#Nino disagrees

[rosie-b]

True Blue

Chapter 9: Fight and Flight

6534 words

“Aww, we forgive you too, Bluebird,�� Golden Bug said affectionately. “By the way, do you have a name picked out? Not your real one, of course,” he chuckled.

“Uh.” Marinette’s mind raced as she thought. She wasn’t prepared for this! She’d only gotten this Miraculous half an hour ago! “Blue...wing?”

Golden Bug blinked and then smiled. “Bluewing! A pretty name for a pretty hero. Welcome to the team!”

You can read the chapter below or on AO3!

Marinette stood in the light of the attic window, staring in awe at the blue material stretching over her body to cover it.  

A flash of gold on her shoulders caught her eye as two epaulettes appeared on her shoulders; blue-purple-gold feathers grew and spread into a fan in her right hand; she felt herself rise off the floor as a pair of winged heels formed on her feet. A surge of fabric flared out behind her, creating peacock-like shirttails, and above her head, her hair twisted itself into a crown braid. As the transformation ended, a thin, blue mask rimmed in gold spread across her face.  

Feeling oddly in awe of herself, Marinette snapped her fan closed, examined the white gloves on her hands, and cautiously spun around on her heels, which were higher than she was used to yet didn’t seem to make her clumsier than usual. 

Magic is pretty cool, Marinette thought as she faced M. Agreste with a neutral expression as she waited for his judgment. 

He smirked as he looked over her suit, satisfied with the results of her and Duusu’s work.  

“Excellent choice, Marinette! This is a true soldier’s uniform, perfect for fighting in, and it disguises your civilian appearance just enough that Golden Bug will never guess who you are. You look almost ready,” he mused. “I wonder — would you be willing to give the suit a test run? You’ve been late for lessons before; just tell Nathalie you fell asleep in a corner somewhere and she won’t suspect a thing. Oh, yes, this will do nicely!” 

He sounded very excited about this, both Marinette’s successful transformation and the prospect of another akuma attack. But why? Surely he couldn’t expect her to win the final battle on her first day as a magic wielder! 

“Why would I need to do that?” she asked him, trepidation clear in her voice. “If I detransform now, I could still be back downstairs in time for afternoon lessons, and we can always do whatever you’re thinking of later, right?” 

M. Agreste only smiled, a bit darker this time, and adjusted his ascot. “We could do that. But wouldn’t you like to test the suit out a bit first, before you return to those dreary lessons of yours? It’s still possible that the suit won’t work for you, after all.”

Marinette glanced down at the fan she was holding and frowned. True, the suit was a little unfamiliar, but it had been made for her, and she could already tell that it fit perfectly. 

Gabriel continued, “I’m proposing an akumatization, just a short one, mind you! You won’t be engaging the so-called heroes; you’ll only be looking on from the sidelines. I want you to test yourself beside them as they fight; run as fast as they do, leap between buildings, push yourself further than you’ve ever been able to. And you will find it all possible, thanks to your suit’s power! Once the fight is over, you will return to the mansion, detransform, and go back to your lessons as if nothing had happened until the time comes for your first real fight. Are you up to the task, Miss Marinette?” 

Looking at M. Agreste’s determined expression, Marinette felt herself begin to cave. “I guess I could try doing that, but isn’t it more important for me to keep up with my lessons? I was already late enough this morning that I missed one; should we really risk me missing a whole other lesson in the same day?” 

Tugging his ascot off, M. Agreste made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat. “Bah! You are already far ahead of the other students your age, Marinette. One missed lesson will not harm your progress. Nooroo, dark wings rise!” 

Hawk Moth strode over to the window and opened a small panel in it, the one the akuma had flown through in the last fight. 

“I will send the akuma out first, and then it will be your turn to go outside.” At Marinette’s bewildered look, he said, “The side door should let you out without any problems or spying eyes. Ready yourself,” he said, opening the top of his staff, which housed a ready-made akuma. 

A pit grew in her stomach as Marinette watched the akuma fly toward the window. She wasn’t ready to fight anyone, not yet! 

Then again, if M. Agreste wasn’t lying, she wouldn’t have to fight this time. She waited for Hawk Moth’s signal to go downstairs with her knees slightly bent. 

“Go, my beautiful akuma,” Hawk Moth said softly. As the butterfly flapped its way through Paris, he turned to Marinette. “Nathalie should be busy; you may go downstairs and outside. Follow the akuma’s path to the park near your home; that is where the fight will begin. Be careful not to be spotted by Nathalie or the heroes.” 

“I will. Wish me luck.” Marinette laughed breathlessly, because luck was against her now, wasn’t he? 

Hawk Moth’s mouth curved into a confident smile. “You will not need it.”  

He turned away from Marinette, back to the butterfly-shaped window and the dark akuma in the distance. 

Marinette stepped into the elevator, letting its doors close around her like a coffin’s lid. It began its slow descent to the ground floor, and Marinette’s mouth flattened as she prepared for her (hopefully quick enough) dash through the side door. That’s the one the chef uses, right? she thought frantically. Yeah, okay, I know where that is.  

The elevator opened, and she immediately ran to the side door; her heels caught on the rug and moved it out of place as she skidded to a halt and pulled the door open. The handle nearly broke off in her hand, a testament to the strength she’d suddenly gained. Behind her, the rug was still a rumpled mess a foot from the door. I’ll fix it later, she promised herself as she stepped outside and took a deep breath. 

Now, to find the akuma. With few other options, Marinette decided to start running towards Place des Vosges. She was much faster than her untransformed self, she reasoned, so how long could it take? 

Not all that long, apparently! But she nearly plowed into seven buildings, two statues, and three children on the way there. I’ll do better next time, Marinette thought with a firm nod as she came close enough to the park to see the transformed akuma in it. 

He looked nothing like the others. For one thing, he was the ugliest akuma to date; for another, his bright, happy exterior did nothing to prepare for the dark powers he held (which also seemed ironically harmless at first). 

Standing on one of the park benches, the Bubbler waved his wand, trapping three pairs of adults in large bubbles and sending them flying up to the clouds. Marinette’s mouth fell open, and she shrank back behind a nearby building’s corner as if to protect herself from the ghastly akuma, who was cackling in a voice which seemed too familiar for comfort. 

“Ahahaha! Hard to ruin kids’ fun from space, isn’t it? Hey, Paris! Come on, it’s time to party! No chores, no homework, no more nagging, just fun, fun, fun, fun! This is the Bubbler's gift to you.” The Bubbler jumped off the bench and strode over in the direction of François-Dupont. As he did so, he called out, “Adrien! Where are you, dude?” 

Marinette’s face softened as her heart gave a little twinge. “Oh, Nino,” she whispered. “What happened to you?” How had someone made laid-back Nino upset enough to be akumatized? 

Whatever it was, it wasn’t Adrien’s fault, Marinette knew. But before she could try to figure out what had happened, Chat Grise vaulted into the park and confronted the akuma.

She stood there silently at first, waiting for her partner to show up and for the Bubbler to show signs of discomfort. Being stared down by the holder of destruction was enough to crack some akumas; Marinette had seen one or two falter back when she still cheered for every win the heroes scored. 

She couldn’t do that now, though. Today, she was officially joining the enemy side (the right side, not that the heroes seemed to know that). Should she do something to break up the tension and help Nino focus on his goal? 

While she was still thinking, the Bubbler brought his wand out again and shot bubbles in Chat Grise’s direction with a smirk and a laugh. Chat Grise leapt out of the way, slashing one of the bubbles with her claws but backing away when the thin membrane started to pull her hand in instead of popping like she’d expected it to. 

“Come on dude, can’t you see I’m busy?” Nino the Bubbler called in annoyance. “I need to throw my best friend a belated birthday party, to show him I might not have known, but I still care! Why don’t you join in on the fun instead of squashing it?” 

His best friend? Marinette had once held that title, though they’d grown apart in recent years. She felt a stab of guilt as Chat Grise snarled and muttered something at the Bubbler.  

As the two fought, Golden Bug arrived from the other side of the park, dangerously close to Marinette’s hiding spot. She crept back into the alley, flattening herself against a doorway and hoping none of them could see her.

“Hey, ugly! Not to bust your bubble, but if you care so much about giving your friend a birthday party, why do adults seem to take priority in your grand plan?” 

The Bubbler turned to Golden Bug with a deep frown on his blue face. “You guys just don’t get it! If adults have their way, there will be no party at all! Men like Gabriel Agreste don’t care about us kids. We need to throw them all out!” 

Marinette winced. Why had Hawk Moth chosen someone who hated him as his akuma? She couldn’t see this fight ending well. Also, when had Adrien gotten a new friend without telling her? 

“Maybe—” Golden Bug said as he ducked and jumped and rolled to avoid the bubbles the akuma shot at him, “Maybe you should just try finding a different way to celebrate! I’m sure Adrien appreciates that you care so much about him, believe me, but do you really want to get rid of his father, whom I’m sure he still loves even if he is strict?” 

The Bubbler lowered his brows and dipped his bubble wand into the mixture on his back. “Maybe he does, but dear ol’ Gabe still deserves his just reward!” He spun the wand in a circle, spreading bubbles out over the park and making it harder for the heroes to dodge them. 

Marinette’s heart seized, but she wasn’t there to save the city’s golden duo from a problem that they had made.  

Instead, she tried her best to mimic the flips, twists, and quick reflexes of the heroes from her place in the alley, counting on them being too busy evading the bubbles to notice her.  

As she tried, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, to imitate them, her mind strayed to the adults Bubbler had sent up to space. What would happen if they never came back down, if Hawk Moth did end up winning this time? Would they die? Surely M. Agreste wouldn’t let that happen! 

So distracted was she by her thoughts that she didn’t notice the fight moving to her.  

A large bubble bounced around the corner, swatted by Chat Grise’s baton as she and Golden Bug pressed the Bubbler backwards. Noticing it, Marinette gulped and hurried further down the street, but it was too late.  

The Bubbler saw her first, lowering his wand and frowning in confusion as Hawk Moth’s symbol appeared over his eyes. Chat and Golden Bug saw her next, both skidding to a halt as they looked over her outfit. 

“You’re not Hawk Moth, are you?” Golden Bug asked, spinning his yo-yo in a defensive shield. 

Marinette opened and closed her fan, stuttering as she tried to come up with an excuse. “Feathered me— I’m a bird—”  

As Chat Grise lowered herself into an offensive stance, Marinette inhaled sharply. She wasn’t supposed to be seen today! She was failing already! Taking a slower breath, she lowered her fan and tried again. 

“I’m bird-themed. Hawk Moth is butterfly-themed. I think the answer is obvious, right?” 

Chat Grise straightened out her crouch with a frown. “Why are you hiding, then?” she asked quietly, her voice full of fire as she eyed Marinette warily.  

“Yeah, you’re not exactly sending a clear signal here. I’d make it more obvious which side you’re on in the feather .” 

Chat Grise looked questioningly at her partner. “The future?” 

Golden Bug crossed his arms and ducked under the bubble the akuma half-heartedly threw his way. “It wasn’t my best, I’ll admit it. It’s hard to beak-lieve, but puns are hard to come up with on the spot!”  

Marinette sighed in unison with Chat Grise. “That was painful,” she said disapprovingly. Then she flashed Golden Bug an apologetic smile. Maybe if she pretended to be friendly for now, she could get out of this without needing to fight two trained heroes? 

“Hmph,” the Bubbler sniffed as he looked at the trio. Then he raised his bubble wand and directed a large bubble straight towards Marinette. 

She could only watch in horror as the bubble drew closer, but the heroes had more presence of mind. Charging towards her from opposite directions, they attempted to move her out of the way... but instead, they wound up colliding in a tangled mess of super-powered teens caught in the bubble, which quickly shot upwards with all three of them squished inside. 

Chat Grise was the first to move. “Ugh,” she muttered, scooting back from the others as much as she could to give them some space to untangle themselves. Golden Bug raised his head from Marinette’s lap, where it had landed, and pushed himself up with a groan. 

“That did not go the way I thought it would,” he said, flashing Marinette an apologetic smile with honest green eyes that made her heart flutter in a way she’d never felt before. “Sorry, I promise we’re not usually this inept. Meeting you was a surprise, and I should’ve accounted for that, but I let us get trapped instead. You have every right to mad at me, but I promise, I will find a way out of this!” 

“He usually does,” Chat Grise said with a small smile. “I— I’m sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have assumed,” she said quietly.  

Marinette blinked as she sat up in the bubble, ignoring the way her leg brushed against Golden Bug’s and the way her stomach seemed to fill with butterflies because of it. 

“I forgive you,” she said quickly. “I shouldn’t have hung back like that; it did make me look suspicious, even though— I would never want to hurt you,” she said, swallowing down the pit that grew in her throat. It wasn’t a lie, was it? 

“Aww, we forgive you too, Bluebird,” Golden Bug said affectionately. “By the way, do you have a name picked out? Not your real one, of course,” he chuckled. 

“Uh.” Marinette’s mind raced as she thought. She wasn’t prepared for this! She’d only gotten this Miraculous half an hour ago! “Blue...wing?” 

Golden Bug blinked and then smiled. “Bluewing! A pretty name for a pretty hero. Welcome to the team!” 

Chat Grise nodded and offered her own quiet, “Welcome!” 

Marinette blushed at all the attention as Golden Bug grabbed her hand closest to him and raised it to his lips for a kiss which did nothing to calm the fire in her cheeks. 

“Guh,” she said as her heart stuttered out a disloyal rhythm. She turned her head away but panicked when she noticed that the bubble had reached the bottom of a cloud. “Gah!”

Pointing out the bubble, she grabbed Golden Bug’s head and directed his eyes outside, where clouds seemed to part around them as they went higher. 

“Oh, no! Chat Grise, use your cataclysm now! We’ll figure the rest out on the way down!” Golden Bug cried. 

“Cataclysm!” As soon as Chat Grise’s fist touched the bubble, it collapsed, sending the three teens downwards in a dizzying spiral. 

“Lucky Charm!” Golden Bug cried desperately. A leaf blower dropped beside him, and he clutched it to his chest.  

“Oh, that solves everything,” Bluewing muttered. At Golden Bug’s wounded look, she quickly amended, “I mean, I’m sure you’ll figure it out!” She offered him a thumbs up with a wavery smile made wavier by the wind. 

He wasn’t looking, already busy trying to find a safe way to land. They were nearing the tops of the buildings. Privately, Marinette was giving up hope and kissing her dreams of getting back to class goodbye. Not that she loved school, but anything was better than dying in her opinion! 

Golden Bug threw his yo-yo far away, managing to wrap it around the Eiffel tower. Before the line tightened, he turned to Chat Grise and Bluewing and yelled, “Hold on to me!” 

Hesitating for only a moment, Bluewing grabbed onto his right side while Chat Grise latched on to his left. Then they were swinging full tilt towards the Eiffel tower, circling it in an orbit that was steadily growing smaller and closer to the tower. 

“Chat Grise, your baton!” 

Pulling back, Chat Grise took her baton out and quickly extended it to the ground. She held on to it tightly, and as Golden Bug released the yo-yo from around the tower’s metal beam, all three of them slid-tumbled down the baton to the ground, where they landed in a heap of bruised, but alive, super-powered teens. 

Marinette could hardly believe she was alive. 

There was a weed growing in the cement a few inches from her nose. She loved it more than she’d ever loved a plant before. 

On either side of her, Golden Bug and Chat Grise were already pushing themselves up and getting ready to get back to the fight. 

“I think I know what my Lucky Charm is for now!” Golden Bug said excitedly as he pushed his bangs out of his eyes and turned to Chat Grise and Bluewing. “But you’ll both have to help.” 

He stopped and smiled, revealing the dimples in his cheeks, when he noticed Bluewing was still on the ground. 

“Need a hand, Miss Blue?” 

Bluewing stared at him as he extended the aforementioned hand. How could someone so irritatingly stubborn, who she was supposed to be fighting against, be this unbelievably cute? It wasn’t fair! 

“T-thank you,” she stuttered as she reluctantly accepted his help up. 

He pulled her to her feet with a smile and a wink as he turned to the east side of the tower, where the polychromatic Bubbler was approaching them with a pout on his lips. 

“Dudes! What is it gonna take for you to learn your lesson, huh? Leave me and my buddies alone!” 

He launched another flurry of bubbles at them, but these ones didn’t seem to be the trapping-you-and-sending-you-to-space type. No, Marinette realized as a nearby lamppost went down in flames, these bubbles were the exploding type! 

Bluewing flinched as one of the bubbles glided towards her, but Chat Grise knocked it aside with her retrieved baton. It exploded harmlessly a few meters away, and Bluewing let out a sigh of relief before immediately feeling guilty. 

Bubbler glared at Bluewing before sending another volley of bubbles towards them. This time, Golden Bug jumped in front of her, turning on the leaf blower and redirecting every last bubble from the trio. Marinette stared at his back and the muscles there and wished for this battle to just end so she could go home already. She didn’t care who won this round. She just wanted to get away from the danger bubbles! 

One tiny bubble escaped Golden Bug’s notice and drifted over in front of Marinette. The Bubbler’s face appeared on it, and she jumped. 

“Dude,” the Bubbler said in a complaining tone, “Why are you just standing there? Hawk Moth told me you’re on our side!” 

As one, Golden Bug and Chat Grise turned around and stared at Bluewing. 

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. 

“Uhhh,” she said intelligently as she pulled out her fan and half-heartedly fanned the bubble with Nino’s distorted face on it a few millimeters away. 

“Dude, are you trying to hide it? Uncool. Totally uncool.” 

“I-I, Hawk Moth said I didn’t have to fight this time,” Bluewing protested, throwing her hands in the air. 

Chat Grise gritted her teeth and looked away. 

“I have to agree with you, Bubbler,” Golden Bug said, his face showing an unexpected level of hurt and betrayal for someone she’d supposedly just met. “This is totally uncool. Why would you pretend to be on our side? Just to get the upper hand?” 

“Maybe she’s afraid to fight us,” Chat Grise hissed. “I wouldn’t blame her.” 

While the Bubbler started babbling on about loyalty and presents for rich, repressed teen boys, Chat Grise tossed her baton towards his bubble wand, knocking it out of his hand. She grabbed it before the akuma could and threw it over to Golden Bug, who caught it without looking and broke it while he was still looking at Bluewing, waiting for her answer. 

Well, it didn’t seem like there was any way for her to get out of this confrontation. 

Just then, Golden Bug’s earrings started beeping, and he distractedly touched one of them while he caught and purified the akuma with the other hand. 

“Bubbler was right,” Bluewing said quietly. “I am on Hawk Moth’s side. But I didn’t lie earlier. I don’t want to fight you. But next time I see you, we will be getting physical!” 

Golden Bug raised one eyebrow. Marinette went over her words in her head and slowly turned a shade of red previously unknown to humankind. 

“How forward of you,” Golden Bug said drily. “I hope that day will never come. Look, do the right thing, Bluewing! Hawk Moth is a cold-hearted villain. I hope you realize that, and leave him.” 

With that, he and Chat Grise took off, leaving the scene before Nino finished piecing together what had happened. 

“Was I akumatized?” he asked, looking up blearily at Marinette through tilted glasses. 

She bent down and straightened them for him. 

“You were,” she said. “But Golden Bug and Chat Grise won again.” 

And M. Agreste is probably furious with me.  

Marinette sighed and turned to go, ignoring Nino’s confused questions as she started the long walk home. Or the short run. Or however long it would be by rooftop. 

She kind of wished she had a yo-yo or a baton right now. 

Halfway to the mansion, she traded the streets for the rooftops. There were too many people staring at her; they clutched their purses or their children and looked at her in fear. 

