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mlbigbang2024 · 1 month ago

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ML Big Bang 2024 Fic Recs

Miscellaneous

This collection of fics were recommended by the contributors of the @mlbigbang2024 for their favourite fics of 2024 (posted in between Nov 2023 and Dec 2024)

General and Teen and Up Fics

What If... Ladybug and Chat Noir had to go on a Miraculous scavenger hunt? (Rated: G)

By Booksforthelost

Tags: What-if, AU - Canon Divergence, Turtle Master Fu | Jade Turtle

Summary: When Master Fu is robbed, Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves in a race against their enemies to recover the Miraculous.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: It displays what happens when nobody knows each other's secret identity but work together to stop Hawk Moth. Also, scavenger hunts are very fun!

A Swing and a Miss (and a Kiss) (Rated: T)

By @coffeebanana

Tags: PRPR, mutual pining, canon divergent

Summary: Adrien derails a game of ping-pong with a single sentence: “If I make this next point, my lady, you have to kiss me.”

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Just two kids being super awkward and kissy kissy meow meow.

The Terror (Rated: T)

By @gaussiansphere

Tags: psychological horror, la terreur au, using a miraculous has side effects

Summary:

Something is rotten in the city of Paris.

A general lockdown has been imposed as the entire world scrambles to make sense of the images of magic and monsters trickling out. Here, all powers have a price, whether they come from the ring on your finger or the voice in your head.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Based off the Tumblr comic by @sillysiluriforme , La Terreur, of the same name but in English. Fleshing it out and adding more psychological horror. Things are bad (but it’s okay! (I think))

Meditations (Rated: T)

By @bittersweetresilience

Tags: experimental style, poetry, epistolary

Summary: Félix reflects on fathers, and on monsters, and on dying.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: I cry thinking about this. It’s so rare we have something so experimental in the fandom. Poetic, epistolary, reflective. It’s a treasure

The Best Worst Day Ever (Rated: G)

By @fandomofone

Tags: awkward flirting, Plagg is so done, fluff and angst

Summary:

Riding high after Hawkmoth’s latest defeat, Adrien’s promising day begins to unravel when he arrives at school and discovers that Chat Noir is apparently a laughingstock following the previous day’s fight against Malediktator- and he has no memory of it. Feeling somewhat hurt and embarrassed, Adrien questions Plagg and is shocked to learn that the source of all his woes may be… his Lady? As if that’s not bad enough, Marinette unwittingly gets roped into his miserable day, and a misunderstanding between them leaves Adrien anxious about the future of their friendship. Can this day possibly get any worse?

Well, there is still patrol duty with Ladybug to look forward to...

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: This is a cute little Adrienette fluff piece that fits snugly between episodes! It occurs after Maledictator, and I just love the adorable idiots.

Not Quite Right (Rated: T)

By @ladynoirfanao3

Tags: Marichat, protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, identity reveal

Summary:

When Marinette wakes up one morning, she can’t help but feel that something is just a little bit… off. No one else around her seems to feel the same, however, and she is forced to shake off the strange feelings.

It proves to be more difficult than she imagined, especially when an akuma attack leaves her feeling helpless as she watches Chat Noir and Ladybug arrive on scene.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: It's like it's on the tip of your tongue, but you can't tell what it is

Mature and Explicit Fics

Voyage! Tales of the USS Miraculous (Rated: M)

By @uptoolateart

Tags: AU - Star Trek Fusion, But can be understood even if you don't know Star Trek, PTSD

Summary: Almost four years since the brutal battle at Wolf-359, Captain Marinette Dupain-Cheng – one of the youngest Captains in Starfleet history – has been assigned command of the USS Miraculous.

Her first mission with her new crew is to investigate a distress beacon from the most dangerous region of the Alpha Quadrant – the Neutral Zone. But what they discover is just the beginning of an exploration into the strangest world Marinette has ever visited – her own heart.

* A Star Trek crossover written to be understood even if you aren’t familiar with the Star Trek universe *

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Such a fun and clever crossover with Star Trek - it fits perfectly in the ST universe, and can also be read fandom-blind. The characters have such different histories but are still so clearly /them/. It's funny and cute, with a healthy dose of angst and hurt, too. There's a very interesting undercurrent of mystery, adventure, and discovery.

Revealing Commission (Rated: E)

By @katieykat513

Tags: Aged-up, smut, identity reveal

Summary: Marinette: I'm poor! Adrien: I have money! Marinette: I can't take your money! what if I made fanart? Adrien: I can pay for fanart! Marinette: Uhhh what do you want? Adrien: NSFW ladynoir for no specific reason! Marinette: What is my life?

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: The premise alone is enough said, but it also had some sweet fluff mixed in with the hilarity.

Mamma Mia! (Rated: M)

By @ladynoirfanao3

Tags: Cat Walker, unplanned pregnancy, aged-up, identity reveal

Summary:

When Marinette discovers she is pregnant, she is distressed to realize any of the three men she slept with in the recent past could be the father; Chat Noir, Ladybug’s partner and ex with whom she had gone through a tearful breakup - the mysterious Cat Walker, Ladybug’s rebound - or Adrien Agreste, Marinette’s current boyfriend.

But does she quickly discover all three potential fathers are, in fact, the same man? No, of course not; where would be the fun in that?

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: What a better way to play with all the different tropes! Identity shenanigans galore.

What We're Made Of (Rated: M)

By @uptoolateart

Tags: I have spent the last two years thinking of nothing but sentibeings, I'm taking the sentibeing idea as far as possible

Summary:

Humanity has just survived the apocalypse – with a little magic, and the help of several hundred senti-soldiers. Now, they need to figure out what to do with them…and what to do with the news that the Mayor of London is a sentibeing himself.

Meanwhile, Hugo, the twins, and other children of sentibeings have developed magical powers. But with the trauma of the war still fresh in people’s minds, prejudices are forming and tensions are riding high.

Now, Adrien, Marinette and Felix – and some unexpected friends – must band together again to face old demons and find a way to move forward at last.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Cerebral, emotional, inspiring, and always inventive. I love it when a well-written story expands the lore in a creative, yet plausible way. There’s a direct line from canon to what this story and its siblings in the Breaking Free series do, and it’s a gift to the fandom.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #fic rec #miraculous fanfic #mlbigbang2024 #mlbigbang

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miraculouslbcnreactions · 1 year ago

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Hello. I've been binge reading your meta post an I loves all of it. I have one question, though I don't know if you had the same question or not. If you had I'm sorry feel free to ignore this but if you hadn't, this is my question. Many people said Adrien as sentimonster is a good plot and the other said it's also good metaphor for abuse children. But what do you think about the senti plot? Is it necessary? And what do you think the writer is trying to achieve with the plot if Adrien doesn't even allowed to know about what he is?

Thank you! I'm glad that you've been enjoying my rambles! I don't think I've touched on those aspects of the sentiplot, so here goes!

Is it Necessary/What's The Goal?

I don't think that the sentiplot is even remotely necessary. My two cents is that it reads like something that was added relatively last-minute in order to add some cheap drama to draw the plot out because they didn't have enough content to organically fill seven seasons. Part of the reason that I'm comfortable saying that is because we've seen the writers do this type of move many times before. I don't wanna get too into the weeds on this, but a good example is the love triangles with Luka and Kagami.

Luka and Kagami are never treated as real alternate love interests. They're just road blocks on the love square highway that allow for seasons three to end on a cliff hanger. The fact that season four opens on two episodes meant to reassure the audience that Lukanette and Adrigami are doomed to fail is proof of this. No one is actually supposed to ship those ships. There's no Team Luka vs Team Adrien. It's just cheap drama.

The other reason that I feel comfortable calling the sentiplot cheap shoehorned drama is because the sentiplot has no teeth. A big reason why I refused to believe that it was going to be a thing was because it's an extremely serious plot that has no place in a Y-7 show. The wielder of raw destruction can have his free will overwritten at any time! The show has made jewelry theft a common teenage past time! This is bad!

And yet, once it's introduced, it goes nowhere. Gabe gives the most lackluster commands humanly possible and Nathalie undoes every one of them before they have a chance to meaningfully impact the plot. The biggest fallout of the sentiplot was that the Adrienette kiss got delayed a bit. How terrifying.

If the sentiplot had the weight it deserved, then it would have destroyed Adrientte in a big, dramatic fashion. Gabriel would have commanded Adrien to date Kagami and Tomoe would have done the same for Kagami re Adrien. But that's too serious, so we don't even get Gabe telling Adrien to break up with Marinette. He just tells Adrien to not see her and Marinette never has any clue that something went wrong there because Nathalie undoes the command two minutes later.

The Sentiplot's and Emilie

You may have read the previous section and thought, "But wait, doesn't the sentiplot give an explanation for why Emilie used the peacock? Didn't we need that?"

No, we didn't. Felix's little play and Gabe's memory of the night they used the peacock both heavily imply that no one knew that the peacock would kill you. It's why Felix exists! His father did not willingly give his life to have a kid and neither did Emilie. It was an unknown side effect.

Imo, it would have actually been better if Emilie hadn't used the peacock for such obviously selfish reasons. I mean, is anyone really saying, "Oh no, the rich lady used forbidden magic (and possibly killed some people?) to get a designer baby, then faced unexpected consequences! How awful for her! She didn't deserve that!"

