#ladybug and chat noir can you hear me…..

[starguardianniom]

The Power of Love in Miraculous Ladybug

It's bad.

Legit bad.

Just in the opening song, you hear: "The power of love always so strong!"

More like always so strong at creating all the problems in the freaking show fr.

Gabriel is Hawk Moth just to get the miraculouses to save his wife, so he is motivated by love.

Marinette legit screwed herself up in 4 of the 5 seasons finales because of love.

And that's not getting into all the akumas she caused just because she was so caught up in her own feelings that she screwed over other people or just ended up hurting other people's feelings in her wake.

The world legit ended because of her love.

Also had to reset an entire timeline too because she couldn't stick to her plan the moment she learned Adrien was Chat Noir.

Let's not forget how the show portrays Marinette's love of Adrien, via stalking, knowing everything in his schedule for the next 3 years, planning his birthday gifts for decades in advance (and apparently having weird gifts too since she threw one of them in the trash once she saw Adrien's confused reaction to it), getting jealous of any girl getting close to him to the point that she once teamed up with Chloé to get Kagami away, and Kagami had done nothing to deserve being humiliated publicly like that, even worse is that the year before Marinette got humiliated b Chloé in front of a guy she liked by said guy she liked which started her whole obsession about Adrien later on which just makes her a double hypocrite in Animaestro.

Marinette treats Adrien more like a prize than a person, you're not gonna make me believe that everything she knows about him is stuff she learned from him by talking to him, please, given how she could barely speak to him you really think she would pull this off? Pretty sure she just researched him online, at one point she pratically begs Nino to tell her what Adrien finds funny.

And yet not once does she consider if Adrien would actually have a word in their relationship, she called him her Adrien as far as season 1.

Meanwhile, Gabriel loves his son but also emotionally abuse him, and also gets physical with him once he learns he's Chat Noir, he yeeted him to the Eiffel Tower, I never forgave him for that.

He also loves his wife, but he also ended up losing his one real chance at bringing her back just to get back at Ladybug, so you can say his love wasn't enough anymore.

The Power of Love was motivating him until it changed to obsession at revenge with Ladybug.

Now I wonder what's it's gonna take until Marinette realise her love for Adrien is her downfall. So far it screwed her over everytime more than anything else, it's not her strenght it's her biggest weakness that brings out the worst in her, and it got brought to it's height in the season 5 finale and the London special.

Lying to the whole world about Gabriel just to spare Adrien's feelings because Gabriel asked her too, especially after everything he did to him, to her and everyone else? Yeah, no.

It just traps Adrien more.

It's disgusting.

The Power of Love is the biggest evil in the freaking show to the point it's its own character.

Lila wish she could be just as bad.

Maybe she will be able to show us.

And with how season 5 ended, I'm wondering how The Power of Love is gonna do, probably do even more damage.

The Power of Love shown by the main protagonist and the main villain is the most terrifying thing ever in the show.

[anna-scribbles]

so how long are we giving the olympics before someone gets akumatized

[xhanisai]

I can’t believe I have to say this again.

But like.

Do not leave comments that bash on the actual show whilst ‘complimenting’ my fanworks. It does not make me happy at all IN FACT I really HATE it when people do that. 

I create stuff for this fandom because I adore the show with all its flaws and everything. I grew up with the show and I adore the characters so much. So when I receive comments or tags saying stuff like “Ugh if only the writers knew how to write like that” or “You should be in charge of canon cos canon is shit lol”, it just fucks up my mood and it makes me feel grossed out. 

There are millions of things out there to write or say to other people about their work without having to bring down canon and what the actual professionals have worked on.

Keep your gripes about the show off my work.

[chocostrwberry]

Sentimaggedon!!

Sentimonster designs I came up with bc I was thinking about Argos’s debut in my AU! Bc I’m dumb and I haven’t thought too deep about him as a character to the story yet-

They were originally suppose to all be based on the seven deadly sins, especially Gasumptious (gluttony) and Elvy (envy). But I also wanted to branch into maybe Felix’s other hidden emotions, like his deep love for Kagami and his fear of being replaced by Adrien (Bride and Athazagora).

Argos becomes an official enemy when Dragonbug tells him they need to be destroyed. He defends them, saying they’re just “infants” and can learn how to behave properly with time. But a frustrated and exhausted Dragonbug she tells him they aren’t like humans and are created for one purpose: to serve and destroy. This hits home with Argos, and he develops a fear and hatred for Ladybug and swears his loyalty to Madame Morphisa afterwards in order to take her down and prove just how monstrous he can be.

I’m still kinda trying to find a way to make this concept work in my au. He promised to serve her in exchange for the peacock miraculous, and she wants him to use it to take Ladybug’s miraculous. In a novice attempt, he might have just starting creating multiple sentimonsters that he thought were harmless enough (something she did NOT expect), but they quickly spiraled out of control. It’s much easier to make sentimonsters based on others emotions, because you can predict which one you will create it off of. But instead, he chose his own, which makes it more difficult to tell how the sentimonster will act. I think it would show the aspect that these creatures do have a mind of their own, compared to previous Mayura sentimonsters who were easily controlled by their akumas!!

Red Moon

Red Moon is obviously already canon, but her power is instead hypnosis. If you get caught in her light, you stop whatever you are doing to stare at her. The streets of Paris become like a statue exhibit: countless of unlucky citizens are bathing in her glow, staring at the beauty of the red moon.

Gasumptious

As he devours, Gasumptious grows bigger and bigger. He’ll eat anything, so beware! After finishing most of the city, Gasumptious sits atop the Eiffel Tower and gnaws on its metal posts.

Elvy

Elvy lives in the sewers. She can control water and uses it to drain you of happy memories, which she keeps in floating green orbs and guards for herself.

It’s so silly to me how the manifestation of Felix’s jealousy of Adrien is fought and defeated by Chat Noir, who is Adrien ehehehheeh.

She also sounds like a Pokémon!! Probably like a Lapras, or the one that trills really pretty

Athazagora

A timid creature, Athazagora took over the catacombs, and hides in the shadows. You can hear the creaking and rattling of its wooden limbs in the dark as it stalk you. If you can’t escape, it envelops you in its cloak of darkness, never to be seen again.

Bride

The supposed advisor of Argos. She never leaves his side, and is always whispering something in his ear. To protect Argos, she showcases her ability to turn her arm into a long spear/sword, incredible strength and mobility, and that her body is made of an indestructible crystal.

Plus, he can make multiple sentimonsters bc he’s a sentihuman himself (Other people can’t. You can only make one, kind of like how the Butterfly miraculous can only Akumatize one person at a time, unless they share an object. Current excuse I’m going with that makes semi-sense HEHEHE) . So Lila totally wants to use that to her own advantage!

Ofc he fails, but she’s impressed with his resolve (and the lengths he was willing to go, albeit unintentionally), especially after sharing her goal of destroying Ladybug. Lila was feeling the effects of unification and now has a willing minion to do her bidding whenever she pleases.

If I decide to go with this plot, Lila has to end up forgetting Felix because of the curse. But she doesn’t care: all she really needs is Argos. I might need to retcon her revenge against Felix because of this but idm! It wasn’t very important to the plot anyways!

I was considering having Dragonbug in this episode, since she could use Perfection to snipe Red Moon out of the sky! The lucky charm would be like a wand that creates a sticky translucent web to keep the sentimonsters secure so they can go find their amoks.

And a sentimonster I never ended up including, Ava. I just didn’t have a reason to put her in there but I liked the yin and yang style of her design!!

[cakemousse]

alright unless proven otherwise, i'm going to hc that toxinelle's crush is actually griffe noire

or a “crush who doesn’t think I’m a lame-o”! credits to @2manyfandoms2count for the translation

it's unfortunate... but hear me out

the salters always say that the lovesquare is toxic codependency, imma show you what real toxic codependency really is, on the part of emonette at least

'he's rude as fuck and disrespects her all the time, there's no way emonette would fall for him' while this is true and i would agree under normal circumstances, toxinelle came from a world where she didn't have anyone, no super awesome friends to inspire her everyday, no best friend in life and in death, no mum who is gentle and calm, nothing. she's lonely and has nothing to fall back on, but you know who she can fall back on? griffe noire

even if he does let her fall

he is the only constant she has in her life, at least ever since she got her miraculous. even if it means getting insulted left and right by him, she puts up with him

why? cause if she doesn't she'll truly lose the only thing she has 'going' in her life

and we can see that after she read marinette’s diary about the part where ladybug and chat noir are partners or rather teammates, she looks at griffe noire, as though she’s thinking of being teammates with him. it’s something she wants, and we know it’s something she truly wants by the end of the special

also in this universe, emodrien has a crush on emonette, so what's preventing toxinelle to have a crush on griffe noire?

toxinelle isn’t happy, we can tell when she poured her heart out to ladyfly about everything and then finally about her crush thinking she’s lame all the time, but there isn’t much she can do if she wants her constant to continue be by her side

loneliness really does some fucked up things to a person huh?

the concept’s pretty fitting of a villain don’t you think? 🥲

[drtwit]

Random Fic Idea

Since I've been seeing more people reading this post, just a heads up: the fic has been made.

______________________________________________________________

You know, we have a lot of 'Villain Chat Noir' AU fics, but is there any that have it be positive?

Like, Adrien getting to work along side his father actually leads to more father/son bonding because their villain identities are both goofy drama queens who finally found something they have in common. As well as both having outlets for the frustration of what they have to pretend to be in their real lives.

In the day time, Gabriel is sitting in his office, lecturing Adrien about upholding the Agreste name and dolling out his strict schedule. By night, Hawkmoth and Chat Noir are hold up in the lair, brainstorming puns and quips while Chat gently tells him to stop akumatizing Mr. Pigeon.

Their version of a fishing trip is stealing from the Dupain Bakery. "We're rich, can't we just pay?" "No, because we're evil." *Chat proceeds to leave money on the counter anyway.*

Gabriel coldly reprimands Adrien for getting anything less than an A, while Hawkmoth akumatizes the teacher who dared give his son a B+.

