#chloedemption

[red-balloon12]

Unpopular(?) ML Opinion:

I lowkey hate rewrites that make Chloe give up the Bee miraculous to Zoe as a way of “completing her redemption arc”. On paper, I get what it’s trying to do. But if we’re actually comparing Chloe’s ONE royal mess up with the train to LB and CN’s many mess ups from S2 and beyond, Chloe doesn’t even compare. And I’m not saying this just because I just hate Zoe. I’m saying this because there’s no reason why we can’t just…have Queen Bee. There’s no reason as to why we can’t write Chloe in a way where she’s able to grow as a person and still remain Queen Bee.

Not only this but it saves Chloe from fading in the backround and becoming a nothing character (I know there are people who can make her more interesting without it. But we’re stuck with a show who blatantly says if you don’t have powers/a miraculous, you’re not important enough or you’re a villain.)

So I call mega bullshit on the “Chloe gives up being Queen Bee b/c she messes up too much and she gives it to Zoe” because if we were able write stories where Chloe stays Queen Bee and still grows as a person BEFORE Zoe was ever even a concept…we can still do it now.

[dizzying-faust]

Even if I was on board with a Chloe redemption, I'm not a fan of how the fandom writes it.

Because most of the time, it's either Chloe gets easily forgiven and is nicer or just basically replacing Alya as Marinette's best friend and stealing her personality while Alya is reduced to Lila's lackey.

[flightfoot]

Tell me, do you wish anything in Miraculous had gone differently?

I mean, sure? I'd build on the hints we see of a Chloedemption in season 2 and let Chloe slowly become a better person, even if she wasn't "nice".

I'd probably cut out Lila, but that's mostly because I'm physically repelled by all the saltfics that came from her actions, I think she has a decent place in the story so far, truthfully.

I'd have Adrien learn he's a sentimonster and that his dad is Hawkmoth, have him and Marinette take Gabriel down, and throw him in prison, while regaining his autonomy through doing some sort of magic thing to mean he's not tied to the whims of whoever has his rings.

I'd make it so that after all the buildup of the Ladynoir Conflict in season 4, Chat was given space to get mad and keep being mad at Ladybug for a few hours at least, and then thoroughly talk things out, so she understands that she needs to keep him in the loop about things in the future, that trying to keep things from him concerning superhero work is wrong.

I'd also make it so the kwamis confront Felix about him trading them to Gabriel, I feel like that got swept under the rug, and I would have loved to actually see Felix deal with realizing that he's Not So Different from the people who mistreat sentimonsters.

[baenyth]

After too much stalling, I finally finished the other half of Miraculous Season 2. Here's my thoughts episode-by-episode:

Zombizou: The episode focused on Ms. Bustier. Honestly I get where she's coming from in that statement to Marinette. This is a world where people can become butt-ugly abominations because they felt upset, although I think Chloe still needs consequences for her actions as well as something like positive reinforcement. She had plenty consequences in season 1. Speaking of Chloe, That Asshole was wrong. There was clear intent for Chloedemption. Also could we at least have seen all that stuff Ms. Bustier does in previous episodes?

Syren: This was an episode the salters talked loads about, and honestly, I get where Adrien's coming from here. On a fundamental level the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculi aren't equals due to the Ladybug's magic reset button, but as one of the first Miraculous users, Adrien should've still been let in on the loop. Kid felt like he was useless, that Ladybug could save the day without his help. At the very least have Master Fu go one-on-one or have both kids show up while transformed or blindfolded. Also the water voices ticked me off, but that's relatively minor.

Frightningale: A fun character-of-the-week episode, especially since I'm fond of Clara Nightingale's constant rhymes and rhythm. She's dedicated to it and I love it. It's also good to see Chloe be an exceptional and talented dancer! It's good to see her having talents and interests that aren't just making people suffer!

Troublemaker: Another episode showing why I think Marinette and Adrien shouldn't date in any of their forms. I don't know enough about stalker shrines but I think Marinette's room is getting close enough to be one for Adrien. Though I'm pretty sure Adrien's seen worse or has been conditioned to not care, based on his reaction at the end. Still a shame that the local TV show had to live-film Marinette's room and beach her privacy in the local city-town of Paris while the real Paris has been converted to an amusement park for tourists. You got any other reasons why the population is so low? One more thing: I'm pretty sure the lack of ladybug-vision was more due to anxiety over losing one of her earrings and the difficulty of the villain more than anything else.

