#like after shes stuck in paris bc of akuma

[anerdssketchpileblr]

Aaa ok I never thought I'd share this thing anywhere but lately the ml fandom, specifically the Lt au and @sillysiluriforme's work has been really inspiring me. So I introduce to you Emmanuelle Emilie Agreste.

She's an old miraculous oc I've had for years and never done much with outside of my own head tbh. She's Adrien's older sister and also a sentimonster, created bc in my mind/version of things Emilie had to give up on a lot of her acting career after moving to Paris and marrying Gabriel.

So instead she makes Emmanuelle, an almost perfect copy of herself, (except for the eye and hair colour, Gabriel's and Nathalie's respectively as little Easter eggs bc she thinks it's cute, but Emma ends up dying her hair and wearing contacts all the time anyway), who will never age or get wrinkles and who has a head start in the industry by starting acting work as a child. A dress up doll she can mold into the actress she could have been if she'd started earlier, who she can live vicariously through while she stays at home.

Less of a daughter and more of an advertisement, a way for the world to never forget her. Because this child has her face and her voice and will never shut up about honouring her legacy. The concept of Emilie the actress will live on far longer under a slightly different name. Also less of a daughter and more of her biggest fan. The perfect protogee who listens to all her advice and never has alternate ideas on how to do things and will never speak badly of her.

Essentially she exists to stroke Emilie's ego and Act and that's all she really knows how to do at the end of the day. Girl who is so normal about her mother and definitely has a personality outside of her career.

I picture her role as like. Minor/secondary villian (bc she was helping Gabriel through making more possible akumas on purpose bc she wants her mom back too) who has an eventual 'redemption arc' but they aren't actually a better person and it's only bc their brother is a hero it turns out and they like him more than their father. She really only cares about her mother and Adrien, who she is protective of but also more than fine lying to. She thinks he's a dork for wanting to go to public school but whatever. It's fine, Chloe will tell her if something goes wrong there.

She's in the range of 19-22 somewhere, and she works in a lot of projects not exclusively in France, so she's usually travelling and away from home. She's known for getting into relationships with her costars that start when the project is in development and somehow always ends once the hype is over. Adrien talks to her over the phone more than he sees her in person until she gets 'trapped' in Paris for coming home during the akuma crisis and has to actually start living in her TV show set never breathed in room.

I don't think she'd actually work/exist in the Lt au bc my version of Emilie in my head is a different kind of freak than the Lt version, who I do not think would make her. But it's fun to play around with anyway.

Specifically I just keep thinking abt her relationship with Lt chloe tho, bc in my little head world she's Chloe's awful terrible manipulative cool older friend/mentor figure who encourages all her worst traits for funsies and to bring about more akumas. And Lt adds another interesting layer to their dynamic in that chloe is also a sentimonster made to resemble her mother, and both of them idolise their mothers desipte them being not actually that great. girl who was made by her mother to be a copy of her mother vs girl who was made by her father to be a copy of her mother. surely this mentorship will go normally.

I also imagine her being like an awful older sister/mentor figure to the galattaca girls too. At her core she is an enabler and someone who turns a blind eye to fucked up shit to stay 'comfortable'. (And a manipulative asshole too.) What I'm saying here is I think she could make Aurore specifically so much worse and would have fun doing it. Evil girl and her younger blonde apprentices 💙

Summary: shes my horrible evil daughter I'm throwing her in the trash, I'm giving her a biscuit, she needs to face consequences for what she's done I'm denying her the catharsis of punishment she will learn to make meaningful change and mend her relationships, she's great in theory but not in practice, she shouldn't exist and she knows it, she's like if a show pony developed sapience. As you can probably tell, she's infested my brain like the parasite she is 💙

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

I actually liked Chloe in S1. I thought she was funny and her antics were in-character for the dramatic, short-tempered spoiled brat she was. Even when she did horrible things that were blatantly written to kickstart the plot, I didn’t care bc it was still something I could laugh at. I wasn’t super invested in her “redemption arc” when it was happening, so when the writers decided to make her a bitch again, I was totally okay with it. I was like “yes, bring back the ridiculousness of S1 Chloe!”

However, S4 Chloe isn’t even remotely as funny. Before, she was just a hilariously unapologetic drama queen, stirring up trouble because she was simply THAT self-absorbed and taking refuge in audacity. Now, though, it’s painfully obvious that she’s just here to show off how horrible she is. I can’t even forgive her antics in “Gabriel Agreste” because she literally had no reason to target Marinette and Adrien the way she did. And her “confession” while stuck in the Collector’s book was obviously written to drive home to the Chloe stans how eeeeevil she really is, which was decidedly unfunny. She used to be a silly plot device; now she’s just an agenda.

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The problem with Chloe this season is that despite selling out all of Paris to Hawkmoth to feed her own ego, the writers still aren’t willing to make her a full-blown villain this season, and only really use her more for comic relief.

Chloe worked in Season 1 because she wasn’t much of a threat compared to the Akumas. Yes, she was a bully who abused her father’s powers, but at the end of the day, that was all she was. In Seasons 2 and 3, intentional or not, audiences got more invested in her prior to the betrayal, so when we saw her go back to being a full-time bully without even acknowledging what she did, it was incredibly jarring. Hell, even after Zoe was introduced and the writers set up a potential rivalry between the two sisters, it hasn’t been acknowledged once. 

It doesn’t help that the episodes she appeared this season in not only had her blatantly hype herself as a bad person who beats up orphans and widows in her spare time, but the other characters didn’t even try to be civil with her and threw a lot of insults her way, especially in “Gabriel Agreste”.

While a lot of stuff in the earlier seasons could get weird and was exaggerated at times, Chloe was still the kind of character you loved to hate. While she annoyed the characters with her behavior, she didn’t really annoy the audience too much, and the karma she received for her bullying in certain episodes like “Dark Cupid” and “Princess Fragrance” felt deserved.

In Season 1 never really intended to specifically harm other people. Yes, she would still try and pull strings to inconvenience others to get what she wanted (The Bubbler, Mr. Pigeon, Rogercop, Kung Food, Reflekta), and still laughed at the peasants beneath her feet, but she never tried to hurt anyone or make their lives miserable for the hell of it. In all of her plans, she almost always had something to gain that just happened to screw over at least one person. In this season, not only does Chloe blatantly throw people in front of Akumas to get out of the way when she only did it once in “Zombizou”, it’s also implied she was somewhat cognizant of her actions as Queen Banana because of her specific demands. 

The problem with this is that the writers are trying to make her more of a comic relief villain while she still does things that were worse than before like physically harm others, so it’s hard to tell if we’re supposed to laugh at her or take her seriously as a threat. They’re clearly trying to have the best of both worlds here, but are failing at both because of how contradictory her writing is. Like I just said, Season 1 Chloe worked because while she got in the way of Marinette at times, she was never a character who was meant to be taken seriously as a threat, sort of like what Bulk and Skull were like originally.

And again, I have to ask, if Astruc wanted Chloe to be a villain from the start, why isn’t his team actively capitalizing on that idea? Why isn’t she working with Shadowmoth more or trying to undermine Ladybug on her own? You wanted Chloe to be evil, didn’t you? Well, now’s your chance to show off how bad she is that doesn’t involve petty sabotage at school that does nothing but waste screentime that could be devoted to other characters like Lila, Zoe, Su-Han, Luka, Kagami, and the last four temp heroes who had to be crammed into a single episode because Chloe just had to be front and center for four separate episodes this season.

[me1ancho1y-b1iss]

Her Robin and His Little Ladybug Ch. 2

 Ao3                  Chapter 1          Chapter 2 

As soon as Marinette spoke it set off absolute chaos, everyone started talking at once, asking questions and demanding answers from the small girl. Eventually Bruce, now as Batman, spoke up. 

“ENOUGH.”  Bruce demanded of everyone in the room. 

Silence was all that remained where if a pin was dropped it could be heard. Both parties, Marinette and the bats stared at each other, until Bruce finally spoke again. 

“Who are you?” he asked Marinette. 

“I believe I asked a question first” Marinette smarted back. Jason snorted as Damian glared at her. 

“Answer our questions harlot.” Damian spoke as he glared at her. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” 

Dick or rather Nightwing now, spoke next. “Come on baby bird, be nice, we don't know her and she doesn’t look like she knows us.” 

“That’s exactly the point Grayson! We don’t know her, or how she appeared in the cave!” Damian grimaced as he glanced back at Dick. 

“Codenames, baby bird.” Dick muttered 

Hi! I’m Nightwing! OMG, you're so cute and tiny! You're in the batcave, this is Robin, that's Red Hood, over there is Red Robin, standing there with the death glare is Batman, and finally sitting at the batcomputer in the wheelchair is Oracle!”  

“Uhh… Hi.” Marinette waved. Dick visibly cooed at her while the rest of the bats just stood there. 

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m from Paris, France.” She said as if that would answer all their  questions. 

Realization spread on Bruce's face as he realized what happened. He realized that this must be the work of the Akumas the league was investigating. 