Ladybug is like 'Oh my god, there's two of them.' as Chat and Hawkmoth synchronise their team rocker-ass intro speeches and Mayura's just shaking her head because she has to live with these two goobers.

Gabriel's making a snobbish speech about those damn hooligans wasting their time with silly shenanigans, all while Adrien's resisting the urge to laugh 'cus Hawkmoth akumatized a baby yesterday and spent half of the fight trying to get the baby to pronounce his name right.

Master Fu wonders what horrors the villains are putting his innocent kwamis through, and it just cuts to Nooroo and Plagg dropping the beat.

Chat: *Starts helping old ladies across the street.* Hawkmoth: I knew that Marinette Dupain Cheng was a bad influence on you!

Adrien in the middle of class having a heart attack as an akuma flies straight into the window trying to get his attention. Adrien: Father, now is not the time! Hawkmoth: I just- I just- I just want to check if Chloe's pissed anyone else off yet. Adrien: Didn't Nathalie say no akumatizing until you finish your paperwork? Hawkmoth: She's not the boss of- Nathalie: Gabriel, I can hear you monologuing from the dining room. You better not be interrupting Adrien's education! Hawkmoth: Gotta go!

Adrien: Father, can you not akumatize one of my friends for five minutes?

Hawkmoth: Young man, what do you think you're doing? Plagg: Don't panic, Kid. Show him who's boss. We don't take grief from anybody. Adrien: I'm r-rebelling, Father. You don't own me! Hawkmoth: I do, however, own all of Plagg's cheese. Plagg: ...Okay, Kid, let's think about this-

[bugsandboos]

cannot stop thinking of chat noir having a spam tiktok.

we talk a lot abt lb and cn having official twitter accounts, but imagine chat making a tt where he's not verified and just posts the funniest shit. ppl try to keep it a secret, so if you stumble upon him it's usually by chance.

i can picture him forcing ladybug to make tiktok dances with him, making thirst traps/capcut edit templates of his bugaboo bc he loves her soooo much, taking a video from his pov jumping around paris in 2x speed with subway surfers music in the background, etc etc.

basically the whole miraculous team endorses it except ladybug and is determined to make chat viral (which usually works). rena is always the most eager to make videos w him bc she's so used to acting professional on the ladyblog, so it gives her the chance to loosen up. chaos ensues every time they pump out content together.

chat also enjoys commenting under random videos as most people don't realize it's him until they go to his account. he'll comment "real" under vids trashing him but will go ABSOLUTELY FERAL under any videos trashing ladybug. i'm talking starting full on wars in the comments. he basically comments like duolingo's official tiktok acc (iykyk) and is chronically online, whatever that may mean.

not to mention HIS REPOSTS. they're either super funny or reveal serious chat noir lore. varies from "me when she doesn't want me😍😍😍" and "is it too much to ask for a life as a cat bathing in the sun with belly scratches" to "hearing 'i'm so proud of you' from a man that's not my father🥰🥰" and "how it feels having a father that lives down the hallway but is absent in your life". that typa stuff.

when ladybug eventually stalks his account and finds his reposts she LOSES IT. she doesn't even care that he revealed personal info to his 300k followers because HER KITTY IS IN DISTRESS. AND HE HAS A FATHER. THAT MUST BE STRANGLED. WITH HER YOYO.

but that is a story for another day.

[mc-lukanette]

Ladybug massaged her temples. She'd really, honestly tried to be sympathetic to Chat Noir, knowing how much love utterly sucked and how rough it could be when one's plans didn't go well.

But in the middle of an akuma battle? Because she didn't come after telling him that she already had plans? Prioritizing his own hurt feelings when people were literally melting after being turned into ice cream?

She couldn't do it, not now. She wasn't going to lose both of their miraculouses because Chat couldn't wait a few minutes to argue with her.

As Chat turned to go fight without a plan, she reached out and snatched his baton off of him. He halted, staggering and nearly falling off the roof in the process, then glared at her.

"What are you doing?!"

"Making a backup plan, because I'm the only one who can stop the akuma and you seem to want to cool off by becoming dessert," she stated. Pointing downwards, she instructed, "Stay safe. If we can't work together, I'll find someone else to help me."

She didn't wait for a reply, making a quick escape before his shouting drew even more attention to them. She ducked into alleys to keep herself hidden from Glaciator, only getting up on rooftops when there was no other way of getting around.

Despite the confidence she'd tried to show Chat, she knew deep down that it would be difficult to find someone who would fit the bill. She needed someone who could not only be convincing, but who she could be convincing with. She'd be a liar if she said she was in any way a good actor, so having to fake a romance with someone she wouldn't be comfortable with would definitely tip off Hawk Moth.

That left out strangers and, ironically, Adrien, with a sarcastic voice in her head commenting that he wouldn't be available even if she could ask him. She reigned in the voice with a shake of her head, feeling it was petty of her when it wasn't like it was his fault.

It wasn't like he planned on not coming, or knew he wouldn't be able to go and had been up to something else. That would've deserved the criticism.

Her thoughts bounced around in her head, running through all of the people she knew. Some were blatantly off-limits, like those who were already dating someone, and she had to keep in mind that they would have to be willing to practically throw themselves in front of an akuma alongside her. That narrowed her options even further, as some she couldn't be sure would put up with the danger.

She summarized everything in her head: someone she could feel comfortable around, who was unattached, who could handle the danger, who could act as needed, and who she wouldn't feel squeamish about being romantic with. Names and faces rushed through her memories like she'd pulled a crank on a slot machine, disappearing as she mentally disqualified them.

Until finally, there was only one left and she'd hit a jackpot of red 7s; or, in this case, black and blue 7s.

Turning on a dime, Ladybug took out her yoyo so its GPS could guide her, changing course now that she had a destination.

—————

It was strange landing on the Liberty without hearing any music. She tried to shake off the feeling, just hoping no one was asleep as she looked around, wandering from the front of the houseboat and into the little greenhouse area to check the seating there.

Still spotting no one, she headed further towards the back to peek into the cabin. Even if she saw Anarka instead, Anarka might've at least known where her temporary partner went, provided she would be willing to share after knowing the reason she was looking.

Because Luka would be perfect as her partner. He was brave enough to make himself bait for Captain Hardrock, acted well enough so that Captain Hardrock truly thought that he'd seen her escape out the window, and she was comfortable around him despite the attraction she had. It was a no brainer, really.

As if her thoughts had personally summoned him, a voice called from below, "Ladybug?"

She backed away from the cabin, peering down the stairway leading into the lounge room. Her face brightened in recognition and she exclaimed, "Just the person I was looking for! Luka—ah, Couffaine!"

She added the last name in a hurry, remembering that she was in hero form and not wanting to come off as too informal.

"I heard something up on the deck and came to look. I never thought it'd be you," he said, hurrying up the stairs to stand in front of her. "Why were you looking for me?"

"There's an akuma," she explained, the earlier cheer in her voice gone to express the severity of the situation. "He's after Marinette, and she told me to come find you if I needed help."

His face remained carefully neutral, but his cheeks were faintly flushed. "Marinette said that?"

Technically, it wasn't a lie. Marinette did tell Ladybug to go find Luka, just... in her head, since they shared the same head.

"Wait. Is she alright?" Luka pressed further, taking a step closer to her.

Ladybug had to suppress a smile, as well as the bubbly feelings in her stomach at knowing he was so worried about her. "She's fine for now. I helped her hide and Glaciator doesn't know where she is. All I need now is you to help keep the akuma from attacking me."

"You need a distraction?" He frowned worriedly. "Did something happen to Chat Noir?"

She made a face, nose scrunched as all of the unpleasant memories came back. There went the mood. "He's not being a team player, let's leave it at that."

Luka didn't ask for further detail, unintentionally proving to her that he was the right choice, and nodded along. "What do I have to do?"

"That..."

She hesitated, knowing that this was the only potential roadblock to all of this. She didn't have a backup plan for her backup plan, so if Luka didn't agree then she'd be stuck. The only way to know was to ask.

Taking a deep breath, she laid it all out to him, "Glaciator's power lets him turn anyone he hits into ice cream, even someone like me. His only rule is that he won't shoot couples, which is where you come in. I need you..." She swallowed, blushing but pushing on. "I need you to be my fake boyfriend and pretend like we're in love while I think through setting up a trap for him."

It sounded like something out of a cliche and she would rather not get into the logistics of how awful it was that she had to do something like that in the first place. She'd already had to kiss Chat Noir during an akuma fight even though she didn't want to and had reluctantly accepted that it was part of the job, albeit a gross one.

At least it would be with Luka this time, though he needed to accept first. He hummed, rubbing his chin in thought as he looked away from her, seeming conflicted.

"You won't be in danger. Hawk Moth won't go after you when it's all over," she tried to assure. "I'll make sure he knows before I purify the akuma that it was just a trick."

He shook his head. "Sorry. It's not that. I'm not dating anyone, but I do have someone I like."

"Oh." She didn't expect that, wondering who it could be whilst ignoring the tight feeling in her chest. "They must be something special."

"She is." He beamed, eyes growing soft at the mere thought of her. It felt oddly familiar somehow. "But I'll do this for Marinette, since she's in danger."

There was still something not quite right in his tone, but she knew he meant it and also that they was a she (even if it had nothing to do with the akuma). She placed a hand to her chest and sighed in relief, glad that this wasn't going to be too difficult. "Thanks. Now, let's—"

"Wait," he interrupted, raising a hand to signal for her to stop. "How much are you comfortable with?"

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

He squinted in concern. "I heard about the interview on Face-to-Face. A lot of Paris wants you and Chat Noir to be together, so he might not be fooled by us holding hands or hugging each other."

Oh, that... that was sweet? She hadn't given a thought to it beyond his own boundaries, but he cared about hers despite her status as a hero. After her interview with Nadja, it was true that she'd given up on some level that Paris might see her as anything close to a real person.

"I... thank you," she said, though it was a thanks from the heart rather than the professional one prior to it, "but I'll be okay. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

He nodded in agreement. "Me too."

