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their-destinys-writer · 2 years ago

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The Trials of Confessing - Chapter 1

Rated: Teen

Chapters: 1/5

Ao3 / Wattpad

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A/N: This little story was posted in my Patreon a while ago. Since I started posting a new story there, I thought I’d finally bring this here. If you can’t wait to read the remaining chapters, you can read the full story on Patreon right now! As for the timeline of this story, this takes place right after Oblivio.

Chapter 1

“I just don’t get it,” Adrien said for the hundredth time since he got home.

He had already stared at the picture of him and Ladybug kissing for about two hours, and for the life of him still could not figure out what he did right during their amnesia period. What did memory-less Adrien do right? How did he charm her? Had his personality even been the same? Or had it been a fluke?

No, they both looked too happy for it to have been a fluke. They had obviously cared for each other during that time. The hand holding proved that. So, again: What. Did. He. Do?!

And his head started hurting.

“Uuugh.” He banged his head against the desk, worsening the dull pain. “I,” thunk, “don’t,” thunk, “get,” thunk, “it.”

Thunk.

Plagg groaned. “I get it. You don’t get it. Can’t you just sleep on it?”

“I don’t want to sleep on it!” Adrien whined. “I need to figure out what I did right.”

“What guarantee is there that whatever you did will work again? It’s not like she had the memories to remember she hates your puns.”

“Or what if I did pun, but this time it worked, because she didn’t know me already? What if I did what I usually did, but lack of baggage is what charmed her?”

“You’re such a drama queen,” Plagg complained. “I don’t get why you’re getting so worked up over it. You don’t even know if it was something you did.”

Adrien was about to retort but paused instead, slightly lifting his head.

Plagg… had a point. Any number of things could have happened for them to end up kissing like that. And yet, they managed to beat the akuma, possibly meaning that their personalities didn’t change much. And there was one thing he knew Ladybug wasn’t: fickle.

Taking that in consideration, the chances that he did something he wouldn’t have done as Chat Noir were probably slim. So something else must have been in play. Something both of them could relate to, that made them think they were an item.

Something like proof that they knew each other.

“Plagg,” Adrien gasped, grabbing the little cat and hugging him to his face. “You are a genius!”

“What?! What I do?” Plagg said, as he struggled against the boy’s sudden affections.

“If Ladybug and I were able to defeat the akuma without our memories, then maybe our personalities didn’t change after we got hit,” he explained.

“Your point?”

“It would take a whole lot for Ladybug to decide that I’m important to her,” he continued. “The only way she could think we are important to each other is if we somehow know each other. That maybe we found each other in our phones.”

“Wasn’t your phone dead when you got back to the bus?”

“Yes. Meaning I must’ve used it during that time. We must’ve had each other’s phone numbers, or pictures together.”

“Or she simply had one of your bagillion pictures as a wallpaper and is just a fan.”

Adrien shook his head. “I doubt it. Ladybug has expressed that she’s in love with someone. I doubt she would have a picture of me as her wallpaper if she’s in love—” He stopped suddenly. His eyes rounded. “WHAT IF SHE’S IN LOVE WITH ME?!”

He let go of Plagg and grabbed his hair instead.

“Even that’s a stretch, if you ask me,” said the small god, brushing his whiskers straight.

“But think about it!” Adrien insisted. “Ladybug is already in love. With someone from her civilian life. It would make sense it’s someone she knows well enough to have pictures with. And yet, when we lost our memories, she kissed me. And not just any kiss, either.” He turned towards the picture on his computer screen. “That looks nothing like the kiss she gave me during Dark Cupid. I can tell we’re very in love there. The only way she could’ve kissed me like that is if she thought I was truly important to her. Something has to have made her believe that.”

“How can you be sure she didn’t just find you cute?”

Adrien sighed. “As much as I’d like to say that she couldn’t resist my feline charms… I think it takes more than looks to really make an impression on Ladybug.”

“If you say so. Either way, even if you’re right, I doubt that would matter to Ladybug. The baggage is back, so who cares!”

“Actually,” Adrien started, eyes squinting, “she might agree.”

“Wait. Don’t—”

“Plagg, transform me!”

* * *

Ladybug was skeptical. And if she was being honest, a little afraid. Afraid Chat Noir had only called her to brag about how he wooed her that day. Or to insist once again that they belong together. Nevertheless, she liked to think Chat Noir wouldn’t waste her time like that, which was why she found herself swinging towards one of their many meeting places, on top of an apartment building. As she landed behind his dark figure, she took a deep breath and spoke.

“We didn’t have patrol scheduled for today.”

“You came!” Chat Noir said, turning and standing up.

“It sounded important,” Ladybug responded, as she placed the yo-yo on her hip. “Everything okay?”

“Um, depends?” Ladybug tilted her head. “It’s about today’s kiss.”

The heroine deflated. “Chat, I told you, I’m not in love with you—”

“No, I know what you said,” he rushed to say. “And I think you’re right… And wrong.”

“Okaaay?” Ladybug frowned at the unexpected turn. “I don’t get it. Am I wrong, or right?”

Chat Noir gestured for them to sit down. Ladybug did as asked, in hopes this would be a proper conversation of the boy’s constant advances. If she was being honest, her patience was starting to wear thin, especially with his behavior when they saw the picture after Oblivio.

“So,” Chat Noir started, “I think I figured out how the kiss happened. The most… logical way it could’ve happened.” He paused, as if waiting for a response. But Ladybug remained expectant, so he continued. “I think there’s a good chance that the boy you’re in love with is civilian me.”

There was silence. Ladybug watched him, bewildered. She got the urge to laugh, but quickly swallowed it, knowing it could potentially hurt his feelings.

“W-What makes you say that?” she asked instead.

“Because, I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon, and I realized you would never kiss me unless you were given a really good reason to.”

Ladybug blinked. “Um, wow. Uh… That’s actually right. But we weren’t ourselves then. How would you know if our personalities remained?”

“Because we beat the akuma,” Chat Noir responded. “It takes a lot of wit and creativity to beat an akuma, and the fact that we did it makes me think that our personalities didn’t change that much. I…I don’t think I wooed you like I thought at first. I think something happened that made us think we’re important to each other.”

“Something like what?”

“Like finding out that we know each other as civilians. And, maybe… my civilian identity is the boy you love?”

There was a pause. Ladybug’s eyes grew in size as she processed what he just implied. This time, she was unable to contain it: a loud cackle ripped from her lungs, her hands on her sides. Like she had heard the funniest joke of the year. Meanwhile, Chat Noir’s face contorted into an offended pout.

“Jeez, I didn’t know the idea was so hilarious.”

“I’m sorry!” Ladybug wheezed. “It’s just that the idea of you and the boy I’m in love with being the same is insane. You two are so different!”

“I’ll have you know that the way I act as civilian me can often be very different from superhero me.”

“Re-Really?” Ladybug’s laughter started dying down.

“Yeah. You have no idea what I have to be when I take off the mask.”

“You’re right, I don’t. I’m sorry. It’s just very unbelievable to me. And very convenient to you.”

“You really don’t think I can be the same boy?”

“Well—” Ladybug was about to say ‘no,’ but was immediately reminded of that time Alya compared Adrien with Chat Noir. Or how Adrien was the person Claire Nightingale chose to play Chat Noir in her music video for their similarities.

“Uh, Ladybug? Are you okay? You look kinda pale.”

“HUH?!” she yelped at the sound of her partner’s voice. “I’m fine! I’m, I’m… I’m not sure.”

“You think I might be right?!” Chat Noir squeaked, seeming surprised to have convinced her.

“I don’t know!” Ladybug attempted to clear up. “But, you actually have a point. I wouldn’t have kissed you for your looks alone. Something had to convince me, so… Oh gosh, you might be on to something.”

“I can’t believe you agree!”

“Chat Noir, I know you tend to be the muscle in fights, but you’re not an idiot.”

“I can’t believe I might be the boy you like!”

“Okay, okay, let’s say you’re right,” Ladybug said, attempting to regain control of the conversation. “What do we even do with that information? We’re not supposed to tell each other who we are. And if we’re wrong, we’d reveal ourselves to total strangers and possibly hurt our friendship.”

“Hmm.” Chat Noir placed a hand on his chin. He then snapped his fingers. “I have an idea!”

“Do I want to hear this?” Ladybug groaned.

Chat Noir gave her a pleading look, so she gestured him to say his piece.

“What if you confess to the guy you’re in love with?” Ladybug tilted her head. He continued. “Since I’ll know you’ll be confessing, I’ll know that whatever girl comes to me tomorrow, or whatever day we pick, will be you. If you’re so sure that I’m not the guy you’re in love with, then if you confess to him, it wouldn’t be me. But if it is…”

“Are you sure you want to take that risk?” Ladybug asked, worriedly. “What if it’s not you? You’re basically giving me your blessing to be with someone else.”

“I’m sure I’m right,” he said confidently. “I don’t have to worry about you ending up with some other guy, when I know I’m right.”

Ladybug shook her head. “I’m still not fully convinced… But,” she bit her lip, “I do like the idea of finally confessing. Even if he turns me down.”

“Great! So tomorrow, confess your love, and we can figure out this whole thing!”

“Wait! We need a plan.”

“Why? We already have it.”

“What if someone else confesses before I do?” she pointed out. “If you’re right, but someone else beats me to it, you’d end up thinking I’m someone else.”

“Hmm. You make a good point.” Chat Noir pondered. “I did get confessed to at least three times in the last month.”

“Sure you did,” Ladybug teased.

“I’ll have you know I am much more popular underneath the mask than you think.”

Ladybug giggled. “I don’t doubt it. I’m sure you’re real smooth in school. I can imagine you flirting with girls in a leather jacket and sunglasses.”

“Huh.” Chat Noir stroke his chin. “I should try out the leathery bad-boy look. I do rock this suit pretty well.”

Ladybug laughed at his antics. She was glad to always be able to count on his witty remarks. Never easily embarrassed, the kitty cat.

Chat Noir snapped his fingers. “I got it. Wear green ribbons on your hair for your confession.”

“If only half my school didn’t wear them,” Ladybug said. ��There’s a Chat Noir fan club that wears them on occasion. And the last thing I wanna look like while I confess to the boy I love is like a fan of another boy. If he turns out to not be you.”

“Alright. Buy him a gift then.”

“Any girl could bring something along with her confession.”

“Something unique then.”

“Hmm.”

Ladybug thought for a moment, until an idea popped up. She asked Chat Noir to wait a moment for her and attached her yo-yo to the nearest chimney. She lowered herself enough to reach a window where there was a middle-aged man working on a laptop on his desk. She lightly knocked on the glass, hoping to not startle the man, yet failing anyway, from what she could tell from how his computer moved several inches away from him.

Hoping to come off friendly, Ladybug waved at him. The man hastily opened the window.

“Woah, Ladybug! Knocking on my building!”

“Good evening, sir! Do you mind if I could have a piece of paper and borrow a pen?”

“Oh, of course!” the man said. An array of papers flew around the desk, right before he presented the heroine with what she asked. “You can keep the pen. I’ve got tons.”

Ladybug thanked him and bid him goodbye before rising back up to the rooftop. She sat down and started scribbling on the piece of paper. She stopped, tapping her lips with the end of the pen.

“Can I borrow your hand?” she asked.

Chat Noir lifted both his hands. Ladybug took the one with the ring and pulled it under her arm, away from view. She could feel Chat Noir hovering behind her, moving from one shoulder to the other. Like the curious cat that he was. When finished, she broke the paper in two and pressed them against her chest while she turned back to her partner.

“Is that a love letter?” Chat Noir purred.

Ladybug squinted. “No. It’s a design.”

She turned the papers around, revealing a simple shape of a ladybug in the middle of the trace of his ring.

“I will make his favorite pastry with a unique packaging. I’ll use green and black, and on a corner of it, I will place this design.”

Chat Noir blinked. “Wow,” he breathed. “M’Lady, I knew you were smart, but had no idea you could also design so well.”

“There are many things you don’t know about me, Chaton.”

“Or so you think,” he teased, leaning towards her.

“Eh, don’t get ahead of yourself,” Ladybug retorted, placing a finger on the tip of his nose and pushing him away. “I still think you’re wrong.”

“And I think I’m right.”

Ladybug giggled, but became thoughtful almost immediately.

“If you’re right, what would that mean for us?” She pondered. “We would be revealing our identities against Master Fu’s wishes… Oh no, this is a terrible idea!”

“Well… um, I guess I didn’t think about that,” Chat Noir mumbled. “We don’t have to. Maybe wait until after we beat Hawkmoth.”

“But if I do that, the boy I love might end up with someone else and I might never get the chance to tell him how I feel!”

“Then confess.”

“But if I confess and you’re right, we’d be breaking the one rule Master Fu gave us. What will happen then?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Chat Noir determined. Ladybug pressed her lips together. “Sometimes, some risks are worth taking. And we don’t know how long it’ll take us to beat Hawkmoth. Would you wait another year or two to confess your love to someone?”

Ladybug took a deep breath. “I don’t want to. And I’m so tired of that rule too…”

“You are?”

“I always have,” she admitted. “But duty has always come first.”

“But now?” Chat Noir asked quietly.

Ladybug glanced at him. “But now, I feel like asking for forgiveness instead of permission. Besides, you could still be wrong.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Or maybe not. But I’d like to find out.”

“Honestly, I’m curious, too.”

“Welp, whatever happens,” Chat Noir grabbed the blue pen and one of the papers from her hands, “a little something to remember me by. Just in case.”

Ladybug watched as he drew a cartoon cat face next to the design she created. He then proceeded to hand it back. Though, he seemed to have forgotten how to hold a pen while wearing claws.

“You poked a hole in the pen!” she gasped, looking at the newly-made wound on the cheap pen.

“Oops,” Chat Noir chuckled. “Hazards of my sharp grip.”

“Chat—”

“Sorry.”

Nevertheless, Ladybug laughed as she shook her head. “It’s fine,” she said. “Another something to remember you by, right?”

“I guess it is,” he chuckled.

* * *

Adrien had a hard time hiding his excitement the next morning. With everything he did, a grin was plastered on his face. He tried concentrating on what he was doing, but a thought of a mysterious girl walking up to him with a delicious macaron kept sneaking into his mind. Making him smile like a fool by himself.

By the time he got to school, he tried controlling his features. With little success. As he met up with Nino, the boy stared weirdly at him. As they got to the lockers, Nino asked: “Why do you keep smiling like that?”

“It’s nothing,” Adrien shook off.

Right before their first class started, he asked again: “You’re still smiling. What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Adrien insisted.

By the time they got out of the class and went back to the lockers, Nino seemed to have had enough.

“Dude, seriously, you’re creeping me out,” he insisted, as he slammed his locker close. “What is going on?”

“Okay, fine,” Adrien relented. “What’s happening is that I’m in love.”

“Kagami?”

“No, someone else,” Adrien exhaled wistfully. “This girl… She’s brave, sweet, funny, just all around wonderful. She’s the greatest girl I’ve ever met and she’s gonna confess her love for me today.”

“Wait, what? Hold up, rewind.” Nino made a gesture imitating the word with his hands. “Why is this the first I ever hear about this girl?”

“Well, we don’t know each other in person,” Adrien cringed, scratching the back of his head. “I don’t even know what she really looks like. But she told me she’s confessing and I cannot wait to finally meet her in person.”

“Does she have a name, at least?”

“Uuuh, not yet,” Adrien admitted. “We only know each other by nicknames. It’s kind of a long story. But the point is that some girl is gonna confess her undying love for me, and I’m finally gonna be with the girl of my dreams.”

Adrien gazed starry-eyed into the distance, as he imagined a faceless girl in red with black polka-dots lovingly saying the three words he longed for.

“Wow,” Nino whispered. “You really got it bad for this girl.” He took a deep breath. “Welp, I’m really happy for you, dude. Whoever this girl is, I hope she’s everything you hope for.”

“Thanks,” Adrien sighed, closing his locker and starting his way to their next class. “Gotta admit, though, I’m a little nervous.”

“That’s a first!” Nino laughed. “I remember you were the one who was helping me when I liked Marinette.”

“All that, for you to end up with Alya,” Adrien teased.

“What can I say, love comes with whom you least expect it,” Nino said with a wistful sigh. Yet when he spoke again, his tone became more serious. “I have to ask, though, how do you know that this girl is really in love with you, and is not just a fan?”

“I know her,” Adrien responded. “I know she’s not the kind of girl to—”

“Adrien?”

The boy’s heart thudded against his chest. He slowly turned around, but only found the school president of his fanclub before him.

“Oh, hi Christie. What’s up?”

“I need to tell you something important.” She stepped forwards until she was only a meter apart. She took a deep breath and said: “I’m in love with you.”

---

#miraculous ladybug #the trials of confessing #ttoc #miraculous ladybug fanfic #Chat Noir #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Ladynoir #Adrinette

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ciaossu-imagines · 2 years ago

Note

I really liked your answers to my question on K for day fourteen, I also agree with a decent amount of your points. Could you also do day fourteen prompt five for Bungo Stray Dogs please?

I’m very happy to hear someone enjoyed reading my fandom thoughts, and it’s really cool to hear that people agree or find reasons in some of them! I can definitely do this and hope you’ll enjoy reading my thoughts here as well, my lovely anon!

Send me a show and I’ll tell you…

The first character I fell in love with

It was, like most people in this fandom, Dazai. I still adore his character and think he’s fantastic, but he’s not the reason I continue reading anymore, or at least, not the sole reason.

The character who is my ‘baby’

I honestly don’t have any characters in this particular fandom that trigger that ‘this character is precious, and I will love them and take care of them and never let anything bad happen to them’ response in me.

The character who I do not understand

I find Mori to be really hard for me. I find it difficult to really understand and flesh out his character in my mind, I find him difficult to write, and I find him difficult overall to enjoy even in canon as a character. I’ve even tried reading a translation of Vita Sexualis and researching the author he’s based off of to further try to understand his character and flesh it out, but generally, he’s impossible for me.

The character that I think the show ruined

While not exactly ‘ruined’, I think the manga (and the show, by extension, really could have done so much more with the Guild members, particularly Louisa May Alcott, though I could be very biased there as she is one of my all-time favourite authors, to the point she occupies a large section of the ‘As’ on my bookshelf. I just feel that, in terms of characterization and even character designs, she just fell really, really flat and bland to me.

The most attractive male and female character

I really enjoy androgynous looking characters and Gin is absolutely gorgeous to me, both in her appearance Mafia-wise and in her civilian clothes. I’m going to surprise everyone here by my pick for the most attractive (to me) male characters and admit that both Ango and Tachihara tie for that position! Also admitting fully that I adore Ango and hate how much hate he gets.

The character death that was the worst for me

It’s Odasaku! I feel like, from what we see of him in story and especially after reading Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era, that…well, honestly, I feel like he’s such a compelling, interesting, wonderful character and while I understand that he was never supposed to be a primary character and that the storyline he has and even his death was absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of the story, I feel a little cheated by how many amazing storylines and how many amazing scenes we could have had if only he’d lived. Also, not quite a death, but can we all just admit that Kunikida…that boy is not having a good time lately and while I’m really loving the twists and turns of the story, everything with him is slightly breaking my heart.

The character that is the most like me

I do resonate quite strongly with Kunikida’s character. There’s a lot me I can see in some of his character quirks, beliefs, and mannerisms but I will say that he’s a lot more rigid than I am in some ways.

The character that I just want to be happy

All and none of them, haha. In some way, because I do love every character, I do want them all to reach happy endings or to enjoy good times. But at the same time, while it can come off campy or super silly at times, the world of Bungou Stray Dogs is very noir-ish at times and it’s definitely quite dark and not a world where happy endings are guaranteed and I do also really, really love that aspect to the whole thing and would hate to lose it.

My four favourite characters, past or present

Narrowing it down is so freaking hard!! Ranpo, Lovecraft, Akutagawa, and Chuuya would probably be what I could narrow it down to though.

My four least favourite characters, past or present

Again, this was so hard!! Mori was the only one that popped right into my head, and as for the other three, I guess Alcott, Q, Lucy, and Pushkin rate up there for various reasons.