Anansi: I find the new heroes good, personally. They give more screentime to other characters. Also again with Adrien's insecurity about being useful. And I think this episode would've been over sooner if they noticed that Anansi was going to get herself akumatized over the stress and maybe just let her come or something. Or if they got Marinette to arm-wrestle her instead. Marinette has muscles, right?

Sandboy: A lore episode, mostly. The nightmares were funny for a second and I was a bit annoyed by the Akuma's voice, but that's small potatoes. I like how compared to season 1, where we would be given a bunch of development for Sandboy it's just explained to us afterwards while we instead get more time for lore.

Style Queen: Hawkmoth has a contender for the most evil character in the show. Audrey Bourgeois is the kind of person that would be made fun of in those Karen freakout videos. She cheats on her husband, neglects her daughter to the point of not remembering her name, fires people over the most minor inconveniences, and starts G-rated killing people over getting a seat in the second row. She needs to be cancelled, deplatformed, and Chloe needs a therapist and better role models. I really liked the split-second of Adrien looking shocked after Marinette told him he had the catwalk down, btw. Did he think his identity was outed there?

Queen Wasp: This is why teenagers shouldn't get superpowers. I get secondhand embarrassment watching them. Also Marinette What The Fuck why the Hell are you getting Chloe to bond with the Absolute Worst Person For Her

Maledictator: This is what happens when you make Chloe bond with a Chernobyl-level toxic influence, Marinette. In general this episode was funny, both intentionally and unintentionally. Everyone starts celebrating Chloe ditching Paris with her mother except Adrien because Chloe was her only friend even though she was a detriment to everyone else and suddenly Marinette feels bad because she worships Adrien. The first thing the villain of the week does is make Audrey stop being such a horrible person and later he made Chat Noir reach the limit of catboyness. It's like a Smiling Friends episode. Also it was cool to see Chloe's depths and self-loathing. Surely that won't be forgotten and Chloe will be given therapy so she can become a better person, right?

Reverser (Put here so it makes sense timeline-wise): It's Yaoi time. Except that Nathaniel is into Ladybug (who I assume he knows is Marinette) here and Marc is fine with that. Overall a good episode. Some nice humor, and Reverser's probably the best akuma design so far I love the paper stuff. Plus more info on the side characters and a spot of good humor, excellent!

Frozer: Ah, there's the Nathmarc. And explicit Julerose. And Marinette getting some idea that her fantasy of Adrien is unhealthy and shouldn't be followed. And Adrigami, albeit a bit one-sided. Quit pining over someone who doesn't love you and get with someone who does, kid. And a smidgeon of Marigami. And Adrien's bodyguard being his daddy in place of his father. And a pinch of me seeing what the salters were talking about with the girlsquad and them forcing Marinette and Adrien together. Or at least Alya and Mylene. I couldn't hear what Alix, Juleka, and Rose were saying, but they disagreed, right? At least one of them had to disagree, right?

Heroes' Day Two-Parter: Marinette you're being too hotheaded against Lila no you gotta be like Columbo. Also yet another Marinette Costanza moment. Otherwise not much to say here. It's the boss rush episode, it's the series finale, Alya managed to catch onto Nino being Carapace but still can't seem to connect the dots between Ladybug and Marinette, the Peacock Miraculous is introduced, and Natalie is on my suslist.

I might procrastinate again on the first half of season 3. The first episode deserves a post of it's own. It's the salt episode.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I plan on having the pigtail pulling thing work out into romance by Malediktator, with Chloedemption starting in Mr. Pidgeon

NICE

[gameguy20100]

Yeah, this is why I'm glad I'm not one of those Thomas antis who makes it their entire personality on hating him. Not trying to defend Thomas or anything, but I'm not spending my time and energy hating, bitching, and harassing him.

All because they are still inhaling that Chloedemption copium.

As a writer myself. Nothing is more annoying than people demanding that I change my story to suit them.

If someone came into my inbox demanding that I kill off Dustin because they hate him. I'd tell them to get lost.

I don't know Thomas, but I know he doesn't deserve the amount of bs people throw at him.

Like, screenshotting his Twitter and encouraging people to attack him? What is wrong with people?

[chivalricmaiden]

I read your rant on Chloe, and was wondering if you'd be interested in a story where Chloe DOES work on herself, and does learn and eventually grown out of her current ways, without totally squashing her base self entirely. Chloe is still Chloe, but better, not bitter.

I’d definitely be interested in that! Thanks to the power of fanfics, I’ve found some really good Chloedemption fics that still keep her original personality intact. But still, I crave for more. If you have any recommendations, I’d love to know!

