#Chat Noir is enjoying being nobody special

[fruitdragon1a]

WIP pt 2: Loveybug AU

just hit 1600 words!

anyway, enjoy another snippet of the wip :D

“Plagg, claws in.” Adrien stumbled over to his bed and collapsed face down on the soft sheets, then turned over to face the ceiling. “She’s… gone.”

His kwami looked unusually somber, all traces of his usual sarcastic personality gone. He was probably hungry, but he hovered protectively over Adrien’s shoulder to provide comfort instead of going to find food. “I’m sorry, kid. That couldn’t have been easy to hear.”

“She can’t just be gone, though, she’s the Guardian!” Adrien said. “But why’d she stop being Ladybug?”

Plagg shrugged. “Kid, to find that out, you’d have to ask her.”

“But… that’s not possible,” he mumbled. “And there can’t be a Chat Noir without a Ladybug. I can’t be Chat Noir without Ladybug.”

“You have a Ladybug, though. The new one, Loveybug.”

“But she’s not Ladybug!” Adrien sat up, desperately trying to get Plagg to understand. “I can’t be Chat Noir without Ladybug at my side. Not Loveybug. She’s nice enough, but she’s not my partner.”

Plagg just listened in silence.

“It’s like, if, I don’t know, Sass or some other kwami suddenly replaced Tikki as your ‘other half’. It would be weird and wrong, right?”

“I don’t think it’s quite the same thing, kid,” Plagg said gently, “but I get what you’re saying. Then what are you suggesting?”

Adrien sighed. “I don’t know.” He sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You aren’t the only holder of the Miraculous of the Black Cat, you know,” Plagg slowly suggested, obviously trying to get Adrien to understand something.

He cast a confused look at his kwami. “Last I checked, I was the only holder of the Black Cat Miraculous?”

“Not to Ladybug, you aren’t,” Plagg reminded him. “Remember Cat Walker?”

Adrien’s eyes widened.

Plagg flew over to Adrien’s desk, returning with a wedge of Camembert that he stuffed into his mouth. After he swallowed, he continued to speak. “Sure, Chat Noir may not be Chat Noir without his Lady, but that’s not true of Cat Walker, is it?”

“But… It’s still me,” Adrien said.

Plagg shook his head. “You know that, and I know that, but nobody else does. And that means you can build a new dynamic with Loveybug, and people won’t ask incessant questions about where Ladybug went, and you won’t be burdened with all the baggage that being Chat Noir comes with. And maybe Ladybug will see your disappearance and try and seek you out as Cat Walker to find out what happened.”

He was slowly beginning to warm up to the idea.

“So? What do you say?”

Adrien glanced up at Plagg, then glanced out the window at the glittering Eiffel Tower in the distance. At the place that was once his and Ladybug’s special place… now somewhere Ladybug would likely never return to. So why should he return as Chat Noir? He’d still be protecting the city… just with a different mask.

He turned to face Plagg, schooling his face into a determined expression. There would be time for sadness and grief later. “Let’s do it. Plagg, claws out!”

“Wait you just finished your patrol–” Plagg’s rushed words cut off as he was sucked into Adrien’s ring. A moment later, Cat Walker stood in front of his bedroom mirror, taking in his new look. It seemed like he would have to get used to it, as Chat Noir wasn’t coming back. Not unless his Lady did.

[antibagel]

Yeah, I have no idea why the movie was a musical (and even more confused as to why they didn't get Christina Vee to sing Marinette songs since she's a talented singer). The time spent on the songs could have been better dedicated to the story, specifically more focus on Adrien and him meeting Plagg (who, ironically, is the one character that the movie handled poorly compared to everyone else who got an upgrade).

Honestly, there's two things that the movie handled greatly that make me look past its flaws. It's handling of Gabriel aa a character along with his relationship with Adrien (their hug legit made me emotional 😭) and the romance being much better written since Marinette and Adrien being better written with their worse traits being gone.

Every iteration of miraculous as a musical has sucked. Nobody enjoyed the songs in the Christmas special.

The VA changes between the singing voices and speaking voices took me out. You are totally right: if they had spent less time on the songs and more time for dialogue, it would’ve improved the pacing.

Correct me if I’m wrong because, again, it’s been a while; but I thought Adrien’s personality was worse in the movie. Like a completely different character, and less like-able than in the show.

I do remember some of the banter scenes in the movie between ladybug and chat noir working better than the show interactions. They had more chemistry maybe?

The last season finale totally fumbled the relationship with Gabriel and Adrien, and focused more on Marinette and Gabriel in the final fight, which could have been cool if they had more scenes and parallels in past episodes. But the show had been building up a final moment between Gabriel and Adrien for so long and just didn’t deliver. The movie handled it better, and I really wish we could have had those moments in the show as well.

[sanjuno]

*glee* Okay, I have been trying to find out who to spring this idea on for a while, but couldn't seem to find someone knew both fandoms. ML/FFXV reincarnation AU. Bahamut stole a soul from the ML universe for his Chosen King, unknowingly taking two bc soulmates. Tikki and Plagg were yoinked out of the ML world too, bc of how/when Bahamut stole Marinette's soul, but were unable to /do/ anything until Noctis and Prom (Adrien) were the right age. Can you imagine how awesome the changes would be?

Oh my gods why would you do this to that poor doomed world?

Noctis with Marinette’s drive and passion and verve? That is a terrifying thought. Especially if Tikki and Plagg are locked/sealed away until Noctis and Prompto are around 14/15 years old again. Because their canon personalities would be mostly established at that point. Only then Tikki and Plagg show up and probably bring the memories of Marinette and Adrien with them and…

Well. At that point all hell would break loose. Because Marinette was always a responsible, dutiful soul and FFVX is basically an entire world overrun with Akuma. And Noctis is the Prince of Lucis and he has a responsibility to protect his people.

Prompto was already gearing up to make friends with Noctis and now Noctis is also Ladybug and he can’t help himself. “I know I called you my purrincess but I didn’t expect you to take me literally.”

I’ve got this image in my head of Prompto with all of Chat Noir’s shameless flirting doing his damnedest to woo the Prince of Lucis. With puns. And it’s working.

Ignis needs to go lie down somewhere quiet and Gladio is staring at his romance novel like it’s betrayed him.

And this is nothing, nothing, compared to Noctis’ reaction to the Chancellor of Nephilim’s trash bag hobo couture. Both Noct and Prom would stare at Ardyn and that gods damned coat with dead eyes before slooooooowly reaching into their pockets for fire flasks. Because that fucking coat. It needs to burn.

[adriensaltprompts]

Submitted Prompt: “Nine Lives Aren’t Limitless (AKA Adrien Can’t Count)”

edited a bit

AU wherein one of the reasons the Black Cat works as an offense-oriented Miraculous (in an AU where each Miraculous is specialized in combat and other areas) is because it grants its users the ability to keep coming back from things that would otherwise kill them.  As well as things that actually kill them. 

Fatal injuries remain fatal, but the user’s body doesn’t stick around – circumstances always seem to conspire so that they fall out of sight, or otherwise disappear quickly from view… and then the Black Cat user respawns nearby, fully healed and fresh as a daisy, with only the memory of their recent demise remaining.  For them and anyone else who witnessed it.

This is meant to grant the user more flexibility, encouraging them to take more risks, dancing in and out of harm’s way, drawing attention away from more vulnerable targets who don’t have expendable lives.  A buffer for the bold, helping them keep others safe.

Naturally, this doesn’t come without cost.  Dying is rarely a painless process, and while they return refreshed and revitalized, the effects catch up with them once the battle’s over and the adrenaline’s run dry.  Black Cat Users tend to be heavy sleepers, curling up and conking out while their aching bodies recuperate, not to mention the mental trauma of being killed.

Adrien, naturally, treats this as carte blanche to goof around and do whatever he pleases.  This is a Chat Noir who doesn’t get taken out of the fight with one hit anymore.  Though he still relies on Ladybug carrying the day, his life doesn’t hinge on her winning – not as much, anyway.  There are still times where Adrien gets taken out of the equation before he can transform, and mind controllers are still obviously a major issue whenever they come into play, but overall, he’s able to make his senselessly ‘noble self-sacrifices’ and return within minutes.

(Knowing Adrien, he also really enjoys Ladybug’s reactions to his antics.  The looks of utter horror she gets, especially the very first one, when she thought he’d died right before her eyes and was never coming back… the intensity of those expressions naturally fades over time, going from horrified and shocked to increasingly exasperated and angry, but luckily for him, he finds her irritation cute, too.)

'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought them back.'  That’s how the old saying goes, right…?

…But there’s another relevant saying.  Many cultures believe that cats have multiple lives.  Nine, most often, but sometimes six.  Sometimes seven.

Always limited.  Even in that children’s song, the cat only keeps coming back so long as they keep singing.  And nobody can keep it going forever.

Plagg tries to warn him.  Marinette warns him.  She pleads with him over and over to stop testing his luck.  To stop burning it away so senselessly, so frivolously.

But Adrien’s the sort who firmly believes that consequences only apply to other people.  Not to him.  He’s too special.  Too important. He’s Adrien Agreste, he can do whatever he wants.

And so, inevitably, there’s going to be a time where his recklessness catches up to him.  Where he makes a mistake that the Ring can’t save him from.

Death isn’t the only potential problem they’re up against, after all.  Even putting aside the threat of mind control, all it takes is one person in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Somebody seeing something they shouldn’t.

There’s also the fact that the Black Cat always respawns someplace where they’re alone.  Unobserved in that moment, like Schrodinger’s Cat.  But that doesn’t prevent somebody from seeing them immediately after they’ve respawned, and while they return fully transformed, that could still cause further complications.  Especially when coupled with how they must then make their way back to wherever the battle is.

But yes, death remains a factor, even for Adrien.  And when a Black Cat dies for the final time, the last of their luck ensures that their body is lost in just the same fashion as always, dropping out of sight.

They just don’t come back, this time.  The Ring will resurface eventually, carried away by its kwami who is compelled toe leave the scene of the final death, but as for the bearer… well, only Plagg knows for sure.  Maybe Adrien’s body will turn up somewhere, or maybe it remains lost.  Maybe it’s all up to luck, at that point.

So what kind of fate does Adrien meet, when his luck runs out?

[2manyfandoms2count]

Poisson d'avril

Here, have a half-baked April Fool’s Day fic my brain decided to wake me up for. For context, one of the most popular jokes for April 1st in France is taping paper fish to each other’s backs, the more original the fish the better (my childhood is filled with trying to sneak behind teachers' backs to tape one on them; they were very chill about it, tbh). Poisson d’Avril is also what you say at the end of a joke on that day (think "sike", but festive). More about this great tradition that apparently dates back to at least 1466 here.

Hope you enjoy!

Read on AO3

---

Marinette loved April Fool’s Day at Françoise Dupont. The school was always buzzing with little pranks at that time of the year, the blooming spring giving a wonderfully cheerful backdrop to the shenanigans the collégiens were up to.

These were all very light-hearted, if sometimes a little elaborate.

As usual, some students had been found early in the morning in the classrooms, thwarting their attempt to recreate the legendary horizontal fiasco of 20XX, where everything had been set up to look like the rooms had been flipped by 90°. Mr Damoclès had let them go mercifully, thankful that the students hadn’t been tempted to glue everything to the ceiling in an effort to one-up their predecessors. Somehow, he wouldn’t have put it past Kim and Alix to try and coordinate the project, as a last hurrah before heading on to lycée.

There were also seemingly well-meaning classmates offering chouquettes or donuts in the courtyard, which Marinette knew to stay well away from, knowing the former were likely sprinkled with coarse salt, and the latter filled with the likes of mayonnaise instead of jam. She’d been in their shoes a couple of years prior, building her classmates’ trust by bringing them the sweet delicacies every day for a week, and switching on April 1st as a joke.

Heading to class, she heard a lot of laughter, people telling jokes, or trying to see how far they could take a story without it being called out on it (this year, Nino had Kim panicking over a brevet exam part they supposedly had, which was a step down from the previous year, where he’d convinced him that everybody needed to come in dressed up in medieval costumes, and that he’d landed the court jester role; his friend had turned up the next day in a full outfit, complete with bells on his hat and shoes, and upon discovering the deception, had decided to make good use of them and make the joke everybody’s problem).

However much she enjoyed those kinds of pranks, though, Marinette’s favourite remained the classic poisson d’avril: taping paper fish to people’s backs. It was something anyone could take part in, as a predator or a prey, with or without premeditation. You didn’t necessarily need scissors and tape, if you managed to steal some from somebody else’s back.

Marinette liked to take it seriously. Done right, the exercise demanded stealth she’d had even as a little kid, and had honed ever since being chosen to become Ladybug, as well as creativity she had piles of. She’d stayed up the previous night, making plenty of fish varying in size and colour, some tailored to her friends, like the Rena Rouge and Carapace ones that were intended for Alya and Nino respectively. She’d of course also made the rest of the Miraculous team, as well as some other designs based on Kitty section, her classmates, or celebrities.

As always at the end of the day, Rose walked around with a whole school on her back. It wasn’t clear if she was completely oblivious to it, or if she knew what was going on but enjoyed the giddy giggles of the people who managed to add an extra fish in, or take one off.

The only person who’d managed to escape the prank so far was Adrien, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. Kim, Alix and Nino had gone to great lengths to get at least one fish on his back, even recruiting Markov to sneak behind him, but the boy seemed to have a sixth sense.

No sooner did he hear the faintest of ruffles, that his head would jerk up, eyes darting around to figure out where the sound had come from, thwarting any efforts, no matter how elaborate they’d been.

Marinette had been reluctant to target Adrien, despite having a special fish for him, complete with his stripes and an orange-tipped tail, but as the day went by and more people joined the challenge to trick him, she felt the urge to compete rise in her chest and started unwillingly tracking his every movement, trying to find a breach in his focus.

It was a fastidious process, even for someone who enjoyed watching Adrien happily live his life, but it paid off around the end of the day, just after the last bell.

Marinette noticed that Adrien’s shirt looked a little rumpled around the back as they were retrieving books from their lockers, and approached him calmly.

“Adrien?” She announced her presence when she was right behind him, surprised that he hadn’t turned around yet. He almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice.

“Marinette!” He yelped, a hand flying to his heart. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you approach.” He chuckled nervously.

“No, I’m sorry I scared you!” Marinette looked down, apparently sheepish. In truth, she was cursing inwardly at the missed easy opportunity. Adrien had been at ease with her coming closer, which she assumed was because it was the end of the day and he’d started letting his guard down; she could have gone about her business and he would’ve been none the wiser. She shook her head; it didn’t matter, she’d just go on with her original plan. “It’s just that… well, it’s stupid, but the back of your shirt is a little creased, and I know how important your appearance is to your family so… Do you mind if I fix it?”

“Thanks Marinette, that’d be awesome.” He smiled at her in a way that would have made her lose her cool, had it been any other day. But she was on a mission, and there was no way she was letting the opportunity of pranking Adrien when nobody else had managed the feat go by.

“Okay, let me just…” Marinette reached into her purse and took the first piece of paper she felt, before gently taping it to Adrien’s shirt, making sure to smooth the fabric at the same time so he wouldn’t realise what she was doing.

“There, all done!” She smiled when she was satisfied the tape had adhered well enough.

He smiled back at her, but was interrupted in his thanks by Nino and Alya calling for them to hurry up.

“Today was really fun, I’m so glad I got to experience it first hand,” Adrien beamed as the group walked out of the building, Nino and Adrien a little ahead of the girls. “And I’m really proud that I survived it without getting pranked!”

Marinette bit back a laugh, eyes darting to his back.

“I wouldn’t be so confident, Sunshine,” Alya replied, untaping the fish from his back and handing it to him.

“What…” Adrien stopped in his tracks, looking at it, and particularly Marinette’s signature on the back of the piece of paper, in disbelief. He turned around with a look of mock betrayal. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me!” He pouted.

“I couldn’t just let you off the hook,” she shrugged with a small smile, making a mental note to reuse the phrase with Chat Noir when she saw him later. He’d enjoy the pun.

Adrien let out a small chuckle as he turned the fish around, but the sound died as he saw the pattern. The colour drained from his face and he froze as he took in the black and green colour scheme and the fish’s whiskers.

“Adrien? Is everything okay?” Marinette frowned, noticing his change in body language.

“Yeah, um… Can I talk to you for a second?” He looked up at her.

“What a great idea!” Alya pushed Marinette towards Adrien before hooking her arm through Nino’s and starting to go down the stairs. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

Marinette thought she heard her add “Can you believe they might get together over an April Fool’s joke?”, as she waved them off absentmindedly, but her gaze met Adrien’s troubled one and she decided she’d deal with her best friend later.

“What’s up?” She asked, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks; the adrenaline from succeeding her challenge was evidently starting to wear off.

“What’s this?” Adrien asked cautiously, handing her the fish.

Marinette took it cautiously, saw the pattern, and smiled. “It’s a poisson-chat noir,” she said proudly. It was a bit of a shame she’d picked that one for Adrien, but she guessed she couldn’t have kept it for her partner anyway, given that she’d signed it. Still, she thought he would have liked the joke. Especially if it came from Ladybug.

“How did you know?” he murmured, looking at her incredulously. She tilted her head, raising her eyebrows at his cryptidness. He explicited his thoughts. “I saw the fish you gave Alya and Nino, and the one you managed to pin on Chloé; they were all references to their superhero selves. And now you get this one right as well… How did you know?”

It was Marinette’s turn to freeze and feel the colour draining from her cheeks. “I… I didn’t. I picked one randomly when I saw an opening.”

“Oh.” She saw the cogs turning in Adrien’s brain while she felt her own shut down, still processing one important piece of information.

“Adrien… Are you Chat Noir?”

“Um… Poisson d’avril?” He ventured.

“Adrien.” She repeated sternly.

“Okay, fine, you got me.” Adrien huffed, raking a hand through his hair. “Please, don’t tell Ladybug.” He pleaded.

“Too late, I’m afraid.” She dug out her poisson-Ladybug and taped it to herself. She saw Adrien’s eyes grow as wide as his smile before being engulfed in a hug and feeling his lips on her forehead. “Kwami, we really might get together over an April Fool’s joke,” she muttered against his chest. If the heat she felt at the tip of her ears said anything, she probably was as red as Ladybug’s costume, and it probably wouldn’t go unnoticed.

“What was that?” Adrien pulled out a little from their hug to look at her.

“Nothing.” She smiled, and took his hand. “Now come on Chaton, we have some things to discuss, and we should probably go somewhere more private.”

“You know I’d follow you anywhere, my Lady.” He picked their entwined hands and kissed hers.

Really, she thought as they made their way towards her parents’ boulangerie, she loved poissons d’avril.

[s-and-n-writes]

you are my north

a/n: hey guys! here's the soulmate fic i've been working on for a while. it's an outline-style because i didn't want to write out the whole thing. enjoy! -s ps. i can't write summaries to save my life. pps. this fic is rated teen only because of two curse words, and while there is some major character death, i didn't mark it in the warnings because it's temporary.

quick links: | crossover masterlist | 

People get many types of soulmate bonds

Some are romantic and some are platonic

Platonic can be friends, family, found-family, etc

Bonds can include marks, writing on arms, switching bodies, etc

Everyone has a soulbond but some aren’t visible or obvious

Marinette grew up in Gotham named Marianne

She didn’t have a visual bond so hers would manifest when she met her soulmate

Her parents were killed when their house burned down (she was 5)

She was sent to an orphanage and ran away after a few months (she was still 5)

Lived on the streets for a year until she met Jason Todd (she was 6 and he was 10)

They met when two older boys tried to steal Marianne’s money since she was small

Jason beat them up and gave her his hand to lift her up

When their hands met there was a flash of light

Marianne - My mama told me about this. She said it was a soulmate bond and the person it was with was really really really special to me.

They both have a compass on their palms pointing to where the other is

They go off together and live together on the streets

She calls him “Jay-Jay” and he calls her “Pixie” or “Mari”

2 years later (Marianne is 8 and Jason is 12)

Jason goes out and finds the Batmobile and proceeds to get adopted

He refuses and wants to find Marianne

Jason - Let me go old man!

Batman - No. You’re coming with me.

Jason - I need to find my sister!

Batman - Fine. Find her and you both will come with me.

Both go in search of Marianne

Earlier Marianne woke up and found Jason missing so she went out to search

She couldn’t find him and was upset and was sloppy

A Parisian couple found her and adopted her

The people at the GCPD were like ????? because who adopts a Gotham street kid?

Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng apparently

So Marianne is taken to Paris while Jason and Batman are looking for her

They can’t find her and Jason goes with Batman and gets adopted and everything

Jason believes she must have been taken out of Gotham because his compass points towards the harbor and towards the water

Eventually gives up because he won’t be able to find her since across the ocean is a massive place

Gotham proceeds as normal

In Paris...

Marianne is refusing everything because she didn’t want to leave and she misses her brother

Tom and Sabine didn’t want two children so they didn’t bother looking for her brother

They rename her Marinette

She goes to school and makes friends with two boys named Nino and Kim and is enemies with Chloe, the mayor’s daughter

Reluctantly starts calling Tom and Sabine ‘Maman’ and ‘Papa’ because it would look weird if she didn’t and she didn’t want to talk about her past

They treat her nicely but she still misses her old parents

Marinette makes more and more friends but they don’t know about her past or her brother

When she’s 11 she sees on the news that Jason Todd-Wayne died

She’s really sad because her brother and soulmate died but also insanely confused because he somehow got adopted by Bruce Wayne???

Back to his death

Her compass stays but her compass needle disappears

She withdraws and doesn’t go to school for a week

She asked everyone not to give her any nicknames (not that she had any in the first place)

Nobody knows she had a brother except Tom and Sabine but even they don’t know his name

Everyone is told one of her family members died and her parents try to console her but eventually give up

Continuing on and time skips

Her parents start leaving her alone more as she got older

It helped when she became Ladybug

Marinette also slightly resents them for forcefully adopting her and then kind of neglecting her but let’s not get into that

Becomes friends with Alya and starts crushing on Adrien

Alya posts everything and is very intrusive

Marinette is constantly questioned about her soulbond but always refuses to answer

Did I mention that she always wears gloves ever since Jason died?

Because she does

She doesn’t want to see the compass and be reminded of him

Anyways, Alya keeps trying but is always refused

She calls Marinette ‘Mari’ one day and she just…snaps

Marinette goes on this big rant about personal information and privacy and respecting boundaries and ends up screaming at her and curls in a ball crying

Alya leaves and stops being friends with her because Marinette is ‘mean’ and ‘sensitive’

They occasionally talk but they’re not really friends anymore

Very soon after, Lila comes and that's why Alya turned on Marinette so quick

Adrien tells her to “take the high road” and her crush on him dies

Marinette becomes even more miserable because everyone has left her and she is alone

Luka and Kagami aren’t her close friends here

And Chloe is not in her class anymore

Tikki is her only friend until Master Fu gives her guardianship and she is in charge of her kwamis

She is incredibly stressed because of Ladybug, Guardian duties, bakery shifts, and school

Tikki gives her the idea to get rid of bakery duties and not focus on Guardian stuff and instead do a hobby

She tells her ‘parents’ that she’s too busy with school to work at the bakery

They roll their eyes and ignore her again and sometimes she thinks they only adopted her to get her to work for them for free

There isn’t too much to do for Guardian stuff anyways

She designs more and more as a hobby and ends up opening a commission website (that’s completely anonymous so Lie-la and her cronies can’t do anything to it)

It’s more work but it relaxes her and is great for making money

Her pseudonym ‘MAT’ is famous because of Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale constantly mentioning her

MAT stands for both Marinette And Tikki, and MariAnne Todd

Eventually she gets a request from the Waynes

Marinette just cried because this was her brothers family and takes the request

She makes everything extra personalized and charges a bit less and writes a note to them

The note says something about how she knew Jason before he died and he was like a brother to her and she misses him so much and she can’t imagine what they’re going through

By this time she’s 16 and Jason would have been 20 and he is currently being Red Hood (not that she knows that)

Stuff happens, Hawkmoth is defeated, and she takes the ring away from Chat Noir because he’s an asshole who can’t take no for an answer

It’s Adrien Agreste...thank god she didn’t have a crush on him anymore

Time passes, and Marinette is now 18

She has moved out of the bakery and into her own apartment

She’s still in school but it’s her last year

She is now insanely famous and her identity is the best kept secret in the world

She is completely alone except for the Kwamis

So Marinette had entered a contest sponsored by Wayne Industries and won

The prize is a trip to Gotham for the entire class...fuck

If Marinette had known she probably wouldn’t have entered

Why would she go back to the place where her brother died?

