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seekinghelp-adhd · 1 year ago

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Chance Encounters (Maribat idea I'm throwing around)

Marinette moves to Gotham to pursue fashion. She has to finish her last year of high school at Gotham Academy and do an internship over the summer, but if she does she gets a massive scholarship to Gotham University. They were more than happy to help out Jagged Stone's famously young personal designer. Obviously, this puts her in classes with Damien Wayne, who barely talks and only ever calls his brothers by their last names.

Jagged insists on setting her up in a penthouse for her stay in Gotham, but Marinette argues that being a single girl living in a fancy penthouse is like asking one of the Gotham rogues to kidnap or rob her. They compromise on a nice apartment with a state of the art security system, one owned by Wayne Enterprises. Another tenant on her same floor, Jason Todd, stops by to scope out the new neighbor. He seems nice enough, but he keeps calling his older brother "Dick" and Marinette can't tell if that's his name or just an insult. Apparently he does this whenever someone new moves in to see if he’ll have to move. Marinette tells him to let her know if he does, Because she says if he doesn’t feel safe living in this building anymore, she definitely wants to leave. Jason is amused by this and decides she can stay.

It doesn't take long for Marinette to encounter Gotham's bad side. After a few months of living there she's seen plenty of rogue attacks. She's been lucky enough to stay out of it. After all, if the villains aren't magical there's nothing her Miraculous Cure could do anyway. Her luck is apparently starting to run out though, because now she's being held up at knife point in an alley. She obviously takes the guy down after years of being Ladybug and calls the cops. Dick Greyson is the officer on scene. He's incredibly friendly and is super impressed that she managed to take the guy down, but Dick has seen corrupt cops take people in for self-defense if it means someone else owes them a favor. He gives her his personal cell in case anything like this ever happens again.

Through all of this, Marinette has been spending more and more time with Damien at school. Marinette is hesitant to trust all the smiles and niceties around her after Lila's manipulation and wants to truly get to know someone before she puts any trust in them. Damien is the only exception. She was warned of his reputation as the "Ice Prince" of GA before meeting him and found talking with him to be incredibly refreshing. There was absolutely nothing fake or over the top about him. He was straightforward and down to earth and Marinette found comfort in that. She decided that she trusted him on day one. Likewise, Damien finds her skeptical attitude toward the other students to be incredibly validating. Growing up in the League, everyone was always pretending, even to the other assassins. You had to act a certain way around the right people, and manipulation was the key to survival. Marinette seems to notice people trying to take advantage of her and recognize when someone just wants a favor, and he respects that. Regretfully, and to Jon's great joy, Damien finds that he thinks of her as a friend.

Word eventually gets out that Marinette is Jagged's designer. This is, of course, entirely Jagged's fault. Some good comes out of all the extra attention, though, when she learns that the co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises is a fan of hers. He makes a commission for a new suit and, upon learning of her situation, offers her a position as his families personal designer over the summer to meet her internship qualifications for GU. They set up a meeting in person for her to take measurements once her midterms are over.

When everything is going well though, something has to throw a wrench into things. The Batfamily raids one of Black Mask's warehouses late one night, and Red Hood takes a few too many bullets and a pretty big hit to the head. The kevlar took most of the hits for him, but he's badly bruised and nursing a concussion. It's the concussion that causes him to stumble into the wrong window of his apartment building and scare his new neighbor half to death. Marinette does what she always does and helps the vigilante without question. To do that though, she has to take off his helmet. She assumed he would have a mask underneath or something. He does not. Marinette is not as surprised as she probably should be, and Jason is pissed when he wakes up. He realizes after a while that this isn't her fault. She's been taking care of him since he was too stubborn to go to Bruce, and if she wanted him or his family dead she could have done something about it by now. He decides to put a little trust in her, but keeps an eye on her just in case. This is what clues him into the situation. In her time here in Gotham, she's managed to meet all of the Wayne brothers aside from Duke, and she has no idea they're even related.

Jason, of course, finds this absolutely hilarious and wants to see just how far this madness can go. He sends Duke to her favorite coffee shop. He refers Marinette to the same dance studio as Cass. Marinette, completely on her own to Jason's disbelief, enters the same Ultimate Mecha Strike tournament as Stephanie and absolutely destroys her. Jason lives for the chaos and Marinette is completely oblivious.

Eventually, after a few AO3 tags (slow burn, feelings realization) Marinette and Damien start dating. Damien feels guilty for hiding that he's Robin from Marinette, but he knows that he'd be sharing more than just his own secret and doesn't want to betray his family's trust. He realizes that if he wants to share everything with her, his family has to trust her as well. She'll have to meet them. He tells Marinette all of this, and she shares that she's been keeping her own secret as well. Marinette hasn't told him about Ladybug even after Tikki has given her blessing, and she's been feeling guilty about it as well. She encourages him to tell her whenever he feels ready and assures him that she can wait until then. She trusts him, and she asks for that same trust in return.

Damien trusts her of course, and everything goes back to normal for about 30 seconds. Then, Damien starts trying to prepare her for the chaos she's about to find in his dining room that night. Little by little, Marinette starts to realize that she already knows every single person he's talking about. Only, that means so much more than she could have realized, because if Jason is Red Hood and his brother "the Dick" is Nightwing, then that means Dick Greyson is Nightwing and Damien's older brother, which makes Damien Robin, and oh no she thinks she knows exactly what that secret is that he didn't want to share yet.

#miraculous ladybug #batman #batfam #dc comics #dc universe #miraculous fanfic #marinette dupain cheng #damien wayne #maribat #daminette #fanfic #fanfiction

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nobodyfamousposts · 1 year ago

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Do you think people cling on too much to Adrien's high road advice as a reason to salt on him?

Yes, especially when there are plenty of other reasons to salt him that have previously been ignored. But to that end, it DOES serve as the final straw for people after a SERIES of problems that had previously gone unaddressed.

Much like many aspects of the show, Adrien has displayed problematic behaviors that have been overlooked and waved off in the earlier seasons. This is likely or especially due to the way how in each and every incident, Adrien was narratively shown to be correct. In his stance. In his choices. In his behaviors. He was always right. It doesn't matter if he shouldn't be, because he is.

Now unless you're a hater or anti or salter or whatever negative name people tend to get for not liking a story as it's presented, readers and watchers tend to follow along with the narrative as it presents things and how it presents things. It's a common setup in any story. Protagonist Centered Morality, I feel framed best by Susan in the Discord series:

Susan: ...and then Jack chopped down the beanstalk, adding murder and ecological vandalism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned, but he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused anything if you're a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.

Pretty much this. Most people will follow what the narrative says because it's the narrative. If the narrative wants you to focus on Marinette being embarrassed, you're going to focus on how much she's cringe. And if the narrative wants you to view Adrien as a perfect sunshine boy who never does anything wrong, anything he does is going to be framed through that lens and it's difficult to break from that view and call out the times when he is wrong. Not unless he does something particularly severe.

It should be noted that outside of Chameleon, Adrien had, among other things: lied to his partner, caused someone to get akumatized and had his partner take the blame, was messing around during life-threatening and city-threatening situations, did nothing as Chloe tormented people right in front of him, DEFENDED Chloe after she tormented people right in front of him, bailed on an event with friends to set up a date with someone who said she had other plans and then got mad at HER for it, tried to flirt or confess in the middle of an active crisis which took necessary attention away from said crisis, caused himself AND his partner to get hit by akuma powers and needlessly be taken out of commission.

And yet people could mostly overlook these instances. They weren't his fault. Chloe is his friend. Marinette is worse. He's just a kid. He has a tragic backstory. So on and so forth. Easy to overlook. Easy to ignore in favor of the Sunshine Boy setup people were given and want to believe in.

But there were three major instances that really grabbed people's attention and stayed:

His attitude in Frozer. It probably wouldn't have been so bad except this rejection already happened in Glaciator, where he was supposed to have learned a lesson and accepted just being Ladybug's friend and now apparently didn't, despite it happening earlier that very season. Then in response, he decides to date Kagami as a rebound, drags Marinette with him on his date (without realizing how he's asking his friend to be a third wheel on a DATE) and focuses on her when he's supposed to be with Kagami, throws another tantrum in the middle of an akuma fight and refuses to work with his partner when the city is literally frozen, and requires Ladybug to apologize to him for hurting his feelings before he finally working with her. Again. But okay, he's a teenage boy in love. Not used to rejection and got his feelings hurt. Lovesquare is endgame so of course it'll work out anyway, so it's not like this bump in the road is really going to matter long term so we shouldn't hold it against him. Fine. Dumb, but fine. We've forgiven it in other shows and other poorly done teen romances, we can forgive it here.

His behavior in Syren in which he demanded to know secrets from people when the secrets were not theirs to tell him, and went so far as to attempt to blackmail his kwami (which was funny) and threaten to quit and abandon the Ring that the big bad is after while the city is flooded and people were trying to not drown (which was decidedly less humorous). But it was played for wholesome when Plagg reassured him and he got what he wanted by Fu revealed himself even if Adrien did nothing to actually show he earned it, so all's well that ends well, I guess? And people could justify it because "they're partners" and "part of a team" and "she should trust him" and "it's not fair he's the only one left out of the loop" and "he has a right to know" and just general "Fu is an idiot" (which is admittedly hard to argue). So people were disgruntled, but most were willing to overlook it.

His holier than thou lecture to Marinette in Maledictator over everyone being happy Chloe was leaving. When all Marinette was doing at the time was watching everyone else have fun. When Adrien specifically guilted Marinette and not any of the other actual partiers involved who were literally throwing a party over his friend leaving and probably should have warranted a lecture more than the girl just standing there. When the girl in question was also Chloe's main target and out of everyone had valid reasons to be happy that her bully won't be around to bully her anymore. When Adrien himself has historically been present to witness Marinette being targeted including twice he witnessed Chloe attempt to steal from Marinette, once he witnessed her try to blackmail Marinette, and numerous other times when she actively caused harm to Marinette and others. When Adrien then proceeded to sit in a corner and pout rather than do anything else or just leave if the party really bothered him. When Adrien, if he really cared so damn much, could have gone after Chloe himself! Or y'know...have stood up for Chloe earlier when she got upset in the first place. But fine, okay, Chloe is his childhood friend. So maybe he's just being biased and oblivious to the fact that his "friend" is a horrible person. But people can excuse and justify it in that they are friends and friends support each other, and the longer someone is friends with someone else, the harder it is to break from them. And that Marinette was probably just the target of his lecture because she was the one there in the moment (and the only one who would listen without arguing). And her calling Chloe useless was "mean" despite it being quite frankly the least of what she could have said about her in the moment (coughcough theft cough blackmail cough punished the entire school cough TRIED TO CRASH A TRAIN AND NEARLY KILLED HER AND HER PARENTS COUGH-FREAKINGCOUGH). Fine. Childhood friend means Adrien supports her in all her horrible and even deadly actions. Frustrating, but again, able to be explained and you can see where he's coming from.

These are all things that definitely got Adrien some side eye at best and some detractors at worst.

BUT if you really think about it, all of these examples are objectively worse than his lecture to Marinette in Chameleon. Not accepting being told "no" and continuing to chase a girl who isn't that in to him (while leading on another). Putting lives at risk over personal wants that could quite honestly wait until AFTER the crisis is over. Defending someone who is harmful and guilt tripping the victims. Compared to those, telling someone to leave a liar to their lying seems relatively minor.

So why this? Why here? Why is it Chameleon that has people saying enough is enough? Why is it this episode that is causing the sunshine boy to be so tarnished and the subject of salt in fan fiction?

Because this is the time when it couldn't be rationalized. There wasn't even a valid sensible canon-based reason for his stance. The arguments that Adrien "knew confronting her wouldn't work" or that he "handled her like paparazzi" or that he "knew Marinette previously failed when she tried" (even though he wasn't there and didn't know) or that he "didn't think anyone would believe him" don't come from canon. Those were fan arguments made after the fact to justify him after the base was broken and the outcry became too much to ignore.

This case didn't have any of the ties or rationales of the previous incidents. Adrien wasn't defending himself or his place in a partnership. He wasn't fighting for his love or his dream or an outcome he wanted and that we all knew was coming—if anything, he was fighting against her. He wasn't defending a friend like he did with Chloe—I mean, it's pretty evident he doesn't even really know or like Lila at this point, and for all intents and purposes, this is apparently only the second day he actually had any interaction with her. There was no notable reason Adrien really had for why he essentially chose to protect Lila over literally anyone else as she wasn't a friend and it wasn't in his interests to protect her from a consequence that wouldn't hurt her short term as much as it would likely harm everyone else long term.

And yet, he still defended her and her freedom to lie. Over Marinette. Over Ladybug. Over his friends. Over any sense of right and wrong he seems to have no problem throwing around when it comes to Marinette/Ladybug. Which seems like he targets her 9 times out of 10 compared to pretty much anyone else by this point. So it's little wonder then that people who didn't already hate the lovesquare because of the cringe factor from Marinette started to hate it for being incredibly unhealthy given that their relatively limited interactions tend to involve him lecturing her for failing to live up to his double standards that only seem to apply to her in any given situation.

This incident by itself doesn't seem like much, but when looked at as part of the series as a whole, it's when people couldn't keep overlooking this trend. Where he seems to admonish the wrong person. Where he acts like a mouthpiece rather than a person. Talks like he’s wise in a situation he seems to have a childish and one-sided view of. Acts like a brat but is treated as though he has no accountability in the situation he causes. Where he is wrong but no one and certainly not the narrative acknowledges it (not until season five and two seasons too late when it doesn't matter and he's still not the one facing consequences for it).

And it's not like he actually follows the stances he himself promotes. In Chameleon, canon presents him with this idealistic stance that Lila could change if given a chance, except he doesn't give her a chance. He doesn't push her to be a better person. He doesn't support or in any way help her to be the better person he insisted to Marinette she could be. He also doesn't do anything or warn anyone when she keeps lying and actively harms the people he says he cares about. He doesn't do anything one way or the other other than some lackluster encouragement to stop lying and a warning that goes nowhere. It just further gives credit to the argument that Adrien either simply doesn't care about other people, or that he doesn't care for Marinette specifically. Neither is conducive to the lovesquare or the increasingly tarnished view of the "sunshine boy".

And it could have worked. Canonically and intrinsically to his character. His idealism and trust in the wrong person comes back to bite him. He learns and grows from it. Except that, much like with nearly everything he does in canon, Chameleon set it up that Adrien was the writers' mouthpiece and thus was not "wrong". I'll grant that they did have him admit it and apologize to Marinette for it two seasons later, but it is pretty evident that during Chameleon, they intended his lecture to be right, with no foreshadowing and no implication otherwise. And I'm fairly certain they only backtracked and had him do that much because of the amount of fan outrage over the episode.

So yes, I think his lecture in Chameleon was really a final straw since unlike Chloe, Adrien has NO relationship with Lila to justify his defense of her. Especially when the argument is in favor of letting her lie to the people he's supposed to care about. That combined with how jarring it was how most of the class just sided with Lila over the seat issue in the first place, and I think people were less inclined to just ignore the problems in the episode specifically and with the series as a whole as they were compared to the first and second seasons. Not just with Adrien, as we see that Alya also started getting more callout and salt since then as well as more retrospective scrutiny over her behavior in earlier seasons.

