#Marinette is no saint

[variouspolltournaments]

Anti-Propaganda is not allowed. Please only give reasons to vote for something and not give reasons to vote against something.

[miraculosus]

Saturday night she in the spot(s)!

video

[verfound]

FIC: "Of (Maybe, Finally) a Wedding" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

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

The last in the series, I swear

Read on Ao3

Prompt 57: Fortune

This could not be happening again.

There was no way in hell he was this unlucky.

He was marrying Ladybug – Lady Luck herself! – in just under an hour!  He could not be this cursed!

“…she’s going to kill me,” he groaned as he stared into the definitely, very, no doubt about it empty box in his hand.  He dropped back onto his old bunk, barely aware of the rock of the boat around him.  Barely aware of anything beyond the fact that he had lost the fucking ring.

Again.

“Bullshit,” Juleka said, peering over his shoulder.  “She hasn’t yet, and you’ve given her ample reason to.”

“Thank you so much, beloved sister, you are encouraging as ever,” he groaned, slumping forward to land his head in his other hand.  The one holding the empty ring box dropped between his knees, and he groaned as his fingers twisted in his bangs – then groaned again when Juleka batted at his hand, trying to stop him before he undid all her hard work.  “Juleka!”

“Luka!” she snapped back.  “Do you have any idea how much product I had to use to get that damn cowlick to stay flat?  I’m not about to let you mess up your hair now.”

“Yeah,” Dingo snickered from the other side of the cabin, where he was busy adjusting his tie.  “That’s Mari’s job later.”

“…disgusting,” Juleka sniffed.  “But accurate.”

“I don’t think either of us are really going to care about my hair in…oh my God. Thirty minutes.  Thirty minutes,” he gulped, looking up and staring in horror at his best men (well, technically Juleka was his best man, but no one had been able to convince Dingo of that).  “She’s going to be here in thirty minutes and I lost the fucking rings.”

“Breathe, dumbass,” Juleka sighed, rubbing his back.  It felt too stiff, but that might have been the suit.  Why had he agreed to this it was all going to pot Marinette was going to take one look at the too-stiff suit and ringless box and leave him on sight.  “Where do you remember having them last?”

“In the box!  Last night!” he cried.  “I was double-checking everything just so this didn’t happen!”

“So is it possible maybe you grabbed the wrong box?” Dingo asked.  Luka blinked at him, his eyes narrowing, and he shrugged like it was a perfectly valid option.

“Exactly how many ring boxes do you think I have lying around, Dingus?” he asked.

“Oi, now, no need for all that,” Dingo said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked over.  Luka wondered what it meant, if both Dingo and Juleka looked better in their suits than he did.  Even the mohawk – which usually clashed with everything – was working with the dark blue color.  “’Sides, don’t Mari make jewelry, too?  You could have a lot of extra little boxes lying around.”

…he had a point, but Luka wasn’t about to admit that.  Besides, all of Marinette’s extra little boxes were usually kept in her studio, and the rings hadn’t been in her studio since…well, since the night she had finished them and first tasked him with keeping them safe until the ceremony.

He’d had one job, damn it, and he’d gone and fucked it up.  Again.

“Maybe they fell out?” Dingo continued, poking the empty box.  “They’re probably back at your flat, Lulu.  I can pop over lickity-split and be back in plenty of time for the vows.”

“…the vows,” Luka gasped, his eyes widening again.  Oh God, the vows…Marinette was going to hate his.  He was terrible with words – what was he thinking, opting to write his own?!

“…ooook,” Dingo said, nodding.  He looked up at Juleka, who looked entirely too amused for her own good.  “You make sure he doesn’t jump ship.  Handle…this.  I’ll go get the rings.”

“Good luck,” Juleka said, though from her tone – from the absolute wreck losing his shit on the bed – Dingo honestly wasn’t sure which one of them needed it more.

– V –

Two.  Hours.

The wedding was supposed to start two hours ago.

And Luka was no calmer than he had been half an hour before it was supposed to start – or even at the exact time it was supposed to start, when Dingo still hadn’t made it back and he was getting a text from Marinette claiming there had been a slight emergency, no need to panic, she’d be there soon.

And Juleka had received a text from Rose ordering her to stall, they needed more time, get Jagged playing or something!

He supposed he should be grateful it was a small wedding on his ma’s boat, and that the only guests were a handful of family and close friends, but that wasn’t stopping the panic from clawing at his throat.

Marinette was standing him up.

She’d heard about the rings, realized he was a lost cause, and…

“Sorry!”

His head snapped up as he stopped his pacing, and there she was.

…dress-less?