She has to go though because she is the contest winner

Lila took credit for it and is spinning lies about how she’s so close to the Waynes and is dating Timothy Drake

So now onto a plot twist yay

On the morning of the trip Marinette is getting ready

She hasn’t looked at her hands in forever because she doesn’t want to be reminded about Jason

Keep in mind that she wears gloves constantly

That morning she looks at them because she wants to prepare for being in Gotham again and memories sake and things

Marinette is shocked when the compass needle is back and pointing in a direction

She doesn’t know what happened since as far as she knows people can’t come back to life and her needle was definitely gone before

So after interrogating Tikki and Plagg for a while she finds out that yes, there are ways to bring someone back to life and some aren’t very good for you *cough* Lazarus Pit *cough*

On the plane ride she is thinking and being both excited and scared/worried

Excited because Jason’s alive!

Scared/worried because some ways of bringing back the dead don’t work very well…

The plane lands and they get out of the airport with no big issues

Except for Lie-la hiding her luggage and getting the class to leave without her

So now Marinette has to walk across Gotham at night, alone, while carrying heavy luggage and looking like a tiny, weak, foreigner

She is practically begging to get mugged but what can you do?

Around halfway to the hotel she hears footsteps behind her

Before she can do anything, Red Hood jumps down from a roof and takes them down

He ties them up and calls the police

Marinette thinks he is familiar but ignores the feeling and goes on her way

Red Hood (Jason) also thinks she is familiar but also ignores it

Now is the time for normal Maribat field trip tropes and ideas

Nothing big happens to advance the plot

The last week of their trip is at Gotham Academy and then they go to the Wayne Gala

Again, normal first day at GA tropes until there’s a Rogue attack

For plot reasons (can’t reveal the akuma situation, Ladybug can’t be in Gotham, she has nowhere good to transform, etc), Marinette hides in a storage closet

She rubs her compass-palm to calm herself and looks at it

The needle is moving as if her soulmate was walking towards her (or the closet where she’s hidden)

But that’s not possible because Jason should be 22 and definitely shouldn’t be in a school right?

Marinette is freaking out and then the needle is pointing directly in front of her

And then the doorknob turns and the door opens and she sees…

DUN DUN DUN

Red Hood!

Marinette is kind of shocked but shrugs it off for a minute

Red Hood tells her the attack is over and she can come out

He helps her up but when their hands touch there’s a flash of light

Marinette - Jay-Jay?

Jason - Pixie?

Then there’s a very heartwarming reunion that I’m too angsty to write properly

Marinette starts going by Marianne again and meets the Bats

They love her immediately (and more when they realize that she is MAT who personalized their commissions and wrote that note long ago)

Lie-la’s lies get taken down

At the Wayne Gala she is announced to be Jason Todd-Wayne’s platonic soulmate, Marianne Todd

They live happily ever after

a/n: if you would like to be tagged for any of the maribat drabbles we post, shoot us a message and we’ll tag you!

[star-ocean-peahen]

p2 of old ML meta I wrote that I don’t necessarily agree 100% with any more.  I know I’m really late to the party on these, but I thought I’d release them into the wild anyway.

Awright, here we go. (under a cut because holy shit this is long)

I think Chloe is a complex character whose failed redemption arc was actually in character, whether the writers intended it or not. I acknowledge that she's done some really awful things, bullied people, been hurtful and mean because she wants to, and has no illusions about hurting people.  But she actually has a reason for doing this that goes beyond just enjoying bullying.  Again, this does not excuse her actions, and a redemption arc would require her to accept that she has done bad things and apologize for them, which is not something she does in the show.

As we can see in the show, Chloe's mother does not care for her.  At all.  Even to the extent that she doesn't even remember Chloe's name.  I don't know about you, but if my mom constantly chose not to remember my name, I would be devastated.  She constantly tells Chloe ("The only thing exceptional about you is your mother") that she is worthless and has no skill, talent, or anything special about her at all.  Chloe responds by mimicking the things she sees her mother does approve of, e.g. bullying, spitefulness, selfishness, etc.  It's made painfully obvious that all of Chloe's iconic, unique snobbishness actually belongs to her mother, whom she is imitating in a desperate attempt to get her mother's approval.  All Audrey cares about is herself, and Chloe knows that and tries to make herself a copy of her mother so her mother will want her.  Audrey only accepts and begins to value her when Marinette tells Audrey straight up how mean and awful Chloe is, and Audrey reevaluates her daughter.  She sees how much of herself Chloe has become, and decides that she wants a mini-her hanging around.  I don't know why she does this, but it's clear that she only began valuing Chloe once she saw the appropriate traits in her.  This means that Chloe has based her entire self-worth around her mother's opinion of her.  It's actually compared to Adrien's opinion of her in Despair Bear, when he tells her that if she isn't nice, he won't be her friend anymore.  She changes for a few hours because SHE ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT HIM AND HIS FRIENDSHIP MEANS A LOT TO HER, but reverts to her old ways because her mother's opinion matters to her more.  This is probably how she acted for her whole childhood, but changed when Hawk Moth attacks.  Why?  Because of Ladybug.  Chloe idolizes Ladybug, who gradually (unknowingly) gets more and more of an influence of her during the show. (Ladybug asking Chloe to stop causing akumatizations vs. Chloe giving up her miraculous) to the point where Ladybug is now a bigger idol than her mom.  Example: Style Queen, where Chloe FAKES working with her mother-WHO APPROVES OF HER FOR THE FIRST TIME-to HELP LADYBUG.  Ladybug is THAT important to her that she will give up the person she's been idolizing for her ENTIRE LIFE for her.  (Side note: Chloe is not a wimp.  She faked helping Style Queen-FOR ADRIEN-convincingly.  Persuaded her to change her plans without getting punished.  If that's not superhero material, then I don't know what is)  So now Ladybug is the most important person in Chloe's life.  What does this mean?  Well, Queen Bee happened.  When Chloe found her miraculous, she thought that she could be a superhero like Ladybug.  Remember, Chloe imitates the people she idolizes.  So she saw her miraculous as a way to get closer to the person she idolized-closer in character and closer relationship-wise.  Chloe values Ladybug partly because she is a superhero, so she thinks, "if I can be a superhero too, then I will have value in the same way as Ladybug!", hence her stunt with the train.  But this backfires on her when she only gets reprimanded and BOTH of her idols tear her self-esteem apart-Audrey purposefully, Ladybug unknowingly.  She's been rejected by the two people whose opinions matter most to her. (Note: Chloe has a tendency to forget about Adrien, but if your heart wasn't destroyed enough, he technically rejected her too as Chat Noir.)  She has no one to look up to now, so she clings to her miraculous-which is a symbol of worth-and guess what? Gets akumatized.  Hawk Moth says that she'll be his queen.  He'll value her when her world has come crashing down around her shoulders.  Can you blame her for becoming Queen Wasp?  She was akumatized after she displayed one of her first moments of vulnerability in the show, even showing it physically (nearly crying). That episode ends, and she begs for a second chance.  Audrey again dismisses her as worthless (Note: both times she did this, she did it on LIVE TELEVISION.) Ladybug and Chat Noir tell her that she can be a hero (equated with value in her head) and gives it back.  This is especially interesting.  Bee Miraculous = Hero. But Ladybug says No Bee Miraculous = Hero.  She amends her previous belief (GROWTH!) and trusts Ladybug, giving the Bee back.  In Malediktator, Chloe has her mother on her side and thinks all is well.  She continues to imitate her mother to keep her favor, taking it to the extreme with Audrey's encouragement and demanding the school shut down with an ultimatum: Do it or we leave.  They leave.  Marinette shows her humanity by celebrating Chloe's departure (which is FINE, she shouldn't be required to reconcile with everyone who's ever hurt her) and Adrien says this (BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT CHLOE AND KNOWS WHAT A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT SHE'LL BE LIVING IN because he lives in a similar one): "Nobody's useless.  Not even Chloe." We'll come back to the uselessness issue later.  Chloe sneaks away from her akuma'd parents (again, quick and rational thinking in the face of danger, superheroine!!! Actually, it was probably learned from all the akumas she's been attacked by) and: "You're a hero! You....can....do....this!"   When Ladybug grabs the Bee, she realizes that she needs someone tough who defies authority, and gives Chloe a second chance. (It wasn't just because she knew the powers, people!)  Even Fu has misgivings, but Ladybug looks past her personal grievances and chooses Chloe.  Meanwhile, Chloe is SUCCESSFULLY ESCAPING AND HIDING FROM AN AKUMA (must be all that practice, say what you want, but being attacked by so many akumas was some rigorous crisis training) and runs into Ladybug.  When she meets LB, she isn't expecting to get her miraculous, unlike later.   She knows Ladybug probably won't give it to her, and SHE'S FINE WITH THAT.  SHE RESPECTS LADYBUG'S DECISION.  ACCEPTS THAT SHE CAN'T BE A SUPERHERO, BECAUSE WHEN SHE GAVE UP THE BEE MIRACULOUS, SHE BECAME A HERO.  Then, she opens up to Ladybug.  She tells her what everyone else thinks she doesn't know, that she's a bully.  And she's not targeting Marinette on purpose, Marinette just happens to be the most convenient target.  She grows and understands that her documentary was ridiculous.  She tells Ladybug how she knows that her bullying ways have just pushed her farther from her goal of being valued.  She thinks that because she has no friends (girl, you have Adrien) she has no use, and notice she says "useless".  Not "worthless", or "a horrible person".  Useless.  Because those things equal each other in Chloe's mind. Use = Value. She tells Ladybug how useless she feels because compared to Ladybug who is, notice, not "useful", but "serves a purpose".  Chloe's purpose has been to satisfy her mom, but now she knows how empty that is and feels purposeless, useless, and worthless.  Then Ladybug gives her the Bee Miraculous.  Now, I don't think LB understands how much the Bee means to her.  (Pollen calls Chloe her queen. Just thought I'd throw that in there)  I'd be surprised if she did, because if she knew that the Bee was so intricately tied to Chloe's self-worth, then it was a cruel move she pulled keeping the Bee away from Chloe without any follow-up involvement, even with a good reason.  Away from the tangent, Chloe gets the miraculous, transforms, and works one-on-one with Ladybug.  And kills it.  Like, Chloe makes an amazing superhero. She even says she's been practicing, which is played for comic relief, but shows just how much she idolizes Ladybug.  She says, "I've always dreamed of doing this-with you!".  She's achieved her dream.  Ladybug thinks she's useful, and this is really important.  She is now useful as Queen Bee.  This is her use.  This. Is. Her. Purpose.  She's not empty anymore, she's full.  She's doing good for people, being a superhero, Ladybug values her as a teammate, and friend.  Ladybug (barring Adrien possibly) is now thought of as a close friend from Chloe, who looked past her personal annoyances and cares for Chloe regardless, a new experience for her.  Let me reiterate: Queen Bee has become her purpose in life.  (which is why she fails, incidentally, because she can't balance it with a civilian life, but more on that later.)   After she and Ladybug defeat Malediktator (GIRL POWER!) she says this, which reveals how much more she's grown since the beginning of the episode: "Being a superhero isn't only about fixing messes."  She became Queen Bee in this episode to fix her mess. Now she realizes that superheroing is not only a way to make up for the wrong she has done, it's also a way to make things better than they were.  Being Queen Bee makes Chloe better.  Marinette even says so, revealing why SHE is a better guardian than Fu, because she can see the potential in people.  Chloe tries to be Queen Bee without her superhero costume immediately afterward, helping Jean with bags because she knows this is part of becoming a better person and a better superhero.  Marinette then throws her a party to show her how useful and wanted she is, understanding how much Chloe needs that from their conversation.  sniff....beautiful. This is Chloe's peak.  The best she's ever been.  She's reveling in her new-found identity of a superhero, doing good and resolving confict in her civilian life.  In multiple episodes (Startrain, Heroes' Day) she is an everyday superhero by not getting akumatized (controlling her emotions and not letting fear take her over), and keeping others calm.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Chloe is incredible at crisis response.  She doesn't panic, while the adults who have already experienced akuma attacks freak out.  She takes charge when she sees akumas (Startrain) and does her best to fix the situation. She stopped an akumatization in that episode. (Seriously, if she hadn't done that, someone would have been akumatized.)  She prioritized her response: First, eliminate the immediate threat. She did that when she evacuated the compartment. Second, eliminate the future threat.  Find Ladybug and Chat Noir.  (They need a hotline. Like, really badly.)  It doesn't bother her that she doesn't have the Bee Miraculous, because she can be a hero in her normal life too.  However, everyday heroics is still second to Miraculous heroics, and she expects Ladybug to still give her her Miraculous, because she still considers herself Queen Bee.  She trusts Ladybug so much that she FRIGGIN' SUCCESSFULLY FIGHTS OFF AN AKUMA, THE ONLY PERSON TO HAVE DONE THAT TO DATE (yes, not even Marinette did, she took off her her earrings because she expected to be overtaken), deflecting her negative worry about the current lack of miraculous with her deep trust in Ladybug.  When Miraculeur happened, she got the Bee because it was a last resort.  It appears that LB and CN use Queen Bee only when there is no other option, revealing two things.  One, they apparently didn't bother to tell Chloe that (or she didn't listen, although I'm inclined to believe that this new Chloe would have) and that they pick her despite having other, safer holders with miraculous experience, revealing that they know how well Chloe and the Bee fit together.  She got the Bee (after defying Hawk Moth and Mayura without powers, this girl is INSANELY AWESOME) and went after Mayura, failing to capture her miraculous.  She apologizes to Ladybug without making excuses for something that wasn't even her fault, showing how much Ladybug's approval matters to her.  LB responds by telling her that there can be no more Queen Bee, not even as a reserve, because Hawk Moth knows her identity. Chloe accepts that without a fuss, showing how much she's grown so far. But if she's grown so much, you ask, why did she rip that picture of Ladybug? Well, this ties in to the position of use.  Chloe was useful to Ladybug as Queen Bee and (so she thought) as a friend.  But LB took the miraculous away.  Chloe is probably getting the sneaky suspicion that Ladybug only wanted her because she was useful, which Chloe has now realized was not all she wanted out of her relationship with Ladybug.  Chloe valued being useful to LB, but she also valued LB's friendship.  Chloe continues in her superhero activities, but muted. So how did this go wrong?  How did we go from this awesome superhero Chloe to Miracle Queen?  The answer is in Battle Of The Miraculous.  Marinette's narration reveals that Chloe lost hope, showing her turning off her Bee signal. I think Chloe still unconsiously thought she could still be Queen Bee.  Ladybug went back on her withholding before, she could again, right?  But then she finally gets it through her head that she's not going to be Queen Bee again, and abandons that hope in despair.  Is that it?  Is that why she turns to the dark side?  Well, her fall was caused by a lot of things.  One was the aforementioned despair.  Another that contributed to her fragile emotional state is the fight between her parents.  It feels awful to have your parents fight, and while Chloe is probably not a stranger to it, it's always painful.  Then her parents get akumatized.  That was what made her fall in Heroes' Day.  She says to Heart Hunter: "I don't love anyone." Heart Hunter responds that Chloe loves herself (which, wow, you guys are the worst parents ever.  You really don't pay attention.) Ladybug takes the dragon and goes to Kagami for help.  She goes to Kagami, who also had her identity revealed, and gives her a miraculous, saying it's because of Kagami's "exceptional talent".  Ryoko defeats Heart Hunter.  Queen Bee does not.  Dragon-Chloe does not.  And Chloe feels this. First, Chloe wanted to save her parents herself, which is a completely normal thing to want.  She loves her parents (despite their failings) and wants to help them.  If if was me, I'd want the same thing.  Second, she sees Ryoko active, whom she knows (somehow) was decomissioned for the same reason as her. This is where theseed of doubt planted in Miraculeur blooms.  To Chloe, this confirms that Ladybug was only using her for her availablility and wasn't actually her friend.  She thinks Ladybug was pretending that she was significant and still resented Chloe for getting in her way so many times.  She thought her idol was her best friend, but now it seems like her idol was lying to her the whole time. With Ladybug's perceived rejection and broken promise, Chloe now feels useless and purposeless again.  And Hawk Moth shows up at just the right time to sway her to his side with his impressive emotional manipulation by making essentially the same argument he made in Queen Wasp: Ladybug rejected you, but I still want you.  You are useful and valued with me.  Chloe, thinking Ladybug cares nothing for her, ("She couldn't care less about me!") accepts his offer and becomes Miracle Queen. (But not without asking for her parents' release first, because that is so important to her.) Miracle Queen's dialogue and actions line up with this.  She exposes everyone's identities (so they can't be chosen over her again) and says to LB: "How many times have I asked to fight alongside you? [how many times have I asked to belong?] And how many times have you refused to give me my miraculous? [how many times have you denied me your friendship?]"  She tries to take all the Miraculous and use their power to lash out at Ladybug, declaring that she'll be the most powerful miraculous wearer there ever was.  This foolish action is a result of Chloe's fragile emotional state that has been controlled and manipulated by Hawk Moth to work as his pawn, and her raw pain and anger at Ladybug.  She then takes only the Bee after Master Fu whiz-bang-pops the Miracle Box and says that she's going to New York to be a superhero, grasping at straws to regain her worth by clinging to the Bee, the miraculous that started it all.  After Ladybug takes it, Chloe declares that she doesn't love Ladybug anymore, which could be taken as "I'm no longer your fan" but seems more like she did once love Ladybug as a friend, making her previous statement in Heart Hunter a lie.  She finds her parents and demands to leave with her mother, who has reconciled with her father and refuses Chloe her demand, likely the first time they've done that (because they're too wrapped up in each other to even ask her why she's so upset).  To sum it up, at the end of the current season, Chloe has hit rock bottom.

Okay, after this analysis of Chloe, let's take a look at the person mostly responsible for her fall: Hawk Moth.  More than anywhere else in the show Hawk Moth is shown to be a master manipulator in Chloe's arc.  He planned to weaken Chloe's trust in Ladybug, and succeeded.  A lot of her actions in Miracle Queen can be attributed to Hawk Moth playing her like a queen on the chessboard, which is exactly what he compares her to and an excellent metaphor.  He wasn't reactively trying to get the Bee in Miraculeur, he was proactively using it as a way to manipulate Chloe into losing trust in Ladybug through the Bee Miraculous.  He understood Chloe's identity crisis (he was RIGHT THERE in Style Queen) and used it to his advantage.  She surprised him with throwing off his akuma, but that just meant her love for Ladybug was more powerful than he thought.  He akumatized Heart Hunter on purpose to affect her (an interesting change from the let's-throw-everything-and-see-what-works Hawk Moth of the earlier seasons) and carefully orchestrated the whole thing to sway Chloe to his side.  He caused and took advantage of a child's distress coming from a bad home life and parental issues, giving us yet another example of how little he cares about what he has to do as long as he gets what he wants. (He beats his son in Chat Blanc.  Fully knowing it's Adrien.  Physically beats him up.)  A lot of Chloe's mistakes can be put on Hawk Moth for manipulating her (seriously, this guy is a fucking asshole).

Yet another extra onto the end of this: Adrien.  Both Chloe and Adrien are very iffy about their friendship, both saying that the other is their only friend and that they had/have no friends.  And yet Adrien is probably the person who understands Chloe's conflict the most.  Parent who thinks you're worthless unless you're doing what they approve of?  He understands.  He's probably seen how her mom treats her and understands why Chloe acts the way she does (gives a whole new perspective to all that standing up for her he was doing, hUh), but until his mother disappeared and his father went silent he wasn't able to personally understand just how painful it was for her and how hard it was to fill those expectations.  And when that calamity happened he was grieving with no support system (I have no doubt Chloe tried to help in her own way, she does care about him even if she doesn't know how to express it) and was certainly not in a place to help her.  Then he found new friends at school and increasingly chose them over her, adding more to her "everyone always chooses someone else over me" complex.  To be clear, I'm not blaming Adrien for Chloe's problems.  Her issues are her fault, her mother's fault, her father's fault and (later) Hawk Moth's fault.  Adrien did the best he could as a child with no social skills. But if he ever catches up and realizes how much Chloe needs him, he would definitely feature in a prime spot in her redemption arc.  

So a lot of this was my high hopes for Chloe and the show’s consistency, both of which have been disappointed.  I was also caught up in a lot of Chloe love while writing this, which is why I didn’t focus on how nasty she is and has been or how she needed to make amends for it, because she very much does need to.  This is just my analysis of her ‘arc’ in season 3.  also sorry for the big block of text.

[dydra]

Thanks for the 100 followers, guys!! Enjoy!

Memories (Chat blanc)

Next

Marinette was acting strange the last week, everyone noticed.

She wasn't as cheerful as always, but the smile she gave them when they asked make them believe that they were just overthinking, that she was okay and she just went to bed late dissing, as always. But Adrien knew that smile really well, he used it every interview and photoshoot he'd had.

That smile was completely empty, it only hide pain, and loneliness. And the fact that Marinette was using it, terrified him.

What could have happened to make her feel that way? Whatever it was, he wanted to let her know that he was there for her, that she wasn't alone. He wanted to hug her and erase the pain and the tiredness from her eyes. He wanted to be a good friend.

He shook his head trying to concentrate in his biology class, but he couldn't.

She didn't talk to Adrien much, they weren't close friends. And with Chat... were they close enough for him to ask her about her personal problems? He dropped by sometimes when he does alone patrol nights to buy some pastries and they usually talked on her balcony  about akumas, hockmoth or food, nothing too personal for neither of them.

He wasn't sure if she would answer, but at least she would know he's worried about his friend.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>

It all started that night.

A week after... that day, Chat visited her, like he normally did, for pastries. But as soon as she saw his face, she remembered.

"Everything went purr-fect until hockmoth found out"

"It was our love that did this to the world, m'lady "

Blue cat eyes was the only thing she could see at that moment.

She prohibited him to visit her.

Maybe that's what hockmoth found out? His visits. She knew she would fall for him if he kept visiting.

Would Hockmoth had used her to threaten Chat? No. She couldn't let that happen.

After he left her balcony confused and hurt, she did what she hadn't stopped doing all week: cry in her bed until she fell asleep with Tikki by her side tryingto comfort her.

It all started that night.

Chat noir didn't understand anything. He didn't expect her to kick him out and order him to never come back.

Did he do something wrong? He just wanted to help. How could he help if she didn't want It?

He knew he should have listened to her. She didn't want him near, then hen why was the point to stay? He didn't know, but when he heard her crying and sniffling, he was sure he couldn't leave.

He would be there for her... even if she wasn't aware of it

It all started that night.

She'd had nightmares about her partner before. They were usually about their fight, and their conversation. Sometimes he said more hurtful things to her, others he just stood there and watched her with no emotion in his eyes and then proceed to try to try to kill her(In a strange and creepy way, she liked them. They were like some kind of justice, it remained her that what happened was her fault and that she would never make the same mistake)

But this time... this time it felt different.

She wasn't ladybug as normal, she was still with her pijamas.

Why was she at the Eiffel Tower? 

Paris was still destroyed, but not flooded by the ocean like she expected.

The she felt it: Desperation. Sadness. Impotence. Fear. Guilt.

"No... No, no, no, no!" She heard "My lady... no..." the masculine voice broke. She recognized it as soon as the nickname came out of his mouth.

In front of her, were the blue eyes that hadn't left her head all week.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" He said to the ladybug dust statue with tears falling from his eyes. " I didn't mean to– I didn't wanted to–" his voice broke once again. He extended his globed hand with the intention of cuddle her cheek,  "Please don't leave me, please. I love you..." as if his legs could no longer support his weight, he fell to his knees.

She felt her heart broke, then ran towards him with the intention to hug him. But as soon as she touched his shoulder, she tripped and then felt how her body passed through his. As if she was some kind of ghost.

"Wha–" she watched him perplexed from the floor

What was going?