[beautymercurydragon]

🌻

Oh…. I have a bit of a rant to go on lol. (Not gonna be extra mean)

The main ‘mean girl’ in Miraculous Ladybug, Chloe aka Queen Bee (superhero alter-ego), was getting some ‘redemption’ over the course of season three. But in the final episode (two-part finale) of the season, she joined Hawk Moth and Mayura to become Miracle Queen, and revealed the identities of all the other holders (except Ladybug and Chat Noir) to HM, and became the Mad Queen of the show.

The entire fandom started to complain about this, calling the writers ‘sexist, or ‘butchering her character’. I disagree for a few reasons, and here’s why -

Butchering a character is as if they were in another series and screwed over completely (you likely understand this based on your posts I’ve seen in the Naruto fandom), or crushing how they were on the path to success and doing good but making them go insane last-minute. This wasn’t the case for Chloe, as the show ISN’T over yet and we still have two more seasons that are official on the way and a movie. There are several more examples of this in media, but I won’t name names because I could trigger some people who dislike the character lol.

Chloe didn’t show many signs of progress to me this season, personally. She still treated Sabrina like her slave, was a bully to Marinette and her friend group, and was pretty much at fault for the entire situation with Miraculer (imo). Long story short, she wasn’t/isn’t ready to be redeemed… YET.

I believe that the right person could make her change. Not Sabrina (considering she’s scared of Chloe), Marinette (as she has her own things and is done with Chloe’s BS), not Adrien, BUT maybe her parents could as Audrey’s coming back to Paris for good.

Chloe could learn to be better through seeing that her mother is so crappy to people, and if she sees some of herself in that, she’d see why Ladybug didn’t want her to become Queen Bee after the Queens’ Battle arc and start to actually change for good.

Chloe was selfish in the Queens’ Battle arc, on that hand, because SHE is the one who transformed on camera for the entirety of Paris to see because she wanted her mother’s attention. Not that I don’t blame her for wanting her mom’s attention and I don’t think Audrey is a bad parent (which she is), but that was HER decision to become QB onscreen.

Chloe’s way to redemption will be through learning from her mistakes, apologizing to everyone for the aftermath, and most of all, doing it in spite of her herself, and NOT her parents, Adrien, Sabrina, Ladybug, or anyone for that matter. Chloe will do it for Chloe.

I don’t hate her as a character by any means, but this is, in my opinion, her fault in the first place, because as Ladybug has told every Miraculous holder from Rena Rouge to Viperion ‘Your identity must remain a secret’, because she wants to keep them and their families safe from akumas. Chloe failed at that order, plain and simple.

I also don’t believe she’s irredeemable, or that she’s worse than Lila. On topic of her (Lila), she literally TEAMED UP with a supervillain terrorizing the city everyday, willingly gets akumatized, and got Marinette EXPELLED from school. If it wasn’t for the sudden urge of them all calming down, she very well would have been akumatized that day into Princess Justice - and that would’ve been it. Game over for everybody if LB/Mari is akumatized and Hawk Moth is controlling her. The user @galahadwilder has a much better analysis of this than I do, and he’s even given me permission to write a fanfiction on it.

At the end of the day, Chloe just pits people against her. Lila however, does the opposite. She pits people to be on her side and against others, and she almost came close to doing that with Marinette in the episode ‘Ladybug’ (also where she got expelled for a while).

Lots of people in the fandom hate on the class for believing Lila, but how many episodes did this happen in? Only one. Just because Alya, Nino and the other classmates were poorly characterized in ONE episode doesn’t mean we all should go out of our way to hate on them and make them OOC in our fanfiction: They’ve turned Rose into a snappy and rude friend instead of the sweetheart she is in canon, Mylene into a loud and obnoxious bully instead of the meek and mousy girl we know canon as, and OH MY GOD. Words cannot describe how much I hate the false characterization of Alya, making her tear up Marinette’s sketchbook, violently hurting her and so on.

Alya ‘I’m the best friend to Ladybug/Marinette ever’ Cesaire would never do that. She’s been there for Marinette from episode one, always helped her when it comes to Adrien, and much more that you’d see in canon (once you begin the show). She is probably the greatest friend in this show to Marinette, point blank. This same thing applies to Nino.

But these same people want to turn Chloe around in two seconds and make her be all sweet and kind with Marinette and turn Mari into this bitchy, bossy, and controlling delinquent and turn Chloe and Kagami along with Luka and sometimes the weather girls Aurore and Mireille into her lapdogs. It’s boring to see and I hate it. The class doesn’t deserve this insane amount of hate they receive from the fandom. If you read @galahadwilder‘s post on this after finishing the series, you’ll see exactly why him, I and many others believe this.

