#lila rossi takedown

[seekinghelp-adhd]

New "Stuck in the Past" chapter is out now!

This is my longest chapter yet, coming in at just over 4000 words! Not quite long enough to split into two parts, which is good because I'm tired of doing two part chapters. WE'RE BACK, BABY!!!

[wheredostarsgowhenyoudie]

Once upon a takedown...

LB: Do you know how much anger I'm feeling for you right now? It's enough to cataclysm the sun and it still wouldn't be enough.

Gabriel: I-

LB: Oh, and your little lying bitch of a minion, Lila Rossi, remember her? I had some miraculous team members aid the police to deal with her.

Gabriel: I am Gabriel Agreste. I have money enough to sway the-

LB: Not when the evidence is glaringly clear and delivered to their doorsteps, courtesy of the Justice League. And oh, would you look at that? I actually have a meeting with the Bats this afternoon, so we'll have to finish this real quick.

Gabriel: Adrien will-

LB: You mean the sweet, honest, kind, sincere, handsome and charming blonde model with a good heart so different from yours who just happens to be my boyfriend, right? Yes, Chat Noir took him to a safe place. Speaking of my loyal partner, Chat and the Plagg are busy working to cure your wife, something that you would know is possible without causing world destruction if you actually had the guts and sincerity to ask, but no, your big idea is to terrorize Paris. So this is it. Checkmate Monarch.

[angelofthequeers]

Free to Be You and Me: chapter 30

Chapter 29 | Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Shameless self-plagiarism of past work because I’m too lazy to think of anything original for Lilakuma? Check.

“Alya?” Ladybug bellows, dodging strand after strand of webbing. “What the hell did you do?”

“Just…called out Lila for lying about being Adrien’s girlfriend?” Alya grins sheepishly, clinging to Ladybug’s neck. Ladybug stumbles and almost trips over a crack in the sidewalk.

“What?” she screeches.

“Oh. Yeah. Lila claimed she was Adrien’s girlfriend at lunch today, tried to pass off the whole kissing thing, so the girls and I…exposed her for lying?”

“Alya!”

“What? You’d have approved if you were there! I didn’t call her names or anything! The girls and I just calmly laid it out and –”

“Alya Césaire!” howls Aracnide. She bounds from rooftop to rooftop in hot pursuit, tiles and bricks cracking under her weight. “I’m going to crush you for what you did! Then I’ll go back for the other girls and make an example of them in front of everyone!”

“And she didn’t take it so well!” Alya continues. “I mean, who would? But hey, at least it’s only the whole cafeteria that heard, and not the entire internet! I didn’t film it or anything! Aren’t you proud of me?”

“You just made Lila go nuclear!” Ladybug shrieks. Alya shrugs, still grinning sheepishly.

“Oops?”

Something explodes behind them. Ladybug swings up to the nearest rooftop, springs off it to the next street, and looks around frantically, trying to find somewhere – anywhere – to hide Alya from Aracnide. Her eyes land on a subway entrance and her body springs into action, bolting for cover, and she makes it just in time to avoid the webbing that splatters all over the stairs, sealing off the exit.

“Okay,” Ladybug pants, setting Alya down on her feet. “Okay. Go transform. I’ll…go die or something.”

“Please don’t,” Alya says. “Adrien would be devastated.”

Props to Lila for continuing the theme of complete non-originality and pinching from others, since this isn’t the first spider akuma that Ladybug’s had to deal with. But where Anansi had been brute strength and commanded respect, Aracnide is slippery and wily, using her webs to avoid Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Foxglove’s attacks and trapping civilians as she goes to force them to slow down and avoid hurting innocent people.

“Typical Lila,” Ladybug mutters as they leap past a teenage girl shrieking about webs in her hair. They’d learned the hard way that trying to rescue people only ends in sticky tears for everyone involved, so it’s better for them to push on and try to stop Aracnide herself in order to save everyone else. “Getting other people hurt with her crap.”

“Far cry from earlier,” Foxglove says. Ladybug narrows her eyes at her best friend.

“Thanks,” she says dryly. “Ugh, I just don’t know how we’re going to get close to Aracnide. Shellter might get us up to her but then we’d have to deal with her webs, and I don’t have an Arc de Triomphe to drop on her head. And Venom won’t work if we can’t touch her.”

“Lucky Charm?” Chat Noir says. Ladybug shrugs.

“Why not? I’m all out of ideas. Lucky Charm!”

A spotted unicorn plushie falls into her hands. Apart from the ladybug pattern, it’s identical to Rose’s plushie – the one that she’d given Alix as part of the bet over whether Marinette would deliver the beret – and Ladybug’s eyes widen. Of course! What better way to catch Aracnide off-guard?

“I know what to do!” she says. “Chat, Foxy, buy me some time!”

“Anything, milady!” Chat Noir brandishes his staff and leaps forward. “Hey! Anansi knock-off!”

Ladybug takes advantage of Aracnide’s howls of rage to slip away, recharge, then head back to the school. People are still huddled together in fear, covered in webbing from head to toe, and when Ladybug makes it to her classroom, it’s to find the door webbed tightly shut.

“Hello?” Ladybug calls. “Anyone in there?”

A cacophony of voices answers her.

“We’re okay, dude!” Nino calls. “What about Alya? Did Aracnide get her?”

“No, Alya’s safe. Very safe. As safe as she can be. I just need to –” Ladybug kicks at the webbing, only to get her foot stuck. She yelps and almost topples over with her foot trapped at chest level. “Gah! Disgusting!”

“You might be able to get in through the window!” Ms Bustier says as Ladybug yanks herself free. “Aracnide didn’t web it up!”

“Probably because none of us have the superpowers to survive the drop,” Alix says dryly.

“Okay! Hold on!”

Ladybug circles back to the classroom from the courtyard, this time dangling outside the window. Her classmates cheer when they catch sight of her, and Ivan rushes to smash the window after Kim tries and fails to push it open.

“Overkill, man,” Kim says. Ivan shrugs.

“Do you wanna get out of here or not?”

“One at a time!” Ladybug says. Ivan immediately picks up Mylène and hands her to Ladybug to lower to the ground. One by one, she rescues her classmates and Ms Bustier, until the only person left is Chloé.

“Come on!” Ladybug holds her hand out. Chloé just sniffs and turns away. “I so don’t have time for this. Fine, stay here!”

“Wait!” Chloé says when Ladybug starts to descend. “Ugh, fine! Only because Sabrina and my half of a sister would be lost without me!” She’s grumpy the whole way down to the ground, and she jumps away and brushes down her clothes the minute her feet touch earth, but she’s not enraged or actively trying to harm anyone like she’d been just a few weeks ago, so Ladybug counts that as a win.

“My Lucky Charm told me that I needed to save you all,” Ladybug says. “Find somewhere safe to hide! Aracnide will be furious once she realises you’re free.”

Before Rose can head off with Juleka, Ladybug grabs her by the arm and pulls her aside. Rose follows curiously.

“Rose, I need your help,” Ladybug says once they’re behind a bush. Rose blinks and points at herself.

“M-Me?”

“Yes, you.” Ladybug swipes open her yo-yo and pulls out a little pink anklet, then presents it to Rose. “Rose Lavillant, here is the Miraculous of the Pig, which grants you the power of jubilation. You will use it for the greater good, then return it to me when the mission’s complete.”

“Why me?” Rose says. “I’m the last person you’d imagine to be a superhero! I’m too happy and bubbly and small!”

“Not quite,” Ladybug says. “Anyone can be a superhero, no matter how big or small they are. Polymouse proved that when I needed her help to defeat Malediktator and his sentimonster. You’ve already proven yourself with your plan to non-violently expose Lila. And your happiness is exactly why I need your help.”

“How?”

“Aracnide’s too slippery. We can’t get close to her. Foxglove could Mirage, but we don’t know what to show Aracnide to lower her guard, and the last thing we want is for her to get mad or break the Mirage. Even Vesperia wouldn’t be able to get close enough to Venom her.”

“So how can I help?” Rose says. Ladybug winks at her.

“You’re exactly the kind of happy, bubbly person I need to catch Aracnide off-guard. Your power will show just what we need to know.”

Rose hesitates. Then she reaches out and accepts the anklet, which glows bright pink as Daizzi materialises. Rose gasps and coos once Daizzi is fully formed.

“Wow! You’re so cute!” Rose and Daizzi cry together. Ladybug can’t help but grin. Watching someone meet their kwami for the first time will never get old.

“What’s your name?” Rose adds.

“My name’s Daizzi, and I’m your kwami!” Daizzi says.

“You just have to say one thing,” Ladybug says. “Daizzi, rejoice!”

“Daizzi, rejoice!”

Rose’s outfit is dainty and pink and skirts and…honestly, her to a tee. Ladybug gives her a few moments to squeal and admire herself before getting them back on track.

“Let’s go,” Ladybug says. “I’ll explain your power on the way, uh…?”

“Pigella!” Rose says after a moment.

“Pigella! Let’s go!”

The way back is even worse than before. Ladybug forces herself to ignore the people crying out for help, begging her to save them, wailing for things she can’t give…even Pigella looks noticeably down by the time they make it back to where Aracnide’s currently set up shop.

“About time!” Chat Noir says when they land next to him.

“I hate everything about this,” mutters a web-covered Foxglove. “Chat had to Cataclysm me free but noooo, he couldn’t get rid of all the web, could he?”

“How about you handle the cosmic power of destruction contained in the palm of your hand right next to a living human being?” Chat Noir retorts.

“Okay, cut it out,” Ladybug says before she can develop a Foxnoir-shaped headache. “I’ve got Pigella here to help. She can show Aracnide her heart’s greatest desire.”

“How is that any different to Mirage?” Chat Noir says.

“Because I don’t know what to show her,” Foxglove says. “Duh. If Pigella can distract her with that, I can Mirage more of it to keep her fully off-balance. I know exactly what you’re doing,” she adds without even looking over her shoulder at Chat Noir, who’s mimicking her with exaggerated hand motions. Ladybug forces herself to bite back a grin at the sight. It’s exactly what she’d done to Chat Noir during his first time meeting her as Marinette, after all.

“Everyone ready?” Ladybug says. When her teammates nod, she says, “Lucky Charm!” and receives a bottle of cooking oil for her trouble.

“You know,” Foxglove says, “one of these days, I’m going to have to ask Tikki what exactly goes through her mind.”

“Actually, this is one of the more straightforward ones.” Ladybug uncaps the bottle of oil. “Oil’s slippery. Aracnide’s sticky. It’s just what Chat needs so he doesn’t get stuck on the web. Ready, kitty?”

“I hate everything about this,” Chat Noir says as he allows Ladybug to coat his gloved hands and the soles of his boots with oil. “Especially the fact that I have to do the dirty work.”

“Tough luck, princess,” Foxglove sings. Chat Noir shoots her a dirty look in response.

“Ready, Pigella?” he sighs. Pigella nods and clambers onto his back, allowing him to transport her up the webbed street and buildings without getting stuck. Ladybug swings herself and Foxglove up to one of the unscathed rooftops to wait for their turn.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I caused this mess,” Foxglove says after a moment. “I just…got so angry at Lila lying about something like that. And that was only from seeing the picture and hearing the recording. You were actually there to deal with the fallout with Adrien.”

“Maybe this was inevitable,” Ladybug says. “Lila was bound to shoot herself in the foot one day with this plan. At least this is something people can genuinely call her cruel for, rather than just telling a bunch of lies. You heard Mylène at the sleepover: if it was just that, people would be more inclined to forgive her.”

“And at least she gets a charm now,” Foxglove agrees. “That takes her out as a threat. She can’t “lose” them too many times before people get suspicious.” She pauses. “Do you think she would? Is she that malicious that she’d work with Shadowmoth?”

“I have no idea. And I don’t even want to consider that. Right now, I just want to make sure Chat Noir doesn’t get caught.”