She was…running towards him in the most bizarre getup.  She was…still wearing her pajamas?  The ones Rose had specially bedazzled for their hen night, with the pink tank top with the rhinestone BRIDE stamped across the chest.  (He did not know about the matching rhinestones on her ass, which had their guests cackling as she raced forward with PROPERTY OF L.L.C. stamped across her backside.)  And pink, fuzzy flip-flops.  Her veil was blowing behind her as she ran, one of her hands holding it in place as she waved at him, and then she was there, grabbing for his hand and grinning.

“You are never going to believe the day I’ve had,” she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.  She turned out to the small gathering, all staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths, and waved.  “Sorry, everyone!  I know, I know – I’m so late.  Classic Marinette, right?”

There was a smattering of laughs, but she still winced as she turned back to him.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, stepping closer.  “There…was a series of accidents.  You would think Plagg had a field day at Juleka and Rose’s – the fire was the least of problems.  Jocelyn’s impending termination and murder are still on the table.”

“…fire?” he asked, his mouth dropping open.  Like a fire – and not Marinette threatening to murder her beloved assistant – was what had really shocked him.  She reached up to close it, her smile softening as her finger ran along his chin.  “Marinette –”

“We’re all fine,” she said.  “The dress…is not, and I’m sorry for that.  Well.  It might still be – the backup dress was the one that caught fire.  My actual dress…”

She bit her lip and looked down, shaking her head as if she was trying to erase some unpleasant memory.

“Marinette?” he asked, laying his hand on her cheek.  She shook her head again and grinned at him.

“Joce will find it,” she insisted.  “It’s not her fault I stupidly put it in one of my usual garment bags.  Anyone could have made that mistake, right?”

“…she gave your dress to a client?” he asked, his eyes widening again.  She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he knew her.  He knew it had to be killing her – she had worked so hard on that dress.  He hadn’t even been allowed to see the designs for it, because ‘bad luck’ or whatever.

“I was really looking forward to you seeing it,” she sighed.  She leaned up, and he bent obediently so she could whisper in his ear.  “I was really looking forward to you removing it.”

…she had tried to say it low enough that only he could hear, but his ma had damnably good hearing for a former rock star who should have gone deaf years ago and had heard every word.  She threw her head back with a raucous laugh, but Marinette was still grinning at him as her cheeks turned pink.

“…nevermind,” she said, tucking some hair behind her ear.  “She’ll find the dress, and we can worry about it later.  This will have to do for now, right?  At least I’m here.  So…can we just get married already?”

…and yeah, she was there.

But Dingo still wasn’t.

“I’d be more’n glad to, lass,” the Captain laughed as Marinette turned towards her.  He shot a desperate look over Marinette’s head to his sister, but Juleka just rolled her eyes and gestured for him to turn like the missing rings didn’t matter.

The hell they didn’t…

“Wait!” he cried, tightening his grip on her hand.  She turned back to him, frowning, and he sighed.  “We can’t.  Not…not yet.”

“Luka?” she asked, squeezing his hand.  “What’s wrong?”

“Just marry her already, dumbass,” Juleka hissed, but he shook his head.  “Before she gets smart and changes her mind!”

“Marinette…darning…I…” he started, but then Dingo was swinging onto the deck like a bad Tarzan impersonator????

…he was a Couffaine.

Chaos was in his blood.

But surely there was a point where…well…wasn’t this too much chaos?

“Not objecting!” he hollered as he landed on deck.  He held up the rings, his manic grin somehow even more insane than usual.  “Got ‘em, mate!”

“…what?” Marinette asked as Luka groaned, dropping his head into his hands.  Dingo blinked at her before lifting his shades – a custom blue and pink pair he had ordered just for their wedding.  They even had ‘BEST DINGO’ stamped along the legs (in rhinestones, of course, thank you, Rose).

“Ain’t you a bit underdressed, baby girl?” he asked, squinting at her pajamas.  “Pretty sure you’re supposed to be the one in the big, fancy dress.”

“We’re not talking about the dress!” Rose screeched as she came running up the gangway.  “Oh my God, what is wrong with this city?!  Traffic –”

“I know, right?!” Dingo cried, turning to her.  “Stupid Mayor Bourgeois and his reelection parade – nobody wants you anymore, André!”

He had spun back towards the shore, raising a fist to shake at the city, and Luka wondered if he’d be justified in shoving his Best Dingo overboard.

…after he got the rings back, of course.

“…oi, lads,” the Captain whispered, leaning over to the bride and groom.  “We sure this not be the dress rehearsal?”

Marinette shook her head, laughed, and grabbed his hands.  And suddenly, with her smiling at him like that, the rest of it just…didn’t matter.  Because it was her – it was them – and what more had he ever wanted?

