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ladyofthenoodle · 2 years ago

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oh, look now, there you go with hope again

Adrien Agreste was sitting alone in the cafeteria.

Again.

The sight made Marinette want to pull her own hair out. Hadn’t she publicly stated, as Ladybug, that Adrien Agreste was as much a victim of his father as anyone who had been akumatized? That in the end, he’d shown remorse and helped her? Hadn’t she urged the people of Paris to embrace him, to give him a second chance?

Sure, she hadn’t exactly practiced what she’d preached, but—she’d excused herself as the exception. After all, no one had been more hurt by Chat Noir than Ladybug herself. No one else had felt the sting of betrayal or the sharpness of his claws the way she had.

So she’d told herself it wasn’t her responsibility to extend an olive branch more than she already had. Surely, someone else—someone who didn’t have vivid memories of fighting against a boy meant to be her partner—would step up and be his hero. It wasn’t Marinette’s job.

Except, apparently, it was.

Because he was still eating alone.

If no one else was going to step up, then she had to.

The next day, she marched right up to his table in the cafeteria.

He looked up at her, wide-eyed and frightened.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know this table was taken. Please, let me move my things–just a few seconds, I promise.”

He’d already started packing up by the time Marinette processed what he’d said—and the hunted look in his eyes as he said it.

“Stop!”

Adrien froze, instantly, then raised both hands in the air: the universal sign for ‘I’m unarmed.’

Marinette felt a pang of guilt. Snapping at him like she was apprehending a criminal was not the approach she was going for. So she tried again.

“I mean,” she kept her voice as soft as she could, the way one would approach an injured stray on the street, “you don’t need to move. The table isn’t taken by anyone except you.”

Adrien nodded, his hands lowered slightly, but clearly still on guard for whatever she’d say next. She hated that, but she couldn’t blame him for expecting the worst when a girl he’d never spoken to before arrived at the table.

Still, the idea of him being scared of her—plain-clothed Marinette—felt wrong. He’d never even been scared of Ladybug, though she’d had her fair share of nightmares about him.

“Can I join you?” she asked.

He nodded again, but unlike the relief she expected at her question, his posture remained guarded and tense.

Did he not want company? Is that why he still ate alone?

She found that hard to believe. Chat Noir, even at his worst, had always been gregarious—often trying to make conversation with her even as he attacked her. There’s no way this same boy could be satisfied eating alone every day, with no one to talk to.

He must just not know what to do in this situation—it was common knowledge, after all, that he hadn’t been allowed to go to school before this, not even a fancy private school.

Luckily, Marinette had come prepared with the perfect icebreaker.

So after she took her seat next to him, she pulled it out of the bag: two croissants, baked fresh this morning, and better than any of the baked goods in the cafeteria menu. She put one on his tray.

Adrien eyed it warily.

“It’s for you,” Marinette explained.

“You want me to eat it?” he asked, which she thought was a bit rude, but she supposed Hawkmoth wouldn’t have taken much time to instill his son with proper manners, so she decided to let it slide.

“Yes, I brought it for you.”

He nodded, then picked up his knife and fork like he was preparing for battle. He closed his eyes, breathing in deep, as if he were bracing himself.

Marinette had a hard time pushing back her annoyance at that. Not thanking her was one thing, but acting like her parents’ baking was some kind of chore to eat?

“Just eat it!” She took a bite of her own, for emphasis. “It’s good.”

Adrien set his knife and fork down again, then gingerly picked up the croissant with his fingertips.

Irrationally, Marinette felt her heart racing as he slowly inched it towards his mouth, like it was a design contest and she was watching the judges circle her piece.

Which was stupid, because she wasn’t trying to impress him. She was just trying to be nice. It didn’t matter if he liked it or not.

But by the time his teeth sank into the croissant, she was on the edge of her seat.

He took a bite.

Chewed.

And swallowed.

Then looked at the croissant again, with wide-eyed wonder. Marinette couldn’t stop the smug, satisfied grin from spreading across her face.

Which quickly slid back down at his next words.

“It’s… just a croissant,” he said, and if he hadn’t said it with such awe and reverence, Marinette would’ve chewed him out.

Instead, she was just baffled.

“What else would it be?”

“Nothing,” he said, too quickly. “Of course it’s a croissant, I just—there’s nothing else in it.”

Marinette frowned. “Were you expecting pain au chocolat? It’s a whole different shape.”

“No, of course not, I—” He stopped, then, and looked away, as if he was scared to say more.

And really, this whole exchange had been weird, from the beginning.

“Adrien,” she said slowly, “why were you afraid to eat the croissant?”

Because that’s what it had been, hadn’t it? Not ingratitude. Not snobbishness.

Fear.

He mumbled something into his lap in response. She couldn’t quite make out the full sentence, but what she did hear was chilling: “...last croissant had…. in it…”

Just a croissant. Because he’d expected her to put something in it.

She’d known her classmates avoided him. But she hadn’t realized how bad it was.

When Marinette was 10, their class had gone on a field trip to the zoo—not the one nearby, but the big one, on the outskirts of the city. She’d been so excited that she’d packed her bag filled with everything she could possibly need—snacks, sunscreen, her favorite magazines for the bus ride.

And then she’d been stupid enough to leave her bag unattended for a few minutes.

The memory of squeezing her bottle of sunscreen in the heat of the day and having a dollop of mayonnaise fall into her hand instead had never left her. It hadn’t been the worst prank Chloe had ever pulled, but the scent of mayonnaise that’d been sitting in the sun—sour and rancid—never left her.

She still smelled every bottle she opened now, years later, even ones she knew no one else had touched.

She didn’t know what had been in the last croissant he had been given, but she knew exactly why he’d been wary—why he’d tried to go in with a fork and knife first.

What she didn’t understand was why he’d drop them and eat it with his hands anyway, if that’s what he expected.

“Why did you take a bite if you thought I’d put something in it?”

“Because you told me to,” he whispered.

Marinette blinked, disbelieving. He’d blindly taken a bite, expecting the worst, because she’d told him to? Even at the peak of her victimhood, before she’d learned to stand up and fight back, Marinette had done her best to avoid falling into any traps she could see coming.

“Why?!?” she all but shouted. “Why would you just let someone do that to you?”

His answering smile was brittle. “As long as I’m willing to play the victim, they don’t see me as a villain.”

Marinette’s stomach dropped in horror as he continued—as she realized the true extent of what she’d let Adrien Agreste go through for weeks, while she’d turned the other way and told herself it was someone else’s problem.

“When I first came to school, no one wanted me here. They didn’t feel safe, even though Ladybug assured everyone I was powerless now,” he was looking away, now, voice hollowed out like his insides had been scooped out, “For a while, I was scared they’d make me leave school. But then, they started playing pranks. And after they’d play one, they’d laugh at me, and it hurt at first—it still does, but—one day, I realized, when they laughed and taunted, they didn’t look scared of me anymore. So, I let them. If this is what it takes to stay, for them to feel safe and accept my presence here, I’ll eat whatever they serve me.”

Her insides churned at the thought of him—sitting on the ground, surrounded by the faceless peers laughing, and somehow deciding that was for the best.

“Why would you want to stay, when everyone treats you like that?”

Why would he want to stay, when no one had shown him even an ounce of kindness?

Adrien shrugged. “It’d be the same anywhere, probably. And…”

“And?” she prompted, reaching out to lay her hand on his white knuckles gripping the edge of the table.

He turned a wistful smile to her now. “I’ve always wanted to go to school. To be with other kids and make friends. My parents wouldn’t hear of it—they said it wasn’t safe, that the kids I’d meet at school weren’t worth knowing.”

Something in her heart—some wall that she’d built up after that second battle with Stoneheart—cracked.

“I can’t let him be right,” Adrien confessed, his own voice breaking with the weight of it.

She’d been wrong before, when she’d thought he’d sounded hollowed out. Maybe his father had hollowed him out before, to better fill Chat Noir with Gabriel Agreste’s own darkness, a croissant ruined by something unsavory shoved inside.

But this Adrien wasn’t hollowed out.

He was carved into. And he’d submitted to it, willingly, just for a chance to stay.

Luckily for Adrien, Marinette did two things better than anyone else in Paris: proving Adrien’s father wrong and rebuilding what has been destroyed.

She squeezed his hand, in promise.

“He wasn’t right. We won’t let him be.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculeakless #miraculous fanfic #noodles writes #this is it the post-enemies au!

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gale-gentlepenguin · 5 months ago

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Throwing this in asks instead of a reblog so you can not have it hanging off your post if you don't want it.

Re:Curse on Marinette

It's only a curse because of Marinette's own flaws(which, if acknowledged is excellent for a narrative) See, it's only a curse because just like Gabe she sees Adrien as a special porcelain object, to be handled and admired, but still an object.

Marinette is very *different* from Gabe in execution at the moment, but with the narrative claiming Gabriel really loved him... The parallels grow. Gabriel is just Marinette further down the same path. Yes she gave Adrien back control of himself, but she's got plenty of time to change her mind if she continues down the Gabriel road. 'Adrien needs to be protected' is denying autonomy in silk-wrapped terms.

Will knowing the truth hurt Adrien? Yeah, of course. The healthy thing to do is tell him and then *be there to support him* as he works through his reactions to it.

This is the same Adrien who with care, patience, and kindness supported Marinette through her trauma-recovery in season 5. This guy, this is the one who is 'too fragile'? What does that make her?

This isn't directed at you personally, just addressing the narrative setup broadly and the reads that doesn't seem to quite fathom what they are suggesting.

I understand where you are coming from… but I disagree.

I think it’s less about Marinette viewing Adrien as porcelain and more like

“What person would not have a complete mental break after learning all of this?” Not to mention the potential magical shenanigans that comes into play here.

Marinette, a 14 year old girl is forced into a situation that any individual would find IMMENSELY FUCKED UP. There is no easy way of telling a person that everything they know is a lie and that their existence resulted in the deaths of his parents. Flaws or not.

Not to mention, there are other people that could tell Adrien these facts but don’t have this level of emotional trauma and blackmail to deal with. Such as Nathalie.

Marinette is a victim here. And WILL be receiving all of the blame for s*** completely out of her control.

Now don’t misunderstand. I ABSOLUTELY HATE everything about this. Gabriel is a monster for this. It’s TERRIBLE Writing. (It can be saved if handled correctly, but I have reasonable doubt).

But the one thing I can’t do is blame Marinette. Because there are others that could better handle this, but because she is Ladybug it’s all on her.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #ml spoilers #that’s if they address it #ml critical

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ilikekidsshows · 4 months ago

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What do you think of the argument that Marinette keeps secret to benefit others while Adrien keeps secrets out of selfishness?

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I think Adrien salters are so infected by bad faith criticism that Adrien could sneeze and they would claim he was just trying to get sympathy by faking an illness. Adrien can't do anything without them taking the worst possible interpretation and running with it. I also think that they have Adrien and Marinette confused. Adrien is the abuse victim who has been taught that his feelings don't matter while Marinette is the control freak in pigtails. Adrien lies because he has been taught to lie, while Marinette lies because her biggest fear is feeling uncomfortable for the 10 minutes it would take to explain the truth.

But, let's play a game of pretend. Let's pretend Marinette is a pure saint who only ever lies to bring happiness to others and never for her own gain. It still wouldn't matter. The argument has never been: “did Marinette lie for the right reasons?” It's always been: “did she have a right to lie?” and the answer is, unless you're a victim-blaming ghoul, a resounding “Fuck no!” Marinette’s good intentions don’t actually help any of the people she lies to, because things they have a right to know and that they need to know so that they can make informed decisions are being kept from them, by Marinette. The people defending her can’t even give any reasons for why the “logic” of her lies is sound, because they just make vague comments about the secrecy being “more secure” without giving any examples why Cat Noir knowing the two-man team is now a three-man team, there’s a potential backup Ladybug and who their allies are is such a security risk.

As I said, there is no point in arguing over selfless or selfish lies because that's not what the discussion is about. It's about lying about things the other person has a right to know. Marinette is not entitled to Adrien's personal life, any of the conversations he’s ever had about her or every thought he’s ever had, even if they’re negative thoughts about her, but Adrien, however, is entitled to know what the fuck is happening in the team he’s in. He’s entitled to know his father was a supervillain. And he’s definitely entitled to know that he's a remote control robot and his cousin can now snap him out of existence whenever he wants. Marinette causes problems by lying and no amount of good intentions will fix that. In fact, the good intentions make it worse, because now her victims feel like they have to give her a free pass because “she didn’t mean to hurt anybody”. Maybe people should get mad at her for once and maybe she’d stop being like this. Because Marinette lies constantly over the most inconsequential shit, so it’s not surprising she lies about the actually important shit too.

Because, like, let's not kid ourselves here; Marinette’s lies aren't within spitting distance of selfless. Marinette lies to avoid feeling uncomfortable, because the truth makes her uncomfortable or makes her look bad. This is consistent with her lies as both a hero and a civilian. Her reasons for lying include not wanting to deal with Chloé's reaction to being told she was off the hero team, not wanting to explain to Cat Noir that she isn’t the independent, perfect leader she portrays and actually buckled under the pressure and made Rena a permanent team member to take off some of the load, wanting to sabotage a girl who has a crush on Adrien so that they don't get to spend time together, lying about deleting the most important video Alya had filmed in her career as an amateur journalist so far because she didn't want her to be upset at her, and trying to avoid a preschooler thinking she's cringe. There is no greater good here. If there's a pattern to Marinette's lies, it's not selflessness, it's her fragile ego.

#ml salt #ml fandom salt

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miraculousystuff · 1 month ago

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She The Devil

*Kinda short and the ending was a bit lazy but-*

It was the same as always. Marinette, straining herself over the high road. Lila, spewing her lies. And Alya, lapping it all up like a dog. However, this time Marinette couldn’t resist throwing a nasty little barb at Lila. “I simply can’t go to Mylene’s beach clean up because I have a birthday party with Taylor Swift.” she simpered, and Marinette saw an opening that was too good to refuse. “Like Taylor would invite you. She would rather accept a cigarette butt.” Marinette said, and it wasn’t meant to be heard. But Lila whipped her head around to face her, and soon everyone was glaring at Mari. “How could you say that Marinette? When I’ve been nothing but nice to you?” she whined as fake tears came rolling out. “How could you girl! You made Lila cry!!” Alya hissed, comforting said girl. Meanwhile, Mari just rolled her eyes. “Let’s go with that shall we?” she said.