“You said you’re from Paris, correct? Batman asked Marinette. At her nod he continued. “So this must be the work of an Akuma” 

Marinette nodded. “The last thing I heard before I was transported here was a loud voice yelling, that people should treasure their relationships and that people should be able to have soulmates… or something like that, I don't really know, I wasn’t really paying attention as I was suddenly transported here with no warning.” she muttered the last part under breath but the bats still heard her. 

After around five seconds of total silence, Jason started cackling loudly. “You, tiny little pixie is apparently Demon Spawn’s soulmate. Yeah, I doubt that…” Jason spoke, and started laughing again. 

After Jason said that, all of the rest of the bats realized what she said and started snickering, except for Bruce and Damian, who just stood in front of Marinette with his mouth wide open gaping at her. 

Dick asked a question next. “Wait, what’s an Akuma, and if it's powerful enough to actually locate someone’s soulmate and send them here, Why doesn’t the league know about this? Dick asked, looking back at Bruce. 

“The league is aware of the situation. It’s on a need to know basis, and only certain members are aware. Wonder Women, Superman, Aqua Man and myself are the ones aware as the situation is extremely delicate and dangerous. 

Paris has their own heros, that have been handling the situation extremely well and there has been no need to interfere. Wonder Woman has gone out and has spoken to the heroes. They are aware that if they need any help that can contact the justice league and we will send out a member to help aid them.” 

When Bruce was done speaking, the rest of the bats were sort of shocked they weren’t aware of anything happening Paris this year or any year at all. 

Barbara immediately put it into the Batcomputer and pulled up one of Marinette’s old fights. As Marinette watched the fight with the rest of the bat’s, she cringed. She remembered the fight, perhaps she remembered it too well. It was her third battle with Evillustrator. Nathaniel managed to remember that he could draw whatever he wanted. 

He turned all of Paris into a war zone. He managed to draw himself an all powerful army with a stock supply of weapons. The battle lasted almost a full day and was one of the most lethal with over 1 million dead. The second deadliest behind Syren. 

As the video ended all the people in the room turned to marinette with a shocked look on their faces. 

Dick was the first to speak. “You deal with this all the time?” he whispered in a scared tone 

“Usually they’re not that bad. That was the second deadliest attack Paris ever had, the first being Syren. All of the effects of the damage is reversed by the ‘miraculous ladybug,’ Ladybug, the main hero announces that after she broke the object where the akuma was hidden. As soon as she throws up her ‘lucky charm’ and says that phrase all damage from the attack gets reversed.” 

“What a Lucky charm? You said it helps clear all the damage, so what does it do?” Tim spoke next. 

Marinette nodded as she said, “ The Lucky Charm is something that Ladybug calls on during the battle. It’s usually just a seemingly random object, but as soon as she calls on it the battle usually doesn’t last any longer than three minutes.” 

“What are the other heroes' powers?” Tim asked again. 

“Chat Noir has the power of destruction, just as ladybug has the power of creation. All Chat Noir has to do is simply say ‘cataclysm’ and he's able to destroy anything he touches.” 

Again all the bats, except for Batman himself, started at Marinette, with wide eyes. 

“How old are the heroes’ because to me they don’t look to be any older than the demon spawn’s age. Also how long has this been going on? Jason asked of Marinette, in a demanding tone. 

“All anyone can do is speculate the ages, due to the magic, but many say they have to be around 18 - 20 years old.” Marinette said in a rather confident voice

“And how long has this been happening?” Jason asked again in a tone that made Marinette take an unconscious step back. 

“A-about four years.” Marinette said, with her voice trembling a little bit. 

“So the heroes would have been about 13- 15 give or take when they first started given the assumptions are correct…?” 

At her nod, Jason started pacing back and forth yelling, “FUCKING HELL, what the fuck they’re kids, they were babies when they started and they have to deal with the saving the fucking world every fucking week. I admit I was young too when I started, but it was my own choice and I got FUCKING killed for it!” 

‘That’s why he has such a tainted soul, it absolutely reeks of destruction and creation magic, I’ll have to talk to Tikki later to see if we can get rid of it’ Marinette thought wisely. 

“B, why in the everloving hell did you let fucking kids fight in a goddamn war alone?!” Jason yelled at Bruce while still pacing the floor of the batcave. 

“Hood, they are only one able to fight in these battle, no matter what we do, we would not be able to fight, the best we do is investigate the villain. 

Hawkmoth, the super terrorist, is the one creating the akamus. We find him, we stop the akumas.”

“You mean we just sit here while these kids are out fighting and there’s absolutely nothing we can do?” Tim spoke up, finally finding the courage to speak. 

Batman simply shook his head.

A/N: ok, so like I have five chapters of this posted on ao3 if you want to read it there, (im taking a minute to post it on tumblr bc im lazy. ok) Also I swear I’m working on chapter 6, i'm just stuck on a particular scene and its taking a minute to figure out how I want to transition. on a side note this fic is honestly just something that my brain decided it would be a good idea to write at 2am so like don't expect too much.  (sorry for the rant)

Taglist: (people asked in the last chapter to add them, so if you want to be added just ask. I probably wont respond, maybe, but I will definitely add you) 

@alyssadeliv @yannowhatigiveup @sekhmet5

[princess-of-the-corner]

So, Guardian Chloe au:

For this au, Marianne and Fu either reconnected years earlier than in cannon, or never separated in the first place. With someone around for Fu to rely on (and to help him realize when hes moving from 'cautious' to 'paranoid'), he's more comfortable bringing more people into helping with the Miraculous stuff, and bc of that he's keeping an eye out not only for potential Black Cat and Ladybug weilders, but for a potential successor as well, who wouldn't be fighting on the front lines every single time if/when whoever has the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous decides to start supervillain-ing.

Chloe is on the pretty short list of potential weilders and successors bc of her strong innate Magic that's compatible with most if not all of the Miraculous in the box Fu has, but since she's pre-cannon/S1 levels of character development, she's pretty low on the list. Then Origins happens, and when Fu is on his way to test Marinette and Adrien, his shoe breaks and he winds up tripping into the road as a car is coming for real. Luckily for him, he's pulled out of harm's way by none other than Chloe, who decided to walk to school that day in the hopes she would run into Adrien bc she knew he was going to try to get to school that day. She shows genuine concern for his wellbeing before getting back into her whole 'trying to be Audrey Jr to try and earn her mother's love' routine, but before she leaves she gives him some money to 'buy some not completely ugly shoes' and definitely not bc she doesn't want an old man with a cane to trip and hurt himself walking around with a broken sandal.

This brief interaction leads to Fu reconsidering Chloe as an option. He still gives Mari and Adrien the Ladybug and Black Cat respectively, but he starts looking into Chloe more, to try and see if the cracks in her act he saw were a fluke or if she would be a genuinely good Guardian, doing the same sort of background checking that he did with Marinette and Adrien.

And as for Chloe, her run-in with Stoneheart (especially the part when she was thrown off the side of the Eiffel Tower) and Hawkmoths reveal lead to her coming to the conclusion that purposefully upsetting people while a magic terrorist who uses negative emotions to turn people into supervillains is basically painting a target on her back. She starts on the road to redemption, moreso as a method of self-preservation at first, but as time goes on, and with some help from Ms Bustier (and maybe a classmate or two who've noticed her change in behavior and after finding what Chloe's doing offer to help with things like how to give complements without making them sound backhanded, little things like that that make a difference overall) Chloe starts changing for the better, and she realizes that she likes the way things are changing.

Fu and Marianne are seeing all of this from the sidelines, and also see her helping out with a few Akumas she's been caught up with. After Princess Fragrance happens (without Chloe tearing up Rose's letter of course) and the really close call of Tikki being sick and Chat getting mind-controlled without backup, Fu decides it's time to reach out to Chloe and start training her. The next Saturday, Chloe wakes up and finds a box in her bed that wasn't there the night before, and opens it to find the Fox Miraculous (picked that one since it's one that can be used from the sidelines instead of one that requires being super hands on) and Trixx gives a brief explanation about what the Fox Miraculous can do, and tells her that the Guardian of the Miraculous wants to meet her at the top of the Eiffel Tower later that night.

Chloe transforms and meets a transformed Fu at the right time and place, and he gives her a brief explanation about how he's the Guardian of the last Miracle Box, and that he wants to start training her as the next Guardian since he isn't going to be around forever. Chloe asks why he picked her of all people, bc she knows that she isn't a very good person, and Fu tells her that it's partially bc of her natural Magic, but in large part bc he can see her potential to be a great Guardian and a great person.

Chloe accepts, they set up a schedule where she visits Fu's massage parlor. Since Fu is still a bit hesitant about letting Hawkmoth know there are more Miraculous in Paris, Chloe hasn't participated in any Akuma battles or even revealed herself to LB and CN yet. Until the day one Lila Rossi joins Ms Bustiers class, and Adrien comes to school with the Grimore.

I haven't puzzled out exactly how thing go exactly, but Volpina ends with all three heroes becoming aware of Fu, and with Chloe (who I really need to figure out a Fox hero name for) becoming an active player in Akuma battles.

