#How about Kagami actually proves that for once she failed Marinette so many times

[iwasbored777]

You're gonna cancel me for this but Idc I've always been controversial....

Lila and Chloé are doing the "let's stop being rivals bc of a boy and be friends instead" much better than Marinette and Kagami. I know that Lila and Chloé don't feel that kind of love for Adrien but their friendship is built on unity and trust, the first two's relationship is so one-sided that I wonder why are the writers even acting this is a friendship.

[writer-panda]

Hit on the groom and what became of it - chapter 1/I will keep missing you (if you don’t stop running)

Disclaimer: I don’t own DC or Miraculous. I’m just playing with some crazy concept. 

Chapter 1 (here)  -|-  Next

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Ladybug landed on top of the Eiffel tower with practiced grace. An agitated worry roiling in her chest about the message Chat Noir left her. The urgency was one thing, but he sounded… pained. Like the weight of the world dragged him down type pain. 

Marinette knew Chat’s home life wasn’t perfect. Skilled at hiding it, maybe, but details leaked through the cracks. An offhand comment here, a muttered accusation there, a sour face yet again here. He lived in pain and tried so hard to work through it. 

She tried to help him whenever she could, both as Ladybug and Marinette. She may not return his feelings, but she always listened. For months during their third year as heroes, she left food on the rooftop when Chat’s suit revealed too many ribs. She wasn’t sure the reason and didn’t dare to ask, lest she learned too much, but she did try to help. There were times she thought she imagined the pained looks, and thin frame, and thinly veiled comments; maybe overexaggerating the situation in her mind, as she often did. After all, he always acted so cheerfully.

Then, Lila happened. 

The first strike landed swift, almost deadly, but she survived. It was what followed that made her reconsider. A prolonged fight, where Marinette chose to retain a cheerful mask to hide the pain. Along the line, she considered confiding in her parents. But what could they do?  Maybe take her from school, but that would mean Lila already won; the Liar would rule unopposed.

Which left Adrien, her last bastion of friendship. 

She still harbored a bit of a crush on him, but it was justified! Like a knight in shining armor, he stood, always ready to defend her. He always ensured her inclusion in class activities and saved her from several catastrophes. 

She still stumbled over her words with him, but when it’s minor stuttering or not talking to anyone, she forced herself to adapt. It was nowhere near as bad as it used to be. 

With the ability to spend more time with Adrien without acting like a spaz, Kagami also appeared more often, and proved to be a good friend. Marinette found a home with the two awkward rich kids ridiculously clueless and unaware of how the real world functioned. In the end, she even grew to accept Adrien might not be destined to be hers but chose to support him nonetheless. 

“My lady?” She was broken out of her musing by a familiar voice.

“Hello, Kitty-cat. I got your message… what’s wrong?” She turned to see Cat Noir slumped over the railing, with his ears tweaking nervously. She didn’t even know he could do it. 

“I… I’m sorry my Lady, but I can’t… I can’t continue to be your partner,” he declared.

“What?!” she squeaked. “What happened? What’s the matter?” 

“I’m… I’m getting married,” he announced, his ears drooping and tail tucked between his legs.  

Oh, that’s… not what she expected to hear. “Married? Congrat…” she drifted off, noticing his sour face. “Chat? What are you not telling me?”

“It’s… I… My…” He struggled to figure out how to say it, but ultimately remained silent for a moment. “There is nothing to be happy about. It’s a… business marriage,” he spat, his eyes narrowing.  

“But… those are illegal!” Ladybug protested.

“Not when you make it look like a love match. Especially if you insinuate at a scandal.” He sneered, jumping off the railing and pacing along the empty rooftop. “My father holds all the cards and I… I’m in no position to oppose him.”

“I’m sure we can…”

He sighed, walking over to her. “Please… M’lady. Don’t try to give me hope. I accepted what I must do.” With that, he reached for the ring, but she stopped him.

“Chat. We can try… You’re my friend. You can’t… We will figure it out. Together.” In all they’d endured, suffered, and triumphed - Marinette had never seen him this despondent… this broken. 

He sighed, his eyes flat and dull. “There is nothing to figure out,” he said, forcing the ring off his finger. 

The transformation fell, leaving Adrien Agreste materialized in place of her long-time partner. Plagg’s sharp cry cut off, as he’s sucked into the ring the second he popped out of it. She stood there, too stunned to notice the blond boy pushed the ring into her palm and closed it. 

Marinette wasn’t sure what thoughts decided to rampantly rage through her head, but the train of thoughts probably broke the collective speed limit everywhere in the world at the same time. 

“M’lady?” Adrien’s soft voice brought her to earth when she was one step from panic.

“A-Adrien?” She choked on the word.

“You heard about me?” He looked dumbfounded. Ladybug, too shocked to say a word, gestured over to the building line. Even from so high and far away, his most recent billboard advertisement stood visible. “Ah… right.”

“Who… who’s the lucky girl?” Inside her mind, she wondered if Kagami right now faced a  similar problem. It was the most logical…

“Lila Rossi,” Adrien admitted, his shoulders hunching. 

Marinette.exe stopped working. 

A moment passed.

Another.

“Um… M’Lady?” The boy tried to prod his ex-partner to respond by waving his hand in front of her face.

“That… that lying…” Ladybug saw red. This could not be happening.

Adrien nodded, the despondent look on his face growing worse every second.“My father deemed her a suitable heiress to the Gabriel brand… I tried to warn him she was a liar, but he… I think he actually admires her skill…” Tears built in his eyes, and Adrien covertly tried to wipe them away. 

“Maybe… maybe you could… I don’t know!” she screamed in frustration. Marinette had several ideas about what Adrien could do, but none of them would help. 

Running away would be a problem. Leaking the story to the press would lead to his home life growing even worse. After dealing with Gabriel Agreste’s parenting, she held no illusion Adrien could win a court battle. The rich too often got away with whatever they desired. She could try to sicc Uncle Jagged on the case… or maybe Clara Nightingale… Nadia Chamack would probably love the news-breaking story, but it would all put Adrien in danger. Who knows what would happen before they could obtain results or protection against Gabriel’s extensive reach. 

Adrien sighed as if knowing exactly where her thoughts took her. Chat was no dummy, he probably scoured over his options more times than he could count. His resignation, the last resort in a long line of failed plans.  “I appreciate you trying, but I already told you I accepted it. Just… take me down, please. I… I didn’t really plan the location well…” He let out a weak chuckle. 

“Fine… I’m sorry kitty...” She grabbed hold of him and swung to the ground. Despondently she watched her best friend, her partner, walk away into the night; resigned to a life of suffering and isolation. 

There must be something she could do, she thought. She closed a gloved fist around the ring. She was Ladybug, and if she put her mind to it, there was nothing she couldn't do.  

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A week later the press learned about the upcoming wedding. Adrien and Lila both left school for home-school. The press and the general public ate up the news story about star-crossed lovers that met in school and became inseparable. It didn’t help that the class kept commenting about how good they were for each other. 

Marinette resisted an urge to gag whenever she caught the sound of the vicious lies and propaganda.  She was asked for comment only once but chose to refuse. It didn’t earn her any popularity in class. Luckily, she convinced Nadia to stop a nasty side-story about her jealousy from being published. 

No closer to a plan, she despondently continued to push through her life without her friend. She, unsurprisingly, hadn’t received a single text or call. Marinette didn’t blame Adrien; his position couldn’t be easy. A month after Adrien departed from her class, Marinette convinced her parents to also home-school her. Without a single friend, the school became a burden. Of course, her reasoning to her parents leaned into her focus on her fashion business. Which wasn’t untrue. It was starting to pick up. 

The only upside to this whole debacle was near-lack of akuma attacks. It seemed Hawkmoth found a hobby. Maybe he wrote poems? 

Nah. Not his style...

Two months after the announcement  Marinette woke to surprise guests: Adrien, his father, and Lila knocked on the bakery’s doors. The bride-to-be in an especially sour mood, as much as she tried to hide it. Gabriel appeared to be devoid of any emotions, as usual.

She seated them on the couch and asked if they would like a drink. She didn’t bother to offer food, not wanting to waste good cake on the likes of Lila and Gabriel. Although, Adrien’s thin cheeks and haunted eyes made her regret the decision. 

All of them declined the drink.

“Madame Marinette, I assume you have heard of the Wedding?” The capitalization clearly discernible in his voice. 

“Yes… Yes sir!” she corrected herself. Trying desperately to mask her disgust behind a layer of nervousness. She couldn’t risk a glance at Adrien, even if this was the first time she’d seen him since that night on the roof. Making it through the meeting would be hard enough without watching him suffer.  

“While initially, I planned to prepare the dress and suit myself, my son convinced me to give a chance to someone else to shine.” Clearly, whatever it was Adrien said, it didn’t include a polite request. “I have seen the dress you made for Rock Star Jagged Stone’s wedding, as well as the suit worn by Nadia Chamack.”

“They are designs I’m particularly proud of, sir.” 

Play the part. Play the part. Don’t send him to the hospital. Papa and Maman would be disappointed. Well, Maman would probably join me… 

Her homicidal train of thought ended as she forced a smile to appear on her face. Contrary to Lila’s stretched thin lips;  Marinette’s smile shines bright and could’ve been mistaken for genuine.

“Indeed… I’ve come to commission you to design and make the gown and the suit for the sweet couple.” He announced like it was the highest honor, but there was an amount of bile in his words Marinette used to think was reserved only for Nino.

“I… I’m… I’m honored, sir!” She beamed. The excitement only half-forced. Her moral compass told her even entertaining the proposal was wrong, but at the same time, her brain furiously flitted crafting possibilities. 

Gabriel nodded imperiously as if her acceptance merely added to a foregone conclusion. “Good. My assistant, Nathalie, will sort out the details. Lex Luthor agreed to pay for the pieces as his wedding gift, so do not be afraid to ask for full price.” He informed her t as if he believed she would give him a discount. 

For a moment, a singular reckless moment, Marinette entertained the temptation to voice her thoughts about Gabriel being cheap. 

She sighed, no, there would be another day for career suicide. The group rose to leave, and Marinette finally glanced at Adrien; his model-trained smile paper-thin. He caught her eyes, and if he radiated sadness two months ago, it didn’t hold a candle to the devastation swimming in his eyes. The exchange broke when Lila gripped a hand tight around his arm and dragged him to the door. 

Gabriel handed her a card, and the group departed. Marinette collapsed onto the couch, the makings of a headache building in her skull. 

This would be awful.  

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

A week later Marinette held a separate meeting, consisting of Nathalie, Lila, Lila’s mother, and Adrien’s aunt. And her, obviously. 

She first asked what kind of dress Lila wanted.

Lila’s eyes lit up in an unholy glee; and she started talking. 

And talking. 

And talking. 

And talking. 

After the long and painstakingly thorough description, Marinette felt faint. Several reasons contributed to that, although the most prominent were the materials, the design, and the way she spoke. Obviously Lila had feelings, the kind likely to trigger an oncoming Auma attack if Hawkmoth hadn’t pranced off to who knows where, about Marinette designing her dress. 

Marinette was happy Adrien’s aunt pointed out the request’s complete madness, but Lila’s mother waved it off, quick to declare only minor adjustments to the request would be needed. 

In the end, Marinette presented several dozen designs, both hers and foreign to have a basis on which she could work. Lila, of course, chose the one that would be hardest to make.

“I’m sorry none of your designs were good, Marinette…” The liar cooed with faked sorrow. She hid a smirk the designer could clearly see. 

The notion was born because it was a picture and not a sketch. 

Marinette smirked, and rose from the couch, ignoring Lila’s irritated scowl at her non-reaction.  

She liked it even less when the girl brought in the ready-made dress. 

“I made it as the first design for Penny Rolling’s wedding, based on Uncle Jagged’s suggestions. I should’ve known Penny didn’t approve of his idea, but…” she waved it off.

Lila, now actively glaring at her, sat back on the couch. All of which was mistaken for amazement by the adults.

Marinette ignored the girl’s dramatics, it was the only way she’d survive this meeting intact. “Of course, there still needs to be several adjustments and personalizations. I will also need to order the amber you requested. And the platinum thread. And the white gold. And probably an industrial-grade 3-D printer… Is that covered by the expenses?” She looked at Nathalie, who nodded. “Great! I will need just a moment.” 

The women watched as Marinette practically leaped at her notebook and added in adjustments to the sketch. Fifteen minutes later, when she presented a new design, impressing them all (sans Lila, obviously) with the flowing lines and intricate details. They praised her talent (even Natalie), and Marinette played the bashful young designer role to a tee. The liar kept glaring though. She couldn’t back away easily, since she already made a scene about wanting that specific dress. Marinette informed them beforehand she would need to know about her specific wishes before she made any adjustments. 

The final design looked pretty much exactly what Lila wanted though, but she didn’t want to give her nemesis the satisfaction. Her entourage did enough of this. 

Under the cover of being too emotional, they ended the meeting. Nathalie remained to finish the deal and sign the contract. 

After all of them left, Marinette collapsed onto her chair. An hour later a notification from her bank came. She received the first half of the payment. When finished, the dress would officially be the most expensive wedding dress to date. Blessed be Lex Luthor and his deep pocket. She chuckled, remembering how much the billionaire got kidnapped because of his money.

Then, an idea shined in her head.

Oh. 

Oh...

She took off her earrings and dismissed Tikki, promising she needed a quick chat with Plagg about a new potential holder. When Marinette put on the ring, the Kwami of destruction popped back into existence. 

“So… figured out how to help my chosen?” he asked. 

What Tikki didn’t know was when Marinette said she intended to discuss potential holders for Plagg, they really worked on a way to save Adrien. It was their secret since Tikki would most likely disapprove. They didn’t want to risk her disappointment in them. Not until they crafted a fleshed out full-proof plan. 

She nodded. “I have an idea. Let’s hire someone to kidnap him!” 

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Did they hit you on the head, pigtails?”

“No. But look, the problem is whatever we come up with, Adrien ends up blamed or we land ourselves in jail, right?” The Kwami nodded. “So… if we make sure it’s a very public kidnapping and he disappears, we can stash him away until the heat dies down. After we dye his hair and apply fast-tan, he will look different enough no one will connect the two. I’m pretty sure I could get my hands on fake documents if I tried hard enough…” she trailed off thinking of all the minutiae to coordinate to pull this off. 

It would be hard. 

But it would be worth it. 

Plagg slowly nods. “Okay… Somehow, that both makes no sense and seems perfectly legitimate. It’s also your most chaotic plan to date, Pigtails. Let’s do it!” The Kwami cheered, happy to be soon reunited with his chosen kitten. “But what about the costs!”

Marinette already had an answer in mind for that question. “Even after I subtract the costs of materials and other supplies, the payment for the dress, together with my savings, will be more than enough. Now… let’s go wake Tikki up.”

That… ended with the Kwami of Creation vomiting a pile of handcuffs and other police gear at Marinette. 

“Um… Why?”

The little red Kwammi placed her paws on her hips. “Because you should familiarize yourself with those if you plan on going to prison for that plan. It’s no longer just a phone theft, Marinette! You’re talking about breaking more laws than I can count!” She dropped to the pillow below, bemoaning about where she went wrong. 