Meanwhile, in the other side of the city, Lila was frustrated. She had spend all week trying to get everyone's attention. She faked being hurt, she lied about a some celebrity contacting her, she even lied about someone in her family dying! But nothing happened. All of the class was more interested in the sudden change on the litte rat's mood. (Something that Lila would be enjoying if it wasn't because she got all the worry and attention)

Her phone buzzed again. She had more messages from the group chat (one that she made made without Marinette in it with the excuse of her disliking Lila)

'Even Adrien asked me about it! He was really concerned about her' Lila read a message from Alya

'Really? Do you think he likes her?' Myleene asked

'I hopes so! Marinette still has a crush on him. They would make a cute couple!' Lila's blood boiled when she read what Rose texted

She gave an exasperated cry and threw her phone across her room.  He should be concerned about her suffering for the death of her family member, not for the stupid feelings of a nobody!

Then, her anger and frustration increased at the same moment she heard a familiar voice in her head.

"Oh poor girl, of course your friends should have been more interested in you than in that boring girl "

Lila smirked

"Hockmoth..."

What was he doing? He had no idea.

He was sitting on her balcony hearing Marinette crying while still asleep. Should he wake her up? Should he leave? Should he hug her?

No, she prohibited you come back. He repeated himself with sadness.

He heard a crash

"Marinette Dupond-Chain!" A voice yelled.

An akuma...

Why would someone be upset with Marinette? She hadn't do something wrong to anyone!

He needed to take Marinette somewhere safe. Without hesitation he entered her room, took her in his arms and jumped across rooftops away from the new villain. Within a couple of minutes, Marinette was fully awake.

"Ch-chat bl– noir?" She asked unsure and containing the argue to cry and hug him tightly.

"An akuma is after you" he explained quickly without looking at her. He didn't wanted to see her anger and disappointed.

They landed on an alley

"Stay here, ladybug and I will handle this." He said still with his eyes away from her "I'll tell my lady to take you home when all of this is over"

He extended his baton ready to leave when her voice stopped him.

"Chat!" She called him "I didn't meant to–" he finally looked at her, but she didn't. Playing with her fingers seemed more interesting "I didn't meant to sound so rude earlier. I just think that you shouldn't have any contact with a civilian while you are in your suit. It's dangerous. For both of us"

He trusted her, he really did. But he knew that wasn't the only reason, there was more. Still, he wouldn't ask about it, not yet.

"I know " chat noir gave her a small smile when she lifted her head, and then left ready to fight the akuma.

Marinette sighted. And looked at her red kwami (she was lucky the tiny goddess woke up and followed the cat superhero when she heard the crash)

"Come on, Tikki. That cat needs our help"

At least now a have a good excuse of why I couldn't sleep. Marinette thought. She knew that after that dream, she would have be awake all night with or without akuma

I don't want to get emotional, but I really never thought I would get this far, I was super nervous when I posted my idea for the gods au. I hadn't expected so many people to like it!

Thanks to everyone for every like, reblog and comment, it really warms my heart when I see a notification from tumblr. I really appreciate it😁💕

I know there's nothing special about this fanfic, but I'm a sucker for marichat, and chat blanc is f*cking perfect. So I thought it would be a good idea to mix two of my favorite things and write this in celebration of the 100 followers 😋

P.S. If you have any questions about any au, fanfic or whatever, feel free to ask😌

P.S.2. Let me know if you think I should write more about it. For now it's just a one shoot, but I could try to write more if it's good enough

I figured you would like to be tagged when I posted this @squirrellygirlart

[coke-and-candy]

Fashion Editorial Special: Audrey Bourgeois

Inspired by this post link by @purrincess-chat 

Lila put herself out there in the public domain, and just because Marinette’s class and teachers might be stupid enough to fall for her lies, doesn’t mean that there aren’t adults out there who are...

The question was who? Who is critical and vicious enough to do so and has a HUGE audience to say things to, and who works closely with the modeling and fashion worlds and actually knows what they’re talking about...? 

Why! Madame Audrey Bourgeois! The Queen of Fashion herself. So please put on your best Devil Wears Prada reading hats on and enjoy as Audrey takes no prisoners. 

------------

“Gabriel Agreste Losing His Mind and Sense of Taste”

By Audrey Bourgeois

Published: 9/15/20XX

It is no secret in the fashion world that since the mysterious disappearance of Emilie Agreste, famous Parisian actress, model, and wife of Gabriel Agreste—the man who had single handedly built the Gabriel brand from the ground up—the once envied designer had shut himself away from the world. Living the life of a recluse and refusing nearly any physical human interaction.

That is not to say that the man had lost his ability to design and to run his business, he just now does it all from the Agreste Manor in Paris, France. According to sources he now mostly conducts business meetings via videoconference calls and oversees the employees of this fashion empire via his ever-present and faithful assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur.  It was not until a little over a year after the disappearance of his beloved wife that Gabriel Agreste, at last, decided to grace the world with his presence. Appearing, for the first time in public, at the Gabriel Spring Fashion Show, where his own teenage son and Paris heartthrob, Adrien Agreste (age 15), was walking the catwalk modeling one of the newest spring suits and featuring a stylish bowler hat, designed by a talented and young up-in-coming designer, Marinette Dupain-Cheng (age 14).

Despite certain incidents that occurred on that day. Part of which was caused by the gross oversight Gabriel Agreste (a first sign to be sure). The show could still be considered a success and did showcase to the rest of the fashion world that Gabriel Agreste’s talent and designing abilities still reigned supreme and are still a force to be reckoned with, regardless of any personal issues he may be facing in private.

It seemed as if Gabriel was making small steps towards the acceptance in his single life.

Turns out this one moment of public interaction may have been the first cry for help.

His latest decisions in regards to just WHO represents his brand have been nothing but questionable and completely and ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

This past season Gabriel had introduced a new face to its teen fashion line. One Lila Rossi (age 15).

At first it seemed as if this was simply a pity shoot for one of Adrien Agreste’s little schoolmates, as they both attend the same school and are in the same class.

But, alas, this was tragically not the case.

Despite her clear lack of ascetic taste, especially when it came to her own hair. Really, someone should tell that poor child that hanging two sausages on both sides of her face not onlyfails to come across as ‘trendy’ but it sends an ENTIRELY different message.

I’m both surprised and appalled her mother would leave the house with that style.

I certainly would never allow my own child to been seen like that in public.

Unfortunately, that first shoot was only the beginning as Ms. Rossi has appeared alongside fellow model, Adrien, in three more shoots and a commercial that pathetically tries, and monumentally fails, in portraying them as a young couple in love.

I have worked in fashion long enough to be able to spot what works and what does NOT a merely a glance. But one does not even need to be an INTERN to recognize that the dynamics between Adrien Agreste and Lila Rossi is so utterly ridiculous to the point a shutter of nausea courses through one’s body.

While Adrien continues to hold his own in the modeling world, despite the large shadows that both his parents cast, he is able to shine on his own merit and truly does have the looks and talent to model and act (no doubt traits he inherited from his mother). The same cannot be said for Lila Rossi.

Lila Rossi’s whole look (if you can call it that) is simply not genuine. I have worked in this industry long enough to be able to tell the diamonds apart from the rhinestones. Lila Rossi may want for people to believe that she is a diamond, but she is, without a doubt a rhinestone. Cheap, easy to produce, and a one in a billion find. Oh, sure she may have charm and charisma to carry some solo stock picture photo shoots but in order to make it in the Fashion World one requires to have a certain light and spark that stands on its own.

To put it simply, this girl has no discernable personality. Her expressions are stagnant, as if she had to practice being human, her posing leads me to believe she is merely trying to look good for the camera instead of working to display the clothing and products in their best light, and she has close to no versatility in any of the photo-shoots she has done as all of her pictures can be simply described as her in different outfits but using the exact same four expressions over and over again.

When I say the same expressions, I mean—THE EXACT SAME.

The Sophia robot emotes more human emotion than Rossi.

It is Adrien who carries the shoots and is doing the lion shares of the work while Lila Rossi does her best to APPEAR like a model. To put it simply—she is NOT.

Her hair is just one issue, but it her overall presence that just scream ‘Fake’.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and unfortunately, there are many pictures to choose from.

In the very first photo-shoot that was done with Adrien as her co-model you can easily see the disparity between the two. While Ms. Rossi seems more than happy to be in a loving embrace by one of Paris’ most eligible young bachelors, the same cannot be said for the young Agreste heir. There is an obvious tension in his body language that does not show in any of his other photo-shoots, including ones where he and another model were portraying romantic feelings for those ads. The untrained eye can see the slight curve of his spine, as if he wishes to get away but can’t, the small tension in his smile that screams, “I don’t want to be here but I have a job to do”.

My final verdict to the latest photo-shoot from the Gabriel name, that once more featured Adrien Agreste and Liar Rossi, was that is was ridiculous, completely and utterly ridiculous!

Inside sources on location where the two teens have modeled have also confirmed that there does not seem to be any natural chemistry between them and that Adrien had picked up a habit of making himself scarce until he is needed. Other sources verify that Lila Rossi seems to cling to him as much as possible. Perhaps, in the hopes that someone will confirm her own pathetic delusions of the possibly budding relationship between the two of them?

And my does this girl have a number of delusions.

Not counting the one where she THINKS she can model.

According to several interviews that this girl has given to the sub-par tabloid blog, TheLadyblog, she claims to be the best friend of the Parisian super-heroine, Ladybug. Claims to have connections to multiple high-profile celebrities such as Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. Going as far as to claim that Jagged Stone even wrote a song about her. Lets ignore the legal implications of a man in his early thirties writing a song about a child for a second and continue examining more of said child’s claims.

According to another interview she gave on the same trashy blog, she claimed to be involved in multiple charitable organizations and causes, citing different projects that she has ‘supposedly’ helped with and oh so humbly placed most of the successes of those projects on her shoulders.

An official statement from Gabriel has stated that the girl has multiple health issues as well and is an inspiration on her abilities to overcome those obstacles in order to model and her other so-called various charitable actions. Very, well we won’t pry into a minor’s personal health.

Her public life, however, now that she is in the public domain is fair game.

It did not take even twenty minutes of searching to find absolutely NO validity to any of her claims.

Her claims of being a close personal friend of Ladybug: FALSE

-      The timeline does not match her arrival to Paris with her family. Nor does allow for ample time to establish any sort of close friendship.

-      Ladybug herself has the sense to never reveal anything about her personal life, but a little nobody is more than happy to broadcast their ‘supposed’ friendship on a blog that could once claim to be the best source for information on Paris’ two heroes? I think not.

-      Eyewitnesses from when the girl was Akumatized into Chameleon and subsequently defeated on the Eiffel Tower stated that Lila Rossi seemed to hold animosity towards the red clad heroine.

-      Ladybug has made no statements in knowing Lila Rossi and there has been no photo documentation of the two seen together, even though Ladybug can be seen almost daily swinging around and running along Paris’ rooftops with Chat Noir.

Her claims about Jagged Stone writing a song about her because she saved his kitten on airport runway: FALSE

-      Jagged Stone has never owned a kitten according to his personal assistant, Penny Rolling, and his exclusive interview with La Mode three years ago that revealed that the only pet he ever had other than his current pet crocodile, Fang, was a dog as a child in the States.

-      A quick Internet search also reveals that Jagged Stone and Lila Rossi have never even been in the same country together until four months ago. The rock star was still on tour in America while Ms. Rossi was in Paris, France.  The date of the Ladybloginterview is time stamped long before then.

Her claims to helping inspire and help co-write Clara Nightingale’s last album: FALSE

-      Countless interviews with the pop singer, and official statements upon the release of her album, Heart of Gold, will reveal that the inspiration for said album was her grandmother in her native home country of Brazil.

-      This was also the first album that Clara had written completely on her own in order to establish her own unique flair.  

-      I personally reached out to Clara herself and confirmed that she has never, met or even HEARD of a Lila Rossi. Strange? One would think that such collaboration would ensure that one of the parties involved would at least remember the other’s name?

Her claims to travel with Prince Ali of the Kingdom of Achu for environmental charitable work: FALSE

-      Again, a quick Internet search of the Prince’s official website and bio lists all of the organizations he is involved with. All of which focus primarily on children such as the International Coalition for Equal Opportunities, the World Health Organizations vaccinations drive, and the Refugee Children’s Fund to name a few.

-      A quick call to the royal family’s publicity affairs office confirmed that Prince Ali had never been in contact with Lila Rossi and are now looking into the matter for themselves. After all, an unknown person cozying themselves up to the second in line to the throne is matter of GREAT interest to the Royal Head of Security.

Her other claims of travel to international destinations in the middle of the school year: FALSE

-      According to the Italian Embassy’s official website Mademoiselle Maria Rossi had been stationed in Paris since her arrival almost a year ago and has not left the country, other than for a few short trips back to Italy to visit family members.

Her claims in having trained in gymnastics, ballet, and figure skating and even going so far as medal in gold in all three at major competitions in Italy: FALSE

-      Again, a quick Internet search reveals all winners of the top twenty major competitions in Italy for the past fifteen years. Names, age, date, and location of the competitions are easily and readily available to the public. NOTHING about Lila Rossi winning gold in any sort of athletic competition.

Her claims of being invited to have tea with her Royal Majesty, the Queen of England: FALSE

-      Any and all of the Queen o England’s engagements are public records as well as very well documented. Surprise, surprise there is NOTHING about a Lila Rossi mentioned in any credible new source, or even a single tabloid blurb. The only thing to sustain such a claim is the word a child who actually believes that her jacket looks good in light of day.

Honestly, I could go on and on and even be able to write a whole book. This girl has told so many tall tales she makes elected officials seem honest.

So let this be clear to the world of Fashion.

Lila Rossi is nothing more than a liar.

A liar who had only as gotten as far as she did because she was lucky enough to find someone with a decent online following that was both gullible and stupid enough to post those interviews online without ever once providing additional sources to verify them or double checking those claims. It was not that difficult disclaim every single one of those interviews.

I timed myself and it did not even take me my lunch break to do so.

The very fact that this girl is supposed to be the lead female teen face of Gabriel makes me question Gabriel Agreste’s sanity. Does he honestly think that having Rossi represent his brand is the smartest thing to do?

There clearly must be something in the water in Paris if Gabriel Agreste had not even bother to run a simple background check on the girl in order to ensure that there were no skeletons in the closet that would haunt his brand. Turns out she did not have any, but she sure did purposely create them.

I have to congratulate Monsieur Agreste on this achievement though.

Never have I seen the credibility of a designer go from as set in stone, to as questionable as a ‘designer gown’ bought in a Sale-Mart so quickly. What other decisions is he making behind the scenes that will further clue us in to his mental decline. Will the next Gabriel Show feature plaid parachute pants with matching toucan bird print dress shirts?

Yes, it seems as though grief has finally come to claim another once brilliant designer if he is unable to see past the paper-thin façade that Lila Rossi believes will be able to get her through this world. All the signs are there in same hideous orange Rossi insists on wearing.

Clue number one should have been her clear lack of any substance, versatility, and talent after the first photo-shoot she appeared in. The transparent aversion his own son has shown towards a fellow classmate should have been clue number two. And finally, clue number three should have been that this girls climb to fame was all due to a tabloid blog, TheLadyblog, run by the amateur journalist of all amateurs journalists that could not even be bothered to check their sources.

Or Google for that matter…

Gabriel has been known to take certain risks in the past, but the decision to hire Lila Rossi is nothing more than a mistake.

For the sake of all of our ocular senses, both Gabriel Agreste and Lila Rossi are clearly in need of psychiatric help.

The sooner, the better.

-----

Yay, nay? What did you guys think of this little Fashion Editorial by the Queen of Fashion of the Miraculous universe. Any thoughts. This was just so much fun to write I am so doing a follow-up to this. 

[gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights]

Rating: T

Summary: Ladybug shows up to return his lucky charm. Adrien should've put on something other than a towel. (Ladrien identity reveal fic)

Word Count: 2600

XXX

“When you walk away, you don’t hear me say, pleeeeeease, oh baaaaaaaaaby, don’t go!”  he sang over the spray of the shower.  The acoustics in his bathroom made his voice bearable.  He knew his singing wasn’t the greatest, but there was nothing like being able to let lose and caterwaul in the comfort of a warm bubblebath.

“Simple and clean is the waaaaay that you’re making me feeeeeeeeel tonight, it’s hard to let it go—” 

“Hey, kid—don’t scream, it’s just me—”

Adrien swallowed his shout as he dove under the bathwater.  Soap went up his nose, and he coughed it back out.

“Plagg!  What did I tell you about barging in while I’m in the shower?”  He hugged his knees and scowled.

The kwami lounged on top of a bubble, his paws crossed behind his head.

“Relax, I’m thousands of years old.  I’ve seen plenty of naked Chat Noirs before.  And keep your voice down.”

“What?  Is there an akuma?  Plagg, claws—!”

Plagg flew up to his face, pressing a tiny paw to his lips.  “Shhh!  You’d be better off with her seeing you naked than suited up!”

Wait.  Her?

“Why didn’t you tell me someone was here?”  he hissed.

Plagg rolled his eyes.  “I was trying to.  Someone was too busy screaming and hiding in a pile of bubbles to listen.”

“Who is it?”

“Oh, no one important.  Just your little lovebug.”  He grinned.

“Ladybug?” 

Oops.  He probably shouldn’t have shouted that.

“Oh, uh—I’m sorry!”  Her unmistakable voice filtered through the door.  “I can come back later if this is a bad time!”

“N-no!  It’s never a bad time to see you!”  Even if he did want to just sink into the bathwater and drown at the thought of her hearing his wailing earlier.  “Just give me a second!”

Plagg cackled as Adrien turned off the shower and hastily wrapped a black towel around his waist.

“Oh no,” he groaned, scanning the empty counter.  “I didn’t bring my pajamas in.”  From now on he’d always keep a change of clothes on him, just in case Ladybug ever decided to drop in.  

“Eh, it’s not like she’ll complain at seeing you in a towel.”  Plagg shrugged.

Adrien flushed from head to toe.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.  If Ladybug was here, it had to be for something important.

Making sure his towel was tied securely, he cracked open the door.

“Ladybug?”

“A-Adrien!”  She leaped back from his bed.  Had she been… sniffing his pillow?  Ugh, Plagg must have left his Camembert to ferment under there again.  She probably thought he was a disgusting slob.  He could only hope she’d catch a whiff of his freshly-showered scent and change her mind.

“Do you mind passing me my clothes?”  he asked with a nervous grin.

“Oh, er—yes, of course!  Clothes!  That’s what people wear after showering…”

Was she okay?  He couldn’t remember ever seeing her so flustered.

Before he could tell her where his pajamas were, she was rummaging in his dresser...  and then she was pulling out his red-and-black-spotted underwear. 

Was drowning in the bathtub still an option?

“Nevermind!”  He stepped out from behind the door.  “I’ll just, uh, wear this towel.  It’s more comfortable anyway.”

She dropped his underwear back in the drawer.  “Er, if you insist!”  She grinned widely.

For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other, while Adrien slowly died inside.  Then he noticed her eyes flicker to something on his shoulder.

“Huh?”  He tried to turn his neck at angle to see whatever it was.  He’d just showered; what could be stuck to him?

“Let me,” Ladybug said, rushing forward to brush off his shoulder.  A red rose petal drifted to the ground.

“Oh, haha, where did that come from?”  He ruffled his wet hair.  There was no way he’d admit that he enjoyed bathing in rosewater.  She’d think he was just a snobby rich boy for sure.

(Even if at least half the reason was so that he could smell nice for her.)

He cleared his throat loudly.  “So, um, what can I do for you?”

“Right!”  She smacked her face, and then she flipped open her yo-yo. “I just noticed that you left this behind at your photoshoot when the akuma attacked today…”

She pulled out a red string of pink, blue, and green beads.

“My lucky charm!”  He nearly dropped his towel in his rush to take the charm.  “Thank you so much, my—Ladybug.  I don’t know how I lost it.  This charm is so special to me.”

He cradled it to his chest in relief.  Though at least part of it was probably silly superstition, he always felt better with the charm on him.  

“R-really?”  Her face reddened.  “Why’s that?”

“A really good friend of mine gave it to me.  I always take it to my photoshoots for a bit of extra luck.”  He rubbed the beads between his fingers.  He didn’t have any pockets to put the charm in, so he tied it around his wrist.  “But… how did you know it was mine?”

“Oh!  I must have… ah… seen it fall out of your pocket?”  She ruffled the back of her hair, disheveling her pigtails.

He leaned in closer.  Why did her nervous face look familiar?  His Lady usually seemed so composed.

“Are you lying?”  He grinned, a bit of his Chat slipping out.  

“What?  Psh, no.  It’s not like I know you in real life or anything—that would be crazy!  I’m just—I’m a fan of fashion, so I might have been watching your totoshoot glosely before that akuma attacked—”

“Totoshoot?”  His brow furrowed.

“Exactly, the grotoshoot.  So—you’re charming, I mean—you’ve got your charm back, so I should put a shirt on—I mean—YOU should put a shirt on, and pants, and underwater—underwear!  Which I’m not going to touch again, so.  So I’ll—BYE!”

Adrien should’ve cut off her ramble sooner.  But each garbled word out of her mouth felt so familiar. He couldn’t help trying to place it.

“Wait, Marinette!”  He grabbed her wrist before she could unhook her yo-yo.

“What?  Is something else wrong?  Or did I just sound like such an idiot you don’t trust me to protect Paris anymore—”

His heart sped up as he enfolded her spazzing hands in his.  Marinette.  That’s who her frantic stammering had reminded him of.  And she’d responded to his slip without missing a beat.

“Of course not, my—Marinette.  I’ll always trust you.”

Her eyes blew wide beneath her mask.

“Wha… what did you just call me…?” 

“Marinette,” he repeated, the name sweet in his mouth.  “You’re Marinette.”

“N-no, of course I’m not!  Marinette’s waaaay too clumsy to be a superhero, psh.”

“You gave her the mouse miraculous.  You obviously didn’t think so.”  He smirked and crossed his arms.  The beads on his charm clinked together in her stunned silence.

“You—what—nobody knows about that!  Nobody except—Chat?”

Oh.  Crap.

“Hehe.  Oops?”

She smacked her forehead again.

“Careful, bugaboo, I wouldn’t want you to hurt your mewtiful face.”  He grinned against the rising panic.  Why did he say that?  Why was his gut instinct to pun in times of emotional crisis?  Ladybug knew his identity!  And from the blue-screening look on her face, she wasn’t thrilled about it.

“Oh yeah, you’re Chat Noir alright.”  She groaned and pressed the heels of her palms to her forehead.  “I can’t believe I’ve been staring at Chat Noir’s chest!”

“You—you were?”  He giggled hysterically.  “Like, staring because it’s a nice chest?  Or because it’s just kind of there and I should really put a shirt on because this is weird, isn’t it—?”

“Adrien, your chest is more than nice.  But it might be a good idea for you to put on a shirt before I drool all over your floor.”

They both locked eyes, equally shocked that she’d said that.

“I—you wouldn’t happen to have a bathtub I could drown in, would you?”  she croaked out.

He laughed.  “Not a chance, bugaboo.”   

“Maybe he could kill you with his singing instead,” Plagg said from where he was hovering by the bathroom door.

Adrien and Ladybug both jumped.  Of course Plagg had overheard all of that.  Adrien found himself turning the same color as his Lady’s suit.

“Excuse you, Adrien has a wonderful singing voice,” she said with a pout.

“I—I do?”  He blinked.  “You’re sure you actually heard me?” 

Chloé had always made fun of his voice.  His father wouldn’t let him audition for voice acting positions with singing roles.  Even Plagg, who had an… interesting voice himself, could hardly stand Adrien’s singing.

“Of course I did!  I mean, um… what’s the answer that makes me sound the least weird?”

He laughed, shaking so hard the towel almost fell off.  Again.  He tucked the corner of it more securely against his waist.  He should really go ahead and get dressed, but he was afraid Ladybug—Marinette!—would disappear the second he took his eyes off of her.

“I’m the one standing here in a towel, and you think you’re weird?”

At that, she laughed back.  “I’m the one who didn’t let you get dressed!”

“I’m the one who didn’t let you get my clothes because I was too embarrassed about you seeing my Ladybug underwear!”

She collapsed back in his computer chair cackling.  Both of them were redder than her suit by that point.

“Yeah, yeah, you guys are both disgustingly in love.  Unless you’re going to smooch my kid while he’s practically naked, you should let him get dressed.”

“In—love?”  Adrien squeaked out.  “Ladybug?  In love—me?”