It all would have been fine. If Adrien hadn’t walked in on them at that exact moment. “Let’s go with what?” he asked innocently. “Marinette is just being a BITCH.” Alya yelled, but Marinette froze. This was the first time Alya had sworn at Marinette, but she had to say, not too surprising. In fact, she was expecting it. What was surprising, to the class at least, was when Adrien spoke up. “Marinette is not a bitch! How could you?” he argued. Lila sobbed even harder. “MY OWN BOYFRIEND DOESN’T BELIEVE ME!” she wailed, and Adrien looked even more furious than he did a second ago. “I’m not your boyfriend, or your friend Lie-la.” he claimed, annoyed. “Are you breaking up with me?” Lila cried, pressuring him to give in. The old Adrien would’ve. Succumbed to peer pressure, and agreed. But he didn’t. Yet, before anymore could be said, the rage called Alya began.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? DID MARINETTE PUT YOU UP TO THIS?” Alya screamed. Adrien was taken aback. “Of course not! I just don’t appreciate someone who claims to be my girlfriend insulting my real girlfriend.” he said, earning a gentle smile from Mari. They had started dating 2 months ago, not that the class noticed. Any trace of tears gone, Lila looked like a gaping fish. Maribrat? With her Adrien? Not going to happen. So she twisted it. “ADRIEN HAVE YOU BEEN CHEATING ON ME WITH THAT BULLY? I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!” Lila screamed once more. But she wasn’t going to blame it on Adrien. No. Her enemy deserved it. How dare she date her boy toy? Before Alya could yell at Adrien, Lila started to speak, while Marinette put on noise-canceling airpods. “It was Marinette! She seduced Adrien! In fact, she threatened me yesterday to stay away from Adrien!” Lila said through sobs. Alya’s fury turned to Marinette, who was still blissfully unaware of the situation that had unfolded.

“HOW COULD YOU!” Alya was in full on frenzy mode. Marinette was sitting at the front with Adrien (part of the reason for Lila’s revenge) and Alya thought she was sneaky as she stomped over to Marinette to kick her in the back. However, as soon as she touched the bluenette, Marinette grabbed her hand and judo-flipped Alya onto the floor. Everyone gasped, including Marinette herself. Alya got up and, before Mari could begin to apologize, tried to punch her, but she easily blocked her attacks. Soon, Alya was once again lying on the floor, a now victorious Marinette on standby. Everybody was shocked. Who knew their Everyday Ladybug could throw a punch? However, now Marinette was angry. “What the actual fuck is wrong wrong with you. All of you. Verbal abuse. Emotional abuse. Physical abuse. You may not be a part of the fight, but you hurt me by standing by, in all this abuse. I wish I was never friends with you. I wish I never met you.” she said, her eyes welling up and threatening to spill as she did so. Adrien put a comforting hand on her shoulder. But Marinette wouldn’t cry. Because she was about to tear the class a new one.

However, the class didn’t seem to get the message. But Marinette was going to put a stop to it, once and for all. Everything started with verbal abuse. Whenever any of her ‘friends’ decided to insult her, she had a response ready that made students cry. Then it was emotional. Anytime they tried pressuring her, or making her stressed, she simply said no. A weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Then physical. The class had taken to trying to trip Marinette, or ram into her shoulder. Emphasis on tried, because half of them are now officially tripping over themselves to get out of Marinette’s way. Infact, most of the class were scared of her at this point. Gone was their Everyday Ladybug. Because they made her walk like an angel. Talk like an angel. But she always knew,

She was the devil.

#Mlb #mlb fandom #mlb fanfic #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfic #lila rossi #alya cesaire #adrienette #one shot #short story #cute #badass marinette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien sugar #adrien agreste #alya salt #song fic kinda

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flightfoot · 9 months ago

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Best Lovesquare-centric Fics And Series That Completed In 2023

So the majority of fics I read include the Lovesquare in some capacity, but I figured people might appreciate a list of great fics that really center around them, particularly romantically.

As with the other lists like this, these fics all come from my previous reclists for ML fics I really liked that finished during 2023. So if you like these, you might want to look through the collection I set up for all these fics.

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home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

Nadja Chamack’s voice greeted Adrien as he sat up straight, wiping his clammy hands on his pants and ignoring the black kwami floating by his shoulder. “—shocked to see our heroine fall in battle today, taking a direct hit from the akuma just as she detransformed. Parisians are torn between blaming Hawk Moth and Cat Walker for their roles in this tragedy, which ultimately revealed the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien turned off the TV and lowered his head as his vision blurred. Written for Ladrien June Day 7: Injured

I adore this fic! Which shouldn’t be a a surprise, it’s no secret that I love Sentiadrien Enemies AU. Adrien’s so worried about Marinette getting hurt, and wishes that he could help keep her safer, could tell her what’s really going on or get rid of the ring or something, but he can’t. Still, he IS able to find clever ways around some of his father’s more problematic orders. Loopholes for the win!

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Patrolling with a friend for Christmas by @seasofsilver

Adrien just wanted to gift his Lady some time off and hang out more with Marinette during the festive season - it didn’t exactly go to plan, but somehow ended up… better?

This was adorable! Chat Noir tries to give Ladybug a break by recruiting Multimouse to replace her on patrols for a bit, and Ladybug returns the favor by recruiting Aspik to replace Chat. Yep, it’s Snekmouse!

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Under the Umbrella by @fruitdragon1a

Almost everyone has a soulmate. What are Adrien and Marinette supposed to do when they meet theirs? ML Secret Santa gift for Mei! Merry Christmas! Thank you to Now Loading and Rewan Demontay for beta reading this fic!

So this is a version of soulmarks I haven’t seen before. Around age six, soulmates get a soulmark that shows what their soulmate is thinking when they first meet them. Though I guess it doesn’t register while transformed, since it only counts for this one when Adrien and Marinette meet as civilians, and not when they first meet as superheroes.

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you don’t even know me at all (but I was made for loving you) by @ladyofthenoodle

They didn’t remember each other. The hospital told them there’d been an accident—brain damage—but Alya had told them the truth, later. Who’d they’d been to each other. What they’d given up, and why. But even with their memories of each other gone, Adrien and Marinette are still inextricably tied together—by law, by their social circles, and by their hearts. And in the apartment they share, there’s only one bed.

Yep, it’s the “there was only one bed” trope XD! I especially love how it was used here, how Adrien and Marinette are strangers now but they had a whole life together, and they pine for each other even without remembering, and how Marinette just can’t believe how in love with her Adrien is even though he doesn’t remember her. I loved the emotional turmoil the two of them went through together in the fic, and the resolution, it’s great!

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Until I Found You by @linnieluna

Working their way up to a settled adulthood, Marinette and Adrien, now 23, gain a reason to believe that they are expecting—way earlier than they ever planned. Still unwed, it evokes a revelation on Adrien’s behalf. Was it time to take the next step forward?

I loved the emotions here, how Adrien and Marinette reacted to the results of the pregnancy test, how complicated their feelings about it were - and how it prompted Adrien to take action. It’s a really sweet fic!

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From school bells to wedding bells by @linnieluna

When the superhero duo takes on another exhausting fight against an akuma, Chat Noir does what he never hesitates to do and takes a hit for his partner. The problem being: neither of them knew what power the akuma possessed. That is… until he is transported into the future. More specifically, to his friend Marinette’s wedding.

Ah I love time travel fics! Older!Marinette’s surprised, Younger!Adrien’s bewildered, and Older!Adrien is off knowing exactly what happened and giving his younger self some subtle heads-up.

It gives Adrien something to look forward to, to cling onto, through bad days in the future at least!

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u + me = love by @xiueryn

Marinette has a massive crush on Adrien. He has a crush on the superhero, Ladybug. When he says the only person he’ll invite as his plus one to an event is Ladybug, Marinette takes her chance to romance him for the night. AU. (a fanboy and fangirl start to date.)

This is just a fun Ladrien story. Ladybug is happy to oblige in Adrien’s fantasies, and no one else believes that he’s actually dating Ladybug.

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Miracoffee by @pauliestorylover

Ever since the last Mr Pigeon attack over nine months ago, Hawkmoth has fallen off the face of the earth, seemingly for good. There’s never been a better chance for an identity reveal—but after keeping her identity a secret for so many years, Marinette feels incredibly nervous about one. When Chat Noir accidentally finds Ladybug working at a café, Alya comes up with a brilliant idea. If Ladybug and Chat Noir interact regularly in a civilian setting, surely they’ll move towards an identity reveal without outside interference?

Adrien Never Goes To Public School Coffee Shop AU here! It’s funny how he clocks Marinette as being Ladybug IMMEDIATELY. And then after discussing it for awhile, decide to make a bit of a game of the identity reveal, having Chat come in on pre-determined days and seeing whether Ladybug can figure out who she is, all while they get to know each other, even if in passing.

Love the other Miraculous heroes making cameos as well, Marinette seems annoyed that Nino cosplaying as Carapace actually doesn’t tip anyone off XD.

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For the Sake of a Ring by @rosie-b

An akuma that transfers people’s consciousnesses into other universes hits Ladybug, sending her into a world where everything is the same… but instead of earrings, she’s wearing a ring on one hand! She’s only just arrived in this universe, but already Plagg seems to have gone missing. It’s up to Marinette to figure out what happened before she’s sent back home! This fic takes place in the future, after Season 5, but it does not contain any leaks or major spoilers. Please keep the comment section spoiler-free, too!

This is really cute, Marinette gets transported into a world where she’s married to Adrien and is really confused as to why and how they got married at sixteen. Adrien’s just an adorable puppy who thinks his wife is the most amazing person in the world!

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His Princess and Her Knight by @seas-of-silver

Adrien, Marinette, Nino and Alya have a group assignment about how the past has shaped them into the people they are today, but they’ll make a discovery that’ll send them searching for answers.

This fic is adorable, Adrien, Marinette, and Nino uncover that they all went to the same preschool together, with Adrien and Marinette immediately latching onto each other, Adrien being the knight to Marinette’s princess, and also making friends with Nino. Sadly he was pulled after two weeks, but it made quite an impression on him.

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A Friendship Not Abandoned (Just Delayed) by @nomolosk

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste first met as tiny little kids, but then Adrien had to move away. When they finally meet again, will they even remember each other, much less become friends again?

Poor Adrien keeps on saying or doing just the wrong thing to give Marinette the impression that he’s a bully like Chloe when he’s not, and he keeps desperately trying to fix it. So a bit of an enemies au in that way, since Marinette doesn’t like him much. He does gradually manage to convince her that he’s a good person though.

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The Mer-Human Race by @rosie-b

Bringing her hand closer to his lips, Adrien tried to plant a kiss on it, but Marinette pulled away before his lips could touch her. “Save it for your girlfriend,” she said teasingly. “Or do you still not have one yet?” Adrien smirked and crossed his arms. “It’s a girl,” he said. “And I know her in real life. That’s all you get. Now, let’s get back to planning, shall we? We have a mermaid to beat.”

Lovely world-building here! Merfolk and humans have had a treaty for a long time, so there’s a tradition where merfolk can challenge humans to a race, and whoever wins gets to ask for a reasonable sort of reward (in Marinette’s case, she wants to be allowed to captain a ship at a younger age than is usually allowed). Alya, Nino, and Adrien are naturally very encouraging towards Marinette, and luckily for her, a nice merman going by the name of Chat Noir shows up and challenges her to a race…

Yeah you can see where this is going XD. It’s fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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A Mousey guest by charliepoet13

Adrien Agreste has finally managed to break away from his father and make his way out into the world. One faithful night, after settling down in his new home, he spots a strange guest.

Adrien X Multimouse fic here! So this is inspired by the Borrowers, with little people the size of mice living amongst ordinary-sized humans, and Marinette got a little careless here XD. But soon finds that Adrien’s friendly and not a threat. It’s adorable and reminds me of the The Littles book series that I read when I was a kid!

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Caught In A Multimouse Trap by @a-flaming-idiot

Adrien was having a rather slow morning. That was until he discovered a tiny superhero trapped in his home and decides to be a bit of a hero even out of his suit.

This was adorable! Adrien does his best to care for the little miniature superhero caught in a mousetrap, bandaging her up as best as he can (thankfully only her tail got caught so it’s more of a phantom pain than an actual injury) and just… it’s really cute.

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do you think I have forgotten about you? by @roseinaugust

Based on the song ‘About You’ by The 1975. Memory Loss. Told in alternating time lines, one leading up to and one dealing with the aftermath of Marinette relinquishing the Miracle Box and the guardianship. Marinette struggles with her life after losing her memory, though there is a persistent voice that calls to her that always seems just out of reach in her memory.

Beautiful memory loss fic here, with seeing Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s relationship before she gave up the Miracle box, juxtaposed with the present day, when Adrien is only a stranger to her. I could really feel how Marinette was struggling with navigating these new circumstances, with her friends seeming to expect her to remember, to be who she was to them, to Adrien especially, before, and her just… not knowing whether she can do that. It’s got a happy ending though, for those who are concerned about that.

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How Marinette Learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Ball by @rosie-b

Hidden from the crowds thronging around the busy fairy portal in Paris’s town square, a fae gate sits at the edge of the forest, locked, rusty, and full of ancient magic. Marinette thinks that this abandoned gate must not work anymore… but one day, a fairy disguised as a black cat steps through it.

Ah, Fantasy Soulmate AUs, my beloved XD. This ain’t the only one of this fic type I’m gonna be recommending. This is just a cute fluff fic without much strife. I love Marinette and Chat Noir being able to be childhood friends via his visits, even if he has to pretend to be her cat whenever he comes over, and I ESPECIALLY adore Alya being his chaperone and quickly becoming friends with Marinette in her own right. It ain’t a complicated plot, but it is a nice and warm fic.

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Stay Weird, Ladybug by @diadraws

Ladybug receives an invitation at the end of a patrol! Contains some of my own headcanons, most notably: MIRACULOUS HOLDERS ARE CREATURES!!! They get actual animal traits when transformed instead of just a costume. My tumblr is diadraws where I elaborate some more on my headcanons which may add some additional context to this fic if you are interested! CONTENT WARNINGS: *major* depictions of panic attacks, discussion of child neglect/abuse, and a minor emetophobia (vomiting) warning towards the end.

I’ve loved the comics and fanart I’ve seen dia create for this AU, with Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s more animalistic designs, so reading a fic set in that AU was a real treat! It’s mostly just a Ladrien sleepover at Adrien’s house, but it’s very nice and cozy, with some good character development of Adrien helping Ladybug with panic attacks she keeps having.