But yeah...Chameleon was where things seemed to take a 180, so it's bound to be the deciding episode and deciding incident that sticks out in people's minds with these characters. That's probably why it ends up the go-to for salt and complaints on the characters involved instead of any of the other incidents that would arguably warrant it more.

#ml salt #adrien salt #chameleon salt #season 5 salt #ml analysis #ml essay #yes it's a lot of salt #yes i am doing this again

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zoe-oneesama · 1 year ago

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I also think the recent ep where Mari is scolded for not improving Chloe's behavior as a class rep, is not fair. A class rep is there to be the voice for the students and act as a form of communication, not mentor or educate another child. Mari also became class rep to stop Chloe's bullying, not reform her or give her therapy. I can't believe they (the class) actually gave the class rep position to Lila, even Marinette has done so much for them, and little Miss Liar is only full of hot air. Side eye

The Class Rep thing in "Revelation" was so dumb in all aspects, like, FIRST of all-

Lila cannot seriously be bringing up that it's "undiplomatic" that they held elections without her when she wasn't even going to Francois Dupont yet, are you trying to look me in the face and tell me "Volpina" happened before FREAKING "Darkblade"?! (And obviously no one brings up this fact when she's talking nonsense)

WHY is Bustier even entertaining this garbage when there's two weeks of school left?! Like, sorry Lila, try again in high school if you can even get in with your attendance record. The only things left for the Class Rep to even do is the Student -Teacher Career Course planning which sounds super important and like a really dumb thing to suddenly hand over to two people who haven't been preparing for it in the slightest!

Marinette is running on the "Actually this is pointless, I've done great as a class president because it's actually not my job to change Chloe for the better, especially when Bustier, her parents, and Ladybug herself couldn't get her to pull her head out of her ass, so I'm going to spend my time on things that actually matter and will have results" and legit why does anyone care about "improving Chloe" when in TWO WEEKS they will be at TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCHOOLS and hopefully NEVER have to see her in person again?! Though realistically she should be running on the "we have two weeks left why are we even here" campaign.

And Lila is running on the "Chloe can change if someone just worked with her instead of spending all their time on their own romance like a selfish jerk" platform and the class eats this up just because Chloe is "willing" to be Lila's deputy. Except Lila has been hanging out with and being friends with Chloe since freaking "Penalteam"! And guess who's still an asshole despite your "influence" Lila?! OH RIGHT, YOUR NEW DEPUTY! Hell, "Adoration" JUST happened 3 episodes ago where Chloe was framing Marinette for theft! Your "influence" isn't worth SHIT to anyone paying attention!

Now, Lila's only going for the President role so she can fuck everyone over in "Confrontation", so obviously this stupid campaign was going to happen and Lila was going to win just to set up the Big Bang where Lila exposes herself. Who cares that it stretches suspension of belief past it's limits, that's just the Gold Standard when it comes to Lila schemes.

Anyway, can't wait for her grand plans as The Villain of the next arc. -_-

#ml salt #revelation salt #writing salt

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kawaii-queen-kaiju · 10 months ago

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Lies

Maribat March - Prompt 10

"He gave me a diamond the size of my fist! You can't tell anyone though; the paparazzi would be all over us." Lila loudly proclaimed from across the cafeteria. Marinette scoffed, throwing a disgusted sneer over her shoulder at the Italian. This was the fifth celebrity engagement story. She wondered just how she got unfortunate enough to be surrounded by these idiots. She could kill everyone in this room in two minutes flat, and yet, she had to restrain herself for the sake of the mission. Keep playing the role of meek little 'Mari', keep pretending she wasn't one of the most skilled assassins in the world. Stupid Hawkmoth. Because of some random ass dude, she was stuck among these sheeple.

She quickly left the cafeteria, exiting the school and heading to the bakery. She greeted Sabine - a member of the Order of the Miraculous and one of her old handlers - and climbed the stairs to her room. Just a little longer. She was so close to finding the man who had enough audacity to steal from the Order. And Hawkmoth, him too.

Her phone rang, startling her out of her inner monologue. It was Damian, her betrothed. She happily answered, the smile on her face genuine for once. 'Habibti. How was your day?' He asked, an odd whirring echoing in the background. 'Have you stabbed the harlot yet?'

She rolled her eyes, the smile on her face persisting. "It was fine. And no, I have not stabbed Lila, as much as I may want to. It's annoying, but it's helping my cover. She keeps the idiots from following me around, and it makes easier to search Paris for the lousy fake-Guardian and whatever asshat he let take the Butterfly."

'And you're still sure you would not like me to join you and help?'

She sighed, the conversation a common one since she was sent to Paris. "I've got this, Dami. Besides, you wouldn't last five minutes here. I love you, but you are very temperamental."

He squawked angrily, and she could picture the offended look on his face, his jade green eyes crinkling adorably. 'I am not temperamental! You seem to be forgetting just how many of our trainers you sent to the infirmary.'

She rolled her eyes. "They were misogynistic pricks, and you know it."

'I was not arguing that they weren't, Habibti, merely stating that you extensively hurt each of them. In fact, I am quite glad for what you did. Had you not, Mother never would have seen fit to have us betrothed.'

Marinette smiled happily at the memory, standing in the middle of the large al-Ghul throne room in ceremonial garb, opposite Damian in matching robes. "Yeah." She glanced at the clock on the wall and cursed. "Sorry, Dami. I need to head back. Call you back later?"

'Of course. I love you, Habibti.' He answered curtly, though she could tell he was peeved at being cut off. "I love you too."

She came back to excited whispers throughout the classroom, and a huddle around Lila's desk. Marinette rolled her eyes, heading towards her own desk at the back of the room. Except...

She was stopped in her tracks by one whispered word. 'Damian'. There were plenty of Damians in the world, and several rich ones Lila could be claiming she's engaged to; but what if? Marinette continued up the stairs, but kept an ear on the conversation at the front.

'Wayne'.

Marinette clenched her teeth. They were talking about Damian. Her Damian. She'd seen articles and heard rumors before, right after Damian's debut as a billionaire's son, but something about hearing her beloved's name come from that liar's mouth made her see green. She was fuming, trying to force away the murderous haze. She was chosen for this mission specifically because of the ease it took to banish the Pit's influence from her mind, and she was not going to let Lila of all people ruin it for her.

At the front of the room, the door slammed open. Marinette's mind screeched to a halt, because standing there in all of his glory was Damian. She shot to her feet and raced down the stairs before she registered what she was doing. He was here, right in front of her! She flung her arms around him, squeezing tight.

"Hello, Habibti." He whispered in her ear, squeezing her back. "What are you doing here?" She asked, pulling back to look at him. "Father found something. Camera footage of the akumas, and an identity, over a hundred and twenty years old. They're going after them now." He said, a happy gleam in his eye despite the lack of emotion on his face. Marinette grinned widely. Her mission is over! She can go back to Nanda Parbat - or Gotham!

"Marinette, what's going on?"

She turned around abruptly, remembering their audience. "Who is this?" Alya was front and center, glaring at her accusingly. Marinette's mind was whirling, trying to find an in-character way to answer. Except they found them. The false Guardian and the Butterfly. She didn't have to keep up her cover anymore. She grinned, her true smile, not the meek thing she'd developed the past few months.

She watched as Lila's little lapdog recoiled, enjoying the effect she finally got to have on her classmates. Marinette stalked forward, easily falling back into her natural gait. The walk of a predator. "I'm happy to announce that I'm done! I don't have to sit here and pretend anymore! You're all horribly stupid, and it was definitely not a pleasure to have known you." She let her smile widen to that terrifying degree that always made her targets believe she was inhuman. She never dissuaded those thoughts, instead encouraging them. "And you, Lila Rossi. You are a lying sociopath, and to be honest, I can respect that! But you chose to put my beloved's name in your mouth, and you've made me mad. Unfortunately for you, that is an unpleasant situation to be in."

"M-Marinette?" Alya tripped backwards on the steps, falling on her butt. She was ignored. Marinette's focus was on Lila, the repulsive girl who dared to soil her beloved's name with her tongue. To her credit, Lila was managing to hold eye contact with Marinette, even if it was in paralysis. "Tell me," Marinette slammed her hands on the lying girl's desk. "Do you do any research before you decide to spread rumors?"

Lila was pale and shaking, her mouth a thin line. She didn't answer. "You do, don't you? You recognize my beloved, and you realize your house of lies is toppling around you." Marinette ended with a whisper, her face inches from the Italian's.

The room was silent, everyone's focus on the scene before them. On the way Marinette's personality did a complete one-eighty and froze everyone in their spots. Well, everyone except for the boy. He was staring at Marinette in adoration, hands clasped behind him as he watched his betrothed tear into her hemorrhoid of the last several months. His phone buzzed in his pocket, the only sound in the room. "Habibti. It's done."

Marinette whirled around, her sunshine smile back. "Then why are we still here?" She linked arms with the boy and left the room in stunned silence.

(The LoA and The Order are the same organization under different names)

#batman fanfiction #miraculous fanfic #mlb x dc #maribat #maribat march 2024 #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #damian al ghul #loa marinette #betrothed au #lila salt

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fortuna-et-cataclysmos · 2 years ago

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Season 5 and the symbolism of pancakes

Guys, I swear I have a life outside of speculating the meaning behind pancakes in Miraculous...

But seriously, they're important. They symbolise the future (as made explicit in Pretention).

[Small note: they look like pancakes, they're called "pancakes" in the French dub, I don't know if they taste like pancakes, but I do know that they are not "French toasts" as the English dub claims. So I'll stick to "pancakes"]

Illusion

So we are introduced to the pancakes in Illusion, where for the first time Adrien sees his father in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

Seems benign enough. Gabriel is even considered enough to ask Adrien how he likes his pancakes. He likes them "well-toasted."

Illusion is an episode where Gabriel fakes having changed, and him giving Adrien a choice is in line what that change. Of course, he still manipulates him into making him think that he has the freedom to not be the face of the Alliance, by basically threatening to withhold his newly expressed fatherly love if Adrien refuses to agree with him (more on that in this post). Pancakes are just a device for Gabriel to add to his illusion of good parent, and the illusion that Adrien has a choice.

Passion

Adrien and Gabriel are in the kitchen. Adrien is looking at his extremely decorated pancakes.

As we learn from Nathalie a second later, he likes his pancakes plain. She tells him to not eat them "to please his father", while Gabriel seemingly naively points out that if Adrien didn't want bananas, he could have told him.

Sure he could tell him, except that the last time Adrien asked for something from Gabriel -to not be the face of Alliance-, he emotionally manipulated him to withdraw his request, and even made him wear the said Alliance.

The bananas and the fancy toppings are basically a metaphor for the fancy model life Gabriel wants to give Adrien, while Adrien really doesn't want any of it. And just as many people like toppings on their pancakes, they also would like to have a life of fame, hence think Adrien is lucky (as seen in the S4 Finale). Meanwhile, Adrien doesn't want any of it, he likes his pancakes and and his life plain and simple, "au naturel".

Nonetheless, Adrien still continues eating his father's pancakes, saying that he doesn't mind, that he likes them.

Pretension

This is where the pancake business gets serious.

First, we learn that indeed, Gabriel's pancakes taste bad. Plagg cheers for being saved from eating another serving of Gabriel's pancakes. This is bordering to over analysis but, given that Plagg couldn't eat them while Gabriel is in the kitchen, I assume that's Adrien's opinion which he must have confessed to Plagg at a more appropriate time. And still, Adrien keeps eating his father's pancakes.

Later in the episode, the pancake/future metaphor is expressed very clearly by Gabriel. He tells Marinette that she can have her pancake and life however she wants it, but the one thing she can't do is to share it with Adrien.

He says very clearly:

You think that you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of a choice. And I decide which choices you get.

And where do we get this exact claim in practice? In the episode Illusion, where Gabriel manipulates Adrien into thinking that he has a say over his future, while Gabriel is the one making all the choices that matter.

And he gives two "choices" to Marinette:

To eat the pancake, receive Gabriel's backing and be a famous designer

To refuse the pancake and have nothing

Once more, the way he frames it, Gabriel gives the illusion that Marinette has a choice, while neither of the two choices includes being with Adrien. So he basically leaves her with no choice but to break up with him.

Now comes the breaking point. Marinette fully understands that the pancakes are a metaphor for her and Adrien's future, and she continues the same metaphor to get her message across to Gabriel (talk about power move).

First, she refuses to eat them. She has "lost her appetite."

This refusal is in contrast with Adrien who kept eating them even though he didn't like them. Unlike him, Marinette "doesn't even need to try them to know that they are bad."

Normally, this is to be understood as her making the choice no 2: refuse the pancake and have nothing.

As such, she is escorted out the kitchen. The scene composition clearly shows that she is stuck between Gabriel on the one side, and the Gorilla on the other.

Because, she refused the pancake. Per Gabriel's rules, she is supposed to have nothing.

But Marinette defies that. Not only she runs upstairs to hug and tell Adrien that she'll never abandon him, but she also gets back downstairs without needing to be restrained by the Gorilla, hence protecting her composture.

Look at how she goes down the stairs, having not only the physical but also the moral high-ground:

She looks so intimidating that in the next frame, even the Gorilla steps aside to let her pass. Both Gorilla and Gabriel are surprised by her move, if you zoom in you can see it in their faces. Gabriel did not expect her to do something outside the two "choices" he had given her.

And then comes the death blow, where Marinette tells Gabriel:

You know what's your pancakes problem? They have too much flour and not enough butter. You use an outdated recipe, no one likes them like that anymore.

Yup. She calls Gabriel's entire fashion, but also life practices, outdated with one simple metaphor. My girl slays.

At the end of Pretention, during dinner (no pancakes here sorry), we see that a parallelling breakthrough happens in Adrien's front.

Gabriel tells Adrien that he can spend as much as time as he wants with Marinette, for he will be in London next year. Again, Gabriel is creating the illusion that he is free to date Marinette, except that, as Adrien now realises, he is not. Adrien gets visibly furious at his father for the first time.

He does quickly calm down, but what is his reaction? He says that he has "lost his appetite," just like Marinette did. The boy who kept eating badly made pancakes with the toppings he didn't like finally refuses to eat the illusions his father is feeding him.

This, coupled with Adrien's terror at going to his room at the beginning of the episode, leaving Marinette alone despite himself, become a turning point for him: he finally acknowledges that he isn't free, and that his father keeps forcing his decisions onto him. Maybe also getting one step closer to discovering/accepting that he is a sentibeing.

All this story, told through pancakes.

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #ml season 5 #ml illusion #ml passion #ml pretension #from fortuna #ml analysis #sentimonster theory #sentimonster adrien #sentibeing #sentiadrien #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste's a+ parenting #adrinette

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miraculousystuff · 4 months ago

Note

hi there! I have a request. Since it’s spooky season,my request is that Mrs.Bustier is on maternity leave and the class has a substitute. They are to be going on a class trip with Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class to Salem to study the differences between the Salem witch trials and the witch trials in Europe at the time, however lila starts her usual crap like trying to get Marinette to give up her first class seat or get her left behind with a sudden “disability” but the teacher isn’t taking any of her crap despite the class’s protests and objections.

