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anjuschiffer · 1 year ago

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Amira Wayne-Chapter 24

Happy New Year! For my New Year's Resolution, I plan on finishing this fic! So here's to writing the last chapters of Amira Wayne :D

P. Tag: @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha

Tag: @we-want-mini-mini @ramos123 @redscarlet95 @corabeth11 @anonymously-odd @officiallydarkgeek @galla02006 @jayjayspixiepop

And like always, let me know if you want to tagged :D

Chapter 24: Family, Friends and Identities (3)

MASTERLIST | FIRST | PREV | AO3

“Marinette!

“Where could she be?” Sabrina asked no one in particular, quickly taking out her phone when she felt it buzz in her skirt.

The moment the group realized that Marinette was taking longer than usual to make her way back to their table, they tried to be optimistic about her tardiness.

After all, who would miss the countdown for the new year? Especially the fireworks?

A few minutes remained until the start of the new year.

Four minutes to be exact.

But when Marinette didn’t appear even as the clock struck midnight and signaled the beginning of the new year, they feared the worst.

Without another second to spare, the group of friends scattered in search of their missing member, pushing their way through drunken adults, hugging friends and toasting celebrities. Not a single person turned to look at the frenzied teenagers.

Sabrina opened up the notification, looking at the group chat updates.

Adrien: We checked the roof, she’s not here. How’d it look in the hall? Did you find her?

Nothing. She’s not downstairs either. Anything from Chloe yet?

Adrien: Still haven’t heard from her yet. She wouldn’t pick up either. Something must’ve happened on her end.

Adrien: Nino, anything from the kitchen?

Nino: Alya saw her run through the hall, but she couldn't make out why she was running. All she saw was her running out into the stairwell, as if she was chasing something. She tried to follow, but her mother wouldn’t let her leave the kitchen in fear of someone seeing her.

Someone seeing her? I thought she volunteered for the event?

Adrien: Kinda

Adrien: Well, Alya somehow snuck her way into the party, so if anyone from the hotel staff saw her, well…

Nino: She was going to get her and her mother in trouble.

Sabrina somehow found herself in the kitchen after reading that text, finding Nino attempting to comfort Alya before both turned to see her.

Sabrina felt guilt gnaw at her when she saw Alya try and look behind her, her shoulders dropping when she did not see Mari.

“Seems like you had no luck finding her either, huh?” Nino spoke up, hoping to ease the tension in the room.

“Marinette really didn’t pass by here, did she?” Sabrina asked, Alya shaking her head. “Ayla, you said she was chasing something. Were you able to see the thing Marinette was chasing?” Sabrina asked.

“As I told Nino, I couldn’t see it, but whatever it was, it had to be small.” When Sabrina didn’t say anything, Alya decided to explain herself. “While I couldn’t go into the crowd to verify what went on, I didn’t have to exactly see the thing to know its size.

If she were chasing someone, people would’ve been moving out of her way to prevent getting caught in the fray.

But no one did.

What makes this all the more strange was the fact that Marinette looked…horrified as she chased whatever it was that she was chasing.”

“Horrified?”

“Normally someone would look terrified if they were being chased, but like I mentioned, she was chasing something as she fled into the staff’s stairway. Whatever it was, it was something that-”

“She has to be downstairs then!” Nino exclaimed, about to head there himself when Sabrina stopped him. “We have to-”

“I don’t think she would be there.”

“Why do you think that?”

“The door leading into the next floor should be locked, as it’s the suite Chloe resides in. In other words, it’s always locked from the outside to prevent others from casually walking into the floor.” Sabrina hated the way Nino looked at her with disbelief. “Marinette should not have been able to get onto the floor without the access card.”

“But we have to try.” Alya pleaded. “Maybe she is there.”

“Alya-”

“It doesn't hurt to check.” Nino sided with Alya. “Let’s just check, Sabrina.” Nino took a breath to calm himself down and stop his words from trembling. “If the door is locked like you say it is, then we have to tell the others that Marinette might not be in the hotel anymore…

And if we do find her there, then I can finally get rid of the thought of Marinette possibly being kidnapped again from right under our noses.” Nino confessed. “I just…I just want to know that she’s alright and that she just got lost inside the hotel and didn’t in fact get kidnapped again…okay? I want to know-”

“Don’t you think I want to know too?” Sabrina managed to say without her voice completely cracking because to be completely honest, she just wanted to cry right then and there.

She wanted to just cry and get rid of the knots that were tying in her stomach and the churning in her gut.

Of course she wanted to know if Marinette was safe…

Of course she was worried… “Marinette is my friend too, Nino! Of course I’m worried! But I can’t just blindly go looking for her without raising concern from those around us!

We can’t push Marinette back into the spotlight like that. She doesn’t deserve to be looked at like a spectacle! I would never forgive myself for doing that to her.”

Nino held onto his arm when Sabrina wiped away a tear with the palm of her hand, noticing how her lips quivered as she attempted to stay composed.

How did he already forget about the news about Victims’ identities starting to leak since the start of the Banshee incident? About the new reporters harassing ex-Victims?

��I’m sorry.” He found himself saying, “I shouldn’t have-”

“No. “ Sabrina sniffled. “You’re right and I’m sorry for acting…for acting the way I’m acting,” Sabrina said. “I’m…alright now,” she lied.

Because she wasn’t alright.

Because something wasn’t right. Something didn’t feel right.

After all, certain things were not fitting with one another.

For starters, the haste in having a New Year’s party.

Alya’s sudden involvement with the planning.

Chloe’s constant meet ups with Alya, with Adrien…with both of them…without her…without Nino…

The whispering and seriousness when they spoke to one another only to smile when they were around her and Nino…

The gathering at the start of the party…

Something was going on…but what was it? “Let’s go look for her together, okay?” Sabrina ended up proposing to Nino, wanting to eagerly shift her thoughts to something new.

“Alright.”

With a soft reassurance to Alya, Sabrina and Nino went off to check the lower floor, only then Sabrina realized she hadn’t checked on her phone.

Making her way past the mingling guests, Sabrina read the chat as she heard the music muffle as Nino closed the door behind them. She let him walk in front of her as she scrolled away.

-unread messages-

Chloe: Someone messed with the surveillance.

Adrien: How is that possible?

Chloe: We’re trying to figure that out as I’m calling and emailing the company about this ridiculous thing!

Chloe: Best in the nation? Utterly ridiculous!

Chloe: Anyways

Chloe: The footage we’re missing is from the time Marinette left the table up until we noticed she was taking a while to come back.

Chloe: I’ll keep you updated and see if we manage to recover the footage. We need to know what it was that Marinette was chasing.

“Sabrina, you said this floor needs a key card to unlock the door, right?” Nino asked, Sabrina looking up from her phone, then noticing Nino’s eyes filled with worry.

“I did.”

“So why is the security off?” Nino asked, showing the powered off lock, causing Sabrina to freeze.

That should never be off.

That wasn’t normal.

That had never happened before.

Sabrina quickly pulled open the door, not expecting for the first thing to see to be the friend they had spent the last half hour desperately searching for.

There, just a few feet away from them was a quietly sobbing Marinette, clinging onto Mlle Kyle as M.Wayne talked with-

How did she miss M.Wayne and Mlle Kyle missing from the party hall?

She should’ve noticed the two most-

No.

That shouldn’t be her main concern, well…yes it should be and yet not now.

What was more concerning-

Sabrina whipped out her phone.

Adrien, didn’t you say your father couldn’t make it to the party?

Adrien: Yes? Why are you asking?

Here’s down here…talking with M.Wayne and Mlle Kyle

And…

We found Marinette.

The minute she finished sending that text, she watched as the trio was already walking away, leaving Gabriel standing by himself in the middle of the dimmed hall.

Sabrina gathered the courage to walk up to the man, wondering if Nino was following her. She didn’t want to approach the smirking man by herself after all.

“M. Agreste.” She managed to bring herself to say. “I thought you weren’t feeling well. Are you sure you should be here by yourself?”

The man finally noticed her, turning his head ever so slightly to acknowledge her, the smile on his lips dropping.

“Mlle Raincomprix. M. Lahiffe. It seems Adrien told all of his friends about my condition.”

“Of course he would. He’s worried about you.” Sabrina bluntly told him, not missing the way something flashed across his eyes. “Is he aware that you’re here, M. Agreste?”

“I thought it would be nice to join some festivities seeing as I was feeling better today. Especially when I found out that Mlle Bourgeois and Adrien organized this event by themselves.”

“Why were M.Wayne and Mlle Kyle here?” Nino asked, finally addressing the elephant in the room. “What happened to Mari-”

“Marinette wasn’t feeling well and I let her guardian know about this.”

“What exactly happened to her, M. Agreste?” Nino asked, Sabrina hoping M Agreste would let Nino’s raise of voice go unnoticed. “We’ve been looking for her all night and-”

“Dad?” Adrien cut off, the three turning to see Adrien barely catching his breath as he entered the hallway. “What are you doing here?” Shortly after, Chloe joined them. “Natalie-”

“I asked Natalie to bring me here after feeling the slightest bit better. I didn’t want to miss the party you and Chloe worked so hard to organize after all.”

Adrien felt his heart swell, Chloe not once lowering her guard upon hearing those words.

She knew those words all too well. Or rather, she recognized that tone all too well.

After all, she had heard that tone all throughout her childhood…

The only tone she ever heard from her own mother when she praised her.

False pride.

“M.Agreste,” Nino tried once again. “What happened to Marinette? Why-”

“Mlle Bourgeois!” A hotel staff yelled as he attempted to catch his breath after opening the door with a large thud. “We have the foot-”

“Adrikins.” Chloe cut off, turning to her friends as she signaled the staff member to stay quiet. “Why don’t you help your father meet the other guests?” Chloe gave M.Agreste a smile. “Seeing as he is feeling better, I think you should take him to greet the other guests upstairs. Of course, if you think you can, M.Agreste.” Chloe suggested, noticing the slight glare M Agreste gave her while Adrien beamed.

“Of course! “ Adrien smiled as he turned to his father. “Do you think you feel well enough to go greet everyone upstairs?” He asked his father, missing the way his father frowned before giving what was supposed to be a smile.

“I think I can manage. After all, I do want to see the gathering you spent this entire week planning out.” Adrien gave him an even bigger smile.

“We’ll see everyone back upstairs then!” Adrien gleefully stated, quickly guiding his father back upstairs.

“Chloe, what is-” Sabrina tried to ask, only to trail off when the hotel staff from earlier whispered something to Chloe before excusing himself. “Chloe?”

“I’m going to head back to the security room to see the recovered footage our staff managed to get. For now,” Chloe let out a heavy sigh. “For now, just wait for Adrien or I to fill you in. There’s too many things going on and this party isn’t going to run itself.”

“But what about Marinette?” Nino spoke up, hating that Sabrina and him were being left out of whatever it was that was going on.

Wait for her to fill them in?

What was going on?

Why couldn’t she just tell them right then and there?

Weren’t they friends?

“Chloe, when I sent that message, Marinette looked terrified-”

“We can’t focus on that right now Sabrina.”

“What do you mean we can’t-”

“That thing Marinette was following?” Chloe looked at them, mentally preparing for the shock she would receive from the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

But she couldn’t just not tell them when they were both looking at her with distrust.

She had to tell them…she just had too…

“She was following an akuma.”

Jason jumped at the sound of the apartment door bursting open with a large thud and Amira sprinting straight to her room.

“Amira!” Bruce tried to grab her attention as he and Selina quickly walked after her.

Jason watched as both attempted to open up the hatch door to her room, only to be met with resistance.

“Maomao, tell us what happened.” Selina tried to coax, only to get a sob as an answer, causing her heart to twist. “Amira…we just want to help.”

“What’s going on?” Jason finally decided to ask, causing both adults to turn to him. “What happened to Amira?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Selina spoke up as Bruce kept trying to open up the hatch. “Mr.Agreste got a hold of us when he found-“

“Mr.Agreste? As in Adrien’s dad? What was he doing there?” Jason questioned. “I thought the man never showed himself to those types of events? Hell, he only went to one of your galas and that was years ago!”

“Well, he showed up this time.” Selina answered.

“And somehow he found a way to contact us when Amira wasn’t feeling well.” Bruce noted, Jason watching his brow furrow. “Why did he contact us?”

“Maybe because we are her guardians at the moment instead of the Dupain-Chengs?”

“That’s not what I meant. Why did he directly call us instead of a hotel staff or his secretary-”

“Secretary? Oh! Did you mean that lady with the red highlight on her hair?” Jason asked, remembering Natalie from an old gala from a year ago.

“Now that you mention it, she wasn’t there when we went to find Amira.”

“Nor was she the one to make the call even though she is the one to usually make the calls for him.” Bruce pointed out. “What made him do it this time?”

A phone went off, Bruce realizing it was his own, wondering what Tim needed at this time. “Tim? What-”

“It’s Damian! Damian hacked the zeta tube! And he’s heading to Paris!”

His father barely made it to the party hall before he started coughing up blood, Adrien almost freezing as he watched his father collapse on the stairs. With a quick dial, he called Natalie to find him and take his father back home, something Adrien knew would happen and yet held hope that it didn’t.