Wouldn't it have been a far more interesting and complex story if Emilie used the peacock because she wanted to help someone else? If she was an unambiguously good person who suffered for doing the right thing or even just a morally gray thing? Wouldn't that make Gabriel's quest feel more righteous and less like a temper tantrum by a rich, entitled white guy who used his wealth in a morally dubious manner and paid for it?

The Sentiplot as an Abuse Metephor

I don't think that the writers meant for the sentiplot to be an abuse metaphor. In fact, I sincerely hope they didn't because it's a terrible one! Or, at least, a depressing one.

Abuse - especially childhood abuse - is something that sticks with us. A lot of victims will be forever scared by what they went through. But just because they bare scares doesn't mean that they're trapped by their abuse and can never break free. This is true even if the abuse caused mental health issues like PTSD or CPTSD, conditions that can never be cured because you know what they can be? Controlled and mitigated to the point where the victim is no longer ruled by their condition.

There's also the fact that abuse victims - especially child abuse victims - can and often do reach a point where their abusers no longer have any power over them. I have personally seen a child abuse victim go thought the process of realizing that their parent is just another adult now. All the power that the parent once held is gone. The child doesn't depend on them for food and shelter anymore. If the abuse starts up again, then the child can just get up and walk away.

That's not true for a sentimonster. Sentimonsters don't grow up and get more agency/power. At any point, their abuser can get ahold of their amok and override their free will, taking away the sentimonster's freedom even if the sentimonster is on another continent! There is no means of true escape.

No abuse victim will ever be that powerless. Abuse victims can escape abuse and they do have true free will. Sentimonsters will always be sentimonsters.

Is the Sentiplot Good?

No. It's too serious for a kids show. In fact, now that it's canon, here's my two cents: all of the sentikids are massive liabilities to the team who need to give up their miraculouses immediately because they can never be truly trusted. Felix has shown us time and time again how easy it is to steal an amok and replace it with a fake, so we must always assume that the sentikids are compromised because to assume otherwise is to invite the miraculouses to fall into the wrong hands. It's just not worth the risk to trust a senti.

Along the same lines, the love square should never be canon unless Marinette gives up Guardianship because Adrien is a liability to the safety of the miraculouses even if he didn't wield on himself. The only way to get around this issue is to use the wish to make the sentikids human, but Gabe failed to even do that one kindness for his son, so here we are. Season six will either drive this point home by having Lila use the amoks to mess with Adrien or it will drop the sentiplot forever, proving just how cheap and poorly thought out it was.

Other issues I think I've already addressed in other posts, but that are still a problem that make the plot bad:

a sentimonster's creator defines the sentimonster's worth, thus there being no issue with Felix making sentimonsters and then killing them or the heroes destroying them, but it would somehow be wrong if we did the same thing to any of the sentikids

any command you give a sentimonster can be overwritten and sentimonsters can't resist even if they know they're being controlled, so there's truly no hope to free them

giving your leading lady anxiety issues and a boyfriend whose free will is constantly in jeopardy is cruel and unusual punishment

an insane number of lore issues like why is it impossible to destroy other sentimonsters, but Adrien can be destroyed in akuma fights? Cataclysms are pure destruction! It makes no sense that akumas can do what a cataclysm can't. And is Adrien able to die a natural death? What happens to his amok when he does? Will his children be able to be controlled by his amok too since they're part of him?

the lore around Gabe & Emilie finding the miraculous makes no sense and should not be possible. That's another rant, though.

#senti salt #ml writing salt #ml writing critical #ml season 5 salt #adrien deserves better #this plot is only suited to an angsty or bittersweet ending #I don't know how you can hope for a happy ending when Adrien is forever a slave

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d1g1k1tty · 2 years ago

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I keep thinking about this, and I don’t remember if I’ve already said this on here, but Miraculous Ladybug is the only fandom where you will have four very distinct and unique ship dynamics from the same two people.

Like, I adore Adrienette. It’s the classic, dare I say, the OG. It’s just two awkward kids who kinda have crushes on each other. It’s cute and it reminds me of a simpler time. They’re both kind-hearted and shit. It’s just-- akfaljaf;ajfk They were my favorite in middle school and I’m attached. I used to watch that timeskip comic video on Youtube. You probably know the one. I’m not even going to explain it. You know what it is. But, I will say that my favorite panels from that video were the ones were Marinette tells Adrien about her pregnancy by putting a bun in the oven, and he doesn’t get it at first. But anyway.

Then there’s Ladynoir. Again, a bit of an OG. It’s the casual banter, the partnership on the battlefield, the complete and utter trust they have in each other. I love them, and I miss them. I need the flirty Ladynoir dynamic again.

Now, Marichat. I love Marichat, too. They’re just so goofy. It’s like when you meet someone who seems really cool and then you find out that they’re actually a huge dork, and they try to impress you the whole time. That’s the dynamic that they have and I live for it. And also, Chat is just,, so sweet with Marinette. And on the other side of the coin, it’s almost like the secret lover trope. Like, for God’s sake he literally can come in through the balcony in the middle of the night. I love the fics where he’ll just check in on Mari.

And finally... Ladrien. I’ll admit. Out of each ship in the love square, I really, reallly dislike Ladrien. It gives me the vibes of when celebrities get together with their fans... They distract each other too much, and not in the silly goofy way. I just don’t think it’s cute. That’s it. I think I’m done.

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #adrienette #ladynoir #marichat #ladrien salt

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choco-writes · 3 months ago

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Treat You Better

an adrienette fic

𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒑𝒂𝒅

tw: ooc/au

chapter two - he what

——————————— ☆

Recall:

"Luka...he..." Marinette swallows as she looks down at her lap from the slightly angry gazes of her friends.

——————————————————— ☆

"He...cheated." She mumbled, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes again. The collective gasps of her friends didn't help.

Adrien felt his hands curl into fists at his sides as he glared at the floor with a sudden fire that grew the more he thought about what she just said. He bit his lip so as not to burst out in a shout and go over to Luka's house to freaking kill him.

Alya suddenly stood up, her blood boiling. "He did what?" She hissed. Seeing her best friend's weak yet affirmative nod, Alya walked toward her phone, ready to call Luka and shout in his ear. Nino pulled her back, so as not to accidentally worsen the situation. He urged her to take a deep breath, and then look at Marinette for a while. Alya finally took in Marinette's slightly shaking body and quivering bottom lip and sighed. She walked over and enveloped her in a big hug.

Kagami stood staring awkwardly before joining in and putting her arms around both Marinette and Alya. Marinette sniffled a little and let herself be engulfed by the hug, feeling the warmth of her friends. The guys watched them until they separated and Alya looked at Kagami, "What should we do?"

The others could see a glint of pure rage in her eye, something that warned them that Luka might be cooked. Kagami shot her a "Don't make Marinette feel worse by blowing up at her ex" look and turned to Adrien, "Adrien." The said blonde's head shot up from glaring at the floor and he looked at her, confused.

Kagami exchanged a sly look with Alya and turned back to Adrien.

"None of us girls have any extra clothes...do you have something you can lend Marinette?" She asked, a hidden smirk in her expression. Marinette heard her words but was too busy wiping her tears for the meaning to actually sink in. Adrien quickly goes upstairs and grabs a random garment from his "never-worn" wardrobe, which had grown over the years due to his modelling career.

He returns and passes the hoodie he'd taken to Marinette while she goes into a bathroom and quickly changes. She steps out, tugging nervously at the hem of the hoodie. It covered to just a couple centimetres above her knee, given her height. The sleeves hung long and droopy over her arms and the hood went down to the middle of her back.

They all stood around Marinette, hugging and comforting her while she recounted the events leading to that day. Adrien listened silently, the anger growing as his heart aches for hearing her pain.

timeskip to after they calmed down

"Yeah...That's what he did..." Marinette finished, looking up finally. "You know what? Forget him, girl. You have us!" Alya exclaimed. The rest nodded in agreement. "Especially Adrien..." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Alya laughed lightly, brushing it off.

They played another game for a few rounds, with Marinette watching them from her perch on the couch. Soon, little yawns started coming from them.

"Well, I'm tired now...where's our room, Adrien?" Kagami asked. Adrien pointed to a room in the corner of the second floor and Kagami ascended the stairs, pulling Felix along wih her. "Night, guys..." Felix said, trailing off as Kagami drags him into the room.

"Hm. You know what, we should go to sleep now, too...its late..." Alya said thoughtfully. Nino looked at her, confused, "B-but...we haven't eaten the candy yet..." Marinette's face brightened at the word "candy", her eyes lighting up.

"There's candy?"

Alya nodded hesitantly. "And you didn't tell me?" Marinette questioned. Alya shrugged, "Sorry?"

"Alya you know how much i love candy..." Marinette stared at her. "Oops...sorry, girl..." Alya apologised, laughing a little.

Alya goes to Nino's bag and took out two packs of candy and passed them both to Marinette. "...What about me?" Nino asked, pouting a little. Alya rolled her eyes, "You'll have another type of candy, baby."

Adrien looked on, confused, didn't Alya bring only one type? Nino's eyes dart to Adrien's expression, to Marinette and around the room, avoiding eye contact with his girlfriend, as he felt a blush creep up his neck. Both Marinette and Adrien looked between them both, feeling slight tension in the room. Though unsure of what they were talking about, Marinette slowly took a piece of candy in between her fingers and placed it into her mouth, still watching.