Alya must have caught the end of the fight and posted it on her blog. 

Up on top of the roofs, there weren’t any more people to stare at and judge Marinette for her choice of who to back. (It was the right choice! They just didn’t know the facts, like she did!) 

Bluewing sighed and rolled her neck and shoulders back, stretching out the taut muscles there. Then she glanced around the rooftop, just in case someone had seen where she went and climbed up to confront her.  

There wasn’t anyone there. 

But on the other side of the street, larger than life and staring straight at her, was a jumbo-sized billboard of Adrien. 

It was just an ad for Gabriel’s winter collection. But it felt like something more than that to Marinette. 

You let me down, Adrien seemed to say to her with his eyes. You pretended to be friends with the heroes. You could’ve taken their Miraculous while you were in the bubble with them, but you didn’t even try to fight! Don’t you care about the mission? Don’t you care about me ?  

Marinette forced herself to turn away from the billboard. It wasn’t her fault she hadn’t fought today! She wasn’t ready! M. Agreste was supposed to teach her first! 

But Adrien’s eyes seemed to follow her as she leapt away to the next rooftop. 

The rest of the trip back to the mansion seemed to take forever. 

Nathalie was waiting for her when she got back. 

Arms crossed, she stood at the side door, tapping her heel on the floor beside the rumpled rug and frowning. M. Agreste stood beside her, looking surprised, cross, and just as pouty as the Bubbler had been. 

“Marinette, I presume. There’s no need to deny it; your absence at the start of afternoon lessons just as a new ‘hero’ appeared clued me in, and the security tapes told me the rest.” 

“Ms. Sancoeur, I—” 

“There’s no need to apologize. I know who the mastermind around here is,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she turned to face the problem. “Gabriel, how could you put her in so much danger? You know she’s just a teenager, like your son! How can you expect to have her take over the company one day if she’s dying from the Peacock’s poison? For once, ask me about your harebrained plans before putting them into action!” 

M. Agreste frowned and tugged at his ascot. “She isn’t going to die, Nathalie. She’s already taking the medicine for the poison.”

Nathalie stared at him like he was an idiot. “The medicine which couldn’t save your wife? All it does is lessen the symptoms! It isn’t a cure, not by any stretch of the imagination! This ends today. Take off the brooch,” she ordered Marinette. 

“Wait,” M. Agreste said, grabbing Marinette’s hand as she reached up to unpin the Miraculous. “Wait. We know there is a cure, Nathalie. We have the grimoire; we can decode it and put together a solution. In the meantime, the medicine will work to keep the worst effects at bay. Honestly, Nathalie, try to have some faith in me!” 

Marinette blinked. “There’s a grimoire?” 

Nathalie’s lips tightened. “The grimoire of the Miraculous is also in the safe you discovered. But it’s written in a long-dead, ancient language, and in code, on top of that. You should not count on it to solve your problems.” 

“And you shouldn’t blame M. Agreste for my putting on the brooch! What happened today was my idea. Mostly.” 

“M. Agreste, is that true?” Nathalie asked him with an accusing glare. 

“As true as my love for Emilie,” he replied smoothly. 

Nathalie adjusted her glasses. “Right. Well, this solves everything. No doubt we will have Golden Bug and Chat Grise’s Miraculous in no time, now that we have the help of yet another untrained teenager! You had better train her well before you send her out again, Gabriel. And you,” she said, turning on Marinette, “Be careful. Be far more careful than you think you need to be. Just because you are on the right side does not mean you are guaranteed success, or that you will even survive. If you need someone else to take over for you, to become the Peacock in your place, let me know. I won’t let it be said that any of those in my care died because I didn’t act to save them.” 

M. Agreste laughed. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Nathalie, although I thank you for the offer,” he said, clapping her on the back. “Now, why don’t we all head inside and let Marinette — or Bluewing, I suppose it is now — detransform and relax. She deserves a reward for her bravery today, no?”

Marinette hesitated. “Are you sure, sir? I didn’t even do anything. I was too afraid,” she admitted shamefully.  

“Oh, I don’t blame you,” M. Agreste said cheerfully. “It was my fault, anyway. I should have given you some basic lessons first before sending you out in the field. I won’t make the same mistake again. Now, what would you like to do to celebrate?”  

Marinette looked at Ms. Sancoeur, but she only sighed and shrugged in a way that suggested she went along with M. Agreste’s suggestion.  

“Well,” she said thoughtfully, “I think Adrien has fencing after school today, right?”  

“It’s his first match of the year, actually,” Nathalie informed her.  

“Right! And Nino was upset because his birthday had already passed, but he didn’t know about it. And now that I think about it, I found out about it too late to give him a gift; I only told him happy birthday and that was it. What if we go cheer him on? I want to make sure he knows we care about him. I’m doing this for him, after all, and I can’t tell him about that, but I can show my support in other ways, and I know he’d be so happy to see you there! What do you think?”  

Gabriel looked a bit surprised, and he checked his watch with a small frown. “That will take longer than I had planned on,” he began, but Ms. Sancoeur shot him a glare and he quailed. “Good idea. I will let the chauffeur know to have the car ready for us.”  

“Perfect. In the time between now and then, you and I can finally start on your afternoon lessons, Marinette,” Nathalie said. She kicked the rug into place as they walked inside, past the kitchen entrance and down the main hall.   

“Oh, and before you do anything else,” Gabriel said, as if he’d just remembered something. “You should hand over your brooch to me. I will keep it in a safe place for you when you do not need it, since wearing it outside of transformations would bring the side effects to you sooner. There we are,” he said as she unpinned the brooch and dropped it into his waiting palm. “I will see both of you in an hour.”  

Nathalie nodded. “Good. Now, come with me, Marinette. I’ve ordered some fresher medicine for you, and I think you should switch to taking it instead of the older pills from Emilie. Twice a day, now, or they won’t have a strong enough countereffect on the magic.” 

“Yes, Ms. Sancoeur,” Marinette said. “I’ll do my best to help you remember.” 

__*__*__*__*__ 

Adrien was a better fencer than Marinette had thought, though she didn’t know what she had expected. 

He fought his opponents with a fierce, fiery energy, like he was mad that they would even dare to face him, although he was always kind to the ones he defeated, which was all of them so far. 

“Such a good sportsman,” Gabriel remarked during one match when he wasn’t busy sketching a new design on the tablet he’d brought with him. 

“He makes the best of them look like amateurs,” Marinette marveled. Would she ever be as good at fighting as he was? Maybe he should have gotten the Peacock, not her. 

“That’s because he’s an Agreste,” Gabriel responded. “He can’t be anything but perfect.” 

Nathalie sat forward, a pinched expression on her face. 

“You care a lot about my son, don’t you?” Gabriel suddenly asked Marinette. 

She tilted her head. “Yes? I thought you knew that already.” 

Gabriel laughed. A few people glanced in their direction, including one person with a camera who might have been paparazzi, but he shot a glare back at them and they turned their attention away. 

“Of course, I know that. But what I mean is... you care for him. You love him, no?” 

“Like a brother,” Marinette responded immediately. She smiled and cheered as Adrien scored another point against a fighter in blue and white. 

“Like a— what?” Gabriel was staring at her like she’d grown two heads. 

She blushed. “Oh! Sorry, I don’t mean to assume we’re that close to each other. But he means a lot to me,” she said in a carefree manner. “I hope we’ll stay as friends forever.” 

“Yes, yes — very good friends,” Gabriel said, sounding a little strangled. He loosened his ascot around his throat. It was probably too tight for him. 

He touched the brooch under it lightly, quickly, so as to be discreet. 

Marinette raised her eyebrows and turned her attention back to the match. At her left, Nathalie was looking at her with a half-surprised, half-amused expression. 

“You were right, Gabriel,” she said, speaking around Marinette’s back, “They’re quite the pair; I think they’ll be friends forever. Another plan of yours going just swimmingly well!” 

“Hmph.” 

Gabriel sat back on the bleachers, clearly upset, but about what, Marinette didn’t know. She was too busy cheering on her best friend to waste time thinking about it. 

After the match finally ended, Adrien was announced as the overall winner, and went up to receive his gold medal. Marinette cheered louder than anyone in the stadium, and he smiled and blushed when he saw her in the audience. He raised the medal a little higher and stood a little straighter when he saw who was standing beside her, looking suitably impressed. 

Then he winked and pressed a kiss to the gold medal. Nathalie facepalmed, but Marinette laughed. Who knew Adrien could be so funny and carefree? She was happier than ever that she’d convinced Gabriel to let him go to public school and come see this match. It was clearly doing wonders for her friend. 

“Congratulations, Adrien!” she cheered when she finally got to see him after the ceremony, when he’d changed back into his usual clothes. He grinned when he saw her, and she pulled him into a hug without thinking. “You were great! I didn’t know you were so good at fencing!” 

“Thanks, Marinette! I’m glad you liked the show,” he said, pulling back from the hug with a light blush on his cheeks. “And thank you for convincing my father and Nathalie to come, too! I don’t know how you did it,” he marveled. 

Marinette smiled. “I think the Bubbler reminded us all that we should do more to show you how much we care about you. You’re one of the most important people in my life, Adrien! I don’t want you to forget it.” 

Adrien blushed deeper as Gabriel and Nathalie caught up to Marinette. They both looked a bit out of breath, bent over and nearly panting. 

“Congratulations, Adrien. Your hard work has been paying off,” Nathalie said once she’d straightened up. She discreetly bumped Gabriel with her elbow. 

“Ah, I mean, yes! You acted like a true Agreste out there. Keep it up,” he said stiffly. 

“He always does his best, doesn’t he? Don’t you think we should maybe, I don’t know, let him pick something as a prize for all his hard work?” Marinette asked, slinging her arm around Adrien’s back and pulling him close. What could she say, she was feeling daring today, and she was determined to make sure Adrien knew he was loved! Nino had had a point, after all. 

“I don’t know, I mean,” M. Agreste said as Nathalie elbowed him again, “Perhaps. What would you like, Adrien?” 

Adrien smiled down at Marinette, wrapping his arm around her in return. “I’d like some more free time to see Marinette, actually. I was talking to M. Dupain this morning, and he said he’d be willing to provide breakfast for both of us at his place if I get there a little earlier! And it would all be diet-appropriate, nothing too— uh, nothing unhealthy. If that’s alright with you, Marinette,” he said, looking into her eyes for approval. 

She smiled broadly. “I think that sounds great! I might have to wake up a little sooner than usual, though.” 

M. Agreste looked flabbergasted. “Are you sure? That’s what you want, breakfast with Marinette every day?”

Adrien’s grip tightened on her waist. “M-hm,” he said, still looking into her eyes with a fond smile. 

“I think we can arrange for that to happen,” Ms. Sancoeur said brusquely, tapping on her tablet. “Don’t you, M. Agreste?” 

“I suppose,” he said, looking closely at Marinette and Adrien. “That might work nicely. It could be just what we need, yes, let M. Dupain know that we’ll accept his offer!” 

“Gladly.” Nathalie typed something on her tablet as the Gorilla pulled up by the sidewalk outside to pick them up in the limousine. 

Gabriel and Nathalie both took their own row, while Adrien sat next to Marinette in the back. 

“So, did you see the news today?” he asked in a whisper, his eyes gleaming despite the darkness of the car. 

Marinette shifted uncomfortably. “Depends on which news you mean,” she whispered back.  

He didn’t know who Bluewing was fighting for, and he wasn't happy with her appearance. That was okay. She was protecting him, and it made sense for him to assume that she was a bad guy without the information he needed, that she was protecting him from. 

“The akuma. I can’t believe Hawk Moth picked up an ally!” His voice was strained. “I mean, who would pick his side? It’s obvious who the villain is! We were all so hopeful when we first saw Bluewing. She was so nice! And she turned out to be just another brainwashed sidekick! I can’t believe it,” he said, hurt lingering in every word. 

Marinette took a ragged breath. “Well, maybe she’ll turn out to be a nice person, after all,” she suggested. 

Adrien scoffed. “Maybe. If she turns on Hawk Moth and fights the real villain instead, but that seems unlikely to me. But hey, she was flirting with Golden Bug, right? Maybe his good looks will convince her to join the right side of the battle,” he said sarcastically.

He was joking, but Marinette’s cheeks turned red, and she looked away before he could notice. She would never leave Gabriel’s side just because a boy looked pretty! Even if she did think his butt looked cute, she would never betray Adrien like that, no matter how hot and funny and charming her enemy was! 

The silence became uncomfortable.

Marinette broke it. “Yeah, you could be right.”  

Outside, the wind tugged a flag to and fro on its pole. She watched it for a moment, then leaned her head against the car window and closed her eyes.  

“I think she has a crush on him.” She whispered it like a rancid secret, a rotten apple slowing poisoning the rest of her mind.  

She felt more miserable now than she could remember ever being before. The Peacock’s broken magic had nothing on the raw guilt and shame consuming her, eating away the last bit of happiness she’d felt watching Adrien fence. 

She had a crush on Golden Bug! On her enemy, who was a direct threat to the boy she’d promised to protect! 

What kind of a hero was she? 

[sunfoxfic]

Most important question you can ask about characters you're writing in a fanfic, regardless of what type of fanfic, is "would they be an earth pony, unicorn, or pegasus"

[samsimisauser]

I was severely unprepared for the giga brain take of Marc = Legend, can't say I disagree though

Ranking the Miracucast by how they'd react to being chosen as the next holder of One For All

Marinette: She would scream and cry and do everything in her power to avoid becoming the next Symbol of Peace. She would then proceed to be one of the most beloved and powerful Heroes the world has ever seen. 9/10

Alya: Depends on when she gets the Quirk. Early Seasons Alya is all about fame and branding, and she'd be loved by the populace as a hero but make a decent amount of rookie mistakes. Late Seasons Alya would be way more competent as a One For All user, but she also knows how to keep things subtle. I can see her becoming an Underground Hero like Eraserhead. Either way, 7/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: He would be very confused as to why he's being chosen, but if his friends were in danger he'd do it. Would much prefer to focus on his music than hero work, and as such would be known for the former more than the latter. 3/10

Chloe: She would try so, so, so hard to be the ultimate superhero that everyone loves. Unfortunately we saw how that went down in canon. She has the potential to great things, but motives will always be a serious problem for her. 4/10

Sabrina: Getting One For All might be what it takes to get her out of her shell. She'd never reach the fame and reputation that All Might and Deku have, but she would treat her powers with utmost respect and very few people would have bad things to say about her as a hero. 7/10

Mylene: She would be very confused, and very scared, and honestly would probably reject the Quirk outright. If forced to take it she'd be great, but I just can't see her wanting to hold on to it. She prefers to change the world in other ways. 3/10

Ivan: Everyone would doubt him due to making assumptions, but he would surpass them all and come into his own as a beloved and respected hero, albeit one that's pretty intimidating. He wouldn't really focus on quirks other than the super strength, but hey, it worked for All Might! 8/10

Rose: Be afraid. Be very afraid. 6/10

Juleka: Guaranteed to be more of the Underground hero type. Possibly might go full vigilante. She would use the Quirks very differently than most would expect, so people won't make the connection to past One For All holders. She does not want to have a body count, but definitely has one. 6/10

Kim: Kim is a total doofus who would immediately gain a rep as a reckless hero who causes lots of collateral damage but makes up for it by just trying really hard. Deep down he will feel unworthy and self-conscious. Local Himbo has internal turmoil and Does Not Deserve It. 5/10

Max: Would reject the Quirk outright and only accept it in the most dire of circumstances. Max does not want a messy complicated Quirk like One For All. Max likes simple and efficient, stuff he can manipulate from the get go. One For All is not simple. Give it to someone else. 0/10

(side note: while Max does not want One For All, Markov absolutely does, and finding a way to give Markov One For All would make for an interesting challenge. But Max still isn't taking it.)

Alix: Would politely decline taking it. Because she's already received it (and passed it on after engaging in brief shenanigans with it) in the future, and knows it is not her battle to fight in the present. Alix/10

Nathaniel: Please let this poor boy have some sleep. He is very tired and very angry and accepted the Quirk on impulse and really doesn't want to do this. Eventually manages to figure out his niche being a artist/spraypaint hero (Alix helps), and may or may not accidentally trigger the downfall of a corrupt government. 7/10

Lila: She obtained it under false pretenses and we are all doomed. There's a slim chance she'll do some hero work for the sake of her image, but like. The cons will definitely outweigh the pros. This was a mistake. 1/10

Luka: Accepted One For All during a time of great need, and knew the moment he received it that it was something Important. He puts on a front of being chill, but treats his work as a Hero with the utmost of seriousness and will do what has to be done. Like his sister, he would actively strive to not have a body count, but definitely would have one. 9/10

Kagami: She's a superhero with a sword. Awesomeness is the default. She will have no idea what she is doing but like. She has a sword. Stuff is getting done. 7/10

Marc: Look, you know Worm? You know Legend? One For All Marc would be like Legend except less hunk and more bishonen. The fangirls and fanboys will rejoice. Marc does not want all the attention, but he has it anyway. 6/10

Ondine: Kim accepts his role as the ultimate trophy boyfriend. Ondine would be competent, but she would also create even more collateral damage. 5/10

Aurore (New!): If there's one thing she knows, it's branding. She may not be known as a particularly powerful hero, but her branding would be top notch. When people figure out she's the latest successor she will OWN it and turn it into more branding. 5/10

Felix: Was likely offered One For All by someone who thought he was Adrien, and accepted it under that pretense. Would do a good job as a hero (and would give Adrien the credit in the process) but would figure out how to use all the Quirks very quickly and have a gig as a vigilante going on under a different identity, using different quirks to keep people in the dark. Very sus, Felix. You can be better than this. 2/10

Zoe: Look the populace would pick up on the fact that she's blonde and associated with America and immediately assume she's related to All Might. That's just going to happen. All Might will basically have to end up adopting her, if he's still around. She does not like this, but makes it work. 6/10

[copdog1234]

Man, I was watching the movie and the entire time I was thinking "Wow. This would've been so much more satisfying in the show" because the show has earned it. The show's writing is far from perfect, it has many, many flaws, but my god is it far better than Miraculous Awakening will ever be. And I'll tell you why.

I will preface by saying, yes, an hour and a half movie has way less time than a TV show with several episodes to build up characters and relationships, so time constraints will make it so we may not get as much depth in the on-screen relationships.

You know what, though? The time they spent playing mediocre songs could've been used better to show us all the things the songs had to outright tell us. Cause that was the problem.

The movie sure liked telling us how the characters were feeling. It rarely showed it. Like could you tell me why movie Marinette liked Adrien? Because I couldn't. What did he do to earn her affection beside look pretty? Why did we only get a montage of them getting closer instead of actually seeing it? Or how we never really see much of Gabriel and Adrien's struggles with the loss of Emilie, we simply get glimpses. How am I supposed to feel anything when Gabriel stops being Hawk Moth when this movie showed us literally nothing of their strained relationship? And then there's Gabriel's claim that he did absolutely everything to get Emilie back. No he didn't. He did actually nothing. He freed a couple of criminals and then akumatized himself. That's it. That's all he did.

Could you tell me why Alya decided to befriend Marinette? Could you tell me why Adrien "who decided not to get close to anyone" was friends with Nino? Could you tell me why Chloe was so confident Adrien had any interest in her when they never actually interacted?

And then there wasnt enough explanation on how anything that we should've been told worked. Could anyone really tell me how these versions of the miraculous work? Or why Master Fu was in possession of them? Or why they really chose their holders? Could you tell me if the kwami had much personality and were necessary?