That's all I've got settled on for now, aside from some small details later on, like Trixx relentlessly pranking Audrey after Style Queen and all that, an couple concept sketches for Chloe's Fox hero outfit, but other than that I'm still plotting things out bc I'm hoping that this is the idea that helps me break through my writers block and I'm hoping getting a rough draft planned out will help me stuck with it.

....goddamn that got long.

Oh beautiful!

Also I offer Vixen for Fox!Chloé.

[miraculoussage]

Breaking Out

Sorry for the lack of formatting regarding this section. My laptop charger broke so I’m currently stuck with mobile, and I am not great at mobile text organization. Also sorry for the lack of a read-more. Once again, mobile :(  fixed bc i have a laptop again B)

Rating: General

Characters: Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir main character; lots of other characters making an appearance, lots of Plagg, Marinette/Ladybug, and Gabriel

Relationships: Light love-square (pre-relationship)

Other tags: Trans boy Adrien, mostly closeted trans Adrien, transphobia (no transphobic violence), mentions of a dead name but no actual use of the dead name, misgendering, mentions of Dysphoria; supportive friends, Gabriel Agreste is a soggy tissue, minor mentions of diet control, minor redesigns of LB and CN costumes, major redesigns of civilian Adrien bc closet trans. Use of the word queer as an identifier and not a slur.

Part 2

♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

The worst thing about being a popular fashion model, Adrien thought, was his image pasted all over the city. He had to see himself in the mirror enough as it was; seeing himself dressed up in the most feminine clothes his father could design, his long blond hair professionally styled into curls and braids and up-dos, and with enough makeup for three circus clowns made his skin itch. All of Paris, all of the world saw him as he was on the billboards and posters, in heavily edited magazine photos, set on backgrounds of flowers and butterflies. Everyone saw Adrien as a girl, Gabriel Agreste’s beautiful model daughter. Everyone except himself.

He had thought about coming out to his mother and father before, but while he was trying to find the nerve or the right moment, he overheard his father firing one of his models for coming out as trans. After that, his anxiety grew. He could never tell his parents, especially his father, not until he was living on his own and not relying on his modelling career and his father for survival.

Even when he went to school for the first time, he had to introduce himself as his dead name and endure the misgendering. He had considered coming out to Chloe, too, but while she didn’t seem to be transphobic, he didn’t trust her enough to keep it a secret. She thrived on gossip, sometimes even at the expense of her friends. Whether or not it was on purpose didn’t exactly matter to Adrien in this situation.

Plagg was the first person he ever came out to, not entirely on purpose. When he transformed into Chat Noir the first time, he actually cried for a few minutes. He felt different and he felt right and when he caught his reflection in a mirror he saw exactly who he wanted to be. Aside from his inhuman eyes and the strangeness of the costume, of course. His hair was short and messy and the makeup his father insisted he wear every day was entirely gone.

His costume was thick black leather, covering his whole body up to his neck where a bell sat at his collar. There was soft padding on his shoulders, elbows, and knees, barely visible under the leather. He had black combat boots with green soles that reached half way up his calf, laced with bright green laces, and lined with soft material if the same colour. His gloves, too, were black leather with soft green lining, claws on the fingers. Over the black bodysuit, he had a sleeveless hoodie; the fabric was looser and lighter than the leather, it almost seemed like cotton except it was sleek and waterproof. The pouch pocket was bright green with a single black paw print in the middle. All of the lining was the same bright green, visible in the hood and extending to the hems of the shirt. The hood itself had spaces cut out for the leather cat ears on his head, and fit loose and comfortable without falling over his eyes. Most importantly to Adrien, his chest was entirely flat without pressure.

After the first Akuma was stopped and Adrien transformed back, Plagg was suddenly gentle where he wasn’t before. “So what was that, then? What are your pronouns? Got a different name than the one I know?” After answering the questions and having another emotional moment, Plagg was back to being aloof and snarky, seemingly only concerned with cheese.

Adrien warmed up to the little cat-god fast. It felt more than amazing to be called the right thing for once, and Plagg at the least acknowledged his angry and frustrated rants about anything related to his gender that he’d never been able to share with anyone before. “As long as you keep giving me cheese,” Plagg had said, but somewhere along the way the meaning of the sentence changed to “always”, unspoken but genuine.

At school, things started out nice despite the rough start from being Chloe’s friend. The misgendering and dead name weighed down on him, though, and soon his new friends shared their concern about him. No one had any idea what it was about. It could be anything from his father to his mother to his modelling to just not getting enough sleep, but he’d hidden himself enough that no one would ever guess what it truly was about.

Nino was good about (sort of) silent comfort, offering to talk about it but relenting easily and moving to sharing music, food, memes, stories, and just a comforting presence. Alya always tried to figure out what was wrong and when she came to her own conclusions she would give him advice, though it was never the advice he needed. And Marinette...

Though Marinette was shy and got flustered easily, when her friends were in pain, she would stop at nothing to help them feel better. When he sighed about going home at the end of the day, she would invite him over to do homework, which usually ended up actually being video games. It became almost a routine by the spring, the two of them (and sometimes their friends) hanging out in the Dupain-Cheng apartment, snacking on yesterday’s left-over pastries while they played games, watched movies, talked, or rarely actually doing homework. Marinette’s parents were incredibly kind to Adrien, he was even envious that Marinette had such a supportive family. She was open about her biromantic identity, and never suffered for it at home.

As a result of their time spent together and Marinette’s own tendencies to not back down from helping her friends, she was the second person he came out to. It was a mess of tears between them, and Marinette apologized profusely for the misgendering, despite having no idea she was doing it. It made Adrien laugh, which made Marinette laugh, and then they were both laughing and crying at the same time. When Sabine came up to check on them, Adrien found he didn’t care that she was seeing him like this, and didn’t try to hide his identity from her anymore. Then, Sabine was crying with them, hugging Adrien close and giving him all the affirmations he never got from another human. (It was then that he decided he was now Adrien Dupain-Cheng, and she and Tom were his new parents.)

They all understood how important it was to keep this new information a secret, from everyone. If it got to his father or, gods forbid, the media, everything would go to hell in a hand basket. Marinette helped him fix his makeup before he left, apologizing even more about him needing to wear it. As usual, Sabine snuck some fresh pastries into his bag while he pretended not to notice when she hugged him goodbye. On the way out, Tom stopped him. The bakery was empty, just closed for the evening minutes before. “Adrien,” the news had reached him earlier via Sabine, “if you ever ever need a place to go for any reason, you’re always welcome here. No questions asked, any time day or night.” He had to hand a napkin to Adrien, tears gathering in his eyes again. As Adrien’s car pulled up to the front of the bakery, they said goodbye for the night, and Adrien was on his way back to the mansion. It wasn’t home, not anymore.

He came out to Ladybug third, but he didn’t know if it counted as third when he was Chat Noir. It was a rather casual interaction, against all expectations. The two of them were jogging across rooftops, keeping their eyes out for any sort of problem, just a regular Saturday patrol. They were talking about TV shows, sharing their theories for the next episode and the rest of the season; Ladybug theorized that one of the characters was a trans man, and Chat Noir seized the opportunity without a second thought. “Oh, like me,” he said, and Ladybug didn’t even blink. She just smiled at him, and he smiled back. Before they parted for the night, she thanked him for trusting her with his secret and promised it was safe with her. “I know, my Lady, I wouldn’t have told you if I thought you wouldn’t.” Nothing even changed between them after that, though Ladybug did seem to talk more openly about queer subjects when they came up.

He came out to other classmates and friends on a case by case basis, with Marinette there for support every time. Nathaniel, Alix, Nino, Rose and Juleka, Kagami. People he could trust entirely to keep it a secret and that he knew weren’t queerphobic from their time knowing each other. He always had some anxiety about it anyways, but with constant unspoken support from Marinette and her parents, it didn’t seem as daunting as before. Nathaniel drew pictures of him with different styles of short hair and more masculine outfits, “for when you’re able to choose your appearance”. Marinette had helped Nathaniel design the outfits, and she had plenty more in her own sketchbook designed just for Adrien. Alix and Nino casually called him “dude” and “bro”, a way to affirm him without actually outing him, since the terms were so casual and usually neutral.

As his support outside of the mansion grew, Adrien realized day after day just how terribly he was treated by his father, and Natalie and the other staff by proxy. Aside from his father’s thinly veiled queerphobia, he also controlled Adrien’s diet, his schedule, his social life, his career, his finances, and almost every aspect of his life. Before going to school, he thought most families were like that. It wasn’t until Alya complained about being saddled with babysitting again and the others lamented with her that three evenings that week was a bit excessive that Adrien realized most of his classmates actually got to decided what they did in their spare time without having to beg for permission. They got to choose what to eat for lunch, some even got to make their own food, and they didn’t have to follow a strict diet. They weren’t constantly afraid of their parents punishing them at the slightest mistake.