Alya rolled her eyes at Nino, then pulled him upstairs to a guest room, while he struggled to walk because of the height difference.

And, now.

Adrien was left with Marinette.

They haven't spoken much the past few years, this moment was awkward. Adrien looked down at her from where he stood, while she sat there on the couch, spacing out with a tear-streaked face, munching on the candies.

Adrien spoke up, "Hey...Marinette...I need to tell you something."

Marinette snapped back into reality and stared up at him, with that look, that innocent, wide-eyed look, that drove him crazy. He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks once again and was grateful that the room was dim. "What...did you want to tell me?" Marinette asked, curious now.

"Oh! I-I...just wanted to let you know...that I-We! We're here for you if you need us, always." Adrien stuttered. Why was he stuttering? He cursed his mouth for the sudden awkward silence that ensued his words.

"Thanks, all of you are the best, really." Her soft voice poked through it, startling him a little that she didn't stutter or trip over her words like she used to. Guess times really have changed. He wasn't going to lie, he loved the adorable stammering she had with her words. Especially since it only happened with him. Or it used to.

He sighed quietly while she continued to eat her candies. "Don't let him take away your happiness, Marinette..." Adrien managed, relieved he didn't stumble with his words this time. The advice he shared led Marinette's lips to curve slightly, but that small smile she offered was enough to brighten her whole face up, in his opinion.

Adrien stood shifting from one foot to the other, nervously fumbling with his fingers. He was confused, why was he suddenly this way? He was never like this before...This feeling, it's new.

Deep in thought, he moved to the opposite side of the couch, sinking into the soft white plush of the sofa.

——————————

a/n : woah suddenly this is so long… what’s that feeling, i wonder? 😱😱 well, till next week! 🫶🏻

word count : 1124

tags : @mireyaaaaaaaaa

#i can treat you better #than he can #chocowrites #adrienette #miraculous ladybug

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maribat-confessions · 2 months ago

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Confession 011

i have a love/hate for the Adrienette ship since getting into Maribat, not because I don't like the two together, but because I do think Marinette needs someone a bit more assertive by her side and Adrien needs someone more like Luka or Cass.

#maribat #mlb x dc #ship opinions

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knifedancer · 1 year ago

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The Kissing Booth

Marinette's class opts to run a kissing booth for their school fair fundraiser. Unfortunately Chloe drops out at the last minute and Marinette is selected to replace her. She's really uncomfortable with being a 'kisser' at the booth but then something unexpected happens...

Also posted on AO3.

“I don’t know about this, Alya!” Marinette anxiously tugged on the fabric that would be her blindfold for the next hour. It was canary yellow with little bees and flowers embroidered on it. She had handmade one for each participant.

“Come on, girl! You agreed to the kissing booth idea when we were planning what our school fair project would be,” Alya replied.

“But I didn’t plan to participate! This is so humiliating,” the bluenette bit her lip as she mentally panicked. “Why did Chloe have to back out at the last possible minute?”

The other girl shook her head, “Doesn’t matter. Don’t you see? This is your chance! You’ve been in love with Adrien since collège and we’re in lycée now. You’re no longer that short, awkward classmate that tripped over herself in Sunshine’s presence. He’ll kiss you and it’ll be magical. You’ll get married and have three kids and a hamster named—”

“Marinette, it’s your turn at the booth!” Rose’s excited voice called out from the other side of the curtain. The girl in question felt the pit of her stomach drop at the pronouncement, being overtaken by nerves.

“Look, I pulled some strings so you won’t be scheduled for the same hour as Adrien. That way he can come and support you instead of being tied up at the other side of the booth from you. Now get out there!” Alya shoved her from the small prep area they had curtained off and towards the back entry.

Marinette knew the booth set up by heart as she had helped design and build it. It was a long chute with two aisles that led to a set of booths where a male and female student would stand. Both booths were separated by a barrier and an exit curtain would lead the attendees away. Six students in total had signed up to be participants, equally split between sexes, and all had to be eighteen to avoid extra approval paperwork with the school. A few student staff members would stand at the entryway, before the two aisles diverged, to collect the required entry fee. Next to the entry was a bulletin board where the current participants’ photos would be posted. Participants would sit or stand at the booth while blindfolded, kissing whoever approached. They had set the whole thing up to keep things as anonymous as possible so that other students wouldn’t feel pressured to go one way or another, avoiding embarrassment, and keep from any awkwardness happening after in school.

It had been a good plan but Chloe, who had initially volunteered, had decided to flake out at the last possible moment. It left them in a lurch as they needed another female student to take her place and there were very few girls in the class that were eighteen that were willing to fill in: Juleka and Marinette. The Adrienette club, consisting of their various friends from Bustier’s old class, had tapped the designer to do it. She was very uncomfortable with the idea and expressed her desire not to participate – she hadn’t even had her first real kiss yet! No, she didn’t count the ones as Ladybug! – but they were adamant. They had brushed off her concerns without a second thought. It didn’t help when they heaped on the guilt about not being able to reach their fundraising goal for their class trip without their sixth person. Railroaded into accepting, the bluenette had been barely holding back a panic attack ever since.

The Ladyblogger gestured for her to take a seat on the stool and helped her put on the blindfold. “Alright, there you are! Now…I know you’re nervous but don’t worry about it! You’re going to be fine! But, if it helps, I’m your first customer,” with that, Alya gave her a friendly peck on the cheek that caused them both to laugh. “Don’t worry, you got this.” With that, she turned Marinette towards the front of the booth and exited the area, leaving the girl alone.

The young designer sat and wondered who might come to her side of the booth. With her luck, Adrien wouldn’t come at all. Not that she was necessarily hoping for that outcome. She had been waiting for three years for him to notice her, three years to figure out a way to tell him how she felt, three years of helping him with dates or gifts for other girls… Was someone worth waiting for that never noticed you or thought of you as anything more than a friend? She wanted to matter to someone! Marinette had resolved herself to let the silly crush go. She had grown into herself since making that decision, becoming more confident and outgoing, losing her stutter, as well as finally gaining a little height (170cm). She was finally taller than her maman! Plus the physical exertion she experienced as Ladybug left her with athletic, lean muscles stretched over a pear-shaped frame. She wasn’t as curvy as Alya or Mylene, but she was happy with her more feminine curves. Even with all those changes, Adrien had still not noticed her, so she felt more assured than ever that she made the right choice.

An hour of time can pass in a blink of an eye or feel like a lifetime. For Marinette, it was the latter. After a little while, she found herself still sitting alone. She had propped her elbows up onto the small counter of the booth and rested her head on her hand. The walls themselves were not very thick so she knew Kim, who was sharing other side of the booth for the hour, had received several customers. Satisfied ones at that, if the moans and giggling were any indication.

‘Jeez, Kim… I’d tell you to get a room but you actually have one already…,’ she thought to herself as she blushed from a particularly raunchy noise. ‘Guess I didn’t have anything to worry about, no one really wants to kiss me.’ Tears pricked at her eyes behind the blindfold at that thought. Not that she wanted to be kissed by any random person, especially for her first kiss, but it still wounded her feelings a little. Almost every girl worries that she could be unattractive, Marinette was no exception.

And so, time passed awkwardly accentuated by muffled noises from next door. When it got closer to the end of the hour, Marinette could hear a commotion towards the entryway but could not make out what was being said. She could vaguely hear Alya questioning someone, but the response was lost on the bluenette. She wished she was up there instead, handling angry customers had become second nature to her from all her years working at her parents’ bakery. Anything was better than just sitting here!

Within a few minutes the commotion outside had stopped and she could hear footsteps approaching. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, your hour has finished. It is time for Miss Kubdel’s shift. I have come to retrieve you,” came the familiar voice of Felix. Adrien’s cousin was still the haughty boy he always had been but had mellowed out enough to participate in class fundraisers. Like Marinette, he had also gone through changes over the last three years. While Adrien had the height and strong shoulders, he had taken more after his mother – a lithe form with lean muscles. It turned out for the best, allowing the model to take on more androgynous looks that appealed to Gabriel’s larger audience. Felix had grown to over 180cm, developed broad shoulders and a bulkier muscular structure, and began styling his hair in a shorter version of the Harvard Cut. He still wore the same formal clothes but now had the stature to match his superior attitude. He certainly cut an intimidating figure.

Marinette untied her blindfold, sliding from the booth to join him by the exit curtain. She rubbed her eyes with a stretch, feeling stiff from sitting for so long. “Thanks, Felix. That was a long hour! How did we do on fundraising so far?”

“It appears we made our goal,” he replied blandly.

“Wow, really? Mon Dieu, I guess Kim was really popular!” Felix seemed to stiffen at her statement but did not say anything. “At least whatever we raise from the third shift can be used in our rainy-day fund.”

Felix, ever the gentleman, lifted the curtain aside for her and she nodded her thanks. They politely parted ways – he back to the front to monitor security and money handling practices; Marinette back towards their classroom to grab her wallet so she could enjoy the rest of the fair. Walking among the booths, she selected a one serving a delicious pasta before moving on to the crafts areas. Everyone was so creative and excited!

