#but it's reverse lovesquare

[unhitches-similes]

Miraculous Fic: Reassurances

I wanted to do a little something in honor of @ladrienjune since it's going on, but my brain is also still kinda stuck on my BFF Swap + Reverse Crush AU. So, here's something that IS by definition Ladrien, but the dynamic's a bit different because, well, reverse lovesquare.

Anyhow, enough of me. Please enjoy the story!

~*~

Summary: Adrien wasn’t expecting to find Ladybug outside his house looking for all the world like she’d been carrying the world on her shoulders and somehow dropped it.

Notes: AU Season 1, Best Friend Swap + Reverse Lovesquare

Dialogue Prompt – "It's nothing, I'm just tired." Ladrien June Prompt – 5. Just Friends

~*~

Read on Ao3

or

~*~

Adrien was pacing around his room as he talked on the phone with his best friend. (His best friend! He was still growing used to the idea, even though Alya often pointed out that they’d already been friends even before going to school together.) His constant movement had more to do with excess energy than any sort of discontent.

The blond was just walking across the cushions of his sofa when movement outside his windows caught his attention. It was hard to see in the dark with his ordinary human vision, and it went by quickly, but Adrien could have sworn he had just seen… 

No. They’d just fought an akuma earlier that day, surely there wasn’t another one already? If there was, Alya probably would have been one of the first to know – she kept track of such things – and definitely would have said something rather than continuing her thorough breakdown of the latest battle fought by the United Heroez. But why else would Ladybug be out at this hour?

“Alya, I’ll have to call you back,” Adrien interrupted.

“What? No,” Alya protested. “I was just getting to the best part!”

“I know, but later, okay? I’ve got to do something real quick.”

“Fine, but if you don’t call back soon, I can’t promise I won’t spam you with text messages.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

Disconnecting the call, Adrien slid the phone into his pocket before bounding over to his windows, trying to see if he could spot (ha!) Ladybug in the darkness. “Plagg, did you see anything?”

The teen turned around when the kwami gave no response. Plagg was sprawled on his back on the bed, in a cheese coma, no doubt. Repressing a sigh, Adrien jogged over to grab the sleepy kwami and slip him into a pocket. 

Poking his head out his bedroom door, he glanced both ways before stepping out into the hall. It wouldn’t do for Nathalie or his father to see him sneaking outside the house late at night, even if he wasn’t planning on going far. (Nevermind that he did so all the time as Chat Noir. This situation was different.)

Adrien looked around as he quietly exited through a side door. Whatever he thought he’d seen had appeared to be moving in this direction. Who was he kidding, though? Even if he had seen Ladybug and she had gone by his house, why would she still be nearby? He would have had better luck finding whatever or whoever it was as Chat Noir.

Just as he was about to give up the search and head back inside, he heard a muffled sound from the other side of the wall. Hurrying over to the nearest gate, he took a moment to disable the security on it. Honestly, his father needed to be a little less predictable with his security codes. Adrien then stepped out onto the sidewalk, moving cautiously towards where he thought he heard the sound.

There! Tucked between a shrub and a burnt out streetlight, back against the stone wall and knees folded against her chest was Ladybug, spots only just discernible in the darkness. She seemed so… small, just then. Adrien wasn’t sure what exactly he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t to find his partner outside his house looking for all the world like she’d been carrying the world on her shoulders and somehow dropped it.

“Ladybug?” Adrien said softly.

The girl startled, eyes wide with alarm as she looked up at him, before relaxing again a moment later. “Oh, um, hi,” she responded, false cheer in her tone, her hands raising to swipe quickly beneath both eyes before resting atop her knees. “It’s Adrien, right? Shouldn’t you be at home?”

“You’re outside my house.” Adrien gestured to the structure behind her.

“Your house?” Ladybug echoed, turning her head as though to look and getting a face full of shrubbery for her trouble. (Adrien resisted the urge to laugh at the adorable look of consternation that passed over her features.) She raised to her feet and moved away from the wall to actually get a glimpse of the so-called ‘house’ in question. “Gosh, I’m sorry. I guess I must not have been paying attention to where I was going. I didn’t mean to disturb anyone.”

“No, you aren’t bothering me or anything. I just thought I saw something go past my window and came to investigate,” he assured her.

Her blue eyes turned back to him and even in the muted light of the moon, even behind her mask, they appeared red-rimmed and puffy. Like she’d been crying. The idea made Adrien’s stomach churn uncomfortably.

“If you’re sure…” said Ladybug.

“Absolutely.”

It was interesting talking to her this way, as Adrien. She always seemed so flustered around him when he was Chat. He always wished she could just talk to him the way he saw her talk to other people. He still wasn’t sure what he’d done to make her so uncomfortable around him and the times he’d tried to ask only seemed to make it worse.

“Well, I guess I should probably get going,” she announced. “You really should get back inside. It’s probably not very safe to be wandering around outside without shoes.”

Adrien glanced down to find that he was, in fact, only wearing socks. He looked back up quickly as she drew her yoyo from her hip. “No, wait!”

She blinked back at him in surprise. “Did you need something?”

“No! I mean, yes - that is,” Adrien silently berated himself as he tried to put his thoughts into coherent order. “I just… Are you okay?”

Because that was really the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? It was late at night and his partner, a girl he liked to think of as his friend, was alone and crying. And he couldn’t think of a reason why. Sure, the fight with the akuma had gone a little sideways at the start, but they had won, in the end. Everything had been fixed, hadn’t it?

“It’s nothing, I’m just tired,” she told him. She was wearing a camera-smile. Adrien could tell. He had a few of his own. 

He was going to just leave it be. He should just leave it be. It wasn’t his business. Nonetheless, despite his intentions, he still blurted out, “You weren’t crying just now?”

