#like she is SUPPOSED to be ladybug she is SUPPOSED to keep herself together to keep the city safe

[potassiumprincess]

i think marinette is worse at resting when she's sick but adrien is worse at sitting things out if he's injured. i have no explanation, these are just the vibes

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I think it's interesting that the shows problem of "marinette can and will do everything herself unless we decide to f her over" is clear pretty early, but esp in Reflekdoll back in s3... hell it worsened the problem of "cn is kind of a useless teammate" by making him start the ep interfering w lb and spending the rest of it actively struggling.

From what I understand when most shows do some form of "role swap" where the characters were previously dissing each other's roles, both characters in the swap are shown to struggle.

Reflekdoll, on rewatch, doesn't do that. Except I can't really think of a clear way to make Marinette struggle with the role of CN unless it's in her struggling to step back and let others do the work, which she can't do in the context of that episode since she spends all of it making sure Adrien doesn't F Up.

So if we redid reflekdoll to be a swap with a struggle on both sides, how could it be done?

Trope Overview

The power-swap trope is all about learning to appreciate someone else's point of view. That can include the struggles they face, but that's not a requirement. One of the best power swap episodes out there is the Teen Titans episode Switched in which the characters Starfire and Raven switch bodies. This is a problem because Starfire's powers are all about feeling and embracing emotions while Raven's powers are all about controlling and repressing emotions as you can see from this clip that takes place right after the switch:

There is no failed fight to kick this episode off. The girls already fought well together. They don't need to understand each other's powers to be functional teammates. Understanding each other's powers just lets them be better friends and lets the audience get a deeper understanding of the two characters which is exactly what this trope is supposed to do.

Miraculous

Unlike Teen Titans, Miraculous failed the role-switch trope assignment. Adrien kind of learns a lesson in Reflekdoll, but it doesn't change his behavior in other episodes so it's hard to say that this moment of awareness did anything useful for his character. There's also the problem that Marinette learns nothing as we can see here:

Mister Bug: (looks around, trying to figure out how to use his Lucky Charm) Okay, I admit it. It's not easy being a super Ladybug. Lady Noire: (keeping Reflekdoll occupied) And I admit that I like wearing your costume. It's a lot lighter on the shoulders. (They hide behind a chimney)

And here:

Mister Bug: Honestly, I understand why you never have any time to make jokes, m'lady. Lady Noire: We both have our roles, huh Bugaboy? (They jump into separate alleyways.)

This highlights the exact issue anon brought up in their ask: if Adrien continues to joke around and be dismissive of how rough Ladybug has it, then what was the point of all this? if Marinette has nothing to learn, then does Chat Noir even matter? And is there a way to fix this episode to remove those issues?

To be frank, a true fix requires massive rewrites to the entire show because this episode is highlighting an actual issue with the writing. Chat Noir has not been given a clear or important role and he often doesn't take fights seriously enough as we once again see just five episodes later in Oblivio when Chat Noir's flirting and laidback attitude get them hit by the day's akuma:

Nadja:(from a helicopter) Looks like Ladybug and Cat Noir are struggling today. (Ladybug is rapidly spinning her yo-yo to deflect Oblivio's blasts while Cat Noir sits down casually.) Ladybug: And stop calling us a couple!

This means that there's not great option for what Ladybug needs to learn from Chat Noir. The best small change I can come up with is to have her struggle to fight Reflekdoll solo, helping her apricate her partner's fighting and distraction skills. That's no where near the level of lesson Adrien is learning since Ladybug already apricates those skills, but at least it's something.

You could also go the route of having her learn to have more fun, but that's not a great lesson for a superhero charged with defending the city. The fun lesson that would have actual depth is a body switch one where Marinette learns Chat Noir's identity and sees Adrien's life first hand, helping her understand why Chat Noir is so big on having fun. It wouldn't make his actions okay, but it could lead Marinette to better understand his needs so they take time to have fun out of battle. He becomes more serious in fights and she becomes more fun out of them. But then we have identity reveals and canon won't allow that so, while this is the best fix for canon as-is, it's not really one that canon could actually do.

While were on the topic, I'll note that there actually is a fix-it fic for Reflekdoll over on AO3 that you might enjoy. It stays pretty true to the episode, but does a better job of actually letting Adrien learn his lesson while also letting Marinette acknowledge her faults in the episode because she wasn't exactly perfect here. I don't think it solves the issues we were talking about above, but I do think this is probably the best canon could have done without major rewrites and/or an identity reveal.

In an ideal world where the show is fully rebooted and our leads both feel like vital parts of the team, this episode probably would have been something similar to the Teen Titans episode I discussed above. Ladybug and Chat Noir already canonically respect each other's skills, so it's hard to see the need for a lesson around that topic. It would be far more interesting to have an episode on Creation vs Destruction where we learn why Adrien is the best black cat and why Marinette is the best ladybug. An episode where Adrien can't figure out the lucky charm and where Marinette can't control cataclysms because it requires skills that she doesn't have like strong self control and focus. (No, Adrien doesn't really have those in canon, but they are the traits that should define a Destruction wielder. I will die on that hill.)

This new version of the episode wouldn't be about resolving a conflict so much as it would be about helping these two - and the audience - appreciate how they're the only ones who can do what they do.

[miraculouspegasus]

ranking the miraculous kids by how likely they are to reveal their secret identity to their s/o

(excluding the obvious canonical cases like lovesquare, djwifi, nathmarc, or the fact that felix has absolutely told kagami everything he knows)

alix: is aro. she is sooooo aro and also she’s hopping through time, so even if she found it in her somehow to experiment. like. girl has her priorities straight.

luka: i know he’s canonically single right now, but like, let’s imagine a context where he’s still dating marinette. still not gonna tell her. that boy is very mature and would know how important it is to keep your mouth shut for the sake of everyone he loves, no matter what.

kagami: we don’t know if she’s told felix about ryuko! i say it’s very likely she has but only because of their insane rich kid cult upbringing and plot forcing her to this point, because otherwise, if she were dating, say, adrien, she would take her secrecy very seriously. girl was brought up on responsibility. if she doesn’t have a brief moment of recklessness like when she just outed herself to her mom on day one

max: yeah yeah he’s ace and single, but like, bear with me, imagine it’s like. a qpr. with alix, say, or maybe kim. max is very responsible and would treat his secret identity seriously, but he’s way less inclined to take secrets to the grave like someone like kagami, but neither is he as put together as luka is, and maybe someday he’s having a rough patch, and things are piling up on him! so like. i’d give it something in like, a 10% chance, which is relatively low, and that if he’s in that kind of relationship. but still higher than previous characters.

zoe: we’re talking if she ever got together with like, sabrina or marinette. well…girl knows how to keep secrets, whether she likes it or not. but this time it’s for good. it’s a good thing. so not likely, but possible.

mylene: mylene is so committed to good causes, to the point of civil disobedience tactics, so i think that, even though she doesn’t like lying to ivan, she knows that he would understand if he were in her situation. so it would take something pretty rough to actually shake that commitment.

ivan: i think ivan would be more likely than mylene to slip up and tell her but same as mylene, he’s a pretty brave guy, who could hold on to a secret like that even when things are rough. i do think that he might slip up because if his superhero identity ever got in the way of his relationship and ever made mylene feel lonely or abandoned, he would not stand for that.

juleka: juleka tries her best, but she’s also the kind of person who needs a strong support network to face herself and her fears, and she would have absolutely confidence that rose would be careful with her secret. so honestly it’s not an insignificant possibility.

rose: while rose is a little less plagued by doubts and in need of reassurance, what would get her is that she feels like juleka deserves everything. just total honesty. and it wouldn’t even be because of a potential conflict like ivan, it might even be out of principle. which is very sweet but also kind of dangerous. sweetheart, please don’t.

sabrina: i think she takes ladybug’s trust very seriously but given she just got out of an intensely dependent abusive relationship, i think if or when sabrina gets with someone, she’s not gonna be able to weather the rough patches that come with keeping secrets from your partner. oops.

kim: kim probably told ondine the day party crasher happened. xuppu gives him hell about his secret identity and kim was like, hey, how was i supposed to know this was going to be a permanent thing? you didn’t come with a contract! and even though after xuppu made it clear he shouldn’t tell anyone now… ondine knows. like. kim will not bother making a whole new persona using the monkey miraculous. it was king monkey when he fought party crasher, and it’s king monkey now, so.

[jennrypan]

The sheer..annoyance I felt when Bugnoire or whatever her name is, was the one to 'defeat' Monarch (I say defeat like that cuz she actually didn't. She let him get that wish cuz she foolishly believed he changed despite the evidence of CRITICAL THINKING. And he just killed himself. So..yeah. there was no defeat.)

Like..it rendered Chats place in the team useless. Cuz they were in this TOGETHER and then suddenly..he's gone, Chats not there, her partners not there. Marinette not only fights Gabriel by herself but continues to make choices FOR Adrien like him and everyone else, she decides he doesn't need to know about his mother's whereabouts, he doesn't need to know about Natalie and Gabriel's villainy, and she decides to lie to Adrien and all of Paris..cuz he asked her to?? Cuz he gets excused for all his terror cuz he missed his wife sooo much. Marinette decides Adrien doesn't need to know he's a sentibeing and his amok is in a ring that could be easily stolen.

Does she even really ask about Chat? Where Chat was during the final battle??? She doesn't even tell her first PARTNER what the fuck even happened, doesn't explain. No she made Alya her second in command. Even though Chat was here from the beginning, always helping her ass, always putting his issues aside so he can help her (HE was the one comforting her when she lost the miraculous, even after the entire season she's been brushing him off. AND IN SEASON FIVE. HE STILL COMFORTS HER. After he just lost his father and found out he couldn't even be there to defeat hawkmoth.)

..and yall want me to root for them as a couple? No. Marinette keeps treating Adrien like a prize she can coddle and cling to and it doesn't seem like she sees Chat as an equal but as just another hero. I need Adrien to have a support system that ISNT cool with Marinette. I need him to have friends that aren't so close to her cuz he doesn't have that! Nino is suppose to be his best friend but he rarely gets to spend time with him unless it's on a double date and Nino was Marinettes friend first. Kagami is his friend but oh..she's one of Marinettes besties now and Felix is with Kagami so he'll trail her cuz ofc he will.

Chat was suppose to be his one freedom but now, it's just as restricting as his regular life, his regular life is probably more freeing now actually.

To make this post..shorter. basically: Marinette/Ladybug doesn't treat Chat as a partner nor does she treat Adrien as a person and he needs a circle that has NO attachment to Marinette. He needs people he can convide in that won't just run back and tell her so she can 'make him feel better'.

[ilikekidsshows]

You know, this is definitely old news, but to this day I'm -still- so bothered by Marinette's behavior in Ephemeral. Not even the part where she conspired to secretly expose Chat Noir's identity to a third party without his knowledge or consent (cute). It's what she said to him during, to convince him to reveal himself; she tricks him into thinking it was something they were doing together, and thus takes advantage of his trust in her and how much their bond means to him (transcript below for context):

Ladybug: Well... actually, it's kind of linked to what happened today. I've given it a lot of thought ever since I became guardian, you know? (leans on the fence) And, I've realized that... you were right after all. (turns to Cat Noir) We should tell each other our secret identities. Cat Noir: But, aren't the secrets supposed to protect us? Ladybug: I thought so. But when you didn't show up today, I didn't know how to locate you because we can't communicate when we're not transformed. If something bad happened to one of us when we're not heroes, we could know about it. It would make us stronger. We'd be able to defeat Shadow Moth quicker! Cat Noir: (walks towards Ladybug's side) So, we're doing this, for real? Ladybug: Yes. Cat Noir: Wow. Okay. You go ahead, m'lady. Guardians first! Ladybug: No, you first. Cat Noir: Let's do it together. (Viperion listens to their conversation while he's in the sewers.) Ladybug: No, I mean it. You go first. I'm... feeling kind of... awkward.

Is it just me, or is this not one of the most blatantly manipulative things she's ever done? To honest, I find it disgusting. She says all these things she knows he wants to hear, and doesn't mean one word of it. I've seen damage control interpretations that she did mean it, actually, that it's what she secretly wants herself but...that just feels like copium at this stage. There's no direct evidence for this interpretation beyond wishful thinking. On the other hand, it's blatant that she doesn't "feel awkward" as much as she's making an excuse to get him to reveal without having to herself (she doesn't want Viperion to know her identity, too, after all). Meanwhile Adrien is being put into a vulnerable position and arguably actually feeling awkward himself (seriously, when you watch the episode you can hear it in his voice). It's just...gross. And for what?