Long story short, here’s what I think: Chloe has a chance for redemption (I know it will happen, Thomas is just saying it won’t to tease us/not spoil the show), Lila is a horrible person who I absolutely do not want to see redeemed, the show isn’t badly written, Chloe’s character wasn’t butchered, and the class are all great friends to Marinette and always will be.

I know this got crazy long and I got a little heated about some things, but thank you for the ask! Hopefully this is a good example of what to watch out for in the fandom/perspective of the show and its characters once you start lol. (The classmates are my children.) (And how to not paint the class as villains if you ever write fanfiction for ML, XD.)

[f-a-n-d-o-o-m]

The rest of the week (part 2)

We were so surprised by the reaction part one got! It made me so motivated to write, I’ve got so many more parts finished now. @thelaziestgeek you asked to be tagged, so here you go. We hope it’s as good as you thought part one was ;)

--

“Mum? Dad? I wa- We need to talk,” Marinette put her fork down. Her parents turned to her from their meal.

“What is it?”

“I’d like to change schools.”

“What happened?” Sabine asked, worriedly turning to Marinette. “Is it Chloe?”

“N-no, not really,” Actually, now that she thought about it, Chloe had been tolerable recently. Maybe her turn with the Bee miraculous had done her some good.

“Then what’s wrong?” Tom asked.

“I- It’s- I don’t want to blame anyone,” I don’t want to make things harder for anyone she added in her head. “But there’s someone in the class that… I don’t get along with, and-“

“Marinette, you can’t just change school because you don’t get along with someone,” Tom held his daughter’s hand.

“Tom’s right. You are strong enough to work through this, I know you can Marinette.”

“No, you don’t get it. She’s made my life awful, and has convinced everyone- everyone- that I’m some kind of terrible person.”

“Marinette, I think you’re being a bit dramatic. You and Alya-“

“Alya thinks I’m being selfish, Dad. Please.”

Her parents looked nervously at each other.

“Please. I nearly akumatised today.”

That caught their attention.

“Ladybug was there, and caught the akuma before it reached me. Mum, Dad, I’ve tried so hard. I’ve done what you said, I’ve fought so hard, I’ve tried to be a good person no matter what. But all of that could have been for nothing if Ladybug hadn’t been there. I’ve tried so hard to work this out with my class, but… I can’t do this any more. Please. I- I give up. I give up. I give up.”

The amount Marinette has cried today, you’d think she’d be done. But she can feel the familiar prickling in her eyes.

A warmth surrounded her, and she found herself wrapped up in a hug by both her parents. “Shh,” Tom whispered. “It’s alright. It’s alright.”

“I’m not sure we can get you in a new school at such short notice,” Sabine said, tucking some hair behind her daughter’s ear. “But would it work to change classes?”

“And never, ever, say that you gave up,” Tom added. “Because you didn’t, okay? It takes strength to know when you’ve reached your limit. And it sounds like you’ve passed it, okay?”

“You’re so strong, Marinette. It’s not giving up, okay? You do so much for your classmates. I think it’s time you start to think about yourself.”

“And… We’re sorry we didn’t see that you needed this.”

Marinette sniffed. “No, don’t say that. Please, you guys are awesome, I just…”

“Tomorrow, we’ll go to school early and talk to Principal Damocles, okay? Are you sure you can’t tell us the name of the student? We could get him to talk to them-“

“No!” Marinette said, a bit too loudly. Her parents looked concerned. Marinette took a breath. “Please. I just want to get away. Changing classes sounds great, Mum.”

-

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t let you change classes on such short notice.”

The words were like a blow to the chest.

“Is there no way?” Tom asked.

“I am sorry, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” Mr. Damocles said to Marinette.

Her head hanging low, Marinette left the Principal’s office, her parents on either side of her.

“Dupain-Cheng?” A familiar voice broke her thoughts.

“Ugh. Hey Chloe.”

“What are you doing here this early?” Chloe was wielding a selfie collage, which she quickly rolled up.

Marinette’s parents opened their mouths, but Marinette beat them to it. “I was actually asking to change classes.”

Chloe looked at her in surprise. Marinette had to admit she was surprised too, but the words had just come out.

“And… Could you?”

“No.”

There was a pause, where Chloe glanced at the two adults glaring at her. “W- Was it… Was it me?”

Marinette glanced up at Chloe, surprised at the guilt in her tone. “Wha- No! I just-“

“Lila then?”