In the distance, a voice cries, “Gift!” There’s an explosion of pink light and then, in the sky for everyone to see, appears Lila. She’s dressed in clearly expensive clothes, smiling smugly, while Adrien clings to her arm with a sickly-sweet look of adoration and everyone around her fawns over her. In the corner of the image is Marinette, looking like an absolute mess, exaggeratedly crying as she looks on.

“Seriously?” Ladybug says. “I was ready to give her even the tiniest benefit of the doubt but no, her deepest desire is literally to use everyone else like puppets while I suffer for calling her out.”

“I guess some people are just…like that,” Foxglove says slowly. Ladybug sighs.

“Yeah. You’re up.”

With a short tune and a, “Mirage!” Foxglove replaces the streets and skies around them and Aracnide with a larger version of Pigella’s Gift. This one, though, moves and has sound, and although the illusions are clearly robotic as they sing Lila’s praises, it works: Aracnide remains still, swaying in the middle of her web, her eight wide eyes fixed on the scene before her.

“I feel dirty just doing this,” Foxglove says. Her Mirage wavers.

“Focus!” Ladybug hisses. Foxglove takes a deep breath and the illusion steadies.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “You know I have to go hard to make it believable.”

Ladybug inhales and steels herself. “I know. Just do it. Chat needs time to find the akuma.”

Foxglove closes her eyes, raises her flute to her lips, and starts to speak.

“I’m so sorry, Lila!” illusion Marinette wails. “Please forgive me! I’ll do anything you ask!”

“You had your chance!” illusion Alya scoffs. “This is what you get for bullying Lila!”

“Poor, disabled, innocent Lila!” illusion Alix says. “How could you, Marinette?”

“We thought you were nice!” illusion Rose says. “Our everyday Ladybug!”

“Pettynette!” Illusion Kim’s eyes light up. “That’s her new name!”

“Ooh, I love it!” illusion Lila coos. Aracnide continues to sway, transfixed by the sight in front of her. It’s a mirage, it’s not real…but Ladybug’s stomach still fills with stones at the scene unfolding in front of her.

Imagine how Alya feels, says a small voice. She has to say it all.

“How could anyone like Pettynette?” illusion Adrien grins. “She’s so nasty! I can’t believe she thought I’d ever like her! Who needs her or Ladybug?”

Ladybug sniffles and looks away. Next to her, Foxglove is too focused on maintaining the illusion to notice.

“Hey!” Illusion Mylène holds up a notebook. “Let’s tear up her sketchbook! That’ll show her!”

The illusion classmates cheer and descend on illusion Marinette. Right before the scene can continue any further, Aracnide is encased in a dark purple mass and vanishes, and Foxglove immediately cuts the Mirage and sinks to her knees with a sob.

“Hey. Foxy. Alya.” Ladybug kneels next to her and grabs her shoulders, not even caring that she’s still covered in traces of web. “You did great. You kept her busy. And now she can’t hide behind being an akuma. She has to deal with reality.”

“I’m sorry,” Foxglove cries. “I’m so sorry, Marinette. I didn’t mean any of it –”

“Shh. I know.” Ladybug pulls Foxglove in for a tight hug, cradling her, brushing her braids out of the way so that they don’t get caught. “You did amazing. How did you even know what to say?”

Foxglove sniffs. “I – I just imagined what Lila would want to hear. Everything that’s the exact opposite of how everyone feels about you. How I feel about you.”

“I don’t mean to sound insensitive,” Chat Noir says as he and Pigella land next to them, a scowling Lila in Pigella’s arms, “especially since Marinette’s amazing and all, but unless someone takes care of that akuma, we’re gonna have a million Aracnides to deal with. And I don’t think Foxglove’s ready to do a million Mirages.”

Ladybug squeezes Foxglove. “I’ll be right back,” she says, pulling herself free of the webbing still on Foxglove. She makes short work of capturing the akuma and fixing the damage done by Aracnide with her Miraculous Ladybug before returning to the rooftop, where she produces a burnt orange charm from her yo-yo.

“I don’t want anything from you,” Lila sneers, now on her feet. Ladybug narrows her eyes and presses it into her palm.

“You will take that charm,” Ladybug says as she kneels back next to Foxglove, who’s now free of webbing. “You’ll never let Shadowmoth akumatise you again. And you won’t lose it, or everyone might just wonder what you have to gain from being akumatised again.”

Lila bares her teeth in a vicious snarl. But no one is affected, so instead she stamps her foot and demands, “Someone get me down already!”

“There.” Chat Noir extends his staff to the ground as a makeshift fireman’s pole. “Slide down. Have fun, fake Fox.”

Lila shoots them one last venomous glare, then slides down the staff. As soon as she’s on the ground, Chat Noir retracts it, grimacing, and wipes it on his suit.

“Chat,” Ladybug says over Foxglove’s shoulder as her best friend shakes against her. “I trust you. Get Pigella’s Miraculous and take her back to the school. I’ll grab it from you later.”

Chat Noir nods without a trace of humour and then leaps away. Pigella stays long enough to pat Foxglove on the head before waving at Ladybug and following Chat Noir. Ladybug and Foxglove are left alone on the rooftop, Foxglove sobbing into Ladybug’s shoulder, their beeping Miraculouses going ignored until they’re encased in pink and orange light and their transformations drop.

“You were awesome, Alya,” Marinette soothes, running her fingers through Alya’s soft hair, kissing the top of her head. “I’d never have been able to do any of this without you.”

“You did so well!” Tikki agrees, nestling on Alya’s head. Trixx just floats down to hover next to them.

“Looks like you’ve found the dark side of being a Fox, little kit,” they say solemnly. “But you did amazing. I’m so proud to have you as my holder.”

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette/Marichat Social Media AU on Twitter

So, I spent my evening reading this social media AU by agnes_writes, and it was bloody brilliant. XD

Here’s the link again: 

https://twitter.com/agnesduartes/status/1414929474135597058

It automatically scrolls down to post 150 for some reason, so scroll all the way back up to post 1 and enjoy.

It was very fun and chaotic. I love the classmates and the drama. And the effort that went into making this...I just...good job.

[coffeebanana]

Chat felt the point of Farfalla’s blade dig into the flesh on the back of his neck. He had a split second to wonder if Miraculous Ladybug would still bring him back if he died at the hand of Farfalla’s blade, before he saw a black blur flying through the air from the side.

----

Ladynoir July, Future AU fic, Day 26: Reveal

[tired-college-student-writing]

#WaynesAngel

The Maribat AU by @ozmav and @maribat-archive is all I can think about atm, so enjoy more of this

Summary- After Grayson posts a video on the wrong twitter, Damian feels like he should lose his social media privileges, and possibly his hand.

Part 1

Part 4

Part 5 (HERE)

This was a impusle write as I was trapped in a car for over 50 hours in three days. Please do not ask for another chapter. 

_________________________________________

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why is it weird that I’ve never met a Bat before? It’s not like Damian or the Waynes have ever seen Ladybug or Chat Noir or the Miraculous Team in Paris, and they’ve been in Paris a lot more than I’ve been in Gotham #confusion #AMERICAEXPLAIN

Jason Todd Lives @BestTodd

@FashionInGotham Whomst the Fuck is Ladybug and Chat Noir?? Also, Miraculous Team Sounds like some magical girl anime Cass watches

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd 🖕🏼

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve They’re the Paris superheroes, they showed up almost five years ago to fight the little bitch of a villain, Hawkmoth and his stupid peacock assistant, Mayra.

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham WHAT?! Paris has heroes??

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham @AFlyingGrayson Oh yeah, I forgot that the mayor was trying to keep it a secret from the rest of the world #MyB But yeah Ladybug and Chat Noir have been there the longest but there’s also Abeille, Viperion, Ryuko, Pegasus, King Monkey, Bunnyx, and Badulf

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her friend as she saw the tweet thread that was quickly going viral, “You realize my dad is going to flip about this.”

“He deserves it,” Adrian pipped up from where he was painstakingly painting Kagami’s nails a deep burgundy.

The other teen heroes hummed in agreement as Chloe huffed.

“Well Yeah, but I was hoping to do it with a little extra flair than a twitter thread.”

Alix snorted as she finished up Kim’s banana yellow toes, drawing a crude smiley face on his big toe with bright blue, “She’s dating the youngest kid of the most influential family in the world and has like 100 million followers. Plus she called Hawkmoth a little bitch and it already has 90k likes. I call that flair.”

It was a surprise when Nathanial had had his freak out during his second battle,  against a Crimson Peacock event no less, and had called her Lady Marinette in front of the other temporary heroes, but had lead to many nights like the one they were having now. Onesies of each other’s heroes’ identities donned as they lounged around Chloe’s room, simply enjoying each other’s company after a long patrol. Chloe and Adrian had demanded they have a spa night, which is why everyone was either giving or receiving mani-pedis while they waited for their face masks to finish. It was nice, to have so much support outside of the masks, especially as they entered their final year in Lychee.  

Marinette rolled her eyes, “It’s only 98 million, Alix, and plus I figured four months after I made this account was long enough to make the slip up seem genuine. We need to catch Hawkmoth soon, or else this entire mess will get a lot more complex.”

They all frowned as they realized the truth behind her words. They were all facing hard decisions if they couldn’t pin the man down, not like they hadn’t already sacrificed so much to continue the battle. Max had already turned down graduating early and a full ride to MIT, citing his desire to graduate with his friends before moving across the globe. Luka had been invited to tour with Jagged, only to politely decline, telling the pouting rockstar that he wanted to do some soul finding first. Kim had given up a summer training camp with the French Olympic team. Alix had given up going on an expedition with her dad and brother, missing out on the chance to explore the dunes of Egypt. Marinette had turned down three internships at this point, one from Audrey Bourgeois, One from Raven Baxter, and lastly and most devastatingly, one from Edna Mode.

They needed to end this, before the overwhelming feeling of their futures slipping right between their fingers got them akumatized.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

Seeing the demon spawn panic when he realized @FasionInGotham isn’t any safer from maniacs in Paris then she is in Gotham is strangely endearing and vaguely terrifying #whyismyfamilylikethis

Duke of Hazard @DoneWithTheRich

@TJDrake Like you and Barb aren’t frantically searching for anything you can find on the Miraculous Team and these weird-ass butterfly dude.

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich Bugout.com, It’s in French but informative.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve How did you find this before Barbs and me????

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve @TJDrake Alfred.

The news swept up the story in an instant and suddenly the whole world was demanding to know what the Parisian Mayor had been thinking and why the Justice League hadn’t been involved.

It wasn’t long until the entire Miraculous Team was seated in front of the Louvre. Countless new agencies from around the world were present, eager to hear the story of the sickeningly young-looking heroes, but the one video that received the most views was the shaky camera videos that were uploaded to Marinette’s Twitter, as they shortened the two-hour-long Press conference into manageable clips that highlighted the most important points.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

Full Lineup, Damn. Haven’t seen that since the last time we had a Scarlet Moth incident. For those who need context, this is like seeing the entire founding Justice League together to us Parisians.

The clip attached showed A panning shot as they introduced all of the heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in the center of the long table flanked by Vipirion, plucking his lyre absentmindedly, Abeille, glaring down her nose at the reporters, a beaming King Monkey waving excitedly, and an eerie serious Bunnyx sitting as still as a statue to their right, on their left was fierce-looking Ryuko looking ready to slice anyone who got too close, the calculating Pegasus, mumbling under his breath, and lastly the timid Badulf, struggling to keep his red bangs out of his eyes.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

LMAO RYUKO #DRAGONQUEENSLAY

Don’t question Paris’ Heroes like that, they’re feisty.

The clip showed a British reporter demanding to know why the heroes hadn’t contacted the Justice League previously to gain their assistance in taking down the dangerous threat that was Hawkmoth.