He spent more and more time at the Dupain-Cheng’s, at home, they even gave him his own key. More than once they’d woken up early to open the bakery, just to find him curled up on the couch in his clothes from the day before, the throw blanket wrapped tightly around him. Marinette made plenty of casual clothes and loungewear for him, until half of her closet was his. They almost always had a plate of leftovers from dinner with his name on it in the fridge. One afternoon, they surprised Adrien; the room that was formerly the office was converted into a full bedroom with his clothes moved into the closet already. The room was even decorated, soft green and light grey, paintings on the walls, a desk with a silver cat paperweight next to a lamp. Plagg seemed even more excited about it than Adrien was, which was saying a lot because Adrien was over the moon. They really were serious about the “anytime, no questions asked”.

After three years of school and crime fighting, Adrien made the biggest decision in his life. He talked to the bank and a lawyer. He had his rightful savings moved from the account under his father’s surveillance to a brand new private account. He had his friends and real family at his back. And then, he came out to his father. It went about as well as he expected; Gabriel threw a fit, accused Adrien of acting out for attention, and ultimately ended up locking Adrien in his room and forbidding him from going to school. Fortunately for Adrien, he had an escape plan in the form of a magical ring.

He was across the city in a matter of minutes, detransformed, and contacting his lawyer. His emancipation was officially in process. He texted the Dupain-Cheng family chat letting them know he told his father and it didn’t go well, but he was not in the house and he was safe. They were the only ones who knew about his plan, given they were part of it all. Though the idea of living full time with Marinette gave him butterflies, he could ignore his crush for everyone’s comfort.

Before his father or Natalie had a chance to suspend his access to his accounts, he made an Instagram post. A photo of himself, no makeup and his hair pulled back into a bun so it wasn’t so visible, wearing one of the more formal outfits Marinette made for him (a blue suit with a white undershirt and a pink bow tie). It had been taken a few days earlier, in front of a nondescript grey wall in his bedroom, unable to be linked to any location. As the caption, he wrote “Adrien Agreste, he/him, proudly trans! Stay strong, and know you are loved.” He posted it in as many transgender and fashion tags as he could, and was happy to see screenshots of it spreading almost immediately before it was taken down from his own account and his access was cut off. He texted Marinette one last time to tell her he would be unable to contact her over the phone, then turned the phone off, left it on a nearby cafe table, and disappeared down an alley. Thirty seconds later, Chat Noir was vaulting between buildings, headed nowhere in particular.

Stick around for part 2! ♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

[monkeebratz]

White Knight in Gotham

okay this is entirely based on @limetchenart​‘s White Knight Chat Blanc AU bc I COULD NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT ITS JUST SO ADORABLE AND ALL THAT I WANT BUT I’M STILL ON A MARIBAT KICK SO UH. HERE? WE GO? IM SO SORRY FOR TERRORIZING YOU WITH THIS 

[White Knight Part 1] [White Knight Part 2]

And, as par for the course, I read too much fanfic to recognize or remember where certain ideas come from but SOMEBODY ELSE had Marinette saving Mar’i Grayson. But. What if? Chat Blanc saving Mar’i??? 

Hear me out. 

EVERYTHING goes exactly the same in the White Knight AU until they have to go to Gotham. And the whole school looks at Blanc, sprawled across Marinette’s lap. Like. Uh. Do we just bring him with? What do we even call him? Marinette’s emotional support villain? is MARINETTE his emotional support civilian? WE CAN’T JUST LEAVE HIM IN PARIS!

So they take him with. As a ‘student.’ He got accepted and everything. Ms. Busteir INSISTS Blanc stays at the hotel for the duration, so as not to cause an incident. And Mari promises him they’ll go exploring tonight, as long as he stays here and is a good kitty! (Adrian is... so uncomfortable. Blanc is LIVING for the attention.) 

The class goes off to Wayne Enterprises for their tour, led by Dick Grayson. So on and so forth. (Also in this au Adrian is SUPPORTIVE SUNSHINE BOY so he is very protective of Marinette too. Just not as overtly and growly as a certain kitten.) Yada yada, tour stuff. 

And then suddenly there’s Chat fucking Blanc. Stuck to a window, digging his claws in. With a fucking CHILD on his back. And not just any child, no. Mar-i Grayson. Clinging to his front like a limpet. Waving frantically. Blanc points upwards and then starts climbing, looking for the nearest ledge to put the Little Princess on for his ACTUAL Princess. Which just happens to be on Bruce Wayne’s balcony. 

But oohh no, Blanc isn’t about to hand her over. See, he had gotten bored pretty quickly in the hotel, and had gone out to explore. And found Clayface, pretending to be Bruce, trying to kidnap Mar’i. Now, normally Blanc wouldn’t have interfered. But he heard ‘princess’ and ‘mari’ and blanked (ha) out and grabbed her and froze Clayface into a popsicle. 

And, now, this white knight isn’t about to let the Little Princess cry, so he talks. More than he really has. Ever. To anyone. Who wasn’t Marinette. Tells Mar’i all about HIS princess, and how he’ll take her right to her, won’t it be nice? And she’ll know just what to do, she can see right through such magic, you know. 

And Mar’i, all of like. 6 years old. Is pretty damn excited to see this princess! Did Chat Blanc know Mari’s mom is a princess too? They can have be a princess team together! Wouldn’t that be cool?? And Blanc just  nods and gets her to point out where her family would be (she got kidnapped off of a school bus) and drags her to Wayne Tower. Where he also knows his Princess will be. 

And then you have Marinette and Dick SPRINTING up the stairs to the nearest ledge, which Dick knows is Bruce’s office. Marinette reassuring him that Mar’i will be fine! Blanc is harmless, he’s just an akuma victim who can’t transform back, he’d never hurt a little girl, she swears! And Dick just screaming like WHOMST? WHY? WHERE? MORE INFO BUT AFTER WE GET MY DAUGHTER BACK PLZ

And Bruce is screaming bc you have this fucking. Mr. Freeze and Catwoman fusion glaring at him and demanding that his Princess (Bruce is going to scream WHO DOES HE MEAN?!) come up here BEFORE he hands over Mar’i. Who is pretty content to just play with Blanc’s tail until it IS confirmed that Bruce is her REAL Gramps. She’s pretty sure, but she’ll take another Princess’ word just to make sure. 

And you have Marinette and Dick busting through Bruce’s door (he’ll have to replace those. and the wall) and Marinette going to Blanc in a panic bc she asked him to stay at the hotel? Was he bored? Why didn’t he CALL her? And where did he get this little girl? Who is- oh, oh sweetheart, you’re bleeding a little, c’mere, let me see. She’s got some bandaids right here, you just hold still! They’re Batman themed even, isn’t that nice? Oh, sweet girl, its okay- oh, well, yes I AM Blanc’s Princess Mari. Yes, it is VERY cool we have the same name! And both Princess’? My GOODNESS, how lucky are they? And Marinette will be happy to share her White Knight with the Little Princess, but doesn’t she want to see her Daddy first? He was so worried about you!

And Blanc wraps his arms around both the Mari’s before Marinette can manage to get over and Dick and Bruce are like. Three seconds away from saying FUCK secret identities that is their GIRL! But Blanc just wants Marinette to make extra sure via idk. Magic? She’s Ladybug AND the Guardian, she can do that. And she does. Confirms they’re both who they say they are and gives Mar’i over to her dad who is just. Absolutely crying. Look at this man. 

Meanwhile the Parisian Class is watching and cackling bc yeah. This is pretty par for the course with Chat Blanc tbh. 

Bruce Wayne on the other hand wants an explination. Right now. So help him-

And Marinette DOES explain. How Chat is an akuma victim from Paris, and he’s her friend, and he can’t detransform  bc technically he’s from another timeline and he’s stuck like this, and he’s very attached so... here they are. Really though, he’s mostly harmless, very catlike, she’ll be sure to keep a better eye on him! And the Parisian superhero’s know all about him, she promises he’ll be on his best behavior from now on right? Chat Blanc? Kitty??? 

And Blanc is just staring at Bruce all unnervingly. And nods. Whispers something in her ear. “OH. Oh, well, I don’t know how comfortable they’d be with that, kitty, I mean-” 

“What did he say?” 

“... He was wondering if he could hang out with Mar’i a little more.” 

And Dick is l ike FUCK I DON’T CARE SURE WHY NOT. THIS MIGHT AS WELL HAPPEN. 

its all very cute and wholesome with Blanc being the White Knight to two Princess Mar(’)i’s. 

The Batfam is HELLA uncomfortable with a villain being that close to the family but Marinette seems to have a handle on Blanc and Mar’i likes them both so this is just... happening now. 