Ladybug drew in a sharp breath, shooting him a stricken look. She looked ready to cry again and Adrien could just kick himself. Why did he have to open his big mouth? She could only just hold a conversation with his alter-ego; why would she want to talk to him as Adrien about whatever was upsetting her?

“I…” Ladybug began, expression crumpling and shoulders sagging in a way Adrien just hated to see in someone he already admired. “It’s just—”

She let out a hiccuping breath, visibly trying to fight it back only to have it be followed by another. A high-pitched sound of distress emerged then, her hand raising too slowly to properly muffle it. And then, much to Adrien’s own alarm, it was as though a dam had broken and the words and tears seemed to spill out of her.

“Everything went wrong today! At home and school, and – and then with the akuma, I made like a dozen different mistakes. I made a complete idiot of myself in front of my partner. Again. And my best friend is mad at me because I broke a promise and I can’t even explain why. It has been th-the worst day ever and now I’m just dumping all my problems on you and you don’t even know me. I must be the worst Ladybug tha—”

“Whoa – hey, I-I’m sure that’s not true!” Adrien cut in, his hands fluttering uselessly in the air between them. “You’re an awesome Ladybug! So awesome my best friend spends all her free time doing a blog about you! Have you seen it? It’s called the Ladyblog and if you haven’t visited it, you totally should! There’s a whole section just for people to leave notes to let you know how much they appreciate you and what you do. I mean, it’s for you and Chat Noir both, but you’re a team, right? Chat Noir couldn’t do what he does without you.”

His partner was staring at him again, the moonlight catching her features in a sort of melancholy relief. The sobs that had been wracking her slight frame had quieted, perhaps in surprise at his rather wordy and impassioned interjection, although tears still trickled down her face.

Hesitating just a moment, Adrien reached out to put a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze when she didn’t flinch or pull away. “You had a bad day,” he told her, “that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or that you aren’t good at what you do. Everyone has off days and everyone makes mistakes.

“You are a good Ladybug,” Adrien asserted, trying to put all of his certainty into the words, “Paris is lucky to have you.”

Ladybug let out another sob and for a split second Adrien was afraid he had said something wrong before she crashed against him, arms going around his waist as she buried her face in his chest. The boy returned the embrace, pressing his cheek against the top of her head and making reassuring noises the way Alya did when she comforted one of her sisters.

They stood there for a moment, Adrien rubbing a hand soothingly along Ladybug’s back. Part of him wanted to ask what she’d meant when she said she’d made an idiot of herself in front of him, but of course, Ladybug didn’t know he was also Chat Noir. He wished once more that she’d been less adamant about keeping their identities a secret. Maybe then there’d be some better way for him to help her. Maybe she wouldn’t be so flustered around Chat if she knew he was just Adrien beneath the mask. Nonetheless, it was obvious he’d have to do something to encourage her more the next time they were both in costume.

“Thanks,” Ladybug finally said, stepping away from him. Her hands brushed over her cheeks again and she was mostly back to the Ladybug the city had come to know. “And sorry for crying all over you.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad to help,” he told her. 

She gifted him a smile – a real one, this time – and something about the expression seemed so familiar. “You’re sweet. Who would have known the boy whose face is all over Paris would be such a sweetheart?”

A blush rose to his face unbidden and Adrien scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, well, who’d think Ladybug would tease someone she just met?” he countered with a small grin. Her laughter rang through the air before she leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, Adrien.”

“Anytime.”

She turned to leave again and Adrien reached out to put a hand on her arm to delay her departure.

“I mean it, Ladybug,” he told her. “Anytime you need a friend, you know where to find me.”

“I’ll remember that.” She smiled softly and then she was gone, leaving him alone on the sidewalk. As Adrien turned to go back inside, his phone in his pocket started to vibrate with a series of rapid-fire texts. Right on cue.

Pulling his phone out as he went back inside, Adrien hoped that Ladybug would be okay. He also hoped that one day, he’d be able to have a conversation with her as Chat Noir without feeling like he was stressing her out. (He would, but it wouldn’t be for some time yet.)

He nearly got caught heading back to his room. Alya had sent him a meme that made him burst out laughing.

~*~

End.

[trashart00]

Shadynoir Sewer Moment

Or is it?

(When you’re braiding his hair and he’s thinking of other girls, I’d become evil too)

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

I for one, am very excited that the special will be taking place around the time of the episode destruction

I’m happy for the ladynoir stans who will get to see more interaction and affectionate scenes

I’m happy for the adrinette stans who will get to relive the denial stage of early season 5

I’m happy for the marichat stans who will get to return to the mutual pining arc of the first half of the season

But most of all, I’m happy for the Ladrien stans, who once more get to look forward in denial to a scene will definitely happen this time

[findafight]

Miraculous au

"before I start it's important you know this wasn't my fault."

Well. His Kitty sure has a way of setting him at ease. "You know that's probably the quickest way to get me thinking it's definitely your fault?"

Grimalkin sighs and plops, not ungracefully, beside him. "It really isn't. There are few, if any, things I could have done differently to prevent this, Red."

Red Scarab raises his eyebrow. "Oh? And what is "this", kitty cat? Leaving me in suspense isn't gonna help you if it actually is your fault"

He rubs his face in his hands, pinches his nose too. It's a habit Red Scarab has watched him do a dozen or two times by now. He's frustrated and probably embarrassed. Damn. "My best friend knows who I am."

"what? How!? You know our id-"

"she figured me out!" Grimalkin doesn't even make a pun of it, his nose scrunched and cheeks red. "She just. I rescued her, and instead of calling me 'grimalkin' or 'grim' or even 'malkin', she says "bye, my actual real first name"! I almost brained myself tripping when I heard her."