#event ask #bungou stray dogs #bsd #fandom ask

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sigmasonicx · 2 years ago

Note

It seems like you were already familiar, but I can’t recommend Monochromatic’s works enough. You can find her on FimFiction (and you might want to do that to get contemporary comments and get the order stories came out), but I’ll go ahead and use her personal website for story links There’s The Enchanted Library and its two sequels, which is a great adventure with slow burn romance... then it continues after they get together and turns out to be all about dealing with trauma! With horses! https://www.hollowshades.com/story/the-enchanted-library/ https://www.hollowshades.com/story/the-enchanted-kingdom/ https://www.hollowshades.com/story/the-enchanted-carousel/ Also recommended to read after chapter 3 of The Enchanted Kingdom, despite being a human AU https://www.hollowshades.com/story/constellations/ Mono herself probably wouldn’t want me to link this because it’s old, but Injuring Eternity is “Twilight outlives her friends” in its purest angst form and you’re guaranteed to cry https://www.hollowshades.com/story/injuring-eternity/ Probably her definitive “fitting RariTwi into show canon” fic, The Last Train Home; also might make you cry at the end despite not being sad https://www.hollowshades.com/story/the-last-train-home/ Simulations is generally a lot of fun, with Rarity deciding to break up with Twilight so they could try confessing their love again https://www.hollowshades.com/story/simulations/ Not recommended to read until you finish the show, but this “canon RariTwi” fic has the fun story of Mono rushing to make sure it got published the day the final episode of FiM aired, so it would be one of the first post-epilogue stories on FimFiction. https://www.hollowshades.com/story/in-everything-but-name/

A couple months ago I would have strongly recommended her story Crimson Lips, but she took it down as she’s in the process of original-ifying it and hopes to get it published. And she has a ton of other stories (not just RariTwi) that are worth checking out.

Now for other authors, let me go through my favorites on FimFiction

MrNumbers wrote The Mare Who Once Lived on the Moon, which is a pretty cool steampunk AU where Twilight invents a telescope that finds... a mare on the moon! She has to work through Celestia’s weirdly antagonistic bureaucracy and team up with a bunch of oddballs to find a way to communicate with her and bring her home. Numbers has other good stuff too. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/247031/the-mare-who-once-lived-on-the-moon Long Road to Friendship by Albi is Equestria Girls, but it started after the first movie and before the second, so there isn’t much mandatory watching. This is notably a Sunset-focused story before we had any clue what her good guy personality would be in Rainbow Rocks (though the fic ended up going on long enough that RR and other movies came out before it finished) and made her pretty compelling. Also has an ongoing and very long sequel that I admittedly haven’t read. I haven’t read their other stories yet. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/144198/long-road-to-friendship 80 Days 'Til the World's Farthest Shore is a really cool story by Cynewulf, about a human woman in a steampunk world coming across a strange woman who claims to be a princess from another world, who then accompanies her in her journey. Cyne has a lot of great stuff in general. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/342253/80-days-til-the-worlds-farthest-shore In fact, I just gotta include this story I commissioned from her, which is heavy sci-fi and also RariTwi, about Rarity traveling among the stars with a lot of time dilation (yet it isn’t sad) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/521576/as-long-as-the-earths-orbit

Undome Tinwe has a lot of good stuff, and here’s one, a noir story about Detective Rarity https://www.fimfiction.net/story/482568/a-woman-worth-saving Hard Reset by Eakin is a really fun Groundhog Day take (though closer in premise to Edge of Tomorrow I suppose) where Twilight is caught in a time loop with a deadly changeling attack. I haven’t read their other works. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/67362/hard-reset Aragon has a certain tone to his stories that I really dig, usually based around the premise that the main six and the princesses have godlike control over the world but get caught in really stupid and normally mundane situations. His fics are good, but I’d say he really started to shine with his comics, linked in his profile in rough reverse order. However, those comics often require a decent amount of later knowledge, including of Equestria Girls https://www.fimfiction.net/user/20200/Aragon And as a last suggestion, here’s an odd one. This author wrote only one story on FimFiction, and it’s a crossover with Willy Wonka. It works shockingly well. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/378213/wonka-vs-applejack As long as this post is, I haven’t really checked out many of the fics from the old days, so I’m sure others can recommend more in that space. And I suppose I should toot my own horn and mention I write MLP fanfics, though my stories are pretty heavy on things from late in the show. https://www.fimfiction.net/user/307623/SigmasonicX/stories

Howdy! I got into FiM in high-school and I wanted to say I love your silly little comics! Are you on FiMfiction by any chance, and if so, any fanfic recommendations?

Sincerely, Zam

I'm not actually sure! I would love some FimFiction reccs if anyone has some, because I'd really like to engage with that side of the fandom more :D

also thank you!!!

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charlietheepicwriter7 · 3 years ago

Text

High Priest Pt. 4

From “The Many Akumatizations of Luka Couffaine.”

Juleka fumed as she searched the temple for a way out. She couldn’t believe them! Especially Alya; even when the truth was staring her in the face, she’d rather bury her head in the sand than admit she was wrong. Sure, you could try to pass off the pictures and her brother’s words as opinion, but it didn’t really work when Lila was doing everything she could to make Marinette out to be the bad guy! Even in a coma her friend couldn’t get any peace!

And what hurt most was… Rose wasn’t on her side. Rose liked to see the best in people, and that’s what Juleka loved about her, but staying by Lila’s side in this situation was too much.

She shook her head. Enough of that; she had to find a way out. For Ladybug, for Chat Noir. It wasn’t hard to breathe, and the corridors were lined with torches, yet they weren’t filling up with smoke. There had to be windows to the outside world somewhere!

Without warning, the floor bucked under her feet. Juleka gasped as it shifted under her feet. In the distance, her class screamed before a wall closed up the path behind her, making it impossible for her to turn back. The temple stopped moving.

Juleka frowned, touching the newly created wall. She hadn’t expected Luka to be able to control the temple, but she probably should have; he did create it from the hospital. Was he trying to cut everyone off from each other? Did… did he know where everyone was?

“Oh, thank kwami, I finally found someone!”

She whirled around, ready to defend herself, only for all thoughts to die in her head. In front of her floated a mouse-ladybug-thing. A pair of earrings dangled from its paw. “Cool… What are you?”

“I’m a kwami. Specifically, Ladybug’s kwami. I’m the one who gives her her powers. My name is Tikki.” It cocked its head to the side. “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”

“My brother turned into racist caricature of a Central American priest and wants to murder me, Hawkmoth is a terrorist with a butterfly fetish, and my class is hanging off the words of a serial liar like she’s the messiah; this really isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened to me today.” Juleka frowned. “Wait, if you give Ladybug her powers, why aren’t you with her right now?”

Tikki looked away. “She was inside the hospital when the akuma took over. Everyone that was inside became part of the temple.”

A chill like cold water rushed over her. “So… Ladybug’s not coming to save us?” There was still Chat Noir, but without Ladybug’s power to reverse damage, her brother would be stuck as the High Priest, and Marinette would be trapped in her coma until he killed them all-

“True, Ladybug can’t save us. But that doesn’t mean a different Ladybug can’t. One time only.”

Juleka’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t mean… “Me?” She pointed at herself. Rose would be a better Ladybug, or Mylene, or even Adrien, he hasn’t been akumatized yet. “I can’t be Ladybug. I’ve been akumatized! Ladybug wouldn’t choose me–”

The kwami landed on her hand. “Juleka Couffaine. I can guarantee you, if my holder were here, there’d be no other person she would rather have succeeded her, especially with that girl running around pretending to be Ladybug’s best friend. You are the only person here who knows the truth

“So, Juleka Couffaine, can we trust you?”

@bee-a-garbage-shipper @gabbie-gabbs @yamagotchii @larasilvestris @vixen-uchiha @kittysuicoffee

#lukanette #yandere luka couffaine #ml salt #lila salt #alya salt #class salt #juleka couffaine #julerose #the many akumatizations of luka couffaine #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug juleka #akuma luka

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trainsinanime · 3 years ago

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Okay, forget all about that sentimonster crap, and let’s address a real question in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, one that will actually matter in the show moving forward:

Will Marinette lose her memory? If yes, how, why and what happens next? Let’s speculate.

What speaks against it? Well, it would be considerably sadder than the show has been to date. But that’s not much of an argument. I also used to think that Fu losing his memories was just a result of this being a sudden emergency guardianship transfer, but I think "Furious Fu" proved that theory wrong. In that episode Chat Noir, Ladybug and Su Han (who is an official guardian) all agreed that Marinette would indeed lose her memories if the box was transferred.

In fiction, "loosing all your memories" is the kind of plot consequence that sounds terrible, but doesn’t actually result in anything you can’t show on screen. It’s not torture, there’s no blood or violence. And, of course, the character in question is still around. So we have a lot of cases where characters did end up losing all their memories. Star Trek did it, and it happens to Carol Danvers in the Marvel comics with some surprising regularity.

I would argue that it is such a nice sweet spot that if it is brought up, then it's almost guaranteed to happen. If you threaten a character with death, on some level the audience will know that it won't actually happen. So if you want a threat that you want to follow through with, something like "losing your memories" is ideal.

So my gut feeling is that yes, it will happen to Marinette. If that wasn't the goal, they could have easily phrased things differently (e.g. Fu explicitly deciding to lose his memories), but they made sure to show it in a way that would apply to Marinette as well, and then, in the first episode of season four that we saw (even if it wasn't meant that way), they confirmed this and reminded us of it.

How would this happen? One way that seems to come up a lot is as a form of heroic sacrifice. It's what Carol Danvers did in the Kelly Sue DeConnick run, and it was also framed that way for Master Fu. I have no idea what the specific circumstances would be, but I could easily imagine Marinette doing something similar.

I also think it would fit well into (part of) her arc this season. At least some part of the season has been about her learning that she doesn't need to do everything only by herself, and in fact shouldn't. Giving up the box and taking herself out of the equation like that seems like it might fit here. I'm a bit uncertain, though, because it also sounds a lot like what Fu did, and just repeating that would be boring.

Another option would be enemy action. Maybe Hawkmoth manages to force her to give it up physically? Maybe he blackmails her? Also not something I'm sure about.

The biggest question for me is consequences. What happens next? Is Marinette's memory loss permanent? Personally, I doubt it.

First of all, the show has clearly established that somehow, relationships persevere despite the amnesia. Fu still remembered on some level his love for Marianne and his friendship with Marinette, and both still staid important in his life. I am certain that Marinette losing her memories would be painful, but it would not mean losing all of her friends. And as Oblivio established, Marinette losing her memories might actually help her get closer to Adrien.

But more generally, memory loss is reversible, at least in fiction. Personally, I am not a big fan of the trope where a character just literally relearned all their memories in the time between seasons (or even episodes), But it is definitely an option.

But beyond that, the show has also established that Marinette has the power to rewrite the rules of the show if she really wants to, and that everything in the Grimoire is just guidelines, not absolute rules. It would definitely be possible for Marinette to regain her memories through magic; and I could imagine this happening through magic that Marinette herself triggers. Could Marinette, in a moment of crisis, just chose to be Ladybug again, thus triggering her memories back? (I'm thinking of the episode Anne of Buffy the Vampire Slayer here)

Anyway, this is mostly just idle speculation. The TL;DR is: I think Marinette will definitely lose her memories, I think it will be dramatic, and I also think it will be undone again, probably through magic, in the next episode (probably next season), and it will make her stronger. What do you think?

#miraculous ladybug #mlb meta #written while tired #hence probably incoherent and full of typos

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starshine583 · 4 years ago

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New Girl on the Block (19)

(Hey, everyone!!! Thank you so much for your patience while I was away. It’s good to be back! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!)

Ch. 1 / Ch. 18 / Ch. 20 (ao3)

Chapter 19: A Date with Misery

“Marinette, you are.. an incredible person.”

“You don’t need anyone to validate how amazing you are.”

“You are talented, kind, and capable all on your own.”

Felix’s words from the night before played over in Marinette’s mind again and again, an endless loop that she found herself incapable of escaping, and with each echo, her heart seemed to melt further than she thought possible. The comments were simply too honey-sweet, too sincere. She couldn’t help reveling in them. How long had he thought of her that way? How long had he placed her on such a high pedestal that she wasn’t aware of? Marinette knew that Felix had a tendency to make unexpected comments every now and then, but last night truly caught her off guard.. and perhaps made her just a tad bit love-stricken. Had he always spoken to her in that soft manner, the one that made her believe she could be the very stars in his night sky? Had he always possessed the ability to send her heart fluttering the way it did last night, when he allowed her to pull him onto the dance floor and hold him incredibly close? She had no way of knowing, and certainly not enough nerve to ask aloud. But, oh, how her mind ran rampant with fantasies anyway. Will she ever be able to dance with him like that again? Would he look at her the same way he had then, with eyes that felt soft as a cloud in the moment? Did he go home last night and think about her too, endlessly turning on his bed and glancing at his diary- if he kept one, that is -and thinking maybe just one more entry-

“Marinette?”

Marinette jumped, nearly falling off of the ladder that she’d been balancing on, and felt a blush explode across her cheeks.

“Nothing! What? I mean-” She flailed her arms a bit to regain balance, then peeked down at the person below, the very boy she’d been fantasizing about “-Did you need something?”

Felix stood at the base of the ladder, his brows furrowed slightly. “..No. I just wanted to know if there was something wrong with your heart.”

Marinette sputtered, her blush deepening considerably. She couldn’t have been that obvious, right? What expression was she making before he came over?

“M-My heart?” She asked- or rather, squeaked.

Felix pointed to a stream of hearts on the wall, the ones she was supposed to be taking down. “You were staring at one of the hearts for quite a while. Is it ripped?”

“Oh.” She said, staring blankly at the wall. The paper hearts. He meant the paper hearts hanging next to her. Not her heart specifically. That made a lot more sense. “No, sorry. The hearts are fine. I was just, uh.. you know.. reminiscing. We had a lot of fun times with these decorations.”

“Ah,” Felix tilted his head up in a slight nod, “my apologies for interrupting you then.”

“Oh, you didn’t.” Marinette assured hastily. “It really wasn’t anything important.”

Definitely wasn’t anything important..

She plucked out the pin that held the hearts and started down the ladder to move to the other end of the stream. Felix offered a hand to help her down in the process, and she took it, strongly ignoring the tingling sensation that came from doing so.

“If you’d like to keep one as a memorial, I’m sure Allegra wouldn’t mind.” He remarked. “I doubt she’s going to keep any of these things herself after all the parties they’ve had.”

Marinette hummed. Keeping a heart streamer as a memorial, huh? That didn’t sound like a bad idea.

“Thanks. I just might do that.”

Felix gave her the tiniest of smiles, the kind Marinette was used to catching at this point, and slipped his hand out of hers when her feet hit the ground. She clasped her hands together afterwards to compensate, also ignoring the fact that it might have been nice for him to hold her hand just a tad bit longer.

“Would you like help moving the ladder?” He asked, to which she shook her head.

“I’ve got it, but if you could move the box over to the other round table while I move the ladder, I would be grateful.”

Allegra had given her an empty box to put the decorations in as she took them off of the wall. So far, Marinette had exactly.. zero decorations in the box. Gosh, how long had she been staring at that heart? Was she going insane? Why would she even be thinking about Felix this way? He’d just told her last night that he wasn’t interested in romance. Falling for him would be guaranteed heartbreak! It would be completely ridiculous! It would.. It would..

It would probably be inevitable.

Felix was just too sweet to her, too kind. He was always looking out for her and supporting her, always sharing his quiet laughs and amused smiles, and he said too many things that made her head spin for her not to start liking him. There was just no escape! It was going to happen eventually. The only question now was when.

And maybe today was her answer.

Stop it. Marinette scolded herself as she picked up the ladder to walk it over. It’s just some butterflies in your stomach. How many of those did you digest around Adrien?

Marinette froze midstep, an immense sense of horror washing over her. Oh, gosh, this wasn’t going to be another Adrien situation, was it? It couldn’t be. She refused to go through that again. At least not this soon.

Marinette continued walking, if only to avoid Felix’s suspicions, and set up the ladder under the next pin that was holding up her stream.

When you think about it, this really can’t be another Adrien situation, right? With Adrien, she had no idea whether he liked her or not, but was hopeful despite that and used her friends in an effort to gain his attention. With Felix, she already had her answer. She knew for a fact that he didn’t like her romantically, that he wouldn’t ever like her romantically, and she also hadn’t asked any of her new friends to help her gain Felix’s attention. (Though, in all honesty, she probably wouldn’t need help even if she was looking for his attention, because he already gave it to her willingly on a constant basis, but that thought didn’t exactly help her cause.)

“Is here alright?” Felix asked as he set the box on the end of the round table.

Marinette nodded, scaling the ladder to pluck the next pin. “Yep. That’s great, thank you.”

“Of course. If you need anything else, I’ll be wrapping the candles and putting them in boxes.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” She said, pulling a smile.

No, this wasn’t going to be anything like her crush on Adrien. This time she at least had closure before she began, and although it might be just as heart-shattering in the long run, she won’t be wasting her time wondering “what if” or tripping over herself to become his dream girl in an effort to be ‘chosen’. She’ll simply be his friend, as he’s been to her, and if she’s lucky, this sort-of-tiny-little crush of hers will wither away before it grows into a bigger problem.

After all, it’s like Felix said: She’ll find someone new who appreciates her eventually. It just.. won’t be him. The sooner she took this lesson to heart, the better.

Marinette plucked the next pin out of the wall, watching the stream of hearts fall into the box below, and started back down the ladder again. That’s one down. Five to go.

She paused at the bottom of the ladder, ready to pull it together so she could pick it up and move it again, when her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She quickly shimmied it out to check what the buzzing was for, only to be met with the flashing words “Adrien Agreste - Café”.

It was her alarm clock telling her that it was time to go meet Adrien for lunch. And it couldn’t have picked a worse time. She still had five other heart streamers to take down, and at this rate she was going to have to run half way across town just to make it on time. Ugh- why didn’t she set her alarm clock earlier?

“Hey, guys?” She called out to the group, tucking her phone back into her pocket. “I hate to say it, but I actually need to get going. I’m sorry I couldn’t help out more.”

If she hadn’t stopped every two seconds to daydream about somebody-

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Allegra called back with a smile. “You’ve helped out plenty.”

“Yeah,” Claude agreed. “This was our party anyway.”

“I know, but I only managed to get one of the streamers down.” Marinette sighed.

“But you also helped fold all of the tablecloths and put them away.” Allan reminded her.

“And you swept the room after the trash was taken care of.” Allegra added.

“Go have fun at your appointment thing or whatever. We’ve got everything covered here.” Claude assured, emptying the water from another flower vase.

Marinette smiled as she grabbed her purse from one of the round tables. Her friends were so great, each and every one of them.

“I’ll see you guys later then.”

“See ya!”

“Bye, Mari!”

“Do you want me to call my driver for you?” Felix asked, briefly setting his candles aside. “It’s quite a walk from here to your house, isn’t it?”

“Thanks, but I’m good. I can have Maman and Papa come to pick me up if I start running late.” Or she can transform into Ladybug and swing right over to Adrien herself, which was exactly what she planned on doing. “I’ll text you guys when I get there, though.”

That seemed to satisfy Felix, because he nodded and continued placing his candles in the box. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you then.”

Marinette pursed her lips and spun towards the door, hoping he didn’t notice the fresh blush that was creeping across her cheeks. Gosh, how was she ever going to survive this boy? Maybe Adrien’s presence will give her a good slap in the face and bring her back to her senses.. She highly doubted it though. With her track record, she’ll probably end up falling for Adrien again too, and then she’ll be stuck between two unrequited crushes! Great!