[lowkey-gt]

“please don’t be afraid of me i can’t bear to be abandoned again”

—

some g/t chat noir/ladybug ramblings i needed to get out of my system APPARENTLY

tags: growth, anxious big, bit of fearplay, marichat

—

fighting an akuma

Chat gets HIT with a beam or ray attack but as he’s knocked back by it he detransforms?? identity’s safe cause him and ladybug were knocked back into another room from the blast and it’s just them in there

now-adrien comments on feeling VERY weird before detransforming as ladybug has her back to him and is like “JUST GET OUT OF HERE CHAT it’s okay I’ve got this” and shrugs off his concerns and says whatever happened to him will be fixed with Miraculous Ladybug anyway

Adrien attempts flirting but is basically kicked out of there so ladybug can finish the job

———

next time Adrien transforms, he’s found the akuma-of-the-day first and has jumped to the rescue of some citizens, inside a building

The weird feeling returns as soon as he transforms but he ignores it and shields the citizens and then turns around to check on them

sudden realisation they’re smaller than they should be

Chat diffuses the tension the way he does best, by making sharp quips and laughing it off

But then suddenly he hazes out, and only snaps back to when his head hits the ceiling

a citizen screams

It’s not funny anymore

—

Ladybug was on her way when she catches the news on the billboard plasmas

A building is being destroyed from the inside out. She can hear it cracking from here

Frightened citizens are interviewed in snippets, babbling about chat noir and that something's wrong with him and he’s the danger not the akuma

Ladybug pales. She told her partner he’d be alright. Her last words to him were words of beration

Ladybug reaches the building as it half collapses, but there is a sudden flash before the rubble falls. Ladybug thinks it’s familiar; it’s the flash of a detransformation. If Chat was in there, he’s not now.

———

Ladybug is missing her partner all week. More guilt piles in her gut. What happened to him. Will her last words to him really be “Stop worrying Chat, now get lost!”

To top it off Adrien seems extremely on edge and distant, as if she needed more to worry about

———

Marinette is out by the forest’s edge** when the newest akuma appears. It’s singled her out. She can’t break its line of sight, she can’t transform like this

(**I KNOW THEYRE IN THE MIDDLE OF PARIS BUT THERE NEEDED TO BE TREES & COVER)

The akuma now has her cornered; marinette is almost ready to transform in front of them as they raise their weapon up at her

Suddenly his voice rings out. “TRANSFORMEZ-MOI!”

“Chat!” He’s blocked the attack. He’s standing in front of her, baton drawn, teeth gritted. Marinette gapes at him from behind; she’s never seen his shoulders so tense

The akuma taunts him with a sharp laugh, but then chat has grabbed her and leapt back into the trees as the akuma launches attacks after them

They slip and fall down a sheer hill; chat wraps himself around her and takes all of the scrapes and knocks

———

“Where have you been??” Marinette gets out as they steady themselves at the bottom of the hill. “I’ve been- uh- all of Paris has been so worried!”

She stops when she sees his face. She’s never seen Chat look scared like this

“Marinette- I can’t- I’m sorry- please don’t run-” his body is trembling

He’s holding her shoulders. She’s about to ask what’s wrong. Then suddenly his hands are holding almost all the way around her

She jerks as he whispers to her, frantic reassurances, and within seconds she has to crane her head back to still see him, and he shifts down onto his knees to try and make himself smaller for her but he continues stretching up and looming bigger and bigger

His shadow completely casts over her. his head reaches the treeline and he crouches even more. his whispering stops for a moment and is replaced with a groan, and it rumbles so loud that marinette can feel it through the ground under her feet. His hands are almost as tall as her

She’s stepping back now as his head fills all her vision, and it seems to slow, maybe stop, but there’s so much of him now how can she even tell at this point

His head is down. his hands are still cupped loosely around her. he’s breathing deeply, every inhale & exhale sending shivers through the earth and, through her

Then trembling, his head rises, and his eyes blink open, terrifyingly huge. She can’t help it. She runs.

———

She thinks he says “no!” but all she really hears is how loud the voice is

She can see the hands shift to close around her and she scrambles faster. This is too much

She’s not fast enough. The hands block her route;

There’s more urgent whispering from behind her, “marinette please don’t go” “I can’t let anyone find out” “i promise I won’t hurt you” but the presence is overwhelming and she yelps and quails from him

The whispers stop, the hands are shaking; but then they pull back and the path is clear. She hesitates.

Then runs again.

———

woof that last section got detailed. ANYWAY

Marinette runs away chat noir is extremely distraught, but then

Other parisians have heard the akuma & commotion and marinette can hear them approaching where chat noir is hunkered down

She manages to snag their attention and misdirects them away

After they leave marinette GETS HER BEARINGS and is like (oh my god you actually just ran away from him. first you tell him to go away and feel awful about it but then next time you see him and he needs your help YOU JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE)

RUNRUNRUN BACK TO CHAT NOIR

Surpringly hard to find now what is this he was like fifty feet tall for god’s sake where did you go

“Chat? Chat Noir?” Gently calling his name into the woods. She apologises over and over. She just got so overwhelmed but she promises she’s okay now

To the sound of a branch breaking, her head whips around. She stares for a moment, but it’s only when he shifts ever so carefully that her eyes adjust to how much of him she’s seeing

He’s lying down on his stomach now, to hide under the tree line. Even this big he can still melt into the shadows. That’s her Chat Noir for you

She carefully approaches through the trees. He keeps his arms tucked well in and away from her. His huge eyes aren’t terrifying now; just filled with terror.

-

Chat explains to her that something hit him during the last akuma attack but because he detransformed it didn’t take effect. Now every time he transforms, this happens

Is it what the akuma intended?? Is it an overload of energy sources?? We just don’t know

It’s probably energy-related bc when it happens he feels overwhelmed as well & can’t focus/gets really hazy and detransforming is like, EXTREMELY difficult, he gets stuck like this for a little while and it takes real effort and focus to detransform now

Marinette, absolutely horrified that he hasn’t asked her for help: Why haven’t you gone to Ladybug??

After nearly collapsing a building the last time, Chat doesn’t want it happening in the midst of Paris again, but also the only place that Ladybug appears is in the midst of Paris when fighting an akuma. He doesn’t know who she is outside of that so he can’t exactly find and meet with her later

Marinette: (hdkadjakdfjsjjd)

“Also….I’m so afraid of scaring her….I don’t want her to look at me like you just did I couldn’t bear it,”

Marinette: (HDJAKDJAKFJSJJDSJ)

———

ITS LIKE 2AM AND I DONT HAVE MUCH MORE THAN THAT BUT IF I NEED TO MAYBE I’LL ADD MORE LATER,,,,,,,,

[technoskittles]

“I don’t see what’s wrong with me taking a nap right here, right now.” for marichat or nalu

(I’m gonna do marichat bc I got another nalu prompt so nalu content is still on the way)

“I don’t see what’s wrong with me taking a nap right here, right now,” Chat drawled, stretching out his arms before nestling deeper into his spot, eyes fluttering shut.

Marinette huffed and prodded one of his cheeks with her finger. “Because you’re sprawled across my lap and I’m trying to work. This project is due tomorrow and I’ve already fallen so far behind! If I turn in any more late assignments the professor will fail me!”

Chat yawned, unconcerned. “C’mon Mari, you won’t fail and we both know that. You’re one of the best fashion students that university has ever had. If they failed you it’s their loss.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and shifted her legs in an attempt to jostle Chat enough to get him off her lap. It didn’t work. He was a stubborn one, for sure. “Without this degree I won’t get a good job anywhere though. And then all my hard work will be for nothing.” She leaned over Chat to pick up a pair of fabric scissors on the table, straining to get a straight cut with the weight bearing down on her. “I can’t give up on my dream when I’ve gotten this far.”

Chat lazily opened one of his eyes to see Marinette’s determined expression. Her tongue was poking out of the corner of her mouth adorably, brows furrowed in total concentration. It was cute. She was cute.

But he also noticed the bags under her eyes, a deep purple that looked downright painful. He frowned.

“When was the last time you’ve slept?”

“Doesn’t matter.” She finished off the cut with a flourish, dropping the scissors back onto her desk. She held up the fabric, eyeing it carefully to see how accurate her cut was.

Chat sighed and finally decided to raise off of Marinette’s lap but didn’t climb off. Instead he leaned into her personal space, eyes boring into her own sagging ones, dull with sleep deprivation and absolute exhaustion.

“Yes, it does matter,” he said firmly and raised a hand when she made a sound of objection. “There’s no way you’ll do your best work if you’re on the brink of passing out.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, gazing at her worriedly. “Are your classes really that difficult on you? Is that why you haven’t been sleeping?”

Marinette’s eyes widened in something akin to panic for a second before she averted her eyes. They darted around the room, finding something new to rest on every couple of seconds. “Some-something like that,” she mumbled.

Chat lifted a hand to twist one of her braids in-between his fingers, noting how the ends with frayed and lackluster. “You know, Ladybug’s been pretty exhausted too lately.”

He felt Marinette stiffen under his touch and she actually shrunk away. “R-really? I, uh…I hadn’t noticed.” She pressed her lips together and swatted his hand away, still not looking at him. “She always seems so energetic when she’s saving Paris.” She punctuated the statement with a nervous laugh, finally flicking her gaze over to him with a sheepishness to her smile.

Chat shrugged. “We’ve been busy. What with the surge in akuma attacks lately.” He smirked and leaned close again, reveling in the squeak that left Marinette’s mouth as she leaned back, eyes blown wide. “She’s been getting kind of sloppy if you ask me.”