Eddie tries to steady his breaths. Okay. Alright. He wanted to be the first to find out Grim's identity, wanted to maybe be the only one who knew, but fine. He could share. They could work with this.

"how'd she know? She see you transform or something?"

Grim chuckles. Which, rude. This is pretty fuckin serious, little kitty cat. "She said when she saw Grim on tv he seemed familiar, then he kept being familiar. How he moved, talked, smiled. Something niggling at the back of her mind when she saw the heroes of Indy. Then, when I rescued her, it clicked. Suddenly whatever magic the miraculous puts around us to conceal our identities faded, and all she saw was me, her best friend, in silly cat ears and a mask. Saving the city."

"I find the ears charming." Red Scarab finds them absurdly cute, actually. But flirting with his kitty is for later.

"thanks. And that's it. She just. Knew. Saw right through me"

"you trust her?"

Grimalkin nods. "More than anything. I doubt anyone other than her could figure me out, anyways."

"yeah?" A bitter swoop of jealousy tangles itself in Red's stomach. Grim's voice is filled with unabashed fondness when he speaks about this nameless girl. He trusts her more than anything. More than red?

"well," he starts, as though reading Red's mind "maybe the same as you. In regards to my own health and life. I dunno. It's different with you. You're my partner." And ain't that just the sweetest thing? Grimalkin might be in love with some other mystery boy, might be so close with his best friend she saw through ancient magic to his core, but whatever is between them is special. Is different.

Flying above Hawkins, their borough of Indianapolis, bonds them differently than the others. Sure, Grim has friends and a potential boyfriend (as much as that pains him to think of) in his civilian life, and even a best friend who knows about his secret, but they'll never be his partner. Never have the same connection to him as Red does, saving the city from a superviallian. Red Scarab will hold onto that and keep it close to his heart for a while.

Grim nudges their shoulders together. "I really am sorry, though. You deserve to know who I am too. R--my best friend would probably get along with you like a house on fire, I'm a little worried about you meeting" and there he goes, saying such nice things. Acting like them knowing each other's identities and being ingrained in each other's civilian lives is an inevitability. Eddie hopes it is. The people his kitty loves seem, from the sparse details he's shared, quite bizarre and friendly and lovely. They must be, if Grimalkin loves them so.

"yeah? Think I'd recognize you out of the mask?" He says, instead of I hope so, I'd love to, I want to see all of the people you love and love them too.

He laughs. "Probably not. Hopefully not. Don't think I could handle knowing more than one person can see through me so well."

"would you recognize me?"

"no." He says it immediately, and it hurts, just a little. Like being dismissed. (Grimalkin doesn't mean to hurt him, he knows. Thinks the flirting is just for fun, a game, and not Eddie desperately trying to win the heart of a man whose goodness and snark and exasperation and humour stop him short and steal his breath away.) "I don't think so. The Miraculi magic is supposed to protect our identities, and once someone knows, they can see the overlap. Only someone who really, truely knows you and is looking would be able to break it. It happened to me because we have legitimately thought about the pros of combining into a blob person. I don't think many people are actually like that. They certainly don't seem to get me and --and my best friend." He shrugs again. "I dunno. That's what it seems like, anyway."

Grim grins at him. "Wouldn't be very magic if I just saw you walk into work one day and blurt out 'Red Scarab? Is that you!? I'm the guy in a catsuit you beat up supervillains with!' Would it?" If that happened Eddie would probably name it the single greatest thing to ever happen to him, actually. Second only to finding Tikki in his backpack after Hellfire a few short months ago. But his kitty is a romantic, and if he wants a dramatic, heartfelt reveal, then Eddie won't push it. They've got time.

[aloeverified]

i think the best way to write the reverse lovesquare dynamic is by making marinette still obsessed with adrien. like, imagine they're best friends and marinette is always picking his brain about fashion, showing him her designs, asking him to try on her clothes and model for her — meanwhile adrien has the biggest crush on her and is losing his mind every interaction with alya and nino trying to hold back their laughter during all of this.

[miraculoussly]

also adrien

Just in: Adrien Agreste steps back from lifelong modelling career??

Adrien just wants to discover himself. He's actually pretty surprised when his father just.. lets him quit? Also he's wildly in love with Marinette. Which is important. Because I said so.

[queenhoneybee-exe]

♥ reverse miraculous AU ♥

🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱

this has been so long in the making im sobbing. im hoping this gets at least some notes bcs ive got so much stuff planned!! i'd basically be rewriting the whole series hehe. anyways--

🐱marinette dupain-cheng🐱

she/her

daughter of two famous fashion designers (tom+sabine)

has plagg

model, class rep, wants to be a fashion designer

confident, a bit sassy but means well

in love w m. cocchinot, doesn't much care for adrien

relationship with her kwami:

pre-s1 (and pre-plagg) marinette was very quiet & reserved, plagg helped bring her confidence out

he also forces her to relax because she tends to bring on more projects than she's able to manage (like in canon)

as a superheroine:

basically a fem version of canon chat noir - sassy, full of cat puns and witty comebacks, charming, confident

AND she purrs !

unlike canon chat, felinette uses her cataclysm sparingly and only when requested by m cocchinot

🐞adrien agreste🐞

he/him/they

son of paris' best baker (just emilie)

has tikki

confectioner, baker, always ready to help marinette

awkward, nerdy and klutzy but makes the best damn macaroons EVER and still plays the piano

absolutely smitten w marinette, only platonic love for felinette

relationship with his kwami:

pre-s1 (and pre-tikki) adrien was homeschooled due to his disability, so now he's just as clueless as he is in the show

tikki helps him see his best side, gives him confidence and calms him down after another awkward interaction w marinette

as a superhero:

a natural leader, kind and responsible, emphatic, calm and collected even in the face of danger, an absolute lovable babie

his magical powers make him invincible, helping him w his disabled leg

he does fly at times to let up on his leg, but he can't fly too far and for too long

🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱

♥ the lovesquare ♥

marinette

m cocchinot: crush

adrien: 1st half of s1 indifferent, 2nd half of s1 friends

adrien

felinette: friends & partners

marinette: crush

🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱🐞🐱

extra info:

sabine and emilie know abt their respective kids' identities (the kids don't know this)

adrien and chloe still grew up together and are friends to this day

thank you for reading this far! ;w;

[l1linya]

Reverse! PV Lovesquare <3

The special got me feelin some typa way so I HAD to make the pv version. Enjoy!!