Shortly after his father had gone back home, the party started to die down, people slowly bidding their goodbyes and farewells, one by one leaving the hall to head back home.

Soon, it was just the four friends remaining in the hall…or rather Adrien and Chloe and a shaken Sabrina and Nino.

Alya had left shortly after Marinette had left, telling Adrien and Chloe to call her when they had the chance.

“So what happened to that akuma?” Sabrina asked, Adrien turning to face Chloe, his eyes wide and shaky.

“Chloe, what is she talking about? What akuma?” Chloe bit her cheek. How did she forget- oh right his dad.

“Turns out the reason as to why Marinette suddenly left the table was due to spotting an akuma. We barely managed to recover most of the footage, but one thing is clear. Marinette broke down after following the akuma to my suite. From there, the akuma wasn’t seen again, your dad finding her and calling someone, or rather, M. Wayne.”

“Is she alright?” Adrien asked, hating that his excitement on seeing his father up and about made him forget that they were looking for Marinette.

“Has anyone been able to contact her? I’ve been trying to call but no one is answering.” Nino said, trying his best to keep his voice from shaking. Sabrina shook her head. A ding rang from Nino’s phone, Nino quickly whipped it out in hope that it was Marinette only for his shoulders to sink. “Oh. It’s my mom. She’s waiting for me outside.”

“It is getting late.” Chloe pointed out, noticing that her phone was reading 14:45.

“I should be heading home too.” Sabrina stated. “I’m going to wait for my dad at the lobby.”

“Let us know if Marinette calls any of you, okay? I’ll try to call her one more time before heading to sleep.” Nino said before saying goodbye, Sabrina joining him shortly after.

And with that, it was just Chloe and Adrien by themselves in Chloe’s room, the two just staring at the ceiling once Chloe managed to send out one last set of instructions to the hotel employees for the night.

“How the hell did it end up like this?” Chloe asked, wondering if anyone had the answer. “How did an akuma appear right under our noses? We were supposed to have asked her about being Ladybird and not find out Hawkmoth was at our party. ”

That’s right.

They were supposed to have the party, Chloe was supposed to pretend to not feel well and have Marinette bring her to her room. There, Chloe was going to bring up not feeling well due to finding out something regarding Hawkmoth. That he was the reason as to why she was feeling under the weather.

Using that as bait, she was going to tell Marinette about needing to contact a vigilante and wanting to help them, she was going to beg Marinette to help her…to let her help her and the rest of the vigilantes…

About knowing she was Ladybird and asking her to come clean…even if she knew this might affect their relationship…that it might hurt her…

Part of Chloe was glad that their plan failed…and yet…

“Chloe, we couldn’t have predicted an akuma would be spotted during the party, nonetheless Marinette being the one to see it.”

“Alya was supposed to alert us about anything that seemed off from the entrance of the hall or about the people who walked in. If Alya was doing her job properly, then we could’ve-”

“Alya risked her mother’s job to be there tonight. She wasn’t supposed to be there to begin with, remember? But thanks to her, we managed to connect our conclusion of-”

“This doesn’t prove anything!” Chloe screeched, sitting up from her bed. “This doesn’t prove that Hawkmoth is actually planning something big nor did we get confirmation about Marinette being Ladybug! It didn’t do anything!”

“I know you’re frustrated, but Chloe, Alya showed us the evidence. All the evidence is there. The party was just to confirm everything even though we know Mari-”

“But she isn't’ Ladybird!” Chloe screamed. “Because I thought I knew who Ladybird really was!” Chloe yelled. “I thought I knew who she was behind the mask and it definitely wasn’t Marinette!”

“Chloe, what do you mean you thought you knew?” Adrien watched Chloe purse her lips. “Chloe, what do you mean that you knew who Ladybird-”

“This entire time…this entire time I thought Ladybird was a Wayne..”

“What?” Adrien quietly asked. “Chloe, I don’t think there’s a Wayne-“

“Remember back in November, during our stay with the Wayne’s?” A hum. “Remember that video they played during the Gala?”

“What does that video have to do with any of this?” Adrien asked.

I needed to get this off my chest…I can’t keep this from Adrien. I can’t.

“After the video was finished, I told you I needed a break, some fresh air…thanks to that, I ended up overhearing a conversation I wasn't supposed to eavesdrop on.

They were talking about someone named Amira-“

“Amira?” So he wasn’t the only one who knew about that name…wait…

Since the Gala? Chloe heard the name and never told him about it? Then again…he never told her about having heard it around the same-

“Are you listening?”

“I-I am!” Adrien managed to say, scolding himself as Chloe glared at him.

“As I was saying, I ended up listening to Barbara and Tim's conversation regarding-”

“Barbara? As in Babs? From the Christmas party?” Chloe nodded.

“She was arguing with Tim over the video that had played and how Amira was going to get upset when she found out about the recording.” Ah, so she didn’t know about Jason- wait…

Jason? As in…the same Jason that Marinette said died months ago? The best friend that caused her to become Ban- wait… best friend?

Best friend…best friend? Right!

Didn’t…didn’t M.Pennyworth say that Jason’s best friend was his sister? And didn’t that sister move to Paris to-

Oh…

OH.

But…

How was he at the Dupain-Cheng’s residence that day?

Shouldn’t he, well…be dead?

After all, Marinette would never lie about anything like that…wait…

Marinette knew about Jason’s death…she was close to Jason to not only know about him, but also the other Wayne’s… she moved to Paris around the same time as Jason’s sister Amira-

Oh…oh no…

Oh fuck.

“-if anyone catches her bad side, she’ll resent them, hold a grudge against them. But that isn’t why-”

Adrien opened his mouth to speak. “Chloe..can I say something real quick>”

“Adrien, please.” I can’t believe it,” Just…listen.” Chloe pleaded.

I knew it… He’s not paying attention.

“Chloe, we need-”

“Let me finish this Adrien..please.” Chloe begged, even when she knew Adrien had something to say.

“As I was saying, I didn’t bring up Amira’s supposed temper for no reason. It was what they said after, a place they mentioned, that made me believe Ladybird was this Amira they mentioned.” Chloe brought her knees to her chest. “They mentioned Amira being in Paris, but more specifically, how Amira was protecting Paris.

They mentioned how she held a grudge against the Justice League-”

“The Justice League?” Adrien almost shrieked. “As in the recently created hero group? Well, not recent, but- that Justice League? What would they want with-”

“They wanted to keep an eye on her by making her join them. But instead of just asking her to be a part of their association, they apparently kidnapped, making her distrust them completely…

But just as you mentioned…the Justice League is an association of heroes, people who work to protect the people of Earth…and if they had approached Amira to keep an eye on her, then that must mean they were aware of her being a hero, well, vigilante…

And if that did mean Amira was indeed a hero…it explained a photo I saw during our stay at the manor.”

“Photo?” Adrien asked.

She solidified her conclusion with a single photo? Never mind that, he needed to tell her what he just realized!

“I n-never mentioned this because…well…It was embarrassing, utterly embarrassing.” She said under her breath as she calmed herself down. “The night before the party, I couldn’t sleep, so I snuck into the kitchen and on my way back…I got lost.” Adrien stifled a laugh, so Chloe continued.

Knew he was going to laugh. “I ended up going into a room that wasn’t mine.

But it wasn’t just any room. It was a room filled with photos of a girl around our age. A girl who was close to Bruce’s sons. A girl who grew up in that manor and whose life just stopped out of nowhere only to be continued by a single photo.

But not just any photo, but a photo from the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

“Chloe, anyone can get-”

“Adrien, I’m not referring to the type of photos any tourist around 24:00 can access. I’m talking about a photo captured past 24:00, like 01:00 or 02:00.

A photo that requires going past the floor in which the lift stops. A photo where only certain people can access at that hour: one of Paris’ vigilantes.

And since there was no other explanation, that had to be it. It’s what I believed.

Ladybird…

That Ladybird was Amira… Amira Wayne…

But then Alya brought this.” Chloe gestured to nothing as she held back tears. “And now…now I don’t know what to do, what to believe in…” Adrien sat next to Chloe, joining her wallowing. “I want to trust Mari…but now…I don’t know what to do.”

Adrien felt as Chloe leaned against his shoulder, knowing he had to take his own information off his chest.

It was now or never.

“Ever since Alya brought this to our attention,” he felt Chloe fix herself. “I’ve been doubting something that had been lingering in my mind ever since we returned from Gotham.

Just like you, I also had my head wrapped around a girl named Amira-”

“What?” Chloe straightened up. “When did you hear the- wait. Was this what you were referring to before Alya entered the room the other day?” Adrien nodded. “Go on.”

As if he had any other choice.

“These past few months, I tried to push this one thought to the back of my head and forget about it.

But then the Banshee incident happened. The kidnapping. The Christmas gift exchange…

Then Mari’s sudden disappearance…

The Wayne's somehow getting involved in all of these things.”

“Now that you mentioned it…”

“But to be honest, nothing really connected until you mentioned the video from the Gala…Chloe, were you aware that video was pre-recorded?”

“Pre-recorded?”

“After the gala, M.Pennyworth mentioned something…somethings.

He mentioned that video having been pre-recorded months ago…right before Jason’s death.”

“Jason’s- Adrien. We saw him at the Christmas-”

“Exactly. We saw him, we interacted with him…he is alive. And we know M.Pennyworth would never lie about something like that…nor would Marinette.

Especially when we know she barely snaps like she did when Lila mentioned knowing her best friend, her brother. Of being there that night at the gala.

She not only confronted Lila, but she was crying over Jason, she got overwhelmed just recalling his death…to the point she became akumatized…”

Adrien hated Chloe’s reaction to this. He hated how she was slowly processing this information…the way she was painfully approaching the same conclusion he was getting to…

Is this how Alya felt when she found out about Marinette being Ladybird?

“After the whole Banshee incident and the Wayne helping to find Marinette when she was kidnapped, I remembered something Nino told me that day.

He mentioned that Richard and Wally had referred to Marinette as Amira…and if she was being referred to Amira by Richard and Wally, people whom she holds dearly and was best friends with Jason…Marinette even calling him her brother…moving to Paris to mourn said brother…then that could only mean one thing…”

“She was never Marinette to begin with…” Chloe whispered. “Not only is she Ladybird..not only did she hide from us about being Ladybird…”

“But she didn’t trust us enough with her actual identity…” Adrien concluded. “She couldn’t trust us in keeping her identity of being a Wayne…”

So her name is Amira Wayne…

“So I was right..” Adrien heard Chloe murmur. “ So I was on the right track.”

“The right track?” Adrien asked her, watching as she got up, walking up her closet and exposing the ABP board she had been making at the back. “Chloe…how long have you been making this?” He asked as he approached the bulletin board strapped with red strings and an array of photos.

As he glanced at the table beneath the board, he took another look, feeling the world around him stop, quickly recognizing the item on it. “Chloe. Where did you get this?”

Chloe felt her heart stop when she saw what Adrien was referring to, quickly dashing to pick it up before he could. She was a second too late.

“I can’t believe you out of all people saw this!” Chloe dramatically said as she pried the phone from Adrien’s hand, stuffing it into her pocket.“Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Can you imagine what would happen if it was someone else who saw my old phones from-“

“Chloe. Drop the act.”

“Come on Adrikins! I get you don’t have many things to tease me about, but-”

“We’ve known each other since we were kids and I know all of the gifts you’ve ever gotten from your father whether it was the random pen from his office or the latest jewel on the market. You have never once not shown me the latest thing you got.

“This one-“

“That isn’t a phone that is on the market and I should know since my father has declined every promo offer relating to phones. And out of all the promos, I never saw that model.”

Chloe bit her tongue. Should she continue to try and find her way out of- no.

This was Adrien. But if she told him, then that would mean betraying her fellow teammates.

Betraying- right…

Ladybird is Mari-Amira…

What was she supposed to do? “So I’m going to ask you again, where did you get that-“

“Kid, as much as I love and care about you, sometimes you make me wonder if you actually have a brain or not.” Plagg casually said as he appeared before both Adrien and Chloe.

“Plagg!” “A Kwami?”

The duo looked at each other.

“Honey Bee! Don’t just sit by! Help me out here!” Plagg whined, causing Pollen to emerge from her hiding place.

“Pollen!”

“I’m sorry my Queen, but we couldn’t keep quiet when you two have figured out so many things already!”

“Plagg, what’s going-”

“It’s Duusu.” Plagg started.

“Who?” Chloe asked.

“Duusu -one of our fellow Kwami- we can sense them again after so many years!” Pollen said.

“Sense? What do you mean-”

“For the past hundred of years, we’ve been looking for Duusu as they got separated from us during a raid on one of the Guardian Temples. Since then, Master Fu has been trying to regain them when he got a faint signal from them in Paris years ago. But since then we haven’t been able to track them.”

“Until now!”

“So shouldn’t you be happy you found-”

“That’s where the good news ends, kit.” Plagg wished he wasn’t the one to tell his holder about this. “Before their signal went out, they managed to let us know about one thing.”

“Which was?” Chloe asked.

“Duusu…” Pollen sniffled. “Duusu told us he was with Nooroo.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Adrien asked. Pollen shook her head.