..Why does she always have to fall for the people who don’t love her back?

~~~~~~~

Wind rushed past Chat Noir’s face as he raced across the rooftops, his grin stretching wide from ear to ear. Today was the day! It was finally the fifteenth! In just a few short blocks, he was going to meet Marinette at their agreed café, and they were going to have a whole lunch together just to themselves! It made him buzz with excitement at the very thought, because finally his plans were progressing. Finally he was gonna have a long, drawn out chat with Marinette as Adrien, and perhaps, if he had gained even the slightest bit of luck from his partner, he would be able to convince her to transfer back to Dupont. Or at least have her consider it. She probably shouldn’t come back right this second.

Chat Noir landed on a rooftop and slid down the tiles with glee, but before he could leap to the next rooftop, a red and black-spotted figure flew out in front of him. He stumbled back with a yelp, staring at the person with wide eyes as they sailed onto the rooftop across from him. Was that..?

“My Lady?” He called out, pushing himself back onto his feet. What was she doing out at this time of day? It wasn’t like her to be out and about during daylight when no akumas were present.

Unless there is an akuma. Chat realized with horror. He glanced around the city, looking for explosions or destruction of some kind. Please, let there not be an akuma. That would mean he’d have to skip out on his lunch with Marinette! And he’d worked so hard just to get her there!

The spotted figure turned around- proving that it was, in fact, his wonderful Ladybug -and flashed him her signature, Lady-Luck smile. “Oh, Chat Noir! I didn’t realize you would be out today.”

Chat Noir returned her smile and hopped over to her rooftop. “I could say the same to you, Bugaboo. Is an akuma on the loose again?”

“No, not that I’m aware of.” She assured, to his relief. “I just had some free time and thought I would do a small patrol around the city to make sure everything’s still in order.”

Chat Noir chuckled. That’s His Lady for you. Never ceasing to protect Paris. Could she ever become more amazing?

“Sounds like a great idea. I’d be tempted to join you, but I’m actually on my way home already. I’ve been out for a while.” He said, though none of it was true. He hadn’t been out for a while, and he certainly wasn’t running home, but Ladybug was extremely strict on the ‘keeping identities a secret’ policy. If he let something about his civilian life slip- like, say, meeting someone at a cafe about five minutes from now to talk about school transfers -she’d get upset and scold him for divulging too much information. It wasn’t fun lying to the person he was supposed to trust the most, but this was the set up that they’d decided to use.

“That’s alright. I wasn’t planning on staying out long anyway.” Ladybug replied. “I’ll see you during our next patrol?”

“Or attack.” Chat Noir agreed, giving her a little wink before he took off again. This time he turned to the left of the café, moving in a direction that was somewhat opposite of it. He didn’t want Ladybug seeing where he was going- again, secret identities -but, he also didn’t want to stray too far from his and Marinette’s meeting place, or else he was going to be late. So, he figured he could find a comfortable alleyway about a block or two away from his destination and simply run the rest of the way on foot.

Thank goodness he did, because as soon as he turned left, Ladybug swung off in the exact direction he’d originally been heading. Can you imagine if they’d started going the same way? The explanation for that one would have been awful, he’s sure.

Chat Noir dropped down into an alleyway a few minutes later, just as planned, and detransformed back into Adrien. Running around Paris in his civilian form probably wasn’t going to be any easier than jumping rooftops, but at least he didn’t run into any problems with His Lady. That was a plus, right?

“Ugh,” Plagg groaned as he swirled back into the air, “remind me again why we had to waste my precious energy on a lunch date?”

“Come on, Plagg, you know I hate having Gorilla hover over my shoulder.” Adrien said, offering his kwami a slice of cheese. Gorilla does his best to give Adrien as much space as possible, but still, when you know someone is there specifically to watch you.. “Besides, it’ll give Marinette and I more privacy while we talk.”

Plagg gave a dismissive sigh as he snatched the cheese from Adrien’s hands. “Oh, that’s right. We’re still on pigtails.. I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with her. It’s not like she died or anything.”

Adrien frowned. “I’m not obsessed. I’m just trying to be a good friend. She’s always been there for all of us. So why shouldn’t I be there for her?”

“Mm.. Does this really count as being there for her, though?” Plagg asked as he shoved the first half of the cheese into his mouth.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re trying to be there for her by bringing her back to Dupont, right? Well, she seems perfectly happy at her new school to me. So why not leave her be? If you want to be there for her, don’t you think you should be supporting her decisions?”

A bit of guilt festered in Adrien’s chest, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I.. get what you’re saying, but I want her back too. I want to hang out again and talk like we used to.”

“You’re about to talk with her right now.”

“You know what I mean. I want to talk with her daily, like we do at school.”

“Then, why don’t you transfer schools?”

Adrien let out a small chuckle. “And leave Nino? I couldn’t do that to him.”

“Okay~, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if things don’t work out the way you want them to.” Plagg said. He then shoved the rest of the cheese into his mouth and zipped into Adrien’s shirt pocket.

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows, but didn’t reply, instead starting for the cafe. Why would Plagg say something like that? Of course everything was going to work out! Yes, Marinette was happy at her new school, and yes, getting her to come back to Dupont might be a tad tricky (especially since he had to deal with Lila first) but that didn’t mean his plan was going to fail. He simply needed to remind Marinette that she loved being at Dupont too! More so than Rosemary even! It’ll be alright. Plagg will see.

With little time to spare, Adrien booked it to the café, careful to keep his head down and not catch the eyes of the media. Thankfully, he made it there in one piece, albeit five minutes late. It should be fine, though. If anyone were to understand missing the mark for an appointment, it would be her, right?

Adrien slipped his phone out of his pocket as he walked inside to check for any new messages from the ravenette, then silenced it when he saw that there were none. He didn’t want this precious time to be interrupted.

The bell on the café door jingled above him when he entered, reminding him of a certain bakery. He glanced around the room for Marinette hopefully, then lit up when he caught sight of a pair of ravenette pigtails at a table in the middle of the room. Yes! She was here!

Adrien wasted no time strolling over the table, tapping the top of her head to get her attention. She jumped- as she usually does -and whirled around with wide eyes.

“Hey, Marinette.” He greeted with a smile.

“Adrien!” She said, letting out a nervous laugh. “Y-You’re here.”

“Yeah!” He chirped, slipping into the seat across from her. “Sorry I’m late. I ran into a bit of traffic on the way here. How have you been? Did you have a good Valentine’s Day?”

Marinette settled back into her chair as well, pulling a small, tight smile. “It’s alright.. I’ve been pretty good, and my Valentine’s Day was wonderful. How was yours?”

“Oh, you know,” Adrien shrugged, “same as always. I got some cards from a few fans and did a special photoshoot for my father, but that was about it. I tried to go see Nino or something, but he was with Alya, so..”

“Aw, I’m sorry. I wish it could have worked out better.”

“No, it’s fine.” He quickly assured. “I’m used to it. Besides, Nino and I have actually been hanging out a lot more during the winter break.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, “That’s good then. You deserve the free time.”

Adrien smiled. What a very ‘Marinette’ thing to say. “Thanks. Have you ordered anything yet?”

She shook her head. “No, I figured I’d wait for you.”

“Then let’s go get some food.” He said, standing from the table again. “I’m starving.”

Marinette stood with him, and they made their way over to the line that led to the service counter. It wasn’t long, thankfully, only holding about three people or so. They should be back at the table in no time.

“So, are you enjoying your new school life? I heard you transferred to Rosemary.”

“Yeah, I’ve been having a great time,” Marinette said, a bit too cheerful for Adrien’s liking, “but I do have a question. How did you know I transferred to Rosemary?”

“Oh, uh..”

Would she accept ‘my good friend Chat Noir’ as a proper answer?

“..Mlle Bustier. She announced to the class that you had transferred, and when I asked about it afterwards, she told me that you went to Rosemary.”

A hum came from Marinette, the corner of her lips tugging downwards. Why was she frowning? Did he say something wrong?

“Is that a problem?” He asked.

“Oh! No.” Marinette replied hastily. “Well.. sort of. I’m just worried that if she told you, then she’d be willing to tell other people.. Like Lila or Alya.”

Ah.. She made a good point. Her whereabouts could be spread around easily if Mlle Bustier was being loose-lipped. Although he doubted that Lila would come after Marinette since she’s not trying to out her anymore, Adrien wouldn’t put it past the girl entirely, especially since she was still spreading rumors about Marinette on a regular basis..

Granted, this only mattered if Mlle Bustier actually told him where Marinette went to school, which she didn’t. So they should be perfectly safe for the time being.

“I’m sure everything will be fine.” He insisted. “I was the only one that asked, anyway, and I made sure we were alone.”

Marinette nodded, but she didn’t look any less unsettled. “You’re sure you were the only one that asked?”

“Positive.”

“.. Okay.” She muttered, fiddling with the tip of her black jacket. Oh, she was getting anxious now! He needed to fix this. Change the subject!

“Anyway, you said your new school was great?” He asked as he stepped forward in line. “That’s good to hear. Have you made any friends there yet?”

Of course, he already knew that she’d made new friends- several, in fact -but hopefully talking about them would help her relax. Plus, it would give him more information on her new environment. So it’s a double bonus.

Marinette took the bait, her hands quickly falling back to her side as she said, “I have. I was fortunate enough to run into a whole group of friends on my first day, and they took me in without hesitation, which was sweet. They even gave me a tour of the school and everything.”

Adrien plastered a tight smile onto his face in an effort to show support. She already had an entire group of new friends? That was gonna be hard to pull her away from.

“Wow, they sound really nice. You’ll have to introduce me to them sometime.”

“Maybe I can,” Marinette agreed, “but it probably won’t be for a while. We all have schedules and things that we’d need to work out, and I’ve been working on this fashion project lately that I was hoping to get done by the end of next week.”

“No worries. I definitely understand having a busy schedule.” Adrien joked, stepping forward in the line again. “Dupont’s been a little crazy since you left too. We had to pick a new vice president and everything.”

“Yeah, I heard. Lila had to come by and grab the books.” Marinette said bitterly.

Adrien winced. “Really? What did she say?”

“Gosh, I don’t even remember anymore.” Marinette rolled her eyes. “I try not to worry over stupid people. I’m sure she just rubbed her ‘victory’ towards me leaving in my face.”

Adrien chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I bet.. Lila aside, though, we all miss you. Dupont isn’t the same without you here.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him as they took another step forward in line. “You all miss me?”

Adrien frowned, partly because she doubted him, but mostly because he knew her skepticism was justified. They didn’t all miss her. Some- if not everyone besides himself -seemed to be happy that she was gone. It was a true tragedy.

“Well.. I miss you.” He said, his heart dropping further when she gave a satisfied nod. She’s already accepted the tragedy as fact, something unchanging, but he was going to work to make things different.

“Can I take your order?” The cashier cut in, grabbing the pair’s attention.

Adrien and Marinette gave the cashier their order and walked back to their table to wait for their names being called.

“So..” Adrien trailed off as they took their seats. “Do.. you miss us?”

He knew it was a risky question, especially since she’d firmly told Chat Noir a month prior that she did not, in fact, miss Dupont, but maybe her opinion had changed since then?

Marinette shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. “I.. I’m not sure how to answer that, Adrien. How can I say that I miss the people who treated me like a monster for no other reason than the fact that I decided to stand up against a liar? I get that Lila twisted their views, and that everyone has their own version of a story, but it still hurt for them not to believe me even though most of us have known each other since childhood.”

“Do I miss the fun times and the people they used to be before Lila came along? Sure I do, but they’re not the people they used to be. They’re not the friends I grew up with anymore, and I’m not going to regret leaving a situation that wasn’t good for me.”

Adrien sighed. “Alright.. That’s a fair answer.. But what if they did come back? I mean- like - What if they realized that Lila was lying and came back and apologized and everything went back to normal. Would you come back?”

Marinette frowned. “.. I don’t know. What you’re suggesting is extremely far-fetched, and even if everything did go back to ‘normal’, it still wouldn’t quite be the same. They abandoned me for a foreigner. You can’t really come back from that. Plus, I think Rosemary is a great opportunity for me. It’s a prestigious school with extensive classes on the fashion industry and many other things, and although there can be some snooty, rich students, most of the people I’ve met there are really nice.”

Adrien hummed. Her answer was, once again, disheartening, but he took comfort in the fact that she said ‘I don’t know’ instead of just a straight up ‘no’. That was at least something, right? He could work with an ‘I don’t know’.

“Was this all you wanted to talk with me about?” Marinette asked. “Whether or not I would come back to Dupont?”

Adrien winced. “Well, no-”

Yes.

“-I also just wanted to catch up in general. We haven’t really seen each other in over a month, ya know?”

Although she appeared to be hesitant towards his answer, she gave a small smile anyway. “Yeah, it’s definitely been a while.”

Adrien chuckled. “You know, I actually tried to go visit you at Rosemary one time before this, but when I asked a student where you were, he said that you didn’t even attend the school. Had you two just not met yet?”

“Uh.. Can you describe him? There’s a lot of people at the school.”

“Sure. He was about my height, maybe a bit taller, with pale blonde hair and light eyes- I think. He was kind of just pale in general.”

Marinette snorted. “Do you know the amount of people at the school that could match that description?”

“Okay, okay, uhm.. I think he was wearing dark colors that day. Like, greys or blacks maybe.”

“Wears dark colors, but has light hair and eyes, and is tall. Got it.” Marinette smiled. “Sorry, Adrien, but I’m just not sure. That could be Devin or Caleb or Eliot or any other number of boys. It could have even been someone who’s not in my classes.”

“Right, that’s fine. I was just curious.” He said casually, though it was really eating him alive. He knew that they knew each other. They had to! No one gets that upset during an akuma attack and calls the person their friend without knowing them. The guy even mentioned that their mutual friends were waiting for them! So who could it be?

“Order for Adrien and Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Adrien stood. “I’ll get it.”

Honestly, he didn’t need to know the guy’s name. It was a bitter inconvenience, to be sure, but in the end, finding out the blond-haired dude’s name isn’t the objective. The objective was to get rid of Lila, then get Marinette to come back to Dupont. She might be hesitant about it now, which was understandable, but once she sees the changes that he’s gonna make at Dupont, she’ll be more than happy to come back. He simply needed to open her up to the idea again.

Lucky for him, he had a whole lunch date to do just that.

~~~~~~

Lila slowed to a stop on the sidewalk, panting and out of breath. She searched the city streets from left to right, but was only met with the scenery of a regular, Paris afternoon. Where were the screaming fans? The paparazzi? The bodyguards holding everyone back? Did they all disperse already? That post was literally made five minutes ago! How did he run away so fast?

She pulled out her phone to unlock it, watching as her social media popped up again. It was a picture of XY standing next to a downtown café, the very café Lila was standing next to right now.

“Chillin’ at the Café Aroma today!” The post read, but there was no XY in sight. There were hardly even any XY fans here looking for him. Was the post just a ruse to get rid of the paparazzi for a while? Don’t tell her she got up and ran all the way down here for nothing!

Lila let out a groan, slumping against the café. If XY or any of his lackeys bothered to answer their dang cell phones, none of this would’ve happened! Why would they even put out public numbers if they weren’t going to tend to them? It was really a jerk-ish thing to do.

Nevertheless, she still needed to find a way to contact him. XY was the only celebrity in Paris that might be willing to show up at Dupont per her request. Jagged Stone was a close second, but if she brought him to school, Lila was certain Adrien would ask about her stupid, kitten-saving story. Then, Jagged would get all confused and say that he never had a kitten, and Lila would have a lot more explaining to do. That was too much of a hassle for her to deal with. She needed someone she hadn’t lied much about, someone who could also quiet her whining, soul-sucking classmates. Ergo, she needed to find XY.

But where is he? Lila thought, scrolling through her phone for more recent posts. XY clearly wasn’t downtown, meaning he could be just about anywhere in Paris. He could even be outside of Paris. How was she supposed to find him when she had no special contacts to do so? It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And yet.. Marinette managed to find and reign in every celebrity she needed while she was class president. On. Her. Own.

Lila scowled and shoved her phone back into her pocket. Curse that goody-little-two-shoes for making her job harder. Curse her for somehow being perfect at everything and forcing Lila to enhance her lies to compete. Curse her for leaving to another school and making Lila suffer the consequences for it. Why couldn't Marinette have been a normal class president, hm? Why did she have to constantly outdo herself with the grandest of gestures and the most important of people? Why did Lila have to be so stupid as to try and fill an impossible roll? She should have convinced Alya to run for president instead. At least then she wouldn’t be blamed for the sudden budget cuts or the mismatched class trips. She would be able to continue lying in peace and not have to worry about delivering on all of her false promises. In fact, if she weren’t so busy trying to keep up with Marinette’s ‘legacy’, along with her own big mouth, she might have been able to take care of Adrien by now.

Lila heaved a heavy sigh and massaged her temples as she stood up from the café wall. XY wasn’t going to be found anytime soon, so she might as well take a break and grab a coffee before moving forward. Perhaps the caffeine will spark her creativity for a few lies that Adrien can’t dig into should her plan to find XY fail.

She walked over to the café door and pushed it open. The bell attached to the door jingled, reminding her of that incorrigible bakery, but she ignored it and continued inside. A little music toy wasn’t going to get in the way of her espresso.

Her eyes grazed over the room, hoping to find an empty table.

What she found instead, however, made her stomach drop.

There, sitting at a table near the middle of the room, was Adrien Agreste himself, and sitting across from him was none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Lila yelped and ducked back outside, pressing herself firmly against the wall where they couldn’t see her. What were they doing there? What were they doing together?!

Carefully, she crept past the door and slid over to the large window at the front of the café, where she could watch the two from a safe distance. It probably looked suspicious to anyone passing, but she hardly cared at that point. If Adrien and Marinette were getting together like this, Lila was going to have much bigger things to worry about.

She peered through the glass, noting the near-empty plates on their table. They must be having lunch together. Did they do that often? Since when? What could they possibly be talking about?

A smirk tugged at the corner of Adrien’s lips, and Marinette snorted, putting a hand on her mouth to hide her laughter. Ugh, why did she look so cheery! She was supposed to be miserable!

Lila scoffed, digging her fingernails into the brick at the base of the window. What happened to the endless tears and the defeated, sagging posture? What happened to the shriveled up nothing that Lila watched leave the school? Was she really enjoying herself now that she wasn’t attending Dupont? More importantly, how long have Marinette and Adrien been meeting up like this? Was this the reason Adrien suddenly decided to fight back against her? Because he’d rekindled his friendship with Marinette? No wonder the man was out for blood! Marinette probably set him up to the task herself! She must have planned all of this from the very beginning!

No, Lila thought, digging her phone out of her pocket again. She refused to be made a fool of. If they thought they were going to pull one over on her this easily, they were gonna have another thing coming.

She snapped a photo of them together, making sure to get a moment where they were laughing hard, and tilted the angle of the camera to make it seem like she’d been passing by. Lila then got up and walked back into the café. A picture of Adrien having a grand time with Marinette should be enough of a set up for her to build him a bad reputation, but she needed to know what they were talking about specifically. The more she knew about this meet-up (and previous ones) the better, and if she were anything close to lucky, they would talk about their plans for her while she was there too. That would give her plenty of time to find a way to prepare.

Or, perhaps, strike first.

As casually as possible, Lila slipped into an empty seat near the pair, not too close, but not too far away that she couldn’t hear them. She then snatched the menu on her table and propped it up so her face couldn’t be seen while she listened.

“Okay, wait. So you’re telling me that they threw an entire Valentine’s Day party at the Mandarin Oriental by themselves?” She heard Adrien ask. He sounded immensely impressed. Who were they talking about?

“Yeah!” Marinette replied, the smile clear in her voice. “They’re parents paid for it, of course, but they arranged everything themselves, including the caterers and reservations. We actually made some of the decorations by hand too.”

“Wow, that sounds like a blast. I bet they all looked great.”

“They did! Especially when we finished the lights and stuff. Everyone loved it.”

Lila scrunched up her nose, equally confused and annoyed. Someone threw a party at the Mandarin Oriental for Valentine’s day? Who? Why was Marinette invited? And why did she get to personally help with the decorations? This wasn’t another one of her “chummy celebrity friends”, was it? It better not be.

Adrien chuckled. “If all of those rich kids at Rosemary enjoyed it, I’m sure it was something.”

Lila froze. Did he just say “all” of the rich kids? Meaning multiple? Why was Marinette hanging out with multiple rich kids? How was she hanging out with multiple rich kids? Were they inviting her to the parties they were throwing? Why? What did she have that was so freaking special?

Wait a minute.