Marinette glanced at her parents, who were frowning at her. “Yeah.” She admitted.

Chloe watched for a minute, then nodded. She pushed the collage into Marinette’s arms, then stormed into the office that had just been vacated. The Dupain-Cheng’s glanced at each other, then followed her.

They entered a scene where a grown man was cowering before a blond teenager. Said teenager was waving her phone in his face. “Excuse me? You won’t let Dupain-Cheng change classes?”

“I- Well- Short notice- Time- No reason-“

“I think you’ll find there is a reason!” Chloe lifted up her mobile. “And that reason is that if you don’t let her change, then you will find my Daddy getting involved!”

“Now now- there’s no need-“

Chloe lifted her phone to her ear. Mr Damocles cleared his throat. “Really, I can’t change classes on such short notice.” He glanced at the ringing phone. “But… I could change you for the rest of the week? Just this week, then you go back to your old class. Then no major changes need happen.”

Chloe opened her mouth, hesitated, and glanced at Marinette. The blue-haired girl was staring in shock at what was happening. She jerked her head, waking herself up. “Y-yeah! That- that would be great.”

Chloe smiled, not smirked, smiled, and hung up.

-

Her parents left the school, after hugging their daughter and thanking Chloe, and probably shaking the blondie’s hand a bit too hard.

Chloe wiped her hand awkwardly on her pants.

“Why did you do that?”

Marinette’s question made Chloe pause. She glanced up at her.

“I- Well. Ladybug did actually.”

Marinette stared at her. She was pretty sure she hadn’t said anything about that.

“Not directly,” Chloe clarified. “But, she spoke to me, and she made me realise, well.” Chloe took a breath. “I want to be a better person, Dupain-Cheng. And I’m not very good at it, but I figure- you looked so unhappy in that class recently, so it must be a good thing if it makes you happy, right?”

Marinette stared at her bully, who had just helped her. Who would have thought that after all this time, it would be Chloe who she was talking with, and not Alya? Her life had done such a huge 360 since Lila had returned. She didn’t even know how it had ended up like this.

“Call me Marinette,” She smiled.

-

Marinette’s new class was different.

There were friendship groups that she wasn’t aware of, names she didn’t know. When Ms Mendeliev called out the names, she made sure to pay extra attention to everyone’s name. She was pretty good at remembering names though, so she hoped that would help. A few classmates had been akumatised but not nearly as many as her old class.

Old class. It felt so weird to think, but not having to worry about Lila constantly- even for just the few minutes since she’d entered the classroom this morning- felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Marinette wondered how she’d feel after a week.

When the bell rang to send them off to their next class, Marinette packed up her things. She yelped in surprise as a hand touched her shoulder.

“Woah, sorry! I just wanted to say hi.” Marinette blinked up at the girl. As if noticing the conversation, the rest of the class paused on their way out.

“You’re Nicole, right?” Marinette asked awkwardly to the short girl. She looked surprised.

“Wow, you’re good with names! Yeah, I am.”

“And I’m Jean.”

“Fleur.”

Names were passed around the class. Marinette smiled.

“My name is Marinette. It’s nice to meet you all.”

-

Chloe sat in her seat. In her head, ‘call me Marinette’ was bouncing around and around in circles. What did it mean?

Was it a gesture of friendship? It seemed that way, but why would Dup- Marinette (wow that felt weird) want to be friends with her?

Could it really just be that she had helped her? Was it really that easy? Or maybe it was because she wouldn’t have to deal with her for the week, and she wanted a clear slate?

“Where’s Marinette?”

The name bounced her out of her thoughts. It was Adrien. She turned to him, but he was talking to Nino.

“Uh- she’s probably late.”

“You know Marinette,” Alya laughed, and the trio chucked. “Hey, Lila- Could I have another interview with you for my blog? About your time with Ladybug?”

“Of course! I’d love to-“

“She’s not late,” Chloe interrupted. It even took herself by surprise. The class paused its chat to look at her.

“What?” Alya frowned.

“Dupai- Marinette. She’s not running late, she actually got here early today.”

There were some mumbles going around the class.

“Leave it with your lies, Chloe,” Alya rolled her eyes.

“No- I think I saw her today, now that I think about it,” Mulen spoke up.

A few others admitted to seeing her.

“So where is she?” Alya asked. “What have you done, Chloe?”

“Me? I haven’t-“ Chloe paused. Technically, she did do something.

Alya raised an eyebrow.

“Marinette’s changed classes.”

Shouts broke out.