Like, I will say, there were funny moments, the animation was nice, and there were cool set pieces, but where was the substance?? It was nonexistent. If you don't watch the show, would you know or feel anything for what was going on in this movie?

Cause even for me, who does watch the show, I didn't.

Think about this. The show has even faked out multiple reveals to me and every time I was hyped and screaming, I have read fanfiction of these same to characters falling in love and confessing every which way and I've swooned, but we get reveals and love confessions that are real and permanent in this movie and I felt. Nothing.

It's okay if yall disagree with me, but I just needed to get this off my chest. I'm hard on this movie because I wanted it to be good because I love the characters and story from the show.

[flightfoot]

Could you recommend good written rarepair fics?

Sure! I don't know what you qualify as rarepair, so I'll use my old standby of "everything that isn't Lovesquare". I've got a lot of these to recommend, so I'll split it up by ship, unless there's only one fic in the pairing, in which case I'll dump it at the end.

I've split this up by pairing. If I have multiple fics to rec for a pairing, I'll give it its own category, if not, then it goes into the "one-offs" category at then end.

I have categories for Adrino, Marigami, MarcNath, Lukadrien, Julerose, Chlobrina, DJWifi, Alyanette, and FeLuka, in that order.

---

Adrino:

Within Your Heart by Inkyibis

It’s Valentine’s Day and Ladybug just wants to her superhero partner to find his love. And what she wants, the Lucky Charm will create. If only she could remember what it is she did last night.

Adrino fic here! Marinette’s drunk and feeling awful that her superhero partner is alone on Valentine’s (she’s in a loving and committed relationship with Alya), so she creates a Lucky Charm to help Chat find love! In this universe, Ladybug’s Lucky Charms have the power to create new rules for the universe to follow, such as making one that demands that if you have any magic in you, you have to tell the truth or else you’ll freeze. Or in Adrien’s case, that he has to wake up in the arms of his true love every day XD. It’s very sweet and I love both Adrien’s and Nino’s relationship, and the relationship between the rest of the Miracuteam members as well, even though that’s not the focus.

---

I’ll give myself a name (something stupid and pretentious) by @bbutterflies

Nino looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. Usually he wouldn’t answer, but he had nothing better to do – and could still really use a distraction – so he did. “Hello?”

“Hey, Nino.”

Nino stood up quickly, chest tightening. He knew that voice. He’d been waiting to hear it again for over two years. “Adrien?” he whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me."

-

When Monarch is defeated (and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste), Chat Noir immediately goes missing. Adrien disappears not long after. When Adrien finally shows up in Paris again, Nino would do anything to make sure he doesn't disappear again.

Ah this is lovely, Adrien’s been in a lot of emotional turmoil since Monarch’s defeat, convinced that everyone would hate him, SHOULD hate him, for not realizing that his father was the villain, and should hate him even more for disappearing like he does. But slowly Marinette and Nino get through to him, convince him that they just want him back. 

And also Adrien and Nino smooch. Multiple times. So that’s a bonus XD.

---

Would Trust You With Everything by @kasienda

Nino breaks off, tears streaking down his face. Adrien wishes he was here as himself instead of Chat so he could offer a hug.

“It’s not like I don’t think she deserved her privacy. It’s just it felt like I was her last priority. And if I knew why, then maybe we could overcome it. But when I don’t, I’m not willing to be her last thought. You know? I always put her first.”

“Yeah,” Chat agrees, able to relate too well. He always put Ladybug first too, and he’s not sure it has ever been the same for her. “I’m sorry you’ve been so alone through this."

“I haven’t been totally alone,” Nino disagrees, holding up his phone. “My best friend has been keeping me company virtually most of the day.”

“Yeah? It helped?”

“I don’t know if any of the stuff he sent helped, but like, given what I know he’s up to, he totally had to move heaven and earth to talk to me so much, and that really helped. You know, just knowing that someone was thinking of me.”

“I’m glad,” Chat Noir said. “I wish he could be there in person for you.”

Nino sighs. “Yeah, me too, but at least you’re here."

...

Season 4 au - canon divergent from Rocketear Rocketear led to DJWiFi breakup.

Ahh, Adrino my beloved XD. I love the identity shenanigans in this one with Adrien being around Nino as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and both of them vaguely describing their situations to each other. It takes Adrien a bit to figure out that he has a crush on Nino, but once he does...

---

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

“He’s dating me,” Nino said, taking Adrien’s hand in his own.

Adrien could only stare back at him in shock.

“How dare you all force him to come out?” Nino continued, glaring at the reporters. “That was disgusting.” He pulled Adrien over to the car, guided him in, and shut the door behind them.

In the relative quiet and privacy of the backseat, Adrien finally processed what had just happened. “So… when were you going to tell me we were dating?”

This Adrino fic is delicious XD. Reporters keep hounding Adrien about his love life, so Nino finally gets them off Adrien’s back by fake-dating him. Problem is, Adrien’s actually been madly in love with Nino for years but has never been able to tell him. And now as they’re spending more time together, Nino’s beginning to find that he’s enjoying all these “couple” activities more than maybe he ought to if it’s entirely platonic...

If you want to see Adrien and Nino PINING for each other while “fake” dating (is it really fake if both parties want it to be real?) then you’ve come to the right fic!

---

Chemistry With Him by @bbutterflies

It kind of sucked Nino was taking chemistry, but classes had filled up fast and he needed to take something and his advisor had said the credits would, somehow, count towards his major. It really sucked he was taking it first thing on a Monday morning (and Wednesdays, and Fridays, unfortunately). But he could get through it. He knew he could.

So no more boys. No distractions. He could do this all on his own.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Nino looked up to find the source of the voice. A blond, green-eyed, absolutely beautiful someone.

Okay. Maybe one distraction.

Ah, adorable Adrino. This is a universe where Adrien never went to public school, so while Chat Noir, Ladybug, Carapace, and Rena Rouge all know each other (and Marinette, Alya, and Nino all know each other’s identities) they’re unaware that they are all already friends with Adrien. I loved seeing Chat and Carapace excitedly tell each other about their awesome crush/boyfriend, not knowing they were talking about each other XD.

---

Awaken by InkyIbis

The previously white butterfly, now oozing black and purple as a conduit of the butterfly miraculous powers, flutters softly within the silvered-gloved hand.

It sits there for a long time.

"Go, my akuma," The soft sigh pushes the butterfly, the akuma, out towards the despair of a love not returned. The same ache within his chest. On a level so great that he's willing to sacrifice the city to mend it.

It's okay if he's the villain for now. He'll force the miraculous of creation and destruction to be revealed, and once he gets his hands on them, none of this pain, none of his loss, will ever happen.

This is essentially a canon rewrite for Miraculous (specifically seasons 1 and 2, with a bunch of the events mixed around) that focuses primarily on Adrien, with his relationship with Nino being the main driving relationship of the fic. (Don’t worry, Marinette’s still treated fine, she’s just not the focus). This is the best “rewrite Miraculous with more of a focus on Adrien” type fic I’ve seen, with it reworking the plots of the episodes so that they’re different enough to be their own distinct thing - it’s not trying to just rewrite the canon episodes but from Adrien’s POV, there’s a lot of lore changes going on as well, and things occur in different orders.

Like lorewise, Chat’s given a more important role in cleaning up the mess the akumas leave, with his power helping to cleanse akuma victims and he and Ladybug needing to use their powers in tandem in order to cast Miraculous Ladybug. There’s also no Miracle Box holding the kwamis. Instead, Chat sometimes surpasses his limits and ends up summoning kwamis, which is dangerous to him, but very useful.

What really makes this fic great though, is its focus on Adrien’s emotions. You really get a feel for Adrien’s insecurities, especially when it comes to not feeling like he’s good enough for Nino, with not wanting to bother him when he absolutely should, with feeling like he’s not a good enough friend to him, and then there’s dealing with all of Gabriel’s usual abuse on top of that.

Speaking of Nino, this is an Adrino fic (though several characters get crushes on Adrien, Nino’s the one who matters most for this), though a slowburn one. Nino’s clearly head-over-heels for Adrien, but Adrien has like, no context for what a romantic crush feels like and is basically viewing Nino the way he viewed Marinette in canon prior to season 5. He clearly cares for him a lot, including romantically, he just... doesn’t get it.

Anyway, if you want an interesting canon rewrite fic from Adrien’s perspective with Adrino as the main pairing, this is a good story to pick up!

---

If I hold you too close by @bbutterflies

Paris didn’t come to a screeching halt for akumas anymore. They were so commonplace, so frequent, no one stopped their lives unless they were in danger. They trusted the heroes to fix everything if something did go wrong, save them if they got hurt. Adrien was still fighting the urge to find Plagg and go running into battle. Plagg wasn’t here, though. --- Post-season 5 where Adrien got sent to London sooner and gave up his Miraculous to keep Paris safe.

If you know this author, then you've probably already guessed that this is an Adrino fic (seriously if you like Adrino, check out bbutterflies fics, though honestly if you ARE an Adrino fan, you probably already have).

So in this scenario, Adrien was sent to London and didn't get to return, so he gave Plagg the ring so he could find another Holder. In this case, Nino. After a few years, once he's an adult, Adrien manages to come back from London, but he's in ROUGH shape. He drinks a lot, he has a reputation for partying hard and causing disruptions, and is really depressed and hates himself, and hates Felinoir (Nino's Black Cat form) even more, for having what he lost.

But even while Adrien's pushing everyone away to protect himself, his old friends refuse to give up on him, even though he's given up on himself.

While Adrien's problems are the primary focus of the fic, they're not the entire focus. Nino gets a POV, and he has personal issues and insecurities of his own. He has trouble holding down relationships, he doesn't have a lot of close friends these days, and he's struggling to keep up in school with all the akumas he's had to fight. He and Ladybug are fine coworkers, but they aren't much more than that - they aren't friends like Chat Noir and Ladybug were.

Oh, also, Nino's a transman. That's also caused some issues in making and keeping friends.

It's a beautiful story of one person hitting rock-bottom and gradually being pulled back out of it again, until they can stand on their own and push themselves up the rest of the way, and of a friend who discovers their childhood best friend (and crush) has changed enormously since they last saw them, and not in good ways - only to find that their friend is, at their core, still there. They just need help seeing it themselves.

---

Marigami:

Plans Aren’t Everything by BeeRye

Feeling a bit fed up with constantly having her dates with Marinette cut short, Kagami sets aside some time in order to plan the perfect outing for the two of them. Despite being the holder of the Miraculous of the Black Cat, she believes one day of romance isn’t too much to ask for. As long as she treats it all like she does everything else in her life, the results she wants should come to pass. She doesn’t quite know what to do if that ends up not being the case.

This was adorable and captured Kagami’s mindset well, she decided, rather optimistically that she could just brute force the date into going well. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna stop Hawk Moth. Fortunately, Marinette has her own back-up plans…

---

Anchor by @liiinerle

“Marinette. Please take that sabre out of your neck.” “Right. Thanks. I forgot it was there.” She grabbed hold of the guard and pulled; the blade slid out like it had only been run through butter. After dropping it on the floor, she picked up one of the teacups and picked up a biscuit from a tin she’d brought in; she placed the biscuit on the saucer plate and handed the whole thing to Kagami, who could only really resign herself to accepting it. —– Marinette has raised Kagami from the dead, and also happens to be dead herself. It turns out some bad choices were made in the past. But that doesn’t mean they’ll lead to bad outcomes for them now.

I love this, Marinette’s incredibly blase about being a zombie - which makes sense, given how long she’s had to get used to the idea. And she’s waited so long, tried so hard to bring Kagami back as well, though if she didn’t WANT to be back, she’d accede to that request. Luckily, Kagami doesn’t seem to mind as long as she’s with Marinette XD.

---

Galaxy In Your Eyes by @liiinerle

Arriving in Paris, Kagami almost immediately finds herself assaulted by a dark, infectious butterfly. When she wakes up, a ladybug-themed superhero is standing over her, and her eyes are like holes into an empty, vast, and incredibly alluring universe… An AU where the two main Miraculous function differently from the norm.

Nice Marigami fic here! Or should I say, Ladygami - technically Marinette doesn’t exist, only Ladybug, who’s an immortal creation goddess, or something like that. But she still fights to protect Paris from Hawk Moth alongside Chat Noir, who is still a normal, squishy human underneath the suit.

Anyway, there’s a but of inspiration from Nimona here, with a lot of people being scared of Ladybug because she’s a bit… out there, especially when she shapeshifts to have like, 6 extra arms and a lobster tail. Kagami’s into it though XD

---

Accidents Are Also Miracles by @liiinerle

After a few turbulent days where four new people discover her secret identity, Marinette loses faith in her ability to keep the secret hidden. Wracked with doubts and insecurities, she pleads with Alya to take over as Scarabella, but she still can't let those worries go. Especially not once Monarch starts taking a particular, and personal, interest in her.

Along the way, she also starts to date Kagami, and has to deal with changing feelings about herself, Adrien, Alya, Kagami, and the idea of being Ladybug. At the same time, Alya works to uncover Monarch's secret identity, while Kagami struggles against a controlling parent, and a girlfriend who seems bent on destroying herself - with or without Monarch's involvement.

Fantastic Marigami fic here! You’ve got three major POVs in this fic: Marinette, Kagami, and to my delight, Alya. I loved getting to see Alya cope with taking over as Scarabella especially.

But of course, this fic centers more around Marinette and Kagami, with Marinette struggling with Monarch targeting her, and Kagami struggling against her abusive parent, as well as both of them trying to navigate their relationship together when they know that not everyone will approve. 

There’s also some other plots going on in here, like Sabrina breaking away from Chloe and becoming more independent (and closer to Adrien in fact), as well as a Lila takedown plot, though thankfully not one that involves demonizing other characters. While there are conversations about people believing Lila and siding with her, no one’s actually attacked for it except for Lila herself.

Oh yeah, and while this fic may not have much focus on Adrien, he’s still treated fairly and with respect, even when he messes up. He can make mistakes, but people understand where he’s coming from, and are still kind to him and want things to be okay, and to help him escape his abusive circumstances.

---

Marcnath:

Day 7: Book by Andromeda612

During one of his works, Marc comes across a rather interesting book.

MarcNath AU fic here! Basically Marc is a super powerful warlock, and is brought in to help with the case of a lying witch who apparently caused a lot of problems for people, using her magic to help fool everyone. She’s actually dead by the time the story starts, and everyone’s trying to go back through and figure out what she’s done and why memories surrounding her seem to be foggy. Meanwhile there’s a book she left behind which appears to be sentient, and which Marc’s taken a liking too...

---

don't you worry child by @mexicancat-girl

Marc and Nathaniel have a good life, married and living together in a cottage in the woods. But they consider having children at some point. Marc in particular really wants to start a family with his husband. He knows the fey are real, so he goes searching in the woods to find one to strike a deal. He may get a bit more than he bargained for in the process.

This is based on a tumblr post that’s been going around, which I think a lot of people will recognize as they continue going through the story. That post is credited at the end of the fic, so as not to spoil the plot.

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Confession Plans of Questionable Sanity by yellow14

Nathanael Kurtzberg has a confession to make. He’s in love with his big classmate Ivan. With the help of Marc, Marinette, Adrien and Nino, he’s going to confess, using increasingly complicated schemes. Marc meanwhile, is busy coming up with even more complicated schemes to sabotage those schemes so he can confess HIS feelings for his redheaded friend. Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong with this, right? Written for the March 2023 gift exchange on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord forum for CassieTheweirdWolf.

This fic’s just really funny. These kids love to make things waaaaay harder than they need to be. But hey, everything ends up working out in the end, even if it’s not the way they planned!

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Evillustrator Reimagined by onewaywriteturn

A full, mostly-standalone rewrite of the episode "The Evillustrator".

Nathaniel never planned to tell anyone about his secret crush on his friend Marc, but his world changes when Chloe picks up his sketchbook and mocks his art in front of the whole class, inadvertently outing him as bisexual. Now as the Evillustrator, he has two objectives: to take vengeance on Chloe for what she did to him and to go on a date with Marc for his birthday.

At the same time, Marinette is already struggling to defend Sabrina from Chloe when she learns of the Evillustrator's crush on Marc, one of her good friends. And while getting Marc involved with an akuma fight is messy enough, the fact that Marc has secretly liked Nathaniel for a long time complicates the situation so much more.

If you ever wanted to see Evillustrator rewritten to focus around NathMarc, this is the fic for you! The two of them just PINE for each other so hard and are so convinced that the other person couldn’t possibly actually want to date them, even with Evillustrator making it uh. Exceedingly obvious XD.

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I'd Do Anything For $20 (To Feel More In Control) by Shroomifyiy

Bee!Nathaniel AU one shot (because I think he's silly teehee) Nathaniel hated keeping secrets, especially from someone he cared about. But unfortunately, it's not up to him to decide that. Marc feels hurt from Nathaniel's actions. He just wants his boyfriend to be honest with him. Hawkmoth is a bitch ass motherfucker. Enough said.

Fun Nathmarc fic here! I love seeing Nathaniel's interactions with Pollen, and him cope with the strain on his relationship with needing to run off all the time to go fight akumas with only the flimsiest of excuses. He loves Marc deeply, as deeply as Marc loves him. But Marc's getting suspicious and wondering what's going on, and Nathaniel doesn't think he can tell him.

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Handle With Care by @dragonchris

AU where soulmates can feel each other's emotions. But having a soulmate isn't always beautiful and romantic. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it hurts. Marc and Nath have to learn what that means for them.

This was cute, I loved seeing how Nathaniel and Marc both thought about their soulmate, and how they cope with the aftermath of Reverser in this AU. Helps that Alix is a platonic soulmate of Nathaniel's here (Nathaniel has two soulmates).

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Lukadrien:

When feelings are too big for words by ClockworkCaptain

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance. Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

One of the issues I tend to have with Luka shipfics, and with Lukadrien especially (though I think Lukanette actually has this problem worse) is how Luka tends to disappear within the fic and the pairing, feeling more like “The Love Interest” than his own person. Not so here! While most of the intrigue surrounds Adrien, I still got the sense of Luka being his own person, not just existing in the fic for Adrien.

I adored Adrien getting to display an aspect of himself through persona and performance - that does align well with how he approaches Chat Noir - and overall I just had a lot of fun with this fic!

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forever (and a little bit) by @rainbow-arrow

Now the world was out of tune. It was messy and blurry and Luka could not fathom waking up tomorrow and accepting his new life. He had less than nothing. How could he care about anything when the better half of his melody was replaced with silence. --- see also: Luka's villain origin story

This is a tragedy, don't go into it expecting a happy ending. Adrien breaks up with Marinette because he's upset over her lying to him about his father's fate and not telling him he's a sentimonster, and gradually becomes closer to Luka instead, first as a friend and later as a lover. There are fragments of story from the future that let you know this love story isn't going to last...

It's rated M, though I think that's mostly because of Adrien's injuries. I can see why it's M rated, but I think most teens should be fine reading this.

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Two is Company by Shadownoble

Adrien’s father wants him to play for an upcoming party. Only this time he won’t be doing it alone.

This Lukadrien fic's adorable! Luka's got selective mutism, which Adrien takes in stride. I love how their relationship develops, they're smitten with each other! Though of course while Gabriel brought the two of them together, he's an obstacle too. Because he's a dick.

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Julerose:

How Could I Not? by SorryJustAnotherPerson

In fairy tale books, Princesses were saved by nights from ferocious dragons. Those books were not their story, but Rose was happy to flip over a new page with her Juleka every single day. Many years ago, she was put to this tower by her parents and her kingdom, along with a fire breathing dragon, so she could find her prince charming one day. How foolish for them to not calculate her falling in love with the dragon. I mean seriously. How could she not?