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Our Tales Are Endless (That’s Why I Tell Them) by @joonapeach

Marinette lives a simple life - one surrounded by pretty dresses, fresh macaroons, and the calming view of Paris. It’s a life she thinks she has always fit in. And yet sometimes, when a certain boy comes by her shop with a flower and a new adventurous story, she can’t help but wonder if there’s something else she’s missing.

This was a truly gorgeous story. It’s the classic “Marinette gives up the Miracle Box and loses her memories” storyline, exploring her life two years later. Even though she’s had time to heal and recover, she still feels like she’s missing something, something big. At least Adrien’s stopping by regularly to tell her stories about Ladybug and Chat Noir, even if she doesn’t understand why they resonate with her so well.

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a winter so warm by @rosekasa

winters were hard for even the best of vampires, but at least adrien had marinette to keep him warm with her cuddles. december was going to suck without her. so it was only to be expected to get extra cuddles in before she left, right? (well, not really, considering those heating supplements he was taking, but she didn’t need to know about that).

This one’s mostly just cute cuddly adorableness! It’s basically like all those “Marinette gets the Ladybug trait of needing to cuddle up to someone for warmth”, but with Adrien instead. And of course featuring Marinette being a very talented witch who just wants to help Adrien stay warm when she isn’t there XD.

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The Power of Love by @nedjsmlfavs

In which Ladybug announces that she’s pregnant via her long term boyfriend and Chat Noir is a supportive partner. After all, he can hardly be upset when he’s been dating his Princess for years!

A different take on the show’s tagline (“The Power of Love Always so Strong”) written for Valentine’s day 2023.

This is just a sweet, fluffy fic about Ladybug and Chat Noir finding out they’re having a baby, revealing to each other, getting married, and becoming parents. Gabriel actually tries to do better here, as he does actually care about getting to know his grandchild, and realizes that he can’t undo this timeline without undoing his granddaughter’s existence as well.

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Villainous Matchmaking by @nedjsmlfavs

When Chat Noir is tragically unable to attend an event with Ladybug, the mayor calls in a favor from a designer ‘friend’. Now she’s attending in style, on the arm of the hottest male model in Paris. Which would be fine if it weren’t for one, tiny issue: Paris’ favorite domestic terrorist now knows how Ladybug feels about his son. This leads him to his greatest plan yet, using Ladybug’s extremely obvious crush on Adrien Agreste to akumatize Chat Noir.

A Ladrien/“platonic” Ladynoir fic

This is adorable and hilarious. Gabriel keeps on “accidentally” releasing things which makes it looks like Adrien and Ladybug are a couple in an effort to make Chat Noir jealous, while Adrien and Ladybug ae just over-the-moon about getting to spend time together and finding out that the other person loves them XD.

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Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien discovers something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster.

Marinette was so excited to have her first pet. If only it would stop escaping!

At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor.

(Adrienette Never Met AU)

Funnily enough, this is based on a true story. Specifically, the author’s own experience of having her hamster run out and be found by a neighbor.

Anyway, this is adorable! Marinette and Adrien become smitten with each other extremely quickly, with Marinette’s hamster keeping giving them reasons to talk. Very effective wing-hamster, that one XD.

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Through the Looking Glass by @jheqiawrites

Adrien is a lonely child, cut off from the outside world by his parent's strict rules. But when he discovers a window in his closet and sees a young girl looking back at him like his reflection, maybe he has hope for friendship after all.

Poor Adrien here, he makes a long-time friend (who everyone thinks is an imaginary friend), and has several great years interacting with her as his parents grow more concerned with him not growing out of it... and then Emilie dies, Gabriel orders the window destroyed, Adrien’s put on medication to suppress his “hallucinations” (which also makes him forget Marinette) and he’s just kind of left like that for the next several years, until he’s an adult.

Luckily, while Adrien forgot Marinette, Marinette never forgot him, and he’s not too difficult to track down...

This is some really cute Adrienette, if you want a “forgotten childhood friends-to lovers” Adrienette story, you should check this out!

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Miraculous Conception series by @ladynoirfanao3

Summary of the first story, The Power Of Creation:

Everyone knows that Ladybug's cure fixes everything after the destruction wrought by Shadow Moth's akumatized villains. After an akuma with an unfortunate power leaves Ladybug and Adrien in an awkward position, Marinette has never been happier to simply forget. However, she soon discovers that her miraculous ladybugs have a limitation on their curing ability, a limitation that puts her in a situation she never expected to be in.

So basically, Ladybug and Adrien run into each other just as an akuma makes everyone in the vicinity extremely horny, and when they both start remembering things again, they’re in a pretty... compromising position. But it’s just an akuma so they put it out of their heads, until Marinette discovers she’s pregnant and has to decide what to do about it, whether to keep the pregnancy, tell Adrien she’s Ladybug and is having his baby, what to do with the earrings when she’s too pregnant to be Ladybug, etc.

I really enjoyed it! Just watching Ladybug and Adrien try and navigate the situation, especially with secret identities thrown into the mix.

The main fics in the series are basically the same story, it’s just that the first one is from Marinette’s perspective, while the second one is from Adrien’s. The Power of Creation is rated M while the Power of Destruction is rated E, but for both fics it’s just rated that for a single sex scene that occurs in the fic (with it being the same sex scene in both fics, just told from two different perspectives).

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you made me a hero - reverse crush short stories series by @non-fantasy

This series is just plain fun! Like the title says, it’s a reverse crush AU, so Adrien’s head-over-heels for Marinette, while Ladybug’s smitten with Chat Noir. Which means that Adrien’s constantly trying to woo Marinette while Ladybug’s attempting to have normal conversations with Chat Noir (and failing), and both of them are oblivious to each other’s feelings.

I love the way non-fantasy executes it, with Alya literally carrying around a spray bottle because of how eager Adrien is, and Ladybug being VERY SCARY if you ever lay a finger on Chat Noir (seriously akumas will literally beg for their akumatized object to be broken just to escape her wrath).

Oh, also, Ladybug regularly stops by Adrien’s room so they can both lament how difficult of a time they’re having wooing their crushes, and just have fun together.

There’s a lot of entries in this series - 29 of them in fact - but most of them are pretty short, making it great if you want to devour some quick, cute, hilarious romcom action!

Some stuff does actually change over the course of the series, it’s not just slice-of-life. Like identity reveals, dating, and even Hawkmoth’s defeat, so there’s clear progression and changes in circumstances as well.

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Dreams of You by @chocoluckchipz

Dreams had long been his only escape. Dreams of Ladybug, the girl who had always been there for him.

If only in his dreams. And only while she was also sleeping.

Because with the first rays of sunshine gliding over her skin, with the first fluttering of her eyelashes, from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning, memories of Adrien would vanish from her mind.

She would go on living her life.

He would always be the only one who remembered.

At least until they meet in the real world and fall in love all over again, something that would’ve been easier to do if Adrien wasn't a prisoner in his own home.

Chocoluckchipz has some of the most beautifully executed lovesquare fics I’ve read, and this is no exception. Most of the fic is dedicated to Adrien wooing Marinette, spending time with her, with her own dream self acting as his wingman, giving her tips on how to get her to fall for him, all the while frustrated that she can’t share memories with her waking self, and that she and Adrien can’t share as much information as they’d like while asleep, due to limitations of the “curse” that allows Adrien to share dreams with his soulmate.

It’s not all cute Adrienette fluff though. There’s a threat in the background waiting to erupt, as the weirdness of Gabriel’s ultimatum to Adrien about finding Ladybug or else being forced to marry Lila keeps on gnawing at him - and with good reason. This is a world with magic and kwamis still, and that fact makes itself very relevant in the last third of the story.

It’s a well-written tale and very much worth a read!

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #marichat #ladynoir #ladrien

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wield-the-mighty-pen · 6 months ago

Note

ladynoir 12 for the drabble prompts!

Hey Nicole!

So, you did prompt #12 (also yay! my favorite number!), which ended up corresponding to Love Don't Die by The Fray!

I'll admit, it took me a while to figure out what to do with this one, but I ended up taking the angst route lol

This is a PRPR fic, where Chat Noir and Hawkmoth's identities have been revealed to the public (Ladybug is still unknown though)...

anyways... hope you enjoy!

ao3 link

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Instead I'm Never Leaving You

“LADYBUG! LADYBUG! OVER HERE!” The shouting and blaring lights of overzealous reporters threatened to overwhelm her, but she blinked back spots and stood her ground. She reminded herself why she was here. Why was she standing alone with only the bare vestiges of a whisper of his hand in hers, of his warmth radiating next to hers, a stolen moment taken from only moments ago, but feeling like a lifetime past.

One eager reporter with bright purple hair and a sharp haircut broke from the fold and shoved her microphone underneath Ladybug’s face.

“Ladybug, what do you have to say about the rumors of your partner being Adrien Agreste?”

Ladybug pursed her lips and fought against the building headache in her temple.

“No comment.”

This was not to discourage the enthusiastic reporter, who pushed the microphone even further into Ladybug’s face, its plastic scent was beginning to make her nauseous.

“And what do you have to say about the allegations of famed fashion designer Gabriel Agreste being Hawkmoth, and about the potential implications of Chat Noir being the son of Hawkmoth?”

Forever on the defense for her partner, this time, Ladybug could not hold herself back from speaking.

“The identity of Hawkmoth, regardless of who he is, has no effect on Adrien Agreste, who has never done anything to harm Paris, and it certainly has nothing to do with Chat Noir, who has spent every waking moment defending all of Paris, including myself.” Ladybug could feel her face turning a bright red, as her voice rang clear with righteous fury.

For a moment the crowd around her silenced, until a voice in the crowd, to which she could put no face, piped in.

“Ladybug, don’t you think that we’d be better off without Chat Noir? How could you trust your partner, if these are the kinds of people he spends his time with?”

She was going to be sick.

Surely he had been watching the crowd, surely he knew that they had given voice to the seeds of doubt growing heartily in the back of his mind.

Ladybug looked around helplessly for an exit, then remembered the trusty yo-yo hooked against her side.

“I’m sorry everyone but I have to go.”

With an eager fling, she catapulted herself into the air and made her way to the nearby rooftop that she knew he’d be hiding behind.

It wasn’t fair. With merely a grainy video taken by an invasive fan, which had showcased a side view of what looked to be Adrien’s Agreste’s face, after Chat Noir’s transformation. And had been posted to social media barely two days after the arrest of Hawkmoth suspect #1 Gabriel Agreste, Adrien’s… Chat Noir’s life had been effectively ruined.

She blinked back angry tears for him, knowing that their being spotted would only hurt him more.

When she caught sight of him, he was facing the opposite direction from where the crowd had been, as though he hadn’t caught the entire thing from his hideaway.

He heard her before he saw her.

“What they’re saying is true, you know.”

“Chaton,” She sighed, her shoulders drooping.

“You would be better off to drop me. I mean, who would blame you? I wouldn’t trust me either.”

The ache that settled in her heart became too much for her. Rather than fight against his untrue words, rather than remind him of how much she cared about him, about how much she needed him, she sat down beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

There they sat, with only traffic and wind to harmonize the silence, until Ladybug felt pressure and tenseness ease from Chat Noir’s shoulders, until his head sloped onto hers.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that.” She said quietly, she took his hand and began to draw circles on his knuckles.

He shrugged with feigned nonchalance. “It’s okay.”

Ladybug sat up abruptly and turned herself towards Chat Noir. She grabbed his face in her palms to make sure he could see the earnestness on her face.

“It’s not okay. No partner, no person is as kind, as giving, as loyal and– and as goodhearted as you. You don’t deserve this treatment. What your father did was awful, but it’s not in any way a reflection of you. You– you are the opposite of him in every way, and I’m sure if Alya and Nino were here right now, they’d agree with me.”

Ladybug stroked Chat Noir’s cheekbone in a repetitive motion that managed to catch reluctant tears, haphazardly falling from his weary eyes.

“I know everything in your life is insane right now, that people are confused and have turned you into something you are not. But know this Chaton. I am never leaving you, and I am not going to turn my back on our partnership. Because I know who you are and I will always love you for it. Minou, we will get through this like we get through everything, together.”

Chat Noir finally released a shuddered breath and nuzzled his face into her palm.

“Thank you M’lady.”

“Always Chaton.”

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

Thank you so much for the ask! <3

Request a lovesquare side and a number from my playlist for a drabble!

#mostmagical #i ended up having so much fun with this prompt #while it was interesting for me to experiment with crack #i think i enjoy writing hurt/comfort more #i hope you enjoyed!#miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous #ml #adrien agreste #chat noir #ladybug #ladynoir #my drabbles #drabble #drabble-dee-do #my writing

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theerurishipper · 1 year ago

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Ok I am going to be controversial. If I'm honest, I don’t really understand the desire for Adrien to turn his back on Ladybug at the end of Strikeback. That's partly because I don't completely get what the writers intended Adrien’s struggle to be about in Season 4. I understand what Ladybug did wrong, but my thing is…

Does CN ever actually express to LB why he is upset in Season 4? Does he ever try to reason with her or advocate for himself?

I don’t remember him approaching the real issue until they were under Risk’s influence and he says “maybe that’s because you never tell me anything.” I also remember that overall fallout feeling really muddy throughout the season.

From what I see, Chat Noir’s most valid reason for being upset is because she’s keeping him, her loyal partner, at a distance. She’s not communicating as well to the point that he ends up confused, outside of the plan a few times. He finds out she told someone her identity even though she's always been massively against that. Toward the end, he discovers she’s been working with an active Rena Furtive without making him aware. She said nothing between them would change, but he can sense this new distance and her secrecy. He doesn't quite know what to make of it, but he can't help but feel a bit betrayed. He deserves at least to know things like when a new Ladybug shows up at random or a secret miraculous holder being in the field with them.

So you'd think that would be the clear cut reason, but I'm not sure? The writing gives mixed messages and Adrien brings a lot of his own baggage to the table. The increased neglect and secrecy by Ladybug is one facet , but if we’re being honest about what we were shown, there are some more factors:

The side effects of the guardianship in itself. The nature of the guardianship means Ladybug is now a leader responsible for the kwami and involving many more holders. More holders make defeating Monarch easier and Paris more safe, but it also means less time as a duo and more competition to play on CN’s insecurity. He worried about his being replaced as early as Season 3 with Carapace. His insecurity is exacerbated by her distance, but also by more holders in general. The average person might not have been as upset at getting a "break" for a few rounds, but to Adrien, it's a sign that he is finally being replaced. Even if he knew about Rena Furtive, I’m willing to bet he still would have felt uneasy about her threatening their relationship.

