#like we need them to duo team with ladybug and chat noir

[chocostrwberry]

Hi again!

My delulu brain be like: OMG, Luka and Alix interacting?! They could be besties in your AU!!! or even dating XD. Their interactions would be so much fun!

THEYRE BESTIESSS,, and even in the band sometimes Luka improvs and no one else really likes it when he does that except her so they get along really well!!

And since their powers are both time-related, they don’t really take anything serious since they can just, go back and fix it ahehfeheihs

So they just goof around and crack jokes- (Luka cracks the joke, Alix laughs then adds something funnier, then Luka laughs harder)

[theerurishipper]

I remember people said the scene in Transmission, where Ladynoir renounce their Miraculous and "seemingly" not thinking about each other are mean to be a plot hole, not character inconsistency.

Bt for me, if the character NOT even make a slight uncomfort gesture/expression when they see Scarabella and Black Minette out there instead of their team mate, then it's not a plot hole, it's character inconsistency.

"Plot hole" excuse only work if Adrinette make any comment/looks surprised/make any reaction upon seeing the new duo but the aired time won't let the show do more than that. But the show doesn't let them react negatively which resulting people interpret it as "Yeah I don't care about my team mate, I already got my gf/bf anyway" which is not plot hole at all.

It's 100% character inconsistency. Plot holes are when the plot is wonky, and some logic doesn't logic. When a character acts OOC, it is character inconsistency. Adrien and Marinette have both become wildly OOC since the second Adrienette became canon on this show. They don't care about superheroing anymore, they don't care about each other as Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore. Outside of like, one line about "I hope Ladybug/Chat Noir are okay" (which is quickly overshadowed by some Adrienette, cause we sure do need more of that when we're talking about the late Ladynoir), they just don't give a fuck.

Actually, this isn't even character inconsistency anymore, this is a whole character overhaul a la whatever happened to Felix Fathom. Cause Adrienette only works if you change significant aspects of their characters. What about Chat Noir meaning freedom and a means of escape for Adrien, what about Ladybug being the narrative opposite of his abusive father who gives him unconditional love and acceptance? Fuck that, what he really needs is to start centering his identity around his classmate (with whom he isn't even that close because she thinks he's perfect) and defining himself based on her needs. And what of Chat Noir being the only one who can understand Marinette's struggles? Chat Noir being her special partner whom she can always lean on? Nah, fuck that shit lmao, here's Marinette trying to tell Adrien something he already knows and Marinette trying to hold Adrien's hand even though she's done that before without a problem!

Anyway, like I was saying, they had to change their characters up so that Adrienette could make sense, because it sure wouldn't make sense if it became canon in the show that devoted the bulk of its development to Ladynoir, now would it? So that's why we get episodes like Determination, where Adrien is suddenly head over heels for Marinette out of fucking nowhere, right after the Jubilation dream sequence where they had those cabbage patch kids, and Ladybug initiated a kiss even though they realized this was a dream, and they were clearly having some complicated feelings about the whole thing at the end of the episode. Cause fuck Ladynoir, amirite? Like, why would we waste time on the relationship we spent 5 seasons developing when we could focus on some cookie cutter high school romance with retcons galore and multiple, I tell you, multiple scenes featuring Marinette suddenly having the inability to do things she's done before with no problem, and apparently, it's all Chloe's fault, like what a fucking shocker, who could have seen that coming.

And lets not get into the actual plot holes in Transmission too, cause those also exist? How does Adrien Agreste know and proudly state Scarabella's name when no civilian knows she exists? How does this not make Marinette question why he knows? Why does Marinette expect that someone else becoming Ladybug means she's free when she's still the Guardian? Make it make sense, please.

Anyway, that's all I got. I'm sorry for using your ask as a venting post, anon. I just rewatched Gamer today, and god, Adrienette are so cute and adorable in Season 1. Like, they actually have chemistry and fun interactions and it's the lucky charm debut episode! I will never forgive this show for taking that Adrienette away from me and replacing it with... whatever Season 5 coughed up.

Thank you for your ask!

[lilithdusk]

How am I supposed to move on from THAT ONE gif?

aka Ladybug realizing her feelings for her beloved partner at the end of season 4-

Rain was pouring, leaving Ladybug shivering; or was it at the sight of her city living up after it has been completely destroyed before her eyes a few hours ago?

Shadow Moth has been caught, finally. The fight lasted hours and a team of super-heroes was very much needed to take him down. His reign of terror ended, leaving a mournful son who lost his father after his mom. The official conference press Ladybug and Chat Noir held confirmed that they finally won over and, to protect his family, his identity will remain secret. Paris was now celebrating the news, marching in the streets, music blazing; as if the city breathed again.

Yet, tomorrow, Ladybug will have to declare that the Peacock miraculous was still lost and if she trusted her instinct, in bad hands. The rest has been short, because at the end of the day, Paris still needed the duo of super-heroes to protect them from another villain, willing to selfishly use people to get what they wish.

She had learnt that information the very same day she decided to reveal her identity to Chat Noir.

Walking in cercle in her room, Marinette has been talking for hours, the kwamis understanding after a few minutes that she needed to rant. She never thought she would consider that option and now, she was sick about it. Nervousness running down her body and making her jolt while she was rambling.

“Tikki, you don’t understand. What I am supposed to do? Do I just detransform in front of him? That seems too simple, as if I don’t care and I care! What if he thinks I am lazy? Do I have to set a dinner? Wait, a dinner is too formal, I know we’re teammates but he’s my best friend. Lunch is better right? I’ll go grocery shopping and I’ll cook pastries and- Shoot, what does he like? I don’t even know his favorite meal! How can I-”

When Tikki tried to suggest ideas for the fifth time and not having time to explain because Marinette was already thinking about the worst case scenario, she gave up and nodded from time to time until the girl calmed down. Marinette finally agreed with her and called Alya to rant, a second time. Alya didn’t hesitate to tease her friend about that date Chat Noir and she set after the end of the battle; making Marinette blushed and gesticulated her arms to deny.

“It’s not a date! Just a patrol between him and I to make sure that Paris is doing fine.”

“But weren’t you the one telling him that the secret identities worked until Shadow Moth has been caught?”

“Uh... Yes but perhaps he doesn’t even want to know my identity now! We talked about that months ago, things can change!” A pause. “Wait, do you think he doesn’t want to know? Why would he shut me down now? I want to know!”

At the end of the afternoon, Alya had given advice about the way Marinette should dress if she met her absolutely platonic teammate in her civil form and had finally hung up. She smiled as she transformed and was about to leave her balcony when Su-Han appeared. She felt like a bus was hitting her, it wasn’t over yet. Apprehension and disappointment were quick to take over her as she made her way to meet Chat Noir. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, she found her partner waiting for her with a dinner. His smile dropped when he noticed her mood.

“I am sorry.” She simply said.

Chat Noir waited for her to continue, incomprehension written on his face. Ladybug pursed her lips, trying to hold a sob. She always was the one making sure that their security was the top priority so why a part of her wanted to say screw to that? Why was she so disappointed?

Lowering her head, a tear fell down on the floor; Chat Noir immediately understood and slowly nod. Of course, what was he even thinking? It could never have been easy. He came down to earth when Ladybug hugged him tightly. While crying, Chat Noir learnt the newly issue and decided to just support her for now. Yesterday, she had spent the entire day at Adrien’s side to make sure he was fine and even called some of his friends to take over when she had to leave. He could be the one keeping her safe. He could reassure her and go on, as they always did.

“You okay my Lady?” He moved back, hands still on her shoulder as she wiped her tears.

Green eyes met hers as she sniffed. Sure his smile was a bit low and she could see tears prickled at the corner of his eyes, yet he seemed so confident and calm.

“How do you do that?” She whispered.

Chat Noir shrugged and pressed her shoulders.

“Remember when Bunnix came that one time? We were still fighting together in the future.”

“Yeah, but I thought we would have figured out our identities by the time.”

Chat Noir raised his eyebrows, taken short by her answer. So she wanted to know his identity? That is what she had planned for tonight if the Peacock miraculous wasn’t lost? She actually wanted to know? It wasn’t his own fantasy?

“I wish I could see you.”

Ladybug raised a hand and finger touched the border of his mask then his cheek before lowering it down.

Chat Noir immediately took her hand back to his face.

“You see me. With or without the mask, you’re the only one who truly knows me.”

Her eyes softened and she opened her mouth before Chat Noir continued.

“Trust me, it is just a matter of time. It doesn’t change anything about us my Lady. I’ll be ready to start this all over again if it meant meeting you again.”

Her heart throb and sped up. She remained silence, absolutely in awe. What has she done to deserve someone like him? An invisible force pushed her towards him. She realized how devoted she was for him. Chat Noir could ask her anything and she would do it without question it. She was ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go until the end of the world. She wanted to be a shoulder he could cry on, a hand he would take whenever he felt the need and someone to rely on. Something new was building up in her chest, very different from the usual anxiousness or panic she felt; something ready to explode rather than swallow her entirely.

“It is you and me against the world.” He smiled.

Shining. That was what he was right now. Glowing in the surrendered night, guiding her as he usually did. He was so bright, almost blinding her by how much faith she had in him.

Chat Noir let go of her and turned his head towards the illuminated city, a smile painting his lips. Ladybug never glanced away from him. She remained silence, incapable to say out loud the realization that just hit her.

She sincerely, genuinely and fully loved him. She had no doubt. And it wasn’t just platonically, she knew Chat Noir owned a part of her heart that she thought only existed for Adrien. After all this time, Ladybug could have laugh if she wasn’t so struck by the gratitude she felt for him. She was so thankful to count someone like him in her life, fighting along with her, willing to lose or win at her side. Ladybug was utterly in love with him.

Blushing painting her cheeks, she forced herself to look away. She promised herself she would tell him someday the feelings she had for him. He needed to know how important he was for her. But for now, they would have to face another villain; together.

Masterlist

[flightfoot]

Something that annoys me with how both the show and salt fics prop up Marinette is how it always comes at the expense of nerfing others. No one is allowed to be more capable than her at saving the day, even when it would make perfect sense. Plot always has to be resolved by her and mostly only her.

Chat Noir/Adrien is the most consistent victim of this. Even though he's established to be an accomplished fencer, academically intelligent, a super model, etc.... somehow Marinette is the better fighter, the smarter one, the more professional one. Almost none of his honed skills gets him to shine because he might overshadow Ladybug. Who needs a guy who put in the effort and struggles at getting skills when there's this special girl who can get it right on her first try and never struggled since Origins? Chat Noir could save the world by Cataclysming a giant meteor bread but it would just be a footnote in an episode centered on Ladybug and her akumatized family. If he's shown to have a skill that would be super useful like soccer, he will forget about it. Cause he is not allowed to be the MVP. It always has to be Ladybug. It's for the gurl power tm.

Except not really when we consider Alya. There are episodes which I feel should've let Alya resolve things or contribute more. The one instance that stood out most to me is in Optigami, where Marinette recognized the Nino with them is a senti instead of Alya - his girlfriend who literally spends all her screen time next to him when she's not with Marinette. Alya who recognized the new turtle is Nino within 5 minutes of meeting him. Alya did not realize something is off with him but Marinette somehow did. Marinette, who has been out of touch with her girl squad as shown in Gang of Secrets, Mr Pidgeon 72, Guilt Trip and Crocoduel. If she's out of touch with those girls, what makes Marinette more capable of noticing something is off with Nino? Alya doesn't have to figure out Shadowmoth's gambit with the turtle miraculous but it really should've been her who noticed something is off with her boyfriend. I also felt Hacksan should've been handled by Scarabella and Chat Noir instead. It felt cheap to have Marinette swoop in to save the day when the point of the episode is to show she can count on them - it would give more weight to scenes where she expresses how she trusts them. Sentibubbler is easily Alya's best episode, but it still doesn't feel like enough considering her promoted role. The show shouldn't downplay Alya just cause she's not the main protag.

This isn't just detrimental to Adrien, Alya and the rest of the cast but also to Marinette. This is where all her stans get off on saying she's overworked and the only one doing anything as a hero. It's why she can't seem to form a proper team and all her scenes when she turns to them for support ring hollow to me. It's why I question how capable she really is when everyone around her has to be nerfed just so she can stand out. I wouldn't quite call her a Mary Sue but I can see why some people think she is.

Yeah, I've noticed these same things. I think part of the issue comes from Miraculous attempting to have a power fantasy trajectory with Marinette, where the regular person you identify with gets to be badass and amazing, while the actual plot seems suited to a more equitable distribution of power and attention, especially with Adrien being Marinette's counterpart and partner, and them being considered a duo. It results in the show telling us that they're somewhat equal partners, but the dynamic often feeling more like hero and sidekick. Which in season 4 was intentional at least, so I'm wondering whether season 5 will do more to distribute the badassery evenly.