“Can dish it but can’t take it, huh?”  She stood and smirked while leaning into his space. 

He licked his dry lips.  If Marinette wanted to play that game, he wasn’t going to back down now.

“I can take it,” he said quietly, his lips centimeters from hers.  “As long as it’s you doing the dishing.”

“The only dish I want is a nice dish of camembert,” Plagg complained.  But for now, Adrien ignored him.

“Hmm.  Let’s see about that.”  Her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, leaving tingling trails where her suit brushed bare skin.  He was going to pay for procrastinating getting dressed.  If he was unraveling already, there was no way he could handle whatever else she planned to throw at him.

Her lips brushed his.  It was just the faintest touch, but it set his heart pounding.

“Is this okay?”  She asked quietly, her voice suddenly turning shy.  “I know we always joke together, but if this is too weird, or—”

“Marinette.”  It came out as a rasp.  “If you don’t kiss me right now, I might actually die.”

Her laugh fanned out across his collarbone.  “Well, we can’t have that.”

She kissed him.  Really kissed him, her lips interlocking with his, hands roaming down his bare back, and oh man he was wrong.  He might have died if she didn’t kiss him, but he was definitely going to die now that she did.

He held her tighter, tilting his head to allow her better access.

To think that just minutes ago, he hadn’t known his Lady was Marinette, or that she was in love with him.  And now this.

He finally pulled back, needing to breathe before he melted into a vaguely Adrien-colored puddle.  Another jolt of ecstasy shot through him when Marinette continued to chase his lips.  She pouted when he laughed.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who might die without kisses,” he teased.

“If you’re trying to embarrass me, you’re going to have to work a lot harder than that,” she said even though her face was still bright red.  “You already heard me say totoshoot.  And you saw me sniff your pillow!”

“That’s just today.  Don’t forget the time you kissed me while I was pretending to be a statue.”

Her eyes widened, and she pushed him back.  His chest felt cold where she was no longer pressed to him.

“Too soon?”  He asked, though he couldn’t help grinning.  He should’ve known she was in love with him.  Why else would she have acted like that?

“It will always be too soon.  I vote we pretend that never happened.”

“But Marinette, don’t you want to be molded together in the plaster of destiny?”  He batted his eyes innocently.

She dropped her head into her hands, hiding the adorable blush there.  “That’s it.  I’m leaving.”

“But I thought we were going to be entwined for eternity!”

She looked torn between laughing and punching him.  He would’ve welcomed either.

“It sounds like someone doesn’t want any more kisses.”  She crossed her arms instead, turning her back to him.

“Nooooo, Marinette!  Anything but that!”  He draped himself over her back, arms dangling over her shoulders.  “I hope I didn’t upset you.  I just think hindsight made it hilarious, but I’ll shut up if you really want me to.”

“I don’t think you could shut up if you tried.  But that’s okay.  I love you just the way you are.”  She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Warmth spread through him from head to toe.  “Really?”

“Yes, really.  You think I’d make out with just any shirtless guy?”

“Hmmm.  I guess you have a point.”  His hands played with the string of her yo-yo around her waist.  “But I wouldn’t complain if you wanted to prove it again.”

She took hold of one of his hands, spinning him so they were face to face again.  “Go put on some clothes so I don’t have to worry about knocking your towel off, and then we’ll see.”

He blushed again.  He’d better get used to that though.  If he got any more kisses from Marinette, the color of her suit would rub off on him permanently.

“I can live with that.”

He dug out his pajamas—including his Ladybug underwear—and darted into the bathroom.  

“Are you happy now?”  Plagg asked.  It took a second for Adrien to spot him, snuggled up in one of Adrien’s black hand towels next to the sink. “I sure heard a lot of gross smooching noises back there.  You think I can use this to plug my ears?”

The kwami held up a q-tip and snapped it in half.

Adrien cast a glance back at the door, where he heard Marinette giggling on the other side.

“Could you keep your voice down?”  He hissed.  “And no, don’t do that.  You’ll hurt yourself.”  He took the broken q-tip and tossed it in the trash.

“You better get me some real earplugs if you’re gonna keep this up, then.”

“Done,” Adrien said while pulling his shirt on over his head.  “I’ll do that and get you that special sprucewood cheese if you leave us alone for the next hour.”

“Deal!  Good luck, loverboy!”  Plagg waved.  “I think you’re forgetting something, though.”

“Huh?”  Adrien’s hand was already on the doorknob, but he turned around and saw his pants still lying on the counter.  That would’ve been awkward.  “Thanks, Plagg.  I’m kind of surprised you didn’t let me just embarrass myself though.”

“Nah.  You can do that plenty well on your own.”  The kwami grinned.  “I still think she’s lying about your singing voice.  You could scare off akumas with that.”

Adrien stuck out his tongue.  It didn’t matter what Plagg thought.

On the other side of the door, Marinette was waiting.  And no matter how embarrassing he was, she still loved him.

[miraculousfanworks]

Miraculous Fanworks Fanfiction Compilation: August 2020 Exchange

Image credit.

Miraculous Fanworks Fanfiction Compilation: August 2020 Exchange

Welcome to the compilation for the August 2020 Exchange on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server! 

On the server, we host events every month. This August, we hosted a fanfiction exchange.

A fanfiction exchange is where fanfiction authors submit an offer and a request, and are then matched with fellow writers who would like to write their requests.

This is the compilation of all the authors who published works for the August 2020 exchange.

Enjoy!

Everybody is Confused, Nobody is Responsible by Ambrosia_678

for MyMayura

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072089/chapters/63411766

When Adrian accidentally finds out his father's alter ego, everyone has to make some hard choices.

Origin of All that is Good (We'll Go Together) by faelynwythe

for tbehartoo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26193631/chapters/63742417

In an ancient time and land, the great goddess Ladybug has all but lost her influence upon the world, save for a single young man who still believes in her with everything he has.

august rain by fictionalinfinity

for miraculousandstrangerthingsworld

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26097877

Over the years, the umbrella comes to mean different things for Adrien. From empty promises to flourishing friendships and secret identities, he finds that there’s more to the rain than just the thunder.

You Had Me at Bonjour! by JaydenMarie

for Rikkapikasnikka

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26189995/chapters/63732202

More than anything in the whole world, Marinette wished someone would say his name again. Alix kept calling him Bozo, but she knew that was most certainly not his name. She’d been far too flustered by his painted nails, the blue running through his black hair, his open shirt and his bare chest, his voice...UGH. What was she thinking about again? Oh. His name. Marinette certainly couldn't spend an entire weekend in Phuket calling him Soft Hands Guy, could she?  Lukanette

A Game of... Bug and Chat by JuliaFC

for fictional infinity

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26065015

A revealing dream leads Marinette to suspect the identity of her Minou. Being the Guardian, she could just ask him to show her... but where's the fun in that? Marinette starts a game to "spice up" the reveal. Will an extremely flustered Adrien survive flirty!Marinette's "ordeal"? And will Marinette keep her cool when the tables will be reversed? Read and find out! Plenty of Adrinette :)

Lazy Morning at home by Khanofallorcs

for PurpleFlower04

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26112136

Determined to help Marinette relax after weeks of hard work, Adrien plans to surprise his girlfriend with breakfast in bed, on the morning of her 23rd birthday.

Perhaps Love by L3245

for JaydenMarie

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26154802/chapters/63636466

‘Being known is being loved… and then what?’  He bites his lip. ‘Come on, Luka… you had this.’Luka has never written a love song. It's not that he hasn't tried--he has, but nothing has ever felt right. It's never bothered him, until one day the words hit him out of the blue. Being known is being loved. Then there are incomplete lyrics and a half-baked tune stuck in his head until he finds a way to finish them.Perhaps a chance encounter (or five!) with a clumsy, but attentive girl will help. 

Is There a 101 on Crushes with Secret Identities? by Lethargic_Pink

for MissNoodles

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26199550

What is Marinette going to do when they both, accidentally, find out each other's identities?Well, of course, she's going to challenge him to a game of flirting, because that's totally Marinette.

The Unfortunate Flour Incident by liminalshadow

for MarinetteAgresteBrand

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26224177

When Chat Noir and Marinette have a bread baking date, an unfortunate flour incident forces a conversation that they wasn't quite ready to have.

Cirque Du Désir by MarinetteAgresteBrand

for CassandraFisher

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26017315

There was a fine line between Hell and Heaven, lust and love, and the ringmaster, Viperion, knew how to blur it all just so... make everything meld together until Chat Noir and Ladybug couldn’t tell where they themselves began and ended, their fate dancing on a tightrope.

I don't know what to title this. by Mavicah

for sseagully

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26192701

Friendship shenanigans? I'm bad at descriptions.

This cafe by miraculousandstrangerthingsworld 

for Nomolosk

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/MLBAugust2020/works/26174752

Marinette and Adrien get engaged at the place they met and have a few flashbacks.Adrien is a singer and Marinette is a songwriter.No miraculouses

Me, My Best Friend, and Her Cat by MissNoodles

for liminalshadow

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26051047

Ladybugs aren't known for being particularly sneaky. Good thing this Ladybug has a fox in her corner, watching her back.(And giving Ladybug's love life a nudge along the way. Maybe more than a nudge. In Alya's defense, Ladybug can use all the help she could get.)

Before and After by Mommadon

for pickledtalie

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25965442/chapters/63120091

Moments of sorrow bring Marinette and Adrien closer together as they learn, grow, and heal together. A series of nonlinear Before and After snapshots, glimpsing how heartache is turned to joy and tears become laughter.

Lace and Beads and Silk Brocade by MyMayura

for PrinceKapitan

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075419

Ms. Bustier can't seem to accept that Chloé and Marinette have no intentions of becoming friends. It seems, however, that their forced "friend date" might have some positive surprises in store, which are much needed after Marinette's terrible day.

heroes (just for one day?) by NOIRequin

for Mommadon

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26120986/chapters/63540517

After the epic failure of Heroes’ Day, Mayor Bourgeois and his counselor decided to organize another city-wide event in honor of all the citizens who fought against the evil during the previous celebration. Some people nominate Marinette as an Everyday Hero, the face of that event, but she doubts that she’s worth this title. Luckily, she gets a partner who will help her not only nail organizational issues but to embrace the title of Everyday Ladybug as well. Set immediately after s2, so episodes after that are invalid in this universe.

The Things We Do For Family by Nomolosk

for JuliaFC

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26125108/chapters/63553105

Felix is getting married. It's tradition that the eldest child in the Graham de Vanily family use the Twin Rings as their wedding rings, passed down through each successive generation, and Felix has no intention of breaking with tradition. There's only one problem. Felix only has one of the rings.

it will take time, but we'll be okay  by pickledtalie

for Shattered_Heartless and Angylle

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160067

ladybug and chat noir sit on a roof. they talk. it goes... well? 

Seven Seas of Symphony by PrinceKapitan

for faelynwtythe

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946050/chapters/63068758

Luka's relationship with his mother Anarka is rather poor. While neither one had much of a regard to the civilian norms, Anarka would more often than not take things too far. When Luka's crush Marinette comforts him after another altercation, things seem to go well between the guitarist and the designer. Unfortunately, Luka's rebellious mother pulls a life threatening stunt to spite her son's dispiriting attitude towards her reckless behavior and this leaves him, Marinette and Juleka out at sea in the midst of a storm. If they somehow get back home, their relationship is bound to strain even more.

Exposed by PurpleFlower04

for delwyndelwyndelwyn

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067430

When Alya finds out Mari is Ladybug, she is given something very special to remind her not to spill the secret to the Ladyblog.

Tell Me All Your Secrets (let me know you) by Rikkapikasnikka

for SilverMoonSky

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166259/chapters/63668782

Luka was tired of secrets.His hands were full of them: in the lines of his palms, in the wrinkles of his knuckles, and in the callouses of his fingers. He held onto the secrets of his partners: the synchronicity of their breathing, the beating of their hearts, the pain of their burdens. And he was exhausted.Admittedly, Luka Couffaine did not know Kagami Tsurugi that well. But he invited her over to talk, and she had showed up, and now, it was time.Adrien and Marinette have to come clean, too. 

Rebound by theriveroflight

for Mavicah

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25848778

“I was in love with you. Adrien you. I was putting off thinking about it until after I told you,” she says, “but I’ve come to a decision. I refuse to be your rebound, Adrien. You just broke up with Kagami. And I know that you didn’t really love her, you told me that yourself, but every breakup needs time for the dust to settle. I don’t want to be your rebound. I don’t want to be the person you use as an outlet for your feelings. I don’t want things to move too fast.”

i promised myself (wouldn't let you complete me) by theriveroflight

for ladybuginette

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205169

and all I do is cry and complain, 'cause second's not the same...

I can tell that we are going to be friends by sagansjagger

for theriveroflight

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25811668

While Ladybug kicks his butt during their weekly video game session, Adrien realizes he has to treasure his friendship with her and pack it away into his heart like a precious jewel. Featuring heart-to-heart conversations about identities, superhero guilt, and fame, as well as Adrien Agreste/cupcakes.

Ridiculous, Utterly Ridiculous by sagansjagger

for Lethargic_Pink

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995058

This shouldn't hurt as much as it does, Chat thinks.But after being rejected by Ladybug (again), he's devastated. Vaulting across the city blindly, he finds himself on the balcony of the Grand Paris...And finds sympathy from an unexpected person: his oldest friend outside of the mask, Chloé Bourgeois.

It’s the Yeast I Could Do by sagansjagger

for Speckleflower

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054116

Wandering the Parisian streets after nine pm on a Sunday, Adrien Agreste is miserable. He’d fought with his father about the stupidest thing. Fortunately, Tom Dupain is there to help him through his turbulent emotions, using the stress-relieving arts of stirring, kneading, and baking bread. It didn't hurt that Tom had a cute daughter, either.

'til we can't tell where you end and where i begin  by sanj_sanj and sagansjagger

for Ladybuginette

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206465/chapters/63778384

After Hawkmoth's defeat, Adrien is a little, lost bird without a home. Marinette Dupain-Cheng takes him in, and they live as roommates together.But not everything is okay. Adrien is a terrible roommate. They fight about everything and neither has any idea of their mutual pining for each other due to the lack of communication after the reveal and the battle.Adrien is jealous of Marinette and Luka's very close friendship. Eventually, enough is enough. Adrien decides that he'll do anything to fix his relationship with Marinette.Starting by being a friend to her again.

rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams by sseagully

for khanofallorcs

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26103793

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is just a normal girl with a normal life. That is, until one day, when she is presented with the Mouse Miraculous to join the fight alongside the famous Cat and Bug heroes of Paris, Nekomata and Coccinche.But she is not brought in alone. She has a partner by her side. A really great partner who is very cute and funny and supportive — and who unfortunately has a giant crush on a classmate at his school. -AU where the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous were given to Luka and Kagami at the beginning; Marinette and Adrien are brought on to flesh out the team as the Mouse and Snake wielders.Reverse crush SnekMouse. Side pairing Lukagami. Characters slightly aged up.

give me hope for something better by sseagully

for L3245

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228080

Chloé and Luka sit on the rooftop of Le Grand Paris hotel and have a talk that's been a long time coming.

Repercussions by Shattered_Heartless and Angylle

for sagansjagger

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208031

Time means nothing when you have love, family and a purpose. And if you don't? What happens when minor changes occur in the Battle for the Miraculous?What repercussions will the choices made have? Will everyone be able to manage the fall out?

Wistfully In Love With You by SilverMoonSky

for NOIRequin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26056492

Now that Marinette finally knew the way she felt about him, she couldn’t look back. She’d tried to scream at her heart to stop. She’d told herself it wouldn’t work out. But in the end, she’d fallen hard.And yet, despite the fact that she didn’t know what she could really do, Marinette knew only one thing when she’d realized she’d somehow fallen for her superhero partner: she could absolutely not tell him about her feelings for him.How could she? Their love had led to the destruction of the world; what would happen if he ever found out? What if he figured out her identity? Although Marinette didn’t want to admit he still had feelings for her, if there was even the slimmest chance. . . . She couldn’t let Chat Blanc happen ever again. If suppressing her feelings for him was the only way that would happen, then that was what she had to do.

Bitten by the Love Bug by Speckleflower 

for Sanj_sanj

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26141788/chapters/63600310

Adrien gets floored by Marinette at video games, when they are totally not supposed to be working on a project.Later on, Adrien finds something out that completely changes his view of her.And when placed into a difficult situation together before Adrien has a chance to process his feelings, how will they get through it?

A Date with Destiny by tbehartoo

for A_Human42

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26209693

Nathaniel has been set up on a blind date by his dear friend Alya. Marc is Alya’s co-worker and Nathaniel’s waiter for this clandestine meeting. Alya might finally be able to put a win in her score book as a matchmaker, if only Kim would show up for the date!

[miraculouspaon]

Imogene

Happy (very belated) holidays, @lorrainingart​! I was your secret santa for @mlsecretsanta​ this year. I’m sorry it’s a week late, but the story got a bit away from me and of course I wanted it to be perfect after the beautiful secret santa gift you drew for me. I’m very pleased with how it finally came out, though, and I hope you are as well. Enjoy!

Imogene

Open your eyes.

Emilie Agreste opened her eyes.

The sight before them confused her. Emilie didn’t recognize where she was at first, so different was the secret chamber her husband had built from the last time she’d seen it. It was dark and cold, and something unspoken hung heavy in the air she breathed.

There were four Miraculous holders standing before her, each one of their faces full of shock and disbelief. Two of them, Emilie didn’t recognize at all. The black cat, the red ladybug, they looked so young-but then, maybe Emilie had been that young once, when she found her Miraculous. The blue peacock… the blue peacock had been Emilie’s, hadn’t it? But then how-

“Emilie? Emilie, my love?”

Emilie turned to the final person before her, the purple butterfly, the man with a cold fire in his eyes. “Gabriel?”

Gabriel pulled Emilie into a tight embrace. “You know me? You remember?”

“I think so,” Emilie said slowly. She hugged him back just as tightly. “I remember I… oh, Gabriel, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Shhhh. Everything is well now, my love. We’ve saved you.”

“Ladybug and Chat Noir have escaped,” the holder of the Peacock Miraculous said behind them.

Gabriel whirled around. “What? How? Why didn’t you stop them, Mayura?”

Mayura closed her eyes. “I was distracted by our victory. They must have grabbed their Miraculouses back and escaped while we were witnessing our miracle. Forgive me.”

Gabriel’s face softened. “Of course. It doesn’t matter, they’ve served their purpose.” Gabriel turned back to Emilie. “Nathalie was instrumental in saving you, my love. I could not have succeeded without her.”

“Nathalie?” Emilie looked again at the Miraculous holder. A moment later, she recognized her old friend. “Oh, Nathalie, thank you!” She pushed past Gabriel and embraced Nathalie warmly.

Nathalie put her arms around Emilie stiffly. “Of course.” She looked over Emilie’s shoulder at Gabriel. “Did you recognize either of them? While they were de-transformed, after we got their Miraculouses?”

Gabriel shook his head. “You?”

“No.” Nathalie tightened her embrace of Emilie. “Emilie, you must be tired.”

You are tired.

Emilie nodded. “Everything feels… fuzzy, I think, I,” she yawned mid-sentence, “don’t know if,” her eyes were heavy now, too heavy to keep open, “should…” Sleep claimed Emilie before she could even finish her thought, before she could feel Gabriel take her in his arms and carry her home.

  Emilie awoke slowly, in her own bed, in her own room, and for a moment she remembered nothing but that she was happy and safe and home.

“Emilie?” Long fingers brushed the hair from her eyes, and Emilie looked up at the concerned face of her husband. “How do you feel?”

Emilie frowned. “Strange,” she said slowly. “The air is too heavy.” She lifted one hand and studied it briefly. “It’s like I’m moving through molasses.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, then looked back over his shoulder. “Nathalie?”

“Emilie was asleep for over a year,” Nathalie replied. “Perhaps her muscles are stiff. I’ll stay with her until she’s feeling herself.”

Emilie smiled warmly. “Thank you, Nathalie.”

Nathalie looked away. “Of course.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Gabriel promised. “There are things I need to take care of, after your disappearance the police want to… but I won’t trouble you with all that. Just know everything’s finally all right.” He placed a gentle kiss on the back of Emilie’s hand.

“Adrien?”

“I’ll send him in when I leave, just for a few minutes. I don’t want you to get too overwhelmed just yet.” Gabriel hesitated. “He doesn’t know anything. I’ve told him you were sent away for medical treatment, that it was experimental and needed to be kept secret.”

Emilie sighed. “I hate lying to him,” she said sadly.

“It’s for the best, my love.”

Emilie nodded. “Of course.”

Gabriel pressed his forehead to Emilie’s, then kissed her cheek. “Get some rest,” he said, before leaving their room.

“Poor Adrien,” Emilie sighed. “This must have been so hard for him.”

Nathalie came to her side and sat next to her at the edge of the mattress. “Your son is overjoyed to have his mother back,” she said. “That’s all that matters. Here.” Nathalie lifted up a hairbrush, and Emilie turned her head obediently. Nathalie began to brush Emilie’s hair. “I’ll straighten you up a bit before Adrien comes in. You’ll feel like yourself soon.”

Feel like yourself.

Emilie nodded. “Yes, I’m sure I will.”

“Oh, before I forget, I found your brooch. I think it fell off when Gabriel carried you back here.” Nathalie reached around Emilie and pinned her favorite silver brooch to her blouse, right above her heart.

Emilie took a breath. The air felt clearer. Her limbs felt lighter.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Mom?” Adrien poked his head in cautiously.

“Oh, Adrien!” Adrien rushed to his mother’s side. “My darling boy, I’ve missed you so.” Emilie pulled her son down to her and hugged him with all her strength.

“Father said you were sick, that you’ve been away at some special hospital or something.”

Emilie swallowed. “That’s right,” she lied.

“But you’re all better now?”

Emilie smiled at her son. “Yes, I’m all better now.” She looked up at Nathalie. “Isn’t that right?”

“Your mother still needs her rest,” Nathalie told Adrien. Adrien’s face fell.

“Only a few more days, darling,” Emilie assured him. “Then I’m all yours, I promise.”

“Adrien, you’re going to be late for school,” Nathalie said.

“School!” Emilie beamed at Adrien. “Oh, you’re going to school now? That’s so exciting, I can’t wait to hear all about it when you come back.”

  Gabriel and Nathalie both insisted that Emilie spend a full week in bed. Adrien visited her daily. Emilie asked him a million questions, about school and fencing and piano, about his teachers, his friends, about every single little aspect of his life. Adrien was only too happy to tell her everything. Still, much as she adored his visits, Emilie was beginning to feel a bit mad with boredom. She practically cartwheeled out of bed, the morning Gabriel told her he thought she was well enough to join them for breakfast. 

“Oh, thank God, I’m starving,” Emilie said, the moment she entered the dining room and saw the enormous breakfast spread. She reached for a croissant and eagerly took a bite. She had almost finished it off when she noticed both her husband and her son staring at her. “What?”

“You hate croissants,” Adrien said, obviously confused.

“What?” Emilie laughed. “Of course I don’t. Everybody loves croissants.”

“Not you,” Adrien said. “You always said they were too rich.”

“But…” Emilie furrowed her brow, then looked at Nathalie. “I hate croissants?”

Nathalie pursed her lips. “I don’t remember you ever saying anything like that,” she said dismissively. She put a comforting hand on Emilie’s shoulder, then straightened Emilie’s brooch. “People’s tastes change all the time. Don’t worry about it.”

Don’t worry about it.

Emilie’s distressed expression cleared at once.

Gabriel frowned at his wife. “Perhaps you should stay in bed for another day or two.”

“Oh, Gabriel, don’t be silly,” Emilie said breezily. “People’s tastes change all the time.”

“Still, we should be careful you don’t overexert yourself.”

“Gabriel, I promised our son I would spend the entire day with him. I simply refuse to break the first promise I’ve made to him in over a year.”

“It’s okay,” Adrien said, clearly still perturbed. “We don’t have to if you’re still feeling sick.”

“Adrien, I have never felt healthier,” Emilie said confidently.

  “Adrien, look!” Emilie pointed at the sign outside the tropical greenhouse of the Paris Zoo. “It says there’s a live feeding in an hour. Is this the exhibit your science teacher wanted your class to check out?”