Chat watched Marinette’s brows raise before furrowing as she puffed her cheeks. “Hey! That’s not true!” Then she suddenly reared back, more uneasy laughter spilling from her lips as she averted her gaze once more and rubbed the back of her neck. “I-I mean, I don’t think it’s true. I think she’s doing a great job.”

He smiled and leaned back, giving Marinette her space again and watching as she visibly deflated from letting out a breath. “She always does,” he says fondly. “But she needs her rest, just like someone else know.” He raised his eyebrows and hummed for emphasis.

She rolled her eyes again. “I already said I’m fine, Chat. But I won’t be if you don’t let me finish this assignment.” She reached behind him to make a grab for her supplies, but he caught her arm before she could. She turned on him quickly, leveling a glare into his neon gaze, only to be met with a gaze as steely as her own.

“Let me go, Chat.”

“Not until you promise to get some rest.”

Marinette groaned and attempted to free herself, but Chat tightened his grip and reeled her arm in-between their bodies. “You’re going to be okay, Marinette,” he promised softly.

“Look, I can handle it just fine! I knew what I was signing up for when I decided to go to school for a fashion degree. Late nights are part of the deal.” When he didn’t relent she growled in frustration and tried to yank her arm back again. “I said I’m fine!”

“You’re just as stubborn as her, too,” he chuckled good-naturedly.

Marinette blinked. “As who?”

“Ladybug.”

Marinette stuck her tongue out and gave her arm another yank. “Or maybe you’re just really pushy.”

“Why do you care so much about a dumb degree anyway? You have more than enough talent to get a job now at some high-brow agency and we both know it.”

“Most agencies won’t even look at candidates without a degree nowadays.”

Chat sat there in thought for a moment. Then, “What about the Agreste Company?”

Marinette froze at the name, blinking a few times before scrunching her nose and looking down. “After everything that happened with Gabriel? I’m not sure I’d want to work for a company that can barely stand on two legs.”

Chat frowned. It was true. His father’s fashion company was plummeting in popularity ever since it was unveiled that Hawkmoth - his very own father - was heading it. It left more than a sour taste in everyone’s mouths. His more than anyone else’s. Stocks and sales had been crashing ever since that horrific fact had been uncovered and the business itself was struggling to keep its head high in a sea of disapproval and public scrutiny.

But he’d been working hard to change that. Adrien never had much of a vested interest in fashion himself, only forced into it at his father’s request. At first, he wanted more than anyone to see it go under. 

It wasn’t until some time after, looking through photographs of his mother, sickened with the knowledge of what his father had really been doing all this time as Hawkmoth, that Adrien realized he just couldn’t allow that to happen. Not for his father’s sake or his own, but for his mother’s. She had just as much a part in starting up the company alongside his father and she had put just as much hard work into building it as Gabriel had.

So Adrien had decided to step up, taking the wildly spinning wheel of an already half-sunken ship. He’d started public campaigns to improve the company’s image, denouncing his father and all of his actions. He changed company policies, hired new (albeit reluctant) designers to replace the ones who’d left after his father’s arrest. He partnered with non-profits, donated to a numerous amount of charities with his already limited funds that had been steadily decreasing since the company’s decline, did collaborations with other fashion companies…doing everything short of revealing himself as Chat Noir, Paris’ very own superhero who helped take Hawkmoth down to keep the company afloat.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, that Adrien Agreste has taken over since then, right? And he’s trying to build it back up.” He waggled his eyebrows. “And if I recall correctly, didn’t you use to go to school with him sometime ago?”

Marinette whipped her head up and immediately started sputtering, wildly flailing her arm around. “What? I mean, yeah but….that was years ago! We haven’t really talked much since then and…no! I couldn’t!”

Chat tilted his head to the side. “Why not?”

“I’m not going to take advantage of him like that! It’s…it’s cheating!”

Chat shrugged. “I don’t see how. I mean, you’ve designed for the company before, right? You won that competition? And you’re more than qualified enough.” The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that Marinette would be an excellent addition to his team. Maybe if she joined, they might be able to rise back up to join the game. 

Of course, he wasn’t offering for entirely selfish reasons. He knew that Marinette would benefit just as much from the deal as he would. It was a win-win if you asked him.

“I can’t just ask for a job just because I know Adrien!” Marinette argued. 

Chat laughed, a full-bellied one. “That’s exactly what networking is, Marinette. It’s what the industry thrives on. Knowing the right people.” When Marinette still seemed unconvinced, he pushed on. “Besides, like I said, you’re more than talented enough to get a job from him.”

Marinette remained silent, eyes dropping down to where his hand still gripped her arm. He brushed his thumb across her skin.

“If you want, I can always ask him for you?”

“That’s worse!”

“Then you ask him.” Finally he dropped her arm, letting it fall between them and taking one of her braids in his hand again. “And when you get the job-”

“If I get the job.”

“When you get the job,” he repeated and tugged gently on her hair, “you can stop killing yourself over meaningless assignments like this and skip straight to the part where you become a successful fashion designer. The best there ever was.” And then he offered her a smile, brilliant and blinding.

Marinette chewed on her bottom lip in thought. “I don’t know, Chat…”

“If you’re still unsure, maybe think about the fact that you are probably the exact kind of person Adrien Agreste needs on his side. If anything, he probably needs you more than you need him.” And that was also true. Marinette was good, almost too good, for someone like him and his dying company. If she still rejected the idea, he couldn’t exactly blame her for it.

He dropped her braid back onto her shoulder and softened his tone. “But ultimately, it’s still your decision to make, Mari. I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to.” 

Blue eyes drifted up to look into his with a soft smile painted on her lips. He returned it before reaching out to grab her shoulders. “Except sleep. I am absolutely making you sleep and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Then he hopped off her lap, picking her up with next to no effort and crushed her to his chest.

“Wha-Chat! Put me down!”

But he was already climbing the ladder to her loft bed, keeping her tucked underneath one arm. “No can do, Princess. I will make you get some rest if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Oh it will be the last thing you do!”

————

Two days later, Marinette was nervously gnawing on her lip as she juggled her phone between her hands. She swiveled back in forth in her desk chair and her sighs could practically be heard all the way down to the bakery two floors down.

Tikki floated in front of her, a reassuring smile pushing up her chubby cheeks. “You can do it, Marinette.”

Marinette returned the smile and finally stilled. “Thanks, Tikki.”

And then she pressed “call”.

Her heart hammered in her chest, bruising her rib cage from the sheer force of it as she listened to the line trill on and on. It was the most grueling three seconds of her life.

“Hi, you’ve reached Agreste Designs, how can I-”

“Adrien?”

There was a brief pause before a stunned, “Marinette? Is that you?”

Marinette smiled, gaze drifting over to her kwami who gave her a thumbs up. Taking a deep breath, she gave herself just a moment to gather up all the courage she could muster.

Then, “Yeah. I heard you’re looking for some new fashion designers. Can we talk?”

[breeeliss]

[Miraculous Ladybug]: Trying to Get Bi

this is a very silly one-shot for @ladyserendipitous ‘s birthday (belated only bc finals are a terror). she pitched this idea to me a while ago, so i finally got the chance to write something for it :P

oh, also shoutout to @mahaliciously ​ for the french celebrity suggestions! click on the celeb names for pics (praying the links work)

--

Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

--

Title: Trying to Get Bi

Summary: “Alright. How about Adrien Agreste?” Chat Noir sat up abruptly and stared at Ladybug over his shoulder. “Say what now?” "Let's hear it," Ladybug encouraged. "Hot or Not? He totally seems your type.” Chat Noir opened his mouth, closed it, and winced. “Eeehhhh, I dunno. T-That’s kind of a….a hard question.”

Featuring: Bi!Ladybug and Bi!Chat Noir, a billboard of Adrien Agreste, a game of celebrity Hot or Not?, and a very awkward reveal.

Trying to Get Bi

“Okay, what about….ah, Vanessa Paradis.”

Ladybug took a bite of fudge. “Not,” she said with her mouthful. “Not that she’s not pretty, just not my type.”

Chat Noir hummed in agreement and plucked his own square of fudge from the Tom & Sabine’s box that was sitting in between them. “I might have to go Not too,” he decided. “Amazing model, probably go on a date with her, but that’s it.”

“Oh!” Ladybug perked up. “Marion Cotillard.”

Chat Noir snorted. “Um. Hot. Way hot. Not even a question. If she so much as even spoke to me, I’d probably self combust.”

“Same!” Ladybug laughed. “She has the most beautiful eyes, I just want her to stare at me from across a candlelit dinner before she takes me home.”

“Takes you home to do what? ” Chat Noir cackled.

Ladybug lifted her chin and shrugged. “If you’re suggesting that I’m thinking something improper, you’re completely wrong. I’m a gentlewoman.”

“Uh huh,” Chat Noir deadpanned. “The same gentlewoman that didn’t curse out a tourist for taking pictures of her chest the other day?”

“Shut up,” Ladybug snorted. “He deserved it.”

“Cheers to that.” They both held up their squares of fudge and tapped them in a toast before finishing them off in one bite. “Speaking of men,” Chat Noir continued, “Jean Dujardin.”