I think something like ATLA's distribution of power and attention, where the main character and the one the plot revolved around, Aang, was really important, but a lot of the plot and character dynamics and focus was on the ensemble cast (Sokka, Katara, Toph, and at the end, Zuko) with their own stories and development, could help with this issue. Miraculous isn't ATLA though, and is largely centered around around the Lovesquare in particular, so I don't expect that to happen unless the writers go for a soft reboot. Which I could see happening after the last currently greenlit season, season 7, if they get approval for more.

Miraculous also seems afraid to tell a story without Marinette more generally, which can sometimes be detrimental to the writing, when she isn't inserted organically enough. It's a problem a lot of shows that revolve primarily around a single character have, when the other characters are both fleshed out enough for the audience to care about them and want them to get time to shine, and competent enough that they should be able to handle problems on their own that the main character is dragged into instead.

I think more specialization would help with this. It's why I like to lean into Marinette being the tactician and expert at improvising how to use objects, while having Adrien be a little more skilled at the actual combat, and at bodyguarding in particular, and have Alya be the best at reading and manipulating the villains in order to win battles. It allows each one to excel in their own field, without feeling like any of them need to be cheapened to make the others look better.

Though I will say, Marinette being overworked and trying to do all the jobs, since she's at least competent at everything, DOES play into her character arc. Marinette's incredibly skilled, but she has a lot of internal struggles, and one of them is with overstretching herself to try and do everything personally. We see it even outside of superheroing, like when she decides at the end of Wishmaker that she'll try to be and do everything she proposed that she'd do growing up, and in Simple Man when she tries to take on babysitting Manon, Ella, Etta, and Chris all at the same time, even though Alya immediately offered to cancel her date and help out when she saw that. I don't know how much of that is intentional, but it does fit.

[iwasbored777]

I agree that they overdid it with the secondary heroes. Aside from the fact that they absolutely nailed the "superhero duo rom-com" dynamic in the first season and more heroes distracted from that, it just felt like every classmate got a Miraculous, no matter how little of a prescence they had in the overall story. At least Alya and Nino are the protagonists' best friends, Chloe's the main civilian antagonist in season one and Luka and Kagami where the faux romantic rivals, but a lot of the others just where cool background characters in a role they weren't meant to play.

There's this idea in general that every single character needs to be important. But sometimes secondary characters should just be that.

I personally think that they should've left it with Ladybug and Chat Noir in every episode but the og squad - Alya and Nino and Chloé - show up at times only when necessary and after Zoé replaced Chloé she would show up instead but it would be just the five of them and that's all. But I really loved their dynamic when Chloé was the Queen Bee, they were funny, they were all so different but it was a good squad and it was the last time the squad was interesting because it didn't feel like every teenager in ML is dressed up for Comic Con, it actually felt like they are a team od superheroes. This way no one can get the right amount of attention and it feels heartless like Avengers: Endgame. I know that a lot of heroes being in the team and getting in the way of Ladynoir was the whole point of season 4 but they should leave it there in that season where it belongs. If they repeat the same thing and decide to gather a whole team again in the future it would feel lazy, especially since the likability of some of the characters dropped - I mean I REALLY don't want to see Nino back as Carapace again cuz he's straight up annoying and if Alya is back as Rena Rouge than she and Ladybug have this inner "we know each other's identities" thingy which leaves Chat Noir either alone again or forced to talk more to a guy who thinks he's a whore. They should just leave Bunnyx because she's the coolest and needed to look after the timeline and Ladybug and Chat Noir should unify the other miraculouses. I think that would be the best choice. Secondary heroes' value went downhill after Heroes Day (where they were great btw) and it was totally lost after Miracle Queen and it hasn't been the same ever since. Ladynoir is amazing in this season now that it's just the two of them. It really makes Ladynoir feel like Ladynoir and their relationship is closer and more intimate especially when they made babies together they were so close then.

[spectral-kitkat]

Miraculous Rant.

Where the hell do I begin…

Season 1:

The show was decent in season 1. Some episodes were just mindless filler and probably weren’t needed in the grand scheme of things but they helped us get introduced to the characters, we got to know the plot and the world our characters inhabit. It was good. The love story between Adrien and Marinette was cute and off to a touching and fluffy start.

Season 2:

This season was immediately better than season 1. It had character development, it went more into detail about the lore surrounding the Miraculous and we got to learn more about our characters and their families and the villian’s motives. (HM really went from “I wanna destroy the world” to “I wanna wake my wife from the coma she’s in”).

We got to see new heroes which was fun! We got new characters like Luka and Kagami.

The season finale was epic! The Miraculous team all taking down all the previous villains in the show was awesome. At the end we even got Mari kissing Adrien on the cheek. It was great! (Even though it clearly reset itself in season 3 cause it’s never mentioned again)

I really enjoyed season 2 and it’s probably my favourite out of the 4.

Season 3:

Season 3 was kinda good and kinda bad. We had some great episodes but this is where the show took the wrong turn.

Marinette lost some of her character in season 3. This was the start of her descent into being the Queen of Mary Sues. It’s also where she was crowned the Queen of Stalkers! Her character took a fucking nose dive in this season. We had so many moments that just creeped me the fuck out.

1. The ENTIRETY of Puppeteer 2 🤢🤢🤢 I could not stand that episode. When we reached the dreaded statue scene I physically had to pause it like 10 times. That scene takes about 3 minutes to watch… it took me about 20. I cringed so fucking hard because of the secondhand embarrassment I was feeling. That was not sweet, it wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t the least bit cute… it was a train wreck! It was creepy and stalkerish and it’s a wonder Adrien even spoke to her again after that atrocity!

2. LB delivering the present in Chat Blanc. Two words: STALKER BEHAVIOUR!!! I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw LB run her hand across everything in his room and then actually SNIFF Adrien’s pillow. Like WTF!!! 🤮 I’m pretty sure whoever was responsible for that scene clearly thought it was the equivalent of when someone gets their S/O’s jumper or something and it still smells like them. But this turned it up to the nth degree and way passed the line of sanity.

Adrien was extremely under-utilised in this season. He didn’t really do anything. The only episodes we got about him didn’t really focus on him. ‘Felix’ whilst focusing on Adrien’s family didn’t really feature him. ‘Party Crasher’ while a beautiful mess was more about Mari trying to get into the party than the party itself. ‘Chat Blanc’ again focused more on Mari trying to fix her mistake.

We got even more heroes in season 3, not in the right order but they were there. It was fun seeing everyone’s transformations.

Season 3 was also the season of destroying redemptions. The big one obviously being Chloe. Season 2 was setting up this amazing redemption for her and before it could go anywhere it was wiped off the face of the earth during the finale (and don’t worry we’ll get to that dumpster fire later). Gabriel also had any remaining sympathy ripped away from him. How did the guy who stopped Gorizilla from letting Adrien die when he only thought he was CN go from that to using his son like fucking baseball in Chat Blanc when he knew his son was CN. Like I knew you were a shit father but you still cared about Adrien in some way shape or form but after that episode I can see I was clearly mistaken!

Before we get to the finale I want to talk about probably my 2 least favourite episodes from this season: Desperada and Reflekdoll

Desperada:

I fucking hated this episode! The only good thing was Luka getting to be Viperion, other than that this episode was awful!

Marinette was a selfish cringey bitch. Completely ignoring Luka to gush about Adrien to Jagged. Brushing Luka off as soon as Adrien turns up. Immediately cuddling up to Aspik and flirting with him when she needed to focus on the akuma (something which she has told CN not to do many times before)

Adrien, I love you kid but Jesus Christ you were a dumbass in this episode! Aspik’s design was terrible! Aspik himself was awful. I know Adrien tried his best but dude you were given the Black Cat miraculous for a reason! He shouldn’t have tried to be Aspik but even when he did he should’ve called it quits after like 5 resets not 25,913 times.

The only person with a brain this episode was Luka. So well done guitar boy, gold star!

Reflekdoll:

This episode was annoying! It was basically the start of the Marinette can do no wrong streak! When they have to swap miraculous I was happy cause it meant we got to see new outfits and see how they each handle the different powers. It would also serve as a way to get LB and CN to see what their partners role is first hand. Until we actually get to it…

LadyNoire is of course amazing and needs no introduction to using this new miraculous that she’s never used before. She’s cocky and confident and basically just LB in Chat’s costume with his powers.

Mister Bug on the other hand is just useless. He struggles with this new miraculous (like anyone would!) and is stupid and goofy. He has to rely on LadyNoire to solve the lucky charm. They swapped miraculous so shouldn’t that mean that Mister Bug should get the lucky vision and the creative powers that the earrings give him.

Overall Reflekdoll is awful. It was shitty writing and the start of Adrien getting the short end of the stick.

And now the season 3 finale… Just what the fuck. That is my only reaction: what the fuck!

Chloe you poor fucking child! What did they do to you!!! So much potential SQUANDERED!!!!

What was the point in bringing in all these different superheros with unique skill sets, costumes and transformations if you were just going to immediately reveal them to the main villian so they can’t be used again. That’s stupid! If you wanted the shock value that is “Oh no HM knows some of the heroes identities!” Then keep it as only some. Have like Max, Kim and Kagami outside trying to find somewhere to hide but unfortunately they get hit. Or Nino and Alya are hiding but the windows open and they get hit. Have some of the heroes hide so they’re fine! Taking away every ally of LB and CN’s was a stupid move! (Even if they wanted Alya to become a spy have her as part of the like 4 that get revealed or something, it’s not that difficult)

Season 3 was 50/50 for me

Season 4:

So I know season 4 isn’t even halfway through yet but so much is wrong with this season already that I need to vent!

So my biggest problem with this season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybitch and Rena Rouge, I mean Rena Furtive… shit, Chat Noir! Is that CN is basically pointless! Adrien has been flung over a rainbow and is only remembered when he’s needed as

1. Marinette’s love interest

2. Someone for LB to shout at

3. A plot device

He has basically been sidelined. Partners my ASS!!!

Adrien is being blown off by pretty much EVERYONE! It’s coming to a point where this poor sweet summer child is going to crack! And it is not gonna be pretty… I definitely feel like the writers are leading up to a big fight between CN and LB which will probably end with Chat Blanc 2.0.

I REALLY HATE MARINETTE/LADYBUG!!!! In Season 3 I said it was the beginning of her descent, well in season 4 she’s done it. She’s descended, she has hit rock fucking bottom. She is so unlikable I don’t actually care about her as a person. She has entered full blown stalker territory it’s only a matter of time before she starts killing people for even looking at Adrien! Not to mention that Miss Mary Sue here can’t do anything wrong! She never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, she is always perfect no matter what she does… it pisses me off!)

She’s the Guardian now big whoop. I know what it feels like to be stressed and under pressure so I do understand why she needed to tell someone about it all. I just don’t see why that person had to Alya! Especially considering she has someone by her side every akuma attack going through pretty much the exact same thing. I know she’s worried about CB happening again but as I said before the more she leaves him out the more she is actually pushing that to become a possibility! Plus it makes sense for them to reveal their identities now since LB is now the guardian it’s probably a good idea to know who holds the cat miraculous, she knows everyone else’s identities!

Even if she didn’t want to tell CN her identity she could still explain the situation to him. If she didn’t want to tell him anything (which she doesn’t anyway) then instead of Alya she should’ve talked to Luka! Her boyfriend for all of half an episode (thanks writers…). He’s so sweet and caring and clearly loves her so much! If she wanted someone to confide in then why not choose the person you clearly wanted to date but couldn’t because of that very reason! (Yeah I know it’s kinda a moot point now since Luka knows both identities but still). He wanted to try and comfort her so it would’ve been the perfect moment for it. That way you could still date him and he’d know why you had to suddenly leave dates halfway through! But no break the boys heart instead!

Adrien and Marinette were both such fucking idiots in the first 2 episodes. Like why would you start a relationship with someone when you know your heart isn’t in it! That’s called leading someone on and is a really shitty thing to do to someone! No wonder Kagami and Luka ended up akumatized!

Another aspect of season 4 I don’t like is Rena Furtive. Yes ok having a spy for your side is a good strategy but when said spy basically tells an important member of a duo that the 2 person job doesn’t involve them… it just really ticks me off! Alya you are the sidekick to LB and CN! Chat isn’t!

Miraculous specials:

The Miraculous World specials suck! Shanghai is better than NY but still has its problems. Both specials add nothing to the overall plot/lore of the show apart from trying to set up some weird cinematic universe…

NY special:

One of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through! The plane scene alone I paused a few times. I want to say well done to Mari for trying to move on from Adrien (especially considering I’m pretty sure she’s dating Luka at this point) but I can’t help but think it’s just to give her character some pointless development that goes nowhere and doesn’t actually develop anything!