“Yeah, this is it,” Adrien said. “We’re doing a unit on the Amazon.” They entered the building. “I think the manatees are in here somewhere, and the dart frogs. Hang on, I’ll get the worksheet out.” He began to root through his bag.

“Oh!” Emilie gasped. “Look at that!” She rushed to the window of an exhibit, and it took Adrien a moment to realize what she’d seen.

“The anaconda?” he asked.

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Emilie waggled a finger at the large snake, who could not have been less interested in her. “Look at that coloring.”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, it’s a pretty green.” Adrien looked at the sign next to the exhibit. “This says she’s pregnant. I thought snakes laid eggs?”

“Congratulations, mama!” Emilie said. The snake continued to ignore her.

“It also says green anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world.”

“It’s rude to talk about a lady’s weight, Adrien.”

Adrien grinned. “You never liked the snakes when we came here when I was a kid,” he said.

“No?” Emilie asked. “I suppose I didn’t.” She frowned slightly at her faint reflection in the glass. “Maybe my perspective has changed a bit, after… well, after everything.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Adrien said. “I, um, I was looking up stuff on health scares and illnesses with high rates of… well, you know. Everything I read said nobody goes back to being exactly who they were before they get sick. It’s normal”

“Oh, Adrien.” Emilie put a hand over her heart. “That was sweet of you, to look those things up, but you don’t need to worry about me. It’s my job to worry about you, after all.” She hugged her son warmly, and felt a weight lift from her heart. The nagging sense she’d had since waking up, that something was off, wasn’t anything to worry about after all. Coming back from the brink of death simply changed people a little, that was all. Everything was normal.

“Adrien!”

Emilie released Adrien, and he turned around towards the sound of his name. A second later he waved eagerly. “That’s some of my friends from school,” he said excitedly. “I can’t wait for you to meet them. Alya!” A group of girls approached. “Are you guys doing the project, too?”

“That’s right,” the first girl, Alya, said. “My dad doesn’t work in this part of the zoo, but he said he might be able to get us an exclusive close-up look at some of the poisonous frogs, if you don’t mind staying past closing.”

“Oh, I can’t,” Adrien said, “I’m spending the day with my mom. Mom, meet my friends, this is Alya, and Rose, and Juleka, and Alix, and Marinette. Guys, this is my mom.” Adrien beamed at the girls, all of whom gave Emilie smiles and polite nods.

All of them, that is, except the last girl. Marinette, however, looked at Emilie like she was some kind of monster.

“It’s… it’s nice to meet you all,” Emilie said, momentarily thrown off by the young woman’s reaction. She offered her hand warmly, certain she must have imagined the girl’s expression, and the girl flinched and practically jumped backwards.

“Marinette?” Alya raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Girl, are you okay?”

“Fine!” Marinette squeaked. She shook her head, then forced a smile at Emilie. “I’m sorry, it’s so nice to meet you! But, um, I was just thinking about this other thing, I forgot, I’m so silly, my dad needs me to cake some bookies-I mean bake some cookies! So I have to go, I’m so sorry, bye everyone!” Marinette hurried for the exit, nearly tripping over her own feet in her rush.

“Oh, dear,” Emilie said. “I think I must have upset her somehow.”

“Oh, no,” Alix said, rolling her eyes. “Trust me, Marinette’s always like that. Right, Adrien?”

Adrien frowned. “She seemed upset.”

“She’ll be fine,” Rose said. “She was just nervous because she wasn’t expecting to see Adrien.” Alya elbowed Rose. “See him next to the snakes,” Rose added in a rush. “Because, um, because Marinette is scared of snakes.”

“Really?” Adrien looked towards the door. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.” He looked at his mother. “I’m sorry she had to leave so fast. Usually she’s really great. She’s the class representative, and she makes the best macarons in Paris, and...” Adrien began to give his mother a list of Marinette’s accomplishments, which Emilie only half-listened to. It was clear that Adrien had a bit of a crush on the girl, and that the other girls believed Marinette had a bit of a crush right back. But it was also clear to her that Marinette’s initial reaction had nothing to do with Adrien, and everything to do with Emilie.

  That night, Gabriel came to bed to find his wife sitting at their bay window. She was hugging her knees and gazing up at the stars, lost in thought and bathed in moonlight. He smiled. “You are so beautiful.”

Emilie started. “Oh! Gabriel, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Lost in thought?”

Emilie hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the look Adrien’s friend had given her, or the way she’d instinctively recoiled at Emilie’s touch. “Something like that.”

Gabriel crossed the room and sat next to her. “Do you know what I thought of when I saw you here? Lit only by the light of a full moon in that white dress, your hair flowing down over your shoulders?” Emilie shook her head. “I thought of our honeymoon. Remember?”

“Nassau,” Emilie said immediately. “We went to the beach. We swam with the dolphins. It was like paradise.”

Gabriel blinked, momentarily taken aback at his wife’s flat tone. “I meant, do you remember that one night? You woke me up, hours after everyone else at the resort had fallen asleep. You led me back to the shore. We were so in love, and you were so excited to be…” Gabriel trailed off. “Don’t you remember?”

Emilie frowned. She knew they’d gone to the Bahamas for their honeymoon. She knew it had been magical. She knew it had been the trip of a lifetime. And yet… she knew it the way she knew that the Earth was round, or that water froze at zero degrees Celsius. She knew it like it was a fact she couldn’t remember learning. Her memories of the trip were just vague, shallow impressions. She didn’t remember the night Gabriel was talking about at all.

“Don’t worry about it, my love,” Gabriel said quickly, seeing that his question had upset Emilie. “It was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course our honeymoon matters, Gabriel,” Emilie whispered. Gabriel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I think I came back wrong.”

“What? That’s absurd.”

“I can’t remember our honeymoon. I can’t remember not liking croissants. What else can’t I remember?”

Gabriel tightened his embrace. “Your memories will return in time,” he said confidently. “We just have to be patient.”

Emilie sighed and leaned back into her husband’s arms. “Maybe you’re right.”

Gabriel leaned over enough to kiss Emilie’s cheek. One hand caressed her shoulder, and the other fingered her brooch idly. “All that matters is that we love each other.”

You love each other.

A sudden surge of desire shot through Emilie. She twisted in Gabriel’s embrace to face him, and kissed him passionately. After a moment of shock, he kissed her back. Emilie’s hand came up to Gabriel’s ascot, and she pulled it off without slowing down. She pushed him back, pinning him against the windowsill, before getting on her knees so she could straddle her husband, so she could-

“Emilie.” Gabriel swallowed visibly, then took Emilie’s hands and gently but firmly removed them from his person. “I don’t want us to rush into anything you’re not ready for.”

Emilie was breathing hard, and it took her a moment to catch herself. She pushed herself backwards, off of her husband. She didn’t know where that had come from, why she’d been overcome out of nowhere. The second she’d stopped, the impulse had fled. She didn’t know why she felt only relief now, that Gabriel had stopped her. She didn’t know why the thought of being with Gabriel, as his wife, now broke her heart.

“You’re right,” Emilie finally said, unable to begin to put into words what had just happened. “There’s no rush.”

  The next morning, Emilie stayed in bed until the house was empty. Adrien was in school, Gabriel was at work, and Nathalie had finally been persuaded to leave Emilie’s side and join him.  The three people who loved Emilie best in the world were all convinced she was perfectly fine.

Emilie was not fine. She didn’t know how, she didn’t know why, but she knew something was terribly wrong.

Emilie pushed herself through the motions of her morning. She got up, she showered, she dressed herself, she ate breakfast. All the while, a plan was forming. Maybe it was reckless, after everything Emilie had already been through. Maybe it was crazy. But it wasn’t as crazy as Emilie was going to be if she didn’t get some answers, and soon.

Emilie made her way to her husband’s home office, pushed aside the portrait concealing the safe, and punched in the security code.

There it was, waiting for her. The Peacock Miraculous. With a steady hand, Emilie picked it up.

There was a flash of light, and Duusu appeared. “Emilie? Why do you have my Miraculous?”

Emilie gave Duusu a wry smile. “What, you’re not happy to see me?”

Duusu looked away. “Of course I am.”

Emilie frowned. Duusu had always been a terrible liar. She wore her emotions on her sleeve, just like Emilie did. It was what had made them such a good match for each other, before the damage of the Miraculous caught up to Emilie. “Duusu, did something happen to me? Something that Gabriel’s wish didn’t fix?”

Duusu shook her head, but she still wouldn’t meet Emilie’s eyes. “No, his wish worked perfectly. Everything’s all better now.”

“No,” Emilie said. She was certain now, and furious. “No, everything is not all better, and you know it, and you’re hiding it from me!”

“Please, Emilie,” Duusu whispered. “Put the Miraculous away. Go back to your husband and your son. Be happy.”

“I can’t. I have to know the truth.” Emilie took a deep breath. “Duusu, spread my feathers!”

Emilie felt the familiar magic wash over her. She’d missed it, even though it had nearly cost her everything. Once her transformation was complete, she looked around Gabriel’s office and quickly found an ordinary pen. Picking it up, Emilie focused her power on her own emotions, her own desperate need to learn the truth, no matter how terrible. Wisps of black began to gather before her, twisting and writhing, until it formed into-

A ferret.

Emilie blinked, then crouched down and gave the creature a gentle pat. It chirped happily and went up on its hind legs. “Hey, little guy,” Emilie cooed. “Are you gonna ferret out the truth for me?”

The sentimonster gave her another happy chirp, then promptly disappeared. Emilie frowned, confused. Sentimonsters were supposed to help their charges, not abandon them. Well, no matter. The creature was bound to the pen, so for as long as Emilie held it she could order the creature back to help her. Clutching her talisman, she concentrated. Come back to me, she thought, directing her will at her sentimonster.

“Mayura!”

Emilie whirled around to see Adrien standing behind her, staring in shock and horror. “Adrien? What are you… oh, no, no, I’m not Mayura,” she said in a rush. “You don’t have to be afraid. I’m sorry, you weren’t supposed to… I don’t know why…” She looked down, and saw the ferret biting Adrien’s pant leg. The creature released Adrien, then looked up at Emilie and almost seemed to beam with pride.

Adrien looked at Emilie warily. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Emilie said quickly. “Just a little-ow!” Her sentimonster had bitten her. Not hard, not enough to do any real damage, but still, a sentimonster turning on their charge? And on the wielder of the Peacock Miraculous, too? Emilie had never seen such a thing. “Ferret out the truth… oh, no.” She looked up at her son. “Adrien, I’m so sorry.” She sighed, defeated. “Duusu, feathers in.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Mom? Why do you have the Peacock Miraculous?”

“I was trying to use it to find out the truth. There’s something going on, something wrong, but I don’t know what.”

Adrien’s face went a shade paler. “You’re sick again?”

“No!”  The ferret growled softly. “Well, maybe. I don’t know. This thing,” Emilie gestured to her sentimonster, “was supposed to find out the truth for me. Instead, it’s making me reveal the truth to you.” She took another deep breath. “My sickness, it wasn’t what your father told you. It was caused by this.” Emilie held up the Peacock Miraculous. “It was damaged. We didn’t realize until I’d used it too many times, and by then there was nothing anybody could do.”

“But you’re better now,” Adrien said slowly. “You got better. Somebody did something.”

Emilie nodded, bracing herself. “Yes.”

Adrien narrowed his eyes. “Father’s grimoire. It had pictures of Miraculouses in it. It wasn’t just for fashion inspiration, was it? He was studying it to figure out how to save you.”

“That’s right,” Emilie said. “And he learned the only thing that could save me was the combined power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses. Together, they can grant any wish.”

Emilie could see it on his face, the moment Adrien put everything together. “Hawkmoth. Father is Hawkmoth.”

“I’m so sorry, baby.” Emilie blinked back tears. “It’s all my fault, everything was all my fault. Your father only did what he had to to save me.”

Adrien shook his head slowly. “You’re not responsible for his actions,” he said. “I… I need to think.”

Emilie nodded. “Of course, my darling.” Adrien took a step towards the door, but the ferret sentimonster quickly blocked his path and hissed. “Stop that,” Emilie scolded. The sentimonster held its position. “Let him go,” Emilie ordered. “I told him my secret, what more do you want? Anyway, you’re supposed to be finding out secrets for me, and Adrien doesn’t know anything about Miraculouses, do you?”

“Of course not-ow!” Adrien pulled his hand away, but not before the ferret nipped him.

Emilie’s heart skipped a beat. “Adrien? Do you know something? Something that might give me a clue about what’s happening to me?”

Adrien eyed the ferret warily. A moment later his shoulders sagged in defeat. “I know Father couldn’t have made the wish you think he made.”

Emilie frowned. “You think he wished for something else?”

“No,” Adrien said. “I know he couldn’t have made any wish. Because he would have needed Chat Noir’s Miraculous to do it.” Adrien held up his hand grimly. “And Chat Noir’s Miraculous hasn’t left my finger for over a year.”

Adrien’s meaning hit Emilie like a ton of bricks. “No. No, no, no, you can’t be Chat Noir.”

“I am,” he said miserably.

“I saw Chat Noir. I saw him, right when I woke up, right before he and Ladybug escaped. I saw him!”

Adrien laughed humorlessly. “I think I’d remember my arch-nemesis stealing my Miraculous to wake up my missing mother.”

Emilie looked at her sentimonster and let out an irritated huff. “I still don’t know anything, and now I have more questions than I did before. I need answers.”

The sentimonster tilted its head, then promptly vanished.

“What’s it doing now?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t know,” Emilie said. “It’s not acting at all the way I expected.”

There was a sudden loud pop, and three more people appeared in the room. Gabriel and Nathalie, Emilie was hardly surprised to see. The third, however, Emilie had not expected, although perhaps she should have.

“Marinette?” Adrien said, confused.

“Adrien!” Marinette looked around in shock and confusion. “What’s going on?”

“Emilie.” Gabriel was at her side in an instant, his arms around her. “Are you hurt? Whatever’s going on, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Gabriel.” Emile gave her husband an apologetic smile. “I’m what’s going on.”

“What?”

Emilie gestured to her sentimonster in the middle of the room. “Something’s wrong, Gabriel. I used the Peacock Miraculous to find out what. That ferret is a sentimonster, and it won’t let anyone leave or lie until the truth is revealed.”

“You used the Peacock Miraculous? Are you mad, Emilie? After we almost lost you to that thing?”

“There’s no danger anymore, Gabriel, and I have to know what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong!” Gabriel insisted. “You’re awake again, you’re healthy, everything is perfect.”

“He believes that,” Adrien said softly. His parents turned towards him, and he gestured to the ferret. “That thing didn’t bite him. For everything he’s lied about, he’s not lying now.”

Gabriel frowned. “Adrien-”

“We can talk about it later,” Adrien interrupted coldly. “Right now we need to figure out why Mom thinks you used Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses to wake her up, when I know for a fact you couldn’t have.” He held up the hand with his ring pointedly, then turned to the other two people in the room. “If Father doesn’t know what’s really going on, one of you two must.”

“There’s nothing we can tell you, Adrien,” Nathalie said firmly. She managed to keep from crying out when the sentimonster bit her, but only just.

“Want to try that again?” Adrien asked. Nathalie pursed her lips and remained silent. “Fine. Marinette?” Adrien softened noticeably as he turned to her, but his tone remained firm. “You’re not going to lie to me, are you?”

Marinette blinked back a few tears. “Oh, Adrien,” she said miserably. “I had no idea, you have to believe me, I had no idea the woman Hawkmoth wanted to save was your mother!”

“Quiet,” Nathalie snapped at Marinette. “They don’t know anything. For heaven’s sake, stop talking.”

“She made a sentimonster!” Marinette snapped right back at Nathalie. “You said it would be foolproof, that it would work forever, that nobody would ever find out. It’s only been a week and she’s already making sentimonsters! Is she even supposed to be able to do that?”

“How should I know?” Nathalie asked defensively. “You’re the Miraculous expert, not me. I’ve never done this before.”

Marinette scoffed. “That’s not exactly true, is it?”

“I told you already, the second Ladybug only seemed sentient because you were holding her talisman when you wanted her to be sentient, she was just acting the way you wanted her to act. This is completely different, this is…” Nathalie looked back at Emilie and fell silent once more.

Gabriel looked back and forth between Nathalie and Marinette. “You two seem to know each other quite well,” he said dryly.

“Marinette?” Emilie said gently. Marinette looked at her, the guilt written across her face plain as day. “Please.”

Marinette took a deep breath and began to speak.

   Three weeks earlier…

 Ladybug landed without a sound on the rooftop and looked around. She couldn’t see much in the dark of the night, but the shadows of one corner were deeper than the others. Ladybug crossed her arms and fixed the darkness with a stare. “Well?”

Out of the shadows stepped Mayura. “Thank you for coming.”

“You have five seconds to hold my interest, and then I’m leaving and not coming back,” Ladybug snapped. “You’re lucky I agreed to come at all.”

Mayura nodded. “I think there’s a way for all of us to get what we want.”

Ladybug let out a sharp laugh. “You’re never getting my Miraculous. I would never let someone like you-”

“Please,” Mayura interrupted, holding up a hand. “You don’t understand… he doesn’t want it for himself, if you only knew him like I-”

“Talk faster.”

Mayura pressed her lips together. “Fine. We can’t win, I see that now. But he’ll never give up, not until he’s saved the woman he loves.”

Ladybug straightened. “The woman he… you mean, you two aren’t-”

“Of course not,” Mayura said defensively. “All of this is to save his wife. She wielded this Miraculous before I did. We didn’t realize it was damaged, not until it was too late. She’s locked in eternal sleep now.”

“If the Miraculous is fixed-“

“We tried that,” Mayura said impatiently. “Your Guardian revealed enough to us and we repaired it. Hawkmoth’s wife remains asleep. The only thing that will wake her now is the combined power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses.”

Ladybug shook her head. “That won’t work. I wish it could, but the law of equal exchange means I can’t save anyone without losing someone else.”

“It’s a price either of us would have happily paid,” Mayura said bitterly, “but I won’t waste my breath trying to convince you to sacrifice either of us for her. I know what heroes are like.” Mayura spat the word ‘hero’ like a curse. “There’s another way. With the Fox Miraculous, you could create an illusion that Hawkmoth believes. You could trick him into believing he has defeated you, used the Miraculouses, and brought back his wife.”

Ladybug was silent for a while. “You’re talking about betraying him.”

“I’m talking about saving him from himself before he loses everything.”

Ladybug studied the woman in front of her. “You love him,” she finally said. “Maybe he’s still in love with his wife, but you’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Mayura said nothing. “Your plan won’t work. The illusions of the Fox Miraculous are temporary.”

“They are,” Mayura agreed. “My sentimonsters, however, are not.”

  The being who was not Emilie could feel the stares of everyone in the room as Marinette finished her story. She could feel everyone looking at her like they’d never seen her before in their lives. And why shouldn’t they? She wasn’t Emilie. She wasn’t Gabriel’s wife, she wasn’t Adrien’s mother. She wasn’t a woman, she wasn’t a human, she wasn’t anything at all.

It was Adrien who finally broke the heavy silence. “You tricked me?” he asked Marinette, his voice breaking a little.

“I’m so sorry, Adrien,” Marinette said tearfully. “I thought I’d just be tricking Hawkmoth. I had no idea he had a son, or that it was you, or that you were Chat.”

“Perhaps you knew nothing,” Gabriel said icily. He turned to his assistant. “Nathalie, however, knew exactly who she was betraying.”

Nathalie squared her shoulders and looked her boss straight in the eye. “We were losing, sir,” she said plainly. “We were always going to lose. You kept calling yourself a man with nothing to lose, but that wasn’t true.” She nodded towards Adrien. “I did the only thing I could think of to get you back your wife before you truly lost everything.”

“You didn’t, though,” the sentimonster who was not Emilie said miserably. “I’m not his wife, am I? I’m not even close. I don’t remember the things I should remember, I don’t feel the things I should feel. I’m just some vague approximation, some combination of what you thought Emilie was and what you wanted her to be.” She laughed bitterly. “Oh, no wonder my heart twists a little every time Gabriel kisses me. It’s because your heart twists, doesn’t it? Because you went and fell in love with the man whose wife you were trying to save.” Not-Emilie shook her head. “Everything about me is just a cruel joke.” She reached for her heart and quickly unclasped her brooch. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Just one little snap and everything’s fixed.” She grasped the brooch between her two hands and took a breath, bracing herself.

“No!” Adrien darted forward and snatched the brooch from not-Emilie’s hands. “Stop!”

STOP.

Not-Emilie froze, still as death. It took Adrien a moment to understand why. “Oh, God, no, I’m sorry,” he said frantically, shoving the brooch back into not-Emilie’s hand. “I didn’t mean to… I just had to stop you from breaking it, that’s all, I didn’t think-”

“Do you have any idea,” not-Emilie said quietly, examining the brooch, “what it’s like to be controlled by this thing?” She sighed. “I should have realized from the start, heaven knows I’ve had enough experience with the Peacock Miraculous… except no, I suppose I don’t have much actual experience at all, do I? But I have the memories of it all the same.” She traced a finger over the silver petals. “It’s like drowning,” she whispered. “It’s like being smothered in the will of another person. It digs into you, down to the marrow, until you can’t tell it apart from yourself.”

“I won’t touch it ever again,” Adrien said desperately. “You don’t have to feel like that ever again. Just keep it, lock it away somewhere safe, and nobody will be able to control you.”

“Why?” not-Emilie whispered. “What’s the point? Why shouldn’t I just break it and be done with it? I’m not your mother. I can’t ever be her.”

“I don’t want you to be my mother!” Adrien exclaimed. “I just want you to be you, whoever that is!”

Not-Emilie shook her head. “I’m not anybody, Adrien.”

“That’s not true!” Adrien insisted.

“Who am I, then?” she asked desperately.

“You’re… you’re someone who likes croissants!” Adrien said. Not-Emilie stared for a moment, and then she began to laugh. “I’m serious!” Adrien protested, but he, too, began to smile. “You like croissants, and anacondas, and… and you’re pretty reckless, I guess, doing all this, but you’re clever, too, and you’re kind, and you care about me.” Adrien gulped. “And I really don’t want to lose another person who cares about me. Please, I’m so sick of losing people.”

The being who was not Adrien’s mother looked at him silently for a moment, then nodded. With shaky fingers, she pinned the brooch back to her blouse.

  Adrien carried a giant cage up the steps of an apartment complex, through the door to the newly rented unit, and around unpacked boxes and shrink wrapped furniture. He finally made it to the bedroom and placed it carefully down before collapsing dramatically onto the bed. “All done, Aunt Imogene!”

“Oh, thank you darling, you’re the best,” came his aunt’s chipper reply from somewhere in the kitchen. Adrien heard the clicking of her heels grow steadily louder, and then she entered the room. “Oh, who’s a good boy?” Imogene cooed. “Are you happy to be finally home? Do you want to come out?” Imogene opened the cage and gently lifted her ferret out, then gave his nose a soft kiss.

“Are you sure you want to keep him?” Adrien asked. “I don’t think he’s actually alive. Not like you are, anyway.”

Imogene hummed thoughtfully. “I’m not so sure that’s true,” she said lightly, stroking the sentimonster. “Anyway, having a lie detector for a pet might come in handy one of these days. Does he want scratches? Yes?” She sat down on the bed next to Adrien and gently scratched her ferret’s belly.

Adrien reached over and gave the ferret a gentle pat. “You know, Father would have gotten you a bigger place if you’d wanted one. And maybe one closer to the mansion, too.”

Imogene shook her head. “No, this place is perfect,” she said happily. “I just need a place I can make completely my own. And maybe a little space from your father and Nathalie, just for a little while.”

Adrien snorted. “Join the club.”

Imogene gave him a searching look. “Do you need to be away from them for a while, Adrien? You’re welcome to stay here. Of course I understand if that’s difficult, too, but maybe I could-”

“No, no,” Adrien said quickly. “I mean, I’d be happy to stay with you, thanks for offering, but… no. Father and I need to work through a lot of things. And he’s actually trying, which is nice.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Imogene said. “How has he been?”

“He’s…” Adrien paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “He’s finally letting himself mourn Mom, I think. He didn’t really do that the first time we lost her. So that’s hard, but it’s healthy. He’s not ready to let her go yet, but he gave Marinette the Miraculouses. I think he’s going to get there this time.”

“Oh, good.”