He is in love with her. Kuro Neko’s messaging is all over the place, but Plagg wasn’t completely wrong. Ladybug’s increased distance and secrecy hurts 50 times worse because Chat Noir is in love with her. If he were in love with Marinette instead at that point, he might even enjoy the extra load off and having fun with his friends at school, but he is very much in love with Ladybug. That makes his suffering hit much harder.

He’s upset about Carapace and Rena Rouge knowing each other's identities even though he can’t know Ladybug’s. To be fair, I rate the other holders' identities BS pretty low on my list of things to rage at Ladybug about because after Season 3 when all the heroes were revealed and Ladybug continued to give the same heroes their miraculous while also still being really anxious over identities, it was so nonsensical that I chalked it up to plot convenience rather than Marinette just being this stupid and risky. The show was not about to design new hero models so logic be damned. I don’t blame her for this anymore than I blame Chat Noir for being stupidly bad in battle at random a.k.a nerfed to make Ladybug look better. I also acknowledge the rules for the Ladybug and Cat miraculous hold an elevated risk. If Monarch knows Rena and Carapace identities he maybe has two new miraculous. If he knows Ladybug and Cat’s identities, he has his wish and the world is rewritten.

His father also started neglecting him more after a big change in their lives. He’s projected his relationship with his father onto his relationship with Ladybug as early as Glaciator when she didn’t make it to his date. So possible PTSD.

There are also the reasons that the fandom projects onto Adrien as things he 'should' be upset about, but is never actually upset about and have never had any canon ground:

She’s the leader and the only holder with a cure. They’ve never been exactly equal despite that one line and he’s never had an issue with this on the battlefield. He only wants to know what’s going on. If he does have some leftover resentment at Fu not choosing or training him, his beef is with Fu.

He doesn’t know other holders identities. He’s only ever cared to know Ladybug’s. And this may be controversial opinion, but even if he wanted Ladybug to tell him the other holders’ identities, would he be justified in that? He’s not a guardian. Why is he entitled to demand the guardian hand them over? Especially without their permission?

Her plan with Luka to reveal their identities and erase his memory. This is to me her most egregious offense in season 4 and if he knew about it, it would make the argument against his forgiveness much stronger in my eyes. But he doesn’t. And it becomes obsolete information after the episode.

Even with all these heavy factors, all valid reasons to be upset, the only reason that validates righteous anger from CN’s pov and doesn’t make him look like kind of a tool is her secrecy around Rena Furtive and him discovering her keeping him out of the loop on some need to know info in Hacksan and one or two other eps. Emotionally, it goes much deeper than this for him. But these represent her responsibility in the matter.

The reason I can't see him justified in cutting ties with her in Strikeback though is that... this doesn't come up? He can't say he's tried to communicate with her. Nothing like “you’re keeping things I need to know from me and I don’t like it” or “you said things wouldn’t change between us as partners but you’ve distanced yourself from me. we started this together”. Nothing before Strikeback. I could see if he'd tried to talk about it and she dismissed him and didn’t try to fix things. But there’s no conversation around this in particular.

The weird thing is a lot of the other reasons come up in canon through his voice or someone else’s or both. He’s in love with her. He doesn't know what he'd do without her. All the new partners make him feel insecure and irrelevant. Why can’t we know each others’ identity and they can? In other words, the reasons that make him seem overemotional and self centered. These reasons also all center her or the desire for her love and adoration rather than his feelings as her partner. That’s what’s highlighted in Season 4.

But the actual legit criticism and bone to be picked with Ladybug herself does not come out of his mouth until he is under Risk's influence. Even then, it’s a one-liner. I don’t remember him ever actually trying to touch on the real problem with her prior to that. He either smiles and shrugs it off, even when she asks if he is ok, or he lashes out and runs away. He doesn’t breach the topic and if he doesn’t communicate it, how can they work through it?

Kuro Neko was the perfect opportunity to have Adrien really vent, but the initial argument is a textbook miscommunication. He shows up smiling over his pain and cracking jokes. Therefore she doesn’t realize how upset he is. Then he pushes the subject even though she’s out of time and she snaps at him for not listening. Hurt, he snaps back and runs. Plagg blames it on heartbreak alone. Ladybug takes that bait and laments that there’s nothing she can do but dote on him a bit because hey he’s just heartbroken. She's not responsible for his unrequited love. At the end, he never mentions the legitimate issues and nothing is ever wrapped up. That’s where I start to think, did the writers even mean for him feeling diminished as a ‘partner’ to be a real issue? Did they intend for this to be a lovesick issue from the start?

I don’t think this is just on Ladybug being impossible to talk to because of some vibe she sends out or her making sad face. Chat Noir has been pretty cross with Ladybug before over other less justified matters and she didn’t crumble or smote him. She did throw him in the trash but that took 4 seasons of being calm and reasonable in the face of some behavior that wasn’t always great on his part. He is usually the one supporting her, but she managed not to meltdown while he was struggling in Guilttrip and Reverser and support him. She’s not glass and she’s not his father and I think he knows that on some level. I think his lack of communication is partially his upbringing.

I think a decent percentage of the rage at LB in Season 4 is made more intense and inflated in combination with all those other factors. We as the viewers know Adrien's trauma, how starved for love he is, what little support system he has vs the act he puts on as both Adrien and Chat Noir. We know too the meta fact that the writers never allowed CN the dignity to be rightfully upset about it or voice his most valid displeasure at anytime except when he was under the influence of a villain.

Taking the show at surface level, I can see him forgiving her. I just wished they had talked about it. Adrien isn't helpless in the face of Ladybug. He's faced Gabriel. He went to school and told him he didn't want to model and opened up about feeling like his father never wants to talk to him. so I know he can be more honest with Ladybug without a villain spell. The only reason I can think of it never reaching that point is because the writers didn't want it to. Not only do I think that he would have expressed himself well and honestly enough if given the moment, but I think there’s a good chance Ladybug would have tried to fix things if she actually knew what he was upset about and didn't reduce it to 'he's in love with me.' Which I can't completely blame her for. She had help from both Plagg and Adrien.

I really miss early Adrien anyhow. He took a lot more flack then because he messed up more because he actually had a personality that allowed him to disagree and have sassy moments. Sometimes he was right, sometimes wrong, but at least he felt more layered.

Whew, this is a long ask! I'll take this part by part.

The thing is, I don't want him to turn his back on Ladybug in Strikeback. I've said before that I love that scene. What spoils is for me is that the conflict is never addressed after that episode, and it just makes it come off as Chat Noir pushing away his hurt to be there for Ladybug once more. Like he just accepted that he'll be treated in ways he doesn't like. The scene in isolation is one of my favorites, but it's how the aftermath was dealt with that makes it bad.

Does CN ever actually express to LB why he is upset in Season 4? Does he ever try to reason with her or advocate for himself? I don’t remember him approaching the real issue until they were under Risk’s influence and he says “maybe that’s because you never tell me anything.�� I also remember that overall fallout feeling really muddy throughout the season.

You're partially right. He doesn't really try to actually talk with her until Risk/Strikeback. And part of this is because of his own trauma. But the other part of it is also because Ladybug has also become more and more unapproachable over the course of the season. When he does try to approach her in some way, he gets shut down.

You're pretty spot on about the other reasons for why he feels the way he does.

There are also the reasons that the fandom projects onto Adrien as things he 'should' be upset about, but is never actually upset about and have never had any canon ground: She’s the leader and the only holder with a cure. They’ve never been exactly equal despite that one line and he’s never had an issue with this on the battlefield. He only wants to know what’s going on. If he does have some leftover resentment at Fu not choosing or training him, his beef is with Fu.

I agree that any resentment he feels for Fu not training him isn't Marinette's fault.

This is getting long, so I'll put the rest of it under the cut.

So, he isn't entitled to their identities. I personally think he would have been justified in wanting to know before Season 4, but it's not really that way anymore. But in any case, that isn't the issue. The issue is Ladybug playing loose and fast with the rules, allowing others to know their identities and even revealing her own identity to someone else while making sure that Chat Noir sticks to the rules. He has a right to be upset about that.

The point is that it shouldn't have become obsolete. She was going to do something awful to him. I don't think it should have been thrown aside. He should know about it. She's shown that she's willing to take advantage of his trust and she never actually learnt any lesson about not doing that or that it was wrong. He's entitled to information about her actions that could potentially have harmed him. That's something she should admit to.

I think the reason for this is clear in your own next paragraph. I will say again that him cutting ties with her in Strikeback is not something that I want.

And that's exactly it. The season spends so many episodes building up this conflict between them, building up Ladybug's secret keeping and Chat Noir's increasing resentment and insecurity over the fact, and then... reduces it to him being in love with her. There are plenty of valid reasons for him to be angry with her, but Kuro Neko, the episode where the Ladynoir conflict is supposedly at an end, tells us that the reason for all this is because "Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug." I call BS.

It's a severe flaw in the writing. They reduce the conflict down to being about Chat Noir being in love with Ladybug while brushing over everything else that was set up. Him being in love with her may have been a slight factor, but it was never the main problem. If he hadn't been in love with her, he would still have the right to be pissed. Reducing it down to him being in love with her reduces the whole conflict, and Kuro Neko actually ends with Adrien saying he was too sensitive (which is Gabe rhetoric) and him apologizing to her as though she did nothing wrong at all. Kuro Neko is just... a fucking awful episode.

And I think you've hit the nail right on the head. This is exactly the problem with Kuro Neko and Season 4 as a whole.

I do sort of disagree with Ladybug being approachable. I think Glaciator 2 did do some damage. See, it's always been their dynamic to banter and for Chat Noir to flirt. Ladybug herself has enjoyed their banter and has responded to his flirtatious comments with nothing more than a small roll of her eyes. When he does it at the wrong time, she tells him to cut it out and he does. Considering that, throwing him a trashcan is unnecessarily overblown. That's way out of line. It's clearly because she's stressed out and annoyed about the situation and because of everything else going on, but him never bringing up anything so as to not upset her is a pretty reasonable interpretation after that. And it does happen again in Kuro Neko. He offers to help, she snaps at him.

The situations with Guilttrip and others like it were when it wasn't about Ladybug. She is supportive of him and she does care for him, but it's always when it's not about her. When it is about her, she never actually puts in the effort to fix the problem and just smooths over the situation (Kuro Neko, Strikeback). Of course, a lot of his lack of communication is due to his upbringing, but Ladybug is also visibly more unapproachable now.

But mostly, he's just written to undermine himself. Ladybug isn’t the only voice box for the writers. Adrien is too. Everyone in the show works to serve a particular narrative so it’s no wonder that his most valid complaint against Ladybug in Season 4 was buried under all of the less noble ones, even from his own lips. He needed Risk just to confront her on the part she was actually responsible for. Odd choice. I guess he wouldn’t have been the perfect boyfriend if he did it without Risk? I think a decent percentage of the rage at LB in Season 4 is made more intense and inflated in combination with all those other factors. We as the viewers know Adrien's trauma, how starved for love he is, what little support system he has vs the act he puts on as both Adrien and Chat Noir. We know too the meta fact that the writers never allowed CN the dignity to be rightfully upset about it or voice his most valid displeasure at anytime except when he was under the influence of a villain.

Spot on.

Spot on again.

Maybe that’s just me being wishful about the blorbos, but my early season blorbos are better than their later season counterparts. The latter just seem like shills for a plot that doesn't match them. I really miss early Adrien anyhow. He took a lot more flack then because he messed up more because he actually had a personality that allowed him to disagree and have sassy moments. Sometimes he was right, sometimes wrong, but at least he felt more layered.

I will say that Miraculous trying to make the switch from a monster-of-the-week type of show to having an overarching plot was an ambitious choice, but it did not work out well, for reasons you've mentioned here.

I will also say, when I criticize Marinette, it isn't often Marinette herself that I criticize but the writing around her. The sort of writing that involves other characters bending over so that she doesn't look bad, or Adrien being reduced to her emotional support partner who doesn't demand a thing from her. That's ultimately what Season 4 had him learn, that he isn't and never will be her equal and that he should just be okay with whatever she does. And since Adrien character is that of the abuse victim who has never been allowed to be his own person, it just paints a very nasty picture. So, I think we do largely agree on many things, anon.

Thank you for your ask!

#ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt #Marinette Salt #Ladybug Salt #Meta #My meta #Asks #Ladynoir conflict

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canonmisogynyvictimstournament · 1 year ago

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PROPAGANDA

CHLOE BOURGEOIS (MIRACULOUS LADYBUG) (CW: Child Abuse)

1.) Girl was done so dirty… She was starting to develop and could’ve had a redemption arc and then they made her even more one-dimensional than she was at the start, dumbed her down, and the creator on twitter claimed she was never abused and that she never cared about her childhood friend, only his status. And in a scene that thankfully got cut by editors, her father was going to disown her, adopt her sister instead (who is like a “nicer” replacement for her) and pass Chloe onto her abusive mother.

And then a male character gets introduced who is also at first an antagonist with a backstory that gets revealed later, also a childhood friend of the same character, but it’s acknowledged that he got abused by his parent and he gets a redemption arc and a romantic subplot and a spot on the hero team (which Chloe was excluded from because she was irresponsible with her power and revealed her identity publicly… Except he also did that)

This show is about girl power btw.

2.) Chloe was done so fucking dirty. So basically, the creator of the show (Thomas Astruc) created the character in the first place as a stand-in for his childhood bully (red flag no.1) Because of this, any development that she as a character got from the other writers (and it was a lot) got retconned, just because he hated her. Other, objectively much more evil, (male) characters (the main villain!) were portrayed as more sympathetic than her, because god forbid a hurt, abused, emotionally immature, unloved little girl be portrayed as anything other than an unlovable, unforgiveable unchangeable demon. Also she’s obsessed with clothes, shoes and handbags, because she’s a mean girl, don’t you see, so obviously the nice girls (who don’t wear makeup while Chloe does) are better than her.

3.) Stuck up spoiled rich girl is treated as worse than the actual villains of the show. At some point we get a glimpse into her awful traumatizing home life and she starts to be redeemed, but the second something doesn’t go her way she backslides and is suddenly even more evil and dumb. Also her father is incredibly neglectful but it’s portrayed as her somehow abusing him into doing what she wants and he’s so sad about his awful evil daughter. He gets a redemption arc but never actually becomes a better father. She’s seen as unfixable.