“Nooroo, he’s Hawkmoth’s Kwami.” Plagg informed them…”In other words…”

“Hawkmoth has Duusu…he has another miraculous…fuck.”

“Recognized: Ladybird A01,” the automated voice spoke as Damian walked out of the booth, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, watching his breath become visible in the air.

The code he reworked…worked… good.

Now standing outside the booth, Damian wondered what people saw in this place, readjusting his small bag over his shoulder.

It looked just like any other city he had been to if he were to be completely honest: bright, loud and yet silent due to the late hours of the night.

But at least he could cross off Paris from his bucket list of cities to step foot in.

Finding the bakery didn’t take long.

Thanks to the research he did beforehand, Damian whipped out a printed out map of the neighborhood and memorized the route before tucking it back into his bag.

Quickly making his way towards it, Damian let out a scoff as he landed on the rooftop.

To think the building his sister was residing in has no type of security besides the two cameras by the entrance of the bakery on the ground floor.

It was there and then that Damian decided he must speak with his father regarding the poor security in the building his sister was living in.

Why was there no type of security for an Al Ghul-

Damian found himself puzzled over his pausing of his current thought.

An Al Ghul heir

An Al Ghul.

Amira didn’t consider herself that, even going as far as rejecting their own grandfather as family…

To think she considered the orphans their father decided to pity on as actual family rather than her own blood.

Damian pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

He was here to see his sister and to investigate why their father came here instead of staying at Gotham.

To figure out why their father decided to follow his sister and not stay in Gotham to train him.

To ask his sister why she wasn’t in Gotham…

Why she wasn’t Robin…

And what she was doing in Paris…

Damian frowned at how easily he was able to lift the skylight window without tripping any alarm, slowly slipping into his sister's bedroom.

He didn’t expect to see his sister curled up in the middle of her room, a hairless cat attempting to cheer her up as it nudged her hand.

But it didn’t take long before the cat turned towards him and started to hiss, but his sister didn’t move one bit.

What was going on?

What happened to the sister that glowered at him?

Where was she?

Because if this was her…

“Pathetic.”

#maribat #bio!dad bruce wayne #amira wayne

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iheartgarrus · 2 years ago

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Fic Masterpost

Hi! I'm GemTheGinger on AO3. For now, this post is just going to cover my Mass Effect Trilogy stuff from the past couple of years. I also have some older Dragon Age and Andromeda fics that you can find either on my AO3 or under the #my work tag here.

**Listing in chronological order by posting date. Interactions are ALWAYS appreciated, both on AO3 and Tumblr.

Shakarian (AO3 series)

"Forward" on AO3 and Tumblr (SFW, comfort, 774 words)

"Be Your Shelter" on AO3 and Tumblr (SFW, family, 2951 words)

"Body and Beats" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, solo smut, 1583 words)

"Cliff Diving" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, smut, 6850 words)

"Snowed In" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, smut, 2809 words)

"Message Undelivered" on AO3 and Tumblr (SFW, epistolary, 1524 words)

"Kiss Me in Slow Motion" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, smut, 2013 words)

"Luxe" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, romance, 4498 words)

"Every Gun You Ever Held Went Off" on AO3 and Tumblr (SFW, hurt/comfort, 4696 words)

Other Short Works

[Shepard & Hannah] "Lost Time" on AO3 and Tumblr (SFW, family, 1160 words)

[James/Tali] "The Walk Before the Run" on AO3 and Tumblr (SFW, fluff, 3370 words)

[Castis/Adrien] "It's Getting Dark, Darling" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, hurt/comfort, 3805 words)

[James/Tali] "It's Only You and I" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, smut, 3885 words)

[Garrus/fShepard/Victus] "Reckless, Restless" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, smut, 1377 words)

[Harry/fRyder] "Surprise" on AO3 and Tumblr (NSFW, smut, 920 words)

Collections

"The Fanfiction Form of the 100 Emoji" on AO3 and Tumblr ('Perfect 100' drabbles - various pairings, ratings, and genres)

"N7 Month 2022: Microfic Morsels" on AO3 and Tumblr (various pairings, ratings, and genres)

"Spare Legos" on AO3 (extra scenes - various pairings, ratings, and genres)

"N7 Month 2023: Flash Fics and Tidbits" on AO3 and Tumblr (various pairings, ratings, and genres)

Bonus

Tumblr exclusive: Drunk Writing: Drunk Food (SFW, comedy, ?? words)

#mass effect #shakarian #jali #fic masterpost #my work

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selenityshiroiml · 4 months ago

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So much salt directed at Marinette and implying that the series is glorifying her actions and that it's a poor example.

If you walked away from the special thinking that the series is trying to push that a) Marinette's actions were supposed to be a good thing and b) that Marinette herself thought she had done the right thing then you weren't paying attention.

Marinette is clearly unhappy about the lies she told. She questioned the choice multiple times. She asked multiple people's opinions on if she did the right thing and not ONE PERSON AGREED (although none of them stopped her, either). Everytime she made a choice to reinforce the decision the scene direction implied it was a torn decision (often with a half and half shot of her face as Ladybug/Marinette further emphasising that she has an internal conflict both as herself, as Ladybug and between herself and Ladybug). The scene direction and music was somber and played the choice off as a negative. She is unhappy about lying to Adrien and massively conflicted over it.

Nothing about that special was trying to show Marinette's choice positively. And this is not new. Marinette is OFTEN called out for poor decision making by the narrative or by her emotional state. When she hasn't trusted others things have gone wrong or she has gotten distressed and these situations resolve when she gets help. When she acted over the top with her crush on Adrien it always blew up in her face until she fixed what she had done and he, instead, reacted positively to her being more natural.

These things are not always resolved in the same episode. And, clearly, this season is setting up for a longer arc where Marinette will eventually have to face the consequences for these choices. Even before that it is likely that it will impact her relationship with Adrien as Marinette, her relationship with Chat Noir as Ladybug and, likely, her friendships with the team both in and out of costumes. She is probably going to make more difficult choices going forward to maintain the lie and it going to continue to be conflicted and unhappy about it, further causing her stress and anxiety.

And when it comes out it is not likely to be pretty. Adrien is going to be very understandably hurt and confused.

But Marinette is not doing any of this out of malice. She is a very upset 14 year old girl who just watched her boyfriend's father (who she may not have liked but was probably not aware of the extent of his abuse of Adrien) effectively commit suicide after revealing himself to be a terrorist. She is probably not processing any of that very well and, on top of that, she has the weight of the world on her shoulders with Paris relying on her in a way that no child should have to carry. That is not someone who is going to make an effective and rational decision on how to share that entire set of traumatic events with the person who will be most hurt by them. Especially when she loves him and doesn't want to cause him pain.

She fucked up. But she is not doing that with a goal of hurting Adrien. She is not doing that with a goal of controlling Adrien. She is not doing that with probably any clear goal or aim other than sparing Adrien the pain of knowing that his father was a terrorist.

But she is still going to cause him pain. Because when it comes out that she lied (either from discovery of Ladybug's lies or from realising that Marinette knew or both) it is going to hurt Adrien twice over. Because two people he trusts and cares about (Marinette and Ladybug) deceived him. And, regardless of their lack of malice, it's not going to be easy to accept.

Obviously they are going to eventually resolve things. But writing her actions off as irredeemable or as being portrayed as an example to emulate is ridiculous.

Protaganists are allowed to be wrong. Kids can tell when protaganists are making wrong decisions, even without being told, when the character is clearly not happy about it. People can make mistakes and be forgiven for them (and this is an important thing for kids to learn because otherwise they a) won't admit to their own mistakes and b) won't try to make positive changes if they get in trouble).

And, yes, it's also important for kids to know that forgiveness isn't always guaranteed. And my deepest wish is that, eventually, Adrien will NOT be required to forgive Gabriel for the things he did (although I'm not sure this will be the case). But Marinette is not likely to be (nor do I think she SHOULD be) an example of this concept. Because making a fucked up choice in a fucked up situation when you are clearly traumatised is NOT automatically unforgivable.

#I'm not tagging because that will just drag salt my way #but dear god #I'm not saying the salt is based around purity culture #but it reeks uncomfortable of 'you must make purely moral decisions at all times or you are a dirty dirty sinner'

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miraculousalamode · 2 years ago

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cake decorators, we need your help! our bakers (writers) have been working hard in the kitchen preparing something delicious, but now we need your help to make it look as good as it tastes!

throughout the week, we will be posting snippets and summaries from our bakers with a fic ID attached to them in order to keep the writer anonymous. please write down the fic IDs of the fics that you would be willing to work with, as well as the fic IDs of the fics you would absolutely not under any circumstance want to collaborate with.

at the end of all of these posts, we will post the artist applications for you to submit your answers!

FIC ID: S23

Pairing(s): Felix Graham de Vanily/Luka Couffaine

Rating: T

Archive Warnings (if any): N/A

Trigger Warnings (if any): internalized homophobia

Summary: On the three year anniversary of his betrayal of Ladybug and subsequent deal with Gabriel, Felix is back in Paris. His goal this time is simple: impersonate Adrien to get his cousin out of Fashion Week and hopefully in so doing restore some good will between them. But perhaps he should have known that his life never gets to be simple. A pesky snake and a nosy rabbit are making sure of that.

(That Luka guy is kinda hot though… wait what?)

Snippet: Felix had a certain… disdain for Paris.

Not hatred, no, of course not. It was a beautiful city—if a bit smelly—and home to one of his favourite people. It had good food; the people were toxic but friendly, just how he liked them; and with the blessing and the curse of his cousin’s face, Felix could get people to stop and admire everything he did.

It was also home to his least favourite person, who just so happened to be the city’s local supervillain as well as an international terrorist.// That was fine.

Felix didn’t have any business with his uncle. Not on this trip.

It’d been three years since they’d struck a deal on that fateful day. Three years since Felix stopped living with a perpetual cloud of fear over his head. He was a free man at last. There would be no more threats, no more blackmail, and no more death.

He hadn’t come back to Paris since. Despite claiming he was innocent, he didn’t put it past Ladybug to string him up by his ankles from the Eiffel Tower.

Today was a special occasion, or else he wouldn’t bother risking her wrath, or that of his uncle. Though he had nothing to fear from Gabriel now, the less he saw of that man, the better.

No, today was the beginning of rehearsals for Paris’ fashion week. Something Adrien couldn’t normally get out of, even though he was now nineteen and legally an adult.

Hence Felix’s emergency visit to Paris.

Adrien hadn’t specified why he wanted out of rehearsals, but Felix hadn’t dared to ask either. He and Adrien hadn’t always gotten along, but things had been downright frozen between them for a while. Adrien knew that Felix was the one who had impersonated him and sold out the Miraculous to Monarch. He couldn’t understand why Felix had done it, not until Gabriel was out of the picture, so to him it seemed an unforgivable act of selfishness.

And perhaps it had been

Felix still didn’t regret it, nonetheless.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

He typed quietly in the lively solitude of the cafe. Though he was tired from the repetitive modelling, he hadn’t come here for caffeine.

That made the cup of coffee in front of him all the more surprising.

Felix glanced up at the hand that had set it down, and thus the man attached. The waiter winked. His hair was black with blue and pink tips, his outfit slightly wrinkled, and his face alight with a bright smile. Great. Someone cheery and unprofessional. Exactly the type of person that he usually tried to avoid.

Still, Felix spared the waiter a second glance, mostly because of his distinctive appearance. Then he pushed the cup of coffee away and attempted to resume his work. “I didn’t order this.”

The waiter leaned with one hand on the table, looming frustratingly into Felix’s space. He continued to grin. “I know. A little rabbit told me you’d like it.”

“I believe the phrase usually goes ‘a little bird told me’.”

“I know.”

Felix leaned back slowly, abandoning his computer for the moment to more properly examine the waiter. A small nametag on his chest read ‘Luka’. His eyes glimmered with mischief and concealed knowledge.

“Well, Luka If you don’t mind, I am quite busy at the moment and would appreciate some alone time.”

“Sure thing, Felix.”

He hadn't mistaken Felix for Adrien, like most in Paris did. That alone caught Felix's attention. But he also made no move to leave, and Felix was hardly in a social mood.

He took the coffee at last and sipped it—mostly as an excuse to not continue the conversation. But as the rich flavour hit his tongue, he glanced up in surprise despite himself. “Breve?”

Luka winked. “The little rabbit told me that too.”

Felix set his cup down slowly. He’d always preferred creamier, sweeter coffees to the more concentrated, bitter varieties. For some reason, that continually surprised his peers. Something about how his coffee was sweeter than his demeanour, he was sure.

“Who is this rabbit?” He asked suspiciously.

Luka’s smile never faltered; he shrugged innocently and said, “Enjoy your coffee,” before he just walked off.

Felix glared at his back. Great, a mystery. Last time he’d uncovered one of those, he’d discovered the identity of a terrorist and secrets dating back twenty years. He’d also sold out the entire world to protect his own self interests, so there was that too.

“He’s cute,” Duusu piped up from Felix’s pocket. “You should ask him out.”

Felix choked.

