on the miracle box (now, returning it back to Su-Han).

A disoriented Marinette finds herself standing before a purple man who wails about losing something. But before she can ask what’s going on, a boy in cat ears takes her in his arms and carries her home. There’s something in his eyes, something she can’t quite place. Sadness? Love? Whatever it is, he doesn’t say. He merely kisses her forehead and says, “Thank you for everything.” And then he’s gone.

Alone in her bedroom, Marinette finds a box with a pair of earrings inside. As she tries them on, she is accosted by a bug-mouse who can talk. ‘Tikki,’ this being calls herself, tells Marinette that she was chosen to inherit the Ladybug mantle. Tikki also says that if Marinette channels her feelings of love, she can become a hero who can protect Paris. Marinette thinks of her love for her boyfriend Adrien (who could ever forget him?), then proclaims “Hearts on!” And suddenly, she’s pink.

She encounters the boy with cat ears again. He tells her that he’ll protect her as she gets used to her powers. She finds herself acclimating far more easily than she thought possible for a clumsy girl like her. (It’s probably a side effect of the super suit.)

She looks up information about her predecessor—apparently Alya was obsessed with cataloging every detail she knew about ‘Ladybug.’ Marinette isn’t entirely sure why she doesn’t remember much about all the months of attacks that have plagued Paris. Maybe that purple man acquired mind erasing powers and Ladybug hadn’t been able to fix it with her miracle cure before she passed on the miraculous?

Tikki tries to inspire her with her own stories of Ladybug. How she’d always try to stand up against the cruelty of the world and fight for kindness. Marinette wasn’t sure how she was supposed to fill the shoes of someone like that. Though apparently Ladybug had been a klutz with a stutter too, so maybe Marinette might not be entirely a hopeless cause.

Alya’s been sad ever since Ladybug went away. Alya had dedicated so much of her life to Ladybug, it made sense she’d miss the superheroine when she’d gone. Marinette tries to get Alya to get invested in reporting about Loveybug, but she doesn’t bite. Alya’s far more interested in making sure Marinette knows how amazing Ladybug was. Even if it makes her sad, Alya clearly needs to reminisce, and Marinette is happy to be there for her.

Adrien’s been sad too, though he seems to cheer up a lot when he’s around her. He’s also gotten really protective. Practically every time an akuma alert goes off, Adrien is sticking Marinette in a closet for her to hide in before running off to his own hiding place. She doesn’t point out that she’d feel more protected if he stayed in the closet with her—she needs to use the time alone to transform. But it’s always nice that she can use the moments where Adrien kisses her goodbye as fuel to use for ‘channeling love’ when transforming into Loveybug.

The boy in the cat ears is different too, at least from how he acted in all those videos. It was incredibly obvious that he was head over heels for Ladybug from the beginning. Marinette doesn’t understand why Ladybug had apparently rejected his advances. He was sweet. And he is still sweet, but when he’s around Loveybug… the light leaves his eyes. She probably reminds him of the partner he lost. She tries to give him space, but that only seems to make him look even more lonely. She tries to cheer him up instead. Make him laugh. It turns out he had a magical laugh. (If she wasn’t already with Adrien, she could see herself falling for the boy in cat ears too.)

Gabriel Agreste sends Adrien away to London. Marinette tries to keep the boy she loves home, but only manages one final kiss goodbye before he is taken away. She doesn’t think she can channel that kiss to becoming Loveybug. Her heart hurts too much.

As Marinette mourns, Tikki finds a box of rainbow cookies somewhere in Marinette’s room. In an attempt to cheer her up, she eats a purple macaron and tells Marinette she’ll provide a cool new power the next time she transforms. Marinette, heart still heavy, says, “Tikki, power up.” Suddenly, she’s weightless. Realizing this power has opened up the entire world to her, she immediately takes to the skies. Adrien. She could now find Adrien!

She searches London for the boy she loves, serendipitously finding him standing on a balcony of a secluded apartment. Adrien stares at her, eyes impossibly wide. “Cosmobug?” he asks, his voice hesitant.

She looks down at the suit she’s wearing for the first time. There aren’t any hearts anywhere. Only spots. She thinks she’s seen a picture of Ladybug wearing a suit very much like this. Maybe this was how all powered-up suits looked?

“I’m Loveybug,” she explains. “I’m here to rescue you!”

Adrien stands there unmoving, like he’s calculating a tough math problem in his head. Finally, he asks, “Marinette?”

She squeaks. “How did you figure me out? I’ve been so careful! Oh no, it’s because I forgot to ‘channel love’ before transforming, isn’t it? It messed with the mask magic, didn’t it? I knew I was going to mess up eventually…”

Adrien put his arms around her. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m really happy I found out your identity.”

Marinette curls in on herself. “Ladybug would be so disappointed in me if she knew…”

Adrien blinks. “You don’t know who Ladybug is?”

“Tikki can’t tell me things like that. She can only talk about how great her old holder was and how much she misses her.” She realizes Adrien probably has no idea what she’s talking about. “Oh! Tikki is—“

“I know who Tikki is,” he says, smiling. “And I think she left out some things. Come inside, I want to show you something.”

Adrien leads her to a mirror. “Try powering down. But this time, don’t do the ‘channeling love’ thing you do to become Loveybug.”

“What do I channel instead?”

“Nothing. Don’t think about it, just let whatever happen happen.”

She closes her eyes takes a deep breath. She tries to forget that Adrien was here with her. She tries to think of nothing, but her mind won’t let her stay on nothing. Instead, it turns towards the boy with the cat ears. The boy she has no business loving. She thinks about how she doesn’t need to be in love with him to want to be his friend. His partner, something inside her whispers. Aloud, she says, “Power down.”

She opens her eyes and sees her reflection. The hearts are still gone. The face, though… “Why do I look like Ladybug?” she whispers.

“Because you are Ladybug,” Adrien tells her.

“That’s not possible.”

“It is. Ladybug gave up her memories to protect the miraculous. But she—you—found a way to stay by Chat Noir’s side anyway.”

By becoming Loveybug. By channeling her love. “Was I in love with him before? Chat Noir?”

“I think so.”

She bites her lip. “Do you think I should return to him?”

“Are you in love with him now?” he asks.

“I… maybe,” she admits. Somehow, even when suppressing her feelings, the boy in cat ears tugged at her heart. But she could also feel a strong tug in another direction. “But I’m in love with you too, Adrien. I don’t want to give us up.”

He smiled, nodding like it was the ‘right’ answer. “You don’t have to, my lady.”

‘My lady.’ She knew those words. Not just from the Ladyblog videos. The term of endearment passing through his lips thrums against her very soul.

“Chat Noir?” she asks, unsure this could be real.

She looks into his eyes. His green eyes. Not quite like a cat’s, but there was a familiarity in the way they moved. In the way those eyes looked at her like she was his entire world.

“Yes. It’s me.”

She has so many questions. But the one that ends up leaving her mouth is, “Why are you still here? You could transform, leave here with no one to stop you.”

Adrien’s mouth falls agape once, then twice as he searches for words. Finally, he shrugs. “I guess I was waiting for someone to rescue me. If you still want to do the honors?”

Well, she hadn’t come all this way for nothing. She lifts him in her arms, every fiber of her straining with the desire to keep this precious boy safe. She still isn’t entirely sure how she’s going to protect him when his father finds out. Maybe Chat Noir could be a more permanent fixture around Paris? And, to make sure he didn’t feel so alone, Loveybug would spend as much time as possible there by his side.

Two of the biggest romantics in Paris, falling for each other… Alya might finally get invested in covering Loveybug now there was juicy relationship gossip to invest in. But Marinette should probably give Alya some closure about what really happened to Ladybug first, even if Alya couldn’t share that information with the rest of the world. Marinette couldn’t wait to see the look on her BFF’s face when she learned that Marinette Dupain Cheng of all people wielded the ladybug miraculous!

Until then, she holds on tight to Adrien Agreste as she flies him home.

At some point, he starts to get cold and she suggests that he transform to get protection from the suit.

His mouth pulls into a cheeky grin. “Plagg, claws out.” His hair turns green.

Wrong catboy! her mind screams, dropping him in a burst of horrifying clumsiness.

He calls up a power-up transformation before he falls into the sea, then flies up beside her. This time, he looks how she knows Chat Noir looks when given the gift of flight, not a green hair in sight. “Did I mention I can also transform into Catwalker?” he asks, feigning innocence (badly).

“No you did not!” she hisses.

“Just thought you should know I’ve got a backup identity too. In case we need it.”

“Do you plan on erasing your memories?”

“No…?”

“Then we don’t need another backup,” she declares. “Adrien and Chat Noir are plenty for me.”

#loveybug au #loveybug #chat noir #adrien agreste #loveynoir #adrienette #my writing #ml season 5 #miraculous ladybug #late night post

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ninadove · 24 days ago

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Lukadrinette kids

Because I can. Enjoy these silly little thoughts.

📝 General notes:

Marinette, aka Maman, started out as a very successful and very stressed out fashion designer. She ends up retiring at 35 to take over the bakery and finally learn to chill (it’s going… better than expected).

Luka, aka Papa, is a guitarist with a very niche following and is perfectly happy with that. He’s very present in his kids’ lives and the easiest parent to open up to, because of course he is.

Adrien, aka Dad, is the stay-at-home parent and could not be more stoked. And scared. Someone help them

Emma and Hugo are twins, but look nothing like each other, which baffled Adrien and Felix when they were born; Adrien will never admit it, but he was a tiny bit disappointed they weren’t identical.

To help the kids connect with their heritage, their parents speak French, English and Mandarin Chinese at home. Despite it all, Louis’ first words were a full sentence in Japanese — more on that later.

It’s very common for French kids to have two “middle names” (deuxième et troisième prénoms), so I have planned accordingly. Enjoy!

🐍 Emma

Her full name is Emma Sentibug Alya Dupain-Cheng. Adrien would not have it any other way.

She’s the oldest by five minutes and she takes it very seriously. Too seriously, even.

Emma inherited Gabriel’s grey eyes, which will have no influence on her perception of herself at all, no sir.

Like Marinette, she feels responsible for protecting everyone and everything around her, which is why she was blacklisted from using the Ladybug Miraculous before she reached the tender age of five.

As luck would have it, she ended up with the Snake, which is even worse for her mental health. For maximum dramatic irony, I think I’ll call her superheroine persona Aspik.

Aroace and sad. It’s already hard enough to be aspec as it is, but given the importance romance played in her parents’ lives… you get the point.

🦋 Hugo

Aka Hugo Felix Tom Dupain-Cheng. Yes, Felix cried upon learning his name. A lot.

🎶 Bi bi bi bi BI 🎶

Inherited Mari’s talent for arts and crafts and Adrien’s dramatics. Despite being very similar to them both, he often finds it difficult to talk to them.