[revolutionary-thoy]

Ok, I really gotta ask this: Does Reverse!Gabriel know that his son is Claw/Paw Noir? I feel that it would kind of be an eventuality that Adrien would reveal himself at some point, be it accidentally or reluctantly agreeing to show himself for the sake of being able to track him when detrasnformed, but considering canon I would not be surprised if this ends up taking the place of the lovesquare reveal since Marinette and Adrien now know each other.

Just 5 seasons of Gabriel and Adrien not realising their son/father is secretly their former nemesis, with 2 bad timelines and an amnesia episode to boot LMAO.

See, originally it was gonna be a slowburn reveal just like that, but I realized that I can't really have Adrien join the resistence THAT'S LITERALLY IN HIS BASEMENT and not know it's his dad lmao.

So Adrien actually finds out Betterfly is his dad literally right after the special ends, and I've already written a scene of exactly how it goes down that I'm eventually planning on turning into a comic just like the one I did with Felix, Luka and Kagami.

Adrien would have a lot of complicated feelings about his father, even more so than what he had before and would choose to keep his identity a secret from him for now. An idea i was throwing around was Adrien literally running away from home out of shame and guilt and being unable to face his dad without the mask

Their relationship is definitely one of the most interesting aspects of the AU that I haven't really touched upon yet

[beatrice1979a]

CHAPTER 3 IS OUT! can I also have this in AO3 or ff.net? Tumblr is a mess for archiving and I want to reread this until I get my next fix

Speechless Changes~Number 3

Summary:

When you always have done whatever it takes to get your goals, it's very hard to change or surprise people--even harder to leave them speechless.

In other words, the six firsts of Shadybug and Claw Noir's relationship that left someone speechless.

Warnings: language

Word Count: 4.1k+

Author's notes: Hello again! Here's the next part, it's a little choppy in places, but it still turned out pretty good I think. I had the week off of work this week and this one kind of just flowed out of me, so I finished this one pretty fast. Look out for the next chapter soon, I already started on it and I'm really excited for it. Remember, line break means a change in POV. Enjoy!

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

Number 3: Claw Noir and Marinette (first time in her room)

“The Supreme sends his regards, traitors.” Monkey something—Shady couldn’t remember—says as he shoots at them with his powers.

Shady and Claw both dodge his attack the best that they can.

Shady has to actively remind herself that they actually have to try not to cause damage anymore, but this Monkey guy is an annoying asshole and she’s tempted to turn back into a villain just so she can beat the shit out of him. From the annoyed scowl on Claw’s face, she can tell he’s considering the same thing.

This is the new norm now, fighting against the Supreme meant also fighting against his minions, and Shady hated it. It certainly didn’t help that Betterfly and the rest of the rebellion always seem to be busy with something else when this happens or that Shady and Claw are too proud to ask for help so they didn’t always tell the others. That’s not anyone’s fault, she reminds herself, the rebellion still didn’t trust her and Claw fully and they’re working on the other part. That’s not the point, though, the point is that this Monkey guy has got to go.

Monkey-whatever shoots his powers at Shadybug and she dodges again and again until she ends up stuck in a corner, nowhere else to go. Shady realizes she’s probably trapped and tries to think of something—anything—to get herself out of it. Claw is running as fast as he can but he’s too far away to reach them before she gets hit. This is about to be a mess because it’s Shady’s life, so of course it has to be.

Monkey-whatever grins and instead of shooting his powers at a cornered Shady, whips around and hits a running Claw square in the chest, knocking him backwards onto his back—probably unconscious.

Now Shady is aware that as a ‘good guy’ she’s supposed to fight in a way that doesn’t cause as much pain, she's not always happy about it, but she's aware of it. BUT Shady also isn’t very in touch with her emotions besides one. The only one of her emotions she feels more than anything but tries her hardest to keep in check: her anger. And usually, she has no issues with doing so and can calm herself down when she needs to.

However, whenever it comes to Claw, her brain stops functioning normally.

Seeing Claw on the ground, probably unconscious, at the fault of someone standing right in front of her who did it intentionally…well, she sees red.

---

Claw, who wasn’t unconscious but only incredibly dazed, got up to a sight he really couldn’t explain and he immediately tries to step in. He couldn’t tell you how Shady took down the monkey guy. And frankly even though he thinks Shady is incredibly hot when she’s angry—with the way the guy looks like he was hit by a truck, is hanging upside down like a pinata, and is literally begging through tears to let him go and swearing they’ll never see him again as Claw grabs a screaming and yelling Shady—he doesn’t think he wants to know.

He doesn’t ask any questions as they finish dealing with Monkey-something, and Shady doesn’t say anything either—but she’s still seething. They take away the crown on Monkey’s head and he transforms back into his normal self. Shady puts it into her yo-yo, sending it to Betterfly or wherever it goes, then uses her miraculous cure to set everything back to normal. Claw seems to straighten up a bit, the cure making him feel a bit better.