Marinette scooped up her wayward friend and tried to reassure her. “I just need to be careful. I’m pretty sure I can do it without detection. Maman taught me how to not be seen on the internet. Or in general. Come on. I need to order a secure laptop.”

“I will help!” Plagg offered. “I can cataclysm the internet after you do your thing.”

“What?! No! Think of the cute cat pictures!” Marinette protested. “And video games.” 

“Relax! It’ll just remove any trace of you doing anything online in the several hours or so…” He calmed her.

Tikki trailed after them, a bundle of nerves and worry. “Plagg! It’s irresponsible! You can’t possibly…”

“Pigtails and I have it all under control. What’s the worst that could happen?”

---------

Turns out, a lot. 

Before Marinette put out the hit (kidnapping, she made sure that it was plain as day), she needed to set a price. That one was harder. It wasn’t like you could Google how much you needed to charge to kidnap a celebrity. At least, not without attracting a lot of unwanted attention. 

She asked her mother, under the guise of pure curiosity. It was a normal question any teenage girl asked her mother. How much does it cost to have someone killed, how much cheaper/more expensive a kidnapping is, how to acquire fake documents, that kind of stuff. Not suspicious at all. 

So absorbed in her rant, she missed a merry glint in Sabine’s eyes. She also didn’t question how her Maman knew those prices. 

Finally, she needed to fill the form. 

Assignment: Acquisition and Delivery

Asset(s): Adrien Athanase Agreste

Value: 

Here, Marinette paused. 

Her mom gave her a lengthy lecture about pricing and all. According to her, a professional would take up to fifty thousand dollars for kidnapping and bringing the target to her. Marinette decided, since Adrien was a celebrity, she should double the price. More risks involved, more reward, right? 

But, she also wanted to ensure she hired the best of the best. Compare her work to Gabriel Agreste’s, she came to the conclusion ten times the price was reasonable to ensure only the best in the field would take the job. 

Then, there was the matter of safety and so on and so on. By the end, she settled on two million dollars, as her asking price for one Adrien Agreste. Plagg sagely nodded, agreeing with her assessment. Tikki didn’t comment, as she wasn’t speaking to the two, but also seemed more accepting after spying on Adrien and Lila’s home life. Not that she revealed that tidbit to either of them, lest they drop the plan and directly go at Gabe and the Liar. 

After a few more details and boxes in the form Marinette filled until she came to the end. Only one more detail remained: 

Sponsor:

Marinette stared at the word for a moment. After a quick race of thoughts, she typed slowly. 

Sponsor: The Seamstress

Perfect. Nothing about this could go wrong.

Of course, how could she predict just how big of a mess she would make? 

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[justcourttee]

could you do another fic where mari has too many overprotective relatives (batfam, jason in particular, adrien, luka, kagami, chloe, jagged, bruce, penny, clara, tony stark and the avengers maybe lol) and all the boys who want to date her are scared away by them until she starts seeing damian or someone else i love your writing and thanks! ♡♡

I loved this prompt immediately and I really hope I did it justice! Hope you like it!

The Never-Ending Cycle of First Dates

“No! Wait! He’s just kidding!” Marinette ran out of the building trying to grab the boy's hand before he could escape, but she was too late. Her hand slapped her forehead in defeat as yet another man hurried off before they could even order drinks. Turning her attention to where her target stood, she couldn’t help the bubbling anger directed at his smirk.

“Why must you ruin every date? It’s like you guys have a pool of names and you just reach in and see who's in luck to scare off the next guy that tries to date me!” She threw her hands into the air, only earning a chuckle.

“C’mon Princess, if the man can’t handle a little threat then how is he gonna stick around for the long term? Hmm?”

Marinette wanted to argue, but she knew it was pointless. Jason and the others were firm in their beliefs; Marinette must be protected from heartbreak at all costs. She tried arguing with them that if she never got hurt in the first place then she could never learn, but alas, her words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“How did you even find us?”

Jason’s smirk widened which only fueled her rage.

“What? You thought meeting at the restaurant would actually change anything? I can find you anywhere and everywhere. Plus Adrien totally snitched.”

Marinette made a mental note to lay into Adrien later after she found the poor kid that Jason scared of.

“One day I’m going to find someone who isn’t scared by you lot and he’s gonna make it through the first date.”

She turned her back on Jason’s boisterous laughter. She was determined to prove her point. After all, there had to be one man in Gotham City that wasn’t afraid of her, right? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The rest of her week had gone as smoothly as Monday had to say the least.

Tuesday’s date was crashed by Kagami’s foil. One look at her slicing the bread and he didn’t even make it to the table.

Wednesday’s date was a double date with Luka and Chloe. Marinette begged Tikki to lend her a little luck, but the small God would do no such thing. At least this guy made it past drinks. Marinette almost cheered until Luka donned his infamous stare. She watched as her date squirmed uncomfortably before excusing himself for the bathroom, never returning.

Thursday’s date ended with the man strung up by his ankles, none other than Nightwing and Red Robin dropping in to apologize, claiming they thought he was trying to mug her.

By Friday, she was ready to cancel her date before it even began.

“Adrien, you guys are making it impossible to even think about dating.” She collapsed on the couch, letting out a small whine.

“I think that’s kind of the point Mari, besides, you’re a working woman now, shouldn’t you be focusing on your career-”

Adrien paused as his eyes narrowed in on Marinette’s hand mocking his lecture. Her hand paused as she noticed his now silent voice. Meeting his eyes, she simply shrugged.

“You sound like my mom. She’s worried that I’m too worried about dating but guess what? I kind of missed out on that experience in high school pining after a guy who wasn’t even interested!”

They both chuckled as they remembered the awkward dance they both did from the time they were 13.

“So what are you going to do about the date tonight?”

Marinette shrugged once more as she pulled at a piece of her hair, twirling it around her finger.

“Who is on date duty tonight?”

“First of all, it’s not called date duty,” he waved off the pointed look Marinette gave him before continuing, “and it was supposed to be Jagged and Penny but in case they fail, Tony is on backup duty and Jason is on backup, backup duty.”

“Not date duty my ass.”

Marinette sighed longingly as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

“I’m giving this one more chance before I swear off dating forever.”

Adrien chuckled before offering his hand to pull her into a standing position.

“Well, guess you better prepare to look good. After all, they always say if you’re gonna go out, at least do it in style.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she pushed Adrien to the couch, ignoring his protests. If this was going to be her last date, then maybe he had a point of going out in style.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .

Marinette pulled at her dress nervously as a black limo approached her outside of her apartment. She had checked the perimeter once as Marinette and once more as Ladybug; there was no sign of Jagged or Penny. Somehow though, that didn’t calm her nerves.

As the limo pulled to a stop, a man stepped out of the back seat causing her breath to hitch in her throat. As if him being drop-dead gorgeous wasn’t enough, her worst fears stepped out from behind him, wide grins on their faces.

“Oi, there she is Penny! Marinette, we tried calling you but you sent us straight to voicemail, that wasn’t very rock n’ roll of you. Luckily, this nice man right here was there to give us a ride, right Penny?”

Penny nodded sweetly as if the two of them were innocent victims of Marinette’s forgetfulness. She wanted to turn right back into her apartment and never leave again, but a small hand grasped hers, pulling it up to their lips, as soft and gentle as his movements.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I have heard many stories of you from my brothers and father. You seem to have impressed many powerful people such as the two strays I picked up off the streets earlier.”

His smile was playful as it coaxed a small laugh from her. It helped even more to see Jagged panicking in the background at the sight of the small gesture. This man, no, his name was Damian. Damian had already broken through the first wall without even knowing it. Marinette let herself feel a spark of hope at the thought of finally making it through a first date.

“Anywho, now that we have arrived, I must apologize for leaving you two here, how does the saying go? ‘High and dry?’ but I do have a date to continue.” He nodded to Penny and Jagged leaving them both with their jaws almost touching the ground.

If she had a moment, Marinette might’ve taken a photo, but she instead quickly grabbed Damian’s arm, shutting the limo door before either could protest. She didn’t bother to release the breath she had been holding until the apartments were gone from the rearview mirror.

“I am so sorry about them, they-” she tried to let the apology spill out of her mouth but Damian simply shook his head, that same playful smile monopolizing his face.

“I am fully aware of the so-called ‘date duty’ your friends have. After all, my brother is in charge of the scheduling.”

It was Marinette’s turn for her jaw to drop. This was Jason’s brother? The literal spawn of satan as Jason had put it. There was no way. He was so nice, and such a gentleman, there was no way they could be the same person.

“How come nobody ever told me you were in town? Last time Jason introduced me to the family, he made sure to wait for when you left on a business trip. I’ve only ever been invited over when you’re not there!”

Damian chuckled as if this was a normal occurrence.

“They knew I had a crush on you ever since I watched your alter ego take down an akuma three times your size. It was only a matter of time until I asked you out, but with Jason observing your every date, he made it quite difficult.”

Marinette felt her face flush as his words washed over her. A man that was actually interested in her and was willing to take on the trouble a date with her could mean? She lightly pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“You know it’s only going to get worse from here right? Like, Jagged and Penny were only the first round worse.”

Damian leaned in, placing his hand overtop hers, that smile of his killing her slowly.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Marinette nodded as she leaned closer, nearly closing the gap between them, her heart racing from the distance.

“I borrowed his rotation schedule and have prepared for every incident that could occur tonight.”

Marinette couldn’t help the words that slipped out of her mouth.

“I think I might love you.” Immediately she slapped her hand over her mouth letting out a string of apologies as she scooched away from the red-faced man. He cleared his throat, trying to overcome his shock as his smile pulled into a small smirk.

“Don’t apologize, just tell me again if you feel the same after we’ve finished the date.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Somehow, they managed to make it through dinner without a single hiccup. It was suspicious, but she was having too good of a time to care. She fell in love immediately with his animals as he showed off his many photos, commenting on whichever one seemed to make her melt the most.

They talked about where they had gone to college, where they were working now and what they were hoping for their futures. Marinette felt her heart swell with excitement for how compatible they were, it almost made tonight ending that much more painful.

As they stepped out of the restaurant, Marinette heard a familiar voice that made her blood run cold.

“Do you know who I am? I could buy this whole place and then you’d have to let me in! I’m the damn Ironman, doesn’t that count for something?”

The poor hostess was shaking her head, trying to apologize to the other guests for the wait he was causing. Marinette let out a defeated sigh as she took a step forward to intervene, but Damian’s hand intertwined with hers pulling her in the opposite direction.

“There aren’t too many places in Gotham City that Tony Stark isn’t banned from. However, you can thank my father for that. He agreed for me to host my dinner at his restaurant to nullify backup number 2, Tony Stark.”

Marinette almost wanted to laugh at the irony of a billionaire being banned from a small Italian restaurant in Gotham.

“There’s not much that Uncle Tony can’t fix by throwing money at it, but I suppose that’s pointless when it’s another billionaire causing the said problem.”

Damian sent her a wink that warmed her to her core. They decided to ditch the limo in favor of walking home, spending more time with each other coincidentally. Marinette felt her mind racing like she was in middle school once again planning her imaginary wedding and their future hamster.

He was everything she had hoped to find in a man and so much more. She honestly regretted not meeting him sooner, it would’ve saved her so much trouble over the years.

She opened her mouth, only to close it immediately as her eyes narrowed in on a figure leaning against her apartment building.

“Jason, what are you doing here? There’s no date to ruin now and I finally found a guy who can’t be scared off by your stupid date duty.”

She crossed her arms in defiance but Jason paid her no mind.

“Damian, I didn’t know you were home so soon. I would’ve locked you up in the Batcave to make sure this would’ve never happened.”

Damian scoffed beside her as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“As if you could.”

The two men were locked in a staredown, leaving Marinette to wilt in the tension that had formed. She moved towards her apartment, only to be stopped by Damian’s hand for the third time tonight.

Turning her back to Jason, she watched as he brought her hand to his lips, his kiss still as gentle and soft as the first when he had given her hours earlier. She ignored Jason’s protest as she pulled his hand forward placing a quick peck on his lips.

The man’s face matched her own in shades of red.

“Does this mean you would be interested in a second date?”

Marinette nodded furiously before waving him goodnight, darting past Jason’s brooding figure.

“This is not the end of it Marinette!”

Jason’s threats felt empty compared to the excitement racing in her heart. She had finally broken the cycle of never-ending first dates and boy, did it feel good.

Permanent Tag List:

@damianette-is-life @ash-amg @rebecarojas07 @heaven428 @long-lost-peace @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @moongoddesskiana @nach0ava @iamablinkmarvelarmy

[dandelionflower]

Felinette Month Day 27

In between

Alya stared, blank-faced at the pair in front of her.

Marinette and Adrien had always had chemistry, but this was unbearable. They were just standing at the doorway of the classroom, each one offering to let the other go in first.

“You go ahead.”

“No, you, I insist.”

“Please, just-“

“Excuse me.” Felix walked in between the two without a second thought or a third word. He headed to his desk and sat down, flipping open a book and reading diligently.

Felix Culpa. The destroyer of her OTP. He was terrible, almost always introducing himself at the worst moment, never seeming to purposely do anything, but it always ruined whatever was happening between the other two.

Marinette seemed to hate him just as much, always tracking him with her eyes whenever he entered the room. Adrien was his usual oblivious self, giving Felix a grin whenever he saw him. He seemed to be making more of an effort to connect with Felix, since he and Marinette started their awkwardness. Weird.

Still, Alya was certain something had changed since last week. Marinette and Adrien had somehow become closer and more awkward simultaneously, but she expected that the two would be dating within the week.

Speaking of, the two walked in together, whispering and shooting furtive glances at the back of the room, where Felix sat. Clearly they had noticed his tendency to ruin their moments.

They slid into the front desk, Marinette shooting Alya an apologetic glance that she waved off with a knowing smile. If the lovebirds wanted to spend more time with each other, who was she to stop them?

—

Felix was avoiding her. She just knew it.

Ever since Team Builder, she and her two partners had been out of it. She and Adrien were getting to know each other anew, but Felix seemed insistent on never looking at them directly again.

Team Builder was the coach of a failing baseball team. She wanted the all teams to be honest with each other and share deep secrets to become a closer team. Her first target was her baseball team.

Her second was the group of three heroes.

After working through the trust-building obstacle course with ease, they reached the truth telling stage.

Some of the questions weren’t so bad, even things they’d talked about before.

“What is your greatest fear?”

“Who on the team do you trust most?”

“What is your greatest pet peeve?”

Easy answers, with little opportunity to hurt anyone, even the question about trust. Both of the boys said they trusted her most, and she begrudgingly revealed that she trusted Chat Noir more. Apidae faux pouted for a moment, but admitted that he expected that would be the case.

It was around “who is your crush?” that things started going downhill.

Chat Noir opened his mouth, probably to proclaim his “undying adoration” for her yet again, but choked.

“What’s wrong?” She had teased. “Cat got your tongue?”