CHI-CHI (DRAGON BALL)

1.) okay so to start at the beginning, she was introduced as a young kid but they put her in a super revealing bikini styled outfit. pretty sure it was supposed to be armor too, so besides just being a disgusting design choice even in-universe it’s impractical. but besides that she was pretty charming as a kid, she was cute and funny and pretty tough, and had a cool gimmick in her blade/ laser helmet. even when she reappeared in late Dragon Ball, she was a bit abrasive but was overall rational and kind. she was strong enough to make it into the World Martial Arts Tournament, one of only 16 to qualify.

but come Dragon Ball Z and on, she’s reduced to just a shrill, nagging, aggressive wife and mother. all she gets to do is cook, worry, and berate her husband and sons. her physical strength is only used so she can comically hit Goku. sure its played for laughs, but he’s shown to be afraid of her. I only recall her leaving her house once or twice in DBZ. just the worst mother character stereotype, with nothing left to make her likeable. she’s portrayed as irrational but despite her aggressiveness, half the time her wants are completely reasonable. can’t blame a woman for not wanting her husband to die every other day!! her writing us ass but I still love her and she deserves better!!!

2.) So in Dragon Ball she wasn’t the BEST character to start out with. Toriyama hasn’t ever been the best at writing women or not making stupid fucking sex jokes about them. So she had to deal with that. The outfit she wore as a kid was… NOT GREAT. Let’s say that! Then in late Dragon Ball her entire character revolves around Goku and trying to marry him, which she gets by tricking Goku and getting beaten by Goku in a tournament in one hit. Not off to a great start. Then Z started and Toriyama just… gave her an ENTIRELY NEW new personality, and that new personality was just a stereotype of a tiger mom. Regardless of how correct she might’ve been about letting Gohan fight (and she WAS completely correct, he was 5-6 for a HUGE chunk of Z) the narrative frames her as a hysterical and unreasonable woman nagging at the menfolk and not letting them do things. So naturally people hate her without even considering why she’s upset because the story itself frames her as in-the-wrong. The whole franchise also just forgets that she’s a martial artist and never has her DO ANYTHING.

This is only scratching the surface, there’s a LOT more because the franchise is like 40 years old and we’d be here all day.

3.) GODDDD okay so full disclosure i guess shonen is such an easy pick but like. out of every shonen wife she was and is THE most hated by the narrative and creator (maybe tied with sakura omfg). shes always made out to be a beast, got her fighting skills shafted after she got married, was always played like she was hysterical for worrying about her kid dying in battle, and not to mention the creator actively HATES her. like toriyama just straight up hates writing her. its bad. its really bad. shes just “bitch wife” but for no reason :(

#polls #round 2 #week 3 #new #cw child abuse

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kasienda · 5 months ago

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Celebrity Status - Ch 10: Scandal

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |

Read on Ao3

This chapter was written for @ladrienjune Day 6: Social Media. This is a bit late, a bit rushed, a lot longer than I thought it was going to be and not at all proofread! But I'm super excited to bring this update to you! I had a lot of fun with it.

Chapter 10 - Scandal

Marinette woke up to 26 notifications on her phone.

What the hell had happened?! It couldn’t be anything good with that many notifications. She had texts and messages from pretty much all the girls. Rose alone had sent her eight of the messages, but one name stood out amongst the rest.

Alya:

Are you okay?

Like, seriously! What the hell had happened?! Alya was mad at her, not talking to her at all. And now she was worried?

Marinette eyes swept over the text again and again even when the words blurred.

Alya was talking to her. So whatever this was it had to be terrible. Had someone discovered her identity?

She tore through the other messages looking for context.

Rose:

I’m so sorry Marinette! I can’t believe this is happening. Adrien doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.

Mylene:

If you need anything, even just a shoulder to cry on, let me know.

Rose:

We should have a sleepover tonight!

Juleka:

boys are stupid

Alix:

boys are sooo stupid!!!!

But why? She took in a breath, feeling slightly relieved. If it was to do with Adrien it couldn’t be that bad.

Marinette switched over to a browser and typed in Adrien Agreste.

She sucked in a breath as photos filled her screen. Photos of Adrien and Ladybug. Well, really just one photo over and over again. It was everywhere - on every social media, there were videos, blog posts, and articles from celebrity gossip sites.

No no no! This was bad! This couldn’t be happening! They couldn’t be seen together. She should have broken up with him the first time she tried! She had gotten too comfortable, too careless, and now she had put Adrien’s whole life in danger because she was too selfish to let him go.

Her eyes watered with tears.

What was she going to do? How could she protect him now?

Her mother walked in at that moment with breakfast and tea.

“Marinette? You’re already up? So you’ve seen. Are you okay?”

Oh god. Not them, too! She definitely wasn’t okay, but not for the reasons they all thought.

“I don’t own him,” she said.

Sabine nodded. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

Marinette forced a smile. “I swear I’m okay. Adrien is an absolute sweetheart and yes, I still like him. I can’t blame him for sharing a moment with Ladybug.”

School was just as much of a mess. The girls swirled around her, smothering her with treats and hugs, and she felt almost guilty. She couldn’t ever be mad about Adrien kissing Ladybug, but she couldn’t explain.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette! It’s difficult to compete with a superhero.”

“Guys! This is sweet, but I’m okay. Adrien can kiss who he wants! He doesn’t owe me anything.”

Adrien wasn’t in class, and she hoped that he wasn’t in too much trouble. He had been grounded just for defending her on the Ladyblog. How much trouble would he be in for going viral kissing Ladybug?

Alya walked in, and Marinette froze. She had never responded to Alya’s text! Why hadn’t she responded?

But Alya didn’t seem mad. She walked right up to her, and pulled her into a hug.

Marinette immediately burst into tears. Alya squeezed her harder, rocking her back and forth.

“Shhh… it’s okay,” Alya whispered. “He’s not worth your tears.”

Marinette didn’t bother to argue. She wasn’t crying over Adrien. She hugged Alya back hard. She didn’t deserve this olive branch. Would Alya even be talking to her right now if she knew that Marinette was the one that had kissed Adrien?

Well, of course she would , her brain told her. Because then she’d know you were Ladybug and wouldn’t be pissed about you not showing up to her awards ceremony.

Marinette pulled away. “You didn’t post anything about the kiss on the Ladyblog!”

Alya winced. “I tried. But it all felt so shallow. Not my usual thing. And I just kept thinking of how much you had to be hurting.”

Marinette pressed her lips together, not daring to contradict her.

Marinette smiled. “If anyone could write an nuanced intelligent article on that photo, it would be you.”

Alya grinned. “You think so?”

Marinette nodded enthusiastically. “I know so!”

“We should grab lunch to… you know, talk everything out.”

She winced. She probably needed to get caught out as Ladybug so she could make a statement. The sooner, the better. “I can’t today. Tomorrow?”

Alya nodded. “Sounds good.”

Marinette grinned, feeling positively giddy. Maybe she didn’t need to feel guilty about this particular falsehood. Ladybug had cost her Alya’s friendship, so maybe it was completely fair that Ladybug had also brought her back.

…

Adrien clicked from one article to the next, skimming only the opening paragraph, scrolling past the picture - the picture that he really really liked the first time he saw it before he had time to think about what it meant - and immediately jumped to the comments.

Because this was bad. This was bad on so many levels. His father was going to be pissed, Ladybug was going to have to deal with another scandal, and–

He swallowed the lump in his throat. This was not the time.

–Ladybug was going to actually break up with him.

His gut swirled with feelings he could not put a name to, and he knew he needed to cry, but somehow his eyes remained dry.

He couldn’t focus on any of that right now anyway. He needed to do damage control, and he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know what people were saying. So, he read the comments.

He wasn’t supposed to read the comments.

I can’t believe Ladybug used her position to make out with a supermodel! Talk about shallow. || Right? I always thought she was such a good role model. || I mean, if I had superpowers, I wouldn’t pass up a kiss from Adrien Agreste either. ohmygod! ohmygod! ohmygod! They’re so cute! Why was I never big brained to see this possibility before?! || How dare you! What about Chat Noir?!!! He must be so heartbroken! || Super teen model or super powered boy in catsuit?! I know what I would choose. || Ladybug has two hands! OT3! || If catboy is feeling lonely, my window is open. 💋 || Adrien Agreste is a slut and a homewrecker!

In spite of everything, Adrien found himself laughing.

“Glad someone is having a better morning than I am.”

Adrien whirled around in his seat. “M-morning, Nathalie.” He offered her a guilty smile. “Is it bad?”

Her lips pressed together, but she didn’t say anything. So it was annoying, but not that bad.

“Your father would like to speak with you.”

Adrien slumped, but stood up and trudged down the stairs anyway.

His father didn’t even look at him when he entered the atelier.

“What did I say about getting tangled in Ladybug’s PR problems?” he demanded.

“That you prefer I didn’t?”

“And yet, I woke up this morning to a very upsetting headline.”

“It’s not that bad! It was just a kiss!” Adrien insisted.

“Do you even know Ladybug?”

Adrien’s arm flew to the back of his neck. “Uh… not really? Just in passing.”

His father’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have any influence over Ladybug?”

Adrien swallowed.

Don’t you understand?! He could use you against me, and it would work! I would hand over everything for you.

No one could ever know.

Certainly not his father. He kept his hands carefully at his sides. “I don’t think so?”

“Stand up straight. Stop fidgeting.”

Adrien dropped his hand. “I really was just joking around.”

“Do you have a crush on Ladybug?”

What was with all these questions? Why did his father care? He never had before .

“What’s the big deal?! She’s like a celebrity. Nothing could ever actually come of it. I don’t know her really,” he lied.

“Her celebrity status is precisely why you must be careful! Everything you do is watched. Everything she does is also watched, weighed, and judged.”

Quite unfairly and inaccurately, in Adrien’s opinion.

“If you can bring her in for a meeting, perhaps we could strategize with her on how to best handle the situation.”

“There’s nothing to handle!” Adrien insisted. “She saved me from a monster. I kissed her. It’ll spread everywhere, and then it’ll blow over.”

His father sighed, and then waved his hands in dismissal. “Your bodyguard will be on campus with you in his sight at all times today.”

Adrien winced. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any akumas. But he knew better than to object. Given the situation, he was getting off light. Shockingly light.

It was almost like his father thought there was something to gain from the situation, but Adrien for the life of him, couldn’t see what that could be, and he absolutely wasn’t about to ask.

He stepped outside the mansion and froze. The gate was lined with paparazzi and they all shifted into a burst of motion and clamoring when he came into view.

“Adrien Agreste! What is your relationship with Ladybug?”

“Adrien–”

He slammed his car door closed, cutting off their questions. Nathalie joined them in the front seat. The gate opened, and the car rolled forward slowly, having to wait for the crowd to part.

He let out a sigh when they made it past and onto their usual commute, staring out the window as they drove past the usual buildings and shops.

He tensed again when they arrived at school.

The number of reporters on the sidewalk outside his school was easily double what it had been outside his home.

His bodyguard twisted back from the driver’s seat. He raised his eyebrows, which Adrien understood to be a question asking him what he wanted to do.

He swallowed, and then made himself open the door into the crowd.

He held his hands out in front of his face, gently pushing through the sea of people who shoved microphones and cameras into his face. Nathalie was at his side a few seconds later, shielding him on one side. His bodyguard was behind him. But neither could defend him from the shouted questions that came at him one after another.

“Adrien Agreste–”

“Adrien Agreste! Are you in a relationship with Ladybug?

“Adrien! Do you regularly kiss–”

He spotted Nino and Chloé on the other side of the crowd, at the top of the stairs, and he pushed towards them, recognizing the two as the safe haven they would be.

“Adrien! Ladybug has denied that you and her are in a relationship. Do you have anything else to say?”

Adrien turned toward the asker with a scowl before he could think about it. “Why do you doubt her word?! Is my word somehow more believable?”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“It was harmless fun,” he snapped.

Nathalie grabbed his arm. “Adrien,” she hissed, but he shrugged off her objection, turning to the offending reporter fully. If he was going to get captured in a sound bite, might as well go down in flames. Maybe it would distract from everything Ladybug had to deal with.

“I made a joke about being the damsel in distress and how the damsel always kisses the hero who saves her. We are not in a relationship.” He wasn’t even lying. Ladybug had been very clear on this point. They couldn’t be in a relationship.

“Her? Adrien! Do you use she/her pronouns?”

He knew the question even being asked was going to be a headache for Nathalie, but again, if they would be talking about him, they wouldn’t be talking about Ladybug. Especially if they were dissecting his gender identity and not the kiss.

“I’m comfortable with any pronouns,” he said.

Another burst of camera flashes went off, and the crowd surged forward to capture his words.

Nathalie pushed him away from the crowd, backwards up the stairs. She usually didn’t get so physical. He was probably giving her an extra weeks of work.

“Adrien Agreste! Do you identify as trans?”

“Adrien, do you regret kissing Ladybug?”

“I regret that my actions have caused a distraction from her very important work of defending this city from Hawkmoth.”

“Adrien!” Nathalie shouted, pulling him the rest of the way up the stairs into the school. He didn’t fight her. “Adrien! What were you thinking? You know never to talk to paparazzi!”

He hadn’t been thinking at all. Just like with an akuma, his job was to stay between the attacks and his Lady. He would take every hit he could so she didn’t have to.

“I’m sorry, Nathalie,” he said. He wasn’t, but he did feel bad for making her life harder.

She sighed. “Just go to class. No more unsolicited comments today, okay?”

He nodded.

She left, but his bodyguard was still hulking behind him. And he realized that even once inside the school, everyone was staring at him, whispering to one another.

Kim walked past and whistled at him. “Agreste! You dog! What’s it like to do it with a superhero?”

Adrien sighed. It was going to be a really long day.

…

Marinette was completely over this akuma. It had stolen her away from Alya during their first lunch in forever. The akuma was another Adrien Agreste fan who was particularly enraged with Ladybug for stealing her love.

The level of entitlement some of his fans portrayed was fuel for another soapbox rant. Adrien deserved so much better. And him having to put up with this today was entirely her fault. She had known they couldn’t be seen in public. Why had she ever let things get that far?

Reporters were gathering below the fight, frustratingly unconcerned about the akuma, making her job that much harder.