This is Lila levels of manipulation, but worse, because it's our supposed "heroine" who's acting this way (and I hold her to higher standards, yes, because hello, actual superhero and intended role model here?). Which is fine if it's treated as an actual flaw she learns from, but no. Of course not. She will never face real repercussions, or learn from this, because oh hey, turns out this never happened (and no, her realizing something went wrong with her plan in the end does not automatically mean she regrets her plan to betray his trust, or that she even realizes she was doing so). And our one saving grace, the one chance of this being addressed in any meaningful way, was Chat Noir's expression at the end of the episode, where it's clear he knows she's keeping something from him (he saw Viperion in the sewers, after all). But this never go anywhere, actually. They'll let him be frustrated at the secrets for one brief moment in Strikeback, before she has a panic attack and he drops it all, never to be brought up again.

And so many people seem to gloss over that she never actually apologized. All she did was berate herself for being the worst guardian ever, and then immediately accept Chat's pep talk, which includes a bit about how she's the "best superhero there ever was." At this point, I'm starting to think she has a point about being the worst, actually. Maybe she should lose her memories, transfer the guardianship to Alya, and get therapy. I'm not even mad at her, I'm mad at the writers for constantly pushing it in my face that she's the "best" when she's demonstrably...not, multiple times over. She doesn't need to be the best! It's not like she can't be impressive without being The Best TM, my god. But anyways. She could put her money where her mouth is and come clean about Ephemeral and other things, but no. Of course she hasn't.

And now as of season 6 we have him genuinely praising her as 'the best version of herself,' so no, his expression at the end of Ephemeral meant nothing in the end, actually, and she got away scot-free, being disgustingly manipulative without having to make amends or apologize or anything. All she had to do was cry.

I'm currently drinking major copium myself, hoping all or some of her secrets come to light (including her plan in Ephemeral, which, oh yeah, he still doesn't know about), wherein he rethinks the whole 'best version of yourself' thing and feels rightfully betrayed.

Because what the fuck, Marinette.

So yeah, I'm still bothered by Ephemeral.

---

Maybe Ephemeral wouldn't keep being so topical if Marinette's utter moral failures in that episode didn't keep getting ignored by the show. It's like the writers are counting on people to forget about it ever happening so that they can pretend Marinette isn't ready to shamelessly manipulate Cat Noir with every vulnerability he’s ever revealed to her. Until she, of course, does it again and the fandom will act like it's completely new and out of character, and the writers will take advantage of that to act like it's not a pattern of behavior by now and really is just a single, momentary lapse of judgement she shouldn't be judged for. But, like, those of us who remember know that all Marinette needs to manipulate Cat Noir with no hesitation is 1) a reason to do so 2) an assurance that she won’t get caught.

Marinette is a dishonest person. I remember reading someone talking about ‘Reverser’ and they said that, in that episode, Marinette couldn’t even help another person approach someone without her plan having an element of deceit to it. That just stuck with me. And now she’s being pitted against Lila, the person the fandom dubbed “Liar-la” because they thought she was the bigger liar based on very little. They’ve really amped up Lila’s liar game since with her multiple mother scams and such, but, like, considering how unironironically they have Marinette acting just like Gabriel, I don’t think the “liar versus liar, whose lies will bite them harder” parallel is going to amount to anything in the show.

[ririchanva]

Hi! In Tales of Tirumushi and Feline Noire... what about Lila? What will happen when she arrives?

//Huh...I didn't think I'd miss writing this AU but here we are~ We back baby~ Let's goooooooo!

[Previously]

So let's get right to the Volpina episode? How would that play out exactly?

Well, it sorta plays out the same at first.

Izuku and Chloe were coming to school together when they both heard the buzz about a new student joining the school.

"Can you believe Lila knows Prince Ali~? She even flew in his private jet with him~"

"Jagged Stone wrote a song about her? Sounds rad~!"

"Lila know all of the Hollywood directors, she even promised me Steven de Spielgurb himself~"

Izuku wondered who was this Lila girl, and...was she famous or something?

Meanwhile Chloe was stomping her foot and huffing.

"Why would Jagged write a song about some nobody and not me?!"

And then, Izuku hears the most interesting rumour from Alya.

"She gave me an exclusive interview for the TealBlog! Cuz Tirumushi saved her life once~!"

Izuku frowned. He didn't remember rescuing a girl named Lila before. And he had a very good memory.

He may have worked as a superhero for a few months now with Feline Noire, but he made sure to note every citizien that was akumatized by the mysterious villain that called herself Queen Butterfly. He was on a mission to track them down after all.

Not to mention, he saw the interview and he definitely would remember someone that claims that they were 'close as thieves'

Marinette was absolutely crushed about the rumours spreading about The Ladybug Hero having a crush on Lila.

Izuku discovered a month ago that Marinette had developed a crush on Tirumushi the day after she was rescued by him from Stoneheart. Well, at least she doesn't have a crush on Kim anymore. But now it's awkward to know his childhood friend likes his alter-ego.

Chloe didn't give two shits about Lila.

Well...that lasted for ten seconds until she saw Lila approach Izuku.

"WHAT IS THAT SAUSAGE HAIRED WITCH DOING WITH MY IZU-SWEETIE?!"

Adrien, being amused by the hilarious notion that Izuku once again attracted another admirer, suggests to Chloe that they should follow them.

Izuku looks blush-y and awkward of being pulled by the hand towards the library by Lila Rossi, who asks sweetly if he could help her with some homework.

"WHERE ARE THEY GOING?! ADRIKINS! WE GOTTA STOP THEM!" - Chloe

And they weren't the only ones that followed after them sneakily.

Sabrina, Alix and Nathaniel also followed them, and behind them were Marinette, Alya and Nino (who was dragged against his will).

Now here's how things went differently.

With Adrien no longer being Chat Noir, he didn't have a chance to see the Grimoire being in his father's study that day. So...how would Volpina work this round?

Actually, Izuku takes various notes about Tirumushi and Feline Noire.

Alongside with many writings of other superheroes he knows, he uses this as reference for his future battles with Queen Butterfly and her Akumas, making his own sort of Grimoire thanks to the many talks with Tikki and what she knows about possible other Miraculous other than his. own and the Cat one.

Although Izuku always made sure that if his notebook is discovered, it doesn't reveal himself being Tirumushi.

So in short, it's just a fan boy making crack pot theories and such about heroes.

"Now we can get going on our history homework~ It's so much more fun doing it together, don't you think~?"

Lila notices Izuku's notebook.

"What's that?" Lila pointed the notebook of Izuku's sketches and scribbles and snatches it away from him, taking a look with slight interest in her eyes.

Izuku smiled sheepishly, rubbing the side of his neck, "Ah, I-I tend to write down about a lot of superheroes. I-I had a dream of being one one day, even if I don't have super powers..."

A lie. But hey, he's not supposed to tell anyone he's Tirumushi. He promised Tikki that he would keep his hero life seperate from his civilian one.

Lila grabbed his hand gently and squeezed, batting her eyes sweetly at him, "I loooove superheroes~"

Meanwhile, hidden behind some bookshelves, Chloe was steaming and looking red in the face with anger.

"How dare this yuppy hit on my Izuku! That's it, I'm going over there!"

Adrien held her back.

"Chloe, no!"

The two bumped into a trolley of books for a second and froze, thinking they were caught now. When it didn't seem like Lila nor Izuku noticed, they sighed in relief. However, they soon noticed other groups that were in hidden noticing them.

Nathaniel gave a wave at them secretly; he, Alix and Sabrina hidden in the upper part of the Library.

Nino also gave a salute from his hiding place under some tables with a scared Marinette and one annoyed Alya.

Adrien felt himself grin cheekily. Oh, things were about to get interesting.

Lila kept flipping through the pages until she gasped and saw a well detailed drawing of--

"Tirumushi?"

Izuku tried not to react, even though his heart leapt out of his chest thinking she found out his secret identity, but sighed in relief that it seems Lila was reading about him and Feline Noire.

"Oh, um, yeah..?"

"And you wrote about Feline Noire too..." Lila hummed, seeing how this page was detailed too, but there were a lot of drawings of the cat heroine and then grinned, "So? Got a soft spot for the Cat, huh?"

Izuku makes a face at this.

Not that he hated his partner, she was getting better after Stoneheart.

But there were times that she was just too full of herself and sometimes causes some mistakes.

Although to suggest that he might like-like Feline Noire?

He almost laughed.

But he coughed and turned his head away as to not be rude.

Lila, however, took this reaction as a yes.

"You know I actually happen to be very close friends with Feline Noire and Tirumushi~"

This caught everyone's attention.

Alya was murmuring excitedly how awesome Lila was and Nino was doing the same, meanwhile, Marinette whined how Lila was so lucky to be close to her superhero crush...thus going on a tirade on how Lila and Tirumushi was going to fall in love, get married, have a house, have three kids and a hamster named— 

Nathaniel looked indifferent, the same with Alix.

Sabrina felt a quiet brimming jealous, but kept it to herself.

Adrien just looked confused but Chloe...Oh Chloe was peeved.

"She's lying!"

Adrien looked to Chloe pointedly, "How do you know Lila is lying?"

"There is no way some nobody knows great heroes like Feline Noire and the Bug!" Chloe huffed while shaking her head, "What would she know? Oooh, I'm going to smack her back to reality!"

"Can you actually prove that she doesn't really know Tirumushi and Feline Noire?" Adrien asked tiredly.

Chloe paused, remembering she's not supposed to reveal her secret life as a hero, because she promised the Bug that she wouldn't.

Izuku, on the other, narrowed his eyes for a second before he smiled.

"Really now?"

Lila nodded, not noticing the look of suspicion in Izuku's eyes, and she continued on happily.

"We could chat about, if you want~? But not here though~ Why don't we meet at the park after school and I'll tell you everything~?"

Izuku didn't want to entertain a liar, and was even about to decline, but then blinked when he heard a noise and a squeak. He snapped his head towards the sound and saw a trolley of books sliding to the other side of the room, and tilted his head.

Was someone here?

He didn't even notice that he knocked over his books when he stood at the sound, that included his hero notebook.

"So? The Park?"

Izuku blinked as he heard Lila's voice and turned to her, then smiled weakly. Welp, maybe he could talk to her gently about how she doesn't have to lie to make friends and that she could be true to herself and make friends a different way.

And it could be away from the school where she wouldn't be embarrassed to be called out.

"...Sure."

Chloe gasped against Adrien's hand, growling as the male blond with her was holding her back from attacking and staying hidden under the desk. They even witnessed how Lila's boot stepped gently on Izuku's notebook and pushed it behind her sneakily.

"Grrr that witch!" Chloe snapped once they saw Izuku leave after Lila had picked up his stuff and handed his bag back, and Lila taking the notebook secretly as she left while reading through it with a smirk, "She stole Izuku's notebook!"

"...I will admit, that is pretty bad." Adrien whistled, before he saw Marinette, Alya, Nino, Nathaniel, Alix and Sabrina come out of their hiding spots, "So you guys saw that too, right?"

"Absolutely!" Marinette huffed, "We gotta talk to Izuku before he meets up with Lila in the park! He has to know that she's a total thief!"

"AND A LIAR!" Chloe yelled while waving her hands up and down, almost jumping around in anger, "How dare she lie of knowing famous people! Especially heroes like the Bug and Feline Noire!"

Alya folded her arms and tilted her head, "A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you--"

"Trust me, I've already talked with her about this, and let's just say Chloe ain't listening," Adrien raised a hand up to the journalist with a sigh but then frowned, "But Marinette is right. Izuku has to know Lila stole his notebook."

And so, they approach Izuku and told him about Lila.

Izuku sighs.

"Oh I know. Which is why I'm going to talk to her about that after school and how she doesn't have to lie to make friends."

This surprises everyone, and they wondered how they know she's lying.

"A simple internet search could verify her claims if they were true or not. Not to mention, she just came from Italy. Never been to Paris before in her life. How in the world would she be close to Tirumushi and Feline Noire since the two just debuted?"