"Good!" She smiled, pulling him to her side and taking out her yoyo. "We can talk about a plan on our way there!"

—————

They'd agreed to wait in an alley that Glaciator would soon come across on his pathway through Paris, since he'd be caught off guard for a few seconds when he spotted them. She would stick with the reality that her and Chat had a fight, but from there she would act like she left to find Luka to "destress," as "Luka always worried about her when she fought akuma whilst upset."

She knew it wasn't real, but it sounded nice in a way. In another universe where she didn't have to keep her identity a secret to those close to her, could things be different? Would she be able to have a boyfriend she could go to who would congratulate her on her victories? Would he fret over her and be upset that it was Chat Noir helping her instead of him? Would he hold her after particularly tough battles, and even after easy ones—

Focus.

"We should practice while we wait," she suggested, putting her air of professionalism back on, "to make sure we'll be convincing. How good is your imagination?"

"What?" The question caught him off guard.

"I want this to be enjoyable for you, and it'd help the act." She waved a hand at herself, instructing, "Just picture her, and do to me what you'd do to her if you were dating."

He gave her a once-over, mulling over the request. He rubbed the area along his shoulder where his guitar strap usually was, then closed his eyes, possibly getting into the right mindset to imagine this mystery person girl in front of him at that moment. She could also swear she heard him humming a familiar tune as he tapped a melody against his thigh.

When he opened his eyes again, the soft half-lidded look had returned. She shuddered, knowing now that the look was directed at "her," and unconsciously held her breath as he took a step towards her.

His fingertips touched her shoulder, slowly trailing down to her forearm and then her hand. He raised it to his face and, rather than the cheesy peck on the back that Chat had always given her, he flipped it around to place a slow, steady kiss against her wrist.

She let out the breath in a single exhale, blushing. Already, the atmosphere felt far different than what she was used to. She knew that Luka didn't mess around when it came to feelings, and these feelings were clearly very genuine.

"She's so creative," he whispered, kissing the back of her curled fingers as well. "My sister's told me so many stories about her. She's extraordinary."

So he was getting into the mood by gushing about his crush. She almost felt like she was intruding, having more information than he thought she did, but she let him keep going, unable to tell him that.

Then, remembering that she should be just as involved as him, she raised her free hand to his face, starting at his temple and slowly working down towards his chin. He didn't have the look of a model, even if he dyed his hair and dressed up, but he was handsome in his own way, so she took her time feeling along his cheekbones.

Luka leaned against her touch, nuzzling into her palm with a sigh. With his head turned, she could free the hand he'd been holding and touch his earlobe, feeling the black earring he was wearing with her thumb.

"We match," she teased lightly.

His smile widened. "She matches me too. She has black earrings."

Black earrings. Despite the mixed feelings that he appeared to already like someone, she couldn't help being curious. Did she know someone that Juleka knew who wore black earrings?

She was startled out of her thoughts at the faint sound of loud, squishy footsteps and a sing-song voice off in the distance. She had rightly predicted Glaciator's path and he was approaching, so he'd be there at any moment.

Luka's eyes flicked out of the alley, then back to Ladybug. Gently taking both of her forearms in his hands, he circled her so his back was facing the nearest wall. He slowly sat himself down, bringing Ladybug with him as he pressed himself against the wall. She caught on quickly, climbing onto his lap and making herself comfortable.

She was rewarded with a kiss against her lower jaw, causing her to gasp. "You...you really like this girl."

"You should know, since you met her again today," he countered, encircling her with his arms to bring her in.

Her mind grew briefly fuzzy when he kissed her cheek, but it cleared as his words registered with her. "W-wait, you mean... m—Marinette?"

He nodded, beaming shamelessly like he hadn't dropped a bomb on her. She was just glad she was sitting in his lap, her legs feeling vaguely like jelly all of a sudden.

So all the things he said, the soft eyes that had felt so familiar, and all of the affection on offer had been for her. She knew she had her own spark of affection for him, but she felt like she was always looking like a fool in front of him, thus making it all one-sided.

Yet, it was mutual, and the unspoken conflict he'd been facing earlier suddenly made sense. He'd been torn when he heard that Marinette had "told" Ladybug to find him because that meant she was okay with him potentially kissing someone else.

She giggled. If only he knew, and if only she had known it could be so simple.

"Luka," she began, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing herself up enough to kiss his forehead, "Did you ever think that Marinette recommended you because she thought it was one-sided too?"

"Ah—mm." Whatever he was going to say stalled as she kissed his temple as well.

She continued without waiting for an answer, "Y-you know what she told me when I told her the situation? That you were the perfect boyfriend material; that you were brave, capable, and sweet when she needed it most."

The alley was dark, but she could make out the way his cheeks pinkened. She wanted to see that through Marinette's eyes one day, not Ladybug's.

"I think you should ask her out," she added.

"I..." He hesitated, his arms around her loosening. "I wouldn't want to pressure her."

She almost laughed, thinking back to how badly she would've wished for someone like him when she was still struggling to make friends, and even now. "Take it from me, I know these things..."

The footsteps were growing louder and she heard the sound of boots against rooftops. Recalling the baton at her lower back, she glanced across the street and up, seeing that Chat Noir was stealthfully keeping up with Glaciator. She had no idea what was going on in his head, whether he was skeptical if she'd make due on her word or was simply waiting for her to come back, but their eyes met.

Pretending not to have noticed him, she took Luka's chin using the hand furthest from where Chat was. Her other cradled Luka's cheek, carefully hiding the sight of his lips from anyone else behind her wrist.

"If it's you asking, and this is what you have planned for her," she began, leaning towards him, "then she'll definitely say 'yes.'"

She sealed the promise with a kiss purposefully to the side of his mouth, though to anyone watching from where she knew they would, it would look like the real deal. Luka's breath caught as his embrace tightened back up, and she knew he was strongly considering the suggestion.

He better, anyway, as she wanted to give him the real deal as Marinette.

[fortuna-et-cataclysmos]

S5 finale: wrapping up the "running out of time" theme

So I have been mentioning frequently that there is a theme of "running out of time" in season 5, but I wasn't able to make out the meaning of it, until now.

We can say that there are three situations where the theme explicitely manifests:

Gabriel: After receiving a cataclysm wound in Destruction, we often hear Gabriel repeat that he is running out of time. The entire Intuition episode is based on that premise.

Ladynoir: This is the most obvious manifestation of this theme. In Jubilation, Ladybug and Chat Noir live a dream just to be constantly reminded that their perfect life together will end when they wake up to reality. I call it Ladynoir, but actually it is Maribug's love and romantic relationship with Chat in general.

Adrinette: This is the most subtle one, but it is there. Notice how Marinette needs to ease into a relationship with Adrien, and Adrien is doing his best to cut her slack, so much so that he says in Derision, and I quote: "We've got time." Soon after, Adrien is sent to London.

If you think I have forgotten other strings of running out of time, feel free to let me know!

Now let's look at these three strings individually:

Gabriel running out of time

This one is the simplest one as it starts very early on in the season, with the episode Destruction where he gets the cataclym wound, and ends in Recreation with his "sacrifice." Also worthy noting the names of the episodes. What starts as Gabriel running out of time in Destruction is concluded in Recreation with him making his wish, accomplishing his wish, and dying. We can consider this thread concluded.

2. Ladynoir running out of time

Of course, the first episode that comes to mind is Jubilation. In Jubilation we (and the blorbos) learn that they actually desire to be together, romantically. And indeed they get to live a perfect little life in their dream, ignoring the increasingly bigger alarm clocks that are trying to wake them up. Except that at the end Ladybug realises that they must wake up (duty calls!), and she abandons Chat Noir in the dream universe, broken.

From here on, nearly every episode is a warning for Marinette against being romantically together with Chat Noir:

Determination: Marinette accepts that she has feelings for Chat Noir, her reaction to that is crying

Passion: Ladybug's crush on Chat Noir leads to her being distracted and making many critical mistakes in their fight

Reunion: is a cautionary tale about Ladybug and Cat Miraculous holders falling in love

Illusion: (I haven't watched this in a while but I think nothing relevant happens here)

Elation: Marinette is nearly akumatised because of her love to and rejection by Chat Noir

The overarching message from Jubilation to Elation is that: if Maribug ends up with Chat Noir, it'll be a disaster.

So Marinette decides to close up her heart to anyone, and after a brief depression, Adrien finally convinces her to be with him and they become an official couple. From this point onwards, the key ship becomes Adrinette.

Does that mean that Ladynoir has run out of time? Not necessarily. They just decided to love each other in a different way. I should remind here that even though we tend to polarise the sides of the square as fandom, the creators have repeatedly told that the love square is one, there is one love.

The Ladynoir relationship has a direct connection to the Adrinette dynamics because after all, they're the same two people.

3. Adrinette running out of time

Now that Adrinette is finally together, they should have all the time in the world, right? Right? It's what Adrien says, after all.

But I couldn't shake this sense of urgency throughout this season. Every time they said that they had time, it made me feel like they actually don't and they don't know it. And it was exactly what they wanted to make us feel: with Adrien's move to London, it turns out they didn't have time. Worse is that, Adrien actually knew that he'd need to move to London but he couldn't tell it to Marinette, he kept it a secret all the way till he was shipped off to London.

And there is a parallel between Jubilation and Revolution here: in both episodes, their dream is shattered, they share one last dramatic kiss, and they are torn apart from one and other (@asukiess had a big brain time and pointed this out back when Revolution aired).

But now, in Recreation, Gabriel is gone. Everything is fixed? Everyone will be happy, right?

Well... No.

As I pointed out in a previous post, the world that Gabriel creates is a bit too bright, too perfect. The show is notorious for associating the sun with fake happiness at this point, while the "real" moments are rainy and/or dark. And let's see the colour palette in the end:

Another detail that makes me put on my tinfoil hat:

They're not very visible on the static image, but there are white butterflies flying over the flower arch. Those could be symbolising the end, as a reference to how Ladybug releases the purified akuma at the end of each episode. But it might also have a second meaning, a reference to how this world was in fact created upon the ideals of Gabriel.