#miraculous a la mode fics #felix fathom #felix gdv #felix graham de vanilly #luka couffaine #feluka #viperion

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lycorogue · 2 years ago

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Latest Story: Tell Me You Want Me When You’re Sober

I- was NOT expecting to write something today! Hooray for random shocks from my Muse!

Actually, for this story, I'd like to thank @ceejles. Some minor spoilers for the story, but ceejles’s SpyxFamily fanart inspired this piece. I just kept thinking about these three opening panels to her one fancomic, and picturing Loid as Adult Adrien and Yor as Adult Marinette. Add in the song "Siren" by April Fooze*, and you get this story. (Boy, it's fun to actually KNOW where inspiration came from!)

*April Fooze is the streamer Fuslie’s GTA NoPixel character.

Summary: While at Alya and Nino's house-warming party, Marinette wandered off to take a breather. Noticing her vanishing act, Adrien went to look for her. Hidden away in the guest bedroom being used as a coat-check room, the two take a moment to themselves. The fun little intimate moment between friends becomes more intimate than either of them anticipated.

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 1470

Status: completed one-shot

Continue reading below, or find this story over on AO3, on FFN, or on DA.

Tell Me You Want Me When You’re Sober

“Adrien! Dance with me!” Marinette downed the last of her tequila sunrise before slamming the highball glass onto the guest bedroom dresser and pulling Adrien to his feet.

Adrien chuckled. “There isn't any music playing.”

Pouting at him, Marinette fumbled for her phone, and brought up some slinky, sultry club music. She slammed her phone on the dresser beside her glass and then gestured towards it.

“How am I supposed to dance to this?” Adrien laughed again and placed his hands on his hips.

“Oh, like you can't slink around?” Marinette stuck out her tongue. Her hips and head swayed with the music. Her hands slid up her sides, along her jawline, and then met above her head. As her hands traveled, her eyes closed. A smirk crossed her lips just before she gently bit her lower one. Her humming along with the song was what finally hooked her prey.

Adrien's hands wrapped around Marinette's waist, feeling it sway. Her shirt slid up a touch, and his ring and middle fingers brushed against her skin.

“Marinette, maybe we should go back to the party,” Adrien suggested in a hushed tone.

“Mm-mm.” She shook her head and pivoted in Adrien's hands so her back was towards him. She gathered her hair up and off her neck. “I like it in here.”

“Alya and Nino are going to wonder where we've vanished.”

“They have other guests. They won't notice.”

Adrien leaned into Marinette's ear. “I think they might.”

“Mmmm. I wanna dance. There's no place to dance out there.”

“We're in their spare bedroom. There's no place to dance in here either.”

“There's plenty of space.” Marinette slid out of Adrien's hands, kicked off her shoes, and climbed up onto the bed piled with coats.

“That's not a very sturdy dance stage.”

Trying to prove otherwise, Marinette planted her feet and started dipping low as she continued to sway with the music. Her hands traveled across her body before stretching out and beckoning for Adrien to join her.

He shook his head no and curled a finger to beckon her to him instead.

Stubbornly, Marinette twirled on the bed. Her foot caught on one of the coats, throwing her off balance.

“Marinette!” Adrien rushed forward as Marinette tumbled sideways off the bed. He easily caught her in a bridal carry. “You okay?”

She nodded, and he placed her back onto her feet, his hands still firmly on her sides to help steady her.

“I told you that wasn't a good place to dance. Come on, let's get back to the party.”

Eyebrows stitched together in mild frustration, Marinette grabbed either side of Adrien's shirt collar. With a tug she pulled Adrien the few inches down she needed to reach him while on her tiptoes. Their lips collided with a satisfied moan rolling from Marinette's chest.

Eyes wide with a start, Adrien kept a millisecond to register what just happened. As the heat from Marinette's lips reached his brain he leaned into the kiss, slamming her gently into the wall a few inches behind her. Their bodies pressed against each other; her hands still tugging hungrily on his shirt. A low growl rumbled through Adrien's throat. Marinette's tongue pressed against his lips, asking for entry.

With a quick inhale, Adrien pulled away; the spell of the music, low lighting, and muffled sounds of the party around them broken. The faint tang of orange clung to his lips; transferred there from Marinette's tongue.

“Adrien?” Marinette was still pinned against the wall. Her hair was matted around her head like a sloppy halo. Her eyes were half lidded and luring. Her lips were barely parted and a deep red from their brief encounter. The rose in her cheeks had bled to her ears, and Adrien wasn't sure if it was from the booze, the dancing, or the kiss.

“You're drunk,” he whispered.

“I am.” Her right hand followed the trim of his collar to the back of his neck. She gently pulled on it; instructing him to lean back into her.

Adrien rested his forehead against hers; his eyes closed. “You don't know what you want.”

“No,” she whispered back. “Being drunk means I know exactly what I want. But now I'm not going to stop myself from getting it.” Her right hand continued to press on the back of his neck as her left skirted around to his back.

Adrien's breath hitched. He stood frozen with his forehead against hers as she hungrily pulled on him to bring him back to her mouth. The song transitioned to another; this one a bit more upbeat with some rap. Neither of them noticed the music anymore.

Adrien nuzzled against the side of Marinette's face and whispered in her ear. “Marinette. Listen to me. Listen carefully, okay?”

She hummed acknowledgment and tilted her head away; opening her collarbone up to him.

“Marinette, I want you.”

“I want you too, Adrien.” She kissed his jawline. “So, this works out well, doesn't it?” Her hands slid down his body and caught on the waistband of his pants.

“No.” He took a step away from her, catching her hands in his. With an intensity that Marinette didn't recall seeing before, Adrien repeated himself. “I want you. I don't know exactly how drunk you are, so, I'm hoping it's not black-out drunk. I need you to hear this and remember it.” Dropping one of her hands, Adrien cradled her chin instead. “If I'm truly what you want – who you want – know that I want you too.”

“I'm right here, Adrien. I am right here. We're alone. There's a bed-”

Adrien covered her mouth. “Stop! Stop this! Marinette, I know this isn't how you want to do this. This wasn't how you wanted to tell me. This isn't how you pictured us getting together. You don't want it to be while you're drunk and we're hidden away during our best friends' house-warming party. If you truly want it at all.”

Marinette batted his hand off her and ripped her other hand out of his. “Don't! Don't you dare tell me what I do and don't want. You don't know. You're not in my head. You don't know how I feel. You don't know how hard it is for me to not do this every second we're in a room together. Just let me have this! Let me be free! Let me finally get out of my own way! This isn't about Alya or Nino. This is about me and you and us!”

“Then do it right.” Adrien was calm and gentle, almost pleading.

Marinette shook her head in confusion, “I- I don't-”

“Get out of your own way when you're sober! Marinette. I. Want. To be. With. You! I didn't want to tell you that while you're drunk, though. I don't want us getting together to be something you might not remember - or worse - regret.”

“Adrien.”

“I want this to be true. God! For years I've wanted for this-” he gestured towards Marinette and the bed, “-to all be true. Now that it looks like it is?” He heaved a sigh. “Call me tomorrow. When you're sober. We can pick this up again then. If you still want to.”

She stared at him, her eyes frantically scanning his face. His gaze drifted to her still parted lips. With a subtle shudder, he turned towards the dresser. Closing the music app, he scooped up her phone and handed it to her.

“Come on. Let's get you some water and get back to the party before anyone misses us.”

“Adrien?”

“Hmm?”

“You want me?”

“I mean, yeah?”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

Marinette folded into herself. “That's kind of apples and oranges, isn't it? I mean. I'm me and you're- you.”

“Exactly. I'm surprised you're so shocked that I'd be too nervous to say anything before.”

“Nervous? But, I'm-”

“One of my first friends? Someone who basically has her pick of guys to choose from? The most amazing and kind person I've ever met? Absolutely gorgeous? Yeah, no. What do I have to be nervous about?”

“Adrien. You were a literal model who lived in a mansion.”

“Point?” He smirked.

“Call me tomorrow? If I forget to? If I get in my own way again?”

He nodded and held out his hooked arm for her. She threaded her arm through his and he escorted her to the kitchen for some water.

The next day, she made the phone call they had both been waiting on for years.

** Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know if you want me to tag you on any of my writing updates**

@discoveringmiraculouswriters

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babyyemu · 3 months ago

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Characters in Neighbourhood Dumpster

Figures I'd do a character post while I get amped up for a weekend of writing (and reading, and baking some fresh bread, and sorting out my life)!

What you have to understand, first and foremost, about these characters is that they are all fundamentally under the impression that they are the one and only sane person in this family workplace.

Joseph (Joe)

He's bespeckled, heading firmly into his middling ages, thin in a worry-he'll-break-a-hip sort of way, grouchy both before coffee and after, and he has a nasty habit of making one feel like he is seeing inside them when anyone meets his gaze. His favourite hobbies are complaining about the aching house around him or complaining about the aching bones within him. He begrudgingly moved back to his childhood home when his father died but no one truly knows where he moved back from, only that those who knew him in the Before call him The Dispatcher and tremble in his presence, and that he makes bad jokes about sending deliveries to unlikely places. His adopted children, as they refer to themselves, are under the impression that he once ran a post department and, having grown up under Joe's rules in the household, that he ran that department like the devil himself. Joe does not like to think of the children as his adopted children. He prefers the term 'colleagues' or 'acquaintances' or 'bundles of germs and dirt that were dumped on my doorstep because God has not already punished me enough'. His children are rarely fooled by such sentiments.

Phoebe

At 17, she's the youngest of the lot and keen to prove herself and stretch her wings. She is steady in Joe's affections as she was the first of the children to be dropped on his doorstep, as a baby no less, and she thinks of his over-protection with both fondness and irritation. She is an artist and a weapons enthusiast, and she lives in the basement next to the house's underground shooting range. The tips of her usually-blonde hair are almost always dyed in bright colours, and it draws attention to her hearing aids, which she remains proud of. She is loud, enthusiastic, and always ready to fight any of her siblings at a moment's notice, though the rule about no guns at the dining table and the accompanying hole in Galileo's new hat remains her greatest achievement.

Kid

His real name is Adrien, but 'Kid' was a moniker given to him by Galileo and, much to his frustration, it stuck. He arrived with Sydney, both of them traumatised but only his skin bearing the physical scars down his arms and at the top of his back. He is unable to speak and uses sign language to communicate, but it has not slowed him down in either his studies or his relationships. His temper as a child, and the fact that his not-human side caused more damage than a normal child would, almost caused the family to fracture but it calmed when he joined a first aid course at 16. He discovered a love of practically helping people, and completed a nursing degree as soon as he could. He works in the local hospital and is routinely called by his family members for any matters medical, which has resulted in him leaving his phone at home on occasion. He met his wife Jocelyn through work, and they both work around shifts to look after their eighteen-month daughter.

Sydney

He arrived with Kid and, while he is free from physical scars, he has not spoken to anyone about what happened before they arrived. The only thing any of the family know - Kid excepted - is that Sydney saved Kid's life. He grew into a positive, bubbly, and cheerful person, always ready to lend a hand, including the many times he snuck out with Galileo to rob various houses and keep up with Galileo's latest scam victims. Though he is a terrible liar, his nimble treat and light fingers made him the most useful of the family for Galileo to ask, and that is not even mentioning his deep understanding of potions and poisons. In his spare time, he enjoys tending to his four-and-a-half gardens and the dozens of plants he stores along the kitchen windowsill, and forcing his cooking experiments onto his family members with an eager and mischievous smile.

Galileo

He arrived as surly early-teen with a backpack, a sharp tongue, and trouble on the horizon. He is an apt liar, a decent thief, and a passable brother to the other children, though as the oldest he sets very few examples that cannot be used as warnings. His competitive streak, his easily-riled temper, and his disdain of sitting and learning things he deemed useless almost got him kicked out of the local school, meaning Mabel was required to lick the boots of the school administrator to allow him to remain; neither of them have forgiven the other for this. His greatest rivalry is his old classmate, Spider, who topped every exam, delighted all of their teachers, and is now flying high as a local businessman/entrepreneur, all while he is scamming people on the side. He is a whiner, he is a slut, and most importantly, he cares about his family with the reluctance and grace of an elephant realising it has to turn around in a narrow valley.

Cameron

She is only barely younger than Galileo, but she was the last to arrive at Joe's doorstep, and as an adult too. She showed up in the rain, offered her services as a cleaner and cook and anything else Joe might want, was firmly refused, and was then welcomed in as part of the family. She wears only black, with a pop of bright colour in her earrings (made and gifted to her by Phoebe), and is often mistaken in public for a mourner because of her lack of smile. It is a misconception, however, as she will readily smile around her family, and has a sense of humour dry enough that it would catch fire in a summer's heat. She is orderly, bookish, and numbers-minded, despite the cult-like environment she grew up in, and she runs the family's accounts as well as any research they might need doing. She does not express emotions easily, but she remains constantly teased for how she cried when she held Kid's daughter for the first time.