And Chat Noir was late.

She wanted to scream.

Luckily, Chat showed up minutes later. “Sorry, I had a hard time getting away today.”

She beamed at him. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”

They took care of the akuma quickly after that. She couldn’t have comforted the victim afterwards even if she wanted to, which she didn’t. The reporters surged forward with cameras.

“Ladybug! Ladybug! Are you in a relationship with Adrien Agreste?”

She sighed. Hadn’t she already answered this question? She turned to face the camera anyway. “I am not. When a hot guy offered a kiss in thanks of rescue, I accepted.”

This was going to cause another PR nightmare, she was sure of it. But this was to protect Adrien. And if people thought ladybug was shallow and vapid, so be it. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

Chat was at her side in a second, his hand resting on her shoulder offering comfort.

She smiled at him. He was so awesome. He had to have been hurt by that photo, and yet, here he was always at her side anyway.

The cameras turned to him.

“Chat Noir! What was your reaction to the photo?”

“Ladybug! Are you cheating on Chat Noir!”

He stepped forward, pushing her slightly behind him.

“Yes, it is true that I have feelings for Ladybug. But as she has made clear, she does not reciprocate. My feelings do not entitle me to her attention or favor. Ladybug is her own person, and she has the right to decide who she kisses. She did not cheat on me. We were never together. And I am not qualified to talk about, let alone pass judgment on, her personal relationships. And I shouldn’t have to explain that to you.”

Ladybug found herself blinking back tears. He was so amazing.

He turned back to her. “Patrol later?” he mouthed.

She tensed. That might be a difficult conversation, but she owed him an explanation, especially with the way he had just defended her.

…

When Chat Noir arrived at their usual spot at their usual time, Ladybug was already there waiting. He plopped down next to her in exhaustion. The whole day had been one trying ordeal after the next. It was nice to just sit with her in comfortable silence.

Maybe if he hadn’t been so exhausted, he would have realized faster that she wasn’t comfortable at all. She couldn’t meet his eyes, and she kept fidgeting in place. He realized with a start that she was nervous.

She was nervous about his reaction to the photo of their kiss.

He wanted to laugh. Instead, he beamed at her and broke the silence. “So… you got your guy? Congrats!”

She finally looked at him, but glanced away just as quickly. “You’re not mad?”

He frowned. “LB, I told you to go for it. Why did you think I’d be mad?”

She played with her fingers in her lap, and looked outward at the city, still not at him. “I just would have liked to tell you myself. I imagine seeing it like that had to hurt.”

He shook his head. “I just want you to be happy.”

“Yeah… it would have been nice.”

“Would have been?”

“We screwed up! Someone saw us. And now Hawkmoth knows. Adrien will be watched. I can’t even go visit him anymore. It’s not safe,” she ranted. “So… I have to end it. And publicly pretend that kiss meant nothing.” Her voice broke on the last word. He immediately pulled her into a hug, and she burst into tears.

“I don’t want to end it. I love him,” she sobbed.

“Then don’t,” he urged. “I’m sure Adrien knows the risks. I’m sure he knows you're worth it.”

She laughed through her tears. “He totally would, Chat. He’s like you in that way.”

“But you’re going to end it anyway,” he concluded softly.

“Yeah, maybe it’s selfish, but I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to him because of me.”

She nuzzled into his chest and his hold tightened around her. “I wish I could explain it to him,” she whispered.

He rocked her in place. “I’m sure he understands the situation.”

“It’s still not fair.”

“Life rarely is, LB.” he whispered, fighting back his own tears. He couldn’t let her see him cry. Not as Chat Noir. He couldn’t explain it.

He needn’t have worried. Ladybug was shaking way too hard to notice he was crying too.

...

See you again on Day 25: Breakdown

#ladrienjune2024 #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #ladrien #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #romance #ladrien with marichat tropes #speed write #only write the fun parts #social media #scandal #celebrity status #my own content

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alyjojo · 1 year ago

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Advice to Work on Yourself ⚽️ in July 2023: Cancer

2 Wands - 3 Wands - Ace of Cups rev

Regarding: 4 Cups

You’re not happy with any of your options in love, because you’re still stuck on a particular ex that you haven’t healed from yet. You had a whole plan to get them back, and it hasn’t worked out. You’re still waiting, possibly with someone whose time you’ve been wasting because you’re not as into them as they are you, and you know this. There are two Queens being shown, and Swords could be an air sign but they just feel more like “the ex”. Wands is “the lover”. Doesn’t matter what sign.

In your mind, it’s only a matter of time before you can heal your connection with the past person, with the full intention of leaving your current person. You just wait, and wait, and wait. But the reality is you’re not being conscious about what you do - thus the advice - and you’re not aware of how much you’re hurting your person. Or would. If you don’t like them, leave them. They probably already get a sense that what is between you isn’t as mutual as they hoped. I don’t see the ex coming back, which is making you bitter, but you’re still holding on. Ace of Cups rev, along with advice cards, are the advice in this reading. Just as you and this person have an imbalanced and unrequited love, so do you and your ex. Except now you’re the one doing it, which you may not even realize, showing a need to be aware of your choices and how they affect others. Besides that, Ladybug is a very good omen, there are positive people and situations surrounding you that need more attention, let the past stay in the past. If you love this person you’re with, or don’t, tell them, be authentic ❤️

Animal Oracle: Ladybug 🐞

“This is a time of good fortune and abundance, so be willing to receive all good things in your life.”

This is an auspicious time for you, one that is extraordinarily powerful. You’ll find that everything goes very smoothly with little effort on your part. Your thoughts will be manifesting much more quickly, so be observant and careful about what you’re thinking. If you lapse into thinking about what you lack or what’s missing, remind yourself of all the things you do have for which you’re grateful. Gratitude is the key to continually receiving good fortune, joy, and abundance. Be willing to ask for and graciously receive all that comes your way. If you ask for something and then negate it with insurmountable disbelief, it’ll be like you never asked. Control any habitual negative thought patterns. Ask...and then be open to receive.

Artist Oracle: FILIPPO MARINETTI

- Forward march. Looking backward ensures a broken neck.

- Your art should wage war.

- The only constant will always be contradiction.

Advice:

- Greet Your Friends With Enthusiasm

- Make Conscious Choices

Charms:

Moon & Star 🌙⭐️ on 2 Cups shows illusions, wishes, daydreams, etc., about what could be, not what actually is. It’s playing out destructively when you’re not actually single, dreaming up characteristics of people that aren’t your person, and guarding it or holding it possessively to your chest. Why? It just makes you feel disconnected & confused when you have to wake up.

Owl 🦉 on Ace of Cups rev is wisdom, placing the correct blame in the correct areas, especially regarding your ex, but also including your own. If they were going to come back, wouldn’t they have done this already? What was so great in the first place? Would you really even want them, do you really even know them at all, and why didn’t it work last time? Are either of you the same?

Key 🔑 on Make Conscious Choices shows there is something to learn from psychoanalyzing yourself in this situation, it’s like it’s right there in front of your face and you just haven’t picked up on it yet. It could be…say you did get your ex back…would you just hope that they’re more like this person you have now? 🤔 Is it just what you don’t have? Be honest with yourself.

#cancer tarot reading #advice to work on yourself #july 2023 #cancer #tarot

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jennycalendar · 2 years ago

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was going through my what you make outtake doc and found some more things :)

“You ever heard of interest, kid?” said Xander.

Bella’s eyes lit up. Nora smacked Xander on the back of the head. “Do not teach her about fiscal responsibility!” she said. “She found out about taxes and tried to tax us.”

Bella had found a ladybug. This was the only thing that the children were interested in talking about at breakfast. Nora had very firmly asserted that the ladybug could not be brought to breakfast, to which Bella had responded by attempting to imprison the ladybug in a small rotating sphere of air outside the kitchen. Nora and Jenny had then immediately decided to give Bella a crash course on magical ethics, which Bella was understandably not listening to.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Giles flipped her hand over, lacing their fingers tightly together. “I don’t blame you. No one does.”

“Art might.”

“Well, he might,” said Giles, an incredulous laugh in his voice. “I also might decide to become a burlesque dancer.”

“You have the legs for it.”

“That—” Torn between exasperation and a pleased blush, Giles let go of Jenny’s hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “That is hardly my point. Jenny—”

“—all right,” said Nora loudly, making Jenny and Giles both jump. “This is very clearly a conversation I do not need to be here for.”

“What, no, Nora,” said Giles somewhat desperately, well aware of the fact that, left alone with an emotionally volatile Jenny, there was a non-zero chance that he could do some serious damage.

As if she could tell what he was thinking (which, to be fair, she almost certainly could), Nora patted him on the shoulder and said, “Off with the training wheels, Rupert,” before getting up from the table and leaving the kitchen.

Jenny gave him a small, shaky smile. “Thanks for keeping me in check,” she said.

“I, I actually think I caused the emotional turmoil that inspired you to make a romantic overture,” Giles pointed out, “which doesn’t exactly bode well for—”

Jenny looked very flatly at him and said, “Don’t ruin the mood.”

Art’s eyes widened. “We’d have to cut it short if I ran around?”

“We’d—” Jenny considered. “Okay. Step-by-step, baby. You run around a lot, right?” At Art’s nod, she prompted, “You remember that one time you ran into a door and knocked yourself out?” (“He what?” said Giles. Jenny held up a hand to keep him quiet.) “I had to leave school in the middle of the day and come pick you up to get you ice cream, which was obviously very nice for both of us, but you still couldn’t finish the rest of the school day, right?”

“But that’s school!” Art objected. “If I got hurt, Dad would still stay!”

“If you—” Jenny blew out a breath. “Arty, the point is that we don’t want you to get hurt. And I don’t think you want you to get hurt, either.”

“But I won’t!” Art persisted.

“Ah, yes,” said Giles to the ceiling. “My troublemaking inclinations. Just like I’m so impossibly stubborn.”

“Yes, you are, and you are so not helping right now,” said Jenny through her teeth, whacking Giles’s shoulder.

“I don’t want you to ask me to stay because this is hard for me,” said Jenny, her voice shaking. “Because I—I never really got over you. You have to know that.”

He felt the words—not in his heart, not in his throat, but in the old scar on his back from the crossbow bolt. A sharp stab of pain. A rush of terrified joy.

#fic #never mind the years of wasted time #also there's like half a chapter of buffy and giles at the mall that i STILL need to tighten up and figure out how to post!#someday!!!!

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if-you-give-a-chat-a-cookie · 1 year ago

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What would you think if an evilized villain (maybe a wishmaker-like villain or maybe even a villain that's unrelated to the butterfly miraculous) caused Chloe and Zoe to switch bodies somehow, and nobody fully understands what's going on, so Zoe (in Chloe's body) is taken by Audrey back to New York, despite Zoe desperately trying to explain things. But Chloe enters a fugue state (heavily due to trauma caused by the neglect of her parents) and genuinely thinks she's Zoe, and is even able to recall many of the things Zoe did due to being in Zoe's body. The class thinks “Zoe's” change in behavior is due to the psychological effects of method acting, since “Zoe” is playing Chloe in Astruc's new movie, but they gradually convince “Zoe” to let them help her relearn how to be “herself” again. Meanwhile, in New York, Zoe is trying to get back to Paris, but when she gets there, “Zoe” thinks she’s there to try to hurt Marinette.

Eventually, after listening to “Chloe”, Marinette starts to suspect that “Chloe” might be telling the truth, so she decides that she must test “Chloe” and “Zoe”. She fakes being in danger to see how they react. “Zoe” reacts slightly faster than “Chloe”, so Marinette comes to the conclusion that “Chloe” is lying and that “Chloe” has an evil and manipulative plan. Marinette thinks that “Chloe” must have picked up a few tricks from Lila, because she thinks no version of Chloe could possibly react faster than Zoe when it comes to protecting her. So Audrey takes “Zoe” back to New York again to “correct” her after “Zoe” fails to convince anyone of the truth.

12 years later, “Zoe” gets seriously injured after fighting a villain when Ladybug isn’t around, which causes “Zoe” to not have long to live. Then Ladybug accidentally stumbles upon the truth about “Zoe” while trying to help “Zoe” using magical powers. Ladybug decides that the moral thing to do is to switch Chloe and Zoe back to their original bodies. Once Zoe gets her body back, she blames Chloe for her impending death and for leaving her with 12 years of torment, while Chloe got off scot-free. When Lila gets defeated, Zoe steals the Butterfly Miraculous to get her hands on Ladybug and Catnoir’s miraculouses, hoping to “make things right”. Zoe gets defeated by the heroes (including Chloe) and Ladybug manages to cure Zoe’s injuries.

The angsty potential this has is slightly painful. Chloe will literally lose her sense of identity while also losing out on the one thing she wanted most in the world, which was to go to New York and spend time with her mother, and when she finally gets her wish she’ll still have lost out because everyone thinks she's someone else. Zoe on the other hand loses her friends, her identity, and her reputation. She’ll be all alone because Chloe is a friendless bully who has lost the trust of everyone around her, leaving Zoe ultimately alone to deal with everything that’s going on. It would probably take years before anyone will believe them enough to help them and half of those years spent have probably deeply damaged both of their mental health. With the help of the class Chloe,who is now Zoe, will most likely slightly improve her behavior and become a better person meanwhile, Zoe will spiral downward because of the years of neglect she went through as Chloe, even if she tried to improve her reputation it would probably take years before people felt safe enough to let their guard down around her. But I think the most painful part is that Chloe, who damages Zoe’s body so badly that she probably only has months left to live, still gets to be a hero and still gets to live a full life while Zoe is further damaged by the thought of her untimely death. In this scenario I don’t think ladybug made the right decision in switching them back and should have given them a choice as they had spent 12 years in the others body building their new normal, now while I have no doubt that both girls may have wanted to switch back, Zoe may have been a bit hesitant when seeing the state of her body, and could have benefited from having some time to either have Chloe deal with the consequences or make peace with the fact that her body was damaged and she wouldn’t have much time left. When Zoe becomes the villain I would imagine her as mad at ladybug just as much as Chloe, especially when all of this could have been fixed earlier when both girls were begging for someone to believe them.

There could be an angsty ending where Zoe is healed physically but still mentally damaged and still a villain vowing revenge or is can be a hurt comfort thing where Chloe and Zoe are both forgiven for their mistakes and slowly start to heal their relationship by bonding order this experience starting to form a more sisterly bond. Either way this has incredible potential and I would love to hear more.