And that can't be good for anyone. I explain more the consequences and aftermath of this episode in the post I mention above, but basically this world is Gabriel's ideal, and it is far from being a good place for neither Marinette, nor Adrien.

One main reason why: Gabriel has left Marinette with the truth about the Monarch, and she agreed to keep it a secret from Adrien. But we know that it will eventually come out. Either she tells it to Chat Noir, or maybe Lila plots something, but it won't remain a secret forever. And when it does... it will have tremendous impact on not only Adrinette, but also Ladynoir.

This world is a fantasy world where Marinette and Adrien have ended up together, just like in: Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, Oblivio, Jubilation. And at one point the alarm clock will ring, the hammer will drop, and both Ladynoir and Adrinette will run out of time. Except that this time, we may not be able to revert back to the status quo.

Gabriel has left them with a tickling time bomb.

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

I’m curious to know what makes you like Ladrien. What’s the appeal? I have my reasons for why I dislike them, so I’m definitely interested to hear all about the other side.

Absolutely no hate, I’m just super curious

Hi! First of all, thank you for giving me an excuse to babble on about Ladrien 🥰

I just want to preface this by stating that it is my belief that people who don't like Ladrien, are those who don't really understand the ship and/or the beauty to the ship, so it would be my pleasure to talk about why I love them so much:

1. They are the pinnacle of Lovesquare mutual pining

I personally am a mutual pining fiend. If there is mutual pining in a ship, chances are you can find me onboard. Mutual pining is probably my favorite part of a ship timeline, I love the angst, the bitter-sweetness, the confused and pained but still loving interactions, and my friend, Ladrien has all that and a bag of chips.

The thing is, Adrien is in love with Ladybug, Ladybug is in love with Adrien, but there's a certain impossibility to their love. Ladybug doesn't know Adrien well enough to love him, so it would never cross his mind that she would even entertain him as a romantic interest. Adrien has hardly even interacted with Ladybug, so it certainly wouldn't make sense that he would have feelings for her, forget about being in love with her.

What cements these beliefs is the fact that they both know the other in very different circumstances. Chat Noir and Marinette both know that the person they are in love with is not fickle about their feelings and is not shallow about love, they aren't just going to fall in love with some random celebrity. What's even more so is the fact that Ladybug knows that Adrien is in love with someone (circa season 3) and Adrien knows that Ladybug is in love with someone (circa season 2), making it so that they believe that the others' affections are tied elsewhere, seemingly making them unavailable (hence the pining).

I also want to point out that Ladrien is also void of the friendships of Adrinette and Ladynoir, meaning the pining becomes even more powerful as they don't even have access to the comforts of friendship. They are apart in every painful way.

This all creates an environment where every interaction between the two is filled with this yearning tension of wanting to be closer, wanting to move closer, but having to stop themselves because it doesn't make sense, because they fear rejection, because they just can't.

2. They have amazing on-screen chemistry and interactions

If you don't watch any season 2 Ladrien scene with a giant smile on your face, then you are missing out. I chose to mention season 2 in particular, because it's the season with the most Ladrien interaction, but honestly, you can find amazing Ladrien in every season.

The way they both stare at each other in wonder, in the first ever Ladrien interaction might I add, in season one's episode "The Mime", was the perfect way to set the stage for what we were to expect from this ship. They love each other, they are amazed by each other, they make each other dizzy and distracted, it's beautiful and hopeful, and directly contrasts the very difficult interactions that Adrien has in the episode with his father. Whereas Adrien's family is a point of pain for him, Ladybug is the light, the hope for him

Just discussing my two favorite Ladrien scenes, their chemistry and brilliantly portrayed relationship is obvious. Firstly, there is the catch scene in "Gorizilla". I don't think this scene needs explanation, but my goodness it is one I like to talk/think about a lot. The way he portrays implicit trust in Ladybug, the way he fully believes that she will catch him, is just so djaskljdaksljdkals, it's so sweet to watch. But then, she catches him, and even without talking about the trope subversion (though it is important), the way that they stare at each other, how their sole focus is on each other, how the catch was fast and sudden, but then Ladybug slows down to make the descent more comfortable for Adrien, it's all just *chef's kiss*. Adrien is then so enamored and lovestruck, that he forgets where he is, he forgets who he is, and nearly exposes himself by using a term of endearment for his love, which is just the most Ladrien thing ever jdksadjaskld

Finally, I want to talk about my other favorite Ladrien scene, which is the panic attack scene at the end of "Strike Back". Here we see Ladybug coping with the worst betrayal she has ever endured, and at the hands of the person who looks identical to the boy standing in front of here. And with all that uncertainty and mistrust, he stays there, he comforts her, he talks her through her panic, through her next steps. And when he offers her to detransform in his bathroom, with only a door to prevent her reveal, despite being unsure and cautious, she ultimately decides to trust him. She puts her vulnerability into his hands and allows him to see her emotional vulnerability and potentially have access to her physical vulnerability.

(there are more scenes to talk about but for brevity's sake I will stop here)

3. They very obviously love and support each other, despite the circumstances of their relationship

Just drawing back to the episodes that were mentioned in the last point, just from viewing those two scene alone, it is obvious that though they both love each other, she also trusts him and he trusts her.

The truth of the matter is, no side of the lovesquare exists in a vacuum. The sides bleed and meld and create together some amalgamated item that will only feel whole when the full square is revealed. As such, the knowledge and feelings that they have as Adrinette and Ladynoir, are going to have some presence while they are Ladrien.

My point of mentioning this, is that trust and sensitivity for each other is going to be present in their relationship, even if they didn't necessarily reach that development as Ladrien. On paper, Ladrien is a superhero and a model who have only interacted a handful of times. And yet, to both of them, their relationship is so much deeper than that.

They know each other, they're familar with each other, and yet, they're not. Adrien knows how Ladybug will take a joke from Chat Noir, but he doesn't know how she'll take one from Adrien, or why there's a difference. Ladybug knows how Adrien will react to a gift from Marinette, but she doesn't know how he'll take one from Ladybug, nor why there might be a difference. Adrien might know Ladybug's favorite drink order, but he doesn't know her birthday, her parents' name, etc. And Likewise, Ladybug might know Adrien's favorite color, but she doesn't know what he does at night, where the ring on his finger is from.

And yet, despite all of this, despite only being familiar with half a person, they take that half and choose to love them whole-heartedly. They choose to take the information they have and trust that person blindly. Despite, the impossibility of their relationship, they choose to continue to hope.

Because they admire each other, they care for each other, they love each other, and they will do everything in their power to continue to do that. And I think that's beautiful.

There are more reasons, but these are the main three, and I doubt you want to hear me drone on, so hope this sufficed!

Thank you for the ask! <3

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

This probably isn’t the right place to ask, but is it normal to just feel a little uncertain about how you view the show now after hearing so much stuff about it or having seen a lot of fan material that elevate the source material?

It just feels weird to rewatch a little of the show that I kind of don’t do that anymore or let it play in the background.

That's super normal, especially in large fandoms where the fan content vastly outweighs the canon content. There are literally millions of words of Miraculous fic out there. You can read a new story a day and still have thousands left because there are currently 73K fics on AO3. That's over 200 years of fics! An episode a day will take you about half a year. If you're the kind of person who likes to read fanfic or participate in fan discussions, then it's not shocking that you're at risk of getting a warped view of canon because of the way fanon often works.

It's pretty common to see fanon go where canon never dared to tread. This can lead to an interesting disconnect between super fans and canon where popular fanon takes get treated like canon by fans as those takes just straight up consume the fandom. Then you go back to canon and it's jarring because you've spend so much time in fanon that you've internalized all that fanon, creating this alternate, idealized view of the source that has no real backing in the text.

You've got an Avengers logo as your profile pic and I was in that fandom for a while, so let's use that as an easy example. Avengers fanon is found family central! Fans love to bond the team because of course they do! Superhero teams generally should be found families! But canon never actually did that, so watching the movies after reading some fics can be disheartening because you're suddenly reminded that canon never gave us a found family. That's just in your head and the heads of many other fans.

Miraculous does this to an extreme with Ladynoir. Read some fanfics and you can internalize this idea that they're partners like no other with a close bond of love and trust. Then you go watch canon and it's like, oh, right, that never actually happened in the actual show. Ooops. Time to readjust my expectations for the new season.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's generally a reflection of people longing for something that the source will never give them so they go, "fine, I'll do it myself!" And can lead to wonderful things that bring us great joy because you're rarely alone in that longing! But if you're finding that kind of joy in fanon, I've found that it often - but not always! - means that you probably didn't like canon as much as you thought you did.

I know that I personally only seek out fan content when something about canon is lacking. I don't seek out fan content for works I adore because canon is giving me everything I want. Sometimes the thing that's lacking is pretty minor, sometimes it's a major flaw in the source. When it's a minor flaw, fanon is just there to patch a few cracks and I'm still happy to enjoy canon. When it's a major flaw or major flaws? Fanon is my canon now.

That "fanon is my canon now" take only becomes a bad thing when we start blaming the creators for not giving us the things we internalized from fanon, which can and does happen when the fanon disconnect becomes more extreme. Like when fanon takes a character and warps them into a new version of themself with only minor backing in the text. That's always an especially jarring thing to come across.

Miraculous isn't too bad about that one, but there are certainly popular fanon takes that don't come from canon like Marinette keeping the identities a secret because she's afraid that Chat Noir will be disappointed by plain old Marinette compared to the amazing and cool Ladybug. I don't think that's a huge stretch for a potential conflict, but it's got almost no backing in the actual text. Canon Marinette keeps her secret identity for safety reasons and she's generally pretty confident in her role as Ladybug. But if you've read a bunch of fics with secret-identities-only-exist-because-I'm-insecure Marinette and fallen in love with that concept? Then it's gonna be hard to watch canon and follow the actual conflict.