Shady glares at him and grabs his hand. She drags him into an alleyway away from onlookers and takes a few extra turns to make sure they aren’t followed. He knows how Shady gets, so he doesn’t fight her, but he mentally prepares for a screaming match of everything he did wrong in the fight—likely leading to makeout session, their new norm. Once she’s sure that they’re away from prying eyes, she whips around to talk to him, her face barely visible under the light of a streetlamp.

“You dumbass!” She growls. “You fucking idiot! He could have killed you! What if something happened to you, huh?”

Oh. This isn’t their norm, this is…she’s…she’s worried about him?

Claw blinks, surprised.

Shady actually…genuinely cares enough to scream at him for being reckless. He didn’t know what to do with that information. Since his mother he was always screaming for attention—for someone to see him—but everyone only saw the ridiculous model his father would do anything to ignore. Everyone he cares about just ignores him, his pain, his behavior, his anger, everything. Everyone except…her.

The realization of that, makes Claw realize that she’s worried about him because he could have died—which means she isn’t angry at all, she’s upset, and Claw couldn't bear to see her upset.

“I’m fine.” Claw says, trying his best to reassure her and clearly failing at it.

“Oh, you’re fine, you fucking moron?” Shady snarls back. “Listen here, you little shit—” Shady jabs him in the ribs and he groans in pain. He didn’t realize how much his ribs are still hurting, usually the miraculous ladybugs take care of that sort of thing.

She frowns and gently places a hand on his side, checking his injuries, the anger on her face replaced with genuine concern—if they were in different circumstances, Claw would have liked to get a picture to have proof for himself that she’s genuinely concerned for him.

“Are you okay?” Shady asks tentatively.

“I’m fine.” Claw answers again.

Shady glares at him menacingly.

“If you say ‘I’m fine’ one more time,” she threatens, “I’m ripping your ring off and breaking your finger.”

Claw holds up his hands in surrender, groaning in discomfort at the motion, and Shady’s expression softens back to worry.

“Adrien?” She tries again, a gentleness in her voice that only comes out in moments like this.

Claw is weak for this side of her, the side that she hides from the rest of the world.

He sighs and leans his forehead against hers so he can look her in the eyes and she knows he honestly means it. “I’m just sore, Marinette. I’ll be okay, just need to rest a bit.”

“Okay, then let’s get you home, just in case, fleabag.”

Claw grins as he pulls back. “Aww, are you worried about me, cockroach?”

“Shut it, fur face.” Shady says, not an ounce of actual malice in her voice. “Blots off.” She detransforms.

“Daggers in.” Claw waits for the light of his detransformation, but it doesn’t come. “Daggers in.” He tries again, but still nothing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…I can’t transform back for some reason.”

“What?”

“It must be the monkey guy when he hit me, it must have fucked up my powers.”

“Hold on.”

Marinette grabs Claw’s staff, he’s used to her grabbing his stuff, so he doesn’t question it in the slightest. She quickly calls Betterfly.

“Hello?” He answers.

“What do you know about the monkey guy?” Shady asks, not wasting any time.

“I’ve fought him once before,” Betterfly answers, “he’s very difficult to—oh no! Are you two battling him right now? We’ll send reinforcements right away, don’t wor—”

“Calm down, Mothra, we took care of it. I sent the stupid crown thing through my yo-yo.”

“Oh… uh, alright. Well done.”

“Fur face got hit and can’t change back.”

“Oh! Oh dear! That’s dreadful to hear!”

Claw rolls his eyes, Betterfly is always so concerned and nice about everything. He knows that he’s a ‘good guy’ and that it’s probably just how he is, but it just reminds Claw of the fake smile his father always seems to wear—the one that he wears like what happened to his mother never happened. He tries not to focus on that, it’s not Betterfly’s fault that he reminds Claw of his father sometimes.

“Well,” Betterfly continues, “as long as he’s not badly injured, it should wear off within an hour or so. He’ll transform back soon, no need to worry.”

“Great.” Shady hangs up and turns back to Claw. “Okay, so there, you’ll transform back soon.”

Claw nods awkwardly, relieved he won’t be stuck forever.

Marinette scrutinizes him like she’s thinking hard about something, Claw thinks he can almost hear the gears turning in her head. Her thinking face is so cute.

“…Your father has no idea you’re Claw Noir, does he?” Marinette says after a moment.

Claws eyes widen, completely taken aback at the abruptness of the question.

“What?” He says.

“Does your father know you’re Claw Noir?” Marinette answers, more pointedly this time.

Claw hesitates, not sure why she’s asking this all of a sudden. He’s mentioned his father a few times and they had sort of talked about his issues with his father…but she usually didn’t bring him up like this.

“…No.” He answers slowly.

“You need to rest.” Marinette says, though she says it more like an observation than anything else. “You can’t go home.”

“Wait, why the hell not?”

“Because you can’t turn back and being Claw for an hour or so? All the security cameras are bound to notice.”

Claw feels like an idiot, all his time as Claw Noir and he’s never once thought about the security cameras around his house. The fact that his father hadn’t already found out he’s Claw Noir is a miracle…or rather, proof that he really did ignore everything about his son. Claw tries to push that thought out of his mind for the moment, he could come back to it next time there was something for him to punch.

“…Oh.” Claw says, hoping Shady didn’t notice that he’s never realized the security cameras before. “Right.”

Marinette bites her lip in thought. “…Do you have anywhere else you can go?”

He didn’t have anyone; he didn’t even have people to talk to besides Marinette. He had tried to make some friends, maybe get to know Nino, but you know…he used to be evil, so that obviously hasn’t worked out yet. He didn’t have anyone he could count on besides her. He has a weird cousin in London that he could call if he needed to hide a body or something, but that probably isn’t helpful.