“He’s still not speaking to Nathalie,” Adrien added, “but at this point I think it’s not even about being mad at her anymore. It’s just easier than dealing with how they feel about each other.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “They’re both so closed off, they’re perfect for each other. They’ll figure it out eventually.”

“And how have you been?” Imogene asked gently.

Adrien was silent for a while. “I miss Mom,” he said. “Losing her the second time hurt more than the first, I think.”

“I’m so sorry, love.”

“It’s not your fault,” Adrien said softly. “Marinette, um, she’s looking into what exactly happened to her. She’s pretty new to being the Guardian, but she’s got such a knack for it already. If anyone can figure out a way to save Mom, a real way, it’ll be her.”

“I hope she does,” Imogene said sincerely.

“Oh, before I forget.” Adrien sat up, then pulled some things from his pocket. “Your ID, passport, birth certificate. Aunt Amelie sent it all over this morning. I’m not sure what crazy Graham de Vanily strings she pulled, but they work fast.”

Imogene took the documents and looked through them carefully. She blinked back a few tears, but there was a smile on her face. “Imogene Graham de Vanily,” she read. “She’s a real person now. Thank you, Adrien. And thank Amelie for me, too. I doubt she’s ready to talk to me herself just yet. It’s going to be difficult for her.”

“Maybe not,” Adrien said. “Her exact words when I told her everything were, ‘Oh well, what’s one more identical sister?’” Imogene chuckled. “I think she’s looking forward to getting to know you.”

“Is that right?” Imogene stood up and stepped towards the window. She looked out at the city below, the sunlight dancing across her face. “Yes, I think I’m looking forward to getting to know me, too.”

[edorazzi]

IDK if you watched the Chat Blanc episode, but if you did, what are your thoughts?

I don’t usually post about my reactions to episodes these days (unless it’s in snarky comic form), but a few people have asked me about this one so why not!

This got super long, so I’ll throw it under a cut (and apologies for anyone on mobile if Tumblr dot hell still opens readmores automatically). 

I personally thought Chat Blanc was an underwhelming episode. Everyone knows how much I adore Adrien so of course I loved all his scenes, and I thought the actual Chat Blanc content was really exciting and well-done (when we were actually THERE), but the rest of the episode was pretty meh for me. For whatever it’s worth I watched this episode in French, so I don’t know if the English dub changed anything.

When it comes down to it I’ve got two big gripes: logical and emotional. My logical complaint is that the plot just DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. I respect that the rules of time travel are very loose in fiction and every work has its own take, but the episode’s “whatever happened today changes the future” basis absolutely doesn’t work when there’s been no interference from outside the timestream. Are they telling me Marinette has to follow a particular set of actions for the rest of time in order for the past to match up with the future, and every time she puts a foot wrong on this invisible path Bunnix will show up to berate her? It’s ridiculous. If Bunnix exists in the future then that path has already been written, so anything Marinette does in the present day she would have done anyway. It doesn’t work and I’m kind of amazed the writers thought it made enough sense to put in at all, let alone hinge the entire plot on. This has to be a Bunnix problem because both her episodes have been full of scrambled logic like this, and it’s really making me not enjoy her.

(I also don’t understand why Bunnix just did NOTHING even when she found out what the cause of the whole mess was. Why did she sit around waiting for Ladybug to defeat Chat Blanc when she could have just gone back to five minutes before Ladybug jumped through Adrien’s window and told her not to do it? I know she was gradually losing limbs to the altered timestream and stuff but she didn’t even try! There were easy fixes in this plot which no one took and that’s so frustrating!)

My emotional complaint might not be shared with everyone, but I was left feeling really irritated that the entire storyline was based on a problem created for this specific episode, which was then retconned into never happening. Adrien has a lot of emotional issues and it’s not been lost on me that Ladybug is starting to treat him pretty badly lately (the way she behaved in Reflekdoll was APPALLING, and I don’t understand people who say Adrien was a brat in Syren because I feel he was completely justified in demanding some respect and proper communication from his PARTNER), so it rubs me wrong that his akumatization - which is a VERY big deal! - was the result of this mangled “oH bUt WhAt iF gAbRiEl rUiNeD tHe LoVe SqUaRe AnD wAs EvEn MoRe eViL LaTer” concept instead of actually addressing the unfair way Ladybug’s been treating Chat Noir this season on top of everything else the poor guy is going through. 

Having Adrien bottle up his problems the way we know he does only to explode in such a drastic and dangerous way, like in the Christmas special which resulted in him running away and nearly destroying the town tree in an act of rage and spite, is SUCH an interesting route to follow for something like Chat Blanc. I don’t want it to be about some half-assed nothing-matters-in-the-end-anyway-lol love square BS laced with a big middle finger to anyone who’s been hoping for an identity reveal sometime this century. It’s just a sign they’re planning to hold on to this formula until the end of time itself, and I don’t know about anyone else but that’s going to make any future identity teases REALLY underwhelming (or terrifying, since now we know that APPARENTLY identity reveals result in the moon exploding all life being wiped out. Tread carefully, Marinette).

And comparing this to the Christmas special reminds me how horribly out of character Gabriel was! Like oh my god, who was this man?! Xmas Gabe was out of his mind with worry when Adrien went missing (and grateful enough for his safe return to let all the plebs into his home for dinner), and in several other episodes we’ve seen that Adrien’s wellbeing is his real weak spot, particularly when he’s suspected he might be Chat Noir (Jackady is a great example of both). Yet I’m expected to believe he’d ruin his son’s happy relationship for the sake of an akuma, then just go full maniacal villain in the event of discovering Chat Noir’s identity and try to physically fight him right after revealing Emilie instead of appealing to him on an emotional level? Hell no! That’s stupid and boring and nothing like the complex antagonist we’ve come to know over three seasons, and considering that’s what the akumatization hinged on that’s really disappointing. 

(Also Nathalie is a snake, but I don’t feel I know enough about her character to know if she’d rat Adrien out or not. She’s definitely hopelessly devoted to Gabe but I like to THINK she wouldn’t.)

I would definitely have preferred a much more lowkey episode focusing on Chat getting akumatized because of something Ladybug says or does, because she’s (canonly!) become complacent and isn’t treating him very well as a partner. Something which explores all his (canon!) insecurities and his (canon!) tendency to bottle up his emotions and not bother anyone. It could have been a great starting point for the pair of them to confront their issues and start fixing their relationship and getting back to that wonderful Season 1 dynamic! And this was none of those things. Nothing changed or progressed and nobody learned anything. :/

There were parts I liked though! As I said before I loved all the Chat Blanc scenes which I thought were really powerful, and Ladybug’s reaction was nice; being so gentle and near-tearfully sympathetic until Chat Blanc forced her to defend herself. I also adored the final scene where - to Chat, who has no idea about all the time travel stuff - it seems like Ladybug called him out exclusively to cuddle. I’m a sucker for that kind of platonic affection and it’s a huge improvement on their uncertain relationship in recent episodes! But that’s about it. I’ve heard this was supposed to be the finale at one point but got pushed back, and oh my god, can you imagine?! I haven’t even watched the finale yet (I wanted to keep my viewing in some kind of chronological order, not that that means ANYTHING with this show) but it cannot be more of a disappointment than this would have been. Extremely hard yikes.

Anyway, I could keep going but I think I’ve put more effort into this than the writing team did with the episode. This was a MESS. 

[quarantine-writer]

Why do stray cats follow me? P. 3

I know it doesn’t look like it yet, but this is a (really slow burn) MariChat story. Please don’t hate me.

Part [1] [2] [3]

Adrien’s day had been tired so far. It started at 6 am with Gorilla waking him up.

“Where’s Nathalie?” He said, with his eyes still semi closed.

“... Not coming today.” 

Adrien had a well-balanced, lonely, and healthy breakfast. At 7 am he was already in Pont de Bir-Hakeim for the ‘City Life Collection’ photo shoot of this year. Vincent was talking to the Art Director about locations and special lighting for the shoots when he spotted him.

“Adrien, you’re already here! Go to make up and dress yourself up with combo number 4 first.”

Walking to the dresser he saw Lila with the hair stylist and saluted them from afar. He already knew she was going to be there. For some reason unknown to him, his father agreed on three photo shoots with her. This was barely the second. And because she was good at it, it wouldn’t surprise him that she will eventually sign up for more.

Six long hours passed, and they were done. To celebrate, everyone in the set ate lunch together. Lila was stuck by his side and he didn’t push her off, to be fair, she wasn’t doing anything wrong to anyone that day, so he tried (and failed) to have fun as well. He meant it when he talked to her: they could be ‘friends’ but there was a limit to how much he will be able to endure, specifically if she insisted on hurting his friends. 

"Adrien, do you want to go to somewhere else and enjoy the rest of the day with me?”

“Thank you, Lila, but I can’t”

“If it is because of your father, maybe I can talk to him?”

“I had plans with Nino today, but they got cancelled because Father wants me to practice a new song for an upcoming event. I don’t think his opinion will change.”

“Oh... okay, later then.”

Adrien entered his car without offering her a ride, Gorilla closed the door and Adrien lowered down the window. “Yes, later. Have a nice day, Lila”

“Bye!” Lila said and Gorilla started the engine and the car moved away from her, who kept waving goodbye until they disappeared in the next corner. 

And it was true. Nino wanted to show him how to breakdance and he really wanted to learn, he didn’t specify with his father about the plans, but Gabriel Agreste had a sixth sense when it comes to letting him have fun with friends. Suddenly the day before he was informed that there will be an event host by the Tsurugi family next month and he was supposed to play a couple songs during the evening: “Painted” and “River Flows in You”, both from Yiruma. 

He already knew the second one by heart. It was one of her mother’s favorites.

So, he returned to the mansion and started to practice the first one. For the first two hours he was practicing seriously. The third hour he recorded himself to create a loop that would be played later when Chat Noir went out to play. 

Gorilla appeared at his door around two hours and a half later to give him some food. He returned the empty dishes just before going out. His recording had a very elaborate edit of his very best try, looped three times, and then a couple recordings with errors here and there. If his father came when the errors were being played, he won’t disturb. If he went when the recording was sounding perfect and realize he still was playing, he won’t interrupt neither. Nobody will enter his room in the next 3 hours, probably. It was almost 5 pm.

“Plagg, claws...”

“Wait!” Plagg interrupted him mid-sentenced.

“Plagg?”

“First you shush me because you are recording and now you suddenly transform without saying a word? What happened to your manners kid?”

“Sorry Plagg, but I didn’t have any recording of that song, and I really wanted to go out.”

Plagg was still playing hard. Floating with both arms crossed in front of Adrien’s face “Where are we going today?”

“I don’t know... anywhere else but here.” Plagg was still with his tiny arms crossed, clearly upset for being ignored. “But I’m sorry bud, do you want extra cheese before going out today? Or do you want to stay? We can play video games if you want.”

Adrien would probably never realize how much Plagg loved him. He dropped his arms and decided to go lie down to the blonde’s head so he couldn’t see his face. Adrien moved something inside Plagg with his suggestion to stay home to make him, the God of Destruction, feel better when clearly Adrien just wanted to run away. “Nah, I ate the emergency supplies when you were recording. I’m fine if I got three extra cheeses when we return”

Adrien pet Plagg’s head over his head with a smile “You are incorrigible buddy. Plagg, claws out!”

                            ━━━━━━━━※━━━━━━━━

To be honest, she woke up that morning thinking that her day was going to be exhausting.

But here she was, smiling, hugging Luka’s back on the way home, resting her head on him. Both were on his bicycle, carrying an empty box behind. 

Luka smelled like lavender, probably because of the cloth softener in his house, but it recalled her freedom and peace. And she just wanted to keep hugging him all day.

It has been an awesome day so far. She woke up late but on time to meet Luka. She stayed very late the previous day dividing the gifts by types. Sweaters, scarfs, gloves, hats, everything was also divided by colors. She tagged everything, unwrapped it and put it into bags, and those bags into a box.

Luka gently carried her around Paris to deliver the clothes into a couple charities for homeless. They got lunch together by the Seine. They saw street performers by the Eiffel Tour doing brake-dance and a couple mimes playing with kids.

Luka bought her a smoothie and they walk down the Jardin des Tuileries while talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

When they passed near Notre Dame, he told her he would like to show her his new progress with her melody, so she listened quietly the 2 minutes song on a bench next to him, watching the peaceful Parisians enjoying a sunny and beautiful Saturday. 

Everything was lovely and colorful. So far, no Hawkmoth, no Chloé, no Lila, no stress, no danger. It was like a vacations day and she was up to live it full for what it last. Since the moment she opened her eyes she was waiting for the next akumatized person to show up and change her plans, but it was already 4:00 pm and Luka was successfully distracting her from her own thoughts.

Luka never asked her why she had so much male clothes, and even that small detail gave her peace at mind. He didn’t judge, he just listened. 

There was a moment in which she was startled by a purple butterfly on Notre Dame. He immediately put himself on between them, with a fierce determination. But it was a regular butterfly. They laughed together by the realization but laughs stopped when he hugged her.

“I promise I will protect you with all I have if Hawkmoth dare to attack today”

And Marinette knew it was true, he has already done it after all, jumping to protect her from the bees last time. If Luka haven’t done that, who knows what would have happened to her that day.

It made Marinette immediately sad. It was horrible to know that thanks to Chloé: Luka will never be Viperion again, Alya couldn’t be Rena, Max couldn’t be Pegasus, Kim couldn’t be Roi Singe, Kagami shouldn’t be Ryuuko and Nino couldn’t be Carapace.

Of course, Luka thought she was suddenly sad because Marinette was scared for him. He caressed her cheek. “Don’t be sad, Marinette. If there’s something I’m scared of is not Hawkmoth, but to not being able to cheer you up when you are distressed”

Marinette hid her face in his chest.

“You want to talk about it?” He asked, softly.

“What do you think will happen if Hawkmoth wins?” she mumbled.

“That won’t happen. Paris has the best heroes on earth.”

“But what if” she insisted.

Luka meditated his answer for a couple seconds “Then everybody in Paris will help Ladybug and Chat Noir to get a proper revenge. If Hawkmoth ‘wins’ I’m sure everybody will fight along with them to help them restore everything back. Including us both. Am I right?”

Marinette let a little giggle escape her lips. “But of course, Luka”

“I can imagine you as a hero you know, brave, smart, beautiful”

Marinette blushed immediately “Ugh... stop. Don’t exaggerate”

“I am not!” he said, kissing her forehead. Marinette’s heart skipped a beat. “You will probably overshadow Ladybug. At least to my eyes.”

She didn’t immediately reply to that. She was feeling too many butterflies in her belly and even her neck was probably red right now. She covered her face with her hands and mumbled a quiet “Thank you”.

Luka released her from the hug and got on his bicycle again “Let’s go, I don’t want your parents to think I kidnapped you.”

And really, time flies. How come she already spent 8 hours with Luka without noticing it?

So here she was. In her way home, hugging Luka’s back and smiling while mumbling the melody he played for her a couple hours ago. Since the last battle she has spent countless hours talking to Tikki and the other kwamis, studying, learning about history and her new role responsibilities and thinking about strategies. She had been holding quite difficult discussions in her room lately. And she didn’t even have the chance to talk to Chat Noir yet.

So, it felt good to be able to relax today. She didn’t realize she needed a moment of peace that much.

She also didn’t notice Chat Noir jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but he did spot them and gave them a sincere smile from afar.

“Hey, Luka”

Marinette called him from behind when they were a couple streets from her home.

“Yes? Do you want me to stop?”

“No, just change directions please”

“Change directions? Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere” She hugged him stronger. “If it is okay. I just want to stay a little more with you today. Just one more hour.”

Luka’s heart shrank and he almost lost control of the bicycle by Marinette sudden comment.

“Do you want to see the sunset from Sacre Coeur?” He asked.

“I would love to”

                           ━━━━━━━━※━━━━━━━━

Adrien arrived home before anyone noticed it and went downstairs to have dinner at the same time as always. His dad was unexpectedly waiting for him at the table. 

“Father? What are you doing here?”

“I have some news to share with you, Son” Gabriel asked him to take a sit with his hand. Someone from the service staff served him a plate with onion soup, toasted bread and a glass of water.

When they were alone, his father started conversation again “As you know, Nathalie have not been feeling well lately”

“Is she sick again?” Adrien was looking at his food with a sad look. Something that was stressing him out lately was how much Nathalie’s condition resembled his mom’s.

“Yes, but there’s good news on that regard” Adrien raised his gaze with a hint of hope. “A doctor found out what was happening to her. She will be out for three weeks for recovery, but she will be cured”

“Really? That’s awesome!” Adrien stood up with energy and a smile from side to side, truly excited for the good news “What did she had?”

“Something related to her inner ear, which explains the dizziness. A minor surgery fixes it”

“Can we go and visit her?”

“She prefers not to. But you are welcome to find a gift if you want, for when she returns” His father kept his gaze busy on his tablet, probably still working.

“I will do it, thanks, Father”

                          ━━━━━━━━※━━━━━━━━

When Marinette closed the door of her room, Tikki flew in front of her with a smile.

“Marinette, did you have fun today?” 

“Yes!” Marinette ran to the divan and laid there hugging a cat pillow, while giggling “Today was great, Tikki. I think I didn’t have this much fun in a while.”

“I’m glad” Tikki sat above the cat pillow.

“But as fun as the day was today,” Marinette sat down, letting the pillow aside and holding Tikki on her hands “We have work to do.” She climbed up the stairs of her bed and pull out the miraculous box out of her hidden spot. 

She opened it and took the panjas bracelet, put it on and Roarr appeared in front of her. “Hi Guardian! Is it my turn today?”

Marinette giggled at the little kwami “Hello there, would you please be as nice as to help me to know you better?”

“I like peanuts!” Roarr answered fast “I don’t like when the weak is abused, I’m very protective” 

“I know you can control the lighting of a place and reflect yourself to camouflage” Marinette was taking notes “I also know you take most of the decisions with Sass back in the box when Tikki and Plagg are out”.

“I have had only 13 permanent holders. Nothing compared to the others, so I’ve stayed most of my time taking care of the world inside the box”

“By what circumstances have you been handled to permanent holders?”

“I was stolen 4 times, 7 times I was needed to hide the order of the guardians, 1 time the guardian of the box preferred my powers to fulfill his job, you know, like Master Fu with Wayzz, and one time the Guardian of the box preferred the Pig miraculous, and give my miraculous to his lover so I can help to keep the box safe with her.”

Marinette stopped writing. “What?”

“What, what?”

“A Guardian share this secret with his lover?! Who was it?”

“It was many, many centuries ago” Roarr jumped from Marinette’s hand to her hair “The guardian was married when he was appointed to the task and he decided that the way to keep his family protected was to share the secret with Abelia.”

“Was it a good idea?”

“Many tragedies overcome his family. I know Abelia didn’t regret any.”

They chatted a bit more, Marinette did a pause to get her some peanuts, she showed her the room and what she liked to do and finally they wish each other sweet dreams after a couple hours of getting to know each other.

It was already after midnight and Marinette was already laid on bed when a noise called her attention.

“Ugh... again?”

She popped her head out and saw a watering can spinning on the floor. It stopped and a little kitty walked out there. 

“What are you doing inside there, little buddy?” It was a brown kitty, smaller than the one she saw the other day, but this time the kitty didn’t run away the moment he heard her. It walked to the watering can again, searching for something. Marinette saw how he started to lick the metal, so she went out and pour him some water in a flowerpot base she saw near him.

The kitty followed her and started to drink water “Were you thirsty little one?” She couldn’t help it and pet his head a little. “Such a cutie”

Part [1] [2] [3]

Gosh I’m the worst... I know this looks like a Lukanette (which I also love) but this is the most realistic turn I can take after that season finale! This is a Marichat story even if I haven’t prove it yet :) (please remember the sloow slowwww burn disclaimer from part 1)

[nobodyfamousposts]

Miracle Queen Aftermath

Because there is a disappointing lack of focus or depth for the aftermath of Miracle Queen in canon, I have made my own.

Be warned of: Chloe salt. A lot of it. Chloe faces consequences for things.

Some Bustier salt. Some Adrien being called out on things (but he gets better).

Enjoy!

In the weeks following the Miracle Queen incident, a lot had happened.

Hawk Moth had increased his power, and was now able to summon akumas and amoks at the same time.

Master Fu was gone and now Ladybug found herself the official Guardian of the Miraculous—along with the Miracle Box, kwamis, and duties that entails.

Marinette had resolved to let go of her crush on Adrien, and to support him and Kagami in their new relationship together.

And Chloe had been arrested and would now be going on trial for assisting a terrorist.

It was that last bit of news that had caused the most commotion in Paris and the world at large. What people would have dismissed as simply another akuma attack turned into a much greater matter when accusations started to be made about Chloe helping the super villain intentionally. This was soon backed by multiple eyewitness accounts and further proven by leaked video evidence showing Chloe not only attempting to grab a butterfly for herself after she was de-akumatized but even negotiating with the terrorist before the incident in which she betrayed the heroes of Paris and revealed the identities of most of the team.

To say that the people of Paris were outraged was putting it mildly. People were akumatized over it. Chloe was in a secured facility where she had armed guards around to watch her just as much as they were there to protect her. New legislation was being considered to specifically address willingly aiding supervillains. The backlash was so severe that many were calling the mayor’s own position into question.

After all, if his daughter could do all of that, who was to say that he wasn’t also in Hawk Moth’s pocket?

For Mayor Andre, his hands were tied. While he had covered for his daughter and her selfishness in the past, this was one thing he couldn’t overlook. Not when it brought his position as mayor under scrutiny. And certainly not when it opened a probe into his own dealings.

None of this was helped either by the multitude of witnesses of Chloe‘s past behavior. In particular, her many victims over the years.

And there were a lot.

Now that Chloe was actually being held accountable for something, it seemed to have opened a floodgate of outcries as the many people she tormented finally felt able to air their grievances. They came out on TV, on social media, on radio. Stories littered the air and internet of the horrors of dealing with this single teenage girl.

“She tried to cheat during this designing competition. She apparently stole some other girl’s hat design and tried to pass it off as her own.”

“She was the reason the mayor tried to shut down my ice skating rink! To build another gym! Paris has enough gyms! Why couldn’t she just go to one of those?”

“She had her dad shut down Clara Nightingale’s music video and got her akumatized just because she didn’t get to play Ladybug. We waited in that line for HOURS and didn’t get chosen either, but no one else threw a fit over it.”

“She shoved a giant signed poster of Adrien Agreste professing his love to her in my friend’s face just to make her cry! I found out after the fact that he didn’t even know about it!”

“Our entire school was punished for someone pulling the fire alarm except for her because she threatened our principal. So while the rest of us were having to clean up the school, she spent the entire time insulting and making fun of us.“

“Knowing her, she probably pulled the fire alarm in the first place.”

“She tried to crash a train! I don’t think I can emphasize that enough: she tried to crash a train!“

“Chloe Bourgeois joined up with Hawk Moth? Can’t say it’s a shock.”

“Yeah, given how many akumas she caused, I’d been wondering if she hadn’t been working with him all along.”

It wasn’t that unbelievable to the populous. Nor did anyone feel particularly sympathetic towards her for her current situation. Some might have for lack of knowing her, but Chloe had carved herself a special place in the memories and hearts of nearly every Parisian. There was nobody who didn’t know of her or have some experience with her by this point. So when it came out that she was arrested and facing criminal charges, the response was…rather telling.

Practically everyone was calling loved ones as soon as they heard, resulting in high phone and internet traffic. The Ladyblog crashed after making the announcement. Several people threw parties. People over the internet started coming up with a list of “Things We Will Be Allowed To Do Once Chloe Is In Prison”, with a count that currently rested at 139 and was rising quickly. One guy bought 500 cupcakes and just started passing them out to people on the street singing a jaunty little tune from some late 1930’s cult classic American movie. The school had closed down for a couple of days due to several teachers calling out sick—possibly with hangovers from celebrating a bit too hard. Various Queen-related hashtags and memes were trending with each seeming to fight for the top spot of most used. #let her eat cake was currently in the lead. And Mr. Ramier somehow orchestrated a 21 pigeon salute. On Chloe’s rooftop.

As it was, nobody expressed surprise when it came out that she worked with a supervillain. Many were disappointed, shaking their heads and saying “if only something had been done sooner” or blaming the parents and teachers and other adults in her life. Most were angry, mainly that things had been allowed to get this far and that they hadn’t been acted on earlier—particularly after the train incident.