“My L- M- Mi. Kagami Tsurugi.” The words sounded normal, albeit strangled, but his face showed that he did not intend for them to come out.

Apidae was next. He stepped forward, breathed in deep, and said without a waver in his tone.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

She didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. What could she say?

On her turn, she walked up, ready to spill her guts on her crush on Adrien, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“A- Adri- Apidae.” No. That wasn’t it. What was happening? Was this how Chat Noir felt?

Apidae coughed as the doors opened to the next level. Neither of them looked at each other as Chat Noir bounded ahead of them to what looked like the final stage.

“Welcome! You have proven yourselves to be a secure and trusting team. With this final push you will become the perfect team!”

Apidae snorted. “What? No, let me guess. You’re going to take our miraculouses and force us to reveal our identities to each other, so our final walls are down.”

“You’re close!” She waved her hand and chains appeared on their wrists. “I’m not giving Hawkmoth anything until he proves he can be a team player with his blue belle. But I’m also not giving you the chance to fight me until you prove yourselves. So here’s your final question; what is your true identity?”

Chat Noir grunted, shifting against the chains. “I’m not saying a- Adrien Agreste.”

“Chat! You’re Adrien? All this tim- Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Apidae made a startled sound. “We don’t have time for this. We need to stop her. Now.”

“How aren’t you saying it?” Ladybug glanced at him as Chat- Adrien used his cataclysm to destroy their chains.

“I’m not using the initial sound in my name.” He said simply, though it was clear that he was struggling with his words.

It was a difficult fight, with Apidae unable to communicate to the best of his ability, Chat and Marinette awkward and embarrassed, and Team Builders ability to manipulate their environment.

Apidae tried to use his venom, but it was blocked, and they were left with less than five minutes before she would be fighting alone.

And soon she was. Chat Noir detransformed to reveal Adrien, who, while athletic, did not have miraculous armor to protect him from the blow. He was knocked prone against a wall, and stayed crumpled there.

A minute later, Apidae detransformed too, revealing the crush she didn’t even know she had until then to be Felix Culpa. Felix still stood, weaving around every attack, using one of the still-intact chains to hold her.

“Ladybug. Lucky Charm. Now.” He struggled for hold her, only barely containing Team Builder.

“Right. Lucky Charm!” She threw her yo-yo and was met with a baseball bat. She knew what had to be done. She gave Felix a look and he nodded.

Team Builder broke free of his hold and knocked him aside, not hard enough to knock him unconscious.

Marinette distracted her by asking about her batting form as he got back up and crept behind her.

Like a well-oiled machine, she tossed the baseball bat to him as he leapt up, he caught it and swung it into Team Builder’s head, just barely fracturing her helmet. A fracture was all that was needed for the akuma to crawl out and get purified.

She tossed her miraculous cure, and waved for Felix and Adrien to scramble away as she knelt by the dazed coach.

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

“Yes, I think so, but I can’t remember anything.” She looked up at her with horrified eyes. “Was I akumatized?”

“I’m afraid so, but you didn’t do much harm.” Her miraculous beeped and she waved a goodbye before swinging away, catching Felix’s eye as she left.

They hadn’t talked since then. She and Adrien had taken every opportunity to talk to him and he made every excuse not to.

“Enough is enough.” She hissed at Adrien, during quiet reading time. “We need to talk to him now.”

“So you two can talk about your crush?” He teased with a grin.

“Not just that!” She felt her ears turning red.

“But mostly that.” He gave her a kind look. “Just let me handle it. You go stand by your locker after class.”

“Okay.” The rest of the class was spent on trivial topics, jokes, and planning fo make it easier to slip away during akuma fights.

She left to go to her locker after class, Adrien shooting her a wink as he walked purposefully towards Felix.

A few minutes later and she was at her locker, in the crowded room, staring at the doors waiting for Felix (and Adrien too, of course).

Suddenly, the doors slammed open to reveal Adrien, carrying a struggling Felix over his shoulder.

“Adrien, I swear to-“

“Yeah, yeah. We need to have a conversation, and you have to deal with it.” He commented with an east smile.

He set Felix down in front of her, restraining him in a hug.

“I do want to talk, but in front of so many people?” She glanced at Adrien, then the room.

It was deserted. In the few minutes she had been distracted, Alya has shuttled everyone out of the room, shooting her a wink and a thumbs up before exiting herself.

“Never mind then.”

“Sir please.” A squeak came from Felix’s bag. “I’d like to see Tikki and Plagg. Just for a moment?” An adorable yellow head gave him puppy-dog eyes.

“Fine.” She squealed and flew out, hugging his cheek and dive bombing Adrien’s bag. “But I want it clear that I’m doing this for Pollen.”

“Noted.” Adrien cautiously released Felix.

“So, what needs to be said? I feel that there’s nothing to be resolved.”

“I beg to differ.” Marinette took a step forwards, fully aware of how close her face was to his. “I think we have quite a lot to talk about. Like your crush on me.”

“You mean our mutual crush on each other.” His eyes bore into hers and she stepped back, rubbing her neck.

“Y-yeah. So...”

Adrien waved his hand. “I’m gonna step out and let you two handle this.”

Once he was gone, Marinette sat down, putting her head in her hands.

“I have a crush on you. You had a crush on me.” She murmured. “What else for you want me to say?”

“Well, ‘yes’ would be a nice start.” His feet shifted.

“Huh?” She peered up at him. His face was absolutely crimson.

He coughed a pulled out a crumbled sheet of paper. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he glanced at her, “when I first saw you, I thought you were immature, and preppy.

Then I actually had a conversation with you and I was proven exactly right.”

She made a little sound of dissent.

“But accompanying your immaturity and preppiness, was a deep compassion, and an impeccable fashion sense. I fell for you and kept falling with every day I spent in your presence. So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you go on a date with me?”

She stared at him.

“This is why I made the request that you say yes.” He whispered.

“Oh!” She straightened. “Right.”

“So...”

“Of course.” She beamed and lunged for him, hugging him as tight as she could.

“Finally!” Adrien shouted from the hallway.

“Finally.” Felix whispered into her hair.

@felinettenovember

[the-phoenix-heart]

Sorting Hat Chats - Miraculous Ladybug (REDUX)

So probably not a lot of you remember that a while ago I did a sorting hat chat’s for Miraculous Ladybug right here. Since then I have changed my thoughts on some of the characters and gotten a LOT (a surprising amount) of asks on the subject, so I’m going to do a redux of my old sorting, especially since I’ve been away from the sorting hat chats community for a while. Make sure to refer back to original Miraculous sorting, as it has some information that I will not go over in depth here that I went over there, such as Marinette and Adrien’s Badger models. 

A little context: Badger = Hufflepuff, Lion = Gryffindor, Snake = Slytherin, and Bird = Ravenclaw

You can also find some good explanations about what I’m talking about here ( @wisteria-lodge ) and here ( @sortinghatchats​ ).

(There are SO MANY GODDAMN SNAKES IN THIS SHOW AND I HATE IT!! PEOPLE CAN HAVE OTHER MOTIVATIONS THAN THE PEOPLE THEY LOVE!!)

So I did not get MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG completely wrong okay! Addmitedly I did acknowledge she could have different secondaries and primaries, plus I got her primary models correct (an unhealthy exploded Badger primary and an unhealthy Snake primary built for Adrien that she’s failing to let go of). However, I posited the idea that she was a burnt Bird primary. I thought that she was a Burnt Bird, because she always seemed so willing to find other’s opinions on things, but I have since drawn back and decided that-no, she is a Burnt Lion. She doesn’t trust herself at all which is a common trait of Burnt Lions, and she does have her moments of having snap decisions and lashing out. She’s also the one more likely to try and do something when she believes something isn’t right, not hang back and find out more. 

And as for her secondary, I said she was a Snake with a Badger and Bird model. However, I was cherry picking. She is a Bird secondary with a Snake and Badger model. She IS a planner, she plots out schedules and comes up with intricate plans and she is simply more Bird than she is Snake. Her best examples of her plans are in Backwarder and Kwami Buster

And just to address why I was wrong, I think it was two things. 1. I myself am a Lion Bird and subconsciously did not want to be biased and say that Marinette was a Lion Bird just because I relate to her. 2. There are not many Bird Snakes and I wanted to add another to the list, Marinette fit the bill enough that I falsely accused her of that and that was a mistake. Please remember I am human and make these mistakes all the time, especially with characters I relate to. I had similar issues with Bakugou Katsuki from My Hero Academia. 

Okay so you (the anon) sent a response to these, but I’m going to look at these first, because ADRIEN AGRESTE is one of the characters who I think I got right, that being a Snake Lion with a Double Badger model. I know you backpedaled on Badger primary Adrien, but I gotta say all of this can be a Badger model conflicting with a Snake primary. His literal dream is to be alone on an island with Ladybug and a hamster, nothing about community, even Marinette’s dream included having children. 

(And a little explanation on his Badger model, it’s mostly because of his writing because the show uses him as a mouthpiece a lot of the time

As for him being Burnt Snake secondary...Idk I just don’t see it. He almost never goes for the sneaky way out, he’s more likely to do something dramatic like sacrificing himself or just wrecking shit, like a Lion (with a Badger model). We did see him lie about dating Ladybug because he was jealous (also not a Badger thing) but that’s about it. And while I do like how you pointed out that when they were kids Felix and him used to pull pranks all the time, please consider that Felix is a Snake secondary. Also weird bit to get hung up on, but I don’t think he’s EVER played jazz. Although interesting that you pointed out that jazz is all about the Snake secondary!

Oh, btw, in case anyone wants to argue about him actually being a Badger secondary, it is in fact a model seeing as Adrien has no qualms about putting piano music on to think he’s practicing and lying about where he’s going to his father. A Badger secondary doesn’t like taking shortcuts or picking the lazy option. I know I literally just said he doesn’t lie that much, but just because he can lie doesn’t mean he’s a Snake secondary. Anyway, I think he built his Badger model for his dad when he suddenly started lumping all these responsibilities on him.

Okay so, I get mistaking Adrien for being a Badger because of his model and performance...but where the heck did you get Lion from?! We don’t actually see him fighting for his community a lot and there is a big difference between Marinette and Adrien. What kind of Lion gets mad that he’s not being told something and decides to stop being a hero while Paris is underwater and probably millions of people are drowned. I’m sorry I cannot get on board Lion primary Adrien. 

Also, vying for people to get people akumatized so he can spend time with Ladybug?? Yeah sure that totally sounds like a Lion who values community. 

Lmao, I can agree with you there, I know I said ALYA CESAIRE was a Bird secondary, but I think I gave her too much credit. Alya is the type to rush in once she believes something, and I think she has a Bird secondary that she uses for journalism that she doesn’t use a lot of the time. 

Okay so, I didn’t sort NINO LAHIFFE last time so let’s do him now. I honestly think you’re taking the cause thing a little to literally, and also witling down Nino’s, admittedly limited, character. I sort him as a Snake primary, mostly motivated by Adrien and Alya, but also by his own hopes and dreams, like being a dj and director. He could be a Glory-Hound Lion, but I think he’s just a regular Snake. His secondary is way harder to pin down as I don’t believe he’s a Lion secondary, but I also don’t think he’s a Bird secondary like you said. I think he might also be a Snake secondary, impulsive, but more avoidant than a Lion secondary. When he’s Bubbler he stays away from directly attacking and keeps to long range, and as Carapace he hangs back and uses Shellter. I think he stays in neutral a lot. (This show is so Snake heavy I swear, especially for a show with Badger ideals).

And let’s just do some more rapid fire characters. 

LUKA COUFFAINE is a Snake primary no surprise there, he just cares about his family and Marinette and will do anything for them. As for his secondary, I’m gonna say Bird as he had to have the smarts to use second chance (which Adrien could not), and as an akuma he usually comes up with some nifty plans. 

KAGAMI TSURUGI is so confusing because the writers jerk her character around all the time. I would like to think she’s a Lion primary, since at the start she wants to prove her worth and fight the best at the fencing academy, but the rest of the evidence points to her being a Snake. So, I think she’s a Snake primary with a Lion model from her mother. As for her secondary, she’s a very straightforward Lion, rushing into battle and slashing her sword, plus she gave away her identity because she didn’t see a reason to lie.

LILA ROSSI is the last one I’m gonna do. I think she’s a Glory hound Lion primary, since all of her lies are about the awesome things she’s totally done and how she saved a kitten from being run over by a plane. I don’t think she’s motivated by the people she loves, mostly because she doesn’t actually love anyone and one humiliation in front of one person was enough for her to hideaway in her house for a year pretending to be on a charity globe trot. As for her secondary, she is the embodiment of a Snake to the point where I say she’s exploded. She lies about everything and tricks so hard, and she almost always comes up with the lies on the fly. 

So...

Marinette Dupain-Cheng - Lion primary, exploded Badger model and unhealthy Snake model/Bird secondary, exploded Badger model and Snake model 

Adrien Agreste - Snake primary, possibly starting to explode, Badger model or performance/Lion secondary, Badger model he built for his father

Alya Cesaire - Lion primary/Lion secondary, Bird model for journalism

Nino Lahiffe - Snake primary/Snake secondary

Luka Couffaine - Snake primary/Bird secondary

Kagami Tsurugi - Snake primary, Lion model/Lion secondary

Lila Rossi - Lion primary/Snake secondary

And to reiterate the sortings I did last time...

Chloe Bourgeois - Snake primary/Lion secondary

Gabriel Agreste/Hawkmoth - Snake primary/Bird secondary

Natalie Sancoeur/Mayura - Snake Primary/Bird secondary

[andromeda612]

The writer vs the liar

So, remember the prompt from a few days ago? You can chek it here

Well, I made a draft for what would be the whole fic, I'm gonna start it soon and will post it in Ao3, I would make a post when is ready and with every update, if you are interested make me know, so I can tag you.

I apologize for any mistake, english is not my first language, I hope you like it!

After Mari is expelled Nathaniel and Alix are worried and confused, because there is no way Marinette did those things (Alix defended Marinette in Reverser and I like to think that Nathaniel learned his lesson, so they are less likely to believe that Marinette would do anything of what Lila said) but all the mess is confusing. They talk but can't get a good answer. They decide to relax a little in the art club, they can't.

Marc noticing their mood ask what's wrong. So they tell him, and Marc is fast to point out all the wrong things with the whole situation. The "evidence" is circumstancial, superficial and easily planted, Damocles should have called Lila's parents too, no just Marinette's, Lila should had at least some bruises but there is no one, the protocole says that they needed to make an investigation, Mari has the right to prove her innocence, but Damocles just expelled her then and there. So yeah, the school messed up, because that failure in protocole and lack of professionalism can be addressed as neglect.

Thinking a little more they come to the conclusion that Marinette had been framed, but by who and why? If you think about it the only suspect is Lila, after all she was in the middle of the fire, but why would she did that? Marc asks for more background about this girl, because he only knows her because he had seen her sometimes in school and because Rose mentioned her once or twice, Nathaniel nor Alix have ever talked about her, Marinette either (and that interview on the Ladyblog is not that famous, so he missed it)

Alix explains the drama between those two, the seats thing (Marc tells them that it was wrong to move Mari to the back without asking her, maybe Nathaniel never had problem with being alone but he is not Marinette, they admit it was thoughtless from them and make a note to apologize later) and Marinette claming that Lila is a liar.