Alya felt embarrassed of this, and Chloe felt herself vindicated.

Eventually school ends and Izuku meets Lila in the park.

And Chloe was the only one that followed after them.

The others decided that if Izuku is going to talk to Lila in private, then they should respect that and wish Izuku luck.

Chloe, on the other hand, wasn't about to miss this in case Lila tries and pulls something.

Plagg grins, eating his cheese while Chloe sneakily follows after Lila walking out of the school.

"Man, kid. This is the most entertaining thing I've ever gotten to be apart of~"

"Quiet, cat-rat! I need to concentrate!"

She used her phone's camera as a sort of binoculars as she zoomed towards Lila sitting herself down on a park bench and pulling out some sort of necklace. A fox necklace.

"What...?"

Lila places the necklace on, admiring it before she spotted Izuku and greets him.

"DID ROSSI JUST THROW IZU-SWEETIE'S NOTEBOOK?! WHAT A BRAT!"

Chloe seethes as she continues to watch.

Izuku took a breath before he looked to Lila with a look, "So, you know Tirumushi and Feline Noire, for real?"

Lila noded as she twirled the pendant around her neck shyly, but soon made a grab for his hands, "Not only did they save my life, we've become very close friends. Because, we have something very special in common~ It's...what I wanted to tell you about..."

Izuku quirked a brow, watching her fiddle with the necklace once more and blinked. Was that...?

He remembered Tikki speaking of others like her and Plagg, the Kwami of the Cat Miraclous, and she lamented on how she missed them and it had been hundreds of years since she's last seen them.

And so, he doodled and wrote some theories he had about some of the Miraculous with Tikki's stories in mind, and he knew he has seen this pendant before...

"I'm a descendant of a Vixen super-heroine myself, Volpina..."

"Volpina?"

Izuku murmured with confusion and Chloe hissed this with narrowed eyes.

Izuku's eyes widened for a moment, as if having a revalation, before reaching to his bag to pull out his notebook, "Holy woah! I think I had written a few things about—"

Lila saw this and immediately grabbed for his hands once more to prevent him from digging into his bag and smiled tightly.

"I bet she would be someone that you've written about~ She's one of the most important superheroes. More powerful and celebrated than both Tirumushi and Feline Noire combined. Between you and me? They don't even make the top 10!"

Chloe growled at this. She really was about to lose it.

"My grandma gave me this necklace~"

As Lila was showing her pendant to Izuku, Plagg whistled while impressed.

"She's good. Real good."

And that was the last straw from Chloe.

"I'll show HER who's more powerful and celebrated. And we can't lose Izu-Sweetie! Time to transform! PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!"

Izuku observed the so called Miraculous for a moment.

While it did look like the genuine article, Izuku could tell it was fake.

He even looked into his bag just in case, and the hidden away Tikki shook her head.

Before Izuku could kindly tell Lila that he knows that she's lying, Feline Noire appeared.

"Well hey Lilo, or Lala or whatever your name is, the so called best friend of mine~! How's it going? Long time no see~ I saw your interview in Cesaire's little blog. AWESOME job~"

Izuku is surprised seeing his partner here, and even winced seeing Lila paling in panic.

Feline Noire asserts her dominance.

"OH SURE~! I remember our instant connection when me and MY partner saved your life~ AND we've been REALLY good friends ever since. PRACTICALLY BFFS~! Oh~? Wait a minute~! What's this now? I can't recall when I saved your life, Rossi.?...Oh wait, that's right, NEVER! AND WE'RE NOT FRIENDS EITHER!!!! Miss Show-Off here was pathetically trying to impress YOU and everyone around her because she's a loser that wants to be someone. And she's no descendant of a superhero, she's more of a super liar~"

Izuku mentally face-palmed at Feline Noire's humiliating way of calling Lila out, and he felt bad when he saw Lila genuinely crying.

Before Izuku could say anything, Lila ran off.

"That was...sorta mean?"

Feline Noire huffs with a "I hate lies about me and my partner!" and pole-vaults away.

Tikki pops out once it's just her and Izuku.

"Wow, Feline Noire seems to be wound up about Lila. Almost seemed like she's jealous."

"I highly doubt that, Tikki."

The two eventually get back to school and Izuku manages to find his friends and explain what happened.

That was when the 'meteorite' incident happens.

Transforming into Tirumushi, the Ladybug hero calls a Code Red and meets up with Feline Noire to try and stop the astroid almost making it's way to the city.

That was, until Volpina appeared.

"I am Volpina~ The only superhero Paris needs~!"

With the crowd cheering for the fox heroine, Tirumushi's eyes narrow for a moment in suspicion. It felt too coincidental that a super-heroine named Volpina just magically shows up in time and stops an astroid with Star and Stripes like abilities.

'Wasn't the Fox Miraculous all about illusions? I remember Tikki saying that...'

Feline Noire scoffed, "I could've done better~"

Tirumushi smiled wryly at her, but the two then jumped back when Volpina landed in front of them.

"Hey guys! Glad you dropped in~! I need a hand. C'mon!"

She started running off, confusing both Ladybug and Cat miraculous holders for a second. But they soon ended up catching up to her. The trio soon found themselves hiding behind some chimeys and gasped.

"I don't believe it..." Feline Noire breathed out, blinking, "It's Queen Butterfly in the flesh?!"

Izuku frowned.

There was no way that the super villainess would be out in the open like this.

Volpina suggests that they should take Queen Butterfly down now.

Feline Noire doesn't take kindly to being bossed around.

Suddenly, Queen Butterfly disappears.

"HEY! She's getting away!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T! MY PARTNER AND I ARE TAKING HER DOWN!"

Tirumushi wanted to chase after the both of them, but decided to leave that for later.

"Lucky Charm."

Meanwhile, Feline Noire chases after Queen Butterfly around Paris, until she suddenly vanishes into thin air.

"What...?"

Feline Noire notices she stepped on a blinking target and Volpina appears with a bunch of missles and rockets pointed at her.

"I wouldn't move an inch if I were you, furball~"

Volpina smiles as she stares Feline Noire down with a smirk.

"Don't worry, Feline Noire~ I don't want to be your friend. But at least NOW you won't be able to say we don't know each other~!"

"...Oh great, it's the lying sausage hair." -Feline Noire

Yeah, that line ticked Volpina off for sure.

"Surrender your Miraculous now, you don't deserve to be a hero!" - Volpina

Tirumushi comes swinging by, using his yo-yo to swipe all the illusions away.

"Illusions, lies. That's your real power, eh?"

He hold up his Lucky Charm, which happens to be a shiny popsicle wrapper.

Uses it to blind Volpina, distracting her from making another illusion.

Feline Noire takes this chance to attack, cataclysm'ing Volpina's necklace.

"Woah! Hey! Careful! How'd you know that was even the akumatized object?!"

"I didn't...but you could always use the Miraculous spell to place things back to normal anyways~"

Tirumushi ends up smacking Feline Noire at the back of her head.

Soon, they capture Volpina and Tirumushi de-akumatizes her while placing everything back to normal.

"MIRACULOUS TIRUMUSHI~!"

Once Lila is back to normal, Tirumushi checks on her.

"You okay, Miss?"

Let's just say Lila, for the first time in her life, felt her heart beat faster than usual. Hearts in her eyes and cheeks pink.

Feline Noire notices. Oh no...

"You saved my life~ My hero~"

Tirumushi yelps when he feels arms around his neck and pulled into a squeezing hug, face red to match his suit and eyes wide with shock.

"W-well, I suppose now you can say that I've saved your life for real?"

Lila felt herself flush and move back for a moment with embarrassment, "Y-You heard about that?"

Tirumushi nodded, "I saw what you said on the Tealblog. And while I don't really like people lying about me...I'm gonna assume that you're new around here and wanted to make friends by showing that you are connected and have some sort of dreamy lifestyle to gain popularity?"

Lila frowned, huffing, "O-Okay yeah, I lied. What? You gonna lecture me now? Feeling sorry for me and call me trash and a loser?"

"Well, no? I think you're just feeling lonely." Tirumushi hummed as he took her hand and squeezed, "I was gonna say that people are gonna like you if you be yourself—"

"You're unbelievable, you know that?!"

Tirumushi blinked when his partner started with a pissed off expression, perplexed on why she was acting this way. Even Lila jumped in surprise at the heroine before the cat heroine went on.

"Prancing around pretending to be a hero and being fake about your whole life. Yeah, you're pretty lonely, alright. Lonely and pathetic!"

Lila growled, fired up now, "If anyone's a fake, it's you! You don't deserve to be a hero! And you don't have to worry about ME pretending to be your friend anymore because I...I HATE YOU, FELINE NOIRE!"

Feline Noire gave a sharp grin, almost feral, "Feelings mutual, super-liar~"

"Feline, that's enough!" Tirumushi argued but then saw the angry tears from Lila, "You're gonna create another akuma again if you keep this up! I'm taking her home and don't follow me."

Picking Lila up in his arms, he soon jumped down the building they were on and left a gobsmacked Feline Noire. Honestly, he was surprised how hostile his partner was being.

One step forward and ten steps back with her...

Once he brought Lila nearby Collège Françoise Dupont, Lila then asks why he puts up with a partner like Feline Noire.

"Well, I know she's rough around the edges, but she has her moments sometimes. She just needs someone that could balance her out. A friend that can guide her to a good path...

Lila hummed with a thoughtful look, before she then gave a sweet smile, "Well either way, you are totally better than her. You're so nice and cute."

"Hold on, Lila. I still want to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again," Tirumushi said while placing his hands onto his hips and looked at her sternly, "For one, no more lies. While I get trying to fit in, there are other ways to do that."

"You're absolutely right, Tirumushi. I promise to never lie again~"

Lila also asks Tirumushi to make a video with her as a souvenir and proof that she knows him and that he rescued her.

And yes, she sorta snuck a kiss on the cheek on him before running off happily and posting the video on her social media.

The next day school was hectic with everyone surrounding Lila and asking about her time with the famous superheroes of Paris.

"Tirumushi is very heroic and honestly sweet with me~...And, Feline Noire, on the other hand...?"

Lila went on a slandering spree against the Cat Heroine, even sparking the rumour of Feline Noire being jealous of Lila for being close to the cat hero's partner.

Izuku shakes his head.

'Well, not like I can force her to stop lying.'

He's not mad. Just disappointed.

Speaking of his partner, he hasn't contacted her since he yelled at her, and he started feeling guilty of going off like that. He should talk to her in their next patrol together.

Meanwhile, Chloe was tearing Lila a new one every single time she hears the lies Lila spouts, and Adrien had to always be around his blonde childhood friend from committing murder.

Tags: @jasmine-the-fox , @candiiee, @gachadarklightoficial, @lakama77 @molteninferno

(if you wished to be tagged in the next one, please reply below~)

BONUS CONTENT~! (There are two at the end)

::Bonus Scene One::

"You know, with those kinds of notes, I think it's time that you met the Guardian~"

Izuku blinked as he turned his head to Tikki, stopping his writing on the latest akuma of the day, "The Guardian? Do you mean the one that is holding the Miracle Box that has your Kwami friends?"

"Yes. The very person that brought me to you and brought Plagg to whoever Feline Noire is~" Tikki chirped, flying happily towards her holder and nuzzling against his freckled cheek.

Izuku looked thoughtful, and then smiled, "Okay then~! Let's go meet this Guardian. I have a lot of questions to ask him anyways!"

Tikki soon guides Izuku to the outskirts of Paris, ending up in some sort of run down apartment building. There, he soon steps into a room where an old man sat quietly and with a knowing smile.

"Hello, Tirumushi. I believe we have a lot to talk about."

"...yes. Yes, we do."

::Bonus Scene Two::

"Ahhh, my dear Miss Rossi~ How did you first day of school go~?"

"Everything went according to your predictions, Sir. I managed to get close to the Izuku Midoriya boy you told me about and I also was able to get close to one of the heroes you were eying on...but Feline Noire is a little difficult to get along with. She has a nasty attitude and not worth the time of day. At least for now, I have one of those heroes trust me a bit and will keep working on gaining more of it."

"Good. Keep up with your mission there. Don't forget your other missions as well."