I love fairy tale type stories, especially fractured fairy tales. And Juleka being a dragon is awesome. This is just a fun and adorable story.

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You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess by @mexicancat-girl

With Team Miraculous now full-time holders, Ladybug has them patrolling in pairs like her and Chat Noir. New partners Pigella and Purple Tigress get along phenomenally, their easy banter and similar wavelengths making working with each other a joy in and out of combat. But sometimes Tigress is surprised just how close she is with her partner. Sometimes she tries not to feel too guilty thinking about it.

There’s some nice Julerose here! I love them kinda getting into a lovesquare with each other, though it’s not as much of a problem as it is in canon since it’s reciprocal in every relationship and they’re both down for a poly. It’s fun, and I love the “Luka attempting to woo some of his love interests” plot going on in the background XD.

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Chlobrina:

Tides of Time by JayJoy3000

Chloe, to her disdain, attends a prestigious university in London where she happens to run into her traitorous, ex-best friend who left Paris years ago without an explanation. But Sabrina is not the shy pushover she once was... Or, the one where Chloe Bourgeois absolutely does NOT spend months pining after Sabrina Raincomprix. No, that would be ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

I love how this fic handles Chloe, this is a Chloe who's realized her parents are crap and decided to try to be better, and made some real friends with Juleka and Luka (and seems to be on decently friendly terms with the rest of the class, but they don't come up much), but still has a ways to go, with not really understanding why Sabrina ghosted her, that Sabrina wasn't as happy as she thought.

Also at the beginning of the story Chloe still believes she's straight. Chloe is the ONLY one who believes Chloe is straight XD.

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Hanahaki by @generalluxun

First fic: Late Bloomer

On what might very well be the last night of her life, Sabrina Raincomprix pulls out a very special scrapbook, pressed between the pages is the past, the past she has never shared with anyone. She relives how she got to this moment one page at a time, preparing herself for the end. A phone call interrupts her self-imposed exile and brings news that could change her life forever. Even if it does though the question looms... change it how?

I love this series, how it shows how both Sabrina and Chloe have changed, how bad Chloe's circumstances are, and how much she needs help. She's not in good shape when Sabrina reunites with her - she's got a pretty severe eating disorder, for one thing - and Sabrina can't just... leave things like they are.

I love the delving into of Chloe's and Sabrina's psychology and viewpoints, and them both growing as a result (this is solely from Sabrina's perspective, but Chloe's the focus of the plot, so you see a lot of her).

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DJWifi:

Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost. But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well. But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

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disconnected by just_an_ordinary_fan

Lady Wifi believes she might be the only one who does not want to obey Hawkmoth's orders. When she sees another akuma hesitate in the battle, she finds she might not be entirely alone.

I actually wrote my own fic, Nullius in Verba, based off of this one. It’s short but has an intriguing premise, with all the akumas being transported to this warehouse after the fight’s over, having been basically forced to do Hawkmoth’s bidding. The akumas also don’t seem to remember who they were before, or even that they WERE ordinary people before, which is an interesting twist.

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Alyanette:

is it chill that you're in my head? by bringthestorm

Alya stared at the picture plastered across the homepage of every single tabloid and news site, whispering every curse she could think of under her breath. SHOCKING SECRET ROMANCE BETWEEN LADYBLOGGER AND PARISIAN SUPERVILLAIN REVEALED!!! the headline announced, casually shouting the words she had been dreading for all of Paris to read. --- Alya had always assumed that someday Paris would discover that she had secretly been kissing their most wanted vigilante, but she had never thought it would happen so soon. As the domino effects of her relationship with Ladybug go spiraling through her life, Alya turns her sights towards the one responsible: the elusive superhero Hawkmoth. AKA Someone outs Alya and her girlfriend so she retaliates by deciding to take down Hawkmoth 

I recommend this to anyone who either A. Loves Alya and wants to see more of her in a starring role, or B., wants to see an AU where Parisians could feasibly believe that Hawkmoth is the good guy, and that Ladybug and Chat Noir are, if not villains, at least reckless.

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the best laid plans (of bugs and bakers) by @mexicancat-girl

Paris is buzzing with the appearance of a new ladybug-themed hero, Scarabella. Alya decides to use her second hero identity to help her best friend Marinette. A bit of her flirting with Marinette is bound to make Marinette’s crushes jealous and finally ask her out! Her plan is fool-proof…! Except when it’s not. Not enough people are talking about Scarabella flirting with Marinette. How can Alya properly help her best friend if the news can’t be bothered to cover Marinette’s budding romance with Scarabella and only posts things about Marinette with Chat Noir?! So Alya puts her all into her plan, upping up her flirting each time she appears as the newbie hero Scarabella. This totally does not backfire in any way.

I adore fics that center on Alya, I haven’t exactly been shy about that fact. This is a nice one for some Alyanette adorableness! (And some Scarabella and Chat banter, I really enjoyed reading that as well). “Fake” flirting to make crushes jealous tends to turn real very quickly, and this is no exception. It’s hilarious, Alya’s the last one to figure out that her romantic relationship with Marinette is very much real XD.

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Feluka:

Boomer!Luka: FeLuka Ending series by @19thsentry-blog

In the Shadows (the first fic in the series) summary:

On one side is Luka, 140-year-old Snake Miraculous holder and keeper of the Guardian's secrets, on the other is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a relatively newly minted hero of Paris and Guardian of the Miracle Box. Each is looking to fulfill their promises to their now gone mentors to reunite the Kwamis and keep them safe. Sounds simple--until you throw in a rocky start, the Atlantic Ocean, Félix Graham de Vanily, and a whole host of secrets…and suddenly simple becomes complicated (story of Marinette's life, right?).

So this is obviously way outside my normal wheelhouse. I don’t typically read Lukanette fics, even ones that turn into FeLuka later on in the series (though boy it becomes apparent quickly that the author’s fascinated with FeLuka’s dynamic.) But this one is really good, with the best Luka-centric fics I’ve ever read, and some of the best Felix-centric content as well. I love how Luka has his own baggage here, with all the pressure of wandering around for over a century, looking after the few Miraculous he found, trying to keep what’s left of the Order alive, unaware of Fu’s survival or of the Miraculous user’s re-emergence in Paris. There’s a lot of focus on Luka’s own feelings and thoughts and problems, not just on helping other people with them. 

The plot works even without the romantic aspect, so even if Lukanette isn’t a pairing that draws you in, I still recommend this fic, so long as you don’t actively dislike the pairing itself. And even though it’s a Lukanette fic, Adrien and Alya are treated fairly and with respect. Adrien may not end up with Marinette and is bummed about it, but the narrative is still kind to him overall, there’s clearly no ill well towards him, or Alya for that matter. (There are later fics in the series that focus more on Adrien just healing and coping and living after finding out that his father’s a villain and his mom’s been in the basement this whole time, and in the multiversal travel fic, Alya gets some standout appearances as Scarabella which are fun).

And FELIX - it’s clear that 19thsentry has this whole conception about Felix’s psychology. He’s wrapped in a ton of self-loathing until it started to consume him, made him lash out. Him being a sentimonster, wanting to get the Peacock Miraculous, actually gave him some direction for that at least. And he’s just in this pit of his own making, until he meets Luka, who can see through him when no one else can, who cares for him even though he doesn’t understand why, who’d been through so much over the years and yet kept himself kind. He’s attracted like a moth to a flame, infuriated that he cares, yet not able to stop himself from caring about this mysterious, infuriating musician. 

Yeah if you can’t tell this is the series that really sold me on FeLuka as a couple.

Oh yeah, one of the fics in here is M-rated, and it does earn the M rating for sexual content, though it’s nothing too major.

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See This Chance by @19thsentry-blog

Luka died in 2016. Yep. Crushed by the Arc de Triumph when Mayura’s Robustus slammed into it. It was kind of a big deal, but once you’re dead, you’re dead—especially when there’s no Lucky Charm to bring you back. Luka’s been dealing with it in the typical ways. Written for FeLuka week 2023.

Yes, this is FeLuka. Not one of the typical ships I read, but I ain’t opposed to it, and this is a nice foray into the pairing. I love ghost AUs! Luka’s just fumbling around, unsure what to do with his incorporeal existence, until he starts haunting Felix. It’s an intriguing plot and I gotta admit, I wish it was longer so it could be fleshed out more, but what’s here is good.

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One-offs:

Come Take My Hand by @carelisswriting

Luka heard his soulmate for the first time when he was ten. All he knows about her is that she likes fencing. It's just a coincidence that Kagami likes fencing, right? (Lukagami Soulmate AU, written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa Exchange!)

I’m a sucker for soulmate fics, and this had an interesting take on it, with your soulmate able to hear you thinking only about the thing you’re most passionate about. Loved Kagami’s way of showing Luka she’s his soulmate especially!

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Attack of the Crystal Zombies by @trainsinanime

Kagami had spent more and more time hanging out with Zoé, talking about things like families, expectations and crushes on Marinette. It was only natural, probably, that she would help Zoé practice flirting. That was definitely a great idea. Granted, the deadly Akuma battle around them was a bit of an issue…

Quality Zoegami fic here! I loved how Kagami kept thinking she was bad at flirting, but it was sure working on Zoe XD. The akuma attack going on around them, interweaving with their conversation, added a bit of spice to the whole affair!

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All Of Them? Every Single One? by @liiinerle

It turns out that Marinette loves a lot more people than she’d initially thought.

This is hilarious and adorable. Tikki lays out how Marinette has a crush on basically every girl she’s met - and even girls she doesn’t know are girls yet XD. 

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Emotional Mountain Ranges by @liiinerle

After Zoé’s attempted romantic confession to Marinette is interrupted by an incensed Chloé and Audrey Bourgeois, she’s left distraught and adrift, a crying mess in an alleyway far from home. Ladybug saves her from the incoming akuma, and tries to help her back on her feet - and Zoé wonders what she could possibly have done to earn this much attention from a superhero…

Lovely Zoenette fic here! I especially like how Marinette talks to Zoe, reassures her that she’s good enough, that she (as Ladybug) isn’t as perfect and composed as she thinks, and just… tries to get Zoe to have more confidence in herself. It’s mostly from Zoe’s perspective too, which I like since there aren’t a lot of Zoe POV fics.

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Swimming in Circles by @generalluxun

Life has moved on for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s not where she thought she would be seven years ago, but she’s still in a good place. Classes, hobbies, friends, her life is full despite the lingering shades of her faded yet sweet middle-school romance. Then just as quick at the first time, someone drops into her life and turns her into an absolute mess once more. Love and crushes might be her undoing, but she’s got a little more experience this time to weather the storm. This fateful stranger stirs memories as well as emotions inside of her, and with a forthrightness her old self would be jealous of, Marinette takes the plunge.

So this is a Trans fic, with Marinette’s new crush being a trans version of a certain classmate who she doesn’t recognize, who’s changed a lot, for the better. I like how it deals with the baggage she has with that person, has her think that through.

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Three’s company by @torvalvt

Kagami has been doing her best for years to ignore her feelings for her friends. It doesn’t help that Adrien and Marinette insist on spending as much time as possible with her, even going so far as inviting her along on their dates together. If only the affection she felt for them wouldn’t get in the way of their relationship. Because it is growing harder and harder to tamp down her feelings with how close they are getting to her.

This is adorable. Adrien and Marinette really want Kagami to join their relationship and she just doesn’t dare hope for it. If you want some adorable Adrigaminette from Kagami’s perspective, I recommend checking this fic out!

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Stone Streak by kingxuppu

Ladybug and Violet Tigress had been fighting the mysterious Duskwing for eight years now. Through the years, the two have grown stronger together and even gotten married, they are waiting until they finally beat Duskwing to start a family. At least, that was the plan. When Juleka gets confronted with the realization that her friends are starting families of their own, she realizes just how badly she wants to be a mother.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Juleka and Marinette get the chance to adopt Juleka's young modeling friend Adrien.

Maybe they aren't quite a traditional family, but with magic, rockstars, and fame, normal was never an option.

Via Discovery: There are actually two terms of venery for tigers, depending on the makeup of the group. The first is a streak of tigers and this refers to a female tiger and her cubs.

Now this is a rare pairing, there’s not a lot of Julenette fics! Adrien and Rose actually have some ship tease going on, the whole kid group in canon got broken up into two groups here, one that remained around canon age (so like 13) which notably consists of Chloe, Rose, and Adrien, and then I think everyone else are adults in their mid-twenties. It’s weird seeing Adrien as Marinette’s and Juleka’s son, but hey it works! I love how Juleka really showed Adrien the ropes on modeling and became a Mama tiger for him, the fic’s mostly just very sweet, though with a surprisingly dark final act. 

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In Direct Opposition by @generalluxun

Alya Cesaire is a brand new student to Francis Dupont, to Paris even. The first student she meets is one Chloé Bourgeois, and Alya is determined to make a friend. Things advance Chaotically. Her new 'friend' is definitely a handful, and suddenly Paris has a supervillain and two brand new superheroes! Alya finds herself balancing a lot of things, trying to live up to her ideals and those of her icons.

And then reality seems to contradict itself.

As time progresses it seems to happen more often. Becoming a hero, battling villains, staying alive, working through friendships. Something is lurking, tweaking events at times, changing them, and no one seems aware. Alya will need all her wits to get to the bottom of this. Her investigative mind can only get her so far though, and then she needs to rely on her friends. This is not a foe you can beat head on.

I betaed this entire fic, it’s really good! I adore the focus on Alya’s philosophy here, her determination to be a hero, to help people and defeat evil - and that defeating evil means trying to reform the people doing bad things when possible, to try to save EVERYONE, even the “villain”. I thought it was really clever the ways Alya would redirect Chloe and subtly encourage her to be a better person, while also trying to get the people around her to give her a second chance and keep an open mind. 

Also Alya and Chloe are an adorable sapphic couple XD.

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Herbs And Steam by @liiinerle

Juleka le Flor Blef, nature witch from near the forest of Couffaine, arrives at Eiffel Castle so she can partake in the Queen's Trials - a contest to determine the strongest witch in all of France. She wants to prove the strength of her magic, but when she arrives, her attention is quickly distracted by two very interesting women: Kagami, the princess, who seems to act nothing like a princess should; and Marinette, the blacksmith, who has created a magic all her own through metal, steam, and ingenuity. Juleka is immediately besotted with both of them, and needs to work extra hard to focus on her magic. Juleka also soon becomes aware that there is stronger magic at Eiffel castle than she had expected. For one thing, there's a tree in the courtyard put there years ago by a witch whose powers seem to surpass hers; for another, there's Alya la Pluvie Versaunt, who must be the most powerful mage Juleka has ever met...

Unusual poly here, there aren't a lot of Juleka/Kagami/Marinette fics! I love the world here, getting to see all these different witches honing their craft, and Juleka making friends with many of them - though especially the nonwitches Kagami and Marinette, of course XD. If you like some femslash or a good fantasy AU, this fic should scratch that itch!

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Graveyard Love Series by @liiinerle

A brief two-parter series which chronicles what happens after Lila dies suddenly, and Marinette finds out that she's the one saved as Lila's emergency contact on her phone. In part one, Marinette seeks answers with Alya's help - and what she finds ends up testing their friendship. In part two, Alya seeks to rebuild their relationship - and perhaps build it into something more.

First fic in series: Absent Soul

Just for a moment, Alya seemed speechless, her eyes as wide as the hallway was long. “You’re really going to start to believe her now?” Marinette sighed. “It’s not her I believe. I just… I don’t think she could manage all… this if it was fake. And besides… me, her emergency contact? That’s too bizarre to be a lie.” Even more than that, it was too bizarre to be true. So what could Lila possibly hope to achieve? “I’m not sure I agree with you,” said Alya. “But I’m not gonna let you go this alone. And I’m pulling you away if I smell anything cooking.” The thing was, Marinette wasn’t sure she agreed with herself. Nothing made sense. Even just knowing more would help settle the tumult in her brain, which felt like it had been speeding up almost imperceptibly for every door she’d passed through since the balcony. --- Marinette suddenly learns that she's saved as Lila's emergency contact on her phone... the same day she learns that Lila has been in a fatal accident. She is then pulled through a week of responsibilities and discoveries she never imagined having before, and a growing fondness for someone she once hated.

So this is fascinating, I love how it explored the insanity of whatever bizarre situation Lila has going on. Marinette's great here, she doesn't understand why Lila did the things she did, or what her background truly was, but if she had no one else, then at least she has Marinette to make sure her remains are taken care of properly. Though perhaps to a worrying extent. Thankfully, Alya's here as well to give support, and perhaps an intervention if things go too far. The second fic in the series focuses around Alya giving that intervention, of a sort.

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And Mark Ronson Can Get Stuffed by @liiinerle

Marinette gets a call from Vivica, Jagged Stone's guitarist, with a proposition. She wants a producer - and she's heard Marinette's the best one for the job. At least, that's what Jagged says, and well, the only real competition is Bob Roth... ... but Marinette still isn't prepared for the whirlwind of feelings she'll get spinning through her brain whenever she sees Vivica play. Or for the realisations she'll make about herself as she sits engulfed in a type of music that feels like it gets her, and gazes up at the angel who's holding the guitar.

So this is a RARE rare pair, I've never seen Vivinette before! Man though, is this a great first fic for the pairing! I love seeing Marinette's efforts to be the best producer she can be for Vivica, not totally realizing at first why she's so nervous and determined to be the best she can be for her... and then becoming all too aware of her feelings XD. I especially adore how enamored Marinette becomes with Vivica's songs, being deeply affected by them but unable to put her feelings into words well enough to give feedback.

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Stop Time by @liiinerle

— she put her hand on the page, blocking it so the words wouldn’t scream so loudly at her. They had screamed more than enough already. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her fingers together, crumpling the paper slightly — just enough that it didn’t look so pristine and mocking. It needed to be full of despair, in every possible way. “Marinette —” started Mullo. “No! Never again. Marinette is… gone, forever.” She let go of the paper. Now it lay alone in the light, as the last thing she could ever tell them. That she loved them, that she’d miss them, that she would never talk to them again. A suicide note. Of sorts. ----- Fu accidentally names Marinette as the new guardian, and not Ladybug. She's forced to fake her own death and go into hiding in order to get away from Hawk Moth. She finds a hiding spot in the Louvre, but there she's forced to face the effects of her going away by a very unexpected source: her friend Alix.

Definitely mind the tags on this one! But if it ain't triggering to you, then I highly recommend reading it. You can really feel Marinette's struggles here, with basically making herself homeless, unable to reach out to her friends and family, needing to steal just to feed herself and the kwamis, and then dealing with everyone in her life grieving... and then moving on. Except for a few people who don't...

It's just... it's really good, really heart-wrenching.

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The Only Love We Keep by @nemaliwrites

Zoé is used to wanting things she can’t have — loving people who do not love her back. She’s made peace with that. But as soon as she meets Scarabella, she’s a goner. Or, five times Zoé’s love wasn’t reciprocated, and one time it was.

I love this analysis of Zoe and her circumstances, her mindset, her philosophy based on how she's grown up. How she yearns for her mom to actually love her, but she just... doesn't. And how she finds friends who actually care for her, and someone who actually wants her.