That catches Marc's atention, he knows Marinette, for him she is like a sister in everything but blood, after all she was the first person who was nice to him in school and despite not knowing in the time being that he has social anxiety she always was patient and kind with him until he was comfortable enough talking to her. Misunderstanding aside, she was the one who introduced him to Nathaniel and the rest of her friends from the art club, and they introduced him with the rest of their friends. Now he has two best friends (Mari and Alix) is dating his other bff (Nathaniel) has other good friends and is working in what he loves with his partner, all thanks to Marinette, so is no wonder that the two of them grew closer.

He knows that Mari hates liars, so if she thinks that this girl is a liar she must has a very good reason. Then Alix says that it just her being jealous because of Adrien. And yes, that may be true, Marinette tends to get jealous of any rival for the boy's affection, and can do crazy and, honestly, pretty bad stuff for him but again, he knows her and knows that at the end Marinette always admits her wrongdoings, apologizes and does better. He also knows that jealousy for itself is not a strong motive for dislike someone that much, because Chloe? is a brat, Kagami? He knows that Marinette actually helped Adrien in a date with her and now both girls are very good friends despite her knowing that Adrien actually is interested in Kagami, so if this Lila is really that good of a person then why Marinette seems to dislike her and think that is a liar? She has to has a reason.

When he says this Alix and Nathaniel have the decency of look ashamed, Marc is right, they (Alix and the girls the most) should have asked for her reasons instead of brush it off as simply jealousy, Marinette is better than that.

With his point clear, Marc asks for more details, maybe they can discover why Marinette thinks Lila is a liar. Again is Alix who talks (Nathaniel never had been one of Lila's admirers and he pays not much attention to the drama) and tells every story Lila told them (I'm not including the napkin incident because either Nathaniel nor Alix were there, Nathaniel was alone in another table and Alix wasn't in the cafeteria at all) and once she is done Marc is fast to point every single hole, contradiction and nonsense in Lila's claims.

Being a writer and a very active reader makes this kind of thing easy for him, it also helps that some of Lila's claims can be debunked with a little knowledge (arthritis doesn't work like that for example) and him has plenty of that, he likes to read about different topics, not just stories and comics, also is the fact that he makes lots of researching for his stories (the comic is not the only thing he writes for) even if they are about fantasy he likes them to be coherent and solid, so if he is going to use some topic he research to support his writing, so yeah he knows a little of many things. He also points out all the times Lila manipulated them so they did things for her, and how.

Now they know the truth, Lila IS a liar and a manipulative one.

HOLY SHIT MARINETTE WAS RIGHT! First they feel bad, they should have listened to her! They are also ashamed because now that they think about it most of the lies are dumb! They are idiots!

Marc is fast to comfort them, after all some of her lies are believable at least from their point of view, their class is not a normal one they have some famous people like Adrien a famous model, Chloe the mayor's daughter, Nathaniel is the ilustrator of one of the most popular comics in Paris, Marinette is Jagged Stone's favorite designer and has been prized by Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgois, Max is a genius with his own AI, there is Kitty Section and the list goes. So, one more student with conections and awesome claims is not that difficult to believe. Also, they are being manipulated, Lila use pity to make herself look vulnerable and fragil, so they would not question her or her claims, she also takes advantage of their kindness. Being fooled and manipulated is not a crime, they are victims too.

That make them feel better, but now they are pissed, because THEY ARE BEING FOOLED, MANIPULATED AND TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF! AND MARINETTE IS EXPELLED AND ALL IS THAT WITCH FAULT!

Marc is pissed too, being the patient and quiet person he is there are just a few things that makes him trully angry, but messing with his loved ones is the top of that list, and that little bitch is messing with all of his friends and his boyfriend! She is not just liying, manipulating and using them, she also gives them false hope with all the false promises she made, they are gonna be hurt once she fails in fulfil them. And MARINETTE IS EXPELLED so yeah, that brat crossed many lines.

For now they decide to talk to Marinette, Alix and Nathaniel need to apologize, and to make her know that the three of them know the truth and are by her side.

Later they discover that Marinette's expulsion is revoked, aparently all was a huge misunderstanding and Lila herself clarified the mess. Yeah, something is off here and they are not going to let their guard down, but at least Mari's name is clean.

The next day they are in the bakery with Marinette's favorite ice cream and two draws made by Alix and Nath, a -forgive-us-for-not-listened-you-and-for-being-bad-friends- gift. Marinette is relieved and actually cries of joy for having her friends by her side and free from Lila's claws, and of course she forgive them, after all they admitted their errors and apologized, also despite the evidence against her they gave her the benefit of the doubt, and for that she is grateful.

They talk and Marinette tells them how she found out the truth the same she told Alya and Nino (Marc tells her that it was not ok to follow Adrien and Lila but unlike them he still listened to her side of the story) she also point out that she ACTUALLY KNOWS Jagged Stone.

But hey! That doesn't mean that Adrien also knows the truth?

Yeah, she also tells them that Adrien is aware of Lila's true nature and also talks about the 'high road' advice. "HE TOLD YOU WHAT?"

But before any of them could get angry with Adrien she explains that he really thought her lies were harmless, also he believed that expose her would be bad because he called her out in a friendly way and still she was akumatized, but now that she was expelled he recognized that his advice was a bad one and that her lies can hurt people, he already apologized to her, and explained that he made a deal with Lila, he will be her friend and she will be a model and in return she will bring Mari back to school. He also admited that the best is to expose her, becasue netiher of them actually believe that Lila is going to let Marinette alone.

That makes them calm down, and forgive Adrien, he apologized to Marinette too and admited his error, also they think that a deal with the devil is punishment enough, and if they think about it, probably the poor boy didn't knew better, but he does now, so it's ok.

Then they learn about the threat in the bathroom and her almost akumatization. And they are even more pissed HOW DARE SHE? They apologize again for making her believe that she couldn't trust them with that. She says is ok, that she didn't take her too seriously, and she has faith in them, and so far they proved her right. Though, Marc wish that she could have talked to him at least, maybe they would have prevented all of this, but it doesn't matter.

Well, now they have one thing clear: they need to take that bitch down. But how? Lila could lie her way out, or twist the situation in her favor, they are trying to come up with a plan, but Marc is quiet, his mind working and then he has an idea.

With a calm and cool tone he says them "Just help me with some research, I'll take care of the rest" and replacing his usual sweet and shy demeanor there is a smirk and a cold determination and confidence in his face that surprise them (Nath actually finds it kind of hot)

They don't know what is he thinking, but they have seen him angry before (and thank god they have never been the cause of it, because Marc is a cinnamon roll but is very scary when is angry) and they know what his wrath is capable of. Whatever his plan is, they know is gonna work and dammit if it doesn't. They almost feel bad for Lila. Almost.

The next days they spend time together doing the investigation (they have some fun time and an awesome sleepover too), and finally they get solid proof to expose Lila, thanks to Marinette they get a video interview with Jagged Stone where the singer claims that he never had met Lila, and thanks to Marc's general knowledge in health and some help from Nathaniel's parents who both are doctors, they also get proof to debunk Lila's claims of illnes or other disabilities (specially the lying disease bullshit) and since Marc is a good researcher they manage to find some interesting stuff, like Mrs. Rossi contact information, is all in the embassy page.

With the investigation done, all what they need to do is wait for the perfect moment to expose the liar, and the oportunity comes two weeks later in the form of a picnic that Bustier's class organize just to hang out together, naturally Marc is invited and helps to organize said picnic, almost all of the class consider him a friend and one of them despite him being in Mendeleiev's class. Mari, Alix and Nathaniel still don't know what is his plan exactly, but they trust him. Adrien is aware of his plan but he doesn't know what exactly is either.

So here they are, in the park, in a cute blanket, with some delicious food and with great company (that doesn't include certain people, aka Chloe and the liar) and of course Lila is charming their friends with other of her lies, it takes all of their willpower to not roll their eyes. And then, listening carefully Marc takes the perfect moment to interrumpt the tale, social anxiety or not, that witch is hurting his beloved ones and he is not going to tolerate it, so even if he never has talked to her, fuck his shyness, that girl is gonna face the consequences for her actions. (It also helps that he is already friends with the rest of his boyfriend's class)

So, to everyone suprise he interrumpts Lila in middle sentence to point out the holes in what she is saying.

Alix, Nathaniel, Marinette and Adrien froze in panic, what is he thinking?! A direct confrontation was a bad idea, wasn't it? Marc locked eyes with the four of them and give a look thay says 'I get this' so they let him be, but now they are really uneasy.

What they didn't know is that the last days until now Marc has been doing more than just research, he was studying his enemy. Marc is a good listener, and being someone who likes to go unnoticed he became a very good observant too, he can notice little details and patterns, also he is a sensible and sympathetic boy so is easy for him to put himself in other's shoes, that combined makes him very good at reading and analysing people. He also made extra research in psychology and behaivor. So now, he knows how Lila works, he knows what to expect and how to answer. It also helps that he is very good with words, not just the ones he writes for his stories, but the ones he says and also he is very good with other's people words, he knows how to use them. That is his plan, he is going to use all his skills and knowledge to trap Lila, she thinks that she is smart and can control the situation, but Marc is going to prove that she can and will lose in her own game. Her lies are gonna be her downfall.

Lila of course tries to make an excuse or another lie to save face, but Marc refutes her again and again, and the rest of the class? Some are confused and others seems thoughtful shit! She is losing control! She tries but this black haired boy seems to be smart, he gets her cornered until the point that she can't lie her way out, and her classmates are starting to look suspicious. She tries to change tactics, the tears worked against Marinette, they will work now. She hides her face in her hands and starts to sob.

"I just was trying to share some of my wonderful experiencies with my friends, so I could give them some advice to help them in the future. Why are you being so mean? I haven't done anything to you! " That make people like Rose or Mylene to softened and go to comfort her, and between her hands she can see Alya ready to confront the boy, but Marc is ready for this kind of tactic, is his turn to make a move.

"I'm sorry but, How does this make me mean? I just pointed some facts because honestly, I'm a bit confused. At first I thought that you just made a little mistake, but then you just said another nonsense! Why would YOU do that?"

And then she is losing the little control she manage to regain. Because no matter how much they want to comfort her, Marc has a point and what he said so far actually makes sense, at least more sense than what she said. The others start to look torn between comfort or question her.

"Well... how would you know that what I said is wrong? Where is your proof?" Lila crosses her arms and look to other side, just to hide the smirk in her face, that would be enough and that annoying nobody will learn to not get in her way.

But, much to her surprise Marc actually has a good answer to that.

"Uh... comon sense? I mean, If I'm being a little honest if you think about it, some of the things you said have no... logic. Also I like to read a lot and about different things, including what you were saying so I know for a fact that some of the things you said are wrong. And my proof? Well a quick search in google is enough to prove me right"

Lila pales, she was not expecting that answer, and to her utter horror she can see some of her classmates typing in their phones, probably fact checking for once, she need to fix this now! She looks around trying to find some sympathy or something that would help, but she only see her classmates reading something in their phones and some of them are starting to frown, then she looks to Marinette and has an idea, this would break her little deal with Adrien but is ok, she wasn't planning to leave the brat alone anyway and her model career is in his father's hands, and she already has him tied around her finger.

So, before anyone could say something she sobs more louder and points a finger to Marinette.

"This is because of Marinette, isn't it? She put you into this! I-" but she couldn't finish because Marc interrumpts her, he also is ready for Lila trying to blame Marinette and he is not having it!

"And what does she has to do with this? Is not her fault that you have your facts wrong" and now the others are starting to narrow their eyes towards her, Damn it! Well she made the baker a threat, is time to fulfil it.

Lila makes the best she can to look pityful and scared. "Well... I didn't want to say this because I thought that nobody would believe me but... Marinette threatened me in the bathroom the day I came back from Achu!" She cries to everybody's shock.

"WHAT?!" Everybody screamed that. Marinette and her we-know-the-truth squad are frozen and can't believed it, THE NERVE OF THIS GIRL!

The rest to their friends are equally stunned, because they just can't believe what Lila said.

Lila using the shock continues with her sob story.

"She cornered me in the bathroom and told me that she would turn all of you against me! And all because she is jealous! And now she is using this boy to make you think that I'm a liar, just like she said!" Lila hug herself in an attempt to look small and is crying full force now.

Marc has to use all his willpower to not scream and call her a hypocrite, but he has a perfect answer for that too.

"Marinette would NEVER do that!" And to Lila's surprise and Marinette's glee is not Marc who says that, is Alya.

"Marinette is the sweetest girl, and she is not a bully!" That was Rose, who walked away from Lila like she burned her. And the rest of the class make their agreement known.

Lila really did NOT expect THAT reaction! They are supose to be comforting her and screaming to Marinette, not defending her! It's ok she can fix it.

"See? Is this why I didn't want to say anything! You don't believe me!"

Marc takes the word again "We know Marinette, we know she has flaws but she is one of the best people we know" again everybody agrees with that.

Lila is getting desperate, this is not what is supose to happen! And where is an akuma when you need it?! But Lila refuses to lose!

"Look I know you all thougth that you knew her and that she was your friend, but the truth is that Marinette is not what she seems to be, she is a manipulative liar and is just using you!"

Again, is not Marc who talks, this time is Kim

"No, you look Lila, I have known Marinette since diapers, and I know she has flaws but she is NOT a bad person"

"Yeah, and using us? She is the one who goes out of her way just to help us! She is a caring friend! Heck! We actually had to convince her that it's ok to pay to her everytime we comission something from her!" That was Nino

"And still, she gives us discounts everytime she can, but jus for the record, we have no problem in paying the whole price, Marinette, your job is awesome and you deserve to be fairly rewarded" that was Ivan, and Marinette gives him a very grateful smile, the rest of her friends agree with him and she smiles to them too.

"But-but" Lila is in trouble, she tries to think fast, but then Max just dig her hole deeper.

"Also, what Marc just said about your story is also true, all the wrong facts and holes, I asked Markov to fact check and the evidence supports Marc, the only conclusion is that you were lying to us!"

Nonononononono NO!

"And since you told us this lie like you did with any other of your stories I wondered What else was a lie? I also asked Markov to confirm every thing that you had said to us, and nearly the 86.65% was a lie"

Marc smiles, the game is going exactly according to his plan, even some of his moves were made by others, he is happy that Marinette has friends with such a faith in her, ready to stand up for her just like she does for them. But he knows that the game is still on, Lila still has some pieces, but Marc already steal her big ones, she just has some pawns to defend her King and Marc has his army intact.

Well fuck, she is doomed, the rest of the class looks ready to attack her... and then she remember her last card, it's a wild card, her lies will not work the same way anymore but she could save face, she will, eventually, come up with something to regain her control.

Well it seems that there is a limit, so I make a part 2

[geekgirles]

Marinette, her friendships and Lila

If there’s something that’s been bugging me (pun non-intended) is the possible implications of Lila’s threat to Marinette.