"Don't worry Sir, already doing the other two missions now~"

Lila sighed as she turned off the video call, moving the wig she was wearing then dumping it to the side. She fixed the short pixie cut that she had, making sure it was nicely messy then removing her green contact lenses. Placing the hazel brown contacts on, she fixed up a smile before making another call. And of course, making sure the green screen behind her was set up perfectly.

The video call then revealed a surprised looking boy with his brown haired tied back along with a red bandana plus some shades on top of his head and grey blue eyes.

"Cerise? I thought you said you were busy settling down in New York?"

Cerise smiled and waved at the camera with a soft French accent, "Bonjour, Rody~! Yes, I've just settled down in my new apartment, but I wanted to call and check up on you. How are you and your siblings?"

"They're fine. They miss you though. Speaking of, w-when will you be coming back to Otheon?"

"Hopefully in a few months after I settle the whole thing with my mother getting her special treatment for her hearing impairment~" Cerise pouted, trying to sniff and look sad as Rody stared at her in sympathy, "Anyways, I'm sorry that I have to cut the call short, but I did want to see you and that I miss you guys there~"

"Miss you too, Cer. Call me again when you're free!"

She ended the call after waving goodbye, her smile dropping as she soon wrote something in the journal next to her.

Huffing, she soon changed her looks once more, settling to have a pale make up with a black wig and placing blue contact lenses now. She soon placed some glasses on then changed the green screen background again before she made another call. She waited for a moment until the screen revealed a blonde haired girl with glasses and blue eyes.

"Iris! It's good to see you, it's been a while! How are you doing in Japan?"

Iris smiled once more as she then spoke in an Otheon accent and spoke calm and low toned, "Greetings, Melissa. I'm doing very well! How is Uncle David doing? I'm sorry to hear he's not feeling well~"

As Melissa talked along with some worried sighs, Iris was secretly writing down notes and nodding her head with a sweet smile while listening, but inside her mind she had to laugh. These mission were just too easy. She hopes she made her Boss proud.

Operation Alliance is a go.

[echobutgirlypop]

ML LONDON SPOILERS!!!

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Obviously, Marinette’s belief that it’s better not to tell Adrien about Monarch is wrong. But I also think that she doesn’t really believe that. She wants more than anything to tell him, it shows in her constantly questioning her decision and asking others for advice. However, lately, it seems like any change she makes as ladybug leads to some horrible future she’ll have to fix. So, she decides it’s better to endlessly fight the big bad, keep everything a secret, and distance herself from people who care about her.

If Marinette tells adrien in the future or he finds out as chat noir or something, he’ll freak the fuck out. This could very well be his last straw. Everything was supposed to be okay between him and ladybug again. Then, she reveals she’s been lying more about something so important. It was supposed to be them TOGETHER against monarch, against the world. But she broke that trust, again. Chat Blanc 2, anyone?

[flightfoot]

Sorry if you've already rec'd this category before, but I don't suppose you have any Marichat to recommend? Popular category I know, but here's the twist...are there ones you recommend that specifically *do not* include "purrincess" (or him calling her princess at all, ideally)? Also maybe without the 'Chat visits her balcony 24/7' plotline? Because it's overdone IMO (and more fanon than canon). I like Marichat in theory but find myself increasingly...tired of how it's portrayed in fanon. Not to diss those who like that, it's just...not what I'm looking for. So, I hope this isn't too difficult of an ask! Thanks no matter what.

Hm... lemme see what I can come up with. Damn it's rare for him to not call her "princess".

Late Nights on Their Balcony by aalissy

When Adrien figures out he's a sentimonster, he runs to the only person he can think of for comfort, Marinette. Together, Marinette helps him come to terms with the fact that he isn't truly human and devises a plan to get his ring back. And, somewhere along the way, the two manage to figure out their identities too. Marichat hurt/comfort

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The Runaway by The_Rabbit42

Marichat May 2023: Runaway Marinette notices a young boy fleeing through the streets of Paris at 2am and is compelled to invite him in off the street. She's not quite sure what to do with a runaway child. Fortunately, she'll have help.

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Sweet Demon by Cakedecorator

Marinette's luck in love has never been the best, but it's not the worst, either. After overhearing her crush badmouthing her to the school's resident bitch, just days before the school's Halloween Dance, Marinette loses trust in herself and others when it comes to love. While reading in the school library to distract herself, she comes upon a book that can supposedly let her summon a demon to grant her wishes...

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A dozen roses by Illionethethird

When Marinette finds a pink rose on her desk, she suspects that her secret admirer is Chat Noir. After all, who else would leave a rose just inside a 5th floor window? But why would Chat Noir give roses to a girl he barely knows when he’s supposed to be in love with Ladybug? As season 5 begins, the love square is teetering right on the brink between continuing forward or tipping into reverse. What would happen if Adrien decided to pursue Marinette in whichever of his identities he thought was more likely to succeed?

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Catified by Hopiv

Chat Noir is finally gonna be a cat. After the Ladybug-became-a-ladybug fiasco, it’s all he’s been able to think about. If only everyone would get off his case about being ‘responsible’ and ‘careful.’ So long as Ladybug is by his side, nothing can go wrong! Right? Sequel to Lady Bugged

Okay so this one is actually the third fic in a series, but I think it fits pretty well (and also you should read the series anyway if you like "Miraculous characters turn into animals" fics).

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The Mer-Human Race by @rosie-b

Bringing her hand closer to his lips, Adrien tried to plant a kiss on it, but Marinette pulled away before his lips could touch her. "Save it for your girlfriend," she said teasingly. "Or do you still not have one yet?" Adrien smirked and crossed his arms. "It's a girl," he said. "And I know her in real life. That's all you get. Now let's get back to planning, shall we? We have a mermaid to beat."

Lovely world-building here! Merfolk and humans have had a treaty for a long time, so there’s a tradition where merfolk can challenge humans to a race, and whoever wins gets to ask for a reasonable sort of reward (in Marinette’s case, she wants to be allowed to captain a ship at a younger age than is usually allowed). Alya, Nino, and Adrien are naturally very encouraging towards Marinette, and luckily for her, a nice merman going by the name of Chat Noir shows up and challenges her to a race…

Yeah you can see where this is going XD. It’s fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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

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

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

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I hope some of these fit what you're looking for!

[yubellia]

Miraculous London. My opinion and … a problem(?).

Soooo…. The new special. It’s here. Before I start, I would like to say that I watched it ‚somewhat‘ completely. I watched reactions, snippets and videos with heavy filters on top for copyright reasons.

However! I think I got enough to have an opinion.

So! Spoilers ahead! You have been warned!

First, I loved seeing Lila and get a feeling for her as the villain. The writers couldn’t resist the urge to make her look like a psycho but… I think this tells us a lot about her character. What we saw was a mental breakdown but she recovered relatively quickly. Remember when Sabrina and Marinette exposed her? After what we know now, I think she was really keeping it together while boiling on the inside.

Also, this special gave us new questions. Lila didn’t seem like the person to be into sports. We now know, that it was mostly because she is wearing a disguise most of the time. She can‘t have her makeup or wig fall off. However, it now seems like she has some fighting skills. Unless that was part of her transformation. (A shame that we didn’t see that process. And an even bigger shame because we didn’t see her wish. What does she want?!)

Lilas Plan was pretty smart too. I mean, once you know how it works, it’s not THAT special but since she works alone, it was pretty crafty. First giving herself the power to find out who ladybug is and once she knows, taking the power to be untouchable but able to take what she wants. I still remember how people asked how one girl is supposed to be better than a grown man with lots of money at his disposal and all his options. Well…. We just saw it! I thought that she would use her knowledge to manipulate Adrien. That the writers would use that to show how Adrien CAN‘T find out the truth. I think they will do that but later. Although getting Adrien akumatized again is getting old by now.

I didn’t like how the ‚fight‘ became a joke once Marinette changed the notebook. It was the normal ‚I‘m the hero and I will get you.‘ speech. However, Lila is mad now. And we know, once she gets mad, she gets extreme. So we should be excited for that. Also… was it because Lila wore a full body disguise or why didn’t Marinette see through her? I mean we had villains that turned into monsters, stone and more. She still knew who it was. What was different this time? Was it because Lila didn’t speak? So many questions!

So overall the special was… ok. Why only ok? Because I think, they could have turned this into a longer special episode. It didn’t really FEEL all that special. It didn’t feel like Shadybug you know. I mean we did get confirmation that yes, Lila is using the Miraculous better than Gabriel did. But that’s pretty much it…

Why is she better at it than Gabriel? When she was Hoaxxer, Nathalie gave her all the information she needed. Including most likely the decoded book. Meaning that she is pretty much on the same level as Marinette when it comes to knowledge.

Now…. The problem I have with this special…..

I watched the last scene of season 5 just to be sure. I had this weird feeling during the special… and it got confirmed. This special takes place after Marinette lies to Adrien and before we get this last scene with Lila. With the blue light and all that. So… why is Lila still in her Cerise disguise? I mean she could have changed that. Ok. But where is Nooroo? We saw him in the special. Is he trapped in the miraculous? Maybe. But more importantly, this scene takes place AFTER we are all the heroes with the miraculous. So it’s AFTER this special.

What is this light?! What happened to her?

We still don‘t know. At first I thought it could have been something with time traveling but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Could this be a retcon? If so, it’s only a little one but I am confused because Lila still seemed so fixated on Marinette. Although that’s probably only her own drive for vengeance.

Anyway. I liked this special. It introduced the new villain pretty well and Marinette admitted that she is better than Gabriel. But aside that, it wasn’t all that much. Sorry.

[aalissy]

Villains

Anddd we are officially halfway through Adrienette April! Absolutely crazy to me haha. I hope ya'll like this lil reveal tho <3!

AO3

Marinette glanced nervously around the small pink foam prison she had gotten encased in. One of the akumatized villains had managed to trap her in here before she could transform. Once again, she attempted to elbow her way out with all of her strength. If she was alone this would be no problem. She’d transform. Get whatever lucky charm was needed and magically pop her way out of this cage.��

But... issue was that she wasn’t alone. Her gaze slid over to Adrien as she continued to ram her elbow into the foam at a faster pace.

“Marinette!” Adrien called out, grabbing her arm gently in his as he gazed down at her sadly. He shook his head. “It’s not working and I don’t want to see you get hurt. We’re going to need to wait for Ladybug.”

She sighed, shooting one last desperate glance at their walls before slumping down against them. “Or Chat Noir,” she muttered, hugging her knees to her chest. Right now it was only going to be Chat Noir who was saving them. Ladybug was a little... occupied at the moment. Marinette couldn’t stop herself from fiddling with her earring. She placed her chin down on her knees, staring down at the floor miserably. “His cataclysm sounds really good right about now.” 

She heard Adrien sit across from her and peeked back up at him. He gave an almost awkward-sounding laugh that had her raising a brow. “Yeah, or Ladybug’s lucky charm.”

Marinette gnawed at her lower lip, not wanting to think about that right now. Surely Chat would save them sooner or later. She just needed to wait.

But, after an hour of waiting, Marinette was slowly losing any semblance of hope. Maybe Chat had gotten caught in a foam prison like her and he was also trapped with someone next to him. At least she was with Adrien. Who she would trust with her life.

Sucking in a deep breath for courage, Marinette spoke up at the same time as him. 

“I need to tell you something!” They both burst out together.

They both chuckled, their previously wide eyes softening into a look of endearment as they gazed at each other. 

“What, um...,” Marinette said, fiddling with her earrings once again. She’d take any distraction to keep her identity secret for just a few moments longer. “What did you need to tell me?”

 “Actually, it might be easier if I show you.” Adrien scratched the back of his neck.

“Show me wha-”

“Plagg, claws out!”

The burst of green light had Marinette clenching her eyes shut. What?! But... but that can’t be! Slowly, she cracked an eye open, and to her surprise and utter bafflement, instead of Adrien, there stood Chat Noir, transformed into his alter ego with the signature black suit and cat-like mask.

"A-Adrien?!" Marinette exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

Adrien, now Chat Noir, grinned sheepishly. "I’m sorry, Marinette, but I couldn’t risk us staying in this cage for any longer. And, besides, I trust you."

Marinette's mind raced with a mixture of astonishment and pure joy. Adrien trusted her! Revealed his identity to her just moments before she was going to do the same thing. At the same time, though, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was lucky that both Ladybug and Chat Noir ended up stuck together, or if it was rather unlucky instead.