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The Black Cat of the Family by Anonymous

To Felix, Chat Noir is freedom. Pure freedom, unhindered by anything (well, except perhaps a little too much dedication to Ladybug). He goes where he pleases when he pleases. He acts so ridiculous, like no one was ever watching, even when everyone was watching. He chafes at orders and authority, even when the orders are coming from Ladybug herself. He's free to be whoever he wants, in a way Felix only wishes he could be. So of course he starts flirting with the catboy. It also doesn't hurt that the superhero is easy on the eyes. Chat Noir, meanwhile, is simply trying to figure out how to reject his cousin without revealing his own secret identity. But when has anything in his love life ever worked out for him? Or, in other words: Somehow the Fathom-Graham de Vanily-Agreste family becomes even more dysfunctional in brand new ways.

This was fun, I liked the natural way Chat caught Felix's attention with his kindness, wit, and hidden depths. It makes sense why Felix would slowly develop a crush on him, while Chat just thinks that he's having fun with his cousin.

Also Chat's reaction when he realizes that Felix is, in fact, confessing his crush on him, is just priceless XD.

[jacquesthepigeon]

Genuinely we could have had Adrien be like genuinely awkward as fuck who's season 1 arc is basically LB coaching him on how normal people friendships work. They copped out with having Nino extend a hand! Adrien should be STRUGGLING for friends! He should have something that isnt Generic Magical Girl love interest vibes is all im saying

I’m gonna have to kinda disagree with u on that front bc I think a big problem with adrichat is that he doesn’t seem to care about any relationship outside of his romantic interests so having Nino be a present and important part of Adrien learning how to socialize past S1 would’ve definitely helped with that

[mc-lukanette]

Marinette was just tired, staring down at the ice cream on the ground as Andre scrambled to get her another. A fun time with her friends to run around Paris and maybe get a chance with Adrien had turned into a spotlight of embarrassment for her. The "couple time" her friends had been planning on having was now ruined to focus entirely on her, when all she wanted now was curl up into a corner and cry.

She felt bitter, watching as the mess on the bridge started to melt. It was like some sort of metaphor for how her attempts and opportunities all failed or slipped through her grasp, slowly but surely.

Andre grabbed her wrist and practically forced a replacement ice cream cone into her hand, saying stuff about how the magic doesn't lie and he must've just gotten the colors wrong, but she honestly wasn't listening anymore. She was in her own head, wondering, What would've been the point anyway? It's not like Adrien was coming to see me.

She couldn't see any reality in which that was false. He would've come for his friends, or for the thrill of the search, or maybe even just to have some ice cream. Even if she'd managed to make it all work out and share with him, what were the odds of everything afterward working out? She'd try to say something romantic and would mess it up, or he'd misunderstand and brush it off as nothing, or she'd be bumped into again and send the ice cream right onto his expensive clothes.

She winced at the thought. Maybe him not showing up was just a blessing in disguise, saving her from the humiliation of doing anything and having it all go wrong.

Marinette didn't want to make a big deal out of it, refusing to risk ruining her friends' time further. She diverted her attention to the ice cream cone in her hand, noting the blue and pink colors that she suspected were her own. Maybe Andre had just truly given up on her and this was the sign that it was a lost cause?

Or maybe he just realized that there was no way Adrien was coming and tried to save himself.

She stepped aside from everyone and sat down at a bench, keeping her distance from the happy couples while she poked at the ice cream with her tiny spoon. Andre wasn't exactly wrong if her thoughts on his mindset were true. Adrien always seemed to be unavailable when it mattered, and if she wanted to let herself spiral a little more, it almost seemed intentional.

After all, wasn't it a little too convenient that Adrien had missed out on the preparation for the music festival - when it would've been easiest for her to talk to him - just to show up afterward? Or for Adrien to have gotten the okay to go for ice cream only to be suddenly unavailable? Perhaps it would've been easy to pass those off if it weren't for the fact that Nino so rarely complained about their time together, and Adrien's schedule had been magically free when it came to him setting Nino up with her.

If her suspicions were accurate, then either Adrien knew how she felt and was doing everything possible to avoid her, or he just generally found her uncomfortable to be around; maybe even thought she was weird. Part of her wanted to defend that, suggesting that saying nothing was the "nice" thing to do, but her history of crushing on him when she apparently had no chance would disagree with that. She would've saved herself a lot of time then.

She huffed to herself, scooping up a bit of her ice cream and resolving to eat her sorrows away instead. Faintly recalling Andre's comment about how the magic only works if you eat it, she shook her head in disbelief and thought with a bittersweet expression, If I need magic to make him come see me, then what's the point?

She had opened her mouth, ready to finally taste the sweet treat, when a voice called out, "Marinette?"

Marinette paused, looking towards the source. Luka was standing just at the end of the bridge, presumably having been walking by as he spotted her. She smiled, wordlessly inviting him over, and he returned it as he made his way towards her.

"What are you up to?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I was just taking a walk to the Trocadéro," he replied, his casual tone assuring her that she wasn't delaying anything serious, "but then I heard your song and wanted to check."

She ducked her head shyly, using her ice cream as an excuse to look away from him. She finally ate a bit, letting the taste of blueberry melt into her mouth. Already, she was feeling a little better.

When she looked back up, Luka hadn't looked away from her. Their friends (if they were Luka's friends anyway; they might've only been Juleka's) were only a small distance away, as well as the ice cream stand, but he didn't seem inclined to leave even to go say "hi."

Smiling, Marinette used her spare hand to pat the spot on the bench next to her, not unlike when he invited her to sit on his bed. Luka didn't waste any time, happily taking a seat beside her.

Whether or not he knew the legend, she was certain that he must've seen both the couples as well as the ice cream they were sharing that was made exactly like hers. She felt grateful at the idea that he was intentionally not prodding, even if he might've been curious.

"Someone didn't show," she explained anyway, fidgeting with her cone, "but I also might've gotten ditched."

He frowned, a hand going to her shoulder in sympathy. "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head, appreciating but not needing the comment. "It's okay. It was never going to work out anyway."

She wondered for a second if she was just fooling herself, but Luka's smile assured her otherwise. If he believed her, she must've meant it.

"Still," Luka began as he leaned back, crossing his ankles before continuing, "in our band, Rose writes the lyrics and I'm in charge of the music. Jule and Ivan feel bad about it sometimes, but we're all putting in effort to make it come together, so we don't mind."

Marinette hummed, nodding as she took that in. She could understand that, of course, given that she'd put effort into just about everything she did, from gaming to fashion to romance.

She never got any effort returned for the latter, either because it all went bad before reaching its intended recipient or it didn't change anything. She still had to ask for Adrien's whereabouts and information when she wanted to know, she'd thought they'd bonded over a shared love of games yet he never mentioned it to her again, and in retrospect, despite her image of him as the kind prince locked away in a tower, he hadn't given her a hand or showed any concern when Chloe shoved her.

The one thing she could think of was the charm he'd given her on her birthday based on the charm that she'd given him - which was so often a defense she came up with in her head - only now she’d finally remembered that she had loaned it to him and he'd just held onto it, thus making the situation seem substantially less romantic. It also didn't escape her that her luck had somehow gotten worse since then, even it was just the universe personally spiting her. "Hey, I'm glad you like having my luck and everything, but can I have it back?" she asked the imaginary Adrien in her head.

Luka had the luxury for her of being an "outsider" to all of it. They'd only met recently, so his knowledge of her relationships was extremely limited. Had it been one of the girls instead, they probably would've asked before she'd even gotten the chance to bring it up.

This was nice. Luka was nice. She still felt bubbly thinking about his apology at the first sign she was upset by him, how his first instinct was to protect her from the akuma, and the way he asked about her first to Ladybug even after having safely hidden her away. It was entirely possible that it had nothing to do with her and that it was just how Luka cared for people, but she actually liked that thought more.

"...Oh," she uttered in realization, noting that she was sitting there with ice cream while Luka wasn't. She turned to him, ensuring that he could see the second spoon still stuck in the ice cream. "Do you want any?"

His gaze flickered from the ice cream to her, confirming that she meant her ice cream. She nodded and he happily took the second spoon, adding a soft, "Thanks. I don't know what you got, but I love the colors."

She beamed, admiring the way his black nails stuck out against the color of the spoon as he scooped some of the ice cream she'd yet to try. Even in his mannerisms, he was such a sweetheart—

Wait.

"Ah—Luka, stop!" Marinette hurried to say, reaching out but not quite touching his wrist. "That's Sweetheart's Ice Cream! Maybe we should get you a different one."

He stopped, blinking at her confusedly. She'd honestly thought he'd know what she was talking about without her having to explain, but he seemed truly clueless.

"Um..." She gestured at it with her free hand. "People go all over Paris looking for Andre so they can taste his Sweetheart's Ice Cream." She raised a finger as she made her point. "They say that if two people eat it together, they'll be together forever!"

Huh. It actually sounded a little ridiculous when she said it to someone who didn't know.

She forged on anyway, figuring that she might as well finish what she started, "I-I don't want to magically attach us together? Especially because you didn't know that and..." She pouted, unsure if it was okay to touch on the topic but adding, "I thought you might have a girlfriend already? Or a boyfriend?"

Luka's eyes left hers to look at the tiny bit of ice cream on his spoon. He turned it left and right like he was trying to spot what exactly made it so magic, but it looked blatantly like normal, plain ice cream.

Eventually, he shrugged, catching her free hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Thanks for looking out for me, Marinette, but I've never had anyone like that."

"Wh—really?" The shock of him knowing nothing of Sweetheart's Ice Cream paled in comparison to him never having had a partner. "So you're single?"

She'd asked out of sheer curiosity, but blushed when it became apparent how they sounded.

Luka, her savior from embarrassment, didn't even flinch and took it in stride. "Yeah." He looked back down at the ice cream, wondering aloud, "Do you believe in it?"

"Believe in...?" It took Marinette a second to remember what they'd been talking about. She followed his gaze to the ice cream, thinking the question over seriously. Could there actually be a magical solution to tie her to someone, or even just to help? Her parents had gotten together and thought fondly of their time with Sweetheart's Ice Cream, but did they actually believe in it? As Luka had asked, did she believe in it?

"...No. I don't think so," she sighed.

Funnily (or maybe tragically) enough, being Ladybug and getting exposed to the world's "magic" had made her more critical of the idea. "Magic" never actually solved any of her problems and often made them worse instead.

"I like what you said," she added with a self-conscious chuckle, "about effort. Sharing ice cream is nice, but there's no magic to it."

He nodded in agreement. "We don't have to worry then."

"Are you sure?" she continued to prod, though at this point it might not have been about the "magic" element anymore.

Instead of answering, he finally ate the ice cream that had been on his spoon, a pleased hum following at the taste. "Even if it was true, I wouldn't mind."

"You... wouldn't mind being tied to me?" she asked, her blush deepening. His directness was good - really, really good - because it left no room for her to misinterpret it, but she certainly wasn't used to it.

"Mhm." He confirmed it like it wasn't a big deal, but there was a warmth to his face that could've melted the ice cream on contact. "You're talented, amazing, and brave. Why wouldn't I?"

Marinette had experienced flirting before, but only under a mask. Even beyond Chat, there were a few people she'd saved who couldn't help but get a word in about how pretty she was or how awesome it was that she'd thrown the akuma into a web she'd fashioned out of her yoyo.

This was different though. He wasn't saying it to charm her, or gush about strength and dexterity she could only achieve after being powered up. He was just saying how he honestly felt without an ounce of exaggeration.

Shy, she attempted to take a bit more ice cream to give herself time to respond, but a bit turned to a lot when she mistakenly scooped too much. Trying not to laugh, she bit her bottom lip, almost in awe by how things had turned around after just a bit of introspection. She hadn't even realized how much was weighing her down until she let it all go.

"...Luka," she dared to call, throwing caution to the wind. When their gazes met, she held the spoon out to him encouragingly.

His lips parted for a moment - the first sign of throwing him off she'd gotten today - but like a puppy being offered a treat, he obediently leaned over and opened his mouth further to clamp down on the ice cream.

It did actually feel a little magic, but she was certain that it wasn't the legend's doing.

——

——

Marinette walked into her kitchen, letting her long hair down as she prepared to relax for the day. It was still strange getting used to having her own house, but not unwelcome, and one of the biggest pluses was that she didn't have to dig through her parents' weird dessert tastes in the freezer to get to what she wanted.

Pulling out two containers of ice cream at random - welcoming a little chaos in mixing the flavors - she set them on the counter and took out two bowls as well. Scooping an appropriate amount of the two flavors into them ("appropriate" for a lazy day anyway), she added one spoon in each before putting the containers back and taking the bowls out to the living room.

Luka, her boyfriend of almost five years, was skimming through a selection of movies on the couch to decide what they should watch. At the first sight of her though, he stopped, setting them down and welcoming her close.

She set her bowl down on the table, holding the other out to him and taking the time to give him a kiss on the forehead. He responded by pulling her down to kiss her chin, never one to leave a smooch unreturned.

Pulling back, she took in the sight of him holding ice cream and giggled. Unapologetically, she stated, "I guess that ice cream legend was right after all. You've already been stuck with me for years."

Luka raised a brow at her and smirked, catching the joke instantly. He held his arm out, allowing her to plop down next to him and snuggle against his side. "Mm, maybe I should've listened to you back then." Their lips met in a kiss as he blindly reached for the spoon in his bowl, scooping up some ice cream with it. "But you know what I said."

Marinette nodded, tucking her hair behind her earring-less ears before accepting the bite he fed her. "Mhm~" She took her time to savor the taste before swallowing, smiling contentedly as she responded, "I didn't mind being tied to you either."

[kunosiu]

My top 10 favorite Arashi's Music Videos

To celebrate the 25th anniversary and the fact that MV are now available on YouTube (what a time to be alive...) I wanted to compile a top 10 list of my favourite Arashi's MVs. And it turned out to be quite hard. My last cut from the list ("truth") was painful. 😭 But I did it.

Just couple of things before we start.

This is my very subjective list. If your favourite MV isn't here, I'm sorry, we just have different taste.

I'm choosing basted on the MV itself. For example, I love "I seek" as a song; it's my go to karaoke song, but MV for it is... Not my cup of tea to say the least. In other cases, like "Bittersweet", live performances outshines MV itself.

MVs are in chronological order. Don't make me rank them, I can't 😭

And now, without further ado...

1. A･RA･SHI

What can I say? It's their first MV, it's their debut song... It's iconic. It's also nice to see how far they've come. They are still babies here. 😭

2. Kitto Daijoubu

I honestly forgot about this until I was watching all MVs on November 3rd. And omg, it's so fun! The bad green screen, 4th wall breaks, rainbows, Arashi acting silly... it has it all!

3. Happiness

Let's be honest: you knew this was coming. If someone held a gun to my head I asked me to choose one of Arashi's MV as my favourite, I'd choose "Happiness". Aeons ago, someone said that this MV is 100% Arashi in Arashi and I can't disagree. You have it all: Arashi acting silly, pure chaos, Ohmiya... A LOT OF OHMIYA. And some small moments for other pairings too. xD

And it was also the first MV of them I saw.

4. Crazy Moon~kimi wa muteki~

This maybe an unorthodox choice because it's a very simple dance MV... And that's the reason I chose it. Arashi don't have any other video like this. Just them dancing to the song in an empty hall. Without any backdrop or outfit change. They had to sell it to us by just dancing. And I think they succeeded. The choreography is interesting and bravo to the stylist because I think they all look so good here.

5. My Girl

Story MVs are rare in Arashi videography. Practically just "Aozora pedal" and "My Girl". And since my best friend hates MV to "Aozora pedal", I have to choose "My girl" xD

But in all seriousness, it's really cute story where Arashi play siblings who are moving out of their family home after the death of their mother. Their mom is Photoshop monstrosity made of different parts of members' faces xD But MV it's cute nonetheless.

I remember all the fan fiction this video inspired... Good times... xD

6. Troublemaker

This is the first MV I remember waiting for. And I don't wanna say it is here just because of nostalgia. I think it's just really good video on its' own merits. I like stop-motion sequences, I think those suits are impeccable outfits and... there's a lot of Ohmiya. xD Look, I'm a simple gal, if Ohno and Nino are acting cute together, I'm putting the video on this list. xD

7. Aozora no shita, kimi no tonari

I think this maybe another unexpected entry. It's not a very popular MV. It's very simple. And maybe that's why I like it. It was shoot in outdoor locations; stylists again done wonderful job - they all look so good. I love their individual shoots, especially Aiba sitting on the edge a platform looks angelic. And the bbq at the end... ♥ This MV just feels cosy.

8. Fukkatsu Love

It's just good, I don't know what else to tell you guys. I love the parts they shoot in those long takes... Touma is there! It's just so good!

9. Don't You Get it

Another obvious entry I think. They all look good here, they all acting goofy, Sho and Nino do magic tricks, Ohno has hilarious face expressions whenever you pause the video, there's a doggie and Ohmiya dance (I've told you, guys xD)

10. Do you...?

We started with the their first MV, it's appropriate to end at their last. (AT THIS MOMENT! I HOPE 😭) "Do you..." if wonderful homage to Arashi's journey, full of easter eggs to all the previous MVs. And it might be its' only flaw - that it doesn't work so well in a vacuum. But if you were on November 3rd 2020 when this MV and Arashi's last album dropped, you were feeling it. You were crying, you were smiling and you tried to notice all the references to previous MVs. Maybe even at the same time. xD

And that's all. 😊 Thank you if you made it here. Please let me know your favourite MVs! As I've said, this is very subjective list and I had to cut off a lot of MV I love to make it just 10 videos T_T.

[randomnameless]

Unlocking the rapport convo between Ramona'n'Yunifee where they tackle the "mom by adoption" thing after Yunifee says that they're not really parent and child (apologising for accidently calling her mom!) and ultimately acknowledging and accepting their feelings for each other :

I couldn't help but compare how heavy-handed Fe Fodlan, even if it's more lampshaded in FEH, tries to sell the "uwu Lonato is Ashe's adopted son", or Ashe sees him as such.

Because it has no fall out or no acknowledgment from Ashe in AM, when Lonato basically goes :

"You stand against me and disagree with the nonsense I'm sprouting? I won't try to reason you, but I will "put an end to this" "

Which is even more lampshaded in Dimitri's battle convo :

Your Highness... I cannot stop here. For my child, and for the people of Fódlan.

Lonato cannot stop fighting for his child... even if it means to kill his other child (or adopted son, he sees Ashe as "lesser" than Christophe because Ashe isn't his blood son?).

I know FEH is allergic to having Fodlan characters react to the events that happen through the course of the game(s) save for 2 notable characters (and even then, I don't remember if Pre TS Dimitri talks or even muses about Boar!Mitri) but can you imagine someone who only plays FEH, who is hammered with Ashe's "wow Lonato is so great he adopted me when I was someone who stole from him I want to be a great knight just like he was!", play FE16 and not be disappointed with Ashe's lack of comments/consideration/realisation that his "oh so awesome" father figure... was willing to cut him down to avenge "his child"'s memory?

Morad feels like shit in UO after having tried to attack his adopted daughter/sister Yunifee while being berserked, and the devs designed a "bad" ending by implying berserk!Morad/Ramona kill Yunifee if Alain doesn't liberate Bastorias so there is a pay-off to the "those people share an important bond!" in the story, even if it's not a blood-bond.

In Fodlan ? Even in the post TS, when you had him fight against the dude who was in to "avenge his child", Ashe will never comment on Lonato not seeing him as "his child" despite him considering him to be his adopted father, to the point of seeing his life as expendable if it meant fighting for Christophe's sake.

Hell, we have some instances where he mentions he wants to become a "great" knight like Lonato which is... Yeah :/

I'd say we could blame FE Fodlan (FE16 in this case) for not giving mandatory conversations/deployment and all, but, idk, after this exchange, it feels like Nino post-Sonia's defeat, is still harping around on how "great" of a mother she was.