This was a bit of a ramble, but hopefully it was reassuring! I totally get where you're coming from and find it particularly hard for media that you genuinely loved at one point. I never loved Miraculous, but I had genuine hopes for The Avengers and still feel a little sad that the MCU never gave us any found family content outside of the opening of Ultron. It makes it less fun to rewatch even the good movies knowing that it will never deliver the things I was hoping for.

[flightfoot]

Could you rec some love square #protect Adrien# (without Lila or Chloe salt)?<3

So I'm assuming from the "#protect adrien" that you're wanting Love Square fic where Adrien gets comfort and protection from Gabriel's abuse? Hopefully these fics scratch your itch!

---

No Mistakes, No Pressure by ChaoticAce2005

Mlss gift for @nagisa_Chan Perfect. That’s what Adrien Agreste is supposed to be. The perfect model. The perfect son. The perfect student. But there’s one major flaw in all of this: Adrien himself isn’t. How can you constantly play roles demanding perfection without fault? The answer is you can’t. Eventually something has to give. And everyone is starting to get worried that the thing that will give is Adrien himself. Or: Basically Adrien starts to crumble because of all the expectations people put on him, and it’s starting to affect every aspect of his life. This is his journey of acknowledging the fact that perfection isn’t possible and that it’s okay to lean on others.

I really love the emphasis on how Adrien thinks of himself as a product here, that he has different "modes" or "editions" that he becomes, like a doll having different versions, and then slowly beginning to get better with the help of his friends. It really captures how he's been objectified, and how, thankfully, his friends are able to help him with that.

---

A Child's Love by jaron5

This takes place post-Hack-San. Ladybug hands Chat Noir a potion she brewed which accidentally turns him into a kid without any of his memories. How is she going to keep an eye on a miniature Chat Noir while trying to keep their secret identities intact? Or the more pressing concern- how will she preserve her sanity when faced with the overwhelming cuteness and innocence that is her now de-aged partner?

I loved this fic, it's adorable and heart-wrenching. Adrien doesn't understand what's going on, but he still enjoys being around Marinette and the rest of his friends, and they just keep on hearing more and more little things that make them increasingly worried about Chat Noir's childhood.

---

The Man of Mind Alone by @nemaliwrites

Underneath the taste of ingredients — the chocolate, the lemon, the butter — there’s something hidden, something larger and darker. As though his mouth is filling with the taste of smallness, the sensation of pain, of shrinking, of upset. A taste that he somehow knows is connected to his mother. -- Seven defining foods of Adrien Agreste's life.

So this was a fascinating fic. Basically, Adrien has this ability to taste the emotions people feel while they cook whenever he eats their food, gets to know them a lot better. Which can be a problem if the person cooking is really sad or angry or hateful. I love seeing how he navigates his ability, since it can cause a lot of problems - if he eats something by someone who was feeling nasty things, it can be traumatizing to him, and there's a bit of an invasion of privacy aspect as well.

Of course, he could cook for himself, but then he'd have to confront his own feelings, his own self, and he's scared.

---

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.

---

with this ring by @thelibraryloser

She thought “you and me against the world” had sounded like lopsided odds before, when she hadn’t even dreamed “you against me” was a possibility. Or maybe she had dreamed it, but at least in those dreams he’d had cold blue eyes and a stark white mask. The villain she’d fought today had looked at her through her partner’s own bright green eyes. It wasn’t meant to be this way.

Short and sweet Sentiadrien enemies canon divergence fic here! I adored Marinette finding out why her kitty seemed to have “betrayed” her, and the righteous anger on his behalf once she figured out that it wasn’t of his own free will. Her comforting Adrien about it was just… really good. It’s a Hawkmoth Defeat fic too, so the immediate aftermath gets covered as well. Adrien needs a hug.

---

what makes a human (am I?) by GraceM_TheStoriedLife

Adrien comes to Marinette’s out of nowhere. Usually Chat is her rock. Tonight, it’s her turn. (Or, in which Adrien discovers some secrets he’s not prepared for and Marinette is as Marinette-y as always.

So Adrien discovers he’s a sentimonster and immediately runs to Marinette for support. It’s as cute and angsty as you’d expect. She is, of course, very supportive of him. Also some discussion of Gabriel being abusive, since both she and Nino had been trying to get Adrien to see that. Especially with how, exactly, Adrien found out he’s a sentimonster. He can relate a little better to Felix’s experiences now than is healthy, I’ll just say.

---

The Parable of the Caller by @nemaliwrites

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest.

But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

I absolutely adore this fic, it’s a fantastic character study for Adrien! Basically in this universe, Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about who should be Guardian, with Chat eventually convincing her that he should be the one to take it on, primarily due to the whole “the Guardian gets amnesia about Miraculous-related matters” situation, and wanting to protect Ladybug from that. Then he finds out Gabriel is Hawk Moth, they take him down, and he relinquishes the Miracle Box and his guardianship to Su Han - all without having a Reveal with Ladybug, since well, he’s not in the greatest shape mentally at the time.

It’s a real treat to see Adrien’s thoughts and feelings about one of the Heroes of Paris leaving him all these voicemails, treating him like this close friend for reasons he doesn’t understand, and just seeing Chat Noir as this outside person. He’s got a very different viewpoint on Chat when looking from the outside than he would from the inside, with being able to see his heroic and good qualities far more easily when he doesn’t know that he is Chat.

Also Marinette’s struggling in the background of the fic with the loss of her partner and guilt over sending Adrien’s father to prison. It gets touched on at various points, and you can tell that she’s having her own story off to the side that we’re just not entirely privy to, what with this tale being told entirely from Adrien’s perspective.

---

drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I’m sure everyone saw this one coming. If there’s one thing buggachat’s good at, storywise, it’s capturing raw, tumultuous emotions, frantic breakdowns as the characters desperately try to navigate bad situations. This was a real treat to read, as I’m betting most people reading this will agree, given just how popular the fic has been. It also has a ton of fanart, both by buggachat and by random fans, if you go looking for it (there’s a drowning in plain sight tag which I’d advise perusing). 

---

Eventually by @lucid-ao3

Adrien’s life has been dictated by rules, monitored, and controlled for years. He has learned to compartmentalize. It’s not that bad. It always gets better, eventually. Doesn’t it?

Recovery can be an unexpected obstacle when you didn’t realize you were being hurt in the first place.

OR: How Adrien lives and copes with the emotional abuse inflicted on him over the years, and how he ultimately could overcome it.

If you want a good “Adrien doesn’t realize how abusive his father is but slowly buckles more and more under his tyranny, until things come to a head, and he actually gets the HELP HE NEEDS” fic, this is a good one!

---

Stealing Freedom by @rosie-b

Adrien Agreste was a good person. Marinette knew this to be true, of course; she wouldn’t be marrying him if he were some irredeemable villain. No, her fiancé was practically the opposite of evil. He cooed over babies and kittens, literally stopped to smell the roses and always brought large bouquets of them to dates. He had trouble killing spiders and bugs, begging his partner to take on the task whenever she was around to save him. Adrien was the sweetest person Marinette knew, the most kindhearted, the most forgiving; he was almost too perfect for her sometimes. But now, Marinette knew that the same Adrien who still blushed when his fiancée kissed him was also the well-known terror of Paris, Cat Walker.

Now, this fic really SHOULD have been in my top fics for 2022 post. I’m a sucker for enemies au and I love a good Sentiadrien fic, so combining the two of them here is great! I feel so bad for Adrien, and I love that the heroes know from early on that Cat Walker isn’t really the enemy here. It’s short, but it’s sweet.

[marinettesaltprompts]

It's Morphin' Time

Prompt by @rukatofan89

Time for an Adrien Sugar prompt (with some Marinette salt) and a different crossover that is rarely used. 

Adrien (Like in many salt fics) has lost his ring, friends, home and fortune save for the trust fund his mother set up for him before his birth and being the teenage son of Hawkmoth, finding any work or going to school has proven impossible and is living in a crappy apartment trying to milk his finances as long as possible since his aunt and cousin refuse to even acknowledge his existence. He was barely able to hold onto the rings that held his Amok by claiming he never had them. All the while, Ladybug is Paris’ darling hero and in spite of his efforts, Chat Noir is remembered as either a failure or a joke.

This changes one day when Adrien returns home after another failed job hunt to find a tall anthropomorphic dog with black hair and blue scales in his living room. Before he can get a word out the stranger knocks him out and he wakes up in a white interrogation room. His first thought was that someone ordered his arrest or one of his fathers’ victims wanted payback. Looking up however, he sees two men watching him. They’re both wearing black but one of them as an equal amount of green on him.

“You sure you don’t want to witness this?” The one man asks, turning to the man with the green.

“Your power, your choice.” The other man said. Adrien noticed the man had a strange pair of bracelets on his wrists. “Either way though, I approve.”

“Cool.” The first man says as the other turns to leave. “Tell Tanya I said hey.”

“I will. After I talk to Krueger about his capture methods.” The second man replies as the door shuts behind him, leaving Adrien alone with the other man.

“Look.” Adrien begins as the man sits down. “I had nothing to do with my father Akumatizing people.” He’d been interrogated with every method short of torture after his father and Natalie were arrested. While there was no hard evidence linking him to Hawkmoth, it didn’t sway most people. And he never revealed his identity as Chat Noir publicly after Ladybug had outright derided him in an interview after loosing his ring.

“We know.” The man interrupted him. Between Space Patrol Alpha, Grid Battleforce and the various computer experts they had connections to, he knew Adrien was innocent. “We also know you fought against him, Chat Noir.”

Giving a groan, Adrien put his head in his hands. “What do you want? I don’t know who ladybug is, and she won’t even talk to me. I don’t have a miraculous or a means to get one.”

“Actually.” The man replied. “We want to hear your side of the story, how you got your powers, and what led to you falling out with Ladybug.”