"You're Chat Noir?" Marinette's voice was filled with wonder as she took in the sight of her partner in a new light.

“Pawsitively!” He grinned and wow, he looked so good like that.

Shaking her head to keep herself on track, Marinette stood up too. “Then, I suppose it’s for the best that I show you what I wanted to say as well.”

His head tilted with confusion. “What do you me-”

Before he could finish that sentence, Marinette called on her transformation. “Tikki, spots on!”

Now it was Chat’s turn to look incredulous. “M-M’lady?” he asked almost hesitantly.

“Yep!” She nodded firmly. “But we’ll have to discuss this later. Right now there’s an akuma to defeat and we need your cataclysm to get out of here.”

“Right!” Chat’s eyes blazed with determination before he called on his power, finally letting the two be free for the first time in over an hour.

Though right now all she wanted to do was freak out, that would need to come later. Once the akuma was defeated then... then she and Adrien could finally talk about everything that they needed.

[pixels-miracle-box]

CW: Mentions of death/murder.

Low key want to scream as I'm starting to make like, a LOT of AUs for this franchise (mama help I got another hyperfixation)... and my most recent idea is something I've noticed was done before but I want to put my silly spin/take on it... what if majority of the class were a bunch of creatures? Just, a few classmates are regular people but the rest turns out to be half creatures and/or "cursed". That on top with the mission to track down and take Hawk Moth... as well as Lila.

The class slowly learning what "Lila" did to Marinette in her prior life and the whole group of friends one by one going "MURDER!" while the poor ghost girlie has to be the voice of reason and keep these idiots from messing with this weird shapeshifting eldritch entity but they just don't listen and eventually try to go for it.

I'll explain the story as time goes on and I do designs for it, but for now, have the main girl herself Marinette.

The "ghost girl". Mari had another life before she was born as, well, "Marinette". In said life, things were quite as they were now. Friendly with the class and all that. That changed when a new girl came in town and managed to turn everyone against her with her lies [Lila]. Three of her so called "friends" would eventually go after her and do the unthinkable.

As a spirit/ghost, she didn't want to move on yet. Her parents were struggling and weren't able to have a child, and a wizard heard both the spirit and the couple's cries. So, the lost soul had another shot at live.

And of course, in her new life, she's Marinette. A, not-so normal girl, with a not-so normal life.

At first you could had noted her as a vengeful spirit, but getting a new life did mellow her out. Getting the ladybug earrings also helped.

She can technically switch between her normal and ghost forms at will. Only her parents know this (at the start of the story).

The pendant/amulet she's wearing is supposed to keep her powers in check.

In this universe Chloe doesn't bully her... it's like she was being haunted every time she did something mean to Mari, so she stopped. They aren't besties but they can co-exist and kinda bond over their interest in fashion.

Please note that while I did ref it, she never uses her ghost form while she's Ladybug. She's afraid that her parents would put one and one together and realize that she's Ladybug (like, how many blue haired ghost girls do you think there are out there?)

She can turn invisible in ghost form.

It takes like, a few weeks for her to open to Alya about both being Ladybug and a ghost (because Alya tells Mari a secret as well, what's that secret? You'll have to find out :3c )

Pretty much scared when Lila shows up cause she can sense she's the same entity that turned her whole class against her in her past life.

She does explain things to Alya (not only that, but she kinda just, takes Alya's spirit out for a quick moment so the two could 'travel' to the past and show her exactly what happened. Don't worry the girls return to their bodies, to witness a confused Nino). After she explains the whole "MURDER!" thing happens, with Alya, Nino and Tikki pretty much wanting to avenge their friend. Mari has to keep these three in check so they won't actually do it.

Iiiii kinda rambled too much- in a way her story was kinda inspired how salt fics would have the whole class turn on Marinette and do shit to her to the point in some the girl just kicks the bucket... while her prior life was like that, I plan in this universe for the class to actually be by Mari's side. Though to be fair things are WAY different from canon. Like Alya and Nino knowing about Marinette being Ladybug. Lila actually being a creature that feeds off of suffering... oh and also Chloe redemption starting a bit too earlier than canon and actually sticking with it.

The full AU name is "Ghost Girl and her Scary Dog privileges", but I'll def just use "MLB Creatures AU" for short.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Is there a reason Marinette’s lying to Adrien about Gabriel doesn’t make sense to you from a character-standpoint? She’s lied a fair bit in the show for reasons other than keeping her identity or crush on Adrien a secret, and her love for Adrien has consistently created a blind spot for her in terms of her “general” morals/behavior.

Is there something more specific to Marinette’s pattern of behavior that indicates how her lying about Gabe would be OOC, or is the lie something you believe Canon!Marinette should recognize as too egregious to take part in?

(The closest alternative explanation I’ve seen thus far is that she shouldn’t have any reason to lie for Gabe because they share zero good will, but if we interpret it as lying for Adrien, then I’m not sure if that explanation fits.)

I have, admittedly, not gone through the show and tracked every lie that Marinette has ever told to see if I can weave together a pattern that backs Marinette's behavior at the end of season five. It's possible that there's a lie that I'm forgetting that would totally change my stance and, if you think that's the case, then feel free to respond to this with a comment or an ask on that topic! My "this is BS" stance is based on the overall story of the show and the ways that I've seen people try to justify the season five lies as those are the arguments that I've thought through and found lacking.

We'll start by discussing the two lies people use to try to back Marinette's behavior at the end of season five: the scarf and Chat Blanc. Then I'll talk about the story's lead up to the season five lies and why it makes for a horribly unsatisfying story in my eyes. If someone gave this to me, I'd be suggesting some major edits to make it work on a technical level.

The Scarf

For those who don't remember, the season one episode The Bubbler sees Marinette make Adrien a scarf for his birthday. She drops the scarf off at the Agreste mansion with a note for Adrien and the hope that this will get him to finally notice her. Nathalie then takes the scarf and uses it as a gift from Gabriel instead. Marinette learns about this during this exchange at the very end of the episode:

Alya: Yo, nice scarf, Adrien. Off the chain. Adrien: Yeah, can you believe my dad got this for me? (Marinette looks surprised) it's so awesome. He's been giving me the same lame pen for three years in a row.... Alya:(to Marinette) You gotta tell him you were the one who knitted the scarf. Marinette: But he seems so happy about his dad. I don't want to spoil it for him. Alya: Aw, Marinette. (they hug.) You're amazing, girl. You know that, right? And someday Adrien will figure it out too. Promise.

I can see why someone would look at this and call it a setup for the end of season five. There are some parallels here. The problem is that there are a lot of massive differences, too. Differences that make this a really crappy setup:

Marinette does not lie in this scene. She simply overhears a lie and doesn't correct it. Remove her and Alya from the scene and nothing changes. The lie still exists. Meanwhile, without Marinette, the season five lies would never have come to be.

Marinette knows about the scarf lie for about a minute on screen. She hears about it and tells Alya to let it go within the same scene. That's a gut reaction, not a carefully planned and considered deceit. Once again, wildly different from what season five gives us.

Adrien and Marinette aren't shown to be close friends in season one. They rarely talk to the point that I didn't even know that they were supposed to be friends until we got to Origins. That complicates correcting the scarf lie. How does Marinette approach a random classmate and explain a situation that she doesn't even fully understand herself? That's very different from Ladybug telling a lie to a civilian or Marinette lying to her boyfriend.

Season one Marinette has no idea how messed up Adrien's home life is. All she knows is that Adrien liked her gift, but that he thinks it came from a different person. She doesn't even know that a lie was involved in this confusion! As far as she's aware, this could just be a minor misunderstanding that she'd rather let go because does it really matter who the gift is from? This is extra true because the scarf never comes up again, meaning that this is not an ongoing or damaging lie as far as canon is concerned.

That last point and the issue of Marinette never actually telling the lie herself are probably the biggest points in Marinette's favor. If Adrien wore the scarf all the time and used it as a comfort when he was fighting with his dad, then you'd have a solid case for Marinette needing to say something because the lie is arguably doing actual harm. This is especially true if you let Adrien say things like, "I wear this to remember that my father loves me," to Marinette. But that's not what canon did.

As far as canon is concerned, the scarf lie exists for all of a minute. A minute in which Adrien expresses delight in the gift, but gives it very tepid weight in terms of what it means for his relationship with his father. (Adrien's room is full of nice gifts, I don't think a scarf was going to make-or-break their relationship.) After that, the scarf never comes up again, meaning that Marinette's gut reaction to not immediately destroy Adrien's happiness is all we get. That's hardly a great setup for her being the source of massive ongoing lies about Adrien's personhood and the truth of his father's abuse.

I'll also remind you that this all happened at the very start of the show. The Bubbler is one of the first episodes people see. If this is your best argument for Marinette's behavior five seasons later, then we have a major writing problem on our hands. You should not have to dig back to the very start of the show to justify a major character beat like this. There should be more relevant material. We'll circle back to that problem in a minute. First let's quickly touch on lie two and why it also falls flat.

Chat Blanc

Another thing people point to as foreshadowing for the season five lies is the fact that Ladybug kept Chat Blanc from Chat Noir and, if Chat Blanc was actually affecting her, then I would agree with this take. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. The official story is that Ladybug's actions in season four had nothing to do with Chat Blanc. It was just guardian stress! If that's true, then I don't think she should tell Chat Noir about Chat Blanc.

Why?

Since when do we tell people about all the awful things they did while they were akumatized? There's no point to that. It's cruel. Do you think that Ladybug also needs to walk him through everything he did while under the control of various akumas like Dark Cupid? If no, then how is Chat Blanc any different? What's the value in telling Chat Noir the gory details of what will happen if he ever has a moment of weakness and becomes akumatized? He already knows that it will be bad! Why tell him exactly how bad it will be? I can't come up with a single good canonical reason.

Ladybug has no idea what caused Chat Blanc, so she can't warn Chat Noir what he needs to avoid. You can't even use the "he should know about Bunnyx" argument because that wasn't Bunnyx's debut. Canonically speaking, the only reason that Ladybug should talk to Chat Noir about Chat Blanc or any other bad thing that he's done while under the power of an akuma is if it's effecting her or their partnership and it's apparently not! That's why Marinette never reacts to Chat Noir getting a white makeover (see: the Paris special & Jubilation) and why Chat Blanc is never discussed in the show outside of that one brief nightmare callback in Sentibubbler.

To be clear, I think that's an asinine choice as Chat Blanc's memory hurting Ladynoir would have been semi-decent foreshadowing for the season five lies, but the writers decided to go another route. They also let Chat Blanc haunt Adrien even though he doesn't know about it, which I don't even know how to dissect because it's such terrible writing! If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is the official explanation for why Adrien couldn't make it to the final fight. The reason for the white-and-blue Chat Noir that haunted his nightmares:

Mélanie says that he "could become Chat Blanc" and the others add that even though he does not remember and has never lived it, Chat Blanc still has an influence on his actions.

Quality writing here folks. Quality writing. At the very least have season five Adrien be freaked out about the fact that he cataclysmed a human! That would make this make at least a little sense, but we don't get that. Instead we get Adrien almost cataclysming several akumas like it's no big deal while having nightmares about a thing he's never even been told about (see: Derision and Jubilation and probably other's I'm forgetting.)

The Events of Season Four and Five

As you can hopefully see, we don't have a great, ongoing pre-end-of-season-five lie to point to as proof that Marinette would decide to tell the massive lies that she does. That's a pretty big writing flaw, but it's not a show stopper. A lie like this could still fit her character if the story sets it up right.

The problem is that the story doesn't do that. It actually sets Marinette up to be primed to want to tell the truth.

For all Miraculous' nonsensical and wacky writing, the season five lie still comes at the end of two seasons with relatively clear messages. Those messages were to trust others and avoid lies. Let me show you what I mean.