You could Ladybug’s eye twitch at the condescending question, but before she could answer Ryuko leaned forward to the mic situated in front of her with a glint in her eyes.

“I apologize for my English,” She started, “I am not as versed in the language as some of my teammates. To answer your question on why we haven’t had the League’s help is because Green Lantern is a fuck.”

Silence filled the gathering before Chat, King Money and Bunnyx burst into giggles, the rest of the heroes struggling to keep a straight face. The media was staring at them dumbfounded until Ladybug finally leaned forward.

“I’m sorry for the outburst,” She started, lips still trying to twitch upwards, “But as Ryuko said we did ask for help. About five months into our heroship Chat and I received an answer from the League after trying for three months to contact them. The ‘help’ came in the form of Green Lantern coming and assessing the situation. Unfortunately for us, Hawkmoth is smart and when the neon green monstrosity of a hero flew in he laid low instead of attacking when a Leaguer was present. Without an attack and no physical damage present as one of my powers allows me to restore all damage done to Paris or its citizens, He decided we were powered children that were trying to get in the spotlight.”

“Getting lectured on wasting the League’s time and resources before he flew off really put a damper on us asking again,” Chat added in, toxic green eyes narrowed and laser-focused on the reporter, “So we handled it ourselves, gaining our own allies as we needed them. But please continue telling us how the League could have helped sooner if only we had asked for help.”

Clip after clip, ten of them total were uploaded into the thread. Explaining the worst battle the heroes had ever faced, the strength of their enemy, what the villain and his assistance could and would do, the worst attacks, the easiest wins, the ways that Ladybug and Chat chose their allies, but the last two clips seemed to get the largest reaction out of the audience, both at the press conference and the internet.

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Not gonna lie, seeing my tormentors get put on blast by all of the Heroes is very vindictive #IsthatMean? #MaybeSo

“You’ve seemed to have shifted your support away from one local blog, to another over any official news agency,” One of the nicer reporters at the events said, “Is there a particular reason? And why the sudden shift two years ago?”

Chat’s face was strangely pinched, “Oh you mean why we switched from giving exclusives to the LadyBlog to BugOut? It’s quite simple. We go to the news sources we trust to take the information we are willing to give without worrying about ratings as their top priority. We tried going to Nadja Chamack at first, the local news anchor that we all hold a great deal of respect for, but the producers threatened her to get a ‘highly-rated’ interview. It led to her asking questions Ladybug and I thought were counterproductive to the reason we were invited to the interview and was trying to turn us into celebrities instead of allowing us to do the jobs we needed to. It was a similar reason we stopped going to Alya Cesaire, the Ladyblog editor.”

Ladybug took over here, “Miss Cesaire has the ability to be a very good journalist, but as her blog grew in popularity, so did her need for highly viewed content, this caused her to not only start posting more rumors and speculation than anything we’ve ever said but also to stop fact-checking with us things she heard. Even after talking to her about removing the content that was blatantly untrue and was told no due to the high ratings it had received we realized that we simply couldn’t work with her anymore.”

Abeille piped up in a low regal voice that was dripping with venom, “It really didn’t help that when we started interviewing with Aurora Beaureal from BugOut, shortly after my introduction, Miss Cesaire began a smear campaign against her, claiming she was faking her sources and videos publicly on her blog. Luckily we were able to shut that down quickly enough but it didn’t stop Miss. Cesaire from running into battle to distract us, and frankly, harass us for answers even after we told her no. It’s lead to more than one incident where she, other civilians, and even ourselves have been hurt.”

“Either way,” Chat took over again, “We want to support local news sources but only when they are willing to listen to our boundaries and work with us instead of trying to push issues.”

“Does that mean that info we found on the Ladyblog is not to be believed?” Another reporter called out.

“I would take anything after the first post about Lila Rossi with a grain of salt,” Ladybug said, only for King Monkey to snort and lean towards the mic.

“Yeah and if Lila Rossi is mentioned at all in the post just assume everything in that post is fake. Miss. Rossi is a known liar and problem for us.”

“Can you give us an example?”

Ladybug sighed before explaining, “The first time I heard of Miss. Rossi was an interview on the Ladyblog of her claiming to be my best friend. Now I very much value the secrecy I and my team have created for ourselves because it protects our friends and families, but even a lie about knowing me in such a public setting is dangerous because Hawkmoth and Mayra have proven that they aren’t above underhanded tactics to try and get the upper hand in our fights. I went looking for the girl to explain why she can’t say such things for her own safety, only to find her telling a boy that she possessed the Fox Miraculous in a public park. I will admit I called her out in a way that wasn’t very nice but either claim was enough to put her in danger, but both were painting a target on her back and it scared me that someone would do something to impress a boy. After that, she was akumatized for the first time and since then it has gotten even worse despite me apologizing the second I cured the Akuma. Some of her lies are enough to count as Slander if any of the celebrities she lied about knowing saw the posts, but no amount of persuasion seems to get her to stop.”  

Wayne’s Angel @FasioninGotham

Watching their powers without the looming threat of an Akuma/Amok is a blessing. They look so cool! #Love #Miraculous

The clip started with the heroes standing in front of the table, grouped differently than before. Off to one side King Monkey, Viperion and Bunnyx stood, Viperion holding a microphone.

“While we would love to an demonstrate our powers as requested,” He explained, “Our powers are not really good for demonstrations. Mine is known as Second Chance.”

He raised his hand and pulled the slider across his bracelet as he named it, a flash of pale teal light admitting from it, “When activated like I just did, it allows me to return to the point of activation at any time before I detransform in fifteen minutes as many times as I wish with only myself remembering the previous changes I have made.”

Without even acknowledging the startled whispers from the crowd, he handed the microphone to King Monkey, who offered a cheeky smile.

“So my power is called Uproar. It allows me to create a toy-like object that when it comes into contact with someone causes all of their abilities to malfunction.”

He goes to pull his staff from where it was strapped to his back only for Vipirion to stop him. A silent exchange passed between the pair before the taller hero nodded and handed the microphone off to Bunnyx.

“Viperion and I have a similar reason for our powers being hard to show off, only his is a little more versatile,” She started in a voice devoid of any emotion, swinging her pocket watch slightly, “I have the power Burrow. It allows me, and anyone I chose to take with me, access to a pocket dimension where I can travel to any point in time or space that I chose, past, present, or future. While you might see me fight during any battle I can make it to, my power is a last-ditch effort, as I would have to travel back in time to change the past if I do this assume the future is unsavable.”

The hush that falls over the crowd was quickly broken by Ryuko tapping her group’s microphone to draw attention to the opposite side of the stage where she stood with Abeille, Badulf, Pegasus, Chat, and Ladybug.

“I believe it’s best to not dwell on any one of our powers,” She told them, “Our powers are scary and knowing that they can be taken from us at any time and used for nefarious purposes keep all of us up at night, but we ask you to trust us to use them only for good.”

She waited a moment for the crowd o calm down before giving her own explanation, “My ability is known as the Three Dragons, the Water Dragon, the Wind Dragon, and the Lightning Dragon.”

She handed off the microphone to Pegasus, before calling forth the Wind Dragon and bursting into a group of clouds that swiftly blew around the stage before traveling over to the Louvre Pyramid and watching as the heroine reformed at the top, offering a small wave before the call for Water Dragon could be heard and a large dome of water formed over the entire courtyard.

Before she could call for her last form the snake hero grabbed the microphone, “Lightning Dragon is a bad idea, Ryuko.”

The heroine didn’t even question him, instead, vaulting off of the pyramid, the crowed gasped only for her to effortlessly land next to Bunnyx in a crouch, brushing herself off as she rose and turned her gaze to the horse miraculous user, who quickly explained his power before calling forth Voyage.

His cry caused blue light to circle his arm and he sent it towards the top of the still-present water dome, with a controlled flick of his arm.

The heroes didn’t even blink as the crowd filled with cries as the Eiffel Tower fell through the portal, Ladybug’s yoyo whipping out to direct it’s decent, the entire courtyard shaking as the 10k ton structure landed.  

“I’m up next!” Chat called out with a large grin, while the reporters didn’t seem to know if they should pay attention to the moved monument or the hero. His explanation was short since they were many videos of him using it but that didn’t stop the international reporters from screaming as Cataclysm swirled around his hand eating away at the Eiffel Tower, leaving a pile of rust in the crater

“Is-Is this much property damage necessary?”

Abeille shrugged, “No, but once we get to Ladybug, it’ll make more sense. Either way my turn.”

An unpleasant chill went up the world’s spine as she demonstrated how she could freeze all voluntary movement of her target on Chat Noir, who was still as a statue the second her stinger touched him.

Ladybug quickly took the mic and began explaining her powers. The world watched in amazement at her pulling a red and black spotted camera from thin air before she launched it into the air with a cheer of “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Suddenly a glowing swarm of ladybugs formed and tore through the air, covering Chat Noir, releasing from Venom, before healing the crater and rust from nearby, dissolving the water dome in the same instance.

If there hadn’t been so many people present the world wouldn’t have believed that so much damage was just repaired in the span of ten seconds, but staring at the unimpressed Parisians around them the world finally seemed to grasp the reality of the situation.

These children were past what one would even expect from metas, from aliens and superhumans like they had seen around the world already. These were heroes that were harnessing the very forces that made up the universe and fighting them at the same time. Bunnyx wasn’t exaggerating when she mentioned that sometimes there would be apocalyptic endings to their fights.

Instead of letting the knowledge stew Badulf step forwarded, twisting the microphone as he explained his power of illusions for the reporters.

With a short tune on his flute suddenly the group of heroes was gone, All that remained was a Sign thanking them all for coming.  Even after the illusion faded the heroes were nowhere to be found, having used the final demonstration as the perfect cover to sneak away so that no one could follow them.  

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

I must say I was not expecting such an outpour of love for all of Our heroes but damn am I pleased by it. Ladybug is our big name but the others are honestly way underloved in Paris, especially Chat who’s been there since the beginning. #MiraculousTeam

Quick Poll Who’s your favorite, everyone? Mine’s Chat Noir

Ryuko (19%)

Abeille (12%)

Ladybug (14%)

Bunnyx (8%)

Viperion (12%)

Chat Noir (15%)

Pegasus (5%)

King Monkey (5%)

Badulf (10%)

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham I like Badulf, he’s the newest correct?

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @CainYouBelieve Yup! He’s only been around for four months, but he’s a pretty great fox!

Tim Drake Official @TJDrake

Fun Fact: I just heard Alfred swear for the first time while watching the press conference and it was to call Hawkmoth and Mayra an arsehole FLOB and his fucking Slag.

Never been more terrified,

Based on the faces around me neither has any of the other Waynes #AlfredisTerrifying

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why am I the go to person for everything Mircualous Team? BugOut.com is a great source if you want more info.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham Probably cause you're most famous Parsian? Or cause you were a miraculous user once?

Jason Todd Lives@BestTodd

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz IM SORRY?? DID YOU JUST SAY MARIGOLD HAD ONE OF THOSE MAGIC FUCKING GEMS???

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd That didn't come up in the conference did it? A few of the old users of miraculous got outed as heros so LB doesn't call on them anymore, but keeps tabs on them since HM and Mayra will try and emotionally malipulate them into getting akumatized. A few of us bonded over it.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd @FashionInGotham Its common knowledge in Paris, Mari, me and our other friend @NotaModel all had miraculous at one point, but HawkBitch found out so we can't ever use a miraculous again sadly. I had the Bee, Mari had the Mouse and Ari had the Snake

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

Why is Damian staring at a wall and not responding? What broke him? #Help???

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@AFlyingGrayson Nevermind #HecouldnthaveanormalGF? #HolyShitMari

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

So I can no longer say I've never seen a Bat before, just saw Signal and Red Robin, I think???