Her perusal of some bracelets was cut short when someone tugged hard on her elbow. Catching herself from falling over, she looked over to find a very frustrated red head. “Hey Alya, what’s up?”

“Girl, what is going on between you and Felix? Because he made a huge scene earlier at the booth!”

“What scene? There’s nothing going on between us, you know that…,” came Marinette’s puzzled reply.

Alya led her away from the busy booth areas and towards a quieter corner, pulling out her phone and presenting it to her friend. “Here. Watch the video I took during your shift.”

~~~ The Video ~~~

The camera shook as it came into focus on the entryway to the kissing booth. A small crowd of students had gathered near the bulletin to see who was participating and the schedule of kissers for the day. Ivan and Juleka were standing next to the collection box that they would add to as students approached. Suddenly a male student walked back through the entry and angrily huffed as he left, followed by another and another. Some asked for their money back but were otherwise either disappointed or angry looking as they left.

“What the heck is going on…,” came Alya’s disembodied voice as the video began progressing into the entryway. First down Kim’s area, where one could clearly see the jock lip-locked with a guy in a ponytail and red football jersey. Then the camera traveled back up the chute and into the other side.

There, Alya encountered a small crowd of agitated students that were stopped. Pushing through, Felix’s towering form was seen at the front. He had planted himself in the middle of the chute, arms crossed, glaring down anyone that dared to pass him. When one brave boy tried to step around him, Felix appeared to snarl something, too low to be heard by the camera, before the unknown boy paled and backed off. “Any other takers?” Felix asked the crowd calmly, staring them all down. “No? Then please leave.”

“Hey! You can’t stop paying customers… I want a kiss from the hottie in the photo!”

“Yeah, I want a kiss too!”

“I wouldn’t mind more than a kiss, if you know what I mean!”

“Ooooh!”

“Not before I get my turn with her!”

“It’s not like she belongs to you, man!”

Many in the crowd echoed similar sentiments, not noticing the darkening countenance of the tall young man in front of them. Felix uncrossed his arms and advanced, looming over the first student that insinuated getting more than a kiss from Marinette. The crowd’s mutterings had fallen silent, those in the front trembled or shivered from the look on Felix’s face. He seemed to exude a deadly aura, even the light in the room seemed to dim in his proximity.

“Excuse me? Who do you think you are, you sexist guttersnipe? It appears your parents raised you to think of women as merely playthings to be owned or used,” he slowly looked around, making sure to glare into the eyes of all those present. “You all disgust me. The person down this chute is a respectable, hard-working, intelligent young lady that does not deserve your slimy paws or ghastly thoughts directed toward herself. I will not let you proceed. Regardless of gender, none of you are worthy of her time. Leave immediately or…,” his voice seemed to growl with malice, “I’ll make you leave.”

The crowd dispersed back to the front with nothing more than upset mutterings. The recording drew closer to Felix, who had turned to look with mild interest. “What do you think you are doing? We’re trying to run a kissing booth here!”

“I know, Césaire, and I have a booth to protect,” he replied nonchalantly.

“By what, scaring off all our customers?!” Alya questioned angrily.

“Alya, I’m sure there’s a good reason Felix did that,” came Adrien’s soothing voice. He must have either joined in the investigation or split off from the crowd that had been excused.

“Quite right, cousin. Miss Dupain-Cheng was incredibly uncomfortable about the prospect of performing at the booth as a participant today. No one should be forced to do something that they do not want,” Felix remarked as if schooling a student that had asked a dumb question.

“Excuse you? Marinette didn’t have an issue! She would have told me!” came the blogger’s offended cry.

“Yeah, Felix. Besides, it’s not hurting anyone!” Adrien contributed.

The emerald eyes of the boy in front of them flashed and narrowed on them. “Did you even bother to ask Marinette how she felt? Or, knowing you two, bother to listen?” Felix crossed his arms and stood straight again, taking advantage of the additional 5cm he had over Adrien to now loom over the two friends. “Let me take your silence as a no. You didn’t ask, you didn’t listen. You pressured her until she agreed and then forced her to partake in an activity that she did not want to do in the first place.”

“But she…we didn’t think…,” began the other blond, cowering from his cousin. From his stance one could almost imagine a cat with its tail tucked between its legs while in the presence of a larger predator.

“That’s right, you didn’t think, cousin. You’re both no better than the ignoramuses I have been chasing off. You assigned me security for the day and that’s what I’m doing. Her welfare matters more than your ridiculous kissing booth,” he responded coldly.

“And how are we supposed to make up the money that we just lost to refunds? That had to be at least two dozen you chased off!” Alya questioned, clinging to her anger.

Felix clicked his tongue, looking less deadly than before but no less commanding. “Forty-two in total were sent away. If you’re concerned about the money, then I will pay triple for all the kisses Miss Dupain-Cheng was to give today.”

The camera had picked up Alya and Adrien’s choke at the statement but, before they could reply, Felix pointedly looked at his wristwatch. “Seems the hour is up. I will escort Miss Dupain-Cheng out to make sure she is not bothered by any lingering riffraff. I will join you at the front of the booth to settle the payment after.” With that he turned and walked down the chute towards the booth area.

“What the hell was that abou—,” Alya’s voice was cut off with the end of the recording.

~~~ Back to Present ~~

Marinette stood stunned as her friend took back her phone. She had never seen Felix be so protective before! Especially of her! She pressed a hand to her heart as it raced in her chest, hearing the blood pumping loudly in her ears.

“So? Did he say anything to you?” Alya demanded.

“No…he didn’t say anything about that…,” the girl replied slowly. “All he said was that we reached our goal…”

“Damn right we did, because he paid triple the rate for every person he turned away,” her friend exclaimed. Then her face changed to one of concern, “Was what he said true? Were you not comfortable participating as a kisser?”

Marinette winced and looked down, mumbling, “Yeah… I didn’t want to participate but none of you seemed to listen… I’ve been on the verge of a panic attack since yesterday and it was a relief when no one came to kiss me during my shift.”

Alya threw her arms around her and hugged tight, her tone contrite, “I’m so, so sorry! I should have listened to you. Can you forgive me?”

The designer returned the hug with a small smile, “Done. Just don’t push me into these things again, okay?”

They pulled apart with a giggle of agreement, the bespectacled girl grabbed her shoulders and looked curious. “So…Felix really didn’t say anything to you? Did you tell him how uncomfortable you were?”

“No, nothing…,” Marinette replied confusedly, replaying his words from the video in her mind. Her heart began to race again; she needed to talk to him! She glanced down at her phone to check the time, noting that he should be helping with the tear down right now. “Alya, I gotta go. Call me later, yeah?”

With that, she took off running. She summoned every Ladybug reflex she had and dashed through the throngs of people that still drifted between the food and craft stalls. She finally made it back to the booth location and looked around, not seeing the tall blond anywhere. Marinette approached Ivan, “Have you seen Felix?”

“Uh…yeah, I think he was taking the collection box back to the classroom,” he replied. “Good work today, by the way! I heard you were the big money maker!”

Marinette blushed and took off again, heading towards the main building. She slid to a stop at the classroom door and threw it open with a loud bang. Felix looked up from his task with a glare before realizing it was her. “Would you please close the door? I should have locked it while I was counting but didn’t think anyone else would come in here.”

She gingerly closed and locked the door, unsure how to proceed with this conversation. “Felix… Alya told me what happened at the booth earlier.”

The blond stiffened and sat back in his chair; he pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “I see. I’m sorry if I overstepped—”

“No, no, you did the right thing! It’s just...,” Marinette pulled at her fingers as sought out what to say. “How did you know I was uncomfortable? I mean…the rest didn’t seem to notice and…”

As she rambled incoherently, Felix had gotten up and approached the table in front of her. He sat on the edge of the desk and sighed, “I notice everything about you, Marinette.”

Marinette met his eyes with a jolt, staring into them as if trying to figure out her lucky charm. “Why?” was all she could manage, her voice taking on a fragile tone.

“In these three or so years that we’ve attended school together, I’ve grown to respect and admire you.” The blond’s voice dropped to a quiet, humble murmur, “Because you matter to me more than you could ever know.”

Not breaking eye contact, she stepped forward into his personal space. She reached out her right hand and hesitated, watching to make sure he was comfortable with it, before settling it on his left pectoral. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her fingers, pounding the same tempo as her own. His eyes were wide with surprise and she could hear his fingers gripping the edge of the desk so tightly that it creaked in protest.

“…Part of the reason I was so uncomfortable today was because I’ve never been kissed before,” she stated hesitantly. She noted the way the muscles in his chest seemed to tense beneath her hand at the confession. “For a long time, I thought it was just because no one was interested in me...” She saw his brow furrow and lips open as if to refute her statement, but Felix stopped when she applied just a little pressure.

“I think I was actually just waiting for the right person,” her hopeful blue eyes met his stare. She was scared of being rejected but, as soon as she saw how he had reacted in the video, she knew she had to take the chance. Because he had somehow wheedled his way into her heart without her noticing. “Felix, I…”

The boy’s hands released the table and one reached up to gently cup her cheek, as if holding a precious jewel. The other came to rest over her hand on his chest. He gazed into her eyes; she watched as something seemed to melt in their depths. Her left hand came up to cover the one on her face, leaning into it with a small smile. Marinette had never felt so safe and treasured. She could feel his heartbeat pick up slightly. Felix looked down at her lips as he leaned in, stopping just as their noses touched. She knew he would not proceed without her consent. They made exhaled a shared shaky breath, as if under great strain, before she closed the distance for him.