While season four's writing is an absolute disaster, we cannot ignore the fact that the stated lesson in Strikeback is that Marinette learned to trust others, give up control, and stop lying:

Ladybug: Why don't you just give up on me? I've lost ALL the Miraculous! I'm the worst Guardian EVER! I wanted to control everything, I didn't listen to you, I lied to you, I kept you at a distance! Every time you offered me a helping hand, I never took it! I really made a mess of EVERYTHING! (continues sobbing)

This is what Marinette says to Chat Noir directly after losing the Kwamis. This is the lesson that she supposedly learned. The end note of the season. The word of god meant to be internalized by children everywhere. The show even goes so far as to have Ladybug give Chat Noir more responsibility in the first episode of season five (Evolution):

Cat Noir: Catch, m'lady! (throws the Rabbit Miraculous at Ladybug and she catches it) Only the holder of the Rabbit Miraculous can open a time portal. Ladybug: (contemplates shortly then places the Rabbit Miraculous on his chest, smiling) You do it, kitty. Cat Noir: You want��me to control time? Ladybug: It's you and me, remember?

Really driving home this idea that Ladybug is going to be more trusting and open with others moving forward.

The meat of season five sees Marinette and Adrien start dating. During this arc, Marinette learns to be more open with her feelings around Adrien while also being confronted with the reality of just how messed up Adrien's home life is. Marinette and Gabriel clash with each other over Adrien with Marinette fighting for Adrien's freedom and Gabriel trying to control everything:

Gabriel: I don't think you understand, child, so let me put things differently. Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of choice. And I decide what choices are given to you. Marinette: You're wrong! (Shows Gabriel her sketchbook.) Fashion is about listening to people, it's about understanding who they are, what excites them and creating the clothes that will help them express their inner world. Help them connect with others and make their dreams come true.

This conflict means that Marinette and Gabriel do not have a single positive interaction in the entire season outside of maybe the final. We also see Adrien defy his father more than ever before. This is not the kind of setup you write if you want Marinette to tell Adrien that his father was a hero. Why in the world would she think that he'd want to be told that kind of lie? Why would he even buy it after all of the things that Gabriel has done? The final literally sees Adrien locked in a padded prison cell!!! Writers, what are you doing??? Why did you write this???

There's also the fact that season five has a major theme of lies = bad. It's the season where Lila's lies are finally outed, but only after they almost cost Marinette's friends their futures. For those who need a reminder: Lila tried to mess with the forms that stated where everyone wanted to go for lycée and would have succeeded in pulling off that harm and blaming it on Marinette were it not for the lies being outed.

On top of that, we also see Adrien keeping the plan to ship him off to London from Marinette, ending in this exchange:

Marinette: (on the video call) Adrien! Adrien: (voice breaking; in tears) Marinette, I should've told you sooner, but... up until the last minute, I thought I'd find a solution. I tried everything, I swear. Marinette: (on the video call) Adrien, what's... what's going on? Adrien: I have to leave Paris. (his voice breaks) I'm not worthy of your love. I feel terrible for hurting you.

Adrien kept the truth from Marinette to try to keep her from being hurt and ended up hurting her more than he otherwise would have because they don't even get a proper goodbye.

None of this is a solid setup for Marinette turning around and lying to Adrien about his father. Why would she do that after all of the harm lies and Gabriel caused in season five? Between this and season four, she has not been setup to want to lie to Adrien. Season five needs massive rewrites to make that choice work! (Note: I have yet to see the London special, but based on everything I've heard, I think it's just going to cement my annoyance at Marinette's wishy-washy writing by continuing to ignore the plot of the seasons leading up to the final and the special.)

Final Thoughts

I don't think that Marinette lying to Adrien about his dad is a terrible idea. It's a believable struggle! It just doesn't fit her character's journey. They've failed to have her tell that type of lie before and they had her tell this lie after two seasons where the main lessons were how much lies have hurt her and the people that she loves. If she hasn't gotten the message that you shouldn't lie by now, then when exactly is she going to learn it? It's incredibly hard for me to get invested in characters that aren't allowed to grow and learn from their mistakes and Miraculous has made it abundantly clear that it will not let these characters grow if growth messes with the plot that the writers want to tell.

I will openly admit that I think that Marinette's lie was a last minute retcon to make there be a cliffhanger to season six, but let's ignore that and give a quick three-point plan of how you could make this ending work:

Really lean into the negative consequences of people knowing the truth about things. Nino knowing Alya's identity outing Alya. Luka getting shipped off to Brazil. Make the truth hurt Marinette at every turn. Basically remove all lies = bad consequences and have Ladybug see losing the miraculous be the result of trusting others because she trusted "Adrien" and lost, leading her to keep pushing people away

Don't let Lila be outed. Have Lila be a good president and make that part of her big plan for the next season.

Have Gabriel and Marinette get along. Gabriel has said that Adrien is like Emilie, let Gabriel see himself in Marinette, leading Gabriel to trust Marinette to be Adrien's support should the worst happen. Let the final fight be a heartbreaking moment between two people who have an actual relationship built around loving Adrien. Have Adrien going to London be a "convenient" trip to get him out of the way on the day of the evil plot and not a prison sentence so that Gabriel doesn't look cartoonishly evil. Make it feel like he cares! Sell the redemption!

Do that and, yeah, I'd buy Marinette's choice even without setup lies because you don't need setup lies! Setup lies don't matter anywhere near as much as selling this lie and the writers simply didn't do that. I don't believe for a second that Marinette would lie for Gabriel or think that this was what Adrien wanted based on the relationship season five gave us for those three characters. It is so glaringly obvious that this is nothing more than a stalling tactic that has nothing to do with Marinette's character and everything to do with the show's rule that "there must always be a secret between Adrien and Marinette." I genuinely struggle to understand how anyone sees it as anything else.

[aidanchaser]

Full Exposure [REMIX]

remixed from Full Exposure by @ladyofthenoodle for the @mlsquaredance event! A huge thank you for organizing it. It has been such a blast and such a boost to my creativity this past month.

beta'd by @ccboomer and @sunshinemarauder

Marinette snaps her laptop closed and groans into Alya’s pillow. She is so tired of looking at empty bank accounts and red spreadsheets. “How am I supposed to afford anything at this rate?” she whines.

“Out of noodle-dollars already?” Alya asks without looking up from her tablet.

Marinette rolls over to stare at the ceiling. “It’s impossible to be a student full-time, have a full-time unpaid internship, and work enough hours to buy food and pay rent and every other little thing that comes along, while also being a full-time superhero!” Marinette ticks each list item off on her hand as she talks. “I can’t keep taking out loans or putting it on a credit card.”

“The system’s broken,” Alya agrees nonchalantly. “You could always sell nudes.”

Marinette squeals in a combination of horror and disgust and throws a pillow at Alya.

Alya takes the soft blow with the smallest of grunts. “There’s nothing wrong with it! A lot of people make a lot of money that way.”

“I’m not interested in gross comments, people photoshopping my body, or having my image fed into A.I. generators.”

Alya shrugs. “Fair.”

Marinette scrunches up her nose. “How much money?”

“A few thousand, easily.” Alya adds a note into her journalism reading, then sets her tablet and stylus aside. “You could probably make a good deal.”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “No one is going to pay a thousand dollars for my nudes.”

“They might for Ladybug’s though.”

Marinette reaches for Alya’s second pillow and throws it. This time, Alya catches it.

“Ladybug is a national icon! She can’t just post nudes!”

“Ladybug is a full-grown adult woman who doesn’t get paid by the city. She can do whatever she likes with her image.”

Marinette shakes her head as she sits up. She leans back against Alya’s wall and stares out the window. Ladybug is a hero of Paris. She has a reputation. Besides, what would Chat Noir think? He’d see them, surely. How many pussy jokes could she bear?

Marinette taps her fingers against her closed laptop. “What if they were… tasteful nudes?”

“Boudoir photography is very in,” Alya says. “You’d just have to make sure people know they’re paying for almost-nudes.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start. I’d need you to be my photographer.”

“Girl, I’m happy to help you, but you already know someone who actually does model photography.”

Marinette squeals again and reaches for a pillow, only to find herself out of ammunition. “I can’t ask Adrien to take Ladybug’s nudes!”

“He’s your boyfriend.”

“He’s Marinette’s boyfriend!”

Alya shrugs, as if this is irrelevant, when in fact it is the most relevant that any fact could possibly be to this conversation. Yes, Adrien has turned to directing photoshoots rather than modeling in photoshoots now that they’re in university, but Marinette is not going to ask her boyfriend to take nudes of another girl! And Ladybug is, as far as Adrien knows, another girl.

“You know he’s going to look at them either way,” Alya says. “You might as well make him part of it so he doesn’t have to feel guilty about it.”

“Adrien would not look at Ladybug’s nudes. Not when he’s my boyfriend!”

Alya raises her eyebrows. “He’s loyal, not dead. You remember how he talked about Ladybug when were in school together. He won’t be able to resist.”

Marinette does not remember the way Adrien talked about Ladybug when they were younger. She was too busy daydreaming about him or trying to talk without tripping over her words.

“Adrien used to like Ladybug?” she asks weakly.

“The way a fish likes water.” Alya tips her chair back and, with a mischievous grin that’s rather fitting for the holder of the miraculous of illusion and trickery, says, “Just ask. See what he says.”

✦✧✦✧

Adrien is still not entirely sure that this is a good idea.

He’s flattered, honestly, that Alya, as the admin for the Ladyblog, recommended him to Ladybug as a photographer. He’s surprised and grateful that Marinette assured him that it would be fine for him to do such a risqué photoshoot with such a well-known celebrity. And he’s nervous, more nervous than he has ever been about anything in his life.

Chloé has agreed to give him access to one of Le Grand Paris’s suites for the day, though he hasn’t told her why he needs it—not that he thinks he can fully keep it secret from her. She’ll figure it out once the photos are released.

Zoé helped him haul up his lighting equipment. He didn’t tell her why he needed the room, either, but he imagines she’ll be one of the first people to download the photos once they’re online.

Adrien finishes tightening the C-stand beside the bed. He’ll adjust the lighting once Ladybug arrives, but he wants the grunt work done before she gets there. The last thing he needs is Ladybug standing around in her underwear while he tries to work with heavy equipment.

Adrien rubs his eyes and tries not to picture Ladybug in lacy underwear, though it’s as absurd as it is futile. She’ll be here any minute and he’ll have to photograph her while she’s actually, physically in front of him and is actually, physically wearing lacy underwear.

A knock on the balcony doors breaks through Adrien’s internal battlefield. His heart, which is already nesting in his throat, decides it’s time to run a marathon just at the sound of her arrival. He’s worried it might fully burst before he even lays eyes on Ladybug.

He swallows and reminds himself that he has a girlfriend. That he is going to see Marinette tonight, once this is over. He’ll have to laugh and tell her how absolutely innocent it was when it’s all said and done. Because it has to be innocent. It has to be.

Adrien slides open the balcony door and is relieved to see that Ladybug is still fully clothed in her usual suit. The only thing that makes her appearance on the balcony any different from an evening on patrol is the duffel bag in her hand, like she’s come for a sleepover.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi,” he replies, and hopes she doesn’t notice how breathless he is.

Adrien isn’t sure if the pause between them feels long because adrenaline has his brain running double-time, or if the silence between them really does stretch out interminably.

“I’m just about ready,” he finally says, “whenever you are.”

“Right! I just need to um… change.”

“Right.”

This time, he’s certain that the pause is too long, but Ladybug finally slips past him and into the bathroom.

When she’s gone, Adrien scrubs his face with his hands. His palms come away sticky with sweat. He is supposed to be the professional. If any of his photographers behaved like this while he was a model, he would never have worked with them again. He can’t let Ladybug think he’s some sort of creep.

The bathroom door opens and Adrien’s heart, again, races, but she doesn’t come out in her underwear, not yet.

Instead, Ladybug is wearing a thin, silky black robe. They discussed a color palette—one of the hardest conversations Adrien has ever had to keep a straight face for—and settled on blacks and reds, which not only keep with Ladybug’s theme, but are sensual enough on their own.

Her hair is pulled up in a bun and her mask covers her eyes—or rather, a replica of her mask. Even the earrings in her ears have to be a copy, at least for the moment. Adrien, knowing how his ring camouflages itself, asked her if her earrings bore her iconic spots when she was not transformed. If she was surprised he knew to ask, she didn’t show it. She simply confirmed that he was right, and she would have to wear a copy if they wanted to maintain the traditional icons of Ladybug.

He can tell that she’s taken his advice about makeup, too. The low dip in her bathrobe reveals perfectly smooth, pale skin. She’s covered up any blemishes and freckles, something he suggested not only because of his own experience in modeling, but because anyone who knows her, like a partner, might recognize such marks.