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ajwinter-is-a-nerd · 2 years ago

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Le Chat et Le Serpent

Please note that the entirety of this story is a ****TRIGGER WARNING***** - mentions of child abuse, graphic violence, alcohol use, mental health, suicide, suicidal ideation, self-harm - basically a constant blow of pain towards the characters - as well as some "steamy" moments.

Chapter Summary:

This chapter focuses on Marinette's struggle's in the aftermath of the battle.

Chapter 5: Lady, Interrupted

When You're Alone

“Marinette, do you want to visit Adrien again today?” Tikki pleaded, floating over Marinette.

Marinette rolled towards the wall. Last time she went there, she fumbled like an idiot. He had the friends he would need. She was just the group's comedy act.

“Have you seen any Akumas?” Marinette asked bitterly.

“Well, um, no,” Tikki rubbed her hands together to distract herself from Marinette’s icy tone.

“Then just, leave me alone.” Marinette pulled the blanket up further, snagging at the wounds on her finger tips. When Marinette began her isolation, she designed an entire seasonal collection, anything to keep her hands moving. She finally gave up when her blood started to ruin her work.

“You might be able to give him the new sweater you made! I’m sure he’d love that!” Tikki struggled to bring any form of sparkle back into Marinette’s eyes. But she was once again met with the same dull blue eyes circled by purple.

“I know you’re trying to help, Tikki. But there’s just nothing left.”

“I don’t accept that Marinette!” Tikki raised her voice at Marinette. Finally, Marinette’s eyes met her with confusion. At least it was confirmation that she was capable of an expression besides self-loathing.

“I can’t go back to that hospital, Tikki. Adrien’s a reminder that Ladybug failed.”

“You didn’t fail Marinette! Have you seen destruction through the streets? Has the sun blown up?” Tikki paused as if she was going to allow Marinette to answer, but resumed before she could actually formulate a response. “No, it hasn’t! Just because Chat is silent doesn’t make you any less of a Ladybug! The Marinette that I know doesn’t define herself through men! It’s Ladybug and Chat Noir. The Bugettes and Chat Noir. Get up and show the people of Paris you’re still here!”

“What if someone else gets hurt? Because of me?” Tears easily ran along Marinette’s puffed cheeks.

“Everyone gets hurt. Everyone puts their lives at risk when they get behind the wheel of a car, but it helps them get through their day. If a drunk driver went in the oncoming lane and struck a car, would you blame the car that was driven by the teen trying to get home?”

“That’s totally different.”

“You’re right, it is, because the car has an implied additional risk. The only life you truly ever risk, that wouldn’t be ready to be in the line of fire, is yours. The car is not a hero. You are. You protect people everyday. Stop acting like you’re the bullet when you’re the shield!”

“He was the shield! He… he was my shield. And now I don’t know why he won’t come back, why he can’t just talk to me.” Marinette held her Chat Noir plush close.

When the gun was pointed at her, he would never hesitate to jump in the line of fire. He always knew what to say to get her back on her feet. How had she pushed him so far?

And Life is Making You Lonely

The mandarin sun streaked the whisping clouds bubblegum pink as it rose across the silent city. Ladybug’s feet dangled off the edge of the Eiffel Tower as she checked her Ladyphone. It would only be another ten seconds until she checked it again for good measure. She was the only super in the rising sun, yet somehow the only one in the dark.

She had finally been on her way home from the battle the night before when her path had been intercepted by a Sentimonster. Her and Viperion were teaming to take him down. And then, in a matter of seconds, he abruptly left merely saying that something was wrong.

Fortunately, Ladybug had enough experience to take down the beast on her own.

The two men who said they would stand by her, Chat and Luka, had simultaneously gone silent. If they had been Akumatized, they would have undoubtedly come after her earrings. But the only ones moving within the streets of Paris were the rats.

Ladybug told herself that once the sun stood above the Eiffel Tower, she would finally relinquish her wait.

Maybe there was a chance that the battle interfered with cell reception? She thought as she lifted her Ladyphone into the air, knowing full well their Miraculous communications would work under any conditions.

The sun had long set, and Ladybug still hadn’t moved. The city was eerily dark as the prolonged silence deafened the night.

I must be stupid. Why am I just waiting for them? They’re not online at all. They disappeared together with barely a word. This battle was too much for them. They knew it was her fault.

She tried to shake the negative thoughts from her head, they wouldn’t abandon her like that. Chat stood hand in hand, prepared to take on the world with her. There’s no way that he would break communication without a word.

But it wouldn’t be the first time. She continued to reject his advances, maybe the heartbreak mixed with exhaustion had finally caught up to him?

*Beep*

Never in her life had she been so elated to hear a single tone. With an eager ferocity, she opened up the message.

Viperion: Hey, I’m just looking after the Kitty Cat for a bit. He’s feeling under the weather. If anything new comes up let me know.

Ladybug: What? He’s sick? Did he get hurt? Why are you taking care of him?

Viperion: Too many questions you know I can’t answer. Until Chat’s feeling better, I’ll take over any needed patrols.

Ladybug: I want to talk to Plagg. I need to make sure you’re not Akumatized and just trying to reel me in.

No Akuma had actively used their communications before, but Papillion had nowhere near the powers he did now. Marinette was acutely aware that she was merely trying to justify her unease at Chat and Viperion bonding.

*Incoming Call - Viperion*

Plagg had his face pressed against the camera, Viperion’s scales filling the background space. “What do you want Ladybug?”

“Plagg? Is Chat okay?” Her voice trembled, the possibility of Chat being seriously hurt finally seemed real.

“He’s fine, just exhausted, like me!” Plagg shot back. Plagg struggled to control the cataclysmic blots that wanted to soar from behind him. They didn’t know if Adrien was going to make it; and telling Ladybug that Chat was balancing on the edge between life and death would both jeopardise Adrien’s identity and Ladybug’s whole bile-inducing upbeat facade.

“Plagg, I’m just worried about him.” Ladybug’s cheeks reddened.

“Are you? You’ve broken his heart basically every week for the past year. Just let the kid rest.” Plagg spat. He usually had a bit of a bite, but today his fangs were sharpened.

“Plagg,” Viperion sighed behind him.

“No, I’m sick of everyone sucking up to her, like her entire team isn’t heartbroken too.”

Ladybug hung up the phone so that she wouldn’t be subjected to another one of Plagg’s attacks.

You Can Always Go, Downtown

Ladybug sat grinning on the rooftop, mere inches away from Viperion. The entire time they had lapped the city they were met with whooping and applause. People were exhilarated to see their heroes back up.

“I forgot how good this feels,” Ladybug inhaled the chilled evening air.

“It’s pretty amazing, Ladybug. I love being able to hear the sounds of the city coming back to life. The buskers on the corner, the laughter echoing through the windows, you did that.”

Ladybug blushed at his comment, still riding her adrenaline high. “I wish it was like this every night.”

“I don’t,” Viperion said as quickly as he did sweetly. “We need the bad days to remind us how good these days are.”

Ladybug leaned into his shoulder. “Either way, right now, it’s perfect.”

“I’ll accept that,” he wrapped his hand around Marinette to pull her close, then pushed back to his previous position.

Her touch affected him differently than it had before. When Marinette touched him, goosebumps would rise across his skin. Her kisses used to send waves of warmth throughout his body. Now, her presence was just comfortable. Had this denouement happened a couple years earlier, everything could have been different; he will always recognize the love he carries for Marinette. But on this day, her touches merely reminded him of his own longing. Whether Adrien returned his love or not, Adrien’s was the only touch Luka craved.

“Is Chat ever going to come back?”

Viperion couldn’t help but wonder if that comment was directly related to his evident lack of romantic interest. “I really hope so.”

Had she asked him prior to his last visit, his response could have inspired hope within Ladybug. Instead, It was a reflection of his own wishful thinking.

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flightfoot · 8 months ago

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Yeah? Enemies AU are a staple in this fandom.

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home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

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with this ring by @thelibraryloser

She thought “you and me against the world” had sounded like lopsided odds before, when she hadn’t even dreamed “you against me” was a possibility. Or maybe she had dreamed it, but at least in those dreams he’d had cold blue eyes and a stark white mask. The villain she’d fought today had looked at her through her partner’s own bright green eyes. It wasn’t meant to be this way.

Short and sweet Sentiadrien enemies canon divergence fic here! I adored Marinette finding out why her kitty seemed to have “betrayed” her, and the righteous anger on his behalf once she figured out that it wasn’t of his own free will. Her comforting Adrien about it was just… really good. It’s a Hawkmoth Defeat fic too, so the immediate aftermath gets covered as well. Adrien needs a hug.

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Nothing Else Matters by LiquefiedStars

Marinette couldn’t figure out Chat Noir. He was supposed to be her partner, but instead ended up working for Hawk Moth. Still, her heart betrayed her and when a strong connection forms between them, Ladybug goes to Chat looking for answers, finding out more than she bargained for.

Sentiadrien enemies AU fic! He never wanted to fight against her, but Gabriel caught him before he could transform for the first time, and with his father using his Amoks against him, he had no choice.

I like that there’s a solid explanation for why Fu let Adrien keep his Miraculous even though he’s been working against Ladybug, I don’t often see explanations for that that I’m satisfied with.

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call it even by @anna-scribbles and @sha-nwa

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world.

Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir.

(adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

This is one of those fics where Adrien and Marinette are REALLY going through it emotionally, with them starting off with wildly different perceptions of each other when untransformed, and then reckoning with the person they love the most being someone they think of as a villain, with all the betrayal and doubt that involves. Especially with Adrien having been lied to extensively by his father, and not knowing who or what to believe.

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one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

This is a simply phenomenal fic. You get to explore a lot of different perspectives, like Felix, Kagami, Marinette, and Adrien’s, just to name a few, and see their different thought processes and plans and priorities, and how it can cause their plans to collide with each other, even when they all ultimately are aiming for a good outcome for everyone. The characters are pretty complex and can mess up at times, even when they’re doing things (or not doing things, looking at you Luka) with the best of intentions. It was a joy to read and a real nail-biter the whole time, I actually wrote a fic for it halfway through just to resolve some of the tension for myself, One Does Not Love Shadows.

It also features the version of Luka I’ve connected best with to date, as he feels like Luka, but also is a lot more fleshed out, and can make some major errors while simply trying to avoid missteps. It’s helped me get a better handle on a character who I’ve generally had a lot of problems with really understanding.

It is an M-rated fic, though I think Wackus is being overly cautious on that front. There’s no sexual content and I wouldn’t put the violence or gore above a T-rating, so I wouldn’t let the rating scare you off.

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The Great War by icebelle24

'And maybe it’s the past that’s talking, screaming from a crypt Telling me to punish you for things you never did So I justified it'

The unthinkable happens, and suddenly, Chat Noir’s allegiances change. Now Ladybug stands on the opposite side of the battlefield from the boy who was once her partner, left alone to make sense of an impossible situation.

At least she still has Adrien to give her hope. Or maybe things are not entirely as they seem.

I adore Ladynoir enemies au, and this is a good one. The reveal of what’s really going on is pretty great, everything makes sense. I love the pieces of Alya’s POV in this as well, as she’s trying to support Marinette through one of the biggest betrayals that could possibly happen, even while Marinette’s making some frustrating decisions that don’t make much tactical sense. Everyone’s pissed at Chat Noir (now Cat Walker) for apparently siding with Hawk Moth, and the subsequent frustrating inability to make any headway against him, as Ladybug always insists on fighting Cat Walker personally, and letting no one else take part.

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cruel youth by @anyxnka

Two teenagers are chosen to wield miraculouses. Only one becomes a superhero. Weeks later, Ladybug’s lucky charm won’t stop spitting out cats.

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i have found someone (like a nomad finds a home) by @hanaasbananas

After Stoneheart, Gabriel figured out who Chat Noir was, and forced him to work for him, rather than with Ladybug. Years later, Adrien is miserable until one night, he meets Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

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Unstuck by @ominousunflower

Chat Noir, notorious supervillain of Paris, experiences a wardrobe malfunction in the best and worst possible place: Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s balcony. Heart pounding, Chat pins Marinette’s wrists to the balcony. She stares up at him, her blue eyes kaleidoscopic from the lights hanging overhead, her features twisted into a scowl. “Why are you trying to take my Miraculous?” Chat hisses. “Because—you—I—” Marinette splutters, her eyes dipping down below Chat’s face. “Why is your suit unzipped?” “I—well…” Chat sighs. “My zipper got stuck.”

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The Son Of My Enemy by Saccha

Cat Noir never wanted to be a villain, but he doesn’t have a choice. Ladybug wishes she could save him. A reverse love square, villain!Cat Noir AU.

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Stealing Freedom by @rosie-b

Adrien Agreste was a good person. Marinette knew this to be true, of course; she wouldn’t be marrying him if he were some irredeemable villain. No, her fiancé was practically the opposite of evil. He cooed over babies and kittens, literally stopped to smell the roses, and always brought large bouquets of them to dates. He had trouble killing spiders and bugs, begging his partner to take on the task whenever she was around to save him. Adrien was the sweetest person Marinette knew, the most kindhearted, the most forgiving; he was almost too perfect for her sometimes. But now, Marinette knew that the same Adrien who still blushed when his fiancée kissed him was also the well-known terror of Paris, Cat Walker.

Ay guys- question

Have anyone ever done a mlb au, where Ladybug is superhero and Chat Noir is a villain and they have like to enamies to lovers situation ? If yes, can I read it, if no can I do it myself ?

#ml fanfic rec #enemies au

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miraculouscontent · 2 years ago

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Okay, first thing’s first, babe, and I’ll get to your problem-infested ask in a second, but this thing you did? That giant wall of text?

Don’t.

Here’s a little piece of advice: if you’re going to send me something that you clearly haven’t read through all my points on (quite frankly, I don’t even know where you came from), at least make it palatable to the eyes. No one’s going to see that and want to read it because paragraphs exist to make information more easily digestible.

Now, with that said, let’s get into all of the issues with your ask (you best sit down for this one too because there are a lot).

if your friend is attacking someone you and her barely know, with little solid evidence to back up her position, and that person she’s attacking is able to produce some pretty solid evidence that your friend is purposely hurting her

I’ll ignore that “pretty solid evidence” is a laughable phrase to use here for the sake of humoring you, but just know that I would’ve stopped there otherwise.

The first problem in your ask is that this is clearly referring to the episode “Ladybug” with Lila setting Marinette up. Already, you’ve skipped previous episodes, which is a problem in its own right and I’ll address it momentarily.