His lips were warm and slightly chapped from being in the sun all day, but she had never felt anything so soft before. His lips moved against her own and she eagerly matched his rhythm. The hand on her cheek traveled down to her lower back and pulled her close, her body fitting perfectly between his thighs and against his broad frame. Her hand, now free, moved to the back of his neck and toyed with the soft short hairs there. They kept the kiss languid and gentle, neither wanting to push too far.

When they finally broke away, their faces had matching ruddy complexions. She gently bumped her nose against his, reveling in their new found intimacy. Felix chuckled and wrapped his arms loosely around her, keeping her against his chest but making sure she didn’t feel trapped. Marinette felt some of her old anxieties creeping in. “Was…was that okay?”

“More than okay, my dear. I admit, I am not versed in the art of kissing either. But, if you so desire, I would be willing to practice with you…,” Felix offered slyly, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. “Perhaps for the rest of our lives?”

Her breathing hitched at the implications of his words. Marinette imagined what a life shared with him would be like, the joy and warmth, the teasing and banter, protected and treasured… She felt an overwhelming sense of rightness at the prospect. She must have been lost in thought for too long because Felix leaned back with a look of concern.

“Marinette, I didn’t mean to make the assumption—” he was cut off by her finger to his lips. She smiled at his expectant but shocked face.

“Less talking, more practice, hot stuff.” Felix broke into a grin then happily pulled her into another kiss. The second of many in their future.