She blushed and said that her boyfriend didn’t know that she was Ladybug, so that was probably smart.

“I can also clean it up in post,” Adrien told her. Then, he dared to ask, “Does he know you’re doing this? Not that he has to—it’s your choice—I just… if you’re nervous about him finding out, that sounds… bad?”

Ladybug wrinkled her nose and stared down at their notes. “He sort of knows?”

But Ladybug’s relationship isn’t really Adrien’s business.

“Where to first?” She fidgets with the tie around her waist.

“I’ve set up over here.”

Adrien leads Ladybug to the bed, where he’d already pulled back the hotel bedspread and laid out a black silk sheet to cover the stark white hotel bedding.

Ladybug’s fingers slips into the knot around her waist. Adrien picks up his camera and busies himself with the settings, intentionally missing the moment she slides out of her bathrobe and onto the bed.

“I’m just going to check the lighting,” he says, and lifts his camera.

It’s easier to stare at her through the lens.

She’s not only taken her bathrobe off, but she’s pulled her hair down. Her dark hair falls along the curve of her neck and brushes over her shoulders. Adrien follows those curves down to the black cups edged in red lace that cover her pale breasts, though he catches the tiniest sliver of pink peeking out from behind the lace. Black straps fasten her bra to the high-waisted underwear that, while it covers her stomach, curves high over her hips, leaving her legs long and exposed. Her bare feet are decorated in bright red nail polish. Something about that nail polish nags at his brain—didn’t Marinette paint her toes last night?

But the shutter on his camera clicks and he forgets to finish his thought. It takes all his mental fortitude to look at the photo professionally and academically. The shadows on her skin are too harsh; her hair blends in with the black silk; one of the straps of her bra is twisted.

Adrien adjusts the bounce of the light around the room, softens it with a flag, switches the bedding from black to red, and asks Ladybug to fix her bra strap.

“And then the robe back on,” he says, “but open.” It takes all his effort to keep his voice steady and even.

He checks his settings again, adjusts his camera, and finally, they can begin to shoot in earnest.

Once he gets going, it’s fairly easy to maintain his professionalism. There isn’t a whole lot of sensuality when it comes to adjusting angles, clicking the shutter, checking the shot, adjusting the pose—it really does feel like work. But Adrien would appreciate it if his heart would stop jerking in sudden bursts whenever Ladybug turns her brilliant blue eyes to the camera, or when he has to set the camera down to direct Ladybug into a new pose.

She, at least, behaves like a professional.

“New pose?” Adrien asks, and Ladybug readily shifts so that one arm drapes lazily above her head. Her face tilts up so that her neck slopes in a soft arch into her shoulder, and one knee cocks, suggesting a subtle invitation.

Adrien very gently touches her elbow, and she moves her arm at his direction. “Have you done this before?”

“No!” she says quickly, then swallows. Her bright red lips open and close as she looks for the right words. “I mean—I just did a lot of research beforehand.”

Adrien did, too. He’d never done any shoots like this during his time as a model. He quit before he was old enough to even have conversations about these sorts of shoots. So he’s spent a lot of time looking at boudoir photos in the last few weeks. Marinette helped him, and it had certainly been nice to discuss ideas with her.

He still doesn’t know why Marinette was so calm about it all—at least, for Marinette’s standards. She fell into her high-pitched, nervous voice when they discussed the shoot; she laughed awkwardly and blushed terribly. But Adrien knew that Marinette had absurdly jealous tendencies. He still didn’t understand why she didn’t exhibit any of that during their conversations about Ladybug.

Adrien had certainly felt a pang of jealousy when Ladybug told Chat Noir.

“I just… wanted to warn you,” Ladybug said. “And—you don’t have to, er—feel bad if you look at them. I mean, not that I want you to look at them! And I think—just don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

Chat Noir leaned against his staff and tried for a smile, but it was hard with the anxiety curling in his stomach. He no longer loves Ladybug, but she’s still his partner. He doesn’t want to share her with the rest of Paris this way. He also wanted to promise her that he wouldn’t look, especially if it made her uncomfortable, but he couldn’t very well promise abstinence if he was going to be the one taking and editing each and every photograph.

“My lady,” he finally said, “I would never let this change anything between us. Maybe I’ll even do my own.”

But Adrien doesn’t think that he’ll ever be able to do something like this as Chat Noir. Not only does he have absolutely no desire to get back in front of a camera and let someone else take control of his image again, there are too many photos of Adrien Agreste out there. Someone will inevitably hold up Chat Noir and Adrien’s bodies against each other and put it all together, and then it will be over. He’s grown since his modeling days, certainly, but it isn’t a risk he wants to take.

As Adrien pauses to check over the photographs, Ladybug relaxes into the bed. He risks a glance away from his camera to look at her properly, to shut out the stands and equipment and take a moment to see Ladybug as she is.

Her fingers twist in the ends of her hair, like an anxious fidget. Her eyes are locked with the ceiling and there’s a pinch to her cheek, like she’s gnawing her way through a difficult thought. Her black hair fans out on the red silk just as the black robe does, and as she shifts, it falls from her neck and shoulders, revealing the sharp angles of her collarbone. Her lipstick is the same shade of red as the lace that curls around her breast and her waist. Adrien can’t help but stare.

“Is everything all right?” she asks.

“Yes—” Adrien wishes he could sound less defensive. He glances back down at his camera. “Did you want to see them?”

He sits down on the bed next to her and she leans over his shoulder. A shiver runs down his spine as her bare skin presses against his arm. He has never touched Ladybug’s bare skin before; not in all their years of pulling each other out of danger has he ever been this close with her.

“Is that really me?” she asks.

He laughs, but it sounds as forced as it feels. “Yeah. You—You look great.”

She feels warm against him, too warm. He wishes she would pull away.

“You’re really good at this,” she says.

“Thank you. I think knowing what it’s like on the other side of the camera helps.”

Her brow furrows beneath her mask. It doesn’t shift fluidly with her expression the way the magical one grafted onto her might have, but it tilts and twists with her confusion.

“Have you done shoots like this before?”

“No, no, nothing like this. This is… new for me.” Adrien swallows and stands. His arm feels cold where she had been touching him. “But if they turn out well, maybe I can convince my girlfriend to do one.”

Ladybug crosses her legs and leans over onto her knee. “Oh—do you think she’d like that?”

“She did help me plan this shoot, so maybe?”

Ladybug posed so neatly before, but now she looks small and drawn into herself, hunched over her own legs. Adrien wonders if she’s thinking about her own boyfriend, and how he’ll feel to see her like this. Does her partner know her well enough—love her well enough—to recognize her like this?

“Lean back?” Adrien says.

Ladybug places her hands behind her, fingers pressing deep into the mattress and slipping along the silk.

“Chin up, chest out?”

She does, but the worry in her blue eyes doesn’t fade. The pose should be haughty, a look Ladybug has been giving him easily for the last hour. He wonders why she’s so lost now.

He snaps the pictures anyway, then suggests she lean back on her elbows and look away. If she can’t be haughty, he can redirect and lean into pensive.

But after a few more clicks of the shutter, he has to ask, “Are you all right?”

She turns back to him and stares like she’s wandered in from another planet. “What is it?”

“You just look worried.”

“Oh. No. I—I was just thinking. Your girlfriend—I mean, my boyfriend—I mean—I don’t know if he’d want pictures of me like this.”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“I just mean I’m not like this, you know, without the mask.”

“You are very pretty. I’m sure your boyfriend agrees.”

It’s hard to tell in the dim lighting, but he thinks she blushes. “I’m a lot more awkward without the magic,” she says.

“You’re not wearing any magic now.”

He doesn’t realize how much attention he’s giving to her breathing until he notices her chest go still, her breath caught in her lungs.

He snaps a photo.

“Oh, I wasn’t ready!”

Adrien glances down at the preview. Her blue eyes are wide and her red lips drawn into a small pout. It’s different from the looks they’ve been leaning towards—powerful, dominant, desirable. Instead, she looks surprised and vulnerable. It’s his favorite picture of the day so far, but it’s clearly not what she wants, not the way she wants others to see her. He deletes it.

“Maybe we should try some of the tease shots?” he suggests.

She shifts onto her knees and reaches behind her to the hooks of her bra. Adrien captures the moment of her unclasping her bra several times before she lays back down on the bed, cups still in place, but backstraps splayed out on the bed.

Then they take a few with the bra cast aside, first with her hands covering her nipples and then with a red ribbon reminiscent of Ladybug’s hair ribbons.

Adrien looks away each time she changes her minimal modesty coverings out, but he can’t help but think about how many nights he spent as a teenager dreaming about Ladybug beneath her mask and beneath her suit. It wasn’t always fantasies like this, but he’d be a liar if he said he had never dreamed of Ladybug like this.

She bites down on her lip and he snaps another series of photos.

Then she puts the robe back on and Adrien’s heart stutters as he remembers what they agreed to shoot next.

Ladybug said she wasn’t interested in full nudes, that she didn’t want all of Paris to see all of her. But they agreed that they would shoot the robe without lingerie.

She shimmies out of her underwear and climbs back onto the bed.

Adrien swallows down a host of anxiety and desire that wells up in his chest as she adjusts herself on the bed. Ladybug leans back against the headboard, one leg bent up and the other out, but her black silk falls neatly between her legs. Adrien’s heart races as she tugs the silk up at her waist so that the V covering her chest pools into something loose and inviting. Adrien can see the lines where her breasts press against her stomach.

“Can you move the knot?” Adrien gestures to her waist, where the knot of her silk tie is hiding behind her thigh. It doesn’t need to be exposed, but it would give the shot more intrigue, though he supposes Ladybug has enough of that all on her own.

She shifts the tie as he directs and shifts all the silk with it.

“May I?” Adrien asks and, with heart racing, fixes the tie for her.

He does everything he can not to brush her skin as he adjusts the way the silk falls against her chest and around her thighs. He checks each wrinkle at her waist to make sure it looks intentionally casual and comfortable. He double-checks the fall of the silk against her chest to make sure the best parts of her are hidden. Finally, he smooths the silk over her thigh and tugs on the ends so that there is only just enough fabric to cover between her legs, but leaves most of her legs visible to the camera.

He catches sight of the tiny, heart-shaped freckle on the inside of her thigh and goes very still. She goes still, too.

“What is it?”

Adrien swallows. “You and my girlfriend have the same freckle.”

“Oh—I’m sorry—I can get my concealer—”

She’s already trying to get out from under him, ruining every bit of staging he has just finished setting. He means to get out of her way and to tell her that he can hide any freckles in post but his brain is too busy trying to figure out why Ladybug just apologized to him for having the same freckle as Marinette.

She crashes into him and he tries to catch himself on the bed, but the silk is smooth and they both go tumbling to the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” she says. “I told you, I’m clumsy without the magic.”

She’s on top of him, and the red silk sheet falls onto her waist, draping over them both. Adrien stares up at her from the plush carpet. She tries to get up, but he grabs her hip and holds her steady. She freezes.

His other hand, as slow and automatic as if it belonged to a machine separate from him, drifts up to her mask. Her breath hitches as he thumbs the end of it, just where it covers her cheekbone.

“Ladybug,” he breathes. They’re so close to each other that he can see the bob of her throat as she swallows.

He knows the next logical thought, but he can’t bring it to his lips. It makes sense, though. Ladybug choosing him, Marinette’s lack of jealousy, the toe nails, the one, single mark on her skin that he’s seen a dozen nights before in Marinette’s bed…

“I’m sor—”

But he cuts off her apology with a kiss. He knew, before he kissed her, but he truly knows it now. He knows Marinette’s shy, hesitant kisses, and the taste of her tongue and the curve of her lips. He feels dizzy as years of flimsy excuses and missed flirting in all directions flood his memories, but it also feels good. It feels right to know that this is how it has always been, that Marinette has always been the girl that he loves.

He drops his head back to the floor and stares up at her with a satisfied grin.

She looks back with panic in her eyes. “Adrien, I’m so sorry,” she says.

But he only smiles. “I don’t know why you’re apologizing. I feel like the cat that just caught the canary.”

✦✧✦✧

Alya yawns and leans against Nino. He pulls the blanket tighter around them and turns the movie up.

Then Alya’s phone buzzes.

“It’s Marinette,” she says, and Nino groans, but he pauses the movie.