Mabel

She is the only person from Joe's past that is not afraid of him. If anything, he seems to be afraid of her. She is large, imposing, as stubborn as Joe himself, and worst of all, she knows all of Joe's most embarrassing childhood stories and is more than willing to use them as leverage to get what she wants. The children love her, some more obviously than others, and she has a soft spot for Cameron and Sydney, both of whom are less outwardly chaotic than the others. She is a business woman though, first and foremost, and runs a thriving importation business to the island from the mainland. She will never take a cash bribe but she has been known to accept the occasional bottle of expensive whiskey, which Joe has used to his advantage more than once and the drawer under her desk is growing fuller by the minute.

House

House is what the family call the large mansion Joe inherited from his father. It is set far up the hill at the end of a trail of tile-laid steps, and from its veranda at the front and to the right, there is a view to the sea. It was named by Phoebe when she was very young, and the name has not been changed since, both to the children's frustration and to House's delight. You see, it is very, very much alive, and Joe himself cannot help you if you piss it off, as some members of the family more than others have experienced on many occasions. It is always ready to pull curtains to let in the sun, lower coat rails to help you grab your jacket, and burst a pipe in the ceiling above your bed when you slam a door too loud.

#my writing #neighbourhood dumpster #character profile

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frostedpuffs · 2 years ago

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hi ash, do you have a fic rec list of miraculous fics that you have enjoyed? 👀 i’ve watched miraculous for years and been a fan but i’m new to reading miraculous fics 🐞❤️🐈‍⬛💚

i can try! i actually don't read a lot of fanfic, but i can recommend a few I've read that I've enjoyed :) most are one-shots.

Experimental Kisses by MireilleTanaka (komorebirei) Summary: Ladybug watched him. Maybe it was guilt, maybe sympathy, maybe a streak of playfulness. Maybe the traumatic akuma experience had softened her up. Whatever the reason, a thought wafted lazily through her mind and out of her mouth. “You know… you’re right. It isn’t fair, is it?” Chat Noir looked up. “I remember my first kiss, but you don’t.” She hummed and tapped her chin, making a show of remembering. “It wasn’t a bad kiss, but we were in the middle of fighting an akuma, so I didn’t get to enjoy it much, either.” Oops—that came out sounding a little, no, a lot more flirty than she had intended. Anyway, if she was going to commit to this idea, she may as well go all in. Rating: T Comments: a very cute ladynoir kiss fic. i really like the way the author wrote the kisses here!

i think it’s time i told you (i’m a fan of your universe) by a_miiraculer, clairelutra Summary: Years after Hawkmoth’s defeat, Ladybug and Chat Noir have a conversation about life, love, and marriage. Rating: T Comments: a WONDERFUL little one-shot where chat noir buys a ring, and ladybug wonders who it's for. ladynoir.

where roses bloom by @carpisuns Summary: “You’re sick, aren’t you?” He drops down to the balcony. “You’re sick because you love someone and … they don’t love you back.” (Love square Hanahaki AU, Marichat centric) Rating: T Comments: i LOVE LOVE LOVE this fic. a bittersweet marichat centric Hanahaki AU that makes my heart feel things. please read it

whose woods these are (I think I know.) by Reiaji Summary: Four years after his future turns to cinders, Adrien is a servant in the house he was meant to inherit. Disowned by his father and abused by his stepmother, his days are filled with drudgery until he meets a masked huntress in the forest behind his father's chateau. As his friendship with Ladybug turns to first love, he dreams of a future spent at her side. Then, on the eve of the Princess's masquerade, he meets his guardian—and is granted a wish. [Ladrien Cinderella AU] Rating: T Comments: magical ladrien cinderella au. it wouldn't be a fic rec list by me if i didn't recommend the fic that i still think about on a daily basis. the poetic writing, the story, the characters, just...AUGH. i cant even describe how good this story is. I'll admit i wasn't into it at first but by the time i got near the end i COULD NOT PUT THIS FIC DOWN. very good please read. multichapter

Eating (nothing but) Affection by crownedcrusader Summary: Some cats won't eat unless they feel safe. Unless someone they trust is nearby, keeping them company. Unrelated: Adrien has pushed away so many cold meals that he can't eat if he's alone. Rating: G Comments: a sweet fic where adrien doesn't like to eat alone. his friends notice this.

Probably Not The Best Idea by @coffeebanana Summary: When Adrien first offered Ladybug his spare room, it was mostly joke. Not once in a million years did he think she'd actually take him up on the offer. After all, he's the only one who's hopelessly in love. Right? For her part, Ladybug never meant to make a habit out of visiting Adrien. But now that she has, well…spending time with him feels safe. It feels right. So why not give this roommates thing a try? Surely it'll be nice, not having to hide her hero identity in her own home for once, even if she has to hide her civilian identity instead. All in all, it might not be the best idea they've ever had, but…can it really be the worst? And if they happen to get a little more than they bargained for in the process? That's just part of the fun. Rating: T Comments: VERY cute premise, excellent writing, ladrien roommates who are obviously in love with each other, WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR GO READ IT. multichapter

œuf ouch owie by miraculousunflower (ominousunflower) Summary: Chat Noir enlists Rena Rouge's help to create an Aspik illusion. Absolutely nothing goes wrong. Rating: T Comments: literally the funniest gd fic I've ever read in my life. I've never had a fic actually make me laugh out loud before and this one did. i still go back and reread it when i need a laugh. it's like a shitpost in artistic form

L'Autonomie by @xiueryn Summary: After three years, Marinette tells Chat Noir who she is. The only problem is that he doesn't believe her, insisting that her and Marinette couldn't be the same person. With the knowledge he's close to her, she tries to figure out who he is. AU. (mari finds out adrien is chat noir and has fun planting clues to make him believe she's ladybug.) Rating: T Comments: a silly ladynoir and adrinette reveal fic. ladybug tries to convince chat noir she is marinette. he doesn't believe her. it's adorable and i love it

i hope this is enough! happy reading ♥

#fic rec #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous lb #miraculous fandom #ml fic rec #miraculous fic rec #fanfic recommendation #ash answers #miraculous

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wornoutmouse · 4 years ago

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Look I wrote this for my friend but i popped the hell off with this one so if you don’t mind reading a name inbetween a few dialogue points pls read

You ran hurriedly through the halls of the school as the third bell finally rang. You had overslept and had barely made it onto the bus. Skidding to a stop, you slow down when you get to the door, catching your breath before entering. Just as you annoyingly expected, eyes dart towards you as soon as you entered, effectively catching the teacher’s attention.

“This is the second time you are late young lady, one more time and I will have no choice but to write you up.” You smile awkwardly, “Sorry Miss, it won’t happen again.” Ms. Bustier clicks her tongue disapprovingly as she watched her student walk to her seat, head hanging low. You sit down in your chair with a soft sigh as Ms. Bustier spoke about today’s lesson.

For the most part, you pay attention to the lesson being taught, that is until your attention is being interrupted by a pencil poking your side. From your peripheral vision, you see fluffy blond hair swaying gently to get your attention. You mutter under your breath, swiping the pencil with your hand, “Quit it Adrien I’m already in trouble.” The boy huffs but the playful aura still hung around making your skin buzz with excitement.

Shifting in your seat, you squint your eyes at the smartboard, writing down notes every so often. Looking down once again, you notice a small piece of paper folded, You look at Adrien who boredly watched your teacher speak. Opening the paper you roll your eyes at the note inside.

A - Late again are you Miss Mia? One more time and I might have to wake you up myself

Nibbling the tip of your pencil you write a note back, crumpling the paper before tossing it at Adrien’s head with a smirk.

You- Well maybe I wouldn’t have been so tired if you hadn’t interrupted my study time with your modeling rants

The paper is tossed back at your head, catching in your curly hair, making Adrien snort.

A- Well I can think of other ways to keep you up at night...

You cough loudly at the message, eyes darting at Adrien’s laid-back figure. You scribble down a quick snarky reply with shaking hands. You go to pass the paper but the sound of a throat clearing interrupts you. You turn to your left and are forced to look up, gulping when you notice your teacher’s signature white blazer. She holds her hand out and you reluctantly place the ball of paper in her hand.

“While I will not embarrass you by reading out your hidden messages, I will embarrass you by writing you up for detention.” Sputtering, you point an accusing finger at the smug boy behind you, “He started it first I was just..” You are hushed by a firm hand on your shoulder, “Well if that’s the case, both you and Adrien can join each other at study hall.” Adrien groans behind you and you throw a glare his way, one that he responds with a teasing wink. The sound of the bell ringing grimly reminds you of the dreadful time awaiting you in study hall after school.

When you get thereAdrien is already there and waves you over to him. You narrow your eyes at him but sit next to him anyway. “Aww don’t look at me like that Mi, it’s not my fault you aren’t stealthy enough to pass a simple note in class.” You roll your eyes, “Well if you weren’t tossing notes like a child, we wouldn’t be here either.” Adrien laughs loudly earning a sharp look from the detention monitor.

He mutters a silent apology as you busy yourself with a notepad and pencil. The study hall is silent and boring and 11 minutes feel like 11 hours as the clock ticks by. Adrien watches your small scribbles turn into different shapes and sizes. Before long, he notices you drawing a rather familiar face. “Whatcha drawing?” You shrug, watching your pencil make the shape of cat-like ears.

You continue drawing, briefly recognizing Adrien’s body heat as he watches over your shoulder. “You like Chat Noir huh?” Your precise pencil strokes outline the lean frame of one of Paris’s heros. While it is undoubtedly Chart Noir in a heroic setting, the way his eyes slant a little more than his mask allows and the way one of his hands rested on his chest did give way to a more seductive undertone.

“Yeah, I think he’s pretty hot not gonna lie.” Adrien hums, the feeling of his short breaths blowing against your shoulder makes you shiver. “Really? Well, he can’t be hotter than I can he?” Adrien fluffs his hair pompously as he stretches his body lazily. “I don’t know maybe a little.” Adrien sticks his tongue out at you.

Your monitor stands up and walks towards the door before turning around, “Listen you two, I am going to get lunch, and I better see you two here when I come back or you’ll get worse than detention.” The teacher fixes you both with a long look before leaving. “They are a little stiff in the ass.” You chuckle resting your head on your palm. Adrien slouches in his chair to play on his phone, giving you the perfect opportunity to observe him. Your friend is attractive, that is something you’ve come to terms with a long time ago, hiding your crush away deep in your mind.

“You like to stare at me when you think?” His tenor voice startles you out of thought and you realize you now have his full attention. Your face is warm and for once you are glad you couldn’t visibly blush.

“Hey, Adrien? What did you mean by that last message you passed me in class?” You tried to pass the question off as casual but you could feel your heart racing as the room filled with daunting silence. “What do you think I meant?”

Suddenly Adrien felt too close and the room felt smaller. When you made eye contact with him, his eyes were slanted just like Chat Noirs on your drawing. “You tell me.” You said boldly. Adrien pondered for a while, green eyes observing your features, going from your eyes, down your nose before finally resting on your plump lips. “Well, I think it meant exactly what it said.” Adrien placed a hand on your thigh, squeezing the flesh in his palm. “So tell me why you like Cat Noir?” You stare at nothing, unable to compute the absurd request that came seemingly out of nowhere.

“What?” Adrian’s hand doesn’t stop moving on your thigh, heating your skin through your jeans. “Come on Mi, humor me for a moment.” You hum softly in an attempt at calming your heart rate. “Well, I like how he seems to enjoy what he does, saving people...” As you speak Adrien takes the time to scoot closer to you paying a sparing glance at the door your teacher left out of a moment ago. “What would you do if you met him?” His hands got closer to your inner thigh fiddling with your belt loops.

The urge to clench your legs together was immediate as the fire within you grew stronger. “I would thank him for his service and-” Adrien shushes you with the sound of your belt clinking a loose. “Let me rephrase, what do you want him to do to you?” Before you had comprehended your predicament, Adrien’s hand had found itself inside your pants.

You were sitting rigidly in your chair, lips parted in a silent exhale. Slender fingers focused themselves on your swelling bud, pressing soft circles on it in an effort to coax it out of its hood. Noting your tensed posture, Adrien tries to distract you. He’ll admit even to himself that this was a bold move on his part and he was surprised you hadn’t pushed him off at this point. “I can stop if you want me to?” You feel his fingers stop their ministrations and you quickly grab his wrist. “No!”

His concerned demeanor is quickly wiped away by a broad smirk as his fingers resumed their task. “Okay then.” He places a kiss on your shoulder through your shirt making you shiver. “You didn’t answer my question.” You nod and try to speak in a stable manner. “I would want him to- oh god!” Adrien’s fingers began to work overtime as they went down to your lips, now wet with your arousal. “I would want him to touch me there! Please.”

Lips latched lazily on your skin, sucking hard enough for you to feel it but not hard enough for marks to be left behind. “Where is’ there’ Mia? Use your words.” Your back arched in your chair when you felt his slick index finger playfully dip inside of you before returning to your clit. “Adrien~” Your soft moans were audible now, and every small whimper made his cock ache at the thought of being the cause of your sweet noises. Adrien mockingly hummed, “Oh I see now.”