Afterall, he had paid for them…

~~~Author's Note:

"Best investment I ever made." - Felix, on his wedding day.

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character-fan19 · 1 year ago

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So I calculated the exact screen time for all the love square ships in season 2...

Yep. I'm back and I've completed season 2. But first, I'd like to thank all the people here for all the support on the last post. It really means a lot. For the uninitiated, let's go over...

Some Ground Rules

What I did and didn't count as love square screen time. For those of you who have seen my last post, there's a new rule as well that I've added so here we are:

Both characters of the ship must be present in the scene for it to be counted as screen time and by that I mean the real versions of the characters so no nightmare Adrien from "Sandboy".

At least one of the characters must be interacting in some way with the other character or at least working with them because we can't have Maribug and Adricat acting like background characters and call that love square screen time.

If a character believes that they are interacting with the alter ego of the other character, it will be counted as screen time for that ship because it's the dynamic that matters. So scenes like Marinette and Adrien interacting with each other through different sides of the sewer wall in "Mayura" will be counted as Ladynoir screen time rather than Adrienette.

In case of group interactions involving the two characters, it will not be counted as screen time for that ship unless the interaction between the two characters are given special attention in the scene. So Marinette and the rest of the fencing classing watching Adrien fight Kagami will be counted as Adrienette screen time as we are getting special focus on Marinette's reaction.

If you want to check out the previous season, you can go here. Now on with the statistics.

Screen Time Distribution

Compared to last season, Ladynoir has significantly decreased a bit in screen time, although it still dominates, having 71.5 % of the total love square screen time of season 2. Adrienette follows behind with a bit of boost with 19.7 % of season 2 screen time compared to last season's 18.5 %. Ladrien made a significant increase in screen time this season, having 6 % compared to last season's 2.5 % with Maricat having less than half that screen time.

Combing the screen time of this season and last season we have Ladynoir on top with 73.6 % of the screen time, that being exactly 3 hr 36 min 56 sec, 1 hr 53 min 26 sec from season 1 and 1 hr 45 min 22 sec from season 2. Adrienette in second with 19.3 % of the screen time, that being 56 min and 53 sec, 27 min 34 sec from season 1 and 29 min 19 sec from season 2. Third we have Ladrien with 4.3 % of the screen time, that being 12 min 33 sec, 3 min 47 sec from season 1 and 8 min 46 sec from season 2. Finally, we have Maricat in last with 2.9 % of the screen time, that being exactly 8 min 33 sec, 4 min 29 sec from season 1 and 4 min 7 sec from season 2.

Now onto the trends.

Screen Time Trend

While last season had "Gamer" as the sole episode where Ladynoir wasn't the ship with the most screen time, this season Ladynoir took a beating, having not 1 but 6 episodes where either Adrienette or both Adrienette and Ladrien having more screen time than it, one of these episodes, that being "Style Queen", having no Ladynoir at all. However this season had an episode that gave Ladynoir the most screen time it's ever gotten that episode being "Mayura". There were a string of episodes in the middle with solely Ladynoir but other than that, the other ships got some pretty good chances to shine, well most of them but we'll get to that later. On average, it had a screen time of 4 min 7 sec per episode.

Adrienette took a few episodes to get on it's feet but once it did it got some pretty good screen time. "Gigantitan" surprised me with how little Adrienette there was, considering the whole episode was about Marinette and her friends making a plan for Marinette to go on a date with Adrien but as it turns out, it was mostly Marinette's friends acting on the plan rather than Marinette herself watching Adrien. On average, it had a screen time of 1 min 7 sec per episode.

Ladrien made a huge comeback this season compared to the last one where most of it's focus episodes were concentrated at the end of the season and other than that there just being the 38 sec scene in "The Bubbler" where Ladybug tried to stop Chloe from dancing with Adrien and that 5 sec scene in "The Mime" where Ladybug and Adrien were staring at each other. This season it had multiple episodes to shine such as "Gorizilla", "Riposte" and "Style Queen" even surpassing Ladynoir in those episodes giving it an average screen time of 20 sec per episode.

Maricat though got the short end of the stick this season, only having a 33 sec scene in "Befana", the 3 sec scene of Cat Noir staring at Marinette with her family in "Santa Claws", the 3 sec scene of Marinette reacting to Cat Noir protecting her from the titular villain in "Anansi" and it's designated focus episode of the season "Glaciator" which wasn't even able to surpass Ladynoir like Ladrien did givng it an average of 10 sec per episode.

Conclusion

That's it for season 2. Next one of these won't take long because I'm gonna just be doing the Shanghai special so see you then!

#miraculous ladybug #ml analysis #ml season 2 #ml love square #adrienette #ladynoir #maricat #ladrien

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sizzleissues · 1 year ago

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Train car (778 words, adrienette)

(If you notice a spelling/grammar mistake blame it being three hours past when I usually sleep and then be quiet about it)

“The train compartment is rather small,” Marinette said, sliding back the door and shuffling in. Adrien followed, lugging with him both their luggage’s. She removed her hat and gloves, placing them on a small inbuilt table and sat on one of the beds. It wasn’t really a bed, more like a seat with a bit of extra width.

“It said on the website it slept two.” Adrien pushed the bags ahead of him, filling up the remaining space to stand in and then climbed over it onto the opposite bed/seat. They hadn’t known they’d be sharing a compartment when they got on the train. They hadn’t even known each other. But he was that type of person you sort of fell into friendship with. One bemused look between them at the train conductor’s antics led to standing beside one another, inches apart and then soon cheerful conversation filled that gap. She hadn’t even blinked when he’d offered to carry her bags.

“Well it also said the sleeper cabin had ‘stunning views’ but I’m pretty sure that painting is not what they were referring to.”

Adrien snorted. The painting would have been offended if it wasn’t an inanimate painting of an orange in place of a window.

“Do you want to unpack or go to the diner car?” Adrien asked. Marinette agreed to the latter, standing to leave. It was a thrill that he didn’t consider them going their separate ways. Their sudden friendship affirmed, she skipped out the door, close enough to him to touch without it seeming too purposeful.

Adrien got to the door first, heavy handed as he pulled it aside. It rattled and squealed, negating any of their previous attempts to stay quiet.

“Shushhhh! You’ll wake the neighbours.” Marinette giggled and hiccuped, playfully pushing at his shoulder. Buying the bottomless tap might have been a mistake, her vision a collection of disjointed moments rather than a continuous reel.

“Ah! Stupid neighbours anyway.” He turned to her with a grin and fell through the door. She squealed and hurried in after, making sure to shut the door. Adrien righted himself, his proper appearance long since lost to ruddy wine cheeks and tousled golden hair that fell like it was actually messy rather than styled that way. His lips were stretched into an easy smile, his eyes twinkling slightly as they stood with barely a hair between them.

Her chest rose and fell quickly, her heart screaming the thing she was trying to escape on this trip. His head tilted to the side and she knew she wasn’t making it up again. This was real.

He leaned down onto the bed's edge and stared up at her. She was so utterly drunk and he was too attractive to ignore. She looked once at the mess on her bed and made a decision.

“The train compartment is rather small, there’s barely any room for our luggage… maybe we could…”

“Maybe we could?” He led her on, taking her hand.

She placed her free hand on his chest and pushed him flat. The carriage gently rocked.

“Stay,” She leaned down over him. “In your bed.”

“Okay.” He whispered it until there was no more distance to close.

Marinette tore open the door and slammed it behind her, throwing off all the luggage on her bed because it was a stupid idea anyway. She didn’t exactly know what idea was stupid but she’d had a lot of stupid notions recently and it was only starting to come together.

The door opened again after her, Adrien looking stricken at the entrance.

“Is that it?”

She ignored him, shoving the last of his luggage onto his side and sitting herself down.

“I deserve better than this,” he said. His voice slapped her and she raised her head to him. His face paled when met with her expression. Her Papa always used to say it was like staring right into the mouth of a lion while pulling its tail. Any man was made to feel like a fool in it.

“You don’t get to decide that. Now, get out.”

“No.” He stepped over the threshold and she cringed back. “You’re not shutting me out.”

“You knew! You knew this whole time. You disappeared and you knew.”

“I’m sorry but you weren’t the only one to do something wrong, yes I left but it was your secrecy that drove me away!”

It crossed that line and Marinette shrivelled. That move was cold, too true.

“This compartment is too small, get out!” She stood and shoved him out all at once, slamming and locking the door.

When she opened it again, he was gone.

AU where they never met as civilians but Adrien learned her identity and after figuring out what happened during season 5 finale ghosted her (thats the background anyway). Years later they bump into each other, seemingly strangers. Idk, I was feeling vague with vibes of sharing a sleeper cabin or whatever. And sad times

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #ml fic #ml fanfic #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #adrinette

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nirby-wirby · 1 year ago

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Rating: General Audiences

Relationships: Adrienette (not much), mostly focused on non romantic relationships

What to expect: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, set post-s5 finale, Gabriel Agreste is dead

Summary: Now, laying on his bed with only the soft light of a bedside lamp illuminating the room, he felt guilt eating at him from inside his chest. His miraculous burned on his finger, a reminder of what he’d given up. Of what had somehow led to his father helping Ladybug and dying in the process. The guilt was suffocating, building more and more until he felt like all that was left of him was guilt.

Or: Adrien deals with the grief and guilt of losing his father with some help.

A/N: This was written for @justmagicalgirl for @mlsecretsanta. I hope you enjoy your gift!!

Adrien sighed, staring up at the ceiling. He was back in his room, the destruction of his house having been restored by the miraculous ladybug cure, or so he assumed. He couldn’t have really known exactly what happened, though Ladybug had assured him that his father had been a hero. He’d never thought his father was capable of giving up his life for the sake of Paris, but there was a lot he hadn’t known about the man.

Now, laying on his bed with only the soft light of a bedside lamp illuminating the room, his curtains drawn, he felt guilt eating at him from inside his chest. His miraculous burned on his finger, a reminder of what he’d given up. Of what had somehow led to his father helping Ladybug and dying in the process. The guilt was suffocating, building more and more until he felt like all that was left of him was guilt.

Chat Noir should’ve been there. He shouldn’t have let fear consume him. The visions of a ruined Paris shouldn’t have stopped him from doing his job. He was supposed to be a hero, stopping civilians from getting hurt. Instead, his incompetence allowed his father to die. It shouldn’t have been that way. It shouldn’t have been his father, just like it never should’ve been his mother. It should’ve been—

A knock on his bedroom door snapped him out of his thoughts. “Adrien?” Nathalie called from the other side of the door, “Can I come in?”

Slowly, he sat up, wiping the tears that had started to form in the corners of his eyes. He cleared his throat, “Yeah.”

“Hey,” Nathalie said softly, closing the door behind her, “how are you feeling?” She stood in front of him, a bit stiff and clearly unsure of how to go about this.

Adrien scooted over to give her some space to sit beside him if she wanted. “I’m fine,” he lied. The words tasted bitter on his tongue.

Nathalie hesitantly sat in the space he’d given her, clearly not convinced. “Are you sure? You can talk about it with me if you’d like.” Her hand hovered over his shoulder for a moment, only to drop back into her lap.

How could he even begin? Of course, it made sense for him to be upset. His father just died, leaving him as an orphan. But how could he explain the guilt he felt? How could he explain that his akumatized father had unknowingly left him with a nightmare that rendered him unable to do his job, later causing his death? It was almost impossible to explain without giving away his identity. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t possibly tell her that—

“I’m Chat Noir,” Adrien blurted, his heart thundering in his ears. Why’d he say that? He couldn’t even look at her; he couldn’t bear to see her reaction.

“What?” Nathalie asked weakly.

He took a deep breath, staring at his blankets. “I’m…Chat Noir,” he repeated, a little bit more slowly. He was shaking. He really shouldn’t have said that. It was too late to take it back now.