When I first heard it, I assumed (like probably many of the members of the fandom) that it was only foreshadowing a disastrous episode that would, in the end, still have stand-alone value. “Ladybug” would be a good example of this, or we were probably all expecting an Akumanette episode when we watched Chameleon for the first time, too.

However, now I wonder if it was actually foreshadowing a series of events that started with Lila’s appearance.

If I’m not mistaken, we were told that Marinette would have to face changes in the dynamics she has with people. 

After “The Battle of the Miraculous”, it’s obvious that Adrien/Chat Noir, Kagami and Luka will be part of that change, but will they really be the only ones affected by it?

We, salt shakers (this time, pun totally intended), have been on edge about Marinette’s friends since Chameleon, especially Alya. And, when given some thought, we might have seen hints on the blogger changing sides for a while, all of them going unnoticed.

The one moment that makes me the most suspicious is when Alya had just turned into Rena Rouge and mentioned that she looked just like Lila did when she was akumatised.

However, there hasn’t been the slightest mention of that ever since!

At least, not in a hopeful light.

For example, despite Ladybug mentioning twice during Heroes’ Day that Volpina had been active, both times with witnesses, none of those times have helped the characters to connect the dots and realise that Lila wasn’t in Achu like she said!

BUT

If there’s something you have to learn the hard way when you’re part of the miraculous fandom, that’s that Lila’s never featured nor mentioned without a purpose.

Let’s take a look at Timetagger or Félix, for instance.

In Timetagger, the episode seemingly had nothing to do with her, and, yet, she appears. Not long after we discover that there’ll be a different Hawk Moth in the future, no less. Now, if that’s not a hint.. I don’t know what is.

In Félix, she appeared for a few seconds as part of the video chat Alya had opened to discuss ways to cheer Adrien up on the day he lost his mother. And still, it was her who alerted Nathalie and Gabriel of “Adrien”’s strange behaviour.

Where do I want to go with this?

Lila saw Alya transform into Rena Rouge.

Listen, it actually makes perfect sense.

Catalyst, Mayura and Ladybug showed that Lila lives around the park and that, moreover, she’s actually been keeping a close eye on Marinette and the class for quite some time.

Alya transformed in the park!

Lila could’ve seen it and strategise from there. For instance, it explains how on Earth she hasn’t lied about being Rena Rouge yet. Let’s think about that situation for a moment, alright? 

If Lila didn’t know Alya is Rena Rouge, she could have tried convincing Adrien that the incident in Volpina was just Ladybug’s way of protecting her secret identity from being exposed, claiming that after that they’d decided to change her superhero alterego and rename it to Rena Rouge as it to not arise suspicion. 

But she didn’t do it!

And it’s clearly not because she’s learned to not lie around Adrien, because she has indeed tried to in Chameleon, Oni-chan and Ladybug. Even if she is perfectly aware that he knows she’s a liar.

So I wouldn’t put it past her.

So that brings me to this: Alya might abandon Marinette for Lila.

It’s true she tried to help Marinette in Ladybug, and that she cares about Marinette; but there are moments and behaviours that hint on this happening.

To this day, Alya hasn’t doubted Lila once. Not even when her best friend is so stressed out around her. Sure, we can always say that Alya’s seen the most unreasonable and irrational part of Marinette, but that doesn’t excuse anything.

In Ladybug, she quickly dismissed Marinette’s suspicions on Lila, telling her she shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that, and when it came to actually talking to Lila about it, she actually comforted her instead of showing the slightest caution around her. She even went as far as mentioning Marinette’s jealousy rather than letting the poor girl talk or even explain  her reasoning behind her claims!

Now, if we compare Alya’s behaviour towards Lila and Marinette with the way she acts around Marinette and Kagami, it’s clear there’s some serious bias there. 

Until Ikari Gozen, Marinette was actually just jealous of Kagami, unlike her feelings towards Lila.

Unlike Alya’s teasing and scolding regarding Marinette’s reactions and decisions concerning Lila, where she never fails to mention she’s just defensive because Lila’s close to Adrien  (utter bullshit, btw. Alya, please, do change your glasses.), she never does anything of the sorts when it comes to Marinette’s actual insecurities towards the fencer.

In Ikari Gozen, instead of telling her that she barely knows Kagami and that she should be more open with her (like she did with Lila in Chameleon), she was sympathetic of Marinette’s distress. She practically encouraged her to lose the contest on purpose!

The only conclusion I get from this is that Alya is that way towards Kagami because... She’s not Lila. And, since Alya isn’t very fond of her either, then it’s not so serious if Marinette is actually unfair to her or not.

And that sickens me. Quite honestly.

Aside from this, we also have the events that took place in Feast; despite knowing first-hand that the miraculous is something that the less people know about it, the better, that didn’t stop Alya from talking about the different miraculous holders throughout History and the exhibition on her blog.

Marinette thought it was something so grave she actually confessed she shouldn’t have entrusted Alya with a miraculous!

And that loss in faith is something very serious, especially in this show.

Because, if in the future Ladybug has no choice but to never hand her the fox miraculous again (something very possible considering the events that took place during Miracle Queen), maybe Alya will act as entitled as Chloé did. Questioning why would Ladybug not entrust her with it when she did give it back to Chloé. More than once.

After all, after Chloé, we saw in Sapotis that Alya was the less willing of all of Ladybug’s allies to give her the miraculous back. She almost kept it.

And, if Alya loses faith in Ladybug, that would be the perfect opening for Lila, who could reveal to her that she knew of her secret identity all along and try to get her against Ladybug and, maybe, even Marinette.

Just imagine, she could even say she was the Fox Miraculous Holder before her, Volpina, but that  after some silly argument Ladybug was petty enough to take the miraculous from her. But that she lied about still being friends with her for the sake of Paris.

Now, that would be a major change in dynamics.

But, just as I’ve written about the worst case scenario, I also have some hopeful news about Marinette’s next confidant.

Alix.

I’ll admit, of all her friends, Alix has always shown that she was the least convinced of Marinette’s distrust towards Lila. Always being very quick to show her anger towards Marinette for her actions.

Even so, we must not forget that she will soon entrust her with the Rabbit Miraculous. Giving her the power to fix everything, even when the clock is against the heroes.

And I think I know why she entrusted it to her in the first place.

In Chat Blanc, Bunnix told Ladybug that the reason she chose her was because “She’s very good at keeping secrets”. On the other hand, she suggested that maybe the reason Chat Noir knew of her secret identity was that Adrien had told Nino, that had told Alya, that had published it on the Ladyblog.

What if this is more foreshadowing?

What if Bunnix is subtly warning Marinette about Alya and that the Ladyblog is actually more important to her than her role as a superhero?

But going back to the reason Ladybug chose Alix as Bunnix, maybe it will be Alix the first one to discover her secret identity, and will promise to never reveal it to anyone.

If that were the case, Alix would also be the first one besides Adrien and Marinette to know that Lila is a liar and that Marinette had every right to be as distant to her as she was.

Maybe Alix will be Marinette’s first ally against the Italian girl in and out of the suits (aside from Adrien, of course).

After all, if there’s something Thomas Astruc has proved he’s good at, that’s misleading us. Ehem, Chloé’s redemption, ehem. Ehem, Félix, ehem!

[angelofthequeers]

I feel you on the Luka thing. At first I thought he was nice and I was mostly ambivalent about him when he was introduced (adored Kagami though even then) and I was mostly eh about Lukanette (not my thing) but how his terrible stans are acting and their Adrien bashing basically made Lukanette a NOTP for me unless it’s past Lukanette. Your fic and guardiankarenterrier’s have been the only actual Luka content I truly enjoy (excluding more crack ish content like Lukatar and Luka x XY)

Honestly, that’s exactly how I feel about Luka right now, and I’m gonna make a longer post now that I know that I’ve got some agreement and support. So here are my full 12 am rambling feelings about Luka Couffaine and Lukanette, where I essentially hijack your ask and finally make my post. And I’ve only been sitting on this for this long because I didn’t see any point in annoying the salters and rabid Luka stans for the sake of an opinion but…fuck it, y’know? Fair warning that if you like Luka and/or you’re a salter, you might not want to read this.

Luka’s nice. That’s it. He doesn’t have any substance beyond that. He exists purely to serve Marinette, because every other character dares to not fall to Marinette’s feet and cater to her every whim so they are therefore evil.

And no, that’s not Marinette salt. That’s salter salt. Reflecting back on my salt days, the thing that sticks out to me most is the level of protagonist-centred morality and the sheer inability to see from anyone else’s POV. Take Chameleon, for example. Adrien doesn’t know that Lila threatened Marinette. The classmates have seen Marinette act jealous before and their perception of Lila is that of a nice girl who’s being targeted by Marinette. And if you fail to take yourself out of Marinette’s head and see how others might perceive a situation, that’s where most of the salt is born, because all that comes to matter is that Marinette Is Wronged and anyone who dared to not support her 100% is immediately Evil. Never mind that Adrien fought back against years of conditioning to lie down and take it in order to stand up for Marinette and even bargain himself to Lila to protect his friend. Never mind that Alya went to great lengths to prove Marinette’s innocence and even if she didn’t believe Lila was the culprit, she wholeheartedly believed that Marinette was innocent.

But that’s not enough nuance for salters and Perfect Marinette can’t dare to have flaws beyond being clumsy and Too Giving For Her Own Good, so meh. I swear this relates to Luka and I have a point

And that’s where Luka comes in. It’s because he’s a blank slate that he appeals to salters. They can project whatever they want onto him; turn him into the Perfect Boyfriend for Perfect Queen Marinette. He’s not a character. He’s a device. And that’s part of why my interest in him just…waned. There’s nothing to keep my attention hooked. Sure, ‘Silencer’ made me squeal because of the love confession, but only by forcing myself to go back and rewatch it for that rush. Once the episode was over, I just kind of…shrugged. Whatever. He said a few words and then walked off, and Marinette can’t be that in love with him if the confession’s never again brought up in his later appearances; where Adrien’s actively pursued Kagami, Marinette’s just kind of let Luka woo her and gone along with it whenever he’s around. And there’s nothing wrong with letting someone woo you, but when she’s been shown to actively pursue Adrien, it kind of doesn’t give the impression that she’s all that into Luka.

Honestly, it’s pretty much just this shitty meme that I made for a laugh

And why does he love Marinette? He “fell for her at first sight”. Marinette and Adrien didn’t fall for each other as soon as their eyes met, but rather after they worked past their initial impressions and revealed a different side to their partner; one that made their partner fall in love with them. Chat’s first impression of Ladybug was of a clumsy, nervous girl who was nice and who he liked but was reluctant to be a superhero in the first place. Marinette’s first impression of Adrien was of a spoiled brat. It wasn’t until Ladybug gave her speech to Hawkmoth and showed her fiery and determined side, until Adrien revealed to Marinette that he was a sweet and socially awkward boy, that they fell for each other. Even Adrien and Kagami had a heckuva lotta chemistry during their first meeting, with Kagami thoroughly impressing Adrien, and Marinette and Kagami’s friendship was established by working past their misunderstood first impressions, just like with Marinette and Adrien. Each of these relationships have a solid foundation based on working past incorrect first impressions and developing a mutual respect. There’s effort that’s been put into these relationships.

And people wonder why I ship Kagaminette so hard.

But Luka? He just took one look at Marinette and was like “mmm pretty girl”. He didn’t fall for her based on anything that he knew about her other than that she stuttered (which he made fun of, and you just…don’t do that with someone you’ve literally only just met). It made me question the legitimacy of her being “the melody inside his head since they first met” because like…their first meeting was talking for two seconds and then her convincing him that she could lockpick a little later on. Every other interaction after that? Still not enough to warrant Luka giving that whole speech to her. And their few interactions since then have been ’Frozer’, ‘Silencer’, and ‘Desperada’. Plus, he doesn’t talk to Marinette. He talks at her. Every interaction is him saying “You feel like this” and strumming his guitar, which…boy, it’s not healthy to speak for the person you’re romantically into, because that’s just gonna lead to a whole lot of miscommunication later down the line.

It could be a flaw that Luka falls hard and fast and he needs to learn to step back and get to know someone before going in. It’d just be nice to have enough substance to him to actually be able to make this conclusion. Maybe I’m just too aro to understand love at first sight.

And how old is he? 16? 17? Thirsting after a 14/15 year old? I didn’t even realise the age gap until now but Jesus, maybe he should find someone his age instead of going after a younger teenager.

And all the diehard Luka stans are also why I’ve grown to just not care about Luka. The way they demonise every other character and push Lukanette as Perfect and Pure - not through being flawless but basically through being Right and not doing any wrong except for a few teensy mistakes that are laughable - was enough to begin to turn me way off, and then from there I just slipped further and further from salt. That’s why, after I finished writing Défenseure, I just threw my hands up and wondered what the hell I was doing with my life. Every Lukanette salt fic is exactly the same. Same plot, same characters demonised with maybe a little variation if the writer’s feeling daring. There’s a reason so many of us are getting sick of salt, especially Chameleon salt. It’s all been done before. So many times. And that also contributes to Luka’s blandness, purely because fandom Luka is just as one-dimensional as canon Luka. I don’t care about canon Luka. But fandom Luka? I cannot stand, and it’s thanks to these diehard stans.

You know, for all the salters claim to loathe Adrien for being so Perfect, they sure seem to turn Marinette into a real bright figure of perfection. That irony is part of what made me turn away from salt in the first place.

There’s a saying that’s stuck with me since my early days of fandom, back when I was into HP and bashing was rampant: if you have to utterly destroy one character to make another look better, you’re only proving how bad the second character is. If you have to make Alya into a horrific demonic bully to justify promoting Chloé to Marinette’s new bestie and essentially switch their personalities, that says a lot more about Chloé than it does Alya. If you have to turn Adrien - who does not know boundaries because he was only ever taught to let people treat him like a piece of meat but who’s learning, to the point of standing up to Lila for Marinette and never once forcing himself on Ladybug whether physically or emotionally - into a horrific Nice Guy caricature just to justify Lukanette, that says a hell of a lot more about you than it does Adrien.

And that’s all I’m gonna say because it’s like 12.30 am and this is way more energy than I wanted to expend on Luka Couffaine. Tl;dr - he’s nice but that’s literally all there is to him. And nice isn’t a personality. It’s one trait.

[nxrthmizu]

-Lordbug, Robin and Kitty Noir- Chapter Five: In Which Marinette Makes New Friends!

/Part One//Part Two//Part Three//Part Four//Part Five//Part Six//Part Seven//Part Eight//Part Nine//Part Ten//Part Eleven/

Description: It’s the weekend! Marinette needs to get over Lila drama (Damian is furious), so they go and hang out with other people! Luka! Kagami! 

Warnings: Curses, as usual, and Damian being a lil’ shit. Also, mentions of depression, self-harm (My poor baby Mari :( 

---

Marinette was terrified of Lila.

The girl had the entire class wrapped around her little pinky, and there was nothing that Marinette could do about that. Lila had shown her what she could be. Lila had shown her that she could destroy her entire life in a day. She was manipulative as hell, and Lila had proved it. She had turned Marinette’s entire life upside down just with a few little believable lies. Then it became more than just a few.