Adrien was a little skeptical at first, but something about this man put him at ease and made him want to trust him. And so, he began his tale, meeting the old guardian on his very first day of school. Receiving Plagg and becoming Chat Noir and his and Ladybugs’ fights with the Akumas. How their relationship went from being equal partners to her having power over him, keeping more and more secrets, and how he never received any training like Ladybug did outside of ONE meeting with the old guardian. Of how she left him to fight Akumas to go retrieve other heroes and how he was never allowed to know their identities and how she even banned one person from being a bearer again because HE knew her identity. Then his tale turned to Ladybug becoming the guardian and him eventually losing his ring before Ladybug and the other heroes took down his father. Eventually, he ended his story on a tangent about Lila’s’ manipulations and how they led to him becoming ostracized by his former friends once her lies were exposed.

As he listened to they young mans’ tale, Zack Taylor, the original Mighty Morphin’ Black Ranger had to struggle to keep his poker face. While they never exactly asked WHY Zordon had chosen them to become the Power Rangers, he always treated the five, and later six, of them equally and never asked them to keep secrets from each other. If their mentor had pulled with Jason what the old guardian did with Ladybug, Rita wouldn’t have NEEDED to brainwash Tommy into being the Green Ranger. And in spite of what Parisians might think (honestly, who put what in the drinking water there?) they knew Chat Noir was a capable hero, if not a little socially and emotionally stunted. Heck, if both he and Adrien were heroes at the same time and place, they’d probably be bouncing puns and jokes off each other the whole fight while everyone laughed. Zack couldn’t help seeing a bit of his teenaged self in the broken hero before him.

“Thank you, by the way.” Adrien said, taking a drink of water.

“What for?” Zack asked, pulled from his musings.

“Letting me get that off my chest.” Adrien answered. “I think your the first one who’s cared about my side of the story, ever.” He snorted. “Everyone just took a few bad things and immediately thought the worst of me.”

“You’re welcome.” Zack smiled back, a little stunned by this. “Could you do me a favor though?” He asked, reaching into his pocket.

“What?” Adrien asked as Zack put a weathered gold coin on the table and slid it to him. Looking at it, he noticed it had an image of a Mammoth or Mastodon on it.

“Hold that coin and tell me what you feel.” Adrien gives a sigh and picks up the coin.

“I swear, if a little mammoth comes out of this thin.” He’s cut off as the proxy power coin glows and a black light envelops his body. Zack smiles, because sitting before him now, was a new black Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger. His successor has been found. He will teach Adrien to become the new Black Ranger and once his training is complete, give him the actual power coin.

A few highlights for Adrien’s’ new life as an apprentice Ranger.

-Zack explains that several older rangers are seeking successors and convincing Adrien he’s worthy of the power.

-Training with Ninjor at his temple when not training with Zack.

-At one point Adrien runs into a bitter but repentant Chloe. He and Zack see her attempting to rescue kids during a monster attack and short list her as a possible apprentice ranger.(Early SPD maybe?)

-Therapy sessions with Karone. (not a bad person to talk out past issues with I think)

-Meets Minh Kwan (Romance or brother sister relationship-you decide)

-Gaining a new best friend in Jayden Shiba (I can’t help feeling they’d bond over learning to be normal ‘teenagers with attitude’)

-Meeting the Mystic Force Power Rangers who not only sever his connection to the Peacock Miraculous but also transfer his Amok into a surgical pin which Dana Mitchell (Lightspeed Rescue Pink Ranger) then implants inside his body.

-Finding out at a massive get together that not only do ALL the Power Rangers know each others identities, they help each other on both sides of the mask. Many rangers (the rest of the living OG MMPR team included) welcome him to the ranger family (He cried happy tears that day) a few lawyer rangers begin looking into his aunt and many of the goings on in Paris and allow Adrien to reclaim his wealth, even if he doesn’t need it.

-Eventually, a new red, pink and blue ranger are picked to join Adrien and Minh as the new Mighty Morphin’ team and they become fast friends as their predecessors did.

One day, a new villain crawls out of the woodwork and the new rangers investigate activity in Paris. Team Miraculous is overrun by literally hundreds of foot soldiers and when the rangers appear to help, end up getting in the way of finishing the monster. Eventually, they manage to stop the attack, but when Ladybug goes to thank them Black Rangers tells her to stay out of the way and to “let the actual heroes do their job.” The rest of the rangers back him up while gently chiding him, which he accepts with grace.

As more monster attacks are repelled by the rangers, Team Miraculous keeps looking more and more inept in comparison. (Considering they don’t have the support network the rangers do or training it’s unsurprising.) They aren’t dealing with Akumas attempting to capture their Miraculous anymore, they’re dealing with monsters trying to outright kill them all. Support for the team is at an all time low and Ladybug is low key losing it.

Things come to a head when Marinette is watching footage of the ranger battles and recognizes Chat Noir from a pun black ranger makes. After the next battle, Ladybug swoops into a (thankfully) empty battlefield and demands Adrien give her his morpher because “If you weren’t worthy of a miraculous, you aren’t worthy to be a ranger.” Minh leads the rangers in ripping into Ladybug for this, firing off her failings as a hero and for how she treated their friend. She doesn’t back down and sicks the rest of the team on them (albeit some are reluctant) when he refuses her again.

As the fight breaks out, the battle is witnessed by SPA who quickly puts out a call for reinforcements. Soon the five rangers are joined by their predecessors (who now use the proxy coins only when needed) Tommy and Katherine Oliver, Ninjor, The Mystic Force, The red, pink and Titanium Lightspeed rangers, The Samurai Rangers, the red and Quantum Time Force Rangers, and the recently promoted Commander Kruger. During the fight, Ladybug fixates on Adrien to the point that Tommy pops the Dragon coin out of the Master Morpher and tosses it to him so he can use the Dragon Shield and Dagger for added protection.

With sheer numbers, and Adrien’s’ knowledge of the Miraculous powers, they are able to whittle down the team to just Ladybug, the replacement Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Argos and Ryuko. Argos (After realizing he can’t control his cousin) then uses an Amok to create a 'Sentizord’ for the five of them to pilot. In response, the current MMPR team call the Dinozords with Adrien also calling the Dragonzord. The fight begins but the Sentizord is amazingly fast, allowing it to damage the Megazord and Dragonzord. Albeit this does exhaust the Sentizord as the fight draws on.

Ladybug comments during the fight that no matter what team Adrien’s on, he can’t win. After all, they only beat Hawkmoth AFTER he lost his ring. The fury surges in Adrien and he calls out.

“MASTODON, LION, THUDERZORD POWER!”

The other rangers give their own calls and five bolts of lighting hit the damaged Dino Megazord, recharging and transforming it into the Thunder Megazord. Rallying the Dragonzord with the dagger, the two charge the worn out Sentizord, eventually knocking it backwards and the heroes out of it for them to be captured by the other rangers.

After the fight, Su-Han attempts to recover the Miraculous in his usual bullheaded and ham-fisted way. It goes about as well as you think it does. After being interrogated by Grid Battleforce yields no answers, the red Cosmic Fury ranger Amelia Jones uses her telepathy to read the Celestial Guardians’ mind and finds that the Guardian order is behind a global rash of child kidnappings to restore their numbers by 'conscripting and indoctrinating’ them into their order. The temple is soon captured by a large team of rangers from every team and spearheaded by Adrien’s’ team.

Later, in the same interrogation room he met Zack in, Adrien sits across from Marinette. Tikki floats next to her but she dose not have her Miraculous. When asked what’s going to happen now, Adrien replies that as the world court isn’t ready to handle magic users, so they will defer to them. That said, they understand that Marinette was manipulated and conditioned by a pair of cult members (Fu and Su), but was still a good hero before they interfered. So, SPA and Grid Battleforce will hold onto the Miraculous until she and the other heroes have completed both psychological counseling, and a full ranger training course. From there, they will see if the heroes want their Miraculous back, and if they are truly worthy of them. (Spoiler alert, some of them don’t, and aren’t) As he leaves the the room, Adrien turns to the girl he once loved, but now feels only pity with a dash of hope.

“And Marinette, may the power protect you.”

OP Note: This prompt actually reminds me of some of my old crossover ideas I had for Power Rangers (albiet non-salt related), so I really like this idea, though I think it would be even better without the salt parts.

[princesssmars]

late night visitors

a ladynoir x reader

most people don't get visited by paris's notorious superheroes at night. luckily, you're not most people.

wc : 1982

contains : fluff. just a bunch of fluff ngl. polyamory. mari and adrien's ages arent stated but they grew up with me in my head so they're about 17/18 here idc.

f/f - favorite flowers

a/n : we love starting a fic and not finishing it until a year later <3 i made this short (?) and sweet before i went overboard. enjoy :)

one thing paris didn’t get enough credit for was its quietness. during the day the city bustles, each arrondissement’s streets filled with tourists and families enjoying the city of love. but you loved it at night. the air grows cold and the roads are deserted, only a few stragglers walking about. the city lights twinkle against the skyline and blend into the clear night sky to create your favorite sight.

you had spent a while sitting on your balcony and just enjoying it, having finished your homework and chores and ready to just be. you let all of your worries about school and friends and villains go and finally relaxed, staying outside for an hour before heading off inside for a night of rest.

tap tap tap.

you grumble, slowly rising from your sleep at the sudden noise you've heard at the other end of the rom. sitting up and rubbing at your eyes, you look around your bedroom to pinpoint where the disturbance came from. from what you can see in the dark nothing fell from your bed, and your closet and bedroom doors are closed so that only leaves one other spot.

tap tap tap.

letting out a huff of air through your nose, you rise from your bed and throw on your robe, quickly noting the alarm clock on your dresser telling you its already past midnight, before moving to the window that looks into your balcony.

not able to see anything, you carefully open the door, shivering and only stopping for a second to again look at the beautiful view of paris before looking around your balcony, only to see a small flower pot that rose had gifted you knocked over.

figuring it to be some dumb bird or a stray, you turn back towards your room just to see a giant pair of bright green eyes staring right into your soul.

it’s pure luck that you're able to muffle your short scream in your hands to not wake and alarm your parents and half the of the arrondissement. unluckily, paris’ beloved hero chat noir is on the brink of laughing his stupid leather-covered ass off.

he somehow manages to calm down, but that means now he’s talking. and god help you when chat noir decided to speak.