“…I forgot the rings,” he whispered, leaning in.  She laughed, and if that wasn’t his favorite sound in the entire world…

“Star,” she whispered back, dipping her chin towards her chest, “I forgot my entire dress.  I think we’re good.  You ready to do this?”

…God, yeah.  He really was.

(Later, after one hell of a kiss and too much cheering and not enough cake, she’d chide him for freaking out about the rings again.

“You know I’d have my craft bag on me,” she’d tell him, rolling her eyes.  “Or the Captain would have some spare rope somewhere.  I could have whipped something up until we found the real things.”

He supposed he should have known that, in the end.  He was marrying Marinette Du…Couffaine, after all, and she was just kind of amazing like that.)

[spiderliliez]

Garance Marillier as the trailblazer, Marinette Pichon MARINETTE (2023)

[+] GARANCE [GIF Collection] 🌹 [+] LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 [+] ..more French Films 🎬

[meetherinparis]

I like this marinette-ladybug. she is not so unnaturaly skinny like in the serie.

[streamondemand]

Jean Renoir takes 'A Day in the Country' on Max and Criterion Channel

Jean Renoir has long been called the cinematic successor to the French Impressionists—he is, after all, the son of Auguste Renoir, and his generosity and humanism and interest in the lives of working-class folks is in the spirit of the movement. But while his style helped define French poetic realism of the 1930s, his films were also rooted in politics, class, and social commentary, both…

[ladyelainehilfur]

Day 25913 of trying to turn my coworkers into miraculous ladybug fans 😔

[wisteriasymphony]

I want to hear about the mlb asylum au sooo bad

SPRING 1993

"Sweetheart," Nathalie frowned. "You have your whole life ahead of you. …Let's forget for a moment who I am. I'm not saying this as M. Agreste's secretary, I'm saying it as a fellow woman."

The Girl found it disgusting that Mme. Sancoeur would switch between the two: treating her like a child and calling her a woman. She kept the blue hood of her jacket over her head, hiding that short mess of curls on her head in its shadow.

"We're doing this because we want to help you."

The Girl knew completely well that M. Agreste would shoot her dead if he could get away with it. That didn't seem like it would help her at all.

"…I appreicate the sentiment, Mme. Sancoeur," The Girl responded. "But I want to go home."

Nathalie's gaze lost its facade of warmth.

SPRING 1995

In a place where Saint-Lupien once stood, a convent had turned into an asylum. Pyschiatric ward, asylum, looney bin—The difference didn't entirely matter, not to the Hospital Sainte-Marie-de-Dieu. The second you walked through those doors, you were crazy, and everyone was much more focused on proving that than they ever were on anything else.

By all accounts, Adrien Agreste was the shining example of this.

Marinette first got herself acquianted with Adrien not by learning his name, or seeing his face… but by hearing a loud, repeated thudding noise from maybe a few hallways down. Three seconds of silence, thud. Three more seconds of silence, thud.

"The Agreste kid is trying to break his door down again," the doctor watching her had said, with the exact same tone she'd use to describe the weather outside. "Don't worry about it. Better than him lighting shit on fire for once."

Marinette was starting to get anxious—She checked her pulse twice with her two fingers, added and divided by two. Floating pulse: Feng excess. She had that feeling in her gut that her yang energy was deficient, too. She needed to drink some hot water.

"…Can I have some tea, Dr. Martin?" "Not right now, Marianne." If she had to spend another day in this shithole, Marinette would start setting shit on fire, too. And to think Adrien Agreste had been here for two years...

@sillysiluriforme look omg I wrote stuff <3

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

Merlin

The Walls of Camelot by spqr

"Camelot will fall tomorrow,” Arthur says, on the first day of the eighth month of the siege.

DC

IRIS Log #1548 by deadchannelradio

Disclaimer From Your Friendly Neighborhood Oracle:

The following is a transcript of Patrol Communications Audio written by state of the art transcription technology, IRIS (Interpretation of Recorded Intelligence Software). IRIS was created to provide easily searchable records, automatically, and eliminate the need to transcribe each patrol audio log manually. That being said, IRIS is still experimental, and may not always be entirely accurate. - (01:25) Red Hood: (Mild static) (Out of breath, slurred) You motherfuckers. Put some fuckin-

(01:25) Batman: (Shaking) Red Hood-

(01:25) Red Hood: Shut up. Put some fucking respect. On my name. Start fucking copying me. I just got thrown fucking. Um. 40 feet. Into a fucking uh. What's it. Ditch. I'm still fucking conscious.