The sub scolds the class and especially Lila, then the scolding continues when Lila continues lying and trying to get marinette into trouble.

however Lila messes with one of the historians, who happens to be a descendant of one of the accused. The worker, placed a “real curse” on the liar, making her have unfortunate accidents.

she tries to blame Marinette but Adrien shuts her down and tells her off.

soon the accidents get to her and she gets revealed as a liar. The class tries to ask for forgiveness but marinette brushed them off. And transfers to Mendeleiev‘s class.

Thank you @animechefgirl454 for the amazing request! I hope you like what I wrote!

The Corey Curse

Marinette Dupain Cheng was not in the mood for this. It was the 19th of September, or in other words, the day her class went on an expensive trip to Salem, all the way out in Massachusetts, USA. And of course, she had been peer pressured into organizing the whole trip, from the plane tickets to the destinations they were visiting. After about a month of sleepless nights (Hawkassmoth) the trip was finally here. And after multiple consultations with Tikki and Master Fu, she figured there was no way out of it. Anyone else would be jumping at the opportunity to go. But Marinette had a feeling that Lila would certainly ruin the trip for her, especially through the rise in snide remarks and bathroom death threats in the past few weeks. Thankfully, they hadn’t done anything physical recently, but that was mainly because Ms Bustier was on maternity leave, and had been replaced with a sub, Miss Fournier. She was a young, dark haired and sharp woman in her late twenties, and held a no-nonsense classroom. Marinette was still wary, because she had never openly discouraged Lila, but at least she hadn’t forced her into fake apologies or sympathy, a major level up from Ms Bustier.

She trudged to school with her pale pink suitcase. It was adorned with elegant roses across it, along with a rose vine curling across the handle as a finishing touch. Her style had changed after most of her class had abandoned her, and she began finding the Marinette beneath the social mask she put up. Her hair had grown out to her mid back and she usually just left it out. However, today was a special day, or special enough that her mum had convinced her to tie it in a braid, draped across her shoulder. Her usual outfit had changed too, from the boring pink white and black to a more colorful range. Today she adorned a blue, spaghetti strap sundress with a floral pattern across it. Her ears adorned gold hoops and matching jewelry, along with a pair of white converse. In other words, she looked stylish, and as she reached the massive group outside the school, a certain liar, unfortunately, was the first to notice.

Lila let out a loud squeal and gasped. “MARINETTE HOW COULD YOU!” she yelled out, and Marinette’s eyes widened in response. “Me? I’ve been here for like 30 seconds!” she sputtered, her face heating up as all eyes glared at her. Lila ignored her however, and continued yelling. “You stole my suitcase!” she wailed loudly, huge tears welling up in her eyes. The whole class immediately went to comfort her, except for Alya and Adrien. Alya was the first to speak. “HOW COULD YOU MARINETTE! Stealing Lila’s suitcase is NOT COOL!” she yelled, and stormed up to the bluenette. She grabbed her and hissed “This is jealousy to a whole new level. Apologize to Lila!” Marinette stood, shocked. “Wh-I-but-” she sputtered, the utter stupidity was astounding. Nino was quick to agree with his girlfriend. “Yeah dudette, not cool!” he yelled, while comforting Lila. Soon, the whole class was bombarding Marinette with insults. Through the cacophony of it all, another voice cut through the crowd.

“That’s Marinette’s suitcase.” Adrien said, stepping forward. All eyes turned to him in shock, including Marinette’s. Adrien, unphased, continued. “Marinette had the same one in the first class trip to London, before Lila came. Remember?” Slowly, the class began to nod, they yells dissipating into murmurs. Lila’s eyes widened before stammering out an excuse. “Oh, umm, sorry Marinette, you just had a suitcase that looks really similar to the one I got from Switzerland when I…” she stammered, continuing on to a story about rescuing the Duke’s puppy. Marinette was no longer listening however, staring at Adrien with wide eyes. “Wh-what happened t-to taking the high road?” she stammered, a faint pink dusting her cheeks. Adrien brought his hand to the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “Well I’ve been meaning to talk to you about th-” suddenly, he was cut off by Miss Fournier, yelling at the class to line up in front of the bus that goes to the airport.

*time skip brought to you by Lila’s sausage hair*

After going through security, it was finally time to board the plane. As they reached their seats, Marinette realized she had a window seat, and smiled widely. She had only ever been on a plane once before, and had always adored the beautiful sky outside. She grinned as she got in, and immediately took out her headphones. Just then, someone sat beside her, and she was about to move away when she realized who it was. “A-Adrien?” Marinette squeaked, and said Adrien just laughed. “That’s me.” he said, and Marinette almost melted on the spot. The bubble was ruined, however, when none other than the devil herself plopped down in the aisle seat next to Adrien. “Hey babe…” she started, already pouncing on Adrien, who immediately pulled away in disgust. “What do you want, Lila?” he said through gritted teeth, and she was about to reply when she noticed Marinette. “YOU!” she screeched, and the whole plane turned to look at her. Lila blushed and coughed loudly, before making a fuss again. “I-um-yes-uh-I need the window seat!” she blurted out, before recovering quickly. “I have this skin disease, which requires me to sit on a window seat at all times. Could you switch seats with me, Marinette?” she simpered, garnering the attention of the rest of the class, who immediately took Lila’s side.

“Switch seats with her!”

“Don’t be mean!”

“Hurry up Lila could die!”

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and was about to give in when a savior came in an unexpected source, “What is going on here?” Miss Fournier yelled, cutting through the crowd. Alya was quick to respond. “Lila has a skin disease and she has to sit on the window seat, and Marinette refuses to give up her seat!” she says, and to her surprise, Miss Fournier sighs. “And why should Marinette switch with Lila? It is not her duty to accommodate Lila’s needs. In fact it is Lila’s.” she says, shutting down the whole class as everyone gapes at her. She continues. “And seeing as Lila has failed to do so-” she pauses to give a sharp glare to the liar “It is now my duty to ensure Lila is safe. There is a window seat next to me. You will sit there for the remainder of the plane ride. Get up, let’s get going.” Lila slowly got up, burning with shame as she stormed to the seat next to Mrs Fournier. The whole class was bristled and annoyed, but left it at the fact that Lila was now ‘safe’.

To say Marinette was overjoyed was an understatement. She was beyond herself that not only one, but two people had stood up for her today. She put her headphones in and began to drift to sleep. Meanwhile, Adrien was going through an inner battle of whether or not to take back his high road advice to Marinette. “What if she hates me?” a voice whispers in his head, contradicting “She could never hate me…right?” Finally, he gathered the courage to turn around and speak to her, when Marinette’s head suddenly dropped on his shoulder. He turned rigid until he realized she was asleep, her small, steady breathing sending flutters down his chest. Adrien pulled out his phone and took a photo of them together, smiling softly. He then glanced at Marinette once more and moved his hand to brush her hair, and that was how they remained for the rest of the ride.

*time skip brought to you by Adrien’s obliviousness*

After they got off, their first destination was the Salem Witch Museum. It was based off the witches of Salem, exploring the 20 people who were executed for supposedly practicing witchcraft, one of whom was accidentally killed through torture. Needless to say, this gave Marinette chills, and as they reached the brown bricks and iron gates, she gulped. Lila however, didn’t share this sentiment, and had no problem yelling about the place, complaining about its structure, color, everything. Marinette was just about to yell at her to stop when someone else beat her to it. “Miss Rossi. I take it you have not learnt obvious respect in your old schools, however this is a place that deserves to be preserved and not be hurled upon by insults, especially by you.” Miss Fournier barked sharply, leaving the whole class silent once more. “I see that your friends are having an influence on your tongue, so until the tour guide shows up, you will come stand by me.” Lila’s face turned red as she glared at the teacher, but begrudgingly did as she was told. Marinette stared in awe as Lila was put in her place, and completely ignored the daggers the lying fox sent her way.

Marinette soon realized how no-nonsense Miss Fournier truly was. As soon as the tour guide showed up, Lila didn’t hesitate to go back to Alya, and began rather loudly criticizing the poor woman’s outfit choices. She hurled insults like “Her clothes must have been dug out from a trash can!” and “Are those shoes fresh out of the 1700s?” The tour guide looked like she was going to cry and Marinette was about to fight when Miss Fournier stepped in once more. “That’s enough Lila. How dare you disrespect this incredibly well dressed woman who has the effort to put up with you? And let’s be honest, Miss Rossi, your outfit choices aren’t exactly flattering enough to be considered better than her’s. Apologize to her immediately and then come walk with me AGAIN.” she’d said sharply, leaving Lila humiliated and the class astounded. A while after, Lila began moaning about how boring this whole trip was, and how Marinette couldn't even plan something decent. The substitute once again came to the bluenette’s rescue. “Well Miss Rossi, I’ll make sure you plan the next trip then? But while we are here, I suggest you pay attention to the trip that Marinette has graciously planned for us and worked hard for while you have done nothing. Apologize to her now.” This continued on for the whole trip until they reached a historian, Molly.

Miss Fournier suddenly spoke up. “Excuse me students, I need to pop to the restroom for a moment. Please behave.” she said, giving a very pointed glare to Lila before disappearing. Molly gave her a smile before turning to the class. “Hello. My name is Molly. So boys and girls, I’m sure you have been waiting for this moment. I’m here to talk to you about what can be considered the most horrible death throughout the Salem deaths: The murder of Giles Corey.” she stated, and immediately the class broke out into whispers. Marinette froze at her word; she had learnt about this in history, and it wasn’t pretty. Adrien seemed to notice her state and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, to which Marinette flushed bright red. Lila noticed the interaction and her eyes burned with jealousy. Desperate to get the attention of her boy toy back on her, just as Molly was about to speak, she yelled. “Did you guys know that I actually know Giles Corey! He was a great friend of mine!” she yelled proudly. The whole class froze, and Molly full on flinched. Just as they began gushing over Lila, Marinette spoke up. “Lila, Giles Corey died in 1962, before you were even born. How could you have known him?’ she stated, hands on her hips. The class looked at her confused and expectant and Lila shrunk under their gaze before stuttering out an excuse. “Ah-uh, silly, silly me, umm, I mean, I’m-i’m-I’m related! That’s right, I'm related to him. My Alzheimer's acts up sometimes and I forget things, but that’s right, Giles Corey is my great grandfather.” Marinette rolled her eyes, knowing there was no way to convince the class otherwise as they once again crowded around Lila and gushed over the fact. Lila continued on a rant about him.

“...but good old grandpa Giles was really an asshole in reality. He had a lot of money but he practiced in…” she dropped her voice to a not so quiet whisper “...unholy practices, so he was killed obviously, and he gave his money to his daughter and none to my grandpa because he was sleeping with her.” The whole class gasped. That was the final straw, Molly spoke. “I’m sorry, does Alzheimer's cause you to lie as well?” The class turned to her, and Alya immediately started yelling. “How dare you accuse Lila of lying?” she screamed, but Molly remained calm, a small smirk playing at the corner of her lips, but her eyes betrayed her anger. “I know Lila is lying because my name is Molly Crosby.” she stated, and the class stared at her blankly. Suddenly, Marinette gasped, eyes wide. “Oh no..” she said, pale. Adrien stared at her in worry, but Alya grew impatient as Molly grinned at the realization. “So what, you have a weird last name? Your point is?” Molly smirked and stepped closer. “Alya…” Marinette warned quietly, but as usual, she didn’t pay attention as Molly spoke again. “I’m Molly Corsby, granddaughter of Deliverance Corsby and direct descendant of Giles Corey.” she stated “Also known as the lineage of the most evil witches in Massachusetts.” The whole class was shocked into silence, gaping and staring. Nino was the first to get his wits about him. “So…Lila was lying.” Silence hung over the air as everyone turned to Lila, shock in their eyes. Lila laughed nervously and played it off. “Sorry guys my lying disease must be acting up again.” she stuttered, and everyone seemed to accept it soon enough, though a hint of doubt lingered. As everyone faded back into their own conversation, Molly walked up to Lila. “You know, Giles Corey was said to have put a curse on a town that lasted 300 years. I wonder what would happen to you.” she whispered and clicked her fingers.

Suddenly all the lights flickered and died. The people in the room screamed. They came back moments after as staff reassured everyone it was just a technical issue. Even after they had recovered, Lila was still pale, with Alya and Rose simpering over her, asking if she was sick. The remainder of the tour continued on peacefully, in comparison at least, as Lila didn’t say a word the whole time. It seemed she had genuinely been shocked to silence. This peace didn’t last for long and after they reached their hotel rooms, Lila was already spinning a tale of how Marinette had used Molly to threaten her, but she had been subdued by Miss Fournier enough to not say it to Marinette herself. However, inside, a storm brewed inside of her as she watched Marinette and Adrien bid each other good night. She was going to make her pay, and with that thought she entered her hotel room, scheming.

The next morning, Marinette woke up feeling more refreshed than ever. The feeling of her teacher not being a complete pushover and at least one person on her side made her significantly happier than when she started her trip. Lila however woke up feeling crappy, with a sore throat and a headache. After they got ready, they were meant to meet Miss Fournier in the cafe for breakfast. Marinette had chosen a blue halter top and bell bottom jeans with a delicate scarf draped over her neck. Lila on the other hand, has on a bright orange latex too and orange checkered shorts along. Just to copy Marinette, Lila decided to wear a tacky orange scarf. As they entered the cafe, Adrien immediately complimented Marinette’s scarf. As usual, she flushed bright red. “I-uh-oh th-th-thanks, I actually, um, made it!” she squeaked out. Lila saw red as she stared at the scene. How dare Maritrash interact with Adrien. She immediately stormed up to them and flashed her scarf at them. “Hey Adrien! Do you like MY scarf?” she simpered, and Adrien recoiled. “It’s okay Lila.” he said uncomfortably. She continued showing off. “You know I actually made it.” she said, fluttering her eyes annoyingly, Adrien rolled his eyes. “The tag is still on it.” he stated, unimpressed. The liar immediately began crying huge tears, and though the class immediately comforted her, it wasn’t enough for her. She needed to make a certain bluenette pay. The room was very hot, and as Marinette got up from her seat, she placed the scarf on the table. Big mistake. Lila pounced almost immediately, grabbing the scarf, then walking back to her table nonchalantly. Just as she was about to sit down, someone bumped into her, sending her falling to the floor. They also, unfortunately, were carrying multiple glasses of juice, which all spilled over Lila, her clothes, her shoes, her hair. Miraculously, the only thing that remained untouched was Marinette’s perfect;ly stitched scarf. Speaking of the scarf, Adrien came and picked it up, smirking at her. “Lila don’t you know it’s rude to take things without the owner’s permission?” he mocked before walking off, leaving a soaked and sticky liar sputtering on the floor,

After Lila had cleaned up and changed into a clean pair of clothes, even though she got sympathy from the class, she couldn't stand the fact that Marinette got away scott free, and with Adrien at that. And that smirk. It looked like Satan’s grin himself, and she shivered at the thought as the image replayed in her head. There was no way Maritrash was going to get away with this. Today, they were going to the Salem witch Trials memorial, and it cost $25 to enter. Which means that if someone’s money just happened to go missing, they would be left out of the destination, and she would get Adrien all to herself, Perfect. As they neared the brick walls of the area, Lila smirked. Marinette, ever so forgetful, had left her wallet on the bus. And Lila, ever so thoughtful, was the only one left on the bus, and simply took out all the cash she could find in it before walking out and stuffing it in her pocket. Grinning widely, she walked up to Marinette and handed her the wallet, making a big show of giving it back to her in front of the whole class. “Here Marinette. You forgot your wallet.” she purred ‘innocently’ as the class cheered praises.