Her raging thought finally caught up with the rest of Adrien’s comment, specifically the one about Rosemary. Wasn’t that the stuck-up school near the middle of Paris that was famously known for hosting either incredibly rich or incredibly gifted students? The one that barely let you breathe in their direction if you weren’t considered “worthy”? How did Marinette end up wandering around there long enough to catch some rich friends? No one’s allowed inside except for students or staff, and their policies are extremely strict. (she should know, considering she’s tried to weasel her way in there several times.) The only way she would be able to get inside was if-

Lila gasped, nearly dropping her menu in the process.

No.. No, no way Marinette got transferred from Dupont to Rosemary. That would just be absurd! She didn’t have any money! And she certainly didn’t have enough talent to be accepted despite that!

But as Lila listened to the conversation more and more, she had to endure the horrible realization that Marinette had, in fact, been transferred to Rosemary. Not only that, she was thriving there. She was making new friends who gave her rides in limos. She was going to fancy restaurants that cost more than Lila’s house for an afternoon snack. She was having slumber parties in mansions. Mansions! Entire estates that were apparently just as big- if not bigger! -than Adrien Agreste’s!

Lila had finally gotten rid of Marinette and won Dupont, only for Marinette to gain the new life that Lila had always dreamed of having! How was that fair? How was any of this fair!

Lila drew in a long, deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She couldn’t blow her top just yet. Marinette may be winning right now, but once Adrien is out of the way, Lila will make sure that Marinette suffers the way she deserves. Rosemary isn’t going to save her for long.

She pulled out her phone to unlock it and clicked on the messaging app, scrolling down until she found her favorite minion: Alya Cessaire.

~Hey, you’ll never guess what I just saw!!~

Lila smiled as she sent the text. With a message like that, Alya won’t be able to help her curiosity, and when Lila sends the picture of Adrien and Marinette together, the journalist will fall headfirst into a pool of rage.

In other words, that pampered little rich boy won’t know what hit him.

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

(Hey, everyone! This section isn’t quite part of the story, but it’s going to be part of the updates from now on. Two weeks ago, I visited a Bible camp, and the Lord really spoke to my heart through the messages. So, from now on, I want to make Him the center of my life and glorify Him in everything I do. At first, I thought of not writing anymore fics or chapters, since doing so would really take my focus away from Him, but instead, I decide to start writing little devotions at the end of each chapter I post. That way, you all won’t have to suffer through an incomplete story, and I get to share the wonderful gospel with you all!

The first devotion I want to post is the message of salvation and how you can know that you’re going to Heaven when you die. The Bible (King James Version) says in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” and the first part of Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death”. We have all had a moment in our lives where we know we’re not supposed to do something, but we do it anyway. That breaking of rules is called a sin, and because of that sin, God says that we are not fit to be in His presence, for He is a just and holy God. So, due to this, our souls are condemned to the fiery prison known as Hell, where it is pitch black around you, and the only thing you can hear is wailing and weeping and gnashing of teeth. Your soul will be alight with fire, but your body will never actually burn, so you will be faced with that pain for the rest of eternity. Can you imagine that? Being in that kind of torment forever and ever and ever and knowing that it will never end? I can’t wrap my brain around that kind of pain, and I certainly don’t want any of you to have to endure it. So that’s why I’m telling you now that there is a bright side to all of this!

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” and the other part of Romans 6:23 says “but the gift of God is eternal life”. Do you realize what this means? It means we don’t have to go to Hell! God has provided a way of escape for us!

2,021 years ago, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, down to earth to die for us. He was a perfect man, with no sin about Him, but he became sin for us and sacrificed himself so that we could be saved. People beat him and mauled him to point beyond recognition, then they nailed him to a cross for him to die. The pain he had to endure was excruciating, but he did it for us, because he loves us.

Then, three days after the Son of God passed away, he arose from the grave with new life! and because of that, we now have a way to join Him in heaven! All we have to do is admit that we are a sinner, repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Lord and Savior. We must believe on Him, and believe that he died on the cross for us, then we won’t have to go to Hell! It’s that easy! And those who believe on the Lord Jesus not only don’t have to go to Hell, but they also find a new home in Heaven with the very person who created us and loves us so much to the point of sacrificing Himself for our benefit. It’s a win-win scenario!

I know this isn’t a normal thing to do for fics, but this is something extremely important that I need all of you to know. So please, if you read through this, I implore you to get saved and accept Jesus as your savior. What do you have to lose? If you don’t, you’ll be doomed to an eternity of pain and suffering that you can never escape, but if you do, you will be guaranteed a place in paradise, where Jesus will be waiting for you with open arms. Please trust Him with your life and your heart. You know he will keep it safe.

Thank you all for listening to this and I hope you have a wonderful day!)

Tag List: @sasstrashforlike5fandoms @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182 @jaggedheart11 @marinahrasauce @i-need-blog-ideas @thewheezingbubbledragon @crazylittlemunchkin @unabashedbookworm @moonystars14 @sunflowers-and-mooncakes @2confused-2doanything @magnificentcrapposts @moonnette @nickristus-dreamer @vixen-uchiha @casual-darkness @luxmorningstarr @jjmjjktth @kaithehero @itsme1598 @theymakeupfairies @xjaccyx @miraculous-ninja @miraculouspenta @swiftie-miraculer13 @justafanwarrior @all-mights-asscheeks @ira-sairain @lookatthestars1 @dahjokester @blissful-passing @solangelo252 @canivialemonsquints07 @derbygracie @pleaseignorejustheretoread

#felinette #Marinette #Miraculous Ladybug #New Girl on the Block #Rosemary AU #Felix Culpa #Quantic Kids #miraculous #ladybug

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fanficmaniatic · 3 years ago

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The "Anti-Chat" Theory.

(Which is also why Chat Blanc 2.0 wont work and why Ladybug needs to be akumatized).

This is a turducken on my thoughts for S4 and the future of the show so just roll with it.

So, Season 4 has been wild so far, and if clues given by the writers and people involved in show are any indication, this is only the beginning, we are in for a bumpy ride and things are just going to keep getting worse.

In all the discourse revolving season 4 something that we are all mentioning is how “Chat Blanc” is still a thing and there is no guarantee it won’t happen again. If anything it now seems more likely Chat Noir will get akumatized considering the imminent Ladynoir fallout, and how Adrien is still living with his Father, as his isolation keeps getting worse. And though I am always In for some good Character angst, and I feel like it is necessary for Adrien to know about Chat Blanc, and/or for Chat Blanc to reappear, I don’t think Chat Blanc 2.0 is something Adrien nor the show needs right know.

This theory has many parts, I promise it all ties neatly at the end.

First things first, I may be a little biased, Chat Blanc is an episode I really enjoy. I love Time Travel shenanigans, and I was dying to see Adrien finally find out about his father. The heavy consequences of the episode were obviously erased, but the impact of it all still remains trough Marinette, whom we see in the episode ‘Sentibbubler’ is having nightmares about the whole thing. But still, I love the episode, and I really don’t want an “Stormy Weather 2”… which is an episode I heavily dislike, compared to THE BEST formulaic episode of the Whole show, a.k.a “Stormy Weather” a.k.a My favorite episode. So yeah, this whole first point is just me REALLY not wanting an episode called “Chat Blanc 2.0” But there is more to it, and is the fact that I don’t see how it could work out.

“Chat Blanc 2.0” is unnecessary, and the reason why is that bringing him back wouldn’t actually do anything besides perhaps bringing Ladynoir further apart. Ladybug still CAN’T know Chat noir’s identity, (Let’s be honest and admit that’s prolly s4 finale OR happening during s5) so the show would go out of its way to make his dialogue as plain as possible without mentioning his father being hawkmoth. And yes, I do realize that Chat has been bottling his emotions and it all is likely to come out during THE ladynoir fall out… But people are ignoring the elephant in the room which is that Chat Noir DOES NOT fight Ladybug.

I promise this is relevant.

Chat Noir, unless mind controlled, would never attack Ladybug. The most clear example of this is in “Gamer 2.0” when he straight up says “I could never bring myself to fight you” as he sacrifices himself for her, that added to their classic “Is us against the world, My Lady” every season finale, and Marinette’s “In case something happens to me” In ‘Optygami’, it all could pretty well be a foreshadowing of a Ladynoir fight, where Ladybug is akumatized, and Chat has to willingly fight her. Yes, one could argue that he did fight her during ‘Chat Blanc’, but it could also be read as more of him trying to make her listen.

Where am I going with this? Chat Blanc 2.0 would be unable to bring the nuance the story needs right now. Chat Blanc still wouldn’t fight his father, because I doubt they won’t leave that for season 5. Chat Blanc still doesn’t have a motive to actually fight Ladybug. But the most important part is… What would happen at the end? What would be the change? What conversation are we having? What would be different than what we got in the original Chat Blanc?

To be fair, maybe I am wrong, maybe it can work out, this is just a theory. Maybe all the things I crossed out as impossible will actually happen, but I have been watching the show for 6 years, and If I have learned something about it, is that it is a slow burn, in ALL the aspects.

So yes, I believe Ladybug/Marinette needs to be akumatized, but I also think that Adrien has to learn about Chat Blanc, and that Chat Blanc needs to reappear, having a bigger Role than just a nightmare. So… how does that tie with everything I just said? Easy, the “Anti- Chat” Theory’

So you probably remember “Anti-Bug”, one of the best episodes from season 1, where Chole tries to help Ladybug, she doesn’t listen, and Chloe ends up being akumatized into “Ladybug but evil” … In theory, that is the deal, and is no wonder I am picking Felix Graham De Vanily to fill this role.

From an animation perspective, Felix is the obvious choice, he is identical to Adrien, and if following Anti-bug’s logic in costume desing, that would mean they can reuse Chat Blanc model with no alteration needed.

Now, How would this work? By giving Ladybug a jump scare. She thinks she has to live one of her worst nightmares again, to then find out “Oh… This is not Chat Noir” while still creating enough tension, by looking scared and distraught, that she HAS to tell him that she is scared of him being akumatized WITHOUT actually needing to mention the alternative timeline. This gives Chat noir the chance to lash out, once he realizes this is part of why ladybug is keeping him away, which can lead to Ladybug’s future akumatization.

Why this way? And please hear me out. Chat Noir NEEDS to let his emotions out, and I don’t think lashing out at ladybug is the best way but I see it as necessary. Adrien needs to take on more responsibility while being Chat, but he also needs to learn how to healthy express his emotions, because he is not allowed to do that in his current situation. Ladybug being akumatized because she feels guilty about Chat Noir allows Adrien to do BOTH. Because to save Ladybug he would have to realize “My emotions are valid, and is okey to let them out, but the way I did it was not the right one”, and both Ladybug and Chat Noir would have to apologize because this whole thing is not miscommunication… is a misunderstanding of their partners character. Ladybug needs to relay more on Chat and Chat needs to take on more responsibility… it won’t happen if Ladybug is the one that needs to save Chat Noir.

Adrien needs to realize that he needs to save himself, and that there’s people outside of his father that care for him. Ladybug is this figure that he looks up to and Admires, and is from a side of his life that his father has no control over, (At least from his perspective). So if she forgives him, if they are able to fix their relationship he will realize that things can get better.

Now, going back to Anti-Chat… his deal is way bigger than just bringing The Ladynoir fight… Is about setting up seasons 6 and 7.

What do we know so far? The Love Square and Gabriel’s Hawkmoth is going to come to an end by season 5. Which has left many fans wondering “Then what is happening on seasons 6 and 7?” And the best answer we have so far is in the episode “Timetagger” where Bunnix reveals that there is a whole team of miraculous holders fighting the Hawkmoth of the future, which is by the same episode confirmed to not be Gabriel Agreste. Besides this, I think it is safe to assume that the specials are quietly setting up themes that could come back In seasons 6 and 7.

Now, when speaking about characters that could be future villains the fandom seems to have its collective mind set on two individuals: Lila Rossi, and Felix Graham De Vanily.

Besides ‘Rocketear’, (E17), ‘Wishmaker’ (E18), and the special ’Shadow Moth’s last attack’ (Eps 25&26) we don’t know the names of the episodes of the second half of the season, which is really uncommon for miraculous ladybug, and the reason they gave us as to why is “You would know who is akumatized based on the names”… Which AGAIN, is really uncommon for ML. If you have been in this fandom for a long time you’ll realize that most people working in the show don’t really seem to care about spoilers. Now, this is kinda a conspiracy theory, but If you saw that there was an episode called “Anti-Chat” would you have assume it was any one other than Felix?…. No, right? That’s what I though. Miraculous has proven that it is good at subverting expectations, so when they are pointing at something (like a Chat Blanc 2.0 episode) it may not be as we want or suspected it to be. So I think an Anti-Chat episode makes a lot of sense.

Now, Why am I saying that this can set up future season? Buckle up, pals, here we go. What do we know about Felix?

He is evil, or at the very least seems to be ill-intentioned, if his attitude and look at the end of his episode is anything to go by.

He is after jewelry. Which, yeah, was only shown in that one episode he appeared, but this could pretty much be a foreshadowing of him later on going after the miraculous.

We know that he is bound to appear 3 more times

For this theory to work, I need it to happen in episode 22… Yes, the feared 100th episode of the show. It is not as important why Felix is akumatized, but what is happening WHILE he is akumatized.

Besides what has already been discussed, with Ladybug being scared, Ladynoir should not be able to work together. They are tumbling on each other because Chat Noir feels like she doesn’t trust him, but Ladybug NEEDS his reassurance right now, which he wont give.

This, is directly parallel with what is happening between Anti-Chat and Shadow Moth. Because Felix, even though he wants the miraculous, he won’t let himself be bossed around. He is demanding things from SM, and like in Robustus, Anti-Chat tries to, not just take Ladybug’s and Chat noir’s Miraculous, he wants to destroy Hawkmoth too. Which will lead to Shadow Moth being the reason he gets de-akumatized, instead Ladybug and Chat Noir saving him... bringing more fuel to the Ladynoir fire.

Now, Why should Felix have an attitude with Shadow Moth? Well, my friends… Do you remember, years ago, when the producers of the show said “The peacock miraculous holder will make Hawkmoth look like a baby”…. That’s not Mayura. Nathalie is a great miraculous holder, and she is really clever. But instead of making Gabriel look like a baby, she makes him look smart because he has someone like her on his team. What I am saying with this is that Felix, will suspect/ figure out Gabriel is Hawkmoth at the en of Anti-Chat, and that he will get the peacock miraculous during “The Last attack of Shadow Moth.” Thus, setting up a villain for future seasons.

This makes Felix 3 appearances be: In episode 22 (Anti-Chat), In episode 26 (SM last attack, part 2), and during S5’s finale. Felix situation will be much like Lila’s during s1 and s2 where she was introduced at the end of the first but not used until the end of the second.

Conclusion:

Felix Graham de Vanily has the potential to be a future villain and bring the Ladynoir conflict to finally surface.

And to clarify, The Ladynoir conflict, just like this Felix theory, is not something that will, nor can get resolved in one episode. If anything the fight will be around the end of season 4, and it will get resolved during season 5.

But again, this is just a theory, and I will probably be death wrong, but who knows?

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p-artsypants · 3 years ago

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It was the end. Ladybug and Chat Noir were defeated. Now Adrien and Marinette sat huddled together in Shadowmoth’s lair. Tears running down their faces, and the only comfort being that their partner was there, alive, and someone they loved.

Paris was in turmoil. The Akuma that had captured Ladybug and Chat Noir was violent, and had no qualms about destroying homes, schools, hospitals, whatever stood in his way. And the city was suffering a huge loss. The death toll continued to climb as causalities were left unable to be tended.

But Shadowmoth didn’t care. He didn’t care one bit, because he had the Miraculous and he could make the wish now! Adrien, as frightened and hurt as he was, would understand. And he’d get his ring back after. Gabriel had no need for the continued use.

“Gabriel, I beg you, one last time, don’t make this wish.” Marinette held Adrien’s sobbing face to her chest. “It comes with a price, and if you return someone you love, you’ll have to give up someone else. And there’s no guarantee who that will be.” But she had a horrible sinking feeling it would be Adrien, so she just held him tighter and tighter, pressing kisses to his head.

“You don’t know anything! You’re just a child, and you think you know about the Miraculous because some old man gave you the box in a moment of desperation. You didn’t train. You didn’t study! You know nothing! And Nothing is going to stop me from reviving my wife!”

“Father please!” Adrien shrieked.

“Plagg! Tikki! Unify!”

Marinette couldn’t watch. She couldn’t bear to see the horrors that would unfold. She just held Adrien, and cherished every minute he was in her arms.

“I love you,” she whispered. “You were the other boy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

His finger curled into her shirt. “My Lady…I have always loved you, and I always will.”

The chaos in the room grew still, and the lights and magic waned.

“Gabriel?” A feminine voice asked.

Adrien lifted his head, hope in his chest. “Mom?”

“Adrien?”

Gabriel was smirking in a smug way, before waltzing over to Marinette and dropping the jewels in her hand. “I told you, I knew what I was doing. But here, take your little friends back. I don’t need them anymore.”

Then he went to the intercom on the wall and called, “Nathalie, Emilie is awake. Would you bring her some tea please?”

There was no response.

“Nathalie?”

Adrien let out a sigh and clenched his eyes shut. “You were right after all, My Lady. Just…my father doesn’t love me as much as we feared.”

The conversation was not missed by Gabriel, and he ran out of the room, no doubt looking for her.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” Asked Emilie, approaching the couple.

Now with no fear of losing him, Marinette let Adrien go to embrace his mother. “It’s okay mom. You were asleep, but dad woke you up. I think…I think it cost Nathalie though. He…” he didn’t finish, too ashamed to say it.

“He loved her. I see.” Emilie was far too smart for her own good. “Well, I have you, my boy.”

Marinette called, “Tikki, Spots on,” as she had a feeling that Ladybug would be needed.

Only moments later, Gabriel ran into the room, with Nathalie’s cold, unmoving body in his arms. “Fix it!” He shouted at her, like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Fix this!”

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug summoned a bouquet of flowers, and with it, knew exactly what to do. “Gabriel, your Akuma killed half of Paris today, destroyed millions of homes…and you want me to resurrect the ‘other woman’?”

“I don’t care about Paris! I don’t care about all that! Nathalie doesn’t deserve this! She didn’t do anything wrong!”

Ladybug shook her head. “As much as I would love to give everyone a happy ending, you don’t deserve it. You never did. You didn’t heed my warning. You had no worries about sacrificing your son if need be. But trying to bring back your wife, while being in love with another woman? You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

“Ladybug!” He shrieked.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” she threw the bouquet up in the air and the swarm took off into the city. The sound of sirens started to quiet as the healing took place.

“No! No no no!” Gabriel shouted. “Give me back the earrings! You don’t know how to use them!”

Chat Noir, now newly transformed, grabbed Gabriel’s tie and yanked, revealing the Butterfly Miraculous. He took the Peacock as well.

“You’re done causing heartbreak, Gabriel.”

“Son?”

“I’m not your son anymore. I haven’t been since you revealed yourself as a monster. I loved you, and I wanted nothing more than for you to love me back. But now I see that you’re greedy, and want too much. You’ll never be content, as long as you live.”

“No! You don’t know that! You can’t!”

Emilie walked up to Chat Noir’s side and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ve got you baby. He needs to pay for his crimes. I can let him go.”

“Emilie!” Gabriel screamed. “I gave up everything for you! This was all for you! How can you just—“

She shook her head. “I still love you, Gabe. I probably will for a long time. But I’ve only been awake for a few minutes, but from what I’ve seen…I’m revolted.”

Chat Noir took Nathalie’s body from him, as Ladybug wrapped his wrists with her yo-yo. “I told you, the price was too high.”

Finally, finally Gabriel showed regret, but it was far too late. “I should have listened.”

#ml #miraculous ladybug #FanFiction #I never understood why the writers would push the GabeNath romance if Gabriel was trying to resurrect his wife #I don’t think this is a poly situation #I think it’s selfish #he is truly a villain

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something-very-special · 4 years ago

Text

they ran over the seals

More Replicant playthrough observations and general nonsense under the cut. For reference, up to the keystone quest; completed the Forest of Myth and Junk Heap.

This fucking game I swear to god.