“Absolutely,” Ladybug nodded. “Hot. My best friend was telling me the other day that he was ‘too old’ and I looked at her like she was crazy.”

“Okay thank you because my best friend also said he’s not hot. Which. Have you seen him?”

“Ridiculously handsome.”

“ Supremely handsome! Bless my soul if I ever aged as gracefully as that.”

Ladybug reached up and stroked Chat’s bare chin. “You with scruff? That’d be hilarious.”

“Um. I could pull off scruff. I’m a very mature and upstanding cat.”

“Please, you’re totally baby faced, I’ll believe you can pull off facial hair when I see it.”

“Excuse me, but I’ll have you know I have exactly three hairs growing on my chin.” He moved in closer and tipped his head back so that she could see. “Look! Don’t they make me look manly and irresistible?”

Ladybug squinted. “I don’t see anything, so I guess that answers that question.”

Chat Noir gasped and pressed a scandalized hand to his chest. “ Rude! ”

Ladybug held the box of fudge away from him, stuck her tongue out, and squealed when Chat Nor got up and started chasing her across the roof that they were just laying out on. “It’s not my fault you can’t handle the truth, Chat!”

“The betrayal!” he shouted after her, laughing when they jumped across a narrow alleyway onto the next apartment building. “I thought we were Bi Besties!”

Ladybug rolled her eyes as she scaled the slanted roof and sat on top of a windowsill. “Stop trying to make Bi Besties happen. It’s super corny.”

Chat Noir laid out against the shingles of the roof right underneath where Ladybug was sitting, and stared up at her with a wicked grin. “Bi Besties is the perfect superhero name for us. It’s accurate, inclusive, and proclaims us as role models for the questioning youth. They look up to us, you know.”

“Look it’s fine as an inside joke, but how are adults supposed to take us seriously when you go on national television and present us as the Bi Besties?”

“You were so into it.”

“I mean, yeah,” Ladybug grumbled. “Right up until I had news reporters coming up to me the other day asking me about my sexuality.” She cleared her throat and deepened her voice until she was mimicking a snooty, television reporter. “Mmm, so Ladybug, would you say that your bisexuality affects your superhero work?”

Chat Noir rolled onto his back and laughed boisterously. “What did that even mean? I saw it on the news after the fight and it was the most cringeworthy thing I’ve seen in my life.”

Ladybug pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “Oh heavens! An akuma! I sure hope my simultaneous appreciation for men and women won’t get in the way of taking it down!”

Chat Noir clasped his hands together under his chin. “It’s simply too much, Ladybug. My brain can’t possibly think of a way out of this sticky situation. There are too many thoughts of men and women swirling around in there, I can’t bring myself to concentrate!”

“Do you think straight people really think that?” Ladybug asked.

“I’d have to ask a straight person.” Chat Noir opened his mouth and leaned his head back. “Fudge me!”

Ladybug plucked off a piece of fudge, aimed, and managed to land the piece directly in Chat’s mouth. He lifted both of his fists in victory and cheered into the sky while Ladybug chuckled and opened up their second box of fudge. “Next time we decide to bum around on a Sunday, I’m bringing macarons. You’ve been having too much chocolate lately. How are you going to fit into that cat suit of yours?”

“Don’t body shame me, Ladybug, I’m a growing boy. I need sugar. By the way, it’s your turn.”

She searched the sky for another celebrity name. “Ah, Gaspard Ulliel.”

Chat Noir waited for her to pass him a full square of fudge before he answered. “Hot. He looks like he’d treat me right.”

Ladybug wrinkled her nose. “Not. Sorry.”

“What?”

“He has squinty eyes!”

“The squinty eyes of an angel!”

“Statement stands.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “What about Louane? The singer.”

“Hot,” Ladybug declared. “She’s such a cutie pie. Absolute sweetheart.”

“I’m gonna have to go with Not on this one. She’s cute, but it’s like she’s….too cute? Too nice?”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“I like woman who would be happy to step on my face or have the power to murder me.”

“Oh my God,” Ladybug snickered. “Is someone like Nolwenn Leroy up your alley?”

“A thousand times yes,” Chat Noir said enthusiastically. “I’d happily let her murder me.”

“Same,” Ladybug giggled. “You know, the more we play this, the more I’m getting a sense of your type. Omar Sy seems your type.”

“An impossibly attractive man with a beautiful smile? Hell yes. Dream husband, to be honest.”

Ladybug tapped a finger to her chin. “I’m gonna say….no on Baptiste Giabiconi.”

“Right again,” Chat Noir nodded. “I dunno, too intense for my tastes. I’d probably date him once just to say I did because, hello, amazing, rich, and popular model. But I need a man who’s gonna go the distance.”

“So a kindhearted but ridiculously attractive model that’s not too sweet but not too intense?” Ladybug asked.

“Oh for sure. Especially if they were around my age? That’d be great.”

Ladybug wracked her brain for another celebrity that would fit Chat Noir’s specifications, but in an almost uncanny twist of fate, her eyes happened to land on a huge billboard poster about five or so rooftops away featuring Adrien Agreste and Gabriel’s new Teen Fall Fashion line. As often as they played these celebrity Hot or Not games whenever they had downtime, Ladybug never bothered to bring up Adrien Agreste. It just seemed weird to bring someone into those kinds of games that she had such a huge crush on in real life and who also happened to be such a close friend of hers, so she never bothered.

But it was just a silly little game, and his billboard poster was right there being so completely obvious. Plus, if she had to be honest, Adrien Agreste seemed exactly like Chat Noir’s type. So she tapped Chat Noir on the shoulder with her foot and pointed at the billboard. “Alright. How about Adrien Agreste?”

Chat Noir sat up abruptly and stared at Ladybug over his shoulder. “Say what now?”

“Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug replied simply, turning his head toward the poster with her foot. “The Gabriel model. Gabriel Agreste’s son. He’s been on the cover of I don’t know how many teen magazines. Have you not heard of him?”

“N-No, I have!” Chat Noir stuttered. “Uh, yeah I uh….have a friend who knows a lot about him.”

“Alright, let’s hear it,” Ladybug encouraged. “Hot or Not? He totally seems your type.”

Chat Noir opened his mouth, closed it, and winced. “Eeehhhh, I dunno. T-That’s kind of a….a hard question.”

“Really?” she asked in confusion. “Why?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “I just, you know, it’s a little weird. Um, because you see my friend. See she talks about him a lot . So it’s just. I hear so much about him? And it’s kind of awkward. I guess. Sort of. Maybe.”

“Awkward….”

“Yeah. A little….i-inappropriate, if you will.”

Ladybug lifted a brow. “Chat, we literally had a twenty minute conversation yesterday about our dream weddings with Emmanuel Macron and he’s our new President. How is Adrien Agreste more awkward and inappropriate than that?”

“It just is!” Chat Noir defended lamely. “I-I dunno, sometimes you just, y-you just don’t have opinions on things.”

Ladybug crossed her leg and cradled her chin in her hand. “This is so bizarre,” she breathed out in awe. “I thought for sure we’d feel the same about him.”

Chat Noir turned his entire body around, his eyes looking a little desperate and frantic. “F-Feel the same?” He cleared his throat and fiddled with the part in his bangs. “How, uh, how do you feel about him?”

“Totally Hot,” Ladybug said decisively. “Plus, I heard he’s around our age, and he lives right here in Paris. So he’s totally within my league.”

Chat Noir inhaled sharply and started choking on his spit, banging on his chest to clear his lungs. “Wait,” he croaked out. “Y-Y-You think he’s hot!? Like hot hot?”

“Yeah?” Ladybug frowned. “What’s up with you? I’m surprised you don’t have an opinion of him.”

“I didn’t know you did!”

Ladybug shrugged. “Well, he never came up. But yeah he’s….absolutely charming. So handsome. A beautiful smile. Talented. And he seems like just the sweetest person in the whole world. Remember the akuma Jackady? When he was targeting Gabriel Agreste? I got to spend some time with Adrien amidst all the chaos and he was a complete delight. He seemed a little nervous to talk to me but I thought it was really adorable. I don’t mean to gush, but he just seems like a really special person. Really humble and down to earth for someone who’s so famous.”

She’d accidentally been staring at his billboard poster when she said all that, and she had to shake her head and sober herself up a little bit to not make her crush on him too obvious. But when she looked down at Chat, she found him staring up at her with a flabbergasted look on his face, a flush spreading all the way from his cheeks under his mask to the very tips of his ears. He bit down on his bottom lip and swallowed, tail swishing nervously behind him.

“Are you okay?” she asked him worriedly.

Chat Noir shook his head and covered his cheeks with one hand. “Yeah,” he spoke through his fingers. “I’m. No, I’m fine. Just, um. You must….really like him.”

Ladybug set aside the box of sweets and stepped down from her perch on the windowsill, settling down on the rooftop right in front of Chat. “You’re blushing.”

“A-Am I?” he said, his voice sounding oddly high-pitched. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Ladybug squinted her eyes suspiciously. “This is so weird, I’ve never seen you this flustered over another person before. Do you have a crush on him?”