"i knew you could be jumpy when scared but you leaped higher than a startled cat! you should've seen it!"

he makes more jokes and lets out little laughs as you stand still in front of him, glaring at him in your pajamas. the fact that your bottoms were covered in pink cupcakes didn't help your case.

“if you seriously woke me up at midnight just to tease and laugh at me so help me god chat,” you squint your eyes in a warning, barely noticing the figure cloaked in red and black sliding up to your side.

“nope, we brought something else,” you hear whispered into your ear. not flinching this time, be it because you were too pissed off or less on edge from the last time. you turn and smile softly when soft baby blue eyes meet your own. “how was your day, mon cheri?”

you hum as your hands find their way around her shoulders and hers wrap around your middle, “better now that you're here, can't say the same for others though.” ladybugs body rocks with a silent laugh as chat looks at the two of you shocked.

he goes off into one of his usual dramatic rants about how the “loves of my life have left me behind for each other! the stereotypes are true!” as you both watch him in amusement.

“alright fine, you big oaf. get in here,” you sigh, moving your arm from around ladybug to open in his direction. he puts on his model-worthy blinding smile and rushes into the hug, squeezing the both of you and raising you off the ground. sometimes you forgot how strong they could be.

during the day, marinette and adrien were the pinnacles of perfectly normal teenagers. it’d been an honor to not only see them grow up from stumbling middle schoolers bestowed with unfathomable power to where they are today.

when you first met mari you thought she was weird, to put it frankly. you’d reflected on how nervous she would get around you and adrien and how you caught her following you a few times, much to her embarrassment at the memories. but after giving her a chance at the behest of alya you found out how amazing she could be. she was incredibly smart, excelling in her studies and being the group's designated tutor. it was only during one of your late-night tutoring sessions, the blue-haired girl smiling at you sweetly and praising you when you got a problem wrong, that you realized you had feelings for her.

and adrien was so radiant it was scary. you figured since he was rich and childhood friends with chloe bourgeois of all people that he’d be another snob for you to ignore. but then that day happened when chloe was jealous of all the attention you were getting on your new hairstyle and dumped a tiny carton of milk on your head. normally you didn't let her get to you, but you couldn't help but tear up and run to hide in an empty classroom. it wasn't until a little later that a soaking-wet adrien sat down next to you, telling you he was sorry for what chloe did, and said “if she’s going to bully my friends, she’ll have to do the same to me.”

after that, it was hard not to harbor feelings for the two of them, and you were so glad when they confessed not only to each other but to you as well. you weren't expecting the whole superhero reveal thing, though. but it warmed you inside to know they trusted you enough with this secret.

“let’s head inside, its getting colder and i don't want you to get sick.” ladybug pulls out of the hug, holding the back of her hand up to your head.

“i’m fine, bug,” you assure her, pulling her hand away and smiling at the way her cheeks tint pink. “what’d you bring me?”

ladybug waves her hand to chat, the boy coming up behind you before your vision goes dark with his hands covering your eyes. you hear the sound of ladybug’s yoyo, then the familiar whssh of her body traveling through the air.

“can you give me a hint at least?” you plead. its been a solid three minutes of waiting for marinette to come back and the excitement is making you antsy. not to mention your leather-clad boyfriend standing right behind you.

“no can do, babe. we both know you'll figure it out and then ladybug will figure out that you've figured it out and then she figures out its because i told you and then-”

“ok ok! i get it! ill wait patiently.”

luckily you don't have to wait long, chat removing his hands to show you marinette standing in front of you holding a bouquet of f/f and a box of your favorite pastries.

“i made them this morning so they'd be fresh in case something happened, thank god we only had to deal with some thieves.” marinette hands you the flowers, the pair of them thankful when you bring them up and take in a deep inhale of their scent, holding them close to your chest.

“i wouldn't call ten men breaking into the louvre just any regular thieves, my lady.” chat chuckles.

ladybug shrugs. “didnt seem so tough to me.”

she shrugs. “didnt seem so tough to me.”

“c'mon you two, lets head inside before some insomniac catches a picture of you two.”

they follow you inside, the both of them able to sneak well after years of practice. you put the flowers in a spare vase on your dresser, gently placing them inside with a smile. you hear a slight smack followed by a 'ow!’ and a laugh. you turn to see your girlfriend scowling at your boyfriend, whose mouth is stuffed with one of the pastries.

“i made them for y/n! at least let her have the first one.” ladybug chastises him, setting the box down on a coffee table before sitting on your white chaise.

chat ignores her, too entranced by the deliciousness of her baking. “whatever you say, buggaboo.”

you smile, loving to watch how they interact with each other. they worked so well together, and sometimes when you admired them it seemed like they were made for each other. if it wasnt so sweet you’d be more jealous, but they never made you feel excluded.

“ill go put these in your kitchen so you can have them for breakfast.” chat puts some of the pastry on a napkin and leaves it on the table for you before picking up the box and slinking out of your door with a wink.

you send him an appreciative smile, looking to the side to see ladybug still slightly pouting.

“its fine bug, i appreciate it no matter what,” you sit down next to her, reaching up to take her mask off as her baby blue eyes look at you fondly. “ill have to repay you somehow. just tell me what and its yours.”

mari looks at you silently for a few seconds more before brining up her hand to cup your face and bringing you in for a sweet kiss. mari's kisses were some of your favorites, the girl always making sure to assert herself as ladybug and it travels into her intimacy.

you pull away reluctantly, her looking at you with a lovestruck grin.

“you already repay me by being mine, mon cheri.” she whispers, placing a gentle kiss on your warm cheek. you start to flirt back when a force plops onto the chaise next to you, a mop of blonde hair landing into your lap.

“i second what she said, my love. only if i get some kisses too obviously.” adrien says, his mask now off to show off his dazzling emerald eyes.

you roll your eyes in playful annoyance but relent, leaning down to give him a kiss as well. adrien’s kisses are just as amazing as mari’s but they feel…desperate. not in the way he kissed you when he underestimated a villain and nearly lost his life, rushing back to your apartment and kissing you before holding you in a tight embrace for an hour.

he was desperate for physical touch, the reminder that he’s yours and your his and that you wont leave him. but no matter how much the two of you pretend to be exasperated at his constant touches and flirting, you want to assure him that you’ll always be here for him no matter what.

the kiss ends and you nearly giggle from the sight of his dopey grin and hooded eyes, quickly widening when mari roughly grabs his cheeks and kisses him dramatically.

“there, happy not, kitty?” she asks, the boy laying limp across your lap.

“yup. perfect.”

after a minute of mari teasing chat for his dopey reaction to your kisses and adrien pointing out how she acts the exact same, the time of night catches up with you and you feel your eyes start to droop. just when you feel the lull of sleep taking you away, a strong pair of arms lifting you up and placing you in bed. when they start to pull away, you tiredly reach your arm out to hold their wrist, whispering a quiet ��stay.”

thankfully your loves cant say no to you, the two of them resting on top of the covers as they cuddle you from either side.

its quiet as they stay with you, and you’ve never loved the quiet of the city more.

.

.

.

[lostuntothisworld]

Spaghetti theory time:

The "Luka lying to Ladybug about her secret identity after he was so fired up in Truth only to lie to her in Wishmaker" salt has died down for the most part, but I would like to bring it back up.

I'm gonna do you all a favor and copypasta the transcript below, because I know nobody is going to rewatch the episode.

Marinette: I'm sorry about earlier. There were mosquitoes on the boat, I thought we needed some insect repellent but the drug store was closed so I had to- Luka: Shh, listen, the song of the water. If you listen carefully at this very spot under the bridge, you'll hear a melody. (They listen to the river and smile at each other.) You know, I never knew my father and my mom would never bring herself to tell me. So when I just couldn't deal with it all, I would take refuge here and the melody of the water would console me. What about you, Marinette? Where do you go when you disappear? Marinette: Uh- Luka: You tell me, I'll accept it. If you're still in love with Adrien, I'll understand. I won't be jealous you know. Marinette: That's not it, not at all. Luka: Whatever it is, I just want it to be the honest truth. Marinette: The truth, Luka… is the only thing I can't tell you.

Then we get shocked Luka. He get's akumatized/amokized, and the scene continues:

Shadow Moth: Truth, I am Shadow Moth. I'm giving you the power to force people to tell you their most sacred secrets. Luka: (struggling against it) Truth needs to be shared, not taken by force, Shadow Moth! Marinette: (shocked what he just said) Uh! Shadow Moth? No! Luka, please resist, I am so sorry! Shadow Moth: Why should you resist when she doesn't trust you? Luka: Marinette does trust me! Marinette: I do! Of course I do! Shadow Moth: If she trusted you, then she would tell you the truth! (Upon hearing this, Luka becomes shocked, so he kneels.) Accept my power and you will know everything. And all I ask of you in return is to expose Ladybug and Cat Noir's little secrets. Luka: (succumbing) Run, Marinette! 

...

Luka does NOT want to force the truth out of Marinette. He tells her to run! And it's very much implied it triggered a traumatic past when his mother wouldn't tell him who his father was. What if his mom used the exact phrasing of "The truth is the one thing I can't tell you," when things got bad? If there's one thing Miraculous is good at is shocking the audience with traumatic backstories. I have my own theories as to what Luka and Juleka's traumatic backstories are... And are we really going to victim blame Luka for not being able to resist, especially when resisting Gabemoth and breaking akumatization was not actually known to be something that can be done at this point? Onto Wishmaker:

Lots of people are upset that Luka lied to Marinette at the end of Wishmaker with regards to hers and Chat's secret identities. They want Marinette to be angry with him, and for Luka to face consequences. Lying is supposed to be bad, isn't it? And Luka got akumatized into a villain who was dead set on finding the Truth, and he just lied to her about it. Inexcusable! Which is a valid interpretation if you take it at face value.

Now let's fast forward to Migration, and a little theory I've had since the episode aired: Secret identities and masks are a metaphor for being queer. Let me explain the metaphor in more detail: by rewinding back to Wishmaker and the metaphor presented to us then.