A vaguely coherent ramble about sidequests An observation about sidequests in general in this game -- and I don't recall if I ever voiced this somewhere public or it was just a personal observation from my time with the original -- is that the quests in the first half of the game are all relatively easy to complete. There's that one asshat who wants 10 goat hides, but other than him, most of the sidequests are either very much based on finding characters, or gathering a sensible number of items that are either relatively common, purchasable, or given a guaranteed spawn for the duration of that quest.

The sidequests everybody remembers having to do are in the second half, where everybody is demanding and awful and I'm sorry ten MACHINE OILS do you know how goddamn rare those are? They're goddamn rare.

(We'll not discuss Life in the Sands.)

This is generally agreed to, in the technical vernacular, 'suck'. And it's always funny that the most interesting sidequests are the ones with very minimal requirements (Yonah's cooking, getting Popola drunk, the Lighthouse Ladoh my god everything's gone blurry I'm not crying you're crying who am I kidding we're both crying). That particular aspect of the design also feels intentional, not really gating your ability to progress the really meaningful or funny sidequests behind an unreasonable number of rare items. The other aspect of the design is that these quests are not meant to be completed in a single playthrough; most of them are single-stage and just absolutely unreasonable, but if you're going through the game four times you have a... reasonable chance of getting everything you need more or less naturally.

Nobody does that but I think that was the intended design. I think it's a good idea, although the execution of expectation is flawed so I don't really blame people for saying those sidequests suck. (Although I will in turn blame people for saying the sidequests suck as a blanket statement. Yeah getting that guy who burned his kitchen down a billion Broken Motors is aggravating but did you not find that old man's dog? Speak to Ursula on her death bed? Solve a murder? Then again I think tracking down that rotten son who's trying to get away from The Family Business only to learn his father is a con-artist and get literally no reward is the height of comedy so maybe I'm not the greatest point of reference.)

But that asshole in Facade can get bent. I can't exploit my garden properly, jackass! I am no longer a god of time. (I kid, of course.) (This guys sucks even when you can fix your clock.)

Forest of Myth It didn't even occur to me to wonder how they would incorporate the comprehensive voice acting into the Forest of Myth. I like how it plays out, although I wish the voices maybe had a fade as you went deeper into the dream instead of just cutting out at some point, especially for the lines where the characters are being ascribed actions by the narrator that they themselves aren't doing near the start of the Deathdream. But it's just delightful to go back to it. The second half of the game really sticks in your mind both for emotional reasons and because you play it at least three times per full playthrough of the game, but the first half is just so much fun.

Protip: Talk to everybody after you've finished the dream sidequest. Weiss tries to dissuade you. Don't let him dissuade you. I'm still delighted by the Mayor; "We're building a statue of you, made of solid gold. I know you don't own a horse, but we're going to put you on a horse."

I forgot about Yonah being a disaster chef Papa Nier's reaction to the stew is better. Brother is still funny but Papa Nier just expecting to die is comedy gold.

For anybody curious, the joke about the cakes is that Yonah made 'fruit cake' using some of the worst possible fruits for cake-making. If only she'd thrown a tomato into the mix, too.

Lighthouse Lady Every time. what the fuck is a canal I'm aware of the addition of the new-old content but it didn't occur to me until Popola suddenly starts nattering on about fixing the canal when I'm expecting Yonah to talk about a penpal that oh, yeah, I guess Seafront would have had something going on the first half that would play into the second half? (I assume it does. Be weird to introduce these characters just to have groundwork for an added sidequest. ...but it was a cute sidequest.) But look Popola my boy is supposed to be in the next area I visit could we-- I mean he's on the way could we just-- no-- fiiiiiiiiiine. (It was short and sweet, though, and I appreciate that the couple's love is exemplified by them both calling Weiss a floating magazine in tandem.) On a related note but was I the only person suddenly concerned when the sidequest completion maxed out at 50% and not 51%? I had to double-check with a guide just to make sure, since I've spent the last decade telling people to make sure you hit 51% before going on to Part II.

MY BOY I love that nowadays, Emil is everybody's son. But I really wish I could go find somebody only familiar with Automata and just watch their reaction. (I'm guessing there are streams out there that fulfill this but man I'd love to get it in-person.) If you're only familiar with him from Automata this has to be a mindfuck.

Personal anecdote, but I've had the privilege of playing NIER with somebody else almost every time I've gone through it. I had a wonderful experience of doing a replay some years back with somebody who had experienced it with me before but didn't have the most solid memory of the beginning (and had actually missed the entire weapon's lab the first time through). I get to the boy at the piano introducing himself and the 'Wait, what?' was a thing of beauty.

MY ANDROID This was a welcome mindfuck for me; finding Sebastian and having him 'reactivate' in such an unnatural, mechanical way. I don't recall if it was ever officially confirmed that Sebastian is an android (I know that it's just understood that this is the case but I'm not I can't recall a specific one) but the little flair they added to his animation caught me completely off guard. I liked it!

Destroying the food source A lot of people will cite a major inciting incident for the game as being when the protagonist heading back into the village and killing the child Shades just outside the entrance. This moment is such a great bit of subtle foreshadowing that's so easy to miss... but kind of joining that, just before the Knave of Hearts attacks, I realized that the Shades out on the Northern Plains are clearly ramping up for an assault of their own by murdering the sheep. The sheep population at this point is decimated (which is great when you realize you haven't gotten the Sheepslayer trophy and you're about to enter Part II and you don't know if the boar drifting minigame got carried forward with the inclusion of 15 Nightmares). You go out onto the Plains and you will find not only small clusters of sheep left behind instead of the vast, terrifying herds from the start of the game, but until you get their attention the Shades are prioritizing killing the sheep. (Also annoying because that doesn't count toward my sheep murder number.) The Shades will be out there also killing sheep earlier on, but since the whole map is in Overcast mode after talking to Yonah it's especially prevalent to go out to the Northern Plains and seeing the slaughter. And I realized-- they're cutting the Village off from a primary food source. Shades don't eat and they don't have any beef with the local ungulates (at least, no more so than anybody else does), so why are they hunting down the sheep? To deprive their enemies of resources. Sheep are extinct by the timeskip. It's actually really clever of them, and a really clever indication of their sentience and intelligence before it's fully verified.

"Let's get these shit-hogs!" Everything about the way Kaine and Emil interact across the entire game is perfect I will brook no argument this is objective fact.

Emotive Rectangles I wrote an essay about this before but it really bears repeating that the job the original animators did with this scene is just phenomenal. The way Weiss drifts, flits, flips, fans his pages, drunkenly swerves, shoots around the room in defiance... He's a goddamn rectangle, but there is so much emotion and personality in this scene just based on the movements conveyed through a what is effectively just a box. Ten years later and triple-A titles with full facial capture don't have this much seething personality. I really have to give props to the cavia animators, wherever they wound up. That studio could really put some subtle love and care into their titles, utterly unnecessary and easy to miss but you can tell that whoever was working on it was giving it their all. The books are probably the exemplification of this, but every time I go into Seafront and visit the seals I can tell that the guy on seal duty was having just the best day. They made Emil so pretty There's an FMV cutscene right smack in the middle of the original game after the battle against Noir. I understand why it was a necessity on a technical level, but it always looked pretty out of place and a little uncanny valley compared to the rest of the graphical fidelity. That's no longer a necessity so this cutscene is rendered in-engine. I admit I was actually curious to see it redone this way and it looks fantastic. I single out Emil since he is the focal point of cutscene and because his particular high-poly model had some pretty weird difference from his in-engine model, but he and Kaine both look great. But, like, it's almost mean how pretty he is.

They made Brother Nier so pretty Yeah okay you got me he's kind of hot. Kaine's expression when she wakes up and looks him over is... significantly easier to read now. Good voice, too. (Ancient rumors tell that one of the issues with international releases of RepliCant was that they couldn't find an English VA with a voice that 'fit' Brother Nier. He sounded good out the gate but hearing him growl "Let's go TAKE CARE of those KIDS" during the thief sidequest-- I got chills. It sounds so silly but there's a kind of percolating fury to that delivery. Papa Nier was like frustrated but mostly disappointed dad; I felt like Brother was going to take care of those kids, and nobody was going to find the bodies. Younger Brother Nier just never stops looking goofy to me but Older Brother just looks great in motion, between the alterations they made to the movement and just the entire weaponry system. The distinction between the two halves of the game was always a little odd in the Gestalt version-- not odd enough to really raise eyebrows if you didn't know about RepliCant, but of course you can tell that this age gape between the optimistic doe-eyed dogooder and a man largely ruled by his fury and calloused by tragedy is what the timeskip was going for. Swab me down and call me Ishmael, it works. Younger Brother wasn't quite clicking with me-- not because of any writing or voicework issues, but I've got Papa Nier on the back of my mind and it's impossible not to compare and contrast the delivery and dialogue between the two. I know that this is intentional, too; Younger Brother is supposed to be that happy-go-lucky video game protagonist, always doing the right thing and helping people, in order to contrast against the man he becomes. Even just edging into Part II the effect is dramatic and it recontextualizes Younger Brother into a much more effective overall character. And let me reiterate, I enjoyed my time with Younger Brother just fine, I have no issues with him. But he's up against Well Meaning Big Dummy Part I Papa Nier. No contest. And I'm excited to see where Older Brother goes from here.

Speaking of voices I mentioned this before but the delivery on the character's lines is different. The entire game was re-recorded and quite a few lines are still pretty similar to the original, but there are some that are... definitely different. Part of this is a difference in the relationship between characters based on their life experience and ages-- Weiss is much more of an ass to Younger Brother but has a much more even respect for Older Brother (neither of which are like the rapport he established with Father). Some of Kaine's lines feel more aloof, dismissive, and almost tired in the front half of the game. I haven't really gotten to a point to dig into Emil's rapport with the other characters, but the delivery feels more hesitant and uncertain (which I think is more in line with his Japanese VO, but I'm prefacing that on an untrained ear and a presumption rather than recent memory). It's been interesting to see not just where hey adjusted dialogue (and how-- there are some lines that didn't need to be rewritten), but also how they adjust tone and delivery. Dealing with Younger Brother is one thing, but as I said, I'm very excited to see what's different in the second half, especially being much more familiar with that part of the game. Speaking of Voices! Halua got dialogue! I... preferred when it was inferred (and the implications of "I'll always be watching over you" are borderline malicious given the results of their fusion dance, yeah THANK YOU HALUA this is GREAT). Halua's delivery also felt a little too innocent and upbeat both for the situation and when compared to her narrative voice in The Stone Flower, where she comes across as much more cynical and cold. But given what she's been through and the nightmare she's finally escaping I guess she's allowed express happiness. She's certainly earned the right to having a spoken line. No matter what. Every fuckin' time.

"Here we go." This was always a great line to kind of ease in to the officially-official start of Part II-- every time you start up a New Game+ you're greeted with Emil musing about his conflation of Halua to Kaine, and then the phrase "Here we go". There's a lot in that one line. On a personal level he's grounding his thoughts in the moment and steeling himself for what comes next and pushing through his pain and sadness and fear. Whatever Nier told him in the facility he's still terrified, desperately terrified, that Kaine -- who was the one who told him his life had meaning -- is going to reject him. And why wouldn't she? Ultimately they don't know each other, not really. He understands at that moment that his relationship with Kaine is based on confused memories of his sister, that maybe the bond he thought they established isn't actually real. As soon as he frees Kaine he's going to have to confront her, like this, and how could she ever-- she won't-- but he can't just leave her. Whatever happens next. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. (God it matters.) "Here we go." On a meta level, that's our introduction into the second half of the game. The first half is all prologue. This is where we'll be spending the rest of our time, even to the point that 'New Game+' skips straight ahead to this moment. Now that we've finished the establishment, this is where it all builds and where it all matters. Here we go, audience. The ride starts now. You get up to this point now in Replicant. You get the same lead-in. My dumb ass even whispered "Here we go", because I can't help myself. And he says, of course he says--! "Anyway." ... ...a-anyway? What the hell kind of line is that? "Here's some deeply personal musings that are also an indication of my own discomfort as I babble to myself just to fill the void so I can stave off thinking for just a few more seconds. ANYWAY." What a... bizarre decision. Just bizarre.

Upgraded melee combat The introduction to the armored Shades always feel kind of rough-- the defenses on those Shades are significantly higher than anything you've faced and the new weapons you're given to combat them just aren't that good. (If you got lucky you could have a fully-upgraded Faith by now, which is nearly three times as powerful as the 'heavy' two-handed sword you're given; if you downloaded the 4 YoRHa pack for Replicant you've probably been able to upgrade one of those weapons once, which are also a really nice strength boost that leaves the freebie heavy swords and spears in the dust). As an introduction to the new weapon types it always feels like rough going. But then you get a chance to get decent weapons and the combat system truly opens up, and compared to the first game you really feel it. At this juncture I would always just bustle off to Facade and grab the Phoenix Spear and never look back-- the raw power compared to the rest of your arsenal coupled with the triangle dash is basically the bread and butter of the rest of the game. It's not exciting, but it's effective. No more triangle dashing, which was deeply disappointing... but both weapons definitely feel good. I am also somewhat ashamed to admit that it wasn't until now that I realized attacks weren't just about rhythmic input-- you can hold the attacks down to do different charged hits and combos depending on when you execute them in your combo, similar to Automata. I, uh... I felt a bit dumb. But hey, wow, it's a welcome adjustment and it makes all of the weapon types feel equally valuable for different purposes. I never liked using the heavy blades in the original release because they just felt too slow for the damage output they did, even if their 'point' was mostly to sheer off armor (and they definitely felt too slow for use in crowd control). Now they're still heavy and slower, but not to the point that you're basically leaving yourself open just trying to attack. Spears now do crazy sweeping combos and multi-hits. Both of these properties were borrowed from Automata and I find myself prioritizing melee combat and almost forgetting I have magic because honestly it just feels intuitive and fun. I feel like Kaine and Emil might have gotten a power boost as well? Not that I can really confirm this but going into some of the Junk Heap rooms I'd focus on killing a few robots in the corner and then turn around and just see a field of item drops and no more robots. Don't take my word on that, of course, but they felt a little more effective, and a placebo effect is still an effect. "You're staging a protest? That's fun!" Emil. Rebel without a cause. Will not hesitate to kill you if you trespass on his property. (Might explain the statues in the courtyard, actually.) I'll have to double-check this dialogue because I definitely remember more of a melancholia before we get to roasting marshmallows. I think Papa Nier actually offers to talk to/implicitly threaten the villagers to let them in the Village whereas Brother offers to sleep outside with them... which is actually kind of funny. In the former it comes off as Emil and Kaine maybe kinda-sorta not wanting to be allowed in the Village for their own reasons (they're not happy reasons but they're reasons nonetheless) and reassuring Father that no, it's okay, it's fun! The latter is almost telling Brother to stay inside because he'll ruin their sleepover.

(They're absolutely having giggly girl talk about him outside the gates, 100%.) they ran over the seals All I want in Seafront is to enjoy the music and run out to the big beach and hang out with the last living seals and they put a fucking pirate ship on top of them. Oh, wow. Gideon. Wow. OG Nier featured a Gideon that tried to keep himself together and then had fits of mania. You'd be concerned about him during some of the dialogue but generally speaking he came across as... functional. The delivery on all of his lines is now so insanely murder bonkers, like every line he's addressing you like you're already chained to the wall of his serial killer dungeon and it's glorious. I don't know if the distinction between the games is deliberate (in that Gideon in Gestalt was just more even-keeled between his 'rip 'em apart' snarlings and was always just totally nutso in RepliCant) but I do appreciate it. It's a good mirror to Brother Nier's own anger, which only ever seems to be mollified when he's talking to his friends (even kindly accepting sidequests there's a pretty consistent -- not universal, but consistent -- air of barely-bridled frustration). The other characters that Brother encounters are various reflections of himself if things had just been a little different-- Gideon was a representation of the kind of obsessive madness that would have eaten Brother alive if he hadn't had his network of support. Gideon's constant fury and bloodlust even bleeds into him just saying "What can I do for you?" He has no anchor to keep himself sane, nobody to stay human for; he's all mania, all anger, and he only takes any real interest in Brother on his return because he sees an opportunity to act out his vengeance. After defeating Beepy and Kalil he even goes so far as to not only blame Beepy for killing Jakob, but for also killing their mother, which is patently insane but really speaks to how far his justifications and fury have taken him. Papa Nier responds to his anger toward Beepy by basically backing away slowly and saying "Oookay then". Brother, however, actually commiserates; "That's enough. [...] We get it. We really do." This is definitely one of those moments where Brother's context works better than Father's; he absolutely sees himself in Gideon. He completely understands him and sympathizes. He recognizes the madness of his own quest, he sees where it could take him, and there's a resignation when he speaks to Weiss: "Revenge is a fool's errand." "...yeah." Papa Nier has a similar delivery and similarly implies that he understands how terrible his quest is, but there's something decidedly haunting in Brother's sympathy. Also just verifying something on the wiki and this bit of 'Trivia' really jumped at me:

Gideon is the only character to only cause the deaths of other characters. In his case, he caused a platform to crush Jakob and ordered the deaths of P-33 and Kalil, with P-33 surviving.

Metal AF.

#NieR #NieR Replicant #Rambling #He will always say 'here we go' in my heart #And that's probably a serious medical condition

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freedom-shamrock · 5 years ago

Text

Speaking on My Behalf

Also over on AO3

@saijspellhart allowed me to take this delightful idea and run with it, so here we are. Go team!

Chapter One

"All right," Marinette said, handing Adrien the steaming mug. "One Cheng family, top secret laryngitis treatment. Careful, it's hot." She could smell the fresh lemon juice as it wafted in her face.

Adrien snorted ruefully, grasping the mug carefully before slumping back into the couch.

"He says, thank you," Plagg offered helpfully from his place sprawled in his holder's ultra messy bed head.

Adrien smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'm just sorry I can't do more to help you," Marinette said, feeling bad. This was his first real illness since they'd decided it made more sense for Chat Noir and Ladybug to share an apartment. It would limit the risk of anyone else figuring out their identities the way they had. The miraculous were excellent for preventing colds and illness, but apparently they didn't really impact allergies. The warm spring had been brutal on her partner and close friend. Tikki would point out that he was also Marinette's first and only love (or strongly imply it in her look and point it out once they were alone together), but she was asleep in her nest in Marinette's room.

Adrien shook his head and waved one hand as if to push her worry away.

"There's only so much even you can do, Buggy," Plagg offered. "He gets that."

Adrien vigorously nodded his agreement with his kwami.

"And to be fully honest," the black cat of destruction continued, "he wouldn't have gotten half this kind of treatment back at the mansion." His face squished up in a way that Marinette had come to learn was disgust. "His schedule would've been cleared, partly anyway, and he'd be abandoned in that compensation-chamber-of-shitty-parenting that his father called a bedroom."

Adrien frowned, looking petulant while he made indignant shushing noises at his kwami.

Marinette moved closer, scooping up the book and laptop from the ottoman near the couch, so she could take a seat there. She'd always felt Gabriel's cold nature ran into neglectful, if not full-on abusive, territory, but Adrien was quick to change the subject when things got too close to discussing his family life. "Nathalie doesn't have much of a bedside manner, huh?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. It was amazing just what he could express without his voice, and it was no wonder he was loving the acting classes he'd snuck into his schedule.

"Well you don't live there anymore, and we Dupain-Cheng folk do not believe in allowing those who are ill or uncomfortable suffer alone." She reached out to run her fingertips over his cheek, pleased when he closed his eyes and hummed happily. "I'll be checking on you regularly, and I won't be any farther away than the other room, so just send Plagg if you need anything, okay?"

His gorgeous green eyes fluttered open and he gazed softly at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg agreed, his voice a jarring break in the gentle moment. "I'll come get you if he needs anything."

She'd brought work home from the La Fleur Fashions, the design house she'd joined before she even finished school. It was a small and highly exclusive house focused on women's evening wear, and while that was a bit limiting for her tastes, it paid well, and she enjoyed what she was doing. She'd made sure her contract allowed her to create her own designs so long as they weren't competing for the same market, for her online boutique. Lucky Bug provided mostly one-of-a kind or commission pieces, including daywear and menswear. "Are you sure you don't want me to bring my work in here?" she asked for what had to be the fifth time.