It had been a month now.

Lila was still constantly attacking Marinette like that. In fact, it was a miracle that Marinette hadn’t been akumatised- Hawkmoth had been quiet since his first attack.

Damian… Damian hated Lila with a fiery passion. And since Lila still didn’t know that he was a Wayne, Damian intended to use every figment of the Wayne name to destroy Lila. But he had one chance at it, and he wanted to spend the one chance wisely- To bring down the girl and protect his angel.

And one day, when Damian was in the toilet (Once again talking to Tikki because he needed to control himself- He couldn’t reveal himself until the time was right), a certain blonde got to Marinette. A certain blonde by the name of Adrien Agreste.

“Marinette,” He had called after her, seeing her sob after Lila made another lie about her being the one who threatened her to stay away from Adrien. Of course, everyone believed Lila. Every. Single. One. It was a miracle that Damian hadn’t murdered all his classmates yet, but he spent every extra second he had between doing his homework, his Robin patrols, his nightly balcony talks with his precious angel, and once in a while, after he’d forgiven them for sending to Paris (Because hey, he got to meet his angel, the girl he hoped to spend the rest of his life with) he’d text his father, along with Grayson- Plotting contingency plans (His father’s influence) on how to murder his classmates. And for each of them, he had a detailed summary of how to torture each of them to the very highest degree. He also had a mental list of every insult and assumption they each made that was absolutely wrong that they made about his angel. And how many times she had cried because of them. Due to the fact he talked to her as Damian and Robin, he had a pretty good idea of who messed up her day. And he was keeping tally. One day, he would get his revenge. He was just being really, really patient.

Alright. Back to Agreste.

The blonde had chased after his precious angel when he wasn’t looking. He had given her false hope. He’d told his angel that he believed in her (Anyone was an idiot for not doing so), and told her that he was on her side. But when she asked him if he was going to reveal Lila, he said no (What a coward).

Of course, while it wasn't really progressing at all, it lifted up Marinette’s mood. And Damian had to admit, he was jealous. How dare Agreste give his angel false hope like that? How dare Agreste, who’d stayed quiet all that time, not even defending his angel, dare talk to her? Hmm?

When he got back to class, Marinette had just entered before him. And the situation was horrible.

“Marinette! Don’t be such a jealous bitch!” Alya had screamed at her.

“Yeah, Marinette! You’re just jealous of Lila! Because she took your seat! How petty can you be, to threaten her, and ask her to stay away from Adrien?” Adrien, at that point, had shied away from the conflict, trying to talk everyone out of it. Right. The peace-maker. The very unsuccessful peace-maker.

Damian had scowled because he had heard them from outside. Marinette stood frozen in the middle of the class, taking in all the insults they were throwing at her. His eyes widened- He recognized what she was undergoing. Another panic attack.

---

Everything was just so loud. Insults from every direction. Her ears couldn’t take it. Perhaps it was because of her cat senses. The ones that wore off Plagg, onto her. It had occurred to her before- Plagg was the Kwami of destruction, after all. He was also the Kwami of bad luck. Maybe the ‘bad luck’ had passed onto her. The second she fully constructed that thought, she immediately pushed it away. Without Plagg, she’d never have become Kitty Noir. She’d never have a chance to escape from her dreary, lonely (With the exception of Damian) life, onto the life of running from rooftop to rooftop, the thrill of the wind blowing past your ears… Yes, that was the only thing she lived for, now. Along with Robin, Damian, Plagg, and her parents. Those were the only things that stopped her from killing herself.

And yeah, she’d considered it before. There was a reason that she’d suddenly started wearing large sweaters instead of her old cherry-blossom shirt and the black jacket over. It was because the sleeves were long enough to cover the cut-marks on her entire arm. Plagg would stop her, every single time. But it was only a matter of time before it got too far for the Kwami to convince her to stop, right? Then it would all be over, and the pain would all be gone.

---

When Marinette was downstairs, eating with her parents, Plagg stole his chance.

He used her phone, and immediately contacted Damian. The Kwami had memorized the boy’s number on reflex- Just in case there was one day, when Marinette got too far. Just in case there was one day, he couldn’t stop her. Just in case there was one day, when he’d have to lose his most precious cat.

“Marinette?”

Shit.

He couldn’t tell Damian that Marinette was Kitty, right?

He hung up. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

But Tikki would’ve known right? Tikki would’ve seen Marinette’s phone call Damian, and his sugar cube would realize that it was him, right?

He got called back in five minutes.

“Plagg! Is it an emergency? Is it the angel?”

“It’s my kitty, sugar.” He responded mournfully. “Your holder has to do something. Whether as Robin, or as Lordbug, or as his civilian name, I don’t care! He has to do something! He has to save her! I… I can’t afford to lose another kitty, sugar. Not after Felix.”

Tikki was silent. Of course. Felix… Felix was not one to mind other’s opinions, unlike Marinette, but when he eventually fell in love with Bridgette… He cared for one person’s opinion. Hers. And when Bridgette died- As the previous Ladybug- Felix couldn’t take it. His one true love, the one he planned to ask out once his mess with Ladybug was finished- His one true love, was Ladybug, the girl he’d been lying to all that time. It was too much for him, and just like Marinette wanted to, he slit his wrists- Until Plagg couldn’t stop him. Until Plagg failed to convince him to live on. Felix went too far, and then there was no getting him back.

“What happened to Felix won’t happen again, Plagg. I promise you.” Tikki’s soft voice comforted him, and the cat Kwami- For the first time in eons, broke down in tears.

He couldn’t afford to lose another kitten.

---

“Damian! You have to do something!” Tikki insisted. She had been nagging him about it all night long, and honestly, although he didn’t want to admit it, he was a coward. What if he failed to cheer her up, with whatever he did? What if he made things worse?

Originally, he wasn’t planning to do anything. He was just going to keep supporting her as Damian, talk to her as Robin, and go on as usual. But it was when he saw her that he changed his mind. When he saw her slumped against her table, expressionless, face a void of expression- He almost saw himself. Just… Without the anger, the murder intent.

She’d lost all hope. Even whatever Agreste gave her didn’t last long.

“She’s heartbroken.” Damian sighed, slumping down against the toilet stall. His precious angel. What did she do to deserve that, anyway? 

“Maybe you should take her out tomorrow,” Tikki suggested. “It’s the weekend, and Master Fu only needs you to get groceries, and then you’re free for the entire weekend.” 

Damian nodded. He had known Marinette for about a month- But she was his angel now, and he would do anything to be her knight. 

---

“Marinette.” He called just as she was packing her things to leave for the day. This gained quite the reaction. It was the first actual time he’d called her by her name, and not her surname. 

“Um, yes?” She said looking up, feeling nostalgia because damn, those green eyes looked very familiar. 

"Do... Do you want to... Hang out for the weekend? We could discuss our homework, and then we could... Just go out and about.” He waved his hands around awkwardly as he spoke, because no, Talia did not teach him how to remain composed in front of the special angel in his life. Neither did Bruce, and growing up with three other brothers who were absolutely hopeless with their love lives did not help, either. 

She smiled at the comment, and it made his entire life suddenly worth it. She had smiled! Perhaps she was starting to feel better, and Damian swore that he would make her so happy through the weekend she'd forget all about that- Bitch- And she'd smile as brightly as she did before. 

---

“Good morning, Mr and Mrs Dupain-Cheng. I’m... Damian. Damian... Fu...?” His introduction ended with a little question. He didn’t really want anyone to know that he was a Wayne, and since Marinette had probably forgotten about his surname... Well, there was no need to tell her, either. 

“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you, Damian!” Sabine cheerily responded, and Damian immediately thought: That’s angel’s mother alright. “Marinette’s already getting ready upstairs.

In truth, Marinette didn’t want to get up. It was the weekend, and though she admitted that she felt a little guilty about not helping her parents with the bakery, she just... Couldn’t get the will to get up, to do things. 

But Plagg wouldn’t let it go. He’d nagged her until she got up, and he had tried to prep her up, commenting on what she should wear- (He had gotten a rough idea of what clothes Damian seemed to like to see Marinette wearing after getting Tikki to inquire the boy). In the end, Marinette was dressed in a cute white sweater with a smiley face- And a cute, plaited dark blue skirt. She sighed tiredly, a little reluctant to leave, but seeing Plagg get so excited about her going out did encourage her a little bit, and so she went downstairs to meet Damian. 

He had definitely made an effort. He had decked out in some casual clothes- A black sweater went over whatever shirt he was wearing under, and he had paired that up with some dark jeans and black-and-green running shoes. it was late autumn by then, and Damian had already brought a spare sweater and a spare jacket for his angel inside his backpack. 

When he saw her, he immediately smiled. There was his beautiful angel, blushing, looking simply adorable in her sweater. 

“Ready?” He smiled, watching as her hesitant eyes looked him up and down until they stopped at his outstretched hand. 

She took his hand. 

---

They were strolling by the riverside, her hand still in his. 

Her hand still in his. 

Damian was having a mental breakdown inside however much he tried to remain calm and stoic on the outside. He had no intentions of letting go of that hand, and Marinette didn’t seem to mind much, either. It was the first time since Lila came that she’d left from her house, with the exception of going to school. 

“They’re so many new shops.” She marveled quietly, looking at the shop lots littering down the river street. 

“Don’t you want to check them out? Let’s go.” He smiled, dragging her along, Tikki- Hidden in his sweater to give emergency advice- Nodding approvingly. She blushed, nodding, letting him pull her along. 

---

 “What boat is that?” Marinette had murmured, staring at a very-out-of-place ship resting in the harbor. “It looks... Very artistic.” She commented amusedly, smiling to herself. 

“Want to check it out?” Damian hummed, already pulling her in the direction. Today, he thought, he would bring her anywhere she wanted to go, let her see everything she wanted to see. 

“It’s so pretty.” Marinette breathed, staring at the ship dressed in fairy lights, decorated in the most explicit way there was. “Do you think we can go down?” She asked, turning to him, her bluebell eyes shining in excitement. 

Of course it’d be impossible to say no to his angel. 

“Hey, who are you?” 

When Damian turned around, he bristled like a cat. A boy with dyed turquoise hair was pointing suspiciously at them, and Damian had a large urge to snap ‘Do you know who I am?’, but he decided against it. 

“I’m Damian Fu, and this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” He said neutrally, realizing in his mind that if the boy was heading into the harbor, there was a high chance he could get the two of them onto the ship. 

“Luka, who’s that?” A girl with a hair color similar to Marinette’s came over, her face as neutrally cold as Damian’s. 

“This is Damian and... Was it Marinette?” Luka smiled at the dark-haired girl behind Damian, watching as she responded with a shy nod and smile. Damian immediately hissed again, only stopping himself when Luka gave him a strange look. “Well, I’m Luka Couffaine, and this is Kagami Tsurugi.” 

“Right.” Damian cleared his throat. “We were wondering if we could take a look around the ship?” 

Luka shrugged. “Sure. I mean, I could take you onboard. Come on.” 

---

The moment Kagami set her eyes on Marinette, she felt the urge to protect her. Marinette was small, and shy, but Kagami knew there was a lot of energy trapped underneath deep within. She just knew. 

“And this is Luka’s room. He shares it with his sister.” Kagami told her, watching as the girl marveled at the turquoise boy’s pick collection. Chuckling as Marinette looked over each one, Kagami smiled. “Yeah, he really treasures all his picks. Once, when he brought me in here, he told me the stories of how he got everyone of those picks.” 

“Wow.” Marinette awwed. “He sounds like a great guy.” 

Kagami sighed dreamily. “Yeah, he is.” 

---

While Kagami was busy taking Marinette on a tour of the ship, Luka pulled Damian aside. “Is she... Okay?” Luka struggled with his words. When he looked into her eyes, he could see the hurt, and wariness inside them when he first saw her on the harbor. “There’s this something in her eyes, like-” 

“I know.” Damian cut him off, his own eyes sorrowful. “It’s why I’m taking her out today. In hopes she’ll cheer up.” 

Luka nodded in understanding. “She looks like she needs friends.” At this, Damian immediately understood what the boy was hinting at. Feeling threatened, Damian hissed again, but not before Luka raised his hands in surrender. “Whoa. Chill out, man. I like another girl. No one’s touching your girlfriend.” 

Damian calmed down slightly, still feeling tense. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a friend.” 

Pause. 

“For now.” 

“So... She’s not your girlfriend?” Luka asked in disbelief. 

Damian smirked, eyes alight. “Yet.” 

---

“Oh, I’ve heard about you.” Kagami suddenly remembered as they were sipping on some ice chocolate on the ship deck. “Adrien’s mentioned you before.” 

Damian immediately tensed up on the name, but not only he tensed up. So did Luka. 

“You know Adrien?” Marinette asked softly, her head tilted slightly in curiousity. 

“He’s in my fencing class.” Kagami explained, then lowering her voice so that the boys wouldn’t hear. “He’s pretty cute... I have a crush on him.” Damian had heard it despite the low volume that the girl spoke in, and he knew Luka heard it too. Ahh, he realized. Luka liked Kagami... But Kagami liked Adrien. 

---

“Thanks a lot for today!” Marinette beamed, having regained a little of her energy, hopping a little. 

“Please come back soon!” Luka grinned, waving. 

“See you, Luka.” Kagami smiled at the boy. “I’ve got to get home before my mom kills me.” 

“See you, Kagami!” Luka waved, a blush climbing up his cheeks. 

On the way home, Damian could feel like that the day had been worth it. Taking her hand into his abrubtly, he ignored her stare on him, and only held her hand tighter. 

“Damian?” 

He hummed in reply. 

“Thanks for today.” She blushed, fiddling with the end of her sweater with her other hand. “It was really nice of you to do so,” She continued. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him. “You’re a really nice friend, Damian. I’m so lucky to have you.” 

---

Right. So Marinette didn’t like Damian, but she liked Robin. 

Those were the thoughts running through Robin’s head as he scampered through the city in his familiar route to his angel’s balcony. 

He smiled, pleased when he saw her, cuddled up against the balcony, waiting ever so patiently for him. 

“Angel?” He queried softly, dropping in front of her. Noticing her smile, he couldn’t help but ask: “What’s got you looking so happy today, hmm?” 

She blushed. “My friend took me out today, and I made new friends!” She told him excitedly. 

“Oh, really?” 

---

She was so much happier the day after. It showed. She was smiling, constantly giggling to herself, even when she took her seat next to him. 

“Well, you look happy.” Damian smiled, taking out his books. 

She giggled, like she had a little secret in her heart. “You want to know why?” 

He nodded. 

“A little robin came to visit me, that’s why.” She mused, blushing to herself and giggling again. 

That’s when it hit him. 

Holy shit, he was truly in love with her. 

---

I have to visit my grandparents later today, so I didn’t have the time to check this draft. Sowy :( Contact me if any mistakes are found~

I’ve hidden a lot of parallels in the series- And of course, there’s the really obvious one in this chapter- The ‘She’s just a friend’. Marinette is kind of like Adrien to Ladybug but with Robin.