“What are you talking about?” Alya snapped. Adrien looked hurt.

“Quieten down class!” Ms. Bustier walked in.

“Is it true?” Alya shouted. She was standing up now.

“Is what true?” The teacher looked at her student.

“Has Marinette changed classes?”

The teacher sighed. “Yes, she has- for just the week. Please sit down, Alya.”

Alya ignored her. “Chloe! What have you done?”

“I didn’t make her switch, if that’s what you’re implying,” Chloe rolled her eyes. She hadn’t had she? Or… Maybe Dupain-Cheng was lying? Maybe she just didn’t want to admit to Chloe-

“Oh no, it was me, wasn’t it?” Lila’s sweet voice came from the back of the class. “I’ve been driving Marinette away since I came. Maybe I should just leave…”

The class broke out in murmurs, all of them (and Chloe listened for somebody different, but the closest she got was Alya who stopped talking altogether) comforting Lila.

“Class! Please be quiet!” Ms Bustier called. She seemed tired as she read out the role. When she finished, she sighed and looked up. “Marinette has asked for permission- and been granted permission-“ The teachers glanced and Chloe for a second, which Alya caught, and her eyes narrowed. “To move to the other class for a week. I request that you do not pester her about this, as if she wanted to tell you I think that she would have.”

This statement caused more talking, which the teacher patiently waited out.

-

When the final bell rang, Marinette felt content.

She hadn’t realised how hard each day had been, with Lila hissing behind her, Alya falling for each lie, and her classmates glaring at her even when her back wasn’t turned. Today, she hadn’t counted down the seconds until she could leave, whilst simultaneously dread the ringing of the bell, because that means that Alya will turn around to be with Lila. Today, she felt herself relax.

She packed her things back into her bag, then turned to smile at Nicole, who was waiting for her. “Thankyou,” The pigtailed girl smiled, standing up. Nicole grinned back.

“No problem Marinette!” There was a short pause, then Nicole hesitantly asked;

“If… If you don’t mind me asking, why did you ask to move to our class? Was it because…” A small blush appeared on Nicole’s cheeks. “The other class has had so many akumas?”

Akumas…

Marinette took a deep, nervous breath. Nicole eye’s widened. “I’m sorry Marinette! You don’t have to answer! I shouldn’t have pried!”

Marinette put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. As nice as Nicole was, Marinette had picked up just during that day that she was quite nervous, and really didn’t want to upset anyone.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t want you to feel scared about talking to me Nicole. I just didn’t get along with this gi- person, and I needed a break. Well, I wanted to get away completely, but that wasn’t possible on such short notice. And besides, it’s probably better that it’s only for a week.”

“Why?” Nicole said, then caught herself. “I-If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Of course it’s fine Nicole,” Marinette was careful to say that. Nicole was actually such a sweet girl, and she just needed a bit more confidence!  “And, I guess it’s because I don’t want to run away,” Her parent’s words rang in her head. “Well, maybe running away isn’t the right word. But, I think that the constant pressure was getting to me. I just need a moment to figure myself out, without Lilahhhh oops!”

It was too late to figure out that slip up. Nicole blinked, then smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against that girl. Besides, I’m so forgetful I probably won’t remember her!”

“Oh, you’d remember Lila alright,” Marinette mumbled under her breath. They stopped at the bottom of the school steps. “See you tomorrow Nicole!”

“Goodbye Marinette!”

“Marinette!” Marinette jumped at the sound of Alya’s voice. She awkwardly turned around to see the reporter walk up to her. “Why did you change classes?”

Huh, straight to the point. Just like Alya.

Marinette took a deep breath. “Please, Alya, can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Her voice took Alya aback. The once cheery, optimistic girl sounded broken, and beaten. She found herself agreeing to Marinette’s terms, then she caught herself. “But no backing out of it, okay?” Marinette didn’t respond, so Alya sighed and walked away.

“Marinette,” No surprise, now it’s Lila’s voice, coming just as Marinette walked out of earshot of everyone else.

“Lila, what do you want?”

“You think changing classes for a week will stop me? If anything, it will help me, because you won’t be there forcing me to change my words.”

“Mmhm.”

Lila paused, and peered at Marinette. The other girl had a look of indifference on her face, and other people would have thought that’s how she felt. But Lila Rossi was a master of emotions, and how to hide them, which means she can see when they aren’t hidden very well. This means she could see the small pain that her words were causing Marinette. Marinette was trying so hard to hide this hurt. But still, it was there. “Don’t you care?”

“I did. A lot. But I need a break, so I’m getting one.”