Adrien's forehead scrunched up as he let out a huff.

"He would like to remind you that he's spent most of his twenty-three years coping on his own when he's ill," Plagg offered.

Adrien's eyes shot up as if he could see his kwami through his skull.

"He'll just feel guilty if you come out here," Plagg added. "No one has the whole guilt thing down like my kitten."

"Don't I know it," Marinette muttered, letting out a sigh and ignoring Adrien's indignant expression. "I promise, I'm happy to be here if it gives you any comfort, but I'm also not going to push. I definitely don't want you to feel more guilty about things that are basic human needs." That had been the first thing they'd had a serious talk about after moving in together. He was constantly apologizing and trying to avoid being a nuisance. "You are my best friend in the whole world," she insisted, brushing her thumb down his cheek.

"Ooooh," Plagg purred. "Better than Alya?"

"No contest," she replied, delighted by his response.

He closed his eyes and melted against her hand.

"I am always here for you," she promised. More than anything else in the world, he needed people who cared for him unconditionally, people who wouldn't turn their backs on him and leave him to languish in loneliness.

⁂

Adrien snapped his laptop closed. He was bored out of his mind and while he should have been happy to binge on Netflix, he was stupidly restless. The bright spots in his day had all involved Marinette, dear sweet Marinette, doting on him. He'd woken with a terrible sore throat from his allergies. He'd been able to easily identify it by the distinct characteristic that it felt like he'd tried to swallow a cactus (which he'd actually done once as Chat Noir, and would not recommend). His room mate, super partner, and all around best friend had been more kind to him in the first ten minutes than his father and Nathalie had been, combined, for all his sick days ever. His throat already felt better, but his voice would be gone for at least the rest of the day, but probably longer.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and gently poked at Plagg, hoping to go for a run.

"No," Plagg grumbled. "We are not going out as Chat Noir today unless there's an akuma." His words were accompanied by tiny feet stomping on Adrien's head. "The Guardian wants you to rest."

Adrien's groan came out as more of a whine thanks to his irritated vocal cords.

"I get that you're fidgety, Kid," Plagg sounded a touch more compassionate. "But she's the boss, and she's right."

Adrien pouted. It was incredibly unfair that his kwami was so affectionate toward Marinette, yielding to her requests with no need of bribery. His frustration was disrupted by a delighted squeal from Marinette's room.

"Woo hoo!" She sounded giddy, and like she was trying to keep her enthusiasm toned down.

Adrien grinned. She was probably doing that full body wiggle that she did when she was super happy and excited. He opened his mouth to call to her, then remembered he couldn't.

"What are you celebrating in there, Pigtails?" Plagg called. He had almost as many nicknames for Marinette as Adrien did.

"This new dress is so awesome," Marinette replied. "I love it when I nail it on one of these. Monique is gonna love this one."

Adrien snorted. Monique loved pretty much all of Marinette's designs. It hadn't escaped his notice that the head designer and founder of La Fleur was asking more and more of her junior employee. She was clearly coming to Marinette when the stakes were highest, though being the humble person she was, Marinette hadn't noticed this herself.

Adrien waved his hand above his head, frantically trying to get Plagg's attention. He wanted to see that dress. He loved it when Marinette gave him his own private fashion shows. They were his own guilty pleasure, and admittedly featured strongly in his daydreams.

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg muttered. "Hold your horses, Kid." He raised his voice to reach Marinette. "We get to see it, right?"

Marinette's head popped out from the tiny hall toward her bedroom. "You really want to see it?"

She looked so happy, and Adrien felt blessed having her bright eyes so intensely focused on him. He vigorously nodded, cupping his hands together in silent plea.

"It would be rude to leave us hanging," Plagg added.

She disappeared with a giggle. "Okay. Just a minute."

Adrien settled back into the couch, grinning like an idiot and vigorously rubbing his forearms to shed some of his excess energy. A new evening dress. He wondered if it would be cute or elegant, or something else entirely. Since they'd been living together he'd seen her create the gamut of evening dresses, from sweet things for teen starlets, to flirty numbers, to luxurious and sophisticated pieces sought by A-listers. And what color might it be? She'd done everything, though she preferred not to go with black unless it had accents because she felt there tended to be too much weight on basic black. The people wearing her works of art were guaranteed to stand out.

He tried not to pay attention to the sounds of zippers and the swishing of fabric. He was a model for goodness' sake. He could handle having a gorgeous woman change nearby without blowing a gasket.

"These shoes aren't quite right," Marinette cautioned, breaking him out of his little spiral.

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg replied. "It's all about the dress. We got it, Princess."

Adrien couldn't hold back the hiss when his kwami dared use his personal nickname for her.

Plagg merely snickered as he floated off Adrien's hair to land on the back of the couch.

Adrien scowled and batted Plagg off his perch. His death glare seemed to have no effect on the cackling little beast. He felt himself gathering for a pounce when the sound of heels on the wood floor announced Marinette's impending arrival. Freezing, he curled his lip one last time in warning before slowly and intentionally easing himself back into his reclined position.

Marinette sauntered into the room, treating it as her own personal runway. Sashay, sashay. Pause and pose. Quarter turn, pose. He could practically hear the drill he'd walked her through when he'd taught her runway basics. She may not have had real training, because his tutoring had hardly been anything, but she totally killed it, and Adrien was pretty sure his soul left his body the moment he got a good look at her.

The dress was a stunning sleeveless number in a magenta to midnight blue ombre with an overlay of tulle to give the fabric depth and movement without too much weight. The neckline dropped into a gorgeous V ending at her sternum. The skirting had a slit at the front that crept high enough to flash pretty much all over her amazingly toned leg.

She moved to her final pose, directly in front of him, a sultry little smirk on her lips. It was a good thing he was already sitting down, because the wink she threw him would have definitely killed him. She was so amazingly beautiful and talented. Even if his voice had been working, he would have had no words for her now.

After a moment, she relaxed her pose, giggling as she looked down at the dress. "I have to say, this is one of my best."

Adrien nodded vigorously in agreement..

She let out a happy sigh. "What do you think?"

Adrien opened his mouth for a moment, but found himself shutting it again with a little head shake. He still didn't have words, even ones he could silently mouth to her.

"NettieBug," Plagg said smoothly, darting up to float in front of her. "I can answer honestly for the Kid here when I tell you that you're hot as fuck."

⁂

I suspect this will need one more chapter to be truly satisfying.

Apologies for being so absent. I'm still herding kids and managing the household while we are all safe at home for a few more weeks (I can not wait for school to end!). I'm trying to fit in writing where I can, but often don't have the energy.

⁂

Check out Chapter Two >>>

#Miraculous Ladybug #fanfiction #my writing #saijspellhart #fluff #post-reveal pre-relationship #mutual pining #they were roommates #Marinette #adrien #ml plagg #Speaking on my behalf

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toujoursmiraculous · 4 years ago

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Thoughts and Reactions to Truth!

Just going to go straight into it because this episode is huge! I really like how at the end of a season and the beginning of another, we see the same scene that leads us out of one and into another. Gabriel fixes the Miraculous and ohhh poor Dusuu thought it was all a dream, being in evil hands. So in a way, the Miraculous being damaged may have been a blessing for her. Dx Too bad it couldn't have been fixed after Marinette got it back :/ But at least Nooroo isn't alone right? Legit only positive I can get from this. ;-; Tikki and her little hats omg it's so cuuuute! I wonder if she makes her little clothes, too awww But the other Kwami's are almost like siblings to Tikki if you think about it. Now Tikki has to share things with them all as they cause chaos all around when she's so used to her quiet life alone with Marinette. Even for a Kwami, that must be hard to adjust to.

Okay so it's almost Prince Ali's birthday that Paris is going to celebrate. Interesting! I'd really like to see him back and a storyline with that. :O Marinette holding something, clearly, that the girls can't see over video chat. Talking to what appears to be herself, reacting to what someone's saying from different sides of her room. Camera flashes going off. And then her phone getting yeeted at her all on a video call with her friends when she's supposed to be alone...considering they're all going to have Kwami's and learn some things later as they become heroes, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they think back to this scene someday! OH WAIT spoiler for the upcoming episode Gang of Secrets!!! Fair warning. What if this episode with the plushies she said she's going to make, is one of if not the reason they go over and are looking around her room? Because she's been acting sus and they want to know what's going on. Especially after what happens later in the episode with Luka. Okay, back to the episode itself. Her friends observation: You're acting way weirder than normal.... IS ADRIEN AT YOUR PLACE?! I mean, fair point. xD But the thing is, whenever Marinette tends to act weirder or say/do things that Alya and the girls don't understand, it's almost always connected to her being Ladybug/Guardian. Even Lila. If she wasn't Ladybug and dealt with her so much as her, she wouldn't know a lot of things that made her not trust Lila to begin with. So Marinette has to overcompensate to try to hide everything or can't explain her thoughts or feelings about certain situations, so Alya always just assumes her behavior has something to do with Adrien. It really sucks but at the same time, what else is she going to think?

These Kwami are a lot of trouble. xD Now she's even more frazzled, so she calls Luka Adrien. More than once. I've done this where I call my siblings the wrong name more of than I'd like so I can't fault her for it. Her mind's probably a mess, poor girl. Dx "I'm sorry it's just that I cheated on you!" BIG OOF. But this gives me Kim Possible vibes when Ron assumed Kim didn't want him anymore and told her he was cheating on her when he meant to say he was cheating to be on the football team so he could be more worthy of her when he thought she wanted to "trade up" her boyfriend. Our poor Marinette! So frazzled she can't remember when her dates are, when they've been rescheduled. She can't remember her patrols with Chat Noir which are really important. She's getting to the point where it's going to be a wonder she can even function. Dx "But Marinette and I are such a big fan of his" wow this sure hits different. The way they kept quizzing each other to finish the sentence with Jagged Stone trivia was pretty cute. Luka having her finish the line with "Kiss me" that she screamed to the entire theater made me choke on my cake. "Well, if that's what you want." Smooth. "I think, yes. I want to." But you know, it gets interrupted by an akuma attack of course because that's just the way things work! :D And wouldn't you know it, it's Mr. Pigeon. AGAIN. Totally worth interrupting the moment lol Ladybug can't pick and choose, however, so here comes the sequence where she's constantly running off and he starts doubting her. Notice the parallel when Marinette started to like Luka after Adrien could never show up to things? Now Marinette's having trouble showing up and Luka's having issues with it. The second Chat Noir started to sneak up on Ladybug, we all knew he was going to get flipped. But it's so adorable and funny at the same time I love it x333 And that whole scene there of Ladynoir. Obviously it's a Lukanette-centered episode but the Ladynoir in this episode! So good! And you know, it's interesting. First time we see Adrien this episode is for FIVE whole seconds! And the way it abruptly cut off as he opened the car door... yeah you know what, Lies is going to be Adrien's POV or something of this same day. It has to be. He has 2 total scenes one of them is 5 seconds and the other one is 2 seconds. Crazy. We got about 7 seconds of Adrien's face today woo! But ugh here's where we get hurt Luka ;-; "A girl, who as always, isn't here." Ouch. The fact that if Marinette said she loved Adrien still, he'd understand and he'd get it is so sweet, and so sad that it's not even because of that, it's because she's Ladybug and the Guardian and she can't say a thing about it to him at all, that he can't accept. It's the one thing he couldn't deal with that's the issue and that really sucks. AND THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE HAD ME GASPING AND HURTING FOR LUKA. IT'S THE MOMENT HIS HEART BROKE

But also really guys, did you notice his eyes are different now? Almost like a blue diamond look or something.

Luka trying to fight it, trying to tell Hawk Moth that the truth needs to be willingly told, not forced. But stupid Hawk Moth's able to get him to hold on anyway and gets akumatized. But not before he told Marinette to run. Which was such an awwww moment. x33 I mean, this is definitely getting a bit close to Chat Blanc territory if you ask me. New transformation music is pretty good! I like it. Also can we just appreciate that instead of trying to track down Marinette to get the truth from her, he's instead asking all her friends and family, pretty much any source besides her? AND ROSE'S RESPONSE "Marinette has no secrets because she's the most honest girl in the world!" She thinks so highly of her and it's just so beautiful. Nobody would blame her for these secrets if they only knew either. But awwwwww I love this scene!! And here's the big reveal! (no not that one) Jagged Stone is Luka and Juleka's father. 😮

Thomas today tweeted that Luka and Juleka are twins. Which would have to be fairly obvious after this reveal. There's no way that Jagged, who says he'd be a lame dad and left because he wasn't cut out for it, would have Luka with Anarka, then stay long enough to also have Juleka. I also totally forgot that in the French version, Jagged has an American accent when he speaks. XDD Just the fact that even WITH his truth powers, he asked his mother TWICE who his father was. Both times she said Jagged Stone. He still didn't believe it until he went to Jagged himself omg. This poor poor boy. Luka: 😱*gasp* Marinette: 😲 *gasp* Adrien: 😮 WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY OMG. LIKE I'M WATCHING A TELENOVELA OR SOMETHING. THEY EVEN ZOOMED IN ON THEIR REACTIONS I CAN'T And then Luka just yeets his dad because he wasn't ever there for him. I honestly did not expect Luka having dad issues to ever be a thing in this show, even though I knew he wasn't around. So like... when everything's worked out with Marinette and Adrien in the end, will Luka and Adrien end up becoming friends and bonding over things, like the whole daddy issues thing...? Are we really supposed to believe she has no feelings for Chat Noir? I mean really, look at this.

"I can't imagine what your daily life must look like" ... is she really actually being the one to bring up something about his secret identity? With that face? 😲

Their flirty banter that at this point I don't even think they realize it is, and those soft looks I just... My top ship is Ladynoir and I was not expecting any significant moments of theirs but I got it anyway. Just watching their scenes, I kept going "See, this is why they're meant for each other." My heart is happy despite all the Luka pain! It's helping me cope with it, okay? "When you're ready, I'll be here for you, Marinette." Awww so they're telling us Lukanette is on hold here. Not a guarantee, but at least on hold. He's an option for her later. So now the Adrienette vs. Lukanette for S4 we heard about awhile back makes sense now. Later on this season, probably when things calm down and she gets the hang of things, she'll be in a better position to be with someone. And by then, Adrien will probably realize and understand his feelings for Marinette. So then she'll be in a position to choose between them. Now we know where Luka gets his ability to turn emotions into great songs. That's adorable! Father-son bonding! Gabriel needs to take notes when a man who was never in his son's life as more than his idol has the ability to try to be there, but Gabriel can't. Ugh our poor Marinette, probably thinking she's going to be alone for a very long time just because of a supervillain. That's so wrong she has to feel like this. If you notice, Hawk Moth's akumatizations help people patch up relationships so much of the time as a weird unexpected result of an akuma attack. And yet, he does nothing but hurt Marinette and at times Adrien, the most when he akumatizes people. He makes me so angry! But I'm too tired for a rant about that. At least the Kwami hugs at the end helped a teeny bit anyway! c:

#ml #miraculous ladybug #ml season 4 spoilers #ml spoilers season 4 #ml spoilers #truth spoilers #ladynoir #lukanette #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #truth reaction #truth thoughts

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ilikekidsshows · 4 years ago

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This episode just really showed off why love triangles are messy. Marinette now has two boys waiting on her, who she knows for a fact are in love with her, and she’s ignoring it. She never discusses Cat Noir’s feelings for her to his face because she knows he wants a definitive answer. She’s happy that Luka’s in love with her, but it doesn’t seem she’s gonna act on it either. They’re going to be milking that love triangle because that’s the only reason to introduce one, but it always makes the person stuck in the middle look like an indecisive jerk, even when they have sympathetic reasons for hesitating. And here’s the thing: Marinette does need time to calmly make up her mind about which boy she likes the best between Adrien, Cat and Luka, so Luka not asking for an answer right away was the right thing to do. However, just like Kagami says, Marinette hesitates. A lot. More than she should. She’s been leaving Cat Noir on a ‘maybe’ since Glaciator, and I don’t think she’s going to suddenly change her tune because there’s two boys mooning over her instead of one. She’s not even trying to make up her mind, so any time Marinette spends not addressing Luka’s or Cat’s feelings is her deliberately leaving them hanging.

I brought up in my analysis of Backwarder that Fu being Marinette’s foil means her romantic life will probably be put on hold. But this episode made me realize it’s been on hold since Glaciator, and now it’s doubly so. She’s making Cat Noir and Luka wait for her answer to their confessions, because she’s still seeing if things with Adrien might go somewhere. Adrien is Marinette’s Miracle Box; according to the sunk cost fallacy, Marinette has put so much time and effort into winning Adrien over that she’s duty-bound to see the course through, no matter if it succeeds or not and no matter how long it takes, and no matter how long she will have to push back actually giving Luka or Cat Noir a straight answer. Everything else will have to wait until The Adrien Situation is sorted. In short, when you have the freedom to choose, you must accept the responsibility that you have to make a decision.

Except she’s utterly incapable of dealing with the Adrien matter. Luka and Cat Noir are going to be waiting indefinitely because Marinette is stuck in her relationship with Adrien, unable to let go and unable to move forward to either a mutual confession or a rejection. She knows by now how difficult approaching Adrien is to her. She should take responsibility and tell these boys not to wait on her, because she’s going to be spending the next year or two trying to confess to her number one choice. But she won’t, because her next “Get Adrien to fall in love with me and profess his undying devotion to me” plan could work and that would solve both the Luka and Cat Noir situation for her because she knows both of them would bow out gracefully if she was already in a relationship, and this way she doesn’t have to hurt them by telling them “no”. Marinette hates the idea of letting people down, so she’d rather wait and leave the boys in limbo in the hopes that something else will sort the situation between them out, than reject them outright and hurt them in the process.

Also, Luka keeps being enforced as the “easy” option. He fell in love with Marinette at first sight because his musical powers gave him the ability to read her soul or something. Marinette didn’t need to do anything other than exist in his general vicinity and he fell in love with her. Now he also confessed to her with no effort on Marinette’s part needed to make it happen. All of Marinette’s hopes and dreams about the dream romance are right there within her reach, and she didn’t need to put together a single scheme for it to happen. Either this relationship is a hint to Marinette that, if she and Adrien are meant to be, things will eventually just slide into place, or Luka is just meant to signify instant gratification for no work versus Adrien’s hard work with no guarantee of reward. I do understand why it’s necessary to give Marinette this option of another suitor she could be happy with: this will show the audience that Marinette’s dedication to Adrien is true: she could have had everything she wanted much more easily, but if she won’t settle for anyone who isn’t Adrien, it means she loves him for him and not the idea of him. A couple where neither party never looks at someone else never really knows for sure if they’re each other’s number one choice. Picking your eventual partner over others means you truly place them above others in your regard. However, that just makes Luka “proof that Marinette really loves Adrien the most”, meaning his feelings for Marinette will ultimately be about Marinette and her relationship with Adrien, not about Luka himself.

While I’m concerned for his possible role as an emotional prop, I did like the characterization we finally got for Luka. He’s chill, true, but he can reach a boiling point, and I would have loved to see what his conflict resolution style is when an Akuma doesn’t interrupt him. For now, his temperament seems to be settled in the middle of the scale with Marinette and Adrien, with Marinette being on one end with “full on aggressive confrontation” and Adrien being “first instinct is compassion and trying to find a peaceful solution” on the other. Similarly, his approach to love is a mixture of the two. Luka prefers to straightforwardly state it outright, instead of trying to pull off some grand gesture like Marinette prefers. However, he’s still more tempered than Adrien, waiting a bit for a good moment when Marinette seemed receptive before coming out with the confession and making sure he had just the right words to get his meaning across. His Akuma knowing that speech implies it had been prepared somewhat, which, together with his first appearance pointing out he’s bad with words, implies he must have agonized over his little speech until it was perfect.

#miraculous ladybug #miracublog #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #episode wrapup

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mari-onberry · 4 years ago

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Win-Win

For the Kagami Zine! @kagamizine

This was a collab with @landturtlealyce’s beautiful drawing

Also on Ao3

During fencing practice, Adrien could tell that Kagami was nervous. She wasn’t as quick on her feet as usual, and she seemed distracted by something. He knew her identity as Ryuko, and she knew his identity as Chat Noir, so he was sure there wasn’t much to be worried about on that front. Also, she wasn’t the type to let that sort of thing distract her. So, he approached her during break.