Uncle Felix, however, is his absolute favourite adult in the world, and regularly knocks some sense into him.

Adrien and Nino were so excited for their sons to be besties! So naturally they hate each other’s guts

They end up kissing about it, though, so it’s fine.

Butterfly holder. Very purple 💜

🐈‍⬛ Louis

Aka Louis Nino Jules (after Juleka)

Because twins were a lot to handle, Louis only came along six years later.

When he doesn’t get his way, he turns petulant and grumpy, which makes him Plagg’s absolute favourite. Luka finds it endearing and jokes that they rub off on each other. This stresses Adrien out, though, as he fears it might be an early sign of Gabriel Behaviour.

The truth is that Louis just has these huge feelings that he doesn’t know how to handle… and you know who relates to this? KAGAMI. She’s the only one who can get him to calm down once he starts crying. She will pick him up, he will cling to her jacket and suck on his thumb, and she will carry on with the conversation as if nothing happened.

Originally Very Small, he gets a HUGE growth spurt and ends up built like Tom, which is very unusual for Cat holders.

🐞 Sabine

Aka Sabine Amelie Rose

The surprise baby of the bunch. She looks just like her grandma Sabine!

A total ray of sunshine. Also very gay.

As the youngest and eventual holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, she triggers Mari’s overprotective tendencies the most. Adrien actually had to step up and get her to back off as it was starting to stir up bad memories.

Because Rose was very ill when the twins and Louis were young, she and Juleka didn’t get to watch them as much as she would have liked. They made it up by spoiling their younger niece beyond reason.

The most musically inclined of the kids. Her love for punk rock and metal clashes hard with her cutesy vibes. Rose couldn’t be prouder. 💖

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #luka couffaine #lukadrinette #emma dupain-cheng #hugo dupain-cheng #louis dupain-cheng #sabine dupain-cheng #felix graham de vanily #kagami tsurugi #feligami #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #julerose

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snakeunderyourboot · 18 days ago

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can I talk about about Miraculous Team from s2 finale? I'm going to talk about Mireaculous Team from s2 finale

IT HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL

Like, narratively, at the end of s2 Hawkmoth got a new powerful ally Mayura, who can create senti-beings, which makes Akuma much more powerful than before. Even if LB and CN know that the peacock miraculous is damaged, they don't know to what extent and how exactly it affects its holder. The fact that Mayura even goes through wielding damaged miraculous already shows her huge trust and support of Hawkmoth and whatever his plan is.

So as the power of the antagonist grows, the protagonists also need to become stronger. The antagonist should always be a step ahead, BUT the protagonist should follow not so far after them because if not, it would be atomic bomb vs coughing baby. So LB and CN on their side, have themselves, a box of miraculouses, master Fu(debatable but okay), and some power-up additions. Only the 5-min rule after transformation is still present, they can't go around to give away all miraculouses because then it would be a repeat of the butterfly miraculous situation, and master FU isn't exactly helpful(especially later in the season where he is literally hunted by HM)

So. LB and CN need help

And if bad guys can team up, why can't good guys team up too?

And so we have a Mirauculous Team with now extended use of mirauclouses! We have Rena Rouge, who is secretly Alya, best friend of Marinette (or secterly LB), whose lifelong dream was to be a superhero. Now, I am sure, that being a superhero and having access to ALLL information that was hidden from the public, would go great for a young journalist who already had some fuck-ups and posting not great information. Also, sometimes your dream of a superhero doesn't match with reality! So is it really worth it to be a superhero? Sure, you want to help but are you really capable of providing such help if your first thought is content for your blog? Also also NOW IT"S YOUR TURN TO LIE TO YOUR FRIENDS. How does that feel?

And we have Carapace, who is Nino, best friend of Adrien, whose literal definition is being chill. Sure when needed, he will rise to the occasion, but again - is it really worth being a hero? Nino is a good person, he fought tooth and nail to get Adrien his birthday party, but saving the whole world? Nino?? The simple guy who just loves his friends and family and wants them to be okay??? That guy???? Also also LB and even sometimes CN would talk hours about responsibility and how important miraculouses are, but like...aren't they making it worse? Maybe the HM would fuck off after awhile, if other miraculouses didn't show up. Maybe the path of least resistence IS sometimes a good path. Why no one talks about it?

And last but not least we have Queen Bee or Chloe Bourgeois, the person who literally no one wanted to have a miraculous in the first place but it happened so we ball I guess. Chloe really admires LB but you know how idols tend to be when you actually meet them. And yeah okay, Chloe fucks up a lot in the first months of having a miraculous on semi-permanent base and LB criticize her, but she always tries to make up with expensive goods and screaming how much LB is better than anyone else. She doesn't understand why LB keeps asking her to treat normally. How LADYBUG can be a normal person??? She is a goddess, someone so cool and realized and everyone loves her and she keeps getting praise for just existing and...why does LB sometimes seem to be so human, so exhausted and stressed? That doesn't make sense...also also now that Chloe has miraculous she can't lose it. She needs to be better, to keep miraculous. But what does this "better" entitle? Better at battle, at powers, at SCHOOL?? How would famous Abry react to that I wonder?

As a cherry on top, we have LB and CN trying to learn how is it to work in a bigger team, to share responsibility and to help each other. It was them for a while and now there are new people and change is scary. How would that affect the love square?

The most important bit is that all members of the Miraculous Team have connections to LB and CN civilian life. They are all intervened, and they are all people we know and love and want to know more about! Sure, a lot of conflicts I brought up based on some of my vague ideas, but they could be explored!

The arc where Alya posts some crucial miraculous info on her blog, which HM notices and uses in the next battle, which hurts some of the members of the team. The arc where Nino is so convinced he is not cut out for hero life he practically searches for excuses to be put out of the team (one of the battles really scared his little brother and Nino wasn't there to help. If he cannot help his brother, how can he help the whole city?). The arc where Chloe tries to be good, is more or less okay at it, and then fails spectacularly(does it mean they will take her miraculous please no she can't lose pollen she can't lose someone who loves her as she is pleas no)

As a bonus, we could have had a Master FU BEING AN ACTUAL MENTOR INSTEAD OF just some lore-exposition guy. If he is so guilty about his past mistakes, well, here are 5 traumatized teenagers, the least you could do is actually help them. And no, not only Marinette, give others some advice too.

By the end of s2 we would have a good team of characters we already loved and now love even more, that are complicated and interesting AND GUESS WHAT the formula of "marinette has a problem with her life, akuma somehow related to it happens, LB fight it, everything is resolved, Marinette has some real-life lesson" STILL WORKS. Just now we can pair up Marinette with some other characters and if they happen to learn something too then GOOD. Kids can draw parallels and understand the lesson regardless

I just love those kids....I think they had a really good opportunity to spice up the show but leave the premise more or less the same.

And yeah we have "Miraculous Team" in s6 now, but all the points I mentioned before are non-existent now. There are too many people, for an antagonist who is so far less threatening than HM. It can change but that wouldn't fix the whole issue. All of Marinette's class doesn't have this much connection to her, as her literal best friend, her childhood friend, her crush and her rival/bully.

Anyway

I gushed enough(I didn't, but I am sleepy)

#miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #rena rouge #carapace #queen bee #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #chloe bourgeois #miraculous team #miraculous season 2

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aoparteilee · 6 months ago

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Alya With a Chance of Defamation

Words: 1,230

Part 1 (here) - Part 2 (Soon)

Summary: Alya Césaire wasn't stupid. As an aspiring journalist, she knew to fact-check, double check, and every other check. She could connect details faster than her phone connects to the school wifi. And while she wore glasses, her eyes are ones of hawk's when spotting holes in a story.

She's also not a suck-up, or too much of a snitch. If something isn't harmful, she's gonna let it slide. What she won't let slide, however, is the deliberate dragging of her best friend's name.

or, Alya isn't as dense as she is in canon

When Lila Rossi first comes to Dupont, stories of travels and claims of connections spilling from her very bangs, involving a certain red and black clad super-heroine, Alya is a bit hind-sighted. Ladybug is not an easy lady to come by to request an interview, and while her partner in crime-fighting was a bit more open to conversations, the looming threat of identities that came in the form of beeping noises often pulled him away before he could share more.

She had many questions. How did they acquire their miraculous jewelry? How many miraculi were out there? Are there other ways besides Ladybug's yoyo and Chat Noir's Cataclysm to terminate akumas and prevent akumatizations? Do they have any leads on Hawkmoth's whereabouts and identity? Will they leave once Hawkmoth is gone?

Marinette had snagged her an interview with the heroine before, but it had been more about her thoughts surrounding her heroism and how the super suit worked.

She is brimming with excitement to question the new student when she remembers one, tiny detail: How could Lila even know Ladybug before coming to Paris?

According to the girl, she first came from Italy before moving here because her parents were important Italian diplomats. Knowing about Ladybug's existence is possible. By this point of time news of the superheroes has become old and accepted as something that just is and another weird thing about France. But how could a girl all the way in Italy personally know a superhero in Paris who most likely, lives in Paris.

Alya won't write it down as fact, but judging from how akuma attacks were always in Paris, whomever had given Ladybug and Chat Noir their miraculi must have given it to people from Paris. If, hypothetically, Ladybug were from Italy, she gets to Paris so fast it's unreal. How do person all the way across the continent hear about an akumatization so fast they get to Paris in around 5 minutes?

She looks beside her, to her best friend, and from the looks of it Marinette is thinking along the same lines. She's wearing a frown and her nose is scrunched in that manner that she only ever does when Chloe is being more irritating than usual.

Something is rotten in the state of Lila Rossi.

Okay, Alya will admit, she- as a little kid, mind you- had lied to her fellow students about whatever was trending being something she followed to sound cool. Everyone at one point lied about something to sound cool in front of their peers. It's a part of the beautiful cycle of life! But this is getting out of hand.

Lying about knowing celebrities is one thing, but making promises about helping her classmates reach their dreams with her "connections" was just mean. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes when Lila had told her about setting her up an appointment with Ladybug for an interview. She politely declined, wrapping her arm around Marinette's shoulder and saying, "Thanks, but there's no need, Lila. Miss Dupain-Cheng over here happens to also be friends with Ladybug. In fact, my blog's most viewed video, an interview with Ladybug, was arranged by her! I think I'm all set."

Marinette gives a small grin and flicks the hand by her shoulder playfully.

Lila's expression falters, her mouth twisting down from her welcoming 'I-can-grant-you-opportunities' smile into a displeased downturn.

Bingo.

She quickly smiles again, and moves to harass Mylene with her actor connections.

Alya is not a genius psychoanalyzing scholar. She's never been too good at reading people, often being labeled a bit naive back in her old school. But she's not stupid, nor is she blind. She saw and she knows.

Fortunately for Lila, she hasn't lied about something stupid and illegal enough that Alya would feel the need to call her out for.