But no. Nobody was surprised.

Except, perhaps, Marinette herself.

Still reeling from the events of Miracle Queen and the aftermath of…well…everything involved, Marinette had been questioning herself. Constantly. Incessantly. Going over and over in her mind all the things she could have done differently. Blaming herself for all the major blows to their team.

She lost her mentor. Her allies have been compromised. Chloe, one of her former allies, chose to betray them all. Hawk Moth had the grimoire now. Marinette didn’t have a grimoire. Fu had no memories.

And it was all because of her mistakes.

Last time, the prospect of never having to deal with Chloe again had been a relief.

Now…it was background static to her.

She could barely hear the announcements and cheers over the endless cycle of her own thoughts.

I should have tried harder. I should have been more aware. I failed them all. This is because of me.

So while everyone else in Paris was celebrating, de-stressing, or just outright reveling in the news, Marinette was grieving. With the help of the kwamis and Chat Noir, she had been trying to come to terms with what happened and figure out the next plan of action.

Hawk Moth had changed the game, so she needed to step up hers.

The days seemed to have passed in a blur. Between working with the kwamis, trying to recreate and retranslate the grimoire, and simply trying to deal with the remnants of Fu’s life that he had left to her, Marinette had barely even kept up with the current state of things in Paris. Or in particular, Chloe.

Not until the day came when Bustier made an announcement.

Chloe‘s trial date was finally decided. And though she didn’t say as such, it was clear that the case against her was pretty solid. There was video evidence. Eye witness accounts. And Chloe’s own words and actions working against her.

The odds were not in her favor on this. Even if her parents did try to help her, she wasn’t going to get off this time. Aside from getting the best lawyers money by, there really wasn’t much they could do.

Maybe that was why Bustier had tried to step in?

“Now class, I have received word that they are moving to the next step with Chloe’s hearing. Right now, they are looking for character witnesses for Chloe’s defense.” The kind teacher explained, causing Marinette to snap to awareness and realize just what was going on. Partly because of the mention of Chloe and her court case.

But mostly because of the sudden dead silence in the class…

To be fair, she wasn’t sure she could say anything either. Marinette felt her throat go dry and her muscles tense. There was a sudden tightness in her lungs that while she could breathe, it felt like she was suffocating. Why was Bustier bringing this up now?

The teacher smiled, seemingly unaware of the sudden tension and Marinette’s slow drowning. “I know this has been a difficult experience knowing that one of your classmates is facing such a trial. And Chloe will certainly need support. So I thought it would be kind if everyone wrote a letter supporting her for the hearing coming up, so the courts can hear about Chloe and understand more about who she is.”

Silence. Dead silence.

Maybe Bustier herself picked up on the growing tension, as she proceeded to move to passing out papers to the class. “I thought it would make for a nice project, so I will give you all the forms explaining the requirements. Take some time to think over what positive things you want to say about Chloe. If you have any questions, please feel free to come talk to me.”

After that, she quickly left the room, citing the desire to let them have this free time to work on the letters.

The class remained silent for a good minute after she left. Almost as if they were questioning if she would return. Or perhaps if she was listening.

Then—

“‘Think about what positive things we want to say about Chloe?’ Well that’s easy!” Alix spoke blithely, curling the paper she received into a ball. “Nothing!” She shouted and tossed it over her shoulder. “Assignment done!”

Murmurs filled the classroom. Some sounded uncertain, but most seemed to be in agreement. Or at least expressing distaste for the assignment.

“Is she serious?”

“Does she really expect us to?”

“Of all the worst ideas...”

Marinette could hear them, but couldn’t seem to acknowledge anything around her. And furthermore, she couldn’t make herself respond.

Chloe‘s trial was set for a point in the next few weeks, and at this point there was no denying just what type of person she was. If anything, this was probably the first time that anyone was allowed to actually speak their mind about the girl, and they were all reveling in it. Her classmates in particular.

Marinette couldn’t quite bring herself to.

Sure, Chloe has tried to blackmail her more than once.

And damaged her gift to their teacher.

And attempted to frame her a few times.

And stolen her hat design.

And her diary.

And a Miraculous.

And all of the other Miraculous.

But...she had been doing better for a while there, hadn’t she?

Didn’t she only betray them all in the end because Marinette had chosen Kagami over her for her own selfish reasons? Didn’t Hawk Moth only capture Fu because of her own mistake? Hadn’t Chloe only revealed everyone else because she felt betrayed? Couldn’t Marinette have done more to prevent Chloe turning?

Wasn’t a simple letter on Chloe’s virtues the least she could do?

So why...

Why couldn’t she seem to bring herself to?

Kim frowned, looking at his paper in worry. “We’re not going to get graded on this, are we?”

Nathaniel huffed. “I’ll willingly take the failing grade any day.”

“Hear hear!”

“But if it’s a grade…” Max murmured to himself. Out of everyone in the class, he took his grades the most seriously, so this was no doubt a difficult choice for him. He looked at his paper with a rather conflicted expression for a minute before sighing and turning it face-down on the desk. “No. It’s an impossible task in the first place.”

Kim rested a hand on Max’s shoulder in sympathy. It wasn’t that he cared as much about grades as Max did, but it was clear that the fallout of refusing could be more troubling for the genius who took his academic performance so seriously. If Bustier did make it a mandatory assignment with a grade, it’d be horribly unfair of her.

“What was it Chloe said before?” Ivan asked, looking over his page with a glare. “Once a monster, always a monster? I guess she’d know more than anyone.”

Mylene hugged him. “You’re not a monster. You never chose to be.”

“None of us did.” Nino agreed.

“Nobody did except her.” Alix bit out.

Mumbles of agreement came from the rest of the class. It was clear that none of them were on board with having anything to do with Chloe, much less try to help her with her current legal woes.

There was a large part of Marinette that agreed with them. But even so, there was also a large part of her that insisted she had to do the right thing and help.

She knew she should say something. She was supposed to say something here. Because it was her fault, after all. She was Ladybug. She had to be the better person. Shouldn’t she?

“Marinette? Girl, are you okay?” Alya asked, drawing her attention. “You look a bit pale.”

It was too much. It was suffocating.

“I think I need some air. Excuse me.”

She didn’t know if anyone watched her leave the classroom. She hadn’t even noticed if anyone had chosen to follow her.

Not until…

“Marinette, are you all right?”

She spun around in surprise.

“Oh! Adrien! Hey! Hi! Hello!” She blabbered. Why was he here? Did he come out after her? Why? She didn’t need this right now! She struggled enough with him under normal circumstances, she wasn’t sure she could handle being alone with him now. Her stress over everything was bad enough, but having him approach her set her anxiety skyrocketing.

“Hey,” he replied, smiling at her—and oh, what a beautiful smile. On any other day, it would ease her worries and make her want to swoon, but right now, it just made her more nervous.

“Are you all right?” He asked again. “You didn’t look so well in class.”

“Y-yeah. Just…” she sighed. “I just have a lot on my mind. With…you know…everything.”

He nodded in understanding. “I know what you mean.”

She smiled. She could always count on Adrien to be a calming supportive friend. He was always so sweet and reliable. If anyone could understand or relate to the chaotic mix of emotions she was feeling, he could.

He sighed in sympathy. “Poor Chloe.”

She froze.

“Chloe?”

“Well, yeah.” He replied, like it was obvious. “I mean, she did a bad thing, but now she’s going through the worst experience of her life. One that could ruin her future. And people are glad about it!” He shook his head. “It’s just too cruel.”

Marinette just stared.

He wasn’t wrong. But…that was what he was worried about?

She couldn’t fault him of course, because Adrien was always so kind and considerate and of course he’d feel for Chloe but…something about this just…pulled at something inside of her and was choking it.

“Chloe is already suffering enough and it feels like no one wants to help her. You heard them.” He gestured back to the classroom. “We’re being given an opportunity to make a difference for her and they’re all just saying she deserves it. Chloe is alone and hurting and they want her to hurt more.”

She felt a denial on her lips but couldn’t give voice to it.

“Everyone is so great with each other. It’s always just Chloe who is kind of on the outside. I know you’ve seen it.”

She hadn’t, actually. Because it was never Chloe on the outside looking in, it was Chloe looking down on them. Whether it was because she genuinely thought she was better or because it made her feel better to do so.

He hesitated for a moment before looking at her. And there was something in his expression that told her he was about to ask something. A gut feeling told her that it was going to be something she wouldn’t like.

“Do you think you could talk to them?” He asked her, looking so sad and despondent that she just wanted to hug him and agree to anything to make that look go away.

“M-me?”

He wanted her to convince her classmates to help Chloe?

“I know you and Chloe have had your differences, but you’ve been able to see past her front. And you’ve done a lot to help her before.” He smiled. “Like the party you threw for her after she became Queen Bee.”

A traitorous voice asked if giving her a second chance with the Miraculous she had previously stolen wasn’t enough? Why did she have to feel bad for her leaving and throw her a party to make her feel special?

“Chloe really needs the help right now. And you’re always so good about that sort of thing.” He looked to her imploringly. “Do you think you could try to get them to at least give Chloe a hand? I don’t know what impact it’ll have in her hearing, but any little bit helps, right?”

Go back in there? With the tension and the suffocation to try and convince her classmates to help when she was questioning whether to herself?

But she had to, right? After all, couldn’t she have prevented this if she had acted sooner? Couldn’t she have helped sooner instead of being focused on her own petty problems? Isn’t that what Ladybug should do?

“Please, Marinette? They listen to you. If you asked them to, I’m sure they’d be willing to at least try.”

Her vision started to dim, seeming to tunnel in on Adrien and his sad and hopeful expression. Her thoughts crying about CHLOE and poor CHLOE and how hurt CHLOE was and how it was her fault for CHLOE—

“I—”

“Oh no! No, you do NOT.”

Marinette suddenly found herself torn away from Adrien by a sudden grab of her arm and pulling sensation. She felt as if she was pushed out of the way by a fierce gale. Like a raging whirlwind had spun her around and behind it.

That whirlwind’s name was Alya.

“How dare you? How dare you try to make my girl be responsible for this!”

Marinette floundered because she had not expected this and oh no now her best friend looked ready to tear her crush’s head off!

“Alya, we don’t have to do this!” She pleaded, trying to calm the other girl down.

“Oh, we most certainly do.” Came another voice. And sure enough, the rest of the class had stepped out as well. All of them looked in varying ranges of frustrated and that frustration was clearly directed at her and Adrien.

Or rather just Adrien, as Marinette discovered when Rose and Juleka pulled her aside and out of their direct line of sight. They were all looking at Adrien, and those were not nice or understanding expressions.

Oh no! This was a disaster! Now everyone was upset and she should have just agreed or said something sooner!

Completely unaware of Marinette’s inner turmoil, Alya stepped forward and jabbed at Adrien in the chest. “You are not going to make my girl feel bad and try to help someone who has never done a single nice thing for her or anyone.” She spat out, forcing him to back away.

Adrien held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Come on, Chloe is not that bad.“

“Not that bad?” Nino exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief at his friend’s words. “Adrien, Chloe betrayed us!“

“She took over Paris!”

“She turned us into her servants!“

“Not to mention the other things…”

“Do we really have to name each time?” Alya started to count on her fingers. “Chloe CHOSE to take the Miraculous for herself instead of returning it. She CHOSE to transform in front of everyone and reveal her identity to the world. She CHOSE to try and crash a train, risking the lives of EVERYONE on board just to show off. She CHOSE to run off with it when Ladybug tried to take it back.”

“She also chose to continue being horrible to everyone even after Ladybug gave her a second chance.” Nathaniel added, bitterly. “She didn’t get better after becoming Queen Bee. It just became another thing for her to lord over people.”

Alya nodded. “And when Ladybug made it clear to her that she wasn’t going to be Queen Bee again, she felt ENTITLED to something that was never hers in the first place. And because of that, she made the active, knowing, and willful choice to work with Hawk Moth.”

“And out all of us while she was at it.” Kim added. “Turning us into her personal ‘guard’. Making us fight our heroes against our will.” He shuddered. “I don’t know if you were hit by those things, Adrien, but it was NOT a pleasant experience having your body turned into a puppet.”

Adrien wanted to argue that he understood full well, but that was only as Chat. He couldn’t say that here.

Unaware of his inner turmoil, Alya continued. “So no, we are not going to forgive Chloe. We are not going to try and ‘get along’ with her because her own poor choices have led her to have a ‘rough time’.”

Adrien grew nervous at the way the others drew closer to Alya as she spoke, clearly backing her statements as she continued.

“We are not going to defend her or speak up on her behalf to the entirety of Paris she ALSO betrayed. Whatever consequences Chloe has to face—quite possibly the first ones she will EVER have faced in her LIFE—are nothing less than what she deserves.”

“Yeah!” Came the exclamations from the rest of the crowd.

“She didn’t know what she was doing!” Adrien argued.

“Not know what she was doing?! Adrien, she willingly accepted an akuma! She used it to take control of us and revealed us to Hawk Moth!” Alya exclaimed. “That’s just—how can you even justify that?”

With as angry as Alya was, any lesser or wiser man would have backed off.

Adrien…well, she certainly would never call him unwise, so it had to be because he was more strong-willed than that to be willing to stand his ground here.

“Hawk Moth was the one who manipulated Chloe!” He insisted. “And he’s the one who got away scott free and left Chloe to take the fall.”

“And whose fault was that?” Alya countered. “Chloe HELPED him. He only got as far as he did because of her and he only got away because she helped him!”

“Don’t you think this is cruel?” He argued back. “Yes, Chloe was wrong, but she was already called out for what she did by Ladybug and Chat Noir. The entire city hates her. Isn’t that enough?”

“NO!” Alya shouted. “No, it isn’t! Because Chloe has always gotten away with her antics in the past but you’re actually trying to get us to let Chloe off for a legitimate crime here! If Chloe is going to prison, it’s only because she deserves it!”

Around them, several of the others in the class nodded in agreement.

“How can you say that?” Adrien demanded. “Chloe made a mistake and she’s suffering for it! All this time, she’s felt left out and cut off and this only further emphasizes that for her! She’s been alone all this time and now she’s alone and miserable!”

“Then why should that be OUR problem?” Alya questioned, raising her hands in exasperation. “Why are you trying to MAKE it our problem?!”

Adrien drew back, looking genuinely hurt.

"But treating someone badly never made them become a good person."

"Yeah, because letting Chloe have her way all this time has totally made strides in her path to becoming a good person." Alix called out sarcastically.

"If anything, it's made her worse." Max added. "She's gone from simply causing akumas to intentionally becoming one."

“But—”

Alya cut him off. “But nothing, Adrien! You have to have some gall to be trying to get us to make nice with Chloe after she betrayed us all! And here I thought your little lecture to Marinette to make her feel bad for being relieved that Chloe was leaving Paris was pretty hard to beat.”

Nino blanched at that. “You did what?” He turned on Adrien. “Dude! You know that happened after Chloe tried to crash that train!”

“She was just trying to prove herself.” Adrien weakly argued.

“PEOPLE were on there!” Nino bit out. “They could have DIED because Chloe was showing off! And you got on to MARINETTE? Where was this attitude with Chloe?”

“I’ve called her out!”

“Yeah, one time.” Alya groused. “AFTER the rest of us had spent the better part of the day cleaning up after HER mess. Which she never apologized for or admitted to doing, by the way.”

“And in response, she threw a party.” Juleka muttered.

“It was a nice party, sure.” Rose added quickly.

Alya though shook her head. “But being a good hostess is nowhere near the same thing as being a good person. And before the night was over, you rolled over for her and she went RIGHT back to acting as she always had.”

“She made Mylene cry.” Ivan glared. “She made Mylene cry and you just laughed.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“You said it yourself: ‘she’ll never change’. Except you said that like it was a good thing.”

Marinette looked back and forth between the two, everything inside her screaming at her to help. But she was completely lost on which one she was supposed to help. Because Adrien had a point about what Chloe’s going through but Alya was right about what Chloe did and she needed to do the “right thing” and help Chloe but why did everything Alya say resonate so strongly with her and bring such a feeling of vindication—

No. She was getting distracted. She needed to help. And right now, it was Adrien against the rest of the class.

But Alya was worked up. And Adrien was looking past her to Marinette, eyes begging for help and still so hopeful that she would step in. And Chloe was still in prison and Marinette could fix everything if she just tried so why can’t she try?

“Alya,” Marinette tried. “You told me to give Chloe a chance before after the fire alarm incident, remember? You said we were a lot alike.”

“That was to get you to go to a party!” Alya shouted, making Marinette step back in surprise. “I never meant it like this!”

She stepped forward and took Marinette by the shoulders, holding her sternly.

“Marinette, you are nothing like Chloe! Not where it counts! Yeah, you both can be short sighted when it comes to trying for what you want, but you at least notice and CARE how other people feel! And when you make a mistake, you at least TRY to make it right!”

She shook her head.

“Chloe…doesn’t.”

“She doesn’t try to.” Alix cut in. “If Chloe was feeling sad and lonely, that was pretty much her own fault.”

Adrien looked like he wanted to argue, but Alix didn’t even give him a chance.

“It wasn’t like we left her out. We went well out of our way to try and befriend her. We invited her to things. We tried to help her. Hell, you said it yourself—Marinette has tried to help her more than anybody! And each and every time, Chloe only took what we offered like it was something we owed her but that she was also too good for. I mean, I certainly can’t recall a time she ever thanked me. Can you?” She asked, turning to the other classmates.

All around them, there were murmurs of agreement. Maybe a couple hesitated as they tried to recall a time—one single moment of kindness on Chloe’s part only to come up empty.

“Chloe’s had a hard time.” Adrien insisted. “You know how her parents are—”

“Oh yes, her ‘Daddy the Mayor’.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Like we don’t hear enough about him every time it comes to something Chloe wants. She only threatens us or anyone with him every other day.”

Adrien shook his head and tried to explain. “It’s only because her parents aren’t there for her emotionally.”

“Again, not seeing how this is our problem? Or justification for anything she’s done to us? Or how this excuses her willingly helping a supervillain?”

“Because we’re her classmates!” He argued back, gesturing to all of them. “Out of everyone, we’ve all had the most interactions with her.”

“All of which were negative.” Came a cutting remark, followed by grumbling.

“There were good times, too!” Adrien insisted with a frown. His eyes spanned over the assembled classmates before they came to rest on one in particular. “Kim, you have to have seen Chloe’s good side. You liked her before.”

“Before.” Kim replied, emphasizing the word and the timeframe it referred to. “But being humiliated and her sending out that pic to everyone in school kind of crushed that crush.”

“How did she even have our numbers?” Ivan asked.

“But there had to be something that made you like her in the first place.” Adrien encouraged.

The taller boy shrugged, uncertain and uncaring. “Maybe so, but was it something that was really there? Or something I just wanted to see? Because I’m looking back and quite frankly, I don’t know what past me was thinking.”

“Wow, that’s deep, man.” Nathaniel whispered.

“Thanks!”

Seeing Nathaniel gave Adrien an idea. “Wait, Nathaniel! Didn’t Chloe let you put her in your comic?”

“Forced us to, more like.” The artist bit back. “And even when we tried to fit her, we got nothing but complaints from her. It was no wonder we never got past the initial concept art for her character.”

Adrien winced. “It was an attempt, at least?”

Nathaniel wasn’t buying it. “A poor one.”

“She’s been trying to be better.” Adrien was getting increasingly frustrated. This was not how he was expecting this argument to go. “Rose? What about you? You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

After all, Rose was sweet and caring, always willing to see the good in anyone. Surely she would have something nice about Chloe!

Juleka frowned at him over his focus on her girlfriend and moved to stand beside her. “Don’t push her.”

Still he tried.

“Rose?”

“I’m sorry, Adrien.” Rose said, hugging herself. “But Chloe has done nothing but hurt people. And going out of our way to protect her has only ended up biting us.”

That wasn’t true. Not...all the time at least. There had to have been at least one instance where she did the right thing!

Adrien brightened in realization. “Didn’t she catch you when you fell after being deakumatized during Heroes Day?”

The blonde girl frowned. “Well, yes…but she wasn’t very nice about it. Even though I did the same for her before.”

“Rose, come on…”

She shook her head. “I put myself at risk to help Chloe when she was being chased by zombies, and only got turned into one for my efforts. Chloe never appreciated it. She never thanked me. She didn’t even do anything to help when we were trying to keep her safe!”

“We all ended up kissing zombies because of her.” Alix accused, crossing her arms and looking particularly annoyed. “And not just because she caused the akuma in the first place.”

“Why are you pushing this?” Mylene asked. “We’ve been asked. We said no. Isn’t that enough?”

“But—”

“Adrien, you’ve got a good heart.” Ivan started.

“Easy for him when he’s not the one who has to be on the receiving end of Chloe’s tantrums.” Alix cut in, clearly sounding bitter.

“You’ve got a good heart.” Ivan repeated, sending Alix a look that asked her to back off. “But Chloe…doesn’t.”

Adrien shook his head, remaining insistent. “That’s why she needs help.”

“If she needs help,” Mylene spoke, “It should come from her parents. Her teachers. Any of the adults in her life. She has plenty of adults who are fully capable of helping her. It should not be expected to come from the kids she’s spent years tormenting.”

She gestured to herself and the others around her. “And that’s what she’s been doing: tormenting us.”

“To great joy, might I add.” Max droned.

“She hasn’t been cruel to everyone.” Adrien muttered.

That brought out a backlash of outrage.

“She outted my crush!”

“She insulted Mylene’s cooking and made her cry!”

“She got Aurore akumatized and nearly caused Paris to be incinerated in a volcano!”

“She tried to push Mylene out of the lead role of our movie!”

“She locked Juleka in the restroom!”

Wait...

But that hadn’t been Chloe. She had stayed with the class at the time. The one who did do it was...

He glanced around until he saw her—a redhead in the background behind the rest of the class. She looked anxious and uncomfortable, and almost seemed to be trying to edge around the class to get to the stairs.

Adrien did seem aware. Or rather, he was focused on the fact she was there.

“Sabrina? What about you? Chloe was your friend!”

Of course she would help! Because who better than her own best friend to speak on her behalf?

The rest of the class broke into mutters as they realized the same.

But Sabrina...bit her lip and looked away. Refusing to even meet Adrien’s gaze.

“Sabrina?” Marinette tried, concerned about this reaction. Sabrina had been Chloe’s best friend—or at least the closest thing she could have to a friend. “Minion” or “Servant” would be more accurate. “Slave” would be more honest.

The girl had been Chloe’s only real fan and follower, and had assisted Chloe in some of her worst plots.

Marinette had briefly seen another side to her. A girl who was so desperate for friendship that she latched onto even the slightest bit of kindness and went to the greatest of extremes to appease the “friend” so they wouldn’t leave her. It was no wonder she had fallen in with Chloe—someone like that was perfect for the spoiled girl. Compared to her, Marinette’s anxieties and need to please were nothing.

And Chloe had pretty much been her world for years.

What must she be feeling now?

“Should we really be getting her opinion?” Ivan whispered. “You know how she and Chloe were…”

“Well, if anyone would have anything positive to tell the courts about Chloe, it would be her.” Mylene whispered back.

Sabrina took a breath and spoke quickly—almost shouting in her rush.

“I’m sorry but my therapist said I shouldn’t!”

That got a surprise. The rest of the classmates glanced to each other before looking back to the girl. Adrien in particular looked shell-shocked. Marinette couldn’t blame him. She felt the same.

Sabrina for her part seemed to tense up, as if ready to defend herself from the rest of the class.

Marinette stepped forward. “Sabrina? Are…you okay?”

The other girl shook her head, looking close to tears.

“After word got out what Chloe did, the police had to question me about Chloe. They were able to see that I wasn’t involved, but they…didn’t like what I told them about our relationship. Afterwards, my dad decided to have me see a counselor and she…has been telling me things that I hadn’t really considered.” She curled in on herself. “They all think I should stay away from Chloe and anything directly related to her…for my own health.”

Adrien frowned at that. “But don’t you want to help Chloe?”

Sabrina jumped. “Of course, I do!”

“Hold up, Adrien!” Nino stepped in. “She just said police took her in because of Chloe!”

“But they let her go…”

“It still happened!” Mylene argued. “It doesn’t matter how nice they are, how innocent you know you are, or if you’re released in the end, it’s still terrifying when it happens!”