“Kagami, are you alright? You don’t seem like yourself today.” Despite them dropping their romantic feelings for each other a while ago when Kagami started dating Marinette, he still worried about her. He wanted her to know that he was there for her, no matter what it was she was going through.

She was a little startled at the question, since she had been stuck in her own head for so long. “I’m okay, it’s just family problems, I don’t want to inconvenience you with that.”

Adrien would’ve been a little hurt by that sentiment if he wasn’t so worried about her. “Kagami, you can talk to me about anything. And I’m probably the one person who can sympathize with you about family stuff.”

She gave in, realizing it would be better to tell him. She needed to talk to someone about it. “My mother wants me to go to that charity gala this weekend. And I’m fine with going, but she expects me to bring along a romantic partner. I would bring Marinette, but…” she didn’t finish her sentence, already a little caught up in her own head again.

“Bring me.” Adrien suggested almost immediately. “I know we aren’t dating, but we can pretend to be to get your mother off your back about it. Plus, it would probably make my father happy as well. Win-win.” He smiled reassuringly at her, hoping his suggestion would be a viable solution.

She pondered it for a moment, seemingly thinking through possible outcomes. “Okay,” she said reluctantly, then, “Yeah, that sounds good,” as she realized that it was her best choice right now. It even seemed like a fun idea, since it would be a good excuse to spend time with him. Plus, the Agreste family was invited to the gala as well, so he would be there anyway.

So, they planned it out, and Kagami was planning on telling her mom about it after practice when her mom picked her up. But once practice was over, they walked out together to see their parents talking. Gabriel had chosen this of all days to pick his son up from practice, which was a rare occurrence. “Father!” Adrien said, feigning excitement, a little worried.

“Son. How was practice?”

“It was fine,” Adrien answered, too preoccupied to elaborate. He started to make his way to the car before either of their parents could question them on their relationship. He didn’t want to lie, but he was willing to do it for Kagami’s sake. He just didn’t want to mess up their plans to tell their parents individually, since that seemed like the best way to not make that big of a deal out of it. If their story was too outlandish, their parents might get their hopes up about them getting married one day. Unfortunately, Gabriel seemed intent on being the one to mess up their plans.

“So, Adrien, have you decided who you’re going to bring to the gala?” Gabriel asked before Adrien could escape to the car. Kagami looked at Adrien, realizing he was being pressured into a relationship, just like she was.

Adrien smiled, seemingly genuine this time, and answered, “Yep!” More excitedly than was needed. “I’m going with Kagami.”

He bought into the lie, probably because he wanted it to be true, and even though their original plans were messed up, this way seemed to have a similar outcome. Then, Tomoe said something that made Kagami’s heart drop.

“Why don’t you bring that Dupain-Cheng girl along with you, too? I heard her fashion designs have been getting popular lately. It’d be good publicity for her,” she asked them.

Adrien almost laughed from the irony, but answered, “I’ll ask her if she’s available.” He didn’t want to complicate the situation even further, so he thought the best thing to do would be to save that for later.

They went their separate ways, and before Adrien got in the car, he shrugged at Kagami to say, “I’m sorry.”

Later that night, Kagami was able to call Marinette. Parental controls had been a difficult obstacle, but Marinette found a bunch of different ways to bypass them through Nino, and it had been a lifesaver. She needed to explain what exactly was going on, since even though Marinette was hopefully willing to go along with it, she was more than likely confused. “Marinette?” She asked as quietly as she could, since her mother was asleep in the other room.

“Kagami!” Marinette answered, sounding ecstatic to get a call from her girlfriend. “I was hoping you’d call. The party sounds fun, I can’t wait!” From her words, it became obvious that Adrien had already called her and told her about the gala.

Kagami decided she needed to clear things up as soon as possible. “I’m going to have to pretend to date Adrien.”

“What?” Marinette asked. That came out of nowhere.

“I asked Adrien to pretend to be my boyfriend while at the gala.” Kagami started, trying to explain her thought process. “I thought it would be easier for him to be my plus one, since both our parents want us to be married, but I didn’t think it would turn out like this. I’m sorry.”

Marinette let the information sink in. “Alright. Well, I know my family life is much different from yours, but we could’ve just gone as friends. I’m fine with Adrien being there, though, especially if it’ll help get your parents off your backs for a while. Thanks for telling me.”

Kagami blushed– she actually had a reason she didn’t suggest going as friends. “I didn’t think I would be able to pretend to be just friends with you anymore.”

Marinette couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to be dating Kagami. She knew that even if they would have had trouble pretending to be friends, most people probably wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference; they weren’t much for PDA after all. “Alright, I guess I can forgive you,” she teased. “Well, hopefully it won’t be too bad with Adrien there.”

Kagami agreed and they stayed silent on the phone together for a while, not wanting to hang up.

“Hey Kagami?”

“Yeah?” Kagami prompted her girlfriend to continue. Her eyes were closed and she had fully expected to fall asleep while on the call.

“Do you still have feelings for Adrien?”

That was a tough question. Even after they started dating, they were both pretty open with the fact that they used to have feelings for Adrien. Key words: used to. It was just expected that both of them dropped those feelings once they started dating. In reality, that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

When Kagami didn’t answer, Marinette elaborated. “I mean, you did go to him first to ask him to pretend to date you. I know you two are friends, but there were other options,” she explained, then realized why Kagami might be having a hard time answering. “You can tell me, Kagami. We promised to be open about these things. I won’t be mad.” That was a guarantee, but Kagami still felt her heart drop when she thought of the consequences if she said ‘yes’.

“I might. I’m not sure.”

It was rare for Kagami to admit to not being sure about something. “Okay. That’s fine. Maybe pretending to date him will be a good opportunity, then.”

Kagami noticed that Marinette seemed awfully fine with her girlfriend having feelings for another person, and Kagami appreciated it, but in this case, she couldn’t help but read into it. Marinette had always been in love with Adrien, and even if she had buried her feelings when she got together with Kagami, it was hard to drop that kind of feeling just like that. She didn’t say anything, though, since the whole situation was starting to stress her out. And maybe Marinette was right; maybe the fake dating thing would help clear things up.

Soon, it was the weekend, and all three of them met up in front of Adrien’s place to go to the party. Gabriel didn’t like having people at his house, but he had suggested Marinette come, so he thought it would only be polite to give them a ride.

Kagami’s breath hitched once she saw her girlfriend dressed up. Marinette didn’t have time to prepare a new dress for this particular event, so she wore one that she designed a couple months ago. Kagami had seen her in a similar dress before, but she never got used to how pretty she looked all dressed up.

They drove to the gala in near silence, all three of them in the back while Gabriel sat in the passenger seat, and their bodyguard in the driver’s seat. Kagami found it sort of awkward stuck between her girlfriend and the boy who was pretending to be her boyfriend, but she was determined to make the most of it. Gabriel wasn’t looking back at them, anyway, so she took hold of Marinette’s hand, sliding her own hand against Marinette’s to rest it where it always fit perfectly, then set her other hand on top of Adrien’s. His hand was surprisingly soft, and he jumped when he felt Kagami touch him, but he didn’t make any effort to complain or move his hand.

Once they got there, Kagami was actually buzzing with excitement, though she didn’t show it. Earlier, sometime after her call with Marinette, she had decided that if she had to be here with her girlfriend, she wasn’t going to be forced to pretend they were only friends. She didn’t owe anyone that. Plus, it wouldn’t be obvious unless they kissed in front of everyone. Her only problem was Adrien, and although she knew she didn’t owe it to anyone to pretend to date a boy, she actually quite liked the pretending. Adrien seemed to like it, too. So, she walked into the building with Marinette and Adrien on either side of her, arm-in-arm with both of them.

Gabriel didn’t seem to care– Kagami was convinced he was there just to impress potential investors– and it didn’t seem like anyone else there cared either. So, they all embraced it. They sat down at a table that was draped with a fancy white tablecloth, and soon Adrien and Kagami’s parents were nowhere to be seen (no doubt busy with work) so they were no longer supervised.

“You look nice.” Adrien said, wanting to start up conversation, but not knowing how. Then, to clarify, he added, “Both of you.”

Marinette replied, “Thanks, you too,” to be polite, but she wasn’t wrong. Adrien looked good in just about anything, so he couldn’t go wrong in a suit.

Kagami’s reply to Adrien’s compliment was quite different. “She does, doesn’t she?” And pressed a kiss to the back of Marinette’s hand, much too intimately to be platonic.

“Kagami!” Adrien scolded, “Aren’t we supposed to be the ones dating?”

Kagami shrugged. “No one’s looking. Besides,” she turned to look at Marinette, “I told you I wouldn’t be able to pretend to just be friends with you.” Marinette blushed, but Adrien blushed even harder.

Marinette didn’t mind. “I do like this better than having to sit around while your parents deal with business deals.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Come on, it’s not that boring. I’ve been to a lot of these things, and usually the entertainment and hors d'oeuvres make it worthwhile.” He looked around the room, and although it was full of old, rich people, there were at least plates full of tarts, pâté and other small dishes.

Kagami shook her head, admiring his optimism, but finding it a little naive. “I’m glad you’re able to look on the bright side of things, Adrien, but I’d much rather be doing pretty much anything else right now.” That wasn’t true; she did enjoy being with them, but she would rather they were at a movie, or a concert, or fencing. “We need to do more stuff together, the three of us.” If only their parents would let them. She couldn’t wait until she was old enough to move out.

“Let’s make the most of our time together now,” Marinette said, already coming up with plans in her head. If only they could be alone, without a hundred people around them. “Do you think your parents would notice if we went missing for a while?”

Adrien was worried about the proposition, since he wasn’t one to risk getting caught misbehaving by his dad, but it wasn’t as if Gabriel cared about him in that particular moment.

Kagami was fine with disobeying a little if it meant spending this limited amount of time together. “I’m fine with taking that risk,” Kagami answered, and almost instantaneously, Marinette took her by the hand and dragged her into the hallway, where they could hopefully escape unnoticed. Kagami took hold of Adrien’s hand, and he trailed close behind them.

Just because he was fine with the decision, didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about the consequences. “Where are we going?”

“Relax, Adrien, it’s not like this is the first time we’ve all snuck out, just the first time without a city to save.”

That was enough to convince him. He followed along without another protest after that; after all, Chat Noir wouldn’t worry about this sort of thing. Maybe for the night he could pretend to be his daring superhero counterpart, just without the responsibilities.

Marinette led them out the back entrance and they were finally alone. They weren’t quite at their destination yet, though, and she finally revealed her plan. “I think I saw an ice cream shop on the way here, only about a block away.” They would have to hurry there and back to minimize the risk of their absence being noticed, but they decided it was worth it.

Marinette was right, the walk to the ice cream shop was short, but that didn’t mean it was uneventful. Adrien, intent on channeling his Chat Noir persona, felt a bit more confident. But, being the dense and clumsy person that he is, Adrien was still not the best at expressing his feelings. That sort of thing certainly wasn’t as easy when he wasn’t wearing a mask.

“So, Kagami, now that we’re pretending to date, does that mean I get a kiss?” He teased, knowing it was far-fetched to ask such a thing.

Kagami didn’t see it that way. “Well, we don’t really have to pretend right now, but I wouldn’t mind a kiss.” She liked seeing him flustered, and she especially enjoyed the way Marinette reacted. It was as if she liked her girlfriend flirting with her (supposedly) former crush, despite her better judgement. “My lips are for one girl only,” she said, and Adrien was almost relieved that she had reinforced his suspicions that they were exclusive. As much as he was attracted to the two girls, it was too complicated for him to think about dating them both. Then Kagami added, “But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for a boy,” and that made Adrien look like he was close to collapsing from embarrassment.

Once they got to the shop, they had decided to share a cup with three scoops: one blackberry, one orange, and one peppermint. It was an odd combination, but it was tasty, and Kagami was glad that they were actually trying out the combination of flavors André had assigned them, even if it wasn’t something they’d order again.

After a half an hour of being absent from the party, they decided they had been gone long enough and started to head back. It was getting dark now, and sunset served as a nice view for their walk back. They didn’t look forward to the festivities that now seemed to pale in comparison to their “friend” date, but it was almost bearable now that they had gotten a half an hour to themselves.

“Come on, we have a party to get back to,” Kagami said once they got to the back entrance, taking hold of Adrien’s hand and leading him back into the building as he tried to hide the blush on his face. For some reason, holding hands with her felt a lot more intimate than it did earlier in the day.

That night, maybe she would call Adrien as well as Marinette, and maybe they would talk everything through, or maybe they’d laugh it off as a one-time thing. Maybe a year from now, things wouldn’t seem so simple between them. Kagami decided she could deal with that later. For now, she could just enjoy the way Adrien’s hand clammed up against hers when she winked at him, and savor the quick glances Marinette would give her when she knew no one was looking.

#mlb #miraculous ladybug #adrigaminette #kagami zine #mari writes

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chocoluckchipz · 4 years ago

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The Other You - 20

Read it on A03, FF.net, WattPad

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Hot streams of water running down his body. The cold despair in his heart. The hollow void, the numbing feeling spreading, conquering, overwhelming whatever was left of him. Her words echoed in his mind, louder with each passing minute.

“And even if I was single, I could never be with you. Our history—I can’t fully trust you, Adrien, and no relationship can work without trust. We can never be together!”

His head hung low, Adrien let the water wash over him. Months of preparations and hard work had paid off for Marinette. She was the star of the show. Her career was practically guaranteed after tonight. He, on the other hand, had miserably failed. All of his attempts to coax her to like his civilian self had been for nothing because years ago he’d broken her trust, effectively ruining all of his chances with her in the future.

One mistake.

A lifetime to pay.

Adrien closed his eyes, succumbing to the gripping pain in his chest. His fists clenched, his knuckles white. He'd tried so hard. He'd pulled all the tricks he could think of, and the only thing he'd achieved was to push her away even more. Two weeks ago, she'd tolerated him enough to agree to lunch. Now, she didn’t even want his friendship.

Where did he go wrong?

Or maybe that shouldn’t be the question. Perhaps, he should consider if all of his attempts were trivial in the first place? Was the hurt he’d caused Marinette too deep for her to ever fully forgive him?

He swallowed back the knot in his throat and shut off the water. Heartbreak aside, Adrien couldn’t spend an hour in the shower. He had a promise to keep.

“Trying to kiss her was a mistake, you know,” Plagg yawned, lounging on the vanity counter. “You’re two different people to her, or did you forget that? You were basically pushing her to cheat on her beloved cat."

"Don't rub it in," Adrien seethed through his teeth. "I didn't plan to do that. It just… just happened. I got caught up in the moment and… nothing happened. She pushed me away, so… Just drop it."

“Yeah, yeah. You’re attention-starved. Feeling too guilty to touch her as Chat, but can't do anything as Adrien, and it’s getting really hard to stay away. Right?”

“Do you really need to bring this up?”

“Just pointing out the obvious, in case you missed it. That was the perfect recipe for a disaster! And now, she hates your guts again. Congratulations.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, Adrien glared at his kwami. Sometimes, Plagg really got on his nerves. Was there even a shred of empathy in that little body of his? Hadn't he witnessed all of Adrien’s struggles these last few weeks with his own eyes? Because staying away from Marinette as Chat Noir was one of the hardest things Adrien had ever had to do. Yet, giving her what she wanted from him was out of the question. Adrien would never forgive himself for taking advantage of her, and being with her as Chat Noir without her knowing his identity would be just that—taking advantage.

“Are you sure you still want to go over there tonight?” Plagg had the decency to ask. “It’s been a long day. Don’t you want to relax at home with a nice movie and a snack?”

Adrien grabbed the towel from the bar and started to dry himself. “Chat Noir promised Marinette he’d come to celebrate her big day. We’re still going.”

“I bet she won’t even be home. She’s probably still partying. You know, having fun like a normal person? Not sneaking away before everyone else to lick his wounds in private. If you wanted to help her celebrate, you should’ve stayed there.”

Adrien shook his head. “She doesn’t want Adrien to celebrate with her. She wants Chat Noir.”

“And what do you want?”

Adrien stilled. Leaning on his arms onto the vanity, he met his own gaze in a mirror.

Him? His wishes? His desires? Did he even dare? And if he did find the bravery for that…

What did he want?

Love. He wanted to be loved. He wanted to be forgiven. He wanted to be accepted… All of him, not just his superhero side. He wanted to be with the woman he loved, to cherish and protect her, to hold her in his arms and kiss her breathless. He wanted to share his life with her. To wake up and fall asleep in her arms. He’d enjoy caring for her. To be by her side, to have her by his. He’d be the luckiest man alive if she’d just let him love her and love him back.

He wanted Marinette.

Despite everything, despite his better judgement and Plagg’s nagging, he still wanted Marinette.

But he supposed it was too selfish of a desire for him. Not after what he’d done to her.

Plagg hovered in front of him, his face unusually serious. “She either wants all of you or she gets none, kid. Don’t go there. It’s not going to end well.”

Adrien swallowed and shook his head, looking away. “We’re going. I promised I’d come, and I’m not failing her again, not even in something so small.”

“Even if it hurts you?”

Adrien didn’t answer, grabbing a bottle of hair balm and starting to work it into his hair.

“I’ve hurt her worse,” he mumbled a short while later. “It’s only fair for me to hurt some too.”

“Oh, bullshit!” Plagg scoffed. “Like she didn’t hurt you enough in return! Kid, I usually don’t care, but you’re going overboard. You have to let her go. She said she’s never giving you another chance, so stop this. Stop destroying yourself.”

Adrien ignored him, brushing his teeth and relocating to his bedroom to finish dressing. He didn’t bother with what he wore much. He didn’t plan on de-transforming in front of Marinette anytime soon. A black t-shirt and dark green lounge pants, something comfortable in which he could plop into his bed upon returning. He checked up on the sleeping Nooroo and Duusu, refilling their food supplies, and only then turned to Plagg. “Ready?”

The kwami frowned, crossing his tiny arms over his chest. “When did you become a masochist, kid?”

“I’m not a masochist. I just want to finish what I’ve started. That’s all.”

Plagg groaned, throwing his paws into the air. “Do what you want, but you’re just setting yourself up for more hurt. What are you going to do when she finds out who you are? Because she will find out sooner or later.”

Adrien looked away, a dull ache gripping at his chest.

Marinette couldn’t know.

Not after he’d learned that there would never be a chance for him. Not after he’d gone behind her back again in something that directly concerned her. He hadn’t learned his lesson at all, no matter how much he claimed he did. She’d probably hate him even more if she were to find out. She’d probably assume he didn’t think she could do things on her own, which wasn’t true because he did believe in her and he knew how strong and capable and independent she was. She wasn’t Ladybug for nothing.

He just didn’t want her to kill herself while she was at it.

He only wanted to help, which was something she’d asked for herself. Only, Marinette would’ve never accepted help from Adrien, so he had no choice but to improvise. Would she still hate him? Most likely. Given their history and current relationship, Adrien didn’t expect anything less.

“Adrien, please,” Plagg continued to nag. “You wanted to help her. You did it. Now, let her go. Don’t wait for her to kick your ass into oblivion for being stupid.”

He ran his hands through his hair. He hated the idea, but perhaps Plagg was right. If Adrien wanted to prevent his reveal and spare them both unnecessary hurt, he had to let her go. And now, while Marinette was distracted by her success, was perhaps the best time to do so. She was sure to be thrown into a whirlwind of events, work and new experiences quite soon. New people, new connections, new opportunities… She’d hardly miss him, if at all.

He didn’t want to simply vanish on her like he did the last time, though. The least Marinette deserved was some kind of an explanation. Perhaps, he could say he was moving away due to his work. Or he could claim he’d always wanted to travel the world and now was his only chance. Ideally, he’d slowly fade away and she’d forget all about him soon thereafter. He’d think of something…

He would have to break up with her.

His breath stumbled in his chest. Legs giving out on him, Adrien collapsed into a nearby chair. They’d just started dating… Though, it was hard to even call it dating. Not with the way things were between them. And yet he’d have to break up with her before he could vanish. He’d have to break Marinette’s heart no matter what he did—let her go, or stay and reveal himself. He closed his eyes, gripping his head with his hands.