“Oh my god girl, you are such a good citizen looking past her bullying and still being kind!”

“Damn dudette you are a literal angel!”

“Yeah Lila, I could never!”

However soon, the comments dissolved as Marinette gave Lila a tight lipped smile. “Thanks Lila, but that’s not mine.” she said, and Lila turned pale. “Wh-what do y-you mean it’s not y-yours?” she sputtered as the whole class looked at her in disbelief. “I mean that that’s not mine. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s Miss Fournier’s.” she stated calmly, and Lila paled even more if that was possible. “Oh no-” she breathed as she turned around and came face to face with the teacher. “Miss Rossi, that is in fact mine. Thank you for collecting it for me. In fact, your mother has actually entrusted the fees for your memorial with me, so_” she dug through her wallet until she came with nothing, pretending not to notice Lila’s shocked expression. “Oh, it seems I don’t have it. Did you see it anywhere?” the teacher asked, glaring at Lila. Ashamed, Lila had two choices: she could admit she had taken it and blame it on some disease or fault the teacher. Of course she chose the one with the least effort. “M-miss, how could you lose my fees!” she wailed, and the class came to her defense, criticizing Miss Fournier. “Actually Miss Rossi, I think that if we look in your left pocket we can find the fees.” Lila stopped crying and gaped as she pulled out the money and smirked. The whole class gasped, and while still defensive of Lila (claiming it was her lying disease or Alzheimer’s) were more subdued, some even giving sneaky doubtful looks. Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette were having a ball, laughing with each other and entering the memorial. Miss Fournier was also giving her smug looks (even though she would deny it vehemently.)

These kinds of incidents continued on throughout the day, First, Lila tried to trip Marinette up as she moved past grave stones, but unfortunately, golden boy Adrien was in front of her, ready to catch her, Even worse, Lila had stuck her foot out too far, resulting her to fall forward, face flat onto the ground. Then, as Miss Fournier asked questions about the history, Marinette answered. Lila had tried to claim that she was wrong, and of course the teacher had said that the stupid bluenette was right and she, in fact, was wrong. It was humiliating to say the least. Then, as they stopped to eat food, Lila gathered up a bunch of dirt in her fist and dropped it in Marinette’s juice cup. But for some reason, as she brought her mouth to her own, there was disgusting mud in it, so bad that she spat it out. Right onto Miss Fournier’s face, who once again made her sit next to her for ‘disrespecting the area.’ To rub it even more, when Marinette drank her juice, she was perfectly fine, and not only that, but Adrien even wiped some of it from her cheek as she grumbled next to the teacher. The icing on the cake however was when they reached the hotel again. They had to cross the road, and Lila had the perfect plan. She was going to push Marinette into oncoming traffic. And sure enough, just as a giant black SUV began speeding down the road, Lila’s hands found the bluenette’s back and gave her a hard shove, throwing her onto the road. However, instead of getting pummeled, Marinette recovered even faster than the car and moved out of the way at the speed of light, earning loud cheers from the crowd. The SUV had even stopped and apologized to her profusely, and of course the owner had to be some rich guy driving by for a history tour, and oh of course he also knew the OH SO FAMOUS MARINETTE DUPAIN CHENG LIGHT OF LIFE EVERYDAY LADYBUG. AND Adrien had witnessed the whole thing, so he was even more clingy and protective of Marinette. It was the final straw when they were relaxing in the lobby and Marinette gave an AUTOGRAPH to someone. “THAT'S IT!” Lila screamed, stunning the whole room into silence.

“YOU!” Lila screeched and pointed to Marinette, who stood with eyes wide open, gaping. “YOU HAVE BEEN RUINING THIS WHOLE DAY FOR ME!” Alya stood up in an attempt to end this before it started. “Now Lila, I know she’s been bullying you, but I’m sure-” Lila held up a hand to shut Alya up before advancing on their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. 'FIRST IT WAS THE STUPID HAND MADE SCARF, THAT FOR SOME MAGICAL REASON COULDN’T GET SOAKED EVEN WHEN I DID!” she screamed “THEN IT WAS THAT USELESS TEACHER’S WALLET. THE MONEY I STOLE WAS MEANT TO BE YOUR MONEY, DUPAIN-CHENG, BUT OF COURSE, SO CONVENIENTLY IT WASN’T EVEN THE TEACHER’S MONEY IT WAS MINE!” she ran her fingers through her hair as Mylene put the pieces together. “Wait so, when you took the money…it was on purpose? To sabotage Marinette?” she gasped, her eyes wide, but Lila wasn’t done. “OF COURSE IT WAS! AND THEN SUNSHINE OVER HERE WAS SO READY TO CATCH THAT BRAT WHEN SHE WAS MEANT TO FALL WHEN I PUSHED HER, AND THEN, I FELL! HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?” she squealed, aggressively pointing at Marinette, her hair a mess, ignoring the class’ shocked looks. “AND THEN, OF COURSE YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT THAT STUPID QUESTION ON MARTHA WHATEVER, AND YOU JUST HAD TO SHOW ME UP! AND THEN, YOU WERE COMPLETELY FINE WHEN YOU DRANK YOUR JUICE, AND MY JUICE HAD THE DIRT IN IT, BUT IT WAS MEANT TO BE YOURS!” she screamed, and this time Nathaniel stepped in. “Wait so you purposely tried to poison Mari-” he was cut off by Lila once more. “SHUT UP TOMATO. AND OF COURSE, WHEN I PUSHED YOU ONTO THE ROAD, YOU COULDN’T JUST DIE, AND YOU HAD TO BE AN INSUFFERABLE HUMAN BEING AND BE ALL NICE ABOUT IT!” she finished, yelling at the top of her lungs, breathing heavily. Dead silence. Everyone stared at her as she exposed everything, including her attempted murder. Suddenly, a voice was heard deep and dark. “Lila, it sounds to me like Marinette is the victim here. You tried to destroy her property, poison and murder and you think YOU”RE the victim.” Adrien hissed, softly, but it cut through the silence like butter. “How dare you try to blame MY PRINCESS when all your friendships are based on lies, and when all you care about is hurting others. You are a disgusting, lying cockroach, and I hope you rot in juvie.” he finished, loud and clear, then gestured to the security cameras. Lila visibly paled as chaos resumed, the whole class turning on her, bombarding her with questions.

“Oh my god, Jagged Stone doesn’t have a cat, and would never write a song about a teenage girl!” “I literally know Ladybug, she would never be friends with a random civilian!”| “That rare fox necklace that Marinette stole is $5 on ebay!”

At the mention of Marinette’s name, it was like someone pulled a switch, and everyone turned to Marinette, apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry Marinette, we should have believed you!” “Yeah we’re so sorry!”

“Please accept our apologies!”

Marinette raised her hand to silence everyone. “I understand that you’re sorry. Believe me, I do. But it hurt. My friends for years betrayed me over an orange clad liar. Who threw away years of trust for something better. So, I accept your apologies.” audible sighs of relief could be heard from the class “...but I don’t forgive you. And I don’t know if I ever will,” The apologies started again, Alya being the loudest one. “PLEASE GIRL. WE’RE SORRY! THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS FORGIVE US!” Marinette turned to her former best friend sharply. “The least I can do is forgive you. No. The least I can do is damage your things-” she gave a glare to Ivan and Nino “humiliate you-” she faces Alya and Sabrina “hurt you." She turns to Kim and Alix, then swivels to face Alya. “Believe me, I know the least I can do, because I’ve been facing it for the past 2 years. It would be a miracle to ever gain forgiveness from me, Alya Cesaire, or the rest of you.” Marinette finished, leaving the room in dead silence. She then straightened up and spoke in a clearer tone. “Actually, I’m planning on getting rid of this toxicity forever. I’m transferring to Ms Mendeliev’s class, straight after this trip, along with Adrien. I hope I never see any of you again. And I hope you suffer.” she finished before stalking off, Adrien at her heels. Leaving the class in chaos.

Let me know if you guys want an aftermath with Lila justice and Adrienettte fluff ❤️❤️❤️.

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fanfic-recs-01 · 2 months ago

Text

Daminette Fic Recs

So it looks like my posts are getting too big for Tumblr lol

I'll now be separating them a bit more and will have to make multiple parts for each post.

Link to Part 2

Updated 11/2/24

Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Damian Wayne

She’s Sunshine, She’s Grace, She’ll Punch You in the Face by Brinxiethebear *Finished*

~Marinette struggles to stay happy nowadays but what better way to change your mood than with a change of location? Adrien gave up his miraculous so he could start fresh. After all, his dad was in prison for being the super villain Hawkmoth and his other caretaker Nathalie died from over use of a broken Miraculous. So now Marinette is the guardian of the miraculous. ~

for us to collide by LadyLiterature *Finished*

~The story of Marinette stumbling upon the illustrious Wayne family over and over again, as well as the more infamous Bats, over the course of her many visits to Gotham. She, of course, charms the whole lot of them and finds that the same is true in the reverse.~

A Robin and His Lady by ProudGeek4Ever *Finished*

~Marinette lost her friends to Lila, Adrien was long forgotten and Chat Noir kept getting more irresponsible. Being a teenage superhero was stressfull, but Marinette's life takes a turn for the better when a chance meeting in Gotham changes everything. Damian changes everything.~

No, Mr. Wayne, You Can't Adopt Me! by ggomoz (ggomo_springtime) *Finished*

~Bruce's personal assistant is scarily competent---she seems to know the best decision at each time, predict emergencies, and is an expert at handling all of his children. But what if there's more to her than meets the eye?~

More Than One Secret by Tyshian *Finished*

~Marinette Dupain-Cheng has Secrets. Damian Wayne has Secrets. The pair together have Secrets.~

Reunions are... interesting if you’re a Todd by crazyjc *Finished*

~Alright, this is based on laraceleste's Tell Me More where Jason Todd is Marinette’s big brother with one exception—Marinette didn’t know where Jason was after she was adopted until after he died when she was ten. They were apart for three years here, as GCPD got her at 7.~

It's Just Indifference by dontyoublink *Finished*

~Marinette thought she would just get some inspiration for her designs when she headed to the park. As luck would have it, she also meets four (interesting? unique? slightly insane?) Americans. Frisbee, ice cream, and much-needed conversations ensue.~

World's Greatest Detectives, My Ass by Appleberry84 *Finished*

~Marinette figures out the Batfam's identities and decides to torture them.~

Leave it Behind by ShannonEsmerelda *Finished*

~Marinette Dupain-Cheng has grown tired of Paris, and the miracle box was no longer safe there. It'd been active in the country for too long, seen too much damage. She needed to find a place for both her and the kwami's to heal, while still having the ability to be a hero. So, why not Gotham? The city had enough crime for both her and the bat family without getting in each others way, right? Right?~

Report to HR by SimplyAnotherWriter *Finished*

~Look; Bruce liked Marinette. If the girl hadn’t already had loving and adoring parents that had spotless records and nothing incriminating about them whatsoever(Bruce had checked long and hard), he probably would have adopted the girl just like he had the others.

However, things wouldn't remain this perfect if Damian continued to try and mess it up by SCARING the poor girl!~

The Sun Who Lit Up The Night Sky by FandomQueen10325, leaping_lizard_babe *Finished*

~4 months after the defeat of Hawkmoth, the akuma class wins a trip to Gotham. While they are there, Marinette keeps attracting bad luck, and can never seem to stay out of trouble. The Batfam is very interested when they learn about what had happened in Paris, so they question ladybug.~

Travels of Passion by StarShine583 *Finished*

~When people as famous as the Waynes come to visit your city, the most you'd expect to get from them is a quick little smile. A hand shake if you're in the right place at the right time and extremely lucky. Marinette didn't really expect to get either, and she certainly didn't expect to get what she actually got.~

Of Birds and Bugs (revising and rewriting) by orphan_account *Finished*

~Marinette was a busy girl. Between her idol work as NeTi, and her duty as Ladybug, it was hard to do everything else, like being a good class president. Still, she was able to pull through.

Somehow, the class get's a trip to Gotham, sponsored by Bruce Wayne himself, and it looked like Marinette would be able to take a break for once.~

Dinner at Wayne Manor by littlefleetinglight *Finished*

~In the front hall standing in a line was Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim and Damien; in that orders, with Alfred standing in front of them like an officer in front of his troops.

“Now, when Ms.Marinette arrives there will be no inappropriate language, no crude gestures or noises, and there will be no interrogation. Do you gentlemen understand?”~

#SunshineOfGotham by sixtyeightdays *Finished*

~All of Gotham knows Marinette, the Sunshine who's made her way into everyone's hearts. But so what if all of Gotham knows Marinette? Does her class know that they know Marinette? Of course not, why would they! But, well, let's see how they find out.~

Rockin’ the House by littlefleetinglight *Finished*

~It was another charity gala held by the Wayne Family; this one was raising funds for art programs across the world, and because it was for art there were artists of all types from all over, including the famous Rock’n’Roll artist Jagged Stone…and his guest.~

To marry an Assassin by PL_Panda *Finished*

~Marinette wakes up in a cell and later is forced to marry a member of the League of Shadows, who is also less than willing. Exactly what she was pulled in? And of course there is magic involved, so no cancellation. And apparently in Tibet ancient orders can marry minors off just like that. This was definitely not Damian's day. Or Week. Or month. He got married with a random girl...~

Who Needs Words? by AKP31E *Finished*

~After the defeat of Hawkmoth and the retirement of Suhan, Marinette’s life is just getting crazier. She doesn’t know how a soulmate could ever fit into her life, and sometimes she thinks the two letters on her wrist are just the universe’s joke to her, but she knows better than to bank on it. Her soul mark isn’t even a word. Who is going to say “Tt” to her?~

History Repeats by DesertSnowQueen *Finished*

~When Kitty Noire makes an appearance in Gotham, she finds herself drawn to a certain little bird whose brothers are far too entertained by this turn of events~

Magical Girl by Judysupremus

~Marinette accidentally portals into the batcave.~

The Power of Luck by FridayFirefly

~The Ladybug Miraculous had quite a few side effects, none more powerful and unpredictable than the power of Miraculous Luck. When Marinette's family relocates to Gotham, Marinette finds her Miraculous Luck leading her down a path she never would have expected, a path that leads straight to Damian Wayne.~

The events on a Saturday Morning by orphan_account *Finished*

~Marinette and Damian have been in a long distance relationship for over a year with (most) of the Batfamily not knowing at all until a young girl stumbles through a portal on a Saturday morning.~

Friendly Sunshine In Gotham by M1dn1ght_Star *Finished*

~Marinette is happy to be back in Gotham after a visit with Jagged several years ago. This might just end up being the perfect way to expose Lila once and for all, as a nice bonus to seeing her honorary family and boyfriend again.~

Daminette Soulmate AU by keeptellingyourselfthat *Finished*

~Tradition says that your soulmate will have another tattoo, something that relates to you. When they meet you, it is said that the tattoos start glowing a bright gold.~

Calling for Help by Dramatic_Squirrel *Finished*

~It's been a month since the Battle of Miracle Queen and Marinette has been struggling alone under the pressure of being the new guardian. With her training yet to have been completed, Marinette makes her first official decision as the new guardian, to ask the Justice League for help.~

serendipity by keeptellingyourselfthat *Finished*

~The last time Damian AL-Ghul saw Marinette was when they were twelve. He didn't think he would see her again. So, it's a huge surprise when he stumbles upon her in WE while exposing the liar of the class from France.~

In The Wrong Bed? by San_fics *Finished*

~“Like I said,” Jason yawned. “Eventually everyone in this family goes crazy.”