She's lied before, so what if this girl's a little more intense? No harm done. Her friends aren't stupid nor blind either.

As long as no one is getting hurt, who cares if the new girl is trying to show off a bit?

Marinette cares. Marinette cares a lot.

"You do know Ladybug wouldn't publicly have a best friend right?" she squished Alya's cheeks, making her laugh a bit. "That would be dumb, because then the said best friend would be targeted by Hawkmoth and-"

"Babes, relax, I know she's a little bit of a liar," Alya reassures. "Just don't bother with her. Soon enough the hype will die down and she'll realize we're humoring her. You never lied to sound cool before?"

Marinette paused, then seemed to relax, slumping against her. "Oh. Good. Okay, so at least you know."

Alya laughed again.

What was Marinette worried about? Lila's a harmless liar. It'll die down in a few days, probably.

"Marinette, I don't know what rough fight you and Ladybug might have gone through, but that's no excuse to threaten her identity!" Lila exclaimed the very next day to confused but listening class, if only to humor the girl. "Don't you know what could happen if Hawkmoth were to find out?"

Marinette blinked tiredly up at the girl, bags under her eyes and hair askew. "Say that again? My ears are still ringing from that commotion last night."

Yesterday's akuma had been a little boy who loved New Years and was frustrated that the date was taking so long to come. With Hawkmoth being the negativity leech he is, he had turned the boy into Fireworker, who made loud booming noises across Paris that resembled fireworks and shot beautiful lights at the two heroes who tried to get a grasp at what the akuma's object was while trying not to explode in beautiful lights. It had gone until 2 AM, when they realized the boy had actually left the object in his drawer figuring it was the safest place in the world.

Poor Marinette lived in the bakery that was right on the street where the akuma and the heroes were fighting and couldn't sleep with the noise.

Lila flusters, but goes on. "Yesterday! Ladybug told me how selfish you were and wouldn't help with the akuma! Then you threatened her identity after calling her annoying! For sake, the fight was right next to you!"

She expected people from the class to back her up on this, but no one did. They all looked at her like she'd grown two heads, both of which were empty.

Alya is the first to break the awkward silence. "Ladybug avoids asking civilians for help unless she's absolutely desperate. Beside the usual dangers of the akuma last night being destructive to buildings, it was nowhere out of the ordinary and Ladybug and Chat Noir ended up defeating the akuma on their own."

While her classmates back her up, and Lila begins to panic, Marinette is still looking groggy. She looks as if she hadn't heard a word. Alya couldn't blame her, while the Miraculous cure worked wonders to property damage, it didn't really change the effects the akuma had on people.

Encouraging Marinette to sleep, she silently fumed. She hadn't cared for Lila's lies at first. Everyone lies sometimes, after all. But this was deliberate. Trying to slander her best friend of all people?

Lila forgets, Alya is a journalist. And she knows a thing or two about bringing someone down with words.

#alya cesaire #alya sugar #lila salt #lila rossi #lila gets whats coming for her #soon enough #mlb #fanfic #fic #prompt #au #mlb au #au where people have braincells #except lila apparently but whats new really

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redtippedfox · 1 year ago

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Miraculous Timey Wimey Lore: Kwamis

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Kwami Headcanon: Tikki (Creation)

Kwamis are ancient eldritch Gods that ruled over the Heavens for years, Tikki is one of the very first Eldritch God to ever be born, created from the Big Bang of the Universe. Tikki is the other half of the God of Destruction, Plagg, her and Plagg have been together since the beginning of time. Though Tikki will not ever admit it she and Plagg are indeed in love but she won’t ever admit it since Plagg and her are always separated due to their holders. Tikki may look like a responsible Goddess but she is actually very irresponsible and while she loves following the rules she can appreciate a little chaos from here, she is actually very fond of Marinette’s clumsiness especially when it creates a little bit of chaos.

Tikki loves sweets, likes every types of sweets, from strawberry short cake to chocolate pudding, although she loves chocolate chip cookies more than anything, Tikki was very happy when she found out that Marinette lived in a bakery where delicious treats are served everyday. Tikki is very curious about the human world and enjoys learning about new things. She adores Marinette’s creativity when it comes to her fashion and her creations.

All of the seasons were created by Tikki

Spring is the season that belongs to Tikki, the season of Love was created by Tikki so her Ladybugs could find love and so humans could have a season of love. During Spring she is energetic, chatty, and an absolute matchmaker. She loves giving Marinette proper love advice and tries her best to help Marinette understand her feelings for Adrien and even help her realize her feelings for Chat Noir.

During winter she becomes slow, tired and less energetic, she is supposed to go into hibernation till the next spring but thanks to humans warm technology she is able to be kept warm and therefore does not have to go into hibernation. Even though winter is a bad season for her it is a time of warmth and love, the winter may be freezing but Tikki made sure it looked beautiful.

Fall is another season, while spring is Tikki’s favorite season fall is Tikki’s second favorite. As the leaves fade away and make way for winter Tikki it to show off the beauty of the falling of the leaves.

Summer is a time of fun and relaxation, it’s not Tikki’s favorite due to the heavy heat but she still cherishes the season

Tikki likes to use the word “Fuck”, its her favorite human curse word, “Shit” is her second favorite human curse word.

Tikki adores Alya and Nino, and dreams of being able to properly meet both of them

Tikki will come up with mischievous plans with Plagg to get Adrien and Marinette together

Tikki can get very jealous and possessive of Marinette especially when it comes to Marinette wearing or using other Miraculouses. Tikki punched Mullo after Kwamibuster when the mouse kwami kept teasing her.

Tikki can be very impulsive sometimes

Tikki has the ability to grant blessings on people but she can also create curses as well

Tikki will sometimes cry at night, hoping that one day her brothers and sisters would be safe and Nooroo and Dussu would return to them

Tikki is a little shit sometimes

Tikki has a whole wardrobe made by Marinette just for her, she doesn’t like sharing any of it.

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Tikki’s old form was bland and didn’t have a lot of black, she didn’t look much like a Ladybug but that’s what Fu thought of her, after he became Guardian Tikki was stuck in that form for over 300 years, Fu only saw the kwamis as creatures that had to be locked away from the world so they didn’t have a lot of animalistic parts of the animals that they represented since they haven’t been free in 300 years and Fu didn’t see them as Gods with animal tendencies so they looked nothing like their animals.

When a new Guardian is chosen the kwamis change their forms to match how their Guardian sees them and to fit their Guardians soul. When Marinette became Guardian the kwamis forms changed and they got to have more animalistic parts. Tikki was given more black on her body to represent being a Ladybug, her tails even got bigger rather than smaller, she even had a pink glow around her, Marinette’s soul allowing them to be more free and God-like than trapped like Fu.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous au #timey wimey…uh oh au #my art #Fox’s art #kwami art #tikki kwami #tikki Headcanon #miraculous kwamis #kwami Headcanon #Timey wimey lore #rewritten miraculous lore/story

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miraculouslbcnreactions · 23 days ago

Note

So if Adrien were to get an antagonist like Marinette and Chloé (or Alya and Lila in your case), who would you pick?

For me, I would personally pick Félix since he and Adrien had some personal connection as family and it did felt like there was some potential for a possible rivalry between the two in his debut episode (before the writers screwed Félix’s character by a lot).

(Post that spawned this ask)

It really depends on what format I'm being forced into. Félix is like Lila: great in serialized content, terrible choice for episodic content.

If we're allowed to go the serialized route and have plots run for multiple episodes, then Félix could be a great rival. You'd need to do something to rework his character, though, because right now his motivations are really confusing. If we go with the senti stuff, then there's not much to base the rivalry on or even many plots you could do. Let's quickly pitch an alternate Félix to show you what I mean.

Félix and Adrien are the same age and we know that Emilie was the older twin, so maybe the boy's maternal grandparents are still alive and have yet to decide who to pass their fortune and titles on to: the traditional bloodline heir (Adrien) or the kid of the daughter who stuck around and followed tradition (Félix). This could be an interesting path if we give Félix all the same interests as Adrien. If they're constantly competing to be better and Félix is constantly sabotaging Adrien at big events.

For the sabotage to be clever, it would need to be set up in more than 20 minutes, otherwise Félix would just feel petty and opportunistic, which is the problem with Emotion. Félix just shows up and seems to go crazy because truly setting up his invasion of the Diamond Dance would have required him to have screen time across several episodes. That screen time could have been minor, but it was still needed. Maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir keep looking for Félix as a subplot, leading us to have multiple episodes end with a quick look at where Félix is and what he's doing.

While we're on the topic of canon changes, compare the family rivalry setup to canon and you hopefully see what I mean by lack of a motivation or even ways to show the rivalry off. What opportunities does canon Félix have to show how much better he is? He and Adrien seemingly have nothing in common apart from their looks, making it somewhat difficult to compare them. You need those common interests or big showoff moments for a rivalry to work. You also need to feel like Adrien is better than Félix and canon didn't do that. Félix is smarter and more of a go-getter than passive, gullible, naïve Adrien. Every encounter between the boys sees Félix win.

There's also not much to support a read that Adrien gets more love or attention. Amelie is doting. Gabriel and Nathalie are cold and distant. So why does canon Felix delight in tormenting Adrien? What is Felix's goal with things like trying to assault Ladybug or telling Adrien's friends that Adrien hates them? Even the season four final is really weird. Felix already snuck into Adrien's room. Why did he need to officially switch places with Adrien? Just dress up as Adrien, commit your theft, and go home, dude. That's way less complicated than agreeing to leave the country as your cousin. (So much of the season four final is written around forcing Ladybug to lose that it's actually kinda funny. So many things make no sense.)

When figuring out how to rework Félix, you also want to keep in mind what motivations are driving Marinette's antagonists. You don't want Félix to feel like a Lila or Chloe clone. You want him to bring diversity to the table. His motivations should be unique to him and his relationship to Adrien.

If we have to stick to the episodic format where character motivations and plots can be explained and resolved within 20 minutes, then I would not use Felix. Instead, I'd have some fun with how oblivious Adrien is and give him a bunch of "rivals" for Chloe's attention. To match our theme of diversity, while Marinette and her antagonists never get along, Adrien could have a string of rivals with each one ending the episode either no longer interested in Chloe because they realize she's a brat or still interested, but no longer hating Adrien because they realize he's a total non-threat. Less interesting than the Félix stuff, but potentially a funny running gag no matter which way you play it.

#elina-sakura #brainstorming #ml writing critical #ml writing salt #felix deserves better

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imthepunchlord · 1 year ago

Text

Possibly How It Should Have Been

Gosh, I've just thought about it sometimes, as I'm largely trying to turn my creative focus onto something more enjoyable than ML (hence less writing for ML fics), but sometimes I just can't help but focus on it. Cause it's a great concept and it's butchered and that bothers me so much.