“…No.” Claw says, hoping it doesn’t sound as sad as the situation actually kind of is.

Marinette nods and swallows hard like she’s preparing for something. “…You can come to my place.”

Claw shakes his head, even more taken aback. Shady never let him go to her place, never talked about her home, and always changed the subject or got angry whenever it’s brought up. He understood that and always tried a little harder not to bring it up, he respected that for some reason it’s a touchy subject for her and he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable. The fact that she would bring it up, is strange as hell.

“Wait, really?” Claw asks, thinking maybe he misheard her.

“Yeah,” she answers carefully, “just for a little while.”

“What about your uh your parents? Won’t they notice?”

Shady hesitates, suddenly avoiding Claw’s eyes. “…They’re away at my uncle’s for awhile.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“…Okay.”

Claw pulls her into his arms and she holds onto his neck as he holds her tightly. He extends his staff to launch them into the air, sending them through the clouds and into the night sky. He pauses as he starts to see some of the stars lighting up Marinette’s face, smiling at the only person that could ever understand the rush he feels in that moment.

She looks at the stars for a moment, the joy on her face matching his, then down at where Claw is ever so carefully holding his staff. She snaps her eyes back up to Claw realizing what he was about to do.

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Marinette playfully threatens.

Claw grins mischievously and winks at her. He pulls on his staff and lets gravity take them, falling straight towards Marinette’s place as the wind whips in their faces. Despite the force of their fall, he lands on Marinette’s balcony perfectly gently.

She rolls her eyes and kisses his cheek. She likes to pretend she hates it when he does crazy things like that—but he knows she loves it just as much as he does, if not more.

He places Marinette on the ground and puts away his staff. He follows Marinette through the trap door by her bed, grunting slightly at the effort of everything as he’s reminded of his sore ribs.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Marinette asks, watching him warily.

Claw stretches and starts to look around the room, taking a few steps from the bed and inspecting everything out of curiosity. He had always wondered what his baker girl’s room looked like. He always pictured it was full of posters and flower details like the ones on her jacket she made, maybe fabric or drawings or creative projects in progress everywhere. He always pictured her room to be covered in all her creative interests, probably a bit cluttered and messy, but he always pictured her room would just look like it was hers. Looking at her room now, where everything is perfectly clean and put together, everything seems so…bare.

“I’m fine,” He says. “Just tired.”

“You need to tell me if something’s wrong, fleabag.” She counters. “I can’t do anything if you don’t.”

Claw looks around the room, for someone so full of life and intensity, her room…her home…it all seems so empty. No color, no mess, no decorations, barely any furniture, and not a personal thing in sight. It just seems so…not her.

---

As Claw grunts in discomfort, Marinette is reminded of the fact that things today could have gone very bad very quickly if just one thing had been different.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” She asks carefully.

Today she was faced with the very real possibility of something happening to the only person that made the world suck a little less, and that worried her more than anything else they had dealt with.

Claw starts looking around Marinette’s room and takes a few steps from Marinette’s bed, taking much longer than she would like for him to answer.

“I’m fine,” Claw says. “Just tired.”

He doesn’t seem fine, Marinette notes.

“You need to tell me if something’s wrong, fleabag.” Marinette says, worriedly watching Claw move his eyes around her room. “I can’t do anything if you don’t.”

Claw sighs sadly, his eyes going over her walls like he’s seeing an alien planet for the first time.

“You know the same applies to you, right?” Claw says.

Marinette’s heartbeat picks up. Did he think she’s upset with him? Is that what's wrong?

“What?” She says.

“If there’s ever something wrong…” He hesitates as his eyes dart around the room. “You can talk to me.”

Claw meets Marinette’s eyes and she catches his hidden meaning. He thought something was wrong because her room is so empty, which she couldn’t blame him, she hates her room…she hates everything about this place.

Marinette turns her gaze towards her desk, unable to meet his eyes. She considers telling him the truth, she wants to tell him the truth, but she knows that she can’t. There are things she could never tell him…things she couldn’t even really tell herself.

Claw hums regrettably behind her. “I’m sorry, I-I should go.”

Marinette turns toward him quickly, surprising him and making him stumble. He starts to fall and she tries to grab him but ends up tumbling with him. Claw protectively grabs onto her as they fall onto her bed, him landing on top of her.

They blink and both start laughing. Marinette stops laughing to look at him, really look at him.

The way his eyes shine when he laughs, the carefulness that he holds her with, everything about a mere moment that made it something she will always remember. She feels so encompassed by it all that something like this…something so…good could be hers. She’s terrified that she could trust Claw this much, with this much vulnerability. Their relationship had started as a convenient alliance and turned into one of hatred and then one of…whatever they had become that night on the roof.

This is the most vulnerable Marinette has ever been around anyone. Right there on this day and that moment, Claw has all the parts of her she tries to keep hidden on display for him. Her anger, her violence, her fear, her weakness, everything she couldn’t let anyone see. He’s here in her room with the truest part of her, the part of her that’s quiet and unsure and just wants someone to stay with her…to not leave.

This is new, everything before this moment was violence, tension, or convenience. Even their ‘more’ situation was always just kisses to shut the other up, giving in to the tension, or simply…to kiss. But it had never gone past that. Marinette didn’t even know it could go past that…that Claw might want something past that with her of all people. The two of them used to hate each other with every fiber of their beings, even if things had shifted, how could he ever see past all of the hate she gave him?

Marinette is different when it came to that, she always knew there was a thin line between hate and desire. In fact, her hate was so strong because it originally stemmed from want. But, Claw had hated her from the moment he first saw her, and that made her bury any wants with hate so she could convince herself that it wasn’t there. And, it worked, she was convinced that her strong feelings toward Claw had been nothing more than hate until that night on the rooftop when everything clicked into place.