“I'm not crazy!” Damian protested. “She was here!”

“Maybe you just had a very realistic dream?” Dick suggested.

“I’m perfectly capable of distinguishing dreams from reality, thank you very much!” Snapped Damian. “She was real and she was in my bed!”~

Cat Cursed by TheStarfishAlien *Finished*

~The Cheng family carries a curse. Every other generation carries a second form, that of a cat. Their dual nature makes it difficult for those with the curse to fit in with society. Some flee permanently into the form of the cat, while others try their hardest to pretend that their cat form does not exist. Very few find a balance in the middle.~

Secrets, Masks and Family Gatherings by ggomoz (ggomo_springtime) *Finished*

~After nearly a year of being together, Damian finally decides to introduce Marinette to his family.~

living among the regular people of the world trying to blend in by another_cancer *Finished*

~Marinette was an assassin named ladybug that was supposed to kill Damian, but she didn't and now they meet again years later.~

New but True by yannowhatigiveup *Finished*

~Damian and Marinette are kidnapped from their lives to be betrothed to one another. Unfortunately, they were separated and missed the other greatly. Once realising that Marinette is in Gotham for a school trip, Jon, being the good friend he is, reunites them.~

Eons & Eternities by Utopian_angel *Finished*

~After dedicating many life cycles to an endless conflict between chaos and order, Ra's Al Ghul decides to use his last chance to form a union.

A union between their respective heirs that will last for eons & eternities.~

Use Your Brain by Judysupremus *Finished*

~Marinette and her class go to Gotham. What happens when she has to rescue Chat Noir from Batman?

The is silly, potentially crack.~

An Awkward Reveal by Miraculous_786 *Finished*

~Who can blame Edward Nygma for being protective over his adopted daughter?

The very daughter who was dating Damian Wayne right under his nose.~

The Bride that can Break Bones by LovesWifi *Finished*

~Marinette and Damian are betrothed and that's all you need to know.~

Senses by Alexiessan *Finished*

~Marinette never thought that she would be among the 0.1% of the population to have a soulmate, and yet, here she was.

She wasn't ready for her life to change drastically because of it.~

A Welcoming Change by Brinxiethebear *Finished*

~Damian Wayne always saw himself in a certain light. He was calculating and cold and he always took his work seriously. He was what others would call the Ice Prince. He was a loner and by choice. The only people he ever really tolerated talking to was his family and his only friend, Jon. Mainly he just spent time with his pets.~

Never alone by Alexiessan *Finished*

~For a moment, ever since Lila came into her life, Marinette thought she would lose everyone dear to her. Turns out, if she keeps trying, she can do anything and make everything turn out for the better.

Contrary to her belief, Marinette was never alone.~

#8024 by SimplyAnotherWriter *Finished*

~“Inmate #8024 of Gotham Asylum Institution. State your name.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

How had she come to this, you might wonder? Well... It wasn't as long of a story as you would think.~

Summer in Gotham is a time for the Akuma Class to relax and oh wait are those assassins? by baby_blue24680 *Finished*

~After hearing a brief description of the class dynamic of the Akuma Class, Mayor Bourgeois all but blackmails Bruce Wayne into sponsoring a trip to Gotham for the summer semester, believing that it will lead to fewer akumas. Word travels to Talia al Ghul, who decides to give an old friend a visit and literally and figuratively throws an engagement at Marinette.~

Four times the Ladybug magic teleported Marinette to where she would be safest, and the one time she was already there by EditorOfEverything *Finished*

~This is part one in a five part series. I have never actually completed a fic before, so this is kind of my NaNoWriMo goal for myself, I guess... So, without further ado, here is four times the Ladybug magic teleported Marinette to where she would be safest, and the one time she was already there~

The Bug, the Bird and the Bats by whoscountinganyway *Finished*

~Everyone knows that Damian Wayne doesn't have any friends; he pushes away anyone who wants to get close to him, denies those close to him the knowledge that he cares, vehemently refuses to be in the presence of wanna-be suitors. He simply isn’t social.~

The Eyes are the Window to the Soul by Brinxiethebear *Finished*

~Have you heard the saying that the eyes are the window to the soul? In a world where soulmates are common, one might think that soulmate marks dealing with the eyes would mean something tremendous, and they would be right.~

In Which Damian Needs a Tutor and Marinette Needs a Job by kceedraws *Finished*

~It starts with an offhand comment on Tim’s birthday.

Damian blinks. “It looked like what?”

“Lit,” Richard repeats. “Isn’t that what you kids call it, with the music and dancing…?”

“I don’t follow. The video had rather dim lighting, if you asked me.”~

Freezing Fate by boldlyanxious *Finished*

~Like everyone, Marinette received her soulmate journal when she was ten. She was excited about all the possibilities it offered, but she never expected her soulmate to show up a few weeks later to take the journal away from her.~

Gotham For Two by multifandomscribette *Unfinished*

~Marinette Dupain-Cheng organized a spring field trip for her class but of course things didn't go as planned and she is still shunned by her class. Cut off from her formed support system and almost completely alone in the most crime ridden city in the world, Marinette meets Damian Wayne via his dog, Titus and she might not be so alone anymore.~

Lost And Found by FridayFirefly *Unfinished*

~The thing Marinette wants most in the world is a Soulmate. But no matter how much she tries to convince herself that her perfect match is out there, she still has her doubts. In a world where your Soulmate finds the things you lose, Marinette only ever seems to lose things. In eleven years, she's never found a single thing her Soulmate lost.

Until the day she does. That's when it all begins.~

The Paris Problem by newdog14 *Unfinished*

~Damian Wayne, one time assassin, present-day vigilante, and entirely uninterested in getting the normal teenage experience. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, part time superhero, full time guardian, and very much wishing for the days of being a normal girl again. They’ve been brought together by circumstance and common enemies, and they’ll never be ordinary, but together they might just find a new normal as they work together to solve The Paris Problem.~

Damian Wayne by deathsong *Finished*

~ the class goes on an exchange program to Gotham, and Lila decides to say she's dating the billionaire's son, Damian Wayne. Who is sitting like three seats away from her.~

#fic recs #batfam #daminette #damian wayne #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng

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miraculouslbcnreactions · 5 months ago

Note

A few people have defended Chloe and Lila's writing by saying that teenagers being just as capable of heroism as adults means that they need to be just as capable of villainy as adults. I know that's not good logic, but I can't put my finger on WHY it's not good logic, can you weigh in on this?

I actually don't think it's bad logic at all. They're right. Teenagers are absolutely capable of being monsters. A teenage bully may not have the wide reaching impacts of a terrorist, but teenage bullies still do real and lasting harm that can shape victims for the rest of their lives.

This is why you have to be really careful when it comes to redeeming either of these characters (and also Sabrina since she's almost as bad as Chloe in my eyes). You cannot minimize the harm that they've caused by saying "well, they're just kids" or even by pointing out that Chloe and Sabrina were victims of abuse.

Fourteen-year-olds are more than old enough to know right from wrong. Yes, they're not full adults yet, but they're in the stage of life where they're learning how to be adults. That's why we call them young adults! People in this stage of life are very capable of understanding that their words and actions can hurt people. Heck, three-year-olds are capable of that! If you don't think that these teenage characters understood that bullying Marinette was hurting Marinette, then you're arguing that these characters have some sort of developmental disability or psychological disorder or something of that nature that is effecting their development in an extreme manner. If so, then that requires immediate serious intervention by professionals, but I don't think that anyone is making that argument for anyone save, maybe, Lila.

On the abuse side of things: being a victim is not a free pass to hurt innocents. Victims don't get a magic ticket that says, "you may now do one free abuse" every time that they're abused. By that logic, giving Audrey an abusive past would absolve her of everything that she did to Chloe. The same goes for Gabriel and Adrien, which is why this is such shitty logic. Nothing justifies Gabriel and Audrey's actions. What they did to their children was wrong.

The same logic applies to all characters and all types of abuse. Victim status doesn't prevent you from becoming an abuser. It's actually quite common for abuse to lead to more abuse which is part of why you can't grant exceptions on the basis of victim status. If you do that, then you eventually reach a point where no one is accountable because everyone has been abused and is therefore a blameless victim who can do no wrong. No one wants to live in a world like that.

There is of course, a lot of nuance to this topic and a lot of it is heavily situational. For example, I totally believe that certain exceptions have to made for extreme cases that I'm not going to give examples of to avoid triggering content, but you can probably think of some. However, we're not talking about extreme cases here. The characters that we're talking about are reasonably normal fourteen-year-olds. Young adults who have been allowed to be part of society and who know that what they're doing is wrong. And if they don't know that bullying and terrorism are wrong? Then we're back to the concern that something is deeply wrong with these characters and they need immediate serious intervention from trained professionals.

To be fair, Lila may end up being that kind of character, but Chloe and Sabrina certainly aren't. Since Chloe was the character mentioned in the original ask, we'll focus on her for the rest of this. While Chloe has absolutely been abused, she's not some isolated victim who has no idea how the world works. She's been allowed a reasonably normal childhood. This scene from Malediktator is actually pretty solid writing for a character like Chloe:

Ladybug: I'm fine with helping you, Chloé, but first… I need you to tell me what happened. Why is your father— I mean, Malediktator, so mad? Chloé: It's because of this super lame loser named Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's this horrible girl in my class and she hates me. (Ladybug looks angry, but then contains her feelings) She's ganged everyone up against me and she— Ladybug: Maybe this Marinette girl isn't entirely to blame? Chloé: Uh! Ugh. Okay, it wasn't totally Marinette's fault. She is really mean to me sometimes, but actually, this time, Daddy got angry all by himself. Ladybug:(not buying it) All by himself? Chloé: Yeah, because… there was something he couldn't do… Ladybug:(puts a hand on Chloé's shoulder) Chloé, it's me, Ladybug. You can trust me. You can tell me the truth. Chloé: I— I— Ladybug: Mm-hmm. Chloé: It— it was me. I hurt my daddy's feelings. Because I want to leave Paris, forever.

She knows right from wrong and she knows when she's hurting people. She just doesn't care most of the time because she's never had to face consequences for causing harm so why should she care? It's not like it effects her! This is why she only cares about the damage she causes when it effects her or the people she loves.

That's not a deeply messed up world view. A lot of people only have strong feelings about things effecting those they love. Chloe just needs to work on being more neutral to people outside her circle because that's how we make a happy functioning society. (This is a hint of that nuance I mentioned before. I'll give a few more hints as we go on, but we won't really be digging into it due to word count. Just know that I'm aware of it.)

Giving Chloe an abusive past didn't absolve her of her actions. It just gave us a potential reason for why she does what she does. This actually does make Chloe's abuse important! Once we know the reasons why her character is doing something, we can then understand her character and better guide her story. Understanding that she's a victim means that she can be helped because this isn't some inherent part of her. It's learned behavior and that means that she can unlearn it.

And now we get to circle back to the original ask and discuss why it's still valid to be mad about Chloe and Lila's treatment and why it IS bad even though it's not wrong to have "evil" teenagers.

The reason why Chloe and Lila's lack of redemption is concerning is because full grown adults who have done far worse things are being redeemed based on nothing while these two teenage girls are being treated as beyond hope. If Gabriel Agreste and André Bourgeois are allowed to have happy endings without doing anything to earn those happy endings, then why are Chloe and Lila being treated as devils? What message is this show trying to send to kids? That it's okay to be a terrorist as long as your reasons are good, but be a bully at 14 and you're doomed for life? That's total BS!

It's especially concerning because Chloe's bad treatment of her adult father is being used to justify his redemption while Audrey and Andre's terrible parenting is not being used to give Chloe a similar free pass. Writers, wtf are you doing? No one should be getting a free pass in this situation. They all need to take action to right their wrongs if they want to be redeemed. Andre shipping Chloe off to live with her mother is an adult man saying, "oops, raised that one wrong! We'll let's just pretend that never happened."

Don't get me wrong, Chloe's actions are still fully her own and she needs to own that, but crying, "Daddy" only held power because Andre did whatever Chloe told him to do. He held all the power and was happy to misuse it in order to make his daughter happy. That means that he holds blame here, too. He allowed his daughter to become a total brat by encouraging bratty behavior.

This was not a situation where Chloe was a danger to others for some reason. A situation where Andre was truly doing the best anyone could hope to do in order to keep his daughter placated so that she didn't physically hurt anyone. It was also not a situation where forces beyond Andre's control were effecting his daughter and shaping her personality while he was desperately trying to guide her down the right path. It was just plain old terrible parenting. He spoiled Chloe rotten, got the completely predictable end result, and then threw her out for a better version that someone else raised. What an uplifting message! (That was sarcasm.)

Chloe and Lila would have worked reasonably well in a story where all of the important characters were teens. A story where Lila was always the big bad, Gabriel was a minor character, and Chloe's parents never got any screen time.

That's not the story that the writers wrote, though, so the "teenagers can be evil" defense falls flat because if domestic terrorists aren't evil and child abusers aren't evil, but bratty teenage girls are, then what are we even doing here? This is extra true because the people this show is aimed at are not adult men. They're little girls who may very well relate to Chloe and Lila.

There's also the issue of Chloe being dammed while other teen characters were given a free pass for no real reason. Felix, Sabrina, and Kim have all done equally bad or even worse things. Felix is especially uncomfortable because he's basically a male Chloe who did all of the same actions - and often did them better - yet he doesn't have to give so much as a simple apology for what he's done. He's just good now because Kagami needs a boyfriend.

Chloe outed herself in public while emotionally compromised? So did Felix and he had weeks to plan before hand, too! Chloe did it in a totally reactive manner without any real plan.

Chloe used the miraculous that Gabriel stole? Felix stole the miraculous himself and gave them to Gabriel!

Chloe bulled Marinette? Felix bullied Adrien!

Felix even did some of the same things as Lila! He tried to ruin Adrien's friendships via manipulation and deceit in his first appearance. He knew Gabriel's secret and used it to his own advantage instead of telling the heroes. He used a major terrorist attack as an excuse to further his own goals. The list goes on! So why is he being welcomed onto the team with open arms? And why is no one telling Kagami just how dangerous her new boyfriend is? She wasn't there for most of this so she has no idea who she's dating.

And this isn't even touching the mess that was Derision's terribly delivered message about owning your actions and not blaming others for your bad behavior. That episode makes everything about Chloe's treatment look even more hypocritical.

In summary, the issue is not that teenagers can't be bad guys, they absolutely can! The issue is how all of the other bad guys and bullies are being treated compared to these two and how inconsistent the rules are. Of course, we haven't seen all of Lila's story, so who knows what the end game is for her. Maybe she'll also be trying to restore a dead wife and so she'll get a free pass, too.