(01:25) Batman: Red Hood, do not move, we're en route-

(01:25) Red Hood: What'll I win if I stand up.

(01:25) Batman: (Loud) Do not stand up.

we shall be free; we shall find peace by mediant

Clark has accepted what it means to be Lex's prisoner - the pain of the Green, the experiments, the hands on it. The long years buried in its containment cell, let out only to act as Lex's weapon, as Lex's tool. It had fought back at first, but years have ground it down and away to almost nothing.

Then Lex hands it a baby. And Clark realizes that while it may have hurt humans, and lied about what it is, and it may deserve to be locked away - Kon deserves to be free.

Untamed

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (+ podfic)

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

-- In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

Clone Wars

patron saint by spqr (+ podfic)

Funerary practices? Master Ti writes back. I’m not sure what you mean, Master Kenobi. Used biomass is the property of Kamino and thus is recycled into the cloning process.

So that’s how the revolution begins—with dead brothers, but not the way you might expect.

Miraculous Ladybug

drowning (in plain sight) by buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Seeing people point of this recently but Evillustrator going after Chloe instead of Mandeleiev really did not make any sense.

I mean of course Chloe ain't no saint here since she did reveal he had a crush on Marinette, but Mendeleiev literally yelled at him in front of the entire class for drawing and further humiliates him by telling the entire class he's failing science before demanding he goes to the principal's office over drawing in her class.

Maybe he wanted to stop at Chloe's first before going to get revenge on his teacher? Either that, or he didn't know where she lived, so he stuck with Chloe.

[ilikekidsshows]

Marinette is praised for alot of unwarranted things, but to this day the thing that takes the cake for me is people praising Marinette into the heavens for giving Adrien his rings back after Gabriel's death

People act like that's Marinette acting on god-like benevolence and the purest heart ever, when, like, what is she even being praised for?

For not withholding Adrien's literal control remote from him? Not wearing it herself and right away enslaving him?

Praising Marinette into the heavens for giving the rings back implies that people think that it would have been fine if Marinette had cried over this "hard decision" for the next season. And that's just pathetic at this point.

Not to mention that she objectively did nothing in the final battle to save Adrien. It was Gabriel who used the wish for Adrien's good, Marinette instead said he has to face whatever consequences as orphan now that's coming his way. So Gabriel helped Adrien, Marinette was willing to have him pay every price cuz it aint her.

Then Marinette being so uninterested in the plot lead to Bug Noire almost killing Adrien because she didn't know that she would have destroyed Adrien's amok rings alongside the Miraculous rings on Gabriel's hand. So once again, Gabriel had to save Adrien from Marinette by keeping her from using Cataclysm.

Marinette also isn't the one to take the amok rings away from Gabriel before he dies. Gabriel himself had to give Adrien free and prevent that his amoks will vanish with him.

What the hell is Marinette being praised for in the s5 finale for being Adrien's White Knight? She didn't save him in anyway. She almost killed him, she was willing to sign him up to entirely for his family's sins as orphan because "it's the right thing to do", and she didn't take Adrien's ring from Gabriel

Gabriel did all the saving and protecting, Marinette is just as always taking all the credit.

So what's Marinette being glorified for? For not instantly enslaving her abused and now orphaned boyfriend? Cause that's all the saving of Adrien Marinette did in the end, I guess: saving him from her herself enslaving him for no fucking reason

And is that REALLY something Marinette needs to be praised and made out into a saint for? Cause that's beyond pathetic, even downside offensive at this point

---

At this point, I think the show could show Marinette successfully wiping her ass and the stans would praise her for how talented she is. Everything Marinette does has to be the most amazing show of skill or the most kindhearted thing anyone has ever done in the stans’ eyes because the pedestal they’ve built for Marinette has grown so insanely tall. At this point, there’s nothing she could do that would break that illusion of perfection, I think. Even if she had kept those rings, the stans would have defended her noble decision to keep Adrien safe from people who’d take advantage of him, like Marinette herself hasn’t been taking advantage of him for free therapy for as long as they’ve been dating, no remote controls needed.

And that’s the thing with Marinette not keeping Adrien’s remote control; she doesn’t need it for Adrien to do whatever she wants. Adrien is so dependent on her that his life’s goal is just to be with her. Marinette knows Adrien is completely devoted to her, it's why she was so willing to send Zoé to confess her love to Adrien, because she knew Adrien would refuse Zoé and stay with her instead. Marinette gave up nothing when she gave those rings to Adrien, her control over him is still absolute.