The truth is, as she sits there looking at him laugh, there’s a million things she wants to tell him. She wants him to stay with her, she wants a life, a friendship, whatever it is that was taken from them because of their own hate. She wants him to know that she has never hated him and never would, though she certainly tried. How could she tell him that she was always his and he just didn’t know it? That the last thing she wants is for him to leave her, now or ever?

If you’re Marinette, then you don’t. At least not with words.

---

Claw laughs at the situation, leave it to him to accidentally tackle a girl when he’s trying to be serious. It’s the first time he’s laughed so genuinely in awhile, it feels…good.

In the midst of his laughing, Marinette stops laughing and looks at him. Something different in her eyes, something he’s never seen there before. He blinks and sends her a questioning glance as his laughter stops.

Marinette gingerly leans forward and presses a tender kiss to his lips.

Claw freezes immediately as his eyes look into hers.

This is new, different, uncharted territory for him. Even when they kissed after the first time they said each other’s real name, it hadn’t been like this. They had kissed many times before but truthfully, it had always been somewhat…violent and intense. This isn’t what they did, this isn’t the dance they both know so well of angry kisses and violence. This is being intimate, honest, vulnerable. Things that neither of them knows how to do or be. The way she kissed him and is looking at him…there’s something he’s never seen before, something that makes his heart beat faster than it ever has and shakes him to his core.

Marinette takes in a slow breath, her eyes never leaving his.

“Do you have to go?” She asks.

Claw’s breath hitches in his throat.

This is something he thought would be impossible, the fact that this girl, THE girl, lying under him would want anything from him. She’s the only one who has seen every bit of him and never turns away, she sees the anger, the grief, the fear, all the things that his father seems to hate or hide from; she sees him as he truly is, as an absolute disaster, as Claw Noir, as her unyielding partner. She’s seen all of that, knows every grimy detail of the terrible things he’s done, but the way she’s looking at him in this moment is nothing but tender and wistful—like he is someone worth caring about. That kiss and those words were filled with hidden meanings and thoughts he never would have thought could be shared between him and his baker girl…his partner.

It isn’t the first time they kissed, far from it, but it had never been like this. It had never been gentle or sweet, that isn’t really who they are, but despite them being ‘more’ it had never been more than that. Sure, it was gentler when it was the first time they called each other’s name, but it wasn’t sweet or innocent—it simply was. Before this, he wasn’t even sure if they were capable of such a thing—not with how much they once hated each other. The two of them used to hate each other with every fiber of their beings, even if things had shifted, how could she ever see past all of the hate he had pointed at her?

‘Hate’ felt like such a wrong word now, knowing that she had been the girl he had been dreaming of this whole time. He didn’t hate her back then, he could never really hate her, he had just been blind to what was in front of him and too afraid to let her in. Despite all that, there she lays underneath him with eyes telling him things she can’t say, with a question that makes his heart race.

His whole life, everyone had always asked him to leave, no one really wanted him to stay long. They always wanted something from him and once they got it, they were more than happy to see him leave. All he has ever wanted is someone to ask him not to leave…to stay. And here is his baker girl, the one who captured his heart from the beginning, laying here hoping to convince him to stay.

There’s so much he wants to tell her in this moment, so much he wants her to know. That he would always come back to her, that he has never hated her—not really. That all she ever has to do is look at him the way she’s looking at him right now or kiss him the way she just did, and he would do anything she asks. He wants to tell her that his heart has always been hers, that he just didn’t know it. How could he tell her that he was always hers even if she didn’t know it?

If you’re Claw Noir, then you don’t. At least not with words.

“I should go.” Claw whispers back, terrified that he’s going to mess up whatever this is somehow.

Marinette nods in understanding as he pulls away, avoiding her eyes. He reaches towards the skylight above her bed and opens it to leave, unable to look at her.

She grabs his arm, and it takes everything in him not to look at her face, he doesn’t know what he would do if he saw relief on her face that he’s leaving and he isn’t willing to take the chance that he’s misunderstood this…whatever this is almost going to be.

“Claw?” Marinette says from beside him.

Marinette’s hands find their way to his shoulders, and he can’t help himself as her soft hands make their way to his face. He looks into those beautifully captivating eyes of hers and he sees all the things she won’t say out loud, all the things that shake him to the fiber of his being. One look into those eyes and he knows right away he is about to be putty in her hands.

“I don’t want you to go.” Marinette whispers. He swears he could almost hear both of them saying the things they never would because, how could they when they could hardly be good? Everyone always leaves me.

“And I don’t want to go.” Claw whispers back. I never will.

“Then stay.” Promise me.

“Okay.” I’m yours, I’m not going anywhere.

They don’t say another word for the rest of the night, he’s never slept in a bed that felt so warm.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

I’m gonna say it.

Replace the whole Kwami’s choice episode arc with the Loveybug AU.

After the rejection instead of having her give up the miraculous, have her become Loveybug, and in response to Adrien feeling distracted as chat noir. He becomes Chat Walker again.

It would allow for growth and allows for the whole development of the reverse lovesquare.

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Rewrite: The Romance Subplot for the Planned Seasons

One of my goals for my rewrite is to make the romance subplot of the series less drawn-out, more cathartic, feature more of the side ships of Lukanette, Adrigami, and even Marichat, and also get more gay. So without further ado, here's the romance subplot for the first five seasons:

Season 1 (Equivalent to seasons 1 and 2, twice the length of a normal season): Basic lovesquare antics. Marinette loves Adrien, but not Chat Noir. Adrien loves Ladybug, but not Marinette. They're also both fucked-up. Marinette knows Adrien's schedule and far too many personal details about him. Adrien as Chat acts entitled to Ladybug's love and even causes an akuma with his entitlement. He does get raked over the coals for that and after Glaciator/the Ice Cream akuma becomes far more respectful towards Ladybug, but still harbors love for her. He starts to move on from her after Frozer/the Ice Skating akuma, however.