#ml writing critical #ml writing salt #chloe deserves better #lila deserves better #tallwriter

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ninadove · 1 year ago

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LUKA:

So I was dating Marinette but it didn’t work out and at the time I believed it was because of Adrien. But then we all hung out as friends and I was like "damn I understand why you would fall for him he’s pretty cute". Shortly after I discovered Marinette was Ladybug and that was the real reason we couldn’t be together. But now that I knew I figured we could try again. Except one Second Chance later I also found out Adrien was Chat Noir and I thought "oh there it is they’re soumates my two crushes are meant for each other so I guess there’s nothing left for me to do except for dying alone". Despite my best efforts I kept thinking about them and how cute they both looked in their superhero suits. What made it a thousand times worse was that they would still come to me for therapy and complain about each other. But I hit an entirely new low when I got turned into a CD trying to protect them from Monarch. I got better of course but then I had to mail myself to the other end of the world in case someone else wanted to turn me into a CD. Before I left Marinette gave me such a romantic look and Adrien gave me an even more romantic look just to really really drive the point that I’m doomed by the romantic narrative home. So then I spent the next few months learning kung fu to punch my feelings out because airport security wouldn’t let me bring my guitar and when I came back we all went back to being this huge team and working together again. Long story short I still have feelings for both but they’re dating each other now. So I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.

Anyways you’ve been in the exact same situation with the exact same two people. So I guess my question is: how do I move on?

KAGAMI:

Do not worry, Marinette’s friend Luka. I know exactly what you should do.

When is the next ball you’re forced to attend taking place?

LUKA:

Kagami I live on a boat my mother is a pirate

🎶 [ End credits ] 🎶

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #viperion #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #lukadrinette #lukadrienette #kagami tsurugi #felix graham de vanily #feligami #mlb spoilers #mlb recreation #mlb s6 wishlist #@keeperofthebox’s “Marinette’s friend Luka” bit lives in my head rent free #I hope you guys like my vision

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mochegato · 1 year ago

Text

On a Wing and a Prayer

Marinette knew she shouldn’t have chosen that seat. Okay, no, she hadn’t known it then, but she did now. At the time, if she wanted food from the only place still serving food in the airport, it was the choice between a man who clearly did not want people near him, hunched over his food, arms bracketing his plate like he was expecting someone to steal it at any moment, eying people passing by suspiciously; and a man with an open posture and smile, making polite conversation with the person next to him. The choice was obvious really… obviously wrong. She was sure the Scary Guy would have been fine as long as she left him alone, which is what she wished this man would do for her.

Instead, he had been hitting on her shamelessly and tactlessly for the past ten minutes and if her food didn’t arrive in the next ten seconds, she was going to scream. “Hey, do you know anything about phones?”

Marinette blinked at him. That almost sounded innocent except for the devious glint in his eyes when he said it. “A bit…” she said apprehensively. She’d fixed her parents’ phones a few times when they’d had problems and damn her, she still hated lying, or she would have just said no and left without her food.

“Oh great!” he exclaimed and she knew at that moment she should have lied. “Because I think there’s something wrong with mine.” He slid his phone over to her, open to the contacts page. “It doesn’t have your phone number in it.”

The grin he was giving her clearly indicated he thought his comment was brilliant. Her eyebrows, however, could barely get any higher or her jaw any lower. It took a few seconds longer than she wanted to admit to close her mouth and start to formulate a response. “Oh…” she started but luckily, she was interrupted at just the perfect moment by the waiter bringing her food. “Oh, thank you so much,” she rushed out. “I’m afraid of missing my flight, can I get the check, please?”

“Of course,” the waiter smiled and laid the receipt in front of her. Marinette reached for it, but the man picked it up first. “Let me get that for you,” he insisted with a hopeful smile.

“Oh, no. That’s okay. I appreciate it, but I can…” she started and reached for the receipt, but he quickly held it out of her reach and cut her off.

“I insist. It’s the least I can do. It’s not a problem at all. I can cover it,” he leaned in with a debonair grin, like he was sharing a secret with her.

Marinette let out a breath as she leaned away from him and pasted on a smile that she only kind of hoped didn’t look as strained as it felt. “Thank you. That’s really very… thoughtful of you,” she finished. “I’m sorry, I just have to… do… something before my flight,” she rushed out as she threw her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her food and drink. “It was really… nice meeting you,” she threw out and instantly cringed. Did it count as a lie if it was just what you said in polite society?

He stood up to help her, but she already had everything so instead, he stood by her awkwardly. “Yeah. It was really nice meeting you too. Maybe we can continue this conversation later?”

Marinette gave him a tight smile. “Yeah, maybe. Now, sorry, I really have to go.”

“Right. Bye,” he waved at her back and sat back down watching her as she ducked into the women’s bathroom.

The moment she rounded the corner, Marinette slunk down the wall, her bag dropped to the ground next to her with a slap that resonated throughout the bathroom. She let her head fall back against the wall with a long, heavy sigh. She could only pray that guy was not on her flight, because she did not want to have to spend another minute with him, either on the plane or in Star City.

The airport she could handle, she could just hide out in the bathroom until it was time to board. Not the bravest move she’d ever made, but effective. It was just ten minutes to boarding and then if she waited until the last minute to get on board, her exposure was almost zero. It was a foolproof plan.

She crossed her legs on the floor and got her food out. Not the worst place she’d eaten and definitely preferrable to eating with the guy who’s name she couldn’t remember to save her life.

><><><><><><><><

She had not thought this through. Or rather, she had, and her plan was successful. The task had been successfully failed. She had stayed in the bathroom until the final boarding for her flight and had not seen the man again. No, the problem was it was a no-win situation. There was no safe plan, so it didn’t matter how much she thought it through. She was left exposed no matter what she would have done, because, despite her most ardent prayers and offering of her dessert to Tikki, the man was on her flight. Her completely full flight, with no assigned or empty seats, if the announcement she just heard was to be believed.

She was now the last person to get onto the plane and completely subject to the other passengers’ decisions, a realization that struck straight to her core as she watched the seats slowly fill up in front of her until there were only two seats left. In an eerie replay of her earlier scenario, the two seats left were next to Scary Guy and Smiley Guy from earlier.

Selfishly, she silently urged the person in front of her to make the same mistake she had made earlier and just as silently rejoiced when they did. She flitted by as quickly as possible saying another little prayer he wouldn’t notice her now or at any point during the flight, and jumped into the seat next to Scary Guy with a loud sigh of relief before they could change their mind. The intimidating exterior that had worked against her earlier, played in her favor now, leaving the spot next to the man open. Maybe her luck was turning around, and she’d be able to have a peaceful, quiet, flirt free flight. She said a silent prayer that was exactly what she got.

The thought quickly disappeared as she stood and looked for a place to put her bag, but all the overhead compartments were stuffed. She eyed the space under the seat in front of her assessing the size and comparing it to her bag. Her bag was smaller than a normal carryon, everything having gotten shoved into her bag on her way out the door in a rush to get to the airport at the last minute. It might be able to fit… She quirked her head to the side with a dissatisfied hum.

“There’s more space under the seat in front of me, if you’d like to use it,” Scary Guy offered with a loud huff.

She blinked at him, the words not quite registering. “What?”

“Your bag’s never going to fit in that section. The aisle seats always have smaller areas under them. I just have my bag up there,” he motioned above them and shrugged. “I’m not using this space. It’s no big deal for me.”

“Oh that… are you sure? It takes away your legroom. This flight isn’t short, and neither are you,” she rushed out uncertainly, rushed out before her mind was able to process what she wanted to say. Her cheeks heated up as soon as she realized what she said. “Sorry, that…”

“Was funny,” he finished for her with a chuckle and a disarming smile that softened his whole face. “It isn’t and I’m not, but I don’t mind,” he shrugged.

Marinette looked back and forth between him and the space and even the person next to him a few times before looking back at him with a shrewd look. “How about we switch seats instead? I can sit in the middle seat, and you can have the aisle, which should give you more leg room anyway.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I didn’t think you were with the person next to you, and I thought they might… um… appreciate some more space too,” she added nervously, offering an explanation he didn’t ask for.

He huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “I can do that. If you’re sure you don’t mind sitting in the middle. I know most people don’t like it.” He waited until she nodded before standing. Marinette barely contained her gasp at how, even hunched over to avoid the bulkhead and roof of the plane, he still towered over her. He moved past her with an ease she would never have associated with someone his size, with only the barest of brushes against her arm as he moved. Her cheeks flushed at the contact and his apologetic smile. “Sorry, not much room,” he mumbled.

“No, that’s… you’re okay,” she murmured back shyly. She quickly eased into the middle seat and turned away to keep from staring at him or from him seeing her cheeks. She pulled her tablet and phone out before shoving her bag under the seat, breathing a sigh of relief as her bag slid easily into place. “Thank you so much again.”

“I should be thanking you. This is much better.” He stretched his legs out into the aisle as the plane taxied into position and let out a louder than necessary sigh. She giggled and turned on her tablet and Jagged’s latest unreleased album, letting his guttural tones lull her into a creative daze.

She didn’t know how long she stayed in the daze, but she had already sketched out two options for the cover, the current one her favorite by far, by the time she became aware of the area around her again, just in time to notice Scary Guy chuckling, vibrating the entire row of seats, which, she realized must have been what brought her out of her stupor. It was then she noticed to her mortification that she’d been shimmying in her seat to the song and the more she thought about it, she realized she had also been mouthing the words to the song.

She clenched her eyes closed while her cheeks flushed yet again, much deeper that time, and let out a tiny whimper. Her eyes flew open when his voice sounded deep and resonating, close to her ear. “That’s really cool looking,” he noted, leaning into her space slightly to get a better look. “What’s the inspiration?” He looked up questioningly but immediately backed up, the tension in his muscles increasing proportionally to the amount of space he put between them. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

She covered the drawing slightly. “No, it’s okay. Um, thanks. It’s… I’m… uh…” she paused as she tried to figure out how to phrase it so she wasn’t lying or being standoffish or divulging too much, which would nullify her contract with Jagged. Not that he would care, but Bob Ross would. In fact, she wouldn’t put it past him to have sent a corporate spy to try to trick her, then steal her idea and use it himself. Not that she thought Scary Guy was a corporate spy, but it was still best to be safe. “I’m listening to this album and getting inspired by it.”

His tension had eased away at her assurance. “Whatever the album is, it must be really inspiring.” He examined the image. “What is it… if you don’t mind me asking.”

She studied his face intently for a few seconds trying to decide if she’d been wrong and he really was a spy, but she saw nothing but earnest interest. “It’s Jagged Stone,” she said carefully.

“I love Jagged Stone!” he grinned, his whole face brightening, all vestiges of intimidation dropping with the appearance of dimples. ‘Scary Guy’ didn’t seem like an appropriate moniker when his face was lit up like that. “Rock Giant was my favorite album.”

She grinned back. “I loved that one! But I’m a bit partial.”

He cocked his head to the side, his smile never leaving his face. “Why is that?”

Marinette’s eyes widened minusculely and her smile strained. “He made that one in Paris, which is where I’m from. He also has a song about Ladybug, one of our heroes,” she answered quickly. It was all true, factually. Not the answer to his question, but true.

He nodded. “That was a good one. One of my favorite songs and one of my favorite superheroes. She was a complete badass. Right up there with Wonder Woman.”

Marinette looked down to cover the vivid flush to her cheeks and bashful smile. She ran her hands over her arms to expel some of the energy that flushed her system at the compliment, without looking suspicious. And to be compared to Wonder Woman! It was possibly the best compliment she’d ever received.

“I get chills talking about Ladybug and Wonder Woman too,” he teased.

Marinette snorted and shook her head. “This trip was very last minute, like I didn’t know about it an hour before, last minute. So, I packed at the last second and somehow forgot to pack a hoodie,” she explained. Again, it was factually correct, just not really related to the chills as he’d assumed. “Which is absolutely ridiculous, because I always have something. I’m always cold. My friends will be in shorts and sleeveless tops and I’ll be in slacks and a jacket. And usually, it wouldn’t even be an issue, because I’d just steal one of my friends’, but J… the person I’m meeting never wears hoodies so I’m going to have to buy one or something.”

Jason sighed dramatically. “That’s one of the drawbacks of being… not short,” he grinned as he threw her words back at her. “I don’t get to steal anyone else’s hoodies, but my brothers all steal mine. I’m always missing mine. I go to put one on and can’t find any, then my brother will just waltz by in my hoodie. I have to tackle him to get it back.”

She barked out a laugh and immediately shrunk back when people around them shot her a look. She cleared her throat and continued much quieter. “And are you successful?”

“Of course,” he scoffed and puffed out his chest, throwing her a look as he did. “What do you take me for? The hoodie might get destroyed in the process, but I get it back. I wish it meant he learned not to steal my stuff, but it never does. Not even for a few days.”

“Ahh, the joy of siblings. I always wanted some. I just have to settle for tormenting and stealing from my friends,” she laughed.

“Yeah, you have the sibling experience then,” he chuckled, his eyes sparkling. “They take everything! I have to hide my keys, keep my coffee in my hand the entire time, loom over my plate to keep them from stealing my food… I have to raid their rooms periodically to get my stuff back.”

“They steal your coffee?” Marinette gasped louder than she meant to, again drawing attention from the people around them, this time unnoticed, and drew her hand to her chest theatrically. “It should be illegal to mess with someone’s caffeine.”

“Oh God,” he whined as he threw his head back, eyes clenched dramatically. “You sound like my brother. Next thing I know, you’re going to be stealing my hoodies.”

She pouted deeply enough to be clear she was teasing, but her eyes were a bit tense. “Well, that doesn’t sound like a good thing. I might get tackled.”

“I promise you’re safe,” he offered, his own voice a bit tense. He only relaxed back into his seat when she smiled shyly.

“So, what I’m hearing is you have a hoodie I can steal and you won’t do anything about it,” she teased. Her shy smile widened when he snickered and shot her a roguish smile. He opened his mouth to respond but she cut in before he could. “Oh no,” she muttered under her breath. She tried to meld into the background, a rather pointless endeavor on the very packed, small, confined plane, but she still attempted it. She was considerably smaller than Scary Guy, maybe she could hide behind him? She groaned realizing it was useless. Smiley Guy had already seen her. There was no hiding in the bathroom this time.

“You okay?” Scary Guy asked just as quietly. Her futile attempt to hide having brought her close enough for him to speak in a whisper without having to move closer, but he did anyway. His eyes darted around and quickly settled on the man making his way toward them. “He a problem?”

“Just fine,” she grumbled, bracing herself, “didn’t you know, we’re moments away from falling in love. At least according to him.”

He snickered at her tone. “And according to you?”

“I’ve rarely been less in love with someone,” she drawled. “And I’ve met actual supervillains.” He snickered again but adjusted his position so he was blocking more of the access to her without looking obvious. She narrowed her eyes playfully at his enjoyment of her situation but took note of his move.

“There you are, kitten,” Smiley Guy crooned, missing the way she bristled at the name. He leaned casually against the aisle seat of the row in front of her, taking up the entire aisle as he popped his legs out to cross them at the ankle. “This must be fate bringing us together again.”