Meanwhile, the fandom is celebrating and romanticizing this shit. I have seen more than one person consider Marinette giving those rings to Adrien to be like a proposal/promise ring situation, where Marinette doing the bare minimum of giving the sapient mind control robot servant his remote control is treated as an ultimate gesture of love. Because truly Marinette must love Adrien if, instead of ordering him to please every single one of her whims and needs, she grants him the magnificent honor of choosing to do so instead, while already knowing he will. How loving, how caring, how selfless.

Please ignore the reality that this entire setup relies on Marinette keeping guard over Adrien and his amoks indefinitely, because Adrien lacks the knowledge to do so himself. Please ignore the reality that, if Adrien, Marinette or both ever fell out of love and ended the relationship, Adrien would be left incredibly vulnerable because he doesn’t know about the rings being amoks. Marinette is counting on Adrien staying with her for the rest of his life, because she’s taken conservatorship over him and his free will. She has made it her job to be her boyfriend’s keeper.

[familyagrestefanblog]

I find it... kinda irritating how saying that Hero Gabriel is still a failure of a father even if he's not a bad person is apparently somewhat of a hot take.

It is irrelevant at what extreme end of the moral spectrum Gabriel is - sadistic villain or heroic saint - fact still remains that you wouldn't notice either with Monarque or Hesperia that they are fathers at all, while simultaneously both Adriens are clearly depicted as teenagers who basically have to re-settle themselves into their lives after they were emotionally orphaned in every sense that matters.

It is irrelevant that Alt Gabriel is a hero, not a bad person or that he wasn't outright abusive like our Gabriel, nothing will change the fact that Griffe Noire Adrien's path to healing goes the same route as our Adrien's.

And that is AWAY from his father, not WITH him.

Griffe Noire at the end was roughly were our Adrien started off at the beginning of the show, just this time with a better path ahead Ladynoir wise since they know their identities.

He changed for the better when our Adrien gave him the self-acceptance, understanding and sympathy he didn't receive from Alt Gabriel or anyone else for the matter.

Helped him overcome the grief of loosing their mother and accepting that the self-harming behavior he's acting on (or both of them) is not something she would want for them.

There are 2 reasons why Alt Adrien couldn't get over his mother's death, and that's 1) because unlike our Adrien, Alt Adrien didn't try finding new happiness in friendship, and 2) because he too couldn't count on his remaining parent (Gabriel) which made him feel his mother's loss even worse.

Alt Gabriel could be the greatest hero of all time and he still would be a fucked up father because he was so busy being a saint that he apparently barely was a father. When alt Gabe cries in the sewer one would think he'd bring up his child as one of his main motivations, but no, he doesn't.

Because Hesperia is just as little characterized as a FATHER as Monarque.

That aspect of Gabriel didn't change.

Hesperia didn't even fucking know that his son is Griffe Noire either, how attentive to you think this man IS??

Alt Adrien goes on the same path as our Adrien and that's away from being emotionally dependent on his father - the way a 14 year old should normally ALLOWED TO BE bc thats NATURAL and how it's supposed to be - to make friends, but most importantly he sure as hell went on being emotionally dependend on HIS Maribug the way our Adrien was/is

Especially the last picture is extremely telling (and one would think our Marinette would finally start paying attention bc Griffe Noire's change right in front of her eyes is literally all she would need to help her fully understand HER Chat Noir's behavior and how that came to be. But apparently we can't ever have Marinette pick up on the most obvious stuff about Chat Noir's problems).

Unlike Toxinelle who is waving goodbye while holding Griffe's hand, HE is not acknowledging our dimension anymore even when he's the last one to enter the portal by a good bit, bc he's so fixated on his Maribug as his whole world bc just like our Adrien he's literally emotionally an orphan and needs an anchor like everyone else.

Good chance that Toxinelle thinks they're just normally holding hands and she's merely going in first, but no, he is letting her lead him out. He doesn't care whats behind or ahead of him, he's just seeing her.

Alt Gabriel is an awful father and you can tell because Alt Adrien literally has to re-settle in life similar to an orphan while his father is still alive and living in the same damn house!

THAT'S what decides if Alt Gabriel is an awful father, NOT him running around as a charming hero. The quality of parenthood is NOT measured by how "good of a person" the parent is, it's measured by the child's fucking well-being

And I don't know if you noticed it by now, but this is the same logic as our Gabriel being hailed a hero after his death. The special already elaborates on this new angle of Gabriel suddenly being a "hero" while he very clearly was a monstrous failure of a father (and person).

So what side are YOU gonna be on here?

Are you going to victim blame Adrien by just declaring Gabriel Agreste a great, blameless and loving father now because that's what you're being told at face-value while the narrative conveniently plays the case in Gabriel's favors by removing all of them from the dimension they are actually from so his faults are being mostly covered up, and Adrien's looks worse without its proper context of their home-dimension and father-son dynamic

Or are you going to fucking LOOK at the child this amazing hero is emotionally abandoning on a daily in way too many ways and ask yourself if that's the result of a competent and attentive parent?