LB can pretty much fuck off at this point! I hate her! She put all this shit on CN (like she doesn’t know exactly how that feels). It’s like why does she get to go off on holiday but CN can’t. LB should’ve stayed in Paris for 3 reasons:

1. She’s recently become the guardian meaning it would probably be best that she stayed with the Mircle Box

2. She’s the only one who can purity the akumas

3. If she’s so sure about being the boss then she should take responsibility of Paris and the citizens.

What really pisses me off about her is what she says to CN during the big fight. “I can’t trust you”… surely you could have this conversation afterwards since you’re supposed to be focusing on taking down the villian! Plus everyone bashes Adrien for giving his miraculous up in this episode but look at it from his point of view: His partner and best friend just said she couldn’t trust him which in turn caused him to cataclysm someone and essentially kill them. That’s gonna take a toll on anyone, especially a 14 year old! He probably thought in that moment. “Ladybug needs a partner she can trust and someone who won’t mess up and kill someone. She needs a better partner.” It makes sense he renounces his miraculous! I’m just upset that in doing so he loses Plagg who is pretty much his only friend who actually understands what Adrien goes through at home.

When Uncanny gets CN to come back, LB acts like it’s not her fault in the first place that he feels inadequate! She didn’t even apologise for saying what she did! He apologised for lying about not being in Paris but nope LB wasn’t in the wrong at all and didn’t have anything to apologise for 🙄… (yes the LadyNoir hug was amazing but I just wish it was under different circumstances!)

Also are we not gonna mention Gabriel Agreste almost starting WW3??? He wanted to launch a fucking missile!!!

Shanghai:

As I said before, this special is way better for several reasons.

We got MariChat! (Best side to the love square imo). This special actually had some semblance on a plot. Fei, whilst a bit op, was a cool character. It was nice to see Wang Cheng again.

However once again there were many problems.

A big one being Marinette yet again! (What a shock! 😒 I’ll come back to this). Another was that once again HM’s motivation has changed. How is getting the Prodigious gonna help bring back Emilie??

Back to Marinette… The fact that the words “Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! … His 5 first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!” come out of her mouth whilst she is flipping through his schedule that she keeps in her pocketbook is a hugh red flag!!! That is not cute or adorable! That’s messed up and Adrien needs to fucking run and maybe possibly go into witness protection… Marinette is a full blown stalker! Not to mention the GPS she has (that could just be the find my friends app on iphone but still).

It also is extremely rude of her to use not only her great uncle’s birthday but also a lie about wanting to know her Chinese heritage in order to go to Shanghai to stalk her obsession, I mean crush. This could’ve been avoided if the Dupain-Chengs were going to Shanghai for the purpose of celebrating Wang Cheng’s bday and then Adrien just so happened to be in Shanghai.

Also this means LB left Paris without telling CN! I know CN did the same but again he can’t purify the akumas. Plus he has a reason he couldn’t stay in Paris, Mari just went cause her crush did. Great guardianship there Marinette.

This was also the last time CN actually did something. Even if it was for a short while before LB and her female partner took over (the beginning of a theme…)

Other things:

There are 2 other things that I wanna say but felt they needed a separate bit.

In Furious Fu, Su-Han has a rule book that he uses to tell Marinette which rules she has broken. At the end of the episode he tells her that is she breaks 1 more rule that he will take the Miraculous and the Miracle Box off her, which fair enough but wouldn’t it be helpful to leave the rule book with her?! How can she be wary of not breaking anymore rules when she doesn’t even know what the rules are??

Now the big one: Master Fu…

Where do I even start with him. He is so fucking manipulative!! He is Asian Dumbledore!

He decides to leave these extremely powerful jewels in the hands of 13 year olds! Surely leaving the miraculous to someone in their 20s would’ve been better!

He clearly favours LB over CN even though the Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be partners! Wouldn’t it make sense for them both to be in contact with the guardian from the start?? He randomly started introducing rules such as if LB and CN find out each other’s identities they would lose their miraculous… what kind of bullshit rule is that? It also came out of fucking nowhere!

Final Thoughts:

But to summarise all of that: Miraculous is on quite a steep decline but I’m invested at this point and I am genuinely curious as to where the fuck this will go.

Marinette needs professional fucking help before the writers even consider canonising Adrienette cause at the moment she is not what Adrien needs!

Adrien needs to stand up for himself! He needs to pull LB to the side and tell her what he feels and what he’s going through cause he is on the precipice of a breakdown!

(Small point that’s more to do with the fandom: when searching for fanfics it’s really annoying that Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir Bashing is a tag but Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug Bashing isn’t. Why does everyone think Marinette can do no wrong???)

[kisilinramblings]

Say, I'm really curious. About the ladynoir fallout, do you think revealing her identity will solve the problem? I've seen many story using this formula. Adrien break up the partnership > return the ring > Marinette now realize > revealing identity > Adrien forgive her because it is the girl he loves. Personally I think revealing the identity won't solve the problem, not by much at least. But also Adrien is really forgiving and I'm not sure to what extend. Would he forgive her easily if he know about Rena furtive and her plan in ephemeral second-hand rather than from ladybug's mouth? Keeping him out of the loop is one thing but her attempt to manipulate him to give her his identity? I think that cross the limit.

No, I don't believe an identity reveal will solve this conflict. Because this conflict is caused by two people's own traits feeding the conflict (@flightfoot did a very good analysis on that) rather than being fed by the secret identity. If Ladybug was making an effort to be more aware that some of her decisions might impact their duo and if Chat Noir was able to voice his vulnerabilities and self-doubts, the conflict wouldn't be as big.

I don't think people realized how formidable Truth and Lies work as Season intro. Not only they well re-establish where the team stands, but also offer insights what the character arcs will be about this season.

At the beginning of the season, Marinette is overwhelmed. She is all alone trying to juggle with several responsabilities at the same time and trying to accomplish a lot to the point she is neglecting her relationship with her partner (both Luka who is her romantic partner and Chat Noir who is her work partner). And she hides things from everyone in order to protect them.

Adrien doesn't know himself and let other decides who he should be. Being Chat Noir offers him a break from the life dictated to him, but he doesn't know what to do with himself when Ladybug isn't there. We see him bored. He still does his patrol, but it isn't as fun to the point he is depressed.

Afterwards, the rest of the season proceed in showing how things are changing between them... and slowly falling apart despite 3 seasons of team building.

From Ladybug's perspective, things are still the same as they were. She doesn't realize how she is sidelining Chat Noir nor doesn't realize that her decisions are affecting him. She expects Chat Noir will always be comprehensive and trust her nonetheless like he has always done. The secret identity between them is there to protect them and their Miraculous. Sure it complicates things sometimes, but it is still manageable. And she has access to all those other heroes if she needs.

Chat Noir is the opposite. He notices and learns things on the side. He has more and more questions than he gets answers to. Starts to doubt himself, his worth in Ladybug's team. And he downplays his feelings. Because Ladybug has already so much in her plate. She already has the pressure of saving Paris, protecting the citizens and trying to stop Shadow Moth. Those are her priorities. And Chat Noir doesn't want to bother her with what he feels on top on all that. She doesn't have to deal and be responsible of his feelings (Glaciator 2) and she doesn't own him anything either (Hack-san). He follows LB's lead, not because he loves her, but because he trusts her. She is brillant, amazing, has proven again and again she will find the solution, that her plan will work. She is always right or will do the right thing in the end.

But the question that is starting to sprout in his mind at this point is does she truly trust him back? He is a burden? Does it really matter if he doesn't show up in the end up? Would she be better off without him around?

The "You and me against the world" statement is not applying anymore. Their dynamic has changed. Their team is not what it used to be. There are more and more new heroes adding up. Where does Chat Noir stand in all this?

Fortunately, the Wishmaker episode had the benefits of having Adrien think of his future. But first, he has to figure out who he is in order to better know what he wants for himself. However, Adrien downplaying his feelings and bottling them up is not because he wants to, but because it is a defense mechanism he had to learn to do in order to avoid problems in his household. And he has a lot to unlearn there. He is allowed to be vulnerable and be heard.

Marinette on the other hand is learning to trust others and delegate, but she also got to stop micro-managing everything (lesson she got in Simpleman).

To me, a part of the solution is first have them sit down and have a goddamn talk. Ladybug has to restablish she trusts Chat Noir and why he is important to her. And Chat Noir has to be honest and open up about how he has felt lately. But there is also a need for actions to be taken. That is why Chat Noir getting his own set of responsabilities could help both of them. Ladybug would be less burdened and Chat Noir would feel valued. Bonus point if Chat Noir is the one with the initiative and offers to be responsible of this task and Ladybug allow him to have it.

It may take more than that, but at least, this would offer some ground for them to work with and rebuild their duo. Or so I think.

[quijotine]

There's a miraculous duo, not a miraculous team.

This may be a little bit out of the zeitgeist, but I literally just gave a TED talk to my shower about this. It's time for meta again. Lessgo.

So, the thing that's getting me hyperfixated right now is the fact that both Ladybug and Chat Noir believe this--that there's a duo and that is it, full stop-- but the way that they execute this belief is so different, that this is ultimately what's slowly making Chat reach a boiling point.

Let's start with him, since he's the most recent example.

As you all have correctly pointed out in your meta, he is right to be angry and he wouldn't have been if Rena had just explained this was her plan instead of the convoluted excuse she gave him, right?

Well, yeah but consider this: Chat would've gotten angry, regardless. Maybe not angry enough to punch a wall, but angry. This isn't the first time Chat has shown to be unimpressed when he is being left out of the plan or when the dynamic changes.

And these are just the two most recent examples, mind you. Most importantly, this has been his opinion since the beginning of the season:

Chat would've gotten angry because the sole fact that Rena was calling the shots supposes a change in dynamic. And Chat would've followed and done as he was told, yes, because eventually that's what he did (if only briefly) when Marinette reasoned with him. But that would be a direct trip to the milk bar afterwards. Furthermore, what would a more honest alibi have looked like, if Rena was to be clear with him? "This is my plan, Ladybug is busy right now. Please just follow through?"

Following Chat's rationale: a) Why are you coming up with the plan? Ladybug is the one that comes up with plans. b) How do yo know Ladybug is busy right now? If she's busy, wouldn't she have called me instead of you?

A more honest approach would've simply made Chat ask more questions because Chat is not the type of person that follows you blindly. It may look like he is when he is with Ladybug, but that is the result of their bond. He questions authority when he believes it to be unfair (re: Su Han, Natalie, Gabriel, the school principal, Master Fu, and on some instances EVEN Ladybug), and this would've been the case because at the moment, Rena was calling the shots from a seemingly unfair vantage point.

What I'm getting at is this: Chat is fully aware that things are changing for the worse (for the duo) and from his pov, Ladybug isn't doing anything to prevent that. She is encouraging these changes.

Moving on to the lady of the hour, miss Ladybug.

Conversely, where Chat is frustrated by all these changes, Ladybug doesn't think twice about them because to her, they're not even something worth considering. They're the cat and bug team, and by her own admission, she doesn't tell him nearly enough how important he is.

And can you blame her? Girl is battling her demons at the moment. She's focused on defeating Hawkmoth, and is constantly second-guessing her decisions as a Guardian because she doesn't want to make the situation worse, just as shown in the nightmare at the beginning of Sentibubbler.

The nuances of who comes, who goes, how the monster of the day gets defeated are irrelevant to Ladybug because she's not looking at the details, she's looking at the bigger picture, in direct contrast of what Chat is doing. For LB there isn't a "miraculous team," there's Chat and her, and her wielders, whom she calls when she needs in the arrangement she sees most fit.

You can argue that Rena is now part of the permanent "miraculous team", but again, I disgress. At the risk of being corrected by eps 5, 9, and 12, Rena's appearance lasted only 4 episodes: She is not supposed to be even seen again, per the last scene in Sentibubbler.

Furthermore, we know that there eventually will be a team but we don't know the workings of it, other than the fact that this will happen when they are adults. This is the kind of development that I can see happening after they defeat the first Hawkmoth, not before. Because at the moment, neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir have the maturity to trust their decisions and trust that a change in dynamic does not mean a change in their emotional bond. Ultimately, these are the lessons they need to learn (on top of several others), and the outcome I would expect once Chat Noir explodes.

tl;dr: Ladybug and Chat Noir approach their partnership in directly opposite ways. Ladybug thinks adding or subtracting team members does not do anything to it because their bond overrides any temporary changes. Chat Noir thinks that these small changes eat away at their partnership and are breaking it. These two different perspectives can cause for a) to Chat to get increasingly frustrated with each coming episode and b) for Ladybug to be blindsided once Chat Noir has reached a toppling point, resulting in grade-A angst.