Gonna be real tho, I was expecting to see them in Gotham, NOT PARIS #wtf #Whyaretheyhere????

Marinette had barely sent the tweet before her phone was ringing.

"Are you being serious?" Adrian asked, in lieu of a greeting, "At least two of the Batfam is here?"

"Yeah," She whispered a bit numbly, eyes still focused on the roof she had watched them disappear from mere moments ago. It was far enough away that if she had been a normal human she wouldn't have heard them, but she wasn't a normal human, "Hey Adrian, Don't tell the team what I'm about to say, okay?"

"Are you okay, bugaboo?"  

"Questionable," She didn't even bother rebuking the nickname, "I think I might be dating a Bat."

______________________________________

Taglist: @kceedraws @northernbluetongue @starry-bi-sky @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @lexysama @vincentvangoose @theatreandcomicfreak @vinerlover @calvin1394 @interobanginyourmom @imanerddealwith @aarushi-03 @rikku052 @fantasticfourintraining @clumsy-owl-4178 @two-faced-biatch @celestiacq @vgirl-10123 @peculiarlylostdreamer @tinybrie @treebrosha @sam-spectra @zalladane @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @7-sage-7 @blue-peach14 @nataladriana9 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @xxmadamjinxx @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @i-identify-as-a-mango @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay @vixen-uchiha @face-of-lazyness @lunar-wolf-warrior @derpingrainbow @drama-queen-supreme @vivilakitty @mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @ijustwannabecanadian @sharksharkbb @lysslovsanime @zazzlejazzle @corabeth11 @ur-average-reader @virgil-is-a-cutie @paradoxal-occurance @dur55 @this-is-vander @cowardlygaydinosaur @phantomneow12 @numbuh-7-knd @slytherinhquinn @celerystick045 @silvergold-swirl @dzcile @lordsmeldingtonthethird @asabella1224 @miraculous-simmer7 @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i @kuhakuanon @st0rmy-w1th1n @littleredrobinhoodlum @todaylillypads @screechingflapbiscuitpeach @a-complete-fool @urbanpineapplefarmer @woodland-queer @miraculousl4dybug @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @imanerddealwith @seraphichana @literalfantrash @zebrabaker @captainmac6 

[s-and-n-writes]

the lie that wasn’t: a lila takedown story

ao3 link

summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng was having a good day. She’d managed to wake up early and get to work on time, she was able to finish the pieces for the show on Monday, and she even found a little ladybug, who she promptly named Tikki.

This was before Lila Rossi decided to intervene. She had found a new lie to tell: the top secret news that she was now dating Adrien Agreste, and was yet again making Marinette's life miserable, like she promised.

There was just one problem. Marinette was dating Adrien. And everyone knew it.

A/N: hey! it's n again, and happy september!

i literally cannot believe that it's september already. it feels like july was just yesterday honestly. summer's practically over, and i'm so sad :( also, i’m psychic! if you want the story just tell me lol

ps: ladybug’s face is a mooood ngl

anyways, enjoy!

______

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was having a good day. She’d managed to wake up early and get to work on time (her mentor and boss, M. Agreste himself managed to look surprised as she popped into his office at 9AM to exchange a quick greeting), she was able to finish the pieces for the show on Monday (her once-cancelled date with Adrien was back on now) and she even found a little ladybug, who she’d named Tikki (after her kwami friend) resting on her sewing machine. 

Even now, as she laid on her desk sipping cold coffee and drawing new designs, the petite bug flitted about, never leaving her general space.

The only thing that had been a slight damper on her good mood was the (probably unnecessary, thought Marinette) was the feeling of being broken, or not enough or-

It was hard to explain.

Maybe it was the endless tormenting from Lila, who had decided to make Marinette her enemy.

Maybe it was the pressure from designing and creating at Gabriel.

Maybe it was the sneers that her so-called friends gave her, after hearing Lila’s lies.

Maybe it was… her. 

Regardless of the cause, for a long time, Marinette continued to feel as if… she was useless, against everything life threw at her at her each and every day. 

But before she got stuck in her dark place, she shrugged off the unwanted thoughts, instead trying to focus on the half-made design on her tablet in front of her.

It was then that, having practically nothing to do and no inspiration for designing, she instead began to think of Adrien Agreste, her boyfriend. 

He was one of the only ones who recognized that she felt sad, who helped her and listened to her rants when she needed to clear her head.

She could even say that Adrien was the best part of her life. Even if Monsieur Agreste hadn’t agreed to their relationship (which he had, since his son dating one of the most upcoming designers in the fashion industry garnered good publicity) she would’ve still found a way to make it work, especially after she found out that he was Chat Noir.

It was no secret that they were made for each other. 

Marinette was quickly shaken out of her thoughts once Lila Rossi entered the room. Lila’s bold demeanor and threatening look as she strutted into the wide space with eyes set on Marinette could only mean one thing: public embarrassment.

Marinette sighed and continued brainstorming ideas. 

Unlucky for her, Lila quickly headed her way, a sickly sweet smile on her lips. 

What could she be thinking of now? Marinette thought. 

It was like Lila to try and embarrass her, because Marinette had confronted her about her lies a while ago, but lately, it hadn’t been too bad. Even yesterday, Marinette was just telling Adrien about how Lila seemed to be laying off. 

It seemed like she jinxed herself. 

“Hey Marinette ,” Lila said as she approached her.

“Hey Lie -La,” Marinette responded, barely glancing at her. Lila faked sadness as those around her began noticing the argument between the two. It was no shock, as it often happened, but this one seemed...different. 

Little did they know. 

“Oh, Marinette! How could you say that?” Lila asked, wiping tears from her eyes. A few other designers around the room frowned and went to comfort Lila.

“Marinette!” 

“Why are you always being so mean?” 

“Really, we aren’t 12 year olds! Stop harassing Lila all the time!”

“You can be so horrible at times!” 

“Yea, can’t you see how sad she is?” 

The clear smirk on Lila’s face showed that she was far from sad. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it.

“I told you I’d make your life miserable,”she whispered, grinning, “and this is just the beginning,”

“It’s ok everyone. We have to treat her with respect. Maybe she can change from her ways?” Lila suggested, pursing her lips into a sympathetic frown as she rubbed the sides of her arms, “And besides, I’m sure that when she pushed me in the bathroom earlier, it was just an accident!” 

“She pushed you?” Aurore Beauréal, a model, asked.

Lila nodded. “But it was an accident, really!” 

She lifted up her sleeves on both arms to show an array of reddish-purplish bruises lining them.

“That’s not an accident!” Pierre Allaire, another model, said from across the room. “Pushing? I didn’t think you’d stoop so low Marinette!” 

“I didn’t do anything!” Marinette cried, unable to keep from shouting. “You’re lying, Lila!” 

“I can’t believe you!” cried Felippe Champoux, assistant to Pierre. “Accusing Lila of lying this many times when you’ve been hurting her? How dare you!” 

“Are you ok, Lila?” asked Pierre, coming to inspect her arms. Several people crowded around her as they tried to look at her bruises.

Lila quickly rolled her sleeves down and smiled. 

“Oh, it’s ok, I’m fine,” she smiled. “There’s only some pain. Not even bad, really!”

Marinette groaned again. 

“You should feel horrible for what you’re doing!” Aurore sneered. “In fact, I think Lila should go to court against you!” 

Lila’s eyes went wide and Marinette bit her lip to stop from smirking. “Like, with a lawyer?” 

Aurore nodded. “With a lawyer!” 

Lila laughed nervously. “N-no, that’s not necessary!” 

A makeup artist from across the room frowned. “You sure?”

Lila nodded. “Yes! Marinette and I can be friends in the future! If-if we can right our wrongs, and sort this all out, we can be best friends~” 

The makeup artist grinned. “You’re amazing Lila! You’re so sweet, so nice!” 

Marinette swiveled in her chair and counted to 10 to stop from exploding. 

“Aww thank you!” the girl in question smiled. “You’re too kind!” 

Finally, Marinette thought, it’s over for today. After a few weeks of pointed looks and many avoiding her, things would eventually return back to normal.

But Lila wasn’t done yet. Like she promised, she was just getting started.

“Well, actually, this isn’t the reason I came here,” Lila smiled, “I wanted to tell you all the news!”

“What news?” asked Felippe. “Have you been able to contact Madame Bourgeois to look at our designs?”

“I did! But unfortunately, she’s busy making a dress for me to wear!” Lila sighed, smiling at the oohs and aahs the crowd sent her way. “Oui, she does that sometimes. She’s like...my honorary aunt! She sends her love though!” 

“It’s ok. But you have to tell me about the dress she’s making later!” Aurore squealed.

Lila grinned. “For sure Aurore!”

“Now, I wanted to tell all of you this as soon as I was able to. I had to keep it a secret, but now I can finally tell you! My big news is that...” Lila paused for effect, “Adrien and I are dating!”

But instead of friendly cheers, the crowd around Lila exchanged confused glances. Marinette could barely keep in the smile that was about to overcome her face. 

“What?” asked Pierre, “That’s not right. Everyone knows that Adrien Agreste is dating Marinette,” 

Another makeup artist leaned against one of the tables. “I don’t know how he can stand her, but they’re dating all right,”

Lila’s face went slack as she twisted over to look at Marinette in a split second, a snarl lining her face. 

Sorry Lila, I guess you forgot about karma, Marinette thought, smirking as she looked over at her.

Because what goes around, comes around.

Lila turned her attention to the crowd and fumbled with the (so called) Louis Vuitton bag she held. “A-ah no actually! Adrien was fake dating Marinette, because-”

“Who was fake dating who?” came a voice from the hallway. 

In walked Adrien, with a fresh coffee and a croissant from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

“Adrien!” called Marinette as she jumped into his arms. 

“Hey purr-incess,” he smiled, throwing his arms around her. 

Marinette could practically see the color drain from Lila’s face. She pressed a kiss to Adrien’s lips and grinned. 

“Missed you,” she whispered.

Adrien let out a quiet sigh of joy. “Same here,” 

“Now,” he began as Marinette released him from their embrace, “who’s fake dating who?”

“A-Adrien! What a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming!” Lila laughed nervously. “You don’t have to fake it anymor-”

Adrien scoffed. “Lila, for once stop lying will you? You’ve harassed my girlfriend enough and now you want to do it like this?”

“Adrien,” whispered Marinette. 

“The past few months I’ve restrained myself from coming in here, because Mari asked me not to, but I’m here now and I have words to say,” Adrien went on.

“Adrien?” asked Marinette.

“Marinette and I are dating, you and I are not, never was, never will be. Just like all of the other lies you’ve told,” Adrien said.

“Adrien,” Marinette called again. “I’m good, ok?” 

Adrien sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Fine, but if Lila gives you any more trouble, call me, ok?” 

Marinette smiled. “Ok,” 

“Ok,” Adrien grinned as he left. “See you soon. And Alya and Nino send their love!”

With a final wave, the bluenette sighed. Clutching her coffee and her croissant, Marinette turned around to face her coworkers. 

“Marinette, I’m really sorry,”

“Yeah, I didn’t know!”

“I feel horrible,”

“Lila’s the one who’s horrible!”

“Yeah! Why’s she trying to harm our sweet Marinette?”

“You know, I always felt like there was something wrong with her, when she came in for the first time,”

“And I knew Marinette was telling the truth, I did! Unlike Lie-La ,” 

“Hey, the name seems appropriate now!”

“Are you ok Mar-”

“Stop guys,” Marinette sighed, “I can’t trust you for a while. A long time. I went through so much, and you didn’t believe me! That hurt!” 

She blinked away a stray tear before it could come crashing down as she thought of the past few months and what she had endured. 

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the brunette, who was clenching her fists as she opened her mouth to speak. Before she could though, Marinette interrupted.“Lila, this is your last chance. Stay away from me, otherwise I’ll be forced to take this to Nathalie, who will tell M. Agreste,” 

Lila gritted her teeth and snarled. “You’re idiots! All of you!” she stated, and ran from the room.