[spiderliliez]

Maybe see you later at the club party. MARINETTE (2023) [+] GARANCE MARILLIER [GIF Collection] 🌹 [+] LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 [+] ..more French Films! 🎬

[verfound]

FIC: "Of Kwamis, Soulmates, and Idiots"

(MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

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

Sorry not sorry for the end...

Read on Ao3

Prompt 09: New Pet

“You should talk to him.”

Marinette felt her shoulders stiffen – felt her entire body tense – at the tiny voice.  Irrational as it was, because she knew no one else could hear it.  No one else was able to see or hear Tikki except for her – that’s just how kwamis worked.

…well.

Her, and her soulmate.

But she didn’t have a soulmate.  Or…she hadn’t found them.  Yet.  So it was impossible that anyone else currently aboard the Liberty would have heard Tikki’s horrible suggestion.

Talk to him.

Like she could ever do something as crazy as that.

“Shut up,” she hissed under her breath, her eyes still darting up to make sure the band – to make sure he wasn’t listening.  She hunched closer to her legs, bringing her face dangerously close to her sketchbook, and tapped her pencil against the page in irritation.  “You know I can’t.”

“But why?” the little bug asked, zipping out from behind her pigtails to stare unabashedly at the him in question.

…Luka.

Juleka’s older brother.

Lead guitar of Kitty Section.

Super cool, super nice, super hot, super out of her league…

Tikki was frowning as she looked back and forth from Luka to Marinette’s sketchbook.

“You like him, don’t you?” she asked, tilting her little head to the side.  Marinette flailed, sending her sketchbook flying, as she grabbed at the kwami.  Did she have to be so loud?!

“Tikki, shut up!” she cried, her face burning as she pulled her against her chest.  She looked up at the sudden silence on the deck, and she gave a nervous laugh as she waved off the concerned stares.  “S-sorry, guys!  You know how…annoying kwamis are!”

Tikki shouted something rude at her, she was sure, but her hand was covering the little brat’s mouth and it came out a muffled squeak.  Marinette groaned as she pulled her knees back up on the crate and pressed her forehead against them.  Tikki grew suddenly quiet, and Marinette looked up to find…oh.  Oh no.

Luka was standing right in front of her, her discarded sketchbook in hand.

“Your kwami’s a little shit, too, huh?” he chuckled, holding the book out for her.  She swallowed and glanced down at her clenched hands, but Luka wasn’t looking at Tikki.

…of course he wouldn’t be.

He couldn’t see her.

Because he wasn’t…

“More than usual lately,” she sighed, letting Tikki go as she took her book back.  She offered him a shaky smile as he took a seat on the crate beside her.  “Sorry.  She…likes to tease me.”

“Oh, mine lives for that,” he chuckled.  “I don’t think Sass considers a day complete until he’s made my life a living hell.”

She giggled as he grinned at her, and her feet slipped from the edge of the crate back to the deck as she leaned forward.  His smile softened, and that…oh, he had the best smile…

“I’m sure he’s not all that bad,” she said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear.  She looked up at him with a shy smile and prayed her face wasn’t as red as it felt.  “…he’s your kwami, after all.”

“Well, by that logic…someone as sweet as you?  Tikki has to be a saint,” he said.  She wanted to roll her eyes, but Luka had just called her sweet, and she ended up mumbling out some nonsense that might have been a thank you or maybe a shut up you’re cute, but either way she ended up looking back at the deck as her face burned hotter.  After a moment, he nudged he shoulder with his own and nodded towards the sketchbook.  “Sooo…what were you working on?  It must be good – you looked pretty intense.”

Her stomach clenched, remember exactly what – or who – she had been doodling, and she prayed he hadn’t actually seen the very detailed sketch of himself when he had picked the book up.

…any of the very detailed studies she’d done of him over the last few weeks, actually.  Tikki, kill her now…

“N-no, it was…it was nothing,” she said quickly, shaking her head.  “Just…you know.  Doodles.”

“I’d love to see them sometime, if you don’t mind sharing,” he said, leaning a little closer.  “Juleka says you’re crazy talented.”

“She…she said that?” she asked, looking up in surprise.  She hugged her sketchbook to her chest, and his smile…there was something in his eyes, something she couldn’t quite place – something she maybe wasn’t quite ready to place yet – that made her stomach flip pleasantly.  That made her want to show him the sketchbook, or anything he asked for, if only he’d keep looking at her like that.  He nodded, and she looked away as she bit down on her smile.  “That…that was really sweet of her.”