Tears sprung to his eyes as a heavy silence settled between the two of them. Nathalie wasn’t saying anything. Why wasn’t she saying anything? Did she blame him, too? Did she hate him now? For not doing his job? For not being there when Ladybug— when his father needed him?

“Oh,” she breathed, pulling him into a hug, “oh, Adrien, I’m so sorry.” All it took was that simple gesture, the simple act of affection, and he broke, clutching sides of Nathalie’s blazer like a lifeline as he sobbed.

————

Nathalie was in shock as she held a sobbing Adrien in her arms. This boy, who she considered a son, had been the very boy she’d fought for almost a year with Gabriel. She’d beaten him up — she’d hurt him — all while believing Adrien was safe somewhere. How had she never realized? Was she just as neglectful as his garbage excuse of a father? No, no, she couldn’t have been. Right?

“I-it’s all my fault,” Adrien hiccuped, her heart breaking at the broken words, “if-if I’d been there then—“

“No,” Nathalie said, vehemently shaking her head, “none of it is your fault, Adrien.”

The only person at fault was Gabriel. Nathalie felt anger bubbling inside her chest. That stupid, idiotic man who’d been driven mad by the miraculous. He left Adrien all alone, determined to be reunited with Emelie no matter what. In the time that Gabriel was blinded by his goals and his grief, Adrien grieved alone and moved on. In the time Gabriel left his poor son without a family, Adrien was in danger fighting something that only existed because of his own father. And now Adrien felt guilty? No, she couldn’t let him believe that he was ever at fault.

“But if I’d been there—“ he protested.

“Adrien,” Nathalie tried to keep the rage she felt for Gabriel at bay, making an effort to keep her voice gentle. “Your father is the only one at fault here. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with something so dangerous if he wasn’t prepared to be hurt,” she told him, careful of her wording.

She couldn’t tell him the entire truth right now, not when he was already in so much pain. Someday, she would tell him everything. But the timing wasn’t right, at least not at the moment. How could she tell him how it all started when he was already blaming himself?

Of course, none of it was his fault. Emelie and Gabriel knew there were risks to using a broken miraculous, they just hadn’t known the extent of it. Gabriel, however, had taken it too far when he’d tried to get his wife back. As much as Nathalie had missed Emelie, she knew Emelie would’ve never forgiven Gabriel for his actions. Seeing how his actions left Adrien only made Nathalie more sure of this fact.

“I just feel like if I’d been there, he’d still be alive,” Adrien mumbled, sniffling. He looked up at her, his eyes watery and red-rimmed. “I don’t want to be alone,” his voice was paper thin as a new wave of tears hit him.

Nathalie felt her own eyes sting, but she continued to keep the tears at bay. “Adrien, look at me,” she told him gently. As always, he did as told. “You are not alone, and I won’t ever let you be alone.” Slowly, she took his shaking hands in hers, making sure to hold eye contact and let the words sink in. “You have me, you have your aunt Amelie, you have your cousin Felix, and you have all of your friends. I won’t ever take those people away from you, I promise.”

Nathalie wouldn’t be like Gabriel and she would never be complicit in the ways Gabriel had treated this boy ever again. She’d make sure he wasn’t neglected or isolated or hidden away. She’d witnessed the effects of Gabriel’s terrible parenting and let them slide for too long. Adrien shouldn’t have gone through any of it, and she shouldn’t have just watched. She wanted to make a change, to help heal this broken child.

Slowly, Adrien’s tears dried out and his sniffling died down, save for the occasional sniffle. He let go of Nathalie’s blazer, wringing his hands together instead. After a few beats of silence, she said, “I’ll let you have some rest, alright?”

Adrien nodded as Nathalie got up to leave. As she opened his bedroom door, he called after her, “Nathalie?” She turned to look at him, “Thank you.”

She smiled, “You’re welcome, and let me know if you ever need me.” As she closed the door behind her, Nathalie knew she needed to come up with a plan to help Adrien feel better. The only question was, how?

————

Marinette wanted to scream. Not for a good reason either. No, she wanted to scream because she felt like she was going to go insane as she paced back and forth in her room.

Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth/Monarch/whatever just as she’d once suspected way back in what felt like a whole lifetime ago. But no one knew. Except for her and Felix and possibly Kagami and probably whoever Mayura was. And she couldn’t tell anyone because his dying wish was that no one knew what a villain he was, especially Adrien. But she still knew. And it wasn’t even guaranteed that the people who knew still knew because she didn’t really know how the wish worked. Was it just that he ascended into some afterlife with Emelie or was it also that no one would know that he was the villain all along?

She’d complied because, well, it’s not like he could be put into prison or anything. There was no way for him to be held accountable because he was dead. The only person who would really be harmed by everyone knowing would be Adrien and Marinette never wanted to hurt Adrien. If everyone knew that Gabriel was the very person who’d terrorized Paris then the hate would be piled onto Adrien even though he didn’t do anything wrong. It wouldn’t be fair to him to have everyone hate him while he was grieving because he just became an orphan and if they found out he was a sentimons- sentibeing then—

Marinette’s phone rang, effectively stopping her downward spiral. She walked over to her desk and picked up the phone, surprised that Nathalie was calling her. “Hello?”

“Hello, Marinette,” Nathalie greeted on the other end of the phone. “I know you’re probably confused about this call, but Adrien wasn’t feeling well and I wanted to help him feel a little bit better. I figured you would be the person to call for help.” Maybe not the bestperson to call for help since the only reason his father was gone now was because he’d made the wish and the reason for that was she’d let her guard down and— “Hello? Are you there?”

Marinette let out a nervous laugh, forcing a smile even though Nathalie couldn’t see her. “Yeah, sorry about that, my, um, my service is bad. But I’d be happy to help, of course. I’ll call some of our friends and see what we can do.”

“Great. Thank you, Marinette.”

“No problem!” She lied. Nathalie promptly ended the call, leaving Marinette alone with her thoughts again.

Obviously, Marinette wanted to help Adrien feel better. She loved him very much and if she can take his mind off the fact that he’s an orphan for a couple hours and lift his mood, she’d gladly do so. But how was she supposed to face him knowing everything she knew? How was she supposed to face him knowing that his father wasn’t a hero and that he died because she’d lost?

Marinette glanced over at the two silver rings she’d be given, glistening on her desk from the light that came through her window. She groaned, running a hand down her face. And how was she supposed to tell him that he was a sentim- a sentibeing? There was no way to do that without making everything worse. There was also no way to do that without him knowing that his mom must’ve had the peacock miraculous at a certain point. Which would easily lead to him questioning why his father never told him about that. Which would easily lead to him realizing that whoever Mayura was must’ve been someone his family knew. Which would easily lead to him wondering if his father knew Mayura. Which would easily lead to—

“Marinette!” Tikki was waving her arms in front of Marinette’s face. “Are you ok?”

Marinette waved away her thoughts. “Sorry, Tikki, I was just—“ She shook her head, “I’ll be ok.”

Focus, she had to focus. Nathalie asked her to help make Adrien feel better and she was going to help make Adrien feel better. She just had to figure out how.

Marinette picked up her phone, dialing a number. “Hi, Nino!”

“Hey, dude,” Nino greeted from the other end of the phone.

“I need your help…”

————

Adrien woke up from his restless nap when he heard a knock on the door. He rubbed at his eyes as he sat up in bed. “Come in,” he called, voice a bit raspy. His eyes brightened, his mood just a little bit lighter, when he saw Marinette hesitantly walk into the room with Nino and Alya following suit. He scrambled out of bed, running his hands through his hair in an effort to tidy it.

“He—“ Adrien could barely get out a sentence before Nino tackled him into a hug. He couldn’t help but crack a little smile at his friend’s enthusiasm.

“Hey, man, how are you feeling?” Nino asked. “Wait. That was kind of a stupid question.”

“No, no, it’s ok. I’m actually feeling a little bit better now that you guys are here.” It was true. Seeing his friends helped him even just a little bit.

“Awww,” Alya and Marinette said in unison.

It was then that Adrien noticed the bag in Marinette’s hands. “What’s that?”

She smiled, “Well, I thought you’d need a little something sweet to help you feel a little better, so I brought your favorite pastries and some extra for us to share.”

Adrien’s heart warmed at Marinette’s thoughtfulness. He really did have the best girlfriend in the world. “That’s really sweet of you, Marinette,” he murmured, hugging her.

“So, is everyone getting a hug except for me, or..?” Alya asked, causing them all to laugh as Alya and Nino joined the hug for one big group hug.

After separating, the four of them sat at Adrien’s couch, ready to enjoy the pastries Marinette brought. Just as Marinette reached into the bag of pastries, she paused, sniffing the air. “Do you guys smell that?”

Adrien sniffed the air. “Yeah…it smells like something’s burning.” Burning?

Alarmed, the four of them got up and rushed downstairs, following Adrien into the kitchen. There, they found Nathalie looking distraught as she coughed and waved at the smoke in the air, burnt pancakes on the stove which she’d just turned off. She turned to face them, a frown on her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I was trying to make some pancakes but…” She trailed off as she gestured toward the burnt heap. Adrien grimaced at the sight. “I wanted to follow a recipe that would actually be good, unlike the ones Gabriel made,” she continued, nodding toward Marinette who knew just how bad his father’s pancakes were.

The only reason Adrien ate them was because he didn’t want to upset him. He was making an effort and he wanted to show gratitude. It wouldn’t have been right to say how he really felt about them. (Why didn’t it feel right?)

“I guess I’m just as bad at making pancakes as he is,” Nathalie concluded, shaking her head.

Adrien felt like there might have been more to that statement than what she’d said, but he wasn’t sure. He felt the urge to comfort her, but how? There was no way he could possibly eat those burnt pancakes and make her believe that he actually liked them. (He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to do that. Why did he ever feel the urge to eat the pancakes his father made him even if he hated them?)

“We can make a new batch,” Marinette offered with a smile. “I know how to make some and they’ll definitely be better than Mr. Agreste’s pancakes.” She glanced at Adrien, “Um, no offense.”

“Yeah,” Alya added, “it’ll be fun to make some pancakes together.”

“And we can save the pastries for later,” Nino supplied. They’d left the pastries in Adrien’s room and he’d almost forgotten about them.

They all looked at Adrien, waiting for his response. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea. His past experience with pancakes wasn’t great. But maybe it would be different this time. Maybe making the pancakes with his friends and Nathalie would be fun. Maybe they’d actually taste good. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make some pancakes together.

(Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make new, better memories. Was it even right to say that? To use the word “better”? He should feel bad for that. He shouldn’t think of his father in a bad light. His father was a hero. A hero.)

“Adrien?” Marinette asked gently, suddenly appearing at his side. “What do you think?”

What did he think? Adrien made himself give a small smile, hoping it was believable enough, deciding he’d leave the thinking for later. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”

“Awesome!” Nino exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. “I haven’t had pancakes in a while.”

So, the five of them got to work, looking for and gathering the ingredients Marinette needed and measuring the amounts necessary for each. Before long, they’d had flour all over their clothes, and the wonderful smell of fresh — not burnt — pancakes was in the air and laughter surrounded them. With so much going on around him, and so much joy in the air, Adrien almost, almost, forgot why they’d come over.

In the midst of all the chaos, Marinette pulled Adrien aside, her brows furrowed. “Hey,” she murmured, “I saw you pull your model smile earlier.” He opened his mouth to protest but a pointed look made him stop. “You know you didn’t have to make pancakes if you didn’t want to, right?”

Adrien sighed, “I know that, it’s just…” Just what?

“Just..?”

“I didn’t want to disappoint everyone. You all looked so excited to make pancakes.”

“Adrien…”

He looked down from her disappointed look, unable to look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“What? Why are you sorry?” Marinette gently took his face in her hands, guiding him to look at her. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to do something if you don’t want to. Your father made you do too many things you didn’t like, and I don’t want to keep doing that to you.”

He shook his head, “I wasn’t just doing it because you guys wanted to. I think that maybe… Maybe making pancakes with you will be more fun than eating the pancakes my father made.” Why did he feel so guilty for thinking that? Why was he so conflicted?

“Is this what you want?”

When was the last time he’d heard that question? His father seemed to never ask him such a thing. It was never Adrien’s decision.

“Yes, it is.”

“Ok. If you change your mind, just let me know.”

He leaned down to kiss her forehead, “Thank you, Marinette.”