“There is absolutely no way I’ve pissed fate off enough for that,” she muttered under her breath, low enough that only Scary Guy could hear her, smirking at her comment, but hiding his face from Smiley Guy. Though it appeared that she must have pissed someone off because each and every prayer so far had been ignored. She forced a curt smile for Smiley Guy. “Hello again.”

His grin widened into something almost predatory. He flicked his eyes over to Jason for just a second before focusing back on Marinette. “Hey, sport, we were having a conversation earlier that we’d like to continue. Do you mind switching seats with me?”

“Actually,” Marinette answered for him, “He and I,” she motioned between herself and Scary Guy, “were having a very interesting conversation about music and families that I was hoping to continue.”

“Surely not as interesting as ours was. We had something,” he pouted slightly at her.

“Yeah, a hostage situation,” Jason scoffed.

The man’s façade dropped instantly, replaced with a harsh glare at Jason. “I don’t believe this involves you, skippy,” he sniped.

“It involves me,” Marinette growled. Making her uncomfortable is one thing but Not so Scary Guy had done nothing to deserve his ire. She leaned forward to try to keep the entire plan from overhearing their conversation. “And I said I am satisfied with the seating arrangement as it is.”

He snapped his eyes to her, something flashed in his eyes and his grin faltered for just a second before he recovered it. “Come on, baby,” he cooed as he reached out to graze his finger along her hair.

She jerked back at the same time Not so Scary Guy stood, both moving before Smiley Guy could make contact. Not so Scary Guy rose with such speed Smiley Guy jumped back in surprise, falling into the passengers in the row behind him, causing a loud squawk of objection that attracted the flight attendant’s attention. Not so Scary Guy nodded to them quickly and returned his attention to Smiley Guy. “I believe she said she was satisfied where she was,” Scary Guy gritted out, fully reverting back to earning his moniker. He towered over the man, having to hunch over to keep from hitting the roof of the plane even after angling himself toward the highest point.

Smiley Guy’s face paled so rapidly; Marinette was worried he might pass out. He looked between the two of them a few times before scowling harshly. “She’s not even worth it anyway,” he scoffed before beating a hasty retreat.

Scary Guy growled at his retreating form. He watched him until Smiley Guy sat back down in his seat, only then relaxing his frame and turning to open the overhead compartment. “Thank you,” Marinette said loud enough for him to hear.

He grabbed something out of the compartment and sat back down with a shrug. “No problem. I hate guys like that.”

She studied him carefully. “Were you really going to fight him? On the plane?”

He snickered, instantly returning to the Not so Scary Guy she’d started to appreciate. “No. I was just getting up to get this for you,” he said innocently as he handed her the object he’d grabbed. Marinette raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, accompanying a flat, unimpressed look. He shrugged as casually as he could manage, but his devilish smile eradicated any semblance of innocence. “I thought you could use it,” he explained craftily.

She hummed unconvinced but grudgingly dragged her eyes from him to the object. Her eyes widened immediately and shot to him questioningly. He eyed her cautiously for a few seconds. “You said you were cold,” he explained, his tone and expression much softer. “And I thought you wouldn’t have to steal it if I handed it over. It might be a bit big,” he added with a quiet smirk when she had unfolded his hoodie and held it up against her body.

“A bit?” she asked with a laugh. Her chuckle quickly turned into a pout at the snicker he unsuccessfully hid when she put on the hoodie and the sleeves hung long past her hands. She rolled her eyes and pushed up the sleeves.

“And, I wouldn’t start a fight on a plane… well, not this kind anyway,” he added with a shrug. “It wouldn’t end well for anyone here, especially you. And I’ve found,” he leaned in closer like he was telling her a secret, “guys like that are all bark and no bite. You bark back and they back off.”

She hummed and tried not to breathe in too deeply or she’d get distracted by his scent. “I’ve found that too. But I’m a bit smaller than you,” she pursed her lips at seeing the way his body shook containing his laughter. She moved her hand to wave him off, but the excess fabric slung out and slapped him on the chest, which changed his silent laughter to full blown laughter. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, attempting to look upset, but her lips didn’t receive the message, turning up at the corners.

The more she pouted, the more he laughed, which made her pout more, or at least attempt to, she still couldn’t get her lips to cooperate, until they were both trying to contain their laughter to keep from disturbing the people around them. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please continue,” he finally gasped out.

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully but obliged. “As I was saying,” she eyed him pointedly and ignored his smirk, “I’m smaller than you so I have to bark a bit louder.”

“I can imagine that’s quite the frightening sight,” he nodded solemnly, the trace of a smirk still on his lips.

“It is, thank you very much,” she agreed, jutting her chin into the air proudly.

He eased back into his seat with a chuckle, his fond gaze never leaving her, but suddenly sat forward. “Just don’t try it in Star City, yeah? The rogues are all bite… except Pinball Wizard,” he added with a smirk. “Him you can bark at.”

Marinette giggled. “Pinball Wizard? Really?”

He grinned at her incredulous look. “Yeah. Shoots pinballs, you know those little balls from pinball machines? He shoots those at people. Not as sad as Rainbow Archer though,” he said it casually, but watched her from the corner of his eye to watch her reaction.

Marinette blinked at him. “Rainbow… Archer…” she said slowly. “Come on, someone named Rainbow can’t be sad or mean,” she claimed hopefully. “Does he shoot rainbows? At them or produce them somehow? Or is he just very supportive of LGBT?”

“I don’t think he supports anything but concussions,” he snorted, subconsciously rubbing his bicep. “Not really sure where the name came from, honestly.”

“I want to make fun of your villains, but we had Bubbler, and he was one of the better ones, so…” she shrugged. She grimaced at the memory of Nino.

“Not mine,” he corrected. “I’m just visiting a friend. I visit a lot, it’s like a second home, but I make no claims to their rogues.” He gave her a knowing look. “Our rogues in Gotham are much more serious.”

Marinette giggled and looked down shyly. She looked up to ask something else but before she could say anything, an announcement came over the speakers that they were making their descent. She smiled softly and him and sat back in her seat as they landed, all her courage suddenly leaving her.

She waited until they had landed and taxied to their gate before her courage found her again. “Any recommendations on things I should do in Star City?” she asked as the seats ahead of them started to empty. She anxiously pushed some hair behind her ear more to give her hands something to do than because it was bothering her. “Other than barking at minor rogues? Or are you only familiar with the criminals?” she teased.

He grinned brightly. “Yeah, a few. I could take you around, if you’d like?”

“I would love that,” Marinette grinned. Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh,” she scrambled to get her phone back out. “Here,” she said as she handed it over. She watched as he put his name and number in, examining it even closer when he handed it back. “Jason,” she said deliberately, letting the name roll in her mouth, enjoying the way it felt to say. “It’s nice to meet you, Jason. I’m Marinette.”

“Marinette,” Jason repeated in the same tone, finding it just slightly difficult to fully articulate with a broad smile. “Beautiful name. It suits you,” he said quietly.

Marinette’s cheeks flushed deeply, and she pulled her lower lip between her teeth, getting lost in his eyes until the person in the seat next to her cleared their throat, reminding them where they were. She chuckled self-consciously. “Sorry about that,” she said to the person but returned her attention to Jason.

They continued to shoot each other sly, shy looks as they made their way up the jetway until they got into the airport and past security. They paused just before the doors, squeezing closer than they normally would to avoid the people bustling around them. “So, tomorrow?” Jason asked. Marinette got slightly distracted by the way his fingers kept gripping and loosening around the strap of his bag, until someone bumped into her, pushing them even closer together, a fact Marinette didn’t have as much of an issue with as she normally would.

She grinned at him and nodded, but her grin faltered slightly. “Actually, maybe not tomorrow. I expect tomorrow is going to be really busy with… the person I’m meeting.” He cocked his head slightly at the stutter. “The day after?” she asked hopefully. She moved a step closer when she could feel someone standing a bit too close behind her.

He watched her for a second before nodding, for the first time appearing apprehensive about her. “Yeah, if you’re su…” he trailed off, his eyes catching on the person immediately behind Marinette, clearly listening in on their conversation. He narrowed his eyes at him. “Is that… is Jagged Stone eavesdropping on our conversation?” he whisper hissed.

Marinette gasped and swung around, slapping the man in the chest, this time with her hand instead of the sleeve. “Jagged! What are you doing?” She slapped him again and looked around for Penny. “What have I told you about this? Where is Penny? Why are you here?”

“Penny is talking to Bob in the car and I couldn’t just not meet my little rocker!” he pouted dramatically.

“Oh my God,” Jason mumbled. “That’s why the album was special to you!” he exclaimed pointing at her.

Marinette grimaced and smiled sheepishly. “I may have a slightly closer relationship with Rock Giant than I indicated,” she admitted, not quite able to meet his eyes.

When she finally did, her muscles relaxed instantly at seeing the awe in his eyes. “You did the cover art! That was brilliant! You’re brilliant.”

Her smile widened, matching his. Their gazes met, getting lost in each other until they were interrupted by a loud, “Oi! I’m still here you know!”

Marinette tore her eyes away guiltily. “Sorry, Jagged. Jagged, this is Jason. Jason, this is Jagged.”

Jagged held his hand out to shake Jason’s but refused to let him go when they finished. Instead, he pulled him closer and looked him up and down uncharacteristically harshly before nodding and turning to Marinette. “So tomorrow, I’m thinking we should meet in the morning then,” his eyes flicked to Jason so quickly Marinette almost missed it, “you should take a bit of time to explore the city, get some inspiration, get some food, get some kisses…”

“Jagged!” Marinette exclaimed, scandalized. “Oh my God,” she muttered and hid her face in her sleeves. She shot Jason a timid smile as she shoved Jagged toward the exit. “Tomorrow?”

He chuckled and nodded. “Tomorrow,” he agreed. “Text me when you’re done.” She shot him a smile and nodded. He shook his head as she passed through the doors, arguing with Jagged who was gesturing wildly, the entire way. He followed them out the door as well, shivering when the cool night air hit his skin. He started to reach for his hoodie before realization hit. He looked after the limo that was pulling away and shook his head incredulously with a laugh. That was one hoodie he didn’t mind never getting back.

#maribat #jasonette #Jasonette July #Jasonette July 2023 #prompt - spy

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flightfoot · 11 days ago

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ML Fanfic Recs for Completed Fics 4K - 7K Words

I've got 20 fics for y'all this time! Several Lovesquare fics, unsurprisingly, but also some nice character studies, AUs, and a handful of less common ships, such a Lukadrien and Kittybella.

All of these fics will be in my Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2024 Collection, and if you like that, please consider checking out my other collections, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2023, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2022, and Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics - Misc. Years.

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Two is Company by Shadownoble

Adrien’s father wants him to play for an upcoming party. Only this time he won’t be doing it alone.

This Lukadrien fic's adorable! Luka's got selective mutism, which Adrien takes in stride. I love how their relationship develops, they're smitten with each other! Though of course while Gabriel brought the two of them together, he's an obstacle too. Because he's a dick.

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memtempsychosis by @bittersweetresilience

Félix is always watching Adrien die.

I love time loop fics, and this is no exception. Felix somehow gets trapped in a time loop with Adrien where no matter what he does, Adrien always dies by the end of the day by some manner, and then everything resets. I love how inevitable it all feels, the strange beauty to the prose when going over his deaths, and how you can feel Felix's increasing desperation throughout it all.

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Consequences of Dating Blindly by @mostmagical

Marinette knew she tended to get tunnel vision when she was focused, but luckily her boyfriend Chat Noir was always there to watch her back as they fought Monarch. With their enemy having disappeared, however, they decided together that it was finally time to reveal themselves. In public. Face to face. It's a little silly to have to introduce yourself to your own boyfriend, but after all, it wasn’t Marinette’s fault that she never knew her boyfriend’s name. (Adrien has never been to school, and Marinette doesn't know him.)

This is adorable! The two of them are so smitten with each other, and Adrien's not used to people not recognizing him as Adrien AGRESTE on sight. Marinette's got quite a few surprises coming her way, she didn't expect her kitty to come from this kind of background.

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Chat Noir Cataclyms Hawk Moth's Balls by @a-flaming-idiot

It's what it says on the tin; Chat Noir castrates his unaware father. And at the same time, Gabriel hits a high C to shatter glass, Nathalie realizes she wasted her life, Chloe accidentally outs herself, Adrien becomes homeless, there are no more secret identities, Tikki thinks she's funny, Nino and Alya take what's their's, and Chloe finally respects another human being. And a partridge in a pear tree~

So this is a fun little crackfic! Lots of jokes and absurd scenarios, you're likely to giggle at least a few times (and hopefully several times) while reading this.

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The Only Love We Keep by @nemaliwrites

Zoé is used to wanting things she can’t have — loving people who do not love her back. She’s made peace with that. But as soon as she meets Scarabella, she’s a goner. Or, five times Zoé’s love wasn’t reciprocated, and one time it was.

I love this analysis of Zoe and her circumstances, her mindset, her philosophy based on how she's grown up. How she yearns for her mom to actually love her, but she just... doesn't. And how she finds friends who actually care for her, and someone who actually wants her.

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A Body Without Spirit by @nemaliwrites

“Look, I don’t know much about you guys, but I always hear other humans whining about how they have to listen to their parents or their teachers or bosses or whatever.” “Yes,” says Marinette, “but that’s…that’s different. Usually, when someone tells me to do something, I only do it if I want to. I can think about it, make a real decision. But this…it was like I didn’t even have time to think about it. Like I couldn’t resist, even if I wanted to. And if I did, it would have killed me.” -- Adrien and Marinette swap bodies. Marinette does not have a good time.

I love how this examined how it feels to be controlled by an Amok, especially by someone who's never felt it before, who knows something's not right, that this isn't just psychological, but doesn't know what's causing the inability to disobey orders. And it means that Marinette really, truly understands why Adrien can't disobey now, not just on a mental level, but through experience.

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Blueberry Passion Fruit by @ninadove and @paracosmicat

He walked up to the counter, because he could not think of anything else to do. For all those times he had rehearsed their reunion, he had failed to consider the most obvious scenario: Adrien might want to run away once more.

I love Adrien just having run away, used a fake name, and then start working at a random cafe. Of course Felix still manages to track him down eventually. I loved seeing them talk things out!

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The Music Of His Soul by @rosie-b

Ever since she was born, Marinette could hear piano music in her head. It wasn’t any song that was playing in the world immediately around her; instead, what she heard were the songs that her soulmate was listening to. They came to her as her soulmate heard them, at seemingly random times from early morning to late afternoon, when the golden rays of sunset began to stream throughout Paris. Marinette enjoyed hearing the piano; it was proof that her other half was out there, alive and waiting to meet her. Written for Ladrien June Day 1: Hiding in Plain Sight

If you like soulmate fics and Ladrien, then this is a real treat! I liked this particular take on the soulmate mythos, and the way Adrien and Ladybug had looked for their soulmate, had thought of them, was really sweet!

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i love you to death by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

When Toxinelle vanishes after a battle with Hesperia, Loveybug takes her place.

So this fic takes place from Griffe Noir's perspective, showing his thought process and feelings towards Toxinelle, and his reaction when she just... vanishes and is replaced. I like how, as much as he'd convinced himself before her disappearance that he hated Toxinelle, he finds that he can't stand her being gone.