“You want him to fuck that pretty pussy of yours don’t you?” You make a strange noise that is a mix of surprise and a moan. You’d never think words like those could leave Adrien’s mouth. “Y-Yes!” Adrien nodded moving to use both hands now, it was an awkward position but it was worth it seeing you fall apart by his hands. “I bet you think of him at night, kissing you slowly, while his hands roam your body.” Adrien sinks his teeth in your shoulder blade making you jerk as a particularly hard burst of pleasure racks your body. “You look so damn sexy like this kitty cat.’

You lean forward, holding yourself up by your desk as Adrien’s fingers move faster on your clit. “I can feel how fast your heart is beating, you gonna cum?” The teasing tone in his voice ignited the smallest ounce of competitiveness within you. You grit your teeth and shake your head, “Don’t get so full of yourself Agreste.” Your eyes clenched shut at the feeling of a finger finally entering you. Adrien looked at you with narrowed eyes. He wasn’t a fan when you got competitive, especially when you were obviously bluffing.

There was a thin layer of sweat forming on your skin as your orgasm got closer. Adrien focused on the way your walls quivered around his finger. Your choked-back moans cut the air as he pumps his finger faster. Your wetness was dripping onto your underwear and around his palm making squelching noises. “Are you sure you aren’t going to cum?” Adrien whispered close to your ear taking glee when a tremor passed down your spine. Your orgasm was too damn close for him to stop so you decide to swallow your pride just this once. “F-faster, Adrien, I’m close.” Those were indeed the wrong words to say. Adrien slowed his finger down to slow pumps while his thumb pressed harshly on your clit. He laughed as he could practically feel it throbbing, “I thought you said you weren’t going to cum?” You try to grind down on his hand, bucking slightly as his rough palm stimulated your sensitive lips. “Don’t be an ass ah-fuck!”

You grip the edge of your desk as you finally cum on his hand. Your eyelids flutter and Adrien marvels that the feeling of your cunt that was squeezing him so tightly he could neither tell if it was pulling him in or pushing him out.

You grunt as he removes his finger, when you look over at him, he is preoccupied with pulling his cock out while licking his fingers clean of your cum. Adrien whimpered around his fingers as his other hand jerked his cock sharply “Ah, you taste better than I thought.” Your eyes travel down his chest to meet his junior. It was thick and surprisingly long. You couldn’t help but feel sorrow for the angry red it was at the tip. But the vein traveling up the side made your mouth water.

His hips bucked to meet his hand desperately. Curses left his soft lips as he tossed his head back in pleasure. A deep warmth flooded your gut from the vibrant imagery of him fucking you with it. “Mia-ah shit.” You raise your head up to meet his eyes, your heart skipping a beat at how the green of his eyes was almost completely drowned by his pupils. “It’s not fair if I helped you get you off, but you won’t help me.” You scootch forward a little bit, swallowing your saliva, “What do you want me to do?” Adrien spread his legs with his hands holding the sides of his chair, “Come on Mi, I haven’t even fucked you yet and you’ve already gone dumb?”

A hand comes on your shoulder and gently coaxes you down to your knees. You feel small as Adrien peers down at you, gaze disrupted as his cock begins twitching in front of you. Nervousness enters your head as you quickly come to the realization of how large his dick actually was. “What, are you afraid Mia? Or do I need to get you into the mood?” Adrien sits up straighter, “Claws out.” Your tilt your head curious as he combs his fingers through his hair, revealing...cat ears? The sight of a green glow slithering around his body was almost as unnerving as the sight of his outfit changing right before you.

In little as no time flat, Paris’s neighborhood hero sat in front of you in all his leather glory. His eyes seemed even greener than before, and his personality seemed to change right before you. “Adrien you’re Chat Noir!?” The blond shrugs nonchalantly, gripping his cock and slapping it against your cheek. “Mi I am all for the formalities, but I am so close to fucking your brains out right now, that I think it would be in your best interest to start sucking.” While still being conscious of your hairstyle, Adrien...Noir, pulls your head closer to his groin.

You resist the urge to scrunch your face at the feeling of precum being smeared on your mouth and chin. This resistance only makes Noir chuckle, “Stick your tongue out for me.” As if it was routine, you do as he says and moan softly from the feeling of his tip tapping your warm muscle. “So fucking perfect for me.” The praise makes you clench and gives you the courage to open your mouth wider. You suck on his member making him release a pleased growl. His hand laid limply on the back of your head as you take the lead.

The salty taste while slightly unpleasant, wholly addictive. Feeling your growing comfort, Adrien begins thrusting to meet your mouth. The tip of his cock goes all the way to the back of your throat making you choke before dragging back but the sounds of you struggling doesn’t dissuade him. The feeling of your tongue grazing over his vein just before your throat constricted around him drove him wild. Your tiny whimpers made his balls vibrate as he moved faster.

You place your hands on his thighs in order to stable yourself as his thrusts got more brutal. Slob collected around your mouth before dripping down your chin and finally collected by his balls every time they hit your jaw. “Fuck I’m going to cum, I’m going to cum!” Adrien’s voice pitched higher as his claws scratched into the wooden chair of his seat. His head tossed back violently as his thrusts became sloppy, legs shaking. Loud sobs left his mouth as you bright him closer to the edge each thrust is accentuated by filthy words. “Your mouth is so. fucking. Tight. Fuck Mia!”

You felt cum shoot down your throat as Adrien holds your head painfully against this crotch. He weakly thrusts into your mouth a few more times before realizing you. Gasping for air, you wipe your mouth of saliva and look up at Adrien as he catches his breath. Rough hands grip your chin making you look up at him. “You looked wrecked Mi.” Adrien laughs as he wipes cum off the corner of your mouth. You stand up wobbly and albeit a bit light-headed, Adrien stands with you and kisses your lips, enjoying the taste of himself in your mouth.

“We are going to finish this later.” Before your brain could even prompt you to ask, the bell rings signaling that detention was over. Adrien deactivates his miraculous before grabbing his backpack and leaving detention hall.

#adrien agreste smut #anime smut #miraculous smut #chat noir smut #smut

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miraculouscontent · 3 years ago

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In ephemeral do you think Marinette should be given flack for tricking CN into giving out his secret identity? I know that she was forced to do by Su-Han but like some people find it unfair that she still done it.

And like some still believe that Marinette should get more flack or salt and are sick of seeing other salt on chars like Alya or Adrien.

Then we just have this back and forth argument with fans claiming its Marinette' fault or its Adrien's fault and it just leads to this huge mess. All in all I just wish they just stop, look at the big picture and think, "why are we following along all of this when we are aware that the writing for this season is utter garbage? Why we following along these characters when we know the writers are making them out of character?"

Sorry for going off tangent there. Reading people thoughts on ML blogs can be all over the place. Personally S4 has been stressful to me as well as waiting forever on the remaining episodes.

Short answer: No, I don’t think she should be given flack though I wouldn’t argue if anyone claimed that any part of my feeling that was because I don’t care about Chat’s feelings.

Long answer: Here’s something that Luka and Marinette have in common, in that they don’t want to cause conflict/hurt feelings if it’s not necessary, and it’s shown in the way they lie about these things related to identities.

It’s not stated outright in dialog because (I imagine) you’re expected to know these characters by now. Luka hates to put stress on Marinette (and you can see that he was right in this decision when he hears that Marinette doesn’t want a holder to know both hers and Chat’s identities; she’s so afraid of knowing Chat’s that she even wants him to reset once she sees it, and she was already stressed out back in “Wishmaker” so it was a bad time all around), just as Marinette wants to avoid conflict with Chat Noir because he’s shown to be very pouty about things when he doesn’t get his way.

Luka even asks Ladybug if she thinks that Chat Noir will agree with it, so clearly he’s skeptical as well. We know how Chat Noir is, so does anyone honestly think that it would’ve gone over well had Ladybug told Chat “I don’t actually want to know, I just need to or else Su-Han will take your miraculous”?

People might say, “oh, just tell him a half truth,” but why bother at that point? The timeline’s going to reset, so why should she hurt his feelings like that and tell him that this is just business? It’s a lie, but it’s a comfortable lie; she’s letting this “temporary Chat Noir” be happy and I don’t see anything wrong with that, especially since she (unlike Adrien in “Chat Blanc”) had no intention on using it to her advantage at the time she told him. It was only when she saw his identity that she lost herself.

Basically, why hurt his feelings or make him worry about what’s going on when she can tell him a comforting lie? She cared enough about a “temporary Chat” to spare his feelings and I think that’s better than going, “I can say whatever because it won’t matter.”

Similar to Luka, it makes me appreciate her more, not less, and I think bashing her for it is unnecessary. Claiming that it’s “Ladybug’s fault” that Ephemeral happened when it was Gabriel hearing Adrien use m’lady that ultimately caused it (and honestly, I don’t blame Adrien either; I think his decision to turn more Chat-like is stupid but that’s a separate issue) is silly and just a way of shifting the blame unnecessarily without even bothering to consider Ladybug’s motive.

The episode already deals Marinette a bad hand by Su-Han snapping at her over things she can’t help (she’d been honoring Fu’s rules), her having her feelings forced through Luka (rather than her figuring them out herself organically), and her having to be the one to figure things out in the end, so to salt on her for making Chat feel good, even if it’s a lie? What’s the point?

(Also, if Aspik revealing to Ladybug in “Desperada” - when he knew she didn’t want to reveal - doesn’t matter to the stans because Aspik reversed time anyway so it “””didn’t happen””” - who knows if he would’ve even bothered reversing had Ladybug not been shot - then it doesn’t matter here either where Ladybug planned on reversing time anyway so nothing she did would’ve mattered.)

#category: salt #salt: fandom #episode: Ephemeral #other: ask and answer

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flightfoot · 1 year ago

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I don't think either Nathalie or Emilie were fridged. Emilie is a posthomous character whose presence and actions helped to set up the story, she wasn't killed off to help advance other character's stories, her death WAS the foundation of the story. She's more The Lost Lenore.

Nathalie wasn't fridged. She wasn't killed off or brutalized just to serve as a rage button for someone, her choices and feelings were central to everything that happened with her, and in fact became even MORE important throughout season 5, with how she was maneuvering around Gabriel, not totally allying with him or totally going against him, and trying to persuade him to make different choices than she did. And heck, even when she was on her deathbed in the final episode, she bloody tried to kill Gabriel with a crossbow! Heck, I'd use her as an example of a female character who starts out mostly as a satellite for someone else, but who's complex motivations and changing views of the situation cause them to affect the narratives in interesting ways, to claim a lot of agency for themselves, even though she was very sick by the end.

I sent you a message about the supposed "cheating" in the NY Special, but yeah, I don't agree that it was cheating, both Adrien and Marinette were both in relationships at the time, and Adrien salters were calling for Adrien's blood during that period, so it definitely got talked about.

People complained about Marinette's crush on Chat kind of going away after Emotion, it just didn't get ragged on for long. I think that part of the story was just meant to show that Marinette DID fall in love with both sides of Adrien, because otherwise Adrien falling for both sides of Marinette while Marinette only continues to view Adrien romantically could be viewed as shallow.

I liked Zoe in season 5, and people have complained about her not bringing enough to the narrative. Personally though, I think she came into her own this season, especially in Kwami's Choice and Adoration. Having her actually admit crush to Marinette was very refreshing!

As for the increasingly bizarre events of the show... to be fair, the writing has been on the wall for that since season 2, when Max invented a sentient robot in his spare time and the brilliant plan to deal with Paris's garbage was "launch it into space".

There does seem to be a trend in the specific sect of this fandom that I circulate where people are only openly against writing decisions that impede Adrien's role in the story. Nothing was ever discussed on my dash about the following:

Lila's bizarre transition from a normal mean teenage girl (a strong narrative antagonist for Marinette's civilian conflict) to a weird Machiavellian criminal

Nathalie's (and Emilie's of course, but I'm saltier about it with Nathalie) role in the story being a prime example of a Fridged Woman

The way Marinette's long-coming crush on Cat Noir was tossed aside after two episodes

Zoe still not bringing anything to the narrative

The weird undiscussed presence of cheating in relationships in this whole show (Adrien apparently cheating on Kagami with Marinette in the NYC special, Audrey Bourgeois blatantly having cheated on her husband)

The increasingly bizarre events in this show that, to me, clearly just exist to make people go :O, not unlike how shows like Riverdale became increasingly bizarre over the course of their run in order to get viewers because they knew they couldn't grab viewers with their mediocre premise alone (Chloe becoming mayor, Felix and Kagami's weird little play, etc)

There's a lot more I wanted to add here, but figured were more my opinion than an actual Thing to be discussed.

Never saw any of this discussed in my circle of Tumblr, but I HAVE seen an absolute ton of discussion surrounding Adrien's screen time, Adrien's family dynamics, Adrien's role as a hero, Adrien's internal struggles, and how the writers apparently don't explore any of those things to their full potential.

And it makes me wonder why people are so fixated on him. Because I'm sorry to say this, but I've personally always seen him as a pretty unremarkable character. Don't misconstrue my words and say I said I don't like him, because I do like him. But I hardly consider him the most interesting character in the show.

My theory? He's just an easy character to fixate on, for the following reasons:

None of his struggles come from his financial, racial/cultural, or other kind of protected background, meaning discussions on his struggles don't have to be "difficult."