“Anytime,” she smiled warmly.

“The pancakes are ready!” Alya called from the kitchen.

Soon, they sat down with stacks of pancakes on their plates and toppings laid out in front of them. Adrien opted for some chocolate syrup and whipped cream on top of his pancakes. He’d never tried them like that before, but Nino assured him that it was a good combination.

As they ate and talked, Adrien found himself able to actually, genuinely crack a smile and let out a chuckle. Just for a moment, surrounded by the people he loved, Adrien felt like maybe he was going to be ok. It wasn’t going to happen overnight, but with people who cared about him by his side, he’d get there eventually.

#miraculous ladybug #ml secret santa #nirby writes #adrien agreste #nathalie sancoeur #marinette dupain cheng #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #adrienette #lovesquare stuff #tikki #my writing

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yolowritter · 9 months ago

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In Defense of Ladrien

Hello there everyone, and welcome to a shorter post this time. I'll be honest, I'm in a random Ladrien mood right now, so I figured I should go rewatch a few of the Season 2 episodes with it. As you do. Then I remembered...it doesn't exist. Not in canon anyway, and that's a real shame! Despite Adrien and Ladybug's mutual crushes on each other, we don't get anything except a couple times where they blush at each other and stammer through their sentences. Which okay, it's cute, but c'mon, there's so much potential here! So today I want to lay a bit of groundwork as to how Ladrien could have been improved in this show, and also (hopefully) open up a discussion about it, since I rarely see anyone bring it up in modern MLB. I guess we're all too busy with Sentimonster angst and questioning what's going on with Lila's three mothers. Still waiting to see how they'll try to write themselves out of this predicament... Anyway, today we're talking about the most underrated lovesquare ship, Ladrien!

First of all, it's worth mentioning that I won't be going over the show episode by episode. This is just a short post discussing the ship in general, not a 7.5k analysis like I did with Chloe, my keyboard still needs time to recover. So, I'm sure we all know the basics, but I'll give a simple overview of canon Ladrien just to have everyone on the same page! Ladybug (Marinette) has a crush on Adrien Agreste. Adrien (Chat Noir) has a crush on Ladybug. That's it. That's the ship. Nothing more to it!

Okay...well, things aren't so simple. Canon does give us a couple moments where this dynamic is toyed with, but they're few and far between, leading to a...less than adored ship in the fandom. Don't get me wrong, I love Ladrien! That's why I'm writing this after all, and surely there's others out there who ship it too! But when compared to Adrienette or Marichat...it falls flat on it's face due to the utter lack of content we have to work with. Thankfully, we at least have an established dynamic! And hey, with this show, even that's a bloody miracle!

However, I have seen a lot of people (in yee olden days) say they prefer other sides of the Square because Ladrien seems...a little dishonest. In their defense, it really wasn't hard to make the claim that Marinette's crush on Adrien was (by early S2) still quite superficial, considering they hadn't actually gotten to know eachother than well, and vice-versa for Adrien with Ladybug. I can see why, especially since these are the respective personas that are "least real". Adrien is forced to conform to his father's expectations and always be perfect, while Ladybug needs to be professional and has the city's safety to worry about, hence is unable to ever be genuinely "Marinette" while in the suit. Add to that all the identity shenanigans, and it's easy to see why this ship got pretty much dismissed by a large portion of fans back when it was still relevant. And given that Miraculous has since pivoted away from teen drama and more into the "crazy butterfly man wants to destroy the universe" territory, most ships except Adrienette (and Marichat in Elation) got left behind as the storyline progressed. Ladybug and Chat's relationship evoled, we had a whole arc where Adrien was depressed, etc. That's just the natural progression of storytelling. At some point, we have to move on with the plot.

Fortunately, I am here to present the opposite argument! Ladrien would actually be a very viable ship, especially because of this hero worship that afflicts both Marinette and Adrien! It makes for amazing and complicated interactions on both sides, and here's why! It's because Ladrien was misunderstood, or maybe even misrepresented by the show itself. In my humble opinion, it shouldn't (only) be about Adrien blushing the moment he sees his crush, or Ladybug stammering twenty times in a single sentence. That's all well and good, but look at that I said a moment ago. Ladrien, by the very nature of it's existence is dishonest. Neither Ladybug nor Adrien can be themselves with eachother, even if I have no doubt they would rush headfirst into some kind of secret romance if given the oppurtunity! But...that the point of this ship in my opinion. They both view each other as this perfect, can-do-no-wrong person and have placed one another on a pedestal higher than Lila's delusions! Ladrien is fundementally doomed to this flaw from the very start...but overcoming it is what's interesting!

Just...hear me out! Let's say that after Gorizilla (or some other Akuma with Adrien as a target), Ladybug goes to check on him post-battle to make sure he's okay. Maybe she visits him that night, and surprises him with her presence. They do their usual routine of blushing and stammering, and for one reason or the other, one of them confesses that they have a crush. Regardless of who it is, or how exactly this plays out, let's say for the sake of argument that they get together after another visit or two. Maybe Marinette thinks this is her chance and can't resist getting to know the boy she loves, maybe Adrien is the one to bring it up because Ladybug is his hero. The immediate first problem is that while they know eachother...they can't be honest with their partner. And this brings up an amazing character conflict!

For Marinette, it's possible she has doubts about herself and rationalizes that of course the Adrien Agreste would never see her, but be in love with Ladybug! There's a whole other can of worms here about Marinette's feelings in regards to her mask, but that's for another post. For Adrien, maybe he's a bit conflicted because Ladybug is in love with him...but not Chat Noir, who he considers to be the "real" him. And the more they interact, the more both of them realize that the other is blindsighted by the mask they wear. There's genuine moments sprinkled in between, but feelings of inadequacy keep them from truly connecting. Think "the wall between us" metaphor. But...just when it seems like neither of them is really that happy, when they start feeling like a mistake, both Ladybug and Adrien get a glimpse of the person behind the mask. She realizes that he isn't some perfect, unreachable guy, and he in turn figures out that she's trying so hard to be good enough for him. This can happen in an infinite amount of ways, and I guarantee there's at least some Ladrien fanfics out there that do it! And I'm really glad, because it means someone else gets it!

After this we have a myriad of possibilities as to how things could go, but regardless, things absolutely change in their dynamic. They slowly start to getting to know the person behind the mask. Naturally, they both find themselves even more in love, then eventualy there's a reveal somewhere there, they get together officially, etc. You get the point, right? The reason why Ladrien is interesting is the dichotomy between Maribug and Adrichat's identities. It's the idolization that blinds them slowly fading away to reveal the truth, it's the feelings of insecurity that plague their relationship until everything finally comes to a head! If Ladynoir is parters in battle to lovers, Adrienette is high school sweethears, and Marichat is friends to secret midnight visits to lovers, then Ladrien is idols to friends to lovers! And I absolutely adore their dynamic!

Now, I'm obviously not the first person to bring this up, since I distinctly recall some great Ladrien fics from back in the day with pretty much this plot. And the reason why I adore them is that they play into the inherent dishonesty so well! I hope my point has come across, and if anybody wants to add their own analysis, by all means feel free! This post is supposed to open up a new discussion after all. Anyway, I have to go take a day off and go through my old Ladrien bookmarks! I'll see you all next time, but until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ladrien #underrated #very underrated ship #i love this dynamic #can you tell #honestly i hope people get it #like i'm sure some do #but it's so cool!#i can't let it fade away!#god i want to re-read some good ladrien #so i'm off to ao3!#hope you guys enjoy #i'll see myself out

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flightfoot · 1 year ago

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Fanfic Recs For Completed Lovesquare AU Miraculous Fics in 2023

By AU, I'm talking ones with a totally different setting, not just like a canon divergence AU. I'm thinking like Fantasy AUs, Sci-fi AUs, Royalty AUs, that sort of thing.

the legend of the firefly by @agnes-writes

“She’s… beautiful. If he were to describe her, he’d say that they bottled summer in her eyes, and painted the night sky in her hair. Her lips are curved into a wistful smile, eyes trailing the thicket of trees where Adrien stands. Her gaze sets his heart stuttering in his chest as it softens, and Adrien almost believes that look is meant for him.” OR: A pair of lovers create a romance that transcends time, and leaves a mark like no other.

This is an incredibly well-written folk tale, one that I highly recommend anyone who loves mythological, folktale, fantasy, etc AUs for Adrienette to read! It’s on the shorter side, but woven so perfectly that it packs an outsized punch, and feels like it belongs in one of those collections of folk tales and myths I read as a kid!

Adrien’s a god, gifting prosperity to those under his protection, but never interacting with them… until a farm girl catches his eye.

---

The Mer-Human Race by @rosie-b

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

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

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

---

hands red series by katrinette

Summary for the first fic in the series, a serpent in these still waters:

Marinette’s on her knees before her new king, preparing to swear the oath that binds her to serve him to the best of her ability. To the man whose father had her parents killed. Every word tastes like ash in her mouth.

Marinette’s plotting to overthrow the corrupt monarch, as the French tend to do. She doesn’t know King Adrien all that well, since he just ascended to the throne recently, but she’s certain that he’s just as bad as his father.

Of course, rebellion’s aren’t very effective without help, so after biting her tongue with the new king, she rants to her partner in crime, a man whose true name and face she does not know, but who she deeply trusts nonetheless: Chat Noir.

---

May I Introduce Myself, Your Highness? by @chocoluckchipz

Whether picking up a stray animal off the streets or saving a dying child at the market, Adrien had always strived to be the best version of himself. Truly, he would’ve been the perfect candidate to be snatched up by a kwami, were he an orphan, dying somewhere remote after a short life full of nothing but suffering and misery. Yet as it stood, the sole heir to the French throne had little to complain about. Apart from, perhaps, a complete absence of a love life. That is until a mysterious girl, wandering around his gardens at night, catches his attention.

I love Fantasy AUs. It’s a bit unclear what’s happening at first, but it all gets explained in the last chapter. Also don’t worry about the age gap between Marinette and Adrien at the start of the story, I promise it’s not a problem in the end.

---

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

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

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

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a winter so warm by @rosekasa

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

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

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Stitched Together by @nedjsmlfavs

Stitch Witch Marinette was just supposed to be having a nice, terrifying outing with her best friends. She never expected to find a magically trapped kitten, but here we are! Whatever happened to this poor little guy?

Poor Adrien, being transformed and chained up for ages, having no idea that he was gonna be rescued. But at least he got to have fun at Marinette’s place as a cat!

Most of this fic is adorable, though with some dark undertones lying in wait. After all, SOMEONE chained up that poor little kitty…

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Dreams of You by @chocoluckchipz

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

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

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

She would go on living her life.

He would always be the only one who remembered.

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

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

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

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

---

delicate in every way but one by katrinette

When Marinette finds a wanted ad that provokes just enough questions in her mind that she can’t help answering it, the reward is sweeter than she could have imagined.

I love the little bit of worldbuilding we get here about vampire society, and Adrien’s usual awkward adorableness in asking Marinette for a certain necessary favor. It’s always neat to see such familiar characterization in a supernatural setting like this.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec

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