FFS, in FE5/9/10 we had special interactions when children were supposed to fight against their parents, either they don't fight, kid switches sides and joins their parent on the opposite side and becomes a red unit, or the parents becomes a punching ball and never retaliates against the blue unit kid.

In Fodlan, Nino will never realise that Sonia never loved her.

But we're sold a version of Ashe that still believes Sonia was the bestest knight ever, and wants to emulate her.

[kasienda]

Just An Ordinary Girl

A love square remix of A Friend Like That by @trainsinanime. Written for the @mlsquaredance. This fic was so much fun write. Do please read the original first. It makes this one more fun! Read on Ao3 ...

“We need to stay together!” Viperion called out. “Splitting up does not end well.” 

The sheer exhaustion in Viperion’s tone didn’t bode well either. Carapace didn’t want to know how many loops Viperion had gone through this go around especially considering it was his third time loop this battle.

Even from Carapace’s less than fifteen minutes of experience, this battle was awful. 

The akuma was like Miraculer - he could steal their powers. But he was worse because it could split into four clones of himself. 

“Okay then!” Chat Noir called. “Ryuko, Rena, and Carapace, protect our backs. Tigress and I will guard the gap! Viperion stays in the middle.” 

Carapace missed Ladybug. There was nothing wrong with Chat’s orders. Carapace didn’t disagree with any of his calls. This akuma just sucked. And Ladybug just had this insane creative genius for hare-brained schemes that seemed to be able to cut through anything. 

The akuma struck. Carapace narrowly yanked Rena Rouge aside and they both fell to the ground hard. His elbow took the majority of the impact, which hurt like a bitch, but he was glad it was him who took the brunt of it instead of her. And it worked. 

Except one of the other clones clipped him. 

A mud brown impenetrable dome manifested around all six of them immediately.

Purple Tigress punched it with her power. Nothing.

Cataclysm dissolved it, but it was immediately replaced with another. 

“Crap!”

That was one word for it. Carapace might have had a far less kid-friendly one ringing through his head. The six of them were getting their butts handed to them by this akuma.

Carapace took personal offense to the barrier that stood as a mockery of his own power. 

“Viperion?” Chat called. 

The snake hero shook his head. “We’re on loop number 1703. This is the best possible outcome. Trust me.”

Chat Noir winced. 

Carapace really missed Ladybug.

“I think we have to call Ladybug,” Rena Rouge said, turning toward Chat Noir. 

“No! We can’t!” Chat objected. 

Rena raised an eyebrow. “We can’t let the akuma win. We’re trapped.”

“She only asked for one weekend off! She deserves to have one weekend off! We can handle it.”

“I hate to break it to you, but we’re not handling it,” Ryuko added dryly. 

“We will not be calling Ladybug,” Chat declared firmly.

The other five of them exchanged a look. 

“We can get help from someone else!” Chat insisted.

“Like who?” Rena Rouge demanded. “You’d need someone who is willing to pull off crazy stunts, who is a tactical creative genius against so many, and someone who is not intimidated by akumas.”

“Marinette!” Chat exclaimed, his face lit up in excitement.

“How do you know Marinette?” Ryuko asked, her eyebrows furrowed together. 

“You think Marinette can do what six fully equipped superheroes couldn’t?!” Carapace asked. 

Rena’s eyes narrowed. “Why Marinette?”

“Are you kidding? Marinette could kick any one of our asses,” Chat said. “Marinette is the only person I know who has gone up against an akuma as a civilian.”

Seriously?! Did the cat have selective memory? But it wasn’t like Carapace could remind everyone that Nino had gone up against Anansi as a civilian.

Of course, he had lost, but that wasn’t the point. 

“You’re crazy,” he said instead, crossing his arms.

“I’m in.” Rena said. 

“What?!” Carapace turned to her in shock, feeling more than a bit betrayed. 

Viperion and Ryuko nodded in agreement as well.

Was everyone insane? He turned to Rena. “You’re going along with this? You’d throw Marinette—“ her best friend went unsaid, but Rena understood what he was saying. “—out there unsupported against an akuma?”

His girlfriend shrugged. She shrugged . “If Ladybug’s not an option. Marinette is the next best thing.”

Carapace stared at her incredulously.

Chat clapped his hands together, clearly pleased with this so-called solution. “I’ll call her!” 

“You have her number?” Carapace asked. What the actual fuck?

But obviously he did because he had the cat phone to his ear and it was audibly ringing. “Hey princess!” Chat greeted enthusiastically, turning away from the group like it was a private conversation. 

“Princess?” Carapace echoed. What kind of relationship did Chat Noir and Marinette have? 

“No.” Marinette’s firm voice echoed throughout the dome.

“I haven’t even asked for anything yet.” 

“The answer is still no! I only have twelve hours before this project is due. I cannot take a break.”

“But Paris needs you.”

“The answer is no. Call someone else! Call Ladybug!”

“No! Marinette! I can’t! Last week was terrible for her. I promised I could handle one weekend. She deserves and needs the time off. Plus, we don’t need her. I know you can do this. You can do anything . Remember Kwamibuster?”

Chat Noir spoke to Marinette like he was trying to sweet talk her. Carapace didn’t like it. Chat had always been flirtatious, and Marinette deserved someone loyal and sincere. 

Someone like Adrien.

“What do you expect me to do against an akuma without a miraculous?” Marinette asked. 

“Whatever it is you did against Evilustrator and Hack-san.” 

“I can’t do this. Not today.” 

Chat only grinned at her refusal. “You always say that, and then you do it anyway.” 

“What do I get out of this?”

“Your friends and family safe and sound, free to feel their own feelings and pursue their own dreams.”

Marinette groaned. “Chaaaat!” she whined. “You’re gonna owe me so much for this.”

“See you soon, Princess!” Chat sing-songed, and turned his attention back to the group. “She’s on her way.” 

As if that solved all their problems. 

“Shouldn’t we… I don’t know… come up with a back up plan?” Carapace asked. 

Purple Tigress looked at the other four expectantly, as if agreeing with him, but the others just exchanged glances and shrugged. They honestly thought Marinette was the solution. 

Carapace really hoped they were right. Marinette was amazing, but did that mean she could get through an akuma that Viperion had just spent who knew how many weeks fighting unsuccessfully across three time loops?

“You don’t need to worry so much,” Chat Noir assured, and it was galling that Chat Noir could read him so well. 

“How can you be so confident? Aren’t you worried about her at all?”

“Marinette would kick my ass into next Sunday if I worried about her. She can take care of herself, and she knows what she can handle and what she can’t. I’ve learned over and over again not to underestimate her. Kwamibuster was an akuma where Ladybug and I both lost our Kwamis, and therefore our transformations. Marinette pulled off a stunt the old Guardian thought was impossible with all the remaining miraculouses using the mouse to protect her own psyche. She was brilliant.”

“But she doesn’t have an entire box right now.”

“She doesn’t need an entire box. She defeated Hack-San without any powers at all. Her super power is in how she thinks!” 

Carapace held his hands up. “I know firsthand that she’s brilliant. I’m just scared for her too. That akuma handed our asses to us.” 

“She’s doing fine,” Rena commented, projecting a video from her flute into the air for all of them to see. 

Chat Noir flipped around the projected image, so he wouldn’t be seeing the mirror image like Nino from the back. 

“Some girl just took out an akuma with a trash can and a fire hydrant,” Chat read aloud. “She ran off before anyone could thank her.” 

In the video, Marinette hid in the trash can and when the akuma was overhead, she leapt out of her hiding place and tackled the clone onto the ground where the fire hydrant went off in its face. Marinette used the distraction to snatch the clone’s sash, and the thing dissolved underneath her. Then she was running away before the other three could grab her, her pigtails bobbing behind her. 

Chat’s expression was completely besotted. “The way she lured him in like that?! She’s just amazing!” Then he turned toward Carapace triumphantly like a proud boyfriend. “See! She just has this way of cutting to the right idea at the right time! I could watch her working on a problem or project for hours!”

Did Chat Noir realize how he sounded?

And it wasn’t fair because Nino was certain that Adrien was finally starting to realize that he was crushing hard on Marinette. 

What if Chat Noir got there first? 

“You think she’ll clear this up before sunset?” Purple Tigress asked.

“Why? Got somewhere else more important to be?” Viperion asked. 

“Well, not more important . But something I’d like to do, yes.” 

“A hot date?” Viperion teased. 

“What’s it to you?” Purple Tigress growled back. 

Viperion held his hands up in surrender. “Just teasing! You deserve to get to go on your date. Hopefully Marinette pulls through. She usually does.”

“I never said it was a date,” Tigress muttered. But clearly it was. 

“I have another Marinette update,” Rena announced, playing another video from the Ladyblog’s fan submission page. 

“This girl is insane!” the narrator exclaimed, his camera flashing toward two bungie cables dangling from the overhead railing with two suitcases attached on either end. “She set up a pulley system with two guys’ luggage and a plastic bag to set a trap for a friggin’ akuma and she won!” The video angled back to his face. “Where the hell are Ladybug and Chat Noir?” 

“Wow! That’s super cool!” Tigress said, watching the video with wide eyes.

“That’s Marinette for you. She never sits out a fight when she can do something,” Chat said. 

“You really like her, don’t you?” Ryuko asked, smiling fondly.

“Oh yeah, she’s absolutely amazing! Have you ever seen her designs?” His face was as bright as the moon as he spoke. 

Carapace shook his head. Chat Noir didn’t just know about Marinette’s designs. He had seen them! Nino wondered again how much time Chat Noir spent with Marinette on the regular? Even Nino had only ever caught glimpses of her work and he was in almost all of Marinette’s classes. 

“You know, even if Marinette manages to take out all four clones, how is she gonna break through this barrier?”

“She’ll figure it out,” Chat insisted. “She always does. I wish we had something in here to give her to show our appreciation.” 

Rena smiled at him. “I’m sure she’ll know we appreciate her.” 

“I just feel so bad for interrupting her project right before a deadline. I’ll have to make it up to her.” 

Yeah, Chat Noir had it bad, which wasn’t good. Nino didn’t want him swooping in right before Adrien was finally seeing her. 

“Ah! We have an update on the akuma,” Rena announced, projecting the post into the air again. 

“My little girl almost got hit by an akuma! Luckily, this girl knocked it out of the park before it touched her at all. And then she stayed and danced until my girl was laughing again! What an absolute angel!” 

“Wow!” Purple Tigress said. “Marinette’s usually so clumsy.”

But Chat was shaking his head. “Not during emergencies or akumas. Then she’s graceful. And yeah, she trips and stumbles constantly–” he was smiling fondly as he said this. “-- which can be really adorable, but she’s really good at catching herself! She kind of has this unique way of pinwheeling her arms to regain her balance. And her gestures are so creative and expressive… Honestly, I could spend hours just watching her.” 

That description was remarkably specific. “Aren’t you supposed to be in love with Ladybug?” Carapace asked. 

Chat turned to him, his eyebrows furrowed in total bafflement. “I am in love with Ladybug.” 

Carapace crossed his arms. “Are you sure? Seems like you have a thing for Marinette.”

“Oh, he definitely has a thing for Marinette,” Rena interjected, studying the feed on her flute before flashing him a smirk. “But then who doesn’t?”

“Right?!” Viperion chimed in. 

Even Ryuko was nodding. “I admit I hold more than a passing affection for Marinette as well.” 

Carapace hated that he couldn’t even argue. He had harbored a crush on Marinette for months . But he buried his hooded face in his hands anyway. This was ridiculous. 

“I don’t have a thing for Marinette!” Chat objected. 

“God! You’re worse than my best bro!” 

“What does that mean?” 

“You’re totally oblivious.” 

And Nino hoped it stayed that way at least until Adrien had a chance to say something. 

“No, you don’t understand. I can’t have a thing for Marinette! She’s in love with someone else. You should have heard her confession!”

“She confessed?!” 

“She practiced it anyway. It was silly at first, but then just so sincere. I wish someone would confess to me like that.”

Chat’s shoulders were slumped, and his gaze downcast. Carapace stared at a dejected Chat in disbelief. Did Chat Noir really not get that he had feelings for Marinette? 

Chat looked up straight at Carapace. “Do you think anyone will ever love me like that?” 

Nino froze. Chat Noir, one of the two primary heroes of Paris who pranced around in a catsuit and flirted with every other person he encountered, was looking to him for reassurance?! 

Today was just absolutely wild.

“I’m sure there’s someone out there for you, dude,” Carapace reassured.

There was a loud bang, and they all tensed, flipped around facing the barrier read to fight. 

But the dome just faded away. Marinette stood on the other side, holding out a clear glass bottle with an akuma fluttering angrily inside. 

Chat Noir plucked the bottle from her hold, smiling at her like she hung the moon. He released the akuma just far enough to cataclysm it. 

“See! I knew you could do it.” His eyes were so soft, he could give Adrien a run for his money. 

Marinette scowled at him, crossing her arms. “You know who else could have done it? Ladybug!! She has actual powers! Do you know how hard it was to go after an akuma without enhanced agility?” 

Chat took her hand. “May I offer the princess a kiss in gratitude?” 

“I think I’m the knight in this scenario,” she replies petulantly, but she didn’t pull away.

He pressed a lingering kiss onto her hand. 

Marinette didn’t even blush. “You owe me bigtime!” 

Chat nods. “Thank you for bailing me–” he gestured to all six of the present heroes, “–I mean, bailing all of us out.” 

“Why’d you ask me? I’m just an ordinary girl.” 

He shook his head. “There’s nothing ordinary about you, Marinette.” He said her name with absolute reverence. 

Nino shook his head in exasperation. There was no way in hell Chat Noir wasn’t in love with Marinette. Nino would have to warn Adrien to get his game on. He had competition, even if he didn’t know it. 

The other heroes surrounded her and offered thanks and congratulations. “Marinette! You are amazing!” Carapace told her. “Like you pulled off an impossible feat!” And then he bent down and whispered. “And I think if you’re not careful you’re going to break a certain black cat’s heart.” 

Marinette’s brows furrowed. “What are you talking about? Chat’s way too obsessed with Ladybug to ever really see me.”

[pretty-idol-hell]

Idol Land PriPara Episode 12

The end... or is it?

The episode opens with My Dream back at school, at lunchtime. Yui is double-fisting rice balls. Shogo walks by and complains about how loudly she's enjoying herself, so Yui throws his baby pictures everywhere. In other words, everything is back to normal.

While Yui and Shogo are fighting, the remaining members of WITH and MyDre acknowledge they will be holding a surprise promise for Yui later that day.

Meanwhile, Amari is at her desk looking through her old notebook and acknowledging all of her idol dreams have been coming true one by one. She stops when she reaches the place where Mario's page was ripped out, and looks down sadly at the blank space.

Later, at PriPara, Mirei and Shion discuss how things are returning to normal. All of the idols are full of dreams again and it's all thanks to Yui. But, it's thanks to Amari that Yui was returned to normal, so everyone surrounds Amari and thanks her.

However, even after everything that happened in the last episode, there are still some bugs floating around Idol Land. (...Feels familiar.)

The others talk about Mario's disappearance and wonder where he is. Amari says, "He's gone," but the others don't quite get it. Nino says it was rude he disappeared without saying goodbye.

I guess they really did not notice he uhh... burned to death...........

Amari looks down sadly again but only Laala acknowledges it.

Meanwhile in DanPri, all the boys are hard at work cleaning up the mess Mario made. Including Ushimitsu, who is doing his best to remind Shinya of his past using uhh... puppets? (Ninja voodoo dolls? I don't know the actual name for these haha.)

But he is unsuccessful. Shinya is STILL brainwashed even though Mario is gone. Ushimitsu is out of options. HARAKIRI IT IS.

Asahi is able to stop him, however, as WITH arrives to help.

"Leave it to me," says Koyoi as Asahi's eyes light up with fear, reminded of Koyoi's dark past. It can't be that bad, Asahi.......

OH

I GUESS THIS IS JUST HOW WE SOLVE PROBLEMS IN PRIPARA NOW

EVERYONE FIGHTING EVERYONE IDOLS

hahahahaha

Meanwhile, Yui arrives in Idol Land, annoyed at being left behind. She's quickly whisked away by Nino and Michiru, as not to ruin the surprise.

Also meanwhile, SoLaMi Dressing, Hibiki, Amari, Meganii, Meganee, and the managers., are having a meeting to decide what to do about the bugs still appearing around Idol Land. Amari shakily raises her hand.

"D-D-Do we really have to exterminate them?" she says, launching into a stuttering, rambly rant disagreeing with Hibiki about how she doesn't exactly like the bugs either, but the line between love and hate isn't that simple. In fact, they are basically the same, because even after hard times you can still see a blue sky in the end so storms and sunny days are basically the same and and AND... (before collapsing on the table).

"I AGREE WITH AMARI-CHAN!!!" says Laala. Immediately.

Everyone else agrees as well, except for Hibiki of course, but they are far outnumbered.

Meganii says there is still a lot they don't yet know about Idol Land, and it's possible the bugs are connected to that, so perhaps it's best to leave them for now. As Meganii speaks we see Gaaruru walking through the woods as bugs follow behind her. Gaaruru tells the bugs she doesn't care, and they can do what they want.

After the meeting ends, Amari and Laala are walking together in a deserted hallway.

"If only we could have become friends with Mario," Laala says, causing Amari to stop walking. Amari asks if Laala knew what happened to Mario, and Laala says she guessed based on how Amari was acting.

Amari says that thanks to Laala she finally understood that Mario had meaning to her. But, she realized a little too late.

Laala takes Amari's hand and says, "But I think he was really happy! That he was able to save you! That you cared about him!"

"Thank you, Laala..." Amari says as she starts to cry. The two laugh together.

Meanwhile, MyDream is touring Idol Land while the battle between Shinya and Koyoi continues to escalate into by far the most violent thing we've ever seen in Pretty Series.

Goddamn.

And Amamiya is still trapped in the toilet....

Thinking this is some kind of fate that has been thrust upon him, he starts working to make the toilet so clean that uhh...

He hallucinates toilet goddess Mirei...???

The implication I think is that his love for her overflows and gets him out, but we never actually are shown that. His love overflows from the stall and um, next scene.

Nino and Michiru are about to head back with Yui, when.... uhhh...

So, these are Haniwa. I believe the implication is like.... MyDream disturbed Ajimi's ancestral family burial site??? in PriPara????????????

Back at the stage, everyone is ready but MyDream is nowhere to be found. The crowd is getting restless, especially the animals. But no worries, Fuwari knows just what to do...

Sing a new solo in a new recolored outfit!! Prominently featuring her occasional sentence enter, "-nachu"!

And so we get Fuwari singing this lovely, calming song, inter-spliced with like Hibiki dropping their tea and Shinya/Koyoi still fighting (oh lord).

New Making Drama too!

Back in DanPri, a badly bruised and battered Koyoi and Shinya have finally come to a standstill. Apparently Shinya "had fun", "let's do this again".... (the others stare blankly). Back to normal, I guess.

Finally, MyDream arrives and Yui finds out about her surprise. They hop from an air balloon, coord changing in mid-air (AiPri style? haha).

New coords, new song, new Making Drama...

NEW TEAM CYALUMES TOO!!!

After the performance, Non Sugar wheels out Janice in a baby carriage, who congratulates them. Janice thanks Amari for protecting PriPara as well, who has the reaction you would expect she would have being addressed by a goddess (even a baby one).

Janice turns to the audience and explains that she still hasn't returned to her full power, and therefore is unable to carry out her duties as goddess in this form. Thus, she will be giving temporary goddess powers to.... FALULU!