The fact that his primary antagonist is his father (as his father, and not as Hawk Moth) means fans can easily take the "I want to adopt him and give him a good home" route of character analysis

He's perpetually positive, meaning it doesn't require a lot of mental energy to like him-- he can just be a lovable "sunshine boy" to people.

On the rare occasion he IS upset, fans become obsessed, because who doesn't love more emotional depth?

When he's positive/nonplussed about something that he morally should be upset at, fans can easily explain it away as a result of his upbringing.

He's cute. There's no way to talk around this. He's got big green eyes and baby cheeks and flippy blond hair and a soft voice and cute habits like scratching his neck when he's nervous. The first three things are traits character designers often employ to get audiences to like their characters. The last two things are examples of things you can do to get people to subconsciously like you irl. This part is just psychology, and it makes me wonder if people would be affected by all the above points if he didn't look the way he does.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing to like Adrien for any of the above reasons. I just want some people to think about their opinions of this show and ask themselves whether they feel as strongly about other writing decisions as they do about the ones that "hurt" Adrien, and, if they don't, why they feel so drawn to Adrien in the first place. Because it's definitely not because the show does him dirtier than everyone else.

#ml analysis

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goldenlaurelleaveswrites · 3 years ago

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@nerdypanda3126 tagged me in this, and I’m honestly a little scared to see how much my hoard has grown 😅 But this is hopefully a blessing in disguise because I’ve been in such a funk about my writing the past month so maybe poking through the hoard will help me get out of said funk. Even if it doesn’t, it’s always fun to do these things!

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips. (You can make your own post or reblog this one!) I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? Dnd campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!!

I’ve put the list under the cut to spare y’all (and I’m going to be upfront, there’s a good chance there’s more that have just not been transferred from my paper notes and/or the multitude of emails I send myself with story ideas 😂

In no particular order...

The Big Day

Adrien’s Big day

Penny’s big Day

All the Letters Spell I love You

Haunted Mansion AU

Angsty Lukanette “seeds on the wind” one

A Week With the Sitters

Miraculous Fang!

Fang’s Day Out

High Seas

The Weight of the Mask

D&D/LOTR AU

Do Robots Dream of Miraculous Ladybugs?

Twilight in Paris/Here in the Night (WHAT DO I WANT TO CALL THIS)

Nutcracker AU

Tell Me A Ghost Story

Flower Shop AU

Chords and Courtship

In the Orangery

Smirking Violet

Dark/Magic Prince Luka

False Truths

Witch Apartment AU

To House and to Home

All His Ducks in a Row

Think of a good pregnancy pun for this one if you can

Luka and the Great Baking Fiasco

Tutu Many Ladybugs (Tutu Much Ladybug?)

A christmas one

Family Secrets

Story

Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe

Jules vs. Lila

Luka Gets a Perm

Sleeping Beauty AU

When I am Queen...

...I Shall be King

Ballroom/salsa class AU

Another High Fantasy AU

Dungeons & Dragons AU

LOTR AU

Meet cute/ugly

Ruining the Moment

Vampire Queen Movie Juleka

What You Don’t Know

Angel Luka

Another Juleka Getting them together one

Goth Girl Summer

Juleka Witch AU

Luka Can’t Cook

Music God Luka

Witch Juleka

Great British Bake Off AU

Count on Me

Count With Me

Clear Sighted

Luka Magic Tattoo

Rose vs. Andre Ice Cream

If a hero falls, do they even make a sound?

MORE GLASSES IDEAS

I’m not going to tag as many people as I have WIPs

There’s absolutely no pressure to do this if I tag you! It’s just for fun. I’m hoping I haven’t double tagged anyone, but if I have... oops 😘

@freedom-shamrock @sassyduckqueen @lineith @sayuri12moonlight

#tag game #ask game #wip hoard #wip folder #send me asks #please?

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twin-books · 3 years ago

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Your post about that moment in Syren, plus all the salt fics I've seen caused by that episode as well as Chameleon made me realize that a big problem with the ML fandom is their Never Live It Down attitude.

On one hand i understand, there are moments and episodes in the show that do make the characters look bad and it can be irritating when the show and certain parts of the fandom glosses over them, but on the other hand, the fact they keep bringing it up these moments again and again and again, most of the time without either the context or the nuance these moments have, or sometimes making up headcanons to make these scenes worst than they actually are just makes me want to shout at them to get over it!

I'm glad you read my post. And yes, a big issue with the miraculous fandom is not letting go. On both sides, really. It's not just salt.

Multiple times I have seen salt die down for something but someone into sugar just has to go on and on about how much they hated that take which sparks it all over again. Which is why I also tried to point out sugar people as well and how I'm bothered by the discussion in general.

It's also the lack of any compassion with people that even slightly disagree with you in this fandom that very much bothers me. I joined a survey recently of someone doing results on miraculous stuff and the person gathering the results was so snide and rude when it came to takes they didn't personally agree with. I understand being bitter about the number of toxic salters but nowadays the miraculous fandom just brands anyone who happens to dislike a character they like as a toxic salter. No one wants to hear them out and people constantly make fun of them. It's awful. It's absolutely awful. It's awful to even think I used to be a part of this and didn't even realize it. Had an incident not have happened with my friend I wouldn't have truly known how bad and toxic this blatant flaw in the miraculous fandom is. If you say you hate Adrien? You're attacked. They don't want to hear you out. You're stupid. And if they find your reasons "stupid" they just consider you toxic. If you say you hate Marinette? Guess what? You're stupid. It's such a horribly toxic take but no one points it out because no one likes salters right? Some of my close friends are salters. They are not terrible people. I don't always agree with their takes and yeah, frankly I don't always see where they get their opinions from but I respect it. Because they're allowed to dislike characters and things that I like. But then of course, there is real toxic salters out there like those who stalk your blog and look for any little disagreement with their ideals to pick at and harass you with. That or they just have a very unhealthy take which makes you more worried for them than anything. And yes, that is awful... but we just love to mistake that as the majority, huh? People always complain it's just the salters who can't let things go. But it isn't and that's the huge issue here. We're constantly bitter. We're constantly feeling the need to defend characters for issues that happened years ago against people with takes that may or may not have changed. We constantly feel the need to belittle people who disagree with us and it's frankly sickening. Yes, salters bring up scenes with no context or nuance but guess what? So do sugar people about salter's takes. Hence why I tried to make it very clear in my post, "Feel free to correct me. Maybe I'm missing something." The huge problem with the miraculous fandom is they can't let go, they can't spare an ounce of compassion to listen. And they can't just block people and move on if they would rather not hear it. They just have to keep calling each other stupid, mean, racist, sexist, awful... it goes on and on. Yes, I'm sure there are some people like this in the fandom but often times the terms are just tossed around. What I wish miraculous people could understand is... the writing in this show isn't good. It isn't. We can't kid ourselves and pretend it is. We can enjoy it, still, of course. But people have every right to complain about it. And even if it was good writing, people still have every right to complain. People have different tastes. People have different ideals. That doesn't make them terrible people. This fandom has just hurt my friends and myself quite a bit. It makes it very hard to enjoy the show anymore simply because sharing an opinion in this fandom is almost like a death sentence. I get both takes usually. I can usually see what salters are upset with as well as sugar people. I just don't get why we have to be such jerks to one another. I don't think I will ever understand. It's such a waste of energy and all it does is make this fandom more and more bitter. I have watched my friends go from small complaints to downright rage mostly because of how this fandom has treated them. Though I suppose that's the same with every fandom, isn't it? That's just the sad reality... ain't it?

Well... I'm going to keep trying to give people the benefit of the doubt, try to hear them out and help them out if they need. Hence why I made a salt server designed for people to vent freely without having to worry about such a terrible backlash. I'm not perfect and I never will be but I don't ever want anyone to feel the way I and my friends felt so if I can at least try to prevent some of that... I think that’s good enough. I think everyone in this fandom is lovely (with the exceptions of a few actual harassers), I just wish... we weren't so bitter and I wish we could just let go. Staying angry forever isn't good for any of us. I just wish I could hug everyone but I sadly only have two arms and not everyone is gonna want my hug which is fine. They are allowed to feel however they want. I may not always like it but that's okay. They don't have to always like me either. We're flawed, we're human, we're different. It would be no fun if everyone thought and felt the same. And at the end of the day... this is all just fiction but the people behind the fandom... they’re real. Let’s treat them like the real people they are. I thank you for coming here with a very healthy vent and you're very nice. It was wonderful to get such an ask and I'm sorry for the rant. I would love hear from you again. Have a lovely day. <3

#ml fandom salt #ask me anything #thank you for the ask #I truly appreciate it #clamanath #also offering some love to the fandom honestly #Everyone needs a hug

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sturchling · 5 years ago

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Hey I have a writing prompt idea if you don’t mind how about a ml salt prompt where Marinette bring tickets and backstage passes to a concert for Jagged stones only for Lila to find out and lies to the class that she brought the them and Marinette took them so the class takes them from Mari and even rip one up so she can’t go and Mari tells jagged and he gets all of them (except who ever you wish to spare) blacklisted form all his and all the other people Lila lied about shows (thanks for your ⏰

Thank you so much for the prompt. I hope this is what you were thinking of and you like this! Let me know what you think!

Things had been pretty tense in Bustier’s class for a bit. Marinette had been very busy working on a commission for Jagged. He wanted a wardrobe for the upcoming concert from Marinette. He also asked her to help design some posters and t-shirts to sell at the concert. Clara Nightingale was opening the concert and had also asked for a new outfit to wear onstage. All of this work meant that Marinette had very little time for anything else lately. Lila had used this as an opportunity to start turning the class against Marinette. When the class wanted to get together to hang out, Lila would volunteer to ‘invite’ Marinette and then tell the class that Marinette had rudely declined the invitation. The class was definitely getting irritated with the bluenette, except for the few people that knew Lila was lying and what Marinette was doing. Nino, Adrien, Juleka, and Chloe all knew what was going on, and weren’t irritated with Marinette. They were getting irritated with Lila though. Marinette did not realize what was happening in the class, she was never paying much attention to it while at school and all her free time was devoted to these concert designs. Then one day, when Marinette missed school for Jagged’s final fitting, Lila dropped the bomb on the class. She told the whole class that Marinette had been bullying her and wouldn’t leave her alone. The class was hesitant to believe this, but the liar had come prepared with ‘proof’ in the form of mean text messages from an unknown number. That was enough to trick the class into believing Lila’s tricks.

Marinette had realized that things were rocky with her friends. She knew this concert had taken up a lot of time and she wasn’t able to go to any events. She did wonder why she hadn’t heard of some of these events before, but she just assumed that the class had mentioned and she had forgot, or that they thought she would be busy. She did not realize the damage Lila had been doing to her friendships while she was busy. After doing some last-minute details for Jagged, Jagged gave her tickets and back stage passes for the concert the next night for her whole class. Marinette went home excited to tell everyone the good news the next day.

Marinette got to school early for once and saw Nino, and Juleka waiting outside the building. Marinette was so excited about the news; she was practically buzzing. She rushed up to the two and said, “Guess what?” The two students looked on curiously and asked, “What?” Marinette grinned and replied, “You know how I was working on some stuff for Jagged’s concert tonight? Well, he gave me tickets and backstage passes for the whole class!” Nino and Juleka also looked really excited upon hearing the news. While the three friends talked excitedly about the concert, they did not notice Lila hiding in the shadows, listening to every word. Lila immediately thought up a plan to ruin the stupid bluenette for good. She rushed up to the class room before the trio could spot her. When she got there, she peeked into the classroom to see who was her audience this time. She saw that Alya, Alix, Kim, and Mylene were already sitting in the class room. Lila took a deep breath and turned on the waterworks and rushed in. Alya immediately jumped up and asked, “What’s wrong girl? Why are you crying?” Lila almost grinned and broke the illusion, but she caught herself and sobbed, “Well, I talked with Jagged yesterday and managed to get us all tickets and backstage passes for the concert tonight. I even got one for Marinette, even though she has been bullying me. I thought this would be a good peace offering. But when I got here this morning and told Marinette the news, she stole the tickets from me!” Lila could see it did the trick and the students in the room were furious. As the rest of the class trickled in, they were told the story too and they became just as furious with Marinette. By this point the only people who hadn’t heard the story were Nino, Adrien, Juleka and Chloe. But Lila knew they wouldn’t believe her. Those four had realized or already known that Lila was a liar, but they hadn’t said anything to the rest of the class. Lila wasn’t sure why they hadn’t, but it didn’t matter now. Her hold on the class was so strong, Lila doubted that those four would make a difference.