And there's SO MUCH that could've been done to improve it. Some of which could be easy tweaks. Some of which needs massive overhauling. Some of it is just picking a lane, staying in that lane, and you follow the road to progress.

It's a great concept with a LOT of possibilities and ways it could've been done. I've actually thought about possible ML Rewrites a few times, I even reached out to a friend to try and help develop a Rewrite that we could've collabed on cause I was struggling to much to decide, and we both just got stuck cause there's so many options for characters and what could possibly be done as we could see so many pros for each option.

And of course, part of the pondering that came to my mind was seeing promising improvement with kwami swaps.

Like, Marinette and Adrien may have developed better if they had each other's miraculous. Plagg could've been the ideal foil to Marinette as he's the opposite of her in every way, addressing her overworking herself, prioritizing others over herself, and caring so much about her responsibilities that it just weighs and stresses her out. And with Adrien and Tikki, she could've helped him develop as an actual, step up in responsibility, learn to take on duty, to care about others over himself. She also would've helped him get the plot rolling, as Adrien is a stagnant character but Tikki is not. She's going to get him involved into the Agreste plot whether he wants it or not, and in turn, he's going to get Tikki to learn to be more attentive and considerate of her holders cause things can go south for Adrien very quickly if she pushes too much.

Gosh, another great kwami swap that could've been done that could've improved a lot was switching up who are the leads. I always wondered if Tikki and Plagg TRULY would've picked Marinette and Adrien, also if they were even the right picks now that we know that Fu doesn't know everything and is running on limited knowledge. As far as we know, they ARE the wrong picks for these two. And considering there was an ep of Tikki and Plagg picking their own users, I now wonder if Alya and Nino should've been our actual leads.

How Alya was initially as Scarabella screams to me that it would've better served in the Origins as a starting hero. Alya also has promising potential arcs as a starting hero, especially as being a superhero is her living her dream:

There's the struggle of balancing her civilian and hero life, she can learn that the civilian life is just as important.

She can learn that being a hero isn't all glory and isn't always easy.

She can learn the importance of secrecy, and what happens if she exposes herself to the public or to a friend (probably Marinette).

And a lot of the lessons Tikki is involved with would make more sense with Alya, who does get tunnel vision and isn't good at listening to others and isn't so considerate and can be very pushy with her own agenda. Alya naturally aims for the leadership position and Tikki wants her Ladybugs to be leaders, so Tikki can help guide Alya to improve as a leader. Lastly, Alya will challenge Tikki on her call outs, which could at certain points help established that Tikki isn't always right and is open to learn and adapt too. And Alya could busy herself looking into HM, making her theories and being nosy about his identity, which Tikki would readily be apart of and encourage. Which Alya should've done in the show than recklessly trying to expose the heroes identity to the public and help HM win. Which, if Adrien wasn't a hero, maybe that should have been his role instead, which Gabriel could encourage and Adrien is even more excited cause he thinks his father is taking an interest in what he does which can be some later Adrien angst for you.

With Nino and Plagg, the BIGGEST plus is that it would actually give Nino SOMETHING outside Alya and Adrien. It would've prompt him to get more focus, and based on what's seen, he's 2nd to Marinette in having the most friends, meaning he can be more engaging and present with what happens to his classmates. Plagg also could bring some needed chaos to his life. You can even expand upon what's seen in Horrificatr where Nino can be controlling, strict, and harsh so Plagg can work on that. Nino does have some similarities to Marinette where he does care a lot for his friends and is hardworking, so there's something there to make Plagg a bit of a foil to him. To expand on Nino's role as Alya embraces being the big hero and savior, could even do the fandom popular idea of him getting Guardian training.

With those two taken, this nicely opens up others getting the Five.

Marinette can work with either Bee or Fox. If you want to work off Chloe vs Marinette, it works best if Marinette has the Bee. Though I think Pollen's personality should be overhauled, but if not, at least there's a perk that yes man Pollen going to force Marinette to take initiative and decide things for herself instead of seeking advise from her kwami. And with Fox, that can work off Marinette being a meddler, schemer, being creative, and her more inclined to work from the shadows. There could also be a fun twist to explore with Marinette not liking liars and she has a miraculous tied to deception, plus her and Trixx could've been an interesting pair to see interact, especially if working off what's seen in Sapotis where Trixx is very observant and manipulative, but also a bit of a chaotic gambler (from what I've seen, later seasons seem to ruin Trixx as a character). And of course, Marinette having Fox could work off her vs Lila, you could even dabble in her vs Felix.

Arguably, Chloe MAY grow as Alya and Nino would NOT have been so tolerant of her unlike Marinette and Adrien, so Chloe could've gotten the Bee and actually be a good hero and character for it. But that can also come down to preference and how you want Chloe to go.

Adrien could've gotten the Turtle, which I think could've been one of the best miraculous he could've gotten as he naturally likes to be a protector, and this miraculous works off that while also giving him protection. Wayzz also could've maybe addressed Adrien readily sacrificing himself, help him learn to be more cautious instead of rushing in, or at least think and be smart about how you go forward. There's even a possibility of Adrien having Turtle full time, as Nino could share his suspicions with Fu about Gabriel, so Wayzz could be there as a spy to check things out, which would have Adrien eventually get involved in his own plot, but still allow things to be at a slower pace. And as Wayzz, ideally, seems to be serious and dedicated but also playful and open minded, I think he would be very engaging with Adrien, which in turn could mean that when Adrien needs a call out, he would listen to what Wayzz had to say more (as most of the time Adrien ignores what Plagg says).

As for the leads, both would have an equal neutral involvement in the plot that can explain why things don't resolve quickly (looking at you Adrien who won't even ask questions about the suspicious book your father has). Alya would be a hero and lead for glory and self-righteousness, Nino would be to genuinely help others. Neither would have a super close tie to Gabriel, allowing him to sit under their noses for a while.

Also, gosh, you even could've had a lot of fun with color coded rivals/foils/personal antagonists for Alya and Nino.

If you really wanted to do Alya vs Lila, let Lila actually have the Fox or maybe she bought the Fox in Volpina, and this has Alya and Lila having the miraculous the other is color coded for. She could work off being a hero initially for the wrong reasons, just like Alya who starts for the glory too, as well as integrity vs deception.

Something could also be done between Nino vs Felix, with Nino really color coded for Peacock while Felix is color coded for Cat. Could play off both being ambitious to a fault and being selfish and nosy, but Nino cares more for others vs Felix is more exclusive.

And if expanding to others...

Of course could do Marinette vs Chloe if Marinette has the Bee, Chloe could have the Mouse, which could be funny to see Chloe deal with herself. That might humble her.

As for Adrien... could do him and Max being foils, work off Max getting Horse while largely wearing green, and I think Adrien is most color coded for Horse. Could work off both being perfectionist and could delve into the shared interest of gaming, with Max trying to bring out the competitiveness in Adrien. Could be thinking vs action.

Either way, ML is frustrating cause it's a show with potential and great concepts and it's irritating that it got butchered so. And the most frustrating thing is that there is just so many options to how it could've been done better. And kwami swap wise, these are my top two picks that would've been better.

Thank you for coming to my TED talks.

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knifedancer · 1 year ago

Text

Sleeping Beauty

A new akuma has the power to turn fairy tales into reality. Marinette is hit and falls into a deep sleep. Ladybug has yet to show up to the battle, Paris fears for the worst. Without the miraculous cure, there may only be one other option. True Love's kiss should wake her…

But who is her true love?

Note: I imagine this is pre-Season 4-ish but it can also just be read as non-canon/alternate universe, if you so choose. Rated T for Teen for possible disturbing wording. Also on AO3.