“If something happened between Adrien and Ladybug today, I probably should call Adrien.”

“It might be nothing,” Alya says, though neither of them believe it. She leans away from Nino as she answers.

Nino can’t hear Marinette’s words on the other end of the call, but he can pick out the frantic tone. He starts thumbing through his own phone to text Adrien.

Alya frowns and gets to her feet. “Girl, slow down, I have no idea what you’re saying.” Then a grin spreads across her face. “Ah, well, that was always a possibility… No, I’m not saying I planned this on purpose. I’m just saying it’s been years and maybe you should have told him by now… What did you just say about Chat Noir?”

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

pick between 5 of my babies? 🥺 GLADLY

(these aren't necessarily my favorites btw. just the ones that i wanna boost!)

lies of attrition

my priority atm, and also a super fun collab with me and @ladyofthenoodle! if you want some post-s5 angst, action, pining, and ladynoir enemies, this is the place to be!

summary: The trust between Ladybug and Chat Noir is stretched to breaking point when a new butterfly holder emerges in the wake of Monarque's defeat. Chat Noir doesn't know who to trust until Chrysalis confronts him with a truth Ladybug had tried to bury: Monarque made the Wish—and she wants Chat Noir’s help to undo it. excerpt: “Chat,” Ladybug said, her voice coated with worry. “Did something happen?” He could tell her, now. He had come here to tell her, to show her his face after three years of partnership, to let her see why so much was suddenly wrong. If only he knew what she would say when he pulled off his mask. If only he knew whether she would stay or go. “I could tell you,” he ventured, turning to look directly at her. “But… it’s easier if I show you.” He saw the moment she realized; the way her blue eyes widened, her pink lips parting in a tiny “o.” They stared at each other, unmoving, the sounds of the parade fading into the night. A single firework burst overhead, shattering the standstill. Red blazed over her face, the fall of sparks raining down behind her. Then her features pinched, and in that moment, every hidden place within him was painted red too. “Oh, Chat Noir,” Ladybug whispered, her expression growing more pained by the second. “I… I don’t know.”

Like Smoke from a Furnace

one of my personal favorites! this was an experiment for me in present tense and internal conflict, and i really like how it turned out!

summary: Marinette and Adrien give up their Miraculous. Ladybug and Chat Noir never meet again. excerpt: Giving up the Ladybug Miraculous was supposed to unshackle them both. If she had done so earlier, it could have been different. If Adrien had spoken up later, it would have been different. But Ladybug knew nothing about Chat Noir except the heart he had always laid bare, and that was of her own doing. If Marinette passes him in the street, they will both keep going, none the wiser, the culmination of all their self-imposed secrets. She has nothing to go on. No name, no circumstance, no poorly-disguised hint, as she suspects he has tried to leave before. Chat Noir had become better at following her rules than she, and Marinette had so recently been simultaneously proud of him for it—and resented him too. It doesn’t sink in until several quiet nights later, when she and Adrien are tucked together on his couch, the soft blues and grays of his chosen film flashing across his screen. She is never going to see Chat Noir again.

rest your head (upon my shoulder)

i love this one so much. sometimes i go back and read it to myself because it gives me the exact toe-curling pining i always crave. i like to think of it as one of those "so close but so far away" stories - one of my favorite brands of angst.

summary: Ladybug can save Chat Noir from anything, except what he doesn't tell her. excerpt: “I don’t think there will be any Akuma attacks for a while.” She frowned, but he leaned back, staring up at the starless sky through the leaves of the tree hanging overhead.  Something was wrong. She could feel it lingering over him, heavy like suspended rain. “Chaton?” “I had this dream the other night,” he said, gazing over the roof of the Musée. “We grew wings without needing anything—no macarons, no magic words, no Miraculous. And then we just…took off. I don’t really remember where we went, but it was beautiful.”  His eyes slid to hers once more, unnaturally bright. Her blood rushed with unbidden heat and she reminded herself why she had stopped sitting in dark, quiet places alone with Chat Noir. 

borealis green

a feligami oneshot! this covers the time between "pretension" and "representation" and is probably one of my only canon-compliant au's. i really like writing kagami's pov so this was super fun!

summary: Getting to know Felix is easier than Kagami anticipated, especially as he keeps following her. excerpt: “Goodnight, Félix,” she whispers, though she does not need to. Nobody is around to hear them. No one is watching them. It is only a taste of the freedom he promised her, and yet it sinks into her with the softness of the street lights and the prickle of the night air.  “Can I see you again?” he asks, just as softly.  She has exactly nine minutes to walk back to the ikebana studio where Tatsu will be waiting to transport her home. She can make it if she walks fast. She can linger a few moments longer if she runs. The vertigo crescendos as she remains in place, watching the gleam of headlights flash in his eyes as cars speed past.  “You should go home,” Kagami tells him, holding his gaze. “It’s not safe for you in Paris.” Félix tilts his head in acknowledgement, but the corners of his mouth turn up. “No,” he agrees. “It isn’t.”

mirror image

another post-s5 fic centered on adrien & felix, but with a twin telepathy twist. it's kind of like my r&r time for fic, easy and cathartic and a fun break for me between other projects!

summary: The voice in Adrien’s head is strangely familiar. It also tells him the truth (when no one else will). excerpt: You are hearing things, the voice said as though in answer. Doesn’t mean I’m not real. Adrien reached for the silver chain around his neck, his fist closing around the two rings resting warm against his sternum. “As real as me?” Yes, idiot, the voice replied with a bite. As real as you. “That’s not what some people would say,” Adrien replied, not caring if the voice was annoyed. It was his head, after all. Well, what would you rather be? The voice plowed on, unbothered by Adrien’s ire. Born of magic, or born of Gabriel Agreste?

ty for the ask kayla 💛 love me some self-promotion. hope y'all enjoy!

[marinettesaltprompts]

I have another prompt for anyone who's interested:

Despite being a relationship, Marinette can't seem to let go of her crush on Adrien and her fantasies of their life together. From their three children to the numerous hamsters they'd get together. From their wedding while they wore her designs to Adrien leaving Gabriel to work for her.

It's something that puts a toll on Luka, her boyfriend. He puts all his faith and trust in her whenever she bails on him. He says she has to have her reasons. That she'll tell him when she's ready. That he can't just push her into telling him because that might make her upset. He can wait. She'll tell him. She said she would. He can wait.

But at home, Juleka can't help but see how upset he is despite him denying it. Despite the things he says more to reassure himself than to her. When Marinette bails on him for umpteenth time, she decides enough is enough and finally confronts her when they have a moment alone. She's tired of Marinette hurting her brother all over a guy who has not only shown no interest in her but is in his own relationship. And if this is the way Marinette is going to treat her brother, she can consider their friendship over.

I just want some protective sister Juleka (:

Potential sequel to this would be Purple Tigress being protective of her cat brother, Chat Noir and not liking how Ladybug keeps him out. Something she herself didn't realize until she asks Chat about why he's missed so many Akuma attacks and patrols only to learn that, 1. His civilian life often got in the way and he's been watched more closely lately so he can't get away. And 2. no one told him when the patrols were. The days he "showed up" were just the days he was lucky enough to see them and catch up. Sometimes he sees them but it's as if no one sees him. So, after numerous times of it happening, he figured, why bother?? And he stopped trying to find them, choosing to patrol alone.

It's something that further shatters her rose tinted glasses of the people she thought better of. First was Marinette and the way she treated Luka. And now there's Ladybug with the way she treats Chat Noir.

Both girls had someone who cared so deeply for them and yet the way they treated them left a sour taste in her mouth.

... I love it.

I have no other words to say, this is both equal levels of "an excellent prompt that should exist and why the hell didn't I realise that possibility sooner" and "Awwww Juleka is an adorable younger twin YOUNGER sister" (you can't keep getting away with retcons Astruc, IF THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TWINS WHY AREN'T THEY IN THE SAME SCHOOL?)

Anyways, peak prompt! Love it! Bonus points for peak Juleka content as well! Keep it up!

[bridgyrose]

Ladybug Week Day 3: First Kiss

Blake winced as she felt the cool morning air against her skin and the gentleness of Ruby’s fingers against her back. Her body ached from shifting after the full moon had finally set, her head pounding as she continued to feel a rush from the adrenaline that still coursed through her body. She slowly opened her eyes and pulled Ruby’s cloak over herself to keep warm. 

“Finally awake?” Ruby asked. 

“Y-yeah, I’m awake,” Blake said groggily as she slowly got up, her arms shaking as they supported her. “You… you stayed with me. Why?” 

“You’re supposed to be my girlfriend, so of course I stayed with you. Though, you could’ve told me about this.” 

“About me being a monster?” Blake pulled the cloak around herself and looked around the small camp that Ruby had made. They were still in the darkest parts of the forest, light shining around the edges of the camp from the leaves above. Her stomach growled, and then she doubled over and heaved for a moment as her body started to realize it had eaten raw meat the night before. “Why… why didnt you run?” 

Ruby started to dig through her pack and pulled out some fresh clothes for Blake, along with some eggs, pancake mix, and a little milk. “You didnt try to hurt me and seemed more scared of me than I was of you. I hope pancakes will be okay with you for breakfast, I wasnt able to grab much before getting you out of Vale.” 

Blake nodded and grabbed the clothes, getting herself dressed as she tried to piece together the memories from her shift. She remembered shifting in Vale, being brought out with Ruby, a strange smell that seemed to linger around her partner, racing through the forest to hunt… but she couldnt remember if anyone had come to hunt her like they had before. “Yeah, pancakes will be fine.” She finished getting dressed and sat Ruby’s cloak next to her as she watched her partner start a fire and start to mix the pancake batter. “What happened to the people who came out to hunt me?” 

“No one did. I made sure no one saw you.” 

Blake quietly watched Ruby as she placed a pan over the fire and slid a small bit of butter into it to grease it up. It didnt make any sense that someone didnt come to hunt her down, especially after shifting in the middle of the city. People were terrified of wolves, let alone a werewolf that was twice the size of a regular wolf. “What do you mean no one came to find me?” 

“I mean exactly that, no one came to find you.” 

“But someone always does!” Blake yelled, pausing when she caught her reflection on the metal pan catching her canines were still enlarged from her transformation. She took a deep breath to relax, trying to keep her own anger from taking over. “Over the last eight months, someone has always come after me. Farmers, villagers, huntsmen… I’ve only killed when I had to in order to keep myself safe, but someone always comes. As far as anyone is concerned, I’m just a beast to be killed.” 

“And this time, no one came for you.” Ruby poured a little batter into the pan to start a pancake, smiling a bit as she watched it start to bubble. “I used my semblance to get us out of Vale and then I took you deep into the forest. No one saw you and you only went after deer and rabbits this time instead of anything the farmers were herding.” 

“That hasnt stopped anyone-” Blake froze when she felt Ruby kiss her, her thoughts trailing away for a brief moment as her hand went to Ruby’s back. She finally relaxed as Ruby broke the kiss, a blush crossing her cheeks as they seemed to heat up. “You… you kissed me.” 

“I needed you to calm down and try to relax for a moment,” Ruby said, hiding her own small blush as she focused on the pancakes. “Though, I guess that would be our first kiss, wouldn’t it? We’ve been dating since we’ve graduated and we havent kissed once, have we?” 

“Its not like we’ve had a lot of time.” Blake relaxed as she watched Ruby flip the pancake, her stomach growling from the smell. “Ozpin has been keeping you busy, I’ve had to spend some time in Menagerie, and even when we are together, we rarely have time to ourselves without being called on another mission. And then I…” she paused for a moment and put a hand to the scarred bite mark on her shoulder. “I became… this. Ironic though, a cat faunus becoming a wolf once a month.” 

Ruby chuckled a bit. “It is, but please dont hide anything like this anymore.” 

“I wont.” 

“Now eat. I’m sure you’ll feel better on a full stomach.” 

Blake nodded and took the first pancake, biting savagely into it. She savored the taste, already enjoying it more than the thought of eating raw meat. “And then… maybe we can have a bit of time to ourselves, right? Just you and me?” 

Ruby nodded and took another pancake out of the pan. “Of course.” 

Blake blushed at the thought of being alone with Ruby again, cuddling with her and holding her close. Just like she used to at Beacon. She slowly tore a piece of pancake and popped it into her mouth. “That would be nice.”