He didn’t want to do that.

He didn’t want to hurt her more.

He’d already lived through losing everyone important to him. His mother. His father. His friends.

He couldn’t lose his Lady as well.

He loved her.

“Kid, are you alright?” Plagg carefully touched his arm. “Don’t worry. There are other fish in the—“

“Shut up, Plagg! Can you, please, just shut up for just a moment?”

The kwami grumbled and turned away, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m just trying to be optimistic.”

Adrien closed his eyes and inhaled.

In.

Out.

Breathe.

Let it all out.

Repeat.

There had to be another way. He had to be able to do something to avoid hurting Marinette again.

His eyes caught a glimpse of the clock.

He’d have to think about it later because now he was morbidly late to their dinner, and Marinette was probably worrying over his tardiness. Without a second thought, he stood up and called for his transformation. Grabbing a package of wine and chocolates he’d prepared for her as a present, Chat jumped out the window and headed to her apartment.

All pain and worries aside, today was her big day and he had to put her first, which meant her boyfriend had to be on his best behaviour and make her happy… even if his own heart was breaking with every passing minute because he couldn’t love her the way she deserved to be loved.

Because she couldn't love him the way he wished she would.

***

Judging by the lack of lights in the windows, Marinette was most likely still out. She must have gotten held up at the after-party—nothing unusual for the industry and someone in her position, especially today. The balcony door he always used to get in was open, clearly signalling that she wasn't against him waiting for her inside.

He wasn’t hungry himself, but Marinette would probably appreciate a warm meal upon her return. There were two marinated steaks she’d prepared for them for tonight in the fridge. Perhaps, too heavy of a meal at this hour, and it wasn’t like he’d be able to cook them properly anyway. Cheese would do. Grapes and bread too. Some wine to finish the meal off.

Chat got all the ingredients he needed, cutting cheese and bread into slices and arranging them on a plate. He put the wine he’d brought in a chiller and washed grapes, taking them off the vine and putting them into one of his mother’s crystal bowls. She used to collect them back in the day. He chose the best one he could find.

Setting the table, Chat went through the trouble of finding candles and lighting a few in the centre of the dining table. Two plates at each end, two wine glasses and silverware. Food prepared and stored in the fridge, he was ready for his Lady’s return. To kill some time, he settled on a couch in the living room and turned on the TV just so he wouldn’t slip back into thinking about the inevitable break-up he’d have to mastermind.

Marinette came an hour later, stumbling on her high heels and sweetly grinning at him upon entering. “My Kitty. You came.”

Her face flushed, lips trembled, a sparkle in her half-lidded eyes, and messy hairdo… There was no denying it.

“You’re drunk.”

“I am not.” Marinette pulled off her shoes and threw them in a corner, immediately after pulling all the pins out of her hair and shaking her head. “Just a little tipsy. Nothing serious. But I had to. After that…" She bit her lower lip, looking away. “…celebrate. Yes, I had to celebrate. That’s it. My show was a blast so a few drinks were in order. Sorry, I'm late. Couldn't get out sooner. Ugh. I’m exhausted.”

“Congratulations on your success. You’ve definitely earned it.”

“Too bad Felix bailed on me,” she grumbled. “He would’ve loved the show, and he deserved to be there for all the ovations. I’ll give him an earful about it next time I see him.”

“I’m sure he’d love that.” Chat couldn't help a smile. One of the reasons he loved Marinette was just that—she cared for those she considered friends with her whole heart. Too bad Adrien wasn’t on her list anymore. He had to push through, though. He’d figure out what to do with his broken heart later. “Would you like something to eat or to bed we go?”

Marinette’s lips stretched in the most seductive grin she could manage at the moment as she wiggled her eyebrows and leaned closer. “We?”

Chat shook his head. “No, M’Lady. You need actual sleep. I’ll go home.”

She pursed her lips in a pout. “You’re no fun, Chaton. Food it is, then.”

“Alright. Just keep in mind I’m no chef, so it’ll be more like snacks.”

She stepped closer, her fingers dancing across his chest as she looked up at him from under those long eyelashes. “Say, Chat. Did anyone ever tell you you look like a snack?”

His heart was not strong enough for this. He almost responded when the scent of alcohol hit his nose. Chat swallowed, trying to get a grip on his own emotions, and pulled back. Maybe he was a masochist after all—letting this woman break him over and over again, yet still coming back for more. Did he secretly enjoy this torture?

What was wrong with him?

But… what a persistent woman she was! Stubborn and determined, confidently walking to her goals no matter what. Just the way he liked her.

“Not today, Marinette. You need to sober up first.”

“I’m perfectly fineee.” She batted her eyes at him, pulling him closer. “Just taste and you’ll see—”

Kwamis give me strength!

“I guess this means you’re off to bed and I’m going home?”

That seemed to do the trick. Marinette pursed her lips and withdrew, heading for the kitchen. “You promised me snacks. Don’t you dare to leave without feeding me first.”

“Would never dream of it.”

Once at the dining table, he motioned for Marinette to sit while he brought out the food he’d prepared. Marinette settled in a chair and put her hands on the table, resting her chin on them. Her eyes focused on the candles’ flame.

"Pretty. You're so thoughtful, Chaton. I love watching fire.”

“I thought you’d want something relaxing to look at after a hard day of work.” He sat across the table in his seat. “Enjoy the food. I’m sorry it’s not much.”

“It’s perfect," Marinette whispered, watching him with half-lidded eyes. She popped a grape into her mouth and chewed. “You’re perfect, Chaton. Way more perfect than I am.”

He wanted to smile, yet the dull ache that gripped his heart kept him grounded in the reality of the situation. If only she knew who she was saying these words to she’d take them back. A lump at the back of his throat, Chat focused his eyes on his plate. “You’re overestimating me. The real—”

He sucked in a gasp at an unexpected touch. Somehow, Marinette was a breath away from him, his face cradled in her hands as she raised it to look at him.

“Don’t you dare to object,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “You are perfect. I don’t deserve you. I never did, but I love you so much. Please, why won’t you accept me?”

“I love you too, Marinette,” he whispered, gripped with throbbing pain.

“Then prove it.”

She leaned up, her eyes fluttering close, her lips aiming for his.

Chat tensed and pulled back.

He couldn’t.

No matter how damn hard he wanted to kiss her, he couldn’t do that because she would hate him even more if he kissed her. She’d never want to kiss Adrien.

He couldn’t do that to her.

He couldn’t do that to himself.

“I think you’ve had one too many drinks,” he whispered instead. “You should go to bed and we’ll celebrate some other time.”

Her whole body stiffened. Eyes closed, lips pressed together, Marinette pulled back, turning away. When she spoke, her voice was sharp enough to cut steel.

“Just admit it. You don’t love me. You never did.”

“What? No!” He protested without a second thought. Even knowing that a break-up was coming, Chat still hated the idea of her doubting his feelings. “Of course, I love you, Marinette, but you need to rest now. You aren’t thinking clearly.”

“I just had a few drinks. I’m not drunk!”

“You’ve got a tiny body, and you barely drink, if ever. A few drinks for someone else might not be an issue, but for you—”

Groaning, she jerked around and stomped away. “Don’t patronize me! All I wanted was to kiss my boyfriend. How is that not thinking clearly?”

He looked away in desperation. Pathetic. He couldn’t even explain this to her. He’d only make it worse if he did.

Then… could it be any worse than it already was?

“Marinette, I’m sorry but—”

“You can’t kiss me until you solve your issues, right?”

He nodded.

“And when will that happen?”

“I don’t know.”

Marinette huffed, throwing her arms into the air. “Do you want to know what I know? I know you don’t love me, Chat—”

“Mari—”

“Don’t you dare!” She swung around and pointed her finger at him. “Don’t you even dare to say I’m wrong because you know I’m right. You don’t love me. You don’t love Ladybug anymore and you never loved Marinette to start with. Why do you even bother with me at all?”

Something stirred in the pit of his stomach, coursed through his veins and ignited a fire in his chest. He might be a jerk and he might have withheld information and deceived her—mind you with good intentions—but he had never lied about his feelings!

“You’re wrong! I do love you—"

“You refused to confess your feelings to Ladybug, and the minute you found out I was her, you distanced yourself from me! Tell me I’m wrong.”

“There’s a good reason—”

"A good reason of not loving me!”

“No! It’s not that.”

“Explain then! Because I’m sick and tired of you keeping it vague. What issues do you have to deal with? Why are they stopping you from kissing the person you claim to love? Tell me, Chat! Why?”

His fists clenched at his sides, Adrien pressed his lips into a thin line and looked away.

He couldn’t.

Not yet.

Maybe he could come up with another crazy idea to fix this?

He just had to ignore the fire rapidly spreading through his veins.

He would resist.

He would contain it.

“Thought so,” Marinette whispered bitterly and turned around. “Leave. I don’t want to see you right now.”

“Marinette, listen—"

“Leave, Chat!” She hugged herself, the skin on her arms under her fingertips turning white. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies and excuses.”

“I’m not lying!"

“Then why wouldn’t you tell me at least the reason you refuse to kiss me?”

“I can’t. Not yet…”

“Then come back when you’re ready to talk.”

Chat clenched his jaw, fighting the tears gathering in his eyes. His breathing ragged, he closed his eyes, struggling to restrain the resentment and anger boiling inside his chest.

It hurt.

So much.

It tore him apart, ripped through his heart, destroying the last bits of caring he had.

What was even the point now?

She hated him.

Not just the Adrien part of him anymore.

She hated both sides of him now. Perhaps, it was his chance then? He didn't have to orchestrate anything. Marinette had already done all the work.

“So, this is it? Is this the end?”

“Only if you want it to be,” she said, her back to him. “I love you, Chat. I really do, but this hurts. I’m giving you my whole self every single day, and you keep pushing me away without an explanation. Why? Why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you… I just can’t tell you some things. Not yet, at least. If I did, it’ll hurt you more than this.”

“So you’re, what? Protecting me?”

He could see the anger in her eyes, could feel the spite in her words as she glared at him over her shoulder.

“I don’t need protection, Chat. I handled monsters on a daily basis for years. Sometimes, I even had to fight them and you! I can deal with whatever you’re keeping a secret from me. Don’t you see it hurts me more when I don’t know what’s going on?”

Chat clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white inside his gloves.

It hurt her more when he kept his identity a secret? He doubted she’d think the same if she knew.

“Why can’t you trust me? I’m not a weakling.”

He had never thought her to be one!

“Please, Chat. Just tell me what’s going on. I can handle ”

He had nothing to lose anymore. He had to let her go anyway, so maybe he should tell her everything. Fulfil one last wish of hers before closing this chapter of his life.

Right here.

Right now.

Cut it clean and be done with it.

“You want the truth?”

He didn’t care anymore. Too tired. Too weak to stop the words that avalanched out of his mouth.

“The truth, Marinette, is that you are the one who doesn’t love me! You’re the one who pushes me away. You. Not me. And why? Because of one mistake I made years ago? One! And only because I was trying to be a good friend and wanted what’s best for you!”

He shook his head, struggling to form a coherent thought. “I should’ve stayed away. It wasn’t my business. I should’ve let you make your own mistakes. But no! I had to help. I had to protect you. How stupid of me! You’re right. You’re strong enough to handle everything on your own. You don’t need me.

“You say this hurts? But do you know how much losing your friends, being cut off and cast away like you’re the biggest jerk in the universe hurts? Do you? And all because you tried to help a friend! You didn’t even let me explain!”

His hands gripped his head, he pressed his lips in a thin line for a few seconds, taking a quick breath before continuing. “But you know, I deserved this. I should've been smarter than to help you again as soon as I saw you struggling. And here’s the funny part—you’ll get a real kick out of it—I rushed to help you while you despised me so much you couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with me for more than five minutes! Really. I should win a Nobel Prize for being the dumbest person on this planet. Stupid, brainless, and pathetic because despite knowing everything, knowing you hated me and knowing you’d never forgive me… I still managed to fall in love with you. That, Marinette, is what really hurts.”

“What are you talking about?” Marinette whispered, her eyes wide, lips parted in shock.

He didn’t hear, though, all the pent-up, suppressed resentment spilling over, his voice cracking with every word. “I’ve tried Marinette. I’ve tried so hard to get you to like me. Like, not even love. I’d be happy if you just thought of me as a friend. I gave you my all, but it was useless. It was all for nothing. Because of one mistake. Because you’ll never trust me again and there is nothing I can do about it. Nothing! I tried! And I failed.”

Marinette grabbed his hand, her eyes frantic. “What are you talking about? Chat, I love you. Of course, I trust you. We’ve been partners for years. I trust you with my life. How can you even think I don’t trust you?”

Adrien laughed. Bitterly. Resentfully. Almost insanely. “Oh really? Can you look me in my eyes without this mask on and repeat that?”

“Of course I can! I love the man underneath the mask, the man I know you truly are.”

He didn’t think twice. He didn’t think at all. He just commanded.

“Plagg, claws in.”

The moment the mask disappeared from his face, Marinette took a step back, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Can you say you love me now, Marinette?” Adrien repeated, keeping his eyes on her.

Her eyes wide, she stared at him in silence.

Adrien closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat away.

This was a mistake.

This whole thing was a mistake.

He should’ve stayed away from her just as Plagg had insisted.

"Claws out," he whispered and, turning around, walked towards the balcony. He didn't look back as he opened the door. No one called for him to come back or at least to wait, so he jumped out of the window and vanished into the darkness, leaving Marinette behind.

***

His legs heavy, Chat ran. Ran as fast as he could, as far away as he was able to, stopping only when there was nowhere else to go. His vision blurring, he collapsed on his knees and leaned into his arms, letting a devastating cry out into the night from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

She didn’t answer his question which meant it was probably a no.

She didn’t call for him when he was leaving.

She didn’t follow him here.

She really did hate him now.

Chat curled in on himself, hiding behind one of the beams. Numb and broken, streams of tears poured down his face. He hugged his knees. His head hung low, only one question violating his thoughts.

Why?

Why was he so stupid?

Why couldn’t he be smarter and avoid repeating his own mistakes?

Why did she hate him so much?

Why?

Was he so unlovable?

Was it that impossible to forgive him even after everything he had done to apologize?

Why couldn’t he change anything?

Why did all of his efforts bring nothing but more complications and hurt?

Why did he still care in the first place?

Why did he have to fall in love with the only woman who hated his guts?

Why?

Why couldn’t it all just end?

The pain.

The despair.

The throbbing, burning wound on his bleeding heart.

He wrapped his arms around his body and tried to stop thinking. Thoughts were painful. They hurt. It would get better eventually. He might be all alone again, but it would change one day. He hoped it would. He just had to get through this.

Somehow.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but by the time his tears ceased, the city was starting to wake up. The eastern corner of the sky coloured yellow, chasing away the dark clouds above him. Dawn of a new day. A promise of light after the darkness. Chat used to love sunrises. Now, he looked at the first rays peeking from behind the horizon and felt nothing.

Tears ceased. The pain dulled or maybe he just got used to it. He wasn’t sure. He blindly starred in front of himself, releasing his transformation.

“Kid, what are you doing?! Get away from the ledge!” Plagg yelled, forgetting all about his usual request for cheese.

Adrien sadly chuckled. “Don’t worry, Plagg. I’m not suicidal. I… I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

Plagg understood without further explanation. He silently crawled into Adrien’s hands, nestling in his lap. They sat in silence for a few moments before Adrien spoke again.

“Plagg?”

“Yeah?”

“Why was I chosen to be your wielder?”

“Why do you suddenly want to know that after all these years?”

“I don’t know.” He fell quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “Maybe because if I know that there is something inside me that would always lead to destruction and failure, it’d be easier to stop wanting stuff, stop wishing for something wholesome in my life. You know, like if you know that you’re destined to be a villain, it’s easier to accept that and stop trying to be the good guy, someone you weren’t born to be. You can’t fight destiny, right?”

“What do you mean?” Plagg frowned, flying up to look at Adrien closer. “You weren’t destined for anything like that, kid. There isn't such a thing as destiny at all. And even if there was, you choose your destiny yourself.”

“Well, what about all those ‘they were destined to be this and that’ or ‘they are destined to be together’? There is something. People can feel it.”

"There are people who have specific talents and qualities to be something others can't because they lack said traits. And some people work better with each other than with others because they share similar values, goals and have compatible characters. It's not destiny. You're the owner of your life, kid, and you can choose to be whoever and with whomever you want. Easy. Don't complicate stuff that shouldn't be complicated."

“Then, tell me, what do we share for me to be chosen to be your wielder? Do we share values or goals? Or maybe I’m just so naturally good at destroying everything around me, Master Fu deemed me to be a fitting partner to the kwami of destruction.”

"Now you're talking nonsense. You need to rest."

Adrien shook his head. “No. There is obviously something and I want to know what it is. Do we share some kind of negative energy or bad luck tendencies? Tell me. Why was I chosen?”

Plagg sighed, looking straight into Adrien’s eyes. “Kid, the wielders of the Black Cat miraculous are chosen based on the purity of their hearts. Kindness, selflessness, compassion. Those are the qualities the Guardian is looking for because, believe me, it takes a whole lot of good in a person to counterbalance my destruction and control the chaos I embody. You weren’t chosen because of some negative energy voodoo or destiny’s cruel joke. You were chosen because, despite your circumstances, you were strong enough to preserve a pure, kind and selfless heart.

“So, there,” Plagg grumbled. “You were chosen because you have so much good in you that only you could counterbalance me. That’s all it is. But don’t you start assuming you’re taking on some of my bad luck in return. That’s not how it works. I do not affect you in any way apart from draining your wallet for my Camembert.”

Adrien stared at Plagg, dumbfounded. “Then why does this keep happening to me? Why do I keep screwing up? If I’m such a great person, why can’t I be happy for once?”

“Because you’re human,” Plagg shrugged. “Humans do tons of shit all the time and sometimes, it’s just harder to get out of one particular pile of shit than out of another. That’s all.”

Adrien sadly chuckled. “That’s all?”

“That’s all.”

“Sucks to be human then.”

“Sucks to think there is something more to this life than a good wheel of Camembert.”

Adrien laughed. “You’re right, Plagg. You were right all along, and you know what? From now on, I’m listening only to you. You did manage to keep ‘Felix’ in line, so I’m sure you can keep Adrien out of trouble as well.”

“About time you recognized my talents. And since I’m the boss now, I say we should go home. It’s late and you’re shivering.”

He was cold. And sleepy. His eyes were practically closing on their own. He didn’t even notice. But Plagg did. He cared. Someone did care. Then, maybe Adrien should return the favour and care only for those who did the same for him?

“Your wish is my command, Boss.” He smiled, standing up.

“I like the sound of that,” Plagg smirked. “The Boss also says we’ll buy more Camembert from now on.”

Adrien petted his kwami’s head. “Absolutely. Especially since I’m also switching to the Camembert-obsessed way of life starting today. We’ll definitely need more of it now that you have to share.”

Plagg's eyes blew round. "Share? Who said anything about sharing? You get your own stack. You can afford it."

“And here I thought you liked me enough to share your precious cheese with me.”

“You really need to sleep. Transform and let's go already.”

Adrien took one last look at the rising sun and inhaled the morning breeze. For better or for worse, there were no more secrets between Marinette and him, apart from the ‘Felix’ part, perhaps. As always, he didn’t let it all out in the best of ways, but he did tell her everything. Now, all he could do was to wait and see what she decided to do with this mess. If she cut him off again… Well, that wouldn’t be surprising. They didn’t even have much between them this time around, to begin with. Why would she want him around? However, if by some miracle she understood and forgave and accepted him…

Adrien bitterly chuckled, shaking his head. He really did need some sleep. Only a severely exhausted, delusional, sleep-deprived mess of a human would hope that Marinette could give him another chance after everything.

Pushing the thought away, he called for his transformation and headed home, falling into the blissful oblivion of sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Things wouldn't seem so grave in the morning. He wasn't completely alone. He had never been.

He had Plagg.

Next >

#miraculous ladybug #marichat #adrienette #ml #chat noir #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #the other you

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