As the crowd dispersed, Aurore stayed behind to talk to Marinette. “I assume the ‘bruises’ today were makeup?” 

Marinette sighed. “Yeah, I can’t believe you didn’t notice,”

Aurore chuckled bitterly. “Me either. I really thought she was getting all of those ‘famous designers’ to look at my work. I was so excited!” 

She gripped the fabric in her hands a little harder and let out a sigh.

“But, that doesn’t excuse what I said to you. I’m sorry, Marinette. All of us are,”

Marinette smiled. “I can’t accept your apology right now, but thanks,”

Aurore nodded. “Understood,”

With a final wave, she turned to leave. “See you around, Marinette,”

“See you around Aurore,” Marinette nodded. 

As she watched Aurore walk off, she realized for the first time in what felt like forever, she didn’t feel quite so broken anymore. 

Marinette smiled as Tikki crawled onto her finger. It was a start.

—Bonus—

Hours later, when Marinette and Adrien were driving home, Marinette leaned to entwine Adrien’s fingers with hers. 

“Well,” Adrien sighed, “that’s only one problem down,” 

“99 left to go,” Marinette finished, the edges of a smile creeping onto her face. 

[janaikam]

I Know What You Did Last Year Part 3

Summary: When a girl from Lila’s past starts attending Dupont, secrets get revealed that could change the class dynamic.

AO3. FFnet.

Part 3/?

<<Previous Part Next Part>>

“Don’t forget to read chapter 6 in your history book tonight. There will be a quiz tomorrow,” Mme. Bustier says as the class starts to pack up their bags for their next lesson.

Vee pulls out her schedule from her bag and quickly glances to see what class she has next. Free period and then the day is done, nice. Quickly, Vee stuffs her notebook and schedule into her bag and runs out of the classroom to the locker room. After lunch, it had become obvious that Lila had spread some rumor about Vee, making her look bad. At least, that’s what Vee assumes based on the occasional glare that came her way from her new classmates.

The only few people that didn’t seem to completely dislike Vee were Marinette, Adrien, Chloe, and Rose. Though, Vee suspects that Chloe doesn’t care about any rumors spread unless they directly affected her. Adrien and Rose were probably being kind because that’s just who they were. However, Marinette likely hadn’t heard the rumors and that made Vee anxious because she didn’t know whether Marinette would believe the false rumors or not.

If I lose Marinette as a friend, I don’t know what I’ll do.

Vee’s mind starts to swim as she enters the locker room and opens her locker. Vee grabs the books that she needs for her homework and stuffs them in her bag. As Vee is about to close her locker, a hand slams into the locker right next to hers. Vee jumps and turns to see the last person she wanted to see.

“Hey, VeeVee,” Lila greets in a sickly sweet tone with a fake smile plastered on her face.

--------------------------------------------------

A few minutes prior

“Hey Marinette, wanna go study in the park?” Alya asks stopping her best friend in the middle of packing her bag.

“Actually, I was going to show Vee the art room and hang out there for a bit,” Marinette replies resuming adding her items into her bag. At the mention of Verdana, Alya’s face turns into a frown.

“Oh girl, I forgot to tell you. I don’t think Verdana is a person you should be hanging out with.” Alya says almost comfortingly.

“Well, how would you know? You’ve only been around her for less than an hour.” Marinette questions.

“Lila said that Verdana bullied her back in Italy. Like made the whole school turn against Lila for no reason at all.” Alya explains to her friend thinking she’ll agree to stay away from the new girl.

“Okay so say I believe what Lila said,” Alya groans but Marinette continues speaking as if she wasn’t interrupted. “Isolating Vee and not being her friend is doing exactly the same thing Lila claims that she did. I don’t think that’s very fair. Plus, what if Vee is sorry for what Lila claims she did, don’t we owe her a chance to prove that she’s nice?”

“You still don’t believe Lila after she helped prove that you didn’t steal her necklace?” Alya asks, exasperated and clearly ignoring what Marinette just said. Marinette stops putting stuff into her bag to look at Alya.

“No, I don’t believe her because she still lied about me pushing her down the stairs.” Marinette counters.

“She said she probably misinterpreted what you were trying to do when she tripped,” Alya explains, hopeful that the bluenette will understand the brunette's confusion.

Before Marinette can respond, Lila falls onto Marinette knocking her open bookbag down on the ground.

“Oh my gosh! Marinette, I’m so sorry! I guess I tripped coming down the stairs. I totally didn’t mean to fall onto you.” Lila exclaims feigning concern as she gets off of Marinette. “Here, let me help you with your stuff.”

“NO!” Marinette shouts gaining the attention of the others left in the classroom, including a certain blonde boy. Marinette catches Adrien’s eye and quickly and turns away blushing. “What I meant to say is, no thank you, Lila. I can get my own stuff. Accidents happen, right?” Marinette gives what she hopes is a friendly smile.

“Of course! Again I’m so sorry for any trouble I might have caused, I’m such a klutz.” Lila smiles and walks out of the classroom.

“I can’t understand how someone as nice as you doesn’t like someone as nice as Lila,” Alya says, shaking her head.

“Oh, I have my reasons,” Marinette mutters while repacking all her things back into her bag.

---------------------------------------------------------

“What do you want?” Vee attempts to sound confident, but her shaking hand on her locker combined with her wavering voice give her away.

“What do I want?” Lila pretends to think about her answer to the question as she takes a step towards Vee. “I want you to leave this sorry excuse of a school.”

“Unfortunately, for both of us, that’s not going to be happening any time soon. My mother just got a new job, so I’m here to stay.” Vee states matter of factly. Mentally, she gives herself a high-five.

“Fine, but don’t plan on making any friends. Not even with that brat Marinette,” Lila takes another step closer to Vee. “Or else I’ll personally make sure your life here is ten times worse.” Lila takes one more step and closes the gap between her and Vee.

C’mon Vee! Say something! Don’t let her win!

“We’re not in Pallotta anymore, Lila. You can not dictate who I can or can not hang out with. Go ahead, make my life worse. I don’t care.” Vee gives herself another mental high-five.

Right as Lila is about to say something more, a new voice stops her.

“Hey girls, is everything alright?” Vee breathes a sigh of relief as Adrien approaches the two girls in the locker room.

“Oh, Adrien! Everything is just perfect!” Lila exclaims grabbing Adrien’s arm. “I was just telling Verdana here that I forgive her for everything that happened in Italy. I mean that was all so long ago, I practically forgot about it.” Lila turns to look at Vee and gives her a glare daring her to say something.

Vee smiles stiffly. “Yup”

“Well, okay then,” When Vee looks up at Adrien’s face, she can tell he doesn’t believe Lila.

“I better get going,” Vee quickly closes her locker and rushes out of the locker room just as other students from her class start to enter. Not wanting to deal with other people at the moment, Vee hides in a little cove behind the stairs.

That could’ve gone better. Vee sighs and rests her head on top of her knees.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

After a busy few weeks, I have finally come back to update this work. Please let me know what you think. 

@theoryfan205 

[purrincess-chat]

Kill Em With Kindness CH8 (FINAL)

The final chapter is here! I came up with this ending pretty much around the time I came up with this idea, maybe a little before. Not your typical Lila takedown, but effective nonetheless. Thank you everyone for patiently sticking through this journey with me. I can finally close the chapter on my Chameleon salt days, and move on to bigger and better things. If you’re still in the mood for more Lila comeuppance, I’d recommend checking out my other fics Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix, My Chosen’s Keeper, or Adrien and the Ladytective: Who’s Working for Hawkmoth? 

Read on AO3

Chapter 8

“Welcome home, my fairy!”

Marinette shrugged her backpack from her shoulders, dropping it at the base of the stairs and heading to the fridge. When nothing appealed to her, she shut it and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table, flopping facedown onto the couch with a moan.

Her grandma sat beside her, running her fingers through Marinette’s hair. “What’s the matter, my fairy? You were so full of life this morning.”

“It’s complicated,” Marinette mumbled into the couch cushion.

“I’ve never had a complication that couldn’t be fixed with a gift from your favorite nonna.” Her grandma got up to retrieve a wrapped box from the kitchen table.

Marinette sat up, taking a bite of her apple and accepting the gift. She tore through the wrapping as her grandma sat beside her. Inside was a sturdy, hand-knit pink scarf, and Marinette trailed her fingers over the wool, though she wasn’t in the mood to admire the craftmanship.

“My, my she still frowns. This must be very complicated.” Her nonna stood up again. “Well, complicated is no match for my world famous hot cocoa. It is world famous, you know. I’ve made it all over the world, and everyone loves it. Give me a minute, my fairy, then we will talk about complicated.”

Marinette laid back, chomping through her apple while staring at the ceiling. She wasn’t sure how much time past — twenty minutes, an hour maybe — before her nonna returned with two steaming cups of hot chocolate. Nonna wrapped the scarf around Marinette’s neck when she sat up, tucking her hair out of the way.

“Now, tell me about your frown,” she said.

Marinette took a sip of the hot chocolate, creamy and warm. It had been several years since she had her nonna’s hot chocolate. She was just a girl last time. While it did little to dull the ache in her chest, it did warm her up. She set the cup down and laid back against the couch pillows with a sigh.

“There’s this girl at my school that’s determined to make my life miserable, and today she announced that she’s dating the boy I like in front of everyone.” She picked at a loose thread on her pants as an excuse to avert her gaze.

“Ah, I see.” Her nonna nodded. “Well, my fairy, sometimes people do things that are out of our control, but you know, the most important thing in life isn’t boys, certainly not. I’m doing quite well on my own, you know.” Nonna tucked a loose strand of Marinette’s hair back into place. “What matters is the people who love you, my fairy. No matter what happens with boys, and believe me there will always be things happening with boys, you can always come home to mama and papa and nonna and even your grouchy grandpa from time-to-time.” She lifted Marinette’s chin. “We love you very much, no matter who hurts you.”

Marinette smiled. “Thanks, Nonna.”

Her nonna pulled her in for a tight hug, squeezing until she could barely breath. Marinette protested with a laugh, and Nonna let her go, pressing a squeaky kiss to her cheek.

“Now, I’ve got to start on our big feast. Would you like to help, my fairy?” She stood up and headed for the kitchen.

“Sure.” Marinette removed the scarf and placed it back in the box. A name had been stitched into the seam, and Marinette flipped the scarf around to read it.

F. Rossi

Rossi?!

“Hey, Nonna? What’s your friend’s name? The one that made this scarf?” she asked.

“Ah, that’s one of my oldest friends. Well, my oldest friend that’s still with us. You lose a lot of friends as you get old, my fairy. It’s the way of life,” Nonna said while she retrieved a big pot for dinner. “That scarf was knitted by my dear friend Francesca. We went through school together. She and her husband own a wine orchard now in the countryside back home. Come to think of it, I think she has a granddaughter about your age. Now, what was her name? Lia? Lola? Layla?”

“Lila?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Lila. Do you know her?” Nonna pulled vegetables from the fridge. “Come cut these tomatoes for me, my fairy.”

Marinette jumped up to help, chewing her cheek. “Lila’s in my class.”

“Oh, how wonderful. Are you two friends?” Nonna flicked on the faucet to fill up the pot with water.

“Uhh…” Marinette turned her back while she chopped to hide her grimace. “Something like that.” She paused, a grin stretching over her lips. “Hey, Nonna. I want to thank your friend for the scarf. Can I ask you to deliver a letter?”

“I can do better than that. I will invite her over to tea tomorrow. She loves getting out every now and then, so I’m sure she’ll be happy to come,” Nonna said.

Marinette bit back a smirk. “Perfect. I’ll start on my gift tonight.”

“Oh, such a sweet girl.” Nonna pinched her cheeks.