Surprise! Related outtake can be found here!

~~~~~~~

When Grimm Talia – the latest akuma – arrived, no one was quite sure what to make of them. Their twisted color palette and oversized robes, which flared out like dragon wings as they glided through the air, disguised most of their identifying attributes. It seemed to be a playwright or author that had been working on a retelling of classic fairytales, that was angered by their lover or something – at least that’s what Alya assumed. It was odd that someone had yet to come forward with a civilian name for Grimm Talia. Perhaps Hawkmoth was the akuma’s lover and was akumatized for finding out his identity! The blogger was captivated immediately and tried to capture video for her blog, paying more attention to streaming and her play-by-play commentary for her followers than to her surroundings. She had wandered into the open from her hiding spot in the alley to get a better angle, exposing herself completely while distracted with her phone. Unfortunately, this put the blogger in the crosshairs of the akuma’s next blast.

Alya yelped as the akuma grinned down at her through the camera lens and raised a magical staff made of thorny briar branches, charging their ray as they recanted lines from Sleeping Beauty like a spell. The blogger stumbled back a step and dropped her phone with a clatter, her mouth dropping open as if to silently scream in horror or call for help. She was frozen in place; watching things happen like a slow-motion train crash that she could not look away from. Just when it appeared there was no escape, she was pushed out of the way and landed in a pile of discarded boxes nearby. The akuma cackled and floated off after the next victim in their sights. Alya pulled a box off her head only to realize that her savior had been none other than her dear friend…

“Marinette!” Alya hollered, quickly diving for her phone and the crumpled pigtailed girl on the sidewalk, dragging her back into the relative safety of the alleyway. Guilt flooded the reporter’s heart as she worried over the bluenette’s unconscious body in her arms. On the upside, her friend was still breathing. Downside, she seemed to be in a comatose-like sleep of which she could not be roused. Just then, Chat Noir landed beside them.

“Ladyblogger! You shouldn’t be here, it’s too dang-purr—is that Marinette?!” Chat exclaimed, too shocked at seeing his Everyday Ladybug unconscious to complete his pun.

Alya felt a few tears escape her eyes and slide down her face, “Chat Noir! Yes, I wasn’t paying attention and…Grimm Talia, the new akuma, was about to shoot me…she took the hit for me! Now she won’t wake up!”

The cat boy’s ears flattened to his hair with worry, reaching down to gently trace Marinette’s jaw with a clawed finger and pat her cheek. No response. The idea of his favorite civilian and good friend being hurt greatly unsettled the cat hero. He couldn’t understand why but all his instincts screamed to protect and get the girl to safety. “The bakery is just a couple blocks away, let’s get her home so she isn’t laying here in the street,” Chat lifted the girl from the reporter’s lap and cradled her against his chest with one arm, then motioned for Alya to hop on his back. “Once we take care of the akuma, the cure should wake her up. Hold on tight.” He pulled out his staff and launched the three of them easily into the sky, rushing towards the bakery to get them both to safety.

Looking around from the air, Alya saw several people suffering from various fairytale effects. It seemed the akuma’s power was not limited to putting to people to sleep… Some were transformed into various animals, large and small – frogs, bears, swans, stags… Others trapped in taxis that had become large pumpkins; a few unlucky people seemed to be stuck to a golden colored goose. Ladies clutched at their clothes, now turned into ratty, festering furs. Others muffled sobs as they knelt by golden statues that must have once been their children, staring at their hands in horror. Down a passing street a man seemed to be chasing a large wolf dressed in a floral housecoat and bonnet – what was that about? The blogger felt nauseous as she witnessed a few people screaming for help as they raised their severed arms in the air – every single one seemingly hacked off bloodlessly at the elbow. She quickly looked away, trying to find anything else on the horizon to distract her from the bile rising in her throat. For as far as her eye could see there were long streams of hair flowing down streets in a myriad of colors – like large skeins of yarn that had fallen from their basket – catching on every street sign and mailbox. As Chat launched them over the last intersection, on the corner below Alya spied an unlikely trio of a mouse, a bird, and…was that person transformed into a sausage?!

They landed beside the entry for the bakery and Alya quickly dismounted to open the door, only for them both to jump back as a cloud of blackbirds burst from the entry with an earsplitting screech. Inside looked like a disaster area after a bomb went off, every cake and pie appeared to have exploded. Feathers still floated through the air like snowflakes in winter as frosting and pie fillings dripped from the ceiling tiles. The Dupain-Cheng’s looked a little worse for wear – slowly lowering the broom and large wooden peel they had been using as weapons – but relieved that the birds were now gone. They let out a sigh until their eyes fell upon their limp daughter in the hero’s arms, fear overtaking their countenances. Alya recounted her tale as Chat brought Marinette up to her room and settled her comfortably on the chaise. He gently brushed a few stray bangs from her face, careful to keep his claws from marring her skin. His instincts were still screaming that something was very wrong. The cat hero felt immense guilt for not being able to protect the petite bluenette, she seemed so fragile... A look of determined resolve settled on his features as he rose to his feet.

“Madame, Monsieur, Ladybug and I will do all we can to fix this. Cat’s honor. Ladyblogger,” Chat met her eyes with a glare as he was unable to keep his roiling emotions from his voice, “stay away from the battle. You caused enough damage already; we don’t need to need to worry about rescuing you while we fight.” With that Chat gave a little salute before vaulting out the window and back towards the fray. The Dupain-Chengs quickly assured her that she could remain here while they went down to clean up what they could in the bakery.

Shocked by Chat’s angry gaze and overcome with guilt, Alya sat heavily in Marinette’s desk chair with her head in her hands. Chat was right. It was her fault that her friend was now unconscious… There had to be something she could do! Just then a notification popped up on her phone from the Ladyblog. The bespectacled girl scrolled through several comments, posts, images, and testimonials from various followers all over Paris… Ladybug had not been spotted yet; people seemed worried that she might have been hit by the akuma already. She raised her eyes from the phone to her friend with worry, hoping she could hear her. “Mari…they think Ladybug may have already been taken out. Without her there is no miraculous cure. I’m worried you might never wake up…a-and it’s all my fault.”

She gripped her phone helplessly as her gaze dropped to her shoes, wishing for a miraculous or some power she could use to undo what happened. Without Ladybug, what chance did Paris stand against Hawkmoth? What chance did Marinette have at waking up? Notifications kept coming in, the quiet pings sounding far louder in the deathly quiet room. Alya finally glanced at it again, intending to silence it, when the title of a post caught her eye…

REVERSING GRIMM TALIA’S SLEEP SPELL!! HAWKMOTH HATES THIS ONE TRICK!!

The blogger cringed at the headline but proceeded to read…

My husband was hit by the akuma and fell into an unconscious state while getting out of our taxi. I thought he was dead, but I was so relieved when he was still breathing. You see we had gone out to breakfast at this café by the Siene and he had the apple tart, even though apples cause him heartburn…

Alya skimmed through the post, bypassing the poster’s unnecessary explanation of what they had been doing before the akuma and their plans, seeking out the resolution. Was this person a recipe blogger? Just get to the point… Ah, there it was!

…discovered that the unconscious person awakes with true love’s kiss!

“That’s it! I just need to find Adrien!” Alya tried to call the boy but there was no answer. “Okay, I need to go out there. I’m not going to the battle zone so Chat shouldn’t get too angry… Don’t worry, I’m gonna save you, Mari!” With one last look at her unconscious friend, she bolted down and out of the bakery.

Mission: Find Adrien was a Go! The S.S. Adrienette ship was going sail!

~~~ Somewhere in Paris ~~~

She ran through the streets, carefully dodging impacted Parisians and narrowly avoiding tripping on random ropes of tangled hair. Alya eventually stumbled upon Nino and Felix taking cover near the public library where they had been working on a class project. If anyone would know where to find Adrien, it would be these two. “Nino, you’re safe,” she cried as she wrapped him up in a hug.

“Babe! I saw the stream earlier; I thought you had been hit!” Nino hugged her tight, finally releasing the worried tension from his body as he held his girlfriend close.

“I almost was but Marinette saved me. She…,” Alya choked on her words as she stepped back to meet his eyes, “Nino, she took the hit for me. She’s unconscious and won’t wake up! It’s all my fault. But there might be a way to save her…we need to find Adrien!” Both boys stiffened at her words, one with shock and the other unreadable.

“What do you need my clueless cousin for, Miss Césaire?” Felix asked, his usual haughty tone taking an air of suspicion.

“If Adrien kisses her, it’ll wake Marinette up,” cried the red head impatiently. “True love’s kiss has broken a similar state for some impacted by the akuma. Ladybug hasn’t been seen yet; this is Marinette’s best chance!”

Felix scoffed and crossed his arms, “And why do you assume that Adrien is Miss Dupain-Cheng’s true love? The chance of it being him is as likely as you or I. Even Mr. Lahiffe here could be her potential ‘true love’ for that matter.” An explosion echoed in the distance as if to punctuate his point.

“As if! They’re meant to be together! Now, do you know where he is or not?” Alya demanded angrily. This guy was nothing but trouble! How could such an ass be related to their resident Sunshine Boy?

“Calm down, babe. I haven’t seen him but he did have a photoshoot earlier. With the akuma, he’s probably on lockdown at home. You know how paranoid his father gets during attacks,” Nino tried to defuse the situation. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Felix seemed more irritated now than he had been in the library…

“Look Felix, do you think you can get your cousin out and to the bakery?” Alya swallowed her anger, this was for Marinette! She could be civil with the devil for her best friend’s wellbeing. Even if the devil was the most annoying, repugnant, arrogant, uncooperative…

“Tsk. Perhaps I might be able to disguise myself as my cousin and…,” began the taciturn blond.

“Perfect! Tell him we’ll meet him at the bakery! Come on, Nino,” the Ladyblogger impatiently dragged her boyfriend away, bolting down a neighboring street. Both teens missed the smirk that graced Felix’s face as he loosened his black tie.

~~~

Chat Noir landed with a huff and picked at a few thorns stuck to his suit. Ladybug was a no show and the akuma packed quite the wallop! Where was she?! He glanced around cautiously, checking for any civilians to evacuate before he jumped back into battle. From the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar head of hair and growled angrily. Alya had come back out to the fight! He had warned her to stay put!

He jumped over to the rooftop directly above the Ladyblogger and watched as she reunited with Nino. His ears twitched as he listened in, hearing Alya’s idea of how to wake Marinette… True Love’s kiss? Chat shuddered and frowned with dismay. This akuma reminded him too much of Dark Cupid for his liking! The cat hero was also feeling confused and flustered at the idea of kissing his dear friend. Sure, Mari was cute and sweet but, Felix had a point: why him? Marinette was his first friend, he trusted her in and out of the mask... What if Marinette hoped for more? The expectations of his father and fans were bad enough.

‘Still,’ Chat thought as he bit his lip, ‘I’d do anything for my friends…’

~~~ Twenty Minutes Later ~~~

A tousled Adrien ran towards the bakery, careful to avoid obstacles and looking around for the akuma before dashing across the street. He came to a sliding stop outside the bakery, panting with the physical strain of running through several blocks of fairytale victims, and flung open the door. Nino and the Dupain-Chengs, alerted by the door chime, looked up to see the exhausted teen and ushered him towards the back.

“Hey bro! Thank gods you made it!” Nino paused, looking over his friend’s outfit. “What’s up with the suit?”

Adrien glanced down to where a grey vest hung open to reveal his dress shirt and charcoal slacks. Using a hand to smooth out the wrinkled, untucked, button-up against his chest before chuckling. “Felix loaned me some clothes so I could get here without Gorilla following me. Not my best look but it seems to have worked!” The blond gave a disarming but concerned smile, “Fe said something happened to Marinette? Is she okay?” The blond anxiously ran a hand through his hair, messing up the styling so that he looked more like he normally did.

“Yeah, man, come on,” the Moroccan-French boy grabbed his friend’s rolled up sleeve and dragged him upstairs. Adrien stumbled up the last few steps and entered the pink room behind Nino. “Babe! I told you Felix would come through for our girl!”

“Sunshine! Thank the gods… Marinette got hit by an akuma and won’t wake up. We think true love’s kiss will wake her. What love is truer than friendship, right?” The reporter’s smile was a little too wide to be genuine but the blond did not seem to notice as he stepped towards the unconscious girl with a furrowed brow. Someone had let down her hair and it was fanned out like a halo on the cushion beneath her head. Her arms were laying on her stomach, delicate hands crossed at rest near her heart. Her pink lips, seeming to glisten with dew, were slightly parted. The sunlight from the window seemed to give her whole body a golden ethereal hue – she looked like a sleeping angel and it took his breath away.

He finally tore his eyes away briefly to look at the other two occupants of the room. “I don’t know… You know I’d do anything for Marinette but…why haven’t you two tried?”

The two bespectacled teens exchanged a look, communicating silently, before Alya replied slowly, “We did. She didn’t wake. We’re hoping a kiss from you might work since you’re such…good…friends.”

Adrien’s eyes dropped to Marinette’s still form again, unreadable emotions flitted across his face before he seemed to take a more resolute stance. “Alright. I’ll do it.” He kneeled down beside the chaise, taking one of her limp hands and holding it to his cheek. “Marinette…,” he murmured brokenly, overcome with his emotions in the moment. Alya and Nino watched with bated breath as the blond tentatively leaned down, pausing mere millimeters from their friend’s lips to gaze at her face and whisper something too low for them to hear. Then he closed the distance and placed a chaste kiss to her lips.

Her lips were as warm as they were soft, her breath tasted like chai tea and his lungs reverently drank it in. A mysterious, disembodied chime seemed to sound from above them and the model felt her fingers twitch in his grasp. They held their breath as Adrien pulled back with a look of awe. Marinette’s eyes fluttered open and met the green eyes of the blond still hovering above her with a look of quiet curiosity. Alya and Nino cried out with joy and hugged. “I knew it! I knew true love’s kiss would work!” Alya smiled slyly towards the two on the chaise, “We’ll go downstairs to let your parents know the good news and give you lovebirds some time to talk.”