Season 2 (Equivalent to season 3): The love square reversal happens a few episodes in. Yes, really. Adrien gets over Ladybug in favor of Marinette, while Marinette tries to put her feelings of Adrien aside to prove to her class that she isn't just jealous of Lila and targets Chat Noir instead. She does act salty at Kagami for a few episodes, however. During the kwamiswap Lady Noire is utterly down bad for Mister Bug as they fight All Eyes on Mecha. Desperada's arc of Ladybug picking Adrien in favor of Luka is replaced with picking Chat in favor of Luka. The season 5 episode where Marinette and Chat Noir go on a date and gets the ice cream man akumatized occurs here. Alya has doubts about Marinette's crush. She's right, and eventually Marinette realizes that and goes back to Adrien. Since the two are in love with eachother, things work out quickly and easily and they get together and kiss by the season finale.

Season 3 (Equivalent to seasons 3 and 4): On the first episode of Season 3 Adrienette has a horrific messy breakup after Adrien discovers the Schedule and similar things. I was thinking of putting it four episodes in, but I decided 1. it would be better if it was the beginning of the season and 2. I want Adrienette fans to feel the same despair I felt as a Lukanette and Adrigami fan at the start of season 4. The rest of the season focuses on the aftermath of this nightmare breakup. Ladybug and Chat Noir comfort and give advice to each other about the breakup and coalesce into a queerplatonic couple. They still don't figure out their identities because they're dumb teens. Marinette and Adrien start dating Luka and Kagami respectively halfway through the season and their relationships get plenty of time to shine. Marinette genuinely falls in love with Luka. Same with Adrien and Kagami. The love square is dead. Good riddance. Thankfully, Marinette does apologize to Adrien, and they make up and become just friends.

Season 4 (Equivalent to season 4): Here's some context: in the Season 3 finale, Hawkmoth was finally defeated but not Coeur, the woman behind Hawkmoth. What's worse is 1. Master Fu had to abdicate guardianship to Ladybug and 2. Coeur managed to discover multiple hero identities. So now Ladybug is working overtime creating guardian potions and doing nightly patrols to check up on everyone who got exposed. She's getting stressed, she's burning herself out, and so her parents start helping her with her guardian duties (they've known since season 1,) giving Ladybug a support group that she's not telling Chat Noir about. And kittycat's getting suspicious. He knows Ladybug's not telling him information and in general he feels like he's on the level of the side heroes rather than one of the main two, causing relationship troubles in their queerplatonic couple. Chat Noir starts training to compensate for this, to the point where he awakening his fullest Miraculous powers (infinite cataclysms!). All of this hard work for both of them causes strain in their civilian relationships, and they unfortunately have to break up because of it and because they can't tell Luka/Kagami their secret identities. And then Luka accidentally finds out both heroes' identities while Kagami manages to figure them out on her own. As for the stuff between Ladybug and Chat Noir, it gets resolved by Cat Walker, although here Ladybug is more unnerved by Cat Walker, and she apologizes to Chat Noir and lets him as much in the loop as she can without compromising her identity.

Season 5 (Equivalent to season 5 except not really): Ladybug and Chat Noir are back as a queerplatonic couple, baby! The two of them against the world! And also the other heroes! The fun parts come from their civilian relationships. Luka and Kagami, now that they know our heroes' identities, start dating them again, but the other way around. Lukadrien and Marigami. These relationships are arguably better than the other ones, too. Luka and Adrien share so much in common that they really get eachother, while Marinette is more comfortable with her sexuality and has a girlfriend that pushes her to be more, and Kagami has a loving relationship with little-to-no secrets! Rose is ecstatic. Tomoe is pissed because no Adrigami. Also, at the end of the season, after Coeur fucking dies and Felix, her last minion, is arrested for being a butt, we finally get an identity reveal between Ladybug and Chat Noir! And if this ends up as the series finale, Lukadrien and Marigami converge into the polycule of the gods, Lukadrigaminette!

[maddascanbe-blog]

Couple of questions

How is the relationship between Mari and her parents?

What’s the relationship between Mari and Chloe as 2 rich girls?

Mari isn’t rich and famous like cannon!adrien, she’s just rich right?

Is there the love square and is it the same as cannon?

Marinette and her parents are just as close as in cannon. Her and her dad play video games together, Marinette is learning mandarin from her mom (it's a slow go but she's getting there). Sometimes they do get really busy but they try to have family lunch and dinner once a week and individually try and spend time with her as much as possible. Once Marinette starts public school they don't have as much time with her do to "conflicting schedules" which actually has more to do with her being Ladybug than school.

Marinette and Chloé only vaugley know eachother for a long time (same with Zoé) but around the time Marinette meets Luka in cannon they get a proper introduction. They become fast friends and go on shopping sprees and have sleepovers regularly. Definitely closer than Luka and Adrien in cannon. Chloé agrees with Alya that Marinette should tell Adrien how she feels, even though she also likes Adrien.

Yep, she's just rich. Like you'd recognize her name but not her face or anything.

There will absolutely be a love square! But I haven't decided on cannon lovesquare or reverse love square.

[lilypads17]

i know tons of ppl hated this season or whatever but i am SO entertained. you've got the reverse lovesquare, you've got adrienette dramatic swinging camera kiss, you've got gabriel getting his ass kicked at every opportunity possible, you've got space episode, you've got no lucky charm/cataclysm limit, and now we have fucking CANON ELDRITCH KWAMIS??? man. having the time of my fucking life over here