“She can be, sometimes,” he said.  She glanced back up at him, and her breath caught when he winked at her.  “If you’re not related to her.”

A giggle was startled out of her, and he chuckled as he reached over to squeeze her shoulder.  He glanced at something behind her, that strange look passing over his face again, before he stood and waved.

“Th-thanks!” she called as he turned away.  He looked back, and she waved her sketchbook at him.  “For…bringing it back.  Thank you.”

“Anytime, Ma-Ma-Marinette,” he said with a wink.  She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but her face didn’t feel as hot as it had the first time he’d teased her with it.  It felt…familiar, now.  More comfortable.

A tiny giggle by her shoulder had her tensing all over again, and she looked down to find Tikki grinning at her.

“Well,” she said, her eyes sparkling, “at least you talked to him!”

. : .

Later, after the others had headed home for the night and Luka was left ‘cleaning up’ the deck (…which was more of an excuse to sit on the stage, staring up at the stars as he worked on that song that had been stuck in his head since blue, blue eyes and Ma-Ma-Marinettes), Sass decided he apparently hadn’t had enough that day.

…as if seeing that crazy drawing of him in her sketchbook hadn’t been enough.  He had almost dropped the book all over again when he’d picked it up and realized she’d been drawing him the entire time she’d been watching their rehearsal.  When he’d realized she’d been watching him maybe as much as he’d been trying not to watch her.

“You ssstill have not told her,” the little snake hissed softly, settling on the head of his guitar when his playing tapered out.  Luka’s grip tightened on the neck as his eyes narrowed at his kwami.  His long tail was dangling, swishing almost like a cat – and the smirk on his face was definitely too feline for something that was supposed to be a snake.

“Sass…” he said in warning, but Sass just flicked his tongue out at him.  He’d say he was scenting the air, but Luka knew better.  Sass lived to torment him.

“Why haven’t you told her?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.  Luka rolled his eyes and jostled his guitar, just enough to dislodge the little shit.

“You know why,” he sighed, sinking back against the speaker he was using as a backrest.  “She’s not ready yet, buddy.”

“How do you know if you don’t tell her?” Sass pressed.  “Shhhe deserves to know, Luka.  Wouldn’t you both be happier if she did?”

“…she’s not ready yet,” he insisted, shaking his head.  “Her song’s still too…I don’t think she knows what she really wants yet, Sass.  And when I tell her…I want her to want it.  I want her to want me.  Is that too much to ask?”

The kwami’s brow furrowed, as if he didn’t understand – or didn’t believe – him, and Luka sighed as he started picking the familiar notes out again.  Marinette’s song.  The one that had utterly bewitched him from the moment he had first heard it – that had only intensified when she’d waved goodbye that first night and he’d seen the large, violet eyes peeking out from behind her collar.

Sass heaved a longsuffering sigh as he settled on his human’s head.  He flicked his tail against him as he settled in, a clear sign of his annoyance.

“I ssstill sssay you shhhould tell her,” he huffed, and Luka smiled sadly.

“I know, buddy,” he said.  “I will.  Soon.”

. : .

Except it wasn’t just that the kwamis’ humans were soulmates.

The kwamis needed each other, too.

They were linked, in an ancient, mysterious way no one really understood.

They could never really exist peacefully, in harmony, until they were reunited.

…and soon just wasn’t proving to be soon enough.

After another week went by – and then another two – Sass and Tikki had had just about enough.

“She’s just so shy,” Tikki huffed from their hiding place in the basketball hoop.  “She’s so amazing, Sass, but she has no self-confidence!  She’ll never make the first move!”

“I fear Luka won’t, either, if shhhe never does,” Sass sighed.  “He feels shhhe is…not ready.”

He said it with a roll of his eyes, and Tikki pouted as she stared at the two hopeless soulmates dancing around each other below them.

“She’s more ready than he thinks,” she tutted.  “You don’t have to wake up to her kissing her stupid cat pillow and sighing his name.”

Sass snickered, and Tikki tried to pout at him, but it was too easy to return his grin when he looked at her like that.  He was more familiar with things like that than she knew, he was afraid.

“Perhapsss it’sss time we ssstopped leaving it up to them, then?” he suggested, tilting his head as he watched Luka bend to help Marinette pick something up – and then crash his head against hers when their hands brushed and she jerked back.  “Perhapsss they need a little…pushhh?”

“…what do you have in mind?” Tikki asked, turning to him.  He grinned and floated up, winking at her as he made his way below.