“Hey!” protested Nino as he was roughly shoved through the trap door, his complaints cut off with a hasty slam of the wood against the frame. An oppressive silence descended upon the room in their absence, accentuated by a soft tick of a clock and their breathing. Marinette didn’t say a word, her bluebell eyes transfixed to the emerald-colored orbs in front of her. The model watched her nervously, he pressed a tentative kiss to the hand he still held between his own as if too scared to speak, to break the spell they were under. The bluenette raised her free hand and cupped his cheek, her thumb tracing a path under his eye as her gaze seemingly analyzed his every feature in agonizing detail. Finally, with a small smile, she slid her hand down to his neck and broke the silence by sweetly whispering his name.

“…. Felix.”

The blond boy’s eyes widened, and his body stiffened with shock, “How did you—”

He was cut off with a swift tug on his collar and her lips against his. While momentarily stunned, he quickly succumbed to the kiss and Felix was willingly dragged onto the chaise. They quickly found themselves in a tangled embrace – hands in hair, legs interwoven, chests pressed together – as they succumbed to their mutual passion with moans of delight. A familiar, crumpled up, black tie fell carelessly from his pocket to the floor. Hidden in a corner of the room, Tikki looked upon her chosen with a small smile. True love’s kiss was a powerful thing.

The akuma would have to wait…

~~~ BONUS SCENES ~~~

‘Still,’ Chat thought as he bit his lip, ‘I’d do anything for my friends…’

Before he could catch the rest of the trio’s conversation, an explosion in the distance drew his attention. From the dust sprang yet another tall beanstalk that reached into the clouds. Chat took off in search of the akuma, hoping desperately that his lady would arrive… He landed with a dull thud next to a young woman that had been changed into a beautiful golden harp, crying as she struggled to right herself. The cat boy quickly jumped to assist, setting her carefully against the nearest stairwell so that she could hold onto the railing for support. The lady harp cried out and pointed behind him with fear filled eyes, he turned to find himself face to face with the business end of the akuma’s thorny staff! Shit!

“…A curse upon your house and all within it. Until you have found someone to love you as you are, you shall remain…,” incanted Grimm Talia.

Chat Noir vaulted away as fast as he could, attempting to gain some ground, when he felt a warm blast hit his back. He fell gracelessly onto a neighboring rooftop where he convulsed painfully on the floor for a moment. This was nothing like being hit by Dark Cupid or Reflekta... Damn, it felt like he was being ripped apart and put back together! The akuma’s cackle echoed up from the streets below, which kicked his survival instincts into overdrive. Blindly Chat scrambled up and bolted into the roof access hatch, finding a restroom in the building to hide in temporarily. Breathing hard, he leaned against the sink to catch his breath – only to realize that his clawed hands were now covered in thick fur. He glanced up into the mirror, seeing that two small horns sprouted between his cat ears and his face took on the appearance of some sort of wild beast. He reached back and grabbed for his baton, intending to call Ladybug again, only to pull out a glowing red rose that proceeded to drop a single petal onto the tiled floor between his feet.

“Uh oh…”

~~~ Later ~~~

“Team Adrienette! A-DRI-EN-ETTE! Team Adrienette!” Alya sang while happily skipping down the sidewalk outside the bakery as if there wasn’t still an akuma on the loose somewhere in the city. Nino cautiously meandered after her, smiling as he shook his head at his girlfriend’s antics. If the quiet muffled noises coming from upstairs before they left were any indication, after years of trying, it seemed their resident sunshine boy and aspiring designer were finally a couple. Those two had danced around each other enough! So many misunderstandings, lies, and schemes! The bespectacled teens both hoped for the best – one already planning double dates and the other compiling a list of romantic music that might become ‘their song.’ They were both broken from their thoughts by a familiar voice calling their names.

“What the…,” muttered Alya. Across the street stood a bashful but happy looking Adrien waving at them with one hand while the other held the hand of an even more familiar bluenette teen… Marinette’s ex-boyfriend and Kitty Section’s favorite guitarist: Luka Couffaine.

“Dude! How did you get out here so quickly? And why are you with Luka?” Nino asked with confusion written all over his features as the two boys joined them.

“I was on my way to the bakery when I was hit by the akuma, got transformed into a giant beast with horns and a magical rose, can you believe it?” The blond model laughed and blushed. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Then I stumbled into Luka here and…well, turns out he was what I needed to reverse my akuma curse.”

“We heard about Marinette, how is she?” Luka asked, voice filled with concern as he dropped Adrien’s hand briefly to fiddle with a snake shaped bracelet. Must be a worrying habit the musician had.

“Well…she’s awake…,” Nino murmured distractedly, his mind still trying to fit the pieces together.

Alya, whom had been standing frozen with her mouth open in shock, seemed to finally recover. She pointed at the blond and then back over her shoulder towards the bakery entrance not five meters away. “What are you talking about?! We just saw you in the bakery with Marinette!” Just then, as if summoned by divine intervention, out of the bakery stumbled another blond – this one sporting a lovesick dazed smirk as he waved to someone hidden beyond the glass door. The four teens on the sidewalk took in his disheveled appearance with three looks of shock and one of amusement. A word that described the boy in this moment: rumpled. His shirt was untucked and incorrectly buttoned in a way that revealed a white undershirt beneath it, his crumpled black tie hung loosely around his neck like a scarf, pink lipstick smears were visible from his face to his collarbone (with a little adorning the inside of his shirt collar), and his hair seemed to be as wild and untamed as Chat Noir’s.

“…Fe?” Adrien tentatively called, unsure of what he was witnessing. His cousin had never looked less than professional for a day in his life! Perhaps it was a doppelgänger brought on by the akuma?

That warm gaze shifted towards the model’s call and, upon seeing them, it was as if a switch was flipped. Felix slicked back his unruly hair, draped his discarded wrinkled vest over his shoulder, and meandered towards the stunned group. With the lovesick look now cleared, his smirk took on a smug edge but his eyes still glowed with a satisfied happiness that none of them had seen on him before. “Cousin,” the formal boy nodded to the model and started whistling a jaunty tune as he swaggered past. Three sets of eyes stared at his every move in bewilderment. He seemed more relaxed and at ease than usual; plus, there was a…

Wait, was that a hickey under his right ear?!

“Felix Fathom! What the hell—,” Alya began but, with a raised hand that bid them adieu without looking back, Felix disappeared around the smashed carcass of a giant pumpkin that was once a delivery van. Only with the soft echo of his whistling hanging in the air did Nino realize…