(Tag list! @yin-390 @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @constancetruggle @the-navistar-carol @never-neverland @rayray384 @mystery-5-5 @black-streak @bluerosette23 @seraphichan @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @mikantsume @graduatedmelon @thebookwormfairy @crazylittlemunchkin @shizukiryuu @screamingtofillthevoid @serenacross200 @zestyzealot @redscarlet95 @roseinbloom02 @beautym3 @resignedcatservant @sizzling-fairy-oil @tinybrie @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry )

There we go! Hope you enjoyed! 

[miraculouscontent]

Three words: Animaestro. Thoughts. PLEASE.

Not a fanimaestro of “Animaestro.”

[Positives, I Guess]

Just real quick, might as well get the very few positives in.

Firstly, Marinette in her bun. She’s cute and she tried so hard.

Secondly, Jagged. Just… Jagged in general. He is so supportive of Marinette and praises her like she’s his own kid. I enjoy seeing him just about any time he’s on screen because he’s dramatic and emotional about everything.

Thirdly, and this one I say through gritted teeth, but the Adrimi in this episode is nice. I’m going to complain about certain parts later, but I do like how Adrien cares for her, how Tomoe isn’t overly critical, and how we actually see Kagami flustered for once.

Fourthly, Chloe’s face when Kagami’s about to sit down on the cake. She looked like she was in heaven and I snorted really loudly.

Fifthly, Animaestro’s powers are… fine, though I feel like weird visuals don’t work as well on people after the insanity of “Chris Master.” This episode just can’t stand up to that.

Sixthly and finally, I know what it says about Gabriel as a person, but… I’m sorry, I just burst into laughter as he left his lair WHILE STILL HAWK MOTH and then de-transformed in his office before rushing out the door in a panic. Seeing Gabriel in a hurry was hilarious.

And… I think that’s it. Just little moments sprinkled throughout the episode; nothing substantial.

Now, onto what most people probably want to actually see!

[This Movie Doesn’t Move Me]

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Now, I get the slip-up with the fact that this movie obviously couldn’t be made in the time that Ladybug and Chat Noir have been around. I’m all for the idea that the movie started as something else and then had Ladybug and Chat slapped onto it to get more attention.

Would’ve been nice to have that confirmed, but I digress. That’s not my issue here.

My problems lie in two things: one is the movie’s existence in accordance with the timeline, whereas the other lies in the trailer.

This movie existed all the way back in “Sapotis,” but Chloe directly references Queen Bee. This already makes things confusing because the cover on the movie in “Sapotis” is a screenshot of the trailer, so it’s not as if two movies exist that have the same style.

Moving onto the trailer itself, talks about how Ladybug is afraid of cats and how she’s powerless without Chat Noir.

Marinette says that’s not true… adding that she’s not afraid of cats. It’s not “That’s not true, and I’m not afraid of cats either!”, it’s, “That’s not true… I’m not afraid of cats!” which implies that the ‘powerless’ detail is something she doesn’t argue with. The same thing happens later as Ladybug and Chat face off against Animaestro, where Ladybug asks about the line concerning her in-movie fear of cats.

I also have an issue with the fact that Adrien plays Chat Noir if this is how they present the trailer. Obviously, Adrien didn’t know how the trailer was going to turn out, but if Ladybug being “afraid of cats” and “powerless without Chat Noir” (both untrue) are things that are large factors in the movie, Adrien would have every reason to transform into Chat Noir and “subtly” show up to say “hello” and ask for details on the movie so he can comment. It wouldn’t be an issue at all if Adrien made it clear at some point that he didn’t actually like the movie himself or had problems with some of the choices, but that’s not what happens.

It makes one wonder how Adrien really sees Ladybug and their partnership, especially when he doesn’t take Ladybug’s side and agrees with Animaestro immediately about slamming the trailer before the movie’s out, possibly implying that he likes the movie.

[Trip Her to Shreds]

It feels like just yesterday when I’d salted about Tom and Sabine in “Weredad,” but here we go again.

Alright, so… Marinette’s parents. It’s revealed in this episode that they’re strangely aware of her clumsiness and are nervous around her for basically the whole episode.

I get that to an extent, but I do not approve of how they handle it in the episode. I mean, just for starters, there’s the fact that Marinette isn’t clumsy on her own, or it’s at least very rarely clumsy on her own. It’s when she’s panicking or feeling very emotional that causes her to slip up. When she’s determined and paying attention, she does pretty well.

There’s no reason for them to be worried about her. The worst that’s happened is in “Origins” where it was shown how unlucky Marinette could be, but that’s not something that’s on Marinette; that’s the universe being against her, which she should never be judged for.

Even though Marinette implies that she’s going to the event for Adrien, Tom and Sabine have never seen her being clumsy around him; at best, she stammers. Later on, they worry when Marinette has him in her sights, but they were concerned even before that, so this isn’t completely about Adrien.

This is the big problem with Tom and Sabine being more hands-off than they appear on the outside. If Marinette being “clumsy” is such a big issue, then what have they done to fix it? If she’s been clumsy for so long, did it just not matter to them until she actually wanted to help with something? If they were ever worried about her being hurt by her own clumsiness, they would’ve tried handling this a long time ago, so this is only out of concern that Marinette will drop the macaroons.

And there were legitimate reasons for them to be concerned that weren’t related to Marinette herself! Rather than Marinette being clumsy, they could be concerned about the number of people. They’re sending their 14-year-old daughter out into a crowd they don’t know where a lot of people could bump into her due to simply not seeing her (she’s a fairly small girl, after all). It didn’t have to be that Marinette is “clumsy,” but rather that she’s a petite girl who could easily be knocked around and drop her macaroons thanks to people who aren’t paying attention.

This is also one of the few episodes where Marinette is clumsy on her own without the emotion behind it. She trips over nothing when she’s just trying to carry a(n admittedly large) tray of macaroons.

And, just like “Weredad,” her parents only go halfway to supporting her. Marinette is clearly affected by her parents looking doubtful of her abilities, but instead of putting full faith in her, they constantly act like Marinette is going to trip and accidentally throw a tray of macaroons in someone’s face.

Heck, they almost send her out with an empty tray. When Tom is teaching her how to hold a tray (a clear sign of him being overbearing and nervous since Marinette isn’t five years old; she knows how to hold a tray), Marinette points out that there aren’t any macaroons on the tray. Instead of being neutral or assuring her that they just wanted her to get an idea of how the tray feels in her hands, they act suspiciously nervous and evasive. That’s a blatant sign that they were hoping she hadn’t noticed, or they would’ve answered normally.

Also, for parents who seem so worried about their daughter, they sure set her up to fail. All Marinette did was point out that there weren’t any macaroons, so in response, they give her many. Marinette is given a nine-layer tower of macaroons, which could’ve made sense if Marinette had insisted on that many so she could prove herself, but that’s not what she did. Her parents just give her tons of macaroons, which Marinette is clearly unnerved by, but they don’t notice.

They even consider Marinette dropping 95% of the macaroons as “so far so good” after Marinette had talked to Jagged and returned to them for more macaroons. How little faith do they have in their daughter, really? It’s as if they were expecting her to drop each and every one of them, so anything less than that is treated as perfection.

And the narrative puts Tom and Sabine in the right. It has Marinette trip over herself, constantly needing to regain her balance, and purposefully gave her way too many macaroons. This is as close to Ladybug’s curse in “Reverser” that Marinette has ever been. The plot can’t have Tom and Sabine fawn over Marinette trying to “spread her wings” right after they were forcing a grin and assuring Marinette that they’d give her macaroons when she’s “ready” (what does that even mean?).

To take it a step further, “Rogercop” is actually a good parallel here. In that one, Tom had Marinette stand with a tray of croissants, seeming to fully and completely trust her in handing them out. Then, Marinette slips, sending the croissants everywhere.

Tom never helped her afterward, by the way, only interfering once Chloe accuses Marinette of being a thief. With my earlier point about how Marinette’s supposed clumsiness was only a problem when she had to do something for them, it seems like Tom and Sabine believe that physical pain is something that Marinette isn’t affected by.

Anyway, we can presume that “Rogercop” takes place before “Animaestro,” but that does not put Tom in a good light with how this would lead into it.

When Marinette was passing croissants around, Tom must’ve been watching her, since he’d already stepped away from the front of the class. With the way Marinette slipped backwards, it implies that something came out from underneath her. Presumably, Tom told Sabine about this incident and that’s what causes their nervousness in “Animaestro.”

But that’s the thing. Tom either presumed she slipped on nothing (which is a really pessimistic way to view his own daughter), or he believed that something was in her way in the middle of the stairs. If it’s the latter, it’s not Marinette’s fault. Marinette couldn’t be expected to look where she was going while carrying a massive tray of croissants; she could only walk safely and in the logical middle of her path to prevent any accidents.

So yes, their worry could very well come from somewhere, but that was a one-time thing and also not Marinette’s fault. Even if taking “Troublemaker” into consideration, that was when Marinette was on live TV and simultaneously having a case of bad luck. She had every reason to be nervous.

There’s just no support here. When Marinette insists that she’s ready while looking very confident, Tom and Sabine sigh in defeat, clearly reluctant to give her a tray of macaroons yet doing it anyway.

I’m starting to think any self-esteem issues that Marinette had pre-“Origins” wasn’t only because of Chloe.

[Who-ka Couffaine]

So… I’m not denying that there couldn’t be more episodes down the line that have Luka in them, but we’re a bit of a ways into the season and Luka has yet to show up. I’m pointing it out here because this would’ve been an opportunity for Luka and Marinette to interact. Marinette doesn’t have many people to talk to at the event and this would’ve been an amazing opportunity to get Tom, Sabine, and Chloe to meet and react to Luka for the first time.

Does Chloe hate Luka because he’s friends with Marinette? Do Tom and Sabine see the potential he has as Marinette’s love interest?

Luka plays an important role in the show because he’s the only one who’s been an actually good support system at making Marinette feel better. Everyone else has relatively poor records.

Is he absent due to Jagged Stone, because Luka is a fan of Jagged Stone and their meeting is in a later episode? It’s possible, but it would’ve been just as easy for Jagged to not be there since his role in the episode is to be part of the scheme (which wouldn’t be happening had Luka been there).

My point is, Kagami has shown up twice this season just so Marinette can panic and be miserable, but Luka isn’t there because the writers thought that the Marinette and Chloe team-up was more important.

Speaking of which…

[The Scheme Team]

Marinette and Chloe teaming up is not inherently a bad idea; I just think its execution is bad. When one thinks of team-ups between two rivals/enemies, they usually think about them declaring a truce to fight a common evil.

Kagami is not evil. If they were fighting against someone like Lila, that would be a different story, but they’re not.

This also means that the most prominent and influential females right now (because Alya has largely faded into the background) are ALL competing to get to Adrien.

Marinette, Chloe, Lila, and Kagami.

It’s not just lazy. It’s boring. It starts feeling less like these characters can have lives outside of Adrien and more like not even two of them can like each other while still liking Adrien.

And, to some degree (and being as generous/neutral as possible), I do understand the possible reasoning of both Marinette and Kagami in this episode.

Chloe is just Chloe, so she doesn’t need an explanation. “Stormy Weather 2” and “Catalyst” already confirmed that she’s still nasty regardless of if it’s post-“Malediktator” or not, so we’ll presume that it is since Adrien is wearing his outfit (minus Marinette’s hat; I feel like that’s a metaphor for something) from “Queen’s Battle.”

Kagami doesn’t know Marinette beyond the small things she’s seen and the fact that Adrien has talked about her. Kagami knows that Adrien is a pushover, so she’ll likely disregard what Adrien has said if what she’s seen disproves it. From “Frozer,” Kagami would see Marinette as someone who’s torn between Luka and Adrien. Since it’s implied that Kagami thinks that Adrien loves Marientte, perhaps she also thinks that Marinette’s hesitation is what’s keeping them from being together, hence her bluntness when talking to Marinette in the same episode. She might not like Marinette, but may see it as a challenge in romance.

In terms of her being “spiteful” towards Chloe and Marinette, I also understand it. Kagami saw both of them glaring at her and was likely trying to show that she won’t back down off of Adrien regardless of what they think. She’s giving them a message that, if they want Adrien, they’ll have to try harder.

In addition, Kagami glaring at Marinette in “Backwarder” and this episode makes sense from a standpoint of how Kagami may view “hesitation.” Marinette might be trying, but she still can’t say her feelings out loud. She keeps giving Adrien things instead of being upfront (a letter in “Backwarder” and a macaroon here), which Kagami could view as a waste of time.

As for Marinette… well, if this takes place after “Frozer,” then yes, it seems extremely odd for Marinette to suddenly seem to dislike Kagami, but from what the narrative has shown, I can understand her as well.

Marinette may have called Kagami the “Ice Queen,” but unless episodes are just that out-of-order, she must only know from word-of-mouth, as the Kagami in “Riposte” is pleasant toward Adrien. Thus, she was willing to let Kagami and Adrien have their moment of romance at the ice rink.

With Kagami’s directness in “Frozer,” however, Marinette may feel that Kagami is aggressive; perhaps too aggressive for Adrien. She wanted closure with her crush on Adrien, hence why she changed her mind, and “Backwarder” also intensified her panic over the matter. She seems to understand that Adrien and Kagami are not a couple yet, but that things will be too awkward if she doesn’t confess before they do.

Even if this takes place before “Frozer,” Marinette would still be left unsure about Kagami since they haven’t interacted and “Backwarder” could just make her paranoid since Kagami clearly has connections that she doesn’t.

And now we come to here, where Marinette makes a comment about Adrien “not knowing what [Kagami] is up to.”

This, I believe, is the fault of the narrative’s feelings toward Chloe and what has happened over the past season. Before Marinette actually starts glaring at Kagami, she’s concerned. It’s only after Chloe has told her story that Marinette changes her tune from concern to annoyance.

The story Chloe tells is very vague, but there are two things Marinette can infer from it.

The first is that Kagami, again, is very blunt and unlike Adrien. She doesn’t threaten Chloe exactly, but her words are strict and aggressive. This could give Marinette reason for concern about Adrien dating Kagami. She doesn’t know if Adrien knows how forward Kagami can be and Marinette has been scolded by the show at times for not being 100% nice, meaning that Kagami’s way of thinking goes against what Marinette has been taught.

The second is that Kagami may have taken Chloe’s seat. Now, Chloe is in no way trustworthy, but this is a very difficult situation from Marinette’s perspective. Adrien could’ve beckoned Kagami over or Kagami could’ve sat down herself, knowing how Chloe is, and we have no evidence that the seat was actually Kagami’s. Chloe could also just be embellishing the story to make herself look good.

The problem is that Marinette has not been treated well by the show in the episodes centering around Chloe’s “redemption.”

“Antibug” scolded her for not listening to Chloe, “Zombizou” told her to be nice to Chloe, and “Malediktator” scolded her for being happy that Chloe wasn’t around, even encouraging her to give Chloe a chance and excuse all bad future actions as “baby steps.”