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love's constant shield kept you safe while you healed by katrinette

When Chat asks Marinette to keep his tree safe for him, of course Marinette says yes. Marinette's got ten green thumbs. She can keep any��plant alive, healthy, and blooming. But Chat's tree has hidden damage, and extraordinary actions might be necessary to keep him alive.

I've never seen a tree used as a sort of daemon, as a piece of a person's soul that reflects their physical and mental state, it's very creative! I loved seeing how Adrien's and Marinette's trees acted and what they looked like, and how Adrien's tree reacted to bad circumstances.

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To Have Loved by @trishacollins

Adrien struggles with the loss of children he never had, with a life he remembers living but that wasn't real. The only person who understands him is Ladybug, his wife and his children's mother. Sleeping alone is such an empty feeling. Together, they might make a start at healing. Or they might just make a new disaster.

I love Jubilation angst. Depending on how "real" that timeline felt, waking up could be devastating - and Chat WAS certainly devastated in that episode. It's akin to the Pevensie kids in Narnia growing up, becoming rulers, and then tumbling out of the wardrobe a couple decades later, the same age at which they left. Of course Ladybug and Chat Noir would cling to each other afterwards, the only other person who remembers that imaginary timeline.

That's not all this story entails, however. Gabriel isn't too happy about Adrien sneaking out as much as he has been, and he WILL get answers, one way or another...

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If I'd Met You First by @geek-fashionista

According to Tikki, Chat Noir has always been Ladybug’s partner. “Maybe someone ought to tell him that,” Marinette says bitterly. [An Enemies AU]

So apparently this was one of the earliest enemies AU in existence, with originally being written in early 2016, but it was only just now uploaded to AO3 so I'm still counting it for this list. Despite its age, it holds up remarkably well, the author guessed a lot of things correctly, like Gabriel being Hawk Moth, it being possible to akumatize multiple people at once so long as the same feeling is being used for all of them, and it being possible to reject akumas. Considering that none of that was confirmed in season 1 (granted, most people had guessed that Gabriel was Hawk Moth, even that early), it's pretty remarkable!

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Happily Ever After by 3ggroll

Gabriel Agreste was a hero. Of that, Marinette is sure. So what's with the bitter taste in her mouth whenever she sees his statue?

This is an alternate universe version of Re-creation's epilogue, with Gabriel's Wish actually altering people's memories - Marinette's, most notably - to forget that he was Monarch, and to erase the memory of that knowledge whenever she figures it out. And she keeps ON figuring it out, over and over, but the knowledge is never allowed to stick.

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honesty can only be if there is a lie by katrinette

Ladybug always tells the truth. Chat Noir always lies.

So this is an interesting concept. While transformed, Ladybug physically cannot say anything untrue, while Chat can only speak in untruths. As a consequence, Chat gets good at figuring out how he can lie in such a way as to convey truthful information to Ladybug, and Ladybug learns how to speak deceptively without actually saying anything false.

Unfortunately for them, while they aren't bound by these conditions as civilians, it seeps into their civilian lives. Adrien learns to lie freely, easily, and convincingly, which is empowering at first, but leads to the class avoiding him when he starts being caught in them. Marinette doesn't outright lie, but her tendency to dance around subjects gets on people's nerves and similarly leads to others running out of patience with her or avoiding her. Basically, neither of their social lives fares well.

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No Names In The Stars by @nemaliwrites

Shadybug knows how her story ends: people like her don't get happy endings. She's made her peace with that. Her name on Claw Noir's wrist changes things.

I love Shadybug and Claw Noir talking like this, getting more emotionally sincere than they usually are. I especially liked how Shadybug kept thinking about how her soulmate wouldn't want her, that she's a nobody. It fits what we see of her in the special.

I also really like the reveal of who hers and Claw's enemy is. It's not unexpected, but it's still good.

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in which chat noir comes up with an awesome gift for ladybug by @mixelation

If his Lady wants ultra rare Adrien Agreste merch, then that’s what his Lady will get! Written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa exchange.

This was really sweet and I love how mixelation wrote Adrien's internal narration! You really viscerally understood his thoughts and feelings. It had some of the intimacy of a first person perspective, but well, in third person.

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Crossed Wires by @torvalvtt

Marinette has taken Adrien up on his suggestion that they share an apartment in university to help cut costs and be closer to school. This would be fine, except they both seem to have a problem with keeping their suits off around the apartment.

This was fun and hilarious. I loved seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir hurriedly try to come up with excuses for why they were in their own apartment, while Marinette and Adrien weren't XD.

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Here is Your Chance (to Understand) by Neonlite

And when he turned back to Adrien, tired in a way he always was when he thought about Belos, at the concern in Adrien’s eyes, and he knew what really unsettled him about the boy. It was like looking in a mirror, at a younger version of himself. A version of him with a responsibility he shouldn’t have had, a version of him with a power different from everyone else. Cat Noir seemed to settle atop Adrien, like a skin he was more comfortable in. (And the Golden Guard’s mask was safe because he wasn’t Hunter in it, he was the strongest witch on the Isles.) -- Where Adrien gets plopped at Hunter's house and he has many feelings about it. (Maybe too much for someone who wasn't stranded in a different dimension.)

I love Adrien and Hunter talking. They don't know exactly how similar they are - Adrien is from the season 5 ending, so Gabriel's regarded as a hero and he doesn't know that he's a sentimonster - but even still, Hunter can see the similarities between his younger self and Adrien in the ways they act, can tell something's wrong, even without Adrien realizing it.

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Blanc Space by @11jj11

Nino awakes to find himself in a strange flooded world...

So this is an interesting concept. Nino wakes up to suddenly find himself in Chat Blanc's timeline, with no idea of what just happened aside from it probably being due to an akuma attack, as most strange happenings are. Of course, he meets Chat Blanc, though the cat doesn't know he's real.

I love how Nino realizes what's going on and empathizes with Chat. He needs company so badly.

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Miraculous: A Lovesquare Dating Sim by @nagisachan1

“Did you hear that, Tikki? A ‘choose your own adventure’ about a romance with Paris’ superheroes. Do you really think there’s people who’d be interested in that sort of thing?” Tikki giggled. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more than you think, Marinette.” What will Marinette do tonight? YOU decide, in this CYOA lovesquare adventure!

This isn't very long, but I really like the way it's set-up, I played through so many CYOA books as a kid. Playing through this simple little Lovesquare fic whets my appetite for something more involved, it seems like it'd be easy to do a multi-writer collaboration for some sort of CYOA fic, and if that happened, I'd like to use this fic as a guide for how to format it. I especially love that at the top of each chapter, there's a link to go back to the previous chapter so you can easily try out the other branches.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec

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galahadwilder · 3 months ago

Text

Ways of Grieving

Warning: Canon non-compliance, Major Character Death, Suicide.

When Nathalie finally passed, after years of battling the damage the Peacock had done to her body, Adrien felt nothing.

He hadn't cried when her hand, entwined with his, had lost all its strength, the muscles slack. Like a dead fish, he'd thought. Or Lila trying to show real human emotion.

When the light went out of her eyes, he'd felt nothing. She was there, and then she was not. The body was Nathalie, and now it was not. It was a body. A body that had once been there closest thing he'd had to a parent for seven years, and now it was just. Meat.

That's all his father had ever treated her as anyway. Now she matched.

What a horrible thing to think.

So why couldn't he stop thinking it?

The hospital had been cold when he walked in. It may have still been cold. He couldn't tell. He couldn't feel anything, except, maybe, guilt. Guilt that he couldn't offer any tears to the woman who'd raised him. Guilt that he had nothing for her in his chest except an empty, dead feeling.

Marinette, of course, was inconsolable. She'd been sure that the cure was in the Grimoire somewhere, but translating had been long and difficult work—it had been written over hundreds of years, with linguistic drift and different cyphers building up into a monstrous decoding project that she'd only gotten halfway through. She'd prioritized any page that seemed to reference the Peacock, or healing, or Miraculous damage, but she hadn't found an answer and she'd run out of time.

She sobbed into his chest, into his shoulder, and he thought of how odd it was that the girl he loved, who'd barely known Nathalie as anything other than an obstacle between herself and him and then as a weak and dying woman, would need to be comforted by him over the passing of someone she'd barely known, while he couldn't even bring himself to feel... much of anything. No relief that she was free of her suffering. No sense of loss. Perversely, he would have preferred joy to this... nothing.

He felt the way he did when Chloé used to kiss him, or when he'd modeled alongside Lila—like he wasn't properly in his body. Like all the chemicals and meat and physical reactions in his neurons, his muscles, his skin belonged to someone else, and he was just watching from next to himself. Watching a statue.

He went through the next two days the same. He didn't bother to shower, or to change his clothes, not even to go to bed. He barely ate, because he couldn't find it in himself to feel hungry. He didn't expect Nathalie around every corner, the way some people described—this was his apartment, not the mansion, and she'd never been here. She'd moved to the hospital full-time before he'd moved out. So there was no expectation of her arrival.

Marinette called him seven times and texted him thirty-six. He let the phone ring. Didn't read the texts. He was barely aware of time passing, of the days blending into nights and the nights blending into days. He slept when he slept. He awoke when he awoke. Things were what they were.

He wasn't sure how much sleep he'd had when the splitting sound of his phone in his ear had wrenched him out of dead and dreamless sleep. Blearily, he looked at caller ID, and realized it wasn't Marinette calling him. La Santé, the contact name said. His father's prison.

The public contact was apologetic, almost pleading for some kind of forgiveness. He couldn't understand why, until she explained the situation.

Gabriel had heard about Nathalie, she told him. The wardens found him the next morning hanging from the top bunk with his own bedsheets expertly tied around his broken neck.

She'd been so broken when she told him. There'd been a note, she said. He could come down to read it whenever he was ready.

Adrien thanked her with a hollow voice, let her know he wasn't sure when he'd be able to come by, and then hung up the phone.

Then, lying on his bed and staring up at the Marinette-pink ceiling, he felt something inside him shatter.

Pain lanced through his entire body, burning and tight and angry. He turned to the side, tucked his knees into his chest, and sobbed. Tears came to his eyes, slowly at first, then in a river that wouldn't stop. Snot flowed from his nose as freely as the saltwater from his eyes. He held himself together as best he could with his arms, his shivering form feeling like someone had scooped something out of him like an ice cream bucket. Like his ribs, his heart, had been careless torn from his chest and he'd been left open and raw and bleeding.

He couldn't stop crying. He couldn't stop the wave of despair that washed over him, the black tide drowning his thoughts and leaving him unable to breathe between sobs.

Why? Why could he cry for Gabriel, a man who had never loved him and who he'd given up on loving years ago, and not Nathalie? Not the woman who'd shown him care when he'd given up on expecting it? Why did fucking Gabriel get his tears? Bastard fuck of a father, the man who'd murdered him again and again and again, even after finding out it was his own son he was killing. The man who'd nearly ruined Marinette's life with his obsession and spite—left her still unable to enter a room without marking the exits and any objects she could use as Rube-Goldberg weapons. Left him with this deep and aching sense that he the most Adrien could do to be loved was die.

He hated him so much. Not just for what he'd stolen from Adrien, from Marinette, from Nathalie, but because he'd taken the grief that had belonged to her. The woman who'd been his stepmother in all but name, versus the man who'd only ever been his father in name. Why could he grieve the one but not the other?

It was good that he was dead. It was good that he was gone. So why did Adrien feel so empty over it?

He didn't tell Marinette about it. It consumed his waking days—how thinking about Nathalie emptied him out, while thinking about his father filled him with grief and rage. He begged off patrols, rejected her calls. He was a monster, for grieving wrong. For grieving a man who'd torn him apart. Literally, on some occasions.

Still, Marinette had his apartment key, and she couldn't be avoided forever.

He wasn't sure how many days had passed since Nathalie slipped away in his hand, how many days had passed since his fucking bastard of a father had shoved one last burden onto him and then escaped the consequences forever. Still, his stomach dropped when he heard Marinette's key turn in the front door.

"Kitty?" she called. "Are you okay?"

"Kid hasn't moved in a week," he heard Plagg say from the front hallway. "I'm not even sure he knows I'm talking. He won't respond to anything. He's not even eating."

"Where is he?" Marinette asked, her voice trembling.

"Bed."

The door to his bedroom creaked open. "Kitty?"

He didn't want to see her. He buried his head under the pillow and pretended she wasn't there.

She sat down on the side of his bed, the mattress deforming under her weight. "Adrien, please. I'm here." Her hand tried to press on his shoulder, to massage, and he twisted away from her touch.

"Adrien..." she murmured, her voice so soft and full of concern and he couldn't stand it, he couldn't fucking—he couldn't—

"I couldn't fucking cry for her," he snaps, still facing the wall away from her. "I felt—I felt—nothing. And then—and then—he—and I just..."

He turns over to look at her through blurry eyes. "Why does he get my tears when I can't—I can't—I can't feel anything for her?"

Marinette covers her mouth in shock. "Adrien?"

"When he died, I just... I broke, okay? I—everything hit me at once, and I couldn't stop crying and thinking about him, and Nathalie was just—she slipped out of the back of my mind, and I couldn't—I couldn't—" He was sobbing now, but nothing was coming out. He'd had so little to drink in the last... week? Plagg had said week.

Marinette took his hand, and he wanted to jerk away, but he forced himself still.

"Of course you did," she whispered. "Nathalie... the grief is too big for you to look at."

What?

"Adrien, you may think you're not grieving her at all, but I—I saw the way you broke in that hospital room. I—your model smile came back. The fake one. I haven't—I haven't seen that in years." Marinette brushes her hair away from her forehead with her free hand, eyes closed, lashes wet. "You stopped responding to people, you stopped—it was like you were there, but you were gone."

"And—and why am I crying for him?"

"Because—" Marinette seems unsure. "I don't know. Maybe because... you're grieving what could have been? You're grieving the man you wished he would be?"

Maybe. Maybe she had a point.

"Maybe because you're angry. Angry at him for taking the moment that should be about Nathalie and making it about himself. Angry that you'll never get him to understand how much he hurt you."

Adrien curled up further. She was right. She was always right. God, he wanted to dig up his father's grave and scream into the man's face.

"Adrien, I cried when I heard. And it wasn't for you."

His brain slammed to a halt. What? She'd—why had she...?

"That man made our lives a living hell for five years. And I'd built... so much of myself around opposing him, around being everything he wasn't, around hating him and fighting him, and suddenly he was just... gone?" She squeezed his hand. "You loved him. You hated him. You can still grieve people you hate. And hating him... doesn't mean you didn't still..." She sighed. "There's nothing wrong with still loving him. There's nothing wrong with grieving him."

"And crying...?"

"There's no wrong way to grieve," she said. "And it seems like it's... smaller. So take it one step at a time."

"Hm?" he said, confused.

"Grieve them in whatever order you need to," Marinette said, holding his hand to her chest. Right over her heart. "Let it happen how it happens. I'm right here."

The last piece of Adrien that was holding together snapped, and he crawled into her lap and finally let himself collapse.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #original content #adrienette #adrinette #my fic #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #gabriel agreste's a+ parenting #death #major character death #grief #suicide #depression

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