[undeath1245]

Regarding the Quantic Kids

The Quantics Kids were first introduced during the early stages of Miraculous Ladybug. They were supposed to be a group of young superheroes that Ladybug and Chat Noir were a part of. They consisted of Sparrow, Melodie, and Mercury, and later on into development, Gavroche was added into the team, and Mercury was replaced with Kid Mime. It was a request by a producer to help sell the show to viewers, but sadly, the idea was soon dropped, and we were left with only the main duo.

However, as shown in "Heroes’ Day”, Ladybug and Chat Noir formed a team together with Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee for a brief time, thus forming the original Miraculous Team, or Miraculous Heroes as I call them. Throughout seasons three and four, the Miraculous Team slowly grew from five members to 18 members, many of them being Marinette’s classmates, and to be honest, I really wish they could have kept them as the original five (reminds me a whole lot of Power Rangers). Then in “Miraculous New York”, two characters, Sparrow and Mercury, were reused, one being a young sidekick to Nightowl, and the other being an adult member of the United Heroez (I wish they didn’t call them that).

Now, I’m only an observer of Miraculous Ladybug. I didn’t watch the show, only observe it through clips, reviews, fan art, and fanfiction. I’m kind of like a bystander. But, I’m working on a fan concept of the show, not necessarily a rewrite, but rather a PV-inspired reimagining, titled Miraculous Heroes. I just want to see if I could revise it into a full-on superhero story, where there’s lots of super activity and fantastical activity happening across the Earth. I also want to explore more with Bridgette and Félix’s struggle with juggling between their civilian identities and superhero identities. I also want to add in more supervillains other than Hawkmoth, and while I’m reusing some of the akumatized villains (i.e. the Mime, M. Pigeon, Style Queen), I also want to rewrite them into non-akumatized villains, like in the PV. There are so many things I want to do with this concept.

Now, let’s get to to elephant in the room. Right now, I’m stuck between having to reuse the Quantic Kids concept or reuse the Miraculous Five concept. On one hand, I’m reusing Bridgette and Félix, so it’s fair to bring back the original team they were supposed to be a part of. Maybe the Quantic Kids were supposed to be a new superhero team to introduce to the public before Ladybug and Chat Noir. Plus, I feel like there should have been only two miraculous charms, or at least seven miraculous charms like earlier in the show. Another thing, I also want to add in new superheroes and antiheroes by reusing the young akumatized villains from the show (i.e. Lady Wifi, Riposte, Antibug, DJ Bubbler, Dark Cupid, Timebreaker, Gamemaster, Princess Fragrance, Reflekta) and revise them a little. For example, Riposte is now a liquid silver superhero hailing from a family of mystical warriors, and Reflekta is also made of liquid metal now, and is able to create portals out of mirrors like Mirror Master. Note how I said that Riposte and Reflekta are two liquid metal superheroes. I’m gonna either get to that later, or I need to revise Reflekta’s abilities.

On the other hand, I also want to explore the original Miraculous team and flesh out their dynamics and interactions with each other, especially with Rena Rouge and Carapace’s unexplored dynamic. With that in mind, I also want to flesh out Master Fu’s role as mentor to the team. I really think he should have been a good mentor not only to Marinette, but to Adrien and the other team members, other than just hanging out in his garden and being all Zen-like. Perhaps after Hawkmoth and Mayura are dealt with, the new holders of the butterfly charm and peacock charm respectively would either become new superheroes or new supervillains, the former choice leading them to become new members of the Miraculous team, and the latter choice indicating them to become the former villains’ successors. Maybe they’ll become superheroes, and the team would probably have to face off against a greater threat than Hawkmoth, perhaps either an imprisoned force of evil or a fully accomplished supervillain who’s also seeking the charms.

I could use the Miraculous Five concept and Quantic Kids concept altogether, however. Perhaps the Miraculous Five would serve as the main heroes in Paris, working together to take down Hawkmoth and his numerous allies, while the Quantic Kids would serve as the main heroes in New York. Remember the United Heroez (I’m just gonna call them the Union of Superheroes)? Well, what if Sparrow forms a group of young superheroes on her own, similar to Robin with the Teen Titans? Perhaps the Quantic Kids would still exist outside the events of Miraculous Heroes, taking care of the supervillain activity in New York in the mean time. Not only do the original members (Sparrow, Melodie, Mercury, Kid Mime, Gavroche) return, but so will Uncanny Valley (who definitely deserves a redesign). I’m also including Zoé Lee in the team, who not only needs a new superhero persona (right now, I’m thinking of a copper-based superhero), but also desperately needs a character revitalization. Maybe she could be Chloé’s rival in regards to both of them being daughters of big names in the fashion industry; I also want to rename her as Zoé Deschanel.

So, what do you guys think? Should it be the Quantic Kids concept, Miraculous Five concept, or both concepts altogether? In the mean time, I’ll go on and flesh out the story, or at least I’ll try to, considering that I had came up with numerous fan concepts.

[graveyardollie]

Slight spoilers for season four! (also I'm sorry I am unable to make this post under a cut)

This is highly inspired by @only_miraculous-doodles on Instagram since they suggested on one of their insta story to write about why Chat Noir is not just a holder like any other

*deep breath* here we go

- Chat was there from the start and accepted ladybug immediately just as she is 🐞

- Ladybug and Chat Noir always have each others back, they are there to protect each other, no matter what happens

- they're both equally awkward

-He respects her boundaries and her wish to not tell each other any private stuff

- She saved him on many occasions

- But he saved her more than you could tell…and he even sacrifices his life multiple times

- Plagg tells Adrien almost every timen during akuma attacks that he doesn't actually need to go and he can just stay home, but Adrien mostly says "Ladybug needs me." meaning: no matter how scared/tired/angry he may be, he will always be ready to help and be by Ladybug's side

-Ladybug not even for a second believed that Chat Noir committed any crime in s1 ep Copycat, she knew her kitty is not a thief nor a liar

- Ladybug knows his kitty cat very well even though she doesn't know him personally (or at least, she thinks she doesn't). She literally know his character like no other

- The way ladybug caught Chat Noir after he almost froze to death definitely doesn't say "just a holder like any other"

- "Get it? Claws"

- Ladybug always says she hates when CN is telling her jokes or cheesy compliments (we know that's not true from s4, but also we can already sense that way back in season 1!)

- The way Marinette got worried the second Chat Noir started fighting in this episode (Darkblade s1) because he was there all alone without her help

- Chat Noir never doubts her plans (except of course s4 and some small exceptions in earlier seasons - there is very small amount of them) because he trusts her so much and in her instincts

- Chat Noir also always understands LB's plan even when Ladybug explains it very poorly because they're in the middle of the fight!

- "We're cat and bug team!"

- They always take care for each other

- Wherever Ladybug starts to doubt herself, there is chat noir to get her self-esteem higher than his staff can go

- "Good job, kitty"

- Ladybug "sacrificed" herself once for Chat Noir and he already was ready to use his powers in unholy and definitely not “for the children’s show” way

- This scene when they're both badasses tells me enough to not make this whole post but still, trying to prove my point in here

- Chat Noir also tends to get Ladybug her senses back again like in Volpina when she almost gave up her miraculous for an illusion without checking it first (but I get it's hard to focus when you think the love of your life may die by horrible death soon)

- when chat isn't behaving like himself Ladybug checks multiple times on him to make sure he's okay

- They trust each other SO MUCH

- Even after an argument, they quickly find a solution because being angry at each other is more painful than anything else

- After Chat being akumatised, LB doesn't give up on him. She believes she can save him. Till the very end

- And of course the iconic "I don't know if I can do this...i can't imagine being ladybug without...him."

- At the end...it's always just the two of them. Together as a duo. As a team.

But yeah girl, chat noir is just miraculous holder like any other. Mhm. Sit down.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Feel free to add more, becuase I don't have anymore energy 🌹

[depressed-teacup-inc]

Let’s go it’s a double review

Ok two episodes at once Qilin and Penalteam let’s go

Qilin

We love a side character episode, and Sabin proves that she is the most competent human being ever and I would fucking kill for her to have been Ladybug instead of Marinette because Sabine’s an icon

Also the design slapped, and in general, thanks miraculous for finally half trying to show some more of Sabine’s heritage or even just personality and hobbies? I was hopeful to see Marinette expressing Interest or knowledge in her Chinese heritage, but we only got the end screen with dumplings… you know what I’m not even surprised anymore

Also why the fuck was the French version of a SWAT team in this episode?! Like I get this episode is meant to be a criticism of abuse of power, but it was so exaggerated stupidly, that it just makes me groan, because the SWAT team was summoned to arrest one lady over a bus ticket instead of actually being there during any other akuma fight, which only makes me hate the writing and Roger more

Overall half decent episode, love Sabine, Marinette’s incompetent but slightly better (can’t say that about the animation tho), and chat noir gets no screen-time and has to be beat up, BUT HE GOT TO DEFEND SABINE HONESTLY THESE TWO WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD DUO

Penalteam

Ok this episode was stupid. Like I know that’s an immature thing to say, but this episode just… radiated terrible filler energy

Like from the premise of this episode being about soccer and teamwork that wasn’t executed well at all(which btw, I’ve seen an extremely smart soccer cartoon before! Called Super Strikas and I strongly recommend that show from my childhood), Chat Noir being made fun of so much and made to be an idiot even tho Adrien has literally shown affiliation with many sports?! LIKE WHY ARE YOU MAKING HIM SO INCAPABLE AND STUPID???

(Also especially after Kuroneko, an episode that basically told chat “yeah we need you” but proceeds to make fun of him, kick him around, push him aside, etc.)

To heroes with (outside of the bull hero dude) having either an extremely broken power (Literally, Sublimation CAN JUST GIVE YOU ANY SUPER POWER WHATS THE POINT OF THIS FIGHT ANYMORE) or just a weird name??? Like fetch??? Really???

And no ma’am I’m not addressing the designs I don’t wish to look at them

To Chloe being demonized to the point that she willingly works with Hawkmoth, despite THE FACT SHE LITERALLY WAS THE FIRST VICTIM TO REJECT HAWKMOTH AND FOUGHT AGAINST HIM ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS??? And how they tried to make her and Lila affiliated like it’s so scary, to only see in the season finale, them tripping her (HOW EVILLLL)

Also very lazy way of including Lila in the plot SHE WAS LITERALLY JUST EXISTING ALL SEASON LONG?

And to top it all off Marinette (especially in contrast to the Lila episodes, in case we were hoping for any sort of consistency) being worshipped, made the captain, and always said to be right??? And then the show wants me to buy that Marinette is actually a victim and no one listens to her when in fact the problem is everyone enabling her.

Anyways, bad episode, just go watch a sports anime instead, I’m only here for the gays

[jesuis-melodrama]

LadyNoir Inequality: Chat Noir’s Fall from Significance

How does Ladybug and Chat Noir's roles differ between the seasons? How was responsibility, positions, duties delegated between them? This essay analyses in detail how the LadyNoir fallout of Season 4 came to be, and how Chat Noir ultimately fell from hierarchal significance.

What attracted me to Miraculous, apart from the stellar animation and the potential of the in-universe powers, was the dynamic between Ladybug and Chat Noir. Like the camaraderie of the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5, the partnership between Ruby and Clancy in Ruby Redfort and the hierarchy of respect and power between the Hashira of Demon-Slayer, Marinette and Adrien interested me, because they are two very dissimilar people on separate standings who mutually trusts, supports, and depends on one another despite being different in almost every single way. Their powers, although complimenting, are not comparable, and their personalities, although cordial, are inverse. But despite these odds, Ladybug and Chat Noir are not just friends, companions, and confidants, but equals.

 The first episode of the series, The Bubbler, demonstrates this splendidly (Author’s Note: The Bubbler is the first episode available on Netflix. Chronologically, Stormy Weather is the first official episode, but the same values hold up). It was a jarring introduction to a new show. The audience has no idea who Adrien and Marinette were, what Tikki and Plagg were or why these magical girl transformations suddenly granted them the powers to fight the maniacal butterfly man, but we can recognise the symptoms of two people already deep into the composition of their friendship. The Bubbler threw the smoothness and effectiveness of their teamwork directly into the faces of the audience, and it was brilliant.  

We weren’t weighed down by the gritty details of the beginning, we don’t have to watch the awkward bumbling, the introductions or the unsurety of two strangers who have yet enough reason to trust one another. We were immediately thrusted into the middle of their partnership. The first thing Chat Noir did when he stepped onto the scene was to defend Ladybug and the first thing she did was to joke around comfortably, clearly relieved that he had finally arrived. After watching Marinette obsessively creep around Adrien’s house, trying to show love to a boy she barely knows, and watching Adrien uncomfortably trying to enjoy a social event which he desperatedly wanted but is clearly inexperienced in, the sudden switch of persona and their sudden familiarity and reliance on one another was a fresh breath of air and it made Miraculous a show worth investing in.