The next day, Lila’s nonna, Francesca, invited them over to her daughter’s apartment for tea. The girls were going to hang out at the Couffaine’s houseboat for band practice, but Marinette declined an invitation. She suggested inviting Lila in her place. Alya was concerned with how well she was handling the Adrien situation, but Marinette insisted that she was fine. Her bff reluctantly accepted her proposal, and the girls invited Lila.

Marinette met up with her nonna at home, and they headed to the Rossi residence together. She was perfectly cordial with Lila’s grandmother, who was lovely despite what a wicked wench her granddaughter was. How the two were even remotely related was beyond Marinette. By the time Lila made it home from seeing the girls, Marinette and her nonna were well acquainted.

“Ah, my stella, come in!” Francesca smiled when Lila walked through the door.

Her green eyes narrowed, darting between Marinette sipping her tea calmly and her nonna.

“Nonna, what a surprise to see you here with Marinette.” She stooped to kiss her cheek and cast a stern look to her mother. “You didn’t tell me nonna was coming, Mom.”

“Oh, she popped over when Gina invited her. Marinette wanted to make your nonna a scarf to return the favor for the one she made. Isn’t that sweet?” Mme. Rossi explained.

“Yeah,” Lila said through gritted teeth.

“You never write to me, stella. Your little friend has been telling me all kinds of stories about your time here in Paris,” Francesca said.

Lila stiffened, nearly spilling the tea as she poured herself a cup. “Stories? What kind of stories?”

“My goodness, she tells me that Paris is under attack every day.” Francesca cupped a hand to her throat in awe. “These awful creatures called balumas.”

“Akumas.” Marinette corrected, taking a smug sip of tea when Lila shot her a glare.

“My, yes, how awful. I never realized how dangerous the city was when your mother brought you here.” Francesca fanned herself with the ends of the scarf Marinette knitted her.

“Lila was just telling me this morning how uncomfortable she is in Paris because of all the akuma attacks,” Marinette said matter-of-factly.

“It’s true. The school is often closed for weeks at a time because of the akumas. I’m worried that Lila’s grades are suffering from being out so much.” Mme. Rossi frowned.

Francesca set her cup down with decided force. “Then she won’t stay in Paris another minute. I’ll take her home to the orchard and oversee her education myself.”

Marinette and Lila’s jaws dropped in unison.

“No!” Lila shrieked.

“I cannot sleep at night knowing that my stella is in danger. What with all of these superheroes and monsters flying around every day? No, we will leave tonight.” Francesca stood up.

“I’m really sad you’re leaving, Lila, but I understand. I know how unsafe you feel here, so I think it’s for the best,” Marinette said.

“Nonna, please. I’ll miss my friends far too much.” Lila pressed her palms together.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to write to you and keep you updated on everything going on in Paris.” Marinette smiled sweetly.

“Oh, what a sweet girl you have, Gina.” Francesca cooed.

“Mom, tell her I can’t go!” Lila grabbed her mom’s wrist.

“My bella, I wish more than anything that you could stay, but Nonna is right. It’s not safe here, and I’m always so busy with my work. You’re by yourself so much. If you go home to the orchard, you’ll be with my parents every day. You won’t have to be alone anymore.” Her mother smoothed her hair. “Come on, I’ll help you pack your bags.”

“But-” Lila blinked. She spun around on Marinette, who lifted her cup of tea with a smirk.

Checkmate.

“Marinette, could you be a dear and help me call a cab?” Francesca handed over her phone. “These apps can be so hard to navigate.”

Lila could be heard pleading with her mother in the other room, but after a few minutes, they both emerged with packed suitcases. Marinette and her grandma accompanied them down to the street where their cab awaited. Lila’s mother pulled her in for a tight hug, proclaiming that she would miss her terribly. When they were finished, Francesca turned her to Marinette and urged her to say goodbye. Lila begrudgingly pulled Marinette in for a hug, spine stiff, hands balled into fists.

“Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me. I’ll be back,” Lila whispered.

Marinette patted her back. “Take care. Paris won’t be the same without you.”

It will be much, much quieter.

Lila glared through her as her mother helped her into the cab and shut the door. They waved as the car drove off, and Marinette and her nonna bid Mme. Rossi good night. She bit back a smile as her nonna revved up her motor cycle and drove them home.

***

“Whoa, did you hear about Lila?”

“Yeah, she moved away, like for real.”

Marinette let out a deep breath walking through the courtyard the next day, finally relaxing her shoulders. She hadn’t expected Lila’s grandmother to bring her back to Italy, but she wasn’t going to complain. Now, she only had one brat to worry about at school, and that one was much easier to manage. How anyone could be so horrible that Chloe Bourgeois became the lesser of two evils was a mystery Marinette was content to leave unsolved. Mostly, she was just glad Lila was gone.

A warm hand grabbed her wrist and tugged her toward a secluded corner of the courtyard, bright blond hair filling her vision. Her heart skipped when Adrien glanced around to make sure no one could hear them. With the assurance that they were completely alone, he quirked a brow.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Well…” Marinette trailed her fingers over her new scarf. “My nonna happens to be good friends with Lila’s nonna. When we were having tea with them yesterday, Lila’s mom might have mentioned that Lila didn’t feel safe in Paris because of all the akumas, and I might have fed into that enough to convince Lila’s nonna to bring her home to Italy.”

“Marinette, that’s diabolical.” Adrien gaped.

“Well, I didn’t think her nonna would actually bring her back home. I was kind of hoping more for like a house arrest or changing schools!” Marinette defended, but Adrien shook his head with a smile.

“You’re incredible.” He chuckled. “I think it’s safe to say that Lila and I are officially broken up now. I’ll tell people it was all a publicity stunt to clear my name. Thank you for everything, Marinette. I’m sorry I didn’t do something about her sooner. We could have avoided this whole mess.”

“Something tells me Lila would have found a way anyway.” Marinette shrugged. “I’m just glad we won’t have to deal with her anymore. I don’t see her grandmother letting her out of her sight until Hawkmoth is defeated.”

Adrien’s gaze softened, and he leaned down to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “I’m really glad to have a friend like you, Marinette. We’ll be okay so long as we always look out for each other.”

Marinette’s cheeks warmed when he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders.

“Hey… do you want to get nice cream, I-I mean, ice cream with me today?” she asked.

Adrien tilted his head, a smile breaking over his lips. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

She smiled, heart fluttering as Adrien toted her off to the locker room when the bell rang, barely cognizant of anything else going on. The wicked witch had been locked away in the tower, and Marinette could finally ride off into the sunset with her prince. For the first time since Lila had moved to their school, Marinette could finally relax. Well, at least until she needed to focus on not spilling ice cream on Adrien on their date, but something told her that even if she did, everything would be alright. And as it turned out, the cure for lying was a little kindness.

[miraculousfanworks]

Fanfiction Prompt

CW: Lila salt Alya Cesaire is nothing if not a thorough investigative journalist. Her masterpiece is not the Ladyblog, but a documentary in the works on Lila Rossi, one of the biggest liars and criminals she ever encountered. Starting out as an inspirational documentary about Ms. Rossi's achievements, it quickly devolves into something more and more suspicious. So Alya digs around more, gets a broader perspective, and maybe there's something more sinister... and more news-worthy than it first appears. She does interviews with people who know Lila on opposite sides of the spectrum: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, rising star in the fashion industry; Adrien Agreste, her co-model and face of Gabriel Fashion; Ladybug and Chat Noir themselves, the heroes of Paris; Gabriel Agreste, her employer; her old classmates and friends from Italy... so on and so forth. Best of all, Lila is more than happy to voluntarily regale her tall tales to the camera, not knowing how Alya's intentions have shifted. Alya's inspirational documentary is now the exposé of the century, that could potentially help the takedown of Shadowmoth through his deceitful accomplice: critically acclaimed and multi-awarded, it cemented Alya Cesaire's journalism career into Parisian legend.

via agnes

[ao3feed-ladynoir]

Lila's Ass-assination

Lila’s Ass-assination by LadyRhiX

Adrien has had enough, and Marinette has the evidence. A tale of the best way to take down a predator such as Lila. Adrienette, MariChat and a small amount of LadyNoir. Fluff overload with angst thrown in. Typical Lila Takedown fic!

Copied directly from my FF.net account

Words: 1957, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other

Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Tikki, Plagg, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Nathalie Sancoeur, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel, Lê Chiến Kim, Ondine, Juleka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Luka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Chloé Bourgeois, Nadja Chamack, Max Kanté, Alix Kubdel

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Lê Chiến Kim/Ondine, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Chloé Bourgeois/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain

Additional Tags: Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, adrienette, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila Rossi Lies, Manipulative Lila Rossi, unwanted sexual contact, Adrien Harrassed, bum touching, Fluff, Alya Césaire Ships It, Protective Alya Césaire, Awesome Classmates, Arrested Lila, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Evidence Gathered, Cinema Outing, Embarrassed Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, working together, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Kwami Interveantion, sleepover, Lila's Mother Is An Idiot, Identity Reveal, Dorks in Love, too many tags!

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33824002

[kidofthekat]

Salty Outcasts (part 2)

Part 1:

There is going to be a part three then I will most likely write it properly.

Part 2:

- Alix spent the day in utter confusion - on the one hand Marinette was the sweetest person alive, and on the other, Alya had been Marinette’s best friend so surely she was justified by something. But when the screams started she ran as fast as she could watching the Ladyblogger sprint the other way. Where was that girls sense of self preservation?

- Chat arrived on the scene first. He had been eager to get away from Lila.

- Marinette found it a little harder to transform, having to get away from the still bratty, but lacking their usual bite, girl that had decided to cling to her side all day. Not that she wasn’t grateful, she was just a little afraid of what Chloé’s intentions may be.

- The akuma, with a ghastly outfit that hurt the fashion designer’s eyes, blinded those that got in her way. With the help of a lucky charm and a cataclysm, it was defeated quickly. Though Ladybug couldn’t help but wonder if that was due to Chats lack of flirting.

- A couple weeks ago, Chat had told Ladybug that he had a girlfriend and so he would stop flirting but the banter was still there and Marinette couldn’t help but be scared at more change in her life.

- Both heroes were more than a little surprised when Rose didn’t come to comfort Juleka.

- Alya, being who she is, immediately started asking for an interview. Now that Marinette no longer looked at her best-friend-not-forever through rose tinted glasses, she noticed that it was more of a demand than anything.

- Shockingly it was Chat Noir who snapped at Alya, stating that they are not celebrities but are heroes and she is getting in their way to save lives. Alya spluttered our a response but by then LB and Chat were long gone.

- Alya was immediately comforted by Liar Rossi who suggested that Marinette must have lied to Chat Noir after all, she had spotted the alley cat on Marinette’s balcony. Alya immediately called out Marinette for trying to make Adrien jealous.

- On the other side of the city, in the Louvre, Alix was still conflicted, however was snapped out of her thoughts when a portal opened behind her.

- Bunnix was quick to explain that Lila is a Liar and Alix suddenly knew what she had to do. Make it up to Marinette.

- After finding out that Rose had broken up with Juleka because the goth girl had protected Marinette, she had a plan.

- And so the ‘Down With The Liar’ group chat was created. (Named by Alix). First added was Juleka, then Luka. Chloé’s odd personality had not gone unnoticed so she too was added. She insisted on Adrien, Adrikins would never fall for such obvious lies, that would be ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, and he suggested Kagami.

- The class made it clear that Juleka was no longer a friend.

- While the others were plotting the takedown of a liar, Marinette was shopping for the Kwamis, and for some reason that could only be blamed on Plagg’s bad luck affecting Paris, every shop near the bakery seemed to have run out of bananas, much to Xuppu’s annoyance.