I believe Marinette would trust Chloe’s word because things did not go well for her when she went against Chloe. She got scolded, people were akumatized, etc.

In addition, Kagami clearly snuggled up to Adrien with the ulterior motive of spiting both Marinette and Chloe. Regardless of how much Kagami enjoys the close contact, Adrien would think that Kagami is doing it out of affection and nothing else. Marinette could view that as something she’s against, much like how Lila has ulterior motives when showing affection towards Adrien.

In that respect, yes, I fully understand why Marinette could be turned against Kagami and lured by Chloe into doing something about it.

…That said, I do not approve of this subplot. Again, the execution is terrible and it takes a lot of thinking and justification to go from Marinette’s behavior in “Frozer” (regardless of chronological order, it aired first and would be remembered) to Marinette’s behavior here. It’s a big leap and just an awful idea when thinking about the natural progression that a series should aim for.

It didn’t have to be this way, because Chloe and Lila are already aggressive enough in their attempts. They’re already not against sabotage and this could’ve even been a Chloe and Lila team-up against Marinette and Kagami if their relationship had been defined in a previous episode.

The writers chose to only show Marinette and Kagami the more negative aspects of one another, which further strengthens this mentality that all four girls crushing on Adrien have to fight for him.

It’s much less of a hassle to call it “out of character” (which it is with all the hedging I had to do to make sense of it) and move on.

[Criticize Me, Captain!]

Episodes that directly address criticisms toward the show they’re in are rarely a good idea. They’re often salt-loaded episodes that try to silence criticism despite still having to be an actual story and not able to take the time out to go into detail. It’s already odd to see one of the people behind the show turned into an actual character, but putting it in an episode that’s self-aware of its audience’s complaints makes things far too obvious.

The actual criticisms being addressed are thankfully very few, but this episode feels specifically made just to do this, and everything else is revolving around that.

Marinette’s Sunday macaroons and Chloe’s distaste of Kagami were only introduced in this episode to mess with the soon-to-be-akumatized person. This isn’t even the first time the show has done this in this season, because Marinette made multiple gifts for Adrien’s future birthdays in “Chris Master” just so Chris could question her on them and force her to come up with a lie. They don’t do it to further Marinette’s character; they do it to move the one-time plot forward.

And Chloe’s distaste of Kagami could certainly come into play in a future episode, but there’s no reason why it couldn’t have been established in that theoretical episode instead. That’s different from something set up for an episode-specific situation and also looks suspicious when added to Marinette’s set-up.

The same goes for the fact that Chloe learns about Marinette’s crush on Adrien. It’s the “Gigantitan” method where it’s something we could’ve already inferred and was likely slipped in just to claim the episode as non-filler.

Heck, this isn’t even the first episode to focus on criticism in some way. “Stormy Weather 2” tried to prove how much characters had “developed” while simultaneously showing how little has actually changed. Chloe was the biggest example of this, just as she’s the biggest example here, still hating Marinette and being a horrible person despite this being post-“Malediktator.”

It’s just not wise to make an episode addressing criticism when the episode itself is very easy to criticize.

[Ani-outro]

There are certain things I can accept for the sake of comedy. I mean, again, I laughed at stuff that Chloe and Gabriel did in this episode. However, that doesn’t mean everything can be explained away as a simple joke or “just for comedy so you’re not supposed to think about it.”

I can’t get over Tom and Sabine treating Marinette like they don’t trust her with a simple task, especially when the episode exaggerates both Marinette’s clumsiness and when she’s clumsy just to prove them right and not make them look like unsupportive parents (they still do).

I can’t get over Chloe being angry at Marinette after “Maledikatator.”

I can’t get over the fact that 75% of what the episode does is just a set up to play up sympathy for the villain-of-the-day, nor can I get over a blatant line about judging a trailer before the actual media comes out.

There’s also one more thing I want to say, and it relates back to Marinette. It’s less about this episode and more about the escalation of Marinette’s attempts to plan ahead with Adrien.

Everything Marinette has done in almost the entire show has been for nothing. Multiples attempts by her have ended in failure because of things outside her control, and Adrien’s mixed signals continued giving her hope that he might feel something for her. More than anything, she wants closure on their relationship. She wants to confess because she wants him to know how she feels.

Marinette is someone who works for what she wants. She has a stronger determination than most people her age and she strives for perfection.

The more the universe snaps back at her, the more desperate Marinette becomes. The more it pushes her, the more she feels she has to do in order to get Adrien’s attention.

When one birthday present didn’t work, she planned multiple presents, likely hoping that he’ll see at least one of them as hers.

When he was shown to like macaroons in the same episode that he danced romantically with her, she started making one that was his favorite flavor, probably on the chance that it would be a reminder of that experience and show that she thought of him.

When her words wouldn’t convey her emotions multiple times, she tried writing her feelings instead.

The show keeps raising the stakes with Marinette’s attempts to get to Adrien’s heart and the only reason I can muster is that Marinette is beyond desperate. She’s fighting back against a narrative that refuses to let her have her moment. Regardless of how healthy it is, Marinette is dedicated to what she wants and is being driven insane by a goal that tries to stop her at every opportunity.

No amounts of compliments from Jagged Stone are going to make her feel better about that.

[iwasbored777]

What are your favorite qualities in Marinette? How about Adrien?

Oh there are tons of qualities I love in these kids! And thank you for this ask because I ended up writing way more than I thought I would.

And please read, this took long to write 😅

Let's start with Marinette:

She's professional - she really puts her duty a as defender of Paris (and the world) first, before her emotions. Even if she messes up and puts her emotions first, she always makes sure to take care of the problem even if that will cost her her happiness - like that time when she didn't take the credit for the beret because the butterfly effect will cause Chat Blanc

Creativity - I relate to that but this is not about me. The fact that she is just a 14-year-old girl who made safe for her diary and a safe for a miracle box and that hat and bunch of other things that she makes are just impossible to believe that a 14-year-old can create this. And she is a good artist too. She has so many talents!

She's so CLEVER - She's one of the smartest characters in fiction. Coming up with those complicated plans every day to protect the world? The big brain moment in Kwamibuster? The big brain moment in Backwarder? Timetagger? Optigami? Dark Owl? Girl deserves way more praise for those. I don't think any other character would come up with such impressive and successful plans. There are smart characters here, I'm not denying it, but the fact that she can do this 24/7, all the time whenever she needs to do deal with a problem, and with all that overthinking and panicking and all she still has a solution up her sleeve. And her solid grades prove that too

Generosity - the scarf moment, all the things she makes for her friends, when she put herself in a difficult situation to help Alix fix her watch in Timebreaker, the beret... She doesn't stop with gifts

She's loving and caring

She's there for others - you know what would I give for a friend like her that would be there for me when I need her and not give up on me and even yell at people who treat me wrong? Plus how she, despite being insecure, still wanted to help Chloé become a better person and all. She gives people around her unconditional love + material possessions. And the best thing is that she doesn't ask for anything in return

Whenever she's defending her friends from abusive/toxic/bad households. Usually people just look the other way but she is helping those kids even though she can't relate to them, she has lovely parents, but she won't let anyone disrespect people she cares about. Even when Kagami failed her she didn't give up on her because she knew she was her only friend. She didn't have to do it but that is Marinette.

How she treats her kwamies and miraculous holders better than Master Fu - actually gives them a miraculous and asks them if they want to join her (she gives them a choice and does that on a safe way and only to people she knows in personal life, unlike Master Fu), she lets her kwamis fly around in her room because she was worried that they might be uncomfortable in the miracle box, how she's standing up for her team and so on...

How she is doing everything to fix the problem once she is aware of it

I love how she's a hopeless romantic with those gifts and planning dates and such. Aren't we all hopeless romantics?

She loves animals - that is a BIG quality in a human because that shows how good of a person someone actually is.

Enthusiasm

Positivity

How much she's grateful to her parents for everything they do for her - there are some selfish kids, but she is grateful for what she has and she never complained to her parents about how what they give her is not enough

She fell in love with Adrien because he is a good person, not because he is a good looking person - the girl has high standards and wants a gentleman, it's every girl's dream

Now with Adrien:

I'm mostly impressed by how he can handle the life in that freakin household without going insane

How he's trying to become a better person than his father

How he wants to help bad people. I like that this is a contrast from Marinette who has trust issues with bad people - he gives them chances until he is 100% sure that he can't help them. Honestly, both approaches are ok but you can't always let others use you. Anyways it's great that he believes he can change them for the better.

He's loving and caring

He wants to understand Ladybug in this season - which is really supportive when you think about it. You know how many friends I lost because they didn't care about my personal problems and no longer wasted their time on me just because I had something else on my mind at the time? And as Cat Walker, he wanted to be a better partner for her without being forced to do so and STILL without knowing what her problem really is

He's a hopeless romantic too! The dates on rooftops and petals and candles and all... He can't live without romance.

He's also animal lover. People who don't love animals don't love humans, remember that.

He makes small gestures for people he cares about - when he gave Marinette the lucky charm bracelet or when he gave Natalie breakfast to cheer her up (he was kicked out by Gabriel but still he was trying)

He's protective of Ladybug/Marinette so much! When he takes the shot for Ladybug or when he tackled Marinette to the ground to save her from akumas or when he transformed in the middle of the street to save Marinette in Chat Blanc... The list is almost endless. He would do anything for the person he loves

He's trying to be a feminist - which is a rare quality in male characters. Women can't love you if you don't respect them. I did mention how many people are not aware of how great that scene in Dearest Family was when he didn't judge Ladybug for eating too much without knowing that Tikki is influencing her, he thought she was just eating too much and he just let her eat without being disgusted. Women are often shamed for eating too much.

He's good at fencing, basketball, modeling and many other different occupations that don't have connection to each other

He's a good student

He's using his manipulation skills for something good - he is a good enough of a manipulator to know that if his friendship with Lila no longer exists, she has nothing else to help her become famous (he doesn't know that Gabriel is friends with Lila too) and he used that "power" to help his friend in trouble. That means he had a lot of other chances to manipulate others for his own use but he didn't

He's moving on from the loss of his mother on a healthy way - he loved her more than anything but he can't turn back the time or idk become a supervillain like some people because he doesn't have her anymore. We all loved and lost. Life goes on even though it's hard and it hurts

His sense of humour is gold

(I think this is it. I might add something else if I remember.)

[ladychandraofthemoone]

Miraculous Pokemon: Kagami Tsurugi’s Team

A mysterious trainer with unknown goals, Kagami also takes part in the Alola Gym challenge in order to prove to others, specifically her mother, who’s part of the Elite Four, that she is capable of doing anything, not because of her mother’s status or that her grandfather was a former swordsman and undefeated Champion of Jotho. She’s skilled in not just battling but sword fighting as well and is determine not to lose to anyone who stands in her way. Rumors about her state that she wields a mysterious pokemon unknown to other people that has a dark past. The gang constantly seems to bump into her and even though she wants to be alone, she’s appears to secretly enjoy their company.

Her starter is a Froakie, a shiny to be precise. Her mother ended up choosing him for her against her decision, Kagami secretly wanting to choose something else but according to her mother, it doesn’t fit with the “traditional” pokemon her family chooses, those that are skilled in battle and used in the past by her relatives like the Oshawott and Charmander lines, including the Froakie line since according to a ancient legend, one of Kagami’s ancestors was said to do the first forms of Bond Phenomenon.  Despite her protests that she wanted to choose the starter she wants, her mother ended up slapping her and angrily told her she’s going to accept him if she likes it or not. The froakie, noticing how scared Kagami was and knowing this was wrong, stepped up to defend her despite being under leveled against her mother’s pokemon. Kagami was shocked that despite being the starter she didn’t want, he showed much care for her well-being and ended up accepting him after defending him, thus becoming her first friend in the process. His name is Katsu, meaning “victory” as Kagami saw him as being victorious for standing up for them and that they would win together. The mysterious ninja aspect of his kind fits with Kagami and that they are the total opposites of Marinette and Chiffon.

Yuki she found as a injured Snorunt while traveling around Mt. Lanakila when she runs away leaves home and ends up in one of Alola’s pther islands by traveling in boat with her trusty starter. She takes it to a Pokemon Center and the Snorunt ends up staying with her, ended up evolving via Dawn Stone that was given to Kagami and is a powerful pokemon despite her beauty. She represents Kagami’s “Ice Queen” status, seeming cold and uncaring about anyone along with pokedex entry but really just wants to friends, hinting Kagami’s lonely childhood and her secretly wanting to make friends but doesn’t really know how. Thus they befriend each other due to understanding each other perfectly and help each other out throughout the challenge. Her name means “snow” matching her typing and her personality.

Mai was found as a Mienfoo training herself in the Martial Valley to overcome any obstacle that stood in her since a stronger pokemon had always defeated her and she constantly challenged them but failed, thus believing that she had to train herself even harder to prove herself to them. Kagami felt that and decided to help her. When she defeated the stronger opponent and proved to others that she was worthy of fighting, she decided to join Kagami since she helped her throughout the entire way. Mai will someday evolve into a Mienshao, matching up with Kagami’s grace and skill of fighting with elegance since it looks like she dancing.

Kagami ended up at Agreste Paradise, a place where Pokemon are being treated for any wounds and as a Pokemon sanctuary. Her mother had always mentioned this place when she was still living with her and decided to visit it when she arrived there but never really had the time. What she found out horrified her when she discovered a secret room with a unknown new kind of Pokemon, she believed being experimented on and presumably mistreated due to it being isolated,locked up and chained despite what she is being told there. She later overhears that this one is not a failure and is close to being a work of perfection. Realizing that they intend to further harm it, she decides to break it free and runs off with it. Now she’s technically wanted but she won’t go down without a fight. She knows what it’s like to not live up to other’s exceptions and wants to try her best to understand what exactly this Pokemon is. For now, she gave it the nickname Ichi after overhearing the employers calling it “Type: Null” and decided to name it since Ichi is the first possible pokemon of his kind to currently be here created by humans. 

A Pawniard decides to join her after witnessing her practicing her sword skills, him wanting to improve as well since he constanlty failed to fight against the Bisharp leader. He is very brave, willing to step up and protect his friends, hence the reason for his name Isamu. He decides to stay with Kagami after training with her. He represent her rigidness and stoic expression as well as her skills at sword fighting. When he evolves into Bisharp, people tend to be wary of him but once one gets to know him, he’s actually friendly despite his sharp appearance similar to Kagami.

Sakura due to pink flowery appearance came to Kagami as a shy Fomantis that just began to follow her around since she protected her from getting picked on by pokemon with the type advantage due to being small and not so powerful since she’s always gathering energy from the sunlight. She and Kagami are both quite young and still learning but when she evolves into a Lurantis, she has no problem using her blades to fight back despite her quiet personality, which is why Kagami has many Pokemon with blade like arms or sharp fighting skills but yet have a elegant look when battling with her swords. 

So this is Kagami’s full team! It’s mostly stated above for why each member was chosen for her.

 Also, please tell me if I got the names wrong and what the proper spelling actually is, I don’t want to come off as rude or impolite. If I did, I’m really sorry and i’ll fix it right away