“I think it’sss about time I sssee thisss pillow for myssself,” he hummed.  It took barely a moment – the briefest of distractions, provided by Ivan calling for Luka to get back to the stage and neither of them watching too closely – and then Sass was phasing through Marinette’s bag, settling into a pocket he was sure would go unchecked until it was too late.

From her place on the hoop, Tikki just…stared.

She…hadn’t known they could do that?

They could do that???

She had thought they were bound to their humans, that they couldn’t travel too far from them, and yet…well.

If Luka was Marinette’s soulmate, perhaps he was a little bit Tikki’s human, too?

Tikki was still hiding up on the hoop a short while later when Marinette received a call asking her to come home, and she watched anxiously as her human waved goodbye to her friends and ran off the boat.

…as Luka watched her go, a look she would call nothing short of longing on his face.

She sank back against the board and wished for a freshly-baked cookie to chew on.  Oh, she had a bad feeling about this…

[nobodyfamousposts]

why is everyone always hyping up Ms. Mendeleev as this amazing teacher who takes no bull when she really isn’t? in evil illustrator, Mendeleev sees Chloe picking on Nathaniel and even physically rips his sketch book out of his hands and embarrasses him in front of everyone. but not only is Mendeleev more focused on him drawing in class, she only scolds Chloe but doesn’t punish her for being disruptive. in Marinette’s flashback, when Marinette arrives to class late looking downtrodden, she yells at her in front of everyone instead of waiting until the end of class to talk to Marinette privately. she doesn’t ask her what’s wrong, she doesn’t shut down Chloe’s offensive comments about “looking more depressed than usual” and “she wants to design clothes but can’t keep hers clean”, and she yells at Marinette for accusing Chloe of putting paint on her seat by stating that she had no basis to do so. this woman sure does yell a lot doesn’t she? Mendeleev has zero empathy for her students and has no business being a teacher. if we’re going to call out Damocles and Bustier, she deserves a call out as well.

No no, you have a point. I find I want to argue with you because I'm one of those who likes Mendeleiev substantially more compared to the other teachers, but that's just it: when compared to the other teachers.

Other than Damocles as the Principal, Mendeleiv is one of only three teachers we've been introduced to in the whole of the series. Well, until the Art teacher in season three, but even he has the same issues as Bustier and Damocles of admonishing the other students while saying nothing against Chloe.

Chloe issues aside, Bustier's teaching methods are "nice", but notably useless and not age appropriate. She was shown teaching the class about a fairy tale, and not even a specific one. Just about how a Prince saves a Princess with a kiss, with "true love" being the lesson rather than the literary implications or analysis in what I can only assume is a literature class.

Then there's D'Argencourt, and do I really need to get into this guy?

So I think part of the reason here is that of the very few teachers we've gotten any focus on, Mendeleiev is the only one who has actually ACTED like a teacher. Not the nicest teacher, no, but at least A teacher.

She was admittedly harsh in how she went about things with her students, but she had valid points and reasoning behind what she did.

Nathaniel in Evilustrator was drawing in science class, a subject he is struggling in.

Rose was spraying perfume in class without consideration to the hazards it could cause. Someone could have a health issue. Plus...y'know...the canon problem of the perfume being VERY FLAMMABLE.

And she's the only teacher who has at any point at least scolded Chloe for her behavior. Which given how everyone seems to bend over backwards to appease her or admonish her victims, that's saying something.

Plus out of all the school staff who have been akumatized, Mendeleiev had the most sympathetic reason. Then there's her aborted storyline in the New York Special. So she comes off as a teacher who wants to be liked and do right by her students, even if her way of going about her interactions seems harsh, and I think that's the aspect that the fans have taken notice of.

It stands to reason we've all had a teacher like her in our lives. Strict. No nonsense. Didn't let us get away with anything. And it also stands to reason that having that teacher in real life made us dread that class.

So yes, Mendeleiev is no saint. But she at least IS a teacher who ACTS like a teacher. A strict teacher who takes no excuses and seems more impartial (at least when compared with Damocles and Bustier who make it quite obvious they're under Chloe's thumb even if it's in different ways and for different reasons). She could do with some education on empathy and communicating with her students. But she's still at least doing her job as an educator to teach them.

At least until the writers ruin her just like they ruin everything else because they saw what the fandom came up with and decided we can't have nice things.

[samsimisauser]

So right about the trickster (not to mention Lila). Felix the trickster works much better than the "avenging Hero" or whatever is currently going around. (In my opinion at least) Because you can't really claim he is Morally good or anything like that... But tricksters aren't, they play for them selves and everyone just suffers the consequences

one day fandom will accept that felix is just a narrative foil and trickster archetype smashed into one character-shaped trench-coat and then we can finally be at peace