Part 3:

[ladybugout-au]

So I just reread the last chapters that center around Lila's takedown in LBO, and does Mrs. Rossi also get a copy of Alya's masterpost, whether from Mr. Damocles giving it to her right off the bat or her asking for it to show proof of the accusations against her daughter? If so, I would LOVE to see the fallout between her and Lila once the dust settles ngl.

Yeah, she’d get a copy.

I would like to write a hypothetical for it, but I don’t know enough about Mrs. Rossi because she hasn’t appeared that much. I try not to write characters I don’t know about unless it’s--like--non canon characters such as the Quantic Kids.

[flightfoot]

ML Fic Recs for Alya Stans

can you keep a secret by euphorickiri:

Summary:

once alya had her mind set on something, it was hard for her to let it go. she often got herself into trouble because of this, but, in her words, this was the "life of a journalist". but when she uncovers a secret that seems too impossible to believe, alya opens up a whole new world of danger.

"with a mask and a costume, don’t you think adrien looks a little bit like chat noir?”

she comes to realize some secrets should stay buried.

Oh man, this one is underappreciated! (Also don’t worry about the summary and title being completely lower case, the fic has proper punctuation.)

This is one of the rare occasions where Alya has a ton of issues of her own going on, with just having recovered from being akumatized as Lady Wifi and REMEMBERING the whole thing (that’s plot-relevant), being harassed at school because this is still early in the series and people haven’t gotten the concept that anyone can be akumatized and it isn’t the victim’s fault, on top of some pretty severe issues at home with her parents using her as a go-between when fighting, being put in charge of her younger siblings’ care a lot, and being insulted and harangued by her parents whenever Alya can’t live up to their insane expectations and generally not considering how she feels about anything at all. Plus she keeps having some very, VERY disturbing dreams about Lady Wifi that feel way too real...

It’s rare to see a fic focusing squarely on Alya’s problems and emotions - which, granted, is likely because canonically we haven’t seen evidence that there’s a ton of strife in her life. But it’s very refreshing and interesting to see here, especially with Adrien constantly checking up on her, commiserating with her, helping her as best he can, knowing a lot of the kind of thing she’s going through because he’s experienced it himself. Just everyone focusing on Alya, on understanding what’s going on with her and trying to help (though there’s not always a ton that can be done).

I highly recommend it for any Alya or Adrien stan.

Me, My Best Friend, And Her Cat by @ladyofthenoodle:

Summary:

Ladybugs aren't known for being particularly sneaky. Good thing this Ladybug has a fox in her corner, watching her back.

(And giving Ladybug's love life a nudge along the way. Maybe more than a nudge. In Alya's defense, Ladybug can use all the help she could get.)

It’s always great to see Alya and Marinette being friends and Alya getting to be awesome. She makes for a great Secret Secret Keeper!

you’re the volcano (i’m the raptor) by SnappleSnapSnake

Summary:

“But what if everyone thinks that she’s meant for this, but she’s really not? Because, you know, it’s like crazy magic jewelry- and maybe she’s wondering why such a clumsy idiot would even bother to try and save the world.”

And suddenly, everything clicked.

She grabbed her new friend by the shoulders, effectively cutting off her rambling. “Oh my god, you’re Ladybug.”

Marinette’s voice went high, and she squealed out, “What? No! Not that! I am! Not that! Definitely, totally not that!”

Alya just grinned, eyes sparkling and awed.

(yeah, they were definitely going to be best friends for life)

A oneshot featuring a series of short vignettes after various season 1 episodes, with how things change since Alya’s aware that Marinette is Ladybug the whole time. Features a lot of friendly teasing and banter!

Outfoxed by @captorations:

Summary:

Lila Rossi is not a Miraculous wielder. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have power. Alya was under her spell, along with so many others, until the day Lila unknowingly overstepped herself. Freed at last, the true Fox recognizes magic when she sees it, even if it doesn’t come from a source she understands. She is none too happy about this pretender abusing her natural gifts to make fools of Alya and those she loves.

Alya Césaire might need an enchanted necklace and the aid of a tiny deity to cast illusions, but she swore to use her borrowed abilities for the greater good long ago. There is none better suited to facilitate the liar’s downfall.

And maybe she’ll help her best friend sort out her increasingly complex love life along the way.

I wrote an analysis on this fic, so I’m guessing a lot of my followers are already aware of it. I’m REALLY not a big fan of Lila takedown fics at this point, but this is an exception - largely because of how much it focuses on Alya and what a bi disaster she is. Alya, Adrien, the class, they’re all treated well, and it’s just really satisfying to get to see Alya take down Lila considering how Alya’s often treated in those kinds of fics, as well as having Marinette so highly value Alya. Also has a really nice sequel where the rest of the class gets to have fun and kick butt!

Final Restoration by InkyCoffee

Summary:

Six months ago, Alya and Marinette had a terrible fight after Marinette flaked out on an important event. This afternoon, Alya filmed Hawkmoth's defeat. Friendship fic, Alya's POV.

I really like fics where Alya and Marinette can have a fight without either of them really being in the wrong, with it mostly coming down to having incomplete information - in Alya’s case, with not knowing that Marinette’s Ladybug. This is just a really nice resolution to such a fight, with both parties reconciling once the full truth comes out.

Damsel In (Need Of) Destress by @angelofthequeers

Summary:

Ladybug and Ryuuko have a little competition going on. The aim? To rescue Alya during akuma attacks. And naturally, Alya is Done with her girlfriends' shenanigans, while Chat Noir is just oblivious to the three-way tension.

This one’s just cute and funny! Also it’s always great to see Alya being so highly valued and loved.

[tired-college-student-writing]

Beautiful Versions of Brokenness pt. 2

Summary: Marinette is different. There was no denying it, but none would have guessed that the true reason was soul deep

Continuation of Prompt: If you're into Black Butler, maybe something with that and Miraculous ladybug? Or Black Butler with Demon Bim? I just think you'd do a good job with the Black Butler characters.

Part 1

____________________________________________

Chat Noir reluctantly left so that Ladybug and Sebastian, shortly after, promised to meet up on the next patrol night so that they could properly discuss their unlikely reunion.

Instead of going home, Marinette leads them to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Parisians are used to seeing their heroine and a black figure at the top of the tower, no one would think twice if she arrived there. Sebastian follows as he always did.

“This isn’t my first life after Ciel then,” She hummed, once she arrived, deciding to deal with the first question on her mind.

“No,” Sebastian agreed, as her timer slowly beeped towards its end, “This is my 37th time meeting you since your contract was created. The 21st time you’ve awoken your Phantomhive memories.”

Her eyebrows rose, “it’s only been 130 years since Ciel died, how have I been reborn 37 times?”

The demon all but scoffed, “Really mistress? All these years with beings of heaven and hell toying with your life and you still believe we are playing by earthly rules?”

Marinette just glared, “You’re telling me Hell lacks linear time then? When I die, my soul just flies to any time period it pleases and becomes whichever child it can find?”

“Precisely,” Sebastian smirks, “There have only been a few rules your soul seems to follow, your eyes remain virtually unchanged, still the strikingly blue and purple hues they have been since our contract was sealed, your hair an inky black and your memories return within a year of the age you took your earldom, thirteen, or not at all. Other than that this is the eighteenth time you’ve taken a female form, fifth where you’ve been of mixed races, tenth of being Asian descent, you’ve been of African descent six times, middle eastern eight, Native American three times. You’ve been of peasantry or slavery six times, on three different continents. Though being enslaved has triggered your memories flawlessly every time and allowed for you to rise in the ranks of society with grace. Sixteen times you’ve been of noble birth in multiple different royal families across the globe. It’s been an adventure each time

“What about Lizzie?” She finally asked,” She never sold her soul, and yet Chat Noir is clearly my fiancé.”

Sebastian frowned, “To be quite honest, she’s never appeared before, or at the very least never awoken. Human souls are not supposed to be reincarnated so quickly, even by heaven’s terms we should not have run into Miss Elizabeth before the 30th century and I’ve never heard of the average reincarnation remembering their memories as vividly as Chat Noir did.”

“Who would know?”

The grimace was fleeting on the demon’s face but Marinette knew what he was getting at.

“The Grim Reapers,” She groaned, “Grell hanging around anywhere?”

“What makes you so certain that pest is still working off their debt?” Sebastian countered

Marinette glared, “Because I’ve seen a shockingly familiar red figure watching the Akuma battles before, but only the ones that might have high casualty counts if we had lost. Plus you’re always aggravated whenever I came back from those types of battles and she was the only one that I know that gets under your skin that badly. If she wasn’t so… open about her desires I would have loved to see her around more.”

The demon sighed, “Observant as always my lady. Grell Sutcliff, William T. Spears, and Ronald Knox have all been given special assignments to follow your reincarnated soul around as they are used to our unique brand of chaos. They are given time off when your soul is inactive, and this works counts as double time for their repayment… containing the destruction left in your wake.”

Marinette hummed, as her time finally wore out a Tikki appeared next to her.

“Sebastian,” Tikki greeted, cooly, drawing a wicked grin on the young girl’s face.

“Miss. Tikki,” He offered with his polite butler smile, the one Marinette knew meant he wasn’t happy, “A pleasure as always.”

“Oh, you’ve met then?” Marinette laughed with twisted glee “I haven’t seen you look so constipated since we had to do those Phoenix poses!”

She could practically hear the teeth grinding behind his forced smile, “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about Mistress, I think the reincarnation process has scrambled your mind.”

She hummed, cheeky grin not falling as she passed Tikki her emergency cookie, “Either way, we need to plan. Obviously, we can’t play the butler and Earl roles as we once did so we must figure out new roles that we can play, and create a fake hero identity for you if you plan on continuing to help out during Akuma battles.”

The smirk he gave showed off far too many teeth, but instead of unnerving her, it filled her with a sense of comfort, “Allow me to handle everything, mistress. What kind of demon would I be if I couldn’t manage a simple cover story and superhero outfit.”

________________________________________

Marinette awoke the next day to find it starting off horribly. Not only had she overslept without the ever-present tapping on her balcony door Sebastian normally did whenever she slept through her alarm, but as she was rushing she tore her blue contact, only to find it was the last one she had in stock, her new order not set to arrive until later in the week. She decided to give the demon a pass just this once since he most likely was still coming up with proper identification and dwellings for him to stay at now that she required him to be more than just a bird.

Looking in her closet she paused at her normal outfits, plink blossoms, pink jeans, and ballet flats. It just… felt wrong with her new memories of the Earl rattling around her head. She wasn’t unhappy being a woman in this life, still feeling as comfortable as ever in her own skin, but the overly modern and feminine dress just didn’t sit right with Ciel’s memories so fresh in her mind.

Instead, she pulled out a peter pan collared button-down shirt with the collar and large buttons navy against the cream of the rest of the shirt, a forest green western tie clasped in the front. She also pulled on a pair of straight-legged green pants and a navy blazer adding a tan pair of thick heeled ankle boots.  For her final touch, she deep parted her hair, pinning it over her right eye and pulling it back into a bun securing a cream ribbon in a bow around the base of the bun once she was finished. Satisfied she grabbed her bag and took off at a run, bidding her parents goodbye as she attempted to make it class before the bell rang.

She arrived seconds late and found the room reorganized, seats had been moved and the open seat on her normal side of the room was right up next to Adrien. Well, she had to admit her previous actions around him had been overboard in retrospect, and while he was still cute but with Lizzie back in the picture it seemed almost like cheating on her old fianceé.

“Good morning, Adrian,” She greeted, choosing to stand in front of the desk instead of sitting down yet.  

The blonde turned to her and perked up, “Marinette! I’m loving the new look, very Victorian esque”

“Thank you!” She laughed, “I felt like a change, You look great too!”

She could feel the eyebrows around the room go up as she smiled gently at the boy, but it was a good change of pace for him, his usual sneakers, jeans, and T-shirt had been swapped out for shiny dark brown dress shoes, a fitted pair of emerald green pants, with a crisp dark blue shirt tucked in. When he turned she could see a silver lace embroidery cutting a wavy path from his left shoulder to his right hip shimmer. He even wore a simple silver ear cuff to finish off the look.