Lila clenched her fist, then relaxed them. “And what are your friends going to think, Marinette? When they find out that you’ve abandoned them?”

Abandoned?

With that word, Marinette gave up the charade. She didn’t mean to, but there was no way she could hide the pain she was feeling then. Lila smirked. Finally.

“Don’t think that just because you aren’t in my class, I’ll forget about you Marinette. By the time you come back, none of your friends will care about you. You know that it’s true. After all, it’s already happening, isn’t it?”

Lila stepped back to observe the impact each of her words had on her. Satisfied, she turned and left.

-

“How was school honey?” Sabine hugged her daughter, and Tom stopped his work to come and see her. They all sat down in the kitchen, and warmth filled Marinette’s heart to see how much they cared about her.

“It was… Pretty good,” Marinette took a piece of fruit, and sat down. She happily told her parents about her class. She hesitated, but mentioned that ‘the girl’ had spoken to her after school, and that Alya wanted to talk tomorrow. Her parents pointed out that it was reasonable, and that if Alya had randomly switched class then Marinette would want to talk too. As to Lila, they wrapped her up in a hug and asked if she wanted them to talk about moving classes permanently to the principal.

“No, please. I think that I actually just need a break. It was so nice in class, and I think I just needed to get away to sort myself out. But, thankyou,” She smiled at her parents. “For caring.”

“You can always come to us, sweetie. I’m sorry you didn’t think that earlier.”

As soon as she got upstairs, Tikki flew out of her bag. “I’m proud of you Marinette!”

Marinette pulled her homework out. “Proud of me?”

“Yes! You could have so easily dodged your parents today, especially after Lila after school, but you spoke to them! It’s not good to keep it all bottled up.”

Marinette smiled. “I guess you’re right. It did feel nice to let it all out. I don’t think I realised how much it was hurting to keep it inside.”

“Well, at least you’re sorting yourself out now. Let’s get started on that science homework!”

-

Marinette woke up not dreading school.

--

There it is! I hope you enjoyed it, I have a few extra things to add, just explaining my thoughts as I wrote this. 

I was planning to have Marinette change schools, but I realised I didn’t want to make lots of new characters it’s not very true to Marinette’s character to just abandon them so completely like that. It is very in her character to be dramatic, so I had her parents be the voice of reason. I instead made her change classes, and I’m not sure where Chloe came from. I guess I was just sick of how the show was treating her. Anyway, she was so much fun to write, I decided I didn’t want to just leave her at that, so I figured that Marinette could return to the class, because then I get to write her! 

Expect a lot of Chloe, and a lot a lot of Chloe redemption.

Also,  I’ve decided to make it about one day = one part. I have also decided that Chameleon takes place on Monday, completely so that Marinette can have the most time in her different class.

Thankyou for reading all the way to the bottom, we get so excited every time we see a new note, whether it’s a like, or a reblog! Feel free to leave constructive criticism.

[lady-flora]

Engineer!Chloé

So, I’ve seen the boxer!chloé and photographer!chloé in Chloedemption fics and I love them both very much.

But have you considered engineer chloé?

Imagine:

Chloé buys Adrien tickets to a science symposium or exhibition or something and loses him to the physics people

She wanders around for a bit waiting for him notice that he’s lost her

Ends up in the engineering section

She either catches the tail end of a lecture or gets caught up in an exhibit and talks to an engineer (I’m leaving the kind of engineering intentionally vague)

And it raises questions that she’s never really considered

By the time Adrien catches her she’s deep into research mode™️

So when they leave Chloé’s rambling about everything she just learned and Adrien’s just watching her with a soft smile b\c he hasn’t seen her this exited abt something in years

And she starts doing independent research, maybe to figure out which kind of engineering she prefers

Adrien and Chloé being science bros

Just... Engineer Chloé Bourgeois

(Feel free to add on and tag me if you use it)

[dontfollowmeman]

Sabine could have been the new Chat Noir but the ML writers are cowards

I wanna write a Kuro Neko fic where Marinette tells Plagg in no uncertain way where he can shove his cheese metaphors and just how Chats tantrum is a real richard relocation but she's so angry that she doesn't notice the other kwami trying to get her attention

Meanwhile Sabine is dealing with the facts that

1. Marinette is obviously Ladybug

2. Chat has obviously left her to fight alone

3. There's these imp things all over the place

4. The black imp is giving her daughter hell for something she doesn't deserve

Some of the other Kwami manage to calm Sabine down from akuma-levels of rage and despair by the time Marinette's tirade finishes. At which point she finally notices her mother in the room. Marinette tries to apologize, as she does, Sabine tries to apologize for not being there for her when she had all this responsibility thrust upon her but it mostly end up as crying and hugging.