“No, no way, definitely not!” Chat Noir quickly insisted. “I-It’s just, you know….kinda like….rating your best bud or something.”

“You’re best friends with him?”

“No!”

“So….you know him?”

“I mean…. know is such a strong word, don’t you think?”

Ladybug smirked. “I know you’re trying to divert attention away from this, but now I’m starting to think you’ve got some really juicy reason for not wanting to tell me whether you think he’s attractive.”

Chat Noir floundered around wordlessly for a moment before shutting his mouth, lifting both of his hands, and walking away from Ladybug towards the other end of the roof. “Nope. Not doing this. Nu uh.”

“Oh come on!” Ladybug giggled. “You can tell me! Do you know him from somewhere? Do you have this super big embarrassing crush on him and you don’t want me to know?”

“Why are you so fascinated by this?” Chat Noir asked. “It’s not that big a deal, is it?”

“Adrien Agreste is objectively gorgeous, and the fact that you’re reluctant to admit that is super fascinating.” She pouted her lips and bounced on her toes. “ Please? It’s Sunday and we have nothing to do, you’re telling me you can’t dish out some gossip? You love gossip!”

“I’ve got nothing gossip worthy on him, honest!” Chat Noir swore. “I just….feel like there’s a line when it comes to these sorts of games, you know?”

Ladybug snorted. “Oh, since when are you such a party pooper? The only lines in this game are family members and ourselves, and you don’t fall into any of those categories anyway — ”

“Hey! Look at that! It’s a full moon!” Chat Noir interrupted, pointing at the sky almost desperately. “Isn’t that amazing? A full moon! Hey, let’s talk about the moon for a bit, huh? Won’t that be fun, like. Just. Talking about the moon and it’s….fullness?”

She wanted to say that Chat Noir had almost as big a crush on Adrien as Ladybug did, but in all honesty, she had no idea why he was being so secretive and acting so awkward. That being said, it seemed like a delightfully rare occurrence and she was never one for missing out on an opportunity to tease her partner, especially when he was turning this red over it.

Ladybug clasped her hands behind her back. “Hey Chat?”

He flinched when he heard her voice and stopped his pacing. “Uh. Yes Ladybug?”

“If you were related to a successful, world-renowned fashion designer who lives right here in Paris, you’d tell me, right?”

Chat Noir covered his ears with his hands. “You know I can’t do that Ladybug, it’s against our code!”

“There’s probably a whole dynasty of Agrestes, I won’t be able to tell who you are if you just admit you’re a part of it,” Ladybug laughed. “It makes so much sense! You already have the blond hair and those high cheekbones. I bet you get invited to all the Fashion Week parties and you never even told me. The nerve.”

“Wait, cheekbones, you think I have their cheekbones?” Chat Noir asked. “Is it that obvious?”

“Oh totally ,” Ladybug joked. “If anything, you and Adrien Agreste have the most startling similarity out of that whole family. I bet that’s why you’re too embarrassed to admit he’s attractive. The family resemblance is just too huge.”

“ Really!? ” Chat Noir exclaimed worriedly. “I-I mean, we’re not that alike. Our….our hair is so different Ladybug, like, wow , totally out of this world different it’s crazy. I think you’re being a little overdramatic.”

Ladybug got closer to him so that she could grab his chin and turn his face left and right. “Nah, you two could be twins for sure. I mean we might as well plant your face on that billboard. It wouldn’t look any different.” She gave a dramatic gasp. “Oh my god, that’s it! You must be his twin.”

“Ladybug you’re being ridiculous that’s just. Crazy talk! You know that, right?”

She covered her mouth with one hand. “No! I’ve got it! It all makes sense! You must be Adrien Agreste!”

Chat Noir shook his head and stared at Ladybug in abject horror. “Wait, what!? ”

“It’s the only logical explanation, I mean why would anyone rate themselves, right?” Ladybug smirked. “To think that this entire time you’ve been this sweet, darling model by day and a sarcastic goofball by night. What a transformation. Really. Bravo.”

Chat Noir’s hands flew up to his hair and started yanking on it by the roots, and watching him get so flustered was probably the funniest thing Ladybug had seen all week. She chortled into her hand while she watched him stare back and forth between her and the billboard photo as if he were actually trying to convince himself that her ridiculous joke may actually be real. Such a drama queen. But then, Chat Noir completely surprised her when he dragged his hands down his cheeks and whined, “But how did you even figure it out?”

Ladybug sobered up and blinked. “Wait, what?”

Chat Noir’s jaw snapped shut and his eyes widened. “....nothing,” he squeaked.

“Wait a minute, figure what out?”

“Nothing! I said nothing!”

Ladybug felt her jaw dropping and couldn’t stop her brain from putting together the pieces. “Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, y-you’re not….are you actually….oh my God, no way!”

“You were the one making it sound like you knew!” he defended. “You just said it!”

“I was kidding!” Ladybug screamed. “I thought we were just messing around, I didn’t think you actually thought I was serious!”

“I thought you knew and you were just trying to tease the answer out of me!”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this if I actually knew, obviously I was kidding around!”

“Well I guess I’m just bad at picking up signals then!”

Ladybug held up both of her hands. “Stop, stop,” she begged. “Hold on. Hooold on. You’re telling me….you’re telling me that you’re Adrien Agreste?”

Chat Noir shrugged helplessly, trying to come up with a decent response to the question, but he merely let his shoulders drop and sighed, accepting the inevitable. “I….well….y-yeah. Yeah. I’m. I’m Adrien Agreste. There. Secret’s out.”

Ladybug stayed stunned for a few seconds, promptly turned around, and pressed her fingers against her temples. “Holy crap,” she muttered. “Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.”

Chat Noir winced. “Not that I ever anticipated this would ever happen, but as far as reactions go, you’re having a pretty bad one by the looks of it.”

Ladybug paused and bit her lip. He was right. For Marinette, this was positively mind blowing. Her crush and the boy she sat behind in class was actually Chat Noir and that by itself was making her brain do cartwheels trying to wrap her head around such a reality. But for Ladybug, it shouldn’t be any more shocking than realizing a model is actually her crime fighting partner. Being too dramatic about this ran the risk of revealing more about who her secret identity was and the fewer identity mishaps they could have tonight, the better. She was just going to….compartmentalize this and deal with it later. Much later. With her door locked. Screaming into her pillow. Tearing down all her Adrien posters.

“I-I guess, I’m just,” she hesitated, turning around and trying to force her brain to picture Chat Noir doing chemistry homework in study hall or Adrien telling puns while dangling precariously from the top of the Notre Dame. “A little embarrassed? I kinda gushed over you just now so it’s a little weird. It’s not because I’m disappointed or angry or anything. Surprised, for sure. But I guess mistakes happen. We were going to find out sooner or later. Occupational hazard.”

That seemed to placate his anxieties, and he blew out the anxious breath he was holding. “Well, that’s a relief. I’d prefer embarrassed over angry.”

“I’m not angry,” she assured him. “I probably shouldn’t have teased you so hard like that. That would’ve confused me too. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I should’ve known better than to assume. It was mostly my fault.” He scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly. “Gosh, this is weird not having this secret hanging over my head anymore.”

“It is a little weird,” Ladybug agreed with a smile. “But, I think we should be okay. I’m the only one who knows. And as long as we’re careful and don’t let anyone else in on the secret, everything should be totally fine.”

“Good point,” Chat Noir agreed. “As long as this doesn’t change anything, we should be fine, right?”

Ladybug bit the inside of her cheek, trying to imagine how she was going to manage keeping her cool in front of Adrien on Monday now that she was hanging onto such a huge secret. “R-Right!” she replied quickly. “We’re totally fine.”

Chat Noir smiled in relief, but then suddenly widened his eyes in realization. “Wait a minute,” he smirked. “You’re so right….”

“Right about what?”

“You were totally gushing over me a minute ago.”

Ladybug scowled and held up a finger. “Chat….Adrien….or, both of you just…. don’t .”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Chat Noir laughed. “Is teasing only okay when you’re the one doing it? I’m suddenly feeling up to continuing our little game but, oh, could you remind me what your opinions of Adrien Agreste are?”

“Oh my God, shut up!”

Chat Noir started counting off his fingers. “Let’s see if I can remember them all. Gorgeous. Sweet. Delightful. Charming. Handsome. Did I forget any?”

Ladybug covered her face with her hands. “Stooooop.”

“To think!” Chat Noir snickered. “All this time you’ve been telling me how much I wasn’t your type, and I’ve been your exact type this entire time!”

“You’re so infuriating leave me alone!”

“We should go on a date!”

Ladybug frowned, walked back over to where she left their sweets, and stomped away from him. “I’m leaving!”

“Noooo, come on! It’ll be nice! Like a celebrity date! It’ll be a lot of fun. You know, because I’m an absolute delight.”

“You’re never going to let this go, are you?”

“This is the perfect way to lighten up the mood, my Lady,” Chat Noir snickered. “Of course I’m not letting this go.”

“Leaving!!!”

“You can’t leave. I thought we were Bi Besties!”

“That’s never catching on Chat. Don’t even try it right now.”