"And it only happened to her because of Chloe." Alya added.

Rose, in her infinite sweetness, reached out to take Sabrina’s hand in support. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Sabrina sobbed and covered her face. Aside from Rose, no one else really attempted to comfort her. Most of them simply watched her, pitying her current state. But they also remembered how complicit she had been in Chloe’s schemes, so they were conflicted. While they did feel bad for her current situation, there was a part of most of them that noted how she had brought it upon herself by being Chloe‘s lackey for so long, so their sympathy was limited.

Perhaps it was out of awkwardness, or maybe an attempt to give some respect for Sabrina’s privacy that the classmates turned away from her and instead focused on the heart of the argument.

“Man...” Nino tried. “Maybe you should let it go?” Though it was clear from his tone that he knew it wasn’t likely.

Because Adrien had still not given up, it seemed.

He looked around between of the classmates, growing more desperate. But those that remained either looked at him straight on as if daring him to call on them or looked away. A few of them even closed ranks as if to block his view of certain others. It was clear none of them were willing to help him on this.

None of them except…

“Marinette.” He called out, drawing her gaze to him instantly. “You understand, don’t you?”

She bit her lip. “I…”

“Back off, Adrien.” Kim said, giving the other boy an angry frown as he stood in front of her to shield her from his gaze. “It’s not on Marinette to help Chloe.”

“Yeah! She suffered more than any of us!“ Ivan shouted.

“She has been Chloe’s main target for years.” Nathaniel agreed. “She is the last person who is obligated to help Chloe now.“

Adrien winced at the harshness of their words and in their tone. “I just thought that Marinette could help. Like before.”

“Just because she could doesn’t mean she should have had to.” Alya countered. “She’s a teenager. Dealing with Chloe should have been the job of adults. Her parents. Bustier. Damocles. Any one of them should have done something—and if they can’t, the courts will. It’s their job. Not ours.”

“And getting her to help you wouldn’t make a difference anyway even if you had convinced us.” Max said, shifting his glasses. “Chloe helped Hawk Moth. There is nothing we could say that could undo that. And even if we did try, we would either be guilty of committing perjury or aiding in a conspiracy.”

“What?” Adrien jerked in surprise.

“The best we can do is be character witnesses.” Mylene explained. “But this is a court and we can’t claim something that isn’t true! We can’t say anything nice about Chloe when she hasn’t done anything nice!”

Max nodded and shifted his glasses. “Furthermore, our testimonies—even if they were positive—would only serve to create a narrative about Chloe and the type of person she is. They can’t explain away the current evidence against her.”

He rubbed the back of his head. He knew there were issues, but he also knew Chloe. He knew what she could be like. He knew she was a good person deep down. “I know she’s made some mistakes—”

“No.” Alya stated sharply. “Calling them ‘Mistakes’ implies that her actions were unintentional. ‘Mistakes’ implies that people were harmed by accident. ‘Mistakes’ implies that she would have any point learned from them. They weren’t mistakes, Adrien. They were willful acts of cruelty every single time.”

Ivan shook his head, pityingly. “We can’t save Chloe from this. We have nothing to say in her defense. The kindest thing we can do for her is stay silent.”

“She’s better than you think she is. She threw that party once for everyone, remember? You all went.” Adrien reminded them.

“That only proved that she could throw a party and be a good host, not that she could be a good person. There is a difference.” Nathaniel pointed out.

“Not that Chloe could tell.“ Alix sniped.

Adrien ignored the barb. He had given up on getting any of them to listen and now only had eyes for her. His last hope.

“Marinette….come on…please.”

She hesitated.

Everything in her that was Ladybug and her crush on Adrien and her desire to make people happy and take the high road and give second-third-fourth chances wanted nothing more than to give it to him.

Except...

There was a long pause. No one spoke.

The other classmates have had their say. They were letting Marinette have hers. And she knew in that moment that if she spoke up…if she did as Adrien wished and tried to help Chloe…she knew they would go along with her. It may be more out of respect for Marinette than it would be out of any sort of forgiveness for anything Chloe had done, but it would still help Chloe and it would still make Adrien happy.

…and hadn’t Marinette already done that enough?

“Did you know?” Marinette started, not looking at anyone. “I would have been well within my rights to press charges against Chloe?”

Adrien balked at that.

“She’s stolen from me at least three times now.” She shrugged. “I mean, sure, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about my diary since she had Sabrina steal it for her, but she did steal my hat design for a competition and I had proof. I could have pressed charges against Chloe and let her face some consequences…but I didn’t.”

She looked up at Adrien. “I also could have pressed charges for what she did to my gift for Madame Bustier. Since she did break into my locker and vandalize my property while it was still technically mine…but I didn’t.

“Adrien.” She spoke almost in monotone, the only sign of her emotions being how she clenched her fists. “Did you know that after the fashion show, my parents and I took a train to get home?”

He furrowed his brows in confusion. What did that have to do with anything?

“It was the same train Chloe took control of and nearly caused to crash.”

Several gasps resounded around them. Apparently this had not been common knowledge.

“Even if Chloe could have bought her way out of any consequence for the other things, we all could certainly have had her face some major trouble for that one…” Marinette took a shuddering breath. “But we didn’t.”

Adrien frowned. “I…I see that—”

“No, I don’t think you do.” She cut him off. “Because instead of any of that…rather than hold Chloe accountable at any point, I catered to her. I tried to understand Chloe. I tried to make things nicer for Chloe. I tried to excuse Chloe. Time and again. Just like everyone else. Just like you wanted me to. Just like you’re asking me to now. And what did that get us?”

The more she talked, the more words filled out and she was unable to stop the torrent.

“I defended her from Alya after Madame Bustier was akumatized, and Chloe stole a Miraculous and nearly got my family killed. I helped Chloe bond with her Mom—costing myself any chance at a once in a lifetime opportunity in the process—and Chloe tried to get me banished from Paris just for saying she wasn’t a superhero. I threw Chloe a party to show her some appreciation, and she willingly worked with a supervillain to take over Paris. Just to fuel her ego and because she felt she was owed something that wasn’t hers.”

She tilted her head, considering.

“What is that American saying? Three strikes and you’re out?” Her eyes narrowed. “I have given Chloe more than three chances. I have done nothing BUT give her chances. And clean up after her. And just…try to help her. At no point has she been grateful. At no point did she ever apologize. Or show the slightest bit of remorse for anyone she hurt. Or just…try to do better.”

She stepped forward. Past her classmates. Past Alya, who looked ready to tear into Adrien herself.

“So tell me, Adrien. How much more am I supposed to do? What miracle am I supposed to achieve to help Chloe to be a better person that I haven’t already done?”

“You can just try.” Adrien begged. “Chloe’s alone. She has no one in her corner. You’ve given her chances before! Can’t you find it in your heart to give her another chance this time?”

“Why haven’t you?” Alya demanded.

Adrien drew back in surprise at that.

But the girl wasn’t letting him off. “If you’re so certain Chloe is the victim in all this, then why aren’t you stepping up to help her? Why are you pushing Marinette and the rest of us to do it?”

Alya wrapped an arm around Marinette in support. “If you truly believe Chloe has some sort of inner goodness that only needs the right person to bring it out, then it’s pretty clear Marinette is just not that person. She’s tried enough.”

Alix nodded. “I’m pretty sure she could’ve demolished a brick wall with how many time she’s banged her head against it by this point trying to drag a decent person out of Chloe.”

Others in the class also nodded and gave sounds of agreement to that.

Adrien frowned, lowering his head despondently. “I’m just one person. There’s only so much weight my word will have. I just...I just want to give her the best chance.”

“That’s nice for Chloe, I guess.” Kim muttered. “But not much for us.”

Adrien looked up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Alya stepped forward, releasing Marinette in the process. “Adrien, why should we as Chloe’s victims have to help protect her? That’s the thing we’re not getting here. WE are the ones she hurt. WE are the ones she betrayed to Hawk Moth. So why are WE supposed to try and save her from her own consequences? Why are you wanting us to?”

Adrien hesitated.

“Can you even imagine what it was like? Being frozen in time. Unable to move or speak? Only able to hear her voice in your head? Feeling your body respond as she’s calling you and being unable to stop?” She clutched her arms, as if trying to hug herself. “Do you have any idea how terrified I was knowing what she was doing to us but being completely unable to stop it? How humiliating it was when she had us bowing to her and calling her our Queen? And then…” She took a breath. “She made us fight our heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir trusted us to help them and we used the Miraculous they entrusted to us to try and kill them.”

“We were just lucky that they were able to turn the tables on us.” Kim muttered. “I don’t even want to know what would have happened if we had won.”

“Luka still has nightmares.” Juleka whispered. “He won’t talk about it, but he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks.”

Marinette winced. She hadn’t even considered that everyone else could be suffering ramifications of Miracle Queen as well.

“We could have killed them.” Max stated. “Given the nature of the Snake Miraculous’s power, we very well could have more than once for all we know.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t have killed them?” Rose suggested, trying to be positive. “I mean, Chloe wanted all of the Miraculous, right? She probably wanted them as her servants as well.”

Max glared. “I’m pretty sure I attempted to send Chat Noir into space. Even a Miraculous can’t protect someone from that.”

Adrien tried not to wince at the memory. How he managed to even move enough to activate the Miraculous, he still wasn’t sure.

“We fought against them. We never wanted to, but we did.” Alya bit out. “Not even because of Hawk Moth this time, but because of Chloe. And now you are wanting us to just…overlook the trauma of the whole thing to help Chloe after what she did. For something she hasn’t shown even the slightest remorse for.”

She shook her head.

“I know you’re nice, Adrien. But this level of kindness is a cruelty.”

He winced. And it looked like he wanted to argue. But he just…wilted.

“I just…it feels harsh. What’s happening to her. The amount of hate she’s getting. That her entire life could be over.”

That was true. While they felt her current status was well deserved, it was a harsh sentence for anyone. Especially a teenager.

Nathaniel sighed. “Adrien, it is harsh. Maybe cruel. But fact is that she still brought on herself.”

“Isn’t that just victim-blaming though?” Adrien countered, frustrated now. “I mean, Hawk Moth manipulated her! How was that her fault? He’s the one who did it. She was…” He clenched his fists in anger. “Chloe is a victim.”

“No, we are the victims.” Alya insisted, gesturing to herself and the other revealed former heroes. “We were the ones used to fight our heroes. We were the ones who had our identities revealed to the world against our will. And now we are the ones having to live with the results of Chloe‘s choices, just like we always are.“

Adrien looked ready to argue. And maybe he would have, except...

Nino rested a hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Adrien. Dude. Just stop. We have enough to deal with and this…this isn’t helping.”

Adrien frowned at that, concerned by his friend’s attitude. “Nino?”

Nino lowered his head. “I wasn’t going to say anything. Really, I was trying not to think about it. But my parents are currently talking with police about their options. Now that I’ve been exposed as one of the temporary heroes, they’re questioning if it’s not safe for us at home anymore. There is a chance of us having to go into protective custody.”

Alya winced at that, drawing attention to her. “My parents have been talking as well. My mom quit her job. She said she doesn’t want to work for someone who would let their daughter do such a thing and put me in danger. She’s looking at drawing me out of school since it was pretty much Chloe‘s base of operations. And since Chloe is the Mayor’s daughter…and Hawk Moth…and just…everything?” She looked away, clearly anxious.

“There’s a chance we may have to move out of Paris altogether.”

Marinette gasped.

Alya looked to the other girl, sad and guilty all in one. “I’m sorry, girl. I guess I’ve been hoping it wouldn’t be an issue. I’ve been trying to talk them out of it, but it’s hard given everything that happened. Currently, the only reason they’re willing to stay is to see through to the end of the trial. But after that…” She shrugged, shaking her head uncertainly. “Who can say?”

“No…” Adrien whispered in shock.

The others in class came closer around her, trying to offer some comfort and reassurances—what little they could give, at least. This was a situation that was clearly beyond them. Marinette herself hugged Alya tightly for all she was worth, and the other girl held her back just as much, neither wanting to be parted.

Adrien, however, remained on the outside looking in. Watching the people Chloe had tormented even before Miracle Queen and realizing just how badly they’ve been hurt by this. It hit him then—for what was perhaps the first time just how much pain Chloe had caused his friends. And how unfair he had been to expect them to simply deal with it.

He stayed the lone person outside of the circle. By this point, did he really deserve to join in the comfort? To try to be the one to give comfort? After what he had tried to push on them all?

After minutes passed, they were finally able to draw away from each other.

“I’m sorry for not saying anything sooner.” Alya told Marinette. “I guess I was just hoping…y’know…that it wasn’t real. Or that it would go away and things would work out on their own.”

Marinette smiled. “No, I understand.”

And she did. That’s exactly what she herself had been doing for the past few weeks as well. Trying to deal with things without really dealing with them. Working without acknowledging just what it all meant because she was scared she would break down and that would be just one more thing Hawk Moth would have won because of this whole mess.

“I was kind of the same way.” She admitted, and it felt like a slight relief to be able to say aloud to someone. “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you about it.”

She still couldn’t, unfortunately. Not about Ladybug and the kwamis and the Miracle Box.

But…she could talk about Fu. How she lost him. How she feels. She could help support Alya and her classmates and be there for them in the meantime.

She…hadn’t lost everything.

Not yet.

And that was the scary thing…

Adrien gaped at the group. He had thought the trauma was bad enough, and that at least could be worked through. But this...

“I’m sorry. I...I didn’t even realize...”

“Adrien, what Chloe did put a major target on our backs.” Alya explained. “Nobody knows how we became heroes, or that Ladybug was the one to specifically choose us and give us the miraculous to use. Nobody knows WHY we were chosen. It’s not just Hawk Moth, any regular criminal can come after us now in an attempt to get a hold of that power. And we can’t exactly protect ourselves.”

She shrugged helplessly.

“We kind of have enough to worry about with the fallout of Chloe‘s actions. And now you want us to try and protect Chloe on top of that?“

Seeing it now, in this light...it was cruel. It was cruel and unfair and hurtful, and Marinette felt horrible for considering letting herself be talked into it.

Adrien himself felt horrible for even suggesting it.

“We all have to live with the consequences of Chloe’s choices.” Alya stated. “So why shouldn’t she?”

Silence followed. It practically echoed throughout the entire hallway.

He said nothing in response. What could he possibly say? He’d known that Chloe was…difficult with other people, to say the least. He’d known the type of person she was. But she was his friend and friends forgive and support each other, right?

But they were right as well. It wasn’t fair to expect them to help Chloe after what she did. Especially once he knew of the level of harm she’d caused them. He felt the horror trickle in. The trauma everyone felt. The knowledge of what they’d been forced to do. The fact that…

He suddenly found it harder to breathe.

Nino could leave.

Adrien could lose his best friend because of this.

And who knew how many of the others would be forced to leave as well. Aside from Nino; Kim, Max, Alya, and Luka were other heroes as well. Juleka was Luka’s sister. And how many of the other classmates might be pulled out of this class and school because it’s unsafe? And Kagami—oh god, she was outted as well. He hadn’t heard from her in a while. Her mother is probably furious. She could move back to Japan because of this. And Marinette…she had been lucky to not be caught up in that fight since she was a hero only the one time, but that could have been just one more thing Chloe ruined for her…

…what about himself?

He paled.

He was longtime friends with Chloe. Went to school with Chloe. Was in class with Chloe. Chloe, who was currently getting a lot of heat from all of Paris. How was his Father going to react to that? The man was always focused on the company and appearances…what would he do now that Chloe had fallen from grace in such a way? Would he forbid Adrien from talking to Chloe again? Would he pull Adrien from school?

…would he ban Adrien from leaving the house altogether?

How was he only just now considering the impact? For himself or anyone else? Of course people would be hurt. Of course they would be upset. Of course people would respond. Somehow, he knew that, and yet he had only been focused on Chloe that it hadn’t actually hit home until now…

And in that light…

It had been selfish to ask. Honestly, he’d known that when he first tried to approach Marinette. But he felt he had to try. Honestly, part of him had known better than to ask in the first place. But at the same time…there was a part of him that still believed things could just go back to “normal”.

…how foolish. That was a “normal” that nobody else wanted. And even more, it was one that was now impossible…all because of Chloe herself.

“I just wanted to help.”

He deflated, losing all remaining fight.

“I’m sorry.”

The classmates glanced between each other. There was much they could have said, but really, anything they could have said already had been. And with him seeming resigned, it appeared there was no longer a need to defend themselves.

Marinette—ever the mediator, stepped up and hugged Adrien.

“Adrien, this isn’t something you can help with. None of us can. What happens in the trial is up to the courts. And what happens to Chloe is up to her.”

Slowly, he reached up and hugged her as well. The warmth and comfort brought some limited solace in this situation. He felt lost. Out of control. Like the world was moving around him and he didn’t know where he was standing much less where he was supposed to be.

They weren’t ready to forgive Chloe. And he couldn’t force them to be. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t blame them. And it was really unfair of him to try. Especially…

“I’m sorry, Marinette.” He whispered to her.

He had tried to use her. Looking back, he had a bit of a tendency to rely on Marinette to fix things when she shouldn’t have had to. Especially when it was for Chloe’s sake. He knew plenty of times Chloe had done things…but he always seemed to overlook how hurt Marinette was because of it, simply due to how well she always appeared afterwards. She was strong and confident, but also a good listener and willing to forgive. It was like nothing really brought her down.

It was due to this that Marinette was often the one he turned to whenever things happened. Because she would listen. She would understand. And she would always try to help, regardless of her position.

In this light…he may have over relied on her too much.

“I wasn’t fair to you.” He admitted. “I just saw Chloe hurting and only thought about how to fix things for her. I didn’t consider your feelings.” He hugged her more strongly. “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t speak. But she squeezed him back.

He felt another body press against him. A quick glance showed it to be Nino.

“I’m still super mad with her. And I don’t like how you tried to push us to defend her after what she did. But I get that she’s your friend and you care about her. I’d do the same if it were you in her place.” He gave a small laugh. “Not that I think you ever would, of course.”

Adrien smiled back. “Thanks.”

This…this felt much better.

Things weren’t okay right now. He still wanted to help Chloe. His classmates were still hurt. People were still angry. Hawk Moth was still out there.

But whatever happened...in this moment, he felt they could make it.

[2manyfandoms2count]

It’s not over tonight

Won’t go Home without you is a classic of my playlist, and I’ve pictured this ever since the New York Special came out. I tried to resist the angst, but I failed (there’s a happy ending though)

Hope you enjoy!

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---

“Chat Noir, no!” Marinette reached out, desperately wanting to grasp at her detransformed partner before he could run away, but her hand retracted as soon as she touched the white fabric of his shirt, like she’d been burned.

She turned away, tears gathering in her eyes and she covered her face with her hands as he rushed around the corner. She couldn’t see him. Couldn’t discover who he was. That was the rule.

“Tikki, what have I done?” She whispered as she slid against the sewer wall, cradling her knees with her arms. It came out more as a statement than a question, though. Because she knew exactly what she’d done. She’d driven the person she trusted with her life away. She’d almost killed Uncanny Valley with her harsh words - it wasn’t completely Chat Noir’s fault, she’d taken him off guard. And if that wasn’t enough, she’d turned into his worst nightmare.

She let out a sob as the thought crossed her mind.

A small flipper stroked the top of her head as she let out her grief.

“It’s okay, Marinette.” Tikki whispered soothingly.

“Except it really isn’t, Tikki!” She lifted her head from her knees and looked at her kwami, her vision blurry. “I feel awful - worse than awful! But whatever I’m feeling, I know he’s feeling a million times worse. And that’s not okay. Especially since he doesn’t even have anyone to talk to-”

She hiccuped as she remembered Plagg, trapped all alone wherever it was Kwamis went when the Miraculous weren’t worn, and scrambled for the ring that was still lying on the floor. She held it, reluctant to wear it. It was his, it didn’t feel right to take it. But she needed to make sure Plagg was alright.

She slid it on her left hand, and a black blur swirled out.

“Hey, Pigtails.” Plagg smiled sadly, his eyes glistening in the half-light.

“I’m so sorry, Plagg.” She caught him off-guard as she reached out and hugged him against her cheek. She felt Tikki joining in on the top of her head and extended her hand to hold her too.

“It was my fault, too. I should have made him stay.” Plagg mumbled.

“How? By threatening him with your cataclysm?” Marinette let out a small laugh, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

“I don’t know… But he’s my chosen, I should’ve held on tighter.”

“It’s neither you guy’s, nor his fault.” Tikki floated in front of them. “It was an emotional day. We’ve all made mistakes.”

Marinette looked down at her hands and toyed with the ring. “Then why does it feel like he’s the only one who’s being punished?” She asked quietly.

“You guys have a lot in common, kid, and one of those things is being good at overthinking. Nobody’s being punished, even though you’re both torturing yourselves with your thoughts.” Plagg patted her lightly on the cheek with a tight smile.

Marinette sighed and ran her hand through her bangs. “I didn’t mean what I said as a reproach - well yes, I did, but it was the shock and surprise speaking, really! Hawkmoth was here, Mayura was in Paris, and Chat Noir is here and… Am I unapproachable? Could he really not tell me he was leaving town as well? We could’ve found a solution, I would’ve found a way to deal with the situation even if he’d warned me as we boarded the plane! I mean, Luka and Kagami are still in Paris, I don’t like the idea of giving them Miraculouses when Hawkmoth knows who they are, but we could’ve worked it out!” She monologued, her breathing accelerating as she thought about the morning’s events. “And I’m still jet-lagged, I wasn’t thinking straight when I said those things. I just wanted to shake some sense into him, the lack of communication was irresponsible, not him per se.”

She closed her eyes defeatedly, replaying their conversation in her head. “I was far from perfect. I am far from perfect. I make bad decisions sometimes, say awful things and - holy Kwami I told him I couldn’t trust him anymore, didn’t I?” She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

The Kwamis nodded slowly, avoiding her gaze.

“I need to go after him.” She scrambled to her feet and started pacing around. “There can’t be that many people in New York that fit his description, right? We’ll hit all the places where French students are staying. I’m not going Home without him.” She said with resolve. “Well, at least, without trying to convince him to come back with me.”

She didn’t catch Plagg and Tikki’s shared glance as she made her way towards an exit. Should we tell her? Plagg’s seemed to say. Tikki shook her head. She needs to find him on her own.

Marinette paused as she reached the bottom of the ladder, and took a deep breath.

“Tikki? Spots-”

“Wait!” The kwami squeaked.

“What?”

“What about the American heroes? Aren’t you worried they’ll take your earrings?”

“I don’t care about them. I need to find my Kitty, whatever the price. Tikki, spots on!"

She climbed up the ladder and yoyoed herself up a building. It was their ritual. Even in a foreign land, she felt like she needed the height to focus. She paced around, scrutinizing the streets below even though she knew Chat was long gone. It wouldn't be easy to find him. She'd be damned if she didn't try, though.

An approaching commotion diverted her attention. Her eyes widened as she spotted a flying robot, scanning its surroundings while displaying a picture of her and Chat Noir and a phone number to report them. She ran and flattened herself against the far side of the roof access shed as the American and non Akumatised version of Rogercop passed right in front of her, alarm blaring. She had half a mind to yoyo him in to recruit him in her quest, but thought better of it. Maybe she did need to lay low.

She made her way to the rooftop door as discreetly as possible and tried the handle, mentally keeping her fingers crossed for it to be unlocked. The door swung open smoothly just as the first raindrops of a heavy shower landed on her face.

As she exited the building under the confused gaze of the Concierge (it probably wasn’t a common occurrence for a young girl to step out in the pouring rain without so much as a coat to protect herself, especially when nobody had seen her enter said building), she knew exactly what she was going to do. She’d had the whole way down from the roof to think of a strategy.

Chat Noir (she refused to think of him in other terms - what would she call him if not that anyway, it wasn’t like she knew his name; besides, he’d always be her kitty, even if he did turn her down - she really hoped he wouldn’t though, what would she do without him? They were a team, the best team, how could she ever replace him? She stopped and took a deep breath- she was hyperventilating again)- Chat Noir still had her toy cat’s remote. Which meant he could still contact her, if she played her cards right. She took out her phone as she steadied her breathing, and looked up a copy place center. She’d need lots of posters for her plan. And a burner phone, just in case.

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