We may not know what happened between them, how they received their powers and how they know each other, but it is obvious some catalytic event has tied Ladybug and Chat Noir together. And by all the features exhibited (another great thing, the words spoken were only secondary to the demonstrative body language) the audience was immediately aware that they have stepped into something sacred, something unbreakable. And even with the thick wall of secret and unspeakable identities between them, we feel comforted when we see them together, because they are comfortable and happy with one another.

So, fourteen monster-of-the-day episodes later, when Season 1 presented the first inklings of Miraculous’ overarching plot, watching Marinette and Adrien receive their Miraculous, meet each other as civilians and then as superheroes, the scene is nostalgic and sentimental, and aided by the fantastic animation, the audience can appreciate and remember the defining passage as an evocative and triggering moment for years afterwards.

But that is not to say their partnership hasn’t been without fault.

The cracks were always present, but as the seasons rolled on, it only became more obvious. Their roles were disparate. Ladybug comes up with the plans, Ladybug comes up with the solutions and more often than not, Chat Noir is used as a tool and a distraction for Ladybug’s success. Ladybug had the Lucky Charm and the Miraculous Cure. Chat Noir can stand on his own, defend and attack as an individual, but apart from using the Cataclysm as Ladybug directs, Chat Noir has no outstanding impact on the defeat of any akuma. He does not contribute to any tactics, and he cannot win without Ladybug because he has nothing to offer strategically.  

Assets aside, there is also the matter of leadership.

The audience finds out that Chat Noir initially took the frontman role in The Origins. He attacked Stoneheart first while Ladybug dithered behind. But as Ladybug regained confidence, she took the leadership position in both episodes, and Chat Noir was more than happy to follow. Thus, their dynamic was laid down. They both showed satisfaction with their place in the relationship, Chat Noir often yielding to her judgement, such as in Stormy Weather and Dark Cupid, and Ladybug asserts that Chat Noir was in her team in Antibug.

The first big indicator of disagreement in this mutually agreed arrangement was in Syren. A contentious episode, the consequence of Chat Noir physically rebelling against Ladybug’s decision for the first time. All the way to Season 4, Rena Rogue has stirred conflict and mistrust between the duo. When I watched Ladybug leading Rena Rogue away while Chat Noir stared angrily at their retreating backs, I remembered hoping that the episode would end with Ladybug telling Chat Noir everything, so that they could have their Season 1 relationship back. Where they navigated this confusing and alien new world together, hiding so much from the public and each other, but never their authenticity and belief in one another.  

I wished that Ladybug had told Chat Noir about the Guardian. I wished that both of them had been privy to the information from the very beginning and I wished that both of them knew who the other Miraculous Holders were because they chose them together. Realistically, someone in the show should’ve connected the dots, and realised that most of the Miraculous Holders were attending a specific class in Collège Françoise Dupont and were all associated with a specific person. That was the only reason I could think of why having Ladybug and Chat Noir choosing the Holders together is a bad idea. It would threaten their identity (which at that point, was still a concern).

But canonically, Ladybug constantly chose Holders who were dangerously close to the situation. Kagami in Ikari Gozen, Chloé in Malediktator, Rose in Guiltrip and Max in Startrain. The only Holder Chat Noir has chosen wasn’t even chosen by his particular identity. Adrien suggested that Luka might be a good Snake, and Ladybug heeded his words, not Chat Noir’s. I wished there was a single scene where Ladybug and Chat Noir analysed the situation and the potential Holder together, looked at each other, no words needed to be said, just a nod and a telepathic agreement shared through their eyes, and Ladybug would present the next Holder with a Miraculous with her and her partner’s approval both given.

What was the point of keeping their identities hidden?

In Season 1, it made some sense. They had no idea the Guardian existed. Even if Chat Noir was reluctant, they can both agree that they could not take their chances, should one of them be captured. But with the reveal of the Guardian’s identity in Season 2, the need for secret identities is almost eradicated. Clearly, there is someone who is an even bigger threat to their civilian lives than Ladybug and Chat Noir are to each other. Ladybug is now burdened with a bigger cache of knowledge. Should one of them be captured, it can only be hoped that it would be Chat Noir, because unlike Ladybug, he could not spew information about potions and kwami and secret books and the Guardian’s location.

In Season 3, the climax of Miracle Queen places the duties of the Guardian directly in Ladybug’s hand. She is now in charge of all the heroes in Paris, she is now the leading physical and strategic force in the battle against Hawk Moth and she is now officially stated as Leader, not just holding a de facto position.

In Season 4, the need for secret identities is gone. Ladybug is the Guardian. She and her original partner, Chat Noir, has no more safety nets in keeping their identities hidden from each other because there is no longer a background link tying them. Should Marinette be incapacitated, should Adrien meet an accident, there is no one reading their news who is available to inform the other person. The only reason why Chat Noir’s identity continues to be hidden from Ladybug is because she does not want to know. The only reason why Ladybug does not reveal her identity to Chat Noir is because she does not want him to know.

Chat Blanc could be inserted as a contending factor. Chat Blanc saw to it that the reveal of their identities to one another could lead the end of the world.

But Chat Blanc was not the only factor.

Season 4 Marinette is overwhelmed and stressed and guilt-ridden. Season 4 Marinette tore herself apart trying to maintain the kwami, her Guardian duties and continue moonlighting as Ladybug. Season 4 Marinette was at the end of her tether, and at this point, Chat Noir’s presence and his insistence was no longer a support or a comfort but another chore and responsibility to be balanced.

Her support network as both Marinette and Ladybug were extinguished. Thus, in a peaking moment of weakness, she finally revealed her identity to Alya.

Marinette met Alya and Chat Noir on the same day. Two strangers both became her friend, two insistent strangers who were united in their goal to find out Ladybug’s identity. Marinette hid her secret life from Alya, Ladybug hid her civilian identity from Chat Noir. As Marinette, she was supported by passionate, fierce, and rash Alya who jumped to conclusions and unnerved Marinette with her determination to find out the truth about Ladybug. As Ladybug, she was supported by passionate, fierce, and rash Chat Noir who impulsively leapt into battles and irritated her with his constant declarations of love.

But Marinette had connections to Alya as both Marinette and Ladybug. She found herself acknowledging Alya’s true character and learned to rely on her through a multitude of trust falls and confrontations. Marinette made the decision to trust Alya, she made the decision to depend on a person she knows as both a citizen and a superhero.

She had no choice with Chat Noir. She never knew who he was, only that he was thrusted into the same situation as she was. Truth was an important concept to Marinette, she stated multiple times that she could not stand liars. And subsequently, she could never really trust Chat Noir because she does not know who he was.

Chat Noir was an emotional crutch during the finale of Season 2 and Season 3. He was the reason why she found the courage to go on despite the anxiety of her failures and the culmination of her carelessness. Throughout Antibug, Heroes’ Day, Gamer 2.0 and Miracle Queen, it was demonstrated that the only way Marinette could trust him and confide in her vulnerabilities was through Ladybug with him as Chat Noir. She couldn’t afford the trust the boy behind the mask, so, when it came to the end of her line, when she has no other choice, Alya was the one to receive the relinquishment of her identity, not Chat Noir.

Gang of Secrets signified the end of Chat Noir’s reign.

He was a founding member, one of the original team, once upon a time on equal par with Ladybug. But now, his presence only matters as much as a temporary hero’s. The released episodes of Season 4, Mr Pigeon 72, Sole-Crusher, and most noticeably, Optigami and Sentibubbler, demonstrated the redundance of his company. Both physically and emotionally, Rena Rouge (now known as Rena Furtive) has filled in as Ladybug’s partner. Chat Noir has to be sneaked around, shield from the fact that there is a new permanent hero and shield from the fact that now, there is one other person in the world who knows Ladybug’s identity, that isn’t him.

With Ladybug’s circle of temporary allies expanded, she no longer needs to rely on Chat Noir to be her support. She could gather up any number of useful powers she has at her disposal and expend them as she wished. In Megaleech, among the five-men team Ladybug had gathered, each one of them has contributed to the defeat of the akuma, with Polymouse outshining as the victor over the army of mini Malediktators, and each one of the other heroes playing a vital role in Ladybug’s plan. Chat Noir’s delegation? To distract the enemy while Ladybug gathered up her soldiers. In the end, he didn’t even use his power, marking the first time in a Miraculous episode that a hero was called upon and left without use. The Cataclysm is no longer necessary for the defeat of an akuma. But the Lucky Charm and the Miraculous Cure are as relevant now as they were when Stoneheart first attacked.

Optigami and Sentibubbler reached the apex of his unimportance. Both times, he was more of a hindrance than a reinforcement. He unconsciously prevented Marinette from becoming Ladybug, which derails the plan to Rena Rogue’s command. He has to be told by Marinette, the civilian, to stay out of the superhero’s plan, because there was nothing he could do that Rena Rogue wasn’t already doing.

The Cataclysm is a one-use power, Chat Noir is a one-trick pony. He’s still stuck in Season 1 mode while Ladybug has broadened to new powers, new suit, new duties, new partners, and new goals.

Hawk Moth knows the identity of all the heroes but Chat Noir don’t. Chloé knows the identities of all the heroes but Chat Noir don’t. Alya has more privileges and inside knowledge than Chat Noir has, and with Rocketear, Nino is now another confidant privy to more secrets than Chat Noir is.

All Chat Noir is left with, is the comedic side-kick routine he is now entrenched too deeply in to crawl out, the knowledge that his best friend in both his civilian life and superhero life think he’s annoying, and the realisation that Ladybug truly no longer trust him, because the heroes around him, his subordinates in a sense, now ranks higher in prominence.

Did Ladybug mean for this to happen? Absolutely not.

But Chat Blanc is no longer a reason big enough to cover all the discrepancies. And she has grown so used to keeping him in the dark to realise how much the darkness was causing the chasm between them to grow. Chat Noir is now outwardly lying to Ladybug that he’s fine, refusing to tell her that he knows to some extent the secrets she has kept from him. In Season 2, he angrily confronted her about being left behind. In Season 4, now that Ladybug holds all the power, now that he no longer has the authority to demand reasons and explanations, the only thing he could do is keep his mouth shut and hope that the sheer cliff he’s balancing on does not shear away even more.

Because Chat Noir is still fun for him, isn’t it? Being a hero, being himself? Chat Noir isn’t a role for him to act, to fake being happy, to pretend to be something he’s not. Chat Noir is a persona where he can be as expressive, as temperamental, as coquettish, and childish and experimental he wants. An entity where he can safely explore all the emotions children his age usually experiences without consequences. A place where he isn’t held under fear of abandonment or emotional abuse, where he can explore his identity and speak his mind without retaliation or repercussions.  

Isn’t it?

Chat Noir’s presence is still prevalent at every akuma fight because he is a founding member. Ladybug has no reason to tell him to go home, and he’s still useful in the sense that he can provide distractions while Ladybug figures out her plan, and feed information to Rena Furtive who is hiding and watching and waiting. And there is still the Cataclysm, a power that is supposed to rival the Lucky Charm, whose potential is still yet unearthed.

But Chat Noir has no more standing to rely on. He is no longer a principal participant in the encompassing war between Ladybug and Hawk Moth, even if he is a principal target. Each side gathers up their warriors and equipment, and Chat Noir is just another treasured pawn in Ladybug’s army. He is alone in the fact that no one knows his identity. Ladybug has someone, Hawk Moth has someone, and both of them has an arsenal of champions to pick from.

He’s a wild card, he’s an anomaly. He was once Ladybug’s partner, he was a prototype for the modern Miraculous hero, and by himself, he had a visible presence. But he lost the novelty quickly.

Even in Season 1, people preferred Ladybug. She was the one to fix their city, she made the flashy speech at the Eiffel Tower, it was explainable. In Season 2, Hawk Moth began to ignore his Miraculous multiple times in favour of Ladybug’s earrings. Chloé called him Ladybug’s second fiddle. In Season 3, Fu’s obvious favour of Ladybug as future Guardian emphasised Chat Noir’s emerging sidelining. And in Season 4, Ladybug herself begun to omit her partner.

What does this have in store for the future? Rumours and headcanons fly, whispers of an akumatization on par with Chat Blanc looms closer and closer. Personally, I hope that something more substantial is done with Chat Noir’s character. There’s still so much to be expatiated, his family history, his own personality, and his unlocked powers. If the Black Cat Miraculous was truly the harmonizing consort of the Ladybug Miraculous, then logically, Chat Noir should be receiving the multiple new upgrades in the near future.

A climax where an issue that has spanned for four seasons ending within two episodes sounds stereotypically Miraculous and nightmarish. But the show has three more seasons to go, and hopefully this conflict will be used as a starting point for what may be in store for those seasons.