I have very rarely - if at all - blamed the class for what happens in “Ladybug.” That’s not my issue with this episode and honestly I get more irritated with them for “Chameleon.” I do, however, note things like Marinette being very blatantly set up in “Ladybug.”

There’s no reason for the test answers to still be in Marinette’s backpack after the test is over, as there had been more than enough time to discard it (an investigation that Alya had done properly would also show that Marinette got a mystery call from an unknown person at the time she was at her locker; either that call can be traced back to Lila or Lila used a burner phone, but regardless, that was never mentioned by Alya despite its relevancy). It was also contrived for Bustier (who has previously taken Marinette out of the room to speak with her in “Zombizou” even when she wasn’t in trouble so as to not cause a fuss) just to embarrass Marinette and leave her in the same room so Marinette can blame Lila. The lockers in the school are easily able to be opened by anyone, and Lila was the only one around to “witness” Marinette shoving her down the stairs with no visible injury present and the fact that you would not walk away with barely a leg injury if you were shoved down a flight of stairs. Remember that last one too because it’s going to be important.

then continue disbelieving the girl you don’t know

You keep saying that they don’t know Lila as if it furthers your point. It doesn’t, because presuming that Marinette’s friends know her at all, they would know that Marinette hates liars and lying, which is a commonly known piece of information about her. Marinette has lied and been blinded by the Adrien crush before, yes, and yet she has not gone to such levels of ruining an innocent’s reputation at the time of “Catalyst”(she tries to fact check Lila more than accuse her of lying)+”Chameleon,” the former of which is where Alya accuses her of only hating Lila because of Adrien.

In fact, most of Marinette Adrien-related “crimes” involve Chloe, who is Marinette’s bully and someone that the show has basically described as pure evil, so Marinette being against her makes perfect sense even disregarding Adrien.

Pardon me if I expect Marinette’s friends to believe her over this new girl.

The class do not know that Lila is malicious. She’s a con artist, and she’s good at it.

Remember what I said before about Marinette supposedly shoving Lila down the stairs? Because it’s coming back to bite you right now.

I do not want to hear about Lila being “a good con artist” when the show is constantly and consistently covering for her.

Think back to all of Lila’s lies in “Volpina” that she has yet to own up to, specifically the one where she states that she knows Prince Ali (who Rose knows personally and could’ve asked him about; we see that they have met again in “Guiltrip” and don’t try to tell me that Rose wouldn’t use the opportunity to bond over a supposed shared friend) and that Jagged (who Marinette knows personally and is in repeated contact with, shown by “Troublemaker” and “Gamer 2.0″) wrote a song about her. These two things could’ve come back at any time but the writers explicitly ignore them to protect Lila from being outed.

Next, look at “Chameleon” where Marinette is prevented from outing Lila by Adrien. The fact that this happens heavily implies that Marinette would’ve caught Lila in a proper trap had she not been stopped, which is why the writers had Adrien intervene in the first place. If Lila could’ve been outed so easily had feather boy not stepped in, then no, she’s not a good con artist at all.

Also in “Chameleon,” Marinette would’ve had an easy continuation to go at with her story by saying that she saw Ladybug show up when Lila and Adrien were talking, which is part of the actual truth and even has the bonus of her casually claiming that she’s not Ladybug. Alya or Nino could’ve then asked Adrien if that’s what he saw, leading to Adrien either outright lying to protect Lila or telling the truth and outing himself as someone who’s protecting a liar by not saying anything before, but I guess that would make him out to be a bad person and we know how the writers feel about that. This is a very obvious way of going about it but the writers swerve around it like they’re drifting in a racing game, all so Lila can continue lying with no repercussions.

Also also in “Chameleon,” there are conveniently no cameras around to capture Ladybug supposedly carrying Lila back, despite reporters and regular people whipping out their phones to take pictures of Ladybug normally (like Ladybug carrying Adrien in “Queen Wasp”). The newsreporters just magically disappear even though they’d been recording Ladybug previously at the Eiffel Tower and Ladybug literally circles all the way back to the Eiffel Tower when finishing the fight with Chameleon.

Then there’s the little leg injury in “Ladybug.” Conveniently enough, Lila had a similar fake injury during “Oni-Chan” (which, fun fact, takes place before “Ladybug”) only the firefighter actually, properly looked at her leg and confirmed that she wasn’t hurt at all. Also conveniently, this happened only in front of Chat Noir, who already knew that Lila was full of lies.

They did such a shoddy job in “Ladybug” of actually checking her leg injury that they bandaged her leg over her tights, which shows an obvious negligence. They didn’t even have her remove her tights to properly inspect the wound that doesn’t exist. Had Lila actually hurt herself like a true con artist would (showing real injuries that she’d react to even if you prodded them when she wasn’t paying attention), we wouldn’t be having this discussion. She didn’t even purposefully scuff up her clothes/rip her tights to make it look like she fell (this is a simple and basic texture edit; if they can put a bandage on her, they can edit a texture). Lila also has a motive at this point to go against Marinette even if she hadn’t put the test answers in Marinette’s backpack because Marinette is accusing her of setting her up.

To imply that Marinette would be dumb enough to shove Lila down the stairs in a rage when they were literally on their way to the principal’s office to see which of them was right is dumb in and of itself. To further imply that Marinette (one of the loudest, most emotion-filled people in the school) wouldn’t have yelled or screamed when shoving Lila and no one (neither the staff member nearby and Mr. Damocles in his office) would’ve heard Lila tumbling and screaming while falling down the stairs is even dumber.

Did you ever notice in “Ladybug” that Alya is seen directly interviewing Lila about the expelling situation, but nothing comes out of it? Do you honestly think that Lila would claim anything except “there was no one else around and Marinette definitely pushed me, there’s no other possibility” (y’know, after getting her expelled and having her entire goal be to turn everyone against Marinette)? This is a genuine question, because if not, then it does in fact become a situation of “either Lila is lying after all - because she can’t be this certain if it didn’t happen otherwise - or my best friend actually shoved her,” but Alya’s faith is never challenged. Hell, despite Marinette and Sabine getting akumatized to find “the truth,” Alya not being akumatized is used as a sign that she believes in Marinette rather than she can’t pick a side/wasn’t upset enough about the accusations to get akumatized herself (I refuse to believe that Alya has better control of her emotions than Sabine).

And speaking of Alya’s pathetic investigation, forget about getting fingerprints off the locker. How about getting fingerprints from the test answer sheet?? That thing that wouldn’t have Marinette’s fingerprints, would have Bustier’s, and would also have the culprit’s. Paper is easily susceptible to the oil from fingerprints, so maybe the episode shouldn’t act as if Alya is doing “professional investigative work” to clear Marinette’s name if she’s not going to actually think about what the culprit’s prints could be on?

Oh, and you may not recall this, so allow me to jog your memory: one of Lila’s biggest lies is that she’s friends with Ladybug, and Alya got handed Ladybug’s identity on a silver platter in “Gang of Secrets.” She also becomes aware (“Multiplication”) that Marinette was correct in “Risk” about Adrien not wanting to model (so she clearly wasn’t just lying for the sake of countering Lila), but what comes out of it? Nothing, not even an apology.

What’s happening here is that the writing is telling you that Lila’s great at what she does and you are falling for it, hook, line, and sinker.

You’ve got to be willing to look at this situation from the perspective of the people Lila’s trying to trick

I’m going to stop you there because that is your assumption of me based on nothing. When I talk about Lila and her issues, I’m bringing up example left and right of things that should’ve been noted but aren’t. I’m not seeing people who are being cleverly tricked by Lila, I am seeing people who are letting themselves be tricked just to bask in the awe of Lila Rossi’s fake accomplishments.

What Lila does in “Chameleon” is play the victim to get the class to turn on Marinette for the first time, but none of what Marinette did before that was anything but casually questioning Lila (confirming that she has a hearing problem, pointing out Jagged’s current pet, and asking Miss Bustier why she has to sit in the back). She doesn’t attack her by that point and literally anyone could’ve pointed out how valid Marinette’s feelings are for being forced to sit by herself without being asked, or even stood up for her by saying “oh, I’m sure Marinette doesn’t mean it that way, Lila!”

They did nothing of the sort. They turned on Marinette instantly. Do note also that part of Lila’s victim card is going, “if Marinette has an issue too, then--” with the obvious message being that the class gets upset because they believe that Marinette supposedly has no issue. However, by the end of the episode, Bustier “confirms” that Marinette must have a hearing issue when Marinette doesn’t hear her calling for her, yet no one apologizes to Marinette about it. Lila made it out like Marinette was targeting her specifically when all Marinette asked to prompt the comment was why she had to sit in the back.

This isn’t a mastermind at work. Everyone got played like the cheap kazoos that they are.

And sometimes, you may genuinely not know your friend as well as you think you do.

Let’s flip this around; how about you look at it from the class’s perspective? Virtually everyone is friends with Marinette, and they’re seeing her “attack” this “completely innocent, pure-hearted soul.” Would you be friends with someone like that? No, actually, go even further than that; if you suspected that the cause of this behavior was Marinette’s crush on a boy and nothing else, would you support it?

I can forgive Marinette’s friends being unsure (not convinced, mind you) about Marinette’s motives and wanting to find the truth. What I can’t forgive is the sheer wishy-washiness of their behavior. They’ll discourage her supposed Adrien-based attacks on Lila, even complaining at times when Marinette is talking about Adrien things, and yet when it comes down to it, they support her in her crush anyway. Sorry not sorry, but if they refuse to pick a side (either “your crush is negatively affecting your personality and we won’t support it” or “hey, she might go far with her crush but I believe that she must have a deeper reason if she’s doing this much against Lila”), then I will pick a side for them and say that they are bad friends who avoid any and all personal responsibility relating to Marinette’s behavior.

“this other person they’re attacking is obviously wrong despite all evidence to the contrary”

I would like to hear about this so-called “evidence” you mention, because Lila’s “thing” when is comes to lying is covering up her lies with more lies. Very rarely does she actually have any evidence to prove her case, and accusing Marinette of having no evidence is ridiculous when Alya shows blatant hypocrisy in how she deals with the two situations between Marinette and Lila.

Alya believes that Lila is friends with Ladybug without a word, but when Marinette puts that into question, Alya lets the burden of proof fall on Marinette when proving a negative is virtually impossible. Without digging up footage of every moment of Ladybug’s existence, she can’t prove that Lila doesn’t know Ladybug, but likewise, Lila herself has no evidence that she knows Ladybug. The burden of proof should fall on her because she is making the claim without evidence and Marinette is putting all of it into question. Therefore, Alya is being pro-Lila and anti-Marinette by demanding proof from Marinette but not Lila.

I’d also direct your attention to “Catalyst” where - as I’ve stated before - Alya accuses Marinette of only hating Lila because of Adrien. What you have failed to explain, however, is why Alya believes that when she has direct evidence to the contrary. Kagami is rich, pretty, and talented, and Marinette’s only interaction with her (pre-”Catalyst”) is “Frozer” where she literally says that she’s not jealous and wants to let Adrien and Kagami have their date. It’s Alya who starts shouting about Marinette not giving up on Adrien, not Marinette herself. Therefore, Alya has a comparison between Kagami (who Adrien even specifically expressed interest in, so Kagami is more of a rival than anyone else would be) and Lila, yet fails to connect the dots and realize that something must be wrong with Lila if Marinette is okay with Kagami.

And even if Adrien tell's everyone about Lila's true nature, that still would’ve been a ‘he said, she said’ situation, though with both Adrien and Marinette saying the same thing, I GUESS it would’ve lent more weight to it, but it still wouldn’t prove they were right, and she could’ve said they misunderstood.

You fail to point out the fact that Adrien is lacking one thing that Marinette isn’t: a motive. It’s not a “he said, she said” situation because whenever Marinette is accused of going after Lila, they claim it to be because of Adrien. Adrien himself, however, has no reason nor motive for going after Lila, and being the “sunshine boy who can do no wrong” that the show hails him as 95% of the time, the class has no adequate reason to suspect him of foul play when accusing this “innocent” person. Lila could accuse Adrien of taking Marinette’s side, certainly, but the class has to start splitting at some point and at least Marinette wouldn’t be alone anymore like Adrien seems content with leaving her in the eyes of everyone else.

If I make three promises to you that I can’t prove were kept, tell twenty tales that I talk my way around instead of proving are true, and give you only a few things that I can actually base in some form of reality, you would have every right to be skeptical of those last few things because I have failed to back everything else up.

Everyone asks Marinette to take responsibility and blame when no one else wants to be even the slightest bit skeptical. Alya never asked Ladybug if she knows Lila, everyone believes Lila without even a thought, and Adrien sits idly by without saying a word to the rest of the class so he can play superhero in the background and not risk any backlash from others.

I’m not even asking for everyone to turn on Lila, nor for them to blindly believe Marinette. What I am asking is that they either pick a side and drop Marinette for being “a terrible person who is trying to ruin an innocent girl’s life over a boy,” or at least believe Marinette enough to go, “That’s nice, Lila, and I won’t even accuse you of being a liar, but if you don’t have proof then I'm afraid I can’t believe you. I’d rather hear about stories that you have evidence for to prove that they happened.”

I would also expect Mr. Damocles to inform the school of Lila’s little “lying disease” (which sounds extremely dangerous to leave people uninformed about) thus proving Marinette correct, or at least for the class to apologize for not believing in her, but I have absolutely zero expectations of them honestly.

Literally this would all be over if the class went, “we’ll prove that all of Lila’s stories are true and that’ll show Marinette not to be suspicious!” at which point everything would fall apart like a Jenga tower.

But they won’t, because the class systematically searching for proof of Lila’s tall tales would mean that the writers would have to actually think to figure out how to have Lila “prove” all of these as much as possible.

They will avoid obvious solutions, literally hand characters the answers just so they can ignore them, and have Adrien actively tell Marinette to do nothing so Lila can continue her power trip (ignoring the “Origins” lesson of “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing”).

I could not care less about the class being “victims” when they’re little more than a mob sharing a single brain cell for no other reason than to make Marinette suffer.

#category: long post #category: salt #salt: miracuclass #salt: alya cesaire #salt: adrien agreste #other: ask and answer #other: ml spoilers #((Funnily enough))#((the wall of text offended me more than the argument (or lack thereof).))#((It's more tiring than anything else seeing an ask from someone who has probably read one or two posts of mine and nothing else.))

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