Falulu is (temporarily) a PriPara GODDESS!!

This kinda reminds me of... umm... *mumble mumble King of Prism something something*

Hibiki leads Falulu to the stage, who is calmly surprised by this announcement. The time twins give her a goddess staff.

Fuwari asks Falulu what she will do in her first act as goddess. Ignoring the selfish requests from Meganii and Dorothy, she says she does have something she's been wanting to do...

And so, getting everyone together habitat for humanity style, Falulu has everyone build Pololo a house... T_T After being a roof for others for so long, she finally has a roof of her own.....

Falulu says she will continue to use everyone's power to make everyone's dreams come true!

As the credits roll, we cut to Amari back in the lunchroom at school. She's holding her tray and looking at a group of girls sitting across the room.

Mario's hand appears behind her, giving her a push, as she passes through an invisible barrier, and begins to approach them...

In the voiceover, Amari says, "I have a dream. A dream to enjoy my high school life!"

The time twins curl up together in THE CUTEST PAJAMAS (want), talking about how today was a great day, and tomorrow will be a great day too. We pan to the Takara Tomy logo in the night sky, and the episode ends.

WOW, what a wonderful and also depressing episode to end on.

I really REALLY REALLY thought Mario was going to come back.

Well he did, but he didn't. His hand pushing Amari at the end could have easily been her imagination. But then again, that's basically the same thing, isn't it?

I also super related to that scene WOW. I often feel like, even though I know how to be social, I know I can approach people and make friends..... I just have this invisible barrier around me, and I have to be either right in the perfect mood, or I have to be making a very conscious effort to pass through it. If I'm taken by surprise by someone approaching me in public, I often keep the barrier up and try to leave the conversation as quickly as possible. The more I've adjusted to being back in America, the more I've improved at getting that barrier down and socializing with people when I'm at cons and events and stuff. So it was pretty cool to see something like that represented visually.

So, lots of new coords, songs, making dramas... we've always got lots of new stuff in episodes before, but this was the first time it actually made me sad. Because up until now I knew we would probably get the new coords at least, and there was a glimmer of hope in me that maybe, just maybe, we might get a new song or making drama SOMEday but.... with the lackluster updates this past month, who knows if we'll be getting anything at all anymore. So, I spent a lot of this episode sadly yearning for the arcade days of knowing for sure all the new content would be available to experience soon.........

*sigh*

When they made this episode they were planning on a season 2. SURELY. Or at least, they certainly left the possibility open.

SO MUCH is still unresolved. Like yeah, Yui's back, but all the other stuff from episode 0? The update that went wrong, and the bugs, and losing PriParis and all that stuff..... (I've got watch that again)

I'm scared now that they are gonna resolve that in the Hibiki comic instead.....................

BUT MARIO

Mario should come back. Mario DESERVES to come back.

IT'S. NOT. FAIR.

And Falulu has goddess powers!? Like, for the foreseeable future we're just leaving her like that.

So like. In my other post I denied that Laalulu, the 10th/1000th-anniversary character would have anything to do with Idol Land.

But like, seeing Falulu get goddess powers is making me somewhat rethink that. Like, I dunno, I feel like this could be connected somehow. Maybe.

LIKE.......... THERE ARE SO MANY PLACES TO GO FROM HERE.

Not to mention for all we know AMAMIYA IS STILL IN THE TOILET

COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

please

[miraculouscriticismshub]

Miraculous head cannons - SEASON 5 spoilers ahead

Felix, Chloe and Adrien watched The Hunger Games during Felix's visits to Paris. Adrien's favorite character was Peeta while Felix admired Finnick and Chloe adored Effie. After Season 5 , both cousins introduced the films to Kagami and Marinette during their first double date. Marinette's favorite character was Katniss while Kagami loved Johanna. 

Zoe’s father's name was Andrew lee. 

Zoe’s father was a high ranking military captain who was friends with Colt Fathom - who was an arms dealer. 

Zoe’s father being in the military meant he traveled a lot and was very busy but still had time for his daughter. He loved Zoe a lot but when Zoe did something wrong , he wasn't afraid to discipline her. However when Zoe was 11 a war broke out in a foreign country so Zoe’s father went abroad to fight. This caused Zoe to be put into boarding school because her dad wasn’t able to care for her. He however was still a decent father and visited Zoe as much as he could. When Zoe told him about the bullying on the phone , he brought Zoe tickets to Paris because he had no other family to send her too. He wanted for Zoe to get her to know her half-sister and promised her it would be temporary and he will come back for her soon.

Zoe and Felix knew each other due to their dads being friends

Chloe respected Emelie and saw Emelie as a mother figure. The brooch she gave to Sabrina was given to her from Emelie. Emelie gave her the brooch because she was Adrien's only friend .

Zoe is a fan of The Lumineers.

Zoe's paternal grandmother is from Central Asia specifically Tajikistan.

Zoe can understand some Tajik

Chloe and Felix listen to Marina and the Diamonds. It's one of the few things they have in common and in fact the only times Felix and Chloe got along was when they talked about Marina😆😆

Sabrina and Chloe watched Totally spies when they were younger.

Nino is from Morocco while Alix has ancestry from Egypt and Algeria while Max is from Mali.

Nino , Max ,Alix and their families celebrate Eid together.

Alix , Chloe and Sabrina use to be friends when they were younger. However Alix stopped being friends with her as she couldn't deal with Chloe's terrible behaviour.

Zoe's paternal grandfather died during 9/11.

Zoe's middle name is Niloofar.

Kim's grandfather from the vietnamese side of his family was a veteran during the vietnam war.

Chloe always knew the Jean-Armands name. She only got his name wrong on purpose just to get attention from her mother. These are just my head cannons. Feel free to disagree :) . Please stay respectful

[celestiall0tus]

Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 22 - Despair Bear

Beginning || Previous || Next

            Alix skated around the skate park around other skaters. She kept her eyes forward, but occasionally glanced over at Nino and Adrien, careful not to let them see it was her. She had been there since early afternoon when they hadn’t arrived more than half an hour ago. She wondered where Kagami was, but she imagined Adrien snuck out. He’s developed a habit of it since meeting Kagami, and when she showed him how she got over the walls of his mansion.

            Alix paused for a moment and watched Nino try to teach Adrien how to skate. She cringed at the process, like teaching a newborn to walk. She shook her head and turned away when she saw them check their phones.

            Alix raised a brow and stopped when she got a message. She pulled out her phone and saw a message from Adrien, inviting her to a party thrown by Chloe. She curled her lips back into a sneer, pulled down her hood, and approached Adrien and Nino.

            “Hey, what’s the meaning of this?” Alix demanded.

            “Yo, Alix, didn’t know you were here, my dude,” Nino remarked.

            “Uh, that was the point? Anyway, what the hell? Why would you send this to me?”

            “Oh, Chloe asked that I send it to you. She said she wants our entire grade there tonight at the party, including you,” Adrien answered.

            “Look, I can believe a lot of stuff that comes from you, but I honestly can’t believe that. Why would Chloe want me there?” Alix asked.

            “I have to agree, dude. Are you sure you read that message right?”

            Adrien nodded and showed Nino and Alix the message. Alix’s jaw dropped when she saw Adrien was being honest about Chloe’s intentions.

            “Fuck,” Alix hissed.

            “What are you going to do? Will you come?” Adrien asked.

            Alix sighed and pulled down on her eyelids. “Fine! I’ll… I’ll at least try.”

            “Awesome! We’ll see you then, Alix,” Adrien cheered.

            Alix forced a smile while she waved goodbye to Adrien and Nino. She dropped her smile and pulled up her hood as Tikki and Stompp poked out from it.

            “Are you sure this is a good idea? Don’t you have history with Chloe?” Tikki asked.

            “Well, yes, but… I don’t know.”

            “I don’t think it’s a bad idea, Tikki. Shouldn’t Alix give Chloe a second chance? She has as Bloody Bug, so why not Alix?” Stompp pointed out.

            “If she does that, she needs to give others second chances too,” Tikki remarked.

            Alix glared at Tikki and skated out of the park towards home. “I don’t have to give anyone a second chance if I’m not willing, Tikki. Chloe is… not Marinette. Chloe didn’t use me. Chloe never made me feel welcomed just to make everyone turn on me. Chloe wasn’t the monster, I was. And… and it should fall on me to make things right, shouldn’t it?”

            “Yes,” Tikki and Stompp said.

            “Just like with Marinette,” Tikki pointed out.

            “I disagree. That Marinette girl was rude for accepting the akuma and hurting Alix when Alix didn’t do anything,” Stompp countered.

            “Maybe, but forgiveness needs to start somewhere. Someone needs to be the better person and teach the other the error of their ways. You’re willing to do it with Chloe, why not Marinette?” Tikki challenged.

            Alix opened her mouth, then shook her head. “Can we drop this? I just want to head home, get ready, and get this party done and over with.”

            Tikki sighed and slipped back into the hoodie while Stompp remained.

            “Yes, Stompp?”

            “Huh? Oh, I’m just comfy.”

            Alix chuckled and headed back home to get ready.

~~

            Alix arrived at Le Grand Paris with Adrien, Kagami, and Nino. She kept her head pulled up as she looked around the room. Every kid in their grade appeared to be here, including Marinette, Alya, Mylene, Juleka, and Rose.

            “Oh, no,” Alix groaned.

            “You’ll stay near me, right?” Adrien asked.

            “Come on, dude, it’s just the girls. Nothing to be scared of, dude,” Nino butted in.

            “But-!” Adrien started.

            Nino grabbed Adrien’s wrist and dragged him towards the girls. Adrien reached out to grab Alix, but she stepped back out of his reach. He turned back as she shot him an apologetic look before he vanished into the crowd. She sighed and moved away from everyone towards a wall when something pulled her sleeve. She turned, expecting to see anyone, but saw Luka.

            “What the-? Why are you here? Don’t you have problem with these things?” Alix asked.

            “I… I’ve been… getting better?” Luka hesitated.

            Alix raised a brow when she saw the noise-cancelling headphones around Luka’s neck. “Right. Don’t you think this is a little much, even if you’re getting better?”

            “M-maybe, but… I wanted to-,” Luka started.

            “Attention, everyone! Welcome to this humble party I’ve so generously put together for all of you! Eat, drink, dance, or whatever it is you do, you have a great time!” Chloe announced.

            The partygoers all cheered and moved around. Alix spied some headed into the elevator. She trotted towards the elevator when Luka pulled on her sleeve again.

            “What do you want?” Alix asked.

            “Could I… could I tag along with you?”

            “Me? Why? Your twin’s here. Why not hide behind her?”

            Luka stumbled through his words as his eyes darted towards them and a blush crawled onto his cheeks.

            “Hold up, do you like one of them?”

            Luka’s eyes widened, he pursed his lips, and shook his head in a panic.

            “You’re a terrible liar, Couffaine. Which one is it? Alya? Rose? Mylene?”

            Luka didn’t answer.

            “Marinette?”

            Luka’s blush deepened as he looked away.

            “Eww, why her?”

            Luka fidgeted. “She’s very pretty and nice.”

            Alix rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Do what you want, Luka. I’m heading somewhere that isn’t here with everyone.”

            Alix headed into the elevator with Luka following her. She headed up to the restaurant floor where it was cleared of the dining tables and chairs to make way for a plasma with a game station set up, a ball pit, and a DJ booth. She spotted Nino already at the DJ booth while everyone else danced.

            “So… this, uh, this looks fun, right?” Luka attempted.

            Alix snorted. “Looks like a headache.”

            Luka grimaced and looked away. Alix broke away up to the bar top where refreshments were set out. She reached for one when she heard a loud bang. She turned towards the door to see Chloe stormed in with Sabrina behind her. Chloe stopped dead when she saw Alix. Alix sighed, pulled her hood more over her face, and looked away. Luka moved beside Alix between her and Chloe.

            “Is… everything alright?”

            “Yeah. Just… just preparing myself.”

            “For what?”

            “Kubdel,” Chloe said.

            Alix sighed. She looked up at Chloe and Sabrina. “Can I help you?”

            “Are you… are you enjoying yourself?”

            “It’s… tolerable.”

            Chloe nodded and left. Sabrina gave a thumbs up and followed Chloe.

            “That was… different. I thought you two, y’know, hated each other,” Luka pointed out.

            “It’s… complicated.”

            Alix sighed and rested her head on the bar top. Luka hesitated as he reached out for her shoulder when the music shifted from club music to slow dance.

            “What the hell?” Alix remarked.

            Alix turned as everyone on the dance floor paired off. She spotted Alya and Nino, Juleka and Rose, and Kim with a reluctant Chloe.

            “I didn’t realize Nino and Alya were together,” Luka commented.

            “I could care less about them. How long have Juleka and Rose been together?”

            “Uh… I’m not sure.”

            “You’re her brother. How do you not know?”

            Luka shrank back and looked away.

            “Sorry. Forget I asked. Hey, why don’t you take a chance and ask Marinette to dance?”

            Luka’s eyes lit up. He turned and scanned the room, then shrank back again. “I don’t think I can.”

            Alix furrowed her brow and looked around. Anger flared when she saw Marinette drag a reluctant Adrien onto the floor as he led her in a slow dance. She glanced around for Kagami but didn’t see Kagami.

            “Where the fuck is his babysitter? Why isn’t she stopping this?” Alix hissed.

            “Babysitter?” Luka asked.

            “Nevermind. I need-!”

            Tikki peeked over Alix’s shoulder in the hood. “Don’t rush in! Be smart about this. We don’t need to cause any, well, you know.”

            Alix sneered and looked back at the dance floor. She noticed Adrien and Marinette stealing attention of the dancers as the floor was cleared for them. She looked over at Chloe, who glared daggers at Marinette, but remained with Kim.

            “I have an idea. Stay here,” Alix whispered.

            Alix pulled her hoodie off, rolled it up, gave it to Luka, and headed over to Kim and Chloe. She kicked Kim in the groin and sent him crumbling to the floor. Everyone gasped around her and jumped back. She took a deep breath and offered her hand to Chloe.

            “Will you do me the honor of leading you through this dance?” Alix asked.

            All eyes fell on Chloe. Chloe looked up, gulped, and reached out a shaky hand. Chloe placed it down in Alix’s. Alix stifled a grimace as she felt Chloe’s still trembling hand. Painful memories surfaced that Alix pushed back down. Alix took a deep breath as she pulled Chloe closer, placed a hand under Chloe’s right arm on her back, and took Chloe’s left hand in her own.

            Alix took a breath before she led Chloe in a waltz. Chloe struggled with the steps until she got ahold of them. Alix had trouble with twirling Chloe as part of the dance with Chloe being a head taller, but Chloe worked with her. Alix kept her eyes on Chloe but glanced aside at Adrien and Marinette.

            Adrien and Marinette’s dance had stopped their dance to watch Alix and Chloe. Adrien’s eyes were wide and sparkled in admiration while Marinette was dumbfounded. Alix allowed herself a smirk until she caught a glimpse of Luka, whose eyes were wide in awe with a slight blush as he stared at Alix. A feeling gnawed at the back of Alix’s mind, but she ignored it as she dipped Chloe and finished the dance.

            Alix bowed while everyone gawked at her. She sat back beside Luka as she put her hoodie back on. She looked over at the door and saw Kagami reappear, putting her phone away. She relaxed when Kagami took her place beside Adrien, warding off Marinette. She smiled, stood, and headed for the elevator when Chloe ran up and grabbed her arm.

            “Wait! I… you aren’t leaving, are you?”

            “I think I’ve had my fill already, Chloe. I’d rather leave now before you-.”

            “Don’t go. I did all this to talk with you,” Chloe admitted.

            “What are you talking about?”

            “I wanted to talk to you, Alix, but I couldn’t think of any other way to, well, talk to you.”

          �� “I knew it! I knew there was no way Chloe could be nice!” Marinette cheered.

            Everyone murmured as they all shot Chloe side glances. Chloe’s lips curled back in a snarl and her hands balled into fists.

            “I never said I was trying to be nice. I’m just trying to be better, and that doesn’t mean I have to be nice to everyone. I don’t care about you. I don’t care about any of you guys except Adrikins, Sabrina, and Bloody Bug,” Chloe declared.

            “What’s the point of trying to be better if you’re not going to be nicer?” Marinette challenged.

            “Because… because I don’t have to be. If I don’t like someone, I don’t have to be nice, but I don’t have to be mean either. I can still be me and still be better.”

            Alya scoffed. “Yeah right. Where would you get a notion such as that?”

            “Bloody Bug.”

            Alix’s eyes widened as fear and anxiety tore through her.

            “Please, how would Bloody Bug give you such a notion?” Alya demanded.

            “Because I’ve seen her for who she is. She may be a hero, but she’s still a person. She’s… she’s flawed. She’s not some perfect, untouchable hero, but a deeply flawed person. She has her moments of blinding rage that hurts people. I mean, really hurts. However, she can also be fun, energetic, and compassionate. She has baggage, just like the rest of us,” Chloe explained.

            Everyone exchanged confused glances with each other and Chloe. Alix frowned as guilt mingled with the anxiety.

            “I don’t believe that. Bloody Bug is a hero. There’s no way she’s just like any of us,” Alya remarked.

            Chloe opened her mouth, but Sabrina stepped in the way.

            “And that’s why Chloe is better. She recognizes this fact, unlike someone like you who actively stalks the hero to unveil her identity. Don’t you stop to think of the dangers of that and how compromising it is?” Sabrina challenged.

            “It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, I bet she could take out the enemy, even with her identity revealed.”

            Alix shook her head. She had heard enough. Alya, Marinette, Sabrina, and Chloe continued their argument, but she headed out. She crossed over to the elevator as Chloe’s butler ran into the restaurant. Curiosity struck her, but she pushed it away. She entered the elevator as her hand hovered over the panel. She considered leaving but didn’t want to just yet. She did need some quiet, so she headed up to the roof. She heard her name called out as the doors shut. She wondered who it was but ignored it and leaned against the wall.

            Alix watched the numbers go up until she was at the rooftop. She stepped out to the empty pool and sat along the edge. Tikki and Stompp flew out from her hood and hovered in front of her.

            “Alix? Are you ok?” Tikki asked.

            “I don’t know. A lot just happened a moment ago. I’m still processing it all.”

            “Should we be worried that Chloe knows who Bloody Bug is?” Stompp asked.

            “I mean, Bloody Bug and Chat Noir know, so it can’t be too bad, right? Besides, Adrien is down there, hopefully helping with the situation,” Tikki remarked.

            “Or getting out like he should,” Stompp muttered.

            “Anyway, Alix, how are you feeling?” Tikki asked.

            “I don’t know. Confused? Angry? Sad? Confused? I mean, Chloe clearly had been talking with Sabrina to come to all those points. There’s no way she would have on her own without Sabrina’s help. Which means she’s listening to others, which is good. However, that might be part of it.”

            “What do you mean?” Stompp asked.

            “I dunno, but hearing Alya say that Bloody Bug couldn’t be like any normal person just… I dunno. It hit different. I know what she meant, that Bloody Bug can’t be flawed, but it just hit different.

            Tikki and Stompp exchanged glances. Tikki opened her mouth when Alix’s phone buzzed. Alix checked it to see a message from Adrien about Chloe’s butler being akumatized and turned into a teddy bear that could control people and was targeting Chloe. Alix groaned and rolled her eyes while Tikki and Stompp read the text.

            “I don’t want to deal with this nonsense,” Alix complained.

            “Hey, at least with Blood Shell, it’ll be quick and painless,” Stompp pointed out.

            Alix rolled her eyes and growled. “Alright, let’s get this over with. Tikki, Stompp, unify.”