Sabine gives Plagg more hell, then she calls a family meeting and Martinette fills her and Tom in on whats happening. Since there has to be a black cat alongside the ladybug because of balance yada yada, Marinette decides that hey, she knows someone who is damn good at using a staff, and gives it to Sabine. Sabine and Plagg form an uneasy truce that turns into mutual respect that turns into genuine friendship when he pulls his head out of his behind in regards to Adrien.

Most of the old temp heroes stay retired. Marinette recruits some more of her classmates, Luka and Kagami get new identities, Alya STOPS BELIEVING LILA (that particular bit of canon can go die in a fire btw). Sabine recruits some heroes too - a massive bear of a man for the ox, a mischievous and chaotic pirate woman as the monkey, an intense woman with a blindfold as the dragon.

Adrien is depressed over Ladybug not crawling back to him begging for his return, but he does get better. Mostly because Luka has pity and drags him out of his misery with all the chaotic energy of a Couffaine. Adrien gets basically secretly adopted by the Couffaines. After Shadowmoth is defeated, Emilie wakes up and starts dating Anarka. There is no Sentimonster Adrien in Ba Sing Se.

[angelofthequeers]

Hey I thought you might want to check out The Greatest Change (Is The Hardest To Achieve) by bi_skyes on AO3. It's a Chloedemption fic inspired by your Chloedemption arc in Hold Me By Both Hands (the author and I have been talking, apparently she found your fic through my analysis of it, she read my analysis of Outfoxed, decided to look at the other analyses I'd written, thought the one I'd written on your fic looked cool, and that the fic looked cool enough to check it out. So that was neat.)

I'm reading it right now and it's Interesting 👀

[dizzying-faust]

I'll admit a Lila redemption isn't a bad idea on paper, but like with most Chloedemption AUs written by salters, it suffers the problem of having her be easily forgiven and/or demonizing other characters (especially Alya), just to make it work.

It's like salters are trying to subvert the salt Lila was getting, but instead just made a typical salt Chloedemption just replace Chloe with Lila.

[flightfoot]

On the subject of Chloé redemption in salt fics, Chloé isn't even redeemed in those? She's often worse than in canon, all that's really changed is that she's directing her awfulness at people Marinette doesn't like rather than Marinette herself. It's more about joining the right team than doing the right thing. And honestly, as someone who really likes Chloé? If that's what Chloé's redemption is supposed to look like, I don't want it.

Yeah that happens a decent amount of the time, I still remember the saltfic I stumbled across where Chloe taught Marinette how to be mean to people, and that other people should treat Marinette the way Sabrina treats her. Basically, how to be an Alpha Bitch, and this was supposedly a good thing. Agreed, if that's "redeemed" Chloe, then I ain't interested.

There ARE plenty of Chloedemption fics that don't do that though. You might want to read through @generalluxun fics, he's got a ton of fics that humanize Chloe and allow her to become a better person, without cheering on demonizing someone else. https://archiveofourown.org/users/generalluxun/pseuds/generalluxun

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

anti-honesty hour, huh?

what fanfics do you absolutely despise

Truth and Consequences by @siderealscribblings is so terrible! An in character villain!Ladybug? Don't be ridiculous! And what is with Chat Noir being badass? Really, why would anyone want a friends to lovers to enemies AU anyway?

Dragon Falls by @flightfoot thinks dragons are soooooo cool. As if Kagami needs to shoot lightning when she has fire too! Why would Adrien fall for this strong, brave, badass dragon anyway? I mean, it's not like HTTYD works with Adrien's backstory surprisingly well or anything!

True Sight: Secrets of the Miraculous by @thewritewolf has everyone in character, slow burn Adrinette (that you actually get to see being a couple before the end), Chloedemption with Adrien calling her out, massive lore, new powers, the Miracusquad hanging out, identity shenanigans, identity reveal, MORE identity reveals, etc! It thinks it's soooooo impressive just cause the characters come to life and half a dozen fully fleshed-out plot threads are expertly woven together.

[miraculousladybug-confessions]

“This show seems to see redemption as just explaining why characters do things. Chloedemption was just us learning about her mother, not Chloe learning she was wrong and trying to fix it. We are starting to get hints that Lila’s mother doesn’t pay her much attention to her. I want to see characters that are ‘bad’ just realising this, not making excuses, and starting to fix their mistakes”