What if Chat Noir decides to deflect? What is he decided to derail, and what if Chat Noir becomes the next villain? ShadowMoth is a recurring joke at this point, and with the development of Season 4, ShadowMoth’s return in Season 5 sounds exhausting and repetitive. Looking at the overarching picture, there is only one person that has enough incentive and power to become Ladybug’s future archnemesis.

Love and hate are the opposite sides of the same coin.

But no matter what is in store for the distant narrative of Miraculous, this essay concludes on the now.

We look at Season 1 Chat Noir, and the Chat Noir of the latest episode. Even if his powers and position hasn’t grown, he has developed into his role emotionally, in an unfortunately negative way.

Chat Noir is no longer Ladybug’s partner, and analytically, no longer as important as he once was.

I really hope the show does something good with this.

[xhanisai]

AU where the current holders of the miraculous have dreams about the previous holders

- They only dream about the holders before them- not the holders before the previous ones (for example, say Laila is the current holder of the butterfly and the holder before her was Maya. The holder before Maya was Ali. Laila will only dream about Maya whilst Maya have dreamt about Ali).

- The dreams are in the POV of the previous holders; you would only see things that are happening through their eyes and have no control over their bodies. You will also feel the same things the holders are feeling. The dreams are only possible if the predecessor before the current holder has passed away.

- The last holders of the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses were Bridgette Zhōu and Felix Gray (The PV predecessors of Marinette and Adrien). They were born in England and fought and died during the end of the second world war in 1945. 

- Bridgette went by as Ladybird whilst Felix went by as Black Cat. They were sixteen when they received their miraculouses by Maître Fu.

- So Marinette, ever since gaining the earrings, would dream about Bridgette and the events that unfolded during her time. Adrien would dream about Felix on the other hand. 

- At first, both were confused and horrified by this, especially after having to witness the brutal battles and war in first person and not having the power to help the way they want. They wouldn’t dare to mention this to each other in the beginning, unsure on how to approach the subject and completely traumatised too.

- They are quick to mature, especially in their civilian lives. Alya has noted that Marinette often wears a distant, sad look on her face, as if she’s weighed down by the burdens of the world.

- Nino was also quick to realise the tired yet determined gaze that Adrien wore, as if he was burning with the desire to protect everything he treasures as well as grieving for the things he’s lost. Though, the boy is an excellent actor and it’s really hard to see him unless you’re Nino. 

- Since Marinette is far too distracted with coming up with plans and connecting dots to find out who le Papillon was, she’s not able to see how deep the changes were within Adrien, mainly focused on protecting her loved ones, especially her Chat Noir.

- Adrien on the other hand keeps a constant close observation on Marinette. She’s one of the few people out there that he really likes and cherishes so seeing her becoming more distant and tired and sad also upsets him.

- He starts to suspect about Ladybug’s civilian identity, especially after Plagg noting that he’s fallen for Marinette and LB for the umpteenth time. 

- Marinette is also in love with both Adrien and Chat Noir (though she doesn’t like to admit the latter). She doesn’t make any attempts on romancing because she fears that it would be taken advantage of by le Papillon one way or another.

- Chat Noir is only a little flirty with Ladybug, also held back from the past holders and the current villain from fully attempting to romance her. Adrien is still soft and sweet with Marinette, always making sure she’s relaxed in his presence (Though, strangers can see that the feelings between ladynoir and adrinette are mutual).

- Both Adrien and Marinette love to spoil their kwamis with all the sweets and cheese the little Gods desire. The duo couldn’t fathom the guilt and trauma from their predecessors so how were Tikki and Plagg dealing with all the lives of their past holders? 

- The bond between Tikki and Marinette and the bond between Plagg and Adrien is super, super strong.

- What finally causes Ladybug and Chat Noir to snap and communicate with each other regarding the dreams is when they finally dreamt about Bridgette’s and Felix’s last moments. These moments were the most haunting and painful out of them all.

Bridgette laid in a distraught Felix’s arms, a fatal wound in her chest, an ugly crimson growing on her clothes, yet a soft, subtle smile rested on her lips. With all her energy, she mustered up the strength to cup the sobbing boy’s cheek, as if Big Ben wasn’t being bombed to smithereens behind them and as if they weren’t surrounded by walls of deadly fire.

“Please...don’t close your eyes...don’t leave me...you’re going to be okay,” Felix choked, leaning into her touch which only grew terrifyingly colder and colder. He has to save her...he has to!

“D-Don’t cry, my sweet love,” Bridgette attempted to grin further and cooed at her lover, blind to Tikki’s vice grip on her blood stained school uniform and Plagg’s gape of horror. “I...I need you to run, Felix. Please-”

“What!? Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not leaving you! Not now, not ever!” He held her closer to him, tears cascading down his usually stoic face and mind scrambling for a plan. “I’ll save you, like always! And no one will dare to hurt you again-”

“Please...you’re already hurt. Please, live for me...”

“Bridgette...there’s no point in living if you’re not there with me, and that’s final!”

.

- Unfortunately, the duo met their demise from a direct bomb. Fu and Marianne had no choice but to take the miraculouses off their corpses as they were on the run, no time to mourn for the poor teens. 

- Because of this dream, Chat has vowed to protect his Lady, no matter what, to ensure that she never has to go through the same pain as Bridgette (and also so he never has to mourn for another woman he’s loved with his everything).

- Ladybug has also vowed to ensure that they would never get into a situation like that, ever. The last thing she ever wants is for her partner to go through that pain. 

- Sometimes, Marinette would find herself clutching her chest, as if she’s been shot, only to realise that they’re phantom pains from Bridgette’s fatal wounds and battle scars. Sometimes, the pain is enough to make her blackout. 

- Similarly, this happens to Adrien too. Especially since Black Cat often got hurt during the war when fighting against the opposition. 

- Both Marinette and Adrien have seen this happen to each other, not only as civilians but as their hero identities as well. They’re both 100% certain of their suspicions regarding the identities but are yet to address it.

- They get into arguments when Chat keeps on sacrificing himself. Both of them wanting to protect each other so badly, it hurts. The horrors of their predecessors’ lives and failures branded into their souls. 

“You are the most important one out of us both! You can bring everything back to normal! Of course it makes sense for me to take that hit for you-”

“We are a team! I can’t do this without you and you know how much I hate seeing you die before my eyes over and over again!”

“But you bring me back every time-”

“That doesn’t stop it from hurting, you stupid cat! How would you feel if the person you love the most kept dying in front of you!?”

- After accidentally blurting out her confession, Ladybug attempts to run away, only for Chat Noir to hold her back by the hand. He then gently hugs her from behind, face hidden on the crook of her neck.

“I do know how it feels, Marinette. I do...” Chat held onto her tighter when she gasped, waiting until she relaxed before he carried on. “Every time I dream about that night, I feel Felix’s pain as his Lady died in his arms. I feel his guilt, his self-hatred, his grief, his heartbreak...everything.” 

Lifting his head, Noir turned Ladybug around, his frown deepening from the tears that ran down her cheeks. He then brought his lips to one of her eyes, kissing away the tears with a softness that would rival even a mother’s touch to a new-born’s skin.

“I’m sorry I made you feel that way...I love you so much that I can’t bear to see you die, ever,”

- From then on, they come to a compromise that they’d work as hard as possible to keep either of them from dying for each other.

- It’s hard and difficult but now that they have each other in their civilian lives, as well as letting Alya, Nino and Marinette’s parents into the secrets, the burdens eased. Fu allowed them to do this, knowing that the burden is too much for a singular person to handle on their own. Together they all became one excellent support system.

- Thankfully, there are pleasant dreams from Felix’s and Bridgette’s lives as well. Such as: first time meeting, ballroom dancing, walking in the gardens, etc.

[princessjaqulinechess1031]

by the bedside

Characters: Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Jason Todd

Summary: A job goes wrong, and Marinette fears the worst until Damian wakes up. 

Notes: Cross-posted on Archive of Our Own. 

Sequel

"À la claire fontaine," a soft voice sung, pulling Damian out of his hazy daze. "M'en allant promener, j'ai trouvé l'eau si belle…"

Damian groaned and tried to turn on his side, to try and reach whatever it was singing, but the moment he did, the song stopped and was replaced by a gasp. Damian blinked his eyes open, ignoring the sting, and saw sitting next to him was a disheveled and red-eyed Marinette sitting next to him.

"Damian….," she whispered. Damian tried to reach out a hand to her, but found that it felt like lead. Moving it felt like a splitting pain, and it was weighed down by a cast. Damian shut his eyes and leaned back into the pillow. The building, the explosion, and –

"Adrien?" Damian croaked. Marinette nodded her head and took the hand not enclosed in a cast in her hands. She gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled.

"He's fine," Marinette said. "He's doing damage control with your brother."

Ah, yes. Dick. Nightwing had come to Paris as one Dick Grayson, something to do with Wayne Enterprises or other, when he had realized what Damian was up to. Robin had become an unofficial third member of Paris's own dynamic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir once all their allies identities were exposed. Hawkmoth was long gone, so it was just petty criminals and the like, but adding a fourth member to that so suddenly had thrown everything off. Even if it was for one mission. A bomb was missed, and now –

"How long was I out?" Damian asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked around and saw a familiar location had enveloped him. "And ho-how did we get to the Batcave?"

"Two days," Marinette said breathlessly. "And a Zeta tube."

Ah, Zeta. He should have known. Damage control probably meant making sure Paris still had someone patrolling and keeping it's citizens safe.

"Nightwing insisted we bring you back here," Marinette said. "Said you should be with family."

That meant it was touch and go for a moment. Damian felt unfrazzled by the brush with death, how many times had he had one since he was born? Not to mention he actually had died once. He looked down at Marinette's outfit, and saw she was wearing the same purple sundress she had been wearing before her transformation two days ago.

"H-have you been here the whole time?" Damian asked softly. Marinette looked down at her fingers sheepishly.

"I-I had to be sure," Marinette said. "When the Lucky Charm didn't work, and –" Marinette cut herself off with a chortle of tears. "Ma moitié, I had to make sure you weren't dead."

Damian shut his eyes. This was what frazzled him. He knew in their line of work, one got hurt. Sometimes you didn't walk away. But to hurt Marinette, to make Marinette feel hopeless and lost as Damian fought on a hospital bed. Marinette was the one good, pure thing he had ever been able to keep, and to make her feel pain felt like a betrayal.

"You should have gone home," Damian said slowly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Marinette shook her head and squeezed his hand.

"If you expected me to do that, then you don't really know me."

Damian turned his head to the side, and tried to ignore the sharp burst of pain at the top of his back from the movement. But try as he might, he still winced. Marinette reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and steady him again.

"Be still, ma moitié," Marinette said. "Monsieur Pennyworth said it was best for you to remain as you are."

Marinette was so polite, and despite Alfred's continued insistence, Marinette continued to call the man by his proper name. Damian found it was one of many adorable things about her to love.

"Nawaret aynaya," Damian said, "I promise I'm fine –"

"No you're not!" Marinette busted out. "You're hurt, you- you nearly died! All because I couldn't keep my team – I got distracted and –"

The young girl burst into tears, and Damian took his hand from her grasp and reached up to caress her cheek. Oh, Marinette. She always took ever mistake, every misstep, as some misgiving on her part. To Marinette, the safety of all Paris and all of her friends sat squarely on her shoulders. She might shoulder that responsibility with her brother Chat Noir, but Marinette would always hold it as a personal stake in her heart.

"It's not your fault, nawaret aynaya," Damian said softly. "This – this comes with the mask, you know that. If you had or had not been there, this would have happened eventually." He wiped away a tear form her cheek, and Marinette reached for the hand still caressing her. "I love you Marinette. And I know you would never hurt me. So stop blaming yourself."

Marinette gave a weak smile.

"If you expect me to stop just like that," she hiccupped, "then you don't really know me at all." She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across his wrist.

"I love you too," she said. Damian's heart sang. For seventeen years he had waited for something and someone that would look at him and not see a monster. Not see an assassin or a danger or someone to fear. And by some miracle, that person turned out to be the love of his life.

And he'd be damned if he let her go.

"He's flatlining, I'm calling it," a voice said, breaking the moment around them. Damian retracted his hand and Marinette wiped away a last tear. In the doorway stood one Jason Todd, mask gone but still wearing spandex and his leather jacket. "Mari, time of death?"

Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her hands, but Damian could see the beginnings of a smile on her face. Jason stepped into the room and dragged a chair from the corner and sat down next to Marinette with a loud thud.

"Papa Bat should be here in a little bit, Brat Bat," Jason said. He took out his gun and began to fiddle with it, probably to clean it since he pulled out a white cloth from his pocket. Damian frowned.

"I'm not a brat," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.