‘Huh, I didn’t know Felix was a Daft Punk fan.’

~~~

Ladybug, feeling guilty after the increasingly panicked voicemails from Chat while she was otherwise detained, managed to defeat the akuma with a little help from Viperion and cast the cure just in time to meet her date that evening at Andre’s.

Paris is saved once again by the Powerpuf—err, Ladybug!

Notes:

Felix was whistling Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” I’ll let you imagine what he whispered to her before kissing her. 😊

Peel (based on the French word ‘pelle’) is the long paddle looking implement that is often used at brick oven pizza places but are also used for bread and pastries.

Please let me know in the comments what enchanted furniture you think Gabriel transformed into while Adrien was the Beast! Grimm Talia did say “a curse upon your house and all within it.” 😉 Talk about an akuma backfiring on the user! Check out the other suggestions here!

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mlbigbang · 11 months ago

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2023 General Fic Rec List

It’s the end of the year which means it’s finally time for the ML Big Bang’s yearly fic rec lists! We’re really excited to bring you our contributors’ favourite fics started this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you’re waiting for the Big Bang fics’ publication in January.

drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing: His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters. And now he's missing. Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes. (But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I think most of the fandom already read this fic, but if you haven't, you should give it a try! The angst is balanced by how deeply Adrien's friends (including Plagg and Felix) care for him, and the reunion at the end is so touching.

all of your flaws and all of my flaws (are laid out one by one) by @coffeebanana

Ladybug and Marinette have both been acting strangely since Monarch's defeat, and Chat Noir would give anything to know why—to be able to help them. He just…didn't expect his answers to come when Ladybug drags him to his father's statue in the middle of the night along with a bag full of spray paint.

An incredibly cathartic scene set after the Season 5 finale that is a perfect mix of angst and hurt and comfort! All the emotions are so raw.

Dreaming Wide Awake by @uptoolateart

Gabriel died a hero. He sacrificed himself in the final battle against Monarch. Or so Adrien's been told. At least he has his mother there to help him through the grief. So what is this niggling feeling that this isn't how the story was meant to go? And why does he keep having flashes of another world that lies just beneath their own?

A fantastic follow-up to the Season 5 finale in which Adrien is dealing with the loss of his father, and his relationship with Marinette, in a reality that's not quite right. Incredibly emotional and moving.

All That Glitters by @trishacollins

After - After the dust settles, and things feel a little bit more...permanent. Nathalie thinks back on her mistakes. With Felix as close at hand as he is, she thinks one of them might be fixable.

Every fic should be a Sentibug fic, and that's why I rec this. I love that it runs with the finale of S5 and addresses various characters' feelings about senti stuff, which is the real big question hanging over the end of the season. Well, one of them :)

The moment I knew (I’d no choice but to love you) by @bbutterflies

“He’s dating me,” Nino said, taking Adrien’s hand in his own. Adrien could only stare back at him in shock. “How dare you all force him to come out?” Nino continued, glaring at the reporters. “That was disgusting.” He pulled Adrien over to the car, guided him in, and shut the door behind them. In the relative quiet and privacy of the backseat, Adrien finally processed what had just happened. “So… when were you going to tell me we were dating?”

It's fake dating, but with Adrino!! What's not to like?

The Parable of the Caller by nemali

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest. But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

It's subversion of so much. Adrien is the ex-Guardian. Adrien has lost his memories. There's been no reveal. He has no idea what this mysterious series of voicemails from Chat Noir means. A+++ read.

A Masked Game by @mysticraven20

For almost ten years Paris has been peaceful. No villains. No heroes. No hate. But, as always, peace never lasts forever and as a new threat takes over the city of love, there’s a change in the game where this time death is permanent. Adrien has been living full of hope after the worst years of his life. He’s free. He’s settled. But most importantly, he’s in love. After years of trying to find his calling everything came together the day he married his wife, or so he thought. Marinette still craved the companionship of her partner. It had been a decade since she’d seen him; the dull ache in her heart constantly asking what had happened to him. If only she had the opportunity to speak to him one more time. The chance for a reconnection appears when Paris’ heroes are needed again and as feelings begin to resurface so does the hate, love and lies. Ladybug and Chat Noir will need to find a new dynamic to make this work, saving not only their friends but also themselves, leaving Adrien and Marinette to risk everything in a need to survive.

Whodunit, murder mystery MLB fic from a great author exploring a new genre/style. Not just exploring, succeeding. Acing it. Wonderful story. As each chapter dropped, it really felt like the entire fandom was racing to read it first. Everyone was hooked. You should get hooked, too!

#ml #ml big bang #ml big bang 2023 #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #fic recs #ml fic recs

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marinettesaltprompts · 9 days ago

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True Holder Turnabout

I'm imagining a new variation of the "True Holder" scenario. Sure, as *always* Adrien isn't Plagg's "True Holder" and gets to suffer realizing he was just a patsy this whole time. But this time, *Marinette* gets to get some of the same medicine.

Because *she's* Plagg's True Holder. *Not Tikki's*.

In hindsight it should have been obvious. Her plans were almost always massively destructive, often needlessly so. And she handled Plagg's power almost as well as Chat Noir did despite having it for mere minutes to his months.

But she’d *always* struggled with her Lucky Charm. From the beginning she'd *never* been able to create what she wanted, but just got seemingly random objects that she had to desperately guess how to make do with. Sure, her problem solving skills were *creative*, but her actual use of the power never really improved- even after Fu trained her as a holder.

Meanwhile *everyone else* who handled Tikki's power or a copy of it did either as well as her, or usually *far better*. All those Akumas who copied her power- they could summon whatever they wanted on command. *Even Chat Noir* had gotten exactly what he wanted on his first try, something she'd not been able to do... *ever*.

The only thing she’d been able to do that they couldn’t was make Magical Charms, and Shadowmoth had broken through those within a *month*.

But while Marinette comes to terms with her new reality, Chat Noir has his own harsh truths to face. Alas for Chat Noir, his relationships with Ladybug and Plagg were built on lies and he no one's True Holder- or least he’s not willing to stay and find out if he is. The revelations of how he's been manipulated apparently so utterly disillusioned him that he doesn't even bother showing up in person to give up the ring. And with their friendship having long since been overshadowed by Ladybug’s authority, there’s nothing stopping him from vanishing from her life without a word- quite certain that she wouldn’t actually care.

So Marinette has to accept the abrupt final loss of her one-time partner even as she comes to terms with Tikki not really having been her Kwami. At the same time…

She has to accept working under a new Ladybug. A new girl from across the sea, found and trained by The Order to truly be a great Ladybug.

And it truly is "working under". Because Marinette may have gotten away with commanding her team before, but as the Black Cat? Well she has to follow whatever plan the new Ladybug comes up with in the battlefield and with Su-han now actually exerting his authority as the Celestial Guardian she's no longer really the boss of the Box behind the scenes either.

It's a reset of sorts. Back to the pre-Miracle Queen status quo, even if Marinett keeps the box in her room now.

Except now *she's* the put upon Black Cat.

At first, it's kind of liberating. She doesn't have to plan things out anymore, she just follows orders and has a bit of fun with her Miraculous. But what shine there is wears off fast.

The New Ladybug is far, far more effective with Tikki's powers and her tactics than Marinette ever was, and it hurts to see how easily Paris moves on from her old persona. To be so easily replaced and outclassed by some new girl who actually got to be trained by The Order instead of Fu, who was just an initiate. Her charms are exactly what she wants, her plans are simple, creative and rarely risk collateral damage.

*Her* Magical Charms aren’t broken by Shadowmoth, so the Villain can’t reuse victims. Instead he has to spin the wheel with new ones whose powers were far from consistently dangerous, and less potent than a trained and refined powerhouse like Stormy Weather or even Mr Pigeon with his steadily increasing skill with his abilities.

Alya isn’t Rena anymore, but that’s nothing exceptional for the old team. Marinette friends and temp-heroes were unceremoniously benched when the New Ladybug took contro and any chance that they’d be allowed a Miraculous again went up in smoke the second The New Ladybug learnt that most of their identities were known to Shadowmoth.

Instead, the New Ladybug has her own team. One that seems to be made up of adults or teenagers who Marinette doesn’t know, because why share that information?

It's hard having to constantly obey plans she isn't privy to the full details of, to have to sacrifice her body and mind whenever the New Ladybug is in danger.

(Marinette never realized how hard it was to lose her mind. To *die* and act like its nothing. Chat Noir had never complained, but it was anything but easy.)

Information is on a strictly need to know basis, and Lady Noire doesn’t *need* to know, so it’s not offered. The New Ladybug also has firm professional boundaries, and really- she doesn't seem to exactly hold her predecessor in high esteem.

There's plans to find Shadowmoth happening behind the scenes, Marinette's sure of it. The New Ladybug and Su-Han appear now and then to take or return a Miraculous from the box- but they don't tell her anything. And Marinette learns not to ask when The New Ladybug bluntly asks her why *she* never tried to find Shadowmoth with The Miraculous herself.

And when she brings up the fact that *she's* the Guardian of the Mother Box as a point of contention? Because the Miraculous and Kwamis that are being taken and lent out are *her* responsibility;

The New Ladybug looks her in eye and demands to know *how* Marinette gained that *responsibility* of the Mother Box. Because the story she knows is one about a girl who *failed upwards* after leading her worst enemy to her master.

Marinette has to learn how to live as The Black Cat. To be "another cheese on the board", to be left out, to be used and only included at The Ladybug's leisure.

She has to learn to accept being replaced as Tikki's holder by a "better girl" who was "always meant to be The Ladybug".

She has to accept that this is her life now. And as she has to accept that her bond with Tikki was never what she thought it was, as she gets used as a pawn on the board again and again, left out of plans and vital information that effects her and *dammit she deserves to know*;

She comes to understand why Chat Noir (whatever his real name is) didn't want to stay on as a holder.

Even if it meant losing access to the Miraculous forever.

#Marinette salt #Marinette Salt Prompt

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lemonjamdraws · 17 days ago

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LILANETTE WEEK DAY 7 - FREE SPACE

AKA bonus uncertain sincerity chapter in the same year? no way!

Marinette isn’t imagining it, because even Alya takes notice of Adrien’s newfound frostiness towards her. But he doesn’t take any steps to talk to her or explain anything at all, only pointedly avoids her.

Frustration and anxiety roil inside her like a stormy ocean as she follows Lila’s lead throughout the day, wearing something akin to her Ladybug persona to keep up cheerful appearances. She doesn’t even pull away the next time Lila takes her hand or brushes her shoulder, feeling so twisted inside over the lies, the whole Chat Noir and Noire thing, and Adrien’s strange new hatred, that she just goes along with it all.

It’s the path of least resistance, in a world that seems to be turning upside down all around her for no reason at all. She hopes it’s mild enough to avoid catching Hawkmoth’s attention.

“Hey girls,” Alya says after the final bell rings, “hang out at my place?”

“That sounds fun,” Lila says with a smile, “but I think Marinette is feeling a little down after the akumatization and… well…”

“Adrien, yea,” Alya sighs with sympathy. “I don’t know what’s up with him.”

“I have to help my parents out at the bakery,” Marinette says quickly. “Can’t hang out. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow.” She wants nothing more than to get in bed and then be unconscious for the next twenty years.

“I’ll walk her home,” Lila offers, “I see Nino’s waiting for you, Alya.”

“Oh, shoot, I forgot we had a date! Sorry y’all, and thanks, Lila. Cheer up, Marinette, I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of this and make everything right.” Alya wraps her arms around Marinette in a quick hug, but it doesn’t feel like much in the wake of Alya’s disbelief in Marinette’s words over the last few days.

“See you tomorrow!” Lila calls out brightly. Marinette keeps her eyes to the ground. “Lift your damn chin, girl. If Adrien’s going to treat you like that, then you should act as if it doesn’t bother you.”

“But it does bother me,” Marinette says mulishly, feeling so pathetic. Without even a goodbye, Chat Noir surrendered his miraculous like it was nothing and is now gone forever. And Adrien, too, wordlessly seems intent to never speak with her again. Unrequited feelings aside, she really did view them both as trusted friends, more than most of her classmates.

Hell, the next time she has the opportunity, she needs to talk to Fu. If Chat Noir is retired for good, Fu at least should know his civilian identity and can maybe clear everything up.

“Christ,” Lila swears, grabbing her hand to pull her along. “You should never waste emotions on stupid boys who won’t give you the time of day.”