            Tikki and Stompp flew into their respective jewels and transformed Alix into Blood Shell.

            Blood Shell heaved herself up and back downstairs. She walked into the restaurant to see the utter chaos of everyone running around while the teddy bear took control of people by grabbing their leg. She rolled her eyes, activated her armor, and whistled.

            “Hey, chew toy!” Blood Shell yelled.

            The teddy bear stopped and turned to Blood Shell. It ran up to her, grabbed her leg, but nothing happened. It tapped her leg, and she reached down, grabbed it, and tore the head off the bear. The Akuma flew up, then back down to the mace as it lit up. It purified and flew away as a white butterfly. Everyone blinked and then cheered while Blood Shell grumbled and left. She headed for the stairs and up to the roof again.

            Blood Shell stepped back into the cool night air. She headed for the railing but stopped herself. She knew where she would head. She would go to the cemetery where her mother’s grave was. She’d be alone for a little while until Alim or Adrien came looking for her. The idea was enticing to have people around her help her, but not this time. She just wanted to be left alone.

            Blood Shell curled into a ball and rolled back into the empty pool. She held her knees tight as she let everything surface before it all came crashing down.

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[flightfoot]

Hi, I'd be interested in some fanfictions that center around Nino (all ships welcome, bonus points if it's the core four hanging out).

Most fics that have him tagged don't focus on him. If you have any recs lmk, feel free to take as long as you need! Have a nice day

I'm on it! So long as you're fine with ships that also revolve around couples anyway, otherwise this would be rather sparse. I'm gonna go ahead and limit it to completed fics. Oh, and if you wonder why some of these have commentary and some don't, it's because the ones with commentary are from previous reclists I made.

(Edit: I'd said that I'd only include complete fics, but I accidentally included Withered Wings anyway, because I kinda forgot that. It's pretty close to finished at any rate, and it's good and long so I'm keeping it.)

Within Your Heart by Inkyibis

It’s Valentine’s Day and Ladybug just wants to her superhero partner to find his love. And what she wants, the Lucky Charm will create. If only she could remember what it is she did last night.

Adrino fic here! Marinette’s drunk and feeling awful that her superhero partner is alone on Valentine’s (she’s in a loving and committed relationship with Alya), so she creates a Lucky Charm to help Chat find love! In this universe, Ladybug’s Lucky Charms have the power to create new rules for the universe to follow, such as making one that demands that if you have any magic in you, you have to tell the truth or else you’ll freeze. Or in Adrien’s case, that he has to wake up in the arms of his true love every day XD. It’s very sweet and I love both Adrien’s and Nino’s relationship, and the relationship between the rest of the Miracuteam members as well, even though that’s not the focus.

---

I’ll give myself a name (something stupid and pretentious) by @bbutterflies

Nino looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. Usually he wouldn’t answer, but he had nothing better to do – and could still really use a distraction – so he did. “Hello?”

“Hey, Nino.”

Nino stood up quickly, chest tightening. He knew that voice. He’d been waiting to hear it again for over two years. “Adrien?” he whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me."

-

When Monarch is defeated (and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste), Chat Noir immediately goes missing. Adrien disappears not long after. When Adrien finally shows up in Paris again, Nino would do anything to make sure he doesn't disappear again.

Ah this is lovely, Adrien’s been in a lot of emotional turmoil since Monarch’s defeat, convinced that everyone would hate him, SHOULD hate him, for not realizing that his father was the villain, and should hate him even more for disappearing like he does. But slowly Marinette and Nino get through to him, convince him that they just want him back. 

And also Adrien and Nino smooch. Multiple times. So that’s a bonus XD.

---

Would Trust You With Everything by @kasienda

Nino breaks off, tears streaking down his face. Adrien wishes he was here as himself instead of Chat so he could offer a hug.

“It’s not like I don’t think she deserved her privacy. It’s just it felt like I was her last priority. And if I knew why, then maybe we could overcome it. But when I don’t, I’m not willing to be her last thought. You know? I always put her first.”

“Yeah,” Chat agrees, able to relate too well. He always put Ladybug first too, and he’s not sure it has ever been the same for her. “I’m sorry you’ve been so alone through this."

“I haven’t been totally alone,” Nino disagrees, holding up his phone. “My best friend has been keeping me company virtually most of the day.”

“Yeah? It helped?”

“I don’t know if any of the stuff he sent helped, but like, given what I know he’s up to, he totally had to move heaven and earth to talk to me so much, and that really helped. You know, just knowing that someone was thinking of me.”

“I’m glad,” Chat Noir said. “I wish he could be there in person for you.”

Nino sighs. “Yeah, me too, but at least you’re here."

...

Season 4 au - canon divergent from Rocketear Rocketear led to DJWiFi breakup.

Ahh, Adrino my beloved XD. I love the identity shenanigans in this one with Adrien being around Nino as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and both of them vaguely describing their situations to each other. It takes Adrien a bit to figure out that he has a crush on Nino, but once he does...

---

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

“He’s dating me,” Nino said, taking Adrien’s hand in his own.

Adrien could only stare back at him in shock.

“How dare you all force him to come out?” Nino continued, glaring at the reporters. “That was disgusting.” He pulled Adrien over to the car, guided him in, and shut the door behind them.

In the relative quiet and privacy of the backseat, Adrien finally processed what had just happened. “So… when were you going to tell me we were dating?”

This Adrino fic is delicious XD. Reporters keep hounding Adrien about his love life, so Nino finally gets them off Adrien’s back by fake-dating him. Problem is, Adrien’s actually been madly in love with Nino for years but has never been able to tell him. And now as they’re spending more time together, Nino’s beginning to find that he’s enjoying all these “couple” activities more than maybe he ought to if it’s entirely platonic...

If you want to see Adrien and Nino PINING for each other while “fake” dating (is it really fake if both parties want it to be real?) then you’ve come to the right fic!

---

Chemistry With Him by @bbutterflies

It kind of sucked Nino was taking chemistry, but classes had filled up fast and he needed to take something and his advisor had said the credits would, somehow, count towards his major. It really sucked he was taking it first thing on a Monday morning (and Wednesdays, and Fridays, unfortunately). But he could get through it. He knew he could.

So no more boys. No distractions. He could do this all on his own.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Nino looked up to find the source of the voice. A blond, green-eyed, absolutely beautiful someone.

Okay. Maybe one distraction.

Ah, adorable Adrino. This is a universe where Adrien never went to public school, so while Chat Noir, Ladybug, Carapace, and Rena Rouge all know each other (and Marinette, Alya, and Nino all know each other’s identities) they’re unaware that they are all already friends with Adrien. I loved seeing Chat and Carapace excitedly tell each other about their awesome crush/boyfriend, not knowing they were talking about each other XD.

---

Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost.

But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well.

But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

---

Shelltering Others by @rosie-b:

When Ladybug wakes Nino up in the middle of the night to scold him for revealing his identity, he thinks his career as a Miraculous holder is over. But instead, Ladybug gives him the opportunity to prove himself by becoming Chat Noir’s confidant and learning his secret identity through a scavenger hunt of sorts. Will Nino pass Ladybug and Chat Noir’s test, or will he fail to put the pieces together in time?

Quick disclaimer here: the first chapter looks kinda salty towards Nino, with Ladybug laying into him for revealing his and Alya’s secret identities to Adrien and Marinette. She’s mostly just trying to scare him into taking them seriously, though, since she herself has just proposed that Nino become Chat’s secret-keeper, and he can’t afford to be lackadaisical with that identity. I highly recommend getting through at least chapter 2 of the fic when giving it a shot, because this had some great character development and introspection for Nino, on Chat Noir, Adrien, Ladybug, and himself. 

---

run boy run by tinuviel_tinuviel

Nino was sprawled on the floor of his room with Alya when his phone chimed, in the quiet of a premature autumnal sunset. It was one of those lazy evenings that had become rare lately. Contrary to popular belief, he and Alya could get studying done when in the same room, and he was elbows-deep in late assignments, which meant his phone was on Do Not Disturb, which meant the notification could only have come from one person.

ADRIEN 🐈: cmoe ove rnow ADRIEN 🐈: like riggt now ADRIEN 🐈: plag NINO: that is literally incomprehensible NINO: wait is that you plagg ADRIEN 🐈: mov faster

So this is a “Adrien finds out that his father is Hawkmoth and consults with Nino about what to do” fic, with Nino throwing Hawkmoth off Adrien’s track, though inadvertently at his own expense. Love Nino’s perspective here, and I always enjoy a good Hawkmoth-takedown fic!

---

Best Friend and Boyfriends by @kasienda

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Nino commented when Adrien slid into the seat next to him in the student lounge during the mutual gap they both had between their university classes. Adrien turned his grin towards his best friend. “Yeah,” he agreed. Nino grinned back. “I haven’t seen you in this good of a mood in months. Were you hanging with your mystery lady?” The question caught Adrien completely off guard. Was Nino seriously comparing his feelings for Carapace with his feelings for Ladybug? Sure, Carapace had become one of his favorite people. Adrien currently coveted every moment spent in Carapace’s company. He walked away from talking to him for hours feeling like he was floating on a cloud. And he was anticipating their next patrol like a giddy child waiting for Christmas morning. Holy shit! “You okay, dude?” Nino asked. He totally had feelings for Carapace. When had that even happened?

---

Withered Wings by @11jj11

Nino wasn’t sure if anyone had ever willingly took the akuma butterfly before him, but with his mind completely open to this apparent son of Hawk Moth he knew that he couldn’t turn him away. Not someone that was so afraid, not someone who would be left at the mercy of Hawk Moth.

---

5 times Adrien, the person, helps Nino aka Chat Noir and one time Adrien, the turtle themed hero (still not the fragrance) does it by DearLittleRobin

Adrien is a cool guy that needs more friends Nino is a good friend (and he's also Chat Noir)

---

Turtle-y Awesome by chattonne-rousse

Hugo Dupain-Cheng loves turtles, and by extension, he loves Carapace, his favorite superhero of them all. He doesn't know yet that his idol is also his Uncle Nino, and Nino hasn't yet seen the Carapace shrine that is Hugo's bedroom. But the little man is turning five and has just two wishes - a Carapace-themed party with friends and family, and the latest, greatest Carapace play set. This is a story of best friends, laughter, good kids and even better parents, and a whole lot of turtles.

---

I hope the worst isn't over by thescuttlebug

Falling is exactly like flying right up until you stop. Like, assuming the kind of flying you’re used to involves busted steering and useless panic, Nino guesses. “GO LIMP!” a voice shouts, and Nino catches a glimpse of black something-like-leather and the twin flashes of a golden bell and silver staff streaking through the air. “Are you kidding me, dude?!” he shrieks.

---

Foxy Lady by WizardlyMagik

In which Nino finds himself unexpectedly attracted to Rena Rouge, tries and fails to tell his friends and get some advice, and desperately attempts to hide it from his girlfriend. (Who in fact, is planning to use it to her advantage)

---

Won't Tell A Soul by @thelastpilot

Nino accidentally runs head long into the biggest most stressful secret he can imagine, but now that he knows the truth about Marinette he is determined to help her in any way he can.

[nixthelapin]

What if Adrien never went to school?

I love those “what if” fics where Adrien never went to public school (then LB and CN become a couple bc Marinette doesn’t have Adrien to crush on). I like seeing a slightly different dynamic to the show’s main couple (plus seeing how no love square changes things). There are a lot of variations I could obsess over, but I’ll spare the text space.

Because one thing that doesn’t usually get discussed (not saying never, I haven’t read every single fic in this category), at least in depth, is how much Adrien going to public school in Origins actually affects the plot. Not just the love square, but the actual plot of the show.

There are, of course, single episode stories that wouldn’t happen- The Bubbler, possibly Timetagger, Rogercop, and Gamer, just to name a few that he was directly involved in from season 1 (not even including ones he indirectly influenced because of Marinette or some other classmate).

But then we get to the end of s1: Volpina. Adrien finds the Guardian book at home while getting ready for school, then brings it with him, where Lila and Marinette both see it. Lila uses that as inspiration to pretend to be a superhero’s descendant (*more on her later). Then Tikki has Marinette take the book, causing her to officially meet Master Fu! Without Adrien going to public school, she would only have met Fu as some mystery healer when Tikki got sick in Princess Fragrance. That’s major! (And I wonder if Adrien would’ve even found the book in the first place since he wouldn’t have had school to get ready for- he’d just be home). That’s the start of the whole Guardian Marinette plot line right there! And the catalyst for a lot of events in future seasons: the power ups, the other heroes, Natalie getting desperate and using the peacock miraculous, which would then remove Félix’s part in the plot (beyond wanting a family heirloom for his mom). And probably so much more!!

There could be some reason down the line for Marinette (or both her and Adrien) to meet Fu, but Tikki has only done it when the situation is serious (sickness and a lead on Hawkmoth’s identity), so there would have to be something else to be serious enough to actually go to him.

[*And a small aside about Lila: her crush on Adrien (or on his fame) is a major part of Marinette’s hatred for Lila. Yeah, she’d still hate her lies, like being friends with LB, but it wouldn’t be all mixed up in her feelings for Adrien, nothing for her friends to brush her frustrations on as an excuse- “you’re just saying that because of your feelings for Adrien.” So Lila would still be a self absorbed liar, but wouldn’t have any avenue to Adrien, and therefore no connection to Gabriel, and not a major player with Hawkmoth. So many layers!]

There are just so many things I could go off on about (I’ve barely touched on how his absence would affect other relationships in the class, like Alya and Nino dating), but thinking out these implications really makes you realize just how much Adrien’s position are school affects how the story goes.

If you guys can think of other major things, or want to expand on anything I’ve said in this quick post (or even if you disagree with anything), I’d love to hear it! It’s a fascinating concept to play with, so I’m all ears!

[diamaker-moon]

Moving Forward — Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Face it, Césaire

Despite disagreeing with her judgement of carrying it all alone, Félix knew he couldn't just interfere with her work, and will respect her wishes of working on it alone, even if he somehow dislike it. He also knew that when the time comes that Marinette needs help with anything, he can imagine himself suddenly putting down everything in a second and rushing to her as fast as his legs could.

Maybe it might not be for saving Paris, but just to see her smile at him knowing he'll be there to help.

— previous chapter... —

"That's enough Chloé! You're being a real bitch right now!" Alya shouted at the top of her lungs.

"I've always been a bitch, and you're not changing it now." Chloé rebutted.

Alya is already on edge about what's happening. Everything was collapsing around her, suddenly everyone is fighting her for Marinette. For Marinette!

"Why are all of you suddenly like this?! Suddenly ganging up on Lila? That's so low for all of you!" Alya screamed.

Alya couldn't understand why every student in the class is suddenly becoming hostile to her new best friend. She never understood why it is Lila's fault that suddenly the bully, Marinette, is gone. She was the one to blame, she tried to bully a student who did nothing but befriend her. They should've been celebrating. They should be happy that they got the bully to leave! But here they are fighting over the said bully.

"Als... Maybe it's time for you to listen." Nino said, coldly.

She flinched at the sudden tone of her boyfriend. Nino hadn't spoken to her like that ever, not even when he was angry for her being so careless. She knew Nino as a caring person, so she couldn't comprehend that the person in front of her is the same one.

Chloé stepped much closer to Alya, to the point where she was standing right in front of her.

"Listen very carefully. Marinette knew from the very beginning. I could see it on her face. The moment she heard you speak so proudly about your stupid interview with that liar, I could see from afar how she doesn't believe it." Chloé started.

"If anything, Ladybug's best friend should be Marinette. I mean, isn't she the one who asked the heroine for an interview just for you?" Sabrina questioned.

Alya blushed hard. She knows that she still owes the ravenette for the very first interview up close with the heroine for her blog.

"Later on, I understood why. Jagged Stone's cat? Really? You all call yourselves his fan when you know that he doesn't have a fur pet but a reptile pet. And an airline allowing a mere teenager to enter the hangar with absolutely no supervision from any airport personnel just to save a cat?" Chloé continued with a mocking look on her face.

"And don't you hear how ridiculous it is for a grown-ass man, to write a song for a teenager? What you wanna call him a p*dophile now?" The blonde said.

Alya was dumbfounded. While others looked away after hearing it clearly. As if a hidden veil was suddenly lifted from their brains, allowing them to see reason.

"Let's add more injury to the wound, who in their right mind would accept the reason of 'catching a tissue that could gouge out an eye' when the said person that was 'supposedly hit by a ball of tissue' is wearing glasses." Sabrina added gleefully with a hidden tone of mockery.

Chloé sarcastically covers her mouth, "Wow, who knew a ball of tissue could cause such a fatal injury? Oh, what a disaster! Help!" She said with dramatic flair.

If anyone aside from the class could see around them, they will see Alya was flushed red, maybe even darker than Ladybug's new costume. She knows about the sarcastic replies and tones she was receiving from the two.

Lila was seething on the inside. All she knows that everything is getting out of hand, but she couldn't leave the room, as Kim had blocked the exit and is staring blankly at her.

—————

"So when do you plan to execute this plan of yours?"

"Hmm... Who knows, I need more before pursuing it, or else it might backfire all on me."

With a cold hard gaze, people could wonder what happened to the person that they could make such a gaze.

—————

"It's revolting to know that even an adult is willing to help her lies." Chloé sneered.

The blonde looked around before continuing, "Did you all know that Bustier and Damocles believed this little snake's lies about a certain 'Lying Disease'? Guess not."

Then Chloé's eyes moved towards a certain pair of green eyes. "And that somebody had the gall to cover up the lies and continue to act as your friend. Wow, what a coward."

By that statement, everyone knew she was talking about the nervous Adrien Agreste who suddenly had everyone's attention.

"Chloé, please. Marinette tried to warn all of you, but you didn't listen to her and then left her, I didn't want that to happen. It's the first time I made friends, I just didn't want to lose it..." Adrien pleaded.

"That. I hate you for that." Chloé said.

The boy was confused.

"You think everything is about you. You didn't care if Marinette was being bullied or being left by her so-called friends, all that mattered to you is that it doesn't happen to you. And your first time making a friend? What am I chopped liver?" She said.

"Chloé you don't understand... We were friends because our parents were acquainted with each other." He said.

The blonde girl shook her head, "You're wrong. I didn't like you at first, I could see how you slightly manipulate everything around you. That you had to make it all about you."

Adrien was hurt when he heard it.

"It's kind of true. When Marinette planned a party for getting rid of Chloé, I saw you talked to her and saw how her mood deflated." Juleka spoke loudly enough.

"I thought between the two of us, I was the rotten one. But no, it's you. And what's worse, you're not only rotten but you're like a wolf hiding in sheep's clothing. That's why Marinette left." Chloé said harshly making everyone flinch at her tone.

—————

The day passed by in a blur. Alya was walking home, alone, as Nino chose to excuse himself for the reason of having some space.

Alya was confused as to why she was being a target of such hostility when all she did is defend a harmless exchange student from a hidden bully.

The pained look in Nino's eyes hurts her as if it was telling her that Alya personally hurt him. And she didn't like that feeling.

As she walks slowly, she gradually points at the reason for what's happening around her. Marinette.

Chapter 8 — Moving Forward: Masterlist — Chapter 10

T A G L I S T:

@celestial-slytherin-blog @pasteile @1-ahiro-1 @jennifer-rose123 @artisticarson @fantasylover-92 @ravennightingaleandavatempus @lovelyautumnsunflower

This is my holiday gift to the readers! Hope you all enjoy reading it, next chapter will be uploaded 'next year' XD Let me know if you'd like to be added to the Taglist!