In Wishmaker, child Alec was bullied for his big hair, which he was very proud of. So he shaved it all off to fit in with what society wanted him to be. His akumatized form had a bald cap, and in the end Alec decides to "live his truth," (Astruc's words not mine), and essentially wear a big wig and become a drag queen. Iconic.

Oh yeah, and his nightmare in the season 5 finale was his father shaving off his hair.

Gonna have to link this shitpost here, just for an interesting comparison.

(It's interesting to note that both Griffe Noire and alternate Adrien have partially shaved heads, and should be included closer to the bald end of the chart in the shitpost)

Anyway, it's a bit of an unwritten rule that you don't out another person, even if you know they are queer. You have to wait for them to come to you with this reveal. It's sensitive information, and could potentially be extremely dangerous for the person being outed. A similar parallel to being a superhero with a secret identity.

Using this logic, it's not surprising the animators made Chat surprised when Luka detransformed in front of him in Ephemeral even tho he had a front row seat to Luka in Miracle Queen.

Onto the next scene of interest:

Marinette: If I tell you, things will never be the same between us again. (shakes her head) It'll mess up everything, maybe even destroy it. Alya:(voice breaking) Marinette, I'm your very best friend. Marinette: And I… I'm Ladybug.

I was actually shocked with this scene back the first time I watched it. Yes, the reveal, but also how everything in it is presented. To the dialogue, to Marinette's reasonings and how it'll mess up everything between the girls, and how everything will change and be destroyed, to Alya's oddly somber reaction to finding out her favorite superhero is her best friend, and then the subsequent hug.

It's framed as a coming out scene.

So let's circle back to Luka lying to Ladybug back in Wishmaker, and keeping that secret until Migration. His choices there make a whole lot more sense with a queer lens.

Don't believe me? Remember, Migration (the episode where Luka's lies and secrets are brought to light), is the episode that Luka shoves Adrien in a closet and he falls out of the closet as Chat Noir.

Those bedroom eyes at Luka sure do make a whole lot more sense here.

[thetraingotsetonfireonmidnight]

𝕶𝖎𝖘𝖘 𝕶𝖎𝖘𝖘, 𝕱𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖎𝖓 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊 ~ 2

(Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir x reader)

This was highly requested! Thank you all for the support. The fact that KKFIL got so much support shocks me! I appreciate all of you!

< Part one

"You're pathetic." Plagg said ever so bluntly in-between his chews. He took another bite of cheese, crumbs falling onto Adrien's newly cleaned desk, "Just admit that you like them and move on."

Adrien grumbled in response, "I don't like them, Plagg." 

Living with the kwami of destruction always presented a challenge. There wasn't a day that passed by without the mischievous cat trying to pull some dirty prank behind Adrien's back. At first, he didn't mind it. It added something new to his day, and it was usually harmless.

But apparently hiding his phone or ruffling his hair before a photoshoot wasn't enough for Plagg anymore, because as of late, he's been turning off Adrien's alarm so he doesn't wake up for school on time. So now he was stuck in this position, shoving everything in his backpack last minute while trying to rush out the door.

Right now wasn't exactly the best time for him and Plagg to be having a conversation about his upside-down love life.

"You don't like them?" Plagg pushed, "Sure, and cheese is my worst enemy."

"Look Plagg, it's too early for this conversation." 

"So let's end it right here with you admitting that you like them."

"Get in my jacket or I'm throwing out the cheese you stored in my desk." Adrien opened up his jacket as Plagg let out a shrill gasp before immediately flying into his pocket. 

"For the record, this is called manipulation."

"You're insufferable sometimes."

Monday.

Adrien walked into the classroom ten minutes late, and he'd never forgive Plagg for ruining his perfect on-time attendance. 

He huffed and sat down next to Nino.

"Woah, dude, you look like shit. Totally unexpected from the model of the class."

Adrien smiled at Nino's bluntness, "I had a bit of a rough morning." He made sure to subtly flick his pocket as he said that. He felt Plagg pinch his side in retaliation.

"Yeah, I can tell." Nino shook his head, turning his attention back to the teacher. Adrien wanted to follow suit, but he couldn't help but notice you.

You sitting in your desk.

You looking wonderful as ever.

You…staring…right at him.

He smiled and waved.

You waved back.

And time stopped.

He wished he could sit next to you. Ask about your morning, hold your hand under the table, and pass notes throughout the class, giggling every time you nearly get caught.

But, alas, he wasn't sitting next to you, he wasn't holding your hand, and passing notes from this distance would be a guaranteed detention. 

Life was cruel and unfair sometimes.

"Psst." He raised a brow at you, silently asking you what you needed. You smiled, looking a bit bashful as you put your fingers to your lips and blew him a kiss.

Maybe life wasn't so cruel and unfair.

Tuesday.

"Are you ok? You look tired." 

Your voice was something Adrien would never get tired of, and it was just the remedy he needed after dealing with an akuma who had a…not so melodic voice. 

The fight was harder than he had assumed it would be. A few scratches littered his arms and legs while stubborn strands refused to stick with the rest of his gelled and styled hair. Though most of the ringing had gone away, his hearing hadn't quite recovered yet. He questioned the miraculous ladybug and why it decided that fixing a civilian's ripped tie was important, but Adrien (the person who helped stop the villain) would have to suffer the rest of the day with hearing loss. It needed to get its priorities straight.

You looked him up and down, your nose scrunched at the sight, "Did you lose a fight to a pigeon or something?"

"Very funny." He reached to scratch the back of his neck, but quickly remembered how Plagg had made fun of him for doing that when he got nervous the night before, and quickly put his hand down. "I tripped. I can only imagine how happy my father will be when he sees me." Adrien laughed, "I have a photoshoot after school. He's going to kill me."

You smiled awkwardly, "And you're laughing about that?"

He paused, realizing how strange it must've seemed for him to be laughing at the idea of upsetting his father and maybe another day, he would've been more worried than joyful…but…

A part of him felt like sticking it to his dad. It was something he never would've considered doing before, but dressing up in a cat costume everyday can change a man.  

"Well, good luck with your dad." You pressed a kiss to his cheek and turned to leave. He could still feel it on his cheek, his face growing increasingly warmer. 

"You like them~" Plagg whispered.

"It's completely platonic."

Wednesday.

A festival was in town.

Adrien didn't exactly get permission to go, so he had his good old friend, Chat Noir, help him get to where he needed to be. It was a risky game he was playing, but he couldn't miss seeing you.

You ran into his arms the second you saw him, hugging him for longer than necessary (not that he was mad about it).

You walked through multiple booths, picking up small snacks.

Soon a dance broke out, and Adrien couldn't resist asking you to dance. 

He bowed deeply, grabbing your hand and pressing a kiss to it. "Would you like to dance?"

You looked bashful.

It suddenly didn't feel so platonic anymore.

Thursday.

You were trapped in a closet with him. 

Chat noir had run in to detransform, not realizing that you had already occupied the space.

He tried to quickly turn back and leave, but the door handle broke in his hands, leaving the two of you in the closet alone. 

"So…you like jazz?" Chat asked. He felt like banging his head against the wall. Talking to you was so easy as Adrien, but it was difficult as Chat Noir. 

How could pretend like he knew nothing of you when all he did was think about you?

You gave him a very confused look, "Uh…is the akuma gone?"

"Yeah! And so is the doorknob!" 

The joke didn't land as well as he wanted it to. You just nodded and shifted back and forth on your feet. He was terrible at this.

He knew the two of you couldn't stay in there forever, but the only way you could get out was if he cataclysmed the door….

But in order to do that, he'd have to detransform.

"Do you mind closing your eyes?"  

"Uh…how come?" 

"I need to detransform."

You stared at him for a few more minutes. He wondered what you thought of Chat Noir. He had never asked you about it before.

He could only hope that you liked him. 

You finally closed your eyes, and Chat whispered the magic words that rid him of his magic.

Plagg shook his head disapprovingly at the blonde, though Adrien wasn't sure what the cat wanted. There was nothing else he could do, and he knew you would be trustworthy. 

He fed Plagg quickly.

"I just wanted to say…"

Adrien froze, scared you would someone know it was him if he breathed too loudly.

"I'm very grateful for what you and Ladybug do for Paris…really. Thank you."

Adrien smiled, relaxing slightly. He wished to respond, but without the quantum magic to mask his voice, he knew speaking would only screw him over. Thankfully, you seemed to understand that, as you didn't say anything about his silence.

He waited for Plagg to finish eating before transforming back. 

He cataclysmed the door and stepped to the side, "Victims in distress first!" 

You smiled and stepped out, he followed quickly.

"Thanks again."

"There's nothing to thank me for, all I did was get you stuck in a closet."

You laughed, "I meant for stopping the akuma…and getting me out of the closet."

You smiled, and Chat could've sworn his heart stopped. He wanted to kiss you now more than ever.

Not on the cheek.

Not on the hand.

A real kiss.

Chat couldn't do such a thing, but he knew someone who could.

Friday.

It was raining. 

Neither you nor Adrien brought an umbrella.

The smart option would be to seek shelter immediately, but instead you ran in the rain.

Adrien had offered to walk you home, and during the walk, rain poured down on you. It wasn't cold or uncomfortable, but freeing. Your clothes stuck to your sides and your poor shoes would struggle in the puddles, but you didn't care. You didn't care because Adrien had grabbed you by the hand, leading you down the street in a fit of giggles.

Each drop of rain let out its own ring, like the weather was singing its own love song for the both of you.

You twirled and spun, grabbing both of Adrien's hands. He seemed flustered, but he effortlessly followed your movements. 

Perfectly in rhythm, you and Adrien were stuck in your own world.

"I love you." 

You stopped, face heating up as you locked eyes with a now embarrassed Adrien. 

"What?"

"I…I love you." He repeated. Despite his stutter, his voice was confident. He couldn't be more sure of his words.

You smiled, "I know, I heard you the first time." 

You leaned forward and pressed your lips to his.

Finally, your first real kiss.