"You might be seventeen, but you're still a brat sometimes," Jason said. Marinette looked up from her hands, that familiar mischief shining in her eyes.

"You're kinda. Sometimes," Marinette said softly. Jason laughed and slung an arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Ah! I got the girlfriend on my side!" Jason said. "I win!"

Normally Damian would keep going and insist he wasn't a brat, but Jason was as transparent as a plane of glass. Jason was trying to cheer up Marinette with this joke, and Damian was not going to try and ruin that. Marinette was going to be happy and not worry too much about Damian, that was his mission.

"What did you win?" Adrien asked, popping his head into the med bay. His blonde hair was still damp, meaning he probably just got out of a post-patrol shower. He came up behind his adopted sister and hugged her from behind, placing a kiss to her temple.

"Marinette admitted Damian was a brat sometimes," Jason said.

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are," Adrien said. Tim and Dick entered the room, and Tim was texting someone on his phone. Probably Stephanie, telling her he was okay. Dick pulled a chair over to the other side of Damian's bed and leaned back, his long legs stretching out underneath the medical bed.

"Be nice to the injured child," Dick said. Damian frowned.

"I am not a child," Damian said. "I am the same age you were when you went solo, Grayson."

Dick raised a brow. "And? I was a child then, henceforth, you're a child now."

Damian furrowed his brow again and Marinette laughed softly, but once again he did not fight. If it made Marinette smile, it was worth it.

His father finally materialized, Alfred behind him. His father was as stoic as ever, his eyes steeled and guarded thanks to the new visitors to the Cave. Despite the Miraculous duo having been unofficial members of the Batfamily for a year and a half, Father still seemed opposed to giving them official membership. Damian wondered if it had anything to do with Marinette being his girlfriend. He hoped not.

"Master Damian," Alfred said, and a phantom smile overtook his professional form. "I see you are recovering well. I assume Miss Marinette has made sure you've stayed where you should?"

"He only woke up a little while ago, Monsieur," Marinette said. Her lips upturned wickedly. "The real problems in that regard have not started yet."

Adrien laughed and hugged his sister tighter.

"Trust me, mi'lady is here is plenty capable of keeping Damian in line."

Once upon a time, Damian had been jealous of Adrien's nickname for Marinette. Now Damian knew better. Adrien may have once been desperately in love with Marinette and Ladybug, but once one Kagami entered the picture it was game over. Now, the nickname was mere relic of that time and a testament to the depth of their bond.

"I expect nothing less," Alfred said. Father stood at the foot of his bed. He was still dressed in his suit, but his cowl was down, revealing his identity. That made Adrien and Marinette's lack of inclusion even more baffling – they knew who all of them were, the biggest secret they had.

"Are you alright Damian?" Father asked. Damian nodded.

"Yes Father," Damian said. A sigh of relief left his father's form. Despite medical evidence, after everything that happened with Jason, Father would never be certain of his kid's state until he heard from them exactly.

"Well, I mean, wasn't he just fighting with Jason?" Tim asked. He looked up from his phone. "Me and Dick heard them outside. If he's in a fighting mood, he's fine."

"I almost died, and you guys treat me this way," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, this is how we show our love," Jason said. He eyes Dick. "Except for Dick. He does the whole normal shit. Damn well-adjusted asshole."

"Damn non-well-adjusted asshole," Dick shot back. Marinette giggled. Father turned to Marinette and Adrien.

"You two can stay here as long as you need, to make sure Damian is okay," Father said. Damian tried not to let his surprise be palpable. Marinette and Adrien were barely allowed in the Batcave half the time, now Father was offering to let them stay while Damian recovered? What had happened in the time he was asleep? "You can Zeta home for clothes, if you need them. But we have enough clothes that might fit you Adrien, and I'm sure Cass left some things behind before going to Hong Kong."

"Thank you, Monsieur Wayne," Adrien said for the both of them. Marinette smiled and then turned her attention back to Damian.

Damian for seventeen years wondered what it would be like to be purely loved.

Now he knew. It came from Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that kind of true love

[themaribatpit]

Jasonette July Day 9: Pixie

Written by: The Maribat Pit  @jasonette-july-event

Prompt: Pixie

Rated: T

(By popular demand, a slight continuation of Game On @aespades, @certainmuffinbagelcalzone.)

A/n: Edits have been made because I noticed the paragraph errors AFTER posting this.

Marinette was really starting to miss the days of working with Chat Noir at that moment, and that was saying something.  “Bugaboo” and “My Lady” were starting to feel more tolerable when she wasn’t being called that every second of the day.  Being called “Pixie” regardless if she was Ladybug or Marinette, was really starting to get old, fast.  For reasons that she could not understand, that’s what Jason insisted on calling her.  Sure, she was a lot smaller compared to him, but that coupled with needing to hang back and let Red Hood and Arsenal deal out the heavier hits was starting to get on her nerves.  She was just as experienced as them, she had a mentor just like they did, and had been saving lives for just as long as they had.  Ever since she had joined them, she thought that she would be fighting alongside a team again.  Now she was either supporting them or using her sewing skills to add improvements to their suits.  She was in good hands, some might say hands that were a little too good.  All this frustrated her to no end because she liked Jason, she would have thought that someone who had been a vigilante from a young age would understand what it felt like to be constantly underestimated. 

“Unbelievable,” she snapped one night as she came home from another mission.  She pulled off her pink flats and threw them across the room as she entered her apartment.  She didn’t even get the chance to use her Miraculous, she was effectively closely guarded bait on that last mission.  She slumped on the bed in frustration and Tikki hovered over to her, her antenna drooping in concern.  “Some days I want to wipe that smile off of that stupid face, just to prove I can.” Marinette grumbled into her pillow.  She didn’t hate Jason, she knew that there was some good in him.  Roy was the more optimistic and cheerful of the duo, like Jason, he had also been mentored by a more experienced hero.  Jason was a lot more reserved and cynical by comparison, though he wasn’t a complete Ice Prince like his brother Damian. 

“Maybe it’s because they’ve been doing this for a little bit longer.” Tikki suggested, after Marinette complained about it for the umpteenth time.

“Batgirl and Black Bat are only a few years younger than me,” she reminded her, “and there’s no doubt that they could hold their own in a fight.  No one gives them stupid nicknames, just shortened versions of their real names out of costume.” Tikki awkwardly scratched the back of her head.  “I bet you that he barely remembers what my real name is.” Marinette was getting increasingly furious at the thought “it’s always ‘Pixie this’ and ‘Pixie that’. I know I’m shorter than him, but I have taken on giant robot dolls, literal monsters, and I once rode a dragon!” Marinette yelled. 

Marinette throws a pillow at Tikki, only for it to phase through her. “What does he think I do as Ladybug? Create Christmas presents with my Lucky Charm?!” 

 At this very unfortunate moment Jason happened to return back to their apartment with Roy in tow. “What’s got you riled up, Pixie Pop?” Jason quipped after seeing the frustrated look on her face. This was the last straw for Marinette, “Stop calling me that! Does it please you to demean me? Does it bring you joy to fucking bully me day in and day out?” Jason and Roy take a step back from Marinette’s outburst. Marinette continues “I have kept Paris safe ever since I was 13, I didn’t have the World's Greatest Detective or a Robin Hood cosplayer helping me. It’s always you two off saving the day while I’m the distraction. Do I have to remind you that I’ve beaten Robin and Red Robin?” 

 “So have we, right Roy?” Jason says look backwards to Roy. Roy meanwhile was slowly walking backwards with his arms up in surrender.

 “Don’t drag me into this please.” Roy pleaded. 

 Marinette continued her rant, “So why do you keep calling me Pixie Pop like I'm some pet or stuffed animal?” She storms up to Jason and pulls him down to her height by the collar. 

Roy sensed the tension and wanted absolutely no part in making it worse, “You know what? I’m gonna go get us some shawarma.”

Jason looked over at Roy “Really, Roy?” A slight scowl made it clear he knew Roy was essentially leaving him to face Marinette’s wrath.

“All I know is that they are open at four in the morning and I’m hungry, so I’ll be right back.” Roy said, and he left the room.  Just as he thought Roy was out of earshot, Jason heard sprinting down the hallway.  Roy had abandoned him to face the burning blue fire in Marinette’s eyes.

Marinette let go of him, she didn’t need them, she had made that absolutely clear. 

“I’m done,  I don’t expect you to understand what it’s like to be underestimated all of the time.” she muttered harshly, “to always be kept at arm's length, because no one trusts you to do anything right.”

Marinette had no idea just how deep her words cut him, and Jason couldn’t really blame her.  As far as she knew, compared to his brothers, he might as well just be ‘the one with the guns and leather jackets’.  He hadn’t really told her about what had happened all those years ago, he didn’t even like to think about it himself.  Roy was one of the few people who understood what he’d been through. It was true that both of them started out as sidekicks, maybe the red in their costumes helped them stand out from their mentor’s shadows.  Their time as young crime fighters had left their scars. They were blindsided when they found someone who had been a heroine since she was 13, and took to it with the same determination they had when they were younger, more innocent, more naïve. 

 As Marinette flitted around the room, gathering her things, every nerve in Jason’s body was screaming at him to stop her.   He reached out and grabbed her by the arm, trying not to think about just how small it felt around his hand.  “Look, I’m sorry,” he began. What could he say to her? That he knew exactly what that felt like? That the last thing they wanted was for her to end up like them?  That every hit they took in a fight was one that she wouldn’t have to, so that she wouldn’t turn out broken like they were?  The problem was she didn’t see them as broken, she saw them treating her like glass.  If she was put through the same ordeal, Jason had no idea what he would do.  If she shattered just like they did, then in a way, they would have failed her.  If she came out still whole, still brimming with light, then what did that say about them?

 Marinette pulled her arm away, “I’ll show you, then you’ll be sorry” she told him bitterly.  With her backpack in hand and shoes on her feet, she pushed past him and walked out the door.  

 Jason remains staring at the open door, regretting how he had treated her. He grew fond of her during their time together as ‘Red Arse Bug’.  She had a cute face, cute voice and she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. “Stupid, stupid” he says to himself, facepalm at each syllable. Even with the now hostile relationship with Marinette, he knew he had to follow her. He had to stop her from making the same mistakes he did, so that she would not become like him. He put on his helmet and left to search for clues as to where Marinette would go and what she would do.

 Marinette wandered through Gotham city, unsure what to do now that she stormed out of the apartment she shared with Jason and Roy. She felt like everyone belittled her, Selena did, and now so did Jason. She needed to do something eye-catching, to prove to everyone that she didn’t need their help.

As she wanders past the Iceberg Lounge, she gets a spark of inspiration. If she could take down the Penguin single-handedly, nobody in Gotham would doubt her ever again. With unyielding determination she calls out “Spots On” and turns to Ladybug, ready to take on one of the cruelest crime lords in all of Gotham. Ladybug walks up to the front door and kicks it down, sending the door flying and knocking any unfortunate goons behind it. Penguin’s gang whipped out their guns, tire irons, pipes and anything that could count as a weapon and were now charging in to stop the intruder. 

 Marinette swings her yo-yo to wrap around one of the goon’s ankles, before swinging him around crashing him into several others. A guard points his rifle behind Ladybug, she spins around, sending her yo-yo towards the gun and pulling it from his hands. As the guards begin to group up together in an attempt to minimise the effectiveness of her yo-yo, Marinette looks up and begins to smirk. She flings her yo-yo upwards and hooks it onto a chandelier. She yanks it down, sending the chandelier crashing onto the unsuspecting guards. 

 Marinette dusts her hands and proceeds to walk through into the main hall. She proceeds to kick down that door too, she is then greeted by The Penguin surrounded by his gang. “I’m taking you down Cobblepot.” She shouts, swinging her yo-yo as if it was a lasso, preparing for a fight.

 The Penguin stands up from the seat of his large chair. “What are all you idiots waiting for?” He shouts all around him. He points his umbrella at Ladybug, and begins shooting his umbrella gun. “Get her!” The penguin roars, at this cue every gangster charges at Ladybug. 

 Marinette gracefully dodges and weaves around Penguin’s army, knocking each one out one by one. Until only The Penguin remains, she wraps her yo-yo around his umbrella, easily disarming one of Gotham’s most wanted. She walks towards The Penguin, slowly unravelling her yo-yo in anticipation of tying him up and sending him to Arkham Asylum. 

 The Penguin takes out a little remote control from his suit pocket, “It's not over yet.” he snarls and pushes a button. At that moment the entire building shakes.

“Born on a Monday” a voice groaned, followed by another loud thud. “Christened on a Tuesday.” the same voice groaned. Then a giant hand shoots up from beneath the floor, “SOLOMON GRUNDY” roared the giant as it emerged from the floor. 