“I picked it myself,” He preened under the positive attention, “Father usually is so strict about what I wear in public but he said I did well with this one!”

“Well, I have to agree,” She hummed, “You should experiment more often, I’d love to give you critiques now that we’re desk partners.”

“Girl what?” Alya finally interrupted, “That’s not your seat, you’re sitting in the back now.”

She could stop her smile from falling into a stony blank look as she turned around, “Excuse me? Who made that call?”

“Well,”  Nino piped up with a slight weariness at her look, “She’s got hearing issues so we had to put her upfront, to make it work Ivan sat next to Mylène, Nate sat next to Alix, and she came up with the idea of moving me up here, so I could spend more time with my girlfriend.”

Marinette raised a brow making the majority of the room fidget, “Who exactly is she?”  

Before any of them could answer Ms. Bustier opened the door and started her normal classroom announcements, “Good morning, students. I'm sure you've all heard by now, but Lila's home from her trip to Achu and she's back in school with us again.”

The Italian girl all, but bounced into the room to greet everyone, receiving a warm answer back as Marinette’s mouth thinned.

The fox paid her little mind as she pretended to gasp in surprise at the empty seat next to Adrian and started gushing, “Oh, a seat in the front row! You all remembered my hearing issue! You're such sweethearts, all of you!”

Marinette tilted her head, “I didn’t realize you had a hearing issue, Lila.”

Green eyes flashed towards her as she painted on a self-conscious smile, “Oh Yes, I suffer from tinnitus, a constant ringing in my left ear. I've had it ever since the sound of an airplane engine burst my eardrum on the runaway when I was saving Jagged Stone's lost kitten,”

“Really?” Marinette questioned with a raised brow, “Well I am sorry to hear that, but I would like to know why your disability is ranking above my own.”

Lila froze as Bustier paled eyes widening with realization. The room grew silent before Kim slapped the desk, “Oh my god, we forgot Marinette can’t see!”

She laughed, shaking her head, “I’m not blind Kim,”

He waved her off, “You know what I mean.”

Nino groaned, slinking down, “You aren’t even wearing your contacts today!”

“I ripped one this morning,” She sighed in explanation, “My replacements aren’t coming until Wednesday. So I really can’t sit in the back of the room even if I wanted to.”

Alya’s face scrunched, “I’m missing something,”

Marinette stared up at her unblinkingly, “I have a severe vision problem that causes me issues with depth perception and distance, especially if I’m not wearing my contacts. As noted by my doctor I need to be sitting within the first two rows of the classroom, and to have a seat partner is willing to give me notes that I may have missed if my vision acts up. It has been on file since I was six years old.”

“Ivan and I can move to the back,” Mylene offered quickly, “I’m sorry for forgetting Marinette!”

She offered a soft smile, “It really is no issue, as long as it gets sorted.  While I must admit I believe the origin of Lila’s disability is fabricated, I am sympathetic to her for having said disability, but I refuse to not have my accommodations met just for someone else’s to be met.”

“Fabricated!” Lila gasped tears welling in her eyes, “How mean! You don’t like me, do you! You’re trying to make me look bad and have a hard time due to my disability!”

The ice that entered Marinette’s eye before she turned to the Italian girl sent a shiver down the class's spine, causing Chloe to shrink back and Adrian to sit up stick straight. Marinette felt an odd calm fall over her as the Phantomhive came out to play.

“You claim that you received hearing damage from being too close to an airplane because you ran onto an active runway to save Jagged Stone’s kitten from a jet preparing to take off,” Marinette repeated slowly, “ Not only does Jagged Stone despise cats, but he’s despised them since he was a child after one attacked and killed his parakeet, Juniper. This is an easy fact to look up as he’s mentioned it several times in multiple interviews. The pet he currently owns and has owned for almost twenty years now, is Fang, a freshwater crocodile that Jagged hatched himself. No one is stupid enough to forget the animal they heroically saved from a vehicle that’s accelerating an average of 32 meters per second squared, wasn’t even a mammal when I know that Fang weighs almost 200kg.”

Lila tried to break in but Marinette just straightened her back, and crossed her leg at the knee before continuing, “Furthermore, no airport in this day and age would allow for a teenage girl to make it to the runways where a plane was taking off without being tackled by security, nor do I believe that your mother, a diplomat, would be moronic enough to allow you to be placed in that much danger. If it did happen there would no doubt be multiple stories run by the media about it, internationally so since Jagged Stone is such a big name and you are the daughter of a diplomat, this would not be the first we would be hearing it.”

Marinette grimaced as she moved onto the next point, not even paying mind to the sputtering Lila was doing, “Based on these facts I’m going to assume the claims that he wrote a personal song for you that have been bouncing around are also false as if they’re not it does not paint a good picture that a famous man in his forties is writing and dedicating songs for you, a young teen fan. If these accusations were true, I'd be forced to believe that Jagged Stone is a hebephile or at the very least grooming you.”

Marinette simply crossed her arms as the room grew deathly silent, “Lastly, nothing suggests that sitting closer to the front of the room helps tinnitus, as the persistent ringing would not change and make little difference in a room this small. Most students with tinnitus require the student being given the option to move to a quieter location if the condition is triggered during class, groups the student is working with being given the option to move to a different area in case group work gets too loud during group activities and being placed near a low-level sound, such a small fan, computer, a heating element, or an open window, as complete silence can irritate the issue. I did enough research when helping Aurora fight for proper accommodations made in her own classroom on the subject to know that much. Or as by the way you are dressed and the fact you claim to have spent the last few months traveling the world, your family clearly has money so buying one of the many options of hearing aid out that that has been developed to assist and almost eliminate tinnitus would be overly easy. They sell them for around 270€, fairly cheap for accommodation products, and if your family truly took you on trips across the globe then you can’t convince me they don’t love you enough to shell out a few hundred euros to make your life easier. So tell me again why I’m making a big deal about making sure my own disability is taken care of?”

Lila sputtered, before bursting into tears, “I was too embarrassed to tell you the real reason! I didn’t want you guys to think less of me for taking a break with Prince Ali to go see a concert, I didn’t mean to get so close to the amps but… the hearing loss is so new I’m still adjusting”  

Marinette glared at her, “Save the tears. Lies are pathetic tools to use and earn you no lasting loyalty, and to accuse someone of being ableist for questioning the origin of your disability, not even the disability itself is vile. Not a single person in this room would have been upset at you if you told the truth instead of tried to force the issue of fake heroics.”

She sniffled, “I’m sorry Marinette, I didn’t mean to make accusations about you or your character. I’m still on edge from the whole situation…”

Marinette let her glare drop and gave a cool, “It’s forgiven this time, now can we please figure out the seating situation?”

“Well,” the teacher stepped in, “Since Adrian agreed to be Lila’s tutor to help her catch up-”

“Actually, Miss Bustier,” Adrian raised his hand sheepishly, “I was going to bring it up with you later in private, but I really don’t think I’d be a good option to tutor Lila given how full and sporadic my schedule is already, I really would hate for her to fall enough further behind.”

“Oh crap,” Alix swore, “We didn’t even think of that when Lila suggested you!”  

Adrian just gave a slight shrug, eyes not looking up from his desk, “It’s okay, I do want to help out the class as much as possible, I feel bad never being able to help out with anything after school.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Kim brushed off, “We get your dad is really on you about everything, we’ll just have to find stuff you can do in class instead!”

“Maybe,” Mylene squirmed a little in her seat as everyone turned to face her, “I mean just a suggestion… but maybe Adrian could be Marinette’s seat partner and help her take notes. You rarely miss actual class time for your activities and this way you’re helping out without committing to any extra time that your dad might not let you come for.”

Bustier clapped, a blinding smile on her face, completely missing how Lila’s face had twisted into an angry mask, “Excellent idea! Let’s all find new seats again, Marinette and Adrian stick together in the first two rows, Lila why don’t you sit on the left side of the classroom by the windows to see if that helps your tinnitus for now. I’ll call your mother in for a proper evaluation over the next few days and we’ll find a proper course to deal with your disability. If someone would like to volunteer to be Lila’s primary tutor please take the seat next to her. Everyone else please fill in!”

Slowly the room began shifting once again. Adrien and Marinette simply switched seats to allow her to better see the room as Alya, Nino, Chloe, Sabrina, Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel stayed in their same seats. Ivan and Mylene did move to the back row together as Max broke away from Kim to sit in the second row next to where Lila ended up and Alix slid across the aisle to take his old spot.

Alya was still looking at Marinette as if she had three heads, “Girl, what on earth was that? You’re like sunshine personified, but you just tore Lila apart like she was tissue paper.”

Nino huffed a slight laugh, “Keep forgetting you’ve only been in the class for a year, babe. You’ve never seen a Marinette takedown before.”

Marinette smiled, “Do not lie and do not do anything that might have permanent consequences. If they can not follow those two simple objectives in my presence then I will gladly set them straight. Lila not only lied but accused me of being a bigot, I will not tolerate slander.”

“Well I think it was badass,” Adrian commented, causing her to smirk wickedly.

“Thank you. It’s always nice to know my skills are appreciated.”  

“Oh do you need any notes from the last few days,” Adrian asked suddenly, sliding his notebook between them as the lesson started.  

She gazed down idly, “Not that I can think of but thank-”

Marinette had to keep her eyes from bulging as her words faded off, because in the middle of the page, squished between two facts about the Roman empire stood a simple sentence in perfect English.

I didn’t think I would see you until tonight, Ciel.

“How on earth were we this blind,” Marinette mumbled in English, earning a laugh from his once betrothed.

“Excuse me?”

The pairs heads snap towards the door as a worryingly familiar voice sounds through the room.

There in the doorway was a tall teen with shaggy raven hair as he sheepishly held out a paper towards the teacher, “Are you, Miss. Bustier? There seemed to be a mix up with my transfer papers. Mr. Damocles told me just to head down and you should have all of my forms by tomorrow, but he didn’t want to prevent me from starting today as planned.”

“Oh I hadn’t realized I was getting a new student today,” She apologized, taking the paper and skimming it briefly before turning to the room, “Class it looks like we’re getting another new face today! I want you all to welcome him with open arms! This is-”

He was shorter, a little lankier and with a rounder face then they typically saw him, looking every bit the fourteen year old he was in no doubt playing, but there was no doubt who it was.

“Sebastian,” The demon introduced, mirth dancing in those burgundy depths as he grinned up at the reincarnated duo, “Sebastian Michaelis. I look forward to joining your class.”

___________________________________

Tag List: @lividdreams9

[ladysunamireads]

Lila's Ass-assination

Lila’s Ass-assination by LadyRhiX

Adrien has had enough, and Marinette has the evidence. A tale of the best way to take down a predator such as Lila. Adrienette, MariChat and a small amount of LadyNoir. Fluff overload with angst thrown in. Typical Lila Takedown fic!

Copied directly from my FF.net account

Words: 1957, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other

Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Tikki, Plagg, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Nathalie Sancoeur, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel, Lê Chiến Kim, Ondine, Juleka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Luka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Chloé Bourgeois, Nadja Chamack, Max Kanté, Alix Kubdel

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Lê Chiến Kim/Ondine, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Chloé Bourgeois/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain

Additional Tags: Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, adrienette, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila Rossi Lies, Manipulative Lila Rossi, unwanted sexual contact, Adrien Harrassed, bum touching, Fluff, Alya Césaire Ships It, Protective Alya Césaire, Awesome Classmates, Arrested Lila, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Evidence Gathered, Cinema Outing, Embarrassed Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, working together, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Kwami Interveantion, sleepover, Lila's Mother Is An Idiot, Identity Reveal, Dorks in Love, too many tags!

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33824002