Marinette and her friends stayed outside and talked about the concert until it was almost time for class. They all walked in the building together and up to the classroom. Marinette walked in, not having heard Lila’s fake wails coming from the room, held up the tickets and announced, “Guys, I got us all tickets to Jagged’s concert tonight!” When there was no response, Marinette really looked at her class. She then noticed all of the other students glaring at her and how Lila was still crying dramatically. Marinette instantly knew, whatever was happening wasn’t going to be good. Alya started yelling, “How could you Marinette?! Not only do you bullying Lila maliciously the last few days, but they you steal the tickets Jagged gave her as a gift and tried to take the credit. Did you honestly think that was going to work?! I never realized you were so petty.” That got the rest of the class to start yelling. Marinette and her friends were stunned silent by all of this, but quickly regained their composure and tried to defend Marinette. They knew they had to say something this time, but the class either couldn’t hear them over the yelling, or were not listening to them. Alya walked up to Marinette and snatched the tickets from her hands. Marinette yelled, “What are you doing?! Lila is lying to you, Jagged gave me those tickets for the class!” Alya walked back to Lila and replied in a cold voice, “No, Marinette. I am tired of you bad mouthing Lila just because you are jealous. These were Lila’s tickets and you stole them. Don’t worry, the class will get the tickets. But-” Alya turns to Lila and says, “Lila, I don’t think Marinette deserves your kindness. She shouldn’t get that ticket.” With that Lila acts meek and hands over one of the tickets. Alya rips it in half while Marinette and her friend stare in disbelief. They had no idea how things had gotten this bad, this quickly. Marinette ran out of the class and left the school. Alya started passing out the tickets to the rest of the class, but when she got to the four that came in with Marinette, she was met with cold glares. Nino spoke up, “Alya, how could you do that to Marinette. Not cool dudette.” With that said, the four turned and left the class room to follow the bluenette and make sure she didn’t become an akuma. The rest of the class couldn’t believe that they would side with a bully like Marinette but they pushed it aside. If those four wanted to hang out with the bully instead of go to the awesome concert tonight, so be it. The class got excited for the concert, while Lila basked in her victory, not realizing that it was actually the start of her defeat.

Nino and company arrived at the bakery and Tom and Sabine let them up into the apartment. They found Marinette in her room pacing. They had expected her to be crying, but she didn’t look sad. She looked angry. Marinette turned to face them and said, “Any objections to abandoning the ‘high-road’ approach to the Lila problem?” They were all in agreement. It was time to take Lila down, even if she got akumatized. So, the five friends hatched a plan to dethrone the liar. And to do it at the concert tonight. But they needed some help first. Marinette called Penny and told her what happened. Jagged was listening at the time, and was furious at what his favorite designer and honorary niece was saying. Jagged agreed to help however he could. After sending the group five new tickets and telling security that the class wasn’t to be allowed into the venue, Jagged agreed to meet them outside the venue. The tickets he had originally gave Marinette were VIP tickets, which listed a different entrance to come into the concert. This meant that Jagged could help with part of the plan in person. The group then spent the next hour going over details with the rocker until they had a concrete plan. Lila had no idea what was about to happen.

The class arrived at the concert about 45 minutes before it was set to begin. They wanted to browse the merch booths before the show. When they got there though, they were told that their tickets weren’t valid. The class was really confused and asked security to check again, it must have been a mistake after all. Lila had gotten these tickets from Jagged himself they must be valid. What the class couldn’t see was Jagged was waiting behind the door into the venue. He was waiting for the five friends to arrive, so the plan could begin. He did not have to wait long. Marinette, Nino, Adrien, Juleka, and Chloe arrived a few minutes later, while the class was still arguing with security, and walked right up to the security. Their tickets were scanned and the class waited with smug looks for their tickets to be denied like theirs had been. Imagine their shock and outrage when the tickets were confirmed and they were allowed to pass. Lila immediately turned on the tears and sobbed, “Marinette must have switched the tickets when she stole them from me! The ones Alya got back must have been fake!” Before the class could begin yelling again, the door to the venue opened and out walked Jagged Stone. He ignored the rest of the class and called out, “Hey Marinette! How is my rock’in little designer?” Marinette smiled and chatted with the rock star while the class watched, completely dumbstruck. Lila was silent too, but she was terrified. How could this be happening to her? Alya recovered from the shock first and yelled, “Wait! Why are you talking to Marinette?! She has been bullying Lila, why would you be nice to her?” Jagged turns to the class and asks, “Who is Lila?” Alya gets furious from that comment, while Lila grows pale and starts looking for an out. Alya starts yelling again, “Who is Lila?! What do you mean ‘Who is Lila’? Lila is the girl who saved your cat from being run over by a plan on the airport runway. She is the one who introduced MDC to you. She is the girl you consider your honorary niece!” Jagged just looks at the class with a deadpan look and replies, “I have never met or even heard of this Lila. I have never owned a cat, so she couldn’t have saved mine ever. No one introduced MDC to me, I met them myself. And the only person I think of as my niece is Marinette.” The class was completely shocked. They turned to confront Lila, but Lila had already slipped out of the crowd at some point and left. Lila began thinking of ways to get her mother to skip school for a while on her way home. How was Lila supposed to know things would go this wrong?

Back at the concert venue, the class tried to apologize to Marinette. Marinette almost forgave them, until they asked if they could still come into the concert. Marinette just rolled her eyes and went inside with her friends. Jagged started to go inside too, but first he turned back and said to the class, “You think I’m going to let you in after what you lot did? What you guys did was not rock’in. So not rock’in. With that he went inside the building. He made sure to tell Penny to black list all of those students outside, so they could not attend any of his concerts from now on. He passed word along to Clara about what the liar had been saying about her too, and Clara quickly followed suit, banning the class from her events. After the show he asked Marinette about the rest of the lies, and he reached out to each of the celebrities that he knew, and it wasn’t long before these celebrities made public statements, denouncing the liar and saying they had never met her. In one night, Lila’s reputation was destroyed and she received several C&D orders. Lila’s mother was so mad, that she sent Lila back to Italy to live with her grandparents. The liar was gone, Marinette’s life was starting to look up again, and she couldn’t wait to have more fun times with her true friends.

#ml class salt #ml salt fic #ml salt #ml fanfic #ml fic #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfic #miraculous salt fanfic #miraculous salt #writing prompt #alya salt #lila rossi #Lila exposed #lila salt #lila exposed fic #lila gets exposed #ml salt fanfic

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nerdypanda3126 · 4 years ago

Text

Waking Up

This was written for the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers Sprint Fic Challenge.

The rules are three 15-minute sprints with 24 hours for light editing, which includes new writing to smooth transitions or make it feel complete. I ended up adding about 600 words, which at this point should just be expected from me 😂.

The prompt I used this time around was: Marinette gets cursed with a sleeping spell that can only be broken by a true love's kiss. (Spoiler: it's not the prince.)

Read on Ao3

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open to absolute chaos.

Everyone was shouting and scurrying back and forth, carrying plates and clothes and food, orders were barked and obeyed, but above all the ruckus, there was a ringing voice that seemed too close to be so loud as she struggled into wakefulness.

“It wasn’t supposed to be you!”

The pained words forced themselves through her consciousness, and she gradually registered the voice they belonged to. Prince Adrien from the neighboring kingdom, her betrothed. But she wasn’t supposed to see him again for two years, not until the wedding on her eighteenth birthday. Why… why was he here? And why was he yelling?

When she was able to focus, her eyes settled on Prince Adrien’s twisted scowl aimed at…

A hand tightened around hers and she looked up to find Luka, her childhood friend who worked in the kitchen, standing by her side, rigid, unflinching in the face of Prince Adrien’s wrath.

“What…?” she asked when she found her voice. It felt like the word was dragged out of her; her tongue was a fuzzy, thick, unfamiliar thing in her mouth. She tried to sit up, but Luka put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down.

“Rest, love,” he murmured. Her eyebrows knitted together. He’d never called her that before.

Adrien marched over, his eyes narrowed and his face reddening by the second. “How long?”

“Prince Adrien, this is hardly the time—” Luka started.

“She’s betrothed to me,” Adrien spat at Luka. Marinette gripped Luka’s hand a little tighter. She’d never seen Prince Adrien like this.

“She’s betrothed to the one who wakes her,” Luka fired back.

“Which wasn’t supposed to be you!” Adrien repeated. “My family connections, the political advantages—”

“Mean nothing.” Luka’s voice was tight and his hand squeezed around hers. “She’s in love with me. And besides, you know the king’s decree.”

Marinette glanced between them, her head still spinning. “What’s going on?” she finally managed to ask, barely above a croaky whisper.

Luka crouched beside her and brushed her hair away from her eyes. “You’ve been asleep,” he said softly.

“I… I know? But—” She looked around again and noticed one of the servants flying past with a wedding dress hoisted over her shoulder. “Who’s getting married?”

Prince Adrien’s jaw clenched so hard she thought she heard his teeth crack. Luka barely spared him a glance.

“You and I are,” he said.

Her face scrunched together as she tried to understand. “But I’m not old enough, yet, not for two years.”

“No, Marinette,” Luka said slowly. “The wedding was supposed to be tomorrow. On your eighteenth birthday. As soon as—”

“As soon as I woke you from your curse,” Adrien interjected. “And I for one would like to know how long this has been happening.”

“Curse?” Marinette repeated blankly. “I don’t understand…” She clutched Luka’s hand tighter as fear started to replace confusion. “Luka, what’s going on?”

Luka locked his eyes on hers, but he directed his words towards Adrien. “I’ve been in love with Marinette since the moment we met.” His thumb ghosted across the back of her hand. “I didn’t think… Not for one second did I let myself think it would work.” He seemed to be apologizing, but she didn’t know what for.

“Then why’d you do it?” Adrien asked. Luka’s sincere blue eyes didn’t move from hers.

“I missed you.” A small, simple declaration made only to her. “I… I kissed your hand, to say goodbye, since—and he’s right, it wasn’t supposed to be me, but it was and—” He brought her hand up to his lips, pressing a light kiss to her knuckles before he dragged in a shaky breath. “You’ve been asleep for two years, Marinette. Under a curse. And true love’s kiss was the only thing that could break it.” His eyes were shining with unshed tears and understanding started to dawn on her.

Some part of her had always known. And here was her proof. The kingdom’s proof. She was in love with Luka. She was going to marry Luka. The thought at once terrified and thrilled her.

“We’re getting married,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his face as if unsure he was real. He leaned into her touch and let out a content sigh. “When?”

“As soon as you want. Your father, the king, he—” His eyes flicked over to Prince Adrien warily. “He was happy you woke up. As we should all be.”

Adrien bristled at Luka’s tone. “Of course I’m happy she’s awake,” he said stiffly. “But princesses don’t marry kitchen boys.”

Luka froze beside her and the color drained from his face. He opened his mouth to retort, but Marinette laid a hand over his and he stilled. They shared a glance and he nodded, closing his mouth again. Marinette turned to face Prince Adrien.

“Princesses can do as they damn well please,” she said evenly. Luka beamed beside her. “Prince Adrien, due to the recent circumstances, please consider our betrothal nullified. I will marry Luka Couffaine according to my father’s decree as well as my own volition. I pray we can find another way to bring our kingdoms together.” She held out the hand that wasn’t encased in Luka’s and Adrien, after a moment of hesitation, strode forward to press it to his lips cordially.

“Of course, Milady, as you wish,” he said, although there was still an undercurrent of dissatisfaction laced through his tone. “I wish you great happiness in your forthcoming nuptials.”

With that, he straightened and, with a last pointed glance at Luka, walked out the door. Marinette didn’t breathe easy until she heard the heavy castle door swing shut with a resounding thud.

“‘Princesses can do as they damn well please,’ huh?” Luka repeated her words with his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

She shrugged. “I had some time off to think, apparently.”

“Me, too,” he murmured, smiling, but his smile slipped as he seemed to think of something. “He’s right, though. There will be talk.”

“You said it was my father’s decree, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. Not long after you went to sleep, your parents made the announcement. Anyone who woke you would have your hand in marriage. No one tried, based on your previous betrothal. They were terrified of King Gabriel and besides, they assumed Prince Adrien would be the one to…”

“But they were wrong,” she said firmly, squeezing his hand that was still holding hers as if he was afraid to let go.

“They were wrong,” he repeated, in a daze. “I still can’t believe…”

“Me, either,” she said, grinning. "I can't believe you didn't try sooner." She smirked at him and he laughed before he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Right, what was I thinking?" He shook his head as a bewildered smile stretched across his face.

"Well, that was your mistake right there." She threw the blanket off her legs and pulled them one by one to the side of the bed. They were still sluggish from sleep, but Luka steadied her, grabbing her other hand to help her.

"What was?" he asked, his eyes focused on their task. When she pushed up, his hands tightened around hers to support her effort. She fell back down once, but she set her jaw and tried again.

Her legs were all pins and needles and she held onto Luka's strong arms, gritting her teeth until it subsided. “Too much thinking,” she finally managed to answer him breathlessly. She lifted her eyes to his and grinned. “Not enough kissing.”

He laughed again and looped his arm around her waist as he reached up to cup her cheek. “I won’t make that mistake again,” he said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. A little thrill ran through her when his thumb stroked against her cheekbone softly. “Sorry for making you wait, love.”

Another thrill thrummed all the way down to her toes as the word slipped past his lips and nestled into her heart. She held her breath as he paused to look at her, then leaned down slowly, his eyes fluttering closed, angling his head gently, but he held back as his nose brushed against hers.

“Thinking,” she muttered, and with that he grinned and closed the distance, his lips soft and warm and all hers.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #mlb fic #lukanette #lukanette endgame #endgame lukanette #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #adrien agreste #jealous adrien agreste #fairy tale au #panda sprints

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