 Red Hood and Arsenal had been watching the fight from a careful distance outside the Iceberg Lounge.  “Well, she’s managed to take on Penguins goons just fine,” Arsenal observed through the small pair of binoculars,  “she’s certainly had plenty of time to get very creative with that yo-yo”.

Red Hood’s hand was still itching to reach for one of his pistols, ready to jump in at the first sign of trouble. “By the way, how was your shawarma?” he asked sarcastically.

Arsenal looked over at him, raising an eyebrow “Hey, I’m not the one who said the one thing that just made her angrier, you were on your own there.”

“Nice to know you had my back.” he grumbled.

“Oh I do in a fight, you just decided to be an ass and poke the angry girl with a stick.” Arsenal pointed out.

Their banter was interrupted by an earth shattering thud, following a loud groan “Born on a Monday.” At that moment their blood ran cold. Red Hood and Arsenal rushed towards the Iceberg Lounge. Both worried for Ladybug and aware of what comes after that dreadful nursery rhyme. 

 “What are you two doing here? I can handle this.” growled Ladybug as Red Hood and Arsenal arrived. 

 Before either Red Hood or Arsenal could answer, they were interrupted by Solomon Grundy smashing the ground where Ladybug was standing. Ladybug gracefully dodged the punch, grappling onto a ceiling lamp to swing towards Grundy with a kick. 

 The giant grabbed Ladybug while she was mid-air and threw her towards her partners. Red Hood catches her, holding her tightly as the two fly across the room. He shields her from the shock, taking the brunt of the impact as they crash into the wall. 

 Red Hood groans “You okay?” Ladybug looks up to see she was relatively unharmed, but Red Hood had taken the brunt of the throw. Concern visible on her face as she sees Red Hood’s damaged helmet, and the bruised and bloodied face beneath.  

 Their quiet moment together was interrupted by Arsenal's cries for help. Every arrow he had in his quiver wasn’t making a dent in Solomon Grundy. Ladybug decides to cast Lucky Charm in desperation, and swings her yo-yo up. The ladybugs converge to form...a polka-dotted stick of dynamite. 

 “Arsenal!” She called. “Tie this to the end of an arrow, Red Hood and I will keep it busy.” She tosses the dynamite to Arsenal and tells Red Hood to tie Grundy down.

 Ladybug using her yo-yo grabs on to Solomon Grundy’s left arm while Red Hood uses his grappling hook to hold on to his right arm. Leaving Grundy exposed and immobile, giving Arsenal the opportunity for a clear unobstructed target. 

 Arsenal draws and aims the special Lucky Charm Explosive Arrow. The giant zombie growls “Arrow Boy no hurt Grundy.” 

 “Arrow Boy yes hurt Grundy” quipped Arsenal, before releasing the arrow causing a thunderous explosion into Solomon Grundy’s face. The giant slumps, Ladybug and Red Hood quickly release their hold and watch its body fall back into the hole in which it came from. 

 Solomon Grundy’s body lays motionless in the basement of the Iceberg Lounge as the three peer over the hole in the ground, “Let’s get outta here before the GCPD or worse, Batman arrive” Red Hood points to the front door, and the three of them leave the lounge to head back to their apartment.

As the three arrive home, they each find a nice comfortable spot to collapse onto. Jason claimed the sofa, slumped down Roy in the middle of the living room floor and Marinette sat at the dining table. “I vote for a week off.” groaned Roy.

“I second that motion” agreed Jason. 

“I still have design work to do.” Marinette told them, not really looking at either of them at that moment.  She was torn between appreciating their help, and frustrated that she hadn’t been able to handle the situation herself like she thought.

“Still that was one hell of a fight, and hey, you still managed to take on a squad of goons by yourself.”  Roy said, “I’m so proud” he said dramatically pretending to wipe away a happy tear. 

He nudged Jason in the leg, “um, yeah, good work” he said awkwardly, slightly lost in thought. Marinette smiled slightly, before turning her attention back to her little fairy friend perched on the table. 

“So does this mean Red Arse Bug is back together?” Roy asked enthusiastically, Marinette wasn’t really paying attention. 

The name still needed work, for one thing.  For once Marinette felt like her powers were being used in harmony with their abilities, but she wasn’t sure if it was a feeling that she should get used to.  Marinette could still vividly remember seeing Jason’s bruised and bloodied face beneath his helmet.  Jason stood up and walked over to the fridge, looking for ice to dull the swelling on his face.

“Not with that name,” Jason grumbled, not entirely sure if Marinette was willing to stay after their argument.  Someday, somehow, he would tell her the full story of what happened to him.  Right now, that was a whole Pandora’s Box that he just wasn’t prepared to open.  Nestled at the bottom of that box was hope, a hope that no one else would meet that same fate.

“...Lucky Shot?”  Marinette suggested as she carried Tikki over to the sofa and sat down.  Both Jason and Roy looked up, it made some sense, seeing as they both used projectiles and she had her lucky charms.  Jason tentatively made his way back to the sofa, ice pack in hand.

“Sounds better than ‘Red Arse Bug’.” Jason remarked, as he sat back down. 

“Well, let’s see if our little adventure made the news” Roy said, as he reached for the TV remote.  Jason tuned out Vicki Vale’s voice as she reported on the fight that took place at the Iceberg Lounge. 

As Roy slept at their feet, Jason knew if they were going to continue working together as a team, they couldn’t keep her in the dark any longer.  

“Hey Marinette.” Jason speaks softly. Marinette's ears perk in surprise, hearing speak her name for the first time. “I’m sorry, for what I said and how we treated you. You’re right.” He gestures to the sleeping Roy on the floor, “Both of us started out as sidekicks, we both grew up in the shadows of Batman and Green Arrow. Both old men with impossibly high standards, everything we did was never enough.”   Marinette listened intently as she shuffled closer to him on the sofa.  “We’ve both been to hell and back, Marinette. Literally in my case.” he explained, Marinette glanced down at Tikki for a moment, as if silently asking if her magic was somehow involved in this.  “But always remember, we have each other’s backs, just like The Three Musketeers.” Jason told her, Marinette giggles at his literary reference.

“Roy’s Porthos, you’re Aramis, I guess that makes me D’Artagnan.” Marinette chimes. Jason loved to see that hopeful smile on her face.  What scared him the most was the idea that something or someone would try and take that away from her.  They couldn’t keep treating her like glass, and they couldn’t keep treating her like a sidekick if they wanted to keep her from making their mistakes.  They were all going to fight like hell to make sure this world didn’t break her the way it broke them.  Marinette leaned in close and rested her head on his shoulder.  He felt her calm even breathing, fanning his neck as she slept peacefully at his side.

[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Chapter 6

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Thank you so much for all the notes and reblogs! As I’m writing this I’m currently writing chapter 14. As more chapters are being written, I try to make them longer. Before my target was around 1000 words then it progressed to 1700 and then to 2000 so newer chapters will be updated less frequently.

Alya shook her head. "That isn't what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to find out is who does she is love now?"

————————————————————

Marinette had been the one to collect the dinner despite Damian's constant requests to help. Despite her short size, Marinette managed to transport the food from the door to the dinning table in his hotel room, which Damian found surprising as she was way much stronger than she looked. Damian thanked her for bringing the food and sat in the chair directly in front of her so that it would be much easier to talk, after pushing her chair in for her.

"So, Shaytan" Marinette said while struggling to cut the vegetarian steak. "What did you want to ask?".

Damian smiled and got up to place his hands on hers, then he helped cut the steak before sitting back down. She giggled. "Earlier you asked what my reason for coming to Paris was. I shall fully answer that question now. My reason for coming was to gain more information about the alleged attacks happening here" Damian was slightly shocked at how Marinette's facial expressions changed from happy and bubbly to serious, though he didn't show it. This was a serious topic after all.

"Well first of all, the attacks are happening, they have been for over a year now." Damian's shock was plastered all over his face 'They've been dealing with this for over a year?' "Second of all" she took a piece of steak and swallowed it before continuing. "The Paris police force aren't dealing with this by themselves, there are superheroes here"

"Well Angel, who are they?"

"Well when the attacks first started a superhero duo was always there to defeat them. A girl called Ladybug and a boy called Chat Noir" she took another bite of steak. "But since the villains have gotten a lot stronger, they've expanded to a superhero team. On hero's day was one of the most biggest attacks and at the time, the superhero team was at five members. The other heroes were Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee." Damian was impressed at how much Marinette could say without needing to take breaths of air.

"And who is the one responsible for these attacks?"

"Hawkmoth" Marinette said taking yet another piece of steak. "When someone's negative emotions passes a certain limit, Hawkmkth uses an Akuma to akumatize that person, turning them into a villain with powers. If you're wondering, an akuma is a butterfly filled with Hawkmoth's power. I heard he can control them to go to a certain victim but if the akuma is far away, he can't control the villain or get in contact with the akuma." Marinette took another piece of steak, in her defense it was really good, for a vegetarian steak. "But recently there has been a new villain working on his side, Mayura. She creates something similar to an akuma but it's call an amok and it's in the shape of a feather. What the amok does is create a sentimonster. A sentimonster is fueled by emotions and can be controlled only by the person who holds the object with the amok inside"

"Yes that does make sense. So how many superheroes has there been in total and what are the ages of all of them, including Hawkmoth and Mayura?"

"I believe there have been ten different superheroes." She began listing them all out loud. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Queen Bee, Viperion, Pegasus, Ryuko, King Monkey and Multimouse. Yep ten but most of them have only appeared once. And they're all in between the ages of 14-16, I'd say. Hawkmoth and Mayura however are adults"

"So you're saying that two adults are putting the lives of a maximum of ten kids in danger" Marinette nodded. "But what is his motive?"

"I honestly have no idea" Marinette put bluntly while putting another piece of steak in her mouth. She then glanced at the time and realised she had to go home soon. She looked at the half eaten steak, she sighed "I have to go Damian I'm so sorry, I'm can tell you every thing I know through text if you want me to,"

"No it's fine, you go home and home a good sleep. We can talk tomorrow" Damian was surprised when Marinette hugged him before leaving. Of course, he hugged her back.

A few hours after Marinette left, Damian opened the computer to a shared document, surprisingly, Tim was on it at the time. The system showed that Tim was typing something.

Tim: Wow, no rest for Demon Spawn eh?

Damian rolled his eyes at his older brother's comment. He dragged his mouse down the document, searching for a certain column labeled 'current situation'. There he could give a general idea of how bad it was here at Paris. Marinette and told him so much already but his gut told him that she had more to tell. Though he didn't like the thought of becoming soft, he didn't mind being that soft around Mari. 'Everyone else? Hell no'. He quickly found the column he was looking for. He then selected an option out of the possible five, 'critical'. This meant that Paris was in serious danger. He knew that Tim was watching, probably drowning himself in coffee, but the dark-haired boy was surprised when Tim didn't sent a message straight away. As the three dots appeared, indicating that Tim had begun to type, Damian signed off. He liked it when he seemed mysterious.

Then Damian remembered that Marinette never got to finish her steak. Not wanting to waste it, he decided to have it as a midnight snack.

~~~

"Oh Tikki! I had an amazing time with Damian" the bluenette gushed to her kwami.

"You seemed very happy in his company Marinette!" Tikki squeaked. "But how will you be able to move on after he's gone back to Gotham?"

Marinette frowned. "Well, I'll worry about that when the time comes". She then thought about all the fun she had at the dark-haired boy's hotel room then the thought about how he made her blush like mad. Again the moment made her blush again, just not as much as earlier. Then the thought hit her. "Tikki, when I put Damian's head on my lap, do you think he thought it meant something else?"

"You let him rest his head in you're lap? Wow I never saw that!" Marinette went red again, this time she didn't have Damian's shoulder to hide herself. 'I guess that's my new coping mechanism, but I'm not complaining. He's also really hot when he smirks- gAH'

~~~

It was 4 pm. Tim wasn't really tired, he was just a caffeine addict, this was his fifth cup in the span of a single hour. If Damian was here, he would likely look at him with judging eyes. 'But he isn't here so hah, take that Demon Spawn'. Just when he said that in his mind, a message arrived saying that Damian was online.

"Speak of the devil" Tim muttered, taking another sip of coffee. He decided to write him a message.

Tim: Wow, no rest for Demon Spawn eh?

Though he wasn't really expecting him to reply, he didn't expect Damian to do what he did next. Tim watched as Damian changed the situation column for 'No Information' to 'Critical'. "What the-" Tim saw that Dick was in the room. "Dick could you pull up a live feed from Paris?"

"Aight"

The TV showed a peaceful and quiet Paris, not like the one you would expect if it were labeled under 'critical'. Tim was so confused he began to type a message but noticed that Damian had signed off. Dick, seeing Tim's confused nature, came over to look at the computer. "What was he referring to? What the hell is going on?"

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