“He’s not stupid…”

“Just come on.” With vigor, strength, and a potent eye roll, Lila pulls her down the street. They’re halfway to the bakery by the time Marinette remembers Lila’s holding her hand, and it feels… warm .

No one else is around them now. Their classmates are far away. What does Lila have to gain from this ? Besides pretending friends for appearances, what does she stand to gain?

She might know you’re Ladybug .

How would she even know that?

Marinette should pull her hand away, but she can’t find it in herself to actually do it. She agreed to be Lila’s friend, didn't she?

“Here you are,” Lila says, her hand falling away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Adrien hates her, Alya’s with her boyfriend. Marinette should speak with Tikki but at the moment she doesn’t want to be alone otherwise.

“You can come in if you want, since I guess we’re friends now,” Marinette sighs, pushing the door open. Lila binks in surprise but follows after.

“While you help in the bakery?” Lila asks pointedly.

Marinette doesn’t reply. They both know it was an excuse to dodge hanging out with Alya. As expected, Tom and Sabine are all over her with overbearing concern, and then perfectly charmed by a smiling Lila. Sabine somehow convinces Lila to hang out for a bit and promises to bring snacks up to Marinette’s room with perfect hospitality, so the two girls find themselves together there.

“Very cute decor,” Lila observes as Marinette lies on the floor face down. “I swear to god, Marinette. Don’t cry .”

“I’m not,” she mutters, “wouldn’t want to attract another akuma.” Marinette is activating the emotional repression technique, an ancient technique used by girls worldwide.

“Come on, girl. Your pores are going to get full of floor gunk. I need you to look your best.”

For some reason that works and Marinette drags herself up to a sitting position. Transactional or not, the “friendship” with Lila seems to be keeping her steady in the wake of her closest friends seemingly ditching her.

“I can’t believe you actually got akumatized because of me,” she mutters as Lila walks about the room, picking up random things to look at.

“I’m on my period,” Lila returns without missing a beat, “my emotions are volatile, so it was hard when the girl I admired so much seemed to dislike me.” Marinette’s eyes follow Lila’s steps. She flips through a loose sketchbook on the table, which, in normal circumstances, would prompt Marinette to leap over and tear it away. But these are not normal circumstances, and she feels strangely defeated and resigned to just letting Lila do whatever.

Her thoughts are still occupied with trying to figure out why Adrien hates her all of a sudden.

“How can I believe anything you say?” Marinette shakes her head though the explanation seems sound. “I can never tell when you’re acting.”

“You think I’d fake a period?”

“Uh, yea.”

“Fair. Well, let me put it this way. I like attention. I want to be the girl everyone loves. This much has to be obvious.”

“Yea, very obvious.”

“You are a girl with many talents and beloved by many, right?”

“Ehh…” Marinette is unconvinced. Lila rolls her eyes.

“You are, Marinette. I can list off all your titles and accomplishments, but I’ve already done that before. So, like I’ve said, you are perfect for what I need. Two beautiful and confident girls like us, we’ll be the star of the show everywhere we go.” Lila holds up the open sketchbook, on a page of two dress designs side by side. “Let me spin my stories and have a little fun.”

“Um.” Marinette is still uncertain, and can hardly take the praise as genuine. “Chloe isn’t going to like that.”

“You still care what she thinks? Please . She’s nothing. If you’re with me, I’ll always have your back, as long as you have mine.” Lila extends a hand down confidently, determination radiating off of her. “I’ll keep my stories within reason, and you won’t have to worry about anyone getting hurt. Unless of course, it’s Chloe. You know how it is.”

Strangely, it’s reminiscent of that new black cat holder she met with just the other day, the one who claimed to have freed Lila from akumatization. Despite it all, Lila is no longer pursuing Adrien, and Marinette won’t say no to some capable female friends. She looks up at the hand, Lila’s fingers and wrists adorned tastefully in rings and bracelets, and up at her face, to see a cool smile.

Adrien would never agree to telling Chloe off, even when Chloe so blatantly hurt Marinette and so many others, so to hear Lila so easily diss the girl is refreshing. Maybe she really will have a good ally with Lila. She reaches out and takes the hand. Lila’s grin deepens, and she pulls Marinette up to standing. Maybe this is for the best.

***

Just above Marinette’s room, on the rooftop balcony, Tikki and Plagg stare at each other.

“ Lila got the miraculous?” Tikki exclaims. “ How ?”

“What a pickle,” Plagg says with a shrug. “Gosh. Let me try to remember. It’s a little blurry. That crazy girl was the akuma, of course. Except we thought it was Marinette? She fooled Adrien real good, that naive guy. She gave him a peck on the cheek and he dropped out cold! It hit me too, I was blacked out for some time. Good nap, though.”

“Plagg!”

“Right, so when I woke up, I was really confused, because then she was Chat Noir? Adrien was nowhere to be seen. Uh, let’s see. Then the new Chat Noir put the ring on. He was acting confused and said his memories were fuzzy after getting hit by the akuma, so I reminded him how to transform and stuff since he seemed to have forgotten, even though he was already transformed? Yea, weird, right?”

Good gods , Tikki thinks. What the hell . Plagg, you idiot .

“The craziest thing is that then he just used the Cataclysm on a different ring he was wearing and I realized it was her the whole time! She de-akumatized herself! That’s practically unheard of!”

Tikki’s jaw drops.

“Lila de-akumatized herself?” She repeats.

“I don’t know, she said that after recognizing Adrien or something, she came to her senses. But yea. She used me, freed herself, and then kept tabs on the akuma while waiting for Ladybug to show up and purify it. I can’t really explain it.”

Tikki and Plagg phase through the roof to look into Marinette’s room. Strangely, Lila seems to be giving Marinette a pep talk that seems to be working . She seems to be being good , and even performed Chat Noir’s job when she was literally the akuma.

“That’s not what Lila said at all,” Tikki says pensively. “She told Ladybug that Adrien gave up the miraculous voluntarily.”

“She did?”

“Plagg, you were there .”

“Right. Well, she does have a penchant for telling her little lies.”

Tikki lifts her arm to her chin as she thinks.

“The only benefits to saying Adrien gave up his miraculous voluntarily, is that Ladybug will be less likely to try and return the miraculous to him,” she says. “I’m guessing she wanted to reduce the chance of Ladybug trying to take the ring back.” Does she have any other motive to keeping the ring?

“Plus, maybe she was trying to spare Chat Noir the embarrassment of being defeated so easily? I’m sure Adrien wouldn’t want Ladybug to ever know how the akuma managed to get him so quickly. It was kind of uh… well, it was embarrassing, to be honest.”

“Maybe. Either way, we should get you back to Adrien,” Tikki says after they pop back on the roof. “Lila’s not supposed to be the holder. She wasn’t chosen; Adrien was .”

“Well, yea, but your holder agreed to let Lila go for a test run, and both Hawkmoth and Lila know his identity now! That’s no good.”

“Shit,” Tikki swears, “you’re right.”

“I’m just hoping Master Fu will have answers,” Plagg says with a shrug. “If I can convince her to actually go there. She seemed interested. Plus Hawkmoth must know it’s her.”

“Something doesn’t feel right about her,” Tikki says, frowning, “we can’t let her just steal a miraculous and use it. I mean, you’ve seen it. She’s been super weird with Marinette.”

“Well, she was akumatized at first,” Plagg reasons. “Maybe after she got ahold of herself, she felt she needed to take responsibility, especially after revealing Adrien to Hawkmoth. As for sucking up to Marinette, well, who really knows what’s going on in a teenage girl’s mind? Maybe she’s in love , ew. Not two lovesick buffoons, gods help me.”

“Hmm,” Tikki says, but she’s still worried. At the same time, when Adrien is leaving her behind and Alya dedicating most of her time to her newfound relationship with Nino, Lila is providing support that Marinette desperately needs. “Wait. You said you and Adrien thought the akuma was Marinette. Oh no .”

“Ack!” Plagg squeaks. “He must think she stole the ring.”

Tikki slaps her forehead. That’s why Adrien was giving Marinette the cold shoulder. How has Hawkmoth not sniffed out his desperation yet?

“And we can’t let him know that it’s Lila, because then he’d know the identity of the new hero, and that’s no good because he’s so prone to akumatization, and, oh gods . Plagg, this is a disaster!”

“You’re telling me, sister!”

***

“You know how you can show Adrien that you’re thriving without him?” Lila says, carefully applying a coat of nail polish to Marinette’s ring finger. Marinette can hardly understand how this scenario came to be, after the whole Volpina thing, but somehow Lila is raising her mood, what with the commitment to an anti-Chloe concord and to having Marinette’s back.

“Yea?” Marinette says with a raised eyebrow. She’s not sure she wants to do anything before just talking to the boy first and figuring out what's up.

“Here’s my idea: you should move on . Everyone in the entire world knows about your crush, him included, I’m sure. So, find yourself someone else, steal their heart, and show it off the world. Post about it on your social media, walk hand-in-hand at school, look like you’re having the time of your life. That’s what I’d do, at least.” Lila starts on some simple nail art, dotting on some small white spots to the pink base color.

“I’m sure not everyone knows,” Marinette says, bright red, and Lila sends her an unamused look. “OK, fine. But… I don’t know if I want to move on.”

“We’ll see if his behavior improves,” Lila offers, “you can just think about it. But now that we’re going to be friends, I don’t let creeps get away with disrespecting my people. If he keeps this up then I might have to even the playing field.”

Marinette never expected such a strong pledge of support from Lila of all people, but following the logical benefits that she is seeking from their friendship, she guesses it only makes sense that Lila would want to make their alliance strong enough to last. And even if her heart still throbs at the thought of Adrien, having Lila come to her defense feels… nice .

“That’s pretty harsh,” Marinette comments, “but I guess I appreciate it. I’ll try to resolve this first, though. I don’t know what’s got him so upset. I must have done something really bad.”

As Lila’s fingers continue to work on Marinette’s hand, light glints off one particularly large ring amongst the several she wears. Smooth dark silver with a single large orange gem, it looks very beautiful and matches with Lila’s general color palette.

“A girl as goody-two-shoes as you, I can’t imagine you doing anything that bad,” Lila says with a shrug. She briefly looks away.

“Haha. Anyway, it’s not like I can just pick someone new. I’d never want to date them under false pretenses. I don’t like playing with people’s feelings.” And after the Kim fiasco, too, Marinette isn’t sure she wants to entertain the possibilities of something similar happening again.

Her eyes drift up from the warm hands on hers. The cuff of a stylish jacket, the bow of a cute romper, the chains of fashionable necklaces and the face of probably the most fearless girl she’s ever known, despite her penchant for lies. Framed by those two iconic locks on either side, Lila’s green eyes are focused on the task at hand.

They’re pretty when she’s not spinning her web of lies, Marinette thinks. She blinks in surprise when those very eyes flick up to match her gaze.

“What about me?” Lila asks, and Marinette stares.

“What?”

“Well, I perhaps forcefully threatened you into my friendship,” Lila muses, “since I always get what I want. But, if you want, we can pretend to date so you can show you’ve moved on from Adrien. It’d only be fair. Though… I’d date you for real regardless.”

“No way,” Marinette says quickly with a laugh, “that’s crazy!” But Lila’s expression is serious, with maybe a hint of red, and her breath catches in her throat. She’s not ready to move on, and she might never move on. And that over-the-top flirting, it can hardly be genuine. Lila said that kind of stuff to Adrien and plenty others, she’s sure.

“It’s just an option,” Lila says in a flatter tone, dropping her gaze to continue her work. “I’m sure it would benefit our mutual popularity quite a lot. In my experience, couples always get more attention than individuals. And you’d do quite well, since you’re so cute.” Right, Marinette remembers. It’s just a strategy for Lila’s goals, not an extension of feelings, not that Marinette could ever trust everything Lila actually says. She’s sure all the compliments are just to fortify the alliance and nothing else.

“Marinette!” Her mom’s voice calls from below. “A classmate’s here to see you!”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone,” Marinette says after a pause, and glad for the distraction from the topic at hand. Discussing strategies to manipulate her social standing as if it's a battlefield is very weird for her, though it seems to be Lila’s default activity. “I’ll be down in a minute, Mom!”

“Well, I’ve finished your nails. Give them time to dry and it’ll be all good. I’ll head out for now so I don’t impose on whoever’s visiting.” Lila stands and puts away the supplies. “But seriously, think about it. We’d make quite the impression, I bet, and Chloe would be so hilariously mad.”

Marinette lets out a large breath as she gets up as well, shaking her head in amusement at the thought of the Bourgeois. But jeez, never has a normal girl with a normal life had so much crazy stuff to think about before. She needs a conspiracy board just to map it all out at this point.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” she says, “but I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.” Lila pulls up the trapdoor and gestures for Marinette to go first, reminding her to watch out for the wet nails. Down the stairs, and some more stairs.

“Sorry for the wait,” Marinette’s saying as she steps through the door, “I was just-”

Her voice cuts short as Lila almost stumbles into her back, her feet freezing on the spot. Because before her is none other than Adrien Agreste, a tight expression on his face.

“Speak of the devil,” Lila says contemptuously, a hand supportively on Marinette’s elbow. Somehow that breaks Marinette out of her stupor.

“Marinette,” Adrien says quietly, “we need to talk.”

#lilanetteweek #lilanette #lila rossi #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #my fic

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